Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Chainlink price surges, regains important threshold despite uncertain sentiment

Blockchain data oracle Chainlinks token, LINK, has gained some positive traction since the local low at $17.33 on the 15th of December. The token has seen positive action in the past two weeks despite a negative market sentiment toward LINK since October, according to data from market analysts Santiment.　　The number 18 cryptocurrency by market cap is trading at $23.37 at the moment of writing, slightly above the critical threshold at $23 and up almost 26 percent since the local bottom twelve days ago.Why could LINK be surging？　　Three possible forces behind the recent surge may be that the former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, joined Chainlink as the firms new strategic advisor earlier this month. Also announced earlier this month, Chainlink and the Internet-of-Things blockchain IoTeX partnered in an effort to “advance real-world connectivity and enable creators to build their ideas and tackle complex problems that were impossible to solve before.”　　Finally, Ethereum-based liquid staking solution Lido announced an integration of Chainlink Price Feeds. Lido enables its users to stake ether on the Ethereum 2.0 Proof-of-Stake chain without the need to stake all 32 ether (ETH) otherwise demanded by the protocol.LINK down by half since ATH　　LINK reached an all-time high at $52.70 on

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Stablecoin regulations: Where we are, and where we’re headed

In the early crypto era, when only few knew of any cryptocurrency outside of Bitcoin, it was under a constant deluge of criticism. Charlie Munger, the Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, summed up the attacks this May by describing Bitcoin as “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization”. Yet, remaining undeterred, Bitcoin powered through, steadily penetrating mainstream finance through its own merit.　　During 2020, an entirely new crypto dynamic emerged in the form of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), on the back of smart contracts. Ethereum was the first to start recreating the non-mediated financial sector, growing from under $1 billion to over $158 billion in less than two years.　　However, even before 2020, JPMorgan Chase first called out the emerging threat. The world‘s largest bank noted that Bitcoin’s disruptive potential goes side-by-side with smart contract platforms back in February 2018.　　“Both financial institutions and their non-banking competitors face the risk that payment processing and other services could be disrupted by technologies, such as cryptocurrencies, that require no intermediation.”　　Now that crypto-mainstreaming is coming into sharper focus with hundreds of billions backing it up, we can expect to see a heavier regulatory hand. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, once again foretold this in November

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Elon Musk Tells TIME Magazine Why Dogecoin is Better than Bitcoin for Payments

On Dec. 13, TIME magazine named CEO of Tesla/SpaceX — Elon Musk — as its 2021 Person of the Year. During a recorded interview with Musk that TIME posted to its Twitter channel as part of its Person of the Year announcement, the worlds richest person explained why he believes Dogecoin is better than Bitcoin in some regards.　　Before we examine the self-proclaimed “DogeFather‘s” fixation with meme tokens, we should first examine what money does. For fiat money and cryptocurrencies to be useful to us, there are three primary functions that cold hard cash or hot digital funds need to be able to address. It’s generally accepted that currencies address the following three functions:　　Unit of account: a comparative measuring stick for different goods or services.　　Medium of exchange: an accepted method of payment for settling debts or acquiring goods.　　Store of value: inherent ability of a given asset to maintain its payment power in the short- and long-term.　　With that as context, Elon Musk — who also co-founded PayPal — believes that Dogecoin is better than Bitcoin in at least one of those baseline currency criteria as shared in these transcribed quotes from the Person of the Year interview.　　“My understanding of the money system,

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Bitcoin, Ethereum beat gold in 2021, big time

Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, broke its previous all-time-high market value in 2021, reaching just over $69 000 on the 10th of November, appreciating 71.8 percent year-on-year. Counting from the local low at just under $30 000 on the 21st of July, bitcoin gained 56.6 percent. If bitcoin stays at this level until the end of the year, 2021 will turn out to be the fourth worst year for bitcoin since 2011.Ethereum (ETH) up 456 percent　　Though a somewhat mediocre year for bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), the second cryptocurrency by market cap, skyrocketed in 2021 appreciating 456 percent over the year. Ethereum saw a steady growth all through the year reaching the first peak at $4182 on the 12th of May, and a second all-time-high peak at $4878 on the 10th of November. This makes 2021 the second-best year in Ethereums five-year history.　　Both leading cryptocurrencies outperformed both the stock market and gold in 2021. During the same period, Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices had positive yearly returns of 26.54 percent and 25.82 percent respectively.　　Interestingly enough, as bitcoin proponents often characterize the currency as digital gold, bitcoin vastly outperformed the market performance of the physical yellow metal in 2021, which

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Mexico's Third Richest Billionaire's Advice: Invest in Bitcoin, Stay Away From Dollars, Euros

Mexicos third-richest billionaire has advised people to stay away from fiat currencies, like the dollar and euro, and invest in bitcoin. Calling fiat “fake money made of paper and lies,” he stressed that “central banks are printing more money than ever before.”　　 Ricardo Salinas Pliego Recommends Investing in Bitcoin, Says Avoid Fiat Money　　Mexico‘s third-richest billionaire, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, gave some advice Friday in a video he posted on Twitter to wish his followers happy holidays. Salinas is the founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a group of companies with interests in telecommunications, media, financial services, and retail stores. According to Forbes’ list of billionaires, his net worth is currently $13 billion.　　One of the three pieces of advice he gave concerns bitcoin and central banks. The billionaire said:　　Stay away from fiat money. The dollar, the euro, the yen, or the peso — they are all the same story. Its fake money made of paper and lies. The central banks are printing more money than ever before. Invest in bitcoin.　　This was not the first time Salinas has advised people to buy bitcoin. In November, the billionaire tweeted “Buy bitcoin right now” citing that the U.S. is “looking more and more like any

