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Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law Institutions Regulation

Coinbase, Square, Paradigm and Fidelity Form “CCI” to Encourage Responsible Crypto Policies

Some leading financial companies are collaborating to encourage a clear regulatory path for the burgeoning digital currency industry.

Known as the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), this group currently includes four prominent industry players: Coinbase, Square, Fidelity, and Paradigm. It aims at informing and helping global regulators understand cryptocurrencies while also encouraging responsible crypto-related public policies.

CCI to Unlock The Transformational Promise of Crypto

The companies behind CCI believe that digital currencies are at their critical stage. In recent years, more people have got to learn and invest in cryptocurrencies, including institutions and corporations. As a result, the crypto market has grown significantly, with the market capitalization recently touching $2 trillion. However, the regulatory uncertainties across different countries mean the industry doesn’t hold a clear or settled future. 

Crypto is at a mainstream inflection point. It’s in its very early stages and, much like the internet (once was), it’s very fragile while it’s in that stage.

Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Paradigm [Wall Street Journal]

Thus, the Crypto Council for Innovation wants to educate the institutions, regulators, and policymakers on the benefits of digital currencies. Part of the approach includes providing analysis and insight about cryptocurrency. The CCI will also focus on correcting some “misperceptions that inevitably accompany a transformative new technology.”

By educating leaders about crypto, we can help empower them to participate in the crypto ecosystem for the benefit of their citizens, communities, and families.

Gus Coldebella, Chief Policy Officer at Paradigm

More Mainstream Crypto Adoption?

The development today could greatly change the shape of the crypto industry from a regulatory aspect. Having clearer regulations for cryptocurrencies would possibly result in encouraging more mainstream crypto adoption.

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Crypto News Stablecoins Tether

Largest USD Stablecoin, Tether (USDT) to Launch on Polkadot and Kusama

Tether is planning to launch its US dollar-backed stablecoin on Kusama, which will be followed by Polkadot, a blockchain network that “facilitates an internet where independent blockchains can exchange information and transactions in a trustless way”.

Besides providing more scalability, part of the objective is to make USDT the first stablecoin that will exist on the Polkadot network, according to the CTO at Tether, Paolo Ardoino.

USDT to Launch on The First Polkadot Parachain

Before Polkadot, the stablecoin will initially go live on Kusama, which is considered a cousin network for Polkadot, basically serving as a preparation network for projects looking to run on Polkadot. USDT’s launch date on Polkadot is subject to the formation of the parachains. Tether wants the stablecoin to launch on the first common goods parachain, according to the CTO.

Tether will likely launch on the first parachain available, StateMint. We expect StateMint to be the first common goods parachain. […] Our integration with Polkadot serves to support the decentralized finance ecosystems that are growing across blockchains.”

Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether

USDT Allocation on Ethereum and Tron

Tether’s USDT is the largest and most liquid stablecoin in the crypto market. It’s already a multi-chain asset, and going live on Kusama and Polkadot would mark its ninth and tenth base blockchains, respectively. USDT is currently available on eight different blockchains, which include Ethereum, Tron, Bitcoin Cash’s Standard Ledger Protocol, Solana, EOS, Algorand, Liquid Network, and Omni.

However, the majority of USDT in circulation is currently available on Ethereum and Tron blockchain. According to the Etherscan, about 22.4 billion USDT have been issued on the Ethereum blockchain, and they are held in nearly three million addresses. On Tron however, there are 20.9 million USDT on the network.

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Bitcoin Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin.com Games Crypto News

GoDaddy Removes Fake $100 Million Listing for Bitcoin.com Domain

The domain name of Bitcoin.com, a popular digital currency-related web platform, was listed on GoDaddy for sale on Monday. However, the company has removed the listing after the CEO of Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver, raised a complaint.

Roger Is Not Selling Bitcoin.com

Screenshot of the Bitcoin.com listing before it was removed [GoDaddy]

On Monday, Bitcoin.com was placed on sale for a minimum offer of £72,301,352 (i.e., US$100,462,728) on the web hosting and domain registrar company GoDaddy. A lot of Twitter users in the crypto community commented on that.

