The European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing for a COVID-19 induced bad debt tsunami that could well prompt many to turn to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptos. 

Europe prepares for economic meltdown

As the ECB doubles its COVID-19 stimulus support measures to a staggering €1.35 trillion, officials are bracing an unprecedented economic crisis.

According to a 10 June Reuters report, insider sources have confirmed the ECB is planning to set up a ‘bad bank’ to handle what could be hundreds of billions of euros of unpaid loans resulting from a COVID-19 induced economic collapse. 

It seems the ECB is expecting mass unemployment across the continent, as thousands of businesses collapse in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns, and a resulting mass defaulting on debt obligations, including credit cards, personal and business loans, mortgages, and car financing agreements. 

Needless to say, for a continent that was already carrying an estimated USD $500 billion bad debt before the crisis hit, the results could be utterly catastrophic. And that’s not even taking into account the growing likelihood that more waves of COVID-19 will force further lockdowns.

To try and mitigate the effects of the upcoming financial crisis, the ECB is said to be looking at setting up an asset management company, or so-called ‘bad bank’, to protect other lenders from the worst impacts. 

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the US Federal Reserve is also accelerating its money printing, even though its balance sheet now stands at an eye watering $7.16 trillion. Illustrating the gravity of the situation, $3 trillion has been added in just three months. 

Crypto world watches with sense of inevitability

Despite many in the traditional financial world having their heads buried very deeply in the sand, cryptocurrency advocates have been watching events unfold with a sense of inevitability. 

Last month, as the 629,000 BTC block was mined during the halving, a message was inserted by f2pool reading “NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue”. The message was a nod to the note left in the Genesis block back in 2009, by the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto, that read “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”

These ominous messages are a reminder that Bitcoin was created out of the ashes of the 2007-2008 Financial crisis, as an alternative to what many saw as a doomed fiat monetary system. Now, as a crisis of a magnitude of order greater in scale approaches, many think we will now see Bitcoin truly come of age. 

Indeed, over the past few months we’ve seen a flood of experts and analysts make startling predictions of an imminent Bitcoin (BTC) bull run. Just yesterday we reported that Cane Island Alternative Advisors’ Timothy Peterson had noted an “almost perfect” correlation with 2013, when Bitcoin embarked on a 700% bull run, and pointed out that if the correlation continues, it could result in $75K BTC within weeks. 

Will the traditional monetary and economic system manage to recover from the COVID-19 crisis by hiding a mountain of bad debt and furiously printing more money? Or will we see the wheels finally come off and a systematic collapse, resulting in a dramatic ascendency of cryptocurrencies and digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC)? 

With 2020 looking more like a dystopian science fiction movie everyday, all bets are off. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Through a variety of partnerships with some of the biggest teams in the sports world, cryptocurrencies have started to become more and more used in promoting sports and in online betting.

While cryptocurrencies have many implementations, especially in the financial sectors, the sports industry has also started embracing their use.

Sports teams and organizations have used digital tokens for different purposes, such as giving fans exclusive access to limited content and items, creating fan tokens, buying tickets, and so forth. Back in 2014, the NBA team Sacramento Kings allowed fans to purchase tickets and merchandise with Bitcoin (BTC). In June 2019, the Portuguese football club, Benfica, collaborated with the cryptocurrency platform, Utrust, to accept crypto payment for merchandise and tickets. Supporters were able to use Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Utrust tokens to make purchases on the platform.

Also, some of the biggest teams in Europe, such as Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, West Ham, and Roma, have used the tokenization power of blockchain provided by their partnerships with the blockchain-based, fan engagement website Socios to enable fans to create their own fan tokens.

Fans could then use their tokens on the platform to vote on matters such as changing the club’s jersey or accessing exclusive content and collectibles.

Socios’s platform is powered by its proprietary cryptocurrency called Chiliz. The company made headlines when it announced that Chiliz will be listed on the top cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.

This partnership represented a huge stride for the development and adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency use in the world of sports. According to Socios CEO Alex Dreyfus, there are more than 3.5 billion sports fans worldwide, which can mean a huge untapped sector for cryptocurrencies.

For many centuries, sports and betting have gone hand in hand. As the world is transiting online, online sports betting sites have also appreciated in popularity.

The transactional benefits of cryptocurrencies enabled many of these sites to facilitate fast gambling and betting for punters from all over the world, as cryptos do not rely on banks. While most sportsbook sites usually accept only Bitcoin or Ethereum, the 1xBit site, for example, supports over 20 types of cryptos, including QTUM, Stratis, NEO, EOS, Monero, Zcash, and many others.

Crypto betting sportsbooks have become quite successful in the past few years, some of them becoming major sponsors for well-known sports teams. For example, two major English Premier League football teams were sponsored by crypto gambling sites.

