Annual PayPal settlements would circle around $ 1.2 trillion at current trends. PayPal joined the bitcoin wave and has worked with crypto assets on its platform for an entire year.

Money transfers in 2021 from the market’s leading cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC), moves around $ 12.6 trillion. The figure is currently more than five times higher than last year.

This information got revealed by the firm Galaxy Digital, led by entrepreneur and BTC enthusiast Mike Novogratz. Via Twitter, they presented a graph that reflects the entire network’s performance during 2010 and to date, in terms of money transfers.

The analytics company took advantage of the report to make various contrast between the activity of Bitcoin and that of giant financial companies such as PayPal. The internet payments giant moved through its platform at least USD 936 billion during 2020.

In the first half of this year, payments made and money transfers made via Paypal slightly surpassed USD 600 billion, as required.

According to the payments company’s data based in the third quarter, they marked at least 24% year-on-year rise in their settlements, for a total figure of payments of USD 310 billion.

Assuming that in the last quarter of this year, the money also moved through PayPal in the order of USD 300 billion, so the annual settlements through this platform would be around USD 1.2 billion. This situation means that at least ten times more money gets moved via Bitcoin than through PayPal.

For Dan Tapiero, institutional investment advisor and bitcoin hodler, the numbers displayed by Galaxy Digital explain what, in his words, is “hyperbitcoinization.” He considers it is still early for this currency; the moon is still waiting for bitcoin.

PayPal Joined the Bitcoin Fever

Paypal is aware of the massive industry around bitcoin and cryptocurrencies; it also considers the money these financial tools move.

The company (founded in 1998, among others, by Elon Musk) decided to integrate the sale of crypto assets on its platform. Since November 2020, users of this payment way can purchase, sell, and keep in custody BTC and other digital assets in Paypal.

However, PayPal intends to expand its cryptocurrency features and services to Latin America, given the increasing use of these assets by the inhabitants of these regions.

The director of PayPal for Latin America, Federico Gómez Schumacher, highlighted that this part of the world has significant potential, especially to achieve money transactions between countries in the form of remittances.

The director said they see significant potential in allowing cryptocurrencies in PayPal Latin America because they facilitate money transactions between countries. He warns that it is more helpful in places with restrictions to receive money.

The director also added that there must be a well-defined regulation because these things have to happen within a correct regulatory framework. He also explains that this regulation is the way to protect all the actors involved in the transactions.

Currently, PayPal in the United States of America allows its users to receive and save four cryptocurrencies: bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. This year the platform also enabled making payments with these assets. So far, in the rest of the world, the platform only allows trades with fiat currencies, such as dollars and euros.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Around 31 billion ADAs would get housed in the 10% of the wallets with the most capitalized funds, which would reveal a high concentration of the Cardano coin in the hands of just a few investors.

An article revealed by the Finbold portal highlights that 94% of the current circulating supply of Cardano ADA tokens would be in the hands of crypto whales.

As such, research conducted by Finbold’s team with data from Blockchain analytics firm CoinMetrics revealed that at least a total of 31 billion ADAs, valued at $ 37.8 billion at press time, would be in the hands of 10% of the whales that work on the Cardano ecosystem. This figure reflects that on December 13, there were just over 33,428 million circulating tokens.

The figures highlight that the concentration of ADA in crypto whale portfolios started to grow steadily since the beginning of 2021. Therefore, these addresses have been increasing their supply of tokens throughout the year.

Hoarding Instead of Selling

Regarding the whales in question, the report highlights that these directions would dedicate themselves to gathering ADA, which they have been doing throughout this year amid the constant advances that the development team has been making.

A few months ago, the network officially gave support for smart contracts. Along with this situation, the arrival of many use cases that take advantage of the benefits offered by its Blockchain network became a highlight.

One of the most expected announcements by Cardano enthusiasts is the arrival of DeFi platforms to their current network. One of the contenders already taking steps in this matter is SundaeSwap, which has already launched its public testnet and might be ready in the coming weeks for operations with all the laws.

It is precisely these expectations that reinforce the thesis behind the interest of whales to accumulate more ADA throughout 2021 since the DeFi ecosystem, in general, has been having great success in different networks such as Binance Smart Chain, Solana, and Avalanche.

However, other reports showed that the already existing expectations around Cardano are also present on other Blockchain projects. Especially those expectations that pose good scenarios for sectors such as DeFi and NFTs, which is why the projects, including Polkadot, seem to be in the focus of interest for many investors and developers because of all the possibilities they pose for the future.

Cardano Undervalued

With networks like Avalanche and Solana on the headlines of many reports these days, various investigative agencies also highlight that Cardano could get undervalued in the face of the impact it could have in the coming years.

