Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

World’s first DeFi ETF to be listed on the Brazilian stock exchange in February

Hashdex, a global crypto-focused asset manager recently announced the approval of the world’s first DeFi exchange traded fund (ETF). 　　The ETF will be listed on the Brazilian stock exchange, B3, under the ticker symbol DEFI11 on February 17th.12 assets in three sub-portfolios 　　Crypto ETFs typically track the price of one or more cryptocurrencies, and as investment vehicles listed on stock exchanges leverage an indirect, however regulated exposure to the market.　　“As the largest crypto asset manager in Latin America, Hashdex continues to deliver on our mission of helping people around the world better understand and gain diversified exposure to the crypto asset class,” said Marcelo Sampaio, CEO of Hashdex. 　　In partnership with CF Benchmarks, a leading global crypto index provider, DEFI11 will mirror the “CF DeFi Composite Index.”　　According to the announcement, the index “follows strict eligibility criteria to obtain the best representation of the DeFi phenomenon.”　　To reflect all the major components underpinning the DeFi ecosystem, the index has a total of 12 assets grouped into three sub-portfolios.　　Major dApps including Uniswap, AAVE, Compound, Maker, Yearn, Curve, Synthetix, and AMP belong to the first sub-portfolio.　　With Chainlink, The Graph, and Polygon, the second sub-portfolio consists of service protocols and scalability solutions.　　Finally, Ethereum as a

2022-01-20Deep Dive

300 Small US Banks Set To Offer Bitcoin Trading in Second Quarter of 2022: Report

Hundreds of small US banks are set to offer Bitcoin (BTC) trading services during the first half of 2022 as digital assets continue to become popular among clients.　　According to a report from American Banker, an estimated 300 community banks will start providing BTC trading on their mobile apps starting in the first or second quarter of this year with the aid of crypto fintech company NYDIG.　　One bank involved in the program is Georgia-based BankSouth with over $1.3 billion in assets.　　BankSouth CEO Harold Reynolds said,“We have seen significant activity in cryptocurrency transactions from our customer accounts, and a few investments have been rather large, so that is obviously getting our attention.”　　The first bank to offer BTC trading, Oklahoma-based Vast Bank, has already seen success, according to CEO Brad Scrivner. Vast Bank teamed up with crypto exchange giant Coinbase and began supporting digital assets last October. The bank currently offers 12 crypto assets.　　“The Vast crypto banking launch has gone well. In the first four months since launch, we added approximately five times our historical retail customer base and those customers are in all 50 states and three U.S. territories.”　　Zack Bishop of Synovus Financial, which manages $56 billion in assets and plans to

2022-01-20Deep Dive

Not so fast, are “Eth killers” as speedy as they claim?

For a few years, Ethereum reigned alone as the only realistic smart contract blockchain on the planet. Those using the blockchain or developing applications for it, had little choice but to accept the technical properties and characteristics of the Ethereum system. But at least Ethereum was a technical leap forward from Bitcoin, and considerably faster, even though it was, and still is, a magnitude more complex.　　Performance is seldom enough, and the more users and applications came to Ethereum, the more it became evident that the throughput of the blockchain wasnt going to be nearly as sufficient as it takes to power millions of applications and users.Five “Eth-killer” average TPS over 30 days　　This is, of course, the main driving force behind all the so-called Eth-killers – competing layer-1 blockchains that focus on better performance, in terms of price and throughput, than can be found on Ethereum layer-1. The emphasis on layer-1 is important because the response from the Ethereum ecosystem is to develop layer-2 blockchains that vastly improves on the performance side of the user experience.　　In this article, we analyze five Eth-killers – Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain BSC, Fantom, Polygon and Solana – and calculate the average transactions per second tps

