Veteran trader and renowned chartist Peter Brandt says bitcoin is “vying to become the Level 1 ‘store-of-value’ standard replacing fiat currencies and government bonds.” He explained that fiat currencies, like the U.S. dollar, “will still be used to buy groceries and pay for gas.” Moreover, he expects governments to “constantly be issuing new currency replacements.” […]
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Fed Governor Discusses Crypto’s Impact on US Dollar Dominance — Says Banks Should Avoid Bitcoin ETFs as Primary Asset
A Federal Reserve governor has addressed crypto’s impact on the U.S. dollar’s dominance. Additionally, he expressed reservations about the need for a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stated his opposition to banks holding bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as their primary asset. Fed Governor on Crypto, CBDC, and the U.S. Dollar Federal Reserve Governor […]
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Polygon (MATIC) Flying: Is This Program The Primary Catalyst?
MATIC, the native token of Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain, is ripping higher, mirroring the general performance across the crypto scene, spearheaded by Bitcoin (BTC). As of November 9, MATIC is up roughly 5% in the past 24 hours and inching closer to July 23 highs, looking at the candlestick arrangement in the daily chart.
This upswing is at the back of rising trading volume and improving sentiment, which has seen the token expand 64% from October lows, a net positive for optimistic traders.
The 110 Million MATIC Grant
Looking at events in the past few trading days, the MATIC rally seems to have been catalyzed by Polygon Village’s recent announcement. The team said it plans to distribute 110 million MATIC to projects aiming to deploy decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, and social media solutions on the sidechain.
Polygon said late-stage projects can receive direct grants of up to 2 million MATIC. Meanwhile, early-stage projects and startups, can apply via quadratic funding grants.
In this funding arrangement, the amount of MATIC sent to a project will directly depend on how popular the project is. Those that are popular among crypto holders will receive more funds. Still, it remains unclear how Polygon Labs will deal with bots when deciding how popular a given project is. Voting will be on-chain on Polygon, where MATIC will be the currency through which users can support their favorite projects.
Polygon Rising Stature: From POL To ZK-EVM
Over the years, Polygon has emerged as a popular scaling solution for Ethereum, looking at statistics and total value locked (TVL), especially in DeFi. The platform is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Accordingly, it allows protocols launching on its rails to easily connect with the mainnet without sacrificing security.
By connecting with Polygon, projects can operate in a highly scalable environment with relatively low fees. This feature allows intensive dapps, including social media platforms or decentralized exchanges (DEXes), to operate seamlessly.
Polygon is also transitioning and, subject to the community’s approval, will gradually replace MATIC with POL. This token will power the broader ecosystem, including supernets and layer-2 networks relaying on Polygon’s infrastructure. In late October, the POL contracts went live on the Ethereum mainnet as part of Polygon 2.0. This transition will see Polygon integrate zero-knowledge (ZK) technology into all its products.
Manta Network said it would retool and integrate Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK) in mid-October. Doing this, the protocol migrated from the optimistic rollup it initially launched on. Using Polygon’s CDK, Manta integrates zk Rollup technology to settle transactions faster and confidentially.
‘Soft Landing Is a Primary Objective’ — Federal Reserve Signals One More Rate Hike in 2023
Based on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s forecasts, it appears that the central bank is poised to enact an additional hike to the federal funds rate by the end of 2023. The news comes in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave the interest rate unchanged during its recent gathering of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, emphasized this week that the central bank’s strategy entails supporting “the policy rate and await further data.” He underlined the importance of maintaining a “restrictive policy” to achieve the desired goal of curbing inflation.
Powell: A Soft Landing Is What ‘We’ve Been Trying to Achieve for All This Time’
During the recent FOMC gathering, the U.S. central bank opted to maintain the status quo on interest rates. The FOMC’s official statement underlined the “sound and resilient” nature of the U.S. banking system, even in the face of tightened credit conditions affecting businesses and households nationwide. The central bank remarked, “Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace.”
