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Too Afraid to Buy the Dips; Too Much FOMO to Resist Buying ATHs

12 years back, Bitcoin first came into existence with the genesis block having a reward of 50 BTC. The genesis block came with the text “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”

In 2020, history repeated itself as central banks all over the world went crazy with money printing. This led institutions to see Bitcoin as a hedge against weak dollar and risk of inflation, making it part of their investment portfolio.

The unprecedented institutional interest in the crypto market had Bitcoin rallying to nearly $35k from the March low of 3,800.

Even at this record high price level, Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital, which today announced its Bitcoin Fund, urged people to invest in it. “You’re still way early to Bitcoin if you’re buying today,” tweeted Scaramucci on Sunday.

“When you look at this bitcoin rally that we have been seeing in the last couple of weeks and months, really, there’s two big elements driving it. One is the continuous entry of institutional players,” PwC’s global crypto leader Henri Arslanian said Monday on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.” These institutional players have “an outsized impact on the markets.”

Arslanian who expects this trend to continue over the coming months said, there’s also “a lot of regulated players as well,” which was “not the case a couple of years ago.”

Combined with retail FOMO, “there’s a lot of momentum going on in the space.”

As the price continues to go higher and higher, people continue to feel the FOMO as Douglas A. Boneparth, CNBC Advisor Council tweeted, “Instead of drinking coffee and eating avocado toast every day, I should have been buying bitcoin.”

This can especially be seen in the way the market moved in the last few hours.

Bitcoin’s price BTC -3.41% Bitcoin / USD BTCUSD $ 31,558.08
-$1,076.13 -3.41% Volume 82.36 b Change -$1,076.13 Open $31,558.08 Circulating 18.59 m Market Cap 586.69 b
2 h Why Does Bitcoin (BTC) Continue to Tear Up Without Ever Stopping? 3 h Ethereum Blockchain Becomes Absolutely Unusable Yet Again as Average Fees Hits ATH at $20 4 h Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital Launches Institutional-Grade Fund to Directly Invest in Bitcoin; Offers GBTC Swap Too went to $34,825 on Sunday on Coinbase and today we went down to $27,648 and already we are above $31,000.

The same has actually been the case with the second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum ETH 13.21% Ethereum / USD ETHUSD $ 1,036.04
$136.86 13.21% Volume 59.1 b Change $136.86 Open $1,036.04 Circulating 114.12 m Market Cap 118.23 b
3 h Ethereum Blockchain Becomes Absolutely Unusable Yet Again as Average Fees Hits ATH at $20 4 h Too Afraid to Buy the Dips; Too Much FOMO to Resist Buying The All Time Highs 6 h ETH Rips to Jan 2018 High As The Market Rotates Bitcoin Profits into Ethereum which took just over a day to go from $750 to $1,170 only to fall to $885 to now be back above $1,000.

Even YouTuber Marques Brownlee, best known for his technology-focused videos and his podcast, Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast, took to Twitter to share his interest in buying in Bitcoin and missing out with the price continuing to keep on going higher and higher.

image1

But still, with bitcoin adoption reaching only 2%, a huge population is on the sidelines and institutions have just started coming in.

Just last month, the day BTC broke its previous ATH $20k China’s mainstream financial outlet, Caijing ran a survey on Weibo asking people’s position on Bitcoin which revealed that 11k out of the 20.8k participants responded with “Such a scam, will never buy” while 3.1k said they might buy later.

This only goes on to show that this bull cycle is still in its early phase.

AnTy

AnTy has been involved in the crypto space full-time for over two years now. Before her blockchain beginnings, she worked with the NGO, Doctor Without Borders as a fundraiser and since then exploring, reading, and creating for different industry segments.

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NYDFS Approves Internet Giant, GMO, to Offer The First Japanese Yen (JPY) Pegged Stablecoin

Legal & Regulation

NYDFS Approves Internet Giant, GMO, to Offer The First Japanese Yen (JPY) Pegged Stablecoin

Tokyo-based internet conglomerate, GMO Internet has been cleared by New York Financial Services (NYDFS) to provide two stablecoins; a Yen-pegged stablecoin (GYEN) and a dollar-pegged stablecoin (ZUSD).

