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Showing posts from July 4, 2021

Philippine Stock Exchange wants to launch local crypto markets first

The Philippine Stock Exchange is waiting for the local SEC to issue guidelines for crypto trading. The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is aiming to be first in line when financial regulators give the green light for crypto asset trading in the country. On Friday, July 2, CNN reported that PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said the local bourse should be the country’s first exchange platform for crypto assets. He stated: “If there should be any exchange for cryptos, it should be done at the PSE. Why? Number one, it's because we have the trading infrastructure. But more importantly, we'll be able to have investor protection safeguards especially with a product like crypto.” The country’s stock exchange is now awaiting guidelines from the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial regulators. Despite his eagerness to support crypto asset markets, Monzon warned of crypto’s volatility, stating: “instant riches could be instant poverty too.” Related: ...

EY Releases Nightfall 3 — Protocol Aims to Bolster Private and Affordable Ethereum Transfers

EY, the multinational professional services network commonly known as Ernst & Young, has announced the company has contributed a set of tools for privately managing transactions on the Ethereum network. EY’s global media relations executive Joanna Hardy explained on Thursday how the company’s protocol helps ethereum transaction fees become more affordable and it enables the private transfer of ether. Professional Services Giant and Big Four Member EY Releases Ethereum Protocol Nightfall 3 EY is a well known professional and financial services brand and the company headquartered in London has been working with blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions for quite some time. While EY is one of the largest professional services networks on a global scale it is also a member of the “Big Four” accounting firms. On July 1, Hardy detailed in an EY blog post that the company has released a set of tools that make ether transactions cheaper and more private. The protocol is called “Nightfall...

Wyoming legally recognizes first DAO in the United States

Wyoming is further solidifying its position as the most crypto-friendly state in North America. The crypto-friendly state of Wyoming has approved the first legally recognized Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) in the United States. The American CryptoFed DAO received notice from the Wyoming Secretary of State's office on July 1 recognizing it as a legal entity, according to a July 4 announcement . Marian Orr, CEO of the American CryptoFed DAO, stated: “Wyoming is the leading digital assets jurisdiction in the USA, and now with this DAO law, Wyoming is arguably the top blockchain jurisdiction in the world. What this means is that creating a true digital currency with mass acceptance is now possible.” The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG), which represents 165 of the largest merchants in the U.S., expressed its support of the filing. MAG’s chief executive, John Drechny, stated that the group has always advocated for more competition in the payment acceptance space. The Am...

Aave to launch permissioned deployment for institutions in July

In response to “extensive demand from various institutions,” Aave’s permissioned deployment will go live this month. Leading DeFi money market, Aave, has announced plans to launch a permissioned version of its platform for institutional investors this month. The platform will be launched in partnership with crypto custodian and service provider, Fireblocks. On June 4, Twitter user “TraderNoah” shared a screenshot of an email they claim to have received after attending Blockworks’ “Next Steps in Institutional DeFi” webinar that featured Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov, Fireblocks CEO and co-founder Michael Shaulov, and Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz. Both during the conference and in the email, it was revealed that Aave’s institutional product, dubbed “Aave Pro,” intends to launch this month in response to “extensive demand from various institutions.” $AAVE Pro coming in July. For those that didn't attend the "NExt Steps in Institutional Defi" Zoom with S...

Feds Sell Seized Bitcoin From 2018 for $19 Million

The U.S. has sold about 500 bitcoins seized back in 2018 for about $19.2 million. This was reportedly the largest net forfeiture in the Northern District of Ohio’s history. Federal authorities in the U.S. state of Ohio have sold bitcoins seized back in 2018 in a fraud case. The seized bitcoins were sold for nearly $19.23 million, Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced Thursday. The coins seized during the investigation were initially valued at approximately $2.88 million. This was reportedly the largest net forfeiture in the Northern District of Ohio’s history. The authorities did not say how and where the coins were sold. The case involved a 37-year-old Toledo-area man, Mark Alex Simon, who made false identification documents for residents of Ohio, Michigan and Utah. The documents included driver’s licenses and personal identification cards. He was paid in bitcoin. Simon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and the transfer of false identification documents i...

