Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

China Doubles Down On Crypto FUD By Recycling Old Warnings

The central People‘s Bank of China (PBoC) has issued a statement announcing that it has reached an agreement with all the nation’s biggest commercial banks and one of its biggest e-payments providers to help it enact a stronger crackdown on the crypto industry and its users. (Updated at 10:33 UTC: updates throughout the entire text. Updated at 10:30 UTC with a statement by the Postal Bank of China.)　　In the statement, the PBoC asserted that it had spoken to major players, such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Postal Savings Bank of China, as well as the Alibaba-run e-pay provider Alipay – and urged them to crack down on crypto trading and refrain from providing all forms of crypto-related financial services.　　The central bank added that it had also spoken to “other banks and payments providers.” The only heavyweight banks and e-payment platforms missing from the list are WeChat Pay (operated by Tencent) and the Bank of China.　　Crypto ownership has remained legal in China despite a massive crackdown in September 2017, which banished crypto exchanges and outlawed initial coin offerings (ICOs). Also, its not the first time Chinese banks are cracking

2021-06-22Deep Dive

Falling Lumber Prices, Inflation, And The Impact On Bitcoin As Digital Gold

Since Black Thursday 2020, few asset classes have run as wild on a total ROI basis than Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, as well as commodities like lumber. The rise of the assets with limited supplies is associated with post-pandemic inflation as well as an ongoing supply crunch due to shutdowns.　　However, both lumber futures and cryptocurrencies have had a sizable pullback since the recent Fed meeting where they only spoke hawkishly about raising rates in 2023. Heres what that could mean in terms of inflation, and the Bitcoin as digital gold narrative.　　When COVID first struck in Q1 of 2020, it sent markets haywire and due to the surplus of stimulus money thats flooded the economy since, asset prices are now several times higher than they were back then.　　A supply crunch related to lockdown conditions and widespread unemployment still lingers, influencing housing, consumer prices, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and even the price of commodities like lumber.　　The situation has resulted in a parabolic market in both Bitcoin and in lumber. But these markets have since reversed, and once the Fed began talking about raising interest rates, sentiment has turned even worse.　　The Bitcoin digital gold narrative, was fueled by the thought that the ultra-scarce cryptocurrency would be

2021-06-22Deep Dive

Decentralized privacy protocol launches yield farming to shift liquidity to DeFi

With privacy tools that completely obfuscate transactions, a seven-year-old blockchain is moving its liquidity to decentralized exchanges.　　An OG cryptocurrency dating to 2014 is making an aggressive push towards interchain operability, following up the launch of a new privacy protocol and wrapped token bridge to Binance Smart Chain with the launch of yield farming last month.　　Aimed at allowing frictionless and extremely cheap cross-border transactions, the fully decentralized Navcoin protocol launched a wrapped version of its NAV coins— Wrapped NAV, or wNAV — in April, building a bridge to the Binance Smart Chain, and through it to the world of decentralized finance (DeFi).　　The Binance BEP-20 token wrap opens decentralized exchanges (DEX) to NAV and xNAV. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that more wNAV liquidity is concentrated in DEXs. To that end, bridges to Solana and Ethereum are planned in the next 12 months.　　The wrapped tokens followed March‘s release of Navcoin’s new privacy protocol and the creation of a sister token, xNAV, priced one-to-one with NAV. Both NAV and xNAV can be swapped for wNAV.　　The Wrapped NAV is then traded for PancakeSwap LP tokens and securely cold-staked in the users offline bridge wallet for farming on the Navcoin liquidity pool of PancakeSwaps

2021-06-22Deep Dive

Can Bitcoin Still Pride Itself On Anonymity?

