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Crypto and blockchain: What the Brazilian market can expect for 2021

January 22, 2021 by Blockchain Consultants

2020 will be remembered as one of the most difficult years for contemporary societies: Countries and entire populations have faced lockdowns and economic crises, financial markets still suffer from the severe impacts of the economic recession, and more than 2 million lives have been taken by COVID-19.

Despite this, other sectors have been impacted in other ways during the severe global health crisis — which still seems far from over, even though vaccines are beginning to be distributed in wealthy countries. Economies have radically digitalized, hedge assets have attracted mistrust, and the crypto market has had one of its most important years since 2009, the year of Bitcoin’s (BTC) launch.

In fact, the crypto and blockchain markets have stood out in the face of a crisis that has spared almost no sector. Cryptocurrency funds are among the most profitable of the year, Bitcoin and the biggest altcoins reach new historic highs, large institutions and investors in the financial markets have allocated investments in Bitcoin, and blockchain technology has broken down barriers in the financial sector and in the production chains of the most varied of sectors.

Faced with a year of profound changes, what is to be expected for the future? Cointelegraph Brasil invited some of the country’s top crypto and blockchain experts to chart the next steps for the market.

Institutional investment

Institutional investment was highlighted in 2020, finally reaching the cryptosphere, and it promises another year of growth in 2021.

According to Rodrigo Borges, founding member of the Oxford Blockchain Foundation, large Bitcoin contributions by institutional investors — which have even bought more BTC than the production capacity of miners — will intensify in 2021: “Regarding Bitcoin, I imagine that there will be an increase in demand for institutional investors, enabling the emergence of new products with exposure to Bitcoin,” analyzed Borges. He also sees “2021 as a year of consolidation and strong development in the sector.”

As for Tatiana Revoredo, MIT blockchain expert and Cointelegraph Brasil columnist, the custody of cryptocurrencies by traditional financial institutions and the adoption of stablecoins will be key in the new year:

“In the financial sector, we will see applications for custody of crypto assets being launched in Brazil, with the possible participation of the traditional market. And if the regulatory authorities allow it, stablecoins will have an expressive role in the Brazilian market, with the turnover being able to quadruple in size.”

Crypto markets

Crypto markets experienced a year of extreme optimism — or greed, as demonstrated by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Bitcoin reached a dramatic bottom close at $3,800 in March, and it beat its 2017 historic high of $20,000 on Dec. 16. In Brazil, the currency set a new historical record in November when it reached $106,000 Brazillian reals.

Cointelegraph Markets reporter Marcel Pechman highlighted the behavior of the market despite the setbacks suffered during the year. He recalled: “The Bitcoin and Ethereum markets developed in 2020 as never before imagined, both in terms of trading volume, price and the contribution of renowned investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller.”

Pechman said that despite the crypto market suffering some setbacks, the impact of those setbacks on market performance was not so significant: “We had, for example, the US Department of Justice suing BitMEX — at the time, the largest derivatives exchange — and KuCoin’s $280 million hack, and none of those affected the market.”

Pechman also recalled that the 2020 DeFi race led to expensive transaction costs on the Ethereum network but did not impact market sentiment.

OriginalMy CEO Edilson Osório agreed with the promising future of the DeFi sector, but he cautioned against fraud:

“This is an experimental and very promising market, but it must be given extra attention because of malicious groups applying scams and fraud in general. As it is a very new market, platforms may have problems with hacks, and due to the great centralization that exists (even with many platforms presenting themselves as decentralized), there is still a risk of exit scams.”

About 2020’s innovations, and the digitalization imposed by the COVID-19 crisis, Pechman also said that it will go even deeper in 2021:

“Successive innovations, which include Taproot, Schnorr and Lightning Network in Bitcoin, in addition to the launch of Ethereum 2.0 phase 0, pave the way for the next wave, with increasingly larger, scalable applications, and interconnected with traditional finance. The final proof? Fidelity offers loans covered in cryptocurrencies.”

On the domestic markets, Osório is betting on the tokenization market in Brazil, which is already used by the country’s largest crypto exchange, Mercado Bitcoin. According to him, 2021 will be a year for “maturing the security tokens market.”

