Category: Crypto News (Page 1 of 6)

How to Invest In The Stock Market For Beginners

March 16, 2023 / Frank Nez / 18 Comments

There comes a point when you realize that in order to build wealth it will require you to build multiple streams of income. The average millionaire has seven. The stock market is one way you can invest your earned income in order to start earning passive income and multiply your money. Here’s how to invest in the stock market step by step for beginners.

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I’ve been investing in the stock market since 2019.

When I learned how to open a brokerage account and buy company stock, I knew I had to show people how to do it too.

Everything I found online was outdated so I wanted to make it easy for people to start.

Benefits of investing in the stock market

One of the greatest benefits of investing in the stock market is that you get to hedge against inflation.

Inflation is at an all-time high right now and simply letting your money lose its value isn’t going to create wealth.

The stock market also provides an average return of 7%-8% annually which means those CDs and high yielding savings accounts are a thing of the past.

Even so, you can always create a portfolio bringing in 20%+ annual returns!

In June of 2021, AMC shareholders saw a whopping 3000% return on their investment at its high.

GameStop shareholders saw about half!

Although these trades are much different anomalies then traditional long-term investing, it paints a picture of the power of the market.

Let’s get you started!

#1. Set a Budget When Planning to Invest

Before you begin to invest you will need to set a budget on your first investment(s).

The great thing about the stock market is that you can invest with as little as $50 or so depending on the cost of a share.

A share is a fraction of a company you can own and earn money from as the company grows and profits over a period of time.

Example

If you set a budget of $200 and the share of a company you want to invest in costs $50 then you can purchase (4) four shares of said company.

If a month later the shares you purchased are worth $60 each then your shares would now be worth $240, resulting in a $40 gain.

This is how investing in the stock market works.

Note: I highly recommend having your emergency fund built prior to proceeding with investing in the stock market.

It is important to highlight that the money you invest in the stock market will need to be money you can tolerate losing.

The stock market is volatile meaning the value of your assets is constantly going up and down.

Something to keep in mind is that the value of your investments can go down just as fast if not faster than they went up.

Now, this is not addressed to scare you. The stock on average has an annual return of 6-8% per year.

Why should you invest in stocks?

Investing in stocks is a great way to diversify your portfolio.

You don’t want to keep all your eggs in one basket.

For this reason, the wealthy invest in companies they believe have long-term potential to thrive and to multiply their investment.

#2. Know What to Invest In

Now that you’ve set a budget you’ll need to know what you want to invest in.

Once you do, find the stock market symbol of the company on Google search engine.

If you wanted to invest in Coca-Cola for example, you’d search ‘stock market symbol for Coca-Cola’ on Google.

You’ll see that the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) symbol for Coca-Cola is KO.

This is how you will identify and search for companies to invest in when you’re in the market to buy stocks.

Here are some different type of investments you can invest in within the NYSE.

Stocks

A stock is a share of a company just like Coca-Cola.

Buying a share from one specific company is a stock.

Stocks are good to purchase if you strongly believe in the continued success of your choice of company.

Invest in companies that have room to grow and are constantly innovating.

Stocks I personally favor are Tesla, Apple, and Amazon.

These tech companies are always innovating therefore I have strong conviction towards their continued growth and success.

Index Funds

An index fund is a fund that tracks and follows the index (growth) of a group of companies.

When you own a share of an index fund, you own a percentage of a pool of companies oppose to just one company.

What makes an index fund great is that if a company within an index fund isn’t performing very well there are other companies that may balance the overall performance of the fund resulting in a fair return.

A popular choice is the S&P500.

This index fund tracks the performance of the top 500 companies in the United States.

This type of investment tends to be a less risky and yield great profits over the long run.

It’s an investors favorite and I personally hold shares in the S&P500.

Bookmark: Retire a millionaire with the S&P500: is it possible?

REITS

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust Fund) is very similar to an index fund.

The only exception is that it invests exclusively in real estate companies oppose to other businesses.

If you want to invest in real estate without the hassle of learning the game, using cash up front, or getting into debt, REITs are a great way to diversify your portfolio into the real estate sector.

A great REIT I’m invested in is VNQ with Vanguard.

Which investment is right for you?

Each of these investments has their own benefits.

My suggestion is to research them individually as all of our needs are very unique.

As your skills develop as a retail investor, you’ll find yourself having a diversified portfolio consisting of all three.

Invest in the stock market and learn to identify which investment is best for you.

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
Warren buffett

#3. Choose a Brokerage Firm to Begin Investing in The Stock Market

This is the fun part.

Choose a reputable online brokerage firm.

A brokerage firm is a platform where you will be doing all of your investing through the NYSE.

Here you’ll be able to purchase stocks and sell them.

Each brokerage firm has their own customer advantages but are very similar to use.

Here is a list of brokerage firms you can open an account with and sign up for free.

