Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

How Coinbase is Driving the Crypto Market to the Richest Fintech Hands

Not every cryptocurrency proponent is a fan of the giant exchange platform Coinbase. But if sentiments are kept aside, it is crystal clear that the platform is leading the cryptocurrency market into some of the richest hands the industry will ever know.　　Between last year and this year, some of America‘s biggest institutions have tapped the exchange to help it purchase cryptocurrencies. This was the case for Tesla. The $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase made by the platform was largely possible due to Coinbase’s involvement.　　We also reported a while back that some of Americas top universities including Yale and Harvard, have made Coinbase their middleman, as they silently partake in the act of buying digital currencies in large numbers. Sometime last month, Social investment app Invstr teamed up with Coinbase to launch a trading feature that will allow U.S users to buy and sell digital currencies.　　More recently, the leading American-based fine art auction house Sotheby has revealed it will be making a major entrance into the cryptocurrency market through Coinbase. The art place is set to launch a historic art auction in the week ahead and will accept bidders payments in Bitcoin and Ethereum. This is the first time the company is

2021-05-06Deep Dive

How O3 Swaps Could Become The Next Hub For Cross-Chain Exchanges

Built as a proprietary cross-chain aggregation protocol, 03 Swap aims to deliver access to crypto-financial services. Its development was undertaken by the Tokyo-based O3 Labs. The protocol allows users to leverage the cross-chain “swap” feature to exchange several digital assets with the O3 Wallet.　　O3 Labs gave priority to provide a protocol with a high level of safety and security. Thus, they designed O3 Swap with a decentralized model to store and protect the cryptocurrencies, assets, and tokens. In addition to a swap feature, the protocol offers “cross-chain swap”. That way, users can exchange their digital assets without being bound to a single blockchain.　　To enable this feature O3 Swap executes the exchange while the cryptocurrency or digital assets goes from a blockchain A to a blockchain B. Both networks are separated and never communicate, but when a user sends an initial asset, the protocol deploys a target asset on the receiving blockchain.　　The feature is supported by the O3 Wallet and settles through the smart contract on the protocols settlement layer. As a bonus, users will have cross-chain pools which will aid them to complete their exchange.　　The protocol has set out to become a one-stop aggregation and exchange platform and meet consumers‘

2021-05-06Deep Dive

Cryptolancing: Will Novel Approach to Freelancing Boost Crypto Markets?

Introduction　　More than 59 million Americans worked freelance in 2020, and it is expected that by 2027 the majority of the U.S. workforce will be engaged in working as a freelancer. Freelance websites like Upwork, Freelancer and PeoplePerHour have helped commonize freelancing globally, liberating workers from their 9 to 5 office jobs, and making it possible for them to work from their home.　　 What is Cryptolancing？　　Conventional websites for freelance jobs often charge high fees (up to 20%) from their clients and many of them also have high rates of currency exchange. Cryptolancing is rapidly gaining popularity and setting new standards for freelance marketplaces by overcoming these limitations. Cryptolancing websites pay freelancers in cryptos and charge zero fees.　　Whats more, websites that are using cryptos do not have to wait hours or days to make deposits and withdrawals, but work with instant payments by integrating seamlessly with crypto wallets. Payments with cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum also eliminate the need for currency conversion taxes and fees.　　Gitcoin & Bounties Network are marketplaces where open-source developers can receive compensation in crypto for whatever work they choose thanks to Ethereum Smart Contracts. Due to native integration with Github, changes and updates can be easily tracked.　　Open bounties

