Bitcoin (BTC) is the granddaddy of cryptocurrencies. The original digital currency launched in 2009 and has already spawned over 15,000 crypto babies. It's by far the biggest coin by market cap and has grown a whopping 71,256,700% since it first traded.

According to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin has gained almost 100% so far this year. Many other cryptocurrencies have performed much better than that, but very few have consistently been able to generate strong returns year after year. This is why it is advisable to keep a proportion of your crypto portfolio in safer coins like Bitcoin.

It's fun to look at which cryptos have produced extraordinary returns this year, but we should also consider which ones might continue to produce results for long-term investors. Here are four cryptos that blew Bitcoin out of the water -- and may also be part of a long-term crypto landscape.

Who would have thought a game involving cute blobby cartoon characters would grow into a billion dollar enterprise with over 122,000 users? Axie Infinity did exactly that. The reason? It popularized a new type of gaming called play-to-earn which has changed the way people think about gaming.

Instead of gaining points that are only good for bragging rights in the real world as you might in a traditional game, Axie players earn AXS or SLP tokens that can be exchanged for real cash.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are central to the growth of blockchain gaming. The ownership information is coded into the token, so it has value outside the game. For example, Axie Infinity players can use their Axie NFTs to breed, battle, and complete quests. Since each one is a unique player-owned NFT, it can also be sold in the marketplace.

Ethereum is the second biggest currency by market capitalization. There's regular speculation in crypto circles that it might eventually overtake Bitcoin, an event that's referred to as "the flippening." In spite of strong gains this year, with a market cap of around $540 billion, Ethereum has a long way to go before it reaches Bitcoin's $1 trillion.

Ethereum was the first cryptocurrency with smart contract capabilities. It's a programmable blockchain that can run other applications, making the Ethereum network the engine room that powers much of the decentralized finance system.

However, it has been a victim of its own success as the network is currently heavily congested and plagued with high transaction fees. It's in the process of an upgrade to Eth2, which -- assuming all goes well -- should help its performance. In the meantime, other cryptos have stepped up to the plate.

Solana is another of 2021's stand out cryptocurrencies. Its fast processing speed and low transaction costs have attracted investors and developers alike. Like Ethereum, it is a smart contract crypto. Unlike Ethereum, which processes 15-45 transactions per second (TPS), Solana can handle about 50,000 TPS. Right now there are over 500 projects running on Solana's ecosystem while Ethereum has almost 3,000.

Solana has made huge strides forward in the past year, but it remains to be seen how it will handle further increases in traffic and demand. Ethereum may have its problems, but it's been truly battle tested. In contrast, Solana's platform went down for 17 hours in September after it was overwhelmed by a flood of transactions.

Cardano is a top 10 cryptocurrency that's not only performed well this year, but could also continue to produce results longer term. It is a programmable blockchain that's taken a slow-and-steady approach to development. Each step is peer-reviewed before implementation, which has earned the project its share of both fans and critics.

One of Cardano's biggest strengths is its partnerships with various governments and organizations in Africa. For example, it has a partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education to store students' academic records on the blockchain. Many blockchain applications are focused inward on other cryptos, so it's good to see these real world use cases.

A quick analysis of the top 100 coins by market cap shows that 79 of the top 100 coins outperformed Bitcoin in 2021. In fact, 30 of them produced returns of over 1,000%. Those eye-watering returns have tempted a lot of investors to open their first cryptocurrency exchange accounts.

The trouble is that it's not really a fair comparison. Bitcoin is a much safer and more established investment. Some see it as a form of digital gold or a store of value, which is a very different asset than, say, an online game like Axie Infinity.

People who buy less established cryptocurrencies may be successful in getting in on the ground floor (like early Bitcoin investors did) and making significant gains. But in doing so, they take on a lot more risk -- for every crypto that produces gains of over 1,000%, there are several more that failed altogether or posted significant losses.

As an investor, only you know your financial goals and overall strategy. But it is important to understand the risks involved and do your own research before jumping in. The four coins above are all good coins to have on your radar for the longer term. Just don't buy them hoping for another 23,000% gain.

Excerpt from:
4 Unstoppable Cryptos That Have Left Bitcoin in the Dust - Motley Fool

Before debating whether to ban private cryptocurrenies, it is prudent first to understand what cryptocurrencies are

Virtual currencies created using blockchain technology have been the subject of great speculation and discussion in recent times.

