Category Archives: Cryptocurrency
Russia wants to use cryptocurrency to skirt sanctions, but is it practical? – Ledger Insights
Yesterday Russias Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseevsaidthat the Central Bank of Russia, which has resisted moves to legalize cryptocurrency, was willing to contemplate using cryptocurrency for cross border payments.
To date, the Ministry of Finance and the central bank have taken opposing positions regarding cryptocurrency, with the central bank objecting to proposed Ministry of Finance legislation to legalize the sector.
Russian news outletRIA Novosticontacted the central bank, which confirmed that it was only discussing cryptocurrency to settle cross border transactions. It emphasized the discussions are not about legalizing cryptocurrency within the country for payment nor for cryptocurrency exchanges.
Another newspaper,Kommersant, explored the practicality of using cryptocurrency to settle corporate payments. One businessman runs a fashion house and mainly deals with French and Italian companies. He was unconvinced his business partners would be technically comfortable dealing with cryptocurrencies as many are family companies.
Another manages a Moscow furniture store and was personally concerned about cryptocurrency volatility and viewed them as a toy for speculative investors. However, he mentioned the possibility of stablecoins but was aware of the collapse of Terra.
The real question is whether or not the effort is worthwhile because foreign regulators are likely to respond. Cryptocurrency exchanges might be loathe to breach sanctions for fear of being denied licenses elsewhere. And self-hosted wallets might prove a step too far for corporates unfamiliar with the technology.
The transparency of cryptocurrencies and blockchain means the Russian destination for payments is likely to become obvious unless they are routed elsewhere, such as via Hong Kong.
Given discussions between the Ministry of Finance and the central bank are still ongoing, a range of possibilities could be pursued. These include a bespoke digital asset, even a digital ruble.
The Central Bank of Russia has acknowledged that it has accelerated work on a central bank digital currency and sees it as away to circumvent SWIFT. Earlier this month, it said pilots would start in 2023. Additionally, in June, state-owned defense firmRostecannounced it had developed an alternative to SWIFT in international settlements.
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Russia wants to use cryptocurrency to skirt sanctions, but is it practical? - Ledger Insights
Cryptocurrency price today: Bitcoin slips 6%, Polygon MATIC, Avalanche down over 10% as crypto markets bleed red – Business Today
Cryptocurrency prices are in the deep red this Wednesday morning. The global cryptocurrency market cap is down by 6.14 per cent from Tuesdays levels. The cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinMarketCap showed that the global crypto market cap is at $942.50 billion. The total cryptocurrency market volume over the last 24 hours stands at $88.80 billion, 44.67 per cent higher than Tuesday. Bitcoins dominance is at 38.23 per cent, a decrease of 0.08 per cent over the day.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB
Mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB have taken a steep dip over the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is trading at $18,835 and is down by 6.11 per cent. Ethereum blockchain networks Ether showed a downtrend of 7.72 per cent. The cryptocurrency token is trading at $1,532. BNB crypto, native to Binance Smart Chain, witnessed a downtrend of 7.56 per cent.
USDT, USDC, BUSD, and DAI
Stablecoins USDT and USDC have gained over the last 24 hours while BUSD and DAI have slipped down.
USDT Tether stablecoin gained 0.01 per cent in its value over the last 24 hours and is trading at $1. USDC witnessed a 0.01 per cent positive change in its value over the last 24 hours. The stablecoin is trading at $0.9999.
BinanceUSD or BUSD slipped 0.02 per cent and is trading at $1. Stablecoin DAI fell 0.05 per cent and is trading at $0.9994.
Layer 1 blockchain tokens
Cryptocurrency tokens native to Layer 1 blockchain networks like Solana, Ripple, and Avalanche also witnessed a downtrend over the last 24 hours.
Cardano's ADA token is down 8.94 per cent. Solana blockchain networks SOL fell by 6.87 per cent. Avalanche's AVAX slipped by 10.38 per cent. Ripple blockchains XRP has fallen 6.23 per cent.
Polkadot and Polygon
Polkadot blockchain networks DOT token is in the red. The cryptocurrency token is down by 9.78 per cent. Polygons MATIC crypto token has slipped by 10.36 per cent over the last 24 hours.
