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Showing posts from May 13, 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 Tax Body Asks Domestic Cryptocurrency Exchanges to Report Monthly Transactions and Wallet Balances

The local tax authority could soon hunt tax evaders who trade cryptocurrencies in Argentina following a notice sent to domestic crypto exchanges. The Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) ordered them to report all virtual currency-related transactions every month. Payment Gateways Are Also Subject to the Ruling According to Bae Negocios , the watchdog issued a “Form 8126” and forwarded it to every single digital asset exchange operating in the country to comply with the new ruling. Companies will have until the 15th of the month following the month reported to fill out the form. The report states that exchanges should report “the list of accounts with which they identify each of the clients; registrations, cancellations, and modifications that occur; total amounts of income, expenses and final monthly balance” of the wallets. Interestingly, Mercado Pago, a domestic payment gateway that users can use to buy cryptos such as bitcoin ( BTC ) via peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms...
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New Australian Islamic finance DeFi platform is ‘guided by Sharia’

Islamic finance is not always compatible with DeFi's focus on risk and yield. A new platform aims to blend the best of both. A team based out of Sydney, Australia is building what it claims is the world’s first “Shariah-guided” decentralized finance platform to navigate a course between the advantages of DeFi and the beliefs of Islamic finance. The Marhaba Decentralized Financial Platform — Marhaba translates to “welcome” in Arabic — is expected to launch in the coming months and seeks to offer the Islamic world a DeFi platform informed by the core tenets of Shariah. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Blockchain Australia Solutions CIO and Marhaba’s CEO and founder, Naquib Mohammed, emphasized a core tenet of Shariah-based finance is ensuring that “both the financial body providing a service and the client must win in the financial transaction.” “We are building a platform that aims at the inclusivity of the community and a trusted place where faith-conscious Muslims can be onboarded ...
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DOGE surges as Elon Musk says he’s working with devs to ‘improve efficiency’

Musk’s latest tweet resulted in a 26% surge in the price of DOGE, while Coinbase is set to list the coin in six to eight weeks. Elon Musk’s latest foray into crypto markets came a few hours ago when he  tweeted  he is working with the DOGE developers to improve the cryptocurrency’s efficiency “Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising.” According to Coingecko , the price climbed 26% from $0.38 this morning to $0.48 at the time of writing. The tweet’s reference to “efficiency” seemed to lend weight to the idea Tesla may add DOGE as a form of payment, after the CEO noted yesterday the firm is looking at greener cryptocurrencies that use less than 1% of Bitcoin’s energy per transaction. DOGE/USDT: Coingecko TradingView responded to Musk’s tweet by noting Dogecoin’s market cap had ballooned $10 billion in the immediate aftermath. Dogecoin's market cap was sitting at roughly $49 billion at 6am this morning, and has since incre...
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Convenience Powered by Security: A New Browser Wallet Connects dApps to Free TON

A highly scalable, decentralized blockchain platform gets a convenient browser wallet to facilitate dApps development. Crystal Wallet Metamask. Anyone who has worked with Ethereum for more than a week is familiar with this browser wallet. It lets countless decentralized applications (dApps) connect to Ethereum, send transactions, and interact with smart contracts. Metamask has become an industry standard and benchmark for users, who expect at least the same convenience from any new retail blockchain. It is with that level of convenience in mind that the Broxus team, developer of the bridge between Free TON and Ethereum networks and one of Free TON’s core validators and maintainers, has created a new, thorough browser wallet. Having deep expertise in the development of dApps for Free TON, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, Broxus has remastered its Crystal Wallet, a fork of the original Gram Wallet created by the Telegram team. The new wallet has retained the name of Crystal Wallet, warmly ...
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GoodFi coalition adds 22 industry leaders to help attract 100M to DeFi

The decentralized finance coalition has onboarded 22 leaders from 19 teams to help further its mission of bringing 100 million people into DeFi by 2025. Non-profit decentralized finance alliance, GoodFi, has announced the addition of 22 DeFi industry leaders to its newly formed Board of Advisors including representatives from many of the sector’s top projects. It’s also launched a website to hook new users up with appropriate DeFi protocols. Announced May 13, the advisory board features Chainlink account executive, Michael Zacharski, SushiSwap core developer, Omakase, and Aave digital marketing manager, Isa Kivlighan. In total, 19 leading teams building in DeFi from across the globe are represented, including Ava Labs, Acala Network, and Maple Finance. The Board of Advisors is expected to pool knowledge and experience to reduce the barriers to enter the crypto and DeFi sectors. GoodFi has also launched a website offering in-depth resources to first-time users regarding the value ...
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Big Time Studios Aims to Bring NFTs to the Masses, Set to Raise $21 Million in Funding

