Mastercard Executive Thinks that There will be Huge Adoption of Digital Assets

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Mastercard executive Harold Bossé shows optimism about the massive acceptance of digital assets.

MasterCard Vice President of New Product Development and Innovation Harold Bossé shows his enthusiasm about the crypto space, despite the current crisis the world is experiencing. He believes that the mass adoption of crypto assets and Blockchain technology will inevitably happen sooner than later.

In an Avalanche Powering Business with Blockchain series webinar, Bossé determined that there are millions of people using and sending crypto assets worldwide. His own words were that they are early and new adopters, but the crypto world shifted towards the mass markets, which will be a remarkable feature for financial entities to become part of this space.

Many Challenges Await

Bossé also talked about many challenges to overcome before digital assets became mainstream. He highlighted, among them, a lack of knowledge about senior management, the business logic around scalability, cost and speed, and regulatory policies.

Likewise, the representative compared the current status of the crypto industry with the first years of the internet. He added that nobody thought that Amazon could become such a vast concept, but people require the internet for amazon to work; the same occurs with crypto; people need to focus less on their economic problems and build up their trust.

The comments come as digital assets keep decaying in what seems to be the start of a protracted bear market. Various factors, with the most prominent being TerraUSD algorithmic stablecoin and the LUNA asset and concerns around new policies attached to regulations in the space, have caused the price of crypto to go deep to lower rates.

According to Bosse, all of these factors, and more, might be signs of a more profound need for safety in the environment if the more prominent players want to take part in the big game.

He assured me that he has to become an invisible entity regarding crypto technology. He said he keeps saying that he must become invisible repeatedly, but it tends to fade into the background for users who don’t show interest in cryptoworld.

The representative is talking about forging a robust, more complex ecosystem, ideal for large masses and friendlier with these new services.

The payment company is familiar with the crypto space. It is worth considering that MasterCard has already shown interest in the digital assets sector with cryptocurrency-backed credit features and the recent registration of its trademarks for NFT and Metaverse.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Developers Refer to Terra 2.0 as the Genesis of a New Blockchain, Not a Fork

The revival plan suggests renaming the old Terra blockchain as Terra Classic and having Luna Classic (LUNC) as its primary token. South Korean authorities are seeking to freeze the assets of the LFG because five investors alleged fraud and violation of financial regulations.

The developers behind the Terra project LUNA recently clarified that Terra 2.0 would not be a fork but a new blockchain. They stated on Twitter that the revival plan does not propose to fork the existing blockchain but to create a one.

The team defines a fork as a change to an existing blockchain leading to two blockchains with a shared history but different future paths. However, Terra 2.0 will not share the history of Terra, which will exclude it from being a forked blockchain.

They commented that the approval of Proposal 1623 would allow the creation of a new (Terra) blockchain from the genesis block 0.

The revival plan for Terra will receive approval by a vote on Proposal 1623, which suggests renaming the old Terra blockchain as Terra Classic. It will have Luna Classic (LUNC) as its primary token, whose launch is due in the coming days. In addition to that, the new blockchain, also called Terra, will use the original LUNA token.

Do Kwon, the creator of Terraform Labs, clarified that Terra would set aside the stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which dropped below USD 1. The team also said that popular decentralized apps (dApps) built on Terra Classic would not migrate to the new Terra blockchain.

The current confusion arose because Do Kwon wrongly used the term fork in his draft of the Terra revival plan. However, the founder of the blockchain recently removed that word from the post.

South Korean Authorities Investigate Terraform Labs for Alleged Fraud

While writing this article, the Terra ecosystem approved Proposal 1623, calling for the genesis of a new blockchain. However, South Korean authorities are reportedly attempting to freeze the assets of the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG).

According to local media, the Seoul Southern District Public Prosecutor launched an investigation into Terraform Labs. They assigned the case to their Securities and Financial Crimes Joint Investigation Team, which South Korean justice minister Dong-hoon Han recently created.

The authorities announced the investigation after five investors with combined damages of 1.4 billion won (KRW) filed criminal complaints. They alleged that Do Kwon and Daniel Shin committed fraud and violated financial regulations, among other charges.

The law firm LKB & Partners said that the lack of information about the flaws and the unlimited expansion of LUNA led to defrauding investors. The above five Korean investors hired them to file charges against Terraform Labs for those reasons.

Terraform Labs is currently in Singapore but has registered to operate its business as Terraform Labs Korea in South Korea. Besides the current situation, the internal legal team of Terraform Labs resigned, faced with the collapse of UST and LUNA.

LUNA (LUNC) is trading at around USD 0.000136 and has accumulated a 24.1% loss over the last 24 hours. While its daily trading volume is above USD 630.63 million, its market capitalization is about USD 88.78 million. It occupies 67th place in the cryptocurrency ranking, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

The Price of XMR Leaves Behind a Bearish Trend of More than Four Years

Monero failed to remain strong due to the collapse of LUNA, but a 75% price rally has allowed it to overcome all those losses. Less than a week before the end of May, it is possible to trust the bullish behavior of XMR.

