Crypto Pirates

Now that bitcoin and Ethereum have reached fresh highs, the subject has become acceptable in the mainstream. For a long time, technology entrepreneurs have embraced bitcoin, and more CEOs are following suit.

Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed his crypto holdings. Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC asked Cook if he held any bitcoin or Ethereum, to which Cook said that he did. Cook has apparently not succumbed to bitcoin fever but has been following the market "for a time," as he stated,

While he did not provide specifics, his statement elicited a response from the bitcoin community. Tyler Winklevoss, the Bitcoin billionaire, is already thinking, 'When Dogecoin?'

Meme coins have grown in popularity among both investors and enterprises. Elon Musk, a fellow tech millionaire, has been a vocal supporter of Dogecoin, lately revealing that it is the only meme coin he owns. Tesla's CEO also owns some bitcoin and Ethereum.

Mark Cuban, a fellow software entrepreneur, is another Dogecoin supporter, preferring the joke coin to bitcoin as a medium of commerce. Cuban believes bitcoin's most compelling use case is as a store of value, comparable to gold.

Cryptocurrency Jobs

Cook's crypto revelations may not come as a complete surprise. Apple has been known to post job listings on job sites for crypto-related positions such as crypto software engineers.

Additionally, e-commerce behemoth Amazon may be edging closer to crypto acceptance. Amazon Web Services is seeking a digital asset specialist to work with businesses that use tokens such as cryptocurrencies, CBDCs, and NFTs.

Apple and cryptocurrency

Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, would like to see Apple delve farther into the bitcoin rabbit hole. He stated that adding bitcoin functionality to the iPhone and converting the balance sheet to BTC, like MicroStrategy has done, "would be worth at least a trillion dollars to their stockholders."

While this strategy worked for MicroStrategy, investors should not hold their breath that Apple will follow suit. In response to a question concerning Apple, Cook stated,

"I would not invest in cryptocurrency, not because I would not invest my own money, but because I believe that individuals do not buy Apple shares in order to gain exposure to crypto."

Apple's stock is trading slightly higher on the day.

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Wrapped cryptocurrency was a natural progression in the rapidly evolving realm of decentralised finance (DeFi) and decentralised apps (DApps). Wrapped tokens make it possible to use cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) on non-native blockchains such as Ethereum without requiring constant conversion, thus expanding the liquidity and user base of DeFi applications.

As DeFi grows more prevalent and vital for online commercial operations, token wrapping has become critical for facilitating interactions between holders of multiple tokens.

What are wrapped tokens, then? Wrapped cryptocurrencies, like stablecoins, have their value tethered to another asset. The crucial distinction is that wrapped crypto tokens are often linked to the value of another cryptocurrency, whereas stablecoins are typically anchored to a fiat currency, such as the US dollar, or a real object, such as gold.

What are wrapped tokens and how do they work?

From a technical sense, the process of minting wrapped crypto tokens and stablecoins is very similar.

As previously stated, wrapped tokens are linked to the value of another cryptocurrency, and the wrapped token's value will fluctuate in lockstep with the value of the original cryptocurrency.

After 'locking' the original crypto assets in a safe digital vault via the issuance of a smart contract (which is often a contract for a 1:1 exchange), the user is awarded an ERC-20 token equivalent to the original crypto assets (a standard used for creating and issuing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain).

If the user wishes to reclaim their original asset, they just exchange their wrapped tokens back to the smart contract and exit with the original crypto's value.

The first wrapped cryptocurrency was produced for ether, Ethereum's native currency, which was created prior to the ERC-20 standard's adoption. Due to the fact that ether was established prior to the ERC-20 standard, it was incompatible with other ERC-20 tokens. As a result of this lack of interoperability, wrapped Ether (wETH) was established within the ERC-20 architecture to enable ether users to interact with other ERC-20 tokens.

The ERC-20 protocol is now the most extensively utilised on the Ethereum network, and currencies generated inside its framework include all of the functionality required to execute smart contracts, as well as the ability to communicate with all other ERC-20-compliant tokens.

Due to the enormous amount of possible uses for ERC-20 tokens, several non-native wrapped cryptos have been produced, such as wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC).