Ver immediately reached out to GoDaddy asking: “Why are you listing my domain name for sale? It isn’t for sale. […] Please remove this fake news that is damaging my real brand,” as he wrote in a message reported by The Block, adding that it was 100 percent fake news.

About Bitcoin.com

Bitcoin.com is a popular cryptocurrency web platform that offers several services related to Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), including buying and selling the cryptocurrencies, wallet service, etc. The domain is currently owned and managed by Roger Ver, an early promoter of Bitcoin.

It remains unknown why the domain was listed on sale on GoDaddy.

Other crypto-related domains went up for sale on GoDaddy, including:

  • Crypto.com sold for $12 million to Monaco in 2018
  • Ethereum.com up for sale for $10 million in 2017

Categories
Australia Crypto News

ASIC is Assessing Complaints From MyCryptoWallet Users

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has reportedly begun assessing several complaints from users of MyCryptoWallet, an Australian digital currency exchange, according to a Monday report by the Syndey Morning Herald.

Many users had complained that they are unable to access their cryptocurrencies on the platform. A spokeswoman for MyCryptoWallet claimed they are completely unaware of the issues reported by the users.

The Issue With MyCryptoWallet

Launched by tech entrepreneur Jaryd Koenigsmann, MyCryptoWallet is considered a notable crypto exchange in Australia, as it amassed more than 20,000 users about three months after launch. It began facing some business-related challenges after a dispute with its banking partner, the National Australia Bank (NAB), which resulted in the freezing of the exchange’s bank account. 

As reported, MyCryptoWallet also had an issue with its technology partners, which led to the suspension of deposits and withdrawal on the platform. Later on, the exchange said all the issues had been resolved. However, most of the users were still not able to access their funds on the platform. The customer support page was reportedly inactive, and complaints raised by the users weren’t addressed. While speaking to SMH, a user said he hasn’t heard back from the company about $40,000 he put into the platform.

I would welcome the chance to get my funds back, but I don’t have a good feeling about it. I would also welcome an investigation from ASIC or AUSTRAC.

Another user of MyCryptoWallet

It’s “Almost Impossible” to Cease Trading

While commenting on the development, the spokeswoman for the exchange said they weren’t aware of these issues and that they lost access to their social media accounts back in 2019. She added it was “absolutely impossible” for the exchange to cease cryptocurrency trading without notifying the authorities. They opened a new support email address and began responding to the complaints shortly after speaking with SMH.

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Bitcoin Crypto News NFTs

US Rapper Snoop Dogg Picks Interest in Bitcoin and NFT

Celebrities are gradually picking interest in Bitcoin (BTC) and the emerging digital currency market in general.

During an interview with Vanity Fair, a famous American rapper, Snoop Dogg, formally known as Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., endorsed BTC, adding that he believes in its technology. He also disclosed his interest in the booming non-fungible token (NFT) market as he prepares to issue one on the Crypto.com NFT platform.

Bitcoin is “here to stay”

Snoop Dogg said he believes in Bitcoin “one hundred” percent. According to him, the coronavirus pandemic helped accelerate more interest in the cryptocurrency, and it wasn’t a fad.

I believe in it. I believe in the technology and I believe in the global connection it creates. I’m not too caught up in the value of the coin, because I’ve been around long enough to see things go up and go down, and I know it’s here to stay.

Snoop Dogg

Concerning NFTs, the US rapper is also a big supporter who believes that such technology is changing how artists can connect with their fans globally.

I am excited about it, ya dig? I’m happy to participate in the movement. I’m definitely gonna bring more attention to the game. Cut me in, or cut it out.

Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg’s NFT launch

The rapper also revealed in the interview that his NFTs would launch on the Crypto.com platform. The name? A Journey with the Dogg. The contents include an original track called “NFT.”

Recently, Crypto News Australia reported that Crypto.com named Snoop Dogg, Aston Martin Cognizant Formula OneTM,  Axel Mansoor, and a few other celebrities as official launch partners of its NFT marketplace. For a start, Crypto.com said the platform would mostly feature exclusive NFT contents from celebrities in diverse industries, including music and sports. 