The NYFDS allowed GMO Internet to set up a limited purpose trust company, GMO-Z.com which will issue the two stablecoins. In order for the company to gain approval, it had to meet various strict rules from the NYFDS and also adhere to the federal anti-money laundering (AML) rules and economic sanctions.

Although there are various regulated stablecoins, there aren’t any pegged to the Japanese yen. In this case, GMO Internet becomes the pioneer company to issue the world’s first JPY-pegged coin.

According to the company, both ZUSD and GYEN stablecoins can be bought and redeemed using GMO-Z.com. The two stablecoins will be powered by the Ethereum network and will be available from Jan. 2021. The firm also clarified that the two stablecoins will be available to both institutional and individual clients and are ideal for trading, payments, hedging, settlements, and arbitrage. GMO-Z.com Trust Company’s SVP of business development, Kurt Bierbower, explained further,

“We seek to dramatically reduce execution times and expand the digital options for retail and institutional clients in trading, settlements, payments, lending and remittances.”

GMO Trust also stated that it had entered into strategic partnerships with various global virtual asset exchanges to guarantee the liquidity of the digital currencies. Bierbower also clarified that the firm started to develop GYEN in 2018. However, the two stablecoins will not be offered in Japan.

The licensing means that GMO is one of the 27 firms that are regulated to engage in digital currency activities in New York.

GMO has been in the crypto space for a couple of years. The firm owns a licensed crypto exchange operating in Japan and also a Bitcoin mining outfit. The company also states that it runs the globe’s biggest online forex trading outfit apart from their main internet services business. The firm also has an Internet bank that is regulated by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA).

Joseph Kibe

Joseph is a blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiast, with a strong conviction that exposure of blockchain technology is for the good of the society. Fascinated by the massive potential of cryptocurrencies and the technology behind them – blockchain – Joseph spent lots of his time learning more about the industry, becoming a polished expert writer in the sector. He covers any cryptocurrency and blockchain related content.

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USD Spoils the Party as Bitcoin, Precious Metals, & Stock Market Record Massive Reversals

After last week’s crazy performance, markets are experiencing a massive reversal on the first day of the week.

Starting with Bitcoin, the digital asset had made a yet new all-time high just last night, or for some early Monday morning, at about $24,300 amidst the heightened institutional interest.

But after surging 28% in just last week and breaking multiple levels, today it is bleeding red.

Dropping just under $22,400, BTC/USD rebounded some and is trading around $23,050, down about 2.5% on the back of $5.32 billion in ‘real’ volume.

In tandem with Bitcoin BTC -4.74% Bitcoin / USD BTCUSD $ 22 930,0532
-1,086.88 -4.74 Volume 47.02 b Change -1,086.88 Open $22 930,0532 Circulating 18.58 m Market Cap 425.98 b
1 h Crypto Exchange EXMO Hacked; BTC, ETH, XRP, ZEC, USDT, and ETC Stolen By Attacker , altcoins are falling even harder.

ETH has gone down 6% to nearly $600 while Litecoin fell 11%, Bitcoin Cash 9%, Chainlink and XRP 8%, and Polkadot, Stellar, Tron, and Cardano are in the loss by over 7%.

More Volatility

This price action over the weekend was actually led by retail investors than institutional investors. The consistent decline in OI shows that institutional investors were taking profits and missed out on the latest rally.

As per CME’s latest report, asset managers’ long positions fell from 544 to 492, while short positions increased from 11 to 26. Leveraged funds’ long positions declined from 4,365 to 3,946, along with the short positions that declined from 9,354 to 8,702. Non-reportable accounts also increased in short positions from 506 to 606, while long positions fell from 3,403 to 3,134.

