Cryptocurrencies Receive Support from Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Nikki Fried

The candidate for Florida governor said cryptocurrencies allowed democratizing money use by citizens. To show her support for those assets, she invited the population to donate Bitcoin for her political campaign.

Nikki Fried recently discussed cryptocurrencies and traditional banks on Twitter as part of her political campaign. The candidate for Florida governor expressed her support for crypto assets and criticized those financial institutions.

In a video, she said cryptocurrencies and money democratization must be priorities for her government. In that way, she established the focus of her policy if she wins the election for governor of Florida in November.

Fried criticized traditional banks for their discrimination against Latin Americans and African Americans. She noted that Wells Fargo Bank closed her campaign bank account for supporting the legalization of medical marijuana in 2018.

Cryptocurrencies Will Help Reduce the Control by Traditional Banks Over Citizens

Fried also accused the banking industry of allowing a home collapse and opening false accounts to drive stock prices higher. In that regard, she stated that leading banks controlled homes and small businesses of Florida citizens during the financial crisis in 2018. She also said that they hampered their total economic prosperity.

Referring to cryptocurrencies, she commented that they need new options to get out of that suffocating situation. She considers that promoting crypto assets will contribute to making banks compete for their trust and resources. Patrick Byrne, the CEO of the exchange Overstock, had predicted in 2018 that the growing use of those assets would reduce corruption cases.

The candidate also stated that the involvement with cryptocurrencies would ensure that they are environmentally friendly. Nikki Fried, who currently holds the position of Commissioner of Agriculture in Florida, considers this is a crucial matter.

Fried Raises Funds in Bitcoin for Her Political Campaign

The candidate for governor of Florida invited the population to donate cryptocurrencies for her political campaign. Policies that promote the use of crypto assets by citizens are nothing new in that state. For example, the mayor of Florida is one of the most influential political advocates for Bitcoin in the United States.

Democratic candidate for governor, Nikki Fried, commented that she was serious about that issue. She said that she accepts cryptocurrencies because she trusts that citizens will make the right decision. Besides, she stated that she wanted them to recover their power and take care of their democracy.

The strategy of Nikki Fried distinguishes her from current Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who will run for the second office in 2022. He is a Republican ally of Donald Trump, who recently expressed his preference for the US dollar over cryptocurrencies. However, his wife, Melania Trump, has publicly shown her support for Bitcoin this week.

The role of decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is crucial, which politicians do not overlook. For that reason, many government officials include them in their public speeches and comments on social networks. Besides, regulators from several countries have restricted and banned their use by citizens.

By Alexander Salazar

According to Analysts, Bitcoin’s Upcoming Correction Could Set its Price to $ 41,000

The specialist calls to consider the external factors that can affect the price of BTC. BTC could find that new level of support, just in case a correction occurs.

Bitcoin (BTC) is about to break above $ 51,000 again. But the digital currency first has to break through the stiff resistance it has gone through recently at the $ 48,000 and $ 49,000, respectively.

Van de Poppe stated in a set of recommendations made in a YouTube video that those who want to buy BTC have to focus on the current resistance area registered by the pioneering cryptocurrency in the market, as well as its support levels.

According to Poppe, for Bitcoin to return to a bullish path, it needs to recoup its recent losses. This recovery must get effective after seeing that the asset, when trading over USD 47,000, has a base of USD 46,000, which, in his opinion, is “solid” to make way for recoveries that may take it, as a few months ago, closer to $ 70,000 or more.

Also, van de Poppe aims at another resistance level, above $ 49,000. It infers that BTC has to pass that point to, in that way, start to see high prices.

Corrections Are also a Possibility

Van de Poppe also spoke about the price corrections. These corrections are likely would be about to happen soon. However, if it takes effect, BTC could find a new level of support, above $ 41,000 and $ 42,000. According to the analyst, bitcoin can lose the current support, which is above $ 46,700, in his estimates.

