There is a plan to vote to enable small blockchain networks on the Kusama network. After audits, there will be a chain vote to introduce auctions.

The Polkadot project has now established that small blockchain networks will start working on the Kusama network with its roadmap. After they complete a period of testing, optimization, and audits on the testnet called Rococo, this action will take place, which would mark the full launch of this protocol.

The document published on its portal indicates that the small chains are the last piece of basic functionality delivered and will allow Polkadot to realize its scalable multi-chain structure.

The road map splits into three fundamental phases. The first of these is the current one, which relates to the Rococo testnet, through which developers can test procedures for the interoperability of networks that links to Polkadot.

The platform uses a mechanism called XCMP-lite (Cross-Chain Message Passing-lite) that activates small chains to send generalized tokens and messages to each other through the relay chain Polkadot, which plays the role of the central coordinator of the network.

Second, the team will work out the final items like the dispute resolution process and the approval vote. Once this process gets completed, they will pass the Pokaldot code base, which will be officially complete.

The third phase is holding a voting process that will enable Polkadot’s parachains allowing on the Kusama network, which is another blockchain under control by the same team.  After all the audits under completion, a vote will happen to start the parachain auctions.

The Process before the Implementation of Parachain

In a video on YouTube, Gavin Wood, CTO Ethereum co-founder and founder of Polkadot, clarifies that “Polkadot is integrating the most solid roadmap when it comes to security, scalability, and innovation. After launching its relay chain’s genesis block in May 2020, Polkadot is now aiming to launch many parachains in 2021. ″

However, it does not specify which date this launch will be useful, which was expected for the first quarter of this year, since its development has advanced only more than half.

There have been problems with the stability of the Rococo testnet. Some parachains would hypothetically get stuck at block 1036. A GitHub pull request titled “New Genesis” then suggests a significant stability incident on the test net.

On its website, the Web3 Foundation notes that it will launch Polkadot in proof of authority mode. During that time, most users will claim tokens from their Ethereum contracts, staking tokens and declaring their intention to validate or nominate.

Also, Polkadot will allow a balance transfer in the next phase’s progress stage; It means that the Polkadot will have to pass one (or a series of) updates to enable the remaining functionality.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The Mary update on Cardano’s mainnet will finally turn the Blockchain into a multi-asset network.

IOHK CEO and Cardano Lead Developer Charles Hoskinson reported yesterday that the long-awaited “Mary” hard fork (large-scale update for the network) already has a release date.

Hoskinson shared the information in a broadcast via YouTube, where the programmer stated that the Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) event would occur on March 1. The update relates to implementing the “Era of Goguen” and would add new features to the protocol to bring more versatility in supporting new digital assets.

Hoskinson explained that HFC would likely clear all developer and quality assurance checks by February 24. Then the actual event will happen in 5 days of its initial activation, the first day of March.

“We’ve been testing it for almost a month on the test net. It looks good. The exchanges are happy,” said the founder of Cardano, adding that everything is at its right place and waiting for the event.

Cardano Mainnet Update is Coming in March

On February 3, Cardano’s development company, IOHK, successfully carried out a hard fork. It also applied the Goguen native token update (known as the Mary update) to Cardano’s testnet, which turns the Blockchain into a multi-asset network that shows many similarities with Ethereum.

This event means that users will finally gain access to create their tokens, fungible or non-fungible (NFT). This development will be available for the first time within the Cardano Blockchain.

Hoskinson further added that if the first deadline cannot be met (February 24), the next date would be March 1 to deploy the Mary update. It is essential to consider that it will take another two weeks before the multi-asset interface integrates into the Daedalus leading network.

Cardano, the Ultimate Multi-asset Network

Among the announcements the founder of Cardano made, he highlighted that IOHK would launch the “Pioneers of Plutus” program in the coming weeks. This program shares many similarities with the “Pioneers of Stake Pool” that guided the current Shelley era’s transition through a test. The team is looking for people to create a team that can test the first Plutus test net and writes the Plutus code before it happens.

