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 Bitcoin Crypto News New Brighton Capital Superannuation

Australian SMSFs are Buying More Bitcoin Despite Increase in Price

Australian SMSFs are Buying More Bitcoin Despite Increase in Price

A report by the Australian Financial Review on Wednesday confirmed the growing interest in Bitcoin among retirees in Australia. Self-managed super funds or SMSFs are increasingly accumulating more Bitcoins for clients, not minding the increased market value of the cryptocurrency.

On Wednesday, the price of the leading digital currency, Bitcoin (BTC), soared to another record level of over US$51,100. This indicates that retirees in the country are more confident with allocating their funds to the cryptocurrency.

A Five-fold Increase in 2020

Last year, the Bitcoin purchases of self-managed super funds increased by five-folds, according to BTC Market, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Australia. The average crypto trade amongst these funds also spiked by 20 percent within the last quarter of the year, as Bitcoin began seeing more institutional and corporate investors, like MicroStrategy, MassMutual, Square Inc., and many others. 

“Previously trade sizes for SMSFs were in the tens of thousands of dollars, but we’re now seeing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” according to Caroline Bowler, the chief executive at BTC Markets. This is probably because many Australian retirees now prefer the cryptocurrency to gold as a better asset to hedge against the declining value of fiat currencies, the report reads.

“Bitcoin as a store of value is interesting to SMSFs holders. People are researching it and getting better educated around it. They look at it as a deflationary asset, and I think they understand the concept behind that,” Bowler added. 

Interested in buying crypto with your Super? Need help? Speak with Cryptocurrency Superannuation Expert at New Brighton Capital Book a Free 20 min Consultation

Only 21 Million Bitcoin Will Ever Exist

Fiat currencies like the British Pounds and Australian dollar are issued and controlled by the government and the central bank of the nation. There is no limit to the number of currencies these authorities can issue. However, Bitcoin is pre-programmed to cap at 21 million; nothing more, nothing less. This supports the idea that the cryptocurrency can serve as an inflation hedge asset. As of February 17, there was over 18.6 million BTC in circulation. 

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Australia Crypto News Swyftx

Australia’s Swyftx Exchange Lists Trust Wallet’s Token

Australia’s Swyftx Exchange Lists Trust Wallet’s Token

One of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia, Swyftx, announced that it has listed the native cryptocurrency of Trust Wallet on its platform on Tuesday. Besides making the Trust Wallet Token or TWT available for the Australian users, the development, of course, extends the accessibility of the crypto, which is big news for TWT holders. 

Meanwhile, this is coming a few days after the exchange delisted two cryptocurrencies due to liquidity issues. 

Swyftx Adds Support for TWT

The development was disclosed early Tuesday by the cryptocurrency exchange via Twitter. Going forward, the users will be able to purchase and sell the cryptocurrency right from the exchange. However, it seems users can only trade the cryptocurrency with the fiat currency (the Australian dollar) as no crypto-to-crypto trading pair was mentioned for the Trust Wallet Token.

Note that the TWT cryptocurrency is a utility token for Trust Wallet, a mobile cryptocurrency wallet application more suitable for BEP2, and Ethereum-based assets, like ERC20 and ERC721 tokens. The TWT crypto is also used as an incentive and governance token for the wallet platform, indicating that the most demand for the cryptocurrency should be from the wallet users. 

Hence, TWT is likely to maintain a modest price performance as Trust Wallet gains more adoption and increase in user activity – this is not financial advice.

At the time of writing, the TWT cryptocurrency was trading at US$0.6281 on Coinmarketcap, with a 24-hour price change of 5.10 percent. From a circulating supply of 250,926,200 TWT, the token has a market capitalization of US$157,050,049 as of February 16. 

Swyftx Sees More User Growth

Following the exchange’s tweets, the Trust Wallet Token is probably the second cryptocurrency listed on the platform since 2021. On January 5, the exchange announced the first coin listing to be Celo (CELO). CELO is a blockchain ecosystem that focuses on increasing the adoption of digital currencies among smartphone users.

On January 20, Swyftx reported a massive user growth last year, as well as its plans to introduce heavy infrastructure optimizations to support more growth in 2021.

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Australia Crypto News Forex Trading

FBS to Debut Cryptocurrency Trading for FX Traders in Australia

FBS to Debut Cryptocurrency Trading for FX Traders in Australia

Just when cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular among Australians following the recent surges in price, an international broker, FBS is expanding in the country with cryptocurrency trading support targeted at Aussie FX traders. The development today would further strengthen the support and accessibility of digital currencies in the forex market, not just fiat currency and stock trading. 

Crypto Adoption Among FX Traders

The development today is coming after the broker received a regulatory permit from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). As an ASIC-certified trading platform, the company will provide its cryptocurrency instruments alongside forex and stock trading to Australians in compliance with the ASIC regulations, according to the report on Tuesday. 

