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Showing posts from May 27, 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...

Crypto Savings Platform Ledn Raises $30 Million in Latest Funding Round

Ledn, a cryptocurrency lending and savings platform based in Canada, has managed to raise $30 million in its latest funding round. The money raised will be used to expand its offer of lending products, and to expand its reach in more countries. Ledn could take advantage of the recent problems that Blockfi, one of its contenders, is facing now to increase its share in the sector. Ledn Raises $30 Million in Latest Funding Ledn, a Canada-based cryptocurrency lending platform managed to raise $30 million in its Series A funding round, a more than tenfold increase from its first funding round. The round was led by Kingsway Capital, a London-based investment firm with a focus on digital assets and mobile internet investments. The round also had participation from other investors: Alan Howard, Hashed, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments LLLP, ParaFi Capital, Alexis Ohanian, and John Pfeffer. According to the press release statement , all of the first backers of the company also chipped...

Chinese BTC miners equivalent to Quebec's output on the move: Slush Pool

According to Edward Evenson, a Bitcoin miner from Slush Pool, Chinese BTC miners are on the move. Edward Evenson, head of business development at Slush Pool owner Braiins, reports that a large number of Chinese BTC mining machines equivalent to Quebec’s entire output are currently en route to North America and Europe. For those interested in the #Bitcoin mining news coming out of China I’ve had 300-400MW of mining machines contact me to help them distribute their machines across NA and some parts of EU. Some have also begun shipping machines to Kazakhstan. — Edward Evenson (@WillHash4Coins) May 27, 2021 In Twitter thread on May 28, Evenson revealed that some Chinese BTC miners also have their eyes on Europe, and while others have already began moving machines to Kazakhstan: “ I’ve had 300-400MW of mining machines contact me to help them distribute their machines across NA and some parts of EU. Some have also begun shipping machines to Kazakhstan.” To put that in perspective...

OKex embraces Brazil’s official fast payments system PIX, as CBDC draws nearer

OKEx, Crypto.com, and LocalBitcoins have integrated Brazil’s PIX instant payments system. Increasing numbers of offshore cryptocurrency exchanges are embracing Brazil’s instant payments infrastructure, PIX. On May 28, OKEx announced a strategic partnership with local payments firm CuboPay, allowing it to facilitate Tether ($USDT) purchases in exchange for Brazilian real via PIX. The news follows similar moves from rival exchanges, including Crypto.com peer-to-peer platform Localbitcoins . The integrations come as the Central Bank of Brazil, or BCB, published preliminary guidelines for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, on May 25. The announcement emphasizes that the CBDC will operate “as an extension of the physical currency,” and is intended to improve the retail payment system, foster new business models, and bolster Brazil’s participation in regional and global trade through increasing the efficiency of cross-border transactions. Research into a CBDC was authorized ...

How Pocketnet & Pocketcoin (PKOIN) Are Set to Change the Internet Forever With Crypto & P2P Tech

Pocketnet is a fundamentally new way to build a social media platform powered by the cryptocurrency Pocketcoin (PKOIN). It is a mix of traditional social media platforms and Bitcoin with some cutting-edge new features, such as the ability to auction off your content through NFT-Scarce. Pocketcoin (PKOIN) is a Proof-of-Stake token that allows authors to earn crypto for their content and protects them from arbitrary censorship through community moderation. Blockchain tracks reputation and high reputation users moderate the platform. PKOIN is for decentralized advertising, boosting posts, buying unique fonts and themes in Pocketnet, as well as auctioning off NFT-Scarce tokens in the upcoming releases. Pocketnet is a network of fully decentralized equal nodes ran by users (hundreds of nodes around the world are already in operation). Take Back the Internet with Pocketnet: Exclusive Live Crypto Challenge Pocketnet announces a limited space exclusive live event for cryptocurrency buffs...

NBA Legend Paul Pierce and Poker Hall of Famer Phil Ivey to Join Joe Lubin of Consensys for a Virtue Poker Charity Tournament

Virtue Poker revealed plans to organize a high-stakes 12-player celebrity poker tournament on its platform, live-streamed on Twitch, with the winner donating the event’s proceeds to their preferred charitable organization. Celebrity Charity Tournament Features NFTs & Giveaways Virtue Poker , one of the first decentralized casinos to use Ethereum and peer-to-peer networking, will soon host a charity poker tournament on its platform. Scheduled for June 22nd, the event will feature several renowned industry personalities alongside exclusive prizes and giveaways. Poker pro players Brian Rast, Poker Hall of Famer Phil Ivey, NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, Consensys Co-Founder Joe Lubin, crypto entrepreneurs Nick Rose from Ethernity and Elliotrades from Superfarm, and other influencers will be participating. In addition to the celebrities, Virtue Poker will also select three lucky community members, one each from Ethernity, Virtue Poker, and Superfarm, to compete at the table. The ev...

