Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

How Bitcoin, Ether, BNB, XRP Are Helping Hong Kong Businesses Weather The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had an immense effect on every part of human life but especially businesses in the food, drink, and hospitality industry. Airlines saw record losses due to social distancing and lockdown measures and restaurants were forced to adapt their businesses in many ways to stay afloat.　　One restaurant, Okra Hong Kong which is located in the Sai Ying Pun region of Hong Kong, saw a decline in its seating during the start of the pandemic. According to Max Levy, the owner of the restaurant, only about half of its seats could be used as a result of lockdown measures. To cope, the business has made the interesting choice to now accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.　　Lockdown and the Need for Crypto Payments　　Restaurants around the world took many measures in the covid-19 pandemic. Some switched to take-out and delivery only, some slashed prices and offered promos, and in the case of Okra Hong Kong, they changed their payment system. As per a recent report, one of the reasons this was done was because of expensive bank fees and the need to work around the situation.　　As of April 21, 2020, the restaurant now takes payments in Ether, XRP, Bitcoin, Binance

2021-04-25Deep Dive

Is it Hard to Use a Hardware Wallet?

Getting a hardware wallet makes Bitcoin easy　　Think back to the last time you bought Bitcoin. Did you finish the purchase, or did you leave your coins on the exchange wallet, with no idea who has the keys to it？ Every few months, someone wakes up to find the exchange they were using was compromised, resulting in billions of dollars going to criminals each year.　　Cryptocurrencies are not like other digital assets. They are completely trustless, so they can not be secured the same way a bank secures fiat money. Instead, they depend on users holding sole control over their coins and being the only ones who can use them. This is a lot to ask for many less-technical investors but some enthusiasts have spent many years making it easier for everyone to safely buy and store crypto for the long term.　　What can be done to protect cryptocurrency？　　The truth is that any cryptocurrency that isn‘t under the user’s direct control can disappear in an instant. Thats where hardware wallets come in. A Trezor gives physical control over coins, by keeping keys permanently offline so no-one can ever copy them, and always showing the true details of any transaction it signs.　　Cryptocurrency investors must

2021-04-25Deep Dive

Bitcoin’s Crash Below $50K Brings South Korea’s Kimchi Premium to Zero

The latest adverse price developments in the cryptocurrency markets have normalized the Korean bitcoin premium known as the Kimchi premium. With the enhanced volatility, though, experts warn traders to be highly vigilant as the market is still over-leveraged.　　Kimchi Premium Cools Down　　The Kimchi premium represents the difference in bitcoins price on global exchanges and such operating in South Korea. CryptoPotato reported in early April that the metric, named after a traditional Korean side dish, had surged to a new yearly high of over 20%.　　Despite cooling off briefly at the time, the disparity continued to increase and reached yet another record level of about 26%. Meaning, when BTC traded at roughly 58,000 on non-South Korean exchanges, it was well above $70,000 on local platforms.　　The analytics company CryptoQuant outlined the performance of the Kimchi premium, which has cooled down in recent weeks. At one point, the metric went even to negative territory but has normalized now and “became zero.”　　Bitcoin Kimchi Premium. Source: CryptoQuant　　Nevertheless, the companys CEO, Ki Young Ju, warned investors that “the market is still over-leveraged” and urged them to be patient.　　The normalization of the Kimchi premium could be attributed to the latest developments in the crypto market to some extent. Bitcoin

2021-04-23Deep Dive

Biden ‘Tax Plans’ Speculations Spook Crypto Speculators

Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoin markets are in red today, with with BTC dropping below the key USD 50,000 mark – in the wake of fresh tax-related speculations from the United States.　　The American President Joe Biden is reportedly set to unveil plans to enact sweeping new tax regulations, including changes to capital gains tax – which might affect thousands of crypto traders in the country also.　　The plans will reportedly see the state almost double the rate of taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for those earning over USD 1m.　　Some, though, are sensing an opportunity for bargain coin buying, while other pundits think the plan may never see the light of day due to pushback from the House.　　Regardless, capital gains tax concerns were already pressing for American crypto enthusiasts, who already had to deal with selling-related dilemmas: Investors often have to pay capital gains tax on tokens they sell for fiat after holding for over a year.　　However, BTCs remarkable performance could end up hitting investors in the pocket, as theyre now sitting on massive gains. In a year, BTC is up by 579%, ethereum (ETH) - 1,092%, while many altcoins recorded much higher gains.　　Reuters reported that the news had left BTC, ETH

2021-04-23Deep Dive

The Top 5 Most Promising DeFi Staking Opportunities of 2021

DeFi has become extremely deep-rooted as an established breakthrough to a crippling economy. The opportunities that the present DeFi landscape offers to participants are undeniably profound. The space has, without a doubt, accelerated wealth creation among the masses. And one of the strongest contributing mechanisms that serve as proof that DeFi has completely reformed the financial system is Staking.　　When earlier, people settled for the meager returns as interests on their capital holdings. The advent of DeFi staking now allows users to bank the unbanked quite literally. It is now possible to yield solid returns merely by holding your crypto and without performing any trades or transactions. The prospect must have felt like a technical impossibility a few years ago; it is now one of the most fundamental reasons behind the meteoric rise of DeFi.　　The Top 5 Most Promising Staking Opportunities in 2021　　In recent months, there has been an influx of projects that offer numerous staking opportunities with their own set rewards. However, there are specific DeFi protocols that stand out the most. These protocols not only represent the highest potential behind Staking in its present form. But allows us a glimpse of a future where Staking becomes a flourishing and

2021-04-23Deep Dive

US House Passes Bill Mandating SEC and CFTC to Establish Working Group Focused on Digital Assets

