Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January 21, 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...
Post a Comment
Read more

DMEX Integrates xDAI for Cheap Decentralized Perpetual Contracts With up to 100x Leverage and No KYC

PRESS RELEASE. In response to rising gas prices during the last weeks, DMEX has moved its trade processing to xDAI sidechain that allows for much cheaper transaction recording. Customer funds are still stored on an Ethereum smart contract, the trade recording, however, is now performed on xDAI. This change allows users to place orders as small as 100$ which was impossible until now, with minimum order requirements growing up to 200k$ during gas price spikes on Ethereum. The new structure allows for a flat minimum order value of 100$ independent of Ethereum gas prices. How does it work? The custody smart-contract remains on the Ethereum blockchain, therefore the same margin currencies are used for trading ( ETH , BTC or DAI), while the smart contract responsible for trade processing and recording is hosted on the xDAI sidechain. Whenever a user deposits funds to DMEX, the custody contract (on Ethereum) communicates with the trading contract (on xDAI) through a decentralized bridg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai Financial Watchdog Asks Local Crypto Exchange to Fix Issues After Three Massive Outages

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) issued an order against a local cryptocurrency exchange to temporarily stop its operations. Bitkub has been in the headlines since the start of the year due to several outages suffered in their systems. Crypto Exchange Suffered Three Massive Outages Since the Beginning of 2021 According to Bangkok Post , the financial watchdog gave the exchange five days, starting January 20, to solve all the technical issues. Mainly, their desktop trading platform suffered three outages since January 2. The other incidents happened on January 3 and 16, said the local media outlet. One of the reasons behind the rising number of outages is the spike in crypto prices, specifically in bitcoin ( BTC ). In consequence, Bitkub couldn’t handle trading volumes, stated a source quoted by Bangkok Post. However, after being inactive for 16 hours since the SEC’s order to temporarily shut down, Bitkub re-opened its mobile application platform for tradin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Brazil’s top exchange announces international expansion after raising $38M

Leading Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin has announced a regional expansion, naming Chile, Mexico, and Argentina as likely destinations. Brazil’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, has announced plans to expand across Latin America. Chief executive Reinaldo Rabelo named Chile, Mexico, and Argentina as among the jurisdictions it will expand into first, comparing the “regulatory culture” in those countries to Brazil’s. According to Useful Tulips , Mexico is currently the fourth-largest Latin American country by peer-to-peer Bitcoin trade volume, with Chile ranking fifth, and Argentina ranking seventh. The strong P2P trade volume suggest there may be significant demand from local traders that is not met by centralized platforms. The announcement comes alongside news of an investment round that saw Mercado Bitcoin raise nearly $38 million from venture capital firms including Parallax Ventures, Evora Fund, and Banco Plural. Mercado Bitcoin will use some of the funds to inv...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clever Aave to Matic bridge keeps track of yields

A new type of cross-chain bridge has been invented which integrates the interest-yielding properties of DeFi with second layer solutions for Ethereum. The first Aave-friendly Ethereum to Matic bridge has opened for business, allowing users to port Aave’s interest-bearing aTokens back and forth between the DeFi protocol and the faster, cheaper layer-two network. The smart contract for the bridge was developed by Nick Mudge, Lead Solidity Developer of Aavegotchi. It differs from previous Ethereum to layer-two bridges as it interacts with the Aave protocol to keep track of interest being paid on aTokens locked up on the Ethereum side of the bridge. According to Mudge, the bridge’s smart contract converts user’s Aave aTokens — such as aUSDC, for example — to maTokens, which are then made available to the user on the Matic Network. When maTokens are converted back to aTokens, the user receives the original amount of tokens sent through the bridge plus interest accrued during the time ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clever Aave to Matic bridge keeps track of yields

A new type of cross-chain bridge has been invented which integrates the interest-yielding properties of DeFi with second layer solutions for Ethereum. The first Aave-friendly Ethereum to Matic bridge has opened for business, allowing users to port Aave’s interest-bearing aTokens back and forth between the DeFi protocol and the faster, cheaper layer-two network. The bridge was developed and launched by Nick Mudge, Lead Solidity Developer of Aavegotchi. It differs from previous Ethereum to layer-two bridges as it interacts with the Aave protocol to keep track of interest being paid on aTokens locked up on the Ethereum side of the bridge. According to Mudge, the bridge’s smart contract converts user’s Aave aTokens — such as aUSDC, for example — to maTokens, which are then made available to the user on the Matic Network. When maTokens are converted back to aTokens, the user receives the original amount of tokens sent through the bridge plus interest accrued during the time they were ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is Grayscale is about to unveil a LINK Trust?

