Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Why More Institutional Traders Are Stacking Up Ethereum

Ethereum; A Better Store of Value？　　Over the years, bitcoin had been the major store of value in the crypto space, with investors clinging to it as an edge against economic turmoil. However, institutional traders are now taking a keen interest in ethereum as well.　　Coinbase‘s annual review for 2020 noted that there’s a growing interest from institutional clients in ether. The reason for this is tied to how investors valued the Ethereum network.　　For one, its the native currency of the network. Because ethereum has been a platform of choice, being the backbone of numerous valuable projects, ether will always be required to power transactions on the ethereum network.　　“The case for owning ethereum [ether] we hear most frequently from our clients is a combination of, first, its evolving potential as a store of value and, second, its status as a digital commodity that is required to power transactions on its network,” the report says.　　Coinbase, Gemini, Others, Bullish on Ether and DeFi　　In a statement to Coindesk, Arthur Cheong, the founder, and portfolio manager at DeFi-focused crypto fund DeFinance Capital, expressed his opinion on institutional interest in ether and DeFi. In his words, he says;　　“I think the more adventurous institutions are exploring ethereum and

2021-01-28Deep Dive

Bitcoin ETF unlikely until market cap reaches $2 trillion, fund manager says

Sorry, no Bitcoin ETF　　Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been on the wishlist of crypto market participants for years now, especially among the retail and professional managers in the US.　　Such products are regulated, custodied crypto offerings that would allow traders and investors to bet on the growth (or fall) of cryptocurrencies using a well-regulated, legal, and reputed platform which minimizes counterparty risk (the scenario of an exchange failing to pay out or acknowledging ones trade position).　　Investors have waited long for such a fund to make an appearance in the US, and they may have to wait even more if one fund manager is to be believed.　　Cathie Wood, the CEO of the crypto-focussed division of Ark Investment, said in a recent appearance at the ETH Trends Big Ideas event that the crypto market had a long way to go before it could be considered formidable in the US markets.　　As per Wood, the entire crypto market cap needs to reach at least $2 trillion for Bitcoin or crypto ETFs to be considered/passed by US regulators. This is a near 200% increase than the $700 billion market cap that Bitcoin managed to reach earlier this month, its highest-ever.　　She said, The flood of

2021-01-28Deep Dive

Research Proves Recent Transfers of 8,000 Ten-Year-Old 'Forgotten Bitcoins' Were Sold to Coinbase

The Case of the Mysterious 2010 Block Reward Spends　　For a while now our newsdesk at news.Bitcoin.com has been monitoring a strange bitcoin (BTC) whale that has been spending coins mined in 2010. The bitcoins were mined a decade ago and they had never been moved since the day the block rewards were discovered. However, throughout 2020 and into 2021, news.Bitcoin.com has tracked a total of 7,000 BTC that mysteriously moved after ten years. Our team has worked with researchers at Btcparser.com and weve also discussed the topic with the Russian blockchain researcher and the author of the Telegram channel “gfoundinshit,” Issak Shvarts.　　Shvarts has also leveraged the parser Btcparser.com and the blockchain explorer oxt.me. The researcher believes he has provided 100% proof that the old school bitcoins are now owned by Coinbase, and even dispersed to the San Francisco exchange‘s customers. Shvarts has also tracked an aggregate total of 8,000 BTC, which is worth over $250 million using today’s exchange rates.　　“I have previously suggested that these bitcoins belong to Coinbase,” Shvarts details in his latest report. “Now, I am sure of that,” he added.　　His research study suggests that there‘s a consolidation of 20 wallets, 50 BTC each for one address. Then

