Category: Markets

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Blockchain Markets NFTs Tezos

Rarible Integrates with Tezos to Launch Own NFT Collection

Expansive non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Rarible has announced its intention to integrate the Tezos proof-of-stake blockchain to help with reducing the gas costs of minting, buying and selling NFTs, along with supporting secondary sales of other live Tezos projects.

The Cross-Chain Future of NFTs

On December 15, Tezos became the third blockchain to be supported by the Rarible multichain marketplace, joining the ranks of Flow and Ethereum. The marketplace is still in the process of onboarding many more chains in order to expand the collections their users can access. According to Rarible CEO and co-founder Alexei Falin, integrations with Solana and Polygon are up next.

Rarible firmly believes that the future of NFTs is cross-chain, and that interoperability is the key to a streamlined, successful NFT ecosystem. We have seen many alternative blockchains gain traction in the NFT space for their unique offerings, specifically Tezos for its low costs and energy-efficient minting process through proof-of-stake validation.

Rarible CEO Alexei Falin

Partnership About More Than Just Reduced Gas Fees

The partnership brings more than reduced gas fees to the table. To celebrate the partnership, Rarible will host an exclusive Tezos community drop titled ‘Blazing Futures’. Curated by Diane Drubay, it will offer 10 interpretations of the future of art, society and crypto.

Also coming to Rarible thanks to the Tezos blockchain is its latest offering Digits, in partnership with French gaming studio Ubisoft. The latter has just launched Ubisoft Quartz, a platform for players to acquire Digits, the first NFTs playable in AAA games, starting with Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.

Digits are released as part of limited editions, each representing a host of in-game items. However, the gaming community isn’t as excited about Digits as the NFT community might be. Rarible will immediately support secondary sales for Digits, meaning that players that missed the drop can still acquire those playable NFTs.

Phase Two of the Integration

Phase one, which is already live, enables you to mint, buy and sell NFTs as part of the Rarible collection and trade the Ubisoft Digits NFTs.

Phase two, to be released shortly, will introduce additional features, namely the ability to mint your own collection via custom contracts and add royalties to imported collections such as Tezzards, Gemz and other exciting projects that have emerged on Tezos over the past couple of months.

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Bitcoin Markets

Bitcoin Rises Amid US’s Highest CPI Inflation in 39 Years

For much of 2021, the Federal Reserve claimed that inflation was “transitory”, linked to pandemic-related supply chain bottlenecks. But since it finally admitted that inflation is here to stay, things have gone from bad to worse, as the latest consumer price index (CPI) shows inflation running red hot, its highest level in 39 years. Bitcoin shot up on the news.

Bitcoin price action. Source: Trading View

Energy Costs Soar

On Friday, December 10, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics published CPI data for the 12 months ending November, measuring 6.8 percent, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending June 1982.

November CPI print showing 6.8%. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Energy proved to be one of the main contributors to the dramatic increase with costs rising by close to 60 percent. That, coupled with soaring house prices and increased food costs (6.1 percent), has left many US consumers under increased financial pressure, a phenomenon unlikely to change in the near-term. Given that the recent increase is 0.6 percent higher than October’s CPI numbers, some commentators have warned that December is likely to be even worse.

Bitcoin, the Inflation Hedge

Despite rising above US$50,000 upon news of the latest CPI data, Bitcoin has since pulled back, and at the time of publication is trading at US$46,997.

As Michael Saylor continues his mission to “orange pill” the corporate establishment, one of his most recent successes appears to be Tucker Carlson of Fox News. Reacting to the latest inflation news, Saylor posted a clip of Carlson which encapsulates Bitcoin’s “why”.

When people say that Bitcoin is an inflation hedge, critics are often quick to point to short-term volatility as evidence to the contrary. The reality is that in the short term, Bitcoin often acts as a “risk-on” asset, like equities. However, over the long run, it is “risk-off” (like gold) and best considered as default insurance on a basket of fiat currencies. Argentinians certainly hold this view, given that recent inflation has exceeded 50 percent.