The Los Angeles-based company Big Time Studios has announced the company is set to raise $21 million in two funding rounds backed by a number of investors. The company’s founder Ari Meilich was the CEO and co-creator of the Ethereum metaverse Decentraland. Big Time Studios aims to bring non-fungible token (NFT) assets to the billion-dollar gaming industry. Multiplayer NFT Game Maker Big Time Studios to Raise $21M in Funding A Decentraland founder who started the firm Big Time Studios wants to bring NFT solutions to the popular gaming universe. This week, Ari Meilich’s company revealed it is set to raise $21 million in funding in two parts. Investors that participated in an initial $10.3 million round include FBG Capital, Alameda Research, Sound Ventures, Circle Financial, North Island Ventures, and Digital Currency Group. The NFT economy has exploded and members of the Big Time Studios team stem from major gaming firms like Blizzard, Epic Games, Riot Games, and Electronic Arts. I...
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Microsoft quietly closing down Azure blockchain in September

Microsoft is closing its Azure Blockchain Service, giving existing customers just four months to transition to new service providers. Microsoft is turning off its corporate Azure Blockchain Service on September 10 and will not accept any new deployments effective immediately, with no official explanation provided. Large corporate customers who use Azure Blockchain include J.P. Morgan, GE Aviation, Singapore Airlines, Starbucks, and Xbox according to its website . The announcement was made in a low key post on the Microsoft documentation site on Monday, informing all current customers to migrate to alternate services. ConsenSys Quorum Blockchain Service was the only suggestion and ConsenSys founder and CEO Joseph Lubin welcomed the Azure refugees: “Expanding our relationship with Microsoft helps organizations take advantage of ConsenSys Quorum and Quorum customer support to offer users an enterprise-grade managed blockchain service that can be effortlessly set-up and deployed.” ...
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Cuban President Discusses Adopting Cryptocurrencies for the ‘Convenience’ of the National Economy

Cuba has been actively discussing the possibility of adopting cryptocurrencies over the last few months during high-political summits. This time, the president of the Caribbean island discussed crypto assets once again during a virtual currencies topic on the summit agenda, talking about the possibility to consider it for future economic plans. Discussions Underway Despite Domestic Crypto-Related Scams According to Periodico Cubano , Miguel Díaz-Canel told regional governors and politicians during a virtual summit about a possible upcoming crypto adoption phase for “the convenience” of the national economy. He wants to assess the feasibility of implementing such decentralized technologies and their impact on the country. Interestingly, Díaz-Canel is an electronic engineer. Although he declined to provide further insights on the matter, the Cuban president promised to inform citizens of the latest developments about his virtual currencies’ assessment. However, during the meeting, ...
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Elon Musk loses $20B since SNL, as Michael Saylor comes out firing

Tesla stock has dipped 14% since Elon Musk appeared on SNL, with Musk estimated to have lost $20 billion in that time frame. Elon Musk has reportedly lost $20 billion since his May 8 appearance on Saturday Night live, as the news of Tesla halting BTC payments for cars continues to send shockwaves across markets. On May 7, the day before Musk made his appearance on SNL , Tesla stock was sitting at $669. In the week since the stock has declined 14% to sit around $573. According to Forbes estimates, this sudden drop has seen Musk’s $166 billion net worth plunge by $20 billion down to around $145.5 billion. The 14% drop this week adds to an overall downward trend for Tesla stock over the past 30 days. On April 14 TSLA shares were sitting at $784. Today's price of $573 marks a 26.91% decrease over this period according to data from Tradingview. Tesla Stock, 1 month chart, Trading View Musk’s escapades aren’t just causing volatility in Tesla stock prices of course, with Bitcoi...
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Coinbase revenue tripled in Q1, plans to add bank-like services and to list DOGE

