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Showing posts from February 3, 2021

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...
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Sweet Launches Broad-Scale NFT Solution in Partnership With Bitcoin.com

PRESS RELEASE. February 4, 2021 – New York, New York – Sweet , in partnership with Bitcoin.com, has announced the launch of a highly-scalable Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform for the broad distribution of digital collectibles and digital merchandise. Leveraging Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) and the Bitcoin Cash network ( BCH ), blockchain digital collectibles provide consumer and entertainment brands with a previously-unseen opportunity to drive new revenue, create one-of-a-kind consumer experiences, and increase consumer engagement to unprecedented levels. Flexible Distribution With Sweet’s solution, brands have the flexibility to bring digital merchandise to market in an extraordinary number of ways, including for-purchase on existing e-commerce stores, bundled with physical products via QR codes, as social giveaways via web-based reservations, and as rewards for completing actions such as streaming a song on Spotify or Apple Music. The platform uses the Bitcoin Cash and the SLP...
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Report: Bitcoin Overtakes Gold in the U.S. as the 4th Most Popular Investment Vehicle

Research by Bitflyer released today indicates the growing popularity of the cryptocurrency as an American household investment option. But not in Japan. Stocks Remain the #1 Investment Vehicle Bitflyer , a Japanese crypto exchange, released a research paper that dives into cryptocurrency sentiment and investment trends in the U.S. and compares them to the Japanese market. The most glaring difference between American and Japanese as far cryptocurrency acceptance is indicated through a simple question presented to survey participants: While 76% of Americans view cryptocurrencies positively, 78% of Japanese view cryptocurrencies negatively. The complete opposite pie charts demonstrate how the two markets are miles apart in their acceptance of cryptocurrencies. The research does not indicate when exactly the survey was done, but it can be assumed that the news-worthy ascend of bitcoin ( BTC ) in recent months has contributed to a heightened interest in cryptocurrencies as a whole in...
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Ethereum posts new highs as DeFi gas fees go through the roof

With Ethereum’s fees rocketing to new highs amid Ether’s rally into new price highs, the fees associated with using some complex DeFi protocols has increased above $1,000. Ethereum’s gas fees are again spiking to record highs, rendering many decentralized finance protocols unusable for casual investors. After increasing roughly 20% in the last 24 hours, average Ethereum transaction fees are now sitting at a record $17.67 . With many DeFi projects requiring the execution of complex smart contracts, there are reports fees associated with using protocols requiring complicated transactions now exceed $1,000. Amid the chaos, Twitter-user “Olive Allen” reported estimated gas fees of nearly $5,000 to accept a bid on Rarible.  Almost 5k is the price to accept a bid on @rariblecom now!! Is it because of ETH high gas fees⛽️ or some type of bug ? Thoughts ? pic.twitter.com/tYoV1ilB85 — Olive Allen (@IamOliveAllen) February 3, 2021 When Cointelegraph checked earlier today a si...
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SBF says he's amassed a $10 billion fortune in just three years in crypto

FTX exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is worth an estimated $10 billion according to a New York Magazineinterview. Alameda Research and FTX exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried has amassed a fortune, mostly via crypto assets over the past few years according to New York Magazine. SBF, as he is known in crypto circles, spoke to the publication about his journey into the crypto industry since 2018. During the interview he estimated his own net worth at $10 billion, mostly in illiquid assets. The former Wall Street quant trader got into crypto trading in 2018 after noticing significant arbitrage opportunities, and worked out a way to take advantage of the ‘Kimchi premium’ which was the difference in Bitcoin price between Korea and the rest of the world. He ended up in Japan due to restrictions in Korea and moved up to $25 million per day through intermediaries and local banks at the height of the price discrepancy, the report says. His crypto empire, under the umbrella of Alameda Resear...
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Devs ditching old ‘Ethereum killers’ for DeFi, NFTs and newer chains: Report

