Autor Cointelegraph By Joseph Hall

One man's plan to orange pill a nation: Bitcoin Senegal

One man's plan to orange pill a nation: Bitcoin Senegal

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 28, 2022 |

Nourou is a 29 year old Bitcoiner with a vision for his home country. A former financial analyst for a French Bank, he founded Bitcoin Senegal in late 2021.Following an eight-year stint in France, during which Nourou earned his Masters degree, Bitcoin Chaincode qualifications, and a deep understanding of legacy financial markets thanks to work in investment finance, he was primed to orange-pill Senegal.He returned to his home country disheartened to learn that Coinmap (a website showing Bitcoin vendors and merchants around the world), had zero locations in Senegal. That’s despite singer and influencer Akon’s plans to set up a crypto-style Akon City.Passionate about Bitcoin and equipped with the knowledge that a “Bitcoin Beach” idea in El Salvador eventually lead to the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, the 29-year-old was inspired to try a similar thing in his hometown. Since setting foot in Africa’s westernmost capital, Dakar, Nourou has made progress. As well as founding Bitcoin Senegal, he’s given upwards of 18 educational talks about Bitcoin, and orange-pilled two restaurants, one games shop, a surf camp and a few local vendors. That’s all in the space of about six weeks.The current status of Bitcoin merchants in Dakar, according to CoinmapHe has his sights set on 20 restaurants to accept Bitcoin by July 2022, right before he finishes coding up Senegal’s first proprietary Bitcoin exchange from scratch. The exchange would compete with Binance (which has an impressive footprint in Africa), Paxful, as well a friend’s cryptocurrency exchange which uses an off-the-shelf, third-party solution.Nourou told Cointelegraph that his exchange will be as decentralized as possible, and knows that while competition may be tough: “The demand for bitcoin is so large in Senegal that it doesn’t matter how many exchanges you make.”Indeed, while the Sub-Saharan country of about 17 million people is familiar with Bitcoin, it’s hardly up to speed with the digital currency. Plus, Nourou says “literacy rates are very low, one of the biggest barriers to adoption.”Furthermore, while the national language is officially French, the majority of Senegalese speak Wolof, a local language. There are sparse Bitcoin educational resources in Wolof; Nourou, therefore, started a YouTube channel in Wolof to educate his countrymen about Bitcoin.For vendors, the Bitcoin quest began in Les Almadies, a wealthy, ex-pat area of Dakar where foreign travelers are common and literacy rates are high. He’s approached beach bars, restaurants and barber shops, happy to come “day or night” if there is ever a problem with BitPay or lightning terminals.A restaurant now accepting Bitcoin in Dakar, Senegal In the restaurant Praïnha (see picture), the Bitcoin sign is loud and proud. The owner of the establishment, Renée, is a surf coach and free thinker who was “open to the idea of Bitcoin. Why not?” They accepted their first payment in Bitcoin on Feb. 24 having set up a BTCPay Server earlier in the month.Nonetheless, volatility in the Bitcoin price and education continue to hamper Nourou’s orange-pilling efforts. It’s for that reason that he advises vendors to include a 10% markup for Bitcoin payments. Equally, he spends considerable amounts of time sitting down with retailers going over Bitcoin, before introducing them to the Bitcoin layer 2 solution, Lightning. Related: Crypto firms ignore Africa at their peril as continent set for major adoptionRegarding education, it’s simply not time-effective to attempt to equip taxi drivers or street sellers with QR codes and BTC Pay servers. For the self-employed hustlers, a conversation and a mention of the Youtube channel is a useful start. Instead, Nourou is targeting restaurant owners, business people, surf schools and established commerce. It’s a small but vital step towards further Bitcoin recognition in the country.A surf camp in N’Gor, northwest Dakar that accepts Bitcoin

