The Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) protocol, initiated by Bitgo in 2019, holds the title of the largest BTC derivative project by market capitalization, and to date, no other project has exceeded its scale. Nonetheless, the past few years have seen a significant decline in the number of wrapped bitcoins in circulation, with more than 32% of […]
Bitcoin News
TUSD’s Stability Wavers — Value Fluctuates Below $1 Peg Amid Market Turbulence and Binance’s Dominant Hold
Market insights reveal that on January 15, 2024, the stablecoin TUSD deviated from its usual parity, dipping to .979 per coin the next day. By 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday, it managed to recover slightly, climbing above the .99 mark.
TUSD Faces Unsteady Ground, Drops Under
Recently, TUSD experienced fluctuations, slipping below its benchmark on Monday. That evening, its value lingered around .98, amid challenges linked to the company’s real-time attestations. As of January 16, 2024, TUSD’s circulating supply, as displayed on their website, stands at 1.92 billion tokens.
A significant portion of TUSD’s supply is in the hands of Binance, which owns the top five ERC20 wallets. Of the total supply, only 391.99 million TUSD tokens are issued on the Ethereum blockchain, while 1.48 billion are on the Tron network. Binance’s cold wallet holds approximately 1.4 billion of these tokens.
At 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, TUSD temporarily reached .996 per coin. Yet, by 10:20 a.m., it fell to about .987. This instability has sparked considerable debate on social media, with many questioning the reasons behind TUSD’s fluctuating peg. Most of the trading activity for the coin is concentrated on Binance, with a significant portion of its volume originating from this exchange.
In the last 24 hours, TUSD’s global trade volume hit 5 million. Despite a hefty supply of 1.92 billion TUSD, its market valuation on Tuesday was slightly lower, at .89 billion. TUSD is now among several stablecoins that have dealt with parity issues, a trend that began with the Terra blockchain ecosystem’s collapse in May 2022.
What do you think about the issues TUSD has been facing dealing with holding its peg? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
IMF Chief Sees Crypto as Asset Class — Says Bitcoin Won’t Dethrone US Dollar as Dominant Currency
International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva sees crypto as an asset class, not money. She dismissed concerns of bitcoin potentially displacing the U.S. dollar as the world’s dominant currency, citing the size of the U.S. economy and the depth and sophistication of its capital markets as key factors.
IMF Chief on Crypto and US Dollar Dominance
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, dismissed crypto as money and explained why she didn’t see bitcoin as a threat to the U.S. dollar’s dominance in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live last week. Georgieva said:
Our view is that we have to differentiate between money and assets. When we talk about crypto, we are actually talking about an asset class.
“It could be backed up and in that sense, more secure and less risky, or it could be not backed up and therefore a riskier investment. But it is not exactly money. It’s more like a money management fund,” she described.
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the first time, marking a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry. Eleven spot bitcoin ETFs were approved at once and most of them began trading the next day.
While many view the approval of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs as potentially fueling wider BTC adoption and mainstream acceptance, the IMF chief disagrees, arguing that bitcoin lacks the necessary qualities to usurp the U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s dominant currency. “Look, this day, if it exists, is so far in the future that I think it is not very useful to talk about it,” she opined, elaborating:
Why is the dollar today a dominant currency? Because of the size of U.S. economy and most importantly, the depth of the capital markets in the U.S.
“So I, for one, am not in a rush to turn my dollars into another currency. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t, you know, diversify. But, I wouldn’t worry too much about [bitcoin rivaling the dollar]. There are things that make me lose sleep — that’s not one of them,” the IMF managing director opined.
In December last year, Georgieva called for the establishment of clear regulations and robust infrastructure worldwide to mitigate the risks associated with crypto assets. “The challenge is that high crypto asset adoption could undermine macro-financial stability,” she explained. “Our goal is to make a more efficient, interoperable, and accessible financial system by providing rules to avoid the risks of crypto, and infrastructure by leveraging some of its technologies.”