Bitcoin‘s arrival to the financial scene was a rough one. Upon its numerous qualities, it was still called lots of negative names, including a scam, a bubble, and a ’thing associated with crime‘ as many argued it didn’t have any base value.　　One of Bitcoin‘s qualities however caught the eye of many investors and that was its anonymity. The option of one performing a transaction without revealing his or her identity became a sensation, pulling many people towards it. As time went on, investors and industry players got to grasp the concept of Bitcoin’s underlying technology, striking out the notion that Bitcoin was a safe haven for crime and criminals.　　However, recent events across the crypto space have brought Bitcoins anonymity into question. The United States Justice Department seized over a billion dollars in Bitcoin in numerous investigations last year.　　The Justice Department again located a sum of $2.3 million paid as ransom by Colonial Pipeline to DarkSide, a dark web hacker group. Colonial Pipeline made the payment in Bitcoin, which many investors thought was untraceable, leading to most asking whether the biggest cryptocurrency can still pride itself on anonymity？　　Anonymity and privacy are words that have been used interchangeably whenever Bitcoin is said

2021-06-22Deep Dive

Sekarang Masa Yang Tepat Utk Beli ETH Dan MATIC

Katakan anda melabur di Ethereum dan MATIC sekarang, berapa banyak yang akan anda perolehi sebagai pulangan semasa lembu lembu itu kembali？ Dan bila？ Mari kita cari!　　Harga ETH Diramal Bakal Meningkat $3000 Tidak Lama Lagi　　Harga ETH, pada masa ini melakukan yang terbaik untuk mendapatkan kembali tahap sokongannya pada $2100 dan berada dalam kedudukan yang baik untuk mengambil langkah seterusnya tidak lama lagi. Harga sejak awal kenaikan harga pada awal 2021, mengekalkan garis arah aliran yang sama. Walaupun terdapat sedikit penurunan, harga tidak dapat menembusi garis tren. Tidak syak lagi harganya mengalami penembusan palsu, namun akan segera selesai.　　Harga pada masa ini sedang menguji garis tren dan tidak lama lagi dapat pulih dengan kenaikan besar yang dapat mengawal harga ke tahap awal sekitar $2500. Walau bagaimanapun, sasaran sebenarnya masih berada di atas $3000 yang mungkin mendekati cepat, mungkin pada pertengahan ogos. Oleh itu seseorang boleh menjangka keuntungan yang baik.　　Harga MATIC Boleh Menyatu Lebih Banyak　　Harga poligon atau MATIC cenderung dalam segitiga menaik dan belum sampai ke hujungnya. Oleh itu, penggabungan mungkin terdapat pada kad, mungkin selama beberapa hari. Mengingat pergerakan harga sebelumnya, harga boleh menembusi rintangan atas segitiga hingga mencecah $2 atau mengalami penarikan sedikit dan mendorong lebih tinggi.　　Lebih-lebih lagi, kerana perang gas yang

2021-06-22Deep Dive

Top 3 US Banks Now Offer Crypto Futures Trading, Will Other Banks Follow Soon?

Despite the incessant clamor for the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S., the biggest banks are already offering cryptocurrency-related services. As reported by Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and Morgan Stanley are notably offering crypto futures trading to their clients. This is coming at a time when banks in the second-largest economy, China, are clamping down on all crypto-related offerings.　　US Banking Heavy-weights Riding Crypto Bandwagon　　The rate of the embrace of digital assets in the past year has caused a shift in customer demands across the board. At the request of clients, a number of banks in the US and around the world are beginning to explore ways to offer crypto services, albeit, many of the proposed potential offerings are being marred by regulations. This is at least the claim made by Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon in Congressional testimony earlier this month.　　“We do clear Bitcoin futures,” he said. “We provide advice to clients, particularly institutions, and high net worth individuals that have an interest in gaining exposure, although often they go to other places to gain those exposures.”　　At present, only Bank of America offers crypto futures settlement alongside the three major banks. Morgan

