Category: Investment

  • Market May Be Suffering But Bitcoin And Ethereum Will Pull Back Stronger, Bloomberg Analyst

    Market May Be Suffering But Bitcoin And Ethereum Will Pull Back Stronger, Bloomberg Analyst

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    Bitcoin and Ethereum have led the market in the recent downturns that have rocked the market. These two digital assets are no doubt market movers in their own right and as such, uptrends or downtrends begin with them. It has raised concern among investors who believe that the market is finally heading into a stretched-out bear market. However, not everyone believes this as some believe the current downtrend is only temporary.

    Mike McGlone On Bitcoin And Ethereum

    Mike McGlone is one of the leading Bloomberg analysts. Focused on the financial market, he authors a newsletter that shares his thoughts around various markets, including stocks and the crypto market. McGlone is currently one of the people with the most optimistic view of the market despite the various dips that have rocked the space. Most especially on the top digital assets in the crypto market.

    Related Reading | Solo Ethereum Miner Hits The Jackpot With 170 ETH For Mining A Block

    McGlone who was on The Wolf of all Streets podcast shared some interesting thoughts on the market, putting the analyst at an overall bullish position for bitcoin and ethereum.

    Bitcoin price chart from TradingView.com

    BTC down to $38K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

    The analysts point to the correlation with the stock market. This, he explains, is getting ready for a pullback and when this happens, bitcoin and by extension, ethereum, would benefit from this correction.

    “Here’s my prediction: the markets pull back,” said Mike McGlone. “We finally get a 10%, maybe 20%, correction in the stock market. All correlations are one, which is usually the way it works. Bitcoin comes out better off for it. Ethereum, potentially too.”

    This pullback though is only reflected on the top two cryptos which McGlone expects to recover after this.

    Other Cryptos May Not Fare Well

    Talking about other cryptocurrencies, the analyst took a more bearish stance on them. The positivity displayed in the podcast towards top coins bitcoin and ethereum did not translate to the rest of the market which he does not expect to fare well despite the pullback.

    Related Reading | Ethereum Fee Averages Remain Above $30 Despite 35% Drop. Price Pump Incoming?

    McGlone especially focused on dog coins which were arguably the winners of 2021. The craze which saw various meme tokens with no utility whatsoever soar to billions of dollars in valuation was referred to as “stupid” by the Bloomberg analyst.

    “The rest of the space, we do have to admit, the speculation you saw in the dog coins last year was indicative of this. It’s just stupid and we’re going to tell the story to our grandkids,” he said.

    Even for a digital asset like Solana which had a largely successful year, McGlone did not seem excited about it. He lumped SOL in with the dog coins, which he said were the riskiest of assets. “The bottom line is they are the riskiest of assets,” said McGlone. “There’s massive speculation. I mean the dog coins and even in things like Solana,” he added.

    Featured image from Bitcoin news, chart from TradingView.com

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  • Canadian bitcoin exchange and transfer service Shakepay raises $44M

    Canadian bitcoin exchange and transfer service Shakepay raises $44M

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    Shakepay, a Canadian-based exchange platform for bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), announced it closed $44 million in Series A funding. The round was led by QED Investors, a US-based venture capital firm.

    “We love our devoted community of shakers, and this funding is going right to work to bring you more products and services to help you earn, access, and build wealth in bitcoin. In 2021, we grew 381% to more than 900,000 shakers with $6B in total volume and grew our team from around 20 people to 75 across Canada. Just imagine what this funding could mean for 2022 and the future beyond.”
    – The Shakepay Team

    As part of the capital raise, Matt Burton, Partner at QED Investors, will join Shakepay’s board of directors, alongside founders, Jean Amiouny, CEO, and Roy Breidi, CTO.

    Ongoing participation also came from Boost VC and BoxOne Ventures, while Series A newly included participation from Golden Ventures, Broadhaven, Henri Machalani, Mike Murchison, Jevon MacDonald, Mark MacLeod, Dan Debow, Farhan Thawar, and several product leaders from Shopify.

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  • Russia’s Central Bank Proposes Ban on the Use and Mining of Crypto

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    On Thursday January 20, the Bank of Russia published a report that proposes ban of the use and mining of cryptocurrencies within Russian territory. In the report, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation stated that
     
     cryptocurrencies 
    pose threats to financial stability, citizen’s wellbeing, and its monetary policy sovereignty. Furthermore, the regulator mentioned that the rapid growth of crypto coins was determined majorly by speculative demand and could lead to a market bubble that threatens citizens’ welfare and financial stability. The regulator further stated that crypto coins carry characteristics of a financial pyramid.

