The adoption of NFT in Venezuela would surpass 24% in the medium term. People aged 25 to 34 are the most likely to purchase or own an NFT in Venezuela.

The adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFT) in Venezuela is increasing. It is currently among the top 10 countries that most acquire this type of collectible digital art. The trend is upward, and it is likely that, in the not too distant future, that South American country could become one of the nations with holders of these assets.

This information got revealed in the report by the firm Finder.com, which highlights that, currently, 10.6% of 1,003 Venezuelans surveyed have an NFT. It is a figure that is slightly below the world average, which gets established at 11.7%.

According to the sample consulted by the firm in September this year and according to Finder, more than 106 Venezuelans have at least one NFT. The Caribbean country currently has the ninth position on the list of countries with the highest adoption of NFT, according to Finder.com.

Finder, which surveyed at least 28,000 internet users or more, highlighted that 13.5% (135) of Caribbean people have in mind to own an NFT in the future, which would expand the adoption rate to 24.1%.

More Women than Men Adopt NFT

A curious fact that Finder highlights is that, contrary to the global estimate, in Venezuela, more women have or plan to purchase an NFT. According to finder, Venezuelan women are approximately 11.4% more likely to receive a collectible token. Men, in contrast, represent only 9.8%.

Men are typically 2.7 percentage points more likely to possess an NFT than women, which means that Venezuela contradicts the trend. Women are near 1.6 percentage points more likely to own at least one NFT, says Finder.

Another interesting data that they throw in Finder is that people from 25 to 34 years old are the most likely to buy or own an NFT in Venezuela, with 13.4%. In addition to adults over 65 years old, who are the second most vulnerable to NFT adoption. According to the firm, 13.3% of these adults desire to purchase a digital collectible.

A conservative Prognosis

According to the agency’s cryptocurrency editor, Keegan Francis, this trend represents a conservative forecast for NFT adoption in Venezuela.

According to Francis, approximately a third of all Venezuelans are aware of NFTs, which is why they estimate that adoption is growing.

Francis, who commented on the Finder.com study, stated that the adoption of NFT is higher in countries where workers have low average wages, such as Venezuela, where the legal salary is equivalent to almost USD 2 per month, according to official data.

According to another report, there is the case of a Venezuelan called Alfonso Morales, who is an accountant that, through the NFTs, saved his life after having suffered a chronic illness whose expenses cost him a lot to cover.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Andrew Lill believes that savings in bitcoin can grow a lot over time. For this reason, he recommends saving a part of the savings in bitcoin for retirement.

Andrew Lill, the chief investment officer at Rest Super, a retirement fund, suggested that workers should keep some of their savings in bitcoin (BTC). This information got expressed in the annual meeting of members held by the company on November 23.

The analyst stated that investing in bitcoin is one of the strategies workers have to save for retirement, like businessman Elon Musk, the third richest person worldwide, who argues that not all savings should be kept in cryptocurrency. They firmly recommend allocating a part and also investing in other assets.

This situation takes place because the value of bitcoin is very volatile, explains Andrew Lill. It implies that the money invested could decrease if the cryptocurrency price falls or could multiply if it rises. It might be a risky investment with a high-profit opportunity if it goes up.

Andrew Lill’s Strategy is to Invest in bitcoin to Beat Inflation

Rest Super, which has 1.8 million members in its retirement fund in Australia, announced that it would start trading cryptocurrencies. These financial assets allow various advantages, one of these advantages got recently launched in its neighboring country New Zealand.

The legitimization of bitcoin (BTC) as a hedge asset is increasingly notable in the financial sector. Now, even pension funds want to try their luck with cryptocurrency, diversifying their investment offer with less traditional assets, as stated by the New Zealand firm NZ Funds Management, which declares 5% of its holdings as bitcoins.

The company acquired the bitcoins last year in mid-October, but it got recently declared before local media. The purchase got carried out through the Galaxy Digital fund when the asset only cost about $ 10,000 per unit.

Andrew Lill referred to bitcoin and expressed that the cryptocurrency could become a potentially good place to invest. This response goes to the context of Australia, where companies are embracing cryptocurrencies in their services. Recently an Australian bank began operating these assets.

