Crypto

Digital wallets are software constructs that mimic physical wallets and provide the functionality of storing, using and categorizing payment instruments. The journey of digital wallets started with payments and morphed to other forms of stubs such as digital passes, tickets and boarding passes. However, crypto wallets attempt to redefine the digital wallet landscape as something more than safe storage of payment and crypto instruments.  With more than 100 crypto wallets and growing, this sector in the cryptosphere is getting crowded and adding further complexity to an already fragmented blockchain and digital asset space. As I study this space and try to make sense of the complexity of new blockchains, layer-one protocols decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) projec...

On Aug. 27, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank will start tapering its $120 billion monthly bond purchases by the end of the year, but the interest rate hikes would have to wait until the job market and inflation pass a more stringent test. In response to the speech, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) fell, the S&P 500 index rose to a new all-time high, and Bitcoin (BTC) surged about $1,500 in under an hour. This showed that market participants viewed the speech as “dovish.” Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 Bitcoin’s uncertainty near the $50,000 mark has analysts divided about its short-term directional move. Analyst Ryan Clark believes the current consolidation in Bitcoin is similar to the one seen below $24,000 before the breakout in Decem...

Enterprise adoption of blockchain technology is an important long-term goal of the cryptocurrency community because the integration of digital currencies with daily business activities will bring new users into the ecosystem and provide a boost to on-chain activity. One protocol that has been gaining traction on the enterprise adoption front is XinFin Network (XDC), an enterprise-ready hybrid blockchain solution specifically designed to optimize international trade and finance. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $0.0673 on July 20, the price of XDC rallied 190% to establish a new all-time high at $0.1952 on Aug. 21. XDC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Three reasons for the growing momentum behind XinFin are the addition of the XDC N...

The run-up in the Bitcoin (BTC) price toward $50,000 last week risks exhaustion due to a mismatch between the cryptocurrency’s price and momentum trends. So it appears the Bitcoin’s price and relative strength index (RSI) have been moving in the opposite direction since late July. In doing so, even a strong push higher in the BTC/USD bids has coincided with lower peaks in momentum, suggesting that the pair’s upside momentum is weakening out. Bearish divergence A normal RSI momentum tends to tail the price action. That said, it rises when the price rises and falls when the price drops. But in some cases, the RSI deviates from pursuing the price trends, leading to a so-called RSI divergence. Technical analysts consider RSI divergence as a powerful signal to spot price rever...

On August 10, the United States Senate voted to pass a $1 trillion bill to revitalize America’s infrastructure. From the standpoint of the crypto community, miners in particular, the Senate’s foray into crypto legislation has been a disaster. Unless the language defining brokers in the bill is clarified, it will singlehandedly thwart the growth of a domestic industry just as it is taking off. As written, the bill allows for multiple interpretations of the term “broker.” In the English language, there is no real controversy — or ambiguity — about what a broker does. According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, a broker is “one who acts as an intermediary: such as […] an agent who negotiates contracts of purchase and sale (as of real estate, commodities, or securities).” In traditional ...

Visa’s splash into the NFT market was driven by an evaluation of the underlying technology and its ability to serve as a “promising medium for fan engagement,” according to a recent whitepaper published by the global payments giant.  The Aug. 23 publication described nonfungible tokens as an important innovation during the pandemic, where strict shelter-in-place orders limited live sports, entertainment and music festivals. At the same time, NFTs are emerging at a time when fans are eager to join digital communities centered around their favorite artists or sports teams. Professional sports were hit especially hard by the pandemic, with an estimated $18 billion in lost revenue across major leagues worldwide. According to Visa, this further drives the “need to diversify revenue and foc...

The heavy selling in the U.S. dollar market at the end of last week assisted Bitcoin (BTC) to climb above $49,000. However, BTC struggled to extend its climb above $50,000, a psychological resistance level, as investors remained cautious about the Federal Reserve’s taper timing.  Bitcoin corrects after logging its week-to-date high of $49,667. Source: TradingView.com In detail, the Fed chairman Jerome Powell delivered a mildly dovish outlook during his speech on Friday at the annual Jackson Hole symposium. At one point, he refrained from providing hints regarding when the Fed would start unwinding its $120 billion a month asset purchasing program. Powell noted that they would begin tapering sometime by the end of 2021, albeit admitting that the fast-spreading Delta variant of th...

The latest news has left the decentralized finance community in a collective fetal position. Responding to the threat of increased regulatory oversight, leading decentralized exchange Uniswap recently restricted the trading of certain tokens. Earlier in July, Dan M. Berkovitz, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that DeFi derivatives platforms might contravene the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA): “Not only do I think that unlicensed DeFi markets for derivative instruments are a bad idea, but I also do not see how they are legal under the CEA.” Most worrisome of all is the initial version of the United States Senate’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which would create impossible tax compliance requirements for crypto firms. Related: Senate infrastructure bill isn...

Bitcoin (BTC) could surge to $100,000 or bottom out at $30,000 by Christmas — but one of its best-known analysts is betting on the moon. In a Twitter update on Thursday, PlanB, creator of the stock-to-flow family of BTC price models, cast fresh doubt on a Bitcoin bear move. PlanB focuses on “key” remaining months With BTC/USD trading at $47,000 this week, PlanB has a lot to be confident about. His recent prediction of a minimum monthly close for August exactly matches current prices — and if the remaining four are just as accurate, Bitcoin could end 2021 at $135,000. Stock-to-flow’s first incarnation demands an average BTC price of $100,000 this halving cycle, but May’s about-turn gave its time-tested precision a run for its money. PlanB has nonetheless stuck by it, arguing that it has not...

Bitcoin (BTC) gained almost $1,500 in under an hour on Aug. 26 after an “uber dovish” speech by Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView BTC price action charges upwards Speaking at the virtual Jackson Hole annual symposium, Powell hinted that the Fed would begin to reduce its asset purchases in place since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. A long-awaited signal, the move, referred to as “tapering,” may come this year, but Powell did not give a firm deadline for it to begin. “Even after our asset purchases end, our elevated holdings of longer-term securities will continue to support accommodative financial conditions,” he said. “The timing and pace of financial reduction of asset purchas...

“One of the greatest tragedies in life,” according to author K. L. Toth, “is to lose your own sense of self and accept the version of you that is expected by everyone else.” For the people of Afghanistan — almost 40 million of them — the loss of self, as well as the loss of life, has become a brutal reality. With the Taliban in control, chaos now reigns supreme. As businesses shut down, tens of thousands of people are desperately trying to flee the country. Moreover, as the political system collapses, so too does the financial one. As CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos recently noted, Afghanistan is “a country running on legacy financial rails.” This painful reckoning, 20 years in the making, has resulted in a “nationwide cash shortage,” as well as “closed borders, a plunging currency, and rapidly r...

Solana (SOL) prices printed another milestone of nearly $85 high on Aug. 27 as traders assessed a flurry of optimistic fundamentals, including Solana’s potential foray into Wall Street. On Aug. 24, digital asset management firm Osprey Funds registered a first-of-its-kind Solana fund with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In doing so, the New York firm hinted at giving institutional exposure to SOL markets as the token’s value surged by more than 4,300% in 2021.  A day later, real-time data feeder Pyth Network announced that it is going live on Solana’s proof-of-stake blockchain. The firm provides “high-fidelity streaming data” from trading firms and exchanges, which allows it to cover global market activity without depending on any single...