This thesis receives supportive stances from a study published by Grayscale. This study highlights that the network has a lot to offer and can operationally surpass what Ethereum currently has in hand, the network that concentrates the bulk of Blockchain activity today.

When it comes to prices, although the digital currency faces a value of USD 1.22, its value increased by more than 590% at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, it reached highs above USD 3, becoming one of the best-valued assets at the time.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Myanmar’s shadow government adopts Tether as a fundraising currency.

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is an Asian nation with borders shared with China and more than a hundred different ethnicities, making it a complex country.

The country has been struggling with political instability since declaring its independence from Great Britain in the middle of the last century. At present, there are in this territory two governments: the overthrown and the one in power.

Early this year, a coup led by the military force took place in the country, granting them absolute power in Myanmar and delegitimizing the democratically elected government of the leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Meanwhile, Min Aung Hlaing, the current chief of staff of the Myanmar Armed Forces, embraced the role of prime minister in an interim government. The military organization that took power has promised new presidential elections between this year and 2023.

As reported by Bloomberg, the National Unity Government (NUG) said through a Facebook post that it now accepts USDT. This parallel government of Myanmar, which got made up of supporters of the ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has recognized the stablecoin Tether (USDT) as its official currency for transactions and to accept financial support.

NUG Finance Minister Tin Tun Naing said that NUG will now accept the dollar-compatible stable coin, USDT, for domestic use to facilitate and accelerate current commerce, services, and payment systems.

The NUG does not have the official power to rule over the country; it is a kind of parallel government (something similar to the case of Juan Guaidó in Venezuela). However, the leader declared war on the Myanmar junta, a government led by military leaders.

That junta arose to power earlier this year after a military coup led by a group of militars. The shadow government group began raising funds with Tether to start a campaign to overthrow the military reign.

The group gathered at least USD 9.5 million in the first 24 hours of a sale of what got marketed as the Special Treasury Bonds of the Spring Revolution. To achieve this goal, the group received the support of the Myanmar diaspora worldwide, which intends to help overthrow the current government headed by coup leader Min Aung Hlaing. The bond appears to get structured as a direct loan instrument.

Sales got paused for at least a week until December 6. This pause happened because of high demand and other few details on how much money they gathered so far. The NUG also intends to appoint representatives in various countries to help with sales, according to Bloomberg.

In May 2020, Myanmar’s central bank said that all digital currencies were illegal in the country. Therefore, the adoption of Tether by NUG appears to be an act of defiance and would not be a legal movement for the government in office. On the other hand, the stablecoin Tether has long been into a controversy over the opacity of the dollar reserves that back it up.

By: Jenson Rivas

Even though the Bank of Russia expanded the items and assets allowed, the measure closes the door for investment funds to consider Bitcoin and popularly known cryptocurrencies within their portfolio.

The Bank of Russia, the country’s first monetary authority, revealed that investment mutual funds that operate locally got prohibited from investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

The announcement came from the same institution in an official statement. It announced the measure that prohibits investment funds from considering cryptocurrencies within their portfolio of offers, closing the way to financial institutions despite that it has been progressively increasing the number of products and areas in which the administrators of these programs can enter.

Previously, the Bank of Russia Recommended not to Invest in Such Assets.

A ban gets established on the investment of mutual fund funds, including those intended exclusively for qualified investors in digital currencies and financial instruments, the cost of which depends on the rates of digital currencies. The entity ensures that the measure complies with the criteria implemented to protect entities and investors interested in this type of product.

Although the measure shows parallelism with the Russian Authorities’ position, various critics and analysts considered this situation as another door that gets closed against cryptocurrencies within the country.

The authorities of Russia have declared themselves to be against Bitcoin and the other digital currencies precisely because they consider them as a tax evasion procedure used by those who wish to circumvent current regulations. In this regard, the head of Russia’s tax department, Daniil Egorov, clarified that these assets well serve these purposes, which could erode the tax profits that the state capitalizes.

Local authorities considered taking an official position towards exchanges and companies that work with cryptocurrencies within the country, so it is unknown if these activities will get officially prohibited or regulate them to ensure that they comply with specific regulations.

Putin and Bitcoin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the value of bitcoin and spoke about the role of this currency in the matching of financial operations (use of an asset between parties that use different currencies) in an interview with CNBC. The Russian president questioned the future position of the dollar as a universal store of value and in the matching of international operations in the same interview.

The Russian president has legitimized the value of Bitcoin. Putin leaves the door open for cryptocurrencies to store value.  He said he sees how the market fluctuates, so it seems too early for this asset. The leader explicitly recognized Bitcoin and its value. He said there is value in bitcoin but not enough to commercialize oil and other raw materials, which is the bulk of Russian exports.

