Interview

Bitcoin ETFs, user experience will drive adoption — eToro CEO

Yoni Assia told Cointelegraph that products like Bitcoin ETFs align with institutions’ existing modes of operation, making it easier for them to enter the market.

While grassroots cryptocurrency adoption went stale after last year’s implosions in the industry, trading platform eToro’s chief executive believes that the appeal of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for institutions and ease of investing through various platforms for non-professionals could further drive Bitcoin (BTC) adoption.

EToro CEO Yoni Assia told Cointelegraph at the recent Abu Dhabi Finance Week that institutions typically have rigid systems and prefer not to build new infrastructure for each asset class.

“[Bitcoin] ETFs could be a significant driver of adoption [because] institutions work in a very rigid way. […] They’re looking for the same infrastructure, and ETF, in many cases, is that infrastructure to enable institutional demand to those who don’t want to self-custody.”

Assia added that the availability of a Bitcoin ETF would likely bolster Bitcoin’s legitimacy in the eyes of institutional investors and, in turn, could support the asset’s price, as it represents a familiar and institutionalized form of investment.

Assia (left) with Cointelegraph Arabic reporter Hermi De Ramos. Source: Cointelegraph

Bitcoin surpassed $35,000 in October, a price not seen since May 2021, partly due to excitement around spot ETF approvals.

Related: Bitcoin ETF will drive 165% BTC price gain in 2024 — Standard Chartered

Meanwhile, according to Assia, the ease of investing in Bitcoin through user-friendly platforms and its integrations into diverse investment portfolios are crucial to onboarding more retail users into the market.

Read more

US regulators doing ‘good job of alienating’ crypto sector — Cardano founder

Charles Hoskinson took a jab at the perceived inconsistency in applying decentralization standards by the U.S. SEC.

The United States’ approach to cryptocurrencies could do more harm than good, and it risks losing major players by the time they “get their act together,” Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has said.

“When you look at some of the U.S.

Charles Hoskinson speaks with Cointelegraph Arabic journalist Hermi De Ramos at the Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Source: Cointelegraph

He took a jab at the perceived inconsistency in applying decentralization standards by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, stressing that Cardano did not conduct an initial coin offering (ICO) and saying ADA (ADA) vouchers were sold in Japanese territory with no U.S.

“I guess, apparently, that’s under U.S.

Hoskinson also pointed out that Ethereum, which he said conducted an ICO for its Ether (ETH) token without implementing mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks, and Bitcoin (BTC) were labeled non-securities for “some reason.” He said:

“There are a lot of facts and circumstances that are insanely ambiguous, and it seems like it’s just the monster of the week. And if they can’t have success with a layer 1, like Ripple, then they go hit the exchanges… That’s not really a well-formed policy.”

On Nov. 20, the SEC filed a complaint in a federal court, alleging that crypto exchange Kraken commingled customer funds and failed to register with the regulator.

Hoskinson contends that the registration process with the SEC is vague, as “it’s not possible to actually operate these systems in a reasonable way.” He argued:

Read more

The Agenda podcast chats crypto, media and ethics with Molly Jane Zuckerman

Should crypto media have a universal code of ethics, and what role — if any — should journalists play in promoting crypto mass adoption?

2022 was a rather challenging year for the crypto sector, and the prevalence of Ponzi schemes, decentralized finance scams, nonfungible token rug pulls and questionable centralized exchange bookkeeping put the issue of ethics in the space on blast. 

Of course, the negative news of last year wasn’t an outlier or a one-off — generally, “good” ethics have been an issue in crypto for years, and it’s probably safe to assume that challenges will continue to dot the landscape for the foreseeable future.

Within the context of media, it’s important to recognize that objective, unbiased news reporting and transparency are paramount if the industry is to earn the trust of the wider public and, as a result, change the negative perspectives people often hold about it.

In the latest episode of Cointelegraph’s podcast The Agenda, hosts Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung sat down with crypto media vet Molly Jane Zuckerman to discuss her experience with ethics challenges in the industry and her ideas on how to integrate best practices into the sector.

When asked by Salmond about the most important things to fix in crypto media and the potential for journalists to experience a “kind of shadowy pressure to do what’s in the company’s best interest,” Zuckerman suggested that drastic improvements in transparency are needed. She mentioned that the Association of Cryptocurrency Journalists and Researchers, an organization she co-founded, has been working on a standards guidebook to help reporters and news agencies alike:

“It is something I spend a lot of time thinking about, just even outside of my day job, is how do we make sure that people working in crypto have sort of a rule book to follow beyond just what their newsroom might tell you might tell them.”

