Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Tether's Supply Dominance Hits Record Low as USDC & Co Rise

As USD coin (USDC) strengthens its positions, tether (USDT) is losing its market share, according to crypto intelligence firm Coin Metrics. That said, stablecoins, in general, are again on the rise this year, and the total supply is expected to grow further with the increase in use cases.　　Per the firms weekly report, USDC is going parabolic - its total supply passed USDC 9bn on February 28, and this was only six days after surpassing USDC 8bn. All in all, USDC supply has more than doubled since the start of the year.　　But while this is good for USDC, it means increased competition for USDT, with Coin Metrics writing,　　As a result of USDC‘s rapid rise Tether’s (USDT) supply dominance has dropped to 70%, its lowest level ever.　　That said, stablecoins as a whole are seeing a comeback in 2021, rising yet again. They are widely used:　　in decentralized finance (DeFi) as collateral and for other purposes;　　to hold money on the sidelines amidst market volatility;　　to trade in and out of bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and other cryptoassets;　　to move money around the world and for foreign aid.　　Total stablecoin supply has increased to over 50bn, growing from about 30bn to start the year, wrote Coin Metrics, adding

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Federal Credit Union Regulator Should Look at Crypto Rules, Official Says

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) could be the next federal regulator to dip its feet into crypto-related rules.　　Credit unions will want to look at digital assets and blockchain technology, said NCUA Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman in a speech Wednesday. Speaking to the Credit Union National Association Governmental Affairs Conference, Hauptman said his regulatory agency may consider providing guidance around the treatment of digital assets.　　Credit unions are non-profit, member-owned financial institutions that provide similar services to banks in the U.S. While national banks are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), credit unions are overseen by the NCUA.　　“NCUA may want to look at the actions taken by another regulator, the OCC. That agency recently provided guidance around custody of digital assets and the use of stablecoins for payments,” Hauptman said during his speech. “Stablecoins, as you may know, are cryptocurrencies designed to minimize price volatility, and the OCCs guidance moves the U.S. closer to the real-time payment systems already used in other countries.”　　The NCUA may not want to recreate every piece of guidance the OCC published, but Hauptman said he looks forward to working with NCUA Chairman Tood Harper to

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Crypto Futures Trading: How to Long and Short Cryptocurrencies

Has the volatility of cryptocurrency prices made you want more than simple spot trading？ Do you consider the process of buying and selling actual cryptos too burdensome？ You have probably already heard of crypto futures trading, as volatile assets tend to be very popular for this type of trade, but you may not be completely sure what it entails. Alternatively, maybe youve heard of “long” and “short” crypto trades, which sound pretty complicated at first, but are actually really useful types of trades that let you profit from the price movements of an asset without ever having to hold the asset yourself.　　But first, what do all of these terms mean？　　Futures Trading　　Futures — regardless of the asset type — are a type of derivative financial contract “that obligates the parties to transact an asset at a predetermined future date and price,” states Investopedia. In other words, I need an asset (for example ten sacks of wheat) in three months, but Im much more comfortable with its current price as it might rise until the time I need it. I make a deal with a trader that I will buy that amount for the current price once the contract expires, which is

2021-03-04Deep Dive

BTC Branded 'the Most Portable Asset' as 420k Bitcoins Used as Collateral in Q4 of 2020

According to the findings of a joint Arcane Research and Bitstamp study, bitcoins unique characteristics, which include it being “the most portable asset”, are the likely contributing factors behind the increasing use of the crypto as a collateral asset.　　Bitcoin Unmatched　　This is evidenced by the studys data which shows that approximately “420,000 bitcoins were used as collateral in various loans in the lending markets in Q4 of 2020.” This figure is nearly double the 213,000 bitcoins that were used as collateral in Q4 of 2019.　　In another boost to the case as the best collateral asset, the study findings suggest when compared to traditional assets like “government bonds and cash-based securities,” the leading crypto asset is unrivaled. For instance, the findings assert that only bitcoin (BTC) “is an asset without both counterparty risk and credit risk.” Additionally, BTC is “available for trading 24/7, 365 days a year, all over the world.”　　In touting the superiority of some of these characteristics, the Arcane Research and Bitstamp study states:　　Bitcoin can be transferred around the world, instantly, at almost no cost, any time of the day, and any day of the year, and with full finality. No other assets can match these properties today, making bitcoin

2021-03-04Deep Dive

BRIDGE ORACLE SOON TO LAUNCH MAINNET

Bridge Oracle is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of its mainnet services. The mainnet will enable users to deploy real-world connected decentralized applications using Bridge Oracle on the Tron network.　　The launch of a mainnet is always a landmark moment for any blockchain project, as it officially signifies that the blockchain platform is open to the general public and that its set for mass adaptation. A blockchain project launches its mainnet services when it decides to extend its official product in the market, releasing the product for real-time operation and production.　　Spokesperson from Bridge Oracle stated: “It‘s an exciting moment for us to announce the launch of our upcoming services on mainnet. We have waited for this moment for so long, and to see it finally unveiling feels extremely special. Our upcoming mainnet launch will allow you to deploy real-world connected DApps using Bridge Oracle on the Tron network. It’s about time you start to prep up by creating your DApps on Shasta and Nile testnets. We will soon be coming up with more updates.”　　Bridge Oracle is the first-ever public oracle system on the Tron network. Smart contracts embedded on blockchain platforms like Tron are designed to help create DApp and

