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Category: Crypto News

  • Blockchain Powering Metal Refinery in Dubai

    Blockchain Powering Metal Refinery in Dubai

    UAE has been one of the front liners in cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. The government values the potential of blockchain technology and has been an active supporter of it. Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a free trade zone established by the government, entered into a partnership with REIT Development to construct a precious metal refinery

    The sale and purchase agreement of a 100,000 square foot land has been announced to have been signed by the parties. This will be the largest precious metal refinery and storage unit in the Gulf region. Moreover, the refinery will be backed by blockchain technology.

    The facility will have precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, palladium etc. and these precious metals will provide backing for asset-collateralized stablecoins. The stablecoins like GoldCoin, SilverCoin etc. will be based on the Ethereum network and each coin will be backed by one gram of the respective metal. The precious metal-backed stablecoin will be traded on DMCC’s gold exchange platform.

    The blockchain-based metal refinery is just one use of blockchain technology. The refinery is also a testament to the fast pace at which blockchain is being integrated. The day may not be too far when cryptocurrencies become the mode of payment as well as a viable investment tool.

    UAE minister of economy Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, in the World Economic Forum’s conference on Global Technology Governance, had stated that the integration of blockchain technology into the country is the way to double the economy of UAE in a decade’s time. UAE also has a few more ambitious projects under works that are focused on the incorporation of block chain technology as well as supporting innovation in the crypto sphere.

  • XRP Assets Under Management Doubles in Value

    XRP Assets Under Management Doubles in Value

    As the market for Bitcoin turned bearish, investors have started flocking towards altcoins. Ripple has had a rocky journey ever since the bull run started as Ripple Labs found itself tangled in litigation. However, as the defense appears to be performing well currently in the Ripple Labs v. US Securities & Exchange Commission lawsuit, the cryptocurrency has begun moving upwards.

    Recently a discovery motion was submitted by the legal team of Ripple Labs to gain access to SEC’s documentation on Bitcoin and Ethereum in order to refute the claim of SEC that Ripple is fundamentally different than other cryptocurrencies. The victory along with the denial of access to Ripple executives’ financial records has put the cryptocurrency back on track.

    XRP saw a huge rally of investors the past week. CoinShares Weekly digital asset fund flow report revealed that around $33 million were injected into XRP products the past week. This makes the total asset under management of XRP almost double to a total of $83 million.

    Most of the altcoins observed huge investment inflows according to the report. Around $65 million were injected into Ethereum products, $3 million into Binance Coin, $4 million to Bitcoin Cash while Polkadot saw $5 million in investment and Tezos $7 million. Although Bitcoin products still hold a majority of assets under management at $50 billion – which is nearly 78% of the total AUM – but the bearish momentum of Bitcoin may divert the attention to altcoins.

    Institutional interest in the crypto sphere, in general, has been increasing. From a time when institutions like Goldman Sachs regarded cryptocurrencies to have mere speculative to investing heavily into them. Goldman Sachs along with other leading banks have announced to offer cryptocurrencies because of high client demand.

  • Uniswap – One Step Closer to V3

    Uniswap – One Step Closer to V3

    The leading decentralized exchange, Uniswap, has moved a step closer to its third iteration as it has announced the successful deployment of V3 smart contracts to Ethereum’stestnets. The smart contracts are now on Ethereum’stestnets – Ropsten, Rinkeby, Kovan, Goerli – and the testnet addresses have been posted on GitHub. Amidst the developments of Uniswap V3, the DEX has also reported a record high weekly trading volume of $10 billion.

    Uniswap V3 is the newest iteration of the Uniswap protocol. The iteration is designed to provide better capital efficiency for users and greater capital control for lenders. This will be done through the two hallmark features of the iteration – concentrated liquidity and multiple fee tiers. The result will be the most efficient and flexible AMM ever made, according to Uniswap’s team.

    Uniswap has a high valuation and dominance in the Automated Market Maker sphere but the new iteration will further boost the DEX. Previously, the announcement of the V3 had led to a surge in the price of the native token of the governance. The launch of the V3 iteration will probably result in another price surge of the native token, UNI.

    The iteration is set to launch on May 5.

