Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

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A stunning price rally that has caused cryptocurrency Cardano (ADA) to explode almost 600% over the past three months is causing many in the industry to scratch their heads and wonder whats behind it.

Billionaire Michael Novogratz, the current chief executive of Galaxy Investment Partners, took to Twitter last week to find out why ADA, which was trading as low as $0.12 in December, is now trading at around $1.02.

Last question before I go shower, can anyone make a real bull case for $ADA? Does anyone build on it? Use it? Why is market cap so high? Should it be a funding asset? Its one of the few cryptos I havent traded in my life, Novogratz asks on Twitter.

At one point in the last three months, the market cap (the total value of all coins in issue) of ADA had risen so much that it was briefly the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, lagging only behind bitcoin and Ethereum. Cardano currently boasts a total market value of close to $34bn, making it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency on that measure, shows data by CoinMarket Cap.

Cardano (ADA) was released in 2015 and has spent most of its time since ranked within the top ten cryptocurrencies by market value. The coin runs on Cardanos own blockchain network.

Touted as the next big thing after Ethereum, the Cardano blockchain can be used to build smart contracts, protocols and decentralised applications. It was co-founded by mathematician Charles Hoskinson and by former Ethereum co-worker Jeremy Wood, to build a more scalable and secure blockchain network, two things Hoskinson believes Ethereum will find difficult to fully achieve.

Cardanos platform is made up of two layers: the Cardano settlement layer (CSL) and the control layer. The former acts as a unit of account and allows token holders to send and receive ADA immediately at very low transaction costs.The latter is a set of protocols that have many functions, including running smart contracts, ensuring security, and facilitating identity recognition.

Novogratz is not the only one casting doubts on why ADA has risen so much. I am not aware of a single popular application deployed on Cardano, nor have I seen any enthusiasm for the platform among developers, says Nic Carter, co-founder of research company Coin Metrics. I am truly mystified as to why it is enjoying a resurgence in popularity.

Uncertainty about the drivers behind Cardanos rise has not deterred retail investors from taking a punt on the cryptocurrency. Cardano has garnered a loyal audience on Reddit, the same forum that was behind a rally in several meme stocks at the start of the year, including GameStop, which has risen by just under 1,300% since the start of the year alone.

Cardano prices have been rising as Ethereum is considered too costly for developers, Hoskinson argued in a recent interview with Bloomberg. He predicts that Cardanos blockchain will eventually surpass that of Ethereum.

According to Hoskinson, Cardano differs from Ethereum in a number of important ways. Firstly, in the way that all the nodes in the network agree on how transactions (blocks) are added to the blockchain. There are two main methods: proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS).

Proof of work is currently the most popular method and the one used by Bitcoin. It relies on miners to solve a difficult mathematical puzzle and share the proof before blocks can be added. The downside is that PoW uses a great deal of energy because it takes so much work.

Proof of stake, on the other hand, allows owners of the blockchains crypto-tokens to stake some of their cryptocurrency. Miners are then selected from those with a stake to add blocks to the chain. Holders can allocate their coins to pools and earn a cut from the transaction fees generated when they are confirmed and added to the blockchain.

Cardano already uses proof of stake. Ethereum, meanwhile, is in the early stages of moving to PoS from PoW.

Secondly, Cardanos price growth may also have to do with the fact that the blockchain has a number of uses. It acts as cash in the way that bitcoin does; however it also holds voting rights. Usually, miners are the ones who vote to make changes to a blockchains protocol. But holders of Cardano coins can vote to make these changes, giving them a greater role in determining the future development of the cryptocurrency.

In all, Cardanos remarkable rise could be due to promises that it will eventually surpass Ethereum in its usefulness more than 100 companies are in the process of transitioning away from Ethereum to Cardano, claims Hoskinson.

In particular, earlier this month, Cardano went through its much anticipated Mary update which paved the way for users to be able to create unique tokens, including non-fungible-tokens (NFTs). These are digital files which represent ownership of a certain asset, and have also become the latest crypto craze. That factor might explain the renewed interest in Cardano better than anything else.

That said, for all that the network went through the Mary update, there are concerns developers are yet to embrace it, as Crispus Nyaga, investment analyst at Investing Cube puts it. So from that point of view, Cardano probably has a long way to go before it surpasses Ethereum.

