The crypto market has been on a downward trajectory since the tail end of 2021. In early May 2022, it culminated in a dip that impacted traditional markets just as hard. The recent bust removed some speculation from the market. But the shakeup is different than in the past. There are still many more active users utilizing the Bitcoin network than we have seen in past cycles. Many more holders and true believers made it through to the other side. However, as this increases over time, one of the concerns some have over Bitcoin (BTC) may impact its adoption. There is an economic incentive, not just utility, that privacy coins can offer as a solution. At different points in the first half of 2022, both in crypto market rallies and huge dumps, privacy coins such as Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH) and Zcash (ZEC) have fared relatively well against other altcoins. Does this mean there is an underlying demand for interest in crypto privacy? The Bitcoin standard is finally here (well, not yet)For the..

The Bitcoin network witnessed a historic event on May 12 when the network difficulty attained its all-time high of 31.251 trillion as miners mined nearly 50,000 BTC of the remaining 2 million tokens. While the Bitcoin community rejoiced the added resilience to the network owing to the rising difficulty in mining a Bitcoin block, the network difficulty recorded a drop of 4.33% — falling from 31.251 trillion to 29.897 trillion on May 26. As Cointelegraph reported on several occasions, Bitcoin’s network difficulty consistently achieved all-time highs over the past ten months as it recovered from a massive drop of 45.4% — from 25.046 trillion on May 29, 2021, to 13.673 trillion on July 22, 2021. Ever since then, Bitcoin’s network difficulty witnessed a total growth of 128.56% as it surged to its all-time high. However, despite the momentary decline of over 4%, the BTC ecosystem is still guarded by the most secure blockchain network. Higher network difficulty demands higher computational ..

“The Metaverse” and “Web3” are the buzzwords of the moment, with their concepts permeating across the worlds of fintech, blockchain, and now even mainstream media. With decentralization thought to be at the core of the Web3 Metaverse, the promise of a better user experience, security and control for consumers is what’s driving its growth. But with users’ identities at the heart of the Metaverse, coupled with unprecedented amounts of data online, there are concerns over data security, privacy and interoperability. This has the potential to hinder the development of the Metaverse, but both regulated and self-sovereign identities could play an important role in ensuring that we truly own our identity and data within this new space. Related: Digital sovereignty: Reclaiming your private data in Web3 What is the Metaverse?Although the concept of the Metaverse has been around for a while, it was recently brought into the spotlight when Mark Zuckerberg chose to rename his company “Meta” (to th..

Further cementing India’s decision to introduce an in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022-23, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed a three-step graded approach for rolling out CBDC “with little or no disruption” to the traditional financial system. In February, while discussing the budget for 2022, Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about the launch of a digital rupee to provide a “big boost” to the digital economy. In the annual report released Friday by India’s central bank, RBI revealed exploring the pros and cons of introducing a CBDC. In the report, RBI stressed the need for India’s CBDC to conform to India’s objectives related to “monetary policy, financial stability and efficient operations of currency and payment systems.” Based on this need, RBI is currently examining the various design elements of a CBDC that can co-exist within the existing fiat system without causing disruptions. The Indian Finance Bill 2022, which enforced the introduction ..

The insurance industry has a long history of providing vital support for major leaps in innovation. It’s no coincidence that the modern insurance industry and the industrial revolution arose in parallel. Indeed, it has been convincingly argued that the invention of fire and property insurance — in response to the Great Fire of London — lubricated the gears of capital investment that powered the industrial revolution and is likely the reason why it started in London. Through that first and each subsequent technological revolution, insurance has offered innovators and investors a safety net and served as an outside, objective validator of risk — thereby acting as a source of both the encouragement and the security needed to confidently test and break barriers. Today, we are in the midst of a new digital financial revolution, and the case for this new technology is clear and compelling. The recent White House executive order on “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets” further ..

Buying low and selling high is easier said than done, especially when emotion and volatile markets are thrown into the mix. Historically speaking, the best deals are to be found when there is “blood on the streets,” but the danger of catching a falling knife usually keeps most investors planted on the sidelines. The month of May has been especially challenging for crypto holders because Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to a low of $26,782, and some analysts are now predicting a sub-$20,000 BTC price in the near future. It’s times like these when fear is running rampant that the contrarian investor looks to establish positions in promising assets before the broader market comes to its senses. Here’s a look at several indicators that contrarian-minded investors can use to spot opportune moments for opening positions ahead of the next marketwide rally. The Crypto Fear & Greed IndexThe Crypto Fear & Greed index is a well-known measure of market sentiment that most investors use to crowd-forecast the..

As reported by the University of Sao Paulo (USP), the metaverse-centric research will be carried out by research groups interested in 3D modeling, psychology and human behavior, and the effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality devices. These research domains will be evaluated within the context of the metaverse to understand how the new virtual world impacts user interactions. USP professor Marcos A. Simplicio Jr. highlighted that this is the first time USP had received a nonfungible token (NFT) via partnership. The token in question is a rare piece of land in the United States of Mars (USM) metaverse, which is being built in collaboration with other universities. "USP is the first university in Latin America to have a partnership with USM to support the construction of its metaverse," said Simplicio. The partnership will initially feature a collaboration with researchers stemming from an existing agreement called the University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), which is s..

Every Bitcoin investor is searching for signals that the market is approaching a bottom, but the price action of this week suggests that we're just not there yet. Evidence of this can be found by looking at the monthly return for Bitcoin (BTC), which was hit with a rapid decline that “translated to one of the biggest drawdowns in monthly returns for the asset class in its history,” according to the most recent Blockware Solutions Market Intelligence Newsletter. Bitcoin monthly returns. Source: Blockware SolutionsBitcoin continues to trade within an increasingly narrow trading range that is slowly being compressed to the downside as global economic strains mount. Whether the price continues to trend lower is a popular topic of debate among crypto analysts and the dominant opinion current points to further downside. Analysts will stay bearish until $45,000 is reclaimedAccording to Blockware Solutions, there are a variety of indicators that point to a bearish outlook as long as B..

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) maintained its perfect record for rejecting Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications Friday when it disapproved a rule change to allow cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund One River Digital to offer the One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust on the New York Stock Exchange Arca. The decision comes somewhat ahead of schedule, as the agency had extended the original deadline to June 2 to allow more time for consideration. The commission wrote that, when considering One River's proposed rule change, it applied "the same standard used in its orders considering previous proposals to list bitcoin-based commodity trusts." Specifically, the proposed rule change did not meet the SEC's rules around fraud prevention. The SEC further clarified: “[...] disapproval of this proposed rule change does not rest on an evaluation of whether bitcoin, or blockchain technology more generally, has utility or value as an innovat..

Dania Gonzalez, Deputy of the Republic of El Salvador, was recently in Brazil to reveal her country's experiences with the decision to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. Gonzalez’s invitation to Brazil came from digital influencer Rodrix Digital, who was recently in El Salvador to produce a documentary about cryptocurrencies. Among the lawmaker’s activities in Brazil was attending Bitconf 2022, as well as meeting with Dape Capital CEO Daniele Abdo Philippi and Ana Élle, CEO of Agency ROE. Between her agendas, Gonzalez spoke with Cointelegraph and revealed how Bitcoin has helped to change people's lives in El Salvador and how the federal government, led by President Nayib Bukele, has been taking advantage of the resources invested in BTC to improve the economy. Asked about El Salvador’s investment in Bitcoin and how it can impact people's lives as the value of BTC is falling, Gonzalez highlighted that every investment has a cost and a benefit. "What Nayib Bukele did wa..