{"id":6477,"date":"2020-12-05T14:07:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-05T19:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=6477"},"modified":"2020-12-05T14:22:09","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T19:22:09","slug":"btc-jitters-xrp-bombshell-libra-rebrand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2020\/12\/05\/btc-jitters-xrp-bombshell-libra-rebrand","title":{"rendered":"BTC nerves, XRP bombshell, Libra rebrand: Hodler\u2019s Digest, Nov. 28\u2013Dec. 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming every Saturday, <\/i><\/b>Hodler\u2019s Digest<\/i><\/b><\/a> will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more \u2014 a week on Cointelegraph in one link.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Stories This Week<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Bitcoin price hits new all-time high as crypto market matures<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

It\u2019s happened! <\/b>This week, Bitcoin <\/span>officially <\/span><\/i>reached an all-time high above <\/span>$19,892 <\/b>for the first time in almost three years after enjoying a rebound over the Thanksgiving weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Tuesday\u2019s new record didn\u2019t bring the fireworks many hoped for. All-time highs were only reached on a couple of exchanges. <\/span>Soon afterwards, BTC <\/b>suffered a violent rejection<\/b><\/a> near $20,000 \u2014 falling to $19,000 in under 10 minutes.<\/b><\/p>\n

After the <\/span>flash crash<\/span><\/a>, pseudonymous trader CryptoBull tweeted: <\/span>\u201cWorth noting that a $1,000 swing is just 5% now. Adjust accordingly.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Later that day, Reuters took the crypto world by surprise after an <\/span>unusually positive story<\/span><\/a>: \u201cDollar plummets on U.S. stimulus hopes; bitcoin hits all-time peak.\u201d <\/span>The world\u2019s oldest mining pool later <\/b>immortalized that headline in a block<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

As the week progressed, BTC struggled to return to the high $19,000s, and on Friday, it <\/span>suffered yet another rejection<\/span><\/a> at <\/span>$19,500<\/b>, making traders nervous.<\/span><\/p>\n

While some believe BTC is undergoing a consolidation phase and could suffer another minor connection in the near term, others expect the crucial <\/span>$18,500 <\/b>level to hold \u2014 setting BTC up for a retest of the key <\/span>$20,000 <\/b>level and a new all-time high in the near future.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Institutions rushing into $19,000 Bitcoin as GBTC premium hits six-month high<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Bitcoin\u2019s volatility doesn\u2019t appear to have scared off institutions. <\/span>On Thursday, demand from investors meant Grayscale\u2019s Bitcoin Trust was trading at a <\/b>chunky premium<\/b><\/a>, making it 35% more expensive than buying BTC at the current market price.<\/b><\/h4>\n

Large-scale buyers are still creating more demand than supply can meet, and a huge sell wall at <\/span>$20,000 <\/b>may see a major transfer of wealth from whales to institutions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Data from Coin98 shows <\/span>27,881 BTC <\/b>was mined in November, but Grayscale snapped up <\/span>55,015 BTC<\/b> over the course of the month<\/span><\/a>. The digital asset manager also brought back its <\/span>controversial \u201cdrop gold\u201d campaign<\/span><\/a>, which is now running on major networks across the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other news, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced it will debut <\/span>cryptocurrency indexes<\/span><\/a> in 2021 \u2014 bringing Bitcoin to Wall Street. Coinbase revealed it executed MicroStrategy\u2019s <\/span>mega <\/span>$425-million <\/b>BTC purchase<\/span><\/a> back in September. <\/span>And the CEO of BlackRock, which has an estimated $7.4 trillion in assets under management, confirmed <\/b>Bitcoin is on his radar<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

CoinShares chairman Danny Masters also told CNBC that the institutional appetite for BTC means portfolio managers could soon be fired <\/span>for failing to have Bitcoin in their portfolio<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>The cryptocurrency also got a ringing endorsement from, er, Nigel Farage, who described BTC as \u201cthe ultimate anti-lockdown investment.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ethereum 2.0 is go: Genesis block of beacon chain winks into existence<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

After years in the making, the genesis block of the Eth2 beacon chain finally saw the light of the day this week. <\/span>It was an understated affair. <\/b>The first block didn\u2019t include much in the way of profound, inspiring messages, and merely said: <\/span>\u201cMr F was here.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

