Putin Signs Law Prohibiting Payments With Digital Assets in Russia

July 15, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Crypto payments gain ground thanks to centralized payment processors

July 15, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and several others have paved the way for crypto to be used as a tool of payment for buying daily needed goods.

The cryptocurrency market has grown beyond many people’s expectations over the past decade. The nascent industry has managed to change mainstream perception quite significantly, especially in 2021, which saw many traditional financial institutions adopt crypto in one form or another.

Some of the biggest public companies such as MicroStrategy started using Bitcoin (BTC) as a treasury hedge, while the likes of PayPal, Mastercard and Visa paved the way for the common public to use crypto as a form of payment. While many experts are still skeptical about the use of crypto as a form of payment, given its price volatility, recent market trends and data indicate that crypto is increasingly being used to buy daily-use items.

A recent report from fintech payment infrastructure provider checkout.com that surveyed 33,000 business leaders revealed a rise in consumer interest in paying in crypto. The report indicated that 40% of 18–35-year-old consumers want and plan to use cryptocurrencies to pay for goods or services within the next year. That’s up from less than 30% last year.

The rise of digital payments aided by the COVID-19 pandemic has only made it easier for crypto to become more mainstream. People are more familiar with QR code payments today, which makes it easier for mainstream payment processors such as Visa and Mastercard to introduce crypto payments on its network without having to build a separate infrastructure.

Miles Paschini, CEO at fintech bank FV Bank, told Cointelegraph:

“The use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment has progressed in the past year but primarily into the area of settlement layers, advancements have been made with stablecoins, in particular with USDC and to some extent XRP. The developments we have seen in the settlement layer are not exactly visible to the retail customer. I think we will see more of this type of settlement layer integration in the future as stable similarly similar become more efficient and programmable than traditional settlement systems.”

The growth of crypto payment networks and public interest

According to a report from Visa, its network processed over $1 billion in crypto transactions in the first quarter of 2021, which increased to $2.5 billion by the first quarter of 2022. The report highlighted that crypto payments have become increasingly popular with the rise in the use of stablecoin payments.

Mastercard partnered with USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin issuer Circle to facilitate crypto-based payment options for millions of users.

With the rise in crypto-linked debit cards, Nexo has come up with its crypto collateralized credit card in association with Mastercard. Nexo has issued 55,000 cards since its launch in April that could be used at around 92 million merchants worldwide, allowing investors to spend up to 90% of the fiat value of their crypto.

Antoni Trenchev, co-founder and managing partner of Nexo, told Cointelegraph about the rise of crypto as a form of payment, claiming crypto-linked cards are making it easier for retail customers to spend their digital assets just like fiat. He explained:

“The concept of HODLing is well understood in crypto, but with crypto-backed cards, it is now possible to hodl your digital assets while also using these to spend on day-to-day transactions. This, in turn, has carved a pathway whereby crypto can be both an investment and a form of payment, increasing its utility as an asset class.”

He added, “Crypto cards offer the possibility of spending your crypto directly, which automatically converts your crypto from a linked wallet into the fiat currency needed to pay.”

Many analysts also like to point to the rise in stablecoin adoption as a key metric of crypto payments. Brandon Rochon, a data scientist at Web3 infrastructure provider Covalent, explained how the stablecoin USDC has managed to see over a 10% rise in adoption year-on-year (YoY) despite a downturn in the market. He explained:

“Looking at USDC, its supply grew from $373 million in July 2019 up to $1.0 billion in July 2020, representing a ~168% increase in the one-year time frame. This same 168% growth was achieved in the first three months by October 2020. Over the next year, the supply grew at a rate of 2500% to ~$25 billion, at which point Mastercard stepped in and launched its simplified payments card offering with Circle in July 2021. Since this point, stablecoin supply has continued to grow at a pace over 120% YoY despite the market downturns in the -50%+ range, signifying strong utility.”

Omid Malekan, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School — where he teaches crypto — believes that stablecoin is a fair metric to measure the payment use of crypto at present. He told Cointelegraph:

“One way to measure crypto use in payments is to track stablecoin volumes since those serve a much more limited function than pure crypto coins. On-chain volume for payments has been very strong lately. Most of that is to accommodate speculative activity (people buying and selling crypto, borrowing in DeFi, etc) but payment is a payment, and a substantial part of the traditional system’s payments volume is also related to capital market activity.”

Crypto payments beneficial for merchants and consumers alike

While the infrastructure side of crypto payment has seen tremendous growth, it would not be possible without the willingness of merchants to accept it. Several surveys and reports have highlighted that merchants have benefited equally from the crypto payment integration despite technical barriers and complexities.

Another report from PYMNTS highlighted that more than 75% of the customers in the United States are looking forward to using crypto as a form of payment in 2022. While 85% of businesses with over $1 billion in annual sales are integrating crypto payments to gain more customers, many other merchants have said their overseas transactions increased and they found a new customer base after crypto payment integration.

The key reasons listed by merchants for accepting cryptocurrencies as payments include significant cuts in transaction costs, elimination of middlemen and on-boarding of new customer bases from around the world.

Stablecoins form a significant chunk of expenditure by consumers. However, many analysts also point toward significant growth of layer-2 networks over the past year. For example, the Lightning Network, the secondary layer on top of Bitcoin, has seen tremendous growth over the past year. Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity grew past 4,000 BTC, first breaking the 1,000 BTC barrier in August 2020 and the 2,000 BTC barrier in July 2021. The capacity has doubled in the space of 18 months.

Andry Lebedev, co-founder of Web3 payment infrastructure firm Swipelux, told Cointelegraph:

“At the moment, there is a rerolling of transactions from L1 to L2 thanks to the introduction of zk-rollups and optimistic rollups. Consequently, we see significant growth in transactions for the protocols and stabilization of transactions for Ether and Bitcoin at 125,000 and 240,000 transactions per day, respectively.”

