Crypto.co - 2020 Cryptos Biggest Winners and Losers

[CryptoKri]

Hello people.. I think this year have been the greatest for cryptos, ill leave here the more talked one.

 

BTC (Bitcoin)

 Although newer cryptocurrencies are being invented almost every other day, Bitcoin hasn’t gone out of fashion. Most pundits have said that its bull run in 2020 has been something from legend. Starting the year at around $9,500, Bitcoin has been on a crazy run. By the end of November 2020, the cryptocurrency shocked many as it hit $19,857, which represents a 177% increase. Bitcoin’s value has been continually growing this year because of several reasons such as institutional demand, political and economic instability around the world, and rising inflation. Furthermore, Bitcoins “halving” happened this year, which further limits the number of Bitcoin out there. However, many experts say that Bitcoin’s run is not over. They expect it to hit $20,000 and surpass it.

 

ETH (Ethereum)

 Ether has also been incredibly profitable crypto this year. With a market capitalization of $68,127B, Ethereum has shown critics that it’s a powerful contender all the same. Starting the year at about $125, this altcoin gained in value to about $600 at its peak this year, representing a 380 percent growth within one year. Unlike Bitcoin’s blockchain network, Ethereum has always been considered the go-to platform if you want to create something decentralized. Since Ethereum has an open-source blockchain network, developers of decentralized apps prefer it because of its interoperability and simplicity.

 

LTC (Litecoin)

 Litecoin is yet another favorite for 2020. Although it might not have had some bullish runs like its counterparts above, it’s still made some impressive moves in 2020. During the beginning of the year, the altcoin traded at around $35, a proper contrast from $85 it is at today. Litecoin’s market capitalization lay at around $5,792B, meaning that although it was not the best performing crypto in the portfolio, it still lands on the seven most performing cryptos throughout the year. Furthermore, this particular crypto boasts of being one of the easiest to mine. It takes the shortest time of all the cryptocurrencies and has one of the highest block rewards at around 25 LTC.

 

XRP (Ripple)

 Ripple is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies out there in terms of market capitalization. Its goals and concepts aren’t like others in this group. That’s because while these others lean largely to individual users, Ripple is more centered toward financial institutions. Essentially, Ripple is a start-up that offers financial institutions the ability to make cross-border transactions instantly and directly. Although its mandate is quite powerful, it hasn’t seen the best year. Today, the altcoin is trading at $0.519, a loss from the highest mark of $2.77 a while back.

 

Read the complete post in here: https://crypto.co/news/2020-crypto-biggest-winners-and-losers/

[CryptoKri]

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc in many areas of our lives. Our social, cultural, and economic norms were disrupted in such a way that it will take some effort to take activities back to the level they once were. In the financial sector, for instance, many Americans lost their jobs for one reason or the other leading to the highest number of people applying for unemployment since the recession. To reduce the mounting financial pressure, there have been proposals for stimulus payments to every citizen. However, one of the biggest questions right now is how these consumers will get these payments.

The logistics behind it

The biggest challenge behind a stimulus package that’s supposed to reach every citizen in the nation is logistics. The government needs to find a way to get to most people in the most efficient way possible. In the past, stimulus packages have been marred by confusion impropriates meaning families had to wait for weeks to get their checks via snail mail. Getting $2.2 trillion in the hands of families, individuals, and businesses means ironing out the kinks that cause these delays.

Speed vs. Accuracy

According to J.P. Morgan’s Managing Director Industry Head for Public Sector Treasury Services, Wholesale Payments Eva Robinson, there is a need to find the balance between these two aspects to ensure fairness everywhere.

Saving billions

Going the digital way is one of the ways that has been presented to Congress as a way to ensure that the rollout is as smooth as possible. 

