Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

“Blockchain Appeals To Me” — Goldman Sachs CEO Tells Why ‘BTC Isn’t The Key Thing’

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says that he is not a fan of cryptocurrencies but adores the technology behind them.　　Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, David disclosed his admiration for blockchain saying that Bitcoin did not matter as such compared to the technology.　　“I think bitcoin is really not the key thing, the key thing is; how can blockchain and other technologies that are not developed yet, accelerate the pace of the digitization of how financial services are delivered,” he said.　　The part-time DJ further clarified that although the crypto industry is set to evolve into something huge, he does not personally hold any Bitcoin or Ethereum. “I don‘t personally own Bitcoin or Ethereum and I don’t have a strong view” he added, before saying that the banks customers were, however, free to “do what they think they wanna do”.　　David further disclosed that he is a big believer in the digitization and disruption that is occurring in the way financial services are delivered, terming it as “a massive shift.”　　To this end, he said that the Bank was already working its way around participating in crypto through its digital banking platform. Last month, the bank inked a contract with “Digital Asset” which will see

2021-12-09Deep Dive

Approving Digital currency "e-naira" in Nigeria: Does it mean the country has approved crypto

Despite approving eNaira in Nigeria, the Nigerian government is yet to legalize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies just like El-Salvador has done already. It is hoped that more favorable policies will be made in the future given the increasing interest in Crypto Currencies.　　It is no longer a news that the Nigerian government through the Central Bank has introduced a new digital currency into the country dubbed e-naira whose use had been inaugurated last month in October. This e-naira known as the Central Bank Digital Currency for Nigeria has been accorded the same value as naira and approved for transactions within the Nigerian banks and across the country.　　However, the major concern here is: Does approving the digital currency e-naira amount to approving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies？　　Obviously the answer to this question will always come in the negative. In fact the Nigerian government through the Central Bank has increased its haunt and limitation of accounts involved in Crypto currency transactions showing that the later has not finally been approved.　　It is highly unclear what the Nigerian government and Central Bank seeks to achieve by doing so at a time when the whole world is embracing Crypto currencies and legalizing it especially the great Crypto

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Will GameFi be a new battlefield for blockchains?

While all categories of blockchain have been blazing hot in 2021, gaming took the top spot with nearly 13% of all investments.　　Footprint Analytics: Number of Investment by Category　　With the seasons seemingly moving from DeFi to NFT and now to GameFi, the second half of the year was overtaken by huge gaming announcements and figures. For example, on August 6th, Axie Infinity generated $17 million in revenue, surpassing even Honor of Kings.　　What makes GameFi so appealing, and what will happen once this initial burst of momentum wears off？　　The term GameFi, short for Game Finance, was coined by Mary Ma in the 2019 Wuzhen World Blockchain Conference hosted by 8BTC, MixMarvels CSO, and refers to the integration of finance with gaming.　　The primary means by which games generate their own financial ecosystems is via NFTs and liquidity mining. In this way, games become “Play to Earn”, or P2E in short.　　Features that GameFi differs from traditional gaming:　　Ownership of assets: In GameFi, through on-chain smart contracts, the games assets belong to the player rather than the developer.　　Tradable assets in crypto markets: With the ownership of the assets, players can trade these assets, either NFT or tokens, in the open Crypto markets with other players.　　Transparent data:

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Visa forms new crypto advisory unit as client demand grows

Payments giant Visa has announced the formation of a new cryptocurrency-focused advisory unit to help clients get to grips with the sector.　　The unit will sit within the companys broader consulting and analytics division, which offers payments-related consultancy services.　　The move comes amid growing corporate demand for guidance on how to engage with cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and even non-fungible tokens (NFTs) picking up significantly.　　Nikola Plecas, Visas crypto business lead in Europe, said the firm will offer a range of advice, from examining the impact of key trends within the sector to devising strategies for entering the market.　　“The focus that we‘ve seen so far, when it comes to our clients, is really on what the impact of the trends we’re seeing in crypto will be on their everyday business,” he said.　　Visa has been selling consulting services to companies interested in crypto for some time, but formalized the new crypto unit in response to growing client demand, according to Plecas.　　The firm is also an active operator in the sector — offering payments services to exchanges and wallet firms, as well as investing in startups and even in the acquisition of a CryptoPunk NFT. Visa currently works with 60 crypto platforms globally.　　Alongside the new consulting unit,

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Will GameFi be a new battlefield for blockchains?

While all categories of blockchain have been blazing hot in 2021, gaming took the top spot with nearly 13% of all investments.　　With the seasons seemingly moving from DeFi to NFT and now to GameFi, the second half of the year was overtaken by huge gaming announcements and figures. For example, on August 6th, Axie Infinity generated $17 million in revenue, surpassing even Honor of Kings.　　What makes GameFi so appealing, and what will happen once this initial burst of momentum wears off？　　The term GameFi, short for Game Finance, was coined by Mary Ma in the 2019 Wuzhen World Blockchain Conference hosted by 8BTC, MixMarvel’s CSO, and refers to the integration of finance with gaming.　　The primary means by which games generate their own financial ecosystems is via NFTs and liquidity mining. In this way, games become “Play to Earn”, or P2E in short.　　Features that GameFi differs from traditional gaming:　　Ownership of assets: In GameFi, through on-chain smart contracts, the game’s assets belong to the player rather than the developer.　　Tradable assets in crypto markets: With the ownership of the assets, players can trade these assets, either NFT or tokens, in the open Crypto markets with other players.　　Transparent data: All GameFi game codes are open

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Micro Ether Futures now live on CME Group to hedge price price of spot ETH