He added that there has been an “upward trend in the structural change of cryptocurrency, which instead of transfer of value becomes a form of payment in the emerging Web3.”

Crypto payment’s popularity depends on the overall adoption of cryptocurrencies; the more people that are aware of and understand the nascent financial asset class, the more people will adopt it, as proven by several studies mentioned above. The volatility aspect of cryptocurrencies could be further dialed down by converting them into stablecoins.

Why is there so much uncertainty in the crypto market right now? | Market Talks with Crypto Jebb and Crypto Wendy O

July 14, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Analysis

Why is there so much uncertainty in the crypto market right now? Join us as we try to figure it out with Tim Warren, co-host of Coffee N Crypto, and Crypto Wendy O

In the fourth episode of Market Talks, we welcome YouTube media creator and crypto educator Crypto Wendy O.

Crypto Wendy O is a YouTube media creator and crypto educator. Wendy became interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in November of 2017. She has been into crypto full-time since the summer of 2018 and focuses on providing transparent marketing & media solutions for blockchain companies globally. Wendy also provides free education via YouTube and Twitter to her growing audience of over 170 thousand, giving her the largest following of any female crypto influencer in the world.

Some of the topics up for discussion with Wendy are the new consumer price index (CPI) numbers and how they might impact the crypto market going forward, and why there is so much uncertainty in the market right now.

As everyone tries to figure out where the Bitcoin (BTC) bottom might lie, we ask Wendy her thoughts on the matter. We also discuss whether Ethereum (ETH) has outperformed BTC during this current bear market and what that might mean for the second largest cryptocurrency.

With more and more crypto platforms filing for bankruptcy, we talk about how much longer the crypto contagion will continue and the best way to safeguard your assets so you don't lose your hard-earned money. Are hardware wallets a better option than keeping your crypto on online exchanges?

Have you been wondering what makes a good investor and trader, and when to get in the market if you haven't already? We ask Wendy for her insights and tips on how you can up your trading game and figure out when might be the best time to get in the market.

Lastly, we discussed whether having diamond hands is always a good strategy or would it be better to constantly take profits as well? We had an insightful conversation about this and also let you in on which altcoins might be a good bet in the current market conditions.

Tune in to have your voice heard. We’ll be taking your questions and comments throughout the show, so be sure to have them ready to go.

Market Talks with Crypto Jebb streams live every Thursday at 12 pm ET (4:00 pm UTC). Each week, we feature interviews with some of the most influential and inspiring people from the crypto and blockchain industry. So be sure to head on over to Cointelegraph’s YouTube page and smash those like and subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

The search term ‘Bitcoin Crash’ is trending — Here’s why

July 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Price

The digital gold, aka Bitcoin, has been marked “dead” at least 458 times since 2009. However, BTC proved to be more than alive each and every time.

Last year, the word “crypto” was trending all over the internet as the crypto market was generally flourishing.

However, now it appears that the good fortunes of digital coins havee waned as cryptos have slipped into a serious bear market. Bloomberg recently reported that while the short-term investors wasted no time in dumping their holdings, even the old-timers are now exiting the scene.

The most recent Bitcoin (BTC) crash saw the asset’s price go as low as $17,000, its lowest price since late 2020. Reflecting the general air of uncertainty among investors in the cryptocurrency market, “Bitcoin is Dead” is beginning to trend once again, at least, according to the data from Google Trends.

But, while downturns may generally be a part of crypto markets, things continue to look bleak for crypto.

What triggered the latest Bitcoin crash?

Bitcoin has slipped nearly 70% from its November record high, but it all started in March when CNBC reported that the Federal Reserve approved its first rate hike in three years. That singular act went on to be a major turning point, putting downward pressure on risk assets like Bitcoin. Meanwhile, a series of other events soon followed that also impacted the crash of Bitcoin, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Terra crash.

Rob Schmitt, chief operating officer of infrastructure provider Toucan, told Cointelegraph:

“A combination of macro headwinds, such as increased interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty, has triggered a broader market downturn that has caused a major delegating event in crypto markets. Specifically, the implosion of Terra and the following insolvency/deleveraging of Celsius and Three Arrows Capital, has forced the liquidation of large amounts of BTC, which caused a price crash.”

First Digital global digital payments firm CEO Vincent Chok insisted on the Luna Classic (LUNC) collapse being the major cause of the crash. He told Cointelegraph:

“This is a part of the normal market cycle. The primary trigger was not geopolitical conflict, but the LUNC collapse and the systemic risks associated with the large exposure to this token.”

The collapse triggered margin calls for hedge funds and defined liquidity positions. Chok added that it’s part of the super cycle of the industry, an evitability of the bull run. Something had to be corrected sooner or later, he added.

Crypto will survive

Bitcoin has been written off as dead at least 458 times in the past. But each of those times, it has managed to come back to life.

Kevin Owocki, founder of Gitcoin DAO — a platform for funding open source Web3 projects — told Cointelegraph:

“Bitcoin has been declared dead hundreds of times in the past and, so far, these commentaries have always been wrong. If the past is any guide, Bitcoin is not dead. I don’t want to get into price forecasts, but my focus has always been on the future of what Web3 can build and how those tools can provide solutions to global problems that humanity faces.”

“We have been through ‘winters’ before where the value of digital assets dropped to uncomfortable levels, but we have seen that the greater crypto community emerges from these periods stronger and more resilient than before. I believe that we will get through this and on the other side the products and assets that have survived will be value generators not just for Web3, but beyond,” Owocki added.

Furthermore, Schmitt also claimed that “a temporary drop in its price does not significantly impact Bitcoin.” He explained how Bitcoin has had to go through multiple larger drops in the past.

Recent: Tether fortifies its reserves: Will it silence critics, mollify investors?

