Circle, a payments technology company and the issuer of USDC, has announced it has entered a new merger deal with Concord, which raised the company’s valuation to $9 billion
The previous deal with Concord, signed in July 2021, valued Circle at $4.5 billion
USDC currently accounts for roughly two-thirds of Tether’s market cap, up from accounting for less than a quarter a year prior
Circle, the issuer of USD Coin, revisits its merger agreement with Concord
According to Thursday’s press release, Circle has terminated its existing business agreements with Concord, and has entered a new merger deal that is expected to be finalized by December of this year.
Circle is a global payments technology company and the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin in the industry. The company has made its intentions of becoming a publicly-traded company clear last year when it entered into a business arrangement with Concord, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) founded with the intention of facilitating Circle’s initial public offering (IPO).
While the arrangement made last July initially valued Circle at $4.5 billion, the new deal saw the value of Circle double to $9 billion.
The CEO and co-founder of Circle, Jeremy Allaire, commented on the prospects of Circle becoming a publicly-traded company:
“Circle has made massive strides toward transforming the global economic system through the power of digital currencies and the open internet. Being a public company will further strengthen trust and confidence in Circle and is a critical milestone as we continue our mission to build a more inclusive financial ecosystem.”
Once the newly inked merger deal is finalized, a newly formed company will acquire both Concord and Circle and is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “CRCL.”
USDC is challenging Tether’s stablecoin dominance
Circle’s USDC has recently made great strides towards chipping away at Tether’s USDT dominant market share in the stablecoin sector. In January, USDC overtook USDT to become the largest stablecoin on Ethereum in terms of circulating supply.
Earlier this month, USDC surpassed the $50 billion market cap milestone on the tailwind of 10,000% growth in the previous two years. As of right now, USDC is natively supported on eight different blockchains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Tron, and Solana. We could see the list lengthen in the coming months as the Circle team has been adamant about expanding USDC to as many chains as possible.
The stablecoin supply increased by more than 350% in the last 12 months. Image source: The Block
The stablecoin sector as a whole has undergone immense growth over the last year. According to data curated by The Block, the combined value of all stablecoins in circulation increased from $38 billion at the end of last January to over $177 billion today.
Given its recent market trajectory and the sector’s distinct growth trend, USDC could soon surpass USDT to become the most widely used stablecoin.
The NAGAX team has announced its social trading platform will be launching on March 7; the pre-registration is now open
NAGAX will be giving out $35,000 worth of USDT prizes to users who preregister their accounts, and rich rewards to those who generate the most engagement about the upcoming launch on social media
NAGAX will offer spot and derivatives trading, a community-driven News Feed hub, its own NFT marketplace, staking products, and more
NAGAX, a Germany-based cryptocurrency social trading platform, has announced its public launch is slated for March 7, 2022. The NAGAX team has also unveiled it will be running an exclusive pre-registration promotion that will distribute $35,000 among the first users.
NAGAX is launching on March 7 with an emphasis on community engagement
NAGAX is a subsidiary of the Hamburg-headquartered NAGA Group AG, a rapidly growing investment firm that allows traders to gain exposure to stocks, crypto, forex, and ETF markets. With NAGAX, the company is deepening its commitment to digital assets and looks to disrupt the crypto exchange landscape with a combination of social trading features and a rich portfolio of trading products and services.
Traders interested in becoming the first members of the upcoming trading platform are invited to register for the NAGAX whitelist. In addition to the pre-registration whitelist, NAGAX will be giving the community a chance to participate in the $35,000 promotional event.
$35,000 in prizes awaits new NAGAX users
The first promotion will be rewarding a share of the $10,000 prize pool to three participants that will do the best job of promoting the upcoming launch of NAGAX on social media. The participants vying for the $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000 prizes are instructed to educate the broader crypto community about NAGAX’s features and to share links to the company’s Telegram channel and website.
The second and third promotions will be rewarding users who pre-register their NAGAX accounts ahead of the March 7 launch. Five whitelisted users selected out of the pool of the first 10,000 registered users will win $1,000 each, while the first 2,000 users will receive $10 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) into their NAGAX accounts.