This now fires the starting gun on a transition to proof-of-stake over the coming years, and planned upgrades include sharding to improve scalability. <\/span>Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has published an <\/b>updated roadmap<\/b><\/a> of what comes next. <\/b>He wrote: \u201cA lot has been accomplished, but still a lot remains to be done!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin has predicted that <\/span>Eth2 will devour Ethereum<\/span><\/a> \u201cin the not-too-distant future,\u201d <\/span>revealing insiders \u201care very optimistic about how fast things could unfold, as the really complicated work has been done in launching Phase 0.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Not everyone shares Lubin\u2019s enthusiasm. MyEtherWallet CEO and founder Kosala Hemachandra has warned the upgraded blockchain could be <\/span>years from completion<\/span><\/a>, as developers will encounter a lot of hurdles. <\/span>Phase 0 also suffered extensive delays.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ripple CTO says community could force the company to burn 48 billion XRP<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz has admitted that the company could be forced by validators to burn its <\/span>48 billion XRP <\/b>\u2014 whether it wants to or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

The payments giant currently holds half of the total XRP supply and has been criticized by the community for selling off tokens in the past.<\/b><\/p>\n

When a Twitter user asked whether nodes, validators and the wider community could order Ripple to burn XRP if they were in the majority, Schwartz wrote: <\/span>\u201cYes. There would be nothing Ripple could do to stop that from happening. Public blockchains are very democratic.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Data from eToro also revealed that XRP saw a <\/span>1,151% <\/b>month-on-month surge<\/span><\/a> in trading activity in November \u2014 comfortably more than Bitcoin\u2019s <\/span>221% <\/b>boost and XRP\u2019s <\/span>279% <\/b>surge.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Libra rebrands to Diem, hoping to shake off associations<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Back in June 2019, Facebook unveiled the white paper for the Libra stablecoin and the Calibra wallet. <\/span>But after yet another rebrand, the controversial project is now even more unrecognizable\u2026 and it seems that\u2019s the point.<\/b><\/p>\n

The Libra Association has seized the day, changing its name to the Diem Association. <\/span>Catchy. <\/b>It seems the organization is hoping to turn a page, win round regulators, and prove that it has some distance from Facebook.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diem Association CEO Stuart Levey said the name \u201csignals the project\u2019s growing maturity and independence.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

A series of new hires have also been made amid reports that the payment service is scheduled to launch in January.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Winners and Losers<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at <\/span>$19,088.30<\/b>, Ether at <\/span>$592.29 <\/b>and XRP at <\/span>$0.58<\/b>. The total market cap is at <\/span>$565,745,528,232<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are <\/span>Nexo<\/b>, <\/span>MaidSafeCoin <\/b>and <\/span>Elrond<\/b>. The top three altcoin losers of the week are <\/span>Stellar<\/b>, <\/span>Horizen <\/b>and <\/span>Status<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read <\/span>Cointelegraph\u2019s market analysis<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most Memorable Quotations<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWith digital assets such as cryptocurrencies becoming a rapidly emerging asset class, the time is right for independent, reliable and user-friendly benchmarks.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Peter Roffman<\/b><\/a>, S&P Dow Jones Indices<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOur miners asked us to immortalize it. Block 659678: Reuters 01\/Dec\/2020 Dollar plummets on U.S. stimulus hopes; bitcoin hits all-time peak.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Slush Pool<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in the know around the ecosystem are very optimistic about how fast things could unfold, as the really complicated work has been done in launching Phase 0.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Joseph Lubin<\/b><\/a>, ConsenSys founder and Ethereum contributor<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the water is too clean, there\u2019ll be no fish. The big gamblers will go away if casinos need to be that transparent.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Eric Leong<\/b><\/a>, junket service provider<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI do think there are some issues that crypto raises that are not neatly solved by our existing securities laws. I would like to see a little more innovation on the regulatory side.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hester Peirce<\/b><\/a>, SEC commissioner<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPerceived career risk for having Bitcoin in your institutional portfolio, as a portfolio manager, is fast migrating into a career risk for not having Bitcoin in your portfolio, and that\u2019s a really stunning development.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Danny Masters<\/b><\/a>, CoinShares chair<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBitcoin has caught the attention and the imagination of many people. Still untested, pretty small relative to other markets\u2026 Can it evolve into a global market? Possibly.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Larry Fink<\/b><\/a>, BlackRock CEO<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c2021 may be the worst year ever for the U.S. dollar, at least until 2022.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Peter Schiff<\/b><\/a>, Bitcoin skeptic<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is only one way to approach this, and that is working hand in hand with regulators.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dan Schulman<\/b><\/a>, PayPal CEO<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBitcoin has been the focal point for much of the crypto community, but altcoins are also making waves as investors look to alternative cryptoassets to diversify and make gains elsewhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Simon Peters<\/b><\/a>, eToro CEO<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMy name is not Rainn Wilson, nor is it Dwight Schrute. My name is Satoshi Nakamoto, inventor of Bitcoin. That\u2019s what I would say had I invented Bitcoin, which I did not.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rainn Wilson<\/b><\/a>, actor<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/b><\/h2>\n

