American Express put resources into FalconX and focused goals on driving innovation and improvements in digital currencies. The platform currently generates around $ 3 billion in monthly transaction volume.

American Express continues with its investment plans in companies that work with bitcoin; it has been under development for about five years. This time, it introduced capital into cryptocurrency platform FalconX through its venture firm American Express Ventures.

The credit card provider did not disclose the amount of investment in the San Mateo, California-based startup, which raised $ 17 million in May from Accel, Coinbase, Ventures, and five other companies.

“American Express Venture invests in startups as a way to better understand emerging areas of the payments ecosystem, and we are pleased to support FalconX as it continues to drive innovation in the digital asset space, including digital currencies. ” Said Harshul Sanghi, Global Head of American Express Ventures.

In his view, FalconX brings simplicity to the increasingly complex digital asset space through a platform that provides discovery and pricing in one place.

Raghu Yarlagadda, CEO and co-founder of Falcon X, noted that the cryptocurrency platform wants to build a payment service using digital currencies, and could learn from the experience of American Express.

He also added that the company is seeing growing interest from traditional asset managers who are adding cryptocurrencies as an inflation hedge, catalyzed by recent macroeconomic policies.

FalconX’s revenue has seen an increase of 350% since May 2020, when it completed its last round of financing. The platform generates around 3,000 million dollars in volume of monthly transactions and has 250 institutional clients ”. Said Raghu Yarlagadda.

American Express, investments and its relationship with bitcoin

American Express Ventures noted that since 2011 it has invested in more than 70 startups focused on commerce, payments, fraud prevention, data analytics, and security. The company assured that it has 12 investment professionals on its payroll, it reported on its website.

American Express invested in the abovementioned startups for the first time in October 2015, aiming at companies that work with bitcoin. On that occasion, American Express participated in the latest round of the Abra startup in an attempt to take a closer look at the cryptocurrency industry and its expansive environment.

Since five years ago, Abra went from being a startup that allowed its users to store their money digitally using their smartphone to an application where they can buy, sell and operate with more than 100 cryptocurrencies, the company points out on its portal.

How does Abra work?

Getting started with Abra is very easy and simple. It starts by downloading the application from Google Play or Apple Store and setting up the wallet.

 Remember to keep the recovery phrase in a safe place. Abra does not save your keys; if you lose the keys you can restore them without problem by using the 12 words of the recovery phrase.

Adding funds is very easy too; users can add funds through:

• SEPA bank transfer
• Credit / debit card
• Balance in cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, or Litecoin)

From Abra, you can exchange and invest in any of the accepted assets. Over 100 traditional assets, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and cryptocurrencies.

To invest, users first must look in the “Manage assets” section and select the assets they want to buy or select. Then, they can go to the “Exchange” section and exchange between the selected assets.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

PayPal is now part of the investors. The company will double its work team and expand its line of business.

The financial technology company Paxos closed 2020 with a new capital injection for USD 142 million. Paxos added heavier investors such as PayPal Ventures, RIT Capital Partners,  Ken Moelis, and previous funders RRE Ventures and Liberty City Ventures.

The partnership will be run by Paxos Crypto Brokerage, the brokerage service, recently launched by the company, is in charge of the regulatory, technological, and liquidity aspects of crypto functions. Paxos Crypto Brokerage also provides cryptocurrency services to PayPal and Revolut.

What is Paxos Crypto Brokerage?

Paxos Crypto Brokerage is the newest solution for companies to offer cryptocurrency by buying, selling, holding, and sending capabilities within their applications. It is a turnkey, API-based solution that eradicates the most technical and regulatory complexity.

Customers can tailor the solution to their unique product needs and brand experience, while Paxos manages through its services, the regulatory oversight as well as serving as a supplier of a liquid marketplace for users.

It is the first time that PayPal has ever invested in Paxos, and it is worth to take into account that only a few months ago, a report said how both companies partnered and explained how PayPal could integrate the purchase, sale, retention, and sending of bitcoins and ethers into its platform.

The financing round, directed by Declaration Partners, was series C, which seeks greater liquidity to develop or acquire new products.

With this new capital, Paxos plan is to double the size of its team; a bigger team will make easier an expansion of its line of business, which until now includes stablecoin, cryptocurrency trading, and blockchain-based settlements.

Since its inception in 2012 and to date, Paxos has raised more than $ 240 million in funding. Also, it has two main financial services companies among its clients: Credit Suisse and Société Generale.

Paxos CEO and co-founder Charles Cascarilla said the company “is in a unique position to address the digital asset needs of global brands and bring our solutions to companies with trillions of assets and billions of end-users.”

Why do Users and Companies Trust Paxos?

Paxos is a pioneer in the digital asset space and has years of market expertise operating the leading regulated digital asset exchange built for institutional traders, itBit.

Paxos is a company that receives regulations from the New York State Department of Financial Services, Paxos offers the best in class blockchain monitoring software and systems, and each service is specially designed to prevent market manipulation.

By: Jenson Nuñez.

The three possible cases of attack in study would not achieve their purpose. Facing a modification in the code, the blockchain could fork and revert to a previous version.

