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HedgeUp (HDUP) On Track To Becoming Another UNICORN Tech ... - Cryptonews

The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in early November 2022 harmed cryptos. However, Bitcoin is up 46.4% year to date, and some investors say the largest crypto trades like a tech stock.

Meanwhile, the technology sector suffered a severe selloff last year but is doing better thus far in 2023 with a +13.55% positive gain. But if I were to choose between tech stocks and any other crypto, I wouldnt touch the latter with a 10-foot pole.

Tech firms like Descartes Systems Group (TSX:DSG), Kinaxis (TSX:KXS), and Docebo (TSX:DCBO) are safer and certainly have more potential. They have financials and business projections to show.

Descartes provides on-demand, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to logistics-intensive businesses to help them improve productivity, performance, and security. The $8.76 billion company reported impressive top- and bottom-line growth in fiscal 2023.

In the 12 months that ended January 31, 2023, revenue and net income increased 14.4% and 18.4% to US$486 million and US$102.2 million versus fiscal 2022. Edward J. Ryan, Descartess chief executive officer (CEO), said the company invests in its Global Logistics Network. He added, We invest both organically and through acquisitions consistent with customer feedback on how we can deliver more value to them.

For fiscal 2024, management anticipates adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) to be 40-45% of revenues. Its chief financial officer Allan Brett said Descartes has a solid platform for continued growth and acquisitions. Moreover, it has the experience and capital capacity to add more solutions for the growing community of shippers, carriers, and logistics services providers. At $102.95 per share, current investors enjoy a 9.07% year-to-date gain.

Kinaxis had an incredible turnaround in 2022, exceeding total revenue and adjusted EBITDA targets. Also, besides growing its customer base by 40%, profit reached US$20.08 million compared to the US$1.16 loss in 2021.

This $4.59 billion supply chain management company will continue to invest for the long term and cement its leadership position. Management also expects faster SaaS growth and increased profitability in the coming years.

Performance-wise, the tech stock is up 10.24% year to date. Market analysts covering KXS recommend a buy rating. The 12-month average price target is $218 a potential 30% appreciation from its current share price of $167.46.

This $4.59 billion supply chain management company will continue to invest for the long term and cement its leadership position. Management also expects faster SaaS growth and increased profitability in the coming years.

Docebo endured the macroeconomic headwinds in 2022 and delivered a strong performance. The $1.68 billion company boasts a leading artificial intelligence (AI)-powered learning platform. In the 12 months that ended December 31, 2022, total revenue (subscription and professional services) climbed 37% year over year to US$142.91 million.

The net income topped US$7 million compared to the US$13.6 million net loss in fiscal 2021. Claudio Erba, Docebos founder and CEO, said, Our focus remains on driving long-term growth and profitability across economic cycles, supported by continued innovation. If you invest today, the share price is $51.08 (+14.2% year to date).

While Bitcoin and other cryptos are tradable assets like tech stocks, they still lack regulation. More importantly, theres no predictable path for the foreseeable future, unlike Descartes, Kinaxis, or Docebo.

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3 Tech Stocks With More Potential Than Any Cryptocurrency - The Motley Fool Canada

AHMEDABAD/SURAT/VADODARA/RAJKOT: A typical cryptocurrency scammer, most of times with a woman's fake profile, will first approach you via an Instagram DM and ask you whether you want to earn a 40% or 60% profit on your bitcoin investment for a small investment of Rs 5,000," says Pratik Jain, 29, a food outlet owner from Navrangpura. "They then create an account for you on their fake phishing website, will ask you to recharge that account with a small sum using UPI payment. They then add you to a WhatsApp or Telegram group and claim that you are trading. You will book a profit of 11.25% and then when you invest more, they pay 22% profit. After a few weeks of trading they disappear," says Jain.Pratik is not alone, more than 300 individuals in Gujarat have lodged complaints with the cybercrime helpline number 1930 on such fraudulent deals over the past one year. Gujarat is not new to crypto scams.One of the earliest known cryptocurrency scams that came to light was when a Surat-based business entity floated bitcoin called BitConnect, which went bust in early 2018. Gullible investors, it is estimated lost close to Rs 500 crore to the scam. The promoter went missing. "Not many came forward to register their complaints for the fear of IT raids back then," says a senior Gujarat CID(crime) official. BitConnect promoters had issued a cryptocurrency token, "BCC", and floated a global trading and lending platform for investors in 2016. The scam came to light following a controversial kidnapping case.Vishal Rabari, assistant commissioner of police (cybercrime) Rajkot, says, "Generally, victims get calls from unknown women, who post their fake profiles on social media. These women then develop friendship with their victims. These women claim that they are operating from a foreign country. They lure their victims into investing in cryptocurrency with the promise of high returns. The victims are made to download mobile apps which take over the victim's device and transfer the money." Rabari says that over the last few months, a dozen-odd cases have been registered with the cybercell.In Vadodara city, Hardik Makadia, ACP (cybercrime) explains that he receives three to four complaints every month, "Certain gangs lure people into investing in cryptocurrency and then disappear with their money. Some gangs simply cheat people under the pretext of investing in cryptocurrency." The Vadodara cybercrime arrested four persons in December last year for duping a person under the pretext of selling bitcoins. The victim had transferred Rs 1.41 lakh to a bank account to buy bitcoins but the gang disappeared with the money. In July 2021, a Vadodara-based businessman lost Rs 2 crore after a gang promised to help him start a bitcoin business and duped him. (With inputs from Ashish Chauhan and Paul John)

