Small Investors Can Now Own 1 Full BTC

Small Investors Can Now Own 1 Full BTC

by | Jun 22, 2022 | Bitcoin, News

Small-time investors have the opportunity to realize their dreams of owning at minimum 1 Bitcoin, with BTC trading in the $20,000 area for the first time since 2020.

Bitcoin trading in the $20k range

Investors around the world have been chasing one of the total 21 million BTC since the early days of Bitcoin (BTC). This massive hysteria has been caused by the phenomenal interest in the cryptocurrency and the widespread acceptance of the internet in the last few years.

After hitting another all-time high in November 2021, when bitcoin’s price reached almost $69,000, the leading cryptocurrency has been declining in value ever since. In May 2022, the bear market has been confirmed, and it involves not only the cryptocurrency market, but the most important financial markets. The crypto market is now more tied to the stock market than ever, as more institutional investors have joined in 2021. 

While many online celebrities have been raising concerns and painting a gloomy future for bitcoin, some see it as an opportunity to become a bitcoin owner. 

BTC trading in the $20,000 area for the first time since 2020 gives small-time investors the opportunity to realize their goal of owning a minimum of 1 BTC. According to Glassnode, there has been a significant increase in the total number of Bitcoin addresses containing 1 BTC or more. These have increased by over 13,000 in June. 

Small Investors Can Now Own 1 Full BTC

The total number of addresses that hold 1 BTC has seen an immediate decrease in the days ahead, but the Reddit crypto community continues to welcome new crypto investors who have worked hard to become wholecoiners.

New investors become wholecoiners

Some Reddit users even share their stories about how they saved enough to accumulate 1BTC and share screenshots of their achievements. 

This Reddit user, arbalest_22 said that he spent approximately $35,000 to accumulate 1 BTC. He continues to support the Bitcoin ecosystem by pledging to procure Satoshis and sats until his total of 2 BTC. The ultimate goal of this user, and those who contributed to the discussion is to have tax-free income. 

Other users say that they were able to become wholesalers by using the dollar-cost-average strategy. This dollar-cost-averaging (DCA) requires investors to regularly buy smaller amounts of BTC over a longer time.

According to Glassnode data, the total number of Bitcoin wallet addresses that hold more than 1 BTC increased is around 800,000.

Although falling BTC prices can be seen as an opportunity for investment, Google search trends highlight the tendency of other investors to speculate about its future.

Is it time to buy the Bitcoin dip?

After weeks of unrelenting selloffs, the Google search results show that cryptocurrency markets are experiencing peak anxiety.

After the comments of the United States Federal Reserve on the inflation outlook, nerves were high in crypto markets. The sell-off began at the beginning of June 2022. 

Bitcoin lost the $20,000 psychologically significant mark. It also crosses another negative milestone, as it kept falling below the previous halving cycle’s highest for the first time ever in its history.

BTC/USD suffered 37% losses in the first two weeks, making June 2022 the worst month for Bitcoin.

The pair has traded almost 60% lower year-to-date. This is 70% less than the record high of $69,000 set in November last year.

According to cryptocurrency analysts, Bitcoin needs a higher volume and volatility to match volume levels from previous bear market bottoms, at the 200 MA (200-week moving average), a key lifelong support line.

The US stock market seems to recover and the S&P had its second-best week of 2022, which indicates a modest relief across risk assets. Everyone is looking at Bitcoin’s 200-week MA, which is the major indicator that gives the average price of Bitcoin over the last 200 weeks, hoping to surpass this support lever soon. 

Bitcoin Ban Averted: Proof-Of-Work Crypto Ban Is Rejected by the EU

Bitcoin Ban Averted: Proof-Of-Work Crypto Ban Is Rejected by the EU

by | Mar 16, 2022 | Bitcoin, News

On March 14, the European Parliament discussed the effects and carbon footprint of Proof-of-Work cryptocurrencies. The EU Bitcoin ban was not passed, but the energy discussion has not ended.  

