Schlagwort: crypto business

Veröffentlicht am

Yellen says no ‘significant’ Russian use of crypto to evade sanctions

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this while appearing before the US House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

With sanctions hitting Russia hard since its invasion of Ukraine, and foreign reserves drying up, some people have opined that the country could turn to crypto to try to evade the sanctions.

Leading exchanges, including Coinbase and Kraken, have previously said it’s unlikely that Russia will take this route. 

But while the US has warned exchanges against “helping” Russia by facilitating suspicious transactions, experts’ overall assessment is that crypto is an unlikely option.

No “significant” crypto for sanctions evasion

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has added her voice to this outlook, with her comments coming during a House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

“We are aware of the possibility, clearly, that crypto could be used as a tool to evade sanctions and we are carefully monitoring to make sure that doesn’t occur,” Yellen noted.

However, she told legislators that the US has the capacity to tell if there were any large-scale transactions related to Russia. She added that authorities were on top of this, with her remarks suggesting that there has been no ‘significant” pointer to Russia using crypto to evade sanctions.

“We haven’t seen significant evasion through crypto so far, but we’ll monitor carefully and use our authorities that we do have to make sure that this isn’t a major avenue for evasion,” the former US Federal Reserve Chair said in her testimony before the House committee.

In early March, Yellen said that talk of crypto being used to evade sanctions was there. However, she reiterated that federal authorities were monitoring the sector and that most crypto exchanges likely to be used are subject to AML (anti money laundering) guidelines.

The platforms also have to adhere to sanction rules, and that it’s not a sector through which evasion can “completely” be advanced, she added.

Yellen’s remarks mirror conclusions drawn by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, whose testimony before the US Senate Banking Committee in March also pointed to no significant evidence on the blockchain.

On Wednesday, US legislators introduced a bill that seeks to have US-based exchanges ban transactions for Russia-based users. The new bill also seeks to give President Joe Biden powers to sanction foreign-based crypto exchanges that would be deemed to be helping Russia.

The post Yellen says no ‘significant’ Russian use of crypto to evade sanctions appeared first on Coin Journal.

Veröffentlicht am

10 Best Cryptocurrencies for Beginners to Invest in 2022

Cryptocurrencies have been some of the best-performing assets to invest in lately, For example, while the S&P 500 index has risen by about 90% in the past five years, Bitcoin has surged by over 3,400% in the same period. Other coins have done even better. In this article, we’ll look at the best crypto for beginners to invest in and why.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin is the best-known cryptocurrency globally. It was the first coin ever started and its total market cap has surged to over $800 billion and is the best crypto for beginners because of the volume of material available about it. 

Most importantly, BTC is usually the main driver for other digital coins. They tend to rise when Bitcoin rises and vice versa. Further, Bitcoin is offered by most online exchanges and brokers. It has also had a lot of success over the years as its price has risen from less than $1 to a peak of almost $70,000.

Learn how to buy Bitcoin with our in-depth guide or invest with our recommended platform below.

Buy BTC here!

2. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is a giant in the blockchain industry. It is a second-generation platform that has smart contract features. These tools make it possible for people to build other decentralized applications (dApps). Today, 80% of all blockchain projects have been built using Ethereum’s platform. 

For example, in DeFi, popular platforms like AAVE, Curve, Maker, and Compound were all built using Ethereum. Similarly, in the non-fungible token (NFT) industry, Ethereum was used to build popular platforms like OpenSea and Axie Infinity. The same is true in the metaverse, where it was used to build Decentraland.

All this has happened at a time when Ethereum is facing strong competition from the likes of Solana, Avalanche, and Terra. As it moves to a proof-of-stake network, there is a possibility that its demand will keep rising.

Learn how to buy Ethereum with our in-depth guide or invest with our recommended platform below.

Buy ETH here!

3. Terra (LUNA)

Terra is another cryptocurrency to invest in by beginners. It is built using the Cosmos SDK and has been used in a number of ways. For example, developers have used Terra to build some of the biggest DeFi apps like Lido, Astroport, and Anchor Protocol. 

At the same time, Terra has been used to build some of the top stablecoins in the world like Terra USD, which has a market value of $16 billion. In South Korea, Terra was used to build Chai, a leading money transfer company. Therefore, Terra will likely keep growing in the next few years.