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Cryptocurrency scammers thrive on victims' greed for quick bucks - Times of India

The failure of three major crypto-friendly banks Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank caused the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin to fall to as low as $0.87 from its $1 peg.

Amid the concern mounting around stablecoins, Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao tweeted on March 13 that with the changes in stablecoins and banks, the exchange will be converting the remaining $1 billion funds in its Industry Recovery Initiative to native crypto.

The native cryptocurrencies listed by CZ included Bitcoin (BTC), BNB (BNB) and Ether (ETH). He then posted links to the hash ID for the BTC and ETH transactions, saying $980 million took 15 seconds to move with a $1.98 transaction fee.

In response to the move by the Binance co-founder, Crypto Twitter had mixed reactions. Some praised the decision, calling it pure gold, and offered a suggestion to use alternative currencies to peg stablecoins:

However, others questioned the move to sell the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin and convert the fund to more volatile assets.

On March 10, Circle, the company behind USDC, disclosed it had around $3.3 billion tied up at the failing SVB, which caused the initial depegging event. However, by March 13, USDC had bounced back toward its $1 peg currently hovering around $0.99.

Related: Breaking: Silicon Valley Bank UK arm acquired by HSBC for one pound

Circle also has an undisclosed amount of reserve funds stuck in Silvergate, another United States-based crypto-friendly bank that went bankrupt.

The instability surrounding USDC caused a domino effect on other stablecoins such as Dai (DAI), USDD and FRAX, which also slipped from their $1 peg.

Since the events began unfolding on March 10, the crypto space has been on edge as to what will happen next. Twitter users have claimedthat there is nobody left to bank crypto companies.

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Binance CEO announces recovery funds conversion from BUSD to native crypto - Cointelegraph

The panic caused due to USD Coins (USDC) depeg from the U.S. dollar manifested itself in a wrong order, costing traders $50,000 per Bitcoin (BTC), albeit for several minutes.

The BTC/USDC pair on Binance flash spiked to $50,000 on March 12 around 7:00 pm UTC. The reason for the impulse spike is unknown and was likely due to a fat finger trade of a large order.

The potential reason for the flash spike is likely due to thin order books for the newly launched BTC/USDC pair on Binance.The exchange listed the pair only a few hours before the impulse price surge.

According to a trader on Crypto Twitter, it is likely that a Bitcoin market order ate through the limit sell-orders on the pair up to $50,000.

The pairs trading price returned toward the market spot price of around $22,000 in minutes following the spike, suggesting it was an isolated incident. Fortunately, the futures market remained unaffected by the spot BTC/USDC pair; otherwise, it could have triggered massive short-side liquidations.

But this isnt the first time cryptocurrency exchanges have seen flash crashes and spikes. Multiple exchanges in the past had similar issues, inciting anger and refund requests from affected customers.

Related:Deribit to pay users $1.3M after Bitcoin price flash crash to $7.7K

In August 2017, a flash crash on GDAX, now called Coinbase Pro, saw Ether (ETH) prices plummet to as low as $0.1 due to a customer error. Ether was trading at around $300 elsewhere at the time.

USDCs value dropped to lows of $0.87 on March 11 after Circle, the issuer of USDC, revealed that it had $3.3 billion exposure to the defunctSilicon Valley Bank (SVB).

USDC trading pairs have been unstable on other exchanges since the SVB revelations. On March 11, the BTC/USDC pair on Kraken spiked to over $26,000 due to fears about the collapse of USDC.

At the time, USDC was trading at a 10% discount, which would have priced Bitcoin at around $22,200. However, the spike toward $26,000 indicates that panic causes serious volatility.