Legendary investors Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet have gone as far as to call Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rat poison.

Before debating on whether to ban private cryptocurrency, it is prudent first to understand what cryptocurrencies are.

Cryptocurrencies are digital encrypted tokens that can be transferred between two parties without the need for a centralised regulator.

The facilitators of the transaction work to verify a transaction individually and maintain a public ledger open for anyone to see.

The elimination of a centralised entity is why we see the word decentralisation being thrown around very often. Cryptocurrencies are not untraceable as most believe; in fact, it happens to be more traceable than currency notes due to the public ledger leaving a clear trail.

In addition, when discussing the merits of cryptocurrencies, one must understand that it possesses no intrinsic value. Stocks provide partial ownership of a firm that produces goods and services, bonds provide a steady source of income, and gold has inherent metal value. Cryptocurrencies are non-productive assets that are merely traded because there is demand for it.

Ex-RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had stated recently in a TV interview that a lot of cryptos have value only because there is a greater fool out there willing to buy.

Cryptocurrencies are eerily similar to the tulip mania of 1636, when tulips were being traded for the sake of turning a profit. Another essential point to note is that although theoretically there is a scarcity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, that does not mean anything in terms of economics because there needs to be a particular purpose that will sustain demand for the asset.

Some claim that Bitcoin and other private cryptocurrencies are a new revolution in currencies and the monetary system. No central bank or government around the world would be interested in relinquishing power over the money supply. Private cryptocurrencies being adopted as a legitimate currency in the nation will spell the end of regulation and economic intervention by the central bank. This is because central banks require the ability to manipulate the money supply to intervene during a crisis. Private cryptocurrencies strip the central bank of this power, leaving the central bank effectively unable to set interest rates and control the money supply efficiently. In a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it would become challenging for monetary regulators to step in and aid a wounded economy.

Therefore, it is improbable for any notable government to favour and encourage private cryptocurrencies for these reasons. Moreover, due to speculation, cryptocurrencies ensure that they can never act as a measure of the value of goods and services. For a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin to be accepted as a currency, it has to price goods. Bitcoin, an extremely volatile cryptocurrency (like its counterparts), cannot act as a currency in a stable economy.

Although a particular country can choose to ban private cryptocurrencies, that this does not mean anything to the asset as a whole is untrue. The significant advantage which cryptocurrencies pose, which is decentralisation, leads to its downfall. Any government with large enough pockets can decide to take down the cryptocurrency by destroying its monetary value. The incentive for miners and other participants to maintain the system is financial.

If the price of a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin were to drop to 0, it would be devastating. The act of a significant government announcing its intention to take down cryptocurrencies would leave a considerable dent in the price. Additionally, cryptocurrency mining takes up a substantial amount of a countrys resources which could be put to more productive uses.

It is crucial for governments worldwide to decide on a course of action regarding this growing technology and equip themselves accordingly.

The longer it takes for regulators to implement a plan, the greater there is to lose as the amount of money being channeled into the asset grows further. Unfortunately, all bubbles come to an abrupt end leaving many financially distraught.

Those who invest in cryptocurrencies need to understand that they are speculating rather than investing. It follows that while speculating, one takes comprehensive care to know what they are getting into. Therefore, it is vital that an individual does not stake their financial security upon this novel asset.

(Anand Srinivasan is a consultant and Sashwath Swaminathan is a research associate at Aionion Investment Services)

Read more:
Be aware of bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies - The Hindu

A recent paper authored by members of several universities, including Sydney and Macquarie, argues that recent changes in Ethereum monetary policy are making it a better store of value than bitcoin. The deflationary effect that the EIP-1559 proposal has caused in the issuance of the currency is said to be the main cause of this.

A new paper released by members of Australian universities last month is putting the spotlight on Ethereum and its possible future as a store of value. The paper, titled Better than Bitcoin? Can cryptocurrencies beat inflation?, is authored by Ester Flez-Vias of the University of Technology in Sydney and other academics, and compares the issuance of Bitcoin with the new issuance model of Ethereum, that is making the currency deflationary.

The paper states:

We show that following the recent change in its transactions protocol, the digital currency Ethereum displays a significantly lower net issuance rate of tokens than Bitcoin, achieved by destroying the feesassociated with each transaction.

