Coca Cola Uses Solana Blockchain to Verify Certificates

Audy Castañeda
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Coca Cola Uses Solana Blockchain to Verify Certificates

Coca-Cola HBC, the bottling arm of the soft drink giant, has partnered with ALL.ART’s Solana Blockchain-based project to issue verified its employees’ Internal Training Certificates.

Coca Cola HBC, the soft drink giant’s bottling subsidiary, in partnership with ALL.ART, will use the Solana blockchain to verify employees’ internal training certificates. This is what ALL.ART announced through social network X:

“ALL.ART has launched a Solana-enabled solution with Coca-Cola HBC to issue Digital Academy certificates. We’re introducing on-chain credentials, leveraging high-quality digitally signed metadata to bridge new digital objects on-chain.”

Employees who obtain qualifications from the Coca-Cola Digital Academy training program will receive new NFTs on Solana. Along with ALL.ART, therefore, Coca Cola HBC stores ratings on the blockchain, guaranteeing their authenticity and immutability, thus combating any manipulation, falsification or alteration.

Coca Cola HBC and New Certificates for Verified Employees on Solana Blockchain

The Solana blockchain and the ALL.ART project will be used to provide security for the Coca-Cola Digital Academy program certificates.

In regards to that, Milan Topolic, Technological Innovation Manager at Coca-Cola HBC, said the following:

“The ability to issue verifiable blockchain-based certificates has significantly increased the value and recognition of our Digital Academy training programs.”

Vitomir Jevremovic, founder of ALL.ART, also commented on the new partnership through a post on X:

“We are thrilled to announce our work together with Coca-Cola HBC to bring digital certificates on-chain. Time has come to use the blockchain for issuing digitally signed and verified certificates. It will change the way we hold and collect all our digital and real-life activities.”

Jevremovic also highlighted the role of metadata, stating that high quality and digital signature are key to integrating new types of digital objects into the blockchain:

“High-quality, digitally signed metadata is crucial for integrating new types of digital objects onto the blockchain…. Understanding the object’s significance and ensuring its issuance is verified and certified on the blockchain is vital for achieving the trust that blockchain technology promises.”

The initiative addresses several critical challenges in the traditional certification space, including preventing fraudulent qualification claims, as well as supporting lifelong learning and global accessibility. The solution offers a robust answer to the ease with which traditional certificates can be forged or manipulated, by ensuring that certificates recorded on the blockchain remain unalterable and counterfeit-proof,

The Crypto Bull Run and AART Price

The new news of the alliance with Coca Cola HBC arrives along with the general bullish run of cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin (BTC) which in the last 24 hours has skyrocketed to $63,730.

Right now, BTC is worth $62,750 while its market capitalization is $1,230 billion.

The entire cryptocurrency market is, at the moment, mostly green. But ALL.ART Protocol (AART) has outperformed the major cryptocurrencies with the last 24 hours’ price increase almost +80%. At the time of writing, AART is worth $0.0025, down from $0.0013 yesterday.

In relation to Coca Cola HBC and ALL.ART, today is not the first time that the soft drink giant’s brand or its affiliates have used blockchain. In fact, last October Coca Cola became a company also affiliated with the Loyalty+ loyalty program launched by Insomnia Labs.

This is an initiative aimed at maximizing the involvement of the brand’s community through digital loyalty campaigns that integrate gamification elements, allowing users to redeem rewards.

By Audy Castaneda

All Eyes on SEC as Ethereum ETF Spot Issuers Prepare for March Meeting

Leonardo Perez
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All Eyes on SEC as Ethereum ETF Spot Issuers Prepare for March Meeting

The cryptocurrency market is abuzz with anticipation as multiple issuers compete for a place in the Ethereum ETF landscape.

Following the successful launch of Bitcoin spot products, the search for Ether-based investment vehicles has gained momentum. However, the path forward is fraught with challenges, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continues to delay its decisions and commissioners express conflicting opinions.

