Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Senator to launch Financial Innovation Caucus to educate lawmakers on crypto

Senator Cynthia Lummis, the first senator in the history of the United States to own Bitcoin, has revealed plans to launch a Financial Innovation Caucus to educate her fellow senators on cryptocurrency and digital assets.　　Appearing on Anthony Pomplianos podcast on Feb. 2, Lummis announced her intention to establish the caucus, stating:　　“We hope to use it as a springboard to educate members of the U.S. Senate and their staff about Bitcoin specifically, but about other opportunities for cryptocurrency and financial innovation and blockchain.”　　Lummis stated the caucus will first work to fight the false narrative about digital assets and crypto being used for money laundering, noting that research from blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis indicates “cryptocurrency-related crime is smaller than criminal activity with cash.”　　Lummis noted she recently spoke with treasury secretary Janet Yellen — whose recent comments regarding the use of crypto in illicit financing caused concerns regarding an incoming regulatory crackdown to reverberate across the crypto-sphere.　　Lummis sought to quell the crypto communitys concerns about Yellen, describing the treasury secretary as having “an open mind” about crypto. However, the senator stated: “Its going to take a lot of work to get to where we can have an open dialogue that is free from

2021-02-02Deep Dive

CryptoQuant CEO says Coinbase Bitcoin outflows are a ‘bullish signal’

The CEO of CryptoQuant says a recent 15,200 BTC outflow at Coinbase is a sign that institutions are accumulating for the next Bitcoin bull break.　　Recent Bitcoin (BTC) outflows from Coinbase are reminiscent of the “proof-of-keys” days and could be a sign of a bullish future, according to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju.　　Data from the cryptocurrency analysis firm shows that more than 15,200 BTC, currently worth over $515 million, were withdrawn from Coinbase on Jan. 31.　　According to Ki Young Ju, the withdrawal “went to custody wallets that only have in-going transactions,” and was likely an “OTC deal from institutional investors” based on several identifiers.　　He also pointed to the fact that the split of a 15,000 BTC wallet into wallets containing 1,000-5,000 BTC increases security costs. Furthermore, most of the internal transfers are done with round amounts, like 1,000 to 5,000 Bitcoin, while this transfer included odd groupings of 1,265, 2,391, and 1,957 BTC.　　As to why Coinbase outflows are a bullish sign for the top cryptocurrency, Ki Young Ju linked to a previous tweet from Dec. 18 which states that “if Coinbase moves a significant amount of Bitcoins to other cold wallets, it indicates OTC deals” which are non-exchange transactions.　　He said:　　“Since the

2021-02-02Deep Dive

Chiliz Announces Partnership With Coincheck, A Top-Tier Japanese Exchange

It was announced today by Chiliz, that their NFT, fan-voting and rewards app Socios.com will now be available to CoinChecks NFT marketplace, which already supports 2.25 million users.　　Coincheck, one of the foremost exchanges in Japan, launched its NFT Marketplace in Summer last year. Five of the most prominent Japanese games are already in place on the platform with NFTs available for purchase. There are reportedly 2.25 million users registered.　　Kensuke Amo, Coincheck CEO, said:　　“We look forward to collaborating with Chiliz. Coincheck already has 3 million app downloads, 2 million users and over $100 million ETH in our custody. Japanese users will have the opportunity to get to know Chiliz and get closer to some of the biggest sporting organizations in the world by purchasing Socios.com NFTs on Coinchecks NFT marketplace.”　　Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz and Socios.com stated:　　“The partnership with Coincheck is hugely exciting. We already have a big following in Japan and want it to grow in the next 12 months. The availability of these Socios.com NFTs on their NFT Marketplace will allow Japanese users to own assets linked to some of the biggest clubs in the world.”　　20 of the biggest sporting brands in the world are already partnered with Socios.com.

