Bitcoin (BTC)

Tron DAO Reserve Acquires Millions in TRX, Bitcoin, and Tether to Safeguard USDD

15/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Seven days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Tron DAO Reserve purchasing $38 million in tron to safeguard the network’s stablecoin USDD. Since then and since the terrausd (UST) de-pegging event, the Tron DAO Reserve has continued to purchase large quantities of digital assets to bolster the project’s reserves. In addition to the tron purchases, the organization has been adding stablecoins and bitcoin into the mix as well.

While Terra’s Stablecoin Imploded, Tron’s Algorithmic Dollar-Pegged Crypto Project Purchases Millions Worth of Tron, Bitcoin, and Tether to Defend USDD

During the past week, all eyes have been focused on the Terra blockchain and its native crypto assets LUNA and UST. Both coins divebombed significantly in USD value and more than $46 billion in value disappeared from the crypto economy in roughly three days. Amid all the carnage, the Tron DAO Reserve has continued to purchase crypto assets for its digital currency-based forex reserves. On May 7, Bitcoin.com News reported on Tron’s founder Justin Sun and the Tron DAO Reserve purchasing $38 million in tron (TRX).

Since then the project has continued to buy crypto amid the market carnage that took place because of the UST fallout. Tron’s stablecoin USDD is also an algorithmic dollar-pegged crypto asset that has similarities to Terra’s UST. After the purchase of 504.6 million tron (TRX), the Tron DAO Reserve tweeted that the team aims to “guard the overall blockchain industry and market, prevent panic trading caused by financial crises, and mitigate severe and long-term economic downturns.” The Tron DAO Reserve (TDR) further added:

We also manage the permissions of USDD as its early custodian and ensure its price stability with reserves.

After the 504.6 million tron purchase, the TDR continued to add funds into the reserve this past week. “To safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market, Tron DAO Reserve have bought 500 BTC with an average price $31,031.35 for $15,515,675,” TDR detailed on May 10. The same day, the TDR said it purchased 595,729,832 tron for $45.6 million. While the crypto market was chaotic that day the TDR team noted “USDD holds steady in today’s market volatility.”

Buying MOAR! https://t.co/DVG3sIWlic

— H.E. Justin Sun 🅣🌞🇬🇩 (@justinsuntron) May 12, 2022

The following day on May 11, the TDR team tweeted: “To safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market, [TDR] have bought 1,000 BTC with an average price of $30,096 for $30,096,000.” Following that purchase, the TDR organization bought 1,467,612,695 TRX for $97 million for the reserves. The TDR then started to buy stablecoins after the $97 million worth of tron was purchased. The TDR team explained on May 12:

To safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market, [TDR] have bought 100,000,000 USDT with an average price of $0.982 with $98,200,000.

The TDR team did not stop there and has continued to purchase more coins to safeguard the Tron network’s stablecoin USDD. The TDR said on May 12, it purchased 200 million USDT for $0.985 per unit which added up to around $197 million in U.S. dollars. The Tron-based stablecoin reserve team then bought 1,249.57 BTC at an average price of around $29,394.

Tron’s Justin Sun ‘Still Believes in Algorithmic Stablecoins’

Currently, on Saturday, May 14, 2022, the USDD stablecoin has a market valuation of around $272.36 million and there are 271,438,207 USDD in circulation at the time of writing. During the past day, USDD has seen $85.5 million in global trade volume and the crypto asset is 156th largest market cap.

Similar to the Terra blockchain’s mechanism of burning LUNA to produce UST, to mint a single USDD it costs $1 worth of tron to issue the crypto asset. This means it can grow as large as the market allows it as it allows anyone to mint the stablecoin in a permissionless manner. However, with the market turmoil that took place because of the UST de-pegging event, it is safe to say the crypto community is leery of algorithmic stablecoin assets.

Despite the issues this past week, Tron founder Justin Sun talked to Coindesk’s Tracy Wang and he said that he is still optimistic about the algorithmic stablecoin model. “I still believe in algorithmic stablecoins,” Sun explained to Wang during a Zoom interview.

What do you think about the USDD stablecoin project created by the Tron team? What do you think about the TDR’s purchases this week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

2022 Bitcoin Obituaries List Outpaces First 3 Years, Schiff Says Its ‘Highly Likely Bitcoin Will Crash Below $10K’

09/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

While bitcoin’s price has dropped to levels not seen since January 2022, a number of detractors think bitcoin is on its death bed. Data stemming from the Bitcoin Obituaries list shows the leading crypto has died seven times in 2022, outpacing the first three years of obituaries by year written by bitcoin haters. The last obituary written about bitcoin, opined by the financial journalist, John Plender, claims the leading crypto asset follows the “greater fools” scenario.

