March Weekly Recap 2

March 15th - March 22nd, 2020

Welcome to our 3rd weekly recap for March.

Overview 

 

 

Crypto News

• • COINBASE CARDS CAN NOW BE USED WITH GOOGLE PAY

  Coinbase announced Tuesday that Coinbase Cards can now be added to users’ Google Pay wallets, enabling crypto-backed payments from Google Pay-enabled devices, such as phones or smartwatches.

  Coinbase Cards launched its new Visa debit card for U.K. and European customers in April 2019. Holders can purchase everyday goods and services – up to £10,000 ($12,100) per day – with cryptocurrencies held in their exchange accounts that are instantly exchanged into the relevant fiat currency.

  The cards initially supported payments BTC, ETH, LTC and BCH. On November 2019, XRP, BAT, XLM tokens were also added to the roster.

  • ARGENTINA’S GAS REGULATOR BUILT WITH BLOCKCHAIN

  Gasnet, a permissioned blockchain platform was launched Wednesday with approval from regulator Enargas. Running on an enterprise version of the RSK Smart Contract Network, Gasnet is designed to secure and speed Argentina’s chronically delayed gas certification processes.

  In the now-operational consortium network, certification documents and transaction details zip between Gasnor and Enargas, each of whom run a network node. That increases visibility and smooths out otherwise crippling delays, allowing technicians to ultimately bring consumer’s gas services online faster.

  • COINBASE CHIELF LEGAL OFFICER APPOINTED TO OVERSEE BANKING SYSTEM

  US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a long-time cryptocurrency and Bitcoin skeptic, has named Brian Brooks as one of the country’s top banking regulators. Brooks will serve as the next Chief Operating Officer and First Deputy Comptroller of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) after stepping down from his role as the chief legal officer at Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States.

   

 

March Weekly Recap 2

March 8th - March 14th, 2020

Welcome to our 2nd weekly recap for March.

Overview 

 

 

Crypto News

• • ETHEREUM CONFERENCE ATTENDEES URGED TO TEST FOR COVID-19

  On March 11, the co-founder of decentralized login service provider TorusLabs, Zhen Yu Yong (Zen), tweeted that he had been diagnosed with coronavirus COVID-2019. Zen urged people who may have been in contact with him during the ETHLondon hackathon or the Ethereum Community Conference (ECC) to take “extra precautions and/or get tested.” The coronavirus threat has impacted several major cryptocurrency conferences in recent weeks, leaving many crypto events canceled or postponed until later dates.

  • CASH IS THE NEW SAFE HAVEN AS CRYPTO & GOLD CONTINUES TO FALL

  Liquidations set in on the cryptocurrency market the day after the U.S. announced European travel restrictions due to coronavirus fears Wednesday. Bitcoin is down 21 percent and Ethereum is down 27 percent over the past 24 hours. That’s more than the traditional markets, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 down nearly 8 percent. Traders liquidating holdings on crypto’s bellwether derivatives exchange, BitMEX, fueled some of these moves. Gold also got hit as traders sold the precious metal for the safety of much-needed cash as losses in equities increases.

  • COINBASE MOVES TO CUT BLOCKCHAIN LOAD WITH BITCOIN BATCHING

  San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has decided to start grouping multiple bitcoin transactions together, rather than issuing sends one by one.

  The adoption of “batching,” the firm said in a blogpost on Thursday, will mean less strain is put on the Bitcoin blockchain from large numbers of transactions arising from the popular exchange. The move is anticipated to reduce Coinbase’s load on BTC’s network by more than 50%, and so will transaction fees by an equivalent amount for customers, according to the post.

  • HTC UNVEILS PRIVATE, CRYPTO ROUTER

  After the massacre in the broader crypto market on Thursday, major altcoins have already started to recoup some of their losses. Altcoins such as Litecoin (LTC), Tezos (XTZ), and Stellar (XLM), were among the first to return to green after the sell-off, posting 24-hour returns between 3% and 10%. In addition, cautiously optimistic trading also drove Ripple’s XRP higher today, although the recent market bloodbath now means that the popular cryptocurrency has lost about 96% of its value from the all-time high in January 2018.

   

 

March Weekly Recap 1

March 1st - March 7th, 2020

Just like the January and February Report, our goal is to visually summarize the cryptocurrency market into an easy to understand and informative way. However, instead of the monthly duration, we will attempt to be more interactive with the market in a weekly format.

