crypto blog
Ex-Fed vice-chair Quarles has lost none of his fervor in opposing US CBDC
Former United States Federal Reserve vice-chair for supervision Randal Quarles discussed central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and the chances of the U.S. adopting such technology in an interview on the “Banking With Interest” podcast Tuesday. Quarles, who is known for his opposition to a CBDC, expressed his skepticism about the so-called digital dollar and predicted the U.S. will not introduce it. Quarles, who served at the Fed from 2017 to 2021, said a close analysis of CBDCs would show that their advantages are “extremely marginal, if they exist at all.” He did not see the potential for CBDCs in promoting financial inclusion, commenting: “You’re going to need an account at the bank, the way you need to use money now, and in addition […] a cellphone and wireless a...
Ex-Fed vice-chair Quarles has lost none of his fervor in opposing US CBDC
Former United States Federal Reserve vice-chair for supervision Randal Quarles discussed central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and the chances of the U.S. adopting such technology in an interview on the “Banking With Interest” podcast Tuesday. Quarles, who is known for his opposition to a CBDC, expressed his skepticism about the so-called digital dollar and predicted the U.S. will not introduce it. Quarles, who served at the Fed from 2017 to 2021, said a close analysis of CBDCs would show that their advantages are “extremely marginal, if they exist at all.” He did not see the potential for CBDCs in promoting financial inclusion, commenting: “You’re going to need an account at the bank, the way you need to use money now, and in addition […] a cellphone and wireless a...
MicroStrategy may explore ‘future yield generation opportunities’ on 95,643 BTC holdings
Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy said it will consider opportunities for yield generation on 95,643 “unencumbered” Bitcoin (BTC) held by its subsidiary MacroStrategy. In MicroStrategy’s report for the first quarter of 2022 released on Tuesday, the firm said it “may conservatively explore future yield generation opportunities on unencumbered MacroStrategy bitcoins” as a consideration following a $205 million BTC-collateralized loan issued by Silvergate Bank in March. As of March 31, MicroStrategy held a total of 129,218 BTC, which the firm reported had a carrying value of roughly $2.9 billion, reflecting cumulative impairment losses of more than $1 billion and an aggregate cost of $4 billion. “The original cost basis and market value of MicroStrategy’s bitcoin were $3.967 billion an...
MicroStrategy may explore ‘future yield generation opportunities’ on 95,643 BTC holdings
Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy said it will consider opportunities for yield generation on 95,643 “unencumbered” Bitcoin (BTC) held by its subsidiary MacroStrategy. In MicroStrategy’s report for the first quarter of 2022 released on Tuesday, the firm said it “may conservatively explore future yield generation opportunities on unencumbered MacroStrategy bitcoins” as a consideration following a $205 million BTC-collateralized loan issued by Silvergate Bank in March. As of March 31, MicroStrategy held a total of 129,218 BTC, which the firm reported had a carrying value of roughly $2.9 billion, reflecting cumulative impairment losses of more than $1 billion and an aggregate cost of $4 billion. “The original cost basis and market value of MicroStrategy’s bitcoin were $3.967 billion an...
The birth of ‘Ethereum killers’: Can they take Ethereum’s throne?
Ethereum has proven to be a formidable force. While its major issues have spawned other coins aimed at addressing them, Ethereum looks to shed its old skin with the release of Ethereum 2.0. Despite the fact that Ethereum was created six years after Bitcoin (BTC) and the introduction of blockchain technology, the digital asset Ether (ETH) has grown to be the second most valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, surpassing coins such as Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Dash (DASH) and Monero (XMR), which were launched before it. The technology behind the Ethereum blockchain is the primary reason for its meteoric rise. Vitalik Buterin, the Canadian-Russian programmer and co-founder of Ethereum, explained to Business Insider that the Ethereum blockchain is intended to address Bit...
Blockchain games take on the mainstream: Here’s how they can win
Gaming is now one of the most profitable sectors of the entertainment industry, with consumer spending in the United States growing 8% in 2021 to top $60.4 billion in revenue. Worldwide, the games market generated an estimated $180.3 billion in 2021, up 1.4%. Within that segment are the hugely popular play-to-earn blockchain-based games, which are growing at an even faster pace given their virtual standstill some two years ago. But are blockchain games good enough to compete with more mainstream titles? In its 2021 annual report, The Blockchain Game Alliance says that NFT games generated $2.32 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2021, or 22% of all NFT trading volume. Making the most waves was Axie Infinity — with its much-publicized popularity in the Philippines during COVID-19 loc...
