Decentral Block Post

Over-the-counter, or OTC, trading refers to any trading that is not done via an automated exchange. What exactly is OTC trading? Who does it, and why? To learn more about what an OTC desk is and how these “under the radar” exchanges operate, Magazine spoke to a few insiders to get the scoop.

The most popular conception of OTC trading revolves around massive off-market deals, like when companies such as MicroStrategy make multimillion-dollar purchases using OTC desks run by the likes of Coinbase or Kraken.

OTC trading is, however, not the exclusive domain of the rich, as it can also refer to peer-to-peer platforms like LocalBitcoins, which has been helping individuals trade BTC both in-person and via bank transfer since 2013. Even some crypto ATMs can be categorized as OTC trading, as these transactions do not always clear on an exchange. In between these two are medium-sized regional OTC desks, which facilitate purchases and sales of crypto by both individuals and companies.

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Dominik Schiener, a co-founder of the Iota Foundation, a nonprofit organization, and the creator of the Tangle, a permissionless, multi-dimensional distributed ledger designed as a foundation of a global protocol for all things connected. 

Dominik Schiener is a co-founder and the chairman of the Iota Foundation, one of the largest and greenest cryptocurrency ecosystems in the world. The Iota Foundation’s mission is to support the research and development of new distributed ledger technologies, including the Iota Tangle. Raised in Italy, Dominik oversees partnerships and the overall realization of the project’s vision toward the machine economy. He is a strong advocate for research-based, community-vetted, transparent developments in the cryptocurrency sector.

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Breaking: Terra blockchain officially halted following LUNA price collapse

This week, news about the Terra ecosystem dominated the headlines after algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) lost its peg to the U.S. dollar — and continued to crash. 

At its lowest point during the week, UST fell to around $0.13, according to CoinMarketCap. The meltdown also affected LUNA due to its symbiotic relationship with its sister asset. After reaching a high of $120 in early April, LUNA’s value plummeted this week to basically zero. 

Do Kwon, CEO of Terraform Labs, looked to impliment certain measures to right the sinking ship, as per Cointelegraph’s reporting on Thursday. Subsequent reporting showed that the Terra blockchain halted operations briefly after LUNA’s hyperinflation significantly reduced the cost of a governance attack on the network.

As I go about the Miami conference, I wonder, Aside from some of the conference speakers, where are these Bitcoin maximalists I keep hearing so much about?

When I tell the customs official I’m going to Miami for the Bitcoin 2022 conference, there seems to be a light in the man’s eyes. He peppers me with questions, even though I’d gotten up at 5 am that day to fly, and my smartwatch is telling me that my energy levels are only at 70%. The customs official has way more interest in the subject than I can handle.

Why am I going to the conference? The philosophy of the event fascinates me — it’s a Bitcoin-only conference — with the divide between Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency world growing year by year.

I don’t go into that much detail with the customs official, though. Sometimes, when I interact with too many crypto people, I forget that everyone else has paid so little attention to this space, they still use the terms “Bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” synonymously. If I offload onto the customs official everything that’s on my mind, he’d probably think I’m autistic or drunk (or maybe both).

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Ming Duan, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Umee, a cross-chain DeFi hub that allows decentralized interactions between different blockchains.

Ming Duan’s knowledge of the crypto and blockchain world goes back to 2014 when she initially learned about the emerging industry through the first-ever blockchain course taught at a business school. Since then, she has developed extensive crypto investment knowledge through hands-on practice. Duan brings unique insight to Umee, having experience as both a crypto investor and builder in the ecosystem. Her goal for Umee is to build a platform where individuals can interact with different tokens and chains all in one place. While propelling Umee forward, Duan leads crypto investments at Argonautic Ventures and Fenbushi Capital. She graduated from Duke University and received her Master of Business Administration degree in 2016.

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Fed hikes interest rates by 50 basis points in effort to combat inflation

On Wednesday, the United States Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to raise interest rates by 0.5%, marking its biggest upward adjustment in over two decades. It was the second rate increase of 2022, with seven increases expected in total for the year.  

In a press conference following the FOMC meeting, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell further cemented the need to continue raising interest rates to combat inflation.

Gaming is now one of the most profitable sectors of the entertainment industry, with consumer spending in the United States growing 8% in 2021 to top $60.4 billion in revenue. Worldwide, the games market generated an estimated $180.3 billion in 2021, up 1.4%.

Within that segment are the hugely popular play-to-earn blockchain-based games, which are growing at an even faster pace given their virtual standstill some two years ago. But are blockchain games good enough to compete with more mainstream titles?

In its 2021 annual report, The Blockchain Game Alliance says that NFT games generated $2.32 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2021, or 22% of all NFT trading volume. Making the most waves was Axie Infinity — with its much-publicized popularity in the Philippines during COVID-19 lockdowns — which became the first blockchain game to top $1 billion in NFT sales.

The report reveals that 68% of BGA members felt the growth was attributable to the P2E sector, and 85% said true ownership of digital goods in games is the secret sauce behind blockchain game successes.