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Showing posts from April 20, 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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Uniswap deploys V3 contracts to four Ethereum testnets

The world’s leading DEX has taken a big step toward launching its third iteration by deploying its contracts to all four of Ethereum’s testnets. Leading decentralized exchange Uniswap has taken a step closer to launching its highly anticipated “V3” iteration, announcing the successful deployment of V3’s smart contracts to all Ethereum test networks. In an April 21 announcement , Uniswap Labs confirmed that the protocol’s V3 core and periphery smart contracts have been deployed to all major Ethereum testnets — Ropsten, Rinkeby, Kovan, and Goerli. The testnet addresses were posted to Github , with Uniswap reminding users that the addresses are not final and will be changed as the team makes final updates to the periphery repository. Version three’s core contracts have also been deployed to GitHub. A bug bounty was started on March 23 offering rewards of up to $500,000 for the discovery of high severity bugs in V3’s contracts. According to the official announcement, Uniswap v3 is ex...
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ICO fraudster pleads guilty to $7m Covid-relief loan scam

An ICO fraudster spent more than $7 million in fraudulently obtained covid relief on luxury personal expenses, including a Rolex, a luxury apartment, and a new Mercedes. A 24-year-old New York resident has pleaded guilty to acquiring more than $7 million in Covid-19 relief through fraudulent loan applications and misleading investors in a fraudulent initial coin offering during 2018. According to an April 20 announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Taiwanese national, Justin Cheng — also known as “Justin Jung” — Cheng submitted a series of online loan applications accompanied by forged tax and payroll records between May and August of last year. Cheng’s applications featured fraudulent IRS tax and payroll records purporting to document the names of 200 employees earning $1.5 million in monthly wages from Cheng’s businesses. However, the list consisted of names from current and former public figures including Good Morning America co-anchor and a deceased “former Penn State...
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The Ternoa Blockchain (CAPS) Unveils SecretNFT, Its NFT Platform

The Ternoa Blockchain has just unveiled the alpha version of its SecretNFT Marketplace, a platform entirely dedicated to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The platform, which uses Ternoa’s own CAPS token, comes with many features to promote its adoption among artists and lovers of NFTs. Ternoa launches its NFT platform, SecretNFT The Ternoa Blockchain has just unveiled the first version of its SecretNFT Marketplace, a new platform entirely dedicated to NFTs. The NFT marketplace allows artists to issue authenticated digital artworks in a single edition. Ternoa’s platform boasts a number of innovations, not least the so-called SecretNFT, a feature that makes artists’ works even more unique. This platform represents the first full-scale test of the Ternoa Blockchain, with all NFTs present on SecretNFT Marketplace hosted on the Chaos Net, a Ternoa testnet. All works hosted on the SecretNFT Marketplace are therefore certified on the Ternoa blockchain to avoid any falsification. Since th...
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Crypto Fraud Reports in South Korea Surged Over 41% in 2020, Says Financial Watchdog

Although bitcoin prices plummeted over the weekend, the overall bull-run remains alive, as well as the crypto-related fraud cases in South Korea. The latest figures by the domestic financial watchdog show that such incidents are still on the rise. Police to Dedicate a Special Unit to Investigate Crypto Frauds According to Asia Kyungjae , the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) revealed that crypto fraud reports skyrocketed by over 41.6% yearly. The statistics from the FSS from January to October 2020 show that the 41,6% increase belongs to 555 cases of suspicious transactions. Due to the significant surge of cases, the police promised to increase its efforts in cracking down crypto-related fraud rings across the nation. In fact, authorities launched a dedicated investigation team at the financial crime unit in provincial offices. Among the bureaus involved in the crypto fraud’s investigations include the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, the State ...
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Hegic Protocol announces 'gradual' governance launch for long-term users

Hegic will reward long-term traders, LPs, hodlers, and Discord users with its forthcoming governance token. Decentralized finance protocol Hegic has announced a soft governance launch designed to reward its long-term users. According to an April 19 announcement , Hegic intends to reward its most loyal users with its new gHEGIC governance token, straying from the public airdrops and yield farming campaigns that have become a popular means to distribute governance in the DeFi sector. Users hodling gHEGIC will be able to vote in future Hegic Improvement Proposals. Hegic is a decentralized on-chain derivatives protocol that allows users to purchase call and put options to speculate on Ethereum and Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC). Users can provide liquidity to the protocol by selling options to buyers, earning a share of premiums paid to the pools. “With the soft launch of Hegic governance, the most active and long-term oriented users of Hegic will own the protocol in terms of their influen...
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Nigeria Money Printing Controvesy: CBN Governor’s Remarks Attacked, Government Denies It Financed Deficit via Money Printing

