Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is not money

Theoretically and legally, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoinare not money despite what some people may think. Money serves three functions:it is a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value.

Not many goods and services are priced in and settled by bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies). Bitcoin is not universally accepted as a unit of account and a means of payment. Granted, many cryptocurrency payment apps have been created in recent years to promote its use. But none of them has made it to the core of the worlds daily transactions and payments [1], except for some underworld transactions.

Crucially, cryptos are priced in USD (or other fiatcurrencies). So they are no different from any item priced in USD standing onthe opposite side of money in a transaction. Veteran bitcoin investor MarkCuban summarised it succinctly when he said:

For cryptocurrency to be money, it (bitcoin) would have to be so easy to use its a no-brainer. It would have to be completely friction-free and understandable by everybody first. So easy, in fact, that grandma could do it.[2]

To legally qualify as money, a means of payment must begranted a status by a countrys laws as its official monetary unit. This legaltender status allows debtors to pay their obligations/liabilities bytransferring them to creditors as recognised and approved by law.

Recent research found that 80% of the worlds central banks were either not allowed to issue digital currency under the existing laws, or their legal frameworks are ambiguous and do not clearly permit them to do so [3]. China, however, passed a law in 2020 allowing its central bank to issue a digital currency [4], hence the birth of the worlds first official digital currency, the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) [5]. Despite being digital, DCEP is strictly speaking not a cryptocurrency.

Legal tender status is usually given to means of paymentthat can be easily transferred and used by the population in daily life. To usebitcoin, or cryptocurrencies, a digital infrastructure including computers,smartphones, internet networks and connectivity must be in place. Thiscondition makes it unrealistic for cryptocurrencies to become money. It echoesMark Cubans argument against bitcoin as money.

Bitcoin supporters say it is an investible asset.Investible, yes (in the speculative sense, in my view). Asset, I am not sure.

There is an income stream associated with a financialasset. Granted, there are assets with a zero yield such as commodities, butthey are traded because they have a practical use (for production orconsumption). Cryptocurrencies have neither an income stream nor a practicaluse.

The fact that they command a price and are tradablesuggests that speculation would be their single most important raison dtre.Hence crypto prices are subject to violent and random movement. This brings upthe other problem, store of value.

For something to serve as a store of value, it has to beliquid, universally accepted, and have a stable value. Cryptocurrenciesincluding bitcoin certainly do not have any of these characteristics.

Bitcoin trading suffers from illiquidity and manipulationbecause of the existence of whale wallets (wallets holding disproportionatelylarge amounts of bitcoins).

In late 2020, the top 100 wallets were estimated to own13% of total bitcoin supply (6) with most of the owners identities not known.It would therefore only take a few whale wallets to manipulate the bitcoinmarket, causing violent price moves. Huge price volatility has made bitcoin andcryptocurrencies unsuitable as store of value vehicles.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that the finite supplyof bitcoins and cryptos is a benefit and protects value, it is in fact a bigproblem for them being considered as money.

The maximum number of bitcoins that can ever be mined is21 million. At the time of writing, there are already 18.6 million bitcoins incirculation. The last bitcoin would be mined in 2040. All cryptocurrencies havea finite supply and the speed at which they can be increased is uncertain andnot controllable by anyone.

These supply limitations make cryptocurrencies unsuitableas legal tender because the static 'money supply' would deprive central banksof the ability to conduct countercyclical policy.

However, crypto promoters have capitalised on widespreadfear and distrust of fiat money arising from post-Global-Financial-Crisis (GFC)monetisation. They have skillfully twisted this supply problem into an argumentfor cryptocurrencies as a hedge against doomsday scenarios. I believe this iswrong.

China, which used to be the largest crypto mining country,has seen through the smoke and mirrors and has cracked down on trading andmining without reservation. This shows how quickly regulators could destroy thefreewheeling, decentralised crypto market. China instead has created anofficial DCEP with centralised control.

What crypto aficionados do not appear to understand isthat countries will take steps to protect their monetary systems and currenciesand their ability to tax and manage the economy. The more people believecryptocurrencies are money, the greater the risk of government intervention inthis market. The emerging trend of official digital currencies is a sign ofcentral banks fighting back.

The popular narrative that bitcoins finite supplyguarantees its value can play into concerns over central bank quantitativeeasing and what these QE programmes might mean for fiat money. Thus, the riseof cryptocurrencies can be seen as reflecting the anti-establishment movementsin many countries since the 2008 GFC.

