Financial Bazookas Revealed – Market Strategists Believe the Fed Will Purchase Stocks Soon

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies may be the only free-market assets left not manipulated by central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve. Since the covid-19 outbreak, the Fed has unleashed a massive arsenal of monetary weapons to combat the effects on the economy. After the significant rate cuts, quantitative easing (QE), and buying mortgage-backed securities, analysts believe the Fed could start purchasing stocks in order to quell the economy.

Also read: US Mortgage Industry Could Collapse as Housing Crisis Looms, Experts Say

The Fed Is Deploying More Than Just a Monetary Policy Bazooka, It’s Unleashing the Whole Arsenal

On Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve threw another tool into the financial system by announcing an international repo option in order to curb investors from panic-selling Treasuries. Since the covid-19 outbreak started spreading rapidly throughout the nation, the economy has been hit hard by numerous industry shutdowns across the U.S. After closing borders and shutting down major U.S. industries, the Fed has tried to save the American economy by using a variety of monetary schemes. The Fed has introduced rate cuts, quantitative easing (QE), foreign currency swap lines, discount windows, a Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), a Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), and a Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF). The aforementioned list just scratches the surface when it comes to the newly introduced schemes the Fed has initiated since the covid-19 outbreak.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the bank’s board of directors have unleashed the big guns citing the covid-19 outbreak as the primary reason to throw unlimited amounts of money at private banks. The Federal Reserve said on March 26 that the central bank recognizes that small financial institutions may need additional time to submit “certain regulatory reports in light of staffing priorities and disruptions caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (covid-19).” In order to give Wall Street some leniency, the Fed “will not take action against a financial institution with $5 billion or less in total assets for submitting its March 31, 2020.”

The Fed also invoked a Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMFLF) and bought $185 billion in mortgage-backed securities. However, all these moves have not helped stock and commodity markets and the mortgage-backed securities purchase threatened the U.S. real estate market. After the Fed bought the mortgage securities it caused a massive margin call and put hundreds of lenders at risk and without capital.

To those of you wondering what the US stock market will do on any given day, just remember, the Fed has unlimited purchasing power to buy it all up. They have 100 percent full control over stocks and they will do whatever they please with it. Goodbye price discovery. The end.

— Heidi (@blockchainchick) March 26, 2020

Despite the adverse effects on the housing market, the Fed is still attempting to insulate the American economy with the central bank’s parlor tricks. The Fed’s new international repo is an unprecedented move by the central bank, as it will provide foreign central banks with the ability to get USD in exchange for U.S. Treasuries. In addition to the international repo, the Fed also revealed it established a temporary FIMA Repo Facility (FRF) to “help support the smooth functioning of financial markets.”

Fed has printed trillion of $ to do what?

To purchase financial assets

-They already are largest holders of real estate in the world
-Have already pushed the short term yields into negative
-They will soon buy out stocks

Don't fall for dead cat bounce#Buyeroflastresort

— Vinay Jaiswal (@vinayjazzi) March 31, 2020

The Fed’s Next Step Could Be Purchasing Large Quantities of Stocks

Now economists and investors think the Fed’s next move will see the central bank purchasing stocks. Because the American economy is in turmoil, market analysts say that the Fed will likely use this approach soon to bolster the financial system. “If there were any major dislocations, it is clear that they will go into whatever nook and cranny in the market that starts to choke,” chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, Quincy Krosby, told the media on Sunday. The Prudential executive further stated:

We know that when you have choking in one part of the market, you have choking in another part of the market that leads to dislocation. As soon as you cross that line, you are now facing something else that you could conceivably buy.

Members of the Federal Reserve and the Shadow Open Market Committee have already discussed the possibility of the Fed buying stocks to help the economy. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren told the committee on March 6 that he thinks the U.S. should “allow the central bank to purchase a broader range of securities or assets.”

The Perfect Storm for Digital Assets Like Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency participants believe that the current economy is the “perfect storm” for censorship-resistant and a mathematically probable financial system. Bitcoin has a lot of benefits to a society that has been having significant problems doing what they want with their own money. In the last six months alone, news.Bitcoin.com has reported on governments and banks in countries like the U.S., Egypt, Lebanon, India, and Germany limiting cash withdrawals. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have better properties than gold during an economic crisis, as analysts have questioned gold’s alleged ‘safe-haven’ status since the 2007-2008 financial catastrophe. It’s a well known that central banks oversaturated bullion markets during those years by using bullion-bank repos just like they do with Treasuries today.

Cryptocurrency markets did decline with everything else under the sun on March 12th, otherwise known as ‘Black Thursday.’ The decline has made people assume that BTC and other digital assets have a strong correlation with stocks and equities right now. However, historical data shows digital asset markets have always been non-correlated with stocks, commodities, and equities. A higher correlation during a black swan event (covid-19) doesn’t equate to both markets being tethered together whenever economic environments change.