Privacy coin Monero (XMR) is making a very bullish signal as it breaks out of a bearish trend of more than four years against Bitcoin.

Amid a bearish crypto market, XMR is trading at around USD 197.32 and has accumulated a 26.9% gain over the last week. While its trading volume is above USD 229.03 million, its market capitalization is about USD 3.58 million. It occupies 25th place in the cryptocurrency ranking, according to CoinGecko.

The Reasons behind the Isolated Rally of XMR

The crypto market has reacted to the downside due to news about US monetary policy. However, Monero has remained firm, indicating that investors have valued privacy when seeking financial protection.

As has happened with the overall market, Monero failed to remain strong due to the collapse of LUNA. However, a 75% price rally from the recent low of USD 119 has allowed XMR to overcome those losses.

In contrast to many other cryptocurrencies, Monero did not benefit much from the 2021 bullish rally. For example, a significant rebound from the current price would be much healthier for XMR than Dogecoin (DOGE).

A hard fork of the Monero blockchain recently occurred, aiming to add privacy and scalability improvements. That might have been another factor that contributed to positivity on the network.

There Is Positivity in the Monthly XMR/BTC Chart

Monero is now leaving behind a bearish trend of more than four years against Bitcoin.

The monthly XMR/BTC chart shows that the price is breaking through the descending line of that trend with determination.

Although there remain less than a week until the end of May, it is possible to trust that behavior. However, the most conservative might expect the price to break through immediate resistance at 0.0073 BTC.

Daily Technical Analysis of the Price of Monero

The daily XMR/USD chart shows the recent significant strength that could create a short-term bullish trend.

The price keeps the 8-day EMA and 18-day SMA crossed to the upside, following that direction. Since it is challenging the 200-period, breaking through that level would be an excellent sign.

Even though the recent steep rally of Monero is healthy, the price could easily continue that course.

Before thinking of selling in the short term, the price needs to break through the ascending line. Losing the closest horizontal support at USD 173 would mean a momentum loss.

Monthly Analysis of the Price of XMR

A significant rejection of low prices suggests an encouraging monthly outlook, marking the bottom of a relevant correction.

XMR might resume its medium/long-term upward trend after gaining support at USD 135.

It could break above USD 285 next, leaving the ground clear for the supply zone around USD 500.

If the price broke the support at USD 135, it would indicate the need for a broader correction. In that case, the ground would be clear for USD 93.

By Alexander Salazar

According to Peter Schiff, the United States of America is Experiencing a Recession, and the Situation Might be Worse

There was already a crash in US gross domestic product. According to a survey applied in many North American countries, concerns about inflation keep increasing in the nation.

According to the economic analyst and founder of Euro Pacific Capital, Peter Schiff, a recession in the United States of America is happening. It will be worse than the one that affected the North American nation in 2008.

A world crisis like the one mentioned got highlighted before since the consequences of a financial bubble could burst sooner than people expect.

The gross domestic product of the United States of America crashed by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022, after four consecutive quarters of increase rate in 2021, according to the economic forecasts for the US from The Conference Board.

In an interview with NTD News, Schiff expressed that the economy already presented a concerning behavior in the first quarter of this year. A recession like the one he mentions gets usually determined by the gross domestic product crumbling down for two consecutive quarters, so the United States of America is at risk of experiencing a challenging recessive period.

Among the reasons, Schiff describes the features of this recession as worse than in 2008 due to the current inflationary scenario in which the country develops its economy, inflation that did not exist 14 years ago. Likewise, the expert highlights that the administration did not see that recession.

Economic Recession/ Higher Public Debt

Schiff also expressed that they thought banks were in optimal conditions before that financial crisis. He said Banks is only in good shape until the value of their loan collateral collapses and people can’t repay their loans.

The specialist affirmed that there is a way to solve this problem, but it does not come without a cost. Unfortunately, the middle class and the poor people will suffer these consequences the most because the Fed’s increased interest rates obstruct credit and access to channels that could alleviate people’s finances.

If the Fed doesn’t fight inflation to avoid a recession for the middle class and the poor, these sections of the population will suffer even more from massive inflation. Countries like the UK are experiencing the first beat of these consequences, primarily in food prices.

Deep Inflation concerns

According to a Statista report revealed on Monday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, fears, and uncertainty over increasing inflation rates are causing more concern worldwide.

From the survey data in the United Kingdom, 52% of citizens consider inflation as one of the most significant struggles of the country in 2021-2022, while in a similar survey last year, the percentage was 35%. The 9% increase in inflation compared to the previous year is the highest increase in the previous 40 years in that nation.

In other European regions, citizen concern has also reached high levels compared to a year ago. The rates increased from 33% to 44% in Germany, 41% to 51% in Spain, and 29% to 37% in Italy.

By: Jenson Nuñez

A Former Pharmaceutical Executive Uses the Uniswap Token While in Jail

Shkreli stated that he was optimistic about the future of crypto assets, expressing that he believed that Ether could outperform Bitcoin. He referred to Algorand and Solana as two Layer 1 projects that could reduce the market dominance of Bitcoin.