Memecoins
Both mainstream meme crypto coins, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu witnessed a huge downtrend. Dogecoin is down a whopping 8.66 per cent, whereas meme crypto Shiba Inu is down a significant 6.53 per cent over the last 24 hours.
Overall, the majority of top cryptocurrency tokens have slipped down from their previous positions over the last 24 hours.
Also Read:Cryptocurrency price today: Ethereum, Polygon, Cardano in green; Bitcoin, memecoins Doge and Shiba Inu down - BusinessToday
Also Read:Cryptocurrency price today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Shiba Inu in green, Dogecoin down; majority tokens gain - BusinessToday
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Cryptocurrency price today: Bitcoin slips 6%, Polygon MATIC, Avalanche down over 10% as crypto markets bleed red - Business Today
Whats the Cryptocurrency Market Like in Cuba? – Havana Times
By Alberto C. Toppin (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES Many Cubans hadnt heard of cryptocurrency, four years ago. They were just about beginning to have Internet access and they didnt know words like bitcoin and blockchain.
However, people are talking about a cryptocurrency market today, with users from every province. Twitter account Space spoke about the development, prospects and challenges for this market on How is the cryptocurrency market in Cuba?, with input from business founders linked to the crypto world.
Interviewees pointed out many reasons for why cryptocurrency was adopted in the beginning as a form of payment. The current cryptocurrency situation is linked to Cubas informal market of the dollar and euro, and is a consequence of measures implemented in 2019 with the opening of stores that only accept MLC (a magnetic currency used with prices in USD), Adrian C. Leon weighed in, the founder of Fusyona, one of the first exchanges that offered cryptocurrency to Cuban customers this year.
The decision to introduce MLC left informal buyers & sellers without access to the currency they needed to travel and affected their businesses to a great extent, Leon continues, talking about the people who would leave Cuba to buy products they then sold on the island. With their businesses hit hard, both sellers and other Cubans chose to emigrate, and to do that they needed to withdraw over the 5,000 USD which Customs allows you to take in cash. Peoples best bet was cryptocurrency, he pointed out.
According to Adrian C. Leon, the migration crisis that has persisted for years has meant that more Cubans are outside of the country and need to send remittances back to their families on the island. People who knew about cryptocurrency are still using it, he says, referring to crypto as a means to send money to Cuba without going through Government hands.
Transfer of value is the main focus given to cryptocurrency in Cuba today, which is its inherent nature, explained Erich Garcia Cruz, founder of BitRemesas and QvaPAy; two well-known Cuban businesses that work with cryptoactives. This transfer of value translates into remittances, in reserve. There are many people who prefer to save their incomes or buy cryptocurrency to hustle, he added.
Garcia Cruz also revealed other benefits of using cryptocurrency in the Cuban context, especially in the business world. I like people to also discover all of the potential crypto has to set up virtual stores, to buy or sell services online or products in and outside of Cuba for Cubans, he said.
However, he added that these benefits arent being capitalized on yet among the business community. Right now, the focus is on sending remittances or financial speculation between themselves, in regard to MLC, he pointed out.
The influencer also advocated for the use of crypto as a channel to for businesses to grow, not as a means to an end. Cubans with CUP (regular pesos) couldnt buy anything on the Internet before; now, a Cuba with CUP can, via a service.
According to Mario Mazzola, founder of the Qbita exchange, the existence of unclear investment schemes also led to many Cuban fans of cryptocurrency. The reality is lots of people were scammed, but it played a very important role in teaching people about the subject. Maybe people dipped their toes in this world for the wrong reason, with the idea of magically making millions, but they learned a lot of useful things about technology, about how it works and how to manage a digital wallet.
Mazzola also pointed out that the idea of looking for millions with cryptocurrency led some Cubans to invest their money in cryptoactives and wait for the value to go up, an investment strategy called holding. It worked for some people; others didnt understand what the real value of this technology was in the beginning, they let themselves follow promises of magic profits, and we know how that story ends.
