Author: Ibiam Wayas

Ibiam is an optimistic crypto journalist. He loves to associate with like-minded individuals and collaborate with them on similar projects. He spends much of his time honing his writing and critical thinking skills.

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Australia Binance Crypto News

Binance Australia Tops BTC Market in Bitcoin and Ether 24-Hour Volume

Binance Australia Tops BTC Market in Bitcoin and Ether 24-Hour Volume

Binance Australia sees an increase in digital currency trading volume just as the rate of cryptocurrency awareness and adoption is rapidly growing in the country. On Wednesday, the CEO of the exchange, Jeff Yew, tweeted that Binance AU dominates other leading Australian exchanges in the 24 hours trading volume for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

For some people, the development today might come as no surprise, as Binance Australia has been recording massive growth in new users lately.

Binance Records More Trading Volume for BTC and ETH

Yew tweeted the data from CryptoCompare, showing Binance Australia’s BTC/AUD 24 hours trading volume at AU$51.879 million. At the same time, BTC Market saw around AU$50.792 million, followed by Independent Reserve with AU$36.650 million. On the ETH/AUD market, Binance Australia also dominated the 24 hours volume with a total amount of AU$20.532 million. 

BTC Market recorded AU$15.124 million, while Independent Reserve had AU$12.868 million. 

The trading volume on Binance Australia is likely to rise continuously, given the adoption and number of users trading on the platform have been increasing massively, as confirmed by the CEO. Earlier this year, Crypto News Australia reported that the exchange witnessed a more than 400 percent increase in the number of SMSF and corporate users within the last quarter of 2020. 

During the rush in the crypto market in January 2021, Binance AU recorded as much as AU$130 million in 24hr volume across all the AUD pairs listed on its platform.

Crypto Adoption is Rising in Australia

It’s also worth noting that Binance is not the only exchange in Australia, seeing massive growth in its user base. In January also, the Swyftx exchange reported unprecedented growth in the number of users on its platform. The increasing user base of Aussie exchanges is indicative of the growing interest in cryptocurrencies amongst Australians.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

MicroStrategy Buys Additional $1 Billion Worth of Bitcoin

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

Just recently, MicroStrategy was rumored to have bought Bitcoin, as lots of BTC were being moved from Coinbase to an unknown wallet. The company was suspected of making the transactions because it recently raised capital to buy more Bitcoin, and Coinbase has been its go-to exchange for purchases. The report has been confirmed, following an announcement on Wednesday that MicroStrategy purchased over $1 billion worth of Bitcoin.

For the record, this is the single largest purchase it has ever made. Of course, the company remains the largest corporate Bitcoin investor, followed by Elon Musk’s Tesla.

MicroStrategy now Holds Over 90,000 BTC

As reported, MicroStrategy purchase about 19,452 BTC at an average price of US$52,765 per coin. In total, the aggregate cost of the cryptocurrencies was US$1.026 billion, which also covers the expenses and transaction fees. Such a massive purchase shows the level of confidence Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, and the rest of the executives, have in the cryptocurrency as a store of value.

Overall, the company currently holds 90,531 BTC in its balance sheet, all of which were purchased at the aggregate cost of US$2.171 billion. This means that each coin was purchased at the average price of US$23,985. As it stands, the company is obviously not going to sell these cryptocurrencies any time soon. In fact, MicroStrategy plans to hold more Bitcoin as part of its corporate strategy. 

Corporate Investors are Taking Over

“The company now holds over 90,000 bitcoins, reaffirming our belief that bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, can serve as a dependable store of value,” Saylor noted in the report. “We will continue to pursue our strategy of acquiring bitcoin with excess cash, and we may, from time to time, subject to market conditions, issue debt or equity securities in capital raising transactions with the objective of using the proceeds to purchase additional bitcoin.” 

Early Wednesday, Jack Dorsey’s Square Inc. also announced they bought an additional US$170 million worth of Bitcoin. We can only expect more Bitcoin purchases from companies at this point.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey Donates 1 BTC to Non-profit to Support Developers

Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey Donates 1 BTC to Non-profit to Support Developers

Again, the tech billionaire and CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has demonstrated his strong support for the development of Bitcoin (BTC). On Tuesday, he donated Bitcoin to Brink, a non-profit organization focused on funding BTC developers. This is coming a few days after Dorsey teamed with Shawn Corey Carter (a.k.a Jay Z), to launch a new endowment trust aimed at funding the cryptocurrency developers in different countries in Africa, including India.

