Your Weekly Update On All Things Crypto |
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Blockchain Lobbyists To Meet With Key Biden Staff |
One of the most common sources of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) in the crypto space has long been focused on government regulation of crypto. Most notably, "What would happen if the United States government (the SEC and Treasury) sternly regulate the crypto industry to hinder its growth?" After dispelling the FUD surrounding Tether in last week's newsletter, we decided to continue our FUD-busting spree in the political landscape.
First up - U.S.-based crypto advisory group, The Blockchain Association, is lobbying key figures in the Biden Administration to advocate for pro-crypto regulation. The group's members include heavyweights such as Circle, Binance.US, Grayscale, and Kraken. Kristen Smith, the association's executive director, informed the media that they have and/or will be meeting with the likes of Janet Yellen (treasury secretary), Walley Adeyemo (deputy secretary), and other representatives of the treasure department.
In February, Janet Yellen stated that cryptocurrencies used for illicit purposes are a "growing problem". Speaking at the financial sector innovation policy roundtable, Yellen added "I see the promise of these new technologies, but I also see the reality," referring to money laundering, terrorist financing, and data privacy. However, since the time of those statements, Chainalysis released a Crypto Crime report showing that criminal-related activity on the Bitcoin blockchain has fallen to all-time lows in 2021, representing under half a percent of total transaction volume. The Blockchain Association's main goal in meeting with the Treasury Secretary "is helping Yellen (and others) understand crypto goes beyond the financing of criminal enterprises," says Smith. Despite her seeming hostility towards Bitcoin, Yellen admitted that a centralized cryptocurrency like a digital dollar could offer "faster, safe, and cheaper payments."
Among those in Biden's Administration with a softer spot for Bitcoin, SEC Chair Nominee, Gary Gensler, told the Senate Banking Committee that he would promote cryptocurrency innovation during his March 2nd confirmation hearing. Gensler has been a long-time advocate of the cryptocurrency space, and he is exactly the type of figure we would want to see running the SEC. Gensler even taught a course called Blockchain and Money, at MIT. Earlier this year, Gensler described Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as "a catalyst for change" which gave some welcome reassurance to the cryptocurrency community. However, Gensler recently expressed some concerns, accusing off-shore exchanges of being “rife with fraud.” We expect the Blockchain Association may pay him a visit as well on their expedition to Washington.
Perhaps a quote from Adam Trainman, CEO of BRD, sums up how many crypto lobbyists are feeling: "we're not opposed to regulation and compliance, but we need time to spur innovation and grease the skids for the adoption of crypto first." The cryptocurrency industry is an inferno waiting for the oxygen it needs to expand, and representatives from the Blockchain Association are working tirelessly to ensure that flame doesn't get snuffed out before it has the chance to ignite. But with every passing day, we gain more cryptocurrency advocates in Washington and the inferno we are all waiting for is looking more and more inevitable.
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Cardano Successfully Completes The Mary Hard Fork |
One of the most important upgrades in the History of the Cardano protocol took place last Monday. Cardano successfully completed the Mary Hard Fork which brings native asset tokens to Cardano. For the first time in the protocol’s history, users will be able to create their own custom assets on Cardano, adding a new layer of functionality and utility to the Cardano blockchain.
For long-time readers of the Newsletter, you will know that we are big supporters of the Cardano ecosystem. For those that are newer to space, or to the newsletter, Cardano is a third-generation blockchain focused on building the infrastructure of our decentralized global internet. You can think of it as a faster, more scalable, less energy-intensive version of Ethereum (founded by the ex-CEO of Ethereum, Charles Hoskinson). However, until this point, the only asset in the Cardano ecosystem was ADA (the native token of the protocol).
The Mary Hard Fork that just occured now allows anyone to build their own tokenized assets on-top of the platform. This is a major step forward, not just for Cardano, but for the entire decentralized world. While we can not go in-depth into all the added functionality this upgrade will enable in the context of this article, here is a quick list of a few:
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Global Trade - Imagine a token is created that represents a regional-level exchange of value for nations with highly inflationary national currencies. These tokens could be used to pay for local goods and services, without the need to use traditional limited bartering systems.
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NFT Art - It could empower a young artist in a small village to successfully make a career out of her talents by selling her art to a global audience through digital tokens.
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Stablecoins - Native tokens could also make it easier for individuals in emerging economies to take payments for services from overseas. It would also allow anyone in a developing or hyperinflating nation to take payment in USD value.
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Synthetic Assets - Users will be able to mint synthetic representations of Gold, Silver, Stocks, and other tradable assets on the Cardano blockchain. This will further open the door to an explosion of DeFi protocols on Cardano.
By giving every user the ability to generate user-defined tokens on Cardano, Mary opens the door to a long list of new applications, limited only by the users’ imaginations. We can't wait to see what is to come for Cardano in the next phase of their journey.
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Next-Generation AI Trading-bot Platform, b-cube.ai Announces ICO |
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B-cube.ai, an AI-driven trading-bots platform, recently announced its ICO (Initial Coin Offering) that will be taking place starting on March 25th. B-cube.ai is building a marketplace of trading bots that can help automate cryptocurrency trading for everyday people. Its mission is to “bring institutional-grade financial products to the common person,” b-cube.ai is democratizing financial services for the cryptocurrency industry.
b-cube.ai is the first trading-bot platform to allow users to connect with both CEX’s (centralized exchanges) and DEX’s (decentralized exchanges). Their team has over 15 years of experience in trading and financial markets and has taken an intensive, scientific approach to developing the best trading AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) strategies. Furthermore, b-cube.ai is taking a holistic approach to building its ecosystem with future plans for complete portfolio management, a crypto academy, and an overall flourishing community of expert and retail traders alike.
