Confirmed Bitcoin payments hit yearly low due to holiday illiquidity

The world of decentralized finance (DeFi) is gradually expanding to encompass a significant share of the global financial lending space by virtue of the inherently trustless manner of operation and the ease of accessing capital. As the crypto ecosystem has grown to a $2-trillion industry by market capitalization, new products and offerings have emerged thanks…

Bitcoin price is up today, and a market-wide rally in crypto prices suggests that BTC and Ether (ETH) could be aiming to wrap up the month of October in the black. As of October 26, 2022, most major cryptocurrencies are posting single-digit gains. Bitcoin recorded a 5.15% price increase within the last 24 hours and…

Bitcoin (BTC) took a swing at $23,000 into Jan. 21 as Asia buyers drove fresh market strength.BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewBid liquidity causes suspicionData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD battling bears to reach $22,790 on Bitstamp overnight — its highest since August.With new multi-month peaks coming in quick succession despite…

Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group plans to introduce a digital currency to be used for remittances and payments in March, English-language Asian media Nikkei reports Dec. 26.According to the article, the fees that the retail shops will be required to pay for accepting the currency will be significantly lower than the fees charged for credit card…

26 French companies and five major banks have completed a Know Your Customer (KYC) test based on blockchain, according to a press release by the entrant firm RCI Bank and Services released Dec. 3.RCI Bank and Services, a French automotive financing and insurance firm unveiled details of a customer knowledge-focused blockchain solution trialed in partnership…

In a bid to drive greater financial inclusion, Philippines-based UnionBank has launched a payments-focused stablecoin pegged to the Philippine peso.A report from PhilStar Global on July 26 revealed that the new, bank-backed cryptocurrency —  dubbed PHX — is being implemented on UnionBank’s i2i platform. Rural banks and Philippines’ main financial networkI2i is an acronym for island-to-island,…

A huge sell wall at $20,000 may see a major transfer of wealth from whales to institutions based on current data. Bitcoin (BTC) whales appear to be selling to institutions as the supply squeeze heightens below $20,000.Data from various sources shows that while more BTC returned to exchanges this week, largescale buyers are still creating…

China’s forthcoming digital renminbi is unlikely to use blockchain, considers Ethereum (ETH) co-founder and ConsenSys CEO Joe Lubin.In an interview for CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia on Nov. 6, Lubin argued that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has little to gain — for its purposes — from the decentralized aspects of the technology.“There’s no real…