“Existing protocols are beginning to be well regarded by regulators, since most of them provide for greater participation and visibility on the part of the regulator itself and allow the mitigation of various risks inherent in this market. In this race, there is a great chance that Brazil will gain prominence because the local regulator has established a regulatory sandbox and the first projects are already beginning to mobilize to have their applications running in a more legally secure environment,” – noted Osório.

Another player at the Brazilian crypto markets, João Paulo Mayall — head of operations at QR Asset Management — is also optimistic about the tokenization market in 2021. He highlighted the role of regulators in the sector’s expansion in the South American country: “I believe that the future is the tokenization of assets, debentures, court bonds, government debts. Brazil is very advanced in its banking system and we will have many surprises in this sector, so I am very optimistic. Tokenization is a billion-dollar market, but it lacks the infrastructure. Innovation came in front of the regulators, but I think they are open to listening and working on it. I think [the regulation] will happen next year, even before March 2021.”

Finally, blockchain expert Tatiana Revoredo argued that crypto adoption in Brazil, which saw its currency melt in 2020, will intensify, with Bitcoin once again asserting itself as an economic-protection asset. She believes that the crypto markets will see “an increase in the interest of Brazilians, with consequent increase in the Brazilian market, with a prominent role for Bitcoin being adopted as a protective asset.”

CBDCs and national governments

The digitization of economies has placed the discussion of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, at the center of debates by financial authorities around the world. One of the countries that has definitely entered this race is China, which is already conducting real tests of the digital yuan in the country. Its main geopolitical rival, the U.S., announced that for the time being, it does not intend to digitize the dollar, but it is already seeing internal pressure from not following the Chinese leadership in the sector.

The Central Bank of Brazil has also commented on the transformation of the Brazillian real into a digital currency a few times, although there are no concrete plans for that in the short term.

Osório believes the European Union will join the hype soon, further accelerating the global race for CBDCs: “Although China appears to be leading the CBDC race, other countries are also beginning to move in this direction. Among them, Estonia, which recently started an internal consultation for the launch of its currency in the digital version. In particular, I believe that in Europe a more comprehensive and organized movement should take place in this sense, given the incentives promoted by the European Union.”

Many experts try to predict the impacts of CBDCs on economies — one of the main concerns of economic regulators. Governments, which largely study the adoption of blockchain in their public processes, should also enter the debate on privacy and the digitization of money.

According to Tatiana Revoredo, “in the government sector, the forecast is for the growth of [blockchain] applications in document registration and health applications, as well as a greater concern, by the citizens, regarding the relationship between privacy and CBDC.” She also claims that payments processors should closely monitor this innovation:

“Those who should be more attentive to these movements are the means of payment, such as PayPal and their peers. They will have to look deeply into their business models as soon as governments start issuing their currencies digitally. ”

Blockchain adoption

Governments have also viewed blockchain technology through a positive lens. In Brazil and Latin America, several state entities already use the technology to certify documents, including customs and notary offices. Big companies are also adopting blockchain to certify production, with use cases that are only expected to grow going forward.

Borges said that the acceleration of blockchain adoption by large companies and governments can positively impact crypto assets:

“Within the scope of blockchain technology, I see the development of interesting solutions, with the increasing involvement of traditional players, especially in the financial and agribusiness sectors, which may result in increased liquidity for certain assets.”

Revoredo agreed and highlighted the advancement of technology in the agricultural sector: “There has been a significant advance in agribusiness, with use in the identification of devices (drones, for example), integration with IoT and artificial intelligence to provide greater reliability and certify quality of agricultural production.”

Osório defended the growth of the blockchain market in 2020 and its prospects for the near future: “When we look at advances in blockchain with applications beyond digital currency, we see a growing market in the area of ​​decentralized digital identity, including with the approach of governments. We have seen movements in governments in the US and Japan, interested in modernizing their digital governance models. And the pandemic has certainly helped to accelerate and advance discussions on the issue around the world, as it understands that the digitization of analog and traditional services is a necessity.”

The end of 2020 was a milestone that closed out one of the most dramatic years in the history of contemporary societies, but it also revealed ways to combat global economic and health crises.