Zuckerman elaborated:

“I think the issue is if you have access to do something that’s so easy for really big money, it can really tempt a lot of people. So, I think that even people with very, very high moral standards and very clear ethical boundaries — at least I’ve seen this in a few companies I’ve worked for, [they] will purposely not give them access to parts of the site that would tempt them.”

Is the onus of ethics primarily on journalists or protocol builders?

When asked whether crypto’s ethics crisis stems primarily from companies and their profit objectives or from the capacity of journalists to be compromised, Zuckerman suggested that it could be a mixture of both. She also takes issue with the fact that many crypto media outlets and journalists see their mission as to help catalyze mass adoption, saying:

“I don’t think it [crypto media] should help catalyze mass adoption, personally. I think crypto media should just lay bare the facts of what is happening in the space. And I think, unfortunately, right now, if crypto media did a neutral job of that, then most people would probably leave the space because it would just be articles about bankruptcy after bankruptcy after bankruptcy.”

According to Zuckerman, the true purpose of crypto media is to educate readers: 

“I don’t think that any media outlet should ever have a goal being, like, let’s get more people to use cryptocurrency. I think it should be, let’s get more people to understand how it works. But if they understand how it works and hate it, then that’s the same positive result to me as understanding how it works based on an article you read and liking it.”

To hear more from Zuckerberg, tune in to the full episode of The Agenda on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page, Spotify or Apple Podcasts — and be sure to check out Cointelegraph’s other shows as well.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin 2024 halving will be its ‘most important’ — Interview with Charles Edwards

The Bitcoin commentator and fund manager reveals why 2023 is the start of a “new regime” for BTC price action and institutional involvement.

Bitcoin (BTC) stands at the start of a “new regime” after its early 2023 price gains, and next year will prove pivotal.

That is the opinion of Charles Edwards, founder of quantitative Bitcoin and digital asset fund Capriole Investments.

As investment behavior around Bitcoin recovers in line with network fundamentals and price action, Edwards, perhaps like many other institutional professionals, is gearing up for an explosive period of growth.

The jury may still be out on whether the bottom is in for BTC’s price, but for long-term investors, the time to allocate is just beginning, he argues.

In an extensive interview with Cointelegraph, Edwards reflects on the prospects for Bitcoin and the crypto industry in the coming years and whether the 2023 rebound has legs.

Looking ahead, next year’s block subsidy halving will be especially important as Bitcoin becomes, in his words, the “hardest asset in the world with certainty.“

Cointelegraph (CT): Bitcoin’s NVT metric is now at two-year highs. You said this is “showing indications of value normalization and the start of a new market regime.” What is NVT, and why is this a big deal?

Charles Edwards (CE): NVT is often referred to as the Bitcoin version of a “PE Ratio” – a simple yardstick for relative value of the network. NVT is network value to transaction value. It is the ratio of Bitcoin’s U.S. dollar market capitalization to the 90-day average U.S. dollar transaction volume that flows through on-chain Bitcoin transactions.

The reasoning is simple. If Bitcoin’s network is used to settle a lot of transaction value, then the network should be worth more. So, when NVT is relatively low, it means the market is undervaluing Bitcoin versus the value of transactions it is securely settling.

One way to identify the relative value of NVT is using Dynamic Range NVT; this applies two-year Bollinger Bands to the NVT ratio. When NVT hits the lower band, Bitcoin has historically been very cheap (a better value buy); when it hits the top band, it has been relatively expensive (a time to manage risk).

Bitcoin spent most of the second half of 2022 in the $16–20,000 region, and during this time it was trading at the lower NVT band — a signal for great long-term value. As of February 2023, NVT has broken out above fair value. This can be a signal that we are in a new regime, the early stages of a new bull market. However, as of writing, NVT is fast approaching the overvaluation band. We are not there yet, but we could be in for some near-term volatility.

CT: How confident are you that Bitcoin is now in a “new regime” or bull cycle?

CE: There is a very good chance this is the start of a new regime, the early stages of a Bitcoin bull market. We have all the signs of a typical turning point on value and sentiment. This is not to say I expect price to dramatically rally upward from here like it did in January; the early stages of Bitcoin bull markets typically involve a 6–12 month period of volatility and an overall slow trend and grind up. My base case is a positive 2023, with the more significant cyclical growth and returns coming in 2024.

