Schlagwort: crypto business

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2 reasons to buy Bitcoin at current levels

Bitcoin traded above $68k in November 2021 in what seemed to be a massive squeeze higher. But the enthusiasm quickly faded. 

In a little more than one year, hodlers saw their patience put to the test. The leading cryptocurrency fell back to earth, trading below $20k and triggering massive liquidations in many parts of the cryptocurrency industry. 

Plenty of factors have contributed to the “crypto winter” we’ve seen lately, such as the ongoing dollar’s strength as a result of the Fed’s tightening cycle. Yet, the Fed’s policy and the dollar’s strength might support Bitcoin’s recovery in the months ahead. 

BTC/USD weakness was too extreme

The Federal Reserve, like other major central banks in the world, raised the interest rates to fight inflation. So naturally, the US dollar strengthened as the tightening cycle was one (still is) of the steepest ever. 

The dollar gained across the FX dashboard – and against cryptocurrencies too. However, a simple comparison between the DXY gains and the BTC/USD weakness shows that Bitcoin’s weakness was too extreme. 

BTCUSD chart by TradingView

The daily chart above shows both the DXY and the BTC/USD exchange rate and how the two performed in a little more than 13 months. While the DXY gained about 20%, the BTC/USD exchange rate dropped more than 75% from its 2021 highs. 

Therefore,  the current bounce might be just the start of a stronger move higher for the BTC/USD exchange rate. In other words, the exchange rate has a lot of room to catch up with the dollar index. 

Deteriorating US outlook

While the Federal Reserve will still hike at its upcoming meeting, the US outlook is deteriorating fast. At this pace, one might expect a recession in the year’s second half and, thus a reverse in the Fed’s policy. 

A deteriorating outlook for the world’s largest economy would spell trouble for the US dollar. Given the BTC/USD reaction to a strong DXY, then the exchange rate might rally even more as the dollar index corrects. 

All in all, Bitcoin looks well-positioned to take advantage of the upcoming dollar weakness. The more the DXY falls from its highs, the stronger the BTC/USD rally will be. 

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Bitcoin hits 5-month high as bulls push BTC above $23K

  • Bitcoin hit highs of $23,342 on Binance, with a breakout above $22k extending year-to-date gains.
  • BTC price is up 30% in a month and has recovered 47% since the decline to $15,500 lows.
  • Short liquidations were around $376 million in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin price roared to highs above $23,000 on Saturday morning, rising to $23,342 on Binance as the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap hit levels last seen in mid-August 2022.

BTC was changing hands around $22,900 at the time of writing, about 9% up in the past 24 hours after shedding some of the gains. 

The price of Bitcoin was, however, still 35% up in the past 30 days, and as crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital pointed out earlier this morning, BTC had rallied over 47% since falling to lows of $15,500 amid the FTX dump.

Bitcoin price chart showing BTC rally to $23,000 on 21 January, 2023. Source: TradingView

 On-chain data platform Santiment noted just before today’s break above $23k that Bitcoin’s price rally has come amid a bullish outlook from large BTC investors. As the firm highlights in the chart below, whale addresses with 1,000 to 10,000 BTC have in the past two weeks accumulated over 64,638 bitcoins worth more than $1.46 billion.

Over $376 million in shorts liquidated

As Bitcoin raced to highs near $23,350, liquidation data showed that in the past 24 hours, about 80,497 traders had been liquidated.

According to Coinglass, the largest short liquidation was on Bitmex where an order worth $4.53million was rekt. The total liquidations as of 06:10 am ET on 21 January were $376.61 million. 

Notably, total liquidations are not at the levels seen when BTC/USD broke above $20,000 last week towards erasing all post-FTX losses. Nonetheless, it still shows some traders are convinced this could be a gigantic bull trap. 

But as it is, further upside momentum could see bulls target $25,000 or possibly higher if sentiment across risk markets helps bouy buy pressure.

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Samsung expands mobile wallet app to 8 more countries

  • Samsung has announced it will roll out its Samsung Wallet mobile app to another eight countries.
  • The Korea firm launched the app in June 2022, and expanded it to 21 countries before the latest announcement.
  • The wallet app integrates with the Samsung Blockchain Wallet for cryptocurrencies.

Samsung Electronics has announced that its unified mobile wallet application Samsung Wallet will now be available in eight more countries.

The South Korea-based tech giant revealed it would be rolling out the wallet app across Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Canada, India, Malaysia and Taiwan. Support for the Samsung Wallet in these countries will go live by the end of January.