Check out each brokerage firm’s website and see which feels more comfortable for you to navigate.

Do some research on each of them to see which has the strongest potential for your needs. I personally use Vanguard.

How to invest in the stock market for beginners

Note: When you purchase investments, there are small commission fees your investments will pay out to the firm.

They are very small in most cases and don’t hinder your earnings like you’d think. Vanguard has the lowest fees.

Each brokerage firm will have different commission fees and the percentage will vary in each firm.

For example: Coke (KO) will have a slightly different commission fee in every firm despite having the same share cost.

#4. Open your account

For this step-by-step on how to invest in the stock market I’m going to use Vanguard.

Vanguard is one of the most reliable brokerage accounts you can use.

how to invest with Vanguard
Franknez.com — How to invest in stocks for beginners

Head over to Vanguard and select ‘Open an account’.

how to open an account with vanguard — How to invest in stocks with Vanguard

Select ‘Start your new account’ to get started.

Choose the method you will be funding your new account. You can choose between:

Electronic bank transfer or another Vanguard account
Rollover from an employer plan (e.g., 401(k) plan)
Transfer investments from another financial firm

Most new retail investors will be choosing the first option, using an electronic bank transfer to fund your account.

Before you open your account to begin investing in the stock market you’ll need your bank account and routing number as well as other personal information.

Once you’re in it’s time to transfer funds into your account.

#5. Transfer Funds into Your Brokerage Account

Congratulations! Now that you’ve chosen a brokerage account to invest with, you’ll have the tools at your disposal to begin investing.

Navigate throughout your brokerage website. Get comfortable with where things are.

Things might seem very new at first, intimidating even.

Don’t worry, now that you’ve begun something new, you’ll begin to take the first steps toward self-education.

First, you’ll want to learn how to transfer funds into your brokerage account.

I will be demonstrating step by step how to do this using Vanguard.

Toggle the settings to connect your bank account with your brokerage account so you can start to invest in the stock market.

This direct line will allow you to transfer funds into your account so you may begin to purchase shares.

Once you have this set up you may transfer the money from your budget to invest in.

#6. Make Your Very First Investment in The Stock Market

Now that you’ve transferred your funds over to your brokerage account, navigate through the site to make your very first purchase.

Search the symbol of the stock, index, or REIT you will be investing in.

Note: Before purchasing, make sure you thoroughly navigate the website to get comfortable using it.

This will make the purchase experience a lot easier.

Once you pull up the investment, go through the details provided on the page.

You should be able to see its history, it’s projected return, its risk level, and so much more information about the investment.

Purchase the investment!

Purchase the investment with the option set to ‘Market’.

This option will allow you to purchase the investment instantly at the price it’s worth.

We suggest doing a test purchase since this is your first time investing in the stock market.

This will help you get a feel for it. Purchase one share so you understand the process.

It will serve as good practice and experience.

Follow up on your investment the following day and see whether your investment had gains or losses.

You’ll see for the very first time how your investment grew in value or decreased in value.

You now have a taste of what it’s like to invest in the stock market.

Bookmark: My top picks of stocks to invest in right now

Final thoughts

I have personally invested in stocks since 2019 and have learned a lot about the stock market.

In fact, I’m still learning today.

I published an article on the best tips and advice for beginners investing in stocks to further help you on your journey.

Stock investing is all about strategy.

When you make money in the stock market you may let it sit and accumulate over time, or you may cash in your profits and allocate those gains towards other opportunities.

This is why I believe investing in stocks is extremely important to someone who wants to build wealth.

The stock market allows you to multiply your hard-earned money so you may further invest it in other assets.

If you received value from this post please be sure to share it with someone who’s working towards becoming financially independent and who is also building their financial future.

My mission is to help people all around the world attain financial stability in order to live their best lives possible.

Here’s how you make money trading the S&P 500.

Need a financial advisor? Click here.

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Citadel Has a Long History of Market Manipulation

March 13, 2023 / Frank Nez / 2 Comments

Citadel Market Manipulation — Market News: Citadel and friends are entering the crypto space | Ken Griffin.

Ken Griffin and friends are entering the crypto world very soon — investors are concerned as Citadel has a history of several violations and fines.

EDX Markets plans to bring ‘traditional finance’ to the crypto space, a not so ‘traditional’ space to begin with.

The exchange made up of Citadel, Sequoia, Paradigm, Virtu, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity is debuting in November.

EDX Markets will start trading a limited number of spot, crypto tokens starting with a November trial period, with the official launch in January, per Bloomberg.

Similar to trading equities and options, EDX will allow investors to buy and sell digital assets through their existing broker dealer, rather than an outside venue or directly through a crypto-native exchange.

“We’re taking some of the best features of traditional finance and bringing it to the digital markets to make it more efficient, and bring that cost saving to investors,” Nazarali said.

Nazarali is the former global head of business development at Citadel Securities.

But as many are aware, these financial institutions have a long history of playing unfair.

