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Cardano’s ADA soars 25%, outpacing gains in the major cryptos.

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The overall capitalization of crypto markets increased by 4.4 percent in the last 24 hours, as bitcoin (BTC) showed signs of bottoming out and traditional markets showed strength at the start of this week.
After nine weeks of losses, Bitcoin regained the $31,000 level in US hours on Monday. That move coincided with a relief rally in Asian markets, as well as technical data indicating that the asset may have bottomed out between $29,000 and $30,000.


Cardano’s ADA token led gains among crypto majors on Tuesday, rising 17 percent to over 64 cents. A rise in the issuance of native assets on the network – over five million assets have now been minted on Cardano, according to data – and the upcoming Vasil hardfork, a network upgrade, are two fundamental catalysts.

Price-charts suggest ADA saw support at the 45 cents level. Readings on the Relative Strength Index (RSI) – a tool used by traders to calculate the magnitude of an asset’s price move – fell to nearly 33 earlier this week, which suggested early signs of ADA bottoming out. However, the token could see strong resistance at the 80 cents mark.

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ADA bottomed out the past week, but resistance exists at the 80 cents mark. (TradingView)

Ether (ETH) added 5.8% even as gas fees fell to lows. A fall in fees usually implies falling demand for the network, suggesting the move may have been led by traders betting on a market-wide revival instead of being driven by fundamental growth.

XRP rose 5%. Avalanche’s AVAX and Solana’s SOL added up to 4%. Memecoins dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB) saw limited gains, rising just 3.8% and 2.3% respectively, to underperform the broader market.

Elsewhere, metaverse tokens saw a bump in prices. Axie Infinity’s AXS rose 46%, while The Sandbox’s SAN rose 11%. Growth in AXS came weeks after the game’s “Origin” version was launched in April, which created a demand for the tokens.

The relief in crypto markets comes amid optimism in Asian markets. Coronavirus cases in China dropped to under 100 for the first time since early March, spurring an increase in sentiment among traders betting on a wider economic recovery.

The rally in Asia continued on Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite added over 0.70% since the session’s start, while futures on U.S. tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.63%

Turkey is drafting a crypto bill that will be submitted to Parliament in the coming weeks, according to a report.

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Image Credit: Agefotostock

Turkey is said to be working on crypto legislation, which will be presented to parliament in the coming weeks. Some crypto transactions may be subject to taxes under the bill.

Bloomberg reported last week that Turkey is drafting a bill to establish new rules for the crypto industry, citing two unnamed Turkish officials familiar with the matter.

According to officials, President Recep Tayyip Erdoan’s AK Party intends to present the cryptocurrency bill to parliament in the coming weeks.

Companies would be required to have a minimum of 100 million liras ($6 million) in capital under the new regulatory framework. Furthermore, global cryptocurrency exchanges would be required to open Turkish branch offices that could be taxed. Authorities are also looking into ways to keep cryptocurrencies safe.

The new measures were discussed at a meeting held last week in the president’s office. Vice President Fuat Oktay, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati, and Trade Minister Mehmet Muş were present at the meeting.

The government is also considering imposing a symbolic tax on cryptocurrency purchases, according to the publication.

President Erdoan is said to have directed the country’s ruling party to conduct a study on cryptocurrency and the metaverse in January.

Over 2.4 million people, or 2.94 percent of Turkey’s total population, own cryptocurrency, according to crypto payments service provider Triplea.

According to reports, crypto ownership is on the rise in Turkey, as high inflation and a weak lira prompt Turks to seek ways to preserve their wealth. The Turkish government, according to reports,

According to reports, crypto ownership is on the rise in Turkey, as high inflation and a weak lira prompt Turks to seek ways to preserve their wealth. The Turkish lira has lost half its value in the last year, according to reports, while annual inflation hit a 20-year high of nearly 70% in April.

Nigerian Presidential says he supports digital currencies but wants the industry to be regulated.

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Bukola Saraki, a presidential candidate in Nigeria, recently stated that he supports the digital currency industry, claiming that it has created opportunities for the country’s youth. He did insist, however, that laws guiding players in this space be enacted.

Bukola Saraki, one of Nigeria’s presidential hopefuls, was recently quoted as saying that he supports digital currencies and does not believe they will destabilize the economy. Nonetheless, the presidential candidate suggested that legislation and policies be put in place to guide players in this space.

