The community behind decentralized stablecoin platform MakerDAO is mulling over a major tokenomics shift that could replace its governance token, MKR.
A proposal was made on the MakerDAO forum by community leader “monet-supply” on March 14, outlining an alternative token economic mechanism. If the proposal passes a full governance vote, the protocol could replace its current governance token, MKR, with a new token called stkMKR.
There were many responses to the proposal within just a few hours of it being posted, most of which were positive and regarding the technicalities of the solution. From the proposal and discussion stage, it will need to be submitted as a MIP (Maker Improvement Proposal) for a formal vote by MKR holders which usually takes two weeks.
The staking proposal addresses some issues and inefficiencies with the current tokenomics model, which operates a “buyback and burn” mechanism. It was suggested by ‘monet-supply’ that there are several drawbacks to the existing mechanism, including a lack of targeted incentives since buyback and burn returns all capital to MKR holders.
There is also a “weak crypto narrative” according to ‘monet-supply’ who said that MKR issuance could be put towards improving the protocol. The current system also has limited deterrence against governance attacks or voting manipulation.
⚒️ @MonetSupply presented an idea of an alternative token economic mechanism that could supplement the current MKR buyback value accrual system.
The proposed solution is a new stkMKR token which would replace MKR as the core governance token of MakerDAO. It would act as a staking or bonding token issued to those who have deposited MKR for governance purposes.
“stkMKR will be non-transferable, and represents MKR staked in governance. Staked tokenholders will receive a share of MKR tokens purchased through surplus auctions, so stkMKR will be backed by an increasing amount of MKR over time.”
‘Monet-supply’ said the rewards mechanism has been improved upon, and there will be greater incentives to stake using the new system.
MakerDAO allows users to deposit crypto assets as collateral to generate the decentralized stablecoin DAI. This can then be used elsewhere, such as other DeFi protocols or liquidity pools. The DAI is burnt when the “loan” is repaid, and the collateral is withdrawn.
MKR prices were trading flat on the day at $1,766 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko. However, the token has dropped 11% over the past fortnight and is currently down 72% from its May 2021 all-time high of $6,292.
Blockchain security and forensics firm Elliptic has been working with authorities to expose crypto wallets affiliated with sanctioned individuals or organizations.
The United Kingdom-based company has discovered a wallet with “significant crypto-asset holdings” in the millions of dollars that may be linked to sanctioned Russian officials and oligarchs.
Speaking to Bloomberg on March 14, Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson said that crypto could be used for sanctions evasion. However, it has been widely reported and generally accepted now that Russia is very unlikely to pivot to crypto assets to circumvent them.
The report did not specify the exact value of the crypto in the wallet it discovered or the nature of the assets it held. Robinson added that the scale of the use of crypto is in question, explaining:
“It’s not proving out realistic that oligarchs can completely bypass sanctions by moving all their wealth into crypto. Crypto is highly traceable. Crypto can and will be used for sanctions evasion, but it’s not the silver bullet.”
Elliptic has already identified more than 400 crypto services that let anonymous users trade digital assets with rubles. It also connected more than 15 million crypto addresses to Russian-related criminal activity.
Robinson added that ruble-related activities on some of these services surged the week before the war broke out. Tornado Cash, which anonymizes Ethereum and ERC-20 transactions, is one such provider that has refused to restrict services or comply with sanctions.
“In general, the level of sanction compliance is very high,” Robinson stated in reference to the high profile exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance that have complied with sanction requests from global regulators.
Elliptic has also been tracking crypto donations supporting the Ukrainian humanitarian effort. Its latest update on March 11 at 23.30 UTC revealed that there had been a total of $63.8 million sent to the Ukrainian government and an NGO providing support to the military.
Merkel Science has tapped several sources for its report, which shows a much higher figure of $93.6 million in total crypto donations for Ukraine.
Bitcoin (BTC) has largely been directionless since the start of the year as the bulls have been buying on dips while bears are selling the rallies. This suggests that the price is consolidating in a large range with both the bulls and the bears waiting for the next trigger to establish their supremacy.
The short-term volatility may pick up after the United States Federal Reserve announces its policy decision on March 16 but unless the Fed springs a surprise, the likelihood of a new trending move could be low. Bitcoin could spend some more time in a bottoming formation before breaking out of it.
