MicroStrategy, an American software technology firm, has once again made headlines with its aggressive Bitcoin investment strategy.
Completing a substantial $800 million convertible note offering, the company used the proceeds to purchase an additional 12,000 BTC for its treasury reserve.
This latest acquisition was announced after the firm declared its plans to issue new convertible notes on March 6, coinciding with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high.
The offering was successfully finalized on March 8, reinforcing MicroStrategy’s commitment to Bitcoin.
The company’s founder and chairman, Michael Saylor, shared on the X social media platform that this strategic move utilized the net proceeds from the note offering along with surplus cash, securing the Bitcoin at an average price of $68,477 per unit.
Prior to this purchase, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin portfolio comprised approximately 193,000 BTC, acquired at an average price of $31,544, totaling a value of $12.9 billion and marking a 112% return since the company first ventured into Bitcoin investments.
With the latest addition, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings have swelled to 205,000 BTC, acquired at a total cost of $6.91 billion, averaging $33,706 per Bitcoin.
READ MORE: Binance Ban Adversely Impacts Crypto Sphere
This latest note offering introduced by MicroStrategy features a modest annual interest rate of 0.625%, with payments due semi-annually starting September 2024.
The notes can be converted into cash, MicroStrategy stocks, or a combination thereof, with an initial conversion rate set at 0.6677 shares of MicroStrategy’s class A common stock per $1,000 of note value.
This conversion rate translates to a share price of approximately $1,497.68, a significant 42.5% premium over the share price on March 5, 2024.
MicroStrategy’s bold move to invest a significant portion of its capital into Bitcoin began in August 2020, under the guidance of Michael Saylor.
This strategic decision was motivated by the belief in Bitcoin’s reliability as a store of value and its potential for long-term appreciation over holding cash.
Saylor emphasized Bitcoin’s superiority over fiat currency as the mainstay of the company’s treasury reserve strategy.
Since then, the value of the company’s Bitcoin holdings has escalated by over $1 billion by early January 2024, underscoring the lucrative nature of its investment approach.
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In a significant move for the UK’s cryptocurrency sector, London-based OANDA Crypto has announced its launch, signaling a positive development amidst the nation’s previously unclear stance on crypto regulation.
This launch is particularly noteworthy given the backdrop of regulatory challenges that have led some of the best crypto exchanges in the UK to limit services.
OANDA Crypto’s entry into the market is facilitated through its acquisition of a majority stake in Coinpass, a British crypto firm registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), underscoring a commitment to compliance.
The broader context of this development is the UK’s attempt to catch up with global crypto advancements.
While regions like the US have seen the successful introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs and the EU has moved forward with its MiCA crypto regulation package, the UK has been perceived as lagging due to regulatory uncertainties.
However, the government is showing signs of wanting to expedite the establishment of clear crypto guidelines, with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury indicating a six-month timeline for new crypto and stablecoin legislation.
This move by OANDA Crypto comes at a time when the FCA is tightening its grip on crypto marketing, distinguishing crypto assets as “restricted mass market investments” and imposing stricter controls on their promotion.
The FCA’s efforts also include issuing consumer alerts and removing non-compliant crypto products from app stores, along with introducing “positive frictions” to ensure user familiarity with crypto trading.
The launch of OANDA Crypto in the UK represents a blend of optimism and caution.
It reflects the potential for compliant crypto businesses to thrive while highlighting the ongoing need for regulatory clarity and a balanced approach to fostering innovation without imposing undue barriers.
As the UK government and regulatory bodies continue to refine their stance on cryptocurrencies, the industry watches closely, hoping for a strategic framework that positions the UK as a competitive player in the global crypto landscape.
The cryptocurrency industry continues to grapple with cybercrimes, with darknet markets standing out as one of the two sectors experiencing a surge in revenue in 2023, as per the latest findings from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
Released on February 29, the Chainalysis “2024 Crypto Crime Report” unveils that darknet marketplaces amassed a minimum revenue of $1.7 billion in 2023.
This marks a recovery from the data of 2022, when authorities dismantled Hydra, the world’s largest darknet marketplace.
