No CommentsCrypto markets rattled by the US Fed’s announcement, Goldman Sachs foresees gold losing its place to Bitcoin and what digital coin was born 13 years ago this week? These stories and more this week in crypto.
Bitcoin, along with other cryptos suffered a major fall this week. Investors were shaken after December’s meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, where the Fed revealed it would slowly be reducing its $8 trillion balance sheet in 2022 that had been created during a record asset-buying program in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Kazakhstan experienced unprecedented political unrest due to a sharp rise in fuel prices. As a result, the country’s government shut down the nation’s internet, causing the Bitcoin network’s overall hash rate to decline by 13% in the hours after the shutdown. Kazakhstan is the second-largest country in the world when it comes to hashrate activity for mining Bitcoin.
Goldman Sachs suggests that 2022 will see Bitcoin take market share away from gold. The bank’s analyst estimated that bitcoin currently has a 20% market share as a store of value, and that in a scenario where bitcoin could grab a 50% share of that market, its price may reach over $100,000.
Fintech giant PayPal has reportedly confirmed its intent to launch its own stablecoin named PayPal Coin. A PayPal spokesperson clarified that the source codes in the iPhone application were developed in a recent hackathon, and indeed the company is exploring building PayPal Coin, which will be backed by the US dollar.
Mexico’s central bank will be issuing its own digital currency. In a statement issued by the Mexican president on Twitter it was said the development is likely to be ready in 2024. The announcement adds Mexico to the growing list of nations looking into their own central bank digital currencies.
Shark Tank star, Kevin O’Leary revealed his cryptocurrency investment strategy, based on his belief that NFTs will eventually be bigger than Bitcoin. According to O’Leary, NFTs offer all kinds of use cases, particularly in the areas of authentication and asset tokenization. The investment guru also revealed which cryptos he currently holds based on their development teams.
Renowned Hip-hop artist Eminem spent nearly half a million dollars on a single NFT. The NFT is from the Bored Ape Yacht Club – one of the most famous and highly priced collections. Eminem quickly made the ape, who wears a brown military-style hat, hip hop clothing and dazed expression, his Twitter profile picture.
Bitcoin – the cryptocurrency that started it all became a teenager this week. On January 3, 2009, the first bitcoin block, known as the Genesis block, was mined by the project’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Thirteen years on from that event and, after many predictions of its demise, the cryptocurrency’s following is bigger than ever.
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That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
