Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

DeFi activity on Solana (SOL) just touched an all-time high

Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have reached a new height as the total value locked of all assets on its blockchain is now $12.7 billion according to data from DeFi Llama.　　Per Defi Llama, this new peak was reached earlier on October 21 before it reversed to around $12.34 billion. It was also revealed that the new peak beat the previous record of $12.2 billion which was set in September when the blockchain platform saw a rise in Defi use on its network.　　Interestingly, before the surge in interest in DeFi uses on Solana, the TVL of assets on the network had never exceeded $1.5 billion.　　As it stands, the bulk of the TVL is from Marinade Finance, a popular liquid staking protocol. The project alone has seen its own TVL rise by almost 69 percent placing it among the top projects with the highest liquidity. According to available information, it is trailing only Sunny, Radium, and Saber.　　It is important to note that despite the growth Solana-based defi protocol has seen within the last two months, it is still way behind that of Ethereum-based Defi protocol whose TVL stands at over $200 billion.Setting the pace for greens　　At the time of this writing, Solana,

2021-10-25Deep Dive

Predicting The Future Of US Bitcoin ETFs From Others That Have Come Before It

The first Bitcoin ETF has officially started trading in what is generally regarded as a victory for the community.　　Looking at the patterns of Bitcoin ETFs from other countries, certain hypotheses into the future can be made.　　Investors have a huge appetite for Bitcoin spot ETFs and will generally gravitate towards them over a futures-based product.　　Bitcoin is taking its place as an asset class to be reckoned with after the SEC approved the first Bitcoin ETF in the US. Investors remain curious regarding the future of the foray into ETFs but Canadas experiment is quite revealing.　　Canadas Blueprint　　In March, Canada made history by launching the first Bitcoin ETF in North America which increased the agitations for the US to follow suit. The first was the Purpose Bitcoin ETF and according to the firms statement, “the ETF will invest directly in physically settled Bitcoin, not derivatives.” This is a major distinction from the one approved by the US SEC that is a futures-based ETF, but still analogies can be made.　　The launch of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF opened the floodgates for the approval of more ETFs in Canada such as 3iQ Coins and CI Galaxy Bitcoin within weeks. It can be safe to say that

2021-10-25Deep Dive

PayPal Notches Largest Bitcoin Volume For The First Time In Months

PayPal has recorded its biggest BTC volume since May in the wake of the asset setting a new all-time high.　　Information is sparse whether or not the reason for the spike is a result of accumulation or due to retail traders taking profits.　　PayPal unveiled the service that allowed customers to buy, hold and sell Bitcoins with their accounts.　　Payment giant PayPal has seen the most significant Bitcoin activity on the platform in recent months. It seems that the move to embrace cryptocurrencies has had positive ripple effects for its wider adoption.　　$145 Million Worth Of Activity　　As Bitcoin climbed to a new all-time high that was sparked by the SECs approval of Bitcoin ETFs, PayPal was also recording its own BTC milestone. The payment platform saw trading volumes of the asset by $145.60 million which is the highest since May 19th. During that time, the platform recorded volume up to $304 million which is double the recent metric.　　Analysts are unsure whether or not the spike in volume is because of investors selling the top or because of retail traders buying in to ride the waves. Across the internet, searches for the word Bitcoin also experienced the same kind of spike.　　PayPal‘s decision to incorporate cryptocurrencies

