Shanghai’s Chongming District People’s Court presided over a case where the defendant was charged with mining cryptocurrencies. According to court documents, the…
Geely Holding sold over 2.2 million vehicles in 2021, including 698,693 Volvo cars.
On Tuesday, privacy blockchain Concordium and Geely Holding, a Chinese multinational automotive car company that owns brands such as Volvo, announced the creation of a joint blockchain venture with headquarters in Wuxi, China. The project aims to develop blockchain technologies and improve blockchain standards, mainly in the automotive industry.
Since establishing the joint venture last February, Geely Holding has created a Digital Technology Sector, or DTS, subsidiary to invest in cutting-edge technologies, including blockchain. Moreover, the two entities plan to offer businesses and customers access to new blockchain platform-based business models and decentralized applications. DTS has already developed blockchain services, such as a digital asset management platform and a blockchain traceability platform, and deployed into Geely’s automotive products.
Daniel Donghui Li, CEO of Geely Holding, said: “The in-depth cooperation between Geely Holding and Wuxi Economic Development District in the field of blockchain technologies will help accelerate the development of the blockchain industry in Wuxi.” Meanwhile, Lars Seier Christensen, chairman of the Concordium Foundation, added:
“We will do our utmost to contribute with our blockchain technology to benefit enterprises and start-up companies throughout China.”
Concordium is a blockchain integrating both privacy with accountability through its ID layer. The company says that its protocol-level ID ensures that every wallet is associated with a real-world identity verified through a third-party ID provider. Meanwhile, it leverages zero-knowledge proofs to ensure the anonymity of transactions. The platform’s native payment coin, known as CCD, is used for paying transaction fees, staking, as a reward for node operators and as collateral or settlement for its decentralized finance protocols.
“Innovation is going to flow to where it can thrive the most, and actively trying to block it is going to encourage it to head elsewhere,” said Sheila Warren.
Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation and former head of data, blockchain and digital assets at the World Economic Forum, said the digital yuan may present certain challenges for the United States. However, regulators and lawmakers may want consider how to encourage digital innovation, as China is already “massively tech forward” for its residents.
Speaking to Cointelegraph during Austin’s SXSW festival, Warren said that though she believed China’s digital yuan was unlikely to significantly affect retail payments in the United States, the adoption of the technology surrounding it could impact the dollar’s global dominance. The CCI CEO added that the Federal Reserve could make a “strong move” in preserving the dollar’s role by introducing a central bank digital currency with wholesale use cases. However, China’s rollout of the e-CNY might help set a standard for retail payments regardless of whether other countries adopt the digital currency.
“American exceptionalism is not something we can cling to anymore — not with the rise of what’s happening in Asia, Africa, and around the globe.” said Warren. “Innovation is going to flow to where it can thrive the most, and actively trying to block it is going to encourage it to head elsewhere.”
She added:
“These things are going to get built. The question is where do we want them to be geographically located and under what legal, regulatory, and sociocultural systems, which will prioritize certain kinds of applications and models over others.”
Warren said that certain parts of the U.S. were embracing an innovation-friendly regulatory and business models, including Miami, Austin, and areas of Colorado. U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent executive order establishing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies could be a “massive driver” of jobs and innovation, according to the CCI CEO.
“We need every [U.S.] city to be embracing an innovation mindset,” said Warren. “That’s what’s happening in many parts of Asia, [where] every city is evaluating everything all the time.”
Related: Blockchain Association policy head: US shouldn’t compete with China’s CBDC using surveillance tools
Warren explored central bank digital currencies and promoted the adoption of blockchain technology during her time at the World Economic Forum, leaving in February to become CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation. The alliance of firms includes Coinbase, Gemini, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Block.
WeChat removed several accounts for digital collectible platforms for violating the policy of illegal trade, while Ant Group and Tencent-owned NFT platforms updated their user agreements.
China’s leading social media platforms and internet giants have updated their policy to restrict or remove nonfungible token (NFT) platforms, citing a lack of regulatory clarity and fearing government crackdown.
Chinese social media giant WeChat reportedly removed several digital collectible platform accounts for violations of the rules. Digital collection platform Xihu No.1, one of the hyped NFT projects in the market, was among the removed platforms. Another platform called Dongyiyuandian revealed that its official app has been banned, reported a local daily.
WhaleTalk, a digital collectible platform launched by tech giant Ant group, also updated its policy to increase the penalty for using an over-the-counter (OTC) desk for trading NFTs. It is important to note that even though NFTs are not necessarily banned, any form of speculative trading associated with the digital collectible derived tokens is still prohibited. An excerpt from the Google-translated report read:
“Under the background that the compliance of digital collections is not clear, many platforms have begun to actively crackdown on violations to prevent further fermentation of related behaviors.”
