For the past few years, BTC Markets has focused on developing and delivering a world class trading experience and exceptional service to our clients. Uplifting the look and feel of our brand is the next step in the evolutionary phase of our business. Recently, we launched new brand assets on our website and mobile app as a part of the ongoing growth and expansion of our business.

Over the past few months, our team have fully dedicated themselves to detailed research, planning and implementation of new brand colours, fonts and messaging that aligns with our brand mission and vision. Although we updated our look, the core values that drive our company and culture remain as steadfast as ever. We are committed to providing market leading technology and world class service to our clients and will continue to improve the functionality of our platform.

We believe that having a strong visual identity goes hand in hand with a distinguishing set of powerful company beliefs. Since our inception in 2013, BTC Markets implemented core values that align with who we are as a business.

We feel a genuine responsibility to understand the impact our actions will have on our clients, team members, business partners and the blockchain ecosystem. We value different ideas and feedback and take them into account when making critical decisions.

: You can count on us. Reliable technology and market leading client support are our key pillars. Our technical knowledge has allowed us to build a world class trading platform for our clients and cultivate strong relationships in the market.

By partnering with internal and external stakeholders, we have been able to produce greater outcomes than operating on our own. From contributing to the conversation around regulatory reforms to developing a world class trading engine, our alliances with industry leading participants helps us to provide the best outcomes for our clients. 

: Continuous improvement to the security of our platform and our clients’ assets is what drives us to pursue developing new features and improving existing ones. In today’s fast-growing tech space, innovation is an essential part of our exponential growth.

: Building trustworthy relationships with our clients and business partners is ongoing and will always remain at the forefront of how we operate in this fast-paced environment. This is the reason why we keep our communication transparent and consistent.

Our team is dedicated to developing new ideas and providing positive and unique outcomes. We are pioneers of the blockchain ecosystem and continuously challenge the status quo to build new pathways and break new ground.

Simple, clean, and modern was the brief, and we think our new look hits the mark. As a technology leader in our sector, we strive to provide real world solutions for our clients. Our goal is to be straightforward in our communication with employees, clients and stakeholders and we needed a brand identity to reflect that seamless approach.

The new brand palette comes with a fresh, edgy, and modern look created with the help of client feedback and market research. It reflects our commitment to simplicity and innovation. With the refreshed look, we want to keep the connection to our logo as its the symbol that reflects our passion of building a strong foundation. After many months and countless versions, we landed on updated features, new typography, a fresh colour palette and targeted brand message that clearly articulates who we are and where we are going. Our upgraded colour palette feels vibrant, modern, and aesthetically pleasing for our brand image.

We've carried through the new brand design into the mobile app. It is important that our users know we have a “consumer-first” approach based on their needs and provide them with an easy and secure way to buy, sell and trade crypto. Within the refreshed app look, you will find our new brand assets, colours, typography, and improved icons that once again depict our core values of reliability and security. Experience the enhanced design by downloading the BTC Markets app from 

We will gradually be extending the brand uplift across the 

products and features. This will provide an enhanced user interface and user experience, so clients can make the most of our best-in-class trade execution speeds, tight price spreads and various trading options.

This brand refresh is not just a face-lift, major upgrades have been made under the hood. This includes an upgrade to the performance of our trading engine. Our platform now offers 10x faster trade executions of less than 20 milliseconds (reduced further, if integrated with our FIX API). 

This reduction in latency secures BTC Markets as one of the most powerful crypto trading engines in the world. For BTC Markets clients, this increased speed means a reduction in price slippage, as orders execute faster, reducing the time available for markets to move. It also means more accurate pricing, increase order capacity and a more liquid market. Added to our 0% wash trading, 99.99% platform uptime, onshore asset custody and being 100% Australian owned, BTC Markets once again sets the industry standard for cryptocurrency exchanges across the globe.

A comprehensive rebranding process is a natural part of a company’s growth and evolution. We have put our hearts and experience into developing a brand-new BTC Markets look that fits our brand identity. Our promise to our clients is continued product improvements and world class client services. We will continue to listen to your feedback and provide you with the genuine level of care and compassion that you have come to expect from us.