    The Russian Central Bank has therefore proposed prevention of financial institutions from conducting any operations involving crypto transactions. Moreover, the central bank identified that a mechanism should be created to block transactions aimed at selling or purchasing cryptocurrencies for fiat or traditional currencies. The regulator’s proposed ban includes cryptocurrency exchanges. In the report, the central bank described Russians as active crypto users making transactions volume of around $5 billion made per year. The authority disclosed that Russia is the third largest cryptocurrency mining country in the world. According to the new report, the “potential financial stability risks associated with cryptocurrencies are much higher for emerging markets, including in Russia.”

    Governments Are Strengthening Rules on Cryptocurrency

    The move by the Central Bank of Russia is the latest attempt to crackdown cryptocurrencies as multiple governments have also expressed similar concerns that crypto assets are a threat to their financial systems. Governments across the globe worry that privately operated digital currencies are highly volatile and could undermine their control of their monetary and financial systems. A few days ago, Erik Thedéen, the vice chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority, expressed concerns that Bitcoin mining has become a national issue for his native country, Sweden. Thedéen warned that
     
     crypto mining 
    poses a risk to meeting climate change goals highlighted in the Paris Agreement. Recently, the Central Bank of Pakistan proposed a ban on cryptocurrency while US authorities discuss about the need for more regulations within the industry. Last year, China’s PBOC imposed a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, citing illegal activities involving cryptocurrencies (such as pyramid schemes, gambling, and money laundering) could disrupt the national economy.

    On Thursday January 20, the Bank of Russia published a report that proposes ban of the use and mining of cryptocurrencies within Russian territory. In the report, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation stated that
     
     cryptocurrencies 
    pose threats to financial stability, citizen’s wellbeing, and its monetary policy sovereignty. Furthermore, the regulator mentioned that the rapid growth of crypto coins was determined majorly by speculative demand and could lead to a market bubble that threatens citizens’ welfare and financial stability. The regulator further stated that crypto coins carry characteristics of a financial pyramid.

    The Russian Central Bank has therefore proposed prevention of financial institutions from conducting any operations involving crypto transactions. Moreover, the central bank identified that a mechanism should be created to block transactions aimed at selling or purchasing cryptocurrencies for fiat or traditional currencies. The regulator’s proposed ban includes cryptocurrency exchanges. In the report, the central bank described Russians as active crypto users making transactions volume of around $5 billion made per year. The authority disclosed that Russia is the third largest cryptocurrency mining country in the world. According to the new report, the “potential financial stability risks associated with cryptocurrencies are much higher for emerging markets, including in Russia.”

    Governments Are Strengthening Rules on Cryptocurrency

    The move by the Central Bank of Russia is the latest attempt to crackdown cryptocurrencies as multiple governments have also expressed similar concerns that crypto assets are a threat to their financial systems. Governments across the globe worry that privately operated digital currencies are highly volatile and could undermine their control of their monetary and financial systems. A few days ago, Erik Thedéen, the vice chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority, expressed concerns that Bitcoin mining has become a national issue for his native country, Sweden. Thedéen warned that
     
     crypto mining 
    poses a risk to meeting climate change goals highlighted in the Paris Agreement. Recently, the Central Bank of Pakistan proposed a ban on cryptocurrency while US authorities discuss about the need for more regulations within the industry. Last year, China’s PBOC imposed a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, citing illegal activities involving cryptocurrencies (such as pyramid schemes, gambling, and money laundering) could disrupt the national economy.

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  • Ethereum Plunges, Can Buyers Save The Key $3K Support?

    Ethereum Plunges, Can Buyers Save The Key $3K Support?

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    Ethereum extended decline below the $3,100 support zone against the US Dollar. ETH price must stay above $3,000 to avoid a sharp decline.

    • Ethereum extended decline below the $3,120 and $3,100 levels.
    • The price is trading below $3,150 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.
    • There is a key bearish trend line forming with resistance near $3,140 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
    • The pair could start a decent increase if there is a clear move above the $3,200 resistance zone.

    Ethereum Price Keeps Struggling

    Ethereum failed to settle above $3,200 and extended decline below the $3,120 support zone. ETH even broke the $3,080 level and settled below the 100 hourly simple moving average.

    A low is formed near $3,050 and currently correcting losses. There was a minor recovery wave above the $3,100 level. Ether price climbed above the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $3,195 swing high to $3,050 low.

