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Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz Says Bitcoin Price Will Surge If Fed Stops

Mark Brennan
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Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz Says Bitcoin Price Will Surge If Fed Stops

Popular billionaire investor and CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, Mike Novogratz, has made yet another favorable prediction for top asset class Bitcoin (BTC). 

According to the Galaxy Digital boss, the price of Bitcoin will surge tremendously once the United States apex bank, Federal Reserve “takes a pause.” 

Novogratz said he believes the Fed will raise interest rates by up to 50 points, in its bid to reduce inflation rates. 

If this happens, Novogratz said the U.S. economy will slow down, which could prompt the apex bank to step back a little.

“I go to bed and I pray that the stewards of the U.S. economy don’t screw it up […] I pray that the dollar is going to be strong and it doesn’t go to infinity because Bitcoin going to infinity means the rest of the Western world has really fallen apart,” Novogratz said at the Bitcoin 2022 conference, as reported by Bloomberg today. 

Novogratz Optimistic About Bitcoin 

The cryptocurrency billionaire is optimistic that Bitcoin could surpass its all-time high of $69,044 recorded in November 2021 as long as situations in the West are stable. 

Novogratz disclosed that in recent times, Bitcoin has been trading alongside traditional financial instrument Nasdaq 100, adding that the world’s largest cryptocurrency could be in the process of disabusing itself from that union. 

While many people are eager for the day Bitcoin will be used in the purchase of everyday items, Novogratz said he believes the cryptocurrency will be a store of value where he would take some of his wealth and “store it there.” 

Bitcoin has had its ups and downs since the beginning of the year. Despite the unstable price movement of Bitcoin, Novogratz has always stood behind the cryptocurrency. 

Earlier this year, he made a $1 million bet against Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff, saying Bitcoin will trade above $35,000 by the end of the year. 

Cardano’s Input Output Global (IOG) Launches Incubator Scheme to Support New African Projects

Lele Jima
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Cardano’s Input Output Global (IOG) Launches Incubator Scheme to Support New African Projects

Cardano’s Input-Output Global (IOG) Launches Incubator Scheme to Support New African Projects.



Input-Output Global (IOG), the company that oversees the popular blockchain project Cardano, has announced the launch of an incubator scheme to support new businesses in Africa. 

 

Features of the New Initiative 

The scheme, dubbed Ariob, was launched in collaboration with iceaddis, a pan-African business incubator. According to an official announcement today, Ariob is developed to foster the growth of businesses that are funded by Cardano’s innovation engine Project Catalyst. 

Under this partnership, Ariob will grant high potential startups access to unlimited resources and venture-building expertise that will enable these business owners to develop useful products that solve real-life challenges in different parts of the world, especially Africa. 

Markos Lemma, co-founder and chief executive at iceaddis, said Cardano is poised to create efficient solutions to most real-life challenges in Africa. 

“Together, we want to demonstrate that the next big ideas are emerging from African countries, and we are ready to invest our resources to make that happen,” Lemma added. 

Some of the projects that will be joining the Ariob incubator include DirectED, Thrift Finance, Hippocrades, and WADA, among others. 

Reason for Ariob Deployment in Africa 

Notably, IOG chose to launch the service in Africa because of the growing interest among the many people in the continent that has led to the widespread adoption of nascent technologies like blockchain. 

With little to no allegiance to legacy systems, the IOG noted that it will be easier for technological advances to occur in Africa. 

Important projects offering financial services, national identity frameworks, and academic research, have the capability to transform Africa, 

Per the announcement, most of these projects that will benefit from Ariob will focus on these areas. 

Cardano’s Focus in Africa

It is worth noting that this is not the first significant effort conducted by the IOG in Africa that is aimed at contributing to the development of the continent. 

Last year, the organization embarked on a partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, in order to enable five million students in the country to verify their academic credentials via the Atala PRISM technology. 

