The boomer generation is performing better in cryptocurrency projects and investments than millennials and Generation Z, new research cited by Cointelgraph has revealed.
According to research from Bybit and consumer research firm Toluna, 34 percent of boomers have conducted due diligence for “a few days” prior to investing in cryptocurrencies, or 50 percent more than Millennials and Gen Z crypto aficionados.
The boomer generation researched tokenomics, competitors, and potential revenues before investing. Conversely, younger traders preferred reputations and “website aesthetics.”
Research added that “64 percent of North American investors spend less than two hours or don’t DYOR at all.”
Boomers are defined as those born from 1946 to 1964, and typically follow a more conservative approach to investments compared to subsequent generations.
The research added that baby boomer and older generations also scrutinised cryptocurrency purchases along with other monetary investments.
Losing the Love for Crypto?
The news comes after a survey found that just 8 percent of US citizens had positive views on cryptocurrency by late November, namely after the FTX collapse.
A CNBC survey of over 800 respondents found that market sentiment in the digital currency market fell significantly from 19 percent in March last year. Negative responses to cryptocurrency jumped from 25 percent to 43 percent in the eight-month period, it found.
The loss of public support comes amid the ongoing collapse of FTX, Alameda Research, and over 130 affiliate firms, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-November.
The ailing firm faced a huge liquidity crisis ahead of its 11 November bankruptcy, fuelled by a massive bank run on the platform’s native token, FTT. Before the crisis erupted, the troubled company reportedly hired a retainer worth $12 million to conduct services on behalf of the crypto firm.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former chief executive of FTX, has been released on $250 million bail following his arrest in the Bahamas, where he was extradited to the United States.
Australia has edged up a further spot on the list of the world’s largest cryptocurrency hubs, surpassing El Salvador in total numbers of automatic teller machines (ATMs), data has revealed.
The Oceanic country reached 216 ATM by the end of the year, CoinATMRadar found in its most recent figures. Currently the country stands at 225 ATM locations, with the United States, Canada, and Spain topping the list at 33952, 2649, and 273 spots, respectively.
El Salvador, once a leading country for cryptocurrency cashpoints, has slipped two places after Poland and Australia overtook the Central American nation.
According to reports, Australia’s crypto ATM installations consist of 0.6 percent of total units. Globally, the world currently has 38,614 ATMs across locations.
The news comes as Australia steps up its efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies, namely after the FTX scandal which rocked crypto markets worldwide.
Australia’s Treasury recently pledged to develop a plan for regulating digital currencies due to the ongoing bankruptcy, which saw FTX, Alameda Research, and 130 affiliates file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-November.
Canberra aims to protect investors with the new regulations and has vowed to monitor the ongoing crisis and additional “spillovers into financial markets.”
Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s former and disgraced chief executive has been released on $250 million bail and awaits his first hearings on his role in corruption in the company.
Charges against himself, Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, and others, include fraud, misappropriation of funds, and many others.
Bitcoin cheerleader Nic Carter has published data detailing proof-of-reserves (PoR) activity from major centralised cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to his analysis, Carter monitored attestation to assets held, liabilities, third-party auditors, among others, to determine the top exchanges for PoR.
Crypto exchanges Kraken and BitMex were ranked the highest on the list. His analysis found that Kraken hired Armanino for its PoR and offered clients a “good level of confidence” against hidden liabilities while re-evaluating its operations every six months.
BitMEX, the second-highest crypto platform, utilised transparent operations models for assets, liabilities, and PoR verification.
Regarding assets, it listed its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings along with liquidity data verified by the BitMEX multisignal. It also published full Merkle tree data of user wallets.
Binance Ranking, Rebuttal to FUD Claims
Conversely, Binance scored lower on the rankings chart, indicating the Chinese-owned cryptocurrency exchange’s data was not complete.
He accused Binance’s Changpeng Zhao (CZ) of urging exchanges to post PoR but had not “yet risen to his own challenge.”