Arsenal received sponsorship in 2018 from the gambling platform CashBet. Through the collaboration, the company advertised its native crypto, CashBet Coin, during the Premier League season when Arsenal played its home games at the Emirates Stadium.

Online sports betting has also benefited from the introduction of cryptos as payment options. Cryptocurrencies are a more convenient way for punters to make transfers to and from their betting accounts, as there is no personal name, address, telephone number, etc., linked to the asset. While some crypto gambling sites ask for additional data when registering, 1xBit is a fully anonymous sportsbook. Signing up is just one click away, and you do not have to provide any sensitive information. What’s more, new users can benefit from a generous welcome bonus of up to 7 BTC.

Accounts can easily be funded through a variety of cryptos, with more than 20 options to choose from. Of course, you are not limited to using only one crypto when betting, as all 1xBit users have multi-currency accounts. As the sportsbook only accepts cryptos, all transactions are feeless and facilitate fast payouts.

1xBit features a multitude of sports, including traditional and esports matches and tournaments, where you can find high odds on many events.

Could Bitcoin (BTC) hit USD $75,000 within weeks? As impossible as it sounds, one analyst says it could happen. 

According to Cane Island Alternative Advisors’ Timothy Peterson, BTC is now displaying an “almost perfect” correlation with 2013, when Bitcoin embarked on a 700% bull run, which if repeated from today’s price would give an incredible $75,000 within weeks.

Peterson claims Bitcoin’s recovery from its mid-March lows of $3,600 has tracked 2013’s price action almost perfectly. 

The 2020 #bitcoin recovery has tracked the 2013a recovery almost perfectly. Are we weeks away from $75,000? pic.twitter.com/3u3xjDMmgl

— Timothy Peterson (@nsquaredcrypto) June 7, 2020

Despite the world of crypto being very different now than in 2013, when there was basically just one major exchange, the now defunct Mt. Gox, many notable figures have been making dramatic Bitcoin price predictions over the past few months. 

Last week we reported Blockstream Co-founder and CEO Adam Black had become the latest crypto heavyweight to predict BTC is set for a major bull run, while the previous week popular social media trader, investor and entrepreneur Credible Crypto had claimed the last 896 days were “simply one massive re-accumulation phase before the run to 100K+ bitcoin”. 

Notably, Greyscale’s Bitcoin Trust is also engaging in an unprecedented Bitcoin buying spree, scooping it up faster than it can be mined, and Robert Kiyosaki, author of New York Times bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad, has advised people to buy Bitcoin to save themselves from a coming economic crash. 

On the flip slide, many analysts are convinced Bitcoin will stay muted, unable to maintain even a breakout from the $10K barrier. Indeed, last week Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin took to Twitter to diss Bitcoin and urge the crypto community to move on, and even outspoken crypto advocate John McAfee has backtracked on his prediction of $1m Bitcoin, claiming it was just a joke.   

AYO.NEWS says:

$75K Bitcoin within weeks sounds insane, but then again, global lockdowns and quarantines would have sounded insane in January, and some of the scenes we’re seeing from the United States right now are straight from a dystopian science fiction movie, so who the hell knows anymore? Crazy times. 

‘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. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Major US-based crypto exchange Coinbase was temporarily overwhelmed by a traffic spike during Bitcoin’s latest surge towards $10K. 

Exchange overwhelmed by 5x normal traffic

According to a 6 June blog post from a Coinbase software engineer, the exchange saw its autoscaling overwhelmed when hit by 5x normal volume for more than 4 minutes at around 16:05 PDT on 1 June, as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) neared $10K. 

The traffic spike hit several internal Coinbase services, increasing latency, and leaving many users unable to login. Apparently, the request error rate hit 50% at one point during the incident. 

At 16:20, Coinbase redeployed the API, increasing the number of machines dealing with the traffic. Though this led to another two-minute outage, the exchange was back fully operational shortly after. 

It is the fifth time Coinbase has gone offline during the past three months during significant Bitcoin (BTC) price moves. 

Coinbase failing users at most pressing times

On 1 Just, when Bitcoin rallied from around $9,600 to $10,380 in under an hour, Coinbase users were unable to access their accounts. On 9 May, two days before the halving, BTC crashed by nearly $2,000 in under 24 hours, and again, Coinbase users found the service unavailable. On 29 April, BTC rose almost 12%… and yet again users were locked out. And, on 12 March, during that month’s crash, some Coinbase users found themselves unable to login and make trades.

Coinbase has said the issues were caused by “connectivity issues” on 1 June, 9 May, and 29 April, and network congestion on 12 March.

AYO.NEWS says:

To a casual observer, this may not seem like a big deal, but it is potentially very serious. Coinbase is proving itself unreliable just at the times when it is most important for traders to be able to access their accounts – obviously leading to significant potential losses for some. 

