Author: José Oramas

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

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Australia Binance Tokens

Aussies Looking to Hold $AVA as Binance Australia Adds Three New Coins

Binance Australia will now allow Aussies to trade three new bullish tokens in its platform: XLM, AVA, and ATOM. Trading will go live on March 10, at 10:00 Sydney time.

These three coins experienced considerable growth in the crypto market since January, up to 10-15% in price, and 24h trading volumes reaching levels of 80%.

Aussies Looking to Hold $AVA

The community seemed excited to trade these three tokens, especially AVA, the native asset of Binance-backed Travala, one of the first blockchain-based travel agencies. The company implemented this blockchain technology along with crypto-payments in 2017.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak started, the travel industry suffered approximately 42% (nearly $500 billion) in losses, according to the U.S. Travel Association. But Travala has provided a blockchain infrastructure and support for crypto-payments for a while, helping the company avoid the effects of the pandemic and attracting crypto enthusiasts.

It’s worth noting that Travala recently allowed support for payments in LINK (Chainlink’s token).

Likewise, XLM, the native token of the open-source DeFi protocol Stellar, also experienced positive growth in January this year. And 24h trading volumes nearly reaching 30%.

On the other hand, ATOM, the native asset from the interoperable blockchain ecosystem Cosmos Network, has also seen positive community support. The platform reached January this year with a market cap of over $4,500,000, and trading volumes are currently 30% up in the last 24 hours.

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Australia Scams

AUSTRAC and ASIC Investigating Scammers Deceiving Aussie Crypto Investors

A new investigation by the Australian Financial Review has shown that millions of dollars in cryptos are being stolen by British scammers posing as crypto exchanges in Australia.

These scammers not only are disguising themselves as exchanges but also faking identities of financial corporations and Australian investment management companies, offering high-yield bonds.

Some of the alleged stolen identities are:

  • Citibank
  • Nomura
  • IFM Investors
  • Binance
  • Coinbase

According to the investigation, The AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) and the ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) will work together to track down these scammers.

Scammers Posing as Binance Australia and Coinbase

Not only scammers have been stealing and posing as major financial institutions, but also taking the same web infrastructure of several crypto exchanges.

These scammers have also been exploiting the potential reach of several search engines, appearing in the main pages of Google as top crypto exchanges.

Back in February, Jeff Yew, CEO of Binance Australia, warned people on Twitter over misleading emails all over the country.

Following his post, another user reply by uploading an image of SMSs with “Withdrawal codes” sent to him by “Coinbase”.

Australians should be careful when receiving emails and SMSs claiming to be crypto exchanges or investment funds. You can check out Crypto News Australia’s guide on how to stay safe in crypto and avoid wallet frauds.

Categories
Australia Cardano

More Australians May Flock to Buy ADA as Bullish Sentiment Grows

Cardano’s native crypto asset ADA, which taking a greater role in the crypto market is now entering the Australian mainstream. The asset was recently featured on 9 News Australia where they called ADA “The Next Bitcoin”.

Traders and investors who are seeking alternative assets with great potential may also consider Cardano, as there is a strong bullish sentiment in the market right now for ADA.

Investors are looking for the next bitcoin, meaning they’re investing in cheaper tokens like Cardano’s ADA, IOTA, and Tron, all of which are priced around the $1 mark. We believe this year could see this hunt for the next ‘bitcoin’ intensify, as the market widens and other coins gain their own following.

Simon Peters for 9 News Australia

Why is the Community so Bullish on ADA?

ADA is already up over 600% for 2021, and is now becoming one of the most lucrative cryptos for traders and the crypto development community.

ADAUSD Chart by TradingView

The ADA token had a successful bull run since the beginning of February in 2021. When Cardano started working on the Gogen Mary fork (a major protocol change in the network) on February 3, ADA increased massively in price, reaching an All-Time High of $1.47, and trading volumes of nearly $20,000,000.

A Multi-asset Blockchain

Cardano is also entering the DeFi space with its new multi-asset blockchain. This could also be a reason for the recent price rise. Developers from other DeFi firms can now build their own tokens on Cardano (just like Ethereum), making it a more useful crypto.

