Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

What Barriers Will Blockchain Remove from Asset Management?

Global inequality is worse than ever, and with the rising cost of living in many parts of the world as a result of the pandemic and political instabilities, the gap does not appear to be closing anytime soon. The rich-poor disparity has widened substantially in recent years, with the worlds richest 1% (those with more than $1 million in assets) controlling 45.8 percent of global wealth. This inequality is exacerbated by antiquated financial systems, which restrict access to premium systems and services to just those with the most cash.　　As a result, individuals seek alternative platforms that provide more access to decentralized, democratic, and transparent wealth management. To effectively bridge the wealth gap and restore trust in the financial system, new, innovative choices that go beyond standard asset management must be introduced.　　Using technology to its full potential　　Blockchain has transformed our attitude to currency, privacy, and the future of banking in just ten years. Despite the enormous potential for blockchain to disrupt and enhance sectors, few solutions currently employ this technology to democratize wealth management systems.　　To protect wealth management from being exclusive to the wealthiest members of society, a disruptor with the ambition and capabilities to achieve these goals is required.　　By leveraging

2022-06-29Deep Dive

BTSE Introduces BTC and ETH Earnings Products

BTSE, a digital asset exchange platform, has announced the availability of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) earn products.　　According to BTSE, after the debut, investors can receive passive income, and the new products contribute to the growing range of alternatives in BTSE Earn.　　According to the release, the products would begin with an annual percentage rate of 4.5 percent and might reach 6 percent. Users can also choose between depositing for 30, 60, or 90 days, with a minimum deposit of 0.5 ETH or 0.03 BTC.　　BTSE retail investors trade more than US$1.5 billion in BTC and ETH futures volume per day, while the company holds more than 99 percent of its customers cash in cold wallets to protect client assets.　　According to BTSE, it does not rely on third-party technology and instead uses self-hosted servers. The organization takes advantage of financial decentralisation to improve convenience, accessibility, and returns.　　“BTSE Earn products make it simple for our users to earn income on their assets.” This new service, which has no minimum investment criteria, no penalty lock-in options, and high returns, will provide customers with much-needed freedom when diversifying their asset portfolios. Given the high annualised interest rates, we anticipate substantial interest in both of our

2022-06-29Deep Dive

CoinFLEX Says 'Bitcoin Jesus' Roger Ver Is Behind Its Withdrawal Troubles, $47M Debt

CoinFLEX—one of many crypto trading platforms to freeze customer withdrawals this month—isnt facing an ordinary liquidity crunch.　　Rather, CEO Mark Lamb claims there is one man responsible for the platforms financial woes, and the reason it now seeks to raise $47 million in token sale to pay off its debt: the longtime Bitcoin evangelist turned Bitcoin Cash promoter, Roger Ver. 　　“Roger Ver owes CoinFLEX $47 Million USDC,” Lamb tweeted on Tuesday. “We have a written contract with him obligating him to personally guarantee any negative equity on his CoinFLEX account and top up margin regularly.”　　Lamb claims that Ver, who earned the moniker “Bitcoin Jesus” as an early Bitcoin adopter and angel investor, has been in default on this agreement and that CoinFLEX has already issued him a notice of default.　　Roger Ver owes CoinFLEX $47 Million USDC. We have a written contract with him obligating him to personally guarantee any negative equity on his CoinFLEX account and top up margin regularly. He has been in default of this agreement and we have served a notice of default.　　— Mark Lamb ???? (@MarkDavidLamb) June 28, 2022　　The CEO‘s comments confirm rumors initially leaked by a Twitter user known as “FatManTerra”—a member of the Terra Research

