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Bitcoin Blockchain

El Salvador Uses Part Of Its Bitcoin Profit To Build A Vet

As part of the Bitcoin revolution taking place in El Salvador, the country’s Congress had approved the establishment of a $150 million Bitcoin Trust fund to facilitate the conversion of Bitcoin to US dollars. The fund with a balance of $150 million (split between US dollars and Bitcoin) has now generated over $4 million in profit since the country purchased Bitcoin when the price was dropping.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter that part of the profit will now be used to construct a pet hospital in its local capital of San Salvador. “We’ll start building this pet hospital with our #BTC profits,” he said.

The president further noted that it wouldn’t be selling any of its bitcoins to fund the purchase. Instead, the country will be “using the USD part of the trust, since the BTC part is now worth more than when the trust was established.”

Following a computer-generated mock-up video he shared on the upcoming project, Bukele highlighted that the facility will be able to perform 64 surgeries, attend to 384 consultations, and respond to 128 emergencies.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Story Continues

Earlier last month, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender, allowing businesses to accept the cryptocurrency for all payments. The move brought mixed reactions, being largely applauded by Bitcoin enthusiasts, but frowned at by others.

Some citizens took to the streets of Salvador to protest against the adoption, arguing that the decision will bring instability in the country and calling the President a dictator who uses an authoritarian approach in his administration.

But the protests have understandably not stopped Bitcoin adoption from taking off in El Salvador. According to a report a few days ago, more people have Chivo bitcoin wallets than traditional bank accounts in the country. As per the report, 3 million Salvadorans representing 46% of the country’s population currently have downloaded the government-powered Chivo wallet app.

Since the country legalized Bitcoin as legal tender on September 7, the cryptocurrency has appreciated by over 30% and hit a fresh high above $57,000, its highest value since May.

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Altcoins Blockchain

Top Five Cryptocurrencies to Watch

The goal of every project in the crypto industry is to get noticed by investors and retailers as it will improve their demand. Unfortunately, not every cryptocurrency gets the same attention. Market sentiment shows that the top 100 coins piques the interest of investors and as a result many projects FOMO for a spot.

In recent times, we’ve seen projects enter and exit the market cap ranking as it is the fore front of the crypto market. As of the time of writing, the least coin according to Cryptocurrencies to watch in the crypto fore front has a market cap of $1.13 billion.

With volatility in view, we may expect to see a new reshuffle of the top 100s. The 90th spot to the last spot on table has been the area with so many concentrations. This  trend is not stopping any time. Let’s take a look at five cryptocurrencies to watch beneath the top 100.

Nexo

NEXO is the native token of blockchain-based lending platform, Nexo, that offers users instant cryptocurrency-backed loans. Users can deposit an accepted token — such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) or XRP (XRP) — as collateral to receive a loan in the form of a fiat currency or stablecoin.

The Nexo platform was launched in 2018 and is the world’s first crypto credit line that allows digital asset holders to obtain fiat and stablecoin loans against their cryptocurrency, laying the foundations of the crypto lending niche.

It was founded by a team of finance professionals and crypto enthusiasts, who turned to blockchain to create the crypto equivalent to a service well established in traditional finance, but hitherto non-existent in digital finance— borrowing against the value of your assets while retaining ownership.

The NEXO/USD pair has increased by more than 12% in the last seven days. The coin currently has a market cap of $1.01 billion and is the 107th coin by market cap. To secure an entry to the top 100, the pair has to increase by up to 20%.

We notice that the NEXO/USD pair has surged past the keltner channel. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) has intercepted some days ago and the fast line is also on the rise. The highlighted indicators are pointing to a quick 20% surge before a cooldown.

Audio

Audius presents another utility of the blockchain. It is a decentralized music-sharing and streaming protocol that facilitates direct transactions between listeners and creators, giving everyone the freedom to distribute, monetize, and stream any audio content.

Audio is the native token of the project and helps its HODLers participate in protocol governance voting and staking to unlock features like artist tokens and badges and receive voting power from fans.

AUDIO has not had much movement lately. The coin has been ranging as it maintains its stay in the lowest part of the keltner channel. MACD is about to take the plunge, revealing an incoming price dip. The stochastic oscillator is showing a bit of positivity as it has been enjoying a gradual rise.

Putting all the above indicators into perspective, we may expect that the AUDIO/USD pair will experience price dips. After the recovery, the pair will see a massive hike in prices that will guarantee a return to the top 100s.

DigiByte

DigiByte is an open source blockchain that uses five different algorithms to improve security, and originally aimed to improve on the Bitcoin blockchain’s security, capacity and transaction speed. The asset creation platform is a longstanding blockchain and cryptocurrency with its creation spanning from October 2013 to January 2014.

Jared Tate created DGB as a modification of Bitcoin which aims to diversify security, speed and capacity possibilities. The coin currently has a market cap of $762 million and is the 124th coin by market cap according to Cryptocurrencies to Watch.

Stochastic oscillator shows DGB/USD pair attempting a breakout above 80. MACD intercepted a few days back but the fastest line is still on the rise. The pair is holding onto the upper band of the Keltner channel and also aiming for a breakout from this indicator. DGB may enjoy more price surges over the next few days.

NANO

Nano was conceived by Colin LeMahieu and was launched as Raiblock in 2014 but was rebranded as NANO in 2018. Nano is described as a lightweight cryptocurrency that is designed to facilitate secure, instant payments without fees, and addresses some of the major limitations of both legacy financial infrastructure and many modern cryptocurrencies.

Nano is achieving its aims as transactions reach absolute finality within less than a second and are free. This is ideal for the commercial system as the delay between sending and receiving funds is bridged. The project, with its $731 million valuation is currently the 129th coin by market cap.

Volatility has remained relatively the same for the past seven days as seen on the Bollinger Band. The on-balance volume is having an upswing as we notice an increase in nano trading volume. It is also important to note that note that the NANO/USD pair tried exiting the Keltner channel but faced resistance. An exit from the highlighted channel may result in the pair surging as high as $6.

SAND

Sandbox was launched in 2011  as a blockchain-based virtual world allowing users to create, build, buy and sell digital assets in the form of a game. By combining the powers of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the Sandbox creates a decentralized platform for a thriving gaming community.

SAND is the utility token for sandbox that facilitates transactions on the platform. The coin was founded by Arthur Madrid, a co-founder of the parent company Pixowls. Sandbox is a unique platform because it introduces blockchain technology to the world of gaming. The platform has already attracted gaming companies like Atari, Helix and CryptoKitties.

Based on sandbox utility, it is safe to conclude that the best is yet to come for this project as its ever-growing users will have a tremendous impact on its token. This may result in a return to the top 100. The price chart shows that the SAND/USD pair is ranging with a breakout in view. We noticed that the Bollinger band is slightly expanding, heralding an impending uptrend.

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Bitcoin Blockchain

46% of Salvadorans Now Have Bitcoin Wallets

Barely one month after El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went live, a great majority of the country’s residents have adopted this emerging asset class.

According to a Forbes report on Friday, there are currently more Salvadorans using the country’s Chivo bitcoin wallet than there are those with bank accounts.

About three million Salvadorans currently have the Chivo wallet app downloaded on their devices, and according to the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, this number represents about 46% of El Salvador’s population, a contrast to the 27% of residents with bank accounts recorded in 2017. 

Interestingly, this figure represents only those using the Chivo wallet. President Bukele pointed out earlier that Salvadorans are not mandated to use the Chivo wallet as they can choose to use any other type of Lightning Network-enabled bitcoin wallet.

Additionally, an increasing number of Salvadorans are quickly converting their USD into bitcoin and holding onto the digital asset, using it for day-to-day transactions in stores where they are accepted.

The bitcoin adoption decision made by El Salvador has fostered financial inclusion among low-income Salvadorans who have no access to banks.

Users only need a smartphone and internet access to make use of the digital currency, and this has seen many of El Salvador’s poorest regions enjoy the benefits of bitcoin.

While El Salvador has witnessed a surge in the number of bitcoin users, only a handful of businesses operating in the country have received payments in bitcoin.

Plagued with several technical issues, businesses and consumers are finding it very difficult to use their bitcoins to make purchases.

A survey conducted by the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development on 233 companies across different sectors revealed that a whopping 93% of companies have not received any bitcoin payment.

El Salvador made waves globally when it became the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender, with President Bukele expressing his belief in bitcoin’s potential.

While this decision was met with mixed reactions, with bitcoin critics not hiding their displeasure in the move and bitcoin enthusiasts showing their full support for it, President Bukele remains certain that it was a “forward-thinking” decision.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain Business DeFi News

Google Partners With Bakkt To Increase The Use Of Crypto

Intercontinental Exchange-backed crypto startup, Bakkt has announced a partnership with the popular American tech company, Google, to increase the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin in payments. 

Announcing the development today, the cryptocurrency exchange said henceforth, its customers will be able to add their Bakkt virtual card to the Google Pay platform, to purchase goods and services online. 

Notably, the payment method can also be used in physical stores where Google Pay is accepted. 

“This partnership is a testament to Bakkt’s strong position in the digital asset marketplace, to empower consumers to enjoy their digital assets in a real-time, secure, reliable manner,” Gavin Michael, Bakkt CEO, commented on the development. 

Bakkt Taps Google Cloud

Aside from the use of cryptocurrencies across Google Pay’s supported terminals, Bakkt noted that it will be using the Google Cloud platform as its main cloud service provider, with plans to market its solution powered by the tech to various retailers and merchants in the U.S.

The ICE-backed exchange noted that it will leverage Google Cloud’s tools to build new analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) to establish better business insights. 

These insights, according to Bakkt, will provide its customers with expanded loyalty redemption options, while its partners will get better information about consumer behavior patterns. 

Commenting on the development, Kirsten Kliphouse, Google Cloud President of North America, said Google Cloud has been imperative in accelerating the growth of the global e-commerce industry, adding: 

“We are proud to help Bakkt accelerate and scale the availability of their innovative solutions, powered by our technologies.” 

While the use of cryptocurrencies as an investment tool has been one of the reasons interest in the assets has surged lately, many firms are still considering ways to boost cryptocurrency adoption by expanding their usability beyond investing. 

Many financial experts believe that cryptocurrencies will only gain mainstream adoption until they are widely used in payments. 

With this in mind, several crypto-related firms have developed crypto debit cards that will enable customers to pay for goods and services across cryptocurrency-supported terminals.

Meanwhile, Coinfomania reported that BitPay partnered with Verifone to enable consumers to pay for goods and services using cryptocurrencies. 

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Altcoins Blockchain Business News Press Release

Binance Has Banned South Africans From Using Most Of Its Services

Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has revealed in an official announcement today, that it will halt derivatives offerings to its South African users.

Binance noted that the new changes are in a bid to comply with local regulations, and therefore, South African customers will no longer be able to lay hold on certain derivatives on its service platform.

While the ruling goes into effect immediately, existing customers have been allowed a 90 days ultimatum to close their holdings on affected derivative products such as; Margins, Futures, Leverage Tokens, and Options.

Per the announcement, customers will no longer be allowed to open new cryptocurrency accounts for affected products.

Meanwhile, to avoid sudden liquidation, South Africans using these product platforms are still allowed to top-up their margin balances.

However, both old and new customers are not allowed to open new positions or increase existing ones.

Why The Halt?

The development follows a notice that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in September met with Binance to iron out issues surrounding regulatory matters.

Today’s announcement may be an indication that the engagement did not yield results in favor of Binance, hence the decision.

If customers refuse to heed these instructions on or before January 6th, 2022, Binance noted that they risk losing their positions, as they will not be able to manually reduce their position or even gain access to them.

Binance Feud With Regulatory Watchdogs

Binance has been dealing with regulatory issues from regulatory bodies in different countries where it carries out its operations. 

That’s not all. Binance has been warned by almost all the countries in the world, including Australia, Thailand, Germany,  and the United States of America, to desist from offering its services to residents.

The increased surveillance from regulators had prompted the crypto exchange to resort to blocking some of its services from residents in most countries, with the most recent one being Singapore.

At this time, Binance is doing all it can to provide its users with a sustainable ecosystem on all sides of digital assets and blockchain technology.

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Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News

Earning 10 Free BTC On Bitwells Exchange

As the crypto-economy continues to boom and more and more companies join the industry, individuals are offered many new and interesting ways to get exposure to cryptocurrencies. 

Besides the old traditional way of mining, investors now can earn money by trading, staking, and through airdrops and giveaways. Futures trading remains the most profitable and popular method as it allows traders to earn money with the ups and downs of crypto prices. With leverage, traders can even increase their earnings 10 times or even 100 times. 

But with Bitcoin and major altcoins getting more and more valuable, the thresholds of investing in them are raised. Bitwells is now offering a 100% deposit bonus to every user. With the bonus, traders can increase their exposure and add more bitcoin to their accounts. 

What is Bitwells?

Bitwells is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that provides traders with instant access to 100x leverage crypto futures trading on different trading pairs. At present, Bitwells has more than 200,000 traders and operates across 200+ countries/regions. 

Registration on Bitwells is easy and safe – you don’t need to put up with tedious KYC. Simply use an email address and you can enjoy 100x leverage, 100% deposit bonus, easy and intuitive trading interface, and free demo account

How much bonus is available?

When you deposit into Bitwells, the same amount of bitcoin will be accredited to your account (max. 10 BTC each deposit). Each deposit should be greater than 0.001 BTC for you to be eligible for the reward. For example, depositing 1 BTC will give you a 1 BTC bonus. Although the bonus is not withdrawable, you can use it as a margin to open bigger positions and take more profits. Profits made with the bonus are withdrawable. 

For example, if you open a call contract worth 0.01 BTC, you can earn 0.01 BTC on every 1% increase in bitcoin price. With the 100% bonus, you can open a call contract worth 0.02 BTC with just 0.01 BTC coming from your wallet, and earn 0.02 BTC on every 1% increase in bitcoin price.

Tutorials

A demo account is created together with your trading account. The demo account has a 10-BTC balance so that the user can test bold and wild trading strategies. All trading operations are simulated in a sandbox environment where all prices are the same as the real market.

The access to the demo account is integrated into the same website/app so you can switch between the real account and the demo at any time. 

Bitwells also provides academy materials and one-on-one trading education if you need it. 

High-level security

Bitwells stores most of its coins in cold wallets, which makes them completely unreachable by malicious actors. Users can activate two-factor authentication (2FA) when logging in, while the site itself is encrypted with SSL technology and offers protection against DDoS attacks. 

Customer support

Bitwells boasts itself for its attentive customer support. 24/7 customer support means that you can report any issue or ask for trading advice anytime you want. You can send an email to the team or simply open a live chat. 

High liquidity and super-fast execution

On Bitwells, orders come from 15 market makers to ensure high liquidity. Bitwells executes 200K orders per second with minimum spreads. 

If you want to ride the crypto bull, don’t miss this opportunity to double your funds!

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain Business DeFi News Ethereum News

Public.com Launches Cryptocurrency Trading On Its Platform

Commission-free stock and ETF trading app Public.com is the latest traditional investment company to offer cryptocurrency trading to its users.

WSJ reported today that the company said it will support trading of 10 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Litecoin (LTC), among others.

The brokerage company, which attained unicorn status after a $1.2 billion valuation as announced earlier this year, stated that the custody and the execution service for its new cryptocurrency trading product will be carried out by Apex Crypto, an affiliate of Apex Clearing.

The development comes a week after a member of the company’s support team disclosed that the company is working on adding support for cryptocurrencies.

With the announcement, Public.com joins its major competitor, Robinhood, in offering crypto-related investments.

However, Public.com will need to step up its game if it wants to become one of the major fintech firms offering cryptocurrency trading in the United States, especially now that Robinhood is close to launching its cryptocurrency wallet.

Launched in 2019 under the brand name Matador, Public.com is an online broker originally focussed on traditional financial instruments like stocks and exchange-traded funds.

To date, Public.com offers 11 stocks and four ETFs that are owned by crypto-related firms, including Coinbase (COIN), Microstrategy (MSTR), Tesla (TSLA), and Square (SQ), among others.

Many believe the reason the company changed its name from Metador to Public is that it runs a social media-like type of investment where users’ portfolios can be seen by other investors on the app.

Despite running a commission-free brokerage service, investors can choose to use the company’s unique tipping feature to give out tips to the broker for executing a trade.

Rising Cryptocurrency Interests

From traditional financial institutions offering crypto-related products to institutional involvement in cryptocurrencies, 2021 has proven to be a successful year for the industry.

These developments have contributed to the surging interest in cryptocurrencies from both retail and institutional clients, as they look to take early positions in the market given the potential of the asset classes.

Lately, banks and traditional investment companies have been left with limited options but to add crypto to their lists of services or risk losing a large percentage of their users to competitors.

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Bitcoin Blockchain News Press Release

U.S. Justice Dept. Plans To Tighten its Oversight on Crypto

With the rapidly increasing popularity of ransomware attacks in recent months, the U.S. Department of Justice has stepped up to tighten its surveillance on the crypto space.

An announcement made by the U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco during the Aspen Cyber Summit revealed two new crypto-focused initiatives launched by the Justice Department to cover cybercrime reporting.

The first mechanism, dubbed the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), involves anti-money laundering and cybersecurity experts who will focus on dismantling financial ecosystems that allow these criminals to flourish.