Categories
Crypto News NFTs

Enjin Raises $18.9 Million for its Polkadot-based NFT Network

Enjin, the largest social gaming website, plans to venture into the non-fungible token (NFT) market. Recently, the platform was able to raise nearly US$19 million from prominent crypto venture companies to further the development of its dedicated NFT blockchain on Polkadot.

Per the announcement, the company precisely raised US$18.9 million through the private sale of EFI, the native cryptocurrency of the planned NFT blockchain dubbed Efinity. The fundraising round was led by the venture arm of Crypto.com, DFG Group, and Hashed.

Other prominent crypto companies like HashKey Capital, Blockchain.com Venture, BlockArk, Arrington XRP Capital, etc., participated in the token’s private sale.

The capital raised will be used to develop Efinity and also support the blockchain’s parachain.

We are strong believers in the potential of NFTs and are confident the Enjin team will play a pivotal role in developing the infrastructure required to meet that potential.

Bobby Bao, Head of Corporate Development & Capital of Crypto.com

Enjin is Building a Cross-chain NFT Highway

Through the Polkadot-based Efinity, the team at Enjin intends to establish a blockchain network that can support multiple NFTs from several blockchains, including Ethereum. 

Digital assets should exist in a metaverse of blockchains. Opening up liquidity across multiple blockchains and use-cases will connect a broad ecosystem of creators, buyers, and sellers.

Witek Radomski, CTO at Enjin

Enjin chose Polkadot over Ethereum for Efinity due to the scalability and other properties of the blockchain. Efinity is expected to process between 700-1,000 transactions per second (TPS).

The development of Efinity comes amid the growing interest in the NFT market. Over the past months, many artists, musicians, and celebrities have issued and sold digital content as NFTs, some of which sold millions of dollars. In March 2021 alone, over US$200 million digital contents were traded as NFTs.

Categories
Crypto News Ethereum

There are now 113,012 Active Validators for Ethereum 2.0

The number of active validators for Ethereum 2.0 (or Serenity) has been increasing rapidly since the beginning of the year. This suggests more Ether (ETH) being staked on the deposit contract. 

Eth2 Staking and Validators

According to the data from Beaconcha.in, 3,616,331 ETH have been staked on the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract, which represents about 3.136 percent of the total ETH in circulation. The coins staked are worth over $7 billion, following the price of ETH at US$1,958 at the time of writing. Additionally, there are currently 113,012 active validators on the network.

The increasing number of coins staked on the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract indicates the community’s growing level of confidence for the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) era. The full deployment of Ethereum 2.0 would transition the mainnet from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) model to PoS, where new blocks are added to the blockchain through validators instead of miners.

To become a validator, users are expected to stake at least 32 ETH (US$62,656). Meanwhile, the annual percentage return (APR) for staking on the deposit contract is 8.1 percent, according to Eth2 LaunchPad.

Eth2 to Address Network Congestion Issue With Current Mainnet

Scalability is a serious issue affecting the current Ethereum network. There is a massive number of users and projects on the blockchain, hence, resulting in the congestion of the network. Consequently, this usually causes a spike in the network fee, thereby making Ethereum more expensive for smaller users. As seen in recent months, many projects had to migrate to other blockchains, often towards Binance Smart Chain (BSC), for reasons that include high transaction fees.

Eth developers are planning to fix these issues through Ethereum 2.0, which is a better and more scalable version of the current network. However, Eth2 won’t be launched until the next two years, at least.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions Investing

Goldman Sachs is Planning to Introduce Bitcoin Investment Services in Q2

Several world-renowned financial companies are gradually preparing to offer Bitcoin and cryptocurrency services amid the growing interest for the emerging asset class amongst their clients. Multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs has been reported by CNBC to have plans to debut a Bitcoin investment offering for its wealth management clients.

Morgan Stanley made a similar move recently – meaning that two of the world’s most prominent investment banks are looking at offering their clients access to Bitcoin and digital assets.