2022-06-29Deep Dive

Cathie Wood Says Crypto Revolution Will Not Be Stopped

In a recent interview with CNBC, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood sounded upbeat about the future of cryptocurrencies, stressing that they “will not be stopped” in spite of the recent market downturn.　　Ark Invest outlined its three revolutions around cryptocurrencies in its “Big Ideas” report that was published earlier this year.　　The Florida-based investment management firm believes that Bitcoin and Ether represent a “money revolution” by creating the worlds first private digital monetary system.　　Meanwhile, decentralized finance (DeFi) is leading the financial services revolution.　　“We are impressed at how robust the ecosystem has been,” Wood said.　　One of Wall Streets most famous stock pickers says that her team expected the collapse of Terra to cause a severe chain reaction, but the Ethereum blockchain has held up “very well.” In the aforementioned report, the Ark team predicted that the market cap of Ethereum could experience a 50-fold increase over the next decade.　　Ark is also convinced that the Metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent the next generation of the internet. This revolution is still in its infancy, Wood says.　　The investor is convinced that digital property rights provided by NFTs will become “incredibly important.”　　“Were gonna find all kinds of utility, and we cant even think of it right

2022-06-29Deep Dive

Ripple Opens First Canadian Office with New Growth Strategy

Ripple has announced the establishment of a new office in Toronto to act as a technical hub. Ripples new office is the companys first physical presence in Canada, and it was designed to support the companys future growth in North America and beyond.　　Ripple, the firm behind the XRP cryptocurrency, also wants to hire 50 engineers in Toronto initially, with the goal of eventually hiring hundreds more blockchain software engineers, including applied machine learning scientists, data scientists, and product managers.　　“Crypto and blockchain give a great opportunity for engineers to tackle tough issues, with the potential for these solutions to impact the movement of value around the world,” said Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple.　　Despite the present market conditions, which have seen many other cryptocurrency companies announce major layoffs and hiring freezes, Ripple intends to hire hundreds of staff internationally this year. Ripple wishes to attract the greatest personnel by assisting the companys innovation and serving its clients for many years to come. In the preceding year alone, the firm launched new offices in significant cities such as Miami and Dublin.　　The opening of the Toronto office demonstrates Ripples commitment to a location that is already a digital hotspot, where it will be able

2022-06-28Deep Dive

Samsung Asset Management to Introduce the First APAC Metaverse Theme Active ETF on the HKEX

In July, Samsung Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited (“SAMHK”) announced the launch of the first APAC metaverse theme active ETF, branded Samsung Asia Pacific ex NZ Metaverse Theme ETF, in Hong Kong (Exchange Ticker: 3172.HK).　　The listing is scheduled to go live on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 7, 2022. (“SEHK”). The ETFs listing price is HKD15, with a board lot size of 50 units and a price per lot of HK$750. The ETF is projected to be Asias first global APACblockchain ETF, with management fees of 0.85 percent per year.　　The new ETF, according to Samsung, is “a simple tool that can let investors invest in Metaverse related businesses in APAC ex NZ.” The categories that will be evaluated, according to the business, may include, but are not limited to, augmented reality/virtual reality, artificial intelligence, social media, online gaming, digital transactions, devices, platforms, and content.　　As of yet, the corporation has not made an official declaration about its top ten holdings.　　The metaverse is a virtual realm produced by the modern internet that uses 3D technologies to mimic, duplicate, or augment physical reality. Virtual reality, blockchain, and augmented reality are among the technologies used in the metaverse.　　According to Gartner, the metaverse

2022-06-28Deep Dive

Why The 2022 Crypto Bear Market Is Different And Its Implications

The drawdown in the crypto market has seen new trends emerge in the market. With the recent crash, bitcoin has seen some first-of-its-kind movement. The implications for these are vast given that the digital assets future movements are being recorded. This has shown that the recent bear market is different from every single one that has preceded it.　　Bitcoin Falls Below Cycle High　　One trend that bitcoin has always followed has been the fact that its price has never fallen below its previous cycle peak. For all of the previous bear markets, this trend has held and has been a form of a beacon when it comes to calling the bottom of the bear market. This is why a lot of analysts had called the bitcoin bottom using this trend.　　Now, though, for the first time ever, the price of bitcoin has fallen below its previous cycle peak. This happened when the price of the digital asset had broken below $20,000 and hit a low of $17,600. It has since recovered from this point but it had already set a new precedent, which is, that the price of the cryptocurrency does not necessarily always hold above its previous cycle peak.　　The implications of such

