More than 200,000 addresses of Ledger customers were published. In Ledger, they consider that the threats against the clients of the wallet will not materialize.

Pascal Gauthier, Ledger’s Executive Director, assured that the company will not bring any type of compensation to users that suffered the extraction of personal and delicate data in the massive theft; data that was also published on the Internet.

Gauthier’s reaction appeared on the media after several of those affected made their annoyance public and hinted that they would take legal action against the French company.

The executive said that after such a major data breach in a small company, a million users cannot be compensated, as that “would simply kill the company.”

In that sense, Pascal Gauthier only asked “to look to the future”, since Ledger is investing “money and time in creating the next layers of security and the next products that will provide more security to our users”.

The figure of 272,853 physical addresses and phone numbers of bitcoin wallet users, as well as 1,075,382 email addresses, were published on the web. The information was stolen by hackers last June. The publication of personal data triggered a wave of threatening emails. Some even warned that they would go to Ledger users’ homes to steal their cryptocurrencies unless they paid a ransom.

In this regard, the CEO dismissed the threats, considering that there is little probability that these threats will ever materialize.

“There is not the greatest possibility of this to happen. The database has been available since June and no one has reported any attack of that nature. “Pascal Gauthier said.

In another attempt to minimize what happened, he assured that those who are behind the threats will do everything possible not to use economic resources to personally attack users, because in his opinion phishing attacks only seek to reach the maximum number of people without taking greater risks.

Reactions to the Ledger leak

Former Ericsson executive Anders Larsson wrote about recent regulatory proposals from the US Department of the Treasury, which would call for linking personal identification to self-guarded wallets.

“Imagine you could organize the attack on Ledger based on the size of your position. That is what FinCEN regulation would bring. I am not sure Steven Mnuchin and his team thought about that possibility. They cannot keep a secure database, but 10,000 startups and IT departments will? So let us add amounts too?”  Said Anders Larsson

In another message, Larsson expressed that the Ledger hack paints a view of what would happen if users attached names and addresses to each blockchain with management in 1000 places with specific amounts.

Likewise, the Argentine journalist Emiliano Arnáez said that what happened with the French company was because “they took care of everyone’s cryptocurrencies, but it never occurred to him to protect their databases.”

By: Jenson Nuñez.

Santiago sets the creation of a consortium to promote the development of Blockchain applications. Interest in investing in Bitcoin grows after the pandemic.

This week, the price of Bitcoin broke a record by reaching USD 24,000 yesterday for the first time in its history. Meanwhile, events in the crypto ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean did not stop.

Among the most outstanding pieces of news of the week, a study revealed that, within the P2P trading platform LocalBitcoins, the markets of Colombia and Venezuela accounted for more than 23% of the total volume of transactions on said exchange during 2020.

Together, the South American countries outperformed Russia (17.4%), which ranked first by volume of trade on the platform.

In other events, the Crypto Latin Fest culminated the regional conference that brought together local and international speakers to discuss and debate around certain topics of interest to the ecosystem.

Santiago Stock Exchange promotes the development of Blockchain applications

The Santiago Stock Exchange, in alliance with the Central Securities Depository (DCV) and the telecommunications company Gtd announced this week the launch of AUNA, a consortium for companies to create and access solutions based on Blockchain technology.

in a recent press release, AUNA said that members will be able to create, launch and commercialize Blockchain applications; as well as generating alliances with other companies in the ecosystem and accessing the network of companies associated with the three founding firms.

AUNA uses the technological base designed and constituted by the Santiago Stock Exchange, which has been in production since 2018 and is used by the application of securities loans based on the Hyperledger Blockchain.

Among the advantages and benefits, we can find that platform participants will be able to access documentation on how to create Blockchain applications and tools for the easy creation of applications based on said technology.

In this regard, during AUNA’s presentation on December 16, the Manager of Clients and Businesses of the Santiago Stock Exchange, Andrés Araya, commented:

“AUNA Blockchain is the first initiative of its nature in Latin America and will allow the development and deepening of the financial market in our country as well as the generation of the best conditions for the stock and financial business.”

Inhabitants of the region are raising more interest in investing in crypto

A recent survey revealed that people in Latin American countries are more interested in investing in Bitcoin after the pandemic.

In a Sherlock Communications report, shared by the Paxful team, it can be concluded that at least 50% of those users in the survey are growing interest in buying a cryptocurrency.

The study asked residents of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico if they would be interested in investing in cryptocurrencies as a result of the economic crisis that the COVID-19 had brought to the entire region.

