The Australian entrepreneur Fred Schebesta said he would give away $5 worth of bitcoin to locals who have had a COVID-19 vaccine and those who will get it in the future. Considering Australia’s population, he would have to distribute $104 million (around 75 million USD) if everyone takes advantage of the offer.
‘Get Vaxxed Baby, And Get Your Bitcoin’
Fred Schebesta – the co-founder of the financial comparison website Finder – revealed his plans to hand over $5 worth of bitcoin to Australians who have taken a coronavirus jab since February. The entrepreneur added that those who are about to get a vaccine would also benefit from his offer:
“I’ve had this crazy idea right now – I’ve never spoken about this. We’re going to give everyone in Australia who gets vaccinated $5 of Bitcoin. Get vaxxed baby, and get your Bitcoin baby as well.”
Fred Schebesta, Source: Yahoo
The 40-year-old blogger explained that each person could apply only once for this offer. To claim the amount of BTC, people would have to download the Finder app and present proof of vaccination. Once that’s done, the digital asset would appear in their wallets.
A little bit less than 50% of the Australian population over 16-years-old has at least one coronavirus shot, while those with a full vaccination cycle are around 27%. Doing the math would mean that Schebesta has to distribute nearly half of his $155M fortune to uphold his promise.
While some experts view bitcoin as a volatile and risky asset, the millionaire recently forecasted that its price would hit $255,000 by 2025. If this prediction comes true, hodlers will increase their cryptocurrency exposure by nearly six times.
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Schebesta made the announcement during an interview with the radio host Kyle Sandilands who performed the song ‘Get Vaxxed Baby’ last month, convincing locals to take a coronavirus vaccine.
Different Story in Italy
While Fred Schebesta urged Australians to get a COVID-19 jab by giving them bitcoin, scammers in Italy offered fake coronavirus passes to thousands of people in exchange for cryptocurrencies.
As CryptoPotato recently reported, the Italian police halted several groups operating on the online messaging application Telegram, where locals bypass the law and buy vaccine certificates. The sellers preferred digital asset payments for the service.
The criminals did not have a fixed price for the illicit service, but one could buy it for up to 500 euros or $588. Still, the Italian officials did not disclose what type of digital assets the scammers accepted.
Italy has been one of the worst affected countries by the COVID-19 in Europe. According to the latest government figures, over 65% of Italians are fully vaccinated. However, whether all the certificates belong to people who have legally acquired them or have been part of the cryptocurrency fraud remains unclear.
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Bitcoin hasn’t even gotten to its teenage years yet. When Satoshi published his white paper in October 2008 detailing the creation of a new monetary system, no one knew that in less than 13 years bitcoin would rise to a market cap of $850 billion. It would also lead to thousands of other cryptocurrencies, foster an entire financial services industry and become a new asset class that is revolutionizing money as we know it.
But bitcoin doesn’t just appear out of thin air. You have to mine it. And with all eyes on the minute-by-minute price of bitcoin, its expanding adoption and who’s going to tweet what to make the price change, there isn’t much attention being paid to bitcoin mining: what it is, what it does and the impact it’s making worldwide.
We’ve been mining bitcoin for seven years and have helped the industry evolve and adapt. Here’s the story of bitcoin mining that most people don’t know and the trends that have shaped the industry.
Bitcoin Mining Is Born
Bitcoin is a system of decentralized currency that acts like gold: it’s a store of value and a finite commodity. This means that it’s limited in supply — only 21 million bitcoin can ever exist — making it inflation-proof. Those who want to use bitcoin don’t need to be subject to governmental oversight that could change the value of it or determine who can use it.
But where does bitcoin itself come from? Like gold, it must be mined — not with a pick and shovel, but with a computer.
The foundation of Bitcoin is blockchain technology. Miners around the world compete to solve an algorithm that allows them to add a block to the blockchain. Whoever solves the algorithm first takes home that block’s transaction fees and a fixed reward of new bitcoin issuance (6.25 bitcoin per block, currently), which adds more bitcoin into circulation.