2021-01-28Deep Dive

South Korean Lawmaker Wants To Criminalize Crypto Manipulation

Per News1, the measure is the brainchild of the opposition People Power Party MP Lee Ju-hwan, who has criticized architects of the existing legal framework for being overly focused on anti-money laundering protection in all things crypto-related.　　Courts and prosecutors in the country have previously charged individuals who have been accused of market manipulation under existing fraud laws, but Lee claims that there is no specific legal basis to address unethical trade practices in the crypto sphere for market price manipulation, crypto speculation offenses or the imposition of excessive fees by virtual asset service providers (VASPs).　　Lee, gave the example of a domestic crypto exchange whose executives agreed to list a token in exchange for crypto payments worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” – as part of a wider plan to drive up token prices. He also spoke about a company whose CEO was sentenced to prison time after “arbitrarily manipulating” trading figures.　　However, the lawmaker claimed that existing regulations did not specifically pertain to the crypto sector.　　If passed, the legislation would also seek to punish the perpetrators of insider trading and purposeful info leaking on forthcoming listings.　　And the MP added that “frequent” abuses of power were now common in the crypto industry,

2021-01-28Deep Dive

Ark Invest Reveals What Could Push Bitcoin to $500,000

In brief　　Bitcoins price could increase by $40,000 if Ss report.　　If institutional investors allocate 6.5% in BTC across the board, its price could surge to $500,000.　　Today, Bitcoin already “deserves a strategic allocation in well-diversified institutional portfolios,” the researchers noted.　　Bitcoins (BTC) price could surge by at least $40,000 if institutional investors allocate just 1% of their funds in BTC, according to the annual research report published by ARK Investment Management yesterday.　　“According to our research, if all S&P 500 companies were to allocate 1% of their cash to bitcoin, its price could increase by approximately $40,000,” ARKs researchers asserted.　　If these companies went further and converted 10% of their cash to Bitcoin, its price could increase by $400,000 instead, putting it around $430,000, the report claimed.　　Arks maximum price target　　At the same time, global institutional allocations between 2.5% and 6.5% across the board could push the price of Bitcoin far beyond even that, to anywhere between $200,000 and $500,000. And roughly 6.5% is exactly the portion of their funds that big players should invest in Bitcoin to maximize returns, the researchers noted.　　“Based on daily returns across asset classes during the past 10 years, our analysis suggests that allocations to bitcoin should range from 2.55% when

2021-01-28Deep Dive

TomoChain Launches LuaSwap: Attempts to Fight High ETH Gas Fees

Ever since last summer, the DeFi space is booming. The total value locked in various protocols has surged to more than $24 billion, up some 4000% in less than a year. But theres one challenge that many believe is hampering the further growth of the space – sky-high ETH gas fees.　　The Booming DeFi Space　　The massive increase in popularity of decentralized finance (DeFi) led to the creation of hundreds of projects, each one battling to garner the users trust. One of the more successful ones is Uniswap – an automated market maker and a decentralized exchange for ERC20 tokens. This, however, created an issue.　　Ethereums suffering from congestion: with so many apps and people using the network, gas fees are highand transactions can be slow. In fact, gas fees have been so high lately that many started to question whether DeFi is actually only profitable for larger holders.　　TomoChain proposes a solution to this with its Proof of Stake Voting (PoSV) consensus algorithm which incentivizes all token holders to be active in staking across a network of over 150 Masternodes. In essence, the goal is to help Ethereums network function more efficiently.　　Enters LuaSwap　　Put simply, LuaSwap is a coin-swapping platform which enables users to

2021-01-28Deep Dive

Blockstream buys $25 million worth of bitcoin mining hardware from MicroBT

Blockstream announced Wednesday that it bought $25 million worth of WhatsMiner Bitcoin mining equipment from MicroBT, a Shenzhen-based hardware manufacturer.　　“We‘ve been extensively testing mining hardware since the launch of our mining hosting service in 2017, and right now, we’re confident saying there‘s no better mining hardware on the market than MicroBT’s WhatsMiner miners,” Blockstream said in a statement.　　Blockstream offers colocation services for clients, essentially outsourcing mining equipment and upkeep for their clients, allowing them to mine Bitcoin. Blockstream maintains 300-megawatt operations in North America and says they plan to grow “aggressively” throughout 2021, according to the statement. The company launched a mining pool in 2019.　　The development comes amid broadening institutional interest in the mining space, as well as a high-demand market for mining hardware, as previously reported.　　Earlier this week, the mining sector saw a long-lasting feud at the top of major manufacturer Bitmain come to a close, according to a statement from co-founder Jihan Wu.