The fallout sparked by reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) printed over $150 million for states’ funding continued a few days after the allegations were initially made. In the latest twist, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) vice-chairman Dan Orbih said the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele’s response to the allegations is “politically motivated.” Money Printing Unsustainable In his riposte, Orbih is quoted by a local news site suggesting that “if drastic measures were not taken to address the situation” then the country might be headed for a worse outcome “than what happened in Uganda.” The politician said: We need the youths to come up with ideas and programmes that will help this government to come out of their mess because the revelations by Godwin Obaseki is a sad reminder of what happened in Uganda under former President Idi Amin. The PDP official also concludes that “no government can sustain the economy of a country with that type of abuse.” In his in...
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MakerDAO moves to expand collateral assets and upgrade liquidation engine

The new liquidation engine has been designed to offer Maker’s users greater predictability and security. Decentralized lending and stablecoin protocol MakerDAO has opened governance voting to allow new tokens as collateral. A number of new collateral types have been proposed for MakerDAO, potentially increasing the number of digital assets that can now be used to mint its stablecoin, DAI. Voting began on April 19 and will run for fourteen days. Seven tokens have been suggested as collateral for the Maker, including Moss Carbon Credit (MCO2), Rocket Pool’s staked Ethereum (rETH), the 1inch decentralized exchange token (1INCH), and the BadgerDAO Sett token (bBADGER). Three liquidity provider, or LP, tokens are also being voted on as prospective collateral, including SushiSwap’s DAI/USDC LP token, Uniswap’s DAI-PAX LP token, and Uniswap’s GUSD-DAI LP token. If approved, these assets will be able to be deposited as collateral to back the creation of new DAI. The MakerDAO community ...
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Institutional XRP inflows surge as AUM nearly doubles

Institutional investors have rallied around XRP and other altcoins this past week, with nearly $33 million being injected in XRP investment products. Institutional investors have rallied around XRP this past week, with the assets under management, or AUM, or XRP investment products nearly doubling. According to CoinShares’ weekly digital asset fund flows report , roughly $33 million flowed into XRP products this week, pushing the sector’s AUM up to $83 million. The report describes the week as the most bullish for i nstitutional crypto products since early March, with $233 million injected in institutional funds. Altcoins saw renewed market action overall, with $65 million allocated to Ethereum products, while Binance Coin funds took in $3 million, Bitcoin Cash saw $4 million, Polkadot received $5 million, and Tezos attracted $7 million worth of in flows. Roughly $6 million was invested into multi-asset products. Bitcoin products represent nearly 78% of institutional AUM with $5...
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2 Cents per Kilowatt Hour: Bitfarms to Launch a 210 MW Bitcoin Mining Operation in Argentina

The Canadian publicly traded bitcoin mining company Bitfarms has announced a deal that will see the company developing a 210 megawatt (MW) mining farm in Argentina. Bitfarms says that the company was able to secure a low electricity rate at $0.02 per kWh during the contractual period. Argentine-Based Bitcoin Mining Facility Aims to Acquire 210 MW of Power The company Bitfarms (TSXV:BITF, OTC:BFARF) has announced the firm is expanding to South America, as it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding in order to build a 210 MW bitcoin mining facility. Bitfarms says the purchase agreement started back in October 2020 and initially the farm would be around 60 MW. However, since then the agreement has been “significantly enhanced,” as the power purchase agreement with a utility-grade private power producer in Argentina will allow the firm to “draw up to 210 MW of electricity at its discretion.” Bitfarms also details that the warmer climate in Argentina helps the company mi...
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Bitcoin bears have a $340M lead heading into Friday’s BTC options expiry

