UBS warns Bitcoins could disappear like Myspace
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
Lagos reaffirms that schools should reopen on January 18
DMO offers N150 billion worth of FGN Bond for subscription in January 2021
CAC says defaulting lawyers to face 2 years imprisonment for filing false documents
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
Daily Parallel Market Exchange Rate – ₦470/$1
Prices of local rice, onions, tomatoes, others crash as foreign rice continues to ease off
Ethereum held on Crypto exchanges might run out of supply in 2 days
U.S Central Bank leader says no rush into crypto dollar
Cryptocurrency
Square buys $50 million worth of Bitcoins
Twitter’s Jack Dorsey on October 8th disclosed it purchased, 4,709 bitcoins at an estimated worth of $50 million.
Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) led by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey on October 8th disclosed that it purchased, 4,709 bitcoins at an estimated worth of $50 million.
Square added it invested in cryptos because it saw it as a tool for economic enhancement via participation in the future of payment systems, which aligns with Square’s objectives.
READ: Thrive Agric: Investors cry foul play over delayed returns
The investment represents approximately one percent of Square’s total assets as of the end of the second quarter of 2020.
“We believe that bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future,” said Square’s Chief Financial Officer, Amrita Ahuja.
“As it grows in adoption, we intend to learn and participate in a disciplined way. For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this investment is a step on that journey, ” she stated.
READ: Ripple Whale transfers 20,000,000 XRP to Binance
Why it’s happening; Recall some months ago Nairametrics broke the news that a publicly-traded company based in America, MicroStrategy recently adopted Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset to hedge against fiat inflation. This is a big deal and it’s good to see BTC’s being used as intended – a hard money/savings instrument.
Ekene Ojieh, Head of Public Relations and Corporate Strategy at Buffalo Chase, a crypto analytic firm in a note to Nairametrics spoke on the initial skepticism that traditional banks and global financial regulators had on bitcoin, which looks to be changing now, saying: “The last decade has been quite challenging for bitcoin and the crypto space despite the enormous price increase. Regulators, investors, and mainstream traders were skeptical about bitcoin because of its volatility and how bitcoin works. In recent times, we have seen growth in the adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in general; regulators, banks, are finding an entry point into the crypto space. In addition, the market cap of both gold and bitcoin, 9 trillion dollars, and 117.81 billion dollars respectively, shows that bitcoin still has a lot of potentials. Going by this trajectory, bitcoin is expected to gain more grounds, increase in value, and also be widely used/accepted”
READ: Facebook unveils F2 for payment and commerce plans, appoints David Marcus to head group
About Square, Inc.
- Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) builds tools to empower businesses and individuals to participate in the economy.
- Sellers use Square to reach buyers online and in-person, manage their businesses, and access financing. And individuals use Cash App to spend, send, store, and invest money.
- Square has offices in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Spain, and the UK.
Cryptocurrency
UBS warns Bitcoins could disappear like Myspace
UBS suggests that a rival cryptocurrency backed by powerful Western Governments could eclipse Bitcoin
Analysts at Swiss firm UBS are warning investors that popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins could lose their allure just like Myspace and Netscape did earlier on in the social media and browser revolutions respectively.
According to Bloomberg, the firm issued this warning to its investors citing regulatory actions or if a better-designed version is launched to rival the existing ones.
“There is little in our view to stop a cryptocurrency’s price from going to zero when a better-designed version is launched or if regulatory changes stifle sentiment…..Netscape and Myspace are examples of network applications that enjoyed widespread popularity but eventually disappeared,” UBS strategist.
What this means: UBS suggests that a rival cryptocurrency backed by powerful Western Governments could eclipse Bitcoin when launched as it will attract more credibility and transaction value. Bitcoin is currently not owned by any government.
What the US Fed is saying
Bitcoins, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency with a 66.5% market share saw its price rise above $40,000 during the week before falling 8.9% to close just above $37,000. Cryptocurrencies are very volatile assets and is viewed somewhat negatively by most regulators.
Recently, the US Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, recently spoke on why the U.S central bank had no reason to rush into central bank digital currencies. According to him;
Since we are the world’s reserve currency, we actually think we need to get this right, and we don’t feel an urge or need to be first,” he said. “We effectively already have a first-mover advantage, because we’re the reserve currency.”
Powell also revealed that stablecoins were of high-level priority.
“We’ve been very focused… on potential regulatory answers for global stablecoins, in particular,” said Powell in response to a question about CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies.
“So that’s been a high-level focus, and that will continue to be a high-level focus because they could become systemically important overnight and we don’t begin to have, you know, our arms around the potential risks and how to manage those risks, and the public will expect we do and has every right to expect that… It’s a very high priority.”
Upshots
According to a report by Google, Nigeria has the highest interest in Bitcoin globally. The report claims Nigeria emerged the first amongst other countries around the world in Bitcoin searches on Google. Delta State has the highest level of Bitcoin interests on a state level in Nigeria, followed by Ebonyi, Ekiti, Anambra, and Osun.
Surprisingly Nigeria’s business capital, Lagos misses out of the top 5 as regards Bitcoin level of interest in Google.
Cryptocurrency
Ethereum held on Crypto exchanges might run out of supply in 2 days
A crypto expert has released key details on why Ether coins on crypto exchanges could be all gone within 48 hours.