Clients in Goldman’s Private Wealth Management Group will Access Bitcoin

As CNBC learned from Mary Rich, global Head of Digital Assets for Goldman Sachs’s private wealth management division, the investment bank is looking to begin offering its first-ever Bitcoin investment vehicles for clients in its private wealth management group in the second quarter of 2021. 

Rich said the bank wants to offer a “full-spectrum” of investments of the crypto, either as “physical bitcoin, derivatives or traditional investment vehicles.”

The bank’s decision to offer Bitcoin services comes amid the increase in demand for such an offering amongst the private wealth clients, according to Rich, who added:

There’s a contingent of clients who are looking to this asset as a hedge against inflation, and the macro backdrop over the past year has certainly played into that. […] There is also a large contingent of clients who feel like we’re sitting at the dawn of a new Internet in some ways and are looking for ways to participate in this space.

Mary Rich, Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is currently seeking approval for the service with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the New York Department of Financial Services. 

Only a few weeks ago, Goldman Sachs joined the list of companies that filed for a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in the United States.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Gold Oil

Bitcoin Outperformed Oil and Gold With Over 100% Increase in Q1 2021

The price of Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has more than doubled since the beginning of the year.

This exponential increase is second to none in the institutional-grade assets class, hence, making the cryptocurrency the best performing asset in the first quarter of 2021 according to cryptocurrency market research platform Messari.

While BTC appreciated over the past three months, the precious metal gold plummeted in value within the same period. 

Bitcoin: The Best Performing Institutional Asset

Bitcoin was the best performing institutional-grade assets within Q1 of 2021, according to Messari researcher Mira Christanto. The cryptocurrency increased by 103 percent in value. Back in January, BTC was valued at around US$28,994. However, the price has surged to over US$59,000.

Within Q1 also, Oil increased by 26 percent, followed by Global Stocks (3 percent) and the USD (1 percent). The yellow metal was rated the institutional asset with the most significant loss. According to Messari, Investment Grade Bonds dropped by four percent in Q1, followed by Government Bonds, which fell by five percent. Gold declined by ten percent in value.

An ounce of gold was traded at nearly US$1,900 on 1 January 2021. However, the value has declined to US$1,707 at the time of writing.

Gold price [source: GoldPrice]

Institutions Bet on Bitcoin as a Better Asset

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, many large companies began considering Bitcoin as a better store of value and inflation hedge. This includes the publicly-traded company MicroStrategy, MassMutual, Tesla, Square, and many other corporations. According to CoinGecko, there are 21 known public companies that have Bitcoin on their balance sheet. These institutional investments seem to have helped BTC maintaining an upward movement in value.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum

Grayscale Records Over $3 Billion Increase in AUM Over 3 Days

Just as the cryptocurrency market recovers, the largest digital currency investment company, Grayscale Investment, saw a significant increase in its assets under management (AUM). Within three days, Grayscale gained over US$3 billion in assets. 

The Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) Trust products account for the largest share of the entire AUM. However, some people are worried GBTC and GETH premiums are trading well below the market price of the underlying assets.

Grayscale Reports a Total of over $44 Billion in AUM

Grayscale has reported a total of US$44.1 billion in assets under management as of 29 March 2021. The company supports about 13 crypto investment products, five of which were added on 17 March, including Chainlink (LINK) and Basic Attention Token (BAT). The GBTC product accounts for about US$37.3 billion, followed by GETH, which represents about US$5.58 billion of the total AUM.

Three days ago, the investment company reported a US$41 billion AUM. The $3 billion increase could be partially attributed to the recent increase in the market value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Last week, BTC was trading mainly around US$55,000. However, since the start of the week, the cryptocurrency showed stronger price momentum, and it could cross US$59,100 soon.

The Issue With Grayscale Premium

Many users have shown much concern about the negative Grayscale Premiums. Since February, the company’s share price for GBTC has been dropping lower than the underlying cryptocurrency itself. According to data from OTCNode, GBTC is trading at a premium of -10 percent compared to the current price of Bitcoin. GETH premium is also negative (-8.66 percent).

Grayscale might consider buying back the shares to curtail the declining premiums, as previously announced.