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Showing posts from May 26, 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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South Africa Reserve Bank Commences Retail CBDC Feasibility Study

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) says it has commenced a feasibility study for a general-purpose retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The study, which the SARB expects to conclude in 2022, will focus on the issuance of a domestic CBDC that can be used by consumers in South Africa for general retail purposes. Study to Focus on Retail CBDC In a statement released on May 25, 2021, the central bank says the feasibility study will include practical experimentation across different emerging technology platforms. The study will take into account a variety of factors, including policy, regulatory, security, and risk management implications. Still, the statement clarifies that this latest study will be distinct from the previous one. The statement explains: It should be noted that while the CBDC feasibility study is different from Project Khokha, which focuses on the settlement of high-value transactions between commercial banks and other stakeholders at the wholesale level,...
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Fact check: Has Coinbase launched a decentralized fact checking portal?

Coinbase has launched a fact-checking portal to combat “misinformation and mischaracterizations about Coinbase or crypto” being shared online. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has announced the launch of what he’s calling a “Fact-Check" via the company’s blog. In a May 27 post titled “Announcing Coinbase Fact Check: Decentralizing Truth in the Age of Misinformation,” Armstrong expressed the firm’s desire to combat untrue assertions aimed towards Coinbase and the crypto industry as a whole: “We will use this section of the blog to combat misinformation and mischaracterizations about Coinbase or crypto being shared in the world.” The post was subtitled: “Every tech company should go direct to their audience, and become a media company,” which he suggested elsewhere in the piece isn't very difficult: "Whether traditional, social or corporate media, we're all just typing words on the internet." While the title of Armstrong’s blog post article suggests that at some...
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Ren launches bridge to Polygon for seven top crypto assets

The new bridge will allow Ren’s ERC-20 representations of BTC, BCH, DOGE, FIL, LUNA, ZEC, and DGB can now be transferred onto the Polygon network. The launch of the new Polygon x RenVM Bridge was announced to Twitter by Polygon on May 28, who emphasized the bridge will allow Bitcoin and other assets to be used on the high-speed and low-cost layer-two. Ren and Polygon have teamed up to launch a bridge allowing BTC and other assets to be transferred between Bitcoin and the Ethereum scaling solution. Excited to announce the launch of a direct bridge to Polygon by @renprotocol ! With the Polygon x RenVM Bridge, users can move #BTC and many more assets directly to Polygon, enabling high-speed, low-cost txns for these assets. Start bridging now: https://t.co/91xPP2E2cp pic.twitter.com/E9AkveROGR — Polygon (previously Matic) (@0xPolygon) May 27, 2021 Ren’s ERC-20 representations of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Filecoin, Terra, Zcash, and DigiByte can now be used on the Polyg...
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Public Company TechX Technologies Is Making Significant Acquisitions in the Crypto Industry

TechX Technologies is a publicly traded company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. TechX is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (TECX), Frankfurt Exchange (C0B1), and the OTC (TECXF). TechX Acquires Mobilum for $16 Million TechX Technologies Inc. (CSE: TECX) (OTCMKTS: TECFX) (FRA: C0B1) is a public company making waves with its mergers and acquisitions initiatives. The company acquired 100% of the assets of Cryptobuddy and has rebranded it to Alt Signals , a crypto trading signals platform through its subsidiary at an all-stock deal valued at C$5 million. Shortly after this acquisition, TechX Technologies signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% interest in XPort Digital Ltd, a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp platform for users to purchase cryptocurrency without setting up an account. The company acquired XPort through a stock deal valued at C$5 million. On May 26th, the company announced its acquisition of Mobilum OU, a fintech company that provides fiat infrastructur...
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Crypto couple tells court the IRS has no right to tax newly mined coins

