Is Bitcoin Still the Gold Standard in Cryptocurrency?
With a market cap of approximately $1.3 trillion, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) continues reigning as the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency. No surprise, then, that both retail and institutional investors have typically chosen Bitcoin as the first crypto they add to their portfolio.
However, cryptocurrency faces new challenges as it attempts to go mainstream, and its stellar 15-year track record of performance will be difficult to replicate. So, is Bitcoin still the gold standard for crypto investors?
Upside potential
The primary factor driving Bitcoin’s popularity with investors has been its long track record of delivering market-beating returns. During the decade from 2011 to 2021, it was the best-performing asset in the world, and it wasn’t a close race.
The crypto delivered returns of 230% per year. The next-best asset class — tech stocks — delivered returns of just 20% per year. After a down year in 2022, Bitcoin soared by another 150% last year. And through the first half of 2024, it is up another 50%.
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Bitcoin price today: steady at $67k as weekend rally cools; US politics in focus
Bitcoin price rose slightly on Monday, steadying after a sharp rally over the weekend as President Joe Biden’s dropping of his reelection bid spurred increased uncertainty over the U.S. political outlook.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency had rallied in recent sessions amid growing bets that Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who has presented a pro-crypto stance- will win a second term.
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Silver (XAG) Forecast: Gold Divergence Widens; Is Silver Undervalued or Overextended?
Key Points:
—Silver prices struggle as gold reaches new heights. The widening gold-silver ratio suggests potential undervaluation of the white metal or gold overvaluation.
—Silver’s break below the 50-day moving average at $30.19 signals a technical breakdown. Sellers target $28.57, with further decline possible to $27.22-$26.60 zone.
—Weak Chinese manufacturing data raises concerns about silver’s industrial demand. This aspect contributes to silver’s underperformance compared to gold.
—Fed rate cut expectations drive precious metals. A 98% probability of a September cut may create a buy the rumor, sell the fact scenario for silver and gold.
—Asian physical demand for silver remains sluggish. Customers capitalize on high prices by selling existing holdings rather than making new purchases.
@ Newshounds News™
Read more: FX Empire
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PHYSICAL CARDS: The Unexpected Frontier in Digital Security
Dr. Adam Lowe, chief product and innovation officer at CompoSecure, hears it all the time from banking executives when the topic is securing payments: “We cannot introduce friction.” But the balancing act is a tough one. Challenge a user too much and they’ll switch to a competitor. Challenge them too little, and the customer’s financial injury may be calamitous.
In this age of digital attacks and global hacks, banks, FinTechs and platforms face a dilemma. One need only look at the size and scope of the AT&T breach to see that hackers have been able to access, co-opt and use all manner of data to power their scams, and perhaps, cobble together synthetic identities. SMS texts are not as secure as they once were, given the fact that imposters can be the ones behind the SMS missive that seeks user confirmation to complete a transaction.
Among the best lines of defense and security, he said, is something that just about everyone has in their possession: a tangible, physical card. And the card, he said, ticks all the boxes of a robust and usable form of identity protection, as the technology has proven simple enough that even his mother feels comfortable using it, and as tap-to-pay has become a feature ingrained in daily financial life.
CompoSecure’s digital security platform, Arculus, streamlines digital authentication processes and secures digital assets, underpinned by the blockchain. CompoSecure, he said as part of the “What’s Next in Payments” halftime report, “essentially invented the metal card,” and now, with the digital Arculus platform, has extended the capabilities of a payment card.
“We’re seeing more customers rolling out our Arculus technology,” he said, “whether it be the wallet technology, and having digital assets alongside a payment card … or whether it’s the authenticate technology, which is for more traditional banks and for FinTechs.”
A Pocket-Sized Cryptography Engine
With enhanced digital security features, he said, the card “essentially becomes a cryptography engine in your pocket.”
The chip that’s embedded in the card, he said, serves as that aforementioned engine. To enhance the digital experience, he said, the company debuted the Arculus Cold Storage Wallet, which is the digital asset hardware wallet, which puts “keys” on the card for any user to store and use those keys for security to support and pay with crypto assets.
In addition, leveraging similar key technology, Arculus Authenticate allows users to tap their cards to authenticate themselves via a passkey that’s stored on those cards. These cards with Arculus Authenticate can also accept payments, so consumers can login, sign and approve payments.
“Instead of being synched to the cloud,” he said, of the data, “where it can be ‘ripped’ out of the cloud by bad actors, your passkeys are safe in your pocket the same way your keys to the front door of your house are safe in your pocket.”
And, he added, “whether it’s signing Visa transactions, or MasterCard, FIDO 2, or whether it’s signing Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions, that cryptography engine is happy … we can serve whatever market segment needs to be served by design, and we can make it all interoperable.”
That interoperability, he said, is a bit like bridging all the railroads back in the 1890s, as a range of different track gauges knit together to make everything work, east to west and vice versa. In this case, the various parties in a transaction using zero trust architecture standards as transactions move along various conduits.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, zero trust architecture is the term for “an evolving set of cybersecurity paradigms that move defenses from static, network-based perimeters to focus on users, assets and resources.” It assumes no implicit trust based on physical or network location.
@ Newshounds News™
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