Category Archives: Cryptocurrency
Digital currency: Is cryptocurrency the next big thing? – The New Times
Cryptocurrency, best known as bitcoin, has been making the buzz in the media recently. Even though only a few people are familiar with it, it could be the next big thing in the near future.
According to Nigel Green, CEO and founder of one of the biggest independent financial advisory, asset management, and fintech organisations, deVere Group, Tanzania, and Paraguay or Mexico are to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender before 2022 ends.
This comes after the Central African Republic (CAR) became the first African country to embrace Bitcoin as its official currency, trailing only El Salvador. He asserts that this is only the beginning.
Understanding Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is generally a medium of exchange, like the US dollar, but is digital and uses encryption to control the production of monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds.
Its a digital currency in which transactions are validated and records are kept by a decentralised system leveraging cryptography rather than a centralised authority.
Cryptocurrency is generally a medium of exchange, like the US dollar, but digital. Net photo.
When a sender encrypts/hides a message using a type of key and algorithm, the receiver decrypts it to generate the original message, this is known as cryptography. Cryptography is used to protect the virtual currency against counterfeiting and double-spending.
It is reported to have been invented in 2008 by an unknown person or people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto, and it was first used in 2009. The virtual currency got immensely popular in the years 2016-2020. Block one, a Chinese company is claimed to be the largest private bitcoin owner.
All bitcoin is controlled by private keys whose owners own the bitcoin secured by the key, according to River Financial, a platform to buy, sell, and use bitcoin in the United States. Ownership of bitcoin, even in large quantities, does not confer any control over the Bitcoin network.
According to them, the three wealthiest bitcoin addresses own more than 575,000 BTC, and Microstrategy owns more bitcoin than any other publicly-traded company.
A BTC transaction is a bitcoin transfer from one address to another. The sender must sign the transaction because its validity is solely dependent on them. Pieces of bitcoin, called unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs), are all associated with an address, which is managed by the bitcoins owner rather than accounts.
All bitcoin transactions are released to the memory pool, a smaller database of unconfirmed or pending transactions, and are only considered confirmed when they are added to a block by a miner.
Cryptocurrency mining is a competitive process that uses the proof-of-work method to verify and add new transactions to the blockchain. This is a method in which one party (the prover) solves an arbitrary mathematical puzzle to prove to others (the verifiers) that a certain amount of a specific computational effort has been expended.
As a result, the winner (miner) receives a portion of the money and/or transaction fees.
Why cryptocurrency overlocal currency?
A bitcoin transaction is praised for being faster because once the network confirms the block containing the transaction, it is fully settled and the funds are ready to use in a few minutes, even if the transaction is done over a considerable distance.
Bitcoin transactions are also cheaper, and anyone with a computer or smartphone and an internet connection can access it. Setting up a bitcoin wallet is faster than opening a bank account and it is more secure because transactions and funds cannot be signed or accessed without the owners private key.
Cryptocurrency wallets are also preferred for maintaining a high level of privacy, and transparency since transactions take place on the publicly distributed blockchain ledger. Bitcoin cryptocurrencies are viewed by many as a measure of inflation protection. Government-issued currencies generally lose value over time owing to central bank money creation, however, bitcoin defies depreciation due to its fixed/limited supply and decentralisation.
This might be especially beneficial for low-income countries, which have long suffered from weak currencies that are extremely susceptible to market fluctuations and inflation.
On the other hand, cybersecurity breaches, price volatility due to a lack of inherent value, scalability, and a lack of regulation and supervision by federal governments are all worries that keep investors away from Bitcoin. Nonetheless, cryptocurrencies may be here to stay, despite these potential barriers to mass adoption.
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Digital currency: Is cryptocurrency the next big thing? - The New Times
One of the most powerful DDoSes ever targets cryptocurrency platform – Ars Technica
A cryptocurrency platform was recently on the receiving end of one of the biggest distributed denial-of-service attacks ever after threat actors bombarded it with 15.3 million requests, content delivery network Cloudflare said.
DDoS attacks can be measured in several ways, including by the volume of data, the number of packets, or the number of requests sent each second. The current records are 3.4 terabits per second for volumetric DDoSeswhich attempt to consume all bandwidth available to the target809 million packets per second, and 17.2 million requests per second. The latter two records measure the power of application-layer attacks, which attempt to exhaust the computing resources of a targets infrastructure.
Cloudflare's recent DDoS mitigation peaked at 15.3 million requests per second. While still smaller than the record, its power was more considerable because the attack was delivered through HTTPS requests rather than HTTP requests used in the record. Because HTTPS requests are much more compute-intensive than HTTP requests, the latest attack had the potential to put much more strain on the target.