The fears amplified over the weekend due to uncertainty around the fate of SVB depositors. In response, the United States Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation decided to bail out the customers of SVB and Signature Bank but not the shareholders and other stakeholders, restoring market confidence for now.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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Bitcoin price flash spikes to $50K on Binance after USD Coin peg snaps - Cointelegraph

Key Takeaways

Only a month after halting U.S. dollar bank transfers, Binance is now being forced to cease processing British pound deposits and withdrawals as well.

Crypto companies keep struggling with their banking partners.

Global leading crypto exchange Binance will be suspendingBritish pound deposits and withdrawals in the upcoming week. The changes have already come into effect for new users, while existing users will have until May 22 before seeing the service shut down.

Paysafe, our fiat partner that provides GBP deposit and withdrawal services via bank transfers and via card to Binance users, has advised us that they will no longer be able to provide these services from May 22, 2023, a Binance spokesperson told CoinDesk.

Last month, Binance announced that it would suspend deposits and withdrawals of U.S. dollars through bank transfers. The exchange indicated back then that the suspension would only affect 0.01% of its monthly active users. This time around, it stated that the GBP change would impact less than 1% of its users. The company assured that it was working to restart both services as soon as possible.

Binances suspension of GBP and USD transfers are likely due to banking woes. According to lead Bitcoin advocate Nic Carter, the U.S. government may be trying to crack down on the crypto industry by cutting it off from the banking sectora strategy Carter termed Operation Choke Point 2.0. Carter claims that the scheme involves putting pressure on banking institutions to avoid providing their services to crypto companies on a safety and soundness basis.

Despite these headwinds, Binance made over $504 billion of spot trading volume in Februarymore than 61% of the entire market share.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.

The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.

You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.

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Crypto companies may soon find themselves deprived of banking services in the United States, just like online poker was during the Obama era, says Nic Carter. Operation Choke Point 2.0...

After breaking its peg over the weekend and trading as low as $0.87, Circles USDC stablecoin is now at $1 again. 1 USDC for $0.87 All eyes are on USDC...

Silicon Valley Bank, the 18th largest bank in the U.S. by total assets, was closed down by regulators today after it suffered a bank run. Biggest Bank Failure Since the...

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Binance Halts GBP Deposits and Withdrawals - Crypto Briefing

Crypto exchange Binance said it will convert $1 billion worth of Binance USD (BUSD) to bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), BNB coin (BNB) and other tokens to support the market.

The transaction from Binances industry fund to BUSD took 5 seconds and cost merely $1.29, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet on Monday.

The move likely contributed to buying pressure. Bitcoin jumped over $22,500 in Asian hours on Monday while ether regained the $1,600 market. BNB rose over 10% to trade over $300, setting two-week highs, per CoinGecko data.

The move came as the crypto market suffered another blow in early Asian hours as U.S. regulators shut down the crypto-friendly Signature Bank, adding further stress to the market.

Early last week regulators shut down Silvergate Bank, followed by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday night causing markets to go haywire over the weekend as investors rushed to protect their capital.

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Binance Will Convert $1B Worth of BUSD Stablecoin to Bitcoin, Ether, BNB and Other Tokens - CoinDesk

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an appeal against the latest decision in the case for the selling of assets between Voyager Digital and Binance.US.

On March 8, the U.S. Trustee for Region 2 made the appeal to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the approval of Voyager Digitals Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.

The Chapter 11 plan was confirmed only a day prior, on March 7, by U.S. bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles. This plan would have allowed the former crypto brokerage company to sell billions of dollars in assets to Binance.US in an effort to regain liquidity to pay back customers.

After Wiles told Bloomberg that he could not put the case into an indeterminate deep freeze while regulators figure out whether they believe there are problems with the transaction and plan.

He also reportedly said that through the current plan, Voyagers customers would see an estimated 73% recovery. Moreover, a poll released in a court filing on Feb. 28 revealed that 97% of Voyager customersfavorthe Binance.US deal.

Related: US lawmakers argue SEC accounting policy places crypto customers at risk

Nonetheless, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been outspokenly against this deal. The financial regulator said the asset restructuring plan and Binance.US acquisition could breach securities law.

In a court filing from Feb. 24, the Texas State Securities Board and the Department of Banking objected to the deal with Binance.US.

If U.S. regulators successfully block this deal, Voyager can liquidate. The initial bankruptcy was filed on July 5, 2022,as the brokers attempted to restructure and return value to more than 100,000 customers.

