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El Salvador reportedly fixes crypto wallet after bumpy Bitcoin rollout

Chivo Bitcoin wallet was taken down for five hours for maintenance after users reported various issues with the application.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) adoption drive met its first roadblock after citizens reported problems downloading and operating the state-run Chivo wallet. 

While the wallet was taken down soon after it went live, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele later announced that all the issues related to the BTC wallet have been fixed. He tweeted:

“We have finished today’s maintenance of Chivo wallet. Report any malfunction here, in the comments.”

Soon after El Salvador’s implementation of the Bitcoin Law, Chivo wallet was reportedly launched on major app stores, including Google Play, Huawei AppGallery and Apple App Store.

After numerous user reports of system downtime and download issues, Bukele announced a maintenance period to improve the user experience and fix reported problems:

“We will disconnect the system from 1am to 6am to make these adjustments. Our teams are ready. We hope tomorrow is much better.”

Currently, the Chivo wallet in the Google Play store will only be supported for the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Samsung Galaxy S21.

While the service has resumed, Salvadoran authorities have requested citizens to report Chivo-related technical issues that will be addressed to “improve everyone’s experience.”

Related: El Salvador says merchants must process BTC transactions — Or they may face action

As Bitcoin’s status as legal tender in El Salvador is now official, the legal counsel to the president, Javier Argueta, has announced a mandate for local businesses to accept BTC.

Businesses still reserve the right to choose between BTC and the United States dollar for final payouts. The Chivo wallet has an option for merchants to convert their Bitcoin income into dollars automatically.

American fast-food giant McDonald’s has also started accepting Bitcoin payments in the country.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Twitter Rolling Out Bitcoin Tipping Feature, Latest Code Update Suggests

Twitter Rolling Out Bitcoin Tipping Feature, Latest Code Update SuggestsTwitter is reportedly testing the option of tipping with bitcoin as part of its “Tip Jar” feature. This followed the company’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, stating that bitcoin is a major part of Twitter’s future, hinting that the cryptocurrency will be part of several upcoming products. Twitter Reportedly Testing Bitcoin Tipping Option Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) […]

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Man Says He Accidentally Deleted Keys to 20 Bitcoin Worth Nearly $900,000

A South African man who mined 20 Bitcoin (BTC) over ten years ago – when the flagship cryptocurrency was worth less than a penny – has lost it all, according to a report. Per the report by MyBroadband, the man pseudonymously named Mark Michaels acquired the 20 Bitcoin when he was in seventh grade. Michaels, […]

The post Man Says He Accidentally Deleted Keys to 20 Bitcoin Worth Nearly $900,000 appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Bitcoin Firm Reveals Its Total BTC Reserves, Urges Other Crypto Exchanges To Disclose Holdings

Crypto derivatives platform BitMEX is revealing its total Bitcoin (BTC) reserve balance and is suggesting that other exchanges go public with their reserves as well. In a new blog post, BitMEX says that it holds 110,090 Bitcoin, worth $5.23 billion at time of writing. The firm also provided tools that anyone can use to verify […]

The post Bitcoin Firm Reveals Its Total BTC Reserves, Urges Other Crypto Exchanges To Disclose Holdings appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Crypto Whales Suddenly Move $2,740,000,000 in Bitcoin Within Minutes – Here’s Where the Crypto Is Going

A handful of crypto whales moved a staggering $2.74 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) within a matter of 14 minutes. The large crypto transfers were initially detected by blockchain tracker and analytics tool Whale Alert. Whale Alert first noted at 11:40 p.m. PDT on July 27th that an unknown wallet transferred roughly 9,977 BTC, valued at […]

The post Crypto Whales Suddenly Move $2,740,000,000 in Bitcoin Within Minutes – Here’s Where the Crypto Is Going appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

PayPal’s crypto ‘super app’ set to roll out soon

Dan Schulman said the project was already "code complete" and planned to be fully ramped in the United States in the next several months.

Payment provider company PayPal said its users may not have much longer to wait to have greater crypto functionality through the platform. 

During PayPal’s Q2 2021 investor update call today, CEO Dan Schulman said the initial version of the company’s super app wallet was “code complete.” The PayPal president said the company planned for the wallet to be fully ramped in the United States in the next several months.