Brink Receives Over $45K Donation From Twitter CEO

The non-profit organization announced the development on Twitter, saying that Dorsey donated 1 BTC in support of their BTC developers funding efforts. “Honored to have received a 1 BTC donation to our developer funding efforts from none other than @jack!,” Brink precisely wrote. The organization actually holds a 503(c)(3) non-profit status from the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This means they don’t have to pay tax on the cryptocurrency received.

At the time of writing, one Bitcoin was worth US$47,149. This fund will be committed to further strengthen the development of Bitcoin, as Brinks pledged on its website:

“Brink exists to strengthen the Bitcoin protocol and network through fundamental research and development, and to support the Bitcoin developer community through funding, education, and mentoring.”

Dorsey: A Big-time Bitcoin Supporter

Unarguably, the CEO of Twitter is one of biggest individuals quietly supporting the development of Bitcoin around the world. Following his partnership with the American rapper, he precisely raised about 500 BTC to fund Bitcoin developers in Indian and Africa countries. These coins would be worth over $23.5 million in today’s price.

It might also interest you to know that Jack Dorsey recently set-up his own Bitcoin node, and so, he’s now among the active persons who are helping to keep the crypto network more secure, as Crypto News Australia reported.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index Clicks 94: Is Bitcoin due for Correction?

Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index Clicks 94: Is Bitcoin due for Correction?

So, since the past week, the largest digital currency, Bitcoin (BTC), made an impressive record in price, topping its previous all-time highs by over US$58,000. Notably, a massive amount of capital began flowing into the cryptocurrency following Tesla’s Bitcoin announcement. At the moment, however, BTC is shading points, and the fear and greed index suggests that the market may be due for a correction. 

Bitcoin F&G Clicked 94

During press time, Bitcoin was trading at US$52,223 on Coinmarketcap, which represented about an eight percent decline on a 24-hour count. Just before today, the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency was above US$1 trillion. However, the market cap sits at US$972 billion following the drop in the crypto’s market value. Bitcoin has shaded more than US$2,000 since Monday, and many people think the market is set for a correction. 

Such sentiments align with the Bitcoin fear and greed index from Alternative.me. The Bitcoin market is currently in an extremely greed state, as the index clicked 94 during the time of writing. Whenever the investors or markets get too greedy with an asset, the index suggests there could be an imminent correction. This somewhat backs the current retracement with leading cryptocurrency.

Is Bitcoin set for Correction?

As of February 21, the index scored the BTC market at 91, which is a less greedy state compared to the 94 on Monday. Overall, the Bitcoin market is just in a greedy state, as the index score last week and the last month indicated that investors have been greedy. So, we might be seeing a major correction in Bitcoin, although it remains unknown if the time is now. 

The CIO at Altana Digital Currency Fund, Alistair Milne, tweeted that we might see a correction of at least $48,000. He doesn’t think BTC will drop below that level.

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Australia Binance Crypto News

Binance Enable Australians to Buy Polkadot, Cardano, and PancakeSwap with AUD

Binance Australia to List Polkadot, Cardano, and PancakeSwap

Amid the growing interest in digital currencies, Binance Australia, one of the largest Aussie cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced that it will list three more cryptocurrencies on its trading platform. The digital currencies mentioned in the tweet on Monday include Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA), and PancakeSwap token (CAKE), which is based on the Binance Smart Chain.

Binance Australia could be listing these cryptocurrencies due to the increase in demand. Notably, these cryptos posted a moderate increase in the market value last week.

Buy Cardano on Binance Australia From Tuesday

Per the announcement on Twitter, the Polkadot, Cardano, and PancakeSwap cryptocurrency will be listed on the exchange on February 23. So, starting Tuesday at precisely 10:00 AM Sydney time, Australians on the platform will be able to buy and sell the cryptocurrencies right from the exchange using their AUD balance. 

Binance Australia allows Australian dollar deposits via PayID/OSKO today.

At the time of writing, the Polkadot crypto was traded at AU$44.65, while Cardano and PancakeSwap token traded at AU$$1.25 and AU$18.95, respectively, as per the Crypto News Australia coin price tracker. Concerning the BSC-based PancakeSwap token, it’s either Australians are so much interested in the cryptocurrency, or the Aussie exchanges are optimistic about it.

Swyftx Also Listed PancakeSwap

Binance Australia’s announcement for PancakeSwap comes about three days after Swyftx, another popular exchange in Australia, announced it was also listing CAKE on its platform. Swyftx listed the CAKE token alongside DODO, the native cryptocurrency of DODO decentralized exchange (DEX).

