Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

ANZ Becomes The First Bank To Mint Australian Dollar Stablecoin

ANZ Bank has launched a stablecoin tethered to the Australian dollar, lowering the risk associated with digital asset purchases and encouraging more clients to use crypto.　　It is the first time an Australian bank has issued a digital asset tied to the Australian dollars value, and it may be the first time a major lender anywhere in the world has issued a stablecoin that has been used in a real transaction.　　ANZ announced that it has handed the Australian dollar stablecoin, dubbed A$DC, to Victor Smorgon Group, a private wealth management firm specializing in digital assets, via digital asset fund manager Zerocap.Faster Transaction With ANZ　　The A$DC was already used in a live transaction, enabling VSG to send $30 million to Zerocap in less than 10 minutes. This transaction would typically take several days.　　Zerocap is a market-leading digital asset investment and technology enterprise operating at the crossroads of crypto and traditional finance, offering products to investors and institutions worldwide.　　The company‘s decision to mint digital assets tied to the Australian dollar follows the Reserve Bank of Australia’s announcement in 2021 that the growth of digital wallets could enable the exchange of tokens or digital forms of money backed by the RBA, despite the central

2022-03-25Deep Dive

Spot Bitcoin ETFs could become reality by mid-2023

The US SEC wants to expand the definition of “exchanges” to allow it to bring crypto exchanges under its purview. If the change happens, Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas believe it “opens the door” for spot Bitcoin ETFs.　　The two analysts believe it will take at least a year for the first such ETF to get the green light once the definition is expanded. This puts the earliest possible launch date for a Bitcoin ETF somewhere in the summer of 2023.SECs stance on Bitcoin ETFs　　The US securities watchdog has historically been averse to the idea of crypto ETFs due to the usual reasons around volatility and investor protection. This is mainly because the platforms and companies offering these products are not regulated properly.　　The SEC has declined every spot Bitcoin ETF application made, so far. Most recently, it rejected applications from NYDIG and Global X. It also rejected multiple applications made by Wisdom Tree over the last 12 months. In the latest rejection the watchdog said:　　“The Commission concludes that BZX has not met its burden under the Exchange Act and the Commissions Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5),

2022-03-25Deep Dive

Goldman Sachs Main Website Is Now About Crypto and Digitalization

The main page of the website of one of the biggest investment banks in the world switched to full “crypto mode,” showing users what cryptocurrencies and digitalization are.　　Traditional banks dive into trends　　Its “Digitalization” page led to the “Insights” sector of the website, where Goldman gathered many informational articles about Web 3.0 and Metaverse. In addition to informing their clients about Metaverses and everything related to them, Goldman provides a deep analysis about the digitalization of the economy with the help of Central Bank Digital Currencies.　　Despite having separate blocks of articles and reports about the cryptocurrency market, recently, Goldman mostly concentrated on the Metaverse and Web 3.0 trends—as the latest articles like “The Next Tech Battleground: Online Gaming s decision to push the narrative through by putting the crypto-related banner on the front page of its website.　　Goldman Sachs way into crypto　　Previously, the banks representatives released a statement as the company made its first over-the-counter cryptocurrency transaction with the help of Galaxy Digital. The company pointed out that the transaction is a tremendous step toward adoption of cryptocurrencies by traditional financial institutions like investment banks.　　The bank is not a newbie to the cryptocurrency industry as it started working with crypto-related assets like

2022-03-25Deep Dive

Senior Russian MP Suggests Trading Gas and Oil for Bitcoin

A senior Russian politician has suggested turning to bitcoin (BTC) as an alternative to the USD in international energy exports and trade deals.　　The comments were made by Pavel Zavalny, a member of the ruling United Russia Party and the Chairman of the State Duma (Russias parliament) Committee on Energy.　　In a video press conference organized by the Rossiya Segodnya news agency, Zavalny stated:　　“We have been suggesting to China for a long time that we switch to settlements made in our national currencies – the ruble and the yuan. With Turkey, it would be the [Turkish] lira and the ruble. The set of currencies used could be different. That is normal practice. If [trade needs to be done in] bitcoin, we will trade in bitcoin.”　　On March 2, in an emergency session of the UN‘s general assembly, 141 of the 193 member states voted for a resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanded to end the invasion. 35 countries abstained, and five (Russia including) voted against. The only countries that supported the war were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, and Syria. China and India were among those that abstained.　　Meanwhile, Zavalny also reaffirmed Moscows decision to force 48 “countries unfriendly to Russia” to pay

2022-03-25Deep Dive

Malaysia Rules Out Adopting Cryptocurrency as Legal Tender

Malaysia has no intention of recognizing cryptocurrencies as legal tender, Deputy Finance Minister I said in parliament on Thursday.　　“Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not suitable for use as a payment instrument due to various limitations,” which include price swings and exposure to cyber threats, Mohd Shahar Abdullah said.　　His comments come days after a minister in the Southeast Asian nation urged the government to legalize cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as a way to build youth participation in the crypto space.　　“The growing technology and payment landscape have prompted the Bank Negara Malaysia to actively assess the potential of banks‘ digital currency central or the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC),” Mohd Shahar said.