Čítaj viac
Penalties and extra time: The scoreboard for soccer club crypto deals

Penalties and extra time: The scoreboard for soccer club crypto deals

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 25, 2022 |

The world’s most popular sport suffered an own-goal as European clubs canceled their partnerships with Bitci, a Turkish crypto exchange. However, plenty of substitute crypto companies are on the bench, ready to bring crypto to the mainstream through soccer.Growing yet unclear cryptocurrency regulations in Turkey have reportedly hampered the company’s ability to make payments, leading to a lack of confidence among major soccer clubs.Portugal’s Sporting CP — the green-and-white-striped footballers famed for being the club where Cristiano Ronaldo cut his teeth — and Italian Serie A club Spezia have also canceled their partnership with Bitci. The F1 powerhouse Mclaren Racing terminated its sponsorship deal with Bitci earlier in February.Barcelona also recently announced that it would favor a partnership deal with Binance over Spotify despite the launch of its fan token in April 2021. While it would appear that crypto and soccer partnerships are down to 10 players, deals, enthusiasm and sponsorships for crypto among football clubs are an open goal.Of England’s 20 football clubs, 17 have at least one deal with a cryptocurrency firm. For Watford soccer club, not only does Dogecoin (DOGE) appear on the shirtsleeve, but Stake.com sponsors the main body of the shirt. Dogecoin and Stake.com on Watford FC football shirt. Source: DWEighty miles Southeast of Watford, in Southampton, “the Saints,” as they are known locally, launched a Bitcoin (BTC) hunt on Wednesday. In partnerships with crypto betting site Sportsbet.io, the online quiz winner takes home a whole BTC.Still in England, Bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack sparked the beginnings of an English underdog story as he bought his local club Bedford FC. He’s keen to take on the Premier League with the help of Bitcoin and its community. While Crypto.com recently renamed the American football stadium in Los Angeles from the Staples Center to the Crypto.com arena, in Italy, the entire football league is sponsored by the cryptocurrency giant.Elsewhere, fan tokens are also growing in popularity among European football fans. As Cointelegraph reported, blockchain sports firm Chiliz has caught the eye of major football clubs, while the Socios platform announced a deal with UEFA.The Inter Milan fan token appearing on the shirt. Source: Inter.itRelated: Touchdown! Goal! Knockout! Crypto and sports collide in 2021While a crypto sponsor for a European national team may have to wait until next season, the Argentine team was the first national soccer club worldwide to take on a crypto sponsor. Binance recently partnered with the white and sky blues. Finally, as European soccer waits for a national team to be sponsored by crypto, in rugby football, the Bitpanda crypto exchange now sponsors the Azurri. The exchange made the announcement ahead of Italy’s clash with the Six Nations rugby teams in January.Ciao ragazzi! We are proud to announce that we will be the main sponsor of @Federugby, the Italian Rugby Federation. So, @SixNationsRugby fans, get ready to spot our logo whenever gli Azzurri are playing!Find out more: https://t.co/JVBrA641hF pic.twitter.com/LGgKphmL0s— Bitpanda (@bitpanda) January 20, 2022

Čítaj viac
Tonga's timeline for Bitcoin as legal tender and BTC mining with volcanoes

Tonga's timeline for Bitcoin as legal tender and BTC mining with volcanoes

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 24, 2022 |

Lord Fusitu’a, a former member of the Tongan Parliament, has shared a timeline for the country’s plan to adopt Bitcoin (BTC). A Tongan nobleman, Fusitu’a had previously disclosed the four-step plan, a copy of the Salvadoran Bitcoin playbook.Step one is remittance, two is legal tender, three is Bitcoin mining and four is moving national treasuries into Bitcoin, effectively upgrading the nation onto a Bitcoin standard. During a Twitter spaces conversation, Fusitu’a shed light on steps two and three, providing a timeline for when these changes could come into place. Lord Fusitu’a told Cointelegraph:“Let’s say the [legal tender] bill is passed in beginning to mid-October. After this, the bill goes to the palace office for three to four weeks. HM [His Majesty] will either give or not give royal ascent by Mid November.”The bill is then passed back to the government to undergo the “gazette” process. The gazette serves to notify the public of changes. Now, given that prayer week takes place in Tonga in the first week of January, Lord Fusitu’a is confident that by the second week of January 2023 the gazette will be announced. Lord Fusitu’a with Bitcoin ready laser eyes. Source: TwitterFor the legal tender bill coming into force:“Conservatively, the earliest date realistically is the beginning to the middle of February as the activation date. It could be much much earlier if the last three steps are rushed through — which I have seen before.” Lord Fusitu’a concluded that “all things being equal let’s say mid-February.”In terms of the country’s Bitcoin mining operations, the potential is staggering. Tonga has 21 volcanoes (a Bitcoin coincidence) that produce in excess of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power annually. The national grid consumes 40 MW per year, meaning Tonga has “a potential 1960 MW with nothing to do.”However, in order to mine effectively, the government might need to be on board while internet infrastructure must be robust.Tonga is an archipelago of more than 170 islands and 21 volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean. Source: NationsOnlineFortunately, broadband infrastructure will not pose a barrier to expanding internet and mining operations due to a deal made over eight years ago with the international financial institution the World Bank.Lord Fusitu’a’s mother negotiated the World Bank telecommunications deal which has effectively “futureproofed” their bandwidth infrastructure. Lord Fusitu’a’s legal background came in handy during negotiations, as he was able to oversee the deal and henceforth deeply understands the country’s fiber cable infrastructure.Related: Tourism in El Salvador up 30% since Bitcoin adoption, minister saysIn a nutshell, Tonga has “enough bandwidth to expand for the next 100 years.” Plus, as almost every house in Tonga has access to fiber connectivity as the cable is laid “to the door,” home mining is an accessible reality. As such, the 2020s could see Tongan households mining at home using cheap surplus volcanic energy.For the country to reach a level of Bitcoin mining on a national scale, the government must be on its side. Lord Fusitu’a told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin mining could take place “as early as Q3 2023,” and that the government is likely to be onboard. Bitcoin mining rigs in shipping containers. Source: YouTube“The mining operations could be privately operated or in a joint venture with the government. There might be a need for a new state-owned enterprise for it to take off,”  he said.Currently, Bitcoin mining companies who are keen to see the Tongan Bitcoin story play out have gifted Lord Fusitu’a mining rigs in 40-foot shipping containers to test out capacity. The companies remain secret.Nonetheless, the publicly laid plans to drive Bitcoin adoption in Tonga are certainly gaining traction.