All prizes will be paid out in the equivalent amount of Tether (USDT) stablecoin.
At launch, NAGAX will offer support for more than 100 digital assets trading in 700 pairs, derivatives trading, and access to top-tier and easy-to-understand educational material. Going forward, the NAGAX team plans to expand its platform with staking features, a launchpad platform, and its own non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.
NAGAX will provide expert traders with an opportunity to monetize their investment insights to other, less knowledgeable members of the community. The trading insights, along with the latest news, and educational content will be featured in NAGAX’s News Feed.
The second-largest stablecoin, Circle’s USD Coin, has surpassed the $50 billion market cap milestone for the first time on Tuesday
USDC’s circulating supply has increased by 10,000% in the two years since January 2020 as the number of active wallet addresses grew to 4.6 million
USDC is quickly closing the gap with Tether’s USDT and currently accounts for roughly 30% of the total stablecoin circulating supply
USDC hits $50 bln market cap on the heels of 10,000% growth over the past two years
Circle’s USD Coin has reached a significant milestone on Tuesday, having surpassed $50 billion in circulating supply for the first time since launching in May 2018. With its recent expansion to the Flow platform, USDC is now providing liquidity and stable value transfers on eight different blockchain ecosystems, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Tron, and Solana.
Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, a cryptocurrency consortium backed by Coinbase and Bitmain that launched and develops USDC, shared interesting market data on the second-largest stablecoin in a Tuesday’s Twitter thread.
— Jeremy Allaire – jda.eth / jdallaire.sol (@jerallaire) February 1, 2022
Allaire first alluded to the immense growth of the USDC network over the past two years – USDC’s market cap has increased by 10,000% since 2020, while approximately $2.5 trillion worth of on-chain transactions have been executed in 2021 alone. Circle’s CEO also added that the number of active wallet addresses grew to 4.6 million by the end of last year, and that more than 200 cryptocurrency products and services support USDC.
USDC is quickly closing the gap with USDT, now accounts for 30% of the total stablecoin supply
According to data curated by The Block, USDC accounts for roughly 30% of the total stablecoin supply, with Tether’s USDT still leading the way with more than half of the entire stablecoin market cap. However, the gap between the first-placed USDT and USDC is closing quickly, as can be seen in the chart below.
USDC’s share of stablecoin supply increased from 1% in October 2018 to 30% in February 2022. Image source: The Block
The largest share of USDC supply resides on the Ethereum chain, $45 billion as of February 1. Earlier in the month, USDC overtook USDT as the largest stablecoin on the leading smart-contract platform. Generally speaking, the stablecoin sector had grown by more than 400% in the 12 months since January 1, 2021, having increased from 29$ billion to $151 billion in a single calendar year.
USDC has managed to capitalize on different controversies surrounding Tether, ranging from misleading claims of being fully backed by the US dollar and alleged price manipulation of Bitcoin. Given its current growth trajectory and backing by a number of prominent crypto partners, including Coinbase and Solana, USDC could overtake USDT as the dominant stablecoin in the not too distant future.
USDC has surpassed USDT as the top stablecoin in terms of its total supply on the Ethereum blockchain
Tether’s USDT has been losing its market share to both new and more transparent centralized competitors as well as to algorithmic stablecoins
The stablecoin sector has ballooned in the past year, growing by 410% in the 12-month period since January 1, 2021
The total supply of USDC on the Ethereum chain surpasses that of USDT for the first time
The total supply of USD Coin on the Ethereum blockchain surpassed Tether’s total supply for the first time last week. According to data from blockchain analytics firm The Block, USDC’s supply now amounts to $40.2 billion, while USDT’s Ethereum supply comes in second with $39.8 billion.
The battle for stablecoin supremacy has reached a boiling point over the past year, with several stablecoin issuers making a push to dethrone Tether as the most widely used digital asset in the space. So far, Circle’s USDC is making the best claim for the number one spot. Circle, a crypto consortium backed by Coinbase and Bitmain, has managed to capitalize on different controversies surrounding Tether, ranging from misleading claims of being fully backed by the US dollar and alleged price manipulation of Bitcoin.