2021-01-28Deep Dive

Bitcoin ‘Underperforms’ During Tax Time: Analysis

January ushers in a new tax season. It is also, historically, a time when bitcoin underperforms relative to the other months of the year. Some analysts say that may not be a coincidence.　　From 2014 to 2020, bitcoin was down in four out of seven Januarys and six out of the past seven Marchs. According to Delphi Digital, average losses for those months were 5.24% and 12.59%, respectively.　　“As we enter tax season, [a period when] bitcoin has historically underperformed other months, this by no means is predictive on a stand-alone basis but important to note,” Paul Burlage, analyst at Delphi Digital, told CoinDesk.　　At the press time, bitcoins price was at $31,571.54, down 1.22% in the past 24 hours. The No. 1 cryptocurrency by market cap fell below $30,000 briefly earlier Wednesday, according to the CoinDesk BPI.　　According to Delphi Digitals January bitcoin outlook report, one of the biggest reasons for the drop is that “those [investors and traders] who realized significant gains trading various crypto assets last year will likely have to sell at least a portion of their holdings to cover expected tax liabilities.”　　Data compiled by Delphi Digital shows that bitcoin/usd pair returns in January and March since 2014 have been

2021-01-28Deep Dive

Reddit To Expand Points With Ethereum Foundation

Social media site Reddit is partnering with the Ethereum Foundation to scale up its Community Points infrastructure.　　Reddit Embraces Ethereum　　Reddit says that through the partnership, it “will be increasing [its] commitment to blockchain, accelerating scaling and resources for the Ethereum ecosystem, and bringing the value and independence of blockchain technology to millions of redditors.”　　The company notes that its collaboration originated with its Scaling Bake-Off, which began in June 2020. That effort sought to use blockchain to handle the sites community points system. Twenty-two blockchain projects submitted proposals to the site.　　Eventually, Ethereum-based points were introduced to two subreddits: r/CryptoCurrency and r/FortNiteBR. Points represent each users ownership in a community and serve as rewards.　　Today‘s announcement suggests that Community Points will be expanded across Reddit, and that the tools used to introduce these features will be open-sourced for the public. However, the company’s precise plans and its timeline are still unclear.　　Aya Miyaguchi, executive director at the Ethereum Foundation, stated in a Reddit comment that the group is “excited to have an ongoing relationship with Reddit and more collaboration as we work together to improve Ethereum for the entire ecosystem.”　　Blockchain and Social Media　　Reddit is not the only social media platform embracing blockchain. Twitter is looking

2021-01-28Deep Dive

Bitcoin Falls Below $30,000 – Will it Survive the GameStop Reddit War?

While bitcoin has been the darling of non-traditional investments for a while, enticing the digital generation to invest and trade, there is a new movement on the block as GamStop stocks become hot property.　　This seemingly obsolete stock has gained massive traction in defiance of a big Wall Street call, but it seems that the war between Redditors and Wall Street has taken its toll on Bitcoin as the price of the coin has dipped below $30,000 again.　　This fall in price means that there is another retest of the floor needed, it could be a telling one for the continued rally of the cryptocurrency. The GameStop War could well have catalysed this drop in price, but will these Redditors come back to Bitcoin when the battle is done？　　Riding it out　　The impressive rally of Bitcoin from the latter end of last year through January has rightly cooled for a number of reasons. This latest fall, while a test of its levels, does not seem to have too many analysts too fearful.　　“Another $30,000 retest for #Bitcoin,” Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe summarized.　　For fellow trader Scott Melker, it was a case of “wait and see” until the longer time frames completed.　　“6 hour

2021-01-28Deep Dive

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