Aussie investment bank Macquarie recently stated in a research note that the slow and cautious approach to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) could end up costing central banks in the long run.
Potential Foothold By Cryptocurrencies May Soon Become Insurmountable
Although the European Central Bank, (ECB), the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), and China are all in various stages of researching and even testing CBDCs, Macquarie fears that by the time any of these institutions actually get around to launching a CBDC, the market share in eCommerce occupied by well-known private cryptocurrencies may prove an insurmountable obstacle for central banks.
“The central bank digital currency landscape in free markets is lagging the pace of crypto adoption – it is still unclear how entrenched private cryptos will become before CBDCs become a viable alternative for more efficient transactions. We think the use cases for private crypto could come to fruition if commerce becomes too accustomed to private crypto use prior to a CBDC alternative launching as a stable, legitimate alternative. And fiat debasing could also in fact help demand stick.”
Indeed, cryptocurrencies geared towards electronic commerce – such as Cardano (ADA) are only getting stronger, despite the uncertainty of the market in recent times. Not only that, but even many retailers and even small-time shops worldwide now accept BTC and ETH as payment, along with regular old cash.
However, the report also stated that with the right amount of expediency in development, government-backed cryptocurrencies could eventually overtake private cryptocurrencies. The report goes on to say that this could help prevent speculation – although whether buying certain cryptocurrencies known to pump randomly counts as speculation is a matter up for debate.
Whatever the outcome of the CBDC debate will be, it’s worth watching what the Federal Reserve will do – since US economic institutions still wield a significant amount of power in the crypto space, as recently seen with Ripple.
The year 2020 can be summed up in two distinct phases for the digital asset market: a half year of strong growth, followed by a no less sharp decline. Nothing unusual for this ecosystem. Nevertheless, prices remain at higher levels than at the beginning of the year. For Bitcoin, which is the primary asset, we are nevertheless seeing +300% growth over the year, which preserves its status as the most attractive asset in all types of markets.
Today we’re going to look at the top 10 best performing crypto of 2020 so far, that gave huge returns to traders and investors.
1. Hex (HEX) +8870%
HEX is an ERC20 token designed and launched by Richard Heart on 2 December 2019 on the Ethereum network. HEX is designed to be a store of value to replace the Certificate of Deposit as the blockchain counterpart of that financial product used in traditional financial markets. HEX is also designed to leverage off the emerging DeFi (Decentralised Finance) ecosystem in cryptocurrencies within the Ethereum network. HEX uses the Ethereum network for the transaction layer (sending and receiving HEX tokens, as well as interacting with the HEX smart contract), whilst the consensus code and staking mechanism is contained in the HEX smart contract.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
On November 19th HEX’s Big Pay Day highlights the strong finish to an exciting yearlong launch phase, crediting active stakes with 183 Billion HEX worth over $750 Million dollars. The design intention is never a promise, but seeing HEX perform as designed appears indeed very promising: HEX’s price has gone up 92x vs Bitcoin, 79x vs Ethereum, and 115x vs USD. It did all of this in just 129 days. By design, HEX enriches The Staker Class with a highly attractive APY plus additional rewards.
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this price rally and another factor could be due to HEX addresses a larger market than Bitcoin with superior product fit. The United States and China have over $7.2 Trillion in time deposits. This is a 50% larger market than the peer-to-peer currency market Bitcoin was designed to address where printed cash totals about $5 Trillion.
While HEX might be the first coin to ever have two independent security audits, due to apparent gatekeeping practices by the ever-popular CoinMarketCap HEX has yet to be ranked correctly there. In fact, CoinMarketCap has suspiciously pegged HEX at Rank 201 – appearing buried on page 3. This not only makes it extremely difficult for new investors to discover HEX but also calls data reporting practices into question.
