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Three Reasons Why Bitcoin Has Risen by 16% in Five Days

Last Friday, we talked about the reasons why investors were opting out of high-risk assets. New forecasts have emerged that now claim that cryptocurrencies and the stock market are approaching a crash. For example, Robert Kiyosaki, author of the best-seller Rich Dad, Poor Dad, has already predicted a full-scale crisis to happen this month. The growing intensity of emotions at the end of September has led the Greed & Fear index to fall to nearly the previous lows it’s seen in 2021, when Bitcoin was trading at around $30,000.



However, in the last six days, those fears have decreased, and Bitcoin has risen by 16%.



First, President Biden and Congress managed to moderate the situation by agreeing to a temporary funding extension to avoid a government shutdown.

Second, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell declared that the regulator didn’t have plans to ban cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins are a different matter: their issuance and backing should be subject to regulatory scrutiny. The same applies to DeFi. On the contrary, Bitcoin, as a decentralised asset not affiliated with any company, doesn’t require such scrutiny.

Third, Iran’s authorities have lifted restrictions for cryptocurrency mining for licensed market participants. The ban was introduced because of the overload on the electrical grid, something that many worried was merely a pretext. However, miners have once again received access to electricity at one of the cheapest rates in the world. Bitcoin’s hashrate has already exceeded its September highs.



The factors listed above certainly don’t eliminate the risk of a new financial crisis or a crash for most assets, as Kiyosaki has predicted. However, the recent spike in Bitcoin’s price has led to the liquidation of short-position futures worth $35 million. Currently, the coin’s contingency of climbing well above $50,000 is higher than the probability of a financial crisis occurring in October.


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(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

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Bank of America: Cryptocurrencies on the Verge of Recognition, Adoption and Growth

This week, Bank of America’s analytical agency published a report on the prospects and trends for cryptocurrencies’ development, emphasising the new qualities that these instruments give to the world of finance. According to the bank, the world is at the beginning of a 30-year period of adoption of blockchain technologies.

In 2020, digital assets figured into earnings reports of just 17 companies. However, in 2021, that number rose to 147, while the number of cryptocurrency users went from 66 million to 221 million people in the same period.



The most rapid growth is observed in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In 2020, the volume of NFT sales reached $0.25 billion. As of August 2021, it had reached $3 billion. The DeFi market has grown from $19 billion to $210 billion. The main beneficiaries of this growth have been Ethereum smart contracts, which continue to maintain their lead despite the emergence of promising competitors. Ethereum’s year-to-date growth is over 900%.



Bitcoin has a different architecture and doesn’t figure in the NFT and DeFi rally, but that doesn’t stop it from being mentioned more often as ‘digital gold’. BofA notes that, in the past 5 and a half years, Bitcoin has correlated more closely with inflation than gold (the inverse relation is implied). However, there’s not enough statistical data to provide statistically relevant conclusions.



In 2020, the Federal Reserve and the US government started to actively support the American economy by pumping trillions of dollars into markets. To hedge against looming inflation risks, institutional investors started investing in cryptocurrencies. They were responsible for Bitcoin’s rally, which has taken it to $60,000 this year.



Considering that real estate in the United States has grown by 20% year-over-year while electricity costs have increased more than twofold, the pace of price growth will continue to increase, and demand for Bitcoin will continue to rise.

BofA sees Bitcoin’s high volatility and regulatory pressure as the main risks for investors. However, with its rising capitalisation, this volatility will subside.



The regulation front, however, is not as straightforward. If the US opts not to follow China’s actions toward cryptocurrencies, bringing civilised standards to the ‘Wild West of Cryptocurrency’ will only increase its appeal as an investment opportunity. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has recently stated the Federal Reserve’s reluctance to ban cryptocurrencies but acknowledged the necessity for regulating stablecoin issuance and the DeFi market. This increases the likelihood that BofA’s forecast will come true and that we are indeed at the start of a 30-year growth cycle.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

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FOMO Is Increasing Demand for Meme Cryptocurrencies

The fear of missing out is pushing investors to choose cryptocurrencies with a lower capitalisation and higher growth potential. This is especially visible in a rallying market. Last week, the cryptocurrency market’s capitalisation rose by 8%, with Bitcoin’s moving up by 13% and SHIB’s increasing by 300%.