Will these sharks taint the crypto space too?

Let’s look at Citadel’s market manipulation history as well as other Citadel violations and fines in the past.

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Citadel Market Manipulation

Citadel Fines and market manipulation. — Citadel violation and fines – market manipulation.

2015

In 2015, an account operated in China by the brokerage arm of US hedge fund Citadel was suspended.

It was the latest casualty of regulators’ hunt for market manipulators and short sellers at the time.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said that the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges had suspended 24 accounts as part of a probe into high-frequency trading.

The investigation focused on a practice known as “spoofing” in which an investor submits a buy or sell order but then withdraws it before a sale is completed — a practice that can mislead investors by creating the false impression that a stock is trading at a particular price.

Citadel confirmed that one of its accounts managed by Guosen Futures was among those suspended.

2017

In 2017 Citadel was fined by the SEC $22.6 million to settle charges of misleading conduct.

The hedge fund misled customers about the way it priced trades.

The SEC found that between 2007 and 2010, Citadel used two algorithms to execute stock trades on customers’ behalf that gave investors a worse price for their trades, even when Citadel knew better prices existed elsewhere.

“This affected millions of retail orders,” said Stephanie Avakian, the acting director of enforcement at the SEC at the time.

Citadel neither admitted nor denied the findings.

2021

Citadel violations and fines. — Citadel violations and fines – market manipulation.

In 2021, Failure-to-Delivers (FTDs) rose dramatically in the period leading up to January 28th, 2021, a phenomenon consistent with increasing short interest by market makers such as Citadel Securities.

FTDs are indictive of naked short selling, which occurs when a short seller does not actually possess the security it is supposed to borrow.

This practice is largely inaccessible to individual investors but accessible to market makers.

At the time, Citadel, Robinhood, and others restricted retail investors from buying ‘meme stocks’ in order to prevent escalating institutional losses.

Citadel eventually lost billions after betting against AMC Entertainment in 2021.

But the entire system needs a refresh – The DTCC waived a total of $9.7 billion of collateral deposit requirements on January 28, 2021, saving brokers, and screwing up retail investors.

2022

The Chicago Tribune published a piece explaining exactly what retail investors have been warning the SEC about.

Citadel Securities’ dark pool dominates a big part of the financial world, accounting for as much as half of U.S. stock market activity.

The Chicago Tribune says this prominent dark pool is run by Chicago Billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities and has been targeting small scale retail investors.

And they’re not wrong.

Dark pools are typically involved in payment for order flow (PFOF), where they pay broker firms to receive retail order flow.

Brokers such as Robinhood and TD Ameritrade accept payment for order flow.

But retail investors have been bringing these nefarious practices in the market to light.

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95% of Retail Orders Don’t Go Through Lit Exchange

March 13, 2023 / Frank Nez / 15 Comments

Gary Gensler announced exclusively on Bloomberg (see below) that 90-95% of retail orders don’t go through the lit exchange.

The SEC Commissioner says these orders are rerouted to dark pools rather than the NYSE.

It was only a year after the ‘meme stock’ frenzy that the community receives this official news.

The ‘ape’ community has been labeled as conspiracy theorists but have proven to be correct time and time again on the market injustices that have been occurring for decades.

Here’s the latest market news.

Welcome to Franknez.com – Gary Gensler has confirmed the market manipulation that the ‘ape’ community has been exposing all for years now.

This is big for the retail community because for some time, ‘smart money’ was referring to investors as conspiracy theorists.

And can the SEC suspend dark pool trading?

Let’s dive right into it.

Gary Gensler on Dark Pools via Bloomberg

Gary Gensler confirms 90%-95% or retail orders are processed in dark pools

SEC Chairman and Commissioner Gary Gensler says payment for order flow is partly the reason why orders aren’t processed on the lit exchange.

He says retail orders go to wholesalers on an order-by-order competition.

Citadel’s Ken Griffin has praised PFOF stating it’s good for retail investors.

However, PFOF allows market makers to process retails orders in the ‘dark markets’, or dark pools.

This means retail buying volume is out of sync with AMC’s actual share price.

AMC’s share price is synthetic, it only reflects a small portion of buying volume.

Market Makers Have Been Stealing from Retail Investors

Market makers have been stealing from retail investors with absolutely no consequence from regulators.

Now that the cat is out of the hat, what is going to be done about it?

How does one account for all the orders that have been derailed from the lit exchange market and fix the share price to reflect the correct amount?

Banning PFOF is one thing but what about the money that has been masked by dark pools?

Will these financial institutions be held accountable for financial treason?

The integrity of the stock market has been tainted for far too long, now it’s time to take action.

Will PFOF get banned in the U.S?

Will PFOF get banned in the United States?

According to Gary Gensler, PFOF is banned in the UK, Canada, Australia, and in Europe.

However, because the U.S has a very strong capitalist economy, it could prove to be difficult.

