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"Buckle Up" For Bitcoin's Next Bull Run, Cameron Winklevoss Says

Gemini CEO and co-founder Cameron Winklevoss believes that the next Bitcoin bull run coming up will be “dramatically different,” due to the innovative financial resources that crypto investors have access to nowadays and to the current economic infrastructure.

Winklevoss Anticipates Next BTC Bull Run

Compared to previous bull markets, the billionaire crypto philanthropist said that with the rise of infrastructure, the influx of capital, and better projects at hand, Bitcoin (BTC) is set for its next bull run:

“The next Bitcoin bull run will be dramatically different. Today, there’s exponentially more capital, human capital, infrastructure, and high-quality projects than in 2017. Not to mention the very real specter of inflation that all fiat regimes face going forward. Buckle up!”

The Winklevoss brothers are on the same page regarding Bitcoin. Last week, Cameron’s twin brother and co-founder of Gemini, Tyler Winklevoss, commented on the US Federal Reserve’s economic stimulus strategy having a positive impact on Bitcoin and its pricing on the crypto market. Winklevoss stated that the Federal Reserve had set the stage for BTC’s next bull run. He referred to the fact that the US government is actively printing money in bulk in order to deliver an economic stimulus package to its citizens, to provide pandemic relief.

Americans Use First-Time Stimulus Check for BTC

What seems to be interesting however, is that according to a report by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, instead of using their funds towards goods and services, many Americans directd their first-time stimulus checks of $1,200 towards investing in BTC funds.

So despite coronavirus and the economic downfall happening worldwide, things appear to be looking up for the cryptocurrency market. Data points hint that crypto investors’ capital have been on the rise. Furthermore, with the increase in regulatory policies and the clarity of them, the infrastructure of the crypto market has been improving considerably.

Why Was More Money Involved In the Last BTC Rally?

Researchers looked at two key points to explain why more money has been involved in the latest Bitcoin rally, where the dominant cryptocurrency underwent a huge surge.

First of all, Tether(USDT), the market capitalization of Tether, the biggest stablecoin on the cryptocurrency market, has surpassed $10 billion in assets. Secondly, Grayscale Investments, the big-time cryptocurrency investment firm, has recently achieved a new high in the Assets Under Management (AUM) department.

Stablecoin Tether On Top of Its Game

Tether has been up to now the biggest stablecoin on the crypto market. Investors worldwide have therefore relied a lot on the stablecoin to trade crypto. Countries with poor regulatory policies revolving around cryptocurrency regulation have favored Tether, as it is a stablecoin. With the rise in market cap of Tether to $10 billion, this may mean that cryptocurrency exchanges might be on the brink of a huge money influx, with more funds being used on them.

As to further explain why more money has been involved in the latest BTC bull run, researchers turn towards Grayscale’s crypto-asset trusts as an explanation. The crypto asset trust funds of the large-scale investment firm are arguably the most utilized investment vehicles employed by businesses and networks looking to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies.

Grayscale Investments Reaches $5.1 Billion

Recently, the assets under management by Grayscale Investments have achieved a new record, reaching an all-time high of $5.1 billion.

On the subject matter, CEO of Grayscale Investments, Barry Silbert, said that Bitcoin has too much support from US government officials to ever be dismissed and shut down. The CEO thinks that blockchain firms’ success with regulatory policies put forth by officials can be attributed to pro-blockchain groups, such as Blockchain Association. The latter is a group who has advocated for digital firms by appealing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in the past.

Silbert thinks that the blockchain industry has come a long way, with more and more investors looking at Bitcoin as an interesting hedge. In a Twitter post, he spoke about his own personal experience with his cryptocurrency investment firm. Silbert said that in 2013, when his company launched a Bitcoin investment fund, everyone thought they were crazy. “Well, look at us now…,” he added.

This Week’s Bitcoin Bull Run

Overall, projects and companies in the Bitcoin and crypto industry seem to be increasing in quality. With the latest Bitcoin rally that happened earlier this week, there seems to be an indication that the cryptocurrency industry is on the rise. Bitcoin surged past the $10,000 mark on Monday, creating a buzz in the financial industry.

