Author: José Oramas

José is a journalist and translator with a keen interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Categories
Australia Crypto News

Australian Mark Carnegie’s New Crypto Fund Targets 30% Annual Returns for Large Investors

Mark Carnegie
Mark Carnegie

Australian venture capital investor Mark Carnegie has partnered with entrepreneur Sergei Sergienko to launch MHC Digital Finance, a digital assets fund that combines DeFi and Crypto-trading to generate 30% annual returns for large investors.

As reported by the Australian Financial Review, Carnegie believes that DeFi and Crypto-assets have the potential to bring a better, decentralised financial system.

The platform is now live, and it offers institutional clients custody, OTC markets, and fund management, with a minimum investment of $50,000.

Crypto as a hedge Against Inflation

Talking about the declining use of fiat and the consequences of money printing, Carnegie said investors should allocate 1 or 2% of their total net worth into cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation.

The money printing is a risk and you’ve got to think what you’re going to do to protect yourself against it,” he said. “Now, with Australia the general solution is buy a house. The problem about that is you forgo a tonne of liquidity if that’s your only solution.

Mark Carnegie [AFR]

Carnegie lamented not seeing the potential of DeFi and cryptocurrencies at first when Ethereum and Bitcoin were barely taking place in investor’s portfolio.

He now believes the ecosystem has grown successfully through time and can bring a new opportunity for large institutions and individual investors. “All the success in DeFi is going to pull bitcoin higher with it”, he claimed.

Combining Traditional Market With DeFi

The fund combines the traditional aspect of the market while also combining some popular DeFi strategies like staking, where users lock their funds to receive rewards.

We use automatic market makers and the discrepancies in returns in stable coins to produce a greater return for the fund. Effectively, we’re providing liquidity to automatic market makers on DeFi market protocols and receive commission from the trades executed on those protocols. We do it on different blockchains, thereby also taking advantage of different pricing for commission on different blockchains.

Sergei Sergienko

The fund already saw participation from several private investors. It will invest 45-75% of its assets into high-market cap cryptos such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), and the rest into stablecoins.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

Grayscale Total AUM increases to $49.2 Billion in just four days

Grayscale
Grayscale

Grayscale has increased its total AUM (Assets Under Management) to $49.2 billion USD, getting closer to the $50 billion USD mark as Bitcoin spiked above $62,000 USD today.

Its most popular investment product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) now holds $40,534 million USD, while the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) holds over $7 million USD.

AUM Growing Every Day

Grayscale total AUM has been growing at a fast rate as Bitcoin and altcoins surged in the past weeks.

The addition of five new tokens also boosted Grayscale’s total AUM. As reported, the firm added five cryptocurrencies to its suite of investment trusts, including Chainlink (LINK) Filecoin, Livepeer, Basic Attention Token (BAT) and MANA (Decentraland).

On April 9, Grayscale’s total AUM grew by $1 billion USD worth of Bitcoin in almost 24 hours, according to the report. Some weeks before the total AUM grew over $3 billion USD in just four days.

On Saturday, Bitcoin broke above $80,000 AUD after several weeks of strong consolidation, a new all-time high for the father-of-all cryptos.

Grayscale’s Intention for a BTC ETF

Grayscale also plans to turn its GBTC into a proper Bitcoin Exchange-traded fund, after hinting at various ETF-related job positions on its career page.

Unlike other elite institutions like Goldman Sachs and VanEck, Grayscale will not file an S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said that it will develop its BTC ETF as the regulatory weather on the United States becomes clearer.

Categories
Binance Crypto News

Tokenized TESLA Stock Listed on Binance for Trading with Zero-Commission

Binance recently announced the launch of Binance Stock Tokens, which gives investors the opportunity to trade the equity market with zero fees, and a much lower cost.

Tesla is the first tokenized stock listed on the platform. All tokens are settled, denominated and collateralized in BUSD — and are backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities.

Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, thanked Elon Musk for bringing cryptocurrencies to Tesla and, in exchange, they are “bringing Tesla to crypto.” In just 24 hours, TSLA trading volumes surpassed $10 million USD.

