Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

NYDIG Survey: 46 Million Americans Invested in Bitcoin

Investor participation in the crypto market has been growing at an unprecedented rate over the last year! As a result, crypto exchange and trading platforms have been enjoying a massive rush of investors with trading volumes spiking to new highs.　　The Bitcoin-focused digital asset manager – New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) – recently published a new survey that shows that a massive 46 million Americans are invested in Bitcoin. This is nearly 17% of the adult U.S. population, reports Newsweek.　　The numbers have surely escalated faster as big players from Wall street join the Bitcoin bandwagon over the last few months. The survey includes a national sample of 1050 U.S. crypto investors with a minimum of $50,000 in annual income.　　Including Bitcoin In Personal Finance and Insurance Annuities　　The interesting this about the survey result was that a large number of respondents were keen enough to have Bitcoin (BTC) as part of their personal financial plans, including insurance! A massive 75% of the respondents said that they would be keen on learning about Bitcoin life insurance and Bitcoin annuities. As the Newsweek publication reports:　　“The survey found great interest in Bitcoin. About half the respondents said they want to receive some or all of

2021-05-12Deep Dive

TaxBit to Help IRS Ensure Crypto Traders Report on Taxes Properly

TaxBit will be tasked with aggregating transaction data to ensure the figures on both sides match.　　The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has officially announced a partnering with TaxBit to provide data analysis and tax calculation support for taxpayers who own crypto.　　CEO and Co-Founder of TaxBit, Austin Woodward, said that the move “indicates regulators are embracing the asset class, but doing so in a way that ensures a straightforward approach to conform with existing regulations.” He believes this is an important step for the enablement of widespread crypto adoption.　　The Utah-based crypto tax software company announced a one-year contract to provide auditing services for crypto transactions as requested by the IRS. Their main objective is to help the IRS to verify that high-volume crypto traders are reporting on their taxes properly.　　TaxBits director of government relations, Seth Wilks, explained that the company will help the agency understand the data:　　“We‘ll be providing data analysis and support and calculations for the IRS to help them really get to the right answer. [We’ll fill] some of the gaps in tools that just don‘t exist right now within their own ecosystem, and so we’re coming in to make sure that they are fully understanding the data.”　　 High-net-worth

2021-05-12Deep Dive

“Dogecoin Seems Like a Prescription for Disaster”: Bain Capital’s Steve Pagliuca

In his May 12 interview with Bloomberg, Steve Pagliuca, co-chairman of private equity firm Bain Capital, called Dogecoin “a prescription for disaster”:　　“Obviously, it could be a lot of fun to buy a dollar or two of Dogecoin, but I certainly wouldnt bet my savings on that.”　　The meme cryptocurrency is currency trading in the green after Tesla CEO Elon Musk ran a Twitter poll to find out whether the leading e-car maker should accept it as a form of payment.　　The poll has attracted 3.8 million votes, with the majority of Musks followers willing to see the meme coin as a new payment method.　　DOGE is still up over 11,000 percent despite a significant correction that occurred during the billionaires “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut.　　Pagliuca also has a Bitcoin warning 　　Pagliuca also cannot wrap his head around Bitcoin being a “viable currency.”　　That said, he does see it as a better alternative to gold because its portable and divisible:　　“Bitcoin is actually a more efficient store of value. You can transfer, its dividable. The blockchain technology is fantastic, but I think it has a long way to go.”　　If Bitcoin does go as far as becoming a currency, he predicts that governments will react to this

