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Showing posts from February 24, 2021

South Korean PC Gaming Rooms Rely on Crypto Mining to Profit During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has significantly hit several entertainment routines of the people worldwide, and South Korea is not an exception. PC gaming rooms had to shut down in the country, but their owners found a way to make profits during the lockdown by participating in crypto mining. A PC Bang Owner Made Over $3,000 Worth of Ethereum in Two Weeks According to Chosun , operators of the “PC bangs,” a common term used for the PC gaming rooms in South Korea, leverages their computers to take advantage of the pandemic-driven restrictions. In fact, owners don’t have certainties on whether or not they can re-open their businesses, and that’s why crypto mining is now an alternative to deal with right now. Some PC bang owners in Seoul are mining ether ( ETH ) by relying on highly-equipped computers with top-notch graphic cards. A 34-years-old man named Kim stated that the number of customers reduced significantly due to the pandemic, and his PC bang couldn’t be sustainable with such a ...

Meme pioneer launches NFT lolcats on OpenSea

Meme master ‘Cheezburger’ is releasing a series of NFTs based on his website’s famous captioned ‘lolcat’ photos. The original “I Can Has Cheezburger?” meme has become the latest symbol of popular culture to be immortalized as an NFT. The meme’s creator, Eric Nakagawa, announced his foray into a series of lolcat NFTs on Feb. 23. “ Happy Cat ” — the crown jewel of Nakgawa’s NFT release — is being auctioned on NFT marketplace OpenSea, with the highest bid currently sitting at 0.25 ETH. Cool to see all the most important internet history becoming NFTs https://t.co/EclycEXupY — Micah Baldwin (@micah) February 22, 2021 The 10 piece series, titled “No Fries Today,” comprises early lolcat memes and meme-inspired artwork. Some proceeds of the sales will be donated to charitable organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Internet Archive, and the World Wildlife Foundation. Each NFT includes the backstory explaining how the meme it represe...

Andreessen Horowitz leads $25m round for Optimism's L2 scaling solution

Optimism has been on a hiring spree and plans to expedite its mainnet launch after securing backing from Andreessen Horowitz. Optimism, a company providing Layer 2 scaling solutions for Ethereum, has secured backing from venture capital firm and Coinbase investor Andreessen Horowitz, or A16z. Andreessen Horowitz, which manages a portfolio worth roughly $16.6 billion, announced it is leading Optimism’s $25 million Series A investment round on Feb. 24. The demand for Layer 2 scaling solutions has escalated amid Ethereum’s surging fees, with average transaction costs pushing as high as $40 on Feb. 23. To achieve lower fees, lower latency, and greater throughput compared to transacting on Ethereum’s Layer 1 main net, Optimism uses “rollups” to bundle transactions together using smart contracts on an Ethereum side-chain before broadcasting them to the mainnet. Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, summarized that “rollups move computation (and state storage) off-chain, but keep some...

New Crypto Rules in Thailand Could Require Traders to Show Income Before Opening Trading Accounts

Thailand seeks to introduce a new set of rules for retail crypto investors, specifically targeting those who want to open accounts. The Thai financial watchdog could require domestic crypto exchanges to ask traders for proof of income. Thai SEC Could Also Ask Crypto Investors to Prove Their Knowledge of the Market According to a Bloomberg report , the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand is likely preparing the ground to require investors to show their income or assets before opening accounts. Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, the secretary general of the country’s financial watchdog, pointed out that anyone who isn’t allowed to trade cryptocurrencies via their accounts can invest through licensed managers. She added: It’s a big concern as most crypto investors on domestic exchanges are very young, such as students and teenagers. We realize those people love innovations and technology, but investments in these assets have enormous risk. Moreover, the general secretary sai...

India’s largest crypto exchange adopts decentralized Unstoppable Domains

India's largest cryptocurrency exchange will use Unstoppable Domains to create and host blockchain-based URLs, despite the nation's impending Bitcoin ban. India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Unocoin, has adopted the blockchain-based Unstoppable Domains, which simplifies crypto transactions by turning blockchain addresses into human-readable web URLs. Announced on Wednesday, the partnership between Unocoin and Unstoppable Domains — both funded by Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper — is expected to reduce remittance costs and simplify the transaction process for the exchange’s 1.2 million users. Unstoppable Domains turns crypto addresses into decentralized websites on the Ethereum and Zilliqa blockchains. Instead of sending coins to a 42-character blockchain address, Unstoppable Domains allows users to create simple URLs ending in “.crypto” and “.zil” extensions. Domain names need only be purchased once, and then exist forever on the blockchain without requiring any ren...