What do you think about the statements by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about crypto and do you think bitcoin can overtake the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency? Let us know in the comments section below.
Cardano: More ADA Delegators Staking, But Why Are Bears Dominant?
Citing Messari data, one user on X, @JaromirTesar, notes that despite the effects of the crypto bear market, which has adversely affected valuation and activity, there are more Cardano (ADA) holders willing to stake their assets, helping secure the network and earn staking rewards at the same time.
More Delegators Staking ADA, Confidence Remains High
Sharing a screenshot on November 1, the user notes that roughly 250 ADA holders have opted to stake their coins daily for the past year. By the end of Q3 2023, there were 1.31 million delegators, up from 1.22 million recorded around the same time last year. This means that despite the harsh crypto market conditions, ADA holders seem to have been unfazed and choose to lock their coins instead of exiting for other coins like Bitcoin (BTC) or stablecoins, including USDT.
Cardano uses the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which the team, Input Output Global (IOG), claims to be more scalable and efficient than other consensus systems, including Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW). In Cardano, Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) are tasked with validating a block of ADA transactions where they receive rewards after every epoch.
SPOs eradicate the need for miners. Since anyone with a Cardano wallet can participate in the consensus process, the platform is thought to be more decentralized. ADA holders who choose not to run SPOs can delegate their coins through their favorite validator and receive staking rewards.
More Stakers Engaging, What Happens To Price Next?
As of November 1, there are 2,888 SPOs with stake, meaning they manage ADA from delegators. Meanwhile, there were 1.31 million unique delegators by the end of Q3 2023, an increase from the previous year.
In total, 65.33% of all ADA is engaged, actively participating in consensus and helping keep the network decentralized. Even so, this is down from 71.57% recorded in Q3 2023. The active stake translates to 22.9 billion ADA, down from 25 billion in Q3 2023. According to trackers, there are 35.2 billion ADA in circulation.
Despite the confidence among ADA holders, prices are relatively subdued. The coin is still trending below July 2023 highs of around .37. Even so, prices have been on an uptrend, breaking above the .27 high of October.
A close above .40 could open up ADA for more gains towards 2023 highs of around .46. Conversely, any sell-off from spot rates may push the coin closer to 2023 lows of .24.
Indian Official: De-Dollarization Remains Distant, Rupee Should Become Dominant Currency
India’s oil and gas minister says de-dollarization is a long way away. The official emphasized his desire to conduct all transactions in rupees, expressing his wish for the Indian currency to become “the lead currency in the world.”
Indian Official on De-Dollarization
India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri stated in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the B20 Summit in New Delhi on Friday that de-dollarization is a long way off.
Puri explained that he expects the U.S. dollar to maintain its dominance in global trade. Commenting on factors that could dethrone the USD as the world’s reserve currency, he opined:
I don’t know what kind of change [the dollar needs to] be affected but I don’t see it … It’s not so easy.
The minister further shared that he does not see the Indian rupee challenging the U.S. dollar as a major global currency, even though it is being used in some oil transactions alongside the Chinese yuan and the Russian ruble. Nonetheless, he stressed:
I would like to be able to transact everything in rupees … I wish the Indian rupee should be the lead currency in the world. But I’m also a realist.
A growing number of countries are moving away from settlements in U.S. dollars. The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), for example, are encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions.
While acknowledging a growing de-dollarization trend, the Indian minister questioned: “The main point is that … there are arrangements, but the transactions which are taking place, how many percent is coming in rupees?” He noted: “We heard about decoupling. But these international arrangements, trading arrangements, payment arrangements, these have been in place for a long time.”
Do you agree with the Indian official about de-dollarization? Let us know in the comments section below.
US Dollar Will Lose Dominant Status, China and India Could Play Key Role in Currency Shift, Says Economist Lord O’Neill
Lord Jim O’Neill, the British economist credited with coining the acronym BRIC, has explained that the U.S. dollar will lose its dominant status. He expects the Chinese yuan and possibly the Indian rupee to become “much more important currencies for the world.”