Almost 650 thousand code lines, which are stored in a single public repository on the GitHub platform, establish how Bitcoin works. A recent analysis of three attack vectors allows determining whether it is possible to introduce malicious code to impair the operation of the network.

People known as maintainers keep the code of the pioneering cryptocurrency under their custody. These individuals are the only ones who have permission to approve any changes to the repository. They are Michael Ford, Wladimir van Der Laan, Pieter Wuille Jonas Schnelli, Marco Falke, and Samuel Dobson.

They are responsible for reviewing the proposals that each Bitcoin developer makes. They should approve them only if they meet certain quality standards.

Furthermore, when the maintainers approve a proposal, it goes to a thorough peer review phase, where anyone can participate on GitHub.

Any change to the code requires approval with any PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) keys to which the maintainers have access.

Attack by Leakage of Maintainers’ Keys

One or more PGP keys may reach into the hands of malicious actors. If this happened, there could be modifications to the repository code.

Researcher Elias Strehle said that, if this happened, “Bitcoin maintainers would quickly create a new repository with new PGP keys.”

Strehle added that they could upload the new code to GitHub without causing damages and ask the community to use the new repository. In this way, the possibility of attacks by leakage of PGP keys is out of the question.

Attack from Bitcoin’s Maintainers

There is also the possibility that one of the maintainers tries to introduce malicious code into Bitcoin Core, states the report. If this happens, the rest of the maintainers or any Bitcoin developer could detect it.

“The signature verification script detects this the next time that someone submits a code inclusion request or runs tests,” explained developer Thomas Kerin. This means that there will be a contradiction in the code the next time that an update occurs.

In Case Bitcoin Maintainers Suffer an Attack

The disappearance of all Bitcoin maintainers and the consequent loss of all PGP keys is the least likely hypothesis.

In case a powerful government kidnaps the five maintainers in an attempt to harm Bitcoin, the developer community could fork the repository, take the last correct confirmation, and start from there.

Even though the kidnapping occurred stealthily, it would still be impossible to make malicious code modifications that go unnoticed. The implementation of updates does not occur automatically in the entire network of Bitcoin nodes, but each operator can decide whether to accept it or not.

Other nodes would disconnect the nodes that forward invalid blocks, and other nodes that send updated nodes would ignore and abort a node that sends old blocks.

Elias Strehle explains that “the manipulated nodes and the healthy nodes might not reach a consensus on the state of the blockchain. Therefore, a fork would occur in which one branch is malicious and the other is healthy.”

The bitcoin.org question-and-answer webpage makes it clear that “no one can force a change to the Bitcoin protocol as all users are free to choose the software and version that they want.” To ensure compatibility, “all users need to use software that complies with the same rules.”

All this indicates that there is a guarantee of the security of the Bitcoin code. Even in case of violation of the access barriers, the community of users has the final decision on whether to use or not the adulterated version of the network.

By Alexander Salazar

Its CEO announced a new company that will bring investment to USD 1 billion worth of BTC and ETH in 2021. Alan Howard’s hedge fund will have a stake in the new company.

Eric Peters, CEO of hedge fund One River Asset Management, recently said that he acquired USD 600 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC). Besides, he announced that in early 2021 he will found a company that will have USD 1 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ether. The announcement occurred after the price of Bitcoin broke the USD 20,000 mark.

Peters said that billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard will have a stake in the new venture called One River Digital Asset Management. In 2002, Howard founded Brevan Howard Asset Management, which has managed USD 20 billion worth of assets. He will provide the new investment company with trading services, market analysis, and technical support.

The CEO of River Asset Management mentioned another acquisition of USD 600 million worth of Bitcoin in November. He made that investment while waiting for a break in the price of Bitcoin and Ether. Along with several of his executives, Peters decided to make the acquisition quietly before November ended, when Bitcoin was trading at USD 16,000. By the end of last month, the price of Bitcoin had already reached a new all-time high, close to USD 20,000, on different exchanges. That generated a return close to 18% on that investment.

According to Peters, “there will be a generational allocation to this new asset class. Capital flows are just beginning.” In 2013, he founded One River Asset Management, which manages USD 1.6 billion worth of assets. This company takes advantage of the drop and rebound periods of assets to make extra profit, using trend analysis.

While Market Volatility Grows, Bitcoin and Ether Outperform Gold

Cryptocurrencies have attracted Peters, who predicts there will be more volatility in financial markets. The executive believes that the fiscal and monetary policies of central banks will cause the deterioration of national fiat currencies and inflation.

“The COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst for that transition,” says Peters. This situation has led Peters to the market for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. “This is the most interesting macro trade that I have seen in my career,” says Peters.

Peters believes that the appreciation of Bitcoin and Ether can exceed that of gold even though the precious metal tends to appreciate in a world of devalued currencies. “It is true that there is more risk in [Bitcoin and Ether] than in gold, which has been around for thousands of years, but there is more convexity in [the two crypto assets].” Peters argues that there are a small number of “convex” bets, such as cryptocurrencies, to help a portfolio.

