Every single monthly contract possesses 50 ethers (ETH), the group reported. The settlement occurs in cash following the CME ether-dollar index.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), one of the most relevant derivatives exchanges globally, began this Monday, February 8, commercializing future contracts of ethers (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. It is a new product that seeks to replicate the one already offered with bitcoin (BTC) since 2017.

Each monthly contract possesses 50 ETH, which, according to the cryptocurrency’s current price ($ 1,705), would surpass the $ 85,000. Accredited traders can operate tradings with a minimum of five contracts, as reported by the CME group through its website.

“The addition of ether, along with our liquid Bitcoin futures and options, will create new paths and opportunities for a wide range of clients,” said Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity Indices and Alternative Investment Products. The executive clarified that institutional demand for these types of products continues to increase.

The group indicated that among its liquidity providers for its new product will be: Akuna Capital, BlockFi, Cumberland, Galaxy Digital Trading, Flow Traders B.V, Genesis Global Capital, CoinShares, LedgerPrime, and NYDIG. Some of these also work for bitcoin futures and options.

CME highlighted that the settlement of ethers futures contracts would happen in cash, following its ether-dollar index. It is also relevant to say that the operators who participate in the negotiations do not directly control the cryptocurrencies in these cases. Traders acquire representative contracts for an estimated value according to the market price.

Future Contracts to Get closer to Cryptocurrencies

The commercialization of the futures contracts of ethers received its announcement in December 2020 by CME. This kind of product allows the involved parties, buyers, and sellers to establish an asset’s representation with a specific quantity and price on a date in the future.

With roots in the Ethereum network’s cryptocurrency, the new contracts arrive amid an uptrend in the market. Ether reached a great price of $ 1,752 per unit on February 5, according to CoinGecko records.

In December 2017, CME Group attracted media attention after its confirmation regarding its bitcoin futures contracts. It was a milestone for institutional investments and cryptocurrencies since it was the first financial product on BTC that comes from an institution with such a past and reputation.

This operation has resulted in positive numbers for CME. In May of last year, open interest in bitcoin futures reached an all-time high of $ 400 million at the time.

With the commercialization of ether futures, it is clear that the institutional demand for products related to cryptocurrencies continues ascending. Many funds and companies such as Tesla, MicroStrategy, and Square have already invested multi-millionaire amounts in BTC.

By: Jenson Nuñez

MicroStrategy has shared its investment experiences with corporations, which has increased the visibility of Bitcoin. The pioneering cryptocurrency is the fourth preferred investment asset, over gold.

During the first week of February, there was a lot of promotion of the benefits of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve in the corporations. Besides, the price of Bitcoin recorded a significant rally that led it to again exceed the USD 40,000 mark.

The MicroStrategy Company recently shared with the top executives of around 1,400 corporations what Bitcoin could represent for them. Michael Saylor’s company also explained the benefits of using it as a store of value and a hedge against inflation. Bitcoin is trading at around USD 39,150, after climbing to USD 40,760 for the second time this year.

The Basic Parameters of Bitcoin

Some analysts say that the fact that MicroStrategy shared its experience with other companies was a driver for the price. However, on-chain data for Bitcoin and other metrics were already showing bullish signs since the beginning of the month, according to Willy Woo. The analyst maintains that the profit-taking phase is now over and that the price of BTC is pointing towards USD 56,000.

The increasing number of bitcoins leaving exchanges and the increase in active Bitcoin addresses are healthy signs of the network. These parameters could influence the price support and momentum more than external events. When Tesla CEO Elon Musk put the Bitcoin logo on his Twitter profile, the cryptocurrency rallied. However, when he removed the Bitcoin logo, during a campaign in favor of Dogecoin, the rally of the first cryptocurrency did not reverse.

Bitcoin-Based Corporate Strategy

MicroStrategy is the public company that has made the largest investment in Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. For this reason, more than 2,000 managers were interested in knowing the investment strategy that they have been using.

Ross Stevens, CEO of Stoneridge, spoke with Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, about the relationship of the Bitcoin asset with the Bitcoin network. He called the latter an “open-source monetary system” upon which a growing number of apps deploy.

After that, Saylor revealed three keys to a Bitcoin-based corporate strategy. At the same time, the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of MicroStrategy highlighted the main legal aspects to consider when investing in Bitcoin.

