Kategorie: Crypto Markets

• 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.

#Hedera: 20 Billion Transactions

1,738 days for the first 10 billion –
100 days for the next 10 billion.

Real-world adoption; real-world utility.#HelloFuture pic.twitter.com/3kuYu8uNGw

— Hedera (@hedera) September 5, 2023

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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• Blockchain Wire now accepts Shiba Inu (SHIB) as a payment method.
• Support for SHIB adds to already accepted Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) Dogecoin (DOGE), Polygon (MATIC); as well as USDT and USDC.

Blockchain Wire, a press release distribution provider for blockchain and crypto news, has integrated a new payment option in the form of Shiba Inu (SHIB). The Alpha Transform Holdings subsidiary announced it had added SHIB to the list of accepted cryptocurrencies on Tuesday.

In addition to Shiba Inu, Blockchain Wire accepts Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) Dogecoin (DOGE), Polygon (MATIC) and the stablecoins USDT and USDC.

Blockchain Wire CEO Michael Shuler said in a comment:

“SHIB is a widely held token by many of our current and prospective clients. With the recent launch and bridge of Shibarium, it only makes sense for Blockchain Wire to accept such a broadly used token with a growing base of token holders and a rapidly developing layer-2 network.”

The integration of SHIB means the more than 1,800 companies across the industry that target news distribution can pay for the service via the popular token. SHIB currently ranks as the 16th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization with $4.4 billion.

Shiba Inu started off as a dogecoin-inspired meme token, but is quickly transitioning into one of the largest crypto communities amid a burgeoning decentralized ecosystem. The recent launch of Shibarium is one of the steps that reignited whale interest in SHIB token, whose price has declined 19% in the past 30 days.

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• Hana Bank and BitGo are expected to launch a crypto custody service in the second half of 2024.
• Hana Bank is interested in having tokenized deposit technology replace central bank digital currencies and private stablecoins.
• South Korean Parliament in June 2023 passed the Virtual Asset User Protection legislation, which integrates 19 crypto-related bills.

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) Hana Bank, one of the biggest banks in South Korea, and the leading cryptocurrency custody company BitGo Trust Company has entered into a partnership to enable KEB Hana Bank to provide digital asset custody services. According to the local news outlet Yonhap, KEB Hana Bank and BitGo reached a strategic business deal to jointly develop digital asset custody in South Korea.

The bank’s representatives reportedly made the announcement on September 5 during the “Korea Blockchain Week” conference for the cryptocurrency sector.

The commercial bank has outlets in 111 locations and about $10 billion in local banking assets and equity.

Hana Bank and BitGo collaboration

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) Hana Bank and BitGo will work together to create a joint venture that will combine Hana Bank’s knowledge of financial services and compliance with BitGo’s crypto custodial solutions.

According to BitGo’s CEO Mike Belshe, the company will concentrate on strengthening the security and transparency of the South Korean digital asset market. On the other hand, a Hana Bank executive reportedly said:

“By promoting digital asset custody business together with global partners, we expect to contribute to strengthening trust in the domestic digital asset market and consumer protection.” 

According to online reports, Hana Bank and BitGo want to establish their joint cryptocurrency custody business in the second half of 2024.

Hana Bank’s interest in tokenized deposits

Hana Bank has shown interest in tokenized deposit technology as a substitute for central bank digital currencies and private stablecoins.

The bank, along with regional private banks including Woori Bank and Maeli Business News Korea, published a study in July 2023 describing the so-called “certificate of deposit” tokens that would eventually replace conventional notes and deposits without upsetting the established banking system.

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