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  • BaFin Warns Investors of Crypto Trading Advices on Social Media

    BaFin Warns Investors of Crypto Trading Advices on Social Media

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    The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in Germany (BaFin) issued a warning on crypto trading advice on social media. Although there was no direct reference to social media channels, Telegram is one of these sources.

    BaFin did provide its principals for any investor that wishes to use social media for investment tips.

    BaFin’s Advice on Social Media Tips

    The number of followers, likes or positive feedback are not valid indicators. They do not reflect the performance of the investment tips. It is very easy to manipulate results in social media. Positive feedback or references related to investment success stories can be fictionized and produced at the author’s request.

    Investment tips are often marketed aggressively on social media. The goal is to make investors have ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) and push them into making poor decisions. Always check the investment advice to ensure the risks and opportunities are fully understood.

    Investment advice on social networks is mostly free. This means that the author is compensated through other sources. Most of the time they earn a commission from the broker that its products are advertised on social media. For regular users, it is difficult to detect. Bear in mind that with such commission models there can be an ulterior motive for the individual providing the advice.

    There is no ‘fast money’ that is ‘100% safe.’ If you are promised high profits rest assured that the risk is extremely high. The financial products that may offer such returns are highly speculative on most occasions. This can result in significant loss including losing the entirety of invested capital.

    Caution is advised if only success stories are highlighted without the risk involved.

    ‘Pump and Dump’

    There are dedicated Telegram groups that ‘pump and dump’
     
     cryptocurrencies 
    . These groups coordinate their trades, targeting low-volume cryptocurrencies. When the price jumps higher, investors that are unaware of the scheme buy the cryptocurrency. The groups’ members then sell their cryptos for a hefty profit.

    The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (
     
     ASIC 
    ) has been cracking down on these groups.

    The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in Germany (BaFin) issued a warning on crypto trading advice on social media. Although there was no direct reference to social media channels, Telegram is one of these sources.

    BaFin did provide its principals for any investor that wishes to use social media for investment tips.

    BaFin’s Advice on Social Media Tips

    The number of followers, likes or positive feedback are not valid indicators. They do not reflect the performance of the investment tips. It is very easy to manipulate results in social media. Positive feedback or references related to investment success stories can be fictionized and produced at the author’s request.

    Investment tips are often marketed aggressively on social media. The goal is to make investors have ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) and push them into making poor decisions. Always check the investment advice to ensure the risks and opportunities are fully understood.

    Investment advice on social networks is mostly free. This means that the author is compensated through other sources. Most of the time they earn a commission from the broker that its products are advertised on social media. For regular users, it is difficult to detect. Bear in mind that with such commission models there can be an ulterior motive for the individual providing the advice.

    There is no ‘fast money’ that is ‘100% safe.’ If you are promised high profits rest assured that the risk is extremely high. The financial products that may offer such returns are highly speculative on most occasions. This can result in significant loss including losing the entirety of invested capital.

    Caution is advised if only success stories are highlighted without the risk involved.

    ‘Pump and Dump’

    There are dedicated Telegram groups that ‘pump and dump’
     
     cryptocurrencies 
    . These groups coordinate their trades, targeting low-volume cryptocurrencies. When the price jumps higher, investors that are unaware of the scheme buy the cryptocurrency. The groups’ members then sell their cryptos for a hefty profit.

    The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (
     
     ASIC 
    ) has been cracking down on these groups.

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  • Bitcoin Hits Two-week High Imitating The Stock Rally

    Bitcoin Hits Two-week High Imitating The Stock Rally

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    Cryptocurrencies are seeing a significant recovery as investors take advantage of the recent stock market rally and increased risk appetite. Bitcoin hits its highest in two weeks, extending gains from earlier this week that had seen it climb to $41,938 per coin on Saturday morning (Jan 24th).

    Related Reading | Bitcoin mimics stocks rally, hits two-week high

    Bitcoin, the largest digital currency globally, has hit $41,938. It is 16% high from Thursday’s low and 27% from the current year’s low of $32,950.

    Bitcoin Price
    Bitcoin price hits two weeks high of $41,938. Source: Tradingview.com

    Ether, the second-largest digital currency, has scaled new heights, reaching $3K for the first time since January 21.