We hope you enjoy our new look and welcome your feedback.

BTC Markets Brand Refresh 

 Industry Awards (Blockies) were recently held in Sydney. This annual event recognises excellence and innovation in the Australian blockchain ecosystem. Blockchain Australia is the peak industry body representing members of the blockchain and digital assets community in Australia.

’. One for ‘Digital Currency Exchange of the Year’ and the other for ‘Blockchain Leader of the Year’.

The award for ‘Digital Currency Exchange of the Year’ recognised an outstanding digital currency exchange that has a ‘strong leadership position’ in the industry. It has been a challenging year and to be recognised as the trusted market leader in the Australian cryptocurrency landscape, is a huge accolade and achievement for our business.

 also took home the award for ‘Blockchain Leader of the Year’ which recognised a leader from the blockchain industry who is a pioneer, visionary, strategic thinker, and role model. Recipients of this award are seen as influencers in the industry, demonstrating their engagement with the community including keynote speaking engagements, advocacy for regulatory reforms, and an in-demand subject matter expert for media interviews and public commentary. The award recognised Caroline’s tireless commitment to ensuring regulatory reforms are both responsible and proportionate whilst providing necessary consumer protections.

As a Blockchain Australia Certified digital currency exchange, BTC Markets not only meets industry best practice but aims to exceed them as well. We are fully compliant with the Australian Digital Currency Industry Code of Conduct and fully support the exchange ‘

’ statement released by Blockchain Australia in November 2022.

At BTC Markets, we proudly and publicly confirm that we put our client’s interest before our own. We have no exposure to other exchanges (here or overseas) we do not purchase crypto from other exchanges nor operate as a broker or local office for an international business. We are based in Australia and service Australian traders.

We segregate your coins – no comingling of assets.

And our CEO, Caroline Bowler confirmed our ongoing commitment to our clients on 

At BTC Markets, we will continue to focus on delivering value to our clients and work diligently with industry bodies, government agencies, and institutions to promote and protect the continued growth and evolution of the digital assets industry.

Code-of-Conduct-October-2021.pdf (blockchainaustralia.org)

Blockchain Australia Digital Currency Exchange Members’ Affirmation.

Award Winning Australian Digital Currency Exchange

 is currently at 31/100 in the Fear zone, up 6 points from this time last week. The index reached a high of 31/100 today and a low of 25/100 on Thursday last week.



2022 ‘Blockies’ Digital Currency Exchange & Blockchain Leader of the Year.

Last night, BTC Markets took home two industry awards at the 

’ held in Sydney. We were awarded ‘Digital Currency Exchange of the Year’ and our CEO Caroline Bowler won ‘Blockchain Leader of the Year’.

The ‘Digital Currency Exchange of the Year’ award recognises an outstanding exchange with trusted industry leadership. It has been a challenging year and to be recognised as the trusted market leader in the Australian cryptocurrency landscape, is a huge accolade and achievement for our business.

The ‘Blockchain Leader of the Year’ award recognises leadership in the blockchain industry that is pioneering, visionary, and strategic. This recognition tops an exemplary year for Caroline, after taking home the 2022 Female Fintech Leader of the Year in March.

Global markets put on quite a display as participants responded to extensive macro data and interest rate decisions throughout the week. The new week promised a robust schedule of data between CPI, Fed rates, retail sales, and the latest updates from central banks around the world.

Short-term traders prepared for opportunities amidst probable price swings and increased volatility. From a risk management standpoint, investors braced for discrepancies between what was ultimately priced in versus what would actually transpire. As the week progressed, the variety of high-impact market drivers indeed delivered volatility and riveting price-action as promised.

As in previous weeks, rising Covid cases in China continued to dampen trade sentiment, however, pandemic rules were unexpectedly relaxed at the end of last week. The Chinese government uncharacteristically pivoted to a more tempered stance on Covid Zero policy which provided relief to financial markets.