The amount of Ethers held on Crypto exchanges could go into extinction amid the high buying pressure seen in recent days.
Alex Saunders, a crypto expert, via Twitter, released key details on why Ether coins on Crypto exchanges could be all gone within 48 hours amid high buying pressure.
READ: Crypto: Financial market that never sleeps, or is under any central authority
- “Crypto Exchanges could be out of Ether within 48 hours. Demand has sky rocketed. Exchange reserves fell 20% from 10 million to 8 million in the last few hours. With targets of $5k, $10k & $20k long term, I doubt many HODLers will sell their ETH in the $1-2k range”
READ: Why Ethereum could make you rich
Exchanges could be out of $ETH within 48 hours. Demand has sky rocketed. Exchange reserves fell 20% from 10M to 8M in the last few hours. With targets of $5k, $10k & $20k long term, I doubt many HODLers will sell their ETH in the $1-2k range. 🌐🖥️👽 #ETH2 #DeFi #NFTs #Gaming #DAO pic.twitter.com/rYPOch2u7p
— Alex Saunders 🇦🇺👨🔬 (@AlexSaundersAU) January 14, 2021
READ: 5 rules that Dangote has Adopted from The 48 Laws of Power
Ether reserves held on crypto exchanges have not been this low for about two and a half years ago. At press time, just 7% of Ether’s circulating supply is presently held on Crypto exchanges.
Meanwhile, Crypto investors are buying into the world’s acclaimed utility crypto, over owning a stake in Ether amid the boom seen recently in Crypto markets. Although it has not been strange to many crypto experts in the crypto-verse, seeing Ethereum demand at a record high.
READ: Hackers, expose crypto wallets worth $150 million at Kucoin
Recent data obtained from Glassnode, a crypto analytic firm revealed a number of Ethereum based addresses holding 0.01+ coins just reached an all-time high of 10,997,708.
The previous all-time high of 10,997,003 was observed earlier today.
Metric description: The number of unique addresses holding at least 0.01 coins. Only Externally Owned Addresses (EOAs) are counted, contracts are excluded.
READ: U.S Central Bank leader says no rush into crypto dollar
📈 #Ethereum $ETH Number of Addresses Holding 0.01+ coins just reached an ATH of 10,997,708
Previous ATH of 10,997,003 was observed earlier today
View metric:https://t.co/XXb0u19ouH pic.twitter.com/KYPPpuCtFM
— glassnode alerts (@glassnodealerts) January 15, 2021
What you should know
- At the time of drafting this report, Ether traded at $1,219.35 with a daily trading volume of $34.1 billion. Ethereum is up 11.13% for the day. The world’s leading utility has a market value of $139.3 Billion.
- Breaking the $1,300 resistance level represents a dramatic shift for Ethereum, which stood at around the $112 price level in March 2020 following the market carnage that occurred as a result of the ravaging COVID-19 virus.
- Ethereum is a decentralized system, fully independent, and is not under anybody’s authority. It has no pivotal point, and its platform is connected to thousands of its users through their computing system around the world, which means it’s almost impossible for Ethereum to go offline.
READ: WhatsApp to share users’ personal information with Facebook
Cryptocurrency
U.S Central Bank leader says no rush into crypto dollar
Jerome Powell recently spoke on why the U.S central bank had no reason to rush into central bank digital currencies.
The world’s most powerful monetary policy chief, Jerome Powell, recently spoke on why the U.S central bank had no reason to rush into central bank digital currencies.
In a YouTube webinar organised by Yahoo Finance and conducted by highly revered economist, Markus Brunnermeier, the U.S Fed Reserve Chairman stated that the US central bank desires to get it right and hence doesn’t feel an urge or need to be the first.
READ: Central banks digital currencies pose a threat against the U.S dollar
“Since we are the world’s reserve currency, we actually think we need to get this right, and we don’t feel an urge or need to be first,” he said. “We effectively already have a first-mover advantage, because we’re the reserve currency.”
Powell also revealed that stablecoins were of high-level priority.
READ: Crypto usage absolutely certain – Standard Chartered
“We’ve been very focused… on potential regulatory answers for global stablecoins, in particular,” said Powell in response to a question about CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies.
“So that’s been a high-level focus, and that will continue to be a high-level focus because they could become systemically important overnight and we don’t begin to have, you know, our arms around the potential risks and how to manage those risks, and the public will expect we do and has every right to expect that… It’s a very high priority.”
READ: Gold prices up on U.S Central Bank’s will to keep interest rates low
Recall many months ago, the world’s largest economy considered the use of digital dollars, following slow COVID-19 stimulus payments to its citizens. The U.S Congress recently heard testimonies on the usage of digital dollars to facilitate the U.S’ legacy financial infrastructure.
Just yesterday, America’s Congressional Fintech Task Force examined Federation Accounts and the use of digital dollars in expanding financial reach in the United States.
READ: Naira gains at NAFEX window as CBN squashes early devaluation thoughts
What you need to know about Digital Dollar: The U.S government considered a framework in creating a U.S. central bank digital currency, which would be mined through the blockchain protocol, transferred between users, and recorded in a public ledger.
- The digital dollars would be stored in a distributed database via the internet, on an electronic computer database, within a stored-value card or virtual files.
