European Union Could Proceed Against Self-Custodial Crypto Wallets

Jenson Nunez
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European Union Could Proceed Against Self-Custodial Crypto Wallets

A proposal to prohibit Bitcoin was unsuccessful, but now the European crypto industry senses a new threat. The law would expand identification requirements to non-custodial wallets.

Just a few days after European Union lawmakers discarded a proposal to prohibit proof-of-work (PoW)-based crypto-assets like Bitcoin, a new proposal to reduce the anonymity of crypto payments is under revision.

Members of the European Parliament are getting prepared to vote this week on a regulatory package that could put the anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions to an end and even limit the use of self-custody wallets. Several news outlets reported this, including CoinDesk, Decrypt, and Cointelegraph.

The term self-custody wallets, also called “non-hosted” or “non-custodial,” gets applied to talk about software or hardware built to house digital assets that are not under an intermediary or third party’s hands. Some examples of such wallets are MetaMask, WalletConnect, Ledger, and Trezor.

The Proposal Would Impact Self-Custody Wallets

The regulatory proposal reportedly intends to monitor the current Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) to expand the requirement for instructions to collect information about parties transacting with digital assets.

In addition, it intends to include transactions with digital assets from non-custodial wallets to anti-money laundering (AML) controls. The proposal also wishes to stop crypto movements between European bloc countries and jurisdictions like Turkey and Hong Kong.

A Decrypt Report Quoted an Excerpt from the European Commission’s Draft Bill

During a transfer of crypto assets to or from a crypto asset wallet that didn’t get carried out by a third party, known as a ‘non-hosted wallet,’ the crypto asset service provider or other forced entity must acquire and retain the information from the customer.

Enthusiast Patrick Hansen went to Twitter to highlight some crucial aspects of the project’s current language. He warned that the regulation would need crypto service providers to gather personal information related to transfers made to and from non-custodial wallets and confirm the accuracy of the information related to the beneficiary responsible for the non-hosted wallet.

The main issue with these requirements is that, in many cases, it could be difficult for crypto service providers to confirm a non-custodial counterparty. Hansen is afraid that EU-based entities will get forced to discontinue operations to and from these types of wallets to comply with regulations and policies.

AML Requirements for all Crypto Payments

The draft also includes informing the “competent AML authorities” of any operation worth €1,000 or more to/from a non-hosted wallet. Under current law, recipients must identify themselves for any bank transfer over one thousand euros ($1,100).

 CoinDesk highlights that many nations across Europe have already expressed their interest in expanding this requirement to digital assets.

Nations are waiving this lower limit because large transactions in that asset class could be split into smaller ones, a practice commonly known as smurfing.

By: Jenson Nuñez

These Are the Key Prices of Cardano (ADA) that Investors Should Consider

Alexander Salazar
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These Are the Key Prices of Cardano (ADA) that Investors Should Consider

ADA seems to be accumulating, but high volatility could define whether it will continue to the upside or the downside. The Fed could establish aggressive conditions for the markets, causing the estimated price of the cryptocurrency to be around USD 0.35.

ADA, the cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain, has long been part of the market cap top 10. The wide publicity of the token has generated a wave of enthusiasts for proof-of-stake technology.

Since September, the cryptocurrency has lost about 75% of its value, while the other global markets have crashed. The aggressive policies of Jerome Powell, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), have caused fear.

Following that correction, ADA swept away the accumulation zones of the enthusiasts entering for fear of missing out (FOMO). Being in a dangerous zone, the breakeven of the Cardano liquidity pool (LP) could beat bearish players for the sake of investors.

It seems to be in an accumulation stage, re-entering the previously broken area. It could define whether it will continue to the upside or the downside through high-volatility movements.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is in a bullish area (74.95%), unfavorable for the price. However, its trend structure will resonate at those levels until falling into a regression.

Bitcoin (BTC) always influences the entire cryptocurrency market, so a rise in its value would confirm the forecast on ADA for the coming weeks. BTC is at the upper limit of the ascending channel that started earlier this year. The ascending triangle that its price has just broken would indicate a continuation to the upside.