The rise in the number of illegal transactions and bot purchases associated with the NFT platforms has prompted several tech giants to take precautionary measures. During the blanket ban on crypto announced in September 2021, any firms found aiding crypto transactions or foreign crypto firms were held accountable. Thus, these firms’ recent actions and changes in user agreement policies seem to be done to avoid government crackdown.
Related: Chinese companies embark on a metaverse trademark race
While cryptocurrencies are strictly prohibited in mainland China, the Beijing government had shown no intention of banning NFTs. This was one of the key reasons for the likes of Tencent and Alibaba to file several new NFT patents over the past year. However, the rising popularity of digital collectibles in China has also made it prone to price speculations and frauds.
Bitcoin avoids another “Bart” style price spike this weekend, but what’s the mood like on the market going forward? Here are five potential Bitcoin price topics to consider.
Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week on a tentatively stronger footing as macro cues curiously stabilize.
After a calmer weekend than most recently, BTC/USD managed to seal its highest weekly close since February, casting off concerns that an imminent bout below $40,000 could enter.
Instead, conditions are beginning to favor a more bullish perspective on shorter timeframes, but as ever, nothing is certain — bulls need to tackle resistance and flip it to support, beginning with levels just north of $42,000, a case of “so near yet so far” for the market this month.
Signs that belief is heating up again nonetheless come from increasing activity in stablecoin markets, and as such, truly bearish takes on what lies ahead are now few and far between.
As global markets stage a miraculous recovery after weeks of war-based nerves, Cointelegraph takes a look at what could impact Bitcoin in the coming week.
It may seem “crazy,” markets commentator Holger Zschaepitz said this weekend, but it appears that in just one month, markets are beginning to forget the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
What was the main trigger for volatility in previous weeks is becoming an increasingly impotent market mover after the shock of sanctions came and went, he says.
While its implications are far from fully apparent, the current geopolitical reality is nonetheless increasingly unnoticeable on equities markets, which are now trending up with a focus on policy changes in China.
Chinese equities took a pummeling this year, led by tech stocks on the back of government pressure, but a seeming about-turn to shore up stability in Beijing is already having its desired effect.
Where Asia leads, Europe and the United States follow this week — markets are heading higher, and in the case of Europe’s Stoxx 600 have already eradicated losses engendered by the war.
“Global stocks have gained ~$5tn in mkt cap this wk on potential for wave of stimulus in China & oversold stock prices,” Zschaepitz noted Monday.
“Investors shrugged off ongoing war in Ukraine & rising rates. US 10y yields have jumped 10bps to 2.15%. All stock now worth $112.4tn, equal to 133% of global GDP.”
Should the good news continue, attention will return to Bitcoin’s correlation with stock markets, and in particular those in the U.S., as a potential pretext for price strength.
As noted by trading suite Decentrader last week, the correlation paradigm is yet to be broken.
“Price action has been in lockstep with legacy markets since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began with a high correlation visible throughout the period, demonstrating that Bitcoin remains a risk-off asset during uncertain times,” analyst Filbfilb wrote in a market report.
What would it take to break the spell? Investors may need to wait longer than the coming week to find out, but break it should, according to former BitMEX CEO, Arthur Hayes.
“As you can see, Bitcoin is currently tied at the hip with big tech risk assets,” he wrote in a Medium post released last week.
“If we believe nominal rates will go higher and cause an equities bear market and an economic recession, Bitcoin will follow big tech into the latrine. The only way to break this correlation is a narrative shift on what makes Bitcoin valuable. A rip roaring bull market in gold in the face of rising nominal rates and global stagflation will break this relationship.”
Bitcoin managed to end the week with an impressive “engulfing candle,” which took the weekly chart to a one-month high close.
Still about $41,000 despite attempts to send the market south at the last minute, the largest cryptocurrency is thus on a firmer footing as March continues.
#BTC is mere hours away from confirming a bullish engulfing Weekly candle
This engulfing candle encompasses the previous 3 weeks’ worth of price action for Bitcoin$BTC #Crypto #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/n279Y7ue3q
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) March 20, 2022
All is not as straightforward as it seems, however, and nervous analysts are still concerned about a possible spate of weakness coming up.
Despite the strong close, for example, the weekly chart nonetheless saw a form of so-called “death cross” last week, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows.
Formed when a shorter-timeframe moving average crosses under a longer one — normally the 50-period under the 200-period but in this case the 20-period under the 50-period — such chart phenomena tend to signal upcoming weakness.
Be that as it may, however, lower timeframes are not without their bullish cues.
As noted by popular Twitter account BTCfuel, BTC/USD attacking the 100-period moving average on the daily chart is cause for optimism and mimics a structure from way back in 2012.
“After falling below the MA’s, Bitcoin is now challenging the 100D MA (red),” he explained alongside comparative charts.
“This is 33 bars after the bearish cross happened, very similar to 2012. A bullish cross should follow soon after that.”
