UNITED STATES - A former employee of Coinbase Global and two other people have been charged by U.S. prosecutors with wire fraud for insider trading of cryptocurrency. Former product manager at the cryptocurrency exchange Ishan Wahi was arrested Thursday, along with his brother Nikhil Wahi. The case revolves around leaking what cryptos would soon be listed on Coinbase. Wahi “shared confidential information about forthcoming announcements of new cryptocurrency assets that Coinbase would allow users to trade. Prosecutors allege this resulted in $1.5 million of illicit gains.
In 2017, someone online leaked news that CoinBase was adding Bitcoin Cash. The token surged from $1K to $8K in under an hour. At a current price of barely $100, it’s clear that it was merely a pump and dump scheme, and those insiders who got in and out quickly made bank. Philip Martin, Coinbase’s chief security officer, shared the company’s findings with prosecutors, which led to the action.

Martin said on his Twitter account: “We are committed to doing our part to ensure that all market participants have access to the same information,”. “At Coinbase, we actively monitor for illegal activity and investigate any alleged misconduct. In April, we received information about the possible frontrunning of assets shortly before being listed on Coinbase. We immediately launched an investigation into this.”

The plot is: almost all top executives in CoinBase have been dumping their shares and coins on bagholders for months now. It’s the biggest enablers of insider trading in crypto by far.

It's not easy to be a cryptocurrency these days. But, as they say, after the storm the sun will shine again. Sam Bankman, CEO of FTX and a key exponent of this market, wrote down the key uses of cryptocurrencies are explored and their expectations for the future are projected.

The use cases highlighted are 3:
1. PAYMENTS: In today's world, to make a payment it is necessary to pay in a commission (automatically deducted by a bank), to wait whole days for the confirmation of sending and / or receiving and, in the case of international transfers, you incur even higher costs, risks blocking of funds for investigations or - in the case of sending dollars for example - the impossibility of carrying out an operation.
Using a blockchain speeds up times, both at the execution level and by removing the wait for checks, as it is all on a public ledger. Note: this is true INDEPENDENTLY from the centralization of a chain, and here Sam focuses on the usefulness of Solana, which, as we often reiterate, is anything but decentralized.

2. SETTLEMENT: The settlement function is used whenever the execution of large-scale transactions is required, such as the purchase of a large amount of shares or bonds. In these cases, in traditional finance, one necessarily passes through a series of intermediaries: Sam gives the example NASDAQ -> PFOF # 2's clearing firm -> ATS -> PFOF # 1's clearing firm -> broker's clearing firm for purchasing a "simple" product such as a stock.
The blockchain cuts the need for these intermediaries (again for the reason of the previous point), greatly reducing costs, lowering times and, above all, removing the inherent risks in each intermediary.
This last aspect is frequently omitted, but it is an important improvement aspect: as in the striking case of GameStop at the beginning of 2021, the more layers of brokers and clearing firms are involved in an operation, the more likely it is that DECORRELATED problems will occur. FROM UNDERLYING.
Furthermore, by tokenizing assets just like shares on a blockchain, it is possible to further reduce the costs of a broker, since only the gas fees of that particular chain would be taken into account.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA: Finally, blockchain technology can allow social networks to finally become interoperable, bypassing the domain of a single actor who decides to exclude competitors from the content posted on their platforms. As if that weren't enough, decentralization has the natural consequence of protecting freedom of expression and allowing access even outside the censorship operated by some countries.

Bankman concludes that cryptocurrencies are only now starting to revolutionize some of these areas, and predicts that success depends heavily on REGULATION, NETWORK EFFECT and USER EXPERIENCE, which will happen in the next 3-7 years.

MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin signed a law banning cryptocurrency payments in Russia, among the reasons: a wave of pyramid schemes. Putin's decision means that digital assets cannot be used to acquire goods, services and products across Russia. A decision also taken given the insecurity in managing cryptocurrencies by the various government bodies that have not managed the rise of cryptocurrencies.