And of course, while Cardano has undoubtedly exploded in value in recent months, this is not that unusual in the context of cryptocurrencies. Its always worth remembering that big winners already this year including Elon Musks favourite, Dogecoin (up more than 1,100% since the start of the year), which is quite literally a coin created to satirise the craze for crypto. So maybe theres nothing more to it than Cardano being the latest coin to hitch a ride on the current mania.

Dominic Frisby has put together a downloadable Beginners Guide to Bitcoin for MoneyWeek subscribers, which includes a bonus section on other cryptocurrencies. If youre not already a subscriber,sign up now to get the report plus your first six issues free.

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Whats behind the meteoric rise in obscure cryptocurrency Cardano? - MoneyWeek

TipRanks

Its time to check in with the macro picture, to get an idea of just where markets are headed in the coming months. Thats what a JPMorgan global research team, headed up by Joyce Chang, has been doing. The JPM team starts by noting the sell-off in US Treasury bonds last week, pushing up yields as investors acted in response to inflationary fears. However, the rise in bond yields steadied on Friday, and Changs team does not believe that inflation is the great bugaboo its made out to be; her team sees a combination of economic growth and fiscal stimulus creating a virtuous circle of consumer spending fueling more growth. They write, Our global economics team is now forecasting US nominal GDP to average roughly 7% growth over this year and next as targeted measures have been successful in addressing COVID-19 and economic activity is not being jeopardized. Global growth will exceed 5%... What this means, in JPMs view, is that the coming year should be good for stocks. Interest rates are likely to remain low, in the firms estimation, while inflation should moderate as the economy returns to normal. JPMs stock analysts have been following the strategy team, and seeking out the stocks they see as winners over the next 12 months. Three of their recent picks make for an interesting lot, with Strong Buy ratings from the analyst community and over 50% upside potential. Weve used the TipRanks database to pull the details on them. Lets take a look. On24 (ONTF) The first JPM pick were looking at here is On24, the online streaming service that offers third parties access for scaled and personalized networked events. In other words, On24 makes its streaming service available for other companies to use in setting up interactive features, including webinars, virtual events, and multi-media experiences. The San Francisco-based company boasts a base of more than 1900 corporate users. On24s customers engage online with more than 4 million professionals every month, for more than 42 million hours every year. As can be imagined, On24 saw a surge of customer interest and business in the past year, as virtual offices and telecommuting situations expanded and the company has now used that as a base for going public. On24 held its IPO last month, and entered the NYSE on February 3. The opening was a success; 8.56 million shares were put on the market at $77 each, well above the $50 initial pricing. However, shares have taken a beating since, and have dropped by 36%. Nevertheless, JPMs Sterling Auty thinks the company is well-placed to capitalize on current trends. The COVID-19 pandemic, we believe, has changed the face of B2B marketing and sales forever. It has forced companies to move most of their sales lead generation into the digital world where On24 is typically viewed as the best webinar/webcast provider. the 5-star analyst wrote. Even post-pandemic we expect the marketing motion to be hybrid with digital and in-person being equally important. That should drive further adoption of On24-like solutions, and we expect On24 to capture a material share of that opportunity. In line with these upbeat comments, Auty initiated coverage of the stock with an Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating, and his $85 price target suggests it has room for 73% upside over the next 12 months. (To watch Autys track record, click here.) Sometimes, a company is just so solid and successful that Wall Streets analysts line up right behind it and that is the case here. The Strong Buy analyst consensus rating is unanimous, based on 8 Buy-side reviews published since the stock went public just over a month ago. The shares are currently trading for $49.25 and their $74 average price target implies an upside of 50% from that level. (See On24s stock analysis at TipRanks.) Plug Power, Inc. (PLUG) And moving over to the reusable energy sector, well take a look at a JPM green power pick. Plug Power designs and manufactures hydrogen power cells, a technology with a