Crypto Fight

2021-05-25 20:00:28 ​​Bitcoin’s usefulness is on a whole other level, depending on where you live.

One Nigerian explains the benefits of Bitcoin from an alternate angle.

Bitcoin’s usefulness is on a whole other level, depending on where you live.

A versatile asset, Bitcoin can wear multiple hats, including its function as a currency. One Nigerian on Twitter recently detailed how Bitcoin has helped him overcome a slew of monetary difficulties.

“Growing up in Nigeria, I see Bitcoin with a different lens than you do if you grew up in the US for example,” said the CEO of Bitnob, Bernard Parah, in a tweet on Thursday. His tweet was part of a thread detailing a bevvy of monetary difficulties, pointing toward Bitcoin as a solution.

“You cannot spend more than $100 on international sites using your card - You can't spend your own money, you can't buy that PS5 if you wanted to because of monetary controls,” Parah explained as one difficulty.

“You got lucky to go abroad, find some work and want to send money home to mom but have to pay ridiculous fees to do that. If it's an emergency, those funds might not get there on time,” he noted as another example.

Money in the world can be siloed, especially when it comes to crossing borders. Sending bank wires requires transacting during banking hours, while other forms of money transfer take time to settle on the backend and may require personal information in the process. Bitcoin, on the other hand, works pseudonymously, without regard for borders or hours of operation.

Inflation can also be a problem in some countries, so storing native currency can be an issue, which Parah also mentioned in one of the tweets. Parah also pointed toward the control financial institutions have if money is stored with them. “Having your bank accounts blocked because you took part in or donated to a protest,” he posted as a difficulty suffered by younger folks. “If they own the money, they own you.”

After noting the internet’s improvements on the world, as well as the existence of web-based currency, he added: “This allows us to be global citizens from day 1, to trade with the world, to enjoy the prosperity being shared on the internet.”

He also noted: “While you see magic internet money, what we see is a shot at freedom, a shot at prosperity and we don't plan to stop going for this.” Parah covered a number of other points in his tweet thread. Open / Comment

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2021-05-21 20:30:00 ​​Privacy coin Monero pumps 31% amid US taxation plans.

Monero's surge amid cryptocurrency taxation news adds to an 84% bounce since the recent market crash.

Privacy coin Monero pumps 31% amid US taxation plans.

Coinciding with news that United States President Joe Biden’s proposed tax plan would require tax reporting on business transactions exceeding $10,000, the value of privacy coin Monero (XMR) climbed 31% on Friday.

Biden’s American Families tax plan would require exchanges and custodians to implement tighter reporting measures to help detect tax evasion and money laundering. Banks and financial institutions would also be required to report account inflow/outflow information to the Internal Revenue Service to help uncover unreported income.

The Treasury Department’s agenda which was published on Thursday stated that cryptocurrency business activity remained relatively small, but was expected to increase in the next decade.

“Despite constituting a relatively small portion of business income today, cryptocurrency transactions are likely to rise in importance in the next decade, especially in the presence of a broad-based financial account reporting regime,” stated the report.

Just over 24 hours later, Monero led the charts among the cryptocurrency market cap top 100 with 31% growth. The coin price climbed from $230 to $304 overnight, adding to a now 84% rebound since Monero sank to a three-month low of $165 during Wednesday’s market crash.

Supplemental technologies now exist which can anonymize the transactions of many well-known cryptocurrencies, but Monero remains one of the few coins focused solely on privacy and is the largest of its kind by market cap.

Launched in 2014, Monero has since gone on to become a currency of choice on the drug markets of the dark web, replacing more well-known coins such as Bitcoin (BTC) in recent years. Blockchain analysis poses a threat to anyone using Bitcoin on the dark web, from drug dealers to anonymous journalists. Monero transactions cannot be traced in the same way. The technology has drawn the attention of government agencies worldwide, many of whom have offered bounties to anyone who can make the opaque cryptocurrency transparent.

Google Trends data shows that Monero search interest increased by close to 1,000% in the past year, as the coin price rose 1,300% from March 2020’s valuation of $34. Despite the surge in interest, historic search queries remain a quarter of what they were in December 2017, when Monero’s presence in the market cap top ten gave it a more visible position in the cryptocurrency shop window. Open / Comment

2021-05-18 20:00:43 ​​Galaxy Digital books $860M in net comprehensive income in Q1.

Twelve months earlier, the company recorded a comprehensive loss of $26.9 million.

Galaxy Digital Holdings, a cryptocurrency-focused investment manager, booked a stellar first quarter on the back of surging digital asset valuations.

The company’s net comprehensive income, which includes net income and unrealized income, surged to $860.2 million in the quarter ending March 31, 2021. In the first quarter of 2020, Galaxy Digital booked losses of $26.9 million.

Assets under management increased 58% during the quarter. Income from trading surged to $508.7 million from a $31.5 million loss in the first quarter of last year.

Galaxy Digital’s three Bitcoin funds returned 101.92% year-to-date through March 31.

"Beyond delivering dramatic organic growth, we announced we will acquire BitGo, which will establish Galaxy Digital as the first full-service digital asset financial platform for institutions and ensure our business is aligned with broader institutional adoption,” said CEO Michael Novogratz.

Galaxy Digital revealed earlier this month that it will acquire BitGo, a leading cryptocurrency custodian and service provider, for $1.2 billion in stock and cash. To finance the acquisition, Galaxy will use its balance sheet and defer the rest of the payment up to 12 months after the deal closes.

The Novogratz-led firm is one of several institutions vying to list the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States. As Cointelegraph previously reported, Galaxy Digital submitted its application for a Bitcoin ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Apr. 12.

Many crypto proponents believe that a Bitcoin ETF could streamline institutional adoption of digital assets in the United States. The SEC has yet to approve any Bitcoin ETF over volatility and price manipulation concerns. Open / Comment

2021-05-14 20:00:51 ​​PayPal to start letting US customers pay in Bitcoin at global merchants.

A checkout service will be implemented which waives transaction fees for purchases made using crypto, PayPal's president and CEO confirmed.

PayPal to start letting US customers pay in Bitcoin at global merchants NEWS

Online payments giant PayPal will start to accept cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange at its millions of global merchants, the firm’s president and CEO revealed on Tuesday ahead of a formal announcement.

News broke regarding PayPal’s rumored decision to accept cryptocurrencies early on March 30. Later in the day, the firm’s CEO, Dan Schulman, confirmed to Reuters that the rumors were true and that an official statement would be released imminently.

The new system is expected to feature a crypto checkout service where users can pay for goods and services at approved vendors using their stored coins. The system will reportedly see merchants receive equivalent funds directly in fiat currency after coins are subject to a quick transfer at the time of sale.

The checkout service is expected to be available for all four of PayPal’s supported cryptocurrencies upon launch, consisting of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Customers who pay with cryptocurrencies will incur no transaction fees on purchases, and only one coin can be used per purchase.

“We think it is a transitional point where cryptocurrencies move from being predominantly an asset class that you buy, hold and or sell to now becoming a legitimate funding source to make transactions in the real world at millions of merchants,” said Schulman, regarding the launch.

In October 2020, when PayPal’s intention to wade into the crypto space was first announced, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz called it “the shot heard around the world” in regards to how Wall Street would receive the news. PayPal continued to make inroads into the industry in early March, when it acquired digital assets security firm Curv in a deal thought to be worth $200 million.

The PayPal news comes just 24 hours after Visa announced that it would pilot a new payments system using stablecoins on the Ethereum blockchain. The pilot will see participating merchants agree to settle customers’ fiat transactions using the USDC stablecoin. Open / Comment