This has to do with the activation of EIP-1559, a proposal that burns Ethereum in a proportional way to the usage of the network. While this proposal had some opposition when it was presented mainly from miners and mining pools it is now contributing to this new appreciation of Ethereum as a possibly deflationary currency in the future.

The implementation of EIP-1559 has caused the network to burn a significant amount of Ethereum in fees. This change has led to more than one million ETH being put out of circulation after just three months of its implementation on mainnet. Regarding this, the study remarks:

In many cases the amount of Ethereum burned outpaces the networks creation of new tokens, resulting in Ethereum potentially becoming the worlds first deflationary currency. We argue that this provides better inflationary hedging properties than Bitcoin, and Ether may therefore offer a superior long-term value storage than Bitcoin.

Other cryptocurrency projects are adopting similar burning schemes hoping to recreate the same effect. Binance coin recently activated an update to its network that also implemented fee burning. However, Binance coin and Ethereum are fundamentally different: The latter has no cap on its issuance, while Binance coin does have a hard issuance cap.

What do you think about the Better than Bitcoin? Can cryptocurrencies beat inflation? paper and its conclusions? Tell us in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Excerpt from:
Ethereum Might Dethrone Bitcoin as Best Crypto Store of Value, Study Argues Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Two days ago on November 30, the price of bitcoin (BTC) tapped a high that day reaching $59,250 per unit, but it has since dropped close to 5% in value to just above the $56K region. Onchain statistics indicate that whales and long-term holders (LTHs) have been spending over the last month and blockchain parsers have witnessed enormous movements in recent days.

On the first two days of December, there have been some massive bitcoin (BTC) whale movements stemming from long-term bitcoin holders. On Thursday morning, the creator of the web portal Btcparser.com explained that significant amounts of bitcoin were taken out from cold wallets and moved to active exchanges.

The onchain action was caught by the blockchain parsing tool Btcparser 3, a tool that analyzes each and every new bitcoin block by getting detailed information about all transactions within it. The bot uses groups of 100 blocks and identifies all wallets that sent or received a total exceeding 1,000 bitcoins during that time, explains the parsing tools website.

On December 1, Btcparser 3 caught some major onchain action, which saw the movement of thousands of bitcoins during the course of the day. For instance, on Wednesday the parser caught the movement of 15,074 BTC or $849 million, 6,970 BTC moved, and thousands more BTC spent as well.

Then the following day on December 2, monster-sized bitcoin transactions were caught by Btcparser 3. This transaction on Thursday saw a whopping 36,645 BTC deposited and 10,547 BTC left the wallet. Thats more than $2 billion worth of bitcoin in USD value, and the address spent more than $28.2 billion in bitcoin (BTC) during its lifetime. At 1:59 a.m. (EST) on Thursday, Btcparser 3 caught 15,074 BTC or $849 million move.

In addition to Btcparser 3 catching two days worth of major whale movements, Glassnodes most recent insights report, Week Onchain 48, establishes that long-term holders (LTHs) are spending some of their holdings. Glassnodes report notes that this action has been prominent during the last 30 days.

Shifting our focus to [LTHs], Glassnodes report details. We can see that there has been a reasonably continuous rate of spending over the last month. From the peak of 13.5M BTC in holdings, LTHs have spent (assumed distributed) 150K BTC, equivalent to around 5.8% of the volume accumulated since March 2021.

Crypto advocates have been discussing major whale movements on forums and bitcoin whale commentary is littered all over social media. The crypto analytics firm Santiment also tweeted about this past months whale action on November 23.

Bitcoins key active whale addresses that hold between 100 to 10K BTC are content after accumulating a total of ~40K more BTC on last weeks dip, Santiment said. The company also shared its weekly report as well, which discusses whale action and the growing bearish sentiment (& why its a good thing).

What do you think about the recent bitcoin price action, whale movements and the current bearish sentiment? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Btcparser.com, Glassnode onchain report,

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Go here to read the rest:
Monster-Sized Bitcoin Whale Transfers: Blockchain Parser Catches Significant Amounts of 'Cold BTC' Moved to Active Exchanges Featured Bitcoin News -...

