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DeFi’s novel flash loan products aren’t to blame for the recent string of exploits, industry leaders say.

From “Tulip Mania” to “the World’s Reserve Currency,” these valuation models show the full range of bitcoin’s long-term possibilities.

The Ethereum network has been moving toward a multi-stage transition from a proof-of-work system to a proof-of-stake model with developments around the Ethereum 2.0, or Eth2, upgrade.

While the full transition will occur in several phases, Eth2’s Phase 0 is scheduled to launch on December 1. Phase Zero will involve the genesis of the so-called beacon chain, which will serve as a kind of backbone for the nascent blockchain network.

But will that December 1 date pan out? Participants on crypto prediction market Polymarket don’t appear to think so.

For Phase 0 to go live, at least 524,288 ETH (currently worth about $247 million) needs to be deposited in the Eth2 staking deposit contract, by November 24 (seven days prior to December 1).

So far, however, only 101,984 ETH, i.e., around 20% of the target, has been deposited. Maybe that’s the reason Polymarket betters don’t see the Eth2 Genesis block launching on December 1.

Specifically, Polymarket betters are giving the odds of Phase 0 not launching on December 1 at 61% and launching at 39%. Interestingly, the odds were the opposite just about two weeks ago.

On November 6, Polymarket betters were giving the odds of the genesis launch date at 75% and not launching at 25%. What changed? The staking deadline is getting closer, and deposits probably aren’t growing at expected levels.

ETH holders could very push the staked amount upward at the last moment, as they currently have little incentive to lock up their ETH now. 

Deposits in the Eth2 staking contract can only be withdrawn when Ethereum fully transitions to a proof-of-stake system, or once the Ethereum mainnet becomes a shard — a development expected to occur sometime in 2021.

It is possible that some large ETH holders support the Eth2 launch when the deadline nears. Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, for instance, has thus far contributed 3,200 ETH, an amount currently worth about $1.5 million.

Besides Polymarket betters, some other Ethereum community members appear to remain skeptical of the Eth Phase 0 launch date. Eric Conner, for instance, has suggested a two-step approach. In his view, the genesis launch date should be extended to December 15 and the minimum contract deposit level of 524,288 ETH should be removed.

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Chinese miners are struggling to sell their crypto in ways that would quickly get them much-needed cash in the face of a government crackdown on local exchanges.

The token has rallied nearly 13% Wednesday.

The revised requirements are aimed at adding liquidity to the Thai market, while also allowing digital asset businesses to hold part of their required capital in cryptocurrencies.

If the payments system ever becomes seriously politicized, Bitcoin’s apolitical nature could become more appealing. But that’s not a scenario worth looking forward to.

Andy Haldane, the chief economist at the Bank of England, has said digital currencies could mitigate the need for negative interest rates.

“At root, the Zero Lower Bound arises from a technological constraint on the ability to pay or receive interest on physical cash, whether positive or negative,” he said.

“In principle, a widely-used digital currency could mitigate, if not eliminate, that technological constraint by enabling interest rates to be levied on retail monetary assets.”

The Bank of England is currently mulling over whether to cut the base rate to below zero, which would likely mean that banks would have to start charging customers for deposits. Sam Woods, chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority, sent a letter to banks seeking information about how negative interest rates would affect them on October 12. Negative interest rates already prevail in the Eurozone.

Speaking at a conference on November 10, Haldane laid out both the risks and benefits of various different variations of digital currency – including Central Bank Digital Currencies and private stablecoins.

“While the focus so far has been on the costs of this disruption – for funding and credit provision – weight needs also to be given to the potential longer-term benefits of such a structural shift,” he said.

Haldane said that a widely-used digital currency could have profound effects on financial stability, giving rise to something he described as “closer to narrow banking” – in which payments and credit-based activities are more cleanly divided.

Instabilities in the banking sector often arise from risk and duration mismatches on either side of banks’ balance sheets, he explained.

“In principle, separating safe payments and risky lending activities could lead to a closer alignment of risk and duration on the balance sheets of those institutions offering these services,” Haldane continued. “

We would move closer to a bifurcated intermediation model of narrow banking for payments (money backed by safe assets) and limited purpose banking for lending (risky assets backed by capital-uncertain liabilities). In principle, this would reduce, at source, the intrinsic instabilities of the traditional banking model.”

 

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

A metric that has predicted previous bitcoin market tops indicates this rally has just begun.

“Long bitcoin” is one of the most crowded trades in markets, a new survey suggests. But signs indicate that many investors are just now getting in.