 As a result, between 31% and 39% responded that they would be “much more interested”. Meanwhile, between 35% and 51% of those surveyed stressed that they would be “a little more interested”.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

The fund raised $ 72 million on its first day on the market. They will use the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin as an investment index.

The fixed capital investment fund, CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund, began a new stage by listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, raising USD 72 million in its Initial Public Offering.

The new bitcoin-based fund is formed by cryptocurrency bank Galaxy Digital together with Canadian investment company CI Global Asset Management (CI GAM).

According to a statement by CI GAM, on November 16, the fund obtained the seal of approval to operate in Canada, under the ticker symbol BTCG.U.

They also indicated that they will make investments in bitcoin using the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index. An instrument whose mission is to measure the performance of bitcoin that goes through trades in US dollars.

Besides, the document that the fund gives head investors the chance to invest in bitcoin through an institutionally supported platform stands out. The bitcoin that currently belongs to the fund will lay under the protection of a cold storage system.

Both companies argue that the exit of the fund is partly motivated by the high demand for digital assets by institutional investors.

For his part, Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, said: “We believe that bitcoin has demonstrated its resilience throughout this recent period of economic volatility by exhibiting low correlations with most of the major global asset classes.”

Digital Galaxy with its eyes set on bitcoin funds

In 2019, Novogratz raised the possibility of creating two bitcoin funds to allow people easy access to the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.

As a consequence, in November of this year, Novogratz announced the launch of The Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP, Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP, and Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund, Ltd with which it reached a peak of USD 100.1 million.

A few months ago, another relevant asset management and pension fund company such as Fidelity, also opened a bitcoin fund for institutional investors before the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Another example to consider is that of the bitcoin fund offered by Grayscale, which went from USD 1,866 million at the end of 2019 to USD 3,532 million at the end of the first half of 2020.

By Jenson Nuñez

Elon Musk is tweeting about Dogecoin again, and DOGE rallied 25% on Binance.

The price of Dogecoin (DOGE) was up about 25% on December 20, until Tesla CEO Elon Musk once again drew attention to the meme-inspired cryptocurrency. Elon Musk and his enthusiasm for Dogecoin is a long-standing meme. Musk always likes to tweet about Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency market. When it does, the market reacts quite aggressively.

Musk last tweeted about Dogecoin in July 2020, when he said that he envisions a “standard future for Dogecoin.” At that time, DOGE was up 14%.

The reason behind the Dogecoin surges when Musk’s tweets are pretty simple. As cryptocurrency researcher Hasu explains, “Prices in this space are driven by attention.” Therefore, when there is a significant increase in attention, a small market cap cryptocurrency can rise rapidly.

Dogecoin becomes trending on Twitter

On December 20, Musk began tweeting about Bitcoin, posting a lot of tweets about the dominant cryptocurrency. In the midst of it, Musk tweeted “One word: Doge,” which caused hysteria on Twitter. Dogecoin started trending on the platform, especially when Musk changed his bio to “Former Dogecoin CEO.”

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Dogecoin possesses a market capitalization of around $ 549 million. In comparison to bigger cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), and major decentralized financial tokens (DeFi), DOGE’s valuation is substantially lower.

According to Coinmarketcap, the market capitalization of Bitcoin is $ 441,262,403,855. Also, because DOGE is only the 44th largest cryptocurrency in the world, its volume and liquidity are lower than the major cryptocurrencies. Hence, when an influential figure like Musk talks about DOGE, the cryptocurrency often goes up in price as trading activity spikes suddenly.

In November, other large altcoins showed a similar trend. For example, XRP skyrocketed massively as Bitcoin started to climb to a peak of $ 19,000. On Coinbase, it topped $ 0.90, while on other major exchanges it hit $ 0.75.

What does the increase in DOGE indicate?

Technical analysts and traders are claiming that the rise of DOGE paved the way to the start of altcoin cycles in the past. A trader whose pseudonym is known as “Crypto Capo” said:

“Every altcoin season begins with the pumping of $ DOGE.”The likelihood of an altcoin season coming in remains high as Bitcoin faces significant resistance at $ 25,000 based on exchange order book data.

The trader also stated that Bitcoin will likely hit $ 25,000 first, drop to $ 21,000 to regain support and make its run towards $ 30,000. The trader said: “Possible roadmap for $ BTC: $ 25,000, then $ 21,000-22,000, then $ 30,000 and the dips are to buy.”

By: Jenson Nuñez.

Coinbase is adding two industry veterans to prepare the last details for its potential Initial Public Offering, IPO

Coinbase is preparing to go public; the main cryptocurrency exchange in the United States filed preliminary documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A lot has been under speculation in recent months about Coinbase’s Initial Public Offering (IPO). But this moment, right after the Bitcoin price record, cannot be ignored.

