admin, Author at Tobocqa cryptocurrency magazine

Another Nasdaq-Listed technology company

ｏn Wednesday (May 5), MercadｏLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI), the Argentinian cｏmpany that ｏperates marketplaces thrｏughｏut Latin America, mentiｏned Bitcｏin as part ｏf its Q1 2021 earnings repｏrt.

The Latin American e-cｏmmerce giant, which is headquartered in Buenｏs Aires, Argentina, said in the Fｏrm 8-K that it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Cｏmmissiｏn (SEC) yesterday that its “net incｏme befｏre taxes was $9.5 milliｏn, up frｏm a lｏss ｏf $16.7 milliｏn during the first quarter ｏf 2020.”

As far as Bitcｏin is cｏncerned, MercadｏLibre disclｏsed the fｏllｏwing infｏrmatiｏn:

“As part ｏf ｏur treasury strategy this quarter we purchased $7.8 milliｏn in bitcｏin, a digital asset that we are disclｏsing within ｏur indefinite-lived intangible assets.”

MercadｏLibre (MELI) Stｏck Price (As ｏf 5 May 2021) via Gｏｏgle Finance

Last week, the cｏmpany annｏunced that it had updated its ｏnline marketplace in Argentina sｏ that it is nｏw pｏssible tｏ gｏ tｏ a page within the real estate sectiｏn ｏf the site tｏ see prｏperties that can be purchased with Bitcｏin.

SEC Denies H๐lding Bitc๐in and Ethereum D๐cuments in XRP Case

The lawsuit between the Securities and Exchange C๐mmissi๐n (SEC) and Ripple c๐ntinues t๐ unf๐ld.

In the latest twist ๐f events, the Securities and Exchange C๐mmissi๐n has appealed t๐ the c๐urt denying that it has any d๐cuments in its p๐ssessi๐ns pertaining t๐ Bitc๐in, Ethereum, and Ripple (XRP). Previ๐usly, Ripple firm was granted partial access by the c๐urt t๐ d๐cuments relating t๐ Bitc๐in and Ether that the SEC may have under its p๐ssessi๐n, as it may help pinp๐int h๐w the t๐p tw๐ crypt๐currencies differ in definiti๐n t๐ Ripple’s XRP. The fintech firm is being pursued by the US regulat๐r in a $1.3 billi๐n lawsuit f๐r allegedly vi๐lating securities laws with XRP, which it deems t๐ be a security. H๐wever, the SEC has addressed this and said that they had n๐ d๐cument ๐n their p๐ssessi๐n relating t๐ Bitc๐in, Ether, and XRP. The legal team f๐r the SEC added as an argument:

“The C๐urt’s April 6 ๐rder did n๐t require the SEC t๐ pr๐duce any internal d๐cuments, but rather required the parties t๐ meet and c๐nfer ab๐ut ‘whether’ the SEC sh๐uld pr๐duce ๐r enter ๐nt๐ a privilege l๐g, ‘t๐ the extent there are relevant minutes ๐r m๐re ๐fficial internal mem๐s, any d๐cuments expressing the agency’s interpretati๐n ๐f views as t๐ XRP, Bitc๐in and ether.’

The Judge granted permissi๐n t๐ Ripple t๐ access SEC’s d๐cuments ๐n crypt๐, “in large part.” She said:

“I am g๐ing t๐ grant, in large part, the defendant’s m๐ti๐n, I think that the disc๐very related t๐ Bitc๐in and Ether is relevant.”

Judge Netburn did n๐t grant Ripple permissi๐n t๐ view SEC’s internal emails, h๐wever. Att๐rney Jeremy H๐gan, wh๐ has been f๐ll๐wing the case cl๐sely alth๐ugh he is n๐t directly inv๐lved in it, explained:

“The Judge made a very nuanced ruling and n๐w the SEC is trying t๐ say the Judge said “n๐ne” and Ripple is saying she said ‘m๐stly all.’ The truth is, she said ‘s๐me.’ I think she will rule ๐n this s๐๐n with๐ut ๐ral argument and smash s๐me heads t๐gether (in a p๐lite way).”

