Cryptocurrency

This article was originally published on U.Today More

This signifies a major win for BlackRock and comes a couple of weeks after U.Today reported that the CEO, Larry Fink, now considers himself a “major Bitcoin believer.” This represents a pivotal shift from his earlier stance on the digital asset. However, Fink claims to have realized that Bitcoin is authentic regardless of some apparent misuse of the world’s leading cryptocurrency.In the meantime, as for its holdings in USD Cash, BlackRock holds a significant 325,375.08 in its portfolio. Based on data, BlackRock witnessed a bullish run in July, as evidenced by the $525.5 million worth of Bitcoin ETF inflows on July 23. Based on analysis, it registered as one of the peak performances for the asset manager.Last month, the company’s spot Ethereum ETF debuted for trading along with eight other companies.Market observers remain keen on seeing how the asset will perform and if its success will mirror that of the Bitcoin ETF. Analysts are betting on BlackRock to invest funds in Ethereum just as it did with Bitcoin. However, they acknowledge that the growth trajectory may be slower.This article was originally published on U.Today More

The guide includes venture capital, ecosystem-wide grants, specialized development grants, community-driven funding initiatives, project-specific grants, and bounties. It also outlines opportunities ranging from small grants to multi-million dollar funds, focusing on areas such as DeFi, gaming, and infrastructure.Specifically, Scytale and Harbour Industrial Capital stood out by providing capital and expertise to speed up Polkadot-based projects. Scytale, which has invested in projects such as Astar and Centrifuge, recently unveiled a dedicated Polkadot Ecosystem Fund.For its part, Harbour focuses on DeFi, NFTs, and metaverse projects, participating through Parachain auctions.Specific projects also have targeted grants. Moonbeam launched a $10 million Moonbeam Innovation Fund to boost development in gaming and real-world assets. And the Acala Grants Program supported a few pre-seed and seed-stage startups integrating with the Acala network, while Aleph Zero offered funding across multiple tracks to support developer innovations.Elsewhere, the Web3 Foundation Grants Program provided funding for software development and research efforts related to Polkadot and Kusama, with the opportunity to win up to 993,286.08 DOT in prizes. “This effort is uniquely funded through Polkadot’s onchain Treasury, which is managed by the network’s token holders through an onchain governance system, OpenGov. Holding over 20 million DOT, the Treasury is dedicated to supporting projects that benefit the Polkadot ecosystem, representing a new paradigm in the decentralized financial agency,” the report further details.Community-driven funding initiatives like Polimec, a decentralized funding protocol, enable stakeholders to participate in funding rounds. Moreover, Polkaport East plans to establish a central hub for Polkadot in Hong Kong, attracting new teams and institutional investors.Polkadot has also introduced bounties to incentivize contributions. The Polkadot DeFi Infrastructure & Tooling Bounty allocated $4 million for developing tools and infrastructure to overcome barriers to Polkadot adoption. Moreover, the Polkadot Games Bounty provides grants to game developers based on milestone achievements.Earlier this year, Polkadot streamlined its governance model to enable simultaneous voting on multiple issues, all directly managed by the community. Staying true to its blockchain reputation, Polkadot, along with its “canary” network Kusama, has taken cues from earlier platforms like Ethereum.  More

Get Good and Get Rewarded in Fortnite, CS2 and Overwatch Perion Labs introduces the all-new XP (NASDAQ:XP).GG, a gaming platform that lets gamers get rewarded by getting good at their favourite games. XP.GG features a Universal Battle Pass integrated across all XP.GG games. XP.GG will launch August 1 with Fortnite. Counter-Strike 2 and Overwatch competitions will begin late August, with more games being added each month. A Universal Battle Pass That Rewards Gamers Gamers can take on challenges in their favourite games designed to sharpen their skills and, in return, level up their Universal Battle Pass. Season 0’s prizes include a $6,000 gaming PC setup, a Fortnite-themed Secret Labs gaming chair, a PS5, $1,000 CS2 knife, and more, totaling over $10,000 in value. Prizes will increase in value each Season as more gamers Get Good and Get Rewarded. Perion Lab’s team of gamers launched an XP.GG prototype in early 2024 to learn what gamers really wanted out of a gaming platform. Prizes started as small as a few hundred VBucks, then increased to gaming consoles. The overwhelming result after thousands of hours of gameplay: gamers want rewards for getting good in the games they already love to play.Gamers can visit XP.GG starting August 1 to sign up and begin earning rewards with Season 0 of the XP Battle Pass in Fortnite. Later in August Counter-Strike 2 and Overwatch competitions will begin. Season 0 includes a special multiplier, where players that reach Level 5 in their Battle Pass will be eligible to receive an attachment for their Battle Pass for following Seasons. Reaching Level 5 in Season 0 grants a 5% multiplier attachment in Season 1, Level 10 grants a 10% multiplier attachment, and so on. Each season attachment will reset and carry over the bonus earned from the previous Season for anyone that signs up and hits level 5 in Season 0. Perion Labs’ mission is to make gaming better by incorporating blockchain, empowering gamers and the gaming industry. Our current project is XP.GG, a one-stop gaming platform where all gamers can experience the best of web3 in their favourite games, along with turnkey monetization for developers, esports teams, creators, and stakeholders. XP.GG TwitterPress KitContactDirector of Marketing and PRBrady NagelPerion LabsBrady@perion.ggThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

