Without question, [Bitcoin (BTC)](/coins/btc) and the Bitcoin network are the best-known names in blockchain and cryptocurrency. 

The individual, or group, behind the invention of Bitcoin, remains pseudonymous, and this has arguably had a massive impact on the community.  Additionally, there is no individual with total power or control over the system. 

 
 

## Cryptography 


A simplistic way to think of Bitcoin is a combination of computing, cryptography, and a system of economic competition designed to ensure following the rules is in everyone’s best interest, without a central authority. The network manages itself, with no single party controlling the system. 
Honest work that supports the network, such as validating transactions, is rewarded, creating a mechanism for new bitcoin to be programmatically introduced into the system in a predictable way, achieving the key quality of scarcity. 
While Bitcoin participants may at times have conflicting interests, they share the goal of seeing Bitcoin succeed. But who controls the Bitcoin ledger, and how does it achieve sound money? 

 

## Design 

 
 

Bitcoin can be explained as a peer-to-peer network of computers all following a set of rules and instructions (the Bitcoin protocol) for validating transactions and issuing new coins. Any computer running any software that respects these rules - Bitcoin Nodes - can participate in the Bitcoin network.  
 

The protocol is like the banking laws of a country, but the Bitcoin protocol is enforced by code, and not by law. 

Bitcoin has a ledger of all the transactions - the blockchain - where transactions are recorded in blocks created at set intervals and connected to the previous block to create a chain. Then there is the mechanism for adding blocks to the chain and reaching an agreement, or consensus, that transactions are valid and the chain accurate – this is mining. 

The ledger and the way transactions are validated are revolutionary.  

We trust banks to maintain the integrity of their ledgers, but cannot verify this for ourselves. On the Bitcoin network, anyone can have a copy of the ledger containing every transaction ever made. This allows everyone to mathematically verify that every transaction in it is legitimate, and transactions that don’t respect the rules are automatically rejected by the software. 

This does lead to questions, however. For example, how do we all agree that the current version is the most up to date one and how can thousands of computers reach consensus without someone in charge? 

 
 

## Mining  

 
 

[Mining](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin-mining.asp) is about solving a complex mathematical problem, and it is competitive, with the winner being able to add to the chain of transactions and receive a reward. 

Everyone can verify that the solution is right, so if a miner cheats, other participants will simply discard the block.  

In theory, anyone can mine, but the maths problems are so difficult, and the competition so fierce, you’d need a lot of specialised computer equipment. Despite the costs this can involve, it can be very profitable, and the competition ensures no one person has complete control. 

## Supply 

 
As mentioned, mining is also the way new bitcoin (BTC) enters the system. When a miner gets to add a new block of transactions to the blockchain, they receive a reward of new bitcoins. 

The transaction fee is the sum of fees paid for all transactions included in that block, which vary according to demand. This is BTC already in circulation. 

The block rewards, however, are entirely new coins and currently set at 6.25 BTC per block until 2024. This process will continue until all 21 million BTC are released, at which point miners will only receive transaction fees. 

It is this which gives BTC the scarcity its value needs. 

 
 

## Sound Money 

 
 

So, bitcoin achieves reliable digital scarcity with no one in charge. What about the other properties of sound money? 

- **Durability** – As every node has a copy of the ledger, destroying the Bitcoin network would require that all 50,000 nodes be destroyed at the same time, along with all backups. Unlikely. 

- **Divisibility** – The smallest unit of Bitcoin is the satoshi, which is 1/100,000,000 of one coin. That’s far more precise than even the smallest microtransactions would require, although network fees make that level of precision impractical at the moment. 

- **Fungibility** - All Bitcoin have equal value, just like one gram of gold is equal to any other gram of gold. 

- **Portability** – It is entirely digital and incredibly portable, and can be stored on a computer, mobile phone, and on paper. 

 
 

## Limitations 

 
No system is entirely perfect. For the Bitcoin network, the chief limitation focuses on the relationship between security, scalability, and decentralisation.  

- Scalability is the capacity of the system to execute a higher volume of transactions  

- Security is the capacity to protect the ledger from cheating and attacks  

- Decentralisation is what stops any one party from controlling the network 



When you design a network, you have to make trade-offs in this area as you can’t have all three completely. [Fiat currency](link) is scalable and quite secure, but is centralised and controlled by a small group. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is focused on decentralisation and is secure, but at the price of scalability. 

 

At the moment, Bitcoin's maximum transaction speed makes it impractical to scale (compare five transactions per second to the reported 50,000+ leading debit/card handlers deal with). This, to an extent, is why bitcoin is stored for value rather than used as a medium of exchange. 

What is Bitcoin? A Guide

The world loves an underdog, and the cryptocurrency market is no different.  Recently, the crypto-market’s 2nd most capitalised digital asset, Ether, acquired the backing of the [wealth and asset management division of Morgan Stanley](https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/wealth-management/?cid=ppc-71700000088238971:700000002375621:58700007479779948:p67225276587&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3rKQBhCNARIsACUEW_YNit0Yu2BI-5Ptsa4FaGgIT3dncUlMVQy6Q2rEn9YJnDTVKYGBhGMaAnREEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds), a leading global investment bank with over 60,000 employees worldwide.

The investment banking powerhouse recently raised eyebrows with the distribution of a 20-page report filled with information demonstrating the financial firm’s confidence in the [Ethereum](/news/category/ethereum-news-today) blockchain.  Authored by investment strategist, Denny Galindo, the report details how the Ethereum blockchain technology can be more effective in terms of its practical application to solving real-world problems than  its rival and cryptocurrency’s reigning champion: Bitcoin.  