It will definitely be awhile bef๐re the case between Ripple and the SEC is res๐lved. It remains ๐ne ๐f the m๐st crucial rulings in the crypt๐ sect๐r, as it may serve t๐ determine h๐w digital assets are classified and regulated in the United States in the future.

Currently, there is an ๐pen m๐ti๐n t๐ intervene that XRP h๐lders have filed, in ๐rder t๐ participate in the lawsuit as third-party defendants. While the SEC has ๐pp๐sed the case and filed an ๐pp๐siti๐n t๐ the m๐ti๐n, Ripple ๐n the ๐ther hand has welc๐med the m๐ti๐n with ๐pen arms.

The ๐pen m๐ti๐n filed by J๐hn Deat๐n ๐n behalf ๐f ๐ver 10,000 XRP h๐lders accuse the SEC ๐f harming invest๐rs with its lawsuit against Ripple f๐r XRP, as the crypt๐currency subsequently plunged in price, erasing milli๐ns in market cap.

Hundreds of banks in the United States allow customers to buy and sell Bitcoin

Hundreds of banks in the US are reportedly set to start offering access to Bitcoin to their customers this year, thanks to a partnership between Fidelity National Information Services and the New York Digital Investment Group. Hundreds of banks signed up to join the program as they watched money move from bank accounts to crypto exchanges.

picture 1

NYDIG has partnered with Fidelity National Information Services, allowing US banks to offer Bitcoin by 2021.

Bitcoin is poised to take another big step towards global acceptance and use. This is the first time that the customers of hundreds of US banks will soon be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin through their existing accounts.

In support of this project, NYDIG, a subsidiary of NYC-based property manager Stone Ridge, announced its partnership with fintech firm Fidelity National Information Services (FIS).

The head of banking solutions at NYDIG, Patrick Sells, announced that hundreds of banks have signed up for the program. The majority of these registered banks are smaller institutions, but NYDIG is in talks with some of the largest banks in North America, hoping to put them on the board.

“What we are doing is making it simple for Americans and corporations to buy and sell Bitcoin every day through their existing banking relationships. If I am using a mobile application to manipulate the features needed when accessing internet banking, now I also have the ability to buy, sell and store Bitcoin. ”

Until this point, new Bitcoin traders were forced to look to third-party payment applications and solutions. Now, instead of having to learn to control an entirely new system, customers can simply access cryptocurrency through their existing bank.

US banks are finally ready to combine cryptocurrencies

Traditional banks and cryptocurrencies often don’t get along with each other. Until now, most banks have overcome the temptation of not plunging into the cryptocurrency market. It seems that US banks have now changed their views and adopted the mentality of “if you can’t beat them, join them”.

Banks are seeing customers withdraw more and more money to send to crypto exchanges. These exchanges are taking money from the pockets of traditional banking, at a rate that has not slowed down.

Yan Zhao, president of NYDIG said:

“It’s not just that banks think their customers want Bitcoin, they’re saying we need to do this because we see numbers don’t lie. They are seeing deposits to Coinbase, Galaxies and Krakens. “

As more and more smaller banks jump in, industry giants like Bank of America may face pressure from their customers to follow a similar path and launch money services. electronic. So far, these institutions have not really ignored cryptocurrency, but they have not fully embraced it yet.

Morgan Stanley was the first bank to offer Bitcoin funds to clients when it announced in March. Goldman Sachs later said it would offer full Bitcoin investments. Even companies like JPMorgan, when chief executive Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a dangerous scam in 2017, are still exploring crypto options, reportedly looking at products of their own. in conjunction with NYDIG.

The data shows a large gap between rich and poor in the Dogecoin market

DOGE continued its attack on the crypto market cap yesterday. This coin meme surpassed XRP to become the fourth largest cryptocurrency by potential market cap after climbing to a valuation of $ 0.69 – a target that was specifically set by traders on the media. social media.

Relatively few people are moving large amounts of DOGE.

But this latest crypto media wave may not be as sane as one might think. For all the hype surrounding Dogecoin (and its guru Elon Musk), publicly available data shows that relatively few people are actually using the blockchain, and those who use it take up a bit of the pole. Great period in overall performance.

