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Bank of America, Coinbase, FTX Invest in Paxos Series D Funding Round

31/07/2021 by Idelto Editor

Paxos, a blockchain services and tokenization firm has added Coinbase Ventures, FTX, Bank of America, and Founders Fund as backers in its Series D funding round that started last April. These institutions were listed as “strategic investors,” but the amounts of their contributions were not disclosed. Paxos has now raised more than $540 million in funding.

Bank of America, FTX, and Coinbase Invest in Paxos

Two leading cryptocurrency exchanges and the second-biggest U.S. bank invested in Paxos, a New York-based blockchain infrastructure firm that focuses on offering clearing and tokenization services to other traditional firms. Bank of America, FTX, and Coinbase participated as “strategic investors” in the latest Series D funding round that the company started last April.

The interest of Bank of America in the firm is not strange. The company included the bank in its Paxos Settlement services, a blockchain platform that allows third parties to settle equity transactions. But for it to invest in Paxos means that they see a future when blockchain technology is more present and used in conjunction with traditional financial institutions. About this, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla stated:

Paxos uses innovative technology to build the regulated infrastructure that will facilitate an open, accessible, and digital economy. We’re defining this space and are excited to grow our enterprise solutions besides these market leaders.

This Series D funding round also featured the participation of important investments from companies like Paypal Ventures and Mithril Capital, raising more than $300 million.

Stablecoin Controversy

The firm states it has an edge over other competing firms: the advantage of being a fully regulated platform, having obtained the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued Bitlicense in October 2020. Some of its customers are PayPal, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Societe Generale, and Revolut.

Paxos is also the custodian and issuer of two stablecoins in the market: Binance USD and Paxos Standard. The company revealed the assets backing its stablecoins last week and had harsh criticism for other companies that don’t back their stablecoins 100% with cash or cash equivalents. Its CCO Dan Burstein called out these organizations stating no regulator would allow these behaviors.

Paxos is also interested in linking blockchain and traditional finance markets by itself. Last year, it received a Preliminary Conditional Approval for a US Bank Charter, from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), for running its own banking business.

What do you think about Paxos’ latest funding round? Tell us in the comment section below.

Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Doubled Since January Reaching 221 Million Users: Report

31/07/2021 by Idelto Editor

A new report issued by Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency exchange and fintech services firm, discovered that the number of people using cryptocurrencies has more than doubled since January, reaching 221 million last June. The report states that the rise of the defi movement, institutions like Tesla, Visa, Mastercard, and Microstrategy adopting cryptocurrency, and El Salvador establishing bitcoin as legal tender, were important events that helped to popularize crypto even more.

Cryptocurrency Userbase Jumps to 221 Million Worldwide, According to Crypto.com Report

Crypto.com’s “Measuring Global Crypto Users” report found that the number of cryptocurrency users more than doubled during the first half of the year. Cryptocurrency adoption went from 106 million in January to 221 million in June, principally powered by the bull market that took bitcoin (BTC) to all-time highs during Q1. The report included information from the leading crypto exchanges in the market, including Binance, Bitfinex, Gemini, Huobi, Kraken, Okex, and Upbit among others.

The number of Ethereum users increased during the second quarter, as positive news and investor interest grew around the token. However, it was the meme coin boom and the altcoin push that happened during the two last months of the second quarter that catapulted adoption to new highs. Tokens like shiba inu (SHIB) and dogecoin (DOGE) were immensely popular and drove interest from users outside the market, powered by figures like Elon Musk putting them in the spotlight.

Accelerated Growth

The growth of cryptocurrency users has also been accelerating this last year, meaning that more users are learning about these alternatives to fiat money. The first cryptocurrency adoption report, which dates from May 2020, noticed it took nine months to reach 100 million from 65 million users. However, now it only took six months for the userbase to grow from 106 to 221 million.

Altcoins are a big part of this trend. These have started eating the market share of already established cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, likely due to the entrance of new users into the market. At the start of the year, altcoins holders accounted for just 20% of the total cryptocurrency users. but at the end of the second quarter, this percentage grew to 38%.

Seeing the big picture, this has been a very good year for cryptocurrency adoption until now, as both institutions and retail holders have turned to crypto. About this, Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, stated:

The growth we have seen in the first half of 2021 on our platform and industry-wide is very encouraging, and we will continue investing heavily as we pursue our goal of putting cryptocurrency in every wallet.

What do you think about Crypto.com’s latest cryptocurrency adoption report? Tell us in the comments section below.

Central Bank of Ireland Governor Talks Crypto, Praises ‘Secure, Decentralized’ Technology

31/07/2021 by Idelto Editor

Gabriel Makhlouf, the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), has published a blog post in which he shares his views on the digitalization of finance. While echoing concerns expressed by his counterparts regarding cryptocurrencies, the official has also highlighted some of their positives.