Cloudflare
The resources required to deliver the HTTPS request flood were also greater, indicating that DDoSers are growing increasingly more powerful. Cloudflare said that the botnet responsible, comprising about 6,000 bots, has delivered payloads as high as 10 million requests per second. The attack originated from 112 countries, with about 15 percent of the firepower from Indonesia, followed by Russia, Brazil, India, Colombia, and the United States.
Within those countries, the attack originated from over 1,300 different networks, Cloudflare researchers Omer Yoachimik and Julien Desgats wrote. They said that the flood of traffic mainly came from data centers, as DDoSes move away from residential network ISPs to cloud computing ISPs. Top data center networks included the German provider Hetzner Online GmbH (Autonomous System Number 24940), Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia (ASN 262186), and OVH in France (ASN 16276). Other sources included home and small office routers.
"In this case, the attacker was using compromised servers on cloud hosting providers, some of which appear to be running Java-based applications. This is notable because of the recent discovery of a vulnerability (CVE-2022-21449) that can be used for authentication bypass in a wide range of Java-based applications," Cloudflare VP of Product Patrick Donahue wrote in an email. "We also saw a significant number of MikroTik routers used in the attack, likely exploiting the same vulnerability that the Meris botnet did."
Cloudflare
The attack lasted about 15 seconds. Cloudflare mitigated it using systems in its network of data centers that automatically detect traffic spikes and quickly filter out the sources. Cloudflare didnt identify the target except that it operated a crypto launchpad, a platform used to help fund decentralized finance projects.
The numbers underscore the arms race between attackers and defenders as each attempts to outdo the other. It wont be surprising if a new record is set in the coming months.
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One of the most powerful DDoSes ever targets cryptocurrency platform - Ars Technica
1 Cryptocurrency With 5,400% Upside, According to Cathie Wood – The Motley Fool
Ark Invest Chief Executive Officer Cathie Wood has never shied away from bold predictions. In 2018, she put a price target on Tesla that implied a $672 billion market cap. Of course, Tesla has since exceeded that valuation by leaps and bounds -- but at the time, the company was worth just $56 billion.
Wood is also a well-known crypto bull. In fact, a recent report from Ark Invest suggests that Ethereum(ETH -0.20%) could achieve a valuation of more than $20 trillionin the next 10 years. That implies 5,400% upside from its current price. Given Wood's bullish outlook, let's take a closer look at this cryptocurrency.
Here's what you should know.
Ethereum has pushed the limits of blockchain technology. Rather than simply securing transaction data, the Ethereum blockchain allows developers to build self-executing computer programs known as smart contracts. That utility has revolutionized the industry, giving rise to a thriving ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps), decentralized finance (DeFi) services, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Not surprisingly, Ethereum has faced an onslaught of competition in recent years, and many rival blockchains are faster and cheaper. Even so, Ethereum still ranks as the most popular decentralized ecosystem of software and services. In fact, it powers nearly 75%of all dApps across any blockchain. Better yet, Ethereum accounted for 78% of all NFT sales last year, and it's the leading DeFi ecosystem, with $114 billioninvested on the platform.
DeFi services allow investors to lend, borrow, invest, and earn interest on money without involving banks or other financial institutions. To that end, DeFi makes financial services more efficient and more accessible. Case in point: The average U.S. savings account currently pays a 0.06% annual percentage yield (APY), but your return could be orders of magnitude higher in a DeFi protocol. For instance, the borrowing and lending platform Compoundcurrently pays 2.3%APY on USD Coin deposits, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Ark Invest sees Ethereum's leadership in DeFi services as a significant growth driver in the years ahead. That's true for two reasons: First, whenever an investor engages with a DeFi product, the transaction fees are paid in the native cryptocurrency. In the context of Ethereum, that means the ETH coin, also known as ether. Second, ether itself is the preferredcollateral in DeFi, according to Ark's research. To that end, rising adoption of DeFi should create demand for the ETH coin, pushing its price higher.
Image source: Getty Images.
NFTs are digital certificates of ownership. While the term NFT is most often associated with JPEG art like CryptoPunks, any asset can be tokenized on a programmable blockchain. For instance, healthcare records could be turned into NFTs to better protect patient privacy, and education transcripts could be turned into NFTs to streamline the college admissions process. Even physical assets like tickets, cars, real estate, and collectible items could be tokenized to simplify transactions and proof of ownership.
Given the potential, Ark sees Ethereum's leadership in NFTs as a key advantage. It costs money to mint and buy NFTs, and when those transactions take place on Ethereum, the ETH coin is used as payment. In other words, as the NFT market continues to grow, demand for ETH should drive its price higher.
As a final thought, many investors are familiar with OpenSea, the world's most popular NFT marketplace. It should come as no surprise that OpenSea is built on Ethereum (among other blockchains), but so is the recently launched Coinbase NFT marketplace. And given its position as the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, its new Coinbase NFT marketplace could strengthen Ethereum's competitive position in the coming years.
