The ninth round is now complete and marks its steps as the most successful of the company. Vitalik Buterin also believes that serious action should take part to prevent possible fraud.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin questioned the ways in round 9 of the Gitcoin fundraiser, which ended this week. Buterin points out that possibly more than 15% of the contributions in this round were misleading or fraudulent.

The ninth collection is, perhaps, the most successful of all in terms of supply. In total, 812 different projects will receive USD 1.38 million that the company gathered thanks to the collaboration of 12,000 people.

According to a report on April 14 by Gitcoin, one of the main contributors to this ninth round was Paradigm, the crypto asset investment firm created by Fred Ehrsam, and Matt Huang, former partner of Sequoia Capital.

Bitcoin’s goal is to generate subsidies for open source projects on Ethereum. However, the growth of these fundraising rounds has also brought several “unprecedented” problems, such as conspiracy and fraud, Vitalik Buterin explains in a blog post.

Even though the vast majority of contributions can be considered legitimate, Buterin was “surprised by how long it took people to try to exploit this mechanism.” For this reason, the 15% detected as fraudulent stands out.

So-called Donors Would Cheat the Collection Mechanism

Vitalik Buterin carved more profound into the fraud discussion and described that one of the main struggles relates directly to the influence of small groups of taxpayers with multiple accounts that were likely coordinated individuals trying to “cheat the mechanism.”

This “trap” would occur thanks to the premise of quadratic financing of giving more importance to the number of donors than to the amounts donated per se. Thus, the more community support an excellent public project has, the more funding it will receive.

Buterin also expressed that “this is not the fault of Gitcoin”, but that the platform has become so extensive that it faces the same problems that social sites have had in recent years regarding malicious behaviors. For Buterin, implementing a community review could be an excellent step to maintain the legitimacy of the mechanism.

For this round, Gitcoin decided to “absorb” the costs of these fraudulent donations so that each project received the same amount of money that they would have obtained if the contributions had been accurate. This absorption represented a cost of USD 33,000 for the company.

Gitcoin has published a response on Medium that details all its strategies to detect and counter these attempts. However, for experts like Buterin, more severe action needs to happen to avoid these behaviors in the long term.

Gitcoin is Gaining Supporters and Donors

Contributions can happen in any of the categories: community, DApps technology, infrastructure, among other exciting projects. In the last two rounds (the eighth and the ninth), the «East Asia» category found its spot, which brought unexpected but favorable results and helped place several projects in this region in the first row of those in their class.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The Senate confirmed Gensler’s appointment in a poll of 53 votes in favor and 43 against. Users request the new administration to reverse the declaration of XRP as a security.

Several users request the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to withdraw the lawsuit against Ripple Labs. This occurs at the same time as the Senate confirms Gary Gensler as the new chairman of the agency.

The executive recently received the ratification as head of the official entity, in a poll of 53 votes in favor and 43 votes against. The new 63-year-old chairman has also been a Senior Lecturer in Bitcoin at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

The former Goldman Sachs banker was also chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Barack Obama administration. That fact contributed to his current chairmanship of the SEC.

Until now, Gensler has committed himself to increasing transparency and reducing risk in the marketplace. He succeeds Jay Clayton, an attorney that former President Donald Trump appointed to undo existing financial regulations.

The lawyer must lay the groundwork for a sweeping overhaul of this agency while there is unprecedented volatility in the stock market. Additionally, institutional adoption is booming in the nascent cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Gensler is well-versed in blockchain technologies and is aware of the benefits that cryptocurrencies offer. The new chairman has also previously called Bitcoin “the modern form of gold.”

Given that he has taught on those topics at MIT, Gensler seems to be a key figure for the industry. Among the issues that he must face is the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple and blockchain companies like LBRY, for allegedly selling unregistered securities.

Users Request Gensler to “End the War on XRP”

The SEC staff welcomed Gensler in a public statement that is on the agency’s website.

They congratulated Gary Gensler on his confirmation by the Senate to become SEC Chairman. They told him that the SEC staff work tirelessly on behalf of investors and markets.

However, on the official Twitter account, @Sec_News, the followers also posted their requests. For example, @Marconicrypto congratulated Gensler on his confirmation in office and took the opportunity to request his intercession in favor of cryptocurrencies, particularly XRP. “Investors and citizens respectfully demand/request that you withdraw the lawsuit,” said the Twitter user.

Another follower, identified as @MSWannTx, complains to Gensler about the legal dispute between the SEC and Ripple. “The SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, BG, and CL did not protect anyone affiliated with the XRP digital asset. [On the contrary], it harmed thousands whom the SEC should protect.”

In addition to these demands, Thomas Hodge asks Gensler via Facebook to end “the SEC’s war on XRP.” Through this request, he notes that there are serious doubts about the reasons why the SEC went against Ripple Labs.