As the Fed and central banks worldwide pull out every tool they have in the monetary policy toolbox, bitcoiners understand that digital assets cannot be manipulated as easily as fiat currency, property investments, precious metals, and the stock markets. If you have never read or heard about the positive benefits and economic freedom bitcoin can provide, get started today with some of our educational resources.

What do you think about the Fed possibly buying stocks next? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

 

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Bitcoin Halving Capitulation: ‘Mining Death Spirals Don’t Happen in Real Life,’ Says Report

As the bitcoin halving approaches, crypto-mining ‘death spirals’ and miner capitulation have become prominent topics among digital currency enthusiasts. Despite the trending discussions, Coinshares head of research Christopher Bendiksen published a study that says “[bitcoin] mining death spirals do not actually happen in real life” and the speculation is a “highly theoretical edge case.”

Also read: ‘Bull Run May Not Come Immediately After Bitcoin Halving,’ Says Bitmain’s Jihan Wu

Bitcoin Halving, Death Spirals, and Miner Capitulation

After approximately 210,000 blocks are mined on BTC’s blockchain, the network’s block subsidy halves and after May 13, BTC miners will get 6.25 coins instead of 12.5. The halving event happens roughly every four years and the upcoming one, in particular, has caused crypto enthusiasts to speculate on what will happen after the event. Moreover, the recent covid-19 outbreak has caused economic calamity worldwide, as cryptocurrency prices were largely affected by fears of a looming recession.

Because of these two factors combined, crypto speculators and haters think that miners will be “doomed” after the halving and there will be massive miner capitulation. A few individuals and headlines have called the theoretical event a crypto-mining ‘death spiral’ and people assume BTC miners will face catastrophe. However, a recent research study from the firm Coinshares disagrees with this argument and the company’s head of research called the fears “highly theoretical edge cases without any historical real-world precedent.”

Source: Coinshares Research.

In the report called “Why Bitcoin Miners Will Keep Mining,” Christopher Bendiksen talks about how current BTC prices are down more than 50% from the 2020 highs. The researcher details that this means miners have lost 50% of their income and a few “high-cost producers will now be unprofitable.” “When miners turn cashflow negative they will turn off their gear and hashrate will fall,” Bendiksen said. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on how the hashrate had fallen from the 136 exahash per second (EH/s) high at the end of February, to 75EH/s after the market rout on March 12. The close to 45% hashrate reduction caused the network’s difficulty adjustment to drop to the second-lowest point in history. Bendiksen’s report discusses how the difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) is a key element within the BTC network.

In the death spiral scenario, Bendiksen stressed that some people believe that a big enough hashrate drop would slow down block times and eventually “grind the network to a halt since no new blocks are mined.” “This, in turn, will cause prices to drop further causing more miners to shut down until no one is left mining and the price hits zero,” Bendiksen wrote. The Coinshares head of research, however, doesn’t think this situation is plausible in the real world and thinks it only lives in people’s theoretical discussions. Coinshare’s report is also similar to the question answered by bitcoin researcher and evangelist, Andreas Antonopoulos, who discussed mining death spirals on Youtube. “Part of the reason that’s unlikely to happen is that miners have a much more long-term perspective,” Antonopoulos noted in the video.

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Mining Death Spiral and the Network Grinding to a Halt Are Highly Theoretical Edge Cases

The Coinshares researcher also explained how in a rare, edge-case scenario it would take an awful lot of factors like gaming the DAA with precision and dumping on market prices at the same time. “In real life though, markets don’t move like that,” Bendiksen’s report highlights.

“On top of that there are operational concerns on the part of miners that prevent shutdowns on such rapid timelines,” Bendiksen wrote. “Powering down a several hundred-megawatt mine is not a matter of pulling a socket plug — you would risk severely damaging the local grid. Moreover, many miners have offtake agreements that mandate that they continue their draw for as long as they are able to pay their contracted bills. The point is: even when bitcoin prices significantly fall (which happens pretty much every year) or the mining reward is halved (which happens at predetermined time intervals), the physical and operational realities of the mining network are such that drawdowns in hashrate take time,” the report states. Bendiksen’s research further notes:

In practice, hashrate reductions are therefore always smoothly caught by the dynamic difficulty adjustment and block frequencies never get anywhere near ‘crisis levels’ (whatever that even means).

Source: Coinshares Research.

Bendiksen and Coinshares believe that the network was designed to handle these exact situations and they are confident things will be fine going forward. “Because of the design choices we’ve explained above the mining network has never failed to produce blocks. The difficulty has reset downwards many times — sometimes dramatically as the result of a pullback in price (the November/December 2018 is an excellent example to study), but never has the network ground to a halt or even come anywhere close to it,” Bendiksen’s report concludes.