Categories
Crypto News Institutions Ripple

Ripple to Provide Blockchain Support for Central Banks Issuing CBDCs

Ripple is moving forward with a new private version of its XRP ledger to provide support for Central Banks issuing CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currency). The new ledger will be based on the same blockchain that powers XRP.

80% of Banks Seeking Blockchain Technology

While the battle with the Securities and Exchange Command (SEC) continues, Ripple will conduct a pilot of this new private network to provide Central Banks with effective and flexible solutions for the issuance and management of their digital currencies.

The company stated that as cryptocurrencies move forward into the mainstream and more institutions are digital assets, over 80% of Central Banks are desperate to issue their own CBDCs.

This also means that more banks are considering using blockchain technology for their ecosystem, thus moving on and embracing the advantages (and challenges) of digital assets.

Hundreds of Thousands of TPS for Banks

This new private ledger will be tested to handle tens of thousands of TPS (Transactions per Second), and eliminating the tedious delay usually inherent to wire transfers. The network is expected to potentially scale to hundreds of thousands of TPS in the future —while maintaining speed and low fees. Some key features that the ledger will provide are:

  • 61,000 times more efficiency compared to PoW (Proof-of-work) blockchains.
  • Same protocol verification system used by the XRP ledger.
  • Less energy-intensive
  • High scalability, up to tens of thousands of CBDC transactions and possibly hundreds of thousands in the future. 

A New Network For Banks

Ripple is also exploring a new way to bring institutions into a more DeFi (Decentralised Finance)-style ecosystem. The company is planning to bring together all CBDC ledgers into a single network, enabling interoperability with full technological and financial independence.

Categories
Crypto Art NFTs Tokens

Rock and Crypto: Kings of Leon to Release the First NFTs Rock Album

The American rock band Kings of Leon has announced their next album “When You See Yourself” will be NFT-based, with tokenized tickets. This makes them the first rock band to release an NFTs album with underlying blockchain technology.

The album, besides launching on traditional music platforms like Spotify, will be released on YellowHeart, a blockchain-based ticketing platform.

Main page of YellowHeart announcing NFT Yourself

The group is also offering fans unique products by launching “NFT Yourself”, a series of special items integrated into the album, including:

  • Tokenized tickets, which the band calls “Golden Tickets” for the chance to win a front-row seat for life, during all of the band’s tours.
  • Exclusive audiovisual materials.
  • Live show perks.

NFTs Being Sold for Thousands of Dollars

The band isn’t the only one rushing in to become part of the massive sales of the NFTs industry —a few days ago, the musician 3LAU recently sold his NFT album for US$11 million using the Ethereum blockchain.

It might not be a surprise that more artists are jumping in on the digital art NFTs trend, as they become a valuable representation of unique items, such as crypto-collectible, or crypto gems, which are computer-made representations of gems being sold in online DeFi marketplaces.

NFTs Industry Booming with Big Profits

These representations are currently being sold for thousands of dollars on several markets. Even a Canadian investor paid $20,000 for CryptoPunks, computer-made avatars.

There are currently 10,000 CryptoPunks

The NFTs industry made over US$100 Million alone last month, and it is growing at a fast speed as collectors are paying large sums of money for crypto-collectibles and other kinds of unique items.

Categories
Australia Cryptocurrencies DeFi

Australia Needs to Embrace Crypto Says Fund Manager Mark Carnegie

Mark Carnegie, venture capitalist and co-founder of the investment bank M.H. Carnegie & Co. has recently spoken publicly about how important cryptocurrencies could be for Australia. According to Carnegie, traditional Australian funds have “screwed up” and failed to recognise the current situation.

Carnegie admitted that it took a long time for him to fully accept cryptos but now admits that “it took too long, but I now believe that crypto is here to stay”. He says his portfolios “have a giant hole in them because they don’t include Bitcoin and Ethereum”.

Source: mhcarnegie.com

Crypto Might Be The Only Answer For Australia

The national Reserve Bank keeps rates on hold, a move that affected the Australian Stock Exchange negatively. Some analysts even argue that the housing market could be at risk of overheating.

