Clients of BlockFi are able to earn interest on Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins by depositing their cryptocurrencies into an interest-bearing account. The company has grown in popularity as more users look to earn passive income on their digital assets.
In addition to savings accounts, BlockFi also provides collateralized crypto loans, which allow users to stake their assets for fiat currency.
In February 2020, BlockFi secured $30 million in funding from some of the crypto industry’s biggest investors, including Morgan Creek Digital, Winklevoss Capital and Arrington XRP Capital. With digital assets increasingly becoming mainstream, the platform has been able to attract more clients over the past 12 months.
As Cointelegraph previously reported, BlockFi entered into a partnership with Visa in December 2020 to launch a new Bitcoin rewards credit card. The new card allows users to earn BTC on purchases rather than airline miles or cash. Cardholders are eligible to receive 1.5% of their purchase back in BTC.
The growth of BlockFi has coincided with a surging bull market for digital assets. The combined market cap of all cryptocurrencies peaked north of $1.7 trillion last month. While the market has cooled, the collective value of cryptocurrencies currently sits at just under $1.5 trillion.
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Wolfram Blockchain has fully integrated Tezos, bringing data to and from the blockchain.
Wolfram Blockchain Labs, the cryptocurrency-centric division of the popular computing engine provider Wolfram Alpha, is adding support for Tezos (XTZ) on its platform, providing a two-way interface with the Tezos blockchain.
Announced on Monday, the integration adds support for Tezos blockchain data within the Wolfram Language, which allows developers to obtain analytical data from the blockchain. The language specializes in advanced statistical queries that analyze smart contract activity, and the integration primarily aims to ease deployment of smart contracts on Tezos.
In addition, Wolfram Blockchain has developed an oracle for Tezos that would supply its smart contracts with data available from Wolfram Alpha. The data also includes pricing of assets, one of the primary use cases for oracles today. This would make Wolfram the third oracle provider on the network, following Chainlink and Harbinger, a Tezos-native solution.
Wolfram Blockchain collaborated with TQ Tezos, one of Tezos’ ecosystem development companies, for the integration. The company said that the oracle contracts were formally verified through the Mi-Cho-Coq framework developed by Nomadic Labs. Formal verification allows creating a mathematical proof guaranteeing that a certain program behaves correctly. Tezos is specifically focusing on making this process easier, sharing the focus with Cardano, another project supported by Wolfram Blockchain.
Recently, Tezos has made a number of moves aimed at attracting smart contract developers and decentralized finance projects. In November, a network upgrade reduced transaction fees by 75%.
The Wolfram integration adds an important component to a smart contract developer’s toolkit, simplifying analytics for smart contracts. Still, the integration is still in its early stages and has a relatively basic set of features. The CEO of Wolfram Blockchain, Jon Woodard, said:
“We have plans to extend these capabilities in several key areas within the Tezos ecosystem: analytics, computational facts delivery and blockchain educational information.”
Michael Saylor announced MicroStrategy's acquisition of another $15 million worth of Bitcoin, as MicroStrategy continues to dollar-cost-average into BTC.
MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin (BTC) buying spree shows no signs of slowing, after CEO Michael Saylor announced the purchase of another 328 BTC on Monday. The acquisition, which was paid for in cash, cost the firm around $15 million, and equated to an average coin price of $45,710 at the time of purchase.
The investment takes MicroStrategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to 90,859 coins — a haul worth $4.3 billion based on the current coin price. The firm essentially dollar-cost-averaged into Bitcoin over the course of the past five months, leaving the average price of each of its Bitcoin purchases at $24,063 per coin. Saylor tweeted on March. 1:
MicroStrategy has purchased an additional ~328 bitcoins for ~$15.0 million in cash at an average price of ~$45,710 per #bitcoin. As of 3/1/2021, we #hodl ~90,859 bitcoins acquired for ~$2.186 billion at an average price of ~$24,063 per bitcoin. $MSTRhttps://t.co/fGH5KacsPI
The firm first acquired Bitcoin in August 2020 when it made an initial $250 million outlay on 21,454 coins. MicroStrategy continued to buy more BTC at various points towards the end of 2020, eventually accumulating over 70,000 coins by the turn of the year.