Ark makes a strong case for owning Ethereum. Yes, numerous competing blockchains are gaining ground, but Ethereum has maintained its market leadership despite soaring transaction fees. That says a lot about the platform's ability to create value for users. Better yet, a scaling solution is set to go live in 2023, supercharging Ethereum's throughput and lowering fees. That catalyst should reinforce its leadership position.
So can Ethereum soar 5,400% over the next decade? It's possible, though Ark's price target may be a little too optimistic. Regardless, Ethereum has positioned itself as a key enabler of DeFi services and NFT sales, and that advantage could create significant wealth for long-term investors. From that perspective, this cryptocurrency is worth buying.
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1 Cryptocurrency With 5,400% Upside, According to Cathie Wood - The Motley Fool
Cryptocurrency Prices Today April 26: Bitcoin up, Dogecoin biggest gainer – Moneycontrol
Most cryptocurrencies traded in the green early on April 26 as the global crypto market cap rose 3.12 percent over the last day to $1.87 trillion. The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hoursadvanced 41.63 percent to$97.60 billion.
The total volume in DeFistood at$10.79 billion, 11.06 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stable coins hovered around $81.59 billion, which is 83.60 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume.
Bitcoin's price stoodat Rs 32.34 lakh, with a dominance of 41.35 percent. This was a 0.12 percent increase over the last day, as per CoinMarketCap data.
In international news, the Bank of Canada Chief has said that the Canadian dollar will remain at the centre of the country's financial system, Reuters reported. This was in response to questions about a Conservative leadership candidate's pledge to make the country the blockchain capital of the world.
"There are promising benefits from innovation in the financial sector. Having said that, we certainly expect the Canadian dollar will remain at the centre of the Canadian financial system," Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said in testimony before a committee of the House of Commons.
The Bank of Canada is currently working on its own central bank digital currency, a so-called digital loonie, that could be launched if a private digital tender were to take off as a payment system.
In the corporate corner,Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has licenced the Kraken group to operate a regulated virtual asset exchange platform in the financial free zone, Reuters reported. Kraken is the first global virtual assets exchange group in the United Arab Emirates to receive a full financial licence from the ADGM, it said.
Kraken MENA (Middle East and North Africa) aims to provide access to virtual assets through regulated funding, trading, and custodial services in dirhams, UAE's currency.
Notably, UAE's main business hub, Dubai, has also been attracting crypto-currency firms as it issued its first law governing digital assets and formed the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) to oversee the sector in March.
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Cryptocurrency Prices Today April 26: Bitcoin up, Dogecoin biggest gainer - Moneycontrol
Top cryptocurrency prices today: Dogecoin, Ethereum, Terra rally up to 20%; Bitcoin above $40,500 – Economic Times
New Delhi: Despite volatility among riskier asset classes, crypto tokens were able to reverse the previous day's losses. Recent volatility is due to factors like inflation, the Ukraine crisis and the tightening of the monetary policies.
Barring the dollar-pegged Tether, all major crypto tokens were trading higher during the early hours on Tuesday. Dogecoin zoomed 20 per cent. Terra rallied 8 per cent, whereas Ethereum was up by 5 per cent.
Bitcoin and Ethereum recovered back in the past 24 hours. Seems like the short-term Bitcoin buyers have returned around the support level, said Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder of Mudrex.
The global cryptocurrency market cap was trading at $1.86 trillion, up over 3 per cent in the last 24 hours. However, the total cryptocurrency trading volume zoomed about 43 per cent to $97.88 billion.
"Fed representatives will meet in early May to make a decision on another rate hike, which could spell additional doom in risk assets," he added.
Global updatesTwitter has accepted a $54.20-a-share buyout offer from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, valuing the social media company at about $44 billion in cash. Once the deal is completed, Twitter will become a privately held company.
Crypto exchange Kraken has received a Financial Services Permission (FSP) license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to operate a regulated exchange platform in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Tech View by Giottus Crypto ExchangeBitcoin (BTC) has set itself up for interesting price action this week with several highlights during its last weekly close. Aside from being its lowest weekly close since early March, Bitcoins sub-$40,000 level was also its fourth red weekly close in a row - the first time since June 2020.
While charts indicated further downsides, BTC has closed significantly in the green today at $40,500. Now, once again, bulls and bears are facing off to determine the next direction.
But the bulls will certainly want a reclamation of the $43,000 level to establish a higher high and change its market structure on the larger time frame charts.
Key levelsSupport: $40,000, $39,500Resistance: $41,500, $42,000, $43,000
(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts' own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the asset/s mentioned.)