The development comes less than a month after Charles Hoskinson, CEO and founder of Cardano, disclosed that the blockchain project will be launching a peer-to-peer lending network in Africa later this year. 

‘American Bank’ Partners Bakkt to Bring Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading to Customers

Albert Brown
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‘American Bank’ Partners Bakkt to Bring Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading to Customers

American Bank now offers Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading.



One of America’s top banks, American Bank has partnered with Bakkt, a leading crypto trading platform to bring crypto trading to its customers. The partnership will give the bank’s customers the ability to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin and Ethereum, the top two cryptocurrencies.

The bank will use Bakkt’s crypto connect solution, a service expected to launch in Q2 2022 to make this possible as the interest in crypto is experiencing a steady rise. 

“Consumer saving and investing habits ebb and flow constantly, but more than ever we’re seeing consumer intrigue and interest in cryptocurrency grow, we’re excited American Bank is partnering with Bakkt to provide customers a simple on-ramp to cryptocurrency within their trusted bank relationship. American Bank shares our view that banks have a short window measured in months or quarters to execute on their crypto strategies or risk being left behind” said Sheela Zemlin, Chief Revenue Officer, Bakkt.

Mark Jaindl, President and CEO at American Bank said:

“As one of the pioneers in online banking innovation and, as the longest operating ‘online bank’ in the country, we are always looking for ways to enhance our customers’ banking experience, Bakkt’s robust capabilities create an entry point for us to drive engagement with our customers and seamlessly integrate cryptocurrency into our existing digital banking platform. We’re proud to say that we’ll be the first bank headquartered in the Lehigh Valley to offer access to crypto trading.”

Customers like to access crypto from their existing bank

There is a general interest in cryptocurrencies recently and research has shown that customers like to access digital assets from their existing banks. According to Zemlin, this is why American Bank is very excited to offer its customers this option to trade the top two cryptocurrencies by market cap. 

Notably, the bank has historically worked towards providing its customers spread over 50 states with the best crypto exposures. Bakkt’s platform which includes educational materials is considered the best option for achieving this goal and will be giving its customers crypto access at the minimum possible cost.

Bakkt leading the way in crypto adoption

Bakkt is a digital asset platform that has grown to be a credible force in the crypto space. By adding value to all stakeholders in its payments and digital asset ecosystem, the company has been championing the push for wider adoption of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin.

It is the credibility of the company that is attracting mainstream financial institutions like American Bank to it. More such banks may be coming on board soon or are likely to get left behind in the crypto revolution.

Bridge Network raises $3.8M to build better cross-chain experiences with backing from FTX Ventures

Mark Brennan
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Bridge Network raises $3.8M to build better cross-chain experiences with backing from FTX Ventures

Bridgetown, Barbados, 6th April, 2022, Bridge Network, a cross-chain communication protocol, has closed its $3.8M funding round with backing from FTX Ventures, MEXC Global, Master Ventures, Blockfinex, Croc Capital, and others.

The protocol has been in development for over a year and has plans to revolutionize the way users transact in the multichain world with a key focus on user experience, security, and scalability. The cross-chain super-dapp provides all the tools a user might need to easily transact cross-chain without the need to switch between platforms. Token bridging, NFT bridging, cross-chain swaps & more can all be done via the Bridge Network platform. The project is incubated by TDeFi with a range of strategic partners, investors, and advisors.

Co-founder of Bridge Network, Kimberly Adams says, “The cross-chain space is still relatively new which means we have a long way left to go; from better security design to more optimized user experiences. Bridge Network intends to introduce a more comprehensive, secure, and friendly experience for both the end-user and as well as token issuers looking to go multichain. The elephant in the room is, of course, security. Most of the recent hacks were due to failure to follow basic security practices as existing cross-chain protocols compromised security for meeting market demand. I’m pleased to say Bridge Network is one of the first bridges to implement a double validation system along with the other standard security measures while working with security partners to be proactive on this front. On the user experience side, we have consolidated one of the largest databases of cross-chain user feedback. Over 283,000 qualitative data points came through our testnet which allowed our designers to build a cross-chain experience backed by research. We’ve only scratched the surface on what we have in store and I’m excited to push the boundaries of cross-chain innovation with our incredible team and partners.”