## Investors Should Consider Ethereum

Whaaat?  No, we’re for real.  In the report, Galindo presses the fact that Ethereum has a multitude of features that places the technology head-and-shoulders above the rest of its crypto-competitors, including Bitcoin.  The key takeaway from Galindo’s report was that investors should be considering the digital cryptocurrency, Ether, as a stand-on-its-own investment from the more wildly popular and more heavily capitalised Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

The report goes into an analysis of how the Ethereum blockchain technology and Bitcoin are akin to one another in two significant ways: both offer a decentralised form of currency and have a component of digital scarcity.  What the report also implies, is that the Ethereum blockchain technologies seem to be evolving in a way that leads experts to believe that they can be used for much more than a simple payment mechanism.  Galindo goes on to say that the pace at which the Ethereum blockchain is innovating clearly demonstrates an attachment to a “larger collection of activities.” 

## Will Ethereum Reach New Highs in 2022?

The cryptocurrency investment community is viewing the report as prophetic; a huge tailwind that the entire cryptocurrency market can ride to new highs in 2022.  Despite the market’s rocky start this year, there is still a feeling of momentum that is suggesting that 2022 could be a very big year for Ethereum.  There are many, many innovations happening in the world of blockchain technologies, and a lot of them are happening on the Ethereum blockchain.  Among them, the blockchain serves as an app store that is owned by no one and facilitates the operation of decentralised finance applications (DeFi) and the exchange of increasingly popular non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  

While Galindo promotes his belief that the Ethereum blockchain offers a much wider array of applications than Bitcoin, he does “pump the brakes” in his report by saying it shouldn’t be considered an open endorsement to “buy” Ether, the digital coin that trades on the Ethereum network.  Rather, the report is ultimately intended to be an educational supplement, or a primer, to help investors bone up on the Ethereum blockchain, especially considering that it is far less understood than its bigger brother, Bitcoin. 

Ethereum is ranked 28th in terms of being the world’s most valuable asset (ranked by market cap.) currently valued at $368 billion. If a bit of perspective would help, Walmart is valued at $370 billion.


Ethereum’s New Mega-Booster – Morgan Stanley News

All eyes were on Ark Investment Management today after the release of a report claiming [Ethereum](/coins/eth) could reach $180,000 by 2030.

Famed crypto investment fund Ark Investment Management released details today claiming that the market value of Ethereum could reach $20 trillion by 2030. Such a massive market cap would mean an individual Ethereum price of anywhere between $170,000 and $180,000.

The new report from the investment fund supports the claims, by stating that it all depends on the amount of market share Ethereum manages to capture from traditional finance through DeFi.

## $1 million [Bitcoin](/coins/btc)?
---------------------------------------------------------

Decentralised Finance, or DeFi for short, is the area of cryptocurrency that is currently creating more efficient, more transparent, and more reliable applications which aim to disrupt the legacy financial system. The total value of the DeFi market today is $108.5 billion and growing, with the Ethereum network currently accounting for around 70% of all DeFi transactions. If Ethereum can maintain or increase this market share in the next 8 years while traditional financial systems wake up to the cost benefits of DeFi protocols, then anything is possible.

The report also suggested that if Bitcoin can continue to ‘scale as nation states adopt as legal tender then the price of one Bitcoin could exceed $1 million by 2030.’ These are bold claims from Ark Invest, but as we all know are not unheard of in the cryptocurrency space. Only last month Michael Saylor, CEO of Microstrategy, made the claim that Bitcoin would hit $1 million in the next 10 years. Microstrategy backed up their confidence with another purchase of Bitcoin taking their total holdings to 121,044 which at current prices is worth $4.4 billion.

## Ark 21 Shares ETF
-----------------

Ark Investment Management were in the news again yesterday, as the US based [SEC](https://www.sec.gov/) stated that any decision on a futures Bitcoin ETF would be delayed an extra 60 days from the beginning of February. Ark Invest together with 21 Shares had made the application to launch a futures backed Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) back in June 2021. 

The ruling from the SEC pushes the decision deadline back to April 3rd stating that it was ‘appropriate to designate a longer period’ as a proposed rule change regarding Bitcoin ETFs would impact their decision. Ark and 21 Shares will be relieved to know that April 3rd will be the final date for a decision, as the SEC will be unable to deliberate any further from this date.

## A Step in The Right Direction

With more and more investment funds looking to create Bitcoin ETF’s it can only be a positive for the continuing legitimacy and development of the cryptocurrency market. Although not quite a physically backed Bitcoin ETF, futures-based investment funds are a step in the right direction. If cryptocurrencies can continue to gain mainstream exposure and financial legitimacy, then Ark Investment’s claim of a $1 million Bitcoin by 2030 may not seem so far away.

Ark Invest Holdings: Ethereum Prediction

A sense of optimism hung in the crypto air this morning as [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) and other major cryptocurrencies bounced strongly after a week of heavy losses.

At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin stood at $36,460 representing an increase of 8.10% in the last 24 hours while Ethereum gained 8.23% reaching a price of $2,423. The total market cap of crypto currently stands at $1.65 trillion, an increase of 7.71%. After a week of absolute carnage, it appears that investors have indeed bought the dip demonstrating continued strength in the cryptocurrency market.

## Increasing correlation to traditional markets

Bitcoin began its bounce on Monday as US east coast traders returned to their desks after lunch. Interestingly the US equity market also saw a strong surge during the same time indicating Bitcoin’s increased correlation with traditional markets. With many eyes on today’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) which is anticipated to discuss interest rate rises and continued asset purchases, this week could be very interesting indeed.

The Relative Strength Index continues to indicate Bitcoin is heavily oversold which would suggest a turnaround is imminent as buyers seek to take advantage of the discounted prices. As we have mentioned before, historically Bitcoin often begins strong rallies after precipitous falls. Could this be the start of a rally to new all-time highs?

## Alt season on hold?

Mike McGlone, Chief Commodity Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence however was not so optimistic for altcoins going on record to say, “Price reversion in crypto is likely to spread in 2022 after the assets were a poster child of speculative inflationary excess in 2021, but Bitcoin stands to come out ahead.”

