roadrunner

According to Paxful, a peer-to-peer trading platform, Nigeria’s cryptocurrency traded volumes on the platform topped $1.5 billion in the first four months of the year 2021. This figure represents almost a third of Paxful’s global total volume of $5 billion. This latest traded volume figure once again reaffirms Nigeria’s status as one of the exchange’s biggest markets globally. As one report explains, Nigeria’s latest total traded volume figure was generated by the platform’s approximately 1.5 million users. In total, Paxful had 6 million users globally by the end of April. In addition to Nigeria, the exchange’s other top four markets globally include the United States, China, India, and Kenya. In the meantime, the report also shares Paxful CEO, Ray Youssef’s thoughts on why cryptocurrency use continues to grow globally. He said: With crypto-currencies, we see an alternative, a way to rest the financial system based on equality. Our mission at Paxful is to give everyone equal access to finance no matter who they are or where they are so they can control their own money and build the future they want with financial freedom. Meanwhile, this report is the latest to show that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Feb. 6 directive had little success in suffocating the country’s crypto industry. In April, Bitcoin.com News similarly reported that Nigeria’s peer-to-peer volumes had surged despite the CBN directive. The new data also lends credence to recent reports that Nigerians are shunning their local currency which has been losing ground against major currencies. What are your thoughts on this new data? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

Global payments giant Mastercard has conducted a survey of 15,569 consumers in 18 countries and found that 4 in 10 people plan to use cryptocurrency in the next year. Meanwhile, 93% of people will consider using at least one emerging payment method, such as cryptocurrency. Mastercard’s Crypto Survey Mastercard published on Tuesday the results of a survey it conducted online of 15,569 consumers in 18 countries in four regions worldwide between Feb. 26 and March 10. The research was conducted by The Harris Poll and Mastercard Global Foresights, Insights, and Analytics. The company explained that “The Mastercard New Payments Index, conducted across 18 markets around the world, shows 93% of people will consider using at least one emerging payment method, such as cryptocurrency, biometrics, contactless, or QR code, in the next year.” In addition, “nearly 90% of in-person transactions globally take place at a contactless-enabled merchant.” Mastercard further described that “digital currencies, biometrics, contactless and QR codes are trending as emerging payments technologies as people’s comfort with them and understanding of them increases and the use of cash decreases.” It added that “71% of people say they expect to use cash less moving forward.” The Mastercard New Payments Index also found that cryptocurrency is gaining ground with “Millennials Primed to Jump In.” Noting that “consumers can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency as a commodity or investment” and are “increasingly showing interest in being able to spend crypto assets for everyday purchases,” Mastercard described: As global interest in cryptocurrencies as a payment method continues to accelerate, 4 in 10 people (40%) across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific say they plan to use cryptocurrency in the next year. The survey further finds that “Millennials globally and those in the Middle East and Africa are especially engaged in the cryptocurrency conversation, with more than half (67%) agreeing they are more open to using cryptocurrency than they were a year ago … In addition, 77% of Millennials are interested in learning more about cryptocurrency, while 75% agree they would use cryptocurrency if they understood it better.” Nonetheless, the company noted: While consumer interest in cryptocurrency – especially floating digital currencies such as bitcoin – is high, work is still required to ensure consumer choice, protection, and their regulatory compliance. What do you think about Mastercard’s crypto findings? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A cryptocurrency-related malware program has been advertised on darknet forums as the “leading way to make money in 2021,” raising alarms among the cybersecurity community. Palo Alto Networks published a report on the malicious app Westeal, detailing the author’s ties with other types of malware that steals major streaming services accounts. Westeal Claims to Be Immune Against Major Antivirus Software According to the cybersecurity firm, “Westeal” is an evolution of “Wesupply Crypto Stealer,” another malicious crypto software that has been sold since May 2020. Findings suggest that Wesupply’s evolution has been advertised since mid-February 2021. The study points out that Westeal was designed to basically steal bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) coming in and out of the victim’s wallet through their clipboard. Moreover, people who acquire the malicious app get access to a web panel to handle all the operations, including a “victim tracker panel.” A detail that raises concerns from Palo Alto Networks is the fact that Westeal is reportedly immune to major antivirus software. The malware works with a subscription model, and “Complexcodes,” the anon author of the app, profits by charging 20 euros ($24) monthly, 50 euros ($60) for three months, and 125 euros ($150) yearly. The Malware Is a ‘Shameless’ Crypto Stealer, Researchers Say The cybersecurity firm provides more details on the malware: In order to “steal” cryptocurrency from a victim, Westeal uses regular expressions to look for strings matching the patterns of bitcoin and ethereum wallet identifiers being copied to the clipboard. When it matches these, it replaces the copied wallet ID in the clipboard with one supplied by the malware. The victim then pastes the substituted wallet ID for a transaction, and the funds are sent instead to the substitute wallet. Still, Palo Alto Networks qualifies Westeal as a “shameless” malware: Westeal is a shameless piece of commodity malware with a single, illicit function. Its simplicity is matched by a likely simple effectiveness in the theft of cryptocurrency. The low-sophistication actors who purchase and deploy this malware are thieves, no less so than street pickpockets. Their crimes are as real as their victims. The fast and simple monetization chain and anonymity of cryptocurrency theft, together with the low cost and simplicity of operation, will undoubtedly make this type of crimeware attractive and popular to less-skilled thieves. What are your thoughts on this cryptocurrency malware recently spotted? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, approved a minimum wage raise increase last week that took it to three dollars monthly, a very low income for the citizens of the country that are facing a strong economic crisis since 2013. However, the crypto environment has been growing, and now Venezuelans are flocking to exchanges like Binance and Localbitcoins, platforms that are now serving thousands of Venezuelan users monthly with their peer-to-peer offerings destined to preserve the value of their money. Venezuela’s Minimum Wage Raised to $3 Monthly Earlier this week. Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, announced a minimum wage raise through its Labour minister, Eduardo Piñate, in a public support rally to Maduro’s government. The raise of 300% takes the minimum wage to an approximated value of three U.S. dollars monthly, a number that is insufficient to cover the basic needs of a family even for a day. According to ground reports, one kilogram of meat costs about $3.75, making this increase useless to tackle the devaluation of the local currency, the Bolivar, and the subsequent increase in prices. Venezuelans have faced economic turbulence since 2013, due to the poor management of the national treasury and an increased set of sanctions applied by the U.S. State Department, that have destroyed the buying power of the everyday citizen. While it’s very difficult to find official numbers for inflation, private institutions like CENDA, a worker-based organization with the objective of documenting prices, estimated that the value of the minimum basket of goods for a working family ascended to $229.92 in March. This means that each family would need a total of eight minimum wages each day to fulfill its basic necessities. However, Venezuelans have flocked to working outside the country through electronic means, using cryptocurrencies as payment methods and also as a store of value to refuge from inflation, that according to CNBC, reached 10,000,000% from 2018 