But not all is lost. According to Poppe, if BTC crumbles down to that price, it could be a growth opportunity, thus affecting the liquidity while opening room for a proper bounce. However, Poppe clarifies that it is not the scenario for bitcoin. However, there is a slight possibility of considering external influences, which could generate red numbers in the price of the leading cryptocurrency.

Price of BTC, in Rises and Falls

Bitcoin showed a mixed performance and has danced between USD 46,000 and USD 50,000. Last week, some reports highlighted the price of BTC had crumbled down at least 32% from its all-time high of $ 68,600.

Previously in 2021, this setback became the largest setback seen since the fall in mid-April, which was 54%, when the price reached USD 29,400 on July 21, after the Chinese onslaught against Bitcoin.

2021 did not close as estimated. The popular analyst Plan B predicted that BTC was about to get priced at $ 100,000, based on its Stock-To-Flow predictive model, which failed for the first time in nine years.

Due to all these events, and in this year that begins, Michael van de Poppe alerts investors to be attentive to factors that impact the price of the cryptocurrency, such as the policies of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed ) and market regulations in Europe.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The Value of Shiba Inu Struggles to Rebound in the Short Term

Amid the impossibility for the price to hit lower lows, the probability of a rally in the short term rises. The higher trend is still bullish, for which the recent decline might be a pullback before the price increases again.

The cryptocurrency market is currently undergoing a price decline that affects Bitcoin and altcoins. The latter include meme cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which had an excellent performance in 2021.

The leading meme coins are undergoing the effects of the losses spreading throughout the cryptocurrency market. The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) has already fallen by 61% from its all-time high of USD 0.00008616.

SHIB is currently trading at around USD 0.000033 and has accumulated a loss of 7.2%% in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 986.60 million, and its market capitalization is about USD 16.73 billion. It occupies 13th place in the cryptocurrency ranking, according to CoinGecko.

Technical Analysis of the Price of Shiba Inu

The SHIB/USDT daily chart shows that the price has remained quite bearish over the past few weeks.

Sellers have started to show signs of exhaustion since December 4th, creating a sideways range with support at USD 0.000029 and resistance at USD 0.000038.

Amid the impossibility for the price to hit lower lows, there seems to be some hope. The probability of a rally in the short term rises, but it will occur only when the price breaks through resistance at USD 0.000038.

At the moment, it seems that the immediate support level could go through a test again. The price of SHIB could even break through that support, falling lower in the short term. The demand zone where the meme coin stays extends to about USD 0.000022.

Predictions about the Value of the SHIB Meme Coin

The sellers are still the dominant force in the short term, even though they have not reached effective lower lows.

However, the weekly chart shows that the higher trend is still bullish. Therefore, the decline in recent weeks may be a necessary pullback before the price rises again.

After the mega rally of this meme cryptocurrency, it is hard to think that the profits will spread too much further.

Nevertheless, a new rally of the overall cryptocurrency market will promote further rises in the segment of meme coins.

Currently, the price of Shiba Inu is close to the 78.60% level of the Fibonacci retracement tool. It will probably attempt to look for it before the fall bottoms out.

Seeking the 88% retracement before rebounding to the upside does not sound far-fetched. Any of those scenarios will go together with the overall behavior of the market.

Before confirming that the bulls have regained control, there should be a candlestick with strong bullish determination or a significant increase in buying volume.

It is a matter of time before SHIB resumes and exceeds its previous all-time high. Of course, the behavior of Bitcoin will determine what will happen to the meme coin and the other cryptocurrencies.

By Alexander Salazar

Rewriting the Bitcoin Blockchain Would Require Mining for Two Years

That metric helps estimate the amount of work that has made Bitcoin a robust, secure and practically unchangeable network. Creating a seemingly-valid blockchain is impractical, and the nodes would have to ignore that it is not real.

A person who wants to rewrite the transaction history on the Bitcoin blockchain would have to mine and accumulate work for two years.