StarChain, a pioneering crypto platform dedicated to democratizing scientific data, is launching a $10 million presale to fund the open-beta rollout of its innovative blockchain ecosystem. This initiative aims to revolutionize data accessibility, validation, and collaboration in scientific research.The implications of StarChain’s solution are far-reaching. The decentralized nature eliminates single points of failure, protects against data tampering, and reduces costs associated with data aggregation. Researchers stand to gain from transparent data provenance, faster access to information, automated data validation, and collaborative opportunities.About StarChainStarChain is a cutting-edge crypto project focused on democratizing scientific data, starting with astronomy. Leveraging blockchain and AI, StarChain aims to create a universally accessible, secure, and efficient data ecosystem that fosters innovation and collaboration in scientific research.ContactCFO & AllrounderJennifer BircherStarChainjennifer.bircher@starchain.devThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

As of Aug. 1, 2024, 69.3% of accounts had long positions and 30.7% had short positions, according to Binance’s orders distribution. This indicates a long/short ratio of 2.26. Significantly favoring long positions implies that the best traders think the current decline in Bitcoin is just a temporary setback and anticipate a bounce back. You can get more context by looking at the Bitcoin price chart. Recently the price of Bitcoin fell to the 100 EMA, which is currently acting as a crucial support level at $63,000. In the past, the 100 EMA has been a crucial support level during downtrends. Should Bitcoin manage to maintain its current level of support, this could establish a solid foundation for a future upswing. Still, there are warning indications.The volume has been dropping, which suggests that momentum is waning. Less conviction behind price movements is usually indicated by lower trading volumes, which suggests that if buying interest does not increase, the recent decline may continue. Additionally, the reading on the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which is centered around 50, is neutral. This indicates that there is some uncertainty regarding the direction of the market, and that Bitcoin is neither overbought nor oversold. This price is confirmed as a crucial point to monitor with the EMAs’ convergence at the $63,000 mark. The significant tendency of top traders to hold long positions on Binance suggests that they are placing bets on a price rebound. Their confidence may stem from past performance, which shows that Bitcoin frequently rises after hitting important support levels. This pattern indicates that an upward trajectory for Bitcoin could soon be observed, confirming bullish sentiment.This article was originally published on U.Today More

Sentiment towards crypto markets was largely constrained by fears of a mass sale event by the U.S. government, which was seen mobilizing about $2 billion worth of Bitcoin earlier this week.A boost from crypto-positive promises from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also largely ran dry, after a Bloomberg poll showed Democratic frontrunner Kamala Harris wiped out Trump’s lead in seven battleground states. Bitcoin fell 2% in the past 24 hours to $64,782.8 by 08:55 ET (12:55 GMT)The Fed kept interest rates steady as widely expected on Wednesday, with Chair Jerome Powell flagging more progress towards cooling inflation and a softer labor market.Powell explicitly mentioned the possibility of a September rate cut, especially in the event of more favorable data. His comments triggered a sharp rally on Wall Street.Optimism over the Fed, coupled with positive earnings from the technology sector, kept traders largely biased towards equities, even as the prospect of lower U.S. interest rates presented a positive outlook for crypto.Crypto markets thrive in low-rate environments, as increased liquidity benefits their speculative nature. But beyond U.S. markets, risk appetite in other parts of the globe was less enthusiastic. Japanese markets tumbled after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates and flagged more potential increases on growing resilience in the Japanese economy. The yen surged on the BOJ’s move, which put Bitcoin at a near three-week low against the currency. Increased geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran, also kept risk appetite frail.Large Bitcoin holders increased their coin holdings in July at the fastest rate in years, taking advantage of the market’s two-way price volatility.In a move that reflects their confidence in the cryptocurrency, these holders, defined as addresses with at least 0.1% of BTC’s circulating supply, accumulated over 84,000 BTC, valued at $5.4 billion at the current market price, as reported by blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock and TradingView. This represents the largest single-month accumulation in BTC terms since October 2014.The accumulation trend involved bargain hunting during the early July price dip below $55,000 and intermittent pauses during the subsequent recovery to $69,000. BTC ended July with a 3% gain.The ramp-up points to a strong belief among holders that the prolonged consolidation phase between $50,000 and $70,000 will eventually result in a bullish breakout, continuing the initial rally from $16,000.Likewise, analysts are also increasingly optimistic about bitcoin’s future price movements.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday indicated that interest rates could be cut as soon as September, emphasizing that the decision would depend on economic data supporting renewed liquidity easing. The central bank kept its benchmark interest rate steady in the 5.25%-5.50% range, as expected.”The Fed has been striving for a ‘soft landing,’ and if the data allows them to cut, and it is certainly moving in that direction relative to their forecasts, then we think they will seize the opportunity. We expect officials to start moving monetary policy from ‘restrictive’ territory to ‘slightly less’ restrictive policy from September with additional cuts in November and December,” ING analysts said in a note to clients seen by CoinDesk.Broader crypto markets tracked a decline in Bitcoin, with XRP sliding 5.7% as it reversed course from a recent rally. The token had risen sharply on unfounded rumors that Ripple, the firm that issues XRP, was close to reaching a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over a long-running lawsuit. World no.2 token Ether fell 3.6% to $3,196.25 an ounce, while SOL and ADA lost 6% and 2.5%, respectively.Among meme tokens, DOGE fell 3.9%.  More

