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Showing posts from February 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...
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Argentinean Prosecutor Investigates an Alleged Bitcoin Scam Ganancias Deportivas

In Mendoza, Argentina, law enforcement launched an investigation against a sports-related investment site for presumably being a bitcoin scam. Among the inquiries, authorities are investigating if they’re involved in money laundering and tax evasion. Platform Claims to Invest Customer’s Funds in Placing Soccer Bets According to Clarin , Javier Giaroli, the prosecutor from the Public Ministry of San Rafael, leads the inquiries against Ganancias Deportivas. Local authorities have been interviewing several alleged victims to determine whether it’s a Ponzi scam or not. Per the findings, Ganancias Deportivas attracted over 41,000 residents from the province of Mendoza, 30,000 of them living in the city of San Rafael. Allegedly based in Costa Rica, the platform offers investment packages that promise high yield returns of 20% monthly and 240% yearly. However, they ask for a one-time payment of 100 euros to join the site, and if each member can refer others to the platform, they can rec...
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Bluezelle is Resisting Censorship with a New Developer Grant: Interview with Neeraj Muraka

Online censorship has taken front and center since the sweeping ban of former U.S. President Donald Trump from every social outlet he’s been a part of. Other high-profile censorship acts, like Amazon removing alt-right social network Parler from its servers and My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell being banned from Twitter have presented a new paradigm of online censorship. Decentralized database service Bluzelle has decided to fight back so to speak. It has announced a $500,000 grant for censorship-resistant applications in what seems like a direct response to recent acts of online censorship by Big Tech. Bluzelle CTO, Neeraj Murarka, has shared with news.Bitcoin.com his perspective on the ongoing debate surrounding online censorship and Bluzelle’s strong push against it. Bitcoin.com (BC): With major tech brands currently in hot water with the federal government around issues of censorship, what is the motivation behind Bluzelle getting involved in this issue right now? Neeraj Muraka: ...
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The Graph explores integrations for Bitcoin, Polkadot, and other Layer-1 blockchains

Blockchain data indexing protocol The Graph is considering Bitcoin, Polkadot, and Binance Smart Chain among others after launching on Ethereum. Following a successful mainnet launch on Ethereum in December, The Graph is exploring integrating eight additional Layer-1 blockchains including Bitcoin. On Feb. 16, The Graph Foundation revealed it is also considering integrating Bitcoin, Polkadot, Near Protocol, Cosmos, Solana, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, and Celo. The protocol already runs on Ethereum having launched on Dec. 17, 2020 , and supports the InterPlanetary File System — a peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data. The Graph has also recently integrated with several DeFi protocols including Uniswap, AAVE, Decentraland, Gnosis, Balancer, and Synthetix. The Graph, announced in July 2018, allows programmers to build Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) — which it calls subgraphs, to extract blockchain data for decentralized applications built on Web 3.0 . The pr...
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Two Feet and FEWOCiOUS’s NFT auction becomes the third to top $1m in sales

Four collaborative NFTs launched by musician Two Feet and visual artist FEWOCiOUS have generated more than $1m in Nifty Gateway’s largest auction of 2021 so far. The auctions were organized by Illumino, an NFT-focused firm seeking to bring “tastemakers and artists” together to launch innovative art on-chain. Illumino was put together by the LA-based management agency Keel, crypto VC firm Framework Ventures, and Bruch Projects — the NFT arm of Manna Ventures. The NFTs went live on Valentine’s Day , beginning with one-of-a-kind 3D renditions that were sold to the highest bidder. The one-of-a-kind renditions included “ Crowded City ” and “ A Peak In My Head ” — works composed collaboratively by FEWOCiOUS and Two Feet that sold for $150,000 and $158,888 respectively. Two other collaborative works were made available for open auction at a set price of $999 each, allowing unlimited purchases of the NFTs to be made during the auction. In total, 383 editions of “CryptoCaster” and 324 edit...
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Bitcoin miners are hodling while long-term investors take profits

