Cloud Hosting

Here's what happened this week in the world of crypto.

Welcome to Nonfungible Tidbits, a weekly roundup of news in crypto, NFTs and their related realms.

Our lead story this week is Twitter signing on as the first company to use Stripe's new cryptocurrency payments feature. The social network plans to give creators -- people who monetize their video, art and music directly through their relationships with the audience -- the option of getting paid in a stablecoin.

We'll also cover Coinbase launching a beta version of its NFT marketplace, New York lawmakers considering a moratorium on fossil-fuel powered cryptocurrency mining in the state, and a strange cyberattack on a DeFi protocol in which the hacker left the stolen cryptocurrency behind.

Online payment processor Stripe said on Friday that it'll allow businesses to pay their customers in cryptocurrencies. The first business that's signed on for this feature is social media giant Twitter, which currently uses Stripe to pay creators. Right now the cryptocurrency that'll be used for the payout is a stablecoin called USDCoin, or USDC. The value of the USDC stablecoin is pegged to the US dollar, which makes the value less volatile than that of other cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin.

Twitter will draw on Stripe's cryptocurrency payments feature by offering it as an option to creators who sell premium content to their followers, such as those who receive earnings from Twitter's paid Ticketed Spaces and Super Follows features. Creators can opt to have their payout sent to a digital wallet.

Read CNET's full story on Stripe's cryptocurrency payment roll out here.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on Wednesday released the beta version of a feature that'll allow users to buy and sell NFTs on its platform. Coinbase calls the new feature "a Web3 social marketplace for NFTs," which sounds like the exchange may include social media elements in the feature. Right now the beta version only lets people view Ethereum-based NFTs on Coinbase.

Read CNET's full story on the launch of Coinbase's NFT marketplace here.

A cryptocurrency mining rig.

A battle over how and if cryptocurrency mining should be allowed to operate is heating up in New York, according to a Wall Street Journal report. New York lawmakers are considering measures that would place a two-year moratorium on reactivating old fossil-fuel power plants in the state for the purpose of cryptocurrency mining.

Cryptocurrency mining operations areincredibly energy-intensive, so electricity is a big part of miners' overhead. Buying enough electricity to mine cryptocurrency is expensive, and crypto miners need uninterruptedaccess to poweraround the clock. So miners are usingold power plantsas a cheap source of electricity for their operations.

The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimates that the bitcoin network's energy usage is a little less than the energy used by the entire country of Egypt. Greenpeace and other organizations are currently engaged in a campaign to change the way the bitcoin network works to reduce the networks' carbon footprint.

In an odd turn of events, a hacker stole $1 million in crypto from a decentralized finance protocol called Zeed, then failed to get it out. Generally speaking, DeFi protocols are code sets that run on blockchains and facilitate various financial transactions and transfers using cryptocurrencies. Business Insider India called the hack similar to robbing a bank and then forgetting the bags of money. The publication also noted that almost 97% of all cryptocurrency stolen this year has come from hacks and exploitations of DeFi protocols.

Thanks for reading. We'll be back with plenty more next week. In the meantime, check out this story from CNET's Daniel Van Boom about how an Apple iCloud exploit caused a cryptocurrency trader to lose more than $650K.

Spice up your small talk with the latest tech news, products and reviews. Delivered on weekdays.

Read more:
Twitter to Begin Cryptocurrency Payouts for Creators. This Week's Top Bitcoin and Crypto News - CNET

Read More..

(Article contributed by Josh Vazz, a crypto investor and enthusiast)

In all my years of HODLing $BTC and $ETH, I have had my fair share of volatility.

Nonetheless, I have never experienced a day as grim as stockholders of Netflix were subjected to recently. The price of Netflix stock ($NFLX) fell by more than 35% in just one trading session as the company reported that it lost hundreds of thousands of subscribers in Q1, 2022.

Netflix had been a WallStreet favorite for years and is included in the acronym FAANG which is short for the group of tech stocks including:

These stocks could do no wrong during the last bull cycle in the USA stock market which was one of the longest in history.

___________________________________________________________________

SEE ALSO:EXPLAINER: 5 Key Differences Between Crypto Trading and Stock Trading

___________________________________________________________________

As investors start to take a risk-off approach to their portfolios due to current macro-economic conditions, tech stocks and other assets considered risk-on assets are being meticulously scrutinized and quickly dumped on the slightest notion of future revenue or growth being in jeopardy.

This is exactly what happened to Netflix as it erased $54 Billion of market cap in a matter of hours.

This brings Netflix to a loss of almost 70% from the ATH it experienced in November, 2021 when it touched $700. Drops in stock prices like these make me remember BTC and ETH are not as volatile after all, with Bitcoin down around 40% from ATH.