CEO of financial consultancy firm deVere Group, Nigel Green, was even bold enough to state that the cryptocurrency is set to potentially “knock gold from its long-held position” of being a safe-haven asset.

Image source: Shutterstock

CoinGecko: 2024 Q1 Strong Crypto Industry Growth Propels Market Cap to $2.9 Trillion

The 2024 Q1 Crypto Industry Report by CoinGecko showcases the continued growth and development of the cryptocurrency market. The report highlights key statistics and trends observed during the first quarter of 2024.

Bitcoin (BTC) emerged as a top performer, growing by 68.8% and reaching an all-time high of $73,098. This growth was attributed to the approval of US spot Bitcoin ETFs in early January. The report also indicates that Bitcoin ETFs held over $55.1 billion in assets under management (AUM) by April 2, 2024.

Ethereum (ETH) also witnessed positive growth, with the total number of restaked ETH on the EigenLayer platform increasing by 36% to 4.3 million. Additionally, Solana memecoins experienced a surge in market cap, growing by $8.32 billion in Q1.

The NFT market remained active, with NFT trading volume across the top 10 marketplaces reaching $4.7 billion. Magic Eden emerged as the leading marketplace in terms of market share.

Spot trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEX) reached $4.29 trillion in Q1, the highest since Q4 2021. However, Ethereum’s share of decentralized exchanges (DEX) trading volume fell below 40%, indicating the increased attention given to other blockchain networks.

The report provides comprehensive insights into these developments, featuring 50 slides of analysis and data. It offers valuable information for investors, traders, and industry enthusiasts seeking to understand the current state of the crypto market.

CoinGecko’s 2024 Q1 Crypto Industry Report demonstrates the continued growth and innovation within the cryptocurrency industry. As the market expands and evolves, it is crucial to stay informed about the latest trends and developments to make informed decisions.

Image source: Shutterstock

Coronavirus Measures in China Delay Crypto Hardware for MicroBT and Bitmain Customers

The coronavirus is causing mass disruption throughout Asia and has now been declared a ‘global health emergency’ by the World Health Organisation. The Chinese government has taken drastic isolation measures, and over 40 million people are effectively on lockdown.

One of the leading manufacturers of crypto mining hardware, MicroBT recently notified customers via WeChat that their shipments would be delayed at least a week because of the coronavirus quarantine in China. One of the preliminary measures by Beijing was to extend the Chinese New Year holidays to keep citizens at home.

The notice said that customers of Shenzhen based mining hardware manufacturers should expect delays in “the production, delivery, after-sales service, and send and receive documents and other arrangements.”

In an article published yesterday by CoinDesk, Artem Eremin, Product Manager, 3Logic said that Bitmain and Canaan had also notified himself and other customers of similar delays.

Coronavirus Could Disrupt Entire Crypto Market

Traditional markets have been suffering since the discovery of the Coronavirus on Dec. 1. As previously reported by Blockchain.News, crypto research firm Chainalysis believes that the outbreak of the virus could have ripple effects throughout the crypto market. China is a notable crypto investment hub, as it houses the most crypto exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region, which has 40 percent of the world’s top 50 exchanges.

Jason Wu, the CEO of crypto lender DeFiner, admitted to canceling a dozen meetings with his crypto clients in China after the outbreak. He said, “We planned a 10-city tour to talk with potential clients in China. Nobody wants to attend any crypto-related conferences or any meetings at all because of the virus. We have to rearrange everything.” The coronavirus’ potential disruption of business may have an impact on crypto prices, as professionals such as Wu are concerned.

The coronavirus has reportedly killed 213 people so far, with more than 9,817 infected worldwide.

Image via Shutterstock

Crypto Market to Skyrocket to $1.75 Billion by 2027, Report Reveals CBDCs Could be a Game-Changer

Fortune Business Insights reported that the cryptocurrency market will hit $1.75 billion by 2027 from $754 million previously recorded in 2019, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2%. According to the announcement shared with Blockchain.News, this growth will be spurred by blockchain technology as it makes cryptocurrency transactions effective, secure, and fast.

