Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Provision Allowing Cryptocurrency Payments in Foreign Trade Added to Russian Bill

A proposal to permit companies to use cryptocurrency in cross-border settlements has made its way to a draft law designed to regulate Russias crypto space this year. According to a press report, the finance ministry has introduced a number of revisions to the legislation it has been working on in the past few months.　　Changes to Cryptocurrency Bill Can Make International Coin Payments Possible in Russia　　The Russian Ministry of Finance has revised its draft law “On Digital Currency” to reflect various suggestions by other government departments and agencies, the business daily Vedomosti unveiled, quoting government sources. The amendments have been coordinated with the ministries of economy, digital development, internal affairs, the Federal Tax Service, and Russias financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring.　　The one major institution missing from that list is the Central Bank of Russia, which remains opposed to any legalization of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and respectively disagrees with the Minfin‘s regulatory concept which aims to establish a legal market for digital assets. The ministry’s legislation was first submitted to the federal government in February.　　There is a wider consensus among Russian authorities that cryptocurrency should not be accepted as legal tender in the country. The law “On Digital Currencies” bans the use of crypto

2022-05-30Deep Dive

Elon Musk: We're Approaching a Recession but It's 'Actually a Good Thing'

Elon Musk Discusses U.S. Recession　　Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk shared his thoughts on the U.S. economy and the upcoming recession in a series of tweets Thursday.　　Responding to a question about whether “were approaching a recession,” he answered: “Yes.” However, Musk noted, “this is actually a good thing.”　　The Tesla boss explained that “It has been raining money on fools for too long,” stressing that “some bankruptcies need to happen.” He elaborated: “All the Covid stay-at-home stuff has tricked people into thinking that you dont actually need to work hard. Rude awakening inbound!”　　His recession tweet followed a statement he made last week, stating that the U.S. economy is “probably” in a recession. He warned that things “will get worse,” and estimated that the recession could last 12 to 18 months.　　“The honest reason for inflation is that the government printed a zillion more money than it had,” Musk further commented.　　A growing number of investment banks have warned about a recession. Goldman Sachs Senior Chairman and former CEO Lloyd Blankfein recently said we are heading towards a recession, advising companies and individuals to prepare for it.　　In addition, Blackrock, the world‘s largest asset manager, cautioned in a research note this week that the Federal

2022-05-29Deep Dive

Russia contemplates allowing crypto for international payments

Russia is considering embracing crypto for international payments to help counter the impact of western sanctions.　　Ivan Chebeskov, the Head of the Financial Policy Department under the Ministry of Finance, said the Russian government is actively discussing the idea of using cryptocurrencies for international settlements.　　According to Chebeskov, allowing crypto as a means of settlement for international trade would help counter the impact of Western sanctions, which have limited Russias access to traditional cross-border payment mechanisms.　　Meanwhile, Russian regulators are actively grappling with reining in the countrys crypto market and the use of digital currencies. Notably, the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry have varying approaches to regulating the crypto space.　　The Central Bank proposes implementing an outright ban on crypto trading and mining, claiming the activities threaten Russias financial stability. On the other hand, the Finance Ministry suggests creating rules that distinguish white and gray markets.　　While the government seeks to start using crypto for payments, the Central Bank and Finance Ministry must first reach a consensus on how to regulate the crypto space. Discussions have been going on for months, but they are yet to bear fruit.Russia‘s economy continues to decline amid Western Sanctions　　Russia’s consideration of crypto as a means of payment comes

2022-05-29Deep Dive

Korean Government Considers Imposing Unified Listing Standard on Crypto Exchanges After LUNA, UST Co