Although no single marketplace has replaced Hydra, the report highlights the emergence of smaller marketplaces catering to specific niches and adopting more “specialised roles.”
Mega Darknet Market leads the pack with over $500 billion in crypto inflows.
Nevertheless, the revenue from darknet markets hasn’t yet reached the peak levels observed during the reign of Hydra.
The report forecasts ongoing scrutiny and crackdowns by law enforcement agencies, particularly due to the availability of fentanyl products on many of these platforms.
Eric Jardine, cybercrime research lead at Chainalysis, noted that the phenomenon of “niche darknet marketplaces” vying for market share isn’t new and mirrors trends seen after the closures of platforms like the Silk Road and AlphaBay.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Scaling Tokens and BRC-20 Coins Surge, Outpacing Crypto Markets
In addition to the rise in darknet market revenue, 2023 witnessed a doubling of crypto-linked sanctions by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), totalling 18 sanctions on individuals or entities, all with cryptocurrency addresses tied to them.
Such inflows to sanctioned entities and regions constituted 61.5% of all illicit transaction volume, amounting to $14.9 billion in 2023.
Moreover, the report indicates a shift in crypto-linked OFAC sanctions towards individual actors and groups, moving away from major darknet markets like Garantex and Hydra, as well as mixers like Tornado Cash.
However, amidst these concerning trends, there are some positive indicators. Revenue from crypto-based scams experienced a year-over-year decline, dropping to $4.6 billion in 2023 from $5.9 billion in the previous year.
Nonetheless, new types of scams emerged, including romance scams, which more than doubled in revenue year-over-year, showing an 85-fold increase since 2020.
Jardine highlighted the rising prevalence of romance scams, attributing it to their effectiveness in exploiting victims’ trust over extended periods.
He underscored the importance of vigilance in online interactions and advocated for a collaborative effort among public and private sector entities, as well as individuals, to create a safer digital environment.
Bitcoin is now eyeing a lofty six-figure price target for 2024 amidst a surge in institutional investment pouring into the market.
In a recent analysis posted on X (formerly Twitter) on February 11, Ki Young Ju, CEO of analytics platform CryptoQuant, forecasted a staggering $112,000 per bitcoin for this year.
The introduction of the United States’ inaugural spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last month has paved the way for institutional funds to flow in.
Ki Young Ju concurs, with his latest market projection taking into account the impact of these investments on Bitcoin’s realized cap.
Realized cap indicates the collective price at which the BTC supply last changed hands.
As per CryptoQuant data, the combined inflows from ETFs could potentially inject an additional $114 billion into the existing $451 billion tally for this year alone.
“The Bitcoin market has witnessed $9.5 billion in spot ETF inflows per month, potentially elevating the realized cap by $114 billion annually.
Even with outflows from $GBTC, a $76 billion increase could push the realized cap from $451 billion to $527-565 billion,” remarked Ki.
The analysis also referred to the ongoing outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which have notably decreased in the first month since its transition to a spot ETF.
Summing up the anticipated price movements, Ki provided a “worst-case” scenario range of $55,000 to $59,000.
READ MORE: Boosting Your Cryptocurrency’s Brand Before the 2024 Halving
BTC price projections for the upcoming year vary considerably, with bullish outlooks dominating the discourse for 2024.
Market observers are particularly intrigued by the block subsidy halving scheduled for April.
In recent discussions, more voices have lent credence to the possibility of a new all-time high occurring even before the halving event, now just over two months away.
Adam Back, CEO of Bitcoin technology firm Blockstream and a prominent cryptocurrency developer, expressed his views on X, hinting that BTC/USD could potentially surpass the six-figure milestone sooner than the consensus anticipates.
“On October 1st, 2021, Bitcoin surged past $47k as if it were yesterday, then proceeded to reach the $69k all-time high,” he wrote, alluding to Bitcoin’s recent surge to record highs.
“That upward trajectory took 41 days. With 70 days left until the halving, it’s just another indicator of what’s possible, and how we might see a new all-time high or even $100k before the halving.”
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein has urged regulators to approve exchange-listed options for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in a recent post on February 5.