A positive sign in the range-bound action this year has been evidence of accumulation by both the small investors and select whales. This has coincided with a sustained drop in Bitcoin balances on exchanges. The combined Bitcoin balances on the 21 exchanges it covers have dropped to 2.32 million Bitcoin, the lowest since August 2018, according to CryptoQuant.
Could Bitcoin break above the immediate resistance level and pull the altcoins higher? Let’s analyze the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.
BTC/USDT
Bitcoin has bounced from the immediate support at $37,000, indicating that bulls are attempting to defend this level. The buyers will now try to push the price above the moving averages. If they succeed, it will suggest strong demand at lower levels.
BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The bulls will then try to extend the up-move by clearing the overhead hurdle at $42,594. If they manage to do that, it will be the first indication that the bears may be losing their grip. The BTC/USDT pair could then rise to the overhead zone between $45,400 and the resistance line of the ascending channel.
Conversely, if the price turns down from the moving averages, it will suggest that bears are unwilling to let go of their advantage. The sellers will then attempt to solidify their position by pulling the price below the support line of the channel. Such a move could signal the resumption of the downtrend.
ETH/USDT
The bulls are attempting to defend the support line of the symmetrical triangle. A strong bounce off the current level could push Ether (ETH) to the moving averages where the bears are again likely to mount a strong defense.
ETH/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
If the price turns down from the moving averages, it will suggest that the sentiment remains negative and traders are selling on relief rallies. That will increase the possibility of a break below the triangle. The ETH/USDT pair could then resume its downtrend and decline to $2,159.
Contrary to this assumption, if bulls propel the price above the moving averages, it will suggest that the selling pressure may be reducing. The pair could then rise to the psychological level at $3,000 and later challenge the resistance line of the triangle.
BNB/USDT
BNB is attempting to rebound off the support zone between $360 to $350. This suggests that buyers continue to accumulate on dips near the support zone.
BNB/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The buyers will have to push and sustain the price above the moving averages to indicate that the bears may be losing their grip. If the price sustains above the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) ($389), the bulls will attempt to push the BNB/USDT pair to $425.
This positive view will invalidate if the price once again turns down from the moving averages and breaks below $350. Such a move will suggest that the sentiment remains negative and traders continue to sell on rallies. That could pull the price to the critical support at $320.
XRP/USDT
Ripple (XRP) price soared above the downtrend line on March 11 but the rally met with stiff resistance at $0.85. This suggests that the bears have not yet given up and they continue to sell on rallies.
XRP/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The price has pulled back to the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) ($0.75), which is likely to act as a strong support. If the price rebounds off the current level, the buyers will make one more attempt to push and sustain the XRP/USDT pair above $0.85. If they succeed, the pair could rally to $0.91 and then rise to the psychological resistance at $1.
This positive view will invalidate if the price breaks below the moving averages. Such a move will suggest that the break above the downtrend line may have been a bull trap. A break and close below $0.69 could open the doors for a possible drop to $0.62.
LUNA/USDT
Terra’s LUNA token slipped below $94 on March 11 but the bears could not pull the price to the 20-day EMA ($82). This is a positive sign as it shows that traders are buying on every minor dip.
LUNA/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
Although the rising 20-day EMA indicates advantage to buyers, the negative divergence on the relative strength index (RSI) suggests that the bullish momentum may be weakening.
The bulls are attempting to push the price back above $94. If that happens, the buyers will make one more attempt to clear the overhead hurdle at $105 and resume the uptrend. If they do that, the LUNA/USDT pair could rally to $115.
Conversely, if the price turns down from the overhead zone, the bears will try to sink the pair below the 20-day EMA.
SOL/USDT
Solana (SOL) broke and closed below the strong support at $81 on March 11 and followed it up with further selling on March 13. However, the bears have not been able to break the intraday low at $75 made on Feb. 24.
SOL/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The positive divergence on the RSI indicates that the selling pressure may be reducing. The bulls are attempting to push the price back above the breakdown level at $81 on March 14. If they sustain the price above $81, it will suggest that the recent breakdown may have been a bear trap. The buyers will then strive to push the SOL/USDT pair above the 20-day EMA ($87).
This positive view will invalidate if the price turns down from the current level and breaks below $75. That will suggest the bears have flipped the $81 level into resistance. The pair could then drop to $66.