Coins earned by staking have been “created” and are not taxable until sold according to one couple in the U.S. A couple investing in crypto have claimed that coins gained by mining or staking are not taxable until sold, in a complaint filed to federal court.  The Tennessee couple are seeking a refund from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on Tuesday, May 25. Joshua and Jessica Jarrett claim that earnings from staking are not taxable transactions because they constitute the creation of property. They compared this to a baker making a cake or an author writing a novel. Law360 reported that the court heard Jarrett used his resources to create 8,876 new units of Tezos (XTZ) tokens in 2019, and he has yet to sell any of them. The case is based on the premise that the crypto assets were “created” and have not been sold, so no income or profit has been realized from them. In their complaint, t...
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Spain Based Custodial Services to Report Ownership of Crypto Assets, According to New Law Draft

A new law draft approved just today by the Finance Commission of the Spanish Congress would make Spain-based custody services report the ownership of the cryptocurrencies under management. The law, which was stuck in Congress for some time, aims to close a gap in the legislation that allowed some users to bypass the requirements and avoid paying taxes in the process. Spain Based Custody Services Would Have to Report Ownership of Assets Third-Party custodial services based in Spain would have to report the holdings of its customers, as well as all the operations made with them, according to a new law draft approved on Wednesday by the Finance Commission of the Spanish Congress. The law, titled “Prevention and fight against tax fraud,” would make mandatory the report of any cryptocurrency funds in these institutions, and also includes individuals or institutions related to initial coin offerings in the mix. Until now, these institutions didn’t have to report any of their activities ...
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Uniswap v3 looks set for layer-two scaling on both Arbitrum and Optimism

Uniswap is now planning layer-two deployments on both Arbitrum and Optimism. The Uniswap community has voted in favor of launching the leading decentralized exchange’s v3 iteration on layer-two scaling solution, Arbitrum. Uniswap’s creator, Hayden Adams, announced the vote on May 27, revealing the proposal’s governance vote received 41.35 million votes in favor and zero opposing votes from UNI token holders. He noted that work is already underway to plan the deployment and design its interface. 2/ Assuming the snapshot passes we intend to support the community by deploying the v3 smart contracts to Arbitrum! We have already begun work on interface support and planning the deployment. — Hayden Adams (@haydenzadams) May 26, 2021 Arbitrum raised $3.7 million in 2019 to explore smart contract scalability, and launched the first Rollup system for Ethereum in early 2020 . Arbitrum claims to have achieved a reduction in gas costs of 55 times for its testnet port of Uniswap v2 i...
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Nvidia reports record earnings, claims it's 'hard to determine' impact of crypto miners

Despite the surging crypto market rally, Nvidia believes its record first-quarter earnings are the result of high demand from the gaming industry. Nvidia, a leading manufacturer of graphics processing units, or GPUs, has announced record earnings for Q1 2021. However, the firm has downplayed the role of the crypto bull market in driving its impressive performance, primarily attributing demand for its products to gamers. The firm reported an 84% increase in sales overall, with the impressive performance owing to a period of sustained growth despite global shortages of semiconductors. Nvidia’s sales and earnings both surpassed the expectations with Wall Street, reporting revenue of $5.66 billion and earnings of $3.66 per share after pundits had predicted earnings of $3.28 per share and revenue of $5.41 billion. Nvidia claims demand from the video game sector more than doubled in the past 12 months, producing annual growth of 106% to drive $2.76 billion in sales. CFO Colette Kress, ...
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Mark Cuban Reveals Stake in Ethereum Layer 2 Scaling Solution Polygon

Famed American entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban has divulged a strategic investment in Polygon, highlighting his own use and embrace of the protocol’s multi-chain approach to Ethereum. Investment Accompanies Release of the Polygon SDK As major names line up behind Ethereum, notably Goldman Sachs, which presented a thesis highlighting the network’s potential to overtake Bitcoin in terms of crypto dominance, Mark Cuban is among the latest high-profile figures to throw his support behind the network via an investment in Polygon . Polygon, formerly known as Matic, aims to help tackle the scaling constraints that have plagued Ethereum by delivering the interoperability needed to construct and connect Ethereum-compatible chains. The layer 2 scaling solution pioneered by the company will effectively benefit from Ethereum’s core features while building upon the network’s existing capacity. For projects like decentralized finance (defi) that want to avoid the throughput bottlenecks an...
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Billionaire Carl Icahn says he may drop up to $1.5B into crypto