Although the Ethereum network remains the most popular destination for wrapped cryptocurrencies, you may also wrap a huge number of cryptos on the Binance Smart Chain via the issuing of BEP-20 tokens — a Binance Smart Chain token standard with a similar architecture to Ethereum's ERC-20 token.

Explanation of wrapped tokens

The most effective approach to illustrate a wrapped token is with a real-world example. Bitcoin, the first and most popularly held cryptocurrency, is by far the largest, with a market value of over $1.12 trillion as of 8 November 2021, according to CoinMarketCap.

While it is the original cryptocurrency, BTC was created primarily as a store of wealth that can be exchanged for goods and services or transferred between persons.

It does not, however, have the functionality of other tokens, such as ones based on the Ethereum blockchain, which is where wrapping comes into play.

Similarly to wETH, wBTC is an Ethereum-based coin that adheres to the most widely used ERC-20 standards. This implies it can interact with any other ERC-20-compliant coin.

Individuals wishing to employ Ethereum network functionalities like as insurance placement, smart contract execution, or liquidity extension deposit their BTC in a safe digital vault and are credited with the corresponding amount in wBTC.

Thus, wBTC enables interoperability with all other ERC-20 tokens without requiring users to trade BTC for additional tokens. While the list of wrapped cryptos is lengthy, wBTC remains the largest, with a market capitalisation of more than $15.4 billion at the time of press.

The advantages of wrapped tokens

DeFi and its associated dApps are constantly expanding to include new user markets. As of this press, BTC is incompatible with the ERC-20 network except via wrapped tokens.

To illustrate some of the primary benefits of wrapped crypto, we've used wBTC:

Liquidity. wBTC delivers BTC's massive market capitalisation liquidity to the ERC-20 environment. Wrapping assets and reusing them on another chain offers seamless integration between previously isolated liquidity.

Earnings generation. wBTC users can make passive revenue by engaging in activities like as staking and yield farming that the original Bitcoin blockchain does not permit. Staking is depositing funds in a smart contract until it is executed in exchange for a piece of the reward, whereas yield farming is essentially the issuance of short-term credit at a profit.

Digital applications and interoperability. Because the BTC blockchain is incapable of running smart-contract protocols, it must be swapped for other assets. Ethereum is compatible with the majority of decentralised applications. When utilising wBTC, interoperability, or the ability to exchange value with other tokens, is enabled with all other ERC-20 tokens.

Transactional velocity. Bitcoin is significantly slower than Ethereum. It typically handles 3-5 transactions per second, whereas Ethereum processes 10-15. Without transferring assets, wrapped tokens enable users to benefit from continuously improved transaction rates.

Constraints on wrapped tokens

Today, the majority of wrapped tokens require a custodian – a third party that holds an equivalent quantity of the underlying asset to the wrapped amount. It can take the form of a merchant, a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO), or a multisignature wallet (a crypto wallet shared by two or more users that requires several private keys to sign and send a transaction).

Minting is the process of producing a wBTC. A merchant initiates the minting process, which is carried out by a custodian. For wBTC, the custodian must keep one BTC for every wBTC created - consider of it as a wrapper or unwrapper.

However, because wrapped tokens are dependent on the issuing platform, there is a risk of centralisation. Due to the fact that wrapping cannot be completed automatically by a smart contract, it may increase the danger of manipulation and hence undermine the decentralisation premise.

In May 2020, Vitalik Buterin, the Ethereum founder, expressed his concern on Twitter about the centralised nature of wrapped tokens:

"I'm concerned about some of these coins' trust models. It would be tragic if there were to be $5 billion worth of Bitcoin on Ethereum and the keys were owned by a single organisation," Buterin stated.

Additionally, the minting process can be pricey, as it requires gas.

Wrapped tokens' future

As the world embraces DeFi applications, with a Total Value Locked (TLV) of $105.69 billion as of 8 November 2021, the future of crypto in general is one of growing adoption by mainstream banking, with more functionality and compatibility between currencies.

Wrapping enables traders to exchange non-native tokens for wrapped cryptos without having to pay exorbitant exchange costs. While owning bigger market capitalisation assets such as BTC, users can benefit from the greater DeFi capabilities of networks such as Ethereum. However, this may be a temporary measure.

"Wrapped cryptocurrencies and tokens are a workaround for the issue of transferring cryptocurrency from one blockchain to another, such as Bitcoin to Ethereum," Capital.com analyst Mikhail Karkhalev explained.