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US trustee appeals NY Judges approval of Voyager deal with Binance.US - Cointelegraph

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Binance.US and Coinbase are two of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges around, so which should you choose? The answer depends on what exactly you need, which crypto coins you want to trade, how much youre willing to pay for commissions and other key factors.

Coinbase and Binance.US are both major players among established cryptocurrency exchanges. In this article well refer to Binance.US the American arm of the larger Binance organization as Binance. Well compare it to Coinbase Advanced Trade, which offers much lower costs than the basic Coinbase service, though well refer to it as Coinbase.

Heres how Binance and Coinbase compare on some of the most important factors to traders.

The most significant cost youre likely to pay are your trading fees, and if youre doing a lot of it, those can certainly add up. Fortunately, its the norm for most exchanges to offer discounts based on your 30-day trading volume. However, Binance even goes one better than that.

Both Coinbase and Binance use a maker-taker pricing structure, charging based on whether you add liquidity to the market (makers) or remove liquidity from the market (takers). So trading fees generally differ not only on your volume but also the type of trade you make. However, Binance allows you to dodge the commissions on Bitcoin and Ethereum trades entirely.

Heres how each exchange breaks down on its fees. Binances commission depends on which coin youre trading: Bitcoin and Ethereum (Tier 0) or less popular coins (Tier 1).

The pricing structure below is for coins that are not Bitcoin and Ethereum.

30-day volume

Maker

Taker

Less than $10,000

0.40 percent

0.60 percent

$10,000 $50,000

0.25 percent

0.40 percent

$50,000 $100,000

0.15 percent

0.25 percent

$100,000 $1 million

0.10 percent

0.20 percent

$1 million $20 million

0.08 percent

0.18 percent

$20 million $100 million

0.05 percent

0.15 percent

$100 million $300 million

0.02 percent

0.10 percent

$300 million $500 million

0 percent

0.08 percent

$500 million and up

0 percent

0.05 percent

30-day volume

Maker

Taker

Less than $10,000

0.40 percent

0.60 percent

$10,000 $50,000

0.25 percent

0.40 percent

$50,000 $100,000

0.15 percent

0.25 percent

$100,000 $1 million

0.10 percent

0.20 percent

$1 million $15 million

0.08 percent

0.18 percent

$15 million $75 million

0.06 percent

0.16 percent

$75 million $250 million

0.03 percent

0.12 percent

$250 million $400 million

0 percent

0.08 percent

$400 million and up

0 percent

0.05 percent

The results are neck and neck: For coins that arent Bitcoin or Ethereum, Binance and Coinbase have headline commissions that are nearly the same amount, with the exception of a few pockets in the pricing structure. For 30-day volume up to $15 million, youre paying the same headline rate. But theres a wrinkle: Binance will cut your fees a further 25 percent if you use BNB, its own in-house coin, to pay for trading fees.

Story continues

For example, imagine youve placed $25,000 in trades in the prior 30 days and you want to place another $10,000 trade. At Coinbase youd pay 0.25 or 0.40 percent as a maker or taker, respectively, for a total cost of $25 or $40. In comparison, youd pay the same amount at Binance for that trade, unless you paid with BNB, cutting the fees to $18.75 and $30, respectively.

Advantage: Binance offers a clear advantage on whats likely to be the largest group of ongoing fees youll pay. In addition to this little extra discount, Binance allows you to trade the two biggest-volume coins for free: Bitcoin and Ethereum. Given their predominance for traders, it seems like Binance would be the clear choice.

The straight numbers look to be in Coinbases favor in terms of how many total kinds of coins are offered by each exchange. At our last count, Coinbase gives traders access to 253 coins, while Binance offers access to 153, or about 60 percent as many as its rival.

But all that choice is like a buffet: If you dont want to trade a specific coin, it doesnt matter if its there or not. So how do these exchanges compare on the top 12 coins by market capitalization? A comparison there might tease out some differences. On that basis, Binance is slightly better, offering all 12 the top coins, compared to Coinbases 10. Both offer Bitcoin, of course, and the difference is that Binance offers BNB, the coin powering Binances own ecosystem, and XRP.

Advantage: Coinbase gets the edge here.

Over the last year, Binance has made real improvements on the number of coins available in its staking rewards programs, really outdistanced its rival Coinbase.

Staking rewards provide crypto owners a chance to receive income for supporting the token as part of the verification process. Typically, an exchange simply deposits your income, net of any fees, into your account. Coinbase and Binance take a commission on your rewards.

