Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Independent Local Stablecoin Booming in South Korea’s Buyeo

The circulation of a local stablecoin operated by South Koreas Buyeo County has exceeded the USD 93m mark as the county looks to expand the use of its token.　　Per Kuki News, the county has enabled near-field contact (NFC) payment methods using smartcards and Android and iOS smartphones and “self-developed” its own platform, using blockchain technology – in association with the blockchain-powered app developer EnjoyWorks.　　The county issued the stablecoin, named Goodtrae Pay, in December 2019. And Buyeo says that almost 10% of all the tokens (USD 8.8m) issued have been reused, rather than being converted to fiat.　　The token is pegged 1:1 with the Korean won, and can be used at hundreds of local merchants outlets – as well as larger co-operative supermarkets in the county. Agricultural producers and buyers in the county can also trade using the token.　　The projects masterminds claim that the token involves “practically no transaction fees” and completely does away with banking-based payment methods.　　Park Jeong-hyun, the administrative leader of Buyeo County, was quoted as stating that the projects architects had “tried to incorporate the economic value of the community into Goodtrae Pay ”building on its ties and trust bonds with the community.　　Most other successful local stablecoin projects in

2021-04-02Deep Dive

Bitcoin Market Cap Higher than Mexico GDP Despite Retracement

Bitcoin (BTC) market capitalization, i.e., the net value of all Bitcoins (BTC) mined to date, reached one more historic milestone as it started surpassing the GDPs of major countries.　　Bitcoin (BTC) market cap topples Mexicos GDP　　According to an infographic shared by Documenting Bitcoin, Bitcoin (BTC) market capitalization at current prices is more than the total gross domestic product of Mexico. It should be noted that Mexico has the second-largest economy in Latin America.　　Image via Twitter　　Bitcoins (BTC) net market capitalization is $1.1 trillion while the aggregated GDP of Mexico in 2020 is $1.09 trillion, according to Documenting Bitcoin data.　　Meanwhile, the supremacy of Bitcoin (BTC) may be even more impressive. Analytical dashboard “Country Economy” claims that Mexicos GDP in 2020 barely exceeded $950 billion.　　Gross Domestic Product refers to the monetary value of all completed goods and services made within a country during a specific period.　　Next level: Silver？　　During its ongoing price rally, Bitcoin (BTC) has already surpassed many global tech giants in terms of market capitalization. Tesla, Facebook and Tencent are the last victims of the BTC run.　　As covered by U.Today previously, Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone noticed that Bitcoin (BTC) has the chance to surpass Amazon once its price breaks above $80,000.　　Meanwhile, the next

2021-04-02Deep Dive

Decentraland Launches Dapp Portal With Polygon to Bypass High Gas Fees

Decentraland, the decentralized virtual world, has added usability with Ethereum layer 2 project Polygon to address gas fees that are currently plaguing Ethereums blockchain, according to a blog post Thursday.　　The move comes a day after decentralized finance (DeFi) firm Aave also said it was exploring scalable sidechains with Polygon. The Ethereum ecosystem continues to look for methods to avoid the congested network, where fees can sometimes be higher than the transactions themselves.　　“As of today, the Decentraland dapps suite now features an account portal where you can move your [Decentraland token] MANA from the Ethereum blockchain to Polygons Matic Network (and back),” the post states.　　The idea behind a layer 2 solution is that users can transfer their tokens to a sidechain link to the Ethereum blockchain, where they can transact more quickly and with much lower fees than on Ethereum itself.　　“Ethereums popularity and usage is increasing at an incredible rate, but this added demand on the network means users are forced to pay higher and higher gas fees in order to make sure their transactions are successful,” said Samuel Hamilton, Community and Events lead at Decentraland, in an email. “This is unsustainable for any dapp that makes use of thousands of

2021-04-02Deep Dive

Aave Exploring Polygon’s Layer 2 System to Provide Scalability and Cheaper Transactions

