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O interesse aberto em futuros Bitcoin está aumentando, mas os volumes estão caindo.

O interesse aberto nos futuros Bitcoin

O interesse aberto nos futuros Bitcoin atingiu novos recordes antes da cotação direta de quarta-feira da Coinbase no Nasdaq.

O agregador de dados de mercado Crypto Glassode afirma que os juros abertos da Bitcoin excederam $27 bilhões pela primeira vez, enquanto a Bitcoin (BTC) atingiu novos recordes acima de $63.000. O marco sugere que os comerciantes podem estar especulando sobre preços mais altos, embora alguns também possam estar se protegendo contra a volatilidade de entrada.

#Bitcoin Futures Open Interest nas principais bolsas alcança recordes de mais de $27B, já que $BTC atinge novos ATHs.

A maior parte da atividade comercial está em Binance, onde os US$ 5,2 bilhões em posições representam quase 20% de todas as posições em aberto na bolsa. É seguido pela Bybit com US$ 4,66 bilhões, OKEx com US$ 3,75 bilhões, e depois Huobi, FTX e CME com cerca de US$ 3 bilhões cada.

Apesar do interesse aberto recorde, os volumes futuros de Bitcoin parecem ter diminuído no último mês, caindo de US$ 117 bilhões em 15 de março para variar entre US$ 50 bilhões e US$ 75 bilhões durante o mês de abril, de acordo com o agregador de dados criptográficos de derivativos Skew.

O volume decrescente pode sugerir que os comerciantes se tornaram cada vez mais cautelosos em relação à abertura de novas posições, já que a data para a cotação da Coinbase estava se aproximando, com uma parcela significativa de interesse em aberto provavelmente representando posições que foram abertas durante as semanas e meses anteriores.

Dos US$ 75 bilhões de futuros BTC que mudaram de mãos nas últimas 24 horas

Dos US$ 75 bilhões de futuros BTC que mudaram de mãos nas últimas 24 horas, a Binbase representa mais de um terço do volume com US$ 26,9 bilhões, seguida pela Huobi com US$ 14,5 bilhões, OKEx com US$ 12,7 bilhões e Bybit com US$ 10,6 bilhões.

Em contraste, o interesse aberto em opções Bitcoin diminuiu desde que um valor recorde de contratos de US$ 6 bilhões expirou no final de março. Os volumes de opções aumentaram durante o mês de abril, com os dados sugerindo que muitos comerciantes têm protegido suas posições, já que bilhões foram mobilizados para proteger contra uma queda de US$ 40.000 na semana passada.

Bitcoin não é o único mercado em que os negociadores de derivativos estão especulando, com o interesse aberto em futuros Ethereum também crescendo para níveis recordes acima de US$ 8 bilhões à medida que os volumes aumentaram nas últimas semanas.

Os mercados de opções do Ethereum também têm visto um aumento na atividade, com os juros em aberto empurrando para máximos de 30 dias perto de US$ 3,2 bilhões. Os volumes de opções de éteres saltaram 90% durante a noite, passando de US$ 200 milhões para US$ 380 milhões.

Entretanto, muitos comerciantes de Ether (ETH) parecem estar olhando além da cotação da Coinbase esta semana, com o analista Cantering Clark observando um volume significativo visando preços acima de $3.200 para o final de junho do início deste mês.

Los expertos dicen que crear soluciones de custodia es complicado, pero se volverá de importancia crucial a medida que las criptomonedas se vuelvan más valiosas.

A medida que varios bancos preparan servicios de custodia de cifrado, los titulares ahora tienen que darle la vuelta a un viejo dicho de Bitcoin System: ¿están los bancos preparados para ser su propio (y el de otros)?

La semana pasada, BNY Mellon, el banco más antiguo de Estados Unidos, anunció que proporcionaría soluciones de custodia, cediendo a la presión de los inversores institucionales

Asimismo, documentos de diciembre indican que Deutsche Bank también está planeando una solución de custodia, junto con servicios de negociación y emisión de tokens.

Sin embargo, si bien ambos bancos están bien establecidos y tienen experiencia en el manejo de una amplia gama de activos, eso no significa necesariamente que estén preparados para la custodia criptográfica .