A statistics website by developer Pieter Wuille shows the number of days it would take to reorganize the network, among other interesting data. However, that metric does not include the adjustment to difficulty, which would increase as the malicious mining hash rate also grows.

Those Attacks Require Investing a Lot of Energy, Processing Power, and Time

Even though reorganization attacks are possible, they are impractical, as a miner would have to invest a lot of energy, processing power, and time. In other words, creating a blockchain that seems as valid as the one he intends to replace is not an easy task.

On May 7th, cryptocurrency exchange Binance reported a security breach that allowed the theft of 7,000 BTC from its hot wallet. By paying USD 68 in fees, the attackers could steal more than USD 40 million.

Amid that situation, developer Jeremy Rubin suggested applying a reorganization of blocks in the chain to reverse the theft. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the exchange, considered that idea, believing it could return them to their state before the event.

Network Nodes Would Have to Ignore that the New Blockchain Is Not Real

For the attackers to succeed, the nodes on the network would have to ignore that the new blockchain is false. Precisely, their primary function is to maintain the consensus regarding the real one.

However, the metric helps estimate and assess the amount of work invested in making Bitcoin a robust, secure and practically unchangeable network through its mining. For example, miners outperformed their processing power repeatedly over the past few weeks.

Miners started 2022 by reaching 209 exahashes per second (EH/s), but the hash rate fell back to 170 EH/s. The network maintained those levels on average throughout December 2021.

According to Glassnode, the hash rate of the leading cryptocurrency on the market at the close of January 1st, 2022, was 209.9 EH/s. That happened three weeks after the processing power hit an all-time high of 198 EH/s. In that way, it broke the levels seen in early May before China banned the activity.

Other Positive News about the Bitcoin network in 2021

Last year, Bitcoin mining took other crucial steps in 2021, such as achieving geographical decentralization. Besides, it went public on the stock exchange and made its energy consumption more efficient and sustainable.

Latin America emerged as one of the regions with the best conditions for Bitcoin mining to continue to develop. The regulations of digital mining advanced in El Salvador, Paraguay and Brazil, which hope to attract miners who had to leave China.

For example, the Salvadoran government plans to allow mining Bitcoin with cheap energy that is 100% clean and renewable. It would also reduce the emission of CO2, taking advantage of volcanic activity, according to Nayib Bukele.

By Alexander Salazar

El Salvador Will Launch the Bitcoin Bonds in February 2022

The bonds backed by Bitcoin (BTC) that the Salvadoran government will launch will be available in February and March 2022. Alejandro Zelaya, the Minister of Finance of the Central American country, recently confirmed that information.

The official hopes that the bonds strategy will allow El Salvador to raise USD 1 billion. He said that the money would help build the Bitcoin City and acquire more BTC. According to information publicly available, the nation has 1,391 BTC in its coffers at the moment.

Zelaya explained that they would evaluate how the issuance of Bitcoin Bonds turns out before they draw up the whole strategy.

Ricardo Castaneda, an economist at the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies, gave his opinion. This professional considers that Bitcoin Bonds are a desperate measure but recognizes it could be successful.

The Bitcoin Bonds Could Help El Salvador Become Independent from Multilateral Agencies

If the Bitcoin bonds strategy goes right, President Bukele will be an example. Then he will tell multilateral organizations and the international community that the country does not need them. However, Castaneda warned that the entire Salvadoran population would lose if it went wrong.

Zelaya disagrees with those opinions since the launch of those bonds does not imply leaving the traditional financial market. He stated that El Salvador is now competing to be a regional debt market, for which he would not do that.

The Minister of Finance said they could go to New York, create a Bitcoin bond, or deal with a multilateral agency. He even suggested that they could hire a private investment bank to help them.

The government representative denied that the launch of those assets would harm the relationship with international organizations, particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He added that the negotiations have not stopped, except for those analysts adverse to Bukele.

