With the debut of spot bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Hong Kong trading on Tuesday, market observers are speculating about the potential demand for these ETFs in the region, reminiscent of the enthusiasm seen in the U.S. following the approval of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs on Jan. 10. Zhu Haokang, head of digital […]
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A16z Exec Blasts Meme Coins: They Make Crypto Look ‘Like a Risky Casino’
Eddy Lazzarin, CTO of A16z Crypto, one of the largest cryptocurrency-focused venture capital funds, has criticized the meme coins’ effect on the broad appreciation of the cryptocurrency market. Lazzarin stated that meme coins undermined the “long-term vision of crypto” that has maintained some actors in the space, making it look “like a risky casino.” A16z […]
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Rate Cuts Could be ‘Out the Window’ After March CPI Data Reveals Stubborn Inflation, Tradestation Exec Says
The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) experienced a higher increase than anticipated in March, climbing by 0.4% over the month to reach 3.5%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the rise was primarily fueled by increases in shelter and gasoline costs. This acceleration in the inflation rate has unsettled the financial markets, with many […]
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Crypto Exec Reveals Why Meme Coins Are The Next ‘Trojan Horse’ For Crypto Adoption
Maartje Bus, Vice President of Research at Messari, a prominent crypto market intelligence company, has declared meme coins as the Trojan Horse of the cryptocurrency space. She has highlighted their potential to foster massive adoption and increase engagement within the cryptocurrency space.
Why Meme Coins Are Crypto’s Trojan Horse For Adoption
Speaking at BUIDL Asia, a global developer community in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, March 28, Bus gave a presentation on the emerging trends in crypto in 2024. The Messari crypto executive had primarily focused on the impact and potential benefits of meme coins in driving adoption within the crypto space.
According to Bus, meme coins have become an integral part of the crypto market and are evolving towards potentially establishing themselves as a distinct asset class. The Messari executive has described these humor themed coins as a “Trojan horse” which could potentially facilitate the entry of new users into the realm of cryptocurrency, effectively boosting adoption.
During her speech, Bus disclosed that the introduction of these coins has successfully attracted the attention of both crypto and non-crypto enthusiasts. This is seen in the cryptocurrency’s ability to capture the attention of investors, utilizing its meme-based marketing strategies to fuel engagement while also providing opportunities for massive profitability due to its speculative nature.
Bus believes that meme coins could be likened to a long tail speculative service like lottery tickets which attract investors seeking high risk, high reward opportunities. Additionally, owing to their relatively low price value, they cater to individuals across various income brackets, who are willing to take speculative bets in the hopes of securing significant returns.
Moreover, according to the Messari executive, meme coins serve as a gateway for newcomers to the Web3 space, exposing them to fundamental crypto concepts like decentralization.
The Growing Allure In Crypto Space
Lately, the rise in interest in meme coins has been growing at an exceptional rate, attracting both investors and traders from all over the world. This surge in interest has propelled meme coins in the spotlight, pushing their prices to unprecedented highs.
Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, which are backed by underlying projects and practical use cases, meme coins derive their value largely from their community and speculative appeal. Additionally, these cryptocurrencies offer a more approachable entry point into the realm of crypto investments, utilizing their affordability and susceptibility to social media trends and user sentiments to attract seasoned investors and newcomers alike.
Fundstrat Exec Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $150,000, Here’s When
Tom Lee, Managing Partner and Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, recently commented on the future trajectory of Bitcoin. He also mentioned when the flagship crypto token could hit this particular price level.
Bitcoin To Rise To 0,000 This Year
Lee mentioned during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that Bitcoin could rise to as high as 0,000 this year. His belief that BTC could rise to this price level is due to the fact that demand is improving with the Spot Bitcoin ETFs. These funds are known to have achieved significant success since launching, something which has positively impacted Bitcoin’s price.
Lee alluded to the Bitcoin Halving as another factor that could contribute to Bitcoin’s rise to 0,000. He specifically noted how the crypto token’s supply is going to shrink once the Halving event takes place. Interestingly, industry expert Anthony Pompliano recently highlighted how the demand for BTC was outpacing its supply.
This trend is expected to continue once the Halving takes place, as the amount of BTC mined daily will drastically reduce. Meanwhile, Spot Bitcoin ETFs and other institutional investors are expected to keep stacking up the crypto token without any hesitation.
Lee also noted that a monetary easing, which is expected this year, would be favorable for a risk asset like Bitcoin. With inflation cooling off, the Federal Reserve is projected to cut down on interest. This will no doubt provide a bullish narrative for Bitcoin as investors are expected to double down on their investment in the crypto token once this happens.
