Exploring the landscape of crypto regulations in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has no doubt suffered many regulatory setbacks in adopting cryptocurrencies. With most countries in the region struggling not to buckle under economic uncertainties and pressures looming over them even as the ripple effects of COVID-19 set in, it would appear that many Africans, especially millennials, aren’t waiting for the government anymore. The main issue inhibiting regulation seems to be a combination of resistance and indecision both from regulators, which has majorly been a result of little or no understanding of cryptocurrencies.  Speaking to Cointelegraph on the attitude of…

‘Old hands selling out’ metric shows Bitcoin price at risk of HODLers dumping

Old hands are selling their Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, according to glassnode’s Coin Dormancy metric. As shown below, dormant addresses selling BTC marked previous tops in BTC. Coin Dormancy of Bitcoin. Source: glassnode On-chain analyst Willy Woo said old hands reliably sold the top until the most recent price cycle. He wrote: “Dormancy is a measure of ‘old hands selling out.’ It’s interesting to see old hands reliably sold tops until this present cycle. They sold the #bitcoin bottom at $3-$4k, they are selling right now.” There are several reasons long-time…

Bitcoin Bar ‘Room 77’ Shuts Down

Room 77, the German bar and restaurant that claims to be the first retail outfit in the world to accept bitcoin payments, has shut down. Cypherpunk Holdings chief economist Jon Matonis broke the news on Twitter. Bar owner Jorg Platzer later confirmed it on Reddit. “Room 77 is closing for good,” Platzer revealed in a rather futuristic, celebratory post on Oct. 18. “We think our mission is accomplished and it is time to go back to our home planet. Thanks for all the fish and the generous tips!” No official…

XRP Triggers Signal Resulting In Nearly 80% On Average Rise Against Bitcoin

Bitcoin is more bullish than ever, and Ethereum has taken center stage of the hot to trot DeFi trend. XRP, however, has remained a laggard for two years running. But all this could soon change, as a signal just triggered on the Ripple versus Bitcoin trading pair that in the past has led to an on average increase of just under 80%. Could Ripple’s woes soon reverse against Bitcoin, and could XRP finally regain all the ground it has lost over the last two and a half years of a…

These BitMEX Alternatives Are the Best Specialized Investment Platforms for Traders

It’s official – the U.S. government has the Bitmex exchange in its headlights. With one Bitmex leader in custody and others on the lam, the exchange is practically toast. New York Times broke the story on October 1 showing how charges related to money laundering and reckless financial activity have left Bitmex backers in a lot of hot water. So where do traders go? Traders are wondering what alternatives they have if they deem Bitmex to be unsafe waters. Here are some alternatives that can be useful for trading cryptocurrency…

This blockchain only needs 22Kb of data to be verified

Mina aspires to be the world’s tiniest blockchain, with claims that its protocol maintains a constant size of around 22 KBs. This is ostensibly achieved by using recursive zk-SNARKs — the same technology that is used by the privacy-centric cryptocurrency, Zcash (ZEC). However, whereas the latter utilizes this technology to provide greater privacy to its users, the former employs it for scalability.  A zk-SNARK, which stands for zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge, allows a party to prove that they have possession of certain information without revealing what that information is. It is…

Why Apple Users are Diving into the Cryptocurrency Trading Business

Last year, Apple hinted that it has been following the development of the cryptocurrency industry intently, leading some to speculate that the global electronics and payment giant was preparing to launch its own cryptocurrency or blockchain platform. Though this prospect was quickly dismissed by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple has been shown to be researching blockchain technologies in a recent SEC filing and operates two major platforms that have helped potentially millions of people gain exposure to cryptocurrencies — the Apple App Store and Apple Pay. Through the App Store,…

Ethereum 2.0 Possible Launch Date, Progress Made

Ethereum has made considerable progress particularly with the success of the Zinkel Testnet launched last week. As the anticipation for the launch of the Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0 mounts, one of the project’s developer Ben Edginton has given more inclination as to the project’s progress as well as the potential time of launch date. Per the update Edginton gave, the anticipated migration of the ethereum network from its current Proof-of-Work mechanism to the scalable Proof-of-Stake mechanism will be anywhere from 6-8 weeks from now. He noted that the continuous use…

Blockchain Bites: Filecoin Strike, Bitcoin Fees Fall, Coinbase Censorship

Top shelf Token protestFive of the largest Filecoin miners, which secure that data storage network, have gone on strike, bringing attention to the project’s “unfair” economic model. According to a report by 8btc.com, miners are required to stake a significant amount of FIL tokens to start mining operations. But there’s a critical lack of FIL tokens off the bat. Purchasing tokens on exchanges at what could be inflated prices is seen as unattractive. “All the miners have been off since the mainnet went live. This is not some sort of…

Ethereum’s Dominance Over the Market May Soon Explode Higher; Here’s Why

Ethereum’s price is moving higher today alongside that of Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market. This latest push higher has allowed ETH to re-surmount its crucial $380 level – which is the price that has determined several trends throughout the past few months. Bulls must now move to build support at this level, as another break below it could have some lasting damage on the cryptocurrency’s technical outlook. Traders widely believe that the coming few days and weeks will alter Ethereum’s macro outlook, as the confluence of it…