    The first major resistance is near the $3,135 level. There is also a key bearish trend line forming with resistance near $3,140 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The trend line is near the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $3,195 swing high to $3,050 low.

    Ethereum Price

    Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

    If there is an upside break above the trend line, the price could rise towards the $3,190 resistance zone and the 100 hourly simple moving average. The next major resistance is near the $3,200 level, above which ether price could gain bullish momentum. In the stated case, the price could rise towards $3,300 in the near term.

    More Losses in ETH?

    If ethereum fails to start a fresh increase above the $3,150 level, it could continue to move down. An initial support on the downside is near the $3,080 level.

    The first key support is now forming near the $3,050 level. A downside break below the $3,050 level might even spark a move below the $3,000 level. The next major support for the bulls may perhaps be near the $2,880 zone. Any more losses could push the price towards the $2,750 level.

    Technical Indicators

    Hourly MACDThe MACD for ETH/USD is losing pace in the bearish zone.

    Hourly RSIThe RSI for ETH/USD is now near the 50 level.

    Major Support Level – $3,050

    Major Resistance Level – $3,150

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  • Central banks generate trust, not big techs or “anonymous ledgers”

    Central banks generate trust, not big techs or “anonymous ledgers”

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    In a speech entitled “Digital currencies and the soul of money,” Agustín Carstens, the general manager of the Bank of International Settlements,’ criticized private stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi), touting central bank-led financial innovation as the best possible path to the future of money.

    Carstens, who served as governor of the Bank of Mexico between 2010 and 2017, delivered his remarks at the conference on “Data, Digitalization, the New Finance and Central Bank Digital Currencies: The Future of Banking and Money” at the Goethe University in Frankfurt.

    The economist’s argument revolved around the institutional foundations of money and how, even in the digital age, central banks remain in a position to provide trust in money and ensure “an efficient and inclusive financial system to the benefit of all.” Alternative designs of monetary systems that emerged throughout history, according to the BIS’ top official, “have often ended badly.”

    To advance his point, Carstens discussed three plausible scenarios of financial innovation. In addition to the global monetary system led by central banks, he envisioned a world where big tech-powered stablecoins are the dominant form of money, and another where the bulk of financial activity is decentralized and runs on distributed ledgers.

    The stablecoin scenario, Carstens maintained, is fraught with market power and data concentration at the hands of a few dominant private money issuers. National and global monetary systems would become fragmented, while the disintermediation of incumbent banks would threaten financial stability.

    Speaking of DeFi, the BIS boss claimed that the reality that DeFi applications are delivering is at odds with their proclaimed foundational principles of disintermediation. Carstens said:

    To date, the DeFi space has been used primarily for speculative activities. Users invest, borrow and trade cryptoassets in a largely unregulated environment. The absence of controls such as know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering rules, might well be one important factor in DeFi’s growth.

    Furthermore, echoing BIS researchers’ recent claims, Carstens stated that “there is a lot of centralization in DeFi.” He also cited scalability issues and liquidity mismatches as problematic aspects of decentralized finance.

    In the vision of the monetary future that the economist extolled, central banks are at the core of the financial system, facilitating innovation such as building a global network of CBDCs. Because they are not profit-driven, central banks would act to advance the interests of the public, according to Carstens.

    These statements come as no surprise when voiced by a chief officer of an institution that is often called a bank for central banks. As Cointelegraph reported earlier, the BIS’ innovation arm is actively engaged in several CBDC trials, including the cross-border settlement initiative ran jointly by central banks of France and Switzerland.

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  • Coinbase Partners with Mastercard to Revolutionize NFT Purchase Experience

    Coinbase Partners with Mastercard to Revolutionize NFT Purchase Experience

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    On January 18, Coinbase, the US largest
     
     cryptocurrency exchange 
    , announced a partnership with Mastercard, a global payment giant, to classify NFTs as digital goods in order to allow a wider group of consumers to buy non-fungible tokens. With the announcement, coming soon Coinbase will transform a new way to pay using Mastercard cards.

    Coinbase recently announced ‘Coinbase NFT,’ a peer-to-peer marketplace, which enables minting, buying, showcasing, and discovering NFTs easier. The partnership with Mastercard will therefore enable Coinbase to offer a better customer experience on the Coinbase NFT marketplace. The exchange is working to find ways to bring such opportunities to the wider ecosystem through Mastercard’s global network. Coinbase applauds Mastercard’s leadership on this matter to make it as easy as possible to purchase and sell NFTs.