However, as we can see above many of the major altcoins demonstrated as much resilience in Bitcoin with equally strong bounces. Solana, Polkadot, Atom, and Avalanche all posted 24-hour gains ranging between 12% and 17% respectively. The crypto market may be down, but it is certainly not out.

## ‘I'm loving it’

Finally, in a candidate for tweet of the year already the official Twitter account of McDonald’s Restaurants asked “[how are you doing people who run crypto twitter accounts?](https://twitter.com/McDonalds/status/1485726032967704582)” Demonstrating the humour and camaraderie that has come to be associated with what is known as ‘crypto Twitter’ McDonald’s are clearly getting their own back on all those crypto tweeters who see a job at McDonald’s as the last resort in a prolonged bear market. However, I and many others have a feeling that McDonald’s will soon be eating their own words, with extra fries.

Bitcoin and Crypto Rebound After Week of Loss

[Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) traders woke to yet more shock Monday morning as the price of the asset tumbled to further localised lows.

At time of press, the price of the world’s number one digital asset sat at $33,728 – a fall of 5.52% in the last 24 hours. However, with the price of Bitcoin bottoming at $33,243 at 11:09 UTC this morning the current price shows that there are buyers at this level but as you may well imagine traders and investors are treading with extreme caution. 

Bitcoin wasn’t the only crypto to experience a devastating fall in value. The entire market also dropped sharply and currently stands at $1.54 trillion representing a fall of 7.01% in the last 24 hours.

## Outside factors

With market and network fundamentals at their strongest in years many investors are looking for outside factors as the reason behind the latest market crash. Tensions between Russia and NATO led allies continue to simmer over a Russian military build up at the Ukrainian border and while Russia insists it has no plans to invade, the USA and the UK have already told their embassy staff to begin making plans to leave the country. In contrast, the EU have no plans to fly diplomats out of Ukraine and is at a loss to explain why the USA and UK have given the green light adding ‘the US has not given any clear justification for its decision’.

As we reported on Friday, cryptocurrency and digital assets are still seen by many as risk-on investments which in times of uncertainty are often the first to be sacrificed, regardless of market strength.

However, there are other angles at play in this situation which many in the crypto community believe are having an impact on market activity. The US have threatened Russia with economic sanctions which will ‘bring the country to its knees’ should the country decide to stage an invasion of Ukraine. In practical terms this means deactivating Russia from the SWIFT network which has been used by every nation state to transfer capital around the world since 1972.

## ‘Alternative rails of finance’

In retaliation to the threat from Joe Biden, Russia have spoken of using ‘alternative rails of finance’ which many people believe is a nod toward distributed and decentralised networks able to move large amounts of capital such as Ripplenet or Stellar Lumens. However, with both of these firms originating in the US it is hard to believe Russia would choose to adopt their services. That being said the nature of many cryptocurrency networks is borderless and the vision they hold for the future is one of harmonious trade with drastically reduced friction in terms of policy, regulation and cost.

The last thing the world needs right now is yet another conflict and personally speaking I don’t think that is going to happen. I do believe however that a movement away from out of date and weighted legacy payment systems such as SWIFT towards the large scale use of decentralised and distributed networks that enable a fairer and balanced global economic environment is only a matter of time. However what time frame this financial transformation occurs on is anybody's guess.


Crypto Price Down as Ukraine Crisis Hits

Crypto investors are accustomed to market crashes. Smart investors cash out at the right time and invest in the downtrend, while those experiencing fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) contribute to the market collapse by panic selling. 

The latest crypto crash has erased over $1 trillion in market value. Market-definers [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) and [Ethereum](/coins/eth) plummeted to lows not seen in months and most altcoins have recently suffered greatly. Of course, several factors have contributed to the latest market crash, but we won't dive into them.

Instead, we will explore the consequences of the market plummet. How are investors reacting to the meltdown? 

## Ethereum is a mixed market 

According to Glass node metrics, the total Ethereum value in the ETH 2.0 Deposit Contract reached a five-month low of roughly $20.9 billion. The previous low of roughly $21.2 billion was observed on Sep. 21. 

While this statistic represents one position, the number of users with at least 0.01 Ethereum in their crypto wallets has reached an all-time high (ATH) of nearly 22 million. 

The statistics appear to indicate that holders with large Ethereum investments cashed out at the right time driving the market price down and leading a number of new investors to add Ethereum to their holdings at a relatively advantageous discounted price. 

Investors are keeping an eye on Open Interest in Perpetual Futures Contracts as well, as it reached a one-month high of nearly $65 million at crypto exchange Kraken. Notably, the previous one-month high was on Jan. 22. This indicates an increasingly upward trend. 

It should be noted that the number of Bitcoin addresses with over 100 Bitcoins is at a three-month low of almost 16,000. The previous three-month low was on Jan. 22 (surprise surprise). This indicates an increasingly downward trend. 

A correlation between the last two statistics? I think so. Folks, Ethereum is here to stay and 2022 will be a good year for the crypto asset. Hold tight!



What Does the Latest Crypto Crash Mean for Ethereum?

The price of [Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) suffered further crash losses today as the value of the world’s foremost digital currency dropped below $40,000 usd for the first time in six months. While recovering slightly since a precipitous fall to $38,250 in the early hours of this morning, the price of Bitcoin is currently trading at $39,022 usd leaving many investors to speculate what caused the drop.

The Bitcoin network has never been stronger with the hash rate at all time highs. The hash rate is the metric which illustrates the computing power needed to mine Bitcoin. A higher hash rate demonstrates confidence in the network and its long term growth. After dipping in mid 2021 the hash rate has recently rebounded to record highs.

## External influences

It is often said that positive price action usually follows higher hash rates however looking at the current market performance this is clearly not the case. As we know the cost of mining is closely tied to the price of Bitcoin. For large scale mining farms to be profitable miners need to know their break even point and calculations based on the current hash rate indicate this to be around $34,000 usd.