Here are some of the reasons why I see a new regime forming today. As of January 2023, we have:

  • Just exited a period of deep value as defined by many on-chain metrics, including Bitcoin trading at its electrical cost for two months ending this January. Historically this is the global price floor for Bitcoin and this was the second-longest period spent at the electrical cost in Bitcoin’s history (the first was 2016).
  • Completely eclipsed the price collapse of the third-biggest fraud of all time in just two months. Despite the industry’s great loss of wealth to millions of people, Bitcoin has demonstrated that there are very few marginal sellers left, and the level of deep value is too much to maintain prices this cheap for long, regardless of such negative news.
  • A major technical price confirmation and confirmed fakeout at the most important price level on the Bitcoin chart — the old $20,000 all-time high and the point of the FTX collapse.
  • Witnessed a 40% short squeeze with identical characteristics to the 2021 China mining ban Bitcoin price bottom.
  • Entered a new regime of upward momentum, confirmed across multiple long-term moving averages commonly referenced in major markets.
  • Are having an optimal halving cycle timing where Bitcoin typically bottoms (Q4 2022 and Q1 2023).
  • The Bitcoin cycle drawdown hit typical 80% levels in late 2022.
  • In November/December 2022, sentiment was at its worst, and market hedging at its highest on record.
  • A likely Fed rate pause and change of policy is due in 2023.

CT: What was the significance of the $20,000 breakout in January?

CE: The $20,000 breakout was the most important price movement we have seen since the all-time high in 2021. $20,000 is important for many reasons:

  • It is the 2017 (prior Bitcoin cycle) all-time high.
  • It is the price level that the FTX fraud was exposed at, and the third-biggest exchange (and top three fraud in human history) collapsed at in 2021.
  • It is perhaps the most important price order block level on the Bitcoin chart.
  • It has significance as major round number support.
  • It is at the intersection of Bitcoin’s electrical and production costs — the region where Bitcoin miners become unprofitable and the level historically representing a price floor.

When Bitcoin collapsed below $20,000 in November 2022, it signified a failing of major technical support. It made most Bitcoin miners unprofitable and was the climax of fraud, collapse, bankruptcies and negative sentiment in the industry. We spent two months below $20,000 before a 40% short squeeze took us back above $21,000. From a technical perspective, this represented a clean deviation below major support and is a technical movement that often represents the start of a new trend in the opposite direction.

When an asset price moves suddenly in one direction, then shortly after moves suddenly in the opposite direction, it’s the second move which tends to “stick” and generate a higher probability of a new trend. The probability of the second move being the correct move is significantly higher than that of the first move. That’s what makes deviation fakeout signals like this one so powerful — especially at such an important level like $20,000.

CT: Scrutiny of exchange solvency appears to be fading compared to previous months. Is the FTX debacle behind us?

CE: I believe so. The FTX situation was a massive outlier. It’s not often that you get a Bernie Madoff situation — a top three fraud of all time — occurring. People panicked and generally took the FTX situation out of perspective for what it was; the exceptional greed and immoral activities of one man, SBF.

A lot of work has to be done in our industry as it scales; the SBF saga was a sad and unnecessary development but should not be taken out of context.

We are in a young burgeoning industry that is moving at lightning pace, and things tend to get broken along the way as we scale. Just like all new industries before it, and any tech startup stock price, it’s a rollercoaster ride. We can’t expect Bitcoin and crypto to take over the world of finance in a smooth straight line; volatility happens in price, and it also happens in broader operations with scale. Best practices take time to be learned in a new industry, and regulation takes even longer to catch up.

A lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) has been spread across the industry regarding various other platforms. In late 2022 this caused a bank run on most exchanges which was unwarranted and ultimately not an issue for these platforms which had full backing. Exchange risk can be monitored in real-time using on-chain data and this is one of the reasons Capriole saw the FTX collapse coming and avoided it. There simply were not anywhere near the same levels of obvious risk on other crypto platforms in late 2022.

Nonetheless, it is so important to prioritize risk management in everything you do in the crypto space. Risk management must come above all else. Distribution of assets across trusted sources is important. Learning about self-custody is important. Security is important. On-chain monitoring and reporting is important. If you can’t actively manage risk in this 24/7 industry, then there are professional, regulated hedge fund structures that can do that for you. Be sure to always do your due diligence in crypto.

CT: Did the FTX episode strengthen or weaken Bitcoin or specific altcoins, if any?