2021-05-12Deep Dive

Blockchain games have struggled to compete with traditional titles… until now

An established crypto project has revealed how it plans to ensure blockchain games are as popular and playable as old-fashioned titles that dominate the market.　　Blockchain games are struggling to compete with traditional titles on consoles and smartphones, a crypto project has said.　　PlayDapp says big improvements are needed to ensure that blockchain-based games tackle problems that have long persisted in this multibillion-dollar industry — all while giving players an immersive experience that‘s unlike anything they’ve seen before.　　Driven by team members who have decades of experience in gaming and IT, PlayDapp aims to ensure that in-game items can be traded on second-hand marketplaces with ease, and prized assets can easily be used across multiple games.　　This concept has already been put into practice. Nonfungible tokens earned through CryptoDozer, the platforms flagship game, are immediately recognized in its sister title DozerBird — allowing players to unlock additional stats and benefits.　　Executives say their priority is enriching non-crypto games with NFT features, meaning that players can enjoy true ownership of their items.　　A game-agnostic approach　　PlayDapp says that it has championed a “game-agnostic” approach — meaning that the NFTs unlocked on its platform can be moved from title to title with ease.　　This focus on interoperability means that players

2021-05-12Deep Dive

Let The Bidding Begin: The First NFT Patent?

We‘ve seen a wide variety of NFT releases this year. From trading cards, to immersive 3D graphic designs. From realistic still images, to real-life engagement opportunities with star meet & greets. One thing we seemingly haven’t seen yet, until now, is patents. However, aptly noted today on Twitter by sports, entertainment, and IP lawyer and University of Florida professor Darren Heitner, is what seems to be the very first patent auctioned off as an NFT.　　What It Is, And What It Means　　The auction was originally listed in recent weeks by True Return Systems LLC and D. Tiller Law PLLC. The patent (US Patent #10,025,797) is centered around providing an “elegant solution for maintaining blockchain‘s foundational benefits while expanding applications, easing combination of ’on chain‘ and ’off chain data storage”. Additionally, the patent cites potential application across a variety of industries, including health care, financial services, data sciences, and more.　　The patent is currently listed for 2,250 ETH (approx $9M USD at time of writing) on OpenSea, with no bidders at the time of writing.　　Join The Club　　The road doesn‘t seem to stop here, either. It was around the same time that reports were released that IBM would be working with IP specialists IPwe

2021-05-12Deep Dive

Ethereum Price to Hit $19,842 by 2025 According to 35 Experts

Thirty-five experts have come together to predict the price of ethereum. On average, they expect the price of ether to hit $19,842 by 2025. The majority of panelists say now is the time to buy ethereum while 28% say to hodl.　　Experts See Price of Ether Reaching Almost $20K by 2025　　The “Finder Cryptocurrency Predictions 2021” which was updated Monday predicts that the price of ether will be nearly $20K by 2025 according to 35 experts on Finders cryptocurrency panel. The report says: “By 2025, the panel expects Ethereum to hit $19,842 on average.”　　The highest forecast came from Bitbull Capital COO Sarah Bergstrand who believes that the price of ether would be $100,000 by 2025. “We are likely to see major upgrades to the Ethereum network this year, and those can be expected to push the price higher,” she explained.　　One of the most bearish forecasts came from UNSW associate professor Elvira Sojli who predicted that ETH will end 2025 at just $1,850.　　The report continues: “The majority of panellists (59%) say now is the time to buy ethereum, while 28% say ‘hodl’ and 13% say its time to sell.”　　As for the price prediction for the year 2021, the report notes that the “Panellists

2021-05-12Deep Dive

Macau casino investor bets on Bitcoin (BTC) amidst a bleak economic outlook

Chinese publicly listed firm Success Universe Group Ltd, which is a major investor in Macau-based casino and hotel resort Ponte 16, announced that it has purchased 24.3 Bitcoin ($1.35 million currently) as part of its portfolio diversification strategy, Inside Asian Gaming reported today.　　“In recent times, the Board observed increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies in the commercial world, with the inclusion of cryptocurrencies in investment portfolios of institutional investors and more companies accepting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, as an official payment option,” the firm noted.　　Looking for a new bet　　According to the announcement published by Success Universe via the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, while the crypto market may be extremely volatile in the short term and prone to wild price swings, its board of directors “believes that there is still room for cryptocurrencies to appreciate in value.” Bitcoin, in its turn, could be “a dependable store of value,” the firm added.　　“Having considered the uncertainty in the global economy, the unprecedented government financial stimulus measures, including quantitative easing, adopted around the world, depreciation pressure on the value of fiat currencies due to aggressive increases in money supply by central banks globally, the Board believes that the investment would diversify the Groups investment portfolio and enhance

