Category: Crypto News

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Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

MicroStrategy is HODLing 91,579 BTC Announcing 10% Revenue Growth for 2021

https://twitter.com/MicroStrategy/status/1394734551432323076

Michael Saylor’s big Bitcoin moves have delivered profitable returns for MicroStrategy investors as the company announced a 10% growth in revenue for Q1 2021.

Q1 2021 MicroStrategy Business Highlights

The MicroStrategy First Quarter webinar shows the company acquired 20,857 BTC for and average buying price of $52,087, using proceeds from convertible notes and excess cash.

Michael Saylor is Corporate America’s Poster Boy for Bitcoin

He is the man who became the first CEO of a publicly listed company to purchase Bitcoin for MicroStrategy shareholders, in August 2020. Following Saylor’s lead, other major institutions have jumped on the bandwagon of acquiring Bitcoin, including: Greyscale, Goldman Sachs, Tesla, PayPal, and Visa.

Alotta Money NFT

Michael explains:

Conventional treasury strategies are broken… What are you gonna do? Look at the last 12 months: ROI; Bitcoin is up 461%. S&P is up 25%. If you invested all of your treasury assest in the S&P, you’d’ve kept up with the price of Capital… Gold: up 9%. It’s a disaster; it’s not keeping up with the cost of Capital.

Michael Saylor

As the value of the dollar is becoming more and more inflated, and BTC and other cryptocurrencies out perform traditional stocks, big money is now looking to Bitcoin as a better store of value.

So Why Bitcoin? … I have to manage shareholder value and if you want to maintain or grow shareholder value, you’re gonna have to grow your assets at a rate faster than the cost of Capital.

Michael Saylor

Michael is an enthusiastic evangelist and a pioneer for the movement of mass adoption into investing in Bitcoin. He tweets regularly on the topic and shares his knowledge and opinions freely in interviews, on why he believes Bitcoin to be a superior asset.

Bitcoin as a Store of Value

We’ve heard enthusiasts say over and over that “Bitcoin is a store of value“. It’s “better than gold”. It’s “The Best performing asset”, like, ever. The proof is in the pudding. Actually it’s in Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy End of Financial Quarter Results report.

Caitlin Carey – Crypto News Guest Author

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Cardano Crypto News Institutions

Cardano Bringing Sustainable Internet Connectivity to users in Zanzibar and Tanzania

Input Output, a technology and engineering company, has partnered with World Mobile Group in a new initiative to bring the internet to users in Zanzibar and Tanzania. The partnership will enable business owners in Africa to supply themselves and others with a connection to the internet and be rewarded for it.

According to a press release, via Cardano Smart Villages in Zanzibar and greater Tanzania will enable users to create “a verifiable digital ID, providing access to vital services such as banking, healthcare, education, and human rights protection.”

The networks that have been established as use cases, which have been up and running for almost 2 years have allowed local fishermen to grow their businesses, quintuple their profits, and triple the number of local shops and restaurants.

World Mobile is delivering a wireless network at a fraction of the cost by using a solar-powered device the runs on a hybrid unlicensed spectrum.

Together, the companies will provide affordable network nodes, based on the Cardano blockchain infrastructure, to local business owners. These network nodes act as local relays for internet connectivity. Subscribers to these networks will be able to access Input Output’s digital identity solution, Atala PRISM,

Input Output

No Infrastructure, No Problem

There are more than 700 million people in Africa that are not connected to the internet. It’s not profitable for network infrastructure companies to extend their reach to these people. For these individuals not having access to the internet bars them from basic services like education, banking, or healthcare.

Who would have guessed that having little to no infrastructure would turn out to benefit Africa in the long run? According to Charles Hoskinson, CEO of Input Output:

That lack of deeply embedded legacy infrastructure makes the transition to blockchain-based infrastructure a relatively low friction process, with the potential for developing countries to ‘leapfrog’ advanced industrialised economies by adopting next-generation infrastructure.

Charles Hoskinson

The application of these technologies in Africa may have the potential to uplift many lives. And since there has been so little investment into infrastructure, there will be little that needs to be replaced and transferred to new infrastructures allowing these companies to build from the ground up.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

MicroStrategy Plans to Buy More BTC After 52% Surge in Revenue

MicroStrategy has made official its Q1 revenues, showing outstanding profits due to its Bitcoin holding strategy and booming sales of related products.

According to the official company release, MicroStrategy has raised over US$1 billion in additional capital to expand its Bitcoin holdings, to a total of 91,000 BTC —approximately A$6,692,205,190.

MicroStrategy Announces First Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Its total revenues for Q1 were US$122 million, a 10.3 increase compared to the Q1 of last year. Its sales of product licenses and subscription services also boomed, making US$31.3 million, a 52.3% increase compared to 2020.

