Bitcoin
Use cases for Blockchain gain momentum with simpler UX
End users of technologies don’t want to think – they just want to use. And out-of-the-box usability is particularly essential when it comes to next-generation innovations disrupting payments and commerce.
This, however, can sometimes be at odds with the mindset of creators of innovative technologies, who spend much of their time devising new efficiencies or coding new and complex capabilities, and less time thinking about usability from the perspective of audiences who have a small slice of their technical knowledge.
Take, for example, the crypto sector and its access keys, blockchains and the history of the insider-only techno language. Terms like “hashing”, “public/private keys”, “digital signatures” and “zero-knowledge proofs” are complex and unintuitive to most users, while words like “nodes”, “miners”, “consensus algorithms ” and “smart contracts” can be confusing without technical background.
That’s why, with the recent news that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has introduced new customer service guidelines for cryptocurrency companies, observers are interpreting this as a sign of market maturation. A maturation of the market that focuses on removing the technical jargon and complexities that make cryptocurrencies difficult for the average person to understand and use.
This is because for cryptocurrencies to grow and gain wider adoption in payments, it is crucial to focus on ease of use in specific use cases, rather than just technology and engineering capabilities. After all, traditional payment systems like credit cards and digital wallets are already easy to use and are built on established, nearly invisible transaction behaviors. To compete or scale, cryptocurrencies need to match or exceed the ease of use of these established systems.
And new market moves from traditional financial services players, including MasterCard It is PayPalshow the emergence of a new focus on simplifying the most complex aspects of cryptography, creating more intuitive and user-friendly experiences essential for wider adoption.
Read more: Can Blockchain Solve the Puzzle of Cross-Border Payments?
Growing adoption of digital assets by traditional payment companies
Last Wednesday (May 29th), it was announced that PayPal’s stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), was being made available on Solana blockchain in a move designed to make stablecoin faster and cheaper to use by giving users the choice of multiple blockchains for greater flexibility and control.
Solana’s current transaction processing rate of 1,423 transactions per second (tps) was reportedly a key factor in the decision, as retail applications require the ability to sustain at least 1,000 tps. In comparison, other popular blockchains like Ethereum only process 12 to 15 tps.
And financial institution based in Singapore Triple A also announced was adding from PayPal Stablecoin PYUSD to your payment services. According to a company statement, Triple-A intends to more than double its payment volume by the end of 2024, with the help of PYUSD integration.
Mastercard also last Wednesday introduced a cryptographic credential that allows cryptocurrency holders to carry out transactions without using long and complex blockchain addresses.
One day earlier, Tuesday (May 28), infrastructure company Web3 LuaPay launched Web3 Tools, a platform to “build ready for mainstream digital experiences.” MoonPay said several high-profile brands have already used the platform, including MasterCard, Gucci, Puma It is adidas.
After all, conventional features and conveniences like settlement speed, cost, and focus on user experience are exactly what will be needed to increase adoption of digital assets and enable crypto make deeper inroads in the world of traditional finance.
See more information: Solana Foundation bets everything on Blockchain as a conventional means of payment
Moving from usability to use cases
Focusing on ease of use is vital to the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies. While technological advancements and engineering capabilities are important, they must be combined with user-friendly designs and interfaces to attract and retain users, integrate seamlessly with existing systems, and compete effectively with traditional payment methods.
“It’s important to know that crypto isn’t just about bitcoin, Doge and NFTs,” Sheraz Sherehead of payments Solana Foundation, said PYMNTS. “… Blockchains are really alternative rails for payments and financial assets… One problem is that the technology it was not easy to use, everything was designed by engineers… to be very technology-centric and not use-case or UX-centric.”
Ultimately, simplifying the user experience leads to higher adoption rates, greater trust, and a more inclusive financial ecosystem – but all of this means that crypto usability is not targeted at a true use case with real-world impact.
And one of the most attractive opportunities for crypto to showcase its usability is in international payments.
PYMNTS Intelligence found that when it comes to cross-border payments, blockchain solutions could offer advantages compared to traditional systems. This is because blockchain’s high throughput, low fees, and 24-hour availability can remove much of the friction of international transactions, making each one as easy as sending a Venmo payment.
Still, one area that needs work to increase usability will be building tools within crypto to help regulators and payment operations staff operate better. After all, in the world of traditional money movement, things tend to work well – or at least relatively well – due to extensive anti-fraud tools and other compliance needs. Similar tools may need to be developed and deployed on the blockchain.