When Bitcoin was first created, mining was easy enough to do from a laptop in a kitchen with a standard CPU. But as more miners joined, competition to be the first to solve the algorithm grew, which meant miners needed more processing power and newer hardware. In order to run more powerful computers efficiently, the price of electricity started to gain importance. Soon, mining got too competitive to be profitable as an individual.
A Multi-Billion Dollar Industry Was Born
In order to be profitable, mining operations had to scale. New mining-specific hardware came on the market and miners set up rigs in trailers and then warehouses, where large-scale mining farms with thousands of mining rigs could work at solving the algorithm around the clock. Because of the operational needs for large-scale farming, including layout and design, energy sources, management software, the need for upgraded hardware and more, bitcoin mining quickly became a multi-billion dollar industry.
According to a report by ARK Invest, the cost of the hardware in place to support the ecosystem is around $7.2 billion and they write that “since the inception of dedicated Bitcoin hardware in 2013, we believe billions of dollars have been spent on design, production, and tapeout, spawning an industry dedicated exclusively to manufacturing this robust and specialized hardware.”
Bitcoin mining doesn’t just have big operations, it has big returns as well. ARK Invest also estimates that miners could make $15 billion in revenue from transaction fees and bitcoin rewards.
Competition Spawns New Hardware
Bitcoin competition continues to increase, but because bitcoin is a finite commodity, there’s only so much to compete over. This means that mining operations need to stay as fast and powerful as they possibly can to win the reward.
As growing competition in bitcoin mining raised the computing power requirements, mining shifted to GPUs, utilizing the hardware that usually only gamers needed for high-end games. GPUs were then replaced with application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) — hardware devoted specifically to mining cryptocurrency. ASICs are the fastest and most efficient hardware dedicated to bitcoin mining and are exclusively in use today.
But hardware depends on chips, and while chip technology is accelerating at incredibly quick speeds, chips are in short supply. This means frequent sell-outs on necessary hardware — like the recent Bitmain shortage — and the need for mining operations to plan their upgrades far in advance.
New Technology Is The Most Profitable
Similarly, bitcoin mining operations need to keep on top of ever-evolving technology that’s making mining hardware bigger, better and faster, because any lag in efficiency means compromising profit. Today, technology is outpacing innovation, so mining operations need to not only keep up with purchasing new hardware, but must install it quickly, as time is of the essence. Even a few day’s lag is costly and many mining operations (like ours) have rented 747s to cut down on shipping time.
The Rise Of Western Miners
For a long time, over half of the world’s mining energy came from operations in China, simply because it was cheaper to set up and faster to ship there from the Chinese factories. But that dominance is dying as China cracks down on mining operations. According to Wired, “a shift in bitcoin mining’s geographic distribution might nevertheless be underway” with operations looking to North America, Europe or Latin America for places that are more politically stable. Miners are also looking for places to build operations in Nordic countries, Canada and the US, where there is an abundance of cheap and sustainable energy, like wind, solar and hydro.
What’s In Store For The Future Of Bitcoin
Despite a lot of recent volatility around bitcoin — which isn’t new — the future of bitcoin is bright and bullish. It will continue to increase in value and attract new investors and, as more people come to understand Bitcoin, where it came from and the industry around how it’s mined, they’ll find even greater value in it.
This is a guest post by Abdumalik Mirakhmedov. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
Coming every Saturday,Hodler’s Digestwill help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.
Top Stories This Week
Infrastructure bill passes US Senate — without clarification on crypto
On Tuesday, the controversial infrastructure bill passed in the U.S. senate In a 69-30 vote.
The bipartisan bill proposes roughly $1 trillion of funding into transportation and electricity infrastructure projects. The bill also puts forward more stringent rules for firms handling crypto assets whileexpanding reporting requirements for brokers, who will be required to report digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 to the IRS.
Six senators, including Pat Toomey, Cynthia Lummis, Rob Portman, Mark Warner, Kyrsten Sinema and Ron Wyden,proposed an amendment to the buzz-kill billon Monday that would exempt software developers, transaction validators and node operators as brokers, while proposing thattax reporting requirements“only apply to the intermediaries.”
Their efforts didn’t bear fruit, however, with further clarification on crypto not provided. Senator Toomey flamed the bill in the aftermath, noting that the legislation was “too expensive, too expansive, too unpaid for and too threatening to the innovative cryptocurrency economy.”
Walmart seeks crypto product lead to drive digital currency strategy
On Aug. 16, it was reported that U.S. retail giant Walmart was seeking out an experienced crypto expert who can develop and drive a digital currency strategy and product roadmap for the firm.
According to the job listing, Walmart is looking for someone with a track record of leading and scaling businesses. They also want at least 10 years of experience in product/program management and tech-based product commercialization.
Ideally, the candidate should also know a thing or two about crypto, blockchain tech and why JPEGs of poorly drawn pet rocks are selling for absurd prices on Ethereum.
Walmart’s future digital currency and crypto product lead will be based in the company’s home office in Bentonville, Arkansas. The state has produced talents such as Billy Bob Thornton and Johnny Cash, along with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Eth2 staking contract ranks as single-largest Ether hodler with $21.5B
There was good news for Doge fanatics this week as the Dogecoin Foundation resurfaced after several years of total media silence.
According to an announcement on Tuesday, the foundation stated it was reestablishing itself in a bid to support the fiery-eyed Dogecoin (DOGE) community. The foundation also said it would be announcing new projects that are centered on encouraging adoption of DOGE and promoting its utility.
The project’s website lists Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus and Dogecoin Core developer Max Keller as advisory board members. Furthermore, Tesla CEO and DOGE proponent Elon Musk’s interests may be catered to from the shadows via Neuralink CEO Jared Birchall.
It is yet to be revealed if Musk’s “toddler hodler” son has loaded up on DOGE in light of the announcement.
Former US Treasury official joins Binance to lead AML efforts
Coinbase, the top U.S. crypto exchange, has amassed a cash-based war chest worth $4 billion on the back of two very productive quarters for the firm.
The company reportedly expected to use the cash to cover costs incurred by a variety of factors, including conforming to new regulations handed down by the United States legislature.
Coinbase has also announced itsofficial launch in Japanin partnership with banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, while also revealing plans to add$500 million worth of cryptoto its balance sheet and invest 10% of all generated profits into digital assets moving forward.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at$48,778, Ether at$3,282and XRP at$1.28. The total market cap is at$2.09 trillion,accordingto CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Avalanche(AVAX)at 105.79%, Arweave(AR)at 96.17% and Audius(AUDIO)at 93.78%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are DigiByte(DGB)at -5.06%, Celsius(CEL)at -4.44% and BitTorrent(BTT)at -3.81%.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to readCointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“Poly Network has no intention of holding Mr. White Hat legally responsible, as we are confident that Mr. White Hat will promptly return full control of the assets to Poly Network and its users. As we have stated in previous announcements and encrypted messages that have been made public, we are grateful for Mr. White Hat’s outstanding contribution to Poly Network’s security enhancements.”
Poly Network team
“Lawmakers and regulators must work together to properly balance protecting innovation with any new regulations to ensure the digital asset marketplace flourishes in the United States.”
Glenn Thompson and Patrick McHenry, U.S. representatives
“The most important thing that can be done today is moving away from the idea that coin voting is the only legitimate form of governance decentralization.”
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder
“Here at home in America, […] our payments infrastructure is arguably the worst of any developed country in the world, and increasingly falling behind, while China is moving with determination and haste to build an infrastructure that will make the digital yuan a challenger to the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.”
David Marcus, Diem co-creator
“Ethereum is outperforming Bitcoin, and it can be expected to continue this trend for the rest of 2021.”
Nigel Green, CEO of DeVere Group
“This is all about DeFi. […] This is the Treasury Department trying to work out how to get jurisdiction over DeFi […] and also expand its warrantless surveillance over a peer-to-peer financial system.”
Jake Chervinsky, general counsel at Compound
“Frankly, as one of the first pilots, we have on the table the question of paying salaries to employees of the Ministry of Digital Transformation in electronic hryvnia.”
Mykhailo Fedorov, vice prime minister of Ukraine
“It’s important to remember that when we look at the business, the long-term arc of adoption of digital assets in crypto matters far more than the businesses we are building.”
Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital
Prediction of the Week
Ethereum ‘liquidity crisis’ could see new ETH all-time high before Bitcoin — Analyst
Bitcoin, the crypto industry’s largest asset by market cap, and Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest asset, have both posted notable price recoveries over the past several weeks. Although BTC has yet to be surpassed as the crypto industry’s top dog, ETH might tap its own all-time price high near $4,400 sooner than BTC reaches its record level of nearly $65,000, according to thoughts from CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju.
“$ETH might reach its all-time high earlier than $BTC in the long term,” Ju tweeted on Wednesday. “Current $ETH price is closer to ATH compared to $BTC. Higher demand, lower supply. $ETH sell-side liquidity crisis still intensifies, while $BTC exchange reserve stopped its downward trend in May.”
On Friday,BTC fluctuated above the $48,000 mark, and ETH traded above $3,200 — which, however, are both still notably shy of their record highs.
FUD of the Week
JPMorgan Chase reportedly shuts down bank accounts of Bitcoin mining firm
On Aug. 19, U.S. banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase reportedly blocked all account activities of Bitcoin mining firm Compass Mining.
Whit Gibbs, the CEO of Compass Mining, took to Twitter to share the news:
“Shoutout to @Chase for shutting down @compass_mining accounts for doing our part to replace the old guard with self-sovereign, future-focused supporters of hard money. Get behind #Bitcoin or get out of our way.”
It is unclear if the temper tantrum will be enough to sway JPMorgan Chase to change its mind, and it is also unclear how shutting down banking services to one Bitcoin mining firm represents an attack on BTC in any way.
If anything, the banking giant has been upping its exposure to Bitcoin and the crypto sector in 2021.
Liquid exchange hacked to the tune of $80 million
Liquid, a Japanese crypto exchange, was the victim of a $80 million-plus hack this week which made the platform not so… liquid.
Cointelegraph reported on the news quickly after the exchange announced the attack, which compromised digital assets including BTC, Tron (TRX), Ripple (XRP) and Ether.
The exchange explained that only its hot wallets were affected and added that its assets were being moved into cold storage for security purposes.
The platform has since provided an update and revealed the hack totaled $91.35 million. The firm has urged users to not deposit any crypto assets in Liquid wallets until further notice.
T-Mobile looking into potential hack of data on 100 million customers
Speaking of hacks, U.S. telecom giant T-Mobile was looking into an alleged massive data breach at the start of this week that may have compromised the information of more than 100 million users.
According to Vice’s Motherboard, T-Mobile is looking into a potential data breach claimed by an author who posted details on an underground forum. A Sunday report said the hacker claims to have obtained data on more than 100 million customers from T-Mobile servers.
Unlike the Poly Network hacker, whosyphoned $600 millionworth of digital assets because “cross-chain hacking is hot,” the T-Mobile hacker seems to be displaying entrepreneurial instincts, as they were asking for 6 BTC — worth around $280,000 at current prices — in exchange for some of the data.
Best Cointelegraph Features
Shanghai Special: Crypto crackdown fallout and what happens next
Owning Bitcoin isn’t banned, but many fear for the future of regulations in China. Here’s a look at where we stand and where we might be headed.
Poly Network hack exposes DeFi flaws, but community comes to the rescue
The DeFi hacker’s initial intentions remain unclear, but they refused to accept a $500,000 bounty after returning all funds.
The perfect storm: DeFi hacks will advance the crypto sector moving forward
There is a silver lining from the DeFi hacks as new tech develops to protect the sector: “DeFi will be much safer in 12 months from now.”
The President of the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) also known as the Central Bank of Brazil has stated that it is important to have robust cryptocurrency regulatory policies in place, to address the increased interest in the nascent technology.
Cryptocurrency to Exist With Brazil’s Instant Payment System
According to Bloomberg, Roberto Campos Neto made the statement at the meeting of the Council of the Council of the Americas on Thursday (August 19, 2021). Campos Neto stated that lawmakers in the country were concerned that more Brazilians used cryptocurrency as an investment tool, rather than a means for payment.
In response to such concerns, the BCB president said:
“We need to pay attention to that. The financial market is changing so much that it’s all becoming data. We need to reshape the world of regulation.”
Campos Neto also said that the growing adoption of cryptocurrency in Brazil was mostly due to the need for a viable option that is open, secure, and comes with robust transparency. Furthermore, the Brazilian central bank head noted that the interest in the nascent industry meant that crypto was going to have a lasting presence in the Latin American country.
Meanwhile, the BCB rolled out its instant payment system called Pix in November 2020. One of the main reasons for launching Pix was to ensure adequate financial inclusion, bringing the unbanked into the financial system.
The instant payment system conducts transactions without intermediaries and is available round the clock and 365 days of the year. In a population of over 200 million, more than 96 million Brazilians utilize Pix. Earlier in August, the system recorded 40 million transactions within 24 hours.
With Pix already in existence Campos Neto said that he is working with the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a framework that would enable cryptocurrency to coexist with the BCB’s instant payment system.
Apart from working towards setting up crypto regulations, Brazil is also among the list of countries developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Back in September 2020, the BCB said that it was planning to release its digital real by 2022.
Also, Brazil became the first country in Latin America to approve a Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The percentage of illegal crypto transactions, according to this Chainalysis report, is about 2% of total transactions. Although the majority of cryptocurrency transactions is not illegal, it is increasingly being used for criminal activities.
As part of a dark web operation, Australian police have conducted a massive cryptocurrency seizure. The total value seized was about $6 million (AUD 8.5 million). According to the authorities, this is the largest crypto seizure made in Australia in history.
Crypto Seizure And The Dark Web
Victoria police reported that the seizure was part of an ongoing investigation into online drug trafficking. The arrests and seizures constitute part of an investigation into drug trafficking on a dark web platform that has been online since 2012. Australian authorities have been investigating the drug trafficking dark web platform since early 2021.
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Related Reading | US Government Plans To Pay Rewards To Dark Web Informants In Cryptocurrency
On Thursday, detectives conducted searches at properties in Kinglake, Preston, Prahran, Dollar, and South Yarra. They carried out the searches with assistance from East Gippsland Crime Investigation Unit and Bass Coast Crime Investigation Unit. Several items were seized from the properties. These include drugs believed to be cannabis, Psilocin (magic mushrooms), MDMA, prescription medication, and white powder and crystals. The police also seized assets worth a total of AUD 13.1M. Among these were two properties in Kinglake and Dollar valued at about $2M. Vehicles, including a Toyota Prado and VW T-Cross, valued at about $100,000, were also seized.
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Crypto total market cap settles above $2 trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com
Three people were arrested and interviewed by the police. This includes a 31-year-old Kinglake woman and a 30-year-old Preston man. Although both have been released pending further inquiries, the woman was charged with possession of cannabis. A 33-year-old man was also arrested at the Preston address.
Investigations Remain Underway
Investigations into drug trafficking in Australia are still ongoing. The authorities urge anyone with information to contact them. Victoria Police Crime Command, Commander Mick Frewen, noted that the case highlights the modern nature of the serious and organized crime. “This is the 21st-century version of drug trafficking and money laundering, with criminals using technology to enable immense amounts of community harm and misery,” he stated.