Gensler says, “I think it’s natural that we look to say, how do we drive great competition and efficiency in this market, and use the tools that congress has given us.”

Here the SEC Chairman is saying their solution is to find someone who can compete with these market makers rather than banning PFOF in general.

We’ve seen these efforts through the IEX exchange D-Limit order.

IEX is a lit exchange that reflects much more accurate share prices and eliminates the predatorial strategies used by market makers and hedge funds.

These strategies include PFOF and high frequency trading.

Recently, Citadel, Charles Schwab, and the NYSE have teamed up to destroy new SEC Proposals.

However, ‘We The Investors’ has challenged Wall Street by submitting more than 1,300 letters supporting the SEC’s proposals.

Retail Wants Orders Processed Through the Lit Exchange

The SEC is supposed to be protecting retail investors from nefarious market practices.

Therefore, it is the SEC’s duty to find a solution and locate the money that retail is missing.

Retail wants orders processed through the lit exchange.

Market makers do not have the consent to move retail money through dark pools or other foreign markets.

#MarketMakersDontHaveConsent

Can the SEC Suspend Dark Pools?

Yes, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has the authority to suspend dark pools if it believes that they are violating securities laws or posing a risk to investors or the integrity of the markets.

Dark pools are private trading venues that allow institutional investors to buy and sell large blocks of securities without revealing their trading intentions to the public.

While dark pools can provide benefits such as reducing market impact and improving execution quality, they can also raise concerns about transparency and fairness.

The SEC has taken action in the past to regulate dark pools and address potential abuses.

For example, in 2014, the SEC brought charges against a major dark pool operator for making false statements to investors about the operation of its trading platform, leading to a $12 million settlement.

In 2020, the SEC proposed rules that would increase transparency and disclosure requirements for dark pools.

If the SEC determines that a dark pool is engaged in unlawful activities or poses a risk to investors or the markets, it can suspend the dark pool’s operations, require it to take remedial actions, or take other enforcement actions as appropriate.

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Market News Today - Can the SEC suspend dark pools? — Market News Today – Can the SEC suspend dark pools?

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Cathie Wood Says Bitcoin Will Hit $1 Million

February 19, 2023 / Frank Nez

Crypto News Today - Cathie Wood predicts Bitcoin to $1 million by 2030. — Crypto News Today – Cathie Wood predicts Bitcoin to $1 million by 2030.

Ark Investment’s Cathie Wood says Bitcoin ($BTC) will hit $1 million by the year 2030.

Cryptocurrency had a rocky 2022 but Cathie Wood say it was primarily due to centralized institutions.

“Last year was a terrible year for everything crypto, but if you think about what happened, it was the centralized opaque players who went bankrupt. FTX, Celsius, 3-Hours Capital, and what did we see from Bitcoin? Bitcoin is completely decentralized and transparent. It started because of 08′-09′, the lack of transparency in the traditional financial services ecosystem.

“This is a rules based digital monetary system and its global. And there’s no human intervention. It’s very disciplined, it’s mathematically metered to top out at 21 million units.”

“We’re seeing riots and protests all over the place. Where do these people go for an insurance policy against an implosion in their purchasing power and wealth. It is in something like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is an insurance policy,” said Cathie Wood.

How Much Was Bitcoin Worth in The Beginning?

Bitcoin price started trading at approximately $0.08 per coin back in July of 2010 but was worth even less during inception.

CNBC asked Chamath, an early Facebook investor and venture capitalist, how high he thinks Bitcoin will continue to soar.

“Where is it going? It’s probably going to 100, then 150, then 200 thousand”.

Chamath was one of the first people to invest in Bitcoin a decade ago.

Do you believe Bitcoin will reach $1 million per coin?

Do you own it?

Leave your thoughts below.

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Market News Today - Cathie Wood predicts Bitcoin to $1 million by 2030. — Market News Today – Cathie Wood predicts Bitcoin to $1 million by 2030.

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FTX is Suing Voyager to Resuscitate $446 Million in Loan Payments

January 31, 2023 / Curating Team

Market News: FTX sued Voyager Digital to regain $445.8 million.

(Reuters) Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX sued crypto lender Voyager Digital on Monday, seeking to claw back $445.8 million in loan repayments that FTX made before collapsing into bankruptcy in November 2022.

FTX and Voyager both filed for bankruptcy amid a 2022 collapse in cryptocurrency markets, but Voyager’s bankruptcy preceded FTX’s filing by four months.

After Voyager filed in July, it demanded repayment of all outstanding loans to FTX and its affiliate hedge fund Alameda Research.

FTX said in a court filing that on Alameda’s behalf, it paid Voyager $248.8 million in September and $193.9 million in October.

FTX also made a $3.2 million interest payment in August, according to its court filings.

Because those loan payments were made so close to FTX’s own bankruptcy filing, they are eligible to be clawed back and potentially used to repay other FTX creditors, according to FTX’s complaint.