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Top cryptocurrency prices today: Dogecoin, Ethereum, Terra rally up to 20%; Bitcoin above $40,500 - Economic Times
Cryptocurrency heists are getting more ambitious and costlier to investors – CBS News
While 2022 has been a typically roller-coaster year for cryptocurrency buyers, it's shaping up to be exceptional for one group of virtual money enthusiasts: thieves. Criminals have already stolen more than $1 billion in crypto this year.
Attacks onCrypto.com in January,Wormhole in FebruaryandRonin Networklast month each resulted in multimillion-dollar losses. Cybersecurity experts say hackers are often target decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms with weak security. DeFi services are typically built on public blockchains, allowing users to exchange crypto back and forth without the need for an established financial institution like a bank or credit union.
"We should expect these types of [sophisticated] attacks to continue to increase, as more and more criminal organizations build DeFi-hacking skills in-house," Mitchell Amador, CEO at cybersecurity auditing firm Immunefi, told Yahoo Finance earlier this month. "Furthermore, as DeFi gets bigger and bigger, these kinds of attacks become more and more lucrative."
The most recent attack came last week when an unknown hacker stole $182 million from Beanstalk Farms the fourth-largest hack on a DeFi service to date. PeckShield, a blockchain security company in China, said thieves used a "flash loan" to exploit security weaknesses in Beanstalk. A flash loan is an unsecured loan that bypasses the need for collateral from the borrower by using smart contracts requiring repayment by the the end of a transaction usually within seconds or minutes.
A large portion of the $182 million that was drained went toward fees on exchange platforms, such as Uniswap and Aave, used to carry out the attack. In the end, the culprit tookhome 24,830 in ether and 36 million BEAN tokens. Beanstalk officials said in a blogpostthat the hackers made out with roughly $76 million of users' crypto holdings. It's unclear if Beanstalk, which launched last August, has been able to recover the stolen crypto.
PeckShield said the hacker laundered the stolen cryptocurrency usingTornado Cash, a service that lets users transfer crypto tokensanonymously.
Since the attack, users have contacted Beanstalk with their suggestions on how to tighten security. Beanstalk said in its blog post that it is taking those thoughts into consideration and "is preparing a strategy to safely re-launch a more secure Beanstalk with a path forward."
Hackers have already snatched more than $1.2 billion in crypto from DeFi platforms this year, according to Immunefi, compared $154 millionin the first quarter of 2021. In all of 2020, hackers stole a total of $162 million in crypto from DeFi platforms, according todata from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
"We've also seen significant growth in the usage of DeFi protocols for laundering illicit funds, a practice we saw scattered examples of in 2020 and that became more prevalent in 2021," Chainalysis said in a report. "DeFi protocols saw the most growth by far in usage for money laundering at 1,964%."
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Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
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Cryptocurrency heists are getting more ambitious and costlier to investors - CBS News
Cryptocurrency Is Risky. 5 Things Every Crypto Investor Should Know – CNET
Robert Rodriguez/CNET This story is part of Power Money Moves, CNET's coverage of smart money decisions for today's changing world.
Cryptocurrency is quickly becoming a red-hot tool for some people bent on making money through investing in digital coinage. Crypto is also controversial and can be wildly volatile. To some, bitcoin, stablecoin and NFTs represent a step forward for investors -- a kind of "Money 2.0." Advocates point to crypto's potential to democratize finance and power the metaverse. To others, cryptocurrency is simply a new, digital form of an old con primed to swindle and scam. Still others consider the whole endeavor an empty bubble, destined to burst.
In simple terms, cryptocurrency is a digital token whose ownership is recorded on a blockchain, a distributed software ledger that no one controls -- this is designed to make it more secure, in theory. Bitcoin and ethereum are the two most widely known flavors of crypto, but more than 18,000 tokens are traded under different names (Dogecoin is one infamous example).
Despite the seesawing prices and lack of regulation, cryptocurrency is moving mainstream as the next financial frontier. Developments like President Joe Biden's desire to explore a digital US dollar to four multimillion dollar Super Bowl ads underscore a growing desire from powerful government and corporate institutions to quickly legitimize crypto in much the same way as stocks and bonds.
But does that make cryptocurrency a smart investment for you?
"Cryptocurrency is one of those categories of investing that doesn't have those traditional investor protections," said Gerri Walsh, senior vice president of Investor Education at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. "They're outside the realm of securities trading. It's an area that's in flux, as far as regulations go."
Professionals caution that investors shouldn't put more than they can lose into crypto, which offers few safeguards, plenty of pitfalls and a spotty track record. If you're thinking about adding crypto to your portfolio, here are five key considerations before you begin.
Read more:Best Bitcoin and Crypto Wallets for 2022
The simplest way to get your feet wet with crypto investments is to use US dollars to buy a cryptocurrency using a popular exchange like Coinbase, Binance or FTX. A handful of well-known payment apps -- including Venmo, PayPal and Cash App -- will let you buy and sell cryptocurrency, though they generally have limited functionality and higher fees.