The jump in price came on the back of the high volume, which is rising rapidly. The futures market has been particularly active, with the aggregate weekly volume of BTC futures hitting $270 billion across derivatives exchanges. Open interest (OI) also reached a new ATH of $8.9 billion on Saturday.

This bullish price action has the BTC perpetual swaps price exceeding the index price with funding rates hitting a peak; excessive funding rates indicate rising leverage. With quarterly futures and options settlement coming up this Friday, more volatility is expected.

Other Markets

Much like digital gold, the risk-off market has precious metals, also having a bad day. Gold fell 2.7% to $1,854 before finding support around $1,874, for now. Silver meanwhile crashed over 9% to just under 25; currently, it is around 26.

S&P 500 futures plunged 2.5% on the first day of the week, right after the Index made a new ATH at 3,722 just before the weekend. Tesla fell 6.3% in pre-market trading on its first day on the S&P 500 index, after catapulting 731% this year.

Today’s winner is the US dollar, which breached above 91, from Friday’s low of 89.7. The USD is gaining against several currencies after European nations began imposing travel bans on the UK after it reported a more-infectious and “out of control” coronavirus variant.

AnTy

AnTy has been involved in the crypto space full-time for over two years now. Before her blockchain beginnings, she worked with the NGO, Doctor Without Borders as a fundraiser and since then exploring, reading, and creating for different industry segments.

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Swedish Government Launches Exploration Into Digital Krona

The Swedish government was one of the first in Europe to explore a possible Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). It has now moved into an exploratory phase, with a panel studying the potential benefits and consequences of digitizing its currency.

Ready to Roll

On Friday, Blomberg reported that the Swedish government had launched a formal review of a possible e-krona. The review will explore the feasibility of moving its currency into the digital standard, utilizing its current digital payments infrastructure.

The Nordic country has one of the world’s most advanced cashless payment systems, and many believe that transitioning into a full-fledged CBDC won’t take as much effort as others. The initiative will be led by Anna Kinberg Batra, a former chairwoman of the Riksbank’s finance committee.

Per Bolund, Sweden’s financial markets minister revealed that the government expects to complete the review by the end of November 2022.

Bolund emphasized the need to ensure that the country’s digital payments infrastructure functions safely and inclusively. He added that depending on the technology’s design and utilization, it could have substantial consequences for its financial system.

The Question of Time

When it comes to CBDCs, most countries are in the exploratory phase. The European Union has confirmed that plans will explore a possible digital Euro soon, with the region looking to bolster digital payments and improve its overall economy.

However, even that effort still seems to be a long shot. The European Central Bank (ECB) believes its exploratory efforts would yield results in 2021, and it will begin drafting the module for the digital Euro then.

Experts from several European banks believe proof of concept for the digital Euro could arrive in the next half-decade. The panel, titled “Upgrading Money to the Digital Age: Introducing Digital Euro,” saw everyone agree that the most pressing task will be getting everyone on board with the specifics of the digital Euro. With that in mind, implementation could take years on its own.

Austėja Šostakaitė of the European Central Bank pointed out that the bank won’t even decide on whether to pursue the digital Euro until the middle of 2021. For her, the primary issue will be introducing the asset into the European financial ecosystem and ensuring that it collaborates effectively with bank money.

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Author: Jimmy Aki

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Bitbond And Germany’s Oldest Bank to Issue A Euro Stablecoin On Stellar’s Blockchain

Bitbond, a Germany-based tokenization firm, has finally completed the launch of its first stablecoin after securing a partnership with Bankhaus von der Heydt (BVDH), the country’s oldest running bank, an official statement confirmed on December 9. Earlier in February this year, BEG had reported the partnership between the two to develop the first Euro-backed stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain, which has now come to life.

In a press statement, Radoslav Albrecht, founder and CEO of Bitbond said,

“Bitbond has been working with Stellar since 2019 when we issued the first-ever tokenized security recognized by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), [the financial regulatory authority for Germany].”