SEC and Issuers Meetings: Paving the Way for Dialogue

A Reuters report revealed that the SEC is planning meetings with one-time Ethereum ETF applicants next month. These meetings are intended to facilitate discussions and address concerns about the proposed Ether-based investment vehicles.

While the SEC’s public filing does not currently indicate any scheduled meetings, sources familiar with the matter have confirmed the plans. The SEC has postponed decisions on Ether-based spot products until May at the earliest, casting a shadow of uncertainty over the industry.

VanEck’s filing is the first in line, as the SEC faces a May 23 deadline to accept or reject her offer. Other prominent issuers, including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton Grayscale and Invesco Galaxy, are anxiously awaiting the SEC’s response.

Spot Ethereum ETF Offerings: A Flurry of Interest

Last year saw a surge of interest in Ethereum spot ETFs, with issuers submitting bids shortly after filings for Bitcoin spot ETFs. The subsequent approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs in January 2023, which led to the start of trading of nearly a dozen funds, fueled optimism within the industry.

However, the path to detecting Ethereum ETFs remains arduous, as the SEC grapples with regulatory complexities and concerns surrounding Ethereum’s unique characteristics compared to Bitcoin.

SEC Stance on Cryptocurrencies: A Cautious Approach

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s critical stance on cryptocurrencies continues to cast a shadow over the approval process for Ethereum spot ETFs. Despite approving spot Bitcoin ETFs, Gensler emphasized their high-risk nature and cautioned against interpreting the decision as a broader endorsement of crypto assets.

Ethereum’s unclear security designation, unlike Bitcoin’s unsecured commodity status, further complicates the regulatory landscape.

Unlike the lead-up to BTC spot ETF approvals, the SEC has not engaged in open dialogue with issuers regarding ETH spot ETFs. This lack of communication creates an additional obstacle for issuers seeking clarity and guidance on regulatory requirements.

Gensler’s emphasis on a collective vote by the five commissioners underscores the importance of consensus within the SEC. However, the above decisions do not guarantee broad support for cryptocurrencies, leaving issuers uncertain about the SEC’s final stance on Ethereum spot ETFs.

Industry Stakeholder Perspective: A Call for Transparency

Prominent crypto industry stakeholders such as Coinbase have expressed support for the approval of Grayscale’s ETH ETF spot application. Coinbase has also petitioned the SEC for more transparent crypto regulations, echoing the industry’s desire for a clear and predictable regulatory framework.

Possible Delay Tactics: An Evasion Strategy

James Angel, an associate professor of finance at Georgetown University, suggests that the SEC could employ various tactics to delay the approval process rather than reject applications outright. This strategy is intended to avoid potential legal challenges that could arise from rejections.

Market Impact: An Anticipation-Driven Rally

Amid ongoing efforts to secure SEC approval for spot Ether ETFs, the price of ETH has seen a significant surge, rising over 40% in the last 30 days. Grayscale experts attribute this rally to the hype surrounding ETH spot ETFs, along with anticipation for the Dencun upgrade.

By Leonardo Perez

Bitcoin (BTC) Will Have a Market Cap of $1.5 Trillion, According to Fidelity

Audy Castañeda
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Bitcoin (BTC) Will Have a Market Cap of $1.5 Trillion, According to Fidelity

Fidelity Investments’ Jurrien Timmer predicts that Bitcoin’s market capitalization could skyrocket if it takes over a quarter of gold’s market share. According to on-chain analyst Kevin Svenson, the price of Bitcoin can rise to $90,000, based on trends seen in recent cycles. Recent Bitcoin price rises have caused previously skeptical institutions, including Berkshire Hathaway, to legitimize the BTC asset.

Analysts predict that Bitcoin’s market capitalization will reach $1.5 trillion, amid the rise of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from BlackRock and others, as well as the trading volume of the top 10 crypto assets. Fidelity’s Jurrien Timmer predicts that Bitcoin will soon corner 25% of the non-industrial gold market.