On-chain data shows that while miners are selling less BTC, old investors are realizing profits. On-chain analytics provider, Glassnode, has published data revealing that Bitcoin miners are accumulating while long-term investors are taking profits. Despite January seeing heavy selling from miners, Glassnode’s report shows that miner outflows have dried up during February so far. Chart - Glassnode.com The report asserts that miners and longer-term investors are the two principal sellers of Bitcoin during bull markets. According to Glassnode, declining miner outflows can be inferred as bullish, with miners either having already covered their costs of operation or stockpiling coins in response to Tesla’s $1.5 billion Bitcoin investment : “This suggests that miners have either completed adequate sales to cover costs, or could also mean they see Tesla's vote of confidence as fair reason to keep a strong grip on their treasuries.” With miners now hanging onto their BTC, Glassn...
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Nigeria Crypto Ban: Stakeholder Body, Politicians Assail Central Bank’s Directive to Financial Institutions

A body representing cryptocurrency and blockchain stakeholders in Nigeria has joined other crypto industry players in assailing the recent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive to banks. The CBN order, which seeks snuff out crypto entities from the banking system, took effect on February 5, 2020. Not Just a Mere Reiteration In a statement , the body, known as the Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria (BICCON), also dismisses the CBN’s assertion that the new directive is just a “mere reiteration” of what it said in January 2017. The latest directive effectively banned financial institutions from providing services to persons and/or entities transacting in cryptocurrency. Further, the BICCON castigates the CBN for failing to give “any adequate notice or court order of any court of competent jurisdiction.” Also highlighting the hastiness as well as the chaotic implementation of the order, the BICCON reveals how some crypto companies have been affected by this decisio...
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Verge of disaster: 200 days transactions wiped from blockchain

Verge has been hit by a huge blockchain reorganization, resulting in more than six months worth of transactions and balances vanishing. However, devs claim it can be fixed. Privacy-focused blockchain network Verge ( XVG ) has experienced a significant block reorganization , replacing transactions dating as far back as July 2020. Despite being described as potentially “the deepest reorg that has ever taken place in a top 100 cryptocurrency,” analysts are yet to confirm that the incident comprised a coordinated attack. Coinmetrics COO Antoine Le Calvez was one of the first to notice the reorg, sharing a screenshot on Twitter showing that at least 560,000 blocks had disappeared on February 15. Looks like $XVG (Verge) experienced a massive 560k+ blocks reorg. @coinmetrics ' node is on a new chain whose last common ancestor with the previous chain dates to July 2020. — Antoine Le Calvez (@khannib) February 15, 2021 Le Calvez suggested the reorg could have been caused by a do...
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Bitcoin Payments for Private Flights Soar, 20% of Privatefly’s Revenue Stems from Crypto

Cryptocurrency users are leveraging their new-found wealth to fly more often with private jets. This week the directional aviation company Privatefly revealed that close to 20% of the firm’s sales were paid in cryptocurrencies last month, and 13% out of that aggregate used bitcoin. On-Demand Private Flights and Crypto According to data from the company Privatefly , purchasing flights with digital assets has soared in recent times. For instance, the directional aviation company said a few years ago, the company pulled in 1-2% from crypto payments for flights. The numbers jumped significantly in December 2020 to 12%, and subsequently spiked to 13% during the first month of 2021. Out of the 13% in BTC payments, cryptocurrency settlement, in general, makes up 19% of Privatefly’s revenue. Adam Twidell, Privatefly’s CEO. The flight company says that Privatefly started accepting bitcoin early in 2014 and since then, it has expanded its cryptocurrency support. The company uses Bitpay f...
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Bitcoin Snaps Back After Slight Dip, Current BTC Chart ‘Is Near Identical to August 2017’