DAG Monaco said,

“Cryptocurrency exchanges want to be the banks of the future, well we need to make sure that folks can have confidence when they’re using these systems and we need to be poised to root out abuse… The point is to protect customers.”

In addition to the NCET, Monaco also announced the launch of a second mechanism initiative, the Civil Cyber Fraud, which will serve as a watchdog against government contractors in possession of federal funds who refuse to comply with cybersecurity standards.

It is worth noting that some companies under ransomware attacks often tend to sweep the attack under the carpet in a bid to hide the company’s loopholes from customers who have entrusted their funds to them in confidence.

The Civil Cyber Fraud initiative will encourage reporting on any ransomware attack.

“For too long, companies have chosen silence under the mistaken belief that it’s less risky to hide a breach than to bring it forward and report it. That changes today,” Monaco concluded.

This new development comes off the back of a series of ransomware attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges and government agencies in the United States, with hackers demanding payments in cryptocurrencies as blind to their real identity.

Only a few months back, popular ransomware attacker Revil launched what is still the largest attack the crypto space has ever recorded, covering several continents, affecting over 1 million companies in 17 countries, and demanding $70 million in bitcoin.

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Altcoins Blockchain DeFi News

21Shares’s SOL Product Generates $2 Billion in Assets

Popular cryptocurrency exchange-traded product (ETP) provider 21Shares has reached a groundbreaking milestone of $2 billion in assets under management (AUM), following the addition of its Solana (SOL) ETP.

Announcing the milestone today in a press release, 21Shares noted that its Solana ETP, which launched earlier this year under the ticker ASOL SE, has attracted the attention of institutional investors.

Despite listing on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX exchange) in less than five months, ASOL SE has surpassed over $100 million in AUM, making it the fastest-growing 21Shares’ ETPs the company has ever launched.

21Shares Massive Growth

However, Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin (BNB) were 21Shares dominating ETPs then.

The development comes just over a year after 21Shares reached $100 million in assets under management.

At the moment, 21Shares currently manages more than $2 billion in 17 different cryptocurrency ETPs, including  Polkadot, Solana, Ethereum, etc.

The products are already listed across eight regulated exchanges in Europe and Switzerland, the company said in the announcement.

The company’s massive growth has seen it quadruple its number of staff from 20 to 80 in less than a year.

Commenting on the company’s tremendous growth, Hany Rashwan, Co-Founder and CEO of 21Shares said:

“We’ve been extremely fortunate to have our business strategy – including our people and product plans – align with market activity to create such unprecedented opportunities. We look forward to continuing to expand and update on our progress over the next few months.”

Solana’s Outstanding Performance in 2021

Like Ethereum, Solana has become the home of various decentralized finance (DeFi) developers, as many decentralized applications (dApp) have gone live on the open-source blockchain platform.

However, unlike Ethereum, users have enjoyed faster and less expensive transactions, causing more investors to adopt its native cryptocurrency, SOL.

SOL has by far been one of the most remarkable cryptocurrency on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.

Per data on Coingecko, SOL began the year at $1.50 and surged to an all-time high of $213.47 in early September, making it the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

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Bitcoin Blockchain Business DeFi News News Press Release

Natwest Bank Found Guilty Of $554M Money Laundering

The case of NatWest Bank, and many others, is standing proof that traditional fiat institutions and even banks have been found to promote more money laundering transactions than bitcoin, as opposed to the argument raised by several bitcoin critics.

The major British retail and commercial bank has recently pleaded guilty to charges of failing to comply with anti-money laundering compliance and facilitating the laundering of a whopping $554 million by its client.

The Alleged Money Laundering Case

On Thursday, during a hearing in Westminster Magistrates’ Court, NatWest Bank pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to monitor the accounts of its UK incorporated customer.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) alleged that NatWest Bank had failed to properly monitor the suspicious activities of its client, Fowler Oldfield, a jewelry wholesaler which deposited £365 million (over $500 million) within the space of five years.

The gold dealer had become a NatWest Bank client earlier in 2011 and its annual turnover was projected to be £15 million ( $20.5 million), with the agreement that NatWest would not handle cash.

However, during the space of five years, the gold dealer had paid about £264 million in cash into its accounts and was even paying £1.8 million every day at one point.

Fast forward to 2016, Fowler Oldfield was shut down following a police investigation into a “sophisticated” money laundering operation in which it had allegedly been involved.

Clare Montgomery QC, the lawyer acting for the FCA stated,

“The facts of the case are complex, the likely sentence is a very large fine.”

After pleading guilty to the charges, NatWest Bank is scheduled to face sentencing in December, with a fine of up to £340 million ($462.2 million), although this will be determined by the judge.

NatWest CEO Apologises

Following the trial, NatWest Bank CEO, Alison Rose promptly tendered an apology on behalf of the bank.

She said in a statement,

“We deeply regret that NatWest failed to adequately monitor and therefore prevent money laundering. NatWest has a vital part to play in detecting and preventing financial crime and we take extremely seriously our responsibility.”

On its part, the FCA has confirmed that it will not be taking any legal action against current and former NatWest employees.

NatWest Bank also said in a statement that it would make a provision for the fine in its Q3 results, adding that it has already spent over £700 million to upgrade its money-laundering prevention systems.

Bitcoin critics often tend to ignore that although the digital currency is used by some bad players just the same way they use fiat currencies to launder money, bitcoin processes thousands of genuine transactions daily, and that should be a plus.

Just last month, a Maltese bank, not bitcoin, was charged for money laundering.

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Blockchain DeFi News News

CoinSwitch Raises $260M And Hits $1.9B Valuation

CoinSwitch Kuber has become the second cryptocurrency startup to attain unicorn status after raising $260 million in a Series C funding round. 

The recently concluded funding round was co-led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. 

Reuters reported today that the round also saw the participation of existing investors such as Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India, and Tiger Global.

The latest capital injection brought CoinSwitch valuation to a whooping $1.9 billion, making the firm the second crypto unicorn after CoinDCX and the 30th unicorn company to be registered this year in India. 

Recall that CoinDCX became a unicorn company in late August after its valuation reached $1.1 billion. CoinDCX’s major competitor, CoinSwitch Kuber, has surpassed the landmark achievement in less than two months. 

Aside from the $300 million Series C investment round, CoinSquare has raised about $300 million till date, which includes the $25 million and $15 million that was invested in the company’s Series B and A funding round. 

Rising Crypto Interest Amid Unclear Regulations  

Indian regulators have refused to propose a crypto bill that will put to rest every confusion about crypto-related products. Despite the regulatory uncertainty in the Indian cryptocurrency space, investors have remained resilient as they continue to support cryptocurrencies.

This is evident in CoinSwitch’s remarkable growth in less than two years, with the company seeing the sign up of more than 10 million customers at press time. 

The firm plans to use the recent capital injection to improve its services and offer cryptocurrency lending and staking products, thus helping its user base to surge to 50 million. 

The Bengaluru-based crypto startup is also planning to onboard institutional clients and subsequently establish an ecosystem fund in the near future. 

a16z Investments in Crypto Startups

Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz has been on a rampage with its series of investments in several crypto-related start up firms ever since the virtual capital company announced a $2.2 billion cryptocurrency fund in June. 

So far, a16z has invested in One Digital Investment, Sky Mavis, the team behind the popular play to earn blockchain game Axie Infinity, and a host of others.

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Bitcoin Blockchain Price Analysis

Bitcoin Hits $55k And More Than $280m Is Liquidated

Bulls are grinning hard as they see the most valued crypto increase in price. We saw a more than 9% increase in the last 24 hours. This increase in the price was responsible for Bitcoin hitting $55k.

Many traders took to Twitter to express their excitement. One user, Peter MccCormork reminded many who opposed El Salvador move on bitcoin of the advantages the country has. He said “so El Salvador’s #bitcoin purchases are in the green. I think @steve_hanke owes someone an apology.”

Another user, @traderkylec reminisced on the outcome of his $50 bitcoin gift to his sister in 2018. He said, “Gave my sister $50 worth of #bitcoin for Christmas 2018. She’s still got it and I asked her how’s it looking today: https://t.co/GSm6btpxkN”.

We are seeing a daily candle worth more than $3,500. We notice the increase in buying pressure as displayed by the Relative Strength Index (RSI). Talking about this increase one Twitter user who goes by the name Ki-Young Ju responded to the question on everyone’s mind as to the reason for the surge.

He tweeted that Someone(s) bought up $1.6B worth $BTC via market orders in just 5 minutes. Short liquidations seem relatively smaller like $17M at that time. This is more like whale buying, not cascade liquidations.

Bitcoin current high is no surprise to Coinposters as it pointed to the price in one of its many analyses. The analysis states that On average, bitcoin gains more than 20% every tenth month. Going by this, we may see a 10% increase during the next 30 days. This may result in the king coin surging as high as $55,000 provided the coin stays off bearish sentiment for most of the month.

The recent high has resulted in the bulls losing more than $270 million. The cryptocurrency with the biggest REKT funds is Binance as it accounts for 28% of the total liquidation. We notice that the bulls still have the largest stake in crypto derivatives.

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Bitcoin Blockchain News Opinion Press Release Regulation

The United States Doesn’t Support China’s Decision To Ban Bitcoin

Gary Gensler, chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated during a conference with members of Congress that the commission has no plans to ban Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Gensler noted that banning crypto does not fall under the commission’s duties, and that the country’s approach is different from that of China, adding that the digital currency ban will be up to Congress.

His statement came after North Carolina Representative Ted Budd, a longtime supporter of cryptocurrencies, asked if the commission would impose a China-like ban on digital currencies.

He responded, “No, that would be up to Congress,” adding, “I am technology-neutral. I think that this technology has been and can continue to be a catalyst for change, but technologies don’t last long if they stay outside of the regulatory framework.”

Gensler’s statements are in line with those of the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, who stated during a congressional hearing on September 30 that the “U.S. has no plans to ban crypto.” 

However, he did add that stablecoins are money-market funds and it is proper that they should be regulated.

Cryptocurrency trading has been prohibited in China for the longest time. However, it has continued online through foreign exchanges.

In May, the Chinese government declared that it would toughen its stance on the cryptocurrency ban and warned that traders would not be safeguarded if they continued trading bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Financial institutions and payment platforms were prohibited from offering services related to cryptocurrencies.

The most recent move against crypto assets came on September 24, when China’s central bank declared that all cryptocurrency-related transactions are illegal, adding that they threaten the “safety of people’s assets” in the country and that they must be banned.

Following the recent ban, ten Chinese government agencies vowed to work together to eradicate cryptocurrency illegal trading activities in the country.

China’s recent crackdown on cryptocurrency ban has raised questions about whether a similar decision will be made by the U.S.

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Blockchain Business DeFi News

Axie Infinity Bags $152M In Series B Funding

Sky Mavis, creator of the blockchain-enabled play-to-earn video game, Axie Infinity today announced that it has raised $152 Million from a new funding round led by popular American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

The announcement came just a day after several reports that the technology company will be raising approximately $150 million in a Series B funding round at a valuation near $3 billion.

The Series B funding round was also supported by other crypto investors including global exchange giant FTX, Accel, Paradigm, Standard Crypto, as well as Fabric Ventures, and Samsung Next.

As per the announcement, the Axie Infinity creator noted that the fresh capital will be used to “fuel the play-to-earn revolution.”

“This new funding round will allow us to fuel the play-to-earn revolution, bring in incredible talent from across the globe, scale our infrastructure for expected growth, and build our own distribution platforms to support game developers to create NFT-enabled games,” Sky Mavis said.

Axie Infinity is a blockchain-enabled online video game that rewards players with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for breeding furry creatures called Axies.

The platform developed in 2018 has now gained mainstream success and has become the largest NFT project of all time.

Sky Mavis revealed that it is also planning a major upgrade to its gaming platform and the release of its Ronin-based decentralized exchange.

The technology company noted that Axie Infinity is the first game created to be possessed by its community of players and that it has expanded from 38,000 daily active players in April 2021 to over 2 million daily active users currently, with $2.2 Billion in volume traded on its proprietary NFT marketplace.

“The game’s growth is a phenomenal testament to how deeply this model is resonating with people around the world… The Axie team has triggered an earthquake in gaming and the industry is now forever changed,” Arianna Simpson, general partner at a16z said.

a16z is a long-term admirer of the gaming community. In August, the American venture capital firm invested in  Yield Guild Games (YGG), a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on investing in NFT-based games while leading its funding round that raised over $4.6 million.

The YGG team became the first Filipino founders to receive a16z’s sincere backing.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News Ethereum

BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA, XRP, SOL, DOGE Price Analysis

The global cryptocurrency market cap increased 3% in the last 24 hours. The industry is currently worth $2.18 million as it keeps picking up momentum. The table displaying the top 100 coins by market cap seems like greenery as almost every coin in it has had a significant increase in the last 24 hours.

Data from Cryptocurrencies to Watch coins shows that alts are the biggest gainers in the past 24 hours, as coins like Shiba Inu, gaining more than 90% and DOGE, HNT, and KLAY gaining more than 10%.

Meanwhile, market fundamentals are becoming increasingly bullish as the fear and greed index is displaying greed. The reading was neutral yesterday but has changed since the beginning of the day. Bitcoin hit $50,000 for the first time in 30 days as Ether took a step closer to $3,500. Will BTC and other cryptos continue to thrive? Let’s see what the charts say.

BTC/USDT

BTC hitting $50.000 was inevitable as a recent analysis pointed to the event taking place soon. The analysis stated that the clamor for $50k seems to be reduced as the coin edged closer to hitting the target.

A buildup to $50k was seen at $49k. The bulls are still holding this level in hopes of further price breakouts. We may see the expected breakout as we see the most valued coin edging closer to testing then first pivot resistance at $51,000.

The buyers are not relenting in their bid for more price improvements as we see BTC steady above $49k. We also note that the relative strength index (RSI) is still on the rise as it is currently at 61.7 compared to 58 from the last trading session.

Taking into consideration RSI and Pivot Point Standard, it is safe to conclude that we may see the largest coin by market cap above $51,000 soon

ETH/USD

Ether is yet to test $3,500 as expected by many. The largest alt took a step closer to the goal by hitting an intraday high of $3,475. More good news from ETH as it continues trading above the 50-day MA for the fourth day.

The second-largest coin is trading above its PP at $3,200 and has not dipped below the mark after its ascension. RSI is a little steady as there is currently almost an equal amount of pressure from both factions of traders.

A previous analysis stated that the largest alt may not be as bullish this month as traders anticipated. This prediction seems to be in play as the stability of RSI is hinting that ETH may not exceed $3,700 this week.

BNB/USD

The Binance coin after making a return to $400 has continued to enjoy gradual upswings. BNB is enjoying its most buyer-friendly day since the week’s beginning. The coin currently has an intraday high of $445 and a low of $422.

Buying pressure has been the deciding factor in the coin’s action. We noticed that BNB saw an increase in its trading as seen in the slight upward direction of RSI. Having attained the highest in almost 30 days, the BNB/USD pair will look to gain traction to test the first pivot resistance at $516.

The now third coin by market cap has to flip the $450 resistance to gain ensure a retest at the first pivot resistance. Unfortunately, there is no strong resistance before $500 that may serve as key support when flipped.

ADA/USD

As Cardano relinquishes its spot in the top 10, RSI revealed that the coin has not been receiving a lot of attention from investors as its current performance is not up to par with its contemporaries. The coin has been gaining and losing 1 or 2% for the past four days.

The ADA/USD pair is trading below its pivot point, suggesting that the coin is knee dipped in bearish dominance. At the rate at which the coin is moving, the week may end with Cardano still battling bearish dominance.

XRP/USD

Commenting on the previous state of XRP, a previous analysis stated that the XRP/USD pair will have to break the $1.1 resistance to trade above the 50-day MA. With the pivot point at $1.07, the sixth coin by market cap is still struggling to surge past the bearish zone.

A prediction was made that If the sixth largest coin holds the $1 support longer, we could expect it to trade above its PP before the end of the week. True to this prediction, we saw XRP surge as high as $1.08 – breaking the pivot point barrier.

The pair seem to have more price improvements in the coming days. As market conditions continue to foster buyer-friendly sentiment we may see XRP hit $1.1 before the end of the week.

SOL/USD

After experiencing a more than 25% increase last week, Solana seems to be going through a cool downn as it has lost more than 5% this week. regardless of the current losing streak, SOL is still trading above its pivot point.

RSI suggests that the responsible factor for the SOL latest streak is the increase in selling pressure. We noticed that Solana has been hit by sellers’ congestion that seems to be increasing every day.

We may see the SOL/USD pair as low as $140 at the end of the next seven days. By halting the sellers’ congestion the pair is facing and rallying the market, we may see Solana as high as $180.

DOGE/USD

Dogecoin price hike recently is similar in comparison to the previous that took it as high as $0.7. This is evident in the sudden rise in the relative strength index as shown in the chart below. Today, DOGE gained more than 6% – hitting an intraday high of $0.26 and a low of $0.23.

The increase in dogecoin price in the last 12 hours ensured that the coin surged past its PP. Based on the trajectory of the RSI, DOGE may be overbought in the next 48 hours. The DOGE/USD pair will respond with a price hike that may send the coin over $3. The buyers are looking to take profit at $1. One of the biggest threats to this aim is the second pivot resistance at $3.2.