​​A rule proposal that would have effectively banned Bitcoin in the European Union (EU) has been struck down.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) voted to keep the provision out of a draft Markets In Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. This is the EU’s comprehensive regulatory package that governs digital assets. 

EU’s response to crypto companies: MiCA

The MiCA framework was introduced by the European Commission in September 2020, as the EU executive branch responsible for proposing and enforcing laws. It is part of a larger digital finance strategy to adapt Europe to the digital age. It’s also quite different from other regulatory efforts.

For instance, the U.S. has introduced many bills over the years that directly impact the crypto space. These include tax and securities laws, but different states may have their own regulatory requirements. The country does not have a comprehensive equivalent to the EU’s MiCA. In August, the country’s most comprehensive bill regarding crypto regulation was presented. China had already banned crypto trading and mining in 2021. However, it was still working on its own digital currency, the digital yuan.

MiCA covers cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether, as well as stablecoins. The proposed framework does not cover digital currencies issued by central banks (CBDCs), nor crypto assets like security tokens, which might be considered financial instruments such as securities, deposits or treasury bills.

Although the promise of a passportable license to crypto asset service providers sounds appealing for established crypto firms that want to establish in the region, industry participants are concerned about the impact MiCA may have on the EU’s digital asset market.

EU’s Parliament voted on the crypto proposal

This Bitcoin ban proposal was added to the draft last Wednesday. It sought to limit cryptocurrencies powered using an energy-intensive computing process called proof-of-work (PoW). The proposal was met with heavy opposition by crypto advocates around the world. 

After the Bitcoin ban was opposed by the committee, Stefan Berger, member of the EU Parliament, and rapporteur for MiCA, tweeted: “ECON committee approved my #MiCA report. A good day for the crypto sector! The EU Parliament has paved the way for innovation-friendly crypto regulation that can set standards worldwide. The process is not over yet; Steps still lie ahead of us.”

The vote on the provision, commonly known as the Bitcoin ban, was close, and a small majority could defeat it. The proposal required that all cryptocurrencies be subject to the EU’s “minimum environmental sustainability standard with respect to their consensus mechanism.”

The rule suggested a phase-out plan for popular proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether that would allow them to switch their consensus mechanism to less energy-intensive methods like proof-of-stake (PoS).

While plans are in place to make Ethereum a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus system this year, it is not clear if the same will be possible for Bitcoin.

The MiCA draft will be subject to a “trilogue” after the vote of the Parliament. This is a formal round between the European Parliament, Commission and Council.

Can renewable energy sources save Bitcoin?

Experts in renewable energy see two possible ways that crypto can be used to address power consumption concerns, first, by increasing demand for renewable energy sources. Second, by using blockchain technology to interact transparently and transparently with power grids in an auditable and measurable manner.

A small majority of members of the monetary committee voted for a compromise calling on the European Commission to propose alternative regulations. This is the EU’s executive arm that proposes new legislation.

“By January 1 2025, the Commission shall present to the European Parliament and to the Council, as appropriate, a legislative proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2020/852, in accordance with Article 10 of that Regulation, with a view to including in the EU sustainable finance taxonomy any crypto-asset mining activities that contribute substantially to climate change mitigation and adaptation.”

Some politicians and regulators around the globe have criticized proof-of-work for their concerns about energy. EU leaders are worried that renewable energy could be used to sustain cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, instead of being used for national purposes.

Is Bitcoin going to fix the banking crisis?

Is Bitcoin going to fix the banking crisis?

by | Dec 20, 2019 | News

Bitcoin Beats Banks

As another week goes by, countless billions were created into the US financial system by its own central bank. According to the WSJ the FED added another $57.5 billion in temporary liquidity into financial markets.

The central bank started interfering in markets since September and intends to boost repurchase operations within the vacation period. More than double the recent Bitcoin market capitalization is going to be pumped back into the market by the FED.