    Prakash Hariramani, the head of
     
     Payments 
    and Financial Hub at Coinbase, talked about the development and said that Coinbase’s mission is to increase economic freedom in the globe. He stated that by enabling more users to join the creator economy and profit from their work, NFTs have a vital role to play in this mission. He, however, identified that buying an NFT remains a complex experience for many users. He disclosed that Coinbase is working on simplifying the user experience to allow more people to join the NFTs community. Hariramani elaborated that just the way the exchange helped millions of people access Bitcoin in an easy and trusted manner, it is working on doing the same for NFTs.

    Coinbase Is Doubling Down on NFTs Efforts

    The development by Coinbase to embrace partnership with Mastercard comes at a time when NFT trading activity has been increasing substantially. Last year, NFTs demand skyrocketed significantly with around 280,000 unique sellers and buyers trending by the end of August. In October last year, Coinbase announced the launch of its Coinbase NFT marketplace to allow users to mint, buy, and showcase NFTs. The initial launch supports Ethereum-based ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards, but the exchange has plans to enable multi-chain support in the near future.

    NFT artists have revolutionized the traditional art world. Industries like music, gaming, and fashion are recognizing the power of NFTs to unlock new forms of creativity and ownership. Coinbase is therefore making NFTs more accessible by developing user-friendly interfaces that put the complexity behind the scenes. The crypto exchange added social features that open new avenues for discovery and conversation. Coinbase remains dedicated to growing the creator community exponentially, which is a win-win for artists and fans. In this way, the Coinbase NFT is positioning itself as a peer-to-peer marketplace whose filters are based on the users’ interests.

    On January 18, Coinbase, the US largest
     
     cryptocurrency exchange 
    , announced a partnership with Mastercard, a global payment giant, to classify NFTs as digital goods in order to allow a wider group of consumers to buy non-fungible tokens. With the announcement, coming soon Coinbase will transform a new way to pay using Mastercard cards.

    Coinbase recently announced ‘Coinbase NFT,’ a peer-to-peer marketplace, which enables minting, buying, showcasing, and discovering NFTs easier. The partnership with Mastercard will therefore enable Coinbase to offer a better customer experience on the Coinbase NFT marketplace. The exchange is working to find ways to bring such opportunities to the wider ecosystem through Mastercard’s global network. Coinbase applauds Mastercard’s leadership on this matter to make it as easy as possible to purchase and sell NFTs.

    Prakash Hariramani, the head of
     
     Payments 
    and Financial Hub at Coinbase, talked about the development and said that Coinbase’s mission is to increase economic freedom in the globe. He stated that by enabling more users to join the creator economy and profit from their work, NFTs have a vital role to play in this mission. He, however, identified that buying an NFT remains a complex experience for many users. He disclosed that Coinbase is working on simplifying the user experience to allow more people to join the NFTs community. Hariramani elaborated that just the way the exchange helped millions of people access Bitcoin in an easy and trusted manner, it is working on doing the same for NFTs.

    Coinbase Is Doubling Down on NFTs Efforts

    The development by Coinbase to embrace partnership with Mastercard comes at a time when NFT trading activity has been increasing substantially. Last year, NFTs demand skyrocketed significantly with around 280,000 unique sellers and buyers trending by the end of August. In October last year, Coinbase announced the launch of its Coinbase NFT marketplace to allow users to mint, buy, and showcase NFTs. The initial launch supports Ethereum-based ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards, but the exchange has plans to enable multi-chain support in the near future.

    NFT artists have revolutionized the traditional art world. Industries like music, gaming, and fashion are recognizing the power of NFTs to unlock new forms of creativity and ownership. Coinbase is therefore making NFTs more accessible by developing user-friendly interfaces that put the complexity behind the scenes. The crypto exchange added social features that open new avenues for discovery and conversation. Coinbase remains dedicated to growing the creator community exponentially, which is a win-win for artists and fans. In this way, the Coinbase NFT is positioning itself as a peer-to-peer marketplace whose filters are based on the users’ interests.

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  • Update to asset listing announcements

    Update to asset listing announcements

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    One of the most common requests we receive from customers is to be able to trade more assets on our platform. As we continue to add assets to our exchange and platforms we have decided that we will no longer post individual blog posts and will only use Twitter to announce new asset listings.

    Please make sure to follow @CoinbaseAssets for new asset announcements for Coinbase.com, iOS and Android apps, as well as Advanced Trading, Coinbase Pro, Coinbase Prime, Coinbase Custody and any new geo-fencing restrictions that may be lifted.

