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Showing posts from January 15, 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...

French Programmer Sent Bitcoin Donations to Far-Right Activists Who Participated in the US Capitol Riots

A crypto forensic analysis reveals that a French donor sent over $500,000 worth of bitcoin ( BTC ) to far-right activists in the United States. The half-million dollars went to the groups that took part in the pro-Trump riots in the U.S. Capitol. Alt-Right Personalities and Websites Are Included on the List of Recipients According to Chainalysis , the unnamed donor sent 28.15 BTC (worth $522,000 at the transfer time) on Dec. 6, 2020, to 22 separate addresses in a single transaction. Per the report, many of those wallets belong to personalities tied to far-right activists in the U.S. Yahoo News detailed that Vdare (anti-immigration organization), the Daily Stormer (right-wing website), and Nick Fuentes were among the crypto donation recipients. Alt-right streamer Ethan Ralph is also on the list that Chainalysis published regarding the half a million dollar donation. The blockchain analytics firm clarified that there is no evidence yet on Fuentes’ participation in the Capitol’s ri...

Venezuelan President Maduro Promises 2021 Will Be the Year to Boost Usage of Petro

The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, has claimed that 2021 will be the year of the state-backed petro (PTR) token. He also promised to boost a “100% national digital economy” agenda through a “complete digitalization process.” 77% of Trade Transactions in Venezuela Are Made via Digital Solutions in Bolivar During an annual speech at the National Assembly, Maduro talked about a “revival” for the petro, a cryptocurrency that some analysts have not seen any strong potentials in, at least in terms of adoption. However, the Venezuelan president believes his economy’s agenda should boost the national crypto market and its related remittance service, Patria. He explained: The revival of the use of petro, of all cryptocurrency systems, the use of blockchain technologies, the development of the Patria system, and the generation of new applications will set the tone for 2021. Over the year, Maduro plans to strengthen the usage of contactless payment solutions to ride-off from cash...

$100 Swaps: Ethereum Dex Volumes Saw $39 Billion Last Month Despite ‘Insane’ Trading Fees

During the last 12 months, Ethereum-based decentralized finance (defi) solutions and decentralized exchange (dex) platforms have been very popular. Dex applications, in particular, have seen massive demand and during the last 30 days, dex trade volumes have reached $39 billion in swaps. However, one of the biggest issues confronting dex users continues to be the enormous fees associated with interacting with platforms like Uniswap and other dex platforms. Ethereum’s Decentralized Exchange Platforms See Record 30 Day Trade Volumes Dex applications like Uniswap, 1inch, Sushiswap, 0x, Matcha, Kyber, and others have been very popular platforms during the last year. The defi market aggregator defipulse.com shows that there’s over $22 billion in value locked into defi platforms today. A considerable amount of this locked ether value is also represented by dex applications and the growing user base. On January 14, 2021, stats from Dune Analytics shows that during the last month, dex trad...

Bitcoin bulls buy BTC’s $35K support retest as altcoins push higher

Bitcoin’s lower support retest was bought up by bulls, preparing BTC for another push to $40,000. Calls for Bitcoin ( BTC ) to rally above $40,000 were dashed as the top cryptocurrency hit a wall of resistance which sparked a sell-off in the early trading hours.  Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView show the price of BTC fell as low as $34,368 before rebounding to its current price of $37,300. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 It’s possible that the excitement surrounding the announcement of a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill from the incoming Biden administration quickly morphed into a buy the rumor, sell the news event as questions begin to emerge on the feasibility of parts of the bill. BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Bitcoin’s dip also comes after renewed criticism from global regulators as European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde recently stated that the top cryptocurrency is " totally reprehensible money launde...

New Jersey Gym Claims State Seized $173K From Bank, Owner Discusses Cryptocurrency Solutions With Tucker Carlson

On January 14, Ian Smith, the co-owner of the Atilis Gym in New Jersey appeared on Fox News with the news anchor, Tucker Carlson, and discussed his battle with the state of New Jersey’s coronavirus lockdown orders. Smith and his business partner have defied the state’s lockdown orders and remained open for months. The Bellmawr establishment has been fined $15k per day, as the company does not adhere to enforcing Covid-19 protocols. On Wednesday evening the state of New Jersey allegedly took action and seized $173,613 from the gym owner’s bank account. Atilis Gym Owner Claims the State of New Jersey Seized $173K from His Bank Account The co-owner of the Bellmawr, New Jersey (NJ) establishment Atilis Gym is extremely upset because he says his legal funds were confiscated by the state on Wednesday. Ian Smith and his business partner, Frank Trumbetti, own and operate the gym. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the establishment has refused to follow Covid-19 protocols enforce...

