Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Why Cryptocurrencies Are Surging?

Why CryptocurrenciesAreSurging？　　In the last fortnight, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have taken the world by a storm. The currency has hit $22,000 in value and is being compared to gold.　　Some bitcoin investors predict the virtual currency could rise to as high as $100,000 in a year. That is around five times its current value.Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies valued high　　In India, the average daily crypto currency trading volumes across the top exchanges has grown by nearly 500% since March, 2020.　　According to data from CoinGecko, the average daily traded volume across the top four Indian crypto currency exchanges stood at over $22.4 million as of December 16, 2020 compared to a little under $4.5 million as of March 1, 2020. The exchanges include WazirX, ZebPay, CoinDCX and BitBNS.Data source: CoinGecko　　But what is driving crypto surge in India？ It is undeniable that coronavirus pandemic accelerated the “cryptocurrency revolution”. According to Bitcoin tycoon Mike Novogratz, “In five years from now, we are going to see 2020, as horrible as corona was, and lots of people have lost their lives...we are going to look back and in some weird way, this is going to have been a blessing for the cryptocurrency revolution.”　　Besides, a shift from peer-to-peer to exchange-administered

2021-01-20Deep Dive

GateHub Launches ‘Wallet Protect’ for XRPL Users

Digital currency and gateway provider, GateHub, in collaboration with crypto safety standard firm, Coincover, has announced Wallet Protect.　　The launch will provide improved security solutions for XRP Ledger (XRPL) wallets. According to a recent blog post, the service will accommodate over 1.5 million GateHub customers and become the largest XRPL portal.　　GateHub Reveals the Launch of Wallet Protect　　The development will allow for settlements across various mediums, including cash payments, commodity assets, and digital currencies.　　These security features could prove helpful as users will not lose access to their cryptocurrency holdings, even if they lose their keys. All without the need for a third party. Founder and CEO of GateHub, Enej Pungerčar, stated:　　“With Wallet Protect, we are bringing the highest levels of crypto protection to our customers. Through back-up key creation and secure storage, we can remove the anxiety many crypto holders feel about inadvertently and permanently losing access to their assets.”　　He continues:　　“And with the added benefit of comprehensive insurance and a deposit protection guarantee, GateHub users can be certain that, whatever happens, they wont lose out.”　　Coincover CEO David Janczewski also expressed his excitement about the collaboration, particularly since GateHub will provide safety standards from the platform via the product release.　　He added that this

2021-01-19Deep Dive

It Will Become Increasingly Harder For Average People To Own 1 BTC – Binance CEO CZ Asserts

It many soon be a daunting task for any average person to buy just 1 Bitcoin.　　Thats according to a recent Twitter post by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. The CEO was posting to comment on recent reports that one of the Canada-based institutional funds has now crossed the $1 billion mark in value of its Bitcoin holdings.　　For one, Bitcoin has been in the headlines, having recently hit a new ATH of around $42k before retracting a bit and then firing up to stay above $35k. At the moment, anyone willing to buy 1 BTC would have to cough up a cool $36.9k. Its a fact that not many financially average people can afford that. Some may even find it hard to make that decision.　　Institutional Funds Gobbling Bitcoin　　In the post, Zhao noted that institutional funds are seriously focused on accumulating as much BTC as they can. That‘s perhaps the major motivation behind the Canadian firm’s operations. The firm, named 3iQ, is currently the largest crypto fund in Canada. Its also the first public Bitcoin fund in the North American country. 3iQ is regulated by the Ontario Securities Commission as well as the Canadian Securities Administrators. The firm is also listed on the

