Kategorie: Crypto News

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Crypto-backed cards usage is growing rapidly regardless of volatility, says i2C’s McCarthy

  • i2c saw a 500% jump in crypto-linked card issuance and a 600% surge in transaction volume, McCarthy told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
  • He says the average daily transaction volume stands at $60 million, with volatility not a major impact on everyday spending.

 i2c Inc. president Jim McCarthy says the firm continues to see tremendous growth in the use of crypto-backed cards despite the volatility that has seen prices of digital assets plummet.

The levels of growth and usage seen across crypto-linked cards in 2021 far exceeded what was observed in traditional credit and debit cards, the i2c boss told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Monday.

He said that across the Visa and Mastercard product offerings, the issuance of crypto-backed cards jumped 500% between January and December last year. 

Meanwhile, transactions spiked sixfold, with the 600% surge coming even as prices of cryptocurrencies soared and then began to fall towards the end of the year.

People are using the Visa or Mastercard crypto wallets for everyday spending, he added. He believes this is the reason the sector continues to “see a lot of growth regardless of the volatility in underlying assets.”

Every day spends, according to McCarthy, averages $60 million.

He also told CNBC that there has not been a direct correlation so far between prices tailing off and consumers increasing or cutting their usage.

Commenting on the demographics and what users were using more on a daily basis, the i2c president highlighted that it really cuts across all ages. For example, a study of over 3.5 million users showed that 45% of crypto-backed card users were aged 35 years and above.

Asked about what this meant for the industry even as cryptocurrency looks at decentralised finance over traditional payment rails, he noted:

“I think that DeFi is still more theoretical at this point. [Again] where I sit, what I think is interesting is that people are using these assets, even though there’s a lot of volatility in them, for everyday spend using traditional rails.”

McCarthy’s comments come a few days after Visa Inc., the world’s leading provider of credit cards, said processed $2.5 billion worth of payments made via crypto-linked cards. The company said this represented a 70% jump in volume over that recorded in 2021.

i2c reportedly accounts for over 5 million crypto-backed cards, with services accessible across 200 countries and available 24/7. The Silicon Valley firm was founded in 2001.

The post Crypto-backed cards usage is growing rapidly regardless of volatility, says i2C’s McCarthy appeared first on Coin Journal.

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Interested in the new Smart Contract Blockchain cryptocurrencies? FTM vs. AVAX – Which is more promising?

 Smart contracts made blockchain technology explorable and usable. It allowed the creation of apps, digital assets, organizations, etc. Of the numerous blockchains, two new ones are gaining traction in the crypto space. They are Fantom and Avalanche.

 Fantom was launched in December 2019 by Michael Kong to support dApps and digital assets, among others. It uses Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) proof-of-stake consensus algorithm (Lachesis) to implement security, low transaction fees, and high throughput. This mechanism uses a modular consensus layer that can be integrated into any network. It also has Fantom Virtual Machine that supports project development on the ecosystem.

 Avalanche was created in September 2020 by Ava Labs to support the integration of various DeFi ecosystems. It has three subchains, including Exchange Chain (X-Chain), Platform Chain (P-Chain), and Contract Chain (C-Chain). The X-Chain allows the creation and exchange of assets, the P-Chain is where validators and subnets converge, and the C-Chain aids the execution of EVM and smart contracts. It operates on Avalanche and Snowman consensus protocols.

 Both blockchains are scalable, secure, decentralized, and have low transaction fees. They have wallets where their native tokens can be stored and staked while maintaining compatibility with other wallets. Unlike Fantom, which has 22 members, Avalanche is backed by Ava Labs with over 100 members. Due to Fantom’s compatibility with Solidity and Vyper, it can easily integrate various projects into its ecosystem.

 Although they are both scalable, Fantom is than Avalanche with a finality period of one second. Also, Fantom has a fully implemented on-chain governance where FTM holders can participate in governing and propose changes on the network. However, it costs more to be a validator on Fantom.

 The price of FTM rose by 13,500%, while that of AVAX rose by 560% last year, according to CoinGecko. This can imply that although it is highly adopted, it is still undervalued. The adoption of Fantom blockchain is increasing right now, which would positively affect its price in the long run. So, in this case, the better investment is Fantom and FTM costs $2.08 as of today.

 Before you join the Fantom wagon, go ahead and do an in-depth analysis. After doing that, please deal wisely and put what you can lose.

The post Interested in the new Smart Contract Blockchain cryptocurrencies? FTM vs. AVAX – Which is more promising? appeared first on Coin Journal.

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Morgan Stanley: Bitcoin’s 50% correction “within historical norms”

  • Analysts at the bank say Bitcoin has corrected by 50% or higher on 15 occasions since 2009.

  • They say a breakdown to $28,000 is possible as this is 2021’s floor, while $45,000 remains a crucial resistance zone.

Bitcoin’s bounce from recent lows could be hindered if the flagship cryptocurrency slides below $37,000 again, with further losses likely given the potential for fresh sell-off pressure across traditional financial markets.

In such a scenario, Bitcoin’s price could retreat towards major demand zones in the $35k- $33K and see its cumulative losses since reaching an all-time peak hit +50%.

While the slump could be a worrying signal for the benchmark crypto, analysts at Morgan Stanley say this won’t be anything out of the ordinary.

