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Showing posts from January 12, 2021

MLB Team Washington Nationals Partners With Terra Blockchain Community, Ballpark Plans to Accept UST

On February 9, the American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., the Washington Nationals, announced the team has partnered with Terra, the open-source blockchain platform and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The Washington Nationals detail that the team is a “leading innovator” and is “consistently introducing new technologies to enhance the fan experience.” Washington Nationals Ink Long-Term Deal With Terra Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Washington Nationals has partnered with the blockchain platform and DAO Terra, according to an announcement published by the team on Wednesday. The deal with Terra follows a slew of sports-related deals with crypto firms, but the MLB team will be the first to partner with an open-source blockchain project. In addition to the partnership, the algorithmic stablecoin UST that’s issued on the Terra blockchain will be “accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park as early as next season.” “The Nationals continue t...
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New Zealand Watchdog Issues Warning on Crypto Investments Following Bitcoin’s Latest Price Drop

New Zealand’s financial regulator issued a warning alert to local cryptocurrency investors and traders amid the recent bitcoin’s price action. The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) asks people to remain cautious because cryptos are “high risk and highly volatile assets.” FMA Warns About Unregulated Overseas Crypto Exchanges According to an official statement published in the NZ Herald , New Zealand’s financial watchdog is concerned about the latest “rollercoaster move” seen in the bitcoin ( BTC ) price. “Cryptocurrencies are not regulated in New Zealand and are often exploited by scammers and hackers,” said an FMA spokesman. But the regulator’s warning is not the only one seen over the last few days. In fact, the FMA quoted its U.K. counterpart, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as saying: The FMA shares the FCA’s concerns that some crypto exchanges are promising high returns and customers should be prepared to lose all of their money. The advisory includes a warning on u...
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xSigma DeFi Offers Lucrative Rewards for Liquidity Providers, Whitepaper Released

xSigma is an upcoming stablecoin DEX protocol developed by the first DeFi project backed by a NASDAQ-listed company. In order to attract liquidity providers to supply their stablecoins to the decentralized exchange, the protocol will feature a lucrative rewards system for liquidity mining. The project recently finalized its smart contract and today released its whitepaper to the public. Provide Stablecoins, Earn SIG Tokens DeFi investors have earned some great yields recently, but also fallen victim to scammers, hackers and just awful programmers. For this reason it is good to find a project you can trust with your digital assets before you make the leap. And you can’t find a project more focused on minimizing these risks for liquidity providers than xSigma DeFi . This is a DEX protocol developed by a team full of top-notch software developers and a lab backed by a NASDAQ-listed company. One of the main goals of xSigma is to make the process as safe, user-friendly and profitable fo...
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SolidX files lawsuit against VanEck alleging Bitcoin ETF ‘plagiarism’

SolidX accuses VanEck of terminating their partnership in bad faith after “surreptitiously” working to launch a Bitcoin product based on SolidX’s work. Global investment management firm VanEck, is facing a lawsuit from blockchain firm and former-partner SolidX over a Bitcoin ETF that VanEck filed for SEC approval less than two weeks ago. In 2017, VanEck became the first company to file for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund registered under the Investment Company Act, while SolidX has been working to bring a Bitcoin ETF to market since 2015. The two firms joined forces in June 2018, with SolidX touting its deep experience with crypto as a compliment to VanEck’s extensive background in issuing financial products. However, after withdrawing their most recent joint application for a Bitcoin ETF in September 2019, the two firms parted ways in August 2020. SolidX’s complaint describes the split as a “bad faith termination” of their agreement. On Dec. 31, VanEck announced it had filed a ...
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Uniswap's growth lead bites back over Yearn Finance’s SushiSwap merger

Uniswap’s growth lead, Ashleigh Schap, has slammed Yearn Finance founder Andre Cronje for complaining about forked projects in the DeFi sector. Uniswap growth lead Ashleigh Schap has slammed a recent article from Yearn Finance founder Cronje that criticized forked protocols in the DeFi space, with Schap describing Yearn’s recent merger with SushiSwap as validating a "stolen DApp".  Cronje’s Jan.12 blog post , "Building in DeFi sucks," complained about the risk of competitors forking his code, and combining such with attractive tokenomics in a bid to siphon away users from the products that he has invested significant time into building. He wrote: “I can build the superior product even, but a competitor can just fork my code, and a token that infinitely mints, and they’ll have twice the users in a week.” This is exactly what happened when SushiSwap was forked from Uniswap in late August 2020, with the new project launching a native token and yield farming progr...
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Crypto Industry’s Favorite Messaging App Telegram Surpasses 500 Million Active Users