Overview 

 

 

Crypto News

• • BAFIN CLARIFIES CRYPTO CLASSIFICATION IN GERMANY

  In a press release issued on Monday, March 2nd, 2020, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) clarified cryptocurrency as: “a digital representation of a value that has not been issued or guaranteed by any central bank or public body and is not necessarily linked to a currency specified by law and that does not have the legal status of a currency or money, but is accepted as a medium of exchange by natural or legal persons and can be transmitted, stored and traded electronically.” According to BaFin, the new classification echoes the guidelines of intergovernmental agencies like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). BaFin’s new crypto classification announcement is also part of the move by the country to adopt the fifth EU Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) which began on January 1, 2020. As part of the new BaFin crypto guidelines, cryptocurrency custodians will need to obtain a license for the regulator to offer their services in the country.

  • INDIA SUPREME COURT LIFTS RBI CRYPTO BAN

  The Supreme Court of India has struck down the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) controversial ban on banks’ dealings with crypto-related firms. The  court justices ruled that the RBI’s action was “disproportionate.” Key arguments in the case included the central bank’s contention that cryptocurrency is a digital means of payment and that the institution was “empowered by law” in its intervention.

  • SAMSUNG DEVELOPING BLOCKCHAIN PAYMENT SOLUTION

  Samsung’s enterprise is working on building a blockchain-based settlement solution for merchants and banks. The Korea Herald reported that Samsung SDS had signed a memorandum of understanding with Israeli fintech solutions provider Credorax to develop the technology, aimed to automatically logging payments data on bank records and ledgers. The product, yet to be named, will operate on Samsung SDS’ Nexledger Universal platform, a Samsung proprietary blockchain. Work processes will be automated using AI technology from Brity Works, another of Samsung SDS company.

  • HTC UNVEILS PRIVATE, CRYPTO ROUTER

  HTC announced a new privacy-focused, portable, 5G blockchain router that is capable of running a full Bitcoin node. The Exodus 5G Hub follows on from the success of the Tawainese manufacturer’s Exodus 1 phones, which also have the ability to run cryptocurrency nodes. The Hub provides 5G connectivity to all internet-enabled devices and uses Zion Vault software to enable Bitcoin, Ethereum (including ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens), Binance Coin, Litecoin and Stellar storage for users. The software offers additional security features including social recovery for private keys, allowing users to break up, encrypt and share recovery phrases among trusted parties.

  • CRYPTOCURRENCIES LEGALIZED IN SOUTH KOREA

  The South Korean National Assembly amended the Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Information and has allowed the use of cryptocurrencies within the country under regulations. After President Jae-in Moon signs the amendment passed in the country’s parliament, the enactment process will begin. It will take one year from the date of the signing, followed by a 6-month grace period. Once the required time passes, cryptocurrency-related businesses, such as exchanges, trusts, wallet companies, and token-sales, will need to comply with new rules. Requirements include having a real-name verification partnership with an approved local bank. The goal is to prevent money-laundering between fiat deposits or withdrawals.

  • FRANCE ACCEPTS BITCOIN AS LEGAL TENDER

  The Commercial Court of Nanterre of France made a historic decision recognizing bitcoin as legal tender in the country. The ruling relates to a case between French cryptocurrency exchange Paymium and UK-based alternative investments firm BitSpread. Paymium had loaned 1,000 BTC to BitSpread before the Bitcoin Cash hard fork in 2017. After the bitcoin cash hard fork in 2017, Paymium and BitSpread both claimed that the bitcoin cash created belonged to them. The court ruled in favor of the borrower after recognizing bitcoin as a legitimate form of money.

 

February Recap

 

COVID-19 

The new coronavirus strain continues to spread across the globe, and infection rates are only increasing exponentially. The World Health Organization has re-affirmed that there are no current effective treatment, and the viral mutation is still being researched.

By March 1st, the coronavirus, now named COVID-19, has infected more than 90K people across 90 countries around the world. Outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran have been especially infectious.

City quarantines and factory closures are still in effect, and economic relations are still being affected. Mining difficulty and hash-rate for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has also been drastically influenced by the lack of production.

Provided below is a visual representation of the comparison and differences between traditional markets and cryptocurrencies, and the continued effects of this virus outbreak has affected global economics for February.