Carnegie argues that while inflation, economic collapse, and possible bubbles like the housing market are a reality that the banks and traditional funds in Australia have failed to recognize. While this happens, Carnegie states that Crypto might be “the only answer” to address these issues, not only in Australia but globally.

Crypto is currently a sideshow for Australia, but as an effective protection from expropriation in many other countries where hyperinflation and economic collapse are potential realities, it might just be the only answer.

Stated Carnegie for Financial Review

DeFi is Coming

Moreover, Carnegie spoke about the current role of Decentralised Finance (DeFi), and what it can bring to the digital economy, and how it can potentially reshape the way people view finance as well.

While DeFi has a number of challenges to take care of, the decentralization and the independence from third parties and bankers are the main attractive feature of DeFi, but the main challenges rely on friction in human relations:

Will the promise of decentralised finance and smart contracts revolutionise transaction friction in human relations? The first place that this question is being answered is in payments and money transfers.

Stated Carnegie for Financial Review

Carnegie mentioned the outstanding growth of fintech and DeFi platforms in Australia, the number of crypto fintech and DeFi platforms have grown at least 16% in January, following the bull run for Bitcoin and DeFi-related tokens.

DeFi Will “Take Off” as Soon as People Use it Like Credit Cards

Not only Mark Carnegie is one of the traditional investors that spoke in favor of the crypto and DeFi space – Mark Cuban recently compared the boom of DeFi to that of the internet in 2000.

According to the magnate, DeFi can address several issues mentioned above, as well as the typical problems related to bankers, transaction speed, and effectiveness.

While it does present several challenges, Cuban believes once people can use DeFi as freely as they use their credit cards it will “take off” massively.

Categories
Australia Binance

Binance Achieves Record Growth in Australia, Dominating AUD Trading Volumes

Australia flag Binance logo
Australia flag Binance logo

Binance Australia has achieved record milestones in the past year and into 2021 – seeing tremendous growth in user base as well as trading volumes.

Binance Dominating Exchanges for AUD Trading

Binance Australia is currently the leading exchange in the country, topping BTC and ETH markets for 24-hour trading volumes.

As shown below, the platform outranked other exchanges, including closest rivals BTC Markets and Independent Reserve, with a BTC/AUD 24 hours trading volume at over AU$51 million.

BTC/AUD 24H Volume
ETH/AUD 24 Volume

Binance Crypto Users are Growing in Australia

It’s not only trading volumes that are increasing for Binance – the number of users and adoption have reached outstanding numbers in the last weeks.

Also it’s not only the number of individuals that are growing – Binance Australia also saw over 400% in corporate and SMSF users compared to the previous quarter, end of 2020.

Educating Aussies With Binance Masterclasses

As the crypto demand in Australia grows, so does the need for crypto education. Every day, more Aussies are keen to learn about cryptocurrencies and how they work.

Binance meets those needs by educating Aussies with a free online course, called “Binance Masterclass” —a series of free online educational videos for anyone interested in the world of crypto.

Getting Started with Binance

If you’re interested in finding out more about Binance Australia, you can read our review here. And if you’re looking to open an account you can checkout the how to get started guide.

Categories
Ripple

Investors Suing MoneyGram Over Misleading Partnership With Ripple

It seems like lawsuits are a never-ending topic when it comes to Ripple. Now, MoneyGram —a financial services company, is facing a lawsuit over “misleading” statements about its partnership with Ripple.

Shady Allegations over Ripple’s ODL service

Rosen Law Firm, A major U.S.-based legal firm is now suing MoneyGram on behalf of investors over shady and misleading statements about the use of ODL —On-Demand Liquidity—, a service that leverages XRP as a bridge between two currencies.

In 2019, MoneyGram announced a strategic partnership with Ripple, using its cross-border payment system. But as soon as the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple, MoneyGram stated that it doesn’t use Ripple’s ODL service:

MoneyGram is not dependent on the Ripple platform to accomplish its FX trading needs. As a reminder, MoneyGram does not utilize the ODL platform or RippleNet for direct transfers of consumer funds – digital or otherwise. Furthermore, MoneyGram is not a party to the SEC action. 