Viewed positively, this 'crypto protest' could prompt governmentsto change their economic management to become more responsible and regain trustand credibility. Time will tell.

I believe crypto prices will eventually crash. This couldbe triggered by a shift in monetary policy or regulations. Alternatively, acrash could simply occur because prices are so inflated that much like theDutch tulip mania, marginal buyers are priced out of the market, leading to aself-feeding process of liquidation and falling prices when leveraged investorsstart to sell.

Also read:

Crypto-renminbito challenge US dollar

[1] Many gold ATM machines and settlement mechanisms wereinstalled around the world in the early 2010s as players were trying to promotethe use of gold as an alternative to fiat money and a medium of exchange fordaily transactions. However, they failed because of low public acceptance andthe inconvenience of using gold for transactions. Crypto apps could suffer asimilar fate, in my view.

[2] See Mark Cuban:This is What it Would Take for Me to Change My Mind About Bitcoin, NECNMoney Report, January 12, 2021https://www.necn.com/news/business/money-report/mark-cuban-this-is-what-it-would-take-for-me-to-change-my-mind-about-bitcoin/2387139/

[3] Legal Aspectsof Central Bank Digital Currency: Central Bank and Monetary Law Considerations,IMF Working Paper WP/20/254, November 2020.

[4] See China toLegalize Digital RMB and Prohibit Competitors, Lexology, November 12, 2020,and

Chinas New DraftLaw Seeks to Legalize Digital Yuan But Ban Competitors, Coingeek, 29October 2020, and

China passescryptography law as gears up for digital currency, Reuters, October 27,2019

[5] See Chi onChina: The Crypto-Renminbis Disruption to the Market, Economic Growth andPolicy, 5 August 2020.

[6] See Bitcoin Cash Rich List by BITAMP, and also Bitcoin Whale, Investopedia

Any views expressed here are those of the author as of the date ofpublication, are based on available information, and are subject to changewithout notice. Individual portfolio management teams may hold different viewsand may take different investment decisions for different clients. Thisdocument does not constitute investment advice.

The value of investments and the income they generate may go down aswell as up and it is possible that investors will not recover their initialoutlay. Past performance is no guarantee for future returns.

Investing in emerging markets, or specialised or restricted sectors islikely to be subject to a higher-than-average volatility due to a high degreeof concentration, greater uncertainty because less information is available,there is less liquidity or due to greater sensitivity to changes in marketconditions (social, political and economic conditions).

Some emerging markets offer less security than the majority of international developed markets. For this reason, services for portfolio transactions, liquidation and conservation on behalf of funds invested in emerging markets may carry greater risk.

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What is the problem with cryptocurrency (bitcoin)? - Investors' Corner - Investors' Corner BNP Paribas

Obviously bitcoin super fans tend to be Tesla super fans, and there actually tends to be a lot of symbiosis between those two groups, so it probably won't surprise anyone at all. So I don't know, it's a little bit unclear how many people are going to be taking up Tesla's offer to spend bitcoin on cars, but it seems like pretty good marketing to me actually in terms of speaking to that bitcoin audience and kind of formalizing all of these associations that we might have in our minds between EV enthusiasts and bitcoin fans.

MC: How would it work exactly? Do I just go to the website and pick out the car that I want and then give them my bitcoin information and then order the car?

LG: Well, Mike you'd have to have bitcoin to do that first, just an FYI. And as you stated at the top of the show, you're not a crypto guy, so.

MC: I'm speaking hypothetically!

LG: [Laughing] Oh, OK, OK.

MC: ... for the benefit of our listeners, Lauren.

GB: And that's true, actually. In fact, Mike, you would have had to had one bitcoin at the time that they made this announcement, because that was, the value of a bitcoin was basically equal to the base model three. So just need one. But yeah, so this is something that still needs to be worked out. Tesla has basically said that they plan to take bitcoin at some point in the future. They haven't said anything about the specifics, how they're going to handle the payment processing. A lot of companies will actually say that they're taking your bitcoin, but then they'll actually convert it into something else first. That's typically how bitcoin transactions work. For something like a car it might actually be easier to take bitcoin directly, because just the kind of transaction costs are less meaningful in terms of the total cost of a car. It can be expensive to use bitcoin just because of the energy and the fees that go into trading bitcoin. But that's a long way of saying that, we don't quite know just yet how the logistics will work.