Institutions and analysts have become bullish that surges in XRP, ETH, and BTC, along with ETF-driven interest from institutions, will see the cryptocurrency market increase its capitalization by at least $500 billion.

Why Bitcoin Market Cap Is Rising

This week, Elon Musk implicitly endorsed Bitcoin as a true currency in response to a 2016 statement by Warren Buffett. Buffett said in 2016 that time was useful to him, not money.

Musk responded with “time is currency,” echoing the reflections of an anonymous writer, Gigi, who said that the height of Bitcoin blocks is a measure of time. Musk’s tweet comes amid feverish speculation about the future of Bitcoin.

The recent price rallies of XRP, ETH, and BTC have increased the cryptocurrency market capitalization to over $2 trillion. Gigi explained the following:

“Today, it is again a timekeeping device that is transforming our civilization. A watch, not computers, is the true key-machine of the modern information age. And this watch is Bitcoin.”

Renowned analyst Kevin Svenson said Bitcoin could double based on how closely its price has followed a recent trend line. Svenson noted through on-chain analysis that the price of Bitcoin will double a value called “Base 3” in accordance with the parabolic cryptocurrency trading patterns observed in each cycle. Earlier this year, the asset’s price reached $45,000 in Base 3, meaning a price of $90,000 is possible.

How BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF Convinced Companies?

Institutions that stayed away from Bitcoin are now adopting it, some remotely. JPMorgan, whose CEO called Bitcoin a thorn in the side, raised shares of the Coinbase exchange to neutral. He argued that Bitcoin’s rally after the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved ETFs proved to be sustainable.

Jurrien Timmer, head of global macroeconomics at Fidelity Investments, was recently bullish. He did so about the possibility of Bitcoin taking over the market share of so-called monetary gold. The above, because gold that is not used in jewelry or manufacturing:

“Based on the calculations presented in my previous articles, I estimate that Bitcoin will eventually take over a quarter of the monetary gold market. At 40%, monetary gold is currently worth around $6 trillion, while Bitcoin is worth $1 trillion.”

Investment advisory firm Carson Group recently added four of the 10 Bitcoin ETFs, including Fidelity’s. Fidelity and BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETFs have been the largest. Additionally, BlackRock has become the fifth largest ETF among all asset classes.

Buffett, one of the most famous and successful investors in the world, remains unconvinced. Last year, he told investors at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting that Bitcoin had zero value.

His comments were similar to those of a recent critic of the European Union. In a recent statement they stated that Bitcoin cannot generate cash flow, nor can investors consider it a commodity.

By Audy Castaneda

$500,000 in Cryptocurrencies Vanished? Australian Resident Allegedly Missing After Accidental Exchange Deposit

Leonardo Perez
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$500,000 in Cryptocurrencies Vanished? Australian Resident Allegedly Missing After Accidental Exchange Deposit

The businessman is apparently still a fugitive as no further details have been revealed about his whereabouts or that of the missing fund.

According to local reports, a businessman located in Australia allegedly disappeared after receiving an accidental deposit from a crypto trading platform in late January.

The Supreme Court of Victoria issued an order freezing the assets as efforts to contact the man were unsuccessful.

Typing Error Costs Crypto Exchange Hundreds of Thousands

A recent report from ABC News Australia reported on the disappearance of a Mildura resident who allegedly pocketed more than half a million dollars due to a costly typing error. According to the report, Kow Seng Chai, 37, a Malaysian-born resident of Mildura, deposited A$99,500 on crypto trading platform Rhino Trading Pty Ltd, trading under the name OTCPro.

The deposit, valued at around $62,000, was made on January 25 through an account created by Chai for his Sydney-based company Lotte Enterprise Pty Ltd. When the exchange credited the balance to Chai’s account, it accidentally added an extra zero, crediting AU$995,000 (approximately $621,000) instead of the correct AU$99,500.