Don’t Ignore the Positive Elements of Crypto Technology, Central Bank Governor Says

The article titled “Digital Money” was published on the bank’s website on Thursday. In the post, Gabriel Makhlouf discusses the project to issue a digital version of the common European currency. The European Central Bank (ECB) recently launched its “Investigation Phase” and although a final decision is yet to be taken, the governor believes that it is not a question of “if” but rather “how and when” a digital euro will be introduced.

Besides central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Makhlouf devotes attention to the rise of decentralized money as a factor in the increasing digitalization of finance. Avoiding the “misleading descriptor” “crypto-currencies” and the “less inaccurate” “crypto-assets,” the banker refers to coins, stablecoins, and tokens simply as “crypto.”

“Risks are increasing as individuals consider putting some of their money into crypto,” Gabriel Makhlouf says, listing the lack of transparency, price volatility, high energy consumption, and exposure to fraud among the threats investors and governments are facing. “As things stand today, the negatives surrounding crypto far outweigh any benefits,” the Irish official concludes. However, he also insists that authorities should not ignore the positive elements of cryptocurrency’s underlying technology. The CBI governor notes:

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is essentially a secure, decentralised record of information stored across a network and is a key piece of architecture for some types of crypto.

Makhlouf emphasizes that DLT can reduce the costs of financial transactions and eliminate intermediaries in certain cases while also praising the opportunity to issue smart contracts. “The use of DLT has increased in recent years – it certainly has potential – although it remains to be seen how widespread that will be,” the governor adds.

The importance of DLT is likely to increase as governments around the world examine options to employ blockchain technology in the design of their digital currencies. A recently conducted experiment with the participation of several central banks from the Eurozone and the ECB has indicated that a blockchain-based digital euro would be highly scalable. The tested CBDC system was able to simultaneously process over 300,000 transactions a second, the central bank of Estonia revealed earlier this week.

Do you expect most central bank digital currencies to be based on digital ledger technologies? Let us know in the comments section below.

Breaking NFTs to Pieces: These 4 Projects Are Fractionalizing Grimes, Banksy, Cryptopunk NFTs

30/07/2021 by Idelto Editor

While non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles have been all the rage, a few projects have been developing the concept of fractionalized NFTs so investors without deep pockets can purchase shares of an expensive collectible. On Thursday, the firm Otis revealed that people can invest in an NFT created by the world-famous Canadian musician and record producer Grimes. The platform allows anyone to purchase a small fraction of the recording artist’s artwork called “Newborn 1 & 3.”

Grimes’ Artwork ‘Newborn 1 & 3″ Gets Fractionalized

During the last 30 days, statistics from nonfungible.com’s market history show that there was $219 million in NFT sales. Over 48,000 active wallets recorded 214,654 sales which is a steady increase in sales from the start of the month’s 120,150 sales. The website also shows that a Meebits NFT recently sold for 1,000 ETH or $2.1 million and a Cryptopunks NFT character sold for 450 ETH or a touch over $1 million.

The well known NFT artist Beeple made history when he sold his “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” NFT for $69 million via the luxury auction house Christie’s. Prices like these, however, strengthens the barrier to entry and only the wealthy can participate. This issue has pushed developers and NFT projects to develop fractionalized NFTs that allow people to buy shares of the collectible.

Bitcoin.com News has reported on the fractionalization of NFTs in the past as the protocol Unicly fractionalizes NFT collectibles via the use of a native token called utoken. The tokens can be traded on the automated market maker (AMM) platform the Unicly team has constructed. “[Unicly is a] protocol to combine, fractionalize, and trade NFTs,” the project’s website notes. “Transform your NFT collection into a tradable asset with guaranteed liquidity,” the protocol description adds.

Another project that fractionalizes non-fungible token collectibles is a platform called Otis. On Thursday, Otis introduced a limited edition Grimes’ NFT on the platform and revealed that “anyone can invest in Grimes’ “Newborn 1 & 3” for just $10.” The announcement details:

“Newborn 1 & 3 are part of the pop musician Grimes’ first-ever NFT drop and signifies an important cultural milestone in the NFT landscape,” the project’s announcement notes. “Otis believes Grimes is an icon whose art is poised to hold continued value as a milestone in her artistic career––and the overall legacy of NFT artists.”

Claire Boucher, known professionally as Grimes, is Elon Musk’s wife and the mother of his child “X Æ A-12.” Otis highlights that the Grimes’ NFT “Newborn 1 & 3” is valued at $6,400 and the collection is entitled “Warnymph Collection Vol. 1.” The project’s creators believe the NFT art will “hold continued relevance as a milestone in Grimes’s artistic career and the overall legacy of NFT artists.”

The Otis platform is available via iOS and Android operating systems and the app allows anyone to buy shares of “cultural assets.” The Otis platform has roughly 100 assets available from Banksy originals to Michael Jordan’s ‘Shattered Backboard’ sneakers.

Projects Like Fractional and Daofi Hope to Bolster the Fractionalized NFT Concept

Otis and Unicly are not the only protocols delving into the world of fractionalized NFTs, as a number of projects are developing this concept. A project called Fractional believes that fractionalization can help with price discovery.