LG: Greg, you've actually just reminded me at the start of the show I wanted to look up how much a single bitcoin was worth and then monitor it so we could gauge the price at the end of the show. OK, right now a single bitcoin is worth $47,892.92. So yeah, let's see if we upgrade our Tesla cars by the time the show ends, depending on how much it fluctuates.

GB: Depends on how much Musk is tweeting through our podcast.

LG: Yeah. So Mike, you had a good question about whether or not we know Elon is actually serious about this, right?

MC: Yeah, like Greg just mentioned, Elon tweets about bitcoin. When he tweets about bitcoin, it actually meaningfully moves the price of bitcoin. I think you mentioned in your story, Greg, that at one point Elon put a hashtag bitcoin in his Twitter bio and the price shot up 20 percent. So, we know that he is fond of using social media to move money markets. As you've mentioned, other companies are interested in bitcoin, investing in bitcoin. Some financial institutions are investing in bitcoin and that collectively is moving the price up. But are we sure this isn't one of Elon's little ploys?

GB: That's a really good question, Mike. I think that, what I should say first is that $1.5 billion, it's a lot of money, even for Tesla. I think they had something like $19 billion of cash on hand as of this announcement. So, I mean, 1.5 billion out of 19, it's a sizeable investment that's happening.

Excerpt from:
This Cryptocurrency Is Really Burning a Hole in My Pocket - WIRED

The Central government has finally revealed that it will bring a new bill on cryptocurrencies (The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021) in the ongoing Budget session in the Parliament. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) has suggested a ban on private cryptocurrencies in India, like Bitcoin, in India. Additionally, the same committee has pitched for the introduction of an official digital currency that will be appropriately regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.

"A high-level Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Economic Affairs) to study the issues related to virtual currencies and propose specific actions to be taken in the matter recommended in its report that all private cryptocurrencies, except any virtual currencies issued by the state, will be prohibited in India," FM Sitharaman said in Rajya Sabha on February 9.

Recently, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur in the Parliament also informed that the government would bring a bill on cryptocurrencies as the existing laws are inadequate to deal with the issues concerning cryptocurrencies.

It must be noted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had banned banks from processing transactions relating to cryptocurrency in 2018. However, the Supreme Court, vide judgment dated March 4, 2020, lifted the ban. Since then, cryptocurrency has been operating in the country.

Now, the RBI has also clarified that it is working on a digital version of the rupee, and results were expected soon. A summary of the bill stated that it sought to "create a facilitative framework for the creation of the digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India".

How India's new bill on cryptocurrencies will impact Bitcoin investors?

Analysts have speculated that the new cryptocurrency bill might impact some existing investors who are already investing in private digital currencies like bitcoin in the country. This is because if the Centre goes by the recommendation of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) then private cryptocurrencies will be banned in the country which will understandably cause a loss to the existing crypto investors of the country. However, it is still not clear if the new legislation will include Bitcoin or Ethereum under the list of banned private cryptocurrencies.

Speculation is also rife that the proposed cryptocurrency bill may allow holders of such currencies to exit the asset class before its anticipated ban but may put a heavy penalty on its conversion to a legal asset.

Since the detailed provisions of the bill are not yet known, so there's a lot of ambiguity whether those holding Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies should sell them or not. As per the official estimates, around seventy lakh Indians hold cryptocurrencies worth more than $1 billion.

Also read: Inter-ministerial group recommends ban on Bitcoin, private cryptocurrency in India: FM

Also read: Cryptocurrency bill: Individuals, corporates to be fined for using digital money

Excerpt from:
What is Cryptocurrency Bill 2021; how it will impact bitcoin investors - Business Today

To say this week has been huge for bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption would be an understatement. There has been so much news that its been hard to keep up, even for those of us working full time in the industry.

Bitcoin adoption is always noteworthy because it shows that these technological improvements to our financial system are finally being understood and desired.

What makes this weeks news even more exciting is that we are seeing a major shift away from traditional finance writing off the cryptocurrency industry (and the technology behind it) as only for cyberpunks or money launderers. This is a narrative that the industry has worked to shake for a decade.

Now, we are seeing that companies like Tesla want bitcoin on their balance sheet and BNY Mellon, Mastercard and PayPal/Venmo see the customer demand high enough to meet it.

Tesla

On Monday, Tesla announced it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin to ensure more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash. This move by Tesla and Elon Musk was well received by the industry, although some accurately pointed out that Musk had shilled Dogecoin on Twitter, while apparently having Tesla buy bitcoin instead.

