The Bahamas have just deployed their central bank digital currency (CBDC), the „Sand Dollar“. Its launch comes after a pilot program initiated in October 2019.

The Sand Dollar lands in the Bahamas

The Central Bank of the Bahamas (CBOB) today officially introduced its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), the “ Sand Dollar ”. This makes the Bahamas one of the first countries in the world to launch a CBDC beyond a pilot program .

The information was shared during a webinar broadcast on Facebook , on the dedicated Sand Dollar page. As of today, the 386,000 inhabitants of the archipelago can create their digital wallet on their smartphone and carry out transactions.

The entire Sand Dollar ecosystem will therefore transit through smartphones, and all Bahamian merchants can very easily accept it as a means of payment.

The central bank has chosen the company NZIA as its technological partner for the deployment of the Sand Dollar. Also based in Canada, South Korea, Singapore and South Africa, NZIA specializes in developing solutions compatible with existing regulatory frameworks and financial frameworks.

On the official Sand Dollar website , here’s how the Central Bank of the Bahamas justifies the introduction of this CBDC:

„The goal is to promote more inclusive access to regulated payments and other financial services for underserved communities and socio-economic groups, as well as reduce service delivery costs and increase transaction efficiency for financial services. across the Bahamas. „

Each Sand Dollar is backed by a Bahamian dollar, which in turn is pegged to a US dollar. In addition, the CBOB claims that the fees required to complete a transaction are negligible, without giving further details.

A CBDC quickly set up

This CBDC had been in the works for several years, although things really accelerated last year when it was publicly announced.

The Sand Dollar project had been the subject of a pilot program since October 2019 , when 48,000 units were in circulation on the islands of Exuma and Abaco, combining a population of 25,000 people.

Although the Sand Dollar is being rolled out nationwide fairly quickly, the project already looks quite mature . The Central Bank of the Bahamas ensures that its entire ecosystem is already operational.

The institution hopes in particular that at the end of this project, all inhabitants of the Bahamas will have equal and expanded access to modernized digital means of payment . At the same time, a reduction in cash transactions is also planned, a feature that will certainly be debated.

This new payment infrastructure is expected to reduce service delivery costs, increase transaction efficiency and improve the general level of financial inclusion of communities throughout the archipelago.

Along with Venezuela’s Petro (PRT) , the Sand Dollar is one of the first sovereign digital currencies to emerge . Although the challenge is less compared to the deployment of the digital yuan in China , the Bahamas are proving to the whole world their lead on a technology which is still very young.

Coinbase lancia il supporto per Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).

Ciò segue il recente lancio di altri token DeFi come Uniswap (UNI).

Le attività e le speranze nel mercato della finanza decentralizzata ( DeFi ) sembrano essere lente. Nonostante ciò, gli scambi di criptovaluta stanno ancora aggiungendo token DeFi per i clienti, a sostegno del mercato. Oggi, Coinbase Pro, la piattaforma di trading professionale di Coinbase, ha lanciato il supporto per il token Wrapped Bitcoin di DeFi soprannominato WBTC .

Il trading WBTC inizierà presto su Coinbase Pro

Dopo l‘ annuncio , Coinbase Pro ha debuttato il supporto per il token WBTC, a partire dal 15 ottobre. Quindi, i trader sulla piattaforma possono iniziare a depositare i loro token Wrapped Bitcoin, sebbene il trading inizierà in una data successiva. All’apertura del trasferimento in entrata del token, il trading dovrebbe iniziare entro martedì, cioè se le condizioni di liquidità sono state raggiunte.

Con una fornitura sufficiente di token Bitcoin, Coinbase Pro lancerà le coppie di trading fiat e criptovaluta del token – WBTC-USD e WBTC-BTC – nei loro libri ordini. Secondo quanto riferito, questo verrà rilasciato in circa quattro fasi che includono solo trasferimento, solo post, solo limite e trading completo. I trader di criptovalute delle regioni supportate da Coinbase Pro possono partecipare al trading, ad eccezione dei clienti a New York.

Gettoni Coinbase DeFi

Il lancio di Wrapped Bitcoin su Coinbase Pro arriva mentre la domanda per il token continua a crescere. Il protocollo è attualmente classificato come il terzo protocollo più grande su DeFi Pulse, con quasi $ 1,2 miliardi di risorse bloccate. WBTC è fondamentalmente la versione Ethereum di Bitcoin. È un token ERC-20 approssimativamente ancorato a Bitcoin in un rapporto 1: 1. Data la differenza nelle Blockchain, il token è stato creato per consentire agli utenti di Bitcoin di interagire equamente con Ethereum e DeFi per essere precisi.