Crypto Derivatives are seeing a decrease in participants as they are barely up to 60,000 traders. Nonetheless, $137 million was liquidated as the bulls continue to lead the market.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain Business DeFi News

U.S. Bank Will Start Offering Crypto Custody Services

As institutional interest in cryptocurrencies continues to surge, the popular American bank, U.S. Bank, has launched a custodial service for selected digital currencies. 

CNBC reported today that the bank will partner with New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) for the initiative, and will allow hedge fund managers to store private keys to their Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC). 

The report suggests that the fifth-largest United States bank also plans on adding support for other cryptocurrencies soon. 

U.S. Bank’s cryptocurrency custody service will only be available to institutional managers who have private funds in the United States or Cayman Island to allow the bank to easily verify the origin of the assets in line with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.  

Founded in 1863, U.S. Bank is currently ranked the fifth-largest bank in the United States with more than $8.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

Rising Interests in Cryptocurrencies

Gunjan Kedia, vice chairman of the bank’s Wealth Management and Investment Services unit, said the U.S. bank is launching crypto custodial services as its clients have continued to indicate interest in holding cryptocurrencies as a diversified asset class.

According to Kedia, after U.S. traditional financial institutions got the green light last year to custody cryptocurrencies, U.S. Bank conducted a survey to determine if their clients were interested in the assets. 

Interestingly, the bank found out that customers’ interests in cryptocurrencies were broader than they had always imagined and not limited to niche players, the report added.  

Financial Institutions Loosen Up

U.S. bank’s intention to provide custodial services for digital currencies goes on to show that traditional financial institutions, which once publicly frowned against cryptocurrencies, are now left with no option but to embrace the assets. 

The growth of cryptocurrencies has prompted several traditional financial institutions to take early positions in the unending opportunities of the assets, by offering various crypto-related services. 

Earlier this year, U.S. banks like BNY Mellon, State Street, and Northern Trust also indicated plans to offer cryptocurrency custodial services. 

Reacting to the development, Kedia said,

“I don’t believe there’s a single asset manager that isn’t thinking about it [cryptocurrency] right now.” 

Cryptocurrency adoption has surged tremendously this year, with interest in fiats declining rapidly due to economic challenges ushered in by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Many financial experts have predicted that fiats may not survive a more challenging financial crisis, while cryptocurrencies could weather the storm. 

“There’s something about the potential of this asset class and the underlying technology that would be prudent for us to stand up support for it,” Kedia added. 

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Altcoins Blockchain DeFi News Regulation

SEC Investigating USDC Issuer Circle

Only four months since its first announcement to go public at $4.5 billion valuations via a special purpose acquisition(SPAC) merger, stablecoin USDC issuer, Circle has revealed that the company has been summoned by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with an investigative subpoena.

An investigative subpoena is usually issued before the filing of any criminal charge and allows prosecutors to gather information before deciding whether to charge an entity with a crime.

The person or agency served an investigative subpoena is often expected to accept an interview and answer the prosecutor’s questions, provide documentary materials, or both.

On its part, Circle says it is all set to tender unreserved cooperation with the SEC’s regulatory requirements, stating:

“In July, we received an investigative subpoena from the SEC Enforcement Division requesting documents and information regarding certain of our holdings, customer programs, and operations. We are cooperating with their investigations.”

The latest development is closely related to the company’s efforts to go public via the SPAC merger with Concord Acquisition Corp.

USDC Not Stopping

In July last year, a Coinfomania report revealed that Circle’s stablecoin USDC has maintained its place as the second-largest stablecoin in the market, with over $1 billion market capitalization.

At the time of writing, the world’s second-largest stablecoin has surpassed a whopping market cap of $32 billion.

Earlier in June, Circle made a move to increase transparency and trust among USDC users by adjusting the composition of assets that back the stablecoin.

The company noted that USDC coins are now 100% backed by cash reserves and US Treasury bonds.

Since its entry into the cryptocurrency market, stablecoins have been welcomed by market participants who are weary of the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin.

More so, agitations about what could be a safer alternative to the shortcomings of USDT (Tether) since the token is not fully backed by the U.S. dollar and the claims that it would not submit to government auditing gave birth to USDC, as Circle boasts of requesting a government license

And now the stablecoin issuer is poised to meet with the SEC, hoping to receive a response in its favor.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News Ethereum NFT

YGG Gets $1 Million Worth of Star Atlas NFT Game Assets

Yield Guild Games (YGG), a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on investing in NFT-based games, recently announced that it will acquire $1 million worth of non-fungible token (NFT) gaming assets from the popular multiplayer online game, Star Atlas.

According to a press release shared with Coinfomania, the intended acquisition is part of a long-term partnership between Yield Guild Games and Star Atlas.

The two projects are closely aligned in terms of vision and mission. Both projects formed a strategic partnership in April to enable metaverse participants to lease NFTs on the in-game Star Atlas DeFi marketplace.

YGG noted that the blockchain-based, space-themed, grand strategy video game built on the Solana blockchain could gain global mainstream success in the coming years. 

The DAO has in the past acquired from previous Star Atlas drops, including several spaceships such as Calico Guardian, Compakt Hero, Opal Jetjet, Pearce X4, and others.

Speaking in a comment, Sarutobi Sasuke, Head of Partnerships at Yield Guild said,

“We believe that Star Atlas has the potential to become a leader in the play-to-earn space as it aims to offer a huge range of ways that players can participate in the game, in a valuable and meaningful way.”

Star Atlas aims to establish itself as the first blockchain game to provide its players with a cinematic-quality visual experience, stimulating a thrilling gaming experience for players.

The game, however, is still under development, with several new features being rolled out. Star Atlas has scheduled a Fraction Selection update to take place on October 5 and the release of a full game trailer on October 6 via a YouTube Premiere.

Over the past several months since its creation, the game’s development team has added up to over 130 staff, all currently working towards the official launch.

Micheal Wagner, the co-founder, and CEO of Star Atlas added,

“Our partnership with Yield Guild Games is bearing fruit for countless metaverse players worldwide, providing access to flourishing gaming communities based in the Philippines and throughout the world while giving an opportunity to millions of players to create their own prosperity through Star Atlas.”

YGG is set to acquire more in-game items once other NFT drops are launched in the coming months, including the upcoming NFT pack scheduled to drop on October 7.

Just last month, YGG raised $4.6 million in a funding round led by the leading venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain Business DeFi News Ethereum

Countries Leading Mainstream Crypto Adoption in CSAO Regions

Vietnam, Pakistan, and India are the top countries responsible for the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies in the Central, Southern Asia, and Oceania (CSAO) regions, popular blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis reports

The CSAO region, which is the fourth largest crypto market, saw $572.5 billion in value recorded between July 2020 and June 2021, representing 14% of the entire global transaction value within the period. 

In general, the report suggested that the entire CSAO crypto market increased by 2%, making the region one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. 

DeFi Key to CSAO Crypto Adoption 

While several factors were studied to determine what could have prompted mass cryptocurrency adoption in CSAO, decentralized finance activity was highlighted as the major reason investors are flocking into the crypto space. 

Per the report, a vast majority of the total cryptocurrency transactions were sent to various DeFi platforms like Uniswap, InstaDApp, dYdX exchange, Compound, Curve, Aave, 1Inch,  and 0xProtocol, among others.  

Notably, the largest size of transactions tagged as Professional-sized transfers saw investors in the region transfer between $10,000 and $1 million to different DeFi protocols, which represents 56% of the entire DeFi investments. 

Growing Global DeFi Activity

The global DeFi market has witnessed a massive boom since the mid-last year, with activities in the sector skyrocketing around the first two months of this year. 

Chainalysis in its recent report noted that the CSAO’s DeFi market surge was experienced in February this year, growing by more than 50% within the period. 

Although several investors are now delving into other sectors of the crypto market, like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), that have not stopped large volumes of capital from being locked across various DeFi protocols. 

Data on DeFi Pulse suggests that the total value of assets locked in different DeFi protocols is $90.04 billion, with popular lending platform Aave leading the ranking. 

Meanwhile, CSAO is not the only region studied in the Chainalysis Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index report. Last week, Coinposters reported that Europe became the largest cryptocurrency economy after receiving over $1 trillion worth of cryptocurrencies over the last year.

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Altcoins Blockchain Ethereum

Is October Another Dull Month For Ether?

The last 30 days have no doubt been one of the most dreaded. Ether ended September with losses of more than 14% as it hit a high of $4,025 and a low of $2,650. The coin closed last month at $3,000.

Ethereum gained most of last month’s loss, barely three days into the new one. Talks of a new all-time entered mainstream with many traders hopeful that we will see ETH break its current ATH by surging as high as $3,500. Will this vision become a reality this month?

Ethereum was introduced to the market in 2015. Since then, a total of five Octobers have passed, with ETH gaining the highest in 2015 (25.6%). Since the biggest win ETH have been plagued with severe price dips that led to the coin recording a loss of 0.6% every tenth month.

A clear pattern of a negative month being followed by a positive was established five years ago. The pattern no longer holds as we notice that ether was positive in both 2019 and 2020.

Price actions in the next 30 days is a little unclear as we may see a resumption of the yearly trend. If that happens, the largest alt may end the month at a 10% decrease – leaving the coin struggling to hold on to the $3k support.

Recent price performance also suggests that crypto’s second largest coin has not had a tremendous increase in the previous October. The highest the coin surge is by 7%. A defiance of the established pattern may result in ether hitting $3,700 with eyes set on the $4k resistance.

The current trading session is about to come to an end with ethereum barely gaining 1% during the time. Nonetheless, ETH held on to the $3,300 support.

It is also worth noting that Axie infinity the intraday session as the top gainer with an increase of more than 26%. AXS has a new all-time high ($138) as of this time.

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Bitcoin Blockchain

Global Cryptocurrency Market Cap Increases by 9%

The global cryptocurrency market cap is estimated at $2.12 trillion at the time of writing. The market is up by 9% thanks to the hike in prices of various cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin coin took the lead in the surge as it exceeded $48,000 during the last 24 hours. Data from Cryptocurrencies to Watch shows that bitcoin saw a $4k increase on the first day of October.

Ethereum ended last month down by 14% but have almost cover the losses with a 12% increase since the beginning of the new month beginning. Axie Infinity has made breaking its all-time high a daily duty – surging to a new one every day.

The recent improvement in market conditions has bolstered the conviction of a bullish fourth quarter. Many took to Twitter to express their convictions. One user, Crypto Vault said “In this fourth quarter of 2021, the digital asset market has transitioned from a pessimistic to an optimistic state of being as Bitcoin (BTC), the biggest and oldest cryptocurrency, finished last week with solid gains advancing into Uptober.”

The fourth quarter started with a lot of positivity, and a hint that it will be bullish till the end. Q4 has notably been the most productive for HODLers as it’s presumably the quarter with the highest increase.

We’ve had seven Q4 since 2015. Of the seven, only three were negative, while the crypto market saw gains in four. With this in mind, it is easy to conclude that this year’s last quarter will feature more uptrends like the rest.

How high will the market go? To answer this, we will consider bitcoin performance during this period. The highest increase BTC had is 210% and the lowest decrease is 40%. The king coin gains an average of 76% every Q4. Going by this, we may expect a than more 50% surge over the next three months.

Other coins will also respond with upswings. With a dominance of more than 40%, the projected increase in bitcoin and other coins may propel the global crypto market cap as high as 50%. Considering an unforeseen change of event, the market may devalue by 20%.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News News

Crypto Worth $750m Seized By South Korea’s Custom Service

The South Korean Custom Services has recently reported a sharp spike in the number of illegal crypto-related transactions detected in the country within the past eight months. 

In the report, the Korea Customs Service noted that it has seized digital currencies worth a whopping $750 million in several illegal crypto-related transactions between January and August 2021.

This figure is reportedly 40 times higher than the number of cryptos seized around the same period last year.

The ‘Kimchi Premium’ Fuels the Surge

The tax organization revealed that it had experienced a significant decline in the number of illegal crypto-related transactions conducted last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Representative Yang Kyung-sook of the National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee noted,

“Last year, illegal foreign exchange transactions also decreased due to the reduction of foreign exchange transactions and trade volume due to [COVID-19], but it is on the rise again this year. We need to come up with an effective response plan.”

As per the report, the figures appear to have skyrocketed due to the influence of the “Kimchi Premium”, a situation where bitcoins are traded at higher prices in Korea.

During the massive cryptocurrency surge between January and August of this year, the number of currency exchanges operating in South Korea exploded, with thousands of them conducting illegal transactions.

The revenue these illegal currency exchanges had amassed from crypto transactions amounted to 885.6 billion won (approximately $750 million), which, according to the Korea Customs Service, is subject to fines.

The South Korean government had earlier decided to implement a decree that will see crypto holders and businesses pay a 20% tax on crypto gains.

However, to gather the support of crypto enthusiasts in the upcoming presidential election, the country’s ruling party decided to delay the implementation of the crypto tax bill.

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Bitcoin Blockchain News

JP Morgan’s CEO Calls For Global Bitcoin Regulation

Bitcoin has once again come under attack from Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of American multinational investment bank JPMorgan Chase. 

Speaking in an interview with Axios CEO Jim Vandehei, Dimon, who reiterated that Bitcoin (BTC) has no intrinsic value, said the asset is a fool’s gold, adding that the cryptocurrency will be regulated. 

According to the JPMorgan Chase’s chairman, Bitcoin will have to be regulated since it is already being considered as money. 

They [governments] have to [regulate Bitcoin]. You can’t regulate everything a bank does in terms of moving money and not regulate what you would call money [cryptocurrencies].

In addition, Dimon stated that Bitcoin will be regulated because the asset class has been widely used by malefactors to conduct various illicit transactions in recent times, including sex trafficking, money laundering, as well as ransomware attacks. 

Dimon added that even though Bitcoin will stand the test of time, he has always expected the cryptocurrency to be restricted and banned in certain jurisdictions, referring to China’s ban of crypto-related activities last month. 

Debate Over Cryptocurrency Regulation

Several cryptocurrency experts have weighed into the debate on whether cryptocurrencies should be regulated. While many believe regulating cryptocurrencies could pave the way for more mainstream adoption, others fear the regulation could be at the detriment of the assets’ growth. 

Last month, the U.S. government increased its focus on regulating the crypto market in a bid to protect investors’ from fraudulent activities in the crypto space. U.S. authorities via the Treasury Department sanctioned a Russian-based cryptocurrency exchange that helped ransomware attackers launder funds. 

Dimon’s Unfavorable Stance Against Bitcoin

Dimon has always been vocal about his dislike for the leading virtual currency, even though his company has been reportedly working on offering Bitcoin products to wealthy clients.  The top official at JPMorgan Chase recently referred to investors who borrow money to invest in digital currency fools because the cryptocurrency has no intrinsic value. 

“I think if you borrow money to buy bitcoin, you’re a fool,” Dimon said last week in an interview with the Times of India. 

While Dimon noted that he does not care about Bitcoin’s performance, he said that people are wasting too much time and breath on the popular cryptocurrency, adding that he “I don’t really care about bitcoin […] I am not a buyer of bitcoin.”

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The Ultimate Guide To Bitcoin Mining

Aside from the most common way of investing in cryptocurrencies, which is by purchasing them from exchanges or P2P platforms, some people want to know how to invest in bitcoin mining operations.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that run on a Proof-of-Work (PoW) model offer another investment opportunity, which is mining. And no, this has nothing to do with excavating the ground to search for precious metals.

Are you looking for how to invest in Bitcoin mining or seeking crypto mining investment opportunities? In this guide, we will specifically walk you through how to start a Bitcoin mining investment in 2020. 

We’ll also inform you if there is actually a Bitcoin mining without investments in either the software or machines required for the activities. Lastly, we will discuss another mining solution, which will enable you to mine cryptocurrencies even without your physical presence.

Knowing how to invest in bitcoin mining is important. As cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, continue to gain massive adoption and price increases, cryptocurrency mining can be considered a part-time or even a full-time business.

Now, that we’ve cleared that, let’s dive right in.

What Exactly is Bitcoin Mining?

Bitcoin mining is a backbone activity of the Bitcoin network, done with specialized computers to ensure the verification of transactions and the issuance of new Bitcoin into the market.

Just like stores would document their daily transactions either on papers or computers, this is pretty much what goes on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency mining. However, the latter involves a more complicated process that requires high computational power to achieve.

Unlike stores, transactions that occurred with Bitcoin are logged in Blockchain. First, Bitcoin transactions are verified across multiple nodes on the Blockchain. Afterward, this transaction will be compiled as a Block and logged on the Bitcoin Blockchain.

Miners who successfully verified and map a transaction on the network will receive 6.25BTC as a reward. Previously, the block reward was 12.5 BTC; however, it was reduced after the third halving of the cryptocurrency this year.

How to Invest in Bitcoin Mining: What You Must Know?

Before you invest in Bitcoin mining, it is advisable to consider the following:

  • High Power Consumption: As explained earlier, the machines used in Bitcoin mining perform at a high computational power, which also means more electricity consumption. Due to expensive energy costs, many small-scale miners were forced out of the market as the block reward got lesser amid Bitcoin halving. Thus, you might want to consider the cost involved before starting out your mining journey. However, many miners are using Solar power to waive cases of high electricity costs in Mining.
  • Bitcoin Mining is Competitive: At this point, it is worth mentioning that the cryptocurrency mining industry is very competitive, especially in Bitcoin. So, starting a crypto mining investment will require more capital or fund, depending on the coin, to acquire advanced mining equipment to place you in a better position in the competition.
  • Bitcoin Block Reward Halving: Especially if you are new to the cryptocurrency industry, you probably would want to know that Bitcoin reward is predetermined to be reduced by 50 percent every four years. This reduction in supply is called the Bitcoin halving. Hence, it would be best if you considered that your reward for mining Bitcoin is not fixed. For instance, the Bitcoin mining reward was settled at 50 BTC. However, the current reward has been slashed to 6.25 BTC.