Bitbond utilizes blockchain technology to enhance the issuance, settlement, and custody of bonds through tokenization. Following the completion and launch of the Euro stablecoin issuance, Bitbond “has completed our digital assets tech suite which, up to now, included digital asset custody and tokenization technology,” Albrecht further said.

The statement claims the Euro stablecoin is the first-of-its-kind issued in Europe or across any banking institution. It is fully regulated by BaFin and fully backed at a 1:1 ratio, which gives institutional investors and third party banks confidence in using the token. However, given the strict regulations, KYC/AML compliance, and other regulatory requirements, Bitbond’s EUR stablecoin will not be traded on open exchanges.

BVDH customers and other third-party developers of financial applications dealing with digital assets’ online settlements can use the stablecoin – reducing their costs and transaction times – albeit in a more regulated way. Bitbond also integrated the tokenization of bond securities allowing the system to directly mint and destroy tokens according to the demand/supply mechanisms.

This opens up a gateway for Stellar blockchain to dominate the Euro stablecoin market in a similar manner that Ethereum does for Tether – the dollar-backed stablecoin. Partnering with one of the largest banks across Europe shows the digital space’s potential to work with traditional banks to create better innovative solutions in the finance space. Denelle Dixon, the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation stated,

“This is a testament to the ways that traditional banking and blockchain can work together, bringing together one of the oldest banks in Europe with a FinTech start-up to deliver exciting innovation in the digital currency space.”

The 266-year old bank is finally taking its role in digitizing securitization, fund administration, and mergers & acquisitions to complement the traditional methods already employed in the bank. The bank has looked at stablecoins and digital assets in the past few years, according to Lukas Weniger, BVDH business development.

However, institutions and big corporations are still wary of using current stablecoins such as Tether and Circle’s USDC due to the third party risk and a lack of a fully licensed bank to back them, Weniger said.

Bitbond will also offer regulated tokenized bonds on the Stellar blockchain as the company works with real estate developers who wish to issue tokenized securities, he further confirmed.

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Author: Lujan Odera

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“Dollar Plummets On US Stimulus Hopes; Bitcoin Hits All-time Peak” Immortalized By Slush Pool

The world’s first Bitcoin mining pool, Slush Pool, has immortalized a significant Bitcoin moment by putting it in a block.

On Thursday, the mining pool that started in 2010 shared that it has included the Reuters’ headline from an article published on Dec. 1st, 2020, in block 659678. the headline in question is.

“Dollar plummets on U.S. stimulus hopes; bitcoin hits an all-time peak.”

This is what epitomizes 2020 for the Bitcoin market. A year in which the leading digital asset started strengthening its position as an inflation hedge in the macro backdrop of money printing.

This is the year when everyone wants in on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Boosted by increased demand from both institutional and retail investors, the digital assets are being seen as a safe haven and a store of value.

During the same time, the USD index is falling to multi-year lows, and according to many high profile names like BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, a digital currency “makes the need for the U.S. dollar to be less relevant.” Analyst Mati Greenspan commented,

“(Fink’s) not being quasi-bullish on bitcoin. He’s actually suggesting that bitcoin, or something like it, can potentially eliminate the need for the U.S. dollar to act as the global reserve currency.”

A Shift in Players

Amidst the increasing adoption, a shift in the market has been seen. While the Bitcoin market has been typically dominated by East Asian investors from countries like China, South Korea, and Japan, it is becoming a playground for North American investors.

In 2020, the weekly net inflows of BTC to platforms serving the North American users have jumped more than 7,000 times to over 216,000 BTC in mid-Nov., as per researcher Chainalysis.

As we reported, the BTC price moves have been dominated by the US investors in the 4Q20 rally as institutions continue to pour in. Ciara Sun of Seychelles-based Huobi Global Markets said,

“The sudden influx of institutional interest from the North American region is driving a shift in bitcoin trading, which is rebalancing asset allocations across different exchanges and platforms.”

Among the biggest BTC hubs, East Asia, North America, and Western Europe, the first two account for about half of all transfers. Volumes at four North American exchanges have also doubled in 2020 to 1.6 million BTC per week at the end of November compared to trading at 14 major east Asian exchanges seeing only a 16% jump to 1.4 million.