great deal of potential as a possible replacement for traditional batteries. Hydrogen power cells have potential applications in the automotive sector, as power packs for alt-fuel cars, but also in just about any application that involves the storage of energy home heating, portable electronics, and backup power systems, to name just a few. Over the past year, PLUG shares have seen a tremendous surge, rising over 800%. The stock got an additional boost after Joe Bidens presidential election win and his platform promises to encourage Green Energy. But the stock has pulled back sharply recently, as many over-extended growth names have. Poor 4Q20 results also help explain the recent selloff. Plug reported a deep loss of $1.12 per share, far worse than the 8-cent loss expected, or the 7-cent loss reported in the year-ago quarter. In fact, PLUG has never actually reported positive earnings. This company is supported by the quality of its technology and that techs potential for adoption as industry moves toward renewable energy sources but we arent there yet, despite strides in that direction. The share price retreat makes PLUG an attractive proposition, according to JPM analyst Paul Coster. In the context of the firm's many long-term growth opportunities, we believe the stock is attractively priced at present, ahead of potential positive catalysts, which include additional pedestal customer wins, partnerships and JVs that enable the company to enter new geographies and end-market applications quickly and with modest capital commitment, the analyst said. At present, PLUG is a story stock, appealing to thematic investors as well as generalists seeking exposure to Renewable Energy growth, and Hydrogen in particular. Costers optimistic comments come with an upgrade to PLUGs rating - from a Neutral (i.e., Hold) to Overweight (Buy) - and a $65 price target that indicates a possible 55% upside. (To watch Costers track record, click here.) Plug Power has plenty of support amongst Costers colleagues, too. 13 recent analyst reviews break down to 11 Buys and 1 Hold and Sell, each, all aggregating to a Strong Buy consensus rating. PLUG shares sell for $39.3 and have an average price target of $62.85, which suggests a 60% one-year upside potential. (See Plugs stock analysis at TipRanks.) Orchard Therapeutics, PLC (ORTX) The last JPM stock pick well look at is Orchard Therapeutics, a biopharma research company focused on the development of gene therapies for the treatment of rare diseases. The companys goal is to create curative treatments from the genetic modification of blood stem cells treatments which can reverse the causative factors of the target disease with a single dosing. The companys pipeline features two drug candidates that have received approval in the EU. The first, OTL-200, is a treatment for Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a serious metabolic disease leading to losses of sensory, motor, and cognitive functioning. Strimvelis, the second approved drug, is a gammaretroviral vector-based gene therapy, and the first such ex vivo autologous gene therapy to receive approve by the European Medicines Agency. It is a treatment for adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA-SCID), when the patient has no available related stem cell donor. In addition to these two EU-approved drugs, Orchard has ten other drug candidates in various stages of the pipeline process, from pre-clinical research to early-phase trials. Anupam Rama, another of JPMs 5-star analysts, took a deep dive into Orchard and was impressed with what he saw. In his coverage of the stock, he notes several key points: Maturing data across various indications in rare genetic diseases continues to de-risk the broader ex vivo autologous gene therapy platform from both an efficacy / safety perspective Key opportunities in MLD (including OTL-200 and other drug candidates) have sales potential each in the ~$200-400M range Importantly, the overall benefit/risk profile of Orchards approach is viewed favorably in the eyes of physicians. At current levels, we believe ORTX shares under-reflect the risk-adjusted potential of the pipeline... The high sales potential here leads Rama to rate the stock as Outperform (Buy) and to set a $15 price target, implying a robust 122% upside potential in the next 12 months. (To watch Ramas track record, click here.) Wall Street generally is in clear agreement with JPM on this one, too. ORTX shares have 6 Buy reviews, for a unanimous Strong Buy analyst consensus rating, and the $15.17 average price target suggests a 124% upside from the current $6.76 trading price. (See Orchards stock analysis at TipRanks.) Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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7 Bitcoin And Cryptocurrency Accounts To Follow On Twitter - Yahoo Finance

