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Showing posts from May 3, 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...

South Korean Ruling Party Contemplates Postponing Crypto Tax in a Bid to Regain Younger Votes

South Korean political parties are now battling to catch younger votes amid the tough stance among higher government spheres toward digital currencies. As voters are disappointed by how parties are handling the issue, one of them has taken a step forward by talking about the forthcoming crypto tax. The Democratic Party’s Expectations on Cryptocurrencies According to Dailian , South Korea’s Democratic Party members suggested that delaying the crypto taxation policy set to go live in 2022 should not be entirely discarded. The party, which is the ruling one in the country, believes a crypto tax is “premature.” Moreover, Koh Yong Jin, the Secretary of the ruling party of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee, stated they’re contemplating ways to postpone the timing of the new financial rules on cryptocurrencies. “I’ll hear if it’s right to delay,” he said. On the other hand, Jang Kyung-tae, the head of the National Youth Committee of the Democratic Party, pointed out ...

Accenture and Digital Dollar Foundation to trial United States CBDC this year

Five pilot programs will gather data on a digital dollar in the United States over the next 12 months. Fortune 500 company Accenture has teamed up with Digital Dollar Foundation to conduct Central Bank Digital Currency , or CBDC, trials in the United States. Announced on Monday, May 3, the newly formed Digital Dollar Project will carry out five CBDC pilot programs over the next 12 months. The project’s objective is to generate data to inform U.S. policymakers on how to develop a domestic digital currency. The Digital Dollar Project will launch three pilot programs in the next two months, generating data on the functional, sociological, and business benefits of a digital greenback. Al Jazeera reports that former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and co-founder of the Digital Dollar Foundation, Christopher Giancarlo, emphasized the lack of U.S. data regarding CBDC: “There are conferences and papers coming out every week around the world on CBDCs based on data from...

Dapper Labs-backed NFT avatar platform raises $65M in funding

Avatar developers Genies are set to launch an NFT marketplace on Flow later this year after closing a Series B funding round with $65 million. Digital avatar developer, Genies, has raised $65 million to build an NFT marketplace for digital avatars on the Flow blockchain led by several heavyweight investors, including Flow’s developers, Dapper Labs. SEC filings dated May 3 reveal the California-based company recently  closed a $65 million Series B funding round led by investment firm Bond, alongside Coinbase Ventures , Tull Investment Group, Breyer Capital, and Dapper Labs. The $65 million is slated to fund the development of Genies’ NFT Marketplace, which will allow users to create and trade tokenized avatars, in addition NFT clothing worn by the avatars. Genies expects to launch its marketplace in beta during the third quarter of this year. In a tweet revealing the funding, Genies stated it hopes to become the single “virtual portable identity across the digital world,” ...

DeFi Yield Protocol (DYP) Launches DYP Earn Vault

Leading yield farming platform DeFi Yield Protocol has launched its highly anticipated DYP Earn Vault. The Vault is an automated yield farming contract fully integrated with Compound Protocol and supports five markets, including ETH , WBTC, USDC, USDT , and DAI. Earn Rewards on DYP Earn Vaults Users can provide an asset to the DYP Earn Vault and begin earning impressive yields on their assets. One of the unique features of the Vault is the integration with Compound protocol. When users deposit funds into the Vault, the funds are forwarded to Compound protocol in exchange for respective cTokens held within the smart contract. Interests generated from Compound is then distributed to investors. DYP Earn Vault offers investors different lockup durations for each of the supported markets. Users can lock their tokens for 3,30,60 and 90 days, with the average interest increasing with the length of the lock period. Apart from interest generated from Compound Protocol, the DYP Earn Vault a...

Ghana Regulator Labels Crypto Transactions Illegal— Urges People to ‘Stay Away From Them’

Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently warned residents of the West African country to avoid cryptocurrency transactions of any form. In the warning, the regulator reiterated that “cryptocurrencies are illegal in the country and are not regulated by the commission hence Ghanaians should stay away from them.” Risks Associated With Crypto In remarks made during an interview , Paul Ababio, the Deputy Director-General of the (SEC) asserts that “there are risks associated with cryptocurrencies and people have lost funds to such transactions.” However, despite issuing the warning, Ababio does hint that his organisation might eventually decide to regulate the crypto space. (The) Bank of Ghana does not treat it as a form of payment, it is not a legal tender but we will be engaging further to come out with frameworks. However, until that happens, the regulator urges Ghanaians to “desist from participating (in cryptocurrency transactions.)” Paul Ababio, Ghana’s Deputy...