During Space, Abraham Calas, elTOQUEs development and innovation director, presented the updated representative rate for cryptocurrency on the informal market, as well as a calculator to understand the equivalent in cryptocurrency of a certain sum in Cuban money (CUP or MLC). The calculator uses the values of the rate as a reference.
In regard to tolls and challenges for adopting cryptocurrency, Cuban businessman Luilver Garces pointed out that you should always seek out final products that are digestible. If you are able to get a child to understand what cryptocurrency is, youve won; if you are able to get your grandmother to understand what cryptocurrency is, youve won but you wont until this happen, theres still a lot of work to be done, he said.
One of the interesting things that can be seen the most in the Cuban crypto market is the dollar being taken as a fraction of cryptocurrencies. On this subject, Erich Garcia Cruz said that this phenomenon happens because of peoples fear of the volatility of prices. People always structure buying or selling prices against the dollar.
This experience has taught me that many people have come from using other currencies, not necessarily crypto, Liuver Garces explains, referring to the job of platforms such as PayPal. The phenomenon of putting cryptocurrency against the dollar as a reference during operations maybe comes from the fact people started off talking in dollars, he says.
About differences between prices on the Cuban and international markets, Adrian C. Leon explained that its a consequence of the decentralization of cryptocurrency. The price of bitcoin in Cuba has nothing to do with the price in the US, with the price in Brazil, and this is going to happen with other countries.
Cryptocurrency hasnt been adopted on a mass scale in Cuba yet and Mario Mazzola has pointed out that this may be because of the way it works, as it focuses on peer to peer operations and you need a digital wallet. It isnt so easy for somebody who isnt highly motivated to embark on this learning journey.
According to Mazzola, the lack of trust that unclear investment schemes created also had an impact and meant that people decided not to use cryptoactives, in addition to price volatility.
Liulver Garcia belives that peoples late access to the Internet on a mass scale in Cuba, in 2018, has meant that there isnt a lot of know-how on subjects linked to blockchain and cryptocurrency such as bitcoin. First of all, we need to computerize the country, learn a whole load of concepts that werent born yesterday with the Internet from four years ago up until now, but that exist and existed even before the Internet, such as privacy and data protection, he explained.
The challenge is more educational rather than technological, Erich Garcia Cruz pointed out. There are processes with cryptocurrency that dont exactly require actors to know what a private key is or how to encode a transaction on the blockchain, he said. Plus, he cited the Moon Wallet a digital wallet that allows instant bitcoin transactions as an example, and the lack of knowledge about how it works exactly.
In the last section of Space, some interviewees offered their point of view on what would be the best step to take in a context where bitcoin has very low prices. If the bitcoin is below 20,000 right now which isnt the case, its higher -, Id wait for it to go down to 15,000, for example, to go out and buy; and if I have bitcoin I bought cheap, Id wait for it to go to 30,000, Luilver Garces said.
If you believe in bitcoin, its better to buy it when its worth 20,000 and not when its worth 68,000, Mario Mazzola recommended, explaining that it isnt a good idea to sell personal assets to do this.
My greatest recommendation is always to follow the basic rule of trading (buying/selling to make a profit), which is never to invest any more than youre willing to lose, Adrian C. Leon, founder of Fusyona, said.
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Investment and crypto scams on the rise as fraudsters take advantage of cost of living crisis – iNews
Investments that appear too good to be true may be a scam waiting to happen, as figures shows that the number of fake investment opportunities has risen in the last year.
A growing number of investment scams involve cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in some capacity as criminals aim to take advantage of the cost of living crisis, the latest complaints data from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) show.
Scams often involve someone being persuaded to buy cryptocurrency through a legitimate intermediary and then sending money to what they believe is a genuine investment platform, which is in reality operated by fraudsters.
In cases of investment fraud, the FOS said it has seen examples of consumers being scammed out of tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The ombudsman said that it received 570 complaints from customers about investment fraud, making up 30 per cent of its total complaints volume in the first quarter of the financial year. This is up from 500 complaints, or 21 per cent, last year.
The FOS upheld around 60 per cent of investment fraud complaints in consumers favour between April and June this year.
