Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Paul Krugman Mocks Institutions for Hopping on Blockchain Bandwagon

Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman has slammed institutions for riding the blockchain bandwagon in a recent tweet.　　By flacking “blockchain something,” people want to cash in on the new buzzword.　　“Blockchain Vitamin Supplements next？” one Twitter user joked. Other users also recalled other popular buzzwords, such as “AI” and “cloud.”　　At the peak of the cryptocurrency craze in 2017, blockchain became the shiny new thing. A tea company called Long Island Iced Tea Corp infamously changed its name to Long Blockchain in a move that made its shares skyrocket by more than 200%. In 2021, three individuals who bought the companys shares before the rebrand were charged with insider trading.　　Krugman is a long-time Bitcoin naysayer, who criticized the worlds first cryptocurrency in his New York Times op-ed called “Golden Cyberfetters,” which was published all the way back in 2011.　　Last year, Krugman slammed crypto as “a long-running Ponzi scheme.” In January, he drew “uncomfortable parallels” between crypto and the subprime mortgage crisis.　　The most recent cryptocurrency market correction, which was triggered by the demise of Terra, was not left unnoticed by the prominent American economist. Please download WikiBit for more blockchain news.　　In a New York Times op-ed, which was published earlier this week, Krugman opined that

2022-05-20Deep Dive

Panama President Mulls Crypto Bill Approval Due to Money Laundering Concerns

The president of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, has declared he will not sign the recently approved cryptocurrency bill passed by the National Assembly of the country in its current form. Cortizo stated that one of his main concerns about the bill is the stance it takes regarding money laundering activities and crypto. Cortizo may approve some parts of the bill while vetoing others.　　Panamas President Considers Crypto Bill Veto　　Laurentino Cortizo, the president of Panama, has announced his opinion regarding the recently approved cryptocurrency bill, and how it might be too lax when it comes to dealing with unlawful activities like money laundering in the sector. While speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Latin America conference in Panama City, Cortizo stated:　　If Im going to answer you right now with the information that I have, which is not enough, I will not sign that law.　　Furthermore, Cortizo explained that he and his government would have to be “very careful” if the crypto bill presented has clauses dealing with money laundering activities, remarking that these are very important to Panama.　　Panama allows the president to have veto power over the bills presented by the National Assembly, and Cortizo could use this attribution to repel the bill

2022-05-20Deep Dive

Ripple Invests $100 Million into Combating Climate Change

Blockchain company Ripple has announced a $100 million investment in fighting climate change.　　The nine-figure funding will help to speed up the modernization of the carbon credit market.　　Carbon markets allow companies and individuals to trade carbon credits for offsetting CO2 emissions that some companies cannot eliminate.　　Ripple also says will invest in a new functionality that enables the tokenization of carbon credits.　　CEO Brad Garlinghouse claims that the blockchain company can play “a catalytic role” in improving carbon markets.　　The blockchain company has been boasting its green cred for a long time. Please download WikiBit for more blockchain news.　　Last October, Garlinghouse commented that a single Bitcoin transaction consumed 75 gallons of gasoline, to highlight the wastefulness of mining. The Ripple-backed XRP cryptocurrency is being pitched as an energy-efficient alternative.　　A recent study suggests that combining crypto trades with carbon offsets could help dramatically reduce the environmental impact of the largest cryptocurrency. Due to looming regulation, Bitcoin miners have started focusing on achieving carbon neutrality.　　Chris Larsen, one of the co-founders of Ripple, and Greenpeace USA recently launched a campaign targeting Bitcoins proof-of-work consensus mechanism. Larsen claims that Bitcoin developers could switch to proof-of-stake in order to dramatically reduce the flagship cryptocurrencys energy consumption.