Whether you're using Coinbase, Binance, Venmo or PayPal, you'll be required to provide some sensitive personal and financial information -- including an official form of identification. (So much for bitcoin's reputation for anonymous transactions.)
Once your account is set up, it's dead simple to transfer money into it from your bank. And the barrier to entry is quite low: The minimum trade amount is $2 on Coinbase and $15 on Binance.
Crypto is so new, there isn't enough data yet to decide how much of your portfolio "should" be in cryptocurrency, according to Cesare Fracassi, who runs the Blockchain Initiative at the University of Texas, Austin.
"We need decades of returns in order to understand whether a specific asset is good in a portfolio," Fracassi said. "We know that on average stocks return about 6% more than bonds. That's because we've had 60 to 100 years to see the average returns on stocks and bonds."
Like all investment decisions, how much you pour into crypto will depend on your risk tolerance. But investment professionals suggest that investors keep their exposure low -- even for those who are all-in on the technology. Anjali Jariwala, a certified financial planner and founder of Fit Advisors, recommends that clients allocate no more than 3% of their portfolio into crypto.
Before investing in crypto, you should know there's almost no protection for crypto investors. And since this virtual currency is extremely volatile and driven by hype, that's a problem. It's easy to get caught up in tweets, TikToks and YouTube videos touting the latest coin -- but the adrenaline rush of a market spike can easily be washed away with a dramatic crash.
You should be on the lookout for crypto scams. One often-used scheme is apump and dump, in which scammers encourage people to buy a certain token, causing its value to rise. When it does, the scammers sell out, often pushing the price down for everyone else. These scams are prominent, and they took in more than $2.8 billion worth of crypto in 2021.
From the US government's current policy perspective, you're on your own. At this time, the government provides no deposit protection for crypto as it does for bank accounts. This may change following Biden's Marchexecutive order, which directed government agencies to investigate the risks and potential benefits of digital assets.
Best we can tell, only one company offers crypto insurance: Breach Insurance, whose Crypto Shield promises to cover your accounts from hacks. Other companies, such as Coincover, provides theft protection, which alerts you if there's suspicious activity on your account. Coincover maintains an insurance-backed guarantee that if its technology fails, it will pay you back up to the amount you're eligible for, which depends on the level of protection the wallet you use offers. (Neither Coincover nor Breach Insurance insures you against scams.)
Despite all the hype, scams and risks inherent in this market, Fracassi still thinks crypto has a viable future ahead of it.
"I think crypto holds a possible solution to some of the problems of the traditional financial sector," Fracassi said. "The current, traditional financial system is non-inclusive, it's slow and expensive and incumbents, including large banks and financial institutions, basically have a lot of control. I think crypto is a venue through which you can actually break the system."
Yes. Whether you're buying, selling or exchanging crypto, the IRS wants to know about it. Your tax liability depends on your particular situation, but crypto investments are broadly treated like other investments, including stocks and bonds.
You don't need to report crypto on your tax return if you didn't sell or exchange it for another type of crypto. Buying and holding also doesn't need to be reported. If you did sell or exchange crypto, though, you'll need to report any gains or losses realized, just like you would for stocks and bonds.
Adding crypto trades won't make your tax return any easier. But popular tax software like TurboTax, CoinTracker and Koinly now connect with wallets and exchanges to automatically track your cryptocurrency holdings, sales and transfers.
Buying tokens is the most straightforward approach to crypto. But other opportunities exist for exploring the crypto world while potentially protecting your money from seesawing swings.
Here are a handful of alternatives:
Buy shares of crypto companies. Many companies in the crypto space are publicly traded. Buying shares of Coinbase Global or PayPal Holdings rather than of the coin itself allows you to benefit from the business proceeds of these companies, which are in part generated by crypto. You can also buy shares of companies that make crypto-related hardware, such as Nvidia and AMD.
Invest in crypto ETFs or derivatives. Specialized exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are available for crypto. ETFs are baskets of securities, such as stocks, commodities and bonds, that follow an index or sector, in this case, crypto. Futures and options are also available for some crypto products, though these advanced types of investment vehicles come with their risks.
Get a job in crypto. LinkedIn, Indeed and Monster list thousands of jobs in crypto. Whether you've got a traditional finance background or you're a software engineer, there's a boom in the blockchain labor market. There's also Cryptocurrency Jobs, a job board dedicated to blockchain careers.
Whether you'll plunge into crypto waters is ultimately up to you, but bear in mind it isn't the only place to start your investing journey. And beyond crypto, there are other digital assets to consider, too, including NFTs. But if you do take the plunge, be sure to invest in a good wallet to keep your digital currency safe.