CBDCs as game-changers

The upward cryptocurrency trend has made digital currencies such as Litecoin and Bitcoin to be easily accepted. Moreover, it has laid the ground for the much-anticipated central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) across the globe, with nations like China, setting the ball rolling.

CBDCs are viewed as game-changers as they are digital assets that are backed by central banks and pegged to a real-world entity. The report noted that CBDC as a medium of exchange will trigger growth in the cryptocurrency market.

Major companies are also setting foot in the crypto space with notable investments. For example, in October 2018, Qtum Chain Foundation, a Singapore-based open-source blockchain application platform, joined hands with Amazon Web Services (AWS) China to offer blockchain networks on the AWS cloud. Earlier last month, the BMW Group decided to boost its blockchain pilot project with the help of Microsoft Azure and AWS.

Solid North American market

The report reveaed that the North American crypto market is speculated to proliferate in the coming years because of the increased popularity of Bitcoin in the United States. This market was valued at $250.9 million in 2019, and an uptrend is expected to be enhanced by the presence of eminent players.

Conversely, the Asia Pacific region will not be left behind because it will continue to stamp its authority in the crypto space. Key players are speculated to strike notable collaborations as witnessed by the teaming up of TaoTao and Z Corporation to form regulatory compliance in the Japanese market.

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Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Addresses an Alleged ADA Scam in China

Scammers are capitalizing on the recent success of Cardano’s cryptocurrency, ADA, and using it for their own personal gain. For the first time in over a year, ADA has moved above $0.10, and has picked up by over 200 percent.

According to a video footage shot by cryptocurrency podcaster and founder of Boxmining Michael Gu, a group of farmers in China is being hustled with Cardano and ADA. The fraudsters, operating under the name of “Asian Dragons,” was purported to be seen advertising Cardano merch and ADA. In the video, one can see Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson plastered at the front for the audience to see.

Since the incident, Cardano Foundation and CEO Charles Hoskinson have come out publicly and addressed the incident, making it absolutely clear that they are not in any way associated with the cryptocurrency sales pitch.

Hoskinson even went further and filmed a YouTube video, inputting his two cents on scams and illegal activities. He states that he has also seen every ICO scam under the moon, as he has been in the business for quite some time. Hoskinson shares that it is unfortunate that his hard work was plagiarised and dumbed down to a mere marketing scam:

“You work five years on something, you put your heart and soul into it, you just have a giant event that 10,000 people attend. Then you see floating around Telegram, Twitter, some video — some scammers in China using my face, our company’s logo, the Cardano Foundation’s logo who have absolutely no affiliation with us.”

As the altcoin ADA skyrocketed in the month of July, market experts have disclosed that it is the highest price level it’s been at since June 2019. Currently, ADA is experiencing a 200% year-to-date gain, making it the biggest news on crypto markets. ADA’s counterpart Bitcoin, which is the top cryptocurrency on crypto markets, only saw a surge of 30% this year.

On top of his recent success with his blockchain firm, Input Output (IOHK) CEO Hoskinson also spoke up in support of Kanye West’s recent announcement that the rap star wished to run for presidency. Hoskinson took to his YouTube platform once again and said,

“If it’s not a joke, when Cardano has native assets, to demonstrate the power uniqueness of native assets, we will issue Kanye Coin, and the circulation will be 1 token for each vote that Kanye gets in the election.”

McAfee Comes Clean on His Statement of Bitcoin, in Wake of His 'Dickening'

In recent news, John McAfee appeared to have retracted his previous statement regarding Bitcoin, now claiming he never believed that Bitcoin would hit $1 million dollar in pricing.

McAfee Knows It All for Bitcoin

The founder of one of the world’s top cybersecurity companies, McAfee Associates, predicted confidently in June 2017 that crypto’s top digital asset, Bitcoin (BTC), would hit a $1 million dollar per Bitcoin pricing by the end of the year 2020. He backed his claim by pointing to BTC’s supply, which caps at $21 million tokens, as well as the logic behind supply and demand of the digital asset, in wake of 7 million Bitcoins currently being lost and making the crypto asset scarcer to get a hold of.