“MicroStrategy’s first quarter results were a clear example that our two-pronged corporate strategy to grow our enterprise analytics software business and acquire and hold bitcoin is generating substantial shareholder value.”

Quarter 1 Report

MicroStrategy to Buy More BTC this Year

MicroStrategy has been one of the top-tier Bitcoin buyers since mid-2020, allocating substantial amounts of BTC to its balance sheet. It seems the company has not lost its appetite since then, as they reportedly plan to buy and hold more BTC this year.

“We will continue to acquire and hold additional bitcoin as we seek to create additional value for shareholders.”

Its shares (MSTR) surged to one-month highs in mid-April, touching an intra-day high of US$770. Its shares were recently added as a fully tradable tokenised stock (MSTR) on Binance as well, together with gain tech Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT).

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Bitcoin Blockchain Crypto News

Administrator of $366 Million USD Dark-net Bitcoin Laundering Service Caught Using Blockchain

Swedish-Russian citizen, Roman Sterlinghove, has been arrested by U.S. authorities after 10 years of operating a darknet bitcoin website. The administrator of the Bitcoin Fog anonymising service was arrested in Los Angeles on 27 April.

Bitcoin Fog was one of the original “mixing” services, launched in 2011, specifically designed to hide the identity of the participants in a transaction. Services like these are usually used to make transactions on the dark-net so that people could trade in goods and services anonymously with cryptocurrency.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) analysed over 10 years worth of blockchain data:

Analysis of bitcoin transactions, financial records, Internet service provider records, email records and additional investigative information, identifies Roman Sterlingov as the principal operator of Bitcoin Fog,

Devon Beckett, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) special agent

According to Beckett’s statement, more than 1.2 million Bitcoin (BTC) worth $336 million (at the time of the transactions) were sent through Bitcoin Fog. Sterlingov received between 2% and 2.5% for each transaction adding up to about $8 million USD back then.

Blockchain Helped Catch The Bad Guys

Authorities estimate at least 23% of the Bitcoin that flowed through the mixing service was transferred to darknet-based narcotics marketplaces such as Silk Road and AlphaBay. In 2019, undercover IRS agents engaged Sterlingov through the platform, claiming they wished to launder the profits from ecstasy sales.

With blockchain analytics, the thing we say over and over is that all this activity is on this ledger forever, and if you did something bad 10 years ago you can be caught and arrested for it today.

Sarah Meiklejohn, Computer scientist

Law enforcement agents were able to find where Sterlinghov was paying for his hosting fees, which was through using Bitcoin to buy Liberty Reserve. From there the IRS was able to find personal information like home address, phone number, and a Google Drive account that held instructions on how the Liberty Reserve coins.

Liberty Reserve Website

Previously in 2016, the founder of Liberty Reserve pleaded guilty to laundering $250 million USD through his digital currency business.

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Bitcoin Bitcoin Mining Crypto News

Bullish: Bitcoin Long Term Holders And Miners Are Still Accumulating BTC

Recent market data shared by Glassnode, a cryptocurrency on-chain analytics platform, suggests the Bitcoin (BTC) has reached its top for the cycle yet, given that the rate of BTC accumulating is still increasing especially amongst Long Term Holders (LTHs) and miners.

Bitcoin’s Top is Not in Yet

Over the past few days, some people had panic-sold their Bitcoin following the recent drop of Bitcoin’s price below the $50,000 USD. Since the correction, the cryptocurrency is yet to reclaim the $60,000 USD level, which spurred some sentiment that Bitcoin’s top is in. However, Bitcoin’s LTH accumulating rate and miners’ net position change suggest otherwise.

In a tweet on Thursday, the analytics platform noted that Bitcoin accumulated back in 2020 is still increasing and that the BTC supply held by the long-term holders is up by over 67 percent. The Bitcoin positions of LTHs need to decline significantly in order to put the top in for the leading cryptocurrency, according to Glassnode.

Miner Are Not Selling Either

A separate data from Glassnode also confirmed that Bitcoin miners have been accumulating Bitcoin. Despite the recent dip, the accumulation rate for miners increased even further, as seen in the net position change below.

Bitcoin miners’ net position change. Source: Glassnode

Miners were known as sellers, as they needed to sell their Bitcoin mining rewards to cover expenses incurred during operation. However, they have been HODLing their rewards for the past month. This trend somewhat indicates that miners are still bullish on the cryptocurrency over the long term.

Another cryptocurrency analytics platform, Santiment, confirmed this growing rate of accumulation among BTC whale investors, precisely BTC addresses HODLing at least 10,000 BTC. About 90,000 BTC has been added to these addresses since April 5.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

Japanese Gaming Company Nexon Buys $100 Million Bitcoin

Japanese Gaming Company Nexon Buys $100 Million Bitcoin

Popular Japanese video game publisher, Nexon, announced on Wednesday it purchased about $100 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) as part of its treasury reserve. This is quite bullish for the Asian crypto market, as major companies in the continents are likely to follow suit.

