SAN FRANCISCO - FEBRUARY 25: Visa credit cards are arranged on a desk February 25, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Visa Inc. is hoping that its initial public offering could raise up to $19 billion and becoming the largest IPO in U.S. history. (Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Payments giant Visa has teamed up with Ethereum scaling firm ConsenSys to help central bank digital currency (CBDC) networks bridge the gap with traditional financial institutions.
Customers will eventually be able to use their CBDC-linked Visa card or digital wallet anywhere that Visa is accepted globally, Catherine Gu, Visa’s head of CBDC, said in a blog post Q&A with ConsenSys.
“If successful, CBDC could expand access to financial services and make government disbursements more efficient, targeted and secure – that’s an attractive proposition for policymakers,” Gu said.
Visa’s CBDC Payments Module was created as an on-ramp for CBDCs to existing payment networks, according to Gu. Banks and issuer processors will be able to plug into the module and integrate their existing infrastructure, she added.
The payments firm said its crypto teams plan to work with central banks on pilot and prototype cases starting in the spring.
Visa said in early December that it had formed a global crypto advisory practice to help financial institutions develop their cryptocurrency businesses as demand for crypto products continues to grow.
Meanwhile, ConsenSys launched “ConsenSys Rollups” with the help of Mastercard’s engineering team to enable expansion on both the Ethereum mainnet and for private use.
Regulated Swiss bank Seba has predicted that the price of bitcoin could reach $75K this year. “Institutional money will probably drive the price up,” said the bank’s CEO.
Seba Bank CEO Guido Buehler shared his bank’s prediction on where the price of bitcoin is heading with CNBC at the Crypto Finance Conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Seba Bank is a digital assets banking platform licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
Regarding the price of bitcoin this year, he said:
We believe the price is going up. Our internal valuation model indicates a price right now between $50,000 and $75,000.
“I’m quite confident we are going to see that level. The question is always timing,” he noted.
When asked if his bank’s prediction refers to the price of bitcoin in 2022 and whether BTC will test some of the record highs seen last year, Buehler replied: “I think so, though volatility remains high.
The Seba Bank boss further explained that institutional investors will help boost the price of bitcoin in 2022. He opined:
Institutional money will probably drive the price up. We are working as a fully regulated bank at Seba. We have asset pools that are looking for the right time to invest.
Last week, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said that his firm sees tremendous demand from institutional investors for cryptocurrency. A recent survey by Nickel Digital Asset Management found that institutional investors believe that more regulation will boost the price of cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, global investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted last week that the price of bitcoin could reach $100K as BTC continues to take gold’s market share as a store of value.
Block founder and CEO Jack Dorsey proposed creating a legal defense fund for Bitcoin developers as the community faces “multi-front litigation” and “threats” that have forced some without legal support to “capitulate.”
Dorsey wrote the proposal in a email dated Jan. 12 to the bitcoin-dev mailing list, shared on Twitter. The email was signed by Dorsey, Chaincode Labs co-founder Alex Morcos and academic Martin White as “(Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund Board).”
The main purpose of the fund is to defend developers by finding and retaining defense counsel, developing litigation strategy and paying legal bills.
According to the post, the Fund’s first activity will be to run point on coordinating the defense of Wright’s Tulip Trading lawsuit against various bitcoin developers in relation to a “breach of fiduciary duty” with regards to the theft of crypto from the Mt. Gox hack.
Ontier LLP, the law firm representing Tulip Trading, has been given the green light by a London High Court to serve papers on 16 Bitcoin-related developers in a fight over funds from the defunct Mt. Gox exchange. At the same time, Wright is suing groups that hosted the Bitcoin white paper for breach of copyright.
The fund is free and voluntary for developers to use if they so choose, the email reads. It will start a corps of volunteer and part-time lawyers. The fund’s board will determine which lawsuits and defendants it will help defend.
At this time the trio says that the Fund is not looking to raise outside capital, but may do so in the future at the direction of the board
In December, Wright was found not liable for a breach of a business partnership with a former associate, deceased Florida computer forensics expert Dave Kleiman. The suit was focused on claims that Wright developed the Bitcoin protocol on his own, or if it was a partnership between Wright and Kleiman. Wright’s claims that he is Satoshi were not tested in court.