With the network in good health it is pertinent to look for outside factors which may have caused investors to sell off.

## $600 million ways to fry

Many people are pointing towards Friday’s options expiry of some $600 million in open interest contracts as a major factor in the price crash of Bitcoin. After almost two weeks of sideways action many investors believed that $40,000 usd represented a solid price floor. However, with speculators gambling on the value of Bitcoin through futures based ETF’s the price of an unregulated asset such as Bitcoin is always going to be open to manipulation. When you add in the fact that leveraged Bitcoin liquidations across trading platforms account for $292 million the picture of market manipulation becomes clear. Regulation has never been more needed in an industry desperate to break into the mainstream.

## Ukraine crisis

History shows us investors do not like uncertainty and when anxiety is in the air capital is often pulled from high risk assets into safe havens. Although Bitcoin is more frequently viewed as a risk free hedge to rising rates of inflation it is still considered by many to be a risk-on investment. Therefore, with the crisis in Ukraine bringing increased uncertainty to worldwide markets it is prudent to believe that a degree of long term profit is banked as significant capital leaves the market. The difficult question any serious investor should be asking right now is what and  how long will it take before Bitcoin inevitably bounces back?


Bitcoin below $40,000 for first time in 6 months

[Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) price action remains stable but is a value surge just around the corner?

The price of Bitcoin has been steadily declining since 8th November leaving many to speculate the bull run is finally over. With a retracement close to 40% it is easy to see why this is a popular narrative. However, there are many people who believe Bitcoin has one and possibly two more bull runs left in the tank. What are the factors behind this optimism and when could this occur?

## Price volatility at record low

The current price of Bitcoin stands at $41,876 representing a fall of 2% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin has been range bound between roughly $41,000 and $43,000 since 6th January which in the volatile land of unregulated cryptocurrency is something of a rarity. Clearly retail investors have been spooked and institutional investors are buying their time.

This price stability is reflected in the volatility, which according to the Bitcoin Volatility Index is at its lowest point since November 2021 at 2.63%. Low volatility might not be attractive to traders but from an institutional adoption angle it represents maturity and stability which in turn generates interest. Therefore the ‘boring’ price action of Bitcoin may be just what is needed to encourage more large-scale investors to the crypto table.

## Bitcoin fear and greed index

As mentioned above, the price of Bitcoin has seen a sharp pull back from record highs of November 2021. In turn, retail investment has practically disappeared as many people fear getting burnt or worse. This market sentiment is measured by the handy Fear and Greed Index which uses a handful of factors to assess how traders are likely to react given the current price. The current Fear & Greed Index score is 24% representing Extreme Fear which to the bold investor is the perfect time to buy.

## China Bitcoin ban

Many people believe the price decline of Bitcoin since November 2021 could be related to yet another Chinese Bitcoin mining and trading ban as investors in the far east sell off and take profits. This would explain the 40% drawback as a large proportion of Bitcoin mining occurred in China before the ban. The USA now accounts for the highest percentage of hashpower in the world.

Historically speaking, Bitcoin has a habit of launching a price surge just when everyone thinks the asset is dead and it is headed for zero. This could easily be the case here. The development of the Bitcoin network has come too far in the last 24 months for it to crash and burn and the adoption of nation states such as Venezuela, El Salvador and lately Tonga show just how much credibility Bitcoin still has in the tank.

## Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency

The real question is why isn't anyone buying Bitcoin, and other crypto for that matter, in large enough quantities to move the market which was evident at time throughout 2021. This could be due to many factors. As we have discussed before the market is in dire need of regulation and its absence deters many traditional investors looking to enter the space. 

Later this week US Congress is due to host a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee entitles “Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The energy impacts of blockchain” which is sure to make recommendations which will impact the development of the market. So, is circa $40,000 the new floor? Will it hold? And once we have regulatory clarity will investors return to the table in record numbers? Only time will tell.



Is the Bitcoin price stagnant or stable?

The largest city in Brazil is planning to invest 1% of the city’s financial reserves into [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) it was revealed yesterday.

In an attempt to rebrand the city as ‘Crypto Rio’ mayor of Rio de Janiero, Eduardo Paes, recently announced that “We are going to launch Crypto Rio and invest 1% of the treasury in cryptocurrency – the government has a role to play”.

## Property Tax Discount

The announcement came during Rio Innovation Week and was released through news agency O Globo. The revelation came as Mr Paes discussed Rio’s cryptocurrency future as he shared a stage with the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez. The discussion also included plans to consider a 10% discount on all property tax which is paid in Bitcoin. Rio de Janeiro city Finance Secretary Pedro Paulo commented “Let us study the legal framework to do this”.

In a move that closely follows neighbours El Salvador, the Brazillian government is clearly warming to the idea of integrating cryptocurrency payments. In November last year Federal Deputy Luizão Goulart proposed a bill to legalise crypto as a payment method for both public and private sector workers in the country.

The following month leading crypto payment firm in Brazil, MercadoPago, enabled all Brazilian residents access to buy, sell and hold all major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Clearly Brazil is waking up to the economic advantages of adopting a digital framework throughout their economy.

## Inflation hedge

With inflation around the world continuing to rise, cryptocurrencies represent some of the best ways to reduce costs and increase network security and efficiency. In addition many people see Bitcoin itself as an alternative to gold and the perfect hedge against the weakening of fiat currencies.

The price of Bitcoin remains in the low $40,000’s with the price at time of press standing at $42,359 a fall of 3.72% in the last 24 hours. The overall market cap sits at $2.02 trillion, a pull back of 3.16%. Bitcoin market dominance is 39.7% which shows it is still the worlds best known and largest cryptocurrency by market cap. How long this remains the case is anyone’s guess however with major cities like Rio de Janeiro announcing their intention to invest in Bitcoin, the message to undecided or cautious investors is clear. [Buy Bitcoin](/trade).


