Bitget debuts in lending with the launch of ‘Crypto Loans’

  • Bitget launched its native “Crypto Loans” product on Tuesday.
  • Digital lending is expected to advance at a CAGR of 20.5%.
  • Singapore and Thailand have recently banned crypto lending.

Bitget – a Seychelles-based digital assets trading platform launched “Crypto Loans” to debut in the lending space on Tuesday.

Here’s what we know so far

Its new product will cater particularly to users that are not fully satisfied with the traditional credit institutions. According to Gracy Chen – the Managing Director of Bitget:

Users now have the opportunity to stake less-demanded coins, enabling them to obtain loans in more liquid assets for investment purposes.

Each loan, as per the press release, will be coupled with a specific interest rate. Bitget did not, however, reveal the cryptocurrencies that’ll be eligible for Crypto Loans.

The news arrives only days after Bitget formally entered Turkey with a new website as part of its commitment to expand globally (find out more).

Digital lending is seeing strong demand

Digital lending is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 20.5% between 2023 and 2032 after hitting the $8.5 billion mark last year which suggests strong demand. Chen also said today in the press release:

Bitget’s new product highlights flexibility of collateralized currency usage, enhancing capital utilization. Our flexible borrowing and repayment mechanism caters to needs of all users.

The top crypto derivatives platform is entering the crypto lending sector at a time when multiple countries, including Singapore and Thailand, have banned crypto companies from issuing loans.

Bitget did not state in its press release whether the new service will be available in the United States.

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Cardano price retests key resistance as DeFi TVL hits record

  • Cardano price retested the key resistance level at $0.2972 on Tuesday. 

  • DeFi TVL in Cardano’s ecosystem jumped to a record high.

Cardano price has moved sideways in the past few weeks even as other coins like Bitcoin, AAVE, and Compound surged. ADA token was trading at $0.2972, where it has been for a while. This price is about 27% above the lowest level in June and 37% below the highest point in May this year.

DeFi TVL hits record

Cardano has become one of the most underperforming large-cap cryptocurrencies in the past few weeks. This performance is mostly because of the recent decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to label it a security.

In the aftermath, Robinhood, one of the biggest companies in the financial services industry, decided to delist the coin. If the SEC’s lawsuit against the two exchanges prevails, it means that Americans will not have access to Cardano.

The daily volume of Cardano traded in centralized exchanges has been falling in the past few weeks. It stood at $171 million on Tuesday, down from a peak of over $1 billion in June.

Despite this performance, Cardano’s ecosystem is doing well. Data shows that the total value locked (TVL) in its DeFi ecosystem soared to over 702 million ADA tokens, a record high. The figure started the year at around 265 million ADA. In dollar terms, Cardano has a TVL of over $202 million. 

The biggest DeFi dApps in Cardano’s ecosystem are Minswap, Indigo, Liquid, and VyFinance among others. TVL is an important metric that measures the value of digital assets locked in a blockchain. 

At the same time, Cardano’s NFT ecosystem is not doing all that well. Total Cardano NFT sales came in at over $8.6 million in June from the previous $8.23 million. While these numbers are good, sales stood at $10 million in March and $23 million in October last year.

Cardano price prediction

The daily chart shows that the ADA price has been in a strong bearish trend for a while. This decline saw it retreat below the important support $0.2972, the lowest level in March this year. It has now retested this level, making a bearish break and retest pattern. Cardano remains below the 25-day and 50-day moving averages.

It has also formed a head and shoulders and a bearish pennant patterns. Therefore, the coin will likely have a bearish breakout in the coming days. If this happens, the next level to watch will be last month’s low of $0.23277

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TON blockchain introduces an on-chain encrypted messaging feature

Key takeaways

  • The TON Foundation has introduced an on-chain encrypted messaging feature on the TON blockchain.

  • The messaging feature allows users to send encrypted messages during transactions. 

TON releases an on-chain messaging feature

The Open Network (TON) announced the release of its on-chain encrypted messaging feature on Monday, July 3rd.

In a tweet from the network’s developer, TON Foundation, the new feature makes it possible for private messages to be sent between TON users.

TON is the blockchain network forked from the code created by the social media giant Telegram. Telegram left the project in 2020, and the TON Foundation took over prior to the mainnet launch. 

According to the TON Foundation, the TON blockchain provides greater scalability and transaction throughput than other options in the Web3 ecosystem. The foundation also added that TON remains a decentralised blockchain. 

The blockchain makes it possible for users to send messages in transactions. However, the messages were previously completely public. The new on-chain encrypted feature now makes it possible for users to encrypt their messages end-to-end, enabling only the recipients to read the messages. 