As a HODLer, I find comfort knowing that one attribute that BTC and ETH holders have that most traditional stockholders do not is an ethos of loyalty and idealism.

In a nutshell, the ethos of Bitcoin, which is the precursor to all cryptocurrencies, is rooted in cypherpunk philosophy since they were the early adopters of BTC. This philosophy is deeply concerned about privacy in a world where privacy is a luxury that is rapidly disappearing.

Cypherpunks also deeply distrust the current powers that be including big tech, government, financial institutions At the extreme, it promotes crypto anarchy which most Bitcoin holders do not subscribe to in todays world. In the current spectrum of BTC holders, Cypherpunks are now a small minority but their influence and rebellious tone have been ingrained into the ethos of crypto holders albeit to a much lesser degree.

The average Bitcoin holder today is discontented with the current system but does not want to do away with it completely. They aspire to aid and reform the current powers to make them more transparent and fair for everyone. If some legacy institutions need to completely be overhauled, that is ok as well.They believe blockchain technology can provide profound improvements in many areas of our societies and our daily lives, if it is allowed to, without having to sacrifice privacy.

In this regard, holding Bitcoin is a peaceful way of protesting against the abuses of financial and economic power, at the same time, pointing the current powers that be to better solutions in other areas as well that leverage the enormous computational power we currently have at our disposal using the flexibility afforded by smart contracts as seen with use cases on ETH growing exponentially in the areas of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), DAOs, NFTs etc.

These strong-rooted ideals are not found among stockholders of Netflix, for instance.

When it comes to most stocks, the big institutional investors run their analysis and make their calls. If the stock is not performing according to their metrics, there are many other stocks to own and they will sell that stock expeditiously without the slightest sense of attachment.

In fact, attachment to a stock is a silly downfall that can cost you a lot of money in the eyes of big institutional investors.

In 2021, we experienced a rise in institutional investors in the cryptosphere but they still represent less than 10% of total holders by most estimates.

Institutions, in general, treat BTC and ETH as any other risk-on asset, and as their presence grows in the crypto space, the high correlation to tech stocks could persist. On the other hand, the HODLing ideology of retail investors and the battle cry of the BTC and ETH maximalists, enthusiasts, and HOLDers, puts a hard floor on BTC and ETH when their prices crash.

When prices drop dramatically, true HODLers just see an opportunity to buy more crypto at a discount and know the price will eventually rise again. By now, we know that crypto is unstoppable and continues to strengthen its fundamentals. We also now have exceptions on the institutional side with the likes of Microstrategy and Tesla that have proven to embrace the HODLing ethos of BTC on their balance sheets.

A recent article published on Glassnode in April 19, 2022, separates the entire BTC cohort into 2 distinct groups:

According to Glassnode, Long Term Holders of Bitcoin are those that have held BTC for a period longer than 5 months. A market review from Genesis, published in February 2022 shows that 80% of holders of BTC are in fact LTH.

Here is what Glassnode said about LTH behavior:

These investors have weathered significant volatility, yet continue to hold. This supports the notion that these investors are a relatively price insensitive bunch, and remain the least likely to exert sell-side pressure.

Glassnode

The ultimate Long Term Holder of all time is, of course, the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto with a stash which is estimated to be around 1.1 Million BTC that has never moved since it was originally mined at the inception of BTC.

Since then, the price of BTC has seen extreme downturns as steep as 90% from ATHs. Many stocks that experience this severe weather will never come back to set a new ATH, but BTC and ETH have done this multiple times in a relatively short period of time.

But how?

One reason could be attributed to the HODL mentality as long term ideals and vision are vanishing elsewhere in the investment world.

Stocks live for the next quarter. Bitcoin and Ethereum dont care so much about the next quarter as they do about the next decade and beyond because the vision is much wider in scope.

____________

References:

https://insights.glassnode.com/the-week-onchain-week-16-2022/

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2020/11/24/cypherpunk-crypto-anarchy-and-how-bitcoin-lost-the-narrative/

https://cryptoslate.com/global-economic-outlook-tanks-in-february-as-bitcoin-decouples-from-traditional-market/

https://info.genesistrading.com/hubfs/monthly-reviews/2022/February-2022-monthly.pdf

___________________________________________________________________

RECOMMENDED READING:An Introductory Guide into Quantitative / Algorithmic Trading in Crypto

___________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your support by helping us create content:Donate

BTC address: 3CW75kjLYu7WpELdaqTv722vbobUswVtxT

ERC20 Address: 0x03139524428e40E31f13909f8D994C915FB91277

SOL address: 9cC65AWFHj848kntcoyiT8av3jiRQEqyTTmBR1GvVUb

____________________________________________________________________

Follow us onTwitterfor latest posts and updates

Join and interact with ourTelegram community

_____________________

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more:

_____________________________________________________________

Related

See the article here:
Are Bitcoin and ETH Too Volatile? Netflix shows its 'FAANGS' and Makes them Look Friendly - bitcoinke.io

Read More..