“Los activos digitales son totalmente diferentes a los activos tradicionales como bonos, acciones y letras del tesoro. Los activos digitales están descentralizados por diseño y, por lo tanto, su propiedad se basa en un modelo totalmente diferente que no puede reutilizar la infraestructura centralizada existente del mundo bancario tradicional. Para custodiar los criptoactivos, se necesita una nueva infraestructura ”, dijo Jean-Michel Pailhon, vicepresidente de soluciones comerciales de Ledger en una entrevista con Cointelegraph.

Incluso para las instituciones cripto-nativas, la custodia es extremadamente compleja. El año pasado, el intercambio de criptomonedas KuCoin sufrió un ataque que le dio al atacante más de $ 200 millones. Tener la custodia de grandes sumas crea un atractivo honeypot para los posibles atacantes y, según los expertos, ni siquiera muchos de los principales intercambios de cifrado abordan la seguridad de la custodia de manera adecuada.

„Solo unos pocos intercambios de cifrado como Kraken, Gemini y Binance están invirtiendo mucho dinero para demostrar controles internos adecuados sobre sus protocolos de gestión de claves privadas personales“, dijo a Cointelegraph Dyma Budorin, cofundador y director ejecutivo de Hacken.

Si los grandes bancos quieren abordar la seguridad correctamente, efectivamente tienen tres opciones, dijo Pailhon

“Pueden contratar a un custodio regulado existente, pueden construir su propia infraestructura de custodia y regularla, o pueden comprar una tecnología de custodia de un proveedor y usarla y regularla”.

En particular, si los bancos optan por crear sus propias soluciones , los gastos y el tiempo pueden acumularse rápidamente. Los bancos tendrán que contratar desarrolladores dedicados, „asignando grandes inversiones para infraestructura“, incluidos los centros de datos y servidores, y ejecutar toda la gama regulatoria, un proceso que por sí solo puede llevar „6-12 meses“.

“El nivel de esfuerzos e inversiones necesarios para proporcionar a una institución una solución de auto custodia preparada para la empresa es sustancialmente más alto que para un individuo. Se requieren tecnologías y procesos de gobierno ligeramente diferentes para asegurar miles de millones de dólares en activos digitales ”, agregó.

Independientemente de la ruta que tomen los bancos, Pailhon dice que es una señal de la creciente legitimidad de las criptomonedas que bancos como BNY Mellon quieran brindar soluciones de custodia. Además, a medida que crece la capitalización total del mercado de las criptomonedas y aumenta el valor de los activos para las instituciones e incluso para algunas personas, las soluciones de custodia segura serán cada vez más importantes.

Axie Infinity is a blockchain game where you can collect monsters and digital plots.

A bundle of 9 digital plots of the Axie Infinity blockchain game was sold for 888 Ethers (ETH) for approximately $ 1.5 million. This is a record for a sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Record sales for an NFT

The purchaser an anonymous entity known only as the „Flying Falcon“.

The lot of plots has a unique aesthetic and a special positioning in the game “Axie land”. The land is part of a future game mode in Axie Infinity that allows players to build / decorate properties, harvest resources, and battle digital monsters called “Axies”.

Users can virtually train, breed, fight and even breed their Axies with other players. Each Axies has a unique genetic mark. Some specimens fetch a significant price on the market.

Players can even rent out their property for income. They can also host in-game events, like concerts or art galleries. This record acquisition of $ 1.5 million is part of this process:

The Genesis plots are the rarest and best placed in Axie Infinity, they naturally fit my thesis.

The rise of NFTs continues

This purchase comes as the NFT market is booming. The last month saw the rise of the art project dubbed „Hashmasks“, the entire collection of which sold for over $ 9 million. But the market isn’t just about art either, users can sell real estate, cars, assets, or just about anything through an NFT.

Crypto-art relies on non-fungible tokens which are typically issued on Ethereum, ERC-721. This guarantees digital scarcity.

The most expensive piece of art to date is “The Complete MF Collection”. A collection of 20 works of art by Beeple. The digital artist and graphic designer produces video content and concert visuals for Nicki Minaj and Eminem. He is also currently the most popular cryptocurrency artist.

