Cryptocurrency exchanges have increased operational standards and transparency, more trading platforms are now considered Top-Tier, and improved security has led to fewer hacking incidents.

The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, with over $7.3 trillion in assets under management, has started to “dabble” in bitcoin, at a time in which the price of the flagship cryptocurrency is above $51,000.

Financial and investing advice firm “The Motley Fool” has revealed it decided to invest $5 million in bitcoin and explained the move was made as it believes the cryptocurrency “will store value more effectively than gold over the long term.”

The Swiss canton of Zug has started accepting bitcoin and ether for tax payments, after initially announcing support for cryptocurrency payments in September of last year.

Sponsored: Umbria Network, a decentralized finance platform on the Ethereum blockchain, is proud to announce that it will be deploying its suite of applications on Polygon (previously Matic Network).

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• CryptoCompare Highlights Top Crypto Exchanges and Why They Stand Out
• World’s Largest Asset Manager Has ‘Started to Dabble’ in Bitcoin
• Motley Fool Buying $5M in Bitcoin for Its Balance Sheet Due to Its ’10x Potential’
• Swiss Canton Zug Starts Accepting BTC and ETH for Tax Payments
• Sponsored: Umbria Partners with Polygon to Leverage DeFi Protocol

CryptoCompare Highlights Top Crypto Exchanges and Why They Stand Out

Cryptocurrency exchanges have over time increased their operational standards and transparency, with more trading platforms now considered Top-Tier, and improved security has led to fewer hacking incidents.

Top-Tier exchanges, those graded AA-B, have gained an additional 13% market share in the last four months, from October 2020 to January 2021 – the same time period that saw the price of Bitcoin surge from just over $11,000 to a new high above $40,000.

These leading exchanges saw their market share grow from 61% to 74% over said period, with their trading volumes going from $347 billion to $1.41 trillion per month.

Market share for Top-Tier trading platforms partly increased because the number of exchanges being considered Top-Tier also increased to 84, up from 68 in July last year. Exchanges have been increasing their operational standards and transparency due to regulatory requirements and a competitive marketplace.

World’s Largest Asset Manager Has ‘Started to Dabble’ in Bitcoin

The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, with over $7.3 trillion in assets under management, has started to “dabble” in bitcoin, at a time in which the price of the flagship cryptocurrency is above $51,000.

BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder revealed that the asset manager has “started to dabble” in the flagship cryptocurrency, without elaborating on what that meant. During the interview, Rieder claimed he believes crypto has captured “the imagination of a lot of people” even as its volatility is currently “extraordinary.”

Rieder was skeptical when asked about the common suggestion that everyone should allocate 1% of their portfolios into bitcoin. He said:

“I wouldn’t put a number on the percentage allocation one should have, it depends on what the rest of your portfolio looks like.”

Rieder added that technology and regulations have evolved to the point that a number of people believe cryptocurrencies should be a part of their portfolio, and he believes that is what has been driving the price of bitcoin up.

Motley Fool Buying $5M in Bitcoin for Its Balance Sheet Due to Its ’10x Potential’

Financial and investing advice firm “The Motley Fool” has revealed it decided to invest $5 million in bitcoin and explained the move was made as it believes the cryptocurrency “will store value more effectively than gold over the long term.”

The firm also added it believes it may become a medium for transactions “if pricing stabilizes in the decade ahead.” Finally, the investment was made because they believe “it can act as a productive hedge against inflation.”

The Motley Fool added BTC can be a part of a diversified portfolio, and recommended the cryptocurrency as part of its “real-money 10X portfolio,” which is “focused on finding investment opportunities with potential to increase 10x in value within the next five, 10, 15 years.”

Bitcoin will be a “core holding” in its 10X portfolio while also being added to its own balance sheet.

Swiss Canton Zug Starts Accepting BTC and ETH for Tax Payments

The Swiss canton of Zug has started accepting bitcoin and ether for tax payments, after initially announcing support for cryptocurrency payments in September of last year.

Kanton Zug has reportedly partnered with Bitcoin Suisse for the initiative, meaning that the crypto firm will convert residents’ BTC and ETH used for tax payments into Swiss Francs the authority will be receiving.

The process of paying taxes with crypto will involve scanning a QR code and paying from a crypto wallet of choice, with the cap for such payments being set at CHF 100,000 (about $110,000).

Other Swiss municipalities, Zermatt and Chiasso, also support cryptocurrency for tax payments for smaller amounts.

Umbria Partners with Polygon to Leverage DeFi Protocol

Umbria Network, a decentralized finance platform on the Ethereum blockchain, is proud to announce that it will be deploying its suite of applications on Polygon (previously Matic Network).

Polygon, which has vast experience and presence in the DeFi space, provides scalable, secure and instant Ethereum transactions using Plasma side chains and a Proof-of-Stake network. It is one of the most active layer-2 Ethereum scaling solutions in existence today. Its Developer Support Program is designed to help developers overcome difficulties they may face while developing Blockchain-based applications. It helps those building on Polygon to thrive via:

• Early support grants
• Technical guidance from its team and network
• Security audit support
• Marketing and promotional support
• Help with investor connections

The Umbria team has decided to build its applications on the Polygon network due to its EVM compatibility; high speed, low-cost transactions and the overall composability of the network.

The Umbria roadmap outlines a release of its DeFi platform with Polygon side-chain integration on the Mainnet by Q3 of 2021. The DeFi platform recently released its governance token on Uniswap, which will be used to vote on future changes to the protocol.

“We are incredibly excited about our new partnership with Polygon and look forward to collaborating with the team to achieve our common aim of bringing DeFi to the masses by removing barriers to entry,” said Barney Chambers, co-lead developer at Umbria. “The technical and marketing support provided by Polygon will be invaluable in driving Umbria forward with the Polygon blockchain scalability platform making it the perfect solution for us.”

“We are happy to help the Umbria team build their suite of DeFi applications and are excited to partner with them on their journey to mass adoption,” said Arjun Kalsy, VP Growth – Polygon (previously Matic Network).

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State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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