Aubrey Strobel, Head of Communications of Lolli, the world's leading bitcoin rewards company, pointed out: Bitcoin is becoming fully integrated. Now that Tesla has added bitcoin to its balance sheet, retail investors have exposure to bitcoin when they buy $TSLA or the S&P 500.

Close up of Tesla logo on a charger at a Supercharger rapid battery charging station for the ... [+] electric vehicle company Tesla Motors, in the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California, August 24, 2016. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

This also led to a slew of companies making statements about their stance on bitcoin. Ubers CEO, Dara Khosrowshah dismissed the idea of adding bitcoin on its balance sheet, saying we are going to keep our cash safe. For the record, bitcoin is safe but what he was referencing is Bitcoins volatility. He also left open the possibility of Uber accepting cryptocurrencies as payment in the future.

Mastercard

On Wednesday, Mastercard announced its plan to give merchants the option to receive payments in cryptocurrency later this year. This will allow Mastercard customers digital currency payments to be settled in crypto at participating merchants, a first for the company.

In this photo illustration a Mastercard logo (Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA ... [+] Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In a blog post, Mastercards EVP for Blockchain and Digital Asset Products, Raj Dhamodharan noted, Our philosophy on cryptocurrencies is straightforward: Its about choice. Mastercard isnt here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value.

BNY Mellon

Yesterday, (are yall keeping up with me? Phew) BNY Mellon, the $2 trillion banking giant, announced the creation of a Digital Assets Unit, which the company describes as a team dedicated to building the first multi-asset custody and administration platform for traditional and digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.

For anyone familiar with the cryptocurrency industry and the troubles cryptocurrency companies have in obtaining bank accounts, let alone custodying cryptocurrency with a Bank, this news was exciting and shows immense progress. Banks like Silvergate Bank, who were early adopters in the space, as well as the OCC have paved the way for banks like BNY Mellon to be willing and able to provide banking and cryptocurrency services. Alan Lane, Chief Executive Officer of Silvergate Bank commented by email that the Bank sees this as a tremendous validation of the platform weve built.

Brian Brooks, former Comptroller of the Currency of the OCC told me, When the oldest bank in the United States decides to adopt the newest money in the world, that shows the inevitable convergence between cryptocurrency and banking.

Venmo

BRAZIL - 2020/07/26: In this photo illustration the Venmo - Share Payments logo seen displayed on a ... [+] smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

PayPal also announced today that it is considering adding cryptocurrency as a payment option through Venmo. In 2020, PayPal itself introduced cryptocurrency as a funding source for digital commerce at its 26 million merchants. Venmo boasts over 52 million individual users.

Conclusion

Regardless of your personal opinion on cryptocurrency, all of this is summed up as big news for this growing industry. Erik Voorhees, CEO of ShapeShift.com, a leading cryptocurrency exchange explained to me, The recent Bitcoin announcements by major companies is indicative of this rising future financial system. One built on open, borderless protocols, and immutable money."

Aubrey Strobel of Lolli, eloquently summed the week up, In the same week, the worlds most progressive company, Tesla, and Americas oldest bank, BNY Mellon, have added bitcoin to their business models. Its no longer a matter of if institutions will adopt bitcoin, its a matter of when. One by one, institutional investors are validating the intuitive value and underlying logic of bitcoin.

Read this article:
Bitcoin Welcomes Tesla, Mastercard, BNY Mellon, Venmo To The Cryptocurrency Party - Forbes

A Making Money with Charles Payne panel on investing in the names of the future and bitcoin.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez praised the city's governing commission for passing a resolution Thursday that willstudy the feasibility of paying employees in bitcoin, as well as allowing residents to pay fees and taxes in bitcoin.

"I want to thank the city of Miami commissioners for supporting my resolution, which directs the city manager, after analysis, to procure a vendor to be able to offer our employees to get a percentage of their salary in bitcoin, allows our residents to pay for fees in Bitcoin... [and allows] for taxes to be paid in bitcoin," Suarez said in a video Thursday night.

Its wonderful to be a very crypto-forward city in the city of Miami, and I want to thank my commission colleagues for allowing that to happen."

TESLA WALKS TIGHTROPE WITH BITCOIN INVESTMENT

The City Commission voted 4-1 to pass the resolution, which would also encourage the Florida state legislature to pass laws to allow Miami to invest some of its treasury in bitcoin.