Court documents, as the report indicates, show that the Lotte Enterprise account had a balance of around 1.36 million Australian dollars ($890,000) after the error. The balance consisted of A$464,200 that Chai previously deposited and A$895,500 received in error, worth approximately $586,000.

By the time the crypto exchange realized its mistake on February 4, Chai had already converted the funds to USDT and withdrawn around A$956,000, bank records showed. OTCPro claimed to have suffered around A$492,000 ($322,000) in losses once it subtracted the remaining balance of the recovered account from the sum credited in error.

When the Exchange Needed Him Most, He Disappeared

After realizing the error, OTCPro attempted to contact Chai via the phone number and email address provided when setting up the company account. The Mildura resident responded to the exchange’s email request to return the funds.

However, the exchange received an unexpected response when contacting the phone number linked to Chai’s account. The person who answered the call denied being Kow Seng Chai and confirmed that the number did not belong to the fugitive. Consequently, the cryptocurrency exchange filed a freezing order petition with the Supreme Court of Victoria to freeze Chai’s assets issued on February 9. On February 21, the court also issued an injunction preventing the Malaysian-born man, who did not appear in court, from leaving Australia.

The evidence presented in court revealed some problematic conclusions about Chai’s companies. The missing businessman, who appears to also be the director of a Mildura-based company, had previously provided fraudulent bank statements as evidence of Lotte Enterprises’ business activity.

The Sydney-based company apparently has a standard trading pattern, according to OTCPro director Qi Tang. The company would deposit funds in Australian dollars into the account almost daily; it was possible to purchase Tether and withdraw the funds to a private wallet. The account had deposited almost 2 million Australian dollars since December 2023.

According to the report, a search by the crypto exchange revealed that the private wallet only had around 149.33 Australian dollars in assets on February 4. As a result, Judge Michael Osborne considered that the findings presented to the court in conjunction with Chai’s disappearance presented a “real risk of assets being disposed of”, which was taken into account when making the orders.

By Leonardo Perez

Big News for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF

Audy Castañeda
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Big News for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF

According to Eric Balchunas, “Another intense volume day for the Nine with well over $2b traded. $IBIT broke its personal record again w/ $1.3b (for context that’s more than most large cap US stocks trade),” as posted on social network X. He added that he did not know “if this is a new normal or some kind of short-term algo/arb-related burst to the HODL.”

Great news keeps coming from the Nasdaq-listed BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT). In fact, for two days it has registered new absolute records in terms of daily trading volume.

Although almost all Bitcoin ETFs are registering very high trading volumes today, IBIT ETFs are really breaking records.

On Monday they had surpassed 1.3 billion dollars for the first time in their short history, and yesterday they did even better, touching 1.37 billion. The previous record was recorded on the same day of its market launch, that is, Thursday, January 11, 2024, when they exceeded one billion dollars. Since then, this threshold was not exceeded again until Monday, February 12.

On February 12, the price of Bitcoin exceeded $50,000 for the first time since the end of 2021, while Monday and Tuesday were the days in which it went from $50,000 to $57,000 for the first time and also $55,000. from the end of 2021. In November 2021, the price of Bitcoin recorded its all-time high, exceeding $69,000.

Regarding the BlackRock ETF, for the first time since its launch on the markets it recorded two consecutive days with a daily trading volume exceeding one billion dollars.

Decline of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Rise of BlackRock’s Bitcoin Spot ETF

The reason for such drop is that many former holders of GBTC shares are selling them because the new ETFs shares are more competitive, particularly thanks to lower commission costs.

To date, GBTC still holds more Bitcoin than all other ETFs in the world combined, but this is a record that is about to end. In fact, the two main alternative ETFs, IBIT and FBTC, alone hold around 230,000 BTC, or more than half of GBTC, and at this rate they should be able to reach that figure in about a month.