Rosen Law Calling in As Many Investors as they Can

According to the press release, MoneyGram failed to disclose that XRP —used by the company as part of its partnership with Ripple— was viewed as an unregistered security, instead of a cryptocurrency.

This means that if the SEC applies security laws against Ripple, MoneyGram loses market development fees, vital to their financial results. Thus, making MoneyGram statements about the use of ODL as false or misleading.

The company added that when “the true details entered the market” —when the SEC filed against Ripple— investors suffered several damages. Likewise, Rosen Law Firms is encouraging any investors with losses over $100,000 to join the class action before April 30.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News

The Bearish Month for Bitcoin Has Arrived, But Holders Still Won’t Give Up

After a strong bullish rally that started on February 8 with Tesla, Bitcoin started to lose buying power on February 25, and this Sunday, it has fallen below -5%, losing over $2,500 in price.

As reported by Crypto News Australia, negative returns are expected this month, with an 80% probability. But for the crypto community, this is just another buying opportunity, as March presents itself as the bearish month for Bitcoin, followed by a strong positive return in April.

Several Corrections Before Taking Off

Bitcoin reached prices nearly $60,000 on February 21, trading at levels of $58,300, but soon dropping even lower, and entering a consolidation state between $50k and $45k.

But while Bitcoin drops and consolidates, this could be another opportunity for buyers, as the overall sentiment remains bullish.

The crypto community believes Bitcoin still has not reached its peak as more companies are still buying great amounts of BTC.

Reviewing the bull market for 2017, there were at least 6 corrections with 30 to 40 % losses, before commencing a bull run with gains over 150%, according to Bitcoin Archive.

Key Events to Consider:

  • New York Digital Investment Group —NYDIG— files with the SEC for a BTC ETF, together with Morgan Stanley.
  • Counterpoint Global, an Equity Team from Morgan Stanley, is currently exploring the possibility of investing $150B in Bitcoin
  • MicroStrategy buys an additional 19,452 BTC —$1.3B—.
  • Australia and Canada are set to open the first BTC ETFs.
  • The overall sentiment in Australia is generally bullish, meaning over 5,000,000 Aussies will invest in crypto, some even aiming for levels over AU$ 100k.

Most of these events happened by mid-February, so it’s essential to consider that institutions are still buying great amounts of BTC.

We can expect key support levels of 40 – 45k, while others argue it could reach levels of 38k before BTC takes off again by mid-April, reaching levels over $60k with a strong demand again.

The number of BTC wallets has also grown together with institutional adoption, according to Glassnode:

Source: Glassnode
Categories
Australia Bitcoin

Aussies Aiming at AU$ 100K for Bitcoin by the end of the Year

Data reveals that Australians are more bullish than ever when it comes to crypto, and many of them believe Bitcoins bull run has not reached its peak yet.

While historical data shows that March is usually a bearish month for Bitcoin – over 75% of Australians believe the market price for Bitcoin could reach levels over AU$ 60k in the next six months, and some even are targeting AU$100k by the end of the year.

The Australian crypto-exchange, Coinspot, recently published a poll where nearly 1,200 voted in about BTC’s status in the next 6 months. By now, over 78% believe the price will reach over AU$ 60k —while only 22% believe the price will drop.

Bitcoin Adoption Still Growing

Although many believe that the current status of this market will turn negative in March, institutions are still buying it in big quantities. In February alone almost $3 Billion has been invested into crypto. And the number of active Bitcoin addresses continues to grow consistently, as shown in the graph below.

Number of Active Bitcoin Addresses – source

Even so, some Australians believe Bitcoin could reach levels overs AU$ 100k at the end of 2021.

The bullish sentiment of Aussies remains strong —even some are rushing in by using SMSF to buy crypto. Depending on demographics, some Australians are buying crypto as a retirement investment, like Baby Boomers, while younger Aussies want to be part of the process out of FOMO, and make profits along the way.