The “softly-softly” approach is very much in favor for a market still moving within a range with firmly-defined resistance levels, however, and these should be firmly squashed before a genuine trend change is confirmed.
That was the opinion of analyst Matthew Hyland this weekend, with $42,600 the first area to beat for bulls.
If #Bitcoin can successfully break $42.6k it will likely head up to the $46k area
If it gets rejected here then the $40.3k area which was previous resistance would have to be used as support again: pic.twitter.com/ZcmKajSziP
— Matthew Hyland (@MatthewHyland_) March 20, 2022
As Cointelegraph reported, popular consensus argues that Bitcoin has in fact been sideways ranging not just this year, but all of last year as well.
With $29,000 and $69,000 as the limits of the range, price action in between is thus just consolidation, various well-known commentators claim.
Nonetheless, after 15 months, questions are now being raised about whether Bitcoin needs to be reevaluated within the context of one of its best-known traits: the four-year price cycle.
Based on the block subsidy halving which occurs once every 210,000 blocks — roughly every four years — halvings have historically had a predictable impact on price performance.
Bull market peaks, for example, have occurred the year after a halving, with bearish corrections following, before the process slowly repeats.
This time has been decisively different, as the end of 2021 failed to see the same blow-off top witnessed in 2013 and 2017.
“We’re likely seeing the first signs of ‘The Last Cycle’ thesis playing out,” popular analyst and statistician Willy Woo announced this week.
“3 relatively short bull and bear markets have transpired since the 2019 bottom already. i.e. No more 4 year cycles.”
Woo’s thesis revolves around the disintegration of the blow-off top as a feature of each halving cycle. Far from a bearish feature, however, he says that price action will simply become less predictable as supply and demand forces ramp up.
We’re likely seeing the first signs of “The Last Cycle” thesis playing out. 3 relatively short bull and bear markets have transpired since the 2019 bottom already.
i.e. No more 4 year cycles. https://t.co/N3VzlKx2IA
— Willy Woo (@woonomic) March 20, 2022
As such, measuring BTC/USD against its latest all-time high — and its potential to beat it — may no longer provide an accurate depiction of market strength or capability.
While similar to the so-called “supercycle” championed by names including Kraken growth lead Dan Held, not everyone agrees that the cycle-based price phases are no more.
“Don’t quite agree. If we get a parabolic/blow off 5th wave there will be an equally aggressive drop that follows. But generally, yes, we can expect higher lows and higher highs to be put in over time of course,” popular Twitter account Credible Crypto responded to Woo when he unveiled the idea in October.
Look no further than behind-the-scenes moves on stablecoins to assess the chances of a bullish continuation occurring on crypto markets.
Interaction with U.S. dollar stablecoins in particular, these holding the lion’s share of the market, are a key indicator of overall interest in crypto, and their trajectory is now pointing clearly upwards.
As explained by on-chain analytics firm Santiment, two days last week saw more active Tether (USDT) addresses than at any other time this year or last.
“As Bitcoin wavers around $41k, Tether is indicating big moves may be coming for crypto,” it commented.
“Thursday (83k) and Saturday (74k) had the two largest days of 2022, in terms of addresses interacting on the network. Keep an eye on this diminishing stagnancy.”
The largest USD stablecoin, Tether’s market cap now stands at over $83 billion.
A hint of good news is surfacing in crypto market sentiment this week.
Related: Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, LUNA, AVAX, ETC, EGLD
After a fresh dive into “extreme fear” which lasted most of March, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has risen back to its “fear” zone.
At 31/100 on Sunday, the Index measured its highest since March 4, and points to the worst of the macro-based cold feet among investors — at least temporarily — being alleviated.
Feels good to wake up Monday morning and see that #Bitcoin didn’t sell back down into the 30s like usual. Still above 40k. Sentiment starting to shift… https://t.co/TIrJprHmxW
— Steve ⚡ (@decodejar) March 20, 2022
Last week, by contrast, the picture was far gloomier, with research arguing that sentiment could hardly be much lower than it was.
Discussing market composition, meanwhile, the dedicated Fear & Greed Index Newsletter last week highlighted the ongoing struggle between bulls and bears at current levels.
“The bears have a built a fortress between $40,100 and $42,600,” it read, assessing the need for an “incremental” reassertion of force by bulls up to $42,600.
“This breach would wipe out the bears entirely and break their spirit. It’s not an easy task, but if the bulls plan on recapturing their momentum, this would have to be done,” it added.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
A symmetrical triangle shows support at $38,000 but pro traders have failed to add leverage long positions, according to exchanges’ data.
Bitcoin (BTC) has been trapped in a symmetrical triangle for 56 days and the trend change could last until early-May, according to price technicals.
Currently, the support level stands at $38,000, while the triangle resistance for daily close stands at $43,600.