Coinbase allows staking on six coins, including Ethereum, one of the largest coins, as well as Solana and Cardano. It also allows other rewards, via DeFi (not available in the U.S.), on a handful of other coins, as well as what it calls cloud staking on more than 15 coins. Cloud staking is a somewhat different and more advanced process, however.

Binance supports staking on 27 coins, including Ethereum, Cardano and Solana.

As for how large those staking rewards are? A spot check shows Binance offering consistently higher rewards on the handful of coins that they have in common.

Advantage: Binance beats out Coinbase on the number of coins supported in the core staking rewards program, and offers higher rewards on those that they have in common. Naturally, for those who hold coins supported on one platform but not the other, a specific exchange may end up being better for them.

Neither Coinbase nor Binance charges deposit or withdrawal fees for ACH deposits in U.S. dollars. On wire transfers, Binance does a bit better, with no charge for wire deposits and a $15 withdrawal fee for domestic wires. For its part, Coinbase charges $10 for wire deposits into its accounts and $25 for wire withdrawals.

Advantage: Binance offers a better fee structure here, both for ACH fees and even wire fees. However, if you plan to use wires frequently, Binance would be the clearly better outfit.

Customer support at crypto exchanges seems to be mostly an afterthought, though it has improved over the last year. Coinbase has grown its efforts here recently, adding 24/7 phone and chat support, much-needed features to prior options that included only email and a support ticket. Plus, if you see suspicious activity, you can call customer support to lock your account (though it raises the question of why this feature is needed, when traditional stock brokers seem to have no such issues.)

Binance offers support tickets and recently added 24/7 online chat, which perhaps is part of the price you pay for its very low trading costs.

Advantage: With a variety of support options, Coinbase looks like the clear winner here.

On whats probably the single most important feature of an exchange cost Binance gets the win. Low trading costs played into Binance being named the best crypto exchange by Bankrate.

However, on the finer details, such as available coins, Coinbase wins outright or has a small advantage. In a comparison of Coinbase to Binance then, the true winner may be the exchange that fits your needs best whether thats low trading fees, widest selection or better support.

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Binance vs. Coinbase: Which crypto exchange is right for you? - Yahoo Finance

By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com -- Bitcoin hit a nine-month high and cryptocurrencies rose across the board on Tuesday as concerns about the reserves held by digital platforms at troubled U.S. banks eased.

Prices were also supported by signs that Binance was following through on its declared intention to convert its $970 billion 'industry recovery fund' assets into digital assets, a substantial shift in real demand for digital assets at a time when market liquidity has dried up badly, making outsize moves easier.

By 11: 00 ET (15:00 GMT), Bitcoin was up 16% at $26,084, while Ethereum was up 7.2% at $1,762.50.

In the stablecoin universe, USD Coin regained its peg to the dollar as uncertainty over the fate of its reserves held on deposit at Silicon Valley Bank cleared. The Federal Reserve, which took over SVB late last week after a run by depositors, said on Sunday it would guarantee all deposits both at SVB and at Signature, another crypto-friendly bank, in order to stop wider contagion among traditional banks.

"DeFi surviving its biggest existential crisis to date thanks to a timely bailout by the Fed was not something any of us were expecting," Canada-based academic John Paul Koning said via Twitter.

At the same time, however, signs of constraints on the crypto system continued to multiply, as regulators around the world moved to restrict the interaction between traditional and digital finance. Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, was forced to suspend sterling payments into and out of its network on Tuesday after payments company Safepay said it has stopped supporting sterling-based transfers. Binance, which has no license to operate in the U.K., has been warned in the past by the Financial Conduct Authority not to market its services there.

That came a day after Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) said it would halt trading in Binance USD, a Binance-listed native token, after U.S. regulators ordered its sponsor, Paxos, to stop minting what they claim are unregistered securities.

Story continues

In the U.S., the closure of the SigNet payments network operated by Signature is being particularly sorely missed. This had operated as the main on-off ramp between crypto and fiat currency in the U.S. before Signature was closed, leaving few viable alternatives.

One U.S. institution that is still offering services to crypto investors is San Francisco-based Mercury, which has stepped up its marketing since federal authorities took over SVB and Signature. Mercury, a fintech startup, uses its relationships with two federally-insured institutions Evolve Bank and Trust and Choice Financial Group - to offer guarantees on deposits of up to $3M, 12 times the regulatory threshold.

Mercury CEO Immad Akhund said via Twitter at the weekend that We have already onboarded 2x more customers today than we do on a normal weekday!

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Bitcoin hits 9-month high on relief trades; Binance still under pressure - Yahoo Finance