Several other on-chain metrics suggest that Bitcoin will most likely come out of its current situation. One such important metric is the 200-weekly moving average (WMA).

For a long time, the moving average has been a credible indicator of BTC price. Previously, at every point that Bitcoin has hit the 200 WMA, it completely bounced back. A careful look at what happened between 2015 and 2020 in the chart below gives insight into this claim.

Graph showing how Bitcoin surged each time it hit the 200-WMA. Source: TradingView

There are times that Bitcoin dipped slightly below the 200-WMA, but it never stayed there for too long.

So, seeing as Bitcoin is currently trading at a very close range to its 200-WMA, there may be a reason to believe that Bitcoin is not dead. In fact, an upward swing is justifiably expected soon.

The impact of crypto on the economy

Institutional involvement in the crypto market’s last bull cycle has sparked fears that the broader economy may potentially be affected.

Many companies have had to lay off a sizeable number of their employees, and others are looking at potential insolvency. Additionally, a recent Pew Research Center survey found that around 16% of U.S. adults have in one way or another been involved with cryptocurrency. So to an extent, there is a certain amount of national exposure to the current situation of the crypto market.

However, not everyone believes that the crypto market situation will impact the broader economy. In an interview with CNBC, Joshua Gans, an economist at the University of Toronto, said:

“People don’t really use crypto as collateral for real-world debts. Without that, this is just a lot of paper losses. So this is low on the list of issues for the economy.”

Despite the bleak outlook for the crypto market at the moment, crypto continues to see massive adoption across the board. With increased involvement from sports organizations, private individuals, corporate institutions and even states and federal governments, there is a clear trend of crypto adoption.

According to United States-based news outlet Axios, crypto app downloads are improving on a yearly basis, and that should be attributed to higher media coverage. While there was a 64% growth in 2020, last year saw an even more impressive 400% spike in the number of crypto apps downloaded.

Crypto deals with sports brands, teams and leagues increased by more than 100% in 2021 and are expected to reach $5 billion in the next four years.

How long until BTC bounces back?

Going by past trends in the crypto market, the present situation may take weeks, months, or possibly years to reverse, and while the Bitcoin price is suffering at the moment, that should not take away the fact that it is still up 31,437% over the last nine years. In fact, it was currently more than double its price two years ago. Owocki said:

“At Gitcoin Holdings, we know that it may take some time for the general market to recover — but we do not know exactly how long or which assets will recover. It could be five weeks, it could be five years. We are focused on creating value for the long term.”

While there is no exact timeframe as to when Bitcoin will resume an uptrend, it certainly seems that a temporary price drop will ultimately not impact the rapid growth of usage, adoption and prices of crypto assets in the long run.

Owocki believes that the evolution of the internet can be viewed through the lens of the evolution of nature. Instead of natural selection, “we have a market selection.” He said that there was a “Cambrian explosion” of opportunity created by the launch of Bitcoin and multiple forks of BTC.

Recent: A brief history of Bitcoin crashes and bear markets: 2009–2022

Then Ethereum arrived, and a rich ecosystem of layer-2s, decentralized finance, nonfungible tokens, crowdfunding tools, decentralized autonomous organizations and alternate layer-1 networks.

“As this Cambrian explosion works its way through cycles of greed and fear, projects grow and die, and through it, all the heartbeat of innovation continues to pulse. I can’t wait to speed run this evolution until we get to the Web3-equivalent of keystone species like dolphins, humans, forests, or mycelial networks,” Owocki added.

The Gitcoin DAO founder doesn’t think that the BTC or crypto crash is big enough to kill an economy. Throughout history, Owocki added, there have always been bear markets and bull markets. He says that Web3 will emerge on the other side of this stronger, and will contribute even greater value to the world economy than ever before.

A brief history of Bitcoin crashes and bear markets: 2009–2022

July 10, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Price

Bitcoin has historically seen its price down from previous highs for more than three years, and the latest peak took place just seven months ago.

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced one of its most brutal crashes ever in 2022, with the BTC price plummeting below $20,000 in June after peaking at $68,000 in 2021.

June 2022 has become the worst month for Bitcoin since September 2011, as its monthly losses mounted to 40%. The cryptocurrency also posted its heaviest quarterly losses in 11 years.

However, the current market sell-off doesn’t make Bitcoin crashes and bear markets exclusive to 2022. In fact, Bitcoin has survived its fair share of crypto winters since the first Bitcoin block, or the genesis block, was mined back in January 2009.

As we zoom out the Bitcoin price chart, Cointelegraph has picked up five of the most notable price declines in the history of the seminal cryptocurrency.

Bear market No. 1: Bitcoin crash from $32 to $0.01 in 2011

Time to retest previous high: 20 months (June 2011–February 2013)

The Bitcoin price broke its first major psychological mark of $1.00 back in late April 2011 to start its first-ever rally to hit $32 on June 8, 2011. But, the joy didn’t last long, as Bitcoin subsequently plummeted in value to bottom at just $0.01 over the course of a few days.

The sharp sell-off was largely attributed to security issues at the now-defunct Mt. Gox, a Japanese crypto exchange that traded the majority of Bitcoin at the time. The exchange saw 850,000 BTC stolen due to a security breach on its platform, raising major concerns about the security of Bitcoin stored on exchanges.

With BTC losing about 99% of its value in a few days, Bitcoin’s June 2011 flash crash became a big part of Bitcoin history. The event opened a long period before the BTC price recovered to the previous high of $32 and climbed to new highs only in February 2013.

Haha nice #bitcoin crash to 0.01 USD/BTC. http://t.co/jNx8rAr
— Who Knows? ₿⚡️ (@who_knows) June 19, 2011

It’s difficult to track the pre-2013 Bitcoin price when compared to more recent charts. Popular price tracking services and sites like CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap do not track Bitcoin prices before April 2013.