Also Read: Ken Griffin Speaks Out on Retail Investors and FTX Collapse

FTX Scandal

FTX, once among the world’s top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and other investors facing losses in the billions of dollars.

Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been indicted on fraud charges, and several top executives, including Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, have pleaded guilty to fraud.

Bankman-Fried has denied wrongdoing and is scheduled for trial in October.

FTX initially appeared to weather the storm that brought down Voyager and other crypto firms in summer 2022, presenting itself as a “white knight” that could stabilize reeling crypto markets.

FTX offered to buy Voyager’s platform in a bankruptcy auction, but the proposed acquisition fell apart when FTX imploded in November.

In its Monday court filing, FTX acknowledged the allegations that Alameda raided FTX customer assets to cover its risky borrowing and lending.

But it said Voyager and other crypto lenders were complicit in Alameda’s conduct, “knowingly or recklessly” pushing their clients’ assets toward Alameda.

“Voyager’s business model was that of a feeder fund,” FTX said. “It solicited retail investors and invested their money with little or no due diligence in cryptocurrency investment funds like Alameda and Three Arrows Capital.”

Three Arrows Capital also went bankrupt in 2022, and its founders have refused to cooperate with court-appointed liquidators who are trying to recover assets for Three Arrows customers.

Also Read: DOJ is Investigating Sam Bankman-Fried Connections: FTX Opposes

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DOJ is Investigating Sam Bankman-Fried Connections: FTX Opposes

January 28, 2023 / Frank Nez

FTX opposes new bankruptcy investigations at it probes Sam Bankman-Fried connections.

(Reuters) FTX has objected to a U.S. Department of Justice request for an independent investigation into the once-prominent crypto exchange’s collapse, saying it is already conducting a wide-ranging probe that includes family members of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

FTX said in a court filing in Wilmington, Delaware, late on Wednesday that the DOJ’s proposed review would only add cost and delay to its bankruptcy case.

FTX acknowledged “fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, mismanagement, and irregularity” in its past conduct, but said that its previous wrongdoing is already being probed by the company’s new management, its creditors and law enforcement agencies.

As part of its own investigation, FTX asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing its Chapter 11 proceedings, to help it secure documents from Bankman-Fried, members of his family and other insiders with information about FTX transactions that used “misappropriated and stolen” funds.

These transactions, it said, include a $16.7 million Bahamian real estate purchase under the name of Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried.

FTX is also seeking information about political donations connected to Bankman-Fried, asking wide-ranging questions about Mind the Gap, a political action committee founded by Barbara Fried, and Guarding Against Pandemics, an advocacy organization founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried.

FTX said Guarding Against Pandemics’ multimillion-dollar Washington, D.C., headquarters was purchased with misappropriated funds.

A spokesperson for Mind the Gap said it did not receive direct contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried, although Bankman-Fried made donations to some political causes it recommended to its donor network.

FTX Bankruptcy Update Today

DOJ probes Sam Bankman-Fried connections | Latest FTX bankruptcy update 2023.

FTX, once among the world’s top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and other investors facing total losses in the billions of dollars.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog has called for an independent investigation into its collapse, a request that received backing from a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.

FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, who worked with court-appointed examiners while leading Enron Corp and Residential Capital through bankruptcy, is prepared to testify that examiners in those two cases cost a combined $150 million and provided “minimal” benefits to creditors, FTX said.

FTX’s official committee of creditors joined the company in opposing the appointment of an examiner.

FTX also on Wednesday night filed a new list of creditors in bankruptcy court, which included financial watchdogs and government agencies from the United States, Japan and Switzerland, as well as companies including Airbnb Inc and crypto giant Binance.

Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. He is scheduled to face trial in October.

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What is The Ethereum Merge? What Institutions and Investors Should Expect

January 26, 2023 / Frank Nez

Introduction

The adoption of Cryptocurrency is on the rise.

It is because institutional investors have been showing interest.

The leading institutions have decided to step into the Defi and the Web3 ecosystem.

This further impacts the Crypto Ecosystem positively.

Reports say that these institutions invested $9.3b in the Crypto market in 2021.

It marks a complete technological shift as the Crypto market increased to around 36%.

Now, one of the major reasons that triggered the change is attributed to a shift in technology called Merge.

Ethereum, the second largest Cryptocurrency, undertook a major shift from the Proof of Work to the Proof of Stake.

Now investors and institutions have their own expectations. Let’s seep deep into the study to have a better understanding.

What Is Ethereum Merge?

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest Cryptocurrency, shifted from energy-intensive technology offering sustainability systems to play.

They are calling it “Merge.”

The community built a new engine and a hardened hull.

They shifted from the Proof work system to proof-of-stake.

Proof of work involves a wide network of computers.

Under the system, if investors are to mine crypto, they must solve puzzles to mine crypto.

