Bitcoin News

2022-07-30 10:53:45 ​​CoinGecko open to acquisition but now is ‘too early,’ co-founder says.

While CoinMarketCap was acquired by Binance during post-2017 crypto winter, the current bear market is not the right time to sell CoinGecko, its COO said.

Major cryptocurrency tracking website CoinGecko is open to acquisitions, but not right now, according to a co-founder of the platform.

CoinGecko has been hit by the current crypto bear market, but the firm is far from selling off, CoinGecko chief operating officer Bobby Ong told Cointelegraph.

Ong believes that all crypto-related companies are affected by the cyclical nature of the industry as they usually do well during bull runs and struggle during bear markets.

“During this crypto winter, we at CoinGecko are similarly impacted. This will be our third crypto winter and we are focused on improving CoinGecko to prepare for the eventual bull run that will come again,” Ong said.

According to the chief operating officer, CoinGecko had 100 million monthly pageviews in July, experiencing an 85% decrease in traffic compared to the peak in November 2021. The traffic decline comes in line with the price movement of Bitcoin (BTC), which reached an all-time high above $68,000 last November.

“This has definitely impacted revenue, as advertising is one of our major revenue drivers and is a function of pageviews received,” Ong noted. He also said that new token listings on CoinGecko dropped about 70% from last year.

Despite shrinking revenues and the ongoing uncertainty around the crypto market, CoinGecko is still holding strong in terms of its headcount. The firm nearly doubled its staff over the past seven months from 30 to 57 team members and has not laid off any employees. CoinGecko hasn’t instituted any hiring freeze as well, Ong said.

“In fact, we just paid out a small bonus to all team members for the first half of 2022 despite the bear market. We are also in the process of reviewing our salaries to make it more competitive to hire and retain the best talents,” Ong stated, noting that CoinGecko has a few remaining open roles for the rest of the year.

CoinGecko is the biggest rival of CoinMarketCap, the crypto price-tracking website that was bought by Binance in April 2020. The acquisition came during the post-2017 crypto winter, with Bitcoin trading between $7,000-8,000 during the month of acquisition. Binance has never officially announced the cost of the deal, while it was rumored to cost the firm $400 million. Открыть/Комментировать

2022-07-27 17:59:22 ​​Thai SEC launches digital hotline for Zipmex users.

The investors affected by Zipmex's withdrawals' pause can submit information about their losses via an online forum on the Thai SEC’s official website.

In the aftermath of the Thai cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex stopping withdrawals last week, local financial regulators are stepping in to look into potential losses by investors.

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking action to collect all necessary information from investors on how they have been affected by issues on Zipmex.

The regulator officially announced on July 25 that Zipmex customers can submit information via an online forum on the Thai SEC’s official website.

The SEC has received a number of complaints from people affected by Zipmex after the crypto exchange temporarily suspended withdrawals of the Thai baht and digital assets on Wednesday, the regulator said.

“In the past, the SEC issued a letter requesting the company Zipmex to provide an efficient system to contact customers and handle complaints, as well as to take into account the protection of the interests of customers,” the announcement notes.

Zipmex is one of the major cryptocurrency exchanges officially regulated by the government of Thailand, alongside platforms like Upbit, Bitkub and others. The Zipmex exchange abruptly stopped withdrawals last week, citing a “combination of circumstances” that were beyond the company’s control, including “volatile market conditions.”

The withdrawals’ pause came amid Bitcoin (BTC) hitting multi-week highs above $24,000. Zipmex partially resumed some operations on the platform, re-launching withdrawals from its trade wallet after two days after disabling withdrawals. “Transfer from Z Wallet, deposit and trade will continue to be disabled until further notice,” the firm said. Открыть/Комментировать

2022-07-19 16:37:34 ​7 Bitcoin and Crypto Custodians Facilitating Institutional Digital Asset Adoption.

Crypto custodians are one of the important pieces to the puzzle for mass institutional adoption of bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptoassets. They enable investors to store their digital assets with regulated third-party custody providers.

A crypto custodian is a financial services company that stores digital assets on behalf of investors.

Institutional investors are typically required to store their securities and assets with qualified custodians, which is why the introduction of crypto custody providers has been a game-changer for the institutionalization of bitcoin.