    Please also make sure to follow @CoinbaseExch for new asset announcements for Coinbase Exchange and to be alerted as order books will launch in phases, auction mode then limit-only or full trading mode. If at any point one of the new order books does not meet our assessment for a healthy and orderly market, we may keep the book in one state for a longer period of time or suspend trading as per our Trading Rules.

    To see a list of supported assets on Coinbase check out our new Asset Directory.

    ###

    Please note: Coinbase Ventures may be an investor in the crypto projects we offer, and additionally, Coinbase may hold such tokens on its balance sheet for operational purposes. A list of Coinbase Ventures investments is available at https://ventures.coinbase.com/. Coinbase intends to maintain its investment in these entities for the foreseeable future and maintains internal policies that address the timing of permissible disposition of any related digital assets, if applicable. All assets, regardless of whether Coinbase Ventures holds an investment or Coinbase holds for operational purposes, are subject to the same strict review guidelines and review process.

    Crypto is a new type of asset. Besides potential day to day or hour to hour volatility, each crypto asset has unique features. Make sure you research and understand individual assets before you transact.

    All images provided herein are by Coinbase.

    ######


    Update to asset listing announcements was originally published in The Coinbase Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.



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  • Coinbase and Mastercard partner to revolutionize NFT purchase experience | by Coinbase | Jan, 2022

    Coinbase and Mastercard partner to revolutionize NFT purchase experience | by Coinbase | Jan, 2022

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    Coinbase

    By Prakash Hariramani, Senior Director, Product

    Our mission at Coinbase is to increase economic freedom in the world. By enabling more people to join the creator economy and profit from their work, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) have an important role to play in this mission. However, the experience of purchasing an NFT remains complex for many users.

    Coinbase wants to simplify the user experience to allow more people to join the NFTs community. Just as we helped millions of people access Bitcoin for the first time in an easy and trusted way, we want to do the same for NFTs.

    That’s why we’re working with Mastercard to classify NFTs as “digital goods”, allowing a broader group of consumers to purchase NFTs. And, coming soon we’ll “unlock” a new way to pay using Mastercard cards.

    Coinbase recently announced Coinbase NFT, a peer-to-peer marketplace that will make minting, purchasing, showcasing, and discovering NFTs easier. Thanks to our work with Mastercard, we’ll be able to provide a better customer experience on Coinbase NFT, and plan on working to find ways to bring this opportunity to the broader ecosystem through Mastercard’s scale and global network.

    We applaud Mastercard’s leadership on this issue to make it as easy as possible to buy an NFT and make sure it’s the best consumer experience. The NFT revolution is just beginning.

    To learn more, please visit Mastercard’s Newsroom for a blog post and Q&A on our NFT strategy.

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  • The World’s First Virtual Mars NFTs Are Selling Rapidly

    The World’s First Virtual Mars NFTs Are Selling Rapidly

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    Mars4 is a multi-tiered project that combines NFTs, Crypto and an immersive survival game together that will provide a window to a virtual Mars and a broader range of investment opportunities via the world’s first revenue-generating NFT.

    The sale of Mars4 NFTs raised over $250K in a day and saw land plots sell swiftly via the Epoch System.

    Epochs: Tiered Crypto Returns

    Mars4 NFTs represent geographically-exact plots of land across the face of Mars, created with data from NASA and other space agencies, to be fully realized in modern 3D graphics. The Mars4 NFTs are released as part of the Epoch system that uses a scarcity model to establish its pricing.

    The Epoch system is a tiered system that rewards investors in stages, offering better returns the earlier one decides to invest. To familiarise potential investors with the Epoch system, below the Epoch system is detailed in greater depth:

    Investors who have purchased Mars4 land NFTs during or before the current Epoch (Epoch 1) will receive 51% of the earnings of the next Epoch (Epoch 2), redistributed in Mars4 Tokens (‘Mars4 dollars’) in one lump sum after the NFTs under that Epoch are sold.

    The Epoch System extends from Epoch 0 to Epoch 5 with each Epoch containing a fixed range of NFTs. After an Epoch ends, income generated from that Epoch is always redistributed to NFTs owners who invested in any and all previous Epochs. This system is applied throughout, providing greater returns to investors who hold earlier Epochs.

    With over 56,000 NFTs sold, only around 3,000 NFTs remain before the Epoch’s first stage redistribution kicks in. Once Epoch 2 is reached, investors holding the NFTs sold prior to Epoch 1 will receive 51% of the income from Epoch 2’s NFT sales in Mars4 dollars.

