“Bitcoin printed a new record high above $29,000 early Thursday before charting a quick pullback. Despite the minor drop, the number one cryptocurrency by market value is eyeing its third consecutive monthly gain. The cryptocurrency has rallied by over 45% this month alone and is on track to end 2020 with at least a 290% gain.
The price rally puts bitcoin far ahead of traditional assets such as gold and stocks. The yellow metal has gained 25% this year, and the S&P 500, Wall Street’s benchmark index, has added 15%.
The year 2020 will go down in history as the period of bitcoin maturing as a macro asset, with prominent publicly-listed companies such as MicroStrategy diversifying their cash reserves into the cryptocurrency. Most observers expect a continued rally in 2021.
The longer-term economic impacts of COVID are unknown. However, as we’re still in the midst of major economic disruptions and historical volatility, I believe bitcoin/crypto will continue to rise and be at the pinnacle of positive change.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, has gained over 450% this year. The cryptocurrency rose to a 31-month high of $757 on Wednesday.
Ether received a boost from the decentralized finance’s explosive growth in 2020, and stronger gains could be in the offing next year. The CME’s recent announcement to launch ether futures in February is a sign of growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency.”
See Also: Enterprise blockchain trends that will drive adoption in 2021
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“FinCEN wants Americans to report if they have more than $10,000 in cryptocurrencies with foreign financial or virtual asset service providers. It did not provide a timeline for when this new proposal might be published or implemented.
The rule change would appear to bring FBAR rules around crypto holdings in line with cash held outside the U.S. by citizens or other U.S. persons. It could have the most visible impact on users of crypto exchanges like Bitstamp and Bitfinex.
FinCEN announced its intention to amend the Bank Secrecy Act’s Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) regulations in a rulemaking notice published on New Year’s Eve, just three weeks before the Treasury Department’s leadership is expected to change.”
See Also: Proposed FinCen Rule on Crypto Wallets Would Likely Be Ineffective, Elliptic Says
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“From the long-heralded and -awaited arrival of institutional crypto adoption, to the acceleration of digital currency and payments spurred on by the pandemic, to greater regulatory clarity in key jurisdictions like the U.S., 2020 has proven, in my view, to be crypto’s best year yet. As we head into 2021, what can we expect for crypto?
Two macro forces that have powered the ascent this year of crypto assets like bitcoin to yet another new all-time high show little signs of slowing down.
- Outsized government spending and money printing
- U.S.-China economic and geopolitical tension
The growing support for crypto among those concerned with democratic values and the global balance of power could mean we also soon see one of the most positive developments for crypto assets: governments taking a direct role in supporting and even owning crypto assets. FOMO is not something restricted to private-sector market participants, and first mover nation states will gain the most in any race to acquire a new reserve asset.
At the same time, the U.S. and other democractic countries may increasingly come to see permissionless and relatively decentralized blockchain networks as similar to the open internet: a powerful tool in promoting freedom and open society values.”
“The XRP token’s market capitalization has fallen almost $130 billion since its all-time high in 2018. According to Josh Frank of crypto-focused research company The TIE, the project is experiencing a collapse similar to some of the biggest corporate scandals and catastrophes in recent history.
XRP’s market cap has fallen by 93% from $137B to under $10B. That makes the value of the XRP collapse bigger than Enron and Worldcom.
While not a bankruptcy, XRP is effectively the third largest collapse of all time behind Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.”
See Also: EToro USA Becomes Latest Exchange to Suspend XRP Trading
“It allows users to deposit ERC-20 tokens and receive 99.5% worth of deposits as a credit line in the form of yCREDIT tokens. For instance, if a user deposits $100 worth of ETH, they will receive $99.5 worth of yCREDIT. If they burn $100 worth of yCREDIT, then they will receive their ETH back.
Cronje said the protocol is still “experimental” and can be “economically exploited,” meaning users should use it at their own risk.”
The Disrupt 