to 2019, topping the 2020 misery index. Venezuelans Flock to Crypto Solutions As a consequence of all the bleak economic panorama the country is facing, Venezuelans have had to take different paths to preserve the buying power of their money, flocking to crypto-related work and exchange organizations to do so. This has resulted in an increase of interest from some Venezuelans to these structures. Venezuelaworkers.com, a website that lets users advertise their capabilities to employers from outside, has experienced big growth in this period. In just the last year, it just went from a skeleton site to host work profiles from thousands of Venezuelans. Oscar Salas, CEO of the company that serves as a rendezvous point for freelancers, stressed that they have grown immensely, and now offer their services to more than 4,000 users and 400 employers. “In terms of activity, we have sustained stable numbers in the last months. Our current objective is to incentivize the use of cryptocurrencies while improving and finding solutions to adapt us to the experience of our users “ Venezuelans are also going big in solutions that let them exchange their money from cryptocurrencies to the national fiat currency, the bolivar. While Localbitcoins volumes in the country have plummeted in the last months (according to data from Coin Dance), a new alternative has risen since Binance opened its peer-to-peer service last year. Mariangel Garcia, community manager for Binance in Latin America, declared that this option had experienced exponential growth since its launch. While Binance hasn’t offered exact numbers this year, Garcia stressed in an interview with Diario Bitcoin that just during the first three months of 2020, more than $450 million were exchanged from and to local currency using their P2P platform, being Venezuela one of their markets with the biggest growth. What do you think about the new minimum wage in Venezuela? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Tuesday, the Nasdaq-listed Canadian company Mogo revealed the firm has purchased 146 ether at an average price of $2,780. The move follows the firm’s corporate investment in bitcoin, as well as offering bitcoin rewards for the company’s mortgage and card clients. The company plans to keep 5% of its balance sheet assets in digital currencies. After Adding Bitcoin to the Balance Sheet, Mogo Stacks Ether The Vancouver-based Mogo (Nasdaq:MOGO), a fintech firm that provides various financial services has announced the corporate purchase of ethereum (ETH). The ethereum investment follows the company’s initial bitcoin purchase back in December 2020. Mogo has been interested in blockchain and crypto solutions for a few years now. At the end of March, Mogo mortgage clients were offered bitcoin rewards if they got a mortgage through the company or refinanced an existing property. On May 3, Mogo explained that it obtained 146 ETH for around $2,780 per unit. Both the bitcoin and the recent ETH investments are part of the firm’s plans to increase the company balance sheet with fintech and blockchain investments. 5% of Mogos Portfolio Will be Valued in Crypto Assets Last week, Mogo sold the firm’s investment in Vena Solutions for $4.7 million and saw a yield of 116%. The company made decent money on the 18 BTC it purchased back in December as well, as Mogo paid an average price of $33,083 per unit. “Mogo plans to invest up to 5% of its cash and investment portfolio value in cryptocurrencies,” the company said on Tuesday. “This initial investment in Ether complements our earlier investments in Bitcoin and reflects our belief in the long-term potential of blockchain technology and its position as a core component of a next-generation financial technology platform,” Greg Feller, President and CFO of Mogo detailed during the announcement. Mogo is one of many firms represented on the website bitcointreasuries.org and the added ETH is not represented on that web portal, as the site only focuses on bitcoin-based treasuries. One company that does have ethereum on its balance sheet is the China-based smartphone and internet app maker Meitu. Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavs’ online shop ostensibly holds dogecoin (DOGE). As far as the numbers on bitcointreasuries.org are concerned, the entire lot of companies and hedge funds hold over $77 billion worth of BTC, more than 1.4 million bitcoins, and approximately 6.78% of the entire BTC supply. What do you think about Mogo’s investment in ethereum? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

OVR.ai has sold the Eiffel Tower, putting it for sale as Non Fungible Token on OpenSea for about $106.9K USD. In fact, the auction ended a few days ago, reaching a value of 38.6159 ETH. The Eiffel Tower NFT was a package of 60 OVRLands and it was on sale on Opensea for only a couple of days. The investor (AKA Camembert) who won the auction of Eiffel Tower is already known in the NFT world, as he’s already bought another famous non fungible token, the one of Cristiano Ronaldo sold by Sorare for $290,000. Camembert commented the news: “I am very excited about my new NFT acquisition on OVR. I also recently bought some unique football cards such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Zinedine Zidane but this one is very special : Eiffel Tower is a powerful and distinctive symbol of France. Today it welcomes almost 7 million visitors a year making it the most visited monument in the world. I will allow developers to launch virtual projects on the Eiffel Tower, we could organize digital exhibitions for artists or even invite famous DJ such as David Guetta and organize amazing parties. We could even organize concerts. Companies will also be allowed to advertise on the monument. Whereas there are so many limits in Covid world, everything is possible in a digital world!”. How OVR Works Italian company OVR has divided the globe into 1.6 trillion hexagons called OVRLand, which are NFTs. Owners can create their own virtual worlds on these virtual lands, adding content like on web pages that can be viewed in augmented reality using the OVR app (available on both Android and iOS). This way, OVR put the Eiffel Tower up for sale, tokenized among the 1.6 trillion hexagons. Who now owns the Eiffel Tower can use this OVRLands to add his own content on that virtual land, that can be potentially seen by thousands of people as the Eiffel Tower is one of the most iconic monuments in Europe. Overall, the OVR project has sold over 240,000 NFTs of its OVRLand in just 4 months since its launch and the app is getting more than 5000 visitors per day. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

More than 800 limited edition collectibles, some from shooting scenes, are set to go to auction on the Starcoll NFT marketplace, as a large collector leverages blockchain technology for one of the most storied movie franchises in history. Early Registration Timed for May The 4th (Be With You) In a growing sign of the times, non-fungible tokens (NFT) have become too attractive for even Star Wars collectors to ignore. As one of the more popular memorabilia and toy markets even before the rise of blockchain, the move by Starcoll to capitalize on the promise of blockchain technology for assuring both digital and physical ownership for Star Wars collectibles represents a natural fit. Starcoll, an NFT marketplace and collection, is built on the QAN blockchain to ensure the highest level of security possible. The adoption of this hybrid, quantum-resistant blockchain is intended to address problematic issues that have plagued NFTs, like poor security and the ability of hackers to change source files to memes. Designed to appeal to collectors and collections alike, Starcoll’s first event will feature 800+ items from a single private collection, including limited edition pieces and even some items from shooting scenes as well. A physical item collateralizes every NFT minted by Starcoll from the collection. The accompanying traveling exhibition of the collection will display owner and NFT metadata information unless the owner opts for anonymity. Starcoll NFT buyers will be granted complimentary access to this global exhibition. Early registration for Starcoll begins on May 4th in an homage to Star Wars fans and collectors celebrating “May The Fourth Be With You.” What would Darth Vader think of NFTs? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A company paid an employee for his work done in cryptocurrency. However, after the price of the cryptocurrency skyrocketed 700%, the employer wants the coins back, offering to pay the employee in U.S. dollars instead. Employer Wants Crypto Back After It Rose 700% Marketwatch published a letter to The Moneyist columnist, Quentin Fottrell, Monday from someone asking for advice about crypto payments he received from his employer. The Moneyist is a service that provides answers to all sorts of dilemmas, and Fottrell is the publication’s personal finance editor as well as The Moneyist columnist. The letter was signed “Crypto Confused,” who explained that he did some business development work for a tech startup “on a contract basis.” The company is still trying to generate its first dollar in sales, he noted. “The purpose of the contract was to generate sales and it included a commission component, but the understanding was that I would bill hourly for cold calling and emailing people, generating proposals, setting up meetings, participating in and leading pitches, etc., with the goal of generating revenue,” the letter explains, adding: In August 2020, I received payment for the contract work in cryptocurrency. Since then, the prices of cryptocurrency have skyrocketed. As of this moment, the crypto that I received payment in has gone up 700%. As the price of the cryptocurrency the startup paid the employee skyrocketed, the CEO of the company wrote the employee. He explained that “Since you did not generate any revenue for the company and are not currently doing any follow-up work, please send back all of the crypto received in August 2020. You can invoice the company for the hours worked in USD,” the letter states. Crypto Confused was not sure what to do and is asking for advice about whether he should return some of the cryptocurrency for the hours worked. He also did not specify which cryptocurrency he received. Replying to the letter, Fottrell insisted he should not return any cryptocurrency. “No. Alas, no. No, thank you. Absolutely not. Ask me again in 2121,” he wrote, emphasizing: Your employer should abide by the terms of his contract … Even if the contract said you could be paid in either dollars or crypto, asking for the salary back is an entirely different matter. Fottrell added that “any efforts to break that contract with guff about how employees didn’t do X or Y, which means they should be paid one way or another, are sharp practice at best and open him up to a lawsuit at worst.” Do you think the employee should return some of the cryptocurrency received to the employer? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Leading yield farming platform DeFi Yield Protocol has launched its highly anticipated DYP Earn Vault. The Vault is an automated yield farming contract fully integrated with Compound Protocol and supports five markets, including ETH, WBTC, USDC, USDT, and DAI. Earn Rewards on DYP Earn Vaults Users can provide an asset to the DYP Earn Vault and begin earning impressive yields on their assets. One of the unique features of the Vault is the integration with Compound protocol. When users deposit funds into the Vault, the funds are forwarded to Compound protocol in exchange for respective cTokens held within the smart contract. Interests generated from Compound is then distributed to investors. DYP Earn Vault offers investors different lockup durations for each of the supported markets. Users can lock their tokens for 3,30,60 and 90 days, with the average interest increasing with the length of the lock period. Apart from interest generated from Compound Protocol, the DYP Earn Vault also integrates unique strategies to increase the APY for each market. A withdrawal fee of 0.3% with 75% of the fee distributed among active vault users, with the remainder 25% used to buy back DYP from Uniswap and burn it. Fixed APY between 2.5% and 18% depending on the lock period and the price of DYP on Uniswap ETH fee equivalent to 400k gas at current Gwei price for deposits and withdrawal with 75% distributed among active vault users and the remainder used to buy back DYP from Uniswap and burn it Investors can reinvest the DYP rewards into fixed staking with a 35% APR for a 4 months Lock Time DYP transaction fees are higher than similar protocols due to the smart contract complexity within the protocol as it looks for the best possible earning opportunity for users. However DYP compensates by offering some of the best APY in the market. For example using Compound protocol would give you an APY of 0.12% for their ETH Vault with cheaper transaction fees. DYP Vault offers way higher with users getting a maximum of 13% APY on their investments. This is increased to 35% APR for DYP rewards if users choose to reinvest their interests on the platform. So you may be paying slightly higher fees than other protocols but you earn up to 1000% higher in rewards making DYP a better yield farming platform than its competitors. DYP Earn Vault makes it easier for investors to access these opportunities within a single user friendly platform. You get the very best value staking your tokens on DYP Earn Vault. Start Providing Liquidity on DYP Earn Vault To begin providing liquidity and earning on the DYP Earn Vault, you have to visit the Vault App. Once you get to the Vault App, you will be required to connect a wallet, preferable MetaMask wallet, to the Vault. You can then choose from the five vault markets (WETH, WBTC, USDT, USDC, DAI). Each market has the four staking option duration (3,30,60 and 90 days) as well as APY of (3%,8%.11%, and 13%). Users can then choose the amount of tokens to be locked and confirm the transaction. Users can rest easy with DYP Earn Vault as funds are kept secured using the latest security mechanisms. For more details on how to use the DYP Earn Vault, click here. More Developments in the DYP Ecosystem DYP continues to stand out as one of the best yield farming protocols in the market. It recently expanded its repertoire by launching its token on the Binance Smart Chain, thus offering yield farming opportunities to users of the fast-growing blockchain network. DeFi users can also take advantage of the DYP Bridge that enables swaps between the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks. The swap bridge, one of the first within the DeFi ecosystem, continues DYP’s quest to become a major player in the crypto space. Notable is that in just 4 months, liquidity providers have earned a total of 7,892 ETH and 1,858 BNB worth $22,950,768 from DYP farming tools on the Ethereum and BSC blockchains. The launch of the DYP Earn Vault follows the roadmap of the DeFi protocol with the highly awaited DYP tools, the next product set to be launched in Q2 2021. DYP Tools is a dashboard that will enable traders and DeFi users to access tools to ensure informed investments. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently warned residents of the West African country to avoid cryptocurrency transactions of any form. In the warning, the regulator reiterated that “cryptocurrencies are illegal in the country and are not regulated by the commission hence Ghanaians should stay away from them.” Risks Associated With Crypto In remarks made during an interview, Paul Ababio, the Deputy Director-General of the (SEC) asserts that “there are risks associated with cryptocurrencies and people have lost funds to such transactions.” However, despite issuing the warning, Ababio does hint that his organisation might eventually decide to regulate the crypto space. (The) Bank of Ghana does not treat it as a form of payment, it is not a legal tender but we will be engaging further to come out with frameworks. However, until that happens, the regulator urges Ghanaians to “desist from participating (in cryptocurrency transactions.)” Paul Ababio, Ghana’s Deputy Director-General of the (SEC). Master Plan In the meantime, Ababio reveals that “the commission is forming a fintech round table as part of its master plan to look into some of these innovations and the approach to take.” However, he cautions that this is still a work in progress. A number of countries in Africa are leading the race when it comes to the global adoption of crypto assets. Aside from places like Nigeria and South Africa, Ghana is one of the top countries in Africa with rising peer-to-peer crypto trade volumes. Ghana’s government has noticed the adoption and the SEC has witnessed ostensible stories of citizens losing funds. The SEC official also took time to explain why the regulator has undertaken to study cryptos further. He said: There are clear risks to the nature of it. People have lost their keys and they can no longer access their funds so it is something that we are studying. While Ababio has promised “some action on that front”, he still fails to give the exact timeframe within which “the commission is expected to come out with a final decision on the matter.” What are your thoughts on Ghana’s latest crypto warning? Please share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