Following the meeting, Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, engaged with the media in a press conference to discuss the state of the U.S. economy. In a dialogue with numerous reporters representing various news outlets, Powell articulated his long-held belief in the feasibility of a “soft landing,” a conviction he has held since the emergence of inflation pressures. Powell further emphasized:
A soft landing is a primary objective. And I did not say otherwise. I mean, that’s what we’ve been trying to achieve for all this time. The real point, though, is the worst thing we can do is to fail to restore price stability, because the record is clear on that.
The U.S. central bank has unveiled its forward-looking projections, and Federal Reserve members have underscored the likelihood of the federal funds rate climbing to 5.6% by year-end. While approximately seven Fed officials voiced reservations about this rate hike, a consensus of twelve members is firmly in favor. Currently, the CME Fedwatch tool indicates that investors are foreseeing this increase materializing in December.
As of September 21, 2023, the Fedwatch tool registers a 68.6% probability of the rate holding steady, with a 31.4% chance of an upward adjustment at the forthcoming FOMC meeting in November. Two more Fed gatherings are scheduled for this year. Furthermore, following the Federal Reserve’s deliberations, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank have also elected to maintain the status quo on their interest rates. On Thursday, all four primary U.S. indices closed in negative territory, while the cryptocurrency market experienced a 1.4% dip over the course of 24 hours.
In the realm of precious metals, such as gold and silver, relative stability has prevailed following the FOMC meeting. Concurrently, lending rates in the United States have been facing substantial pressure, as reported by The Kobeissi Letter on Thursday, which noted that the “average interest rate on a 30-year mortgage rises to 7.59%, its highest since December 2000.”
“With interest rate cuts now no longer expected until September 2024, it is likely we see 8% mortgages soon,” Kobeissi posted to the social media platform X. “On top of the Fed holding rates higher for longer, US deficit spending is so large that .9 trillion in bonds are being issued over 2 quarters. This is flooding bond markets with supply and driving interest rates even higher. Currently, the median payment on a new home is nearing a record ,900/month. What’s the long-term plan here?”
What do you think about the Fed raising the federal funds rate one more time before the end of 2023? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Gala Games Plans for Mobile Gaming, GALA To Be The Primary Token
Gala Games, a blockchain-based gaming platform that rewards users with in-game and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has released its plans for 2023.
Gala Games’ Strategy
Per a report shared on January 29, the objective of the platform this year is to continue supporting the broader gaming ecosystem, move to mobile, and carve out market share while anchoring its strategy on four key pillars, touching on sharing updates, conquering mobile, protecting utility, and remaining visible.
Gala Games has specified that all games within its ecosystem will use GALA as the primary token. GALA is the native currency of the gaming portal and gifts users to vote on proposals.
The platform leverages blockchain technology and aims to lead in the sphere. Over the months, including in 2022, when gaming activities contracted due to an extended bear market that saw crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum more than half from their 2021 peaks, Gala Games continued to strike valuable partnerships.
To build on this base, Gala Games is setting aside over 0 million to support projects in the gaming ecosystem. Out of this amount, the platform has deployed 50% of the amount.
They revealed that they are still working with, among others, Gamedia, Artic 7, and Shiver Entertainment. Besides partnering with external game developers, Gala Games works with their internal game developers. Subsequently, the platform updated the community that they plan to re-launch Town Star in partnership with “The Walking Dead Empires.” In the same vein, several gaming titles will be launched in 2023 and 2024.
Move to Mobile
This year, Gala Games added, they expect more intellectual property holders to join their growing ecosystem. Some of them include PokeGo and AMC. On January 23, Gala Games announced the acquisition of Ember Entertainment and its gaming portfolio comprising over 15 games. Together, these games have been downloaded over 20 million times since deployment.
On their plans to move to mobile, they will avail web3 games such as Meow Match and Aqua Blast to gamers. Meow Match, Gala Games added, will be the first to integrate a monetization strategy. The decision to move has been part of the Gala Games’ strategic plan over the years. As they do so, they said they expect to retain high quality, as expected by the over 2.8 billion mobile gamers, while enabling players to take charge of their digital assets.