Bitcoin Obituaries List in 2022 Surpasses First 3 Years of So-Called Deaths by Year

During the course of Bitcoin’s 13 years, the leading crypto asset has been deemed ‘dead’ or ‘extremely close to death’ by many journalists, economists, analysts, and financial experts. In fact, these types of opinions happen so much, that the team at 99bitcoins.com curated a list called the “Bitcoin Obituaries.” The data from the website shows bitcoin (BTC) has died 447 times since the list was started in 2010. That particular opinion that said bitcoin was dead was written on December 15, 2010 in a post called: “Why bitcoin can’t be a currency.”

As the years continued, bitcoin obituaries were published more often, and during the bull run of 2017, there was 124 bitcoin obituaries added to the web portal. The following year in 2018, bitcoin died 93 times, and in 2019, only 41 deaths were recorded. 2020 saw a smaller number of bitcoin obituaries, as the year only saw 14 listed on the website. In 2021, bitcoin obituaries picked up the pace again, and the leading crypto asset saw 47 obituaries written about its so-called demise.

In 2022, there’s only been seven bitcoin obituaries recorded, but the year is not over and it has outpaced 2010, 2011, and 2012 by the number of yearly obituaries so far. Bitcoin’s price has experienced a downturn in recent weeks, and it’s quite possible even more bitcoin obituaries will be added this year. The last obituary listed on 99bitcoins.com was written by the British financial journalist and columnist for the Financial Times (FT), John Plender. The post listed as: “Bitcoin Will Run Out of Greater Fools,” quotes Plender’s statements from his April editorial. While Plender does not believe in bitcoin, the FT columnist does think blockchain is a powerful technology.

“There can be no denying the astonishing power of blockchain technology, which is here to last,” Plender writes in his FT editorial. “Yet bitcoin is intangible, risky and incomprehensible to most human beings. While it is increasingly gaining acceptance among professional investors, its performance this year makes it hard to believe it can topple gold from its position as the ultimate bolt hole for frightened money.” The financial journalist adds:

As for the important cultural dimension of the argument, bitcoin, frankincense and myrrh lacks a certain ring. The supply of greater fools will in due course run out.

Gold Bug Peter Schiff Says Sub-$10K Bitcoin Prices Are ‘Highly Likely,’ Schiff’s Recent Poll Shows 54% of 37,000 People Say They Will Still HODL

While bitcoin is not dead, the cryptocurrency still has many detractors like the Iranian-American economist Nouriel Roubini, and the economist and gold bug Peter Schiff. The gold bug Schiff believes bitcoin and other crypto assets will keep falling in value. Schiff recently held a poll on Twitter after he said: “If bitcoin breaks decisively below $30K it seems highly likely that it will crash below $10K.” Schiff then added that this means any BTC holder has an important decision to make. “What will you do?” Schiff asked. “You had better decide now so you don’t panic and make a rash spur-of-the-moment decision.”

Schiff then left a poll in his Twitter thread that gives people some choices on what they would do. Choice one was “it won’t break below $30K,” which received 19.6% of the 37,000 votes. 54.5% said they would “HODL,” and 15.5% said they would sell and buy lower. Roughly 10.4% of the surveyed participants said they would sell bitcoin and would not rebuy. In Schiff’s eyes bitcoin will always be dead, and he wholeheartedly believes the precious metal gold will continue to soar.

“The 6% weekend drop in bitcoin was in fact a leading indicator of weakness in other risk assets as stock market futures are trading down 1%,” Schiff said on Monday. “Once investors figure out that Fed rate hikes will result in recession but not a significant reduction in inflation, gold will soar,” the bitcoin detractor added.

What do you think about the Bitcoin Obituaries list hosted on 99bitcoins.com and John Plender’s opinion? What do you think about Peter Schiff’s opinion about bitcoin and his recent Twitter poll? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

As BTC Slides Toward Resistance, the Chance of a Rare Triple Top Formation Comes Into Play

09/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

The cryptocurrency economy has shed a lot of value during the last six months dropping 48.70% from $3.08 trillion to today’s $1.58 trillion. While crypto markets looks extremely bearish these days, a few crypto advocates have theorized the bear market will be less harsh this time around. Furthermore, there’s also the rare scenario that bitcoin’s price could reverse and see a triple top even though it’s commonly said in the finance world “there is no such thing as a triple top.”

The Chances of Bitcoin Experiencing a Triple Top Scenario Is Rare, But Could Happen

Five days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on a theory that describes bitcoin (BTC) prices experiencing a softer bear market than the leading crypto asset’s 80%+ declines recorded in the past. The reasoning behind the theory is because of past bitcoin price peaks and the most recent peaks recorded in May and November 2021.