Overview

Stock Indexes

Traditional Stocks

Cryptocurrencies

Crypto News

 

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/24/808914718/secretive-church-sect-at-the-center-of-south-koreas-coronavirus-outbreak

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51673053

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2TqPvjKTFX9Divbax9Gjm2pgaJuStjwZ0eqhZRzGL8NnvePmOhrmlOqFA#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-28/germany-boosts-border-checks-google-scraps-event-virus-update

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-anthony-fauci-trump-admin-stops-discussion-2020-2

https://decrypt.co/20515/coronavirus-will-delay-chinas-digital-currency

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-us-live-updates-cdc-symptoms-prepare-how-mask-san-francisco-latest-a9360196.html?page=1#post-1185157259

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/coronavirus-death-toll-infections-outbreak-evacuations-quarantine-latest-updates-2020-02-10/

https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/03/02/alibabas-new-ai-system-can-detect-coronavirus-in-seconds-with-96-accuracy/

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-marshals-to-auction-37m-in-confiscated-bitcoin-in-february

https://cointelegraph.com/news/tesla-stock-now-looks-exactly-like-bitcoin-at-20k-in-2017

https://cointelegraph.com/news/tesla-stock-now-looks-exactly-like-bitcoin-at-20k-in-2017

https://cointelegraph.com/news/australia-to-release-national-blockchain-roadmap-after-year-of-preparation

https://cointelegraph.com/news/trumps-new-budget-would-have-secret-service-investigate-crypto-crimes

https://cointelegraph.com/news/egyptian-national-bank-turns-to-blockchain-to-boost-remittance-business

https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-caused-bitcoin-price-to-surge-past-10k-over-the-weekend

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-mining-difficulty-stagnates-as-coronavirus-outbreak-delays-new-equipment

https://www.coindesk.com/south-koreas-central-bank-is-building-a-new-blockchain-system-for-the-bond-market

https://cointelegraph.com/news/samsung-keeps-cryptocurrency-functionality-in-galaxy-s20-models

https://www.coindesk.com/dusk-network-plans-to-tokenize-equity-for-thousands-of-dutch-companies

https://cointelegraph.com/news/hong-kong-and-abu-dhabi-change-crypto-regulations-to-align-with-fatf

https://cointelegraph.com/news/house-committee-to-hold-hearing-on-benefits-of-blockchain

https://www.coindesk.com/new-jersey-lawmaker-wants-to-create-a-crypto-license

January Recap

January 2020 has proven to be an interesting start to the new decade. Within a short period of a few weeks, the world experienced multiple crises in quick succession.

Iran

On January 3rd, 2020, the Trump administration authorized an airstrike which took the life of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The strike was justified by the administration as an act of self-defense, citing “imminent” threats to U.S personnel and assets. This event was the catalyst for widespread concern.

But regardless of the reason, rising tensions between the two nations has understandably caused worldwide civil unrest, as further conflicts will deescalate into further violence in the Middle East. If war is declared, forces of both countries and their allies will undoubtedly also be involved.

Q: Global relations aren’t the greatest right now, but what do you do when life gives you lemons that taste like imminent war?

A: You invest in the military complex and commodities such as precious metals, oil and in recent times – cryptocurrency.

Overview

The tension between Iran and the United States show clear correlations with global economics. The value of the traditional market and commodities reacted timely with the events as they happened, and in expectations of financial traders. 

Military Contractors

The military-industrial complex stocks had a field day, unsurprisingly.

Commodities

It can be seen across multiple commodity markets that during times of global economic uncertainty, these markets react quickly as a “safe haven” from traditional stocks. This has been seen multiple times with precious metals and oil but now seems to be a common theme with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. An impending war triggered these markets once the news of the US airstrike began to spread as it seemed as if the US was on the brink of “boots on the ground” in Iran. Though the current situation has de-escalated for now, we can assume that as soon as tensions rise. Embassies are under attack and missiles are being launched, we can expect to see the same type of trends to play out again.   

Cryptocurrencies

Precious Metals

Oil

For now, military tensions between both parties have eased, and they have chosen to remain amicable with each other. The Trump administration has chosen to refrain from military retaliation and has opted to enforce additional sanctions on the country of Iran.

 

nCoV-2019

Just as festivities begin to ramp up on the Eastern side of the globe in anticipation of Lunar New Years, Mother Nature has one last surprise for humanity. On December 31st, 2019, the World Health Organization was alerted to several cases of mysterious infectious pneumonia in Wuhan, China.

 

Thought to have originated from the city’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, the establishment was quickly shut down on January 1st, 2020. However, it had proved to be too late and the number of infected individuals quickly exceeded 40.

 

It took a week, but officials were able to identify the new virus as belonging to the coronavirus family, which includes SARS, MERS, and the common cold. In fact, it is ~79.5% genetically identical to SARS.  Designated as nCoV-2019, the virus will be temporarily named Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, or NCP. 

 

The fatality rates are yet to be determined. It is currently estimated to range from 1.4 –  2.1%, based on official figures. One recent research published in The Lancet suggests it could potentially even be as high as 11%. One month into the SARS outbreak, there were 5 victims. The new coronavirus claimed at least 213 in the same amount of time. The death toll from 2019-nCoV has already surpassed that of SARS on February 8, 2020.