2. Theta (THETA) +2267%
Theta (THETA) is a blockchain-powered network purpose-built for video streaming. Launched in March 2019, the Theta mainnet operates as a decentralized network in which users share bandwidth and computing resources on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis. The project is advised by Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube, and Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
So far the year 2020 the value of THETA has almost grown 9 times from $0.25 AUD in January 2020. Market capitalization has also more than doubled from $150M AUD million at the start of the year to $297M today. This growth has been thanks to the recovery of the crypto markets in general after a sharp decline in 2018. 2019 up to the start of 2020 was the time coins really took off and recorded massive growth rates. Many have claimed that this may have just been due to the hype and perhaps even a bubble. When crypto prices started to decline, some investors thought it was the end of the coin market, but instead, it has remained very stable. This is because crypto has finally been embraced by institutional investors who have the resources to purchase large amounts of crypto.
From the above chart showing the price of THETA over its lifetime, it doesn’t look much different from that of many other coins in the market. Since January 2020, most coins have gained their value and market capitalization as well for various reasons. It would seem that THETA has also returned huge profits in the year 2020 and it should be interesting to see how it performs in 2021.
Reasons why Theta Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this price rally and recently, the developers released the mainnet update and added smart contract functionality. Also, the team announced the upcoming improvements, including the launch of the Theta Wallet Chrome extension and Theta Token Minter functionality that will allow users to create their own tokens on the Theta blockchain.
3. Synthetix (SNX) +1263%
Synthetix is a derivatives liquidity protocol on Ethereum that enables the issuance and trading of synthetic assets. Each synthetic asset (or Synth) is an ERC20 token that tracks the price of an external asset; for example, each USD token tracks the price of the US dollar (and unlike the other synthetic assets, is fixed at 1). A wide variety of Synths exists within Synthetix, including fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and inverse indexes. In principle, the system can support any asset with a clear price and provides on-chain exposure to an unlimited range of real-world assets. The protocol will enable a variety of trading features including binary options, futures, and more.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
Synthetix is an Australian project, founded in 2016. The creators of the project went further and developed a system of 2 tokens:
Synthetix Network Token is a token that provides liquidity in the system.
Synths is a token whose value is tied to the price of a real asset (fiat, precious metals, company shares).
The Synthetix Network Token prices have gone up from 1.45 AUD to 15.62 AUD in one year. The long-term earning potentials were +233.23% in one year. In June 2020, the price fluctuated from $7.52. AUD to $14.12 AUD in late November 2020. Synthetix price today is $16.62 AUD with a 24-hour trading volume of $362.42 M and a market cap of $1.40 B.
Reasons why SNX Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this price rally and Staking is another feature that is likely attracting users due to its relatively high annualized percentage yield based on the protocol’s cash flow mechanism. Essentially, the fees that occur from trading on Synthetix are collected and distributed pro-rata to SNX stakers.
The combination of a spike in interest in Synthetix from the Coinbase listing and the platform’s overall rise in user activity likely triggered the +100% rally since late November.
4. Ethereum (ETH) +704%
Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that features its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts.
Ethereum was first described in a 2013 whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, along with other co-founders, secured funding for the project in an online public crowd sale in the summer of 2014 and officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
Ethereum had the eventful year 2020, with a few technical update hiccups and some interesting innovations. The year 2020 saw the emergence of Decentralised Finance (DeFi), almost all of whose projects are based on Ethereum technology.
The community is eagerly awaiting the ETH2 upgrades that will ultimately ensure that the network has the capabilities to become the blockbuster of tomorrow’s innovative financial products
The coin started the year with the price of only $169 AUD on January 1st, 2020. 12 months later, its price went up by nearly 9 times, currently sitting at $1,450 AUD. While the coin is still not even halfway to its own all-time high, it has made significant achievements towards getting there.
Right after the start of the year, ETH participated in a strong rally that took its price from the mentioned level of $169 to $381 AUD. The coin was attempting to reach the $500 AUD mark, getting quite close to it before the rally ended, and a correction hit.
Around July 20, the ETH price managed to break out and skyrocket to its next major resistance at $550 AUD. It reached this level just as the first week of August ended, and it kept trying to break it for months, finally succeeding in the early days of November 2020.