Lord Jim O’Neill on USD Losing Its Dominant Status
British economist Lord Jim O’Neill discussed de-dollarization and the potential for a proposed common BRICS currency or the Chinese yuan to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency in a couple of interviews this week. O’Neill, a former Goldman Sachs economist, coined the acronym BRIC over 20 years ago to describe the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa joined the group a few years later, and the acronym was changed to BRICS. O’Neill is now the chair of venture capital firm Northern Gritstone.
He believes that the U.S. dollar will lose its world’s reserve currency status at some point, stating in an interview with Going Underground on Wednesday:
The idea that the dollar will remain king forever, I think, is probably unlikely … At some point the dollar will lose its dominant status.
However, he does not expect the proposed common BRICS currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s dominant currency. In an interview with IC Intelligence chief economist Dr. Desné Masie, published Thursday, he described the idea of a single currency for the BRICS nations as “ridiculous” and “amusing.” He emphasized that “China and India never agree on anything,” noting that the two countries “can’t even really agree on basic things like a peaceful border.”
The former Goldman Sachs economist opined:
What is more feasible, and more likely, is at some point in the future, the RMB [renminbi], and possibly the rupee are going to be much more important currencies for the world.
Moreover, he detailed: “I do think if China and India could ever strongly agree on things as the two biggest countries in the emerging world … then that would probably hasten the end of the dollar’s dominance.”
Regarding whether the Chinese yuan will replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s dominant currency, O’Neill noted: “If you are no longer the biggest economy in the world, your currency stops being the most important. So if China ends up being a lot bigger than the U.S., then probably, the dollar won’t be what it is today. But that’s the reality of life.”
However, the economist outlined several challenges that the Chinese yuan would have to overcome in order to replace the U.S. dollar as “the preferred global currency.” He explained: “You’ve got to allow and encourage people anywhere in the world to hold their wealth with confidence in your currency, and not having any fear that something might happen that they don’t expect. You’ve got to have some significant degree of transparency as well as liquidity. And I’m not sure the CCP is in the position to do that.”
The BRICS nations have been ramping up their de-dollarization efforts, pushing for the use of national currencies in trade settlements. A proposal for a common BRICS currency is expected to be discussed at the economic bloc’s upcoming leaders’ summit. Many believe that a successful BRICS currency will erode the U.S. dollar’s dominance, including former White House economist Joseph Sullivan.
Regarding whether the BRICS will eventually rival the Group of Seven (G7) on the global stage, O’Neill said:
Economically, it already is … Last year’s GDP data shows that collectively they are now, in PPP terms, already bigger than the G7.
“By the end of this decade, China is going to be pretty close to the size of the U.S. while India is going to be close to overtaking Germany. So two of the biggest four economies in the world are two of the BRICS,” he detailed.
Do you agree with Lord Jim O’Neill? Let us know in the comments section below.
Digital Assets Under Management 5.25% Higher in February — Grayscale Still ‘Most Dominant Player’
The value of digital assets under management (AUM) for digital asset investment products in February rose to .3 billion, the highest number recorded since May 2022, according to Cryptocompare stats. The increase came against the background of rising U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions against crypto industry players. Bitcoin and ethereum continue to account for the lion’s share of the digital assets under management.
Highest AUM Since May
The total U.S. dollar value of digital assets under management (AUM) in February rose to .3 billion up from approximately .8 billion recorded in January, the latest Cryptocompare data has shown. The latest total makes this the “highest AUM recorded since May 2022,” the report added.
According to a report released by Cryptocompare, a digital asset data provider, the latest AUM increase “signalled the bullish sentiment of investors and the increased appetite for digital assets.” The increase in the investor’s appetite for digital assets came against the backdrop of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-led crackdown on industry players. The report also noted that the increase came against the background of what it described as “macroeconomic setbacks.”