  • The TIMEs are Changing for the Crypto Sphere

    The TIMEs are Changing for the Crypto Sphere

    TIME Magazine, one of the most circulated bi-weekly magazines in the US, is exploring the cryptocurrency sphere and its integration into blockchain technology. The magazine recently announced it is going to start accepting payments in cryptocurrencies. The magazine entered into a partnership with the digital asset exchange Crypto.com which now allows readers of the magazine to pay for subscriptions through digital assets.

    The current bull run made it evident that cryptocurrencies are not mere speculative investments and blockchain technology holds a lot of potentials. This has led to various firms jumping in to explore the real-world use cases of blockchain technology while others have begun adopting cryptocurrencies.

    TIME magazine recently sold three magazine covers as NFTs. However, For TIME magazine, the journey does not end over here. The magazine is extensively exploring non-fungible tokens and projects based around them. In an interview with Decrypt podcast, TIME magazine president Keith Grossman commented on the NFT sale that this is just the beginning of the journey.

    Grossman stated that the magazine may soon shift from the NFT collectibles to NFTs for subscriptions and memberships. While other news outlets like The New York Times have also entered the NFT collectibles space, TIME is the first magazine to accept payments in cryptocurrencies and may soon integrate the NFT technology completely.

  • JPMorgan: Institutions Losing Interest in Bitcoin?

    JPMorgan: Institutions Losing Interest in Bitcoin?

    The king of cryptocurrencies has started off on a downward descent after establishing an all-time high at a staggering price level of $64,000. With the price of Bitcoin now hovering near $55,000, traders are beginning to panic. The fear in the market was evident when the funding rate of Bitcoin futures fell to a record low of -0.3% in seven months. The technical indicators for the cryptocurrency have also turned bearish – indicating the dominance of sellers in the market.

    Where analyst Willy Woo is calling to the traders to calm down, institutions are beginning to panic as well. Bitcoin had faced a lot of bashing from large institutions before its glory days but with their subsequent backing Bitcoin saw new levels of adoption. However, as the market for Bitcoin turned bearish, institutional support have begun to fade as well.

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. has turned bearish on Bitcoin. JPMorgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou has begun to worry about the Bitcoin dips – a note from a team of strategists led by Panigirtzoglou revealed. The strategist states that if Bitcoin is not able to reach back to $60,000, momentum levels will collapse.

    Although Bitcoin had suffered from dips in the past few months, the flow impulse was sufficiently strong to allow Bitcoin to break resistance levels. However, the likelihood of that happening this time appears to be bleak, per JPMorgan.

  • Dogecoin: Snack Brands Favorite Coin

    Dogecoin: Snack Brands Favorite Coin

    Dogecoin (DOGE) the meme-based coin started off as a joke between two engineers but the crypto is no longer any joke. Dogecoin has been one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in the bull run as it climbed up to establish a record high. One of the most vocal support of DOGE is Elon Musk – the tech billionaire and CEO of Tesla. Musk often sends the coin up soaring with his tweets but Musk is not the only one who supports Dogecoin.

    DOGE has become a brands’ favorite. The US-based meat snack company Slim Jim has started actively promoting Dogecoin. The brand often tweets memes featuring DOGE and meat snacks going up to the moon. It may have become a new marketing technique as the brand increased its following on Twitter five-folds by supporting Dogecoin. Slim Jim has also launched an NFT up for sale which features DOGE represented by Shiba Inu to the moon. The brand has said to donate 100% of the proceedings from the NFT to charity along with an additional $10,000.

    Milkyway and Snickers by Mars confectionary company have also been vocal supporters of Dogecoin on their social media. The brands have been actively advocating and supporting cryptocurrency with various memes.

    The active support from snack brands of Dogecoin has also faced lashback as some people regard Dogecoin to have no intrinsic value. After establishing an all-time high at $0.43, DOGE has fallen more than 20% in the past 24 hours. Are the glory days of the coin over?

  • South Korea’s Tightening Grip On Crypto Market In The Country

    South Korea’s Tightening Grip On Crypto Market In The Country

    Among other things, cryptocurrencies are also notoriously known for facilitating illegal transactions. Because of the anonymity provided by privacy coins, they are likely to become the choice for illegal activities. However, another side of the story states data suggests most illegal transactions still happen through cash. Nonetheless, Asian governments have been wary of cryptocurrencies because of their high riskiness as well as their propensity to facilitate illegal activities.