Developers are switching their efforts to DeFi as it takes a larger slice of the crypto market. Software engineers and developers are slowly switching their attention from layer-one blockchains once dubbed ‘Ethereum killers’ to the ever-increasing number of new decentralized finance protocols. A February Blockchain Development Trends report by venture capital firm Outlier Ventures suggests that developers are switching their focus away from Ethereum rivals . The findings confirm that over the past twelve months, Ethereum remains the most actively developed blockchain protocol, followed by Cardano and Bitcoin. Jumping into the fourth spot in the year of its public launch, is decentralized file storage project Filecoin. The report noted that while some new platforms such as Polkadot, Cosmos, and Avalanche are seeing an increase in developer activity, many of the traditional Ethereum competitors are seeing a decline in core development. “Ethereum killers Tron, EOS, Komodo, and Qtum ...
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Bitcoin for Corporations- Michael Saylor Expects an ‘Avalanche’ of Firms to Own Bitcoin

This week the firm Microstrategy held an event called “Bitcoin for Corporations” which looks at concepts like macro strategy, corporate playbooks, and legal considerations toward bitcoin. Prior to the event, Microstrategy CEO and bitcoin bull, Michael Saylor, said “professionals from more than 1,400 firms” would join the event. At the conference, Saylor was bullish on bitcoin as usual and said he expects “an avalanche of companies” to join the crypto economy. Microstrategy’s Bitcoin for Corporations Event On February 3 and 4, the firm Microstrategy ( NASDAQ: MSTR ) held an event called “ Bitcoin for Corporations, ” which aims to entice corporate entities to get into the leading crypto asset. In 2020 and into 2021, there’s been a major expansion of the M2 money supply as estimates believe 25-30% of all USD in existence was printed last year. This has led to a number of firms exchanging cash and bonds for bitcoin (BTC) in order to protect the company from devaluing fiat. Microstr...
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Guggenheim CIO under fire for the timing of his changing BTC sentiment

The CIO of Guggenheim is under fire on social media for expressing different views about Bitcoin, seemingly on either side of a big investment. Guggenheim CIO Scott Minerd’s apparent shift from bullish to bearish and back again on either side of an SEC filing pertaining to a half billion dollar investment in BTC has been raising eyebrows on social media. The observation was made after approximately $500 million in BTC was moved from Coinbase into a series of private wallets on Jan. 31, which corresponds with an amount and effective date in a SEC filing by Guggenheim Funds Trust. I looked in to the 14K $BTC transaction from earlier Split over 8 nicely mixed wallets, with some outputs going to a bunch of other non related wallets ~14466 $BTC which is approximately $500 million pic.twitter.com/pXVUZdvRxv — //Bitcoin ack (@BTC_JackSparrow) February 1, 2021 Prior to the filing, Minerd hit the headlines on Jan. 21, when he tipped BTC would see a “full retracement back toward ...
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Bloomberg's Mike McGlone says BTC could be headed to $50K as gold loses appeal

The Bitcoin-to-gold price ratio could shoot to 100x with the digital asset’s volatility possibly dropping to gold levels by 2024. Bitcoin will continue its bullish push towards $50,000 as investors move funds out of gold and into the digital asset, according to Bloomberg senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.  By 2024, he believes its volatility could even reach gold levels, driving the price much further. In a report published on Wednesday, McGlone explained that BTC is showing strong support at $30,000, and “increasing institutional adoption and the potential for the benchmark to become a global reserve asset” could drive the price to $50,000 or higher. The report cited evidence of funds moving to Bitcoin from gold, highlighting accelerating flows into Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and decline in total known ETF holdings of gold. The investment firm has grown its GBTC fund from 1%, to 10%, of the “$210 billion tracking-gold ETFs” across 2020. “In a world going digital...
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Gas fee proposal could create ‘positive feedback loop’ for ETH price: Grayscale

Grayscale believes EIP-1559, a proposal to burn Ethereum gas fees, could be extremely bullish for Ether’s price. Institutional crypto fund manager Grayscale Investments believes the introduction of the proposed EIP-1559 fee and burn mechanism could create “a positive feedback loop for Ether’s price” should network activity continue to increase on Ethereum. That’s because the proposal could result in Ether being burned at a rate exceeding the creation of new supply, significantly shifting the supply-demand dynamic underpinning the ETH markets. In Grayscale’s Feb. 4 report , Valuing Ethereum , the firm discussed the role Ether plays as a “consumable commodity” within the Ethereum ecosystem and considers the impact EIP-1559 could have on the network’s economics. EIP-1559 was proposed by Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin and Ethhub co-founder Eric Conner in April 2019 and seeks to implement a fee market and burn mechanism to bring Ethereum’s often-skyrocketing gas fees under contro...
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Bitcoin-touting Senator Lummis appointed to Banking Committee