He added: “Binance’s first PoR doesn’t grant strong assurances. It only covers Bitcoin, which only represents 16.5% of their client assets.”
Binance Rebuttal to FUD Claims
Despite the accusations, Binance posted a seven-point rebuttal to accusers stating the company failed to live up to transparency and PoR expectations.
The world’s largest crypto platform hit back at such claims, citing accusations on its stablecoin consolidation, liquidity, and reserves, among others. It later verified in a CryptoQuant audit that its reserves were 99 percent accurate.
A Pacific Island nation has adopted a pro-Bitcoin prime minister.
Tongan native Lord Fusitu’a assumed office on 24 December and tweeted support for Fiji’s Bitcoin adoption. In the recent past, Tonga set new regional records by using Bitcoin as a legal tender.
According to the new prime minister, he believes that “Fiji can do bitcoin legal tender like Tonga” and that there would be two “Legal Tender Bills for the Pacific in 2023.”
Due to economical and geographical differences, Tonga and Fiji face challenges to building their economies and national development agendas. Bitcoin adoption aims to boost financial inclusivity to eliminate high poverty, crime, and fossil fuel reliance rates.
Similar countries such as El Salvador and the Central African Republic (CAR) have passed similar measures for crypto to become a nationally-recognised legal tender.
One of the advantages to Fiji is its use of geothermal and volcanic power, which the nation can use for its Bitcoin mining activities, offering a competitive advantage over Tonga.
Lord Fusitu’a continued: “Like Tonga, how to do nationalized Bitcoin mining, specifically how we were going to do geothermal volcano mining so they could both do the same but also make use of their massive hydro and other renewable stranded energy they have, which we don’t.”
The news comes amid the archipelagic country’s National Development Plans to provide only renewable energy to all islands by 2030. The country must generate an additional 120 megawatts to reach its goal, which authorities aim to achieve with Bitcoin mining.
Several debates over the value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and gold have erupted across media. One discussion involved Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Bill Mahar on his 26 December Club Random podcast.
In the talks, he staunchly backed Bitcoin over gold, stating he was “rooting for Bitcoin.”
He said: “I want Bitcoin to go down a lot further so I can buy some more [..] If you have gold, you’re dumb as fuck.” He concluded that people should “just get Bitcoin.”
Despite some lauding his comments, others voiced outrage on social media, slamming him for his alleged lack of knowledge of virtual currencies.
Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist for Euro Pacific Asset Management, hit back at his comments. He said:
“After Bitcoin crashes I hope [Mark Cuban] does buy more as he told [Bill Mahar] he would. It’ll give others an opportunity to sell. His lack of understanding of Bitcoin is only exceeded by his lack of understanding of #gold. He proves that you don’t have to understand money to make it.”
Stalwart Crypto Supporters
The news comes after
In late November, US lawmaker Cynthia Lummis doubled down on her support for including Bitcoin and other currencies in her 401(k) retirement plans, despite backlash from other Senators.
In a Semafor article, she stated that she was “very comfortable” with allowing people to include Bitcoin in retirement funds, adding, “it’s just different than other cryptocurrencies.”
Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman also tweeted support for cryptocurrencies amid the ongoing aftermath of the FTX scandal.
In late November, he said the “crypto is here to stay” but added regulators should tighten restrictions and remove “fraudulent actors.”
He added: “I am making the case that crypto can facilitate potentially useful and important businesses that heretofore could not exist. That said, the success of any individual project is a function of the ultimate.”
Bitcoin (BTC) miners publicly listed on exchanges have sold nearly their entire mined BTC in 2022, sparking discussion on the gains for Bitcoin prices previously stated in media reports.
According to Tom Dunleavy, an analyst for Messari, a blockchain research company, cryptocurrency miners sold roughly 40,300 out of 40,700 BTC mined in the crypto space.
Involved crypto miners include Riot, Core Scientific, Marathon, Hive, Bit Digital, and others, with transactions taking place from 1 January to 30 November this year.