Interestingly, the inflation that worries Australia is low. It has only been 0.9 to 3% in 2021, which does not compare to Latin American countries such as Venezuela, which has 574%, or Argentina, which has 41%.

This year, Venezuela registered inflation of at least 574%, while Argentina already surpasses 41%, thus being the two countries with the highest index in the region. According to Macro Data, the rest of the Latin American nations are well below these figures. Brazil owns 8.5%, Uruguay 7.5%, and Paraguay 6.3%.

Thus, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay are the only five Latin American countries that surpass the current inflation in the United States of America. The rest of the region’s places maintain lower values, such as Chile (5.8%), Mexico (6.2%), and Colombia (4.6%).

By: Jenson Nuñez

Many bank funds have acquired GBTC shares in recent months. Morgan Stanley has also anticipated an explosion of the metaverse industry, and it is not the only bank watching that trend closely.

According to public documents from The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Morgan Stanley has been looking for more exposure to cryptocurrency over the past quarter through Grayscale. As such, several of the bank’s funds have acquired over one million shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) during this period. The MacroScope Twitter account, which follows the bank’s investments in GBTC, reported the news.

Notably, GBTC is one of the most relevant Bitcoin investment funds worldwide. This investment fund got launched in 2013 by asset manager Grayscale, and it allows investors to indirectly access the flagship cryptocurrency without the challenges of physically buying, storing, and safeguarding it.

Morgan Stanley Continues to Invest in Bitcoin Indirectly

At the end of September 30, Morgan Stanley’s Growth Portfolio Fund reportedly added 1.5 million GBTC shares. Similarly, the Insight Fund included nearly 600,000 shares during that period.

Other bank funds such as the Global Opportunity Portfolio have also increased their investment in Bitcoin. MacroScope collected in a tweet thread how much these Morgan funds have increased their shares in GBTC since June.

In August this year, at least four funds from the banking giant, including some of those previously mentioned, we’re making indirect investments in Bitcoin through Grayscale. It appears that in recent months, the bank has continued to pursue this strategy and is currently holding more than $ 300 million worth of GBTC shares.

The news comes when large banks are beginning to venture into the digital currency space. Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley revealed that it would offer Bitcoin exposure to its high net worth clients in response to growing demand. Since then, the investment giant has made several moves in favor of crypto adoption.

Its top executives have also distanced themselves from the opinion of other bankers to defend the new asset class. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said in October that he does not consider “cryptocurrencies a trend.”

Banks Keep Watching the Metaverse

More recently, analysts at that bank have been closely watching the trend around the metaverse. In a November report, Morgan Stanley highlighted that the metaverse market could reach a valuation of $ 8 trillion in the next few years.

The firm also shared a list of possible investments that could provide exposure to this space. In its report, the bank mentioned Facebook as the most obvious choice; but other companies such as Roblox appeared on the list too.

Morgan Stanley isn’t the only bank looking closely at the metaverse. In conversations with CNBC this week, DBS Bank Senior Investment Strategist Daryl Ho spoke about the trend and what alternatives investors currently have to reap the benefits of the metaverse.

Ho revealed that Facebook’s renaming sparked great interest in DBS. He believes a metaverse is a group of trends seen in recent decades, namely the digitization of almost every aspect of life, from socializing.

The strategist also suggested keeping an eye out for video game companies like those that have the potential to shape the metaverse. This action could expose investors to the potential gains from this space.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Australian pension fund Rest Super could be the first pension fund in that country to invest in crypto.

Retail Employees Superannuation Trust (aka Rest Super) could become the first Australian retirement fund to invest in digital assets. This resolution got implied by Andrew Lill, the company’s CIO, who spoke about it at the annual general meeting with investors.

 At the same time, he noted that cryptocurrencies remain a volatile investment, and the company intends to enter the market with a small allocation.

The information initially came from the Business Insider medium. There Lill, chief investment officer, said the company sees digital assets as a vital part of its portfolio that moves into the future.

However, the officer highlighted the volatile nature of Bitcoin and altcoins, adding that it is still a very volatile investment so any allocation exposure to cryptocurrencies is likely to be part of a more diversified portfolio, as it is initially a small allocation that can grow over time.

The executive also added that said investment must get examined before being executed. Regulatory uncertainty in the sector is also a problem, in Lill’s words.