Rio de Janeiro to invest 1% of city wealth into Bitcoin

Throughout 2021, cryptocurrency heavyweights like [Bitcoin](/news/category/bitcoin-news) and [Ethereum](/news/category/ethereum-news-today) experienced sharp declines in value, however, the market showed remarkable resiliency and ended the year in bull market territory.  As we begin another new year, cryptocurrencies are _again_ experiencing sharp declines (hardly anything new for the month of January) and, while the most heavily capitalised cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, decline in value, other digital assets, referred to as “altcoins,” are gaining an increasing amount of attention from new investors. 

## What Are Altcoins?

Altcoins, an abbreviated way of saying “alternative coins,” are nothing other than digital assets **not** called Bitcoin.  As of November 2021, there were over 14,000 altcoins trading across a wide array of crypto-exchanges operating on the market.  The rate at which Millennials and members of the Gen Z demographic are piling into altcoins, more than any other generation, is sure to make 2022 an especially big year for these digital assets.  These two groups account form a portion of society that has never known a world _without_ the internet and their accelerated level of digital adoption and keen interest in digital assets is expected to drive the popularity and adoption of altcoins to new records. 

## Market Cheerleaders

The lot of these two groups account for the majority of the market’s “cheerleaders” or the digital asset crusaders loudly promoting their belief that cryptocurrencies are the vanguard of a financial revolution.  And why not?  It’s easy to understand how cryptocurrencies fit the lifestyle of these two groups.  If we examine them a bit more closely, we see how technically adept they tend to become at a very young age, and this is what drives their preferences for financial transactions that are achieved through digital means over other more traditional methods. 

Vendors haven’t failed to notice.  Organizations, large and small, are recognizing the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies among the younger generations as an opportunity to grow their own businesses.  The list of organisations announcing their acceptance of cryptocurrency as a form of payment is steadily growing.  The rapid adoption of altcoins by younger investors also sheds a bit more light on why mega-retailers, like Amazon, are investing so heavily in cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.

## Expect a Steady Rise in Altcoin Popularity

In the new year to come, it’s safe to anticipate that altcoins already experiencing a steady rise in popularity will pick up _even more steam_.  Perhaps most notable of all, investors should develop a keen interest in the “metaverse” and the role it is playing not just in the lives of the younger generation, but in all our lives.  These virtual reality worlds are developing economies all their own and many, like Decentraland and The Sandbox, have their own cryptocurrencies that players use to exchange online goods and even purchase virtual real estate.

Here are a few of the more popular altcoins to watch in 2022:

[**Solana (SOL)**](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/solana/): Up more than 13,000% in 2021.  Logically, most think their opportunity to buy in has long since passed, but Solana has a reputation as a low-cost platform that can be very competitive with Bitcoin meaning there is room yet to grow. 

[**Decentraland (MANA)**](https://decentraland.org/): We mentioned the metaverse earlier, and MANA is what they mean when they say “buying the metaverse." In the [Decentraland](https://decentraland.org/) metaverse, one can purchase virtual real estate, buy shop fronts, and so much more.  MANA is the currency of this virtual world.

[**Chainlink (LINK)**](https://chain.link/): As the use of smart contracts continues to increase, so too will the value of Chainlink. 

Altcoins give us many reasons to be excited about the future as these smaller coins offer more upside potential, but this market hasn’t yet matured – altcoin prices can be significantly affected by rampant volatility and it’s important for investors to keep this in mind.

Altcoins Drawing Interest from Millennials

There was fresh hope for the cryptocurrency market today as the [Bitcoin](/crypto coin news/bitcoin news) price registered the first positive action in three days.

The cryptocurrency market has been taking a hit recently with prices tumbling since many all time highs were reached in early November 2021. However, the last 7 days have seen prices stabilise in what many experts believe is the bottom of the recent price dip.

## Bitcoin price movement

At time of press, Bitcoin is currently trading at $42,029 with a 24 hour high of $42,663. Could this be the reversal that many people are hoping for? Bitcoin fell below $40,000 for the first time in 3 months yesterday (January 10th) when the price touched $39,816 across exchanges. The price bounced sharply showing strong buying support around and under $40,000. However, with global macro economic uncertainty Bitcoin is still considered by many as a speculative investment and high risk assets are often first to be sold in times of uncertainty.

## Wise decisions needed

The question cryptocurrency investors need to ask themselves at this point is what is considered high or medium risk? The future of cryptocurrency has never been so bright as many of the well established networks begin to come online and offer tangible cost and efficiency benefits to their loyal customers. However in a market saturated with meme coins, ponzi projects and rug pulls the savvy investor must choose wisely.

## Hedge against financial catastrophe

Legendary investor, Bill Miller, recently announced he has allocated 50% of his net worth into Bitcoin as an “insurance policy against financial catastrophe”. Does he know something the rest of us don’t? With over 40 years in the investment business it would be naïve to think Mt Miller is taking a speculative gamble on Bitcoin especially since he purchased his first Bitcoin in 2014. Mr Miller went on to say “the average investors should ask themselves what do they have in their portfolio which has Bitcoins track record – 1, is very, very under penetrated, 2, can provide as a hedge against financial catastrophe, 3, can increase in value 10 – 50x – the answer is nothing”.

## Market shake down

Clearly Mr Miller is very bullish on the future of Bitcoin which is a great help to counteract the negative feeling currently surrounding Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. Distributed networks and blockchain technology have the power to radically change the way we do business and make for a fairer and more balanced global community. 

However, there may be many more rough seas to cross before we reach the calm economic waters we all crave. I think the key is to invest wisely and stick to medium to large cap crypto with a working product, strong customer base and a clear road map for the future. The entire cryptocurrency market is long overdue a radical shake out which will leave behind only the strongest contenders. Choose wisely and make sure you are on the right side of history.



Is Bitcoin Price Back on the Up?