Furthermore, these outages are rapidly eroding trust in the platform, with some social media users openly speculating that the United States’ busiest exchange is intentionally crashing its own website to manipulate the markets. 

While Coinbase’s technical explanations may well be perfectly valid, with several major exchanges already being accused of market manipulation in the law courts, Coinbase can’t afford to be looking suspicious right now. 

‘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. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

It seems the Pentagon has been preparing for a rebelling fuelled by Bitcoin, after leaked documents revealed a 2018 wargame with a difference. 

According to The Intercept, the US military created a game called the 2018 Joint Land, Air and Sea Strategic Special Program (JLASS), which saw Generation Z instigate a nationwide rebellion, dubbed “Zbellion.”

Set in the 2020s, the wargame set out a scenario in which rebels were rewarded with cryptocurrency payments for attacking corporations, financial institutions, political and non-profit organisations that were seen as supporting the establishment. 

Basically, the Zbellion used software to route any proceeds gained from the attacks into laundering programs, and then distributed it to “worthy recipients”, including those who were responsible for the attacks. 

As with all major wargames, the scenario came complete with a detailed backstory, which described how, by providing “erroneous or misleading information into official websites intended to confuse citizens and create mistrust”, a large chunk of the population, particularly the young, completely lost faith in mainstream media. 

The documents described the origins of the uprising thus:

“Both the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Great Recession greatly influenced the attitudes of this generation in the United states, and resulted in a feeling of unsettlement and insecurity among Gen Z. Although Millennials experienced these events during their coming of age, Gen Z lived through them as part of their childhood, affecting their realism and world view … many found themselves stuck with excessive college debt when they discovered employment options did not meet their expectations. 

“Gen Z are often described as seeking independence and opportunity but are also among the least likely to believe there is such a thing as the “American Dream,” and that the “system is rigged” against them. Frequently seeing themselves as agents for social change, they crave fulfillment and excitement in their job to help “move the world forward.” 

“Despite the technological proficiency they possess, Gen Z actually prefer person-to-person contact as opposed to online interaction. They describe themselves as being involved in their virtual and physical communities, and as having rejected excessive consumerism.”

This mistrust and disenchantment then led to mass rallies and protests, gelling together around perceived social injustices and inequality, before turning into full-scale rebellion – fed by Bitcoin (BTC). 

AYO.NEWS says:

With mass social unrest and disorder sweeping across a bitterly divided United States, and now spreading to Europe – particularly the United Kingdom, the news that the Pentagon has been preparing for a youth rebellion is a little unsettling. 

Obviously this wargame was played out before the current COVID-19 pandemic, and the specific circumstances that triggered the current unrest may differ from the plans, but the general feeling of division, hate, inequality and a rotten financial system has clearly been worrying US military planners for a while. 

As we’ve been reporting over the past few months, as chaos and uncertainty grows, and the fragility of the forces of law and order grows clear, many see the opportunity for Bitcoin (BTC) to emerge as the safe haven asset many have long assumed it would become. 

‘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. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Derivatives accounted for 32% of the crypto market in May, reaching a record volume of USD $ 602 billion. 

According to UK-based cryptocurrency data aggregator CryptoCompare, May’s figures beat the previous record of $600 billion, set in March 2020. 

The lion’s share of May’s derivative volume was handled by Huobi, OKEx, and Binance – which together accounted for approximately 80%. Huobi, the market leader, saw volume surge 29% to $176bn, while OKEx saw volume grow 33% to $152bn, and Binance recorded growth of 58% to $139bn. However, in terms of percentage growth, institutional player CME actually saw the biggest increase at 59%, which took it to $7.2bn. 

CME also saw institutional options volumes break records in May, with 5,996 contracts traded – that’s an incredible 16 times more than were traded in April. On 28 May alone, CME saw 1,418 Bitcoin (BTC) options contracts traded. It was a similar story at Derebit too, where options volumes more than doubled in May, to $3.06bn. 

CryptoCompare also noted a huge shift in stablecoin use, with USDT dominating, making up 98% of stablecoin to BTC trading, while USDC volume was down 78% and PAX crashed 97% in May. 

As to be expected, 10 May – the day before the much anticipated Bitcoin halving – saw a massive spike in spot trading volumes, which rocketed to $64.7bn. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With the world rapidly destabilising and many fearing an unprecedented crash of the traditional economic system is approaching, it’s not surprising to see a significant uptick in crypto activity among institutional investors and traders. 

Further confirming this uptick was data from Skew in mid-May, which showed open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Bitcoin options exploding by more than 1,000%. And, just last week, it emerged that Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust had embarked on a massive BTC buying spree since May’s halving. 

‘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. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020