The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) and a group of seven central banks released a report on Central Banks Digital Currencies (CBDCs). The report outlined the feasibility of CBDCs. It discussed the motivations, challenges, and risks of designing a CBDC, and actually putting it in action.

In previous blogs, we have discussed how the government debt is becoming an increasing problem for the US economy and why the new stimulus by the Federal Reserve is increasing fiat risk. But there is another problem that is becoming increasingly relevant: zombie companies. Definitions used for this term vary somewhat, but they are often described as companies that are unable to cover interest costs on their debt with net income for three years in a row.

COVID19 has had a severe impact on global economies. During the second quarter of this year, the US economy is estimated to have shrunk by an annualized 31.7%. That economies would be hit hard was well-known. It was thought by many that the rapid economic decline would be followed by a rapid recovery, also known as a “V-shaped recovery”.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published a letter, nearly 2 months ago, clarifying the authority of national banks and federal savings associations to provide cryptocurrency custody services for its customers.

The blockchain industry is young and offers a lot of opportunities for companies that are able to position themselves in this turbulent phase. Companies are competing to solidify their place in the market while effectively diversifying and de-risking at the same time. One popular way of doing this is through mergers and acquisitions which is usually only for the wealthier companies in the market.

Plustoken was the biggest Ponzi scheme in the cryptocurrency industry. Over $5.8 billion worth of cryptocurrencies was defrauded. Recently, Cailain News reported that 27 major suspects and 82 other key members of the scam were arrested. The news source reported that the individuals operated within and outside of China.

Institutional interest in the cryptomarket is seen by many as an important step, both for acknowledgement of the possibilities of cryptocurrency as well as additional capital flowing into the industry. Enough interest could result in further bullish price movement. So far, this year has seen record breaking investment from institutional investors which could result in further bullishness should this trend continue

Why do governments set their inflation rate targets at around 2%? Is inflation not a bad thing? Wouldn’t an inflation rate of zero be better? In this post, the subject of inflation and wages will be discussed. By looking at the inflation and wages growth rate since the 1970s, it seems clear that the bottom half of the male workforce in the U.S. did not do that well over the past decades.

US government bonds and the US dollar have been seen as safe havens for investors for decades. However, the debt pile is becoming an increasing problem for its economy, both for monetary policy as well as fiscal policy. A lot of believers in Bitcoin see this as a reason that people will lose faith in both the US economy and its currency. This article will explain the basics of what the issue is with the US government debt.

Throughout history, multiple transitions of empires occurred. Each of these empires had its own currency and way of life. This article will discuss the biggest modern empires (1300 AD) and its dominant trade currency. The empires examined are Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Britain, and the US. Furthermore, this article will discuss how they came to be and their downfalls.

Alternative investments differ from traditional investments in a variety of ways. They are usually subject to limited regulation whereas the traditional investment market is highly regulated.

In November of 2019, Icoinic posted a blog discussing the effects of a halving as well as the price action of Bitcoin around the previous two halving events of Bitcoin. You can read that blog here. Leading up to both of those events, the Bitcoin price saw a rally of 12-13 months with a total return of 434% the first time, and 238% the second time.

One of the base principles of economics is that prices will change up to a point where supply and demand balance each other and equilibrium is achieved. This equilibrium is short-lived most of the time as supply and demand change rapidly as news becomes available or preferences change. This post will delve deeper into these demand and supply mechanics by discussing the “Stock to Flow Model” in accounting, the Stock to Flow (S2F) model proposed by Plan B, and his recently published Stock to Flow Cross Assets (S2FX) model.

There have been some mixed messages regarding adoption among institutionals in the cryptocurrency market. A lot of news sites have reported a negative development with regards to hedge funds that focus on cryptocurrency.

In the last part of the series, Bitcoin will be introduced and explained as a form of digital money. There are a couple arguments that strenghten the position of the Bitcoin and make it more likely to survive. Nonetheless, there are some factors which can make it irrelevant. At the end of the blogpost we will conclude the series and try to answer the question 'How the crisis makes crypto a better investment'.

After the first shock of the corona crisis hit the economy, the Federal Reserve and the government acted quickly to give financial help to corporates and to people. The provided solution looks to be a temporary relief for many, but it does not look clear whether it will solve the issue that corporates, after a decade of prosperity, were so vulnerable when they missed revenues for a month.

The recent economic turmoil changes the perspective of almost all investments and crypto is not an exception from this. Icoinic publishes a blog series to explain why we think crypto is a better investment now than ever before and how crypto and Bitcoin especially can be the answer to the problems with the indebted and vulnerable economies.

It is commonly known that cryptocurrencies are the most liberal and progressive currencies there are, as anybody can participate in the Bitcoin network. No identification or other preventive measures regarding the Anti-Money Laundering Directive legislation (AMLD5) are required. This is one of the main areas of criticism of Bitcoin, but what’s the reasoning behind this and where does the criticism come from? In this blog article the experts of Icoinic will elaborate on the possible criminal aspect of Bitcoin.

Icoinic has always stated that investing in cryptocurrencies is a good way to diversify risk. That being said, cryptocurrency investments can be extremely risky if the right strategy is not implemented. This became evident once again during the volatility of the past month.