2022-01-20Deep Dive

2021 was the year of institutional crypto adoption

Despite the volatility the crypto market experienced in 2021, the year turned out to be a net positive for almost every aspect of the crypto industry. The year saw several major developments that accelerated the adoption and success of the broader crypto market and others that served as headwinds that slowed down the markets growth and forced its participants to take their losses and rebound.　　However, none of these events seem to have slowed down the rate of institutional adoption. According to Kraken Intelligences 2021 Crypto-in-Review report, last year will unequivocally go down as the biggest year for cryptocurrencies in terms of adoption from institutions.　　“Not only did multiple financial institutions and corporations gain exposure to the asset class, but capital inflows from new and existing crypto-focused investment vehicles took off,” the company said in the report.AUMs grow as more large institutions greenlight crypto efforts　　As the market capitalization of the crypto industry grows, so does the number of crypto-dedicated investment funds looking to profit from the markets returns. Crypto-dedicated investment funds saw their assets under management (AUM) increase from $36.25 billion in January 2021 to $59.6 billion in October 2021, representing a 64.4% increase.　　Kraken Intelligence noted that a large part of this

2022-01-20Deep Dive

Singapore shuts down all crypto ATMs

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has shut down all cryptocurrency ATMs in the city-state following its recent guidelines on avoiding advertising crypto services to the public.　　“To comply with the sudden announcement, we have ceased to offer buy or sell services via our five ATMs while seeking further clarification from the MAS,” said Daenerys & Co, the biggest Singaporean crypto ATM operator.　　Another operator, Deodi Pte, announced it had also shut down its sole ATM in compliance with the guidelines.　　The MAS issued “Guidelines to Discourage Cryptocurrency Trading by [the] General Public” on Monday.　　In its guidelines, the central bank said it had “observed that some DPT service providers have been actively promoting their services through online and physical advertisements or through the provision of physical automated teller machines (ATM) in public areas.”　　Singapore is not the only country cracking down on cryptocurrency advertising.　　Earlier this week, the British government announced that it was tightening rules on cryptoadvertisements to ensure that they are clear and not misleading.　　For more blockchain news, please download WikiBit- the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.

2022-01-20Deep Dive

‪Iran’s Central Bank to launch National Cryptocurrency in a Pilot Phase in the Near Term

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) plans to roll out a digital currency pilot phase soon. According to a top CBI official, the digital currency will benefit the country by helping to resolve financial inconsistencies and bring decentralization. Iran has been working on the digital currency since 2018.　　Irans central bank still on its quest to integrate a national cryptocurrency　　According to a report from the Iranian Labour News Agency, the Central Bank of Iran will roll out the countrys cryptocurrency for testing shortly. Mehran Moharamian, the CBIs vice governor for IT affairs disclosed this according to the report. Moharamian adds that the CBI considers the launch necessary as cryptocurrencies are a solution for resolving inconsistencies and decentralizing resources.　　Iran‘s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be called the digital Rial and will be pegged to Rial, the country’s currency. Development on it began in 2018 after the Informatics Services Corporation (ISC), the executive arm of the Central Bank of Iran in charge of operating the countrys banking automation and payment services network, was tasked with developing a national cryptocurrency. At the time, the CEO of ISC, Seyyed Abotaleb Najafi, said the digital Rial will first be tested with commercial banks.　　“…in the first

2022-01-20Deep Dive

Financial Market Committee Chair Aksakov Joins Calls for Identification of Russian Crypto Owners

Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Financial Market Committee at the Russian parliament, has reiterated a warning for cryptocurrency investors and insisted that Russians owning coins should declare their digital assets. The parliamentarian also urged for the comprehensive regulation of crypto mining and taxation.　　Aksakov Warns Russian Crypto Investors They Can Lose Everything　　Russians have put 5 trillion rubles (around $67 billion) into crypto and some of them may lose everything as cryptocurrencies are not backed by anything, Anatoly Aksakov, a deputy with a key role in the regulation of Russias crypto space, has recently stated. Many of these people are non-qualified investors and as such, pyramid schemes are likely to occur, added Aksakov who heads the Financial Market Committee at the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.　　Repeating previously issued warnings in an interview with the parliamentary Duma TV channel, the Russian lawmaker emphasized that there is no stability in the digital currency market. Crypto prices can quickly move by 20 – 30% in one direction or another, Aksakov noted and elaborated:　　“Therefore, it is important to regulate the market, to protect, first of all, our citizens, to establish taxation and certain rights for cryptocurrency owners. However, they must be identified.”　　The statement comes