US sanctions agency OFAC to rely more heavily on Chainalysis

Govt agencies want more tools to trace suspect crypto transactions. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control has requested another subscription to Chainalysis analytics software in order to step up its blockchain transaction surveillance efforts. In a public notice sent out on May 26, the agency confirmed its intention to subscribe to Chainalysis’s Rumker Training and Support Packages for what it deems as “mission-critical research”, further expanding its arsenal of surveillance tools. This week’s public notice marks the second such request that the agency has made this month, having made a prior request for Chainalysis blockchain surveillance tools on May 4. The latest notice stated the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control requires a commercial online blockchain tracing web-based application tool to equip investigators in its Office of Global Targeting (OGT). OFAC is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department that admi...

Dfinity responds to Internet Computer decentralization and privacy concerns

Dfinity has sought to quell criticism over the decentralization and privacy of its Internet Computer protocol. Dfinity, the team behind the Internet Computer protocol , or ICP, has fired back at critics of its decentralization and privacy features in an “ Ask Me Anything ” on Reddit yesterday. The team sought to assure that the project’s foundation does not have control over the majority of voting power, emphasizing that decentralization is a priority for the network as it moves forward. The project aims to replace the public internet with a distributed network of data centers, nodes, subnets and users coordinated through the Network Nervous System, or NNS. The NNS decides which nodes can join Dfinity’s network, disciplines misbehaving nodes, and facilitates communications between the ICP’s various components and participants. However, the NNS has been the subject of criticism, with users expressing concerns regarding the centralization of voting power, the closed-course and pate...

NFT volume has more than tripled — even amid price crash — as Meme.com raises $5M

The NFT sector has seen exponential growth, tripling in transactions since January and pushing through the market crash this month. The popularity of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, shows little sign of slowing down, despite the extraordinary marketwide crash that wiped more than $1 trillion off the crypto market cap. According to a report by decentralized app marketplace DappRadar, the average number of NFT sales rose almost 300%, from 21,815 per day in January, to 82,373 in May (so far). This number rose even higher as crypto prices started to plummet on May 12, with sales surging to almost 94,000 NFT transactions a day. The crypto market crash, which created a widespread panic as almost 1 million leverage trades got liquidated, also resulted in serious congestion and exorbitant transaction fees across the Ethereum network. These surging gas fees didn’t deter NFT traders, however, with many turning to other marketplaces on alternate blockchains like the Atomic Market on the EOSI...

'Crypto will cause the next financial crisis': Precious metals boss

Metalla Royalty & Streaming CEO Brett Heath has warned that crypto will “lead the charge into the next financial crisis” and questioned the true intrinsic value of Bitcoin. The CEO of precious metals royalty and streaming company Metalla Royalty & Streaming, Brett Heath has warned that crypto will “lead the charge into the next financial crisis.” Metalla Royalty & Streaming is a Canadian-based firm founded in 1983 and has a current net worth of almost half a billion dollars. Metalla offers exposure to precious metals through gold and silver royalties and streams. Speaking to financial news outlet Kitco News on May 28, Heath compared crypto to the tech induced crash of the early 2000s and the 2008 mortgage crisis, noting that: “When you look back the last few decades and you look at all of the financial crises that happened, you know, they all have a couple of things in common. And one of them is the mass adoption of a new financial product or a new technology that'...

CipherTrace expands to cover Binance Smart Chain amid wave of exploits

Binance beefs up blockchain analytics amid a surge in DeFi exploits. Cryptocurrency and blockchain intelligence company CipherTrace has announced analytics support for Binance Smart Chain (BSC) amid a rise in attacks and vulnerabilities on protocols running on the network. In an announcement on May 27, the firm stated that it aims to identify higher-risk financial transactions taking place on BSC and its decentralized applications which now number more than 600. CipherTrace already tracks the activity of over a thousand digital assets. Dave Jevans, CEO of CipherTrace, stated that once support for a blockchain is added, the firm can add analytics for all applications built on that network. The inclusion of CipherTrace’s analytics also allows Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), such as exchanges, banks, OTC desks, hosted wallets, and other financial institutions, to flag transactions occurring on BSC that have a high probability of originating in illicit activity, including frau...

