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BackMarket news about crypto adoption and CBDCs, a word about the best affiliate program in crypto, what’s next up on the CoinMetro releases list, and much more — all in This Week in Crypto!
Crypto Market News Highlights
Revolut Sees 68% Increase in Number of Users Trading Crypto amid Coronavirus Lockdown
Percentage increase makes sense, people are on lockdown in their houses. So, they’re trying new things, they’ve probably had Revolut for months or more than a year. They never ever looked at that little “crypto thing” in the Revolut app.
It seems like the numbers are still small though.
Enjin’s New Minecraft Plugin Lets Players Spawn Blockchain Assets
Definitely some good news for Enjin. They’re a gaming company that just made a plugin that plugs into one of the probably top 10 marketable games that brings in big revenue. And it allows people to take blockchain assets and put them into a virtual world. Kevin thinks that’s pretty cool. Hats off to Enjin.
Curious to learn more about Enjin? You can also buy and sell Enjin (ENJ) directly with Euro on CoinMetro!
Brace for Bitcoin Volatility as Large Number of Futures & Options Expire
Kevin doesn’t know if the market is mature enough for futures and options expiry to actually stir up a lot of volatility, because the underlying retail guys who own most of that Bitcoin, would have to understand that the expiry could actually mean volatility.
These things are always self-fulfilling prophecies. If a future closes way below market value, people assume others will sell. And thus, they sell. So, the price goes to match, or below, the future expiry price. It is always a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Check out our Medium post to read more crypto market news!
Live Questions – CoinMetro updates and Crypto Market News
Product Updates
[31:39] What’s happening with the new Go! Dashboard?
It’s currently getting some design elements added. Unfortunately, the mobile version of the Dashboard wasn’t quite ready. It looks to be about a week away.
[32:48] Any updates on debit cards or virtual IBANs?
Almost everything is pretty much integrated. We’re just waiting for keys to go from demo to production.
[33:11] Any updates on USD and stablecoins?
Have been back and forth with a provider about USD. We’re in negotiations right now. In conclusion, we’re one or two emails away from settling, and then potentially we’d bring USD live in a few weeks.
Stablecoins — nothing new since last week. But having USD/SWIFT onramps will probably reduce the immediate need of a stablecoin.
[41:52] Ignium update?
Ignium set to go inside the sandbox. First issuer aligned for July. That issuer will be a Japanese real estate project, that will have a bond-token, equity-like token, and a use-token. All tied into the product.
CoinMetro will provide secondary market trading on those assets. Right now work being between CoinMetro and Ignium to connect the two venues to make the user experience as seamless as possible.
Want to learn more about Ignium? Let’s Talk About the CSD.
[42:32] Tell us about the generous new Affiliate program.
Good idea! The referral program was completely revamped. 40% of all commissions. €5 EUR in crypto to both the referrer and the referee. So on both sides, some money right away.
You can find your referral link on your CoinMetro Affiliate page, and start earning XCM today!
Future Plans
[44:28] When are you going to increase leverage? 10x?
We might not go up to 10x. When it comes down to it, we’re never going to be able to go over 25x in the EU. 5x is definitely in the cards for majors. We will probably continue 3x for non-majors. The goal is to collect data and look if there is any reason to go any higher.
CoinMetro’s Margin platform currently offers 3:1 leverage.
[54:17] What’s holding you back from using XCM for collateral in TraM, just like 5:1.
It’s about the XCM book. Kevin would like it healthier, especially if we start to see lots and lots of collateral being used, and then some of that collateral being pulled out of an active book, and someone coming in and taking advantage of that which drastically affects the amount of collateral which can cause stopouts etcetera across the margin platform.
[33:11] Any updates on USD and stablecoins?
Have been back and forth with a provider about USD. We’re in negotiations right now. We’re one or two emails away from settling, and then potentially we’d bring USD live in a few weeks.
Stablecoins — nothing new since last week. But having USD/SWIFT onramps will probably reduce the immediate need of a stablecoin.
Recommendations
[48:40] How to achieve increased leverage and XCM collateral this year?
Increased leverage is really just us getting all these new partners, banks, and payment services providers onboarded and added into the liquidity pool.XCM collateral is all about liquidity. More clients, more liquidity in the book.
[49:09] With the individual IBANs, would you recommend using CoinMetro as a freelance wallet, instead of Skrill/Payment/TransferWise?
Yeah, Kevin would… — however, in the first instance, while you will have your own IBAN, it will be limited to moving funds between accounts in your name. It will be limited because we are in the process of applying for agent licensing, so that we can get an E-money agent license, which will allow us to allow third-party transfers. Which will allow you to receive funds from third parties. So, it’s where we’re headed.
CoinMetro Updates
[30:30] Is marketing going as well as you hoped?
We’re still testing. And that is going as planned. We’re progressing towards having the copy and content that works, and that’s what we need.
[30:43] What news on Biz Dev?
Always news on biz dev. We’re in talks right now with a few different apps and companies to provide API and services too. Our main focus right now is pushing marketing live, and getting all the finetuning on the system itself completed.
[46:26] Are you not looking for a Head of Marketing anymore?
We have a pretty solid marketing team right now. Head of Digital and Head of Content, and Junior Content Writer, all on staff. Oliver is also playing half-way something of marketing as well.
We’re almost getting into a sort of “decentralized staffing” from a governance angle. We have all the coverage and tools we need. SEO coverage, digital coverage, content coverage, coverage on ads and creative. So what are we missing from a Head of Marketing?
[50:23] What can we expect to release in the next 1-2 weeks?
Kevin is hoping we will see GBP pairs and deposit/withdrawal functionality. As well as Dashboard released.
[51:12] What have you been spending most of your time on these days?
Regulatory, compliance, and talking with banks, payment service providers, trying to get USD coverage, setting up the GBP coverage, credit card gateways, all that good stuff.
[55:09] Any updates for funding?
There’s a lot of different funnels out there, but no, no specific update.
Reddit Questions
[25:47] Any update on the iDEAL payment system? – NeoHodler
No update yet. We’ve been in discussions with three different merchant providers, two of which have access to iDEAL. But in between the merchant processor and iDEAL, there is another other “secondary third party”, which essentially won’t allow crypto. There are other companies that have access to iDEAL, probably through Skrill. We don’t onboard through Skrill, mainly because their fees are higher than we would like to see, and on the other side, they have lots of limitations based on country of origin etcetera, which creates a messier user experience.
But we’re honing in, we’re looking for those localized payment options. But so far, no real update.
“Kevin Explains Crypto” Term: Spot market
Now that you are up to date with crypto market news, let’s focus on crypto education.
Other terms for the spot market by the way are the cash market or the physical market.
The difference between a spot market and its cousin, the futures market, is that the spot market means: you pay, you get delivery. You buy something, and you get it immediately. Like in crypto, if you buy a Bitcoin, there’s your Bitcoin. When you trade in currencies, you’re buying and selling between two currencies, and you have immediate access to the currencies. The contrast to that would be the futures market, where you may never actually receive delivery, or delivery may come at a future date.
Interested in learning more? Have a look at the video where Kevin explains “Spot market”:
That’s a wrap for this week’s crypto market news with CoinMetro Founder Kevin Murcko! Please join us next week for more CoinMetro reports, Bitcoin news feed, Altcoin prices and Ethereum news! We’ll be live on CoinMetro’s Facebook and YouTube Channel at 12 PM (UTC). Make sure you submit your questions to the CoinMetro subReddit!
As always, we’re available to answer any questions you may have on our Telegram Group 24/7.