If you’re like us and want to get down into the nitty-gritty, check out their recently issued whitepaper. However, for those without time, we pulled out some key points below:
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Defi Stake & Trade (2022) – An innovative and unique platform that allows b-cube.ai users to connect their crypto wallets and earn interest by automatically staking their DeFi token deposits while there is no opportunity to trade.
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Sentiment Analysis – Their cutting-edge AI scans social media and news in real-time to evaluate real-time user sentiment on each cryptocurrency in the market.
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AI/ML Strategy Layer – Part of b-cube’s multi-layered approach, the AI/ML layer deploys machine and deep learning, game theory, data science, and continual alpha testing to give its users the best trading strategies. B-cube partnered with Université Paris-Saclay, the most prestigious French university recently ranked #1 institution in the world for mathematics (Shanghai ranking 2020).
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Build or Buy – b.cube.ai allows users to build their own AI bots on top of their extensive, user-friendly framework with no coding required. Or pick a bot from their social marketplace to optimize your trades.
The BCUBE token will launch on March 25th, initially through a private sale and then followed by a pre-ICO and ICO. BCUBE tokens are used to power trading bots, pay for services on the platform, and can be staked for discounts and rewards. Make sure to read the breakdown on their tokenomics here.
Disclaimer: CryptoWeekly recently formed a long-term partnership with b-cube.ai. We did so because we truly believe in what b-cube.ai is doing. B-cube is leveling the playing field and giving everyday investors access to the most cutting-edge trading tools. Our goal at CryptoWeekly has always been to democratize information and decentralize power. We stand with b-cube.ai on their mission to democratize financial education and infrastructure in order to bring power back to everyday investors.
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Bitcoin Bounces Off Support, Signals Next Leg Up |
After a stark sell-off in the last week of February, Bitcoin has managed to regain its footing. Macroeconomic factors, as well as on-chain metrics, remain bullish for another leg up in this bull run. Institutions like MicroStrategy and Square have continued to show strong conviction as they have used every dip as an opportunity to buy more Bitcoin. With diamond-handed institutions providing increasing levels of price support, it seems likely that this bull run is far from over.
Almost exactly as we predicted, Bitcoin was rejected by the upper band of the ascending megaphone channel. After being rejected just above 58K, Bitcoin retraced to its previous all-time high at $42K in order to solidify it as support. Since hitting that point we have bounced off support and are looking bullish for another retest of all-time highs in the near future. If we don't break 59K on our next attempt, we may see a slight consolidation to set a higher low and gather momentum in order to break through into new uncharted waters.
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Alt-Coins: US Stimulus Checks Likely To Spark Rally
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Last week, after months of debate, the second US stimulus bill was approved. It will be signed into law on Friday, March 12th, and will send a $1,400 cheque into the pockets of almost every American. We know that the average retail trader has a propensity to trade alt-coins over Bitcoin. We also know that when the $1,200 stimulus bill was released in the US last March, the number of $1,200 deposits on Coinbase quadrupled. We expect to see the same phenomenon take place this time around. More stimulus = more liquidity = more crypto deposits = more retail investors trading the alt-coin market.
Alt-Coin Dominance has not been the most exciting chart to follow for the past few weeks. The altcoin market has been holding steady in a range between 35-40% and as of the last week has started to set slightly higher and higher lows. With Stimulus on the way, and Bitcoin likely to trend up over the next week, we expect a nice rally in alt-coin dominance to follow.
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Energy Web Token (EWT) is the native token of the Energy Web Chain. Energy Web Foundation is a global nonprofit unleashing blockchain's potential in the energy sector. The Energy Web Chain is a public, Proof-of-Authority Ethereum blockchain specifically designed to support enterprise-grade applications in the energy sector. Short & long term, EWT is bullish and is very undervalued given its team, established partner ecosystem, and total addressable market.
The EWT team has close ties to some of the largest and most powerful players in the energy industry. Moreover, EWT has already secured partnerships with the likes of Shell, General Electric, Vodafone, and Warren Buffets Nevada Energy. These partners act as the 25+ Validator nodes from 15 countries, including utilities, grid operators, and startups, all with skin in the game.
At the time of writing, there are only 24,550 EWT wallet addresses with a current market cap of $518 million. On March 2nd, EWT was added to Kraken and saw a price surge of 50%. EWT is still over 70% down from its ATH against Bitcoin but has started printing higher lows against BTC.
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In a unanimous vote last week, Ethereum developers made the decision to approve the much-debated EIP1559 proposal which will effectively burn much of the Etheruem gas fees instead of paying them out to miners. This will in turn make transactions cheaper, and create deflationary pressure on the second-largest cryptocurrency. With this proposal set to roll out in July, we expect Ethereum to run up as investors buy into the hype of the new roll-out.
ETH is currently 73% down from its all-time high vs. Bitcoin but recently broke out above its long-standing wedge pattern. For the past few months, we have seen the new competitors Cardano and Polkadot stealing the show against Ethereum, however, after the long consolidation of Etheruem, we think short-term price action and the macro sentiment for Ethereum is looking bullish.
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We at CryptoWeekly are not Financial Advisors. None of the content or opinions expressed in this newsletter should be considered financial advice. We highly recommend that you do your own research before investing in any project within or outside the cryptocurrency space. |
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