ADA/USDT
Cardano (ADA) is attempting a rebound off the strong support at $0.74 but the effort lacks conviction. A minor positive is that the RSI is showing the first signs of positive divergence, indicating that the selling pressure may be reducing.
ADA/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The bulls will have to push and sustain the ADA/USDT pair above the 20-day EMA ($0.85) to signal that the bears may be losing their grip. That could open the doors for a possible retest of the breakdown level at $1. This level is likely to attract strong selling.
Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns down from the current level or the 20-day EMA, it will indicate that bears are pouncing on every minor rally. That will increase the possibility of a break below $0.74. If that happens, the downtrend could extend to $0.68.
Avalanche (AVAX) broke below the uptrend line on March 13, indicating that the bears have overpowered the bulls. The attempts by the buyers to push the price above the breakdown level on March 14 met with strong selling by the bears.
AVAX/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
If bears sink and sustain the price below $64, the AVAX/USDT pair could slide to the strong support at $51. The downsloping 20-day EMA ($74) and the RSI in the negative territory indicate advantage to sellers.
This bearish view will invalidate in the short term if the price turns up from the current level and breaks above the moving averages. The bulls will then try to overcome the barrier at the downtrend line of the descending channel.
This is an important level to keep an eye on because the bulls have faltered at the downtrend line on four previous occasions. If bulls push and sustain the price above the channel, the pair could rally to $100.
DOT/USDT
Polkadot (DOT) once again turned down from the 50-day SMA ($18) on March 13 but the bulls are not allowing the price to sustain below the 20-day EMA ($17).
DOT/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
The price has been stuck in a tight range between $16 and $19 for the past few days, indicating indecision among the bulls and the bears. Such tight-range trading is usually followed by a sharp trending move.
If buyers push and sustain the price above $19, the DOT/USDT pair could rally to the next overhead resistance at $23. A break and close above this level will signal that the downtrend may be over.
Alternatively, if the price turns down and breaks below $16, the pair could retest the critical support at $14.
DOGE/USDT
Dogecoin (DOGE) made a strong attempt to start a relief rally on March 14 but the efforts of the bulls met with stiff resistance at the 20-day EMA ($0.12).
DOGE/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView
If the bulls fail to clear the overhead hurdle, the bears will fancy their chances and try to sink the pair below the psychological support at $0.10. If that happens, the selling could further pick up momentum and the DOGE/USDT pair may slide to $0.06.
Contrary to this assumption, if the price rises from the current level or rebounds off $0.10, it will suggest accumulation by the bulls. The buyers will have to push and sustain the price above the 50-day SMA ($0.13) to signal a possible change in trend.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Mayor Steve Adler of Austin, Texas, has fully embraced the discovery of what blockchain technology and crypto payments can bring to his city by proposing two new initiatives.
The first initiative aims to ensure that Texas’s fourth-largest city promotes the benefits of blockchain technologies and “promotes equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion” in the technological ecosystem. To that end, May Adler directed the City Manager to explore how the city can utilize Web3 and blockchain in 20 fields from smart contracts, supply chain management, and insurance to arts, media, fundraising, and identity verification.
“The City Manager is directed to ensure the City is helping to create an environment within city government and in the community generally that supports the creation and development of new technologies, including without limitation blockchain and other Web3 related technologies, protocols, and applications.”
Mayor Adler’s second initiative orders the City Manager to conduct a “fact-finding study” on how the city could adopt Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency-related policies. Through these efforts, Mayor Adler appears to want to find ways for Austin residents to legally pay their bills with crypto.
— Mayor Adler | Get vaccinated! (@MayorAdler) March 11, 2022
Under this initiative, the City Manager should find ways to allow “the acceptance of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payment for municipal taxes, fees, and penalties” as the first set of policies to look into.
The success of the two initiatives will be based on the level of effect new applications have on the everyday lives of Austin residents. The proposals will be voted on by the city’s council on March 24.
Austin’s City Council has been considering blockchain technological integrations since at least 2020 when a proposal was made to use smart contracts for the MyPass identity verification protocol.
Austin is in league with Miami, New York City, and the state of Colorado in rapidly expanding exploration efforts and proposed implementation of policies related to cryptocurrency. Miami and New York have already launched their own city-wide coin projects through City Coin on the Stacks layer-1 blockchain, while Austin’s own program is still in development.
