Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

At the end of January, the Matrixport subsidiary and leading derivatives exchange Bit.com announced the introduction of bitcoin cash perpetual swaps and options. Following the launch, the daily 24-hour volume has exceeded expectations doubling every day ever since. During the last few years, there’s been a number of derivatives exchanges leveraging bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) futures. This has been followed by the addition of perpetual swaps and options based on these crypto assets as well. Many assume that the upcoming ETH-based futures launch on the leading derivatives market operated by CME Group has bolstered the price of ether a great deal. Just recently, Bit.com announced that the team would be adding bitcoin cash (BCH) -based perpetual swaps and options. Bit.com noted that the derivatives markets these days are dominated by BTC and ETH , but BCH is a crypto asset recognized by institutions, the exchange announcement detailed. Option is one of the very few product...

Over the last twelve years, the cryptocurrency community has always been intrigued by Bitcoin’s inventor Satoshi Nakamoto. For over a decade, armchair sleuths and journalists have tried to uncover the creator’s identity and information on the whereabouts of all the bitcoins the enigma mined when the network was still in its infancy. Now a few individuals believe Satoshi’s coins may be the greatest prize competition ever and the private keys are somehow hidden within the blockchain. Maybe Satoshi Nakamoto Left a Message? Just recently, some members of the forum bitcointalk.org have been discussing a new theory surrounding the infamous Satoshi Nakamoto. For years now, the hunt for Nakamoto has been quite the quest and so far, no one has been able to uncover the creator’s identity or find the inventor’s stash of BTC . Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s anonymous inventor is the biggest mystery and for the last decade, online sleuths and journalists have tried to uncover the inventor’s iden...

A French wine trading firm has been favored by the recent crypto bull-run, specifically with the bitcoin prices surging across the board. Despite the pandemic, Lasserre & Papillon is making good numbers after founding BTC Wine. BTC Wine Was Launched During the 2017 Crypto Prices’ Rally Per an article published by Drinks International magazine, the luxury online wine retailer is witnessing a surge in demand nowadays. But the profitable journey first started with the bullish wave seen in 2017 that took bitcoin from $900 to $19,783.21. In that same year, Lasserre & Papillon launched the Bordeaux-based online retailer to the public. Despite the subsequent price reversal, the firm was confident that BTC Wine would keep its profitability in the future, as they believed bitcoin could resume its bullish steam. Their optimistic views became a reality. In fact, according to markets.Bitcoin.com, bitcoin exchanged hands above the $40k handle during Saturday morning’s trading sessi...

Grayscale Investments has surpassed the milestone of $30 billion in net crypto assets under management (AUM). The company says the tremendous growth is due to institutional investors, particularly hedge funds. Grayscale revealed Friday that its net total crypto assets under management now stands at $30.4 billion. In the lead is Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which currently has over $24 billion in AUM, followed by the Ethereum trust with more than $5 billion in AUM. Last year, Grayscale started off with just $2 billion in assets under management and ended the year with more than $20 billion, representing a 900% increase. Grayscale attributed the massive growth to investments from institutional investors, particularly hedge funds. CEO Michael Sonnenshein says: “There’s no longer professional risk of investing in the digital currency asset class — there’s probably more career risk in not paying attention to it.” In its Q4 2020 report, the company wrote that “Institutions are here,”...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has circulated a letter directing banks and financial institutions to identify and close accounts of cryptocurrency transacting entities. The directive, which took immediate effect, threatens “severe regulatory sanctions” to financial institutions that fail to comply. Banks Taking Immediate Action Immediately following the letter’s publication , some banks and other financial service providers began complying with the directive. The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, tweeted that his company had received word from its Nigerian partners confirming that “Naira deposits and withdrawals will be affected.” Other crypto startups like Quidax, Buycoins Africa, and Bundle have said they will obey the directive. Meanwhile, the Nigerian crypto community is responding to the directive with anger and many are calling the decision retrogressive. Senator Ihenyen, the president of the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), says the C...

The price of bitcoin is nearing the crypto asset’s all-time price high on Saturday, as the digital currency has gained over 6% during the last 24 hours. The last time BTC was this high in value was during the first week of January when bitcoin touched a high of $42k that week. Crypto Prices Begin to Rise, Bitcoin Crosses the Psychological $40k Threshold Bitcoin (BTC) is up 6% today and hovering over the $40k price handle during Saturday morning’s trading sessions. For the last seven days, BTC has gained 17.6%, but during the last month, BTC is only up 2.3% today. Three month stats show bitcoin has also gained 160% and 311% against the U.S. dollar for the last 12 months. BTC/USD 5 minute chart on February 6, 2021. Today, BTC has a dominance index of around 62% even during the price high. That’s because coins like ethereum (ETH) and bitcoin cash (BCH) and others have seen some significant gains. At press time, with a 1.16 trillion dollar overall market valuation, BTC ’s en...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is actively working on a digital currency and will make a decision “very soon,” the central bank has reportedly confirmed. Meanwhile, payments giant Paypal is shutting down its payment services within India. RBI Near Digital Rupee Announcement As the Indian government prepares to introduce the cryptocurrency bill that seeks to both ban cryptocurrencies and create a regulatory framework for the digital rupee to be issued by the RBI, the central bank has made an announcement of its own. RBI Deputy Governor B. P. Kanungo said Friday: An internal committee is taking a close look to decide on the model of the central bank digital currency and you will hear from the Reserve Bank very soon in the matter. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also spoke about digital currency Friday. “With regard to digital currency, I think we have already released our document,” he told reporters. “Our digital payment document spells out that digital currency is work in progre...

