At the time, Solana was still very much a speculative investment. But speculators who took the chance have seen a huge increase in value of Solana crypto. And this comes despite a drop-off at the end of 2021 and bear market through ’22 and ’23. However, the next several months or so could be just as interesting.

What caught our attention was the three-point plan to revolutionize the way crypto transactions work. At the time, there were a swath of “to-the-moon” rug pulls and scam coins that seemed to be getting released every week. In fact, some estimates suggest that DeFi (decentralized finance) rug pulls and exit scams make up 99% of all fraud in the crypto markets.

But Solana crypto came to the table with a plan. It didn’t just promise to reward investors. The company started making good on its plan. It also happens to be rewarding investors in the process. That’s why we’re so bullish on this relatively new crypto. And we’re not the only ones. Trading volume has been way up on Solana crypto since it skied to upwards of $250 in the fall of 2021.

Naturally, as exposure grows, there will be ups and downs in line with the greater crypto markets. But it’s a lot easier to make an educated guess about a Solana crypto price prediction now… since it appears it’s just starting to warm up.

Succeeding Where Others Fall Short

Solana crypto’s founder famously published a white paper draft that laid out a new timekeeping technique called Proof of History (PoH). This proposal was developed to fix one of the major limitations cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum faced in terms of scalability. You see, the time that’s required to reach a consensus on transactions was largely seen as a major drawback. But PoH was a way to automate that whole process… And it could act as a crucial element that would allow crypto networks to scale beyond their previous capabilities.

The white paper generated a lot of attention. It wasn’t long before Solana Labs formed. And it began recruiting engineers from the likes of Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Within a couple of years, the team had raised $20 million to fund its new crypto network. And less than a year later, Solana crypto was launched.

In the process, the core team behind Solana has proven the success of the PoH model. The records (or “blocks”) for most cryptos are limited in size and frequency. And that can dramatically slow down transaction times. The PoH model fixes this problem. But the Solana network also uses a Proof of Stake consensus algorithm, which helps keep the network secure.

Solana crypto is also currently exploring ways to reduce transaction fees. When these fees were first introduced, they were a means to keep bad actors from overloading crypto networks. But the speed of the PoH model largely reduces this problem. That makes it cheaper to transfer coins from one wallet to another.

And lastly, Solana crypto excels at avoiding confirmation delays… This just means it won’t take as long for deposits to be processed. In fact, Solana has proven to be able to process 50,000 transactions per second, with a transaction fee of just $0.00001. Not too shabby compared to other tokens.

A Solana Crypto Price Prediction: Why It Still Has Plenty of Upside

Despite the wild moves in value and the technical breakthroughs, it’s important to keep in mind one important detail: The Solana crypto network is no longer in its beta stage. Investors now have access to staking rewards – which seems to be the norm these days. But that’s why a Solana crypto price prediction is so hard to pin down.

The upgrade is now live, and it’s anybody’s guess as to how high Solana crypto can go. But it’s certainly not out of the question that it could reach a triple-digit valuation by the end of the year… especially if it stays on its current production timetable and volatility dies down.

Solana has already shaken up the crypto community. And now that more investors are sitting up and taking note, we’ve got a pretty good feeling that Solana’s future is bright. It set out to revolutionize the way crypto transactions take place. We’re seeing it do that in real time now. In the process, it’s making a whole lot of people’s crypto wallets feel a little bulkier these days, with even more to come.

Even now in 2024, it still has tremendous upside. It hasn’t kept up with the surge in bitcoin, it still follows all of the same fundamentals that make it strong, and it could potentially be in line for the next crypto ETF.

The Bottom Line on the Solana Crypto Price Prediction

Part of what makes the crypto markets so fascinating is that they’re driven by innovation. Another part is that they’re knocked back down by headlines. Crypto expert Andy Snyder has long described crypto as the very definition of a headline-driven market. And it’s true. A tweet from the right person can send the value of a token skyward in a moment’s notice. But Solana isn’t some meme-based token. It’s built on a solid foundation. Don’t expect to see a TITAN-type situation here.

This makes a Solana crypto price prediction a lot easier to make. We don’t expect to see Elon Musk or Mark Cuban making statements about it. But we do expect Solana crypto and the network it’s built on to continue down its path of innovation. So as long as the crypto markets stay relatively healthy, Solana should continue its upward trajectory well past the $100 mark. And in a matter of a few years, if it does indeed become one of the standard cryptos – as we think it could – it should be worth a whole lot more than that.