$1.55 billion in Bitcoin options are set to expire on April 23 and the recent BTC crash to $51,000 has given bears a $340 million advantage. Bitcoin ( BTC ) price is making a slow recovery after facing a sharp 16% correction in the early hours of April 18. While some analysts blame a 9,000 BTC deposit at Binance , others focused on the hashrate drop caused by a coal mining accident in China. Regardless of the reason behind the $51,200 low, options market makers were forced to adjust their exposure. Typically, arbitrage desks seek non-directional exposure, meaning they are not directly betting on BTC moving in any particular direction. However, neutralizing options exposure usually requires a dynamic hedge, meaning positions must be adjusted according to Bitcoin's price. These arbitrage desks' risk adjustments usually involve selling BTC when the market drops, which as a result, adds further pressure to long liquidations. Therefore, it makes sense to understand the current ...
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Eftpos reveals plans to power Australian smart cities with blockchain tech

Eftpos revealed its plans to use distributed ledger technology to power smart cities and self-driving vehicles during the Australian Blockchain Week conference. Australia’s leading point of sale tech provider Eftpos Australia has revealed ambitious plans to roll out blockchain-powered autonomous vehicles and smart cities in Australia built using Hedera’s Hashgraph. Speaking on April 20 as part of the Australian Blockchain Week, deputy chair of Blockchain Australia and Eftpos’ entrepreneur in residence, Robert Allen, discussed the firms’ intention to use distributed ledger technology for advanced infrastructure, among other applications: “We're going to be looking at smart cities [...] We're going to be looking at autonomous vehicles and things that we haven't even thought about yet. All of this needs new infrastructure and Eftpos needs to be informed by that.” Eftpos chief investment officer Ben Tabell noted the significance of the firm’s DLT initiatives in partnership...
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WeWork to accept crypto payments and hold them on its balance sheet

The coworking firm is the latest to see crypto as a suitable asset for its corporate treasury. Coworking space giant WeWork is the latest company to announce plans to hold cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet. The SoftBank-owned commercial real estate firm announced its plans via a statement  on Tuesday. WeWork’s crypto balance sheet will come from the company adopting cryptocurrencies as a payment method. According to the announcement, WeWork has partnered with crypto payment service platform BitPay to accept digital currency payments for its workspaces. WeWork will reportedly accept Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ether ( ETH ) and stablecoins USD Coin ( USDC ) and Paxos (PAX). The company’s crypto adoption drive also includes paying landlords and other partners with cryptocurrencies as well via a partnership with United States-based exchange Coinbase. WeWork’s announcement also revealed that Coinbase will become the first WeWork tenant to pay for its services with cryptocurrencies. Fo...
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Former currency comptroller to become CEO of Binance US crypto exchange

Former top U.S. banking regulator Brian Brooks is joining the U.S. affiliate of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange as its new CEO. Brian Brooks , the former acting comptroller of the currency of the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is set to become the new CEO of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance US. According to a Tuesday announcement, Brooks will replace current Binance US CEO Catherine Coley effective May 1, 2021.  Formerly the head of Coinbase’s legal team, Brooks has emerged as a prominent figure in the crypto industry due to his continued efforts to provide regulatory clarity for crypto. Referred to in the community as the “first fintech Comptroller” and “Crypto Comptroller,” Brooks served as acting comptroller of the currency  from May 2020 to January 2021 . Binance CEO and founder  Changpeng Zhao said that Brooks’ expertise and knowledge will be invaluable as Binance US continues to expand. “Brian is an esteemed leader w...
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Gaming giant Ubisoft to become corporate baker on Tezos network

Popular French video game publisher Ubisoft is set to become a validator node on the Tezos ecosystem. Ubisoft, the video game studio behind popular titles like Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia and the Tom Clancy series of games will become a corporate Tezos baker, or validator node. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ubisoft announced its partnership with Tezos-backed Nomadic labs that will see the latter creating a validator node on the Tezos network. @Ubisoft is exploring #Tezos technology by becoming a corporate baker. Welcome to the ecosystem! Read the announcement: https://t.co/ZM1IzBTVCM #blockchain #DigitalTransformation #crypto #Ubisoft pic.twitter.com/6wKCQIFAOJ — Nomadic Labs (@LabosNomades) April 20, 2021 As a Tezos baker, Ubisoft via its Strategic Innovation Lab will join the group of validator nodes that authenticate and add transaction blocks to the network. Bakers also distribute rewards earned from validating transactions to wallets that have delegated...
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Bitcoin rebounds to $56K as Dogecoin price halts at 420% weekly gains