On Tuesday, US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November was due. Leading into the release, markets had priced in core CPI at 0.3%, however, results surprised investors when a lower-than-expected reading of 0.1% was handed down. In the US pre-market session, equities pumped and ripped to the upside showing significant strength in price-action and a corresponding spike in implied volatility. At the open of trade, the last of the shorts were squeezed out before demand faded and sellers stepped back in.

Despite the lower-than-expected inflation data, it wasn’t quite ‘mission accomplished’ just yet. While several deflationary indications had begun to emerge, inflation was clearly not completely under control.

In the latest US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell showed up in hawkish stance. The Fed downshifted to a 0.5% hike, raising the target range for the federal funds rate to 4.25%-4.5%. Powell stated that “historical experience cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy. I wouldn’t see us considering rate cuts until the committee is confident that inflation is moving down to 2% in a sustained way.” Following his official comments, Powell added, “restoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive policy stance for some time.”

The digital asset majors delivered exciting price action throughout the week. Emotions ran high and traders were on the edge of their seats as major market drivers shaped otherwise unexpected outcomes.

Bitcoin opened this weekly candle at US$17,089, pulled back to lows of US$16,873 early on Monday morning, and rallied to reclaim prices above US$17,000 early on Tuesday. Trading in significant positive correlation with the Nasdaq and S&P, Bitcoin responded to macro drivers positively and pressed to highs upwards of US$18,865.

Ether opened the weekly candle at US$1,263 and slipped to lows of $1,240 in the first hours of Monday’s morning session. Correlating tightly with Bitcoin’s price-action, Ether continued to press to the upside and test local highs of $1,351 before pulling back slightly on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up 4.15% on the week, trading at US$17,800 and Ether was up 3.35% at US$1,305.

Bitcoin dominance by market capitalisation lifted 1.87%, positioning Bitcoin at 41.5% dominance by market cap. With total crypto market cap trading 2.21% higher on the week thus far, we’re now seeing US$823.4 billion in the crypto markets.



Global financial data and software provider, Pitchbook, released their inaugural 

. According to the report, venture funding for crypto start-ups has remained strong this year, with nearly US$20 billion of capital raised across 616 deals through the first three quarters of 2022. This represented a 41% increase compared to the same period last year. Despite macro conditions, investors continued to deploy capital investment into the start-up ecosystem.

The average funding for seed and early-stage crypto start-ups in 2022 increased to the range of US$5 million and US$20 million, from US$3 million and US$11.7 million in 2021. Capital deployed for later stage start-ups remained consistent at US$30 million. Upwards of US$1.5 billion was committed to Web3 related projects, marking a 44% increase in deal flow relative to 2021.

Whilst signs remain mixed as to how long global financial markets continue in uncertain conditions, institutional heavyweights have continued to deploy capital. The general narrative in the investment world has continued to revolve around harnessing the ‘revolutionary technology’ of blockchain. According to Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, the firm intends to allocate tens of millions of dollars to digital assets in the near future. Regulated financial institutions are well positioned to harness the revolutionary technology.





Mastercard’s Director of Start-up Engagement for Digital Assets, Grace Berkery, recently shared her thoughts that 

 in the digital asset space won’t be slowing down any time soon. Berkery doesn’t think that investors will shy away from the space in current market environments, but will instead focus on improved due diligence, more selective partnership agreements, and working with companies with demonstrated track records.

Mastercard has supported the crypto industry for years through different investments and initiatives, working toward improved payment rails, regulatory compliance and security, and better interaction between banks and customers.

Increasing institutional involvement in digital assets has been a disputed subject in some crypto native communities. While some believe institutional activity will drive growth of the crypto market, new use cases, and adoption, others believe that increased institutional participation will impede decentralisation and inhibit innovation. From a lens which positions crypto as a maturing global asset class, it is becoming increasingly clear that institutional involvement will support responsible regulation and further development of the industry and its stakeholders.



Sam Bankman-Fried charged by United States authorities.



FTX Founder, Sam Bankman-Fried has been 

authorities and faces eight criminal counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy, securities fraud, and money laundering, among others.