The world’s most heavily capitalised digital asset, Bitcoin, celebrated its 13th birthday last week, but the cryptocurrency market’s mood has been far from “celebratory,” despite all that Bitcoin has achieved since it was launched in 2009.   January 8th marked the seventh-straight day in a row that the digital asset’s value trended lower – Not since 2018 has there been such a steady decline.

Last year, while crypto-enthusiasts were applauding the digital assets market for finally achieving “mainstream adoption,” a crucial inflection point, other cryptocurrency analysts were trying to warn investors that the fever pitch and accelerated values may trigger a late year sell-off.  They were right. 

How did we get here?  As Bitcoin slips toward the psychological floor of $40K, crypto-investors are anxiously looking for any credible news or trends to suggest that the current market sell-off could finally be ending. 

Let’s all take a collective breath as we consider some important facts.

First, the month of January _always_ seems to spook investors with sudden dips.  This historically creates a domino effect that chases the newer investors out of the market, and it appears that 2022 will be more of the same.  Yes, this sell-off has been especially disconcerting as Bitcoin has shed 10% of its value in the first ten days of 2022, but a closer look at the market players reveals some answers. 

If one considers the role the Federal Reserve has had to play in all this, especially their reaction to the pandemic, the sell-off becomes less of a mystery.  During the pandemic, the Fed was very lenient on the economy and even went so far as to inject over $4 trillion into the economy.  It was a move to support the global marketplace while the world’s employers struggled to find a way to stay in business with much of their workforce needing (or wanting) to work remotely.  Now, as the world’s economies begin to stabilize, the Fed is starting to give signals that it may be thinking about taking some new steps to minimize the rate of inflation - rates that are now at their highest level in forty years.

A simple review of the minutes from last week’s Federal Reserve meeting served to only further fan those flames.  Word began to spread across the media channels, and the rout was on. 

It’s also worth noting that most investors still categorize cryptocurrencies as “high risk” investments.  In so doing, the cryptocurrency market will continue to react with _sell orders_ whenever the Fed hints at tempering the market like it did last week.  So, the big question becomes, especially for the investors who piled into the market late last year, when does this carnage end? 

As of this weekend, Bitcoin was down 35% from the all-time high, but some influential players are sensing better days are ahead.  Are they correct?  The price of Bitcoin is continuing to edge closer to the $39,570 mark.  That’s approximately where Bitcoin’s price hit a floor in September 2021, before going on an upward tear.

In fact, a strategist from Bloomberg made comments earlier suggesting that Bitcoin could _outperform_ traditional stocks in 2022, especially if any moves are made by the Fed to raise interest rates.  The strategist stated: “Cryptos are tops among the risky and speculative. If risk assets decline, it helps the Fed’s inflation fight. Becoming a global reserve asset, Bitcoin may be a primary beneficiary in that scenario.”

Remember, the technology behind these digital assets is still very new to the mainstream public, and there was a lot of FOMO activity that took place in late 2021.  As the market cools, it is establishing a new baseline.  We’ve been here before.

Is it time to pick up some bargains?

Cryptocurrencies Prices Plummet

[Bitcoin](/coins/btc) traders and investors continued to hold their breath today as the price of the world’s number one digital asset continued to fall.

At time of press, Bitcoin is trading at $42,406 representing a drop of 1.11% in the last 24 hours. The total market cap for the entire crypto industry stands at just over $2 trillion, a fall of just 0.85% over the previous day. Is this anything to worry about? What has caused this drawback? Lets take a closer look.

**November Bitcoin Highs**
--------------------------

To many, the cryptocurrency market has never been healthier. Many large scale companies such as Tesla have Bitcoin investments on their balances sheets while 2021 finally saw the emergence of a Bitcoin futures ETF. Rumour has it that there are many institutions poised to make significant crypto investment through 2022 yet the prices of the major cryptocurrencies have been falling since the highs of November 2021.

As the charts and figures clearly show the price of Bitcoin peaked on November 10th with a price of $68,385. Since then the price has been in free fall however many commentators believed that there was significant buying support around $50,000. Therefore the shock when Bitcoin fell firstly to $45,000 and then more recently this week to $42,000 was audible. However, on a macro scale there doesn’t appear to be anything to worry about.

**Strong Fundamentals**
-----------------------

The understanding and concept of digital assets and distributed ledger networks has never been clearer or stronger than it is going into 2022. With other digital currencies such as Ethereum, Hedera Hashgraph and Link all scheduling upgrades and developments in the first part of the year the industry has never been stronger. However, there is a large percentage of the digital asset market  cap which is made up from speculative investors more familiar with the stock market.

These kind of investors still view cryptocurrencies and digital assets as risk on investments compared to other more stable parts of their portfolio. Therefore, when there are concerning macro economic winds whipping across the financial landscape cryptocurrencies are one of the first assets to be sacrificed. The news of the Federal Reserve plans to tighten monetary policy this week provided the catalysts for much profit taking across both crypto and stocks. 

**Local Bottom for Bitcoin Price?**
-----------------------------------

The question many people are asking is where is the local bottom for Bitcoin? There are some market experts saying that Bitcoin could fall as low as $30,000 although the general consensus is that $40,000 looks like a safe bet.  As we mentioned above the fundamentals for both Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general have never been stronger so a fall into the $30,000 region seems unlikely. However as we all know anything is possible in this unregulated and burgeoning market place.



Bitcoin Price Feels the Wind of Change

Fantom (FTM) crypto is an open source, layer-1, Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain that can execute smart contracts. Fantom’s PoS consensus mechanism, Lachesis, permits transactions to be speedy, secure and scalable. The crypto asset had a successful year, to say the least. At this time last year, Fantom was trading at just over $0.02 and is currently trading at $2.75.

Fantom provides exceptional security and is highly scalable. With a market cap of just under $7 billion, you may think I am crazy to say (well, write) that FTM is still undervalued. The thing is, I believe the whole Fantom decentralised app (dApp) ecosystem is undervalued. 

