RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Tuesday, rising 3.55% to $43,944 as of 12:55 p.m. Riyadh time.
Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $3,101, up 1.02%, according to data from Coindesk.
Other news:
Stablecoins are unlikely to be the future of payments, despite their growing market value over the past two years, according to a blog post from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Stable coins, which are usually pegged to a government-backed currency like the dollar or euro, have become a staple in the crypto world. Investors use them to buy and sell other more volatile digital currencies.
Their market capitalization has grown from $5.7 billion at the end of 2019 to more than $176 billion today, according to Bloomberg.
However, the Federal Reserve and other US watchdogs have said stablecoins need more regulation and should be issued by banks.
The Federal Reserve recently discussed developing its own currency in a 35-page document, saying the document was only a first step and it had no intention of moving forward without support. of the White House and Congress.
Nellie Liang, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Home Finance, is scheduled to testify at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on stablecoins on Tuesday.
Adoption
Canada’s KPMG, one of the country’s four largest accounting firms, announced a first-of-its-kind investment for the company on Monday.
KPMG has completed a crypto asset allocation to its corporate treasury, the company’s first direct investment in crypto assets, according to the company’s announcement.
“The allocation includes bitcoin and ethereum, as well as carbon offsets to maintain a net-zero carbon transaction to meet the company’s stated environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments,” KPMG said.
The accounting firm acquired bitcoin and ether on its balance sheet through the execution and custody services of Gemini Trust Company LLC, according to Bitcoin.com.
“This investment reflects our belief that institutional adoption of crypto assets and blockchain technology will continue to grow and become an integral part of the asset mix,” said Benjie Thomas, Managing Partner of Advisory Services.
Kareem Sadek, Co-Head of Crypto Assets and Blockchain Services added, “We have invested in a strong crypto asset practice.
We will continue to improve and expand our capabilities in decentralized finance (defi), non-fungible tokens (NFT), and the metaverse, to name a few. We expect to see a lot of growth in these areas in the years to come. »
Funding
Polygon, the operator of an eponymous protocol used by developers to make Ethereum transactions faster and cheaper, has managed to raise $450 million by selling its Matic crypto token to investors led by Sequoia Capital India, reported Bloomberg.
Polygon is a Layer 2 operator, providing tools for developers to build decentralized applications (dapps) and address network congestion, which is a growing problem on Ethereum as its popularity grows.
Its token, which has a maximum of 10 billion units, is the closest analog to holding equity in the protocol.
Matic traded at a high of $1.94 on Tuesday, according to data from CoinGecko.
SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund 2, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, Tiger Global, Alexis Ohanian and Animoca Brands were among more than 40 investors participating in the funding.
“One of the reasons for this funding was to get institutional exposure in the United States,” said co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.
Polygon says its protocol now has 7,000 dapps, over 130 million unique users, over 3 million daily transactions, and over 3.4 billion transactions.
NBA star Steph Curry hit his first non-fungible digital basketball shoes, commemorating his 3-point record, on the Polygon Network in December.
It also powered luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana’s NFT auctions last year.