Eco, which has built out a digital global cryptocurrency platform, announced Friday that it has raised $26 million in a funding round led by a16z Crypto.

Founded in 2018, the SF-based startups platform is designed to be used as a payment tool around the world for daily-use transactions. The company emphasizes that its not a bank, checking account, or credit card.

Were building something better than all of those combined, it said in a blog post. The companys mission has also been described as an effort to use cryptocurrency as a way to marry savings and spending, according to this CoinList article.

Eco users can earn up to 5% annually on their deposits and get 5% cash back when transacting with merchants such as Amazon, Uber and others. Next up: The company says it will give its users the ability to pay bills, pay friends and more all from the same, single wallet. That same wallet, it says, rewards people every time they spend or save.

After a successful alpha test with millions of dollars deposited, the companys Eco App is now available to the public.

A slew of other VC firms participated in Ecos latest financing, including Founders Fund, Activant Capital, Slow Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Tribe Capital, Valor Capital Group and more than one hundred other funds and angels. Expa and Pantera Capital co-led the companys $8.5 million funding round.

CoinList co-founder Andy Bromberg stepped down from his role last fall to head up Eco. The startup was originally called Beam before rebranding to Eco thanks to involvement by founding advisor, Garrett Camp, who held the Eco brand, according to Coindesk. Camp is an Uber co-founder and Expa is his venture fund.

For a16z Crypto, leading the round is in line with its mission.

In a blog post co-written by Katie Haun and Arianna Simpson, the firm outlined why its pumped about Eco and its plans.

One of the challenges in any new industry crypto being no exception is building things that are not just cool for the sake of cool, but that manage to reach and delight a broad set of users, they wrote. Technology is at its best when its improving the lives of people in tangible, concrete waysAt a16z Crypto, we are constantly on the lookout for paths to get cryptocurrency into the hands of the next billion people. How do we think that will happen? By helping them achieve what they already want to do: spend, save, and make money and by focusing users on tangible benefits, not on the underlying technology.

Eco is not the only crypto platform offering rewards to users. Lolli gives users free bitcoin or cash when they shop at over 1,000 top stores.

Early Stage is the premier how-to event for startup entrepreneurs and investors. Youll hear firsthand how some of the most successful founders and VCs build their businesses, raise money and manage their portfolios. Well cover every aspect of company building: Fundraising, recruiting, sales, product-market fit, PR, marketing and brand building. Each session also has audience participation built-in theres ample time included for audience questions and discussion.

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Eco raises $26M in a16z-led round to scale its digital cryptocurrency platform - TechCrunch

A visual representation of the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

S3studio | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China China's Inner Mongolia region plans to ban new cryptocurrency mining projects and shut down existing activity in a bid to cut down on energy-consumption.

Bitcoin is based on a decentralized network, which means it's not issued by a single entity like a central bank. Transactions, recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, need to be "verified" by miners.

These miners run purpose-built computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles that effectively allow a bitcoin transaction to happen. The miners receive bitcoin as a reward and that is the incentive.

But because the computers are high-powered, they consume a lot of energy.

Bitcoin mining consumes an estimated 128.84 terrawatt-hour per year of energy more than entire countries such as Ukraine and Argentina, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, a project of the University of Cambridge.

China accounts for around 65% of all bitcoin mining globally Inner Mongolia alone accounts for about 8%, due to its cheap energy. In comparison, the United States accounts for 7.2% of global bitcoin mining.

Not all cryptocurrencies work like bitcoin, however.

Inner Mongolia, located in northern China, failed to meet central government assessment targets regarding energy use in 2019 and was scolded by Beijing. In response, the region's development and reform commission laid out plans to reduce energy consumption.

Part of those plans involve shutting down existing cryptocurrency mining projects by April 2021 and not approving any new ones. They also involve reassessing other energy-intensive industries like steel and coal.

While the Chinese government has backed the development of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology, it has looked to crack down on digital currencies themselves. In 2017, Beijing banned initial coin offerings, a way to issue digital tokens and raise money. The government has also cracked down on businesses involved in cryptocurrency operations, such as exchanges.

China is also pushing to become more environmentally friendly.President Xi Jinping said last year that the country is targeting peakcarbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by the year 2060.

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A major Chinese bitcoin mining hub is shutting down its cryptocurrency operations - CNBC

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said the government is open to evaluate and explore new technologies, including cryptocurrencies, for improving governance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is a strong advocate of embracing technology in various aspects of governance, the Minister of State for Finance said while addressing an event organised by Entrepreneurs' Organisation - EO Punjab.

"Let me say that we welcome innovation and new technology...blockchain is a new emerging technology. Cryptocurrency is a form of virtual currency. I firmly believe that we must always evaluate, explore and encourage new ideas with an open mind," he said.

A High-Level Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Economic Affairs Secretary on digital currencies and it has submitted its report. The government would take a decision on the recommendations of the IMC and the legislative proposal, if any, would be introduced in Parliament following the due process, he said while inviting suggestions and views on this issue.

Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of their units and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the government is still formulating its opinion on cryptocurrencies and will take a calibrated position.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das had last week said the apex bank has certain "major concerns" over the impact cryptocurrencies may have on the financial stability in the economy and has conveyed the same to the government.

The RBI had virtually banned cryptocurrency trading in 2018 and had directed all entities regulated by the central bank to cease dealing in virtual currencies. The Supreme Court had also asked the Centre in 2019 to frame policies for crypto, and in 2020, struck down the curbs imposed by the RBI.