Established in 1988, Rest Super is one of Australia’s pension funds. It has more than USD 40 billion in assets under management (A $ 66 billion) and almost 1.7 million members.

It’s Not the Only One

Cryptopotato highlights that while Rest Super could become the first Australian retirement fund to invest in digital assets, it is not the only one showing such intentions. Also, Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) has raised it.

However, says the outlet, apart from the companies, Australia’s so-called superfunds that manage the retirement savings of millions of people have been skeptical of delving into the digital assets sector.

In this regard, the head of currency of QIC, Stuart Simmons, said that as the segment matures, super funds are likely to seek exposure, but it will probably represent a small flow of liquid rather than a flood.

There is a lot of interest in crypto from Australians. This week, this interest got recognized by the Minister of Financial Services, Jane Hume, who said that crypto was not a passing trend and that they have captured the hearts and minds of Australians.

Hume responded to Tony Richards (Head of Payments at the Reserve Bank of Australia), who recently described cryptocurrencies as “whimsical.” Additionally, Richards warned investors that the asset class has the potential to collapse, and therefore, people could lose a substantial amount of money.

Meanwhile, Hume, in an interview with the Australian Financial Review, disagreed with the statement. She believes that the cryptocurrency industry is a sensitive area, which the local government must approach carefully but without fear. In this regard, she stressed that the governing entity of Australia should also refrain from seeing Bitcoin and altcoins as a trend.

By:   Jenson Nuñez

The CEO of Ripple thinks DOGE is bad for the cryptocurrency environment due to its inflation dynamics. BoE Deputy Governor for Financial Stability noted innovators are beginning to see that people use programmable money in the cryptoworld.

Amid a strategy to explore cross-border payments, the Republic of Palau plans to create its first national digital currency. The Western Pacific country wants to explore options to provide citizens with greater financial access.

The President of Palau, Surangel Whipps Jr., recently stated that they would focus on avenues for cross-border payments. He thinks that a USD-backed digital currency could allow them to achieve that goal. The government of that nation seeks to offer people a more effective alternative to bank currencies.

That would be the first time that a government supports the implementation of a national stablecoin. Blockchain firm Ripple, which is working with them, said it would be a viable alternative to central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

Ripple CEO Criticizes the Inflationary Dynamics of DOGE

Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, considers that DOGE is bad for the cryptocurrency market. The executive recently criticized the alleged inflationary dynamics and the unlimited supply of the popular cryptomeme.

Garlinghouse said on CNBC that global inflation is driving the price of Bitcoin higher, but he issued a warning to Dogecoin fans.

The CEO of Ripple expressed that he does not believe that Dogecoin is positive for the cryptocurrency market. He added that the cryptomeme has some inflationary dynamics that would make him refuse to hold it.

According to Garlinghouse, Dogecoin does not have a hard cap on the total supply of coins in circulation. That makes it different from some leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, with a limited issuance of 21 million units.

The Bank of England Sees CBDCs as a Revolution for Money

The Bank of England (BoE) is currently evaluating options to implement a digital pound CBDC for retail payments. In addition, it is researching the use of a digital pound to meet the payroll and pay pensions, among others.

Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, Sir Jon Cunliffe, expressed his views on the growth of innovation around digital currencies.

He said that it is hard to anticipate how innovators will take and use money in the future. However, he noted that they are beginning to see how people use programmable money in the world of cryptocurrencies. Besides, he expects to see a similar revolution in its functionality thanks to technology.

Cunliffe admitted that cryptocurrencies could threaten the financial stability of England since their market capitalization has rapidly soared to USD 2.6 trillion. Analysts estimate that 95% of digital assets are unbanked, and 5% consist of stablecoins like Tether (USDT).

ConsenSys Excludes Iranian Students from Ethereum Coding Class

Ethereum’s software powerhouse ConsenSys recently excluded about 50 Iranian students from its online programming course. That action highlights the gray areas in the law of sanctions that the cryptocurrency industry is facing.

A New York-based educational branch of the firm notified the students about their suspension in an e-mail. In other words, they will not receive their certificates for completing their courses.

That move means a sudden change for ConsenSys, which had offered the USD 985 course to Iranian students for free. They had even talked openly about the possibility of giving scholarships to Iranian women.

By Alexander Salazar