The super app wallet will feature high yield savings, early access to direct deposit funds, messaging capability, “additional crypto capabilities,” and more. Schulman said each wallet would be “unique, driven by advanced AI and machine learning capabilities.”

PayPal reported that it had more than 400 million active user accounts as of June 30, with $311 billion in total payment volume for the second quarter of 2021. The firm also added 14.5 million new active accounts, bringing its user base to 392 million. Venmo, the PayPal-owned payments firm which launched crypto trading in April, had roughly $58 billion in total payment volume for the second quarter of 2021, with 76 million active accounts.

“We’re one of a few payments companies to allow consumers to use cryptocurrency as a funding source,” said the PayPal CEO. “We’re also seeing strong adoption and trading of crypto on Venmo.”

Related: PayPal users will be able to withdraw crypto to external wallets

Earlier this month, PayPal announced it would be increasing the limit on crypto purchases for certain users based in the United States from $20,000 to $100,000. The payments firm initially said it would be entering the crypto space in October 2020, later allowing eligible customers to use crypto for trading and payments.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Survey finds most El Salvador citizens are skeptical of making BTC legal tender

More than half of Salvadorans surveyed don’t seem as keen as their president to adopt Bitcoin.

According to a newly released survey, up to three-quarters of Salvadorans are skeptical over President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin adoption plans.

The survey, which polled 1,233 people across El Salvador between July 1 and 4, revealed that only 20% approved of the plan to make Bitcoin legal tender

The survey, which has a margin of error of 2.8%, was conducted by researcher Disruptiva, which is affiliated with Francisco Gavidia University. According to Reuters, it found that about 54% of people viewed the Bitcoin adoption program as “not at all correct”, while another 24% described it as “only a little correct.”

Almost half of the respondents, or 46%, admitted that they knew nothing about Bitcoin. Around 65% of them were not open to the idea of being paid in digital currency.

Head of Disruptiva’s institute of science, technology, and innovation, Oscar Picardo, commented that “this is a risky bet on digital transformation.”

The country’s new Bitcoin law was passed on June 9, and is due to take effect on September 7 making the world’s leading crypto asset a parallel official currency in the Central American nation. Late last month, the government unveiled a Bitcoin wallet called Chivo but stated that it is just one option available.

At the time, Bitcoin aficionado Bukele stated that the wallet will not incur fees or commissions for transfers and will not take a cut for converting BTC to USD.

In late June, he stated that every Salvadoran adult who downloads the Chivo wallet app will be eligible for an airdrop of $30 worth of BTC.

Related: El Salvador adopting Bitcoin could make it lose market dominance

President Bukele has touted BTC adoption as a way to facilitate remittance payments from citizens living overseas and lessen reliance on the U.S. dollar which has been the national currency since 2001.

Around 70% of the population in El Salvador does not have access to bank accounts or any financial services, but if this small survey is anything to go by, they have yet to see the merits of Bitcoin as a potential solution.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Reality show is casting crypto users locked out of their wallets

The casting director specifically asks crypto users if they’re willing to use all remaining attempts to access their funds in front of the camera.

A casting call for a cable network series may offer crypto users at the end of their rope a way to access tokens locked away — or at least show viewers some of the options available to them.

In a LinkedIn post from last month, casting director Jessica Jorgensen called on crypto users who have forgotten their passwords — and presumably their seed phrases — or lost their private keys to wallets with the clock ticking. The series offers consultations from cryptocurrency and cybersecurity experts to help users recover access to their funds.

However, it seems participants must be prepared to lose access to their coins if the attempted recovery is not successful. Jorgensen specifically asks users to mention how many passwords they have remaining before their accounts are locked, and if they’re willing to use the remaining attempts with the help of experts.

There are many ways to lose one’s crypto holdings. One April 2020 study from digital research firm Cane Island suggested that there would never be more than 14 million Bitcoin (BTC) in circulation given the incidents of users losing keys, accidentally throwing away hardware containing wallets, sending crypto to the wrong address, or failing to make arrangements to pass on their holdings after death.