In announcement the appointment, Lummis made clear that she hopes to get digital asset legislation moving. The most vocally pro-crypto Senator in the U.S. will join the committee responsible for the nation's financial regulation. On Wednesday night, Senator Lummis' team told Cointelegraph that Lummis had received her committee assignments for the 117th congress. The freshman republican from Wyoming will take her place at three committees: banking, environment, and commerce. The Banking Committee is the Senate's front line for financial legislation and has hosted hearings with Facebook's leadership over the Libra stablecoin, as well as, more recently, prospects for a digital dollar. In a press announcement, Lummis noted her intention of using the appointment to the banking committee to advance digital asset legislation. "Wyoming has been leading the way on financial innovation over the last several years. Through my role on the Banking Committee, I hope to shi...
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Mark Cuban Tells Stock Traders That BTC Hodlers ‘Are a Great Example to Follow’

Billionaire and crypto-asset supporter, Mark Cuban has identified bitcoin hodlers’ endurance as a model that stock investors can follow. According to the billionaire, after acquiring the asset at high prices back in 2017, the hodlers “held on because they believed in the asset.” Following in the Footsteps of BTC Hodlers These long term hodlers were unmoved even when the crypto asset lost more than two-thirds of its value after the 2017/18 bull run ended. Cuban’s remarks about BTC hodlers were in response to a request for advice to stock traders that incurred losses in the past week. In his reply, the billionaire, who recently praised the efforts Wallstreetbets (WSB) traders , explains that regular stock traders should follow an approach that is similar to his and that of BTC hodlers. The billionaire explains: When I buy a stock I make sure I know why I’m buying it. Then I Hodl until I learn that something has changed. The price may go up or down, but if I still believe in th...
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DeFi users flock to Flamingo (FLM) to escape high Ethereum gas fees

Flamingo’s (FLM) rally to a new all-time high is backed by record trading volume, increased governance capabilities and DeFi users searching for Ethereum alternatives. Decentralized finance is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of the cryptocurrency sector but the ecosystem has become increasingly centralized on the Ethereum network and this is causing the entire sector to be plagued by high gas fees and slow transaction confirmations. Average Ethereum gas price. Source: Etherscan This explosive rise in gas fees is leading users to look for other options and one alternative is Flamingo finance . The protocol is built on the NEO blockchain and designed with a focus on governance and interoperability. Interoperability has also emerged as a prominent issue in the crypto sector as separate blockchains and isolated DeFi platforms need a way to communicate with each other and transact across protocols. Value pegging when dealing with cross-chain assets has proven a challenge for protoco...
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Swiss Companies Issue First Tokenized Asset for Trading Under New National Blockchain Rules

New legal provisions on distributed ledger technology (DLT) went into effect on Feb. 1 in Switzerland. After the implementation, two local companies announced that they had issued the first tokenized asset under the brand-new law. ‘Fine Wine’ Token Is Available for Sygnum Bank’s Clients Per the announcement , Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum and Fine Wine Capital AG launched collectible premium wine-backed tokens, becoming the first ones under the new blockchain rules. Assets tokenized through Sygnum’s platform, Desygnate, will be recognized under a new category of ledger-based securities in the law. According to the digital asset bank, the “Fine Wine” token is available in the “Art & Collectibles” category for Sygnum’s clients. The “Swiss Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Ledger Technology” allows companies to develop a framework that links financial and real assets ownership to a DLT-based asset token. Alexandre Challand, Fine Wine C...
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US Bitcoin exchange traffic explodes as analyst says flows hint at new BTC bull run