Tether has never been more popular. A quick look at Coinmarketcap data underscores this point, with 24-hour trading volume in USDT (US dollar-denominated Tether) exceeding both Bitcoin and Ethereum combined. Users of the Legacy Stablecoin Show No Sign of Relenting A slow-rolling lawsuit brought by the New York attorney-general against Tether parent-company iFinex for fraud and market manipulation, among numerous other critiques, isn’t even close to defusing trader interest in the most popular stablecoin. The Competition Grows Legs While, of course, there are competing stablecoins, none have managed to meaningfully slow Tether’s momentum. Take Circle, which issues the competing USD coin. Besides boasting monthly reserve attestations from accounting firm Grant Thornton, it features a more transparent issuance process. Yet, even with these improved protections and a 10x increase in inflows over the last 12 months, its capitalization stands at just over 20% Tether’s total. Moreove...

The year has started with a batch of announcements regarding tokenization in various sectors. On this occasion, a blockchain gaming platform announced its collaboration with Labs Group to issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of real estate assets. Global Real Estate Market Is Valued at $228 Trillion According to the announcement , the blockchain real estate company will use the Enjin platform to mint and issue NFTs. People will be able to buy fractionalized real estate assets starting at $100, making the first step into real estate-related investments. As the global real estate market represents the world’s largest asset class, valued at $228 trillion so far, Enjin expects that tokenization of fractional share increases its liquidity. All tokens processed on the Enjin platform will pass through the Ethereum blockchain. Enjin also clarifies that it can avoid settlement periods by channeling such transactions on that network. Maxim Blagov, Enjin’s CEO, commented on the blockchain gamin...

A famous Youtuber and now boxer is making inception into the non-fungible token (NFT) industry to promote his artwork. Logan Paul will gift NFT-based cards as part of an auction of the rare “Pokemon 1st Edition Booster Packs” game collection. NFTs Feature Logan’s Holographic Image With His Boxing Gear According to the announcement , Paul acquired packs of Pokémon cards after spending $2 million on them. The set of cards was released in 1999 by Wizards of the Coast, which contains 102 cards. Paul will be auctioning all 36 packs of the Pokémon game cards from February 4 until February 11. The auction will also take place through the sports collectibles platform, Goldin Auctions. On the other hand, the unboxing is scheduled to take place on February 27. Along with each product auctioned, the Youtuber will give one of the 44 NFTs that feature a “holographic” image of himself with his boxing gear. However, if people are unable to make a bid on the auction, Paul is selling a limited edi...

Paypal is launching a new business unit dedicated to cryptocurrency services, the company chief executive officer Daniel Schulman announced this week. In an earnings call on February 3, 2021, Schulman said the existing financial system is outdated and that his firm will be investing a lot of money into blockchain and digital currencies. Schulman explained: We all know the current financial system is antiquated, and we can envision a future where transactions are completed in seconds, not days; a future where transactions should be less expensive to complete; and a future that enables all people to be part of the digital economy, not just the affluent. We are significantly investing in our new crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies business unit in order to help shape this more inclusive future. The new crypto business unit is expected to launch later this quarter. The CEO also revealed that customers will be able to use crypto to pay for goods and services at Paypal’s 29 mil...

During the last decade, cryptocurrency users have leveraged a number of coin market capitalization aggregators, in order to check in on a crypto asset’s price and the project’s overall market valuation. However, there’s also a number of crypto price aggregators that follow a different method of recording market caps, in contrast to multiplying the supply by the price of each unit. The web portal coinfairvalue.com attempts to measure ‘fair values’ by using the current usage of each coin and without any implied speculation. Coinfairvalue.com Is a Lot Different Than Traditional Market-Cap Aggregators Crypto price aggregators measure the spot price of each crypto asset and then multiply that number times the circulating supply of each digital currency. Then an aggregator like our web portal markets.Bitcoin.com , lists each crypto market cap in order from the largest valuation to the least. There are also market cap aggregators that measure cryptocurrencies like bitcoin ( BTC ) and ethe...

In a recent Realvision interview, the developer Gavin Wood explains how Polkadot reimagines the innovation ecosystem from the ground up. Wood also discusses how the Polkadot protocol is both similar but also different than Ethereum, the second-largest crypto asset by market valuation. Polkadot: A Bet Against Maximalism Innovation involves the pioneering and actualization of a creative new way of doing something. For famed blockchain programmer Gavin Wood, Polkadot is the platform that unlocks the potential of swifter blockchain innovation. By building a platform of platforms, or 0-layer technology, Polkadot is attempting to push the boundaries of efficiency with a more flexible and more abstract environment. Here are some highlights from the lengthy interview Wood gave to Sebastian Moonjava of Real Vision (link to the full interview below). For Wood, one of the primary hurdles of the existing framework is the resource-intensive tasks involved with launching a new blockchain. In t...