The level of the puzzles increases with mining.

This complex and energy-intensive technology was used to add new blocks to the system.

The Proof of Stake mechanism is an alternative technology that consumes less energy and computing power.

According to findings, POS consumes one-tenth of the energy to mine Ethereum.

Here one needs not to devote less energy and fuel consumption to run the illustrious computer systems.

What Institutions And Investors Should Expect

With a major technological shift, Ethereum has attained a paradigm shift, at least in terms of adoption-friendly technology.

They attained an advantage against Bitcoin, their rival and the largest Cryptocurrency in terms of market value.

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Now this change will bring in positive into the business ecosystem.

The institutions and the investors now have different expectations of the change. The section focuses mainly on the changes.

1. Reduced Carbon Footprint

As discussed above, POS technology consumes a 99.5% decrease in energy consumption.

Now, the reduction of Carbon foot printing has a significant impact on institutions.

Our world is grappling with a carbon footprint, and its rapid increase in power negatively affects the environment.

You might have heard about the Paris 2015 environment summit, where it was found out the stakeholder had constructive planning, including the Net Zero programs, to stop the rise of the sea water level.

Now, with the Proof of stake, the stakeholders can mine Cryptocurrency with lesser power consumption, which syncs with the Net Zero targets of individual nations.

Hence the step provokes to be helpful for institutions, government, and the environment.

With this major technological high long jump, the companies are able to obtain their own sustainability goals and objectives.

2. Improved Security

Economic and trading democratization has always been the need of the hour.

The business entities investing heavily in Cryptocurrency needs are all driven by energy security and sustainable development.

They are always looking for alternative energy to increase their business opportunities.

But the traditional system economy, centralized in nature, stopped them from this.

With Cryptocurrency, they were able to get the technological shift.

With Proof of stake, the use of Blockchain became more common.

We all know that the Blockchain is an advanced data maintenance system storing data in a decentralized network.

Once the information is entered, it is entered forever. It can’t be manipulated.

Another reason for the improved technology is that the cost of attacking networks has dramatically increased.

Presently more than 45000 Ethereum have been staked so far.

Even 51% of the attacks would cost over $11B.

With improved security, more new investors are expected to join the system and gain growth in this ecosystem.

Closing The Discussion

The Ethereum merger has more for the investors and the institutions.

Now with the merger, cross-team economic collaborations have increased. It is good for increasing business opportunities.

This produces an ecosystem for business growth and stability.

The induction of POS has enabled client diversity and interoperability. They are important steps toward the growth of Cryptocurrency.

These are the advantages the institutions and investors are going to get with the help of the Merge.

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How Much Bitcoin Should You Buy: Factors to Consider in 2023

January 26, 2023 / Frank Nez

Introduction

Bitcoin has been the bread and butter of the Cryptocurrency world for quite some time.

Even if people cannot get into other Cryptocurrencies like Ether or Dogecoin, Bitcoin will still remain the king.

Many call it an achievement once they start trading through Bitcoin.

Therefore, it is understandable that there are novice investors who are still asking this question, “How much Bitcoin should I Buy.”

Afterall among all the Cryptocurrencies out there, Bitcoin is the most volatile one.

Probably because of its hot & cold reputation.

At one point, it is high in demand, and the next day everyone is against Bitcoin, and the prices seem to fall drastically.

We are here to rescue you from evergreen curiosity.

Once you read this article, you should understand the amount you should be investing and the other factors to keep in mind when investing.

How Much Should You Invest?

Let’s pull over some percentage here, shall we?

When it comes to your first-time investment, then you should always have a total investment amount set with you.

Without this, you can start treating this as a gamble when you get a taste of big profits.

Once you have this investment amount set aside, it is time to place only 10% of that amount in your first investment.

Some might even prefer a total of $100 investment in your first year and begin with a mere $10.

Do not invest it all at once and have a scheduled time for investing.

For example, the first investment, and then after every three months.

This will essentially prevent you from giving in to tempting offers with nothing to base them upon.

Other Factors to Keep in Mind

Here are the other factors which you should keep in mind while investing in Bitcoin for the first time.

1. Do Not Give Into FOMO

FOMO is the Fear Of Missing Out.

This is when a novice investor gets too excited about any new investment.

Especially if they see their fellow pals earning major profits; however, you should remember that not every piece of knowledge is the same.

When you find someone earning thousands from one move, there is a lot you need to factor in.

How many years have they been investing, was any calculation involved in this move, or was it plain luck?

No matter what you do, do not blindly believe in someone.

Sometimes when you get a higher profit from one investment, it is easier to get blinded by temptation.

This is why a set amount of investment rules is perfect to start with.

2. Strategize Loss Tolerance

If you are not strategizing your loss, you can never learn from them.

The very first rule of Cryptocurrency is always invest the amount you can lose.

This is known as “loss tolerance,” i.e., how much loss you can tolerate.