Maker Foundation returns dev fund to DAO amid path to decentralization

The Maker Foundation has returned 84,000 MKR to the project’s DAO in a major milestone for the protocol’s road to decentralization. The MakerDAO Foundation has returned 84,000 MKR tokens from its development fund to MakerDAO’s governance module, marking a milestone in the project’s path to decentralization . In a May 3 blog post, the foundation notes that “no conditions or expectations” have been placed on MakerDAO regarding the returned tokens, with Maker Governance now having complete control over the tokens . The announcement states that with the return of the development and the completion of recent technical contributions to Maker’s liquidation engine and its DAO’s core unit framework, the foundation will now focus on working toward its own dissolution to further decentralize the protocol: “The Foundation now turns inward to focus solely on its dissolution.“ To manage and finance its transition to obsolescence, the Maker Foundation has retained less than one percent of MKR’...

Thailand’s New Cryptocurrency Regulation Requires Users to Be Physically Present to Open Accounts

The Thai government has reportedly imposed a new cryptocurrency requirement. Crypto exchanges will be required to verify users’ identities using a machine that requires the customers to be physically present. Thailand’s New Crypto Rules The Thai Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) has announced that starting in July “local digital exchanges must verify their customers’ identities through a ‘dip-chip’ machine that requires clients to be physically present,” the Bangkok Post reported. Currently, the account opening process at crypto exchanges is done entirely online. To approve a new account, exchanges must ensure that the documents submitted by customers comply with the regulations set by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the know-your-customer (KYC) process and suitability test. Furthermore, the documents must also be verified by relevant government agencies. The application will be rejected if the customer submitted fake documents or resides in a country wher...

Glassnode predicts BTC rally as stablecoin supply tags record highs

Tether, USD Coin, Binance USD, and DAI are now worth more than $78 billion combined. The circulating supply of the four-largest stablecoins has spiked to new all-time highs, suggesting buyers could soon spark another leg up for the Bitcoin and crypto markets. The combined capitalization of Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and Dai (DAI) has surged almost 190% from $27 billion to almost $78 billion since the beginning of this year. In its May 3 Week on Chain report , on-chain analytics provider, Glassnode, noted that Tether is firmly positioned as the stable token sector ’s leader, representing two-thirds of the top four stablecoins’ combined capitalization. USDT’s total minted supply hit an all-time high of $51.78 billion at the end of last week after increasing by $1.48 billion or 3% in just seven days. USDC supply has also increased by roughly $1 billion over the past week, with its capitalization currently sitting at $14.5 billion, according to CoinGecko. It ...

Major League Baseball sells pairs of tickets for 100 Dogecoin each

Fans can use Dogecoin to purchase Major League Baseball tickets to see the Oakland Athletics this month. Fans can now use Dogecoin to buy tickets to see MLB team Oakland Athletics take on the Toronto Blue Jays this month. The team, also known as the Oakland A’s, is offering pairs of plaza infield tickets for 100 DOGE from May 3 until May 6. Two plaza infield tickets usually go for around $80 total, but with Doge sitting at around $0.43 today, fans will be able to fetch themselves a 46% discount if they purchase the tickets in Doge. Join us at the ballpark as the Blue Jays roll into town!  Two-seat pods in the Plaza Infield are available for 100 Dogecoin for the series.  : https://t.co/RizI8lp46i pic.twitter.com/wdDROnpLJc — Oakland A's (@Athletics) May 3, 2021 The team is accepting payment through Bitpay and will issue the tickets digitally via the MLB Ballpark app. The Oakland Athletics — depicted in the 2011 box office hit and true story “Moneyball” — first b...