Nel frattempo, il token Wrapped Bitcoin non è il primo token di finanza decentralizzato ad essere supportato dallo scambio. Recentemente, Coinbase ha implementato il supporto per token come Maker (MKR), Yearn.Finance (YFI), Compound (COMP), Uniswap (UNI), Balancer (BAL) e molti altri.

Tidligere UKIP-politiker (UK Independence Party) Godfrey Bloom tok til Twitter for å dele at han gjorde sitt første bitcoin-kjøp denne uken, og diversifiserte sin portefølje fra edle metaller.

70-åringen har nok gull og sølv som fikk en eksplosjon i 2020 takket være Federal Reserves monetære stimulans. Nå ønsker han å komme inn på den ledende digitale eiendelen, som har tiltrukket seg mange store aktører i år som en „inflasjonshekk.“

Bitcoin er „sannsynlig å være en kraftig sikring mot svakhet i amerikanske dollar,“ bemerket Charlie Morris fra ByteTree.

I løpet av Bitcoins levetid har 2017 og etter Covid-19-krasj 2020 vært de eneste meningsfylte anledninger da DXY falt, og BTC gjorde det bra. „De aller fleste av Bitcoins tidligere gevinster falt sammen med perioder med en flat eller svak dollar,“ fant han.

I år vokste bitcoin også sterkere som en butikk med verdi og digitalt gull, enda bedre enn fysisk gull – billigere å bevege seg rundt, manipulasjonssikker og lett å kontrollere.

“Det er noe mange mindre investorer allerede forstår. Institusjonelle investorer tilpasser seg også dette, ”sa Eric Demuth, administrerende direktør og medstifter av kryptobørs BitPanda, som samlet inn 52 millioner dollar i en serie A-runde ledet av Peter Thiels Valar Ventures.

Til tross for den økende fremgangen, er ikke masseutnyttelse av kryptovalutaen her, og vi er fortsatt ikke der ennå, sa han.

Ifølge ham vil bitcoin og krypto samlet sett bli mer mainstream i løpet av de neste fem årene, med brukervennlighet som blir bedre og tilgang til disse krypto-eiendelene veldig enkelt og rett frem.

„Bitcoin vil være et must-have aktivum i enhver investors – liten eller stor – portefølje i 2025,“ spådde han og la til at regulering vil øke troverdigheten.

ByBit does as it pleases – In the jungle of derivative markets, precaution is the order of the day. While many trading platforms let their users navigate on sight by offering disconcerting leverage, ByBit decides to take the opposite path. It introduces a childishly simple tool, improving the trading experience in the derivatives markets.

A necessary adaptation

It is difficult to accurately estimate the share of derivatives markets within the crypto industry. According to a report by TokenInsight, spot trading represented a volume of $6.6 trillion in Q1 2020, while the derivatives market weighed the equivalent of $2 trillion over the same period.

Spot trading involves buying a specific cryptogram and selling it at a later date, hoping to make a profit.

Derivatives markets are different in nature. They allow traders to bet on the rise or fall of an asset, without being directly exposed to it. As a result, investors can make gains in all market conditions.

For example, mining professionals use it on a daily basis to balance their positions. They have often made investments of scale for their equipment needs. The economic health of their business is therefore closely linked to the performance of Bitcoin and other mined cryptomoney.

In order to make profits in all market configurations, they may decide to open a short position (short selling) on a particular cryptomony to offset potential depreciation.

Once reserved for an insider clientele (within traditional finance), the inclusive aspect of decentralisation has allowed trading platforms, such as ByBit, to democratise access to derivatives markets.

In order to reach out to these newcomers, ByBit offers an insurance fund to maximise trader protection in a market where volatility and indecision are commonplace.

ByBit insurance: a multi-function tool

Ubuesque leverage effects are now part of the landscape. Being able to put into play 100 times the amount actually owned can be synonymous with astronomical gains, but also induces the risks of an imminent liquidation.

Whether you’re a thrill-seeker or a nature-lover. ByBit’s „Mutual insurance“ allows you to approach your strategies from an original angle.

This new type of insurance gives you the possibility of covering your losses over a period of 2, 12 or 48 hours. Only valid on the BTC/USD pair, it makes it possible to protect a portion of your position (25%, for example) or simply your entire position.

This new feature allows novice traders to experiment with the derivatives markets with much more serenity and more experienced traders to open up their field of strategic possibilities.

It is also a credible alternative to spot markets. Instead of being exposed to Bitcoin by buying tokens directly, it is now possible to open a long position, coupled with insurance to protect your funds in the event of a downturn. The Spot/Derivative combination is therefore no longer a requirement in order to maximise the balance of your positions.