Read more:Air Travel Is More Expensive in 2022: Here Are Smart Ways to Save Money When You Fly
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Cryptocurrency Is Risky. 5 Things Every Crypto Investor Should Know - CNET
Watch Out for the Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Available on Binance Exchange – Analytics Insight
The popularity digital currencies enjoy has surely made investors invest in cryptocurrencies
There is no doubt that cryptocurrencies are trending worldwide. It seems like ages when only a select range of investors was keen on investing in crypto. In present times, there is hardly any person who hasnt thought about investing in cryptocurrency. With differing degrees of utility, adoption, and promise, the cryptocurrency market has managed to garner attention from every corner of the globe. The attention and popularity that the digital currencies enjoy have surely made investors decipher as to which are the best cryptocurrencies to invest in. This article lists the top 10 cryptocurrencies that are available on the Binance exchange.
Current price: US$41,888
Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency and is a peer-to-peer online currency. BTC runs on the blockchain, or a ledger logging transaction distributed across a network of thousands of computers. Because additions to the distributed ledger are verified through a cryptographic puzzle, Bitcoin uses the proof of work algorithm to keep the transactions safe and secure.
Current price: US$3,099
Ethereum rose to prominence after its introduction of smart contracts. The crypto is a favorite of program developers because of its potential applications, like smart contracts that automatically execute when conditions are met, along with its NFT capabilities. Ethereum experienced tremendous growth and volatility in the past couple of months, increasing more than 27,000% since its inception.
Current price: US$1.00
Tether is useful for crypto investors because it offers a way to avoid the extreme volatility of other cryptocurrencies. This creates liquidity for exchange platforms, creates no-cost exit strategies for investors, and adds flexibility and stability to investors portfolios.
Current price: US$420.60
Binance Coin is a product of the Binance exchange. Binance is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of the trading volume. It supports more than 100 cryptocurrencies to trade. BNB coin is used to perform certain operations over the Binance exchange, such as exchange fees, withdrawal fees, and listing fees. The Binance team is providing a discount on fees if the user uses a BNB coin to pay the fees.
Current price: US$1.00
USD Coin is known as a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Cryptocurrencies like USD Coin provide confidence to crypto investors to be present in the volatile cryptocurrency market and earn profit in a slow and steady process. The tokens are ensured with ERC-20 smart contracts.
Current price: US$$0.75
XRP is one of the top cryptocurrencies to help crypto investors yield profit other than Bitcoin. It is a digital asset built for payments and can be sent directly without any central authority. It acts as the most reliable crypto with the potential to source liquidity on demand.
Current price: US$106.97
Solana is a highly functional open-source project that banks on blockchain technologys permissionless nature to provide DeFi solutions. The Solana protocol is designed to facilitate decentralized app creation. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history consensus, along with the underlying proof-of-stake consensus of the blockchain. Also, due to its innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana enjoys interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike.
Current price: US$95.06
LUNA is the native token of the Terra blockchain ecosystem. LUNA is down in the last 24 hours but showing the least losses of major crypto 0.06%. LUNAs price has been rocketing up this year and at the beginning of March was showing over 80% price increase in the previous seven days.
Current price: US$0.95
Cardano is one of the top competitors of Ethereum, like Bitcoin, in this highly volatile cryptocurrency market as a proof-of-stake blockchain platform. This cryptocurrency combines cutting-edge technologies to offer unparalleled security and sustainability to DAapps. The token is designed to ensure crypto investors can participate in the network operation.
Current price: US$78.58
Avalanche is one of the popular cryptocurrencies that is emerging as the crypto with potential in 2022 and beyond. It helps to create a unified global financial market to trade digital currency in a seamless way. This crypto with potential is known for the proof-of-stake consensus algorithm in the development of Dapps.
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Watch Out for the Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Available on Binance Exchange - Analytics Insight
Cryptocurrency should be treated like an asset: CrossTower Indias Vikas Ahuja – The Financial Express
Indian cryptocurrency exchange CrossTower regulates digital assets trading and investing for institutional and professional traders. With the launch of its personalised over the counter (OTC) services, it aims to help high net-worth individuals with trading in cryptocurrency assets by providing liquidity information on various cryptocurrencies. In conversation with FE.coms Ritarshi Banerjee, Vikas Ahuja, chief executive officer, CrossTower India, talks about the companys revenue projections and the growth potential of Indian markets. (edited excerpts)
With cryptocurrency investments rising for the past two years, what was CrossTower Indias revenue growth for FY22. What about FY23?
We have been in the Indian market for just six-seven months, as our products were launched on September 7, 2021. The products are taking time to stabilise because we are adding features to them. Still, in this span of time, we have acquired almost 5,00,000 customers. In terms of trading volume and revenue growth, it is at the preliminary stage as we havent started with our marketing campaigns but we are anticipating growth.