Saraki, one of fifteen people vying to be the opposition’s presidential candidate in Nigeria’s upcoming elections, acknowledged that digital currencies have provided opportunities for the country’s youth during an interview. He stated, “

I also think it has helped especially the young generation in creating jobs and opportunities. And anything that creates jobs and an enabling environment for people to do their businesses, I am in support of that. So, yes, I am in support of that.

Saraki reiterated, however, that money laundering and abuse concerns that regulators often raise including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must be addressed.

As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, the Nigerian central bank has since February 5, 2021, required financial institutions to block crypto-related transactions. The bank insists that privately issued cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have no place in Nigeria’s conventional financial system.

However, despite the CBN’s directive to financial institutions and its subsequent crackdown against errant institutions, Nigerian interest in digital currencies has not waned as peer-to-peer bitcoin traded volumes continue to show. This fact is further evidenced by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s recent announcement of rules and guidelines that govern the players in the crypto industry.

Meanwhile, in the interview, Saraki still did not outline his plans for the crypto industry if he were to win the Nigerian presidency. At the time of writing, reports had emerged that Saraki had lost the race to become People’s Democratic Party candidate to Atiku Abubakar.

As gas costs per transfer fall below $3, Ethereum transaction fees have reached a 10-month low.

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After hitting a low of $2.96 per transaction on Sunday afternoon, the average Ethereum network fee has dropped to its lowest level in over ten months (ET). Last year, on July 11, 2021, Ethereum transfer fees fell below $3 for the first time. Furthermore, median fees are even lower: on May 29, the median Ethereum transaction fee was around 0.00086 ether or $1.56 per transfer.

Ethereum network fees have dropped to their lowest level in over ten months, with the average ETH transfer fee falling to $2.96 per transaction around 12 p.m. (ET) on Sunday. As the day progressed, the average ether fee increased to 0.002 ether, or $3.56 per transfer.

Transaction fees on Ethereum haven’t been this low in a long time. Since mid-February, Bitcoin.com News has reported on the fact that gas prices have been falling, with ethereum transaction fees dropping to just above $10 in the first week of March.

In addition to average ethereum fees dropping to fresh lows, median-sized gas costs have dropped a great deal this week as well. For example, on March 8, 2022, the median-sized ether fee was 0.0014 ETH or $3.73 per transfer, and today it’s 0.00086 ether or $1.56.

Furthermore, the cost of an Opensea sale is about $10.63 on the high end, and $10.26 for a lower fee. Swapping coins on a decentralized exchange (dex) platform such as Uniswap today is $9.69 on the high end, while on the low end it can cost $9.36 per transaction.

The cost to move an ERC20 token like USDT or USDC, is about $4.37 per transfer. In terms of Ethereum’s aggregate 24-hour ETH mining rewards, miners pulled in approximately $50,241,489 on Sunday, May 29. That’s around 94.7% of the fees bitcoin (BTC) miners acquired on Sunday, as bitcoin miners captured $53,035,200 in BTC mining rewards during the past 24 hours.

Layer two (L2) transfer fees to send ethereum (ETH) are also quite low on Sunday. Zksync transactions are around $0.04 to send ethereum and $0.09 to swap coins. Loopring’s ether transaction fees are the same, at $0.04 per transfer, but swapping a coin will cost $0.45 using Loopring. Using Optimism will cost $0.12 per ether transfer and leveraging Arbitrum One will cost $0.23 to move ethereum.

Boba Network’s ether transaction fees are $0.17 right now, and the cost to swap a token using Boba is $0.35. When ETH fees are low, it’s a good time to transact if there’s a need to move ethereum or an ERC20, swap tokens, or conduct a sale on a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

A16z Announces the Launch of a $4.5 Billion Crypto Fund Specializing in Web3 Opportunities

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A16z, one of the most powerful VC firms in the crypto space, has announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency fund to invest in Web3 startups. This firm’s fourth crypto fund, which will launch with a $4.5 billion budget, will focus on a number of key areas in the crypto world, including blockchain games and decentralized finance.