Although BTC is a risky asset, higher stability by the Fed and peaceful negotiations in Ukraine would create the conditions for confirming that scenario.

A Bearish Scenario Is Possible in the Short Term

Nobody must rule out that those are projections based on the information that has been available so far. Therefore, new data could lead to modifying that bullish projection. With good risk management, the worst scenario in this market is that the opposite happens.

In May, the Fed will hold a new meeting, where they could establish aggressive conditions for the markets, invalidating the above analysis. Besides, pressure from the IMF could lead to canceling the BTC funds of El Salvador. Given that scenario, the estimated target for the price of ADA would be the USD 0.35 level.

Regardless of the scenario, they can invalidate the above information, as the market is always right. People are not only waiting for the events related to the war and the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Russia. Their eyes are also on the imminent launch of the Bitcoin-based bonds of El Salvador.

ADA is trading at around USD 1.18 and has accumulated a 20.05% gain over the last week. Its daily trading volume is above USD 1.50 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 37.70 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Emulating the rest of the altcoin market, ADA fell by about 75% from the all-time high of USD 3.10 reached in September.

By Alexander Salazar

The Bullish Streak Allows Bitcoin Mining to Be More Profitable

Alexander Salazar
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The Bullish Streak Allows Bitcoin Mining to Be More Profitable

The hashprice, the expected value for each daily terahash, is around 0.21 USD, equivalent to 0.00000463 BTC. The price of Bitcoin broke through the USD 45,000 level on March 25th and has continued to rise.

Miners and other members of the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem are happy because of the rise in the price. The daily earnings from processing transactions on the network recently reached USD 47 million, a time of significant profitability for the activity.

Data from the Braiins firm indicate that the daily profit from Bitcoin mining is USD 40.95 million. The indicator has maintained that average since the rise in the price of BTC began.

The denomination of those rewards is in US dollars to allow approximating the average. Since miners earn their profits in Bitcoin, some operators may benefit more from keeping their holdings.

Over the last few months, many Bitcoin miners have continued doing their activity despite the price drops and the apparent low daily profitability. They could receive higher profits since they have waited for the value of BTC to increase.

The bullish run occurring in recent days has allowed the profitability of Bitcoin mining to rise. The pioneering cryptocurrency is trading above USD 47 thousand, increasing over 12% since March 23rd.

In fact, on that same day, daily earnings averaged USD 33 million, one of the lowest figures for the third month of the current year. Since then, the indicator has increased significantly, encouraging the profitability of mining Bitcoin.

An Excellent Time for Miners to Enter the Market

Data from analytics firm Hashrate Index indicate that the expected value for each daily terahash (TH), known as hashprice, is around 0.21 USD. When measured in satoshis, the smallest measure of Bitcoin, that metric is equivalent to 0.00000463 BTC.

The hashprice measures how much a miner may earn for a specific amount of hash rate. The metric had risen since March 21st when it marked USD 0.18 per TH.

When the Bitcoin price and profits rise, the hash rate fluctuates around 203 EH/s, maintaining a daily average that makes Bitcoin safer.

Curiously, when several of those indicators increase, the prices of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners go down. That would allow them to enter the market faster, with less investment, and at times of high profitability.

Momentum Starts with the Breaking of the USD 45,000 Barrier

The increase in the Bitcoin price led to improving mining profitability, which began with the breaking of USD 45,000.

Since March 25th, when trading at around USD 45,078, Bitcoin has recorded surges of up to 7%. BTC is now trading at around USD 47,000 but is still below the price in early 2022. Market analysts are talking about that clear advance in the value of the pioneering cryptocurrency.

It is an excellent time to turn on mining machines and contribute to the prevalence of the Bitcoin network. That crucial activity is now going through unique times to reach high profitability.

BTC is trading at around USD 47,760 and has accumulated a 16.3% gain over the last week. Its daily trading volume is above USD 28.19 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 907.46 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

Rio de Janeiro Intends to Receive Bitcoin for tax payments in 2023

Jenson Nunez
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Rio de Janeiro Intends to Receive Bitcoin for tax payments in 2023

The Brazilian city, famous for its celebrations, takes a ride on crypto roads; this time, the venture is to accept Bitcoin to cover tax payments. The country also intends to release NFTs.

