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Showing posts from June 16, 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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SynFutures raises $14M for derivatives DEX supporting ‘anything with a price feed’

Polychain Capital led the derivative DEX’s $14 million Series A round. Forthcoming decentralized derivatives exchange SynFutures has closed an oversubscribed $14 million Series A funding round led by Polychain Capital. The automated market maker’s funding round also saw participation from other heavyweight crypto investors including Pantera Capital, Framework, and Wintermute. Including the DEX’s January 2021 seed round, SynFutures has nowraised $15.4 million in total. According to an announcement, the exchange plans to offer a one-stop-shop for derivatives, allowing anybody to launch arbitrary trading pairs with any expiry date based on the value of the underlying assets for which the liquidity is provided. SynFutures will not be alone in servicing the decentralized derivatives niche, with established projects like Synthetix and new players like Converge Finance targeting crypto-powered derivatives for real-world assets. SynFutures’ bold objective is of "enabling trading on...
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Thailand’s XSpring Capital raises $225M to build integrated financial marketplace

Thai companies and millionaires have funded the firm which aims to bridge traditional and digital finance. Investment management company XSpring Capital has secured a large funding round with partners in Thailand to accelerate the development of its financial marketplace that combines traditional and digital asset products. It also hopes to bring an expanded platform to the United States. According to an announcement, the $225 million has been raised through a partnership with Thai real estate firm Sansiri, local insurance company Viryah, and Thai private investor and multi-millionaire Mongkol Prakitchaiwattana. Formerly known as Seamico Securities, XSpring Capital (not to be confused with Ripple’s Xpring project incubator ), has a wide variety of trading licenses enabling it to operate across the traditional and digital finance markets. The firm, which touts itself as an emerging leader in Asia's digital investment marketplace, provides financial and investment services incl...
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Korean Exchanges Delist High-risk Coins as They Face Tough Regulations

Crypto trading platforms in South Korea are delisting certain digital currencies as they move to comply with stricter rules for the industry. The trading of some high-risk coins has been either halted or completely suspended on several Korean exchanges this week. South Korean Exchanges Wipe Trading Lists of Risky Digital Assets Trying to meet Seoul’s tougher new rules for the cryptocurrency sector, Korean exchanges are now purging their trading lists of high-risk assets. According to a report by Arirang, a number of crypto trading platforms have temporarily halted or ended the exchange of some digital coins, while warning customers to be cautious of other currencies. Out of 20 exchanges that have already obtained Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification , 11 have made such changes, the publication reveled. Among them are some of Korea’s leading crypto exchange providers, with observes reading the move as an attempt to meet new requirements for government approva...
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'I have nothing': Imprisoned John McAfee claims his crypto fortune is gone

John McAfee asserted in an extradition hearing in Spain that the tax evasion charges aimed against him are politically motivated. Software antivirus pioneer John McAfee has told his one million Twitter followers that his entire crypto fortune is gone — although he concedes not everyone will believe he’s telling the truth. The McAfee antivirus founder has been behind bars in Spain since October 2020 — when he was arrested for tax evasion — but that hasn’t stopped him from posting on Twitter on a near-daily basis. The 76-year-old tweeted earlier today that “I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing,” and noted that: “The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association.” The U.S. government is currently seeking McAfee’s extradition, with a ruling set to come from Spanish courts in the coming days. McAfee has ...
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Indonesia's central bank marshals staff to enforce crypto payments ban

Indonesia’s central bank is sending supervisors out to ensure local financial institutions aren’t defying the nationwide ban of crypto payments this bull season. Indonesia’s central bank governor, Perry Warjiyo, is mobilizing official supervisors to enforce the country’s ban on financial institutions using crypto assets as a means of payment. During a virtual seminar on Tuesday, June 15, Warjiyo reiterated that local financial firms and payment provided are prohibited from facilitating the use of cryptocurrency to settle payments or as an instrument used in other financial services. The central bank governor emphasized that crypto assets are “not legitimate payment instruments under the constitution, Bank Indonesia Law, and Currency Law,” noting that field supervisors will be sent out to ensure that local financial institutions adhere to the policy. Bank Indonesia prohibited financial institutions from using crypto for payments in late 2017 , with the central bank halting payment...
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Bank of America Survey: Most Fund Managers Say Bitcoin Is a Bubble, Inflation Is Transitory

