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Crypto News Markets

10 Altcoins with Recent All-time High in Price

Many cryptocurrencies are starting the new year with great price movement. The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), more than doubled its previous years-long all-time high (ATH) in January, reaching over US$40,000. Although BTC is down from that price range, many other cryptocurrencies are peaking at price. Some already made a high ATH recently. This is causing many traders to believe the long-awaited altcoin season is almost here.

Major Altcoin with Recent ATH

The top ten altcoins with new price ATH includes:

  • Binance Coin (BNB)
  • Uniswap (UNI)
  • Kusama (KSM)
  • Oasis Network (ROSE)
  • Aave (AAVE)
  • Chainlink (LINK)
  • Avalanche (AVAX)
  • Polkadot (DOT)
  • Near Protocol (NEAR)
  • Synthetix (SNX)
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BNB, the native cryptocurrency of the leading exchange, Binance, made a new all-time high in value at US$46.8 on January 18. However, the price of BNB slightly dropped to US$44.33 on Coingecko during the time of writing. UNI, the governance token of the largest decentralized exchange, Uniswap, also reached a new peak of US$7.8 on January 18 but has dropped to the current price of US$9.04.

Kusama is designed to be Polkadot’s canary network. Its cryptocurrency KSM climbed to a new high of US$120, but the current price sits at US$112 on Coingecko. The native cryptocurrency of Oasis Network, ROSE, also increased to an ATH of US$0.074300 but dropped to US$0.068124.

AAVE, LINK, and DOT reached a new high of US$202, US$25.53, and US$19.10, respectively. AVAX, NEAR, and SNX also increased to US$14.37, US$2.76, and US$17.06. However, all these cryptocurrencies are trading below the ATH during press time. 

Noteworthily, Bitcoin has been losing its dominance lately from about 70 percent to 66 percent, which somewhat suggests that altcoin season is almost here.

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Bitcoin Bitcoin Mining Crypto News Crypto Trackers Cryptocurrencies Ethereum Investing Markets Stablecoins Tether Worldwide

Crypto Market Cap Hits One Trillion US Dollars

The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization has reached one trillion US dollars for the first time in history, according to data from the leading crypto statistics site Coinmarketcap.com.

Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have seen exponential gains over the past few months, both rising by over 300% since November. Some smaller cap crypto assets and digital tokens like Chainlink (LINK), Cardano (ADA), and Polkadot (DOT) have enjoyed similar price rallies.

Bitcoin’s market valuation recently catapulted to $650 billion, overtaking major US investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, with a $533 billion market cap. Berkshire Hathaway was acquired and reformed in the 70s by iconic investor Warren Buffet, who remains its chairman and CEO to this day. Buffett has historically been very vocal about his dislike of cryptocurrencies, once famously calling Bitcoin “rat poison squared”. 

Despite Bitcoin being the best performing asset of the past decade by a large degree, Buffett continues to discount its worth, insisting that it has no value and is purely speculative. However, several major tech firms and financial institutions disagree, such as 170-year-old Mass Mutual which recently bought up $100 million worth of Bitcoin. A small amount compared to the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, Grayscale, with over $20 billion invested in crypto assets.

Image from Howmuch.net
Image from Howmuch.net

Criticism

Naturally, the extreme gains mean the cryptocurrency market has once again come under fire from critics who believe that asset prices are being manipulated. As with the previous 2017 rally, many critics believe that USDT tokens printed by stablecoin company Tether are being used to artificially prop up the cryptocurrency market – much like the US Federal Reserve props up traditional stock markets with seemingly endless USD issuance.

The concerns are not without merit, especially considering Tether’s continued reluctance to prove that it’s USDT tokens are fully backed by genuine dollar reserves. Tether has been minting millions of dollars in USDT tokens lately, presumably to meet the demand of consumers cashing out their Bitcoin profits or buying USDT as a digital onramp to the crypto world. Without clear and transparent auditing of this issuance, it’s fair to say the situation has the potential for abuse and manipulation.