Fed’s Vice Chair for Supervision Calls on Bank Regulators to Pay More Attention to Cryptocurrency

The Federal Reserve’s top supervisory official has called on bank regulators to pay more attention to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. His comments followed a number of major banks announcing that they will be offering products based on cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, to their clients. Bank Regulators Should Focus More on Cryptocurrency, Says Fed Supervisor The Federal Reserve’s vice chairman for supervision, Randal Quarles, talked about cryptocurrency last week at a conference hosted by the Options Clearing Corporation. He urged bank regulators to pay more attention to stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. Quarles took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 2017 and was sworn in as Vice Chair for Supervision on Oct. 13 that year. He is also chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB). His comments followed several banks in the U.S., such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs , announcing that they will offer their wealthy clients acces...

E-Commerce Giant Ebay Looking at Accepting Cryptocurrency for 187 Million Buyers, CEO Reveals

Ebay is looking at cryptocurrency as a payment option for its 187 million buyers on the platform, the company’s CEO has revealed. The e-commerce giant is also exploring opportunities in the non-fungible token (NFT) business. Ebay Looking Into Adding Cryptocurrency as Payment Option Ebay CEO Jamie Iannone said in a CNBC interview on Monday that the company is looking at accepting cryptocurrency as a payment option. He was asked about how Ebay is responding to the rise in popularity and adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The CEO replied: We are expanding the types of payments that we take. We now take Apple Pay and Google Pay. More choice for buyers … We will continue to look at other options, like cryptocurrency. He added: “One of the great things about Ebay is that when there is a new trend, it just shows up on Ebay. That’s what we are seeing in areas like NFTs [non-fungible tokens], which we are looking at how we can explore that better.” He also noted that Ebay h...

Grayscale parent firm DCG to expand GBTC buy limit by $500M

Digital Currency Group has purchased a total of $194 million worth of GBTC shares so far. Digital Currency Group, the parent company of digital asset manager Grayscale Investments, is now authorized to purchase up to $750 million worth of shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The company announced Monday that DCG increased its prior authorization to buy up to $250 million worth of GBTC shares by an extra $500 million. The share purchase authorization does not obligate DCG to acquire any certain amount of shares in any period, and it may be expanded, modified or discontinued at any time, DCG noted. Actual purchases will depend on many factors like the levels of available cash as well as price and market conditions, the firm said. DCG mentioned that the firm had purchased a total of $193.5 million worth of GBTC shares as of Friday. DCG plans to use cash to fund the purchases and will make the purchases at management’s discretion in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exch...

Ebay exploring crypto payment options and NFT auctions

According to CEO Jamie Iannone, eBay will be “looking at it and exploring opportunities” to enable nonfungible tokens. Major online marketplace eBay will be pursuing crypto payment options for its customers as well as exploring ways to introduce nonfungible tokens to the platform. In an interview with CNBC today, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said the company would “continue to look” at payment options like crypto. In addition, eBay will be “looking at it and exploring opportunities” to enable nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, on the platform “in an easy way,” comparing the digital offerings to collectibles. “One of the great things about eBay is when there’s a new trend, it just shows up on Ebay,” said Iannone. “That’s what we’re seeing in areas like NFT, which we’re looking at how can we explore that better.” The CEO said parts of NFTs were “already transacting” on the platform now, but eBay had not yet simplified the process for buyers and sellers. As of the first quarter of 2021, eBay ha...

Hip Hop Star Nas Calls Himself ‘Cryptocurrency Scarface,’ Mentions Coinbase Investment in New Video

Hip hop legend and recording artist Nasir Jones, known by his stage name “Nas,” recently released a new video with record producer DJ Khaled and rapper Jay-Z. The songwriter mentioned being a “cryptocurrency Scarface” and also mentioned the San Francisco company Coinbase in his rhyme. Nas was an early Coinbase investor back in 2013 and it is estimated that Nas raked in over $100 million from his investment with the company. Nas Dubs Himself the ‘Cryptocurrency Scarface’ Nas is a very well known hip-hop recording artist and since 1994 he’s released twelve studio albums that have been certified platinum and multi-platinum in the U.S. Nas has also been considered one of the greatest rappers of all-time, up there with Eminem, Jay-Z, Andre 3000, Lil Wayne, the Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac. In addition to being a songwriter, Nas is also an entrepreneur and he’s invested in numerous projects over the years. One lucrative investment Nas has made was with the San Francisco company Coinbase...