Bridge Network is amongst one of the first bridging infrastructures that enables any token issuers to go multichain. In layman’s terms, this means if an existing project launched their token or NFT on a blockchain like Ethereum, but would prefer to make it available on avalanche, the token issuer can permissionless add their token to the Bridge Network platform in under 1 minute for users to start bridging.  Favour Uzoaru, Co-founder of Bridge Network noted, “ While this is simple in context, the ability for tokens to easily go multichain solves the builders’ dilemma. Builders can continue to develop their project on whichever blockchain they see fit while having their assets lay on any blockchain that their user demands. I’m especially excited to see this in the game-fi space as games may opt to build on their own blockchains while users leverage the in-game assets out of its ecosystem to be more productive on other blockchains.”

Bridge Network’s token launch is right around the corner with its mainnet intended to launch in early Q2 2022 supporting EVM blockchains and later non-EVM chains.
To find out more, Contacts, Director, Kimberly Adams, ka@bridgenetwork.com, +12462411789

11 BAYC or MAYC NFTs Worth Above $1.66M Stolen In 9 days

Mark Brennan
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11 BAYC or MAYC NFTs Worth Above $1.66M Stolen In 9 days

NFTs Worth Over $1.6 Million Stolen in the Past 9 Days – PeckShield Report.



Blockchain security firm PeckShield has reported an attack that led to the theft of NFTs worth $1.66 million in the last nine days. The stolen NFTs include BAYC and MAYC, one of which is Jay Chou’s BAYC #3738.

 

A total of 11 NFTs have been stolen due to the attack, which was carried out by a number of phishing sites, including zombieclub. mintin[.]info and apecoin[.] give. 

The ay Chou’s BAYC #3738 stolen alongside many other tokens was reportedly sold for 164 ETH ($570,000) on NFT marketplace LooksRare.

It is also said to have been traded severally since the attack last Friday and the last seller gained about 50% above the BAYC floor price.

During the attack which led to the theft of a mutant Ape NFT, the official BAYC Discord was also hacked, but there is no evidence that the two events are connected.

Series of attacks 

There have been several attacks in the last nine days that led to the loss of several NFTs. The loss of 11 NFTs is not the only hack that has happened during this time, though. According to PeckShield, a previous hack on Inverse Finance resulted from manipulating the price oracle by a bug. This allowed the INV (highly manipulated price) to be used as collateral, allowing the attackers to drain assets from Inverse Finance.

Hundreds of NFTs have been stolen in similar ways in the recent past. The most notable of such attacks is the one on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in the world. At the time, PeckShield traced the attack to a phishing email sent by the OpenSea team as the source of the attack. 

Need to boost security

The incessant attacks on NFTs are not unusual, as the crypto space suffered similar attacks at the initial stage. However, it has evolved and is now more fortified against indiscriminate attacks. The NFT ecosystem may have to evolve in terms of security to stem the tide of attacks, which will take a while. 

However, it is crucial if investors’ confidence in the ecosystem is retained. Many institutions have entered the ecosystem in recent times, and they must stay in it if there will be any meaningful growth in the near future.

Ripple (XRP) Partner With Invert to Develop Carbon Credit Solutions

Mark Brennan
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Ripple (XRP) Partner With Invert to Develop Carbon Credit Solutions

Ripple and Invert join forces to make the global climate more friendly. 



Invert Inc, an emissions and carbon offsetting company, has announced that it has partnered with Ripple to source and invest in carbon credit generation initiatives in order to enable the duo to venture into early investments in these projects.   

According to a press release, the initiative is part of efforts by the companies to support carbon reduction projects that help reduce adverse effects on the global climate. 