Blockchain technology has helped societies fight corruption, adopt more transparent processes and even contributed to the certification of medicines and vaccines during the most serious health crisis of the last 100 years, in addition to helping companies to improve procedures, products and services.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin has strengthened as an economic protection and investment product, has attracted institutional investment giants, and — together with other crypto technologies — has even laid the foundation for central banks around the world to start implementing their own digital currencies.

We still do not know the depth of the revolution we are experiencing with the digitalization of societies and the weakening of national currencies around the world, but by the end of 2021, we will certainly know many of the answers to the questions that still plague us at the beginning of this new year.

Crypto and blockchain: What the Brazilian market can expect for 2021

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It is ignorant not to embrace crypto at this time, says Binance U.S. CEO

September 22, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

Chief Executive Officer of crypto exchange Binance US branch, Catherine Coley, explained that businesses who adopt cryptocurrency may find it easier going forward in this pandemic period.

During an interview with Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal on Bloomberg, she said cryptocurrencies can offer “uses beyond speculation” as investors can apply cryptocurrencies in real-world scenarios like driving new businesses and engaging in e-commerce transactions. She pointed out that startups that do not think about integrating digital assets into their systems will be ignorantly going about their business, particularly in the precarious period.

She also revealed that firms should learn a lot of lessons from cryptocurrency, as it has made conversations about money more accessible to professionals in the mainstream sector as well as more digestible for everyone. She also said crypto has made a lot of people stay off the streets, including her. There are loads of benefits to gain from the cryptocurrency and its industry. Although it is still underestimated, cryptocurrency has a huge role to play in the mainstream finance sector, she pointed out.

Coley has been serving as the chief executive officer of Binance US since last year. In August the exchange revealed that it has been granted full regulatory permissions to expand operations to Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. With the new legislation, the crypto exchange can make it easier for all crypto traders to enter the U.S. market by next year.

Binance’s Crypto Card Provider Swipe Plans a US Launch

Bridging the gap between fiat and cryptocurrencies

Many market observers are taking Coley’s stance on the benefits of cryptocurrencies in the traditional finance market. The development of digital technology is moving at a high pace, prompting some crypto experts to believe cryptocurrency will become highly relevant in finance in the next few years. This is because there are several positive signs of transactions involving cryptocurrencies that are not seen with the Fiat currency. Apart from transaction efficiency, there is another benefit that cryptocurrencies will usher in more financial participation for everyone.

Coley is bemused that some companies are still skeptical about integrating cryptocurrencies into their platform even after seeing the immediate and future benefits of digital currencies.

Fintech companies should tap into cryptocurrency growth

The fintech project started some decades ago when the first credit payment credit card rolled out its services. And the invention of self-service devices, ATMs, and banks started moving the financial industry forward.

The financial sector has been affected by a series of innovations at different stages. Right now, cryptocurrency and Bitcoin is the rave of the moment. While some fintech firms are trying to work their way to integrate the digital currency, others are still backing out, fearing regulation concerns.

People lost confidence in the classical financial system after the 2008 global financial crises. Coincidentally, digital currencies were introduced at that period, which is quite different from the Fiat currency. Several experts have predicted that fintech companies who will take advantage of the present benefits of the cryptocurrency will reap the reward in the future, as the world changes its financial and monetary course.

It is ignorant not to embrace crypto at this time, says Binance U.S. CEO

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Filed Under: blockchain, cryptocurrency Tagged With: Banks, Binance, Business, ceo, chief, chief executive officer, Companies, conversations, crypto, crypto exchange, Cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency, Currencies, Currency, digital currencies, digital currency, e-commerce, exchange, executive, fiat, finance, Financial sector, fintech, Florida, innovations, interview, Legislation, Market, money, Regulation, Spotify, Startups, Technology, Trading, u.s., us, USA, world

French and Italian Regulators Go After Unlicensed Crypto Services 

September 22, 2020 by Blockchain Consultants

Cryptocurrency scams have continued to grow, and their influence is reaching even the farthest parts of the world. However, regulators worldwide are also improving their ability to track and apprehend these criminal enterprises’ operators.

AMF Cleans Its Crypto Investment Space

Earlier this week, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), France’s top financial regulator, sent out a list of investment companies operating within its borders without the proper authorization. While the companies provide investments in different asset classes, some are also linked with cryptocurrencies.