Anyone who has studied bitcoin for a while knows that proof-of-work in bitcoin mining is the key to the security and to the unforgeable nature of the protocol. Bitcoin mining in 2021 requires that miners use purpose-built computers [called ASICs] to convert real-world energy [more than 50% of which is renewable and stranded energy] into encrypted digital monetary energy.

By using this proof-of-work and following consensus rules, bitcoin miners (and node operators) secure this decentralized network one block at a time approximately every ten minutes. Some have even called it triple-entry bookkeeping. And the system is designed to work in a way that makes forgery, hacking, theft, cheating or double-spending coins all but impossible. One metaphor that is used to describe this is adding a block to the bitcoin timechain is like adding a floor to a skyscraper. To fully understand how this works is far beyond the scope of this article but the key design of this system requires the use of real-world energy so you cant cheat or game the system. By contrast, Jay Powell at the Federal Reserve Board can increase the U.S. money supply by the trillions, with a few keystrokes.

Ive served as a business relationship coach for over 30 years. To clients this meant I was an executive coach, their business development coach, their leadership coach, their time management coach or their performance coach. One of my dearest friends and colleagues David Lerner taught me an idea from his coach training that he called completing a unit of work. His unit of work in coaching is similar to proof-of-work in bitcoin mining. The idea as a coach (or leader charged with getting stuff done through others) is to complete at least one unit of work with the client or direct report during every meeting. Too often I see leaders in organizations fail to make their conversations with employees a unit of work or a conversation for action. (In the old days, wed hear the expression There is no such thing as a free lunch.)

In my business model, that meant the client would learn and apply at least one concept or be willing to experiment with one new action, approach or skill on every call. And wed follow up on how it worked in the next call. Rinse and repeat. When clients complete at least one unit of work during every meeting or call during a three- or six-month stretch they are amazed at how much their performance improves. Sometimes this involved clients getting over self-limiting beliefs that held back their performance and other times it involved learning how to effectively delegate work that was better handled by another person in their organization. In all cases, the focus was on deepening the relationship my client had with one or more people. Unlike most people in the business world, I tend to see an organization through a relationship lens not just a financial lens. At its core, every organization is no more or less than the relationships it cultivates within and outside. Strengthen the relationship and communication between the CEO and their chief financial officer and the numbers will almost always work out well.

In the past three decades, Ive held over 20,000 meetings and phone calls with clients where completing at least one unit of work was my proof of work. Ive never added up data on it (I have notes of almost every call and meeting) but it was the rare call or meeting that didnt end with the client agreeing to at least one action step. That meant we had proof of work. The action step could be an awareness exercise as simple as keep track of how many times you said yes when you wanted to say no. Or the action step might be as specific as I will call Charlene as soon as we end this call and invite her to speak at our next conference or practice group meeting.

What Ive learned from these cumulative experiences and my study of Bitcoin mining is that it pays handsome dividends for any organization to have a proof-of-work system. Your performance and that of your peers and colleagues will transform when you operate with a proof-of-work system. For example, those in construction can visibly see the progress they make every day. I worked as a carpenter during summers between college and law school, and our daily progress was always quite visible.

Admittedly, determining proof of work in an office or service business is more difficult and requires thought. One way to learn how a client defined proof of work was to ask them this question at the start of our work together: What will success look like from our work together? Sometimes their answers were vague and other times they were very detailed and insightful. Often wed develop a set of metrics based on those answers which gave them a way to keep score on a daily or weekly basis. Hitting those metrics was their proof of work. For example, if you are aiming to expand your network of high net worth people your metric might be to add one new high net worth person to your network each week. There is no one-size-fits-all way of determining proof of work, but bitcoin raises the bar on what is possible.

This entire industry is filled with people who get stuff done. Instead of thinking that only bitcoin miners or world class athletes need to do proof of work, ask yourself how you might gauge proof of work in your company? What does proof of work look like in your company? If you have one youre willing to share with Bitcoin Magazine, please reach out! Wed love to hear from you.

This is a guest post by Mark Maraia. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Continue reading here:
How Proof-Of-Work Is Useful Beyond Bitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

The CEO of crypto lending platform Celsius does not think that Bitcoin (BTC) has the correct properties to become a suitable payment option.

In a new interview on Coin Stories, Alex Mashinsky offers a contrasting picture between the qualities of the US dollar and the leading cryptocurrency.