Employing Bitcoin to pay taxes could soon become an absolute fact for the inhabitants of one of the most significant areas in Brazil and all of Latin America.

Rio de Janeiro is getting ready to receive digital assets to pay real estate taxes. Rio de Janeiro’s Secretary of Economic Development, Chicão Bulhões, and Secretary of Finance and Strategy, Pedro Paulo Carvalho Teixeira, revealed the new fiscal scheme.

According to the news revealed by media outlets, the proposal arrived on Friday during the opening of the Carioca Cryptoactivity event. They anticipated that the city inhabitants would be able to pay the IPTU (Imposto Sobre, property propriety, and urban land) with digital assets as of 2023, although, in the future, this measure could expand its policies to other taxes and even city services.

Cointelegraph highlighted Pedro Paulo’s words by saying that the city’s goal is to reinforce a robust market for the new asset class, adding that they wish to stimulate the circulation of digital assets by integrating them into the payment of taxes.

The Brazilian City that Moves Towards Digital Assets

 Rio de Janeiro is about to be the first region in Brazil to receive digital assets for taxes. It would also be one of the first cities in Latin America to encourage a measure of this nature after El Salvador.

The municipality of Rio will join efforts with other entities focused on digital assets that will be in charge of turning these currencies into Brazilian reais.

This event assumes that the city will not directly hold the funds in digital assets. This information got highlighted by a note from the City Council that Bloomberg Online picked up.

Some reports suggest that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, could work closely with the municipality on this initiative. A day after the news, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed the inauguration of a new headquarters in the region. Zhao said in a tweet that the information is part of Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes’ pro-crypto effort.

The announcement adds to a broader strategy by the Brazilian city to enter the digital currency space. Earlier this year, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro also made public the creation of a task force to find new ways for the city to encourage the use of digital assets to improve the internal economy.

At that time, Paes also advanced plans to allocate a percentage of the Municipal Treasury’s reserves to cryptocurrencies and the idea that the city has its native token.

Rio de Janeiro, Now into NFTs

Among the new strategies to get into the crypto space, the City Council also revealed the creation of a Municipal Committee for Crypto Investments (CMCI). This group will be in charge of developing a new methodology for investing in crypto, following the guidelines of the Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM) and the Central Bank.

On the other hand, a public hearing will get held for the minting of non-fungible tokens (NFT) in Rio de Janeiro.

According to Bloomberg, among the proposals is that the City Council creates NFTs with images of tourist spots in the city and the possibility of opening spaces for artists from the region to make interventions that get then represented in the form of NFTs.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Terra (LUNA) Hits New All-Time High After 100% Bounce from 2022 Lows: Correction Ahead?

Audy Castañeda
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Terra (LUNA) Hits New All-Time High After 100% Bounce from 2022 Lows: Correction Ahead?

However, technical charts on LUNA point to a possible 50% drop in price in the coming weeks.

Terra (LUNA) surged to its highest level yet on March 29, as the Luna Foundation Guard’s (LFG) plans to increase its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings eased anxiety over the impact of an increasingly tougher Federal Reserve, and the current war between Ukraine and Russia in the cryptocurrency markets.

LUNA price broke the previous all-time high of $106.29 by a small margin, reversing the losses incurred during the crash between December 2021 and January 2022.

The recent price rally saw the Terra token net capitalization exceed $37.17 billion, now accounting for 1.76% of the entire cryptocurrency market, up from 0.39% earlier this year.

Terra follows Steps of MicroStrategy

Bitcoin wallets associated with the LFG, a non-profit organization headed by Terra creator Do Kwon, saw an inflow of 2,830 BTC worth $135 million on Monday. The influx came as part of the foundation’s Bitcoin buildup following a community proposal that suggested using BTC as collateral to “provide large discounted liquidity when the UST peg comes under pressure.”

UST is Terra’s decentralized stablecoin that is collateralized by the native cryptocurrency of the LUNA Blockchain. As such, the Terra economy supports burning LUNA tokens to mint more UST units as a strategy to maintain the latter’s peg to the dollar.