"It is a chasm that will dissolve when dependable cross-chain platforms or some next-generation solution that enables the use of bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrency) on any other blockchain becomes accessible," Karkhalev noted. "As a result, considering it as an investment vehicle rather than a function if such a requirement arises makes less sense."

Wrapped tokens are linked to the original asset's value and are subject to the same degree of volatility as the underlying crypto asset. If you want to utilise cryptocurrency as a store of money with the potential for growth, traditional cryptocurrencies may be a better choice.

Always conduct your own research before investing in any asset and keep in mind that your decision should be based on your risk tolerance, your expertise in this market, the spread of your portfolio, and your comfort level with losing money. Never invest more than you can afford to lose, and keep in mind that previous success does not indicate future results.

If you make frequent transactions and are interested in the DeFi possibilities, wrapped crypto may be an option. Your decision-making should be guided by your unique requirements and risk tolerance.

The distinction between stocks and contracts for difference

The primary distinction between CFD trading and stock trading is that when you trade an individual stock CFD, you do not own the underlying stock.

With CFDs, you never truly buy or sell the underlying asset. You can still profit if the market swings in your favour, or you can lose money if the market goes against you. However, in traditional stock trading, you enter into a contract for the exchange of legal ownership of individual shares for money, and you hold this equity.

CFDs are leveraged products, which means that to start a position, you only need to deposit a percentage of the total amount of the CFD trade. However, in typical stock trading, you pay the whole price for the shares. There is no stamp tax on CFD trading in the United Kingdom, but there is on stock purchases.

CFDs incur overnight expenses to hold the trades (unless you use 1-1 leverage), which makes them prohibitively expensive.

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Bitcoin has risen to prominence as a favoured investment vehicle in recent years. The asset's popularity among investors can be attributed to the returns it has generated over the course of its decade of existence. It is one of the few investments that has continuously operated as a hedge against inflation while also generating significant returns for its holders. As a result of these benefits, additional investors have desired a larger piece of the pie.

However, bitcoin was not an investment choice for anyone until 2009. Even even then, it was mostly unknown to the general public. Stocks were on investors' thoughts at the time, and investors had experienced gains at various moments.

Several equities have also been extremely profitable over this time span. Tesla stocks are an illustration of this, with their success catapulting ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood into the limelight after her call on the stock paid off. Consider how bitcoin has performed in relation to Wall Street's best-performing stocks.

Bitcoin vs. the Rest of the World

Numerous assets traded on the financial market predate bitcoin. Still a child, the BTC market remains in its infancy. This has not, however, slowed the asset's growth, which has elevated it to a position of prominence in financial markets. When comparing the top equities and markets to Bitcoin, there is a stark contrast in how much better the digital asset has performed in comparison to the others.

According to this analysis by Watcher Guru, bitcoin has returned over three million percent on its investments over the last decade. When BTC was first created in 2009, it cost as little as $0.00008. The value has increased significantly over the years, reaching an all-time high of about $67,000 in October.

By comparison, the best-performing stocks deliver underwhelming returns. Tesla has been one of the best-performing equities over the previous decade, but its gains pale in comparison to BTC's. Tesla has returned 22,520 percent, Nvidia has returned 8,435 percent, while gold has returned a dismal -14 percent during the last decade.

Getting a Grip On Market Capitalisation

Another noteworthy comparison indicator is the market capitalisation of the financial industry's biggest assets. BTC does not top this list for the same reason that it does in terms of returns. The age disparity between all of the assets on this list, on the other hand, suggests an intriguing future for both the past and future of the assets in this category.

Despite being only 12 years old, bitcoin has surpassed well-known and established asset classes in terms of market capitalisation. For starters, Bitcoin's market capitalisation is virtually same to that of Tesla. Additionally, it surpasses the market capitalisation of Facebook and Nvidia, both of which are older than the digital asset on the market. With a market capitalisation of $1.15 trillion, it is a market leader in the financial markets.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market size, is an intriguing addition to this list. Ethereum is a five-year-old cryptocurrency with a market capitalisation of $533 billion. This value places it higher than household names such as JPMorgan Chase, Visa, and Alibaba.