2TM, the holding company for Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s largest crypto exchange by market value, has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in CriptoLoja, Portugal’s first regulated crypto exchange.
The acquisition, which is step one in 2TM’s plans to expand into Europe, still needs approval from Portugal’s Central Bank, 2TM told CoinDesk in a written statement, although the company expects that to occur “within the next couple of months.”
2TM did not disclose the amount of the transaction nor the exact stake acquired.
Pedro Borges and Luis Gomes, founders of CriptoLoja, will remain in charge of the company while also managing 2TM’s expansion in Europe, the company added.
“Portugal is a strategic market for us, because it requires a specific license, is becoming an important hub for crypto in Europe and opens a gateway into the larger European market,” 2TM CEO Roberto Dagnoni said in a statement.
2TM will initially offer over-the-counter trading in Portugal, while it plans to include Mercado Bitcoin’s services for retail and institutional clients later.
2TM did not clarify whether CriptoLoja will be renamed Mercado Bitcoin. “We are not making any brand or naming announcements yet,” a company spokesperson told CoinDesk.
CriptoLoja launched its online crypto trading service in October 2021, Borges told CoinDesk at that time, adding that the crypto exchange allows users to buy 94 cryptocurrencies and trade them for an additional 398 other cryptos.
In June 2021, the Central Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal) licensed CriptoLoja as a virtual asset service provider, making it the first crypto company licensed to operate in the country.
2TM is also looking to expand into Latin America through strategic acquisitions in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, Dagnoni said in November 2021.
In June 2021, Mercado Bitcoin raised $200 million in a first closing of its Series B funding round, which made the company the second crypto unicorn in Latin America. Five months later, it raised an additional $50.3 million in a second closing.
This week Google Trends shows that the acronym NFT, which stands for non-fungible token, has reached a score of 100, the highest score a search query can get from the data analytics aggregator. Meanwhile, statistics indicate that during the last 30 days across ten different blockchains, there’s been $2.73 billion in NFT sales.
NFT Monthly Volume Sees Close to $3 Billion in Sales — Axie Infinity, Clonex, MAYC Sales Reign
While the crypto economy has seen a downturn, it’s too early to say whether or not it’s affecting NFT sales. However, monthly statistics show that across ten different blockchain networks including Ethereum, Ronin, Solana, Flow, Polygon, and more, there’s been $2.73 billion in NFT sales.
The collection with the most sales stemmed from the Ronin chain or the Axie Infinity blockchain video game NFT compilation. Over the last 30 days, metrics indicate Axie Infinity saw $219.5 million in sales. Month-over-month, Axie Infinity sales are down 66.51%.
Top NFT collection and NFT blockchain stats were recorded between Tuesday, December 7, 2021, and Friday, January 7, 2022.
The NFT collection Clonex pulled down $212 million over the last month according to cryptoslam.io metrics and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) did $209.1 million in sales. MAYC was followed by Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) with $196.2 million in 30-day sales.
The BAYC collection is followed by Cryptopunks ($144M), The Sandbox ($90M), Doodles ($85M), Prime Ape Planet ($76.4M), RTFKT Clonex Mintvial ($66M), and Adidas Originals ($60.2M)
Ethereum NFT Sales Rule the Roost, Cryptopunk #4156 Sells for $10.2 Million
Out of the top 20 NFT collections in terms of sales, the biggest gainers include the Solana NFT collection Shadowy Super Coder, up 170.46% this month, Bored Ape Chemistry Club, up 212.60%, and Bored Ape Kennel Club, up 159.19%.
Notable collections during the last 30 days in the top 20 include Doodles (+72.50%), RTFKT Clonex Mintvial (+72.83%), and NBA Top Shot (+87.85%). The NFT collection Wolf Game lost 81.02%, Farmers World shed 89.51%, and Neo Tokyo Identities lost 53.05% this past month.
The top blockchain in terms of NFT sales this month is Ethereum (ETH) with $2.3 billion in sales. ETH is followed by Ronin, with $219 million in sales, and Solana captured $109 million in sales this past month.