If the loss is too much, neither will you be able to learn from it nor have the confidence to invest again for a very long time.

So, before investing, understand the amount you will be okay with losing, and then start investing through profit-maximizer app.com.

This is a smart move upon anticipating that you will be losing your very first investment, and you are doing so to educate yourself.

What About Minimum Investment?

Upon reading the last point, many might think of investing very little in their first investment in Bitcoin.

Some might even think about investing as little as $2.

But we, along with experts, would suggest otherwise.

No matter the platform you choose for investing, there are fees attached to trading and Crypto investment.

Upon trading with a meager amount, you will end up paying more fees than your investment.

Another crucial suggestion would be not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Cryptocurrency losses are inevitable, so divide your capital and invest in different digital coins.

In this way, you will have another to fall into in the event of a big loss for one.

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AVAX vs SOL: What Crypto to Choose?

January 17, 2023 / Frank Nez

Crypto News Weekly: AVAX vs SOL | Avalanche vs Solana.

The central part of the crypto community’s attention has been focused on Ethereum and Bitcoin lately.

Ethereum has been the center of the smart contract industry since its migration to PoS, while investors follow Bitcoin closely to predict the next move the market will make.

That being said, some of the more recent blockchain protocols, like Solana and Avalanche, also have a lot to offer, even in this bear market.

In this article, we analyze these projects and compare AVAX vs Solana to see whether one has the edge over the other.

To achieve this, we will provide some fundamental analysis of each of these tokens and gather some price predictions from experts around the internet.

This should give you a good idea of which is better: Avalanche or Solana.

What Do We Know About Avalanche?

Avalanche Crypto — Crypto News Weekly: Avalanche vs Solana.

Avalanche is an open-source smart contract protocol released in 2020, just before the major part of the bull market of that period.

This allowed it to experience some very strong upside price action right after launch.

More importantly, we should note that Avalanche gained a lot of popularity in the smart contract industry by providing a much more scalable network than Ethereum.

This allowed users to launch DeFi dApps that were cheap to use and extremely fast.

To reach this high scalability, Avalanche uses PoS and a triumvirate of chains:

The exchange chain, which serves to transfer assets.
The contract chain, which runs the smart contracts.
The platform chain, which coordinates the validators and staking mechanisms.

By handling a portion of the computational strain, these chains allow Avalanche to achieve 50k+ transactions per second and conserve very low gas fees.

AVAX Price Prediction

The AVAX token was one of the high-performers of the bull market in 2021, reaching as high as $146 per token.

That said, the bearish conditions have pushed the price much lower now, around $16.

Even so, analytic websites are still very much hoping that the token will grow in value in the upcoming years.

Digitalcoinprice.com provides a target of $28.99 for 2023 and goes as high as $91.97 for 2030.

Priceprediction.net is a lot more bullish, with a forecast of $28.44 for 2023, and a target of a staggering $405.84 for 2030.

Consequently, this might be a great opportunity for purchasing this token on exchanges like Godex.

Key Facts About Solana

Solana is one of the most highly praised blockchains of the past couple of years.

This ultra-scalable chain uses Proof of History in tandem with PoS to achieve 100k transactions per second, which makes it one of the fastest smart contract networks on the market.

This has allowed the chain to gather thousands of developers deploying various dApps on the chain, in all categories.

Consequently, it has become one of the main rivals to Ethereum and managed to enter the top 10 cryptos by market cap.

SOL Price Forecast

Like AVAX, the SOL token performed admirably in the bull market.

From a median price of $0.5 in 2020, SOL reached as high as $260 at the peak of the bull market.

It has currently retraced around $28 per token.

Priceprediction.net hopes to see SOL reach $52.58 by 2023.

For 2030, their forecast targets the $605.14 mark.

Digitalcoinprice.com is less enthusiastic, with targets of $51.43 for 2023 and only $165.52 for 2030.

Main Differences Between AVAX and SOL

Here’s AVAX vs SOL at a glance:

	AVAX	SOL
Network ValidatorsBlock TimeConsensus MechanismTransaction FeesEVM Compatible	1,229~2 secondsPoS$0.01Yes	2,093400 millisecondsPoS + PoH$0.00025No

Is AVAX Better Than Solana?

Avalanche and Solana have similar use cases, although their architectures are vastly different.

Solana remains faster and cheaper than Avalanche, while the latter has the advantage of being EVM-compatible.

In all fairness, both blockchains have their benefits and drawbacks, and from an investor’s point of view, they are equally interesting to have in your portfolio.

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What is MARA Stock? Everything You Need to Know

January 13, 2023 / Frank Nez

MARA stock (NASDAQ:MARA), Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. is a digital asset technology company, which engages in mining cryptocurrencies, with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets.

The company was founded in 2010 but purchased its first Bitcoin (BTC) in 2021 along with its first Bitcoin mining equipment.