What is CrossTower Indias marketing strategy, and how much has it invested in that area?
The areas we will focus on include digital, social media, webinars, podcasts, print and TV, amongst others. In fact, we plan to have a session with industry veterans soon. The objective is to educate customers and traders. Neither do we give investment advice, nor do we market cryptocurrency as a getting rich scheme. Cryptocurrency needs to be treated like any asset class, with thorough analysis and study before one invests. So, the core message behind our mentioned marketing strategies would be to educate the customers. At CrossTower, we believe that customers should be acquainted with details before buying and selling tokens. For the coming quarter, we want to focus on marketing.
How will CrossTower Indias crypto investment plan (CIP) benefit the customers?
We have launched two schemes. The asset-bucketing scheme has been created for using mutual funds so customers can utilise their digital wallets, and the real-product scheme for customers to keep their cryptocurrency tokens as collateral which would reward them with a rate of interest. In addition, we are working on a simulation platform where people would be able to buy and sell using simulated digital currency.
How does CrossTower India assist budding cryptocurrency platform developers?
Our entire technology is based on blockchain, which has a number of user cases. Cryptocurrency and NFTs are applications to that technology. If NFTs are utilised properly, it can help not only young cryptocurrency developers but also other sections of the society such as tribal arts. We have just launched our beta version of the NFT platform, along with having training programs for blockchain developers. India has got talented developers is what we believe in.
In a regulations lacking country like India, how can one maintain their cryptocurrency portfolio?
We, as an exchange, remain focused towards KYC. With the regulatory clarity still missing in India, we make sure to follow all the standards and protocols assuming regulations will be implemented soon. A customer should invest only with that exchange which has a proven infrastructure and is backed by a technology-based team. A thorough research on the company must also be done. Since the day we launched, there has been no down-time. Our infrastructure has been made for institutional clients, which ensured our running of operations even in the days of heavy trading. My advice to all young developers is for them to have a background research on the exchange before investing.
In terms of growth, where do you see cryptocurrency markets for years to come?
For answering this question, we need to take into account the development of bitcoin throughout the years, and how companies have started to accept it. For example, online payments company PayPal has started to allow customers to trade in cryptocurrencies on their platforms. With currencies going digital, I feel that theyll have an important role to play in economies for upcoming years.
Where do you see the Indian cryptocurrency market in terms of financial stability?
I believe India has the potential to grow. According to a recent survey, 85% of Indians see an opportunity to start a firm versus 251% of the global average population. Indians have an entrepreneurial mindset with risk taking abilities. In 2016, we had approximately 1 million cryptocurrency traders and now, we have around 15 million. Given these demographics of India, I feel its cryptocurrency space will grow. We need support from the government and banking systems. The cryptocurrency industry should be regulated and taxed. Traditionally, we have seen India as an exporter of manpower to the west but if it starts creating products based on this blockchain technology, it could attract foreign investments. The industry needs to be managed properly, but there is an opportunity for growth.
Explained: Cryptocurrency, football sponsorships and why a Liverpool shirt deal could be controversial – The Athletic
With gambling deals on the wane, cryptocurrency companies are the latest wave of controversial cash to flood into football, with many top European clubs having deals with companies in the sector.
The latest and perhaps most significant yet may be Liverpool who, at the same time as attempting to win a quadruple on the field, are in talks off it with a number of companies from different areas, including cryptocurrency firms, to replace Standard Chartered on the front of the iconic red shirts next year as revealed by David Ornstein.
Were they to strike a deal they would be the first Premier League club to have a cryptocurrency firm as their front of shirt sponsor.
Here The Athletic explains what cryptocurrencies are, the deals firms have already signed with clubs and whether there should be any concerns about partnering with them.
What are cryptocurrencies and who is in the mix for Liverpools shirt sponsorship deal?
Cryptocurrencies are digital assets based on blockchain technology, the computer networks which underpin the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The firms in the race for Liverpools shirt include a crypto exchange firm a platform to buy and sell digital currency and a blockchain platform, a decentralised computer network that underpins cryptocurrencies.
These sorts of firms are increasing their presence in sport but are controversial for reasons including the environmental impact of their products and an association with volatile financial speculation.
Which other major crypto sponsorship deals have there been in sport?
In football, many top European clubs including Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus have big money sponsorship deals with Socios.
This fan engagement company creates cryptocurrency tokens that grant access to polls and rewards, but an investigation by The Athletic revealed the companys products are subject to frantic pumping and dumping by people who see the volatile tokens as financial investments.
The Italian top flights technology sponsor is cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, meaning VAR announcements on Italian TV come with a shout-out for crypto punto com. The website will also sponsor this years FIFA World Cup.