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Bitcoin (BTC) traders appear to be unsure about their next move, as evidenced by the price bouncing between $58,400 and $63,400 during the last 14 days. While there are some bad indications coming from the US regulatory front, the fact that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) now manage more than $1.2 billion in assets has also increased investors' optimism.

Coinbase's bitcoin pricing in USD

According to a research published Nov. 5 by CryptoQuant, whales have responsible for the majority of selling pressure in recent days. The on-chain monitoring resource focused on the "exchange whale ratio" — the percentage of inflows from the largest wallets — and observed a significant increase from mid-October to today.

Additionally, on Nov. 1, the US Treasury Department encouraged Congress to act swiftly to establish legislation that will regulate payment stablecoin issuers similarly to banks in the United States. In practise, the paper advises that stablecoins be issued exclusively by "insured depository institutions."

Nonetheless, institutional investors added $2 billion in Bitcoin via mutual funds in October. According to the CoinShares flow report for October 31, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which formally launched on Oct. 19, accounted for $1.2 billion in inflow.

Options enable traders to wager on positive and bearish market movements

Contrary to popular misconception, derivatives markets were not created for the purpose of gambling or undue leverage. Derivatives trading has existed for more than five decades, and institutional investors have shifted their focus — and volume — to cryptocurrency in recent years.

On July 7, Bloomberg reported on a $4.8 million options trading profit made by the husband of Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Paul Pelosi disclosed in a July 2 financial disclosure that he exercised call options to acquire 4,000 shares of Alphabet, Google's parent company, at a $1,200 strike price.

Options trading provides investors with a variety of chances to profit from higher volatility, maximise returns if the price remains within a specified range, or protect against sharp price decreases. Complex trades combining many instruments are referred to as options structures.

How to avoid incurring losses while retaining infinite gains

For those new with options trading, Cointelegraph previously published an article outlining the ins and outs of options trading, as well as the advantages over trading futures contracts.

To protect against the loss of capital due to unanticipated price swings, one can employ the "risk reversal" option technique. The investor gains by holding call options but pays for them by selling put options. In essence, this configuration avoids the risk of the stock moving sideways but introduces significant risk if the asset trades down.

While the above strategy utilises only December 31 options, investors can identify similar patterns utilising other maturities. To begin, one must purchase downside protection by purchasing 2.45 BTC puts (sell) $44,000 options contracts.

The trader will next sell two BTC put (sell) options contracts for $54,000 in order to nett the returns over this level. Finally, purchasing 2.20 call (buy) contracts worth $85,000 for favourable price exposure.

Between $54,000 (down 11.5 percent) to $85,000, this option structure results in no gain or loss (up by 39 percent). By doing so, the investor is betting that Bitcoin's price will be above that range on Dec. 31 at 8:00 a.m. UTC, while acquiring exposure to limitless gains and a maximum loss of BTC 0.455.

This option structure is free, but the exchange will ask a margin deposit to cover potential losses. Bear in mind that the minimum option contract size on the majority of derivative exchanges is 0.10 BTC.

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Tungsten – A word that few in the space have heard of has now become the talk of the crypto-town due to its intriguing and fascinating properties. The cube in question is only 14 inches long and made of tungsten. However, due to the density of the metal, it weighs a tonne (approximately 907 kg.).

According to the space community, HODLing the cube is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's understandable to be perplexed at this point, but keep in mind that anything that can capture people's attention has value today.

People have been trying to figure out the whole cube frenzy over the last few days. The Google Trends result is self-explanatory.

Setting the record straight

Before we get into the other amazing details, it's important to understand how and why this cube saga began in the first place.

Midwest is a tungsten service company that has been in business since 1958 and specialises in tungsten and alloys. Their newer cube products have recently gotten a lot of attention. Since its introduction in 2015, the cube has allowed many people to firsthand experience the density of tungsten.

Tungsten, in fact, is a metal that is 1.7 times as dense as lead. Savants have been purchasing it for quite some time, and owning one is clearly a joke on Reddit.

Because of the sudden popularity of these cubes, Midwest Tungsten Service's sales increased by more than 300 percent in October. Until recently, the majority of the firm's business came from industrial customers, according to the company's official customer breakdown data. However, the publicity prompted them to begin offering cubes in a variety of sizes ranging from 1 cm to 10 cm in order to meet the needs of its new retail customer base.