In parallel action, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have announced simultaneous charges against Bankman-Fried.

According to the 

, “From at least May 2019 through November 2022, Bankman-Fried engaged in a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX Trading Ltd. Bankman-Fried raised more than $1.8 billion from investors, including U.S. investors, who bought an equity stake in FTX believing that FTX had appropriate controls and risk management measures. But from the start, Bankman-Fried improperly diverted customer assets to his privately held crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, and then used those customer funds to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.”

The complaint continued, stating that “Bankman-Fried hid all of this from FTX’s equity investors, including U.S. investors, from whom he sought to raise billions of dollars in additional funds. He repeatedly cast FTX as an innovative and conservative trailblazer in the crypto markets. In truth, Bankman-Fried had exempted Alameda from the risk mitigation measures and had provided Alameda with significant special treatment on the FTX platform, including a virtually unlimited “line of credit” funded by the platform’s customers.”

SEC Chair, Gary Gensler emphasised that “compliance protects both those who invest on and those who invest in crypto platforms with time-tested safeguards, such as properly protecting customer funds and separating conflicting lines of business. It also shines a light into trading platform conduct for both investors through disclosure and regulators through examination authority.”

At BTC Markets, we encourage responsible regulation which supports innovation. In Australia, we will continue to work with regulators in drafting legislation for investor protections for the digital asset class, whilst encouraging the growth and innovation of blockchain technology. We do, however, believe that regulation must be done properly to ensure appropriate protections are in place for the advancement of the industry.



Modernising Australia’s financial system.



Earlier this week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones released a statement which addressed the Australian payment system, financial market infrastructure, and the digital assets sector.

Looking forward into 2023, the Australian government intends to deliver reforms to 

 and strategically position the economy to capture opportune improvements.

The planned reforms will support a financial system which works better for consumers, businesses, investors, and delivers for the Australian economy overall.

The Treasury’s latest media stated, “our regulatory architecture has not kept pace with changes in the market, including the advent of new digital products and services. In many areas, the previous government sat on its hands. In other areas, it made announcements but didn’t deliver. In its first six months, the Albanese Government has demonstrated its mature and methodical approach to delivering reform. We will work closely with regulators, industry, and consumer and business advocacy groups over the coming months to get these reforms right.”

The reforms included a focus on the crypto sector, stating that “the Albanese Government is also taking action to improve the regulation of crypto service providers and ensure additional safeguards for Australians. The next steps in the Government’s ongoing ‘token mapping’ work will include the release of a consultation paper in early 2023 to inform what digital assets should be regulated by financial services laws, and the development of appropriate custody and licensing settings to safeguard consumers. Following the release of token mapping, the Government will consult on a custody and licensing framework next year before introducing legislation.”

Steve Vallas, Managing Director at Blockchain APAC, provided excellent commentary on the matter, affirming that “regulators must work more closely to ensure that the licensing and regulation of the sector balances the need for consumer protection with an environment in which innovation can be supported. The announcement reflects the Albanese Government decision to take a holistic approach in the development of a fit for purpose regulatory regime. Those calling for urgent regulation are better served agitating for an acceleration in the consultation between industry, regulators and interested stakeholders.”



As the holiday season approaches and 2022 comes to a close, we wanted to extend our appreciation to all of our clients for your trust and support. We’re committed to providing you with the best experience possible by continuously improving our platform and services to meet your needs.

We’re beyond grateful to you for choosing BTC Markets as your trusted partner in trading, investing, and building your future with Australia’s fastest crypto exchange.

As we look ahead to 2023, we’re thrilled for the opportunities and growth to come. We’re fully devoted to staying at the forefront of the digital asset space here in Australia and providing you with the tools and support you need to succeed in this emerging asset class.

In the meantime, we’ll be taking a short break from our weekly newsletter until Thursday, 12th January 2023. We look forward to the next edition of ‘This Week in Crypto’ to kick the new year off.

On behalf of the entire team at BTC Markets, we’d like to wish you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season and a great start to the new year. We look forward to a positive year ahead!