New reports show Marathon Digitial Holdings, Inc. achieved a new record in quarterly BTC production towards the end of 2022.

MARA stock is currently up nearly +107% this year so far (1/12).

Why is MARA stock going up?

It might have to do with the massive volume that’s come in recently due to the latest news.

Let’s discuss it more in depth below.

Latest MARA Stock News

MARA Stock News Today - Franknez.com. — MARA Stock News Today – Franknez.com.

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc., a leader in supporting and securing the Bitcoin ecosystem, recently published unaudited bitcoin (“BTC”) production and miner installation updates for December 2022.

Here are some comments from the company’s management team.

“In 2022, we made significant progress in increasing our hash rate while also transitioning to more sustainable power sources,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s Chairman and CEO.

“Despite challenges earlier in the year, we doubled our hash rate to 7.0 exahashes per second year-over-year, with a majority of it now located at the King Mountain wind farm in West Texas. We finished the year with one of our most productive quarters to date, producing 1,562 Bitcoin in the fourth quarter.

“In December, we expanded our agreement with Applied Digital to deploy roughly 12,000 S19 XPs, which are approximately 30% more energy efficient than the prior generation of servers, at their Jamestown facility in North Dakota. This site is already constructed and operational, and our expectation is for miners to come online within the next month (February 2023).

“We also took proactive measures to strengthen our liquidity position and enhance the performance of our mining fleet. Given the macroeconomic uncertainty heading into 2023, we decided to fully pay down outstanding balances under our revolving credit agreement. This freed up bitcoin that was previously held as collateral, increasing our unrestricted bitcoin holdings from 4,200 BTC as of November 30 to 7,815 BTC (approximately $129.3 million) as of December 31. We finished the year with $103.7 million in cash on hand.

“As we enter 2023, we remain confident in our ability to scale Marathon into one of the largest and most energy efficient Bitcoin mining operations globally. We have thousands of miners ready to be energized over the coming months, which we expect to more than triple our current production capacity to approximately 23 exahashes by mid-year.”

Is MARA Stock Shorted?

MARA stock (Marathon Digital) has a short interest of 37.79%.

Nearly 50% of its trading volume is being traded in dark pools, per Fintel.

Investors may see MARA’s short interest drop as share prices rise, what may also be known as a MARA short squeeze.

The latest MARA stock news is enough to send short sellers running for the hill.

Scalability in 2023 may prove to be rewarding for shareholders both short term and long term.

MARA Stock Forecast: Is MARA Stock a Buy or Sell?

The current analyst consensus for MARA stock is a ‘BUY’.

Analysts are predicting Marathon Digital to surge as high as $20 per share this year, up +185% from its current share price of $7.03.

They are also giving the company stock a median of $12 per share (+70.7%) and a low of $4 for the next 12 months.

MARA stock price prediction | MARA stock forecast.

Last year, MARA stock traded at nearly $30 per share, which means bulls might be able to take share prices up to retest those levels again, if not higher.

These are of course just predictions after all.

The stock currently has a bullish outlook for 2023 and as we experienced last year, just about anything can happen in the market.

Marathon Digital’s high short interest shows us there’s room for growth beyond analyst predictions.

In 2021 for example, analyst Rich Greenfield gave AMC Entertainment stock a $0.01 price target.

AMC later surged to its all-time high of $72 per share when it squeezed a good percentage of short sellers.

Is A MARA Short Squeeze Possible?

Given Marathon Digital’s high short interest backed by heavy buying pressure, a short squeeze is certainly a possibility.

MARA has the short interest to squeeze short sellers as well as a bullish outlook for 2023.

As more investors discover the potential behind the company, buying volume will increase, inevitably triggering a short squeeze.

On Thursday (1/12), Marathon surged more than +30% when trading volume peaked at 67 million, more than 3.5x it’s average volume of 19 million.

Heavy buying volume and long bullish interest in the company stock is what’s going to drive share prices upward.

But I’m curious to know what you think.

Where do you see the company stock going during the first quarter of 2023?

Share your thoughts in the comment section of the blog down below.

For more MARA stock news and updates, join the newsletter to receive weekly market news and notifications straight to your inbox.

Or follow me on Twitter and Instagram for daily posts.

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Introduction

What Is Ethereum Merge?

What Institutions And Investors Should Expect

1. Reduced Carbon Footprint

2. Improved Security

Closing The Discussion

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Introduction

How Much Should You Invest?

Other Factors to Keep in Mind

1. Do Not Give Into FOMO

2. Strategize Loss Tolerance

What About Minimum Investment?

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What Do We Know About Avalanche?

AVAX Price Prediction

Key Facts About Solana

SOL Price Forecast

Main Differences Between AVAX and SOL

Is AVAX Better Than Solana?

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Latest MARA Stock News

Is MARA Stock Shorted?

MARA Stock Forecast: Is MARA Stock a Buy or Sell?

Is A MARA Short Squeeze Possible?

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