2021-10-25Deep Dive

Elon Musk Says He Doesn’t Own Shiba Inu Tokens

Elon Musk has a Shiba Inu puppy at home. Elon Musk has joked about Shiba Inu, but Elon Musk doesnt hodl Shiba Inu.　　Replying to one of the many Shiba Inu accounts on Crypto Twitter, the famous Elon Musk confirmed that he didnt own Shiba Inu, despite being a highly influential figure for that community.　　Elon Musk Has no Shiba, Floki, or Any Other Dogecoin Spin-Off　　And although his puppys name is Floki, Elon Musk does not have a single Floki token either.　　Elon Musk said he only owned Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin (a portfolio he had already revealed). The disclosure came with a piece of advice for all maximalists —be it Bitcoin, Shiba Inu, or any other cryptocurrency: faith in a coin does not matter as much as the ecosystem of services built around it.　　Elon Musk says he has no Shiba Inu. Image: Twitter　　It seems that Elon Musk prefers the original meme to the copy. The worlds richest man has been actively working to improve Dogecoin and make it globally viable as a fast, cheap, and scalable medium of exchange.　　The Dogecoin Foundation even appointed an associate of Elon Musk as a member of its board of advisors, so it could be said that

2021-10-25Deep Dive

Cryptocurrency ATM Boom Comes to Colombia

While Colombia is not a country that has embraced cryptocurrencies compared to Venezuela or some African countries, it is the country with the second most cryptocurrency ATMs in the Latam region. The reason behind this could be that Colombia has a high percentage of cash usage. This makes cryptocurrency ATMs a very important tool for adoption in the country.　　 Colombia, Crypto ATM Haven　　There is a cryptocurrency ATM boom going on in Colombia right now, being this is the country that hosts the second-highest number of these ATMs in the region. Columbia was in first place until not so long ago, before El Salvador made its bitcoin bet and declared the leading cryptocurrency legal tender. Currently, there are 50 cryptocurrency ATMs in Colombia, but the reasons for this boom are still not clear to some.　　Colombia has not been especially known for its cryptocurrency adoption, and its involvement with cryptocurrencies at a government level was limited to a regulatory sandbox that exchanges are running with banks. However, there seems to be an increasing interest by cryptocurrency ATM companies in offering their services there. This might have to do with the close proximity to Venezuela and the vibrant commercial exchange that happens between

2021-10-25Deep Dive

Shiba Inu (SHIB) Surpasses Ether by Trading Volume Amid Explosive Rally

According to data provided by CoinMarketCap, the daily trading volume of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency has now eclipsed $14.5 billion.　　Notably, it has surpassed Ether, which has recorded $14.3 billion worth of trading volume over the past 24 hours.　　At the time of writing, Shiba Inu is the third most traded cryptocurrency overall (behind only Tether and Bitcoin).　　Image by coinmarketcap.com　　SHIB is dominating spot cryptocurrency trading volumes on the Binance exchange. It is also the most traded digital asset on Coinbase by a big margin.　　As reported by U.Today, Shiba Inu hit a new all-time earlier today for the first time since early May, capturing the attention of the cryptocurrency community. After reaching a lifetime peak of $0.00004432, it has since shed some of the gains.　　In the meantime, Bitcoin recently dipped below the $60,000 level. The leading cryptocurrency has become vulnerable to a steeper correction after bulls failed to hold onto recent gains. The flagship cryptocurrency is now on track to record its first weekly drop since September.　　Market analyst Ben Caselin told Bloomberg that speculation is likely to be the key reason behind Shiba Inus wild price action.　　As of recently, the community has been abuzz with rumors about Robinhood listing Shiba Inu, which is

2021-10-25Deep Dive

The young are driving the cryptocurrency growth, unmindful of the dangers

THE sheer scale of it is an eye-opener — India now has 15 homegrown cryptocurrency exchange platforms that enable trading and selling, with more than 1.5 crore users. At 10.07 crore, India also has the highest number of crypto owners in the world, according to broker discovery and comparison platform BrokerChooser. The United States and Russia rank a distant second and third, respectively. Going by the number of crypto owners in terms of population, India ranks fifth.　　A rapid rise in investments and several new domestic launches followed the Reserve Bank of India‘s clarification around cryptocurrency in May this year, asking regulated banks not to warn customers against cryptocurrency trading under its 2018 order, which banned such transactions. The three-year-old RBI circular was set aside in 2020 following the Supreme Court’s intervention on a petition filed by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and crypto exchanges.　　If substantial profits fall within the realm of possibility, so are the chances of huge losses and fraud in cryptocurrency trading — and there is no regulatory authority the investor can turn to, for now. The risk is entirely his or hers. A capital gains tax of 30 per cent, however, will be levied

