Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Bitcoin rejects $40K as US dollar strength hits 20-year high

Bitcoin (BTC) made a fresh bid to crack $40,000 on April 28 as Wall Street trading opened to twenty-year highs for U.S. dollar strength.DXY now in “parabolic rally”　　Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting highs of $39,883 on Bitstamp before momentum waned, sending the pair $800 lower hours later.　　Traders had predicted what they saw as a relief bounce, with the implication that the subsequent rejection would spark continuation of the downtrend.　　On the day, caution was advised.　　“BTC Currently consolidating in this falling wedge. In case of a breakout Id be targetting $42K. Its good to wait for confirmation first if you decide to take the trade imo,” popular Twitter account Daan Crypto Trades argued.　　“Only a strong break and reclaim of $40.6k would make me look at higher targets,” fellow trader Crypto Ed added.“Charts: mostly pointing lower. Liquidity: a squeeze to the upside to hunt the shorts.” 　　With limited movement on Bitcoin itself, however, attention was fully focused on the dollar, which continued to outdo itself as the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) hit its highest levels since 2002.　　“The parabolic rally by DXY does not bode well for risk-on assets like stocks and Bitcoin. Until the rally cools off,

2022-04-28Deep Dive

US Dollar Will Remain Global Reserve Currency, Says It 'Has Great Inertia'

Process to Change Role of Dollar Very Slow　　The former governor of the Chinese central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, insisted in a recent interview that “unless there is [a] change in the global landscape” the U.S. dollar will remain the global reserve and payment currency. While he admitted that digital currencies could potentially become alternatives to the dollar, the former governor claimed that any process to change the role of the dollar is likely to be “very slow.”　　In his remarks while being interviewed by CGTN, Xiaochuan, however, suggested that policy “mistakes” by the U.S. government might potentially have a bearing on the dollars continued dominance. Xiaochuan, who is now the vice-chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, points to the use of the dollar as a sanctioning tool as one such mistake. Xiaochuan explained:　　For example, if we rely too much on the dollar system to impose financial sanctions, of course, if you impose sanctions, people will hide from you, and your role in payment and reserves will inevitably decline.　　Still, the former governor cautions that using the dollar system to impose sanctions just like other factors will not lead to the sudden waning of the currencys dominance. He said when looked at from

2022-04-28Deep Dive

ApeCoin (APE) Is Now The Biggest Metaverse Token, Edging AXS, MANA, SAND

The metaverse is a new type of digital reality that incorporates elements of social networking, augmented reality, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies.　　Cryptocurrency might be a perplexing subject to grasp. Many people believe the industry is untrustworthy and view investing as a gamble.　　Nevertheless, this fast expanding industry uses vast sums of money. Large investments may yield large returns, and 2018 has been a banner year for practically every major cryptocurrency and its supporters.　　Among the major cryptocurrencies, ApeCoin (APE) is making significant progress in the sphere of the metaverse. ApeCoin rose higher on Wednesday morning, increasing 7% to $19.10, taking its seven-day gain to almost 22%.　　This comes less than a week after Yuga Labs, creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced the opening of its Otherside Metaverse on Saturday.ApeCoin Beats MANA, SAND, AXS　　Since then, APE has surpassed Decentraland‘s MANA, The Sandbox’s SAND, and Axie Infinitys AXS to become the largest metaverse token by market valuation.　　This is a significant step forward for the BAYC NFT collection in light of recent controversy surrounding its legal cases.　　The BAYC collection is one of the most renowned in history. There are 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs, according to the NFT market OpenSea.Crypto total market cap at $1.78 trillion

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Deutsche Bank Predicts Major US Recession Next Year

Major US Recession Incoming, According to Deutsche Banks Economists　　Deutsche Bank has predicted a deeper downturn than its previous forecast for the U.S. economy in a report to clients, published Tuesday.　　The banks economists, including David Folkerts-Landau, group chief economist and head of research, explained in the report why the coming recession will be worse than expected. They described:　　We will get a major recession, but our strongly held view is that the sooner and the more aggressively the Fed acts, the less longer-term damage to the economy there will be.　　The report explains that it will take a long time before inflation falls back to the Feds goal of 2%. The authors warned that the central bank will likely engage in the most aggressive monetary tightening since the 1980s, which “will push the economy into a significant recession by late next year.”　　The Deutsche Bank economists detailed: “We assume conservatively that a Fed funds rate moving well into the 5% to 6% range will be sufficient to do the job this time … This is partly because the monetary-tightening process will be bolstered by Fed balance-sheet reduction.”　　Several other major investment banks, however, are less pessimistic than Deutsche Bank.　　Goldman Sachs recently estimated there is a

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Standard Chartered buys virtual plot in The Sandbox to begin metaverse expansion

Standard Chartered is the latest global bank to enter the burgeoning metaverse space via a partnership between its Hong Kong subsidiary and The Sandbox, according to a press statement released on April 25.　　According to the statement, the bank became the first bank to acquire “virtual land at The Sandbox metaverses Mega City district.” 　　StanChart said the purchase is geared towards creating a:　　“Metaverse experience [that] actively engages its clients, partners, staff, and the tech community, to explore co-creation opportunities in this new and exciting space.”　　The acquisition was led by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Groups innovation, fintech investment, and ventures arm.　　Speaking on the development, the head of Standard Chartereds SC Ventures, Alex Manson, said: 　　For the past few years, we have been building business models in crypto, digital assets and see the rise of the metaverse as a critical milestone in the Web3.0 evolution.　　This view was also echoed by Mary Huen, CEO of the lenders Hong Kong unit, who said:　　The metaverse is a vision for the next phase in the internets evolution, bringing new possibilities and unique experiences through the use of immersive technologies. Our involvement in the metaverse allows us to reimagine our relationship with existing and potential clients on this