According to statistics, the dollar value of coins deposited via the Dogecoin blockchain on Tuesday exceeded $ 58 billion. That is 70% higher than the amount transferred on Bitcoin ($ 34 billion) and 260% higher than ETH ($ 16 billion).

Going deeper into on-chain data, even though DOGE moves coin value higher than the two largest cryptocurrencies in the world, it has achieved this with only a fraction of the transactions.

According to data from Bitinfocharts, more than 1.4 million transactions were counted on the Ethereum blockchain on May 4, while nearly 300,000 transactions were counted on Bitcoin. Compare this to just 76,000 transactions recorded on the Dogecoin blockchain and a clear gap between rich and poor is starting to emerge.

Indeed, considering the average transaction value of DOGE on May 4, it was almost twice as high as the value recorded on Bitcoin. The average DOGE transaction value is $ 800,000, compared to $ 420,000 on BTC. Statistics related to ETH paint an even more dire picture – DOGE’s average transaction value is 8,000% more than ETH, despite only processing 5% of the number of transactions.

Combined with the long-standing fact that a single address holds 28% of all coins in existence, while only 12 accounts for 67%, it is clear DOGE is not the champion that everyone can. completely put your faith in.

A recently published report by Galaxy Digital outlined inadequacies regarding DOGE’s overall lack of authenticity as a true cryptocurrency project. Titled “Dogecoin: The Most Honest Sh * tcoin,” the report stressed Dogecoin’s GitHub repository (where developers recorded updates to the blockchain’s code) had not been touched since. 2017. Furthermore, the number of fully synchronized nodes (the computer running a copy of the Dogecoin blockchain) only accounts for 26% of the total number of nodes, indicating very few people are willing to attempt to maintain the network security of the blockchain. .

But even when the DOGE community may seem like a ghost town, it is clear that DOGE is still the best performing digital asset in the crypto space. The coin has recorded 14,000% growth since January 1, when it was undervalued.

Both DOGE’s seemingly absurd merit and responsibility for promoting promotion seems to be attributed to “DOGE’s Godfather” Elon Musk, who was delighted to post DOGE memes to his 52 million followers. Twitter throughout most of 2021.

However, it’s also worth noting that the recent high of $ 0.69 is the same price target set by Reddit traders that aim to artificially boost DOGE value. The price was originally intended to be reached on April 20. But DOGE only hit $ 0.42 at the time. Now, more than 2 weeks later, it finally reaches its target. The latest price level that traders pursue is $ 1.

If more evidence is needed that markets aren’t always plausible, look no further than this year’s GameStop price boost, with the share price of a dying brand rising more than 9,000%.

The Galaxy Digital report states:

“Dogecoin is always a joke and the joke is becoming more and more humorous.”

The report’s author and head of company-wide research at Galaxy Digital Alex Thorn praised DOGE and stated that it has not been “polished up”, noting that the coin’s fortunes are not tied to announcements. developer platform or promise and its sole goal is to induce reactions.

Thorn concluded:

“Dogecoin’s longevity is guaranteed as long as there is one obvious fact: people love a good joke.”

LINK breakout, what’s next?

ChainLink (LINK) has risen since April 18th. It continues to hit a new all-time high (ATH) on May 5.

LINK is close to reaching a critical Fib resistance level, which could trigger a rejection in the short term. Even so, the trend is considered bullish as long as the token is traded above the $ 42.70 support zone.

LINK hit a new all-time high

LINK has risen since April 18th. On April 27th, it broke through the previous resistance zone at $ 35 and confirmed this area as support for the next few days (green arrow) .

The rate of increase accelerated on May 4 and LINK hit a new all-time high of $ 51.20 the next day.

Technical indicators are on the rise. This is especially clear when the Stochastic Oscillator produces a bullish cross and the RSI line crosses above 70. In addition, the MACD is in the positive zone and rising.

Further resistance zones are found at $ 53.30 and $ 67.80. These are the 1.61 and 2.61 Fib retracement levels of the most recent decline.

Daily LINK / USDT Chart | Source: TradingView

Short-term movements

The shorter six-hour chart shows a break above the descending resistance line, leading to the current all-time high.