US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s comment about the regulator’s unwillingness to ban cryptocurrency has positively affected the cryptocurrency market’s dynamics. It has relieved big investors, who have again expressed interest in Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation. JPMorgan analysts wrote about it in their note on Thursday. As confirmation of this inference’s accuracy, on 6 October, news emerged that the world’s second best-performing hedge fund, Soros Fund Management, invested in Bitcoin. Starting in 2020 (when the Federal Reserve switched on the money-printing machine), institutional investors started to overtake the retail sector in terms of trading volume.



Meanwhile, with big capital opting for Bitcoin, traders and small investors are looking for small coins capable of growing fast in a short period. Yet again, an ‘underdog’ cryptocurrency saw a boost with assistance from Elon Musk; on Monday, he published a photo of a Shiba Inu puppy in a Tesla boot.



Whether it was a pump organised for lucrative reasons or not is unknown. Analysis by the company Kaiko shows that, on 4 October, the volume across all cryptocurrency exchanges increased, which indicates demand from a large audience.



But a few days before the tweet, on 30 September, Santiment registered a whale’s attempt to buy 6 trillion SHIB at $44,000. They now cost $282,000.



Meme cryptocurrencies are at the top of their popularity and are showing considerable growth far ahead of the market. But if you succumb to FOMO, be sure you don’t become plankton for the whales.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

[stormgain]

Crypto trading hamster's gains outperform Warren Buffet

If you’ve been keeping an eye on crypto social media of late, you have probably come across the new celebrity crypto trader sensation that is turning heads throughout the crypto community, both for his trading skills and his irresistible cuteness. Meet “Mr. Goxx”, a hamster from Germany who has taken up cryptocurrency trading, assisted by an ingenious mechanical system. This money-making rodent streams his trades on Twitch, where he has built up quite the following.

Mr. Goxx is cheekily named after Mt. Gox, the trading card site turned crypto exchange that infamously lost almost $5 million in holdings before it shut down in 2014. His human owners, a lecturer and a programmer from Germany, prefer to remain anonymous, letting their furry business partner take the spotlight. Mr. Goxx, whose social media accounts tout him as ‘CEO of Goxx Capital’ and the “World’s first crypto asset trading hamster!”, presumably also allows his more dextrous human partner to type out his Twitter posts, which provides regular updates on his financial activity, including when he is about to trade.

How does he do it?

Even if he has assistance on social media, be assured that Mr. Goxx makes his trades all on his own, despite his lack of opposable thumbs. A video on his YouTube account explains it all: Goxx has an ‘office’ called the ‘Goxx box’, which is furnished with a hamster wheel and two different tunnels, one labeled ‘buy’ and the other ‘sell.’

Goxx’s hamster wheel is no ordinary pet toy. Called the ‘intention wheel’, this device is attached to an automated, rotating Rolodex of 30 different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many of the established altcoins. Whenever Mr. Goxx runs on the wheel, the cryptocurrency it is turned to after he finishes is selected to trade. His subsequent choice of tunnel to exit through determines whether the trade will be a “buy” or “sell” position on that particular asset.

Should you spin the wheel for profit?

This unorthodox trading strategy has apparently been delivering big gains for Goxx Capital. Mr Goxx started on June 12 with €326. After a rough first month, Goxx’s portfolio was up 20% by September 27. According to reports, this outperforms Warren Buffet, the NASDAQ 100, the S&P 500, and even Bitcoin itself. Admittedly, this furry fellow is moving around a much smaller amount of money than the likes of the Winklevoss twins – total profit so far amounts to less than €100. But in terms of relative profit, he’s up there with the best of them.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should blindly follow a hamster wheel in your own trades. Mr. Goxx’s human handlers, two old university friends who started the project to provide some light-hearted entertainment during COVID-19 induced boredom, have taken pains on the hamster’s social channels to remind viewers that the streams are intended to provide a laugh, not to serve as financial advice.

