Tag: crypto adoption

Crypto Second Most-Widely Possessed Financial Asset for Women After Cash: Report

Cryptocurrency has emerged as a sector that has begun attracting investments from a large group of women from around the world. In a new report, eToro has said that cryptocurrency is the second most-widely possessed financial asset for women, right behind cash. In the last two quarters of the year 2022 — between July and December — women’s possession of crypto holdings spiked from 29 percent to 34 percent. In the same time frame, the investments in crypto from males rose by just one percent.

The Israeli online brokering platform onboarded 10,000 participants from a total of thirteen nations as part of its Retail Investor Beat survey.

“Crypto is succeeding where traditional financial markets have sometimes failed,” CoinTelegraph said, citing eToro’s report.

The risen involvement of women in the crypto sector, was recently highlighted and acknowledged by Indian exchanges CoinSwitch Kuber and WazirX as well.

As per CoinSwitch, women users from India accounted for eight percent of the total transactions it recorded last year.

WazirX, in its findings, claimed that Indian women have been choosing ‘blue chip tokens’ that are perceived to reach higher values in the long run with better liquidity values.

Despite cryptocurrencies not having remained in the best of their health in recent months, the sector did welcome a significant number of entrants.

Last year, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, overall crypto holdings grew from 36 percent to 39 percent despite the industry having undergone major turbulence.

Along with women investors, retail investors are also hopping onboard the crypto wagon. Crypto holdings by retail investors aged between 35 and 54 also grew by ten percent last year.

As for eToro, in August it acquired options trading platform Gatsby in a bid to expand its presence and crypto services in the US. The deal was finalised for $50 million (roughly Rs. 400 crore) in cash and common stock.

Headquartered in Israel’s Tel Aviv, eToro started in 2007 as a fintech firm that shifted focus towards the crypto sphere as its business evolved.

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Crypto Will Merge With Traditional Finance as Regulation Increases, Predicts JP Morgan

JP Morgan, one of the largest banks in the US, has not shied away from expressing its belief in the crypto sector despite the fluctuations affecting the market. As highlighted in its latest Global Markets Strategy report, JP Morgan is expecting the crypto industry to undergo significant changes with the onset of 2023. Along with more regulations, JP Morgan believes that the use of self-custodial hardware wallets could help people feel safer about their crypto holdings, thus bringing in more investments.

JP Morgan has predicted that a significant part of global crypto regulation, will be inspired by rules that govern the existing traditional finance (TradeFi) sector, like regular KYC requirements and reserve audits for exchanges, stablecoin issuers, as well as lenders and custodians.

The lender bets that these rules would eventually lead to the convergence of crypto with TradFi.

For now, there are a handful of issues that need to be resolved to safeguard the crypto industry against as many risks as possible.

Risks around hacking of smart contracts and over-collateralisation disadvantage of DeFi over TradeFi have been named among serious punctures in the crypto sector.

JP Morgan, that claims to cater over 135,000 clients in more than 180 nations, was set up in the year 2000. Almost 23 years into business, the lender is now looking to establish itself in the new-age Web3 sphere.

In recent months, JP Morgan has taken several decisions to support the adoption of crypto. The largest bank in the US is expected to launch a crypto wallet service in the near future.

The bank’s predictions coincide with other research reports that also claim that laws around the crypto sector would also snatch BTC away from scammers using to use it as a tool for processing financial exploits.

In a recent report, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky said that the upcoming rules and regulations around crypto transactions all over the world, will make Bitcoin less enticing for criminals to use as a payment gateway.

Nations around the world are coming together to provide the crypto industry with legal oversight. Last month, the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) approved the MiCA legislation, that largely revolves around consumer protection as well as prevention of market manipulation and financial crimes in the crypto sector.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, is planning to present a taxation framework around the crypto sector to members of the G20 nations in the coming days.

Next month, India will take up the presidency of the G20 group and will continue to preside the international union for the next one year. Among its top priorities, India is looking to work with the other 19 member nations of the G20 in formulating a framework around cryptocurrencies, that would work on an international level.

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Visa Files for Fresh Trademarks That Hint at Crypto Wallet, Metaverse Ambitions

Visa, the global credit card giant and payments provider, has made a number of recent trademark applications hinting at a larger move into crypto markets. On October 27, licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis revealed the latest trademark applications for credit giant Visa. The applications suggest that the firm is looking to develop or launch its own digital asset wallet. The two trademark filings included software for managing digital, virtual, and cryptocurrency transactions, and cryptocurrency wallets. Additionally, there were provisions for auditing cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, and blockchain assets.

Furthermore, the trademark applications did not stop at crypto transaction software and wallets. They also included provisions for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Visa also applied for trademarks for “non-downloadable virtual goods” such as NFT collectibles. There were even hints of Metaverse ambitions in the descriptions with wording such as, “Providing virtual environments in which users can interact for recreational, leisure or entertainment purposes accessible in the virtual world.”

The wordings hint more towards a fully-fledged metaverse rather than providing financial services in existing virtual worlds.

Visa has made some key partnerships with crypto companies over the past year or so. Its most recent was with Blockchain.com this week to offer a crypto debit card. Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s Head of Crypto, said at the time that worldwide acceptance was necessary for crypto adoption to continue to grow.