The Reserve Bank had through various public notices on December 24, 2013, February 1, 2017 and December 5, 2017, cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including bitcoins, regarding various risks associated in dealing with such virtual currencies.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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Govt open to evaluate, explore cryptocurrencies, says Anurag Thakur - Mint

Speaking to CNBC TV 18 today, Nirmal Sitharaman clarified that the government is still formulating its opinion on cryptocurrency and will take a calibrated position. The remarks suggested that the Government may not impose a blanked ban on cryptocurrency.

Many negotiations and discussions are happening with the Reserve bank because the Supreme court order had very clearly told that the government has to take a call on the matter. We are taking with Reserve Bank. Im not sure before the Cabinet takes a call Im not sure I want to give any clue on what is in it. Obviously the RBI will be taking a call on what kind of official currency, cryptocurrency will have to be planned and how it has to be regulated," said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Supreme Court in March 2020 had quashed an RBI ban on payments related to cryptocurrency.

But also we want to make sure there is a window available for all kinds of experiments which will have to take place in the crypto world. It is not as if we are going to look inwards and say we are not going to have any of this. There will be a very calibrated position. Mixed messages are coming across the world. I dont think there is a complete go this way or that way in this matter. We will have to take a very calibrated position. The world is moving fast with technology. We cannot pretend we don't want it. At the same time, we have to recognise with fintech we led the way. Many countries are looking at us for fintech based steps and the kind of things we have done in the payment duniya," she said.

Sitharaman then summarised her remarks by stating that the government is open to experimentation. I can only give you this clue that we are not closing our minds. We are certainly looking at ways in which experimentation can happen in the digital world and cryptocurrency," she added

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Looking at ways to experiment with digital world and cryptocurrency: Sitharaman - Mint

In what can be a huge relief to cryptocurrency stakeholders in the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hinted the Centre may not go for a blanket ban on digital currencies and that it's still formulating its opinion on the matter. She said the Centre was open to experimentation with new technologies and is not closing its minds for them.

As per the finance minister, the call on cryptocurrencies will be taken after deliberations with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and cabinet members are over. "A lot of negotiations and discussions are happening around the cryptocurrency with the Reserve Bank of India. RBI will be taking a call on what kind of unofficial cryptocurrency will have to be planned and how it has to be regulated. However we want to make sure that there is a window available for all kinds of experiments which will have to take place in the crypto world," she said at CNBC-TV18's IBLA townhall.

The finance minister has said the Centre's position on cryptocurrencies will be a "calibrated one". The FM clearly said the Centre is not averse to new technology, which is changing rapidly. "There will be a very calibrated position taken. A lot of mixed messages are coming from across the world. The world is moving fast with technology, we cannot pretend that we don't want it," she said.

The FM's remarks on cryptocurrency are in contrast with that of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, who had recently said the RBI had reservations regarding digital currencies. He said the apex bank was working on its digital currency. The RBI does not want to be left behind in the technological revolution, and the benefits of blockchain technology need to be capitalised on, he said, adding "we've certain concerns regarding cryptocurrencies."

This stance is in lines with the central government, which has revealed it'll bring a new bill on cryptocurrencies (The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021). Notably, an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on cryptocurrency has suggested a ban on private cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, in India. The same committee also pitched for the introduction of an RBI-regulated digital currency.

The RBI had virtually banned cryptocurrency trading in 2018. But the Supreme Court in 2019 asked the government to come up with cryptocurrency policies. In 2020, the SC down the RBI curbs on the cryptocurrency trade.

Also read: Centre, states must cut taxes on fuel, says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

Also read: What is Cryptocurrency Bill 2021; how it will impact bitcoin investors

Also read: Cryptocurrencies are neither currency nor commodity; will bring bill soon: Anurag Thakur

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Govt response to cryptocurrency will be 'calibrated'; open to experiment: Sitharaman - Business Today

TaxBit cofounders Justin Woodward and CEO Austin Woodward have raised $100 million to build the ERP for cryptocurrency.

With bitcoins market capitalization approaching $1 trillion, and hundreds of billions more in value in a host of other coins and projects, boring old taxes are becoming a big headachenot just for consumers, but also the exchanges, businesses dabbling in the sector and governments getting involved.

While others speculate on the coins themselves in the new gold rush, entrepreneur Austin Woodwards happy to provide the picks and shovels. His startup, TaxBit, automates all those gains and losses for the customers of exchanges and power users alike. And with Utahs largest-ever Series A funding round in the bag, hes on track to build a buzzy business in the process.