Every week, Benzinga conducts a survey to collect sentiment on what traders are most excited about, interested in or thinking about as they manage and build their personal portfolios.

This week, we posed the following question to over 1,000 Benzinga visitors on cryptocurrency trading and investing: Which will happen first, Bitcoin BTC/USDat $100,000 or Shiba Inu SHIB/USD at $0.001?

Here are the full results from this weeks survey:

As the price of Bitcoin fluctuates, many people wonder will Bitcoin reach $100,000 in 2022?

Bitcoin is considered one of the most volatile assets to trade, making it incredibly hard to predict its future price.

One way to examine if it is possible for Bitcoin to go to $100,000 is to take a look at the previous market cycles price actions Read More

Price Action:

The move lower for both Bitcoin and Shiba Inu in recent weeksis likely in sympathy with the broader market as U.S. indices have fallen on continued volatility as traders assess Fed policy outlook, rising Treasury yields and quarterly earnings reports.

Investors continue to assess upcoming corporate earnings, while Tuesday saw a 3-year high of 2.940% for the 10-year note.

Also Read:This Crypto Analyst Thinks Bitcoin Will Retrace By 50%: Here's Why

This survey was conducted by Benzinga in April 2022 and included the responses of a diverse population of adults 18 or older.

Opting into the survey was completely voluntary, with no incentives offered to potential respondents. The study reflects results from over 1,000 adults.

Originally posted here:
Which Will Happen First, Bitcoin At $100,000 Or Shiba Inu At $0.001? - Benzinga - Benzinga

Read More..

When I started investing in Bitcoin ( BTC 0.26% ), I had the preconception that I must also learn to trade. It took me three years to learn that this is not the case. Not only am I not a trader, but I am a really bad trader. Anytime I've tried, it has ended somewhat catastrophically because I let my emotions govern my trading decisions.

Any professional trader will tell you to write down a system of trading rules and abide by them. Even though I had the right advice, applying the advice properly was an entirely different problem. Eventually, I settled on the conclusion that I shouldn't trade.

Image source: Getty Images.

Part of what I found stressful about trying to trade Bitcoin was the short-term volatility. I was too pessimistic about downtrends and too optimistic about uptrends. In other words, when Bitcoin was going up, I thought it was going to the moon. When Bitcoin was going down, I thought it was headed straight for zero. Although I think I'm through this phase of navet, I still think my emotions have the ability to affect my decision-making skills if I were to try trading again. This is why I've opted to keep a long time horizon with respect to investing in Bitcoin.

In some sense, I started with the understanding that Bitcoin is a long-term investment. When I first bought Bitcoin in 2015, I said I would never sell it as an experiment to see how large that investment could grow. I never imagined that the investment would do as well as it has. Now I have the same outlook on Bitcoin's future today at $40,000 as I did in 2015 when Bitcoin was $500. It is at least a decade-long investment, and Bitcoin investors are still early. I don't need to take the risk of trading Bitcoin in the short term to increase my gains because my gains will be large enough to satisfy me if I simply wait long enough.

I hold the belief that everyone investing in Bitcoin in 2022 is still early. This is because I also believe we're early to today's version of internet itself. So what then does the future hold for Bitcoin? What is its potential for growth in the future?

Admittedly, it wouldn't make sense for me to consider Bitcoin a long-term investment if I didn't think it would be around 10 or 20 years from now. I first had to convince myself that Bitcoin was here to stay. After looking into how it was designed, built, maintained, and run, I haven't been able to articulate a reasonable set of circumstances in which Bitcoin falls apart. So there is sound logic behind why Bitcoin will be around in one capacity or another in the future.

Given that the cryptocurrency network on which Bitcoin resides is here to stay, where does the price go? Is it in store for more parabolic growth? Or is the growth going to be more modest from here on out? The third option is that Bitcoin slowly fades into obscurity throughout the coming years. I think the more likely scenario is that the number of people using Bitcoin around the world will continue to rise. As the user base grows, so will demand. Since Bitcoin's supply is strictly limited to 21 million tokens, a brief analysis of the supply and demand suggests that the price of Bitcoin is likely to increase in the future. I think there is a solid case to make that Bitcoin rises to at least the market cap of gold, which is $12 trillion, from today's $800 billion. Beyond that is anyone's best guess, and investors will have to take it one block at a time.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis even one of our own helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

Read more:
Why I Don't Trade Bitcoin in the Short Term - The Motley Fool

Read More..