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Showing posts from January 29, 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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Ukraine to Set up a Large-Scale Crypto Mining Data Center in a Nuclear Power Plant

Ukraine’s government-owned nuclear power plant picked a firm to build a massive data center in Rivne for cryptocurrency mining operations. After a bidding process, Energoatom chose Kyiv Energy Construction Company to handle the nuclear plant crypto mining project. Nuclear Power Plant Operator Expects to Launch the Data Center in 2022 According to official documents , the data center will be based in the Rivne nuclear power plant, after the construction firm got 8.92 million Hryvnia ($317,620) in funding. The only competitor in the bidding was Ukrenergobudproek. However, they allegedly made an expensive offer, said the regional news outlet Forklog . The Kyiv Energy Construction Company expects to finish the data center building by August 31, 2022. Per the announcement, the contractor is required to send the documentation that details the whole process. It includes “host state registers, electronic archives, and computing facilities.” In terms of technical details, the nuclear power...
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Coinbase Opts out of IPO Routine, Chooses Popular Direct Listing Route

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently announced the company plans to do a direct listing, as opposed to following the initial public offering (IPO) route. The decision means that Coinbase can float its shares on an exchange without hiring a financial institution to underwrite the settlements. Coinbase to Skip IPO Process, Shoots for a Direct Listing Just recently people familiar with the matter received a tip that the exchange giant Coinbase had plans to sell shares privately ahead of the IPO. In mid-December, Coinbase revealed the confidential filing of an S-1 initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, on January 28, 2021, Coinbase announced a proposed direct listing as opposed to the IPO that was initially planned. For instance, a few weeks prior rumors spread that Goldman Sachs would be the exchange’s underwriter. On Thursday Coinbase wrote: Coinbase Global, Inc. today announced its intent to become a publ...
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Analyst says Bitcoin price sell-off may occur as Chinese New Year approaches

Bitcoin is struggling to retake the $35,000 level as one analyst predicts miners will continue selling BTC ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday. On Jan. 29 Bitcoin ( BTC ) price briefly rallied to $38,500 before retracing the move and spending the majority of the day struggling to reclaim $35,000.  The wild breakout in Bitcoin price has partially been attributed to Elon Musk changing his Twitter profile to simply “#Bitcoin,” which Musk subsequently followed up with a cryptic tweet saying “In retrospect, it was inevitable.” Dogecoin (DOGE) also continued to make waves across Twitter and with crypto traders. After reaching a new all-time high at $0.078 on Jan. 28, DOGE price corrected by 41% before rebounding to trade at $0.045. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 Developments related to DOGE and r/Wallstreetbets led FTX crypto exchange to create a Wall Street Bets (WSB) index which tracks the price of Nokia (NOK), BlackBerry (BB), AMC Theaters (AMC...
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Bitcoin Miners Strain Under Semiconductor Supply Crunch, Second-Hand Mining Rig Prices Soar

Bitcoin mining rig manufacturers are dealing with a semiconductor supply crunch according to regional reports stemming from China. There’s been a global semiconductor supply shortage and it’s affecting nearly every type of business in the supply chain that manufactures cars, PCs, laptops, smartphones, and cryptocurrency mining devices. Moreover, the recent shortage has invoked the demand for second-hand and older generation mining rigs. Semiconductor Shortage Complicates Mining Rig Manufacturing Currently, the world is dealing with a semiconductor supply crunch which has been spurred by the aftermath of Covid-19 and the lockdowns. Automobile makers, PC manufacturers, smartphone production, and almost every electronics manufacturer under the sun is dealing with this issue. For instance, reports detail that auto giants like Toyota Motors, Nissan, Ford, Volkswagen, and more have been chomping at the bit to obtain microchips from suppliers like TSMC. On January 27, 2021, the financial...
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WallStreetBets Coin becomes #1 on CoinMarketCap... kind of