While USDT still reigns supreme when taking into account its supply across all blockchains, USDC is quickly catching up despite being available on only three chains compared to USDT’s nine, with the latest addition being Avalanche in mid-November. As of January 16, USDC’s total supply of $45 billion trailed Tether’s $82 billion and accounted for roughly 30% of the entire stablecoin supply.
The stablecoin sector has grown by more than 400% since the beginning of 2021
The stablecoin sector as a whole ballooned over the past year. For reference, the combined supply of major stablecoins increased from $29 billion on January 1, 2021, to $151 billion twelve months later, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.
One of the more exciting developments in recent months has been the rise of algorithmic stablecoins, which are digital assets that don’t derive their value directly from their USD peg, like USDT or USDC, but are designed to maintain their stable price relation to USD by utilizing a complex set of smart contracts, which guarantees security, drastically reduces the possibility for supply tampering and eliminates the central control of assets.
For instance, Tether has recently frozen three Ethereum addresses holding $150 million worth of USDT among them, which elevated the total amount of blacklisted addresses to date to 563. Following the news of a new batch of blacklistings, the founder of Terra, the issuer of the largest algorithmic stablecoin UST, tweeted that “there is no blacklisting key for $UST,” implying his disagreement with Tether’s actions and pointing out the importance of decentralization.
Tether, the owner and operator of the largest stablecoin network in the world, has blacklisted three Ethereum addresses on Thursday, and effectively froze $150 million in USDT split among them.
Key takeaways:
According to blockchain explorer Bloxy, Tether froze the funds simultaneously at around 4:30 PM UTC on January 13. While the exact reason for the decision is not yet known, Tether holds the power to freeze addresses that engage in criminal financial acts, such as money laundering.
The addition of three new addresses to the blacklist marks the first time that Tether has done so this year. In the four and a half years since the blacklist was first introduced, Tether has added 563 addresses to the list, with the vast majority coming last year when 362 addresses were blacklisted.
Given its centralized structure, Tether is able to exercise its power and control USDT funds at its own discretion. This goes against the fundamental principle of crypto and has sparked many debates in the crypto community over the years, with many members believing Tether holds too much power.
While USDT is still the biggest stablecoin, with a market capitalization of $78 billion, competitors are quickly catching up. USD Coin, for instance, has experienced exponential growth over the past couple of months and currently commands a $45 billion valuation.
Algorithmic stablecoins, most notably Terra’s UST, are also on the rise. UST is pegged to the value of the US dollar via a complex mechanism of smart contracts and is entirely decentralized. Following the news of a new batch of blacklistings, the founder of Terra Do Kwon tweeted that “there is no blacklisting key for $UST,” subtly implying his disagreement with Tether’s actions.
Digital payments giant PayPal is exploring the possibility of launching its own stablecoin to expand its growing suite of crypto products and services. The evidence of the company’s stablecoin initiative was first spotted in PayPal’s mobile app code by software engineer Steve Moser, who shared his findings with Bloomberg on Friday.
Key takeaways:
According to Moser, the hidden code in the mobile app shows a section dubbed “PayPal Coin,” which suggests the name of the upcoming stable digital currency.
The information shared by Moser was later corroborated by a company’s representative, who confirmed PayPal is indeed working on a brand new stablecoin solution that will in all likely hood be pegged to the value of the US Dollar.
A PayPal spokesman commented on the report: “We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators.”
Although PayPal’s work on a stablecoin is all but certain, the images and other information found in the hidden code is a result of a recent internal hackathon. This means that the development is still in the early stages and that the new crypto product could have different properties once it hits the market.
PayPal has been at the forefront of institutional adoption of digital assets. The company first introduced cryptocurrency functionality to its US customers at the end of 2020 and later expanded its offering to UK customers in September of last year.
The stablecoin sector has been experiencing a meteoric rise over the last couple of years. The combined value of all stablecoins in circulation has risen from roughly $5 billion in January 2020 to $168 billion today, according to data from CoinCodex. PayPal’s entry into the market could lead to a major shake-up in the space currently dominated by Tether (USDT), which controls a roughly 45% market share.