JP Morgan says bitcoin’s descent could continue

A report from JP Morgan has been released claiming that the current bitcoin price decline could continue until the end of March.

The lengthy report (28 pages) analyses a lot of data and metrics, as well as bitcoin’s history over the past few years, and comes to the Immediate Bitcoin conclusion that a price of around $35,000 should currently be considered as the upper limit of the fair value range.

This conclusion therefore leads analysts to believe that unless BTC’s price volatility eases rapidly, the goal of reaching $50,000 or even $100,000 by year-end is not sustainable.

However, it must be said that this report is three days old, and indeed volatility has reduced in recent days.

According to the same analysis the lower bound would be $11,000, so for JP Morgan analysts the current fair value of BTC would be between $11,000 and $35,000, with the average being $23,000.

What influences the price of Bitcoin according to JP Morgan

The report however clearly highlights that, compared to 2017, the current price rally is mainly due to institutional capital inflows into this market, but assumes that among these not all constitute long-term investments, and instead there is a good speculative component.

In addition, there was also a strong retail component, particularly from services such as PayPal, but this had subsided in the last two weeks.

In order to start a new bullish impulse, they argue that the price would have to return to above $40,000 soon, otherwise the descent could continue until the end of March, but as things stand at present there does not seem to be a basis for a return to above $40,000.

However, in the long term, they reiterate the theoretical price target of $146,000 that was suggested a few weeks ago.

The report also argues that bitcoin should still be regarded as a risky asset, rather than a safe asset, which, for example, shares with gold an increased correlation with the S & P500 from March 2020 onwards.

BlackRock toying with Bitcoin investments; Phase 1 at Ethereum 2.0; Ex-Ripple advisory board could become OCC boss; TenX deactivates accounts and Visa cards, and Deutsche Bank survey sees bubble potential in Bitcoin and US tech stocks.

Another exciting week in the crypto space is coming to an end. The most important events around Bitcoin and Co. in a compact overview

The largest asset managers in the world rises may be a doubly in the crypto business. That emerges from two filings the financial giant has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) has filed. Specifically, it concerns the two funds „BlackRock Global Allocation Fund“ and „BlackRock Funds V“. BlackRock has submitted an amendment to the respective securities prospectus for both of them with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The applications indicate that investments in Bitcoin futures will also be reserved in the future. BlackRock will also point out potential risks in the forms submitted. Among other things, this means the volatility of the cryptocurrency, any regulatory measures and the difficulties in determining the price of digital gold. BlackRock also plans to trade Bitcoin Evolution exclusively on exchanges that are subject to the supervision of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The BlackRock was already flirting with the cryptocurrency in December.

Ethereum 2.0 is moving towards phase 1

The conversion of the consensus procedure to a proof-of-stake model in the course of Ethereum 2.0 is in full swing. Ether enthusiasts will still have to be patient until Ethereum 2.0 is finalized. According to Ethereum developer Danny Ryan, the transition is in phase 1planned for the second half of 2021. The process is currently still in phase 0. The changes that the proof-of-stake model entails are tested using a test chain, the beacon chain. The transition to phase 1 then extends the network to include the sharding function. The beacon chain is initially extended by 64 shard chains. By splitting the processing of transactions into several parallel chains. This increases the transaction throughput considerably and is therefore an essential key to solving the scaling problems that the crypto network currently still has. The subsequent final phase would end the transformation to Ethereum 2.0.

Ex-Ripple advisory board could become the new OCC boss

As the Wall Street Journal reports, President Biden is toying with the idea of making Michael Barr the new head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ( OCC ). The financial magazine claims to have found out from internal circles. Barr worked in the US Treasury Department under the Obama administration. The change could also be of interest to Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC. Michael Barr has been on the advisory board of the Californian FinTech since 2015. Should he actually get the chief post of the currency regulator, he could act as a mediator between Ripple and the SEC. Another aspirant for the job is Mehrsa Baradaran. She is Professor of Banking Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. The OCC did not want to comment on the rumors about Michael Barr to BTC-ECHO.