The post Making an Informed Solana Crypto Price Prediction appeared first on Investment U.

All of these projects had the somewhat unfortunate luck of launching not long before the big crypto bubble burst in 2018. Since then, a whole lot of tokens have come and gone. But the aforementioned tokens have persevered. They’ve weathered all of the storms that have come and gone in the past five years. And what sets them apart is their use cases.

Back when these projects were launched, there was a rash of initial coin offerings (ICOs). The year 2017 saw an estimated $10 billion raised from ICOs. There were 966 of them. The following year, the number more than doubled. But investors were showing signs of fatigue. Despite the massive influx of ICOs, projects just weren’t raising money like they did the previous year. So in that way, projects born in 2017 got lucky. The ability to raise more cash than the projects that followed helped to keep these projects afloat. Since then, many have flourished. But there are some that survived the crash via belt-tightening and great use cases. And Dusk is one of these.

Why Dusk Crypto Has Room to Grow

At the beginning of 2021, many cryptocurrencies still had yet to realize their worth. The Binance decentralized exchange (DEX) had grown in popularity. But the token powering it still hadn’t realized its true potential. When subsequent DEXs came along, many of them followed Binance’s lead and used BNB as one of the primary trading tokens. From there, Binance crypto (BNB) really began to take off. It shot up more than 1,200% in 2021.

Solana’s story is quite similar. This project set out to revolutionize the crypto market. And it wanted to do so by updating and improving the scalability, transaction fees and confirmation delays in blockchain technology. At the beginning of 2021, it still seemed like a pie in the sky idea. But as the year progressed, the mission began to be realized. Developers took note. Solana became a favorite network to build Web3 apps. It hosts several popular NFT marketplaces. And there are lots of DeFi projects being hosted on it now. All of this interest has raised the value of the Solana crypto (SOL). In one year, Solana crypto has shot up more than 11,500%.

Unlike the two tokens mentioned above though, Dusk crypto has yet to see those rocket-propelled gains. One of the reasons is Dusk isn’t as widely available as BNB and SOL. You can find the latter two on just about any exchange out there. However, the biggest exchanges Dusk is available on is Binance, Bybit and Gate.io. The other thing holding back Dusk for now is its use case has yet to be realized to the extent Binance and Solana have.

The Case for a Long-Term Hold

Dusk crypto is currently trading for about $1 a token. It is up around 150% on the year. But most of that growth was in the last couple weeks of the year. And we think this token is just starting to heat up.

The Dusk network is a so-called blockchain for programmable, private securities. It is powered by zero-knowledge proofs. It is essentially a blockchain that can be used for myriad financial applications.

The team behind the Dusk network has also designed the confidential security contract standard. This can be used in the creation and issuing of privacy-enabled security tokens. This might sound complicated, but to put it as simply as possible, Dusk could very well play a huge role in how security tokens are employed.

A security token is a tradable asset that operates on a blockchain to automatically store and validate transactions. Security tokens are programmable, which can reduce the cost of automation. They also allow for simplified integration by other businesses or developers. They can be an efficient means of completing simple company actions. For instance, they can be used to issue a company’s dividend payments. And they come with automated audit trails. All of this has the possibility of reducing a company’s overhead by a noticeable margin. And it looks like companies are starting to take notice. This bodes well for the future of Dusk crypto.

Transactions using the Dusk network take mere seconds. It also allows decentralized applications built on it to follow strict compliance requirements… All while offering full data privacy. And anyone that possess Dusk crypto is permitted to participate in its consensus.

The Dusk network is in a position to take the business world by storm. And that’s why we think the token that powers it is poised to rise.

The Bottom Line on Dusk Crypto

All investments are inherently risky. That being said, the likelihood of the bottom falling out from under Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock is a lot less likely than the bottom falling out of any cryptocurrency. However, the likelihood of Apple’s value tripling (or more) over the next year is low. But the chance of Dusk crypto tripling and trading for a few dollars a token by this time next year is a very real possibility.

As more and more businesses begin to unspool the usefulness of blockchain technology, we’re likely to see another bull run from the crypto markets in 2022. And those that deploy the blockchain for financial records and purposes are likely to employ the Dusk network. And that could mean very big things for this crypto in the long-term.