Avalanche-native Tether (USDT) will give the DeFi platform’s users access to the largest and most liquid stablecoin in the industry
The inclusion of the Avalance Layer-1 network marks the 9th platform USDT supports
Users can head to Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange to use AVAX-based USDT for fast and cheap transactions
Avalanche (AVAX) has become the ninth blockchain platform to support the world’s largest stablecoin. Users of the high-performing and easily scalable network can now use Avalanche-native Tether (USDT) to gain access to the most liquid stablecoin in the industry.
Alternatives to Ethereum-based USDT are gaining traction due to high gas fees
The first iteration of Tether’s USDT stablecoin was launched on the Omni protocol, built atop the Bitcoin blockchain, in October 2014. Since then, USDT has expanded to nine blockchain platforms, including Ethereum (ETH), TRON (TRX), and Solana (SOL), to name a few. It is worth noting that ETH and TRON-based versions of Tether account for over 95% of USDT’s total $74.4 billion market cap.
Recently, the TRON-native version of USDT gained popularity due to its cheap transaction fees and rising gas fees on the Ethereum network. According to data accumulated by The Block, TRON stablecoin transactions have surpassed ETH facilitated USDT for the first time in June 2021, and have continued to be neck and neck since then.
USDT supply by blockchain. Image source: Coin Metrics, The Block
The main competitive advantage of USDT over other stablecoin solutions is its availability across numerous blockchain platforms. For instance, USD Coin (USDC), the second biggest stablecoin on the market with a market cap of $34.4 billion, can only be utilized by Algorand (ALGO), Ethereum, and Solana users.
Users of the Avalanche blockchain platform can now utilize USDT for transferring funds, staking purposes, and a variety of other use cases
It is not surprising that USDT keeps commanding such a large share of the total stablecoin market. Not only can Tether be used for transactions on nine different crypto networks, but the world’s largest stablecoin can be used for staking purposes, which can earn USDT holders considerable returns. Additionally, USDT can also be utilized for inter-exchange transactions, derivatives contracts, consumer loans, and more.
Total stablecoin supply. Image source: Coin Metrics, The Block
With $74.4 billion, USDT’s supply accounts for roughly half of the combined value of all stablecoins in the blockchain sector. Emin Gün Sirer, Director of the Avalanche Foundation, recognizes the addition of USDT as a milestone achievement for the platform:
“USDt on Avalanche is an essential building block for DeFi users. Tether has become a well-accepted, time-tested stablecoin with extensive support throughout exchanges. It will be even more powerful with Avalanche as its foundation.”
Avalanche, a prominent Ethereum Layer-1 competitor, has been one of crypto’s biggest success stories of the year. The highly scalable open-source smart contract-enabled blockchain ecosystem relies on its own Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus protocols called the Avalanche consensus protocol and the Snowman consensus protocol, which guarantee blockchain immutability while consuming minimal energy at the same time.
In the three months since the launch of a $180 million DeFi incentive fund, the price of AVAX tokens jumped by over 350% and hit an all-time high above $100 on Wednesday. The network currently boasts $13.18 billion in total value locked (TVL) across various DeFi services, a sharp increase from $312 million TVL on August 18.
It took Bitcoin more than half a year to reach prices this high again
In April, the list of the top 10 cryptocurrencies looked a lot different than it does today
Altcoins and stablecoins have been gaining popularity over recent months
Are you wondering about how the market has changed since Bitcoin last hit $60K in mid-April? We’re taking a look at historical market data to see what has changed in the last six months.
Notable changes in the cryptocurrency top 10
Let’s start the comparison by looking at a list of the top 10 cryptocurrencies on April 12. The total market cap had just surpassed $2 trillion a few days before, and Bitcoin was trading above the $60K mark for the second time in history at that point.
Like now, the trio of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB) was occupying the first three spots on the list of largest digital currencies. The first thing that jumps out is that Ethereum was trading far below today’s levels as it had an 80% lower market value than it does today.