Crypto as a Primary Source of Income for Artists
With the skyrocketing prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum over the past year, cryptocurrency can be a lucrative source of primary income for artists. StarCoin is aiming to help artists seize this moment, maximize their revenues and increase their autonomy. StarCoin is the first cryptocurrency that offers a crypto-backed record label to artists.
First, it’s important to outline the issues of today’s music industry to understand the value that a crypto-backed record label could provide. Generally, when artists sign onto record labels, the label provides the artists with a loan so that they create their album. Artists usually do not make any revenue from their album once it is released until they have paid back the loan. Even once the artist has paid back the loan, the label usually takes the majority of the revenue through an 80/20 or 90/10 ratio at the artist’s disadvantage.
A crypto-backed record label is superior to the traditional record label-signing industry for several reasons. StarCoin is the first cryptocurrency to partner with a record label, allowing a holder of the cryptocurrency to be signed to a contract. StarCoin’s community will have the opportunity every month to vote for their favorite artists, with artists with the most votes being able to sign a record label deal. StarCoin allows talented artists who aren’t as well known or mainstream to shine, enabling them to be seen and supported by people who support their work. Currently, record labels are most interested in signing artists that they believe will generate the most revenue, benefitting artists who are more mainstream, leading to the overlooking of serious talent.
StarCoin is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) — an open-source protocol underpinned by blockchain where rules are enforced through smart contracts. The advantage of a DAO is that its leadership is distributed between its members, and everyone has a say in its governance. StarCoin community members who have its coin are able to vote on which artist should be signed, with members who have held its coin for the longest time having greater weight when voting for an artist.
Once enough votes have been garnered for a specific artist, StarCoin and a record label will sign and fund an artist, with the funds generated through transactions for the token. Unlike a loan provided by a traditional artist-record label arrangement, the artist would have free funds and not have to worry about repayment. As StarCoin signs more artists, a portion of funds generated through a tax will be used to contribute to the continued growth of artists and artists signed under the label.
Through NFTs, StarCoin will enable artists to earn up to 80% of the revenues accrued through their music on streaming platforms. Currently, artists only accrue about 12% of revenues on traditional steaming platforms, like Spotify and Apple Music. StarCoin, in addition to signing an artist and recording their music, will facilitate artists’ ability to create exclusive NFTs of their songs and sell it on StarCoin’s NFT marketplace, providing the artist with additional revenue. StarCoin token holders could purchase these NFTs and add them to their collection, resell them on StarCoin’s platform and to other platforms. NFT sales will allow artists to continuously generate royalties, making them earn far more than the typical $.0006 than they currently do through mainstream streaming services.
Cryptocurrency is all the rage and there’s a good reason for it. With the potential to spur creativity, talent, opportunity and autonomy, StarCoin is seeking to benefit artists by providing them with additional funds to spur creativity, opportunity, talent and autonomy.
3 Primary Reasons Why Ethereum (ETH) Could Hit $500 in Q4
A confluence of bullish fundamental and technical indicators sees Ethereum rallying upward towards 0 in the fourth quarter.
The second-largest blockchain asset by market capitalization has rallied by more than 200 percent in 2020, with its price trading just shy of 0 in early September. Nevertheless, its uptrend paused as traders migrated to Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency that earlier gained entry into the investment/service portfolios of significant corporations (Square, MicroStrategy, PayPal, etc).
As Bitcoin’s dominance surged, Ethereum extended its downside correction, falling to as low as 3 in a late September trading session. It is in a slow and steady rebound ever since, marginalized by Bitcoin’s growing hegemony on the cryptocurrency market.
But it could still hit 0 as the Bitcoin uptrend comes on the verge of exhaustion. At least three factors – both technical and fundamental – points to a rally ahead for Ethereum. They are mentioned as follows.
#1 ETH/BTC Support
A slowdown in Ethereum’s dollar-based uptrend finds headwinds in the ETH/BTC chart. The pair, which pits Ethereum directly against Bitcoin, is trading lower since August 31. As of Thursday, it was down by more than 32 percent from its YTD high of 0.0406 sats.