The additional $425 billion is a part of continuing quantitative easing programs and the bank stated that it is ‘perfectly normal’. Printing countless dollars to prop up lending markets isn’t normal by any criteria and illustrates the flaws of the fiscal system.

According to usdebtclock.org, the federal debts are of over $23 trillion, but even so, banks have been encouraging taking credits in the market.

Crypto business analyst ‘PlanB’ compared this to the Bitcoin stock to flow model, which is much smaller compared to the trillions of dollars which were printed over the past ten years.

“You think bitcoin stock-to-flow model predictions are unrealistic, flawed, absurd? I think negative interest rates & quantitative easing are absurd, printing $21 trillion out of thin air since 2008,”

A recent report by RT stated that the US government could have misspent an identical sum as the ineptitude escalates. Two divisions may have spent up to $21 trillion on matters they can not account for between 1998 and 2015.

Is Bitcoin going to fix to the banking crisis?

Bitcoin has a fixed total supply and its fixed inflationary rates are a mathematically way to solve the monetary madness that’s presently being orchestrated by global banks.

These banks brought on the 2008 financial catastrophe and they’ll cause the subsequent one that could be imminent if present trends persist.

PlanB also stated on Twitter:

“Companies are buying back their own shares with that money. CEO’s of those companies are getting richer and richer and have few other options than to put their money in real estate.”

The main point is that you can not print Bitcoin! More individuals are starting to realize this. BTC is the greatest hedge for anyone desiring a parachute once the monetary walls come crumbling down.

Why don’t people pay with Bitcoin?

Why don’t people pay with Bitcoin?

by | Dec 4, 2019 | News

Ever since Bitcoin first was created, 11 years ago, the community around it grew and for the past few years, everyone started talking about mass adoption. But before even thinking about Bitcoin replacing cash and traditional fiat, we need to overcome the handicap we are facing right now and answer the question: Why don’t people pay with Bitcoin?

Probably one of the main reasons nobody spends Bitcoin is because nobody earns Bitcoin on a regular basis. If this ever changes then we can expect a whole lot more stream. It isn’t ideal to purchase Bitcoin and then to use it to buy something else. But for those who have it coming in their wallet each week, the mindset is different.

What are the reasons people refuse to use Bitcoin for everyday payments? Why don’t people pay with Bitcoin?

Tax And Regulations

Why don’t people pay with Bitcoin? There’s no denying that taxation issues aren’t helping with the Bitcoin mass adoption.

As a normal consumer and taxpayer, why would an individual want to complicate his or her life with paying tax for cryptocurrency, when they have a complicated enough life as it is? Most won’t bother.

The taxation of Bitcoin has another major issue – Bitcoin’s volatility. To understand how volatility can affect a Bitcoin holder, consider this: An individual can purchase 0.1 BTC when the price of Bitcoin is $10000 and then trade it a number of times, ending with a net profit of 0.005 BTC by the end of the year. This concludes that your total amount of Bitcoin is 0.015 BTC. But consider that the current price of Bitcoin is $6000. So even with an increase in the amount of BTC, there is still a cut from the initial price and since the tax needs to be paid in USD, it boils down to whether declare this situation a reduction or a profit. This case needs to be clearly defined if there will be voluntary compliance.

Most Bitcoin owners are confused about the regulations are believe it is unfair to pay double taxation. VAT is a widely applied outside the US and it already represents a tax and paying yet another tax just because something is being bought with Bitcoin would result in double taxation.

On top of that, it wouldn’t be realistic to assume that the authorities and the financial institutions will simplify the tax collecting procedure while they haven’t sorted out what’s the best way to tax Bitcoin, in the first place. And this leads to another point, regulation of Bitcoin. Regulating Bitcoin will take a great deal of time.

And regulation needs to be comprehensible by most individuals. Paying tax for something that was created to avoid this old system in the first place, is not something most accept and for good reason. People don’t like paying taxes if they don’t understand where their taxes are going or doing for them.

Can paying taxes be avoided? Yes. 