Bitcoin benefits from an adoption boost by Venmo, while “Dogecoin Day” so far produces little in terms of fresh price upside for DOGE. Bitcoin ( BTC ) saw a staunch comeback on Tuesday thanks to fresh bullish news from PayPal combined with solid on-chain indicators.  BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView #Doge420 aims to sprout $4.20 Dogecoin Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView  showed BTC/USD bouncing to $56,000 during Tuesday trading, hours after hitting local lows of $53,300. With volatility still present, the pair nonetheless looked increasingly reliable above $52,000, a significant support zone and the floor seen during last Sunday’s flash crash from all-time highs. News that PayPal-owned payment company Venmo had launched cryptocurrency buying and selling to its app appeared to buoy the recovery. On the flip side, a social media-induced “Dogecoin Day” was adding pressure to Bitcoin’s immediate upside prospects as funds continued to...
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PayPal-owned Venmo launches cryptocurrency trading

Venmo is following in the footsteps of its rival, Square’s Cash App, by introducing cryptocurrency trading. Payments app Square  made headlines — and dollars — when it  integrated Bitcoin trading into its mobile platform back during the crypto bull market of winter 2017.  Now, rival payments firm Venmo, owned by PayPal, is following suit by launching cryptocurrency trading for four major coins: Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ether ( ETH ), Litceoin ( LTC ) and Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ). Beginning on Tuesday and set to be widely available within the new few weeks, Venmo’s 70 million+ customers will be able to buy, hold and sell crypto directly within the Venmo app. The launch is offering users access to in-app guides to help them to better navigate the cryptocurrency trading space and will encourage them to share their cryptocurrency experiences via the Venmo feed.  Venmo users will be able to buy as little as $1 worth of cryptocurrency and can use either funds from their ...
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Bitcoin transactions fees in US dollars near all-time high levels

The latest spike in BTC transaction fees comes amid a major decline in the Bitcoin network hash rate. Bitcoin ( BTC ) transaction fees measured in United States dollars are near 2017 levels amid a massive hash rate drop on the Bitcoin network. According to data from several Bitcoin monitoring resources, the average BTC transaction fee in U.S. dollars is near the all-time high recorded back in 2017.  According to data from blockchain explorer Blockchair, the average cost of a Bitcoin transaction surged Tuesday to $58, approaching its all-time high of above $62 recorded in December 2017. Popular Bitcoin monitoring source BitInfoCharts suggests that current BTC fees have already broken its record of $54 in 2017 at $58 on April 20. Other sources including major blockchain explorer Blockchain.com also show that the average BTC transaction cost on April 20 hit $58. All-time average BTC transaction fee. Source: Blockchair Despite several sources showing the current BTC transac...
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Facebook-backed Diem Association reportedly to launch stablecoin pilot in 2021

An anonymous source has told reporters that the first Diem pilot will focus on transactions between individual consumers. Facebook-backed digital currency project Diem could yet launch its first stablecoin in 2021 as a small-scale pilot, according to an anonymous source.  Cited in a CNBC report published on April 20, the source claimed that the Switzerland-based nonprofit The Diem Association is still intending to launch its pilot for a United States dollar-backed stablecoin later this year.  Back in Nov. 2020, the association had already announced its plans for a limited launch of a U.S.-dollar stablecoin this January , yet as the months have since passed, the currency is yet to see the light of day .  Diem's stablecoin is a significantly scaled back and rebranded version of Facebook's initial vision for a global digital currency, native to its platform, that would be tied to a basket of multiple fiat currencies. Aside from shedding the name Libra, commentators ha...
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UAE employs blockchain tech for remote litigation services

The UAE government's adoption of blockchain technology for its legal notary services builds on its ambitions to go completely digital. The government of the United Arab Emirates will employ blockchain technology for use in its judicial notarization and authentication services, it announced on April 19, according to the Emirates News Agency. The adoption of blockchain tech is expected to cut down on the time, effort and expenditure spent by the UAE’s Ministry of Justice in authenticating and verifying contracts and documentation, while building on the government’s plan to transfer half of its transactions onto the blockchain by the end of this year. The UAE’s deployment of blockchain technology forms part of its plans to create a remote digital framework for all of its internal operations, something it refers to as a “unified digital government platform.” The UAE’s ongoing digital transformation will reportedly include the creation of a digital ID dubbed the “UAE PASS” whic...
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Deutsche Telekom invests in mobile DeFi platform Celo

