Business

This year, a great crypto cycle has played out with new all-time highs, euphoria and mainstream media paying lip service to the crypto trend du jour. However, the uncomfortable truth for us in the industry is that crypto is no more present in most people’s daily lives than it was in 2017. Four years have passed — what stalled its progress? 2017 marked my first professional foray into the blockchain space when I joined Crypto.com (then known as Monaco) as its first chief marketing officer. The company grew to become one of the largest crypto service providers and fiat-to-crypto gateways in the world. During that time, the crypto space changed. Payments are much less of a focus and many of the projects aimed at crypto adoption have been sidelined. Decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible...

American finserv Square will soon begin investigating technical requirements for building an open-source Bitcoin (BTC) mining system, according to CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey shared a series of tweets explaining his intent to follow a collaborative approach in further decentralizing Bitcoin mining. He said: “Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide. The more decentralized this is, the more resilient the Bitcoin network becomes.” Dorsey believes that further decentralizing the Bitcoin network will be critical for securely settling the transactions “well after the last bitcoin is mined.” Moreover, Square’s system aims to deliver energy-efficient mining solutions by innovation in silicon, software, and ...

Bakkt Holdings, the digital assets management arm of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has announced to soon become a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange from Oct. 18.  The public listing for Bakkt ticker comes as a result of a merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, a Chicago-based special purpose acquisition company. According to an official statement, a shareholders meeting regarding the merger saw approximately 85.1% approval for the business combination: “Upon closing, the combined company’s Class A common stock and warrants are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbols “BKKT” and “BKKT WS” respectively” Additionally, the business combination resulted in gross proceeds of approximately $448 million to Bakkt, ...

Bitcoin (BTC) saw some rare calm on Oct. 16 as the market continued to digest the approval of the United States’ first exchange-traded funds (ETFs). BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Lack of faith over non-futures ETF approvals Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD circling $61,500 on Saturday, still up by 4% in 24 hours.  The pair had hit $62,940 hours after the Wall Street open on Friday as news hit that regulators had green-lit two ETF applications after years of failed applications. These ETFs will have CME Bitcoin futures as the underlying asset, rather than Bitcoin itself, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set to begin deciding the fate of “physical” ETFs next month. Futures-based ETFs ...

The rapid growth of mainstream attention toward cryptocurrencies has forced the hands of numerous governments to create their digital alternatives. Over the past few years, interest from various jurisdictions has been pointed towards central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) — digital versions of government-issued fiat. Given their capacity to use blockchain technology to facilitate a simplified fiscal policy — not to mention calibrate privacy features and even provide cross-border banking services to the unbanked — CBDCs continue to gain even more attention from various governments worldwide. Already, surveys show more than 80% of central banks are researching CBDCs, with some working on proofs of concept that could eventually lead to the introduction of fully functional CBDCs. Out of the s...

Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, have been a revolutionary force in the crypto, arts and sports industries, not only because of the financial liberation successful projects offer to creators but also their ability to bring art lovers closer to creators and bring athletes closer to their fans.  Prior to 2021 — and a few blockbuster sales from Beeple — NFT-based art was relatively obscure. And while OpenSea was in existence, the massive trading volumes seen in the last six months were unimaginable. The success of Dapper Labs’ NBA TopShot NFTs proved that digital collectibles have wide-ranging appeal, and to date, more than $780 million in collectibles have been bought and sold on the platform. In late September, Dapper Labs raised an additional $250 million in funding, validating the fact t...

Optimism is bordering euphoria in the cryptocurrency market after a trove of documents pointed toward the eventual approval of Valkyrie’s Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, or ETF, application by the United States Securities Exchange Commission before the end of the month.  Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that price action for BTC spiked in the early trading hours on Friday, with bulls managing to rally to an intraday high at $61,880, marking the first time BTC has surpassed $60,000 since April. BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView Here’s what traders and analysts are saying about what comes next for Bitcoin now that its price is back above $60,000 and the long-awaited Bitcoin ETF looks ready to become a reality. On the precipice of a massive break...

Non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift has burned hundreds of themed collectible “cards” from the blockchain-based mobile game Spells of Genesis. The team said that the remaining cards in its possession will be placed under the control of its new decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, and unlocked in limited tranches over the coming two years.  According to on-chain data, parties including ShapeShift have burned at least 817 of the digital cards titled “ShapeShift the Wanderer” — originally minted in June 2015. This news followed an Oct. 12 announcement that the exchange intended to destroy 649 cards to make those in circulation “among the most rare [Spells of Genesis] cards in existence and among the oldest NFTs in existence.” Other parties appear to have burne...

Bitcoin (BTC) rose within a few steps of $63,000 today for the first time since April 18. The recent surge in the price may have been caused after various documents pointed to the eventual approval of a futures-based BTC ETF by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. According to these documents, the regulator may be close to green lighting the application to list Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund ETF for listing on Nasdaq.  Analysts pointed out that gold’s price had risen sharply leading up to the launch of the first U.S.-based gold ETF in 2004. Thereafter, the rally continued and gold’s price rose more than 300% since the ETF was approved, before forming a major top. The similarity between gold and Bitcoin being stores of value appear to have genera...

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, is expected to rule on Oct. 18 whether to approve an application from asset manager ProShare Capital Management for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).  As previously reported by Cointelegraph, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler recently suggested that the regulator is more inclined to approve indirect-exposure Bitcoin futures ETFs under the Investment Company Act of 1940. On Oct.15, the Nasdaq Stock Market certified the registration of Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF shares for listing. The deadline for the SEC to officially approve Valkyrie’s ETF application is Oct. 25, but this could be extended to Dec. 8. $70,000 call options see their implied probability hit 25% Two weeks ago, it would have been a daunting task to...