The Thai government has reportedly imposed a new cryptocurrency requirement. Crypto exchanges will be required to verify users’ identities using a machine that requires the customers to be physically present. Thailand’s New Crypto Rules The Thai Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) has announced that starting in July “local digital exchanges must verify their customers’ identities through a ‘dip-chip’ machine that requires clients to be physically present,” the Bangkok Post reported. Currently, the account opening process at crypto exchanges is done entirely online. To approve a new account, exchanges must ensure that the documents submitted by customers comply with the regulations set by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the know-your-customer (KYC) process and suitability test. Furthermore, the documents must also be verified by relevant government agencies. The application will be rejected if the customer submitted fake documents or resides in a country where cryptocurrency trading is banned. Poramin Insom, co-founder and director of crypto trading platform Satang Corp., explained: Digital asset exchanges have a duty to report any transaction worth over 1.8 million baht [$58,000] under the money laundering law, and must set up a database for inspections by regulators. The Anti-Money Laundering Act entered into effect in 1999 and requires entities operating financial businesses and legal professionals, such as investment advisers and real estate brokerages, to report any transaction meeting its requirements. They must also keep documentation and transaction data as evidence for 5-10 years. In addition, about 6,000 gold shops nationwide will require customers to show their ID cards when buying or selling gold worth over 100,000 baht in cash. However, the chief executive of Hua Seng Heng, Thanarat Pasawongse, explained that most large gold shops have already been using dip-chip machines to verify customers’ identities for four to five years because it is convenient. In general, customers must show their ID cards for cash transactions of more than 100,000 baht. A report must be Filed with Amlo for transactions worth over 2 million and business operators must report any “suspicious” transactions to the authority. What do you think about the new ID verification requirement for opening a crypto account in Thailand? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Federal Reserve’s top supervisory official has called on bank regulators to pay more attention to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. His comments followed a number of major banks announcing that they will be offering products based on cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, to their clients. Bank Regulators Should Focus More on Cryptocurrency, Says Fed Supervisor The Federal Reserve’s vice chairman for supervision, Randal Quarles, talked about cryptocurrency last week at a conference hosted by the Options Clearing Corporation. He urged bank regulators to pay more attention to stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. Quarles took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 2017 and was sworn in as Vice Chair for Supervision on Oct. 13 that year. He is also chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB). His comments followed several banks in the U.S., such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, announcing that they will offer their wealthy clients access to investment products based on cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin. Quarles said that the rise of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins has been “one of the more interesting developments” in the financial markets. However, he noted: I think the depth of consideration that has been given to a lot of policy talk around those issues hasn’t been as robust as I would like it to be. “The inexorable march of technology is a huge opportunity but also a supervisory challenge for the financial system,” he emphasized. The Federal Reserve’s top supervisory official acknowledged that policymakers spent much of last year on the Covid-19 pandemic response and did not have much time to dive into cryptocurrency regulation. “People have had a lot of other things to think about over the course of last year as these issues have been rising in salience and so I understand why,” he opined, elaborating: I think over the course of the next year or two, [we should be] really thinking carefully about the issues that are presented by stablecoins. Do you think the Fed should pay more attention to cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Investment management firm, Marlton, has applauded the recent decision to authorize the purchase by Digital Currency Group (DCG) of up to a total of $750 million worth of shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). This latest action follows Marlton’s recent call for DCG and the Grayscale board to do more to narrow the discount on GBTC shares. Support for Purchase Authorization In a statement, Marlton’s Managing Member, James C. Elbaor says this DCG action is “a more constructive approach to alleviating the dramatic discount between the market price of GBTC shares and net asset value.” He added: We continue to believe GBTC maintains a competitive advantage as the world’s largest Bitcoin fund, and appreciate that GBTC has recognized the need to take meaningful steps that are aligned with stockholder value creation and ensuring the best path forward. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Martlon’s Elbaor argued in an open letter that a modified Dutch auction tender offer for GBTC shares would “materially narrow — if not eliminate — the discount to the net asset value.” At the time, Elbaor warned that if Grayscale Investments did take heed, Marlton reserved the right to “take further action in order to protect our investments and those of other stockholders.” No Specific Number of Shares Meanwhile, in its own statement following the new purchase authorization, Grayscale’s parent reveals that “as of April 30, 2021, DCG has purchased $193.5 million worth of shares of GBTC.” These purchases follow an earlier authorization which allowed the DCG to purchase up to $250 million GBTC shares. However, DCG warns that this new authorization does not bound or obligate it to make any particular purchases. The parent company of Grayscale Investments explained: The share purchase authorization does not obligate DCG to acquire any specific number of shares in any period and may be expanded, extended, modified, or discontinued at any time. The actual timing, amount and value of share purchases will depend entirely upon a number of factors, including the levels of cash available, price, and prevailing market conditions. Concerning such future stock purchases, DCG says this information will be available in the GBTC periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Forms 10-K and 10-Q as required by the applicable rules of the Exchange Act. Do you think the new authorization will help to significantly reduce the discount on GBTC shares? Tell us your views in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the listing of ILV, being available to trade on the 3rd May 2021 at 15:00 UTC. ILV was created by the Illuvium team, as the token to reward players in their open-world RPG adventure game built on the Ethereum Blockchain. ILV will start trading with USDT and BTC pairs. What is Illuvium? Illuvium is an open-world fantasy battle game built entirely on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It’s often referred to as the first actual AAA game on Ethereum. The world of Illuvium is a world full of beauty and wonder inhabited by creatures known as Illuvials. From a visual perspective, Illuvials go way beyond crypto kitties, one of the earliest and most famous examples of non-fungible tokens. These illuvials are designed as high-quality 3D art made by some of the leading artists in the space. While venturing through the vast landscape of Illuvium, players can capture Illuvials by beating them in battle and then nursing them back to health. The Illuvials will become part of a player’s loyal following and can be used in fights or other adventures. Some of the Illuvials are already introduced on the Illuvium blog, such as the one below named Archeolon. Each Illuvial is also an NFT, with all of them having a strictly finite supply. Unlike other blockchain games, players on Illuvium can spend time simply exploring the landscape consisting of 7 unique and stylised regions, building up a team of powerful Illuvials or a combination of both. Additionally, players can also earn Ethereum by selling their Illivuials on the Illuvium exchange. Illuvium has been in development since 2020 and is created by more than 40 professionals with vast experience across the gaming and cryptocurrency sector. Illuvium is backed by some well-known names in the industry, including Quantstamp, Moonwhale, Bitcoin.com Exchange and more. What