With Coinbase firmly within the top 500 U.S. websites by popularity, it seems that all publicity is good publicity as mainstream consumers come on board. Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchanges in the United States are seeing unprecedented popularity as a wave of adoption sweeps the market.  Data from statistics resources Alexa and Similarweb shows that major exchange Coinbase now ranks within the top 1,000 most popular websites around the world. Coinbase in top 400 U.S. sites As BTC/USD circles all-time highs, its run to $42,000 in January appears to have sparked a tsunami of new user engagement with some of the most popular cryptocurrency trading platforms. In the U.S., the focal point of institutional inflows into Bitcoin in recent months, exchanges Gemini, Kraken and Binance U.S. are all part of the top 10,000 global sites.  While Binance just beats Coinbase in terms of worldwide visits, the latter reigns supreme among its domestic market, ranking 386th among U.S. internet user...
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Canadian investment firm Accelerate Financial files for Bitcoin ETF

Calgary-based financial services firm Accelerate Financial Technologies is planning to list its Bitcoin ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Another Canadian company has filed an application for a Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange-traded fund, or ETF, amid a renewed interest in crypto ETFs from global financial firms. Accelerate Financial Technologies has filed and obtained a receipt for a preliminary prospectus with Canadian securities regulators for the Accelerate Bitcoin ETF (ABTC). Announcing the news on Feb. 3, Accelerate Financial said that ABTC will offer units denominated in both United States and Canadian dollars. The company has applied to list ABTC units on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with listing being subject to the exchange's requirements. “The TSX has not conditionally approved ABTC's listing application and there is no assurance that the TSX will approve the listing application,” the company noted. Accelerate Financial founder and CEO Julian Klymochko said that the...
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India must revolutionize its digital media industry with blockchain

There won’t be a better chance for India to unlock the full potential of blockchain tech in the digital media industry. India has more than 65% of ut  population below the age of 35, with the average age nationwide being 29 years old. Additionally, out of India’s 1.3 billion people, only half currently use mobile phones, and less than half of this number are smartphones. Even though India is one of the world’s most populated countries, internet usage remains at 41%, with 700 million Indians currently connected to the internet. This leaves incredible room for growth in India, which lags behind other emerging economies when it comes to both internet access and smartphone ownership. This large, underserved population has long been the target of global entrepreneurs and mega tech corporations. A $5-billion opportunity According to a survey , roughly 84% of Indian users access the internet for entertainment purposes. In 2019, there was a surge in over-the-top, or OTT, streaming, ...
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Cross-chain DeFi interoperability on the agenda as Ren joins Alameda

Ren is teaming up with Alameda to boost cross-chain decentralization. Cross-chain bridge service Ren has announced that its development team will be joining Alameda according to a blog post by CEO Taiyang Zhang. As part of the announcement, Zhang revealed that the focus of the move is on enabling Solana (SOL) support on RenVM — the project’s cross-chain liquidity protocol launched back in May 2020. According to the Zhang, development work on the integration is currently being audited with full deployment expected to begin by the summer. Commenting on the upcoming Solana integration, the Ren protocol CEO remarked: “The upcoming support for Solana, and integration into Serum, will help bring even more volume and users to RenVM, solidifying it as the highest usage interoperability network. RenVM will see new and diverse assets, new users, and increased fee revenue for its node operators.” Zhang said that the partnership with Alameda will explore channels for achieving greater dec...
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Report: Declining BTC Stablecoin Supply Ratio Suggests Exchanges Are ‘Highly Liquid & Ready to Buy’ Crypto Assets

According to a report by Glassnode, bitcoin’s declining stablecoin supply ratio (SSR) indicates an increased supply of newly minted coins on exchanges. In turn, this increase in supply means exchanges are currently “highly liquid and ready to buy up assets such as bitcoin.” Stablecoin Supply Growth As explained in the report , the SSR is a ratio of the total value of all bitcoins versus stablecoins. This metric “decreases when (either) the price of BTC is low or when more stablecoins are entering circulation.” However, with BTC prices are already high, this leaves the increased stablecoin supply as the only possible reason behind the low ratio. Already, Messari data shows that the total stablecoin market capitalization currently stands at approximately $39 billion as of February 1. From this total, the USDT stablecoin accounts for $28 billion or approximately 71% share of the market. However, as the Glassnode report notes, it is the USDC stablecoin that is seeing “massive exc...
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