Reasons why Ethereum Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this Ethereum Price rally, It could also be due to the ETH 2.0 upgrade.
Chainlink (LINK) is a decentralized oracle network that aims to connect smart contracts with data from the real world. Chainlink was developed by Sergey Nazarov, with Steve Ellis as the other co-founder. It held an ICO in September 2017, raising $32 million, with a total supply of 1 billion LINK tokens. LINK, the cryptocurrency native to the Chainlink decentralized oracle network, is used to pay node operators.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
ChainLink saw a significant price movement in January 2020 and ended in February. During this period, the coin managed to grow from $2.74 AUD to $5.60 AUD in the short time frame. In March, it crucially fell back to its previous price point of $2.89 AUD. In April, it managed to recover, climbing back to $3.55 AUD. Then on July 7, 2020, the LINK price underwent an impressive surge as China’s national blockchain network, the Blockchain Service Network (BSN) was activated with 135 nodes integrated with Chainlink price oracles.
The news saw the LINK price surge from around $6.87 AUD to an all-time high of $9.60 AUD, with gains of +29% percent on the day. Chainlink continued an ascending trendline into mid-August, gaining bullish momentum. Into late September 2020, it saw sudden bearish activity before beginning its climb once again into October.
At the time of writing, ADA is ranked 9th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $21.04 AUD. According to CoinmarketCap, the cryptocurrency has now broken into the top 10. Before the end of 2020, Chainlink is most likely to gain more against its AUD/BTC pair and touch around $23.04 AUD.
Reasons why LINK Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this massive rise. And some other several things that have made Chainlink grow into what it is currently. One of the factors that made it rise is the number of products offered. People can get crypto loans, make savings, and even earn interest on their Chainlink coin.
Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that says its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change. The open-source project also aims to “redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals” — helping to create a society that is more secure, transparent, and fair.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
Cardano performed well at the beginning of the year, rising to $0.0927 AUD by 13 February. ADA may have continued to grow, but the entire crypto market has suffered, and Cardano fell as low as $0.0457 AUD by 13 March. After testing all-time lows, the crypto coin’s price rebounded to as high as $0.2543 AUD on 27 July, showing a seven-fold increase in price since the March drop. Currently, Cardano looks bullish, consolidating above the $0.3107 AUD support level and trading at $0.3845 AUD per coin.
The Cardano cryptocurrency looks very promising, so the number of investors willing to invest in ADA is gradually rising. The forthcoming October update of the voting and governance protocol may lead to a price increase.
Reasons why Cardano Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this Ethereum Price rally, It could also be due to this year that has been most significant for the Shelley hard fork 10, beginning Cardano’s transition from a federated blockchain to a decentralized and robust network of independent stake pools. Shelley was also the first time that IOHK’s Hard Fork Combinator 1 was deployed, enabling the seamless transition from Byron to Shelley.
Shelley saw the arrival of staking and delegation, representing the first time that all ada holders could participate in consensus on the network, and earn staking rewards for their contribution.
7. Stellar (XLM) +506%
Stellar is an open network that allows money to be moved and stored. When it was released in July 2014, one of its goals was boosting financial inclusion by reaching the world’s unbanked — but soon afterward, its priorities shifted to helping financial firms connect with one another through blockchain technology. The network’s native token, lumens, serves as a bridge that makes it less expensive to trade assets across borders. All of this aims to challenge existing payment providers, who often charge high fees for a similar service.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
The positive sentiments of being an efficient blockchain payment network have moved swiftly from XRP to XLM because of Stellar’s recent partnership with the Ukraine government to digitize their national fiat currency. Stellar has upgraded its platform from Protocol 13 to Protocol 15 on November 23rd and the upgrade has improved sponsored reserves and claimable balances on the platform.
With a market cap of $10,728,525,470 AUD and a circulating supply of 20,853,997,348 XLM, Stellar has taken a strong position in the list of top-20 cryptocurrencies, occupying 9th place at the moment of writing. Stellar’s closest rivals are Ethereum, TRON, and Cardano.