The quickly rising numbers of infected patients could be due to the extremely contagious nature of 2019-nCoV. The virus has a symptom-free incubation period of up to 21 days, and can survive in the atmosphere outside a host body for more than two days. Chinese researchers in Hong Kong estimated that one infected individual can pass the contagion along to 3 – 5 others, using a factor called the virus’ R0 value. The World Health Organization believes that the coronavirus’s R0 value is lower at 1.4 – 2.5 people.

 

Even as nations are desperately contributing to the efforts of disease prevention, the numbers of victims continue to quickly rise. There are currently 43,101 confirmed cases in 28 countries, with 1,018 deaths so far as of February 11, 2020.

 

The potential for a global crisis has not been overlooked and taken lightly, as national officials around the world quickly started to enforce travel restrictions and quarantines. China, especially, has been busy. So far, 16 cities in China have been placed under restrictions, which affects about 46 million people, and is the largest quarantine in human history. 

 

Multiple major corporations such as Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Tesla and Google with operating offices, retail stores, and manufacturing factories have temporarily shut down all facilities across China. The nation extended the Lunar New Year holidays and was expected to reopen their factories on February 3rd. That date was eventually extended until February 10th due to the circumstances of the viral outbreak. Even after, manufacturers will remain closed pending approval from the central and provincial governments.

 

A poll by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai found that 87% of participants believe that the coronavirus will directly impact 2020 revenues, with 24% expecting revenues to decrease by >16%. China’s 2020 projected GDP growth has also been readjusted to be 1% lower than expected in Q4 2019. According to the Federal Reserve, the disruptions this virus is causing in China will be felt throughout global economies. Understandably so, when China is the manufacturing center of the world.

 

So let’s do a quick comparison of the differences between traditional markets and cryptocurrencies, and how this virus outbreak has affected both.

Stock Indexes

There’s no real time GDP tracker so the next best thing are stock indexes.

Traditional Stocks

Companies with facilities affected by China’s quarantine

[BONUS] Apple iPhones

Three companies that together make Apple iPhones

Cryptocurrencies

However, the current pandemic of surrounding the novel coronavirus is an ongoing event. The full effect of the virus is likely yet to be felt. More as the situation develops in February.

Sources:

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/481455-the-coronaviruss-genetic-code-is-80-percent

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-is-less-deadly-than-sars-but-that-may-explain-why-its-so-contagious-2020-01-30

https://www.businessinsider.com/quarantine-history-following-china-wuhan-coronavirus-lockdowns-2020-1

https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/coronavirus-tracker/

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

https://www.livescience.com/new-china-coronavirus-faq.html

https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-02-02-20-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-to-know-about-the-mysterious-coronavirus-detected-in-china#NIAID-director-discusses-latest-developments

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/09/c_138690570.htm

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/timeline-china-coronavirus-spread-200126061554884.html

https://futurism.com/neoscope/timeline-china-viral-outbreak-spread-worldwide

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/coronavirus-china-updates/2020/02/09/eb9e683c-4aa4-11ea-8a1f-de1597be6cbc_story.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-officials-quarantine-entire-city-2020-1

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51347497

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/02/10/5-coronavirus-stocks-to-watch-this-week.aspx

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/business/coronavirus-business-impact.html

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-reasons-coronavirus-fears-are-overblown-and-14-stocks-to-buy-now-2020-01-28

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-us-stocks-are-down-the-most-as-the-coronavirus-spreads-2020-01-27

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-outbreak-risk-retailers-and-products-2020-2

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/coronavirus-could-weigh-on-global-economy-federal-reserve-warning-2020-2-1028885881

https://www.amcham-shanghai.org/en/article/amcham-shanghai-coronavirus-impact-member-survey

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/coronavirus-could-weigh-on-global-economy-federal-reserve-warning-2020-2-1028885881

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/7/21128307/coronavirus-outbreak-tech-industry-production-supply-chain-delay-impact

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/4/21122081/foxconn-coronavirus-close-factories-big-tech

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/feb/10/will-the-coronavirus-outbreak-derail-the-global-economy

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/analysts-are-cutting-their-china-gdp-forecasts-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2020/02/09/china-coronavirus-breaches-sars-death-toll-limit-now-what/#787d847f5af4

https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahrosenbaum/2020/01/23/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-wuhan-coronavirus-outbreak/#6bdda6af6fce

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-wuhan-coronavirus-compared-to-sars-2020-1#according-to-the-world-health-organization-who-50-of-people-impacted-by-sars-were-age-65-or-older-while-the-other-half-of-infected-patients-varied-widely-in-age-6