Get the right tools for trading at StormGain

Do you think you could beat a hamster at crypto trading? StormGain gives you all the tools you need to make informed decisions in the crypto market, including easy-to-read charts, trading signals, analytics, demo account, and comprehensive tutorials, all available in the app and web platform. All that plus a multi-tier loyalty program that gives increasing bonuses to maximize your profits. Registering with StormGain is easy and just takes a few seconds. Sign up now to access over 140 crypto instruments with the best perks in the business!

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Another Four Countries to Accept Bitcoin as Legal Tender

The imbalance of the modern financial system, the hegemony of the US dollar and the dubious policy of the US Federal Reserve are forcing developing countries to look for their own special monetary paths. According to BitMEX CEO Alexander Hoeptner, by the end of next year, there will already be five countries in the world that have Bitcoin as their official currency.

Inflation

Inflation is the main problem developing countries are facing right now. They’re exporting energy resources and agricultural goods to foreign markets, but larger volumes of goods with high added value must be imported. To finance large projects, these countries are forced to take loans primarily denominated in US dollars. At the same time, the market nature of the economy opens the door to international business, which squeezes out local producers and encourages capital flight. All this leads to an increase in prices in the domestic market and depreciation of the national currency.



For example, while Russia’s official inflation rate is already 7.4%, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation continues to buy foreign currency worth 300 billion roubles every month, and prices in the domestic market are growing due to the active sale of products abroad. The price for timber has increased by more than 60% since the start of the year, and the volume of housing construction has risenby 30%.

This year, the most active importer of building materials is the United States, where lumber futures have increased fivefold. The Fed has printed more than $4 trillion this year, causing a booming economic recovery and heightened demand for a range of products. The problem here is that this money will primarily push up inflation in developing countries, which is why the IMF’s 2021 inflation forecast for developed countries is 2.4%, while inflation has already reached 5.4% for developing countries.
 
Money transfers

In search of income, residents of developing countries emigrate to Europe and the United States and regularly send a part of their income home. According to the World Bank, countries with low and medium GDPs receive 75% of total global remittances. However, payment systems still retain high commissions, taking up to 10% of the transfer amount.

As the president of El Salvador says, the recognition of Bitcoin as the official currency is an effective way to reduce commission costs for and the financial burden on his country’s citizens. At the end of 2019, remittances to El Salvador amounted to 20% of GDP, or $6 billion.



World inflation is accelerating, and a number of developing countries are already experiencing it to the max. For example, Turkey’s inflation rate has reached 20% again. Unfortunately, political motives often outweigh economic ones, so Turks have been banned from making/receiving any payments in Bitcoin. However, with the rise in prices, we’ll see more countries going the path of El Salvador and recognising Bitcoin as a national currency.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

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Fundamental Factors Are in Favour of Bitcoin Growing in Q4

Statistics are straightforward things. While Bitcoin normally goes down in September, from October to December, it grows by double-digit figures. Last October, for example, the coin grew by 28% and by over 40% in November and December.



Institutional demand for Bitcoin is on the rise again. According to data from CoinShares, last week, all investment products related to it received over $226 million, and the investment grew by 227%. This positivity is linked with the backing of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who has given to the launch of a Bitcoin ETF, an exchange-traded fund that allows investment companies to work with cryptocurrency on a stock exchange. Earlier this year, this instrument was approved for Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange. In the United States, similar applications are being held with a watchdog agency.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently said that the regulator is reluctant to restrict Bitcoin in any way. This has placated investors who fear a repeat of the Chinese scenario in which the government came down harshly against cryptocurrency trading and mining. A growing number of investors have been calling the cryptocurrency ‘digital gold’ due to its built-in revaluation mechanism. JPMorgan spoke last year already about investors’ preferences for Bitcoin over gold.