Philadelphia has expressed interest in joining the City Coins program, while Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis said in a Feb. 15 interview that the state will accept crypto for “state tax-related purposes.” He later expects to accept crypto for a wider array of state government services.
The pair had seen a quiet end to the week on Wall Street, the weekend proving similarly calm as the status quo both within and outside crypto continued without surprises.
Now, attention was already focusing beyond Sunday’s close, specifically on the upcoming decision on interest rates from the United States Federal Reserve.
Due March 16, the extent of the presumed rate hike could provide temporary volatility and even a longer-lasting trend change for risk assets, depending on its size.
The situation between Russian and Ukraine likewise remained a major focus, amid faint signs that consensus between negotiators could be coming sooner rather than later.
For monitoring resource Material Indicators, the Bitcoin chart showed spot price between the 50-week and 100-week moving average (WMA), prior to the Fed’s decision.
“BTC price continues to range between the 50 & 100 WMA,” it summarized to Twitter followers on the day.
“Expecting typical volatility around the weekly close. Market is fearful about Putin and pending FED Funds Rate announcement. Both are catalysts for what ever outcomes the charts are pointing to.”
Popular trader and analyst Crypto Ed meanwhile described the weekend’s action as “slow” amid an absence of significant support or resistance retests, while fellow analyst Matthew Hyland likened Bitcoin’s behavior to “watching paint dry.”
For stocks, however, it was a welcome rest from another week of heavy comedowns.
Global stocks have lost another $2.5tn in mkt cap this week as investors have been positioning around developments in #Ukraine, #stagflation fears, a hawkish tilt from #ECB, and ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting. Global equities now worth $107.5tn equal to 127% of global GDP. pic.twitter.com/pFDynD1NS3
Bitcoin’s 200WMA and logarithmic growth curve, at just above $20,000 and $30,000, respectively, could form potential macro support levels should such an event occur, according to trading suite Decentrader.
In its latest market update released Friday, the firm argued that the scenario “cannot be ruled out.”
“Such a crash could take Bitcoin down towards the bottom of the logarithmic growth curve, which continues to climb and is now above $30,000 for the first time. Beyond that lies the 200WMA, which is also climbing and now at $20,500,” it read.
Its position on the market, however, would turn “mid-term bearish.”
Those who studied history well might remember the city-states of medieval Europe. Back then, caravans of merchants traveled from one city-state to another, bringing luxury goods and news from far-away places. It was this lifestyle that enabled these merchants with freedom of mobility and choice. It is a very similar concept to the one described by Michael Ondaatje in his book The English Patient. The author envisioned complete freedom, without borders or nationalities limiting people in their strive for development and progress.
Today, broader access to the financial markets through decentralized finance marks the beginning of the open world. DeFi has been highly positive from the standpoint of wealth accumulation and cheaper financing, giving new meaning to the concept of “finance for everyone.” By removing intermediaries via the use of blockchain technology, DeFi widens the scope of financial transactions while significantly lowering their costs. It is evident that DeFi is the future of finance and other industries. The only question remaining is: How fast will we get there?
DeFi wrapped in a year
It’s quite fascinating how, in only ten years, we’ve departed with the concept of Bitcoin (BTC) as a digital currency (and personal bank in a traditional sense) and arrived at Wrapped BTC, farming, and all the other crypto alchemy.
Essentially, there are several types of applications for DeFi, reflecting the depth of its integration and range of its uses. Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) represent a large category of DeFi operations, offering an authority-free trade of cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins are pegged to external assets, such as fiat currencies and precious metals. Lending platforms and prediction markets are also prevalent in the sector.
Famously, DeFi enables yield farming and liquidity mining, offering a niche way to capitalize on crypto assets now gone mainstream.
Blockchain cities
Entire cities now embrace the new paradigm and prepare to welcome crypto-savvy citizens. Seoul, for example, developed a strategy to become a global leader in blockchain technology in 2019. Its then mayor, Park Won-soon, introduced the Promotion Plan for Blockchain City Seoul, which would become the basis for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Even prior to the presentation, several administrative services were already using blockchain technology in 2018. However, the new plan would expand the scope of technology by including direct democracy, online verification, mileage management through the issue of S-Coin, the Seoul Citizen card, and many others.