Shanghai Man: Miners banned, exchanges targeted? Here's what's really happening

A look at the last week of crackdowns, including a ruling from Vice Premier Liu He. Hong Kong echoes Beijing with stricter controls of their own, limiting retail investors in the administrative region. 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. China regulations, FACT or FUD? Normally, this weekly column takes a broad look at all the developments, news, and even gossip from within China. This week, most topics took a backseat to the news that another crackdown had rippled through the industry, threatening to topple markets into a full-blown bear market. Abandoning the mines It was all fun and games until a ruling came down from the top. Liu He, who is Vice Premier of China and member of the all-powerful eight-person politburo, led a meeting on preventing and controlling financial risks. Amon...

Harvard Law BFI throws 10.5M votes behind own proposal to fund DeFi lobby with UNI

It is not the first time Uniswap governance has been dominated by a whale. The effect of whales on Uniswap governance is a topic of hot debate once again after Harvard's blockchain group threw a massive amount of voting power behind its own proposal. The proposal , made on May 27 by the Harvard Law School Blockchain and FinTech Initiative, is for the creation of a fund that would finance existing and new political groups engaged in crypto policy making and lobbying to defend decentralized finance against regulation. The proposed fund would have a chest of 1-1.5 million UNI, worth approximately $28 million to $42 million at current prices. At the time of writing Harvard Law BFI has pledged 10.46 million UNI tokens, or 99% of the votes, in favor of the proposal. There are just 766,460 votes against it so far. Industry observer and critic of centralized governance, Chris Blec from DeFi Watch, was one of the first to comment on the heavily weighted voting mechanism. ⚠️ @HarvardL...

Billionaire Carl Icahn Mulls Over Diving Into Cryptocurrency in a ‘Big Way’ With About $1.5 Billion Investment

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, the founder of Icahn Enterprises, says that his company is exploring how to get involved in cryptocurrency “in a relatively big way,” which he said could be an investment of about $1.5 billion. Carl Icahn Exploring Getting Into Cryptocurrency Carl Icahn, the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a diversified conglomerate holding company based in New York City, revealed his cryptocurrency plan in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday. He said: I’m looking at the whole business and how I can get involved in it with Icahn Enterprises in a relatively big way because, I think, it’s here to stay in one form or another. Icahn is one of Wall Street’s most successful investors. In 1678, he formed Icahn & Co., a securities firm focusing on arbitrage and options trading. In 1978, he began taking substantial positions in individual companies, including RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Phillips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Via...

Nifty News: GameStop’s NFT market, NBA star LaMelo ‘mints career’ on NFTs ... and more

Gamestop may be working on its own NFT marketplace, while Rookie of the Year candidate LaMelo Ball is set to drop 500 Dynamic NFTs. It appears that “r/wallstreetbets” favorite meme stock company GameStop is in the process of developing its own NFT marketplace. Oh wow, @GameStop is launching an NFT platform https://t.co/3lkqgJTiwS pic.twitter.com/3BT1Szo9qJ — Brad Michelson (@BradMichelson) May 25, 2021 While an official announcement hasn’t been made, the gaming giant appears to have launched a website named “nft.gamestop” — and is currently on the lookout for recruits: “We welcome exceptional engineers (solidity, react, python), designers, gamers, marketers, and community leaders. If you want to join our team, send your profile or something you've built to: nfteam@gamestop.com.” Information on the bare bones website is sparse. Apart from the job listing, there is a Nintendo Game-Boy-like gaming console with a GameStop cartridge placed at the top. The console’s screen has...

Danish Central Banker Tempted to Ignore Cryptocurrency — Sees Real Threat in ‘Big Tech Invading Currency Area’

Denmark’s central bank governor Lars Rohde says that he can be tempted to ignore cryptocurrency, stating that it is not a threat to the central bank at present. However, he pointed out that the real threat could come from big technology companies “invading the currency area or the transaction means.” Denmark’s Central Bank Governor Tempted to Ignore Cryptocurrency Danish central bank governor Lars Rohde discussed cryptocurrencies on Bloomberg from Copenhagen on Wednesday. He was asked whether the central bank sees the rise in cryptocurrency trading as a serious economic threat. The governor was specifically asked if the central bank is taking the matter seriously or whether it largely continues to ignore cryptocurrency. Governor Rohde replied: I could be tempted to ignore it. I think the term currency is badly used here. Most currencies are stores of value or means of transactions. He added, “There is no stability and no guarantee from any side about the value of cryptocurrenci...