Nexon Allocates Less Than 2% in Bitcoin

As Reuters reported, the gaming company purchased the Bitcoin at the average price of $58,000 USD per coin. Nexon’s Bitcoin reserve represents less than two percent of its cash reserve.

Following the words of Nexon CEO, Owen Mahoney, the company’s decision to buy Bitcoin comes amid their desire for a better hedging asset, not as investment speculation. This is the same reason that drove major companies like MicroStrategy to Bitcoin.

Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash asset. […] We believe bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investments.

Mahoney commented.

Nexon is a publicly traded company and a pioneer in the world of interactive entertainment software development. Its decision to allocate part of its cash reserve in Bitcoin is a milestone for the Asian crypto market, as many industry players believe it will cause some other companies in the Japanese and Asian countries to consider buying Bitcoin, as seen with Tesla.

Recent Corporate Bitcoin Investors

The Japanese gaming company now counts as the latest company to allocate part of its cash reserve to the leading cryptocurrency. Many companies have invested in Bitcoin this year in an effort to hedge against inflation. Some of these companies include Meitu, MicroStrategy, Purpose Bitcoin ETF AUM, Aker ASA, Square, Tesla, and so on.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News

Aussies Can Now Buy Cars with Bitcoin

CarBuyers.com.au has announced a new payment system that allows Aussies to sell their vehicles for Bitcoin all across the country, becoming one of the latest Australian businesses to adopt cryptocurrencies.

Buying Cars with BTC Across Australia

Paying with BTC will be identical to the company’s fiat offering. The process seems quite straightforward:

  1. The seller has to fill a contact form to set up a vehicle inspection
  2. Receive an offer
  3. Indicate they wish to accept payment for their quote in BTC via an electronic contract.
  4. Provide the required information and sign the contract.

Funds will be deposited into the customer’s digital wallet the same day — as long as the seller signs the contract and provides all the required information before the deadline.

The Bitcoin price will be determined and converted at exactly 2pm on the day of payment. We are not providing protection mechanisms against volatility. This is the nature of Bitcoin and the seller has the option to accept our traditional cash option to protect against this risk.

CarBuyers [supplied to Crypto News Australia]
Screenshot from CarBuyers homepage

Another Aussie Business Accepting Crypto

CarBuyers is one of the latest business in Australia that is now receiving BTC payments as cryptocurrencies soared in popularity in the country, not only as an attractive market for investors but also for companies from different industries.

Other than buying and selling crypto on a verified exchange, there are only a handful of legitimate businesses who are offering payment in this currency directly to consumers.

Daniel Werzberger, transformational director at CarBuyers [Yahoo Finance]

CarBuyers will be operating in every state of Australia, also exploring the possibility of paying commissions and bonuses to its employees in Bitcoin. For now, the company will only support BTC payments as an alternative to Australian dollars.

Paying With Crypto to Avoid Scams

Paying with cryptocurrencies can be an alternative method in Australia to acquired goods and services. Australians have reportedly lost over $175 million AUD to all kinds of scams during 2020.

A few days ago, two Australians lost over A$130,000 while trying to buy the Tesla 3 model, falling for fake invoice scams. These scams have become very popular in the country, as scammers simply leave the original design of the invoice while changing the bank details of the supplier.

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Coinbase Crypto News Stablecoins Tether

Coinbase Pro Delays Launch of USDT Trading Amid API Issues

Smartphone with Coinbase app logo and black keyboard on wooden background
Smartphone with Coinbase app logo and black keyboard on wooden background

US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently announced it will debut Tether (USDT) trading on its trading platform, Coinbase Pro, this week. However, the launching of the stablecoin has been postponed till May 3, according to the exchange’s notice on Tuesday.

Coinbase Cites API Issues

In a tweet, the crypto exchange cited API issues, precisely saying that they are working to “make sure that we have fully remediated any issues on our core APIs and exchange”.  Besides the API issues, Coinbase is also preparing to bolster its trading platform to make it more robust for users while trading.

USDT trading was previously slated to open on April 26. Following the update, however, Coinbase Pro users are expected to start trading USDT next week.

Coinbase will support the ERC-20 version of USDT, which is based on Ethereum. It began accepting inbound transfers for the stablecoin immediately after the announcement last week.

Coinbase Could See Increases in Trading Volume

The addition of USDT on Coinbase Pro will expand its available coin trading pairs. Precisely, the exchange will support the following trading pairs: BTC-USDT, ETH-USDT, USDT-EUR, USDT-GBP, USDT-USD, and USDT-USDC.