DEX volumes have already surpassed $120b in 2021

DEX trading volumes on Ethereum hit $63 billion in January, smashing the sector’s previous record of $28 billion. Ethereum-powered decentralized exchanges, or DEXes, continue to surge despite high transaction fees — with DEXes processing more than $120 billion in 2021 so far. According to Ethereum market analytics platform Dune Analytics, combined DEX volumes posted a new record of $63 billion in January. February's volume currently sits at $59 billion and is on track to hit $67 billion at the month’s end. DEXes have already processed more volume in the first two months of 2021 than during all previous years combined. Monthly DEX volume: DuneAnalytics The Ethereum-powered DEX sector is still dominated by Uniswap and Sushiswap , who account for 65% of February’s trade combined. Uniswap currently represents more than double Sushi’s volume, controlling almost 50% of DEX market share. However, looking at the weekly number of active traders on each platform shows that Uniswap...

Ethereum on track to settle $1.6 trillion this quarter

Ethereum's quarterly settlement value is on course to increase by 1,280% year-over-year. Ethereum usage is surging this year, with the value of transactions settled on the network skyrocketing during 2021. According to research from Messari, Ethereum has settled $926 trillion worth of transactions this quarter so far — 700% more than it processed during Q1 2020. The network is currently on-pace to settle $1.6 trillion in transactions for the first quarter of this year. In the last 12 months, Ethereum has already settled $2.1 trillion in transactions. If Messari’s $1.6 trillion forecast is accurate, Ethereum’s quarterly settlement value will have increased 1,280% compared to Q1 2020, and more than 5,000% compared to Q1 2019. Messari researcher Ryan Watkins noted the data counters the prevailing narrative that Ethereum is seeing an exodus of users amid its high gas fees, exclaiming: “Incredible scale for a technology that critics claimed couldn’t scale.” Ethereum's re...

Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Hits $19 Billion, Harsh Intraday Swings, Analyst Says ‘Fresh Rally’ Expected

The start of the week saw digital currency markets drop significantly in value, as billions of dollars were shaved off the entire crypto economy’s capitalization. A weekly report from Luno and Arcane Research shows February 23 captured the third-largest bitcoin daily trade volume in crypto history, as spot market volume saw $18 billion change hands. Moreover, crypto derivatives are surging as bitcoin futures open interest commandeered $19.1 billion on Tuesday. Volatile Bitcoin Price Fluctuations Sees Intraday Swings Close to 20% for Two Days In a Row After bitcoin ( BTC ) touched an all-time price high on Sunday, hitting $58,354 per unit, bitcoin’s value slipped below the $50k handle touching bottom at $44,846 per coin. The loss between these two price ranges saw over 23% shaved off BTC ’s market valuation. While heavy losses were seen across the board throughout the entire crypto-economy , a report from Luno and Arcane Research shows that Tuesday’s trade volume was the third-lar...

Bitcoin whale from 2010 moves 100 BTC for first time in 11 years

Blockchain analysts have identified 100 BTC mined in June 2010 that were moved for the first time today. A veteran miner has cracked open their 2010 stash of Bitcoin, with crypto analysts spotting 100 BTC being transferred from two wallets that had laid dormant for more than a decade. Prior to today’s transaction , the addresses had not seen any activity since receiving a 50 BTC Coinbase reward each nearly 11 years ago, except for two incoming transactions worth just 0.00000547 BTC each that were sent to the wallets in the last six months. The Feb. 25 transaction combined the two mining address outputs, indicating both addresses belong to the same owner. The two blocks were mined only a couple of hours apart on Jun. 10, 2010. Bitcoin is currently trading for $49,800, giving the coins a combined value of nearly $5 million. With BTC trading for $0.08 when the coins were mined, the whale’s holdings have increased in value by 622,500 times. Some old coins moved today (100 BTC from J...

Bitcoin Has No Intrinsic Value, Asset Is Too Volatile, Says Bank of Korea Governor

Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol has said that crypto assets like bitcoin have no intrinsic value – put simply, a measure of what an asset is actually worth. ● Speaking in the National Assembly on Feb. 23, Lee forecast that bitcoin ( BTC ) will see increased price swings going forward, the local news agency Yonhap reported . ● “It is very difficult to predict the price, but its price will be extremely volatile,” said the bank chief in response to a question from a lawmaker who wanted to know whether bitcoin’s recent bull run, where its price reached a record high above $58,000, was temporary. ● Lee also spoke about the possible reasons supporting bitcoin’s recent rally. He believes that rising corporate interest in BTC , as well as concerns over looming excessive inflation due to too much fiat money printing by world governments, has given the crypto a leg up. ● “These assets saw a steep rise in the shortest period of time. I would say institutional investors’ assessment of usin...