Therefore, it is not surprising that if on January 11 GBTC’s daily trading volume was greater than the sum of all other Bitcoin ETFs combined, while yesterday only IBIT recorded a trading volume one and a half times greater than that of GBTC.

New ETFs Rise

Although GBTC still temporarily dominates the Bitcoin ETF market, albeit only in terms of AUM and not volumes, two of the new ETFs look set to replace Grayscale in the near term.

The first, as already highlighted, is BlackRock’s IBIT, which to date is already the largest in terms of trading volume and the second in terms of AUM with more than 130,000 BTC corresponding to more than 7 billion dollars.

The second is Fidelity’s FBTC, which came to own almost one hundred thousand Bitcoins, corresponding to an AUM of more than 5.5 billion dollars.

As far as AUM is concerned, it seems only a matter of time, and all this is perfectly justified by its lack of competitiveness in the markets against IBIT, FBTC, but also against the others. Ark’s ARKB is also on the rise, surpassing Purpose’s historic BTCC to rank fourth overall after GBTC, IBIT, and FBTC. 2024 is in all respects a year of truly significant changes for the Bitcoin market.

By Audy Castaneda

Ethereum Price Analysis: Heading Towards All-Time High

Leonardo Perez
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Ethereum Price Analysis: Heading Towards All-Time High

Beyond reaching the psychological barrier of $3,000, Ethereum reached $3,100 last day, a price level that had not been seen since April 2022. In this way it managed to reach two-year highs.

The price of Ethereum (ETH) is currently trading at $3,153 and has increased by 3.55% in the last 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency on the market reached $3,000 on February 20 and is trading comfortably above that level today.

The price moves higher on the possibility of the approval of ETH spot ETFs in May. Precisely the deadline for the aforementioned approval is May 26. As the prices confirm, there is great expectation around it.

However, there are other factors that drive ETH and another of them is the upcoming Dencun update that will open the doors of this Blockchain to a definitive solution for its scalability.

The reaction to this favorable environment is a large number of whales buying ETH. This was reflected in the amount of ETH in the largest ETH addresses increasing last week (as well as fund outflows decreasing). This was reported by Santiment.

ETH Price Chart Analysis

In order to carry out an objective analysis on what the price direction will be during the next few days, it is necessary to analyze its charts.

The first fact that stands out is the formation of an ascending channel, which is the continuation of a long-term trend from the annual lows of $1,438 in March 2023. Bullish traders should take into account price stability above $3,000 over the next few days, which would reaffirm the current trend. However, a loss from the current levels could lead to a correction to $2,875 and $2,800.

Returning to the bullish prediction and to reach the $3,500 mark, the price of Ethereum must first overcome strong resistances, such as $3,280 and $3,300. Other indicators, such as the MACD, show that the king of altcoins has a clear bullish advantage and suggest an increase in price in the short term. In contrast, there is the relative strength index, which shows that the price is currently in an overvaluation zone and is ready for a correction.

Finally, ETH open interest is reportedly approaching its all-time high in 2021. That is, the number of open ETH futures contracts that have not been settled is about to reach all-time highs. A quite interesting figure that demonstrates the current potential of Ethereum.

Ethereum ETF Lays Its Cards on the Table

The SEC will be the one to give its verdict on May 23 on the approval of an Ethereum ETF and whether or not it is a reality. As that date approaches, ETH prices will try to emulate the same enthusiasm that occurred around the Bitcoin ETF.

It will be the ETH ETF proposed by the VanEck company that will test SEC approval. The body will then have to give its verdict for six other suggested ETFs.

Despite the high expectations, there is a possibility that it will not be approved and the SEC will continue to delay the decision. Furthermore, the market moves emulating what happened with the Bitcoin ETF, so there is a bias in believing that exactly the same thing will happen.

Consequently, neither of the two points can be affirmed. As the date approaches and the price reaches new levels, there is the possibility of seeing and studying the viability of possible approval more clearly.

By Leonardo Perez

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