Telegram, a popular messaging app within the cryptocurrency space, surpassed 500 million monthly active users during the first week of January, according to Telegram chief executive officer Pavel Durov. In the last 72 hours, said Durov, the app has seen a massive surge in new users, with an additional 25 million people signing up to use the platform. These new users are coming from all around the world, with the majority – 38% – drawn from Asia. Some 27% are coming from Europe, 21% from Latin America, and 8% from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena region). Around 200 million people used Telegram in 2018, meaning user growth has exceeded 150% over two years. Telegram may have benefited from changes to the privacy policy at rival Whatsapp. Recent updates to Whatsapp’s privacy policy require that users share their personal information with parent firm Facebook or stop using the service altogether. These changes are believed to have prompted users uncomfortable with sharing more o...
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Number of financial planners investing in crypto increases by 50%

A survey published by Bitwise has found that nearly 10% of investment advisors have made client portfolio allocations into crypto assets. A survey published by crypto index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management has found the number of financial advisors allocating capital toward crypto has increased by roughly 50% in one year. The survey , conducted in partnership with investment website ETF Trends, queried nearly U.S.-based 1,000 financial advisors in December. The findings indicate that 9.4% of client portfolios were exposed to crypto assets — up from 6.3% one year ago. Of the investment advisors who have not yet allocated to crypto, 15% stated they will “probably” invest in virtual currency during 2021, with 2% stating they will “definitely” invest in the asset class this year. Financial planners are much more keen to invest their personal wealth in cryptocurrency, with 24% saying they have already done so. The global economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic appears t...
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Altcoins move higher while Bitcoin price finds resistance near $35,000

DeFi tokens and altcoins move high as Bitcoin price finds resistance near $35,000. On Jan. 12 Bitcoin ( BTC ) price rebounded slightly as the price attempted to re-enter the $37,000 range but at the time of writing increased selling is pushing the price back toward the $32,000 mark. While the bearish price action may have shaken out newer investors who are unfamiliar with Bitcoin’s whipsaw volatility, the recent 28% drop doesnt even maike it on the list of the top-5 worst BTC pullbacks in history . In fact, today’s 20% rebound marked one of Bitcoin’s largest one-day rebounds ever . Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 Despite Bitcoin’s swift 20% bounce, many analysts have voiced caution, warning that the top cryptocurrency is not out of the woods yet due to a high funding rate in the futures market and the growing strength of the U.S. dollar index (DXY). Longer-term and institutional-level investors seem unmoved by the correction and likely believe that it ...
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Crypto leaders worry over threat from ‘big tech’ censorship

Social media users are leaving traditional providers in droves in favor of more independent platforms over fears of unwarranted data collection, censorship, and refusal of service. A change to WhatsApp’s terms of service has triggered a mass exodus from the messaging platform to more private and independent rivals like Telegram and Signal, which have registered millions of new users over the last week.  Rather than agreeing to new terms specifying the app’s right to share user data with Facebook, millions of WhatsApp users simply gave up using the platform, abandoning it for less-intrusive competitors. Telegram alone has been downloaded 25 million times in the last 72 hours. Telegram surpassed 500 million active users. 25 million new users joined in the last 72 hours: 38% came from Asia, 27% from Europe, 21% from Latin America and 8% from MENA. https://t.co/1LptHZb9PQ — Telegram Messenger (@telegram) January 12, 2021 Some of those new sign-ups include refugees from the ...
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Mark Cuban: Crypto ‘Exactly’ Like Dot-Com Bubble — Expects Bitcoin to Survive Bubble Burst, Thrive Like Amazon

Billionaire Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban sees cryptocurrency “exactly” like the dot-com bubble. He says bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies are analogous to those dot-com stocks, like Amazon and Ebay, that survived the bubble burst and thrived. Mark Cuban Likens Crypto to Dot-Com Bubble Shark Tank star Mark Cuban compared what he feels is a bubble in bitcoin to the dot-com bubble on Monday after the price of the cryptocurrency took a nosedive. The owner of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Dallas Mavericks tweeted: Watching the cryptos trade, it’s exactly like the internet stock bubble. Exactly. I think BTC , ETH , a few others will be analogous to those that were built during the dot-com era, survived the bubble bursting and thrived, like AMZN, Ebay, and Priceline. Many won’t. “Along the way, many fortunes will be made and lost and we find out who has the stomach to hodl and who doesn’t. My advice? Learn how to hedge,” he elaborated. At the time of writing, hi...
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Top 100 Bitcoin addresses accumulated $11B more BTC in the past 30 days

