Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

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

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

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