Decentralized finance has stayed behind to see how non-fungible tokens take over the market the past month. Still, this event hasn’t stopped DeFi’s significant projects from developing more effective strategies to grow their ecosystems and their positions in the market.

PancakeSwap (CAKE) is on the news again. The Binance Clever Chain-based automated market maker (AMM) allows users to exchange tokens and beat a portion of fees by generating farming and developing new strategies to lead the market back again.

According to a new message from Delphi Digital, several factors have played a role in assisting the elevation of the PancakeSwap ecosystem in recent months, and analysts predict that the protocol will remain a severe competitor to Uniswap.

Users Are Trying to Avoid High Ethereum Fees

Anyone who has tried to trade pink Ethereum (ETH) in 2021 would have noticed the excessive growth in fuel rates compounding the rise in Ether’s price.

If Ethereum fees were ideally reaching a new peak, Binance Good Chain (BSC) would have emerged as a more reliable option thanks to the many bridges between chains and low transaction costs. PancakeSwap is the highest and most established decentralized trade in the BSC, so it brings advantages from the intrusion of users and Binance’s great foundation of users.

Analysts at Delphi Digital identified the immense Binance environment as another relevant CAKE, as its “vast pink object” comes from being the “long-lived cryptocurrency exchange that is usually the first pick for retail traders.”

Prospective users can get closer to BSC simply by withdrawing their Binance tokens to a BSC-compliant wallet.

PancakeSwap and its Role as an Endless Profiteer

Delphi Digital even brought up CAKE’s token finance as a vital matter, which will play an essential role in its future growth.

Unlike UNI and SushiSwap (SUSHI), there is no tight shoreline in the supply of CAKE tokens, which gives the platform the ‘ability to withstand leveraged attacks aimed perpetually to attract solvency and incentivize the momentum of projects in the PancakeSwap AMM”.

CAKE’s weekly inflation rate is 3.78%, which adheres more than UNI’s 2% annual inflation rate.

Even with various deflationary procedures that CAKE developers recently incorporated, “net emanation is approximately 1,000,000 weekly CAKE, which translates into 37% contemporary annual inflation (or .7% weekly).”

According to Delphi Digital, PancakeSwap is aware of the current look of inflation figures. The team announced a government vote to change the emissions schedule with the option of leaving it the same, lowering it to 23.5 or 22 CAKE per side.

The option to subject emissions to 22 CAKE, a decrease of 20%, is currently favored to exceed, and this would reduce CAKE emissions by 1,050,000. This option would help counteract inflation and create a plan to keep its attack capabilities profitable in the long term.

Binance’s backing and low fees at BSC have PancakeSwap in a fascinating position to attract additional solvency from Ethereum-based DeFi protocols, as an exercise decision for high gas fees remains evasive.

By: Jenson Nuñez

A Spanish writer tokenized a novel, thus joining the trend of decentralization of the arts. A Venezuelan chef tokenized an ice cream-based dessert that will remain forever on the Ethereum network.

Many projects are now experimenting with NFTs for different uses, including artwork and other creations. These non-replaceable assets are a new formula for monetizing those works, both in the short and long term.

A Unesco report indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the creative economy. However, artists seem to have found in NFTs a new way to sell and exchange their work.

After writing her first novel, titled “Donde el Viento Da la Vuelta” (“Where the wind turns around”), Spanish novelist Prats went to various publishers in Spain. She soon discovered that few receive manuscripts or are not interested in the genre of narrative fiction that her work addresses. One of them agreed to consider the publication of the text, but she has not yet received a response after eight months.

Fortunately, the digital world has been more accommodating with her aspirations, since they tokenized her novel in the blink of an eye. Whoever buys her NFT, which is on the Rarible market, will also receive the physical version of the work.

“By turning your work into an NFT, you enter a world where there is a way to decentralize the literature industry. Unfortunately, this is a field that has remained a bit at the mercy of publishers,” said Prats.

A New Generation of Creators Has Emerged

When creators tokenize their work, they can interact directly with an audience that knows the cryptocurrency ecosystem. That is the vision of Venezuelan chef Vanessa González, who coined NFTs of the dishes that she serves at her restaurant, Garrido’s Bistro, in Michigan.

