Mastercard brings its Crypto Credential solution to the EEMEA region, starting with the UAE and Kazakhstan.

Payments processor Mastercard has rolled out its Crypto Credential solution in the UAE and Kazakhstan, marking its first move into the EEMEA region. The new service makes crypto transfers easier by letting users send and receive tokens using simple aliases instead of complicated blockchain addresses, the company said in a press release on Jan. 9.

The expansion will help exchanges like ATAIX Eurasia, Intebix, and CoinMENA, along with Fuze, a digital asset provider, streamline blockchain transactions, the company says.

Mastercard’s EVP for core payments in the region, Gaurang Shah, said the company has been “laser focused on developing innovative services and capabilities that help make crypto more accessible and secure.”

Mastercard Crypto Credential was first unveiled in 2023 to help simplify and secure crypto transactions across different blockchain networks. The idea is to make crypto exchanges easier by offering a way to verify users’ identities and ensure that the right assets go to the right wallets.

However, the concept of blockchain aliases isn’t entirely new. Platforms like Unstoppable Domains have been offering blockchain-based aliases for years, allowing users to replace lengthy blockchain addresses with user-friendly names.

Real Vision’s chief digital assets analyst Jamie Coutts believes Bitcoin (BTC) will be at a significantly higher price six months from now.

Coutts tells his 32,400 followers on the social media platform X that the Fed will likely make additional rate cuts in the near future that would inject more liquidity into the markets and cause Bitcoin to surge.

Coutts shares a chart showing the historical relationship between the global money supply (M2) metric and Bitcoin, suggesting an M2 increase would send BTC higher.

“With the strong dollar becoming a real problem, I expected Bitcoin to be in the $80,000 range by now. This speaks to the strength of the underlying bid and the market’s expectations that the Fed will have to act; otherwise, things will start breaking. Regardless of the sequence of events, more liquidity is coming, and Bitcoin should be much higher six months from now.”

Coutts also expects greater adoption of Bitcoin by the private wealth segment, which includes high-net-worth individuals and families, noting these entities “are less concerned than CT’s (crypto Twitter’s) daily obsession over liquidity ups and downs.”

Another one of Coutts’ predictions for the coming months is that the relatively new artificial intelligence (AI) agents crypto sector will continue an upward trend.

Crypto AI agents are protocols built to autonomously perform tasks on behalf of users such as interacting with blockchains and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, trading and managing portfolios.

Said Coutts,

“Interest in AI agents in crypto took off in November 2024. Based on history, this trend is expected to last at least another four months, but probably longer. AI agents are not like the others – they unlock potential for every established and new use case.”

Bitcoin is trading for $94,592 at time of writing, down 2.4% in the last 24 hours.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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A closely followed crypto strategist says XRP is giving off the same bullish signal it flashed late last year before triggering a parabolic surge.

Analyst Ali Martinez tells his 110,100 followers on the social media platform X that XRP may be gearing up for a new leg up based on its SuperTrend indicator.

The SuperTrend indicator is a technical analysis tool that aims to identify potential entry and exit points based on an asset’s trend.

Says Martinez,

“The last time the SuperTrend indicator flipped bullish on the 12-hour chart, XRP went up 470%… It just flipped bullish again.” 

At time of writing, XRP is trading for $2.28.

Turning to Cardano, the trader thinks that ADA looks poised for a big rally after breaking out from a bullish continuation pattern on the daily chart.

“Cardano ADA is breaking out of a bull pennant, targeting $3!”

At time of writing, ADA is worth $0.99.

Next up is the top memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE), which the trader says is being gobbled up by deep-pocketed investors.

“Whales bought 140 million Dogecoin DOGE in [24 hours]!”

Martinez also notes that traders are currently bearish on Dogecoin, suggesting that the meme token may be primed to go against the crowd.

“Dogecoin DOGE weighted social sentiment is at -0.60, which means the crowd remains very pessimistic about its upside potential. This might be a good time to be a contrarian!”

At time of writing, DOGE is trading at $0.35.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney