Australia’s digital currency exchanges began trading funds on Thursday amid a breakdown in the digital tokens. With the inauguration of this trading activity, ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETFs, ETFs 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, and Cosmos asset management exchange debuted on a local cryptocurrency exchange called Cboe Global Markets Inc.
However, the ETF portfolios will be directly invested in crypto coins, while the Cosmos will be investing in the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, a Toronto-listed fund with digital assets worth $1.1 billion. Additionally, the funds are available publicly as the cryptocurrency ecosystem has experienced the significant success of a high-profile stablecoin called TerraUSD.
While due to the global movement of tightening financial regulations the market liquidity is also sapping. Whereas, stablecoins are the critical component in the cryptocurrency market, where the investors or traders hold their funds as they move their wealth in or out of other available virtual tokens. TerraUSD has a market value of $1 but the peg gas frayed casting a pall over the digital crypto money market for digital tokens.
Furthermore, the United States of America (USA) holds the maximum share of the cryptocurrency that is being listed publicly across the world. Whereas, Bitcoin’s market capitalization was around 42%, while Ethereum gained 51% of the total shares. However, keeping the fact in mind, that the cryptocurrency market is volatile wild price swings are very common in the digital currency industry as the latest downfalls made it hard for the investors and traders to get their wealth to recover.
“There are strong signs of capitulation in crypto this week, which often proceeds rebounds,” said Tony Sycamore, senior market analyst for City Index. “Presuming the recovery gains traction, it will help garner support for the newly listed ETF products along with the continuation of more widespread adoption.”
In addition to this, the total cryptocurrency trading volume of Australia’s inaugural cryptocurrency EFTs gained AU $1 million within two hours after going live. According to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Rebecca Sin and James Seyffart, this trading activity was record-setting for the country’s EFTs market as its market capacity is only AU $152 billion as compared to the US $6.3 trillion markets.
“ETF Securities and Cosmos Asset Management’s cryptocurrency launch may go down in history books and put Australia’s ETF market in the running,” they wrote in a report. Additionally, according to the financial projections, it is expected that the Australian cryptocurrency industry will touch $1 trillion but by the end of 2022, the country may also become the prominent gateway to promote crypto EFTs in the Asia-Pacific side of the world.
Crypto custody firm Fireblocks has launched a new integration with the DigitalBits blockchain, providing users with secure access to products and services built on the DigitalBits blockchain, such as branded cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other digital assets.
The DigitalBits blockchain is a first-layer protocol for NFTs to tokenize assets and support various brands created on their blockchains. With Beckham’s close relationship with the brand, the partnership will facilitate DigitalBits’ collaboration with global brands such as Adidas, Maserati, Tudor, Sands, Diageo and EA.
“This strategic integration by Fireblocks is a huge milestone within the DigitalBits ecosystem. This unlocks exciting growth opportunities by enabling the connection of the DigitalBits blockchain inclusive of a new category of tokens with global institutions that are embracing digital assets,” Daniele Mensi, Managing Director of the DigitalBits Foundation, said.
With this integration, more than 1,200 crypto and digital asset businesses existing on the Fireblocks network can now access the DigitalBits blockchain and can build fungible tokens and NFTs on the DigitalBits blockchain.
Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov said that: “Now, our customers can access the DigitalBits blockchain through the Fireblocks platform, and developers can leverage the Fireblocks suite to manage the entire lifecycle of minting, issuing, burning, and managing fungible tokens and NFTs powered by the DigitalBits blockchain. We look forward to building alongside these communities to deliver a better end-user experience for anything that touches digital assets and crypto.”
Fireblocks is a digital asset custody, transfer and settlement platform. Fireblocks is currently valued at $8 billion after raising $500 million in January.
The booming of the crypto coins like Bitcoin in different regions and nations is unstoppable. This has recently been observed in the case of the Central African Republic (CAR). Of course, one of the major questions that have remained unanswered is whether Bitcoin adoption can work in such a developing country.
CAR betting on Bitcoin
The CAR overtook regional cryptocurrency front-runners like Nigeria and Kenya to become the continent’s first country to officially adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
The Central African Republic has become the second nation in the world to adopt Bitcoin as its official currency after El Salvador took the same approach last year.
Late last month, lawmakers in the CAR’s parliament voted unanimously and passed a bill legalizing Bitcoin and other crypto assets, according to a statement from the presidency.
As a result, Bitcoin will be considered legal tender alongside the regional Central Africa’s fiat currency, CFA franc.
Blockchain.News invites Marie Tatibouet, the Chief Marketing Officer, at Gate.io cryptocurrency exchange, to help us explore whether Bitcoin can work in the Central African Republic as a legal tender and to propose a way how the cryptocurrency can be adopted in the region.
Tatibouet has lived and worked in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Before joining Gate.io, she was the CEO of a Digital Marketing Agency in Hong Kong, working with clients in the blockchain technology sector. That puts her at the forefront of the industry, which poses a challenge to traditional currency.
Tatibouet acknowledged that the decision by the CAR parliament to unanimously pass a law in favour of the adoption of Bitcoin was driven by the need to solve currency and exchange rate challenges.
The executive told Blockchain.News:
“The main thing that CAR wants to solve by legalizing Bitcoin is attracting foreign capital. However, CAR has rich natural resources and ranks low in human prosperity. Therefore, attracting foreign capital could enable exponential infrastructure growth.”
CAR’s adoption of the most popular crypto was likely a result of wanting to try something different to try and address long-standing fiscal challenges.
The government suggested that adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender would spur CAR’s economic recovery and growth, while also helping stabilize the nation, which has been wracked by a decade-long civil war. The country, which is landlocked in the heart of Africa, has been gripped by violence and political instability for years.
Challenges facing the crypto program
Although the move to consider Bitcoin legal tender has been praised by the crypto community and was welcomed as another step toward mainstream adoption of cryptos. Tatibouet was worried about Bitcoin’s adoption in the CAR, disclosing that the decision by CAR to adopt Bitcoin has been viewed as controversial, which will make implementation quite difficult.
The decision made by the administration has also drawn criticisms from opposition parties. The regional central bank, which manages a common currency used by six countries, including the Central African Republic, also said that decision was made without consulting the financial regulator.
CAR is among about six central African nations—Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea—that use the Central African CFA franc unit of exchange, “a regional currency backed by France,”
While the CAR government regards Bitcoin adoption as a way to bootstrap payments in the country, it is not clear how. Tatibouet explained:
“At this point, it isn’t easy to understand how Bitcoin and crypto will affect the common people in the short term. You need the internet to interact with crypto, yet just 4% of the population has access to the web. It is difficult to understand how BTC could gain widespread public usage without deeper internet penetration.”
Internet coverage in the CAR is merely 11%. The country has a low life expectancy and extreme poverty, with just 557,000 of its 4.8 million people having access to the Internet.
The way forward
So far, the Central African Republic has provided few details on how it plans to address these challenges. While the government said that the move made CAR one of the world’s “most visionary countries”, residents in the capital Bangui, where most are familiar with mobile money to buy goods and pay bills, were baffled with the idea of adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, making the cryptocurrency an accepted means of exchange for goods and services.
“The issue here is to understand the main purpose behind CAR making BTC legal tender. At no point did they say words like ‘banking their unbanked masses’ or anything like that. Instead, their main purpose is to achieve global economic inclusion. So, what that tells me is that general public usage may not be their immediate goal,” Tatibouet explained.
The government approved the decision without proper consultation with major stakeholders. This not only implies the breakdown of the rule of law, but also will eventually provoke that the social, economic, and environmental costs and potential unrest that must be assumed by the entire society as a whole.
Tatibouet further stated that “now it remains to be seen whether CAR will be able to attract crypto entrepreneurs or not.”
Since the country has already witnessed some of its mistakes as well as challenges it faces, it may be willing to learn and take appropriate measures.
Tatibouet believes that if CAR can implement its Bitcoin program well, then it will attract some of its neighbours (Countries like Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo, which all face the same financial situation) in the long term to see the cryptocurrency as the future of finance and a provider of great freedom.
The market cap of the crypto asset continuously lost $200 billion within a day. Bitcoin suffers from bear market sentiment, breaking $26,000 to its lowest level in 16 months.
The cryptocurrency market cap had hit a low of $1.4 trillion on Tuesday, well below its all-time peak of $2.9 trillion last November.
U.S. inflation data showed that prices for goods and services rose 8.3% in April, near their highest level in 40 years.
Investors are fleeing cryptocurrencies en masse as the U.S. hikes interest rates by 50 basis points to hedge against inflation. U.S. stocks also suffered a slump.
The price of Bitcoin plummeted to $26,700 on Thursday. This is the first drop below the $27,000 level since December 26, 2020.
Bitcoin then rebounded, at the time of writing, BTC rose 6.51%, and its trading price was $30,501, standing above the key technical level – $30,000.
Ether, the second-largest digital currency, fell to $1,800 per coin, which is the first time the coin has fallen below the $2,000 mark since June 2021. Ether has since regained lost ground and was the last trading at $2,084, up 3.4 %.
According to CoinGecko data, the cryptocurrency market was stunning because of the stagging plummet of LUNA, as its value almost lost from an all-time high of $119.18 on April 5 nearly a month ago to an all-time low of $0.027 on May 12, losing over 99%.
Also, the issuer of LUNA- the peg of TerraUSD (UST), the world’s fourth-largest stablecoin owned by Terraform Labs, lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, plummeting to an all-time low of $0.29 on May 11.
The Luna Foundation Guard is selling its billion-dollar bitcoin holdings to prop up its troubled stablecoin.
The collapse of UST has led to concerns that the market will spread to the rest of the dollar-pegged stablecoins. If a large-scale withdrawal occurs, it is likely that the remaining stablecoins such as Tether will not have enough reserves to support their dollar-pegged.
The world’s first fine-dining non-fungible token (NFT) concept has announced its NFT dining auction schedules.
Two auctions will take place on May 14 and 21 respectively. The concept of the company’s NFT was created in collaboration with Michelin-starred restaurants Ando and MONO – two of Hong Kong’s top restaurants.
Jamie Lewis, CEO of Ioconic and Co-founder at Gourmeta, said in a statement: “We look forward to the two events in May, and are excited to have a group of forward-looking experts from both the blockchain and F&B spaces on board, and explore the infinite potential inherent in tokenising and digitising people’s dining experiences.”
According to Gourmeta, successful NFT bidders will gain special access to the fine-dining experience at Ando and MONO. Early NFT adopters will also become part of the project’s governance.
It further added that all NFTs are minted on the Ethereum blockchain and are available for trading on the OpenSea platform and other NFT marketplaces.
Gourmeta has planned to disclose more details about its tokenomics in the 4th quarter of 2022.
The Gourmeta concept was officially launched in Hong Kong in April 2022. It was co-founded by Hong Kong-based blockchain venture capital, Kenetic and UK-based digital asset company Ioconic, in 2021.
Gourmeta said that the idea behind the concept of creating fine-dining NFTs was to tokenise culinary experiences for people to ‘collect’ memorable dining experiences. The company also has plans to expand globally. Currently, it is planning to launch projects globally, including Singapore, London, and New York.
A quarter of the UK’s adults are hesitant in crypto investments due to a perceived lack of security, according to research from TMT Analysis.
The mobile digital identity company found out that the adults – who form 13 million new investors – would be willing to invest in crypto if they were reassured about the market’s security concerns.
Security concerns are a priority, and the research found that almost half (45%) believe that crypto will not become mainstream without security and regulations.
TMT Analysis specialises in providing intelligence on mobile numbers globally.
Fergal Parkinson, Director of TMT Analysis, stated: “Exchanges and providers need to ensure that they implement more stringent security and anti-fraud processes in order to attract investors and allow crypto to fulfil its potential as a truly viable, global alternative to the current monetary system. Changing consumer perceptions of crypto security is the biggest barrier to mass adoption.
Loss of trust from new customers also means that potential investors will continue to shun crypto assets.
According to TMT Analysis, the absence of upgraded security measures has stopped businesses from performing to their full potential.
According to the FCA’s figures, TMT Analysis also said that only 12% of crypto-asset firms that applied for registration under money laundering regulations were approved in the first 12 months since FCA authorisation became a requirement.
Crypto market growth has been held back due to potential investors backing away.
Over half (54%) of UK adults distrust cryptocurrencies as they don’t believe the security processes in place are robust enough to protect investors.
The research also stated that over half (53%) of UK adults admit they still do not know anything about cryptocurrencies, despite the UK crypto market hitting $170 billion.
A quarter of the UK’s adults are hesitant in crypto investments due to a perceived lack of security, according to research from TMT Analysis.
The mobile digital identity company found out that the adults – who form 13 million new investors – would be willing to invest in crypto if they were reassured about the market’s security concerns.
Security concerns are a priority, and the research found that almost half (45%) believe that crypto will not become mainstream without security and regulations.
TMT Analysis specialises in providing intelligence on mobile numbers globally.
Fergal Parkinson, Director of TMT Analysis, stated: “Exchanges and providers need to ensure that they implement more stringent security and anti-fraud processes in order to attract investors and allow crypto to fulfil its potential as a truly viable, global alternative to the current monetary system. Changing consumer perceptions of crypto security is the biggest barrier to mass adoption.
Loss of trust from new customers also means that potential investors will continue to shun crypto assets.
According to TMT Analysis, the absence of upgraded security measures has stopped businesses from performing to their full potential.
According to the FCA’s figures, TMT Analysis also said that only 12% of crypto-asset firms that applied for registration under money laundering regulations were approved in the first 12 months since FCA authorisation became a requirement.