The name of the establishment’s first collectible token is Crypto Shake, an over-the-top shake or freakshake. This dessert consists of candies, ice cream sandwiches, whipped cream, donuts, and brownies, stacked in a giant tower of sweets.

For some time now, cryptocurrencies have captivated the chef’s husband, leading him to also join the NFT mania. As the combination of elements seemed very interesting to them, they did not miss the opportunity.

About 300 photos were needed to digitize the ice cream product, which melts in a few minutes. By getting the image that showed the product in all its glory, came three-dimensional modeling and subsequent tokenization. For this, they used a token of the ERC-721 standard, which has the characteristic of being unique and, therefore, collectible.

For now, the company seeks to use NFTs to face the temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their next challenge will be to tokenize the arepa, Venezuela’s typical dish, among others that have popularized the place since 2015.

The Culture of Courage vs. the Fair Value of Culture

The fact of depositing a work on the blockchain has great value, especially for the time spent learning. However, Vanessa González believes that it is a contribution to people as many are unaware of NFTs. Now, the latter can learn what they are because the restaurant has published details of its token.

For her part, Ana Prats also highlights the fact of having fun and a good time in this new digital world. Her way of doing it is around the kind of club that she has created together with her friends. There used to be reading groups, but they now meet to talk about cryptocurrencies.

By Alexander Salazar

Willy Woo considers that the price of the pioneering cryptocurrency has already established a floor. Big investors have taken advantage of the drop to buy more Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin crash in recent days could lead investors to panic but analyst Willy Woo is optimistic about upcoming weeks. He believes that the bullish cycle in the Bitcoin (BTC) market is still far from reaching its top.

Woo analyzed the recent behavior of Bitcoin in the market in his most recent newsletter. The renowned analyst described the pattern of Bitcoin accumulation of long-term investors. He said that there remains much of the year to see a peak in this bullish market.

The analyst estimates that, in the short term, Bitcoin should return to levels seen in previous weeks. He predicts that the pioneering cryptocurrency will again challenge the all-time high price above USD 61,000 per unit.

According to Woo, renowned for his Bitcoin analytics and metrics, the recent selling pressure led the cryptocurrency’s price to drop. He explained that it comes from new investors in the industry as “strong hands” hold their Bitcoin positions unchanged.

Those sales have caused a depreciation of Bitcoin while long-term investors take advantage to both save and buy BTC. Woo said that Bitcoin “is experiencing the strongest dip purchase of 2021, apparently by institutional and high net worth participants.”

Bitcoin is closer to a Bottom than to the Top

Woo said that Bitcoin’s all-time high of this bullish cycle is still a long way off. However, the researcher considers that its price floor will continue advancing to higher levels in the upcoming months.

This situation is happening, although Bitcoin is 14% above its price floor, about USD 44,700 per unit. The analyst explained in his newsletter that it all depends on capital flows from investors.

Besides, Woo stated that “the rate of capital entering the network increases while the price is decreasing.” He believes that this is a sign that the price floor for this cycle is approaching, “if it has not yet formed.”

Analysts Have a Bullish Vision for the Future

Woo’s positive outlook for the medium and long-term resonates with other analysts and metrics. For example, YouTuber and influencer Juan Rodríguez, @juanbiter analyzed the pattern of behavior in the price of Bitcoin in recent months.

The researcher said that this behavior is related to large settlements in the options market. This is one of the derivatives of the cryptocurrency that people are currently trading.

As the liquidation of these contracts approaches, the price remains sideways or downward to then rise by up to 30% in the following weeks. The pattern seems to have recently repeated itself amid the imminent liquidation of around USD 6,000 million in contracts.

After meeting the deadline, Bitcoin began to regain ground and is already close to USD 54,000, after dropping to USD 50,000.

The analyst has not anticipated specific terms or prices for the upcoming few weeks. However, he had already predicted USD 74,000 as a potential short-term price target in recent weeks.