Aydin Kilic, President and CEO of HIVE, stated: “We are proud to announce the acquisition of a 100 MW PPA in Paraguay, utilizing green and clean energy sourced from the Itaipu hydroelectric dam. Our team is hard at work to design and commence building an additional 6.5 Exahash per second (EH/s) Bitcoin mining infrastructure, increasing our global EH/s to 12.1 EH/s.” However, we have capped our investment at 100 MW after turning down an additional 150 MW due to unexpected fiscal policy changes. Like many other public miners, we will explore other countries that offer stable capital for key electrical infrastructure, data centers for the global digital economy, U.S. currency income, and transparent fiscal agreements.Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman of HIVE, stated: “Stable fiscal policies are crucial in attracting and maintaining continued foreign direct investment from public companies and U.S. institutional investors. We will continue to advocate for fair treatment for the data center and Bitcoin mining industries, as we have been doing across Canada, the United States, and Sweden. Data centers in Paraguay act as a currency hedge by bringing the government-owned utility millions of stable U.S. dollar revenue monthly. When they are public companies and institutional funds, they have a multifaceted, long-term vision for both their shareholders and to contribute to regional growth and development, providing meaningful employment opportunities, governance, transparency, and fostering education and needed data center skill development for the global digital economy.”Strategic Investment Plans for ParaguayHIVE clarifies its strategic investment plans for Paraguay in response to the recent proposal to impose a discriminatory 14% energy tariff increase on Bitcoin data centers.Mr. Holmes continued, “While we are excited about the opportunities in Paraguay, the proposed energy tariff hike creates uncertainties that impact our long-term investment decisions. We have communicated our concerns with the government and look forward to ongoing discussions to address these challenges. Stable costs and reliable agreement durations are vital to attract foreign public funds. We hope the Government will address these policies to ensure continued investment.”After constructive meetings with key Paraguayan officials in May, HIVE initially planned larger foreign direct investments (FDI), including acquiring land and negotiating PPAs for two potential projects of 100 MW each and another for 50 MW. This investment was anticipated to exceed $250 million, reflecting HIVE’s confidence in Paraguay’s vision and leadership. However, the proposed 14% energy tariff increase, combined with short-term contract durations and a lack of clarity on energy pricing, has led to a reduction in our investment and a delay in our HPC data center strategy with our suite of Nvidia GPU chips needed to participate in the AI boom.A 100 MW project needs to attract substantial Foreign Direct Investment into Paraguay and provide essential capital to convert high-voltage electricity into usable power for manufacturing and households. Electricity payments from HIVE would provide a stable U.S. dollar benefit exceeding $100 million over three years, offering reliable monthly income in addition to assisting in building out the electricity infrastructure. This provides a synthetic U.S. dollar hedge that banks couldn’t match. Further, the cost of the required electrical infrastructure for stepping down from high voltage power for industrial and residential use is estimated to be around $16 million creating local jobs. Today, our local contractor said we will soon be mobilizing around 80 construction workers for the initial work.The Paraguayan guaraní has depreciated approximately 36% against the U.S. dollar over the past five years and about 16% in the past year, supporting the importance of stable foreign investments and U.S. Dollar income for Paraguay’s economic stability and growth.Mr. Holmes highlighted as a global money manager: “Research supports the fact that increased electrical infrastructure drives faster economic growth. Studies by the World Bank and the IEA emphasize that investments in electricity infrastructure are crucial for economic development, enhancing productivity, industrial growth, and quality of life.”HIVE is not alone in its cautious approach. Other public Bitcoin mining companies gathered at the largest Bitcoin conference last week in Nashville and said they are similarly reassessing their investment plans in Paraguay due to the proposed tariff increase and contract constraints. This collective response at the conference in Nashville, where former President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. both endorsed the importance of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining in their political campaign for the US Presidential election this year, only illustrates the need for stable government fiscal policies to attract and sustain crucial foreign capital investments from public mining companies and institutional funds.HIVE’s approach, based on a transparent ‘Return on Invested Capital’ (ROIC) model, supports sustainable investment and community engagement, as evidenced by our successful operations in Sweden and Canada. We value the opportunity to contribute to Paraguay’s economic growth and remain committed to fostering a conducive environment for business and investment. More