MicroStategy CFO Phong Le and VP of Financial Analysis Jeremy Price shared the “Bitcoin Corporate Playbook”. They talked to the top executives of other companies about the firm’s Bitcoin strategy.

A Promising Week for Bitcoin

Market analysis site Seeking Alpha published a relevant study on the evolution of the price of Bitcoin. Following the Elliott wave model, they predict that Bitcoin would culminate the bullish run with a price of USD 150,000. The authors consider that the model has performed quite accurately in previous bullish cycles.

According to a survey that Japanese exchange bitFlyer conducted in the United States, Bitcoin is the fourth preferred investment asset. The three thousand people who participated in the consultation chose it over gold. Stocks, real estate, and deposit insurance and certificates lead the preference among the respondents. Curiously, Bitcoin outperforms long-standing assets like mutual funds, bonds, foreign currencies, and commodities like gold.

By Alexander Salazar

Groups of speculators use the charm of the meme to attract unsuspecting buyers. The price of DOGE rises from time to time due to artificial lawsuits and unlawful actions.

CoinMetrics said in a report regarding Dogecoin (DOGE) that the currency might be the most user-driven cryptocurrency on social media. At first glance, CoinMetrics describes DOGE as the asset of the blockchain ecosystem that most closely resembles the case of GameStop, whose shares rose, encouraged by an army of retail investors in the Reddit WallStreetBets forum. However, when analyzed in-depth, it is crystal clear that they are not similar.

For CoinMetrics analysts, DOGE is the best example of “a potent combination of hype fueled by social media and the endorsement of millionaires.” Its price rises thanks to groups on Twitter, TikTok, Discord, Telegram, and Reddit. The cryptocurrency’s value rose more than 500% when it climbed to $ 0.085 on January 29.

There are various factors behind the so-called meme coin price boom, but all stemmed from the frenzy started by Reddit users grouped on WallStreetBets. CoinMetrics says that, despite the massive increase in the price of the cryptocurrency, the active addresses at that time did not even reach a new all-time high.

This phenomenon suggests that most new buyers kept their funds on centralized platforms like Robinhood rather than buying DOGE and supporting the currency at their addresses.

Social Media is Skyrocketing Cryptocurrency Prices

The number of active Dogecoin addresses reached its all-time high in July 2020, which coincides with the spread of a viral TikTok challenge that skyrocketed the cryptocurrency price. At that time, the social network’s marketing strategy bore a resemblance to an unethical practice like “Pump and Dump.”

It is a market manipulation scheme by an investor or group of them who try to skyrocket the price of an asset they own and then sell it massively. They achieve this through recommendations that have roots in false, misleading, or highly exaggerated statements.

These pumping-up cryptocurrency prices create artificial demands and illegitimate actions, which differs from the organic activities that manage bitcoin price. CoinMetrics points out that these movements distinguish themselves by raising a particular asset price for brief periods, which occur just after promoting a rumor or false news.

Through social media, an artificial growth operation of the Dogecoin price is happening. Unlike the more real growth of bitcoin, the market makes the price grow, and its number of transactions and active addresses suffer a linear growth trend.

CoinMetrics also provides up-to-date data on active bitcoin addresses, which averaged over 1.1 million last week, hovering around all-time highs. For its part, the Ethereum network now averages more than 1.2 million transactions per day, which is around the previous all-time highs established during the January 2018 peak. These data reveal that growth on these networks is organic.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Eleven years ago, there was a proposal to write the Bitcoin logo with two vertical lines. The Bitcoin logo is still as current as the protocol that it identifies.

A white B on an orange background constitute the Bitcoin logo, which conveys the relevance and disruptive qualities of the pioneering cryptocurrency. That logo seems to have arisen naturally, but the truth is that it went through its path until it became what everyone knows.

The first logo Satoshi created consisted of the initials of Bitcoin (BC) inscribed on a gold coin. This indicated its portability or transferability, as well as its powers as a store of value or medium of exchange.

An important modification that the Bitcoin logo underwent was the inclusion of two vertical lines through the B. That is a characteristic feature of some fiat currencies in the world.

The idea emerged on February 5^th, 2010, when a user insisted on adopting the currency symbol for Thai baht (฿). That same day, the proposal to use the ticker or indicator “BTC” to refer to the cryptocurrency emerged for the first time.