What do you think about the Coinshares mining report and death spirals? Let us know in the comments below.

 

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US Mortgage Industry Could Collapse as Housing Crisis Looms, Experts Say

The U.S. mortgage industry faces collapse once again, this time due to the economic consequences following the coronavirus outbreak and massive job losses. Up to 50% of borrowers could default on their mortgage payments, according to industry estimates. Since the stimulus bill signed by President Donald Trump provides relief for homeowners but does not provide relief for the mortgage industry, companies are worried they may go out of business.

Also read: 2x Bitcoin — Wanna Double Your BTC to the Moon? Forget About It

Mortgage Industry at Risk

The coronavirus outbreak and resulting job losses could result in an unprecedented number of people left unable to make their mortgage payments. Facing a second mortgage industry crisis in recent history, many of the country’s largest mortgage lenders are warning they will soon be pushed to the brink of failure. The breadth of the coronavirus pandemic has sparked industry estimates of between 25% and 50% of borrowers being unable to pay their mortgage payments, according to the publication Politico.

Jay Bray, CEO of the mortgage servicing company Mr. Cooper, explained that if 25% of borrowers fail to make their mortgage payments, the industry would need $40 billion to cover three months of payments. Noting that his company has already seen a 50% increase in borrowers seeking assistance, he said, “The magnitude of people who are going to take the plan is going to be like nothing we have ever seen.” Mortgage Bankers Association CEO Bob Broeksmit added that the industry could need more than $100 billion depending on how long the situation lasts.

However, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act, the $2.2 trillion stimulus package President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday, does not include relief for the mortgage industry, the publication noted, adding:

While the final bill allocates $454 billion for the Treasury Department to support the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending programs, including for large corporations, there is no overt requirement for lending to mortgage companies, despite a weeklong lobbying push by the industry.

Broeksmit noted, “We have been in constant contact with many parts of the administration to ensure that they understand the urgency of this liquidity facility being set up.”

New Housing Crisis, Mortgage Companies Face Shut Down

Among companies most affected are mortgage servicers, which handle loans and process mortgage payments. About 60% of mortgages in the U.S. are secured through nonbank lenders such as Quicken Loans, the Washington Post explained. “One in three of the country’s $11.2 trillion in mortgages is overseen by nonbank servicers, which collect borrowers’ payments every month, and say the economic fallout from the pandemic represents an unprecedented challenge to their future.”

When people stop making payments, these companies are still legally obligated to keep sending money to insurers and investors in mortgage-backed securities using their own money. The publication described:

Mortgage lenders are preparing for an avalanche of distressed homeowners that could drive a housing crisis that rivals the one that left millions of Americans in foreclosure a decade ago.

“This time, rather than homeowners falling behind on their payments slowly over several years, mortgage delinquencies could spike suddenly as people find themselves without a job or have their salaries cut within the next few months,” the news outlet continued. Inside Mortgage Finance publisher Guy Cecala was quoted as saying: “This time the problems are going to be nondiscriminatory. It will apply to people with good credit, or someone who is well-off, and ran a restaurant. We haven’t had a crisis where everyone is impacted regardless of financial situation.”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the Financial Stability Oversight Council is “particularly focused on the liquidity issues that market may have.” He further revealed that he was establishing a task force to report back to the council on the matter.

“Concerns about liquidity in the mortgage finance system have been building for years, as the companies that service mortgage loans are increasingly nonbanks — which don’t have banks’ access to Fed loans or their strict capital requirements and deposits to fall back on,” the publication details.

Andrew Jakabovics, vice president for policy development at Enterprise Community Partners, an affordable housing nonprofit, believes that the mortgage system would break down if mortgage companies fail across the board. He opined:

The kinds of relief we did during the foreclosure crisis — all of that had to do with the fact that we wanted to ensure that investors from across the world would continue to treat U.S. mortgage-backed securities as an incredibly safe investment … That would have very serious ramifications for the availability and price of mortgage credit.

Michael Bright, CEO of the Structured Finance Association, which represents 370 financial institutions in the bond market, believes the Fed will eventually come through with an emergency lending program for the mortgage industry. “Even though that language wasn’t included,” Bright said of the stimulus bill, “I do think it’s likely that this could be part of [the Fed’s Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility Program] in the end.” He previously managed Ginnie Mae’s $2 trillion portfolio.

Do you think the mortgage industry will get its own bailout? Let us know in the comments section below.

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The Crypto Industry’s $400M Cash and Stock Deal – Binance to Acquire Coinmarketcap.com

The popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance is allegedly in talks with the owners of coinmarketcap.com in hopes of purchasing the website for $400 million. People familiar with the matter explained the acquisition will be announced this week and could be one of the largest procurements in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to-date.