By the end of October 2020, the cryptocurrency was trading at around $0.1475 AUD, which is -30% lower than the XLM 52-week high of $0.1785 AUD from August 17, and +192% higher than the 52-week low of $0.0587 AUD from March 12, 2020.
Reasons why XLM Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this price rally and some other factors include on April 11th, 2020, the Stellar Lumens Foundation released its report for Q1 2020, showing excellent ecosystem growth. What’s more, the total usage and transaction volumes had increased in comparison to Q4 of 2019. Interestingly enough, though, the total number of registered Stellar accounts decreased by 1.79% between Q4 2019 and Q1 2020. When you take the 8% increase of trading volume into account, this means that the increased activity was due to existing users. Stellar’s daily operations also managed to increase by an incredible +113% from Q1 2020 to Q3 2020.
VeChain is the world’s leading blockchain platform offering Blockchain-as-a-Service to enterprises for products and information. By leveraging on blockchain technology, VeChain strives to build a trust-free and distributed business ecosystem, which is self-circulating and scalable.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
VeChain was long considered one of the hottest cryptocurrencies. Since 2015 the project exists, which wants to score, especially with actual applications and partnerships. After positive news and new announcements made the round in the last weeks, it is time for a small VeChain analysis.
The project, therefore, remained under the radar for a long time. From August 2018 to March 2020, short-term successes and newly established partnerships were able to give the coin a slight boost. However, the big break from the negative trend failed to materialize for a long time.
In March of this year came then the break-in with all cryptocurrencies. All the same, whether Bitcoin, Ethereum, or evenly VeChain (VET): High two-digit exchange losses shift the market into a deep red. VET course: Over +400% growth since March 2020. After it came with nearly all cryptocurrencies to substantial corrections, many investors used the opportunity to buy undervalued Coins. The VeChain share price recovered enormously well in the period from March to June. In June, the VET price was around 0.01457 AUD, while in March, it was just 0.0089 AUD.
In the period from June to July, VET rose again. In August this year, VeChain reached an annual and, at the same time, an all-time high with a price of 0.045 AUD.
Reasons why VeChain Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this price rally and also in a press release, the VeChain Foundation has announced its participation in the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub. Created by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), the initiative is part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers from renowned entities.
9. Bitcoin (BTC) +338%
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer online currency, meaning that all transactions happen directly between equal, independent network participants, without the need for any intermediary to permit or facilitate them. Bitcoin was created, according to Nakamoto’s own words, to allow “online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
At the start of the year, bitcoin was still considered a fringe investment, disparaged by the likes of the billionaire investor Warren Buffett as having “no value.” By the end of the year, however, bitcoin has nearly quadrupled in value, reaching an all-time high above $46,560.57 AUD and thrusting itself into the center of conversations among big investors and Wall Street firms.
Some bitcoin proponents saw the success of the cryptocurrency and its underlying blockchain network as validation of a landmark technology that might forever change finance.
At the time of writing, BTC is ranked 1st cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $44,736 AUD. Bitcoin started its rally from Jan 2020 with $12,754 AUD price levels and dropped again in March around $8654 AUD.
As May arrived, the Bitcoin network’s upcoming “halving” seemed like an afterthought compared with the steep economic toll of the coronavirus.
As of early October, bitcoin prices were trading around $16,800 AUD, up +50% on the year. It was already an impressive gain, especially during a year when the global economy had suffered its worst contraction since the Great Depression nearly a century early. U.S. stocks were up 4%.
Reasons why Bitcoin Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May was the major reason behind this massive rally in Bitcoin.
Halvings will keep occurring every four years until the supply cap of 21 million bitcoin has been reached,” the analysts wrote. This means we can project well into the future, and have clarity about what Bitcoin’s inflation rate will look like one, five, or 10 years from now.
10. Litecoin (LTC) +261%
Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency created by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, in 2011. The cryptocurrency was created based on the Bitcoin protocol, but it differs in terms of the hashing algorithm used, hard cap, block transaction times, and a few other factors. Litecoin was released via an open-source client on GitHub on Oct. 7, 2011, and the Litecoin Network went live five days later on Oct. 13, 2011.