Bitcoin’s top 100 richest addresses have snapped up almost 350,000 more BTC in the last 30 days. The top 100 richest Bitcoin addresses are increasingly bullish, accumulating 16% more Bitcoin over the last 30 days.  In total these addresses added 334,000 more Bitcoin to their bags, or around $11 billion worth. The majority barely reacted to Bitcoin ’s recent price drop from $41,000 to below $33,000. Only seven addresses conducted a transfer out of the wallet since the most recent all-time-high on January 10. Of the addresses that have transacted in the last 30 days, only eight of them have more than ten transactions to their name since December 12. Perhaps surprisingly, many of the largest addresses are yet to see a bull run, with eight of the top ten having received their first transaction later than September 2018. The newest in the top 100 is only two months old. They’re not all individual whales however. The addresses include at least ten controlled by exchanges such as ...
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'Why I'm not investing in nothing burger Bitcoin': Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary

Despite criticizing Bitcoin, the Shark Tank star also said the digital asset could become “something of tremendous value” if regulators were to back it. Businessman Kevin O'Leary, who appears on the reality TV show Shark Tank, seems to be backing away from statements he made in December indicating he might purchase more Bitcoin. In an episode of his YouTube series released today titled "Why I'm NOT Investing in Bitcoin," O'Leary spoke to Bitcoiner Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano and called Bitcoin ( BTC ) a “giant nothing burger” in terms of its value as an asset. He argued he would be unable to make “a significant transaction” using the crypto asset because of inconsistent regulatory frameworks across the world. “I look at the asset value of Bitcoin versus the asset value of all things traded and Bitcoin is still a nothing burger — a giant nothing burger,” said O’Leary. “The reason I would argue that that's the case is you don't have every institution willi...
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Kim Dotcom Discusses the Swelling Crypto Economy and His Plans to ‘Accelerate P2P Electronic Cash’

This week, news.Bitcoin.com chatted with Kim Dotcom, the founder of the now-defunct file hosting service Megaupload and the creator of the content monetization application called K.im. The Internet entrepreneur Dotcom is a big believer when it comes to the crypto economy and during the conversation, we discussed subjects like bitcoin cash, the recent Big Tech censorship, and how cryptocurrencies will forward financial freedom. Kim Dotcom is a well known Internet entrepreneur and political activist that believes the crypto economy will continue to swell in value. Dotcom is well known for being the former CEO of the now-defunct file hosting platform Megaupload. The site was taken down by the U.S. government in 2012, but before the takedown Megaupload served 180,000,000 registered members, and saw 50,000,000 visits per day. Currently, Dotcom is working on a content monetization application called K.im which will meld the benefits of cryptocurrency solutions and file hosting. News.Bitc...
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Trader comforts the market’s traumatized first timers amid falling prices

Bitcoin’s recent 28% drop has been a somewhat harrowing experience for some first time buyers. Known for its volatility, Bitcoin ( BTC ) recently fell more than $11,000 over a four-day period after weeks of soaring price action. Amid a fresh bull cycle, Bitcoin has likely picked up its fair share of new buyers — some of whom may not be familiar with the asset’s wild price swings, according to comments from Cheds, a crypto trader and analyst on Twitter. Cheds holds a level I CMT certification — a benchmark showing technical analysis knowledge.  “Given the recent surge in popularity of Bitcoin, we have many new investors and traders who have not been through any shock events, like that $8,500 daily range candle we just had,” Cheds told Cointelegraph. Bitcoin surpassed its 2017 all-time price high in December 2020. In the following weeks, the asset doubled its former high near $20,000, tapping just shy of $42,000 on Jan. 8, based on TradingView.com data. This is likely due in par...
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3 Bitcoin price indicators prove pro traders are still bullish on BTC

Bitcoin futures and options indicators remained stable during the 26.5% crash, a signal that the harshest part of the BTC correction may be over. This week’s $11,000 drop occurred in just 32 hours and this definitely an important milestone for Bitcoin ( BTC ) price.  Many mainstream media outlets perceived the correction as the start of a new bear market but data simply does not support this line of thinking. Bitcoin price may have corrected 26.5% as if dropped to retest the $30,300 support but it has since shown significant strength amidst a record-high $160 billion in derivatives volume. BTC futures daily volume, in USD. Source: coinalyze.net Spot exchanges also outpaced their previous record high that was set just three days ago on Jan.9 as BTC soared to a new all-time high at $41,950. The incredible $27.7 billion in volume seen on Jan.11 was 60% higher than the previous peak. By itself, Binance exchange-traded $9 billion worth of BTC, which is more than double the enti...
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Bakkt has no plans to support XRP, says CEO