Other scams appear to be dropping off in popularity, according to the FOS data: impersonation scams, which include so-called safe account fraud, accounted for 627 complaints, or 33 per cent of customer queries, while those involving missing goods remained consistent with last years figures at 25 per cent of total complaints.
Nausicaa Delfas, interim chief executive and chief ombudsman at the FOS, said: We are concerned that, in current economic circumstances, people could be tempted to invest in fake investments.
Our advice to consumers is be wary, conduct their own research, check the FCA register and contact the firm directly on the number listed.
If people feel they have been treated unfairly by their bank, they should contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, and we will see whether we can help.
Rocio Concha, Which?s director of policy and advocacy, said that fraudsters would be even more active in the current economic climate.
Fraudsters are constantly refining their tactics in order to trick us into sending them money and will often use events, like the cost of living crisis, to help them, she said.
With millions of consumers seeing their budgets squeezed by rising prices, and with currently no savings account matching the rate of inflation, many will turn to alternative means in order to gain better returns on investment. Unfortunately, that often means falling into the hands of scammers, who are able to flood social media with paid-for advertising to promote bogus investment scams promising high returns.
Ms Concha also urged the government to pass the Online Safety Bill to put the onus on tech platform operators to police the content published by their users.
Separate data collated earlier this year by TSB found that almost one in every five transfers that the banks customers were making to cryptocurrency transfers were being reported as fraud.
It led to TSB deciding to the ability for customers to make cryptocurrency transfers as a way to protect them.
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Investment and crypto scams on the rise as fraudsters take advantage of cost of living crisis - iNews
New UK PM Liz Truss once said this on cryptocurrency. What to expect? | Mint – Mint
Mary Elizabeth Truss (Liz Truss) becomes the third female to serve as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She will be appointed as PM by Queen Elizabeth II on September 6. With that, the reign of former PM Boris Johnson has ended today. Expectations over reforms such as tax cuts, energy crises, and other long-term issues for economic growth have heightened with Truss taking the charge of UK. Notably, the cryptocurrency market also believes that Truss' new role could drive digital assets and bring in policy changes that don't constrain their potential.
In 2018, way before being a United Kingdom PM, Truss made positive remarks on cryptocurrencies in her tweets.
She tweeted on January 30, 2018, "we should welcome cryptocurrencies in a way that doesn't constrain their potential." To drive the potential of cryptocurrencies, Truss had suggested liberating free enterprise areas by removing regulations that restrict prosperity.
The leader of the Conservative Party has been serving as the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs since 2021 and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2019. She has taken Cabinet roles under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson.
She won the election after beating rival Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Dileep Seinberg, Founder & CEO, MuffinPay, Bill Payment & Utility Crypto said, "Liz Truss, the newly elected Prime Minister of the UK, gave her thumbs up to the cryptocurrencies in 2018, but we should wait for her latest stance as its been four years. Furthermore, she is responsible for serving the expectations of her fellow citizens and representing a nation at global forums. There is a lot more to go, and we are hopeful that something positive will emerge in the days to come."
However, Seinberg also added, "her election to represent the UK will likely boost the government's agenda for digital assets. She might be at the forefront & emerging as the new voice of crypto-led discussions at the global level, and the UK, a prominent G-20 Nation, may lead in the direction."
Further, Seinberg said, "Truss has been an anti-regulatory personality at the core of crypto assets. If she walks the talks as per what she said earlier, the UK may emerge as the crypto or Web3.0 capital of the world. If Truss had a vision, she would take it as a mission."
"A friendly and comprehensive approach might be on the platter in the coming days," he said.
On Monday, the global cryptocurrency market is trading on a positive note currently in both valuations and volume terms. Bitcoin and Ethereum, the giants of the market, were also in the green.
At the time of writing, the global market cap is around $982.95 billion up by 0.75% over the last day. Meanwhile, the total crypto market volume climbed 18.70% to $53.27 billion over the last 24 hours, as per CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin is near $19,900 and advanced nearly 1% in 24 hours. While Ethereum surged over 3% and is performing at a little over $1,600.
The cryptocurrency market is a unique platform for investments with great potential. Both private and public sectors are warming up towards cryptocurrencies as they accelerate a revolution in financial services. They have been gaining momentum in terms of trading, investments, buying and selling goods, and lending among others.
