Markus is no longer on Dogecoin but started a foray into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), of which he has sold a few pieces. He explained he did not talk in favor of DOGE and said he is just someone owning a certain number of coins.

Billy Markus, the co-creator of Dogecoin, known as Shibetoshi Nakamoto on Twitter, recently revealed he had 220,000 DOGE.

The birth of the meme coin occurred in 2013 when Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer introduced a joke cryptocurrency to experiment with DLT.

A thriving community, which includes Elon Musk as the leading supporter of Dogecoin, has made it a very popular digital asset. Last week, the CEO of Tesla tweeted to Markus that he is a pro DOGE person.

Curiously, Markus does not want people to continue thinking that he is a leader or representative of Dogecoin.

When Exactly the Creator of DOGE Sold His Cryptocurrency Holdings

This year, Billy Markus said that he had sold all his cryptocurrency holdings in 2015. He liquidated his coins for an amount equivalent to the price of a used Honda Civic, that is, almost USD  10,000.

Markus stopped working on Dogecoin, but he started a foray into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) this year. He launched his Crappy Doodle NFTs and has sold a few other pieces like the Capped Doge, for which he received USD  70,000.

In August, he received the appointment as advisor to the Dogecoin Foundation, alongside Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

He said that he has been evaluating the behavior of the general Dogecoin community to a certain extent. Since he has talked to some of its members, he decided to share that knowledge with the foundation.

Billy Markus Now Reveals that He Owns 220,000 DOGE

Markus recently reminded Dogecoin fans on Twitter that he is a regular community member. However, he clarified that he is no longer working on the project.

He also revealed that he still has 220,000 DOGE, equivalent to approximately USD  40,000. The 8-year-old meme coin is 75.5% below the all-time high of USD  0.7376 it reached in May.

He explained that he did not talk in favor of Dogecoin, as he is not in the project anymore. He reiterated that he is just a community member who owns a certain number of coins.

Besides, Billy Markus stated he would never code his creation again, as he finds working on a crypto project terrible. He thinks that people treat those that do many things for them very unfairly, as they believe they have the right to do so.

Despite that, he expressed his respect for the developers who decided to continue the project. He promised to defend those actively improving the space and discourage those who are not.

DOGE is currently trading at around USD 0.171109 and has accumulated a profit of 0.4% in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 828.67 million, and its market capitalization is about USD 22.71 billion. It occupies 12^th place in the cryptocurrency ranking, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

An Asian company promises to install 300 cryptocurrency ATMs in Latin America. El Salvador leads the region with 205 teams available.

Panama could become one of the Latin American countries with the most bitcoin ATMs since, in the first quarter of 2022, at least 50 new equipment would get installed in its territory. Along with the deployment of all these devices, the nation would even surpass Colombia, which currently has more than 30 cryptocurrency machines.

The Santo Blockchain company, with roots in Vietnam and working in Panama through its subsidiary Santo Pay, highlighted in a statement that, in 2022, it would install at least 300 ATMs in Latin America;  50 of them will get distributed in the Panamanian region. Colombia and Costa Rica will become the regions that will benefit the most from the distribution of these teams.

El Salvador is the region with the most widespread network of ATMs that work with digital currencies, with 205 machines currently available in its entire territory. Colombia ranks as the second nation with at least 38 machines, while Puerto Rico ranks as the third country on the continent with the most installed ATMs.

 According to data collected from Coin ATM Radar, this outlook may change over the next year if Santo Blockchain’s plan gets accomplished. The ATMs the firm would deploy in Latin America would meet their synchronization with Santo Crypto, a bitcoin portfolio in a development stage.

The company also expressed that the bitcoin ATMs will get shipped from Shenzhen, China, around the third week of February 2022. The company had to carry the equipment from Asia, discarding the possibility of acquiring them at the factory already operating in El Salvador.

It is not strange that the firm focuses its efforts on Panama and considers it as its gateway to the Latin American market since this territory is increasingly friendly with cryptocurrencies. In September, a draft bill to regulate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies appeared on the scene. However, the country revealed its efforts to get off the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), something that raises doubts about the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

Panama Continues in the Path to Regulate the Bitcoin Environment

Velasco’s statement expressed that his action to exit the grey list would not have changed until January in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ecosystem in Panama. The FATF evaluation will clarify if their policies to fight money laundering are correct or if they will have to make a control adjustment, which could have repercussions on the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

The FATF applied various parameters to regulate the bitcoin ecosystem recently. Two months ago, the entity launched a guide with some recommendations such as reducing peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, viewing and controlling cryptocurrency operations, and censoring transfers to non-recommended accounts. Censoring transfers to non-recommended accounts is perhaps one of its most highlighted features.

By: Jenson Nuñez

A member of Banxico said that the central bank’s digital currency would not displace cash. Mexico has had one of the first laws in Spanish America that regulate cryptocurrencies since 2019.

The deputy governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), Jonathan Heath, said his country is preparing the launch of its central bank digital currency (CBDC). Everything seems to indicate that they are open to adopting those centralized assets in 2024.

