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Store Crypto Safely: 8 Out of 10 Investors Choose Hot Wallets

•CoinGecko survey reveals that 8 out of 10 crypto investors store their digital assets on hot wallets.
•7 out of 10 respondents said they held their crypto on centralized exchanges, while 3 out of 10 used cold wallets.
•The survey was conducted between December 2022 and January 2023 and collected answers from 421 individual investors.

CoinGecko Survey Reveals Crypto Storage Habits

A CoinGecko survey revealed insights into the crypto storage behavior post-FTX collapse. The study was conducted between December 2022 and January 2023 with participants from 421 individual investors.

Hot Wallets Popular Among Investors

The survey revealed that 8 out of 10 crypto investors store their digital assets on hot wallets, which reflects the community sentiment after the FTX collapse. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 respondents said they held their crypto on centralized exchanges — while another 3 out of 10 said they used cold wallets.

Centralized Exchanges Still Dominant

The report justified this rate by saying that it is tied to the current dominance rate of centralized exchanges (CEXs) over decentralized ones — as most crypto holders remain reliant on centralized exchanges for buying and selling crypto, prioritizing convenience over security.

FTX Crash Prompted Self-Custody Movements

The FTX crash also motivated crypto organizations to turn to self-custody services — such as CryptoSlate research in November 2022 which revealed an increase in Bitcoin (BTC) reserves into self-custody wallets, accounting for 78% of the circulating supply at the time. Additionally, companies like Robinhood started working on its own self-custody wallet in December 2022 and launched it in January; while Juno publicly advised its users to turn to self-custody or sell their crypto assets in January 2021 too.

Conclusion

Overall, this CoinGecko survey suggests that despite a shift towards more secure storage methods after the FTX collapse — convenience still remains priority among cryptocurrency holders when it comes to storing digital assets safely.

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Ban Crypto? Belgian Foreign Minister Calls for EU-Wide Proposal

• Belgian Foreign Minister Johan Van Overtveldt has called for an EU-wide ban on cryptocurrencies.
• His comments come after a Basel Committee on banking recommendation to banks to develop protocols for holding and maintaining Bitcoin and stablecoins.
• The European Parliament is preparing to vote on crypto licensing regulations, which will provide a structure for wallet providers and exchanges that adhere to governance and consumer protection standards.

Belgian Foreign Minister Calls For Crypto Ban

Belgian foreign minister Johan Van Overtveldt recently tweeted that he believes an EU-wide ban should be imposed on cryptocurrency. In the tweet from March 17, he urged for a strict ban on cryptocurrencies amid the recent turmoil in the banking sector. He suggested that if governments ban drugs, they should also ban cryptos because it provides „no economic or social value.“

Basel Committee On Banking Recommendation

The comments come after a special Basel Committee on banking has recommended that banks develop protocols for holding stablecoins and crypto by 2025. The committee believes that these protocols would help protect consumers and increase transparency within the industry.

EU Parliament To Vote On Crypto Regulations

The European Parliament is currently gearing up to vote on significant crypto licensing regulations for the bloc next month. These regulations are expected to provide a structure for wallet providers and exchanges that adhere to governance and consumer protection standards. Van Overtveldt, who serves as the economic spokesperson for a group of 64 EU lawmakers, is spearheading parliament’s efforts to pass a law allowing for the trading of securities on distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Van Overtveldt’s Anti-Crypto Stance

Van Overtveldt has been against cryptocurrencies since 2013 when he first became a member of the New Flemish Alliance party. He was elected as Minister of Finance in 2014 in Michel Government before returning back to European Parliament in 2019 where he currently chairs the Committee on Budgets and serves as rapporteur on Multi-annual Financial Framework.

Conclusion

Despite his strong anti-crypto stance, Johan Van Overtveldt acknowledged that DLT does have “enormous potential” to enhance financial systems across Europe with its secure infrastructure technology providing increased transparency, auditability, compliance support capabilities amongst others benefits..

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Binance Shrugs Off FUD, Dominates Crypto Exchange Market with 61.8% Share

• Binance’s market share across crypto exchange markets rose from 59.4% in January to 61.8% in February, according to CryptoCompare.
• Binance’s introduction of zero-fee Bitcoin trading has had a substantial impact on its overall dominance in spot trading volume.
• Despite ongoing FUD and increased scrutiny from regulators, Binance is intensifying its global expansion efforts.