Concerning the longer term, Willy Woo predicts a Bitcoin above USD 200,000. This coincides with forecasts by personalities such as Bobby Lee and predictive data from the stock-to-flow metric.

By Alexander Salazar

The Goldman Sachs ETF would focus on Bitcoin and technology innovation companies. Fidelity Digital Assets would be in charge of the custody of the Bitcoin ETF.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) received applications for permission to launch, separately, Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds). Investment management firm Fidelity Investments and major American bank Goldman Sachs were the ones that filed them with the US regulator.

Concerning Fidelity Investments, they assure that the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust ETF will aim to track the performance of Bitcoin. They said that they will use the index of the Fidelity Bitcoin Index PR as a reference, according to an SEC document.

They explained that the index will take into account the Bitcoin prices on exchanges such as Bitstamp, Coinbase, Gemini, itBit, and Kraken. They added that the custodian of the fund would be Fidelity Digital Assets.

“The digital asset ecosystem has grown significantly, creating a more robust market for investors and accelerating demand among institutions,” a spokesperson for the firm reported.

Besides, he noted that many investors want access to Bitcoin as they need more diversified products offering exposure to digital assets.

A Major Bank Is Also Interested in Investing in Bitcoin

As for the Goldman Sachs bank, they also filed a request with the US regulator to start the operations of an ETF. Different from Fidelity, this fund aims to invest in Bitcoin, as well as in other areas including artificial intelligence and blockchain.

They clarify that the ETF can have indirect exposure to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, through an investment in a grantor trust. Given that they can reverse that action over time, such exposure might not always be represented in the ETF portfolio,” the document states.

The CEO of the bank, John Waldron, said that they wanted to satisfy their customers’ growing interest in cryptocurrencies.

The SEC document also indicates that the payment of the notes will depend on the performance of ARK Innovation, which ARK Investment manages. The latter firm distinguishes itself by investing in disruptive innovation companies.

ARK Investment has promoted the adoption of Bitcoin at the institutional level. In early March, its CEO and chief investment officer, Cathie Wood, said that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could constitute 20% of institutional investors’ portfolios.

The SEC’s Possible Support for Bitcoin ETFs

Concerning the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, there have been opinions within the SEC suggesting the possible opening for these types of financial instruments.

In recent days, Hester Peirce, a member of the Commission, criticized the organization itself. She considers that too many requirements to Bitcoin ETF applicants “is unfair to [those] innovators”.

The official believes that regulators should promote clearer policies to make it easier for traditional financial institutions. In this way, they can “engage with cryptocurrencies with the confidence that they are meeting their regulatory obligations.”

The SEC recently recognized the request from investment manager VanEck for the issuance of its first Bitcoin ETF. The government agency has 35 days to approve, modify or reject what that document states. The support from the SEC for cryptocurrencies will allow more people to adopt these kinds of assets are here to stay.

By Alexander Salazar

The performance on stock exchanges exceeds even what Bitcoin has achieved. Analysts consider that it is risky to buy these types of shares.

Bitcoin mining companies are appreciating thanks to the rise of the pioneering cryptocurrency as a digital asset. In the stocks of companies like Canaan, Ebang, Bitfarms, Marathon, and Riot Blockchain, there is an expansion that could continue in the upcoming months.

Stock markets have made such high returns, in percentage terms, which they even exceed that of Bitcoin. According to a report from Fundstrat, the shares of Riot Blockchain have soared 8,000% in the last year. That contrasts with Bitcoin’s 525% gain, according to the market research firm.

Riot Blockchain shares on the Nasdaq market were trading at USD 3.50 in November 2020. However, the price peaked at USD 77.90 per unit in February this year. That indicates the interest that these shares have aroused in investors.

The “Digital Rush” Leads Bitcoin Mining Equipment Manufacturers to Appreciate

“Over the past year, [those stocks] greatly outperformed Bitcoin, which accelerated as it exceeded the all-time high at USD 20,000. We expect this dynamic to continue as the bullish market develops,” said Leeor Shimron, vice president of strategy digital assets at Fundstrat.

