This Emerging Altcoin Is More Exciting Long-Term Bet Than Ethereum, Says Prominent Crypto Trader A high-profile pseudonymous crypto trader says that one emerging smart contract platform may pose a more enticing long-term investment than top blockchain network, Ethereum. The analyst and trader known in the industry as The Crypto Dog, is spotlighting scalable layer 1 blockchain project Solana (SOL) amid the crypto market breakdown. The Crypto Dog believes that both Bitcoin and Solana have advantages over Ethereum as long-term investments. BTC, notes the trader, is a safer bet than ETH, and SOL has more upside potential. “BTC is a safer, more boring long-term bet than ETH. Flippening, unlikely in my opinion and if it does happen, I’ll be here long ETHUSDTPERP (perpetual contract). Happy either way. SOL is higher upside, more exciting long term bet than ETH. It’s the layer one with the best shot at number two.” Additionally, the analyst bets that Solana will be one of the first assets to reach new all-time highs, as crypto traders and investors patiently wait for the market to recover. “SOL will be one of the first to make new highs.” At time of writing, Solana is trading at $35.85, down approximately 38% off its high of $58.03 in May, according to CoinGecko. As for Bitcoin, The Crypto Dog is betting on a strong move up for the top cryptocurrency by market cap. The trader notes that BTC appears strong on the daily timeframe, and that he put in a leveraged trade at the $33,000 level. “BTC 1D (daily timeframe) looks phenomenal to me. I’m holding the most spot I’ve had in years, and I’m also levered from $33,000. I think this is the most long Bitcoin notional I’ve ever been.” Source: The Crypto Dog

Cuba’s Central Bank Suspends US Dollar Deposits Nationwide – Officials Cite Embargo ‘Obstacles’ The Republic of Cuba is suspending the use of U.S. dollars due to embargo restrictions with U.S. and foreign banks. The central bank of Cuba’s restrictions stems from the “obstacles that the U.S. embargo creates for the national bank system.” Cuba Bans USD Deposits, BCC Tells Tourists to ‘Arrive With a Currency Other Than the Dollar’Cuba, the island country located where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean meet, said this week U.S. dollars will be suspended in the country. The mandate comes from the country’s central bank and foreign tourists have been told to leave U.S. dollars at home when visiting. The announcement was invoked at a roundtable discussion that was aired on state-sponsored Cuban television. “In view of the obstacles that the U.S. embargo creates for the national bank system to deposit abroad the U.S. dollars that are collected in the country, a decision was made to temporarily suspend deposits in U.S. banknotes in Cuba’s bank and financial system,” the Central Bank of Cuba (Banco Central de Cuba, BCC) members said. Yamilé Berra Cires, the vice president of the BCC, explained during the roundtable discussion that at the beginning of the Trump administration’s leadership, the U.S. tightened the embargo’s grip. The United States has had an embargo with Cuba since 1958 and the U.S. has had numerous issues with Cuba during the Eisenhower presidency and Kennedy presidency as well. After the 2008 crisis, the U.S. and Cuba seemed to gravitate toward friendlier terms during the Obama presidency. On Friday, the Miami Herald reported that USD in the Cuban black market skyrocketed 3x higher than the global exchange rate at 70 Cuban pesos. However, BCC vice president Berra Cires claims issues have gotten worse since Trump and said 24 foreign banks stopped dealing with Cuba. Berra Cires also said during the roundtable discussion that 95 foreign financial institutions reported on the transgressions of Cuban national banks doing business with counterparties. “It is ever more difficult for Cuba to find international banking or financing institutions willing to receive, convert or process U.S. currency in cash,” Berra Cires further remarked. “People who will be coming into the country during this time will have to arrive with a currency other than the dollar,” Francisco Mayobre Lence the BCC’s first vice president said. BCC Minister-President: ‘There Is No Other Option’Of course, after hearing about the USD ban in Cuba, members of the cryptocurrency community wanted Cuba to adopt digital currencies like El Salvador recently did with bitcoin. “It’s like [a] 50-year embargo. It’s really depressing,” one individual wrote about the Cuba situation with America on Reddit. “Will they take crypto now?” another Redditor asked in the r/cryptocurrency thread. Another crypto enthusiast responded to the question and said: I doubt they want to be the last Latin American country to do so. Minister-president of the Cuban central bank, Marta Sabina Wilson González explained during the roundtable discussion that Cuba had no choice but to make the decision. “We had no choice but to take this measure, which we are explaining at the Round Table, as we always do when it is a measure that affects the people, who will understand that there is no other option,” the minister detailed.