2021-06-22Deep Dive

After Bitcoin U-Turn, Nigeria Plans To Launch Central Bank Currency This Year

According to Reuters, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to launch a digital currency pilot as soon as the end of this year.　　Last month, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made a U-turn on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by saying he will “allow” them. Previously, the CBN had sought to restrict the cryptocurrency sector by imposing regulatory sanctions on monetary businesses that serviced cryptocurrency exchanges.　　In a turn of fortunes, it now looks as though Nigerian officials are embracing blockchain technology. All the same, in what may well turn into a showdown between private and public cryptocurrencies in the future, arguments against central bank offerings remain as pertinent as ever.　　The Nigerian Central Bank Digital Currency Has Been Years In The Making　　Despite Nigeria‘s purported aversion to fintech, it’s emerged that the central bank has been working on a digital currency for the past two years.　　The CBN Director of Information Technology, Rakiya Mohammed, echoed what many other countries have mentioned in the past. That is, Nigeria will not be left behind in the technological revolution.　　“Were all aware that about 80% of central banks in the world exploring the possibility of issuing central bank digital currency, and Nigeria cannot be left behind.”　　One of the

2021-06-22Deep Dive

Sotheby’s Will Take Bitcoin Bids for Diamond Auction

Sothebys, one of the largest auction houses in the world, is planning to accept crypto bids for an upcoming diamond auction.　　Sothebys Will Auction a $10 Million Diamond　　According to Reuters, Sothebys will auction a 101.38-carat pear-shaped flawless diamond called “The Key 10138.”　　The diamond is a high-value item; only two other comparable diamonds have come to auction. Sothebys estimates that the diamond will attract bids of $10 million to $15 million.　　The successful bidder can make their purchase with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or standard fiat currency.　　These payment options make the auction the first of its kind. According to Sothebys, “no other physical object of such high value” has been paid for with cryptocurrency to date.　　Sotheby‘s Asia chairman Patti Wong called the decision a “symbolic moment,” noting that diamonds, an ancient store of value, can now be bought with the crypto, the world’s “newest universal currency.”　　Auction Houses and NFTs　　Though this is the first time Sothebys has accepted cryptocurrency for a regular auction, the auction house has been involved in sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or cryptocollectibles in the past.　　In March, Sothebys coordinated an NFT sale for a work by the digital artist Pak. The auction house then sold a Banksy artwork in May;

2021-06-22Deep Dive

South Korea Mulls Singapore-style Approach to Crypto Regulation

The South Korean financial regulator is looking to Singapore for inspiration as it forms new crypto sector policies, sparking anticipation that it may look to adopt a similar system.　　Singapore is known for having one of the most progressive approaches to crypto regulation in the world, and its crypto exchanges are policed by the central bank and chief financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).　　A number of leading international exchanges are headquartered in Singapore, where the MAS began requiring anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) protocols for trading platforms in 2018. Exchanges are also obliged to apply for operating licenses, flag suspicious transactions and keep their own funds separate from those of their customers.　　Many of these provisions will be introduced in September this year when South Korean exchanges will fall under the regulatory umbrella of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). But after years of confusion about where exactly the buck stops with policy-making in the crypto sector, the FSC has recently been handed almost complete control over the industry.　　As such, the FSC has been attempting to find its feet in the sector in recent weeks. As part of its preliminary work, it has summoned the nations

2021-06-22Deep Dive

Why are Banks More Fragile Versus the Self-Managed Samecoin Ecosystem

In recent years, more and more people have been looking for a way to have complete control of their money. For a number of reasons, traditional financial institutions have taken a lot of flak. And one of the key answers to this problem is DeFi. Decentralized Finance protocols take control of your money back from large corporations and put it in the palm of your hands.　　Samecoin stands at the forefront of the DeFi landscape with a number of useful and innovative features as part of its platform. When combined with the SamePay payment app, users who are new to DeFi can enjoy all of the benefits without having to understand the details, like minting rewards and more. Samecoin and SamePay present a number of benefits for those looking to take control of their money.　　One could not only have control of their funds but also earn an income from the investment in the shape of more Samecoin, simply from holding and staking it. While most dont really understand how all of this works, the SamePay app made it simple and easy for everyone to get started. How does the Samecoin ecosystem compare on a number of different points when compared to

2021-06-22Deep Dive

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