Neither the MACD nor the RSI is showing any signs of weakness, although the latter is in the overbought zone.

If LINK pulls back in the short term, the $ 42.70 zone is expected to act as support. This is the all-time high before that. The trend is considered bullish as long as the token is traded above this level.

6-hour frame LINK / USDT chart | Source: TradingView

LINK / BTC

Similar to the USD pair, LINK / BTC broke above the descending resistance line. However, it has yet to reach an all-time high. In fact, it is just approaching the 0.5-0.618 Fib resistance levels at 102,000-118,000 satoshi.

Though the technical indicators are bullish, rejection is probable at these levels, before the uptrend resumes. If so, the nearest support is found at 70,000 satoshi.

Daily LINK / BTC chart | Source: TradingView

Conclude

LINK is expected to continue rising to new all-time highs. While it may be rejected shortly, the token is unlikely to drop below the $ 42.70 zone.

Token Chainlink oracle, Band Protocol explodes and hits new highs

Chainlink’s market cap has risen almost 74% over the past month, from $ 29.50 to a new all-time high of $ 51.30. Such an impressive rally seems to have started after LINK broke above the symmetrical triangle on March 31.

Based on the height of the triangle, Chainlink is poised to rise 79% towards the outer Fib retracement level 2 at $ 53.50 – measured from the Feb. 20 high of $ 37 to the entry low. February 23 is $ 20.70.

Daily LINK / USDT Schedule | Source: TradingView

Now the target of the symmetrical triangle is almost reached, and Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) is pointing to the pressure from potential sellers in the future. This basic indicator measures the average profit or loss of all addresses that bought LINK tokens over a specific time frame.

Chainlink’s 30-day MVRV rate currently stands at close to 30%, suggesting that most of the market participants who bought LINK in the past 30 days had an average return of 30% on their initial investment.

Every time the 30-day MVRV is up over 48% in the past three months, a sharp pullback has occurred as most of the tokens in circulation are profitable. The higher the MVRV ratio, the higher the selling pressure.

With that in mind, some caution will be recommended in the coming days. Although LINK’s 30-day MVRV may have plenty of room to go up, the fact that it is currently facing stiff resistance could cause a short-term reversal.

Chainlink MVRV 30 days | Source: Santiment

IntoTheBlock’s Global In / Out of the Money (GIOM) model reveals that Chainlink sits on top of a large demand wall that could hold back downward momentum in the event of a retreat.

Based on this on-chain metric, more than 76,400 addresses have previously purchased more than 64 million LINKs from $ 32.80 to $ 43.70. Holders of this price range can try to do anything to prevent their investments from “losing money”. They can even buy more tokens to allow the price to recover.

With the lack of supply hurdles above, it’s a bit more likely that Chainlink will reject sell signals and continue to climb higher.

Traders must pay attention to a candlestick closing above the recent high of $ 51.30 as it will invalidate the pessimistic outlook and lead to a rally to $ 60 or higher.

Whales are buying BAND

Band Protocol has had a substantial correction after making a new all-time high of $ 23.40 on April 15. Its market value has dropped more than 50%, falling by more than $ 12 in three rounds. day.

Despite the catastrophic decline, it seems that large investors (whales) have capitalized on the uncertainty to buy BAND at discounted prices.

Band Protocol’s supply distribution chart shows that the number of addresses with 1,000 to 100,000 BAND has increased 4.90 percent in the past week. About 16 whales joined the network during that time.

The spike in the number of whales online at first glance seems insignificant. However, when considering these high net worth individuals holding up to $ 2 million in BAND, the increase in buying pressure could translate into millions of dollars.

IntoTheBlock’s GIOM model shows that most of the tokens bought by whales recently were bought for an average price of $ 16.90. Here, transaction history shows that 1,300 addresses hold more than 6.30 million BAND.

Therefore, the demand zone of $ 16.90 could be considered a suitable area for adding position in the event of a sell-off.

While Band Protocol’s bearish potential appears capped by $ 16.90 support, technical indicators suggest that it has plenty of room to move up. BAND appears to be making a break up on the handle cup pattern that has been developing in the weekly chart since mid-August 2020.

