Category: Bitcoin

Bitcoin analysts consider bitcoin as gold and compare Bitcoin and gold as bitcoin has many unique features, same as gold. Mike McGlone from Bloomberg Intelligence even said that bitcoin is soon to replace gold and the regulators of the United States will attempt to interrupt its advancement. One of the senior commodity market strategists stated that “digitalization of money and finance” are the two main reasons behind the excellent growth of the bitcoin market against gold. Factors that helped bitcoin are the same as those that helped the U.S. dollar earn governance over gold and other precious metals in an organic way.

The comments of McGlone have appeared as carried away from a conference that held at Bretton Woods hotel in New Hampshire where there were majorly macro analysts, investors and economists that included Amy Oldenburg from Morgan Stanley and Jurrien Timmer from Fidelity Investment, along with yahoo.com.

Bretton Woods is one of those famous economists. They are known across the world for hosting the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference that was later led to the commitment that Australia, the United States, Japan, Western European countries and Canada will tie their traditional currencies to precious metals like gold. This resulted in the formation of a new monetary system known under the title “Bretton Woods system”.

But a change took place when President of the U.S., Richard Nixon, announced taking the dollar off the precious metal standard. Economists were against taking the dollar off the gold standard and said that it was the barbaric remnant. In the latest conference, “Bretton Woods: The Realignment”, it was announced about the end of the Bretton Woods system, and it mainly discussed focusing on new financial assets that are emerging like Bitcoin. It is believed that financial assets like cryptocurrencies will soon replace the dollar and become global reserve assets quickly.

McGlone stated that Bitcoin has the features that challenge the position of gold as a competitor to the greenback.

An economic historian of Princeton University, Harold James, has said that digital currencies and technology are driving the monetary revolution, which has led to the end of the global importance of greenback. People and the government are worried about whether the dollar will survive or not. But it has been noticed that the dollar has met unparalleled economic conditions after the global pandemic of covid-19.

News is out from a company based on crypto aiming to lay support for the businesses dealing in cannabis and helping customers avail themselves of standard quality commodities. News highlights that the company is coming into the Cosmos sector by making a switch.

A globally operating company based on blockchain-built technology that acts as a support system for companies dealing in cannabis to enjoy a cashless experience came with an announcement that the company is making a switch by entering into Cosmos.

At current, the blockchain platform is performing in a customized DASH/BTC technology version. Though it works as wonderful support for payment gateway, the first infrastructure came into performance a decade ago. The executives speak on the matter that they hope to work on improving and progressing the network.

BiTCanna considers Cosmos as a great option that is present in the current time and it does hold a strong performance in Testnet surroundings. Along with this, BitCanna is considering offering other infrastructural sweeping changes that will enable Cosmos to open the way for a “supply chain layer” with higher efficiency and ensures a seamless BCNA new coins transaction.

Why shift to Cosmos?

BitCanna reveals that the newly launched coin based on Cosmos will result in speedy payment transactions and fewer fees on transactions in comparison to the current operating network. The benefits are not just limited to this, since other benefits comprise how blockchains get a chance to engage in communication with each other in Cosmos- making BitCanna build a network with Polkadot, Ethereum, Cardano, and Binance Chain likes. It depicts that the team will enjoy freedom with the development of features – resulting in unlocking different possibilities for customization and lowering the time required in development.

Apart from the native launched coin, another coin will come as an “ERC-20 token” and both the coins will be Cosmos-based. Over time, BitCanna holds a belief to come into the market by launching certain exchanges that run in a decentralized network like SushiSwap and Uniswap, which are high in the market with a volume for trading going to $1 billion every day. Learning all this, one gets to understand that users of BCNA don’t need to cover up details for KYC (Know Your Customer) verification.

At present, it is said to the BCNA holders that there’s no need to move ahead with any action step. Within the future months, holders will get hands over an opportunity to indulge in coin swapping for Cosmos-based currency. Also, many opportunities will come to serve as BitCanna delegator or validator.

Modifying attitudes in the regulatory network

Although there’s a shift in the regulatory network framework and attitudes are changing, BitCanna says that restrictions are impeded on the industry operating globally for cannabis. Different payment providing services don’t accept entrepreneurs providing service even after the legalization of marijuana’s recreational and medical use in some places due to the shade type of image prevailing in the sector.