The entire existence of this asset class that can be so disruptive to our financial sector is at risk because of tax and accounting compliance at scale, Woodward says. Theres no NetSuite, Oracle or SAP of cryptocurrency.

Founded in 2018, TaxBits raised $100 million in its Series A financing, led by investment firms Paradigm and Tiger Global. PayPal Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, the investment firm of the billionaire Winklevoss twins, Coinbase Ventures and others, including Bill Ackman and Qualtrics cofounder Ryan Smith, joined the round, which takes the Utah-based startups total funding raised to more than $107 million.

Initially a consumer-facing product, today TaxBit offers its software to a mix of individual practitioners and, more lucratively for the startup, the businesses that help them invest and trade: crypto exchanges, wallet providers, lending platforms and the like. TaxBits software is white-labeled, meaning that users of those tools will sometimes know theyre working in the startups software, sometimes not, often accessing it through the tax center sections or pages of the companies websites. TaxBit has processed more than one million tax forms to date, the company says.

TaxBit got its start as Woodward and his brother, Justin, began to explore the emerging crypto category while in their previous jobs. Justin was working in a federal judicial clerkship while attending law school at the University of Chicago; Austin was spending nights researching and dabbling in crypto assets while an early employee at Qualtrics, the customer experience company that is one of Utahs recent tech breakouts. Austin Woodward says one formative moment was when he was responsible for Qualtrics missing payroll in Australia because he sent a wire ten minutes late that took 48 hours to cleara problem, he believed, that crypto could solve, alongside others like transaction fees, cross-border payments and the ability for nonaccredited investors to buy small pieces of assets like real estate through tokens.

TaxBit cofounders Justin Woodward, Brandon Woodward and CEO Austin Woodward launched their startup from Justin and Austin's dad's basement.

When SAP bought Qualtrics, in a shock move, for $8 billion just days before it was supposed to go public in November 2018, Austin Woodward, whod worked closely on its S-1 filings for that process, saw his cue to work on a tax solution in crypto full time. (Qualtrics eventually went public, after all, in a spinout this past January.) With their cousin Brandon Woodward focused on front-end development and design, the Woodward brothers moved into their dads basement; their father was also their first financial supporter, cutting them an initial check to get going.

Soon, Album Ventures backed TaxBit in a pre-seed round, and as the business scaled to many thousands of individual users for its consumer-facing tool, it raised a $5 million seed round in December 2019. In January, the venture arms of Coinbase and PayPal invested in a strategic round alongside its previous investor, Winklevoss Capital. Scant weeks later, Paradigm, the crypto-focused venture fund founded by Sequoia veteran Matt Huang and Coinbase cofounder Fred Ehrsam, had come knocking, as did Tiger Global, a leading growth equity investor in the software world.

They bring a ton of energy to solving crypto tax, says Huang. For the pitch, the whole team got on a Zoom call on a Saturday night, and Austin was almost jumping through the Zoom screen.

Why raise $100 million so fast? Austin Woodward, TaxBits CEO, says the money is to invest in the companys enterprise tools and international expansion, with the United Kingdom coming first. Eventually TaxBit hopes to offer something like a traditional enterprise resource planning tool for corporations, helping them manage crypto transactions for optimal tax results much like other software tools do for foreign currencies. Governmentsboth the tax-collecting agencies and municipalities that offer crypto as paymentcould also prove natural clients. That means hiring from about 40 employees to more than 100 by years end, Woodward says, and building out a sales and marketing team that largely comprised the founders and vice president Michelle OConnor, a veteran of crypto exchange Uphold, until now.

We were called the TurboTax of crypto really early in this, and that was glamorous to us for whattwo weeks? Woodward says. And then we realized we dont want to be your tool you log into on April 14 because you have to, just to file stuff.

TaxBits story so far reminds at least one person of Qualtrics own trajectoryits cofounder and chairman, Smith, now the owner of NBA franchise the Utah Jazz and an investor in TaxBit following the raise. Like the Woodwards, Smith built Qualtrics with his brother and father from home for years, only raising capital when the business was well-launched. This is my way of getting into crypto, Smith says. When building a startup like Qualtrics, you wonder how many people are paying attention. Austin was definitely paying attention.