2021-02-02Deep Dive

Top Five Aspiring Crypto Coins for February

The month of January was quite bullish for the cryptocurrency industry, with numerous coins reaching new all-time highs throughout it. Will February provide similar bullish returns in the crypto space？　　If so, which coins are likely to lead the way, and why？ Continue reading below in order to find out.　　1. Ether (ETH)　　Current price: $1,321　　Market cap: $151 billion　　Market cap rank: #2　　Ether is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, trailing only bitcoin (BTC). It enjoys significant use cases, since its blockchain serves as a platform for smart contract development for numerous other cryptocurrencies.　　An interesting development for ether in the month of February is the release of cash-settled ether futures by the CME Group, which are expected to be launched on Feb. 8, 2021.　　After bitcoin, whose cash-settled futures launched in 2017, ETH is now the second digital asset which has futures that are handled by the CME Group. This would potentially allow market participants a simpler method of managing their risk when investing into ether.　　Technical analysis wise, ETH seems to be in the final leg of its bullish impulse, but could increase all the way to $1,780 before potentially breaking down.　　2. Elrond (EGLD)　　Current price: $59.94　　Market cap: $1 billion　　Market cap rank: #45　　While EGLD is

2021-02-02Deep Dive

Decentralized identity is the way to fighting data and privacy theft

In the digitizing world, identity is everything and blockchain is to make it safe for everyone: users, businesses and governments.　　Decentralized identity is a function of blockchain technology that delivers real-world benefits to users quickly and easily, allowing them to benefit from things such as easier logins, faster credit checks and an overall smoother online experience.　　The proliferation of websites, e-commerce hubs and social media platforms means we can all have a huge database of logins, passwords and usernames to remember. As these increase, the use of password managers has become commonplace (as has the use of one-time passwords and two-factor authentication) to effectively allow websites and services to double-check our identity.　　The result is that the end-user now faces an almost overwhelming number of hoops to jump through if they lose their password or two-factor authentication application or access to their smartphone.　　The whole process of transacting online has become much more complicated. However, with the advent of blockchain, businesses are now in a far stronger position to provide their customers and end-users with a much more streamlined identity verification process, which removes many hurdles and comes with the added benefit of not placing users at risk of harmful privacy or data breaches.　　Growth

2021-02-01Deep Dive

UBS: Crypto Has Fundamental Flaw, Bitcoin's Fixed Supply Could Cause Its Value to Collapse

A chief economist at UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, says cryptocurrency has a fundamental flaw. Bitcoins fixed supply could cause the collapse of its value and spending power, making it unattractive to use as a currency, he claims.　　A UBS Chief Economist Says Bitcoin‘s Fixed Supply Is a ’Fundamental Flaw　　Paul Donovan, Chief Economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, explained last week why people wont want to use bitcoin as a currency. UBS is the largest bank in Switzerland.　　“The debate about bitcoin and other crypto tends to be very passionate. Crypto supporters say that economists are just dinosaurs, and economists say that crypto supporters are just selling a bubble.” He also pointed out that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been volatile in price terms.　　“If we look objectively at the issue, I think an important question is whether bitcoin and other crypto could be currencies,” the UBS chief economist continued, emphasizing, “And, I dont think that they can.”　　He explained that “One of the key reasons for that is that a currency has to be a stable store of value. With a proper currency, you got a genuine certainty that the basket of goods you can buy today is going to be the

2021-02-01Deep Dive

Beginner’s Guide: How to Use Matcha, the DEX Aggregator on Ethereum

One of the most groundbreaking developments in the decentralized finance landscape today is the steady rise of Automated Market Makers (AMMs). But with so many AMMs, the need for aggregators like Matcha has become essential.　　AMMs are currently the most popular type of decentralized exchange. They use smart contracts to create liquidity pools, and token pairs are traded based on an algorithm rather than an order book.　　Examples include Uniswap, Balancer, and Curve, all of which run on Ethereum. They are powerful tools that enable open and permissionless trading on the blockchain.　　As AMMs use liquidity pools to calculate trading prices, there‘s often a difference in price between the various decentralized exchanges at any one time. That’s why aggregators can be useful: they combine networks to find the users best rate.　　One of the most popular DEX aggregators on Ethereum is Matcha, a tool built by the 0x team.　　It integrates many leading DEXes, including Uniswap, Kyber, Curve, Bancor, and Mooniswap. This guide explains how it works with a simple step-by-step guide.　　How to Use Matcha　　1. Connect Your Wallet　　To make trades on Matcha, youll need to start by connecting your wallet.　　Select “Connect Wallet” in the top right-hand corner. Matcha supports MetaMask, WalletConnect, Coinbase Wallet, and Bitski