2022-03-24Deep Dive

How Cryptocurrency Is Helping Ukraine

Critics have claimed that cryptocurrency will help Russia evade sanctions, or at best that it‘s of no use to Ukrainians. In fact, it’s proving to be a powerful tool to help them.　　I‘ve worked in the blockchain industry for four years, and I’m Ukrainian. I grew up and attended university in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine and one of the hardest-hit by Russian bombs. Im one of several organizers of Unchain Fund, a crypto fundraising project dedicated to relief in Ukraine that has raised more than $6.9 million so far, as well as Away from Ukraine, an information network for displaced Ukrainians.　　Crypto donations to Ukraine since the invasion total almost $100 million. Blockchain networks are global and settle transactions in minutes, while the legacy banking system takes three days to settle a cross-border transaction. Many crypto donations went directly to wallets held by the Ukrainian government via the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Deputy Minister Alex Bornyakov said last week that 40% of the vendors Kyiv is working with have accepted payment in cryptocurrency, and crypto donations have been “essential.” He noted that since “the national bank is not really operating, crypto is helping to perform fast transfers, to make it

2022-03-24Deep Dive

PUBG Developer Krafton Joins Forces With Solana For Blockchain And NFT Games

The gaming company behind the smash hit PUBG Series will launch an “assault” into the NFT battlegrounds.　　The worlds leading video game publishers are experimenting with Web3 gaming, utilizing NFT assets and cryptocurrency-based ecosystems in the process.　　A well-known gaming company with a tremendously successful brand is developing blockchain-based games — specifically, on Solana.　　Krafton, the creator of PUBG: Battlegrounds (originally PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds), announced a collaboration with blockchain technology platform Solana Labs on Wednesday to support the development and promotion of blockchain-based games and services.　　The South Korean game publisher Krafton, Inc. has been granted official rights to develop blockchain games on Solana networks as part of the agreement.PUBG To Have Metaverse Vibe　　These games are expected to have a metaverse-like aura, as they will incorporate interactive digital avatars as well as cryptocurrency-related prizes and services.　　The agreement may result in the integration of Krafton‘s games into the Solana blockchain, enabling players to conduct in-game transactions using cryptocurrencies such as Solana’s native token SOL, as well as the use of non-fungible tokens.　　PUBG is a prominent battle royale shooter franchise available on a variety of platforms. The series mobile Android and iOS editions have surpassed 1 billion downloads, while the PC and console entries have exceeded 75

2022-03-24Deep Dive

Has GameFi just found the perfect pairing as ex-Hearthstone designer joins FTX Gaming?

FTX US announced that they acquired Good Luck Games, the creators of the prominent auto-battle card game Storybook Brawl. Reviews of the game on Steam tanked on the news as gaming fans continue to show resistance to crypto entering the gaming ecosystem. The game has had a total of 2417 reviews since launching in June 2021. Only 460 of these were negative, and disgruntled fans posted 162 within the last 24 hours　　A gamer with over 200 hours in Storybook Brawl commented,　　“Been acquired by a crypto company and will be working to integrate blockchains. Supporting this game is now actively harmful.”　　The game now has a recent rating of ‘Mostly Negative’ on Steam whilst the review score overall remains ‘Very Positive.’Why all the hate？　　Quite why the gaming community seems so outraged by the concept of blockchain technology baffles me, to be honest. Parts of the gaming community appear to view crypto as a new way to introduce microtransactions and increase corporate profits. However, if all digital assets from games were to become NFTs, your priceless collectibles in games like CS:GO, Dota 2, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and many others would outlive the game. Currently, gamers who spend thousands of dollars

2022-03-24Deep Dive

Bitcoin Is Far More Than a New Form of Money

Although Bitcoin is commonly considered a new form of money, it is far more nuanced.　　Bitcoin is a multi-layered financial ecosystem with its own monetary system. Because of this monetary system, Bitcoin is independent of todays existing financial and monetary system.　　Bitcoins native monetary system is its chief achievement and a novelty. Over the last two decades, people have tried rebuilding finance using fintech. While many interesting financial applications have resulted from fintech innovations, they all remained bound to the traditional fiat system. True innovation in money and finance has only started with Bitcoin.　　This is because Bitcoins native monetary policy is elegantly simple, and its immutable supply is free from human discretion, something no other money has had since gold. In contrast to the yellow precious metal though, Bitcoins monetary policy is algorithmically determined and thus perfectly predictable, rule-based. It is neither event- nor emotion-driven.　　By depoliticizing monetary policy and grounding it in a code that follows a strict formula, Bitcoins monetary asset is structured as neutrally as possible. Bitcoin is truly sound money since it provides the highest degree of stability, reliability and security as a monetary system.A base layer for money　　Because this new form of global, digital money resides on a

2022-03-24Deep Dive

Tokenized Gold Market Caps Grew Significantly Last Month as Fresh Demand Drives Premiums

PAXG and XAUT Market Caps Swell, Both Gold Tokens See Premiums Over Golds Spot Market Value　　On March 8, 2022, the price of one troy ounce of .999 fine gold reached an ATH at $2,069 per unit. A troy ounce is equivalent to 480 grains or roughly 31.10 grams of gold that is considered almost pure. As the price of the physical bullion has risen, demand for tokenized gold crypto assets has increased a great deal. Additionally, tokenized gold assets have been carrying a premium in recent times, as tokens that represent one troy ounce of .999 fine gold have seen higher spot market prices than the physical bullion market.　　At the time of writing, Tether‘s XAUT has a 2.18% premium compared to the current spot value of gold. Pax gold (PAXG) carries a 0.26% premium, and both tokenized gold asset market valuations have grown during the last 30 days. Data indicates that Paxos Trust Company’s PAXG had a market valuation of $424 million on February 19, 2022. A month later, metrics show PAXG‘s market cap grew by over 43% to $611 million. XAUT’s market cap grew from $430 million 31 days ago to todays $486 million, jumping more than 13%.　　Leveraging the

2022-03-24Deep Dive

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