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30211-7/fulltext#seccestitle140

https://tradingeconomics.com/china/stock-market

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Two_FmWfGm0J:https://www.forbes.com/sites/cryptoconfidential/2020/01/12/iran-tensions-put-bitcoin-in-the-spotlight-ernst–young-bets-on-public-blockchain/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

https://en.ethereumworldnews.com/analysts-bitcoin-price-explode-higher-past-9000/

https://www.dw.com/en/al-shabab-attack-on-us-air-base-in-kenya-signals-resurgence/a-51905819

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_K-1_Air_Base_attack

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/11/world/middleeast/plane-crash.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Baghdad_International_Airport_airstrike

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_International_Airlines_Flight_752

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_in_Iran

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/8/21056711/trump-iran-speech-statement-iraq-strike

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/what-trump-missed-when-he-saw-iran-blink-n1112506

https://www.vox.com/2020/1/7/21055928/iran-attack-al-asad-iraq-trump-soleimani

https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-iran-twitter-war/

 

Cryptocurrencies have grown from a niche underground market to become a diverse financial industry with many applications in daily life and in economics.

The cryptocurrencies in circulation are versatile, and can be utilized as a store-of-value, investment, and /or as a currency to facilitate the exchange of goods and services.

Growth has been a steady progression on multiple fronts for the market. Adoption has been growing at a faster rate than before since 2017, due to an increase in mainstream awareness. 

As of now, Bitcoin alone has completed and recorded more than 400 million transactions. The daily transactions of BTC is currently an average of 350k transactions per day or 15k/hr. That’s about 4 transactions per second for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin dominance is currently 66.6% in a market of 2957 cryptocurrencies. Due to sheer influence, it is no surprise that BTC’s metrics are often used to gauge the momentum and overall health of the industry.

For BTC, and cryptocurrencies in general, one of the largest issues holding back user adoption interests early on was the lack of convenient access. That has changed since the installation of the first Bitcoin ATM (BTM) in 2013. Six years since that number has grown to be close to 6k BTMs worldwide. 

Whilst the market of cryptocurrencies remains unpredictable, BTM growth remains steady. In fact, the number of BTMs have been doubling per annum in recent years.

Not only do these BTM serves as points of access and exchange for BTC, but support for other alternative cryptocurrencies as well; benefiting the entire crypto sphere and easing user adoption.

                                                               

Approximately 70.6% of BTMs support alternate cryptocurrencies. 68.5% support Litecoin, 59.7% supports Ether, and 40.2% supports BCH. Each averaging +10% growth compared to last month.

Despite progress, in contrast to mainstream and traditional financial platforms, the volume of cryptocurrencies is still very insignificant.

According to the Global Findex database, 69% of adults in the world currently have access to and are using financial institutions or mobile money services.

In comparison, only about ~1% of the global population is using cryptocurrencies.

In America alone, traditional financial institutions still reign supreme. The same rate of adoption among U.S consumers can be assumed of countries with similar economies.

From 2017 – 2018, there was a noticeable decline in consumers’ use of cash and check. Meanwhile, although the shares of digital and mobile payments both increased after 2015, the minimal growth of these transactions from 2017 to 2018, reflects that consumer behavior is generally slow to change. 

Since 2008, use of paper payment methods such as cash and checks has been on a decline. By mode, card payments are the preferred payment method. In a typical month, 60% of an average consumer’s transactions are done using a credit, debit, or pre-paid card.

According to the Census Bureau, there were 189 million adults with credit card accounts in the United States, compared to a University of Cambridge estimates of 2.9 to 5.8 million cryptocurrency users in 2017. In the same year, The Boston Federal Reserve determined that 75.7% of consumers have at least one credit card. 

Out of four major card networks, VISA is the most widely used with a 53.1% dominance in terms of Network Purchase Volume. 49.7% of cards in circulation is a VISA card, and 48.4% of credit cards’ Outstanding Balance belongs to the company as well.

Currently, VISA claims to handle an average of 150 million transactions-per-day (tps). That is roughly 1,700 tps, in comparison to Bitcoin’s 3.8 tps, and Ethereum’s 8.1 tps. The total Purchase Volume of credit cards amounted to $3684 billion, in contrast to the $250 billion market cap of crypto in 2018.

However, even though the majority of market shares is dominated by traditional institutions, there is room for the user base of cryptocurrencies to grow. According to the Global Index database, about 1.7 billion adults remains unbanked in 2017.

With 225 million people, China claims the world’s largest unbanked population, followed by India with 190 million, Pakistan at 100 million, and Indonesia with 95 million. These four economies, together with Nigeria, Mexico and Bangladesh, make up nearly half the world’s unbanked population.