Martin Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive who committed fraud, said on Twitter that he used the Uniswap (UNI) token while in jail. UNI is trading at around USD 5.42 and has accumulated a 10.9% gain over the last week, according to CoinGecko.

In addition to that, Shkreli stated that he was optimistic about the future of crypto assets. He highlighted that he was enthusiastic about DeFi and described Algorand and Solana as promising projects. Besides, he expressed that he believed that Ether (ETH) could outperform Bitcoin (BTC) in the future.

Jokingly, Shkreli commented that it was easier to get out of real prison than Twitter prison.

It is relevant to remember that Martin Shkreli ordered drastic increases in the prices of Daraprim. He made the value of that drug used to treat toxoplasmosis and malaria vary from USD 13.50 to USD 750.

Shkreli also reached supply agreements to prevent competitors from offering a generic version of the non-patented drug. It serves to treat parasitic diseases in pregnant women and HIV patients and is essential to save their lives.

Martin Shkreli Is Optimistic about the Future of Cryptocurrencies

The controversial entrepreneur expressed his opinion about the future of Bitcoin and DeFi to crypto enthusiasts. Specifically, Shkreli said he was optimistic about where DeFi was heading next and revealed that he had previously used the technology.

Hayden Adams, the founder of Uniswap, spoke about Shkreli after the comment by Shkreli started trending on social media. He wondered whether Shkreli would still like Uniswap when he learned that he had heard that.

Pharma Bro Speaks and Comments on DeFi

Shkreli also discussed how DeFi could usurp the traditional financial system in the future. He does not think that was the limit of what it could do and said many more financial products would end up in DeFi. He added that crypto entities would become more prominent than leading traditional financial institutions.

He said there are many ways to do things with DeFi, highlighting there should be an Apple coin and a Tesla piece.

Likewise, Shkreli referred to Algorand (ALGO) and Solana (SOL) as two Layer 1 projects that could reduce the market dominance of Bitcoin. He expressed that he believed the reign of leading cryptocurrencies could erode over time. He also stated that he thought Ether could outperform the market capitalization of Bitcoin.

Different People Think that Shkreli Left Prison Early

Briefly speaking, Martin Shkreli left a federal prison in Pennsylvania after receiving a 7-year sentence in 2018. Then, he had to go to a rehabilitation center located in New York.

Attorney Ben Brafman stated that he encouraged Martin Shkreli not to make any more statements while in the halfway house. He pointed out that neither of them would have any further comment at the moment.

By Alexander Salazar

The Bitcoin Market Crumbles Down for Eight Weeks in a Row for the First Time in History

Bitcoin ended the week barely holding above $30,000. In these eight weeks, bitcoin crashed down by more than 40%.

The price of bitcoin closed lower again this past week. This last period of a week is already eight weeks in a row closing in the red for the digital asset. This is something that had never happened before.

BTC crashed another 3.29% between Monday, May 16, and the close of business on Sunday, May 22. At the close of Sunday, the digital asset price was just above $30,000, according to TradingView recorded data.

During this losing streak for bitcoin, the price crashed from almost $47,000 per unit. Or what is the same: there has been a fall registered at more than 40% in 8 weeks for BTC. And although this week closed again in the red, there is something positive to highlight: a slight awakening from the lowest point of the previous period, when the lowest price of the entire year was registered for BTC, just over 25,000 dollars.

BTC had not reached that cost for more than a year. The last time it happened was in December 2020, when the digital asset was in full swing after surpassing the 20,000 barriers.

Early this week, BTC is in the green. However, the rally is virtually invisible, with the digital asset hovering around $30,400. It is not even parallel to a 0.5% growth.

As Above so, Below

In his most recent newsletter, market analyst Scott Melker talked about bitcoin’s weekly losing streak. However, he explained that with each passing week and more fear in the market, the chances of a considerable rebound rationally increase.

He thinks that if “what goes up must come down… The reverse is also valid. Melker thought it was hard to assure that this rebound would occur, although it seems likely.

The analyst also observed a slight recovery trend for the digital asset, notably during the last two weeks. They are even having closed both periods in red. For him, one element stands out: in the previous two weeks, there has been a certain level of recovery towards the end of each period.

In addition to this appreciation of Melker, some events have taken place: purchasing rate has experienced growth, institutional investors seem to be betting on a further rise in price, and traders have taken advantage of the decadent period.

However, some observe a dark future coming: there are experts, such as Harry Dent, who talk about a prolonged bear market until 2024. For him, BTC could fall to a range between 3,000 and 7,000 dollars at that moment. The analyst Nakamotolist also highlighted the possibility of the digital asset crashing to $17,000.

In both cases, bitcoin would have to hit another unprecedented negative milestone: break lower to a bull market cycle level before the current one. Based on the reading of those cycles, bitcoin should never go below $20,000, but only the market will have the last word about it.

By: Jenson Nuñez