Also read: Bitcoin Mining Roundup: BTC Regains 100 Exahash, Miners Close Shop, Pre-Halving Shake-Up

Binance Will Reportedly Purchase Coinmarketcap.com for $400 Million

Binance has grown quite large since launching in 2017 when the global cryptocurrency exchange was founded by Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Yi He. The following year in 2018, the exchange was considered the largest in the world in terms of cryptocurrency trading volume. The firm has also acquired the Indian exchange Wazirx, the Beijing-based Dappreview, a derivatives exchange called JEX, Mars Finance, and a digital currency mobile wallet branch called Trust Wallet. Now according to people familiar with the matter, Binance is set to announce another acquisition and it might end up being the largest procurement in the crypto industry so far.

Reports detail that Binance will announce the acquisition of coinmarketcap.com (CMC) later this week.

The official story floating around crypto-land is that Binance is close to completing a cash and stock deal with the owners of coinmarketcap.com. The website is one of the most popular cryptocurrency data sites and according to Alexa ratings, coinmarketcap.com is ranked 570 worldwide and 819 in the United States. Coinmarketcap (CMC) gets a lot of traffic from countries like the U.S., India, and Brazil as the site sees millions of users visiting the site regularly. The Binance acquisition of coinmarketcap.com is ostensibly a cash-and-stock deal that involves $400 million. Speculators assume that it will be the largest acquisition within the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to date. For instance, the coinmarketcap.com transaction would be well over the capital injected into 21 Inc. ($121 million), otherwise known as earn.com.

CMC sees millions of users visiting the site regularly. According to Alexa ratings, coinmarketcap.com is ranked 570 worldwide and 819 in the United States.

CMC’s Data Discrepancies and the Crypto Community’s Commentary Concerning the Binance Takeover

Both Binance and coinmarketcap.com have not spoken to the media about the acquisition, but Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao did hint at some upcoming procurements that he was “very excited” about. Coinmarketcap has an interesting history as the owner Brandon Chez kept his identity unknown, up until he was doxxed by the Wall Street Journal on January 23, 2018. Chez also sat down for a fireside chat with the anonymous Sunny King last year during The Capital conference.

Coinmarketcap has had its share of controversy as well and a number of people do not trust the data that stems from the site. The crypto market cap aggregation website was criticized during the first week of January 2018 for delisting the exchange rates of South Korean crypto trading platforms. When cross-referencing coinmarketcap.com’s data with alternative crypto market valuation sites like messari.io, there’s some discrepancies when it comes to “reported” and “real” or onchain trade volumes.

The acquisition for $400 million might be the largest in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to date. Social media posts and forums show that most crypto enthusiasts have been joking about the procurement in a negative fashion.

After the Binance acquisition of coinmarketcap.com (CMC) stories hit social media and crypto forums, a great number of digital asset proponents discussed if it would be “good or bad” for CMC. “I don’t like it at all — I guess I’ll continue to use my favorite CMC alternatives,” one person tweeted after hearing the news.

“CMC has been bad for years — The amount of scams they’ve allowed to advertise on their site has been awful. Hopefully [Changpeng Zhao] changes that,” another crypto proponent added. A great number of the comments on Twitter were negative and many people talked about the relationship between Tron and Binance as well.

“Binance buying [coinmarketcap.com] — How long until BNB and Tron are #1 and #2 and Digibyte is delisted?” the Twitter account @Litecoinfam tweeted on Tuesday.

What do you think about the possibility of Binance acquiring coinmarketcap.com? Let us know in the comments below.

 

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23 Approved Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Japan — Number Rises Despite Pandemic

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, Japan continues to approve more cryptocurrency exchanges to legally operate in the country. The latest one was approved on Monday, bringing the total number of legal crypto exchanges in Japan to 23.

Also read: 2x Bitcoin — Wanna Double Your BTC to the Moon? Forget About It

First Approved Crypto Exchange This Year

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), registered another cryptocurrency exchange operator on Monday. Japan legalized cryptocurrencies as a means of payment under the amended Payment Services Act back in April 2017 and crypto exchange operators are required to register with the FSA. The agency started registering them in September 2017.

The latest one registered by the FSA was Okcoin Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Ok Group. Founded in September 2017, the Tokyo-based exchange has been approved to trade BCH, BTC, ETH, ETC, and LTC, according to the FSA’s website. The exchange will soon launch; it is currently accepting pre-registrations for account opening.

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency, has registered Okcoin Japan to trade five cryptocurrencies, including BCH and BTC.

Okcoin Japan is also a member of the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), a self-regulatory organization approved by the FSA. The agency is closely cooperating and exchanging information with the association. The JVCEA has established some self-regulatory guidelines for crypto exchanges to follow.

All 23 FSA-registered crypto exchanges in Japan are “Class 1” members of the JVCEA. The organization also has “Class 2” members comprising companies that are not yet licensed by the FSA, such as Coinbase, Payward Asia, and Wirex Japan.