Billionaire Carl Icahn may invest up to $1.5 billion into crypto while noting that “much of the cryptocurrency issued today will not survive.” Former crypto skeptic Carl Icahn, the founder of Icahn Enterprises, told Bloomberg he’s set to enter the crypto market in a “big way” — teasing an investment of around $1.5 billion. Icahn is an investor and former advisor to the Trump administration who has a net worth of $15.6 billion according to Forbes. In 2018 Icahn told CNBC that crypto is “ridiculous” and added “maybe I’m too old for them, but I wouldn’t touch that stuff.” But speaking on May 26, Icahn explained he's now considering a large investment and that entering the market in such a manner would “not be to buy a few coins or something”: “I mean, a big way for us would be a billion dollars, billion-and-a-half dollars ... I'm not going to say exactly." Icahn joins a growing list of fellow billionaires who have changed their tune over crypto in the past 12 months...
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Guggenheim CIO Scott Minerd Predicts More Bitcoin Sell-Off but Remains Bullish Long Term

The chief investment officer of Guggenheim, Scott Minerd, has predicted more sell-off for bitcoin. He also warned that it will take a while for the cryptocurrency to return to its previous highs. However, in the long term, Minerd has predicted that bitcoin’s price could rise to $600K. Bitcoin Sell-Off to Continue, Minerd Says The chief investment officer (CIO) of Guggenheim Partners, Scott Minerd, has made another bearish prediction for bitcoin’s price in the short term. Minerd is also the chairman of Guggenheim Investments, the global asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners. Guggenheim Investments has about $270 billion in total assets under management across fixed income, equity, and alternative strategies. He told CNBC on Tuesday that bitcoin has not hit its bottom just yet, emphasizing: You can afford to be patient here. There’s more to go. He explained that bitcoin had gone “exponential” and it will take some time for the cryptocurrency to ...
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Women-led events may encourage long-term female participation in blockchain

By women and for women: Crypto industry leaders take action to bring equality to the blockchain sector by developing female-centric initiatives. The tech industry is notorious for its male-dominated culture, and unfortunately, the blockchain space may still be exhibiting this, at least for the time being.  Although female cryptocurrency investors are on the rise , men still make up the majority of job positions within the blockchain sector . This could be due to a number of reasons, such as a lack of funding for female-led blockchain companies or the ever-present gender wage gap in tech. According to recent data collected by AI-driven marketplace Hired, female candidates for tech jobs received wages that were 3% lower than their male counterparts. While discouraging, women leaders in the blockchain space are taking action to ensure equality by allowing females to have their voices heard at industry events. A blockchain event for women Specifically speaking, events run by wo...
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China to socially blacklist Bitcoin miners in Inner Mongolia region

China's crackdown on crypto mining could see offenders blacklisted from basic social and financial services if caught. China has ramped up efforts to quash cryptocurrency mining in its Inner Mongolia region by introducing new penalties for those caught engaging in the illegal activity. Officials unveiled new draft rules which would see harsher punishments applied to those caught mining Bitcoin ( BTC ) and other cryptocurrencies, as per a report by the South China Morning Post. These would include placing offenders on a social credit blacklist, which would stop them from getting loans, or even using the transportation system. The new rules make particular mention of data centres, industrial parks, telecoms companies, internet firms and even cybercafes, noting that any such offenders found operating mining equipment would have their business license revoked, could be removed from the local electricity trading scheme, and could even have their businesses shut down entirely. The ...
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UK ad organization bans crypto exchange's ‘time to buy’ Bitcoin advert

Luno exchange agreed not to post their Bitcoin ads in their current form again and promised to ensure that future ads would carry a proper risk warning. A major advertising industry organization in the United Kingdom has ruled on an ad campaign telling people “it’s time to buy” Bitcoin ( BTC ). The Advertising Standards Authority, a self-regulating ad organization, officially halted an advertising campaign by cryptocurrency exchange Luno for being misleading and irresponsible. “The ads must not appear again in the form complained about,” the ASA said Wednesday, noting that ads like this should mention that Bitcoin investment is highly risky due to its extremely volatile nature. Shown across the London Underground network and on London buses this year, Luno’s ad posters contained an image of Bitcoin saying “If you’re seeing Bitcoin on the Underground, it’s time to buy.” Source:  Financial Times The ASA said that it received several complaints regarding Luno’s ad, with peop...
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Bitcoin price volatility hits 2021 high as one analyst paints $15,000 target

