Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Most Expensive Cryptocurrency Real Estate Purchase: $22.5 Million Miami Penthouse

An anonymous buyer paid the record-breaking $22.5 million in digital assets to acquire a deluxe penthouse in Miami Beach. The deal became the most expensive known residential transaction paid with crypto.　　The Pearl of Arte Surfside Sold for Crypto　　In a recent press release, Forbes announced that an individual purchased an exclusive oceanfront condo located in the Surfside neighborhood in Miami for the colossal sum of $22.5 million. The buyer used cryptocurrencies to obtain the property, which is part of the posh building Arte Surfside. However, its not disclosed what type of cryptocurrency the buyer has used. This move represented the most expensive transaction ever to be paid this way.　　It is worth noting that no other property in Miami beach has ever been sold for such a high price per square foot – $4,450.50/SF. Interestingly, Donald Trumps daughter – Ivanka – and her husband – Jared Kusher – own the penthouse on the top floor in the same building.　　Alex Sapir, who, together with Giovanni Fasciano, developed Arte Surfside, asserted that deals of this type are very safe. He added that more and more people want to acquire other condos from the building with digital assets:　　“There is strong pent-up demand for cryptocurrency transactions

2021-06-09Deep Dive

Pioneering hardware wallet brings enhanced staking to cold storage

Twelve months ago, the total value of cryptocurrency locked in staking programs was barely more than $1 billion. Today, there is $58 billion locked in decentralized finance, or DeFi.　　The adoption of DeFi has been a sea change that‘s helped push the crypto industry into the mainstream, but it’s hardly the only one.　　Mainstream institutions including MicroStrategy and Tesla have poured billions of dollars into Bitcoin — and some have been buying the dip — while nonfungible tokens have evolved from CryptoKitties and CypherPunks to an artistic medium pulling in millions in bids for a new generation of digital artists like Beeple at famed auction houses like Christie‘s and Sotheby’s.　　With a dramatic further disruption of existing industries like music, sports and property starting to take shape, NFTs look to be set for substantial continued growth in years to come.　　More broadly, the blockchain industry grew 639% year over year, according to DappRadar‘s Dapp Industry Report for the first quarter of 2021. It’s now reaching 458,000 daily unique active wallets, the report found. With new users and investors come new risks, as the more than $100 million stolen from crypto users during Q1 2021 — mostly in the area of decentralized finance (DeFi) —

2021-06-09Deep Dive

Latin American MPs Widen Overton Window For Bitcoin

Lawmakers across the Latin American region are expressing their support for bitcoin (BTC) adoption – in the wake of the groundbreaking announcement over the weekend from the President of El Salvador that the nation aims to adopt BTC as legal tender.　　MPs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Panama have rushed in to show their support as bitcoin adoption appears to be pushing firmly into the Latin American Overton window – the range of policies that are politically acceptable to the mainstream.　　Still making the most waves on this front is the Salvadorian head of state Nayib Bukele (aged 39), who recently promised a bill would be put before parliamentarians this week – as well as promising crypto entrepreneurs tax breaks and fast-tracked residency clearance. Clearly aware of his audience, Bukele took to Twitter to announce, in English:　　“The bitcoin bill proposal that well send to Congress is almost ready. Simple. Short. Sweet.”　　Over the weekend, Bukele also edited his profile to feature red laser eyes – a commonly used sign of support used widely in the Twitter BTC and crypto community.　　A similar tactic was employed by the Salvadorian President of the Legislative Assembly Ernesto Castro.　　Another Bukele ally, the recently elected MP Dania González, took