According to Midwest's recent blog, the firm was pushed to analyse and figure out the largest cube they could build due to the interest in tungsten cubes. Following the introspection, the largest 14-odd inch cube was born.

Reactions that drew a lot of attention

The cube's new owners have already begun dramatising the situation. One of them went so far as to say that their previous life, particularly during the waiting period, had been a "bad life."

People are generally jumping on the cube bandwagon in order not to miss out on the entire cube saga. They used to be Ether rocks, but now they're tungsten cubes.

Terms and conditions were followed

Midwest decided to sell the tungsten cube as an NFT in order to maintain its crypto-relevance. Owners of the NFT would be able to pay an annual visit to see photograph and touch the physical cube that would be stored at the Midwest Tungsten Service headquarters.

According to the NFT's description on OpenSea

"Subsequent owners of the NFT are not permitted to visit the cube during a calendar year in which the cube has already been visited."

In fact, the company went on to say that the cube would be kept in its own room, which would be locked and only accessible to the NFT owner. In addition, the cube would not be available for viewing until 12 weeks after the first sale. In terms of delivery, its blog stated,

"Burning the NFT will result in shipment to the most recent owner via freight truck; the owner is responsible for notifying Midwest Tungsten Service of the intention to burn and transport after freight drop-off."

Thousands of dollars in bids!

The NFT was recently sold to a group called TungstenDAO for close to 57 ETH, or about $250,000. Although it is unclear what the group intends to do with the NFT, it appears that the purchase was made to bring the DAO to public attention.

The group bills itself as a "experimental meme incubation studio," with the goal of "amassing a collection of highly memorable assets, then creating content that reinforces their social significance and strengthens memetic desires for these assets."

Some argue that the density of the cube, combined with the intangible and immaterial nature of NFTs, is an ideal combination. Others, on the other hand, see the experience of HODLing these objects as its own reward. The most straightforward and appealing answer, on the other hand, advocates that the block is purchased to satisfy one's meme-bones.

Will TungstenDAO become the world's first multibillion-dollar meme studio? Will the cube's popularity last? Even though the answer to the aforementioned questions is most likely no, no one in the space can make that claim with certainty. Given the ever-changing trends, a cuboid or even a sphere may soon dethrone the cube.

NFTs are revolutionary in and of themselves, but current trends are out of control. And it appears that the cube is just another one attempting to bite the dust.

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Crypto.com, a global cryptocurrency platform, is launching in Australia, initially with a Visa card that allows customers to quickly convert their tokens into fiat currency to spend in stores.

The move comes after a slew of crypto announcements from both local startups and large corporations, as the industry gains traction and legitimacy.

Crypto.com, which was founded in 2016, claims to be the world's fastest-growing cryptocurrency app, with over 10 million customers worldwide.

It aims to improve the usability of cryptocurrencies in everyday life, making the market more accessible to a wider range of people.

It runs an exchange, wallet, and NFT marketplace, and in March 2021, it partnered with Visa to launch its card offering, which will allow customers to spend their cryptocurrency anywhere Visa is accepted.

The entry of Crypto.com into the Australian market was not entirely unexpected. Since December of last year, the company has held an Australian Financial Services Licence.

It launched its Australian-tailored Crypto.com Tax solution in August, with the goal of making it quick and easy for cryptocurrency holders to declare their holdings at tax time.

The APAC launch also coincides with the company's preparations for a new phase of global expansion. It debuted a TV ad campaign starring Hollywood actor Matt Damon in October.

"The timing of this campaign coincides with the early stages of mainstream cryptocurrency adoption," said Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek at the time.

In Australia, cryptocurrency is becoming more popular.

The hype surrounding cryptocurrency appears to be resuming in Australia.

As general manager for the APAC region, Karl Mohan, a veteran of the local financial services industry, will lead Crypto.com's local operations.

"Australians are eager to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, with more than one in every five people currently holding crypto in their portfolio," he said in a statement.

Commonwealth Bank announced a new feature last week that allows customers to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies through its app.

ASIC has also officially approved crypto-ETFs in Australia, and BetaShares has already launched its Crypto Innovators ETF.

