Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

How a small village in El Salvador spurred the historic Bitcoin bill

Last week, El Salvador‘s Congress passed a bill legalizing Bitcoin. The leading cryptocurrency now has equal footing with the country’s official currency, the U.S dollar. The upshot to this means all Salvadorian merchants are legally required to accept it for payments.　　While the crypto community celebrated the news as confirmation that the tide is turning against centralized authorities, theres just one problem. Bitcoin, with its painfully slow 5 transactions per second throughput, makes for a horrible payment system.　　Nonetheless, as pointed out by Nicholas Burtey, the co-founder and CEO of Galoy Money, thanks to the Lightning Network, Bitcoin was already being used as a payment system, even in the most unlikely of places.　　Bitcoin plus Lightning Network = scalable payments　　The Lightning Network is a layer 2, or off-chain, network that sits on top of Bitcoin. It enables individuals to transact without having to record every individual transaction on the mainchain there and then.　　This brings several scalability benefits, including lower fees and microtransactions and a degree of privacy, which is useful in a payment scenario, such as hiding wallet balances from other parties.　　Burtey said, during his travels to El Zonte in 2020, a southern El Salvadorian coastal region known as a surfing hotspot, he

2021-06-15Deep Dive

99 Percent of Cryptocurrencies Are Overpriced, Says Crypto King Barry Silbert

Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert has revealed his bearish views on the market in a series of recent tweets, claiming that 99 percent of cryptocurrencies are “overpriced.”　　Prior to that, the crypto king disclosed that he was long the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX Index).　　Silbert has mentioned “investor complacency,” “speculative excess,” and the lack of trust in the U.S. Federal Reserve are among the things that could spark “macro fireworks.”　　The S&P 500 index hit yet another all-time high last week amid concerns surrounding recent inflation data.　　As reported by U.Today, Bitcoin managed to reclaim the $40,000 level earlier today after billionaire Paul Tudor Jones said that he‘s willing to go “all in” on inflation trades if the Fed doesn’t do anything about growing consumer prices.　　The total crypto market is currently sitting at $1.28 trillion.

2021-06-15Deep Dive

Why The WEF Wants You To Learn About Bitcoin And Ethereum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published a report called “Cryptocurrencies: A Guide to Getting Started” on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. The report is part of their Global Future Council on Cryptocurrencies and its intended to provide the readers with the basics of this new asset class.　　The total market cap of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the rest of the cryptocurrencies managed to surpass $2 trillion. The industry and underlying technology, according to the report, have matured with $65 billion in on-boarded assets, $1 billion sold in digital collectibles, and digital art across diverse sectors, such as file storage, cross-border payments, non-fungible tokens (NFTs).　　The WEF acknowledged the relevance of cryptocurrencies and wants CEOs, product managers, technology professionals, corporate leaders, and more to have a guide on how they can apply cryptocurrencies to their work and life.　　Thus, the report explains subjects such as taxation, making transactions, custody of the funds, and how to buy Bitcoin. These are relevant points and could help to drive adoption from the target audience, a major goal for the market to continue to evolve. The report claims:　　As cryptocurrency matures, there has been increased interest from technology leaders in understanding this industry.　　Bitcoin, Obstacles, And Potential For A Nascent

2021-06-15Deep Dive

JPMorgan Implies that El Salvador’s Bitcoin Move Has no Economic Benefits

According to JP Morgan, the decision of El Salvador to make bitcoin legal tender will have no economic implications.　　Following El Salvadors move to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender in the country, Wall Street giant JPMorgan seems not to be impressed by such a monumental decision from the Central American nation.　　JPMorgan Comments on El Salvadors Bitcoin Move　　In a recent note to investors, as tweeted by Financial Times correspondent Robin Wigglesworth, JPMorgan commented that the recent move made by El Salvador to make bitcoin legal tender was growth-oriented. However, the American investment bank seemed to imply that the decision by the country had no economic benefit, adding that it could hinder its negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)　　According to a statement from JPMorgan:　　“It is difficult to see any tangible economic benefits associated with adopting bitcoin as a second form of legal tender and it may imperil negotiations with the IMF.”　　Indeed, the IMF made comments about El Salvador‘s move to legalize bitcoin, Gery Rice, spokesperson for the IMF, stating that there were economic and legal concerns regarding the country’s decision. According to Rice:　　“Adoption of bitcoin as legal tender raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues that require very careful

2021-06-15Deep Dive

Tanzania’s president is now calling for Bitcoin and crypto adoption

In what appears to be the latest move by a sovereign country to embrace cryptocurrency, Tanzania‘s President Samia Sulhulu has asked the country’s Central Bank to start exploring the crypto sector, as per local outlet The Citizen.　　Bitcoin for Tanzania　　The announcement by the President, which was made on June 14, appears to be the latest in a recent series of moves by various countries.　　“We have witnessed the emergence of a new journey through the Internet,” Hassan said while emphasising that the increasing impact of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, on global finance is enormous.　　While noting throughout the East African region, no country has accepted or started making moves to adopt cryptocurrency; she called on the countrys central bank to be prepared for all eventualities.　　“My call to the Central Bank is that you should start working on that development. The central bank should be ready for the changes and not be caught unprepared,” Hassan added.　　The announcement in Tanzania comes on the heel of moves in countries like Mexico, Uruguay and Panama to adopt and legalise cryptocurrency as a legal means of exchange within their countries.　　Countries around the world move to adopt crypto　　Lawmakers in Mexico, for example, led by Eduardo Murat Hinojosa, had recently

2021-06-15Deep Dive

Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Decreases to 5-Month Low Amid China’s Crackdown