Scams are on the rise in Australia, and some of them are targeting BTC Markets clients. We want to remind you of the importance of safe online practices, so that you can avoid falling victim to these scams. The most common scams right now include fake websites and social media posts that attempt to steal your personal information.

Scammers may pose as representatives from companies that you interact with such as BTC Markets, and they use these fake sites to trick you into handing over your personal information. These sites often look like real websites with logos and addresses that make them appear like they're legitimate.

You should never give out your personal information or provide credit card details over email or social media messenger chats. We have a dedicated page on how to '

', which we encourage you to read. Being informed and taking simple measures is the best action you can take to protect yourself and your account while online. The Australian government’s ‘

’ website provides the latest information on how to recognise, avoid and report scams.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this email is for general purposes only. It should not be construed as professional financial advice from BTC Markets Pty Ltd. BTC Markets is not a financial adviser, and you should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation or other advice to ensure that the information relates to your unique circumstances. BTC Markets is not liable for any loss caused, whether due to negligence or otherwise arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information provided directly or indirectly, by use of this information contained with this email. Prices are accurate as of 10:00 AM AEDT, on 15/12/2022.

This Week in Crypto: 15th December 2022

Ethereum

Polkadot

Avalanche

 is currently at 25/100 in the Extreme Fear zone, down 2 points from this time last week. The index reached a high of 29 on Wednesday and a low of 25 today.

Global financial markets closed higher at the end of last week’s trade. Investors appeared to be frontrunning probabilities of the Fed tightening cycle ending in the foreseeable future. Conditions looked to be easing faster than expected and short-term sentiment was bolstered by anticipation of a possible pivot in 2023. As the new week progressed and a robust calendar of economic activity eventuated, the previous week’s strength softened.

According to Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro at Fidelity Investments, “It seems the stock market was rallying on two very big assumptions: the expectation that the yield curve is wrong and that earnings will hold up in 2023, and the expectation that the Fed will quickly return to a neutral policy of 3-3.5% after reaching a terminal rate of 5%. In other words, the market is betting on a soft landing.”

US markets held firm on Monday but declined as the week progressed in response to growing concern of a global economic downturn. The US economy showed signs of strength, adding 263,000 jobs in November, which was down from October, but exceeded expectations overall. The Federal Reserve signaled a 0.5% increase in next week’s rate decision which the market priced in accordingly.

The short-lived relief that markets experienced from easing Covid restrictions in China was quickly counteracted by general concern regarding the implications of higher interest rates and their impact on global economies.

In Australia, the 

 target by 0.25% to 3.1% and increased the interest rate on exchange settlement balances by 0.25% to 3.0%. According to statements by RBA governor, Philip Lowe, “Inflation in Australia is too high, at 6.9% over the year to October. Global factors explain much of this high inflation, but strong domestic demand relative to the ability of the economy to meet that demand is also playing a role. A further increase in inflation is expected over the months ahead, with inflation forecast to peak at around 8% over the year to the December quarter. Inflation is then expected to decline next year due to the ongoing resolution of global supply-side problems, recent declines in some commodity prices and slower growth in demand.”

In the week ahead, the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank are all scheduled to release rate decisions.

The digital asset majors showed early signs of strength as buyers defended local lows and price action trended to the upside.

Following a turbulent few weeks, Bitcoin gained support and pressed to local range highs, trading above the US$17k level. Similarly, Ether saw increased bids and trended higher, attempting to hold above range highs around US$1.3k. On the desk, cash-heavy positioning rotated into direct exposure as market participants saw opportunity across the board and allocated accordingly. We saw higher volumes of stablecoins rotating into AUD while traders prepared for increased volatility leading into the year's end.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 1.5% on the week, trading at US$16,850 and Ether was down 3.5% at US$1,235.

Bitcoin dominance by market capitalisation traded 0.67% higher, positioning Bitcoin at 40.7% dominance by market cap. With total crypto market cap trading 2.1% lower on the week thus far, we’re now seeing US$797.3 billion in the crypto markets.


Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin published an article which addressed areas he’s most excited about in the 

.

In his commentary, Buterin covered a variety of key concepts, including cryptocurrency payments, stablecoins, DeFi, digital identity, DAOs, and hybrid applications. When addressing how his thinking has changed over time about the state of Ethereum, he stated, “my excitement about Ethereum is now no longer based in the potential for undiscovered unknowns, but rather in a few specific categories of applications that are proving themselves already and are only getting stronger.”

When it comes to the Ethereum application landscape, Vitalik’s overall view is that the fundamental limitations of the space are becoming more broadly understood. The knowns are falling into place and the unknowns are becoming lesser with time.

Vitalik addressed some of the challenges the ecosystem faces and thinks that answers are already in motion, citing that “many of these applications are being built today, though many of these applications are seeing only limited usage because of the limitations of present-day technology. Blockchains are not scalable, transactions until recently took a fairly long time to reliably get included on the chain, and present-day wallets give users an uncomfortable choice between low convenience and low security. In the longer term, many of these applications will need to overcome the spectre of privacy issues. These are all problems that can be solved, and there is a strong drive to solve them.”



 which highlighted how central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are gaining traction among financial institutions and financial leaders worldwide. The benefits Ripple emphasized, included efficient and cost-effective payments, ease of cross-border remittances, advancement of financial inclusion, and improved accessibility of loans and other financial services to historically underserved communities.

The report, which surveyed over 1,600 global financial leaders, cited that “more than 70% of respondents surveyed across five global regions believe CBDCs stand to deliver major social change within the next five years, with Asia Pacific ranking the highest at 89%. Specifically, four out of five regions see financial inclusion or greater access to credit as the largest potential breakthrough to be driven by CBDCs.”

Limitations and challenges concerning implementation of CBDCs included consumer education, identity verification, offline access, and security protections. Despite the visible hurdles, potential alternatives and solutions are believed to be available but must encourage interoperability between currencies and need to be scalable.

Overall, CBDCs are garnering serious traction worldwide. The Bank for International Settlements survey showed that nine out of ten banks are exploring CBDCs, an increase of 80% relative to 2021. Further, 85% of leaders at major financial institutions shared the likelihood of their country launching a CBDC in the next four years, 44% believed the technology would enhance national competitiveness, and 43% felt the technology would increase the efficiency of payment systems.




The Bank of Japan has announced their plans to 

. Alongside key megabanks, regional banks, and private fintech companies, the BOJ’s pilot scheme is scheduled to commence in April of next year.

As early as October 2020, the BOJ was openly vocal regarding their consideration of CBDCs. In spring 2021, the BOJ launched a proof-of-concept phase which sought to gauge the costs and benefits of involvement, stating, “while the Bank currently has no plan to issue CBDC, from the viewpoint of ensuring the stability and efficiency of the overall payment and settlement systems, the Bank will prepare thoroughly, including implementing experiments, to respond to changes in circumstances in an appropriate manner. In the course of CBDC exploration, the Bank considers it important to apply the knowledge of various stakeholders such as the private sector, experts, and relevant public authorities.”

Fast-forward to December 2022 and the BOJ has gone live with their three-phased test in preparation to introduce a digital yen. Currently involved in phase one, the BOJ has tested basic functions such as issuance and distribution and will progress toward security, controls, and peripheral functioning in subsequent phases.

Amidst rapidly changing business environments and growing digital payment options, the BOJ foresees a shift toward cashless economies and proposes the digital yen as having advantages of speed over credit cards, immediate payments, and reduced transaction risks relative to cash.




Alibaba Cloud has expanded support for the Avalanche public blockchain to power their infrastructure services. The integration will enable developers to launch their own validator nodes and will provide access to Alibaba Cloud’s ‘plug-and-play’ infrastructure and products.

According to 

, “Alibaba Cloud, the largest cloud service provider in Asia Pacific, has expanded their line of infrastructure technology and intelligence tools to the Avalanche public blockchain, enabling users to launch validator nodes through the service and access computing, storage, and distribution resources through Alibaba Cloud’s suite of products in Asia.”