2022-01-20Deep Dive

Australia's Top Financial Regulator Urges Investors Not to Put All Their Money Into Crypto

Australian Securities and Investments Commission chair Joseph Longo has urged investors not to bet their farm on crypto in a recent interview with The Australian Financial Review:　　“My personal warning to people is to be careful and dont put all your money into crypto.”　　At the same time, Longo has also made it clear that Australia‘s top financial regulator doesn’t oppose the cryptocurrency industry, but it wants to root out bad behavior.　　The ASIC finds it concerning that a large number of Australians are exposed to risky cryptocurrency assets.　　It has been estimated that there are roughly 2 million cryptocurrency owners in Australia.　　Longo says that its challenging to supervise the cryptocurrency industry since a lot of projects are not classified as “financial products.”　　He also called attention to the growing number of cryptocurrency-related scams in Australia.　　Last month, federal police reported that Australians had lost A$109 million to crypto fraudsters in 2021.　　Earlier this week, the ASIC issues a warning about the risks linked to investing retirement funds into crypto.　　In early December, Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced his plan for regulating the crypto industry. The government also plans to issue its own cryptocurrency.　　For more blockchain news, please download WikiBit - the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.

2022-01-20Deep Dive

Naira appreciates despite fall in forex turnover when bitcoin rallies above $50k

Naira appreciated against the US dollar on Thursday to close at N414.73/$1, representing a 0.09% gain when compared to N415.1/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. This is despite the significant fall in the volume of forex turnover at the official window. FX turnover dropped by 49.9% on Thursday to $107.92 million. 　　On the other hand, naira fell marginally against the US dollar on Thursday at the parallel market to close at N572/$1, from an average of N571/$1 recorded in the previous day. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics. 　　Nigeria’s foreign reserve reduced by 0.03% on Wednesday, 22nd December to close at $40.6 billion compared to $40.61 billion recorded as of the previous day. The continuous decline in the nation’s external reserve is attributed to the intervention by the apex bank in the official forex market. 　　Trading at the official NAFEX window 　　The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed at N414.73/$1 on Thursday, which represents a 0.09% appreciation compared to N415.1/$1 recorded a day before. 　　• The opening indicative rate closed at N413.77/$1 on Thursday, which represents a 27 kobo appreciation compared to N414.04/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. 　　•

2022-01-20Deep Dive

Why experts predict metaverse property investment could be better than physical

Lets not go any further. According to a Fortune report, there is actually a “land grab” going on, and it has no end, apparently. It has created a real estate bubble of sorts in which the cheapest available Metaverse plots are $13,000.　　Okay, let‘s step back a bit, please, because, for that kind of cash, you can buy an apartment in Mexico City or a rural home in Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, or Greece. Don’t believe it？ Check out Property Under 20K and see for yourself. Take a look at this opportunity for two homes on 200 square meters of land in Sevilleja de Jara, Spain, for example. 　　But wait! In November of last year, Republic Realm, a virtual land developer, paid a whopping $4.3 million for a Metaverse property from video game company Atari. According to the Wall Street Journal, this was the largest metaverse property sale publicized yet.　　One week before that record-breaking purchase, the Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com, had bought a plot of digital land in the so-called fashion district of Decentraland for about $2.3 million.　　These digital real estate transactions shine a bright light on the growing appetite for Metaverse land, the online 3D space of

2022-01-19Deep Dive

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