According to PYMNTS Intelligence, 52% of traditional financial firms considering blockchain and crypto adoption said unclear regulation was his main concern.
But progress and inroads are being made. “The big banks and financial institutions are much more interested today than they certainly were five or six years ago when launched some products for the first time,” Brooks EntwistleSenior Vice President of Global Customer Success and Managing Director of Curling, told PYMNTS last fall. “You certainly almost never saw the boardroom when you brought up the topic of blockchain and especially cryptography in the early days.”
See more at: Blockchain, cryptocurrency, digital consents, MasterCard, Lunar payment, New York State Department of Financial Services, News, PayPal, PYMNTS News, Solana, stable coins, Technology, Triple A, Web3
Bitcoin
RIOT, MARA and CLSK shares at risk
Bitcoin (BTC) Mining stocks like Riot Platforms (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) retreated in pre-market trading as BTC retreated.
RIOT, MARA and CLSK all fell more than 2%, while other crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) fell 1.5%.
Bitcoin sell-off continues
Crypto-linked stocks retreated as Bitcoin resumed its downtrend on Wednesday. After rising to $63,750 on Monday, BTC is hovering at $60,0000 and it is unclear whether it will recover.
More importantly, Bitcoin is dangerously close to the crucial support at $58,273, which is the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The next support level for Bitcoin is $56,426, representing its lowest level in May.
Bitcoin Price Chart
If Bitcoin drops below this price, it will be a sign that the bears have prevailed, which could take it to the $50,000 level, if not below.
This decline happened after a whale deposited nearly 2,000 Bitcoins to Binance in two separate transactions. While this isn’t always the case, deposits to exchanges often happen when holders are exiting their positions.
The whales’ action coincided with a period in which the German government continues to sell off its Bitcoin holdings. It transferred $52 million worth of coins to exchanges on Tuesday.
As a result, data from CoinGlass shows that the volume of Bitcoin balances on exchanges has started to increase. The volume rose to 2.49 million on Tuesday, from last month’s low of 2.47 million.
Bitcoin balances on exchanges
Bitcoin Mining Companies at Risk
If the Bitcoin sell-off continues, it will put Bitcoin mining companies like Marathon, CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms at risk. These companies have tended to have a close correlation with Bitcoin in the past.
This drop is happening a few months after the halving event, reducing the amount of Bitcoins that miners receive.
To compensate for this drop, most of these companies have added their mining equipment. CleanSpark has reached a hash rate of 20 EH/swhich helped her mine 445 coins in June after mining 417 coins the previous month. She did this after purchasing 5 mining sites in Georgia.
Digital Marathon mined 590 coins in June, down 40% from the same month in 2023 and flat from May.
Riot Platforms, on the other hand, focused on acquiring Bitfarms, a company that mined 189 coins in June.
Bitcoin
Michael Saylor Issues Statement on Bitcoin Amid Crypto Market Sell-Off by U.Today
U.Today – Amid an ongoing sell-off in the cryptocurrency market, Michael Saylor, a prominent advocate and president of MicroStrategy, made a statement on X (Twitter) that reverberated across the crypto space: “Just Bitcoin.”
This two-word tweet comes as the cryptocurrency market faces significant sell-offs as the price of Bitcoin plummets.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, began its decline in Tuesday’s trading session, hitting $63,223 at one point before falling further.
Losses deepened on Wednesday as investors considered remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, with Bitcoin hitting intraday lows of $59,509. At the time of writing, BTC is down 2.85% over the past 24 hours to $60,274.
According to data from CoinGlass, the sell-off has resulted in a significant amount of cryptocurrencies being liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling over $166 million. However, this has not deterred Saylor’s confidence in Bitcoin, as he reiterates his longing for the crypto asset in his tweet.
Cryptocurrency market crashes
Cryptocurrencies fell on Tuesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank needs to see more progress on inflation before cutting interest rates, which are now at 5.25%-5.50%. Powell revealed at a monetary symposium in Sintra, Portugal, that the United States is moving closer to a disinflationary path.
“We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably downward toward 2% before we begin the process of tapering or easing policy,” Powell said.
Market losses deepened after Wednesday’s economic releases that indicated the labor market is cooling. Recent data showed weaker-than-expected private payroll growth in June, but weekly jobless claims were higher than economists had forecast. The latest figures come ahead of the highly anticipated June nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.
