Aurelia Butler

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    in Cryptocurrency

    The Central African Republic to Open an Island to Attract Crypto Talent

    The news comes exactly one month after the Central African Republic became the second country in the world to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. “The formal economy is no longer an option” the President of CAR asserted in his Monday statement.The island of Sango already has a website through which those interested in the new crypto hub can join a waitlist. According to Sango Island’s official leaflet, there will be a lot of innovative perks for investors, including:Developing Countries Striving for InnovationIt is worth mentioning that the Central African Republic has received a lot of inspiration from countries like Malta and Portugal, where the environment for crypto has been very welcoming. However, it will not be easy to achieve stability, as El Salvador has demonstrated by example. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a staunch critic of the attempts by El Salvador and other impoverished countries to be at the forefront of innovation.This signals an improvement in the approach of the global market, as international organizations are starting giving crypto the green light in developing countries. The measures are also appealing to the citizens of such nations who live in poverty, as they have much to gain from the infrastructure and systems being implemented correctly.Continue reading on DailyCoin More

  • 100 Shares179 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Ergo’s SigUSD Stablecoin Maintains Peg Despite Market Volatility

    Next-generation smart contract platform Ergo provides a stablecoin solution amid the crashing market where stablecoins play a major role. In detail, SigmaUSD protocol (SigUSD) is a decentralized crypto-backed, algorithmic stablecoin. It is entirely on-chain and non-custodial, a factor that eliminates trust issues and backdoor manipulations.Furthermore, SigUSD has a crypto reserve that protects its value. It has two funding sources: the users trading ERG for SigUSD and the people trading ERG for the reserve token. This pool of ERG works to over-collateralize the stable asset, SigUSD, and absorb ERG’s volatility.Specifically, it is collateralized by several hundred percent, and the holders of the token can clearly see the reserve ratio to understand …Continue reading on CoinQuora More

  • 125 Shares179 Views

    in Economy

    China’s premier issues stark warning on economy as growth stalls

    China’s premier has said the world’s second-largest economy could struggle to record positive growth in the current quarter, urging officials to help companies resume production after Covid-19 lockdowns.The comments by Li Keqiang, to tens of thousands of officials on an internal videocast on Wednesday, underscore the difficulties President Xi Jinping’s administration will have in reaching its annual growth target of 5.5 per cent while also battling Omicron outbreaks.The last time China’s growth entered negative territory was when output plunged 6.9 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic ended an era of uninterrupted growth dating back more than 30 years.Xi’s contentious zero-Covid policy has brought business activity to a halt in Shanghai, China’s largest city, as well as swaths of Beijing and dozens of smaller municipalities. Millions of people in Shanghai have been confined to their homes for two months or longer.“We will try to make sure the economy grows in the second quarter,” said Li, according to a transcript that the Financial Times verified with three people briefed on the premier’s remarks. “This is not a high target and a far cry from our 5.5 per cent goal. But we have to do so.”For the first quarter of this year, China recorded 4.8 per cent annual growth in gross domestic product. Li added that the economy was “to some degree worse than” it had been at the start of the pandemic in early 2020, noting that unemployment for people aged 16 to 24 had reached a historic high of 18.2 per cent while the jobless rate for migrant workers was also up sharply. A condensed version of the premier’s comments, including his call to achieve “reasonable growth”, was carried on Chinese state television’s main evening news broadcast.Li urged the officials in attendance, including vice-premiers Liu He and Han Zheng and central bank governor Yi Gang, to help companies resume production.“Progress is not satisfactory,” the premier said. “Some provinces are reporting that only 30 per cent of businesses have reopened . . . The ratio must be raised to 80 per cent within a short period of time.”Li added that corporate liquidation had soared more than 23 per cent year on year in April when the whole of Shanghai entered a full lockdown that affected commercial operations across eastern China. Largely private sector small- and medium-sized enterprises, which account for half or more of government revenues, economic output and employment, have been hit the hardest.According to the transcript, Li did not mention Xi’s zero-Covid strategy but reiterated the importance of prevention. “We must ensure both the smooth functioning of supply chains and Covid-prevention are both achieved,” he said, adding that “many SMEs and local authorities told me their worst days have come”.The National Bureau of Statistics reported last week that retail sales had fallen 11 per cent year on year last month. Another growth engine, industrial production, declined 3 per cent over the same period — its first decline since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020.According to Li, power generation, freight transport and new bank loans all fell in the first half of May.On May 20, China’s central bank cut its five-year loan prime rate, used to price mortgages, from 4.6 per cent to 4.45 per cent. China’s real estate industry, which accounts for about 30 per cent of total economic output, was suffering even before this spring’s outbreaks and lockdowns in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities.Jilin, a large agricultural region in north-eastern China, has been one of the worst-affected provinces. Li said grain output could “barely” match demand and warned of “huge problems” if the summer grain harvest was poor.Li also said that several provinces had appealed to the central government for financial assistance, but implied that Beijing’s resources were limited. “I am here to let you know my bottom line,” Li said. “There is a reserve fund managed by the premier. Other than that, local governments must raise funds [on your own].”Li did not specify the size of the fund. More