Together we go further – The Associazione Bancaria Italiana (ABI) says it has started tests to assess the potential benefits of a crypto-euro . The association works in parallel with the European Central Bank, but it intends to participate in the trials of a European MNBC.

Italian banks proactive on digital currencies

The Anon System had previously announced its intention to develop a digital currency to facilitate inter-bank settlements and cross-border payments.

For the association, the priorities are to establish a legal framework adapted to the regulatory requirements of the euro zone and to protect the privacy of European citizens.

Most Italian banks are already using blockchain for inter-bank transactions

Basically, this process took between 30 and 50 days, but since the implementation of the Corda blockchain in the banking system, the time has been reduced to 48 hours . The success of this transition must have opened the eyes of the leaders of the Italian banks, who are now making joint efforts within the ABI.

According to the banking association, a digital currency backed by the ECB would reorganize the traditional banking system . This would better manage currency and interest rate risks with the programmable capabilities of digital currencies.

The European Central Bank said it would start the project with a reflection phase, to decide whether to continue the project of issuing a digital euro around mid-2021.

Chinas CBDC könnte der Todesstoß für Macaus Glücksspielszene mit hohen Einsätzen sein

Macaus Glücksspielindustrie, die bereits vom Coronavirus betroffen ist, könnte in Form der digitalen Währung der chinesischen Zentralbank (CBDC) einem weiteren erheblichen externen Stress ausgesetzt sein. Das Aufkommen des rückverfolgbaren digitalen Yuan, der von Peking in der Enklave durchgesetzt wird, könnte wahrscheinlich Schockwellen durch den Sektor senden und mehrere High-Roller dazu zwingen, ihr Geld anderswohin wie bei Bitcoin Code zu bringen.

Chinas CBDC könnte in Macau Furore machen

Laut Bloomberg sind Kasinobetreiber in Macau von den Regulierungsbehörden angesprochen worden, um die Möglichkeit zu diskutieren, Chinas CBDC in der populärsten Industrie der Enklave zu nutzen. Als Reaktion darauf haben angeblich mehrere chinesische Unternehmen damit begonnen, ihre Ressourcen an andere Standorte zu verlagern.

Diese chinesischen Unternehmen fungieren in der Regel als Mittelsmänner, die Finanzmittel für High Roller bereitstellen, um sich an Glücksspielen mit hohen Einsätzen auf der Insel zu beteiligen. Tatsächlich machen diese Mittelsmänner fast die Hälfte der Glücksspielindustrie Macaus aus.

Kasinobetreiber sagen, dass diese Mittelsmänner nicht dafür sind, eine regierungsgebundene digitale Währung für Glücksspiele zu verwenden. Typischerweise bieten Junket-Anbieter die Währungsumrechnung in Hongkong-Dollar (HKD) zur Verwendung in Casinos auf der ganzen Insel an. Der chinesische CBDC trägt das Risiko, diese Mittelsmänner im Glücksspielökosystem zu disintermediieren.

Zhou Jinquan, ein außerordentlicher Professor am Center for Gaming and Tourism des Macau Polytechnic Institute, äußerte sich zu den möglichen negativen Auswirkungen der Einführung des digitalen Yuan in die Glücksspielindustrie in Macau:

„Bei breiter Anwendung wird der digitale Yuan sowohl für VIP- als auch für Massensegmente einen bedeutenden Erfolg bringen. Er wird die Privatsphäre der Kunden verletzen und den Wettbetrag auf die potentielle Umrechnungsgrenze des digitalen Yuan in ausländische Währungen beschränken“.

Da das Glücksspiel auf dem chinesischen Festland verboten ist, könnte die Verwendung des digitalen Yuan in Macau auch die Bemühungen Pekings zur Bekämpfung der Geldwäsche auf der Insel weiter vorantreiben. In den letzten Jahren sind die Regulierungsbehörden hart gegen Praktiker auf dem Markt vorgegangen, die seit langem mit illegalen Geldströmen in Verbindung gebracht werden.