However, it is still too early to call it a fundamental shift.

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Author: AnTy

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S&P Dow Jones Indices to Launch Cryptocurrency Indexes in 2021; Easing Access for Investors

“Slowly, at first, then all at once.” The latest major finance company to join the crypto bandwagon is S&P Dow Jones Indices. A division of finance data provider S&P Global Inc, the company said on Thursday, would be launching cryptocurrency indices in 2021.

It will be working with the New York-based virtual currency company Lukka to provide data on more than 550 of the top traded cryptos. S&P’s clients will also work with the index provider to create customized indices and other tools on digital assets, it said in a joint statement. Peter Roffman, the global head of innovation and strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices said,

“With digital assets such as cryptocurrencies becoming a rapidly emerging asset class, the time is right for independent, reliable, and user-friendly benchmarks.”

They further said that the idea is to make it easier for investors to access more reliable pricing data about this new asset class and reduce some of the volatile and speculative market risks.

Bitcoin adoption has been gradual up until 2020, when suddenly, everyone wants in.

This is just another step this year that takes crypto into the mainstream. As Bitcoin rallies 170% in 2020, everyone wants to adopt the leading digital currency and enter the realm of cryptos. One analyst noted,

“Having mainstream indexes which represent crypto performance will only bolster adoption, and lead to the creation of fund which represent those indexes.”

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Author: AnTy

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Gab CEO Banned by Traditional & Crypto Payment Processors; Bitcoin is a ‘Free Speech Money’

Thanks to Bitcoin, Gab has achieved its first $100,000 revenue in a month, said Andrew Torba, the social networking service CEO.

For the first time in its four year history, Gab saw a six-figure revenue that too without a “single credit or debit card transaction.”

In his post on Tuesday, Torba shared how Gab has been banned from not only dozens of payment processors like PayPal, Square, and Stripe but also many crypto payment platforms like Coinbase and Bitpay.

Besides the business, Torba said he and his family have also been “blacklisted by VISA for merchant processing.”

Calling Bitcoin “free speech money,” he said the digital asset has been crucial for their future, helping not only businesses like Gab and individuals like him but all those firms and people who are being cut off from the banks traditional payment processing methods.

Bitcoin solves this problem, and as such, they are spending “a lot of time at Gab working to educate our community about the importance of understanding and using bitcoin,” said Torba.

The platform accepts eCheck and checks by mail besides bitcoin as payment options.

“We are excited to continue building the home of free speech online funded by the biggest community of free speech warriors on the planet and with bitcoin, free speech money.”

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Author: AnTy

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Blockchain Coalition, Universal Protocol Alliance, Launches The First Tradeable Carbon Token

The Universal Protocol Alliance (UPA) has launched the first tradeable carbon token, according to a press release shared with BEG. This group comprises prominent players in the blockchain industry, including Bittrex Global, Uphold, Infinigold, Certik, and Ledger. UPA’s goal is to eventually digitize or tokenize every asset class in preparation for a new era of finance.

The newly introduced tradeable carbon token is dubbed ‘UPCO2’, represents a year of carbon dioxide or a similar reduction from ‘Verra-approved REDD+ voluntary projects in the world’s rainforests.’ This new carbon token is available for trading on the Uphold digital asset platform and marks the first of its kind to trade in a public blockchain ecosystem.

Democratizing the Global Carbon Market

Recent years have seen the demand for carbon skyrocket as the world became more environmentally aware of pollution’s looming risks. According to World Bank stats, the need for carbon credits is currently more than its supply by close to 4 times. Universal Protocol Alliance is among the groups that are presently working to offset this gap.

The UPCO2 token is built to democratize carbon demand and supply by introducing a global playing field for clearing prices, just like other commodities, including gold and oil. Each UPCO2 token will be backed by a Voluntary Carbon Unit (VCU), while Verra will issue the same certificate. This is the standard International Agency that permits the conversion of greenhouse gas to tradeable carbon credits.