The proposed crypto city in Nevada represents another case. It is an experiment conducted by Jeffrey Berns, the cryptocurrency millionaire who purchased land in the state of Nevada and decided to lay the groundwork to build a city based entirely on blockchain. The initiative was met with opposition from the local government, which has become one of the main obstacles on the path of the creation of the new city. The decentralization element was scaring politicians because of the potential for them to lose control. However, the recent congressional hearing on Web3 brings hopes for reaching common ground regarding this topic.
Notably, Dubai launched its Dubai Blockchain Strategy initiative, becoming a significant part of the United Arab Emirates’ Blockchain Strategy 2021, which seeks to migrate at least 50 percent of government transactions onto the blockchain. The government saw an economic opportunity for positive transformation in its innovative approaches. Currently, Dubai attracts blockchain evangelists and digital nomads from all over the world.
It has become evident that governments’ failure to realize the potential of DeFi and blockchain could risk causing an economic lag in their respective countries. The launch of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) has become the primary sign suggesting governments’ movement towards the implementation of blockchain-based technology.
The Atlantic Council has developed a tool tracking all countries in terms of their various CBDC projects’ stages. Note that Ukraine, China, Sweden, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and several others have already launched the pilot versions of their CBDCs. At the same time, Nigeria, the Bahamas, and Eastern Caribbean countries have launched their CBDCs as working projects.
Some see the governments not only as ruling institutions but also as acting service providers. Global economic freedom, fueled by DeFi, would allow the selection of governments offering the best services in terms of their quality, speed and efficiency. This especially concerns the taxation of crypto assets.
Responsibility is freedom
In crypto, your keys means you own your money. You are your own bank. So, being responsible for your money indeed provides the freedom to spend it as you want, capitalize it as you choose, and interact on whatever platform or blockchain you desire. To quote Michael Ondaatje:
“We are the real countries, not the boundaries drawn on maps with the names of powerful men.”
Nationality doesn’t mean a location, but a belonging to a certain group. One day, an entire group might move to its own metaverse. Since the competition for qualified professionals could become more fierce in a visa-free regime, entire cities and countries might come up with peculiar strategies to attract digital nomads. But would they ever settle down, having this freedom?
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Katia Shabanova is founder of Forward PR Studio, bringing 20+ years of experience in implementing programs for IT companies ranging from Fortune 1000 corporations and venture funds to pre-IPO startups. She holds BA in English philology and German studies from Santa Clara University in California and earned a Masters in philology from the University of Göttingen in Germany. She’s been published in Benzinga, Investing, iTWire, Hackernoon, Macwelt, Embedded Computing Design, CRN, CIO, Security Magazine and others.
Ever since its inception and throughout its turbulent journey toward mainstream acceptance, crypto has elicited both enthusiasm and trepidation in equal measure. After the unfair battering it has received over the years, the time has come to defend digital currencies.
Unfortunately for crypto, first impressions count. Bitcoin (BTC) initially gained a tawdry reputation in its early years as the currency of choice for illicit activities — favored by dark web users, ransomware hackers, drug traffickers and money launderers worldwide.
But, the world has changed since the first Bitcoin was mined in January 2009. There are now more than 18 million of them in circulation, and more than 90,000 people have $1 million or more stashed away in Bitcoin, according to cryptocurrency data-tracking firm Bitinfocharts.
There are, indeed, signs that crypto is, at last, gaining mainstream acceptance. Just last year, El Salvador declared Bitcoin as a legal tender in September and in October, the first Bitcoin futures-linked exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Payments giant Visa also launched a Global Crypto Advisory Practice in December, helping financial institutions advance their own crypto journey.
There are even talks of crypto becoming a medium of exchange in Afghanistan, offering a very real example of crypto enabling financial transactions in a situation where the monetary system itself is breaking down.
Despite these success stories, nagging doubts persist among the public and objections have been expressed by politicians who fear a decentralized currency that puts the general public in charge of their own money. China declared crypto transactions illegal in September, citing concerns about gambling and money laundering. Politicians around the world have expressed alarm about its potential to transform the established dynamics of the existing financial ecosystem.
The underlying factor behind all of this is fear and recent research suggests it could be a fear of the unknown. According to a national survey commissioned by money app Ziglu, almost a third (31%) of British people surveyed are curious about investing in crypto, yet 62% of those included have held back from buying any because they do not understand the market. As a sign that cryptocurrency is gaining legitimacy in the eyes of the public, however, the survey also found that b
Bitcoin is now considered a smarter investment than property.