As Bitcoin started to increase in popularity, Ethereum entered the scene in 2015. Besides being a new decentralized cryptocurrency, Ethereum brought decentralized smart contracts to the masses as well. This opened the door to endless possibilities due to the smart contracts being Turing complete, which is very interesting for companies looking to improve their efficiency or even create entirely new business models. Since then, the crypto market has boomed with thousands of projects that either aimed to improve on what Ethereum had set up or came up with new models of their own. Ethereum is currently still the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap after Bitcoin despite the efforts of the competition.

With the advent of technology and financial instruments, the case for diversification is stronger than ever. Derivatives allow investors and businesses to hedge their risk against foreign currency, commodity prices, and stocks.

While Bitcoin is still generally seen as an investment that is far too risky to add to a portfolio by traditional market participants, they can actually serve a great purpose to one’s portfolio, even for the traditional investors. The Bitcoin price can be extremely volatile, but that does not mean that it is riskier in every way. An example of how Bitcoin can aid in diversifying the risk exposure of your portfolio is the recent outbreak of the new Coronavirus.

Trends, hypes, mentions and how much a topic is discussed in the public discourse can indicate a potential investment opportunity. Can the same be said for the cryptocurrency markets?

In the near future, a lot more derivative products will become available to traders/investors. A good example of this is the recent developments seen at Binance which has become increasingly focused on listing futures for its users.

A tendency in the traditional markets is that a part of traders, professionals, and institutions stop trading during the holiday periods. Thus, dips in volume can be seen in the days during Christmas and around New Year’s Eve. The exact levels of traded volume are difficult to forecast since it is affected by many factors. The number of active market participants is definitely one and that shows a clear pattern of fall during the December holidays.

Bitcoin started 2020 off in a great way, as the price of Bitcoin rallied with 37%, producing a significant monthly candle. On a fundamental note, BItcoin seems to be reacting to global economic threats. Examples are the recent tension between Iran and the United States, but also the coronavirus in China.

There are multiple derivatives available to trade on the cryptocurrency market. Each has its own advantages compared to simply trading the spot price. The derivatives that are available today are: Futures CFDs Options ETPs

Cryptocurrency trading and investing are becoming increasingly popular. As more people are drawn to the young market, more financial products become available to both speculate on price movements as well as limit risk. These products derive their value from an underlying asset, the spot market, and are known as derivatives.

While using decentralized networks to power financial products has advantages, it also brings challenges. Key challenges that have to be overcome are possible conflicting laws in different jurisdictions, rights and obligations of the participants, and the clarity and enforceability of the legal basis for any payment and its settlement finality.

Elected best Dutch crypto fund Icoinic may also call itself the brand-new owner of the oldest crypto fund of the Netherlands. The acquisition Synnofin, established in 2014, means further expansion of Icoinic's services in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Roughly every ten minutes, a block is produced by a miner through Proof of Work and added to the Bitcoin Blockchain. As a reward, the miner gets a certain amount of Bitcoin for every block it produced. This reward is about to be cut in half in 2020. Exactly what type of effect this will have on the Bitcoin price is an actively debated topic within the cryptocurrency community.

On the 23rd of October 2019, Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, came before the Committee of Financial Services. The talking points of the 6-hour long hearing before the congressmen and congresswomen of the committee were the "Examination of Facebook and its impacts on the Financial Services and Housing sectors."

By design, Libra and its ecosystem are permissioned. Only appointed members can join the Association and govern the blockchain.

While the price surged from $7,300 to $10,500 on the 25th of October 2019, the macro view starts to show similarities with the previous bull market. This article will focus on the similarities and possible perspectives of Bitcoin movements in the coming period.

The following weeks we will discuss the Libra project, Libra Association, regulations surround Libra and the Association, and the controversy that comes with being associated with Facebook.

Altcoins are often seen as the more extreme Cryptocurrency equivalent of penny stocks (and low market cap stocks) in the traditional market due to a number of reasons.

The last post touched briefly about the basics of an IEO. This post will Highlight three IEOs that were done on the Binance launch pad, namely, BitTorrent, Elrond, and Matic. These three are selected because they provide either real-life utility with chances of adoption, enormous return on investment or shows promise for the future.

An IEO, Initial Exchange Offering, is a fundraising event that is administered by an exchange, contrary to an ICO, where the project conducts the fundraising itself.

More people choose to invest in cryptocurrencies over the traditional stock market. But there are important differences between the two investment styles.

Cryptofonds Icoinic heeft in de Beurs van Berlage de Cashcow Award gewonnen voor het beste Nederlandse cryptofonds.

Due to the novelty of the virtual currencies, very few regulations are made. There are a few challenges the EU has to overcome regarding cryptocurrencies.

Voor veel mensen is crypto en blockchain nog een onbekende wereld. Dit boekje bevat alle ins en outs van crypto, blockchain en het beleggen in crypto’s.

Have you seen our managing director Arthur Stolk at the Telegraaf TV already? The episode has been posted online. Here you will find a link to the video.

There is a floating rate and a fixed rate. A floating rate, is determined by the open market through supply and demand on global currency markets.

There are currently five types of strategies that investment funds in the cryptocurrency space use. Each one of them has its own benefits and risks.

We are really excited to be a finalist at the CashCow Award, category 'Best Dutch Cryptofund'! Can you help us, win the award?

In this article, we’ll provide some practical insights into algorithmic trading - such as the different types of algorithmic trading in crypto.

Bitcoin dominance points to altcoins upside. Currently, there are thousands of different cryptocurrencies, of which 2493 are listed and tracked.

Icoinic's content has been secured in the blockchain, through WordProof, which emphasises that it was written by Icoinic.