2021-02-01Deep Dive

Bitcoin miners made more than $1 billion in January revenue

Bitcoin miners made more than $1.09 billion in January revenue, which is the highest point since December 2017, The Blocks Dashboard data shows.　　The revenue for bitcoin miners last month has surpassed the level seen in January 2018, which was at $1.02 billion. The highest monthly revenue for bitcoin miners was recorded in December 2017 with over $1.25 billion at the peak of the last market bull run.　　Of the $1 billion revenue last month, $977 million came from the networks block subsidies, the value of which increased sharply compared to December 2020 as bitcoins price jumped above $30,000 and reached as high as $42,000.　　Meanwhile, bitcoins mining difficulty growth has been relatively more static given the supply shortage of the newest mining equipment.　　As a result, bitcoin miner daily revenue per each terahash second (TH/s) of computing power has also increased in January to as much as $0.25, a level not seen since mid-2019.

2021-02-01Deep Dive

For Bitcoin, the market’s stablecoins may hold the key for another bull run

After the market frenzy observed a couple of days back, the Bitcoin market has been preparing for another rally. This bullish sentiment was rising in the market, as the stablecoins in the exchanges hit an all-time high. According to the data provider CryptoQuant, the stablecoin holdings on exchanges have reached a peak of $4.98 billion on 30 January.　　Source: CryptoQuant　　The above chart noted that the stablecoins on the exchanges remained stable until late December but towards the end, they started to rise. The exchanges holding has since been rising and has not hit a cap yet.　　The current value of $4.98 billion made up a significant part of the stablecoin market capitalization of $37.8 billion, at the time of writing. The increase in stablecoin inflow has often been regarded as a short-term catalyst for the value of Bitcoin and the current peak suggested a massive amount of stablecoins has been parked on the sidelines for the right opportunity.　　Meanwhile, given the restlessness in the Bitcoin market, the trading volume of stablecoins has reduced to $84 billion, but Tether [USDT] still was the most preferred stablecoin as its trading volume was around $78.9 billion. Following USDT in the second place was USDC, which was

2021-02-01Deep Dive

Grayscale Bitcoin Fund in Emerald Mutual Holdings

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisors Trust filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan. 29 for December 2020. Holdings include 78,090 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).　　Twitter user MacroScope17 noted the filing and pointed out that Emerald Mutual Fund also managed $4.7 billion in September 2020. At current BTC prices and one GBTC share equaling under 0.001 BTC, the GBT holding equals approximately $2 million, or 0.5% of Emeralds assets under management in September.　　Other Filings　　MacroScope17 also pointed out that Hellman Jordan Management reported owning 63,355 shares of GBT. Kingfisher Capital also filed with the SEC, and reported on owning 10,667 shares of GBT.　　The entry of institutional investors is considered to be the main driver behind the bitcoin rally of 2020. Retail investors made their case at times, such as during the year-end push that brought bitcoin to $35,000. Overall, however, the headlines belong to institutional investors such as MassMutual.　　Enter the Enterprises　　Enterprise investors such as MicroSystems, which buy bitcoin to replace cash in their corporate treasuries, are an upcoming feature of the current environment. MicroSystems CEO Michael Saylor stated that in February 2021, the company would share its corporate game book for purchasing bitcoin.　　Companies following MicroSystems lead would be able

2021-02-01Deep Dive

...

719721

...

738

Latest News

WikiBit Exchange Exit Risk Ranking Episode 5: Tapbit — A “One MSB Sticker Fits All” Exchange, the Borderless Casino on France’s AMF Blacklist

WikiBitWithin 1 weeks

Bernstein sees new USDC growth cycle, sets $140 Circle price target

WikiBitWithin 1 weeks

Bitcoin price hits $80K as 24-hour crypto short liquidations pass $220M

WikiBitWithin 1 weeks

From a “European Established Compliant Exchange” to a “Withdrawal Hell”: Zondacrypto Collapse Exposes the Most Dangerous Illusion — A License ≠ Safety

WikiBit3 days ago

WikiBit Exchange Exit Scam Risk Ranking – Episode 6: Coincheck: Hacked for $530 Million, Acquired by a Financial Giant, Listed on Nasdaq — The Ice and Fire Saga of Japan’s “National Exchange”

WikiBit2 days ago

WikiBit Exchange Exit Risk Ranking Issue #8 — Azbit: Backed by Roger Ver, Publicly Called Out by Seychelles FSA — An Offshore Casino Riding on a “Celebrity Endorsement”

WikiBit14 hours ago