Crypto market growth has been held back due to potential investors backing away.
Over half (54%) of UK adults distrust cryptocurrencies as they don’t believe the security processes in place are robust enough to protect investors.
The research also stated that over half (53%) of UK adults admit they still do not know anything about cryptocurrencies, despite the UK crypto market hitting $170 billion.
Sorare has partnered with Major League Baseball to create a fantasy baseball game featuring Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT).
Through the partnership, which also involves MLB Players, players can create teams with NFTs representing Major League Gaming players. The created team can then be used to enter tournaments through which the players’ real-life performance is automatically reflected in the game.
While the move is the first of its kind between Sorare and MLB, the partnership will help the players to connect more with their MLB icons and teams in real life with a lot of rewards associated. The Sorare NFT-based gaming model started with football and the startup has seen tremendous growth in its platform thus far.
Besides generating $325 million in sales in 2021, up more than 3885% when compared on a Year-on-Year (YoY) basis, the outfit has seen as much as 32% growth month-on-month over the past year. The growth shows the massive embrace of the Sorare NFT-backed fantasy games and with the MLB version set to make its debut this summer, the catch for players is all the more enhanced.
“The connection between Americans and baseball is enduring. And baseball has always been on the cutting edge of new technologies and innovations, so we’re proud that MLB and the MLBPA have chosen Sorare to deliver an NFT MLB Game to fans globally,” said Nicolas Julia, CEO of Sorare, in a statement, adding that:
“MLB has been at the forefront of interactive games for decades, while baseball has some of the oldest and most established forms of sports memorabilia… Today, as digital engagement and technology evolve for a new generation, our partnership will help a new and broader fanbase to connect with America’s pastime.”
At a time when the crypto ecosystem is experiencing a very massive price turmoil, playable and thrilling games like what Sorare has to offer have been identified as one of the ways to draw mainstream participation in the blockchain world.
With a broad-based caution being exercised by investors regarding risk assets, there have been a massive outflow of funds from Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols as many investors anticipate calm to re-engulf the ecosystem.
The DeFi world is not spared from the current onslaught in the cryptocurrency space, which has fueled the combined market cap by dropping to $1.25 trillion after an 8.86% drop over the past 24 hours at the time of writing.
Where DeFi Currently Stands
Per data from DeFiLlama, the ecosystem’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has dropped to $113.15 billion atop a 26.16% slump over the past 24 hours. The events ongoing in the Terra ecosystem have largely affected investors’ confidence in relation to the network’s most celebrated project, Anchor Protocol.
In reality, the dominance of Curve has been subsumed by MakerDAO (MKR) whose TVL now stands at $10.03 billion, down 23.52% over the past week. Curve Finance ranks as the next big DeFi protocol at a $9.52 billion TVL as a prominent lending protocol. Aave is still maintaining its third position atop a TVL of $8.32 billion.
Anchor Protocol dropped from $17.05 billion as of May 5 to $1.21 billion at the time of writing. While the DeFi ecosystem measures how far the crypto world is serving the most ambitious revolt against traditional finance, investors backing the revolution often see inconsistencies owing to the inherent volatility.
The plunge of the DeFi protocols is not the first that will be recorded, and it is evidence of the interwoven volatility and correlation amongst protocols. With the $200 billion benchmarks the height to target, time will tell whether the resilience that DeFi proponents are professing will help in regaining the TVL in the long run.
Terraform Labs, the company which supports the Terra ecosystem, briefly halted the Terra blockchain for two hours on Thursday after a dramatic slump in LUNA and UST, before restarting at around 1:45 p.m. local time.
The company said the suspension of the network was to implement a patch preventing users from staking on its network.
Terraform explained it briefly that the suspension of blockchain operations as LUNA’s price dropped too low, that need to “prevent governance attacks” adding that:
“Terra validators have decided to halt the Terra chain to prevent governance attacks following severe $LUNA inflation and a significantly reduced cost of attack.”
The Terra blockchain network stopped generating new blocks after its block height was 7603700, meaning holders could not move their Terra assets until the blockchain was unfrozen.
At the time of writing, the Terra stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) was off the $1 level it was supposed to hold, trading at $0.1288, losing its peg to the U.S. dollar.
The founder behind it, Do Kwon, noted in a series of tweets “Before anything else, the only path forward will be to absorb the stablecoin supply that wants to exit before $UST can start to re-peg. There is no way around it.”
By late Thursday, LUNA had fallen to less than $0.50 from nearly $120 in early April. LUNA pared all of the gains it had accumulated over the past 12 months.