But taxes are not a problem for those using services which don’t send out tax reports for purchases made with Bitcoin, such as BitRefill, eGifter and OverStock. Many use such services to purchase good using Bitcoin while paying not paying taxes for the cryptocurrency spent.

Hoarding coins

Why don’t people pay with Bitcoin? There are certainly lots of reasons why ordinary consumers don’t use Bitcoin to pay for services or products.

We must bear in mind that the image of Bitcoin that was portrayed since 2018  throughout financial debates is not reflecting the entire picture and it is starting to fade. Obviously, one major reason behind the adoption problem is that many retailers lack cryptocurrency payments because they are only holding crypto in for that potential bull run. And we might not really blame these individuals since for certain Bitcoin is a fantastic digital advantage to hold as an investment.

The crypto community tends to agree on the fact that the big majority aren’t spending their Bitcoin because they are hoarding their coins. That’s why it is expected to see a higher volume of trades when the Bitcoin price goes up, as many are waiting to cash in on their profits.

In the speculative market we have today, holding your Bitcoin for better days is what most seem to be doing. It is simply too risky to pay with Bitcoin and to precious to sell it.

To put in a simple sentence, the answer to “Why don’t people pay with Bitcoin?” is “Because people don’t earn simply Bitcoin, they don’t understand regulation and taxation and see it way too risky due to the speculative market.”

Crypto World November 2019: Bitcoin Lightning, BTC ATMS, Ripple acquired MoneyGram

Crypto World November 2019: Bitcoin Lightning, BTC ATMS, Ripple acquired MoneyGram

by | Nov 29, 2019 | News

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Can Be Used for Private Messaging

Lightning Labs revealed an experimental project: Whatsat, an application of the lightning network which may be utilised to send private messages.

Just like bitcoin, it is censorship-resistant. However, unlike encrypted programs that morph messages to info, securing the text to keep the messages private from prying eyes, there is no central thing to prevent users from using the system.

The developer Joost Jager said:

“Lightning is a peer to peer network in which anyone can participate. There is no central entity that has the ultimate power to decide on [what] users are allowed to communicate.”

Personal messaging is a huge thing in the electronic era, but it is still simple for bad intentioned actors to intercept messages which are not encrypted.

Ghana May Issue Digital Currency in ‘Near Future’

The governor Ghana’s central bank, Ernest Addison, stated that Ghana might issue an electronic form of the country’s currency, the cedi in the”near future”. He also said they are in discussions to develop a pilot project in a “sandbox environment”.

Addison’s opinions, made in Ghana’s Annual Banking Conference, were revealed in a public transcript.

The Bank of Ghana governor said Ghana is experiencing rapid digitization with the help of the mobile banking industry. “Mobile cash” transfers grew by 70% from 2017 to 2018.

Addison said he’d approved that the central bank to issue digital money backed 1:1 by cedi and held electronic wallets Monday. But the digital money is different from cryptocurrency. The governor stated in the press conference:

“It is just electronic money backed by currency,”

So [the central bank] cannot create money; they are only having an electronic representation of the cedi that the Bank of Ghana puts into circulation. So it is not crypto.”

Simon Malls Has 5 New Bitcoin ATMs

Bitstop set up five bitcoin ATMs at Simon Property Group locations within the last month: Carlsbad Premium Outlets in Carlsbad, California, Mall of Georgia in Buford, Georgia, Miami International Mall in Miami, Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, and The Avenues at Jacksonville, Florida.

They are a part of Bitstop’s drive to woo crypto beginners: individuals who shop at malls, do not know much about blockchain and have a bitcoin wallet.

The co-founder and CEO Andrew Barnard explained these places are similar to the old cliche: “If you build it, they will come.”

“Once you put these ATMs down and you give people easy access, the people go and figure out how to use it,”

With these new places, Bitstop is continuing to build out vulnerability among novices and handhold them through the process of purchasing their very first bitcoin. He explained the kiosks represent a gateway to first-timers.