While BTC hit $64K in May and $69K in November, the two peaks were much smaller than previous bull run gains. From the looks of things it seems, BTC’s price experienced what’s called a double top. Now, coinciding with the theory the current market downturn will be a softer bear run, there’s also the rare possibility of a triple top scenario.

Basically, if a triple top scenario takes place, BTC’s fiat value will tap the same resistance it touched during the past downturn. For instance, after BTC tapped a high of $64K in mid-May 2021, the value dropped to a low of $31K on June 21, 2021. From there, the price once again skyrocketed and reached $69K on November 10, 2021.

If a triple-top happens to occur, then the upcoming bottom would be somewhat in the range of the $31K mark, when it starts another reversal. In order for this to happen, BTC will have to see a complete reversal from the same resistance levels and the third top could be equal to and just above or just below the $69K region.

Reversal Theories Considered ‘Hopium’ as Many Won’t Bet on Such a Risky Play

Of course, many will assume theories of a triple top are based on pure faith and “hopium.” In the trading world, triple tops are very rare and quad tops are seemingly non-existent. In 2019, allstarcharts.com analyst JC says: “We rarely see triple tops, and I can’t even tell you if I’ve ever seen a quadruple top. Betting on these outcomes seems to never pay.”

Which means betting on bitcoin (BTC) experiencing a triple top is a very risky bet in comparison to betting on a double top formation. Moreover, its a common message in the trading world to state:

There is no such thing as a triple top.

While it’s common to say the statement, saying “there is no such thing as a triple top,” the comment is not entirely accurate. They surely have occurred in financial market scenarios in the past, and traders who risked betting on them have reaped the rewards. However, when a triple top does execute and complete, the “party is officially over.” When a triple top is executed, the price will begin a bearish descent until the next price cycle regains bullish strength.

While many are likely still willing to bet on a triple top formation as far as bitcoin’s price is concerned, its even more likely they are not willing to bet on a seemingly non-existent quad top. Moreover, triple tops being as rare as they are, means a great deal of traders are not willing to bet a third peak is in the cards. The chance of a BTC triple top coming to fruition is not impossible, and no one can safely say the scenario will not come into play.

What do you think about the chances of bitcoin’s price seeing a triple top formation after hitting the next resistance level? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Luna Foundation to Lend $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin and UST to Market Makers — Plan Aims to Protect Stablecoin’s $1 Parity

09/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

As crypto markets continue to slide in value, concerns about the algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) losing its $1 parity have swelled in recent times. Two days ago on May 7, 2022, UST dipped down to $0.985 per unit against tether (USDT), and the stablecoin’s price drop invoked a great deal of speculation concerning UST losing its dollar peg. Following the drop on Saturday, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) revealed it was lending out millions of dollars worth of bitcoin and UST in order to protect the peg until market conditions normalize.

Crypto Market Carnage Strains Algorithmic Stablecoin UST’s Peg, Terra Supporters Claim Stablecoin Was Victimized by a ‘Coordinated Attack’

Digital currency markets have suffered a great deal in recent times as billions of dollars have left the crypto economy during the last few weeks. Of course, crypto market mayhem typically pushes traders toward leveraging stablecoins in order to hedge their wealth from volatile market conditions. During the last few days, BTC has dropped from $40,000 per unit on May 4, to a low of $32,637 per coin on May 9. The entire crypto economy has followed BTC’s freefall and the entire lot of 13,432 tokens in existence is down 5.5% against the U.S. dollar.

This has fueled trade volumes for tether (USDT), usd coin (USDC), and many other stablecoins including UST. However, UST had dropped in value on May 7, slipping to $0.985 per unit against tether (USDT). While this is not the biggest deal and many other stablecoins have slipped below the $1 parity, the topic of Terra’s stablecoin has been trending on social media and forums over the past two days. Furthermore, a significant amount of UST was withdrawn from Anchor Protocol and Curve Finance.

A few Terra supporters called the incident a “coordinated attack” and said the UST dumps were “deliberate.” On Sunday morning, one Terra supporter wrote: “We are again seeing a coordinated attack on UST. $285m UST dump on Curve and Binance by a single player followed by massive shorts on LUNA and hundreds of Twitter posts. So far, not a really successful attempt as the peg is almost back at 1 dollar.” At the time of writing, UST is the tenth-largest crypto asset in terms of market valuation and is changing hands for $0.995077 per unit.

