Crypto

Workers in volatile economies most likely to take pay in crypto: Report

There has been an increase in employee crypto payments for the first half of this year despite the market crash, according to Deel.

Residents in nations with volatile economies are more likely to receive their pay in cryptocurrency, according to global hiring platform Deel.

In its “State of Global Hiring Report” shared with Cointelegraph on Thursday, the firm found that despite the 2022 bear market, crypto represented 5% of all global payments withdrawn from the platform every month, up from 2% in the second half of 2021.

Residents in nations with volatile economic situations and currencies were most likely to make their payments in crypto, according to the report. These included countries in Latin America (LATAM) and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Crypto withdrawals in the LATAM region represented 67% of the total, with EMEA countries at 24%. Those from the North American region represented just 7% of the total for crypto payments. The Asia Pacific region was even lower with just a 2% share of the whole.

In terms of asset type, Bitcoin (BTC) remained the crypto of choice, making up 47% of the total. The second choice of digital asset for payments was Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) with 29%, followed by Ether (ETH) at 14%. Tether (USDT) did not make the list.

Shannon Karaka, head of expansion ANZ of Deel, told Cointelegraph that in general, “we find that people typically only withdraw part of their pay in crypto, which could mean they are still using it as a long-term investment vehicle as well,” before adding:

“From what we’ve seen in the field, getting paid in crypto is most attractive to three main groups of people: those who use the tool to hedge against local currency instability, those working in jurisdictions with dated local banking systems that can slow down payroll and those who are adding some crypto coin to their investment portfolio. The majority of our crypto withdrawals are coming out of LATAM and EMEA, which is likely driven by the first two use cases.”

Deel sourced the data from over 100,000 cross-border worker contracts on the platform between January and July 2022. The firm helps businesses compliantly hire, onboard and pay people in different countries. It noted that LATAM tops the list of regions hiring internationally.

Surging inflation is a concern for many countries in the Latin American region. Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Paraguay all have double-digit inflation, according to Trading Economics.

Diminishing purchasing power using their own fiat currencies is likely to have influenced the increase in crypto payments to regional workers.

Africa can create an inclusive society with blockchain, says LBank CEO

Allen Wei, CEO of crypto exchange LBank, told Cointelegraph that blockchain could contribute to the creation of a robust economy in Africa.

As one of the most populated continents, Africa continues to be an important target for blockchain proponents, as adoption in the region could significantly impact the broader crypto economy.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Allen Wei, CEO of crypto exchange LBank, explained that blockchain could significantly impact Africa. Moreover, Wei highlighted that adoption within the region could have an effect on crypto and underscored the importance of supporting projects throughout the continent.

Blockchain presents an opportunity to solve Africa’s economic problems. The executive emphasized that the technology could create an inclusive society on the continent, explaining:

“With the help of blockchain, Africa can create an inclusive society with a robust economy and the highest standards of living. A larger economic system might be built where more people will be employed and have access to greater wealth than ever before.”

The LBank CEO also highlighted that the region could also have a big impact on the broader crypto ecosystem. Because of the large population in the region, Wei believes that adoption in Africa would make it easier for other regions to accept crypto as well. He said:

“With such a large number of people using cryptocurrency, it will become easier for others around the world to accept it too, which will cause a positive turnaround in the crypto economy.”

Furthermore, Wei also expressed that helping the region means the crypto space will have a wider reach. “If we can help Africa become one of the most crypto-friendly continents on the planet, then we will be able to reach a larger audience than ever before,” he said.

In addition, the LBank executive talked about the importance of funding the growth of local projects. Wei noted that crypto and blockchain projects in Africa often face challenges in terms of funding, despite the region’s potential.

According to Wei, this is one of the reasons LBank’s venture capital arm launched an accelerator program to help local projects on the continent. Wei believes the program can help create more jobs and increase revenue in the region.

Global Bitcoin adoption to hit 10% by 2030: Blockware report

Bitcoin, like the internet and social media, benefits from “network effects,” where more adoption spurs higher value and incentive for additional take-up, says Blockware Intelligence.

The adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) could occur more rapidly than the adoption of past disruptive technologies such as automobiles and electric power, with global take-up likely to hit 10% by 2030 according to a new report.

In its Wednesday report, Blockware Intelligence said it arrived at this forecast by examining historical adoption curves for nine past disruptive technologies including automobiles, electric power, smartphones, the internet and social media, along with the growth rate of Bitcoin adoption since 2009:

“All disruptive technologies follow a similar exponential S-curve pattern, but […] newer network-based technologies continue to be adopted much faster than the market expects.”