Interestingly, FBS will equally debut Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency trading services for Islamic traders in the country, as their platform supports a “swap-free option for traders who cannot receive or pay the interest due to their faith.”

It’s worth mentioning that FBS would only add to the list of cryptocurrency brokers available in Australia; not the first. Already, eToro offers Contracts for Difference (CFD) on 16 digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, and others. Other crypto brokers in the country include Plus500, IG, and Pepperstone, all of which offer CFDs for not less than five cryptocurrencies. 

The increase in the number of crypto brokers in Australia would strengthen the FX-crypto market, thereby creating another entry or capital inflow source for the Aussie crypto market.

Interest in Cryptocurrency Keeps Soaring in Australia

It’s no doubt that Australians are increasingly picking interest in digital currencies, probably due to the increases in market value and news of institutional adoption. Recently, Crypto News Australia reported a 132 percent increase in the volume of unique searches for cryptocurrencies on TradingView, between July 2020 and January 2021. A separate report also confirmed the growing interest in cryptocurrencies among teenagers in Australia. 

Already, crypto exchanges like Binance Australia, are seeing increases in user activity.

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Blockchain Crypto News DeFi

Top Blockchain Dapps by 30-day Transactions Volume

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

The decentralized finance (DeFi) industry is gradually peaking into the mainstream. There has been a massive increase in participation, users, and new decentralized protocols. This is evident as the total value of assets locked in these protocols has significantly increased to almost $40 billion, per DeFi Pulse. As of February 11, 2020, this same industry only had a valuation of about $1 billion. 

The lending protocols dominate the entire DeFi space, with a total valuation of $17.9 billion. Maker might be the largest decentralized finance protocol by TVL, but not the top protocol in terms of transaction volume over the past 30 days.

Leading Dapps by Transaction Volume

According to data curated from DappRadar, the top ten decentralized applications by monthly transaction volume include

  • Venus
  • dYdX
  • Compound
  • Uniswap
  • Curve Finance
  • SushiSwap
  • Yearn Finance
  • Autofarm
  • Aave
  • PancakeSwap

As per DappRadar, Venus (XVS) is the top decentralized protocol by monthly transaction volume. The algorithmic money market protocol for BEP-20 assets gained US$54,520 million in volume in the past 30 days. dYdX, a decentralized cryptocurrency trading platform, sees about US$32,970 million within the same period, followed by the leading protocol, Compound, with a US$32,690 million transaction volume.

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The largest decentralized exchange by TVL, Uniswap, follows the list with more than US$28 million. Curve Finance and SushiSwap recorded about US$26,700 million and US$16,910 million, respectively. SushiSwap has been the biggest competitor for Uniswap when compared to the value of assets locked. Uniswap has a TVL of US$3.93 billion, while SushiSwap closes in with US$3.63 billion. 

SushiSwap almost overtook Uniswap during the end of its liquidity incentive program last year. Since that period, it has been neck and neck battle for both DEXes. 

Aside from Yearn Finance, which sees US$12,780 million, other Dapps have less than $10 million in transaction volume. These include Autofarm (US$8,610 million), Aave (US$3,170 million), and PancakeSwap (US$2,900 million).

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News

ASIC will Welcome Bitcoin ETF With Proper Rules in Place

ASIC will Welcome Bitcoin ETF With Proper Rules in Place

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has voiced out their stance regarding exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to Bitcoin, while addressing claims that it has a “secret policy” to stop such investment products tied to cryptocurrencies. The regulator is only concerned about investors’ protection and will welcome Bitcoin-linked ETFs, provided there are appropriate rules in place to protect the investors, according to the report by the Australian Financial Review on Friday.

ASIC Refutes Having Policy to Stop Bitcoin ETFs

The development is coming after the CEO of Cosmos Capital, James Manning, asserted that the regulator “have a policy — which they have not released — which says they do not want an exchange traded product, an MIS, listed on an exchange.” Note that, Cosmos Capital, a cryptocurrency mining and digital asset management company, tried to list a Bitcoin-linked ETF on the National Stock Exchange of Australia. However, the initiative was turned down by ASIC.

While addressing the claim today, ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour explained to the Senate select committee on financial technology that the effort from Cosmos Capital to list a Bitcoin ETF was rejected because the National Stock Exchange doesn’t have any proper rule to protect the investors. With appropriate rules in place, such products can be made available in Australia.

Bitcoin ETFs are Possible in Australia

“For any products to be quoted on exchange markets in Australia, the particular market needs to have in place rules that facilitate the quoting of products […] Not all markets have rules in place that do that. […] These products can be made available to Australians through a managed investment scheme regime and Australians can invest in these products in that way,” the commissioner precisely explained.

