Kategorie: Crypto Business

• Argo’s CEO Peter Wall says that mining was extremely profitable in 2021 and will likely continue to be even when more miners switch on their machines to increase hashrate in 2022.

• He also notes that miners understand the need to reduce the carbon footprint by moving away from fossil fuels to renewables.

Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall has said 2021 has been a good year for Bitcoin and that his firm saw record profits through the year even with the dip in crypto prices in May and over the last month or so.

Argo is a crypto-focused firm based in the UK and has emerged as one of the leading Bitcoin miners, an aspect Wall highlighted in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.

According to the Argo CEO, the broader crypto market saw a remarkable year, and he doesn’t think it would be wise to bet against it despite the current bearish outlook, especially not for Bitcoin.

He noted that the benchmark cryptocurrency has “been knocked over” several times but it still does what it does- bouncing higher and proving its worth and its importance every time. He suggests that this remains the case.

It’s good to note that the cryptocurrency’s value has declined by almost 30% since mid-November, with the rot pushing prices from highs of $69,000 to lows of $44,000 before its current bounce to levels around $48,000.

Wall says the Bitcoin ecosystem has matured going into 2022 and that factors such as increased interest in the asset class as capital inflows surge, regulatory clarity and resilient mining industry will likely aid BTC price over the next year.

“We’re seeing everything mature so quickly you know, not just capital markets but regulators are taking the space more seriously,” he explained.

Argo’s near extreme end of profitability

Wall also spoke about Bitcoin mining and how the explosion in Bitcoin prices over the past one and half years has seen companies make massive profits on their investments.

Argo Blockchain’s returns from mining over 2021, he said, have been record margins and not just for the UK-based miner but for most other crypto mining businesses. Asked to comment at what price of Bitcoin the firm would be profitable, he said they are looking at $5,000-$10,000 and that this depends on the cost of power among other factors.

He notes that the firm is on the “extreme end of profitability right now” and that the outlook for 2022 remains positive. This, he noted, is the case even if profit margins decline given the expected increase in hashrate as more miners switch on their mining machines.

He added that China’s crackdown on mining pushed many miners offline, but with operations set up in other jurisdictions, more will come online.

Argo on use of renewable energy 

Wall also talked about Argo Blockchain’s move to address the question of Bitcoin’s energy consumption and impact on the environment. According to him, many miners are moving away from fossil fuels and Argo leads the way through an aggressive pursuit of renewable sources of energy, including the use of solar

He noted:

“I think miners understand ESG issues and they are looking for renewable power.”

Importantly, Bitcoin miners know about the need for companies to be carbon neutral or even carbon negative, he added.

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The deal marks the fifth of Kraken’s acquisitions this year, which have contributed to the 950% growth seen this year, according to the company

Crypto exchange Kraken said on Tuesday that it had completed the acquisition of Staked, a US-based non-custodial staking platform. Though the company did not reveal further details on the financials around the deal, it held that it was “one of the largest crypto industry acquisitions to date.”

With this new venture, Kraken plans to expand support for proof-of-stake networks and avail new innovative products on its platform for its customers.

Staked employees will remain onboard

Further, Staked CEO Tim Oglivie and his entire team would continue to work as part of the business.  Kraken’s CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell spoke of the deal, voicing his excitement on Staked as one of the standout yield products as it has seen significant uptake from a considerable portion of crypto investors.

Welcoming Staked’s client base to its new home, he explained that Staked offered a highly complementary addition to Kraken’s business model. As such, it would facilitate the crypto exchange in reinforcing its product offering for customers that would keep hold of their staked assets.

“We’re excited to welcome Staked’s clients to Kraken and believe that they will benefit from access to our wider portfolio of products as they seek to broaden their engagement with digital assets.”

Staked offers customers non-custodial staking by which users can earn yield from their crypto assets without the need to necessarily relinquish them. Its incorporation would therefore complement Kraken’s custodial staking. Moreover, Staked gets to join an exchange with world-class infrastructure that optimizes user experience and eliminates the weighty barriers of entry.

Kraken has been adding crypto entities to its portfolio

Kraken’s staking business has seen some significant growth over the course of the year, recording a more than 950% growth in the period reaching November.  The exchange’s staking business clocked $16 billion, with its clients receiving staking yields worth more than $500 million.

Noteworthy, Kraken’s endeavors into acquisitions and investments have played an enormous part in this growth. Over the last few years, the company has added Bit Trade, Circle Trade, CryptoFacilities, CryptoWatch, and other crypto companies onto its portfolio. Staked being  the company’s fifth acquisition this year, Powell said that the company’s business has now evolved to offer something more to customers than just the custodial and trading services.

“We’ve become a holistic crypto platform with a diverse range of products that serves the needs of retail, professional, and institutional clients. Heading into the second decade in our company’s history, I’m excited about the future and Kraken’s continued support of the world’s shift to Web3 and DeFi.”

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Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has spent a bucket load of cash in sports deals across various leagues

Crypto exchange affliate FXT US has inked a new partnership with four different sports teams as per a Monday announcement from Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE). The leading sport and entertainment company based in Washington DC owns five professional teams in the city and manages the Capital One Arena, where its teams play.

Most notable is the deal with National Basketball Association’s team Washington Wizards. Also involved in the agreement are the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals, the Women NBA’s Washington Mystic, and the Capital City Go-Go basketball team. 

„The integration of blockchain technology with the sports experience has only just begun, and together we are going to advance to an entirely new frontier, which will ignite fans beyond what they can even imagine today,“ MSE president of business operations and chief commercial officer Jim Van Stone said.