Also, BitCanna is engaged to form an alliance that works suitably for legislators and acts as a measure in resolving multiple issues that are just ruining the prevailing market.

Bitcoin is the digital currency that you can use to buy things. The usage of this currency is increasing day by day. There are many countries which are accepting this currency as one of the legitimate ways to make payments for the purchases made online or offline. The price of bitcoins will increase even in 2021. However the growth is not the same forever. The price of the asset has been pushed to up to USD 42,000 per a coin. The price of the bitcoins has been doubled in the last two months. It has broken the record that was set in 2017. The podcaster Nathaniel Whittemore has expressed the opinion of having a bull market top for this digital currency.

The podcast has been telecasted with the name, the breakdown. If the inflation is what is troubling you, this can be reduced by getting in touch with the money managers and institutions that would be fine with the idea of inflation. You do not have to worry about this. The interesting thing is that bitcoin has gotten back to its feet faster compared to the stock market in the US, which has seen the same kind of decline. After the completion of the third-ever halving event, the macro trend has taken a big leap. The price of bitcoin would increase in 2020. There are many companies who are allocating some capital for these digital assets. The US economic scene plays a critical role in this equation. The government has started to work on many stimulus packages and printed the dollars.

The bitcoin bull markets have come up with the correction in the prices between the bullish outlooks. There is a short term price summit that must be corrected with the macro landscape. The local top would be creating a lot of nervousness among the people. There are many new retail investors who are coming up. This is what is going to happen. Before eight days from the New Year, the price of the bitcoin has risen to 40% as per the data that is collected from TradingView.com data. The speed at which the price of the coin has risen is pretty fast. There are big buyers who have been unlocked. The cap for the bitcoin supply is around 21 million. The age of the asset would be less than 15 years. Many experts call this asset to be a bubble.

There are rumors that US authorities are all set to curb the anti-money laundering transactions from across the border. The Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin who is outgoing now is likely to make several rules around cryptocurrency before he leaves office in January.

The AML threshold is likely to be reduced from $3000 to $250 compliance for transfers in crypto or fiat sent out of the US. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Fed are likely to change the rules in this regard.

Short notice period

It is interesting to note that the proposal for changing the rules was given a one month response period, which is very less when compared to the typical duration of 60-90 days. Yet another strong rumor floating in the market is that these proposals come directly from political appointees and not the people who work at FinCEN or the Fed.

Market experts feel that people who work at FinCEN have a broader perspective about the process, and they take a steady approach to such problems. However, Mnuchin has time till the end of January before he leaves office, and he looks determined to implement these changes quickly.

Industry response to the proposals

The industry response to these proposals is shocking as many people believe that regulators are still not ready to make such drastic changes around unhosted wallets, and they should take time to understand the process. Many experts said that they would be surprised if the proposals come true. The knee-jerk reaction to this problem would complicate things further, and it can be resolved if the regulators had a detailed discussion with industry experts. The industry believes that there are different and better methods to handle the situation than to take an old fashioned approach.

Crypto wallets that are self-hosted

The industry experts also say that the regulators do not clearly understand what they call self-hosted or unhosted wallets. The Financial Action Task Force has global recommendations for such wallets, and this involves having a virtual asset service provider and private wallet.

Even Switzerland also implemented such rules, and this made it mandatory for exchanges to have rules in case of transactions which are more than of $1000. Apart from that, the one needs to prove the ownership of before such transactions are approved by the regulators. The industry is shocked to see such regulations coming from the US as it was a good market for cryptocurrency.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor, said that crypto assets are not suitable for the world of payments. He revealed his thoughts during one of the virtual conferences hosted by the famous Brookings Institute. When asked about what he thought about cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and how their possible worth in the future, he said that BTC was merely an asset and was not related to money at all. He finds it difficult to believe that crypto assets could actually be an investment as their value fluctuates quite a lot.