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    in Economy

    Swiss National Bank chairman says global monetary policy moving into tightening phase – magazine

    “It’s a new situation, for the first time since 2008, we are seeing monetary policy moving toward tightening in most currency areas,” Jordan told the magazine in an article to be published on Friday.”We are moving into an unpleasant situation for monetary policy: inflation is already high globally and is even rising in many countries, while at the same time economic activity is weakening worldwide,” he said.The magazine said the comments hinted at a change from the ultra-expansive course the SNB has followed in recent years, marked by the world’s lowest interest rate and large-scale currency interventions to stem the rise of the Swiss franc.The SNB declined comment on the magazine’s interpretation when asked by Reuters.This week SNB governing board member Andrea Maechler said the central bank would not hesitate to tighten policy should inflation in Switzerland remain persistently high.April saw the highest inflation rate in Switzerland for 14 years, with prices rising by 2.5%, outside the SNB’s target range of 0-2%.Still Swiss inflation remains much lower than in 8.5% level in the United States and 7.4% in the eurozone.The SNB is due to give its next policy update on June 16, where it would include the impact of higher inflation rates abroad in its assessment, Jordan told Bilanz.”We will, of course, analyze and take into account the impact of the sharp rise in global inflation on Switzerland,” he said. More

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    in Economy

    IMF's Gopinath does not see a global sovereign debt crisis yet

    DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – While government debt levels are climbing around the world, with debt burdens in emerging markets rising rapidly, so far there is not evidence of a systemic debt crisis, but there are risks ahead, International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday.”As yet we do not see a systemic sovereign debt crisis,” she told a panel at the World Economic Forum here, but the risk ahead is “salient.” More

  • 138 Shares129 Views

    in Cryptocurrency

    Crypto lender Babel Finance valued at $2 billion after latest fundraising

    Investors who participated in the Series B financing round include Jeneration Capital, Circle Ventures and 10T Holdings, joined by existing backers Dragonfly Capital and BAI Capital. A number of family offices in the Asia-Pacific regions joined the round as well, Babel said. The firm had raised $40 million in its previous round, a year earlier.Babel, whose major businesses are crypto lending and trading, limits itself to bitcoin, ethereum and stablecoins, it said. The firm has a clientele of 500 customers and had ended last year with $3 billion of loan balances on its balance sheet. “The crypto financial market is full of opportunities and hidden risks,” co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Del Wang said, adding that Babel is focused on the long-term development of the crypto industry instead of short-term profits. The firm said it has applied for business licenses in Hong Kong, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, among others. Babel’s latest capital raise follows a punishing slide in the value of cryptocurrencies in recent weeks, with bitcoin losing more than a third of its value in two months.Investors, however, seem unfazed by the market rout and are seeing potential opportunities in the industry. Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz raised $4.5 billion for its fourth crypto fund on Wednesday and said it intends to invest in Web3 startups. More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Watch These Three Up-And-Coming Creative Coins: STEPN (GMT), ApeCoin (APE), and Calyx Token (CLX)