However, regulatory norms along with a lack of clarity in terms of data and management -- are some of the drawbacks. Cryptocurrencies are highly risky compared to other regulated market-related instruments, and sensitive driven.
At present, as per CoinMarketCap data, there are 20,865 cryptocurrencies with 525 exchanges.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint.
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New UK PM Liz Truss once said this on cryptocurrency. What to expect? | Mint - Mint
Cardano ($ADA) Cryptocurrency Cardano Decreases More Than 3% Within 24 hours – Benzinga
Over the past 24 hours, Cardano's ADA/USD price has fallen 3.84% to $0.47. This is opposite to its positive trend over the past week where it has experienced a 13.0% gain, moving from $0.44 to its current price.
The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Cardano over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.
The trading volume for the coin has climbed 39.0% over the past week, moving opposite, directionally, with the overall circulating supply of the coin, which has decreased 0.13%. This brings the circulating supply to 33.82 billion, which makes up an estimated 75.16% of its max supply of 45.00 billion. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for ADA is #8 at $15.97 billion.
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Cardano ($ADA) Cryptocurrency Cardano Decreases More Than 3% Within 24 hours - Benzinga
Avalanche ($AVAX) Cryptocurrency Avalanche’s Price Increased More Than 6% Within 24 hours – Benzinga
Over the past 24 hours, Avalanche's AVAX/USD price has risen 6.23% to $19.82. This is contrary to its negative trend over the past week where it has experienced a 1.0% loss, moving from $19.98 to its current price. As it stands right now, the coin's all-time high is $144.96.
The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Avalanche over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.
The trading volume for the coin has tumbled 35.0% over the past week while the circulating supply of the coin has risen 3.36%. This brings the circulating supply to 294.71 million, which makes up an estimated 40.93% of its max supply of 720.00 million. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for AVAX is #16 at $5.87 billion.
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Avalanche ($AVAX) Cryptocurrency Avalanche's Price Increased More Than 6% Within 24 hours - Benzinga
What Determines the Price of a Cryptocurrency? – The Crypto Basic – The Crypto Basic
Introduction
It is a fairly known fact that cryptocurrencies are one of the most volatile asset classes in history. It is not uncommon for cryptocurrency assets to record triple-digit gains or losses in a single day as they grapple with the forces of supply and demand.
This feature of cryptocurrencies has attracted daring traders to the markets looking to strike a fortune, while still keeping risk-averse investors away from the space. While it may seem like crypto prices have a mind of their own, there is a science behind these price fluctuations.
As traders walk the tightrope of wild price swings, the use of a coin price tracker like CoinStats is a sure-fire way to always stay one step ahead of the volatility. The crypto portfolio tracker has features like auto alerts, a stellar news aggregator, and access to enterprise-grade research tools to take trading to the next level.
Several factors play a role in the wild price swings including the utility, cost of creating new tokens, and government regulations amongst others. This piece will delve into details on what determines the price of a cryptocurrency and without further ado, lets dive right in.
Although cryptocurrencies stand apart from other types of assets, they are still governed by the forces of supply and demand. The general rule of thumb is that cryptocurrency prices increase when there is a spike in demand amongst traders, and an oversupply of a crypto asset will lead to a fall in prices.
To balance the forces of supply and demand, cryptocurrency projects have employed elaborate processes to control the circulation of tokens. Some of the processes are implemented in the token minting stage to regulate the creation of new tokens. For example, with each mined Bitcoin block, only a fixed amount of BTC enters into circulation. The use of a fixed maximum supply for cryptocurrencies is another method of maintaining equilibrium, with Bitcoin going the extra mile to introduce a halving feature to create scarcity.
Cryptocurrencies without a fixed maximum supply have adopted the strategy of burning existing tokens to put a lid on circulation. The common means of burning is to send the tokens to an unrecoverable address, and this strategy has been employed by projects like Shiba Inu and Ethereum to relative success.
The creation of new tokens plays an integral role in crypto prices. Cryptocurrencies, especially those with a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism, generate new tokens through mining, i.e. solving complex mathematical problems through computing power.