The latest Bank of America’s Global Fund Manager Survey shows that “long bitcoin” is now the second most crowded trade. Moreover, most fund managers believe bitcoin is in a bubble and agree with the Fed that inflation is transitory. Bank of America’s June Fund Manager Survey Bank of America (BofA) released its June Global Fund Manager Survey this week. The survey, conducted between June 4-10, covers 224 fund managers with $667 billion under management. The fund managers were asked about many issues of concern to investors, ranging from where the economy and markets are heading to how much cash portfolio managers are holding and which trades they see as most overdone. “Long commodities” is now the most crowded trade, overtaking “ long bitcoin ” which is now the second most crowded trade. The third most crowded trade is “long tech stock,” followed by “long ESG,” “short U.S. Treasuries,” and “long euro.” Despite the BTC price pullback, 81% of the fund managers surveyed stil...
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Pantera CEO: Crypto market 'panic' is subsiding, now's the time to buy

The Pantera boss cited three primary reasons why crypto markets dumped a trillion dollars in market cap. The chief executive of Pantera Capital, Dan Morehead, is confident that the big crypto selloff is slowing because he thinks “we’ve seen the most of this panic”. In the monthly newsletter published on June 14, the venture capitalist stated that the best time to buy is when markets are “well below trend”. A Bitcoin trend deviation chart backed up this claim as it showed that the asset has only been this “cheap” relative to its trend for a fifth of its lifecycle. For new investors, it’s best to buy when the market is well below trend. Now is one of those times. #Bitcoin has only been this “cheap” relative to its trend 20.3% of the past 11 years. More perspectives on market timing in our June investor letter: https://t.co/AOvhFyxBJh pic.twitter.com/2bsxbw5Iay — Dan Morehead (@dan_pantera) June 16, 2021 He also asserted that the year-on-year returns do not indicate that Bitc...
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Central American Bank for Economic Integration to Help El Salvador Implement Bitcoin as Legal Tender

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), which has 15 member countries, will help El Salvador implement bitcoin as legal tender. The CABEI president has expressed his support. “We’re very optimistic,” he said. Central American Bank for Economic Integration Supports El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law The head of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) expressed his support for El Salvador’s bitcoin law Monday. CABEI Executive President Dante Mossi said that the bank will give El Salvador technical assistance to implement bitcoin as legal tender. Last week, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass a law making the cryptocurrency legal tender. The CABEI has 15 member countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Belize, Mexico, Republic of China (Taiwan), Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Cuba, and Korea. The bank’s objective is to “promote the economic integration and the balanced economic and ...
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CNN selling historic news ‘moments’ as NFTs

CNN will drop NFTs depicting historic moments such as space travel, technological advancements, and presidential elections. CNN has followed Fox and Time Magazine into the NFT market, announcing the launch of collectible historic moments from the news. CNN’s NFT project is dubbed “Vault by CNN: Moments That Changed Us” and includes a series of tokenized iconic moments from its 41-year history, along with a vault to purchase, store and display the NFTs. Vault by CNN: Moments That Changed Us The news organization has not revealed which specific historic moments will be tokenized, however, it noted that themes including CNN exclusives, notable firsts, world history, and presidential elections, will be covered. The initial launch will include six weekly drops starting from late June, with CNN teasing the first drops may depict space travel and election results. The NFTs will be sold in a combination of open and limited editions. The NFTs will be minted on the Flow blockchain , wh...
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General Motors CEO: ‘Nothing Precludes GM From Accepting Bitcoin if There’s Consumer Demand’