2022-04-28Deep Dive

New Report: Blockchain Hackers Stole $1.3 Billion In Q1 2022

Despite the drop in bitcoin prices at the beginning of the year, thieves did not take a break. Hackers and scammers made millions of dollars from attacks on numerous crypto projects and ecosystems.　　According to the Atlas VPN teams new research, blockchain hackers stole approximately $1.3 billion in 78 hack events in the first quarter of 2022. Furthermore, hacks on the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems resulted in over $1 billion in losses in this quarter alone.　　Blockchain Hackers Eating Good　　The figures come from Slowmist Hacked, which compiles information about publicly acknowledged attacks on blockchain projects. The conversion rate of a particular cryptocurrency at the time of a hack or scam occurrence was used to quantify monetary losses　　During the first quarter of 2022, the Ethereum ecosystem was hacked 18 times, resulting in a loss of almost $636 million. The most significant attack of the quarter occurred at the end of March, when the Axie Infinity sidechain Ronin Network was hacked. The theft totaled $610 million, with 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC.　　In the first quarter of 2022, the Solana ecosystem was hacked five times, resulting in a loss of $397 million. Wormhole, a communication link between Solana and other DeFi networks, was hacked

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Buenos Aires Considers Allowing Locals to Pay Taxes in Crypto

The mayor of Buenos Aires – Horacio Rodriguez Larreta – indicated that the city will soon start digitizing its administration processes, while blockchain technology will play a key role. Additionally, the political leader hinted that residents could be allowed to pay their taxes in crypto assets instead.　　Buenos Aires Embracing Crypto　　The latest megalopolis that might dive deep into the cryptocurrency universe is Argentinas capital – Buenos Aires. In a recent interview, its mayor – Horacio Rodriguez Larreta – presented a 12-step plan called “Buenos Aires +,” which will aim to transform the city into a digital hub.　　An important part of the agenda is “the self-sovereign digital identity, which is one of the most innovative tools that are being given in the world so that citizens have their digital identification.” Through an application, locals will be able to authenticate their identity, which will enable them to have access to all their information in one place – their phones.　　Vaccination certificates, test results, civil registry documents, and birth certificates are some of the examples of documents that should go digital by the end of 2022.　　The mayor noted that the successful outcome of the initiative requires enhanced security. For that purpose, the authorities intend to

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Dual Bitcoin-Gold ETP to Start Trading in Europe

ByteTree Asset Management has announced a new exchange-traded product that combines gold and Bitcoin in a single fund.　　The Worlds First Gold-Bitcoin ETP　　A new exchange-traded product is betting on both Bitcoin and gold.　　ByteTree Asset Management will debut its new Gold-Bitcoin ETP Wednesday, letting investors go long on both physical and “digital” gold in a single fund. The 21Shares ByteTree Bold Index ETP will list on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker BOLD.　　The new ETP will rebalance its allocations of gold and Bitcoin every month based on its 360-day historic volatility. This results in the less volatile asset, gold, having a higher weighting to help maximize the products risk-adjusted returns. The ETP will likely have a 70-90% weighting of gold based on backtesting stretching back to 2016. “We are making Bitcoin an acceptable asset to hold and bringing gold into the 21st century,” said ByteTree CEO Charlie Morris.　　To achieve its unique pairing, ByteTree had to split custodianship between Coinbase, who will handle the Bitcoin, and JPMorgan, who will take care of the gold. According to Morris, BOLD is the first ETP to have two independent custodians. Due to the complexity of using separate custodians, annual fees for the ETP sit at

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Ex-BitMEX CEO explains how Bitcoin will have hit $1 million by 2030

Bitcoin (BTC) will cost $1 million by 2030, one of the industrys best-known pundits insists, as countries worldwide shun the euro and United States dollar.　　In his latest blog post published o April 27, Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto derivatives giant BitMEX, doubled down on his sky-high price prediction for Bitcoin and gold.Bitcoin, gold, commodities... just not fiat　　In light of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, a giant pivot in both geopolitical and economic policy is coming, Hayes said.　　As the U.S. and European Union battle to reduce dependency on Russian energy and food, the long-term repercussions are all but certain to hurt them — and send Bitcoin to the moon.　　The situation is complex. Inflation, already at 40-year highs before the Ukraine conflict, is being exacerbated by Western sanctions, while Russia is reeling from the West freezing hundred of billions of dollars worth of its offshore assets.　　China, meanwhile, is eyeing the situation with a view to protecting itself from a copycat move targeting its assets.　　Since the end of the 1990s, a virtuous circle has seen China sell cheap goods to the West in return for its fiat currency, which is then sent back to importers in return for government

2022-04-27Deep Dive

What Digital Banks Can Learn from Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, has emerged as a popular catchphrase, particularly among supporters of distributed ledger technology, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies. DeFi wants to remove control of personal finance away from banks and investment businesses in the same way that bitcoin was supposed to eventually take control of money away from governments.　　But, do customers really have to rely on DeFi to receive the solutions they want and desire？ And should banks perceive DeFi as a threat or an inspiration？ In this post, we will argue that banks may include DeFi features into their present and future digital platforms, and that many clients may be better served by sticking with a forward-thinking financial institution rather than embracing a totally decentralised approach.　　DeFi does not appear to be a significant danger to major banks at the moment. Many of its concepts are now in the development stage, with suppliers still attempting to obtain the necessary licencing to bring their solutions to market. Early adopters are generally decentralisation zealots or persons experimenting with DeFi while maintaining the majority of their wealth in traditional institutions. It will take some time for DeFi providers to be established long enough and give dependable enough service to entice the

2022-04-27Deep Dive

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