While commenting on this latest cryptocurrency news, TON core developer Anatoly Makosov, stated that the new feature allows for the “personalization” of transactions. Makosov said;

“When sending Toncoin, Jettons, or NFTs on TON you have always been able to include a text for the recipient such as ‘for coffee’ or ‘happy birthday,’ thereby personalising the interaction. Now this popular feature […] is available with full encryption.”

TON could serve as a reliable method to communicate privately

Makosov pointed out that if an apocalypse occurs that renders the traditional messenger servers useless, TON could serve as a reliable and safeguarded method to communicate privately. 

Web3 users enjoy encrypted messages on various retail wallet apps, including MyTonWallet, OpenMask and TON Wallet. The TON Foundation said the feature would be added mobile wallet Tonkeeper soon. 

This latest development comes a few weeks after the TON Foundation launched a $25 million accelerator for emerging projects. The program, called the TON Accelerator Program, will provide funding, mentorship, and other resources to help projects build in the TON ecosystem.

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Voyager Digital creditors’ lawyers to pocket $16.48M after the recent invoice

  • In the third and final bill lawyers representing Voyager Digital creditors have billed $5.1 million.
  • When all the invoices are fully paid, Voyager Digital creditors will have paid a total of $16.48 million to the lawyers.
  • The legal charges will top the firm’s bankruptcy budget by $5.28 million from the initial $11.2 million.

In the recent court filing, the creditors of bankrupt cryptocurrency brokerage company Voyager Digital have been billed $5.1 million by New York-based law firm McDermott Will & Emery. The firm is billing for services offered between March 1 and May 13, 2023.

The law firm submitted a court filing on July 3 billing the legal costs to the “Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.” According to the filing, the law firm billed for its services at an hourly rate of $1,026.76.

In total, the law firm is charging for 5,332.6 hours of professional, semi-professional, and non-professional services, including advising the unsecured Voyager creditors committee. It also wants to be reimbursed $151,221 for its expenses.

How much have Voyager Digital creditors paid so far?         

McDermott Will & Emery law firm submitted its third and final bill, bringing its total compensation between July 5, 2022, and May 19, 2023, to $16.48 million, of which $8.97 million has already been paid by the creditors.

McDermott Will & Emery isn’t the only law firm that is willing to help Voyager, though. Legal counsel Kirkland & Ellis also sent Voyager a bill for $1.1 million in legal costs for the month of April on June 28.

Voyager Digital woes

Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022, after the massive crypto meltdown that resulted from the collapse of Terra Luna. At the time, Voyager owed $620 million to the currently bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

The bankruptcy court has since ordered Voyager to pay interim reimbursement to the professionals including its lawyers.

Voyager had agreed to FTX’s bid for its assets just before FTX went down and also filed for bankruptcy meaning the deal did not go through.

Voyager then agreed to sell its assets to Binance.US but Binance.US pulled out of the deal triggering the liquidation of Voyager. Binance.US has also been locked in a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) which recently sued it for violating the country’s securities laws.

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Justin Bieber’s $1.3M NFT investment depreciates by more than 95%

  • Justin Bieber invested about $1.3 million into the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT.
  • There are speculations that Justin Bieber was gifted the NFT by MoonPay as a promotional tactic.
  • The investment has however depreciated to $59,000.

Dexerto revealed in a tweet that global pop superstar Justin Bieber’s $1.3 million investment in BAYC NFT had depreciated to $59,000; meaning he has lost about $1.2 million.

Celebrity endorsements and investments have risen sharply since the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These blockchain-based, one-of-a-kind digital assets have given celebrities new ways to interact with their fan bases, monetize their brands, and explore the fascinating world of cryptocurrencies.

However, the NFT market is infamously unpredictable and volatile, leading to frequent sharp fluctuations in price. Unfortunately for Bieber, this instability led to the loss of his Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT investment. Although a sharp decline in value is unquestionably a serious financial blow, it is crucial to take the bigger picture into account.

Justin Bieber’s forays into NFTs

The $1.2 million loss from his NFT investment, while significant, is probably manageable for Justin Bieber, whose estimated net worth was $285 million as of September 2021. The “Peaches” artist has diversified his sources of income, reducing the impact of the NFT’s decline through music, merchandising, and endorsements.

There are also speculations that the BAYC NFT was a reward from MoonPay as a promotional tactic.

Many famous people have adopted the NFT culture, however, not everyone has been successful. Some people have made these investments as part of a bigger marketing strategy rather than to earn rewards. Celebrities get exposure and audience interaction by affiliating with the forward-thinking digital movement by purchasing NFTs. Some like Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa have gone ahead to launch ApeCoin-themed Music NFTs.

However, not all NFT endeavours are unsuccessful. Some celebrities have gotten rich by selling NFTs for astronomical prices. It’s a game with a high chance of a high payoff.

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