ETH sales increased 34.41% and Flow sales spiked 87.33%, while the blockchain Polygon’s NFT sales jumped 98.93%. While Ronin sales are down 66.51%, cryptoslam.io stats indicate Solana sales are down 10.31%, Wax blockchain sales slipped 85.07%, and Theta chain NFT sales are down 90.31%.
The most expensive sale this month was Cryptopunk #4156 for $10.2 million and three Mega NFTs sold for between $3.6 million and $5.6 million in ether. Cryptopunk #2681 sold for $3.07 million and Meka #2194 went for $1.8 million this month. The Meka NFT was followed by BAYC #3562 for $1.6 million, Cryptopunk #9953 for $1.57 million, and Cryptopunk #2964 for $1.5 million.
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is not deterred by bitcoin’s volatility, noting that buying the dip could yield “a good profit.” He reiterated that he will receive his first three paychecks in bitcoin and will make New York City the center of blockchain technology.
New York Mayor Hints at Buying the Dip
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is undeterred by the falling price of bitcoin. A former New York City police captain and Brooklyn borough president, Adams took office on Jan. 1 as the 110th mayor of New York City.
He was asked on CNBC Thursday whether he has been paid in bitcoin since he said last year that he will take his first three paychecks in BTC.
Commenting on the price of bitcoin this week and how it would have affected his paychecks if he had been paid in the cryptocurrency, the new mayor of New York City laughed and said:
Sometimes the best time to buy is when things go down, so when they go back up, you’ve made a good profit.
“Yes, I’m going to take my first three paychecks in bitcoin,” Adams confirmed, but noted, “I haven’t received my first check yet.”
He reiterated his crypto plans: “I think we need to use the technology of blockchain, Bitcoin, [and] all other forms of technology. I want New York City to be the center of that technology so I’m looking forward to that first paycheck in bitcoin.”
At the time of writing, the price of BTC has fallen more than 13% within the past seven days. It is currently $41,364 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets.
PayPal (PYPL) is looking into launching its own stablecoin as the company grows its crypto business, a company spokesman confirmed to CoinDesk on Friday. Sources told CoinDesk in September that PayPal subsidiary Curv was actively working on developing a stablecoin.
“We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators,” a PayPal spokesman told CoinDesk in an emailed statement.
Bloomberg first reported the news after evidence of PayPal’s exploration into building its own stablecoin was discovered in the company’s iPhone app by developer Steve Moser and shared with Bloomberg. Hidden code and images show work on what is called a “PayPal Coin.” The code shows the coin would be backed by the U.S. dollar, Bloomberg noted in its report.
PayPal has been very active with its cryptocurrency efforts recently, increasing the amount of crypto its customers can purchase, as well as investing in educating its users on crypto and working to allow them to withdraw their crypto safely to third-party wallets.
A PayPal spokesperson told Bloomberg that images and code inside of the PayPal app stemmed from a recent internal hackathon – an event in which engineers team up to quickly explore and build new products that may never see a public release – within the company’s blockchain, crypto and digital currencies division.
A crackdown on bitcoin mining by China has led to an increase in the number of Thai investors that have acquired and are operating mining rigs, a report has said. The report adds that many of these investors are currently earning between $30 and $40 per day from each mining rig.
Chinese Crackdown and the Effect on Mining Rig Prices
The number of bitcoin miners in Thailand surged in 2021 after China’s ongoing crackdown on bitcoin mining forced major players in the industry to quit or to ship their equipment to countries with friendlier regulations.
As explained in an Aljazeera report, a brief price drop that followed the restrictions made it possible for many smaller investors to acquire the mining gear from the fleeing, China-based miners. Although prices of mining rigs have since returned to more than $13,000 for each new machine, it’s suggested that demand for the machines has not waned.
To support the assertion that Thai investors are still buying the mining gear, the report quotes Pongsakorn Tongtaveenan, a businessman who has been buying the Antminer SJ19 Pro from miners fleeing China and selling these to local investors. In the report, Tongtaveenan offers his thoughts as to why his fellow countrymen are investing in the mining rigs.
He said:
Bitcoin is the gold of the digital world. But a mining rig is like gold mining stocks: you’re paid dividends according to the gold price. There’s around 100,000 Thai miners now.