Bitcoin ETFs can be regulated under the Australian Securities Exchange’s AQUA Rules, according to Armour. This set of rules are specifically designed for ETFs, managed funds, and other related investment schemes. The National Stock Exchange of Australia doesn’t have such rules, Armour added.

The follows news a few months ago Australia’s Central Bank Tells ASX to Push on With Delayed DLT Trading Platform. Having confirmed it was replacing CHESS in December 2017, ASX originally planned to launch the new system in Q1 2020.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Uber may Accept Bitcoin Payment but Won’t Invest in it

Uber may Accept Bitcoin Payment but Won’t Invest in it

Many popular companies are beginning to voice out their stance about cryptocurrencies, probably due to Tesla’s move to Bitcoin (BTC). On February 11, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of one of the largest rail-hailing and food delivery companies, Uber, disclosed that they might start accepting payments in digital currencies.

However, the company is not planning to allocate its cash reserve to the leading cryptocurrency, as the electric car marker did.

Uber may Accept Crypto Payment

Khosrowshahi made this known while speaking with CNBC on Thursday. According to him, the rail-hailing giant can accept payment in digital currencies. However, they must have to be convinced of the need for accepting such payments and the benefits associated with digital currencies.

“Just like we accept all kinds of the local currency, we are going to look at cryptocurrency and or bitcoin in terms of currency to transact. That’s good for business, that’s good for our riders and our eaters. We are just not going to do it as part of a promotion,” Khosrowshahi said. 

That aside, Uber isn’t looking to exceed this level with cryptocurrencies, especially when it comes to investing in cryptocurrency. The CEO stated clearly that the company doesn’t consider adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets.

“We’re not in the speculation business”

Khosrowshahi sees Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investments as being speculative. Hence, they prefer keeping their cash reserve safe. “It was a conversation that happened that has been quickly dismissed. We’re going to keep our cash safe. We’re not in the speculation business,” Khosrowshahi precisely said.

Meanwhile, it’s worth mentioning that Uber is one of the members of the Facebook-planned stablecoin project, which was recently rebranded from Libra to Diem. Also, Uber won’t be the first as a food delivery platform to accept payments in cryptocurrencies. Just Eat, which purchased the Australian food ordering company, Menulog, already support payments in crypto.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News Gold

Australia’s Newcrest Wants Crypto Investors to get Some Gold

Bullish: Bitcoin Miner Net Position Change Still Positive

As digital currencies continue to increase in value, they keep attracting the attention of many investors, than in other traditional assets. One of the executives at the Australian largest gold mining company, Newcrest, opined today that the growing value of cryptocurrencies should be the more reason investors should consider having other assets like Gold. This statement comes due to the high volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).

Newcrest Suggests you Should Hold Some Gold

The largest cryptocurrency, for instance, has surged significantly since the start of the year. Just some days ago, BTC reached another all-time high (ATH) in value at over US$47,000. Other popular alternative coins like Ether (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), Binance Coin (BNB), etc., reached a new high in market value this year. However, these cryptocurrencies are all trading slightly below the ATH price.

But as the cryptocurrency market keeps growing, Sandeep Biswas, the CEO of Newcrest Mining Ltd, told Bloomberg TV that digital currency investors should consider getting some of the age-old haven assets to protect their capital/profit from the high volatility in cryptocurrencies. “If you’re into cryptos, you want to consider having some gold. […] “may act as a bit of a hedge against the volatility of cryptos,” Biswas commented.

The CEO added that Gold is a different class of investment from cryptocurrencies and would benefit investors since it’s a more stable asset. “It’s a tangible asset: you can see it, you can touch it, you can feel it, you can mold it, you can make it into jewelry, whatever you want,” he further noted.

Crypto and Gold can Co-exist

Biswas’ statement somewhat indicates that cryptocurrencies can co-exist with Gold. Many people think that the growth in the crypto market might pinch demand from Gold. However, companies like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had noted that the traditional assets would continue to maintain their stand in the market. At press time, Bitcoin was trading at US$45,125 on Coinmarketcap, while an ounce of Gold traded at US$1,850.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Top Public Companies Holding Bitcoin as a Reserve Asset

Bitcoin Outperformed Global Assets in February Despite Facing a 26% Drop

It’s no longer news that the demand for the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), has significantly increased among institutions and corporate investors. This was predicted by many industry experts after MicroStrategy, a publicly-listed business intelligence company, announced its first BTC acquisition. Many other public companies have joined the bandwagon, with the recent being Tesla, which added $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin to its balance sheet.

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19 Public Companies are Holding Bitcoin

According to information from CoinGecko, there are presently 19 known public companies holding Bitcoin in their balance sheet. Judging by the total number of BTC held by these companies, MicroStrategy lead the pace with a total of 71,079 BTC, which will be worth US$3.2 billion following Bitcoin’s price of US$45,250 on February 10. However, the company bought the cryptocurrencies at a total cost of US$1.14 billion, per Coingecko.