Digital currency prices are on the move again, after tumbling a hair downwards during Sunday evening’s trading sessions. On Sunday the price of bitcoin dropped -7.64% after touching a lifetime price high at $49,715 and then slid to $45,915. As trading sessions entered into Monday, BTC has regained some of the losses as it jumped northbound 4.62%. Crypto Markets Shrug Off the Recent Dip Bitcoin ( BTC ) and a slew of digital assets saw some significant losses yesterday, after a few crypto assets touched new all-time highs (ATH). BTC has been awfully close to the psychological $50k region, but hasn’t managed to cross the price zone yet. On Sunday, the price came really close at $49,715 per unit but tumbled downward after reaching that point. BTC /USD chart on Bitstamp on February 15, 2021. After sliding below the $46k zone, BTC is back up to the $47,800 to $48,150 region once again, but prices are still down 1.8%. The second-largest crypto asset, in terms of market valuation, is...
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Fighting money laundering in crypto, explained

Criminals often presume that blockchain transactions are anonymous, but it is possible to untangle and uncover fund flows using analytics tools. How does anti-money laundering compliance software work for crypto businesses? Given how many transactions are made on blockchains every day at high speed, automation is key. Manual monitoring is impractical because of these dizzying volumes. Analytics services such as Crystal work to automate this monitoring process with 24/7 updates, so crypto businesses (as well as banks and financial institutions whose clients deal in crypto) can be alerted immediately when something is believed to be wrong. Recent guidelines released by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) show there are a combination of red flag indicators to be watched for when it comes to money laundering. The set of indicators to combat such illicit activity is in constant development, with information about the entity in question being one of the highest priorities, along wit...
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India crypto ban is like banning internet, says former Coinbase CTO

Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan has warned that India's impending ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies would be like banning the "financial internet." Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan thinks India’s impending cryptocurrency ban would be akin to banning the internet and could cost the country trillions in potential profits. Speaking in an interview with The CapTable, Srinivasan said a blanket ban on Bitcoin ( BTC ) and other cryptocurrencies would simply redirect trade revenue into nearby Asian markets, amounting to a “trillion-dollar” mistake for India: “It’s really important that the ban (India’s plan to ban owning, trading, mining or investing in cryptocurrency) should not go through. It would be a trillion-dollar mistake for India, without exaggeration.” On Feb.11 an anonymous senior Finance Ministry official told Bloomberg that the upcoming ban was very likely to occur, revealing that crypto holders will have  3–6 months to convert their funds ...
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$1.89 billion liquidated: Why did Bitcoin and ETH price correct sharply overnight?

More than $1.89 billion worth of cryptocurrency futures positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, as Bitcoin and Ether sharply dropped. In the last 24 hours, $1.89 billion worth of futures positions were liquidated after Bitcoin ( BTC ) and Ether ( ETH ) sharply fell below $46,000 on Binance. BTC/USDT 15-minute price chart (Binance). Source: TradingView.com Most of the liquidations came from Bitcoin and Ether, which accounted for $555 million and $336 million respectively. But, altcoins, like XRP , EOS , and Litecoin ( LTC ) also saw large liquidations as the market plummeted. Liquidations across crypto exchanges. Source: Twitter  @CryptoRank_io The lion's share of the liquidations happened on Binance while Bitfinex saw the least. This suggests that the former may have the biggest share of novice traders, according to Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino. "Bitfinex has almost 1B in open interest but extremely low liquidation rate compared to competition," explained...
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Bitcoin must cost 10X more with 10X less utility to match Tulip Mania — Investor

There's no comparing the current bull run with the 17th century tulip bubble, Dan Tapeiro argues. Bitcoin ( BTC ) and cryptocurrencies look nothing like the Tulip Mania of the 17th century even after their rapid gains, one macro investor says. In a tweet on Feb. 15, Dan Tapeiro, co-founder of 10T Holdings, argued that in terms of price relative to average income, Bitcoin and Ether ( ETH ) still have a huge way to go before challenging tulips. Bitcoin vs. tulips: There's no comparison Tulip Mania was a brief but intense speculative bubble in what is now the Netherlands that lasted only a matter of months between late 1636 and February 1637. While only impacting a tiny section of the economy, at its height, a single pound of bulbs cost a reported 1,500 guilders — roughly equivalent to four years’ salary for a skilled carpenter. The implosion, which had unknown origins, caused a 90% price drop. Bitcoin naysayers frequently compare bull runs in the cryptocurrency to Tulip ...
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Bitcoin Games Releases ‘The Angry Banker’, Hosts a $12,000 Tournament