At the time of writing this article, the price of XRP is around USD 1.70. The trading volume in the last 24 hours is above USD 19 billion, according to data from CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

The market value of cryptocurrencies has reached a peak of 262% so far this year. The dominance of bitcoin fell from 69.71% in early January to 54.44%.

According to the leading price portals of this market, cryptocurrencies’ total market capitalization is above USD 2 trillion. CoinMarketCap reflects a cryptocurrency market capitalization of $ 2.207 trillion, while Coingecko shows a total value of that market of $ 2.285 trillion.

The difference of 3.5% between these two portals could happen because Coingecko processes data in real-time from 449 exchanges, while CoinMarketCap works with data from 366 exchanges.

While this is a minimal discrepancy, the $ 2 trillion milestones in cryptocurrency market capitalization affected Coingecko first instead CoinMarketCap. In the latter, the arrival of 2 trillion appeared this Tuesday, April 13, while Coingecko had indicated the surpassing of that mark on April 8.

Bitcoin Dominance Seems to be Falling down

In the last two years, bitcoin dominance in the cryptocurrency market has been predominantly above 60%. Dominance approached at least 70% at the beginning of 2021, but the authority has been steadily declining since that local peak.

In parallel to the loss of its dominance, bitcoin shows a growing lag when its appreciation is measured in the group of the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. On two occasions in 2021, bitcoin has been in the last place in the mentioned group.

According to the so-called altcoin index, the market is in “altcoin season.” This event occurs when in the appreciation positioning in the last 90 days, bitcoin is 38th out of 50, or lower.

Even though bitcoin shows an appreciation of 63.1% in the last three months, only four cryptocurrencies out of 50 have worse performance. The remaining 45 cryptocurrencies have outperformed BTC in the indicated period. 41 out of 50 cryptocurrencies show returns above 100% in 90 days.

What Is Affecting Bitcoin’s Dominance that Much?

Several entities argue against Bitcoin’s dominance and have seen the fact that the market should find more balance rather than having one cryptocurrency dominating the others. When Bitcoin pulls back, altcoins do the same, but many times when BTC recovers, altcoins cannot catch up as Bitcoin’s rebound seems to frustrate their recovery.

Bitcoin’s dominance overshadows the promising projects that investors usually consider. This shadowing, in turn, frustrates the development and introduction of new cryptocurrencies that could serve as alternate investments, some of which are even potentially better than BTC. In other words, Bitcoin reduces investors’ greed and makes them prioritize safety.

Even with Bitcoin dominating the crypto market, altcoins have found uses in several different areas, despite their low price growth.

Ethereum is an excellent example of this phenomenon. Ethereum is famous because it allows the creation of smart contracts and Dapps and EOS and others. Some of them are game DApps that serve as tools for gambling.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Regarding this issue, the company said that it must act in compliance with current regulatory guidelines. Central banks are also working to apply this technology to local markets.

The pioneering cryptocurrency “is important for the future of global financial systems,” stated David Solomon, President, and CEO of Goldman Sachs. It is important to remember that the company had revenues that reached around USD 44 billion during 2020.

In a working session, the CEO said that there will be great advances in the areas of Bitcoin, blockchain, and digitization of money. The manager anticipates that, as that happens, there will be a significant change in the way money moves globally.

The executive explained that many central banks are examining digital currencies and working to apply this technology to local markets. With this, they seek to determine what the impact could be on global payment systems in the long term.

Solomon clarified that there is also a growing interest in cryptocurrencies, which market participants evaluate as a store of value. In this sense, Goldman Sachs believes that it must act within the framework of current regulatory guidelines. The CEO of the American investment group mentioned that the firm cannot own or transact with Bitcoin.

Heather Kennedy Miner, Head of Investor Relations, and Stephen M. Scherr, Chief Financial Officer, also participated in that discussion.

Banks Take an Increasingly Favorable Position on Bitcoin

At the beginning of this year, Goldman Sachs Senior President Lloyd Blankfein highlighted the success in popularity that Bitcoin has achieved. He highlighted that the growing interest in the main cryptocurrency on the market complicates the situation for regulators.

The executive has been with the company since 1981 and has held different positions. Jokingly, he said that “regulators must be hyperventilating due to the success of Bitcoin.”

The financial group, whose headquarters is in New York, recently began offering Bitcoin to its wealth managers. The new Global Head of Digital Assets for the Private Wealth Management Division, Mary Rich, acknowledged the high demand for Bitcoin. She noted that this has led this financial institution, among others, to tip its balance towards the cryptocurrency.

Many users “are considering this asset as a hedge against inflation.” Also, “last year’s macro context has certainly played a role in that,” Rich said.

Other banks have also taken an increasingly favorable position on Bitcoin. Among them are Morgan Stanley and the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). They applied to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for permission to manage a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

At the time of writing this article, the price of Bitcoin is around USD 61,000. Its price decreased by 1.77% in the last 24 hours. Its trading volume in the last 24 hours is around USD 80 billion.