Bailey shared his thoughts on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins when he talked about the adoption of innovation in the payment systems. But, he clarified that the stablecoins could provide some benefits like reduction of frictions in payments. But then he again warned that using stablecoins as a means of payment would mean that they also have the same standards as other payment options out there. He further highlighted the fact that a lot of stablecoins proposals do not include any legal claim for the crypto asset holders. They should provide the holder with a mechanism where they are supported and protected so that they can redeem them into fiat currency whenever needed.

The governor added that for stablecoins to become a global currency, it should be based on single currencies but would not mind accepting multi-currency stablecoins if it comes to that. He believes that stablecoins are a cross-border phenomenon. While it can be under one jurisdiction, it can be denominated in another and also be in use in a third country. Any regulatory body will have to keep these points in mind and offer a global response, especially for stablecoins that are meant for inter-country transactions.

In June 2020, a blockchain firm called L3COS, based out of the UK, submitted a proposal to the BoE or the Bank of England to create an operating system that is based on the blockchain so that the bank could issue digital currency under its supervision. Even in March 2020, the BoE published another paper on CBDCs that mentioned the changing landscape of digital payments and how CBDCs could play an important role in providing financial stability.

The global economy is going through a major crisis right now. Being the most valuable asset, Bitcoin has also its fair share in the global shift. Crypto experts have been presuming that the Bitcoin will have its breakthrough in the coming days.

But it cannot be seen anytime soon. Although the price increased to a historical mark of $12,000 level, it was not a permanent hike. The market cap of the crypto market is $386.4 billion. This is phenomenal in crypto history.

Since the global economy is under pressure, the demand for crypto has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. People are facing uncertainty around the world but not everyone is willing to invest their hard-earned money in a volatile asset such as Bitcoin.

What About U.S. Dollar?

The U.S. dollar has maintained its position even during the pandemic. As long as the U.S. is considered as a powerful country, the dollar will continue to grow. It is known as the reserve currency throughout the world. Thus, its value will remain constant regardless of what’s happening in the world.

The chances are, the dollar can create a situation of hyperinflation in the future. Because every currency is under risk, major investors like Warren Buffet has started to invest in gold. For major investors gold is a better yet stable option to invest in uncertain times.

Crypto Industry Is Reaching New Heights

Not everyone was assured of the recent success of the crypto market but still, it has flourished even during the pandemic. Some cryptocurrencies have quadrupled in their value while some of them have increased more than 100%.

According to some professionals, crypto is still better than most precious metals like silver as well as oil. The price of oil is decreasing in some countries. Cryptocurrency is also outperforming S&P 500, which is settled at the return of +5.8%. Cryptocurrency, on the other hand, sits at 71.2%.

Future Of Crypto

The crypto market can’t surge overnight. It is too early to say what the future holds for cryptocurrency. Since inflation can occur anytime, and investors will tend to come back to the assets or commodities that are not affected by inflation.

The higher the adoption of crypto, the greater will be the challenges. It is not easy to have a digital wallet or a crypto trading account for most of the people. Crypto market is still in its young phase. Some investors are still unassured of the capability of Bitcoin and other digital assets.

The short answer to this question is yes, and the long answer is that it is complicated. Bitcoin mining started as a profitable hobby that has now turned into a complex profession, involving professional mining firms using advanced mining hardware utilizing enormous amounts of energy. Cryptocurrency mining is profitable if you have access to cheap electricity and considerably advanced mining hardware. In 2015, a Bitcoin was priced at $300 and reached its peak in December 2017 at $20,000 per Bitcoin. Moreover, many other cryptocurrencies have witnessed similar surges and growth since its inception, including two other most popular cryptocurrencies – Ethereum and Litecoin. 

Initially, people were able to mine coins simply from their home computers with reasonably sound configurations. It is likely not possible anymore due to heavy competition in the crypto world today. Simply put, the computers involved in crypto mining are rewarded for extending their computational power to solve complex mathematical puzzles. The rewards with Bitcoin are cut by half every four years, and small miners find it difficult to compete with other major mining firms and individuals who have set up extensive mining operations. Miners can join mining pools too, but it does come with its pros and cons, including reduced profits and joining fees. 