Aave, the third-largest non-custodial lending protocol, is taking a multi-market approach and exploring scalability solutions in a project called “New Frontiers.”　　Aave is now exploring Polygon (formerly known as Matic), an Ethereum layer 2 protocol that enhances scalability using an adapted version of the Plasma framework. The Polygon sidechain system will be the first to integrate Aave as part of this plan to bring scalability and low-cost transactions.　　DeFi Should Be for Everyone, Not Just Wealthy Investors　　While Ethereum is the pioneer of decentralized finance, high fees and scalability have been long-time issues for the network. The team behind Aave stated that DeFi should not be limited to high net worth investors, which also discourages new users.　　“If DeFi is great but only limited to certain high networth users, DeFi will fall short of its mission to be finance for everyone.” —reads the post.　　As per the blog post, the protocol is building a DeFi service on Polygon, using its layer 2 system to surpass congestion and high Ethereum network fees. The protocol will enable a smart contract bridge so users can port assets from one network to another and receive part of the MATIC tokens transaction fees.　　Additionally, Aave will be launching the Polygon Aave

2021-04-02Deep Dive

How is XRP Lawsuit Now and Where Can I Trade XRP?

XRP, a cryptocurrency that is primarily built for transactions, which can be purchased on crypto exchanges. XRP derives from Ripple, a payments platform designed for the rapid settlement of transactions and affordable cross-border remittances, which aims to supplement and redefine the current financial system.　　Why a suitcase between the SEC and Ripple？　　Ripple has been popular with global banks and services. However, in December 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit alleging that Ripple had conducted unregistered securities offerings by selling XRP. In its complaint, the SEC said Ripple sold 14.6 billion “units” of XRP for $1.3 billion. Later, a number of exchanges, like Coinbase, Kraken suspended trading of XRP or delisted the asset. Since then, xrp was down over 65% (on Bexplus).　　*A security is an investment contract; if the creators of a cryptocurrency advertise it as an investment to US buyers, then the SEC considers the coin to be a security under US law.　　What is the latest development of the lawsuit？　　Towards the allege from the SEC, Ripple has disproved the SECs argument and issued a response stating that as a cryptocurrency XRP is out of the SECs jurisdiction, and it has already been recognized as a virtual

2021-04-02Deep Dive

Why Morgan Stanley is gaining exposure to Bitcoin?

In yet another bullish announcement for Bitcoin this week, banking giant Morgan Stanley has filed a document with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to gain exposure to BTC. Per the document, 12 of Morgan Stanleys investment funds will allocate capital in BTC financial products.　　Morgan Stanleys investment funds eligible to gain indirect exposure to Bitcoin include Counterpoint Global Portfolio, managed by Dennis Lynch, Asia Opportunity Portfolio, Growth Portfolio, Inception Portfolio, International Advantage Portfolio, among others.　　The funds will be able to invest in Bitcoin futures contracts settled in cash or Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares of the Grayscale firm. Investment in BTC will not have to be ongoing and will be made through a subsidiary that will operate as an exempted company governed by the laws of the Cayman Islands.　　The document states that investment in Bitcoin futures may change if regulations on the underlying asset change. In addition, Morgan Stanley states that these financial derivatives have a relatively small trade with other futures and may be subject to manipulation.　　On its possible GBTC holding, Morgan Stanley rates fluctuations in the fund‘s premium as one of its potential investment risks. It has “historically” traded at a premium or discount to the price of

2021-04-02Deep Dive

Bitcoin Price Doubles in Institutionally-driven First Quarter; What’s in Q2?

Bitcoin went into an upside mania in the first quarter of the year.　　The flagship cryptocurrency surged by roughly 102 percent as investors showed no fears of risk-taking. On the contrary, they embraced it as interest rates on government bonds rose but remained near their historically low levels. New rounds of government stimulus packages further pushed investors to risky corners of the market, showing a lot of fiat liquidity in the market, waiting to enter speculative assets.　　WHAT A QUARTER!　　When 2021 began, bitcoin investors did not know that Democrats would sweep both the House and the Senate. But as the so-called blue sweep happened, it paved the way for their leader, the US President Joe Biden, to push through an expansive stimulus package than many had anticipated.　　Additional dollar liquidity tends to make bitcoin investors and traders bullish.　　Next month saw one of the most celebrated bitcoin investments ever made, led by Elon Musks Tesla, which added $1.5 billion worth of bitcoins into its balance sheets.　　The US carmaker clearly stated in its securities filings that it considers Bitcoin as a store of value asset like cash. It added that it would start accepting the cryptocurrency as payments for its electric vehicles, a promise it

