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Showing posts from April 14, 2021

ARK buys $246M of Coinbase stock, adds COIN to three ETFs

ARK Invest has spread nearly 750,000 COIN shares across three of its ETFs. Three exchange-traded funds offered by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest purchased 749,205 shares in Coinbase Global, Inc (COIN) worth roughly $246 million combined. The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) now holds 512,535 COIN shares, while the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) purchased 147,081 shares, and the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) bought 89,589. ARK’s funds were not the only ETFs accumulating COIN, with the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK) also getting in on the action. BLOK is among the most active ETFs in the crypto space, with seven of its 10-largest allocations operating in the blockchain industry and representing one-third of its entire portfolio . Looks $BLOK bought it too. This has to be a record for most ETFs to hold a stock on day one trading. Even IPO ETFs wait a a few days. https://t.co/nHqc5cwj6m — Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 15, 2021 Coinbase’s highly anticipa...

Macau poised to amend laws to enable digital yuan trials

Macau’s government is taking steps towards introducing a digital currency to combat tax evasion and money laundering in the gambling hub. Macau is pushing forward with preparations fo the roll out China’s digital yuan, which could help crack down on tax evasion in its opaque gambling industry. On April 13, Ho lat Seng, the chief executive officer of the Chinese island territory, told local lawmakers the government is planning to amend legislation that would allow the regulated issuance of China’s digital yuan to facilitate trials of the digital currency: “We will keep communication with the People’s Bank of China and start a feasibility study around launching the Digital RMB in Macau. Therefore, we need to add provisions in relevant law to allow for the introduction of digital currencies.” According to Ho, the introduction of digital currency will aid Macau in its fight against tax evasion and money laundering. The introduction of the digital yuan could potentially overthrow Mac...

EQUOS: Industry Heavyweights Join Forces to Debate the Future of Digital Money

PRESS RELEASE. April 15, 2021, Singapore : EQUOS, the institutional cryptocurrency exchange owned by Diginex (Nasdaq: EQOS), will host an exclusive webinar between Roger Ver, the famous Founder of Bitcoin.com, and Richard Byworth, CEO of Diginex, the first Nasdaq-listed company with a cryptocurrency exchange. They will debate the ‘Future of Digital Money’ and examine the trigger points that could lead to the ubiquitous use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, store of value and settlement. Following recent news from Paypal, Tesla and Square that they are now accepting crypto as a means of payment, the future of digital money is being debated widely from Central Bankers to crypto investing enthusiasts. The increasing adoption by institutional investors, and the widening acceptance of crypto as a settlement currency, has seen the market value of the asset surpass $2 trillion for the first time in its history. During a live event on April 21 st , Ver and Byworth will look at th...

DOGE Taps a Lifetime Price High, Mark Cuban Says Dallas Mavs Shop Won’t Sell Its Dogecoin

This week a number of digital assets saw significant gains, but the meme-themed digital asset dogecoin has seen a significant rise during the last 48 hours. Dogecoin tapped a high of $0.143 per unit on Wednesday and has spiked more than 104% during the last week. Meanwhile, the billionaire investor and television personality, Mark Cuban, says the Dallas Mavericks have been seeing increased dogecoin sales. Dogecoin Skyrockets to New Heights, Food Network Star Guy Fieri Gives a Shoutout to Shiba Inu Crypto Dogecoin (DOGE) , the meme token that was launched on December 6, 2013, has skyrocketed to new heights on Wednesday. 2021 has been quite the year for DOGE traders, as the crypto asset touched an all-time high (ATH) at $0.143 per unit on April 14th. The digital currency has jumped more than 104% against the USD in seven days and during the last week gained 82% against BTC . The cryptocurrency featuring the likeness of the Shiba Inu dog has also seen a massive +1,181% gain in three ...

You can already invest in hundreds of ETFs with exposure to Bitcoin

Despite the lack of United States-based Bitcoin ETF, hundreds of funds have made significant investments into the blockchain and crypto industries. Numerous U.S.-traded exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are loading up on shares in the world’s top crypto firms. According to ETF.com, hundreds of funds have invested in publicly-listed companies that are holding BTC on their balance sheets. As of this writing 88 ETFs hold MicroStrategy shares, while 144 ETFs hold Square, and 222 ETFs hold Tesla. Sixteen ETFs have direct exposure to Bitcoin mining stocks . Almost 200 ETFs hold shares in BlackRock, which recently profited $360,457 after starting to “ dabble a bit ” in crypto. Top-performing ETFs with crypto exposure Nine funds are exposed to both crypto mining stocks and firms with BTC on their balance sheets. As a share of its overall portfolio, the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF ( BLOK ) has the greatest exposure to crypto. Seven of BLOK’s top 10 allocations are in...

