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Crypto Markets News

Coinbase Works On Adding Five New Cryptocurrencies, Including 0x (ZRX) and Cardano (ADA)

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, Coinbase, has announced that it is considering the addition of five new coins, according to an article published July 13th. Accordingly, the crypto trading platform is considering adding new assets to its trading lists, including Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Zcash (ZEC), and 0x (ZRX).

Also, Coinbase said it would negotiate with local banks and regulators to add assets to as many jurisdictions as possible.

In June, Coinbase announced that it would support Ethereum Classic (ETC) on its platform, after which the ETC price increased by more than 25 percent. According to Coinbase, the process of adding ETCs to its trading platform is “proceeding as planned.” Also, Coinbase pointed out that, unlike the addition of ETC, which is technically similar to Ethereum (ETH), the new assets “will require additional exploratory work.”

We may also allow only certain ways to interact with these assets through our site, such as allowing only deposits and withdrawals of transparent Zcash addresses. Finally, some of these assets may be offered in other jurisdictions before being listed in the US.

Coinbase

Coinbase doesn’t know if all these five cryptos will end up listed on the cryptocurrency exchange platform

The crypto trading platform’s representatives said these assets require further study and they have not yet determined when or whether these currencies will be available on the platform. Coinbase further states that “some of these assets may be available everywhere, while others may only be backed in specific jurisdictions.”

At the time of this writing, all the before-mentioned cryptocurrencies are trading green.

In March, Coinbase announced its intention to support ERC20 tokens in its exchange, saying that its decision to add the ERC20 “paves the way for supporting the ERC20 assets in all Coinbase products in the future.”

Coinbase currently supports four different assets, namely, Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC). Last month, the company embarked on the process of becoming a fully regulated stockbroker with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This move would help Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange platform expand its offering and then emerge into the non-crypto financial market.

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Crypto Markets News

BitMEX Sustains Its Older Hypothesis That Noble Bank of Puerto Rico Protects Tether (USDT) Funds

After handling the thesis that the Puerto Rican bank Noble Bank represented Tether (USDT) central reserve entity, the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange platform added new information to its hypothesis. Through a report, BitMEX stated that the local financial regulator had changed the name of Tether’s fund from “Cash in banks” to “Deposits, market investments and other balances that earn interest.”

Since its launch, the Tether (USDT) has generated controversy

Tether (USDT) is a cryptocurrency that, at least in theory, is backed by reserves in US Dollars. That is to say, Tether (USDT) tokens are issued with the support of fiat money with the intention of maintaining their fixed value. Its official website even has a transparency section that shows the community its financial balance of physical reserves and how many USDT are in circulation.

Between November 2016 and November 2017, Tether (USDT) market capitalization increased by 100%, drawing the attention of investors and cryptocurrency analysts. Some even began to suspect manipulation due to the close involvement of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange platform.

BitMEX stated that Noble Bank of Puerto Rico protects Tether (USDT) funds

BitMEX prepared a study in which it is mentioned that cash deposits in Puerto Rico, through the International Financial Institutions (IFI), would be related to the growth of Tether (USDT).

Following our research on Tether and after financial information for the first quarter of 2018 was released, more evidence has been provided regarding the impact of Tether. In addition, a source close to Tether has confirmed that the speculation in our initial report is correct.

BitMEX

Another investigation, this time by the Bloomberg chain, reported in May that “three people with knowledge of the matter reported that Noble Bank International, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, took over Bitfinex’s banking activities last year,” which would confirm the argument raised in principle by BitMEX.

The cryptocurrency exchange platform said that during the first quarter of 2018 bank deposits in the IFI, including Noble Bank, reached $3.5 billion, representing an increase of about 7% during the first three months of the year.

It is important to mention that BitMEX’s allegations are based on independent research, are not intended to be conclusive and are limited to hypotheses that have not been officially confirmed or rejected by Noble Bank.

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Crypto Markets News

Bitcoin (BTC) Will Fail As A Currency, According To Leading US Economists

Three of the top U.S. economists have negatively spoken of Bitcoin (BTC) and its survival prospects during a meeting with Financial News on July 9th. Accordingly, Joseph Stiglitz, Kenneth Rogoff, and Nouriel Roubini made remarks claiming that Bitcoin (BTC) will collapse as a currency due to its lack of intrinsic value and its price volatility.

Bitcoin (BTC) is not a reliable fiat money alternative

Joseph Stiglitz also criticized the Bitcoin (BTC) traditional anonymity of transactions stating that it is contrary to the concept of a “transparent banking system.” According to him, crypto coins such as Bitcoin (BTC) provide support (unwillingly, of course) to “harmful activities” which “no government can afford.”

Kenneth Rogoff, the ex-chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a Harvard University professor, reaffirmed his dissenting view on Bitcoin (BTC), saying that the leading cryptocurrency in the world would be trading at just $100 in about ten years. He also mentioned government engagement in the crypto-verse, cautioning that “the people in power” will be in charge of overseeing “anonymous transactions.”