BTC Still Headed For 0,000
Tom Lee had predicted during an appeearnce on Squawk Box in January this year that BTC would rise to 0,000 in the next five years. He once again reaffirmed this prediction during his most recent appearance on CNBC. According to him, “Bitcoin is sound money, and it is proving to be useful,” which makes this price level attainable.
Elaborating on how Bitcoin is useful, he stated that the crypto token has been a great store of value and also a good risk asset. He added that BTC is “incredibly secure” as there has been an issue of any fraudulent entry on the blockchain since its inception. The same cannot be said of banking institutions, which Lee noted have a lot of fraudulent transactions.
When quizzed about how Bitcoin is used for nefarious activities, he highlighted how the Dollar is used for a large percentage of crimes that take place, and no one questions its utility.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around ,800, up in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Vaneck Exec States Solana Outage Might Have Been Manually Triggered
Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at Vaneck, revealed that there is speculation around the cause of the latest Solana outage, which stopped its blockchain by five hours. Sigel explained that the bug that created this service interruption was related to the Berkley Packet Filter (BPF) and that it might have been manually triggered. […]
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Ripple Exec Chris Larsen’s XRP Accounts Illicitly Accessed, Crypto Exchanges Freeze Assets
On Wednesday, Chris Larsen, the co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple, publicly revealed that several of his personal xrp accounts had been illicitly accessed. Larsen explained that the team successfully persuaded crypto exchanges to promptly freeze the affected addresses.
2.5 Million Transferred From Chris Larsen’s Accounts
In the realm of social media, specifically within the X community, there is a growing fervor surrounding a substantial transfer of XRP from Chris Larsen’s XRP accounts. The initial revelation came from onchain analyst Zachxbt, who swiftly shared the information, stating, “It appears Ripple was hacked for ~213M XRP (2.5M).” This development ignited a wave of intense speculation and discussion across various social media platforms.
Larsen addressed the situation on X and said that his personal xrp accounts were affected. “Yesterday, there was unauthorized access to a few of my personal XRP accounts (not Ripple) – we were quickly able to catch the problem and notify exchanges to freeze the affected addresses,” Larsen said. “Law enforcement is already involved,” the Ripple executive added.
XRP initially dropped 5% on the news against the U.S. dollar and 24-hour statistics as of 10:40 p.m. Eastern Time, show XRP is down 3.5%. Of course, many speculators are wondering what happened with Larsen’s account and how the actors were able to access 213 million XRP from his stash. As of right now, it is a compelling mystery until more answers come out.
What do you think about the Ripple exec’s xrp stash being pilfered? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Valkyrie Exec Expects SEC To Approve XRP ETF, Can This Push Price To $100?
With the advent of Spot Bitcoin ETFs which were approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, crypto investors have quickly turned their attention to the next big thing which might be XRP ETFs. This is picking up steam as Steve McClurg, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for Valkyrie, has lent his voice to the cause.
Valkyrie Exec Says XRP ETF Could Be Next
In an interview with Bloomberg, McClurg reveals that with the approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs, the expectation is that altcoins will soon follow the same path. He explains that attention could be turned to Ethereum, which is currently the second-largest cryptocurrency in the space. McClurg figures that a lot of filings are going to be submitted for Ethereum ETFs after this.
Beyond the expected ETF filings for Ethereum, the Valkyrie CIO mentions that the likes of Ripple’s XRP could be the next in line to get approved for an ETF. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw Ripple or Ethereum spot ETFs out there,” McClurg said during the interview.
Although McClurg showed optimism regarding a possible XRP ETF, he revealed that there was no indication of whether Valkyrie was going to get involved in it or not. Valkyrie, who has been heavily involved in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, has not shown any interest in the altcoin so far.
However, the CIO explained that crypto can be incredibly unpredictable. Given this, it is impossible to know where the market will end up swinging and what asset managers will take an interest in next.
ETF Talks For Altcoins Heat Up
The discussions for a possible XRP ETF are not new, especially as the arguments for Bitcoin Spot ETFs heated up. As a result, crypto researcher, ABS, who is part of the 3T Warrior Academy gave a rundown of what the impact of a possible XRP ETF would be.
ABS explains that this could give rise to more interest from institutional investors as they could easily gain exposure to the asset with an ETF. Additionally, it would also propel XRP into the mainstream as marketing would take off. This would obviously increase interest around the world, and finally, XRP ETF would give the crypto a liquidity life-off.
The effect that an ETF would have on the price of the asset can be gauged by what happened in November when rumors emerged that BlackRock had applied for an XRP ETF. As the rumor spread, the XRP price surged rapidly, before correcting back downward once the rumors were dispelled.
Nevertheless, this performance from the altcoin showed the readiness of the market for an XRP ETF. In the case of the altcoin’s price reaching as high as 0, it is likely not happening in the next few years. However, there is no doubt that the approval of an XRP spot ETF would help propel it faster toward this goal.