The new coin suddenly appeared at the top of CoinMarketCap's rankings, but is WallStreetBets really coming to crypto? The influence of Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets sub has apparently spread to the cryptocurrency space, after a new coin appeared at the top of CoinMarketCap’s rankings on Jan. 29. Dubbed WallStreetBets (WSB), the new coin apparently gained in excess of 130% in the past 24 hours, with a daily trade volume of $100 million. WallStreetBets (WSB) on CMC. Source: CoinMarketCap However, the new coin appears to be the latest in a series of jokes played by the CoinMarketCap team. The coin’s page on CMC features the following message: “All UR MeMes R belong to us and Charmander-marth!!11. We seek alpha and master beta. Please note that this is a joke and no such asset exists. If you see similarly-named projects, please perform the requisite due diligence and do not ape in.” The reference to Charmander-marth links to a YouTube video featuring Social Capital CEO Chamath Pa...
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Dutch Bitcoin Exchange Files Preliminary Injunction to Suspend Wallet Verification Rule Enacted by the Netherlands

A Dutch bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange has filed a preliminary injunction at a court in Rotterdam to suspend the central bank’s additional wallet-verification requirements. Bitonic seeks to challenge the new rules enacted by the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on Sept. 21, 2020. Dutch Exchange Argues Additional KYC Rules Lack ‘a Proper Legal Basis’ Per the bitcoin exchange’s announcement , the additional know your customer (KYC) requirements imposed by the central bank violate users’ privacy. However, the crypto firm clarifies that the legal obligations “are not under discussion” within this case. A section of the first set of rules published by the Dutch central bank in 2019 reads: Crypto service providers must check whether their clients and any ultimate beneficiary owners (UBOs) are on a Dutch or European sanctions list and report any hits to DNB. Risk-based checks are not permitted … Compliance also entails that institutions must check incoming and outgoing payment transfers. But wh...
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Google reportedly scraps thousands of negative Robinhood reviews

Google removed over 120,000 of negative Robinhood reviews citing violations related to rating manipulation, the firm reportedly said. Google has reportedly deleted thousands of negative reviews of Robinhood on the Google Play Store after the platform suspended trading of several skyrocketing stocks like GameStop, multiple sources claim. Financial analyst Mr. Whale reported on Jan. 28 that Google removed as many as 120,000 negative reviews of Robinhood, pushing the app’s rating from one star to about four stars. Google just removed over 120,000 negative reviews of RobinHood on the App Store. Screenshot is noon, and now pic.twitter.com/BjaXIEWhiD — Mr. Whale (@CryptoWhale) January 29, 2021 Google reportedly  confirmed the massive removals to tech news publication The Verge, claiming that the decision was made due to violations of Google Play Store policies.  The company reportedly said that Google’s policies explicitly prohibit reviews aiming to manipulate an ...
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Elon Musk adds Bitcoin to Twitter bio with 43.7M followers

Some of Musk's 43 million followers might have noticed, after Bitcoin rallied nearly 14% in the 30 minutes following his bio update. When the richest man in the world Elon Musk updated his Twitter bio on Jan. 29 — simply adding the word ‘Bitcoin’ — it was followed by a near-immediate 13% increase to the Bitcoin ( BTC ) spot price. Musk’s bio appeared to be updated on Friday morning, and was followed by a cryptic tweet that referred to the inevitability of... something. In retrospect, it was inevitable — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 29, 2021 Tweeted at 8:22 a.m. UTC, Musk’s 43 million followers apparently took notice. Some assumed the tweet was a reference to the Dogecoin (DOGE) price surge which was ignited by r/wallstreetbet traders as a follow-up to the recent Gamestop (GME) stock short-squeeze . Others assumed the tweet was related to Bitcoin. Either way, at 8:24 a.m., Bitcoin suddenly took off. Over the course of the next 30 minutes, the value of Bitcoin increased by ...
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Bitcoin soars by $5K in minutes — BTC hits $38K after Elon Musk's 'Dogecoin treatment'