Bakkt's CEO did not mention whether the company decided to stay away from XRP due to Ripple’s ongoing legal issues. Bakkt, one of the biggest cryptocurrency companies in the United States, will not support XRP as part of its further product development, according to the CEO. On Jan. 11, Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael sat down with the Axios Re:Cap podcast to discuss the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin ( BTC ) and other digital assets. Michael said that Bakkt is planning to roll out support for a number of altcoins on its platform in the future, but XRP is not one of them. Michael declined to comment on whether the company decided to stay away from XRP due to Ripple’s legal issues sparked by a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Just not on our platform,” Michael stated, adding: “We entered the crypto space through Bitcoin, and that was our first currency we’ve made available. We have others that are scheduled to come on board as part of the product develo...
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IMVU's new blockchain-backed stablecoin goes live

The token, which has gotten a lot of attention for its interesting way of placating U.S. regulators, is now live for IMVU users in over 140 countries. IMVU's new fiat-convertible VCOIN goes live on the social network.  Per a Jan. 12 company announcement shared with Cointelegraph, VCOIN is available for users of IMVU, starting today. IMVU already hosts over 27 million transactions a month using its non-blockchain-backed credits. VCOIN aims to give users involved in those transactions the opportunity to convert their earnings into value that they can use off the platform, both in peer-to-peer transactions and in conversion to fiat, integrating the game's virtual economy into the rest of the economy more tangibly. Regarding the hoped-for boost to the virtual world's economy, IMVU's chief strategy and blockchain officer, John Burris, told Cointelegraph: "All kinds of users are going to be able to specialize in their skill sets. So builders of rooms can now get pa...
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Grayscale reopens crypto trusts for investment as Bitcoin price climbs

The fund manager had temporarily stopped taking on new investors in late December but has now resumed for almost all crypto trusts. Digital asset investment manager Grayscale has resumed accepting new investments into almost all of its cryptocurrency trusts. The investment manager had paused new inflows into six of its trusts in late December 2020, just as the six-month lock-up period for selling recently-purchased shares in its Bitcoin Trust, which trades under the ticker GBTC, was winding up. As of the time of writing, products such as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund Trust are all available for new investors, although the Grayscale Ethereum Trust remains unavailable. The Grayscale XRP Trust is inactive, and will likely remain so.  In early January, the fund manager had liquidated its holdings of the asset shortly after news broke of a major lawsuit filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against Ripple. Screenshot...
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Trader cries foul play as $30K Bitcoin price dip ends in biggest-ever daily recovery

A surge in excess of 20% accompanies the 12 hours after Bitcoin bounced off $30,000, but questions over the events are mounting. Bitcoin ( BTC ) saw its most successful recovery in history on Jan. 12 after testing $30,000 support, but market participants are already suspicious. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView followed Bitcoin as it swiftly bounced off lows of $30,250 late on Monday to seal 20% gains in just over 12 hours. Guggenheim sell advice under scrutiny Coming even more quickly than its prior fall over the weekend, the comeback marks Bitcoin’s best daily performance ever, both in U.S. dollar and percentage terms. The numbers will be confirmed once the daily candle closes, with press-time levels nearing a local top of $36,600. No sooner was the recovery underway, however, did concerns appear over the authenticity of recent market movements. Popular market analyst and Cointelegraph contributor  filbfilb argued that the strength of the rally belied what...
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XLM re-enters top-10 coins by market cap after surging nearly 30%

Stellar Lumens saw major price action after the Stellar Development Foundation signed an agreement with the Ukrainian government. Stellar Lumens ( XLM ) is now the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, overtaking Chainlink (LINK) and Binance Coin ( BNB ), according to data from major crypto tracking website CoinGecko .  At publishing time, Stellar’s market cap amounts to $6.6 billion, while LINK and BNB’s market caps stand at $6.1 billion and $5.8 billion, respectively. Top-10 cryptocurrencies by market cap chart. Source: CoinGecko Stellar’s return to the top-10 list comes amid XLM’s recent parabolic surge of  80% over the past seven days, according to Cointelegraph’s Stellar price index. At publishing time, XLM is trading at $0.302, up 27% over the past 24 hours. XLM also posted some major growth over the past year. According to CoinGecko data , Stellar posted year-to-date returns of over 500%. As Cointelegraph previously reported, Stellar recently...
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