Goldman Sachs Exec Predict Massive Growth For Digital Assets In 2024
Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, Matthew McDermott, has projected a massive growth in the cryptocurrency market in 2024. McDermott shared these positive predictions in a recent interview with Fox Business, expressing much optimism in the future of digital assets.
Goldman Exec Expects Spot ETFs To ‘Gradually’ Boost Institutional Demand For Crypto Assets
Speaking to Fox Business, McDermott has backed the continuous growth of cryptocurrencies as he foresees a rise in the institutional adoption of these assets.
Notably, the Goldman executive shares popular sentiment with many crypto enthusiasts that the approval of a Bitcoin or Ethereum spot ETF will open up the digital asset ecosystem to more institutional investors who are weary of the market volatility attached to direct crypto investments.
McDermott said:
One, it broadens and deepens the liquidity in the market. And why does it do that? It does that because you’re actually creating institutional products that can be traded by institutions that don’t need to touch the bare assets. And I think that, to me, that opens up the universe of the pensions, insurers, etc.
However, McDermott has cautioned crypto enthusiasts against expecting a sudden impact of crypto spot ETFs. He believes the anticipated increased demand and price rise will be a gradual process that will occur over the course of 2024.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to grant approval orders to several Bitcoin spot ETF applications in the coming weeks following discussions between the regulator and multiple asset managers. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas has set a potential decision window of January 8 – January 10, stating there is a 90% chance the SEC finally delivers a verdict on these various applications putting an end to the 6-months chronicle.
Asset Tokenization In 2024
In addition to potential crypto spot ETFs, McDermott also mentioned a potential increase in commercial blockchain application as another contributing factor to his projected rise in institutional demand for digital assets.
Particularly, he spoke about an improvement in existing tokenization systems, which can lead to the creation of secondary liquidity on blockchains.
He said:
When I think about tokenization, which is obviously a topic that’s kind of talked about quite extensively, I think for me next year what we’ll start to see is the development of marketplaces. So where we start to see scale adoption, particularly across the buy side in the context of investors. And that’s because we’ll start to see the emergence of secondary liquidity on chain, and that’s a key enabler. So for me, that’s one of the key developments for next year.”
At the time of writing, the entire crypto ecosystem is valued at .602 trillion, with a 15.09% gain in the last month. The market’s leader Bitcoin currently trades at ,082, having declined by 1% in the past day.
Sega Exec Shuji Utsumi: ‘Blockchain Gaming Is Still an Unknown World for Us’
In a recent interview, Sega co-COO Shuji Utsumi talked about the company’s stance on blockchain games. For Utsumi, this new gaming field is still uncertain, and Sega is prepared to protect its franchises and learn about how these new games are being made via its partnership with Double Jump Tokyo, a blockchain games company.
Sega Still Considers Blockchain Gaming an ‘Unknown World’
Sega co-COO Shuji Utsumi has stated that, for the company, the blockchain gaming field is still unknown. In a recent interview, the executive explained the stance of Sega regarding blockchain games due to the upcoming release of Sangokushi Taisen, a game being licensed by the company and developed by Double Jump Tokyo, a blockchain gaming company and non-fungible token (NFT) solutions provider.
When asked about his thoughts on blockchain gaming, Utsumi stated:
Blockchain gaming is still an unknown world for us, so we want to protect what needs to be protected and take a new look at what needs to be captured in a new way.
This opinion is consistent with Utsumi’s earlier statements, in which he declared that play-to-earn games were “boring” and that the company would change its blockchain strategy, pulling the plug on in-house projects developed with this technology and protecting AAA franchises.
However, at that time, he acknowledged that lesser-known franchises could be licensed to third parties, including Sangokushi Taisen, considered an “IP that would be accepted by fans in Japan and other Asian countries and would harmonize effectively with blockchain technology.”
Transitional Period
Utsumi emphasized a need to engage and appeal to users with blockchain-based content designed to serve as an entry point for this gaming field, just like puzzle games for the mobile gaming industry.
He declared:
Within blockchain games, owning assets and, in some cases, earning money, could become player wants that haven’t existed before. In this regard, this is indeed a transitional phase for the industry.
Also, as one of the hurdles of blockchain gaming, Utsumi mentioned setting up wallets, stressing that games should allow users to set these up later in the game.
Despite Sega’s posture, blockchain gaming has continued to gather interest. Blockchain gaming projects have gotten investments for 0 million during Q3, according to Dappradar’s Third Quarter Blockchain Gaming report. Also, by Dapprardar’s numbers, companies have invested .3 billion in these initiatives in 2023.
What do you think about Sega’s stance on blockchain games? Tell us in the comments section below.