Heath told a local media outlet that they are working on a project to have the CBDC operating by the end of 2024 at the latest. That announcement coincides with what the newly appointed governor of Banxico, Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, stated in early December. The official told the Finance and Public Credit Commission of the Mexican Senate that the financial entity was evaluating the implementation of a CBDC.

Ceja noted that international authorities had recognized the possibility to extend the functionalities of the national legal tender through a CBDC. She highlighted that regulators are aware of the growing interest from citizens in digital assets and their evolution.

It is important to remember that Mexico has one of the first laws in Spanish America that regulate the trading of cryptocurrencies. The so-called FinTech, enacted in 2019, also controls collective financing and management of electronic payment funds.

The Central Bank Digital Currency Will Coexist with Cash

The governor of Banxico also talked about the coexistence between the CBDC and the national fiat currency. In that regard, she stated the digital currency would not replace banknotes and coins because part of the Mexican economy is informal. She also commented that there is low financial inclusion, and few people have access to traditional banking.

Heath added that they would use paper money as the predominant payment method nationwide for a long time. However, she said that they did not want to be absent from these technological advances, on which they will devote themselves to working.

The Mexican President Chose to Remain Orthodox in Financial Matters

Mexicans may be surprised with the plans of Banxico authorities, especially after the statements of the Mexican President in October. Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his government hopes to remain orthodox in financial matters.

López Obrador considers that his government should only maintain the national income and ensure proper tax collection to avoid evasion. In addition, he stated that his country does not need to look for innovation.

He also clarified that he does not intend to follow the lead of countries like El Salvador regarding the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The Implementation of the CBDC Will Affect the Privacy of Citizens

Central bank digital currencies like the one announced by the Bank of Mexico can benefit nations and companies in cross-border trade. However, their use poses the risk of loss of privacy.

These centralized digital currencies are not anonymous, and governments can take advantage of them to control the population. Besides, the State can confiscate them whenever they deem it appropriate.

The importance of cryptocurrencies is evident, of which international authorities are aware. For that reason, they consider that using CBDCs is the best way to extend the functionalities of fiat currencies. In that way, governments will ensure to keep the use of money by citizens under their control.

By Alexander Salazar

There were four transfers for 15,047 BTC and another four for 10,158 BTC   between unknown wallets on the first day. Those amounts reappeared on the following day when 15,047 BTC and another for 10,158 BTC went to exchanges.

As the end of 2021 approaches, it is helpful to analyze how the Bitcoin whales are closing the year. The following analysis shows their performance, and that of the market as a whole, in 48 hours.

Between December 27^th and 28^th, the Bitcoin whales moved 131,709 BTC through 18 transactions. They added 106,504 BTC only on the first day, but with some peculiarities explained below. On the second day, two movements totaled 25,205 BTC.

The predominant trend seems to have been the transfers between unknown wallets, which reached 110,978 BTC. That was equivalent to 84.26% of the total in 48 hours. However, on December 27^th, there were eight transactions of that type: four for 15,047 BTC and another four for 10,158 BTC.

On December 28^th, those amounts reappeared, but in a different direction, since 15,047 BTC went from an unknown wallet to an exchange, suggesting a sale. Meanwhile, the figure of 10,158 BTC was repeated, thus completing two operations.

During that period, the accumulation remained behind, with 3,684 BTC moving from exchanges to unknown wallets through six transactions. Finally, there was only one operation between exchanges for 1,000 BTC.

Understanding the Performance of Bitcoin Before the End of the Year

Bitcoin is closing the year with a rise of 70.24%, having experienced turmoil and volatility. A proof is that it lost about 7.54% in only 24 hours, reaching USD 47,830, and even so, its progress was impressive.

A new all-time high and bullish race has occurred amid the continuation of the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who own Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency will remember this year for the innovations and the regulations in China.

According to Glassnode, 2021 seems a year to describe as a macro consolidation, with a high but volatile time frame. Besides, long-term holders added 1.84 billion BTC to their holdings, while the supply of short-term holders dropped by 1.42 billion BTC.

The total revenues of miners have increased by 58% this year and by more than 440% since the halving in May 2020. That indicates a certain tendency to retain BTC, although the recent correction of the all-time high has moved lower. An increasing proportion of the supply also became an unrealized loss.

Other Details to Keep in Mind as the End of the Year Approaches

This year, there has been little net change in the balance on exchanges. Their reserves have gone from 2.62 billion BTC at the beginning of the year to 2.56 billion BTC. According to Glassnode, that represents a net decrease of 67.8 thousand BTC, a reduction of only 2.5% from the initial balance.

Over the last week, there has been another reversal from net outflows into net inflows. In the short term, watching that would allow seeing whether the trend declines or grows as the New Year approaches.

The Bitcoin whales are the addresses with the highest amounts of BTC under their belt. For that reason, that is usually the first place where to monitor those outflows and inflows of funds on exchanges.

By Alexander Salazar