Related: Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX Missing $145 Mln After Death of Founder

One of the more famous — and expensive — examples of lost coins include the case of San Francisco-based programmer Stefan Thomas, who lost the password to access his IronKey hard drive with 7,002 BTC, or $243 million at the time of publication. Thomas reportedly still has two attempts to guess the correct password before the hard drive’s contents are seemingly irreversibly encrypted.

Some other cases of recovered crypto stem from early in Bitcoin’s history, i.e. from 2010 to 2011, when the coin was worth pennies and sometimes given as prizes for online games and contests. In January, one Redditor claimed to have found private keys to more than $4 million in BTC obtained before 2012 on an older model Dell computer.

However, as Bitcoin’s and many other tokens’ prices have increased significantly in the last few years, users are seemingly more careful about storing their seed phrases, passwords, and keys. Paper wallets still exist, but many users rely on metal plates to engrave their seed phrases or private keys, as well as hardware wallets like Trezor and Ledger for cold storage. In addition, storing tokens on exchanges — while they may be vulnerable to hacks and intervention from local governments — give crypto users recourse with the platform's operators should they forget passwords.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Salvadorans will not be forced to use the government’s Bitcoin wallet

The government’s new “Chivo” Bitcoin wallet will be interoperable and commission-free.

The latest announcement from El Salvador's pro-Bitcoin president, Nayib Bukele, has clarified that citizens will not be forced to use the government-issued “Chivo” Bitcoin wallet.

In a tweet on June 29, El Salvador’s President Bukele stated he wanted to clear up any misinformation regarding the government’s wallet application following the passing of the country’s Bitcoin law on June 9, which will take effect on September 7.

The new Bitcoin wallet is called Chivo, which is slang for “cool” in El Salvador, and it can hold both Bitcoin and U.S. dollars. Bukele stated it is just one of many crypto wallets that can be used, emphasizing its interoperability with other wallet apps.

To allay privacy concerns, he added that the personal information requested by the wallet is already possessed by the government, emphasizing any requests for personal data within the app are for security purposes.

Bukele also highlighted that the Chivo wallet will not incur fees or commissions for transfers, noting that, unlike traditional crypto exchanges, it will not take a cut for converting BTC to USD and vice versa, and unlike credit cards, there will be no commissions charged to merchants or users.

Bukele stated that any money that is held or received in USD or BTC in the Chivo wallet will be able to be withdrawn into USD cash at any time at once the government has completed its roll-out of 200 new physical Bitcoin ATM branches, dubbed “Chivo Points” or “Chivo ATMs.”

Related: Athena confirms plans to bring 1500 Bitcoin ATMs to El Salvador

The president also clarified that the $30 government BTC handout announced on June 25 would not be convertible into USD, emphasizing the administration’s intention to encourage the use of Bitcoin and the Chivo wallet.

The new digital wallet initiative could revolutionize monetary policy in the Central American nation. Roughly 70% of the population in El Salvador does not have access to bank accounts or any financial services, according to a Nasdaq report.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments

Forecasting Bitcoin price using quantitative models, Part 3

To understand where the value of Bitcoin is headed, we need to study the adoption rate of cryptocurrencies in the world.

This is Part Three of a multipart series that aims to answer the following question: What is the “fundamental value” of Bitcoin? Part One is about the value of scarcity, Part Two — the market moves in bubbles, Part Three — the rate of adoption, and Part Four — the hash rate and the estimated price of Bitcoin.

The rate of adoption

If more and more people desire a certain good, and the same amount of units are in circulation, the price will obviously have a tendency to rise. It’s the supply-and-demand rule that governs any market in the world.

If one year, a hailstorm destroys the tomato crop and there are fewer edible tomatoes than expected, it makes sense for the price of tomatoes on the market to rise, considering that the demand has remained the same. However, imagine for a moment that suddenly, people want to buy tomatoes much more than in previous years. The demand goes up and the availability of tomatoes goes down, therefore the price will go up a lot more than in the former case.

Demand can grow due to two factors: participants are stable and the amount of requests increases or the amount of requests is stable but the number of participants increases. Even a combination of these two is possible

In the example that follows, we’ve only assumed that the number of participants goes up for the same amount of goods. So, on the one hand, we have Satoshi Nakamoto who defined that Bitcoin (BTC) must become increasingly scarce over time, and on the other, there is a possible boost in the price of Bitcoin coming from new people who progressively enter the market.