## DeFi on Fantom should fare well in 2022

On 30 August 2021, the Fantom Foundation announced a 370 million FTM incentive program for protocol builders on Fantom. If you sustain and increase your total value locked (TVL) on Fantom, they will reward you. It is no wonder that there are currently 110 projects building on Fantom, with a TVL of almost $5.7 billion. 

Yet, if we compare Fantom DeFi apps to their Ethereum, [Binance](https://www.binance.com/en) Smart Chain (BSC) and Avalanche counterparts in terms of market cap/TVL, you will see that they are trading at a relative discount (TVL). 

Source: [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JackNiewold)

If we take [Ethereum](/news/category/ethereum-news-today) for example, Spookyswap, Hector Dao, Geist and Spiritswap are direct copies of their Ethereum counterparts, yet are undervalued. 

Source: [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JackNiewold)

We are looking at an average undervaluation of 20%, with Spookyswap being the most undervalued dApp. The 370 million war chest is worth roughly $1 billion in today’s market and should play a humongous role in correcting the ecosystem’s undervaluation. Fantom could quite easily scale to a $30 billion market cap in 2022.   
Go find the next [Fantom DeFi gem](https://defillama.com/chain/Fantom) today!



Is Fantom (FTM) an Undervalued Crypto?

Polarity.  Volatility.  Even Mass Hysteria.  A wide array of terms can be used to explain the phenomenon of cryptocurrencies in 2021.  Whatever the term, it’s most certainly the type of phenomenon capable of creating new millionaires, which the market most certainly did in 2021.  Of course, celebrity tweets played a role in promoting the popularity of the market, but what a year it’s been for those with an iron stomach. 

Wall Street has always been fond of saying that “volatility works both ways” and you can ask the investors who bought into altcoins like AXS, SAND, or FTM back in January if truer words were ever spoken.

Though rocky at times with a couple of monumental dips, it was a fine year for the cryptocurrency market as it made huge strides towards mainstream adoption and gained $30 billion in new investments.  Those are remarkable achievements for a market that hasn’t yet adopted a regulatory framework and was all but outlawed by a global superpower (China). Still the popularity of digital assets continues to grow _no matter what_ the world seems to throw at investors. 

## A Look Back at 2021

A look back at the top-performing digital coins of 2021 reveals one thing about the future – get to know **[metaverses](/news/category/metaverse-news/)**.  Facebook's recent re-branding as “Meta” ignited a _powder keg_ that thrust every coin that was metaverse related into the stratosphere.  Essentially, a metaverse is a virtual world where people socialise, go to virtual shopping malls, buy virtual real estate, and do pretty much anything they would do in the _real_ world.  Most of the top-performing coins of 2021 are playing an increasingly crucial role in these metaverses:

### Gala (Symbol: GALA) – Revenue from the global gaming market is expected to reach $200 billion in 2024. At the center of it is a blockchain-gaming platform, GALA – a digital currency that shot up an absurd _51,000%_ in value in 2021.

### Axie Infinity (Symbol: AXS)– Another metaverse-related cryptocurrency that took early investors on a Nantucket sleighride in 2021.  Axie Infinity posted a gain of nearly 19,000% this year. 

### The Sandbox (Symbol: SAND) – Rage on, metaverse coins!  Sandbox has locked arms with mega-boosters, like Snoop Dogg who incidentally built his very own virtual mansion in the Sandbox platform.  Tallying a 14,530% pump in value since the start of the year, SAND enjoys its rightful place as one of our top performers of 2021.

### Fantom (Symbol: FTM)– Best described as a provider of ledger services to global businesses, Fantom has posted a surge of almost 9000% in 2021 and, with its very strong fundamentals, there could be more room to grow in 2022. 

### Decentraland (Symbol: MANA) – [Decentraland](https://decentraland.org/) is a wildly popular virtual world with 300,000 monthly participants (and growing).  Many of them wanting to purchase land or trade their digital wares in the platform.  To do it, they’re using Decentraland's official digital currency, MANA.  The surge in popularity was able to boost the value of MANA by almost 4000% in 2021.

As we march into the new year, we all aspire to discover the next coin best-positioned for a 50,000% gain.  Be prudent about your research, and understand this market is still young, extremely volatile, and oh-so exciting.

Momentum Behind 2021’s Crypto Gaming Coins

After months of development, [Ethereum](/coins/eth) finally announced their Proof of Stake test net Kintsugi went live on December 20th.

Until Monday, Kintsugi had been only available to developers looking to experiment and build ahead of the much anticipated launch of Ethereum 2.0 next year. The successful launch of Kintsugi was announced by lead developer Tim Beiko on Monday in a series of tweets. 

Beiko stated “Although client development and UX continue to be refined, we encourage the community to start using Kintsugi to familiarize themselves with Ethereum in a post-merge context. For application developers, as previously explained, not much will change. Tooling which only interacts with either the consensus or execution layer is also largely unaffected.”

Testnets often launch prior to main net to enable developers to test applications in a controlled setting.

## Bad for the environment

The launch of Ethereum2.0 will finally see the complete transition to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. Proof of Work blockchains are seen as slow, costly and harmful to the environment and therefore adopting the Proof of Stake model is the logical approach.

The move has taken longer than many people expected however the launch of Kintsugi is a clear indication that the time of reckoning is moving closer. Many industry experts believe Ethereum 2.0 will be ready for public use sometime in Spring next year.

## Smart contract development

The calls for Ethereum 2.0 grow louder by the day. With Ethereum transactions taking anywhere between 5 minutes and four hours depending on network congestion, a Proof of Work model will bring much needed speed to the network. Current transaction costs also make the network unattractive to developers. The general feeling is that when Ethereum 2.0 is launched we will see a massive rise in network use and smart contract application development which will benefit all areas of the industry.