Binance Dominates Crypto Exchange Market

According to new data from CryptoCompare, the world’s largest centralized crypto exchange, Binance, experienced a surge in its spot volumes with an increase of 13.7% to $504 billion and a rise in its market share from 59.4% to 61.8%. This is the highest monthly market share ever recorded for the exchange. In second place was Coinbase with $39.9 billion traded, down 29%, followed by Kraken with $19.3 billion traded, down 11%.

Zero-Fee Bitcoin Trading Impact

A contributing factor to Binance’s rise in market share is the introduction of zero-fee Bitcoin trading which was declared last July 2022 by the exchange as part of their fifth anniversary celebration. As Bitcoin represents a substantial portion of the crypto market’s trade volume, removing fees on BTC trading has had a notable positive effect on their overall dominance in spot trading volume.

Global Expansion Efforts

Binance is also intensifying their global expansion efforts despite the bear market by registering as Financial Service Providers in countries such as New Zealand, France, Spain and Italy as well as South Korea and Japan markets which likely resulted in an influx of new traders for the exchange and further enhanced their dominance in trading volume.

Continued FUD Surrounding Exchange

Despite these successes however, there continues to be fear uncertainty and doubt surrounding Binance due to increased scrutiny from regulators worldwide including those within the US markets who are starting to take a closer look at how this largest centralized crypto exchange operates which may have implications for future developments or changes within it operations going forward..

Conclusion

In conclusion, despite ongoing FUD against it and increasing regulatory scrutiny from multiple countries worldwide, Binance still managed to successfully dominate markets by increasing its total spot volumes by 13.7% and growing its overall market share up to 61.8%, making it one of the most successful exchanges out there right now with no signs of slowing down anytime soon!

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Digital Asset Investments Reach Record Highs in Feb 2023: CryptoCompare

• CryptoCompare released the Digital Asset Management Review, providing an overview of the global digital asset investment product landscape.
• Total assets under management (AUM) for digital asset investment products reached a new high of $28.3 billion in February, a 5.25% increase from January.
• BTC and ETH products now account for 70.5% and 24.0% of the total AUM market share respectively, with Grayscale holding the dominant position at over $24 billion AUM.

Record-High Digital Asset Investments

CryptoCompare has released its monthly Digital Asset Management Review, which provides an overview of the global digital asset investment product landscape. The report tracks the adoption of digital asset products by analyzing assets under management (AUM), trading volumes, and price performance. In February 2023, total AUM for digital asset investments reached a record-high level of $28.3 billion – a 5.25% increase from January – signaling investors‘ bullish sentiment towards cryptocurrency markets.

BTC and ETH Products Lead Market Share

The review found that BTC-based products saw a rise of 6.06%, bringing their total AUM to $20 billion while ETH-based products saw a 1.72% increase with total AUM reaching $6.8 billion. As such, BTC and ETH now account for 70.5% and 24% of the total AUM market share respectively, with Grayscale leading the pack at over $24 billion in assets under management (AUM).

CI Galaxy Experiences Highest Increase

In terms of individual products, CI Galaxy had the highest increase in assets under management (AUM) during February 2021 with its AUM rising 37.7% to reach $460 million; 21Shares followed closely behind with its own 33.4% increase to reach a total AUM value of$1

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Bear Market Reversal Ahead? Check Out The Metric That Reveals All

• Realized price is a metric used to determine market movements in bear and bull markets.
• Long-term holders (LTHs) and short-term holders (STHs) are the two primary cohorts driving the market.
• The LTH-STH cost basis ratio helps illustrate how the market dynamic is shifting.

Realized Price

Realized price is a metric often used to measure market movements in bear and bull markets. It is defined as the value of all Bitcoins at the price they were bought divided by the number of circulating coins, effectively showing the cost-basis of the network.

Long-Term Holders & Short-Term Holders

The network can be divided into two primary groups – long term holders (LTHs) and short term holders (STHs). LTHs are all addresses that held BTC for longer than 155 days, while STHs are addresses that held onto BTC for less than 155 days.