Id much rather be in a scenario where the dollar remains as the reserve currency but Bitcoin continues to do very well

The dollar is a phenomenal form of payment. Its a horrible store of value and Bitcoin is a phenomenal store value, but its a pretty bad form of payment.

Mashinsky highlights that it is not a great idea to use Bitcoin to pay for goods and services as he says that people who have done so in the past often regret making the transaction.

If you fell for Elon Musks deal where he gave you a Tesla for two or three Bitcoins, obviously you hate driving that Tesla because you would in a second go back and take those three Bitcoins and return the Tesla, which lost value during the same period of time.

Anything you bought with Bitcoin in the last 10 years, you rather have the Bitcoin back and would have paid in US dollars. Thats really the crux of the matter that you cannot use it as a form of payment or cannot use it in a way that makes you happy about the transaction.

I

Featured Image: Shutterstock/laskoart/Andy Chipus

See the article here:
Bitcoin Doesnt Work as a Form of Payment, According to Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Heres Why - The Daily Hodl

Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Invest, is bullish on Bitcoin and has sold stocks in China.

Cathie Wood, the wildly successful money manager known for making a huge bet on Tesla, weighed in on her support for Bitcoin, explained why her Ark Invest firm has sold nearly all the Chinese stocks it previously owned and talked about what her firm is buying now during an appearance on a panel Thursday. Heres what Woodwho appeared on Forbes list of Americas Richest Self-Made Women in August, with an estimated net worth of $400 milliontold the panel, moderated by angel investor and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis at PreMoney, a conference put on by venture capital firm 500 Global in Miami Beach, Florida.

BITCOIN

In September, Wood predicted that the value of Bitcoin would rise to $500,000 in five years. She remains a staunch supporter of Bitcoin, despite some in the crypto world losing their affinity for it. Theres a sense that the Web3 world is evolving away from Bitcoin and Ether into cheaper, faster cryptocurrencies, she said. But they forget that the more features and the more centralization you have youre talking about recreating Visa. That is, recreating an old structure in a new form. Wood said shed been hearing that Bitcoin is so yesterday. I think thats a big mistake. Look at whats going on in El Salvador.

Calacanis asked in response: You believe that dictator? You dont think hes a bad actor?

Wood replied that theyre giving $30 in each Chivo account [the digital wallets created for each citizen in El Salvador]. Pre Chivo, only 1.2 million people had bank accounts. Now 3 million out of 4 million eligible people in El Salvador have banking services.

Calacanis followed up: Most tech doesnt last more than a decade. Why would Bitcoin last any longer than that?

Wood answered: This is the most secure blockchain technology out there. Whats going on right now would have been [Nobel Prize winning economist] Robert Mundells dream: to introduce a global monetary system not under anyones control. (Wood explained that she studied under supply side guru Arthur Laffer an economist famous for the Laffer Curvewho was influenced by Mundell.) She elaborated: Look at Turkey. The Turkish people have lost half their purchasing power since February. Wouldnt it be nice to have a little Bitcoin?

CHINA

The topic turned to China, and the moves the Chinese government has made thisCK year regarding digital assetsbanning cryptocurrency exchanges and outlawing the mining of cryptocurrency. Wood said her firm had owned shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, but had sold them along with other Chinese stocks. We own very, very few stocks there [in China] because theyre unpredictable. They are grappling with what most governments are grappling with: the gap between rich and poor. Wood added that 75% of consumer savings in China is held in real estate, and real estate values are starting to fall. Her analysis: That the Chinese government is willing to risk the decline in real estate values in order to address the wealth gap.

Calacanis put it this way: I think the mad king is circling his wagons because he feels threatened. Im talking about Xi Jinping.

Woods response: I think its to the benefit of the U.S. if China isolates itself. They are less likely to become the global superpower.

WHAT WOOD IS BUYING NOW

Wood said Ark has been buying Robinhooda stock that has fallen nearly 40% since its IPO in Julybut didnt elaborate on why. Also: Were looking for the digital wallet: Coinbase, Squares Cashapp, Paypals Venmo less so, she said. Most analysts are focused on banks, which we think are being hollowed out by defi and digital wallets. So shes staying away from traditional banks.

Two other stocks shes buying: video communications tool Zoom and cloud communications company Twilio, both part of a new wave of telecom tools. What I dont think people recognize is that we have not had a refresh cycle [in telecom] in 30 years. She explained: Im thinking about Cisco ... and the old telecom stack. Covid, she said, has inspired a new crop of options.