is ILV? The in-game currency of Illivium is ILV. ILV is used to reward players for in-game achievements, entitling players to a share of the vault and is used for governance in the Illuvium DAO. The maximum supply of ILV is set to 10 Million, allocated across Flash Pools, In-Game rewards, Liquidity Pools, Treasury, the Team, Launchpad Seed and Pre-Seed capital. Strong Endorsement Danish Chaudhry, CEO of Bitcoin.com Exchange, shared his views on Illuvium, and their respective token: “Entering the AAA gaming space is no small task, becoming the first AAA blockchain video game is just another step in the right direction for the industry. Illuvium is addressing some of the most pressing challenges in the gaming industry, including scalability or a lack of detailed artwork. Their vision, and target audience spans further than the usual crypto community most projects are focused around, giving them an edge and further possibility to build further adoption in the market.” Chaudhry continues on by saying; “We’re very excited to see how Illuvium will continue to empower their vision for the future of blockchain based gaming. With their launch being planned for Q3 this year, accompanied with the listing of the Illuvium token (ILV) on our exchange, we can’t wait to see where this project will be in the following years.” Kieran Warwick, Co-founder of Illuvium, also expressed his enthusiasm of the listing, stating: “We’re excited about Bitcoin.com Exchange listing our $ILV token. At Illuvium, we seek to increase trade volume to ensure a sustainable performance of $ILV on the market. Partnering with premium exchanges like Bitcoin.com Exchange assists our DAO, and token holders, with that goal. We are eager to see the reception from traders.” About Bitcoin.com Exchange The mission of Bitcoin.com Exchange is to empower people from all over the world to trade cryptocurrencies with ease and confidence, from first-time traders to advanced trading professionals. With high liquidity, 24/7 multilingual support and dozens of trading pairs, complemented with a high level of security, we offer an attractive platform for trading any cryptocurrency. Within one year since launch, on average, the exchange has been visited by more than 500K active traders per month, and this number continues to grow as you read this sentence. About Illuvium Illuvium is a decentralized, NFT collection and auto battler game built on the Ethereum network. Integrated with the hyper-scalable immutable-X layer-two solution, players of Illuvium gain access to zero gas fees for minting or exchanging assets, as well as sub-second transaction times, all with user-maintained custody. Founding Illuvium DAO contributors, Kieran and Aaron Warwick are the younger brothers of Synthetix founder, Kain Warwick, and together, they offer a diverse set of skills in the gaming and crypto space. The genesis of the Illuvium project was a desire to make a collectible NFT game that was open, transparent and governed by the community. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

The American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts, Fidelity Investments has announced the introduction of a new comprehensive data and deep analytics solution for digital assets. The new product is called Sherlock and it’s meant for institutional clients so they can streamline “fundamental and technical data” tied to cryptocurrencies. Fidelity Investments Introduces Crypto Analytics and Tools Platform Called Sherlock The data and analytics space tethered to the cryptocurrency world is exceptionally hot right now, as firms like Skew, Glassnode, Messari, Dune Analytics, Cryptoquant, and others have been turning heads. This past weekend, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Skew acquisition, as the analytics firm joined the Coinbase family of businesses. Skew’s data will be leveraged for Coinbase Prime customers, the San Francisco exchange’s institutional clients. Sherlock benefits according to Fidelity Investments. On Monday, Fidelity Investments introduced a crypto platform for its institutional clients called “Sherlock.” The new product offers “comprehensive data and deep analytics on digital assets in one central location to help inform investment decisions,” Fidelity’s announcement says. The Sherlock web portal says interested users can request a demo and states: Crypto is difficult enough to navigate – the data shouldn’t be— Sherlock provides you with the data and tools you need to identify investment opportunities and create trading strategies. Sherlock Developed by Fidelity Center for Applied Technology Fidelity details that Sherlock users can obtain “in-depth asset analysis, discover insights and monitor market developments” so they can make the best decisions when it comes to crypto-asset investments. “Users can also explore the data off-platform for modeling and back-testing,” Fidelity’s announcement explains. Furthermore, Sherlock was developed in FCAT (Fidelity Center for Applied Technology), a blockchain solution center and distributed ledger incubator team that handles blockchain analytics, proofs of concepts, and use cases. “While the market is maturing rapidly, we’ve heard from institutional investors that there’s still a need for a comprehensive and accessible data solution,” said Kevin Vora, vice president of product management at FCAT. “That’s what we’re introducing with Sherlock – robust and insightful datasets paired with highly intuitive tools to help clients make data-driven digital asset investment decisions,” the executive added. What do you think about Fidelity Investments releasing a data and research tool for institutional investors? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On April 26, 2021, the Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation Danske Bank published a press release explaining that the institution has changed the threshold for personal customers and standard interest rates for business customers in Denmark. The Bank plans to lower the threshold for charging negative interest on deposits from DKK 100,000 to DKK 250,000 ($16k to $40k USD). Denmark Savers Will Feel the Brunt of Negative Rates This Summer A number of large financial institutions in Europe have been embracing negative interest rates. Bitcoin.com News recently reported on ECB President Christine Lagarde’s opinion of the situation and how she defended negative interest rates. Lagarde noted that it might bother savers, but people need to put the global economy ahead of savers. Moreover, the Bank of England (BoE) wants British banks and building societies in the region to have negative bank rate solutions ready by August 2021. At the end of April, following financial institutions like ING, Barclays, and a number of Swiss banks, the Danish financial services corporation, Danske Bank, introduced negative rates for certain deposit sizes. In fact, Denmark was the first country to introduce negative rates on a large scale back in 2012. With the new terms, Dankse Bank deposits from DKK (Danish crowns) 100,000 to DKK 250,000 ($16k to $40k USD) will fall into the category of negative rates. The picture above is the rates for Dankse Bank business customers. For personal customers, the threshold for the charging of negative interest will be “DKK 100,000 and will be calculated on the basis of the aggregate amount of deposits in all of the customer’s accounts. Any share of deposits in jointly held accounts is included in the DKK 100,000 threshold. The interest rate applicable to deposits will not change and will therefore still be -0.6% p.a,” the bank’s terms note. On July 1, 2021, both personal and business customers will see the interest rate terms change for standard deposits. Mark Wraa-Hansen, Danske Bank’s head of personal customers in Denmark explained that higher interest rates have become an expense for the institution. “We have experienced highly unusual interest rate levels for a long time now, and there is no prospect of this changing. At the same time, we see a significantly increasing deposit surplus, which in the current interest rate environment results in a considerable expense for the bank,” Wraa-Hansen wrote. “This is obviously not sustainable for us in the long term, and we are therefore lowering the threshold for the charging of negative interest on deposits,” he added. Denmark’s Business Minister Says Banks Are ‘Too Greedy’ Negative rates are not normal and they are not considered good finance for those looking to save funds long term. Big savers, with large amounts of funds sitting in a bank, expect a return for storing their money with the institution, but gone are the days where the wealthy could make decent passive income from traditional interest rates. A negative rate of -1% for someone who deposited 1,000 at the beginning of the year, would only get $999 by the year’s end. Denmark’s Business Minister Simon Kollerup is not pleased with Danish banks imposing negative rates on customers and he recently called the financial institutions “greedy.” Proponents of negative rates believe that it helps first-time home buyers, businesses, and loans. It is believed that those who benefit from negative rates (borrowers) will consume more, and invest in the economy more often. However, a number of people are totally against the banks introducing negative rates and Denmark’s Business Minister Simon Kollerup has said “enough is enough.” Reuters reports that the Danish central bank started the invocation of negative rates which has in turn “forced lenders to deposit funds at the central bank at negative rates – prompting most Danish banks to start introducing negative interest rates on private clients.’” In a Facebook post, Kollerup explained his angst with the new trend. “I think it should stop now. The limit has been reached,” Kollerup stressed. “It simply becomes too greedy when the banks deliver large profits, but still continue to impose negative interest rates on more and more Danes.” The Business Minister said that he has asked the banking association Finance Denmark to figure this out as soon as possible. Finance Denmark retorted that it was “fundamentally wrong” for bureaucrats to get involved with pricing the monetary system. “I expect to hear the industry’s response on how we can stop this spiral,” Kollerup emphasized in his social media post. Although, Ulrik Nodgaard, head of Finance Denmark disagrees with Kollerup’s assessment. “Danish banks did not invent negative interest rates. They come from Denmark’s central bank,” Nodgaard remarked. Danske Bank in Denmark will charge a negative interest rate of -1% for all balances over 100,000 Kroner ($16,000). Buy #Bitcoin my Danish friends! — Bitcoin Archive 🗄🚀🌔 (@BTC_Archive) May 2, 2021 Of course, the negative rates from worldwide banks have caused crypto-asset proponents and precious metals enthusiasts to push harder. Bitcoin proponents believe that digital currencies give people the ability to save again without their funds being taken by the bank’s negative rates and erroneous fees. Banks can also stop you from accessing funds held there and with help from the state it can be taken away as well. Alternative assets like bitcoin and precious metals have been attractive because people can save money without interference and gather yields that today’s financial incumbents cannot offer. What do you think about Danske Bank adding negative rates? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Ebay is looking at cryptocurrency as a payment option for its 187 million buyers on the platform, the company’s CEO has revealed. The e-commerce giant is also exploring opportunities in the non-fungible token (NFT) business. Ebay Looking Into Adding Cryptocurrency as Payment Option Ebay CEO Jamie Iannone said in a CNBC interview on Monday that the company is looking at accepting cryptocurrency as a payment option. He was asked about how Ebay is responding to the rise in popularity and adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The CEO replied: We are expanding the types of payments that we take. We now take Apple Pay and Google Pay. More choice for buyers … We will continue to look at other options, like cryptocurrency. He added: “One of the great things about Ebay is that when there is a new trend, it just shows up on Ebay. That’s what we are seeing in areas like NFTs [non-fungible tokens], which we are looking at how we can explore that better.” He also noted that Ebay has “187 million buyers on the platform,” which was reported in the company’s Q1 earnings release. Iannone was also specifically asked, “Does that mean you are getting into the NFT business?” He replied: We are looking at it and exploring opportunities on how we can enable it on Ebay in an easy way. Paypal was Ebay’s subsidiary until 2015 when the company spun off the payments giant to its shareholders. Paypal launched its crypto service last year and enabled crypto payments at millions of stores in March. Recently enable Venmo app users to buy, sell, and hold select cryptocurrencies. What do you think about Ebay accepting bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Hip hop legend and recording artist Nasir Jones, known by his stage name “Nas,” recently released a new video with record producer DJ Khaled and rapper Jay-Z. The songwriter mentioned being a “cryptocurrency Scarface” and also mentioned the San Francisco company Coinbase in his rhyme. Nas was an early Coinbase investor back in 2013 and it is estimated that Nas raked in over $100 million from his investment with the company. Nas Dubs Himself the ‘Cryptocurrency Scarface’ Nas is a very well known hip-hop recording artist and since 1994 he’s released twelve studio albums that have been certified platinum and multi-platinum in the U.S. Nas has also been considered one of the greatest rappers of all-time, up there with Eminem, Jay-Z, Andre 3000, Lil Wayne, the Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac. In addition to being a songwriter, Nas is also an entrepreneur and he’s invested in numerous projects over the years. One lucrative investment Nas has made was with the San Francisco company Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN), a crypto firm that was just listed publicly. Nas didn’t invest in Coinbase directly, as his investment was made via his portfolio company Queensbridge Venture Partners. Queensbridge revealed it was an investor in Coinbase back in 2013, when it helped raise $25 million in a Series B funding round. Coinbase was valued at $100 to $200 million in 2013, and since then the company has gathered an enormous amount of value. Back in 2014, Nas told former Coindesk reporter Pete Rizzo “[Bitcoin] will evolve into an industry as big, if not bigger, than the Internet.” At the time he also disclosed that Queensbridge Venture Partners had invested in Coinbase. Now that Coinbase has been listed on Nasdaq and is currently trading for $297 per share, early Coinbase investors like Nas and NBA star Kevin Durant have made a lot of money. Analysts think Queensbridge Venture Partners could have gathered around $50 million to even $150 million when COIN shares came out the gate. ‘Long Crypto Forever’ Following COIN’s debut on Nasdaq and the shares trading among market participants, Nas mentioned his Coinbase investment in his latest video with Jay-Z and DJ Khaled. The song is called “Sorry, Not Sorry” and the song also features James Fauntleroy and Harmonies. The lyrical content Nas provides mentions betting on cryptocurrency rather than a coin toss. The crypto mention in the “Sorry, Not Sorry” video says: Winner in life, f**k a coin toss / I’m Coinbased, cryptocurrency Scarface. Fellow New York rapper Curtis Jackson, known by his stage name “50 Cent,” also congratulated Nas and the Brooklyn Nets star player Kevin Durant for winning big with their Coinbase investments. “I love to see my people win,” 50 Cent said about the Coinbase investment in mid-April. On April 15, Nas’s official Twitter account wrote: Long crypto forever…. in sickness & in health. Nas is not the only hip-hop mogul who likes cryptocurrencies and even 50 Cent himself sold his album for bitcoin years ago. However, 50 Cent claims he sold his crypto assets after the rapper filed bankruptcy. Other crypto-focused hip hop artists include Snoop Dogg, Talib Kweli, DJ Khaled, Murda Beatz, Logic, Kanye West, and Pitbull. What do you think about the new video Nas released with Jay-Z and DJ Khaled that mentions cryptocurrency and Coinbase in the lyrics? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A South African non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, Momint has officially launched following the end of the two-week trial phase which saw the artwork of former rugby player Bryan Habana fetch over $10,000. More than 800 people from 25 countries took part in the auction. The Momint marketplace, which has been developed as a social media app similar to Instagram, is backed by investor Rob Hersov and has a “pre-seed funding reportedly valuing the company at over $2 million.” According to a report, Momint combines an NFT marketplace with the functionality of a social media platform. In addition to accepting cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH, Momint says buyers will be able to use fiat currency. In his remarks following the launch, the marketplace’s co-founder and COO, Joshua Minsk said: NFTs offer a means for creators to sell their works and support themselves without needing to litter their work with sponsor shout outs or advertisements. Meanwhile, in addition to Habana, the platform will also initially rely on the participation of other South African celebrities like cricketer player Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, musicians Goldfish and The Kiffness. Also joining this list of South African celebrities that will initially use the marketplace is filmmaker Dan Mace. In his own remarks applauding the launch, Mace explained that this platform will “enable anyone to not just appreciate but actually own art within a digital space from anywhere in the world.” Confirming his own intentions to sell, Mace said: “I will be selling my project and timelines from films that I’ve made.” What on your thoughts on this NFT marketplace launch? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The Turkish government has updated the country’s cryptocurrency regulation following the banning of cryptocurrencies for payments and failing crypto exchanges. Published in the Official Gazette on Saturday, the new rule adds crypto trading platforms to the list of entities covered by anti-money laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulations. The Official Gazette states that the country’s latest expansion of rules covering cryptocurrency transactions would take immediate effect. Crypto service providers must now comply with existing regulations. The government previously said that it plans to establish a central custodian bank to eliminate counterparty risk among other provisions. Turkey’s central bank recently banned the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. Following the ban, two Turkish cryptocurrency exchanges, Thodex and Vebitcoin, halted trading abruptly and are now being investigated for fraud. Six people have been jailed in connection with the fraud investigation of the crypto exchange Thodex, whose CEO Faruk Fatih Ozer has fled the country. Turkish authorities and Interpol are looking for him in four countries. What do you think about Turkey extending AML and CFT regulations to cryptocurrency exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The infamous meme-crypto dogecoin has seen double-digit gains in recent days after Tesla’s Elon Musk tweeted about his upcoming Saturday Night Live appearance on May 8. On Wednesday, Musk tweeted “The Dogefather SNL May 8,” and a great number of people assume dogecoin will be mentioned to some degree on the show. Dogecoin Captures a $50 Billion Market Cap This weekend, dogecoin (DOGE) has started to surge again, as the token featuring the likeness of the Shiba Inu dog is nearing the asset’s all-time high (ATH). The last dogecoin ATH was two weeks ago when the cryptocurrency reached $0.44 per token. DOGE has jumped more than 45% during the last seven days, and 30-day stats show dogecoin gained 537.92% against the U.S. dollar. In recent times, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was asked about dogecoin at a press conference, and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban talked about DOGE with Ellen Degeneres. Just before the weekend, Tesla’s Elon Musk, who tweets about dogecoin often, mentioned his upcoming SNL appearance scheduled for May 8. In fact, Musk has been fielding Twitter for ideas for certain skits he could do on the show. Do the #Dogefather pic.twitter.com/JiZTHDRY8P — #Ðogecoin Hodler (@ChetAndrewGrant) May 1, 2021 A few days prior on April 28, the Tesla executive tweeted “The Dogefather SNL May 8,” which could be a reference to an upcoming DOGE mention on the show. Close to 10,000 people quoted Musk’s tweet on Twitter, it was retweeted more than 72,000 times and has over 422,000 likes at the time of writing. A great number of people replied to Musk’s tweet that day. “Your words give life and energy to dogecoin,” one woman from India wrote. “I have invested 5k Indian rupees in doge. Bought at 27 INR. Just 184 doge coins. Now in a little dip. This 5k is very very small for big investors. But it’s hard earned money for me,” she added. The woman’s tweet got over 4,541 likes on Twitter and was retweeted quite a bit. Since Musk’s tweet, the hashtag trends #dogefather and #DogecoinToTheMoon have been quite viral on Twitter. Queries for Dogecoin Reach the Highest Score on Google Trends Of course, members of the Shibe Army helped fuel the dogecoin (DOGE) trends on Twitter as well. “Elon Musk is bringing Scooby Snacks to SNL. I suppose I’ll give in and get a small bag of DOGE,” one individual said. “Thank you #Dogefather,” another person tweeted. “You made me make back what I lost. Wishing you guys hit that dollar mark.” Dogecoin is not only making the rounds via shills on Twitter, as there are also thousands of DOGE videos on Youtube, lots of Shiba Inu posts on Facebook, and plenty of dogecoin mentions on Reddit and Instagram as well. Meanwhile, on Google Trends (GT) worldwide statistics, the term “dogecoin” recently tapped a score of 100, which is the highest a search query can get on GT. Now the term “dogecoin” captured that score on the week of April 11 through the 17th. However, from April 18 to the 24th, the term dipped under the 100 mark to 99 and the platform forecasts an upcoming trend dip. On Saturday evening, the overall dogecoin (DOGE) economy officially captured a $50 billion market valuation. What do you think about the recent dogecoin rally and Elon Musk’s “Dogefather SNL” tweet? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A chief economist at UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, sees a number of problems with bitcoin. In attempting to answer the question of whether the cryptocurrency defies the zeitgeist, he claims that “bitcoin is denied to those minority groups who have reduced online access.” UBS Chief Economist Sees Multiple Problems With Bitcoin Paul Donovan, Chief Economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, published a weekly update entitled “Does Bitcoin defy the Zeitgeist?” on the UBS website Friday outlining a number of issues he sees with the cryptocurrency. UBS is the largest bank in Switzerland. “There is something weird about Bitcoin. Bitcoin seems to specifically defy the spirit of the age, in a way other cryptos do not,” he began, adding: Some suggest bitcoin is a safe haven from runaway inflation. But controlling supply does not guarantee value … Bitcoin has a history of extreme price fluctuation. “We cannot keep living on environmental credit and must become increasingly sustainable,” he continued, claiming that “Bitcoin is increasingly destructive to the environment – the more that is created and used, the worse the environmental damage.” Furthermore, he asserted: “There is a global focus on reducing inequality. Bitcoin has extraordinarily unequal ownership. Holdings are concentrated amongst a tiny number of people, and its governance is more plutocratic than democratic.” The economist additionally claimed: Politicians and economists increasingly value inclusion, yet bitcoin is denied to those minority groups who have reduced online access. As for the zeitgeist, he concluded that “The modern trend that Bitcoin embraces is the power of narrative. Story telling matters hugely to Bitcoin’s evolution. Otherwise, Bitcoin seems opposed to the modern zeitgeist.” Many bitcoiners took to social media to counter Donovan’s argument. Bitcoin proponent Max Keiser tweeted: “UBS doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘Zeitgeist.’ Faced with an existential threat from Bitcoin – as the real popular zeitgeist moves against them — Paul Donovan blabs boomer claptrap to the bank’s geriatric constituency hoping to stave off extinction. It won’t work.” Another Twitter user concurred: “I’m not sure you understand what the word ‘zeitgeist’ means – else you’d be saying that Bitcoin is an integral part of it.” Regarding Donovan’s claim of bitcoin’s reduced access for minority groups, many people pointed out the hypocrisy. A different Twitter user commented: Yeah sure, a UBS bank account is more available to these poor minority groups than a free bitcoin wallet on a cheap Android phone. Another emphasized several flaws in Donovan’s claims, including that “UBS requires a balance of 10,000 Swiss Franks … to have an open account. I think people in crypto and bitcoin would agree this is a barrier for the people you claim to support.” In January, Donovan wrote that cryptocurrency has a fundamental flaw and that bitcoin’s fixed supply could cause the collapse of its value and spending power. What do you think about Paul Donovan’s view on bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Visa CEO Al Kelly says that the payments giant is leaning into the cryptocurrency space “in a very, very big way.” He outlines five key areas of crypto opportunities that Visa is focusing on, stating that his company is “extremely well-positioned.” Visa Is Focusing on 5 Crypto Areas During Visa’s earnings call for the period ended March 31 last week, the payments giant outlined its commitment to the crypto space, highlighting five key