Bitcoin power consumption ‘66 times higher than in 2015’: Citigroup

However energy consumption has not matched the 170X price increase over the same period. The Bitcoin energy consumption debate is heating up faster than the planet, with corporations facing pushback from the public and shareholders over Bitcoin investments. According to a Citigroup Inc. report, Bitcoin is consuming 66 times more electricity than it did in 2015. It added that the carbon emissions associated with mining will likely face increasing scrutiny, according to Bloomberg . This assertion is backed up by new research from Mastercard — which just released its own Carbon Calculator — that shows 54 percent of people believe that preserving the environment is more important now than it was pre-COVID-19. Citigroup analysts also stated that: “As the value of Bitcoin rises, so should its energy consumption.” However, the network’s electricity usage is rising much more slowly than the price, which has risen by approximately 170 times over the same period. The Citigroup report, c...

Grayscale tops $50 billion: ‘Will soon pass world’s largest commodity ETF’

Grayscale continues to grow, passing $50 billion. That's equivalent to the world’s second-largest commodity ETF. Major U.S. asset manager Grayscale has just surpassed $50 billion in cryptocurrency assets under management for the first time. Grayscale's AUM is creeping ever closer to the $57 billion holdings of the largest commodity ETF. MILESTONE: We just reached $50 billion AUM. Yet another reason to #GoGrayscale . pic.twitter.com/Jrk7n6TAOI — Grayscale (@Grayscale) April 14, 2021 The company has plans to convert into an ETF when regulations allow. If the ETF had been approved already, Grayscale would be the second-largest commodity ETF behind SPDR Gold Shares. GLD is a physically-backed gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) with listings on stock exchanges in the U.S., Mexico, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein tweeted that he believes the Grayscale Bitcoin Fund, or GBTC, is likely to surpass the GLD fund by market cap in a few months. ...

Former South Korean Social Media Giant in Talks ‘With Major Gaming Companies’ to Implement Its Crypto

A former South Korean social media giant is still keeping alive its promise to relaunch its business with the help of the cryptocurrency industry. A local media outlet reported that Cyworld is in talks with “major gaming companies” that involve crypto-related ventures. Company Also Plans to Launch Its Mainnet to Compete With Kakao According to Yonhap , Cyworld is looking to arrange deals with software makers in the gaming industry to adopt in games its Ethereum-based token Dotori (SNS). A representative from the firm said: We are discussing ways to exchange Cyworld tokens, which were previously called ‘Acorns,’ with goods of large game companies. We are expanding the ecosystem where Cyworld tokens can be used. However, Cyworld didn’t disclose the names of the companies involved in the talks, although it specified “large” ones in the gaming sphere are in the loop. Per the report, if the plans go ahead as expected, users could use Dotori to pay for services and eventually purchas...

Raise a PINT to Polkadot’s new index token: Six top projects sign up

Six of Polkadot’s top projects have already put their hands up to feature in the Polkadot Index Network Token and sit on its Constituent Council. The source code for the upcoming Polkadot Index Network Token, or PINT, has been made public, with half a dozen projects putting their hand up to be included in the index. The project has outlined a four-phase roadmap that it expects to culminate in mainnet launch within three months. According to an April 14 announcement , six of Polkadot’s leading projects have already given “soft commitments” for inclusion in the index, including Acala Network , Equilibrium, HydraDX, Litentry, Moonbeam, and Plasm. The PINT token seeks to offer investors balanced exposure to the emerging Polkadot ecosystem, hedging the volatility of individual projects against the broader performance of the sector. PINT will be available for trade on decentralized exchanges in future, and can be directly minted using DOT. PINT’s developers are hoping to see the index...

Watch out as r/Wallstreetbets finally allows crypto threads... within limits

Reddit group r/wallstreetbets will allow a limited amount of crypto discussion, as it seeks to accommodate members in the community without detracting from its stock market focus. The moderators of subreddit r/wallstreetbets have announced they will allow crypto discussion in the subreddit from today. The retail trading group, famous for pumping traditional stocks such as Gamestop (GME) and scaring hedge fund managers out of their shorts — which is soon to be a major movie — will limit discussion to three cryptocurrencies, BTC, ETH, and DOGE, in a single daily thread. A post this morning stated: “We've decided to allow for discussion about only BTC, ETH, and DOGE only. Inside of a daily Crypto discussion thread as to not burden everyone with crypto spam. All rules will still apply outside of the thread but for now please keep it in the daily thread only as we gauge if this is something that is right for our sub.” Subreddit moderator “bawse1” noted that for years they’d “tried...