As has been the case in the past, bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) accounted for the lion’s share of all digital assets under management in February.
“The assets under management (AUM) for Bitcoin and Ethereum-based products saw an increase of 6.06% and 1.72%, respectively, reaching billion and .80 billion. As a result, these products now account for 70.5% and 24.0% of the total AUM market share,” the Cryptocompare report said.
The report also noted that just like BTC and ETH, digital assets that are included in the category of “Other” and “Basket” assets had similarly increased by “14.7% to .16 billion and 2.33% to 3 million, respectively.”
Grayscale Still Rules the Roost
Meanwhile, the Cryptocompare report noted that Grayscale is still the most dominant asset management firm with .8 billion worth of digital assets under management. XBT Provider (.54 billion) and 21Shares (.38 billion) are ranked second and third, respectively.
Concerning the correlation between digital assets investment products and traditional assets, the report noted that this had “recently stabilized and is expected to decrease as innovation fuels interest for digital assets.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Messari Report: USDC Is The Most Dominant Ethereum-Backed Stablecoin
The growth of USDC in 2021 is more tremendous than that of Tether. The Ethereum-based USDC stablecoin is gaining immense traction as the experts deem it as the most dominant asset.
In coming weeks it is very likely USDT’s share of the stablecoin supply on Ethereum will fall below 50% for the first time.
USDC is quickly emerging as the dominant stablecoin on Ethereum in large part due to its growing role in DeFi.
— Ryan Watkins (@RyanWatkins_) June 29, 2021
According to the analytics research, there is now an increase in the demand for USDC due to abrupt popularity in the DeFi ecosystem. Such demand has positioned USD Coin to bag more market shares in the crypto space.
From what Ryan Watkins, a credible researcher, predicted, the stablecoin share for Tether on Ethereum could dip below 50%. In addition, Watkins revealed that more than half of USDC’s total supply is now in smart contracts.
The equivalent value for this USD Coin supply is about .5 billion. According to Messari, CoinMetrics data estimates show that USDC’s stablecoin supply is over 40% on Ethereum.
In his tweet, Watkins said that the next few weeks might not favor USDT’s stablecoin supply on Ethereum. He envisages a dip below 50% for the first time for USDT’s stablecoin supply share.
On the other hand, he sees USD Coin becoming the prepotent Ethereum stablecoin because of its high reputation in the DeFi ecosystem.
Related Reading | VeChain Announces The World’s First National eNFT Adoption, Why It Could Be Huge for VET
More so, Watkins further acknowledges:
“Although this percentage is not as high as DAI, USDC leads by a wide margin in dollar terms and has become the preferred stablecoin in DeFi for now.”
This makes it the most preferred digital asset for staking in DeFi protocols’ smart contracts.
He said that even though USDC’s percentage is still low compared to DAI, it’s ahead with a wide margin in terms of the dollar. This pushes USDC to emerge in the DeFi sector as the preferred stablecoin.
From its 1.3 billion circulating supply, USD Coin made an upward growth of over 1,820% since the beginning of 2021. According to Circle, the coin’s stablecoin supply is currently at 25 billion.
Moreover, a recent report suggests USD Coin will get more exposure once it’s issued on other networks in the near term. A few hours ago, one of the biggest media outlets in the cryptocurrency industry reported that the USD Coin will gain huge attention once it goes live on other networks. The report reads:
“We anticipate that in the coming months USDC will become available on Avalanche, Celo, Flow, Hedera, Kava, Nervos, Polkadot, Stacks, Tezos, and Tron.”
What’s Ahead For Tether (USDT) As USDC Gains Significant Traction
Tether’s transparency report reveals that there are 62.7 billion circulating USDT. This portrays an increase of about 200% since the beginning of 2021.
Currently, only 30.9 billion from the total supply are on the Ethereum network. This value has been experiencing consecutive dipping through the year caused by high network transaction fees.