At the time of writing, USDT is the largest and most-traded USD-backed stablecoin in the crypto market. Therefore it seems reasonable for Coinbase to plan scaling its trading platform ahead of the launching of USDT trading, as that could result in more more trading volume.

On Monday, the market capitalization of USDT in circulation crossed $50 billion USD. TRON is currently the largest blockchain network with the highest number of USDT.

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Binance Crypto News Investing Markets

Binance Adds Apple (AAPL) as Fourth Stock Token

Binance Adds Apple (AAPL) as Fourth Stock Token

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance listed the tokenized version of Apple stock (AAPL) on its new “stock token” market. At the moment, the crypto exchange supports four stock tokens for trading on its platform.

Binance is Bringing the Stock Market Closer to Crypto

Binance confirmed the listing of the Apple stock in a tweet on Wednesday, which means crypto users interested in buying AAPL can now access it in the form of a token. These stock tokens are pegged in the ratio of 1:1 to the underlying stock. Holders of these tokens will qualify for economic returns on the underlying shares, as well as potential dividends.

At the time of writing, the AAPL token was trading at the price of $133.51 USD, which represents about a 0.60 percent decrease over the last 24 hours.

Binance Stock Tokens are tokens of stocks (i.e., shares of public companies) that trade on traditional stock exchanges. Each Stock Token represents one ordinary share of the relevant stock. These Stock Tokens are fully backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities held by CM-Equity AG, Germany (“CM-E”).

Binance

Binance Now Supports Four Stock Tokens

So far, the crypto exchange supports four stock tokens, which include Apple (AAPL), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), and Tesla (TSLA). Binance is open to tokenizing more stocks on its new market. On Friday, the exchange will list Microsoft stock (MSFT) tokens for trading, according to an announcement earlier this week.

All these coins are available for trading with Binance’s USD-backed stablecoin, BUSD.

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Crypto News Market Analysis Trading

Breakout analysis Polygon MATIC Just Surged 40% in a day, Here is Why?

Polygon (MATIC) is trading in an uptrend, like many other altcoins. The cryptocurrency MATIC just went up +40% in a single day by breaking a rising wedge pattern with strong buying volume and surges over +132.23% in a week.

What is MATIC?

Polygon (previously Matic Network) is one of the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building multiple types of applications.

Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system (aka Internet of Blockchains). This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche, etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem, and openness.

MATIC Price Analysis

At the time of writing, MATIC is ranked 35th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $1.11 AUD. This is a +132.23% increase since 22nd April 2021 (7 days ago) as shown in the chart below.

Source: TradingView

After looking at the above 1-day candle chart, we can clearly see that Matic was trading inside the rising wedge pattern on the MATIC/USDT pair. The first resistance was on the $0.56 AUD price levels which MATIC broke with a strong bullish trend buying volume and is now heading towards the all-time high price in AUD. Seeing that many altcoins are holding strong this week, MATIC might continue to increase in the uptrend if the traders keep buying with high volume.

A rising wedge is a technical indicator, suggesting a reversal pattern frequently seen in bear markets. This pattern shows up in charts when the price moves upward with pivot highs and lows converging toward a single point known as the apex.

Larry Swing from Investopedia
Source: TradingView

A week ago, the MATIC/USDT price challenged the strength of $0.61 AUD level, where buyers showed that they were still in the game and abruptly bought back the price, having already made 2x.
That seems to suggest a chance that in the near future the price of MATIC/USD might reach the level of $1.30 AUD, and possibly even a round mark of $1.50 AUD.

What do the Technical indicators say?

The Matic TradingView indicators (on the 1 day) mainly indicate MATIC as a strong buy, except the Oscillators which indicate MATIC as a neutral.

So Why did Matic Breakout?

General market sentiment seems to suggest cryptos are in the middle of the bull run season, which could have contributed to the recent breakout. Another reason for this sudden pump in price could be whales secretly buying MATIC for the next Altcoins rally. It could also have contributed to some of the recent news to earn staking rewards while participating in DeFi with StakeHound.

Record activity on Ethereum has led to network congestion and high transaction costs this year. The dynamic in turn has driven an increase in demand for alternative “smart-contact” blockchain networks, such as Binance Smart Chain (BSC), along with scaling projects like Polygon that provide faster and cheaper transactions using layer 2 sidechains. These are tangential networks running alongside the main Ethereum blockchain.

In recent weeks, Polygon has won increasing adoption, with top names from the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) announcing integration with the layer 2 scaling solution in a bid to bypass congestion and high fees on Ethereum’s network.

Where to Buy or Trade Matic?

MATIC has the highest liquidity on the Binance exchange so that would help for trading MATIC/BTC or MATIC/USDT pairs. However, if you’re just looking at buying some quick and HODLing then Swyftx exchange is a popular choice in Australia.