“Bitcoin was very much in its infancy pre-2013 and there were not that many places trading Bitcoin back then,” CoinGecko chief operating officer Bobby Ong told Cointelegraph. He added that CoinGecko has not received many requests for pre-2013 data, so it is low on the priority for the platform.

Bear market No. 2: Bitcoin tanks from $1,000 to below $200 in 2015

Time to retest previous high: 37 months (November 2013–January 2017)

According to BTC price data collected by Cointelegraph, Bitcoin price reached $100 in mid-April 2013 and then continued surging to briefly hit $1,000 in November 2013.

Bitcoin entered a massive bear market shortly after breaking $1,000 for the first time in history, with the BTC price tumbling below $700 one month later. The price drop came as the Chinese central bank began to crack down on Bitcoin in late 2013, prohibiting local financial institutions from handling BTC transactions.

The cryptocurrency continued plummeting over the next two years, bottoming at around $360 in April 2014 and then dropping even further to hit a low of $170 in January 2015.

Bitcoin price chart April 2013–January 2017. Source: CoinGecko

The long cryptocurrency winter of 2014 became associated with the hacked Mt. Gox crypto exchange, which halted all Bitcoin withdrawals in early February 2014. The platform then suspended all trading and eventually filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo and in the United States.

Some major financial authorities also raised concerns about Bitcoin, with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission claiming that it had power over “Bitcoin price manipulation” in late 2014.

The general sentiment around Bitcoin was mainly negative until August 2015, when the trend started a long-term reversal. Amid the strong bullish market, Bitcoin eventually returned to the $1,000 price mark in January 2017. This was the longest all-time high price recovery period in the history of Bitcoin.

Bear market No. 3: Bitcoin plunges below $3,200 after hitting $20,000 in December 2017

Time to retest previous high: 36 months (December 2017–December 2020)

After recovery to $1,000 in January 2017, Bitcoin continued to rally to as high as $20,000 by the end of that year.

However, similar to Bitcoin’s previous historical peak of $1,000, the triumph of $20,000 was short-lived, as Bitcoin subsequently dropped and lost more than 60% of its value in a couple of months.

The year 2018 quickly became referred to as a “crypto winter” as the Bitcoin market continued shrinking, with BTC bottoming at around $3,200 in December 2018.

The crypto winter kicked off with security issues on Coincheck, another Japanese cryptocurrency exchange. In January 2018, Coincheck suffered a gigantic hack resulting in a loss of about $530 million of the NEM (XEM) cryptocurrency.

The bear market further escalated as tech giants like Facebook and Google banned ads for initial coin offerings and token sales ads on their platforms in March and June 2018, respectively.

Global crypto regulation efforts contributed to the bear market as well, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejecting applications for BTC exchange-traded funds.

Bitcoin price chart December 2017–December 2020. Source: CoinGecko

Bear market No. 4: BTC slumps from $63,000 to $29,000 in 2021

Time to retest previous high: six months (April 2021–October 2021)

Bearish sentiment dominated the crypto market until 2020, when Bitcoin not only came back to $20,000 but entered a massive bull run, topping at higher than $63,000 in April 2021.

Despite 2021 becoming one of the biggest years for Bitcoin, with the cryptocurrency passing a $1 trillion market cap, Bitcoin also suffered a slight drawback.

Shortly after breaking new all-time highs in mid-April, Bitcoin drew back slightly, with its price eventually dropping to as low as $29,000 in three months.

The mini bear market of 2021 came amid a growing media narrative suggesting that Bitcoin mining has a problem related to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).

The global ESG-related FUD around Bitcoin had been exacerbated even further with Elon Musk’s electric car firm Tesla dropping Bitcoin as payment in May, with the CEO citing ESG concerns. Just three months later, Musk admitted that about 50% of Bitcoin mining was powered by renewable energy.

The cycle of FUD pic.twitter.com/OC8kGXAUSd
— Lina Seiche (@LinaSeiche) June 20, 2021

The bear market didn’t last long despite China starting a major crackdown on local mining farms. The bullish trend returned by the end of July, with Bitcoin eventually surging to its still-unbroken all-time high of $68,000 posted in November 2021.

Bear market No. 5: Bitcoin plummets from $68,000 to below $20,000 in 2022

Time to retest previous high: to be determined

Bitcoin failed to break $70,000 and started dropping in late 2021. The cryptocurrency has slipped into a bear market since November last year, recording one of its biggest historical crashes in 2022.

In June, the cryptocurrency plunged below $20,000 for the first time since 2020, fueling extreme fear on the market.

The ongoing bear market is largely attributed to the crisis of algorithmic stablecoins — namely the TerraUSD Classic (USTC) stablecoin — which are designed to support a stable 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar through blockchain algorithms rather than equivalent cash reserves.

USTC, once a major algorithmic stablecoin, lost its dollar peg in May. The depegging of USTC triggered a massive panic over broader crypto markets as the stablecoin had managed to become the third-largest stablecoin in existence before collapsing.

The collapse of Terra caused a domino effect on the rest of the crypto market due to massive liquidations and uncertainty that fuelled a crisis in cryptocurrency lending. A number of global crypto lenders like Celsius had to suspend withdrawals due to their inability to maintain liquidity amid brutal market conditions.

Bitcoin has historically seen its price trade below previous highs for more than three years. The previous peak of $68,000 took place just seven months ago, and it’s yet to be seen whether and when Bitcoin would return to new heights.

P2E gaming is in a rut, but Axie Infinity (AXS) could rebound for 3 key reasons

July 7, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin Watch

AXS could recapture its former glory if market participants view the launch of land staking, increasing activity on the Ronin bridge and upcoming roadmap targets as bullish catalysts.

Play-to-earn gaming was one of the breakout sectors of the cryptocurrency market in 2021 and the trend was led by Axie Infinity (AXS), a mobile, blockchain-based game where users collect, breed, raise and battle nonfungible tokens (NFTs) called Axies for monetary rewards.

