Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Brazil’s Senate approves 'Bitcoin law' to regulate cryptocurrencies

Brazil‘s Senate has passed the countrys first bill governing cryptocurrencies in a plenary session, which will set the stage for the creation of a regulatory framework for the country’s crypto industry.　　The bill must be approved by the Chamber of Deputies and then signed off by President Jair Bolsonaro to become law in the country. This is expected to occur by the end of 2022, according to experts who spoke with Cointelegraph Brazil.　　The session that approved the project was chaired by Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco who said:“I want to congratulate the rapporteur of the project, Senator Irajá, for the approval, here in the Plenary of the Senate, for this important bill.”　　Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro first proposed the bill in 2015.　　The bill was then approved in the Senate following lengthy deliberation on April 26, combining Senator Ribeiros bill with Senator Arnss bill PL 3825/2019 for which Senator Irajá Abreu was rapporteur.　　During the session, the Senate confirmed that the countrys executive branch would be responsible for formulating rules for crypto-assets and could either create a new regulator or delegate its power to the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) or the Central Bank of Brazil (BC).　　The session also saw several senators including the bills

2022-04-27Deep Dive

Bitcoin Mining Ranked As One Of The World’s Most Sustainable Industries, Survey Shows

The Bitcoin Mining Council published the first report for 2022 on the state of the network and one of its most controversial aspects, energy consumption. Gathered by a voluntary survey, the data from this report represents 50% of this cryptocurrencys network.　　Created in 2021 as a voluntary global forum with major Bitcoin mining companies and MicroStrategy, this organization has been publishing data that offers a contrast to the vision of the network presented by mainstream media.　　This year‘s results indicate that survey participants are using 64.6% electricity with a sustainable power mix. This represents a 59% year-on-year increase in this cryptocurrency’s sustainable electricity mix which makes this industry “one of the most sustainable industries globally”.　　As the BTC network expands and with the implementation of technological improvements, it has become more secure while increasing its efficiency and reducing its energy usage. The latter has declined by 25% year-over-year.　　As the organization discovered, the Bitcoin network represents an “inconsequential” amount of the global energy consumption with 16 basic points (bps). As seen below, the total energy generated around the world stands at 1154,750 terawatts per hour (TWh) and BTC mining consumes only 247 TWh.　　Source: BTC Mining Council (BMC)　　Michael Saylor, CEO at MicroStrategy, presented the results

2022-04-27Deep Dive

Bybit exchange rolls out options trading as part of expansion plans

Singapore-headquartered crypto exchange Bybit has added crypto options trading to the suite of products it offers. A press release revealed this news earlier today, noting that the company decided to roll out options trading based on user feedback. This launch further bolsters Bybits product line, which features spot, derivatives, mining, and staking offerings, to name a few.　　According to the press release, Bybit users will now be able to trade USD Coin (USDC) options and perpetuals through portfolio margin, which is best suited for professional traders, to increase fund utilization based on the underlying price and volatility.　　The publication further noted that this launch would help Bybit become an all-in-one trading platform with an intuitive interface that offers open API support. In so doing, Bybit hopes to enable the flexible trading of European-style linear options.　　Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou commented,　　Options is something that our existing clients have long been asking for since there has been no other revolutionary product offered in the market at the moment.　　He added:　　We are confident that our state-of-the-art offering will set the bar for the sector and normalize crypto options trading, just like what Robinhood did for stock options. We are also excited to bring with us

2022-04-27Deep Dive

Will The Ethereum Merge Skyrocket ETH?

