Month: January 2020

Richard Rosenblum is co-founder and co-head of trading at crypto liquidity provider GSR. The opinions below are the author’s and do not reflect the position of CoinDesk. Like futures, the launch of bitcoin options on major exchanges has been met with anticipation. Hopeful observers believe the CME’s and Bakkt’s entry into the burgeoning options market will further encourage institutional participation. It will – but not necessarily in the way they expect. For major institutions, miners and other corporates involved in Read more …

The decentralized exchange landscape is evolving fast, with new liquidity aggregators and relays enhancing usability while reducing slippage. Trade volumes are also strong across the leading ERC20 DEXs and Binance DEX. The bulk of this volume is captured by a small proportion of tokens, however, whose demand augurs well for the projects and the DEXs they dominate. Also read: Ethereum’s Value Transfer Is Now Dominated by Stablecoins Verasity Is Binance’s King of the DEXs On Binance DEX, the decentralized exchange Read more …

Latest figures show that over three quarters of all existing bitcoin (76.05%) are in profit, meaning that the value is currently higher than last time it was moved. While this ratio fluctuates, historically it has remained above 50% for almost the entire history of Bitcoin. HODLing Bitcoin Pays Off As may be expected, there is a strong correlation between the ratio of bitcoin currently in profit and BTC price. During periods when bitcoin price has been pushing upwards to all-time Read more …

After facing a constant stream of buying pressure that led Bitcoin’s price to climb as high as $9,550, BTC faced a large influx of overnight selling pressure that sent it reeling down to lows of $9,200 before it found some support. The sharp decline from $9,550 does make this 2020 high look like a local top for the cryptocurrency, and it is a strong possibility that the crypto sees some further short-term downside. In spite of this, one eerily accurate Read more …

Bitcoin price (BTC) has been declining amid the recent coronavirus developments as today media reported that patients in the UK and Russia tested positive for the virus. The declining trend has been followed by major cryptocurrencies.  Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360 In a day that will mark the departure of the United Kingdom (11 p.m. UTC) from the European Union and the confirmation of 2 cases of coronavirus virus infection in the UK, BTC/GBP pair has been declining by Read more …

This reporter attended his first bitcoin meetup in sunny Scotland on Thursday. It took place in the Bayes Centre – Edinburgh University’s snazzy artificial intelligence and data science hub. It also happens to be the spot where IOHK, the creators of the Cardano cryptocurrency, helped establish a Blockchain Technology Laboratory.  The topic of the meetup, “Bitcoin, Wealth and Wisdom,” afforded a forensic examination of the largest cryptocurrency’s rollercoaster cycle of price bubbles and corrections with plenty of examples of the Read more …

Not everyone is totally excited about DeFi. Volatile crypto is nurturing its fixed-income side. Crypto lending activity is growing on decentralized finance (DeFi) networks. Staking, where investors reap payments for locking up assets in functions essential to network protocols, is moving into crypto’s mainstream, with large crypto exchanges offering staking services for users.  Chart of ETH locked in DeFi lending platforms vs timeSource: CoinDesk Research The slide above shows the growing popularity of one category of crypto lending, DeFi, among Read more …

Rumours are circulating that the main Bitcoin SV (BSV) proponent Craig Wright has been in private talks with members of the UK’s House of Lords. An nChain executive said Wright spoke for the senior British politicians yesterday. Osmin Callis claims that Wright used the opportunity to explain Bitcoin SV’s benefits to the senior legislative house. Those in attendance were reportedly welcoming of his ideas. Did Craig Wright Really Just Shill Bitcoin SV to UK Politicians? Craig Wright is perhaps the Read more …

Bitcoin Blast, a mobile game that gives users small amounts of bitcoin for playing, has been reinstated to the Google Play store. The game was yanked from the app distribution venue last week with little explanation, said Amy Wan, CEO of Bling, the company behind the app. Google reinstated the game on Jan. 30, shortly after the GooglePlayDev Twitter account reached out to Bling. This happened after Bling conducted its own Twitter campaign, Wan said. Google did not provide any Read more …

Bitcoin Cash will be available for purchase through Liechtenstein’s Bank Frick. The small bank, which has opened its services to supply leading crypto coins, will also offer BCH custody for clients. Bank Frick Offers Fiat Options to Buy Bitcoin Cash Bank Frick has finally added Bitcoin Cash to its list of supported crypto tokens, including BTC, ETH, XRP, and LTC. Now, customers will be able to purchase BCH with Swiss francs, euro, and US dollars. Stefan Rauti, Head of Blockchain Read more …

Hankering for a Ferrari? Well, the only licensed stock exchange in Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is listing tokenized collectible cars worth over $200 million for retail and institutional investors. MERJ said Friday it is partnering with CurioInvest, a tokenization platform building on ethereum, to create tokens representing shares in “supercars” like the Ferrari.  While the sale is open to institutional and retail investors, purchases are expected to be driven by institutional investors and those from regions Read more …

Last year’s most successful investments in the crypto market are strangely lagging behind the year’s top-performing altcoins thus far. Is this a sign of things to come, or are oversold assets simply correcting more powerfully than assets that have had less overall drawdown? Bitcoin and Exchange Tokens Lag Behind Altcoins in 2020 2019 was the year of the exchange token, led primarily by the native cryptocurrency token of the leading crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance. Binance Coin has among Read more …