Bitcoin Games releases its first exclusive slot game The Angry Banker with a $12,000 tournament! First Exclusive Slot Game Since Launch Our very own premium gaming portal Bitcoin Games has been bringing some of the most popular online casino games to crypto savvy gamers all around the world ever since its inception a few years ago. Now, the popular crypto casino has released it’s biggest exclusive game till date: The Angry Banker . The Angry Banker slot acts as a parody on how Bitcoin is changing the way that people transact with each other, in turn making the bankers angry as they can not control transactions happening on Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. The game features its own Jackpot that grows with each bet any player makes on the game. This pot amasses high amounts of Bitcoin and often gets very big, very fast – currently worth 25 BTC ! The Angry Banker also includes big multipliers and 20 pay-lines, where each pay-line increases the chances of each bet result...
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Privacy coin season? DASH price gains 100% in a week as Monero, Zcash flip bullish

Privacy coins such as Monero, Dash and Zcash are beginning to show signs of life. The strength of the cryptocurrency market is spreading appears to be spreading to privacy-focused coins. The calm price action of Bitcoin ( BTC ) often sets up an intense period for altcoins to rally, where several groups of coins can start becoming bullish.  One of those segments is the privacy coin segment. For example, Monero ( XMR ) rallied by more than 50% last week. Meanwhile, Dash ( DASH ) has more than doubled with a 125% gain while Zcash ( ZEC ) rallied by 70% during the same period. Monero breaks out of USD downtrend XMR/USD 1-week chart. Source: TradingView Prior to the rally, XMR  was lagging behind Ether ( ETH ) as the construction is quite similar between the two. After a two-year-long accumulation period, ETH price finally broke to the upside at the beginning of 2021. Such breakouts often see a support/resistance (S/R) flip, after which the price of the underlying asset ...
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SBI looking to set up joint crypto ventures with foreign firms

SBI Holdings is reportedly considering mergers and acquisitions as a means of solidifying a potential deal. Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings is reportedly planning to set up a joint cryptocurrency venture with foreign financial companies. SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said that the Japanese company is in talks with other financial firms to launch a crypto venture, Reuters reports Feb. 15. The executive said that SBI currently has two potential deals. As part of the initiative, SBI is considering large-scale mergers and acquisitions. Kitao stated that such a deal would be necessary for SBI to maintain its position as a leading financial services company: “To become number one in the world, our choice is buying a leading company or creating an alliance with major global companies [...] Our M&A strategy will not be something like taking minority stakes in many companies.” SBI’s plans on the upcoming global crypto venture were apparently pushed by major financial instituti...
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Exchanges warn that Hong Kong's crypto retail trader ban could backfire

Crypto industry concern mounts ahead of the likely introduction of a bill to ban retail traders from cryptocurrency activities in Hong Kong. Crypto industry actors in Hong Kong have been trying to push back against a forthcoming law that would restrict legal cryptocurrency trading to professional investors, locking out 93% of the local population from the market. In comments to the South China Morning Post published on Feb. 15, industry body Global Digital Finance warned that the proposed law would be likely to push retail traders to embrace unregulated platforms. Global Digital Finance represents cryptocurrency exchanges such as BitMEX, Huobi, Coinbase and OKCoin, and has been at the forefront of industry efforts to push back against the forthcoming legislation. Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau first published the proposal in Nov. 2020, as part of a bid to toughen Anti-Money Laundering and counterterrorist financing measures. The move aligns with efforts...
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