2022-05-20Deep Dive

FTX.US Launches Stock Trading for Select Users

FTX.US opened its stock-trading service to select customers today, according to a press release from the company.　　FTX Stocks Now In Beta Access　　FTX.US has opened beta access to FTX Stocks, which will be offered through its trading app to a select waitlisted users. The offering will be expanded to the entire platform over the next month, according to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.　　The service offers eligible customers the opportunity to invest in hundreds of stocks, as well as ETFs and other securities. Users will also have access to fractional share trading in some cases.　　In order to ensure fair pricing, FTX.US will route orders through Nasdaq and will not receive payment for order flow. On Twitter, Bankman-Fried commented that the company earns “nothing” and that the “goal is just to give customers a great experience.”　　Elsewhere, FTX.US president Brett Harrison said that the service is part of the companys plans to increase its scope and “offer a holistic investing service for our customers across all asset classes” including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and traditional stocks.　　FTX.US is the eleventh-largest crypto exchange, with $250 million in trading volume over 24 hours. Its international counterpart is larger, with a $3 billion volume over the same period.　　FTX Will Compete With

2022-05-20Deep Dive

Economist H. Dent predicts Bitcoin crash to $3k before shooting to ‘$500k in next global boom’

Recent instability in the cryptocurrency market, hampered by increasing interest rates and growing inflation, has led to several industry analysts forecasting a market collapse in 2022.　　Speaking with Kitco News, the economist and founder of HS Dent Publishing, Harry Dent, discussed his market outlook for gold, Bitcoin, and the equity markets.　　According to Mr. Dent, and his current situation in the cryptocurrency market, he warned that Bitcoin could go down as low as $3,000 before shooting to $500,000 in a future market boom.　　“It‘s gonna crash and I think Bitcoin could go down to $3,000 or $7,000 and then go to half a million to a million in the next global boom [by 2037]. So that will be the buy of an of a lifetime, but I wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole even down 50% here.”　　Dent was of the opinion that the current crisis, after the “biggest bubble in history,” would demonstrate that it is not possible to just print money, and it will also demonstrate that countries want a new standard—something genuine and something for the digital domain. 　　Interestingly, the economist acknowledged gold is not that despite believing grow to three to five thousand in the next boom.　　He stated:　　“The globe

2022-05-19Deep Dive

Elon Musk: US Economy Is Probably in Recession That Could Last 18 Months

Elon Musk on U.S. Recession and Inflation　　Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, talked about the U.S. economy on the All-In podcast, published Monday.　　Commenting on whether the U.S. economy is in a recession, Musk said:　　We probably are in a recession and that recession will get worse but these things pass and then there will be boom times again … It‘ll probably be some tough going for, I don’t know, a year, maybe 12-18 months.　　He added that 12 to 18 months is roughly the amount of time for a correction to happen. Recession fears have escalated recently as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy to help cool down inflation.　　Musk explained that in his opinion, recessions are not necessarily a bad thing, emphasizing that hes been through a few of them in his time at public companies. “What tends to happen is, if you have a boom that goes on for too long, you get misallocation of capital — it starts raining money on fools, basically,” he described.　　Noting that the rising prices resulted from money printing, the Tesla boss said:　　The honest reason for inflation is that the government printed a zillion more money than it had … This is not like,

2022-05-19Deep Dive

SEC Chair Gensler Threatens Action Against Unregistered Crypto Exchanges

Testifying before a congressional subcommittee on Wednesday, Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler fired yet another warning shot at crypto industry leaders.　　“The crypto exchanges should come in and register,” said Gensler, “or, frankly, were going to continue to bring, use what Congress has given us, in our enforcement and examination functions.”　　The statement came in response to questioning from Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), who expressed his displeasure at what he perceived to be the SECs enduring failure to create an explicit set of regulations for cryptocurrencies.　　Making an analogy to football, Womack cautioned, “Before an official can throw a flag—do an enforcement action—you gotta know the rules.”　　The SEC has, to date, brought more than 80 enforcement actions against crypto asset offerings and platforms. Gensler argued on Wednesday that such actions were well within his agency‘s purview, saying, “I think the rules are actually quite clear that if you’re raising money from the public, and the public anticipates a profit based on the efforts of that sponsor, thats a security.”　　But the situation may not be so simple.　　Historically, the SEC has not clarified which crypto assets it classifies as securities, versus some that it‘s said could be considered commodities (and thus outside its