Earlier this month, Visa partnered with FTX to roll out crypto debit cards in 40 countries. The firm has also collaborated with investment banking giant JPMorgan (via FinExtra). The two will work on private blockchains to facilitate cross-border transactions.

Last year, Visa partnered with as many as 60 leading crypto companies including Coinbase, Binance, and Crypto.com. The move was to accelerate card programs to boost crypto adoption worldwide. Also last year, Visa CEO Charles Scharf said that the firm is open to accepting Bitcoin if there is enough customer demand.

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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‘Return Correlations of BTC, Indian Stock Markets Have Risen Ten-Fold’: IMF

Despite the prevailing regulatory uncertainty in India, the crypto industry seems to have collected a fandom. As per the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the return correlations of Bitcoin and the Indian stock market have increased ten-fold in the post-pandemic world. This is indicative of the limited risk diversification benefits of cryptocurrencies. At this point, as per the IMF, the correlation between the performances of crypto assets and the overall Asian equity markets stands hiked substantially.

The growing adoption of crypto by retail and institutional investors in Asia, many of whom also participate in the equity markets, has emerged among the key drivers of the increased interconnectedness of crypto and equity markets in Asia.

“We find that the rise in crypto-equity correlations in Asia has been accompanied by a sharp rise in crypto-equity volatility spillovers in India, Vietnam, and Thailand,” the IMF said in a blog post.

This is not the first report released recently that has highlighted the expansion of the crypto culture in the Asian continent.

Back in June, an Accenture report had detailed that in Asian nations like India, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, the holdings of crypto and other digital assets have risen multi-fold in recent years. The report said that the Asians with up to $1 million (roughly Rs. 7 crore) in the continent are investing in virtual assets in a bid to diversify their investment portfolios.

As per the findings, Thailand and Indonesia dwellers hold the maximum percentage of digital assets in Asia, followed by India, Singapore, and Thailand.

Meanwhile, India contributes up to seven percent on the chart representing the percentages of crypto and NFT holdings in Asia. This brings India ahead of Singapore, Japan, and Vietnam — reflecting six percent, three percent and four percent, respectively, in digital asset holdings on the Accenture survey graph.

For now, crypto makes for the fifth largest asset class in Asia.

While the IMF findings suggest a positive growth outlook for the crypto sector in Asia, it also paves way for concerning issues.

As per the post, this growing interconnectedness between the two asset classes permits the transmission of shocks that can impact financial markets.

The global financial body has called for the formulations of relevant legislations that would safeguard these growing number of crypto investors against financial risks as soon as possible.

“A significant effort is needed to address important data gaps that still prevent domestic and international regulators from fully understanding ownership and use of crypto and its intersection with the traditional financial sector,” the IMF noted.

While South Korea and Japan are experimenting with different elements of the cryptoverse like CBDCs and the metaverse, Thailand and Indonesia are focussing on incubating in-house crypto exchanges and tightening rules around crypto crimes.

In India, while start-ups are dabbing in experiments with crypto, Web3 and blockchain sectors, they are treading lightly due to the lack of clarity in regulations.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) favours a ban on the cryptocurrency sector, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the parliament in July.

Calling for a global support on crypto regulations, Sitharaman said the RBI is concerned that the involvement of cryptocurrencies in India’s existing financial systems may have a destabilising effect on the monetary and fiscal stability of the nation.

Earlier this year, tax laws around virtual digital assets went live in India but the country still awaits an elaborate framework around the crypto sector.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 

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Binance Announces Crypto Awareness Tour in Africa as Adoption Numbers Spike in 2021

Major global crypto exchange Binance is launching the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Awareness Tour (BCAT) in Africa, a crypto awareness tour within a set location as crypto adoption continues to become a popular trend in the continent. The goal of the tour is to spread blockchain and cryptocurrency awareness as well as educate people across Africa. Besides, it is expected to facilitate the driving of real-world adoption, empowering millions of people across the continent to take to crypto in the process.

The campaign will start on June 4 from South Eastern, Nigeria. Then, it will move across Africa to countries such as Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon, etc. According to Binance’s post, the event will host as many as 5000 Africans.

Binance has been a sponsor of the Blockchain and Crypto Awareness Tour since 2019 when the program was first introduced. It was backed by CryptoTVPlus, a popular blockchain and cryptocurrency media house from Nigeria. At that time, the program was mainly targeting students. Students as a whole would be better positioned on how to make lasting impacts on their societies with the myriad opportunities the blockchain technology affords its enthusiasts.

In 2020, the BCAT took place online because of the coronavirus pandemic. So far, Binance claims the educative tours have reached over 60,000 people. Among other sponsors this year, major entrants include a global decentralised finance (DeFi) platform Xend Finance, decentralised esports and betting platform Sportrex, crypto wallet service Lead Wallet, and crypto payments provider BoundlessPay.

However, the edition of this year’s tour would lean heavily towards the popular play-to-earn economies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse. Although Africa is still far behind when it comes to crypto being a contributor to the economy, users have been able to use the assets as a close substitute for the failed payments systems across the region.

In a survey published in late 2021 by Chainalysis, the major drivers of adoption across Africa have been peer-to-peer payments and savings among others. Like in major developing countries, Nigerians are looking at crypto as a means to escape several policies announced by the government and inflation. The awareness tour will also seek to establish a mutual space where crypto discussions will be carried out.

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