As President Joe Biden raised the US’s debt ceiling once again on December 11, the sentiment among many Bitcoiners was inevitable, summed up in Kenny Florian’s take:

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Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum Markets

Crypto Markets See Red Following $2.5 Billion in Liquidations Over the Weekend

Over the weekend of December 4-5, a confluence of factors led to a dramatic crash in crypto markets. Against an uncertain macro backdrop of potential tighter monetary policy, surging inflation and fears over the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, derivative markets added fuel to the fire resulting in some US$2.5 billion in liquidated positions in 24 hours.

Longs liquidated. Source: Cryptorank

Double-Digit Drawdowns Across the Board

As the NASDAQ dropped 2 percent on December 3 against a broader risk-off sentiment, crypto markets tanked, resulting in all of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap, save for stablecoins, posting double-digit losses within 24 hours. BTC dropped 18 percent within 24 hours, while ETH faired slightly better, dropping 17 percent in the same period.

According to CoinGecko, the market cap of the entire crypto market dropped by 15 percent to US$2.34 trillion, down from a high of over US$3 trillion when bitcoin soared above $US$69,000.

Commentators have suggested that large institutional selling triggered a broader market shift, with reports indicating that one institution alone sold over US$500 million in bitcoin. This, the report continues, triggered “aggressive liquidations” in the crypto derivatives market:

The other factor driving the sharp declines across the board was that, comparatively speaking, the market was “thin” as it occurred outside of typical trading hours.

Leveraged Liquidations, Nothing New

By definition, leveraged trading amplifies both gains and losses. When the market is bullish, traders tend to go long and pile on the leverage. This works well until the market moves against you. When that happens, traders need to post more collateral to maintain the margin requirement, or face forced liquidation. At scale, a failure by traders to meet their maintenance margin creates a cascading liquidity flush, creating rapid double-digit declines as seen in April this year.

Following April’s meltdown, many exchanges reduced leverage available to traders from 100x to 20x. Notwithstanding, bloodbaths such as those experienced over the December 4-5 weekend remain largely driven by leverage.

Will Clemente, a leading on-chain analyst who is known in the community for “calling it like it is”, pointed out the benefit of flushing liquidity and maintained his overall bullish view toward Bitcoin.

Justin d’Anethan, Hong Kong-based head of exchange sales at cryptocurrency exchange EQONEX, believes many investors will view this recent decline as an opportunity:

If anything, this is the opportunity to buy the dip for many investors who might have previously felt like they missed the boat.

Justin d’Anethan, head of exchange sales, EQONEX

Following the meltdown, crypto markets have recovered to a limited extent. At the time of publication, both ETH and BTC are up from the weekend’s low. ETH is up 11 percent, trading at US$4,122, while BTC is up only 5 percent, trading at US$48,656.

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Banking Bitcoin Crypto News Markets

Bitcoin Slides After Hitting All-Time High in Turkey Amid Currency Crisis

Turkey is in the grip of a crippling currency crisis as the Turkish lira continues its freefall. The sell-off was sparked after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demanded the Central Bank of Turkey cut rates for a third consecutive month from 19 percent to 15 percent.

Shortly after, Bitcoin printed a fresh all-time high against the weakened lira, suggesting that perhaps, Bitcoin fixes this.

The Turkish lira has lost a third of its value in November. Source: Bloomberg

What is Happening in Turkey?

The Turkish lira has been steadily weakening against the US dollar for the past decade, but this week saw the currency collapse over 15 percent in a single day, a historic event for any G20 country.

In a historic event for a G20 country, the Turkish lira is in free fall and making the case for a bitcoin hedge.
Turkish lira/USD exchange rate. Source: TradingView

To make economic matters worse, Turkey’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been accelerating over the past two years and is now just under 20 percent.

In a historic event for a G20 country, the Turkish lira is in free fall and making the case for a bitcoin hedge.
Turkey’s CPI. Source: FRED

With growing inflation, reducing real rates and limited USD foreign exchange reserves, the picture is looking bleak for ordinary Turkish citizens. To make matters worse, US$13 billion in debt is set to expire this month and next.

In a historic event for a G20 country, the Turkish lira is in free fall and making the case for a bitcoin hedge.
Source: Bloomberg

Typically, during periods of high inflation, central banks will look to raise interest rates. However, Erdogan, who has fired three central bank chiefs in two years, has pushed for lower interest rates to increase economic growth and exports as well as decrease unemployment.