Trade Fractions of Tokenized Tesla Stocks

Users can now buy fractions of a Tesla stock on Binance, with a minimum trade size of one-hundredth of the token. This provides traders with exposure to the equity market at a much lower cost, considering one Tesla stock is currently price above $700 USD.

Binance will provide eligible investors with the same benefits that these companies give to their shareholders, like dividends, stock splitting, and others. The protocol is the latest to venture on the trend of tokenized stocks.

More Tokenised Stocks To Come?

Crypto-trading exchange Bittrex already offers lots of tokenised stocks from the equity market paired with Tether (USDT), including Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL), and Gamestop (GME), amongst others.

Tokenized Stocks on Bittrex Global

Binance Coin BNB Soars 85% Upon N

Binance Coin (BNB) recently surged over 85% at the beginning of this month, hitting a new all-time high yesterday.

BNB’s recent bull run comes with the successful growth of the Binance Smart Chain protocol, which now supports over 5 million daily transactions and is being preferred by many DeFi protocols.

Categories
Australia Binance Crypto News

Bitcoin Hit $80k AUD During The Weekend

Australia flag Binance logo
Australia flag Binance logo

Bitcoin reached A$ 80,000 last weekend on Binance Australia, a new record for BTC and the exchange after several weeks of consolidation.

Binance Australia also added three new tokens to trade on its platform: CHZ (Chiliz), BTT (BitTorrent), and THETA (Theta Network).

These three tokens have had an outstanding performance during the first quarter of this year, especially CHZ, which surged 1,600% as the altcoin market saw a boom while high-market cap currencies stagnated.

BSC Reaching New Milestones

The Binance Smart Chain (BSC) protocol achieved a new record on Friday by surpassing 5 million transactions daily — this is 300% more than what the Ethereum network can currently achieve.

As the number of users in the exchange grows, Binance Australia will host a masterclass for beginners keen to use the Binance Smart Chain on April 14. The event will be held virtually via Zoom or watch the Livestream on its official channel.

Bitcoin broke above $60,000 (A$78,600) moving past $61,000 (A$80,000) on April 12. Data from Glassnode suggest that large bitcoin holders (whales) are increasing their positions and accumulating BTC for the first time in over five months.

Buy and Trade Cryptos Using Aussie Dollars

Binance Australia has become one of the top exchanges in the country and more Aussies seem keen to invest in crypto using their AUD — this is why Crypto News Australia has covered a guide with all the necessary info to get started.

Coinjar also offers a great platform to buy BTC using AUD, especially for those who are venturing in the crypto space for the first time.

Another top exchange is Swyftx, which saw record trading volumes over the last two months. Swyftx’s founders were also featured on a list of top tech innovators in Australia, together with Jeff Yew — CEO of Binance Australia.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Power Ledger Queensland

Queensland Solar and Lighting Now Accepts Crypto-payments for Their Solar Systems

Queensland Solar & Lighting will now accept cryptocurrencies as payment for their services with installing new solar systems in Brisbane, Queensland.

The company will accept any of the 250 digital assets traded on Australian-based crypto exchange Coinspot. Customers can choose to pay fully or part-pay in crypto for their home solar systems.

We are excited to announce that we are now accepting any form of cryptocurrency traded on the Coinspot platform to be used as payment for a solar system.

Daniel Jarrett, Queensland Solar & Lighting

Solar Companies Using Crypto and Blockchain

Queensland Solar & Lighting is one of the latest in the businesses to adopt cryptocurrencies. As we reported, Solar Exchange has been recently launched – a blockchain-based program that will allow Aussies to exchange solar energy credits for beer using blockchain. The program, powered by Power Ledger, will allow customers to track the number of beer they have earned, based on the number of solar energy credits exchanged with Victoria Bitter.

Power Ledger is an Australian-based blockchain venture that allows decentralised selling and buying of renewable energy. Last year, the platform completed a trial with electricity provider American PowerNet, making it the first implementation of peer-to-peer energy trading technology in the United States.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News

Real Estate Company Partners With Gemini To Accept Bitcoin for Rent

American businessman and real estate manager Rick Caruso will allow its tenants to rent his properties with Bitcoin, starting with the Grove shopping centre and other Los Angeles properties.