The post Dusk Crypto: Why Investors Should Consider Getting in Now appeared first on Investment U.

It was pretty obvious that QuickSwap got the attention of crypto investors quickly. By the end of April, it had rocketed upwards by more than 3,000% in value. QuickSwap is the governance token of the QuickSwap decentralized exchange. And its usefulness came to light just as quickly.

QuickSwap is a fork of Uniswap. Now, the Uniswap model has become a sort of standard for operating across various blockchains and platforms. But there is at least one big difference between the two. QuickSwap is based on the Polygon network. And this has led some to prefer it to Uniswap. But when you break them both down, they’re almost identical… At least on the surface.

As an exchange, QuickSwap uses what’s called an Automated Market Maker (AMM) model to exchange crypto. There is no order book. Users simply trade from established liquidity pools. And anyone can start a new liquidity pool. This is the same way Uniswap works as well.

These decentralized exchanges are also preferred by some because there is no need to sign up for an account. All users need to do to exchange crypto here is connect their digital wallet to it and MATIC, which is the token that powers the Polygon network. There’s no submitting social security numbers, driver’s license photos or dealing with unnecessary credit checks. It’s crypto trading in its simplest form.

Nonetheless, the two aren’t completely equal…

Why QuickSwap Crypto Could Bounce Back

QuickSwap crypto didn’t maintain its lofty valuation for long. Since hitting its all-time high in April, it has been on a fairly steady decline. In fact, it’s been pared all the way down to less than $360 a token. But with some proper marketing, that pattern could easily reverse.

As we mentioned above, QuickSwap’s biggest competition is Uniswap. Just look at the daily volume. At last check, Uniswap’s volume exceeded $1.3 billion in a 24-hour period. By comparison, QuickSwap boasted only $117 million in volume. However, as awareness of QuickSwap spreads, these figures may draw closer.

QuickSwap’s biggest advantage is that it operates on the Polygon network. This makes for quicker transaction times. And it also means that fees are cheaper. That being said, time is of the essence.

Uniswap is based on the Ethereum network. That makes transaction times and fees higher when compared to QuickSwap. But, Ethereum 2.0 is coming. And when it switches from a proof-of-work algorithm to a proof-of-stake one, that could greatly level the playing field between the two. And with Uniswap already in the pole position as far as decentralized exchanges go, the update to Eth2 could solidify its position.

However, in the months between now and when that update is complete, QuickSwap should be taking advantage of its benefits. And so should crypto traders. There’s really no need to spend as much on fees as is currently the case with many exchanges. And for what it’s worth, it’s a heckuva lot easier and less glitchy than other popular alternatives like PancakeSwap or SushiSwap. We wonder if anyone has been able to get through a transaction on either of those in a single attempt… Because we haven’t.

Adoption Is the Name of the Game

When QuickSwap first came out, it was a breath of fresh air. And early adopters obviously took quite a shining to it. But since its breakout, it’s stagnated a bit. Those early users seem to have stuck around. But widespread adoption still has yet to take root. And with the crypto markets still reeling since hitting highs in November, the QuickSwap exchange, and its namesake QuickSwap crypto haven’t been able to break back into the conversation. But that could change on a dime. And we think it should.

QuickSwap could also benefit from having more tokens added to its liquidity pools. At last check, QuickSwap had 384 tokens available for trading. However, Uniswap supports more than 1,800 tokens. If variety is the spice of life, then Uniswap is living one zesty life compared to QuickSwap. And that is the main cause for concern. At least short-term.

Nonetheless, we’re still bullish on QuickSwap crypto. Even though it would be surprising to see it hit an all-time high within the next year, it should do well in the coming months. And because the current circulating supply is limited, it wouldn’t take much action to quickly propel this token higher. And quickly.

The Bottom Line on QuickSwap Crypto

As a short- to medium-term investment, there’s a lot to like about QuickSwap crypto. The exchange it helps power is as robust as one could hope for. But if wider adoption doesn’t begin to take place before Eth2 is upon us, well, that could be all she wrote.

