The news that Coinbase is listing on Nasdaq has prompted the market to show green numbers. The rest of the cryptocurrencies accompany Bitcoin and Ethereum as their prices grow.

The price of Bitcoin consolidates after reaching its new all-time highs. That suggests that this is the best time to buy the cryptocurrency amid a bullish trend. After climbing to almost USD 65,000 in recent days, Bitcoin began to consolidate within a new range.

All of the above comes amid the news that Coinbase went public on Nasdaq. This fact in particular has led the market to skyrocket. That has generated bullish sentiment in most of the market.

The cryptocurrency market is currently experiencing a moment of euphoria. Although many official agencies and regulators have doubts, crypto-assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have gained the trust of small and large investors. The latter have opted for them as store-of-value assets, especially in the last two years.

Especially, the support of institutional investors has been crucial in this consolidation. Therein lies the importance of Coinbase’s debut on the stock market. There was an obvious expectation, which was reflected in cryptocurrencies themselves. According to analysts, this major event is the main reason why the market is skyrocketing.

Other Crypto Assets Make Profits alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum

At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is trading at USD 62,970, showing an increasing variation of 0.66% in the last 24 hours. For its part, the price of Ethereum is USD 2,496, experiencing an increase of 3.23% during the same period, according to data from CoinGecko.

Not only Bitcoin and Ethereum have skyrocketed but other cryptocurrencies as well. The most prominent are Dogecoin (DOGE) with + 48%, Chainlink (LINK) with + 13.59%, Cardano (ADA) with + 5%, and Uniswap (UNI) with + 11.19%.

A Miami Commissioner Wants to Allow Paying Taxes in Bitcoin

A Miami commissioner backs a resolution to allow residents to use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to pay local taxes. Cohen Higgins submitted a resolution to the Infrastructure, Operations, and Innovations Committee requesting to establish a crypto working group.

They would examine the feasibility of allowing residents to pay their county taxes, as well as fees and services, with cryptocurrencies. The document notes that crypto payments have the potential to improve convenience and save costs.

“The article would establish a task force that would delve into the feasibility of using cryptocurrencies in Miami-Dade County. This would allow exploring the potential benefits and pitfalls that could result from their use. This exploration can help support an expanding technology and the presence of new companies to help our economy,” according to Higgins.

A Swiss Insurance Company Starts Accepting Bitcoin as Payment

Swiss insurance company AXA has become the first insurer in that country to offer the option of paying bills in Bitcoin. They will always accept this type of payment, except for life insurance, due to regulatory barriers.

The accelerated digital transformation of the global economy during the COVID-19 pandemic has led several companies to incorporate the Bitcoin. The insurer notes that it conducted a survey in 2019, in which a third of the responded owned or were interested in cryptocurrencies.

Director of Open Innovation Claudia Bienentreu said that the acceptance of Bitcoin responds to the growing demand for alternative payment solutions. She added that new technologies are playing an increasingly important role in the economy.

By Alexander Salazar

The IRS investigates crimes on the dark web that include cryptocurrencies. The agency is preparing a law to be able to snoop on cryptocurrency transactions.

The excitement that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are generating in the digital world, but mainly the profits they are receiving in the cryptocurrency market, has set off the alarms of the coordinator of the United States Tax Service (IRS), Charles Rettig.

In an interview by the US network CNBC, Rettig indicated that the entry into the scene of the NFTs represents a way for “tax evasion”, as “they are not visible by design as is the case with cryptocurrencies.”

Retting also assured that the popularity of cryptocurrencies and their massive adoption had been why they cannot gather the sum of USD 1 billion in taxes per year. This adoption happens because they are facing some difficulties in tracking transactions.

The official assured that IRS has been investigating “cybercrimes that have been developing with cryptocurrencies on the dark web.”

Retting also revealed that the IRS is preparing a bill with which they intend to request more information and disclosure of cryptocurrency transactions since it considers it essential to “have that information.”

This request is something other organisations such as the US agency against financial crimes (FinCEN) approached this year, with a regulation proposal that turns the wheel in self-custodial cryptocurrency wallets.

IRS Asked Customers if they Acquired Virtual Currencies to Measure their Interest

In this sense, since last year, the IRS incorporated into the form with which North American citizens file taxes the question: “At any time during 2020, did you receive, sell, send, or acquire any financial interest in virtual currency?”