2021-03-04Deep Dive

How to Buy Bitcoin at an 80% Premium From Michael Saylor

Few people have captured the imagination of the cryptocurrency market quite like MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, a guest on Wednesday mornings First Mover on CoinDesk TV.　　His company‘s purchases of bitcoin , first announced in August, validated a key narrative driving the current bull market: the “institutions” were joining the fray (companies fitting crypto’s definition of an institution can be far more modest in size, and commercial rather than financial in mission, than Wall Street‘s). It took a couple of months more of bitcoin prices languishing around the $10,000 level before really taking off in the final quarter of 2020 but after that, it hasn’t looked back. Well, at least not yet.　　MicroStrategy‘s series of bitcoin purchases have been a triumph. As Saylor noted in a recent tweet, the company has thus far spent $2.186 billion to buy a total of 90,859 BTC. That puts its average cost at $24,063. At current prices, MicroStrategy’s bitcoin was worth $4.4 billion as of March 2.　　A $2.2 billion gain in value for an asset on the balance sheet of a company that had been worth around $1 billion for the prior three years is usually considered a good thing.　　Usually.　　Back of the envelope　　Yet, it should be

2021-03-04Deep Dive

How can one increase their bitcoin capital

It all started back in 2009 when the first ever cryptocurrency BTC was created by the person by the alias name Satoshi Nakamoto, who predicted that in the future, cryptocurrencies will take over the financial world. In the beginning nobody thought that this could be reality, but fast forward to 2020-2021 and we see a clear picture of that prediction. While all the assets in the world were devalued during the pandemic, even the safe havens like gold and oil, the only thing that was rising in value was Bitcoin. That way BTC established itself as a true safe haven commodity and ever since that, its price has been rising exponentially, hitting absolutely unbelievable heights in the beginning of 2021. So, is it still possible to gain money from investing into BTC and how can this cryptocurrency be earned？　　 BTC investment　　While many might think that Bitcoin has already hit its pinnacle price of around $45K, that is far from the truth. Many experts and financial masters were predicting these events long before 2020 and the same people are predicting the price of BTC to roll over the $300K Mark in the next 5 years. Considering all this, it might be

2021-03-04Deep Dive

What Coinbase’s Public Listing Means for Eth 2.0

There‘s a lot riding on the success of Ethereum 2.0, including the crypto-industry’s largest U.S.-based exchange going public.　　Last week, Coinbase released its S-1 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In it, the exchange listed potential adverse factors against its business, such as the doxxing of pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, negative perceptions of cryptocurrencies and the growth of cryto-native finance platforms generally referred to as decentralized finance (DeFi).　　A failure or slowdown in “the development and launch timeline of Ethereum 2.0, including the potential migration of Ethereum to a proof-of-stake model” was also listed as a possible negative factor for the exchange going forward.　　Data may make the point even better: Ether made up 15% of volume on Coinbase in 2020, compared to bitcoins 44%. Additionally, 13% of all assets stored on Coinbase are ether. By trading and storing ether, you necessarily take on exposure to the Eth 2.0 project in its entirety.　　New stakeholders in governance of Eth 2.0　　Governance structures for the two largest cryptos by market cap is also a concern to weigh, Coinbase said.　　“Informal governance led by Bitcoin and Ethereums core [blockchain] developers that lead to revisions to the underlying source code or inactions that prevent network

2021-03-04Deep Dive

ETH: Technology Play or Store of Value?

Bitcoins role in portfolios as a store of value is by now relatively well known. Its hard supply limit in the face of unprecedented money supply increase is encouraging traditional fund managers to allocate funds to a bitcoin portfolio position, and corporations to hold it as a reserve asset.　　But what about ether？ Could the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain hold a similar position？　　We know that institutional investor interest in ETH is increasing. The Grayscale ETHE trust had growth of over 40% of its almost $800 million 2020 inflows come in the fourth quarter alone. (Grayscale is a CoinDesk sister company.) A number of ETH investment products have come to market over the past few months, including several exchange-traded funds in Canada. And on Feb. 8, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which caters primarily to institutional investors, listened to increasing client demand and launched ETH futures.　　This growing interest can be seen in ETHs recent performance. Whether looked at for the year to date or over 12 months, ETH has significantly outperformed BTC.　　YTD performance　　Source: CoinDesk Research, St. Louis Fed, Yahoo Finance　　Is that why are investors are becoming increasingly interested in ETH？ Or are they seeing it as a cheaper store of value

2021-03-04Deep Dive

Achieving Crypto-Secure Data Management with Blockchain

Oracle announced Blockchain Tables in 21c in January 2021, and later made it available on 19c as well due to customer demand. Oracle is now introducing the ability to use Immutable Tables as well as Blockchain Tables. Immutable Tables, available in April, are insert-only tables and the data is not cryptographically chained.　　The key elements of Oracles blockchain offerings and their significance to customers were highlighted in a recent blog post by Maria Colgan, distinguished product manager, Oracle. “The primary focus of conventional data security technologies like passwords, firewalls, and data encryption is to keep criminal out of your company and your data stores,” wrote Colgan. “But what protects your data, especially your essential asset (contracts, property titles, account statements, etc.), from being modified or even deleted by folks who gain access to your systems legitimately or illegitimately (hackers)？”　　According to Colgan, this is where blockchain comes in because the layering of blockchain technologies on top of conventional data security features provides an extra level of protection that prevents unauthorize modifications or deletes of data.　　According to Colgan, there are four key aspects to blockchain technology: immutability, cryptographic digests, cryptographic signatures, and distributed systems. “Each part works to protect against a different aspect

2021-03-04Deep Dive