In the words of Cardano: “So if you are studying Plutus, if you are a Haskell developer or functional programmer who would like to know a little about Plutus, please let us know, we’ll find out what we can do. We may even organize a form of boot camp. “

About five months ago, Cardano published its Goguen roadmap, with the release of most of the developments in late February 2021. According to the initial timeline, native tokens were an expectation on the mainnet. If the recent updates come to be accurate, it seems that Cardano will deliver Goguen without any obstacle.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The market capitalization of Tether (USDT) is currently above USD 30 billion. The dominance of that stablecoin has decreased by 12.52% over the last year.

The market capitalization of stablecoins has risen by more than 820% in the last year. However, the dominance of Tether (USDT) has dropped by 12.52%, according to data from Coin Metrics and CoinGecko.

Percentage data from Coin Metrics indicates that USDT reflected a dominance percentage of 71.95% in recent days. In contrast to that percentage, the stablecoin exhibited 84.47% a year ago.

USD Coin (USDC) was the stablecoin that the pullback of USDT benefited the most since they recently had 16.45% dominance. The penetration of USDC in the market is more than twice what it was a year ago. At that time, the crypto asset had 7.75% of the stablecoin market.

According to a graph, the dominance of stablecoins began to diversify in the year 2018. USDT was the only stablecoin that had an extended presence in the market until December 2017. Among the six most relevant stablecoins, there is 99.69% of the total capitalization of this market.

How the Market Capitalization of Stablecoins Has Evolved

The section of CoinGecko that is dedicated to stablecoins shows the list of these cryptocurrencies pegged to the US dollar. Besides, there is how their market capitalization has evolved over- time.

While the dominance of USDT went from 84% to 71.95%, the total market value of stablecoins increased more than 9 times. The total capitalization of stablecoins went from USD 5,053 million to USD 46,366 million in the last 12 months.

Stablecoins in Bitcoin and Ether Daily Settlement

Two prominent factors drove this dramatic growth in the stablecoin market. The first is the rise of DeFi platforms in 2020, which contributed to the increase in the daily settlement volume of stablecoins. A report from the analysis firm Blockchain Capital indicates that the total said the increase was 300%.

Blockchain Capital also highlights that stablecoins have a growing share in the daily settlement of Bitcoin and Ether. These cryptocurrencies pegged to the US dollar reached 40% of the daily settlement volume of Bitcoin and Ether in 2020.

OCC Regulations on the Use of Stablecoins

Regulators are considering financial institutions using stablecoins as a means of payment. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) authorized US-licensed banks and savings associations. The latter would participate as nodes in public blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, where they would process payments with stablecoins.

The OCC authorized the use of new technologies, such as independent node verification networks (INVNs) and stablecoins. This would allow financial institutions to engage in and facilitate payment activities. Likewise, they could store, record, and settle payment transactions, as long as they comply with existing laws.

According to the regulator, using stablecoins to facilitate payments allows capturing the advantages of INVNs to keep the stability of fiat currencies. Stablecoins represent fiat currencies and provide a means to have access to the payment rails of an INVN.

By Alexander Salazar

The new Bitcoin boom in the markets could tip the balance in favor of Bitcoin. The presence of investment bank Morgan Stanley could generate confidence in regulators.

Many companies in the cryptocurrency ecosystem have sought approval for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). For years, they have submitted applications to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but no avail.

The New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) recently requested authorities to analyze a new ETF proposal. Investment bank Morgan Stanley is one of the authorized participants, raising hope for possible approval.

In recent days, the NYDIG submitted Form S-1, which includes a preliminary prospectus for the potential mutual fund. Curiously, it would bear the name NYDIG Bitcoin ETF, although it does not yet have an identifying ticker, and Bancorp Fund Services would manage it.

According to the document, the NYDIG Trust Company would be the custodian of the fund’s Bitcoin, and only authorized participants could invest. The sponsor (NYDIG Asset Management) would receive as payment a unified annual fee of 0.50% in compensation for its services. If the ETF receives approval, it would be listed on the NYSE Arca, an affiliate of the NYSE Group.