After the latest crackdown from China on Bitcoin mining and the declining hash rate, the mining difficulty has gone through another adjustment. As a result, the metric has dropped by 20% in less than a month to a 5-month low.　　China Goes Against Bitcoin Mining　　The worlds largest country by population has been reiterating its negative stance against the cryptocurrency industry for almost a decade. It did it once again in May, but this time it went a step further.　　As previously reported, some of the regions responsible for a considerable amount of the BTC hashrate received official notices to halt any Bitcoin mining operations that may “pose a safety risk related to their electricity usage.”　　Despite being the most advanced country in terms of Bitcoin hashrate for the last several years, China‘s dominance is rapidly decreasing. Some reports suggest it’s down by about 10% in a month.　　Instead, other countries, including such located in North America, are taking advantage by attracting miners through the abundance of renewable energy.　　Bitcoin Difficulty Adjusts to 5-Month Low　　While China‘s crackdown takes place and miners complete their relocation, the hashrate of the world’s largest blockchain suffers. The metric is down from its all-time high in May of over 180M TH/s

2021-06-15Deep Dive

Coinbase Pro Will List Polkadot’s DOT Cryptocurrency

Coinbase has announced that it will list DOT, the native cryptocurrency of Parity Technologies Polkadot blockchain.　　Coinbase Will List DOT　　Coinbase will allow users to deposit DOT beginning today, Monday, June 14. It will then allow trading at 9AM Pacific Time on Wednesday, June 16, if the exchange has sufficient liquidity.　　Users will be able to trade DOT for various fiat currencies (USD, EUR, and GBP) and select cryptocurrencies (BTC and USDT).　　DOT will then be listed on Coinbases retail trading application at a later date that is still unspecified.　　Recent and Upcoming Listings　　Coinbase did not explain why it chose to list DOT. However, with a market cap of $23.1 million, Polkadot is the ninth largest cryptocurrency on the market today, making it an important asset for Coinbase to include in its exchange listings.　　Coinbase described Polkadot as a high-performance platform for cross-chain transactions. It added that the DOT token acts as Polkadots governance token—it is used for staking and security, and it is used to attach new chains to the network.　　Coinbases decision to list DOT comes weeks after it decided to list Dogecoin (DOGE)—a listing that investors have demanded for years.　　Other recent listings include Sushiswap (SUSHI), Tether (USDT), and Cardano (ADA). Several other assets are

2021-06-15Deep Dive

All About Solana And Why It’s The Game-Changer Crypto Of The Year

While no one can deny the massive influence of Bitcoin on the cryptocurrency and blockchain worlds, and no one can possibly refute the utility of the Ethereum blockchain, there are many other smaller players who are changing the landscape at breakneck speeds. One of these players that have emerged as a key competitor to becoming the top dog of smart contract platforms is Solana.　　Solana is a fast, secure, and censorship-resistant blockchain providing the open infrastructure required for global adoption. They aim to solve the problem of high fees and slow transaction speeds when executing smart contracts. But how do they plan to do this？ First, let‘s talk about Solana’s history.　　Solana was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 when Yakovenko published a whitepaper draft proposing a new timekeeping and validation technique for distributed systems. For context, Bitcoin and Ethereums blockchains utilize the Proof-of-Work (PoW) concept while blockchains like Cardano and Polkadot use the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) method.　　As a side note, Ethereum will be moving over to the Proof-of-Stake methodology upon the completion of the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. Solana, on the other hand, uses a consensus algorithm called Proof-of-History (PoH) combined with the underlying Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain.　　In simple terms, PoH

2021-06-15Deep Dive

Central American Financial Institution to Help El Salvador Implement its Bitcoin Legalization

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), an international multilateral development bank headquartered in Honduras, said that it will work with the El Salvadoran government to implement bitcoin as the countrys second legal tender.　　According to Reuters, on Monday (June 14, 2021), the executive president of CABEI, Dante Mossi, revealed the banks plans at a new conference. Mossi said that the major financial institution would offer technical assistance to El Salvador to assist the country in legalizing bitcoin.　　The CABEI head also said that it would create a team in collaboration with El Salvador‘s Ministry of Finance and the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, the country’s central bank, to help implement bitcoin as a legal tender.　　Meanwhile, the latest development comes on the heels of recent criticism by various global financial institutions towards El Salvadors bitcoin adoption.　　As reported by CryptoPotato, JPMorgan implied that the Central American country‘s decision to make BTC its second legal tender had no economic benefit. The Wall Street giant added that the country’s move could jeopardize its negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).　　The IMF and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) also commented on El Salvador‘s bitcoin move. While the IMF said that it would monitor

2021-06-15Deep Dive

Goldman Sachs: Crypto Not a Viable Investment, Blockchain May Become Obsolete

In its June cryptocurrency report entitled “Digital Assets: Beauty Is Not in the Eye of the Beholder,” Goldman Sachs‘ Investment Strategy Group—which is responsible for the banking giant’s private wealth management—writes that cryptocurrencies are “not a viable investment” for its clients.　　The groups analysts point out that greater regulatory oversight is the biggest risk faced by the cryptocurrency ecosystem.　　As reported by U.Today, Gary Gensler, the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said that investors didnt have full protections in the crypto market.　　In addition, Goldman notes that tech advances could make blockchain “obsolete” even though it expects the technology to make enterprise operations more efficient and prevent the abuse of personal data.　　Finally, the bank also raised alarm over Bitcoins energy consumption, claiming that it could discourage broader adoption.　　Meeting client demand　　Despite a bearish research piece on digital assets, Goldman is further expanding its crypto trading desk by reportedly planning to add Ethereum futures and options.　　According to Mathew McDermott, Goldmans head of digital assets, there is still client demand for trading cryptocurrencies despite a recent rout:　　“Weve actually seen a lot of interest from clients who are eager to trade as they find these levels as a slightly more palatable entry point.”

2021-06-15Deep Dive

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