LUNA to Face Risks of an Immediate Collapse

From a technical point of view, LUNA faces the possibility of a 50% price correction in the coming weeks, although this need not hurt the long-term bullish outlook.

In detail, the Terra token has been consolidating within what appears to be an ascending channel, a continuation pattern that appears after the price fluctuates within a range defined by an upper and lower ascending horizontal trend line.

In a perfect scenario, the setup resolves with a breakout in the direction of the asset’s previous trend, rising as much as the maximum distance between the channel’s upper and lower trend lines. As a result, the price of LUNA could rise to USD 425 in 2022.

The bullish outlook, nevertheless, needs further confirmation, starting with a decisive break above the upper trend line of the triangle. If not, LUNA’s prospects for a sharp pullback towards lower trend lines look higher, meaning a price drop towards the $50-60 range, 50% lower than the current price.

Until now, LUNA was the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization; it is currently trading at $88.41. Recently, the price of LUNA fell by 10% while it increased by 13% in the previous seven days. LUNA volatility has decreased by 55.5% in the last 24 hours, although it has increased by 29.7% in the last week. This makes LUNA desirable to investors. New investors looking to join the recovery could use this as an incentive to do so.

As measured by Santiment.net, weighted sentiment was negative on March 11, fluctuating at -0.3. After falling from a high of 3.92, this was the next level. LUNA prices fell after the initial increase, which could be a factor. Additionally, investors may feel that corrections may be on the horizon after such a rapid rise.

By Audy Castaneda

People under 50 Believe that Cryptocurrencies Will Become a Dominant Economic Force

Alexander Salazar
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People under 50 Believe that Cryptocurrencies Will Become a Dominant Economic Force

Although most people under 50 have not heard much about cryptocurrencies, they are optimistic about their future. There is still much skepticism about owning crypto assets due to the lack of knowledge.

A recent survey by Quinnipiac University reveals that 43% of 1,936 American adults believe cryptocurrencies will become a dominant economic force. However, only 28% of the respondents said they have heard about crypto assets, and 38% said they know little about them.

By disaggregating the survey data by age, young people are the most bullish on cryptocurrencies. Fifty-five percent of 18- to 29-year-olds and fifty-three percent of 30- to 49-year-olds believe crypto assets will become a dominant economic force.

The thought of cryptocurrencies becoming a highly significant economic force diminishes with older Americans. Only 40% of people between 50 and 64 and 21% of those aged 65 and over also agree.

The results from the survey show that 1 in 5 Americans (16%) currently own cryptocurrencies. The remaining 74% said they have never purchased it, while the other 10% have had it in the past.

Osman Kilic, professor of finance at Quinnipiac University, stated that most people under 50 have not heard much about cryptocurrencies. However, they believe that they will become a dominant economic force in the future.

Why Younger People Are So Bullish on Cryptocurrencies

Most people under 50 see cryptocurrencies as a significant economic force. The marketing by the companies in the sector yields results since they target sports advertising to go mainstream.

Buying and selling cryptocurrencies on leading exchanges is as easy and affordable as trading stocks online. For that reason, younger investors turn to the Internet to learn about cryptocurrencies, which have become part of their finances.

A study by savings platform Capitalizes found that 56% of Gen Z adults and 54% of millennials include cryptocurrencies in their retirement plans.

What Cryptocurrencies Mean for a Growing Number of Investors

Believing that cryptocurrencies will become essential in the future and buying them are two different things. Only 16% of the respondents said they own them, 46% were not interested in them, and 43% did not understand them well.

Although a growing number of people know about cryptocurrencies, there is still much skepticism about owning them. According to Kilic, the lack of interest and knowledge also holds back young people, the most optimistic about their future.

In November 2021, the price of Bitcoin hit an all-time high near USD 69,000 before losing half its value in the following months.

The lack of regulation in the cryptocurrency market is also causing considerable concern. In early March, even US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to regulate cryptocurrencies. It would establish the first federal strategy on those assets and any future central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States.

Many financial advisors hesitate to recommend cryptocurrencies to their clients due to the growing concerns about those investments. However, people are increasingly interested in Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), among other digital assets.

By Alexander Salazar

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