23 Approved Crypto Exchanges in Total

Besides Okcoin Japan, there are 22 other registered cryptocurrency exchange operators in the country. In September 2017, 11 of them were registered: Money Partners, Quoine, Bitflyer, Bitbank, SBI VC Trade, GMO Coin, Huobi Japan (formerly Bittrade), Btcbox, Bitpoint Japan, Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange, and Tech Bureau. Tech Bureau was acquired by Fisco after it was hacked in September 2018. However, the two platforms continue to operate independently and are still listed on the FSA’s website as two separate entities.

Japan legalized cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in April 2017 and all crypto exchanges are required to register with the FSA.

On Dec. 1, 2017, DMM Bitcoin, Taotao (formerly Bitarg), Bitgate, and Xtheta were registered. Bitocean followed suit on Dec. 26. In 2018, no crypto exchange operator was registered due to the hack of Coincheck, one of the largest crypto trading platforms in the country. The FSA subsequently tightened its oversight of the industry, conducted on-site inspections of exchanges, and revised its method of approval. After the hack, Coincheck was acquired by Monex Group and was finally registered with the FSA on Jan. 11 last year.

In addition, the agency approved five more crypto exchange operators last year. Rakuten Wallet and Decurret were registered on March 25, LVC on Sept. 6, Lastroots on Nov. 27 and Fxcoin on Dec. 24. LVC is a subsidiary of Line Corp., owner of Japan’s most popular chat app, Line. Soon after it successfully registered with the FSA, the company launched a crypto exchange called Bitmax.

What do you think of the rate at which Japan approves crypto exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Stablecoin Market Caps Swell Over $7 Billion – Volumes Surpass Most Trading Pairs

While most digital assets have been suffering, stablecoins have been surging since the market downturn in mid-March and tether (USDT) is capturing more than 70% of BTC trades today. Besides tether, a wide range of other dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies have also benefited this month, as the market valuation of eight different stablecoins combined is well over $7 billion.

Also read: Bitcoin Mining Roundup: BTC Regains 100 Exahash, Miners Close Shop, Pre-Halving Shake-Up

Considerable Demand for Stablecoins Pushes ‘Dollarized-Token’ Market Caps Northbound

Crypto assets have seen better days as far as market values are concerned and on March 30 the valuation of all 5,000+ digital currencies is around $182 billion. Today, more than $7 billion from that number represents eight stablecoins including USDT, USDC, PAX, TUSD, DAI, GUSD, BUSD, and HUSD. Most of that $7 billion derives from USDT’s market cap, as the firm Tether has reported it now has more than $6 billion in liabilities. Data shows that the total assets under the company’s control equal: $6,141,809,416. Moreover, there’s a slew of stablecoins with much smaller market caps, but still have seen greater demand since the start of the mid-March market rout.

Source: Research report written by Hasu and Coin Metrics data.

On Monday, USDT is commanding more than 70% of trades, which is a lot but not very unusual these days either. As news.Bitcoin.com noted in our recent report about the influx of stablecoin demand, USDC and PAX have continued to remain in the top five BTC pairs globally. Both coins are gathering more than 5% of BTC’s global trades each and both of them combined have seen more trade volume than the U.S. dollar.

Over the past month, fiat-collateralized stablecoins built on Ethereum have seen substantial inflows.

30 day change in supply:
• $USDT: +51.5%
• $USDC: +55.4%
• $PAX: +26.5%
• $BUSD: +186.0%
• $HUSD: +74.7%

Ethereum's stablecoin economy is growing at a staggering rate. pic.twitter.com/Mp5Yl2k2hE

— Cole Kennelly ⬙ 🦄 (@ColeGotTweets) March 29, 2020

According to sites like coinmarketcap.com, there’s an alleged $118 billion in global crypto trades on March 30. BTC captures $36 billion of those trades and tether (USDT) commands $44 billion. However, stats from messari.io indicate BTC is leading in “real volume” with $1.4 billion in worldwide trades and USDT capturing $1.1 billion. Messari’s data also shows USDT’s reported market cap is larger than XRPs now.

Messari.io data indicates that USDT’s reported market cap is larger ($5.8B) than XRPs ($5.1B).

Stablecoin Transfers Touch All-Time Highs, Tron to Launch a ‘DAI-like’ Dollar-Coin

It’s uncertain whether tether is actually doing 22% more volume than BTC, but lots of USDT stats indicate the volume is at least on par with BTC trade volumes regularly. In addition to Pax and USDC, the stablecoins HUSD and BUSD have seen increased demand as well.

Competition has increased a great deal among all the stablecoins and Justin Sun revealed Tron is launching a ‘DAI-like’ stablecoin called “USDJ.” The coin will allegedly be pegged to the USD rate by using collateralized digital assets.