2021-05-06Deep Dive

Another 50% daily gain for Dogecoin confirms 'alt season' as Bitcoin slumps

Dogecoin rally sparks speculation about the arrival of alt season as Ether celebrates its eighth-straight day reaching a new high.　　he cryptocurrency market awoke to the sight of Dogecoin (DOGE) price surging to as high as $0.69 in the past two days, leading many to wonder if the recent performance of the worlds most popular meme token is now the leading indicator for the arrival of alt season.　　Long-time crypto fans mark the fourth of May as a special day for the Bitcoin community as a whole for being the birthday of one of the earliest known supporters of the Bitcoin network Hal Finney, who would have celebrated turning 65.　　Data from Cointelegraph Markets and Tradingview shows that while the worlds attention was focused on Dogecoin, Bitcoin (BTC) faced selling pressures, which began the night before and dropped the price of BTC back below the $55,000 support level by mid-day on Tuesday.　　While BTC continues to trade in the $50,000 to $60,000, or what some traders see as the “twilight zone,” the price of Ether (ETH) again climbed to a new all-time high at $3,519 as institutional managers now hold a record $13.9 billion worth of the top altcoin and smart contract platform.　　Yellens comments

2021-05-05Deep Dive

Grayscale parent firm DCG to expand GBTC buy limit by $500M

Digital Currency Group has purchased a total of $194 million worth of GBTC shares so far.　　Digital Currency Group, the parent company of digital asset manager Grayscale Investments, is now authorized to purchase up to $750 million worth of shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.　　The company announced Monday that DCG increased its prior authorization to buy up to $250 million worth of GBTC shares by an extra $500 million.　　The share purchase authorization does not obligate DCG to acquire any certain amount of shares in any period, and it may be expanded, modified or discontinued at any time, DCG noted. Actual purchases will depend on many factors like the levels of available cash as well as price and market conditions, the firm said.　　DCG mentioned that the firm had purchased a total of $193.5 million worth of GBTC shares as of Friday. DCG plans to use cash to fund the purchases and will make the purchases at managements discretion in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act, the company noted.　　The news comes shortly after DCG originally announced in March its plan to purchase up to $250 million of GBTC shares. The move came amid volatile conditions for GBTC and plans to hire

2021-05-04Deep Dive

VORTECS Report: Altseason indicator flips to Bitcoin even as Rally and Polygon surge

Timely NewsQuakes deliver market-moving events directly to Markets Pro subscribers, while a record-breaking VORTECS Score coincides with Polygons remarkable price action.　　Crypto investors are scratching their heads this week, as a key indicator suggests that Bitcoin is about to take center-stage once more — even as Cointelegraph Markets Pro subscribers had the opportunity to take major profits on altcoins such as Rally (RLY), Polygon (MATIC) and Ampleforth (AMPL).　　Since Markets Pro was launched in January, the Altseason Analysis indicator has leaned heavily toward altcoins — and indeed, the performance of an evenly-weighted basket of the Top 100 altcoins has strongly outperformed holding Bitcoin since Markets Pro began tracking these metrics on January 3.　　Holding Bitcoin: 74% return　　Holding Top 100 altcoins: 432% return　　Best-performing time-based VORTECS™ strategy: 1,843% return　　Best-performing score-based VORTECS™ strategy: 1,367% return　　The Altseason Analysis, developed for Markets Pro by data analytics firm The TIE, works similarly to the VORTECS™ Score, but adds two additional variables including press release data from tokens and exchange listing data.　　It compares current market conditions to those in the past, to assess whether the market currently looks more bullish for altcoins or bitcoin for the next 14 days.　　The VORTECS™ Score includes sentiment analysis, tweet and trading volume, and price

2021-05-03Deep Dive

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Bashes U.S. Regulators on Lack of Regulatory Clarity

San Francisco-based blockchain startup Ripple has been in a bitter war with the U.S. SEC over the last few months. The SEC slapping lawsuit on Ripple over the alleged sale of XRP securities has put the two at crossroads. Bashing out the U.S. regulators once again, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the lack of regulatory clarity on the use of cryptocurrencies in the U.S. is “Frustrating”.　　Speaking to CNBCs Squawk Box, Garlinghouse said that the U.S. is far behind other Asian countries when it comes to crypto regulations. He added:　　“I give credit to markets like Singapore and even parts of Korea where there really has been a thoughtful government-led effort to define and have clear regulatory frameworks around cryptocurrencies.”　　Garlinghouse didn‘t miss to touch down upon his company’s legal battle with the SEC. He notes that the U.S. is the only country that considers XRP as a security. Garlinghouse noted:　　“Ironically, here in the United States they have not provided that same clarity. It is the only country on the planet that has said XRP is anything other than a currency. The SEC has said… XRP is a security. And so we‘re now engaged in a court discussion. So far, I feel