The share appreciation of the Chinese manufacturer Canaan is also a consequence of the “digital gold rush”. In November of last year, people could buy a share of this company for USD 2.11. However, the price rose to USD 36.40 in March of this year.

In the last year, the behavior in the rest of the cases has been as follows: Ebang’s share price has fluctuated between USD 4 and USD 11.7; Bitfarms has shown a jump from 0.40 Canadian dollars (CAD) to CAD 6.30, and Marathon went from USD 0.45 per share to USD 47 per unit.

The Revaluation of Shares Is Tied to the Price of Bitcoin

The report from Fundstrat indicates that the price of Bitcoin is driving the price of shares as a collateral effect of its boom. Stocks have risen rapidly in the bullish market, but analysts predict the opposite to occur when the bearish market hits.

According to the market research firm, buying shares of this type involves risks, as if they were cryptocurrencies. Also, Fundstrat noted that mining companies have seized the opportunity to upgrade to more efficient equipment with greater processing capacity.

Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturers Bitmain, Whatsminer, Canaan, and Ebang account for 95% of that market. Publicly traded companies related to digital mining do not only include manufacturers. Besides, some companies directly mine the cryptocurrencies that they have developed themselves.

According to a study by the University of Cambridge, China currently concentrates 65% of Bitcoin mining on a global scale. That Asian country precedes the United States (7.2%), Russia (6.9%), and Kazakhstan (6.1%). That reflects the growing relevance of the first cryptocurrency in the economy of the largest countries in the world.

By Alexander Salazar

The measure would happen due to the advertising display of the Bit2Me firm in Madrid. This initiative will face consultation from the competent authorities before its approval.

The Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) accelerates implementing bitcoin advertising and many other cryptocurrencies.

This resolution came to terms on March 25 by the president of that organization, Rodrigo Buenaventura, during his presentation at the “Observatory of Finance” conference organized by El Español.

Buenaventura noted a risk in the massive bitcoin advertisements that have come to release in recent times. For this reason, he considers the CNMV’sCNMV’s measure to control the advertising of cryptocurrencies “correct and timely.” In any case, it is more important to “get the regulation right” rather than rush into putting it into practice in the official’s opinion.

Buenaventura describes that the increase in advertising campaigns that incorporate concepts typical of financial products such as “investment or profitability” is under inspection in that country’s streets.

Measure to Control the Advertising of Cryptocurrencies

Various sources sustain that new measures, which appeared at the beginning of March, could have been coming to terms due to a campaign by the Bit2Me exchange.

This company deployed a campaign of 800 posters around Madrid in which it promoted the use of bitcoin. However, the CNMV receives warnings that will control cryptocurrencies’ advertising after the circular sees its release.

The new provision gives total power to the CNMV “to submit to authority or other forms of administrative control (including the introduction of warnings) the advertising of crypto assets or other assets and instruments presented as investment objects.”

In this sense, the head of the CNMV indicated that this kind of product in the formation of prices is not transparent and involves a high speculative component that can lead to the total loss of the investment. He stated that they are products where there is still no European regulation that provides guarantees and protection similar to those applicable to other financial products.

The CNMV had previously warned in February 2021: “in recent months, numerous cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ethereum, have experienced high volatility, which has also come with a significant increase in advertising, sometimes aggressive to attract investors.”

Bitcoin is in the Eye of the Storm Due to Criticism from the CNMV and the Bank of Spain

Bitcoin as a payment mechanism has been the center of criticism from the CNMV and the Bank of Spain. The institutions issued a joint statement in which they sustain that an injection of capital into cryptocurrencies would cause extreme volatility, complexity, and a failure regarding transparency.

The position of the bank and the CNMV has not got renewal since three years ago. They also warned that it was “speculative bubbles” and an “unregulated space.” Now that the reach of Bitcoin has come more clearly to mutual funds, corporate capitals, and companies, entities speak of “risks,” lack of liquidity, and manipulation.

Meanwhile, bitcoin seems to be unaffected by the criticisms that state entities make of it. With ups and downs, its price continues to trend upward. At the time of writing, bitcoin’s cost has risen about 4% in the last 24 hours and stands at $ 54,628.

By: Jenson Nuñez