One argument that challenges this theory is PlanB’s Bitcoin stock-to-flow model, which has accurately tracked the price movements of the BTC/USD trading pair over several years. The model reveals how the price of Bitcoin closely follows a set pattern dictated not by buyers or sellers but rather scarcity created by the algorithm which halves the BTC mining reward every 210,000 blocks. Price movements from the very first Bitcoin halving in late 2012 – long before Tether started printing in 2015 – correlate with Plan B’s stock-to-flow model. This suggests that the current price rally and the one following the previous 2016 halving are simply a result of Bitcoin’s coding rather than any external manipulation.

Image from PlanB (@100trillionUSD) on Twitter
Image from PlanB (@100trillionUSD) on Twitter
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Australia Coinjar Markets

Demand for Australian Crypto Partners On The Rise As New Alliances Are Formed

Chainalysis, a company that provides data and information regarding blockchain users to governments and a number of successful companies worldwide has just signed contracts with three booming Australian fintech companies — namely Assembly Payments, CoinSpot, and CoinJar.

While CoinJar and CoinSpot will become official exchange partners of  Chainalysis, Assembly Payments and Chainalysis will use their new business relationship to create a cryptocurrency-focused database based on trust, professionalism, and entrepreneurship.

Assembly Payments already provide information on cryptocurrency investors across multiple continents that may be subject to a variety of different laws and investment practices, Chainalysis will fill in the unknown factor of the equation by providing valuable insights regarding the risk assessment of clients, the benefits of offshore expansion and much more.

This partnership will also allow cryptocurrency investors to gain valuable insights into the legal implications of crypto-based business networks worldwide and how to comply with the law of the land in each country that they wish to expand their activity.

A Correct Assessment of a Burgeoning Market

With over 300,000 active cryptocurrency traders in Australia, these partnerships come at just the right time to assist those whose interest in the cryptocurrency market is still matched by the apprehension that always precedes a valuable investment.

As Bitcoins’ price more than doubled during the past year, Aussie fintech companies have correctly assessed that a possible hurdle stopping formerly uninterested investors from expanding the market was the alleged lack of legislation regarding big-league cryptocurrency companies.

This added layer of security between investors and brilliant business ideas may soon open a world of possibilities on the already highly developed Aussie crypto market.Between Coinjar, the longest-running exchange platform, CoinSpot, an Aussie cryptocurrency trading platform with one of the highest volumes around the globe, and Assembly, Australia is positioned to secure a strong position as a market leader. 

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Australia Blockchain Markets

Australian Companies Invest Heavily in Blockchain During COVID Pandemic

New Australian corporate investment data reveals that Australian companies are investing heavily in emerging technologies such as blockchain in order to re-evaluate strategic priorities in a post-COVID economy.

A new research report published in collaboration between KPMG International and HFS Research surveyed 900 tech executives and C-level personnel from major Australian companies, revealing that Australia’s largest corporate entities are tightly focused on integrating blockchain technology and other emerging tech solutions as they reconsider the economic impact of the COVID pandemic.

Data published within the report indicates that 59 percent of Australian tech executives are actively accelerating digital transformation initiatives that integrate blockchain technology and other future-proof solutions as a direct result of the ongoing economic fallout.

Aussie Businesses Pin Hopes on Blockchain for Economic Recovery

COVID has had a significant impact on Australian businesses both large and small. While Australia’s economic recovery from the initial outbreak is underway, the aftermath of severe business restrictions and lockdowns include rapidly rising unemployment, massive government debt, and the permanent closure of thousands of domestic businesses.

Blockchain technology is seen by many Australian businesses as a potential means to accelerate economic recovery. The unique use cases of blockchain — such as the ability to store verifiably accurate data — have been recognized by major organizations such as the new APAC Provenance Council pin their hopes on blockchain-led revival in exports, for example. 

In statements released to Australian IT news media, KPMG Digital Delta Partner Jon Stone highlighted the importance of cost reduction as an important motivator of new technology adoption in the Australian economy:

“Australian respondents are driven to emerging technology because it is seen as essential to business survival — they are driven by a desire to improve decision making and customer experience. Cost reduction was a secondary driver for investment for the Australian respondents”

Australian businesses aren’t the only investors pinning their hopes on a blockchain-boosted economy — recent data published by RMIT reveals Aussie crypto trading peaked during the tightest Australian lockdown periods.

While the COVID pandemic has not affected all Australian equally, many companies are choosing to manage the financial fallout by transitioning into new digital business models that leverage the fast-moving nature of the new blockchain and cryptocurrency-powered digital economy.