Bitcoin mining investment can be worth it if done rightly. Having listed these few points to note, let’s explore the many ways you can engage in Bitcoin mining, and unveil if it is possible to begin free Bitcoin mining without investment.

1. Starting a Bitcoin Mining Farm

bitfarms

A Typical Bitcoin Mining Farm in Operation (Source: via Bitfarms)

While there may be other options to start Bitcoin mining, many people mostly mine Bitcoin from their mining farm. A Bitcoin mining farm can be a setup of different mining equipment that can be run on a small or large scale, depending on the operator/miner. An individual miner can run about 100 mining machines in his/her farm, while companies can deploy thousands of these machines in a single farm. 

What You Need to Setup Your Bitcoin Mining Farm

Find an Ideal Mining Spot: This is where you will set up and run all your Bitcoin mining operations. You can choose to mine the cryptocurrency from your home, depending on the scale you wish to operate. Rent/hiring a shop or warehouse can be ideal for large-scale Mining. 

Getting Your Bitcoin Mining Hardware: In the early stage of Bitcoin, miners had used their computer systems to mine cryptocurrency. They generated enough hash sequences, and they could also confirm Bitcoin transactions using their computer systems with high processors. 

Fast forward to the present, Bitcoin miners have transitioned from using the Central Processing Unit (CPU), Graphical Processing Unit (GPU), and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) machines to mine Bitcoin. 

ASIC-powered machines like Bitmain’s Antminers may be the ideal machine to start your Bitcoin mining operation. Not that you can use other hardware to mine Bitcoin. However, miners now prefer ASIC machines since they provide a 100x increase in hashing power, yet with a low electricity consumption rate, compared to the other technologies. 

Thus, your chances of earning Bitcoin or staying profitable with older technologies against ASIC machines are very slim. Perhaps, ASIC machines are way costlier compared to the other technologies.

Installing Your Mining Software: The next tool you would need is to install a Bitcoin mining software. Mining software instructs the hardware on what work needs to be done, finding mathematical puzzles to solve from transaction blocks. 

The most popular Bitcoin mining software includes:

  • Bitcoin Miner
  • CGMiner
  • BFGMiner
  • RPC Miner
  • EasyMiner

Most modern ASIC-powered miners are built with compatible software, so you might start using them right away. 

Meanwhile, there is still something closer that comes close to free bitcoin mining without investment. It is called “Cloud Mining.”

Under this scheme, you can earn Bitcoins as a mining reward without even owning a single mining machine. This makes up another way you can invest in Bitcoin mining without having to quit your job or being present at the mining farm to inspect those machines.

2. Cloud Mining

By cloud-mining Bitcoin, your physical presence is most likely not needed, as the machines run from a remote location. Hence, this will enable you to auto-mine Bitcoin without directly investing in or buying mining hardware or software.

All you need to do is purchase a mining contract from companies offering cloud mining service.

Cloud mining saves you a lot of stress and challenges that come with running your mining farm. You can go about your job, holiday, and even travel abroad without necessarily worrying about hardware and software maintenance, electricity supply, and mining farm downtime issues.

Noteworthily, cloud mining also comes with disadvantages, which you would want to consider before buying any cloud mining contract.

The Risks of Bitcoin Cloud Mining

Firstly, you do not have ownership of the mining equipment, so you cannot guarantee that these machines will run as long as you want. The companies offering this service might decide to cease operation at any time if they ascertain that the cryptocurrency’s price is too unstable. When such situations arise, these miners resort to selling off their bitcoin holdings, which in turn can affect the market negatively.

Secondly, the cloud mining provider will charge a commission for the service rendered. Hence, you don’t own all the rewards to yourself. It would help if you also exercised caution, as there are many illegal bitcoin mining investment companies also promoting Bitcoin cloud mining services.

They typically claim to sell investment plans and offer highly robust referral programs that are only designed to send more victims their way.

In fact, 99% of online websites posing as a bitcoin mining investment company is fraudulent and will only separate you from your money. You’ll likely find a number of them on Google Search results for “Bitcoin mining” related keywords. Some even run campaigns via Google Ads to attract unsuspecting investors.

Please, stay away from them. If you must invest in bitcoin mining via cloud mining companies, ensure that you do due diligence and possibly involve a legal expert.

3. Joining a Mining Pool

Since your chances of competing with large-scale bitcoin mining investment companies are very slim, miners came up with the idea of pulling their resources together, thereby raising their hash power. By joining a Bitcoin mining pool, you will contribute your computing power with that of other miners in the pool to generate a block, which comes with a reward. 

These rewards are being shared amongst the miners evenly. So, you ought to decide whether to stand alone or pull your resources together with other miners. Note that mining pools have a greater chance of generating blocks because of their superior hashing power. Thus, the miners that invest in bitcoin mining via pools are likely to receive more income from time to time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Investing In Bitcoin Mining
  • Is there free Bitcoin Mining without Investment?

If you are wondering whether there is Bitcoin mining without investment, then it is worth mentioning that you’re not the first person to ponder it, especially given how valuable Bitcoin has become.

Many think that there is free Bitcoin mining without investment; however, the answer to this question is pretty much a NO.

If you’re looking for a way to earn bitcoins for free, check out our list of high-paying Bitcoin faucets and games that payout small units of bitcoin when you carry out certain tasks.

  • Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable?

At most times, bitcoin mining is profitable if you’re able to source for electricity cheaply. Another factor that often determines profitability is how soon you sell your bitcoins after mining them. Under bullish market conditions where transaction fees spike, bitcoin miners make more profits as well.

Whether you’re mining with CPU, GPU & ASIC, NiceHash has an excellent profitability calculator that lets you directly compare electricity costs against realizable profits. Using this tool, you can invest in bitcoin mining with an estimated profit ratio in mind.

Conclusion

In this article, we covered vital information about how to invest in Bitcoin mining. We also disclosed that there is free Bitcoin mining without investment.

Anyone tell you that there is a way to mine Bitcoin without investing is probably going to rip your off your money. You must also keep an eye out for the many fake bitcoin mining investment companies out there, promise unrealistic returns over a short period.

We believe that this guide will help you as you consider how to invest in bitcoin mining. You will be a better position to decide which investment opportunities are best for you, or whether it will be best for you to simply buy and hold Bitcoin for profit.

Categories
Altcoins Blockchain Guides & Tutorials

Guide: What Is Pi Crypto And How Much Is It Worth?

For the past two years, newcomers to the cryptocurrency industry have always been attracted to a project that has not been fully launched — Pi Network. How much is the Pi cryptocurrency worth?

Although the project is not yet officially launched as it has been in development since 2019 and is still in testing mode, there is already so much speculation about it.

This article aims at providing a complete overview of the Pi Network project as well as answering some of the major questions that investors have about Pi cryptocurrency. First, let’s see what this project is all about.

What is Pi Network Cryptocurrency?

Pi Network is a new cryptocurrency network that claims it was founded on March 14, 2019, by four Stanford graduates. The Pi network was created to decentralize and disintermediate finance to reach a wider audience than its competitors by basing its mining activities on smartphones.

This supposedly different strategy for the crypto industry was to ensure that users from all backgrounds can utilize the network as long as they have access to a smartphone and the internet, fostering inclusion.

The Pi Network app is easily accessible and available for download on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The network has a referral system that ensures more users are added to the platform as mining sessions cannot be completed unless a successful referral is made.

Because of this ease of use and the referral system, Pi Network has seen its user base skyrocket, sitting at over 18 million users within two years.

However, although Pi Network is relatively popular, several people are still curious about the platform and how it works. Below are 25 of the most commonly asked questions about the Pi network.

25 Questions About PI Cryptocurrency Answered

  • Who is Behind Pi Coin?

The Pi Network project is reportedly being developed by the conscious efforts made by a team of four Stanford graduates, Chengdiao Fan, an anthropologist, Nicolas Kokkalis and Aurélien Schiltz, computer scientists, and Vince McPhillips, a business major.

Although Stanford University did not provide any of the resources for the project, the founders often emphasized the influence that their interactions with top Stanford professors had on the project.

  • Is Pi Cryptocurrency a scam?

At the moment, it cannot be said that Pi Network is a direct scam as users are not putting in any money on the platform. But in another way, users are getting robbed of their time and data spent performing several activities on the network that do not bring value in return.

  • How Much is Pi Cryptocurrency Worth?

The Pi coin is currently worth nothing. Investors are concerned about the Pi coin value or Pi network price since they want to earn from their investments.

However, the Pi network gathers millions of supporters based on a “promise” of immense wealth. Pi coins are currently not listed or traded on any exchange, both centralized and decentralized, therefore, they have no value.

  • How Can I Mine Pi Cryptocurrency?

The Pi platform boasts of offering users a simple and easy way to mine Pi coins using their smartphones. On the Pi app, users can mine Pi coins by simply pressing the “MINE” button on their dashboard. Each new account on the platform gets one free Pi ( 1π).

At the end of each 24-hour mining session, users will have to activate the next mining session by tapping the button again. 

  • Why Do Earlier Members Earn More?

The Pi Network incentivizes its earliest members to reward their contributions to the development of the network by allowing them to mine at higher rates than new members.

Recognizing the importance of its early contributors, the Pi coin mining rate reduces as more people join the network.

  • What is the Pi Cryptocurrency Launch Date?

According to the Pi Network Whitepaper, Phase 3 of the project will be its most important period as it will see the launch of the Pi Network mainnet.

However, the Pi network launch date is nowhere in sight as project developers noted that the mainnet will be launched “when the community feels the software is ready for production, and it has been thoroughly tested on the testnet.”

The launch of the Pi Network mainnet is important because only then will the Pi coin be listed on crypto exchanges, allowing it to be traded.

  • Should I Continue Collecting Pi Coins?

It is true that the Pi coin currently has no value as it is yet to be listed on any exchange, but the project promises to deliver a lot of value to its holders, and especially, its early contributors.

Therefore, you can choose to continue collecting the Pi coins since it does not require much work or any money to mine, hoping that it will one day become valuable.

  • Is Pi Coin Like Bitcoin?

Pi Network enthusiasts have always related everything about the project to bitcoin in one way or the other. Although Pi coin tries to apply some of the principles of bitcoin, both coins do not operate the same way.

Pi claims it undergoes halving, just like bitcoin, to help protect its scarcity by cutting the mining reward in half. However, this hasn’t been proven in theory. Also, while Bitcoin is traded globally, the same cannot be said of Pi.

  • What is the Ambassador Role in Pi Network?

The Ambassador role on the Pi network allows users to earn more Pi by inviting others to join the platform and become pioneers.

You can become a Pi Ambassador when new members join your earnings team by using your invitation code to sign up for the Pi network and start mining Pi. Ambassadors get a 25% boost to their earnings for each person they invite to the platform, as long as they are mining Pi.

  • What is the Contributor’s Role in Pi? 

The contributor role on the Pi network allows users to fill their Security Circle, assisting the network to weed out bad actors, build trust and help them earn more Pi coins per hour. This feature is unlocked after you must have completed three mining sessions. Once you become a contributor, you can add people to your Security Circle and boost your mining rate.

  • What is the Security Circle in Pi Network?

Unlike bitcoin and several other cryptocurrency projects that allow network validators to secure their digital ledgers via the Proof-of-Work (PoW) and other methods, the Pi network secures its ledger when users vouch for each other’s trustworthiness.

A security circle on the Pi platform refers to a group of 3-5 pioneers who trust each other not to conduct any fraudulent transactions on the network.

  • How do I Add People to my Security Circle?

There are two ways to go about adding people to your security circle. The first method is the “Add an Existing Pi User” option, which allows you to build your security circle from those in your earnings team.

This means that you can select the person whose referral link you used to sign up to the platform and two or three other people that you referred to the network.

The second method is the “Add From Contacts” option, which allows you to add people from your phone’s contact list to your security circle. However, they must have Pi accounts.

  • Can I Have Multiple Pi Accounts?

This is supposedly one of the Pi network’s biggest security features. The network allows an individual to have only one Pi account, to ensure transparency and equality.

To maintain this standard, the network uses the Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance to verify users’ information. They also keep track of this information using an advanced identity verification application called YOTI. 

YOTI ensures that users do not photoshop ID cards, passports, and more by requiring on-site portraits and IDs, and retaking of photos when documents expire.

So, Pi users cannot have more than one account.

  • Is there an Age Restriction for Pi?

Users are eligible to have a Pi account as long as they have the sufficient identification documents needed to open an account and can use a smartphone. Therefore, users’ ages can range from 18 years up. However, teenagers below the age of 18 can also have a Pi account as long as they have some type of identification document, including a passport. 

  • Can I Withdraw Mined Coins Now?

No, you cannot withdraw any of your mined Pi cryptocurrency now, as there is currently no provision for its sale on the secondary market. All transfers and withdrawals from Pi can only be done once the project reaches Phase 3, which is the launch of the Pi mainnet. 

The project claims that this was to prevent bad players from illicitly acquiring Pi coins and subsequently transferring them to legitimate accounts.

  • Will Pi Mining Continue for a Lifetime?

Pi tries to bring in all the plus sides of bitcoin while avoiding all of its negatives. The project owners noted that to keep the value of each Pi coin significantly high, when it fully launches, it will be adopting the halving technique.

Pi halving ensures that the number of Pi coins awarded to each pioneer after a mining session is split into two as more users get on board. 

The project started with a base mining rate of 1.6π per hour. This rate was halved to 0.8π/hr when about 100,000 users joined. It was further slashed to 0.4π/hr when its user base rose to 1 million.

The next halving took place when Pi users swelled past 10 million, bringing the mining rate to 0.2π/hr. Therefore, users will no longer be able to mine Pi coins after the Pi network launch date. The project owners urge users to start mining at a higher rate immediately.

  • What Are the Impacts of Mining Pi?

This is one way that Pi tries to be different from bitcoin. Pi claims to have the solution to one of bitcoin’s biggest flaws of all time: environmental impact.

Unlike bitcoin that takes a lot of computational power and the use of specialized equipment to mine, Pi claims to use a negligible amount of data and that its performance does not, in any way, affect the performance of users’ mobile devices.

There is no need for specialized equipment as users can mine the Pi coins on their phones by simply pressing the mine button, and this does not leave behind any carbon footprint.

However, it is worth noting that this mining process is arguably fake since Pi does not have a blockchain network.  The process labeled as mining is simply software distributing digital coins to users and does in any way relate to cryptocurrency or Bitcoin mining operations.

  • Is The Pi App a Wallet For My Mined Coins?

Yes, the Pi app will serve the purpose of a digital wallet for the mined Pi coins when the project finally goes live. It will be linked to users’ current accounts, with access to vital user information including their phone numbers and more. From the in-app wallet, users can conduct transactions with their stored Pi coins.

  • Will I Need an External Wallet to Store my Pi Coins in The Future?

Once the Pi Network mainnet is launched, the project says it will users will be allowed to store and trade their Pi coins in external wallets, in addition to its in-app wallet. Users will also have the option of taking over full ownership of their public or private keys as soon as the project officially launches.

  • Is Pi Coin a Good Investment?

At the moment, Pi coins cannot be traded as they are not listed on exchanges. However, investors can either get on board the project, join in the mining activity, and wait for the mainnet to launch or wait to buy it on an exchange when it officially goes live.

  • How Many Pi Coins Will Be in Existence?

It is still very difficult to determine the number of Pi coins there will be in existence since the project is still in the testnet and there is no clear Pi network launch date. Pi coin’s total supply cap will only be determined when its mainnet is officially launched, validating users’ accounts and migrating the mined coins to the mainnet. 

  • Is Pi A Marketing Scam?

The Pi Network app operates in the same manner as an affiliate marketing system, promising users future rewards for bringing in new users. It is also similar to a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) system since it provides increased benefits to its early users.

The app creates little value for users and vice versa. The only value that users create is providing their information, regular logins, and completing KYC requirements from which the project owners are already benefiting by launching optional video ads to monetize the network’s active user base.

  • How Much Will Pi be Worth in 2030?

There is no certain Pi network price prediction at the moment because it is not listed on any exchange. However, judging by the hype surrounding this project and its user base, Pi is expected to hit the $1 mark a year after it is officially listed.

The subsequent price movements of this coin will depend on the level of acceptance it gets from exchanges and users. Although it will be difficult to predict the 2030 value of a coin that is not yet launched, Pi may have a market value if the network is properly developed and the hype surrounding it does not die down.

  • Is Pi the Next Bitcoin?

Pi claims to bring good into Bitcoin’s infrastructure while leaving out its downsides. Over time, bitcoin has attained a measure of popularity that makes it the king of crypto. However, at this current stage of Pi’s existence, it is hard to say if Pi can be the next Bitcoin.

The manner of launch is completely different and means Pi will likely just be like other cryptocurrencies instead of Bitcoin. The project is making a lot of promises and has failed to deliver any value to users.

  • What is the Future of Pi?

