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From Highs to Lows: The Journey of Silvergate’s Crypto Business

by Bitcoin Admin | Mar 17, 2023 | Market, Market News

A brief overview of Silvergate Bank and its foray into the cryptocurrency industry

Silvergate Bank is a publicly traded financial institution providing banking services to the fintech and cryptocurrency industry since the early 2010s. The bank’s first foray into the cryptocurrency industry was in 2013, providing banking services to the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. Since then, Silvergate has become one of the most prominent banks in the cryptocurrency industry, with many clients, including crypto exchanges, institutional investors, and other fintech companies.

Silvergate’s involvement in the cryptocurrency industry has been driven by the growing demand for banking services that can support the industry’s growth. In particular, the bank has been focused on providing services to institutional investors looking to invest in cryptocurrencies. These investors often require specialized banking services to help them manage the risks associated with investing in a volatile and rapidly evolving market.

Silvergate Bank has made a name for itself in the crypto space due to its willingness to be an early adopter and its commitment to providing superior banking services to its customers. However, the journey of Silvergate’s crypto business has been far from smooth, with the bank experiencing both highs and lows.

The Rise of Silvergate’s Crypto Business

Silvergate’s crypto business has seen a surge thanks to the bank’s ability to facilitate quick and efficient USD wire transfers through access to the Federal Reserve payment system.

In addition to its payment services, Silvergate offered its clients a secure platform for storing and trading cryptocurrencies. The bank’s Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) allowed its clients to make instantaneous transfers of cryptocurrencies between their accounts on the network, reducing the risk of fraud and making transactions faster and more efficient.

Silvergate’s crypto business continued to grow as the cryptocurrency industry gained mainstream acceptance and institutional investors started to get involved. The bank’s client base expanded rapidly, and its stock price surged in 2019 as it went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Silvergate’s crypto business was responsible for over 20% of the bank’s total deposits at its peak.

Also Read: 5 Best Altcoins to Invest in 2023

However, the crypto industry is known for its volatility, and Silvergate’s crypto business was no exception. In early 2021, the bank’s stock price took a hit as the price of Bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency, fell sharply. Additionally, competition in the crypto banking space increased as other banks offered similar services.

Despite these challenges, Silvergate’s crypto business remains a major player in the industry. The bank has continued to expand its services and client base and is well-positioned to take advantage of the growing interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

The Fall of Silvergate’s Crypto Business

One of the main factors behind Silvergate’s fall was the declining trading volumes of its institutional clients. The bank’s reliance on a few large cryptocurrency exchanges for a significant portion of its business made it vulnerable to fluctuations in trading volumes. When the overall trading activity in the cryptocurrency markets slowed down, it directly impacted the bank’s revenues.

Another challenge for Silvergate’s crypto business was the increasing competition from other financial institutions entering the cryptocurrency space. As more banks and financial institutions began offering banking services to cryptocurrency businesses, Silvergate’s market share began to shrink.

Also Read: How to Prevent Being Scammed by Cryptocurrency?

In addition to these external factors, Silvergate’s crypto business faced some internal challenges. The bank had to spend significant resources on compliance and regulatory matters to ensure it adhered to anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations. These compliance costs impacted the bank’s profitability.

The downfall of Silvergate’s crypto operations is thought to result from a mixture of external and internal elements, including a drop in trading activity and heightened competition, as well as the associated costs of compliance. However, the bank is still optimistic about the long-term potential of the cryptocurrency industry and has continued to invest in its crypto business to position itself for future growth.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Silvergate’s crypto business journey has been a rollercoaster ride. From its initial success in serving the crypto industry and building a strong reputation as a trusted banking partner to the industry’s leading companies to its later struggles with a changing regulatory environment and increasing competition, the story of Silvergate’s crypto business is a cautionary tale of the challenges facing financial institutions in the crypto space.

Despite the setbacks, however, it is clear that Silvergate remains committed to the crypto industry and is continuing to invest in developing its digital currency infrastructure. Still, there is no doubt that the lessons learned from its experiences will be valuable to other institutions looking to enter the space in the coming years.

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Binance Account Bound (BAB) token, the First-Ever Soulbound Token on BNB Chain

by Coin Network Admin | Sep 20, 2022 | Alt Coin, BNB, Market, Market News, News

Binance is the most popular and the biggest crypto trading platform when it comes to the trading volume. The platform allows users to buy or sell various digital currencies. Along with this, users also have the ability to review and compare other crypto options to do the trading. With $40 billion daily trades, Binance has become the world’s biggest trading platforms.

