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Can Precious Metals Save Crypto?

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It has been over two weeks since the second large crypto market crash of 2018, and many believe that the bubble we all know as Bitcoin has finally burst. This is the year when BTC has hit its highest value ever, only to gradually drop back down.

While the entire year was progressively bearish, Bitcoin has successfully held its ground at the price of $6,400 for months. However, in mid-November, this changed, and the coin continued to sink. As a result, the same year that gave it the value of $20,000 per coin also brought it down to $3,700. Those who invested in it when it was at its all-time high have lost over 80% of their investment within 11 months.

The drop is not only limited to Bitcoin, however, but to all top currencies, such as Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, and countless others. However, while many believe that these cryptos are going down, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they will all disappear. It is possible that some of them will manage to survive. Even if they don’t digital currencies are hardly going away for good.

Cryptocurrencies are here to stay

Their utility is a real thing, recognized around the world. Blockchain in crypto came in a pair, and will likely remain together, especially since they provide people with online transactions outside of banking system. This is not only practical for black market merchants anymore, and numerous businesses are already considering this as an alternative to traditional payment systems.

For some of them, this is not only a choice but a necessity as well. Banks often tend to deny services to some of their customers, as do credit cards. Sometimes, the reason is nothing more than their political views. One example of this is what happened to an alternative social networking website called Gab. Gab is known for allowing its members to express controversial views on various topics, which is something that did not sit well with banks. As a result, its founder stated that Gab will be turning to BitPay and Bitcoin.

As this continues, more and more such cases are expected to appear, which is why alternative payment systems have grown to become a necessity. However, major Bitcoin exchanges, like Coinbase, for example, are also becoming very politically correct. So much so, in fact, that they have also started blacklisting those who they don’t like.

In addition, they are collecting their customers’ personal data and giving it to the IRS. In the end, Bitcoin users can only guarantee their privacy by never actually using their coins for anything. This is only one of the problems connected to Bitcoin. It is also very slow when it comes to confirming transactions, it consumes a lot of energy, and there is a constant risk of loss if investors lose their private key. Not to mention outside threats, such as fraud, hack, government crackdown, and alike.

However, the biggest problem with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, by far, is their volatility. Since they don’t have any asset backing them, it is nearly impossible for these coins to have a stable, constant price. This is one problem that can be solved by bringing real assets on the blockchain.

Backing crypto with gold?

One idea that might solve this issues revolves around using precious metals to back cryptocurrencies, just as they were used for backing fiat money some time ago. While there are numerous challenges — legal and technical — as well as a constant threat of scammers, there are many who support this solution.

These are optimists who believe that we are approaching the time when precious metals such as gold can be used on the blockchain for buying things such as shares of stock, real estate, and more, without ever having to us fiat money. This would mark the return of demand for gold and other precious metals, and the entire idea is a bullish view on the future of crypto and blockchain.

However, there is a bearish view as well. Numerous banks around the world are researching the crypto space, with some of them already making plans on launching their own coins. Doing so could potentially satisfy public policy goals, provide customers with protection and security, and even provide privacy in payments, which is something that the private sector failed to do.

While their claim would be that they only have security, privacy, and protection of their customers in mind, they would effectively eliminate competition to fiat currencies, and move to an all-digital economy at the same time. While Federal Reserve officials continue to deny that they are planning to issue their own coin, they still looked into the possibility.

The crypto space is evolving rapidly, and predicting the next turn is impossible. This includes the potential direction that crypto will take, as well as the intentions and potential interventions from the governments, banks, and alike. While precious metals may come into play once again, even this is still only a speculation, with no certainty about anything at this time. One thing is certain, and that is that a big change of a financial sector is happening right now, and it will take a few years for things to stabilize again. During those years, pretty much anything is possible.

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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency and read our full disclaimer.