The IRS desires to control the use of cryptocurrencies with more strength, using tax evasions as a disguise for its real intentions. This war for control is a topic that has been going on for several years. In 2016, the United States of America government, through the IRS, requested the popular exchange Coinbase, the private information of its clients, which started a huge legal battle.

In 2017, the US court concluded that less than 1% of Coinbase’s customer base would need an investigation. Those selected for scrutiny by the government agency benefited somewhat, as the amount of data that requires the IRS saw a significant reduction.

IRS Pays the Tracking of Financial Operations with Monero

The efforts of the North American Tax Service to increase control over cryptocurrencies and the fear of a possible loss of control over monetary policies led them to pay USD 1.25 million to the companies Chainalysis and Integra FEC. This massive payment had the intention to track every transaction in Monero and second-layer solutions like Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and Ethereum’s Raiden.

According to the agency, there are limited resources to track transactions related to private cryptocurrencies such as Monero and “other off-chain transactions that provide privacy to illicit agents.”

By: Jenson Nuñez

Mining pools have their costs covered and accumulate BTC. BTC could hit $ 300,000 by December 2021, according to analysts.

According to renowned specialists like Willy Woo, Bitcoin would be at the edge of a bullish cycle due to reductions in the general supply of the cryptocurrency in the markets.

Analysts are currently considering a group of factors that could favor the increase in the price of BTC for the next few months, as these would be limiting the supply in contrast to a rise in demand.

These specialists also mention that the miners of the Bitcoin network would have already recovered their investments and would not need to put their BTC on sale to meet their expenses. Institutional investors would also study the adoption as a long-term strategy by withdrawing their BTC from exchanges to cold or hardware wallets.

Both analysts Willy Woo (independent) and Ariel Santos-Arbona (SeekingAlpha) agree on these aspects, according to reports published on Monday April 12, and Thursday, April 8, respectively.

Both specialists also agree that the price of BTC would go through a stable period with amounts circling USD 61,000 and, within the next 20 days, it would break this barrier reaching new all-time highs.

Santos-Arbona comments in his report that, during January, miners sold a large part of their BTC, which would have led to a 30% price correction. However, the trend has been reversed in recent months, consolidating the relationship between miners’ savings and the price of BTC.

Institutions and Whales Withdraw their BTC from Exchanges

Santos-Alborna, another specialist in terms of cryptocurrencies, points out that institutions and large individual savers (whales) are withdrawing their BTC from exchange houses rapidly.

According to this conclusion, the institutions would not want to be at risk of leaving their funds in exchange houses, where they could lose them due to malicious attacks or any similar incident. Instead, they are placing them in cold or hardware wallets. The analyst also concludes with the expectation of the bull market in BTC:

“The analysis indicates that Bitcoin is facing a double supply or liquidity shock. Miners are taking their BTC out of circulation now that they have covered their operational costs, while institutions are taking their BTC out of circulation by storing it in cold wallets. After this necessary period of consolidation, I expect the bull market to continue based on these liquidity shocks.”

Decentralized finance platforms (DeFi) probably reduced Bitcoin’s dominance in the general cryptocurrency market. However, this has not prevented Bitcoin (BTC) from holding onto the top spot of the market, breaking its all-time highs more frequently than before.

Willy Woo also said that miners are exceeding levels of profit. Profits are reaching superior levels to the ones in the 2017 bull market. When miners break their all-time profitability highs, the price of BTC consolidates firmly in a range that would form a mid-point to start a bull market. Through this perspective, the Bitcoin market would be ready for its second bull season of 2021.

By: Jenson Nuñez

DeFi causes an increase in the supply of stablecoins like DAI, which would make them more stable. Arbitrage has become increasingly popular, which helps regulate the price of DAI.

The DAI stablecoin, which MakerDAO developed, is becoming more stable, according to CoinMetrics’ latest weekly report. The analytics firm explains that this crypto asset is crucial in many major projects. For that reason, its greater stability suggests that the entire ecosystem has also stabilized.

DAI’s objective is to maintain the parity of its value with that of the US dollar. If this does not happen, arbitrage opportunities arise to buy and sell between different protocols.

CoinMetrics explains that decentralized finance (DeFi) allows for greater arbitrage across different platforms. As a result, there is an adjustment in price, which leads to greater stability. As the DAI supply grows, there is greater liquidity and better arbitrage.

Since mid-2020, DAI’s transaction volume has increased alongside DeFi’s. Both arbitrage and the stability of the cryptocurrency have contributed to the growth of the activity. “A virtuous circle emerges, which helps the entire ecosystem to mature,” according to the report.

