Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Bitcoin news
- While the most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC), is considered to be almost in the “extreme bubble” territory, more surveyed market professionals are in favor of BTC than electric car manufacturer Tesla when forecasting how both assets might perform over the next 12 months. 56% of 627 respondents surveyed by Deutsche Bank last week claimed that BTC price more likely to halve in a year, and 25% said it’s more likely to double, according to a report by Marketwatch. Meanwhile, 62% of them said that the price of Tesla’s stock is more likely to halve, and 18% said it’s more likely to double. Around 20% don’t know what to expect in both of these cases.
Ethereum news
- The price of ethereum (ETH) could skyrocket to USD 10,500 from the current USD 1,263 as this is “the best risk/reward investment play in crypto,” according to a strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, David Grider, as reported by Bloomberg. Risks include setbacks for the network upgrade or a crypto bear market, he added, without specifying when ETH might climb above USD 10K.
Crypto adoption news
- The head of crypto trading platform Bitpanda’s Spanish operations, Alejandro Zala, has claimed that at least 5 million Spaniards are already trading BTC and other cryptoassets – approximately 10% of the country’s 50 million population. Per El Economista, Zala claimed that the level of crypto adoption among Spaniards was “one of the highest in Europe.” Zala added that in general Spanish crypto enthusiasts “invest more that citizens in countries with greater purchasing power, such as Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.”
- Asia accounts for almost half of global crypto trading, found a report by crypto research firm Messari research analyst Mira Christanto. “With Asia accounting for 60% of the world population, infrastructure companies across the world are interested in tapping the growing market,” the report said. China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore are market leaders with deep pools of liquidity, while East Asia (mostly China) is dominated by larger trades with 90% of all volumes above USD 10,000. Of the top 20 token projects today, more than 40% of the market capitalization is based in Asia, while by the end of 2019, six of the top ten largest crypto firms in the world were located in Asia.
Blockchain news
- Jeju Island, South Korea, is set to roll out a blockchain-powered COVID-19 status-checking app, which is now in its pilot testing phase, reported the Hankook Ilbo. The subtropical province, off the coast of the mainland, is a popular destination year-round for both domestic travelers and visitors from overseas – particularly China. And the new platform will allow those fighting the pandemic to access tamper-proof records of individuals’ visit history and contacts without requiring stores and eateries to have customers check in to their venues using rival QR code-powered apps.
- The Chinese web giant Baidu has filed a new blockchain patent applications, per official records. The summary for the application explains that the patent is for a blockchain-powered data privacy processing system, including associated devices, equipment and a means of storage. The record shows that the original filing was made back in August last year, but won official approval earlier this month. Baidu is China’s biggest search engine, and has been keen to expand its Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) offerings in recent months.
- Singapore-based Human Protocol has announced its plans to launch a new service on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, with the goal to provide scalable decentralized apps and marketplaces. According to the press release, “the HUMAN Protocol Foundation believes that integrating with Solana has the potential to provide enormous processing capabilities for labor pools and payment settling that can increase efficiency.”
Mining news
- Provider of Bitcoin mining equipment Canaan will be supplying the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed HIVE Blockchain with 6,400 next-generation A1246 bitcoin miners from its AvalonMiner product line. As announced by HIVE, this will enable the firm to meet its 2021 ASIC capacity goal of 1,000 Petahash per second (PH/s), while its aggregate operating hash rate will increase to an estimated 1,229 Petahashes per second by the end of 2021.
Exchanges news
- Coinbase announced that it’s buying blockchain infrastructure company Bison Trails. Bison Trails will continue to operate as a standalone product and will serve as a foundational element within Coinbase’s ecosystem suite of products, powering all participants in the cryptoeconomy, said the blog post.
- Bitfinex expects to finish turning documents over to the Office of the New York Attorney General (NYAG) in the coming weeks. Per the letter filed in the special proceeding in New York and tweeted out by Bitfinex / Tether General Counsel Stuart Hoegner, though a “substantial volume material” has already been submitted, there remain “supplemented agreed-upon terms that need to be completed” and “parties will need a few more weeks to produce,” as well as for the Office of Attorney General to review it and discuss. Bitfinex said they plan to contact the Court in approximately 30 days to provide a final status update or schedule a conference.
- Meanwhile, Bitfinex also said it will launch trading for Ethereum (ETH) 2.0, allowing its users to exit or enter an ETH 2.0 staking position. Per the announcement, ETH 2.0 will be available to trade with US Dollars (ETH2/USD), Ethereum (ETH2/ETH) and Tether tokens (ETH2/USDt)
- The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will launch a digital asset trading platform in the second half of this year to allow trading on all types of digital token assets excluding cryptocurrencies, reported The Bangkok Post. The SET reportedly said cryptocurrencies don’t meet its product qualifications and could facilitate money laundering, while tokens traded on the platform must have an underlying asset that investors can analyze on value, be a valuable product that supports economic activities, or have benefits to society and the environment.
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