Mathew Le Merle, the chairman of UPA, explained that supporting projects through credit purchases prevents deforestation in areas like the Amazon and Congo Basin. He went on to highlight the value proposition of UPCO2 carbon token as an asset of the ‘future’ investor,

“For a new generation of investors looking for more than mere financial return, UPCO2 offers attractive social, economic, and environmental benefits. At a key moment for climate change, UPCO2 allows people worldwide to do good for the planet and potentially do well for themselves.”

A Lucrative Macroeconomic Outlook

In the future, there is a likelihood that combating climate change will be among the dominant discussion points across the globe. World Bank stats indicate that only 22% of emissions are compensated for by humanity; meanwhile, the percentage of countries that operate in regulated carbon markets has grown from 40% to 70% within the past four years.

Uphold CEO and Co-founder of the UP Alliance, JP Thieriot, emphasized this trend noting the underlying potential of the UPCO2 carbon token,

“Combating climate change is likely to become the dominant economic issue of the next 20 years.  The UPCO2 Token allows people everywhere to participate in this hugely important – and potentially lucrative – new market, as well as do the right thing for the planet.”

Notably, the Voluntary Credit Units offer some perks compared to the regulated credits, including global recognition and the ability to retain value until used or retired as compensation for carbon footprints.

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Author: Edwin Munyui

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Uniswap (UNI) Farming to End Today, Billions of Dollars to be Released

Launched in the mid of September, the governance token of DEX Uniswap, UNI, is currently down over 10%. In the first week of November, the DeFi token crashed 72% from its all-time high, achieved right after its launch.

Since then, the 26th largest cryptocurrency by market cap of $803 million has doubled in value, trading at $3.56.

Uniswap actually has been the first DeFi project to hit $3 billion in total value locked (TVL), which is currently down at $2.84 billion. Meanwhile, it has 3.1 million ETH, 29.5k BTC, and nearly 190 million DAI locked.

The project, however, maintains its dominance in the market at 21.18%.

Interestingly, in the next few hours, UNI farming on Uniswap Protocol will end with about $1 billion to be released into the market.

As it stands, around $2.3 billion funds are deployed farming the native token, and with Ethereum being the reference token, it means there is currently $1.1 billion ETH locked. Although it remains to be seen how much ETH will actually leave, the portion that chooses to stay will get to enjoy the high fees.

This could still mean some selling pressure for Eth, which is trading just around $462, already “at resistance with a potential double top.”

DeFi-Inflow-of-Money
Source: IntoTheBlock

With this new influx of money flowing into the DeFi sector, it’s to be seen where it will exactly move to.

It is possible this money flow will potentially make its way to SushiSwap. While liquidity has been coming off its recent highs on Uniswap, SushiSwap’s liquidity has increased substantially.

Even SUSHI token is currently enjoying gains of over 17% at $1.36, up 109% month-to-date (MTD) basis compared to Uniswaps’ 62%.

However, both are still cheap when it comes to their valuations based on the price/sales ratio. While Uniswap P/S is around 10x and SushiSwap’s even much lower than that, its competitors like Curve and Balancer trade close to 80x.

In other news, over the weekend, the decentralized exchange Uniswap’s app interface went down due to issues with its gateway provider Cloudflare.

The automated market maker (AMM) built on top of Ethereum took to Twitter to share the outage issues and point out how “now is a good time to remember the benefits of decentralization.”

Unlike a CeFi, which, if goes down, has no way to access it, a “true DeFi on Ethereum there are no central points of failure” and “there is no downtime,” as pointed out by Uniswap creator Hayden Adams.

As can be seen with Uniswap, it is available on other IPFS gateways, can be run locally, easily be forked and re-hosted, and can be traded over Uniswap natively from Dharma and other Ethereum wallets. One can also trade on Uniswap through a wide range of aggregators, a command-line, and over Etherscan.

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Author: AnTy