Official NFT and cryptocurrency partner

FTX US will be the official cryptocurrency partner for the MSE and its properties, i.e. the four teams, as part of the multi-year deal. The MSE noted in the release that the exchange’s NFT platform also gets the exclusive rights to upcoming token drops by any of the four teams. The exchange will also be a partner for Big Block-Chain the entertainment company’s in-game highlight series. 

„One of our key goals is to continue growing the awareness of digital assets. We are excited to bring the world of crypto to Washington, DC sports fans,“ FTX.US VP of Business Development Avinash Dabir stated. 

The move is one of the exchange’s approaches of extending its presence in the US Capital and wooing legislators. The respective partnerships were completed at undisclosed sums, and other specific terms are yet to be released as of writing. 

FTX’s previous partnerships in sports

This year, the Bankman Fried–led exchange has secured in its basket several mega-deals with different teams as well as sports leagues. Just recently, the cryptocurrency exchange announced a sponsorship deal with the NBA team Golden State Warriors at a reported sum of $10 million. 

In June this year, the National Basketball Association announced that the exchange operator FTX had acquired the Miami Heat’s arena naming rights. The home of the Miami Heat was rebranded to FTX Arena until at least 2040 as part of a $135 million agreement with the NBA outfit.

A similar deal followed this in August, this time involving Cal’s football stadium. UC Berkeley and the US exchange affiliate agreed on a 10-year deal worth $17.5 million, with the latter securing naming rights and taking on other obligations.

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The funding round comes a few days after the protocol rebranded from Anyswap

Newly-rebranded cross-chain protocol today wrapped up its seed round, raising $60 million. The funding featured several names, including Binance Labs, the venture capital subsidiary of cryptocurrency, and NFT marketplace Binance. 

Binance Labs investment director Peter Huo hailed Multichain, describing it as “a key contributor to the multi-chain future for crypto.”

Other venture capital firms that took part in the round include IDG Capital, Primitive Ventures, Three Arrows Capital, DeFiance Capital, and Circle Ventures. China-based capital market company Sequoia China also had a hand in the fundraising.

Multichain was launched mid-last year as a cross-chain decentralised platform called Anyswap. The project has since morphed into a cross-chain router protocol, officially taking the name Multichain last week. At the time of the announcement, the total value locked on the protocol was north of $5 billion. The protocol currently serves about 300,000 users, with this figure projected to continue growing.

Forging closer ties

It is worth noting that Binance’s input into the firm stretches beyond capital injection. The crypto exchange is looking to cultivate a good relationship with the protocol outside the investment. On Monday, the Binance Smart Chain promoted the cross-chain protocol as a recommended tool to move crypto-assets between blockchains.

The capital raised through the seed round will be directed toward developing the ecosystem and helping its teams see more growth through new hires. The firm specifically pinpointed the research and development teams as some of those that will benefit from the acquired funds.

Binance VC arm has incubated more than 100 projects

Binance Labs has made a number of moves to promote blockchain projects over the last few weeks. On November 23, the venture capital arm launched the third season of its incubation program. The program aims to support potential projects from various parts of the world. 

The nine (chosen from the latest edition of the Incubation Program) names involved in the program are play-to-earn game Block Ape Scissors, hedging protocol Tranching, decentralised oracle Bird, bridge protocol Raydius, gaming web GAT Network, Mint Club, DeFi farming protocol Copycat Finance, multi-chain stable swap project Wombat, and blockchain gaming studio SkyArk.

In a December 12th interview with CryptoPotato, Binance Labs director Chase Guo disclosed that the venture capital arm had supported more than 100 projects since it was launched about three years. Outside blockchain, the innovation incubation division spearheaded a $1.5 million seed round for decentralized Web3.0 public network Bulletin Board System (BBS) at the beginning of December. It also joined the League of Kingdoms table as a strategic investor at the end of last week. 

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• VanEck’s CEO says the rejection of its application is not the end, noting in an interview that the firm “will be back.”

VanEck is not giving up on its push for a spot Bitcoin ETF, according to the firm’s CEO Jan van Eck.

The VanEck chief said this on the podcast Scoop, telling The Block’s Frank Chaparro that, despite a recent disappointment, it’s still all hands on deck as the company looks to put in new crypto funds applications.

In November, the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) recently rejected VanEck’s application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, a move that sees the US market still waiting for its first exchange-traded fund tracking the current market price of Bitcoin.

Grayscale Investments hit back at the SEC for rejecting the VanEck spot ETF, saying the regulator’s move to approve only futures ETFs showed discrepancies in its approach. The investment manager wants the agency to allow its application for a BTC product to be listed on the NYSE, stating that US investors are missing out on the opportunities that come with investing in funds that track BTC prices.

Vowing to “be back“ with yet another application, van Eck pointed to the potentially helpful responses from two members of the US Congress. He says that the letter by the policymakers to the SEC regarding the Bitcoin ETF was a plus, even if the agency acted as it did.

Notably, van Eck compared the SEC’s rejection of the product to what happened before the regulator finally allowed gold bullion ETFs. He noted that, just like in current scenarios, the US regulator was keen on gold futures ETFs before eventually approving one that tracks spot gold.

Van Eck also talked about the investment firm’s plans in jurisdictions other than the United States.  He said that while the firm remains focused on having spot crypto products launched in the US, there are efforts to expand services and products tailored to the European market.

VanECK’s futures-based Bitcoin ETF is one of three that were recently allowed by the SEC, with the other two from ProShares and Valkyrie.

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