"The whole conceptof Bitcoin is to democratize a currency,"Ken Russell,Vice Chairman of the Miami City Commission, said during the city hall meeting on Thursday. "It has become a currency for the wealthy. I think this is ourchance to, in an intelligent way, to really try to bring this to our residents and our employees, but we have to do so carefully so they can make informed decisions."

Bitcoin, a decentralized cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high of $48,912 this week, but it is still prone to wildprice swings.

CRYPTOCURRENCIES NOW 'PRICELESS' WITH MASTERCARD

Despite those swings, Miami's adoption of bitcoin is the latest signal that it is going mainstream.

Andrew Yang, who is running for Mayor of New York City, said Thursday that if elected, he would "invest in making the city a hub for [bitcoin]and other cryptocurrencies."

BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in America, announced Thursday that it will create an "integrated service for digital assets"this year that will process bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for clients.

Mastercard said Wednesday it will support cryptocurrencies directly on its network, which will "create a lot more possibilities for shoppers and merchants, allowing them to transact in an entirely new form of payment. "

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Tesla announced Monday that it invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and would start accepting the cryptocurrency as payment.

"I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of bitcoin," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Jan. 31 on Clubhouse. "I think bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people."

See the article here:
Bitcoin by the beach: Miami eyes paying workers and collecting taxes in cryptocurrency - Fox Business

THE WEEK IN NUMBERS

We round up the numbers to know from the weeks biggest economic and business news stories so you can impress yourself and your friends.

If youve been glued to the impeachment proceedings unfolding in the United States, youre far from alone. But as the news out of Washington winds down for the weekend, why not take a few minutes to catch up on the biggest business and economic news stories you might have missed?

Pour yourself a cup of tea (or take that coffee out of the microwave again) and dig into these must-know numbers. We promise theyll make you the smartest person on your group text.

The span in which three separate missions to Mars were launched last year, and as those spacecraft arrive this week and next, the Red Planet is getting a little more crowded, writes Al Jazeeras David Child.

China, the United Arab Emirates and the US all launched uncrewed missions to Mars last year in the hopes of learning more about the cosmos and scanning for signs of extraterrestrial life.

An image of Mars captured by Chinas probe Tianwen-1 [File: China National Space Administration/AFP]The UAEs probe named Al Amal, which means hope in Arabic was the first to arrive in Marss orbit on Tuesday after a journey of 494 million kilometres (307 million miles). Chinese spacecraft Tianwen-1 was next to join the Martian party and sent back some souvenir video.

The USs mission is scheduled to touch down on Mars on February 18. Scientists are eager to analyse the planets atmosphere and surface as well as look for signs of past life.

The value in US dollars of one Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency with a fuzzy Shiba Inu logo that got a major boost when Tesla CEO Elon Musk started talking it up on Twitter.

In addition to tweeting that he had bought some Dogecoin for his baby son, Musk lauded the joke currency with a number of memes D is for Dogecoin! and Who let the Doge out among them. But the worlds richest person has also suggested that the people have spoken about the pitfalls of fiat currency and put his money where his mouth is when it comes to investing in cryptocurrency, writes Al Jazeeras Ben Piven.

Teslas announcement that it had bought $1.5bn in bitcoin and would accept the cryptocurrency as payment sent its value rocketing this week.

And we mean rocketing. Bitcoin neared $50,000 for the first time and cryptocurrencies across the board have been basking in the Tesla glow this week.

Cryptocurrency Dogecoin got a major boost this week after Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked it up on Twitter [File: Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images Europe]Bitcoin has gained 1,150 percent since its March 2020 lows as intrigued investors hop on the crypto bandwagon. The worlds most popular cryptocurrency also got a boost after Mastercard Inc and Bank of New York Mellon Corp announced they would make it easier for customers to use cryptocurrencies.

But some analysts warn the crypto bubble could very well burst, leaving pumped-up fans feeling deflated and their digital wallets a little lighter, too.

The number of out-of-work Americans who filed for state unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to the US Department of Labor. New claims for assistance were down 19,000 from the week before but still remain stubbornly high nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic.

The US unemployment situation is definitely better than it was at the start of the pandemic, when claims hit 6.867 million. But nearly a year after parts of the country first went into lockdown, 10 million of the jobs that were lost simply havent come back and some businesses have closed permanently.

Low-wage service sector workers, as well as African-American and Latino workers and women, have been disproportionately impacted by pandemic job losses, and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellenwarnedthat more aid is needed to prevent the COVID-19 crisis from becoming a generational setback for racial equality.