2021-04-30Deep Dive

100M euro digital bond was a CBDC test, says Banque de France

It turns out the 100 million euro digital bond issued by the European Investment Bank earlier this week was actually a trial of a European central bank-issued digital currency, or CBDC.　　An April 28 announcement from Frances central bank, Banque de France, revealed the digital bond was settled using a CBDC on a blockchain.　　The two year-bond was issued on the Ethereum public blockchain on April 27 and settled the following day, with a maturity date of April 28, 2023. The sale was led by Goldman Sachs, Santander and Société Générale.　　“From a technological standpoint, the experiment required the development and deployment of smart contracts under secured conditions, so that the Banque de France could issue and control the circulation of CBDC tokens and so that CBDC transfer occurred simultaneously with the delivery of securities tokens to the investors portfolio,” Banque de France said.　　The bank also revealed plans for further experiments in the future, noting that its efforts are part a push to provide evidence of use cases for a European CBDC:　　“In the coming months and in cooperation with the market, the Banque de France will conduct additional experimentations to assess other uses of central bank digital currency in interbank settlements.”　　The news that

2021-04-30Deep Dive

Bitcoin Titan Microstrategy Reports Major Growth in First Quarter

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) reported its quarterly earnings after market hours today, which emphasized its focused corporate strategy and the benefits of its ongoing Bitcoin standard, first adopted on August 11, 2020.　　“MicroStrategys first quarter results were a clear example that our two-pronged corporate strategy to grow our enterprise analytics software business and acquire and hold bitcoin is generating substantial shareholder value,” per the report.　　Since shifting to a Bitcoin standard, MSTR equity has increased 385.59%, while the price of BTC has increased 369.03% in the same time frame.　　MSTR reported first quarter revenues of $122.9 million, a 10.3% increase, or a 7.6% increase on a non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) constant currency basis, compared to the first quarter of 2020, while also reporting a gross profit of $100.4 million. Gross margins for the company came in at 81.7% compared to a gross margin of 78% in the first quarter of 2020.　　During the first quarter of 2021, MSTR purchased approximately 20,857 bitcoin, at an aggregate purchase price of $1.086 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $52,087. A vast majority of these purchases were enabled by $1.05 billion of 0% convertible senior notes, which were issued in February of this past quarter. The

2021-04-30Deep Dive

How Germany Cannot Agree On Crypto

Germanys approach to cryptocurrencies has raised the question, can Germany agree with cryptos？　　According to Germanys Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Binance has violated the securities laws as a result of its stock tokens service　　In March, the Deutsche Bundesbank ran an experiment designed to run a blockchain system without issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC)　　On the other hand, Germanys federal parliament has cleared a law that could see approximately 4,000 existing German institutional investment funds invest in Bitcoin　　In terms of regulations, Germany is open to Bitcoin. Cryptos are generally considered legal. However, they are taxed differently depending upon whether the authorities are dealing with exchanges, miners, enterprises, or users.　　Germany Suspects Crypto Exchange, Binance　　Germany‘s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, has stated that it “has reasonable grounds for suspecting” that crypto exchange Binance may violate the country’s securities laws connected with its recently announced stock tokens service.　　Recall that Binance recently went live with a tokenized stock trading service. The services, which settle in the form of the exchanges BUSD stablecoin, opened with automaker Tesla.　　After stating that Binance Deutschland GmbH however, it is currently waiting to be rubber-stamped by its Federal Council. When enacted, both existing Spezialfonds and new ones will invest in

2021-04-30Deep Dive

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