The LTH-STH Cost Basis Ratio

The LTH-STH cost basis ratio is the ratio between realized prices for long-term and short-term holders. This helps reflect how the market dynamic is shifting, as an uptrend in this ratio shows more losses being realized by STHs than LTHs – indicating a bear market accumulation phase led by LTHs. Conversely, a downtrend in this ratio shows that LTHs are spending their coins faster than STHs, implying a bull market distribution phase. Finally, an LTH-STH cost basis ratio higher than 1 suggests late stage bear capitulations which can lead to bull runs.

2011 Bear Market

During Bitcoin’s first bear market in 2011, there was a trend reversal where STH realized prices went below those of LTHs – marking the beginning of a bear market which lasted from Nov 22nd 2011 to Jul 17th 2012. Throughout this period of time, long term holders accumulated BTC via dollar cost averaging (DCA).

Conclusion

In summary, understanding how different groups such as long term and short term holders behave differently can help us understand when markets are likely to reverse direction from bearish to bullish or vice versa. By tracking metrics such as the realized price and its relation between different cohorts like STH’s and LT H’s we can get an idea of when these trends may change course

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BLUR Airdrop Plummets Token Price 84% – Here’s What Happened

• BLUR, an NFT platform, recently airdropped 360 million tokens to its early adopters.
• However, the price of BLUR plummeted 84% after the airdrop distribution went live.
• Early adopters have claimed up to 86% of the airdrops.

BLUR Airdrops 360M Tokens

NFT marketplace Blur recently announced that it would be airdropping some 360 million BLUR tokens to its early adopters. Out of the total supply of 3 billion tokens, 51% were allocated for community users and 29% for core contributors and 19% for investors.

Price Plummets After Airdrop

However, immediately after the airdrop went live, trading activities forced the price of BLUR to fall over 84%, from $5 to $0.78 according to Coingecko data. As of press time, BLUR is trading at $0.78 with a total market cap of $276 million.

Early Adopters Claim Airdrops

Available data shows that early adopters — including traders, care package holders and creators — have claimed up to 86% of the airdrops released by Blur. This includes nearly 146,823 unique users who traded over $1.2 billion worth of NFTs (excluding Washtrading).

Conclusion

In summary, Blur’s recent token airdrop resulted in its native BLUR token plummeting 84%. Despite this drop in value, early adopters were able to claim up to 86% of all available tokens released through this airdrop event.

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Bitcoin Up 287,000%, GBPUSD 11% Away from All-Time Low!

Bitcoin Price Evolution

• BTC has risen 287,000% against the dollar since 2011.
• GBPUSD is 11% away from its all-time low.
• A Digital pound is likely this decade.

Long-Term Decline of GBPUSD

The Pound Sterling has been in a long-term decline since the 70s. In 1971, it was 2.4 pounds to a dollar, and it currently sits at 1.2 – a 50% drawdown from its peak value. Currently, GBPUSD is at 1.20, only 11% away from its all-time low of 1.08.

Bitcoin Price Surge

In comparison to the Pound Sterling’s long-term decline, Bitcoin (BTC) has seen an incredible surge in value since 2011 – increasing almost 287,000%. This monumental price spike has caught the attention of many investors around the world and made cryptocurrency a viable investment option for those looking for high returns on their investments.

Digital Pound Coming Soon?

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt recently announced that a new form of currency – referred to as a „Digital Pound“ – is likely to be introduced sometime this decade as an alternative way to pay for goods and services online or in person without having to use traditional banking methods such as credit cards or cash payments.

Hording Cryptocurrency Banned?

It has been reported that hoarding ‚Bitcoin‘ will be banned due to bank run fears under Sunak’s digital currency regulations, though these reports have yet to be confirmed by officials within the government.

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Australia to Regulate Crypto Assets as Financial Products

• Australian Finance Minister Stephen Jones has argued that crypto assets should be regulated as financial products.
• Lobby groups such as Blockchain Australia have argued against this broad classification of all crypto assets.
• The Australian government is focused on regulating crypto assets that act like financial products and will soon reveal their plans for this.

The Australian Financial Minister Stephen Jones has recently argued that crypto assets should be regulated as financial products. This comes in light of the FTX collapse, which has raised the need for crypto regulation. The minister noted that, with the exception of Bitcoin, other crypto assets are mainly used as a store of value for investment or speculation, and thus should be regulated as financial products.

However, this argument is being challenged by certain crypto lobby groups in the country, such as Blockchain Australia. The group has argued that a broad classification of all crypto assets as financial products is not necessary, and that there is no need to set up a “completely separate regulatory regime” for something that is essentially a financial product.