However, the company noted in a news release that the exact timing of the launch will vary and depend on user devices and the specific market.

Samsung’s mobile payments platform grows

Samsung launched the wallet app in 2022, with support since its unveiling in June having increased from an initial seven countries to 21 countries by the date of the latest announcement.

Currently, the Samsung Wallet app is available for Samsung Galaxy users in Korea, UK, the US, Bahrain, China, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates.

More than a payments platform, the app also integrates with the Samsung Blockchain Wallet and comes with safety features enhanced by Samsung Knox, an inbuilt proprietary security platform.

So, while Samsung’s wallet app is not crypto-specific, users with supported devices can leverage it to do things like keeping tabs on their digital assets portfolio. The wallet allows for this via an interface that enables access to cryptocurrency prices across multiple exchanges.

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Nexo to pay $45 million to settle SEC charges

  • Nexo reached a $45 million settlement with US regulators, including the SEC.
  • The crypto lender allegedly offered unregistered securities via its Earn Interest Product.
  • Nexo will pay $22.5 to state regulators and the rest to the SEC, with this expected in the next 12 months.

Nexo, a Cayman Islands corporation founded in 2018 and a leading crypto lender, will pay $45 million as settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).

NASAA announced the settlement late Thursday, noting Nexo had agreed to pay the penalties following the outcome of a comprehensive investigation into an interest product the crypto platform allegedly offered to US customers.

Nexo settlement closes multi-year investigation

According to the press release announcing the settlement, the charges related to Nexo’s offering and sale of alleged unregistered securities via its Earned Interest Product (EIP). The regulatory watchdog noted 17 US state securities regulators had agreed to the reported settlement, with more set to accept it.

“This settlement recognises the important work of state securities regulators and the SEC in making sure that those who are investing their hard-earned money have all the information necessary to understand the risks and rewards of their decisions,” said Charlie Clark, Director, Washington Department of Financial Institutions Agency.

Nexo commented on the landmark settlement via a blog release, confirming it had been reached on a “no-admit-no-deny basis.” This closes a multi-year probe into Nexo’s offerings, particularly its interest bearing accounts.

According to Nexo, the regulators’ inquiries over the past year or so showed the company had not engaged in any fraud. 

“We are content with this unified resolution which unequivocally puts an end to all speculations around Nexo’s relations to the United States. We can now focus on what we do best – build seamless financial solutions for our worldwide audience,” said Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev.

The crypto lender will pay $22.5 million to state securities regulators and the rest to the SEC, with the payments made over the next 12 months. Notably. Nexo was in the process of a phased out exit from the United States market. 

Nexo’s native token NEXO rose in the aftermath of the announcement, and was changing hands around $0.84 on Friday afternoon. The NEXO price was up by more than 17% in the past 24 hours as at 12:10 pm ET

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Fantom launches on-chain funding system Ecosystem Vault

  • Fantom Foundation, the platform behind the Fantom (FTM) blockchain announced the launch of Ecosystem Vault on Friday.
  • Vault is a decentralised funding mechanism that will be financed by 10% of FTM transaction fees.
  • The funds in the vault are available to projects that get 55% approval in community-driven governance vote.

Fantom, a scalable Layer-1 blockchain platform, has officially launched Ecosystem Vault, a decentralised funding pool that will empower and help builders deploy new community-driven projects on the blockchain.

Vault to boost Fantom’s dApps ecosystem

Announcing that Vault was officially live, Fantom noted in a blog post that the funding mechanism will encompass governance proposals from the community.

The project represents Fantom’s continuing evolution as the community eyes further decentralisation, the Fantom Foundation team wrote.

Vault’s on-chain mechanism allows for a funding profile where projects and developers seeking to build decentralised apps (dApps) in the ecosystem can secure financing. As noted above, the funding pool also gives the Fantom community a chance to contribute to the growth of the blockchain via their funding decisions.

Per the Fantom Foundation, the Ecosystem Vault will get funds from 10% of transaction fees. The community controls these funds, which are a result of a reduction in the burn rate of native token FTM.  

Anyone can apply for the funds in the Vault, a process that requires applicants to create a Fantom Governance proposal (has 100 FTM fee). Afterwards, the proposal will need approval from 55% of the community based on 55% quorum. The Foundation tweeted:

As of Friday, 20 January, 2023 at 11:06 am ET, the vault held roughly 69,247 FTM tokens valued at just over $21,000.

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