2021-06-09Deep Dive

The “Internet of Blockchains” Has Arrived For Ethereum

Answering the calls for greater scalability and affordability, Polygon is aiming to become the definitive L2 solution for Ethereum by helping improve interoperability between chains, all while raising transaction throughput in a secure, accessible, and inclusive manner.　　Low-Cost Scalability Arrives From Polygon As DeFi Demands Climb　　Despite being the blockchain platform of choice for dApps and DeFi, Ethereum faces limitations in terms of low throughput, poor UX, and the absence of sovereignty. Polygon addresses these drawbacks with its one-click blockchain network deployment alongside a growing set of modules designed to support custom network development.　　The fundamental notion behind Polygon was enabling Ethereum to become a full-fledged, powerful, multi-chain system. Accordingly, the framework helps developers build and connect Ethereum-compatible networks while facilitating greater interoperability and message exchanges between blockchains.　　All these factors lead to the increased adoption of Polygon by users looking to escape high transaction fees on the Ethereum mainnet and investors discovering the protocol as one of the potential pillars of future DeFi.　　The growth in the prices of MATIC, Polygons native coin, reflects this notion. From the $0.0178 per token recorded on January 2nd, 2021, the price of MATIC has since reached $1.82, marking more than a 100-fold increase.　　DeFi Adoption Another Feather In

2021-06-09Deep Dive

Concordium aims to end the era of anonymity in crypto industry

Crypto and blockchain industries need to play by the rules to realize their full potential, Concordium CEO says.　　The anonymity of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies is a hot topic in the crypto space. While the transactions are open to track in a public blockchain, it is challenging to link a transaction with a real-life person in many use cases. As an identity-centric platform, Concordium takes a different direction by offering complete transparency.　　“The time has come for the blockchain industry to respect the general rules of society,” Concordium chairman Lars Seier Christensen said in an announcement. The launch of Concodium Blockchain marks the end of the era of anonymity, opacity, and the lack of transparency, he added.　　Developed and advised by leading executives and board members from corporations like Volvo, Ikea, Saxo Bank, MasterCard, and others, the Concordium Blockchain and its cryptocurrency GTU will launch the mainnet on June 9.　　According to the release, Concordium believes credible participants looking to enter crypto and blockchain are hindered by the lack of a regulation-friendly environment, which delays the industrys broader adoption.　　The Concordium platform offers “guarantees of governance and transparency, without compromising privacy,” the announcement reads. Users are identifiable and the provenance of every transaction is

2021-06-09Deep Dive

Bitcoin sell-off likely played a key role in boosting gold's appeal

Investors appetite for gold increased as they assessed higher inflation and a major price crash in the Bitcoin market.　　May was a testing time for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The flagship digital asset was already wobbling after rallying to nearly $65,000 in mid April, owing to profit-taking sentiment among traders.　　Elon Musk accelerated the sell-off by reversing his companys plans to accept Bitcoin as payment for Teslas electric cars.　　Later in the month, the Peoples Bank of China reiterated to the countrys financial institutions against the use of virtual currencies for payments. Chinese authorities are also starting to keep a close eye on crypto mining — the process by which computers mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.　　More blows to the cryptocurrency sector came from the U.S. tax and monetary authorities, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who suggested that more regulations are needed.　　All and all, the flurry of negative updates caused the cryptocurrency market to lose more than $500 billion in May. Being the benchmark digital asset, Bitcoin also suffered the brunt of aggressive downside pressure, falling 35.50% in the month.　　Meanwhile, physical gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded its strongest months in May 2021 since September 2020. The funds across the globe attracted a combined total

2021-06-09Deep Dive

SEC is a threat only for XRP or for entire crypto world? Is it even dangerous?