Sonnenshein highlighted the importance of options in supporting price discovery and assisting investors in navigating market conditions and achieving desired outcomes, such as income generation.
Exchange-traded options represent standardized contracts allowing investors to buy (via call options) or sell (via put options) a specific quantity of a financial asset at a predetermined price (strike price) on or before a specified date.
This enables investors to make predictions about the future movements of stocks, bonds, and the overall stock market.
These options are traded on exchanges like the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) and are subject to regulation by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Clearinghouses like the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) provide guarantees for these exchanges.
Sonnenshein pointed out that when the SEC approved the first Bitcoin futures ETF in October 2021, options for the ETF were available for trading the very next day due to automatic effectiveness, leveraging existing rules.
READ MORE: FTX Bankruptcy Raises Questions Over Legal Team’s Lucrative Fees
However, this rule does not apply to commodity-based ETFs, including recently approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, which undergo a potentially lengthy review process akin to the 19b-4 process for spot Bitcoin ETFs themselves.
The Grayscale CEO advocated for equal treatment of similar financial products, drawing parallels between spot and futures BTC-based ETFs.
He highlighted that national exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, have filed Forms 19b-4 to amend listing standards, allowing listed options on commodity-based ETFs, including spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Currently, the SEC is reviewing applications for listed options on spot BTC ETFs and has opened comments on BlackRock’s proposed options with Cboe.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas suggested that the SEC could make a decision as early as February 15 or no later than September 2024.
Sonnenshein concluded his post by emphasizing the need for fair treatment of spot Bitcoin ETFs and the entire crypto asset class.
His advocacy aims to ensure that investors have access to a broader range of financial products and options, promoting transparency and market efficiency.
The Spanish Ministry of Finance, under the leadership of María Jesús Montero, is actively pursuing reforms to enhance its control and oversight of cryptocurrencies within the country.
Their primary objective is to enable the seizure of digital assets as a means to settle outstanding tax debts.
To achieve this goal, the ministry is currently working on legislative amendments to Article 162 of the General Tax Law.
These proposed changes will empower the Spanish Tax Agency to identify and confiscate cryptocurrency assets owned by individuals or entities who have delinquent tax obligations.
One significant development in this regard is the recent implementation of a royal decree, effective from February 1st.
This decree broadens the scope of entities with tax collection authority.
Previously, only banks, savings banks, and credit cooperatives were authorized to report to the Treasury.
This expansion allows the Treasury to strengthen its efforts in pursuing tax evaders and recover unpaid taxes more aggressively.
Furthermore, the Treasury intends to impose stricter reporting requirements on financial institutions, including banks and electronic money institutions.
They will be required to provide detailed information on all card transactions, making it harder for individuals to evade taxes through undisclosed financial activities.
The rapid pace of these regulatory changes reflects Spain’s proactive stance in establishing a comprehensive framework for cryptocurrency governance.
In October 2023, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation announced plans to adopt the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the first comprehensive European Union crypto framework.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Predicted to Reach New All-Time Highs in 2024 Despite Halving Challenges
This regulation is set to be implemented nationally by December 2025, six months ahead of the official deadline.
Spanish residents who hold cryptocurrency assets on foreign platforms have until the end of the next month to declare them to the tax authorities.
The declaration period began on January 1, 2024, and will conclude on the last day of March.
Individuals and corporations are required to disclose the value of funds held in their foreign crypto accounts as of December 31, 2023.
It’s worth noting that only individuals with crypto assets exceeding the equivalent of 50,000 euros (approximately $54,000) are obligated to declare their foreign holdings.
Those who store their assets in self-custodied wallets must report their holdings using the standard wealth tax Form 714.
These measures underscore Spain’s commitment to ensuring tax compliance and transparency in the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies.
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Introduction:
In the world of cryptocurrencies, it is not uncommon to hear about a particular token skyrocketing, making investors who bet small amounts rich, or being touted as the “next gem” with its price expected to increase exponentially.
