Business

People have talked in glowing tones about the transformative properties of blockchain since Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin (BTC) back in 2009 — books have been written, thousands of panels and presentations have complemented its prospects, costumed Bitcoin maximalists have flaunted their newfound wealth. Despite these commendations, the transformation has been slow. However, whether the delay was due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, or just the time needed to create innovation, we are now on the cusp of change that is creating new economies and ways of human interaction. The Metaverse, with the powerful combination of game theory and blockchain, is creating tokenized incentivisation in virtual worlds. Decentraland has already started to revolutionize people’s lives and interaction, and ...

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 Lyn Alden Schwartzer, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, which provides an investment research service for both retail and institutional investors. Lyn Alden began her career in engineering. After working in the automation industry as an intern, she graduated from college and started as a junior electronics engineer for an aviation simulation facility. Over the course of a decade, Lyn Alden worked her way up to become the head engineer of the facility, overseeing its project teams, contract staff and technical finances.  On the side, Lyn Alden also had a small investment research bus...

Visa got itself a fancy new Twitter avatar this August, and even though it didn’t stay up for long, the 8-bit-styled picture of a visibly unamused woman with a stylish mohawk still made dozens of headlines. It was not just about the relatively hefty price tag of $150,000. The mere fact that the financial giant bought a nonfungible token (NFT) representing the image from the CryptoPunks collection set off fireworks in the media. It was the best marketing spend Visa’s done all year — the ROI on news articles alone must have paid for the purchase tenfold. Yes, even Visa “apes in” on NFTs these days, to use an expression NFT collectors drop a lot in the era of the wealthy pouring millions into JPEGs of apes. But even though the technology’s journey from memes to riches has taken it into the di...

Enterprise blockchain started to take shape in 2016, a time when companies like IBM began to leverage private networks for supply chain management. It was also during 2016 that author Don Tapscott wrote and published Blockchain Revolution, a book that examines the way that blockchain will transform a number of industries. Following the release of Blockchain Revolution, Tapscott — who is also co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute — published Supply Chain Revolution in August 2020. Given the timing of the book’s publication, Supply Chain Revolution detailed the way the COVID-19 pandemic exposed glitches throughout supply chains across the world, further explaining how blockchain could be used to solve these challenges. Almost a year after the release of Supply Chain Revolution, Tap...

Bitcoin (BTC) shed almost $5,000 in a single day on Nov. 26 as bulls faced fresh disappointment. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Bitcoin targets $54,000 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it headed toward $54,000 at the time of writing amid intense volatility. Holders saw major selling pressure after coming within inches of $60,000 late Thursday, the latest attempt to beat resistance nonetheless ending in retreat. Hours later, Bitcoin was back at its lowest since mid-October, and firmly vindicating those who assumed that the current break from bullish upside was not yet over. “Not quite there but hopefully soon,” analyst Willy Woo said about one indicator hinting at an incoming — but not immediate — return to form. Crypt...

While Bitcoin’s (BTC) position as a viable hedge against fiat inflation continues to attract investors, new data reflects a change in sentiment as Ethereum (ETH) and other cryptocurrency products pick up steam against falling Bitcoin assets under management (AUM). The Bitcoin AUM market fell 9.5% to $48.7 billion in November, marking the year’s largest month-on-month pullback since July, according to a CryptoCompare report. On the other hand, altcoin-based crypto funds such as ETH saw their AUM rise 5.4% to $16.6 billion. Monthly AUM of aggregated products. Source – CryptoCompare As shown in the above graph, the total AUM across all digital asset investment products has fallen 5.5% to $70.0 billion, which coincides with the ongoing bear market ever since Bitcoin achieved an all-time ...

On Oct. 19, 2021, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) launched on the New York Stock Exchange. On its first day, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) saw an influx of close to $1 billion in natural volume and, within 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) itself would reach a new all-time high for its price in U.S. dollars. This comes a week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allowed the ETF’s application to expire, which effectively gave the okay for the product to move ahead.  This marks a significant step for the United States, but has also sent ripples into other markets globally. If BITO continues to be as well received as its first day would imply, then it is likely more and more will want to follow suit. The ETF offers exposure to derivatives from Bitcoin futures contracts, not...

Bitcoin (BTC) hovered around $54,000 on Nov. 28 as the upcoming weekly close showed signs of hitting two-month lows. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Buyers keen at $53,000 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed a quiet 24 hours for BTC/USD after Friday’s $6,000 red candle. Although quiet into Sunday, the pair nonetheless dipped below a major zone of support on weekly timeframes, opening up the potential for its lowest end-of-week levels since late September. For trader and analyst Rekt Capital, $55,800 should be reclaimed to reverse this, something which could still “easily” occur. Here’s #BTC on the Weekly timeframe Now dipping below the green demand area$BTC could still easily Weekly Close above the green box ...

Bitcoin (BTC) may be down 20% from all-time highs, but this is a golden opportunity to “buy the dip,” analysts argue. Black Friday is living up to its name in crypto this year as both Bitcoin and many altcoins are trading at their lowest in six weeks. Misgivings over $53,000 floor After an overnight sell-off sparked by a declining United States dollar and macro markets rattled by a new coronavirus variant, BTC/USD is trading near $54,000. As mainstream media highlight the fall, others are far from concerned, however — current prices arguably offer a golden entry opportunity. #BTC Black Friday deal pic.twitter.com/TqTcQEzfqG — Material Scientist (@Mtrl_Scientist) November 26, 2021 Others poked fun at a knee-jerk article from Bloomberg in which the publication initially declared that Bitcoin...

Ethan Lou is a journalist turned Bitcoin miner turned two-time author whose latest book, Once a Bitcoin Miner: Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West, is a modern western recount a gloomy millennial’s rebirth in the wild west of crypto — complete with scammers, party drugs and a North Korean crypto conference. “Want to go to a crypto conference in North Korea in April?” is not a common question, but was asked of me by Lou in early 2019. The Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference, attended by about 100 people, is the big attraction in Lou’s book. This is because eight months after the event, in November 2019, Virgil Griffith, who worked with the Ethereum Foundation and who was among the attendees Lou got to know, was arrested by the FBI for breaking sanctions and il...

Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are certificates of ownership representing digital artwork, music, videos, audio, memorabilia and more. They have rapidly gained in popularity over the past year for their ability to enable everyday artists to create and sell content. In fact, OpenSea, the world’s biggest NFT marketplace, recently surpassed $1.6 billion in monthly trading volume alone.  Like physical artwork, NFTs can also be auctioned for charity purposes or donated to nonprofit groups with generous tax deductions. From funding the construction of a school in Uganda to helping frontline healthcare workers, nonprofit NFT drops can play a decisive role in making a positive difference in society. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Lisa Slominski and Nick Dehadray, co-founders...

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Axie Infinity virtual land slot sells out for 550 ETH A plot of virtual land in the widely popular monster-battling NFT game Axie Infinity sold for 550 Ether (ETH) this week, with the sum worth more than $2.2 million at the time of writing.  The piece of virtual land was purchased on Thursday and is classified as Genesis, the rarest form of virtual real estate available in the Axie Infinity ecosystem. The game enables players to use Pokémon-like Axie monster NFTs to battle other players or complete challe...