CE: The FTX episode weakened the institutional reputation of Bitcoin and crypto. Many institutions were burned. Large U.S. pension funds also lost money on FTX. It takes a long time for these types of entities to get into a new asset class like Bitcoin and crypto, and an event like this caused them to pull the hand brake on their investment activities as they wait for the seas to calm and regulators to respond.

It is a shame that it has temporarily slowed the movements of these larger players, which rely on quarterly board meetings to make such big decisions — but it is a great opportunity for the smaller investors and the more innovative and agile family offices.

“In the wake of the FTX collapse, incredibly rare value was opened up for long-term investments in Bitcoin in particular.”

For anyone with a multiyear investment horizon, $16,000 should represent a great opportunity to allocate to this asset class based on the on-chain data we analyze. At Capriole, we were particularly excited by this, and doubled our own investment in our fund during this period. For the reasons noted above, $16–20,000 was a one-in-four-year valuation opportunity for Bitcoin, an incredibly rare opportunity to allocate into this asset class at great discounts across most on-chain valuation metrics.

The FTX collapse cleansed the market of leverage, bad actors, and an array of entities with poor risk management and operations. The market now has a clean slate to start the new halving cycle fresh and ready for organic growth. The institutions will come back; it’s only a matter of time when an industry is 10Xing its number of users every three years. We are seeing a strong uptick in savvy investors taking advantage of today’s opportunity.

CT: What kind of impact will a ban of crypto staking service providers have on Bitcoin and Ethereum price?

CE: It’s hard to say for sure and would depend on the extent of any ban. If there is a major sweeping regulatory action against staking, there will be a short-term price impact. But this fear, like most in crypto, is overweighted. There may be some regulations or restrictions in the area, but I expect the long-term impact will be negligible.

Likely there will be more requirements on staking entities, including regulator data sharing, which in the short-term could reduce market size, but in the mid to long term this just moves the decision to stake to the individual user for that platform.

As we saw with the China ban on Bitcoin mining in 2021, Bitcoin (and crypto) is too big now for any one country to stop adoption. Bitcoin’s hash rate recovered from a 50% collapse in just one year. A staking ban would be harder to implement, would likely be less severe and much less impactful than the China ban.

CT: What’s the possibility of this happening? Do you expect a general crackdown on crypto on-ramps on the horizon?

CE: Exchanges are under the microscope. There will be more regulation and more reporting and communication requirements for exchanges globally. Many small exchanges won’t be able to meet these requirements and it will further consolidate the industry.

“I expect all of the large players will ultimately comply.“

In November 2022, we saw how every major exchange implemented proof-of-reserves using on-chain data to verify Bitcoin holdings of customer assets in a matter of weeks. Sure, there are limitations in this reporting, but for so much of the industry to implement that globally and so fast shows just how quickly this industry moves, how most of us are here to do good and do the right thing. More needs to be done, and it will be. It’s just a matter of time and it’s part of the natural growth and adoption of an exponential age industry.

CT: What are the biggest dangers to Bitcoin’s potential bull cycle?

CE: The most obvious risk is if interest rates rise further, and substantially more, than expected. That would squeeze the relative value of Bitcoin. Assuming all else equal, higher interest rates increase the relative value of the dollar to a long-term investor, and arguably lessen the value of hard assets like gold and Bitcoin.

However, we have been predicting for some time that rate rises will stop in 2023, and the broader market is pricing this in today too. The Fed is also now signaling to the market that the top for interest rates is in this year. The significant decline in inflation we are currently seeing has also historically marked the top for interest rates.

Related: Bitcoin eyes 25% of world’s wealth in new $10M BTC price prediction

Given we are late in the economic cycle, unemployment is at multi-decade lows and debt-to-GDP is extraordinarily high; it simply isn’t sustainable to keep interest rates at aggressively high levels today.

All of this skews the probability toward policy easing to support economic growth. Which means Bitcoin is positioned to be the perfect investment against easing a world with high debt and inflation. Much like the 1970s, but even more so today.

CT: What are the biggest tailwinds for Bitcoin’s potential bull cycle?

CE: In 2024, Bitcoin will become the hardest asset in the world with certainty. The inflation rate of Bitcoin will drop to half that of gold, overtaking gold as the best store of value. Not to mention the improved portability, speed and fungibility of Bitcoin in a digital world.

“Every Bitcoin halving drives a narrative shift and heightened adoption curve for Bitcoin, and the 2024 cycle is probably the most important halving we will ever see. A transition point.“

It is worth mentioning that none of the prior halvings have ever been priced in, so I am expecting multi-hundred-percent returns to continue here as well.