Professional and institutional investors generally prefer not to manage their own private keys to reduce the risk of loss of funds due to theft, operational errors, or technical mishaps.

Anchorage is a full-service financial platform and infrastructure provider for the digital asset space. Founded in 2017, Anchorage provides institutions with access to a range of crypto services, including crypto custody, trading, financing, staking, and governance services.

As the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, Anchorage is forming a bridge between the more traditional banking system and the emerging digital asset space.

For their crypto custody customers, an added layer of security comes through insurance that protects the digital assets all through their custodial life cycle.

Heavily-backed crypto platform Bakkt also offers crypto custodian services protected by insurance.

Bakkt protects its customers' assets through an insurance cover to the tune of USD 125,000,000. This is an additional security measure of the Bakkt Warehouse, which deploys online storage and air-gapped offline digital asset storage. The company regularly rebalances between warm and cold storage to reduce risks associated with warm storage.

Bakkt also has a mobile app that allows users to spend BTC on everyday goods and services. The firm also partnered with Mastercard to increase the access and usage of cryptocurrencies in the financial space, which holds great potential in bringing in more users to the crypto world. Открыть/Комментировать

2022-07-07 11:21:56 ​​Voyager Digital Files for Chapter 11, Seeks to 'Maximize Value for All Stakeholders

US-based crypto platform Voyager Digital said it filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code as it seeks to implement its reorganization plan and "maximize value for all stakeholders."

Chapter 11 generally provides for reorganization, usually involving a corporation or partnership. A chapter 11 debtor usually proposes a plan of reorganization to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time.

Under Voyager's reorganization plan, customers with crypto in their account(s) will receive in exchange a combination of the crypto in their account(s), proceeds from the Three Arrows Capital (3AC) recovery, common shares in the newly reorganized company, and Voyager tokens. Meanwhile, customers with USD deposits in their account(s) will receive access to those funds after a reconciliation and fraud prevention process is completed with Metropolitan Commercial Bank, they added.

The company claims it has over USD 110m of cash and crypto on hand, in addition to more than USD 350m of cash held in the For Benefit of Customers account at Metropolitan Commercial Bank. Voyager also said it has approximately USD 1.3bn of cryptoassets on its platform, plus claims against 3AC of more than USD 650m. As reported, Voyager issued a notice of default to 3AC for failure to make the required payments on its previously disclosed loan of BTC 15,250 and USDC 350m.

"While I strongly believe in this future, the prolonged volatility and contagion in the crypto markets over the past few months, and the default of 3AC on a loan from the Company's subsidiary, Voyager Digital, LLC, require us to take deliberate and decisive action now. The chapter 11 process provides an efficient and equitable mechanism to maximize recovery," Stephen Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager, was quoted as saying in the announcement.

As reported, last week, Voyager Digital, said it is "temporarily" suspending trading, deposits, withdrawals, and loyalty rewards.

"This decision gives us additional time to continue exploring strategic alternatives with various interested parties while preserving the value of the Voyager platform we have built together. We will provide additional information at the appropriate time," Ehrlich was quoted as saying back then.

Also as reported, the company's exposure to troubled crypto fund Three Arrows Capital consists of BTC 15,250 (USD 307) and USDC 350m, while they also entered into a multi-million credit line agreement with Alameda Ventures, a quantitative trading firm and the parent company of the FTX exchange. Открыть/Комментировать

2022-07-02 09:57:33 ​​Less than 1% of all holders have 90% of the voting power in DAOs.

A user must hold between 0.1% and 1% of the outstanding token supply to create a proposal and hold between 1% and 4% to pass it.

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have become a rage in the ever-expanding crypto ecosystem and are often seen as the future of decentralized corporate governance.

DAOs are organizations without a centralized hierarchy, intended to work in a bottom-up manner, where the community collectively owns and contributes to an organization's decision-making process. However, recent research data suggests that these DAOs are not as decentralized as it was intended to be.

A recent report from Chainalysis analyzed the workings of ten major DAO projects and found that on average, less than 1% of all holders have 90% of the voting power. The finding highlights a high concentration of decision-making power in the hands of a selected few, an issue DAOs were created to resolve.

This concentration of decision-making power was evident with the Solana-based lending DAO Solend. Solend team tried to take over a whale's account and execute the liquidation themselves via over-the-counter (OTC) desks to avoid cascading liquidations across the DEX books.