Price Analysis Jan-Dec
Although Litecoin has been around since 2011, an ‘official’ Litecoin price history begins in early 2013 when CoinMarketCap went live. Litecoin spiked from a price of around $3 AUD to $40 AUD during the first crypto market bull run in late 2013. After dropping back down to the $3 AUD – $5 AUD range, it hit an all-time high of nearly $550 AUD during the 2017-2018 bull run, a 100x rally.
Litecoin has been moving sideways since the March 2020 flash crash, hovering at a price between $120 AUD to $190 AUD and currently sitting around $206 AUD. Support appears to be around the $130 AUD -$170 AUD range and it appears that the sideways trend will continue. Trading volume for Litecoin has been increasing gradually since December however, which may be indicative of another move to a $250 AUD price.
Currently, Litecoin (LTC) is trading at $206.58 AUD with LTC price +6.03% up today. The market cap of Litecoin is $13,876,355,385 AUD with 66,245,618 LTC circulating currently. The 24-hour price movement chart indicates that $10,774,415,054 worth of LTC was trading.
Reasons Why Litecoin Might Have Gone Up
The recent rise in Bitcoin over +200% since the halving in May and then the suggested start of the Altcoin season could have contributed to this Ethereum Price rally, It could also be due to the Litecoin’s halving – a pre-programmed reduction in the block reward LTC miners receive – caused the LTC price to skyrocket, reaching over +200% returns before it began to correct.
Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?
These 10 Altcoins have the highest liquidity on Binance Exchange so that would help for trading on USDT or BTC pairs. However, if you’re just looking at buying some quick and hodling then Swyftx Exchange is a popular choice in Australia.
For today’s trading news, we’re looking at are three altcoins that might breakout showing bullish trends in the charts.
1. Ripple (XRP)
Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange, and remittance network created by Ripple Labs Inc., a US-based technology company.
XRP Price Analysis
At the time of writing, XRP is ranked 3rd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $0.8109 AUD. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis.
If we see the above 1-hour candle chart, we are moving in a symmetrical triangle, just tested the lower support line of this triangle, and we can expect the movement to the upper resistance line. if we breakout from this triangle, XRP might start a new bullish trend.
“A symmetrical triangle is a chart pattern characterized by two converging trend lines connecting a series of sequential peaks and troughs. Trend lines that are converging at unequal slopes are referred to as a rising wedge, falling wedge, ascending triangle, or descending triangle.”
2. Cardano (ADA)
Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that says its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change.
ADA Price Analysis
At the time of writing, ADA is ranked 8th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $0.2093 AUD. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis.
If we see the above 1-hour candle chart, Cardano ADA is forming an ABCD pattern in a Triangle Formation by making higher-highs & higher-lows in the price levels. If ADA bounces back from the E point of a Triangle Formation, It can start its new bullish trend after breaking the next resistances.
“The ABCD pattern is an easy-to-identify chart pattern that consists of two equivalent price legs. It is a harmonic pattern that helps traders predict when the price of a stock is about to change direction. The pattern can be used to predict either a bullish or bearish reversal depending on the orientation.”
3. Tron (TRX)
TRON is a blockchain-based operating system that aims to ensure this technology is suitable for daily use. Whereas Bitcoin can handle up to six transactions per second, and Ethereum up to 25, TRON claims that its network has capacity for 2,000 TPS — 24/7.
TRX Price Analysis
At the time of writing, TRX is ranked 18th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $0.0408 AUD. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis.
November brought an impressive 70% rally in TRX’s price before it encountered resistance below September’s swing high, near $0.0539 AUD.
Last week’s sweep of old highs could lead to a retest of support near the November monthly open, where equal lows make an appealing short-term target for bears.
If we see the above 4-hour candle chart, TRX is squeezing inside the symmetrical triangle and is now charging up for the strong breakout, if TRX bounces back from the support like then it might pump with a breakout.
Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?
These 3 Altcoins have the highest liquidity on Binance Exchange so that would help for trading USDT or BTC pairs. However, if you’re just looking at buying some quick and hodling then Swyftx Exchange is a popular choice in Australia.
Cardano ADA is in active uptrend here like many other altcoins are. The Cryptocurrency Cardano ADA just went up +15% in a single day and surges over +47% in a week.
What is Cardano ADA?
ADA is a token on a distributed computing platform that runs smart contracts, decentralized applications, side chains, multi-party computation, and metadata.
Cardano Quick Stats
SYMBOL:
ADA
Global rank:
9
Market cap:
$6,521,127,429 AUD
Current price:
$0.205990 AUD
All time high price:
$1.81 AUD
1 day:
+14.4%
7 day:
+47.70%
1 year:
+325.74%
Cardano Price Analysis
At the time of writing, ADA is ranked 9th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $0.20 AUD. This is a +47% increase since 17 November 2020 (7 days ago) as shown in the chart below.
The target of this active trend is either this blue top trend line or the 0.5 fib level. Assuming if Cardano ADA breaks this double top, then it’s leaning towards a $0.173 price level, If Cardano ADA hits the 0.5 fib level, it might make a huge bullish structure, inverse H&S, and it most likely to retest that top blue trendline.
Fib is Fibonacci retracement levels & these are horizontal lines that indicate where support and resistance are likely to occur. They are based on Fibonacci numbers. Each level is associated with a percentage. The percentage is how much of a prior move the price has retraced.
Despite the optimistic bullish scenario, the cryptocurrency market’s unpredictability means the bearish outlook cannot be disregarded. The charts show that the sell-off below $0.12 will speed up the correction and bring more sellers to the market. In this case, $0.1 will come into focus. This psychological barrier is reinforced by a combination of 50,100 and 200-day EMA. a sustainable move below this area will invalidate the bullish scenario.
What do the technical indicators say?
The Cardano ADA TradingView indicators (on the 1 day) mainly indicate ADA as a buy, except the Oscillators which indicate ADA as a sell.
Cardano’s Network is on Fire
Cardano’s network growth gives additional credence to the bullish outlook. The number of new addresses doubled in the past few days and hit the highest level since the beginning of August. According to Intotheblock’s data, over 12,500 new addresses were created on Cardano’s blockchain on November 22 against 5,600 addresses on November 19. The growth coincides with the price increase and implies that the bullish momentum remains strong.
ADA has the highest liquidity on Binance Exchange so that would help for trading ADA/USDT or ADA/BTC pairs. However, if you’re just looking at buying some quick and hodling then Swyftx Exchange is a popular choice in Australia.
Shopify stores may soon allow users to pay using Cardano (ADA) tokens with a new app that removes the need for any third parties in order to pay with cryptocurrency.
Jeronimo Backes – an Australian developer who has invested a fair sum in ADA and is a fan of this cryptocurrency – is working on this app voluntarily.
Removing The Third Party
Although Shopify stores can already accept payments in cryptocurrency, intermediaries – who also take their cut – are needed in order to carry out the transaction.
Backes sees Cardano as the cryptocurrency most likely to make the transition to large-scale enterprises due to its scalability.
“Unlike others, this one is the one I think is being built to last. It’s not like Ethereum, EOS, Tron, and others who are still in a proof-of-concept phase in relation to large-scale business use-cases.”
The code – available on GitHub for anyone who wants to help – will remain open-source, in a bid to help online stores integrate the new app into their systems.
Any store owners that would like to integrate the app into their ecosystem will only need to select it from the range of payment applications made available to them by the Shopify interface, Backes stated.
Once integrated, users will be sending funds directly to the store’s private wallets – invisible to anyone except the customer and the online store.
As of 2020, Shopify provides an online store interface to over 1 million businesses operating in over 175 countries, with total gross merchandise volume exceeding US$41.1 billion during the calendar year 2018.