As the market topped and then entered what has become a deep bear market, AXS price retraced from an all-time high near $170 to its current price at $15.20 following several setbacks, including a $600 million hack of the Ronin sidechain that hosts the game.

*AXS/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView*

Currently, the future of P2E gaming remains in question and advocates are watching closely to see if this former unicorn had turned the ship around. Let's take a look at some of the developments taking place within Axie Infinity and determine whether any of them are bullish for the short and long term.

The launch of land staking

The most recent development to arise out of the Axie Infinity ecosystem is land stake parcels as a method for earning AXS tokens.

How much can you earn in Land Staking?

With Axie Infinity releasing land staking, we are curious about how much $AXS can holders accumulate per week!

1 $AXS = PHP 785.75

Thoughts on this? #AxieInfinity #PlayToEarn pic.twitter.com/jNmahoxWSi
— Ikigai Gaming | Play-to-Earn News and Scholarships (@IkigaiGuild) July 4, 2022

Based on the stats provided by the Ronin Chain explorer, land staking has been popular among holders and at least 87% of each of the different levels of plots have already been staked.

*Axie Infinity land statistics. Source: Axie Infinity*

In addition to the success of land staking, several land plots recently sold for over 130 Ether (ETH) each, which suggests that the level of interest in the game is still high.

While land owners have been excited about the new income opportunity, some community members have concerns about what effect the daily rewards of 11,194.62 AXS will have on the price of the token as the supply inflates.

The platform also offers AXS staking with a current yield of 72%, but only 38.47% of the current circulating supply is being staked, which indicates that a majority of the supply is available in the open market and could potentially be sold off.

The Ronin bridge reopens

The recent reopening of the Ronin bridge could also be another positive sign for Axie, especially considering that it had been disabled following a $600 million hack in March of this year.

The Ronin Bridge is open!

• All user funds are fully backed 1:1 by the new bridge.
• The bridge has undergone an internal audit and two external audits.
• We are still on track to release Land Staking this week.

: https://t.co/ZRqslOwXpo pic.twitter.com/xOgsZHvVGc
— Ronin (@Ronin_Network) June 28, 2022

According to Axie Infinity, the assets on the bridge are "fully backed 1:1," and the project added 11 new validators, circuit breakers and the two external audits were completed. All user funds that were lost have been reimbursed, making members of the community whole.

The reopening of the Ronin bridge and the launch of land staking has had a noticeable effect on the volume transacted, according to data from DappRadar.

*Axie Infinity statistics. Source: DappRadar*

These developments have also prompted a slight uptick in the number of daily users and transactions on the network, but these figures remain well below the 2021 highs of 744,000 users and 6.7 million transactions.

The community responds positively to the current changes

Community reactions to the recent developments have been mostly positive, with many eager to re-engage with the game now that it has finally moved past a few major bumps.

According to early Axie Infinity investor and Cointelegraph contributor Alyssa Exposito, “land staking has brought about a surge of energy that the community needed after we lost a huge amount in the treasury fund.”

Exposito also mentioned the Axie creator program that enables community members to build out games on the software development kit (SDK) as something that is exciting users of the platform, “Especially with the integration of RON as a means to engage and transact on the network."

Exposito highlighted the ecosystem's effort to get community members more involved with governance and building on the protocol as the developments that the community is most excited about.

Exposito said,

“I think once people begin to see and take notice of how the project enables and helps fund other creators to build on top of it, it’ll gain more traction on the possibilities of blockchain gaming.”

The main concerns discussed by members of the Axie community revolve around the circulating supply of AXS, how staking rewards affect the circulating supply and price, and the various token lockups and vesting schedules that could lead to large sales and price dumps in the future.

Generally, the protocol has taken the necessary steps to recover from the Ronin hack and it seems to be keeping up to date with the major milestones outlined on its roadmap. Aside from what the project can do internally, its fate is largely tied to the fate of the P2E sector as a whole.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

How the Metaverse can revolutionize the fashion industry

July 7, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

By amalgamating the world of fashion with the Metaverse, brands and their clients stand to benefit a lot.

The idea underlying digital fashion can be difficult for many to grasp since buying/trying out clothes that only exist in a virtual world can seem quite strange at first. However, with this niche market continuing to gain a lot of traction recently, many experts are beginning to view the idea of the Metaverse reshaping the future of fashion a lot more seriously.

For example, as per a recent study, clothing existing solely in the digital world was found to be way more environmentally friendly than its physical counterpart, with the former emitting 97% less CO2 and consuming approximately 3,300 liters of water less per item. Not only that, but there is also data to suggest that by replacing physical samples with digital ones during a company’s design and development phases, it is possible to reduce a brand’s carbon footprint by a whopping 30%.

Furthermore, the use of digital clothing can be highly useful during the various steps preceding the actual physical production of a garment. For example, these virtual items can be used for modeling, sampling and marketing before their physical iterations are sent into production, thus greatly minimizing the overall environmental impact of the entire lifecycle of a fashion item.

Lastly, when it comes to the sales side of things, digital models of clothes can help alleviate problems associated with overproduction, something that is widely considered to be a major roadblock within today’s fashion industry.

The appeal of digital fashion

To gain a better idea of whether the idea of digital fashion is just another passing fad or a phenomenon that’s here to stay, Cointelegraph reached out to Lokesh Rao, CEO of Trace Network Labs, a project enabling brands to explore Web3 products and services. In his view, as the Metaverse continues to evolve, it will indeed influence and revolutionize the fashion industry, adding:

“The industry has realized that the virtual world, despite being based on imaginary creations, actually has profound utility when it comes to garments. The evolution of design technologies allows creative freedom for all designers, but some clothes they design can never be worn in the real world. The Metaverse removes this hurdle — a digital avatar can wear any garment without any constraints of type, design, fabric and use.”