A16z, one of the most active VC firms in crypto, has revealed it is launching yet another crypto investment fund. The new endeavor of the company, which will have $4.5 billion at its disposal, will focus on Web3 investments in companies at any growth rate. This, according to the company, is a bet on blockchain as one of the important technologies of the future.

A blog post written by Chris Dixon, a general partner at A16z and founder and leader of its crypto division, stated:

We think we are now entering the golden era of Web3. Programmable blockchains are sufficiently advanced, and a diverse range of apps have reached tens of millions of users. More importantly, a massive wave of world-class talent has entered Web3 over the last year.

With this capital, the funds invested by A16z in the crypto ecosystem go over the $7.6 billion mark.

Investment Objectives

A16z also explained how it is allocating the funds. In the blog post, Dixon clarifies that $1.5 billion will be put in seed investments, for companies that are still in the initial stages of their growth, and have to rely on investors to fund their operations. The other $3 billion will be put behind various venture investments not yet specified by the company.

The scope of A16z is large, the firm stating its investments will encompass different areas of the crypto community, including “web3 games, Defi, decentralized social media, self-sovereign identity, layer 1 and layer 2 infrastructure, bridges, DAOs, governance, NFT communities, privacy, creator monetization, regenerative finance, new applications of ZK proofs, decentralized content & story creation.”

The company also announced it will keep growing its operational team to offer better assistance to its portfolio companies, including research and engineering, security, talent and people, legal assistance, and marketing.

A16z has also been active in other recent investments involving crypto and tokenization. It recently led an investment round in Flowcarbon, a carbon tokenization company backed by Wework co-founder Adam Neumann.

Elon Musk claims that SpaceX will soon accept Dogecoin for merchandise, which could lead to Starlink subscriptions.

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Image Credit : Getty Image

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has stated that dogecoin will soon be accepted at Spacex for merchandise in the same way that Tesla accepts DOGE payments. Subscriptions to Starlink can also be paid with dogecoin “one day.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced via Twitter on Friday that Spacex will soon accept Dogecoin for merchandise, giving the meme cryptocurrency a boost. “Tesla merch can be bought with DOGE, soon Spacex merch too,” the Spacex CEO tweeted.

Furthermore, Musk stated that subscriptions to SpaceX’s Starlink service may “one day” be paid with dogecoin. According to its website, Starlink provides “high-speed, low-latency broadband internet in remote and rural locations around the world.”

Following Musk’s tweet about Spacex accepting dogecoin, the price of the meme cryptocurrency spiked. At the time of his tweet, DOGE was trading at $0.078399 per coin. It quickly rose more than 8% to $0.084927. However, the meme coin soon lost most of its gains and is currently trading at $0.081469.

Tesla began accepting dogecoin payments in January for some merchandise, and the electric car company currently accepts no other cryptocurrencies. The company used to accept bitcoin for products but stopped due to environmental concerns. Miners can confirm 50% clean energy usage. However, he has yet to revisit the subject.

According to an ESG study, Bitcoin mining has the potential to eliminate 0.15 percent of global warming by 2045, with no other technology capable of doing so.

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The environmental impact of bitcoin mining has become a hot topic in recent months, with climate activists claiming that proof-of-work (PoW) mining is too energy-intensive. However, according to a recent report by ESG analyst Daniel Batten, bitcoin mining could reduce global carbon emissions by 5.32 percent. According to Batten’s research, if bitcoin mining companies “aggressively” targeted leaked methane, they could prevent 0.15 percent of global warming by 2045.

Daniel Batten, the CEO of Geneious and an ESG analyst, published a report on May 23, 2022, claiming that bitcoin mining could help the environment. The findings suggest that “using [bitcoin] mining to combust leaking methane can eliminate 5.32 percent of all global CO2-eq emissions,” according to Batten. According to Batten’s research, bitcoin mining is one of the only sustainable ways to reduce carbon emissions. According to Batten’s report, “reducing methane emissions is the quickest way to reduce global warming and complements CO2 reduction strategies.” The executive summary of the study adds:

Bitcoin mining is currently the only way of reducing these methane emissions which is both technologically feasible and does not require significant behaviour change in order to work.