This has significantly lowered reserves in the second half of the year, with lows peaking in November due to the ongoing FTX collapse. This has caused Bitcoin prices to slump, Dunleavy added.
Despite this, numerous reports have evidenced Dunleavy’s claims, with Bitcoin Visuals noting on 26 December that Bitcoin’s daily trade volumes topped $12.2 billion. Conversely, CryptoQuaint figures showed outflows reached $15.35 million the same period, or 0.13 percent of total trading volumes.
December saw miner reserves recover by roughly 1 percent despite ongoing challenges such as skyrocketing electricity costs, a turbulent crypto market, several collapsed cryptocurrency platforms such as FTX, and increasing difficulty mining digital coins.
Core Scientific Sell-Off
The news comes after numerous mining firms were forced to sell reserves for their operations and expansion plans, namely due to declining hash rates, reports have shown.
Core Scientific, one of the biggest firms to date, sold 9,618 in Bitcoin in April 2022 to cover the costs of plummeting revenues.
It reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy despite efforts to bail out the embattled company. While facing its earnings crisis, it stated it would continue cryptocurrency mining operations.
B Riley proposed a $72 million non-cash lifeline as Core Scientific nosedived from $4.3 billion USD in July 2021 to $78 million as of December.
Bitcoin (BTC) hit a fresh six-month low for exchange outflows over the holiday season, Glassnode data shows.
BTC volatility indexes have reached a new low after users adopted the cryptocurrency following trends in the ongoing bear market. The ongoing FTX bankruptcy and crisis have also failed to slow down cryptocurrency withdrawals and outflows.
Glassnode data also showed outflow peaks of around 143,000 BTC but have subsided tenfold from 14 November, when FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to 25 December.
Christmastime saw outflows slow to just 9,352 BTC, nosediving to 93.5 percent. On-chain data also reveals a trend of holding onto coins and a stronger conservative approach to transactions.
According to a HODL Waves metric, based on unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) categorised by age, users have begun moving coins, featuring wallets unused for one to two years, in December.
The news comes after PeckShieldAlert noted a massive transfer from accounts on crypto trading platforms Poloniex and Genesis, totalling 9.878 Ether (ETH) and 13,103 ETH, respectively.
The account transactions took place on 19 December and had not seen any activities for roughly four years, triggering speculation across social media.
MicroStrategy, a software analytics firm based in the United States, recently acquired more Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, triggering mixed reactions from social media.
Company executive chairman Michael Saylor tweeted recently that his business had bought more Bitcoin, with its total holdings reaching 132,500 BTC at $4.03 billion at the time of purchase.
Its total holdings plummeted to just $2.1 billion to date, sparking discussions on Twitter.
While some praised him as a “rock star,” others stated Bitcoin backers should not celebrate the extra purchase as it could centralise ownership of the cryptocurrency.
Massive Bitcoin Sale Strategy?
The news comes after a recent sale of its Bitcoin holdings on Thursday, revealing further scrutiny from Bitcoin supporters. In a Yahoo! Finance analysis, the executive cited tax purposes for the sale.
He said at the time: “I think that this is going to be really helpful for Bitcoin because this is an educational moment. And people are realizing the benefits of buying a crypto asset that’s backed by the world’s most powerful computing network and by 10 gigawatts of energy and the difference between that and the 20,000 other cryptos that are, in essence, backed by nothing, and they’re just like other fiat currencies”
According to Yahoo!’s David Hollerith, MicroStrategy had launched a tax loss harvesting strategy by buying Bitcoin and later partially selling it. This allows it to use the losses at the middle selling period to hedge against capital gains taxes for the current fiscal tax year.
Recently, Saylor also stated his firm planned to adopt the Lightning Network in 2023, adding it was searching for software solutions to facilitate the measures.
The Lightning Network is a Layer-2 feature that helps boost Bitcoin capacity and faster transaction rates at scale. Exchanges such as CoinCorner and Bitnob adopted the Lightning Network in mid-December to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions and global remittances for African users.