Mark Zekulin, Chairman of Invert, expressed his excitement about the company’s partnership with Ripple, as it would help build a stronger relationship between the parties in years to come, adding: 

“The more collaboration we can bring to investing in projects that will remove or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the more rapidly we create solutions to fight climate change.” 

Partners’ Role in Reducing Carbon Emissions

Notably, Ripple and Invert will accelerate and vet capital deployment to develop a wider portfolio of credit generation projects. 

This is not the first time both Ripple and Invert will be embarking on initiatives to reduce carbon emissions in the global climate. 

Before today’s announcement, Invert had invested in projects that resulted in the creation of quality and meaningful carbon credit. 

Some of Invert’s past efforts in carbon reduction include planting trees and developing machines that remove CO2 from the air, thus combating climate change early. 

Ripple Embarking on Positive Climate Efforts

On the other hand, Ripple is one of the frontiers spearheading efforts to promote positive climate work in the crypto and blockchain industry. 

Ripple is focused on becoming carbon net-zero by 2030 through emissions reduction, clean energy purchases, and investments in carbon removal projects. 

Commenting on the development, Ken Weer, Vice President of Ripple Impact, said: 

“Ripple is committed to bringing industry stakeholders together to contribute ideas, technical innovations, policy ideas, and new financing for innovations to help meet global climate goals.” 

Ripple is one of the leading blockchain companies that focuses on reducing the negative implications of crypto activities on the global climate. 

As reported by RippleX General Manager, the company’s annual energy consumption is equivalent to what 50 U.S. households use annually, a feat that makes the blockchain attractive to developers. 

Similarly, Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen pledged $5 million to support a global campaign across various media outlets that will help convince developers on the Bitcoin network to change its code from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. 

Fast Falling Bitcoin Exchange Reserves: Last Time Bitcoin Supply On Exchanges Was That Low, BTC Was At $7,200

Albert Brown
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Fast Falling Bitcoin Exchange Reserves: Last Time Bitcoin Supply On Exchanges Was That Low, BTC Was At $7,200

Bitcoin Exchange reserves are falling very fast.



There has been a massive outflow of BTC from exchanges to unknown wallets. This has brought the BTC balances on exchanges to the lowest in a long time. The last time such levels were recorded was over 3.5 years ago, meaning there is a strong positivity around the asset.

Data shows that the Last Time Bitcoin Supply On Exchanges Was That Low, BTC Was At $7,200.

Yellow block also confirms that Bitcoin supply on exchanges is diminishing and creating lower lows.

What this means for Bitcoin

It is usually good for retail or institutional investors to accumulate Bitcoin, eventually leading to price gains. This is the likely outcome as investor confidence continues to build up,  and the drop in the asset’s price since January may soon be over if this bullish trend is sustained. The Mid-halving event is coming in a few days, and it will be interesting to see how things play out for the most prominent cryptocurrency.

Falling BTC exchange reserves also limit the possibility of a sharp BTC fall. This is usually a very positive sign where investors trust the asset and try to keep it for the long term away from exchanges.

The fact can be seen by the strong buying of BTC from Microstrategy and Terra LLG. Today Terra Foundation (LFG) added another 3,964 BTC to its reserve. The foundation recently transferred 231.4 million USDT to Binance to buy more Bitcoins and now has well over 35,000 BTC in its reserve.

Yesterday MicroStrategy purchased 4,167 BTC for $190.5m at an average price of $45,714. MicroStrategy holds 129,218 BTC acquired for $3.97b at an average price of $30,700. Previously, MicroStrategy, a subsidiary of MicroStrategy, announced a $205m bitcoin-backed loan with Silvergate Bank.

Top Bitcoin Analysts, Willy Woo Says: “”We Are In A Bull Market, Many Don’t know This Yet”

Albert Brown
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Top Bitcoin Analysts, Willy Woo Says: “”We Are In A Bull Market, Many Don’t know This Yet”

Rising Bitcoin (BTC) Demand Suggests the Market Is Currently in Bull Season.