Mystery filings using Grayscale’s name suggest the multi-billion dollar firm may be looking to expand the number of Trusts. Grayscale Investments could be set to launch a raft of new products including a Chainlink Trust, if freshly unearthed filings are to be believed.  According to the State of Delaware’s Division of Corporations , someone set up a Grayscale Chainlink Trust on December 18, 2020. On the same day, a Basic Attention Token (BAT) Trust, Decentraland (MANA) Trust, Livepeer (LPT) Trust, and a Tezos (XTZ) Trust were also initiated. Before these communities get too excited, Grayscale Investments is yet to officially confirm it is behind the filings. Some reports have cast doubt on their legitimacy as the registered agent for the Trusts is listed as 'Delaware Trust Company' and not Grayscale. However the Delaware Trust Company is listed on the Grayscale website as one of its official Service Providers and the same details were used for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rick and Morty Creator Sells NFT Art Collection for Over $1 Million in Ether

Justin Roiland, the co-creator of the Adult Swim cartoon series Rick and Morty has joined the growing trend of celebrity artists creating non-fungible token (NFT) artwork. After the animator released the collection called “The Best I Could Do” on the NFT auction house Nifty Gateway, the artwork sold for over $1 million in ether. Justin Roiland is well known for co-creating the animated television show Rick and Morty alongside his producing and voice-acting abilities. Just recently, Roiland, who also maintains an animation studio and video game studio decided to sell a collection of artwork backed by blockchain technology. On January 18, on the non-fungible token (NFT) auction house Nifty Gateway, Roiland raised over a million dollars in ethereum (ETH) for his artwork. The collection is called “The Best I Could Do” and Roiland tweeted about his NFT collection as well. “The best I could do,” the Rick and Morty animator told his 760,000 Twitter followers. “Testing the boundaries ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Upbit launches in Thailand just days after regulators suspended Bitkub

As Thailand’s leading crypto exchange remains suspended, billionaire backed rival Upbit enters the scene. Crypto exchange Upbit is entering the Thai market at a fortuitous time when the kingdom’s most popular exchange, Bitkub, remains suspended by government regulators. According to reports in local media, a joint-venture crypto exchange between Upbit APAC and a group of Thai billionaires launched operations on Wednesday, Jan. 20. It follows the regulatory suspension of the country’s most popular trading platform Bitkub on Monday, which had a reported 97% share of the market before its closure. Upbit Thailand is owned by CP Group heir and owner of Fortune magazine Chatchaval Jiaravanon, and two other high profile business magnates, Somphote Ahunai and Preecha Praipattaraku. CP Group is Thailand’s largest conglomerate, controlling the majority of the country’s food supply. It has fingers in a multitude of other pies, from government infrastructure projects to telecoms to Covid-19 v...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crypto market cap falls by $113B as Bitcoin price tumbles to $28,750

After a day of intensifying sell pressure, Bitcoin price dropped below $29,000 for the first time since January 5. On Jan. 21 the cryptocurrency market experienced an increased wave of selling pressure and within the last hour Bitcoin ( BTC ) price dropped below the $30,000 mark for the first time since Jan. 4.  BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Now that Bitcoin has lost the $32,000 and $30,000 support, a growing number of analysts are suggesting that the price could retest the $24,000 support . One theory behind the dip suggests that institutional investors viewed Bitcoin as a crowded trade and decided to take profits. As reported by Cointelegraph, Scott Minerd, the Guggenheim’s chief investment officer, recently suggested that the price of Bitcoin has “likely put in a top” for 2021 and could see a “retracement back toward the 20,000 level.” JPMorgan strategists John Normand and Federico Manicardi also warned that investors using BTC “as a portfolio diversifier...
Post a Comment
Read more