That’s why we think it makes sense to pick up some QuickSwap crypto now. But in the meantime, keep a very close lookout for Ethereum network updates. Because if that takes place before QuickSwap can make some bigger waves in the crypto space, then it’ll likely be an even longer time until QuickSwap’s value rises back to its previous highs… If at all.

The post QuickSwap Crypto: A Bullish Price Prediction for Now appeared first on Investment U.

Let’s start with the basics. Spell crypto is the native token of the lending platform Abracadabra.money. If you’ll excuse the 8-bit graphics of the platform’s website, it’s a pretty interesting project.

This platform allows users (called “spellcasters”) to provide collateral in the form of interest-bearing cryptocurrencies. In turn, spellcasters are given the opportunity to borrow Magic Internet Money (MIM). MIM is a stablecoin that can be exchanged for any other traditional stablecoin.

It’s a pretty straightforward process. Spellcasters just put collateral in and pull out the MIM in the form of a loan. What folks want to do with their loaned out stablecoins is up to them. And when users are ready to pay back their loan, all they have to do is return the original amount of loaned-out MIM and the interest-bearing tokens are released and ready to be added back to the spellcasters wallet.

Really all users need to do to take out a loan with Abracadabra.money is connect a wallet with some interest-bearing cryptocurrency like Venus USDT (vUSDT) or xSUSHI and make a withdrawal. Sure beats dealing with a bank!

Spell Crypto: A Bullish Forecast

To be fair, Abracadabra.money is far from the only player in the game making crypto loans. And that could be cause for concern for Spell crypto investors. Crypto.com has a very competitive loan program. BlockFi, Celsius Network and Compound Finance are other good examples of cryptocurrency loan operations. So Abracadabra.money does have some stiff competition.

Nonetheless, we really like the simplicity of the Abracadabra.money platform. The main drawback we have with it is the seeming gamification of the process. But this is mainly due to the Nintendo-esque graphics and lexicon adopted to describe the loan process. This is in stark contrast to the slick and professional websites of Abracadabra.money’s competition. But hey, there’s no accounting for taste, right? And to be fair, it’s pretty in line with how a lot of NFT-based games look right now.

It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see this loan platform catch on just because it stands out so much against the competition. And again, it couldn’t be much simpler to navigate. There’s no credit check. No ding on your credit score. And users don’t have to worry about high interest rates. All they’re missing out on is the interest being accrued by the crypto they gave Abracadabra.money in collateral.

While we’re not a big fan of loans in general at investment U, there are of course times it makes sense. And for those times when it does make sense, there is a compelling argument to use Abracadabra.money. Again, all you need is a wallet with some interest-bearing crypto in it to get started. And for that reason, we have high hopes for Spell crypto’s future. It’s already started to catch on. And that’s more than half the battle for a new token.

The Price Prediction

Spell crypto has a total supply of more than 78 billion tokens in circulation. And its max supply is 210 billion. This puts it in the mid-range of many popular cryptocurrencies. That’s well below ridiculous supply of SafeMoon out there. (I know it’s a deflationary token, but still.) But at least it has a max supply… We’re looking at you Dogecoin.

On the other hand, the total supply of Spell crypto is way above that of the major players like Bitcoin and Ethereum. So while we remain bullish on Spell, we don’t anticipate another 3,500% spike in the coming year. To that end, Spell crypto has already run its course.

However, considering Spell is currently valued around $0.02 a token, we do see room for growth. In fact, Spell is around 40% below its 52-week high right now. And it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to see it rise above that number in 2022. In fact, if Abracadabra.money continues to grow in popularity, Spell crypto could hit the $0.05 mark in the coming months.

Remember, cryptocurrencies aren’t just about supply and demand. The underlying technologies and processes they support are just as (if not more) important. And the types of small loans Spell crypto helps support could be valuable for all sorts of folks. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that executing microloans won the Nobel Prize. We’re not expecting those sorts of accolades for Abracadabra.money. But that doesn’t make it any less of a good idea.

The Bottom Line on Spell Crypto

Any penny crypto comes with a promise of volatility. And needless to say, there’s a whole lot of speculation factored in to cheaper tokens. That’s certainly been factored into this Spell crypto price prediction. An investment in Spell is far from a “sure thing.” But the underlying tech it’s built on shows a lot of promise. And that’s why we anticipate it growing in value over the coming year.