Now is the time to recognize that while there are inherent risks, cryptocurrency is also a force for good in the world. In an age of plummeting savings rates, this relatively new asset class offers all of us the opportunity to invest in crypto without traditional barriers that exist in traditional finance, no matter how much or how little money we have available.
Some people do not even have a safe place to store their hard-earned cash. According to World Bank data, 1.7 billion people globally do not have a bank account. Many of us take for granted the ability to move money around through credit cards and bank transfers — sending large sums to our friends and family with a tap of our smartphones — but for the unbanked, this is not possible.
More than 80% of the world’s population do, however, own a smartphone, which is all they need to send crypto remittances across international borders. Crypto is boosting financial inclusion by giving millions of people with no access to platforms such as PayPal or Venmo the ability to transfer funds for mere pennies. It is also a good alternative for those who resent high bank fees since this new infrastructure, unlike the traditional payment rails, is not constrained by profit motivation.
Crypto’s advantages
Smart contracts can replace services from banks, money transfer companies or legal services, while cryptocurrencies and digital wallets can provide flexibility such as credit for customers and financial sovereignty with no centralized entity required.
Crypto can also shield citizens from economic turmoil. Venezuela is a prime example where many citizens are already suffering high inflation and the impact of United States sanctions that also affect their banks. They are increasingly converting their wages into crypto and using the blockchain for money transfers and payments.
For developing countries, Bitcoin is an excellent way for society to eliminate corruption because the community can track any Bitcoin transaction in the public ledger when people use the cryptocurrency to transfer money.
Closer to home, crypto is also democratizing finance. There are low barriers to entry with no need for a broker or a high net worth. Anyone can invest and create wealth for themselves. As a result, people are learning about concepts such as annual percentage rates, lending and borrowing, and the history and purpose of money.
Crypto’s disadvantages
But, any defense of crypto cannot avoid the elephant in the room: crime. It has long been associated with fraud and ransomware, but the truth is that blockchain is the perfect system to thwart such criminal activity.
Cryptocurrencies are not anonymous, they are pseudonymous. The open ledger on which crypto lives and moves allows law enforcement to track and trace the flow of funds in real time, providing unprecedented visibility on financial flows. Criminals also need to convert crypto into fiat currency, creating opportunities to not only blacklist the wallet addresses but also proactively catch the criminals.
That is why, as in the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in the U.S.in June 2021, law enforcement was able to track and ultimately seize the ransom payment. That recovery was possible only because cryptocurrency was the medium of payment.
The advantage blockchain has is that it’s tamper-proof. Through a process known as consensus, each transaction is verified by multiple parties independently. Entries are immutable, meaning they can’t be modified and can only be updated by adding an addendum.
We are advocating for a specialist unit within cybercrime law enforcement. Why is it needed? To have dedicated technical and human resources that can work proactively with corporations that have been breached with a ransom requested in crypto. It would be able to communicate and notify all crypto exchanges so that they can identify when and if the criminal wants to cash out on the exchange.
Another issue rightly raised about crypto is the environmental impact: The enormous amount of electricity required to mine proof-of-work currencies such as Bitcoin requires warehouses full of powerful computing rigs constantly running.
However, this is already changing. Right now, more than half of Bitcoin miners use sustainable energy. A Bitcoin mining operation opened northeast of Niagara Falls on the site of the last working coal plant in the state of New York, using cheap hydroelectric power to run its rigs. Meanwhile, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has announced an even more creative plan to use geothermal energy from the Conchagua volcano to power its Bitcoin City project.
Cryptocurrency’s journey to mainstream acceptance is almost complete. Therefore, now is the time to overcome our often unfounded fears and to embrace the financial freedom, security and convenience it offers.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Ian Taylor is the executive director of CryptoUK, an independent industry body that exists as a cohesive, credible voice for the evolving United Kingdom crypto industry. Having spent 20 years in investment banking, he has held many senior roles across trading, treasury and risk management, and is still involved with a major global bank. As executive director of CryptoUK, he has built a community of more than 100 of the most influential industry participants and campaigns for a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework in the U.K., Europe and beyond.