He further added that the intangibility aspect of fashion when it comes to the Metaverse, such as no need for physical clothes, makes it easier for users to experiment and create lavish wardrobes for themselves, way grander than what would be possible in the real world. Furthermore, since the clothes are in the form of digital collectibles or nonfungible tokens (NFTs), they can be freely traded across open NFT marketplaces, adding to their long-term value which many physical or second-hand clothing items do not possess.

However, Rao believes that the most important utility of the Metaverse in relation to the fashion industry is that in a digital world, users can deploy their avatars to visit different stores and try different clothes before making a purchase decision. “This is far better than having a brick and mortar store in multiple areas, which is an expensive proposition,” he noted.

From the outside looking in, the Metaverse enables companies, labels and fashion houses to reap a host of advantages such as having a borderless presence that transcends physical limitations, creating brand awareness globally using digital means and retailing “phygital” clothes while delivering convenience to their customers.

On the other hand, consumers are afforded many benefits as well. For example, they can try on clothes at their own convenience, time and place, order garments from a virtual store either in physical format or as an NFT, get physical deliveries processed from anywhere in the globe and maintain their ownership on the blockchain forever.

The future of fashion could be redefined

Frank Fitzgerald, founder of Pax.World — a platform that allows users to create their own metaverse — thinks that the merging of these two world’s could have a massive impact on the fashion industry. He told Cointelegraph:

“From new revenue generation streams to shaping what fashion looks like in the real world based on what is happening in the Metaverse, it will be a cultural revolution not only in fashion but also within the art industry as well.”

Fitzgerald noted that the younger generation is the key demographic for digital fashion, especially those individuals who see their digital representation as being an integral part of their social identities.

He said that while older generations (30+) may find these ideas hard to digest, there is reason to believe that, over time, more people will come aboard. “Over the next decade, I can see a whole generation of 20 and 30 year olds being very conscious of their digital representation and what that expresses to their colleagues and friends,” he stated.

Not everyone is sold on the idea

Stepan Sergeev, founder of OneWayBlock — the company behind blockchain-based game Clash of Coins — does not buy into the idea of digital fashion taking over the world anytime soon. He told Cointelegraph that as things stand, most people indulging in fashion — high street or otherwise — aren’t really hanging out in the Metaverse yet, adding:

“The point of buying a designer dress, for example, is to have people see you wearing it. If the Metaverse doesn’t yet have enough people in there to see it, its social value is lost. So, unless there is a mass migration of people to the Metaverse, I don’t see that happening. We can maybe see it changing fashion in that people can see more detailed designs of real-life pieces but I don’t think we’ll all be buying NFT dresses the way we do regular ones.”

He likened the current state of the digital fashion industry to gamers buying custom skins in video games, making the items relevant only within specific environments. “If things really pick up for the fashion sector and the average person is rushing to buy fashion NFTs the way they are to buy the latest sneaker or handbag, then it might be possible.”

Sergeev believes that the metaverse fashion phenomenon is most likely a passing fad that major clothing houses and brands have adopted in order to keep up with the times and stay up to date with the latest digital developments.

Sasha Tityanko, deputy CEO and art director for social VR platform Sensorium Galaxy, told Cointelegraph that while the Metaverse may be able to add to the fashion industry’s existing experiences, it will not come close to revolutionizing it. In her view, fashion brands thrive on change and making bold moves, and setting new standards is just the essence of their business. She noted:

“Virtual worlds offer creative opportunities — a white canvas free from stereotypes and social limitations. At its core, the Metaverse is an environment that encourages people to experiment and be creative in their endeavors.”

Fashion labels enter the Metaverse at a rapid pace

Over the course of 2022, a number of major brands such as Adidas, Nike and Gucci have reportedly been able to generate $137.5 million in NFT sales alone. Dolce & Gabbana bagged the record for the most expensive suit ever sold, a digital Glass Suit, which fetched the fashion giant a cool $1 million late last year.

Furthermore, D&G’s NFT collection was able to accrue $6 million while Gucci’s Queen Bee Dionysus virtual bag recently sold for 350,000 Robux (a popular in-game currency used to buy skins and accessories) or $4,000 — more than the bag’s real-life valuation.

During Q4 2021, Louis Vuitton released a video game allowing players to hunt for 30 NFTs hidden within its metaverse. Once collected, these items granted their owners access to various exclusive events and private parties. Similarly, Balenciaga recently joined forces with Fortnite — a video game with more than 300 million users — to sell high-fashion skins to players. Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren partnered with South Korean social network app Zepeto to release a virtual fashion collection for players.

Tityanko believes that as the gap between real and virtual continues to narrow and Web3 brings along new technological advancements, average consumers will increasingly have more choices to express themselves.”While not everyone can afford to buy a Balenciaga dress in real life, you might pick one for yourself in the digital world,” she added.

Recent: Hardware crypto wallet sales increase as centralized exchanges scramble

She further noted that many fashion houses like Gucci, Burberry and Louis Vuitton already have sizable teams in place dedicated to exploring and testing the Web3 space as many brands realize the potential of the digital market. “According to research by Vice Media Group, Gen Z spends 2X as much time on socialization in digital spaces than in real life,” Tityanko stated.

Thus, as we head into a future dominated by decentralized technologies, it will be interesting to see how the future of the fashion industry continues to play out, especially as more and more brands continue to enter the Metaverse with each passing day.

Bollywood A-lister-backed GARI token plunge sparks rug pull rumors

July 5, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

GARI token was launched by Salman Khan, an A-list celebrity from Bollywood, with an aim to help Indian creators monetize their content over a short video application Chingari.

The domino effect of the 2022 bear market, which saw the downfall of numerous crypto ecosystems and tokens over several months, caught up to GARI token as it tanked over 83% in value in a matter of hours on June 4. While GARI Network brushed off the development as a “market event,” investors suspect a rug pull event.