Further, this decade we are entering the period where most technology adoption “s-curves” go vertical. That is, it takes roughly 10 years for new technologies to go from 0–10% adoption (where Bitcoin is today) and then another 10 years to go to full adoption.

Given Bitcoin usage is growing faster than the internet did in the late 90s, all signs point to the next decade being incredible for Bitcoin. The global macroeconomic backdrop also looks set to only support that adoption curve.

CT: What are your favorite metrics to keep an eye on right now to anticipate the next market move?

CE: Predicting short-term moves is a full-time job; we approach that with fully automated quant strategies at Capriole. For investors looking to allocate for multi-year periods, the best bet is to try and allocate at or near cyclical lows and reduce some exposure at cyclical highs.

Bitcoin still very much operates on a four-year cycle, driven by the four-year halvings. Therefore, you usually get roughly 12 months of great value to allocate into the market and 6–12 months to reduce risk.

“It’s not about timing exact bottoms and tops — unless you are monitoring the market full time, don’t bother!”

When you get a confluence of multiple long-term metrics, only metrics that have proven themselves to be reliable through years of usage (without modification), that is, when you have something useful to act on. Some I like are:

  • Hash ribbons (recently signaled a buy at $20K)
  • NVT
  • Market value to realized value (MVRV)
  • Bitcoin production cost and electrical cost
  • Bitcoin energy value
  • SLRV ribbons
  • Dormancy flow
  • Hold waves
  • Net unrealized profit and loss (NUPL)

You can read more about each here.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Simple trading strategies with Cryptomom — Watch Market Talks live

Join us as we discuss some simple trading strategies to help you navigate the crypto space in a post-FTX world.

In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Brenda Gentry, or as she’s known on Twitter, Cryptomom. Gentry has over 15 years of experience in traditional banking. She started researching and investing in cryptocurrencies during the 2020 lockdowns and made substantial returns in 2021 after which she launched Gentry Media Productions. She is currently on a mission to introduce more women and minorities to Web3, decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

We kick things off with a report from the Bank of International Settlements, which found that the median retail investor lost 50% of their Bitcoin (BTC) investment in the past seven years. We ask Gentry what her thoughts are on this, given her background in finance, and also what are some ways that crypto investors can avoid becoming part of this statistic.

Sports betting is all the rage now, with non-stop commercials from different companies encouraging people to take part and sports commentators talking about it during their shows to get more people interested. We ask Gentry about her newly acquired sports betting platform, BundleBets, and why and how she got interested in the business.

If you ask 10 people what Web3 is, you’ll get 10 different answers. We get Gentry’s take on what Web3 means to her and how she sees it grow and evolve as we move forward. Plot twist! She can’t use any of the current buzzwords to define it. 

As much as we all would like to forget about Terra and the whole FTX debacle, you really cannot have a conversation about crypto without mentioning either one. We get Gentry’s experience of it all and how she weathered it. We also ask her what her simple trading strategy is in a post-FTX world where you never know what company could go belly up next.

One of the major contributing factors to crypto’s success is retail investors. Understandably, most of them are hesitant to get into the space after the FTX and Terra events. What are things that they need to see happen or hear to lure them back into crypto?

We cover all this and more, so make sure to stay tuned until the end because Cointelegraph Markets & Research will also be taking your questions and comments throughout the show, so be sure to have them ready to go.

Market Talks streams live every Thursday at 12:00 pm ET (5:00 pm UTC). Each week, it features interviews with some of the most influential and inspiring people from the crypto and blockchain industry. So, head on over to Cointelegraph Markets & Research’s YouTube page and smash those Like and Subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

DeFi platforms can comply with regulations without compromising privacy — Web3 exec

Zero-knowledge proofs, decentralized identifiers and more could help DeFi protocols maintain regulatory compliance without exposing their users.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has been a rapidly growing sector of the cryptocurrency industry, but it has also faced significant regulatory challenges. With regulators struggling to keep up with the pace of innovation, the lack of clarity around regulations tends to create uncertainty for DeFi projects.

Cointelegraph spoke to Alastair Johnson about regulatory challenges facing the DeFi industry. Johnson is the CEO of an identity “super-wallet” called Nuggets that seeks to deliver verified self-sovereign decentralized identities to users. He said that one of the main regulatory challenges is the anonymity of DeFi platforms, which makes it difficult to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. 