Projects like SatoshiVM or “Pepe the frog” are among those whose meteoric rise has likely caught your attention, even if it was too late to benefit from an interesting return on investment. While investing in small-cap projects is undoubtedly risky, it is also a good way to accumulate substantial income. After all, small market capitalization often means low-priced tokens with the potential for immense growth, provided the project takes off. In this article, we present four crypto projects that could prove lucrative for early investors.
Ape Terminal:
Ape Terminal is a new, fully decentralized launchpad gaining momentum. Equipped with a range of tools, from the most conventional to the most innovative, to maximize returns, it quickly made a name for itself and attracted investors.
This launchpad, a platform for launching new tokens, offers numerous advantages such as automated yield generation, copy trading, sell limits, buy limits, stop/loss DCA, and high-frequency trading.
According to Cryptorank, the average return of all projects launched on Ape Terminal is estimated at 13.66X. Notably, the project SatoshiVM, a layer 2 solution for the Bitcoin network using ZK Rollups technology compatible with the EVM ecosystem, was launched on this platform. Having achieved an impressive x280, the project became famous in a very short time. Moreover, Ape Terminal is soon expected to launch its own token, providing an opportunity to invest directly in projects available on the launchpad.
Ouinex:
Ouinex is a cryptocurrency trading platform targeting active traders. It brings the proven excellence of traditional financial infrastructure to Web3 through its experienced team.
Moreover, Ouinex is committed to providing a transparent, fair, and secure environment with extremely competitive trading fees. Supported by a strong community of investors and traders, in April 2023, during one of the worst periods the industry has faced, Ouinex successfully raised nearly 2 million dollars through its $OUIX token presale. This injection of funds allowed the Ouinex team to develop an innovative solution and acquire regulatory licenses in Europe and internationally. Indeed, it offers users the ability to trade on both crypto and traditional markets through a unified account.
Furthermore, this solution enables the use of cryptocurrencies as collateral to place orders on other markets. At the moment, Ouinex has not specified when or on which platform its $OUIX token will be launched. But one thing is for sure, you will hear about it soon.
Beoble:
Beoble is a communication infrastructure and ecosystem that enables users to use their wallets for decentralized messaging. Their product includes a web-based chat application and a toolkit allowing Dapp developers to integrate their creations into the Beoble ecosystem.
This innovative messaging platform supports most wallets and ensures end-to-end encryption for all messages. Among the prominent venture capital firms that have invested in Beoble are well-known names such as Digital Currency Group, Samsung Next, HashKey Capital, DWF Labs, GBV Capital, Token Bay Capital, and Momentum 6. It seems these investors have a keen eye, as the Beoble product has already been launched and managed to gather over 200,000 users in just a few days. This performance leads us to believe that Beoble’s token, scheduled for March, could see a significant price surge this year.
My Lovely Planet
My Lovely Planet is a Ubisoft Lab project that combines utility with pleasure, environmental impact, and gaming. The revolutionary idea behind this project is as follows: a real tree is planted for every virtual tree you plant in the game. Today, My Lovely Planet has 20,000 regular players and 50,000 subscribers. Its goal is to gather a community of 100 million players by 2030 to help save 50,000 endangered animal species, remove one billion tons of plastic waste from oceans, and plant one billion trees.
The game has won the Unity For Humanity award for its positive effects, and if we’re talking about it in this article, it’s because its creators are now offering a sale of $MLC tokens to increase the game’s visibility and fund its development. Given the project’s potential, it is highly likely that the unit price of its token can do well.
Conclusion
Cryptocurrencies remain a dynamic and evolving sector, offering potentially lucrative investment opportunities for those who can identify promising projects. The four we have presented in this article – Ape Terminal, Beoble, Ouinex, and My Lovely Planet – each stand out for their innovative approach and growth potential.
Ape Terminal, with its decentralized launchpad model, caters to investors looking to get involved in the initial phases of crypto projects. Beoble revolutionizes decentralized communication, providing a secure platform for cryptocurrency users. Ouinex brings an integrated solution for crypto and traditional trading, a significant advancement for active traders. Finally, My Lovely Planet combines environmental impact and entertainment, perfectly illustrating how blockchain can be used for social and ecological purposes.
