​The sale of Russian energy resources for bitcoin and the start of the “altseason.” Key events of the week

he most important industry news and a detailed analysis of digital assets in the weekly review of Getblock Magazine.

The bitcoin exchange rate has continued its growth over the past seven days, peaking at $44 400 per coin on Friday, March 25 (according to the CoinMarketCap portal). The growth of the asset for the week was 7,95%.

The second-largest cryptocurrency by capitalization, Ethereum, rose 11,77% in the past seven days. The native token of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange (BNB) gained 6,28%.

The total capitalization of the crypto market rose from $1,82 trillion to $1,99 trillion during the week, with bitcoin dominating 41,8%. Ethereum’s share is 18,8%. As can be seen on the infographic of the Coin360 portal, most of the assets are in the green zone on Friday, March 25.

Source: Coin360.com

The adoption of cryptocurrencies continues

There has been a lot of news this week about big players entering the cryptocurrency industry. For example, the US investment bank Goldman Sachs has started over-the-counter trading in cryptocurrencies. The conglomerate has entered into a bitcoin-based non-deliverable option deal with Galaxy Digital and became the first major bank to make such an operation.

The world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, founded by billionaire Ray Dalio, also plans to invest in the cryptocurrency industry. The company will back a third-party crypto fund, with the size of the investment being small relative to Bridgewater’s assets.

In the US state of Florida, businesses will be able to pay taxes with cryptocurrencies as early as this year. This was stated by Governor Ron DeSantis. The governor’s position is also actively supported by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who announced that he will receive part of his salary in bitcoins.

The number of cryptocurrency holders on the African continent is growing. Their number has increased by 2500% in a year, and some countries have seen a 2670% increase in crypto transactions. Africans are attracted to digital assets by low cross-border transfers fees. In addition, the interest in cryptocurrencies is growing amid record inflation of fiat currencies on the continent.

In Germany, the adoption of cryptocurrencies is also at a high level, with up to 44% of the population planning to invest in digital assets. The most popular product among German investors is staking, with an average of 24% of trading volumes allocated to it. The second most popular product is crypto loans. Up to 13% of investors’ trading volumes are allocated to this type of product.

News from the Russian crypto market

On March 24, it became known that the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation supported the draft law “On Digital Currency” by the Ministry of Finance. The document outlines the basic concepts of cryptocurrency regulation in the country.

If the bill is passed, the identification will be required to purchase digital currency. The ministry’s representatives stated that some provisions of the bill need to be refined. In addition to mining, “the procedure for payment of digital currency, certain requirements for the persons who are operators of digital currency exchange and operators of digital trading platforms need to be clarified.”

One of the most discussed news of the week was a statement by the head of the State Duma Budget Committee Pavel Zavalny on the possibility of selling energy resources for bitcoins. He attributed this to the disruption of the possibility of settlements in dollars and euros because of the Western sanctions. The head of the committee stressed that “unfriendly countries” would be able to buy gas not only with rubles but also with gold. Zavalny added:

“As for “friendly countries” such as China or Turkey, which are not involved in this sanctions pressure. We have been proposing to China for a long time, and measures have been taken, to switch to settlements in national currencies for rubles and yuan. [...] The currency can be different and this is normal practice. If will be bitcoins, we will trade in bitcoins. This is absolutely normal practice.”

The Russian miners may soon face the introduction of industry regulation. On March 21, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated that cryptocurrency mining should be legislated in Russia as a type of activity. He added that such a decision will allow for the legalization of mining and the levying of taxes in this sector.

On Wednesday, March 23, the State Duma has passed a law requiring all election candidates to provide detailed information about the purchase of cryptocurrencies over 3 years. In addition to information on cryptocurrency, the document obliges all candidates participating in elections to provide information on such expenses by their immediate family members. Also, if there are digital assets, the candidate should provide information about the sources of funds for this transaction.

Analysts’ predictions

The global cryptocurrency market can grow 15 times and reach a capitalization of $30 trillion. Bank of America specialist of strategy department Alkesh Shah reported. According to him, the growth will be facilitated by increased centralization and greater regulation of the industry.

The analyst cites the term “semi-decentralization,” which suggests that the operation of blockchain is being stealthily managed by centralized organizations.

“If I was going to look at the next $30 trillion for this ecosystem, I would look at the semi-decentralized part,” Shah concluded.

Crypto analyst Kevin Svenson believes that an “altcoin season” may be on the horizon, with the Loopring protocol (LRC) being its main driver. Loopring allows anyone to create non-custodial exchanges based on the order book using zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs on the Ethereum network. LRC token holders can receive rewards from fees paid by decentralized exchanges that use the Loopring protocol.

Svenson noted that he actively uses this layer-2 protocol because of the low fees on the altcoin network.

The famous writer and author of the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Robert Kiyosaki spoke about supporting bitcoin in his podcast The Rich Dad Channel. In his opinion, the current state of the financial system forces everyone to buy gold, silver, and cryptocurrencies right now. This helps protect capital from inflation.

The writer also believes that digital currencies issued and backed by central banks (CBDC) will lead to hyperinflation.