Crypto Scoop: Bitcoin Will Hit $100k Before Mid-Year

Happy New Year! It is the start of a new year, and we are delighted to bring you the trendiest news from the crypto space. Buckle your seatbelt as we prepare for an exciting year in the crypto space. In this edition of the crypto scoop, we will be reviewing:

• President Bukele's prediction of bitcoin's price to $100,000
• The top altcoins to look forward to in 2022
• Yellow Card's relaunch in Nigeria and the introduction of its latest feature, USDT
• Samsung's NFT project and,
• Africa's crypto movement and growth
  Even though the year has only just begun, the crypto space appears to be in full swing, with new crypto initiatives and growing crypto acceptance. Could we be in for a bullish run before the end of the month, and what exciting crypto projects can we look forward to before the year rolls out?

“Bitcoin Will Hit $100k Before Mid-year”, says President Bukule

Bitcoin ended the year 2021 on a bearish run with its price at $45K. However, it is yet to recover the bearish run, and it is still below $45,00 dipping as low as $42,000. Bitcoin’s price dip below $43K has been reported to lead to $800M liquidation which may have caused over 87% of losses to arise from crypto traders in long positions

Yet, there is a lot of positivity surrounding the year 2022, with Nexo CEO, Antoni Trenchev predicting that Bitcoin’s price will hit $100,000 mid-year. Goldman Sach analysts and President Nayib Bukule, President of El Salvador equally support this notion, noting that despite the apparent bearish run bitcoin would definitely scale past $100k. This was one of the six predictions of President Bukele who predicted that two more countries would adopt bitcoin as legal tender in 2022. Bukele also noted that El Salvador's Bitcoin City will start construction this year and the country's volcanic bonds will be oversubscribed.

This comes at a time when crypto enthusiasts gather to celebrate the 13th anniversary of bitcoin with the former first lady of the US, Melania Trump who had recently taken to NFTs. That’s not all! Bitcoin’s third-largest whale also made a purchase of 436 BTC to commemorate this special occasion bringing the whale’s bitcoin holdings to 120,845.57 BTC worth over $5.6 billion. It seems that more people are keen to buy the bitcoin dip, as Microstrategy also made a purchase of 1,914 BTC as the year 2021 drew to a close. 

Better Days Ahead for Ethereum 

As BTC seems to be set to rise against its bearish run, Ethereum although equally suffering a bearish run may soon experience new additions that could change its path to bullish. CEO of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin has proposed a new ‘multidimensional’ Ethereum fee structure based on“Multidimensional EIP-1559. This will involve calculating different gas prices for different resource usage which may streamline and lessen the current fee structure for Ethereum.  according to Buterin.

Yellow Card relaunches in Nigeria and introduces USDT wallets

Leading Pan African Crypto Exchange, Yellow Card announced its relaunch in its first operational country, Nigeria, this week. Yellow Card paused operation in Nigeria in February 2021 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released a publication prohibiting commercial banks and all financial institutions from interacting with cryptocurrency entities and individuals. However, Yellow Card remained dedicated to its mission of financial inclusion seeking a means to ensure crypto accessibility for Nigerians. Oparinde Babatunde, Yellow Card Director of Operations, says this moment is a game-changer for the company.

Yellow Card also announced the launch of USDT TRC-20, a new feature on its platform that allows its users across Africa to buy, sell, and hold USDT with ease, as well as directly exchange USDT for other cryptocurrencies.

Crypto Adoption in Nigeria Increases

A recent IMF paper posed that Crypto may supplant the naira and other developing market currencies. Crypto assets, according to the IMF, represent immediate and substantial risks to the currencies of various emerging markets and developing economies, including the Nigerian naira. This was said by the IMF in a paper titled "Global Crypto regulation Should Be Comprehensive, Consistent, and Coordinated," which was released on Thursday. 

Crypto assets will eventually cause systemic financial instability in some nations, according to this report, as policymakers struggle to control risks. It was suggested that crypto-asset service providers who perform key activities be licensed or authorized. and systems should be put in place to coordinate their actions. According to the IMF, there is a compelling need for cross-border collaboration and cooperation to address technological, legal, regulatory, and supervisory concerns.  

Nigerians Lead Crypto Expansion In Africa

Africa tops payment platforms in terms of transaction volume across all regions with chainanalysis reporting growth of 1200% in the African crypto market. Nigeria is the world's second-largest cryptocurrency market, with 60,214 bitcoins traded. The monetary volume of cryptocurrency received by Nigerian users has been steadily increasing: according to Chainalysis, Nigeria got $2.4 billion in May 2021, compared to only $684 million in December 2020. With Yellow Card’s relaunch in Nigeria, one can only look forward to more crypto growth and adoption. 

While Crypto adoption is fostering in Africa at large several countries have also taken positions about crypto adoption. Northern European country, Estonia has announced that it has no plans to ban cryptocurrencies as the Federal Bank of Boston also announces its hunt for a new director to head its CBDC project.

Africans Called To Unite To Create A Common Cryptocurrency

Following the Covid-19 issue, experts on the African economy believe that a single cryptocurrency, as well as an integrated capital market, will be essential to boost commerce and sustain development on the continent. According to a news release from the African Development Bank Group(ADBG), these professionals expressed their thoughts at a discussion on reviving Africa's financial sector. 

One of the professionals included in the declaration is Anouar Hassoune, a finance professor and the CEO of the West Africa Rating Agency, who believes that a common cryptocurrency has the potential to cut the cost of doing business. He went on to say: “We need to come up with a cryptocurrency that is acceptable to each member state. It’s better to do it at the continental level, and we have the expertise to do it. It’s a matter of governance, not an issue of technology.” Although it is uncertain how the introduction of a continental currency would look and function, it is an exciting concept that has the potential to boost crypto acceptance across Africa.

Get Started With Crypto