At the time, McAfee criticized crypto investors on their negativity regarding BTC, taking to his social media platform and tweeting:

“Bitcoin is at the mid 10’s and people worry. LMFAO? Why do you pay attention to the weekly fluctuations? […] It’s rising drastically. I’m still positive about my $1 mil BTC price by the end of 2020.”

At the time of recording, BTC had lost 9% that week and was trading a bit above $10,300 on the crypto market.

On June 2017, McAfee also furthered his claims and publicly declared that he would “eat his own dick on national television” if Bitcoin did not hit $500,000.

Will McAfee “Eat His Own Dick” in 2020?

Currently, BTC is estimated to be priced at around $9,130 on the crypto market. The digital asset’s price must increase by more than 5,376% in order to meet McAfee’s prediction.

When questioned about the $1 million dollar per BTC topic, McAfee was quick to point out that it was all a ruse and that his bet was not set to be for July 2020, but rather, for the end of the year- December 2020. He quoted a website that was dedicated to his bet, called Dickening.com, and proceeded to tweet that he never ever believed that BTC would hit $1 million dollar in pricing. He said,

“My Bitcoin bet date has always been Dec 31st 2020 (see link). When asked in July if I was going to eat my dick in three years I naturally said yes. Didn’t mean in July for f**** sake! Did I believe that number? Of course not! But I’ll still eat my dick. Just wait.”

Rather, he reiterated that he just wanted to eat his dick on national television and that he stood by his bet, in that sense. McAfee stated that Bitcoin was also worthless and that he never believed in it:

“Not going to get out of it. I never believed Bitcoin would hit $1 mil. It’s absurd. Ir’s an old, tired, worthless coin. I just wanted to eat my dick on TV. Wait for it.”

The founder of the Device-to-cloud cybersecurity company McAfee also allegedly claimed that his famous 2017-million-dollar Bitcoin price prediction was simply a ruse to gain new users. The eccentric crypto investor is known for his outrageous claims.

Bitcoin investor and host of the Keiser Report Max Keiser was quick to call McAfee out on his bluff, stating sarcastically that John McAfee was currently busy honoring his bet – to bite off his dick. The famous host quipped at the McAfee CEO by tweeting that the latter must be in the hospital currently recovering from “biting off his dick,” since “Bitcoin wasn’t at $500, 000.”

What’s in the Gift Box for Christmas?

For McAfee to get away with this one, BTC price would have to gain at least 10,000% by the end of the year.

Ethereum Dominates Bitcoin on CEX.IO Crypto Exchange

Chief Technology Officer of CEX.IO crypto exchange has reported that Ethereum (ETH) on its platform has spiked up in the past week, as opposed to Bitcoin.

Ethereum Aims For the Skies

Trading of Ethereum has shot up on more than one occasion on the crypto exchange. it has been observed that crypto investors have been depositing Bitcoin (BTC) into the exchanges and then withdrawing ETH, which indicates that there is an increased demand for owning ETH.

This is a phenomenon that can only mean good things for Ethereum. In June, their ETH coin pairings have amounted to half of the volume on CEX.IO, with the Bitcoin/US dollar pairing making up the majority of transactions. Bitcoin/US dollar pairing amounted to 40% of the London-based crypto exchange’s entire volume last month.

CEX.IO Crypto Exchange On Bitcoin And Ethereum

Founder and CEO of CEX.IO Olekandr Lutskevych is a huge Bitcoin advocate. In a previous interview with Blockchain.news, the CEO has said:

“People in the US look at Bitcoin as a store of value more so than in other parts of the world. We see that at every level of sophistication, from retail consumers to institutions.”

He further explained that Bitcoin is seen by retail consumers as a hedge to diversify their assets, a sentiment shared by the Gemini coin exchange founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. However, with the rise of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, Bitcoin seems to no longer be comfortably sitting atop the crypto empire, as competition is fierce with the rise of new innovative projects in the crypto industry. In fact, on CEX.IO, Bitcoin’s value on the platform dropped by 50%, translating to only 20% of digital transactions performed on the crypto exchange.

Meanwhile, ETH pairings have increased threefold on the crypto exchange. Chief Technology Officer of CEX.IO, Dmytro Volkov, said:

“It is safe to say that ETH is now the driver of the cryptocurrency market growth.”