The relevance that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have gained in the world economy has led financial institutions to take them more seriously. In addition to that, many central banks are working on creating digital versions of the fiat currencies of their respective countries.

By Alexander Salazar

Buyers are willing to pay more than three times the average price that Ether holders have paid. If the bullish trend continues, there may be an increase of up to 5 times in late May.

The price of Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency on the Ethereum Network, recently reached an all-time high of USD 2,487. Although it has tripled since the beginning of 2020, the current speculative premium suggests a large rising margin. For that reason, the crypto asset could even be worth USD 5,000 in May.

The current price of Ether is around USD 2,460, and the realized value is USD 802. In other words, current buyers are willing to pay 3.04 times the average price that current holders have paid. Although it seems to be somewhat high, this multiple was even 6 in the last bullish market.

To get this number, it is necessary to divide the Market Value of Ether (current price of ETH) by the Realized Value. This multiple, which David Puell and Murad Mahmudov created, is called the MVRV ratio.

Could the MVRV Ratio Get to 5 at the End of May?

MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) is a ratio of the market capitalization of an asset to its realized capitalization. It is possible to use this relationship to help evaluate the high and low values of the Ether market. Likewise, it can provide valuable information on the buying and selling behavior of traders.

If the bullish trend continues and there is a rebound in the MVRV ratio, it may reach a multiple of 5 by the end of May. Since there are more buyers in the market, the realized price could increase over time. In the last month alone, it has been possible to see an increase of 15.1%.

In other words, when projecting it through to the end of May, the Realized Price could rise by 26.43% to around USD 1,014 per Ether. For that reason, this could result in a market price of USD 5,070 per unit in the case of a multiple of 5.

There Have Been Various Predictions about Ether (ETH)

The aforementioned projections are a real possibility, especially when Ether and Bitcoin have regularly reached new all-time highs. However, there are no guarantees about price and time targets.

At the beginning of the year, Bitcoin trader Josh Olszewicz set a short-to-medium-term price target for Ether at USD 780. Another short-term prediction by Simon Dedic, co-founder of Blockfyre, saw Ether reaching USD 800.

However, the bullish scenario is very likely to occur even though there is still a lot of work to do. Of course, many consider a price of USD 5,000 for Ether at the end of May to be insane.

Renowned experts have indeed made predictions about the prices that cryptocurrencies could reach. However, investors need to do their research to make more accurate decisions that will help them achieve higher returns.

By Alexander Salazar

Forty-three percent of the respondents told the ECB that they value privacy. The results of the public consultation indicate that the majority prefer integration with the existing banking systems.

The European Central Bank (ECB) applied a survey on the development of the digital euro to citizens and institutions. Almost 90% of the respondents request privacy, security, ability to pay across the eurozone, free use, and offline usability.

Fabio Panetta, a member of the Executive Committee of the organization, said that they will work so that the digital euro respond to these requests. In this way, the manager referred to the results of the consultation, the details of which appear on the official website of the ECB.

It is a detailed analysis of responses from over 8,200 people about Europe’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project. The respondents expressed their ideas about the digital euro between October 2020 and January 2021.

The text indicates that 94% of the opinions came from private citizens. The remaining 6% were professionals, banks, payment service providers, technology companies, and businesses. Germany gave 47% of the responses, preceding Italy (with 15%) and France (with 11%).

User Privacy and Protection against Illegal Activities

Privacy was the most relevant characteristic for 43% of the public, “especially for traders and other companies.” The latter also emphasized the requirements to prevent illegal activities.

According to Panetta, citizens “want confidentiality and privacy, but understand the importance of safeguarding the stability of the financial system.” The executive said that, for this, “the authorities need to have access to some of their private data.”

He explained that fewer than one in ten responses supported total anonymity. Besides, he noted that a large part of the participants requested integration with the banking system.

A quarter of those surveyed believes that a digital euro should enable faster and cheaper cross-border payments. They also consider that they should be able to use the digital euro outside the region, complying with certain limits.

The Digital Euro Is a Supplement to Cash

Panetta said that the digital euro could only be successful if it complies with what Europeans need. The executive highlighted the advantages that it could bring to the eurozone by “maintaining sovereignty over money.”

The digital euro project is similar to the digital yuan, China’s CBDC, as both projects seek to supplement cash. Also, they are classified as cash-like retail digital currencies, functioning and complying with the same money regulations. Both promise privacy (not anonymity) and seek to compete with stablecoins and crypto-assets like Bitcoin.

The recent publication of the ECB confirmed the preliminary conclusions of the consultation presented in mid-January. The survey had record participation, for which the ECB has described it as successful.

These results indicate that the European authorities could approve formal research into the digital euro. When it is complete, it will be necessary to decide whether its implementation will eventually occur. They expect the project to be ready in about four years, according to ECB President Christine Lagarde.

By Alexander Salazar