The Ethereum Merge is the most critical aspect of the ETH 2.0 upgrade, since it will convert from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake system.　　The move from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus is the focus of the upgrade. The improvement, as previously reported, has been postponed until the end of 2022, with no specific deadline in sight.　　The worlds second-largest cryptocurrency was meant to be weeks away from the “merge” a June upgrade of its blockchain Ethereum that would make it faster, cheaper, and less power demanding, promising a meaner and cleaner crypto future.Ethereum Merge Will Help ETH　　Messari‘s senior research analyst Tom Dunleavy believes in a report titled “The Decoupling Thesis” that the Ethereum merger will likely be a major turning point in investors’ economic outlook.　　He points out that in the past, the crypto market leaders, Bitcoin and Ethereum, had a high positive association with the broader US stock market. For longer durations, the correlation between the two cryptos and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 index was 40-50 percent, while for shorter periods, it was about 90 percent.　　Gold and US government bonds, on the other hand, have historically had a negative correlation with stocks. However, this negative link is weakening at the moment.

2022-04-27Deep Dive

Standard Chartered Bank Enters the Metaverse

Standard Chartered Bank Forays Into the Metaverse　　Standard Chartered Bank announced Tuesday that its subsidiary, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. (SCBHK), has partnered with The Sandbox, a popular blockchain virtual gaming platform, “to create [a] metaverse experience.”　　Standard Chartered is a leading global bank with 85,000 employees serving customers in close to 150 markets worldwide. It has 776 branches globally.　　The bank explained that it is the first bank to acquire “virtual land at The Sandbox metaverse‘s Mega City district, a culture hub based on or inspired by Hong Kong talents.” The initiative is led by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Group’s innovation, fintech investment, and ventures arm.　　The announcement details:　　SCBHK will actively engage its clients, partners, staff, and the tech community, to explore co-creation opportunities in this new and exciting space.　　The bank aims to experiment and build new experiences for clients, as well as bring “the local sports and art communities into the metaverse,” the announcement adds.　　Alex Manson, head of Standard Chartereds SC Ventures, commented:　　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.　　Other major banks and financial services firms that have entered

2022-04-27Deep Dive

US Prosecutors Charge Two Europeans in Connection With North Korea Crypto Conference

United States prosecutors have slammed charges against two Europeans for allegedly conspiring with recently sentenced Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith to help North Korea evade US sanctions with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.　　Two Suspects Tied to 2019 Pyongyang Crypto Conference　　According to a Department of Justice (DoJ) press release on Monday (April 25, 2022), 47-year-old Spanish citizen Alejandro Cao de Benos and a 30-year-old British citizen, Christopher Emms, founded the Korean Friendship Association back in 2018. Later, they organized a Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea.　　Both Cao de Benos and Emms recruited Griffith, a U.S. citizen, to speak at the cryptocurrency conference in April 2019. The prosecutors also said Emms assured Griffith that his passport will not be stamped to avoid alerting U.S. authorities about his travel to the DPRK.　　Furthermore, the British suspect “obtained a rare full permission” from North Korea to enable the Ethereum developer to enter the country for the conference. The indictment also alleged that Emms and Griffith taught their North Korean audience ways how to use crypto to circumvent sanctions imposed by the United States.　　The two European suspects face a single count charge for “conspiring to violate

2022-04-27Deep Dive

Bitcoin fails to hold $40K with traders still hoping for a BTC price relief bounce

Bitcoin (BTC) pierced $40,000 at the Wall Street open on April 26 as its latest relief rally lasted less than 24 hours.$39,500 eyed as BTC safety net　　Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dropping from local highs of $40,800 on April 26.　　At the time of writing, volatility was in evidence as bulls and bears tussled for $40,000, a level which had been beaten with April 25s uptick.　　United States equities contributed to the return of sell-side pressure, with the Nasdaq 100 promptly losing 1.5% on the open and the St over,” he tweeted alongside a chart showing the setup.“$BTC could dip to as low as the red area but should be able to enjoy trend continuation afterwards upon successful retest.”　　As Cointelegraph reported, RSI has been responsible for various short-timeframe breakouts on BTC/USD in recent months.Dogecoin holds Twitter-inspired gains　　On altcoins, it was Dogecoin (DOGE) once again leading the pack, with its latest gains propelling it back into the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap.　　Related: Dogecoin price risks 40% correction despite Elon Musk-Twitter euphoria　　Famous as his pet crypto asset, DOGE had profited from Tesla CEO Elon Musk closing a deal to buy Twitter, and DOGE/USD was up 11% in 24 hours