In the USA, big-money crypto sponsors are even more established. Crypto.com recently signed a massive 20-year, $700 million sponsorship deal with the Los Angeles arena, previously known as the Staples Centre, home to multiple sports teams including the LA Lakers and LA Clippers of the NBA.
The firm also has deals with Formula 1 and UFC (the Ultimate Fighting Championship).
FTX, another big exchange, has a deal with Major League Baseball, and has given its name to Miami Heats basketball arena in Florida.
There are many more cryptocurrency firms in different sports around the world appearing on jerseys and renaming stadiums.
Why is a crypto sponsor controversial?
First, carrying out cryptocurrency transactions using blockchain technology requires extensive computing power, which is directly associated with guzzling energy and therefore environmental destruction.
This is particularly true for the original Bitcoin blockchain. Later versions such as the Tezos blockchain which sponsors Manchester Uniteds training kit, and the Polygon blockchain which underpin Liverpools collection of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) say they are more environmentally friendly.
Second, and more fundamentally, critics argue that cryptocurrencies have no real purpose beyond financial speculation. The word cryptocurrency is a bit of misnomer because few people use this technology for buying goods or services. Far more common is using them as digital assets to try to make money. But unlike conventional assets like company stocks or commodities like gold or oil, cryptocurrencies are not linked to any tangible entity.
This means some go so far as likening the entire industry to a Ponzi scheme, where cash is transferred from late investors to early investors, who make money simply by buying low and selling high, with no product of tangible value being generated at any point.
Many cryptocurrencies, most famously Bitcoin, have ballooned in value since their creation, making some people very rich. But over the past year or two as the industry has become more established, these sorts of gains have become harder to come by and lots of people have lost money.
Another concern about cryptocurrency exchanges is that being such a new form of technology, the laws and regulations dont always apply to them.
Furthermore, some cryptocurrency exchanges offer many products, some of which, though legal in the exchanges home country are illegal in the country where the product is being marketed.
For example, during Liverpools recent thrilling draw with Manchester City, OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange, was prominently advertised at the Etihad Stadium.
A look at this companys website shows that the company deals heavily in crypto derivatives, which are banned from sale to UK consumers because they are deemed too risky for retail investors. There is no suggestion club or company is breaking UK law and the company itself is free to advertise here.
The financial structures of some of these companies are poorly understood, meaning we dont know if they are borrowing huge sums to fund these sports sponsorships, with the road to future profitability less clear.
What are the upsides?
Put simply, there is lots of money in this. The cryptocurrency industry is booming around the world and the sums being funnelled into sport are vast.
Maintaining a football club at the very top tier of international competition is increasingly expensive, with wages endlessly on the rise, and no cost controls like in American sports which implement salary caps.
While some clubs enjoy the luxury of financing from a state-linked entity, or, until recently, an oligarch willing to stomach huge personal losses for sporting glory, Liverpool are not in that position and Fenway Sports Group try to operate in a fairly sustainable way.
The clubs achievements have been exceptional over the past few years, but it will be difficult to sustain those levels without going toe-to-toe with rivals financially.
Cryptocurrency advocates also claim there are lots of positives about the technology itself, such as enabling payments across borders and across jurisdictions, such as in warzones or countries with poor banking systems.
Do Liverpool have any history with crypto?
The club recently launched a collection of NFTs, a sort of digital asset based on blockchain technology in the form of cartoon images of Liverpool players, which can be traded online.
The sale was not a success, with the club selling only around 10 per cent of the NFTs available, raising only around $1 million, less than 0.5 per cent of the clubs commercial revenue last year. There was also a backlash from fans.
The club also has a sponsorship deal with Think Markets, a trading app which offers cryptocurrency trading as a product.
What are the risks of a cryptocurrency deal?
Given the sector is growing so quickly despite almost no regulation, perhaps the biggest risk aside from a gigantic crypto crash that causes investors to desert the sector is not something that is obvious right now.
These firms are involved in moving money around the globe in ways that is barely understood, let alone regulated, meaning cryptocurrency exchanges are constantly working to steer on the right side of the law and not fall foul of prohibitions on money laundering or being used to fund illegal activities.
The biggest risk is that a club will sign a deal with a company that one day explodes spectacularly, or is embroiled in scandal and controversy in a way that is perhaps barely even conceivable at the moment the deal is signed, while the cryptocurrency hype is raging and while the values of digital assets are generally going up.
Although partnering with one of these controversial companies may be the best way for a club like Liverpool to help bankroll footballing glory, before they swap Standard Chartered for a new logo, they may want to make sure they are getting paid for the privilege in dollars or pounds, not crypto.
(Top photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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Explained: Cryptocurrency, football sponsorships and why a Liverpool shirt deal could be controversial - The Athletic