We wouldn’t bet our nest egg on Spell crypto. But any investors with a few bucks to gamble with could do a lot worse that Spell. Those looking to take that chance can head to the Bybit, Bitget or Coinbase exchanges to pick up some Spell crypto.

The post Spell Crypto: Making a Price Prediction for Next Year appeared first on Investment U.

In essence, there’s just not much value in XYO for the average crypto investor. And we’re not talking about those crypto hedge funds and purveyors of FUD out there. There just haven’t been many good use cases implemented for XYO yet..

That being said, maybe it’s just our paranoia that’s keeping us at bay. But we think there’s more than a couple of other folks out there that might agree XYO just doesn’t line up with their privacy principles. Let us explain…

XYO Crypto: How It’s Being Used in the Real World

XYO crypto is a decentralized location and data blockchain network. It is built on the Ethereum network. As such, it can be used in conjunction with smart contracts, NFTs and decentralized apps also built on Ethereum.

This could be a nifty feature employed in the future. But as it stands, adoption is low. However, that could change down the line. As of right now, one of the more notable features of XYO network is that users can add their smartphones to the XYO network. This allows the connected to geomine crypto rewards from their smartphones that are location-based.

The process above is sort of an augmented reality process (like Pokémon Go) with crypto rewards. Users can find digital assets in a real-world place using the COIN app and then share location data with the network. Keep in mind, this is not to be confused with Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN). In return, users are rewarded with COIN tokens. These tokens can later be exchanged for XYO crypto.

Essentially, users share their location data with the app in exchange for rewards. Quite frankly, there are already enough things tracking our movement. Do we really need something else doing this? It might be worth considering if it was going to lead to a noticeable amount of passive income. But that just doesn’t appear to be the case. Willingly giving up this information just isn’t worth five bucks a month to us. But if you feel differently, have at it. We all know Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), Meta (Nasdaq: FB) and the like are already doing the same thing without any sort of monetary gain for us.

How the Future of XYO Could Be Useful

XYO crypto is building an extensive list of partners that could increase usage of its somewhat unique protocol. The example above seems to be a test case of the XYO protocol. Going forward, it is looking to be able to implement its tracking abilities to solve problems in airports, hospitals, e-commerce and even help with national security issues.

For instance, XYO is testing its ability to provide location data on luggage that, it says, could help travelers and airport staff track down missing bags.

Regarding the healthcare industry, the XYO protocol could help keep track of equipment, patients and staff. In addition to the obvious, this could reduce prescription dosage errors and unnecessary medical procedures.

The sort of augmented reality gamified testing process mentioned could incentivize location reporting. This, in turn, would lead to an archived location ledger. The easiest example to explain would be if a mail currier were using the COIN app. If he or she encountered an XYO network node on their route, the location would be recorded. In essence, this leverages crypto in a way that also takes advantage of blockchain technology. And this could lead to a whole new degree of reliability in tracking systems.

But all of these breakthroughs are wholly dependent on adoption and scale. And until we start to see any of these applied to real world industries, XYO crypto remains a speculative asset. But we suppose that’s the crypto market as a whole in many ways.

Sure Solana built one of the fastest blockchains out there. But if adoption didn’t happen, it’d still be trading for $4 a coin. So there is a chance that XYO crypto could really take off if its partners start using its network. But that’s still a big if.

The Bottom Line on XYO Crypto

If the future really is going to take place on the blockchain, the XYO network could play a sizable role. It’s not hard to see how rental car businesses, hospitals, airports and delivery services could take advantage of its features.

The XYO Foundation also has a goal of ending human trafficking, which is an even more noble goal. It’s teamed up with Mujer Segura, which allows a person in a state of distress to send an alert through their smartphone to send out a location-based alert to loved ones. At this point, the app is only available in the Google Play store. And it is only for use in the Baja California region. But this process could engender further partnerships going forward. And it could also result in a whole lot of good will in the crypto community.

In the future, people may be more willing to share their location data. Especially if it results in a safer world for all. But it’s tough to see widespread adoption happening anytime soon.

As a long-term investment, XYO crypto could be a smart move. Ten or 20 years from now, the XYO network could be a household name. But with a big emphasis on the anonymity in web 3.0, it’s debatable whether all that tracking will willingly catch on. Even if it does come from a place of altruism.

That being said, investors willing to bet otherwise can find XYO crypto on Coinbase, crypto.com, KuCoin and Gate.io among a couple of other exchanges.