Since the beginning of the year, there has been a widespread accumulation of the world’s largest cryptocurrency market capitalization, Bitcoin (BTC), as many traders prepare themselves for a bull market. 

Top Bitcoin trader and Analysts Willy woo says that: “Heatmap of Bitcoininvestor demand. Uses algorithmic signal processing of on-chain data provided by @glassnode. We are in a bull market, many don’t know this yet.”

 

While many are still anticipating a bull market, little did they know that the bull market is upon us given the positive events that have continued to be reported in the general cryptocurrency market? 

Investors’ Confidence Surge

Demand for the top asset class has spiraled over the past month, with investors showing confidence in Bitcoin. 

Recall that the price of Bitcoin tumbled below $33,000 in February after Russia declared a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, causing panic in the market, with the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index falling below 25, indicating extreme fear. 

However, investors’ confidence in Bitcoin has skyrocketed over the past week after rising to a high of 55, which suggests Greed in the behavior of traders. 

At the time of writing, the index has dipped slightly to a neutral level of 48. Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin has surged tremendously from what was recorded during the peak of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Bitcoin, which traded below $40,000 for most parts of last month, is sitting comfortably above the $40,000 price level. 

Bitcoin is up 19.6% in the past month, with its price rising to nearly $48,000 last week before shedding a few thousand dollars. BTC is currently trading at $45,241 across major exchanges, according to data on Coingecko. 

Growing Demand for Bitcoin 

With several developments suggesting that the market is currently in bull season, investors’ appetite for Bitcoin has increased. 

According to data from popular cryptocurrency on-chain metric data provider Glassnode, the number of addresses holding at least one BTC has hit an all-time high (ATH) of 833,242. 

The number of addresses has continued to grow since the beginning of February 2022, following the fall in Bitcoin prices. 

 

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy resumed its Bitcoin accumulation spree this week by adding another 4,167 BTC bringing its total Bitcoin holding to 129,218 bitcoin worth $5.84 billion. 

In addition, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), a nonprofit organization in charge of the Terra blockchain declared last month that it will be buying Bitcoin worth $10 billion as a reserve for its stablecoin. 

So far, the company has purchased $1.4 billion worth of BTC and is still committed to raising more funds to reach the $10 billion target. 

Terra Foundation LFG Transfer 231.4M USDT To Binance To Buy Additional 3,964 Bitcoins, LFG Now Hold 34,691 BTC

Mark Brennan
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Terra Foundation LFG Transfer 231.4M USDT To Binance To Buy Additional 3,964 Bitcoins, LFG Now Hold 34,691 BTC

Terra Foundation Adds 3,964 BTC as it Aims to Reach a $3 billion Bitcoin reserve.



In a recent purchase, Terra Foundation (LFG) has added another 3,964 BTC to its reserve. The foundation recently transferred 231.4 million USDT to Binance to buy more Bitcoins and now has well over 34,000 BTC in its reserve.

 

The foundation currently has one of the biggest Bitcoin reserves in the world and the recent addition places it in the 22nd largest position. Though it has been aggressively buying the digital asset, the foundation hasn’t added any BTC to its reserve in about a week until now. 

Terra targets a $3 billion BTC reserve to support UST

Terra is arguably one of the most ambitious BTC accumulators currently. Having accumulated 34,962 BTC worth over $1.5 billion at the current exchange rate, the project is more than halfway to achieving its goal of hitting a $3 billion BTC reserve. 

The project started buying Bitcoin in early January 2022 for the purpose of backing its stablecoin, UST. According to the founder of Terra blockchain Do Kwon, this will give the stablecoin the ability to keep its dollar peg. 

“We are particularly interested in Bitcoin because we believe that it is the strongest digital reserve asset. UST is going to be the first internet native currency that implements the Bitcoin standard as part of its monetary policy,” Kwon said.