The number of trips that Chinas Ministry of Transport estimates that people will make during this years Lunar New Year. That represents a 20-percent decrease from 2020, and a more-than-60-percent slump compared with 2019, writes Al Jazeeras Asia business editor Azhar Sukri.

This Lunar New Year which falls on Friday is turning out to be anything but normal for a second consecutive year. While families across Asia and in the Asian diaspora are normally busy repainting and cleaning their homes to prepare for family gatherings, many dont want to bother this year as COVID-19 keeps people home.

But just because big in-person gatherings are out doesnt mean revellers cant enjoy traditional treats like oranges and cookies. So to all who are celebrating happy Year of the Ox!

See more here:
Canine cryptocurrency, race to Mars and the Year of the Ox - Al Jazeera English

A new cryptocurrency, The Graph (GRT), soared79.92% more than any other coin in the 24 hours to press time to $2.43 on Friday.What Happened: GRT has spiked 176.7% on a seven-day trailing basis. The token of the entity that helps decentralized applications discover and organize blockchain data has reached a market capitalization of $3.04 billion.

The token was launched on Dec. 17 at a price of $0.26, which means the Graph has risen 834.62% since it made its debut.

See also:Best Cryptocurrency Brokers

Why It Matters: The price movement in the Graph is partly driven by a social media buzz on Reddit and Stocktwits. GRT.X was the top trending ticker on Stocktwits early Thursday at one point, ahead of Sundial Growers Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL),Tilray Inc.(NASDAQ: TLRY), andAphria Inc.(NASDAQ: APHA).

The Graph has left behind major cryptocurrencies as of press time. Bitcoin (BTC) traded 5.04% at $46,998.37, while Ethereum (ETH) traded 1.45% higher at $1,749.99.

2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

See more here:
Why The Graph Cryptocurrency Is Skyrocketing Today, Outperforming Bitcoin, All Other Coins - Benzinga

North Korea's hacking crews are causing carnage in the cryptocurrency market and one has been blamed for stealing $250 million-worth of virtual coins from one exchange in 2020.

A North Korean hacker crew called Lazarus Group has been accused of carrying out a heist on cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, dubbed the biggest cryptocurrency theft of last year at $275 million worth of virtual money. That figure represented half of all cryptocurrency stolen in 2020, according to cryptocurrency tracker and law enforcement contractor Chainalysis, which exclusively revealed its attribution of the huge attack to Forbes ahead of the release of its own research report on Tuesday.

The hack of Singapore-based KuCoin, which lets people trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrency, also took Lazarus illicit winnings up to $1.75 billion, Chainalysis claimed. Its feared that North Korea is using stolen cryptocurrency to fund its nuclear initiatives, whilst also causing serious losses to the burgeoning virtual economy. Meanwhile, the thefts are helping prop up North Koreas flagging economy, which has reportedly taken a severe hit thanks to the Covid-19 crisis. CNN reported on a confidential U.N. document on Tuesday, which suggested that North Korea had stolen a total of $316.4 million from financial institutions and virtual currency companies between 2019 and November 2020 to support its warfare and economic plans.

Chainalysis said it was able to attribute the KuCoin hack to the North Korean hacking group by looking at how the stolen funds were laundered. Lazarus Group, previously blamed for the infamous Sony Pictures hack of 2014 amongst many other attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges, has a unique way in which it sends money to mixers. Those mixers mix up cryptocurrency into different accounts in order to make tracking of funds more difficult. The size, and the way that funds are sent to mixers is extremely specific, and it's like a fingerprint, said Kim Grauer, who led Chainalysis research into the KuCoin attack.

Grauer thinks North Koreas cryptocurrency thefts could be filling huge holes in the countrys coffers. COVID in particular has further continued to devastate the North Korean economy and so we think that... the country may be becoming increasingly dependent on hacking for just funding, period, Grauer added. When you think about $1.75 billion, it's a very significant amount of money for that country considering their GDP.

The KuCoin breach took place in September 2020, and the exchange offered rewards of up to $100,000 to anyone who could provide valid information to us regarding this incident. Later, KuCoin CEO and founder Johnny Lyu claimed $201 million in cryptocurrency had been recovered as of October 3 and said perpetrators had been caught. This February, Lyu said in a blog post that it had cooperated with exchange and project partners to recover $222 million (78%), and cooperated with law enforcements and security institutions to recover $17.45 million (6%). At the same time, KuCoin and our insurance fund covered the remaining part, about $45.55 million (16%). In the end, we ensured that no users sustained any loss in this incident.