Market snapshot of top ten cryptocurrencies on April 12. Image source: CoinCodex
Bitcoin dominance was approaching new heights as Bitcoin went on to reach its all-time high price of $64,800 just two days later, on April 14. The 4th to 6th spots belonged to XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), and Tether (USDT). Polkadot (DOT) was trading near its all-time high, while Litecoin (LTC) was experiencing a strong rally that pulled its price from $196 on March 25 to $250 on April 12. ChainLink (LINK) and Stellar (XLM) rounded up the top 10 list.
Altcoins have gained ground on Bitcoin in the last six months
We’re fast-forwarding to October 15, when Bitcoin managed to again break $60K on the heels of positive news surrounding the first-ever ETF launching in the US. The same trio of cryptocurrencies still sits at the top; however, both ETH and BNB now enjoy a much high market cap. Ethereum’s London hard fork that went live early in August is mainly responsible for the almost 80% price increase.
Market snapshot of top ten cryptocurrencies on October 15. Image source: CoinCodex
The remainder of the list has seen some significant changes in the period of the last six months. For starters, XLM, LINK, and LTC have slipped out of the top 10 and have been replaced by newcomers to the list.
Solana (SOL) has managed to become the 7th largest digital currency by market cap after gaining a whopping 10,400% since the start of the year. Dogecoin is the first ‘memecoin’ to break into the top 10.
Stablecoins have been gaining popularity in recent months. USDT’s market cap has increased by a third, while USD Coin managed to join the group of 10 largest coins on a $21 billion valuation.
While Bitcoin has almost the same market capitalization in our two market snapshots, the total cryptocurrency market cap is 17% larger in October than in April. The reason for this is simple – altcoins have been gaining momentum. For reference, on October 15, Bitcoin dominance was 15% smaller than in April.
At the time of this writing, Bitcoin is exchanging hands at $63,840 and is just 1.51% removed from its previous ATH. Furthermore, the cumulative value of digital assets has reached a new peak above $2.6 trillion on October 19. Let’s see where this bullish momentum can take us and how it will shape the industry’s landscape over the next six months.
Thanks to the strong performance of cryptocurrencies in the market (Bitcoin alone is up over 300% in the last year), the number of people that own crypto has seen a sharp increase. And while many cryptocurrency owners are happy with just passively HODLing their coins, others are looking to actively use the technology and experience its unique advantages. Cryptocurrencies enable 24/7 transactions anywhere in the world, typically at much faster speeds and lower costs than using traditional banking and remittance services.
The top 5 coins for crypto betting
Thanks to these benefits, cryptocurrency is also being adopted quickly in the world of betting. These crypto bookmakers all accept Bitcoin, but many of them also support other popular cryptocurrencies to give customers a wider range of options. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the top 5 cryptocurrencies that are supported by the best crypto bookmakers and highlight some of their most important advantages and disadvantages.
1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin was the first ever cryptocurrency and remains the most valuable and widely adopted coin on the market today. Accordingly, practically every bookmaker that accepts crypto offers Bitcoin as one of the available payment options, and some bookmakers are even Bitcoin-exclusive.
Bitcoin is almost certainly the safest cryptocurrency to use – the network is secured by a huge network of miners, making it almost impossible for transactions to be tampered with. If you don’t mind waiting a bit longer for your deposit to be credited, Bitcoin is definitely a solid choice. When using Bitcoin on crypto betting platforms, keep in mind that many crypto bookmakers use the mBTC denomination, which means one-thousandth of a BTC. 1 mBTC is the same as saying 0.001 BTC.
Bitcoin pros:
Accepted by almost all crypto bookmakers
Easy to buy on almost any cryptocurrency exchange
A lot of wallet options
Extremely secure
Bitcoin cons:
Transactions are relatively slow and expensive
2. Ethereum
Ethereum has been gaining huge momentum recently thanks to its smart contract capabilities. While Bitcoin is laser-focused on simple peer-to-peer transactions, Ethereum expands on the idea of cryptocurrencies and allows anyone to create intricate decentralized applications that function directly on the blockchain. People who enjoy betting can also access prediction markets on the Ethereum blockchain, if they want a firsthand experience of how decentralized applications work.