During the first quarter, Coinbase’s active users increased by 120% while trade volumes tripled. The first quarter revenue of leading U.S.-based crypto exchange, Coinbase, more than tripled its Q4 2020 performance. According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase generated earnings of $3.05 per share and total revenues of $1.8 billion. However, the firm fell slightly short of its expected $3.07 per share. By contrast, the company generated $585 million in revenue amid Bitcoin’s rally into new all-time highs during the fourth quarter of 2020, and just $191 million in Q1 a year ago. Approximately 94% of the firm’s quarterly net revenue came from crypto asset trading fees . Coinbase’s net profits also surged, with the firm reporting profits of $771 million — more than quadruple its profits from the previous quarter and an increase of 24 times year-on-year. Trading volume on the exchange roughly tripled compared to the previous quarter, with C...
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State-Owned Swiss Bank Postfinance Launches App Supporting 13 Cryptocurrencies

The banking subsidiary of the national postal service of Switzerland, Postfinance, has launched a mobile app providing clients with access to cryptocurrencies, ETFs and more. The software allows users to make payments, save funds or invest in various assets, with a commitment to a level of security provided only by the country’s leading online banks. Swiss Post’s Bank Offers Clients Access to Crypto Assets and Stocks The new application called Yuh is the product of a partnership between Postfinance and the online trading platform Swissquote. The collaboration was established late last year and the software was unveiled at a virtual launch event on May 11, the bank said in a press release. Anyone who wants to test it is welcome to download and install the app on either an iOS or an Android device. Postfinance emphasized: With the Yuh app, you can not only execute payments and save for future projects or goals, but also make small or large investments, all from your smartphone. ...
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Green energy tokens capitalize on Tesla’s decision to nix Bitcoin payments

Tesla’s decision to cease Bitcoin payments ignited a green energy debate that sent the price of low energy consumption protocols like NANO, HBAR and EWT higher. After months of touting the benefits of Bitcoin ( BTC ) and blockchain technology, Tesla CEO Elon Musk shocked the crypto Twitter on May 12 by announcing that the electric car company would suspend its accepting BTC as a form of payment, citing concerns related to the energy required to mine the top cryptocurrency.  As Tesla issued its statement, Bitcoin, Ether and a large segment of altcoins sold off sharply but there were a few projects that found clever ways to capitalize off the mayhem by tweeting about the ‘green’ nature of their networks that require only a tiny fraction of the energy required to maintain the Bitcoin network. HBAR/USDT vs. NANO/USDT vs. EWT/USDT 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView Three of the biggest beneficiaries of the focus on energy consumption are Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), Nano (NANO) and E...
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Shanghai Man: Aping out of gorilla token, digital dollar Biden its time... and more

An up and down week filled with high volumes for animal tokens and a flurry of digital yuan news, capped by a large fundraising round for Babel Finance. This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. Memecoin culture clash Feed the gorillas token, or FEG, was a source of drama after memes were posted of Chinese president Xi Jinping. The token claims to use its revenue to take care of gorillas and had been gaining attention among animal-related tokens, amassing a market cap of over $1 billion. Some Chinese community members found the meme offensive, and after not finding support from the team, began to abandon the project. The incident went viral and Chinese CeFi exchanges, including OKEx and Gate responded by delisting the token . The FEG price dropped around 75%, before rebounding slightly on May...
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Unstoppable Domains’ .crypto websites now available via Brave browser

In contrast to traditional domains stored on behalf of users by custodians like Google Domains, .crypto domains are stored in crypto wallets. Major privacy-focused browser Brave is the latest browser to integrate support of decentralized domains by blockchain domain name provider Unstoppable Domains. Brave announced Thursday that its browser now provides native support for the crypto domain name company, allowing users to seamlessly access .crypto domains via desktop and Android applications. The new feature unlocks access to 30,000 decentralized websites and more than 700,000 blockchain domain names registered with Unstoppable Domains. Through the integration, the Brave browser is supporting a decentralized network not relying on the traditional Domain Name Service, which is often associated with privacy issues and other risks like hijacking, denial-of-service attacks, and phishing attacks. A Brave representative told Cointelegraph that the new browser integration uses Cloudflare...
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Blockchain sector drives female participation through funding and education

