Cryptocurrency
Leader of world’s most powerful central bank says Crypto unreliable for wealth preservation
Jerome Powell says cryptos are highly volatile and therefore not really useful stores of value.
Jerome Powell, leader of the world’s most powerful central bank, recently disclosed that crypto is unreliable for wealth preservation, and the apex bank was in no hurry to introduce a competitor.
“They’re highly volatile and therefore not really useful stores of value and they’re not backed by anything,” The Fed Chief said during a virtual panel discussion on crypto banking hosted by the Bank for International Settlements. “It’s more a speculative asset that’s essentially a substitute for gold rather than for the dollar.”
Recall about a month ago, Janet Yellen the U.S Treasury Secretary and custodian of the world’s biggest economy, raised concerns that the world’s most popular crypto asset could be ideal for money laundering and illicit transactions.
READ: US moves against misuse of cryptocurrencies, to employ new financial technologies
“I don’t think that bitcoin … is widely used as a transaction mechanism,” Yellen told Andrew Ross Sorkin at a DealBook conference. “To the extent, it is used I fear it’s often for illicit finance. It’s an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions, and the amount of energy that’s consumed in processing those transactions is staggering.”
In addition, Yellen raised concerns about its usual high price swings that often come to cost some investors their fortune.
“It is a highly speculative asset and you know I think people should be aware it can be extremely volatile and I do worry about potential losses that investors can suffer,” Yellen said.
READ: U.S Central Bank plans Crypto U.S dollar
In a report credited to CNBC, the highly revered monetary policymaker, Powell, spoke on why the U.S Federal Reserve Bank was in no rush to start its central bank digital currency.
“To move forward on this, we would need buy-in from Congress, from the administration, from broad elements of the public, and we haven’t really begun the job of that public engagement,” Powell said. “So you can expect us to move with great care and transparency with regard to developing a central bank digital currency.”
The U.S Fed Chief also gave credence to the fact that the U.S Congress likely would have to pass some type of authorization before the Fed could proceed with its own currency.
Cryptocurrency
Nigerian stocks that outperformed Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano in April
According to data tracked on the NSE, the shares of Japaul Gold and Ventures Plc, Meyer Plc and University Press Plc delivered better returns than Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum.
The recent crypto-mania has presented investors who are nervous about the stock market with key opportunities to capitalize on, through alternative investments in cryptocurrencies.
The attendant effect of this led to the move which saw the total market capitalization of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP and other crypto assets surge above the $400 billion mark in Q4 2020 to more than $2 trillion in recent times – the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies are valued at about $1.74 trillion as of the time of drafting this report.
Despite the gains Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano delivered to their holders, the market performance of these digital assets since the beginning of April has been comparatively unimpressive. Of the three cryptocurrencies, only Ethereum maintains month to date gains in excess of 15%, while the month to date losses in others stand in excess of 12%.
READ: Heavy sell-off in Guinness shares leads to N6.9 billion market value loss in a single day
The performance of these digital assets so far in April
Data tracked on Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading various cryptocurrencies revealed that Ethereum’s month to date gains in the month of April is put at about 15% while the month-to-date loss of Bitcoin and Cardano is put at about 16% and 12% respectively.
Stocks on NSE delivered decent returns in the month of April, outperforming some cryptos. Some stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange have delivered impressive returns for their holders in the month of April, despite the recent lacklustre state of key shares listed on the exchange.
According to data tracked on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the shares of the following companies have delivered better returns than Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum and some other cryptocurrencies so far in this month.
READ: America’s oldest bank set to accept Bitcoin
Japaul Gold and Ventures Plc
(JAPAULGOLD), MtD gains: 46.83%
The rebranded and restructured mining company with a key focus on gold and other solid minerals exploration is the best-performing stock on NSE this month with a month to date gain of about 46.83%.
Despite the fact that the stock is currently trading slightly below its open price of N0.62 per share for the year, it has risen from a YTD low of N0.41 to the current N0.60 per share price in recent times. Thus returning a gain of 46.8% for its holders.
Meyer Plc (MEYER)
MtD gains: 29.16%
The shares of the key player in the paint and decorative industry increased from N0.41 per share at the open of trade this month, to N0.53 per share as of the open of market this morning, to print a month to date gain of 29.16%.
The stock of the paint manufacturer is presently trading about 6% higher than its open price of N0.50 per share for the month of April.
READ: Bitcoin investment tips for 2021
University Press Plc (UPL)
MtD gains: 19.77%
The shares of one of Nigeria’s foremost publishers of educational and general reading materials, University Press Plc have increased from N1.07 per share at the close of trade on the 31st of March, to N1.28 per share at the open of trade on the Nigerian Stock Exchange today.
The recent surge in the shares of the company was triggered by buying interest on the floor of the exchange and this renewed interest in the shares of the publisher has seen its shares return an impressive 19.77% month to date gains to investors since the start of this month.
What you should know
- The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-share Index “NGX ASI” is on course to deliver its first weekly gains after weeks of consistent depreciation in the market index and capitalization.
- This decent performance can be linked to the renewed buying interest in the shares of some key companies with impressive fundamentals as Q1 2021 financial results start to trickle in.
Cryptocurrency
Billions of dollars lost in Crypto market, as over 500,000 investors get wrecked
The crypto market suffered heavy losses in the early hours of Friday with many traders liquidated as the flagship crypto dipped below the $50,000 price levels.
The crypto market suffered heavy losses in the early hours of Friday with many traders liquidated as the flagship crypto dipped below the $50,000 price levels.
In the cryptoverse hundreds of billions of dollars were virtually wiped off in value as the global crypto market lost about $300 billion, trading at $1.77 trillion, a 12.29% decrease over the last day.
As traders panicked, the world’s most popular crypto rout deepened, dropping below the $50,000 level to $48,400, its lowest levels in about seven weeks. Ethereum, the leading altcoin plunged as much as 10% before steadying at about 7% to trade at $2,240.65 on the FTX exchange.
READ: Crypto Armageddon: Over $200 billion wiped off in the Crypto market
For the day about 582,578 crypto investors were liquidated. The largest single liquidation order happened on Huobi-BTC valued at $11.28 million.
For Bitcoin, this is the biggest percentage loss since early January.
The spiral fall in play at the flagship crypto market pushed its market value below $1 trillion or 51.45% of the total cryptocurrency market value. At its highest, Bitcoin’s market cap was $1,184 trillion.
Amid the recent price correction, crypto pundits argue that the ever-changing crypto market was still in a long-term bull market, though in the near term, a market correction was long overdue since the market is over-heated among retail investors.
READ: Why Bitcoin might likely hit $100,000 soon
Other Crypto assets were also experiencing sharp sells with XRP, Polkadot, Cardano, BNB, EOS all suffering significant losses.
Tax concerns may be weighing hard on the crypto- verse with reports showing U.S. investors in the Crypto market already face a capital gains tax if they sell the Crypto after holding it for more than a year.
It’s fair to note that the crypto market is very volatile and some crypto experts are pointing out that it could be in a bubble considering that Bitcoin and Ethereum have recorded gains of over 700% respectively within a very short span.
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