24-hour stablecoin and fiat volumes with BTC on March 30, 2020. USDT is commanding 70% of BTC trades, USDC 5.6%, and PAX 5.5%.

The recent stablecoin demand was noticed by the entire crypto community and Coin Metrics discussed the situation in the firm’s latest report. “Stablecoin transfer value hit an all-time high amidst the market turmoil,” Coin Metrics wrote. The researchers added:

The dual impact of Bitcoin’s USD value halving and massive issuance of stablecoins led to stablecoins’ market cap as a percentage of Bitcoin’s doubling in a matter of days.

What do you think about the demand for stablecoins? Let us know in the comments below.

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Safeguarding Investments: Cryptimi.com Offers the Solution

Anyone venturing into the digital currency scene understands the significance of performing analyses to evaluate potential gains. Security breaches and hacking are a constant risk when it comes to the realm of cryptocurrencies.

Nevertheless, the level of security and protection offered by the trading platform chosen is often overlooked. Consequently, this oversight has so far resulted in a loss of approximately $4.26 billion. Whenever scammers or hackers are successful in their fraudulent practices, this results in an average loss of $43 million.

2 Notorious Cases where Security Failed

Reputability and popularity do not guarantee protection from malicious behaviour. To fully understand the gravity of fraudulent activity and security breaches, one must keep in mind some of the most infamous security failures in recent history.

1. Bitfinex

Loss: 120,000BTC or $72 million in assets (2016)

Considered as one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges globally with about two million users, Bitfinex sees billions of dollars’ worth of transactions daily. This successful exchange fell victim to a major hack back in 2016, having the amount of 120,000BTC stolen, which was equivalent to $72 million. In today’s prices, that would be a much higher figure. Bitfinex used to offer multi-signature wallets through BitGo, a feature created to enhance user security. However, 12 months after this component was introduced, the hack occurred.

The question was raised: what made Bitfinex susceptible to this fate? The way its accounts were structured was the first step towards security failure – to withdraw a large amount of funds, BitGo would likely have had to sign off transactions.

The hack caused Bitcoin’s market value to drop by a staggering 20%.

2. Binance

Loss: 7,000BTC or $40 million in assets (2019)

Binance is widely believed to be the world’s largest crypto exchange, based on trading volumes. Despite this, the exchange was not able to avoid a phishing scam or recognise the virus-type malware that was used to hack into it. The group of hackers got away with $40 million worth of Bitcoin.

In one of his blog posts, CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that Binance will make “significant changes to the API, 2FA, and withdrawal validation areas, which was an area exploited by hackers during this incident.” Zhao vowed to work on “more innovative ways” to prevent risks and improve KYC, whilst enhancing user and threat analysis,

Providing a Viable Solution

When looking into investing assets, finding a trusted source that provides detailed research and relevant information about cryptocurrencies and trading platforms is critical. Nowadays, there’s a smorgasbord of online resources – one never knows which to trust. Nevertheless, it is important to be selective when it comes to deciphering between a trustworthy source and one that gives little to no guidance.

Cryptimi.com provides information that examines aspects of payment methods, security, fees, and customer support. For the ultimate user experience, it even lists the latest reviewed and top-ranking cryptocurrency exchanges (with regular updates when positions shift), to make for a more reliable search. The user can customise the search by filtering results and specifying the preferred deposit method, jurisdiction, and the type of platform.

Doing the Legwork Before Taking the Plunge

Finding the best cryptocurrency exchange is imperative prior to venturing into any kind of financial investment. This holds true for both novice investors, and veteran traders. Both investors and traders should have a reliable point of reference when conducting their research.

A reputable reference site like Cryptimi equips the reader with all the right tools to take an informed step by constantly publishing trustworthy, unique, and relevant content.

Indubitably, cryptocurrency exchange platforms are an essential piece to the digital currency puzzle, because they are the link that allows individuals to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, before investing or trading on a new broker or exchange, one needs to ensure that the funds being invested will be utilised to their full potential. Fortunately, you can put both your mind and assets at rest with Cryptimi.com – your only go-to reference that guides you to your financial growth.

Contact Email Address
info@cryptimi.com

Supporting Link
http://cryptimi.com/

This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

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Egypt Limits Bank and ATM Withdrawals Citing Rampant Cash Outflow and Coronavirus Fears

On Sunday, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced it had instructed financial institutions in the country to put withdrawal limits in place for cash. Regional reports disclose that Egyptian residents can only withdraw 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($640) and businesses can only withdraw 50,000 pounds ($3,200). The CBE cited concerns over the covid-19 outbreak and also limited automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawals to 5,000 pounds per day.