It is therefore a question of studying the adoption rate of cryptocurrencies in the world’s markets to understand where the value of Bitcoin is headed and, overall, where the cryptocurrency asset class can go in the future.

The growth in the number of wallets is not exactly exponential, but close to it. In order to predict its growth in the future, you need to use a “power law” function that is able to best estimate its curvature. To do this, first we put the graph in logarithmic scale, then calculate the function that best approximates it.

Though the function does not consider any potential future increases based on a rise in interest that could manifest in 2021 following an unexpected growth in Bitcoin, this exercise is used to estimate the growth over time in the number of wallets.

To estimate the growth in the value of Bitcoin using the number of wallets in circulation, we’ll need to estimate the average amount contained in each individual wallet using a fairly simple function:

Bitcoin capitalization / Number of wallets

Now, we have an estimate of the Bitcoin value each wallet has on average. However, the data tells a completely different story: 70% of wallets have 0.01 BTC or less, while 2% of wallets own over 95% of Bitcoin in circulation, and the exchanges own about 7%.

These reports help us understand the enormous growth potential of Bitcoin in the future, as those who own a large part obviously do not sell it since they know Bitcoin and its potential well. Those who have 0.01 BTC or less will be tempted to buy more, and of course, there are always new wallets opening every month.

However, by taking the average, we can highlight an average value expressed in U.S. dollars of the content of these wallets:

Since the average of these deposits is conditioned by the value of Bitcoin’s price, to best estimate a “range” of prices where Bitcoin could go, the red dotted line represents the tenth percentile of U.S.-dollar deposited wallets; while the dashed blue line represents the 90th percentile. This “range” allows us to frame what the entire capitalization of Bitcoin should be over time, based on the estimated adoption rate of Bitcoin.

This estimate doesn’t consider several factors that could make it very prudent. For institutional investors entering the market, the average amount per wallet could go much higher than the blue band identified in the example.

Obviously, these estimates should be taken as an intellectual attempt to understand the dynamics of Bitcoin, and absolutely cannot be considered a suggestion or advice on behalf of the authors.

This graph shows that a goal of reaching a trillion in capitalization, or $1 trillion, is far from impossible, especially if interest in Bitcoin continues to rise in the coming months.

Similar growth is also estimated by the makers of the rainbow chart:

This graph is very useful because it summarizes the presumed growth rate of Bitcoin’s value and its bubble trend following each halving.

Clearly, there is no guarantee that Bitcoin will continue to move with this logic, but it is important to note that it could do so in order for one to make objective, reasonable investment decisions according to these assumptions as well.

This article was co-authored by Ruggero Bertelli and Daniele Bernardi.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Ruggero Bertelli is a professor of financial intermediaries economics at the University of Siena. He teaches banking management, credit risk management and financial risk management. Bertelli is a board member of Euregio Minibond, an Italian fund specializing in regional SME bonds, and a board member and vice president of Italian bank Prader Bank. He is also an asset management, risk management and asset allocation adviser for institutional investors. As a behavioral finance scholar, Bertelli is involved in national financial education programs. In December 2020, he published La Collina dei Ciliegi, a book about behavioral finance and the crisis of financial markets.
Daniele Bernardi is a serial entrepreneur constantly searching for innovation. He is the founder of Diaman, a group dedicated to the development of profitable investment strategies that recently successfully issued the PHI Token, a digital currency with the goal of merging traditional finance with crypto assets. Bernardi’s work is oriented toward mathematical models development, which simplifies investors’ and family offices’ decision-making processes for risk reduction. Bernardi is also the chairman of investors’ magazine Italia SRL and Diaman Tech SRL, and is the CEO of asset management firm Diaman Partners. In addition, he is the manager of a crypto hedge fund. He is the author of The Genesis of Crypto Assets, a book about crypto assets. He was recognized as an “inventor” by the European Patent Office for his European and Russian patent related to the mobile payments field.

This article has been successfully submitted to the World Finance Conference.

Oklahoma senator introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act for BTC payments