Avalanche supports upwards of 1,200 validators and handles more than two million transactions daily. Alibaba Cloud’s 

 describes Avalanche as “the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry; blazingly fast, low in cost, and eco-friendly” and includes a step-by-step tutorial to deploy an Avalanche node using Alibaba Cloud with the click of a button.



 report for 2022 outlined how digital assets can transform the lives of Australian businesses and consumers. The report suggested that Australia is well positioned to be a leader in responsible digital asset innovation and can add upwards of AU$60 billion per year to the Australian economy by 2030. Further, it was cited that Australia’s leadership in digital assets could contribute upwards of 700-1,000 new start-ups, AU$15-20 billion in additional investment, and AU$10-15 billion in tax revenue by 2030.

As the trend of digitisation increases and the global economy becomes increasingly interconnected, leadership in digital assets “will ensure that Australia maintains sovereignty over its payments and financial system. Leadership in digital assets can allow Australia to diversify its economy and grow an important new local industry.”

To succeed, however, Australia must advance in skills, innovation, and investment where it currently lags its peers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Singapore.

Tech Council CEO, Kate Pounder, noted that digital asset technologies can provide benefits to the Australian economy, businesses, and consumers by making transactions safer, better, and easier. Pounder commented that “we want to see Australia capture the economic opportunities of digital assets, but we want to see it done in a responsible way.” She continued, “Australia is already an attractive destination for investment in data centres, but we have an enormous opportunity to position ourselves as a regional hub for green data centres, which can support the sustainable growth of tech activity. Other countries in our region such as Singapore are much more constrained by their land size and renewables capacity, which creates an opportunity for Australia to capture more of this growing market.”


Polkadot (DOT) token is now live and available to trade on BTC Markets. Learn more about Polkadot, its history and use cases via our 


BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler addressed Fintech 2022 in a keynote speech regarding ‘The Future of Money’. Her presentation explored how the evolution of money mirrors the evolution of human history.

Our society has become increasingly global, interconnected, and digital. The advancement of money has historically run parallel alongside societal developments and is something we all must keep ‘buying in to’ for it to remain functional. Trends have pointed toward a story of declining cash use and an increase in cash alternatives, moving to an era of programmable money via smart contracts.




Scams are on the rise in Australia, and some of them are targeting BTC Markets clients. We want to remind you of the importance of safe online practices, so you can avoid falling victim to these scams.

The most common scams right now include fake websites and social media posts that attempt to steal your personal information. Scammers may pose as representatives from companies that you interact with such as BTC Markets, and they use these fake sites to trick you into handing over your personal information. These sites often look like real websites with logos and addresses that make them appear like they're legitimate.

You should never give out your personal information or provide credit card information over email or social media messenger chats. We have a dedicated page on how to '

’ website provides the latest information on how to recognise, avoid and report scams.



 The information provided in this email is for general purposes only. It should not be construed as professional financial advice from BTC Markets Pty Ltd. BTC Markets is not a financial adviser, and you should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation or other advice to ensure that the information relates to your unique circumstances. BTC Markets is not liable for any loss caused, whether due to negligence or otherwise arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information provided directly or indirectly, by use of this information contained with this email.
Prices are accurate as of 10:15 AM AEDT, on 08/12/2022.


This Week in Crypto: 8th December 2022

Maintenance has been rescheduled from the 10th November to the 15th of November 2022 due to market volatility. 

Please be advised that we will be conducting scheduled maintenance on Tuesday 15th Nov 2022, between 2am and 8am AEDT.

All of our services (site and API) will be offline between 2am and 6am, and our fund processing (deposits and withdrawals) will remain offline for a further 2 hours until around 8am.

 for updates during the maintenance period. A final notification will be provided here and on 

Scheduled Maintenance Downtime: Tuesday 15th Nov 2022


Avalanche (AVAX) is an open-source platform that provides support for smart contracts and enables developers to create decentralised applications (dApps). The enterprise blockchain allows projects to be deployed in one interoperable, highly scalable ecosystem.