Bitcoin nervously awaits Fed as Paul Tudor Jones says ‘clearly don’t own’ stocks, bonds
Bitcoin (BTC) kept investors guessing on May 3 as markets awaited May 4’s Federal Reserve comments. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Tudor Jones says “no thanks” to stocks, bonds Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hovering just above $38,000 at May 3’s Wall Street open. The pair had stayed practically static over 24 hours to the time of writing as volatility in stocks dictated the mood. Amid multiple calls for a “capitulation” style event to hit both crypto and TradFi markets, there was an eerie sense of calm leading up to the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting, with news on U.S. rate hikes to follow. Everyone is waiting for Jerome Powell to come up tomorrow to have a speech...
Crypto Bahamas: Regulations enter critical stage as gov’t shows interest
The crypto community and Wall Street converged last week in Nassau, Bahamas, to discuss the future of digital assets during SALT’s Crypto Bahamas conference. The SkyBridge Alternatives Conference (SALT) was also co-hosted this year by FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange. Anthony Scaramucci, founder of the hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, kicked off Crypto Bahamas with a press conference explaining that the goal behind the event was to merge the traditional financial world with the crypto community: “Crypto Bahamas combines the crypto native FTX audience with the SkyBridge asset management firm audience. We are bringing these two worlds together to create a more equitable financial system.” Traditional finance eyes crypto as regulations take shape The combination of traditional ...
YGG SEA to conduct SEA Token IDO public sale on Copper between May 9th and 14th
Yield Guild Games Southeast Asia (YGG SEA), a sub-decentralized autonomous organization (subDAO) of the Philippines-based blockchain gaming startup Yield Guild Games (YGG), has announced that it plans to conduct an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) public sale between May 9th and May 14th. The IDO shall be conducted on the Copper Launchpad and shall start at 15:00 UTC on May 9. A total of 75 million SEA tokens will be up for grabs during the IDO public sale, which is 7.5% of the total supply of SEA tokens, which stands at one billion tokens. The starting price of SEA during the IDO will be $0.50. Commenting about the IDO, the YGG SEA Co-founder, Irene Umar, said: “The IDO is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to appreciate our community’s unconditional support. We are where we are because of the co...
Weekly Report: New York resolute on blocking PoW mining
Planned launch of EFT Securities and Cosmos ETPs delayed Volt Capital’s Imran Khan predicts DAOs will touch $1 trillion in AUM by 2032 New York is closer to endorsing a two-year moratorium on PoW mining Ethereum layer two Optimism seeks to embrace governance structure EPL Club Liverpool reportedly eyeing a crypto shirt sponsor Launch of three crypto ETFs in Australia dealt with a delay Last week, three exchange-traded funds and the first of their kind in Australia were scheduled to list on the Cboe Australia. However, hours before going live on April 27, the securities and derivatives exchange said that products would be delayed pending prior checks. Cboe Australia held back in detailing the delay, only promising an update in the coming days. According to a report by the Australi...
Monthly Report: The Central Africa Republic follows El Salvador’s footsteps in Bitcoin adoption
Kraken exchange offers traders the first Dirham trading pairs following the recent UAE licensing Central Africa Republic follows El Salvador in adopting a Bitcoin as legal tender Fort Worth, Texas, to become the first city mining cryptocurrency. Cuba is issuing licenses to persons/organisations that want to operate digital assets Deus Finance suffers another flash loan exploit in less than two months, this time losing more than $13.4 million. Here are last month’s top headlines across the crypto regulation, adoption, mining and crime verticals Kraken approved to operate in UAE as Bybit launches crypto options trading Following the wave of licensing of crypto entities in the Middle East, Kraken revealed on April 26 that it had been approved by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to oper...
Weiss Ratings issues warning over crypto mortgage risks
Florida-based ratings and research firm Weiss Ratings has fired out a warning over the risks of crypto mortgages amid the current economic climate in the United States. The company paid particular focus to Milo, a digital banking startup from Miami that offers 30-year mortgages backed by Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or stablecoins as collateral. The firm requires zero down payments, and its loan rates vary between 3.95% and 5.95%. In the May 3 report, Weiss analyst Jon D. Markman urged caution with such mortgages, citing the poor performance of stocks and crypto this year, a U.S. housing bubble, rising interest rates, and the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy changes. “The product seems to be like a win-win, assuming real estate and crypto prices keep rising … except there ar...