High Demand for DAI Causes Prices to Rise, and Vice Versa

When the demand for DAI is high, the price of the cryptocurrency rises slightly, which can happen for various reasons. For example, a sharp drop in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies leads many people to “escape” to stablecoins. The study indicates that this kept the DAI price above one US dollar for a long time during 2020.

Anyone can create a new DAI by hosting collateral with other cryptocurrencies, such as Ether, on the MakerDAO platform. This has led to the fact that, when there is greater demand for DAI, the supply grows.

CoinMetrics analytical data shows strong growth in DAI supply, which started in mid-2020 and grew in December. It is possible to observe that, with higher supply, the price falls below USD 1.

According to the study, the launch of the Uniswap Governance Token (UNI) in September 2020 increased the volume of Ethereum transactions. Its liquidity mining program, which included the ETH/DAI pair, led many to participate and generate more DAI. The supply reached more than 600 million, so the price began to decline and stabilize towards parity with USD 1.

The Supply of Tether (USDT) on Tron Is Almost the Same as on Ethereum

The CoinMetrics report also addresses issues related to other stablecoins such as Tether (USDT). It mentions that the USDT supply on the Tron (TRX) network is close to the one on Ethereum. In recent days, there were 21 billion USDT on Tron versus 23 billion on Ethereum. More precisely, the combined supply share (the percentage of the shared total) is 52.7%.

This suggests that the use is different on each blockchain. While large amounts of USDT move on Ethereum, small/retail transactions take place on Tron every day.

The number of active addresses with USDT is larger on Tron than on Ethereum. In recent days, there were 262,540 active addresses with Tether on Tron and only 89,650 on Ethereum.

Centralized stablecoin Tether is the one with the largest market capitalization. Despite its contribution to the world of cryptocurrencies, it has had trouble proving the US dollar funds behind it.

By Alexander Salazar

The conversion from bitcoin to fiat currency will be possible through the broker Bitcoin Suisse. In the future, AXA will set an expansion for alternative payment methods. This expansion includes operations with ethers and other cryptocurrencies.

AXA, a multinational insurer based in France that works in more than 56 countries, announced on Thursday, April 15, that it offers the option to pay with bitcoins within AXA Switzerland. All private clients who use this insurer will be free to pay with bitcoin the products’ premiums, except those that have to do with life insurance.

According to the statement published by AXA on its official blog, this new form of payment represents the massive reception the use of cryptocurrencies is facing worldwide due to the COVID pandemic, thus satisfying the demand of its customers.

More than a Third Part of its Clients Using Bitcoin had Shown Interest in Cryptocurrency

The payments in bitcoin for AXA Switzerland have been active since the beginning of April. Customers will only have to have the reference number, the amount to be paid, and their bitcoin wallet on hand.

On the one hand, the option for now only appears for customers who receive their invoice by email, those who receive their invoice by post or by the insurer’s corporate application, called MyAXA, will be able to do so by acceding to the invoice payment platform. inapay.ch/axa from a computer or their mobile device.

The platform will convert bitcoin to Swiss francs while bringing a timer that shows the exchange rate at the transaction time. As they explain, this timer will last for a certain period so that customers feel safer about exchange rates and volatility. Later, the timer will update, showing a new exchange rate, and the countdown will begin again with this new amount.

The exchange of the cryptocurrency to Swiss francs will happen through the broker Bitcoin Suisse. While AXA won’t charge any commission for its insurance payments in bitcoin, the broker (when calculating the exchange rate) will add a 1.75% commission to cover the blockchain transaction, currency exchange, and other extra fees that could come to light.

According to the AXA statement, more payment options with other systems in Switzerland are coming soon. Among other usages is TWINT, a Swiss mobile payment alternative that brings users the opportunity to consolidate operations from one person to another and pay in online stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and vending machines.

While AXA now offers the option of paying your insurance premiums with bitcoin, paying with other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum will have to wait. The insurer first wants to gain experience with bitcoins before taking the following steps. The expansion of the service to other countries is also in plans.

AXA’s Been trying These Methods Before

According to the same statement, payments in bitcoin for the insurance premium are not the only blockchain tool that AXA manages. In 2017 the company joined efforts with Cardossier to generate a whole new platform that uses blockchain technology and tracks the life cycle of a car, seeking to make the automotive market more efficient.

By: Jenson Nuñez