Altcoins just repeated a move which could launch them 27,000% higher in 2021

The altcoin market cap has flipped its previous cycle high to support — last time that happened, it gained 27,623% in a year. Altcoins have delivered huge gains this year, but if they repeat their 2017 moves, hodlers may be looking at an insane 27,000% moonshot. According to popular trader Rekt Capital , those are the potential combined returns for altcoin investors if history repeats itself this year.  One trader sees "just the beginning" for altcoins' 2021 In a tweet on May 3, Rekt Capital noted that at the start of 2017, the altcoin market cap flipped its previous cycle high to support. This high had come in late 2013, and as a new floor level, it launched the market cap to a peak no less than 27,623% above. All it took was a single year, and Rekt Capital suggests that although almost unimaginable, the same thing could happen by the end of 2021. In the past two months alone, the altcoin market cap is up 119% after flipping that same 2017 peak to support. How muc...

Venezuelan Crypto Regulator Sunacrip Strengthens AML/KYC Requirements for Virtual Asset Service Providers

Sunacrip, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog, has recently published a new set of AML/KYC requirements for VASPs (Virtual Asset Service Providers) that establishes new and updated rules about the kind of information these providers must require and share with the Venezuelan government, raising alarms in the cryptocurrency community about what the government could do with this data. Venezuelan Crypto Watchdog Sunacrip Strengthens KYC/AML Requirements for VASPs Last week, the Superintendence of Crypto Assets and Linked Activities of Venezuela (Sunacrip), quietly published a new set of rules that aim to tighten the KYC/AML requirements this institution requires from Virtual Asset Service Providers that offer these services on Venezuelan soil. The new norm, published in the National Gazette under the title: Rules relating to the administration and inspection of the risks related to the legitimation of equity, terrorism financing, and the financing of proliferation of weapons of...

Crypto.com to use CipherTrace tool to comply with FATF's travel rule

Crypto.com has chosen CipherTrace's specialized compliance tool to help it fulfill the complex requirements of the FATF's industry-shaping “travel rule.” Crypto.com, the creator of a cryptocurrency exchange, wallet, debit card program and crypto app, is strengthening its compliance toolkit by implementing a commercial solution developed by crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace. CipherTrace's tool, called Traveler, takes its name from being designed to meet the complex requirements of the Financial Action Task Force's so-called “travel rule,” which came into force for Virtual Asset Service Providers , or VASPs, in 2020. The FATF's travel rule requires regulators and VASPs — including crypto exchanges, custody providers and OTC trading desks — to gather and share customer data during transactions. This approach broadly follows the requirements already in place for money transmitters in jurisdictions like the United States, which requires money transmitters to recor...

Nas brags about Coinbase and crypto wealth in new track with DJ Khaled

Nas’ stake in Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase is estimated around $40 million. American rapper and cryptocurrency investor Nasir Jones, better known by his stage name Nas, has invited fans to join the cryptocurrency industry in a newly released track. Released last week, “Sorry Not Sorry” features a collaboration with DJ Khaled, Jay-Z and James Fauntleroy, with Nas rapping about Coinbase, the United States’ largest crypto exchange that went public on Nasdaq on April 14. “Winner in life, fuck a coin toss / I’m coin-based, basically cryptocurrency Scarface / Join us, there’s gotta be more of us,” Nas raps in the new collab. Released on YouTube last Friday, the official music video for “ Sorry Not Sorry”  has 7.8 million views at the time of writing. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Nas is an early Coinbase believer , investing in the company through his venture capital firm QueensBridge Venture Partners. The rapper reportedly joined Coinbase’s $25 million Seri...