With the growth of institutional demand, the average transaction size has grown from 0.9 BTC in August to 1.3 BTC in September. The number of daily active market participants grew by 19% last week to 291,000.



Another bullish factor is Bitcoin’s retention in wallets in anticipation of its continued growth. In the past 7 months, holders have reserved over 2 million BTC, while only 186,000 BTC have been mined, and the total number of coins held by long-term holders (LTH) has reached 13.3 million BTC.



But big capital isn’t the only party expecting Bitcoin to grow. Judging by the growing funding rate of perpetual futures contracts, traders are again turning to leverage to buy more coins.



Metrics, statistics and fundamental factors are unanimously signalling that the last quarter of 2021 will be positive for Bitcoin.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrency)

[stormgain]

Russia Becomes the Third-Largest Bitcoin Miner

China’s ban on working with cryptocurrencies for financial organisations and suppression of cryptocurrency mining in the country caused a 50% drop in Bitcoin’s hashrate in June. As Chinese miners assembled their rigs to move them elsewhere, cryptocurrency miners in other countries ramped up their hashing power thanks to reduced mining costs.



Back in 2020, China was the leader in Bitcoin mining, providing 50% to 60% of the world’s hashrate. In the United States, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe wrote a request to the SEC Chairman to not restrict the operations of American cryptocurrency miners so as not to give an edge to their Asian opponent. However, China has gone its own way.

According to Cambridge University, China is not currently participating in mining. The top three countries are the United States (35.4% of Bitcoin’s hashrate), Kazakhstan (18.1%) and Russia (11.2%).



Kazakhstan started to develop regulations on cryptocurrencies and mining before Russia. Starting from 2022, miners will pay an additional commission of 1 tenge for each used kWh. Estimates calculate that this could add an additional 5 billion tenges or $11.7 million to the country’s treasury next year.

Now, Russia is concerned about the increased load on the electrical grid because of the newly arrived Chinese rigs to the Irkutsk Region. According to Governor Igor Kobzev, the annual consumption of electricity has grown by 159% and is related to underground mining. In order to solve the problem, the governor suggests diversifying the rates for the population depending on the volume of electricity consumed.



However, this is not a temporary problem; it will require structural solutions for mining to be pushed outside the grey economy. Bitcoin’s price has not yet overtaken its historical high, and institutional demand expressed in open interest is testing the ATH. The probability of the coin going past $65,000 is very high, and breaking through this important level will increase interest in mining.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

[stormgain]

Nuclear-powered Bitcoin? It could be crypto's eco-friendly solution

Energy consumption has been a hot-button issue in the cryptocurrency world for some time now. Crypto mining is a highly energy-intensive activity that can outpace the consumption of several small countries, and it has drawn criticism for the by-products of carbon emissions and electronic waste. Innovators in the crypto industry are working hard to make cryptocurrency both more energy-efficient and eco-friendly. The latest solution leverages an energy technology that is carbon-free, although not without environmental issues of its own.

Recent reports have detailed that several Bitcoin miners are negotiating deals with nuclear power plants in their area to harness their power for their mining rigs. In particular, some struggling nuclear power plants in the USA have already struck deals to provide energy for crypto mining. One such company is Talen Energy Corp., based in Pennslyvania, which entered a joint venture with TerraWulf, a crypto company that touts itself as “next-generation zero-carbon bitcoin mining”. TerraWulf will establish a huge new mining facility right next to Talen’s Pennsylvania plant, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

How nuclear and crypto can clean up each other’s act

Older nuclear plants can struggle to source funding and the investment that they need to keep running. Maintenance is of course of critical importance to the nuclear industry. While nuclear energy has attracted controversy in the public sphere due to a few high-profile accidents, advocates point out that the process is statistically very safe and that its waste output is far, far below fossil fuels and natural gas, which are contributing to environmental harm on an existential scale in the form of climate change. Advances in the disposal and destruction of nuclear waste are making the atom-splitting energy source more attractive in our climate-conscious world.