    Integrating Mars4 Tokens: A Virtual Economy

    Mars4 will be integrating both the Mars4 Token and the Mars4 NFT Land into the upcoming survival game set on the red planet, bringing an entirely new aspect to the investment value of Mars4 NFTs and creating an NFT that can generate revenue for its holders.

    Each NFT Land sold is a virtual location that the game is set in, allowing holders and players to make use of their own personal space on Mars. This Metaverse will feature survival and colonization mechanics and reward landowners that build up thriving communities within their NFT land plots and provide returns in Mars4 Tokens for both player and investor.

    In addition, the game will make use of the Mars4 Token as its core currency, building an entirely virtual economy that ties the Mars4 NFT to its own convertible token and allows players and investors to create real-world wealth on a virtual Mars.

    Conclusion

    As each Epoch of Mars4 is reached, the previous Epoch investors will continue to receive redistributed Mars4 Tokens, meaning that the best time to invest and benefit from the Epoch system is always now.

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  • Panther protocol co-founder Oliver Gale discusses bringing zero-knowledge technology to multi-chain

    Panther protocol co-founder Oliver Gale discusses bringing zero-knowledge technology to multi-chain

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    Privacy coins and zero-knowledge technology, which some use to obfuscate the identity of sends/receivers and transaction amounts, have gained enormous popularity in recent years due to mounting regulatory surveillance against the crypto sector. But despite their rapid rise in market cap, critics continue to scrutinize such class of assets as enablers for masking illicit activities.

    In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Oliver Gale, CEO, and co-founder of the Panther Protocol (ZKP), elaborated on the technology behind its privacy decentralized finance, or DeFi, solutions and why it’s necessary for today’s crypto space:

    CT: How much did you raise from your recent token sale, and what does your roadmap look like from here?

    OG: We’ve raised over $30 million in total. For Panther protocol, we did several private sale rounds, and then we did a public sale on November the 23rd, which was 90 minutes long, and raised over $20 million during that time. The second question is around the roadmap itself, so Panther Protocol is a multi-chain privacy protocol with several zero-knowledge, data disclosure tools built into it; what we’re delivering in January is our minimum viable product (MVP).

    We have multiple deployments this month. And that will be delivering an MVP that allows staking on Polygon and transferability of the ERC-20 token to ZKP token. And then, I estimate 30 to 60 days later; we’re going to deploy the complete v1.0 MVP, which will have the multi-asset privacy pools and multi-asset staking pools that are the shielded tools in which Panther assets can use be transacted privately. And that will also come with a version of ZK reveals, which is the mechanism by which users can voluntarily disclose their transaction data for compliance purposes or tax reporting purposes, etc. So that’s what can be expected across Q1.

    We have over five EVM compatible partnerships in place to deploy Panther v1 on Near, Flare, etc. These shielded pools are being deployed across different chains. And then, our team is building a ZK-driven interchange across other chains, and the goal is to allow these assets to be swapped securely, with low fees, low and high transaction throughput.

    CT: What’s the underlying cryptography behind these assets?

    OG: So the multi-asset shielded pools are based on ZK-SNARKS. So you have a combination. The shielded pools are, you know, a version of mixer technology with the ability to split join transfer assets. Then we use ZK snarks for proof of ownership. So essentially, transactions happen within the multi-asset shielded pools. And, and then the mechanism for data disclosure reveals is another ZK snark circuit, which is set up to allow Essentially a trusted provider to provide proof that can be verified on the planter network of some data condition being met. And that while it’s been applied to compliance is our first use case, and were put in ZK reveals into production with launched out, which is essentially a launch is launched out is what it sounds like.

    CT: Skeptics would say that private networks using zero-knowledge cryptography could become enablers of illicit transactions. What are your thoughts on the matter?

    OG: In my view, if you build technology and have no intention of facilitating aiding and abetting or enabling crime, you are not guilty of any crime. But why is privacy needed? Our white paper has this; the bottom line is that actors who are under surveillance behave differently from those who are not. In other words, the exact behavior of our societies is impacted by being watched. So inevitably, there are going to be bad actors. 

    But I’ve never seen a gun on trial. You don’t put tools on trial; you put people on trial. And the overwhelming consensus of our global society, for all of the tools and technologies we use, is that if the device is more beneficial for the majority than the minority who abuse it, then you use it. And if that weren’t the case, then I’m not sure we would have any kitchen knives because knives are used for criminal activity by a minority. So any attempt to put privacy technology or blockchain technology on trial because a minority abused the system is an argument that can be extrapolated to anything in life.