Yet it is the Turkish citizen who faces a severe decline of purchasing power at an unprecedented rate during a period of soaring prices and political instability.

A former Turkish central bank deputy governor, Semih Tumen, has criticised the policy for annihilating the purchasing power of ordinary Turks, describing the move as an “irrational experiment, which has no chance of success”.

Bitcoin Responds

Following the currency sell-off, Bitcoin did its thing, soaring against the Turkish lira to reach an all-time high of ₺735,432/BTC.

Turkish lira/BTC. Source: TradingView

On November 26, as news of a new Covid-19 variant spooked markets, Bitcoin retreated by 7 percent, however in Turkey it remains up 70 percent over three months and 220 percent year-to-date.

Bitcoin has been viewed as an inflation hedge and this crisis in Turkey is no doubt an opportunity for it to shine. Earlier this year, Bitcoin rose as the Argentine peso collapsed, with the current CPI in the South American nation sitting at over 50 percent. And it’s not just developing nations experiencing inflationary periods – just two weeks ago, Bitcoin catapulted on news of the US’ highest CPI print in over 30 years.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Markets

El Salvador To Build “Bitcoin City” By Issuing $1 Billion Tokenised Bitcoin Bonds

El Salvador’s Bitcoin-friendly president, Nayib Bukele, is once again hitting the headlines. After making bitcoin legal tender earlier this year, the charismatic leader has announced plans to build “Bitcoin City” using tokenised bitcoin-backed bonds.

Volcano-Powered ‘Bitcoin City’

On Saturday, President Bukele revealed to a captivated crowd that his government, in partnership with Blockstream and Bitfinex, would be developing “Bitcoin City”, funded through the issuance of bitcoin-backed billion dollar bonds.

The party-like atmosphere was electric, leaving some observers lost for words.

Bukele told the crowd that Bitcoin City would rely on volcano-generated geothermal energy and, even more exciting, that it would be entirely tax-free for residents, save for a 10 percent value-added tax (VAT) applied to all transactions in the region.

Invest here and make all the money you want. This is a fully ecological city that works and is energised by a volcano.

President Nayib Bukele

The Nuts and Bolts

In terms of some of the practicalities, Bukele noted that half of the money raised through VAT would be used to pay off the bonds issued to fund the city’s startup costs, while the other half would be used to fund public services.

At this stage, details are somewhat sketchy but the goal is clearly to make “Bitcoin City” an attractive destination for foreign investment. As the President said: “If you want bitcoin to spread over the world, we should build some Alexandrias.”

Some of the more interesting aspects of the proposed city include that its design would be circular, and contain an airport as well as residential and commercial districts. Apparently, the central plaza may even have a Bitcoin symbol when viewed from above.

In order to issue the bonds, El Salvador has partnered with Blockstream and iFinex (the parent company of Bitfinex). The latter will be granted a securities licence in order to issue the Bitcoin bonds, something that is expected to take place within 60 days.

One interesting feature of the Bitcoin bond is that it will have special dividends attached to it generated through the staggered liquidation of bitcoin. These will be paid out to holders through Blockstream’s asset management platform. Critically, the use of this platform will enable investors to get involved for as little as US$100 – that simply isn’t the case today for retail investors who want to invest in government bonds.

Looking Forward

Thus far Bukele’s bold Bitcoin bet has paid off – it’s funded construction of a pet hospital, as well as 20 new schools, all from profits generated from the nation’s bitcoin trust.

Of all of Bukele’s moves since making bitcoin legal tender, the creation of bitcoin-backed bonds may end up being his biggest yet. While the traditional finance world may view this move as risky, those operating in the crypto space have welcomed the decision with open arms.

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Binance Coin Bitcoin Cardano Crypto News Dogecoin Ethereum Markets Solana

Crypto Market in the Red Amid $880 Million Liquidity Flush

The crypto market is experiencing a sharp correction after approximately US$840 million was liquidated this week, draining nearly US$400 billion from the market.

Data from Coinglass (previously known as Bybt.com) shows at least 78,358 traders were liquidated in a span of just 24 hours. The largest single liquidation occurred on Bybit – ETH/USD, US$3.1 million.

ETH holders were by far the most affected compared to other cryptocurrencies such as BTC, which in 24 hours had a total of 1.13k BTC ($68.14 million) liquidated across most exchanges.