Calacanis asked about electric automakers (possibly Rivian, though he didnt specify), saying, Speaking of fraud, should a company thats sold zero cars be worth $150 billion?

Woods answer: Investing is about the future. Its not fraud, its perhaps misvaluation. I dont call that fraud at all. Regarding the crop of publicly-traded electric automakers with little to no revenues, Wood said: We called out Nikola. We knew what he [former chairman Trevor Milton] was saying was wrong. We knew that there was trouble. (In July Milton was charged with securities fraud by the U.S. Attorneys office in Manhattan; he pleaded not guilty). Wood also mentioned Rivian and Lucid, saying Ark doesnt own either stock. Why? They are going after niche markets. She said Ark has spoken to both companies about autonomous driving, which theyre not focused on. Woods take: Without autonomous drivers, neither can scalethough Rivian may be helped by its ties to Amazon, which owns a chunk of the company and has pledged to switch to electric delivery vehicles.

Her bearish take isnt exactly surprising, given the big bet shes made on those companies biggest competitor. Wood pointed out that ARK discloses its holdings at the end of each day and has done so since 2014. Its single largest holding, by far: Tesla, where Ark is sitting on a $2.4 billion stake.

Continued here:
Investor Cathie Wood On Bitcoin, Why She Sold Stocks In China, And What Her Firm Is Buying Now - Forbes

Bitcoin.com is integrating technology from CoinFLEX that enables users to earn interest on a wide range of cryptoassets, including a US-dollar stablecoin (flexUSD), through both passive and active strategies.

The passive yield strategy is built on flexUSD, a US-dollar pegged cryptocurrency that automatically provides all holders with compounding interest payments, regardless of where they hold it.

Were incredibly excited to be offering an interest-earning product thats easy to use and carries minimal risk, said Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis. Now our users can not only shield themselves from the downside market volatility by trading into a US dollar equivalent, they can also earn yield on those dollars that far exceeds anything available in legacy banking.

To start earning interest now, Bitcoin.com users can either swap into or mint flexUSD in a few clicks.

Behind the scenes, yield for flexUSD is generated by fees and interest paid on short-term lend/borrow markets. Interest rates will vary but are usually between 10-20%. FlexUSD can also be used as collateral to trade, meaning you can earn yield and trade at the same time.

The CoinFLEX technology integration also brings advanced trading tools and products to the Bitcoin.com ecosystem, including physically settled futures and perpetuals with leverage up to 100x. These features are available on the Bitcoin.com Exchange, where users can also trade 40+ spot pairs: all the majors like Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ethereum (ETH), as well as DeFi coins like UNI and SUSHI, popular meme coins like SHIB, and a range of other coins weve never offered before.

Bitcoin.com users can also employ active yield strategies by providing liquidity in both single and dual asset pools for futures markets.

CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb explains: The system democratizes access to the yields generated by market making for futures markets, where volumes vastly exceed spot. And since its a hybrid model, where the liquidity is decentralized but the order book is centralized, liquidity provision and trades are executed instantly and fees are minimal.

Bitcoin.com traders can use a handy APR Simulator tool to easily estimate the yield generated by supplying liquidity into a given pool and at a defined trading price range.

Beyond providing folks who want to trade at higher frequency with the advanced tools they need, Bitcoin.com now enables holders of cryptoassets to put them to productive use and earn a yield for doing so, adds Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis. Its a big step in expanding the Bitcoin.com ecosystem towards our goal of providing an even more comprehensive financial services platform that further supports economic freedom.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Read the original post:
Bitcoin.com Unlocks Earn on Crypto Promoted Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

After the recent cryptocurrency market correction, Bitcoin and Ethereum both rebounded sharply. Most cryptocurrencies only registered single-digit percent losses, with some seeing bullish momentum. At the time of writing, Bitcoin price continuously shows strong support at $48,000 as it attempts to breach the $50,000 level once again.

The recent crypto market pullback erased over $600 billion from the global cryptocurrency market cap. When it comes to the reason behind the recent bearish move, some will cite the spread of Covids Omicron variant, while others will blame the Fed for recently suggesting higher interest rates.

With news of the Omicron variant spreading across the US, the market action is reminiscent of Julys crash when information regarding Covids Delta variant spread.