Korean Governments Meeting With Cryptocurrency Exchanges　　The South Korean government is shifting responsibility for the crash of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) onto crypto exchanges, the Korea Times reported Thursday.　　The Korean National Assembly and the government held an emergency meeting with the heads of major crypto exchanges in the country Tuesday to discuss measures to prevent the recurrence of the LUNA and UST implosion. However, the lawmakers and financial authorities appeared to support the imposition of tougher regulations on crypto exchanges, the publication conveyed.　　The Korean government has criticized crypto exchanges for their delayed response to the collapse of the two cryptocurrencies. Several top Korean crypto exchanges did not delist LUNA until two weeks later. Some critics said they intentionally delayed delisting to reap more commissions from the incident.　　Rep. Yoon Chang-hyun of the ruling People Power Party raised concerns over crypto exchanges ambiguous listing and delisting standards. He stressed:　　The exchanges do not have any unified listing standard, nor do they hold any negotiations over the issue.　　Responding to the lawmakers‘ discussion about imposing a unified listing standard across domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, Lee Sirgoo, the CEO of Dunamu, which operates Upbit, the country’s top exchange, explained that it will not solve

2022-05-28Deep Dive

Bitcoin network difficulty falls 4.3% to 29.897T, biggest drop in 10 months

The Bitcoin network witnessed a historic event on May 12 when the network difficulty attained its all-time high of 31.251 trillion as miners mined nearly 50,000 BTC of the remaining 2 million tokens.　　While the Bitcoin community rejoiced the added resilience to the network owing to the rising difficulty in mining a Bitcoin block, the network difficulty recorded a drop of 4.33% — falling from 31.251 trillion to 29.897 trillion on May 26.　　As Cointelegraph reported on several occasions, Bitcoins network difficulty consistently achieved all-time highs over the past ten months as it recovered from a massive drop of 45.4% — from 25.046 trillion on May 29, 2021, to 13.673 trillion on July 22, 2021.　　Ever since then, Bitcoins network difficulty witnessed a total growth of 128.56% as it surged to its all-time high. However, despite the momentary decline of over 4%, the BTC ecosystem is still guarded by the most secure blockchain network.　　Higher network difficulty demands higher computational power to validate and confirm transactions over the BTC blockchain. As a result, this prevents bad actors from taking over the network by contributing to over 50% of the hash rate and carrying out double-spending attacks.　　According to Gonzalez, El Salvador made profits via strategic

2022-05-28Deep Dive

LUNA2.0 is finally live, airdrop underway

The LUNA revival plan has finally been realized as the first block of the new LUNA blockchain is underway. LUNA now exists in two forms, LUNA Classic (LUNC) and LUNA 2.0 (LUNA).　　The TerraUSD stablecoin has not been migrated over to LUNA 2.0, meaning that LUNAs only purpose now is on-chain governance.　　Over 70% of LUNA supply is either locked in staking, community pool, or for future developer allocation. The distribution of new LUNA tokens is through a worldwide airdrop to all investors who held LUNA or UST on May 7 or May 26, when the two snapshots were taken.　　Tokens are being allocated according to the proposal, with the majority going to both the community pool and pre-attack LUNA holders.　　Following the final snapshot on May 26, the price of UST dropped from just $0.11 to as low as $0.02. Given that UST has lost its peg to the dollar with no apparent way back, its use case and LUNC are unknown. LUNA 2.0, however, has been adopted by most of the major protocols in the Terra ecosystem. Therefore, there is a real hope that LUNA could rebuild its market cap in the future.　　Some investors may have to wait to receive their airdrop

2022-05-28Deep Dive

Why Are GameFi Projects Crucial Contributors To Crypto Adoption?

The gaming industry is pegged to hit the $200 billion mark by 2024 and is constantly outperforming expectations. Play-to-Earn (P2E) is trending in GameFi, besides being a significant catalyst for crypto adoption. According to Triple-A, the total revenue from blockchain gaming has risen from $321 million in 2020 to $1.5 billion in 2021.　　Blockchain-based games have attracted 1.22 million unique active wallets (UAW) in Q1 2022. Popular titles like Axie Infinity and Decentraland accounted for 22,000 of those. The promise of decentralized ownership, inclusive decision-making procedures, and attractive financial incentives are the primary factors drawing gamers to P2E.　　GameFi‘s success has been a massive push for crypto and blockchain’s acceptance and legitimacy, propelling adoption.　　GameFi — Gaming That Pays for Real　　GameFi combines gaming and finance, as the name suggests. It is the financialization of video games using blockchain-based methods to let users monetize their gaming experiences. Play-to-Earn (P2E) is a primary feature of this model. Traditional games have centralized business models where producers retain the maximum profit share, whereas in-game assets arent interoperable.　　Gamers thus have little or no way to monetize grinding or in-game achievements. Moreover, gaming studios have the final say over the games development trajectory, the supply of in-game assets, and