    Bitcoin recorded its biggest single-day gain since mid-June as fears of faster than expected Fed rate hikes led to an increase in inflation, with the cryptocurrency also being roiled by technological innovation. However, Friday’s 11% rise was enough to consider haven against this trend and get some positive press at least until Monday when everything will likely go back down again.

    Bitcoin Price Recovery: Thanks to Amazon

    Despite a long week of volatility from earnings, US stocks ended the week strong. The tech-heavy NASDAQ secured gains thanks to Amazon’s robust growth and Facebook owner Meta Platforms’ disappointing results that evening gave them more confidence in their business models moving forward.

    Related Reading | Amazon Strong Growth Attributed to the Cloud Despite Retail Headwinds

    Bitcoin has moved seamlessly into the mainstream. That resulted in investors looking to get in on the action when risk appetite is low. Ed Hindi, Chief Investment Officer of Tyr Capital, said;

    “The current panic and volatility surrounding bitcoin are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of it as an asset class. When valuations on the Nasdaq fall, misguided institutional investors start liquidating bitcoin positions en masse as if it were a tech stock.”

    The recent rise in the stock market has given other listed crypto assets a boost. As a result, some currencies even reached new highs.

    BTC Price Prediction

    Though prices for Bitcoin have seen a significant drop in the last week of January and were sitting at 47% of their all-time high, the cryptocurrency recovered slightly after reaching a low of $33K on Jan 24, 2022, and is worth about $42k.

    Buy, sell and hold? Analysts are split on whether or when to buy cryptocurrency. But more than half believe this is a good time for buyers, with only 45% disagreeing.

    The experts from the top fintech companies predict that by the end of 2022, bitcoin will reach an all-time high of $93,717 – more than 24K dollars higher than its current all-time high price.

    This is a great time to invest in cryptocurrency. Experts predict that by the end of 2025, bitcoin will trade at $192k and mount up over 300% from its November 2021 peak and reach nearly half a million dollars by 2030. While these predictions may seem lofty goals at first glance, they’re significantly less than what experts predicted back in July 2021 when their last forecast said bitcoins prices could reach 265k or 706K, respectively.

                       Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView.com

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  • What is Harmony (ONE) blockchain and why it is getting so much traction?

    What is Harmony (ONE) blockchain and why it is getting so much traction?

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    Harmony is getting a lot of traction because it addresses core blockchain concerns, is energy-efficient, has cross-chain capabilities, offers lower gas fees and has a huge potential for nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

    Maintain decentralization and security

    Harmony thinks its network can scale while maintaining decentralization and security because it uses sharding, which divides validators into multiple groups and allows them to approve transactions and new blocks simultaneously. Harmony can now process 2,000 transactions per second (TPS), which is comparable to Visa, ONE of the world’s largest payment networks. Harmony believes it will process 10 million TPS in the long run.

    On the other hand, Harmony does not compromise security or decentralization even as it scales. For example, the network assigns nodes or computers that join the network and validate transactions, to distinct shards via a distributed randomness generation mechanism. Harmony also keeps the minimum number of ONE tokens required for nodes to join the network as validators and preserve decentralization at a low level.

    Energy-efficient

    Many blockchain networks are now adopting the proof-of-stake model, which Harmony has employed since its inception. As a result, nodes put up existing tokens as collateral in this procedure to have a chance to be chosen at random to validate transactions. For a block to be approved, several validators must check transactions. Harmony stands out from other networks because its architecture and proof-of-stake consensus method allow it to complete blocks in under two seconds.

    Cross-chain capabilities

    Additionally, Harmony introduced Horizon, a cross-chain interoperability bridge with Ethereum, allowing assets to be exchanged between the two networks. This innovation can revolutionize cross-border payments and make cryptocurrency exchanges more convenient. Harmony has also established connections with other blockchains, such as Binance.

    By allowing nodes on other blockchain networks to validate transactions, Harmony’s platform can transfer data across various blockchain networks, regardless of whether they use proof-of-stake or proof-of-work governance. 

    Lower gas fees

    Harmony’s network seldom becomes clogged, thanks to its high TPS and usage of proof-of-stake validation. As a result, it does not have high gas fees, which are now a fraction of a penny per transaction on Harmony. 