Also read: Bitcoin Mining Roundup: BTC Regains 100 Exahash, Miners Close Shop, Pre-Halving Shake-Up

Central Bank of Egypt Enforces Cash Withdrawal Limits at Bank Branches and ATMs

The global economy has been suffering from the economic hardships tied to the covid-19 outbreak that has ravaged multiple countries. The coronavirus scare has caused people to question the use of cash due to the uncleanliness of bills. For instance, at the beginning of March, the U.S. central bank told the public it was holding U.S. dollars repatriated from Asian countries in a separate area. Further, the faltering economy has also caused banks in countries like the U.S. and Germany to place withdrawal limits on cash.

Now Egyptians are facing the same cash issues and the country’s central bank is imposing cash withdrawal limits across the board. In addition to the withdrawal limits imposed, the CBE’s Tarek Amer told reporters on Sunday via Sada al-Balad TV that “Egypt is facing a cash problem.” Amer disclosed that there’s roughly $26 billion being transferred out of Egypt to international banks and Egyptian travelers are also taking lots of cash with them when they travel abroad. However, local media quickly pointed out that Egyptian expat remittances were well over $26 billion and were actually closer to $34 billion.

The CBE initiated a new scheme so citizens will use electronic payments more often by removing online fees and certain banking commissions. On Sunday, Egypt’s central bank told smaller banks to limit cash withdrawals to 10,000 Egyptian pounds for individuals per day and limited ATM withdrawals as well.

The monetary authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt explained on March 29 that it had told Egyptian banks to impose limits on cash withdrawals. The reason for the CBE’s move is to help curb the rising coronavirus spread in Egypt, Africa and other countries in the Middle East. The CBE’s new guideline says that the daily limit for individual withdrawals will be 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($640) and Egyptian companies can only withdraw 50,000 pounds. Further, the central bank told financial institutions to limit ATM withdrawals down to 5,000 pounds. The Egyptian pound’s inflation rate has been worse than most countries, as it was 13% in 2019 and 9.9% in 2020. Most central banks try to keep the inflation rate around 2%, but the Egyptian pound has suffered since the CBE floated the national currency in November 2016.

The Egyptian central bank told financial institutions to also limit ATM withdrawals down to 5,000 pounds ($320).

Egyptians have also been told by the CBE that they should “avoid paper currency” and the citizenry should adopt electronic transfers and e-payments so they can control the covid-19 outbreak. “All banks canceled fees on transfers and e-payment methods for the citizens’ convenience,” the CBE said on Sunday. The day prior, the central bank of Egypt started an electronic payments initiative to encourage citizens to stop using physical pounds. Before that initiative, the CBE told smaller banks they could not impose late payments on certain loans and asked banks to delay credit penalties against customers and organizations.

The Egyptian people have already been dealing with the high inflation rate between 9.9-13% in 2019 and 2020 due to the CBE floating the Egyptian pound in 2016.

Withdrawal Limits Started in Lebanon and India Well Before the Covid-19 Outbreak

The covid-19 outbreak is not the first sign of governments worldwide limiting the use of cash within a nation. Lebanese citizens have been dealing with the economic hardship as well. The country’s central bank imposed customer withdrawal limits last October. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed strict restrictions at the end of September 2019, which caused a broad range of Indian citizens to grow angry and rush branches.

The CBE’s Tarek Amer told reporters on Sunday on Sada al-Balad TV that “Egypt is facing a cash problem.”

Following the coronavirus scare, a few U.S. banks imposed withdrawal restrictions as customers from the Hamptons in New York tried to empty large accounts. Bank customers from a few other U.S. states also complained of withdrawal limit issues from financial institutions like Bank of America, Chase, and JPMorgan. Last week, reports also disclosed that a number of German banks have imposed withdrawal limits and customers can only withdraw 1,000 euros per visit.

Meanwhile, throughout the madness of this crazy environment filled with financial calamity, bitcoin supporters believe the time is now for worldwide citizens to adopt a censorship-resistant peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Banks have continued to make it harder for people to do what they want with their own money and with the covid-19 crisis, the problem is far more apparent. Americans, Egyptians, Lebanese, Indians, Germans, and citizens across the globe are starting to realize the glaring issues tied to modern central banking the hard way.

What do you think about the CBE imposing Egyptian pound withdrawal limits? Let us know in the comments below.

 

The post Egypt Limits Bank and ATM Withdrawals Citing Rampant Cash Outflow and Coronavirus Fears appeared first on Bitcoin News.

via Jamie Redman

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Bitcoin Mining Roundup: BTC Regains 100 Exahash, Miners Close Shop, Pre-Halving Shake-Up

In 44 days, BTC miners will face the third reward halving as the block subsidy will soon shrink from 12.5 to 6.25 coins per block. Following the market carnage in mid-March, BTC’s hashrate plummeted 44% to a 2020 low of 75 exahash per second (EH/s). Since then the hashrate has climbed back above 100EH/s, but profitability between SHA256 networks like BCH and BSV has been a lot more erratic than usual.