DODO is ranked among the 100th largest digital currencies. The DeFi token has a market capitalization of $531,954,155 from a circulating supply of 97,556,928 DODO. At press time, the cryptocurrency was trading at $5.61.

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Australia Crypto News

Australia’s Central Bank Sees no Strong Case for Issuing a Retail CBDC

Australia’s Central Bank Sees no Strong Case for Issuing a Retail CBDC

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is one of major central banks researching the concept of Central Bank-issued Digital Currency (CBDC).

In a meeting on Friday about the payment system in the country, the Payments System Board of the central bank admitted that they don’t see any strong case for issuing a retail CBDC in the country. They are mostly focused on researching the feasibility of launching a wholesale CBDC instead.

RBA is Sceptical About Retail CBDC

Retail central bank digital currencies are the ones launched for the general public, just like the Chinese long-planned digital yuan. On the other hand, a wholesale CBDC would be specifically designed “for the settlement of transactions in wholesale markets, such as purchases of financial assets or large-value payments.”.

Having discussed the ongoing CBDC development taking place internationally, the Board said there wasn’t any strong case for launching a retail CBDC. However, the bank will continue its collaborative effort with a number of external parties to research the possibility of a wholesale CBDC.

The Board is following this work closely but continues to be of the view that there is not a strong public policy case at present for issuance of a retail CBDC in Australia. The Bank is continuing its collaborative research project on a wholesale CBDC with a number of external parties, which is due to be completed in the coming months.

Reserve Bank of Australia [media release]

RBA Collaborated with Banks on CBDC

Back in November 2020, the central bank of Australia collaborated with some banks in the country, including the Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, and blockchain company, ConsenSys Software. The consortium was driven by the objective of exploring the implications and potential benefits in issuing a wholesale CBDC on blockchain technology. At the time, the RBA planned to develop a proof-of-concept (POC) to pilot the CBDC via a tokenized form.

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Australia Binance Binance Coin Crypto News Swyftx

Swyftx Exchange to List BSC DODO and PancakeSwap Token

Swyftx Exchange to List BSC DODO and PancakeSwap Token

It’s been an impressive week for the Binance ecosystem. Starting with the Binance Coin (BNB), the-now third-largest cryptocurrency caught many people by surprise following the massive increase in the price to slightly over US$300 during the time of writing. On that value, the BNB coin had a market capitalization of over US$46 billion. 

Following the boom in Binance Smart Chain (BSC) also, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia, Swyftx, has announced plans to list the native digital currency of two projects running on the BSC.

Swyftx to List PancakeSwap and DODO token

As the crypto exchange tweeted on Friday, it’s set to launch the native cryptocurrency of PancakeSwap (CAKE) and DODO (DODO) on its platform, extending support for the Binance ecosystem to Australia. The exchange didn’t mention any trading pairs for the cryptocurrencies. However, once they are listed, the users will be able to purchase and sell these cryptocurrencies right from the Swyftx exchange. 

The CAKE and DODO tokens are also seeing an increase in market value. During the time of writing, the CAKE token was trading at the value of US$17.47 on Coinmarketcap. CAKE has a circulating supply of over 119 million and a market capitalization of $2.079 billion. At the same time, the DODO token was trading at $US5.94, which represents over a 28 percent increase on a 24-hour count. It has a circulating supply of 95,459,184 DODO and a US$567 million market cap.

What’s With Binance Smart Chain 

The boom in BSC is coming as the transaction fee on the Ethereum blockchain is hitting the roof. Many people are diverting to BSC due to the low transaction cost, for instance, DODO. Interestingly, the Binance Smart Chain now records more transactions than Ethereum, which is considered a major flippening.

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Australia Crypto News DeFi

Aussie Unido Partners TRON Network Fork for Institutional-grade Crypto Custody

Aussie Unido Partners TRON Network Fork for Institutional-grade Crypto Custody

It’s no longer news that the institutions are beginning to throw in support for cryptocurrencies amid the massive upticks in their value since the last quarter of 2020. Also, many investors are resorting to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin due to the fear of inflation. 

Thus, in preparation for the incoming wave of new institutions in the crypto space, LGCY, a fork of the TRON network, has collaborated with an Australia-based digital currency custody service and DeFi platform to enable secured crypto storage support for investors.

Crypto Custody and DeFi Service for Enterprise

Institutions in the cryptocurrency space are looking for an all-in-one solution that can provide access to a secured crypto-asset storage facility and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, according to LGCY. The partnership with the Australian crypto custody platform will enable the company to provide such a solution for institutions to securely store their digital currencies. 