The post XYO Crypto: Why a Price Prediction of This Token Is So Hard appeared first on Investment U.

News of the Russia central bank’s move to seek a crypto ban sent the crypto markets downward. In this headline-driven market, any semblance of bad news can be enough to spook investors. And that’s exactly what we have here.

As headlines circulated about the Russia crypto ban, Bitcoin dropped more than 6%. Ethereum fell close to 9%. And Litecoin and Solana saw similar dips.

If you’ve been a crypto investor for more than a couple of weeks, you should know this is far from a sky-is-falling moment. If anything, a single digit price swing should feel quaint. But there is reason to keep a close eye on how this potential Russian crypto ban unfolds.

What We Know So Far About the Russia Crypto Ban

The Russian central bank wants to ban the ability to invest in crypto in Russia. In a statement, the bank cited cryptocurrencies as being a risk to financial stability in the country. This is especially noteworthy because it comes on the heels of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell saying the exact opposite.

But beyond the two entities not seeing eye-to-eye on crypto, the Russia crypto ban does sound like it’s gaining traction. The Russia central bank’s position is seen as a “complete rejection” of all cryptocurrencies. And it is evidentially in talks with experts about how to unravel a possible ban. We wonder if Chinese President Xi Jinping or Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi have been consulted yet?

One notable exception to the Russian plan is that it sounds like the proposed law would only prevent future crypto purchases. Any crypto bought before the law is enacted could continue to be held. What’s uncertain is whether it would be legal to sell in the future.

It’s also worth noting that Russia has waffled a bit on the topic of cryptocurrencies. In 2020, the Russian government gave crypto legal status. That said, the Russian government has also stated (several times over) that cryptocurrencies can be used for money laundering purposes and finance terrorism. Good thing neither of those things happened before the advent of cryptocurrencies…

Why This Is Happening Now

Keep in mind, this is merely a hypothesis, but the timeline of a Russia crypto ban does make sense. Realistically, it will probably take a couple of months in order to outline exactly how the central bank will go about taking crypto off investors’ table in Russia.

Merely coincidentally, we’re sure, Russia plans on having a prototype of its digital ruble in early 2022. And it’s no secret that governments – especially dictatorships – don’t like competition. That played no small part in China’s crypto banning efforts. It began to crack down on crypto mining and investing not long after the People’s Bank of China unveiled its digital yuan.

The legislation proposed to ban crypto in India also had a provision that introduced the ability for the Reserve Bank of India to introduce its own digital currency. Shocking, ain’t it? It’s almost as if these governments are following a playbook about consolidating control and power. But of the three countries moving towards a ban, the Russia crypto ban gets top marks so far. That’s just because it looks as though it will ban crypto investing before it introduces a digital currency of its own. And that’s just good dictatoring!

Why a Russia Crypto Ban Shouldn’t Worry Investors

Cryptocurrency is pretty popular in Russia. More Russians are investing in crypto than regular stocks or gold. But it turns out, that’s not saying much. Roughly 11.9% of Russians own some type of crypto. But keep in mind, this includes every kid picking up the latest memecoin.

The highest percentage of crypto holders by far belong to the 25-34 age range. The old money in Russia with the power to actually sway the markets haven’t shown much interest in crypto anyway. So if/when an actual Russia crypto ban goes into effect, we’re likely to see the same effect that took place this week. A fair amount of folks sold the news. Some of them probably live in Russia. And they don’t want an angry Vladimir Putin coming after their crypto wallet.

But for every country banning crypto, there are other counties adopting it at a breakneck pace. In Central and Southern Asia, Latin America and Africa, peer-to-peer payment platforms are more common than centralized banking. Crypto has caught on in a big way in Vietnam, Pakistan and Kenya. In fact, crypto adoption is up 880% in the past year. And of course there’s, El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as its preferred denomination. Some major economies like China and Russia backing away from crypto. But growing adoption should be more than enough to offset any long-term downward pressure these bans will have on crypto values.

The post The Russia Crypto Relationship Hits Another Snag appeared first on Investment U.