In February the business intelligence firm announced that it would raise an additional $900 million for further Bitcoin purchases — a sum which eventually exceeded $1 billion when an additional 19,452 coins were purchased on Feb. 24.
MicroStrategy’s total outlay on Bitcoin stands at $2.18 billion, while current coin prices would value the firm’s holdings at $4.3 billion, meaning the firm would have made over $2 billion in five months were it to sell. However, there is little reason to suggest this will happen any time soon. Saylor previously said buying Bitcoin was one of the firm’s two corporate goals, along with growing its analytics software business.
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The USDT stablecoin issuer says it received a $23 million ransom demand payable by March. 1. The deadline has since passed, and Tether isn't paying.
Hackers have threatened to release sensitive company documents supposedly belonging to USDT stablecoin issuer Tether unless the firm sends a 500 Bitcoin (BTC) ransom to a specified address.
As revealed by the official Twitter account for Tether on Feb. 28, hackers purportedly threatened to leak documents that would “harm the Bitcoin ecosystem” if their ransom demands are not met. Tether has already stated that it will not pay the ransom, which amounts to a dollar value of $23.8 million at the time of publication. The firm tweeted:
“Today we also received a ransom demand for 500 BTC to be sent to bc1qa9f60pved3w3w0p7snpxlnh5t4uj95vxn797a7. The sender said that, unless they receive the BTC by tomorrow, they will leak documents to the public in an effort to “harm the bitcoin ecosystem.” We are not paying.”
The firm said the extortionists’ motivations weren’t clear, noting that it could be a simple cash grab or part of a greater effort to undermine Tether and the rest of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
“It is unclear whether this is a basic extortion scheme like those directed at other crypto companies or people looking to undermine Tether and the crypto community as a whole. Either way, those seeking to harm Tether are getting increasingly desperate,” the firm tweeted.
Tether may have assumed the worst of its troubles were behind it after reaching a settlement in the landmark case launched against the company by the Office of the New York Attorney General. Putting an end to the legal uncertainty surrounding Tether in the past few years, the firm was ordered to pay an $18.5 million fine and to submit regular reports of its reserves. The firm stressed that it had admitted to no wrong-doing in the wake of the judgment by the New York court.
On Feb. 28, Tether warned customers that forged documents were circulating on the internet which alleged to be genuine communications between Tether and representatives of the Deltec Bank and Trust
“PSA: Forged documents are circulating online purporting to be between @tether_to personnel and reps of Deltec Bank & Trust and others. The documents are bogus.”
The tweet and Twitter account from which the documents were posted have since been deleted, although peripheral discussion surrounding the posts can still be found on Reddit.
Now Tether will seek help from authorities regarding what it deems to be a “pretty sad shakedown attempt.” A tweet from the company stated:
“While we believe this is a pretty sad attempt at a shakedown, we take it seriously. We have reported the forged communications and the associated ransom demand to law enforcement. As always, we will fully support law enforcement in an investigation of this extortion scheme.”
The deadline by which Tether was ordered to pay the 500 BTC ransom has since passed. Cointelegraph contacted Tether to find out if any further developments had taken place and this article will be updated should we receive a reply.
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The Reserve Bank of India has described central bank digital currencies as a mixed bag in its report on currency and finance for 2020–2021.
India’s central bank has recognized the potential benefits of central bank digital currencies but not without including a few pitfalls.
The Reserve Bank of India offered its assessment of CBDCs as part of its report on currency and finance issued on Feb. 28.
As part of the report, the RBI noted that several countries are exploring the creation of their own sovereign national digital currency.
According to the central bank’s report, CBDCs can help to promote financial inclusion and transactional transparency. The RBI also stated that national digital currencies could be useful as an instrument of monetary transmission by helping to engineer public consumption towards specific categories of products and services.