Since Ethereum is the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, it’s also accepted by a huge number of crypto bookmakers. While ETH transactions are faster than BTC transactions, they can unfortunately sometimes also be more expensive. When a new DeFi application or NFT collection generates a lot of hype, the Ethereum network can get clogged up fairly easily, leading to a rise in transaction costs. Things are likely to improve in the future though, as the ongoing transition to Ethereum 2.0 is poised to solve many of Ethereum’s current shortcomings.
Ethereum pros:
Can also be used in decentralized applications, which includes prediction markets
Faster transactions than Bitcoin
Easy to purchase
Ethereum cons:
Transaction fees can be very expensive when the network is congested
Compared to Bitcoin, Ethereum is supported by a slightly smaller number of crypto bookmakers
3. Litecoin
Litecoin is often explained with the following comparison – if Bitcoin is gold, then Litecoin is silver. That’s because Litecoin has a lot of similarities with Bitcoin, but has a leaner design and offers an overall smoother user experience. In comparison with Bitcoin, Litecoin has a 4x larger maximum supply, 4x faster block times, and a different cryptographic hash function – it uses Scrypt instead of Bitcoin’s SHA-256.
As a result, transacting with Litecoin is cheaper and faster than using Bitcoin. If you already have experience with Bitcoin, you can get used to Litecoin very easily, thanks to the numerous similarities between the two cryptocurrencies. If you’re finding that your transaction fees are a bit too high for your liking, Litecoin is definitely a strong alternative to Bitcoin.
Litecoin pros:
Faster and cheaper transactions
Easy to grasp for people who know how to use Bitcoin
Solid choice of different wallets, is available on most crypto exchanges
Litecoin cons:
The security of the Litecoin network is not as bulletproof as with Bitcoin
Might not be accepted by every crypto bookmaker
4. Tether (USDT)
USDT is a stablecoin issued by the Tether company. While other cryptocurrencies we’ve covered in this list can show massive price swings in a very short time, USDT is designed to trade as close to $1 as possible at all times.
This is because Tether ensures that 1 USDT can be converted into 1 USD, and keeps a reserve of funds to cover all the USDT tokens in circulation – at least in theory. In reality, the reserves backing USDT have been the subject of a lot of controversy. Regardless, USDT is still hugely popular in the cryptocurrency market and has mostly been successful at keeping its $1 peg.
If you want to use a crypto bookmaker but want to avoid the volatility of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, USDT is one of the best options to consider. In many cases, it’s the only stablecoin option supported by crypto betting platforms.
Tether pros:
Listed on almost every cryptocurrency exchange
Available on different blockchain networks (check with your bookmaker about their supported USDT networks)
Minimal price volatility
Tether cons:
Not decentralized
Users have to trust that the issuer will be able to maintain the $1 peg
5. Dogecoin
Dogecoin is a prime example of meme coins – these are cryptocurrencies that have some kind of humorous element, and are usually not taken as seriously by the community as Bitcoin and other similarly ambitious projects.
However, this doesn’t mean that Bitcoin is just a joke. It currently has a market capitalization of over $40 billion and a highly dedicated community that promotes its adoption. Thanks to its popularity, Dogecoin has also made its way on many crypto betting platforms. Dogecoin’s main advantage is that its transactions are relatively fast and cheap, and you can also get your hands on some DOGE on practically every cryptocurrency exchange.
Dogecoin pros:
One of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world
Available on many crypto exchanges and betting platforms
Relatively fast and cheap transactions
Dogecoin cons:
The price can be extremely volatile
Not as secure as Bitcoin or Ethereum
Choose the coin that’s best for you
Whether you’re sticking only to Bitcoin or also like to branch out into other cryptocurrencies, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find a solid crypto bookmaker that accepts your coin of choice. When choosing which cryptocurrency to use, it’s important to consider the trade-offs between speed, security and availability. An interesting option are also stablecoins like USDT, which allow you to avoid the price volatility risk that’s inherent in most of the popular cryptocurrencies.