Although privacy is a cornerstone of DeFi, regulatory compliance is essential to protect users and ensure that DeFi platforms are operating within the law. “Regulatory compliance will involve implementing AML /KYC procedures,” Johnson said. “This can be done without compromising user privacy by using non-correlatable peer Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and zero-knowledge proofs. In addition, auditable data can be encrypted to protect the participant’s private keys but still in accordance with regulatory requirements.

 “DeFi platforms can incorporate privacy-enhancing technologies like zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption to protect user privacy while still adhering to regulation,” he added.

According to Johnson, DeFi platforms can take measures to ensure compliance with regulations while maintaining their decentralization. He explained that “DeFi platforms can incorporate decentralized identity solutions to verify the identity of users while still maintaining decentralization. These solutions can use blockchain-based identity protocols, such as Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials (VCs), to provide secure and privacy-preserving user identification — enabling DeFi platforms to continue to innovate and grow while still complying with applicable regulations.”

Speaking on the impact of regulation within the space, Johnson noted that increasing regulation in the DeFi sector could have both positive and negative impacts. While regulation could provide legitimacy and protect users from fraudulent activities, excessive and burdensome regulation could stifle innovation and decrease competition, undermining the decentralization and trustlessness of the DeFi ecosystem.

Related: Sen. Warren vows reintroduction of AML bill that extends to DAOs and DeFi

In the future, balancing privacy, regulation and decentralization will continue to be an ongoing challenge for the DeFi space. However, Johnson said he hopes that by embracing privacy-preserving technologies, implementing self-regulatory measures, and collaborating with regulators, DeFi platforms can find ways to balance the need for regulatory compliance with the principles of privacy and decentralization that underpin the DeFi ecosystem

‘I thought SBF was the Mark Zuckerberg of crypto,’ says Anthony Scaramucci

Anthony Scaramucci said blockchain “skepticism is usually born from a lack of knowledge,” while sharing his crypto holdings of Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and Algorand.

In a candid interview with Cointelegraph at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Anthony Scaramucci, cofounder of SkyBridge Capital, lambasted Sam Bankman-Fried and shed light on his crypto portfolio. 

Scaramucci trusted the former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) of FTX, which imploded in late 2021. Scaramucci said in a panel preceding the interview that the “Ninth circle of hell” is reserved for SBF. He added further color to the comments in discussion with Cointelegraph:

“I actually thought he was the Mark Zuckerberg of crypto. I didn’t realize he was the Bernie Madoff. And that’s something I have to own. And so I own it.”

The “Mooch” as he is known, explained he’s happy to speak about his mistakes in trusting SBF. “I like speaking about it because if I can prevent somebody else from having a calamity like that, just from learning from us, that’s worth it to me,” he explained.

Scaramucci is currently working at clawing back his company’s share that FTX lost. He is confident that the 30% stake that FTX Ventures acquired would be returned sometime in 2023.

The Cointelegraph team is reporting live from Davos.

Speaking with Gareth Jenkinson, senior reporter at Cointelegraph, Scaramucci also divulged his crypto portfolio:

“I started marking Bitcoin investments in 2020. We then started buying Ethereum in the early part of 2021. We have some Solana, we have something called Algorand, which is a smaller layer one, but it’s got very good technology.”

SkyBridge Capital’s investments in crypto may come as a surprise to a thought leader who once tweeted he “could care less” about Bitcoin (BTC). Indeed, since Scaramucci first tweeted about Bitcoin one decade ago in 2013, the currency is up over 1,000%.

Scaramucci concluded he had made many mistakes during his Bitcoin and crypto journey. It took him many years and interactions with leaders in the space, such as the Winklevoss twins, before he invested. He shared that “Skepticism is usually born from a lack of knowledge.”

“The more homework you do on the blockchain, the more you understand how the blockchain is going to be a very big part of our future.”

The Mooch is now a regular commentator on the crypto space, and recently shared 2023 price predictions for Bitcoin in the six-figure territory. The “mainstream” is yet to really get to grips with the blockchain, he shred

Related: Scaramucci to invest in crypto firm founded by former FTX US boss

Ultimately, as more and more people begin to understand the importance of transacting with one another without a third party, the Bitcoin and blockchain space will take flight:

“When you understand the magnitude of that, it will be a wonderful layering mechanism that will lead to great economic efficiency and innovation. So that’s why I’m in the space.”

According to Scaramucci, there is still plenty of room for growth in the Bitcoin, blockchain and crypto markets.

‘I thought SBF was the Mark Zuckerberg of crypto,’ says Anthony Scaramucci

The SkyBridge Capital co-founder said blockchain “skepticism is usually born from a lack of knowledge,” while sharing that his crypto holdings include Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and Algorand.