Bitcoin mining, and more specifically PoW mining, has been criticized a great deal for using so much energy. However, many believe certain detractors have an agenda and most people do not question the amount of carbon and state-enforced violence that is needed to keep fiat currencies afloat. Furthermore, crypto asset industry players have been introducing ESG (environmental, social, governance) friendly concepts to the digital currency mining ecosystem. Furthermore, a mining report that covers Bitcoin’s electricity usage data shows that consumption levels decreased by 25% in the first quarter of 2022.

ESG Study Shows Bitcoin Mining’s Potential to Eliminate 0.15% of Global Warming by 2045, No Other Technology Can Do Better

Batten’s research goes further and notes how bitcoin mining is more effective than leveraging carbon credits or governmental systems. “Bitcoin mining is also currently the only way to combust leaking methane that is both economically and logistically feasible without carbon credits or the governments of major industrialized nations needing to issue tax incentives and funding in unison,” Batten’s report explains. “Bitcoin mining has shown early evidence of being able to scale with an exponential growth rate.”

Report Says ‘Bitcoin Mining’s Energy Consumption Is Obvious, but Its Environmental Benefit Is Not Immediately Obvious’

In fact, bitcoin (BTC) or PoW mining, in general, can be leveraged to combat leaking methane from a number of different sources. For instance, the report notes that mining could help in areas where flare or vented gas is expelled by the oil and gas industry. Bitcoin mining could help fight landfill gas, and areas that have orphaned oil wells. The researcher’s findings detail that bitcoin mining could also mitigate gas waste issues from biogas sources like manure, farming and waste regions, and waste from the food industry. “In future papers, we will quantify the CO2-eq reduction possible by using bitcoin mining with biogas or wastewater,” the report says.

“Unlike solar, whose environmental benefit is obvious but whose consumption of carbon (via coal furnaces used to melt silicon) is less obvious, bitcoin mining’s energy consumption is obvious, but its environmental benefit is not immediately obvious,” the study about quantifying the potential impact of bitcoin mining claims. “Perhaps for this reason, it is easy to make a premature and superficial assessment based only on energy consumption that Bitcoin has a net negative environmental impact. Such reasoning is flawed, since net impact can only be established by considering both environmental cost and benefit.”

In addition to the flawed reasoning, Batten describes a number of misconceptions about bitcoin mining using methane for energy. The misconceptions include:

  • “Burning methane releases CO2 which will increase our carbon emissions.”
  • “We should be focusing on renewable energy, not burning methane.”
  • “When oil [and] gas companies flare methane, it removes methane anyway.”
  • (Closely related to 3) “The benefits of generating power from flared gas are marginal.”
  • “We should be using that flared gas for something more useful” – hospitals, residential heating, anything.
  • “Oil companies will just use that money to do more oil exploration.”
  • Agriculture is the biggest methane polluter: eating less meat would solve it.

Batten explains how each and every one of the aforementioned reasons is a miscalculated error and he believes bitcoin mining can reduce the world’s methane emissions even quicker than the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) carbon reduction goals.

“Bitcoin mining can eliminate 0.94 + 4.38 = 5.32% of all global emissions. This represents 23% of all global methane emissions: more than half the UNEP’s methane reduction target,” Batten’s study deduces. The ESG analyst adds:

That means Bitcoin mining has the potential to achieve half our methane reduction target. That also means that Bitcoin mining has the realistic potential to help humanity avoid nearly 0.15% of warming by 2045. To our knowledge, this can be legitimately claimed by no other technology.

JPMorgan Sees Bitcoin as a ‘Significant Upside’ and Replaces Real Estate as a ‘Preferred Alternative Asset.’

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Image Credit: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

The price of bitcoin, according to JPMorgan, has “significant upside.” The cryptocurrency’s price target is 28 percent higher than it is now, according to the global investment bank. Cryptocurrencies, along with hedge funds, have replaced real estate as JPMorgan’s “preferred alternative asset class.”

Global investment bank JPMorgan published a bullish note on bitcoin and cryptocurrency Wednesday. The bank’s strategists, including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, wrote that their price target for bitcoin remains at $38,000, “implying significant upside for digital assets from here.”

At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading at $29,784, down 2.4% over the past seven days and almost 25% over the last 30 days. JPMorgan’s fair value estimate for bitcoin is nearly 28% higher than the current price of BTC.

The JPMorgan strategists detailed:

The past month’s crypto market correction looks more like capitulation relative to last January/February and going forward we see upside for bitcoin and crypto markets more generally.