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Bitcoin transaction in EL Salvador sees an 89% decline since BTC was adopted as legal tender

According to CryptoWhale, Bitcoin transactions in El Salvador have plunged 89% recently. The staunch Bitcoin critic, who is also ironically an investor, is noting that it is indicative of El Salvadorans wanting to ditch Bitcoin.　　Bitcoin was officially adopted as legal tender in El Salvador in September of this year. Since then, there have been positive reports coming out of the country for Bitcoin adoption. Reports have noted that with over 3 million downloads of the Chivo wallet, there are more El Salvadorans with Bitcoin wallets than traditional bank accounts.　　Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador has also been on the rise for both cross-border remittances and local payments. According to Alexander von Frankenberg, the managing director and founder of High Tech Founder Fund, who visited the country a while back, people are actually using Bitcoin in the country as many places accepted the cryptocurrency, powered by the very fast and cheap lightning network.　　 According to CryptoWhale, El Salvador might eventually ditch Bitcoin　　Amid the positives, there are however some concerns that have been raised. According to cryptocurrency investors and analyst CryptoWhale, Bitcoin transactions in El Salvador have dropped by 89% since it was made legal tender. Using this metric, he asserts that it

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Russia Could Prevent Crypto Buys by Hindering Debit, Credit Payments

To prevent people from investing in cryptocurrencies, the Central Bank of Russia is considering restricting the use of debit and credit cards at crypto exchanges, although the option is just one of several being discussed, Forbes reported.　　Elvira Nabiullina, head of the central bank, said the Russian financial system should not be used in connection with cryptocurrency undertakings, according to the report.　　“We advocate that the Russian financial infrastructure is not used for transactions with cryptocurrencies,” Nabiullina said, per the report. “It is quite possible to realize this.”　　The central bank and financial market participants are kicking around several options for limiting investments in the crypto market, Andrey Mikhailishin, the founder of the Joys crypto project, told Forbes.　　Blocking Russian card transfers using certain four-digit MCC codes, would be one way, according to the report. Banks assign the codes to payees when payments are made. Both crypto exchanges and exchanges have an MCC code, usually 6051. A regulator could order banks to deny payments to certain institutions, like crypto exchanges.　　The restriction of cards is one of many options on the table for discussion, the report stated, citing an unnamed source.　　Russias Working Group on cryptocurrency regulation had its initial meeting in the State Duma under

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Institutions Have Only Dipped Their Toes in Crypto, Says Ex UK Chancellor

Philip Hammond – former Chancellor of the UK and an ex-member of the Conservative Party – believes people should be extra cautious when entering the cryptocurrency space. He said that institutions, despite recognizing the asset class, have only dipped their toes in terms of investing.　　Dipping Toes　　In October this year, former Chancellor Lord Hammond became a senior advisor at Copper – a British cryptocurrency custody firm that provides infrastructure for the institutional digital asset investment community. Although he is part of the world of bitcoin and alternative coins, he would not recommend allocating large amounts of funds into the asset class.　　He outlined that there are numerous companies and institutions that have entered the cryptocurrency market. However, the majority of them have only “dipped their toes,” as the industry is still highly volatile.　　“But it is dipping a toe – its a tiny proportion of their asset base exposed to what is a highly volatile asset class.”　　In his view, people should keep in mind that fact and have a small exposure to digital assets describing the investment as “gambling money.” Moreover, Lord Hammond opined that a large chunk of society sees it closer to “gaming than a serious investment.”　　Philip Hammond, Source: The Guardian　　In

2021-12-28Deep Dive

The first regulator in the MENA region greenlights Binance, as the crypto exchange registers in Cana

Binance recently announced receiving in-principle approval to establish itself as a crypto service provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain. 　　The in-principle approval comes after the worlds leading crypto exchange by daily trading volume applied for a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).Binances commitment to the Middle East and North Africa region　　The Central Bank of Bahrain greenlighted Binance to become a fully-regulated centralized cryptocurrency exchange.　　However, according to the announcement, the in-principle approval from CBB still requires the crypto exchange to complete the full application process.　　Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance said:　　“Recognition and approval from national regulators, such as the Central Bank of Bahrain, is essential to build trust in crypto and blockchain and help further improve mass adoption,”　　CBBs progressive move makes it the first regulator in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region to grant in-principle approval to a Binance entity.　　CZ added:　　“The Central Bank of Bahrain has demonstrated leadership and forethought in addressing crypto as a future asset class. I am grateful for the support from the Central Bank of Bahrain and the broader Bahrani ecosystem during the process. The approval recognizes Binances commitment to comply fully with regulatory requirements and our broader commitment to anchor operations

2021-12-28Deep Dive

Serbia Reviews License Applications From 3 Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Three crypto exchanges have applied for licensing in Serbia, which recently adopted legislation regulating its digital asset space. The government in Belgrade expects the companies to obtain authorization within weeks and offer Serbs the option to buy and sell cryptocurrencies legally.　　Crypto Trading Platforms and Token Issuers File for Licenses in Serbia　　Authorities in Serbia are currently reviewing license applications submitted by three crypto exchange offices, the countrys Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali announced this week in the parliament, local media reported. Quoted by the Tanjug news agency, the official elaborated:　　I expect that we will issue the first licenses in the next few weeks — that is very important for us.　　Responding to questions from lawmakers, Mali also revealed that four issuers of digital tokens have already paid the application fees. The minister emphasized that Serbia has become one of the first nations to regulate this field through legislation. Slowly but surely, he added, the cryptocurrency and digital token market is evolving, too.　　Mali further revealed that Serbia is developing its own token trading platform, expected to launch as early as next year. He also said that the government is intensively working to adopt a growth strategy for the Belgrade Stock Exchange, which he

2021-12-27Deep Dive

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