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This Utah Startup Just Raised $100 Million To Solve Cryptocurrencys Looming Tax Problem - Forbes

The correlation of being a reader who becomes a consumer is well proven. Like a beauty publisher might license its own lipstick line, a publisher covering blockchain might come out with its own cryptocurrency.

That logical progression of capitalizing on a readers interest is exactly the strategy Decrypt, a three-year-old publisher covering cryptocurrency, is launching this year.

Decrypt is incentivizing its users to read and interact with its content in exchange for the publications unique take on cryptocurrency: its utility token (DCPT).

The publisher is also capitalizing on readers affinity for games by turning engagement into a rewarded action. Users of the sites app, which launched nine months ago, can create an in-app wallet and earn tokens for taking actions on articles like reading (three tokens), reacting with an emoji (one token), or sharing (two tokens).

The tokens are closed within the publications environment and are not publicly tradable like security-backed cryptocurrencies, but they are exchangeable for items of value provided by Decrypt and site sponsors. These items include T-shirts, stickers, access to promotional events or premium content.

The token, which has been in beta for six months, is serving as an engagement tactic, similar to a rewards program. Currently, there are 51,000 people on the waitlist for DCPT, all of which joined organically by word of mouth, according to Decrypts new publisher and CRO Alanna Roazzi-Laforet, who joined from blockchain software company ConsenSys.

The publisher expects DCPT to help grow its audience. In 2020, the publications traffic increased by 350% in February 2021, Decrypt had more than 4.5 million unique visitors to the site, said Josh Quittner, CEO and founder of Decrypt.

Decrypt really wants to use the products that we speak about in the market, said Roazzi-Laforet.

This is an example of eating your own dog food, said Jacob Donnelly, who formerly managing director at crypto publication CoinDesk. He now runs a paid newsletter about building digital media companies called, A Media Operator, as well as serves as the general manager of B2B at Morning Brew.

Rewards systems for loyal readers are not a new strategy for engagement, but Decrypts token offering is a unique take on that model because of how endemic it is to its coverage, Donnelly said. They write about crypto, they write about blockchain. So having a wallet and a token baked in is interesting, he said.

Donnelly equated this to Bustle Digital Groups brand Inverse that has a newsletter incentive program, which enters subscribers into a drawing for a prize if they open newsletters regularly. Only Decrypt is taking it a step further by guaranteeing rewards once enough value is accrued.

Inadvertently, they are assigning value to every action on their platform. Thats very hard to do that if you talk to 99% of media companies, they still cant tell you the [lifetime value] of a reader, Donnelly said. This is a very interesting exercise but it works in a closed ecosystem.

Building a cryptocurrency is not just an engagement tactic, but part of the publishers advertising strategy.

Roazzi-Laforet said brands are able to sponsor each so-called season of the token, which is the period of time that 1 million tokens are released and then subsequently collected by users. The tokens are first-come, first-earned and the sponsors also contribute the rewards that the tokens are later exchanged for by the app users.

One of the big reasons were doing it is to get out from under the thumb of Google and Facebook, which are taking so much of the advertising dollars and forcing everybody to sort of march to their beat, said Quittner. We can be much more responsive to the kinds of advertisers that we want to affiliate with and get them the kinds of users and potential customers that theyre looking for in a way thats really ethical and doesnt compromise our users identity.

Decrypt would not disclose how much these sponsorships cost, but Roazzi-Laforet did add that they can be wrapped into a larger sponsored content campaigns that include digital advertising or creating digital assets known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). She would not disclose who the sponsors have been, but said they consist of both endemic brands and ones that want to reinvent themselves for 2021.

Decrypt launched in spring 2018 at a time when Bitcoin had lost more than $10,000 worth of its value.

It was a great time to launch. Crypto markets are volatile. When were in a big bull market, we have a huge amount of readership. Similarly, when theres a big pop of a bubble, people are reading because theyre really worried they want to know whats going on, said Quittner.

While there are thousands of different cryptocurrencies, Quittner added that changes to the value of the top 10 most valuable currencies drive the most spikes in traffic. When Bitcoin doubled from $30,000 per coin at the end of January to nearly $60,000 in February, traffic spiked along with it.

Ultimately what [Decrypt] is trying to do is create a habit with a reader, said Donnelly. And if you can incentivize that habit in some way, then the incentive ends up being far cheaper than the value of that engaged reader coupled with the fact that Decrypt is actually making money because they have sponsors.

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Assigning value to every action: Why Decrypt created its own cryptocurrency for super readers - Digiday