Deutsche Telekom has become the first telecom firm to join the Celo Alliance for Prosperity. Deutsche Telekom, one of the largest telecom providers in Europe, has invested in blockchain payments platform Celo to support the development of decentralized finance. The telecom giant has made a “significant purchase” of Celo’s native token CELO through its strategic investment fund, the Telekom Innovation Pool, Celo announced Tuesday. The firm did not specify the size of the investment. In conjunction with the investment, Deutsche Telekom has joined the global Celo Alliance for Prosperity — Celo’s ecosystem and a network of over 130 members including nonprofits, merchants, payment processors and blockchain firms. According to the announcement, Deutsche Telekom is the first telecom company to join the alliance. As part of the move, Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiary T-Systems MMS will validator implementing the Open Telekom Cloud, or OTC. The OTC fulfills compliance requirements within the ...
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Bitcoin technicals sour as price dives under $54K and two critical whale clusters

Whale cluster analysis suggests that both hodlers and whales were responsible for the latest sell-off. Bitcoin has dropped below $54,000 on April 20 while whale clusters suggest that the key areas for BTC  to reclaim in the short term are $56,274 and $55,172. The cryptocurrency market began to drop once again after an initial relief rally on Monday. Bitcoin dropped from $57,400 to sub-$54,000, losing the $55,172 whale cluster support level. Bitcoin whale clusters. Source: Whalemap In the near term, it is crucial for Bitcoin to rally above $55,172 and reclaim it as a support level. Otherwise, it is at risk of testing the $51,000 macro support area. Why are whale cluster support areas important? Whale clusters form when whales or high-net-worth investors purchase or sell a significant amount of Bitcoin. Since whales tend to purchase Bitcoin at an area they previously bought at to defend their position, whale clusters are often a positive indicator of strong support areas ...
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Electronics retailer Newegg now accepts Dogecoin as payment

After debuting Bitcoin payments back in 2014, online electronics retailer Newegg added a Dogecoin payment option. American online electronics retailer Newegg has added Dogecoin ( DOGE ) as an official payment method amid the ongoing parabolic surge of the meme-based cryptocurrency. Newegg announced Tuesday that the company added the option through crypto payment platform BitPay. The firm said that the new feature was introduced in conjunction with Doge Day — a community crypto holiday pushed by DOGE proponents to be celebrated on April 20. According to online reports, Dogecoin advocates apparently hope to see DOGE hit $1 today. We become LEGENDARY today. #DogeDay pic.twitter.com/jYEaNHE3p6 — DogeCoin (@OnIyDOGE) April 20, 2021 Newegg’s senior brand manager Andrew Choi said that the growing momentum around the cryptocurrency is “undeniable.” “The recent surge in Dogecoin value underscores the need to make it easier for customers to make purchases with this popular cryptocur...
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Ukrainian Parliament Passes Bill That Criminalizes People Who Don’t Reveal Crypto Holdings

The Ukrainian parliament is enforcing its tough stance against people who don’t disclose their cryptocurrency holdings on the tax fillings. The measure comes in the wake of a recent publication that showed alleged mistakes in declarations from public servants. Offenders Could Spend up to Two Years in Jail According to an official document released by the country’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, the bill that seeks to criminalize such wrongdoing passed with 283 votes. The proposal aimed at imposing jail times and fines on offenders. The bill details show that the authorities will prosecute those who possess over $4,050 worth of non-declared crypto holdings. In fact, offenders could spend up to two years in jail, and even pay fines ranged between $162,100 and $202,950. Also, the bill clarifies that erroneous data are not exempt from being targeted by the authorities. Still, those who admit before a court any wrongdoings are also being covered by the criminalization of the proposal...
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Crypto payments banned in Turkey — Is this just the beginning?

Turkey’s vibrant ecosystem took a hit from the new crypto payments ban, and industry participants speak out on potential implications. Buying something with Bitcoin ( BTC ) in Turkey will soon be illegal, and the topic of crypto payments has become a political debate since the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey’s April 16 announcement that it will forbid the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method. The regulation, which will go into effect on April 30 , also bans the use of digital wallet providers as fiat on-ramps for crypto exchanges. Cointelegraph Turkey reached out to local blockchain and crypto industry participants for commentary. Ahmet Usta, chief editor of Blockchain Turkey Platform and co-author of Blockchain 101 , described Turkey’s first crypto regulation as a “how-not-to-do” rather than a “how-to.” He told Cointelegraph Turkey that the central bank will prohibit two uses: “The first one is to use crypto to pay for anything. The second one is specifically for pa...
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