The difficulty of Bitcoin mining is calculated in hash rates, and as of now, it is at an all-time high at around 120 million terahashes per second. It clearly showcases that the mining network has been growing tremendously in capacity with a lot more mining power added. The massive ups and downs in the price of cryptocurrencies have been a risk factor as well for many of the small-time miners. They are constantly worried about the increase in hash rates and energy prices without getting reliable returns. In 2020, the prices of many of the major cryptocurrencies have witnessed a fall, and it is likely to remain so until the next Bull Run.

However, the risk-takers during this time would be highly rewarded when the market stabilizes, and the financial world starts recovering after the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the crypto analysts have been speculating a surge in Bitcoin prices and few other cryptocurrencies in the altcoins space in the near future. Whether mining is profitable or not depends on your investment and holding capacity, as mining is all about patience. Making profits from mining needs patience, time, and reasonably large investment capacity to support ongoing expenses like maintaining mining hardware, energy bills, and so on. So, crypto mining is profitable in the long-term for sure, but it is not for everyone. 

Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrencies but other digital coins are also joining the race. The alternative crypto assets are now outperforming the Bitcoin. Altcoins, for instance, has recorded the highest gain in the last few days.

Such altcoins are Stellar (XLM), VeChain (VET), Cardano (ADA), and Chainlink (LINK). While the reported gains for large-cap coins was noticeable but small-cap coins skipped to triple-digit percentage gain.

Top 10 Cryptocurrency Coins

In the past week, some coins have outperformed all the coins including the Bitcoin. These coins are BSV, XLM, ATOM, VET, ALGO, XRP, ADA, LINK, CRO, and ETC. Bitcoin’s gain was just 1.13% during this period.

ATOM topped the chart by gaining a considerable 54.60% price while the price of CRO coin hiked 11.68%. The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is worth $700 million.

With an increased price of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, the demand has also increased. Both retail and institutional consumers are increasing with each passing day. The gain is reportedly the result of Bitcoin halving in May this year.

ATOM and XLM are the first two top-performing assets and the third one is the VET. Some crypto enthusiast guessing that this gain has surged from the participation of VeChain at a major crypto conference. While others think that the Coinbase listing has caused it.

Stellar and Cardano are ready to update their protocols in the coming days. Cardano is set to activate its hard fork on 30 July. The never-ending series of newly launched cryptocurrencies and the protocol updates is what created a hype in the crypto market.

The month of June was record-breaking for Chainlink crypto asset. During this period Chainlink asset surpassed its previous price and reached a height. The asset also achieved its Price Discovery state in the past few weeks. This is the state where an asset surpasses its highest record price. Quite naturally the asset attracted a lot of customers in the meantime.

Why Altcoins Are Becoming Customer’s Favorite?

The first reason for this is the price increase of ETH. It has hiked by 270% in the last four months. Since ETH coincides with altcoin uptrends, the customers are now seen investing in altcoins. The future of altcoins can also be depicted as an altcoin bull run.

The other factor is the protocol upgrades by top cryptocurrencies. Cardano has just launched its Shelley upgrade at the end of July 2020. After the roll-out of Shelley, Cardano will have a decentralized network that is 50-100 times more decentralized than other cryptocurrencies.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, history continued to repeat itself when common public health approaches were progressively put into action from one state to another. Such behaviours have disrupted the more normal everyday habits, resulting in minor but important improvements in how we work, function, pay and play from guidelines on the psychological divide to lockouts. Through QR payment code to electronic wallets, also in Southeast Asian economies, where money has traditionally reigned as sovereign, the call to non-cash payment forms has gradually been institutionalized. The move is positive provided that more than 70 per cent of women still do not have exposure in the country to fundamental financial services. Such infrastructures are expected to bring about structural improvements with a view to ensuring inclusive economic growth. In tandem with digital technology like blockchain, a new line can be converted to existing financial systems in order to best support those who are in need.

From Crisis to a Cashless World

Conflicts have the potential to cause big improvements. This tale is much more obscure, reminiscent of the explosive development that has arisen since the 2003 SARS disease in the Chinese electronic payments and e-commerce sector. Today China, of course, is home to a thriving landscape controlled by technology giants like Alipay and WeChat Pay. Coronavirus clearly accelerated penetration on emerging markets such as Singapore, which have a complex network of online payment options.