Discordant opinions that led the Bank of Russia to block all activities related to cryptocurrencies and to be banned outright, the country's Ministry of Finance was supporting the regulation, but which has now been canceled.
Some politicians have drawn parallels between "crypto-mania" and gambling addiction, with the latter already subject to harsh rules nationwide. Anatoly Aksakov, who heads the finance commission in the lower house of the Russian parliament, was quoted by Reuters as saying: The phenomenon exists and cannot be ignored.
Claims based on data from the Bank of Russia which define, only in the first half of 2022 that 954 pyramid schemes were identified, 6.5 times higher than in the same period of the previous year.
Of these, 56% are said to have "raised funds in various cryptocurrencies" or advertised investments in digital assets.
The central bank says many of these schemes operate on Telegram's messaging app and don't have their own website.

The Macroprudential Bulletin from the European Central Bank had the purpose of studying 3 areas considered very important for the crypto future: the growth in relevance of stablecoin the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies as a whole (in addition to the classic BTC) and the role of the Defi.

Here we will focus on what emerged regarding stablecoins.


1. USES
The report identifies some stable currencies (for now anchored to the dollar) which are interpreted as key supports for the expansion and raising of capital by the crypto world: it is through them that it is possible to move a value denominated in fiat on- chain almost instantly. A "parking lot" is defined for liquidity OUTSIDE cash. For this reason, the bulletin recognizes the potential in payments of this type of crypto, and therefore regulation is urgent.


2. STATISTICS
In the last year and a half, 2 very important things have happened, first of all the CAPITALIZATION of stablecoins has gone from € 23 billion to € 150 billion, a growth greater than the growth of the market cap of the entire crypto world. The trading volumes of the stablecoins exceeded those of all other assets (€ 3 trillion per quarter on average) and almost reached the figures of the New York Stock Exchange (€ 3.1 trillion).


3. TREND
Analysts have identified a number of constants that are repeating themselves. Those who issue fiat-pegged currencies try to do so on an ever-increasing number of blockchains: just think of Tether, which is already native to over 12 chains, or USDC, which has overtaken USDT supply on major scalable chains (Avalanche, Solana ...)
The number of algorithmic stablecoins continues to increase despite the debacle of Terra and UST: the report, however, questions the solidity of many projects, the absence of a check and the inability of most who approach to be able to verify the reliability of a given algorithmic currency.
Therefore, decentralized stablecoins are the priority target for regulation by the EU.


4. RISKS
Given the growth in adoption and market cap, stablecoin managers have a great responsibility. Given that any liquidations would lead to the collapse not only of the currency in question, but also to the sale of the assets they have (bonds, treasuries, etc.) which can lead to a CONTAGION EFFECT even in the traditional financial sector.


5. CONCLUSIONS
Despite what the name suggests, stablecoins are NOT stable currencies according to the report, as evidenced by the collapse of the UST and the many de-pegs (USDN, USDT, USDD).
In addition to the functionality of payments, the high market capitalization, growth trend and adoption rate also make them a direct (and decentralized) competitor to fiat currencies. This is simultaneously a huge recognition - it means that in 5 years the crypto world has been able to create an ecosystem that worries the main global financial institutions - and a declaration of hostility, given that if you actually want to switch to a CBDC system ( digital currencies of central banks) it is necessary that the stable are downsized.

What's happening in Sri Lanka? After the country's bankruptcy, crowned by the declaration of it, some key figures from the cryptocurrency sector had come forward to help in economic reconstruction. First of all, the founder of Tron, Justin Sun, said he was ready to "save Sri Lanka using the web3".

With a statement, the central bank of the Asian state reaffirmed its anti-crypto position, defining them as unregulated assets, and recalling that it has not granted any type of license to operate in the country to any exchange or platform (it follows that anyone who operates do it outside the law, then).

In our opinion it is the demonstration that, in a world that is innovating more and more rapidly, states that close in on themselves and totally reject modernity will play an increasingly marginal role.
This is true for Sri Lanka today, but it could happen to others sooner than one might expect.

The political tsunami at Downing Street will have big reflections in many sectors. Boris Johnson has finally agreed to step down as UK Prime Minister following more than 50 resignations from his government in response to multiple scandals.According to the BBC, Johnson has said he will carry on until the fall when a new Conservative Party leader will be chosen.

Also Britain's finance minister, Rishi Sunak, has suddenly resigned from Boris Johnson's government — raising the prospect that the U.K.'s ambitions to become a "global cryptoasset hub" could be put on ice.