Blockchain platform raises $12M to build javascript-like DApps

Blockchain development platform Reach is aiming to create universally compatible DApps by building a javascript-like programming language. Reach, a blockchain development platform for decentralized applications, has raised $12 million from investors to further its goals of simplifying the DApp creation process, the company announced on May 26. The latest funding round takes the total sum raised by Reach to $48 million, as the firm aims to produce a javascript-like programming language for use in building blockchain applications. At present, most major blockchains launch with their own unique programming languages, meaning the applications built on each platform are rarely compatible with any other. Reach launched in 2019, and has thus far achieved compatibility with the Ethereum and Algorand   blockchains, with plans to expand the compatibility of its code compiler to adapt to any network. Reach founder and CEO Chris Swenor said the fundraise took the project closer to be...

GamerHash (GHX) Token Is Now Listed on Bitcoin.com Exchange

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the listing of GHX, being available to trade on the 27th May 2021 at 10:00AM UTC. GHX (GamerCoin) was created by the GamerHash team, as an incentive for the miners within the app and as a reward for carrying out the tasks on the Play&Earn module. GHX will start trading with BTC as a pair . What is GamerHash? GamerHash is an ecosystem where gamers can use their computing power to earn Bitcoin. That is the basic functionality of the platform, created in 2017, that has brought together over half a million gamers to this day. One of the moot points behind the recent GHX token growth is the already working platform supporting over 600,000 registered users. The big number of users (mostly gamers) corresponds with the ease of crypto mining on the platform – you can earn BTC while playing games or watching Netflix. At the same time, you receive GamerCoin as a 20% bonus on top of the BTC you mine. Lower-end PC owners with...

Paypal to Allow Cryptocurrency Withdrawals to Third-Party Wallets

Payments giant Paypal will soon allow its users to transfer cryptocurrencies away from its platform to third-party wallets, the company’s head of cryptocurrency reportedly revealed. Paypal has been seeing tremendous growth in its crypto business. Paypal to Support Crypto Transfers to Third-Party Wallets Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Paypal’s head of cryptocurrency, said during the Consensus 2021 conference Wednesday that his company will soon start allowing cryptocurrency withdrawals to third-party wallets. He explained: We want to make it as open as possible and we want to give choice to our consumers … They want to bring their crypto to us so they can use it in commerce, and we want them to be able to take the crypto they have bought with us and take it to the destination of their choice. The change will allow Paypal users to transfer their cryptocurrencies away from the platform to third-party wallets. Currently, Paypal’s terms and conditions for its crypto service state that “Yo...

Lack of knowledge is main barrier to crypto adoption, new survey says

55% of survey respondents said that they were aware of crypto despite never owning or using cryptocurrencies. Among the many complications associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin ( BTC ), a lack of knowledge and understanding of crypto is the biggest obstacle for wider adoption, according to a new survey. The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, released a new report called “Digimentality 2021.” The study was commissioned by major payment and cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com and contains a consumer survey of 3,053 people conducted from February to March 2021. According to survey results, 51% of respondents said a lack of knowledge is the main barrier to the adoption of open-source cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether ( ETH ), while 34% of survey participants cited security concerns as the main obstacle, and 29% indicated difficulties in knowing where to buy crypto. In terms of crypto acceptance by institutional inves...

Number of Bitcoin wallets holding 100-1K BTC soars after Tesla's $1.5B buy-in

New data shows a dramatic rise in the number of Bitcoin wallets holding anywhere between 100 BTC to 1,000 BTC, but there may be a catch. The amount of Bitcoin ( BTC ) held by whales increased by around 14% after Tesla announced its foray into the cryptocurrency sector in early February 2021. The latest data from on-chain analytics platform Glassnode shows an inflow of roughly $19.5 billion worth of Bitcoin — according to current exchange rates — into wallets that hold at least 100 BTC and a maximum of 1,000 BTC. The deposits spiked right after Tesla revealed in its January securities filings that it had added $1.5 billion worth of BTC to its balance sheet. The news hit the wire on Feb. 8 when the cost to purchase one Bitcoin was as low as $38,057 on Coinbase. The rates shot up toward $65,000 by mid-April, driven higher by bulls that expected Tesla's involvement in the cryptocurrency sector to influence more corporates into adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets. Honestly, I’...