    On the other hand, a network like Ethereum sees far more overall demand and transactions than Harmony. Still, Harmony claims that it can alleviate congestion issues by simply adding additional shards, even if the network is fully utilized and witnessing exceptionally high demand.

    Huge potential for NFTs

    The network’s cross-chain capabilities open up some exciting possibilities for NFTs, which are secure digital art, video and audio assets that may be transmitted on a blockchain network. Moreover, cheaper gas expenses may make the network appealing to developers interested in minting NFTs.

    According to Harmony, bridging NFTs from ONE network to another may be costly at first, but subsequent transactions will be inexpensive. Harmony also announced on Twitter that it is working on NFT lending, NFT verification and fractionalization, among other features.



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  • Bitcoin (BTC) Mining: Is It Still Profitable?

    Bitcoin (BTC) Mining: Is It Still Profitable?

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    Despite price challenges and a surge in regulations around Bitcoin mining, the BTC hash rate is making new records every week. In January 2022, the mean hash rate breached the level of 183 Exahash, the highest level on record. BTC network witnessed a sooner-than-expected recovery in the mining sector after China announced a crackdown on the mining of digital assets in the region.

    Overall, the hash rate plummeted as much as 54% in May 2021. However, leading Bitcoin mining companies shifted to other global locations due to the mining-friendly approach by the relevant governments and cheap electricity. With mining rewards getting less amid Bitcoin halving events, rising competition, and energy issues, there is one key question that comes into the mind of every individual interested in this sector, is BTC mining still profitable?

    Well, analysts believe it is, and they have some strong numbers to back their claims. According to Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, large institutions will take more interest in Bitcoin mining in the coming months. “I expect the bitcoin hash rate to continue to rise as competition in the bitcoin mining space increases. In fact, bitcoin mining is demonstrating a strong degree of anti-fragility. Notably, the China ban in the summer of 2021 demonstrated the resilience of the sector. Businesses will continue to be attracted to the space and this in itself is a testament to the profitability of the space as a whole,” Ardoino said.

    Cost of Electricity

    According to Maria Stankevich, Chief Business Development Officer at EXMO UK, the cost of energy plays an important role in the profitability of Bitcoin mining and the reason behind leading mining players moving to locations like the US and Europe is that the price of electricity for mining is very low in the mentioned regions.

    “Bitcoin mining is still profitable in 2022. If we are going into the details, then let’s look at the different aspects of mining that we should take into consideration when we talk about its profitability. Cost of electricity, the electricity prices are very different from country to country. Russia, for example, has very low prices for electricity compared to some areas (like Siberia), so it charges a lower price for industrial electricity in order to encourage economic growth. This means that a mining farm in Siberia will pay 50% as much for the electricity you would mine at home in Germany or the USA,” Maria said.

    “Secondly, the mining hardware. There are plenty of different mining machines today, but according to different studies, the majority of the most modern machines could remain profitable at a bitcoin price between $5000 and $6000. Thirdly, reliable mining pool and fees while selling BTC. Today, there are a few very big mining pools that provide certain security to the miners. Sometimes, they have referral partnerships with some exchanges that lower commissions. But even without this mechanism, fees on the exchanges dropped significantly over the past few years, so from this point of view mining also looks profitable,” she added.

    Current Bitcoin Mining Ecosystem

    Ilman Shazhaev, Executive Chairman of OneBoost, believes that the current dynamics of the crypto market facilitate Bitcoin mining, even at a low BTC price.

    “As for BTC mining profitability, I can confidently say that it is still profitable. Bitcoin mining is especially profitable because, despite the current situation with the all-time-high hash rate (around 200 exahashes) and the price fluctuations below $40,000 (which are the least favorable conditions), the top-end devices are so energy-efficient that just around 40% of the mined Bitcoin covers the company’s expenditure, the rest is pure profit. If you compare it with a similar situation in 2018 and 2019, the expenditure back then constituted 70–80 percent with 14 nm chips,” Shazhaev noted.

    “So, without a shadow of a doubt, Bitcoin mining is profitable at the moment, and despite all the price swings during 2021, analytical reports from our data centers alone show the average statistics of an 80% profitability rate. Respectively, even taking into account all the complications for mining due to the low price and the high Bitcoin mining difficulty, mining of the first cryptocurrency clearly remains profitable,” the Executive Chairman of OneBoost, highlighted.