Binance CEO CZ: Bitcoin is less volatile than stocks like Apple and Tesla

Changpeng Zhao says the crypto faithful are in it for tech compared to gain chasers looking for the next “moon-shot gem.” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has commented on the volatility of Bitcoin ( BTC ), stating that the largest crypto by market capitalization is probably less volatile than the stock prices of similarly-sized companies by market capitalization such as Apple and Tesla. Data from Woobull shows Bitcoin’s 60-day volatility steadily declining since the start of 2021. However, figures from the investment research portal AlphaQuery show that Tesla and Apple stock prices still have significantly lower 60-day volatilities over the same period. BTC 60-day Volatility, courtesy Woobull Charts Speaking during an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday, the Binance chief argued that crypto’s volatility was not unlike the situation in the stock market, adding: “Volatility is everywhere […] It is not unique to crypto.” "There's always a large number of people having t...

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin becomes billionaire as Ether hits $3K

Vitalik Buterin’s crypto holdings have doubled since January 2021 to surge above $1 billion. Vitalik Buterin , a co-founder of the world’s most popular smart contract platform, the Ethereum blockchain, has officially become a crypto billionaire. Buterin’s public Ether address, which he described as his main wallet back in 2018, has hit $1 billion on its balance following Ether’s meteoric rise above a $3,000 price mark on Monday. At the time of writing, the address holds  around 333,500 Ether ( ETH ) now worth $1.029 billion, according to on-chain data from Etherscan, as ETH more than quadrupled in value from around $700 at the beginning of 2021. At publishing time, the world’s largest altcoin is trading at $3,144, up 8.6% over the past 24 hours, with gains of 36% over the past seven days, according to data from CoinGecko. Ethereum price chart over the past 180 days. Source: CoinGecko According to some online crypto players, 27-year-old Buterin now could be the youngest ...

Nigeria Stopping the Rejection of Old or Torn USD Notes Underlines Why Crypto Is a Better Reserve Currency

In early April 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular warning Nigerian institutions to stop the practice of rejecting old or lower denomination USD notes. The CBN issued the warning after it became “inundated with complaints from members of the public on the rejection of such notes by banks and other authorized forex dealers.” Rejection of Defaced or Stamped USD Notes In the circular issued by Ahmed Umar, a director in the CBN’s Currency Operations Department, the central bank says it will sanction institutions that “refuse to accept old series/lower denominations U.S. dollar bills from their customers.” Furthermore, the CBN warned against the same institutions to cease the practice of defacing/stamping USD notes as these “always fail authentication tests during processing or sorting.” In the meantime, Nigeria is not the only inflation hit African country to face this predicament. In Zimbabwe, which has similarly seen the value of its currency plunge in the pas...

Survey shows South Koreans support crypto tax law

More than half of the survey respondents favored the controversial crypto tax law in South Korea. An opinion poll conducted by South Korean television station YTN has shown significant support for the planned cryptocurrency tax regime in the country. According to a report by The Korea Herald, 53.7% of the 500 participants polled by South Korea survey firm Realmeter expressed support for the crypto tax law coming into effect in January 2022 . However, respondents in their 20s — the most active crypto trading age demographic in South Korea — were most likely to oppose the cryptocurrency tax law. Figures compiled by South Korean lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee show that an estimated 2.35 million crypto traders aged between 20 and 29 have traded on the “big four” crypto exchanges in the country: Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit and Coinone. Details of the survey showed 47.8% of respondents between the ages of 20 to 29 years were against the crypto tax plan. Female participants in the survey were also mo...

BTC price nears $60K showdown: 5 things to watch in Bitcoin this week

Fresh gains come as the weekend preserves previous performance and Bitcoin heads to $59,000 on Monday. Bitcoin ( BTC ) is challenging familiar but significant all-time highs as a new week gets underway, rallying to $58,000 on May 3. After a surprise rally on Friday, the largest cryptocurrency saw a slow comedown through much of the weekend. This turned on its head overnight on Sunday, however, and now BTC/USD is back fighting resistance near $60,000. Cointelegraph takes a look at what the coming days might have in store for Bitcoin price action with five factors that could help shape it. Bitcoin ignores DXY gains With various major markets closed for May holidays, there are fewer cues than usual coming from commodities and equities. Asian stocks tracked losses, fuelled by various issues including India’s ongoing Covid-19 debacle. At the same time, in the United States, S&P 500 futures are already recovering lost ground from Friday. Unlike Bitcoin, markets did not react well...