Čítaj viac
Sub $30K Bitcoin price sell-off would require panic ‘to a large degree’

Sub $30K Bitcoin price sell-off would require panic ‘to a large degree’

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 24, 2022 |

Order books, essentially the list of orders that a trading outlet implements to show the interest of buyers and sellers, show considerable buyer interest in the $30,000 region on large exchanges Coinbase and Binance.There is 5,000 Bitcoin sat ready to purchase down to a $30,000 price, and another 7,000 BTC down to a $28,000 price on Binance. The sell-off may not be over, but Bitcoin (BTC) buyers can take solace in the knowledge that order books in the $28,500 to $30,000 region are dense. Consequently, the price plunge due to Russia’s military operations may take a breather. Binance order book. Source: ThinkingBitmex TwitterBinance is one of the leading exchanges worldwide, consistently demonstrating the largest spot volume over a 24 hour period, according to Statista. For Coinbase, it’s a similar story with more acute numbers. There is roughly 3,500 Bitcoin ready to buy for prices approaching $30,000, and 4,500 Bitcoin ready to gobble up Bitcoin down to $28,000. Glassnode reported that “futures open interest just reached a 6-month low of $1,780,397,103.63” on the Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange, FTX. Open interest has been trending down across all exchanges for the past few weeks, meaning that fewer traders are “liquidated” and volatile price swings are less likely.BTC open interest on FTX. Source: GlassnodeMetrics on exchanges Bybit and Binance Futures also reveal minimal open interest. In essence, these exchanges won’t be “deleveraging us out” of the current bearish price action and leveraged positions are waning.Related: Trudeau revokes emergencies act powers but the case for crypto growsSo if leveraged positions or “liquidation cascades” won’t drive the price lower, and there is major but interest down to the $30,000 levels, then what would cause a sub $30,000 Bitcoin? Spot selling. There has to be a strong reason for sellers who didn’t sell the last time Bitcoin was sub $33,000 to do so this time. Fear and greed index, Source: TwitterWith the Bitcoin Fear and greed index creeping into the “extreme fear” region once more, and BTC dipping 12% overnight, investors’ conviction will once again be tested. 

Čítaj viac
Total stablecoin supply hits $180 billion: Report

Total stablecoin supply hits $180 billion: Report

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 23, 2022 |

Move aside Bitcoin (BTC), stablecoins are holding the spotlight. Crypto research outlets Arcane Research and CryptoRank confirm that the stablecoin supply has hit the milestone amount of $180 billion. The growth in stablecoins continues to outpace the rest of the market, up 6% in the past 30 days. In times of market volatility, stablecoins can offer price stability, backed by specific assets or algorithms.Source: CryptoRankOver the month of February, three stablecoins entered the top 10 coins by market capitalization as Binance USD (BUSD) briefly entered. According to Arcane Research, the three largest stablecoins, Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and BUSD now account for a total of “9% of the total crypto market cap.”Plus, while volatility reigns proud, the stablecoin supply has grown by $9.5 billion over the past 30 days. Arcane Research stated that while the largest stablecoin, at 44% market share, USDT has stagnated over the course of last year, and USDC is notching it up a gear with “20% growth in 2022.”“If USDC and USDT continue growing at similar rates as so far in 2022, USDC will become the largest stablecoin by market cap at the end of June.”Total stablecoin supply. Source: Arcane ResearchThere was more good news for Tether, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization this morning. An industry bugbear, Tether FUD was a destructive narrative for the crypto industry in 2021, but the USDT trajectory now seems to be on the up.In its latest reserves attestation, the company had reduced its exposure to commercial paper by 21%. Plus, the report stated that Tether’s “consolidated assets exceed its consolidated liabilities.”While most cryptocurrency advocates may wonder what is the importance of stablecoins, their use cases are growing particularly in the developing world. Plus, for investors, stablecoin dominance is an interesting metric, as noted here:Noticed something interesting.Historically when tether dominance reaches 4.5% to 5% it marks a bottom on $BTC.Seems like sentiment reaches peak fear around that level. pic.twitter.com/4RnHOTMEts— Byzantine General (@ByzGeneral) February 21, 2022With the total supply of stablecoins hitting new all-time highs, traders hope that $39,600 does not pose heavy resistance.

Čítaj viac

Získaj BONUS 8 € v Bitcoinoch

nakup bitcoin z karty

Registrácia Binance

Burza Binance

Aktuálne kurzy