2021-01-19Deep Dive

How Polkadot project StaFi brings liquidity to staked assets like DOT and ETH2

Massive amounts of capital are locked in staked crypto assets. But a relatively new platform is making those markets both tradeable and liquid.　　Enter StaFi　　StaFi, founded in 2020 and built on Polkadot, is among the first-ever decentralized protocols that help unlock the liquidity of staked assets via its own platform. This means users can stake their proof of stake (PoS) tokens (which are untradable until they are staked) and get a “rToken” (reward-Token) in return.　　These rTokens enable users to both get the staking reward and trade the locked staking token at the same time. “You can stake your PoS tokens through Staking Contracts built by StaFi,” the team said in a post, adding:　　“All you have to do is use the tools to stake your PoS tokens, and youll receive rToken in return which can be exchanged and traded on DEXes and CEXes in the near future, as well as integrated in other DeFi protocols.”　　StaFi developers had earlier launched rETH, a solution to the liquidity of ETH2.0 staking, with the help of community contributors. This opened the gates for the nearly $3.3 billion locked in ETH 2.0 to be tokenized, liquified, and traded.　　In addition, the staking amount for users has been lowered

2021-01-19Deep Dive

Institutional Buying, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) Buys Another 16,000 BTC Worth $590 Million

Amid the recent price volatility in Bitcoin (BTC), investors might be waiting on the sidelines for further correction. However, we might be reaching $40,000 levels once again sooner than expected. As per the data on Bybt.com, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has purchased another 16,000 Bitcoin in a single day taking its total BTC holdings above 632,000.　　Courtesy: Bybt.com　　In the last 24-hours, Grayscale has poured another ~$600 million in Bitcoin purchases while gobbling more than 18 times the daily Bitcoin mined. Last week only, GBTC purchased around 10,000 Bitcoins (BTC) triggering a fresh buying spree. In less than a week, GBTC has added over 25,000 Bitcoins to its kitty.　　This massive purchase coming from Grayscale suggests that institutions are still active and waiting to swallow every dip in the BTC price. Interestingly, the recent Bitcoin purchase comes just a day after JPMorgan said that inflows in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust are essential for Bitcoin to surge and hold above $40,000 levels.　　The digital asset manager Grayscale recently released its Q4 2020 report wherein reported net inflows of a massive $3.3 billion. Also, last week Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein noted that his company raised a whopping $700 million in funds, in a single day.　　Fresh

2021-01-19Deep Dive

Bitcoin Position of Asset Manager Ruffer Is up 90 Percent

In its period end review, U.K.-based mega-manager Ruffer Investment revealed that its Bitcoin position is now up 90 percent.　　On top of that, the firm also has exposure to 4,009 shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR) and 350,000 shares of Galaxy Digital (GLXY). The equities of these two companies outperformed Bitcoin by 10 percent in Ruffers portfolio.　　Cryptocurrency-related holdings now constitute three percent of the firms total assets under management.　　 At the foothills of institutional adoption　　As reported by U.Today, Ruffer initially gained exposure to Bitcoin via a multi-strategy fund back in November. The notable addition to its basket of assets was made public in mid-December.　　The London asset management firm cut its gold holdings to dip its toes into its digital alternative, but the lustrous metal still accounts for a much larger share of its portfolio (seven percent).　　Image by uk.advfn.com　　While explaining the impetus behind its decision to have a “small but meaningful” Bitcoin allocation, Ruffer highlights that there is desperation for new safe havens when interest rates are nearing zero.　　The investment firm believes that it was early to the party, and other institutions will follow suit:　　We think we are relatively early to this, at the foothills of a long trend of institutional adoption and financialization

2021-01-19Deep Dive

After $750M Bitcoin Allocation, Ruffer Investment Says BTC is Early in Its Safe Haven Cycle

Zero-interest rates make investors desperate for new safe-haven assets like bitcoin, asserted the $27B worth asset manager Ruffer Investment.　　Amid the recent warnings issued by the UK Financial Conduct Authority on crypto scams, the giant asset manager Ruffer Investment has defended its decision to allocate about 2.5% of its portfolio in BTC.　　The UK-based company with over $27 billion AUM said that bitcoins adoption is still early as most investors are “desperate” for alternative safe-haven instruments during these challenging times.　　Ruffer Investment Doubles-Down On BTC　　CryptoPotato reported in December that the founded in 1994 asset manager had allocated 2.5% of its portfolio in bitcoin. While the initial reports claimed that this percentage represented about $15 million, Ruffer later revealed that the actual amount is considerably higher – about $750 million.　　In a more recent note to investors, cited by Portfolio Adviser, the firm outlined its “history of using unconventional protections” in its portfolio. The company also said that its BTC purchase is a “small allocation to an idiosyncratic asset class which we think brings something significantly different to the portfolio.”　　“Due to zero interest rates, the investment world is desperate for new safe-havens and uncorrelated assets. We think we are relatively early to this, at the

