Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

What is Dogecoin (DOGE)? 5 Facts About the Crypto That Started as a Joke

Dogecoin, Elon Musk‘s favorite cryptocurrency, gained a lot of popularity recently. Here’s a comprehensive guide, as well as a few interesting facts you probably didnt know about it.　　Dogecoin has been around since late 2013, starting as a joke initially. The coin has been designed to be a satirical homage to Bitcoin. Besides being a joke and meme coin, Dogecoin wasnt intended to serve any other purpose. Yet, you can use it to transfer value.　　5 Interesting Facts About Dogecoin　　Heres a list of five interesting facts about Dogecoin:　　Dogecoin started as a joke created by Jackson Palmer and Billy Marcus in November 2013. Marcus recently claimed that he sold all of his DOGE in 2015.　　There are 128,264,356,384 DOGE coins in circulation at this moment, compared to 18.5 million bitcoins.　　Dogecoin hosts one of the largest communities in the crypto space.　　In 2014, the Dogecoin community raised $55,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver Josh Wise and covered his car entirely in Dogecoin and Reddit alien images.　　If you wondered which dog is on Dogecoins logo – it is the Shiba Inu, which is a hunting dog breed.　　The DOGE Cult　　The cult surrounding Dogecoin still attracts new users to the world of crypto. Therefore, for many people, it serves as

2021-02-25Deep Dive

How Institutions Will Take Crypto Mainstream

Traditional finance is often viewed as the antithesis of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. However, there should be, and needs to be, an overlap between the two worlds. The retail market was the driver of the 2017-2018 bull market, but the institutions will be the ones to drive the current one.　　Our financial systems are antiquated, at best. No one knows this better than those working within them. They are in need of a huge overhaul and will receive that in the form of bitcoin and a digital revolution.　　We have seen significant players from the traditional finance sphere starting to recognize this paradigm shift. Morgan Stanley is considering betting on bitcoin with its $150 billion investment arm. BNY Mellon and Deutsche Bank are offering crypto custody. And JPMorgan concedes it will have to be involved in bitcoin. Banks are receiving interest from their clients, seeing the gap in their offering and not being involved is now too much of a risk.　　Satoshi Nakamoto described the Bitcoin network as “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash that would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” This seems to explicitly exclude financial institutions from Satoshis

2021-02-25Deep Dive

5 Crypto Prediction Markets to Pay Attention to in 2021

IN BRIEF　　Prediction markets are oftentimes more accurate than general polls or bookmakers odds.　　Prices are determined by all participants activity in a prediction market.　　Were taking a look at Augur, Gnosis, Stox, Polymarket, and Delphy.　　Whether it is a presidential election, the Super Bowl or World Cup final, bitcoin (BTC) price at the end of 2021, people are largely driven by predictions and will always attempt to forecast events.　　What is a prediction market？　　Prediction markets trade the probabilities of an event‘s outcome based on factual information gathered by all the parties involved. Unlike dealing with preset odds, however, prices are determined by all participants’ activity in a prediction market.　　Essentially, the price of “shares” on the prediction market reflects what participants think the outcome will be. The real-life event could be the outcome of an election, tomorrows weather, or some Hollywood event.　　Prediction markets are oftentimes more accurate than general polls or bookmakers‘ odds, because every entity trading on the market make their own research to make an informed trade. You’re more likely to be certain about your choice when theres money on the cards.　　Crypto prediction markets　　As cryptocurrency assets continue becoming mainstream, the underlying blockchain technology provides solutions and fosters a decentralized world. Cryptocurrency prediction markets

2021-02-25Deep Dive

Central Banks of China, UAE Join Blockchain-Based CBDC Payments Project

The project will explore the capabilities of a DLT-based central bank digital currency in regional payments.　　The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand have announced the central banks of China and the United Arab Emirates are joining a project looking to use blockchain tech for regional payments.　　The “Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge” (m-CBDC) project will explore the capabilities of distributed ledger technology (DLT) through the development of a proof-of-concept (PoC) prototype, according to a joint statement Tuesday.　　Specifically, the central banks will explore the possibilities of DLT and CBDCs in facilitating cross-border, multi-currency, real-time payments.　　Hong Kong and Thailand previously collaborated on Project-Inthanon-Lionrock in Q4 2019 which developed a DLT-based prototype allowed participating banks to conduct payments on a peer-to-peer basis, removing clearing and settlement pain points.　　Under its new name, the m-CBDC Bridge will expand across more central banks, which will evaluate its feasibility on a pan-Asian and eventually wider basis.

2021-02-24Deep Dive

Bit Digital Expands Its North American Hosted Mining Partnerships

The company plans to expand U.S. mining with Compute North, Core Scientific and others, per a release.　　Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining company Bit Digital (BTBT) announced plans to expand its North American-hosted mining presence through its partnership with Compute North, Core Scientific and Link Global Technologies.　　To date, the company hosts 2,100 machines with Compute North. The updated partnership will see Bit Digital move an additional 3,000 S17+ machines during Q2, per a press release.　　Interim CEO Erke Huang said partnerships with Compute North and others will allow his company to “quickly expand U.S. based bitcoin production.”　　While it plans to expand in the U.S., Bit Digital is currently facing class-action lawsuits based on allegations of fraud misrepresenting its Asia-based mining capacity. Those allegations first surfaced in a report by J Capital in late January.　　The company has also undergone some senior-level leadership changes after removing its former CEO Min Hu and accepting the resignation of board Chairwoman Ping Liu, per CoinDesks prior reporting.　　Shares of the mining company have dropped over 45% to around $16.16 at last check, per TradingView data.