The proposal to take over was passed with 1.1 million “yes” votes to 30,000 “no” votes, however out of these total “yes” votes 1 million came from a single user holding large amounts of governance tokens. The vote was later overturned after a heavy lash back.

The Chainalysis report highlighted that although all governance token holders have voting rights, the right to make a new proposal for the community and to pass it is not very easy for everyone, given the number of tokens required to do so.

The report estimated that between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 10,000 governance token holders have enough tokens to create a proposal. When it comes to passing a proposal only between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 30,000 holders have enough tokens to do so.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem accounts for 83% of all DAO treasury value held and 33% of all of the DAOs by count. Apart from DeFi, venture capital, infrastructure, and NFTs are other ecosystems that have seen a rise in number of DAOs. Открыть/Комментировать

2022-06-27 08:14:22 ​​Mastercard: 51% of Surveyed Consumers in Latin America & the Caribbean Have ‘Experienced’ Crypto

Interest in crypto is piquing in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), where the payments giant Mastercard says over half of “consumers” have already had at least one encounter with crypto.

The firm said that it had spoken to “more than 35,000 people around the world” as part of its New Payments Index survey, with 51% of LAC respondents saying that they had completed “at least one crypto-related activity in the past 12 months.”

It added that “more than a third” of Latin American/Caribbean respondents have used a stablecoin to “make a payment for an everyday purchase.”

The survey, conducted between March and April this year, further found that 54% of Latino and Caribbean consumers are “optimistic” about the performance of digital assets as an investment.

Some 66% of Latin Americans and Caribbeans replied that they wanted “greater flexibility to use crypto and traditional payment methods interchangeably” in their daily financial operations.

A whopping 82% also replied that they wanted their current banks to provide them with a range of “directly available” “cryptocurrency-related” functions.

And 77% of those questioned said they would be happy to use crypto more if they understood more about it.

The survey further indicated that if cryptoassets “were issued or backed by a trusted organization,” such as a bank, 69% of the respondents would feel more confident investing.

And 67% said they would be happy to make or receive payments in cryptoassets if tokens had tradfi (traditional finance) backers.

The survey appears to show that the area is an outlier, however. Globally, just over a third of respondents said they were “somewhat or very likely to try paying with crypto” in the next year, with fewer than 6 in 10 stating that they “would feel more confident about crypto if they knew it was issued or backed by a reputable organization.”

Mastercard's survey also found that digital payments are on the rise in Latin America, with 95% of respondents stating that they intended to use digital payment methods in the next year. Almost a third of respondents stated that they had used less cash over the past 12 months.

The survey’s findings come hot on the heels of a flurry of activity in the region from Mastercard's rival Visa. The latter rolled out a number of crypto cards in Brazil and Argentina this month – in partnership with major local blockchain industry players.

Walter Pimenta, Mastercard’s Executive Vice President of Products and Engineering in the Latin America/Caribbean region, was quoted as stating that “more and more Latin Americans are showing interest in cryptocurrencies and want solutions that facilitate access to the crypto world.”

He added that Mastercard was now working on “solutions to expand digital inclusion and strengthening alliances that guarantee operability and support.” Открыть/Комментировать

2022-06-21 13:53:26 Too lazy to read? Then we will enlighten you quickly!
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2022-06-21 13:24:39 ​​US lawmakers urge EPA to consider the potential benefits of crypto mining.

“Digital assets, and their related mining activities, are essential to the economic future of the United States," said the group of 14 lawmakers.

A group of 14 United States senators and House representatives have signed a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency extolling what they believe are the benefits of crypto mining.

In a Thursday letter, many U.S. lawmakers including pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative Tom Emmer addressed EPA administrator Michael Regan, requesting the government agency analyze the potential impact of crypto mining in an effort to balance innovation with environmental concerns. The group of 14 senators and representatives claimed mining could have a “substantial stabilizing effect on energy grids” and cited examples of mining operations using flared gas and renewable energy sources.

“Digital assets, and their related mining activities, are essential to the economic future of the United States," said the letter.

“Favoring one technology over another, including proof-of-work versus proof-of-stake, can stifle innovation, erode future economic gains, and limit affiliated efficiencies.”