This method of crypto mining often requires the use of expensive mining equipment and large amounts of electricity supplies to function. Given the high costs of mining processes, miners will only be incentivized to secure the blockchain network when they will be sufficiently rewarded for their efforts.
The complexity of the mining process of a particular cryptocurrency contributes to an increase in its price. This is particularly evident in Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest crypto networks that have reached highs of $64,789 and $4,891 respectively, and consume the most electricity in their mining processes.
Cryptocurrency traders often approach the markets by focusing on technicals by peering at the charts for hours. However, reports and activities around a particular cryptocurrency project are often decisive in determining prices.
For instance, reports of technological advancement or a groundbreaking partnership will precede a bullish run. Ethereums London hard fork and Cardanos Alonzo hard fork were the precursors for the bullish runs that led to the all-time highs of their native tokens.
Negative reports around a cryptocurrency project will send prices crashing to rock bottom as it triggers waves of bearish sentiments. Reports of a security breach or a botched upgrade have historically led to falling prices, with the DAO hack of 2016 leading to Ethereums decline.
Cryptocurrency exchanges play important roles in determining the prices of crypto assets. Projects listed on the popular exchanges increase the options of investors, leading to increased demand. This spike in demand correlates to an increase in asset prices.
For crypto projects listed on smaller exchanges, retail and institutional investors will not have diverse options to invest capital in those projects. A study from Messari noted the phenomenon of the Coinbase Effect in which crypto tokens recorded a marked spike in their valuations after being listed on leading exchanges.
Crypto exchanges play the role of providing liquidity to cryptocurrency traders. Low levels of liquidity are often behind high market volatility, while the presence of high liquidity ensures that the price swings are not chaotic. Bitcoin and other large-cap cryptocurrencies do not experience triple-digit swings in a day, but cryptocurrencies with small caps are susceptible to increased levels of volatility.
The rise and fall of cryptocurrency prices can be linked to the actions of government agencies and legislative houses. One positive law giving cryptocurrencies legal status in a jurisdiction can send prices to new highs, and a crackdown on cryptocurrency activities can spell bearishness for prices.
Chinas infamous crackdown on cryptocurrency activities in 2021 nearly sent the ecosystem to a crypto winter, and the SECs prolonged court case with Ripple Labs has had an adverse effect on XRPs price.
On a positive note, the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. and the European Unions decision to not ban Proof-of-Work cryptocurrencies within its borders was a bullish moment for the crypto prices globally.
Cryptocurrency prices are determined by the interplay of several factors like government regulations, exchanges, media reports, and the duo of supply and demand. An understanding of these factors would be an added advantage for traders, helping them to make the right trading decisions.
Investors that are risk-averse may decide to stick with large-cap cryptocurrencies that do not have the downsides of erratic price changes, while those with a large risk appetite may wade to crypto assets with smaller market capitalization. Regardless of the side of the divide you stand on, a knowledge of the factors that determines cryptocurrency prices will be useful in navigating the markets.
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What Determines the Price of a Cryptocurrency? - The Crypto Basic - The Crypto Basic
The FCA and Cryptocurrency – Lexology
Syed Rahman of Rahman Ravelli considers the Financial Conduct Authoritys ongoing response to cryptocurrency-related issues and the cooperation between US and UK authorities.
In a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi talked of the benefits of the US and UK working together when it comes to cryptocurrency. His speech also outlined how he sees his agency responding to the challenges posed by crypto now and in the future.
Rathi spoke of the opportunities and risks associated with crypto, calling it a new product, easily accessible and able to operate cross-border that raised issues including consumer protection, market integrity, data privacy and financial crime. He cited the FCAs securing of an agreement with Google that it would not permit non-FCA verified firms to advertise financial products on its platform as an example of its achievements. He also outlined how the FCA sounded the alarm over supervising Binance and placed restrictions on it so it could not undertake any regulated activity in the UK without written consent.
The chief executive explained that the UK and US had held talks as part of the US-UK Financial Innovation Partnership, where there was an agreement reached to deepen ties on financial innovation after exchanging views on cryptoasset regulation and market developments. The UK, US and Singapore also announced the launch of the IOSCO (The International Organization of Securities Commissions) taskforce on decentralised finance and crypto market integrity risks.