As reported by the LA Times, Caruso Properties has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to handle all of its crypto payment operations and has invested 1% of its treasury in Bitcoin as part of the partnership.

Gemini Interview with Rick Caruso on CNBC

Elon Musk Could Be The First Visitor To Pay Rent with BTC

Caruso Properties is the first real estate company to accept bitcoin as payment, and Caruso also owns the property that houses the Tesla dealership in the Americana, at Brand centre in Glendale, California.

I haven’t talked to Elon about it. He may be the first, as a pioneer, to pay his rent in bitcoin.

Rick Caruso

Bitcoin Is Similar to Credit Cards in the 1950s

Surprisingly, Caruso added that there had not been demand from tenants to pay rent with bitcoin, but he sees a great opportunity in crypto assets and their technology, comparing them to credit cards in the 1950s when it was considered odd to use them but they soon became mainstream:

I believe bitcoin and blockchain are going to be doing the same in the future. We want to be ahead of the curve.

Rick Caruso

When Will Australia Follow Suit?

Some Australian businesses are now accepting cryptocurrencies as payment, but to our knowledge there are not yet any real estate companies accepting rent in bitcoin.

One thing for certain is that the institutional adoption of crypto assets has increased tremendously since payment companies such as PayPal allowed custody of digital assets and exchanging them for fiat to buy anywhere around the world.

Many in the crypto community believe expect that crypto payments and adoption will expand further as cryptocurrencies become better known and accepted in the mainstream.

Categories
Crypto News NFTs

“Shark Tank”-Style Program To Invest $1 Million for New NFT Project Ideas with Celebrities As Judges

Sound Ventures, a venture capital fund, is launching a “Shark Tank”-style program to audition NFT project ideas, offering $1 million for the winner.

The judging panel comprises Aston Kutcher and Guy Oseary, both co-founders of Sound Ventures, billionaire Mark Cuban, and Musicians like Snoop Dogg and 3LAU.

A $1 Million Investment for the Winner

Like Shark Tank, anyone with an NFT idea, whether a service or a product, can pitch the project to a judging panel. The program will be held virtually on April 21. Aspirants will have time to submit their applications until April 12.

Judging Panel of Sound Ventures

According to the announcement, amounts and terms will vary by company, and not every ideal will receive an investment. The event is private, and only applicants will be participating in it.

Two other essential judges are Whale Shark, a 38-year-old NFT collector who recently tokenized his vault containing valuable digital collectibles, and Vignesh Sundaresan, known as MetaKovan, the anonymous buyer of Beeple’s $69 million NFT sold at Christie’s.

NFT Taking the Mainstream by Storm

The NFT movement has expanded and now calling the attention of wealthy investors, influencers, billionaires musicians, such as Mark Cuban, Kings of Leon, Snoop Dogg, and many others.

NFL (National Football League) stars are also joining the NFT space. The seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady recently announced launching an NFT platform called Autograph, onboarding advisors from Apple, DraftKings, and Spotify.

What are NFTs and Why They Have Become so Popular?

As explained in our guide, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are different from regular crypto-assets as they can only be used to represent ownership of unique items that can be traded on Ethereum marketplaces. NFTs cannot be exchanged with one another because each item is a unique digital asset.

Decentraland, an NFT-powered virtual world and videogame, has become an attractive digital environment for crypto-enthusiast where they can own parcels of LAND, as well as buying, selling, and auctioning NFT collectibles with the community. The protocol also announced a layer-two bridge for MANA token transfers, enabling users to move MANA tokens to Polygon and back.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Crypto News

The Number of SMSFs Approaching Cryptocurrencies Soars as the market tops $2 Trillion

A growing number of Australian financial advisors are now approaching crypto exchanges to learn more about crypto-assets as Bitcoin rallies again towards $60k, and the crypto market tops $2 trillion.

As the crypto market surges and even outpaces legacy markets such as the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, more financial advisers are now keener to know about cryptocurrencies and how to invest in them, according to Shane Stevenson, CEO of Cointree.

There’s no doubt that bitcoin is now being seen as an alternative to gold as a store of value, reflected recently by the rising price of bitcoin, in particular, and the fact that cash, term deposits and bonds have less appeal because of the historically low-interest rates, that cryptocurrencies are becoming more attractive to SMSFs.