KuCoin, which claims to have over six million registered users, told Forbes that while its working with law enforcement and security agencies to track the suspects, no more details can be announced at the moment, per their request. Chainalysis said it had shared its findings relating to the North Korean attribution with KuCoin, but declined to provide any more detail on its work with the exchange.

The news comes hot on the heels of a Google warning that another crew of alleged North Korean hackers had attacked security researchers via what may have been a Chrome zero-day exploit - an attack on an unpatched vulnerability or string of vulnerabilities.

With a mix of more sophisticated digital attacks and huge thefts of cryptocurrency, North Koreas investment in offensive cybersecurity is proving to be reaping rewards for Kim Jong-uns regime, whilst costing victims their privacy and, in some cases, their crypto wealth.

See the article here:
North Korean Hackers Accused Of Biggest Cryptocurrency Theft Of 2020Their Heists Are Now Worth $1.75 Billion - Forbes

The cryptocurrency market has continued to witness a boom despite the global pandemic wreaking havoc on all significant economies on the planet.

Many crypto startups have emerged in the space during this pandemic to cater to the ever-increasing demand for Bitcoin and alike cryptocurrencies.

For instance, CoinSwitch Kuber recently announced the raising of $15 million (Rs 109 crore) Series A funding from leading global fintech investors such as Ribbit Capital, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital India and prominent angel investor Kunal Shah from CRED.

Cryptocurrency market capitalisation fueled by Bitcoins growth recently crossed the $1 trillion mark. Out of which, Bitcoin, has been on a bull run for quite some time and is responsible for roughly 69% of the total market value.

Similarly, many cryptocurrency prices have been on the rise, and investors are wondering why. Here are five reasons why cryptocurrency prices are rising:

Recently, there has been a trend where public companies are converting their cash treasuries into cryptocurrency. Square, an American payments company, bought $50 million worth of Bitcoins. Following this, Microstrategy- a public listed company in the US, converted $425 million worth of cash reserves into Bitcoin, considering it to be a better store of value.

The launch included four majorly traded currencies, namely Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Paypal has also announced plans of allowing transactions to be made using cryptocurrencies.

Paypal is known to have 350 million users who will now be capable of adopting crypto as a payment means. Also, its 30 million merchants will have the option of receiving payments in crypto.

Paypal was one of the critics of cryptocurrency as a sustainable currency. Now it is one of the biggest names jumping on the bandwagon. Along with others and PayPal's support, there has been more demand for the asset class, thus contributing to its price rise.

Apart from Paypal, the company also owns another popular payment platform Venmo which will expose another 40 million users to crypto payment. While these platforms are new to crypto, some other platforms are already making crypto payments wider.

As several private investors seek to adopt cryptocurrency as a means of exchange, many governments are also trying to regulate the market.

Many countries like Japan, USA, Germany etc. have taken a positive stance towards cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Halving Driven ScarcityIt is not news that most cryptocurrencies in the market have a limited supply. Bitcoin is also one of them. This year the third Bitcoin Halving took place.

Bitcoin halving is an important event in the Bitcoin network that happens every four years.

The Bitcoin network works because it introduces new bitcoins in the market by a process called Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin miners do this mining by verifying Bitcoin blocks which are simply groups of Bitcoin transactions.

Every 10 minutes, a miner who can verify one block of transactions and add it to the Bitcoin network gets awarded a certain amount of bitcoins as a reward.

Currently, this reward stands at 6.25 BTC per valid block mined. But this reward per block reduces by half roughly every four years, or after every 210000 blocks are mined. This phenomenon of Bitcoin block reward getting reduced by 50% every four years is termed as Bitcoin halving.

It also doubles the stock to flow ratio (total currency available: total currency in circulation) making is highly scarce.

Halving is one of the most critical factors that contribute to the price of Bitcoin.

Since there are only 21 million Bitcoins in total, there is less circulation of the market currency as the reward decreases. And as more people become aware of the asset's scarcity, more demand rises, resulting in a higher price.

Since Bitcoin holds more than half of the market capitalisation, the Bitcoin price variation may affect other currencies.

Easy Accessibility To PublicCryptocurrency is a digital currency that can be used as both - a store of value and a mode of exchange. While it has just started to gain attention as a legit payment method, it has established itself as a new asset class over the past decade.