In a candid interview with Cointelegraph at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Anthony Scaramucci, co-founder of SkyBridge Capital, lambasted Sam Bankman-Fried and shed light on his crypto portfolio. 

Scaramucci said he had trusted the former FTX CEO, whose crypto exchange imploded in late 2022. Scaramucci said during a panel preceding the interview that the “ninth circle of hell” is reserved for SBF. He added further color to his comments in his discussion with Cointelegraph:

“I actually thought he was the Mark Zuckerberg of crypto. I didn’t realize he was the Bernie Madoff. And that’s something I have to own. And so I own it.”

The “Mooch,” as he is known, explained he’s happy to speak about his mistakes in trusting SBF. “I like speaking about it because if I can prevent somebody else from having a calamity like that, just from learning from us, that’s worth it to me,” he explained.

Scaramucci is currently working at clawing back his company’s share that FTX lost. He is confident that the 30% stake that FTX Ventures acquired would be returned sometime in 2023.

The Cointelegraph team is reporting live from Davos.

Speaking with Gareth Jenkinson, senior reporter at Cointelegraph, Scaramucci also divulged his crypto portfolio:

“I started marking Bitcoin investments in 2020. We then started buying Ethereum in the early part of 2021. We have some Solana, we have something called Algorand, which is a smaller layer one, but it’s got very good technology.”

SkyBridge Capital’s investments in crypto may come as a surprise to a thought leader who once tweeted he “could care less” about Bitcoin (BTC). Indeed, since Scaramucci first tweeted about Bitcoin one decade ago in 2013, the currency is up over 1,000%.

Scaramucci concluded he had made many mistakes during his Bitcoin and crypto journey. It took him many years and interactions with leaders in the space, such as the Winklevoss twins, before he invested. He shared that “skepticism is usually born from a lack of knowledge,” adding:

“The more homework you do on the blockchain, the more you understand how the blockchain is going to be a very big part of our future.”

The Mooch is now a regular commentator on the crypto space, and recently shared 2023 price predictions for Bitcoin in the six-figure territory. The “mainstream” has yet to really come to grips with blockchain technology, he said.

Related: Scaramucci to invest in crypto firm founded by former FTX US boss

Ultimately, as more and more people begin to understand the importance of transacting with one another without a third party, the Bitcoin and blockchain space will take flight:

“When you understand the magnitude of that, it will be a wonderful layering mechanism that will lead to great economic efficiency and innovation. So that’s why I’m in the space.”

According to Scaramucci, there is still plenty of room for growth in the Bitcoin, blockchain and crypto markets.

Music NFTs are helping independent creators monetize and build a fanbase

The Agenda podcast chats with Adam Levy of Mint and rapper Jay Kila about nonfungible tokens, Web3 and the struggles of being an independent musician.

The music industry is notoriously centralized, with major record labels often controlling nearly every facet of an artist’s career — from which songs they are allowed to release to what percentage of the royalties they keep and more.

While the rise of streaming platforms like SoundCloud and Spotify has helped democratize the industry and made it significantly easier to get one’s music in front of more ears, it’s still an uphill battle to build a dedicated fanbase and generate enough revenue to survive.

Enter music NFTs. For those in the blockchain space, nonfungible tokens represent an opportunity for fans to directly support their favorite artists, for musicians to build stronger communities with their listeners, and for content creators to build more substantial and sustainable income streams.

To better understand the topic, Cointelegraph’s new podcast The Agenda sat down with Adam Levy, host of Mint — a podcast exploring the Web3 creator economy — and Jay Kila, a crypto-native rapper based in Mumbai who founded OTP India — a digital-collectibles and fan-engagement platform for Indian hip hop artists.

What exactly are music NFTs?

Levy told The Agenda co-hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond that music NFTs generally fall under two categories. The first is ownership-based NFTs, which “are basically tied to IP [intellectual property] rights and royalties. So, when you buy the NFT, you now are entitled to the accrual of revenue that is produced from Web2 audio streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, etc.”

The second is patronage-based NFTs, which do not grant holders any ownership rights but “are collected to support an artist.” According to Levy, “The upside of the NFT is sort of derived from appreciating secondary sales.”

“It really just comes down to tokenizing an audio file and being able to set that up out in the open market and find a collector buy that, engage with that, and join you and your journey as a creator in the music industry.”

