Skip to main content

MLB Team Washington Nationals Partners With Terra Blockchain Community, Ballpark Plans to Accept UST

On February 9, the American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals, announced the team has partnered with Terra, the open-source blockchain platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Washington Nationals detail that the team is a “leading innovator” and is “consistently introducing new technologies to enhance the fan experience.” Washington Nationals Ink Long-Term Deal With Terra Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Washington Nationals has partnered with the blockchain platform and DAO Terra, according to an announcement published by the team on Wednesday. The deal with Terra follows a slew of sports-related deals with crypto firms, but the MLB team will be the first to partner with an open-source blockchain project. In addition to the partnership, the algorithmic stablecoin UST that’s issued on the Terra blockchain will be “accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park as early as next season.” “The Nationals continue t...

Bitcoin held by public companies has surged 400% in 12 months to $3.6 billion

Public companies hold more than $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin, technology research Kevin Rooke found.

Technology researcher Kevin Rooke has been tracking the Bitcoin (BTC) holdings of public companies throughout the past two years. According to Rooke, public firms now hold over $3.6 billion worth of BTC.

In 2019, public companies had merely 20,000 BTC on their books. This figure has increased to 105,837 BTC in 12 months. Rooke said:

“Last year, public companies held fewer than 20,000 BTC on their balance sheets. Today, 19 public companies hold 105,837 BTC on their balance sheets, valued at over $3.6 billion.”
Bitcoin holdings of public companies. Source: Kevin Rooke

Today, MicroStrategy is the biggest Bitcoin holder with 70,784 BTC with GalaxyDigital Holdings a distant second with over 16,400 BTC. Square Inc., meanwhile, is the largest company by market cap among public company holders by with roughly 4,700 BTC. 

Why is institutional demand for bitcoin surging?

In a year, public companies alone accumulated around 85,000 BTC, which is equivalent to $2.67 billion.

This trend is indicative of the rapidly growing institutional demand for Bitcoin, as portrayed by the surging trading activity on Grayscale and CME.

Grayscale BTC holdings vs. BTC price. Source: Bybt.com

Grayscale’s products and the CME Bitcoin futures market both primarily cater to institutions, and they have seen a massive uptick in volume since mid-2020.

Institutions are growing their exposure to Bitcoin because of the expectations that BTC would eventually evolve into an established alternative to gold.

Amid rising inflation and liquidity injections from central banks, investors and corporations are seeking ways to hedge their holdings and portfolios. Winklevoss said:

“Inflation robs you of your life's work. The Argentine peso has lost 50% of its value against USD in the past 3 years. And that's saying a lot given the current state of the U.S. dollar. No wonder search interest in #Bitcoin is going through the roof.”

If the Biden administration aggressively introduces more stimulus and efforts to ease financial conditions, it would likely create a more favorable environment for Bitcoin and gold to rally.

What analysts expect in BTC in the near term

In the foreseeable future, despite the compelling macro environment, analysts are slightly cautious.

Still, in the bigger picture, macro analysts say that they lean towards the bullish scenario for Bitcoin. Alex Krüger, an economist and Bitcoin trader, said:

“$BTC is stuck in a range within a range: 29K-35K. It can break either way. The key reason I lean bullish is interest rates. Exuberance has rinsed off the system dramatically, as relected in falling rates. This is a bull market, and traders are now bearish. That's bullish.”

There are also expectations that more institutions would accumulate Bitcoin in the coming weeks, due to brightening market sentiment.

Weekly BTC perpetual futures funding rates. Source: Digital Assets Data

On top of this, the derivatives market has reset, with the futures market becoming less crowded. The trader further noted:

“Funding is either flat or negative. Perpetuals are trading below spot. The perp-spot basis has not been negative for this long since pre Nov elections, And the annualized quarterly basis has dropped from 25%-28% a week ago to 7-10% now. All sings of a healthy cool-down.”
https://ift.tt/3a6jHAq

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Blockchain Software Firm Consensys Acquires Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet

On February 1, the blockchain infrastructure firm Consensys has revealed it has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto and plans to merge the wallet into Metamask. The price Consensys paid for Mycrypto was not disclosed but the announcement notes that the acquisition will “further improve the security of all the products.” Consensys Obtains Mycrypto Ethereum Wallet, Plans to Merge With Metamask in the Future Consensys has acquired the Ethereum-based wallet Mycrypto for an undisclosed sum according to an announcement released on Tuesday. The deal aims to strengthen the company’s Ethereum wallet Metamask and “enhance Web3 experiences.” The eventual merger between the two Ethereum interfaces will “provide users with a heightened experience that is even more extensive and secure,” according to Consensys. Consensys is an Ethereum software company led by one of the Ethereum co-founders Joseph Lubin. The Web3 wallet Metamask, with 21 million monthly active users (MAUs) is owned by C...

Earn up to 50% APY by Staking $GLQ on GraphLinq App

PRESS RELEASE. The newest utility token to offer staking to its users/holders is GraphLinq Protocol’s $GLQ. As of this article, $GLQ has 4,500+ holders according to etherscan, excluding GLQ holders on CEX like Kucoin, MXC, Gate. This is a great step for the future of the project as it will further incentivize more users to hold. Explore more about GraphLinq, its staking mechanism & steps to stake. What Is GraphLinq? GraphLinq – The No Code protocol for automating actions on-chain & off-chain, launched in just March 2021, has come a long way bringing users in the crypto space a never seen model of integrating blockchain automation on any blockchain-related/non-related task. The goal of the GraphLinq protocol is to allow users to interact blockchains with any connected system as effortlessly as possible without any prior knowledge of coding. GraphLinq ecosystem currently consists of an engine, an integrated development environment ( IDE ) & an app to provide automated...

The Congolese Mountain of Gold: Surprise Discovery in Africa Shows Metal’s Scarcity Is Hard to Prove

A myriad of gold bugs like to compliment the yellow precious metal for its ostensible scarcity, as estimates say only 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold is produced annually. While new gold discoveries have seemingly slowed, investigative studies also show that in some areas, gold is being smuggled into the economy by the ton, and often never accounted for as far as per annum issuance estimates. Recently, reports show a whole mountain of gold was discovered in the Congo, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo is well known for being a region that sees tons of smuggled gold filtered into the global financial system unreported. Surprise Gold Deposits Continue to Crack the Precious Metal’s Scarcity Proposition It has always been said that the precious metal gold (Au) is scarce, and some reports even say that gold mining on earth will end by the year 2050 . Additionally, estimates also show that there’s roughly 2,500 to 3,000 tons of new gold that is accounted for and enters into the fin...