Sheena Shah, the head of research for crypto at the bank said acknowledged in the report that it’s not easy to estimate what the fair value of a crypto asset is, especially given the speculative nature of the asset class.

Per the research note, Bitcoin’s correction is still within the perimeters of bear market crashes seen in previous cycles. Historical data shows Bitcoin price has tanked massively in about 15 bear markets in its life with the latest decline of 50% or more, not an isolated case.

The bank points to $28k as the key price level in this market cycle as it represents the coin’s 52-week low. If a bounceback strengthens and BTC/USD breaks and holds $45k, then the market can look to more gains amid a potential rally.

But Morgan Stanley thinks investors should keenly watch the markets, with the likely scenario being crypt assets remain in a correction amid macro trends.

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital thinks as much, noting on Monday as Bitcoin retreated from highs of $38,300 that BTC/USD could yet see a fake breakout. He says it would be important to take note of such a scenario, where Bitcoin sees an upward flip only to retreat sharply.

Trader and crypto analyst Ali Martinez points to on-chain data from IntotheBlock to suggest Bitcoin is facing stiff resistance around $37,500-$38,500.

“Breaking such a critical supply barrier could allow BTC to advance towards $42,300,” he noted.

The post Morgan Stanley: Bitcoin’s 50% correction “within historical norms” appeared first on Coin Journal.

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Here is why Ripple (XRP) has been dropping in the last three months

Over the last few months, many of the cryptocurrencies have been bearish, with major ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum also nosedive.

At the time of writing, Ripple price was had dropped by about 5.27% with a hitting a high of $0.6185 and a low of $0.5828 in the last 24 hours.

Now let’s take a look at the reasons behind the nosedive.

What is Ripple?

Before we delve into the recent bearish trend, it’s important we first explain what Ripple is for those coming across it for the first time.

Ripple is a company that runs a digital blockchain-based payment platform called RippleNet that uses XRP as its native cryptocurrency.

Despite having issues with the US SEC, Ripple has partnered with a number of financial service providers to make cross-border transactions seamless, traceable, and affordable,

What has caused the long Ripple (XRP) price drop?

Most investors are bearish on XRP following a three months-long nose dive.

However, although Ripple has been the most controversial blockchain-based project for a while, the token has remained in the top ten position cryptocurrency in the market.

According to CoinMarketCap, the trading volume was up 6.72% despite a 5.31% drop by market cap. The surge in the trading volume is mainly attributed to an increase in the selling volume as the token price drops.

Ripple had attempted a bull run at the beginning of October after a partnership between Nelnet and Ripple to lower the impact of cryptocurrencies on the environment. But the Bull Run was very short-lived. It only took days for XRP to turn bearish.

Today, XRP has hit a high of $0.6021 and a daily low of $0.58 which is being attributed to the increased selling pressure.

The post Here is why Ripple (XRP) has been dropping in the last three months appeared first on Coin Journal.

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Russia banning crypto could have an opposite effect, former president Medvedev warns

Medvedev is a former Russian president and prime minister and currently the Deputy Chair of the Security Country.

Russia’s intention to ban cryptocurrencies has elicited reactions from across the board, with many other people voicing opposition to the move for various reasons.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who also had a stint as the country’s prime minister, has added to the many who think the move would not be the best course of action from Moscow.

Medvedev is also Russia’s Security Council deputy chairman.

In an interview with Tass, he noted that he believes central bank regulators will find a better way to deal with the matter. However, he said that he doesn’t think the restrictions will achieve what regulators aim at.

According to Medvedev, calls from the Bank of Russia around crypto regulation that seek to see crypto-related activities banned could end with the opposite effect to the desired results.

“To be honest, when you try to ban something, this very often leads to the opposite result,” he told Tass.

Ban would slow down innovation and sideline Russia

Medvedev’s comments come just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the central bank, and other government regulators, to strike a consensus on the proposed regulation of cryptocurrencies.

In its report on crypto and related activities in Russia released on 21 January, the central bank noted what it called risks and threats, and proposed a total ban. With this move, the country would not allow activities such as trading, mining, and usage.

Among those against the proposed ban are Maxut Shadayev, the Minister for Digital Development, and Anatoly Aksakov of the State Duma. The Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC) also released a statement opposing the plans, noting that the ban risked sidelining Russia and slowing down innovation in the country.

According to Shadayev, a total ban could see the country lose experts and specialists in the innovation space. Meanwhile, Aksakov wants to see cryptocurrencies declared legal, with the government putting in place mechanisms to strictly monitor and supervise the industry.

Russia is not the only country to consider banning cryptocurrencies or adopting stricter regulations.

India had a bill seeking a crypto ban reconsidered earlier in the year, while in 2021, China embarked on a severe crackdown on the crypto sector. The Chinese crackdown forced miners and major crypto companies to relocate to other countries as authorities banned crypto mining and trading.

The US has so far not indicated taking such a move, but industry experts say the country could adopt tougher regulations following recent reports on the sector.

Despite the regulatory uncertainties, many within the crypto sector and across mainstream institutions believe crypto and the underlying blockchain technology ‚is here to stay.‘

The post Russia banning crypto could have an opposite effect, former president Medvedev warns appeared first on Coin Journal.