Ethereum 2.0 Mainnet

Lately, Ethereum has been doing quite well and gained a lot of attention in the crypto industry, with the announcement of their validator launchpad for ETH 2.0 testnet. The testnet, dubbed “Medalla,” is set to be launched for August 4, and is to be the last testnet produced by Ethereum before the official release of their ETH 2.0 mainnet.

European Union Startups Loves Ethereum

Ethereum has come a long way since its establishment in 2015, and they are not only dominating among European enterprises but have been equally popular among North American blockchain startup projects as well.

As their technology continues to evolve, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has spoken up about the success of his implemented blockchain network and affirmed that its “layer 2 strategy has basically succeeded.”

Bitcoin Most Popular Crypto in North America, Market Experts Report

Bitcoin (BTC) has always been the most popular cryptocurrency on the global market, but the region that is most invested in BTC assets appears to be North America.

Cryptocurrency Trading in North America

According to a recent report by analytics firm Chainalysis that surveyed the key trends on North America’s cryptocurrency market, North America is the third region most active in cryptocurrency trading, trailing behind Western Europe and East Asia. However, what was interesting was that compared to their counterparts, professional and institutional investors in North America tend to favor Bitcoins over other cryptocurrencies when it comes to driving their digital assets forward.

The Chainalysis report indicated that in terms of investment strategy for North Americans, “the first thing we see from the data is that North American investors disproportionately favor Bitcoin.”

Source: Chainalysis

North American crypto holders were also reported to follow a buy-and-hold model, whereas East Asian investors preferred to trade their digital assets more frequently.

Bitcoin Leads the Crypto Market

In any given region in the world, BTC is the most popular cryptocurrency, valued to be north of $11,800 in market capitalization at the time of writing. After months of being in a slump, Bitcoin recently made headlines globally with a solid bull run, surging past the $12,000 mark on August 2 and reaching its all-time high in 2020. Market experts were quick to comment on Bitcoin’s surge, saying that the flash move should come as no surprise and that further gains should be expected of BTC. Many industry experts seem to think that Bitcoin reaching past the $10,000 after months of inactivity is just an anticipation of the next bull run, as the dollar is currently weakening with the Federal Reserve mass printing USD for stimulus relief.

Co-founder of Gemini crypto exchange and a huge BTC advocate, Cameron Winklevoss said that “not owning Bitcoin will be a worse investment decision than not investing in Amazon,” in this day and age.

High Risk, High Return?

With Bitcoin’s recent surge on the market, gold also rallied. JP Morgan Chase commented on this market phenomenon and observed that older investors seemed to prefer backing gold, while younger investors and millennials favored cryptocurrency and technology stocks. JP Morgan Chase strategists observed that those born between 1946 and 1960 leaned towards gold investments, as it is regarded as a safe-haven asset.

Saving for a Rainy Day with Bitcoin & Tech

On the other hand, tech and cryptocurrency investments come with higher risks, as evidenced by the volatility of Bitcoin on the crypto market. CEO of deVere Group Nigel Greem seems to think that Bitcoin will potentially knock gold from its long-held position of being a safe-haven asset. The founder of the financial consultancy firm backed his statement by pointing to how the trading market was “surging in tandem with gold on US-China tensions.” Other crypto experts looked at the depreciation of the US dollar as an indicator that Bitcoin assets were gaining popularity as an alternative investment.

In light of the pandemic, the US has been administering stimulus checks as part of their economic relief protocol, and it has been observed in the past that some of these funds have been redirected towards Bitcoin investments.

The US government has announced that the second stimulus payments are going to be administered sometime this month.

Winklevoss Sees US Stimulus Negotiation Fail as a “Wakeup Call And an Endorsement of Bitcoin”

Bitcoin billionaire Cameron Winklevoss thinks that this is the perfect opportunity to invest in Bitcoin, as the dollar keeps depreciating and US politicians are unable to reach a consensus on a stimulus package budget.