Cross-chain bridges and DeFi integration are pushing these 3 altcoins higher

Cross-chain interoperability and lucrative DeFi yield opportunities appear to be supporting the price recovery in Cardano, Matic and Stacks. The cryptocurrency market is showing signs of progress following a multiday sell-off that saw the total market capitalization drop by more than $400 billion as Bitcoin's ( BTC ) price briefly fell below $46,000. While the majority of altcoins have entered a consolidation phase that includes a retest of underlying support levels, several projects have started to regain lost ground after new developments reignited investors' optimism. ADA/USDT Cardano's ADA started the year with a bullish spark that saw its price increase 624% from $0.165 on Jan. 2 to a high of $1.20 on Feb. 20. This week's sharp correction pulled the price to a swing low at $0.80, but it is clear that traders bought the dip. ADA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Since hitting a swing low at $0.80, ADA's price rallied 30% to $1.05 following the ne...

MicroStrategy purchases another $1 billion worth of Bitcoin, now owns 90,000 BTC

CEO Michael Saylor said the firm didn't intend to slow down the rate of its Bitcoin acquisitions after buying another $1 billion worth of BTC. Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy increased its Bitcoin ( BTC ) holdings by 27% on Feb. 24, after purchasing an additional 19,452 coins, taking its total BTC haul to 90,531 Bitcoin. Announced on the company’s website on Wednesday, the coins were reportedly purchased for approximately $52,765 per coin, equating to an outlay of just over $1 billion. MicroStrategy Incorporated CEO Michael Saylor said the firm’s focus was now two-fold: grow its analytics software enterprise, and buy more Bitcoin. Saylor said, “The Company remains focused on our two corporate strategies of growing our enterprise analytics software business and acquiring and holding bitcoin." In the six months since MicroStrategy announced its first $250 million investment in Bitcoin, the company has gone on to spend in excess of $4 billion on the digital asse...

CoinShares launches new physically-backed Ether ETP

Digital asset manager CoinShares is listing its second cryptocurrency exchange-traded product on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Major European digital asset manager CoinShares is expanding its product portfolio with a new physically-backed Ether ( ETH ) exchange-traded product, or ETP. Called CoinShares Physical Ethereum (ETHE), the new investment product is launching with around $75 million in assets under management. Announcing the news Wednesday, CoinShares said that each unit of ETHE is backed with 0.03 ETH at launch. The news comes shortly after CoinShares launched its first cryptocurrency ETP , CoinShares Physical Bitcoin (BITC), in January 2021. Similar to BITC, the new ETH ETP will be initially listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. The new product intends to provide investors with passive exposure to Ethereum’s native asset at a base fee of 1.25%. According to an announcement by Bloomberg, Nomura Holdings-backed digital asset custodian Komainu will serve as custodian for the new CoinSh...

India’s Warren Buffett Wants Regulators to Ban Bitcoin and Focus on Digital Rupee

Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, sometimes referred to as the Warren Buffett of India, says that the government should ban bitcoin. Calling the cryptocurrency “speculation of the highest order,” the billionaire investor stated that he will never buy bitcoin. Billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Thinks Indian Government Should Ban Bitcoin Rakesh Jhunjhunwala believes that the Indian government should step in and ban bitcoin, CNBC reported Tuesday. Jhunjhunwala, who currently manages his own investment portfolio as a partner at asset management firm Rare Enterprises, is sometimes known as the “Warren Buffett of India” and the “King of Bull Market.” Jhunjhunwala was quoted as saying: I think regulators should step in and ban bitcoin. And they should focus on the digital rupee. The Indian government is planning to introduce a cryptocurrency bill in the current parliament session. The bill provides a regulatory framework for the digital rupee to be issued by the central bank, the ...

Alameda Research doubles down on Maps.me, invests $40 million in Oxygen

Alameda Research is going all-in on a travel app to jumpstart DeFi adoption How much are 140 million users worth? After a $50 million direct investment in travel app Maps.me earlier in the year, Alameda Research has announced today a $40 million investment in decentralized finance protocol Oxygen, a Solana-based lending platform that will plug into the app. Similar to lending protocols such as Aave and Compound, “Oxygen will first offer borrow-lending services via pools, in which users will deposit their assets and leverage Serum’s on-chain infrastructure to lend according to their desired terms. Users can also simultaneously lend to generate yield while borrowing against their portfolios,” reads the announcement. While the specifics are hard to come by on official channels, Oxygen also boasts a host of planned features including cross-chain integrations with Ethereum-native protocols like Aave and Yearn, options writing, and fully decentralized governance. The protocol...

3 reasons Bitcoin price is quickly recovering from its 'severe' 23% correction

Bitcoin recovered quickly from $44,800 to over $50,000 in under 22 hours and here are three key reasons why. The price of Bitcoin ( BTC ) quickly recovered from around $44,800 to over $50,000 within merely 22 hours. Behind the rapid recovery are three major factors, including low funding rates, Square's $170 million Bitcoin purchase, and the spot market stabilizing. Bitcoin futures funding rates substantially drop Across major futures exchanges, including Binance, Bybit and Bitfinex, the funding rate of Bitcoin has dropped to 0.01%. The Bitcoin futures funding rate was consistently above 0.1% throughout the entirety of the rally from the $40,000s to $58,000. BTC/USDT 4-hour price chart (Binance). Source: TradingView.com When the futures funding rate is high, it means the market is overcrowded with buyers and the rally likely overextended. This creates a major risk of a long squeeze, which can cause the price of Bitcoin to drop quickly in a short period. With the fundi...