The Singapore reserve bank promoted the use of e-payment infrastructure and services including the island-wide QR code scheme for mobile e-wallets to allow besides lack of familiarity and contactless payments as part of the federal government’s public health policy. The volume of e-payments transactions alone rose in the city-state in the first quarter of 2020. A multigenerational transition has emerged with bank employees over the age of 54, showing growing confidence in internet banking services during the pandemic. Around the same time, the coronavirus has been used as a significant agent for rapid reform in many developed economies. The influence of financial technology was particularly pronounced here, and can not be lagging behind their developed counterparts.

Developing economies will gain more by operating on a “go digital or die” slogan to pull a technology-enabled paradigm of expanded fiscal and social flexibility regarding the financial pressure created by the international health crisis.

Going for the top to down

Regardless of whether developing markets have taken a radical stand or developing economies free of the bonds of established players, openness and competition define Southeast Asia’s financial services industry. We will certainly see more exhilarating instances of institutional usage in the presence of blockchain technologies as the country moves on its transparent financial course.

What Is Uphold?

Uphold is a leading digital payment platform that has more than 2.25 million customers. The company has recently launched a series of investment options to its customers. It offers hassle-free payments and investment options to both, individuals and businesses. Thus, it provides easy access to global cryptocurrencies and metals, equities, and more!

Affordable U.S. Equities For Latin Americans

Uphold, a crypto payment platform has introduced a new service to its users. According to this service, crypto holders can now own a fraction of shares in the leading companies. This service is only available to the Latin Americans as of now but it has a huge scope.

Unlike before it is now easier for crypto holders in Latin America to invest in the leading companies like Tesla, Google, and Amazon. The minimum investment is as little as 10,000 Satoshis.

Uphold supports multiple cryptocurrencies and once you are registered with the website, you’ll be able to pay in Bitcoin as well. By using Uphold’s uninterrupted service anyone can buy a stake in some of the leading companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Tesla, Google and more!

What Is The Purpose Of Uphold Behind Launching This Service?

For many years, the U.S. equities have been a reliable source of income for a majority of people in the country. But this source was not available to the other countries. It was just a dream to most of the Latin Americans to buy stakes in renowned companies. It was either too expensive or was not available at all.

One share of Amazon costs $2,400, which is a huge sum for someone who earns approx. $3,000 a month. But Uphold has made it possible for everyone whose income is less but financial plans are high.

In a press release by Uphold, the company confirmed that they want to make it affordable to Latin natives. For a little amount of 10,000 Satoshis, anyone can invest in the company of their choice.

It is an equities service specifically designed for Latin America. It is the most hassle-free option to access the U.S. equities for the first time in history. There is no minimum investment and no hidden charges in addition to the investment.

Latin people can buy a fraction of expensive stocks without paying a huge amount of cryptocurrency. It gives easy access to the world’s largest equities market at a fraction of the cost.

Features of Uphold U.S. Equities

1. The number 1 and probably the most attractive feature of this new service by Uphold is the affordability. People in Latin America can invest as little as $1 in a valuable company such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
2. There is no commission to trade on the platform. The commission-free model of Uphold eliminates any extra cost and hidden charges. While other platforms are charging dormancy charges, forex fees, and account maintenance, anyone can get relief from these extra charges while using Uphold.
3. It is the easiest way to trade in U.S. equities.
4. Another feature which makes Uphold a unique platform is convenient while shifting from one company to another. For example, you can shift from Google to Amazon in one simple step without prior USD conversion. The platform allows to trade in more than 100 cryptocurrencies, equities, metals, and currencies. It will require a single trade to be shifted into another company while other platforms may require two trades in this case. Other platforms, on the other hand, consumes so much time and money in conversion. But on Uphold, anyone can go from Bitcoin to Amazon in one trade.

Latin American customers of Uphold are using the platform for saving their money to stay protected from the constant devaluation of the currency. The new feature that allows them to trade in U.S. equities can become a huge source to invest at an affordable option. Since the U.S. equity is still one of the most viable option to invest even during the global pandemic.