He also mentioned that although there may be a perception of anonymity in online drug trafficking, the investigation shows otherwise. “We make no apology for targeting those involved in the manufacture and trafficking of illicit drugs and holding them to account”.
Related Reading | UK Police Seize Ethereum Worth $9.5 Million Found On USB Stick
This incident is just one of many recorded in recent times. The UK police have conducted investigations that have resulted in crypto seizures. The latest confiscation involved significant amounts of Ethereum (ETH) found on USB sticks connected to an international cryptocurrency scam.
Featured image from Decrypt, Chart from TradingView.com
Police in the Australian state of Victoria seized more than $8.5 million AUD ($6 million USD) worth of crypto as part of an investigation into online drug trafficking.
The total sum is the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever in Australia, according to a report from the Victoria Police.
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Law enforcement arrested two men and a woman related to the investigation, and also seized two properties, two vehicles and a variety of drugs. The total value of the seized assets is believed to be about $13.1 million AUD ($9.34 million USD).
The arrests and seizures are in connection with a nearly decade-long investigation into drug trafficking on a dark web platform. The investigation is spearheaded by Victoria’s Cyber Crime Squad and Criminal Proceeds Squad.
Commander Mick Frewen of the Victoria Police Crime Command says the investigation demonstrates the importance of adapting to crimes involving modern technology.
“This is a remarkable result and one that highlights the modern nature of serious and organized crime.
This is the 21st-century version of drug trafficking and money laundering, with criminals using technology to enable immense amounts of community harm and misery.
Police actively work on these forums and receive information from a wide range of sources including our Australian and international law enforcement partners.”
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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.
A new report from blockchain data platform Chainalysis indicates that crypto adoption is surging around the globe, with residents of one particular country leading the way.
Vietnam tops Chainalysis’ 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index, with strong numbers in total cryptocurrency activity, on-chain retail value transferred, and peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange trade volume.
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The Southeast Asian country has made more than one recent crypto list. Earlier this month, Vietnam ranked second on Binance’s list of the top five countries in terms of crypto adoption.
India, Pakistan, Ukraine and Kenya round out Chainalysis’s top five, respectively.
The blockchain data platform weighted the rankings by purchasing power parity (PPP) in order to favor countries that have an amount of crypto activity that is more significant based on the wealth of the average person and the value of money within the countries, according to the Chainalysis report.
“Several countries in emerging markets, including Kenya, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Venezuela rank high on our index in large part because they have huge transaction volumes on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms when adjusted for PPP per capita and internet-using population. Our interviews with experts in these countries revealed that many residents use P2P cryptocurrency exchanges as their primary on-ramp into cryptocurrency, often because they don’t have access to centralized exchanges.”
Chainalysis adds that the overall level of cryptocurrency adoption around the globe is “skyrocketing” and that the factors driving these rates may differ from region to region.
“Our research suggests that reasons for this increased adoption differ around the world – in emerging markets, many turn to cryptocurrency to preserve their savings in the face of currency devaluation, send and receive remittances, and carry out business transactions, while adoption in North America, Western Europe, and Eastern Asia over the last year has been powered largely by institutional investment.”
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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.
Cryptocurrency exchanges are online platforms where you can trade (buy and sell) between cryptocurrencies based on their actual market price. In order to come up with a valuation for a cryptocurrency, investors and market participants determine the demand and supply. This is a similar concept to a stock exchange where shares of companies are bought or sold.
By using a cryptocurrency exchange a person can buy a cryptocurrency and sell it when the price rises to mark a profit. The key is entering and exiting a market at the right time. And just like traditional stock exchanges, crypto exchanges, too, involve transaction charges that are levied on trades done by a trader. In this article, we will cover the types of fees charged by exchanges which are important for investors to understand.