Hedera makes inroads in Africa as Standard Bank Group becomes node operator

Standard Bank Group has become the first African node operator on the Hedera network. Standard Bank Group — Africa’s largest bank by assets — has partnered with enterprise-grade distributed ledger technology project Hedera Hashgraph. According to a joint announcement, the African banking giant now joins other major corporations like Google , LG, and IBM as a member of the Hedera Governing Council. Standard Bank will also become a Hedera node operator, the first in Africa with a focus on utilizing DLT to ease bottlenecks in cross-border trade on the continent. Across Africa, innovations in domestic payment rails have created faster and efficient transaction systems. However, this advancement is yet to translate to the cross-border payment transaction scene with stablecoins already identified as having the potential to solve these issues . For Ian Putter, head of DLT and blockchain at Standard Bank Group, the partnership with Hedera is part of the bank’s focus on utilizing decentra...

US judge dismisses crypto fraud case against BNT token issuer

A U.S. federal judge ruled to dismiss a case against crypto firm Bancor, citing lack of personal jurisdiction and the plaintiff’s failure to prove losses. A federal district court in the United States has dismissed a securities fraud class action against Israel-based cryptocurrency firm Bancor. U.S. district judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled on Monday to dismiss a case against Bancor, stating that plaintiffs had failed to allege losses as well as citing lack of personal jurisdiction. The judge has also canceled an oral argument scheduled for March 4, 2021, entering judgment in favor of the defendants. The case was brought by New York law firms Roche Cyrulnik Freedman and Selendy & Gay in April 2020, alleging that the Bancor protocol developer, BProtocol Foundation, violated federal and state securities laws in the U.S. by selling unregistered securities. According to a filing seen by Cointelegraph, the court found that activities promoting the BNT token were not sufficient to giv...

Blockchain Australia ousts retail merchant crypto project Qoin

Blockchain Australia has terminated Qoin’s membership of the association amid allegations that the crypto project is a pyramid scheme. Blockchain Australia — the industry body for the novel tech in the country — has expelled Qoin, a retail merchant crypto project based in Gold Coast, Queensland. According to a notice of disciplinary action issued on Feb. 19, Blockchain Australia initially served Qoin with a summons to respond on Jan. 29. However, Qoin reportedly failed to respond to the notice, forcing Blockchain Australia to expel the project from its membership ranks. Detailing its decision, the notice reads: “On 17 February 2021, the Board of Blockchain Australia, having considered the Notice and the Response and the circumstances of the matter, resolved, pursuant to the Constitution, to terminate the Member’s membership of Blockchain Australia. The former Member has been asked to cease the use of the Blockchain Australia logo and name in connection with their business or...

India's central bank ‘very much in the game‘ with digital currency project

The Reserve Bank of India is getting ready to launch its own central bank digital currency. Indian authorities continue to express support for a government-backed digital currency to replace privately-issued cryptocurrencies. According to Bloomberg, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das has expressed the central bank’s determination to create a digital rupee. According to Das, India’s central bank is “very much in the game” and wants to emulate China’s digital currency electronic project, the digital yuan. The RBI chief also revealed that the digital rupee project is a major focus for the central bank. While there has been no official release date for the proposed CBDC, Das said that the RBI is currently finetuning the technological and procedural protocols of the sovereign digital currency system. As part of the interview, Das maintained the RBI’s anti-crypto stance expressing concerns that cryptos are a threat to India’s financial stability. According to Das, the RBI has reported thes...

Bitcoin price retakes $50K as investor voices relief at 'healthy correction'

Time to ruminate is just what's required after all-time highs near $60,000, argues Ark's Cathie Wood. Bitcoin ( BTC ) hit back to reclaim $50,000 on Feb. 24 amid fresh bullish comments from major investors. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: Tradingview BTC price exits $40,000 range Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView tracked a 14% rise from Tuesday's lows over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin posting local highs of $51,278 on Bitstamp. At the time of writing, $50,000 was forming a price focus with bulls still to take charge to dictate new support levels. After its 20% decline from all-time highs this week, Bitcoin's almost instant renaissance accompanied votes of confidence from various investment sources. Among them was Ark Investment Management founder, CEO and CIO Cathie Wood, who said that the retracement was a "healthy" sign given months of near-vertical upside. Speaking to Bloomberg, she said that was “very positive on...