He said individuals buy from an ATM within an investment, but also to then purchase on the internet or send remittance payments residence.

The average purchase is $160 bucks. And Barnard said traffic is particularly heavy around the 1st and 15th day of every month, which he explained is money back for many consumers.

China’s Digital Yuan Will Target Retail Payments First

Speaking in the Caixin Hengqin Forum at Zhuhai, former leader of the People’s Bank of China Xiaochuan Zhou said the nation will highlight the retail usage of electronic payment to the electronic yuan.

“There are two goals for international digital currencies,”

“The first one, which is also what China envisions is to develop digital payment and its use for retail system in the country, while the other goal is to cross-border payment for international financial institutions.”

According to Zhou, both of these aims will need different technical designs for the electronic yuan, and China may expand its capacities once it implements the electronic payment role.

Zhou said China is a challenging environment to try the new electronic money, and a country with a smaller population might be better because the cycle for money flow is briefer.

“In case there is something wrong, it will be easier to steer the boat into a different direction,”

Ripple Has Acquired MoneyGram For $50 Million

Ripple made the final payment to purchase MoneyGram at a cost of $4.10 per share, which is over a dollar per share of the stock’s recent price of approximately $3.00. The action first started in June 2019.

Ripple owns just under 10% of MoneyGram’s outstanding common stock.

MoneyGram plans to utilize this funding inflow to support its operations, specifically since it expands its usage of Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity product, the renamed xRapid payment system which uses the XRP cryptocurrency.

Since June, MoneyGram has started using XRP to run trades in Europe, Australia and the Philippines, and now transacts approximately 10% of its own Mexican peso foreign exchange trading volume.

In an announcement, MoneyGram chairman and CEO Alex Holmes said that the venture was “transformative,” noting that the corporation could settle trades “in seconds.”

South Korea Takes Legal Step to Stamp Out Unregistered Crypto Exchanges

South Korea passed a legal amendment to oblige assets exchanges to register with the  Financial Services Commission (FSC).

This change was made to align fight money laundering,  and it asks crypto exchanges to have so-called actual name virtual bank account – sub-accounts for consumers inside a market’s main account – to avoid falling foul of the laws.

The opposition lawmakers had voiced worries that exchanges without real-name digital balances would be made to shut, bringing additional contraction of the national cryptocurrency market.

In 2018, the FSC outlawed anonymous digital balances with the consequence that just four exchanges were abandoned with real-name digital balances through contracts with local banks: Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit, and Coinone.

Ukraine Plans to Tax Crypto Gains at Low 5% Rate

Ukraine’s parliament received a cryptocurrency tax draft bill.

Written by 13 members of the parliament, the bill defines crypto-assets as a “special type of valuable property in the digital form, created, accounted for and disposed of electronically,”, for example, cryptocurrencies, tokens and other forms are not defined in the draft.

“We are confident that the adoption of this [draft] law will create conditions for the launch of the virtual assets market in line with the legislation of Ukraine, taking into account the balance of interests of entities engaged in transactions with virtual assets and the state, which will get additional tax revenue from such transactions,” said the ministry.

If the bill passes parliament, the earnings from trading assets will be calculated as the difference between the buy price and the price received in the sale. Profits should be declared as “other” form of earnings, while reductions might not be balanced to decrease the whole financial result before taxation, the record states.

Crypto income will generally be taxed at the normal speed, which will be 18% in Ukraine. However, in better information for dealers, there is a first 5% rate on private income from the selling of crypto assets to get a five-year period after approval of the invoice (assuming it moves).

Revenue of crypto assets wouldn’t be responsible for value-added tax (VAT).

Tokenized assets would observe another tax program, being described as electronic assets certifying possession or non-property rights. In such cases, tokens are taxed in precisely the exact same manner as the products or services financing them.

Michael Chobanian, creator of this Ukraine-based crypto trade Kuna and president of this Blockchain Association of Ukraine, stated he considers the law would operate, however, there are additional challenges confronting the business which have to be dealt with.

