This should be evident from past price cycles. Also: Trump’s Truth Social is launched and Softbank invests in London fintech startup.
Investing in bitcoin is for risk-takers.
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Good Morning! While you slept, work continued elsewhere in the digital scene.
The top topics:
The Chinese crypto expert Du Jun, co-founder of Huobi, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has dared to predict the development of bitcoin. In his opinion, the main digital currency may not see another bull market until late 2024 or early 2025. Jun justifies this forecast with price cycles from the past.
The expert told US broadcaster CNBC that Bitcoin bull markets are closely linked to a process called halving, which occurs every four years. The halving is embedded in Bitcoin’s code. It halves the reward Bitcoin miners receive for validating transactions on the cryptocurrency network. The last halving took place in May 2020. In 2021, bitcoin hit its all-time high at over $68,000. A similar event happened during the 2016 halving. After each of these two spikes, Bitcoin crashed. It is currently almost 40 percent below its record high from November. The next halving event is scheduled to take place in 2024. “If this cycle continues, we are now in the early stages of a bear market,” Du said. [More at CNBC]
Today you will hear about the father-daughter team Ulrich and Leonie Wilken on the start-up scene. With Myndpaar you have founded an app that is intended to replace the couples therapist. Outsiders were skeptical at first, but Leonie Wilken assures in the start-up scene podcast “So geht Startup” that there has never really been a dispute between her and her father. [More at start-up scene]
And here are the other headlines of the night:
Truth Social, former US President Donald Trump’s new social media platform, has been available on Apple’s App Store since Sunday. Trump was blocked from Twitter, Facebook and Google after his supporters stormed the Capitol in early January. The Trump Media & Technology Group, led by former US Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, wants the new app to offer an alternative to mainstream social media platforms and is betting that Trump’s popularity could increase usage of the app . Trump Media & Technology Group goes public via Spac via merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. [More at Reuters]
Softbank has led a $190 million funding round for London-based fintech startup Primarybid. The British company supports other companies in selling their shares to private investors in IPOs. Primarybid could use some of the newly raised money to expand into the US. There, the startup is trying to get regulatory approvals to work with companies that go public on the New York Stock Exchange. [More at Techcrunch]
Volta Trucks, a Swedish electric vehicle startup, has raised 230 million euros in investments. According to a media report, the company values the Series C financing round at just over 433 million euros. Volta wants to build city delivery vehicles and trucks that are safer and have a lower carbon footprint. The so-called Volta Zero truck is scheduled to go into commercial production later this year. [More at Techcrunch]
M-Daq, a Singapore fintech startup backed by China’s Ant Group, has bought B2B cross-border payments provider Wallex. A price was not announced. According to media reports, the move is intended to support the company’s expansion in Southeast Asia, but it could also pave the way for an IPO. Wallex’s services include a digital wallet that allows traders to collect, exchange and store money in different currencies. M-Daq plans to inject approximately $5.2 million in working capital to Wallex. [More at Bloomberg]
In other crypto news, Amber, a cryptocurrency trading platform, has raised $200 million in a funding round also joined by Singapore-based state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings. The new round values the company at $3 billion. The funding comes just weeks after the Asian city-state cracked down on marketing by crypto firms. The company, founded in 2018 by five former Morgan Stanley dealers, has tripled its valuation since June. [More at Bloomberg and Straits Times]
Our reading tip on the start-up scene: The 11880 founder Klaus Harisch starts again in his late 50s. After the directory inquiries, he now wants to make hotlines better. His new company Yoummday provides freelance call center agents who only make calls from their own homes. He collected 30 million euros for the project. [More at start-up scene]
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Happy Tuesday!
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