Komainu to store crypto confiscated by UK law enforcement

The Assistant Commissioner of the City of London Police said the partnership with Komainu would help in “denying criminality the proceeds of crime." Digital asset custodian Komainu is working with authorities in the United Kingdom to store crypto confiscated as part of criminal investigations. Komainu is a custody venture from Japan-based global investment bank Nomura, digital asset manager CoinShares, and hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger. The firm announced it has made an agreement  to “securely store digital assets seized during the investigatory process” for police forces in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland following a commercial tender with the Derbyshire Constabulary in the East Midlands region. The announcement stated that it has the support of Coinshares as well as Gentium, a consultancy service for law enforcement in the U.K. specializing in financial crime and cyber crime. "Specialist Cyber Crime Units at local, regional and national level are ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crypto ETP capitalization up 90% this month as institutional volume triples

Institutional investors have rallied around crypto this past month, with the AUM of crypto ETPs surging more than 90% as volumes tripled. Capital has flooded into crypto investment products in recent weeks, with the value of assets invested into crypto exchange-traded products, or ETPs, increasing by more than 90% in the last 30 days. The spike in the assets under management, or AUM, locked in crypto ETPs was noted in the latest report by Crypto Compare, which estimates that almost $36 billion is now invested in crypto ETPs — a 93.7% increase in one month. Grayscale’s various trusts represent more than 83% of the sector’s total AUM, with the firm’s Bitcoin Trust housing $22.6 billion or 63% of all capital invested in crypto ETPs. Crypto Compare estimates that ETP volumes tripled during January,with aggregate daily volume pushing above $1.5 billion. Grayscale’s products were found to represent 64% of the sector’s volume, driving $972 million in daily trade. Aggregate monthyl cr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Treasury Secretary nominee says crypto has potential to improve the financial system

Janet Yellen added that she planned to encourage the use of digital assets for “legitimate activities.” U.S. President Joe Biden's pick for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen may see more benefits to cryptocurrency than her previous testimony indicated.  After a virtual hearing of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held on Tuesday, Yellen hit the headlines for her answer to Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan’s question about how she would respond to “emerging financial technology” being used to fund criminal organizations and terrorists. Yellen referred to cryptocurrencies as a “growing concern” in the U.S., said they were used “mainly for illicit financing” for the aforementioned groups, and that the U.S. government needed to examine ways to “curtail” the use of crypto as part of their anti-money laundering efforts. However, her written statement published on the Senate Finance Committee website today suggests that Yellen’s views on crypto may not be as bearish as those remarks su...
Post a Comment
Read more

Biden Administration Reported to Be Lining up a Former Ripple Advisor as the Next Bank Regulator

Micheal Barr, the former member of Ripple’s board of advisors, is set to become the United States’ next banking regulator, according to a report. A former assistant treasury secretary, Barr will become the second individual with crypto connections to lead the Office of Currency Comptroller (OCC.) The recently departed Currency Comptroller Brian Brooks is a former Coinbase executive. Biden Taps Comptroller With Crypto Ties According to a Wall Street Journal report , which cites anonymous sources, Barr’s likely appointment will be at the expense of Mehrsa Baradaran, a law professor. Still, the report reveals that Barr, who is currently the Dean of public policy at the University of Michigan, was unavailable to confirm the reports at the time of publishing. Meanwhile, the same report explains that during his previous stint with the U.S. Treasury Department, Barr had reportedly helped to craft “the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, a sweeping overhaul of financial regulation that followed the 2008-...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dubai Financial Watchdog to Release Consultation Papers for a Crypto Regulatory Framework

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has unveiled its plans to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The announcement was part of its 2021-2022 business agenda released this week. The Papers Will Be Released in the First Half of 2021 According to the watchdog , which regulates the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the upcoming crypto framework aims to expand on the existing rules. It includes the regulation of crypto issuers and trading platforms. The document, signed by DFSA Chairman Saeb Eigner, reads: We will build upon recent achievements in this space over the business planning period through developing a regulatory regime for digital assets (such as tokenized securities and crypto-currencies), having already implemented regulations supporting various innovative business models. The financial watchdog explains that such crypto regulation’s expansion is part of the UAE’s National Innovation Strategy’s digital transformation. Also, the regu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guggenheim CIO expects Bitcoin to drop to $20,000