Investors File Class Action Lawsuit Before the National Court of Spain Over an Alleged $298M Crypto Scam

A group of Spaniards filed the first crypto-related class-action lawsuit before the National Court of Spain on an alleged million-dollar scam. The lawsuit targets an individual accused of allegedly scammed over 300 small crypto investors across Spain. Money Stolen Could Amount Up to $3.58 Billion Per El País , the class-action lawsuit claims that an individual named Javier Biosca Rodríguez allegedly scammed over 250 million euros ($298 million) in cryptocurrencies from the investors. The profile of the victims is mixed, starting from domestic employees, retirees, unemployed, even notaries, a judge, lawyers, tax inspectors, and owners of small businesses who tried to recover from the coronavirus-driven economic crisis. Although it’s not the first class-action suit filed before the National Court of Spain, it’s the first-of-its-kind that involves a crypto-related case, said the local media outlet. The lawyer representing the victims is Emilia Zaballos, who clarified that despite th...

Coinbase could see fee compression in long term, CEO expects

Brian Armstrong expects other revenue streams to take the lead in five or 10 years. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has addressed the platform’s transaction fees as the company's shares list on Nasdaq today. In a CNBC Squawk Box interview on Wednesday, Armstrong discussed public concerns associated with Coinbase’s massive returns coming from transaction fees. As previously reported, nearly 96% of Coinbase’s entire revenue in 2020 was generated from transaction fees charged to users. When asked about the potential impact of greater competition on transaction fees on Coinbase, Armstrong said that the platform might see some fee reduction in the long term: “We haven't seen any margin compression yet, and I actually wouldn’t expect to see it in the short and the midterm. Longer term, yes I do think there could be fee compression just like in every other asset class out there.” Armstrong said that a big part of the crypto transactions fees come from a custody fee that is “alr...

Zignaly Lists on AscendEX

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, formerly BitMax, an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the listing of the ZigCoin (ZIG) under the pair USDT/ZIG on Apr 15 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. Zignaly is a social, digital asset trading platform. They aim to simplify the world of digital asset trading, making it easy for everyone to include digital assets in their investment portfolio. The current bull run has helped immensely in growing Zignaly, and it has seen more than 10X growth in volume over the past 12 months. Zignaly launched its unique & disruptive profit sharing module late last year, and the traction is impressive, validating their multi-stream revenue model. While business is now mainly focusing on scaling this innovation to enhance the sense of security for investors, Zignaly is also launching the first-ever digital asset trading insurance protocol for its platform. NFTs will power the protocol, and ZigCoin will be the ...

CEO says PayPal’s crypto commerce may reach $200M volume in just months

Forbes’ “2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate” event sheds light on the future of Bitcoin for large corporations. As the price of Bitcoin continues to reach new all-time highs , major corporations with existing crypto offerings in place are beginning to discuss grand plans for the future. Most recently, Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, hinted at future developments for PayPal’s crypto offering during Forbes’ “ 2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate ,” an online event that took place on April 13. During a fireside chat with Michael del Castillo, associate editor at Forbes, Schulman mentioned that the financial system will undergo more changes over the next five years compared to the progress that has been made in the previous 30 years. Schulman further noted that digital currencies, like Bitcoin ( BTC ), will lead the way, mentioning that there will be far less cash and credit card transactions in the next five to 10 years. Schulman said: “We are moving...

European Central Bank releases results of digital euro consultation

Privacy concerns regarding the digital euro abound as the European Central bank tests the waters for a central bank digital currency. The European Central Bank has published the results of a public consultation on a potential digital euro as the institution inches closer to deciding whether to formally study such an initiative. According to a Wednesday announcement, the ECB received more than 8,200 responses to its public digital euro consultation — a personal record for the bank regarding participation in a public consultation. Of the total responses, 47% came from Germany, with a significant amount also coming from Italy and France, accounting for 15% and 11% of total responses, respectively. The majority of respondents said that privacy was the most desired feature for a potential upcoming digital euro, accounting for 43% of all citizens and professionals taking part in the consultation. “Privacy is considered the most important feature of a digital euro by bot...