2022-05-27Deep Dive

The Impact Of Decentralized Sports Betting On The Blockchain

Everyone would agree that cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies, and the DeFi sector, in general, have exploded in both popularity and usage over the last decade or so. However, one particular industry which is currently looking to utilize the vast potential of this space is sports, specifically when it comes to betting.　　The relationship between blockchain and sports　　In recent years, the amount of business and management industries that have begun to adopt blockchain technology has expanded tremendously. The obvious advantages of decentralization, such as increased security, a P2P (Peer-to-Peer) model, and potentially enormous financial gains, appeal not only to these businesses and companies but also to various payment institutions.　　Decentralized sports have lagged behind other areas such as DeFi, despite the area being ripe for innovation. The benefits of blending blockchain with sports include freedom from traditional financial institutions as well as access to individuals from across the globe.　　Ultimately, when it comes to blockchain technology, the key foundations are integrity, visibility, decentralization, and network participant fairness. Third-party engagement, or intermediaries, would therefore fade into the background under such circumstances. This method will hence not only cut expenses but would most likely also instill new levels of fan confidence and advanced interactions with investors by

2022-05-27Deep Dive

Why Emerging Markets Are Leading the Charge on CBDCs?

With more than half of central banks worldwide working on digital currency initiatives, the US dollar-dominated payment network may in relatively short order become a thing of the past, according to the Bank for International Settlements.　　Emerging markets are at the forefront of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) movement, industry leaders say, a trend attributed to these economies having more pressing, fundamental needs than those of more developed markets.　　“Emerging economies appear to view CBDCs as a way to jump start their economies,” said Steve Aschettino, a Norton Rose Fulbright partner concentrating on fintech. “More-developed nations have existing and widely adopted electronic payment mechanisms already in place. While one may say this is an advantage, their existing payments technology can also serve as a barrier to the creation and broad adoption of a CBDC.”　　Emerging markets looking into CBDCs have similar goals and motivations, the BIS said in a report earlier this month.　　“Providing a cash-like digital means of payment, in light of reduced cash usage and an increase in private digital payment services, is the most common consideration,” the report said. “Other significant considerations include strengthening competition among payments service providers (PSPs), increasing efficiency and reducing the costs of financial services.”　　Jamaica, Brazil,

2022-05-27Deep Dive

These Crypto Exchanges Are Supporting The Terra 2.0 Airdrop

Crypto exchanges including FTX, KuCoin, Gate.io, Bitfinix, Huobi, Upbit, and Bitrue have announced support for the Terra 2.0 and LUNA airdrop. The exchanges will suspend LUNA and UST deposits and withdrawals with effect from today in order to let migration and airdrop execute successfully.　　Meanwhile, several exchanges such as Binance are yet to announce any further updates after disclosing that they are working closely with the Terra team on the recovery plan.　　Top Crypto Exchanges Support Terra 2.0 and LUNA Airdrop　　The anticipated launch of the new Terra chain on May 27 has mixed reactions from crypto exchanges. FTX, Bitfinix, Gate.io, and others supporting the Terra 2.0 migration and airdrop will suspend LUNA and UST trading on May 26. Moreover, tickers LUNA and UST will be changed to LUNC and USTC, respectively.　　LUNA and UST holders during the snapshot time will receive the new LUNA tokens through airdrops distributed by crypto exchanges.　　FTX seems to halt LUNA and UST trading at 12 pm UTC and perpetual orders will be canceled. Also, LUNA and UST spot borrow and lending positions will be auto-closed and will be no longer supported. Meanwhile, Gate.io has suspended LUNA and UST trading, as well as, margin borrowing and lending services, and

2022-05-27Deep Dive

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