Even if the public is unwilling to use it for transactions, many want to convert their cash into crypto because they believe that its deflationary nature makes it a better store of value and a hedge against inflation.

Especially in India, after the RBI ban against cryptocurrency was lifted, its investors had a significant surge.

Many platforms have launched and received funding in this space to make crypto investing accessible. One such platform is CoinSwitch Kuber- acquiring over two million users in just six months after it launched.

As cryptocurrency is becoming more accessible to the public, more retail investors want a share of the asset class and are willing to pay more.

Bottom LineIf the rising prices in the crypto market have got you thinking that it is too late to invest in cryptocurrencies, understand that this is just the beginning.

With more countries seeking to regulate the market, cryptocurrencies will become mainstream.

Disclaimer: This above is non-editorial content and TIL hereby disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied, relating to the same. TIL does not guarantee, vouch for or necessarily endorse any of the above content nor is responsible for them in any manner whatsoever. The article does not constitute investment advice. Please take all steps necessary to ascertain that any information and content provided is correct, updated and verified.

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5 reasons why bitcoin cryptocurrency prices are on the rise - Economic Times

Just like the price swings in cryptocurrencies, the news on regulations for the Indian crypto industry has been coming in thick and fast. While the government on 29 January listed a bill in Lok Sabha to ban all private cryptocurrencies, recent reports suggest that it might now bring in an ordinance to put that into effect. With the contents of the legislation unknown, experts say that the fate of investments worth $1 billion in digital currencies by Indians rests on how the Center defines a 'private cryptocurrency'.

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 seeks to ban all private cryptocurrencies and also provides for the creation of a legislative framework on an official digital currency.

Also Read | Scarcity on high seas hurting Indias exports

According to experts, a blanket ban would hit over eight million investors in India who own over $1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is a sunrise sector employing thousands of people in India. The regulation is the need of the hour, but a ban will set our economy back by a decade," said Nischal Shetty, chief executive officer of WazirX.

As the draft of the bill is not public, experts say it is hard to determine what the government may consider as private cryptocurrency. However, the key argument is that terming major digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum as private would be incorrect.

The term private cryptocurrency could be applied to some rare experimental projects but not to Bitcoin, Ether, or most popular cryptocurrencies. There software is open source and they are not owned by any entity, private or otherwise," said Vikram Rangala, CMO, ZebPay.

Some of the public blockchains and their corresponding cryptocurrencies such as Ripple are created by privately-owned enterprises but find their application in the public domain and have corporate governance considerations similar to traditional finance corporations. In reality, there are public blockchains and there are private blockchains, and many large Indian corporations are already using private blockchain infrastructure such as hyperledger," said Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO, CoinDCX.

Notably, this is not the first time, when the government has sought to come up with a regulation for the industry. An earlier bill in 2019 reportedly sought to ban cryptocurrency and criminalize its possession in India. However, it was not introduced. Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had banned cryptocurrencies in 2018, which was later overturned by the Supreme Court of India in March 2020.

The government may likely be considering every cryptocurrency except introduced by RBI or the government to be private. The ban would be a disaster at both the legislation level and the enforcement level to ban cryptocurrencies," said Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO and co-founder of Unocoin.

Industry experts argue that as the ownership of major crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ether are public, the government may need to come up with some other term than private to define and regulate non-government cryptocurrencies.

Nonetheless, industry experts are hopeful that there wont be a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies.

While the prices of cryptocurrencies in India slumped soon after the bill was listed by the government, the prices recovered a bit after it failed to find a mention in the Budget speech of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2020.

The majority of Bitcoin, Ether and other investors are holding on to their crypto assets and will continue to do so. Overall, the crypto community seems to be resilient and confident that in the end, the government will make the right decision," said Rangala.

Meanwhile, the crypto industry is actively engaging with the government and to try and find an amicable solution. All stakeholders associated with the crypto and blockchain industry are working together to resolve the issue at hand. We have reached out to the government and are looking at a continuation of dialogue which leaves room for better understanding and cooperation from the competent authorities," said Gupta.

Meanwhile, leading cryptocurrency companies such as CoinDCX, WazirX, Unocoin, CoinSwitch Kuber, Zebpay and PocketBits have joined hands to launch a campaign called, #IndiaWantsBitcoin, which aims to educate and build greater awareness amongst policymakers and the public about cryptocurrencies.

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Original post:
For Indian crypto industry, the devil lies in the definition - Mint