Detailing the benefits of CBDCs, the RBI also remarked that digital counterparts to sovereign fiat currency could be used by central banks to pump “helicopter money.”
In its analysis, the RBI also expressed concerns about the potential negative impacts of CBDCs on the legacy financial system, noting:
“CBDC is, however, not an unmixed blessing — it poses a risk of disintermediation of the banking system, more so if the commercial banking system is perceived to be fragile.”
For countries with significant credit markets, the RBI argued that CBDCs could threaten the primacy of commercial banks as the primary channel for the transmission of monetary policy.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, India is looking to emulate China in creating its own CBDC. According to RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, the central bank is “very much in the game” of developing a digital rupee.
However, the RBI report did not include any details about the central bank’s digital rupee project. In another portion of the document, the central bank did concede that internationalization of the rupee was inevitable but added that such a move would complicate monetary policy formulation and implementation.
With several countries looking to create their own sovereign digital currencies, CBDC interoperability is becoming a concern among stakeholders. Meanwhile, reports indicate that China’s digital yuan will have a more domestic focus.
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Inner Mongolia drew the ire of Beijing after failing to meet energy efficiency goals.
Authorities of the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia have proposed to close down all local cryptocurrency mining facilities to reduce energy consumption in the region.
The Inner Mongolia National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, released an official proposal to shut down local crypto mining operations in line with its energy-saving rules.
Published on Feb. 25, the draft proposal suggests to “comprehensively clean up and shut down virtual currency mining projects” by the end of April 2021. The authority also proposed a strict ban on new cryptocurrency mining projects in the region. The NDRC will collect public feedback on the draft proposal until March 3, 2021.
According to a Reuters report, Inner Mongolia was the only one of 30 mainland areas under Beijing’s energy consumption and energy intensity review that failed to meet energy-saving targets in 2019.
As part of the new energy control proposal, Inner Mongolia aims to cap its energy consumption growth at about 5 million tons of standard coal equivalent in 2021. The authority also plans to cut energy intensity — the amount of energy consumed per unit of economic growth — by 3% from 2020 levels. Between 2016 and 2019, energy intensity in the region reportedly spiked 9.5% whereas the overall energy consumption rose by nearly 65 million tonns.
A return to $43,000 worries weak hands but works wonders for broader market health, data shows as Bitcoin bounces.
Bitcoin (BTC) is looking stable at the start of a new week after recovering from a drop to $43,000 — what’s in store?
After last week’s 20% drop from all-time highs, opinions are divided over what the future might look like for Bitcoin price action in the short term. Macro factors are encouraging, but naysayers insist that a major crash is still a distinct possibility.
Cointelegraph highlights five factors which could be set to influence BTC/USD in the coming days.
Fresh stimulus, fresh buy-ins?
Macro is looking to deliver a perfect storm for alternative assets, led by the United States. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package has passed lawmakers, who gave the green light for yet another unfathomably large money printing exercise to begin.
Traditionally a boon for Bitcoin, the huge increases in the dollar supply includes direct payments to eligible Americans, this time of $1,400.
The third such “stimulus check,” or “stimmy” as it is popularly referred to, could easily find its way into the Bitcoin ecosystem if historic trends repeat themselves this year. As Cointelegraph reported, in 2020, amounts equal to stimulus check payouts began appearing on exchanges soon after regulators approved them.
While it was a niche phenomenon a year ago, March 2021 is an entirely different playing field for Bitcoin and altcoins, with prices exploding and with them publicity in recent months.
Coupled with the ongoing appeal and controversy of social media-inspired stock trading, the potential impact on cryptocurrency more broadly from the U.S.’ “free money” could hardly be more obvious.
“In the US a $1.9 trillion stimulus package is on the way. That's more than all the cash currently sitting on the US Treasury account at the Federal Reserve,” on-chain analytics service Ecoinometrics summarized to Twitter followers.
