Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

French Lawmaker Signs Petition to Allow Central Bank to Buy and Hold Bitcoin

A French parliament member has signed a petition to amend the laws to enable the central bank of France to buy and hold bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies. The petition urges lawmakers to urgently consider the matter, warning that not owning bitcoin will put France “in a financially weak position within 5-10 years.”　　Petition to Allow Central Bank to Buy Bitcoin　　Jean-Michel Mis, a member of the French National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, announced in a tweet Friday that he has signed a petition to amend the laws to enable the Banque de France, the countrys central bank, to buy and hold bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies.　　The petition residing on the French Senates e-petitions platform was started on March 5 by François-Xavier Marie Jean Elder Thoorens; it can be signed until Sept. 5. Petitions with at least 100,000 signatures within six months are forwarded to the Conference of Presidents, which will decide whether to follow up on the matter. At the time of writing, 583 signatures have been lodged.　　“Many companies now have acquired large sums (of the order of several billion euros) of bitcoin,” the petition states, naming Michael Saylor‘s Microstrategy and Elon Musk’s Tesla as examples. It

2021-03-15Deep Dive

How Bitcoin Can Strengthen The Economies Of Developing Countries

With the advancement of digital currencies comes a sizeable number of opportunities. When leveraged, businesses and different organizations could create alternative and sustainable revenue sources. However, to stretch the possibilities, the economies of third-world countries could actively benefit from the integration of digital currencies.　　A key problem with these developing countries is the low production rate and struggling labor market. Many times, the resources necessary for production are left to importation. The upper class deploys the necessary tools and underpays the lower class for their manual labor. This then results in a shift in the distribution of wealth ownership.　　To break the cycle, although this may not result in the equalization of wealth ownership, dependency on digital currencies for small business owners could be normalized in the near future.　　For dominant assets like Bitcoin, businesses could leverage the transparent and decentralized model of Bitcoins blockchain by employing payment options for crypto-assets on their platform. For businesses that are yet to create an online presence, Bitcoin ATMs and merchant apps could come in handy.　　Another booming channel is the deployment of foreign Crypto-related ventures looking to offset their firms to a Crypto-friendly destination. Developing countries can accelerate economic growth by carefully milking out this billion-dollar

2021-03-15Deep Dive

Crypto wallets in 2021: From hot to cold, here are the options

After another jump in the price of major cryptocurrencies at the end of 2020, crypto enthusiasts began to mine, sell and buy currencies with renewed vigor — which means that nowadays, the topic of custodying cryptocurrencies is more relevant than ever. But unlike the past bullish waves, this time many users are also concerned with how to protect their assets.　　The blockchain industry is developing, and traders have become noticeably smarter, but scammers and thieves have also become much more agile. This is also indicated by the period appearance of news related to exploits and rug pulls, not only regarding ordinary users but also large exchanges, decentralized finance projects and even nonfungible tokens.　　Fraudsters use a variety of tools, from hacking accounts to creating malware. Even well-known projects do not avoid this fate. For example, Trezor recently detected fake apps on Google Play, which affected some users. And at the end of December 2020, more than 270,000 clients of the popular Ledger wallet faced threats after their personal data was exposed by a hacker.　　All of this suggests that crypto enthusiasts should be exceedingly careful when choosing how to store their assets.　　Buying crypto goes mainstream　　In 2021, Bitcoin (BTC) has firmly established itself as

2021-03-15Deep Dive

The superheated NFTs? A crypto market niche tipped to boom or bust

In a whirlwind seven-day period, which began with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey proving that almost anything can be tokenized — even his old tweets — and culminated on Thursday with a Christies art auction that brought a mind-boggling $69.3 million bid for a tokenized Beeple work — fetching more at an auction than pieces by George Seurat, Paul Gaugain or Salvador Dalí — some observers were asking: Are nonfungible tokens spiraling out of control？　　Even before the storied auction house catapulted artist Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, into the rarified company of Jeff Coons and David Hockney — i.e., living artists able to command stratospheric prices for their works — some were questioning the market‘s sanity. Marketing guru and author Seth Godin, for instance, wrote in a blog post, “NFTs are a dangerous trap,” and the current mania is “an unregulated, non-transparent hustle with ’bubble written all over it.”　　Meanwhile, on March 8, an NFT version of a deliberately-burned Banksy painting sold for almost $400,000 on marketplace OpenSea, prompting Zavier Ellis, director of a London gallery, to tell the United Kingdoms The Telegraph: “I wonder if this is some form of pyramid selling where ultimately somebody will be burnt.” David Knowles, who runs

2021-03-15Deep Dive

MicroStrategy ignores critics to add a further $15 million of Bitcoin (BTC) to its reserves

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor announced the firm had purchased a further 262 Bitcoin at the cost of $15mn. This brings its total holdings to 91,326 BTC, with a total spend of $2.2bn.　　Based on todays price, MicroStrategy has an unrealized profit of $2.988bn. The move coincided with a bounce at $55k and the subsequent recovery back above $57k at the time of writing.　　Saylor says governments want in on Bitcoin　　During a recent interview, Saylor dropped the bombshell reveal that governments, via sovereign wealth funds, are the next class of buyer ready to make a move on Bitcoin.　　He said part of the reason why is down to the deteriorating performance of gold. After hitting an all-time high of $2k/oz in Aug 2020, gold has fallen into a descending channel.　　Things took a turn for the worse at the end of February when the price broke below the key $1.7k support level. Since the start of the year, gold is down 12%. By contrast, Bitcoin is up 95%.　　With that, theres a burgeoning appreciation that Bitcoin is the hedge move to make, not gold.　　Saylor states that a central sticking point was moving too early. But, as big-name institutions, of the likes of Tesla and PayPal, nailed