Guggenheim Partners’ Scott Minerd now expects Bitcoin to drop to $20,000 after predicting a $400,000 long-term price target a month ago. A senior executive at financial services firm Guggenheim Partners — which is planning to seek investment exposure to Bitcoin ( BTC ) — has argued that BTC is poised to drop to $20,000. Scott Minerd, Guggenheim’s chief investment officer, believes that Bitcoin will not hit another all-time high in 2021, according to a Jan. 21 episode of CNBC's Closing Bell. After hitting $42,000 price level on Jan. 8 , Bitcoin is unlikely to climb any higher until 2022, Minerd said : “I think for the time being, we probably put in the top for bitcoin for the next year or so. And we're likely to see a full retracement back toward the 20,000 level.” Despite Minerd’s bearish short-term Bitcoin prediction, the CIO apparently still maintains a stance that one bitcoin will be worth as much as $400,000 one day. In late 2020, when Bitcoin was on its way to cros...
Post a Comment
Read more

More institutions will warm up to crypto once market cap hits $2T: eToro

“Only by widening the playing field and facilitating more participation will crypto reach and maintain a market cap of $2 trillion and beyond.” A new report from advisory firm Aite Group, that was commissioned by exchange platform eToro, reveals there are still barriers hindering institutional adoption of crypto. Based on interviews with 25 institutional market participants, the report states the crypto market could reach a $2 trillion market capitalization if more institutional players were to get on board amid more favorable conditions. These firms would be more likely to adopt crypto if there was less regulatory uncertainty, a developed market infrastructure, and less risk surrounding security. “2020 was the year when many institutional investors such as banks and traditional asset managers began to either invest in crypto or seriously consider doing so, with several touting the asset class — particularly Bitcoin — as an inflation hedge,” said eToro head of business development ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why did Bitcoin fall below $33K? Coinbase whales might have the answer

A look at Coinbase Pro's BTC price premium suggests that selling is underway on Thursday, as Bitcoin falls 7% in 24 hours. Bitcoin ( BTC ) slid under $33,000 for the first time in over a week on Jan. 21 as selling pressure gathered to drive price action lower. Coinbase Premium abruptly drops Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView  showed BTC/USD continuing its downtrend on Thursday, dropping 7.% on the day and failing to bounce off $33,000 support. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView The latest move, which brings Bitcoin down over 13% versus its highs from Tuesday, came amid increased selling at Coinbase Pro, the professional trading arm of United States cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. As Cointelegraph reported , major spikes in volume at Coinbase Pro had accompanied price volatility in recent weeks. This time, it was a dip in the so-called "Coinbase Premium" which signalled selling was underway — the difference in price betwee...
Post a Comment
Read more

Russian court order removes Binance website from regulator’s blacklist

The Binance website has been formally blacklisted in Russia since at least September 2020, but the restriction has not impacted Binance Russia trading. The website of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is no longer formally blacklisted in Russia, according to a new court ruling. According to a Jan. 21 report by Russian news agency Kommersant, the Arkhangelsk Regional Court has annulled a previous decision to blacklist the Binance website in Russia. Gleb Kostarev, Binance’s head of operations for Russia and the CIS, confirmed the news to Cointelegraph, stating that the court hearing took place on Jan. 20. The latest court decision reverts a previous ruling made in 2020. In September, Binance announced that its website came on the list of prohibited websites by Russian telecom regulator Roskomnadzor. The regulator blacklisted the website based on a court decision charging the site for disseminating prohibited information. Despite the block, the website was still ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers Says Bitcoin ‘Is Here to Stay’

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and economist Larry Summers says bitcoin is here to stay despite the concerns by some that it may be a bubble. The former secretary asserts that bitcoin’s price fluctuations are in fact a sign of its resilience. In his latest comments about bitcoin, Summers, who in 2016 became a senior adviser to Digital Currency Group, reiterates his position about the crypto and its underlying technology. Before the new remarks, Summers previously predicted that the “financial industry will adopt the technology underpinning bitcoin.” Still, in his latest comments, Summers touches on the crypto’s fixed supply and how this is a factor behind its current rise. The former Secretary says: I think people are going to move towards it, and as people move towards it, given the finiteness of its supply, that’s going to be a factor working to raise prices. Although Summers refuses to predict the crypto’s future price, he does hint that this will likely go up, and “institu...
Post a Comment
Read more