2021-02-24Deep Dive

Bitcoin Mining Firm Northern Data Plans US Listing to Raise $500M

The Germany-based firm owns the worlds largest cryptocurrency mining facility in Rockdale, Texas.　　Bitcoin mining firm Northern Data is said to be planning to list in the U.S. in order to raise up to $500 million.　　Northern Data is in talks with Credit Suisse over the listing, which could take place later this year, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter.　　The Frankfurt-headquartered firm owns, among others, the worlds largest cryptocurrency mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, which has a planned capacity of 1 gigawatt by the end of 2021.　　Northern Data is already listed on Deutsche Börses Xetra trading venue under the ticker NB2.　　Shareholders include Cryptology Asset Group, the investment company backed by Mike Novogratz and Block.One.

2021-02-24Deep Dive

Air France pilots blockchain-based COVID-19 travel system

With travel and tourism being one of the industries hardest-hit by the coronavirus-pandemic-induced lockdowns, several stakeholders are increasingly prioritizing digital and contactless solutions.　　In this vein, Air France has partnered with MedAire, SGS, International SOS and the International Chamber of Commerce to test a blockchain-based COVID-19 travel system.　　Beginning March 11, Air France will begin the pilot test of the ICC AOKpass system developed by MedAire and the International SOS. The ICC AOKpass is an app that travelers can install on their smartphones that contains a secure record of their COVID-19 test results from approved labs.　　With the app, travelers need not present a paper test result, as the ICC AOKpass will serve as a secure form of verification of the users COVID-19 negative status.　　According to an announcement on Tuesday, the test will run for four weeks and will cover only the Paris CDG-Pointe-à-Pitre and Paris CDG-Fort-de-France route.　　The press statement also reveals that the use of the app will be voluntary for passengers flying the route. Air France said it will share details from the test with all other collaborators in the project to aid in further travel-related health digitization efforts.　　Commenting on the need for digital innovation in the travel sector amid the

2021-02-24Deep Dive

Research outlines how DeFi can merge with traditional finance

While public adoption of crypto assets is increasing, global regulations continue to progress and recognize decentralized technologies as a suitable infrastructure for the dematerialization of securities. In Luxembourg, the country that is second in the world in terms of assets under management, the countrys regulator adopted a bill that explicitly recognizes the possibility of using distributed ledger technology for the dematerialization of securities.　　The regulation is moving quickly elsewhere across Europe: Tokenized securities now fall under the same rules and regulations as traditional financial instruments in many other European countries including France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom.　　Read the e-book to discover how you can be part of this emerging digital asset industry. Download the full report here.　　Whats next for the industry？ Due to the increase in public adoption and the favorable regulatory environment, demand from the financial industry to access digital networks is on the rise. So far, banks have digitized the retail industry, but not much has evolved in capital markets.　　The digitization of this industry is now possible through the blockchain, an infrastructure now widely recognized by the largest governments globally for financial instruments. Funds and asset managers can now upgrade their distribution channels

2021-02-24Deep Dive

$5.6 billion crypto positions got liquidated over the 24 hours, amid market correction

The crypto market has probably entered a correction phase, as almost all the top-ten cryptocurrencies are declining in value. On Tuesday, the Bitcoin price dropped below $47,000, although the current price is slightly above this level, precisely at $47,937 on Coinmarketcap. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), was trading below $1,500 at the time of writing. The current correction in the market has resulted in the liquidation of almost $6 billion worth of crypto positions on exchanges.　　Over 650k traders ejected amid overleveraged crypto positions　　More than $5.6 billion crypto positions were liquidated across crypto exchanges over the past 24 hours, according to the market information by ByBt. About 650,175 traders were affected by this development. These traders longed their positions on margin in order to make more profits with every increase in coin price. However, the positions had to be forcefully closed by exchanges as they went below the liquidation price.　　Per ByBt, Huobi Global had the largest single liquidation order in Bitcoin, worth over $20.66 million. However, Binance saw the largest liquidation worth more than $2.5 billion, followed by $1.40 billion HuobiGlobal. The Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange, OKEx, recorded about $745 million worth of crypto positions liquidated over the past 24 hours. Going

2021-02-24Deep Dive

As Bitcoin Tanks, Jeff Bezos Overtakes Elon Musk as World's Richest

With Bitcoin in the midst of a major market correction, billionaire Elon Musk has seen his top spot on the list of worlds richest people revised downward.　　After briefly nabbing the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the worlds richest people in January, the Tesla CEO today was overtaken by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.　　Musk, now worth a mere $183 billion to Bezoss $186 billion, can blame Bitcoin.　　The South Africa-born businessman is the largest stakeholder in the electric car company he runs, controlling an estimated 241 million shares, according to Barrons. Tesla stock prices have been in ludicrous mode since the fall, zooming up from a price of $408 on November 16 to a high of $883 on January 26.　　But then Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Since the purchase was revealed on February 8, share prices have dropped $863 to $709. That equates to about $36 billion less that Musk personally can count toward his net worth.　　Teslas BTC buy has been a boon for the price of the cryptocurrency, however. On the morning of February 8, the price of BTC was $39,000; in the following two weeks, it ticked all the way up to an all-time high of $58,000.

2021-02-24Deep Dive

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