The CEO of General Motors (GM), America’s largest automaker, says that nothing precludes her company from accepting bitcoin if there is consumer demand for it. “Certainly, we want to make the whole buying and ownership experience as easy as possible,” said the GM chief executive. GM Will Accept Bitcoin if There’s Demand, CEO Indicates Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors (NYSE: GM), talked about the prospect of the largest automaker in the U.S. accepting bitcoin in an interview with CNBC Wednesday. Referencing Tesla CEO Elon Musk stating last week that his electric car company may start accepting BTC again, Barra was asked whether GM will be accepting the cryptocurrency for payments. She replied: There’s nothing that precludes us from doing that. We will be driven by our customers. Certainly, we want to make the whole buying and ownership experience as easy as possible. We will follow their lead. When Tesla announced in February that it would accept bitcoin for paymen...
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Alchemix patches ‘Reverse Rug’ exploit, address $6.5 million shortfall

In an unusual twist for the latest DeFi exploit, the users were the ones to walk away in profit. It’s as miraculous as Aladdin taking off on a magic carpet: in a possible first, some of the users of a decentralized finance protocol were the ones to benefit today from an exploit, turning the concept of a ‘rugpull’ on its head.  A colloquialism for when liquidity is drained from a project (often an unscrupulous founder or developer draining the funds themselves), depositors and DeFi users are most often the ones holding bad debt and/or worthless tokens — left to hope for compensation plans that can take months or even years to fully vest. In an exploit today, however, the users are the ones who got to pull at the seams for a change. This morning, Alchemix announced that the contracts for one of their synthetic assets, alETH, had experienced an “incident.” There has been an incident with the Alchemix alETH contracts. Together with the fantastic team at @iearnfinance , we have i...
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Fed Expects 2 Rate Hikes in 2023, Stock Market Plunges, Powell Anticipates Higher Inflation

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday told the public that it has forwarded the time frame for raising interest rates. “Progress on vaccinations will likely continue to reduce the effects of the public health crisis on the economy, but risks to the economic outlook remain,” the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a statement. The Meeting Before the ‘Meeting’ – Fed Expects Two Rate Hikes in 2023 After a number of market players waited for the Federal Reserve to reveal some signals, they got some on June 16, when 13 of the FOMC’s 18 committee members projected a rate hike by the end of 2023. “You can think of this meeting that we had as the ‘talking about talking about’ meeting,” the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell noted on Wednesday. The ‘meeting’ Powell refers to is the one where the FOMC raises interest rates after keeping rates suppressed at zero. The so-called plot of individual member interest rate expectations, shows a possibility of two interest rate hik...
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Bitcoin Beach Town in El Salvador Bustles With Growth After BTC Becomes Legal Tender

Ever since El Salvador passed a bill that was approved by a supermajority in the Salvadoran Congress legalizing bitcoin as legal tender in the nation, the country has remained in the spotlight. Furthermore, there’s an area in El Salvador called “Bitcoin Beach” with a small group of beach villagers that are attempting to leverage bitcoin on a daily basis. El Zonte Beach Town and Surfer Village Attempts to Create a Bitcoin Circular Economy in El Salvador In a region located about 50 miles from the Litoral highway, there’s a small village and a lively surfer community situated in Playa El Zonte beach. After El Salvador legalized bitcoin as a form of tender in the country, this beach village area started gaining lots of attention. Not only will you find a number of hotels, hostels, and local eateries for surfers and backpackers, Playa El Zonte also has a bustling bitcoin community. The community or village calls itself “ Bitcoin Beach ” and people can follow the residents on Twitter. ...
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SEC opens to comments on whether to approve VanEck Bitcoin ETF