GARI token was launched by Salman Khan, an A-list celebrity from Bollywood, with an aim to help Indian creators monetize their content over a short video application Chingari and its nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and Trading View show that GARI maintained a fairly steady value, averaging out to roughly $0.6 over the past six months amid a shaky market.

GARI’s bearish movement began on June 20, however, its long-standing support gave away on June 4 when the token crashed 83.29% to its all-time lowest trading value of $0.13. Soon after, investors started comparing the situation to the Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) collapse, with one of the members calling the actor “Salman Kwon.”

#kucoin is the Big Whale who is dumping #Gari they are big investor. #kucoin gari price is $0.029 while other exchange have average $0.10 be careful from kucoin guys #KuCoin #SalmanKhan #gari #chingari #cryptocurrencies #scam pic.twitter.com/EeohogM4EY
— Ashish Gautam(Money Guru Digital) (@Moneygurudigi) July 4, 2022

Taking control of the situation, GARI Network conducted an internal evaluation and found no evident hacks that could topple the token’s prices, stating:

“So far this looks like a market event. We assure our community that ALL tokens are safe in the respective reserves.”

The team also revealed being in talks with Indian crypto exchanges to further assess the situation. Additionally, GARI network also planned to host an AMA session to clarify doubts and improve investor sentiment. However, the spectators were welcomed by a 404 error when they tried to join the session.

Link not working
— Ran NeuNer (@cryptomanran) July 5, 2022

While previously speaking to Cointelegraph, Chingari's spokesperson said that the GARI tokens are used to “connect and transact with their counterparties, place governance votes, and catalyze platform engagement and user base growth." Considering that not even the backing of an A-list celebrity from Bollywood could save GARI token from the wrath of the bear market, investors are advised to make informed investments upon due diligence, in other words, do your own research (DYOR).

GARI Network has not yet responded to Cointelegraph's request for comment.

Soon after India enforced its new crypto tax law, which requires investors to pay a 1% tax deduction at source (TDS) on every transaction, crypto exchanges reported a massive slump in trading volumes.

Indian Crypto exchange's trading volume have plunged by 90-95% , 3 months after new crypto laws became applicable.

Based on current volumes - Exchanges are only able to generate trading fee revenue of $1000 to $3000 Max.

Bitbns seems to be still doing well.

Tough times ahead. pic.twitter.com/KNDbea9BCn
— Crypto India (@CryptooIndia) July 4, 2022

CoinDCX, India’s first crypto unicorn reported a 90.9% decline in daily trading volumes while crypto exchange BitBNS witnessed a 37.4% drop.

Hodlers and whales: Who owns the most Bitcoin in 2022?

July 4, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

While the Bitcoin blockchain is public, knowing who owns the most Bitcoin in 2022 isn’t as simple as it should be. Here’s what we know.

One of the main features of the Bitcoin blockchain is its transparency. Bitcoin lets anyone see every transaction that has ever been made on its network and check the balance of every address out there. Because of this transparency, we’re able to know who owns the most Bitcoin (BTC) in 2022.

It’s important to look at who owns the most BTC, as the cryptocurrency’s supply is limited to 21 million coins. In February, Kim Grauer, director of research at blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that an estimated 3.7 million BTC have been lost, effectively deflating the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply.

Experts estimate that as Bitcoin’s adoption rises, demand for it will skyrocket. As 3.7 million coins are estimated to be lost and a significant amount is being held on-chain by early investors, what may follow is a supply shock. Such a shock could only materialize if demand skyrockets in the future.

Those who own the most Bitcoin are set to greatly benefit from such a shock. Moreover, a significant supply being held by one entity is seen as a risk because if that entity ends up selling its war chest on the market, it could lead to a significant downside.

Who owns the most Bitcoin?

The entity that is widely acknowledged to hold the most Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto is believed to have around 1.1 million BTC that they have never touched throughout the years, leading to several theories regarding their identity and situation.

A significant amount of analysis has been put into determining how many coins Nakamoto actually has. After bringing BTC into existence by mining the genesis block, Nakamoto mined a significant number of blocks through their hardware at the time, with each block coming with a 50-BTC reward.

Nakamoto always used different Bitcoin addresses and disappeared back in 2010. It’s unclear how many blocks they mined as other early adopters got in on the action rather early as well. Lower estimates point to Nakamoto having around 750,000 BTC.

While the exact holdings of Nakamoto aren’t completely clear, those of publicly traded companies, governments, funds and other transparent organizations are.

Public and private company holdings

Over time, several organizations have added Bitcoin to their balance sheets. The most notable is business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, which accumulated 129,218 BTC after first investing in the cryptocurrency in August 2020.

The company’s CEO, Michael Saylor, has doubled down on the company’s Bitcoin strategy throughout the bear market, saying MicroStrategy plans to hold BTC “through adversity.” In early 2021, possibly thanks to influence from Saylor, electric car maker Tesla also invested in Bitcoin, risking $1.5 billion to buy 43,200 BTC.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries, a website tracking the Bitcoin held by publicly traded firms, other companies that have Bitcoin on their balance sheet include Core Scientific, BTC Miner Marathon Digital Holdings, fintech giant Square, crypto exchange Coinbase and crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital.

Thomas Perfumo, head of business operations and strategy at Kraken, spoke to Cointelegraph regarding companies’ cryptocurrency holdings:

“All companies should have an open mind towards Bitcoin, but they should consider what represents the best interests of their shareholders. At Kraken, we hold cryptocurrencies as a treasury asset.”

Perfumo added that Kraken also offers employees the option to take “as much of their salary in crypto as they would like via a payroll solution we call Sidemoon.” He added that a “significant number” of Kraken’s employees take advantage of the solution.