2021-10-24Deep Dive

Report: Nearly a third of small businesses in the U.S. currently accept payments in crypto

Skynova provides invoicing software for small businesses and in order to gauge the level of adoption when it comes to crypto payments, the company surveyed 584 small-business owners and managers located in the US. 　　The survey revealed that nearly a third of small US businesses currently accept cryptocurrency as an acceptable form of payment.Most crypto-friendly cities 　　While relying on data collected from CoinMap, which keeps tabs on businesses that accept crypto, the report ranked major US cities according to their crypto-friendliness, based on the number of cryptocurrency ATMs, crypto-accepting restaurants, and crypto-accepting retailers. 　　While Los Angeles surfaced as the top city for all three categories, Chicago followed as the second friendliest.　　“Illinois has been making intense pushes to become the epicenter of cryptocurrency, while the state is home to one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining facilities in the Midwest,” noted the report, reminding that Illinois is working on a bill, which would make it the second state in the country, following Wyoming, to allow special trusts, like banks, to hold crypto. 　　“Business owners in Chicago are evidently anticipating cryptos longevity in their city,” concluded the reportCrypto as a payment option　　According to Skynova, 32% of small business owners and top-level executives

2021-10-24Deep Dive

Analysts say these reasons were behind Shiba Inu’s (SHIB) 300% rise last month

Shiba Inu (SHIB) price saw another impressive recovery on Monday, as Elon Musk tweeted dog text art and whale transactions stacked up.　　Is another dramatic spike, similar to the one in May, in the stars for the Dogecoin killer？The handler　　“This week shows that retail fervor is returning to the market, which could bode well for price action across the entire space in Q4. It could be an explosive end to 2021,” according to Ryan Wilkinson, co-founder of athlete NFT platform Blockasset.co.　　While Bitcoin (BTC) started the week trading above $62,000, approaching its ATH, Elon Musk once again blessed the dog-meme crypto pack with his tweets.　　Tesla CEO’s ability to have Shiba Inu-inspired cryptos’ prices jumping with his tweets is reminiscent of a dog agility show. 　　In these competitions, a handler, whose authority is limited to voice and body signals, navigates the dog through a complex obstacle course while racing against time.　　On Monday, Musk tweeted a text art image of a pup with a rocket ship. 　　“I’ve thought about and … I’m not sorry for party rocking,” he followed up. Despite Musk’s text art remaining open to interpretation, his tweet drove SHIB’s price up 21%.　　Meanwhile, Santiment detected an increase in Shiba Inu whale transactions

2021-10-24Deep Dive

Bitcoin Futures ETF is so popular that it’s breaching futures limits set by TradFi

The first US Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund is rapidly getting close to breaching a limit on the number of futures contracts it is permitted to hold, Bloomberg reported.　　Just days after launch, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) already owns nearly 1,900 contracts for October, and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) limits the number of front-month contracts to 2,000.Record trading volume　　After two days of trading, the fund already had more than $1 billion under management, read the report.　　The Bitcoin Futures ETF amassed 1,400 November contracts in order to avoid breaching the limit, but judging by the unprecedented early volume, BITO could soon hit the maximum total position of 5,000 contracts.　　The launch of competing products, such as Valkyrie‘s and VanEck’s Bitcoin Strategy ETFs, could ease the demand for BITO.　　One solution to avoid hitting the limit would entail BITO to spread out its holdings into longer-dated contracts, but that poses a risk of further distancing the fund from the performance of Bitcoin.　　“The end result is the ETF will start taking on potentially significant tracking error versus the spot price of Bitcoin,” president of advisory firm The ETF Store, Nate Geraci, told Bloomberg.　　“The ETF is forced to obtain Bitcoin price exposure at higher and higher

2021-10-24Deep Dive