2021-01-19Deep Dive

Bitcoin Price Battles for $36K As Market Cap Reclaims $1 Trillion (Market Watch)

The crypto market cap reaches $1 trillion again as BTC recovered from its weekend slump, while BNB and LINK paint new records.　　BTCs somewhat adverse weekend ended with the asset bottoming below $34,000, but bitcoin has bounced off since then and topped $36,000. New all-time highs for Binance Coin and Chainlink have helped the market cap to conquer the coveted $1 trillion level again.　　Bitcoin Tops $36K　　The primary cryptocurrency was riding high above $38,000 before the weekend, but the bears didn‘t allow any further increases. Just the opposite, they drove BTC’s price south on a few occasions.　　The asset dipped to $34,500 before recovering rather quickly to $38,000. However, bitcoin failed to maintain its price at such a high level and dumped once again. This time, it bottomed below $34,000 (on Bitstamp).　　Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency has regained some traction since then and currently trades above $36,000. This was the first major resistance level in BTCs way up, according to the technical aspects.　　The following obstacles are situated at $36,700, $38,000, $39,700, and $40,000. Alternatively, BTC could rely on the support levels at $34,800, $34,000, and $33,130 if another retracement arrives.　　New ATHs For BNB And Link　　Most large-cap altcoins have remained relatively steady on a 24-hour scale.

2021-01-19Deep Dive

Crypto community happy as SEC gets Blockchain fan Gary Gensler as new chairman

Former CFTC is now the new chairman of the US SEC. Gary Gensler is pro-blockchain.　　The next person to chair the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is someone with a soft spot for the crypto market, as apparent from the latest developments regarding the incoming Biden administration. On Monday (January 18, 2021), President-elect Joe Biden picked Gary Gensler as the new person to lead the SEC during his tenure. Biden is expected to take office in the coming days.　　Gary will take over from Elad Roisman, who became SEC‘s chairman in acting capacity after replacing the former chairman, Jay Clayton. Jay’s tenure ended on 23rd December, 2020.　　Gensler is a friend of crypto　　Besides being vastly experienced in Wall Street dynamics, Gary is also a former chairman of the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission). In that capacity, he has studied the crypto market extensively. At the MIT, Gary also taught blockchain-related courses. That‘s why Gary’s appointment as SEC chairman is a big deal for the expanding crypto community.　　Gary‘s appointment was welcomed by the industry, attracting the attention of some of the popular and influential people in the market. Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, tweeted to congratulate the incoming SEC chairman. Despite Ripple being embroiled

2021-01-19Deep Dive

JP Morgan: Bitcoin Needs to Reclaim $40K Soon or Momentum Will Fade

Strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co said that Bitcoin has to surpass the $40,000 milestone to dodge another major price setback.　　Bitcoin has to endure and overcome the $40,000 boundary in order to avoid a consequent major price correction. JPMorgan strategists say that otherwise, the major cryptocurrency might suffer investment outflow.　　The $40K Is the Key to Future Prospects for BTC　　According to a JPMorgan Chase & Co report, cited by Bloomberg, this level is an omen to more eventual losses.　　The major financial institution strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said that the cryptocurrency is at risk of further losses and an outflow of trend-following investors unless it can “break out” over the $40K frontier. The team added that the pattern of demand for BTC futures and the $22.9 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust might help determine the perspective.　　“The flow into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust would likely need to sustain its $100 million per day pace over the coming days and weeks for such a breakout to occur,” the strategists commented on Friday.　　After a record-breaking hit near $42K in the first week of January, Bitcoin suffered a significant price correction with almost $12K in just a short time, leaving investors pondering the reasons. JPM strategists

2021-01-19Deep Dive

...

731733

...

742