Most Currencies in the Red – Bitcoin Retests 58K Support

Liquidations were triggered when BTC plunged over 10 percent this week, dragging most of the market with it. Altcoins such as Binance Coin (BNB), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (Doge) were in the red by double digits as well.

Many say the drop is due to the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that US President Joe Biden signed into law on November 15. The bill is embedded with various crypto tax provisions for entities considered “brokers” by US law, even if they aren’t, such as node validators. The unclear and biased language caused outrage in the crypto community, with many industry leaders calling for opposition of the bill.

Going back to Bitcoin, the daily RSI pulled back to 40k levels but the price is currently hovering above 60k, though a further drop is expected in coming weeks.

Compared to previous dips, this one represented only 12 percent off its all-time high (ATH), but the emotional reaction appears to be much more intense. Back in September, BTC retraced -25 percent before jumping to new ATHs.

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Binance Bitcoin Crypto News Investing Market Analysis Markets

Crypto Market Dips After Surge, $750 Million Liquidated

After a particularly profitable week in crypto, with bitcoin reaching new all-time highs, the market saw a sudden drop and more than US$750 million was liquidated, according to data from Coinglass.

BTC Takes a Nosedive

In the past 24 hours, after the crypto market saw some immense growth and bitcoin (BTC) reached a new all-time high of over US$69,000, a whopping 166,292 traders were liquidated to the value of over US$750 million when the price of BTC dipped below US$63,000.

The largest single liquidation order happened on Bitmex XBTUSD to the value of US$10 million. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin had rallied to US$65,138, according to CoinGecko.

Total liquidations observed. Source: Coinglass

According to data from Coinglass (formerly Bybt), 81 percent of the liquidations observed came from long positions, with the majority of them happening on Binance.

Quantitative analyst PlanB, which has gained significant popularity for its eerie accuracy in predicting monthly closing prices for BTC, took to Twitter to post a funny meme about the liquidated positions:

Again, This Is Just a ‘Bit’ Too Soon

Liquidations such as the one we have just observed are becoming a far-too-common phenomenon. In September, for example, the crypto market saw some serious positions liquidated. Early in the month, the market recorded liquidations worth over US$3.7 billion due to a major downturn. Later, another major drop in the market saw over US$2.5 billion long positions liquidated in just two days.

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Crypto Art Crypto News Ethereum Investing Markets NFTs

Gary Vee: NFT Winter Is Coming

Gary Vaynerchuk, affectionately known as Gary Vee, anticipates a bear market ahead for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) but still believes that “NFTs are going to be here for the rest of everybody’s life”.

Too Much Short-Term Greed Will Cause a Bear Market

In an interview with Decrypt, Vee said he believed that “winter is coming” for NFTs. While the creator of Ethereum-based VeeFriends, and a collector of CryptoPunks and other NFTs, remains very bullish on the future of NFTs, he still believes a significant pullback in valuation is coming.

When discussing why he believed people were investing in the market boom, Vee said:

The conversation is about to get very interesting when we hit an NFT winter, because there’s way too much short-term greed, and supply and demand issues.  

Gary Vee, crypto entrepreneur

Vee has pocketed a pretty penny during the NFT craze with his hand-drawn doodles netting US$1.2 million, outselling similar works by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.

In early 2021, the NFT market exploded and generated US$2.5 billion during the first half of the year but seemed to fade in the second half, leading some to suggest the NFT market frenzy was just a short-term fad. However, the market surged to new heights in August and DappRadar reported a trading volume of US$10.67 billion for Q3 alone – a 700 percent increase over Q2 2021.

Vee did not say he thinks a pullback per se is coming, but rather believes that a potential drop in the valuation of NFTs might occur in the future. He has previously predicted that the majority of NFT projects would lose significant value over time, but that blue-chip projects might come out even higher at the other end.

Vaynerchuk made specific reference to NFT projects such as CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club, as well as certain pieces from the XCOPY collection, which have seen numerous sales above the million-dollar mark. He added: “XCOPY shows all the nuances of potentially becoming a Warhol, a Banksy, or a Pollock.”