Superhero, a startup that offers share trading and superannuation, is also considering a move into the cryptocurrency space.

In addition, a recent Senate committee report made a number of recommendations to help make Australia a more welcoming jurisdiction for businesses in this sector.

Gavin Appel, founder of startup advisory Ignition Lane, told SmartCompany that cryptocurrency is finally making its way into the mainstream market.

Adoption barriers are rapidly falling, and seeing the likes of CBA support crypto trading helps to legitimise the industry as a whole.

"This really shines a light on cryptocurrencies and how they will be involved in the future."

According to Appel, this legitimacy opens up more opportunities for startups and small businesses operating in this sector.

While large corporations will drive mainstream adoption, startups will always be able to innovate more quickly and, in some cases, provide better platforms and customer experiences.

CBA has increased public awareness and trust in cryptocurrencies. Startups will be present to reap the benefits.

"Fintechs are causing further disruption to incumbents, which will only provide more tailwinds to the industry."

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Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has asked his Twitter followers if he should sell Tesla stock. He has also stated that he will follow the poll's results. Many people are urging Musk to sell his Tesla stock and invest in cryptocurrency, specifically bitcoin.

Elon Musk polled his Twitter followers to see if they wanted him to sell his Tesla stock, and the majority of them said yes.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, launched a poll on Twitter on Saturday, asking his 62.7 million followers to vote on whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock. "Because there has been a lot of talk recently about unrealised gains as a way to avoid taxes, I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock." "Would you agree?" Musk used Twitter to express his thoughts.

In a subsequent tweet, he stated that he "does not take any cash salary or bonus from anywhere," emphasising that "I only have stock, thus the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock." In addition, Tesla's CEO stated:

Musk's poll has received a lot of coverage in the media. It received over 3.5 million votes, with 579.9% voting "Yes." The tweet has 111.5K likes and 22.1K retweets.

On Friday, Congress passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill after scaling back its contentious tax plan on unrealised capital gains aimed at billionaires. That section of the bill has been separated into a separate $1.9 trillion bill, which will be voted on later.

The Tesla CEO, who is now the world's richest man with a nett worth of at least $318.4 billion, has made several tweets criticising the bill in recent weeks.

Many bitcoiners took to the poll thread to express their thoughts to Musk. Several people suggested that Musk use the proceeds from his TSLA stock sale to purchase BTC. Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor, for example, suggested: "If the goal is diversification, an alternate strategy to consider is converting the TSLA balance sheet to a Bitcoin Standard and purchasing $25 billion in BTC." This would provide diversification, inflation protection, and more upside for all investors while remaining tax-efficient."

Michael Rihani, a former Tesla employee who now works as the crypto product lead at Jack Dorsey's Square Inc., tweeted to his former boss:

Yes, sell for $10 billion or more and use the proceeds to purchase bitcoin. You'll turn that $10 billion into $100 billion and use the proceeds to (1) increase the chances of completing the Tesla and SpaceX missions and (2) assist even more people and countries.

Some of Musk's supporters believe the Tesla billionaire will invest in the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin. Musk, also known as the Dogefather, has long backed DOGE, referring to it as "the people's crypto." He recently disclosed that he owns three cryptocurrencies: bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin.

The poll, however, did not please everyone. Some were concerned that Musk's decision to sell 10% of his Tesla stake would cause the TSLA stock to plummet on Monday morning. Others thought it was simply a bad idea to let Twitter users decide what to do with all of their money.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee and is a supporter of the unrealised gains tax, responded to Musk's poll on Saturday evening:

The results of a Twitter poll should not determine whether or not the world's wealthiest man pays any taxes. The Billionaires Income Tax is now in effect.

Musk offered to sell his Tesla stock last week if the world hunger problem could be solved. Responding to a comment by the director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) that 2% of his wealth could end world hunger, Musk wrote: "If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will end world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it." "But it must be open source accounting," he stressed, "so the public can see exactly how the money is spent."

As of June 30, Musk owned approximately 170.5 million shares in Tesla. Based on Tesla's current stock price, selling 10% of his stock would nett him approximately $21 billion.

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Cryptocurrencies are once again on the rise. This time, it is being driven by high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and fund managers.

Early in November, Bitcoin reached 1 million Rands, marking yet another milestone in a long march of milestones.