AVAX is the native token on Avalanche, and acts as a staking mechanism and is required to run a node on the platform. These nodes receive rewards for participating in consensus and distributing transactions across the network. It also provides users with the ability to tokenise securities, trade digital assets and more.

Ava Labs launched Avalanche in 2020 with the goal of delivering a scalable solution while maintaining decentralisation and security, focusing on lower costs, fast transaction speeds, and eco-friendliness.

With Avalanche, users can create an unlimited number of customised and interoperable blockchains. To operate a blockchain on the Avalanche coin, AVAX, one must pay a subscription fee.

The native token AVAX is a utility token and serves as the medium of exchange for Avalanche’s ecosystem. In other words, the token is used as currency within the network, typically for fee collection in transactions, incentives and many other use cases. 

It is also used for staking AVAX, which serves to secure the network. Stakers are then rewarded with more AVAX. Some users stake AVAX to earn passive income on the network. 

When the Bitcoin blockchain was launched in 2009, it paved the way for the design and invention of blockchains that came after it, including Ethereum. With today’s wide-scale use of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols, however, the technical limitations of the original blockchain design became more apparent.

Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW) consensus, for example, inhibits decentralisation to an extent due to its resource-intensive validation process. Transactions also tend to be slower. Most Ethereum apps today use layer-2 scaling solutions to address these issues. By using layer 2, transactions are taken away from the main chain. They are then rolled in neat “bundles,” which are sent back to the Ethereum chain, taking pressure off Ethereum.

Although effective, this solution adds layers of complexity, making the network open to certain security threats. So, how can a blockchain keep everything within a layer-1 protocol that is decentralised and scalable, but also secure?

Enter Ava Labs, the founders of Avalanche, who came up with a brilliant three-blockchain solution to address the top problems that plague blockchains. In September 2020, Ava Labs US launched the Avalanche blockchain after raising $6 million USD during their financing round. Their subsequent token sales — private and public — amounted to $48 million USD.

The three people behind Avalanche are Kevin Sekniqi, Maofan “Ted” Yin and Emin Gün Sirer. A pseudonymous group called Team Rocket first released fundamental information about the protocol in May 2018 on the InterPlanetary File System.

A group of researchers from Cornell University then developed the technology, led by Cornell professor of computer science and software engineer, Emin Gün Sirer. He was assisted by two of his doctoral students: Maofan “Ted” Yin and Kevin Sekniqi.

The AVA codebase for the Avalanche consensus protocol became open-source in March 2020, making it available to the public. Avalanche’s initial coin offering (ICO) ended in July of 2020, followed by the launch of Avalanche in September of the same year.

What problems does Avalanche (AVAX) solve?

As mentioned earlier, Avalanche was built to address many of the issues most blockchain networks face. By providing an alternative to networks such as Ethereum, platforms like Avalanche work to combat centralization within the crypto space.

Two of the top issues that Avalanche addresses are:

Avalanche was deliberately designed with scalability in mind. On par with top-tier payment processors like PayPal and VISA, Avalanche has sub-second transaction times.

Avalanche is also tremendously powerful and efficient, having the capacity to process up to 6,500 transactions per second with sub-second finality. This is a vast improvement on Ethereum’s limitations in terms of the number of transactions that can be processed per second.

Considered by many as an Ethereum competitor, Avalanche also trumps Ethereum in terms of gas fees. Fees on Avalanche are more affordable than Ethereum by a wide margin.

Fees on the network are used for various purposes such as for creating and minting assets, staking, transaction fees and blockchain creation, after which these fees are burned, permanently reducing the number of AVAX within the platform.

According to Avalanche’s Twitter account “AVAX is a hard-capped, scarce asset used to pay fees and secure the network.” in response to used fees being burned. Burned AVAX can be checked on burnedavax.com 

To stay up to date on the latest from the AVAX community or learn more about upcoming features, please visit AVAX community page.

To learn more, visit the AVAX basics page.

Avalanche Basics | Avalanche Support (avax.network)

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