As the Fed met, the stock market was about flat. And crypto markets were limping along as they have been most of the past month. But then came news that its money-printing apparatus would be slowing down soon. You can check out the minutes from the meeting here. But here are the important things to note:

1. The Federal Reserve will halt asset purchases early next year that were driven by the pandemic
2. We can expect three interest rate hikes in 2022
3. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell described asset valuations as “somewhat elevated”
4. Inflation might not be so “transitory” after all. In fact, it could remain persistently high
5. The labor force remains in a weakened state
6. Cryptocurrencies are not viewed as a financial-stability concern
7. Stablecoins are in need of regulation

These seven points were the key takeaways we noted. And for the most part, nothing was particularly shocking. One of the exceptions was the first point above. The phasing out of the Fed’s bond-buying program will be by March, which is a bit earlier than anticipated. But as for the interest rate hikes, valuations and labor force evaluations, that was about on par. But what we like is that the Fed is taking a closer look at stablecoins.

Why the Jerome Powell Crypto Stance Is Warranted

We’re glad to hear that Fed Chair Jerome Powell doesn’t see crypto as a burden on financial stability. That could have led to rounds of unnecessary regulation. Or even worse, it could end up in some sort of crypto ban. While that would be an extreme take, it wouldn’t be the first time a government tried to ban cryptocurrencies. So nuclear option or not, there is precedent. And there’s no predicting the reckless policies that come out of Washington D.C.

But it looks like we’ve dodged that bullet. At least for the time being. On top of that, stablecoins are indeed in dire need of some sort of regulation at this point.

Look, many of them are quite sound. They follow the rules they’ve set up. And most are indeed backed by the asset they proclaim to be. But at this point, Tether (USDT) needs a thorough examination. Because if it blows up, it could send shockwaves through the entirety of the crypto markets. Here’s why this matters…

The Biggest Threat to Crypto Right Now

When Tether first came out, it was supposed to have 100% of its reserves backed by actual cash. Then a couple of years ago, it revealed it would be backed by 74% of cash and cash equivalents. Those equivalents, it turned out, were “commercial paper.” This is a far riskier asset than Treasury Bills.

But fast-forward to earlier this year, and this popular stablecoin looks less stable by the day. It’s actually backed by 2.94% treasury bills. You can read about what kind of impact this revelation had on the crypto markets back in June here.

The problems with Tether appear even shakier now than they were. In the past couple of weeks, $1.5 billion of Tether was minted out of thin air. This is arguably worse than the Fed’s money printing addiction. Tether now has a fully diluted market cap of more than $80 billion.

The total value of Tether floating around in wallets, being used in exchanges and being traded for other tokens is huge. And should it collapse, it is likely to drag down a big swathe of the crypto markets with it. This is why we agree with the Jerome Powell crypto comment that the stablecoins need regulation. At least in the case of Tether, it simply wasn’t able to live up to the promises it set out to fulfill.

Cryptos Pivotal Moment

Tether has been ruffling the feathers of regulators for a while. And in principle, we’ve got no problem with that. After all, the disruptive nature of crypto was part of its initial draw. But this “dollar-backed” token is wearing out its welcome. On top of all the other points mentioned above, Tether and its sister crypto exchange Bitfinex were suspended and fined $18.5 million this year. The New York District Attorney’s office did so because of “illegal activity” in the state.

The organization behind Tether has a track record of deception. It’s overstated its reserves. And, according to the District Attorney’s office, it’s already covered up around $850 million in losses.

We’ve got high hopes for both cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology. But if they are to live up to their promises, something needs to be done about stablecoins in general. To further expand on the Jerome Powell crypto comments, we also believe that “Stablecoins can be a useful, efficient, consumer-serving part of the financial system…” But that’s only going to be the case if they are properly regulated. Because it doesn’t appear they’ll be self-regulating to the extent they should be.

The post The Jerome Powell Crypto Comments Should Spark Optimism appeared first on Investment U.

Leading up to this campaign, Flexa supported 12 cryptocurrencies. This was in addition to a handful of digital dollars and a baker’s dozen of digital tokens. But that changed on December 1, when Flexa added Solana to its stable of supported cryptos. However, that proved to just be the warmup to the Flexa crypto offerings.

This month, Flexa has added DAI, SUSHI, MATIC, SKALE, LUNA, and more than a dozen other cryptocurrencies to its quickly growing list of supported tokens. It’s obviously a long list, so there’s no need to showcase them all. However, in what may or may not be a sideways glance towards Robinhood, it recently added SHIB to its roster.