“[If] the asset is extremely valuable and they want help finding price discovery, fractionalizing the item and selling 20% on the market can be a valuable tool to help understand how the market values the NFT,” the Fractional creators detail in a blog post about the subject.

Another project that is also fractionalizing non-fungible tokens is a protocol called Daofi which breaks NFTs down into fungible ERC20 tokens. Daofi’s blog post in mid-March also gives people an understanding of how the fractionalization process works.

Daofi’s post says that the NFT ecosystem needs to address a “lack of liquidity in NFT secondary markets,” “centralized exchanges taking extremely high drop fees,” “[the] lack of utility outside of owning the collectible,” and “content curation,” the Daofi representative Andrew Lee stresses in the post.

What do you think about fractionalizing NFTs and the projects attempting to push this idea further? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Report Suggests Robinhood Owns Largest Dogecoin Address and Third-Largest BTC Wallet

30/07/2021 by Idelto Editor

Last February the crypto community was obsessed with a specific dogecoin address that happens to be the largest dogecoin holder today with over 36 billion DOGE. One armchair sleuth studied a number of onchain transactions and suspected the company Robinhood owned the wallet. Now the individual has researched the topic again and claims the latest findings help confirm the dogecoin wallet does belong to Robinhood. Alongside this, the person suspects Robinhood controls the third-largest bitcoin wallet as well.

Onchain Research Suggests Robinhood Not Only Owns the Mysterious Doge Whale Wallet, but Also the Third-Largest BTC Wallet

Two days ago, the Reddit account u/Andreifromalberta published research that claims the company Robinhood (Nasdaq: HOOD) holds more bitcoin (BTC) than the firm Microstrategy. The Redditor Andrei is the same sleuth that published research four months ago on the notorious dogecoin (DOGE) wallet dubbed “DH5,” which happens to be the largest DOGE wallet today.

The Reddit post the Redditor u/Andreifromalberta posted back in February 2021.

Back in February, Andrei posted about the subject as the “DH5” address became an extremely topical subject that month. Andrei said in the r/dogecoin Reddit post that findings suggest the company Robinhood is the owner of the “DH5” dogecoin address and explained how onchain research led to this conclusion.

The Reddit post on r/bitcoin from the Redditor u/Andreifromalberta posted two days ago shows a score of new findings.

This past week, the online brokerage firm Robinhood had an initial public offering (IPO) and the company’s CEO Vlad Tenev talked about the firm’s crypto positions in an interview on May 6. Tenev’s statements at the Robinhood fireside chat back in May explained that the exchange allegedly provided customers with access to their specific holdings only.

“We don’t have significant positions in any of the coins that we keep on a proprietary basis or anything like that,” Tenev stressed at the fireside chat. Despite Tenev’s statements, Andrei believes the company does have significant positions in a number of crypto assets.

Andrei’s research once again ties the “DH5” dogecoin address to Robinhood, but it also details how the exchange probably owns a number of large wallets from coins like BTC, ETH, and BCH. According to Andrei’s findings, rich-list wallets from six major crypto assets are allegedly controlled by the company Robinhood.

Report Notes Robinhood Likely Owns Some of the Richest Addresses from 5 Different Blockchains

On Reddit, Andrei gives a step-by-step analysis of why Robinhood is suspected of being the owner of not only the “DH5” dogecoin address, but the third-largest BTC address “1P5” as well.

The Redditor, Andrei, believes the third-largest bitcoin (BTC) address belongs to Robinhood. The wallet was established around the same time period the “DH5” dogecoin address was created.

Not only that, but Andrei’s asks if Robinhood follows the exact same pattern of cold storage for BTC and DOGE, “wouldn’t it also make sense for them to follow the same pattern for the other 5 Cryptos that they offer for trading (ETH, LTC, BCH, ETC, BSV)?.” The armchair sleuth believes this is the case for all of the aforementioned coins and “the top rich addresses belonging to Robinhood on those blockchains.”

The bitcoin (BTC) address starting with “1P5” holds 113,842 BTC and it started accumulating in February 2019. Coincidentally, the DH5 dogecoin address started accumulating at the same time as the “1P5” bitcoin address.

Andrei’s report suspects that Robinhood owns the second-largest litecoin (LTC) address “LQT” and the second-largest bitcoin cash (BCH) address “16N.” The fourth-biggest ethereum (ETH) address “0x7” is also suspected of being Robinhood’s exchange wallet.

“Holding over 2 million ETH, it was seeded in exactly the same manner,” Andrei’s report adds. The Redditor also shared an article explaining why the richest crypto addresses are still very important.

“Robinhood (RH) indeed owns more BTC (116K) than Microstrategy (105K), as a custodian for RH crypto clients,” the Redditor concludes. “In aggregate, 10+ million crypto Robinhooders are actually smart money, heavily buying the bitcoin and crypto dip since the crash in May. Wallets are urgently needed to give the freedom of self-custody to millions of RH investors,” the investigator added.

What do you think about the Redditor’s findings that suggest Robinhood owns all these wallet addresses? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.