While the investment bank’s price target for bitcoin is $38K, its strategists have said that their long-term theoretical target price for the cryptocurrency is $150K.

Crypto Becomes JPMorgan’s Preferred Alternative Asset Class, Replacing Real Estate

In addition, the global investment bank now sees cryptocurrencies as its “preferred alternative asset class,” replacing real estate amid soaring mortgage rates.

JPMorgan detailed that the recent market downturn hurt cryptocurrencies more than other alternative investments, including real estate.

Noting that this trend suggests crypto has more room to rebound, the strategists wrote: We thus replace real estate with digital assets as our preferred alternative asset class along with hedge funds.

According to an ECB survey, 10% of Eurozone households own cryptocurrency.

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According to a new survey conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB), one out of every ten households in six eurozone countries has purchased cryptocurrency. The poll shows that while the wealthiest are the most likely to own crypto assets, poor families are not far behind.

According to the European Central Bank’s latest Consumer Expectations Survey, every tenth eurozone household has purchased bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies (ECB). According to Reuters, Europe’s financial authorities are now attempting to determine whether the crypto market downturn has impacted household budgets.

The results of the most recent monthly poll were released on Tuesday. According to the study, crypto assets are held by an average of 10% of households in six eurozone countries. The Netherlands had the highest percentage of crypto owners, at 14 percent, while France came in last, with only 6%.

Some 37% of the respondents said they were holding up to 999 euros worth of cryptocurrency (approx. $1,070 at the time of writing), the monetary authority detailed, and 29% had between 1,000 euros and 4,999 euros. Another 13% owned between 5,000 euros and 9,999 euros. The balance had invested more than that, the report unveils.

Across these nations – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain – the richest 20% of the polled were most likely to own cryptocurrencies. At the same time, a greater proportion of lower-income households hold digital assets than the segment between the two groups.

The authors of the survey have also noted that young adult males and highly educated people were more inclined to invest in crypto. “With regard to financial literacy, respondents who scored either at the top level or the bottom level in terms of financial literacy scores were highly likely to hold crypto assets,” the ECB pointed out.

The eurozone’s central bank didn’t miss the opportunity to reiterate its stance that cryptocurrencies are unsuitable for retail investors. The regulator also called on EU authorities to urgently approve new rules for crypto assets in the 27-member bloc. The data has been published as part of ECB’s Financial Stability Review as European legislators are working to finalize the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation.

Andrew Bailey of the Bank of England warns that bitcoin has no intrinsic value and is not a practical means of payment.

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The governor of the Bank of England, the British central bank, claims that bitcoin has no intrinsic value and that it is unsuitable for use as a payment method. After the crypto market crashed, he issued a warning.

On Monday’s Jobs of the Future podcast, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey issued a warning about bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

His warning came after the cryptocurrency market dropped by nearly $500 billion this month. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has lost more than 25% of its value in the last 30 days.

While acknowledging the importance of blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies, Bailey remains skeptical of bitcoin as a payment method. He also stated that the Bank of England is considering creating its own digital currency.

He continued:

In terms of payments, I don’t think it will be crypto in the a sort of bitcoin sense of the term. I don’t think that is really a practical means of payment.

The central bank governor opined: “What I think is to be determined is, if we are much more likely to be living in a world of digital currency than old fashioned sort of payment methods, precisely what form of digital currency, digital use, becomes the one that becomes the accepted norm.”

While confirming that he does not hold any crypto himself, Bailey said:

I am probably not liked by the advocates of bitcoin because I have said I don’t think it has any intrinsic value.

“It can have extrinsic value in the sense that people want to own it — people collect all sorts of things — but it doesn’t have intrinsic value,” he noted.

Bailey has never been a fan of bitcoin or crypto. He said last month that crypto creates an “opportunity for the downright criminal.” In March last year, he said cryptocurrencies are “dangerous.” In November, Bailey voiced concerns about El Salvador adopting bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar.

His comments echo what Christine Lagarde said Sunday that crypto is “based on nothing.” The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) added: “There is no underlying asset to act as an anchor of safety.” In May last year, Lagarde similarly said that crypto has no intrinsic value, and investors should be prepared to lose all of their money.