    The government of South Korea had been vocal about their concerns with the cryptocurrency market in the country. The regulators have taken notice of the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering, tax evasion, and other illegal activities. Major financial authorities in the country have joined hands to combat the problem.

    The crackdown is set to last till June. This period will see extremely strict regulation and close monitoring. The Financial Services Commission has directed all financial institutions to work on the monitoring of cryptocurrency withdrawals. The Financial Intelligence Unit had been designated to deal with suspicious activities. The finance ministry and Financial Supervisory Services are also monitoring cross-border payments closely.

    The country has strengthened its cryptocurrency regulation even more after imposing the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Transaction Information in March. The Act requires cryptocurrency traders and investors to trade only with real-name based accounts.

  • Bitcoin Funding Rate Crashed to -0.03% Amidst Panic in the Market

    Bitcoin Funding Rate Crashed to -0.03% Amidst Panic in the Market

    Bitcoin funding rate crashed to a record low not seen since September 2020. The sudden drop in the funding rate indicates fear in the market. The market has been largely bullish since the beginning of the new year but market corrections are imminent. With Bitcoin operating at a whopping level of above $50,000, the market retracement is expected to be as harsh.

    The Bitcoin futures contracts’ funding rate has fallen to a low of -0.03%. The crash of the funding rate comes as the cryptocurrency violently fell by a high of $64,000 to around $50,000. The bullish market sentiment transformed into bearish in a spur of a moment.

    Bitcoin surged upwards to a new all-time high during the Coinbase listing in anticipation of what the NASDAQ listing would mean for the cryptocurrency sphere. At the same time, the funding rate also remained stable. But as the king of the market fell downwards – which some people account to the power outage in China – the funding rate followed.

    The funding rate uses the simple demand and supply mechanism of the market to reach equilibrium. If there are more long positions in the market then short ones, the funding rate will go up and vice versa. The crash of the funding rate represents more short positions as sellers dominate the market.

  • China Considering Cryptocurrencies as an Investment Tool

    China Considering Cryptocurrencies as an Investment Tool

    The Chinese government has maintained a tight grip on the cryptocurrency sphere in the country. The launch of the digital yuan is also expected to further discourage the crypto market in the country. The high risk of the cryptocurrency market had led the government to impose bans on initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency exchanges. However, the country may be re-evaluating its stance on cryptocurrencies.

    The high risk of the cryptocurrency market also translates into high rewards. Moreover, the largely untapped potential of the blockchain technology is something to be explored. This may have resulted in the Chinese government re-thinking about their harsh stance on cryptocurrencies.

    The deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Li Bo, recently spoke on the potential of cryptocurrencies as an investment tool. The governor further stated that Bitcoin and stablecoins are encrypted assets and; hence, alternative investments. Li disregarded the role of cryptocurrencies as currencies but rather focused on the future potential as investment tools or alternative investment.

    Li has been a strong advocate of cryptocurrencies and their incorporation into the economy. However, Li also stressed on the unclear and ambiguous regulation in the market. According to Li, if cryptocurrencies are to be established as payment tools then strict regulation and supervision is required.

  • Bitcoin Crash: Did The Chinese Cause It?

    Bitcoin Crash: Did The Chinese Cause It?

    The king of cryptocurrencies soared to $64,000 but suffered a massive crash afterwards to around $53,000. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $57,000 apiece. But what caused the hard crash of the cryptocurrency in the middle of strong bullish momentum? One analyst suggests it was the Chinese!

    Chinese mining hub in Xinjiang had suffered from power outages and on-chain analyst Willy Woo speculates it to be the cause of the fall of Bitcoin’s price. In the aftermath of a flooding accident in a coal mine, blackouts in the region were rampant to facilitate safety inspections.

    Around 25% of the global hashrate can be attributed to Xinjiang and amidst the blackout one of the largest drops in Bitcoin network hash was recorded – from 172 million terahashes per second to 154 TH/s. The analyst Willy Woo has attributed the fall in Bitcoin price to the drop in the hashrate on account of power outages in Xinjiang.

     

    However, not everyone agrees with the analysis. Adam Cochran – a partner at Cinneanhaim Ventures – regarded the idea of the Bitcoin crash due to hashrate fall as nonsense. Cochran further talked about the events merely occurring at the same time while there is no causation or correlation between Bitcoin price and hashrate.