“To achieve its investment objective, the trust will hold the bitcoins. The fund will value its assets daily under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which value Bitcoin. They will do so by reference to ordered transactions in the main active Bitcoin market,” says the prospectus.

Factors that Will Determine the Approval of the Bitcoin ETF

This request for the creation of a Bitcoin ETF fund contrasts with those that other entities have made previously. On this occasion, several elements could tip the balance in favor of NYDIG and Morgan Stanley.

First of all, there is a wave of companies that are investing in Bitcoin and incorporating it into their treasuries. Increasing regulation of cryptocurrencies on a global scale could also favor approval. The expansion of blockchain analytics and compliance companies like Chainalysis, CipherTrace, and Elliptic is another important factor.

Bitcoin’s bullish run and its historical prices are increasingly attracting the attention of the media. Furthermore, financial superintendencies, banks, and even payment processors are already designing business models around Bitcoin.

The SEC authorities could see this push as an increase in the legitimacy of Bitcoin. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce believes that they were prepared for such a product to go public.

The agency defines an ETF as a group of investment companies that offer a way to pool investors’ money. To do this, they have a fund that makes investments in stocks, bonds, and other assets or some combination of these investments. By way of compensation, investors receive interest generated from said group of investments.

Canada has already gotten ahead of the United States with the approval of the first ETF in North America. Canadian firm Purpose Investments said that regulators had given them the go-ahead for a Bitcoin ETF.

Currently, there is another active application before the SEC for the creation of such a fund. None other than VanEck Associates Corp is the one who has sent that request.

By Alexander Salazar

Gundlach views Bitcoin as the asset that responds to the crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused. The executive did not show any sign that his firm intends to invest in the pioneering cryptocurrency.

Jeffrey Gundlach is the founder and CEO of DoubleLine Capital, an investment firm that holds more than USD 100 billion. This new gold enthusiast recently switched into the main cryptocurrency on the market as an investment.

The increase in the price of Bitcoin in recent months seems to have changed Gundlach’s viewpoint. The executive presents himself as a “bull”, that is, he is bullish about gold and bearish about the US dollar.

The investor stated on Twitter that he has remained neutral about the US fiat currency and the precious metal for over six months. He now considers that Bitcoin could become “the stimulus asset”, referring to the excessive printing of money by the US Federal Reserve (Fed).

“I am a long-term US dollar bear and gold bull, but I have been neutral about both for over six months. When too much liquidity pours into a funnel, it creates a torrent. Bitcoin may become the stimulus asset as it does not look like gold,” said the founder of DoubleLine Capital.

Traditional investors’ perspective is increasingly in line with the recent movements of large-capital institutions and firms that are investing in Bitcoin. Even though that is Gundlach’s viewpoint, he has not mentioned or suggested that DoubleLine Capital is intending to do the same.

Bitcoin vs. Gold as a Long-Term Investment

The CEO of the investment firm seems to be pointing to a vision that has been establishing itself in the world of finance. He considers that Bitcoin is “digital gold, even better than physical gold”.

In the case of hedge fund manager SkyBridge Capital, the company created a specialized Bitcoin fund at the end of last year. As if it were not enough, the firm compared the cryptocurrency with gold and considered that the technological advance has several advantages. They said that it has a public ledger (the Bitcoin blockchain) and its cryptography does not need a central entity, among others.

In recent years, Bitcoin has shown a clear advantage over gold in terms of return on investment. According to data from BuyBitcoinWorldwide, the pioneering cryptocurrency is currently at all-time highs relative to gold. At the time of writing this article, its value is higher than 29 ounces of the precious metal.

The cryptocurrency has yielded large profits since its creation twelve years ago. For that reason, it is not striking that the idea of Bitcoin as a store of value is increasingly settling in people’s minds.

Investors, speculators, and technology enthusiasts are not the only ones who see Bitcoin as a powerful store of value. Banks have also begun to view the digital currency as a potential competition to gold. However, long-time investors like Peter Schiff still do not believe in the apparent paradigm shift that Bitcoin poses.

By Alexander Salazar