Wild price fluctuations are likely in the top two cryptocurrencies as both record a dramatic spike in their 30-day realized volatility charts. The current cryptocurrency market scenario is only for traders that have an extremely high appetite for risks. But for the weak-hearted ones, analysts advise patience and caution ahead. The outlook stands tall for Bitcoin ( BTC ) and Ether ( ETH ), the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization that more or less behave as locomotives for the rest of the crypto market. As of Wednesday, the ETH/USD Realized Volatility on a 30-day timeframe has reached near its 2017 peak levels, according to data provided by Skew. Bitcoin and Ethereum 30-day realized volatility reaches 2021 high. Source: ByBt.com, Skew Meanwhile, ByBt.com shows Bitcoin's 30-day volatility at its yearly high, suggesting that the benchmark asset remains at risk of wild price fluctuations in the sessions ahead. Simply put, the top two crypto-assets show a likelihood of m...
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Canadian regulators accuse crypto exchange of breaking securities law

Canada’s OSC continues to take action against allegedly non-compliant cryptocurrency trading platforms after announcing new compliance measures in March. Canadian securities regulators have initiated a regulatory action against major global cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex. On Tuesday, the Ontario Securities Commission published  a statement of allegations against Polo Digital Assets, also known as Poloniex, alleging that the firm has failed to comply with Ontario securities laws. According to the statement, Poloniex has never been registered with the agency while encouraging Canadians to use its platform and allowing Ontario residents to trade crypto derivatives and securities. “Poloniex has never filed a prospectus with the Commission or obtained an exemption from the prospectus requirement,” the OSC wrote. As Poloniex is incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles, the Seychelles Financial Services Authority has been assisting Canadian regulators in the matter, the OSC ...
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Bitcoin mining banned in Iran until September

Iran's government has placed an immediate embargo on Bitcoin and crypto mining to preserve electricity over the summer months. The recent crackdown on Bitcoin ( BTC ) and crypto mining in Iran has reached a new dimension with the government banning the activity over the summer. According to a report by Bloomberg, President Hassan Rouhani announced the blanket ban on Bitcoin mining in the country in an address on state television on Wednesday. The nationwide prohibition will reportedly last until September with the government keen on ensuring access to electricity for domestic consumption during the hot summer months which are historically peak periods for power demand. As part of his address, President Rouhani alleged that the majority of the crypto mining activity in Iran — up to 85% — was unlicensed. Indeed, Cointelegraph recently reported on a crackdown by the authorities on miners using electricity meant for household consumption. Iran began a process of nationalizing i...
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Elon Musk reminds followers he really isn’t Dogecoin’s master

Musk's tweets have been credited with markedly influencing the value of the meme cryptocurrency. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reminded Twitter followers on Tuesday that despite the recent interest he’s taken in Dogecoin ( DOGE ) he still has no formal authority over the project. Musk was replying to a comment from a Doge-themed account which opined that he had taken to operating Dogecoin like one of his own companies, and that he’d effectively become the project’s CEO. The comment framed Musk’s influence as something to be celebrated, but the self-proclaimed “ Dogefather ” issued a reminder that he actually isn’t the boss, and that no one really answers to him. Please note Dogecoin has no formal organization & no one reports to me, so my ability to take action is limited — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 25, 2021 “Please note Dogecoin has no formal organization & no one reports to me, so my ability to take action is limited,” wrote Musk. The results of a recent survey conducted ...
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Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Says “Digital Currency Will Come to Life” but Attacks Volatile Cryptocurrencies