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a crypto-related bill introduced by pro-bitcoin Congressman Patrick McHenry. It requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to establish a working group focused on digital assets.　　Bill to ‘Ensure Collaboration Between Regulators and Private Sector’ on Cryptocurrency　　The U.S. House of Representatives passed several bipartisan bills on Tuesday, including H.R. 1602, introduced by pro-bitcoin Congressman Patrick McHenry, the Republican leader of the House Financial Services Committee.　　H.R. 1602, entitled “Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021,” will “establish a digital asset working group to ensure collaboration between regulators and the private sector to foster innovation,” the committee described.　　McHenry explained:　　[This bill] requires the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to establish a working group focused on digital assets. This is the first step in opening up the dialogue between our regulators and market participants and move to needed clarity.　　The bill states that the working group shall be established no later than 90 days after the date of its enactment.　　In addition, the bill requires that the members of the working group include at least one representative from fintech companies that provide digital asset products or services, financial

2021-04-23Deep Dive

Coinbase Pro to List Tether Stablecoin

Coinbase, the most-recognizable cryptocurrency exchange in the US, is adding Tether to its Coinbase Pro platform.　　Its welcome news for Tether, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, which just recently settled an investigation by the New York Attorney Generals Office regarding potentially illicit loans between it and its sister exchange, Bitfinex.　　The loan saw Bitfinex get access to $900 million in Tethers cash reserves to cover a shortfall when payments processor Crypto Capital made off with around $850 million. That led to questions about whether Tether was fully backed by US tender, as the dollar-pegged stablecoin claimed.　　Tether has since revised its position to assert that, though Tether is pegged to the dollar, it is backed by reserves that “include traditional currency and cash equivalents.” In March, it published an attestation from a Cayman Islands accounting firm stating that it had enough reserves to cover its liabilities as of February 28.　　Todays press release from Coinbase doesnt quite endorse Tethers assertions, but merely references them: “For stablecoins like USDT, the company behind the protocol is responsible for holding reserves that fully back each token. The company behind Tether, Tether Limited, claims to hold reserves that fully back each USDT.”　　The move is something of a

2021-04-23Deep Dive

South Korea to Curb Illegal Cross-Border Crypto Trading

Key Takeaways　　According to a report from Korea Economic Daily, there has been a sudden rise in bank transactions from Korea to China.　　Regulators suspect the transactions may be related to crypto traders looking for cross-border arbitrage opportunities.　　South Koreas leading financial regulator is reportedly formulating new guidelines to strengthen the monitoring of cross-border transactions connected with cryptocurrency.　　South Korea may soon curb overseas cryptocurrency transactions that take advantage of arbitrage trading opportunities.　　The Kimchi Premium　　According to a report from Korea Economic Daily, there has been a sudden rise in transactions between Korea and China.　　The countrys leading banks found fiat transfers of $72.7 million (81.2 billion won) to China between Apr. 1 and Apr. 9. This was an eightfold increase from $9.07 million in total for the whole of March.　　Korean regulators suspect that the sudden spike in transactions is linked to cryptocurrency purchases that were carried out on foreign exchanges, made with the intention of selling the same cryptocurrency on domestic exchanges at a premium.　　Regulators suspect the transactions may be related to crypto traders looking to arbitrage the kimchi premium—the difference in the price of cryptocurrencies on Korean and global exchanges.　　Such price differences occur during extreme optimism among Korean crypto speculators. Since the beginning of

2021-04-23Deep Dive

Square says Bitcoin mining is “key to clean energy future”

Bitcoin mining farms and renewable energy facilities can greatly help each other to create an “abundant, clean energy future,” according to a joint research report published by payments company Square and asset manager Ark Invest yesterday.　　Per the white paper, there are currently several roadblocks standing in the way of solar and wind power facilities development. One of them is the intermittency of their output since both rely on times of day or weather conditions to operate—and those may not always coincide with peak hours of energy consumption.　　Additionally, there is currently around 200 GW worth of “delayed” solar and wind capacity in the so-called interconnection queues in just three of the U.S. energy markets. What this means is that dozens of energy projects have already been approved and have developers and financing readily available, but arent in construction.　　And there is a simple reason for that—the existing electrical grid simply cannot accommodate any more power, especially since wind and solar facilities are usually located in rural areas with less developed infrastructure. This is where Bitcoin mining comes in.　　The “buyer of last resort”　　By “attaching” Bitcoin mining facilities to solar and wind power plants, developers can solve several problems in both industries. For starters,

2021-04-23Deep Dive

Chinese Crypto Miners Face Unstable Regulatory Environment

Tightening regulations have unnerved some crypto miners in China.　　The three largest Chinese bitcoin (BTC, -6.86%) mining hubs are facing serious headwinds from regulators. This could put a big dent in hashrate production, which is the computing power to mine bitcoin. Hashrate from China contributes over 65% of the worlds total, according to some estimates.　　Heavy scrutiny of coal mines in Xinjiang, new regulations on high energy-consuming companies in Inner Mongolia and the end of a local energy policy in Sichuan have unnerved some bitcoin miners in China. The regulatory challenges from these three regions are distinct, but they epitomize some of the biggest long-term policy risks when Chinese crypto miners deal with local authorities.　　With so much hashrate concentrated in China, the volatile regulatory environment for Chinese miners can have significant ripple effects on bitcoins global market. Investor fears of a Chinese crackdown might even trigger dramatic bitcoin price movements.　　“We have always thought that mining is really at the mercy of the regulatory body that it is working with,” Nick Hanson, CEO of Seattle-based crypto mining firm Luxor, said. “ In China, crypto mining is really governed by the provincial governments.”　　A coal mine accident on April 10, which flooded the mine and

2021-04-23Deep Dive

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