Despite this, the Australian government is still focused on regulating crypto assets that act like financial products. Jones has stated that the government will soon reveal their plans for this, through their “token mapping” exercise. This exercise will involve the government mapping out which crypto assets should be regulated as financial products, and which should not.

The Australian government is also working with various financial institutions, such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Commonwealth Bank, to ensure that their regulations on crypto assets are up to date and effective. This is in order to protect investors and ensure that crypto assets are not used for any illicit activities.

Overall, it is clear that the Australian government is taking steps to regulate crypto assets, while still ensuring that the interests of investors and the wider crypto community are being considered. In the coming weeks and months, it will be interesting to see what the government reveals as part of their “token mapping” exercise, and how this will affect the regulation of crypto assets in the country.

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Bank Run on Stablecoins Could Create Multiplier Effect on US Bonds

• Economist Eswar Prasad has warned regulators that a bank run on Stablecoins could have significant impact on the U.S bond markets.
• Prasad warned that if a bank run should occur while bond market sentiment remains „very fragile,“ there could be a „multiplier effect“ due to immense selling pressure on Treasurys.
• Stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) are backed by billions of dollars in reserves to accommodate mass-redemptions scenarios, according to USDT’s November 2022 report.

Economist Eswar Prasad has recently warned regulators that a bank run on Stablecoins could have a significant effect on the U.S bond market, due to the fragility of current market sentiment. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies which are designed to maintain a consistent and steady value, and are backed by a reserve asset such as U.S. Treasurys. If a bank run should occur on Stablecoins, Prasad warned that the selling pressure on Treasurys could create a “multiplier effect”, leading to a sharp decrease in liquidity in the underlying securities market.

Tether (USDT), one of the leading Stablecoins, is backed by billions of dollars in reserves to accommodate mass-redemptions scenarios. USDT’s November 2022 report has outlined how the reserve asset works to maintain the value of the Stablecoin, and to prevent any significant losses for those who hold it. However, Prasad warned that if many users try to redeem their Stablecoin for fiat, issuers such as USDT would have to sell off their assets in their reserve. This could create a significant amount of selling pressure on Treasurys, which could lead to a decrease in liquidity in the market.

Prasad’s warning has come at a time when the U.S bond market is particularly fragile, and a bank run on Stablecoins could have a catastrophic effect. Regulators have been warned to take action to prevent any potential bank runs on Stablecoins, and to ensure that the underlying securities market remains stable. Prasad’s warning has highlighted the importance of the U.S bond market, and the potential implications of a bank run on Stablecoins for the global economy.

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Secure Your Web3 Transactions with TrustCheck: Web3 Builders‘ Free Chrome Extension

• The latest episode of SlateCast discussed the topic of safety in Web3 and the creation of tools that help users stay safe.
• Ricardo, CEO of Web3 Builders, discussed the importance of end-user security as a barrier to crypto adoption.
• Web3 Builders has created a free Chrome browser extension called TrustCheck, which runs a series of checks to ensure that nothing is off with a transaction before it is completed.

The latest episode of the SlateCast podcast discussed the importance of end-user security and usability in the world of Web3, and the creation of tools to help users stay safe when interacting with applications and apps in the space. The host, Akiba, was joined by Ricardo, the CEO of Web3 Builders, a company that is laser-focused on making Web3 safe for all.

Ricardo discussed the importance of end-user security in crypto adoption going forward. He highlighted the need for products that keep users safe, especially from scams. To this end, Web3 Builders has created a Chrome browser extension called TrustCheck. This extension is free and can be used with any EIP 1193 compliant wallet.

TrustCheck works by intercepting the transaction message when a user is interacting with any Web3 tech. It runs an analysis on a series of checks to ensure that nothing is off with the transaction. In addition, it also runs a simulation of the transaction to determine the outcome before the user completes it. If something is off, the user is warned. If nothing is off, all the checks that have been run are displayed to give the user more confidence when interacting and completing a transaction.

The host and the guest also discussed the improved usability and end-user security and the role of new and early-stage startups in the space. Ricardo believes that improving usability and end-user security will be an important part of the adoption of crypto, and Web3 Builders is committed to building products that help users stay safe and informed when making transactions.