Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Grayscale CEO's threatened lawsuit against the SEC, in case it rejects his firm's spot

Grayscale Investments is giving federal regulators a deadline and threatening to challenge alleged, gratuitous government foot-dragging for failing to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF -- a seemingly wild move that may have real legal teeth.　　Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein fired the shot across the bow of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during a Monday (Mar. 28) interview with Bloomberg.　　The agency, he asserted, is practicing a form of regulatory malpractice. See: Grayscale shreds the hype about Bitcoins power to democratize finance by showing that RIAs really want a dominant Wall Street middleman and are willing to pay hedge-fund-like fees for transparency and an SEC-approved wrapper　　It all comes to a head on July 6, the SECs final deadline to decide whether Grayscale can convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin-backed ETF. An SEC rejection may trigger a lawsuit.　　“I think all options are on the table come July,” Sonnenshein, said in the Bloomberg interview. 　　RIA impact　　Its probably already past the table and into the presses at Grayscale, says Ari Sonneberg, a partner the Wagner Law in Boston.　　It’s likely that ink has already been put to paper for the threatened lawsuit in anticipation of a possible denial…ready to be filed within

2022-04-07Deep Dive

Indian Parliament Member Insists Crypto Is Like Gambling — Wants to Tax at 50%

Indian Parliament Member Wants to Tax Crypto at 50%　　Indian parliament member Sushil Kumar Modi shared his view on cryptocurrency in an interview with Forkast, published Tuesday. Modi is a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indias parliament.　　He recently made headlines when he urged the Indian government to impose more than 30% tax on crypto income prior to Rajya Sabha passing Finance Bill 2022. He told the publication that the Indian government should tax crypto income as much as 50%.　　Modi explained:　　The government has not said in so many words … that crypto is like gambling. It is like lottery, it is like a casino, it is like horse racing … and in all these things the tax rates are very high.　　Besides wanting to tax crypto income at 50%, Modi also suggested levying 28% goods and services tax (GST) on the entire crypto transaction value, instead of only applying 18% GST on the service provided by crypto exchanges. “Like gambling, horse racing, casino, lottery, the GST should be on the entire transaction value,” he opined.　　The parliament member then compared crypto to traditional investments. Stating that stocks have companies behind them, “nobody knows who is behind these cryptos,” he pointed out.

2022-04-07Deep Dive

Why A Twitter Edit Button Could Be Disastrous For Crypto Users

Twitter and crypto have gone hand in hand for the longest time, which is why the talk of an edit button has direct implications on the crypto community using the social media platform. The talk of adding an edit button had been one that has been going on for a long time and while Twitter has acknowledged it, this is the first time that there has been any definitive announcement about the inclusion of an edit button on the site.　　There have been mixed reactions since Twitter announced that it was planning to introduce the edit button for tweets. Some users of the platform have raised issues regarding how a Twitter edit button could be used by bad actors to defraud people of their money.Enabling Crypto Scams　　One thing that seems to be growing alongside the crypto market has been the number of scams that are being implemented in the space. Even as more people get to know about these scams and how to avoid them, the scammers just seem to come up with new and sophisticated ways to scam people. This is why some in the space are raising alarm about how adding a Twitter edit button can aid these scammers

2022-04-07Deep Dive

Why Crypto Adoption Could Benefit From A Bond Market Crash

Recent weakness in the bond market could potentially drive capital flows into crypto, given that the space offers relatively higher returns. Institutional interest in crypto has already picked up this year.　　Concerns over a possible recession and a hawkish Federal Reserve recently caused an inversion in the U.S. yield curve, as bond markets experienced heavy selling. Data from Bloomberg showed that global bonds were priced at a discount for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.　　BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, recently said it was underweight on government bonds in the face of rising inflation and borrowing rates.　　As such, with the debt market offering limited gains, institutional investors may set their sights on alternative means of returns. Crypto could be one of these pathways.　　The case for crypto　　Lending and staking on major DeFi platforms offers returns far superior to most staple instruments in the bond market. For example, Terras Anchor Protocol currently offers a near-20% annual yield on deposits. By comparison, U.S. 2-year Treasuries yield about 2.6%.　　Crypto staking also behaves similarly to a debt instrument. Tokens are locked in for a period of time, while paying out interest. Solana (SOL), the largest proof-of-stake network by market capitalization, currently yields about 7%

2022-04-07Deep Dive

Spanish Regulator Addresses Unregistered Platform Advertising Issue

The CNMV, the Spanish securities regulator, has called for large search engines and social networks to stop offering advertising services for platforms that are not registered to offer investment or financial services. The regulator has also stated that it will take matters into its own hands by promoting regulation on the issue if these companies fail to address it.　　 Spanish Regulator Addresses Unregistered Platform Advertising Issue　　Spanish securities regulator CNMV is very worried about the space that big internet companies are giving unregistered investment platforms to advertise their services. The president of the organization, Rodrigo Buenaventura, referred to this issue in a speech given at an event called “Supervisor, Cryptoactives, and Advertising: good practice in the sector,” where he explained the stance of the CNMV on this problem　　Buenaventura stated:　　In my opinion, it is unjustifiable that companies that broadcast paid advertising on social networks or search engines profit by admitting advertisements from pirate entities, which are publicly warned as unregistered platforms.　　Furthermore, Buenaventura declared these companies are putting their own customers in jeopardy by advertising such services to them, causing them to fall into various scams.　　Most of the fraud cases that are in Spanish tribunals, causing millions of dollars in damages, have been