2021-05-12Deep Dive

EOS Up 46% as Block.one Invests $10 Billion in Exchange

To start a centralized cryptocurrency exchange, you need a lot of liquidity to enable trades and attract buyers and sellers.　　The gross domestic product of a small country ought to do it.　　Block.one, the software firm behind the EOSIO blockchainplatform, has pulled together $10 billion to get Bullish Global off the ground. Block.one supplied 164,000 Bitcoin($9.25 billion), 20 million EOS tokens ($250 million), and $100 million in cash, while also raising $300 million in strategic funding.　　EOS enjoyed the best day of any of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, moving from $9.17 to $13.83 in just six hours this morning after the news broke. The 46% boost since yesterday bested other hot assets such as YFI and MATIC, according to data from Nomics.　　Block.one was founded by CEO Brendan Blumer and former CTO Daniel Larimer, who wrote the EOS white paper. The blockchain project, one of the original “Ethereum killers,” went on to raise a record sum of $4.2 billion in an initial coin offering.　　Its backers include UK hedge fund manager Alan Howard, Moore Capital Management CEO Louis Bacon, and PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel—all of whom invested in Bullishs funding round.　　Mike Novogratz, whose asset management firm Galaxy Digital also partook

2021-05-12Deep Dive

Hackers Attack Instagram Accounts in Malta and Require Bitcoin Ransom

Instagram accounts of Maltese residents were attacked recently by hackers. The online intruders specifically insisted on a Bitcoin ransom from the users in order to restore their access.　　Hackers Insist on Bitcoin　　Bitcoin and most of the cryptocurrencies keep their rally as their prices escalated in the past few months. Many companies and influential individuals either invested in them or recognized their potential. However, the skyrocketing value of bitcoin and altcoins also attracted the attention of online hackers who are always on the lookout for victims.　　Lovein Malta reported such a scam in the Mediterranean island. According to the information, foreign attackers hacked the Instagram accounts of many small business owners and everyday users of the social platform.　　To regain their access back, the hackers demanded to be paid in the primary cryptocurrency.　　According to the local authorities, the attackers are based in Turkey and have been on the hunt for Maltese victims over the past few months. Police, on the other hand, have been on the tail of the fraud but so far have not been able to confirm the whereabouts of the criminal operation.　　The situation with the current scheme in Malta remains uncertain and highly risky as even Instagram itself has not yet

2021-05-12Deep Dive

Indonesia Plans to Tax Crypto Trading

The Southeast Asian country of Indonesia considers a plan to tax trading with digital assets. However, a spokesman from the tax office revealed that the proposed scheme was still at the discussion stage, and no changes have yet been applied.　　The Crypto Environment in Indonesia　　The biggest economy in Southeast Asia – Indonesia – saw a massive increase in crypto users in the past months. Following the recent rally of most digital assets, local residents of the country turned their sight to them. According to a report, Indodax – the largest crypto exchange platform in Indonesia – registered more than 700 000 new members only for the first four months of 2021 as the total number rose to three million people.　　However, Reuters reported that the country‘s officials are contemplating a plan to tax trading with Bitcoin and all altcoins. Neilmaldrin Noor, a spokesman at Indonesia’s tax office, asserted that the future implementations were still at the discussion phase, and no changes have yet been administered. Additionally, he explained that taxation is vital for the economy:　　“It is important to know that… if there is a profit or capital gain generated from a transaction, the profit is an object of income tax. So the

2021-05-12Deep Dive

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