Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

‪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

UK to impose strict restrictions on misleading crypto ads

In a bid to restrict misleading ads concerning cryptocurrency, the UK Treasury on Tuesday announced its plans to regulate cryptocurrency advertisements as other financial products and ensure that the ads concerning crypto adhere to proper and ethical advertising standards to limit the spread of false information.UKs crackdown on misleading crypto ads　　The UK treasury plans to bolster crypto ads regulation by bringing them in league with other financial products. By doing so, the treasury will ensure that all crypto ads adhere to proper advertising standards and limit the spread of misleading information amongst investors. The treasury further stated that it intends to promote “fair and clear” advertising regarding cryptocurrency　　The Treasury also published a legislation response that states the proposed legislation will also be examined and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to effectively regulate the rampant misleading advertisements in the UK.　　“Research suggests that understanding of what crypto is declining, suggesting that some users may not fully understand what they are buying,” the U.K Treasury said in a statement.　　The UK treasurys decision to bring crypto advertising under the scope of regulation as other financial products intends to mitigate any possible risks that may end up deceiving investors or promote misleading information.　　Chancellor

2022-01-19Deep Dive

Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried names 2 potential ethereum-killers as the next big blockchains:

Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried said two ethereum killers are the most promising blockchains this year: solana and avalanche.　　In an interview with Decrypt, the FTX boss said solana, which is the seventh largest by market capitalization, has done something few others have done, which is scale.　　“Theyre one of the only chains that has a real plausible path forward here in scaling to the level you would need to get to if you wanted industrial-scale usage,” he said to Decrypt.　　Solanas total value of $42 billion pales in comparison to ethereums whopping $375 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. But, a recent note from Bank of America pointed out that the blockchains “proof of history” mechanism allows for low transaction fees, ease of use, and scalability, relative to others like ethereum which has become known for its high gas fees.　　As for avalanche, Bankman-Fried said, “it is a real chain; its a cool chain, and I think that theres a world in which it gets absolutely huge.”　　Currently, avalanches native AVAX cryptocurrency is ranked No. 12 with an approximate $20 billion market capitalization and a six-fold increase in the last year.　　Avalanches token, along with solana, cardano and polkadot, have been dubbed ethereum killers because their rival

2022-01-19Deep Dive

FTX the Fastest-Growing Crypto Exchange in 2021: Report

Key Takeaways　　FTX has released an impressive end-of-year report for 2021.　　The report concludes that FTX was the fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange in 2021.　　FTXs success is likely attributable to its aggressive fundraising and advertising campaigns.　　FTX has released its end-of-year report for 2021, revealing it to be the fastest-growing crypto exchange over the past year.　　FTX Growing Fast　　2021 was a good year for FTX.　　The third-largest crypto exchange released its end-of-year report Tuesday, revealing itself to have been the fastest-growing crypto exchange over the past year. In a chart outlining relative growth since the start of 2020, FTX has outpaced every other major crypto exchange, growing almost 600%.　　By comparison, the current largest crypto exchange, Binance, grew approximately 380% in the same period. Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., came in third, with just under 300% growth.　　Also detailed in the report were FTX‘s spot trading volumes. The exchange facilitated an immense $719 billion worth of spot trades throughout 2021, a 2,400% increase compared to 2020’s numbers. The report states that the increase in spot trading can be attributed to the dramatic uptake of FTX‘s spot margin market launched in Dec. 2020. According to the report, the exchange’s spot margin market is now the largest peer-to-peer

2022-01-19Deep Dive

Coinbase Partners With Mastercard to Make NFT Purchase Easy

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has teamed up with payment processing giant Mastercard to simplify purchasing non-fungible tokens.　　According to an official blog post today, Coinbase is planning to make it easier for newcomers to join the booming NFT market by employing a similar strategy as it did with its cryptocurrency exchange.　　Despite the growth of NFTs in recent months, Coinbase said purchasing digital collectibles is still a complex experience for many users.　　However, the digital asset platform has collaborated with Mastercard, and both companies will classify NFTs as “digital goods” to allow customers to purchase such collectibles with ease.　　Meanwhile, Coinbase recently launched an NFT peer-to-peer marketplace dubbed Coinbase NFT.　　The platform allows users to mint, purchase, sell, showcase, and discover digital collectibles.　　By partnering with Mastercard, Coinbase hopes to unlock new ways for users to pay for NFTs using their Mastercard card in the future.　　“Thanks to our work with Mastercard, we‘ll be able to provide a better customer experience on Coinbase NFT, and plan on working to find ways to bring this opportunity to the broader ecosystem through Mastercard’s scale and global network,” the crypto exchange said.　　For more blockchain news, please download WikiBit- the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.

2022-01-19Deep Dive

Malaysia to Explore the Potential Launch of a CBDC

Bank Negara Malaysia (the central banking institution of the nation) has reportedly joined the global race to develop a digital version of its national currency. As of the moment, the project is still in a research mode as the county is only “assessing the value proposition” of such a financial product.　　Launching a central bank digital currency has been a target for many countries recently. While Chinas efforts are by far the most advanced globally, other nations such as Mexico, Indonesia, and Nigeria have also started exploring the initiative.　　According to a recent Bloomberg coverage, Malaysia is the newest state dipping its toes. Despite not making any final decisions, the Asian country has started researching how a central bank digital currency could affect its monetary network and whether it will be beneficial for its economy:　　“While a decision has not been made to issue CBDC, we have focused our research on CBDC via proof-of-concept and experimentation to enhance our technical and policy capabilities, should the need to issue CBDC arise in the future.”　　A few months ago, Bank Negara Malaysia joined forces with the central banks of Australia, Singapore, and South Africa to organize a cross-border payments trial using multiple CBDCs. The financial institutions

2022-01-19Deep Dive

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