2022-04-26Deep Dive

Dogecoin price risks 40% correction despite Elon Musk-Twitter euphoria

Dogecoin (DOGE) prices flipped higher in the last 24 hours after its most celebrated backer, Elon Musk, purchased Twitter for $44 billion. At its best, Dogecoin had climbed to $0.17 on April 25, albeit still down 77% from its record high in May 2021.Twitter‘s native currency: Dogecoin？　　DOGE’s price rose by nearly 25% to $0.15 on a 24-hour adjusted timeframe, confirming that traders considered Musks acquisition of Twitter a bullish event for Dogecoin.　　The reason: Musks long-time support for DOGE, including his recent advice to the Twitter board that they should start accepting the memecoin for Twitter Blue, their first-ever subscription service.　　The comments appeared a year after Twitter revealed that it plans to double its revenues to $7.5 billion by the end of 2023, raising hopes that Musks 100% ownership of the company would have it facilitate its future sales through an additional DOGE payment option.　　In January, Musks flagship company Tesla Motors started accepting Dogecoin, and only DOGE, for some of its merchandise.　　Related: What Elon Musk‘s investment could mean for Twitter’s crypto plansDOGE price correction risks　　Nevertheless, Dogecoin faces interim selloff risks following its impressive gains in the past 24 hours.　　DOGEs price started correcting lower after re-testing a multi-month downward sloping trendline as

2022-04-26Deep Dive

Bitcoin Versus Gold: Which is the most traded by Nigerian traders today?

By: Damian Okonkwo　　The physical asset gold together with the Digital asset Bitcoin constitutes the most traded pair in the exchange market today. Often investors are attracted to them based on the fact that they offer quick profits arising from their strong volatile nature. While gold could jump by 400pips in a single day; Bitcoin when provoked could produce 1000pips in a single day. To this end, most Nigerian traders who are high-risk traders by nature; consider Bitcoin their favorite asset to trade today. The rate of Bitcoin traders in Nigeria today is by far greater than gold traders. Bitcoin has become the favorite asset to trade for Nigerian investors.　　Similarities between Gold and Bitcoin　　Volatility: Both pairs are marked with strong volatility that has endeared them so much to investors. Both assets could produce as many as 500pips movements in a day.　　Store of Values: Both gold and Bitcoin are recognized means for store of values. Thus they are known means of exchange. Often investors consider them as a hedge against inflation.　　Speculative Assets: Both assets have no fixed prices. Their prices are fixed daily at the market via speculations. Buyers speculate daily through fundamental and technical analysis of the possible price targets for

2022-04-26Deep Dive

Dorsey Praises Musk's Twitter Buy: 'Elon Is the Singular Solution'

Twitter shouldnt have an overlord, its founder and on-again-off-again CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted late Monday night. But if it must, then Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is as good as it gets.　　“Elon is the singular solution I trust,” Dorsey said of the social medias impending change in ownership. Earlier Monday, Musk prevailed in his bid to take the company private for $54.20 a share.　　Dorsey, a bitcoin maximalist, preceded his statement with an ode to decentralization: “In principle, I dont believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however,” requires Elon, and Elon alone.　　“Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step.”　　Dorseys message follows a day of Twitterverse hand-wringing over the ramifications of a super-rich, bombastic billionaire grabbing control of his favorite megaphone. That debate could have an impact on crypto, too, as Musk has made his fondness for DOGE payments no secret.　　For his part, Musk has pledged to prioritize free speech on Twitter, a message of open dialogue that Dorsey praised.　　“Elon‘s goal of creating a platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive

2022-04-26Deep Dive

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