2021-03-14Deep Dive

The Six Biggest Blockchain Trends Everyone Should Know About In 2021

Blockchain has been one of the most talked-about tech trends of the last few years. As with many other trends that were important before the pandemic hit, it didnt make as many headlines in 2021 as it has done previously. But development has been ongoing and the year saw continued adoption of the technology throughout many industries and sectors.　　The simplest way to think about blockchain is that it is a database – a storage infrastructure for data – thats secured by both encryption and by being decentralized. With many copies spread across many locations, all kept up-to-date simultaneously, changes can only be made to the data when there is consensus that it is correct to do so.　　This relatively new (established by the protocol for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency in 2008) way of managing and securing data can be used anywhere there is a need for a shared database that can be accessed and used by different people or organizations. One way of looking at it is that the security of the data is ensured by mathematics (cryptography), rather than having to rely on the trustworthiness of whoever the data happens to be in the hands of at any given time.　　Blockchain is

2021-03-13Deep Dive

Bitcoin market value closes in on GDP of Africa’s largest economies

It‘s no longer news that the world’s most valuable crypto in recent days has been enjoying a record-buying spree among institutional investors, leading it to break above $1 trillion once again.　　The fast-rising crypto-asset market‘s valuation of $1.08 trillion almost equals the GDP of Africa’s three biggest economies which include Nigeria ($443 billion), Egypt ($362 billion), and South Africa ($283 billion) combined ($1.088 trillion).　　Source; Statista African countries with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020　　On the corporate level, Bitcoin‘s market value has already surpassed Tesla’s, the world‘s most valuable car company that currently has a market valuation of $664 billion. It stands within striking distance of superseding the market value of Google, the world’s most popular search engine ($1.42 trillion)　　At press time, Bitcoin traded at $58,019.99 with a daily trading volume of about $57 billion. Bitcoin is up 2.20% for the day.　　Global investors and crypto experts anticipate that Bitcoins trajectory remains optimistic. There is no doubt, 2021 continues to shape up as a very exciting year for Bitcoin.　　The flagship crypto has gotten more credibility in recent days from blue-chip companies like Mastercard, and Americas oldest bank, BNY Mellon, showing support for Bitcoin. Mastercard had earlier disclosed that it would open

2021-03-12Deep Dive

IOTA Smart Contract Fees Advantages Explained: "No Bidding Wars"

Recently, IOTA Foundation dropped a bombshell by releasing the alpha version of its smart contracts environment. It is powered by the concept of cutting-edge fees. Today, IOTA engineers explained why it is better than existing solutions.　　“No bidding wars” in IOTAs smart contracts　　IOTA Foundation released a video to explain the model of charging fees for smart contracts usage. In that system, the fee amount will be set by the contract owner and will not be subject to change.　　Image via Twitter　　Typically, when authorizing transactions, network users can customize the level of fees they are ready to pay. The bigger fee paid, the faster the transaction will be included in the blockchain.　　Thus, volatile and unpredictable fees can reduce the possibility that network users can predict when their transactions will be confirmed. That, in turn, leads to a “bidding war” and eventually increases the costs of blockchain usage.　　Thus, the proposed model, in which the owner of the contract sets the fee level him/herself, will make in-app processes more robust in terms of business logics.　　dApps developers are welcome　　IOTA Foundation released an Alpha version of its smart contract environment on March 4, 2021. The initial release includes an IOTA Smart Contract Protocol Architecture description document that

2021-03-12Deep Dive

Crypto Investment Firm CoinShares Begins Trading on Nasdaq Nordic

The Jersey-based investment firm said its offering was oversubscribed, garnering subscriptions for nearly $80 million.　　Digital asset manager CoinShares has begun trading on Nasdaq Nordic after an oversubscribed public offering.　　CoinShares listed Thursday on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market, an alternative stock exchange for small and medium-sized growth companies in Europe.　　The offering consisted of 3,364,403 shares at 44.90 SEK ($5.29) apiece and totaling 151 million SEK ($17.8 million), according to an announcement.　　The Jersey-based investment firm said the offering was oversubscribed by over 400%, garnering subscriptions for 675 million SEK (nearly $80 million) from 2,280 new shareholders.　　Shares are trading under the ticker “CS”, despite an earlier release stating it would be “COIN” – one also proposed for Coinbases upcoming listing.　　In February, CoinShares launched an Ethereum-back exchange-traded product (ETP) on Swiss SIX exchange, which already boasts around $75 million in assets under management.

2021-03-12Deep Dive

South Africa’s Regulatory Uncertainty Driving Away Crypto Startups: Report

A looming regulatory clampdown following a major Ponzi schemes collapse is already prompting some exchanges to flee abroad.　　Fear of a regulatory clampdown in South Africa is driving cryptocurrency startups to look to more friendly environments.　　Some crypto exchanges have already made the decision to go, Bloomberg reported Monday.　　For example, Revix is shifting its head office to the U.K. and also planning a Germany-based location.　　The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is seeking to regulate cryptocurrencies with more power to prosecute fraudsters, Head of Enforcement Brandon Topham told Bloomberg in January.　　The looming changes come after the collapse of Mirror Trading Investments (MTI) in December 2020, which had collected over 23,000 bitcoin (BTC, +1.2%) from investors before its CEO allegedly fled to Brazil.　　Regulators will focus on better protection for consumers rather than businesses, according to Topham, who added more proposals are expected in coming months.　　Until now, authorities in South Africa have been “incredibly slow in terms of regulation,” according to Sean Sanders, CEO of Cape Town-based Revix.　　This stymies growth as customers “arrive at our platform with skepticism,” he said.

2021-03-12Deep Dive

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