Open interest on Chicago Mercantile Exchange Bitcoin options has exploded over the last week or so, surging over 1,000%. 

Data from Skew, the cryptocurrency markets data analytics and trade execution services company, shows open interest climbing to $142 million in the first half of May. Open interest is the sum of all the contracts at the time that have not expired, been exercised or physically delivered. 

Though there were notable spikes on 5 and 6 May, trading normalised immediately before the Bitcoin (BTC) halving on 11 May, only to rocket to $17 million on the day itself, and then surge to between $30m and $40m in the days since. 

Institution investment in Bitcoin (BTC) had been growing steadily during the runup to the halving, with major players like Grayscale and Fidelity Digital increasing their positions, but the scale of this spike may surprise many. 

CME #bitcoin options open interest is up 10x this month pic.twitter.com/D7tIpx5t8B

— skew (@skewdotcom) May 15, 2020

AYO.NEWS says:

The massive increase in open interest on Chicago Mercantile Exchange Bitcoin options could well reflect the growing expectation of a massive COVID-19 lockdown-induced economic crash in traditional markets, much more than a reaction to the halving. 

As we’ve previously speculated, with analysts around the world warning of an economic downturn unprecedented in modern times, we could be approaching the ‘moment of truth’ for Bitcoin (BTC). 

Staying with Bitcoin and the halving, as we reported a few days ago, when the 629,000 block was mined, an ominous message was inserted by f2pool. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Leetify, the Swedish AI coaching platform developer, has raised €900,000 in seed funding, in a round led by Finnish tech fund Inventure. 

Other investors in the round, which exceeded the company’s €864,000 target, included Swedish venture capital firm J12 Ventures, and Danish early-stage venture firm Futuristic.vc. 

Founded by Anders Ekman (CEO) and Vitalii Zurian (CTO), Leetify uses artificial intelligence to automatically analyse Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches for players, covering things like aim, positioning, utility usage, recoil control, counter strafing, and crosshair placement, and provides tailored in-game practice. 

Despite only launching in September 2019, the company says it now has 10,000 active monthly users on the platform. The company says it intends to use the newly raised capital to accelerate its growth by improving products and expanding its team. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With esports turning into big business, and no shortage amatuer players around the world setting their sights on turning pro and building their careers as athletes, we can imagine there’s plenty of scope for growth and expansion for Leetify. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Yesterday it emerged that international payment giant Visa has filed a patent for a blockchain-based “Digital Fiat Currency.”  

It seems Visa filed the patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office back in November 2019, though it was only published yesterday, on 14 May 2020. 

Apparently, Simon J Hurry, and Alexandre Pierre, filed the application on behalf of San Francisco-based Visa International Service Association, which seeks a patent for a digital currency recorded on a blockchain, and controlled by a “central entity computer.” 

The application mentions Ethereum as a possible blockchain, and says two records would be involved; one indicating “the digital currency for an amount associated with the denomination has been created for a public key associated with a digital wallet;” and one recording the “removal of the physical currency from circulation in a fiat currency system.”

The proposed system references the US dollar, but also covers other central bank digital currencies, like the pound, euro and yen, enabling the digitisation of physical currency from anywhere in the world. 

Visa has been involved with blockchain for some time, and was one of the original members of the Libra Association, the body overseeing Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency. However, Visa withdrew from Libra late last year, along with other companies, amid widespread regulatory and political concerns about the project. 

In June 2019, Visa also confirmed it would be harnessing distributed ledger technology in the $125 trillion international cross-border, business-to-business transaction market with SWIFT – the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. 

In February this year, Visa also authorised Coinbase to issue debit cards, making the exchange the first pure-play crypto Visa Principal member. While at the end of March, Malta-based crypto exchange Binane also launched a Visa debit card.  

AYO.NEWS says:

It really shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that Visa has been working on something like this behind the scenes. Despite being cautious with public statements about digital currencies, all major global financial and payment companies know full well that legacy systems are as good as dead, and that the future is blockchain-based. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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BitGo has announced it will be providing cryptocurrency custody services to Indian exchange CoinDCX. 

The agreement will see US-based BitGo provide secure storage and partial insurance for the digital assets traded on India-based CoinDX. The exchange is thought to have already begun transferring its assets to BitGo’s omnibus and segregated hot and cold wallets. 

According to BitGo, the company now processes more than 20% of all Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. Through a syndicate of insurers in the Lloyd’s of London and European Marketplace, the company also provides insurance policies worth up to $100m. 

Some of CoinDCX’s funds, including user assets held on its lending service, DCXLend, and cold assets and funds, will be protected by BitGo’s insurance. 

India’s crypto industry bounces back after months of paralysis

CoinDCX’s chief revenue officer, Pete Njarian, explained the company had enlisted BitGo’s services due to the “recent uptick in trading volumes on Indian exchanges” driving a need for “professionalisation in the form of fund security in the crypto market.”