In einem Gespräch mit Bloomberg sagte Eric Leong, ein jahrzehntelanger Anbieter von Junket-Dienstleistungen in Macau, dass die Einführung größerer Transparenzmaßnahmen aufgrund der Verwendung des digitalen Yuan die Kasinos zwingen werde, ihre Geschäfte zu schließen.

Peking drängt auf Annahme des DCEP in ganz China

Während der Plan zur Einführung des elektronischen Zahlungssystems in digitaler Währung (Digital Currency Electronic Payment, DCEP) in Macau noch in den Kinderschuhen steckt, signalisiert dieser Schritt Chinas Pläne, eine breit angelegte Nutzung seines CBDC im ganzen Land zu fördern. Der digitale Yuan durchläuft derzeit in vielen Städten eine Reihe von Pilotversuchen.

Bis Ende Oktober hatte die DCEP Zahlungen in Höhe von über 300 Millionen Dollar aus rund 4 Millionen Transaktionen verarbeitet. Chinas Präsident Xi Jinping ruft auch zu einer stärkeren internationalen Zusammenarbeit bei der Entwicklung des CBDC auf.

As decentralized systems, crypto currencies like Bitcoin are difficult to regulate. But an advance by US Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin could do serious damage to the industry.

It sounded like a cry for help. On the morning of November 26, Brian Armstrong, founder and CEO of the Bitcoin Era exchange Coinbase, placed a Twitter thread in which he speculated about new regulatory approaches by the U.S. government. The thread discusses plans of the outgoing U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that could threaten the core of the U.S. crypto industry.

Last week we heard rumors that the U.S. Treasury and Secretary Mnuchin were planning to rush out some new regulation regarding self-hosted crypto wallets before the end of his term. I’m concerned that this would have unintended side effects, and wanted to share those concerns.
– Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) November 25, 2020

Last week, we heard rumors that the U.S. Treasury Department and Secretary of the Treasury Mnukhin is planning to introduce a new regulation regarding crypto-wallets before the end of his term of office. I fear that this could have unwanted side effects and I wanted to share these concerns.
Brian Armstrong, translation of the tweet.

Mnuchin’s Plan

Under the plan, crypto-companies will be required to verify the identity of the owner of self-managed wallets before allowing transfers. This would eliminate Bitcoin’s at least rudimentary anonymity in one fell swoop. Because in the further process, transfers from this wallet can be clearly assigned to a real person.

From an anti-money laundering perspective, this may sound like a plausible request, but in the opinion of the Coinbase CEO, it would have a catastrophic effect on the sector. In the decentralized crypto country, it is therefore difficult to assign a wallet to a real person. Smart contracts, for example, are made up of multiple identities. Coinbase would not be able to fulfill its legal mandate to audit them at all. In addition, customers of Exchanges do not necessarily withdraw their coins on their own wallets. In practice, it is often the case that Exchange BTCs go straight to the account of traders. However, according to the regulations, in such a case the respective user would also be responsible for proving the identity of the trader. A completely impractical system.

Hardly feasible in practice

Another case concerns MultiSig Wallets. Bitcoin, for example, allows the possibility of clearly dividing ownership among a number of parties. For such a so-called MultiSig Wallet then not a single person, but a multiplicity at parties holds a part of the private key. The allocation of clear ownership is thus hardly possible.

Armstrong also criticizes the fact that many users of the stock exchanges come from countries with dysfunctional financial systems. Establishing the identity of this user group is usually difficult, since hardly anyone has an identity card or similar identification documents. And even if one could build a system that would meet the requirements of the legislator, the question remains as to the legitimate interest of crypto users in rudimentary privacy and the protection of property rights. Bitcoiners with a penchant for privacy are hardly likely to be willing to disclose wallets with clear names.

In the worst case scenario, Armstrong fears that the proposed regulation could lead to the crypto industry leaving the US. The introduction of unworkable regulations would present both exchange customers and the exchanges themselves with hardly solvable tasks and could thus lead to the migration of the entire industry. It is therefore understandable that the alarm bells are ringing for stock exchange managers like Armstrong.
KYC: Already common practice in the Netherlands

What came over US exchange operators like bad news is already commonplace elsewhere. In the Netherlands, crypto investors have recently been required to prove that they are the real owner by means of a screenshot of their wallet.