Tor-enabled Bitcoin nodes are back after bug on network

Anonymous Tor-enabled Bitcoin nodes normally make up as much as 25% of totally reachable Bitcoin nodes. According to the latest  data from node monitoring resource Bitnodes, Tor-enabled Bitcoin ( BTC ) nodes are back to normal following almost a full-swing crash in early January 2021. As of Jan. 13, the number of reachable Tor-based BTC nodes amounted to 2,581, up from as few as 122 nodes on Jan. 9. Based on Bitnodes data, Tor-enabled Bitcoin nodes make up a significant part of the Bitcoin network, normally accounting for about 25% of totally reachable running nodes. According to the latest recorded data, Tor-based nodes made up over 23% of total BTC nodes on Jan. 13. According to Bitnodes, the current number of Bitcoin nodes amounts to 11,190 nodes, up from around 8,300 on Jan. 7. The Bitcoin ( BTC ) network has been steadily recovering in terms of running BTC nodes after a major outage on the Tor network. Number of reachable Bitcoin nodes over the past 90 days. Source: Bi...

Coinbase Issues a Public Apology to EU and UK Customers — Did Not Address Its Global Issues

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase published a statement addressing their U.K. and E.U. customers, apologizing for system outages and account restrictions. The company also recognized their customer support “has not been at the levels” expected. High Flow of Incoming Customers According to the public apology , the U.S.-based crypto company said customers from both regions have been facing transaction restrictions. However, Coinbase didn’t make a direct mea culpa for its global issues, that occured precisely when volatility and velocity increased in the crypto markets. Coinbase blamed the recent “sustained market rally that has brought a significant number of new customers” onto the platform. Moreover, Coinbase claims that the regulatory environment is not helpful in this situation: Evolving regulatory requirements mean that we have to collect additional information from some of our customers, which has meant temporary restrictions being placed on their accounts as we request that ...

After Ethereum, 'next stop will be higher risk alts,' says Bitcoin investor Raoul Pal

Raoul Pal says higher risk altcoins are likely to follow Ethereum, which rose 60% in the first two weeks of 2021. As the cryptocurrency market is showing signs of bullish continuation  on Jan. 15, Raoul Pal, the CEO of Real Vision Group and an avid Bitcoin ( BTC ) investor, is optimistic about the price of Ether ( ETH ). Pal  also says he's looking to add “higher risk alts.” ETH/USDT 4-hour price chart (Binance). Source: TradingView.com Is an altseason coming? Following Bitcoin’s rally above $42,000, many alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, have indeed performed strongly, which is historically in line with altcoins performing well in Q1.  The rally of altcoins has in part been led by the momentum of Ethereum. After ETH surpassed a major resistance level at $600 , it continued to rally above $1,000. ETH is now close to reaching its all-time high above $1,400, rising 60% in the first two weeks of 2021. Pal wrote : “By the way, ETH is up 60% in the first 14 ...

Galaxy enters Bitcoin mining, launches financial services unit for miners

Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital is launching its own Bitcoin mining operations and creating a new business unit dedicated to providing financial services to miners. Galaxy Digital — the financial services and cryptocurrency investment management firm founded by Mike Novogratz — has set its sights on establishing a footing in the Bitcoin ( BTC ) mining sector. After a year of increasingly diversifying its products and activities , the company has announced two new forays into the Bitcoin mining sector for 2021. The first project will be a new business unit that Galaxy describes as "a one-stop financial services platform for miners."  Dubbed Galaxy Digital Mining, the unit is being led by Amanda Fabiano — formerly the director of mining at Fidelity Investments. In a brief snapshot of her background in financial services, Galaxy notes Fabiano's experience in working with non-traditional securitization, real-asset financing, structured products, investment banking,...

Bitcoin bubble will pop sooner or later, says famous Russian BTC critic

Anatoly Aksakov of the Russian State Duma suggested that global jurisdictions should ban Bitcoin as a payment method. Anatoly Aksakov, a member of the Russian State Duma, has reiterated his negative stance on Bitcoin ( BTC ) shortly after the cryptocurrency briefly retouched $40,000 on Jan. 14. In an  interview with local news agency TASS, Aksakov argued that Bitcoin is not backed by anything and thus the Bitcoin bubble is poised to burst sooner or later: “Bitcoin is not backed by anything as a cryptocurrency. This is a private currency, and its value is based on trust of the related data system. In this context Bitcoin provides a basis for a bubble on the crypto market, and I think this bubble should burst sooner or later.” Aksakov also urged for strict regulations on Bitcoin, hinting that global jurisdictions should probably ban it as a payment method. Russia has already banned crypto-powered payments effective from Jan. 1, 2021.  Aksakov stated, “It is necessary to...