BTC/USD was already tipped to gain from the knock-on effect of both Musk and crazy stock trading this week, but so far has only reached $38,000. Bitcoin ( BTC ) surged by over $5,000 in minutes on Jan. 29 after the world's richest man added its symbol to his Twitter page. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart. Source: Tradingview BTC price hits $38K highs Data from Cointelegraph Markets and Tradingview  showed BTC/USD spiking to $38,000 as users began to notice that Elon Musk was now publicly advertising Bitcoin. The move comes amid major anticipation from investors that BTC will be the next asset to receive a boost, either from a figure like Musk or from lay consumers affiliated with the now notorious Reddit group r/Wallstreetbets. As Cointelegraph reported , Musk had previously singlehandedly pumped the price of several cryptoassets notably meme-based Dogecoin ( DOGE ), with just one or a handful of tweets. DOGE, along with stocks GameSpot and AMC, meanwhile all surged thanks to...
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International Operation Disrupts Ransomware Group Netwalker by Tracing Cryptos With the Help of Blockchain Analysis

In collaboration with Bulgarian authorities, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) disrupted a well-known ransomware gang’s infrastructure. Law enforcement seized their servers and traced the illicit funds with the help of blockchain forensic analytics via Chainalysis. US Authorities Seized Over $454,000 Worth of Cryptocurrencies Per the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement , the coordinated action took down Netwalker, a highly active ransomware group over the last year, specifically targeting the health care sector. The U.S. authorities also indicted a Canadian national, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, who allegedly obtained $27.6 million as a “Netwalker affiliate.” The authorities seized a server that hosted their site on the dark web, where the gang redirected their victims to arrange the ransom negotiations. Moreover, the U.S. DOJ said that $454,530.19 in cryptocurrency from ransom payments were seized. With the support of blockchain analysis, law enforcement took advantage ...
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Stablecoin holdings on crypto exchanges hit a new all-time high

Stablecoins like Tether are flooding crypto exchanges again, potentially pointing at another upward move on crypto markets. Amid  renewed bullish action on cryptocurrency markets, stablecoins like Tether ( USDT ) are flooding exchanges to hit a new historical high in terms of allocation. According to market data provider CryptoQuant , stablecoin holdings on global crypto exchanges broke a new all-time high on Jan. 28, surpassing $4.7 billion. This amount makes up a significant part of the total stablecoin market capitalization, which is estimated at around $35.2 billion at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko. The total trading volume of all stablecoins is now evaluated at around $111 billion, with Tether ( USDT ) alone making up $103 billion of these volumes. Source: CryptoQuant Alongside stablecoins' holdings on crypto exchanges hitting a new all-time high, the amount of inflow stablecoin transactions also appears to be growing at the time of writing. O...
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Dogecoin ranks among top 10 crypto assets for first time since 2015

Dogecoin is ranked among the top 10 cryptocurrencies for the first time since 2015 after a meteoric pump believed to have been orchestrated by a Reddit group. For the first time since 2015, Dogecoin is once again gracing the list of top ten crypto assets by market cap. In less than two days, DOGE has surged 900% from $0.0078 to post a new all-time high of $0.078 — breaking its previous high of $0.0185 by more than four times. As a result, the veteran meme-coin currently ranks as the seventh-largest crypto asset with a market cap of more than 9 billion, sitting above Chainlink and below Cardano. DOGE last traded for $0.073 at the time of writing. The sudden DOGE parabola has been attributed to an organized pump carried out by members of the Reddit group r/WallStreetBets — who were found to have engineered the recent short-squeeze that triggered international lockdowns on the trade of video game retailer Gamestop’s shares. DOGE/USD chart since 2013: CoinGecko Amid the frenzie...
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Crypto in the Philippines: Necessity is the mother of adoption

"People are just like, 'Whoa, mind blown — this is going to save me half a day because I don't have to go all the way to the bank during business hours and take three journeys on public transport and then wait in line for an hour ... I could do this on my phone.’” Binances Changpeng Zhao describes the Philippines as “one of the most active crypto communities in Asia” and it’s the perfect way to sum up the countrys blend of high adoption amid relatively low affluence. With GDP spending power of less than $10,000 per head each year, this nation of 7,100 islands is far from a major contributor to worldwide exchange volumes. But in terms of day to day use and enthusiasm, a significant proportion of Filipinos appear to be leapfrogging directly from a cash-based economy to the future of fintech. The country boasts 17 licensed digital currency exchanges, and tens of thousands of pawn shops and convenience stores happily accept cash deposits and withdrawals for various crypto...
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