There are in general three types of transaction fees involved in the trading of cryptocurrencies. Investors are advised to know about them.
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Exchange fees
This is the first type of fee an investor needs to be aware of when using exchanges. The exchange fee is the amount charged by an exchange in order to complete a user’s buy or sell order. Though most exchanges have a fixed fee, a smart investor must do his own research regarding exchanges that charge the lowest so as to save on the final cost of a transaction.
Another aspect of crypto exchange fees is the Maker-Taker fee model. In this model, the Maker is the trader who provides liquidity to the order books by using limit orders while Taker is a trader who takes away the liquidity through using market orders. Maker fees tend to be cheaper than Taker fees as a reward for participating in an orderbook. Additionally, in his model, exchanges also incentivize traders who trade larger volumes.
The exchange fee is the main source of revenue for cryptocurrency exchanges and remains integral to their business practices and existence.
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Related Reading | Cryptowisser Releases Report on Exchanges With Lowest Fees
Network Fees
Network fees are perhaps what makes crypto so unique and legitimizes it as a sound and energy-efficient store of value. Any cryptocurrency network runs on the back of miners for the work they do. A crypto miner is an individual or a group who uses powerful computers to verify and validate transactions by checking that tokens are not spent twice and that all transactions are in real-time and true. This makes mining cryptocurrency a profitable source of income and is gaining popularity throughout the world.
The network fee is charged to investors and payable directly to miners only when investors move their crypto between exchanges and wallets.
It is to be noted here that exchanges have no direct control over the network fees and it is paid directly to the miners/validators of a crypto network for the work they do. The network fees can increase as per demand when the network becomes very busy and crowded.
Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining Museum Opens Its Doors In Venezuela. Is It The First-Ever?
Cryptocurrency Wallet Fees
Cryptocurrencies are stored in a digital wallet. It is like an online bank account where a user can store their crypto safely. A cryptocurrency wallet allows for storing, sending, and receiving cryptocurrencies. In general, wallets do not charge any fee on the deposit and storage of cryptocurrency but charge a fee on withdrawals from the wallet which is basically the network fees. Most wallets are very advanced and even allow systematic buying options for cryptocurrency. Some wallets have also integrated merchant gateways that interact with real-world applications.
All exchanges provide an in-built wallet where users can store their crypto in a single place and there are no charges for storing and deposits.
Related Reading | Wallets: How To Store, Send, and Receive Cryptocurrency
In its entirety, transaction fees and charges play a large role in the functioning of the financial and investment services sector. The funds collected are very crucial for these businesses that have enabled traders and institutions to invest in crypto from the comfort of homes and offices through simple clicks of buttons in digital online platforms. These services are run by teams of dedicated professionals and are at the forefront of the fintech revolution that is slowly replacing traditionally financial institutions. A list of all crypto exchanges as per rank can be found here.
In just the current year, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies has increased four-fold. Source: CRYPTOCAP on TradingView.com
Featured image from iStockPhoto, Charts from TradingView.com
Top crypto analyst, trader and host of The Wolf Of All Streets podcast Scott Melker is naming a threat that he believes looms large over Bitcoin’s future.
In an interview with Kitco News, Melker discusses the regulatory threats that Bitcoin (BTC) could face in the near future as the king coin potentially becomes too large to escape governmental reach.
Melker says that Bitcoin will inevitably become the subject of further regulation and scrutiny in terms of the type regulation the asset will face.
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“I think that regulation is necessary and whether you think it’s necessary or not we all know that it’s inevitable – so I would say that the threat is the kind of regulation. Heavy-handed regulation by regulators who don’t understand the asset could be very bad for Bitcoin in the short term.”
The analyst likens the situation to the Chinese mining phenomenon, in which many BTC mining rigs are moving out of the country.
“The Chinese mining breakdown may be as bearish, but that’s only a bearish thing in the very short term. If you believe in the decentralization of the network and you were worried about China’s impact, well this should be viewed as very bullish long term… It just depends on through what lens and what timeframe you view any of these things.”