Most notable among the crypto-linked scam sites is BitcoinFrance. Per the report, the company promises users free access to its proprietary Bitcoin trading software once they deposit $250. The company allegedly has an app that trades crypto markets and purportedly generates $1,000 in earnings daily. It also adds that its investments are risk-free, and customers’ funds are guaranteed. As the AMF said, the list could change at any time as most of these fraudulent companies tend to switch their operations and identities.

So far, the AMF has been doing its bit to ensure effective oversight of its digital asset space. The agency has worked to close loopholes that could provide an avenue for criminals to thrive, and like many other regulators, it has introduced licensing requirements for most industry players.

In July, the agency partnered with another local regulator, les Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), to remind crypto ATM operators of their licensing requirements under the country’s Monetary and Financial Code.

In a press release, the AMF explained that it had noticed a surge in crypto ATM installations and deployments across the country. However, any company that seeks to operate these devices will have to register before proceeding.

“Registration entails, in particular, the setting up of an organization, procedures and internal control system capable of ensuring compliance with the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML-FT) and enabling the freezing of assets,” the release added.

CONSOB’s Blacklisting Spree

Elsewhere, in Italy, the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB), the country’s top securities regulator, has been on a rampant website blocking campaign recently.

The latest action took place on September 18, and it confirmed that the agency had blocked 284 websites since July 2019. These sites claim to specialize in offering forex and cryptocurrency trades, but none had gotten authorizations from the agency.

CONSOB added that most of these companies had shown significant signs of being fraudulent. The moves are coming as the European Union gears up to adopt a new set of cryptocurrency rules. According to a report from Reuters last week, the regional authority has published two documents outlining its mission to adopt digital finance as a means of enhancing its cross-border payments service.

“By 2024, the EU should put in place a comprehensive framework enabling the uptake of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and crypto-assets in the financial sector. It should also address the risks associated with these technologies,” one of the documents read.

As Reuters added, the E.U. is considering enforcing Anti-Money Laundering and identity verification to cryptocurrency transactions. Once done, it will be ready to adopt these assets into its financial regime.

French and Italian Regulators Go After Unlicensed Crypto Services 

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Filed Under: blockchain, cryptocurrency Tagged With: ACPR, Bitcoin, bitcoin trading, Companies, Compliance, crypto, Cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency, DLT, Earnings, EU, european union, finance, Financial sector, France, Go, google, investment, Investments, Italy, Ledger, Markets, money, Money Laundering, other, payments, scam, scams, Software, Space, Technology, Trading, world

Dont dismiss bankers’ predictions of a bitcoin bubble they should know

October 10, 2017 by Blockchain Consultants

The virtual currencys success reflects the continuing lack of trust in traditional banking following the credit crunch

When the boss of Wall Streets biggest bank calls a bubble, the world inevitably sits up and listens, albeit with a sense of historically weighted irony: of course an investment bank boss would spot disaster after his industry presided over the last one. Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JP Morgan, said last week that the ascendancy of the virtual currency bitcoin which has risen in price from just over $2 in 2011 to more than $4,000 at points this year reminded him of tulip fever in 17th-century Holland. It is worse than tulip bulbs, he said. It could be at $20,000 before this happens, but it will eventually blow up. I am just shocked that anyone cant see it for what it is.

Dimons comments are an open invitation for derision from those who, rightly, point out that although JP Morgan may be top of the Wall Street heap, that heap is far from being the moral high ground. Under Dimons leadership, it has agreed a $13bn settlement with US regulators over selling dodgy mortgage securities the instruments behind the credit crunch and its run-ins with watchdogs include a $264m fine last year for hiring the children of Chinese officials in order to win lucrative business in return.

But it doesnt make him wrong. Even the most basic description of bitcoin an intellectual test on a par with describing a collateralised debt obligation elicits mental images of a digital back-alley shell game. A bitcoin is a cryptographic solution to a complex equation. It is not as recognisable to you or me as a unit of value as, say, a dollar bill or a prize conker. There is no central authority validating the creation of bitcoins instead, they are recorded on a public electronic ledger called a blockchain. If you regard the Bank of England as an all-powerful insurer for the pound, there is no such institution behind bitcoin.

This lack of a central authority is one of the reasons why Dimon cavilled in such strong terms last week. In the interstices of unregulated finance lurk neer-do-wells.