In his letter of resignation, Sunak underlined that is fundamental to understand the businnes of tomorrow. As Coin Market Cap reports, in April, Sunak had unveiled plans to ensure that stablecoins would become a recognized form of payment in the U.K. with the Royal Mint set to produce a non-fungible token this summer. In that announcement, the then chancellor said. Sunak had been criticized for unveiling his crypto ambitions by a number of politicians in rival parties.

The political debate was on the choises of the finance minister. Instead of thinking about the crypto, some collegues thougt he had to pay attention to tackling spiraling inflation or maybe be concerned about the environmental impact of NFTs.

The first world dual Bitcoin-gold ETP will begin trading in Europe, ByteTree Asset Management, will allow investors to invest in physical and "digital" gold in a single fund. The 21Shares ByteTree Bold Index ETP, will trade with the ticker BOLD on the SIX Swiss Exchange. A custom index that includes Bitcoin and gold will follow and rebalances monthly based on the relative volatility of the two assets.

The new ETP will rebalance its allocations of gold and Bitcoin every month based on its 360-day historic volatility. This results in the less volatile asset, gold, having a higher weighting to help maximize the product’s risk-adjusted returns. The ETP will likely have a 70-90% weighting of gold based on backtesting stretching back to 2016. “We are making Bitcoin an acceptable asset to hold and bringing gold into the 21st century,” said ByteTree CEO Charlie Morris. 

To achieve its unique pairing, ByteTree had to split custodianship between Coinbase, who will handle the Bitcoin, and JPMorgan, who will take care of the gold. According to Morris, BOLD is the first ETP to have two independent custodians. Due to the complexity of using separate custodians, annual fees for the ETP sit at 1.49%. In comparison, the Fidelity’s Physical Bitcoin ETP charges 0.75%, while the largest U.S. gold ETF takes only 0.4% for its service. 

This "new" "double-asset" of ByteTree ETP BOLD is the first to combine gold and $ BTC into one fund. At launch, the weighting will be 18.5% Bitcoin and 81.5% gold. BOLD is the first ETP to have two independent custodians, but this comes at a cost: ETP annual fees are 1.49%, which is high due to the complexity of using segregated funds.

This isn’t a financial advice.


Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is an emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers similar to those used by cryptocurrencies.

The system removes the control that banks and institutions have over money, financial products and financial services.

Some of the main attractions of DeFi for many consumers are:

-Eliminate the fees that banks and other financial companies charge for using their services.

-Keep your money in a secure digital wallet instead of keeping it in the bank.

-Anyone with an internet connection can use it without approval.

You can get funds in seconds and minutes.

Monetary financial services development, such as the issue of Stablecoin;
Providing lending and lending platforms peer to peer:
Enabling of financial instruments advanced like DEX (decentralised exchange), derivatives and markets for planned. DeFi has many advantages unlike classic financial services.
Through the use of smart contracts and systems, DeFi, delivers securely
financial applications and products.

And prevents to fraud of CiFi (centralised finance) like Celsius fund, or companies like these: that can block your own fund.
The defi is the future, but #DYOR

PHOTO: QuoteInspector.com

With blockchain trilemma we refer to the generally accepted idea that it isn’t possible to make a public blockchain scalable without compromising its security, decentralization, or both.

Scalability
Scalability represents the ability of a network to deal with a large amount of work, processing many transactions per second, measured in TPS. Often attempts are made to improve the scalability of a blockchain by opting for less centralized and faster consensus protocols.
Each blockchain finds a compromise between the three factors and is positioned on the triangle in the position it deems most appropriate for the service it offers.
For example, Bitcoin and Ethereum are decentralized and secure, but lack scalability.

Safety
The more decentralized a system is, the more secure it is, as attacking a single ledger is simpler than, for example, being able to hack a highly distributed blockchain such as that of Bitcoin.

Decentralization
Decentralization indicates the level of distribution of the network's work and the information it contains. It reflects the level at which transactions between users are possible and effective without any control.
Decentralizing the network means increasing the number of participants and therefore the number of transactions to be validated; while the number of competing nodes also increases as a result. This often reduces the scalability of the network.

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