                                             

Generally, account ownership is nearly universal (94%) in high-income economies, compared to (63%) in developing economies classified as low or middle income. There is a wide variation in account ownership across multiple economies, which can vary from about 20% in Cambodia, Mauritania, and Pakistan to as high as 93% in Mongolia.

Whilst they are not the majority, the unbanked still represents a large number of the global population. And it is within these communities that interest in cryptocurrencies is being fostered.

Countries with less privileged economies may not be able to afford to drive adoption progress on a global scale, but the individuals of such economies are ones the cryptocurrency industry can benefit.

For example, access to electricity and hardware is still a luxury in many places in Africa, making it infeasible to run BTC nodes on the continent. Yet, 3 of the top 5 countries on Google Trends for Bitcoin interests are from Africa, including Nigeria – which has a <0.01% BTC adoption rate.

In countries where their economies’ fiat has failed, the populace has also turned to cryptocurrencies. After the Venezuelan Bolivar’s hyperinflation, cryptocurrencies’ volume in the countries soared. Interestingly, countries that have restricted the use of cryptocurrencies, such as China and Iceland, are usually the leaders in mining. 

Whereas, most of SE Asia are more engaged in remittance. Japan and the Netherlands are taking the initiative in accepting crypto for goods and services, whilst the BTM focus in the U.S and Switzerland places more emphasis on building crypto-based businesses.

Crypto adoption can be measured with more than nodes distributions, BTMs placements, market shares dominance. It also involves aspects such as infrastructure support, mining, remittance and acceptance as payments. Compared to just over 8,000 venues accepting cryptocurrencies in 2017, there are now currently about 15,541 venues taking cryptocurrencies worldwide.

According to a Marketing Manager at CoinGate and Coinmap’s database, the numbers of new vendors are growing at an average of 20-30 per day. Within the past six years, the number of crypto-accepting merchants has exploded by more than 700%. A significant surge has also been noted in the growing variety of business from new regions and unexpected industries.

                                                                                                                              

Crypto friendly businesses typically provide digital services and products, and/or are related to the digital field in various aspects.

As of 2019, over 13 mainstream companies have started to accept cryptocurrencies in exchange for their services. Microsoft has been accepting BTC in it’s Xbox Store since 2014. Newegg, a company well known for computer hardware, also views Bitcoin as a valid payment method. Overstock accepts multiple cryptocurrencies as well.

Sources:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitpay-launches-support-ethereum-135327097.html

https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins

https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/

https://coin.dance/stats

https://cryptalker.com/bitcoin-adoption/
https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nysearca-2019-01/srnysearca201901-5164833-183434.pdf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2019/04/22/3-key-drivers-behind-bitcoins-price-and-potential-mass-adoption-over-the-next-5-years/#a9e1239ae7ee

https://data.bitcoinity.org/markets/volume/30d?c=e&t=b

https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/d8jwqe/adoption_in_france_starting_next_year_youll_be/

https://www.coinspeaker.com/bitcoin-depot-crypto-atm/

https://coinmetrics.io/charts/#assets=btc,bch,ltc,eth_left=TxCnt_zoom=1279411200000,1571097600000

https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-adoption-visual-map/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/04/10/bitcoin-just-crossed-a-huge-adoption-milestone/#76f41ccc5295

https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-adoption-visual-map/

https://coinatmradar.com/charts/growth/

https://www.inc.com/kenny-kline/how-this-company-is-spurring-bitcoin-adoption-in-chicago-beyond.html

https://coinatmradar.com/blog/bitcoin-atms-industry-overview-after-2-years-since-first-launch/

https://coinatmradar.com/blog/bitcoin-atm-market-dynamics-september-2019/

https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2019/09/number-of-bitcoin-atms-up-500-percent-since-2016/

https://coinatmradar.com/charts/

https://coinatmradar.com/charts/geo-distribution/

https://coinatmradar.com/blog/bitcoin-atm-market-dynamics-september-2019/

https://coinmap.org/#/world/18.56294744/13.88671875/3

https://www.quora.com/How-many-merchants-accept-Bitcoin#targetText=We%20don’t%20have%20the%20stats%20for%20global%20crypto%20acceptance,new%20vendors%20joining%20every%20day.