2021-04-02Deep Dive

Uniswap v3 Is the Perfect Market Maker for Venture Capitalists

Key Takeaways　　V3s key features increase the gamification of liquidity providing, favoring deep-pocket, active market makers.　　This increased gamification could redirect fees from retail LPs to larger trading firms.　　Uniswaps UNI token dropped 20% in the 72 hours following the announcement.　　Uniswap‘s key feature increases the gamification of the most popular DEX. But this is a game retail doesn’t have the tools to win.　　Everyones a Market Maker on Uniswap　　After announcements of announcements, the world was finally able to see Uniswap‘s plans for its third version. Given that the project’s second version was one of the catalysts for DeFis meteoric rise in 2020, the anticipation for this release has been met with similar excitement. Indeed, Uniswap has regularly been at the forefront of innovation, especially for automated market makers (AMMs).　　Automated market makers are the cornerstone of decentralized finance. To understand how revolutionary these are, one must first understand market-making functions in traditional finance.　　Market makers offer assets at two prices, one for sellers and one for buyers. It profits from the spread between these two numbers. The real business of market makers is not price; its volume. The higher the volume, the higher the profit.　　Due to the sheer amount of any singular asset needed, only institutions

2021-04-02Deep Dive

April Bulls Day? Bitcoin just closed its best March and Q1 in 8 years

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen its most successful Q1 in eight years as the Ides of March fail to materialize for hodlers.　　Data published by analytics resource Bybt as Q1 2021 came to an end showed that BTC/USD gained more in the first three months of this year than any since 2013.　　BTC price gains 103% in Q1　　Despite not reclaiming all-time highs before Q2 began, Bitcoin put in a rare performance this March — normally, that month sees negative returns.　　BTC/USD monthly returns chart. Source: Bybt　　Not only did the largest cryptocurrency rise by nearly 30% this time around, it also posted its highest price in history of $61,700.　　Zooming out, Q1 2021 saw only green candles each month for a combined quarterly rise of 103.1%. The last year to surpass this was also 2013 when the price was under $100, with a Q1 performance of 539%.　　BTC/USD 1-month candle log chart (Bitstamp). Source: Tradingview　　Anticipation for the next few months is already building. Q2 is traditionally the strongest time of the year for Bitcoin with only two years seeing negative returns, both less than 10%. The target to beat is from 2019, which delivered 159% gains, and is the best Q2 since 2013.　　Right on track　　Simply studying raw

2021-04-01Deep Dive

The Beeple Effect: Is NFT Artwork Here to Stay?

On the 25th of March, a hand-painted self-portrait sold for almost $700,000. This might seem like a lot of money for a self-portrait, and it is. However, this wasnt any old self-portrait. No, it was created by Sophia – yes, that Sophia, the humanoid robot.　　Sophia, we‘re told, “interpreted” a depiction of her own face. The final product was sold as an NFT, or a non-fungible token, an encrypted unit of data that’s stored on the blockchain network.　　This NFT boom, some argue, is clearly a fad, a gimmick, a bubble – and this bubble is going to burst. Others argue that NFTs, especially NFT artwork, are here to stay. Who is right, and who is wrong？　　The Banksy Effect　　The world of art is synonymous with the works of Picasso and Da Vinci. But times change, and often in dramatic ways. The likes of Andy Warhol and Banksy transformed the way we view art. Before the latter arrived on the scene, graffiti mostly appeared on subway stations and dilapidated buildings.　　Art houses weren‘t interested in this particular form of street art. However, this all changed when the enigmatic Brit burst onto the scene. Opinions on street art, slowly but surely, began to change. Not

2021-04-01Deep Dive

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