The good news is, were seeing similar market action to what happened in July, with crypto markets rebounding sharply only a few days after the crash.

Another reason for this weekends bearish momentum could be the Fed raising interest rates, discouraging investors from putting their money in crypto and stocks.

According to Coindesk, in November, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that the Fed would start scaling back on purchasing Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The program is scheduled to be depleted in mid-2022 to reduce inflation.

In addition to the above two factors influencing Bitcoins recent price, the House Committee announced that crypto CEOs would testify on December 8th in a hearing on digital assets.

According to a tweet posted by Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder & CEO of Circle, the committee will discuss crypto and national economic competitiveness for the United States.

While calling CEOs to discuss the challenges and benefits of financial innovation is not bearish news in and of itself, the potential increase in regulation resulting from that meeting could be detrimental to crypto markets overall.

The United States is already behind China when allowing traders to invest in ICOs, IDOs, and more. For example, Binance is not available to users in the US, and some of the hottest and most influential projects are first available on Binance. The restriction means US investors are excluded from a large crypto sector and dont even get an opportunity to participate in high ROI presales.

The good news is, crypto markets are holding the current support level quite well, With Bitcoin currently trading at $48,684 and Ethereum at $4,100.

Bitcoin is inching towards the $49,000 $50,000 level, looking to establish new support. While the recent pullback may seem drastic to some, a 20-30% loss isnt a reason to panic for most crypto holders.

While December is known to be Bitcoins hottest month, a pullback before a bull run is not uncommon. If Bitcoin can establish $50,000 as support in the short term, chances of dropping below $40,000 are slim. However, if Bitcoin cannot breach the $50,000 resistance, dont be surprised if we see another correction.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency.

Also Read:

Top 7 Metaverse Coins With a Unit Price of Under $0.1

Follow us on Twitter@thevrsoldierto stay up to date with the latest cryptocurrency news, andsubscribeto our daily newsletter to never miss another story!

Read more:
Bitcoin Showing Strong Support at $48000, Why Did the Price Drop? - The VR Soldier

The gold standard was shrugged off by the United States a long time ago. However, the precious metal has remained a primary hedge, not just for personal investors, but also for sovereign funds. While the United States dollar has acted as an exchange standard for most countries since, a depreciation in its value due to rising inflation has led to many looking for an alternative avenue. Thats where the top cryptocurrency Bitcoin steps in.

Many believe that the dependence on gold will first have to be eradicated for Bitcoin to reach its full potential. However, CoinMetricss Nic Carter has suggested a strategy for their co-existence. During a recent interview, the investor opined that BTC and Gold belong to the same ideological family while sovereign currencies are from a different genus. Thus, a tussle between the two assets seems unnecessary.

Bitcoin has its own merits like transmissibility, auditability, fractionalizability, and easier storage options. Golds momentum comes from its ownership by most sovereigns. Therefore, according to Carter, completely doing away with it might include a multi-decade transition phase.

In the meantime, countries should start preparing for a global Bitcoin standard, the exec said, before adding,

Buy the equivalent amount of Bitcoin that you hold in your official gold reserves all you need to do is hedge against a world where theres a Bitcoin standard.

He also opined that this will leave countries in a similar position as they are now, where where gold is the de facto monetary good the governments hold.

Carter also suggested a strategy for the U.S, which currently owns around 4% of the total gold that has ever been mined. According to him, such a ratio would require it to acquire less than a million BTC out of the total 21 million that will ever be in circulation. This will cost the country less than $50 billion.

Now thats a pretty cheap option to get into the future.

The Castle Island Ventures exec believes that this process has already been started by several countries, albeit in a coveted fashion as it will keep their costs basis in check. He argued,

Any government that is acting on a decades-long time frame and is secretly hedging their exposure by getting access to Bitcoin in whatever method, they have no incentive to talk about it.

However, reports of several governments, often despotic or autocratic, secretly acquiring Bitcoin have already started to surface. It has been alleged that state-sponsored North Korean hackers have been stealing billions in cryptocurrency for the government to build its treasury.

Similarly, while imposing restrictions on citizens, the Venezuelan army began crypto-mining last year to generate un-blockable income that can bypass U.S sanctions.

Read more:
How the govt. can 'hedge against a world where there's a Bitcoin standard' - AMBCrypto News