https://blog.coingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/CGMAP.png

https://www.lifewire.com/big-sites-that-accept-bitcoin-payments-3485965

https://blog.blockonomics.co/will-more-retailers-start-accepting-crypto-in-2019-heres-what-the-data-predicts-fd0ff69f5cf

https://fortune.com/2019/05/13/bitcoin-comes-to-whole-foods-major-retailers-in-coup-for-digital-currency/

https://howmuch.net/articles/bitcoin-legality-around-the-world

http://onelovecrypto.com/2018/01/03/bitcoin-legal-bitcoin-legality-based-country/

https://99bitcoins.com/list-countries-banned-bitcoin/#prettyPhoto/0/

https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins/VES

https://bitnodes.earn.com/?The

https://cryptalker.com/bitcoin-adoption/

https://coinmetrics.io/charts/#assets=btc,eth_left=TxCnt_zoom=1570637088000,1573229088000

https://hackernoon.com/the-blockchain-scalability-problem-the-race-for-visa-like-transaction-speed-5cce48f9d44

https://usa.visa.com/run-your-business/small-business-tools/retail.html

https://wallethub.com/edu/cc/market-share-by-credit-card-network/25531/

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/ownership-statistics.php

https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-data-report/2017/the-2015-survey-of-consumer-payment-choice-summary-results.aspx

https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/

https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/chapters/2017%20Findex%20full%20report_chapter1.pdf

https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/chapters/2017%20Findex%20full%20report_chapter2.pdf

https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/corporate/media/visanet-technology/aboutvisafactsheet.pdf

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0mfZ_YpwQ5MJ:https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2019/06/11/visa-targets-swift-with-new-blockchain-product-for-global-money-transfers/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

https://www.frbatlanta.org/banking-and-payments/consumer-payments/survey-of-consumer-payment-choice/2018-survey.aspx

https://www.frbatlanta.org/-/media/documents/banking/consumer-payments/survey-of-consumer-payment-choice/2018/2018-survey-of-consumer-payment-choice.pdf

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/ownership-statistics.php

https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/

https://bitcoinist.com/google-trends-bitcoin-price-6/

https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-adoption-visual-map/

According to the prosecution, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee is a member of the international drug cartel.

 

 

Didn’t we say this was going to happen? Yes…

Corruption, Crypto and Cartels, Part I

Corruption, Crypto and Cartels, Part II

For many of you who have been following the SynQ IO team for a while, you know we are not afraid of change. We understand change is good for not only ourselves, but also for the crypto industry that we make our living in. After almost 18 full months of the “Haruspex Live”, we have decided that it is now time to change how we approach AMAs and podcasts.

Starting today, Wednesday October 9, 2019, we are officially rebranding the “Haruspex Live” to Know Your Crypto. The Know Your Crypto podcast will still be similar to what you’ve seen over the past year and half, but we are keeping what works and getting rid of what doesn’t. This means we will be focusing on guests for almost every single episode. We already have an all star cast lined up, from founders to fund managers to builders to traders and everything in between. In addition to guests, you can expect similar market research topics and market updates, but we want to make it more content driven instead of trading driven. We hope our audience will appreciate the mix of content, ideas, and guests.

For those who love our trading analysis, you need not fret. We will still lightly touch on these topics during the Know Your Crypto podcast, but to make sure we still please all of our audience we will be releasing trading videos and market updates at least twice a week from here on out. You can expect Dave and/or Nick to give you an update on trends we see for the top cryptocurrencies, what SynQ is saying about the markets, and other helpful informational tidbits like where market makers have buys/sells set and volume information.

Finally, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has followed us from the CryptoSyndicate days to the current SynQ IO days. You are the reason we love to share content, ideas, and thoughts in the market. We hope you enjoy the new podcast, and if you ever have feedback or suggestion for a topic or guest please email us at info@synq.tech!

You can catch the live Know Your Crypto show on our Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter!

SynQ’s accuracy is over 75% accurate, on average, for all of the projections we’ve published. To back this claim up, we figured we needed to be more transparent in supplying data for our projections. After extensive feedback from our users, we have decided to be even more transparent with how we report our accuracies and historical data.

We’d like to present to you our newest creations: Projection History and Accuracy Status. These data feeds will be featured on each coin’s “Coin Detail Page” right after the Social Influence data feed.

(BTC Projection History and Accuracy Status)

Projection History

(BTC Projection History – Sept 17, 2019)

This chart displays all of a coin’s published projections going back for a full 7 days, and will be updated each day at 12am UTC-0. The goal of this is to increase transparency into published projections so that users can feel more comfortable using SynQ and back track a coin’s accuracy over a 7 day period

Accuracy Status

(BTC Accuracy Status – Sept 17, 2019)

This gauge shows the average 7 day accuracy of a specific coin. This gauge is a summary of all of the projections featured in Projection History and updates every day at 12am UTC-O.

Goals and Next Steps

As always, our goal is to provide better transparency for our consumers and the market. We want users to feel comfortable with and trust SynQ. This the first step in that process.