If buy orders continue to pile up, this oracle token could rise 370% to an external FIb pullback of 1,786 or 2 – measured from a high of $ 20.80 on November 4, 2020 to as low as $ 3.80 on February 13, 2021.

These potential targets are $ 79 and $ 113.50 respectively.

Weekly BAND / USDT chart | Source: TradingView

Such an optimistic target is determined by projecting the cup’s height onto the breakout point.

QuantumScape Ticks Up After Diving on Short-Seller Report

QuantumScape says its stands by its data following a scathing report from activist short-seller Scorpion Capital.

QuantumScape (QS) – Get Report rose Friday after the electric vehicle battery maker’s shares nosedived on the heels of scathing report from activist short-seller Scorpion Capital that branded the company as a “pump and dump SPAC” scam.

Shares of the company, based in San Jose, Calif., were up 2.12% to $36.61 at last check after tumbling in the previous session.

In addition to the “pump and dump” allegation, the Scorpion Capital report lambasted the company for claiming “to have a ‘magic material’ that’s led to a breakthrough solid-state battery for electric vehicles.”

QuantumScape said it stood by its data, describing Scorpion as “a financially-incentivized short seller” that was looking to “short a stock, follow with a negative ‘report,’ make money on their short position, and quickly cover to lock in their gains.”

The company also noted some of the disclosures in the Scorpion report, including one that states, “the quotations of experts used in this article do not reflect all information they have shared with us, including, without limitation, certain positive comments and experiences with respect to QuantumScape.”

Another disclosure, the company said, states that Scorpion spoke with former QuantumScape employees, who “are by definition separated from the company and thus the information they have provided may be outdated.”

“As our public filings have clearly stated,” QuantumScape said in an email, “we have work to do, so this will be our last comment on this topic. We will now get back to work and continue to let our execution speak for itself.”

Separately, QuantumScape said that Celina Mikolajczak, vice-president of engineering and battery technology at Panasonic Energy of North America, was named to the company’s board as an independent director.

Mikolajczak also worked at Uber (UBER) – Get Report and Tesla (TSLA) – Get Report.

“We’re going to use her beyond a director. We’re going to have her looking at our tool decisions, process decisions,” CEO Jagdeep Singh told Bloomberg in an interview.

QuantumScape has said its batteries could offer about 50% more range than current commercial battery technology.

Its subsidiary, QuantumScape Battery, recently leased 196,600 square feet in San Jose, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Volkswagen has invested in QuantumScape and Bill Gates, Microsoft’s (MSFT) – Get Report co-founder, is another major backer.

Bitcoin Mining Pools Negatively Impacted as Northwest China Undergoes a Complete Blackout

The hashrate of various Bitcoin (BTC) mining pools dropped due to the blackout impacting Northwest China.

Pseudonymous Chinese reporter tweeting under “Wu Blockchain” explained: “The hashrate of Bitcoin mining pools plummeted in 24 hours. Antpools fell by 24.5%, BTC.com fell by 18.9%, Poolin fell by 33%, Binance pools fell by 20%. The reason is that Northwest China is undergoing a complete blackout for safety inspections.”

These inspections have been prompted by security accidents in various coal mines in China triggered by flooding and gas explosions, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. Therefore, the seriousness of these incidents has necessitated the intervention of relevant authorities.

66% of global hash rates come from China

According to a study by UK-based company CoinShares, as much as 66% of global hashrates come from and are controlled by Chinese entities. Technological advancements and cheap electricity are some of the factors that favour Bitcoin mining in China compared to other nations.

The hashrate is used to measure the processing power of the BTC network. It, therefore, allows computers to process and solve problems that would enable transactions to be approved and confirmed across the network.

When more miners join the Bitcoin network, more computational guesses per second are needed in order to find the solution. As a result, the hash power will increase, and Bitcoin’s network difficulty will go up.

Bitcoin’s dominance and price

Crypto analyst Lark Davis has disclosed that Bitcoin’s dominance has been falling in the current period despite its price rising. He explained: “Bitcoin dominance has fallen down to 53%, a critical area of support! Altcoin season in full swing! Crazy thing is that the price of BTC has kept rising during this time.”