While the FCAs remit is currently limited to anti-money laundering rules for platforms, it has applied those rules strictly; with what Rathi calls a significant number of firms having worked with the regulator to improve their controls and systems. He has said that the FCA has supported the development of many UK blockchain firms, with hundreds of companies going through its Innovation Hub programme that helps financial services firms launch innovative products and services.
The FCA held its CryptoSprints in May and June this year, where regulators, academics, industry experts and investors came together to discuss possible policy ideas in an attempt by the regulator to seek industry views about the crypto market and take soundings on how to design an appropriate regulatory regime. Rathi has said that those involved in this exercise viewed a regulatory regime for cryptoassets as a high priority and wanted any regulation phased in so that firms and investors could prepare and adapt to any rules that were introduced for cryptoassets.
The FCA has said its involvement with the Digital Regulators Cooperation Forum has boosted cooperation with the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the Competition Markets Authority (CMA), the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Having joined as a full member in April 2021 after having previously been an observer member it is working with fellow members to develop a coherent approach to regulation and policy making, promote innovation, strengthen international engagement and work alongside other regulators.
In his speech, Rathi referred to how much the FCA values its ongoing enforcement cooperation with US agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice. This, he believes, has created an important set of precedents that demonstrate the ability to act effectively on a global basis.
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The FCA and Cryptocurrency - Lexology
Bitcoin ($BTC), Litecoin ($LTC) Multitoken Cryptocurrency Systems Like This One Could Prove More Resi – Benzinga
The world of cryptocurrency mining is a highly competitive and often cutthroat business.
Although a major trend in recent years has been away from proof of work (PoW), a system that relies heavily on miners running equipment that mines new tokens through running intensive computations, and toward proof of stake (PoS), which relies primarily on validators locking large sums of tokens away, PoW remains an incredibly important cornerstone of the cryptoverse.
Bitcoin BTC/USD famously relies on PoW and the miners that participate and compete for new BTC. There exists an interesting phenomenon within the Bitcoin ecosystem that is a beautiful example of the principles of supply and demand made manifest. Every four years, the difficulty of the Bitcoin network doubles and with it, production is cut in half.
When this happens, the value of Bitcoin tends to trend upward as the market adapts to the decrease in new supply. However, this is a gradual trend and in the meantime, miners incomes have been cut in half. This means that many miners, especially individuals and small operations, are no longer profitable and without the necessary liquidity to wait until the price corrects, they must close shop.
And this trend is evident in the BTC mining community. What consisted of individual hobbyists, enthusiasts and renegades just 10 years ago has been replaced by big business. The vast majority of mining operations are now concentrated into companies with serious capital behind them, squeezing out the little guy.
Other coins that have employed this system, like Litecoin LTC/USD, have seen a similar pattern emerge but magnified because the price action has not compensated for the decreased production, leaving thousands of miners in the lurch.
The project Seasonal Tokens may be one example to have found a solution. The project consists of four tokens Summer SUMMER/USD, Autumn AUTUMN/USD, Winter WINTER/USD and Spring SPRING/USD that are designed to rise and fall in relative value to one another. Every nine months, a coins production is halved, going from most productive to least. Instead of this leading to an exodus of miners, those miners can now mine any of the other three seasons.
The project has reported evidence that this works, too. On June 5, SPRING production was cut in half. This made it unprofitable to mine, and many miners chose to move to the other tokens that were profitable. This reduced the total power still dedicated to mining SPRING, making it profitable again for those remaining.
And over the course of the next two months, the price of SPRING rose to reflect the reduced rate of production, bringing some miners back to SPRING until an equilibrium was reached.
The project has proposed a novel way to deal with production changes, offering a way for miners to stay within the same ecosystem. This seems, at least so far, to have created a mutually beneficial environment in which there is an opportunity for miners and participants to continue to profit while remaining within the ecosystem.
This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.
Featured photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash
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Bitcoin ($BTC), Litecoin ($LTC) Multitoken Cryptocurrency Systems Like This One Could Prove More Resi - Benzinga