Thai Investors Eye Mining in Laos
According to the report, some of these miners are earning between $30 and $40 from running the machines. For others, like one unnamed bitcoin enthusiast-turned-miner, the Chinese crackdown proved to be an important turning point.
“The moment China banned crypto, we were ecstatic. I made it all back in three months,” said the miner who claims to have used $30,000 to kickstart his solar-powered mining operation.
Meanwhile, bigger Thai investors are reportedly considering setting up operations in neighbouring Laos, which recently gave mining licenses to six companies and where the cost of electricity is cheaper. However, just like other potential investors, Thai investors that wish to invest in Laos will have to meet the initial terms which include buying electricity worth $1 million from the Laotian state grid per annum as well as paying a large operating fee.
Goldman Sachs has predicted that the price of bitcoin could reach $100,000. The global investment bank believes that bitcoin will continue to take market share away from gold as cryptocurrency adoption grows.
Goldman Sachs’ Bitcoin vs Gold Prediction
Goldman Sachs analyst Zach Pandl, co-head of global foreign exchange strategy, outlined the future outlook for bitcoin in a research note to clients Tuesday.
The Goldman Sachs analyst expects that bitcoin will continue to take market share away from gold in 2022 as cryptocurrencies become more widely adopted. The research note details:
Bitcoin may have applications beyond simply a ‘store of value’ — and digital asset markets are much bigger than bitcoin.
The analyst noted that bitcoin’s float-adjusted market capitalization is currently under $700 billion. The cryptocurrency accounts for a 20% share of the “store of value” market, which comprises gold and bitcoin. This market is worth about $2.6 trillion, the note explains.
In its list of 2022 predictions, Goldman Sachs said bitcoin will “most likely” become a bigger proportion over time.
Pandl said that if bitcoin’s share of the store of value market were “hypothetically” to increase to 50% over the next five years, the price of BTC would increase to just over $100,000. The analyst added:
We think that comparing its market capitalization to gold can help put parameters on plausible outcomes for bitcoin returns.
Furthermore, the Goldman Sachs analyst pointed out that even though the Bitcoin network’s consumption of resources may be an obstacle to institutional adoption, it will not stop the demand for the asset, the note said.
Goldman Sachs relaunched its cryptocurrency trading desk last year. In June, the firm expanded its cryptocurrency offerings to include ether futures and options.
Leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Opensea announced the firm has raised $300 million in a Series C funding round led by Paradigm and Coatue. Opensea’s latest capital raise has propelled the company to a $13.3 billion post-money valuation.
Opensea Raises $300 Million, Commands Post-Money Valuation of $13.3 Billion
In mid-November, a report authored by theinformation.com’s Kate Clark and Berber Jin explained that Opensea was fielding new investments after investors were allegedly chomping at the bit to fund the project. At the time, Opensea’s estimated valuation was $10 billion and two sources said: “investors are clamoring for a piece of the startup.”
48 days later, Opensea has revealed it raised $300 million in a Series C finance round. The team says that the new funding will go toward “accelerating product development,” “significantly improve customer support,” “investing in the wider NFT and Web3 community,” and expanding the Opensea team. The funding round was led by Paradigm and Coatue, and a number of other strategic investors joined.
Opensea All-Time NFT Sales Near $15 Billion, Eclipsing Competitors, Firm Plans to Launch Grant Program
According to Opensea, the new funding gives the company a $13.3 billion post-money valuation. Opensea is also the largest NFT marketplace, in terms of all-time sales, as the company has recorded $14.68 billion in sales across 1,387,357 traders worldwide. Sales are up more than 25% during the last 30 days with a recorded $2.91 billion in volume. The $14.68 billion in sales is a lot larger than any other NFT project or market.
For example, the second-largest market, Axie Infinity, has $3.94 billion in all-time sales which is 73.16% lower than Opensea’s sales. Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of Opensea, explained in the funding announcement that the team is creating a grant program to help expand the “entire NFT ecosystem.” At press time, the Opensea platform supports NFTs based on the Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC) networks.
“This quarter, we are launching a grant program to give us the opportunity to directly support the developers, builders, and creators shaping the future of the NFT space,” Finzer said in a statement. “Our ambition is to foster the scale and growth of the broader NFT ecosystem including raising the profile of emerging creators and investing in the people who shape the NFT space for the better today.”