2022-06-28Deep Dive

Goldman Sachs Recommends Selling Coinbase ($COIN) Stock

Investment bank Goldman Sachs on Monday downgraded its rating on crypto exchange Coinbase, now recommending that traders sell the stock.　　Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on Coinbase to “Sell” from “neutral,” and also cut its price target on the stock to $45 from $70, in a recent research note. Shares of the firm fell 5.1% in premarket trade to $59.50.　　The investment bank‘s change of tone on Coinbase comes in the wake of the worst bear market experienced by crypto. A downturn in the crypto market has heavily dented the exchange’s operations, which saw it report a massive loss in the first quarter.　　Crypto crash dents Coinbases prospects　　Goldman Sachs analysts attributed the downgrade to the recent crash in crypto markets, which has pulled down token prices and weighed on trading volumes.　　The investment bank said that it now sees an extend crypto downturn further impacting the companys prospects, and expects its revenue to slump by about 61% in 2022.　　A bulk of Coinbases revenues come from the fees it earns from retail traders. This class of traders has been the worst hit by the crypto downturn, with rising U.S. inflation also weighing on their pockets.　　The exchange recently cut about 18% of its workforce, citing growing

2022-06-28Deep Dive

Morgan Stanley: Ethereum 2.0 Launch May Reduce Demand For GPUs

A new report from Morgan Stanley has revealed that if Ethereum switches to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus as planned, it will do away with the need for miners, reducing the demand for graphics processing units (GPUs), and significantly lower energy needs.　　Ethereum Miners Could Find Alternatives, Says Morgan Stanley　　GPU usage may decrease if Ethereum switches from a proof-of-work method to a proof-of-stake one through the Merge of the Beacon Chain with the ETH mainnet.　　Sheena Shah, an equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, says that the less energy-intensive proof-of-stake will result in a decline in the market for GPU miners. The report read:　　“Bitcoin and Ethereum currently require powerful computers for the mining process and consume a lot of energy which governments and regulators are increasingly concerned over. If Ethereum moves to using Proof-of-Stake (PoS) it will eliminate the need for miners (reducing demand for GPUs) and drastically reduce energy requirements.”　　The bank claimed that over the previous 18 months, crypto mining has significantly impacted the gaming graphics business, driving an expected 14% of revenue in 2021 while “significantly contributing to a major graphic shortage, which boosted overall mix and pricing.”　　ETH/USD trades at $1,200. Source: TradingView　　The report stated that although GPU demand might decrease, chip

2022-06-28Deep Dive

Report: Morocco's Central Bank to Unveil Crypto Regulation Bill Soon

The Moroccan central bank is presently working on a cryptocurrency regulation framework bill and according to the bank‘s governor, Abdellatif Jouahri, this is set to be introduced soon. The regulatory framework being worked on will result in Morocco’s money laundering and anti-terrorism financing regulations being upgraded.　　Crypto Regulation Best Practices　　A Moroccan central bank committee is working to put in place an appropriate regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) governor Abdellatif Jouahri has reportedly said. The governor also revealed his institution has engaged both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank over the benchmarks that will be used.　　Before Jouharis latest remarks, Bitcoin.com News reported in March 2022 that the Moroccan central bank was in talks with two global financial institutions as well as with the central banks of France, Sweden, and Switzerland. At the time, The talks, according to the central bank, were focused on what would be the crypto regulation best practices.　　Balancing Innovation and Consumer Protection　　Meanwhile, a Mapnews report stated BAMs mooted regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is expected to strike a balance between the need to foster innovation and the welfare of consumers.　　In addition to addressing issues around the regulation of cryptocurrencies, Jouhari hinted that the framework being

2022-06-28Deep Dive

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