ETH/BTC formed an intraday low at 0.02738 sats, a level that falls in the trading area that earlier acted as both support and resistance. A pseudonymous daytrader noted that if ETH/BTC holds this “key support level” then it could end up reducing the Bitcoin’s dominance in the cryptocurrency market.
Ethereum's rebound against Bitcoin could improve its dollar-based exchange rate. Source: ETHBTC on TradingView.com
“I have ,213 as a target [for Bitcoin],” the trader wrote, iterating that ETHBTC would likely bottom out then.
“ETH season will trigger the altcoin season,” he added.
#2 Ethereum Ascending Triangle
Ethereum’s correction from its YTD high followed by a subsequent pullback to the upside left its price in a consolidation channel. That range, with a fixed horizontal resistance line and a trail of higher lows, made an Ascending Triangle pattern, as shown in the chart below.
Ethereum consolidating inside an Ascending Triangle pattern. Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
Typically, an Ascending Triangle in an uptrend is a continuation pattern. Therefore, it signals to a prolonged period of bullish bias, starting with a price breakout above the resistance level at 5. Should it happen, ETH/USD could grow by as much as the maximum height of the Triangle, which is 8.
That puts the pair’s upside target at near 7.
#3 Fundamentals
The reason why Ethereum could perform per its bullish technical expectations is a solid fundamental catalyst.
On or before December 1, the cryptocurrency’s parent blockchain will switch its protocol from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. The migration will allow Ethereum holders to stake their tokens to earn steady interests over time, similar to how the decentralized finance projects work.
Its prospects of removing a higher number of ETH tokens out of circulation – against an expected higher demand – has led to an increase in “HODLING” sentiment.
“The Ethereum community has been getting prepared ahead of the launch of ETH 2.0, with a record number of wallets now holding at least 32 ETH,” noted Crypto Compare in its daily roundup. “The number of Ethereum addresses holding at least 32 Ethereum hit an all-time high (ATH) of 126,852.”
That also raises the prospects for Ethereum to hit 0 in Q4.
Report: ICO Funding Stumbles in Q3, Regulation a Primary Factor
A recent report details just how weak initial coin offering (ICO) fundraising is becoming amidst the persisting 2018 crypto bear market, with Q3 being the least successful fundraising quarter for ICOs so far this year.
ICO Fundraising Drops Sharply in Q3
The report, which was conducted by independent research firm, ICORating, notes that a total of just over .8 billion was raised by a total of 597 ICO projects in Q3 2018, down significantly from the over .3 billion that was raised in Q2 2018.
Earlier this year, investors were clamoring to throw money into just about any ICO project that asked for it, but the persisting bear market and poor performance of tokens has led to increased fundraising difficulty, with 57% of ICO projects not being able to raise more than 0,000 USD.
Although most ICO tokens that are available for trading have had a terrible year, the report also explains that only 4% of ICO tokens have actually been listed on exchanges, making them an incredibly illiquid and risky investment.
Related Reading: German Regulator Advises Investors to “Keep Their Hands Off” ICOs
Factors Behind ICO Fundraising Drop
The report specifically notes that there are multiple primary factors contributing to the drop in ICO fundraising, including the high frequency of scams and fraud, uncertainty regarding regulation, a decline in value of some of the most hyped ICO products from earlier this year, and a general disappointment in the state of the markets.
A lack of transparency within many projects is one source of fear for investors, as it leads to increased uncertainty regarding how trustworthy the team leading the project is. The fear that stems from a lack of transparency in the industry is due to the amount of news regarding ICO-related exit scams.
“The market in Q3 shows signs of overall disappointment in traditional ICOs as a means of venture financing… The key problem with ICOs is that a vast number of them are scams or scam-like projects…”
Furthermore, regulatory uncertainty regarding the ICO industry is a huge contributing factor behind the drop in fundraising, as it is likely that many of the tokens resulting from ICOs are in fact securities products.
