Crypto

Institutional investment giant Grayscale is reportedly considering converting its Bitcoin Trust into a physically settled exchange-traded fund (ETF). On Oct. 17, Barry Silbert, the CEO of Grayscale’s parent company Digital Currency Group, hinted that Grayscale is making plans to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot-settled Bitcoin fund. After having taken to Twitter to criticize the cash-settled Bitcoin futures ETF recently approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bitcoin commentator Preston Pysh chimed in to ask Silbert when Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust would be converted into a BTC-settled ETF. “Stay tuned,” Silbert responded. stay tuned — Barry Silbert (@BarrySilbert) October 17, 2021 However, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust investors appear to have been unsettled by Silbert...

Bitcoin (BTC) simply refuses to die this week as a dip below $60,000 barely lasts an hour and bears are burned yet again. After a fairly calm weekend, Sunday saw a typical drawdown before a dramatic resurgence took place for BTC/USD just an hour later. With that, Bitcoin has preserved not only its bullish trajectory but has also sealed its highest weekly close ever — around $61,500. As the market braces for a possible start of trading for the United States’ first Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), volatility is all but guaranteed, say analysts. Cointelegraph takes a look at five things to consider in the week that BTC/USD squares up to all-time highs and institutional access takes a historic leap forward. Bitcoin gives less than an hour to “buy the dip” Just when it seemed that the run ...

The New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has been asked by a group of local businesses to deny permits for converting the city’s old fossil-fuel power plants into crypto mining centers. The request comes in the form of a letter cosigned by a number of organizations, businesses and labor groups. The letter calls for an environmental assessment for Proof-of-Work cryptocurrency mining in NYS while urging Governor Hochul to deny permits to convert the Greenidge Generating Station and the Fortistar North Tonawanda power plants into crypto mining facilities: “Proof-of-Work cryptocurrency mining use enormous amounts of energy to power the computers needed to conduct business – should this activity expand in New York, it could drastically undermine New York’s climate goals established under the Cl...

Gaming platforms are choosing sides on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) within their respective ecosystems.  Following reports of Valve banning crypto and NFT-related games on Steam, its primary competitor, Epic Games Store showed a welcoming attitude for blockchain developers and the use of crypto in video games. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that the Epic Games Store would enable games using blockchain technology as long as the developers abide by the relevant laws and disclose their terms. The games need to be age-rated by an appropriate group, Sweeney wrote, adding: “Though Epic’s not using crypto in our games, we welcome innovation in the areas of technology and finance.” Sweeney told The Verge that when it comes to the use of NFTs in video games, Epic...

El Salvador’s mainstream Bitcoin (BTC) adoption is gaining momentum during the ongoing bull run as citizens are increasingly exchanging their U.S. dollar savings for BTC.  President Nayib Bukele shared this new development on Twitter, based on data acquired from El Salvador’s in-house wallet service, Chivo. Bukele said: “People are inserting way more USD (to buy #BTC) than what they are withdrawing from the Chivo ATMs.” He also urged media outlets to independently confirm the above information by visiting the ATMs. President Bukele further stated that Chivo has reported 24,076 remittance requests, “adding up to $3,069,761.05 in one day.” 2 new Chivo Facts: 1. People are inserting way more USD (to buy #BTC) than what they are withdrawing from the Chivo ATMs (any media outlet can indepe...

In the past few weeks, Centric Swap (CNS), a dual-token model that gives stakers a fixed hourly yield that “stabilizes over time as it self-regulates token supply to meet ongoing changes in demand,” has rallied more than 850% and still about 200% away from its previous all-time high. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low of $0.000104 on Sept. 9, the price of CNS has skyrocketed 1,130% to a daily high at $0.0017659 on Oct. 15 as its 24-hour trading volume spiked 130% to $6.4 million. CNS/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Three reasons for the rapid rise in CNS price include the expansion of the project’s ecosystem through partnerships, a $1 billion injection by Binance into the DeFi ecosystem on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and the promise ...

Central banks and key leaders are increasingly raising further alarms for rising inflation, causing spirals of doubt across the world. Just recently, United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for Congress to either raise or suspend the U.S. debt ceiling, stating that the government will run out of money to pay its bills by October. What seems to sound more like a horror film of the future is merely the front news of global financial publications at the moment. Yellen stated that the overwhelming consensus among economists and Treasury officials of both parties is that failing to raise the debt limit would produce widespread economic catastrophe, “potentially precipitating historical financial crises, stock sell-off and recession, creating severe market volatility.” The valu...

On Oct. 15, news that a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) could start trading as early as next week sent Bitcoin price to $62,933 but the rally has cooled off since then. Some market participants believe that traders who bought the rumor of approval for a Bitcoin ETF product may sell on the news. Crypto trading firm QCP Capital said in an update that the approval of futures-based ETFs is unlikely to provide a long-term boost for Bitcoin prices similar to the one seen in the fourth quarter of 2020. While high volatility cannot be ruled out in the near term, investors should focus on the major trend and not get caught in minor corrections that are part of the path to new all-time highs. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 According to Foxbit founder João Canhada, his daught...

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and we throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Yat Siu, the co-founder, group executive chairman and managing director of Animoca Brands, who leads various NFT projects. A veteran technology entrepreneur and investor, Yat is the co-founder, group executive chairman and managing director of Animoca Brands — a global leader in blockchain and gaming with the mission to deliver digital property rights to the world’s gamers and internet users. Animoca seeks to create a new asset class, play-to-earn economies and a more equitable digital framework contributing to the building of the open Metaverse. Yat began his career at Atari Germany in 1990. In...

Ethereum is an open-source blockchain-based software platform with thousands of decentralized applications (DApps) that powers its native cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), that can be sent and received globally without any third-party interference. First conceptualized in 2013 by Russian-Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum was designed as a platform for self-executing, permanent and immutable DApps with use cases varying from finance to gaming and art. DApps are often referred to as smart contracts which are Ethereum transaction protocols that automatically carry out certain functions and actions like transaction processing with predetermined conditions and agreements. Sending a transaction, canceling it, or resolving a pending Ethereum transaction are actions related to the functioni...

The road to the adoption of blockchain and crypto in the marketing industry is a long and winding road. But make no mistake about it: Transformation is well on its way and the road will soon turn to a highway. As someone who has been a creative director, agency owner/partner, strategic planner, chief marketing officer for fintech startups and an entrepreneur, I’ve seen the marketing industry from multiple vantage points. What’s common in marketing revolutions? And while every so-called “marketing revolution” takes a somewhat different path, there are many commonalities. First of all, marketing agencies will get ahead of the curve as a way to exhibit their competitive advantage and value to their clients. But a majority of brand marketers will move more slowly: They have the challenge of “s...

Bitcoin (BTC) market’s tendency to crash by over 80% after logging strong bull runs might come to an end. That is according to a new report published by California-based hedge fund Pantera Capital. In detail, the report notes that the recent periods of BTC price drops have been less severe than in the past. For instance, in 2013-15 and 2017-18, Bitcoin crashed by as much as 83% after topping out near $1,111 and $20,089, respectively. Similarly, the cryptocurrency’s bull run in 2019-20 and 2020-2021 led to massive price corrections. Nevertheless, the scales of their retracements afterward were -61% and -54%, respectively. Bitcoin bull and bear markets across the history. Source: Pantera Capital Dan Morehead, the chief executive at Pantera Capital, highlighted the consistent drop...