areas the company is focusing on. Al Kelly, Visa’s chairman and chief executive officer, began by noting that there are “two market segments” his company sees in the crypto space. One is bitcoin, which he described as “primarily” an asset held by people. “We kind of think of them as the digital gold,” he continued. “Then there are digital currencies, including central bank digital currencies [CBDCs] and stablecoins that are directly backed by existing fiat currencies.” The CEO further revealed: Our focus is on five different opportunities that we see in this space. And I would say that this is a space that we are leaning into in a very, very big way and I think are extremely well-positioned. The first opportunity the Visa CEO outlined is “enabling consumers to make a purchase of these currencies or bitcoin.” He elaborated, “we’re working hard with wallets and exchanges to just make sure we’re facilitating acceptance in people’s ability to use their Visa cards to buy.” The second opportunity is “enabling digital-currency cash-outs to fiat,” Kelly explained, adding that it means “converting a digital currency to a fiat on a Visa credential, which then makes those funds available for shopping at any one of the 70 million Visa merchants and gives immediate utility to the digital currency.” The CEO noted: “We’ve got over 35 digital-currency platforms and wallets that have chosen to work with us. Coinbase, Crypto.com, Blockfi, Fold, Bitpanda are just some examples. And so that’s certainly a second big opportunity.” The third opportunity in the crypto space Visa is focusing on is enabling financial institutions and fintech partners to be able to offer a crypto option for their customers. Kelly explained that Visa has “created APIs that enable financial institution customers to purchase, custody, or even trade digital currencies held by Anchorage, which is the first federally charted digital asset bank in the U.S. And we’ve done our first rollout with First Boulevard, which is a digital neobank focused on building generational wealth for the black community.” The fourth opportunity is “settlement,” which the CEO said: “We’ve upgraded our infrastructure to allow a financial institution to settle with these in a digital currency with stablecoin, starting with USDC.” The last area of opportunity in the crypto space “is just working with central banks,” Kelly concluded. What do you think about Visa diving into crypto in five areas? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has compiled a list of 19 large-cap stocks with cryptocurrency exposure that have massively outperformed the S&P 500. “On average, these stocks have dramatically outperformed the S&P 500 during the last several months alongside the surge in the price of bitcoin,” the firm wrote. 19 Stocks With Crypto Exposure That Outperformed S&P500 Goldman Sachs released a research note last week listing 19 large-cap U.S. stocks with blockchain and cryptocurrency exposure that outperformed the S&P 500. Ben Snider, the bank’s strategist and managing director, said: “Our screen yields 19 stocks with market caps greater than $1 billion … On average, these stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 by 34 percentage points year to date (+46% vs. +12%).” He noted that during the same time period, the price of bitcoin rose by 86% and Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index increased 156%. The Goldman Sachs strategist elaborated: On average, these stocks have dramatically outperformed the S&P 500 during the last several months alongside the surge in the price of bitcoin. The stocks on Goldman’s list are Marathon Digital Holdings; Riot Blockchain; Microstrategy, Class A; Silvergate Capital Corp., Class A; Square, Class A; Paypal Holdings; Overstock; Nvidia; Investview; Ideanomics; Tesla; JPMorgan Chase; Visa, Class A; Bank of New York Mellon Corporation; Facebook, Class A; Mastercard, Class A; Broadridge Financial Solutions; IBM; and Coinbase, Class A. The analysts at Goldman Sachs used a three-pronged strategy to find these stocks. The first is a “Text search,” in which the firm looked for keywords such as “blockchain” and “cryptocurrency” in company filings, earnings calls, presentations, and news articles over the past 12 months. Secondly, the firm used “Regression beta analysis” to test for regression beta of these company share prices relative to bitcoin, or how much the shares moved if the price of bitcoin moved. Lastly, the firm examined the inclusion in 3rd party blockchain indexes and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has brought back its bitcoin trading desk and will be launching a “full spectrum” of crypto investment products. In March, the firm reported seeing huge institutional demand for BTC. CEO David Solomon said early this month that he expects a “big evolution” coming to cryptocurrency regulation. What do you think about Goldman Sachs’ list of crypto stocks that outperformed the S&P 500? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Fundstrat Global Advisors’ most recent “Weekly Crypto Briefing” and the company’s lead digital asset strategist, David Grider, opines a target bitcoin price of $100k per coin is still “intact.” Moreover, Fundstrat believes that the price of ethereum will reach a $10k target, while the entire crypto-economy is “on pace to hit $5 trillion.” Fundstrat Maintains $100K Target for Bitcoin The independent financial research firm Fundstrat has a very bullish view of the current trajectory of cryptocurrency markets in the future. Fundstrat’s digital asset strategist, David Grider explains in the company’s weekly briefing covering digital assets that bitcoin (BTC) has rebounded after a “healthy cooling-off period last week.” Grider’s report further says that “the macro backdrop remains accommodative [and the] bull market remains intact.” The Fundstrat briefing stresses: We believe the bull market remains intact, and we are maintaining our $100k Bitcoin price target. One of the accommodative reasons for the bullish view Fundstrat mentions is that the Federal Reserve met this week and decided to keep its monetary easing policies intact. “The Fed’s recent guidance that it plans to remain accommodative should be supportive for risk assets like crypto,” Grider remarked. The digital asset strategist said the company said it had predicted a rush of corporates entering the crypto space back in January and Fundstrat claims this has come to fruition for the most part. Grider noted that the company thinks this will “happen more and will be one new source for capital flows into the crypto economy.” ‘Ethereum Continues to Outperform Bitcoin’ After the report discussed bitcoin (BTC) and corporates entering the crypto industry, Fundstrat’s Grider detailed that the firm maintains a price target of $10.5k per ether, and mentioned the crypto asset “continues to outperform BTC.” Ethereum’s digital economy gives Fundstrat executives a bullish outlook and the report notes “large amounts of development happening” on the ETH network. “These applications are generating ~3x the fees for the Ethereum network vs. Bitcoin which trades at ~3x the market cap— Ethereum and others are enabling new financial applications which have grown significantly in scale over the last year,” the Fundstrat report highlights. Ethereum Towers Over Competitors Fundstrat is not the only ones predicting ethereum (ETH) prices can make it to $10k per coin. The popular digital asset proponent and investor, Spencer Noon, also discussed ether blasting off to the $10k region this week. Noon tweeted about a list of “10 signs ETH is well on its way to $10k.” “Ethereum dwarfs every blockchain in terms of fees paid, with a current run rate of nearly $7 billion— confirming massive demand for ETH block space,” Noon added. The Twitter thread continued: Ethereum settles $30.5 billion worth of value per day, far more than Bitcoin and every other blockchain— to put this into context, Paypal settles ~$2.5 billion daily. Ethereum has 625k daily active addresses (90-day MA) — a figure that continues to climb and now sits comfortably at ATHs. Noon’s Twitter thread continues to list the advantages ETH has had over BTC in recent times. Bitcoin.com News recently reported on how ethereum’s market valuation has been eating away at BTC dominance. In fact, in recent days, ETH dominance has jumped over the 15 percentile zone, but today is 14.6%. At the start of 2021, BTC dominance was in the 60 percentile range and even bumped up to 70% this year. However, BTC dominance, partly due to ETH’s market cap but also a number of other crypto assets, have been nibbling away at bitcoin’s lunch. What do you think about the financial research firm Fundstrat’s recent briefing? Do you think ethereum will get to $10k per unit? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article