This year, Bitcoin has seen a noticeable rebound, currently close to 185%, which has gradually attracted institutional investments. After the pioneering cryptocurrency exceeded USD 20,000, there could be a scale change in institutional investment. The announcement that enters the threshold of USD 1 billion demonstrates it.

In recent days, the London Stock Exchange made public that major English fund manager Ruffer invested 2.5% of its portfolio in Bitcoin, which represents about USD 744 million.

By Alexander Salazar

This is the second year that the Colombian company has allocated funds for distributed ledger technology. They will allocate up to USD 80 million for technology and innovation.

Ecopetrol will invest USD 80 million in technology and innovation in 2021, which includes funds for so-called distributed ledger technology (DLT) or blockchain. Colombia’s state oil company made public its business plan for next year, which covers a total of USD 4 billion.

The focus of the investment will be on digital transformation, improved recovery, and energy transition, according to Ecopetrol. This is the second year that the corporation has injected capital into shared records.

“In terms of digital transformation, we will allocate about USD 50 million for the capture of benefits associated with artificial intelligence technologies, blockchain, and bots, among others,” the company said in a statement.

They will allocate the other USD 30 million for the Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP), which will make investments in energy transition projects, advanced materials, and an increase in the recovery factor.

According to Ernesto Gutiérrez de Piñeres, Ecopetrol’s digital vice president, the company did not offer details on the use of shared records. However, they have said that they use blockchain technology to optimize different phases within the oil and gas supply chain.

It is not yet clear whether the company is using a public network like Ethereum or a private solution. Ecopetrol’s corporate communications management has not made any comment in this regard.

Transformation in the Industry through Blockchain Technology

The available information allows deducing that Ecopetrol seeks to apply technologies of the so-called fourth industrial revolution. In other words, the company would aim to involve new production techniques with intelligent systems in its innovation plan.

In November of last year, Ecopetrol had included blockchain technology in its digital transformation process. At that time, they reported that the company’s technology development plan required an investment of USD 120 million.

Other oil companies, such as BP, Shell, and Statoil, have also made investments to adopt blockchain technology in their production processes. It is important to remember that supply chain tracking is just one of the many use cases for blockchain technology. Other uses for this technology include document validation, digital identity, and data recording.

Distributed ledger technology is original to Bitcoin and is related to cryptocurrencies by nature. However, it also offers other types of solutions that seek transparency, traceability and, in some cases, decentralization.

This technology allows two or more people (or entities) to conduct data or securities transactions without the intervention of trusted third parties. Regarding a public network, the operations are recorded in a shared record that the participants or anyone can consult.

Blockchain technology has proven to be effective in developing tools that help increase the level of security of both personal and institutional data. The fact that Ecopetrol and other oil companies want to invest in DLT is a sign of the growing confidence in the technology behind Bitcoin.

By Alexander Salazar

Bitcoin options trading volume recently tripled in just one day. Derivatives platform Deribit led the charge with nearly USD 880 million.

In recent days, the price of Bitcoin was not the only one to break its all-time high (ATH). Bitcoin options trading volume also exceeded its all-time high, according to data from analytics firm Skew.

One of the investment mechanisms available in the derivatives market is precisely Bitcoin options. Through this product, which people commonly trade at the institutional level, it is possible to buy or sell Bitcoin at a specific price, at a specific point in time.

Bitcoin exceeded USD 20,000 for the first time while the options trading volume reached above USD 1 billion in one day, according to data from the above source.

The total trading volume was USD 1,071 million. That amount represents a 200% increase over the previous day, when the trading volume of Bitcoin options was only USD 356 million, according to a chart from Skew.

In the same way, the data reflects that Deribit widely led the markets where there is trading of the Bitcoin options, moving more than 10 times the volume of its closest follower, the bit.com market.

On the Panama-based derivatives platform, there was a total trading volume of USD 879 million. Deribit has been leading the Bitcoin derivatives market volumes to the same extent.

Open interest figures also reflect the all-time high for the derivatives market. The total open interest volume reached USD 5,814 million, according to data from another chart.

Open interest refers to the buying and selling positions that remain open during the trading of these options contracts.

Increase in Bitcoin Options in Recent Months

Before recently exceeding USD 1 billion in trading volume, Bitcoin options had approached that number on November 26^th, shortly after Bitcoin approached USD 20,000 for the first time since 2017.

However, the same as has happened with the price of the pioneering cryptocurrency, interest in this derivative product has grown steadily in recent months.

According to another chart from Skew, daily options trading volume was not even close to USD 500 million during the second half of this year, until mid-October. The only exception was at the end of July.

Since the beginning of November, coinciding with the bullish run, there was a clear increase in daily trading volumes. That behavior echoes the well-known increase in institutional interest in Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy has led that charge with an aggressive Bitcoin investment strategy. Other companies, as well as the changing narrative of financial institutions, seem to give Bitcoin (BTC) a new boost in the financial world.

At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is trading above USD 22,600, after momentarily breaking the USD 23,000 barrier.

By Alexander Salazar