The future of Pi is somewhat uncertain as the coin currently has no value and is not listed on any exchange. However, the future of the project depends on the success of its mainnet launch and the level of acceptance it receives from both exchanges and mainstream users when it goes live.

Categories
Blockchain

Islamic Conformant Cryptocurrency Caizcoin Wins Prestigious Award

Caizcoin has won the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) award, one of the world’s most prestigious and well-respected market-led awards in Islamic banking and finance.

Caizcoin, which combines modern blockchain technology with Islamic values, is continuing to revolutionize the crypto industry by providing excellent investment opportunities for the Islamic community and global enthusiasts. 

The Caizcoin team explains that “Caiz ” is the Arabic word “Jaiz,” which means permissible, confident, and legal. They further define it as a permitted and lawful cryptocurrency created to provide a plethora of financial benefits and applications. According to them, Caizcoin is the first to introduce a blockchain-based coin that complies with Islamic law. The tokens are certain to appreciate and will grow in leaps and bounds. 

When asked about their Islamic conformance, they said that Caizcoin focuses on providing a financial solution that bridges the gap between the Islamic and modern worlds. Its alignment with ethical and moral values makes it distinctive and trustworthy to the Islamic community and other communities of the world. Following the current trend of secure trading, the project is merging a futuristic financial system with the historical philosophy of Islamic Finance, focused on justice, truth, fairness, and the welfare of all its investors and trustworthy partners. In their own words, 

“We have a tense relationship with the Islamic community, which has left us with a lot of questions because we represent the Islamic community in the coin business. And we’d like to break down these barriers, respond quickly, and win the hearts of Islamic as well as all other communities with our secure and peaceful crypto business.”

The fact that Caizcoin adheres to Islamic values further demonstrates its authenticity and dependability. It assures the community that the platform operates on moral principles and will never engage in enterprises or activities that are unethical. Caizcoin has a non-discriminatory policy to ensure that everyone in the world is treated fairly and has access to the same services on its platform.

Caizcoin will soon be listed on all major global exchanges, making it accessible to investors and users all over the world.

Another unique thing about Caizcoin is that they are a holding company. Being identifiable portrays a trustworthy image of the business. They created a company in the name of Caiz Holding AG, to present themselves more formally and even more friendly to the investors. This further approves their legality, building trust in the community by ensuring users that they are not investing in some shady business. People have addresses to reach out to in case they ever face any difficulty. Caizcoin, operating as a formal business entity, creates a unique place among crypto service providers.

Being such a unique and revolutionary crypto platform, Caizcoin stands out from other cryptocurrencies because its concept is built around the investor and customer’s best interests. While the primary focus is on the clients’ needs, it achieves this by using the cryptocurrency concept to provide caring, personable, and transparent services.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News News

Verifone Is Now Accepting Crypto Payments

Popular digital currency payment service provider BitPay has partnered with Verifone to enable U.S. residents to make payments for goods using cryptocurrencies across Verifone supported payment terminals.

The new initiative, which will be rolled out later this year, will be designed in ways that will shield merchants from the massive price volatility associated with cryptocurrencies, BitPay said in an announcement today.

BitPay plans to protect merchants from crypto price volatility by quickly converting the funds into fiat, and paying its equivalent into the sellers’ bank accounts.

“Together we have solved all the potential challenges for merchants: There’s no volatility or fraud chargeback risk, low implementation costs, and consumers will find the payment experience very seamless,” Jeremy Belostock, head of APMs at Verifone, said.

Under the initiative, customers can now pay for goods using all BitPay supported cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), etc.

Merchants interested in receiving cryptocurrency payments can indicate by contacting their respective Verifone sales representatives.

How to Use Verifone Crypto Payments

According to the announcement, the service will be easy to use for everyone including merchants and consumers. Merchants will not be required to go through the process of creating an e-wallet before they will be able to accept cryptocurrency payments.

On the other hand, customers can make payments with cryptocurrencies by connecting to any of the supported e-wallets, such as Blockchain.com, Metamask, BRD, and BitPay, among others, which can be selected on the Verifone checkout device.

Upon checking out, the customer will be required to scan a QR code using their wallet, to complete the payment. Once the payment is complete, the merchant will automatically receive an approval message on the in-store terminal, which confirms the customers’ payment.

The integration of cryptocurrency payments could be of benefit to Verifone merchants because cryptocurrency adoption has continued to soar.

There have been several reports of merchants accepting cryptocurrency payments and BitPay seems to be at the forefront of the campaign.

It is wort noting that last year, BitPay partnered with point-of-sale (POS) terminal maker Poynt to enable over 100,000 retailers from different parts of the world to accept cryptocurrency payments.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News News Press Release Regulation

Bitcoin Mining Ban Finally Lifted In Iran

The Iranian government has officially lifted the ban on bitcoin mining after the country’s former president, Hassan Rouhani, suspended all mining activities three months ago, local media Iran International reported Thursday.

“Iran has permitted licensed cryptocurrency mining machines to resume operations after a three-month lull ordered by former President Hassan Rouhani,” the report said.

Recall that crypto mining operations were banned in Iran due to electricity shortages experienced by the country’s capital of Tehran and several other large cities, with officials blaming mining activities.

The country experienced fresh electricity shortages in June during hot weather conditions with air-conditioning units turned on.

The Iranian authorities noted that 85% of crypto mining operations in the country are illegal. And even with the ban, underground mining machines continued to function. Earlier this year, Iranian police seized about 50,000 crypto mining machines that were using subsidized electricity illegally.

According to recent reports, illegal crypto mining activities even take place in some government offices. The director of Tehran’s stock exchange resigned a few days ago after cryptocurrency mining machines were discovered in the organization. 

Some officials claim that registered crypto miners only consume around 300 MW of power per day while unregistered crypto miners use 3000 MW of power daily, and this can damage the electricity grid. 

With the ban now lifted, the country noted that only authorized miners are allowed to resume mining operations and unauthorized miners will continue to be watched closely and face legal action if caught.

Iran offers some of the cheapest electricity rates in the world to encourage mining activities. Several reports have revealed that 7% of the world’s crypto mining operations are conducted in the country. 

According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, around 4.5% of all bitcoin mining operations globally took place in Iran between January and April of this year, placing the country in the top 10 in the world. 

Categories
Blockchain DeFi News News NFT

TikTok Joins NFT Frenzy

Video-sharing app TikTok announced today that it has joined the NFT market through the launch of its own tokenized collection inspired by the creativity of creators on the platform.

TikTok’s first-ever NFT collection, called TikTok Top Moments, was created by some renowned creators and inspired by the trending videos they posted on the platform.

The social media giant is collaborating with Immutable X to make the NFTs available on Ethereum as the latter uses StarkWare’s innovative technology to create the first carbon-neutral Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum.

The platform noted that the launch of the collection is to empower new creators. As per the announcement, TikTok said it is committed to helping creators achieve their goals of growing the creators’ economy.

The NFTs will provide a way for creators to be recognized and rewarded for their content, and for fans to own a significant moment on the platform. Proceeds from collection sales will go directly to the creators and NFT artists involved, the company said.

TikTok Top Moments will feature NFTs from a number of creators including COIN ARTIST, x0r, RTFKT, and Grimes. The art will showcase a selection of culturally significant videos and each one-of-one will laud the impact that creators like Lil Nas Xudy Willingham, Bella Poarch, Curtis Roach, Brittany Broski, FNMeka, Jess Marciante and Gary Vaynerchuk have made across entertainment, culture, and the TikTok, Community

To purchase NTFs, interested buyers will head to a dedicated drop site, where Lil Nas X will be the first creator to launch his one-of-one and limited editions with artist Rudy Willingham.

More NFTs will be dropped weekly through the end of the month, after which the NFTs can be minted and traded with zero gas fees on the Immutable X Layer-2.

Meanwhile, in a similar development, its been reported that American multinational social networking company Facebook is considering integrating some non-fungible token (NFT) features into its upcoming digital wallet, Novi.

Categories
Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News News

More on SEC vs. Ripple

A number of fake reports claiming that the court battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and San Francisco-based Ripple Labs is giving false hope to XRP holders.

At the time of writing, the article was still published on the Yahoo Newspage with a link to an Accesswire news page where the said announcement first appeared. The report was also distributed on other newswire services including Law.com and iCrowdNewswire.

However, both reports are probably false for a number of reasons. They closely resembled a coordinated one in September which targeted the Litecoin cryptocurrency project.

The Reports Are Fake

The greatest proof that the reports are fake is the fact that there has been no official announcement from Ripple or the U.S. SEC regarding the ongoing lawsuit. Given the duration of the court battle, any settlement would be widely published by both parties.

Despite the press release’s claims that the “SEC has announced it would drop its charges,” there has been no official announcement from the regulator’s website or any of its social handles.

Additionally, the Law.com and iCrowdNewswire versions claim to be from Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, one of the law firms representing Ripple in the lawsuit. The said news was not posted on any of Debevoise’s official social media handles at the time of writing.

The report also includes a bogus email address not associated with Debevoise and Plimpton LLP.

Fake Ripple Case

In the above screenshot, we note the deviation from debevoise.com to debevoise-laws.com, a domain that does not exist.

Update: Newswire services just deleted the reports from their website.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain

Bitcoin Hitting $44k As A New Month Begins

“It’s about time” many traders are thrilled that Bitcoin returned to $44,000 after more than four days of absence. The price mark attained by the king coin is especially one that many anticipated as the $45k resistance is next on the line to flip once the coin gains more leverage at $44k.

The largest coin by market cap is expected to start an uptrend as it steadies at $43,000. A recent analysis hinted at the possible price action we are seeing now. The article stated that BTC will experience a gradual surge that may help it return to $45,000. The 200-days MA ($45,649) have acted as a barrier – preventing any breakout above the level in the last seven days. A strong upswing over the next few days will ensure a breakout above $45,649.

Although the largest crypto by market cap is yet to hit $45k, we have a new weekly high ($4,802). We are also experiencing the foretold gradual surge and we may hit $45k within the next 24 hours. As bitcoin gains more ground in the $44.5k and $51k channel a rise to $50k is the aim of the bulls.

The global cryptocurrency market cap is valued at $1.97 trillion as of the time of writing. The current worth signifies a 3.77% increase over the last 24 hours. We may see the total cap at $2 trillion if the bullish sentiment continues to gain more traction.

The king coin is not alone the surge to a new high OMG Network (OMG) is the biggest gainer in the last 24 hours as it gained more than 20% during the time. The coin also hit the highest since August 2018 as it flipped $13, barely five minutes to the time of writing.

The largest alt also joined the bullish spree as it made a return to $3,100. The coin has been struggling below $3,000 the duration bitcoin was also stuck below $44k. Most of the coins in the top 100 are in greens. Let’s see how long the uptrends last.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News News

El Salvador Is Mining Bitcoin With Volcanic Energy

A few weeks after officially becoming the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender, El Salvador has started mining the cryptocurrency with volcanic energy. 

On Tuesday, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, shared a video clip of workers from LaGeo, a state-owned geothermal electronics company, trying to set up bitcoin mining machines.

The video, which was captioned “First steps…” circulated quickly across Crypto Twitter and currently has over 2.3 million views. 

As a follow up on the development, President Bukele has shared a screenshot of a mined bitcoin, saying: “officially the first bitcoin mining the volcanode.”

The screenshot shows 0.00599179  BTC worth is currently worth about $269, mined with volcanic energy. He added that the mining project is still  progressing and that they’re in the testing phase.

El Salvador is popularly known as “the land of the volcanoes” and the country generates its local power via geothermal energy. 

Reports reveal that El Salvador has about 20 potential active volcanoes that contribute to the county’s power source, and its new interest in harnessing thermal energy to mine bitcoin could provide an answer to the hunt for a reliable clean energy source to power bitcoin mining operations.

Meanwhile, volcano-powered bitcoin mining has been going on for a while. “It’s just geothermal energy,” says a popular Bitcoin miner, Alejandro de la Torre, who recently left China for Texas. 

Brandon Arvanaghi, a bitcoin mining engineer, also commented that complete renewable and unexploited energy power has been authorized solely because of bitcoin. 

“Bitcoin is the greatest accelerant to renewable energy development in history,” he said. 

As part of president Bukele’s commitment to Bitcoin, the country added BTC to its balance sheet. El Salvador also launched its own national crypto wallet dubbed “Chivo,”  which means cool in their local slang. The wallet processes transactions at no cost and offers fast  border payments for citizens. 

Categories
Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain Ethereum News

Compliance Officers Are Being Hired To Handle Regulatory Concerns

As cryptocurrency businesses continue to face increased scrutiny from global regulators, one recruitment agency said there has been a surge in the hiring of compliance executives from crypto-related firms.

Per a Financial Times report, Hamlyn Williams, a global recruiter, said since the beginning of the year it has sourced 18 compliance officers for cryptocurrency firms, up from more than twice what was recorded last year.

Will Brown, the executive search lead for the recruiter, stated that over the past five months, the company has successfully recruited seven chief compliance officers (CCOs) for top fintech and cryptocurrency firms.

More Scrutiny

Notably, the majority of the searches usually come from new crypto-related firms that are seeking compliance executives to help simplify complex regulatory requirements to obtain the necessary licenses before they can fully commence operations.

Existing crypto firms have also joined the recruitment of compliance executives as regulatory scrutiny continues to surge.

Binance, for instance, has been on the receiving end of global regulators’ clampdown recently.

The exchange’s operations have been proscribed in different countries such as Singapore, Italy, and Australia, forcing the firm to hire the services of former U.S. treasury criminal investigator Greg Monahan last month.

“It almost becomes business-critical [for these firms] to have a compliance individual,” Brown said.

Potential candidates for these jobs are mostly required to have experience in financial crime compliance that meets SEC demands, anti-money laundering, and developing know-your-customer (KYC) programs.

Financial Experts Moving to Crypto

The executive search lead at Hamlyn Williams noted that most of the potential candidates who fill these positions are usually former regulators as well as retired bank executives.

Over the years, the incentives associated with working as a compliance officer in a crypto firm has become so enticing with wages ranging from $250,000 to $450,000 a year.

This enticing remuneration is bringing the interest of active traditional financial employees to consider joining a crypto firm in search of compliance staff.

“A lot of people from banks want to move to crypto […] It’s interesting, and it shows a new challenge […] There is no legacy issue, there is a big opportunity to build a function from the ground up,” Brown added.

Recall that former SEC chairman Jay Clayton, who stepped down late last year, is one of the ex-regulators to join crypto-related companies.

In March, Clayton became one of three advisers at Bitcoin fund manager One River Digital Investments. His duty at the firm is to provide important regulatory advice to the Alan Howard backed $2.5 billion crypto fund.

Similarly, Clayton, who under his regime as SEC chairman rejected several ETF applications including from NYSE, Bitwise, and CBOE, was added as a member of cryptocurrency custody provider Fireblock’s board of directors.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain DeFi News

Chainalysis Report: Europe Is The World’s Largest Crypto Economy

Recent data from popular crypto analytic company, Chainalysis, has revealed that  Central, Northern, & Western Europe (CNWE) is the world’s biggest cryptocurrency economy. 

The region was ranked second last year and has now received over $1 trillion worth of cryptocurrencies over the last 12 months — representing 25% of global activity – with Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols holding a significant percentage of the transaction volumes.

Chainalysis reported that CNWE’s new position as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency economy is the result of significant growth starting in July 2020, combined with a relative decrease in activity in East Asia. The region’s transaction volume cuts across virtually all cryptocurrencies and service types, but especially on DeFi apps.

The report also revealed that an influx of institutional investment, signaled by huge transactions, was responsible for a significant percentage of the growth, though retail activity also went up.

Large institutional crypto transaction value significantly went up from $1.4 billion in July 2020 to $46.3 billion in June 2021.

The majority of large institutional-sized transfers went to DeFi platforms over the last 12 months via ether and wrapped ether (wETH), an ERC-20 token of equal value to Ethereum commonly used in DeFi protocols.

“DeFi protocols represent three to four of the top five services in most months, with Uniswap, Instadapp, and DYDX making frequent appearances. Binance and Coinbase, meanwhile, remain the most popular centralized exchanges,” Chainalysis said.

According to a survey, the United Kingdom ranks first in the CNWE region with a wide margin at $170 billion — 49% of which is from value sent to DeFi protocols.

Other European countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland ranked in the top five.

Aside from ETH and wETH, the data showed that stablecoins are common in every country with transaction volume ranging from 25% to 30%. Altcoins are also relatively common in most of the countries with transaction volume between 8% and 11%. 

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain News

Kraken Exchange Gets Fined $1.25M Over Illegal Offerings

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Kraken will pay a $1.2 million fine following charges by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

According to a CFTC press release, the exchange company was penalized for allegedly providing its U.S. customers with specific Bitcoin and other digital asset transaction services that the regulator did not approve.

In an issued order by CFTC, the government agency claimed that Kraken Exchange made digital asset margin transactions to its U.S. customers who were not eligible contract participants, providing and maintaining custody of all purchased assets.

The order further claimed that Kraken liquidated its customers’ assets as payment for not meeting up with the 28-day repayment obligation set by the company.

The liquidation process could as well take place if the value of their customers’ collateral dropped below a particular threshold percentage of the total outstanding margin.

Since customers could not transfer assets away from the exchange until they fulfilled the repayment obligation, the exchange was in a way exploiting their clients as the actual delivery of the purchased assets sometimes failed to occur, the CFTC alleged.