How music NFTs are helping musicians

Jay Kila told The Agenda that he first became interested in music NFTs in early 2020 after most of his performance opportunities disappeared with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He found it inspiring that this new technology offered a new way for artists to make a living that was an alternative to the traditional model. That’s when he founded OTP India with a friend of his.

“I just thought it was really cool that you could sell an NFT, and even if you sold it for $300, right, that’s more money than you’ll see from Spotify in like 10 years as an average artist,” he said. “Unless you’re getting millions of streams, it’s almost impossible to make a living from streaming.”

Spotify says it paid out $7 billion in royalties in 2021 alone, a figure the company claims “is the largest sum paid by one retailer to the music industry in one year in history.” But the vast majority of that money went directly to record labels and publishers, which collect enormous percentages for themselves before passing what’s left on to the artists. Plus, Spotify reportedly pays only $0.003 to $0.005 per stream, and major record labels negotiate higher payouts than independent artists receive.

According to Jay Kila:

“NFTs are kind of like the last hope, I think, for independent artists to transition into this model where you can actually get money for your music in a much more direct way. It’s going to disrupt a lot of things.”

Cast your vote now!

Building a relationship between artists and fans

One thing both Levy and Jay Kila wholeheartedly agree on is the power that music NFTs have to better connect creators directly with their fans. The Mint podcast itself practices what it promotes and issues free NFTs to its fans as a way to reward its loyal listeners, grow its audience and generate excitement.

“When I issue those free NFTs, there’s a ripple effect, and I get thousands upon thousands of hits to my website,” said Levy. “I get so many new subscribers, I get new listeners, and the ecosystem just kind of grows every single season.”

Related: NFTs are a game changer for independent artists and musicians

Jay Kila’s OTP project, meanwhile, seeks to build a Web3 community for the Indian hip hop scene centered around collectible digital trading cards, and it’s important for him that this community is accessible to everyone. “Each artist card we’re pricing at $27 because we wanted it to be affordable to the average person,” he said. “It’s not really about getting the money, but it’s about creating that bond between fan and artist, and then building the community.”

In the words of Levy:

“There’s never been a way for you to support an artist directly like you can through music NFTs and buying their collectible and being able to have aligned incentives with watching them grow as an artist as they develop over time.”

To learn more about music NFTs and how Levy and Jay Kila are using blockchain to build community and monetize content, tune into the full episode of The Agenda on Cointelegraph’s new podcasts page, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn.

The Agenda is a new podcast from Cointelegraph that explores the promises of crypto, blockchain and Web3, and how regular people level up and improve their lives with technology. Be sure to check out Cointelegraph’s other new shows by heading over to the new Cointelegraph Podcast section.

Nebraskangooner gives his opinions on whether news affects BTC price

Nebraskangooner gave his thoughts on multiple topics in the latest episode of the Crypto Trading Secrets podcast, including his opinions on Bitcoin in the bear market.

On Dec. 28, Cointelegraph’s Crypto Trading Secrets podcast interviewed trader Nebraskangooner, gathering his opinions on several topics. “Flat and completely sideways and uneventful,” Nebraskangooner said when asked about his thoughts on Bitcoin’s (BTC) price lately. 

The crypto bear market saw the price of Bitcoin struggle throughout 2022, falling significantly from its all-time high above $60,000 seen in 2021. Nebraskangooner gave a few thoughts on Bitcoin’s possible location within the bear market and a potential bottom for the asset.

Regarding his view on Bitcoin’s price, Nebraskangooner said he primarily looks to price charts for evaluation rather than mainstream news events. “I’ve never really been a believer in too much news affecting anything,” he explained, continuing:

“I think news, more so, just accelerates price action. I’ve always been a believer in ‘tell me the news, and I’ll show you the chart.’ Basically, good news always seems to happen at support, and bad news always seems to happen at resistance. More bad news obviously comes out in bear markets, and more good news obviously comes out in bull markets.”

“I don’t really see the news as, like, changing the tide on anything,” he added. “I more so just trade the charts.” Nebraskangooner also shared further thoughts regarding what he thinks has been affecting Bitcoin’s price the most.

In the episode, Nebraskangooner and host Benjamin Pirus discuss several other points, including his early interest in the medical field and how he transitioned from a career in nursing to crypto trading.

Cointelegraph’s Crypto Trading Secrets podcast interviews crypto traders, investors and analysts on topics related to crypto trading and investing. Each episode generally comprises three segments: finding the bottom, trade secrets and the next bull run.

Listen to the episode on Cointelegraph’s podcast page, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and TuneIn.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.