PayPal let the bulls out - but will it take hold in the crypto world?
Hi everybody!
It is worth starting this issue of Twice the Value with the most groundbreaking news in crypto this week (and probably month, and even quarter): you must have already heard that starting from next year PayPal will support cryptocurrencies.
When one of the largest payment processors in the world makes such a step towards adoption, it can’t help but excite the industry – BTC breaking through $13,000 mark for the first time since July was certainly inspired by the announcement.
Despite that, certain concerns are raised about PayPal’s crypto system being a complete walled garden (without allowing users to withdraw or transfer their crypto). Why this can be an issue is best described in this piece by Anthony Sassano:
However, there is an opinion that there is nothing to be alarmed of, as PayPal will most likely be lifting these restrictions. Read the full thread by Adam Cochran to learn more (it’s an excellent, well-argumented hypothesis):
Progress for institutions and retail
About that PayPal-inspired record BTC price: interestingly enough, earlier this month institutional investors placed a record number of bullish bets in BTC futures listed Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). It’s clearly paying off!
Meanwhile, things are also progressing on the retail side: Binance hit an all-time high in trading volume ($306.6 billion in Q3), showing that more and more retail investors are going to Binance to buy crypto. Their crypto futures trading platform has also seen a consistent growth.
Meanwhile in DeFi
Despite 39.6 million UNI staked in favor, Uniswap’s first governance vote failed, missing only 1% that was needed to reach approval. Ironically, as CoinDesk noted, the proposal sought to reduce the number of tokens needed to submit and pass proposals.
R3 Corda, most famous for its private, permissioned blockchain, goes DeFi with the first token issued on its public network, targeting DeFi and CBDC projects.
For interesting insights about “DeFi Summer”, we recommend to read this CoinDesk piece by Brady Dale.