When bitcoin surpassed 300,000 Rands at the end of 2017, it was dubbed a "bubble" waiting for a pin. In 2018, bitcoin fell by 84 percent before resuming its ascent to 1 million Rands.

Bitcoin came within a whisker of 1 million Rands in April of this year before plummeting by more than 50%.

According to Jon Ovadia, CEO of crypto company Ovex, the recent bitcoin rally differs from previous rallies in that a large portion of the buying is coming from high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices, and wealth managers.

"We started seeing this trend on a smaller scale about a year ago, but it really picked up steam this year," Ovadia says.

"Traditional investors exposed to the stock market have seen the kind of outsized returns that are being made in cryptos, and they are putting pressure on their wealth managers to give them some exposure to cryptos, even if it is only 2% or 5% of their total investible wealth."

So far this year, Bitcoin is up more than 300 percent, and Ethereum is up 1000 percent. Other cryptocurrencies, such as Cardano and Solana, are up 1,827 percent and 16,000 percent, respectively.

"During previous bull markets, these massive returns could have been dismissed as speculative bubbles that were simply unsustainable." We've been through years of so-called speculative bubbles, and cryptos are still on the rise. "It's become clear that you can no longer ignore the massive wealth creation that is occurring in cryptos," Ovadia says.

Ovex is well-known as a market leader in crypto arbitrage, which allows investors to profit from price differences in cryptocurrency between overseas exchanges and Ovex.

The majority of its revenue comes from an over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform for large crypto trades. "We have access to deep liquidity, so clients who want to buy one, ten, or one hundred bitcoins can do so through our OTC desk at very low rates," Ovadia adds.

Wealth managers are interested in owning bitcoin and earning passive income through 'staking' (putting cryptocurrencies to work on the blockchain in exchange for rewards) or arbitraging cryptocurrencies.

"Two years ago, wealth managers saw cryptocurrency as something strange and exotic on the outskirts of the investment world."

"A year or two ago, responsible wealth managers were keeping a close eye on cryptos, but now they're committing with real money." They can't afford to sit on the sidelines any longer."

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Kraken, one of the leading cryptocurrency asset exchanges, has identified some of the factors driving the flagship cryptocurrency and other altcoin prices to new highs. After a roller coaster ride, bitcoin's price has performed admirably to reach a new all-time high last month. Following the scenario, the exchange platform's intelligence team analysed a large number of on-chain metrics, fund flows, and several technical indicators that indicated how some altcoins outperformed Satoshi Nakamoto's coin in the coming years.

BTC FUTURE-BASED ETFS ARE APPROVED BY THE US SEC

In October, the United States saw the launch of its first cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission gave ProShares a thumbs up (SEC). As a result, the ProShares BTC ETF contracts are now available for trading in traditional markets. According to the Kraken report, the first BTC ETF (BITO) quickly became one of the most sought-after funds in the country. Notably, the fund gained significant traction within the first two days of its launch, becoming the fastest financial instrument to reach $1 billion in assets under management (AUM). Kraken stated that the launch of the crypto-financial product increased the value of Bitcoin by more than 40%.

ETHEREUM IS BOOMING, SAYS KRAKEN

Ethereum, the second most popular and second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, skyrocketed last month. According to Kraken, Ethereum's price has reached a new all-time high, and network demand has also reached a six-week high. The transaction cost increased to $51 per transaction as a result of the scenario. The highs were observed to coincide with robust demand from decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols, modest activity in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and high demand for meme-coins such as DOGE and SHIB.

On the other hand, the network also implemented the Altair upgrade, which helped Ether move a step closer to becoming a complete Proof-of-Stake network (PoS). The upgrade, according to Kraken's Intelligence team, lays the groundwork for "shard chains," which expand the network's capacity.

NFTS EVOLUTION HAS CONTINUED IN OCTOBER

NFTs have become popular in recent years. However, the entire industry has grown at a breakneck pace since the beginning of this year. According to Kraken, despite a drop in overall market interest, the industry's innovation, development, and sales continued in October. To back up the claim, the exchange noted that volume on OpenSea had dropped by 50%. However, Yield Guild Games announced last month that they would commit $1 million to the purchase of NFTs from the upcoming blockchain game Star Atlas. In addition, a Solana Monkey Business (SMB) NFT token sold for a record $2 million, and a Rare Pepe NFT token sold for $3.6 million.