To achieve this, LGCY will integrate a white-label version of Unido’s wallet, per the announcement on Thursday. The developers on the LGCY network will equally be able to leverage Unido’s Core API to develop decentralized applications (Dapps) designed for enterprise solutions. 

“LGCY and UNIDO are excited to announce that both platforms will be working together to deliver the security of the Unido EP multi-sig platform to LGCY enterprise clients users. The integration of the LGCY blockchain into the Unido platform will be completed as LGCY approaches mainnet launch,” the companies noted. 

Interest in DeFi Keeps Growing

Interest and activities in the decentralized finance industry have been increasing notably since the start of the year. At the moment, there is more than US$41 billion worth of digital currency locked in the DeFi industry. Interestingly, more Bitcoin is being tokenized on Ethereum for DeFi protocols, which indicates BTC also has a strong demand in that market. 
There are currently over 172k Bitcoin locked in DeFi, according to data from Dune Analytics.

BlocDesk BTC on Ethereum
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Bitcoin Crypto News

Microsoft Billionaire, Bill Gates Says he is Neutral on Bitcoin

Microsoft Billionaire Bill Gates Says he is Neutral on Bitcoin

The American business magnate and billionaire Bill Gates seem unbothered with the current trends in the Bitcoin market. Many prominent figures and companies are beginning to support and add the leading cryptocurrency as part of their reserve assets. However, the billionaire disclosed on Thursday that he is rather staying neutral with Bitcoin. A few days ago, the president of Microsoft also mentioned that the corporation doesn’t have any new plan to invest in cryptocurrency either. 

Bill Gates is Neutral on Bitcoin 

While speaking with CNBC Squawk Box on Thursday, the co-founder of Microsoft confirmed that he holds a neutral view about the cryptocurrency. Gates told CNBC that he doesn’t have any investment in Bitcoin, neither is he shorting the cryptocurrency. “I do think moving money into a more digital form and getting transaction costs down, that’s something the Gates Foundation does in developing countries.” 

Gates had once made an opposing view about cryptocurrencies. Back in 2018, the billionaire voiced that digital currencies like Bitcoin are killing people in a “fairly direct way.” He blamed the fact that the anonymity of cryptocurrencies can be taken as an advantage by malicious users to launder funds and also fund terrorist groups. Gates also mentioned that many people are using cryptocurrencies to purchase hard drugs, which are unsafe. 

Microsoft doesn’t have any plan for Bitcoin

Gates’ statement today is coming two days after the president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, disclosed that the company has no new conversation on whether to allocate part of their reserve in Bitcoin. However, he didn’t state that Microsoft will never invest in cryptocurrency. 

Recently, Crypto News Australia reported that BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said they are beginning to dabble into Bitcoin.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

World’s Largest Asset Manager, BlackRock, Have Started to Dabble in Bitcoin

World’s Largest Assets Manager, BlackRock, Have Started to Dabble in Bitcoin

Again, it’s worth acknowledging that Tesla’s Bitcoin purchase announcement was a very significant event for the cryptocurrency market. It has literally unlocked more interest and caused many other prominent institutions to start considering holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets. On Wednesday, Rick Rieder, the chief investment officer at BlackRock, confirmed that they have started to dabble in Bitcoin.

This is another important piece of news, just like that of Tesla. For the record, BlackRock is the world’s largest digital asset manager. The institution reportedly manages more than US$7 trillion worth of assets.

BlackRock is Making Moves to Bitcoin 

The BlackRock investment officer made this known while discussing with CNBC’s SQUAWK BOX. According to Rieder, people are increasingly looking for storehouses of value and places that could appreciate their holdings while inflation hits. This is typically one of the reasons Microstrategy, a publicly-traded business intelligence company, got into Bitcoin in the first place. 

On that note, Rieder admitted that the world’s largest asset manager has begun dabbling into the leading cryptocurrency. However, he couldn’t mention the exact percentage that BlackRock intends to allocate to Bitcoin. Many people expect BlackRock to allocate at least one percent of its reserve to the cryptocurrency, which runs in tens of billions of dollars.

Earlier this year, the asset manager filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), disclosing their intent to allow their funds to engage in futures contracts based on Bitcoin. 

Industry Experts Reacts to BlackRock News

The news today is another big development for the Bitcoin market, to be precise. One percent of BlackRock’s reserve going to Bitcoin will catapult the market value to a great level, and this has got many crypto experts talking, including Anthony Pompliano and Kraken’s Dan Held.