The week started with a positive achievement for the Bitcoin network as the Lightning Network capacity reached a record-high 3,500 BTC. This solution allows extremely cheap and instant transactions on a secondary layer, known as off-chain processing.
After cryptocurrency mining activities were banned in China in 2021, publicly-listed companies in the United States and Canada attracted most of this processing power.
In result, Bitcoin’s hash has recovered dramatically since the summer. It’s currently at all-time highs at over 200 EH/s. According to the Cambridge Bitcoin electricity consumption index, 45% of the global hash rate derives from North America.
Furthermore, Whit Gibbs, the founder and CEO of Compass Mining, stated that “public mining companies definitely have an advantage when it comes to holding Bitcoin because they have access to the capital markets.” In addition, there is less selling pressure as miners’ reserves have been steadily increasing.
Meanwhile, searches for “Bitcoin” on Google are nearing their lowest levels in 12 months. This indicator could partially explain why Bitcoin is 41% below its $69,000 all-time high, i.e. public interest is low. Still, one needs to analyze how professional traders are positioning themselves, and there’s no better gauge than derivatives markets.
Still, one needs to analyze how professional traders are positioning themselves, and there’s no better gauge than derivatives markets.
Related: Crypto miner Hut 8 posts record revenue as BTC holdings surge 100%
The top traders’ long-to-short net ratio excludes externalities that might have impacted specific derivatives instruments. By analyzing these top clients’ positions on the spot, perpetual and futures contracts, one can better understand whether professional traders are leaning bullish or bearish.
There are occasional methodological discrepancies between different exchanges, so viewers should monitor changes instead of absolute figures.
Bitcoin might have jumped 8% since March 13, but professional traders did not increase their bullish bets according to the long-to-short indicator. For instance, Huobi’s top traders’ ratio slightly decreased from 1.10 to the current 1.06 level.
Moreover, OKX data shows those traders reducing their longs from 1.26 to 1.03 significantly reducing their longs. Binance was the only exception, as top traders increased their longs from 1.05 to 1.13. Still, there has been a slight 0.06 decrease across the three major exchanges on average.
From the perspective of the metrics discussed above, there is hardly any sense that Bitcoin price will flip bullish in the short-term. Data suggests that pro traders have reduced their long positions, as expressed by the basis rate and long-to-short ratio.
Moreover, the broader Google search trend signals retail interest is not picking up despite high inflation data and global socio-political uncertainties. For now, the odds of the symmetrical triangle breaking for the upside seem dim.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.
On March 16, Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitmex, published a blog post called “Energy Cancelled,” which describes the economics behind the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Hayes explains in his 26-minute long opinion piece that historians may point to February 26, 2022, as the time in history when the “Petro Dollar / Euro […]
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz says bitcoin is a great alternative and a lifeline to people in countries with poor stewardship of the economy. He expects the price of the cryptocurrency to hit $500K. “We see an adoption cycle that accelerates … going viral everywhere,” he said. Bitcoin Is a ‘Great Alternative’ in Some Economies […]
The application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) manufacturer Canaan has revealed the firm is offering a stock buyback for up to $100 million. Canaan’s chairman and CEO Nangeng Zhang highlighted in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that the move was due to issues with “recent international frictions” and “domestic quarantine measures for Covid-19 control.” […]
Yao Qian predicted that Web3 will reorganize the organizational form and business model of the Internet economy and offer a level playing field for all.
The director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission Yao Qian has called for a special focus on Web3, deeming it to be the future of the internet.
Yao published an article titled “Web 3.0: A New Generation of Internet that is Approaching,” talking about the significance of the evolving tech and how the world is at a crucial transition from Web2 to Web3.
The article talked about the significance of forward-looking research and strategic infrastructure development. Yao predicted that Web3 will reconstruct the organizational form and business model of the Internet economy and is expected to greatly improve the existing Internet ecosystem,
Related: Republican lawmakers introduce bill targeting China’s CBDC on sanctions, privacy
The Chinese regulatory executive believes Web3 will effectively solve the problems of monopoly, lack of privacy protection, and malicious algorithms in the Web2 era, and make the Internet more open, inclusive, and secure. Yao called Web3 a three-dimensional holographic internet that would be inclusive and interconnected.
An excerpt from the Google translated article read,
“On the one hand, Web 3.0 can realize the self-management of identities on the user side, and on the other hand, it can also realize the self-management of addresses on the network resource side, truly realizing the disintermediation of the end-to-end access process”
While China maintains a blanket ban approach towards digital currencies, the country is quite bullish on the underlying technology of blockchain and now Web3 infrastructure seems to be the next big tech in focus for the nation.
It is also important to note that China is not necessarily a big believer in decentralization or distribution of power. This is evident from their central bank digital currency development program, which is a blockchain-based digital currency, but the tech is highly centralized with the central government controlling every aspect of it.