Soon, we will be featuring weekly data dumps and overall accuracy across SynQ on our homepage at synq.tech. Featuring this much data will allow everyone to see just how powerful SynQ is week over week.

Keep a lookout on our blog and our website for more updates!

For the finale, let us show you where the Part I – III have been leading.  Though this is not the end of the “rabbit holes” we have been following, it is the point where we felt comfortable to really form a solid hypothesis of what is going on based on all of the data we have found.  

Bank frauds

As of April 30th, 2019, two individuals were charged with bank fraud in connections to cryptocurrency exchanges. Court documents released by the Justice Department reported that the alleged money services businesses operated between February and October 2018. It is interesting to note that this is within the same time frame as when Bitfinex saw $850mil disappear. Prosecutors say during this time, the two “opened and used numerous bank accounts at financial institutions that were insured by the [FDIC]”. [1]

Two of the bank accounts named in the court document are allegedly held under the name Global Trading Solutions LLC, one apiece from HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Securities USA/Pershing LLC.

Global Trading Solutions LLC is tied to licensed financial institution Global Trade Solutions AG. Global Trade Solutions is the parent company of CryptoCapital, and is cited as parent company on CryptoCapital’s website.

The two individuals are Reginald (Reggie) Fowler, former co-owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, and Ravid Yosef, from Tel Aviv, Israel. Both have been charged by the Southern District of New York (SDNY) with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Fowler is also accused of running an unlicensed money transmission business and conspiracy related to its operations.

Global Trading Solutions LLC, owned by Fowler, was directly connected to CryptoCapital. As written in the indictment, Fowler and Yosef obtained bank accounts after “falsely representing to those banks that the accounts would be primarily used for real estate investment transactions even though Fowler, Yosef, and others used them to transmit funds on behalf of an unlicensed money transmitting business related to the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges.”

The others in that quote includes CryptoCapital, or rather the Swiss-based Global Trade Solutions AG that runs its operations. Both bank accounts, including the one at HSBC, was used by CryptoCapital to process fiat deposits for Bitfinex. Global Trading Solutions LLC also had multiple bank accounts at Citibank, Enterprise Bank & Trust and Wells Fargo; all used by CryptoCapital. 

Fowler additionally co-owns two Portuguese companies through which, CryptoCapital also used to processed fiat withdrawals for Bitfinex. 

As the indictment clarifies, Fowler and Yosef opened numerous bank U.S. accounts under false pretenses. The indictment further presents a list of bank accounts at HSBC, either in the name of Global Trading Solutions LLC or directly in Fowler’s name, from which the funds were seized by the U.S. Government.

This seems to confirm the statements that the $850mil Bitfinex funds were not lost, but were in fact held by the authorities.

The multitude of bank accounts in the name of Global Trading Solutions LLC, and used by CryptoCapital, provides insights and understanding into how Fowler attempted to obfuscate his association with Global Trading Solutions LLC.

For further affirmation, the address of the known HSBC accounts matches the address in Chandler, Ariz. where Global Trading Solutions LLC is registered. Yet the property at that address, a sports complex, is officially owned by another company that is related to Fowler.

As the cryptocurrency publication The Block elaborates more into the story, another bank account at Wells Fargo is listed with an address in Tampa, Fla. That address lists a different company called NLE Consulting, whose registry documents includes Fowler as an officer. CryptoCapital has used the account for its own customers, but there is no indication that it was used to process any Bitfinex fiat deposits or withdrawals. Fowler also used an address in Huntington Beach, Calif. to obtain an account at Citibank. However, no other company is registered at the listed address.

Due to the result of certain AML and financial crimes investigations by the United States’ FBI and cooperative international law enforcement and/or regulatory agencies, according to a letter Ivan Molina published in December of 2018, Global Trade Solutions and related entities have been denied banking services in the U.S, EU and other international locations.

In the same letter, Ivan confirms the account seizures at HSBC in London, as well as bank accounts in the U.S being frozen and blocked, and banking services and access terminated. He also referenced the article by The Block, reporting the use of Global Trading Solutions LLC’s services for depositing funds to Bitfinex.

At this point, it’s not too much of a stretch to assume the same shady approach was used for most, if not all, of CryptoCapital’s affiliated companies to operate under similar questionable structures. (CEX.io, QuadrigaCX, other dead/sketchy companies).

When there is this much evidence and association, it can no longer be brushed off as coincidence.

Additional Sources

Two Charged With Running ‘Shadow Banking’ Service for Crypto Exchanges

Indictment reveals new clues in the Crypto Capital situation