Bitcoin: Don't Worry About A Pullback | Bitcoin Rewards For Shopping

DON'T EXPECT A DEEP BITCOIN CORRECTION

Less than three years after crypto markets notoriously crashed, the price of bitcoin set a new all-time high on Monday, reaching $19,850 around 10:00 a.m. EST according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index. Within minutes, the price fell back to about $19,500 and has traded sideways between the high $18,000s-low $19,000s in the days since, allowing bitcoin to protect most of its 164% gain year-to-date.

That said, there continue to be predictions of short-term price corrections as we wait to see if bitcoin will test the psychologically-significant $20,000 ceiling. One metric that could prove illustrative is bitcoin’s 30-day volatility, which reached 68.64% on November 30, the highest since June 5, according to data provided by asset manager Blockforce Capital. While bitcoin’s annualized 30-day volatility reached a five-month high in November, it is only 5% higher than its historical average 30-day volatility of 63.22% ,suggesting that any pullback could be short-lived.

HAVE A LOLLI JOLLY CHRISTMAS WITH BITCOIN

2020 has become the year of online shopping. According to a global study by Salesforce, 58% of customers expect to do more online shopping than they did pre-pandemic. One company capitalizing on this trend is Lolli, an online rewards app that allows consumers to earn Bitcoin while they shop as opposed to more traditional loyalty programs that provide cash back or other incentives.

Lolli works with a 1,000-plus list of reputable big-name merchants like Nike, Sephora, Bloomingdale’s and Kroger and pays out an average reward of 7.5% of the purchase price back in bitcoin. Aside from the outsize rewards, which are higher than the cash back bonus offered by most credit cards, shopping with Lolli is also designed to serve as an easier on-ramp for the crypto-curious who are uncertain about how to purchase bitcoin or are worried about its large ticket price.

FACEBOOK’S LIBRA GETS A NEW COAT OF PAINT, LAUNCH DATE

Saddled with controversy since being announced in 2018, Facebook’s Libra Association changed its name to Diem, which means “day” in Latin. This announcement follows the “Calibra” subsidiary of Facebook that was also part of Libra similarly rebranding itself to “Novi Financial,” Latin words for a “new way.” David Marcus, Head of Novi (formerly Calibra), and previously the CEO of PayPal, definitely has motivation to seek “a new way” for a “new day,” as the original Libra announcement generated nearly universal opposition in Congress.

In conjunction with this rebranding, the Financial Times is reporting that the consortium may launch its first token, a dollar-pegged stablecoin as early as next month. That said, this would be a far cry from its previously envisioned stablecoin that would be backed by a basket of reserve currencies.

LEADING CRYPTO COP BECOMES A UNICORN

In a Forbes exclusive, Chainalysis disclosed an expected $100 million Series C venture capital round that will value the firm at $1 billion. The deal was subsequently announced on November 23. As part of the investment, the company plans to nearly double its 200-plus staff over the next year, including making hires in international policy, sales and marketing, and research and development. But perhaps most importantly, Chainalysis says that it expects to have an opportunity to purchase another firm.

SECURITY TOKENS GET A BOOST

For as much promise as security tokens have offered in recent years, they have struggled to gain much traction. According to Jim Dowd, CEO of North Capital Investment Technology, a Salt Lake City-based financial technology firm, this failure is due to the industry’s inability to shake off the tarnish it received from the 2017 ICO craze, regulatory questions and a lack of adequate infrastructure.

However, this appears to be changing. North Capital recently launched its own alternative trading system (ATS), the Public-Private Execution Network (PPEX), which will support security tokens and has signed its first clients. Exclusively to Forbes, North Capital also released its first three clients, SportBLX (a platform for purchasing shares of unique sports assets such as an equity interest in a professional sports team, future earnings of an athlete or a thoroughbred racehorse); RW Holdings (a real estate investment trust); and AcreTrader (an investment platform where one can buy farmland shares).

ELSEWHERE

BlockFi's Credit Card is Launching In The U.S. and Lets Users Earn Back Bitcoin [The Block]

Ripple CTO Says Majority Vote Would Force the Burning of Billions in XRP [CoinDesk]

The US Won't Ban Bitcoin, Says OCC's Brian Brooks [Decrypt]

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