NFTs Will Be Here for the Foreseeable

I do believe firmly that 90 percent of the NFT projects right now, [their] values will be less than that when it’s all said and done … The problem is the 2 percent that are going to be so much more extraordinarily high … that one is required to do the homework to see the opportunity.

Gary Vee

On the current state of NFTs, Vaynerchuk has said that many people are spending money they cannot afford on things they do not understand:

Regardless of his views on the current state of NFTs, Vee predicts: “NFTs are going to be here for the rest of everybody’s life – and [they are] going to get more meaningful, not less.”

Agree with Vee? You Can Now Short the NFT Market

If you agree with Vee that the NFT market is currently overheated, SynFutures is launching NFTures, a product that will allow users to short the future prices of NFTs. As many continue to question the value of NFTs, and with many tokens serving no purpose other than being able to be bought or sold, SynFutures is looking to change the way we derive profit from NFTs.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Markets

Bitcoin ETF Applications Out of Control: 34 Pending Approval and Growing

The floodgates have opened on Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) applications, with 34 currently pending approval and more joining the queue by the day.

Advocates for a Bitcoin ETF argue that the complexities of exchanges, crypto wallets and private keys still present a barrier to entry into the crypto space for newcomers. A Bitcoin ETF would enable these investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without actually having to hold their own cryptocurrency.

A Long and Winding Road

The road toward a Bitcoin ETF has been long and tortuous. Since the Winklevoss twins first filed for a Bitcoin ETF-like trust in 2013, the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has cited concerns over the lack of transparency of trading information, possible market manipulation, and the notion that Bitcoin is fundamentally different from other assets it regularly deals with. It is also worried about a lack of liquidity in the markets, Bitcoin’s inherent volatility, and fears over associated fraud.

Part of the case against a futures-based Bitcoin ETF is the 1 percent annual fund management fee, which detractors warn tends to quietly accumulate, and the added complexity of trading futures, whether they be soy, crude oil, or cryptos.

Could ETFs Push BTC to 100k?

More than US$1.5 billion has flowed into digital asset investment products since last month’s inception of the first Bitcoin ETF by ProShares. About 99 percent of those inflows were generated by bitcoin, while an all-time high (ATH) price spike further raised its dominance in the market.

A month ago, derivative markets gave bitcoin a 3.2 percent chance of reaching the US$100,000 mark before year’s end. In the first week of October alone, BTC surged over 34 percent, leaving the US$55,000 mark in its wake. With just over six weeks to go, there’s every chance that figure will double.

At the time of writing, bitcoin’s price had hit a new ATH of US$68,680 – up 5.03 percent in the previous 24 hours – so it’s well on the way.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Ethereum Markets Trading

Crypto Market Exceeds $3 Trillion for the First Time

The cryptocurrency market has hit a new milestone in topping a record high of US$3 trillion market cap, according to analytics website CoinGecko.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Reach New ATHs

The crypto market hit an all-time high (ATH) of US$3 trillion on November 8, thanks to the combined efforts of two of the most traded cryptocurrencies, Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). The two assets smashed records in both price and trading volumes. 

Bitcoin broke slightly above its previous ATH of US$67,000 by hitting $$68,641.57, as per data from CoinGecko. Ethereum saw substantial gains as well, seeing an ATH of US$4,857.25 the same day.

Main drivers for the ETH price surge include the burning mechanism, which is eliminating circulating coins, the transition to a PoS system with the advent of ETH 2.0, the NFT investing frenzy, along with speculations of its involvement in the metaverse.

The rumours started circulating when Vitalik Buterin predicted that Ethereum could be the network running the metaverse within 10 years.

Bitcoin Futures ETFs Drive Markets

With Bitcoin, we’ve seen a revived interest from institutional clients with the launch of Bitcoin futures ETFs. Two Bitcoin ETFs broke records on their first days. ProShares’ BITO recorded over US$550 million in trading volume from crypto-hungry investors, and Australia’s BetaShares crypto ETF smashed Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) trading records on its debut – over A$40 million on the first day, with A$5.2 million traded in five minutes.

The crypto market currently has a 24-hour trading volume of US$138 billion – this equates to the total market cap in March 2019.

Despite the new Bitcoin ATH, its dominance is still below 50 percent, now marked at 42.8 percent. Back on September 6, 2019, BTC was the undisputed leader of the market with 70.8 percent dominance.