The new Cardano wallet will eventually support plugins, adding extra functionalities such as automatic tax calculations.
Having recently hit a snag in development that forced Backes to build a new wallet from scratch, the Cardano and Shopify integration will be delayed – but should be released before the beginning of 2021.
During the ongoing pandemic, businesses across Australia have seen a marked increase in cashless payments — nearly a third of businesses now receive over 95% of their payments via contactless methods, with the steepest drop in cash payments during this period happening in April.
Australian developers are now actively working to make it easier to pay businesses in cryptocurrency, the possibility to pay with alternative currencies may be on the horizon.
Colin Birney, Head of Business Development at Square Australia, released a statement showing that as the current pandemic began health and safety concerns became the main focus for business owners adapting to the changing market.
“This raised questions of how to properly conduct business and accept payments during social distancing and stay-at-home mandates,” stated Birney. “The result has been a significant shift by many Australian businesses away from cash, although we have seen variances across industries and in different parts of the country.”
30% of Australian businesses are prepared to enact a payment environment similar to the one found in Holland where cashless payments are strongly preferred, and sometimes the only option. Many businesses appear to be considering introducing cryptocurrency payment options in order to smooth the transition.
Crypto as Cash in Australia Not Far Away
Australian regulatory frameworks provide both Aussie businesses and consumers with the ability to sell or buy goods and services with cryptocurrency. The ATO provides detailed guidance for businesses interested in accepting cryptocurrency as a payment method, with nuanced tax laws allowing consumers to exchange crypto for products or services without a significant tax bill.
With over 300,000 active cryptocurrency users , Australian businesses have a vested interest in maintaining customer loyalty by allowing them to pay whichever way makes them comfortable. Cryptocurrency payment options would mirror European markets such as Germany and the Netherlands, where Sofort and iDEAL are alternative payment methods that can be used in most stores due to popular demand.
Due to projects such as Cardano e-Commerce paving the way for mass adoption of cryptocurrency payments on the Australian market, a future where cryptocurrencies are accepted as readily as credit cards may not be too far away.
An Australian blockchain developer is working on a new Shopify integration that will allow ADA holders to pay with Cardano’s native token across almost half a million online stores around the world.
Created by Australian blockchain developer Jeronimo Backes, the new “Cardano e-commerce integration project” will allow online shoppers to use ADA tokens to pay for a broad spectrum of goods and services via ecommerce payment platform Shopify.
Cardano is a blockchain project driven by an academic development protocol, focused on peer review and collaboration.
ADA holds a strong position in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, but currently lacks extensive adoption as a means of purchasing goods and services — outside of a number of gaming skin markets and VR imaging platforms, Cardano’s ADA token is largely used as a means of international remittance.
Cardano Stake Pool Backs Ecommerce ADA Integration Project
Backes’ new Shopify integration project would bring ADA payments to millions of online shoppers around the world — launched in 2004. Shopify has processed over 40 billion worth of sales internationally, and holds roughly 20 percent of the global ecommerce market share.
The Australia-based developer’s efforts to create a functional ecommerce application for ADA is sponsored by the SHOP Cardano stake pool, who are funding the project with the goal of the goal of building Cardano integrations with ecommerce.
SHOP’s missions statement highlights the open-source nature of the Cardano e-commerce integration project, noting that the rollout of smart contracts on Cardano will allow for the creation of more complex ecommerce payment models such as subscriptions:
“Once smart contracts become available, we’ll introduce support for subscriptions and recurring payments in ADA and native tokens that run on the Cardano blockchain.”
NEW BLOG: Robust & effective community governance lies at the heart of our decentralized vision for #Cardano. And the future of collaboration, decision-making & tackling shared challenges. Project Catalyst will test the theory for real this summer @cardanohttps://t.co/x9qrHMk4bL
The user-focused nature of the new Cardano project reflects greater changes in the Cardano ecosystem, with Cardano taking the first step towards the Voltaire phase of development through “Project Catalyst,” which will see the Cardano development ecosystem transformed into an entirely community-led effort.