Learn how to buy Terra with our in-depth guide or invest with our recommended platform below.

Buy LUNA here!

4. Cosmos (ATOM)

Cosmos is a platform that is playing an important role in the blockchain industry. Its main goal is to use the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol to promote the communication of cryptocurrencies. It solves the challenge where most cryptocurrencies don’t communicate with one another. 

Cosmos also has an SDK that has been used to build popular blockchain projects like Terra, ThorChain, and Osmosis. It also has a big stake in Gravity DEX, which is set to become independent soon. Therefore, there is a likelihood that Cosmos will keep growing in the coming decades. This makes it a good cryptocurrency to buy among beginners.

Buy ATOM here!

5. Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink is a unique cryptocurrency that is good for both beginners and experienced traders. It is a blockchain project in the smart oracle industry. Its role is to make the blockchain work by enabling developers to link off-chain data to on-chain platforms. 

As a result, its work is so important since most developers will always use its service. Chainlink has also become a leading player in the verifiable random number generator (VRF). VRF helps to promote security for blockchain platforms. Therefore, Chainlink is a good cryptocurrency for beginners because of its important role in the industry.

Buy LINK here!

6. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Dogecoin is another cryptocurrency recommended to beginners. It is a coin whose goal is similar to Bitcoin in that it helps people send money. While DOGE was started as a joke, its role has become integral in the industry. 

Its prominence has been because of Elon Musk, the wealthiest person in the world who has promoted it. Many people now use Dogecoin to make some transactions and even pay tips in hotels. 

Dogecoin is a good cryptocurrency for beginners because of its cheap price and the fact that it has a long runway for growth. A single DOGE goes for $0.144, meaning that with just $100, one can buy 694 coins.

Buy DOGE here!

7. Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is a well-known cryptocurrency that is widely seen as a good alternative to Ethereum. It is a proof-of-stake platform that hopes to become the default place for developers to build their decentralized apps. While Cardano was founded in 2016, its smart contract features came only in 2021.

In the past few months, the number of developers using the network has grown and there is a possibility that this trend will continue. This makes it a good buy for beginners.

Buy ADA here!

8. Cronos (CRO)

Cronos is a relatively new blockchain project that seeks to become a favorite among developers. Its mainnet beta was launched in November 2021 and in a few months, the amount of activity has been rising. According to DeFi Llama, the network has a total value locked of over $4 billion. This is a substantial figure considering that it is now the biggest platform in its industry. Therefore, Cronos is a good investment because of its strong growth.

Buy CRO here!

9. Filecoin (FIL)

Filecoin is a web3 platform that is seeking to disrupt the file storage industry. It is using decentralization to make it easy for people and companies to improve their storage needs. It uses people from around the world to provide their free storage. It then rewards them with the FIL token, which is now valued at over $4 billion. Filecoin is a good cryptocurrency for beginners because of the real-world challenge it is solving.

Buy FIL here!

10. Anchor Protocol (ANC)

Anchor Protocol is a leading DeFi platform built using Terra’s technology. It lets people deposit collateral and then take loans. It also allows people to make money by providing liquidity. In a few months, Anchor has over $18 billion in assets and the figure is growing. ANC is mostly used for governance and there is a likelihood it will keep growing.

Buy ANC here!

The post 10 Best Cryptocurrencies for Beginners to Invest in 2022 appeared first on Coin Journal.

Veröffentlicht am

Voyager Digital announces preliminary revenue of $100-105M

Voyager Digital Ltd., one of the most dynamically growing US cryptocurrency platforms, announced preliminary revenue and user metrics for the last fiscal quarter, which ended on March 31, 2022.

Steve Ehrlich, Voyager’s CEO and Co-founder, announced:

Voyager continued its account growth in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 by adding 115,000 funded accounts which was slightly over a 10% growth from December 31, 2021 and was accomplished during an extremely challenging quarter based upon spot market volume. In the quarter, Voyager delivered on its goal of expanding our products by delivering the first batch of the Voyager Debit Card and adding the Voyager desktop to a significant beta group.  We remain focused on positioning our platform as one of the leading players in digital assets for consumers and expect continued customer growth in 2022.