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group has expanded its crypto derivatives offerings by launching Micro Ether Futures. The number one and most diverse marketplace for derivatives has now launched two micro cryptocurrency products in this year alone.CME launches micro Ether futures　　According to the global head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, the Micro Ether launch shows the growth and liquidity of cryptocurrency futures and options.　　Micro Ether units will be one-tenth (0.1) of the Ether, and this futures product allows several market participants to hedge the price risk of their spot Ether.　　It also provides a more flexible way to execute trading strategies for Ether without losing the features of the larger-sized Ether Futures on CME.　　Other key stakeholders have also expressed how Micro Ether futures falls within the CME Group goal of offering the best trading options for users. According to the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at Interactive Brokers, Steven Sanders, the wide range of futures products on the CME Group gives active traders and institutional investors the chance to take advantage of market opportunities with less exposure to risks across markets.　　The Micro Ether futures product further shows CME Groups status as an innovator and market

2021-12-08Deep Dive

OpenSea wants to go public despite crypto community outcry

OpenSea could be the next crypto-related company to go public after its new CFO, Brian Roberts, revealed in a recent interview that the firm was looking to raise funds through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).OpenSea is going public　　During the interview, Roberts, the former Lyft CFO, revealed that going public was an option for a firm growing at the pace of OpenSea. According to him, “When you have a company growing as fast as this one, you‘d be foolish not to think about it going public. I’ve seen a lot of P&Ls (profit and loss statements) but Ive never seen a P&L like this.”　　Continuing on why OpenSea would consider going public, Roberts was of the opinion that the company does not literally need “to raise more cash,” instead, the leading NFT site would be using the new funding to “acquire companies, strike partnerships, and create joint ventures to further expand the use of NFTs into new industries.”　　With this new revelation from OpenSea, the crypto communitys earlier speculation that the NFT marketplace could be launching its own native token or towing the path of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) in efforts to decentralize the company appears to be invalidated.　　Interestingly, Brian Roberts played a

2021-12-08Deep Dive

How U.S. excessive dollar printing benefits crypto

In 2020, the United States Federal Reserve embarked on a massive dollar printing journey, necessitated by the need to deliver financial stimulus packages for the American taxpayers during the wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.The U.S printed 35% of Dollar circulation in 2020　　Reports even had it that that years print represents 35% of dollar print in the history of the United States Federal Reserve.　　Leaders of the two major parties believed that this was necessary since the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented economic recession. Due to this massive dollar print, the currency circulation moved from $15 trillion to over $19 trillion in 2020 alone.　　Although the American government successfully gave stimulus funds to beloved citizens during a tough time like that, it is important to know that there would always be a price to pay for the massive dollar print.　　Usually, in theory, when there is too much of any currency in circulation, it results in inflation. The case is not different from the United States of America after the record massive print led to a never-seen level of inflation in the country.Bitcoin, Ethereum, benefits from Dollar inflation　　While this looks very unfortunate for the United States economy, it equally opened the door for

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Binance to offer world’s first Initial Game Offering (IGO) featuring AI robot Sophia

AI robot Sophia is set to be tokenized and auctioned as part of a Metaverse project called “Noahs Ark.” Binance is launching this campaign as an Initial Game Offering (IGO).　　It will feature 100 “intelligent NFTs” available for auction on December 16 and be known as “The Transmedia Universe of Sophia beingAI.”　　“The IGO will showcase a history-making limited-edition one hundred Intelligent NFTs featuring Sophia beingAI. The collection will be known as, ”The Transmedia Universe of Sophia beingAI.　　As the worlds first, IGOs promise a new level of innovation in crypto funding. But what exactly are they？What is a Binance Initial Game Offering (IGO)？　　Up to 2017, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) were the industry standard in how crypto projects raised money. The ICO scene birthed many big-hitting projects, including Ethereum and NEO.　　But ICOs hit trouble following a series of high-profile exit scams, including OneCoin, headed by self-proclaimed “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova.　　Ignatovas “global tour” convinced investors to part with a reported $4.9 billion before she disappeared with the funds in 2017.　　As expected, this and similar incidents tarnished the term ICO, leading to their demise. Since then, different types of fundraising concepts have come into play, such as Security Token Offerings (STOs) and Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs).　　In

2021-12-08Deep Dive

Bitwise CIO Says $100K Bitcoin a Difficult Prediction to Make, Calls Ethereum the 'Asset of the Year

While there‘s been an awful lot of calls for bitcoin to reach six-digits in value in 2021, as the end of the year draws closer, it doesn’t seem like $100K per bitcoin will happen. Bitwise Asset Managements chief investment officer Matt Hougan told the press on Monday that “$100,000 by the end of the year is a difficult prediction to make.”　　$100K Bitcoin Prices May Be Unattainable in 2021 — Bitwise Exec Says Next Year ‘Investors Are Going to Be Looking at Ethereum’　　For a good portion of the year, many bitcoin advocates, experts, luminaries, and analysts predicted that bitcoin (BTC) would surely hit the $100K per unit range in 2021. One of the most popular forecasts belongs to Plan B, the creator of the stock-to-flow (S2F) bitcoin price model. Plan B said based on the pseudonymous analysts “worst case scenario for 2021 (price/on-chain based)” would be “Aug47K, Sep43K, Oct63K, Nov98K, Dec135K.”　　However, November‘s price call missed and the $135K prediction looks like it will miss as well. Bitcoin would have to double in value over the next 24 days gathering a touch over 96% during that time. Plan B is not the only one that has predicted BTC could hit six-digits in

2021-12-08Deep Dive

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