Shane Stevenson, CEO of Cointree [Australian Fintech]

Interest in Crypto-assets Spikes

Cointree is an AUSTRAC-regulated crypto exchange in Australia. As the global crypto market grows, the number of SMSFs applications in the exchange has surged 53% in just three months.

This percentage falls short compared to last year as the increasing number of Aussies adding crypto assets to their portfolio is a reflection of the need for a hedge fund against hyperinflation.

Stevens added that most SMSFs are limited when it comes to cryptocurrencies, not only because of the challenges that SMSFs face when it comes to Proof of Ownership and Proof of Value, but traditional financial advisers also lack the knowledge for this type of investments.

Crypto Market Tops $2 Trillion

The crypto market topped $2 trillion on April 4, outperforming legacy markets with a surge of 3.55%, while Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 surged 1.36% and 1.43% respectively.

The crypto market now holds steady at $1 trillion for ten consecutive days, and over 1.90 million BTC were moved as the currency tested levels of $52k and $58k, establishing strong support at $54k.

Despite the inherent volatility of cryptocurrencies, the number of Aussies investing in Bitcoin and other currencies using their SMSFs has spiked since it reached $US50,000 by mid-February.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

Grayscale Confirms its Intentions to Turn GBTC into a Bitcoin ETF

Grayscale’s CEO, Barry Silbert, has confirmed the investment firm is “100% committed” to turn GBTC (Grayscale Bitcoin Trust) into a Bitcoin Exchanged-traded Fund.

As per their post, the investment giant outlined the possibility of a BTC ETF in the United States. Other investment firms like Goldman Sachs have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the long-awaited crypto-fund, but Grayscale remains wary about submitting a file to the SEC.

The firm does not consider that the current regulation weather in the US is suitable for such a fund.

Today, we remain committed to converting GBTC into an ETF although the timing will be driven by the regulatory environment. When GBTC converts to an ETF, shareholders of publicly-traded GBTC shares will not need to take action and the management fee will be reduced accordingly.

Grayscale

GBTC is a SEC-reporting Bitcoin fund launched in 2013. Each Grayscale product has four stages, in which the last one aims to convert the product into an ETF.

Source: Medium

The Crypto Market Tops $2 Trillion

Grayscale’s announcement came at the same time the global crypto market hit $2 trillion, according to CoinGecko. The institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies has increased the demand dramatically, and the crypto community seems to be now waiting for SEC to finally approve a Bitcoin ETF. If approved, a Bitcoin ETF coupled with the public listing of Coinbase could give the crypto market a tremendous boost.

Categories
Crypto News DeFi Hackers

Force DAO Protocol Hacked, Token Plunges 95%

Force DAO, a DeFi hedge fund, suffered an attack by a hacker that found a bug in the xFORCE contract, draining 14.8 millions worth of FORCE token (around 34 million on this Sunday morning).

The attack happened after the protocol organised an airdrop yesterday, distributing FORCE tokens to its users. The token plunged at least 95% after the protocol confirmed the attack, going from $2.30 to $0.26.

The protocol confirmed the attack via Twitter and published a post-mortem analysis a few hours later. Accordingly, Force DAO is currently working with two different security firms to review and analyse the contracts.

Other Attackers Took Advantage

The first hacker found a bug in the xFORCE contract’s code that returned a false value when the amount transferred exceeded the account’s balance instead of reverting it.

According to technical advisor Mudit Gupta, this allowed anyone to call the “Deposit” function without holding FORCE tokens. The attacker minted xFORCE tokens from the contract without locking them in the vault.

According to Force DAO, the hacker returned the funds to the pools after founding the contract’s code’s vulnerability. Other attackers took advantage of it and drained millions of dollars, exchanging the funds on Uniswap and Sushiswap.

Other attackers soon followed, draining the pool’s liquidity and taking over $20 million FORCE tokens in just a few hours.

Force DAO is the latest DeFi protocol subject to millions of funds lost. A few days ago, TurtleDex, a Binance Smart Chain-based protocol rug pulled its investors, draining $2.5 million out of the liquidity pools.