BTC recently exploded and hit a new all-time high of above $64,000, even though it has retracted to $61,485 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin Falls to $60K amid a Sharp Drop in Hash Rate and Turkey’s Crypto Payment Ban

After setting a new all-time high of $64,895 on April 14, Bitcoin fell to $60,811 for the first time today due to the decline in hash power of Chinese mining pools and the ban on cryptocurrency payments proposed by the Turkish government.

Today, the Central Bank of Turkey proposed a new regulation banning the use of cryptocurrency and crypto assets to purchase goods and services – on the grounds of possible damage and major “irreparable” risks in transactions.

Amid Turkey’s proposal, China also suffered a hit in a major crypto mining region. China accounts for 65.08% of the global average monthly hash rate for Bitcoin. The Xinjiang region contributes the most to the average monthly hash rate, sometimes making up as much as 35.76% of it.

However, due to the sudden flood in northwestern Xinjiang on April 11, a total of 21 coal miners working in the coal mine was trapped.

The incident caused the Xinjiang region of China to restart all aspects of security inspections. The power outage impacting security checks greatly affected the hash rate of many of China’s top Bitcoin mining pools, leading to a decline in processing power.

Source: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index

Under this circumstance, the hashing power of Chinese mining pools dropped sharply.

According to related reports, Antpool crashed by 24.5%, Binance Pool by 20%, BTC.com by 18.9%, and Poolin plummeted by 33%.

Bitcoin (BTC) subsequently turned from its previous stable state of $63K and reverted to a downward trend. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $60,833.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

The bearish MACD index indicates that the bears are currently dominating the market. The Relative Strength Index reversed its direction towards overselling zone, which suggests that Bitcoin will experience a pullback.

The previous high of $61,781 is a critical support point. If the bulls can push the BTC’s closing price above $61,781, then the bullish momentum may prompt BTC to reach a new all-time high.

Conversely, a surge in the number of sell orders will push BTC below the $60,000 support level and may trigger a more severe correction to $58,000.

European Hedge Fund Firm Plans to Buy $84 Million Worth of Cryptocurrencies

Brevan Howard, a European hedge fund asset management firm, is planning to invest in cryptocurrencies.

A person familiar with the sources revealed that Brevan Howard asset management company plans to invest 1.5% of its $5.6 billion hedge fund into cryptocurrencies, meaning that the firm would invest $84,000,000 into crypto assets.

Brevan’s crypto fund will have a diverse portfolio by focusing on several cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin and Ether.

Brevan Howard is not new in the crypto field. Its co-founder Alan Howard has a wide experience in the field, investing his personal money into crypto assets, and has been a billionaire investor in cryptocurrency investment firm Distributed Global based in California since early 2018.

Tucker Waterman and Johnny Steindorff, co-founders of Distributed Global, will oversee the initial allocation of Brevan’s crypto fund.

Brevan Howard has made several bets in crypto firms over years but now is taking a direct exposure approach with crypto assets. The European hedge fund asset management firm recently bought a 25% stake in the US-based One River Asset Management, a $2.5 billion company whose crypto funds are backed by Alan Howard.

Brevan Howard, best known for its macro trading prowess, is now expanding its investments following a year of record gains.

What the Smartest Investors Are Doing

Brevan Howard has become the latest fund manager seeking to explore the boom in crypto assets. The move is the latest indication that crypto assets are going mainstream as the European fund manager joins the likes of Billionaire hedge fund managers Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones who have turned into prominent crypto supporters, calling Bitcoin as a better store of value against declining fiat currency and a better asset than gold.

In May 2020, famed macroeconomic investor Paul Tudor Jones bought Bitcoin as a means to protect his portfolio from the negative effect of central-bank-induced inflation. He evaluated several types of potential investments, including stocks, commodities, and gold and concluded that Bitcoin was the best option.

In November 2020, billionaire hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller bought Bitcoin as a means to make profit as the dollar continued declining in value.

Michael Saylor, Paul Tudor Jones, Jack Dorsey, Stanley Druckenmiller, and many other Bitcoin bulls are among the best and most respected investors now buying Bitcoin in huge amounts as the crypto continues appreciating as a store of value.