Bitcoin can hit $92K in April and still not match bull run RSI peaks: Analyst

More proof that Bitcoin is far from the most vertical stage of its bull run comes from PlanB and the relative strength index. Bitcoin ( BTC ) can surge to $92,000 in the next two weeks and still “only” be matching its past performance, new data claims. In a tweet on Wednesday, PlanB, the analyst behind the stock-to-flow family of Bitcoin price models, noted that despite this week’s gains, BTC/USD still has plenty of energy in it. PlanB focused on Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI), a classic metric used to chart the progress of price runs in particular. RSI can give a useful insight into whether Bitcoin is overbought at a certain point in its bull run, while the opposite — oversold — is also true. As Cointelegraph reported, PlanB has highlighted the metric’s cues for hodlers throughout the past year, including during the Spring bear market bottom and in August , when sentiment was gearing up for the bull run that continues to this day. Currently, RSI measures 9...

Coinbase IPO Today: Reference Price Set at $250, Investors See Nasdaq Listing as ‘Watershed’ for Crypto

Coinbase’s IPO via a direct listing on Nasdaq is today. Nasdaq has set a reference price of $250 for the stock which will trade under the ticker symbol COIN. Investors are describing Coinbase’s public debut as a “watershed” moment for the crypto industry. Coinbase’s Reference Price Set at $250 by Nasdaq Investors are eagerly waiting for Coinbase’s initial public offering (IPO). The company has chosen to go public via a direct listing on Nasdaq, which is different from a traditional IPO. “The Class A common stock of Coinbase Global Inc. is expected to list on Nasdaq through a Direct Listing using the ticker COIN,” according to a notice issued by Nasdaq on Tuesday. It details: As a Direct Listing, COIN will be in a regulatory halt until Nasdaq opens trading pursuant to the procedures described in Rules 4120(c)(8) and (9) and 4753. Nasdaq explained that it has given the Coinbase shares a reference price of $250 “Because COIN has not had recent sustained trading in a private place...

Canadian Bitcoin ETFs quickly hit $1.3B in AUM while US acceptance lags

In less than two months, one Canadian Bitcoin ETF attracted $1.1 billion in assets under management, while two more funds are also growing their AUMs. The Purpose Investments ETF, the first Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange-traded fund to launch in North America, has seen its assets under management soar to $1.1 billion less than two months after launching. Two Bitcoin ETFs that launched shortly after Purpose’s in Canada have also seen their AUM’s swell to a combined $200 million in the same time period, taking Canada’s combined Bitcoin ETF net value to around $1.3 billion. The Purpose Bitcoin ETF launched in late February and generated nearly $100 million in trading volume on its first day. The ETF accrued more than $500 million in assets under management in its first week as investors rushed to gain access to Bitcoin trading without having to own the underlying asset. The acceptance by regulators and eventual launch of the purpose ETF acted as an opening of the floodgates for Canadian Bi...

Dubai’s economic department to roll out blockchain-based corporate KYC

Dubai’s Department of Economic Development wants to accelerate the total adoption of UAE KYC — the national Know Your Customer standard running on blockchain technology. Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, or “Dubai Economy,” and the Dubai International Financial Centre are working to expand their Know Your Customer platform to financial institutions across the United Arab Emirates. The DIFC made the planned project expansion known via an announcement published on its website on April 6. According to the communique, both organizations have signed an agreement to put the necessary modalities in place to extend the KYC platform across the UAE. The project was first announced back in February 2020, with 120 companies onboarded as of July 2020, according to a Cointelegraph report at the time. The DIFC said that the blockchain-based KYC platform now holds close to half of all electronic KYC records in the UAE. Commenting on the need to accelerate the adoption of t...

Ether price flirts with $2,400 ATH as irreversible hard fork looms

New all-time highs are being witnessed all over the cryptocurrency market, and Ether is no exception. Led by Bitcoin’s ( BTC ) ascent to a new all-time high, along with much of the wider cryptocurrency market, Ether ( ETH ) continues to push new all-time highs on Wednesday as the coin price flirted with the $2,400 range for the first time. The Ethereum network is scheduled to undergo an update in the next day or so when the blockchain reaches block number 12,244,000. The blockchain was at block number 12,237,070 at time of publication. Based on current average block times of 14 seconds, the update is poised to land on April 15, at around 12:00 PM (UTC+1). The update — dubbed “ Berlin ” — will introduce several technical changes, all aimed at making the network more cost efficient. The Ether coin price peaked at $2,397 on numerous exchanges on April 14, according to aggregator data from CoinMarketCap, following a 10.8% growth surge over 24 hours. Ether’s growth for the week stands a...