While renewable energy sources would be ideal, the partnership of Bitcoin mining and nuclear power could clean up the environmental side-effects of cryptocurrency, boost the economy of areas that use nuclear power, and provide the funds to upgrade the safety and efficiency of older plants. Miami mayor and famed Bitcoin enthusiast, Francis Suarez, for example, has confirmed that his office had been approaching crypto-mining companies with offers of a partnership with a South Florida nuclear plant. Given that crypto mining firms have previously partnered with fossil fuel plants, nuclear power would be a much more environmentally friendly alternative.

Clean-energy alternatives for Bitcoin mining

Bitcoin’s energy consumption is not only an issue of electricity use but, until recently, its reliance on China’s coal plants to power mining farms also raised the issue of carbon pollution. Nuclear power offers carbon zero energy generation and could provide an invaluable stopgap as the world economies struggle to transition away from fossil fuels.

Are there other alternatives for eco-friendly mining? Yes, and you can participate in it right now. StormGain’s built-in Bitcoin cloud miner allows you to mine your own Bitcoin, simply by trading on the StormGain platform. Unlike traditional mining, Cloud Miner does not use any energy or computing resources from your device. All you have to do is actively use StormGain on your smartphone or computer and hit the ‘activate cloud miner’ every four hours to earn free BTC. The speed of the Bitcoin miner increases the more you trade and level up through the StormGain loyalty programme. To try it out, just take a few seconds to register with StormGain and start trading. Not only do you get access to over 145 crypto assets to trade with fantastic perks, but you will start earning BTC, carbon-free and energy-friendly!

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Potential Approval of ETF Leaves No Chance for Bitcoin Bears

Since 2020, institutional demand has become one of the key motive forces driving Bitcoin demand: even pension funds are investing in it. However, many companies don’t want to work directly with cryptocurrency exchanges. As a result, they have to turn to derivative assets (e.g., Grayscale equities, which creates substantial commission costs.



A compromise solution is trading ETFs of investment funds that have become available on stock exchanges. At the beginning of this year, several Bitcoin ETFs were launched in Canada, where more than $2 billion are now under the management of the biggest funds.

When investing in Bitcoin ETFs, you don’t have to worry about the cold storage of cryptocurrency. In addition, orders on stock exchanges are protected by the law, just like orders for equities. A drawback here is the asset management fee, which varies from fund to fund somewhere between 0.40% and 1.00% a year.

In the United States, applications for Bitcoin ETFs started being submitted in 2013, and only now are there explicit signs of an impending launch for one of them. As a regulator, the SEC doesn’t have to loudly declare the upcoming launch of a new exchange instrument. However, on Friday, the company ProShares sent an amended application to the SEC after making several changes required by the regulator. In the application, the declared fund launch was set for 18 October 2021.



The application has not been approved yet, and we are only talking about a Bitcoin futures ETF, not one for the spot instrument. However, this step could be important for recognising cryptocurrency as an investment instrument.



Bitcoin is close to reaching a new all-time high, and its capitalisation is above $1 trillion. In the very near future, the asset could become worth more than all the silver ever mined. The emergence of new exchange instruments will lead to an increase in demand for cryptocurrencies.



What do you think: is it better to invest in silver or Bitcoin?

 
The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

[stormgain]

ETF Shows High Demand for Bitcoin Futures

On 19 October, the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Bitcoin futures was launched in the USA. Applications for this type of instruments have been coming to the regulator since 2013; however, the SEC has only now allowed large investors to access them. The ETF is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and its debut has become second by daily turnover in US history.

The company ProShares has been bestowed with the honour of being the first to launch an ETF for a cryptocurrency instrument. The daily turnover reached $1 billion on the first day, which placed the new ETF second after industry giant Blackrock’s “low carbon fund”.