In October 2021, it was estimated that approximately 15% of the world’s supply of Bitcoin (BTC) was in circulation in Latin America. According to a recent report released by Crypto Literacy, however, 99% of Brazilian and Mexican respondents failed a basic assessment on crypto literacy. Crypto adoption is well underway across the region — on the rise even — but, people still lack a basic understanding of its underlying technology and use cases.
When this lack of basic crypto literacy is considered in the context of developing markets across Latin America, where the use cases for blockchain technologies hold real significance, it becomes a serious concern.
Latin American populations who lack crypto literacy risk missing out on stablecoins that can offer protection against Latin America’s rapidly rising inflation. As well as decentralized applications (DApps) that provide populations of unbanked individuals access to financial services from their mobile devices. In countries where remittances are a major facet of the economy, cryptocurrencies offer a faster and cheaper alternative for sending funds across borders.
So, how can we help Latin America’s most underserved populations access this life-changing technology? Education.
Education has the potential to address three key obstacles preventing mainstream crypto adoption: financial literacy, trust and safety.
Financial literacy
Financial literacy, or lack thereof, does not just stand as a barrier to crypto adoption: It stands as a barrier to traditional bank adoption as well. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 50 percent of the population is unbanked as of August 2021, lacking access to a bank account or other financial services. In addition to living far from financial institutions, many individuals cite an absence of trust in institutions as a reason for remaining unbanked. Where there is little trust, there is often a lack of understanding.
Speaking from personal experience, it’s not rare in Mexico to hear stories of parents recommending that their (adult) children exchange their savings for United States dollars and hide it away in a safe rather than trusting those earnings with a financial institution. By building financial literacy both around broad financial concepts and more concentrated blockchain-related concepts, we can inspire greater trust in financial institutions as a key pillar for promoting mainstream adoption.
Safety
The trust that education garners is more than just trust in financial institutions. It’s also trusting yourself: When people don’t understand the institutions and tools with which they’re interacting, those individuals are more likely to make risky financial decisions. And, they know that. Education can serve as one form of a safety net, teaching individuals which regulations are and are not in place to protect them so they can understand how financial services fit within those regulatory frameworks.
Teach where it matters most
Crypto has the potential to change the world and those who understand it best will be at a huge advantage. Knowing the power that education creates, it’s important that the crypto world targets audiences strategically to perpetuate already entrenched inequalities. Remote and underserved communities, as well as those with less access to traditional education, should be at the forefront of the recipients of blockchain education.
For remote communities, we must create mobile-friendly educational opportunities so that individuals can access learning materials from their phones without needing to travel miles to the nearest city.
For those with less education, we must consider multimedia educational materials that circumnavigate the need for literacy without assuming high-level base knowledge.
For women, mentorship programs and role models are key to creating welcoming and inclusive spaces that are explicitly designed to bring women into crypto.
For global audiences, we should create resources in local languages — Spanish and Portuguese in Latin America — to ensure we reach the widest audience possible.
For everyone involved, we must avoid instituting financial barriers to education — trusting in the long-term gain of growing user bases through free and accessible education.
Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies were built to break through the power structures of traditional finance. They have the potential to drastically improve financial inclusion and freedom in Latin America. So, it’s no wonder that crypto adoption is already on the rise. With mass adoption of such new technology, however, we face a new risk of leaving the most vulnerable populations behind. Education can solve this. Education can create trust in this rapidly-advancing technology and instill knowledge that enables individuals to interact safely with these new tools. Education can break the cycle of financial exclusion.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Abraham Cobos Ramírez is the crypto strategy manager at Bitso, the cryptocurrency platform operating in Latin America, with more than four million users. Abraham is a blockchain and business specialist with deep experience in the creation, development and implementation of technology solutions. Prior to Bitso, Abraham was part of the integration consulting team where he designed and implemented solutions to complex problems for projects in Mexico, the U.S., Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has disapproved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications from the New York Digital Investment Group and fund manager Global X after deferring on a decision several times in the last year.
According to two separate Thursday filings, the SEC rejected proposed rule changes from the Cboe BZX Exchange and New York Stock Exchange’s Arca to list and trade shares of the Global X Bitcoin Trust and New York Digital Investment Group’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, respectively. The SEC said that NYSE Arca and Cboe BZX had not met the burden under the Exchange Act and the SEC’s Rules of Practice of showing the ETF would be “‘designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” and “protect investors and the public interest.”