The Salvadoran Government Prepare Laws to Receive the Bitcoin Bonds

The Salvadoran government announced that the launch of the Bitcoin Bonds would take place in February or March. However, they pointed out that they still need to make final adjustments to allow their issuance. In that regard, they recently sent a score of bills to the Legislative Assembly to provide a solid legal basis for those assets.

The digital issuance of Bitcoin Bonds, which will give an annual yield of 6.5% in US dollars, will occur on the Liquid sidechain. Samson Mow, a director of the Blockstream firm, said that El Salvador would issue other bonds with similar characteristics.

El Salvador is the first country to adopt the pioneering cryptocurrency as legal tender, which governments from other countries do not overlook. Although the Central American nation has undergone several problems since the approval of the Bitcoin law, they trust it as a store of value.

Bitcoin is currently trading at around USD 43,716 and has accumulated a loss of 5.4% in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 31.91 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 827.15 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

Goldman Sachs Defines Bitcoin as Pure Cryptocurrency

According to Goldman Sachs, there is a constant evolution in the BTC narrative as a digital store of value. The bank highlights that Latin America has at least 7% of the global adoption of digital assets.

The US investment bank Goldman Sachs assumed Bitcoin (BTC) as a valuable asset and medium of exchange. The financial entity separated the digital asset from the other items in the market, giving it a rating of pure cryptocurrency, unique and without equal.

In its ‘Overview of Digital Assets’ report, the bank points out that Bitcoin has become a tool right now. According to the entity, there is a constant evolution in the BTC narrative as a digital store of value driven by scarcity, security, and brand equity.

According to the institution, BTC is useful in countries with unstable currencies, such as Venezuela or Argentina, where adoption runs parallel with crescent inflation. In addition, he claims that there has been a greater acceptance of the currency as collateral for financial transactions.

For them, it is “unlikely” that Bitcoin will be used for commerce and payments, as its characteristic volatility “makes it less suitable as a medium of exchange.” However, countries like El Salvador already consider it legal tender, and it gets used for everyday payments.

Utility Tokens and Other Applications

After Goldman Sachs, currencies like ether, Binance Coin (BNB), centralized exchange Binance’s cryptocurrency, and Filecoin also were listed as utility tokens.

This situation means that they use blockchains to facilitate additional services, such as smart contracts, exchange discounts, identity verification, and distributed storage.

BUSD, USD Coin, Dai, Paxos, Tether, Celo, and Gemini Dollar got indicated by Goldman Sachs. These assets facilitate global payments using blockchains, with fewer costs for payments and transfers.

The financial body also gave a spot to non-fungible tokens (NFT), a technology that grew exponentially during 2021, especially in the arm of play-to-earn games, such as Axie Infinity.

On these lines, the entity placed Decentraland, the metaverse where the NFTs have had presence is a first taste of the Web3, which is currently in development.

According to Goldman Sachs, NFTs are a single, tradable digital asset that displays digital ownership of an asset, leveraging open source and decentralized blockchain to “enforce authenticity and proof of ownership.”

In the last line, various financial infrastructures and various subjects related to their applications got mentioned. Among these infrastructures, Goldman Sachs highlights Coinbase, an exchange with a presence in The US.

In this line, related parties apply blockchains to create opportunities to digitize capital markets, such as securities, custody, or brokerages. This situation comes in addition to storing historical data, ensuring the origin of the goods.

Latin America, 7% Global Adoption

On the other hand, the data from Goldman Sachs revealed that Latin America represents 7% of the total global adoption of digital assets, only surpassing Africa (2%) and the Middle East (5%).

According to the financial body, East Asia is the area that represents the most adoption, with 31%, while Central and South Asia, together with Oceania, account for 12% of global adoption. Northern and Western Europe have 17% adoption, while Eastern Europe reaches 12%. On the other hand, North America has at least 15% of global digital asset adoption.

By: Jenson Rivas