Interest in the ETF has been so high that, in the very first day of trading, the fund went from starting capital of $20 million to $570 million, and the stock went up by 5%. According to ProShares CEO Michael Sapir, the increased interest in the fund has been linked with the ability to invest in Bitcoin for those who have got a broker account for trading stock instruments and are worried by the prospect of setting up a cryptocurrency wallet.

The news about the launch of the first ETF for a cryptocurrency instrument on the territory of the USA broke before the testing of Bitcoin’s ATH. It increased the possibility of a breakthrough beyond $65,000.



However, with the acquisition of the ATH price, the selling pressure grows from those who invested in cryptocurrency during a corrective spell and want to lock in a part of the profit. According to the Glassnode metrics, after Bitcoin has been accumulating in wallets during the past four months, an influx of coins to exchanges is being registered. It will keep the bulls in check for a little while; however, the influx of investment capital will lead the price to new ATH’s.



ProShares is far from being the sole company in the list of applications for a SEC approval. This week already, a Bitcoin futures ETF has been launched by the company Valkyrie. But the biggest expectations of the cryptocurrency community are still linked with an approval for an ETF for spot Bitcoin: the regulator has got over 50 such application. This week they have become one step closer to approval.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

[stormgain]

The World's Biggest Retail Chain Installs Bitcoin ATMs

In the past two years, institutional interest has been the main driver behind Bitcoin's price growth. Hedge funds, pension funds and banks — all of them are adding cryptocurrency to their portfolios to diversify risks and hedge against inflation. Thus, news emerged last Thursday, 21 October 2021, that the Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund (HFRRF) acquired $25 million worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, retail demand is no less powerful; increasing numbers of people are learning about this new class of instruments.



One of the key factors slowing down Bitcoin's adoption is its remoteness from classical financial instruments. Not everyone has cryptocurrency wallets or accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges. However, all of us are familiar with how ATMs or cash machines work. The emergence of crypto ATMs nearby can make cryptocurrency a truly mass instrument.

Walmart is the biggest retail chain in the world, with a capitalisation of $409 billion, 2.2 million employees and 5000 stores.



As part of the pilot project, the company installed 200 crypto ATMs in the United States in partnership with Coinstar and Coinme. To buy Bitcoin, you have to deposit cash and receive a voucher, which will become activated after you create an account on Coinme.

Such complications are caused by the need to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) policies put in place to fight fraud and money laundering.

The commission for exchanging currencies and purchasing Bitcoin amounts to an impressive 11%. According to the data from the agency Ascent, 20% of American respondents want to buy cryptocurrency but don't know how to do it. Crypto ATMs are specifically designed for this category of people.

Currently, there are 30,000 crypto ATMs globally, of which 87% are in the US. Some of them allow users not just to buy but also to exchange cryptocurrency for cash. On average, there are 37 crypto ATMs installed daily, and the highest rate is in El Salvador, which has recognised Bitcoin as an official currency.



The retail sector primarily depends on the infrastructure for this instrument's mass adoption. Last autumn, the payment system PayPal provided Bitcoin with expansive growth by implementing the ability to make purchases, store and clear payments in cryptocurrencies. This year, Walmart could be a similar driver if it puts an ATM in each of its stores.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

[stormgain]

Kazakhstan Shocked by Increased Demand for Electricity

The ban on cryptocurrencies operations and coin mining for financial organisations has led to the migration of miners from China. Some have settled in Russia and Iran, but the majority have moved to electricity-rich Kazakhstan, a country that relies fully on its electricity exports.

In 2017, Kazakhstan generated a surplus of 4.5 terawatts. Its close proximity to China and excess power generation have allowed the country to eagerly welcome Chinese miners. However, the load on electrical grids has turned out to exceed even the boldest forecasts.

A leading ASIC manufacturer, Bitmain, has built a mega rig with 50,000 Antminer S19 Pros in Kazakhstan. Each of these machines generates 110 terahashes per second and consumes 3.3 kWh, while their aggregate power consumption is 180 megawatts.