Blockchain companies are seeking out women-led teams for funding rounds to help close the financial gender gap, but will this suffice? While it’s encouraging to see that the number of female crypto investors is on the rise , women participation within the blockchain technology sector remains low.  This was recently confirmed in a report from the World Economic Forum, which found that the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed back gender parity by an entire generation. Vesselina Ratcheva, new economy and society lead for the World Economic Forum, further told Cointelegraph that women indeed remain a minority in the blockchain industry . Funding of women-led blockchain projects Fortunately, a number of new funding initiatives are being offered to drive female participation within the blockchain sector. This is especially important, as recent findings  indicate  that in Q3 of last year, venture funding for female founders hit its lowest quarterly total in three years. In order...
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Grayscale's diversified crypto fund files to become SEC reporting company

Grayscale Investments has filed to make its $630 million diversified large-cap crypto fund an SEC reporting company. Grayscale has filed its third Form 10 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to convert one of its investment funds into an SEC-reporting company. Tweeting on Thursday, Grayscale announced that the company's Digital Large Cap Fund, or GDLC, has filed the application with the SEC. Today we voluntarily filed for Form 10 with the SEC for $GDLC . If effective, it would designate GDLC as Grayscale’s third digital currency investment vehicle to become an SEC reporting company, following $GBTC as the first and $ETHE as the second in the US. https://t.co/z0KkJ7OMbu — Grayscale (@Grayscale) May 13, 2021 If approved, the GDLC will be obliged to file quarterly and annual financial reports in addition to other mandated documents stated in the Exchange Act. The move is also the first step in making the GDLC into a publicly-traded asset since an appr...
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Stan Druckenmiller: US Will Likely Lose Reserve Currency Status in 15 Years, Hard to Unseat Bitcoin as Store of Value

Legendary fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller says that he is worried that within 15 years the U.S. dollar will lose its world’s reserve currency status. He said that crypto is a solution to the lack of trust in Fed Chairman Jerome Powell “and the rest of the world’s central bankers.” The billionaire investor further said that it will be very difficult to unseat bitcoin as a store of value. Druckenmiller on USD Losing Reserve Currency Status and Difficulty in Unseating Bitcoin as Store of Value Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller talked about the U.S. economy, bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies in an interview with CNBC Tuesday. He said that he has “no doubt, none whatsoever, that we are in a raging mania in all assets.” Druckenmiller founded Duquesne Capital in 1981. He managed money for George Soros as the lead portfolio manager for the Quantum Fund until 2000. He and Soros made massive profits betting against the British pound in 1992. He explained that the Fed’s policies and ...
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Mark Cuban counters Elon Musk, says Mavs will continue to accept Bitcoin

The Dallas Mavericks owner contends that Bitcoin replacing the legacy financial system will be a net positive for society and the environment. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban will not be following in Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s footsteps in withdrawing support for Bitcoin ( BTC ) payment. Tweeting in response to Musk on Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks owner remarked that the Mavs will continue to accept Bitcoin, Ether ( ETH ) and Dogecoin ( DOGE ) as payment means for tickets and merchandise items . We at https://t.co/VUydpLFzGh will continue to accept BTC/Eth/Doge because we know that replacing Gold as a store of value will help the environment https://t.co/bs7NvnJY8A and https://t.co/ELhbuLOBRV shrinking big bank and coin usage will benefit society and the environment https://t.co/zu08F0STEQ — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 12, 2021 “We know that replacing gold as a store of value will help the environment,” Cuban opined, adding: “Shrinking big bank and coin usage will benefit societ...
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Bitcoin price fails to build $50K support as traders eye lower levels next

Time to buy or wait and see? Bitcoin may have further to fall but long-term price trends are still intact. Bitcoin ( BTC ) dipped below $50,000 again on May 13 as the fallout from Elon Musk's criticism continued to resonate. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: Tradingview Traders wait for telltale buy signals Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and Tradingview  confirmed BTC/USD failing to establish $50,000 as support after initially dipping to $45,650. Musk, speaking as CEO of Tesla, had claimed that environmental concerns meant that the company would no longer accept BTC payments.  After a three-hour slow crash, BTC/USD then rebounded to near $52,000 before losing steam once more. At the time of writing, the pair traded at around $49,500 amid heavy volatility.  As Cointelegraph reported earlier, however, Bitcoin price trends beyond the short term remained unchanged by Musk and traders' responses to him.  For popular trader Scott Melker, it ...
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