Related Reading | TA: Ethereum Remains Strong, Why ETH Could Rally Above .3K
According to a researcher, the largest USDC consumers are DeFi lending protocols such as MakerDAO, Aave, and Compound. Their holding is about 23% of the total USD Coin supply.
The researcher explained that while the launching of Compound Treasury still pends, there’s likely to be a continuation in the trend.
Treasury is a new product that will offer institutions 4% interest on USD Coin. This new product will also give initiatives that will revolve around the DeFi API of Circle.
The Circle protocol is a new platform that promotes decentralized finance operations for businesses.
Recall that Clinbase, a U.S. crypto exchange, promised 4% interest on USDC holdings earlier this week. Their action was a spark to the stablecoin.
As the USDC stablecoin's significance grows, the bulls are keeping its price intact | Source: USDCUSD on TradingView.com
While the bears keep the entire DeFi market in the red zone, the USD Coin is thriving and it has claimed the most dominant stablecoin spot.
Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com
Ethereum (ETH) May Be Forecasting 50% Drop Against Dominant BTC
For over two years now, Bitcoin has been outperforming altcoins like Ethereum and others. BTC dominance has continued to climb as a result.
However, Ethereum may be forecasting another 50% drop on the ETHBTC trading pair that could bring dominance back to pre-bubble levels.
ETHBTC Points To Dangerous Ethereum Drop Against Bitcoin
In early 2020, Ethereum vastly outperformed Bitcoin due to surging interest and buzz surrounding decentralized finance.
Talk of the 2020 launch of ETH 2.0 kept bullish momentum high enough for a record-setting nine full weeks of consecutive green candles.
Related Reading | Nearly 2% of the Ethereum Supply is Margin Long on Bitfinex, But Why?
But a doji on monthly price charts for ETHUSD suggest investors are feeling indecisive.
On the ETHBTC trading pair, things look even worse. A long-term channel has formed, as can be seen below in the pitchfork tool.
Pitchforks are broken into four distinct quadrants. The way traders utilize this tool, is by watching for a break or rejection of one of the four quadrants.
For example, if price is rejected from the lowest quadrant, it suggests that a test of one of the upper three quadrants is next.
Ethereum’s top at over 0.15 BTC on the ratio kicked off the pitchfork channel, which then fell through each quadrant, bouncing off the bottom.
Remaining bullish sentiment surrounding altcoins caused a second surge to the top of the tool, which was rejected back into the second-highest zone.
Related Reading | Doji Forming On Ethereum Monthly Hints At Investor Indecision
Since then, Ethereum has been trapped within the two middle quadrants. The altcoin made two more attempts recently to break up into the top quadrant but has been rejected twice now.
As explained earlier, rejection from the middle-top quadrant could lead to retests of the lower two quadrants.
The bottom of the lowest quadrant happens to line up well with untested support from late 2016 and early 2017 before the crypto hype bubble kicked off.
This area could act as the final bottom for ETHBTC before the smart contract-focused altcoin finally plays catch up against the first-ever cryptocurrency.
This represents another over 50% drop from current levels at 0.0225 on the ratio, to as low as 0.0075.
By comparison, Bitcoin remains down slightly over 50% from its all-time high, while Ethereum is down by 85%.
At the height of the crypto bubble, the ICO boom drove Ethereum prices to as high as ,400 per ETH token. To revisit such highs, the top altcoin would require an over 550% return on investment to make a full recovery.
Some crypto analysts claim that Ethereum and other altcoins may never revisit all-time highs, even if Bitcoin reaches prices of 0,000 per BTC in the future.
The math adds up. If Ethereum does indeed fall to that level on the ratio, and Bitcoin did reach levels of 0,000 per BTC at the same time, each ETH token would be priced at 0. This would still represent an over 300% climb for the second-ranked crypto asset.
NewsBTC
Neither Dominant Nor Defeated, EOS Still a Work in Progress
n A trillion-dollar transaction glitch shows how far EOS still has to go to make a real impactn
CryptScout #BitFeed RSS – Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency News 24/7