On 8^th Sept. 2022, this leading digital currency trading platform launched the Binance Account Bound (BAB) token on BNB Chain which is suppose to work as a “soulbound token”. BAB is basically launched to utilize as an identity proof for KYC verified Binance users. These soulbound tokens can’t be transferred as each user on BNB Chain has its own unique token. In this way, a verified Binance client ID must be utilized to mint one BAB token on a BNB Chain. They are, notwithstanding, revocable, after which tokens will be locked for 72 hours.

However, remember that getting a BAB Token is completely optional for Binance users and it is not a compulsory requirement to use any products or services offered by Binance.

Everything you need to know about BAB:

Binance Account Bound (BAB) tokens or the soulbound tokens are mainly launched for Binance users who get verified after completing the whole KYC verification process. In simple words, these tokens are identity credentials for them. They are will issued on the BNB Chain by Binance and it is indicated that several other projects on BNB Chain will also be introducing the BAB tokens to their users as identity credentials. When a Binance verified user creates a BAB token, that particular user will be given the access to participate in building the supporting projects on the chain and get rewards. However, the complete details related to it are not revealed yet.

Till now, there are 15 projects that have partnered up with Binance to offer their users benefits related to the BAB tokens. The benefits include the things like exclusive airdrops, community and membership benefits, benefits on the social gaming metaverse, access to play-to-earn protocol, privileged reward programs along with many other VIP perks. This partnership news was also confirmed by BNB Chain.

BAB Features:

The token is non-transferable, which means that it can’t be transferred by the user to another user. It’s unique for everyone.
It is revocable and users who have the token can simply revoke their BAB tokens.
One user ID that is verified by Binance is allowed to mint one BAB token just on the selected chain.

The launch of BAB tokens was encouraged by the whole community and the BNB chain users supported the whole idea behind it. For the first time in Web3, by minting BAB token to their wallet address on BNB Chain, Binance users will get exclusive access to programs which will be linked to real-world use cases.

So, that’s all for now, do let us know what do you all think about this token launch.

The fourth BTC halving, which was initially scheduled to happen in 2024 will now happen sooner

by Coin Network Admin | Sep 20, 2022 | Market, Market News, News

The fourth BTC halving was scheduled to take place in 2024 but according to many resources, the chances are that it can take place sooner i.e. maybe at the end of 2023. Before getting deep into it let’s just dive into what halving actually is.

All you need to know about fourth BTC Halving:

Bitcoin halving is an occasion where the compensation for mining new BTC blocks is halved. Because of the halving, miners get half less BTC for authenticating the transactions. This event of halving happens after every four years or technically speaking, after every 210,000 blocks. In simple words, through the halving process, Bitcoin makes a fake inflation that decreases by half by every four years till it is issued and being used.

How does halving works:

Bitcoin halving works on account of its network’s fundamental blockchain technology software which directs the rate at which new Bitcoins are made. The software requires PCs in the blockchain network to contend to verify exchanges known as Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin miners are rewarded by the mining with a few new Bitcoins when they can demonstrate that the exchanges that have been chosen by them are valid. These transactions are confirmed in bunches known as blocks, and the blockchain network is coded to halve the reward received by miners after every 210,000 blocks.

Why is it important?

Well, a lot of you might be thinking that why the halving takes places after every 4 years or so and what the purpose is. The reason behind it is that through Bitcoin halving the quantity of new Bitcoins made each block reduces which decreases the quantity of new Bitcoins accessible and raises the price of getting one.

And, as you all may already know that a constant demand and decreased supply can simply result in a higher cost. Because of the fact that it restricts the supply of new Bitcoins while keeping a steady demand, halving results in Bitcoin’s most prominent surges.

The Next BTC Halving…

The fourth BTC halving, which was at first planned to occur in 2024 is now suppose to take place sooner than the scheduled date. As per the news roaming around, BTC’s next halving will occur in one year and 157 days, and that implies we can now expect it in December 2023. “That Martini Guy” who is a well known crypto influencer, likewise talked about this new development in his latest tweet. The fact that it is now going to take place sooner is a good sign for BTC, as the information suggests that halving is occurred due to significant price surges. For instance, during the 2020’s BTC halving, Bitcoin was at the price of $8,500 and after halving in only a couple of months it went up to more than $27,000. However the whole picture appears to lean in the favor of buyers in the market.