2022-04-07Deep Dive

Trends Study Says Dogecoin Is the Most Googled Cryptocurrency in the US

Dogecoin Scores 23 States, While Bitcoin Commands 10　　A recent study authored by Coin Insider combed through Google Trends data to find out which crypto asset was searched for by the most states. The research indicates that the meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE) is the most popular in the United States, at least according to Google Trends data. DOGE scored 23 states as Coin Insiders data explains.　　Dogecoin (DOGE) is currently the 12th largest crypto asset in terms of valuation as the crypto asset‘s market cap is $19.8 billion. DOGE also holds the title as the top meme-coin asset out of the $36.4 billion worth of meme-based cryptocurrencies. Coin Insider’s metrics show dogecoin captured states like North Dakota, Montana, Illinois, Florida, Hawaii, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Oregon.　　Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC) scored ten states which include Idaho, Arkansas, Mississippi, Connecticut, Alaska, and New Hampshire. According to Google Trends (GT) data, the search term “bitcoin” in the U.S. currently has a score of 29 out of a top score of 100. The last time the search query for “bitcoin” hit a score of 100 was during the week of May 16-22, 2021.Ethereum, Shiba Inu, Cardano Trail Behind　　Ethereum (ETH) captured eight states which include Ohio, Virginia,

2022-04-06Deep Dive

Crypto billionaires increase by 60% in a year: Who made Forbes annual list?

The Forbes crypto billionaires list has been updated, and the number of individuals who have made vast fortunes in digital assets has increased substantially.　　The crypto elite list now has 19 billionaires on it, which is seven more than last year and expands the list by 58%. The publication released its latest crypto richest on April 5, but the king of the crop remains unchanged.　　Binance CEO and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is still the richest man in the industry and now the 19th richest in the world due to his relatively newly accrued wealth. The outlet has downgraded CZs fortune from an estimated $96 billion last year to a current estimation of $65 billion. This still makes him the most affluent person in the industry, however.　　FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has secured the second spot after “CZ” with a whopping $24 billion in estimated net worth. He has been dubbed the “Crypto Robin Hood,” as he has repeatedly stated that he wants to give the majority of this fortune away. But with $24 billion still on hand, hes clearly not managed to do so yet.　　Coinbase CEO and founder Brian Armstrong is in third place with $6.6 billion. Ripples Chris Larsen

2022-04-06Deep Dive

Treasury's Yellen to Deliver First Speech on Crypto in US Economy

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is about to tell the crypto industry what she thinks of it in her first official speech to focus on digital assets.　　Yellen will outline how the Treasury Department views cryptocurrencies as an emerging part of the U.S. economy Thursday at American University in Washington, D.C. The 10:30 a.m. ET speech is expected to echo some of the sentiments expressed previously in President Joe Bidens executive order calling for further scrutiny on the industry.　　“Secretary Yellen will make the case for a consistent and comprehensive policy framework that promotes responsible innovation of digital assets and appropriately assesses and mitigates the risks they may pose,” according to a Tuesday statement issued by the Treasury Dept.　　Yellens agency, as well as the Biden administration and federal regulatory agencies have been devoting a lot more attention to crypto since last year – especially toward stablecoins. The Treasury Dept. was instrumental in drafting last year‘s report from the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets that marked the governments opening salvo on establishing rules for dollar-backed stablecoins.　　U.S. regulators have been leaning heavily on Congress to authorize new rules that govern stablecoin issuers in much the same way the government oversees banks. If lawmakers

2022-04-06Deep Dive

Musk buys $2.9B stake in Twitter, what does this mean for Dogecoin?

ords　　Elon Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter for $2.9 billion, making him the platforms biggest shareholder.　　Recently, the Tesla CEO had slammed Twitter on the grounds of it “failing to adhere to free speech principles.” As a response to the problem, Musk teased the possibility of starting his own social media platform or even buying Twitter. However, few imagined he would follow through with either of these ideas.　　Nonetheless, analysts expect this acquisition of a stake in Twitter to be the start. Whats more, with Musk being a fan of Dogecoin, should we expect a collaboration between the two？How might Dogecoin fit in？　　Crypto markets are mainly flat today. However, among the large caps, Dogecoin posted the second-biggest gains in the last 24-hours, at +5%. NEAR Protocol leads the pack with +5.7% gains.　　Musk disclosed his crypto holdings to CNBC last year, saying he owns Bitcoin, Ether, and Dogecoin. On his reason for liking Dogecoin, he said:　　“That‘s why I decided to support Doge — it felt like the people’s crypto.”　　Given Dogecoin‘s response to the news, it’s clear that markets expect Musk to utilize $DOGE on Twitter in some capacity. But will that ever happen？　　Before the acquisition stake, as Musk was canvassing opinions on

2022-04-06Deep Dive

Axie Infinity has been losing gamers before the Ronin Network hack

Contrary to the belief that gamers are leaving the popular play-to-earn game Axie Infinity because of the recent hack, available information shows that the platform had lost nearly half of its users even before the heist, Bloomberg News reported.Axie Infinity loses gamers　　In the week of March 28, CryptoSlate reported that Ronin Network, the bridge side chain that facilitates crypto transactions for the game, lost over $600 million to hackers.　　This led to the developer temporarily suspending withdrawals for gamers on the platform leading to speculation that this might have affected the number of users on the platform.　　However, according to data provided by Sky Mavis, the developer behind the play-to-earn project, the number of its daily active users (DAUs) was falling even before the March 23 heist.　　Per the data, the game had lost around 45% of its DAU, which was now about 1.48 million users. A far cry from its all-time high of over 8 million users in November 2021.Explaining the slide　　A data journalist at Nansen, Martin Lee, opines that one of the factors behind the drop in usage is the huge market offsetting of the games native currency, Smooth-Love Potion (SLP), which happened in December and led to a dip in

2022-04-06Deep Dive

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