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, says digital currency “will come to life even in Nigeria” just a few months after the central bank ordered banks to stop serving the crypto industry. While acknowledging his country’s position as one of the leading crypto markets in the world, Emefiele however insists his organization is still conducting its investigation and will “make our data available.” Governor Says Many Nigerians Have Embraced Cryptos Meanwhile, a report quotes the governor expressing his displeasure at the fact that many Nigerians have embraced cryptocurrencies. He said: We have carried out our investigation and we found out that a substantial percentage of our people are getting involved in cryptocurrency which is not the best. Don’t get me wrong, some may be legitimate but most are illegitimate. As several reports have shown, the CBN’s February 6 directive to banks appears to have failed in its objective. Nigerian interest in cryptocurrencies an...
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Nebraska signs law to authorize state-chartered banks to custody crypto

The bill was co-authored with the cryptocurrency firm Telcoin and introduced by Republican state senator Mike Flood. A crypto-friendly bill — co-authored by a cryptocurrency firm and first introduced by Republican state senator Mike Flood this January — was signed into law today in Nebraska. The Nebraska Financial Innovation Act  was one of Senator Flood's first initiatives, introduced scarcely two weeks after being sworn into office. It will authorize the regulation of digital asset depositories in the state by creating a new state banking charter tailored to digital asset-backed financial services. Republican lawmakers outnumber Democrats almost two-to-one in the state legislature (32 to 17) and numbers for this week's final vote were 46–2. Signed into law as Legislative Bill 647, the Act means that financial institutions — e.g., banks, building and loan associations — can operate digital asset depository businesses, for which Nebraska will provide “charter, operation, ...
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Banks cautious about crypto ahead of COVID-19 testimony before US Senate

CEOs of major American banking institutions are heading to Washington to face legislators' questions about how they will aid a post-pandemic economic recovery. Major Wall Street bank executives will appear before the United States Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday to discuss the role of their financial institutions in the recovery of the American economy. Democratic lawmakers plan to grill a number of major bank execs, whose firms saw record profits during the COVID-19 pandemic while average Americans struggled to make ends meet.  In prepared testimonies posted on Tuesday, CEOs at the Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo described their respective banks' responses to major challenges such as inequality, diversity, climate change, taxes, as well as how their banks handle cryptocurrencies.  This year saw a record bull run in cryptocurrency markets as major financial institutions opened up to digital assets, adding trading desks and custody wings to handle cl...
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Bitcoin blasts past $40K again, Ethereum nears $3K: Is a bigger crypto rally looming?

Bitcoin has surged past $40,000 and the cryptocurrency market is rapidly recovering, with $42,000 remaining as a key sell The price of Bitcoin ( BTC ) has surpassed $40,000 on May 26, breaking above a key sell area for the first time in five days. Traders expect a broader rally to come and a bullish market structure to form if Bitcoin continues to rise above $42,000 and Ether ( ETH ) reclaims $3,000.  BTC/USD (orange) and ETH/USD (blue) 4-hour candle chart Source. TradingView $42,000 and $49,000 are key resistance levels Bitcoin has been recovering over the past week due to three major factors. First, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor have been encouraging Bitcoin miners to use cleaner energy. Musk and Saylor have gone further since, speaking with Bitcoin miners in the United States about reliable energy consumption. Spoke with North American Bitcoin miners. They committed to publish current & planned renewable usage & to ask miners WW to ...
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Chinese Firm Bit Mining Invests $9M to Build 100 Megawatt Bitcoin Farm in Kazakhstan

Shenzhen-based Bit Mining is planning to construct and operate a 100 MW crypto-mining data center in Kazakhstan. The project will be implemented in partnership with two local companies that will also provide the enterprise with an array of services. The total amount of the investment will exceed $9 million. Kazakhstan to Host New 100 MW Crypto Mining Facility Bit Mining announced this week it has entered into a binding investment term sheet with a Kazakhstani entity. The two companies will cooperate on the construction of a new crypto mining facility in the Central Asian republic. The Chinese firm will have an 80% equity interest in the new Kazakhstan Mining Data Center, with the remaining 20% held by its local partner. The bitcoin farm will launch with a power capacity of 20 MW and when fully operational it’s expected to reach a total capacity of 100 MW. Bit Mining said it’s going to invest 60 million Chinese yuan (around $9.33 million) into the joint project. The Chinese compan...
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