The influx of Chinese miners has elevated Kazakhstan to second place in the global hashrate ranking.



According to Cambridge University, China is fully out of the Bitcoin mining game. Currently, the United States ranks first in mining, with a 35% share, while Kazakhstan is in second with 18%. The latter’s hashing power is estimated to be worth 22Eh/s, and the power consumption is 5 MWh of electricity. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, one rig consumes an average of 3.6 million kW a month, enough to power 24,000 households.

The 50 largest mining rigs of Kazakhstan put a load of 693 MW on the electrical grids, and the superfluous consumption growth attributed to unregistered mining rigs is 1,050 MW. As a result, in the first nine months of 2021, electricity consumption in the country has risen by 7.4%, and the government has been thinking about building new power plants.

Minister of Energy Magzum Mirzagaliev has stated that the country needs to build additional power plants with a total power output of 3,000 MW in the next 4–5 years to satisfy the growing demand. And to keep the system stable, it will need to put a limit of 100 MWh in place for new consumers.



Bitcoin’s price has already reached a new all-time high, while mining difficulty is still below levels seen in May. All this makes for increased mining profitability and high demand for electricity. The countries that can satisfy it will add revenue to their treasuries. In 2022, an additional tax of 1 tenge per 1 kWh will take effect for miners in Kazakhstan. According to estimates, this will add 5 billion tenges or $11.7 million to the country’s coffers.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)

[stormgain]

Squid Game inspired crypto trends: what's behind the hype?

Netflix’s Squid Game hasn’t been around for long but has already penetrated almost every facet of global culture. The South Korean survival drama, in which desperate players compete in a series of deadly contests based on children’s games for a lucrative cash prize, has transcended linguistic and cultural barriers to become the most-watched Netflix show of all time. Scenes from Squid Game quickly became popular memes, and the show has been referenced all over social media, not just by fans, but also by corporations seeking to piggyback on the show’s popularity.

One unexpected subculture that has embraced Squid Game is the crypto community. Several blockchain projects have appeared referencing Squid Game in their names, though these are unaffiliated with the series producers or Netflix.

Crypto Squid Games announced

For example, Squid Game NFTs have recently appeared on OpenSea. The linked images use symbols from the series, such as the circle, square, and triangle worn by the pink army in the show. Other NFTs show Korean script or reference characters from the series. The description Squid Game NFT explains that the “squid game cards are an invitation to enter the adventurous and mysterious metaverse games”. The metaverse probably refers to a virtual environment, which are popular with NFT users, but no other details are given. It only cryptically states that the games’ “characteristics and other functionality are intentionally omitted for unlimited imagination and community-driven game development.” Other NFTs also bear Squid Game imagery, including popular ‘ape’ or ‘punk’ versions of characters.

In the case of the invitation to these metaverse games, it has already been teased that a series of six games will be played for a prize pool of ETH, showing clear parallels to the Netflix show. The NFTs themselves are being traded based on speculation of their future value and exclusivity. But fans of the show should also keep in mind how the games were controlled by the elite game masters, and should be careful that they are not being played themselves!

Several competing Squid Game Tokens have been released, offering different benefits for their investors. For example, SGT touts its unique ‘tokenomics’ to make all players wealthy, with a bonus for members who are ‘abducted’ from different token groups. SQGT tokens are based around the ‘marbles’ games featured in the series, where players can bet and win tokens based on guessing the tokens held by another player. SQUID tokens allow players to participate in another competition to win Binance coins. Whichever way you look at things, it’s clear that Squid Game has really captured the imagination of the crypto community.

What do crypto and Squid Game have in common?

1. Opportunity

There is more to the crypto community’s fascination with Squid Game than simple appreciation for the TV show. Squid Game’s premise contains, at its heart, a strong critique of the global financial system. The players of the Squid Game are all in extreme financial difficulty, trapped in cycles of debt and lack of opportunity, excluded from wealth by traditional means. The games present them with a chance to win enough money to completely change their lives, but not without risk. But if they play smart, learn the rules, and control their emotions, they have the ability to win a fortune and escape the financial trap. Is it really any surprise that crypto traders can relate to this?