Let’s get a head start on the weekend… $SHIB is here! Now you can use @Shibtoken for fast and fraud-proof payments anywhere Flexa is accepted—including more than 40,000 stores across the US. #25DaysofFlexa🎁 pic.twitter.com/X7L0lc8fa6

— Flexa (@FlexaHQ) December 10, 2021

While we may be reading between the lines a bit, it’s no secret that a lot of the SHIBArmy want easy access to the Shiba Inu token. There’s a little more than a half-million of them, in fact. As for why so many people want to be able to easily invest in SHIB… Well, that’s a story for another time. Let’s just say people love their memes and leave it at that.

Why the Influx of Flexa Cryptos Is a Big Deal

For the most part, investors look to cryptocurrencies as an asset. One to hold, let appreciate and eventually sell down the line. And it should surprise exactly nobody that now isn’t the best time to sell. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana have all entered bear market territory. After having shed more than 20% in value from their respective highs, the crypto markets have been experiencing a bit of a crash.

Some investors that have gotten into crypto recently, might not have much in the way of gains to show off. However, crypto’s usefulness is growing beyond the simple buy and hold strategy. Namely in its buying power.

This is where the Flexa crypto support starts becoming a lot more interesting. Flexa, as was mentioned above is a digital payment processing service. It allows businesses of all sizes to accept payment in their customer’s choice of currency. At it also deals in U.S. and Canadian dollars, or course. The Flexa payment network is helping accentuate the “currency” part of cryptocurrencies. And it’s accepted at more than 40,000 stores across the U.S.

Looking to pick up Yuval Noah Harari’s latest book? (And you should, Sapiens is an excellent read.) No problem, you can head over to Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BNED) and pick it up with any of your Flexa-supported crypto holdings.

You can also take your crypto to Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) and finally pick up that table saw you’ve been eyeballing. Or if you’d prefer some downtime with a new videogame, you can head to GameStop (NYSE: GME) and trade your crypto for the new Call of Duty.

And for what it’s worth, not cashing out, and actually spend crypto can help take some of the sting out of a rough couple of months.

#25DaysofFlexa

It’s also worth noting the #25DaysofFlexa campaign hasn’t only been about the new Flexa crypto support. There has also been a little bit of charity thrown in there with some other consumer friendly news to boot.

Earlier this month, Flexa donated $10,000 to Diversity in Blockchain. This nonprofit organization is working to improve equality in the blockchain space. Yes, we realize this is a tax-deductible move done at least in part to drum up some press (guess it worked). But it’s an easy cause to get behind. So we still applaud Flexa for the effort.

But on the consumer side, Flexa also announced a rewarding partnership with Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC).

To get *your* Flexa Rewards savings:
1️⃣ Tap Regal in any Flexa-enabled wallet app (such as @Gemini or SPEDN)
2️⃣ Automatically save 20% off your next two payments using any digital currency
3️⃣ Enjoy the show!

— Flexa (@FlexaHQ) December 2, 2021

As you can see, all you have to do to save some crypto down the line head to a Regal Cinema, bring a Flexa-enabled wallet app and you’ll be able to save 20% off the following two payments you make using it. It may not be as rewarding as a 20% boost the crypto markets (come on, Santa!), but every little bit helps. And any service looking to expand the usefulness of crypto is doing the right thing by us.

The Bottom Line on The New Flexa Crypto Support

When the 2018 crypto crash hit, so many folks thought it spelled curtains for this grand new experiment. But crypto (in many of its iterations) stormed back and then some. That being said, perhaps we’ve entered into yet another crypto winter. We’re still taking advantage and buying the dips. But what these Flexa crypto announcements boil down to are growing adoption.

We now have hedge funds built around treating crypto like an investment. Cryptocurrency is being applied to retirement accounts. Heck, countries like El Salvador are even making crypto their legal tender of choice. And it wouldn’t be at all surprising if more follow suit.

Cryptocurrencies will continue to ebb and flow in value. It’s part of their charm. But companies like Flexa and Clover Finance are doing an important job of destigmatizing crypto. It’s no longer just the investment choice of college students and computer nerds. Cryptocurrencies are slowly but surely becoming valuable currencies. And that’s regardless of what the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network thinks of them.

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