If you were a drug dealer, a murderer, stuff like that, you are better off doing it in bitcoin than US dollars, he said. So there may be a market for that, but it would be a limited market.

Hyperbole aside murderers dont necessarily need a digital wallet to fulfil their ambitions Dimon is referencing a well-trailed link between bitcoin and narcotics. The currency is also vulnerable to hackers. Without a backstop central bank, heist victims stand to lose everything, as with the collapse of the MtGox bitcoin exchange in 2014. Taking out a mortgage denominated in bitcoins is not advisable and, luckily for those stupid enough to try it, you wont find a high street bank willing to underwrite it.

But some of the perceived flaws behind bitcoin that alarm Dimon no central authority, a public ledger of transactions point to the foundations of a new financial establishment. In his jargon-busting lexicon of finance How to Speak Money, the author John Lanchester described how the high priests of ancient Egypt controlled agriculture and by extension the economy through a closely guarded flood measurement system known as a nilometer that was hidden behind a load of mumbo jumbo. Dimon, a modern high priest, faces a rival value system in bitcoin. It has no temple, no central authority and uses a rubric over which he has no control. In other words, it is an alternative financial establishment, whose popularity is inextricably linked with the ebbing of trust in the global system that was triggered by the credit crunch.

If bitcoin fails, or is discredited, another system will rise to take its place, without the imprimatur of Dimon or his peers around the altar.

First-time buyers beware: this rate rise could just be the start

House owners, and would-be house owners, beware. Change is coming. The majority on the Bank of Englands monetary policy committee against raising interest rates seems huge, confirmed at 7-2 last week. But the language is tightening around the nations finances.

Spare capacity in the economy unfilled jobs and unspent money is being whittled away more quickly than previously thought and inflation is still likely to overshoot its 2% target over the next three years. Yes, wage growth is running below an inflation rate that has now hit 2.9%, but all signs now point to that 7-2 split flipping the other way come November.

As the Bank said, some withdrawal of monetary stimulus is likely to be appropriate over the coming months. This was firmed up the following day by Gertjan Vlieghe, previously the most anti-rise MPC member, when he said the bank was approaching the moment for an increase.

Market punters now think there is a 42% chance of a rise in November, and more than 50% in December. The current split on the MPC masks the weighing of trade-offs between economic growth and inflation, post-referendum stability and curbing consumer debt which is ever delicate and close to a tipping point.

A rate rise from 0.25% at present to 0.5% will be no disaster and would merely represent a return to the previous record low, which had lasted from 2009 to the EU vote. But what should sharpen borrowers minds is the thought of further increases as hinted by Vlieghe. Inflation remains stubbornly high; something will have to be done to temper a consumer lending surge growing at 10% a year.

Households might cope with a move to 0.5%, but if a rate increase augurs a sustained move against cheap borrowing and persistent inflation, then a wider rethink of ambitions, from getting further up the housing ladder to buying a new car, will be needed. And for those not on the housing ladder, hopes of a step up could be extinguished altogether.

Disney hopes its Star Wars choice will use the force wisely

Disneys choice of creative talent in recent years has been impeccable, having handed the Avengers franchise to Joss Whedon and employed Lin-Manuel Miranda to co-write the music for Moana. But its decisions over the Star Wars universe have unravelled of late.

The director of Rogue One, Gareth Edwards, was sidelined during reshoots, while the directing duo behind the new Han Solo film, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, were fired altogether shortly before shooting finished. Most recently, Jurassic World helmer Colin Trevorrow was yanked off the final Star Wars instalment before filming began.

Last week, Disney announced it was handing the final film in the latest Star Wars trilogy to JJ Abrams, the creator of Lost and director of The Force Awakens, the film that launched this Jedi triptych. Abrams is a conservative choice, by Disneys recent standards. But what the studio needs right now is a safe pair of hands on the lightsaber.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/17/jamie-dimon-bitcoin-bubble-he-would-know-banking

Filed Under: blockchain Tagged With: Bank of England, Banking, Banking reform, Bitcoin, Business, Credit crunch, Cryptocurrencies, economics, Film industry, Financial crisis, Financial sector, Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan, Mortgage rates, Mortgages, Star Wars, Star Wars: Episode IX, Technology, UK news, World news

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