Public companies are estimated to have a total of 268,271 BTC, equivalent to over 1.27% of Bitcoin’s total supply. Over the years, however, several private companies have also revealed they hold BTC.

The private companies with the largest amounts of BTC are the firm behind the EOSIO software Block.one, which holds 140,000 BTC, the Tezos Foundation, which holds 17,500 BTC, and Stone Ridge Holdings Group, with 10,000 BTC. MassMutual comes next, with 3,500 BTC.

In total, private companies reportedly have 202,068 BTC. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Bill Barhydt, CEO of crypto investment firm Abra, noted companies should invest in BTC but opt for the “right size” for their treasuries. Barhydt added:

“Companies with a long-term time horizon should consider putting even more of their liquid assets into Bitcoin and Ethereum.”

The CEO revealed Abra holds Bitcoin by likening it to companies known to have invested in the cryptocurrency, including Tesla. Per his words, as accounting rules in the United States are “fixed and modernized, it will become even easier to replicate” what companies like these are doing.

Countries that own the most Bitcoin

There are several countries holding Bitcoin as well. Most have gotten their hands on the flagship cryptocurrency by seizing it, but these holdings are often quickly sold in auctions to private investors.

El Salvador is the country holding the most Bitcoin, with 2,301 BTC in its treasury. The country adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender in September 2021 and has invested in it numerous times. It’s planning on creating a Bitcoin City, using power from a volcano.

In April 2022, Finland was reported to be holding 1,981 BTC confiscated during criminal investigations with plans to auction off the funds later on in the year. At the time of writing, no report suggesting the funds have been auctioned emerged.

Ukrainian civil servants have provided data through Opendatabot showing they have owned a total of 46,351 BTC as of April 5, 2021. These declarations came as property disclosure requirements imposed on public officials, meaning they’re the holdings of individuals and not the government itself.

Similarly, Georgian parliament members are said to collectively hold 66 BTC, although the funds belong to private individuals and not the government.

Bitcoin fund holdings

Cryptocurrency investment funds allow investors to gain exposure to their underlying assets without dealing with them. In practice, this means gaining exposure to a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin without having to deal with public or private keys.

Funds add more Bitcoin in response to investor inflows and divest of their holdings as investors withdraw. The largest fund holding Bitcoin is Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, which has 643,572 BTC, equivalent to over 3% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply. Next is CoinShares, which holds around 42,980 BTC through XBT Provider’s exchange-traded products.

Ahead of this month’s crypto market sell-off, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF was the largest exchange-traded fund by BTC holdings. The sell-off saw the fund’s holdings drop from 47,818 BTC to 23,307 BTC between June 16 and 17, a staggering 51% drop. The fund’s holdings are still estimated to be above those of 3iQ’s CoinShares Bitcoin ETF, which has an estimated 12,115 BTC.

Largest individual Bitcoin holdings

Bitcoin addresses are pseudonymous, which means that while we easily see what addresses have the most Bitcoin in them, we can only identify who’s behind each one through extensive blockchain analysis or if the entity behind them comes forward.

Data from BitInfoCharts shows that the top Bitcoin wallets belong to cryptocurrency exchanges, which means they hold the assets of various users who choose custody of their funds on exchanges. Data shows there are five Bitcoin addresses with between 100,000 and 1 million BTC in them. Four of these have been identified and belong to exchanges.

*Bitcoin holder composition. Source: BitInfoCharts*

While it’s possible to see how many addresses hold how much BTC, this doesn’t exactly answer the question of what individuals have the largest Bitcoin holdings. Analyzing the market and individuals’ statements, however, provides us with various clues.

Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was said to have a net worth of $96 billion in January 2022, with this estimate reportedly not including holdings of Bitcoin and BNB.

The CEO has said numerous times that he holds no fiat currencies, which would imply significant BTC and BNB holdings. While exact figures aren’t known, it’s rather safe to assume Zhao is among those holding a significant amount of Bitcoin.

Other well-known large Bitcoin holders are Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who invested the millions they earned from their lawsuit against Facebook into cryptocurrencies and became the first Bitcoin billionaires. The duo was rumored to at one point own 1% of all Bitcoin in circulation.

Silicon Valley-based venture capital investor Tim Draper is known to have purchased at least 30,000 BTC back in 2014, buying the coins from an auction held by U.S. authorities after seizing the funds from the now-defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road.

Other individuals believed to have large amounts of BTC include Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Saylor, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Their exact holdings — if they even hold Bitcoin — are unknown.

Bitcoin hodler growth and its supply

As the number of Bitcoin holders out there grows, the available supply of the cryptocurrency goes down, potentially leading to the aforementioned supply shock. Kraken’s Perfumo noted that the magic of crypto is that any individual has complete flexibility in managing their crypto custody.

Abra’s Barhydt said that investors in Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) should have a minimum time horizon of five to seven years or longer and should “assume that those funds are locked up for at least five years, given the volatility inherent in valuing exponentially growing technologies.”

Assuming funds are locked up would add to the potential supply shock. Kent Barton, tokenomics lead at ShapeShift DAO, told Cointelegraph that bear markets “have historically been an excellent time to purchase Bitcoin at relatively low prices,” even though there are no guarantees prices will ever rise again.

During bull markets, Barton said it’s important to “take a certain percentage of your risk off the table,” as moving some BTC to fiat when prices are high “means that you’ll be in a better position to weather the next bear market and have dry powder to buy Bitcoin at low prices.” Barton added:

“On a very long-term timeframe, Bitcoin continues to serve as a potential hedge against the dollar collapsing.”

Whether Bitcoin is a good investment or not depends on who you ask. The currency can neither be debased through inflation nor can its transactions be censored by a central authority. To some of its holders, prices are almost irrelevant as long as these and other qualities are maintained.

EU Makes Deal on MiCA Legislation to Regulate Crypto Markets

July 2, 2022 Bitcoin.com

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