By: Jenson Nuñez

In 2030 the milestone of 20 million mined BTC will get reached. The last BTC would complete its mining process in the year 2140.

A few days away from its thirteenth anniversary, bitcoin circulating approached a total of 90% of its maximum supply of 21 million. It is also vital to consider that, in a relatively short amount of time, 18.9 million BTC completed its mining process, and only 2.1 million remain to get mined.

This Monday, December 12 at 8:30 pm (UTC-4) CoinMarketCap records a circulating of 18,899,743 BTC, with just 257 BTC remaining to complete the total issuance of 90% of the maximum of 21 million. On the other hand, the site bitcoin-supply.com shows a supply of 18,896,578 BTC, just 0.004% of the 18.9 million BTC that marks the arrival of 90% of the  BTC supply.

The Vital Features of the First Cryptocurrency

The limited supply of Bitcoin is one of its most vital attributes because this cryptocurrency has an assigned maximum cap. This maximum cap gives cryptocurrency an inelastic supply.

On the other hand, and in addition to the absolute limit of 21 million, Bitcoin integrates a supply that is exponentially decreasing, bringing disinflationary characteristics to Bitcoin. Every four years, the reward in BTC for each block generated can get reduced by half in events known as halvings. These events happen every 210,000 blocks.

The first implication of this policy is that the total number of BTC mined in the four years following each halving is half of those mined in the previous period.

For this reason, although only 10% of BTC remains to get mined, the fact that every four years, half of the BTC of the previous period gets issued considerably lengthens the number of halvings needed to reach the ceiling of 21 million.

In other words, the objective of this scheme of exponential reduction of the reward per block and the BTC issued for each post-halving period is to guarantee that there is still BTC to get mined for the years to come. The last BTC will get issued approximately in the year 2140.

Halvings and the Amount of Mined BTC

As an example of limited supply growth, when the first halving took effect, the cryptocurrency was 50% of the total supply, 10.5 million BTC. Then 25% and 12.5%   got added in the two successive periods. At this time, it reaches 18.9 million BTC, while the 1.1 million to approach 20 million BTC will require a time of more than eight years since that milestone will get reached in 2030.

From then on, the issuance of the additional 1 million BTC needed to complete the maximum supply will require more than a century, 110 exact years.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The US consumer price index (CPI) has reached a peak of 6.8% this year. Inflation reports appear to favor the price of Bitcoin, albeit only for a moment.

The inflation rate in the United States keeps rising at a rate not seen in nearly 40 years, according to the latest official reports.

The US Department of Labor highlighted this Friday that inflation reached its highest level since 1982. The federal agency said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the cost of a large basket of goods and services, has risen 6.8% in the last 12 months. The figure is the highest since the 1980s when inflation sustained a rate of 6.9%.

The CPI rose 0.8% during the month of November and after having risen 0.9% in October. For its part, the consumer index, which does not include food and energy prices, has reached a peak of at least 4.9% compared to the previous year, representing the steepest rebound since mid-1991.

As reported by several news outlets, the latest figures got adjusted with the predictions of some analysts. Various economists interviewed by Reuters had forecast that the CPI would reach a peak near 0.7% and rise 6.8% year on year. However, the inflation rate remains higher than the rate set by the US Federal Reserve (FED) of 2%.

Bitcoin Touched $ 50,000 Momentarily

News of increasing inflation in the US brought many advantages for the digital currency market, which showed a momentary rebound after the reports. Bitcoin soared to near $ 2,000 to regain the $ 50,000 mark while other vital cryptocurrencies also spiked amid the announcements.

According to CNBC, other markets also received positively the news, including rising Wall Street stock indices. On the other hand, government bond yields crumbled down after the reports.

As seen on previous occasions, it appears that the news of inflation increased investors’ interest in risk. After the launch of the October CPI data, Bitcoin approached a peak near $ 3,000 to hit a new all-time high of $ 68,950. Although at that time the rise got reversed and the asset has been in a downtrend after this event.

The cycle appeared to be repeating itself as the positive effect on the digital asset market was short-lived. A few days ago, the red numbers predominated in the market, with most of the major cryptocurrencies seeing prices down.

On November 10, after the October figure reached its highest in the last three decades, the price of bitcoin climbed above $ 68,000 and the cryptocurrency got recognized as a solution to protect against inflation.

This investment method takes effect due to the fact that bitcoin has a limited supply of coins. The people who join the network, how much its value increases, or how advanced the equipment mining it is, does not matter; there will never be more than 21 million BTC. It is unknown what effect this new record will have on the price of bitcoin on US inflation.

By: Jenson Nuñez