“This is good for Bitcoin.”
Stocks and DXY climbing
On the topic of stocks, these have been rallying once again after a global bond sell-off last week had regulators concerned.
So too has the strength of the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY), which continues its climb from late last week after hitting lows of 89.67. At the time of writing, DXY measured over 91 for the first time since Feb. 8.
A strong DXY tends to come hand in hand with price problems for BTC/USD, a persistent trait that characterized much of last year.
DXY 1-hour candle chart. Source: Tradingview
With the temporary boost of the stimulus package likely to wear off sooner rather than later, however, the status quo may not endure for long.
“There is little doubt in my mind that central banks will eventually lean quite hard against a sustained rise in yields,” Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid in an admonitory note to clients quoted by Reuters.
“They simply can’t afford to see it happen with debt so high.”
Trader on BTC price: "Relax"
Within Bitcoin, much attention is still being given to “the dip” across social media and further afield.
After hitting lows of just above $43,000 over the weekend, bulls were left disappointed that previous bottoms around the $44,000 had not constituted a definitive floor.
Against a backdrop of unbelievable performance since March 2020, however, the dive of $15,000 from all-time highs of $58,300 last month seemed almost like a non-event for some.
“The panic of yesterday was so unnecessary. Welcome to the markets, dips happen. Part of the game,” Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe wrote on Monday.
“We just continue grinding and Bitcoin is just starting. Relax.”
In a fresh video update, Van de Poppe noted that the net balance on exchanges is still decreasing, indicating that buyer appetite is clearly present at current levels and investors are making the most of cheaper levels to accumulate, not sell.
“You shouldn’t be worrying at all about this correction as this is just a very healthy and natural correction that we’re seeing on the markets here, especially given that we’ve just anticipated a run from $10,000 to $58,000 in just a matter of months,” he said.
For bulls, it is important to avoid a deeper drop to take liquidity below the $42,000 level. Should Bitcoin avoid this, a chance to move higher remains.
For Bitcoin metrics, the dip has also been a positive, rather than negative sign. Most prominent among them is the spent output profit ratio (SOPR), which benefited from a “reset” as BTC/USD returned to the mid $40,000 range.
As Cointelegraph reported, SOPR provides a window into trader mentality — once it turns negative, it indicates that anyone selling BTC is selling it at a loss.
“The daily Bitcoin Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) has seen a full reset, and turned negative for the first time in five months – investors were on average moving BTC at a slight loss, indicating profit-taking has abated,” on-chain monitoring resource Glassnode said in a series of tweets at the weekend.
Total realized losses for Feb. 27 alone were $243 million from wallets taking a hit on their balance.
Beyond SOPR, derivatives funding rates saw a “reset” of their own last week as a major options expiry date came and went on Friday. Short traders, with that, are effectively paying long positions once again, rather than the other way around.
The combined impact of these two phenomena is only good for Bitcoin, with historical precedent serving to support the theory that their current behavior is a bullish signal.
No greed, just light fear
A final round of resets focuses on sentiment rather than numbers. In an update, market insight firm Santiment noted that Bitcoin was getting its most negative press on social media in five months.
Far from being a cause for concern, however, the implication could be that a BTC buy-in is a prime move to capitalize on overly cautious investor mood.
“Buying into crowd fear can lead to rewards,” Santiment wrote on Twitter.
“And albeit only mildly fearful, #Twitter's #Bitcoin commentary is at the most negative ratio in about 5 months, according to our algorithm. After last week's retrace, the bearish narrative has returned.”
Bitcoin weighted social sentiment chart. Source: Santiment/ Twitter
In a breath of fresh air, meanwhile, the popular Crypto Fear & Greed Index, previously near all-time highs, has almost halved in a matter of days.
Based on multiple factors, Fear & Greed aims to process sentiment to provide a rough idea of when crypto markets are overly bearish or unreasonably bullish.
At the time of writing, the index measured 38, its lowest level since September 2020.
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