Over the past few months, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have been heavily languishing. Since the $14,000 peak established in June, BTC has collapsed by nearly 50%, falling all the way to $7,700 at the multi-month low. Related Reading: Analyst Eyes 10% Bitcoin Price Expansion as Volatility Creeps Closer Despite this harrowing price action — some analysts say that this drawdown is a hint of an impending bear market redux (or at least months more of pain) Read more …
Global financial services company Circle announced that Bermuda became the first government to accept its stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) for tax payments. Part of a broader government initiative to embrace stablecoins According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Oct. 16, this development is part of a broader initiative, which sees the Bermuda government support “the use of USD-dollar backed stablecoins and decentralized finance protocols and services.” Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said: “Bermuda’s Premier made a broader Read more …
Residents of Bermuda can now pay their taxes in cryptocurrency. The Government of Bermuda announced Wednesday it will accept payments in USD Coin (USDC) “for taxes, fees and other government services,” according to a press release by crypto finance startup Circle. USDC is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar launched a year ago by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Circle. To date, over $1 billion worth of USDC has been issued between the two startups. In what looks to be Read more …
London-based Finastra — the third-largest financial services technology firm in the world — has partnered with Ripple to grant its customers access to the RippleNet blockchain network. As reported by the Fintech Times on Oct. 16, the cooperation between the two firms will see Ripple’s over 200 existing clients reciprocally access Finastra’s extensive banking network, which includes 48 of the top 50 banks globally. Partnership with a financial software “global behemoth” Finastra was formed in 2017 after a merger between Read more …
Big Four auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY) has launched a blockchain platform for public funds meant to enhance transparency. Technology news outlet Verdict reported on the launch on Oct. 16. The OpsChain Public Finance Manager (PFM) system enables transparent tracking of public budgets and expenditures viewable by all citizens. PFM will also reportedly enable public funds to be matched with outcomes, which in turn would provide insight into how effective different policies are. Enabling data-driven policy decisions The system Read more …
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance surprised analysts this week after its Bitcoin futures set an unlikely trading record. Binance Bucks Negative Market Mood According to data from market analyst Skew on October 15, Binance’s BTCUSD product traded over $700 million on Tuesday alone. The figure marks a new record for the exchange, which debuted its futures last month. Its timing, however, was what raised eyebrows among commentators. Bitcoin futures chart As various resources show, overall Bitcoin trading has hit uninspiringly low levels Read more …
United States merchant services provider and payment processing firm Aliant Payments will be paying each of its employees part of their compensation package in cryptocurrency. In a press release on Oct. 16, Aliant said that the offer reflected a desire that employees become invested customers in the shift to digital currency. Aliant’s evolving crypto payments processing solution Aliant launched its crypto processing system for merchants, dubbed CryptoBucks, back in 2017 and developed a proprietary, fully compliant solution in July 2018 Read more …
6. Crypto auctions, algorithmic trading and over-the-counter (OTC) desks are designed to transfer large amounts of crypto. In cases when you want to trade your crypto assets directly, without splitting them into parts and calculating fees, the daily auction held by Gemini — a U.S.-based, regulated crypto exchange — is a popular way to do that. Orders are currently available for five major currencies — Bitcoin, Ether, Zcash, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Another solution is to use trading bots to Read more …
In a world of increasing regulation and state paranoia over money laundering or terrorism, the ability to trace the movements of crypto assets has become more relevant than ever before. Crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace has announced the industry’s most comprehensive virtual asset tracing capability which may alleviate some of that mistrust of the industry. 700 Crypto Tokens Can Be Traced According to Business Wire the Silicon Valley, California, based company has expanded its cryptocurrency intelligence platform to include the industry’s Read more …
The Financial Stability Board has informed the G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the risks stablecoins could pose to financial stability. Unlike crypto assets which do not pose financial stability risk at this time, stablecoins could pose a host of challenges. Also read: Unicef Launches Cryptocurrency Fund Financial Stability Risk The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has provided the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors with a risk assessment of stablecoins. On Oct. 13, FSB Chairman Randal K. Read more …
View Bitcoin’s weekly Chaikin Money Flow index is reporting the strongest bearish bias since February. Other weekly chart indicators are also calling a deeper drop, possibly to levels below recent lows near $7,750. The daily chart indicators suggest the corrective bounce has ended and sellers are again gaining strength. The ongoing risk aversion in the global financial markets could weigh over bitcoin. The short-term bearish case would weaken if prices rise above the 200-day average, currently located above $8,700, although, Read more …
The ex-head of the United States’ commodities regulator thinks the government must digitize the dollar and take power away from central banks. Giancarlo wants independently maintained dollar In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 15, J. Christopher Giancarlo, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or CFTC, argued the dollar could lose status in the future. This would be specifically due to other countries rolling out digital currencies. The answer, he argued, is to create Read more …