THE INDUSTRY WAS RUINED BY MEME COINS

Major digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum saw significant price and value increases last month. However, aside from the substantial investments, the market was also interested in the darling dog coins. The bullish rally ignited by entrepreneur Elon Musk was never expected to be violent. Some meme coins, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE), outperformed by the end of October.

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Bitcoin miners claim they can provide the stability required by the Australian power grid by absorbing excess supply as more volatile renewable energy replaces more stable coal-generated power in the local energy mix.

As policymakers gather in Glasgow to address the escalating climate crisis, bitcoin miners point to their high energy consumption and ability to switch on and off quickly as a way for authorities to provide power reliability to communities in real time as the global energy mix shifts.

"To date, coal has been seen as a reliable power source, which is a challenge that renewable energy faces," said Cam Nelson, CEO of DAME, an emerging cryptocurrency miner.

"However, a really powerful way to increase renewable resilience in the grid is to build up oversupply, which bitcoin miners can use when the communities don't need it."

As it stands, most energy producers, whether through solar, hydro, coal, or natural gas, are carefully balancing how much power they produce, aware that much of it is sold for next to nothing during times such as the middle of the night or is completely lost to the ground.

Bitcoin miners are positioning themselves as buyers of that excess power, claiming that they can turn off their operations when the community's needs are greater, such as when the wind isn't blowing or there is some other energy disruption, and feed their large load back into the grid.

"Other large energy consumers, such as Rio Tinto or BHP, cannot simply shut down their operations if the needs of the communities outnumber theirs, but bitcoin miners can, giving energy producers a way to ensure their power is always going somewhere and smoothing the pricing," Mr Nelson explained.

Energy concerns resurfaced this week as cryptocurrencies took two significant steps towards mainstream acceptance. The Commonwealth Bank announced plans to offer customers ten crypto investment options, and investors poured more than $40 million into the first crypto-exposed exchange traded fund, which debuted on the ASX.

Despite the cautious steps towards adoption, bitcoin's energy consumption remains a contentious issue. According to the University of Cambridge's bitcoin electricity consumption index, bitcoin miners will consume approximately 130 terawatt-hours of energy this year, accounting for approximately 0.6% of global electricity consumption.

This compares bitcoin to the carbon dioxide emissions of small developing countries like Sri Lanka or Jordan.

According to new Forex Suggest research, 284 million trees would be needed to offset bitcoin's CO2 emissions this year alone.

However, bitcoin miners argue that their flexibility and constant demand is the tool that allows renewable energy producers to produce as much power as they want, ensuring the grid always has supply and the producers always have a buyer.

According to data released last month by the Australian Energy Market Operator, renewable energy powered more than 31% of all Australian electricity between July 1 and September 30, a record, and as much as 61.41% of the nation's power grid between 1pm and 1.30pm on September 24.

"It's growing, and so electricity prices in the middle of the day are basically zero," said Dylan McConnell, project manager for the Open Electricity Market at the University of Melbourne's climate and energy college.

"It's the demand side that needs stability, and there are uncontracted renewable energy developers who are hurting because they need new sources of demand."

Bitcoin miners have been signing contracts with renewable energy providers across the country, explicitly stating their intention to adjust their usage in response to broader community needs.

"We've just become the buyer of last resort, always ready to pick up some more power but always able to turn off quickly," said James Manning, CEO of Mawson Infrastructure, which has inked a deal with Byron Bay's renewable energy powerhouse Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.

Mr Manning stated that his willingness to reduce energy demand during peak network load times was a critical component of the Quinbrook agreement.

In the final report of the Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre committee, Senator Andrew Bragg mentioned the unit economics of bitcoin mining, saying that the portability of bitcoin mining operations gave them a useful advantage over data centres, which generally need to be close to telecommunications networks.

The report also addressed energy concerns, stating, "It is critical that where cryptocurrency mining and related activities occur in Australia, these activities do not undermine Australia's nett zero emissions obligations."

To further connect bitcoin mining operations to renewable energy sources, the committee recommended that the Australian government amend legislation so that businesses engaged in digital asset mining receive a 10% company tax break if they source their own renewable energy.

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