In addition to Lummis and Emmer, the lawmakers who signed the letter were all members of the Republican Party, including Senators Bill Hagerty, Kevin Cramer, and Steve Daines. House Representatives Patrick McHenry, Pete Sessions, Bill Posey, Bill Huizenga, Andy Barr, Anthony Gonzales, Brian Steil, William Timmons, and Ralph Norman also approved the message to EPA administrator Regan.

The Republicans’ request to Regan stood in contrast to an April letter to the EPA from a bipartisan group of 22 lawmakers. They raised “serious concerns” around crypto firms operating in the United States, claiming that the companies contributed to greenhouse gas emissions and were not operating in accordance with either the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act.

“Cryptocurrency mining is poisoning our communities,” said the April letter to Regan. “The rapidly expanding cryptocurrency industry needs to be held accountable to ensure it operates in a sustainable and just manner to protect communities.”

In May, the Bitcoin Mining Council responded to the April letter with one of its own, alleging many of the lawmakers’ claims on mining were inaccurate. Открыть/Комментировать

2022-06-16 22:56:10 ​Bitcoin, Ethereum Technical Analysis: ETH, BTC Remain Lower Ahead of Federal Reserve Rate Decision

ETH was close to falling below $1,000 on Wednesday, as markets began to prepare for the latest Fed policy meeting. Many expect that the FOMC will opt to hike interest rates today, as inflation continues to peak. BTC was also lower, hovering slightly above $20,000.

BTC was hovering marginally above $20,000 in today’s session, as markets were anticipating the latest FOMC policy meeting.

Following a high of $22,729.56 yesterday, BTC/USD sank to an intraday low of $20,178.38 earlier in the day.

As a result of this latest low, bitcoin has now fallen for nine straight days, losing over 30% of its value within that time period.

This latest drop now sees BTC hit a fresh 19-month low, as prices dropped to their lowest point since December 2020.

Looking at the chart, the RSI is now at 22, however should this fall to the 20 level, we might see BTC hit a floor of around $19,000.

Some believe we may see this happen today, depending on what the Fed decides to do, as far as changes to its monetary policy.


ETH was close to falling below $1,000 on hump-day, as traders of the world’s second-largest crypto token were also awaiting the latest Fed decision.

On Wednesday, ETH fell to an intraday low of $1,025.68, which is its lowest point since January last year.

Like bitcoin, today’s move saw ETH fall for a ninth consecutive day, with traders still scrambling to find a solid price floor.

Some still believe that this floor could be below $1,000, with $800 a strong target for current bears in the market.

Overall, ethereum is down nearly 40% in the last seven days, with today’s drop taking relative strength to its lowest point on record.

Should the RSI continue to slide, we may see ETH very well break below $1,000, with a good chance of it moving towards $800. Открыть/Комментировать

2022-06-11 11:47:16 ​Close to 1 in 3 Surveyed Hedge Funds Plan Crypto Investments - PwC.

Close to one out of three – or 29% – of hedge funds that are not yet invested in digital assets say they are looking to invest or are in late-stage planning for investments in the space, a new survey by consulting giant PwC has revealed.

The survey was conducted in the 1st quarter of 2022 on a sample of 77 specialist crypto hedge fund managers, in collaboration with Elwood Asset Management (now a part of CoinShares).

According to the survey results, published in PwC’s Global Crypto Hedge Fund Report for 2022, the share of hedge funds that are looking to the crypto market for their future investments has risen from 26% last year to 29% this year. The majority of the funds looking towards the crypto market said they are now in “late-stage planning” for the investment, the survey found.

At the same time, the survey also found that 41% of uninvested hedge funds are unlikely to invest in the next three years, while 31% said they are “curious” about digital assets, but prefer to wait for the market to mature more.

Among the funds that were not invested, the top reason for staying away from crypto was “regulatory and tax uncertainty,” the PwC report said. That was followed by “client reaction” or “reputational risk” as the second-biggest concern for the crypto-skeptical funds.

One in three funds already invested
Meanwhile, the report said that one in three surveyed hedge funds has already invested in digital assets. The number is up significantly from last year’s report when only one in five funds said they had investments in crypto.

Among the funds that have already invested, an average of 4% of assets under management are now invested in crypto, an increase from 3% a year ago. Still, for the funds with more than USD 5bn in total assets under management, the allocation to crypto was smaller, with all of these funds allocating less than 1%, the survey found. Открыть/Комментировать