Ripple has been on the radar of the Securities and Exchange Commission for some time with allegations of conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered security offering being levied against them.　　Pressure continues to mount as the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to extend its investigation by two months in order to confront new issues.　　RippleLabs has announced that Ripple intends to go public immediately following the dispute with the SEC.　　The company faces problems with no clear end to the legal battle in sight. Many are now suggesting that the actions of the SEC are a market wide concern.　　The Securities and Exchange Commission is the governing body that regulates and controls the stock and capital market. Its reach extends from registration and listing, to the investigation of fraudulent activities in securities. The mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain solutions has caught the attention of the Commission.　　Like the stock market, the cryptoverse isnt immune to scams and fraudulent ICOs. Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), boomed in 2017 and 2018, with many crypto and blockchain solutions utilizing it to raise funds for their projects. Unlike IPOs in the stock market, there are few regulations surrounding ICOs, and many have gone south as a result. Ripple, among other

2021-06-09Deep Dive

Crypto market sinks by $300B while Bitcoin transactions near 3-year low

The global crypto market lost $200 billion overnight leading into Tuesday morning, adding to $300 billion losses for the week. Momentum pushed the global market cap down since Bitcoin (BTC) hit a recent peak in April, followed by an altcoin peak in early May. Following $1.1 trillion losses since then, the previous quarters growth has been completely eradicated across the breadth of the crypto space.　　The recent slump also coincides with a marked decline in the number of transactions flowing through the Bitcoin blockchain. On May 30, the number of daily Bitcoin transactions dipped as low as 175,000 — a near three-year low that stretches back to September 2018, according to data from Bitinfocharts.　　The number of Bitcoin transactions hit 392,000 in January 2021, and remained fairly stable up until April 15 — two days after the coin price peaked. Since then, both have been in decline, with transactions dropping by more than 50% throughout May.　　The same general pattern was witnessed with Ether (ETH), where daily transactions sank from 1.6 million on May 11 (the same day the coin price peaked), to 1 million by June 6 — a 37.5% decline.　　The number of on-chain transactions doesn‘t paint the full picture for Bitcoin

2021-06-08Deep Dive

South Korea bans crypto executives from trading on their own platforms

South Koreas Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced restrictions for executive employees and exchange operators, preventing them from trading on their own platforms.　　The FSCs Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) recently met with officials from crypto exchanges, presenting them their plan to modify the Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information, local news outlet Yonhap News Agency reported.　　Cross-trading ban for exchanges　　As an intermediary between financial institutions and law enforcement agencies in the country, FIU is the main organization responsible for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) policy formulation and implementation.　　In March 2020, the amendment to the countrys Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information recognized cryptocurrencies as “virtual assets” and added anti-money laundering obligations with regard to crypto services. This amendment provided a legal basis for cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea and obliged all crypto services to report to the FIU.　　The newest modifications to the amendment inhibit cross-trading on crypto exchanges in the country. This ban is made in an effort to eliminate price manipulation and failure to comply with new rules will result in penalties of up to $89,656 (100 million Korean won) in the form of business license cancellations.　　Trading-fee income illegal　　In addition

2021-06-08Deep Dive

Bitcoin dumps 9% even as Central American leaders endorse the asset

Bitcoin dropped 9% on Tuesday morning even as Central American leaders switched to ‘laser eyes’ this week, data from multiple sources shows.　　The sentiment is arguably bearish, as the dumps come off the back of nation-states moving to adopt the asset and analytics provider MicroStrategy announcing a $400 million private note round to acquire even more Bitcoin.　　Bitcoin for all　　The weekend saw El Salvador president Nayib Bukele say the country is looking to adopt Bitcoin as ‘legal tender’ and will soon float an official proposal to local Congress. Then, in a tweet, Bukele said there will be no capital taxes on Bitcoin gains and that all ‘crypto entrepreneurs’ will be given permanent residencies.　　Other Central American leaders soon joined in that chorus. This morning then saw a Panama official chime in with his own thoughts, proposing legislation for Bitcoin in the country.　　South American officials aren‘t far behind. Just yesterday, Paraguay’s National Congress member, Carlitos Rejala said Bitcoin would go ‘to the moon’ and the country would need to go “hand-in-hand with the new generation” to keep up.　　“We start this week with a valuable project that will renew Paraguay in front of the world,” said Rejala on Twitter, adding “to the moon #btc &

2021-06-08Deep Dive

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