## Stability

Kintsugi will run until the network reaches stability along with other pre launched testnets. Beiko explained that “existing long lived testnets will run through ‘The Merge’. Once these have upgraded and are stable, next up is Ethereum mainnet transition to Proof of Stake.”



Ethereum POS Testnet Kintsugi Release 

The cryptocurrency market looked shaky again today as crypto traders saw another 24 hours of drawback.

The cryptocurrency market experienced another drawback today as confidence among traders and investors seemed like a distant memory.

At time of press, the value of the entire cryptocurrency market is $2.6 trillion with a drawn down of 1.62% in the last 24 hours. The market has made a slight recovery through the day after bottoming out at $2.09 trillion at 19:40 UTC last night (December 13th). [Bitcoin](/coins/btc) dominance is at 41.4% which is a slight rise since Thursday localised low of 39.8%. The price of Bitcoin is currently $47,230 representing a loss of 1.61% over the last 24 hours and a loss of 8.30% and 26.6% for the last week and month respectively.

While a drawback of 1.61% is of no real concern to traders the fact that Bitcoin has recently lost support at $48k and $47k with a localised dip down to $45.7k is more worrying. Who is selling and why?

**Different strokes for different folks**
-----------------------------------------

With conflicting narratives across the world, it is difficult to determine just what is happening in the market. On one hand we have seen recent large scale investment from the likes of Michael Saylor of Microstrategy whilst on the other hand there is news coming out of Russia that the Central Bank of Russia is banning mutual funds in the country from making investments into Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, the German Savings Banks Association have announced details regarding a pilot project aimed at providing and exchange and private wallets to their 50 million customers allowing each and everyone to purchase cryptocurrencies directly.

Clearly each country has its own approach.

There is cause for optimism on the immediate horizon however as recent data from crypto exchange Bitfinex show there is increasingly strong buying support for Bitcoin from $44,500 to $46,000.

**FOMC report imminent**
------------------------

Many investors believe this is in response to anticipated findings resulting from the FOMC meeting scheduled for Wednesday 15th December. The FOMC or Federal Open Market Committee is a group of 12 members which decide on monetary policy for the US Federal Reserve and the results of tomorrows key meeting are eagerly awaited by the cryptocurrency community. If, like many people are expecting, the FOMC meeting announces continuing rates of inflation then many investors will continue to see Bitcoin as a solid hedge. The previous FOMC meeting at the beginning of November announced the largest rise in inflation in 40 years leading to a surge in the price of Bitcoin from $60,500 to $68,700. The data from Bitfinex appear to confirm confident traders looking to buy at the bottom of this pull back before making the most from a 10% surge in price.

**Buy the dip?**
----------------

As Omnicron continues to develop across all corners many financial markets look like they are on shaky ground and Bitcoin is no exception. Cryptocurrencies are seen by many as a speculative investment and although the market is more mature than it was 5 years ago there is still a large portion of investors who do not share the confidence of others.

For many, investing in crypto has always been a long term project with objectives set 5 and 10 years into the future. Once the underlying technology and the context in which it can help society is understood many more people will be drawn to making their first cryptocurrency investment. Until then the wise investor will be making the most of this short term dip.



Bitcoin Price Falls Further While Buyers Remain Patient

The price of Bitcoin was struggling for momentum today as the price hovered just below $49,000 on major indices across the market representing a fall of just 0.31%

The price of [Bitcoin](/coins) has remained range bound between $48-$51,000 since last weekends price fall from $58,000 down to $46,000. It seems as if this weak price action is keeping buyers at bay who are likely waiting for the surge in price. That being said, Bitcoin still represents just over 40% of the total cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin also has an individual market capitalisation of $1.03 trillion – the largest cryptocurrency in the market.

## More buys from Michael Saylor

This malaise seems to be affecting the broader crypto market with no clear break out gainers or losers across the last 24 hours. As we mentioned previously, without regulation the market is wide open to manipulation. This puts many investors and traders off making an entry and building a position – except Michael Saylor that is. The founder and CEO of [Microstrategy](https://www.microstrategy.com/en), the US based business software and business intelligence organisation, announced the purchase of an extra 1,434 Bitcoin on Twitter yesterday at an average price of $54,477 bringing the companies total holdings to 122,478 Bitcoin. Clearly Mr Saylor has more confidence in the future price of Bitcoin that the rest of the market. Microstrategy’s Bitcoin stack is now worth a coll $3.66 billion with an average buy in price of $29,861 meaning Saylor is still clearly in profit.

## Inflation hedge


Saylor, along with many others, see Bitcoin as the perfect hedge for inflation and a stagnating gold price. In fact, Michael Saylor believes that Bitcoin has the potential to replace gold as the number one store of value. In a recent tweet, Saylor made the bold claim that the cryptocurrency revolution will be lead through inflation, technology and adoption with Bitcoin leading the way.

The caution from investors may be due to the US Consumer Price Index report, due to be released this Friday at 13:30 hours UTC. This report is set to show that the cost of living in the world’s largest economy has risen by 6.8% in November with 7% just around the corner. If this predicted data proves to be correct then an injection of volatility into the crypto market is to be expected. With inflation reaching a 30 year high many believe this is helping to create the perfect storm for the rapid advancement and adoption of digital currencies to help relieve the pressure.

## XRP shows strength amid uncertainty

Cross border remittance coin XRP saw strong growth this week leaving many to speculate that somebody somewhere has inside knowledge that the case with the SEC could be coming to a close and the adoption of Ripple Net could be close at hand. Fans of XRP and Ripple have experienced a long and arduous three years after many false dawns and broken promises. It seems as if the court case was the final nail in the coffin for the much maligned XRP. However, with the current economic climate continuing to experience choppy water the time is perfect for a multinational organisation such as the World Economic Fund or the International Monetary Fund to approve the use of a new approach to international finance. Could this involve XRP and Ripple? Only time will tell.

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