3.5M verified users, $400M new deposits

Voyager announced key metrics for the last fiscal quarter. They estimate preliminary total revenue for the quarter to be around $100-$105 million. This is down from $164.8 million for the quarter that ended on December 31 last year, but up from $60.4 million y/y.

The crypto platform’s total funded accounts were around 1.2 million, up from 1.075 million on December 31 and 274,000 y/y.

They had around 3.5 million total verified users as of March 31, 2022, up from 3.2 million on December 31 last year and a million y/y.

The net amount of new deposits for the last quarter was approximately $395 million, down from $1.04 billion on December 31.

Steve Ehrlich added:

As discussed at our last earnings call, in 2021 we scaled our technology to accommodate rapid growth as mainstream crypto adoption accelerated and now in 2022 we have begun to deliver on the expansion of our product suite and will continue to roll out new and enhanced products and services as well as geographic expansion.

 

The post Voyager Digital announces preliminary revenue of $100-105M appeared first on Coin Journal.

Veröffentlicht am

Highlights April 7: Major cryptos slide, tobacco brands pop as UK100 falls

The crypto market as a whole is bearish today. UK-listed tobacco firms rose yesterday on the back of a positive trading update from Imperial Brands despite the wider UK100 falling 0.11%.

Top cryptos

Major cryptos had a rough day with Solana dropping around 9% over the past 24 hours, followed by Cardano, Avalanche, Polkadot all falling by more than 7%, and Ethereum and XRP sliding by more than 4% at time of writing. 

Bitcoin was trading above $43,000 at time of writing, down more than 4% over the past 24 hours. Dogecoin reversed yesterday’s gains, falling by 6% today.

Top movers

The situation in the top 100 was similar to that of major cryptos with most tokens falling by around 5%. Axie Infinity was among the bigger losers, shedding 12% of its value. Celo also lost around 12%. 

STEPN is also reversing gains, down 15%. Oasis Network’s ROSE token is down 14%. Audius, the music streaming protocol, lost 13% in the last 24 hours.

Anchor Protocol has gained 11% so far today. This could be on news that Binance is launching a UST staking service in partnership with this ecosystem. 

Binance users can directly pledge UST in the exchange wallet, with the interest rate being the same as the rate on Anchor’s official website, which is 19.63%.

The Mina token, which is said to have copied Cardano’s code, is the only other gainer in the top 100 today. It is up 5%.

Trending

The biggest gainer today is SFK, the token of Safefloki, a play to win game. Its price today is $1.58e-10 and it has gained 520% in the last 24 hours.

The post Highlights April 7: Major cryptos slide, tobacco brands pop as UK100 falls appeared first on Coin Journal.

Veröffentlicht am

Terra’s Do Kwon Buys $230 Million of Bitcoin

Do Kwon targets $10 billion BTC to back TerraUSD (UST).

Terraform Labs founder and CEO Do Kwon added Bitcoin worth $230 million to Luna Foundation Guard’s wallet, buying 5,040 BTC on Wednesday as prices dipped again.

Wednesday saw Bitcoin’s price below $45,000 amid negative market sentiment, providing a “buy-the-dip” opportunity for the Terra CEO. It was an opportunity that had earlier seen MicroStrategy also buy Bitcoin worth $190 million.

Kwon shared the news on Twitter:

„Today I watered my plant, wrote some emails, bought 230M in bitcoin, vacuumed the house, had some McDonalds, now off to walk the dog.”

And with that huge buy, Terra’s Bitcoin for UST reserves has grown to a $1.6 billion stash, with 35,768 bitcoins now held by the LFG.

In March, Kwon announced plans to eventually buy up to $10 billion in Bitcoin, up from an earlier targeted UST reserve of$3 billion. And as of today, the Luna Foundation’s BTC holdings have surpassed those of Tesla (TSLA). Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in February last year.

MicroStrategy, which bought an additional 4,167 BTC worth about $190.5 million on Tuesday, is the biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin today. The company now holds 129,218 bitcoins bought at a cost of $30,700. 

The Michael Saylor-led firm’s total cost is around $3.97 billion, with the holdings currently valued at around $6.04 billion.

Bitcoin was trading around $43,660 on Wednesday evening, with the price down 4.6% in the past 24 hours.

The post Terra’s Do Kwon Buys $230 Million of Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Journal.