Chainlink’s verifiable randomness function, or VRF, has made its way to the Ethereum (ETH) main net. VRF will provide a decentralized source of randomness for the project's decentralized ecosystem. A trusted source of randomness is essential for many applications, such as those in the gambling and gaming industries. Chainlink’s co-founder Sergey Nazarov told Cointelegraph that many blockchains beyond Ethereum, such as the gaming-focused Matic Network, are interested in deploying the project’s VRF: “I know that we have anywhere between 10 and 20 users announced as already using it from the time it was in testnet only. And I know a …

The crypto markets are cheering PayPal’s decision to allow its customers to use cryptocurrencies to shop from its vast merchant network. PayPal also revealed that U.S. account holders will be able to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies in the PayPal app. The company plans to extend this service to a few other countries in the first half of 2021. PayPal’s decision has significantly increased the reach of cryptocurrencies. Now, many of the company’s 346 million active users will have the options to engage with cryptocurrencies and become investors if they choose. However, a mass influx of investors into cryptocurrencies is …

Crypto market sentiment appears to be improving across the board and the global push to mainstream central bank digital currencies is also making headway. In China’s Shenzhen province about 2 million people had applied for the digital yuan giveaway and the lucky 50,000 among them received “red envelopes” of digital yuan totalling $1.5 million. By the end of Oct. 18 about 47,573 of the recipients had spent roughly $1.3 million of the bounty, amounting to 88% of the total giveaway. This suggests that the pilot program was a success and shows that China is far ahead of other developed economies …

Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s cash-settled Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading products “contribute more to price discovery than its related spot markets,” according to findings in a new report by investment firm Wilshire Phoenix. The increasing volumes of crypto derivative products highlight greater participation from institutional investors and this will likely be positive for the entire crypto space. This is not unique to cryptocurrencies because even in most other asset classes, the derivatives markets lead the spot markets. In a separate attempt to determine the valuation of Bitcoin, several experts from JPMorgan Chase opined that Bitcoin’s price is overvalued compared to its intrinsic …

The bond yields across most developed economies have dropped sharply since the central banks unleashed a slew of measures to counter the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This could pose a challenge to the institutional investors who rely on the traditional 60/40 portfolio allocation between equities and fixed income instruments. This week Fidelity Digital Assets also released its Bitcoin Investment Thesis report which details how a portfolio with a Bitcoin (BTC) allocation as low as one to three percent can beat the traditional allocation on various time scales. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 The report also highlights …

U.S. equity markets are nearing all-time highs on the hopes that Democrats and Republican will break their current stalemate and strike a deal to release another round of stimulus for American citizens and the small businesses they operate. While these monetary and fiscal stimulus measures have been proven to boost stock market returns in the short-term, they also add to the massive debt burden facing the U.S. Printing more money from thin air cannot be a permanent solution to every problem and at some point the chickens will come home to roost. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 In the …

Payments giant, Square, has become the second listed company after MicroStrategy to buy Bitcoin (BTC). Although Square’s purchase of 4,709 Bitcoin is much smaller than MicroStrategy’s haul of 38,250 Bitcoin, many investors feel that this is a welcome step in the right direction. The acquisition of cryptocurrency by large listed companies such as Square could possibly inspire other companies to join the crypto bandwagon and it also suggests that Bitcoin’s image as an investment vehicle and store of value have improved. The growing interest in cryptocurrency is not going unnoticed as several central banks are attempting to make themselves relevant …

Crypto prices may be in a rut but that doesn’t mean product development and acquisitions cease to occur. This week Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings acquired a 100% stake in TaoTao cryptocurrency exchange. With the latest acquisition, SBI now owns two cryptocurrency trading platforms. This suggests that the financial conglomerate is betting on an increase in cryptocurrency trading in Japan and is positioning itself to benefit from it. While countries like China and South Korea have not fully embraced digital currencies, they are racing ahead in testing the feasibility of a central bank digital currency. The South Korean central bank …

A recent report by ARK Investment Management LLC presents a strongly bullish case for Bitcoin’s (BTC) future value. The group projects that Bitcoin’s network capitalization will rise to $1-$5 trillion over the next five to ten years. The asset manager argues that Bitcoin offers one of the most attractive risk to reward ratios and should be included in well-diversified portfolios. However, Blockstream CEO Adam Back believes that the estimation is “conservative” and Back suggested that Bitcoin could rally to a “$1 trillion market cap within 2 years” or probably sooner, implying that each Bitcoin will be worth $50,000. Daily cryptocurrency …

The shallow pullback in Bitcoin (BTC) following the news of the CFTC’s regulatory crackdown on BitMEX and the late announcement that U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus shows that the underlying sentiment is still bullish. Generally, most damage during such periods of negative news flow is caused by the squaring up of leveraged positions. Data shows that Bitcoin futures volume and open interest has been dropping since hitting the peak in early September. This means that there were fewer long positions that had to be squared up in a hurry and it also may explain why a sharper …

According to data from CryptoQuant, the total amount of Bitcoin (BTC) held in exchange reserves dropped from 2.8 million BTC in October 2019 to 2.4 million. Analysts believe that this steady decline in reserves means retail traders and whales may be accumulating Bitcoin as they expect prices to rise in the future. Even though Bitcoin is still far below its lifetime highs, if it manages to close Q3 2020 above $10,590, that would be the second-best close in any quarter. Data from Skew shows this would only be behind the Q4 2017 closing price at $13,660. All of this suggests …

Bitcoin (BTC) soared above $10,000 on July 27 and has sustained above this level since then. Data shows that this streak of 63 consecutive days of closes above the $10,000 level is a new record. This also shows that the level has now become a strong support after previously acting as a stiff resistance. Bulls have consistently purchased dips to and below $10K and this psychologically important level may now act as a floor for launching the next leg of the uptrend. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 At the moment it seems that the monetary and fiscal stimulus measures …