US Struggles to Set Budget for COVID-19 Relief

The US has been planning on releasing the second round of stimulus checks to provide economic relief during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday evening, senior administration officials of Congress and the Democratic party got together to discuss the budget for the second round of economic relief they are looking to provide, but both sides were unable to reach an agreement following a three-hour meeting.

Politicians on both ends were not able to reach an agreement on a price tag for the stimulus package, with Democratic representative Pelosi demanding a budget of $3.4 trillion. Republicans have evidently not consented to this, and it is unclear when US Congress will roll out a definitive number.

Winklevoss Backs Bitcoin

Bitcoin billionaire Cameron Winklevoss addressed the politicians’ inability to reach an agreement and said that it was a wakeup call to diverge from fiat and invest in Bitcoin. The co-founder and CEO of the crypto exchange giant Gemini took to his Twitter platform and said:

“The US dollar has become such funny money that politicians are now ‘trillions of dollars apart’ in stimulus negotiations. Remember when a billion was a big number? If this isn’t a wakeup call and an endorsement of #Bitcoin, I don’t know what is.”

Attributing much of his financial success to Bitcoin, the billionaire has in the past also been very vocal about his views regarding Bitcoin and a strong advocate of the “digital gold” cryptocurrency.

He thinks that with the depreciation of the US dollar due to mass printing for COVID-19 relief, Bitcoin is the way to go in terms of investment. Winklevoss is anticipating the next Bitcoin bull run, as the crypto industry is ever-changing and he thinks that the capital, infrastructure, and projects revolving around crypto are more innovative and advanced than before.

Bitcoin is currently valued to be around $11,800 in market capitalization, but crypto enthusiasts are avidly monitoring it for its next surge.

Band Protocol (BAND) and Chainlink (LINK) DeFi Tokens Outperform Bitcoin by Gaining 100%

With the recent boom of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, DeFi tokens have undergone more than a 100% gain on the crypto market over the past few weeks, outperforming Bitcoin.

Altcoin Season

Recently, with the growth of the DeFi industry, Band Protocol (BAND) and Chainlink (LINK) have been recorded to soar by 348% and 88% respectively, outpacing Bitcoin’s surge. The DeFi tokens bull run took effect in the span of 10 days. Since the beginning of this month, cryptocurrency BAND was recorded to peak at $17,78 from $3.9, and LINK rose from $7.6 to $14.45.

As for Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency surged past $12,000 on the market. However, according to Holger Zchaepitz, the global stock market has reached what experts call a “bubble territory,” which refers to an economic situation where asset prices experience a surge, before eventually falling back down in stock pricing.

2020, The Year of DeFi

Market experts point to the increasing popularity of decentralized finance apps (Dapps) and the growth of the DeFi sector to explain the sudden surge of Band Protocol (BAND) and ChainLink (LINK).

The boom of DApps enables avid crypto investors to trade, loan, and earn interest from cryptocurrency transactions easily and rapidly. Band Protocol (BAND) and Chainlink (LINK) both run on the oracle blockchain network, which is the underlying technology used to leverage DApps. On CoinMarketCap, ChainLink (LINK) was also recorded to have reached sixth on the market capitalization ladder.

Crypto data analytics firm Messari also explained BAND’s bull run by pointing at LINK’s trajectory. Their crypto experts pointed out that ChainLink might have spurred its counter rival’s growth on the market by stating:

“BAND has recently taken a page straight out of the LINK handbook with a slew of partnership and integration announcements, including a Coinbase Pro listing. Up over 32x on the year, its relative valuation play and anchor to LINK has worked so far.”

As BAND and LINK cryptocurrencies operate on different blockchain networks, they support separate DeFi ecosystems, which run on Ethereum blockchain.

Ethereum, A Big Player in The DeFi Industry

Ethereum has been having quite a year. With the recent launch of Medalla and the blockchain ecosystem celebrating its 5-year anniversary recently, Ethereum has been making headlines left and right. Its native cryptocurrency Ether also experienced a recent surge on the market, with investors hoping for it to push past the $400 mark.

At the time of writing, its cryptocurrency Ether is trading slightly north of $390. Ethereum is reputed to have the most DeFi applications run on a blockchain, leveraging smart contracts rather than an intermediary.