Bitcoin enthusiasts have seen the cryptocurrency’s network hash rates recover to normal levels following a massive cold snap across the United States.
Due to the adverse weather, US power grids faced disruptive strains, forcing hash rates to dip temporarily. The country battled sub-zero temperatures, killing more than 28 people.
Bitcoin’s hash rate fell from up to 300 exahashes per second (EH/s) to around 170.60 EH/s on Christmas Day (25 December). It returned the following day to 241.29 EH/s, Blockchain.com data found.
Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations in Texas, where much of the nation’s hash rate takes place, temporarily halted or slowed to help with power shortages.
Bitcoin Capitals of the World
Texas is one of the leading producers of Bitcoin hash rates and is now one of the largest places in the world for Bitcoin mining.
As with many locations, power grid operations must accommodate the huge power consumption rates of BTC mining industries. Locations dependant on such sectors can affect global markets if hash rates slide due to power consumption problems or grid instability.
Data from Sunbird DCIM shows that countries with the largest Bitcoin hash rates include Dalian, China, the Genesis Mining Farm in Reykjavik, Iceland, Moscow, Russia, the GigaWatt Factory in Washington State, US, Linthal, Switzerland, and the Bitfury crypto facility in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The top four locations produce 360,000 terahertz, 1,000 gigahertz, 38 petahertz, 1.3 petahertz, respectively.
The report also found that 65 percent of all BTC hash rates come from China. Firms such as Beowulf Mining aim to boost crypto mining capacities to 500 megawatts by 2025.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, has hit back at critics it claims have spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) over its operations in a recent blog post.
In the post, it addressed seven key issues as it remains under severe scrutiny due to what it states are accusers that would like to see the exchange fail.
It aimed to firstly explain concerns over the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), which was suspended earlier in December. A spokesperson from Binance said it wanted to consolidate all stablecoins to the ones with the most liquidity, including its native Binance USD (BUSD).
It also responded to claims it did not have sufficient liquidity to allow users to continue withdrawals.
According to the Chinese firm, Binance kept sufficient reserves between 12 and 14 December, with net withdrawals topping $6 billion at the time.
In a subsequent audit, CryptoQuant later confirmed Binance reserves were roughly 99 percent accurate. The latter confirmed it had entered talks with firms to provide services to verify reserves, adding that the world’s Big Four—Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst and Young (EY), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)–could not properly audit encrypted company reserves.
According to Binance’s fourth counterpoint, it addressed why it provided just Bitcoin (BTC) verification, stating it “takes the most cautious attitude towards” work involving user assets.
Due to the massive number of currencies, volumes, teams, and reserves needed to conduct verification processes, it needed to carefully conduct such verifications. The company added it did not have to disclose financial information as it was a private firm.
It also added: “Binance does not need to disclose detailed financial status for two reasons: First, listed companies must disclose company financial details to their investors, but Binance is a private company, not a listed company; second, Binance is financially healthy [and] self-sufficient, [has] no external financing needs and external investors, and no intention to go public at this stage.”
Citing a Reuters report, it stated in its sixth counterargument that mainstream media sources stated “ambiguities” and accused readers of only seeing “eye-catching headlines.”
It assured that it had the world’s largest number of approvals and licences, and aimed to tackle crime, responding to over 47,000 requests from law enforcement agencies since last year.
Concluding, Binance hit back at firms claiming it had “destroyed FTX,” stating the latter had “destroyed itself” due to misappropriation of user assets, citing a 6 December tweet from company chief executive Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
It said: Binance will not regard other exchanges as ‘competitors’. The current industry touches less than 6% of the population. We are more focused on continuously promoting and expanding industry adoption. We also hope to see more exchanges, blockchain, Wallet, etc. coexist in this ecosystem, so that more people can enter the field of blockchain cryptocurrency, without spending time and resources on any unhealthy ‘competition’ within the existing scope.”