Luna Foundation Guard Reveals Lending of $1.5 Billion in Crypto Assets to Defend UST’s Peg

After all the speculation, rumors, and conspiracy theories, on May 9, 2022, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) and Terra’s co-founder Do Kwon explained the team was taking steps to ensure the peg remains defended. “Over the past several days, market volatility across crypto assets has been significant,” LFG said on Monday. “The market turmoil is also reflected by the past week’s uncertain macro conditions across legacy asset classes.” LFG says that it is mandated to “proactively defend the stability of the UST peg [and] the broader Terra economy.”

LFG has decided to lend out bitcoin (BTC) and the stablecoin UST in order to protect the stability of UST’s $1 parity. “The LFG Council has voted to execute the following: – Loan $750M worth of BTC to [over-the-counter] trading firms to help protect the UST peg. – Loan 750M UST to accumulate BTC as market conditions normalize,” the organization said on Monday. Terra’s co-founder, Do Kwon, further updated the public about the lending action. Kwon stressed that “LGF is not trying to exit its bitcoin position.” Kwon added that the main goal is to have capital in the hands of professional market makers.

The liquidity provided has two purposes; “Buy UST if price [is less than] peg” and “Buy BTC if price [is greater than or equal to] peg,” Kwon said, “thus significantly strengthening the liquidity around UST peg.” The Terra co-founder added:

While buys and sells of UST are not meaningfully directional now, we felt it was valuable to have capital ready to be deployed in the current market. As markets recover, we plan to have the loan redeemed to us in BTC, increasing the size of our total reserves.

Essentially, LFG’s professional market makers will leverage the capital to protect both sides of the market to defend UST’s $1 parity. The recent discussions revolving around UST’s peg follow LFG buying up massive amounts of bitcoin (BTC) to keep in its decentralized forex reserve. LFG also acquired $100 million in AVAX for the same purpose. While LFG’s BTC wallet holds 42,530.82 bitcoin, it has not sent any funds. However, LFG recently acquired 37,863 bitcoin from two over-the-counter deals. With no withdrawals stemming from the publicly known BTC address, LFG has likely leveraged the most recent purchase to lend to the market makers.

What do you think about Terra’s co-founder and LFG deciding to lend BTC and UST to market makers so they can defend the stablecoin’s $1 parity? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Luna Foundation Acquires $1.4 Billion in Bitcoin, Decentralized Reserve Stash Rises to 80,394 BTC

05/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

According to a report published on Thursday, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) explained that it acquired 37,863 bitcoin worth more than $1.4 billion through two over-the-counter deals. The LFG now holds 80,394 bitcoin in its reserves currently worth just under $3 billion using today’s exchange rates.

Luna Foundation Guard Scoops up 37,863 Bitcoin

On May 5, 2022, the Luna Foundation Guard reported that it purchased 37,863 bitcoin (BTC), worth a touch over $1.4 billion at the time of writing. LFG, the non-profit based out of Singapore aims to have $10 billion of stablecoin reserves by the end of the third quarter of this year. While the organization has acquired a total of 80,394 bitcoin, LFG also purchased $100 million in avalanche (AVAX) to bolster the algorithmic stablecoin UST’s decentralized forex reserves.

While 42,530.828 BTC can be seen on the blockchain via LFG’s public address, the 37,863 bitcoin purchased were acquired via two over-the-counter (OTC) deals. According to the LFG press release, $1 billion worth of UST was traded with the prime broker Genesis for the BTC, and it purchased the other $500 million from the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

Terraform Labs Founder Says UST’s Decentralized Forex Reserve Stash Is Aligned With the Bitcoin Standard

Do Kwon, the cofounder and CEO of Terraform Labs told CNBC during the announcement that the pegged currency’s reserves are aligned with the Bitcoin standard.

“For the first time, you’re starting to see a pegged currency that is attempting to observe the Bitcoin standard,” Kwon remarked. “It’s making a strong directional bet that keeping a lot of those foreign reserves in the form of a digital native currency is going to be a winning recipe,” the Terraform Labs founder added. The press release further notes that LFG’s purchase was once worth $1.5 billion, but today it’s reduced in value to $1.4 billion worth of BTC.

LFG’s current bitcoin wallet now holds more than Tesla’s bitcoin reserves, which is approximately 42,902 bitcoin, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. With 80,394 bitcoin, LFG’s stash is only 48,824 BTC away from catching up to Microstrategy’s 129,218 BTC. Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC) slipped down to a low of $36,520 on Thursday and the leading crypto asset is down 5% over the last 24 hours.

“The jury’s still out on the effectiveness on the subject, but I think it is symbolic in the sense now that we live in a time where there’s excess money printing across the board and when monetary policies [are] highly politicized that there are citizens that are self-organizing to try to bring systems back to a sounder paradigm of money,” Kwon concluded on Thursday.

What do you think about the Luna Foundation Guard scooping up 37,863 bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.