Melker says that even if Bitcoin faces harsh governmental regulation across the globe, the network will not fail.
“I would say that extremely heavy-handed legislation from multiple countries could make it very, very difficult. But to be clear, Bitcoin cannot be stopped. It cannot be banned.”
Melker also touches upon the top smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH) and its chances of flipping Bitcoin’s market cap.
Although the analyst does not believe that Ethereum will flip Bitcoin in valuation, he says that the ETH network is receiving heavy institutional interest and actual usage.
“Ethereum had higher trading volume than Bitcoin in the second quarter… I’m bullish on both assets… I do not think that Ethereum will flip Bitcoin any time soon in market cap, but institutional interest is growing tremendously … trading volumes, the actual usage of the network is huge. So I think that there’s good reason to be very, very bullish on both of those assets.”
At time of writing, Ethereum stands at a $384.6 billion market cap and Bitcoin at a nearly trillion-dollar market cap, according to CoinGecko.
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The emergence of bitcoin over a decade ago and the entire cryptocurrency and blockchain industry later on created vast opportunities for a decentralized space to thrive virtually. While that has merits of its own, human beings are still physical creatures requiring physical necessities as well.
This separation by the digital and physical world has provided gaps, but this is where protocols like Ekta have emerged, intending to close those divides. Ekta aims to combine the best of both worlds by eliminating centralized governance systems and bridging people, businesses, and industries.
What Is Ekta?
Headquartered in Bali, Indonesia, Ekta prides itself with a name coming from Sanskrit – meaning unity, identity, and integrity. It’s also one of the first cross-chain blockchain protocols attempting to merge the physical and the on-chain worlds to compound the benefits from both. To do so, its product line will eventually consist of a wide range of platforms allowing the two different realities to co-exist and thrive together.
For instance, Ekta’s own non-fungible token (NFT) platform and marketplace allow the creation of digital analogs from physical assets. Upon the launch of the trading and exchange venue for NFTs, users will be able to trade and share physical assets represented in a digital format on a blockchain-based cross-platform ecosystem.
Ekta promised that the non-fungible tokens on its system will represent ownership, fractional ownership, or use of land. It plans to begin this process in Southeast Asia. The end-products could range from resorts to marina usages, while Ekta intends to extend the functionality to real estate and utilities later on.
The project will work with communities in Indonesia at first to onboard them on its blockchain platform. Those who are willing to play ball and be a part of Ekta’s revolutionary plans will be incentivized through a staking reward system.
Ekta Token and Ekta Chain
Subsequently to the initial decentralized offering (IDO), which has been updated to take place on August 21st, Ekta will release 15% of its EKTA token. The remaining 85% will gradually reach the market in the following years as staking rewards.
Investors will be able to stake the coins through the dApp, which is accessible through the project’s website. Once they have connected their wallets, they can deposit the amount they wish to stake onto Ekta’s mainnet.
The EKTA token will power the project’s decentralized, efficient, and energy-saving cross-chain mainnet – Ekta Chain.
This core product operates on the Ekta proof of stake consensus mechanism, uses solidity for development, and is 100% compatible with the Ethereum network. EPoS should reduce the transaction costs to a minimum, provide little-to-no delays, and increase the transaction concurrency as it supports up to 21 validators. This algorithm works like a combination between proof of activity (PoA) and proof of stake (PoS).
One of the chain’s goals is to connect profit with purpose through two notable functions:
Make real-world resources such as natural capital and property more accessible through tokenization and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Connect entrepreneurs, retail participants, and everyday people with instant and secure access to resources through decentralized systems that we’ve already developed and will be developing in the future.
After the mainnet sees the light of day, for a certain period validator elections will be launched and validator re-elections will be conducted in fixed time cycles. The only determining factor of the result is whether the participant’s amount of token staked is in the top 21.
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