    STEPN (GMT) STEPN (GMT) is a very recent project, having launched only over a month ago, which aims to develop a community-centric and Web3.0-based fitness and lifestyle application.STEPN experienced a highly successful market launch, and understandably. STEPN managed to create a platform where physical effort is gamified AND rewarded.Rewards are denominated in STEPN’s native currency, Green Metaverse Token, or GMT, which can easily be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies, or even fiat money, on most established cryptocurrency exchanges. No wonder it experienced such an explosive start!For anyone interested in taking part in this exciting initiative, it is advised to head towards STEPN’s official website or download the STEPN app available on the App Store. Once downloaded, users will be given the possibility to mint a pair of NFT-based sneakers, which you will then be able to use to walk, jog, run, or perform any other foot-based activity and generate real-time GMT returns as you do it!One caveat to this idyllic image: most of these sneaker NFTs currently cost around $1,000… some of us will therefore have to wait a little bit before reaping the benefits of walking-based passive income.But it remains, STEPN is a project with a compelling vision that has been able to cement a strong community in a matter of weeks. After experiencing a stellar 1,500% performance post-IPO, GMT has now lost some steam and can be bought for around $2.50.ApeCoin (APE) Just like STEPN, ApeCoin (APE) is another project that launched a couple of weeks ago and has generated four-digit returns following its market launch – a real millionaire-maker for those visionary or lucky enough to get in early. Following its listing, ApeCoin immediately became one of the top 10 most traded ERC-20 tokens, with significant activity being noticed among the 1,000 largest Ethereum wallets, indicating major whale support for this cryptocurrency.And understandably, as ApeCoin claims to become the official currency of the entire APE ecosystem, which already includes the highly-coveted BAYC NFT collection and its underlying community of celebrities and other ultra-wealthy individuals.Yuga Labs’ Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) is still one of the most popular NFT collections ever created. This popularity can be explained by the fact that owning a Bored Ape NFT isn’t just any NFT ownership – owning a Bored Ape is like holding a blockchain-based, unfalsifiable VIP ticket to exclusive events taking place in prestigious mansions or yachts with world-famous personalities.Going back to ApeCoin, the cryptocurrency is said to give you access to exclusive games and services within the APE ecosystem and represents voting rights within ApeDAO, Apecoin’s Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO).APE is currently trading at $13.35, down over 7.50% in the previous 24 hours, indicating a better-valued price level for those seeking indirect exposure to the APE ecosystem and the BAYC collection.Calyx Token (CLX) Calyx Token (CLX) is an emerging permissionless liquidity protocol that has recently initiated a presale for its native Ethereum-based cryptocurrency, CLX.As a launching project currently scrutinised by crypto investors, Calyx Token distinguishes itself from the pack of other presages through two aspects: (1) low transaction costs and (2) its community-centric approach.In terms of the deliverables that the project is currently working on, Calyx will deploy a decentralised exchange (DEX) called CalyxSwap, along with a DAO named CalyxDAO within its ecosystem.Using CalyxDAO, CLX tokens will be used as a tool to empower the Calyx community, ensuring equal representation of goals in order to support the Calyx ecosystem’s future growth. This community participation is also expected to contribute to keeping the Calyx ecosystem stable and secure.As with ApeCoin, CLX tokens will confer their holders the power to vote on strategic decisions as well as submit proposals that are believed to have the potential to benefit the Calyx ecosystem.Lastly, in an attempt to provide users and traders with the best price and quickest transactions at all times, CalyxSwap will be deployed on 5 major blockchains: first Ethereum (ETH), and following with Polygon (MATIC), Fantom (FTM), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Avalanche (AVAX).Find out more information on Calyx Token Telegram, Instagram or Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). You can also find more about presale here.Continue reading on DailyCoin More

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    in Cryptocurrency

    Crypto: Can Bitcoin Help Developing Countries Out of Poverty?

    The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is underway and leaders across the world are sharing their insights on the state of the global economy. Deputy Managing Director of the IMF Gita Gopinath stated in a panel discussion earlier today that the world has very divergent recoveries following the aftermath of the pandemic.“Advanced economies will get back to where they would have been in the absence of the pandemic by 2024. Basically no output losses there,” says the economist. “But emerging economies and developing economies will be at 5% below where they would have been in the absence of the pandemic.” More