As the cryptocurrency market goes through a period of uncertainty, the coming days and weeks will be crucial in determining the direction of BTC’s price.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin and Ethereum in GTA 6? Still rumors — for now
Rumors that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 will use cryptocurrency that has been circulating for more than a year now—and they’re spinning again.
On Wednesday, a pseudonymous Crypto Twitter influencer named Gordon — apparently named after Gordon Gekko from the iconic 1987 film “Wall Street” —shared to his nearly 500,000 followers that “GTA 6 will allow cryptocurrency payments” and that “so far only Bitcoin, EthereumIt is USDT [are] confirmed.”
But in reality, no cryptocurrency has been confirmed for Grand Theft Auto 6, despite ongoing chatter about the rumors. Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two have made no such announcements this week on the subject, nor have they made any prior announcements, and official trailers and announcements have made no mention of cryptocurrency being included.
However, the tweet — which also included a fake trailer for the game — quickly went viral, with over 500,000 views as of this writing in a matter of hours. When Twitter users asked Gordon for his sources, he would jokingly respond that his “uncle works there” or say that previous reports on the matter were “old” at this point.
But really, nothing has changed since then. DecipherGG’s reported in previous rumors in May 2023, not even since the first official trailer — which initially leaked with “BUY BTC” stamped on itApparently by the leaker in question—premiered last December.
DecipherGG reached out to Rockstar Games for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Could Grand Theft Auto 6 implement a crypto element when it releases in 2025? It’s certainly possible, and if so, it would be a transformative moment for cryptocurrency adoption by the traditional gaming industry.
Take-Two Interactive has explored the space before, acquiring casual gaming giant Zynga in early 2022, when Take-Two founder and CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested there were “Web3 opportunities” that they could explore better as a team. Zynga has launched its first blockchain game on Ethereum, called Sugartownbut Take-Two has yet to get involved with other brands.
Rockstar Games, on the other hand, prohibited the use of cryptocurrency or NFTs on player-run Grand Theft Auto 5 servers in late 2022, following a rise in the use of NFTs to represent unique player-owned assets on modded game servers.
And given Grand Theft Auto’s satirical tone, the game may be more likely to criticize cryptocurrency and poke fun at caricatures of crypto fans and NFTs, for example, rather than trying to launch its own on-chain currency. But that’s all speculation at this point, as there are relatively few official details about GTA 6.
For now, at least, don’t believe the hype. While Rockstar Games hasn’t officially closed the door on cryptocurrency usage in Grand Theft Auto 6, it hasn’t confirmed anything about it either. However, it’s sure to remain a hot topic in the long run leading up to release, which is currently scheduled for fall 2025.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Bitcoin
Crypto President Trump’s ‘Lesser’ Regulation Will Bless Coinbase’s Bitcoin Leverage, Expert Says – Coinbase Glb (NASDAQ:COIN)
Chris SenyekChief Investment Strategist at Wolfe Researchrecently expressed his opinion on the potential impact of a Donald Trump win the 2024 elections in the cryptocurrency market.
What happened: Senyek suggested that a Trump presidency could ease cryptocurrency regulations, benefiting companies like Coinbase Global Inc. COIN due to its importance Bitcoin BTC/USD Leverage.
“Trump would be less harsh on crypto regulation, and Coinbase would be a big beneficiary of that given its influence on bitcoin,” Senyek said during CNBC’s “Last Call” on Tuesday.
See too: Enhance Your Retirement Portfolio: The Benefits of Adding Cryptocurrency
Why does this matter?:Senyek’s comments come in the context of the former president Donald Trump‘s reported plans to participate at the Bitcoin 2024 convention, which could reinforce his image as a “Crypto President”.
Trump’s potential participation in the Bitcoin 2024 convention, a major event on the cryptocurrency calendar, could have significant implications for the industry.
Pratik KalaHead of Research in DigitalX Limitedhe has predicted a Trump victory in the upcoming elections, but warns that immediate cryptocurrency-friendly regulations may not be a priority.
A recent report by 10x Search explore the recent rise in Bitcoin price and its potential connection to Trump’s strong position in the 2024 election race. The report, titled “Is the Bitcoin Trump Pump Sustainable?”, highlights a 4% spike in Bitcoin’s price following the news that the president Joe Biden will remain in the race despite a poor performance in the presidential debate.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading 2.10% lower at $60,860.66, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read next:
Image created using photos from Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
News and market data brought to you by Benzinga’s APIs
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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