 

Read more in: https://crypto.co/technology/the-governments-push-to-make-digital-stimulus-payments/

[CryptoKri]

Over the last couple of weeks, the world of cryptocurrencies had been set ablaze with heavy news from all corners of the world. Primarily, this is due to innovations, and entire conglomerates start accepting and using blockchain technology to achieve their goals. To this end, Germany has become one of the first countries in Europe to accept that blockchain is here to stay and leverage it to get the best results. The cabinet of Germany recently voted to include using blockchain technology in the securities sector. This is to increase activity in securities exchange and to be able to monitor what’s going on to keep fraudsters and malicious people generally away.

New Laws

Germany has always been a hotspot for cryptocurrency activity. The cabinet decided to embrace the changes and make them valuable to the nation to leverage said activity and control the vices that come with it. The country previously required all securities holders and insurers to record activity, purchase, or sell items on paper certificates. When this particular law was passed, it was meant as a deterrent against fraudsters and the like. Today, however, with the new law in place, the paper certificates are now replaced with an easy entry onto a central securities depository, kept safe and maintained by the bank.

Fiscal Treatment of Altcoins in Germany

In Germany, the laws surrounding cryptocurrency and its underlying blockchain technology has always been lax. No explicit legal provisions are governing whether they should be taxed or not. However, it’s essential to know that crypto is considered an intangible asset in Germany and therefore does not qualify to be legal tender. Although the crypto itself is not taxed, gains from selling any crypto require some taxes to be paid. In the case of a private individual, Section 22 No. 2 and Section 23 (1) No. 2 of the German Income Tax Act will suffice.

 

Read the complete news in here: https://crypto.co/technology/germany-legalizes-securities-exchange-on-blockchain/

[CryptoKri]

It’s not a good day to start the year with privacy coins after Bittrex, a major crypto exchange announced delisting XMR (Monero), ZEC (Zcash), and Dash.

 In a recent announcement by Bittrex, delisting of the privacy coins in its platform will take effect on January 15, 2021, 23:00 UTC.

 As further stated in the announcement, users are advised to withdraw any tokens before the posted withdrawal deadline.

 Bittrex did not give further information behind its action. But the recent move could be related to a recent report on the crackdown of privacy coins. This is to curb the use of these altcoins for criminal activities like money laundering and fraud. Deputy Assistant Director of the US Secret Service’s Office of Investigation Robert Novy in a statement has sought the help of Congress to formulate a more rigid regulation. It has become difficult for the agency to fight financial crimes related to privacy coins due to the nature of these altcoins.

 “Congress for help in preventing cryptocurrencies like Monero and zcash, which provide users with enhanced privacy and anonymity features, from being used for illicit purposes… We should also consider additional legislative or regulatory actions to address potential challenges related to anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies, services intended to obscure transactions on blockchains (i.e. cryptocurrency tumblers or mixers), and cryptocurrency mining pools.”

 Delisting, Privacy Coins Dilemma

But Bittrex is not the first crypto exchange to delist privacy coins. On Dec. 22, LiteBit, a Dutch crypto exchange delisted privacy coin firo, formerly know as Zcoin. Earlier, ShapeShift, a Colorado-based crypto exchange removed XMR (Monero) and Dash as confirmed by Coindesk. Also, before this Bithumb has dropped XMR (Monero) from its platform.

 Prices of XMR, ZEC, and Dash dropped by 9-12% in a 24-hour chart following Bittrex’s announcement. In recent data by Crypto.co, XMR (Monero) is down by 9.12% with its price at $138.50. ZEC (Zcash) is declined by 12.42% at $59.06. And Dash fell off by 13.83% at $90.28.

 The massive delisting of privacy coins from crypto exchanges around the world is primarily due to regulations. This is to comply with know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations implemented by regulators across the globe. Is this the end for privacy coins?

 Reuben Yap, a Firo project steward had this to say:

 “Privacy coins will continue to face opposition and challenges along the way, which will heat up as cryptocurrencies start becoming more mainstream. However, just as VPNs, Tor, HTTPS, and end-to-end encrypted messaging are now considered standard protection tools, privacy technology in cryptocurrencies will be considered commonplace, too.”

Read more in: https://crypto.co/technology/bittrex-delisting-three-privacy-coins-causing-a-price-drop/