The New York Digital Investment Group, or NYDIG, and Global X filed applications with the SEC for spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs in June and August 2021, respectively, but the commission designated longer periods of time to approve or disapprove the proposed rule change and opened the applications for public comment several times before reaching a decision on Thursday. The rejections followed similar decisions for spot BTC ETF applications from WisdomTree and VanEck.
The SEC denied NYDIG’s Bitcoin Spot ETF proposal this morning.
Though the U.S. regulator has yet to approve any spot Bitcoin ETF application from financial institutions, investment vehicles linked to Bitcoin futures have had more success. Many companies filed applications for BTC “strategy” ETFs following SEC chair Gary Gensler saying in August 2021 he would be more open to accepting exchange-traded funds based on crypto futures rather than through direct exposure. The commission has since approved ETFs linked to BTC futures from Valkyrie, ProShares and VanEck.
As crypto ETF applications from other firms are still in the pipeline, at least one company is taking more of an initiative to seemingly put pressure on regulators. Following the SEC delaying its ruling on whether to approve Grayscale converting its Bitcoin Trust into a spot BTC ETF, the asset manager launched a campaign calling on U.S. investors to submit comments to the SEC. The regulator is expected to reach a decision on the ETF by July 6.
The first 100,000 Jamaican citizens to use the country’s new central bank digital currency (CBDC) known as Jam-Dex, will be given a free $16 payment in the hopes of promoting widespread adoption.
Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness first announced the news in a Facebook post on Thursday. The post received a mixed response as some Facebook users praised Holness for “embracing a digital future”, while others expressed concern about the motivations of the Jamaican government, accusing Holness of trying to “bribe” citizens into the federal banking system.
According to the Jamaica Observer, approximately 17% of the Jamaican population is currently unbanked. While social media users postulate about government motives, the Observer points out that remaining unbanked is both costly and time-consuming for poorer Jamaicans. It is hoped that this new payment incentive, among others, will encourage low and middle-income citizens to join the national banking system.
The announcement comes as the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) officially completed its 8-month long pilot program for Jam-Dex on Dec. 31 last year, and is expected to complete a national rollout as soon as next month. The BoJ further outlined that all Jamaicans with pre-existing bank accounts will be automatically eligible for Jam-Dex digital wallets.
Jamaican Finance Minister Nigel Clarke said in a speech to the country’s House of Representatives on March 9 that Jam-Dex must achieve widespread adoption by citizens and their businesses in order to be successful.
According to the report provided by the BoJ on Feb. 17, the new digital currency will be called Jamaica Digital Exchange or Jam-Dex for short, and comes with its own logo and the following tagline, “no cash, no problem”. The BoJ expects the currency to be launched as soon as next month.
The name “Jam-Dex”, was met with a great deal of criticism for both technical and aesthetic reasons. While the Jam-Dex is potentially making reference to the fact that currencies are “exchanged”, and that it is both “digital” and “Jamaican”, the terminology has created a good deal of confusion for many.
Users on Twitter were quick to point out the obvious misnomer in the currency’s namesake, as Jam-Dex is simply a digital currency whereas “DEX” in crypto parlance refers to a decentralized exchange, a place where cryptocurrencies are bought and sold.
. Is it a CBDC or a DEX? And I appreciate the attempt at crowd sourcing the design – fairly Web 3 of you but… this logo cannot work. It should have been put to a broader voting mechanism – the panelists let you down here big time
Despite China being one of the first countries to announce the development of its CBDC, the “digital yuan”, countries in the Caribbean have quickly become leaders in the adoption and proliferation of CBDCs — with Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) having now rolled out its own CBDC, DCash to eight different member countries.
The adoption of DCash however has been mired after a crash on Jan. 14 saw the central bank-backed digital currency go offline for nearly 2 months. It wasn’t until Mar. 9 that the ECCB announced that DCash was once again fully functional, stating the reason for the crash was an “expiring certificate” on the Hyperledger Fabric that hosts the DCash ledger.
Numerous other countries around the world are beginning to experiment with the implementation of CBDCs, with the Philippines announcing plans to launch Project CBDCPh as recently as Mar. 8. Iran, Kenya, and the European Union are also among the most recent countries to begin looking at introducing some form of CBDC.