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Altcoins

XNO Token of Xeno NFT Hub listed on Bithumb Korea Exchange

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Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 25th January, 2021, // ChainWire //

Xeno Holdings Limited (xno.live ), a blockchain solutions company based in Hong Kong, has announced the listing of its ecosystem utility token XNO on the ‘Bithumb Korea’ cryptocurrency exchange on January 21st 2021.

Xeno NFT Hub (market.xno.live ), developed by Xeno Holdings, enables easy minting of digital items into NFTs while also providing a marketplace where anyone can securely trade NFTs.

The Xeno NFT Hub project team includes former members of the technology project Yosemite X based in San Francisco and professionals such as Gabby Dizon who is a games industry expert and NFT space influencer based in Southeast Asia.

NFT(Non-Fungible Token) technology has recently gained huge focus in the blockchain arena and beyond, making waves in the online gaming sector, the art world, and the digital copyrights industry in recent years. The strongest feature of NFTs is that “NFTs are unique digital assets that cannot be replaced or forged”. Unlike fungible tokens such as Bitcoin or Ether, NFTs are not interchangeable for other tokens of the same type but instead each NFT has a unique value and specific information that cannot be replaced. This fact makes NFTs the perfect solution to record and prove ownership of digital and real-world items like works of art, game items, limited-edition collectibles, and more. One of the ways to have a successful…

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Altcoins

Should Crypto Projects Devote Resources to Community Growth and Marketing?

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2020 has been an incredible year for crypto as investors have generated windfall profits and crypto projects have seen their businesses gain the spotlight they’ve been looking for.  While Bitcoin has received most of the attention after major institutional investors announced they were accumulating the increasingly scarce asset, many altcoins have also seen their fair share of glory.  When looking at all the big winners of the past year, the first project that probably comes to mind is Chainlink, having appreciated by more than 550% YTD and now valued at over $4.5 billion.  But, the actual biggest winner of the year is HEX with a YTD return of over 5,000%.

I mention both of the above projects as they have each taken slightly different paths to achieve greatness.  Chainlink has devoted resources toward building a fundamentally sound business with many strategic partnerships while HEX has spent vast sums of money on marketing and promotion.  Both approaches are valid, but one thing is certain, it is absolutely imperative for crypto projects to let the crypto community know what makes them special.  Of course, one of the reasons that makes crypto so valuable is the powerful blockchain technology that most projects are utilizing.

Cryptocurrency vs. Blockchain Technology

It’s important to make a distinction between blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.  Although they are often used interchangeably, they are different.  Blockchain technology and crypto were both created after the 2008 financial crisis, but cryptocurrency…

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Altcoins

XENO starts VIP NFT trading service and collaborates with contemporary artist Hiro Yamagata

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Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 24th December, 2020, // ChainWire //

The XENO NFT Hub (https://xno.live) will provide a crypto-powered digital items and collectables trading platform allowing users to create, buy, and sell NFTs. Additionally it will support auction based listings, governance and voting mechanisms, trade history tracking, user rating and other advanced features.

As a first step towards its fully comprehensive service, XENO NFT Hub launched a recent VIP service to select users and early adopters in December 2020 with plans for a full Public Beta to open in June 2021. 

“NFTs are extremely flexible in their usage, from digital event tickets to artwork, and while NFTs have a very wide spectrum of uses and categories XENO will initially focus its partnership efforts and its own item curation on three primary areas: gaming, sports & entertainment, and collectibles.”, said XENO NFT Hub president Anthony Di Franco.

He also added “This does not mean we will prohibit other types of NFTs from our ecosystem However, it simply means that XENO’s efforts as a company will be targeted into these verticals initially as a cohesive business approach.”

Development and Procurement Lead, Gabby Dizon explained, “Despite our initial focus, we found ourselves with a unique opportunity to host some of the works of Mr. Hiro Yamagata. We are collaborating with Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata to enshrine some of his artwork into NFTs.”

Mr. Yamagata has…

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