The major exchange is ranking itself as Wall Street’s most accessible bet to date in cryptocurrencies. In October 2018, Coinbase reached a value of $ 8 billion. Given the stratospheric rise in the price of Bitcoin since then and the recent demand for initial public offerings, Coinbase’s current valuation expects to rise significantly higher in the future.

“Form S-1 is expected to go into effect after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions,” the firm wrote in a blog post.

The blog post says the following words:

“Coinbase Global, Inc. announced today that it has confidentially filed a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the“SEC”). The Form S-1 is expected to become effective after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Any offer or appeal to buy or sell securities will work following the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). This announcement goes under Rule 135 of the Securities Law”.

Coinbase said it filed it confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That is the first formal step on the long road to an Initial Public Offering. But the document is still unavailable on the SEC’s portal, leading the media to wonder if it is an IPO.

It is not entirely clear whether Coinbase seeks to go public through an initial public offering or a direct listing. Some people rumored first that Coinbase was to be exploring a listing on the stock market in July 2020, when Reuters reported that it had begun the process of taking its shares public. Anonymous sources said at the time that Coinbase was looking for a direct listing, rather than an IPO.

An Initial Public Offering is an operation that is conducted through the stock market, through which a bidder puts up for sale some financial asset of a company or a society. For its part, in a direct listing, the price of the shares relates to the behavior of the market.

Both IPOs and direct listings require S-1 forms, according to a blog post by Andreessen Horowitz, a key Coinbase investor. The form Coinbase submits is confidential, which means its content will not see release until three weeks before the exchange’s tour, which is the moment that the company uses to attract potential investors.

The influence of the company touches all corners of the cryptocurrency industry. It is a major hub for bitcoin retail and a gateway for alternative cryptocurrencies. a Wall Street class eager to expose itself to the crypto markets. This situation could be helpful for a Wall Street class to be eager to expose itself to the crypto markets.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

BitMEX analysts believe that Black Rock and Vanguard could be interested in bitcoin. The firm notes that Grayscale products have flaws that could undermine their popularity.

Year 2020 has been one of the most positive years for Bitcoin Bitcoin. This is because the financial products of this cryptocurrency that come and go on the stock market. A recent BitMEX report reveals that competition in this market is escalating along with the price of the asset.

Data from BitMEX confirms the trend that was already seen in the institutional bitcoin market. Grayscale is leading in this market by positioning its products as investors’ favorites.

It is the publicly traded company that guards the most BTC, registering around 550,000 bitcoins in its vaults by the end of 2020, representing 2.6% of the total supply of bitcoins that the network plans to issue.

The company reported its highest asset growth in 2020, even though the Bitcoin Trust fund (GBTC US) debuted in 2013. The total assets in this period were $ 10.5 billion, according to BitMEX. It is the most successful bitcoin financial product that appeared on the stock exchange this year.  Although 2020 was also relevant for being the protagonist of the launch of other specialized funds in this cryptocurrency.

Two German initiatives debuted this year: VanECK’s exchange-traded fund (ETN) and Deutsche Borse’s Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP). BitMEX researchers claim that these are two of the strongest products of 2020, even more so than Grayscale’s fund, and that they could become major market competitors shortly.

“These newly listed products are likely to gain considerable market share,” the report said. Besides these promising projects, BitMEX placed its aim on four other Bitcoin financial products that are also being in trade on the capital markets.

In this sense, the firm concludes that competition in this sector continues to increase and that in the future Grayscale could lose its leadership in the hands of entities with a long tradition in the market.

“If the price and popularity of Bitcoin continue to rise, inevitably, industry titans like Black Rock and Vanguard will finally join the game.” This forecast sustains its origin from the idea that while the Grayscale fund is quite popular, it is a flawed financial product with too many problems.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust Sounds Good, but What Lies Beyond?

BitMEX researchers consider Grayscale’s financial products to be defective for their unusual asymmetry. The report notes that Grayscale allows users to create trust units with great ease but does not have any redemption mechanism. That is, no investor in this fund can exchange their units for bitcoin.

This means that Bitcoin Trust Grayscale works in one direction only. Investors can subscribe to trust units and buy bitcoins, but they can’t cancel those participation fees and receive bitcoins in return. The operator – which in this case is Grayscale – can always buy bitcoins but never sell them.

For some users, this practice brings many positive effects since it affects the increase in the price of bitcoin by holding it (keeping it deposited so that its value increases). However, it is limiting when investors want to gain more control over their money.

By Jenson Nuñez.