Satoshi posted on February 24^th, 2010 a logo with two vertical lines that did not go through the B. By allowing this central space, it favored the reading and facilitated the reproduction of the logo and the symbol both physically and digitally.

A Logo and Symbol Tailored for Bitcoin

The community did not accept the proposal to use the B (฿) of the Thai baht (THB), which has only one line. They argued that it could lead to confusion with Thailand’s official national fiat currency.

On November 1^st, 2010, a user named Bitboy made a complete graphic proposal to reshape the visual identity of nascent Bitcoin. Members of the community unanimously agreed to adopt the white B, with a slight slant, on an orange background.

Graphic designer and pixel artist Nacho Rodríguez (“Pixel Nacho”) says that the Bitcoin logo may still be evolving right now. However, he considers that it fulfills its function of transmitting monetary ideas.

For his part, graphic designer and bitcoiner Rodolfo Buenaño believes that there could be a more advanced graphical representation of Bitcoin. In addition to the monetary connotation, the logo could reflect the disruptive and technological spirit of the cryptocurrency. The designer agrees that monetary graphical qualities bring Bitcoin closer to people.

Hal Finney, the first to receive a Bitcoin transaction, noted that two vertical lines went through the US dollar logo. However, he said that it was possible to use a single line on the B if users preferred it that way.

The Third Attempt Led to a Logo for Bitcoin

The stereotype of a demanding customer continuously requesting change has become popular in the graphic design industry. Designers also suffer to see that other projects adopt graphic lines that do not meet professional standards.

To ensure design consistency, the most common policy is to accept only up to 3 changes. In the case of Bitcoin, the third proposal was the final one, and it came to stay.

Each service or product around Bitcoin could certainly adapt the logo or symbol to its graphic line. However, the pattern remains the same, and people have seldom questioned it.

By Alexander Salazar

Saylor believes that companies should invest the fiat money that they own in Bitcoin to avoid self-destruction. Another option that Saylor mentioned is the strategy of using Bitcoin to create new business opportunities.

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor recently presented the keys to a Bitcoin-based corporate plan of action. He shared a guide to legally incorporating cryptocurrency on company balance sheets and “storing it securely.”

Saylor revealed the strategies that have made MicroStrategy one of the most prominent institutional Bitcoin investors. He talked about what led him to invest more than USD 1 billion in Bitcoin. Besides, he spoke of his decision to continue investing after that amount tripled in a few months. Although the company already owns 71,079 BTC (equivalent to around USD 2.6 billion), they will not stop investing soon.

The executive called on companies to follow the steps of MicroStrategy and enter the Bitcoin ecosystem. He believes that corporations must now choose between two paths in the face of the excessive printing of fiat money.

“You can decide to decapitalize, but that would be a kind of self-destruction. You can also recapitalize with an asset that will appreciate faster than the expansion of the money supply. This is where Bitcoin comes into play to save many companies financially,” said Saylor.

The Three Aspects of a Bitcoin-Based Corporate Action Plan

Saylor recommends that corporations choose between: (1) maintaining a Bitcoin balance, (2) converting fiat derivatives into Bitcoin or implementing both strategies at the same time, and (3) striving to develop new business opportunities.

The strategy of keeping a Bitcoin balance is based on using the company’s available fiat money to convert it into Bitcoin. Saylor notes that capital will flow from weaker assets to stronger ones. For that reason, corporations must stop holding their assets in weakening currencies. “This dynamic is driving the Bitcoin market higher and its main attraction is that it is digital gold,” he said.

Under this strategy, a company trapped in the world of a weakened currency decides to digitize its hard-earned money. “This is more than a macroeconomic idea as Bitcoin will provide another opportunity for your company,” added the CEO of MicroStrategy.

The second strategy is to convert the fiat derivatives that companies own into Bitcoin. The reason for this is that fiat derivatives are “a false respite from the “road to bondage. Furthermore, bonds, stocks, and real estate are only a benchmark for fiat. Since the value of the underlying fiat money increasingly dilutes, the best thing is to convert it into Bitcoin. That strategy “offers a return of 200% per year,” Saylor said.

The third strategy is to approach Bitcoin from a business perspective. In that sense, Saylor proposes that corporations develop BTC tools that build software and offer services to their customers.

He also recommended that those who decide to start on this path make sure to develop non-custodial services. He explained that “customers who buy Bitcoin through a mobile app must be able to move their funds freely.”

By Alexander Salazar