While $3 billion has been allocated for this, Terra’s ultimate target is to hit $10 billion in Bitcoin reserves which will make it one of the richest corporate Bitcoin investors in the world. 

Terra (LUNA) rising fast

The native token on Terra, LUNA has seen significant growth between late 2021 and 2022. The asset rose through the top ten to become the 6th largest by market cap currently in a short time. According to the project’s design, the price of LUNA will continue to rise with the use of the stablecoin UST, which explains the aggressive investment in the stability of the stablecoin. 

TOP BTC Holders

1. MicroStrategy – 129,218 BTC

2. Tesla – 43,200 BTC

3. Terra – 34,691 BTC

4. Marathon Digital – 8,133 BTC

5. Square – 8,027 BTC

Bigger Entertainment Founder Finally Disclosed Why His Company Stopped Shiba Inu Burn Campaigns

Lele Jima
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Bigger Entertainment Founder Finally Disclosed Why His Company Stopped Shiba Inu Burn Campaigns

Bigger Entertainment Founder Finally Disclosed Why He Stopped Shiba Inu Burn Campaigns.



The Shiba Inu community was heartbroken after Bigger Entertainment announced on April 1, 2022, that it will no longer be burning SHIB, without dropping further details. 

Since the company made the announcement, many SHIB enthusiasts are curious to know what led to the sad development. 

Cooper’s Reasons for Stopping SHIB Burn Parties

According to an International Business Times (IB Times) report, Steven Cooper, the owner of Bigger Entertainment, spearheaded many Shiba Inu burn campaigns, revealing why he and his firm decided to abandon the SHIB burn party. 

Speaking in a private DM shared with IB Times, Cooper noted that he chose to discontinue the SHIB burn party due to a lack of transparency from the Shiba Inu development team. 

According to Cooper, he received an invite to a Discord group by Shiba Inu and the Italian-based Welly’s fast-food chain team, to produce in-store playlists for the Naples-based restaurant. 

However, during the Discord call, Cooper noted that the attendees, including people from Welly’s and Shiba Inu, used avatars and pseudonymous names, suggesting that they were hiding their identities. 

Cooper noted that the call did not go down well with him as he was met with a lot of animosity, and some of the attendees from the Shiba Inu team accused Bigger Entertainment of being petty with the cryptocurrency and always sharing too much information with the public. 

The tone of the so-called Shiba Inu developers, according to Cooper, sounded like people within the age range of their 20s. 

The Bigger Entertainment boss also noted that the Shiba Inu and Welly’s team also disclosed the amount of $BONE, the native cryptocurrency of decentralized exchange ShibaSwap, that was sold on the trading platform. 

Bigger Entertainment’s “BIG” Decision

Following false accusations, lack of transparency, and the information shared, Cooper and his team decided it was time to disassociate themselves from the SHIB burn campaigns. 

“Between the information shared, the tone of the conversation, being cursed out, and having no regard for community burn efforts, we decided it was best to dissociate completely,” Cooper added. 

Numerous SHIB Burn Campaigns

Cooper has been at the forefront of the Shiba Inu burning program, as the company has always indicated an interest in reducing SHIB’s total supply from one quadrillion, in order to boost the token’s value to $0.01. 

The company, which started by raising funds via its streaming website, advanced to selling different merchandise like clothes and hoodies. 

A portion of the profit generated is used to buy Shiba Inu coins, which are usually sent to an inferno wallet. So far, the Shiba Inu community has burned a total of 410,309,765,509,065 SHIB. 

SHIB Price Stagnant

Despite the numerous burn programs, the price of Shiba Inu has not rallied beyond expectations as many SHIB enthusiasts are offloading their holdings of the cryptocurrency due to their inability to purchase land in the Shiba Inu metaverse project.  

At press time, Shiba Inu is trading around $0.00002635, down 3.5% in the last seven days. 

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