“If the National Bank of Ukraine doesn’t allow banks to open accounts for crypto businesses in Ukraine nothing for the industry will really change,” Chobanian said.

The ministry lately declared a partnership with all the Binance cryptocurrency market for help developing regulations for crypto from the nation.

Coinbase has added support for 5 new crypto options to its Visa debit card

Coinbase declared that holders of Coinbase Card are now able to spend XRP, basic attention token (BAT), augur (REP), 0x (ZRX) and stellar (XLM). These add to the already available options: bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH) and litecoin (LTC).

Coinbase clients in Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden have also been given access to Coinbase Card.

Zeeshan Feroz, CEO in Coinbase UK, said in a statement:

“By more than doubling the number of assets our customers can spend on Coinbase Card, as well as introducing the card to 10 new countries, Coinbase continues to help drive crypto’s role as a utility, and not just an investment.”

The Coinbase Card has been introduced back in April to function both the U.K. and EU states. Coinbase issues it “immediately” and converts cryptocurrency into fiat money when clients make a trade using the debit card.

According to the company, the card may be used anywhere that accepts Visa. There are charges for ATM transactions over the value of $200 – 1% domestically and 2% international, and fees for some trades.

Coinbase also supplies an iOS and Android program which allows users to create Visa obligations on their cellular devices. The Coinbase Card is issued by Paysafe Financial Services Limited, a company approved by U.K. regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.

Will Bitcoin disappear? How could BTC disappear and what would happen after that?

Will Bitcoin disappear? How could BTC disappear and what would happen after that?

by | Nov 26, 2019 | News

Have you ever wondered yourself what would happen if Bitcoin disappeared? And in what context would this happen? Some crypto enthusiasts have considered it and came up with some scenarios. How can Bitcoin disappear?

Which one will it be? Could be all of this, or could be none. But the answer may lay in the general perception of Bitcoin.

What is the crypto community saying about the future of Bitcoin?

Before committing to a product, such as Bitcoin, or any other product people might use in their day to day life, they should and will ask themselves: Do I really need it?

In the particular case of Bitcoin, the question is: Do I really need it for my finance?

Most people have come to accept the way traditional financial institutions work and have invaded their lives as long as they get what they want out of it. Even with the creation of Bitcoin, the hype has now faded and do not care so much about this intrusion of privacy.

Some believe that the mass (that is aware of Bitcoin) is “losing the vision for Bitcoin” and that there are not a lot of people supporting it and believing in it. And for the future of Bitcoin, this can be a problem. Possibly, a problem that could lead to its disappearance.

Other are more inclined than ever to use crypto, due to the financial system which has shifted over the past 11 years since the creation of Bitcoin. The increasing number of restriction seems to be detrimental to fiat and convincing some that Bitcoin has a future and it waits for them.

The lack of vision might be also a transition state until another financial crisis hits, which can be happing any day now.

Overall, the engaged crypto community remains optimistic and hopes for the best.

What could make Bitcoin disappear?

One of the possible future scenarios is that Bitcoin disappears. How is that even possible?

Well, imagine Bitcoin no longer on the top of the cryptocurrency market. The competition is getting bigger by the day. And what if Bitcoin gets ‘substituted’ by one of these altcoins?

Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, Litecoin are just a few of the cryptocurrency that could substitute Bitcoin.

BUT… the community believes that this will not happen. “It would have happened already” is what the enthusiasts believe. The reality is that at the moment, there are many other coins with lower transaction fees and on faster blockchains, and yet, people seem to prefer Bitcoin. Why is that?

Bitcoin is the coin with the largest transactional volume. It is the one coin listed on every single crypto exchange in existence and anyone in the crypto community will accept Bitcoin for a job. Simply put, Bitcoin is desirable.

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency and with each year that passes, it seems to be getting stronger.

So if you are afraid that Bitcoin will be substituted by another coin, then this is the time to observe what others are stocking up. And do the same. But judging but the volumes, there is no sign something like this will happen anytime soon.