Violating CEA Rules

The regulator termed these transactions illegal since they were supposed to take place on a registered exchange that trades derivatives contracts. Kraken was, however, unlawfully operating as an unregistered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).

Kraken’s action which was carried out consistently for about 13 months (June 2020-July 2021) is said to be in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), hence the reason for the $1.25 Million fine.

The filing and settling charges by CFTC required that Kraken not only pay the stated amount of capital but also to “cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).”

Commenting on the development, Vincent McGonagle, acting director of the CFTC’s enforcement division, said:

“This action is part of the CFTC’s broader effort to protect U.S. customers. Margined, leveraged or financed digital asset trading offered to retail U.S. customers must occur on properly registered and regulated exchanges in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

Meanwhile, in October 2020, Coinfomania reported that the CFTC also filed civil enforcement charges against crypto exchange and derivatives platform, BitMEX, for violating the agency’s rules.

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Blockchain News NFT

Ripple Has Launched a $250M Creator Fund For NFT

San Francisco-based company Ripple Labs Inc. announced Wednesday that it has established a $250M creator fund to support Non-fungible Token (NFT) projects built on the XRP Ledger.

“We’re incredibly excited to launch our $250 million Creator Fund to enable creators to explore new use cases for #NFTs on the #XRPLedger and engage more deeply with the communities they care about,” Ripple tweeted.

Ripple also added that it will partner with XRPL marketplaces to provide creators and developers with the financial, creative, and technical support they need.

To execute its plans, the company has partnered with creative agency VSA Partners as well as NFT marketplaces mintNFT and Mintable amongst several other platforms.

The blockchain company is calling on creators, platforms, marketplaces and agencies working with NFTs to apply for the fund.

Although Ethereum is the most popular blockchain for NFTs, the network is plagued with expensive transaction fees that users have to pay when interacting with the blockchain.

Ripple plans to leverage on Ethereum’s setback, noting that the XRP network utilizes significantly lower fees and is more environment-friendly. The company intends to drive NFT adoption by enabling new use cases for the tokenization of assets such as interactive experiences and fractional ownership.

The NFT market has grown by leaps and bounds in recent times with billions of dollars following into the industry. The NFT space has gained attention from crypto enthusiasts, mainstream companies, and even celebrities.

On August 23, global payments processing giant Visa announced that it has joined the NFT craze by purchasing CryptoPunk NFT for $160,000.

Similarly, American professional basketball player, Stephen Curry joined the Bored Ape Yacht Club by purchasing a Bored Ape digital art with unique rarity for 55 ETH (worth $180,000 at the time).

Earlier this year, Indian startup Rario announced plans to launch the world’s first cricket-based digital collectible platform that will enable users to purchase NFTs.

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Bitcoin Blockchain

Global Growth of Bitcoin ATMs Increase By 3000%

According to fresh data on popular cryptocurrency and Bitcoin ATM tracker, CoinATMRadar, the total number of BATM installations around the world has exceeded 28,000.

Bitcoin ATM (BATM) is an electronic banking outlet that allows people to buy or sell the coin and other cryptocurrencies with cash or cards. 

As crypto adoption continues to rise, the total number of operational  BATMs at the time of writing is 28,030, representing more than 30x growth in five years. As previously reported, only 757 ATMs were installed in 2016, but the number has grown by 3638% since then. 

The United States is leading with the highest number of installations and it currently houses 24,598 machines across its jurisdiction and Canada is in second spot with 1,943 BATM installations. 

CoinATMRadar further revealed that El Salvador, Spain, and Switzerland are some of the countries with the highest installations as they now have 205, 175, and 131 BATMs respectively.

Meanwhile, although Africa has the least Bitcoin installations,  eight countries in the region now have Bitcoin ATMs installed at different locations, with South Africa taking the lead with 14 BATM installations.

The significant increase in the number of Bitcoin ATMs seems to point to a push toward the leading virtual coin’s mainstream adoption.

Aside from retail investors gradually flocking towards cryptocurrencies, institutional investors around the globe are starting to embrace the asset class and are constantly increasing their bitcoin and Ethereum portfolios.

While most crypto players tend to be more comfortable with the two top cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin and Ether – altcoins like Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) are increasingly gaining popularity and adoption with the recent growth of ATMs for these currencies.

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Bitcoin Blockchain News NFT Press Release

Trust Wallet Becomes First to Support All 10 Unstoppable Domains NFTs

Trust Wallet, the official cryptocurrency wallet of Binance, has announced support for  Unstoppable Domains’ NFT domain extensions following a new partnership agreement with the San Francisco-based blockchain domain building company.

In a press release shared with Coinposters, the deal has made Trust Wallet the first crypto wallet to enable support for all 10 domain extensions on the Unstoppable Domain blockchain network.

The integration will give Trust Wallet’s 10 million users access to a short domain username as opposed to stressful and lengthy wallet addresses. This means that domain owners will be in charge of their wallets and transact cryptocurrencies seamlessly.

Since its launch in 2018, Unstoppable Domain has registered over 1.3 million usernames on the blockchain network. Thus far, the most popular registered domain extensions are .NFT, .crypto, and .wallet, with 85,000, 108,000, and 77,000 users respectively. Others are .bitcoin, .dao, .blockchain, .zil, .coin, .888, and .x.

Adding support for blockchain domain extensions through the Unstoppable Domain network makes it easier for users to run transactions with cryptocurrencies, said Viktor Radchenko, Trust Wallets founder, said:

“Whether it be for transferring funds to invest in NFT art or sending stablecoins across borders, simple usernames for crypto just make sense,”Radchenko added.

Unstoppable Domain targets to enhance transaction ease and payment making process with cryptocurrencies using its “.crypto” solution to boost the mainstream adoption of cryptos.

Speaking on Trust Wallet’s support for the 10 top-level domains as a move to making crypto adoption easy, the CEO at Unstoppable Domain commented: “It was clear from the start that we’re both aligned in simplifying access to the decentralized future.”

It was earlier reported that Unstoppable Domain joined forces with cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase to streamline the use of cryptocurrencies in making payments by simply typing a blockchain domain name and not long addresses.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain

China Bans Bitcoin AGAIN

News of the Chinese government, banning bitcoin is not a new event. China has stated its stand against the digital gold more than once and a little too often. Most of the time, the market react with FUD; causing the prices of various cryptos to retrace.

This time is no different as we see that bitcoin along with most cryptocurrencies suffered a price setback.

In the latest China ban on Bitcoin, ten agencies, including the central bank as well as banking, securities and foreign exchange regulators, vowed to work together to root out “illegal” cryptocurrency activity.

Although this is first time Beijing-based agencies have joined forces to ban all cryptocurrency-related activity, the news js no surprise as in 2013, China banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions.

BTC has shown a lot of resilience at $40k as it has held on to this support after two attacks in the last seven days.

Bitcoin is trading above $42,000 as it is recovering from the previous correction it faced. We may see a return to $45,000 in the next 48 hours if current conditions remain the same.

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Bitcoin Blockchain News

Bitcoin.org Got Hacked

The Bitcoin.org website, first managed by the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, was recently hacked to promote a fake giveaway scam.

Created in 2008, Bitcoin.org is the first ever website that aims to support the development of Bitcoin and also serves as an educational source for information about the cryptocurrency.

On the 22nd of September, the site’s homepage popped up a message, asking visitors to send any amount of BTC to a given address and receive double the amount in return, limiting the false offer to the first ten thousand senders.

In two Twitter posts by @CryptoCobra, the Bitcoin site maintainer, confirmed the hack, stating that their server was not alerted and did not encounter any traffic during the attack. The pseudonymous site operator further blamed the incident on the Cloudflare network, which the site migrated to about two months ago.

Some on Twitter Crypto did well to prevent oblivious individuals from falling victim to the scam by spreading the “Don’t Send any money, it’s a scam” warning message.

Thankfully, a Bitcoin activist on Twitter was quick to report the issue to web and domain host NameCheap.com, who has already taken down the site. According to @CryptoCobra, the website’s closure is only temporary, “down for a few days” to give time for investigation.

Despite swift observations and responses to scam information, including warning messages, some individuals unfortunately still lost their bitcoin to the scammers. The fraudsters reportedly obtained about $17K worth of Bitcoin (0.4 BTC) from victims.

As at the time of writing this report, the site was no longer accessible.

The issue of scams in the crypto space has been ongoing for some time now. Lately though, there have been a lot more frequent reports of sites pretending to organize giveaways but are truly intent on duping people of their bitcoins and of other cryptocurrencies as well.

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Blockchain Business News

Ripio Gets $50M from DCG, Tim Draper Among Others

The Argentina-based crypto exchange Ripio received $50 million via a series B financing, led by the Digital Currency Group (DCG), a New York-based Venture Capital that invests in blockchain and crypto projects.

Other participants in the funding round include bitcoin billionaire Tim Draper, Robinhood investor Amla, CEO of Mercado Libre Marcos Galperin, and Martín Migoya  of Globant. 

“This announcement is a natural step for us. It allows us to continue to expand and integrate our products in the region. Its mission is to expand access to the encrypted world, build simple tools and provide high-quality information and resources. In order to promote the economics of the road to the new digital assets,” said Sebastián Serrano, CEO of Ripio. 

Ripio to Expand Its Crypto Offerings

As one of the major trading platforms in Latin America, the exchange intends to use the funds to further grow its brand in the region, the announcement added. 

Ripio will extend its offerings to other LatAm countries such as Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay later this year while hoping to maintain and consolidate its position in the current market. 

Cryptocurrencies are not very popular in LatAm and the company hopes to capitalize on the trend to grow its brand in the region, which appears to be prolific for new businesses. 

Juan Mendez, Ripio’s Brand Leader also said the firm will announce the acquisition of a crypto exchange in Colombia. 

According to Mendez, Columbia is just a country with good records of encryption companies although the region is yet to completely adopt the idea or the use  of encryption. 

DCG supports the exchange expansion plans. 

Commenting on the investment, Jason Yacavone, Chief Investment Officer of Digital Currency Group, noted DCG believes that Ripio will sustain its growth in time to come, creating opportunities for underserved people in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

“Ripio is an important part of the digital assets industry and its work is crucial for expanding access to financial products throughout South America,” Yacavone said.

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Blockchain News

Emergency Vulnerability on SushiSwap Leaked By a Hacker

An anonymous white hat hacker has published a detailed report alleging that the DeFi protocol, SushiSwap, currently features a vulnerability that puts at least a billion dollars worth of user funds at risk.

An effort to get SushiSwap developers to confidentially fix the bug has failed, leading up to the decision to make the information publicly available.

According to the hacker, the motive is to “educate current and future SushiSwap users of the risks they are taking by trusting these vulnerable contracts and point out to white hat hackers how SushiSwap casually handled this matter being brought to their attention.”

The SushiSwap Vulnerability

The white hat hacker reportedly noted that there is a “vulnerability within the emergencyWithdraw function in two of SushiSwap’s contracts, MasterChefV2 and MiniChefV2.” These contracts are in charge of SushiSwap’s 2x reward farms, and SushiSwap pools on sidechains such as Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Factom, Avalanche etc.

For the basics, an emergency withdrawal function is a safety net prominently featured across DeFi protocols, including SushiSwap’s Ethereum smart contracts. This feature allows users to withdraw their Liquidity Provider (LP) tokens in the event of an emergency, potentially forfeiting any rewards earned until that point.

While both SushiSwap contracts include this feature, the hacker claims that it is misleading and doesn’t work as intended. SushiSwap’s comment on the code shows that the emergency withdrawal function should allow users to withdraw funds without caring about rewards. However, the function fails if there are no rewards within the SushiSwap pool.

According to the report, the token rewards that SushiSwap pays out to LP token holders are stored in a different account. Sometimes the rewards dry up and must be filled manually by the project’s team using a multi-signature account with developers apparently in different time zones.

“It can take approximately 10 hours for all signature holders to consent to refilling the rewards account, and some reward pools are empty multiple times a month,” the report claims.

During this period, SushiSwap LP providers cannot “stake, unstake, collect rewards or even make use of the emergency withdrawal function.” This lockup means that user funds are practically held hostage during this period, making it impossible for them to react to price movement in the staked LP tokens.

“SushiSwap’s non-Ethereum deployments and 2x rewards (all using the vulnerable MiniChefV2 and MasterChefV2 contractshold over $1 billion in total value. This means that this value is essentially untouchable for 10-hours several times a month.

The hacker also notes that SushiSwap’s Discord support team would often encourage users to call the emergency withdrawal function. Since the call would normally fail because of the vulnerability, users must remain patient until whenever the reward pools are refilled.

Aside from not being able to withdraw funds in a highly volatile market, the hacker claims the vulnerability could be exploited by a SushiSwap competitor with bad intent. Using a large amount of LP tokens, they can incessantly dry out the multiple reward pools and thus hold the funds of other users hostage until whenever the team is able refill the pool.

SushiSwap’s Response

Following the discovery of the vulnerability, the white hat hacker claimed they confidentially reached out to SushiSwap to report the bug. The project referred the hacker to Immuefi, a bug bounty platform where Sushiswap listed their bug bounty program.

SushiSwap has a $1.25 million maximum bounty posted on Immunefi, with hackers that disclose high-risk vulnerability eligible for a payout of up to $40,000. However, in this case SushiSwap closed the issue without paying the bounty and also not fixing the vulnerability.

The team allegedly stated that “the operational issue in question was known at the time of implementation. No fix has been done other than transferring additional funds.”

As per the hacker, the statement implies that SushiSwap “intentionally and purposefully introduced a vulnerability that could lock up and cost users millions of dollars, [and also] they refuse to fix it.”

Coinfomania reached out to SushiSwap for comment regarding the alleged vulnerability, but did not receive a reply.

Categories
Blockchain News

Robinhood’s Crypto Wallet Set To Roll Out Next Month

Popular cryptocurrency investment app Robinhood announced today that it will commence testing of its crypto wallets among selected clients by next month. 

The crypto wallet will allow Robinhood customers to send, receive, and transfer supported cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE) to and from the brokerage platform. 

“This is a natural next step for us when we think about democratizing finance for all, being able to have a lot more people from a lot of different contexts participate in this emerging market, and wallets are the key,” Aparna Chennapragada told Reuters in an interview

Robinhood Bows to Customers’ Demands 

The development comes as Robinhood customers took to different social media platforms to demand that the trading platform provide crypto wallets, which would grant them actual ownership of the cryptos, instead of only exposing them to the assets’ price movements. 

Based on customers’ incessant demands, Robinhood has finally bowed to pressure, as its crypto wallets trial will commence by next month. 

The cryptocurrency wallet test will involve only a few customers, and will be chosen from a waitlist created to grant some people early access to the crypto storage app. 

Robinhood is also planning to select some of the respondents from its upcoming survey that will be launched exclusively for its cryptocurrency customers, which makes up about 60% of the firm’s 21.3 million active users, to the early testers list. 

Notably, as testing kicks-off, Robinhood said it will be publishing users’ feedback about the crypto wallets on its Twitter page. 

Should everything go according to plan, Robinhood may conduct a broader roll out by early next year. 

Wallet to Feature Multiple Security Tools

With numerous reports of cryptocurrency heists flooding the internet over the years, Robinhood noted that it has taken time to develop crypto wallets to have the necessary features, including multi-factor authentication, identity verification, etc., to keep its clients users safe. 

“One of the things we’ve been trying to do is make sure that this is built safely, built securely,” Chennapragada added. 

Categories
Blockchain Guides & Tutorials

Everything You Need To Know About Crypto Trading

Cryptocurrency trading involves speculating digital currencies’ prices and exchanging one cryptocurrency for another. It involves trading a particular digital currency for another on a cryptocurrency exchange like Binance, KuCoin, BitMEX, Coinbase, etc. 

Not only can users convert their cryptocurrency for another, but they can also exchange these assets for fiat, including USD, EUR, GBP, among others.  forex signals telegram

Types of Cryptocurrencies

Since the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin (BTC) in 2009, hundreds of thousands of other crypto assets have been created for many reasons. There are over 7,000 cryptocurrencies aside from BTC, including Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), and Monero (XMR), to mention a few.

Despite the long list of existing cryptocurrencies, not all of these assets are available on a single trading platform. The most common trading pair on exchanges is usually BTC and USDT against other cryptocurrencies. 

How Cryptocurrency Trading Works 

Cryptocurrency trading works by speculating the price of a particular asset over another.

For instance, should a user decide to trade XRP/BTC pair, the investor would exchange their BTC asset for XRP, hoping that the XRP coin’s value would increase more than BTC. When the user feels satisfied with the market value of the XRP coin against BTC, he or she can trade the former back to BTC. 

XRP/BTC trading pair on Binance

Using the above screenshot as an example, one may wonder where the 0.00001661 price comes from. An easy way to understand it is first to understand that all cryptocurrency trading pairs are denominated in Satoshis (the small units of Bitcoin).

Therefore 0.00001661 would mean 0.00001661 sats. To get the sats value, we divide the price of XRP against the price of Bitcoin. Using the press time price of 0.24 cents for XRP and $15,055 for Bitcoin, we’ll get the price of 0.00001661 which Binance shows for the trading pair.

You can apply this same formula across any pair you chose to trade to gets the sats value.

Entry and Exit Points in Cryptocurrency Trading

An entry point is a price at which you want to buy a cryptocurrency while the exit point is the price at which you hope to sell. Traders often use this metric to define how much profits they can make on a trade or the losses incurred.