Nouriel Roubini, also known as “Dr. Doom” for his supposed “prophecy” of the 2008 financial crisis, claimed that Bitcoin (BTC) has none of the features of fiat money. Roubini also complained about BTC price volatility, scornfully stating that Bitcoin “is not even accepted at BTC conferences, and how can something that falls 20% one day and then rises 20% the next day be a stable store of value?”

Central banks and governments are not threatened by Bitcoin (BTC)

Some worldwide governments have, in fact, given clear declarations that crypto is a non-threatening phenomenon to traditional finance. Also, the same concept is accepted by central banks around the world.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) also argued that crypto assets do not present risks to the domestic financial market because of their not very large volumes in comparison to other stock market’s assets, for example. Another example comes from the Netherlands where the government stated that cryptos pose only a low risk to the country’s financial stability.

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Crypto Markets News

Bitcoin (BTC) Vs. Altcoins As Cryptocurrency Payment Methods

It’s no secret that most conventional economists don’t think much about cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin (BTC) and the altcoins, Ethereum (ETH) and the rest, not only produced the “biggest bubble in history,” but they are “neither a serious method of payment nor a good way to store capital,” according to Bank of America and Nouriel Roubini. However, while traditional financial experts have spent countless hours complaining that the volatility of cryptos makes them unfeasible as real money, a wide variety of stores, especially online, implemented cryptocurrency payment methods.

Which cryptocurrency is the most used one for payments? Well, perhaps as expected, the answer to this question is Bitcoin (BTC), only because it is accepted as a payment method more widely than any other cryptocurrency in the market.

However, altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC), among others, with their superior scalability may end up outperforming the leading digital coin in the cryptocurrencies market. But not just yet, as we’ll see together below.

Bitcoin (BTC) Vs. Altcoins – BTC is widely accepted as cryptocurrency payment methods, but Altcoins grew in popularity

Currently, 54 major companies allow cryptos, according to Virtual Coin Squad (although the actual number is much higher), and only two of them, MazeFit (sportswear) and Shiny Leaf (cosmetics), do not accept Bitcoin (BTC). The other 53, including Microsoft, Expedia, Mozilla and Shopify, all accept Bitcoin (BTC), while 25 also accept Litecoin (LTC), 13 accept Ethereum (ETH), 14 accept Bitcoin Cash (BCH), 12 accept Monero (XMR), and 15 also accept Dogecoin (DOGE).

In other words, Bitcoin (BTC) is the most adopted by the stores which accept cryptocurrency payment methods, for the simple reason that any merchant who agrees with any crypto is almost sure to admit BTC, while the same cannot be said of altcoins.

However, lately, altcoins grew in popularity and adoption as payment methods.

This growth in the acceptance of altcoins not only demonstrates the growing people’s familiarity with cryptos but also results from the increasing prominence of cryptocurrencies market payment services designed for businesses, such as Coinbase Commerce which allows merchants to accept payments in multiple digital currencies.

However, such merchants still remain in the minority, for the most part, once again suggesting that Bitcoin (BTC) is still the most widespread among the cryptocurrency payment methods.

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Crypto Markets News

CBOE Global Markets Applied For Bitcoin (BTC) ETF License To The US SEC

A new application for an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) for Bitcoin (BTC) has been recently filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It was introduced by the Chicago Board Options Exchange, also known as CBOE Global Markets, the first firm to request an ETF license for a cryptocurrency since a high-ranking SEC officer ruled that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are not securities.

If this application will be accepted eventually, then it would pave the road to big-time economic and institutional investors to put money on Bitcoin (BTC). In its request, CBOE Global Markets suggested a partnership with VanEck Investment and SolidX, to list and exchange SolidX shares in a trust granted by VanEck through its brokerage firm.

The SEC rejected in 2017 a number of similar filings for Bitcoin (BTC) EFT. The agency even urged applicants to revoke their applications for ETF licenses based on cryptocurrencies, arguing that there was a lack of transparency on a range of matters concerning liquidity, pricing, and safekeeping of the funds. The refusals list contains actions such as that of Barry Silbert, the Winklevoss brothers, as well as those of companies like SolidX and VanEck, currently included in the CBOE Global Markets application.

CBOE Global Market’s application for Bitcoin (BTC) ETF would have high chances of approval, given the SEC position regarding cryptos

Nevertheless, at the moment, the situation may have changed, as the director of corporate finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, William Hinman, publicly stated on June 14th that Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) would not be categorized or ruled as securities.

The other reason why CBOE Global Markets’ application is likely to be accepted is that the offer of shares is targeted to a corporate and/or high-income market, given that, as the document issued by the SEC states, each stock would be worth 25 Bitcoin (BTC), approximately $170,000 at the current BTC trading price against the USD.

Also, in March, CBOE Global Markets President, Chris Concannon, declared that ETFs are the logical next stage in Bitcoin (BTC) development after futures contracts have been finalized.

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