The filing came before the commission's June 17 deadline to approve or disapprove of the Bitcoin ETF following an extension in April. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an order allowing the public to comment on the proposed rule change surrounding the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund from asset manager VanEck. According to a Wednesday filing from the SEC, the regulatory body has not yet reached a decision on whether to approve or disapprove of VanEck’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, but “seeks and encourages interested persons to provide comments” on the proposal. Specifically, the commission is asking the public to consider whether they believe the Bitcoin ETF would be susceptible to manipulation and designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices. The SEC also asked people to weigh in on “the suitability of Bitcoin as an underlying asset for an exchange-traded product,” and the liquidity and transparency of the Bitcoin ( BTC ) marke...
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Bitcoin price falls after Fed shifts interest rate hikes forward amid inflation fears

Stock markets and Bitcoin price took a slight hit after the Federal Reserve announced plans to increase interest rates twice in 2023, a tad bit earlier than markets expected. Bitcoin dropped closer to a key support level and the Dow and the S&P 500 pulled back after the Federal Reserve moved forward its plan for 2 interest rate hikes in 2023. Bitcoin ( BTC ) price extended its losses shortly after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that the Fed would move forward its timeline and schedule two interest rate hikes in 2023. Bitcoin price was already seeing weakness in the early trading hours after losing the $40,000 level to mark an intra-day low at $38,300. The Dow and S&P 500 also pulled back 0.77% and 0.54% respectively. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 The decision comes as economists worry about rising inflation in the United States and Powell said that the Fed had raised its inflation expectation from 2.4% to 3.4%. While Powell des...
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Solving the Climate Change Problem Using Blockchain Technology – Start of the FOSTER Project

The Swiss company TRES Group GmbH is launching an exciting and innovative program aiming at adding a solution to the Climate Change challenge. For several months, the FOSTER project has been under development, which aims to mass plant trees around the world for the benefit of increasing carbon dioxide absorption using blockchain technology. Climate the Change is an existential threat requiring participation by all to find and implement solutions to stay below 1.5 degree centigrade global warming. Nature Based Solutions are one form of alleviating CO2 emissions. Forestation and reforestation are a very effective way of creating an offset of CO2 emissions generated by fossil fuels utilization. Trees absorb CO2 and hence reducing the CO2 emissions, essentially the main reason for global warming, in the atmosphere. The world is going through “Energy Transition” gradually moving away from coal and fossil fuels to renewable energies. However, that this transition is a long journey and...
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Travala launches decentralized home-sharing service — will it be the next Airbnb?

The site claims to repair "the broken relationship between hosts and guests created by existing centralized home-sharing platforms." Pro-crypto travel booking agency Travala.com is releasing a decentralized property rental service. In a Wednesday announcement, Travala said it had partnered with former executives from Airbnb, Expedia, and other companies to launch Dtravel, a decentralized vacation rental platform that may serve as a competitor for sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. The platform is community governed through Dtravel’s Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO, and uses DeFi to facilitate smart contracts between hosts and guests. Dtravel claims to repair “the broken relationship between hosts and guests created by existing centralized home-sharing platforms.” The platform said that issues stemming from centralized control on competing home-sharing platforms have led to high fees and lack of direct communications between hosts and guests, in addition to many no...
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Price analysis 6/16: BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA, DOGE, XRP, DOT, UNI, LTC, BCH

Bitcoin’s recent rejection at $41,000 could extend the current range-bound action for a few more days and altcoins are expected to follow suit. Bitcoin’s price ( BTC ) turned down from just above the $41,000 mark on June 15, suggesting that traders are halting their purchases at higher levels. Traders seem to be hesitant to take large bets until the U.S. Federal Reserve releases its latest economic projections and the timeline of the proposed rate hikes today. However, Jurrien Timmer, the director of global macro at Fidelity Investments  believes that Bitcoin has bottomed out. Another positive sign comes from a Q2 retail investment survey of high-frequency traders by the crypto firm Voyager Digital that shows 81% of the participants are confident about the future of cryptocurrency. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 Another survey of 100 chief financial officers at hedge funds by Intertrust Global shows that about 98% of the respondents expect hedg...
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