Still using the above XRP/BTC pair example, an entry point could be 0.0001500 sats with the trader hoping to exit once the pair hits a 0.00001800 sats price. Successfully closing this trade would mean that the trader realized a 20% profit.

What Factors Move The Cryptocurrency Markets? 

The crypto market is almost similar to the traditional market. The forces of supply and demand determine the price of asset overtime. Although the crypto space is decentralized and is not controlled by a central authority, governments also contribute to the market value. Factors that move the market include: 

  • Demand 

This is the number of crypto investors willing to purchase at a particular price and a given period. When the asset price increases, its demand will drop and vice versa. 

  • Supply 

Supply is the total amount of a particular digital currency available to investors at a given time and price. 

  • Market Capitalization 

Market cap describes the value of all crypto in existence. The value must regularly increase as it helps convince new users that the industry is still booming.  

  • Regulation 

Another major factor that influences the crypto market is regulation. New sets of rules are published regularly to determine how users will interact with these assets and which crypto would fall under securities or commodities classification. Prohibition and recognition of digital assets go a long way to portray the market in a good or bad light. 

  • News

The amount and nature of coverage that the cryptocurrency industry receives from the media is another factor that moves the market. When the news is mostly negative, especially massive theft reports or a price plunge, it tends to scare new investors away, thus having an adverse effect on the market. 

  • Hacks

Attacks on crypto exchanges or projects usually cause panic in the market. When there is theft on a particular crypto trading platform or project, most users are usually in haste to sell off the assets to stay on the safe side, thus causing its market value to decline. 

Unless the market is in a bullish mode such as with a $280 million Kucoin exchange hack in 2020, market prices could be adversely affected by such news.

  • Coin Listing & Delisting On Top Exchanges 

Coins listing and delisting are among the major forces that move the market positively or negatively. When a coin gets listed on a top exchange like Binance or KuCoin, its value has the possibility of increasing once it goes live on the platform. 

On the other hand, when a coin gets delisted from a platform for whatever reason (case study: BitcoinSV delisting)  its value would drop significantly and spread panic among holders. 

How To Start Cryptocurrency Trading From The Scratch 

Here are the vital steps to get started with your journey.

  • Learn about cryptocurrency trading.
  • Create an exchange account.
  • Deposit funds
  • Place your first trade.

Learn About Cryptocurrency Trading

A common mistake most intending traders make is starting their journey without adequate training or guidance. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you spend quality time and perhaps money to learn about cryptocurrency trading.

Although, this article extensively explains what cryptocurrency trading is, you will need more than this information to reach the promised land. You will need to learn how metrics such as the Crypto Fear and Greed Index works and how to use it to your advantage.

Create An Exchange Account

As explained, exchanges provide the platform for crypto trading, but regardless of the trading platform a user chooses, the process is similar across all trading platforms. It begins first, with creating an account and confirming your email address.

After successfully creating an account, users may sometimes need to complete a KYC (know-your-customer) process depending on the exchange. The KYC process helps verify your identity and to eliminate the use of a platform for nefarious activities. 

Typically you’ll need to submit the following to complete KYC on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • Name, Phone Number, and Residential Information.
  • Means of identification (Passport, Driver’s License, Voters card).
  • Real-time selfie
  • Source of funds (for large traders).

Note that there are also a few crypto exchanges that let you trade on their platform without KYC. You can learn about anonymous crypto exchanges here.

Depositing Funds

Once your identity is verified, you have to deposit funds to the platform or purchase crypto directly from the exchange using the available payment methods.

Popular deposit options on cryptocurrency trading platforms.

  • Credit/Debit Cards
  • Bank Transfer (SEPA, SWIFT, Faster Payments).
  • Cryptocurrency.

Credit/Debit card transactions are usually instant, albeit attracting higher fees. You’ll receive the purchase amount of cryptocurrencies instantly on your exchange wallet and you can start trading.

Fiat or Bank deposit options typically require sending funds to a bank account provided by the exchange and having the amount added to your fiat balance on the exchange. You can then sell the fiat for BTC or any other coin you want to trade.

For Cryptocurrency Deposits, you’ll have to send funds from an external cryptocurrency wallet or another exchange you’re buying from. You need to get the address for the asset on your destination exchange and use it as a recipient address when sending funds.

For instance, you can copy your Bitcoin address on Binance and use it to receive Bitcoins from a purchase on Changelly or BC Bitcoin. Once the transaction is confirmed on the destination exchange (Binance), you can start cryptocurrency trading.

Placing Your First Trade

After careful observation and market research for your preferred digital asset, you set a buy order at a specific price and wait for the order to be matched.

Immediately a ‘sell order’ aligns with your order, the exchange automatically matches your order, and the transaction is complete. To trade your crypto back to its initial asset, you will need to click on the sell menu located on the ‘trade interface’ and input the quantity and price you would like to sell.

Buy/Sell XRP/BTC pair

The exchange would complete your order by matching it with a corresponding buy order. 

Common Terms In Cryptocurrency Trading 

There are numerous terms used while trading, but we will explain just a few. 

  • ASHDRAKED: A situation where an investor loses all his money.
  • ATH: All-Time High.
  • ATL: All-Time Low
  • BAG HOLDER: An investor who buys and holds many coins hoping to make good profits in the future.
  • BEAR/BEARISH: Negative/downward price movement.
  • BTFD: Buy The Fucking Dip (an instruction to buy a coin when it has gone down a lot).
  • BULL/BULLISH: Positive/ Upward price movement.
  • Circulating Supply: The total number of coins or tokens in a cryptocurrency in the publicly tradable space.
  • DILDO: Long green or red candles on the chart.
  • DUMP: To Sell off an asset when its price drops.
  • DUMPING: Downward price movement.
  • DYORb Do Your Own Research.
  • FA: Fundamental Analysis (Any positive or negative news that can affect a coin).
  • FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out (A situation where a coin’s value is going up, and you believe it will increase more, so you buy despite when you see it’s high, hoping to make a profit).
  • FUD: Fear Uncertainty & Doubt.
  • HODL: To hold a position or a coin and not sell regardless of the market condition.
  • JOMO: Joy Of Missing Out on investing in an asset before the price drops.
  • LONG: Margin bull position.
  • MCAP: Market Capitalization.
  • MOON: Continuous upward movement of price.
  • OTC: Over The Counter.
  • PUMP: Upward price movement.
  • SAFU: Secure Asset Fund for Users or funds are safe.
  • SAJ CANDLE: Huge green candle.
  • SHITCOIN: A digital currency that does not have a potential value or use.
  • SHORT: Margin bear position.
  • SWING: Zig zag price movement of assets (Upwards and downwards).
  • TA: Technical Analysis.
  • REKT: When you have a terrible loss.
  • REVERSE INDICATOR: Someone who mispredicts price movements.
  • RSI: Relative Strength Index.
  • WHALE: Very Wealthy trader/Market mover.

Risks Associated With Cryptocurrency Trading

Despite the opportunities associated with cryptocurrencies, these assets get exposed to risks, and they include:

  • Volatility

The major risk of dealing with digital currencies is its increased volatility in nature. An asset’s value can go high within an hour, and the next minute it has lost more than 50% worth of value. Based on this reason, traders should understand crypto-related risks before putting funds into it. 

  • Hacks 

There are numerous cases where funds stored on exchanges get stolen. Even popular cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance once lost 7000 BTC ($41 million) to a security breach.

Crypto investors are often advised not to hold their assets on an exchange, except for the amount they’re actively trading. The best place to store your assets is in a non-custodial wallet. You can buy a Ledger or Trezor hardware wallet and learn how to use them since they’re the safest in the industry at this time.

 forex signals telegram

Categories
Blockchain DeFi News Guides & Tutorials

Crypto Exchange Platforms That Don’t Require KYC

It is not unusual for bitcoin investors to search for anonymous crypto exchanges. The reason is not farfetched. It is not a pleasant experience for one to provide his identity information, even if they are buying only 0.0001 BTC.

There’s a way out.

Anonymous crypto exchanges allow you to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without KYC procedures. You will also skip the entire identification process on crypto exchanges where you have to snap yourself sometimes in front of a robot camera.

The Bottleneck with Anonymous Crypto Exchanges

Let’s get this straight, authorities worldwide, especially the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), is asking cryptocurrency exchanges to adhere strictly to Know-Your-Customer and Anti-Money Laundering (KYC/AML) requirements.

Crypto derivative giant, BitMEX was recently indicted for failing to adhere to these guidelines. But that doesn’t change the fact that a sizeable number of investors would prefer to remain anonymous for personal reasons, including the one mentioned in the opening paragraph.

In the early days of cryptocurrencies, exchanges were allowed to operate without regulators making such stringent demands.

However, as several malefactors use cryptocurrencies to conduct their illicit activities and authorities are trying to tax crypto gains, regulators thought it wise to deploy these KYC regulations to mitigate these acts.

Benefits of Using Anonymous Crypto Exchanges Without KYC

Although regulators are not in support of exchanges operating without KYC compliance, certain benefits come with anonymous cryptocurrency exchanges, and they include:

  • No-Risk Of Losing Sensitive Data

Some exchanges, including BitMEX mentioned earlier, have encountered situations where their databases have come under attack and tons of information stolen in a flash.

The stolen information is usually sold on the dark web in return for monetary incentives. In the event of a security breach, investors who use anonymous exchanges without KYC do not risk having their personal information in the wrong hands.

  • Guaranteed Privacy

Some investors like to maintain a discreet life, trading from their homes and enjoying the profit that comes from their investment.

Users may also want to hide the proceeds of their investment from certain people, including spouses, creditors, among others, for reasons best known to them. Without KYC requirements, investors are certain that their activities on an exchange are kept private from prying eyes.

  • Faster Trading Journey

Although the speed of verifying customers has improved on some exchanges, there are still some platforms with mandatory KYC requirements that usually take weeks or months to verify the authenticity of the information provided.

Investors could have used the time spent waiting for the document verification to grow their portfolio if they had used an anonymous trading platform with no KYC.

Top 7 Anonymous Crypto Exchanges With No KYC Requirements

1. Binance

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, Binance is the most popular exchange where investors can buy BTC and other digital currencies without KYC. Launched by Changpeng Zhao (also known as CZ) in 2017, Binance provides a first-class trading experience for both new and existing investors, with its features ranging from maximum security to P2P trading.

Binance understands that not all investors are comfortable undertaking the KYC process, which made the exchange to enable BTC and digital currencies purchases, spot trading without users having to undergo the time-consuming KYC.

Investors who prefer not to undergo the KYC process can only withdraw up to 2BTC within 24 hours. However, accounts that are BTC verified can withdraw up to 100 BTC every 24 hours.

2. KuCoin

Another cryptocurrency exchange that does not require investors to undergo the KYC process is KuCoin. Users of this exchange can purchase BTC and other cryptocurrencies without KYC. Investors can also conduct spot trading and withdrawals of up to 2 BTC without KYC.

However, the Singapore-based exchange may decide to prompt account holders to compulsorily undergo the KYC process if there is any suspicious activity associated with the account or when users choose to withdraw more than the 2 BTC stated for non-KYC accounts.

Like with Binance, investors will be required to complete the KYC process should they choose to use the margin trade feature.

3. Bybit

Popular crypto derivatives exchange Bybit does not require KYC before investors can use the platform. Based in Singapore, Bybit was launched in 2018 and operates under Bybit Fintech Limited, a British Virgin Islands company.

Bybit’s primary product is perpetual futures offered with up to 100:1 leverage, putting the exchange in a competitive position against famous derivative exchange BitMEX. Investors who are into leverage trading and want to remain anonymous in their trading journey can use Bybit for a hitch-free experience.

4. Changelly

Unlike the regular cryptocurrency exchange, Changelly is an anonymous exchange specifically designed to enable investors to conveniently swap their crypto assets into their desired asset without KYC processes. Launched in 2013, Changelly supports over 150 cryptocurrencies, with a flat rate low fees for every transaction.

Users can conveniently swap their digital currencies of up to 2 BTC per day without KYC requirements. However, accounts that are flagged for suspicious activities, including owners who use VPN services to access the platform, will be required to conduct the KYC process compulsorily.

5. Bitfinex

Bitfinex is an anonymous cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to deposit, withdraw, and trade cryptocurrencies without KYC. Investors can trade any asset on the platform that appeals to them without providing the sensitive information to verify their accounts.

Users can withdraw up to 10 BTC without KYC and can increase the limit after verifying their accounts. However, the exchange may choose to require KYC information at any time from accounts that raise red flags.

Categories
Blockchain Guides & Tutorials

Platforms to Easily Earn Interest on Crypto

Looking for ways to earn interest on crypto assets without losing sleep isn’t a bad idea. After all, a few things in life can make a farmer smile more than sitting back to watch his crops grow and yield food seamlessly.

Although there are several legitimate ways to make money with cryptocurrency, many investors are looking for opportunities to invest their idle assets without doing much. Who doesn’t want to sit back, relax, and watch their money grow as if on trees?

In this article, we provide a shortlist of the best platforms to earn interest on crypto. But first, why are so many investors searching for ways to earn passive income on their cryptocurrency assets?

Why Is It a Good Idea to Earn Interest on Crypto?

It is no longer news that interest rates are steadily declining in the last decades, particularly due to constantly changing government policies. The interest rate in most countries now sits close to zero percent. Many believe that this decline is the primary reason why yield seekers are turning to the cryptocurrency market. 

As a result, the prospect of earning interest in cryptocurrency has increasingly gained popularity among new-age investors. However, the most popular crypto assets for investors looking to earn passive income are highly liquid assets with real demand.

Most Used Assets to Earn Crypto Interest

Best Platforms to Earn Interest on Crypto

This article provides exhaustive information about the nine best platforms where you can earn interest on your crypto effortlessly. We compiled this list based on the following features that investors usually look out for, namely:

  • Interest Rate
  • Security
  • Customer Support
  • Reputation
  • Fees

1. BlockFi

BlockFi launched in March 2019 but has rapidly grown into one of the most used platforms to earn interest on crypto assets. The sudden rise to fame is apparent because of the lending company’s illustrious list of venture capital backers, including Winklevoss Capital, Morgan Creek, and Galaxy Digital.

BlockFi provides a less complicated avenue that allows investors to earn interest on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, making the process as simple as depositing assets on what they term the BlockFi Interest Account (BIA).

BlockFi is based in the United States and is fully regulated under local laws.

Pros

  • The platform is open to anyone that holds crypto irrespective of their investment status (accredited or unaccredited investors).
  • BlockFi lets users withdraw their funds at any time, even though the withdrawal process takes approximately one day, barring any issues.
  • The platform offers up to a 4.5% interest rate on ETH and a 6% interest rate on bitcoin (These rates vary based on market demand for these assets.)
  • BlockFi uses a popular regulated crypto custodian, Gemini Custody. Thus, users can trust that their funds are secure at all times against hackers.
  • BlockFi is liquidity-friendly. Users can borrow up to 50% of the amount they deposit on the platform with an attractive 4.5% interest rate on the borrowed funds (the minimum deposit to unlock loans is $10,000).
  • BlockFi offers compound interest on deposited assets. Let’s assume that you made an initial deposit of $1,000 worth of BTC and earn $5 interest on that initial deposit for the first month. If he did not withdraw the paid interest, the next interest he will earn for the following month would include the $5 he earned earlier. In other words, the 6% APY will now apply to ($1,005) and so on.

Cons

  • Like most crypto startups, BlockFi is not insured by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and, therefore, cannot enjoy the same public confidence as traditional financial institutions.
  • BlockFi only supports a few cryptocurrencies at the time of writing, including BTC, ETH, LTC, PAX, GUSD, USDC, and USDt (for non-US customers).
  • BlockFi interest rates are regressive. For investors who make a deposit of less than 5 BTC, the interest rate reduces by 3.2%.
  • Although interest accrues daily, users must wait for the first working day of each to receive payouts.

2. Celsius Network

Celsius Network is another platform that lets you earn interest on cryptocurrencies. Established in 2017, the London-based digital asset lending platform introduces financial freedom with over 30 cryptocurrencies.

To earn up to 12% annual interest on crypto via the Celsius platform, all you need to do is deposit any of the supported cryptocurrencies to your Celsius app wallet. The platform also has a native token known as “CEL,” which offers slightly higher interest than other assets.

Pros

  • Celsius Network doesn’t charge any fee for withdrawals.
  • You can withdraw at any time without concerns about penalties or extra fees.
  • Celsius offers holders of its native token (CEL) an additional edge to earn interest on their crypto and, besides, gain access to other utilities on the platform. While holding CEL is not a requirement to deposit interest accruing funds, you can choose to get your interest paid in their native token.
  • Celsius supports more cryptocurrencies (38 at the time of writing this article.)

Cons

  • Users can only access their platform via mobile devices. 
  •  While the platform does not require KYC for account creation, users must complete KYC requirements, even SSN, especially for U.S.-based users. 
  • Like other crypto lenders, interest while using Celsius Network isn’t consistent. Rates usually depend on market demand for locked-up assets.

3. Nexo

Swiss-based company Nexo.io allows you to earn interest on crypto and borrow over 40 fiat currencies. The company claims to be licensed in Europe and thus compliant with laws that govern regulated financial institutions.

Established in 2017, Nexo supports users in 200 countries globally and also has a native token called NEXO. Users get discounted rates on their loans if they stake NEXO, and also enjoy higher interest rates by opting to receive interest payouts in the token.