    Recovery

    The BTC mining sector has recovered quickly from the recent setbacks like China’s ban, Russia’s crypto rumors, Kazakhstan’s shutdown, and energy consumption-related problems. Farah Mourad, the Senior Market Analyst at XTB MENA, outlined that the recovery indicates strong Bitcoin mining fundamentals.

    “Since its crash back in June, Bitcoin mining difficulty indicator recovered from China’s crackdowns effect reaching a new all-time high. Since then, the markets expected the mining hash rate to remain in an uptrend, until the potential Russian crackdown on bitcoin mining. Would this change the expectations? It is important to note that a potential Russian crackdown on bitcoin mining, would result in a lower hash rate, which doesn’t necessarily mean more profit for miners,” Farah said.

    “The direct effect would be seen over bitcoin value and revenue. As we’ve seen post-China crackdown, miners managed to recover fast. Any potential profit for individual mining might be short-lived with the challenge of having access to extremely low-cost electricity. We continue to see a significant accumulation trend since 2021. Putin backing crypto mining might be supporting the trend for the short term as well. A potential migration is still on the table which would lead to changes in trends. Mining spreading over different jurisdictions might potentially bring more stability to hash rates,” she added.

    Despite price challenges and a surge in regulations around Bitcoin mining, the BTC hash rate is making new records every week. In January 2022, the mean hash rate breached the level of 183 Exahash, the highest level on record. BTC network witnessed a sooner-than-expected recovery in the mining sector after China announced a crackdown on the mining of digital assets in the region.

    Overall, the hash rate plummeted as much as 54% in May 2021. However, leading Bitcoin mining companies shifted to other global locations due to the mining-friendly approach by the relevant governments and cheap electricity. With mining rewards getting less amid Bitcoin halving events, rising competition, and energy issues, there is one key question that comes into the mind of every individual interested in this sector, is BTC mining still profitable?

    Well, analysts believe it is, and they have some strong numbers to back their claims. According to Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, large institutions will take more interest in Bitcoin mining in the coming months. “I expect the bitcoin hash rate to continue to rise as competition in the bitcoin mining space increases. In fact, bitcoin mining is demonstrating a strong degree of anti-fragility. Notably, the China ban in the summer of 2021 demonstrated the resilience of the sector. Businesses will continue to be attracted to the space and this in itself is a testament to the profitability of the space as a whole,” Ardoino said.

    Cost of Electricity

    According to Maria Stankevich, Chief Business Development Officer at EXMO UK, the cost of energy plays an important role in the profitability of Bitcoin mining and the reason behind leading mining players moving to locations like the US and Europe is that the price of electricity for mining is very low in the mentioned regions.

    “Bitcoin mining is still profitable in 2022. If we are going into the details, then let’s look at the different aspects of mining that we should take into consideration when we talk about its profitability. Cost of electricity, the electricity prices are very different from country to country. Russia, for example, has very low prices for electricity compared to some areas (like Siberia), so it charges a lower price for industrial electricity in order to encourage economic growth. This means that a mining farm in Siberia will pay 50% as much for the electricity you would mine at home in Germany or the USA,” Maria said.

    “Secondly, the mining hardware. There are plenty of different mining machines today, but according to different studies, the majority of the most modern machines could remain profitable at a bitcoin price between $5000 and $6000. Thirdly, reliable mining pool and fees while selling BTC. Today, there are a few very big mining pools that provide certain security to the miners. Sometimes, they have referral partnerships with some exchanges that lower commissions. But even without this mechanism, fees on the exchanges dropped significantly over the past few years, so from this point of view mining also looks profitable,” she added.

    Current Bitcoin Mining Ecosystem

    Ilman Shazhaev, Executive Chairman of OneBoost, believes that the current dynamics of the crypto market facilitate Bitcoin mining, even at a low BTC price.

    “As for BTC mining profitability, I can confidently say that it is still profitable. Bitcoin mining is especially profitable because, despite the current situation with the all-time-high hash rate (around 200 exahashes) and the price fluctuations below $40,000 (which are the least favorable conditions), the top-end devices are so energy-efficient that just around 40% of the mined Bitcoin covers the company’s expenditure, the rest is pure profit. If you compare it with a similar situation in 2018 and 2019, the expenditure back then constituted 70–80 percent with 14 nm chips,” Shazhaev noted.