Using the average and weighted average of historical technology adoption curves, as well as the growth rate of Bitcoin adoption, the report was then able to arrive at its prediction.

It said that based on a metric called Cumulative Sum of Net Entities Growth and Bitcoin’s predicted “CAGR of 60% we forecast that global Bitcoin adoption will break past 10% in the year 2030.”

Blockware Intelligence is the research arm of Blockware Solutions, a Bitcoin mining and blockchain infrastructure company, so you might expect it to be bullish on adoption.

The intelligence unit said it expects Bitcoin adoption to reach saturation quicker than many other disruptive technologies, given direct monetary incentives to adopt, the current macro-environment and because adoption growth will be accelerated by the internet.

“From a consumer perspective, past technologies had convenience/efficiency-related incentives to adopt them: adopting automobiles allowed you to zoom past the horse and buggy, adopting the cell phone allowed you to make calls without being tied to a landline,” the report explains:

“With Bitcoin direct financially incentivized adoption creates a game theory in which everyone’s best response is to adopt Bitcoin.”

Bitcoin, like the internet, smartphones, and social media, also derives benefits the more people that adopt the technology, which is known as the “network effect.”

“Case in point if you were the only user on Twitter would it be of any value? It would not. More users make these technologies more valuable.”

However, the authors of the Blockware report stressed that the model used to predict the rate of adoption was only conceptual at this stage, adding it is neither meant to be used as investment advice nor a short-term trading tool, and it would continue to be refined:

“The general trend is clear; there is a high probability that Bitcoin’s global adoption will grow significantly into the future and thus so will price.”

The report and model were reviewed by several crypto investors and analysts, including executives from Ark Invest, Arcane Assets, AMDAX Asset Management and M31 Capital.

Cryptocurrency adoption has been growing rapidly over the last few years. In 2021, global crypto ownership rates reached an average of 3.9%, with over 300 million crypto users worldwide, according to data from TripleA, a global cryptocurrency payment gateway.

Blockchain data platform Chainalysis last year revealed that global adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency surged 881% from July 2020 to June 2021. It found Vietnam to have the highest cryptocurrency adoption, leading 154 countries analyzed, followed by India and Pakistan.

In April, a survey conducted by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini found that crypto adoption skyrocketed in 2021 in countries like India, Brazil and Hong Kong, as more than half of respondents from its 20 countries polled stated that they started investing in crypto in 2021.

Over 200K BTC now stored in Bitcoin ETFs and other institutional products

Bitcoin ETPs now have more BTC under control on behalf of clients than ever before.

Bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicles are seeing “gargantuan” inflows this month, which is a fresh sign that traders’ appetite for BTC exposure is mounting.

Data from monitoring firm Arcane Research published this week shows that Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) now have record high BTC under management.

“Happier days” for Bitcoin ETPs as buyers pile in

Despite BTC price action failing to draw in buyers at over 50% below all-time highs, not everyone is feeling risk-off.

According to Arcane’s data, Bitcoin ETPs have seen a flurry of interest from institutional investors both this month and last.

In total, Bitcoin ETPs, which include products such as the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (ETF), now have 205,000 BTC under their control — a new record.

“While the May recovery was strong in ETPs, June has seen even happier days!” Arcane analyst Vetle Lunde told Twitter followers while uploading the numbers on June 2.

“The first two days of June have seen gargantuan net inflows to Purpose, 3iQ Coinshares, and BITO, pushing the global BUM to a new all-time high of 205,008 BTC.”

*Bitcoin ETF investment chart. Source: Vetle Lunde/ Twitter*

In the first few days of June alone, more than 7,000 BTC flowed to ETPs, almost as much as for the entirety of May, which, itself, saw an impressive 9,765 BTC rise.

“Massive $BTC inflows into Bitcoin ETFs in June already,” Zhu Su, cofounder of asset manager Three Arrows Capital, reacted.

Little reprieve for GBTC

The Purpose Bitcoin ETF, the first Bitcoin spot price ETF to launch anywhere in the world, meanwhile had $1.294 billion worth of assets under management as of June 3, data from on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass confirmed.

*Purpose Bitcoin ETF assets under management chart. Source: Coinglass*

Things remained somewhat less rosy for industry stalwart the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), however.

According to Coinglass data, GBTC continues to trade near a record discount to the Bitcoin spot price, currently 28.68% as of June 3.

Previously, Cointelegraph reported on Grayscale’s ongoing battle to convert GBTC to a Bitcoin spot ETF.

*GBTC holdings, discount vs. BTC/USD chart. Source: Coinglass*

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