Prediction of the Week<\/b><\/h2>\n

<\/h4>\n

Bitcoin hitting $200,000 by December 2021 is now \u201cconservative\u201d \u2014 Willy Woo<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

Popular statistician Willy Woo has this week\u2019s prediction for us \u2014 and he says Bitcoin hitting <\/span>$300,000 <\/b>in just one year\u2019s time \u201cis not out of the question.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a flurry of tweets on Dec. 1, Woo said he has \u201cnever been so bullish\u201d about BTC\u2019s prospects for the coming year.<\/span><\/p>\n

He wrote:<\/span> \u201cMy Top Model suggesting $200K per BTC by end of 2021 looks conservative, $300K not out of the question. The current market on average paid $7456 for their coins. You all are geniuses.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Sky-high price predictions have come thick and fast over the course of the past two months, with quant analyst PlanB\u2019s $100,000 December 2021 estimate now looking decidedly modest.<\/span><\/p>\n

FUD of the Week\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

OCC leader Brian Brooks: \u201cNobody\u2019s going to ban Bitcoin\u201d<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

U.S. regulators are not looking to \u201ckill\u201d Bitcoin, according to the acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, Brian Brooks said it is \u201cimportant that we develop the networks behind Bitcoin and other cryptos\u201d to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.<\/b><\/p>\n

On CNBC, Brooks was asked about whether Brian Armstrong\u2019s concerns that the Trump administration was planning to rush out regulations.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI think you\u2019re going to see a lot of good news for crypto by the end of the Trump term. Some of it is going to have to do with banks connecting to blockchains; some of it is going to be more clarity around the nature of these assets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And he stressed: \u201cNobody\u2019s going to ban Bitcoin.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

CipherTrace warns of surge in funds lost to MetaMask wallets<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

CipherTrace has warned of a huge surge in user funds being stolen by a malicious Chrome browser extension posing as MetaMask, the popular crypto wallet.<\/span><\/p>\n

The warning prompted Jacob Cantele, chief product officer of MetaMask, to ask Twitter what more the company can do to steer users away from potentially harmful websites and downloads.<\/b><\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cHow can we improve? Currently we\u2019re warning in multiple places within the product, we maintain a phishing detector that warns about tens of thousands of malicious sites, we do regular security marketing campaigns, and we have legal resources to trying to get these sites removed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Links to fake MetaMask sites are being inadvertently reposted by cryptocurrency projects and reportedly show up frequently as Google Ads above the first result in Google searches for the term \u201cmetamask.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The road not taken: Jealous brother claims twin earned $10 million in Bitcoin<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

A \u201cdumb\u201d twin has claimed that the lives of he and his brother took drastically different turns when they were given an inheritance of <\/span>$100,000 <\/b>each.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reddit user \u201cTheDumbTwin\u201d explained that he invested most of his inheritance in silver and stocks, while his brother plundered <\/span>$50,000 <\/b>in Bitcoin\u2026 when it was priced at <\/span>$100<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, the silver-owning brother has a net worth of less than $100,000, while his twin is worth in excess of $10 million.<\/b><\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cHis wealth in Bitcoin alone is more than 100 times greater than my entire net worth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite assurances from other Reddit users, he added: <\/span>\u201cI try to be thankful for what I do have, and I try to be thankful since I know that many other people in the world have it way worse. But I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll ever get over it.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Best Cointelegraph Features<\/b><\/h2>\n

<\/h4>\n

Multi-utility tokens to enable Web 3.0 by providing more than financial value<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

The benefits of utility tokens could soon stretch beyond payment facilitation and governance capabilities, as Rachel Wolfson explains.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

Can DeFi indices finally make crypto-based passive investing worthwhile?<\/b><\/a><\/h4>\n

The concept of a DeFi ETF sounds promising, but as Andrey Shevchenko explains, it\u2019s not without pitfalls.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more \u2014 one week on Cointelegraph in one link!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":6480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[35,2413],"tags":[2741,2722,2727,2742,2744,2743,2745,2739,2737],"yst_prominent_words":[225,1220,2599],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6477"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6486,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6477\/revisions\/6486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6477"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=6477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}