Pros

  • Nexo has a partnership with a licensed digital custodian, BitGo to store crypto that users deposit. This partnership is crucial to NEXO since  BitGo has achieved the cryptocurrency security standard level III as proof that it has surpassed the strictest level of security. 
  • Nexo allows users to borrow up to 50% or more of the amount they deposit on the platform.
  • Nexo supports a handful of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, ETH, and stablecoins.
  • The company has a responsive customer support team and an active community.

Cons

  • Nexo supports fewer fiat currencies.
  • Nexo offers little transparency into its operations and the company hasn’t been audited by any known auditors.

4. Hodlnaut

Holdnaut is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency lending platform launched in 2019 to help investors improve returns on their holdings. As with most lending platforms, the company generates paid interest from lending user funds to trusted regulated institutions. Users can deposit in any of the supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, DAI, USDC, USDT, and WBTC. Interests are paid out weekly, while there are no lockup periods unless users choose to do so in order to earn higher interest.

Pros

  • There is an in-built swap feature for converting coins.
  • The platform has a highly responsive customer support desk.
  • Interest is paid out weekly instead of monthly, as some platforms do.
  • There are no lockup periods, so users can withdraw funds at any time.
  • There is an added insurance protection for customer funds via a partnership with Nexus Mutual.
  • There is an in-built calculator for estimating yield on deposited assets.
  • Improved fixed-term loan offerings for large holders.

Cons

  • The platform only supports six cryptocurrencies (at this time).
  • There is also no support for depositing fiat (at this time.)

5. Blockchain.com

Around the crypto space, Blockchain.com is one of the oldest companies. The Luxembourg-based company was launched in 2011 and now has over 53 million wallets in its custody. Initially, users can safely buy, store, and trade cryptocurrencies. Recently, though, the exchange introduced an option for users to earn interest on bitcoin and a few other crypto-assets.

To earn interest on your bitcoin on Blockchain.com, you need to open an Interest Account on the website. Users earn around 4.5% to 6% per annum on their Bitcoin deposits, depending on the amount.

Pros

  • Blockchain.com is a reputable company in the cryptocurrency space.
  • The process is as simple as depositing assets to your Blockchain.com Interest Account.
  • Blockchain.com provides an interest calculator so you know how much interest to expect over a given period.
  • Pegging the annual interest between 4.5% to 6% allows Blockchain.com to offer consistent rates.

Cons

  • Blockchain.com requires investors to reach the “Gold Level” of verification before they can run an interest-earning account.
  • There is also a $300 benchmark before you can start earning interest on bitcoin.
  • The Blockchain.com electronic wallet adds support for a limited number of cryptocurrencies, which includes BTC, BCH, ETH, Paxo Standard Stable Coin (PAX), and Stellar(XLM).

6. Binance Savings

Binance launched in 2017 and is currently one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. To further improve liquidity across its platform, Binance allows clients to earn interest on crypto via its lending products. Users can earn interest on cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Binance USD (BUSD), Tether (USDT), and Ether (ETH) to mention just a few.

Binance lending products are categorized into two types which are:

  • Fixed Deposit
  • Flexible Deposit

Fixed Deposit

Under this category, an investor is required to lock in or stake funds for a certain period of time to attract a determined amount of interest. This option is best for long-term investors; however, you cannot gain access to withdraw your funds until the subscription period expires.

Flexible Deposit

This category is where investors earn interest on crypto while saving crypto. The service is flexible because you can choose to pull your funds at any time you wish. This type of savings will appeal to traders, especially; however, it attracts lower interest rates than the fixed deposit category.

Pros

  • Binance is a reliable cryptocurrency exchange.
  • The exchange presents a variety of savings and lending options for investors to choose from, depending on the individual’s choice of either a long-term lending basis or flexible deposit fit for traders.
  • Binance lending products support more cryptocurrencies than other platforms reviewed so far.

Cons

  • Users must complete Binance’s KYC process before they can use the lending service.
  • Users risk an impermanent loss when they save assets that offer higher yields, but often drop in market price.
Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain Guides & Tutorials

Best Bitcoin Investment Apps To Use

If you want to start investing in Bitcoin, you need to use the best Bitcoin investment apps that provide the best security and are available within your jurisdiction.

At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency market was worth over $2.3 trillion. Bitcoin alone has a market cap of $850 billion or 58% of the entire industry. The huge potential and mouthwatering ROI associated with Bitcoin are some of the reasons why investors are looking to add a new asset class to their portfolio.

Interestingly, an increasing number of traditional, public-traded companies, including $1.2 billion-valued MicroStrategy, and Square recently bought Bitcoin as part of their reserve assets.

Whether you’re a retail investor or a portfolio manager, you’re apparently looking to start investing in Bitcoin, hence the reason you’re reading this article. In this article, we provide a shortlist of the best bitcoin investment apps that you can start using today.

Getting Started With Bitcoin Investment Apps

One interesting thing about buying Bitcoin is that it gets easier every day. Companies and individual players in the market are either improving existing bitcoin investing apps or launching new ones with better features. To help you understand this better, let’s briefly talk about the first Bitcoin trade.

First Bitcoin Trade

The first known trade of Bitcoin on an exchange took place on July 17, 2010. The venue was now-defunct Bitcoin, exchange website, MtGox. The transacting parties exchanging 20 BTC for $0.04951 per whole bitcoin, while the total size of the transaction was just under $1.

It marked the first time people were able to buy bitcoin via a platform, and not peer-to-peer and in real-life.

Fast forward to the present, there are now thousands of Bitcoin investment app that make the buying and selling of digital currency similar to online shopping. In fact, one might argue that there’s always a way for you to invest in bitcoin, regardless of your location.

Why Use Bitcoin Investment Apps

Since your mobile phone stays with you almost every hour, bitcoin investment apps are perhaps an ideal way to track your bitcoins or buy more at any given time. Some apps even allow you to set up recurring buys (daily, weekly, or monthly) while still allowing you to custody your bitcoins.

We know that choosing the best app to invest in bitcoin from the thousands that exist might be confusing and time-consuming. This is why we’ve made this shortlist of the best Bitcoin investing apps that could suit your investment needs.

Meanwhile, although the minimum bitcoin investment amount varies from platform-to-platform, but you can get started with buying bitcoin for as low as $10-$30 when you use these apps and exchanges.

Top Ten (10) Best Bitcoin Investment Apps to Use Today

1. Square Cash App

Suitable For: Long-term Investing

The Cash App is arguably one of the best bitcoin investment apps. It is a peer-to-peer mobile payment service developed by Square, Inc in October 2013. With over 20 million users, Cash App allows people to buy Bitcoin conveniently.

Founded by Bitcoin enthusiast owner, Jack Dorsey, Square user consumes a significant chunk of new BTC supply, while the company funds Bitcoin developers to further secure the network.

Supported Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (only)

Deposit and Withdrawal: Square’s Cash App allows users to deposit up to $10,000 worth of Bitcoin weekly. Investors can only make withdrawals if they have a balance of at least 0.0001 BTC. But, you’ll need to enable the withdrawal and deposit feature in the app before you can use it.

Payment Methods: Being a mobile payment app, Cash App lets users buy Bitcoin from their balance. You can choose to add funds to your Cash App via debit and credit cards issued by MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express.

Supported Mobile: Android and iOS.

Recurring Buys: Available

Supported Countries: Cash App is available in the United States and the United Kingdom. It can only be used to send funds within the supported countries.

2. Coinbase

Suitable For: Trading and Long-term Investing

Coinbase is a leading cryptocurrency company. Coinbase provides a vast variety of products, including a standard trading platform, and a wallet for retail investors. Founded in 2012, Coinbase is completely licensed and regulated in over 40 U.S. states and territories.

Supported Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ether, etc. The platform continuously broadens its list of supported coins.

Payment Methods: Coinbase users have four payment options available to them. These are Bank Account (ACH), Debit Card, Wire Transfer, and PayPal. Noteworthily, these payment methods are limited to certain services on the exchange. For instance, PayPal can only be linked to a Coinbase account for withdrawal purposes. 

Deposit and Withdrawal: According to Coinbase, the deposit and withdrawal limits depend on the user’s preferred method for payment. However, there’s no limit to how much the customers can sell to your fiat wallet (whether in USD, GBP, or EUR).

Recurring Buys: Available

Supported Countries: Aside from the United States, Coinbase offers its crypto investment app to investors in more than 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, etc. 

Supported Mobile OS: Android and iOS

3. River Financial

Suitable For: Long-term Investing

Despite only launching in late 2019, San Francisco-based River Financial is another top bitcoin investment app worth checking out. The app is exclusively designed to serve both retail and institutional Bitcoin investors and provides a special tracking tool for users to assess how their Bitcoin portfolio has performed over time. 

If you’re investing in Bitcoin for the long-term, River Financial is definitely a good option.

Supported Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin.

Payment Method: River Financial supports ACH payments to add funds. Users can link their bank accounts.

Deposit and Withdrawal: Both verified and unverified users can buy and sell up to $25,000 Bitcoin. However, unverified users cannot deposit or withdraw their Bitcoin except they complete their KYC requirements. Verified users have unlimited deposit and withdrawal options.

Recurring Buys: Available

Supported Countries: United States.

Supported OS: Mobile Web and Desktop

4. Kraken Exchange

Suitable For: Trading and Long-term Investing

Launched in 2011, Kraken is a crypto exchange that provides spot and derivatives trades. The platform has a mandatory AML and KYC requirements. 

Supported Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Montrose, Stellar, Zcash, Ethereum, Dogecoin, EOS, etc.

Payment Methods: Kraken accepts bank transfers and debit card bitcoin purchases. The platform supports a range of fiat currencies: USD, EUR, CAD, AUD, GBP, CHF, and JPY.

Deposits and Withdrawal: The platform offers unlimited deposit and withdrawal. Kraken charges a five-dollar fee for USD withdrawals. 

Supported Countries: Kraken offers its services to all U.S. users except those in Washington DC and New York. It has restrictions on many countries like Cuba, Japan, Tajikistan, North Korea, Iraq, and Iran. 

Supported OS: Android and iOS

5. eToro

Suitable For: Trading

eToro is among the best apps if you’re looking to go beyond Bitcoin to invest in other cryptocurrencies. The platform accepts users from almost all countries in the world.

As a social platform for trading forex, stocks, and cryptocurrencies, investors can see the trades that other individuals are opening and closing.  The app also has a special feature that allows users to copy other professional traders’ positions on the platform.

Supported Coins on eToro: Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Stellar.

Payment Method: eToro accepts several methods, such as credit and debit cards, Neteller, PayPal, WebMoney, Skrill, wire transfer, Yandex, and even ACH. 

However, most of these options are limited to certain countries. As a result, customers can only use the methods supported in their location. 

Deposit and Withdrawal: Unverified users are limited to depositing a maximum of $2,250, while verified users can deposit at least $10,000 to their eToro accounts. The withdrawal limit for unverified accounts is $50.

Recurring Buys: Not Available

Supported Countries: eToro supports several countries for its wallet application. These include Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (U.K.), United States (U.S.), and more.

Supported Mobile OS: Android and iOS

Categories
Bitcoin Guides & Tutorials

How To Buy Bitcoin In India

India is one of the countries in the world that has an on and off relationship with regards to bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. On different occasions, authorities in the country have given out warnings against Bitcoin, putting crypto traders on edge and making many of them wonder if it is legal to trade the asset and if so, how to buy bitcoin in India.

Before answering the aforementioned question of how to buy bitcoin in India, a little exploration through the country’s history with Bitcoin would be beneficial.

On April 6, 2018, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issued a circular banning domestic financial entities regulated by RSI from engaging, dealing with digital currencies, or offering services to crypto-related companies or individuals.

The RBI claimed that the reason for the ban was to protect users, holders, and crypto traders from the risks associated with dealing with cryptocurrency-related institutions causing these companies to cease operations in the country. 

After the affected parties challenged the circular in SC, the central bank mentioned again that the ban was meant to protect the integrity of their banking system. 

Almost two years after the ban, the Indian Supreme Court ruled in favor of digital currency trading in the country, giving Indian traders the right to be able to freely trade Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, without any restriction from the bank. 

Although the Indian Supreme Court lifted the ban against cryptocurrency trading, the RBI is still hesitant and so banks do not offer services to crypto firms.

Recently, rumors started spreading that the Indian government is making plans to place an outright ban on the asset class by making it a criminal offense to issue, trade, or transfer crypto assets claiming that it’s a way to strengthen its financial sector. 

But statements from Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman quenched such rumors. He stated that the authorities along with the central bank of India are negotiating and discussing how to regulate cryptocurrencies.

In light of that regulation, India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs amended Schedule III of the Companies Act 2013, mandating companies to reveal their cryptocurrency holdings and gains as part of their annual financial reports as of April 1, 2021.

Crypto companies across the country are to disclose all profits and losses incurred from crypto transactions, their current cryptocurrency holdings at the time of reporting their finances, and the number of crypto deposits received from any person either for trading or investing in digital currencies.

Why Many Indians Buy Bitcoin

Knowing how to buy bitcoin in India is one thing, but knowing the reason why Indians do so is another. A survey done by the two most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in India, WazirX, and CoinDCX, revealed that Indians between the ages of 25 and 40 are flocking into the cryptocurrency sector.

WazirX, calculated that the number of Indians that have signed up on its platform increased by 125%, late last year, with $19-26 million in daily trading volumes and Indians taking up at least 89% of these transactions. 

Meanwhile, CoinDCX recorded an increase of 75% in its number of sign-ups last year, with its daily trading volume of $20-25 million, and 75% of the total amount coming from Indian investors. Altogether, Indians are trading up to $26 million worth of BTC daily on the two platforms.

What then is the reason behind the high influx of most Indian people buying bitcoin? Here are four reasons why Indians buy bitcoin. 

  • The crypto industry has a significant worth: Bitcoin, which was invented in 2009 by a pseudonymous creator named Satoshi Nakamoto, has led to some changes in the financial sector and has created a trillion-dollar industry. For these reasons, most people in India are investing in Bitcoin to tap into the growing industry.
  • Crypto brings capital to India: Bitcoin, as a foreign investment, is adopted by venture capitalists, CEOs, and founders like Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, Jack Dorsey, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Naval Ravikant, and Chamath Palihapitiya, whose industries have greatly benefited from investing in the cryptocurrency. Therefore, when Indian citizens buy the digital asset, it leads to capital landing for the country instead of capital flight as the authorities believe.
  • Bitcoin has mathematically provable accounting: Bitcoin is based on a blockchain network. The network uses cryptography to create an immutable global record of Bitcoin transactions, like who paid what currency, when, and to whom, making accounting simpler and easier to perform audits and automate them. Due to the convenience of on-chain accounting, big accounting firms like PwC, EY, KPMG, and Deloitte now utilize Bitcoin and Ethereum as a diagnostic method when auditing firms that engage in cryptocurrency transactions. Indians, too, that buy bitcoin, do so to most likely enjoy the method of record used under the bitcoin network.
  • The promise of wealth: Bitcoin has made serious gains since it was invented. At the creation of the cryptocurrency, it was almost $0 but at the time of writing bitcoin’s value was at $53,691. Although Bitcoin is volatile like all cryptocurrencies, it has made huge growth which is evident in the difference between its value now and in 2009.

How to Buy Bitcoin in India

For those in the country who wish to own bitcoin and are thinking of how to buy bitcoin in India, they can go through an exchange or a peer-to-peer platform. Below is a list of possible exchanges to buy bitcoin in India.

WazirX

This is a cryptocurrency exchange based in India and was founded in March 2018 by a team made up of Nischal Schetty, Sameer Mhatre, and Siddharth Menon. In November 2019, WazirX was acquired by leading crypto exchange Binance. 

Indians, including professional traders and first-time investors,  can buy and sell cryptocurrencies like BTC,  BCH, LTC, DASH, and a host of other coins on WazirX. However, due to the situation in the country, the exchange does not accept wire transfers but offers its peer to peer services to Indian crypto traders.

CoinDCX

CoinDCX is one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Although the exchange was registered in Singapore in 2018, it has its main branch in India. It is an ISO-certified company that aims to provide a user-friendly experience, giving its users access to a wide range of financial products and services backed by industry-leading security processes and insurance protection.

In light of this goal, the platform offers access to 200 different cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, ethereum, and other altcoins.

Paxful

Paxful is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace founded in 2015 in Delaware by a group of developers including Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback who aim to simplify the process of purchasing bitcoin. The platform acts as a bridge between bitcoin buyers and sellers, including those in India, as they convert Indian Rupees (INR) to BTC.

Although the Indian Supreme Court lifted the ban against cryptocurrency trading in the country and so doesn’t consider Bitcoin illegal, the banking sector is highly against cryptocurrency activities and frequently freezes accounts that deal with cryptocurrencies.

While there are rumors that the authority will ban cryptocurrencies in general, the country’s finance minister revealed that the government and the central bank of India are negotiating and discussing how to regulate cryptocurrencies. 

Hence, crypto investors and traders in India are not penalized or punished for engaging in that aspect of finance as it is not illegal.

How Much Should I Invest in Bitcoin?

The decision of how much to invest in bitcoin or when to start depends on individuals, but some factors need to be considered before making any purchase. Factors like an investor’s risk tolerance, income, market conditions, fees, and commissions that exchanges charge.