    “So, without a shadow of a doubt, Bitcoin mining is profitable at the moment, and despite all the price swings during 2021, analytical reports from our data centers alone show the average statistics of an 80% profitability rate. Respectively, even taking into account all the complications for mining due to the low price and the high Bitcoin mining difficulty, mining of the first cryptocurrency clearly remains profitable,” the Executive Chairman of OneBoost, highlighted.

    Recovery

    The BTC mining sector has recovered quickly from the recent setbacks like China’s ban, Russia’s crypto rumors, Kazakhstan’s shutdown, and energy consumption-related problems. Farah Mourad, the Senior Market Analyst at XTB MENA, outlined that the recovery indicates strong Bitcoin mining fundamentals.

    “Since its crash back in June, Bitcoin mining difficulty indicator recovered from China’s crackdowns effect reaching a new all-time high. Since then, the markets expected the mining hash rate to remain in an uptrend, until the potential Russian crackdown on bitcoin mining. Would this change the expectations? It is important to note that a potential Russian crackdown on bitcoin mining, would result in a lower hash rate, which doesn’t necessarily mean more profit for miners,” Farah said.

    “The direct effect would be seen over bitcoin value and revenue. As we’ve seen post-China crackdown, miners managed to recover fast. Any potential profit for individual mining might be short-lived with the challenge of having access to extremely low-cost electricity. We continue to see a significant accumulation trend since 2021. Putin backing crypto mining might be supporting the trend for the short term as well. A potential migration is still on the table which would lead to changes in trends. Mining spreading over different jurisdictions might potentially bring more stability to hash rates,” she added.

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  • Bitcoin encourages transparency, long-term thinking

    Bitcoin encourages transparency, long-term thinking

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    Twitter co-founder and Block (previously Square) CEO Jack Dorsey discussed the implications of a Bitcoin (BTC)-powered universal basic income (UBI) strategy with US congressional candidate and a full-time elementary school teacher, Aarika Rhodes. 

    “Obscurity of information forces and incentivizes people to negative (financial) behaviors that don’t work for them, their community or family,” said Dorsey while pointing out the lack of transparency within the existing centralized financial system.

    “If there’s one thing to focus on in Bitcoin — the operations are transparent, the code is transparent, the policy is transparent.”

    This base foundation of BTC is what Dorsey believes has the potential to solve numerous use cases and problems as a direct result of using fiat currency. Through business initiatives including Start Small, the entrepreneur has invested over $55 million across the United States and overseas to experiment on UBI.

    “We’re about to do a test of the UBI-like concept with Bitcoin as well.”

    Dorsey’s BTC-powered UBI experiment will involve creating a small-scale closed-loop community of sellers and merchants that adhere to the Bitcoin standards. Based on the happiness quotient and willingness to participate, he intends to identify use cases for wide-scale implementation.

    Rhodes strongly believes that involving Bitcoin will reduce the costs related to banking fees:

    “When you have something like Lightning (network), where you can transact at very low fees is a benefit for everyone. It doesn’t matter where are economically.”

    In terms of financial literacy, Dorsey said that adopting the Bitcoin standard inculcates long-term thinking, however, his skepticism toward a BTC-powered universal basic income will reduce based on the results portrayed by the ongoing experiments:

    “Just that action of owning it (BTC) will change people’s mindsets in fundamental ways that are net positive and compounds throughout their communities, and encourages other actions like sellers and merchants around them doing similar things.”

    Along with the benefits that come with the Bitcoin standard, Dorsey is also vigilant about its negative impacts. On an end note, he highlighted the inefficiencies within the government policies and how UBI helps address some of the challenges:

    “If you intend to help people by giving them money directly is far better than the money that the governments (federal and local) spends on these existing support structures. It’s not helping people.”

    Related: Jack Dorsey: Diem was a waste of time, Meta should’ve focused on BTC

    In a recent interview with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Dorsey opined that Facebook (later rebranded as Meta) should’ve used an open-ended protocol like Bitcoin rather than attempting to create its own currency, Diem.

    As Cointelegraph reported, Dorsey added that making BTC more accessible would also benefit many of Meta’s instant messaging and voice-over-IP services such as Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.