The report discusses this factor, saying that “a vast number of them [ICOs] are scams or scam-like projects, and the fact that some tokens sold were actually securities, meaning that they violate U.S securities law, forcing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take action.”
Recently, the U.S. SEC released a report that said reducing ICO-related fraud is among their top priorities.
In the SEC’s annual 2018 enforcement report, the regulatory authority explained that the complex technological nature of ICOs makes them the perfect venue for scamming unsuspecting retail investors, and their international nature makes it difficult to enforce existing laws that are being violated by nefarious projects.
“Additionally, in partnership with the Division’s Cyber Unit and Microcap Fraud Task Force, as well as the Division of Corporation Finance’s Digital Asset Working Group, the RSTF has launched a lead-generation and referral initiative involving trading suspensions related to companies that purport to be in the cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology space,” the SEC explained.
Although ICOs were a popular fundraising method in 2017 and early-2018, as regulations begin unfolding they may increasingly become an inefficient and legally dangerous way for projects to raise money.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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Tether Has Primary Reserve Bank In Puerto Rico, Says BitMEX
BitMEX, Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, found further evidence supporting speculation that Noble Bank, a full-reserve bank based in Puerto Rico, is a major cryptocurrency center and is harboring Tether’s assets as its primary reserve bank.
BitMEX Says Tether Has Primary Reserve Bank In Puerto Rico
A few weeks ago, BitMEX published a research piece in response to rumors that Tether has some link to Puerto Rico. After analyzing public financial data, the exchange found strong growth in the cash balance in the International Financial Entities (IFE) banking category. In spite of an unusual balance-sheet structure, the researchers weren’t able to draw any strong conclusion from the data. Until now.
Aggregate financial-system data for the year of 2017, released by the office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico, point to a 248% growth in bank deposits in Q4 2017 in the International Financial Entities (IFE) category, amounting to .3 billion. Additionally, total assets in the category were .8 billion, up 161% in the quarter.
BitMEX sees a connection between this extraordinary growth in bank deposits and the large increase in the value of cryptocurrency assets over the same period, resulting in large cash inflows into cryptocurrency-related banks.
During Q4 2017, the value of Tether in issue has increased by 215% to .4 billion, which supports the thesis presented in BitMEX’s first post regarding Noble Bank as Tether’s primary reserve bank.
The thesis concluded that Tether has two choices: reform the system to include KYC/AML procedures, which may require a fundament change of its architecture and leave the public blockchains; or risk being shut down by the authorities.
The research article argues that ‘their problem’ with Tether is not its use for criminal activity per se: “We have not found any evidence of criminals using Tether to launder funds. As it stands, we think an imminent shutdown is unlikely.” The problem, they explain, is what happens with censorship resistance systems. They eventually get shut down.
“A potential way around this is to try to build a distributed system that cannot be shut down (…). Whether Bitcoin or other proof-of-work-based systems can achieve this is still unproven, in our view.”
Tether is the second most liquid cryptocurrency in the world, with a volume of .83 billion per day, according to Coinmarketcap.com. The cryptocurrency token has come increasingly under pressure for having ended their relationship with the company responsible for auditing them, Friedman LLP.
BitMEX may have found consistent data supporting the idea that Puerto Rico is becoming a cryptocurrency haven. And that seems to be an inevitable result of its unparalleled tax incentive: no federal personal income taxes nor capital gains tax, all without having to renounce the American citizenship.
Tether and sister company Bitfinex is not exclusively using Noble Bank as a reserve bank. Dutch ING Bank confirmed the company has a bank account there.
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Ripple Eyes SWIFT as its Primary Target to Overtake
Although the cryptocurrency ecosystem is pretty innovative, there are few groundbreaking innovations. Ripple has come up with a rather bold plan in a bid to keep wooing investors. The company itself focuses on being a bridge between fiat currency and digital currency. Their Ripple Transaction Protocol is bringing some much-needed competition to Bitcoin and Ethereum. … Continue reading Ripple Eyes SWIFT as its Primary Target to Overtake
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