The risk and reward that comes with crypto trading, plus the different kinds of strategies employed by traders attempting to play a complex system, has led to many comparisons between crypto trading and games. The same kind of drama, tension, and challenge motivates competition and excellence in both.

2. Fairness

One fascinating thing about Squid Game’s story is that the organisers of the deadly games are actually very committed to fairness. Every player is supposed to be equal in Squid Game, and the game masters strictly enforce this rule against cheating or gaining unfair advantage. It’s this sense of fair competition that drives the players to return to the games voluntarily, rather than continue in the normal financial system where the odds are stacked massively against them. Blockchain and crypto are built on the idea of peer-to-peer equality, eliminating the need to give big institutions power over your finances. Cryptocurrency does have its big and small fish, but it’s a lot easier for the average person to get into crypto trading than, say, institutional finance. 

StormGain, too, is based on this idea of fairness and equal accessibility to everyone. Not only is it incredibly easy to register and start trading on the app or web platform, but StormGain also boasts low fees and the fairest profit system in the business. Thanks to its zero-commission profit-sharing model, StormGain traders only pay out when they make a profitable trade, making it fairer for everyone involved. The platform also makes sure that everyone who trades benefits from earning free Bitcoin via the cloud miner, providing this opportunity to all users.

3. Strategy

Distinct from the thrill of sporting competition, we love to see people come up with interesting strategies on how to solve a problem. Ingenious ideas from different characters provided some of the most exciting, tense, and triumphant moments in Squid Game, and crypto is no different. Fortunately, when it comes to crypto, there can be more than one winner, and the community can come together to share their knowledge.

StormGain’s extensive educational program of articles and webinars, plus the demo account and in-app tools such as trading signals and charts, mean that traders have everything they need to analyse the market, learn from everyone’s experiences, and come up with winning strategies. The company holds regular trading contests for special prizes that offer even more rewards for clever tactics in trading.

All in all, there’s plenty in Squid Game that can be inspiring for crypto traders, and all without the dangerous elements of the TV show. Take care to do your research before jumping on any Squid Game NFTs, but if you’re reading to bring your A-game to crypto trading, then register with StormGain to get the best head start!

[Libertex]

informative blog

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Bitcoin: Less Borrowed Funds, Longer Holding

Compared to the previous all-time high in March, a long-term-holding investment strategy is dominating interest in Bitcoin this time around. The use of borrowed funds and leverage in futures trading has fallen from 70.1% in April to 44.6% now. This diminishes Bitcoin’s volatility because price changes lead to position liquidations less frequently.



Investment demand received a boost from the approval of a Bitcoin futures ETF. Now, every American with access to the stock market can invest in cryptocurrency. The regulator’s openness to digital assets has impacted Bitcoin futures trading, as well. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, trading volume has set a new record of $7.7 billion, and open interest in contracts has risen by 265% in one month.



After previously reaching $60,000, holders have offloaded part of their reserves, taking profit from the autumn rally. Now, they’re continuing to hold their coins despite the cumulative growth of assets by a value of 2.4 million BTC since the spring, with the expectation that Bitcoin’s climb will continue.



Bitcoin’s volatility is still high compared to gold or stock indices. However, it’s decreased from 300% in 2013 to its current level of 70%, while its growing user base and decreasing share of margin funds will only add to price stability overall.



Right now, Bitcoin is trying to stabilise above the pivotal $60,000 mark, with a number of technical experts hinting at the possible formation of a double top candlestick pattern.



Nonetheless, institutional interest is on the rise, and well-known financial organisations are forecasting that Bitcoin will supersede gold as a safe-haven asset. Combined with rising inflation around the world, this creates an opportunity for Bitcoin to rise to new highs.


The StormGain Analytical Group
(a platform for trading, exchanging and safeguarding cryptocurrencies)