Monat: September 2023

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Bitcoin may soon rally based on ‘fundamental grounds’: Bernstein

  • Bernstein analyst says Grayscale ruling was a game changer.
  • Gautam Chhugani expects Bitcoin to materially benefit from it.
  • The world’s largest cryptocurrency is still lingering around $26,000.

The recent ruling in favour of Grayscale and against the Securities & Exchange Commission was a “game changer”, says Gautam Chhugani – a Bernstein analyst.

Chhugani expects Bitcoin to gain momentum

Last week, a U.S. Court said the regulator lacked adequate reasoning to block Grayscale from converting its bitcoin trust to an exchange-traded fund.

The verdict is a big step towards the first U.S. Bitcoin ETF and paves way for a significant institutions-driven rally in the world’s largest cryptocurrency, as per Chhugani.

Strong showing in courts improved ETF chances and the progressive institutional interest are positioning crypto for an unprecedented institution capital led cycle.

Earlier this year, Ripple secured a huge win in its long-running lawsuit against the Securities & Exchange Commission as well (find out more).

How soon could a Bitcoin ETF be approved?

Despite positive catalysts in recent months, Bitcoin is still lingering around the $26,000 level – well below its year-to-date high of over $31,000. Still, Bernstein’s Chhugani said in his research note today:

This is a cycle slower to take off, but is being laid on much strong fundamental grounds of regulatory clarity and more strategic long-term players entering the space.

He expects the first U.S. Bitcoin ETF to become a reality by March of 2024 at the very most. But the analyst does not expect that exchange-traded fund to be the end of it.

Chhugani is convinced that asset managers will push for a Spot Ethereum ETF afterwards and may even venture eventually into Solana and Polygon.

The post Bitcoin may soon rally based on ‘fundamental grounds’: Bernstein appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Hedera (HBAR) hits major milestone with 20 Billion transactions

  • Hedera (HBAR) has hit a record 20 billion mainnet transactions.
  • HBAR price rose slightly on Tuesday. However it remains in a long-term downward trend at around $0.049

Hedera is celebrating a major milestone as a crypto platform – the mainnet transaction count has surpassed the 20 billion mark.

As far as what this means for the decentralised public network, it is a significant achievement made all the more notable by the fact that the broader crypto market has seen a slowdown of activity. This even as crypto winter begins to recede into the rearview mirror for this cycle.

On Tuesday, Hedera posted the network’s achievement on X (fka Twitter), and noted something that points to how it’s recorded aggressive growth over the past few months and weeks. Per the X post, while it took years for total transactions to hit 10 billion, the march to 20 billion only took 100 days.

In other key network metrics on the HBAR website, details show Hedera currently processes over 134 million transactions per day. Total mainnet accounts have grown to more than 3.5 million.

Part of what’s driven real-world adoption for the network is recent partnerships with automakers Hyundai and Kia and the support for Hedera-based micro-payments platform Dropp Inc by the Federal Reserve’s payments network FedNow.

HBAR price

The price of HBAR was hovering around $0.049 at the time of writing, having retreated from weekly highs of $0.056. The current level was slightly in the green with 1.7% upside but traded more than 10% off its weekly peak as most altcoins mirrored Bitcoin’s declines to under $26k.

While HBAR saw an uptick today, sentiment is largely still bearish. Positive triggers alongside further global adoption will be key to bulls’ attempts to hit targets. 

However, an overall downturn in the market could dictate downside action and see sellers aim for June lows near $0.040.

The post Hedera (HBAR) hits major milestone with 20 Billion transactions appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Genesis Global Trading to close its over-the-counter trading platform

  • Genesis Global Trading avoided Genesis bankruptcy earlier this year.
  • Genesis is currently trying to raise funds to pay back its creditors.
  • Genesis’ parent company DCG came to its rescue and reached an in-principle agreement with creditors.

According to an email issued to clients on Tuesday, Genesis’ spot crypto trading operation will close down later this month.

According to the email, Genesis Global Trading (GGT) will discontinue its over-the-counter trading platform on September 18. All trades must be completed by September 21; otherwise, all open accounts will be cancelled at the end of the day on September 30. The email stated that “the decision was made voluntarily and for business” purposes.

Genesis Global Trading avoided Genesis’ bankruptcy

Genesis Global Trading was one of a select group of Genesis-affiliated businesses that avoided the conglomerate’s collapse earlier this year as a result of crypto financing. The email from the company, however, stated that another division with a focus on trading, GGC International Limited, would keep operating its spot and derivative trading services.

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a major venture capital firm in the cryptocurrency industry and the parent of Genesis, recently reached an agreement in principle with Genesis’ creditors.

The post Genesis Global Trading to close its over-the-counter trading platform appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Visa expands its stablecoin capability to include USDC issued on Solana

  • Visa started venturing into USDC settlements back in 2021 through a partnership with Crypto.com.
  • Crypto.com’s Australian card program’s cross-border volume was paid for using Ethereum-based USDC.
  • Visa is now expanding its USDC settlements to include Solana issues USDC coins.

Visa has expanded its stablecoin settlement capabilities to merchant acquirers launching pilots with Worldpay and Nuvei using the Solana blockchain.

Visa has revealed that it is settling fiat-based payments by moving millions of USDC tokens between partners across the Ethereum and Solana blockchains in live and completed pilots with issuers and acquirers.

In a statement, the payments company described how its support of USDC has evolved from trial programs involving Crypto.com to integrations with Worldpay and Nuvei, two merchant payment processors.

USDC settlements using Visa

Visa and Crypto.com started experimenting with USDC in 2021 to explore stablecoin settlement on the issuing side. In the ensuing trial, Crypto.com’s Australian card program’s cross-border volume was paid for using Ethereum-based USDC.

Prior to the collaboration with Visa, settlements for international transactions done on Crypto.com, using Visa cards included lengthy currency conversion procedures and incurred wire transfer costs. However, after the successful USDC settlement trials, the cryptocurrency exchange now settles obligations for its Australian Visa cards using USDC.

Given that Solana and Ethereum-based USDC are now part of the Visa ecosystem, the former can use Visa’s treasury and settlement mechanisms to link traditional finance to Web3. Cuy Sheffield, the head of crypto at Visa, stated that using blockchains like Ethereum and Solana and stablecoins like the USDC can help increase the speed of cross-border settlements.

Visa can now transmit money to USDC merchant acquirers like Worldpay and Nuvei thanks to the integration of USDC, which is anticipated to shorten settlement periods for businesses that use their services. By integrating Visa’s traditional fiat ecosystem with stablecoins and the larger cryptocurrency space they serve, the payment processors are able to route USDC payments to the merchants they serve.

According to Jim Johnson, president of Worldpay Merchant Solutions, Visa’s USDC settlement capacity would allow it to give merchants more options for receiving money and more effectively manage its treasury operations.

The post Visa expands its stablecoin capability to include USDC issued on Solana appeared first on CoinJournal.