Bybit, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has taken a significant stride in the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) revolution by introducing Bybit Web3 Swap. This upgraded platform not only meets the evolving demand for token swapping but also pushes the industry forward by providing users with a secure and user-friendly environment for swapping tokens across various blockchain networks.
Ben Zhou, the co-founder and CEO of Bybit, stated, “Our mission at Bybit has always been to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the power of DeFi. With Bybit Web3 Swap, we’re fulfilling that promise by creating a simpler, user-friendly experience that caters to both experienced DEX (Decentralized Exchange) users and newcomers to the Web3 space.”
Bybit Web3 Swap, a crucial component of the #BybitWeb3 initiative, empowers users to perform decentralized token exchanges across multiple blockchain networks. This opens up opportunities for users to access a wide range of tokens, liquidity pools, and engage in activities such as yield farming and staking.
Key Features of Bybit Web3 Swap:
- Expanded Token Support: Bybit Web3 now supports over 2,000 tokens, providing users with a diverse selection for seamless and diversified token swapping.
- Intuitive Token Discovery: Users looking for tokens not listed on Bybit will be seamlessly redirected to Bybit Web3 Swap, where they can easily acquire the desired tokens.
- Cross-Chain Asset Bridge: Bybit Web3 Swap facilitates the transfer of assets between Ethereum (ETH), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Polygon, Arbitrum, and other mainstream Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) public chains, enhancing platform versatility and user convenience.
- Streamlined One-Step Swap Process: Bybit Web3 Swap simplifies the user experience by combining approval and swap steps into a single seamless operation, making token swaps effortless.
Additional Benefits:
- No KYC Required: Bybit Web3 Swap stands out by eliminating the need for Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, prioritizing user privacy and convenience.
- High Liquidity Access: Users can access the highest liquidity available in the market, ensuring optimal token swap rates across various decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
- On-Chain Transparency: All transactions on Bybit Web3 Swap are executed on-chain, providing full visibility into fund flows and trading mechanisms, instilling user confidence.
Bybit remains committed to staying at the forefront of innovation by continuously expanding the compatibility of Bybit Web3 Swap.
Upcoming integrations include Polygon zkEVM, zkSync, StarkNet, and Mantle Network, ensuring that users have access to the latest and most advanced blockchain technologies.
The impending launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is generating a buzz, but VanEck advisor Gabor Gurbacs suggests that their initial impact on Bitcoin might be more subdued than anticipated.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Gurbacs contended that the immediate influence of a Bitcoin ETF might be overestimated, projecting that it could attract around $100 million in net inflows, primarily from institutional investors reshuffling their existing investments.
Nonetheless, Gurbacs is more optimistic about the long-term implications of these ETFs on the Bitcoin market. He drew a parallel with the gold market, recalling how the introduction of gold ETFs in 2004 led to a remarkable surge in gold prices.
Over eight years, gold’s value surged from $400 to $1,800, while its overall market capitalization expanded from $2 trillion to an impressive $10 trillion.
Comparatively, Bitcoin’s current market cap stands at $834 billion, roughly 41% of gold’s market capitalization in 2004.
Gurbacs speculates that once a spot Bitcoin ETF is approved in the United States, it could potentially emulate gold’s growth trajectory but at a much faster pace due to Bitcoin’s fixed supply and periodic halving events.
READ MORE: Major Asset Managers Revise Bitcoin ETF Applications as SEC Deadline Nears
Furthermore, Gurbacs underscores the significance of a Bitcoin ETF in legitimizing and destigmatizing the cryptocurrency in the eyes of institutional investors and nation-states, which could pave the way for substantial investment and adoption.
Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, ETF analysts at Bloomberg, share Gurbacs’ sentiment.
Seyffart emphasized that many observers are fixated on short-term data points, such as the immediate influx of funds into the ETF upon approval, without fully grasping the enduring impact such a financial product could have.
As for the current state of the Bitcoin market, it is trading at $42,525, having risen 1.1% in the last 24 hours, according to TradingView data.
While some believe that the anticipated ETF approval will trigger a substantial and sustained price increase, others argue that it might be a “sell the news” event, potentially leading to a different market response.