News updates January 4, 2022
1. Turkey's Inflation Jumps to 36%, Lira's Value Plummets, Citizens Flock to Stablecoins
The Republic of Turkey’s economy and the country’s native fiat currency the Turkish lira continue to experience turmoil as inflation has risen to 36%. Since this time last year, the lira has lost 44% of its value against the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, the use of stablecoins in Turkey has skyrocketed and today, 28.96% of all trades with tether are paired against the Turkish lira
Inflation in Turkey Rises to the Highest Level in 19 Years, TRY Is Tether’s Top Pair Capturing 29% of All Trades, TRY Commands 7.20% of BUSD Trades.
2. Italy’s biggest private bank Banca Generali to let users buy Bitcoin
A top Italian private bank to become the country's first bank to provide direct
Banca Generali customers would be able to acquire Bitcoin this year.
According to reports, the feature is integrated into Banca Generali’s Home Bank application through a partnership with cryptocurrency platform Conio.
As a result, Banca Generali’s private customers could buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin via the bank’s application.
Note that in December 2020, the bank acquired a $14 million stake in Conio and has since provided its clients with bitcoin custody.
Following this, Riccardo Renna, the COO of Banca Generali say
“Once the integration is complete, clients will be able to interact safely with an asset class that could be extremely risky if approached incorrectly
3. Argentinian Government Inquires About Energy Bitcoin Mining Companies Use Amidst Power Cuts
The Argentinian government is starting to inquire about the power consumption of bitcoin mining companies after some provinces in the country faced power cuts during the last days of 2021. Cammesa, the state-owned power wholesaler, has sent a memo to big power consumers to reveal whether they are mining cryptocurrency. If so, the companies should reveal their actual power consumption so a price hike can be coordinated, and they will need to invest in power infrastructure.
4. Presidential Candidate in South Korea to Raise Funds in Cryptocurrency, Issue NFTs
Lee Jae-myung, nominated by the ruling party in South Korea for the upcoming presidential elections this spring, is preparing to raise funds in cryptocurrencies and issue non-fungible tokens for supporters. His campaign hopes that the initiative will woo young and tech-savvy Korean voters whose interest in digital assets is growing.
5. China initiates CBDC-digital yuan pilot trials on app stores.
China has been at the forefront of the CBDC race. While countries across the globe have just started looking into the prospects of a central bank-issued digital currency, China has already launched a pilot version of the mobile wallet for the digital yuan, e-CNY
Unlike other countries, China took digitalization quite seriously. The country has been working on its CBDC for quite some time now. The Chinese government went on to endure immense backlash during the testing phase of the digital yuan. An array of speculations suggesting that the Chinese government would steal its citizens of their financial freedom were making the rounds. Despite this, the government remained untethered and was all set to employ e-CNY.
6. Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC To Retest $43,500 Support Wall
Monday January 03, 2022 marked the 13th birthday for the world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Bitcoin price has risen tremendously since Satoshi Nakamoto, the Bitcoin creator, mined the genesis block or block 0 13 years ago. On January 3, 2009, Nakamoto mined the first block for the Bitcoin network getting a reward of 50 Bitcoin (BTC).
7. Vitalik Buterin Reveals the two Upgrades Required for Ethereum to Survive Multiple Generations
Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has thrown some light on the phases that Ethereum will go through on the roadmap he proposed. According to the roadmap shared by Buterin, the phases left for the network to pass through include “the merge,” “the surge,” “the verge,” “the purge,” and “the splurge.”
While he followed up the infographic with an article that was titled Endgame, observers were still left uncertain about the details of how these phases were going to be achieved. This was the subject of his speaking with a cryptocurrency-focused podcast, Bankless.