Also read: Bitcoin Hashrate Down 45% – Miners Witness Second-Largest Difficulty Drop in History

BTC Recaptures 100 Exahash – SHA256 Miners Bounce from Network to Network Chasing Profits

Three halvings are just around the corner and people monitoring these networks have been noticing a lot more action within the SHA256 mining ecosystem. The market downturn after March 12, stemming from the covid-19 scare, has caused a massive revenue shift for individuals and organizations mining bitcoins. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on how bitcoin miners have been selling more coins than they have been generating. Moreover, at the same time, the BTC hashrate lost 44% of its processing power and the network saw the second-largest difficulty drop in history. Now there’s only 44 days left until BTC’s subsidy halving, as the chain will halve on or around May 13. Since news.Bitcoin.com’s report three days ago, BTC miners have managed to jump back above the 100EH/s mark.

At the time of publication, bitcoinsv (BSV) miners have 2.4EH/s of hashpower and the network is expected to halve in ten days. Bitcoin cash (BCH) has around 3.4EH/s hashing away at the network and BCH miners will face a halving in eight days. With the significant price drop and the BTC difficulty drop that followed, all three networks have been seeing much longer time frames when it comes to miners shifting between networks for profits on each network.

Miners who are mining 2-3 of the most valuable SHA256 chains are bouncing back and forth depending on each chain’s profitability. For instance, from March 13 through the 21st, the profitability between BTC and BCH was considerable and favoring BCH. Similarly, after March 21, the opposite was true for about a week and miners moved hashpower over to BTC for a while. With all three halvings expected to happen roughly around the same time frame, the events make speculators believe that the trend of miners bouncing back and forth will continue to increase.

While DPW Holdings Closes a 28MW Operation, Hive Acquires a 30MW Facility

The price drop that affected all three SHA256 networks (BTC, BCH, and BSV) has caused a number of mining operations to close up shop or make an acquisition. On March 18, DPW Holdings revealed that because of the adverse effects of the covid-19 outbreak, the firm’s subsidiary mining farm Digital Farms would be closing indefinitely. The company filed an update with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about the decision to shut down operations. The report notes that Digital Farms shut down 28 megawatts (MW) of power “due to the unprecedented market conditions domestically and internationally.”

Following the closure of Digital Farms, Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd (TSX.V:HIVE) announced the acquisition of a mining operation with 30MW of power. The facility uses “low-cost green power” and resides in Lachute, Quebec. “The acquisition provides us with an advanced, operating Bitcoin mining facility ready to transition to next-generation mining hardware with access to some of the lowest-cost electricity on the planet,” Frank Holmes, interim executive chairman of Hive told the press on Monday. “The facility is powered entirely by renewable hydroelectricity, thereby maintaining our 100% green energy powered operations globally,” the Hive executive further remarked.

Montana Officials Extend Renewable Energy Guidelines for Bitcoin Miners

Just recently, Coinshares data and many other researchers have reported roughly 74% of bitcoin mining operations are leveraging some form of renewable energy. While mining bitcoins continues to grow popular, the state of Montana has seen a lot of miners setting up shop in the region.

The Cyptowatt facility (10.9 MW of capacity) shown above is one of many bitcoin mining operations located in Montana. State officials want to see all bitcoin miners in the region leverage renewable energy sources.

On March 27, officials in Missoula County, Montana proposed extending a guideline that requires miners operating in the state to use renewable energy sources. The proposal passed unanimously among the Missoula County Board of Commissioners and it will last until April 3, 2021.

16nm Chip and S9 Extinction?

A recent research report by Securities Daily’s Xing Meng reveals that older mining units like Bimain’s S9 (14TH/s) may not survive with bitcoin prices so low and with the upcoming reward halving. The mining operation F2pool has already reported that an estimated 2.3 million Antminer S9s have been shut off to-date.

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Securities Daily’s Xing Meng and F2pool’s data shows that 16nm-powered mining rigs that have been the standard since 2016 face extinction. Although, the recent adjustment in BTC’s difficulty has allowed 16nm powered units like the S9s to continue until the halving. According to data, right now an S9 with 14/THs and $0.04 per kWh, will lose $11 a day. This data indicates that electricity prices would have to be near free for S9s to continue going forward after the halving.

The current global economy fears mixed with the upcoming halvings on all three SHA256 networks, will surely make things in crypto-land more eventful. Signs of stress and large swings in mining profitability and hashrate, indicate that miners are likely simply trying to survive the best they can. For the last few years, bitcoin mining has been extremely competitive and the competition and stress will likely grow exponentially after these three halvings are said and done.

What do you think about the challenges miners face with the current price and upcoming halving? Let us know in the comments below.

 

The post Bitcoin Mining Roundup: BTC Regains 100 Exahash, Miners Close Shop, Pre-Halving Shake-Up appeared first on Bitcoin News.

via Jamie Redman

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