2022-05-19Deep Dive

Meta files five trademark applications for 'Meta Pay' teasing crypto and digital payment platform

Meta, formerly Facebook, has submitted five trademark applications in the United States for what appears to be new digital platform dubbed Meta Pay.　　The trademark applications, filed on May 13, described Meta Pay as an “online social networking service for investors allowing financial trades and exchange of digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, digital tokens, [and] crypto tokens.”　　Apart from payment and trading, Meta Pay could also include digital asset lending and investment services, per other details in the trademark filing.　　The social media giant previously acquired the MetaPay.com domain name from the South Dakota-based MetaBank in a $60 million deal in December 2021.　　The trademark filing is Metas latest crypto-related play having announced plans to begin testing NFTs on Instagram earlier this month.　　Meta previously filed eight trademark applications for its logo with the company describing the move as part of its pivot towards the digital economy.　　These efforts have not gotten to a great start with the company announcing that its metaverse-focused unit Reality Labs lost almost $3 billion in the first quarter of the year.　　The companys Diem stablecoin project also failed to get off the ground amid significant opposition from regulators across the globe. The assets from that initiative were

2022-05-19Deep Dive

Russia’s First Digital Financial Assets Expected This Year, Lawmaker Says

The first digital financial assets based on Russian blockchains may be issued as early as this year, a high-ranking parliamentarian announced. Three platforms are already registered as issuers, said Anatoly Aksakov, who chairs the Financial Market Committee at the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament.　　Russian Digital Financial Assets Likely to Appear by Years End　　Authorized Russian blockchain platforms may issue their first digital financial assets (DFAs) by the end of 2022, according to the head of the parliamentary committee overseeing Russias financial sector, Anatoly Aksakov.　　Speaking during the Moscow Academic Economic Forum, Aksakov noted that Russia is now actively working in this field after adopting the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which went into force in January 2021. DFA is the legal term that encompasses cryptocurrencies in the current Russian legislation.　　The Russian deputy revealed that three platforms — developed by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, Transmashholding, and Russias largest bank, Sberbank — are already registered as DFA issuers. Another two will be approved in the near future. Aksakov was quoted by Russian media as stating:　　“We expect that, maybe even this year, the first digital financial assets will be issued, and they will gradually become the basis for financial settlements on

2022-05-19Deep Dive

Binance Is Actively Applying for Licenses in Germany

Binance, the worlds largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is not abandoning its efforts to spread its tentacles to new jurisdictions and expand its global footprint despite the recent crypto market bloodbath.　　CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed Wednesday that the leading exchange is applying for official licenses to operate its regulated trading platform in Germany.　　Binance Seeks Go-Ahead To Run Crypto Exchange In Germany　　Speaking at the Online Marketing Rockstars Festival in Hamburg, Zhao revealed that Binance is currently in talks with German regulators. The exchange is also expanding its compliance team and applying for licenses in Germany.　　Binance‘s plans to operate in Germany come as it is ranked the most crypto-friendly in the world. The European nation now accepts crypto investments as part of its domestic savings industry. Furthermore, Germany’s federal finance ministry recently issued the first-ever nationwide tax guide for cryptocurrencies.　　If approved, Germany will be the second major European nation and G-7 member to explicitly allow Binance to conduct operations within its jurisdiction. Earlier this month, the firm secured regulatory approval in France. Just before that, Binance had gained provisional approval in Abu Dhabi to operate as a broker-dealer in virtual assets.　　Binance Deepens Europe Push　　At this time last year, Binance was facing severe

2022-05-19Deep Dive

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