Since India’s Supreme Court overturned the Bank of India’s controversial crypto services ban earlier this year, Indian exchanges have seen trading rocket, with CoinDCX reporting trading volumes up 47% in the first quarter, along with a 10x growth in new signups and 150% increase in daily active users. 

Foreign crypto firms, including South Korea’s Bithumb, have also been lining up to invest in the potentially huge market, with CoinDCX itself attracting investments from Bain Capital Ventures, HDR Global Trading (operator of BitMEX), and Polychain Capital. 

Obviously sensing the tide was about to turn, just prior to the Supreme Court ruling, Malta-based crypto giant Binance acquired Indian exchange WazirX. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s great to see the Indian crypto scene is getting back into the stride of things after all the drama with the crypto services ban, though there are apparently still some issues, with a number of  banks still refusing to provide services to businesses in the crypto sector. 

Despite the ongoing problems, with the world entering an unprecedented economic downturn due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, crypto businesses around the world are seeing an uptick in trade as investors look to protect their wealth –  and the Indian market is potentially HUGE, so it’s easy to see the appeal. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Bitwala has launched a Bitcoin Interest Account product offering users interest rates of up to 4.3%.

The German neobank, which says it has around 80,000 users, has partnered with cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network to offer the new product. Funds held in Bitwala’s Bitcoin Interest Accounts are lent out to ‘trusted partners’ on the network.

By holding Bitcoin (BTC) in their accounts users will be able to earn interest that is significantly higher than that offered by most traditional fiat savings accounts. Though several DeFi Apps also offer similar products with higher interest rates (up to 8.6%), Bitwala is notable in that it is a fully regulated European bank that also offers fiat services in 32 countries. 

The new product is also very accessible, with a minimum of just €30 worth of BTC needed to be held in the free Bitcoin Interest Account in order to receive weekly interest. Users can convert funds back to Euros at any time. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though it hasn’t been easy for the new breed of crypto-friendly banks to pass all the regulatory hurdles and get a foothold in the mainstream financial world, Bitwala is clearly leading the pack. And, with traditional banks offering almost nothing in terms of interest to savers, we expect products like this will prove very popular, and be a significant driver of crypto adoption.

Staying with Celsius Network, earlier this month we reported the platform announced it had seen over 50,000 BTC deposited since launching in August 2018. 

Want to find out more about Bitwala and the team behind it? Check out our exclusive chat with Ben Jones, CTO and Co-founder of Bitwala. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Ernst & Young (EY) says it has received almost 17,000 proofs of claim from creditors looking to recover assets lost to defunct crypto exchange QuadrigaCX. 

Almost 17K claims in multiple currencies and cryptos

Appointed as trustee for QuadrigaCX’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, in an interim status report published on 12 May, EY said it had now received 16,959 proofs of claim, denominated in various fiat and cryptocurrencies. 

Things have been complicated by the fact that many involve multiple currency components, spanning US dollars, Canadian dollars, Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin SV (BSV), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Litecoin (LTC), and Ether (ETH). EY says it expects all claims to be converted to Canadian dollars, though the conversion rates have not been finalised yet. 

EY is still in the process of assessing claims, and said that a number are deficient in various ways, ranging from being unsigned to differing from the numbers stated in QuadrigaCX’s own records. 

It was also noted that the crypto exchange had failed to file tax returns prior to the start of bankruptcy proceedings, so its outstanding corporate tax liabilities are currently unknown. 

‘Fake death’ and complicated trail

In a recent survey conducted by Consensus: Distributed, the majority of of crypto users said they think QuadrigaCX CEO, Gerald Cotton, faked his own death. 

According to the poll, 60% think Cotton is still alive, while a massive 90% believe his body should be exhumed and subject to autopsy. Indeed, in December 2019 lawyers for users affected by QuadrigaCX’s bankruptcy petitioned the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to do just that. 

As we reported in February 2019, roughly CA $190 million worth of cryptocurrency belonging to investors became trapped in cyberspace after Cotton “died while he was opening an orphanage in India,” taking the keys to QuadrigaCX’s crypto assets with him. 

Subsequently, crypto research and consulting firm Zero nOncense said it thought there was a real possibility of retrieving at least some of the lost funds. The company had obtained information suggesting up to 650,000 ETH belonging to QuadrigaCX may have been stored with Kraken, Bitfinex, and Poloniex. 

Later in the year Jennifer Robertson, widow of Cotton, announced she was handing over $9 million in assets to users who were affected by the exchange’s collapse. 

AYO.NEWS says:

The fact that, at an exchange as large and established as QuadrigaCX, only one man had access to the keys to all of its assets, demonstrates both staggering incompetency on the part of the company, and the scary vulnerability of crypto infrastructure of the time. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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