Ravencoin activity increased recently as proof-of-work miners sought alternatives!

by Coin Network Admin | Sep 20, 2022 | Market, Market News, News

Mining Bitcoin and other digital currencies is become quite difficult right now and it has developed from something people could do sitting in their apartments. It has turned into a costly task, requiring specific equipment and it keeps on being staggeringly energy-intensive. This fairly conflicts with one of the first principles of blockchains which is that they ought to be decentralized. The Ravencoin project addresses something of an endeavor to counter these things and to make it workable for anybody with a simple PC to do the mining, issue the tokens, and then transfer assets.

Why Ravencoin activity increased?

The activity related to Ravencoin had proactively increased because proof-of-work miners are now searching for choices, as mining Ethereum or BTC will soon not be a choice for them. The miners of Ethereum are hoping to proceed with their operations after the Ethereum blockchain changes to a proof-of-stake algorithm so they can mine Ravencoin.

For those who don’t know about the Ethereum merge, the merge is an Ethereum upgrade that was being planned for quite a long time. The main purpose of the upgrade is to improve the network and make it better for its users. This update is being considered as one of the most important ones that can be very beneficial for the whole ecosystem and can completely change it. This may also have long lasting effects on the whole crypto market.

The Merge will indeed merge the Ethereum mainnet with Beacon Chain. As of now, the two chains exist in parallel and the Ethereum mainnet, which presently utilizes a component called proof of work, is handling all the exchanges. After the most awaited merge, the Ethereum mainnet will shift from proof of work to the Beacon Chain’s proof of stake mechanism. The proof stake is a type of consensus mechanism that differs from the conventional proof of work.

Currently, Ethereum utilize the energy-intensive proof-of-work mechanism. In the past, Ethereum mining was profoundly productive and profitable as the always growing ecosystem expected a large number of miners to keep up with the network, the expense of which exceeded millions of dollars in just the equipment.

After the ETH merge, the miners will be left with not many choices. They can either surrender their mining business and start staking ETH or begin mining other blockchains. While Ravencoin isn’t too popular or as utilized as the second biggest digital currency by market capitalization, it tends to be mined with rigs that utilize graphics processing units (GPUs).

Ravencoin’s hash rate has expanded fundamentally this month. It was observed expanding from 2.79 Th/s on September 6 to 6.46 TH/s as of press time. Its network difficulty additionally multiplied from 37.78k to 83.12k.

Ethereum miners to continue their operations after Ethereum blockchain switches to a proof-of-stake

by Coin Network Admin | Sep 20, 2022 | Alt Coin, Altcoin101, Market, Market News, News

As we all know that the merge in Ethereum blockchain just took place on 15^th Sep and changed a lot of things. The change in the ETH blockchain has not just affected itself but also the entire crypto market.

The merge is basically an Ethereum upgrade that was being planned for quite a long time. The main purpose of the upgrade is to improve the network and make it better for its users. This update is being considered as one of the most important ones that can be very beneficial for the whole ecosystem and can completely change it. With the merge, Ethereum mainnet just got shifted from proof of work to the Beacon Chain’s proof of stake mechanism. The proof stake is a type of consensus mechanism that differs from the conventional proof of work.

Effects of Merge in ETH Miners:

Since the blockchain is now fully shifted to PoS mechanism, the miners also faced some major changes. For all the Ethereum miners, it has become progressively difficult to make money after the merge as huge number of miners is making their ways towards other coins.

Thursday, 15th Sep, Ethereum, which is the world’s second-biggest blockchain network, changed its consensus algorithm from PoW to PoS to support productivity and lower energy utilization. In any case, the software update – named the Merge- likewise implied that miners were not generally expected to secure the whole network, thus rig operators moved their machines to other PoW blockchains. GPU mining was seen dead within a time span of just 24 hours after the merge took place. The three biggest GPU chains have exceptionally low profits, and the main coins showing profits have no market cap or liquidity.

The hashrate, or power that is used to mine PoW altcoins like ethereum classic and ravencoin got doubled in a few hours after ETH merge took place. Along with rising hashrate, the troubles for miners are rising as well. This means that the ETH miners are less likely to effectively mine a block and receive the block reward.

The reward for mining an Ethereum Classic (ETC) block 24 hours prior was ETC 0.0186484 or around 70 cents, however a check after the merge indicated that the reward went down to just ETC 0.00030658 which is not more than around 11 cents. The merge that took place is just the first step in the Ethereum’s blockchain. Ether miners are trying hard to stack up their losses by moving to other digital currencies, for example, Ethereum Classic and Ravencoin. There is a long way for ETH blockchain to become a mature system and even after the merge, there are many things left.