Tesla joins the list as the second-largest public company. The electric-car manufacturer is expected to be holding at least 42,500, which is worth $1.9 billion at the time of writing. Note that the company’s entry price was US$1.5 billion. So, Tesla’s BTC holding is already up by over US$400 million, as Bitcoin spiked after the announcement.

Other public firms with at least 1,000 BTC include Galaxy Digital (16,402 BTC), Marathon (4,813 BTC), Square (4,709 BTC), Hut 8 Mining (2,851 BTC), Voyager (1,239), and Riot Blockchain (1,175 BTC). About 11 others on the list don’t have up to 600 BTC.

The Herds are Coming

As many experts have opined, Tesla’s move to BTC is very significant to raising more corporate Bitcoin investors. As an S&P 500-traded company, industry players like Mike Novogratz, the CEO of Galaxy Digital, believes that many other popular companies, CEOs, and CFOs, will join Tesla in holding Bitcoin. Based on this, Novogratz predicted that BTC is likely to surpass US$100,000 this year. 

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Twitter is Considering Adding Bitcoin to its Balance Sheet

Twitter is Considering Adding Bitcoin to its Balance Sheet

Following the news on Tesla’s US$1.5 billion Bitcoin buy, many industry players like Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz forecasted that several CEOs and CFOs would consider adding the cryptocurrency to their reserve. Well, it’s already happening! Popular social media platform, Twitter, is considering adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet, according to the chief financial officer or CFO, Ned Segal. This should be another catalyst for the cryptocurrency to increase in market value, owing to Twitter’s popularity.

Twitter Considers Buying Bitcoin

As Segal told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday, they are contemplating whether to add Bitcoin to Twitter’s balance sheet. The CFO also noted that they have been thinking about how the social media vendors and workers can be paid with the cryptocurrency, should they request such payment. So, Twitter is more likely to purchase BTC as part of its treasury reserve as soon as the employees and vendors ask for it.

Segal’s precisely stated: 

“We’ve done a lot of the upfront thinking to consider how we might pay employees should they ask to be paid in bitcoin, how we might pay a vendor if they asked to be paid in bitcoin, and whether we need to have bitcoin on our balance sheet should that happen. It’s something we continue to study and look at. We want to be thoughtful about it over time, but we haven’t made any changes yet.” 

Twitter CEO is Already a Big Supporter

Noteworthily, Twitter has one of the biggest Bitcoin supporters, Jack Dorsey, as the CEO, and so adding Bitcoin shouldn’t be a difficult decision to make for the social media platform. Already, Jack Dorsey’s Square Inc. is among the largest corporate Bitcoin investors. Square invested US$50 million in Bitcoin, which is currently worth over US$200 million. 

Last week, Dorsey also revealed he’s running his own Bitcoin node.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Institutional Investors Currently Hold 30% of Bitcoin Supply

Institutional Investors Currently Holds 30% of Bitcoin Supply

Since the last quarter of 2020, deep-pocketed Bitcoin investors have been increasingly adding more BTC to their portfolio. Following the current trends in the market, it doesn’t seem this buying momentum amongst institutions will calm down soon, according to Coinmetrics, a crypto-assets market data provider. 

In the latest “State of the Network” report on Tuesday, Coinmetrics noted an increasing rate of accumulation with institutional BTC addresses holding between 1,000 to 10,000 Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Whale are Still Buying

Bitcoin supply held by these addresses increased significantly since last year. At present, these addresses account for about 30 percent of BTC supply in circulation.

Meanwhile, BTC addresses holding between 10 BTC to 1,000 BTC lost more supply within the same period, while addresses with lower Bitcoin (0 and 10 BTC) saw an uptick in supply share. Coinmetrics mentioned an “increase in BTC accumulation” as a possible reason behind this change in BTC supply distribution.

Per Coinmetrics, this change indicates that retail-sized investors are also accumulating more Bitcoin along with institutions, as new investors also enter the market. Bitinfocharts’ Bitcoin rich list shows that there are currently 2,403 addresses holding at least 1K to 10K Bitcoin. A total of 148,928 addresses are holding between 10 to 1K Bitcoin, while 680,804 holds at least 1 to 100 BTC.

ETH Shows Similar Growth with BTC

Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency seeing an increasing rate of accumulation. According to Coinmetrics, Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, sees a similar growth in the number of addresses holding more than 10,000 ETH, when compared to the increase in 1K BTC addresses.

Also, the network activity on Ethereum has been on the increase since the start of the year. This is evident as the number of active ETH addresses has remained relatively high, averaging between about 550K and 600K a day, despite the high transaction fees.