US SEC Commissioner Says Bitcoin ETF Approval Long Overdue

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says that the regulator should have approved a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S. a long time ago. She emphasized that it is not the SEC’s job to approve or reject applications based on the merits of the underlying investment itself. “People should make their own decisions” whether to buy bitcoin, said the commissioner. SEC Commissioner Wants Bitcoin ETF Approved A commissioner with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Hester Peirce, talked about the prospects of the SEC approving a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. Peirce is also known in the crypto circle as “crypto mom.” The SEC has yet to approve a bitcoin ETF. However, the industry is hopeful that things will change this year since the SEC has a new chairman , Gary Gensler, who taught crypto and blockchain courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Commissioner Peirce described: I thought that if we had applied o...

Angola Hikes Benchmark Interest Rate as Central Bank Attempts to Tame Rising Inflation

The Angolan central bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) recently hiked the country’s benchmark interest rate from 15.5% to a record of 20%. The largely unexpected hike, which is one of the National Bank of Angola (NBA)’s attempts to curb inflation, marks the first time the benchmark rate has been increased since November 2017. Rising Inflation a Threat to Angola’s Growth According to a Bloomberg report , the MPC was compelled to bring forward the meeting that ultimately sanctioned the rate hike due to an “evolution of the main indicators.” These indicators, according to the NBA governor, Jose de Lima Massano posed a threat to Angola’s growth trajectory. He explained: The spread between inflation and the interest rate has been growing wider since the beginning of the year. Current data indicates additional inflationary pressures, which may put at risk the central bank’s inflation target of 19.5% for the end of the year. As the data from Angola’s Instituto Nacional de Estatisti...

Bitcoin Mining Report Claims Miner Energy Consumption Mix 56% Sustainable in Q2

During the last three months, there’s been a significant focus on the effects bitcoin mining has on the global environment. While many have claimed bitcoin mining is bad for the environment and many others have stressed that it affects the environment in a positive way, either way, most are relying on unreliable and old data from a few years ago. On July 1, 2021, the recently formed Bitcoin Mining Council published a report that claims 56% of the hashrate uses sustainable energy resources. Will Elon Musk Bend? Report Claims Bitcoin Miner Energy Consumption Mix 56% Sustainable Bitcoiners are hoping Elon Musk has noticed a new report published by the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) that shows more than half of the hashrate leverages sustainable energy to mine bitcoin. BMC published the report on July 1, 2021, and as soon as it was online posts about Elon Musk changing his mind started to appear. “Tesla said they wouldn’t again accept BTC until energy consumption reached 50% from renew...

Bitcoin Mining Profitability to Rise 35% While Ousted Chinese Miners Face Delays Relocating

Analysts are predicting a rise in Bitcoin mining profitability of about 35% during the short term. This would be the effect of the bitcoin mining crackdown in China. Since the crackdown happened, a significant portion of hashrate stemming from the Bitcoin network disappeared. Ousted miners are struggling to relocate, and some might not even make it due to the complicated logistics of these operations. All of these reasons combined can create a great time for new companies to enter the mining space. Bitcoin Mining Profitability Will Rise In The Short Term Bitcoin’s mining profitability is expected to rise in the short term due to the complex situation miners are facing in mainland China. According to Whit Gibbs, CEO, and founder of Compass, this will continue in the short to medium term. Gibbs told CNBC: We are expecting a period of much higher mining profitability for Compass Mining clients. We expect miners to be approximately 35% more profitable. Compass is a bitcoin mining c...

FinCEN Names Misuse of Cryptocurrencies a National Priority

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has named “cybercrime, including relevant cybersecurity and virtual currency considerations” a national priority. In particular, the Treasury is concerned about the “misuse of virtual assets that exploits and undermines their innovative potential, including through laundering of illicit proceeds.” FinCEN, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, published its “Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism National Priorities” last week. One of the priorities listed is “cybercrime, including relevant cybersecurity and virtual currency considerations.” The document details: Treasury is particularly concerned about cyber-enabled financial crime, ransomware attacks, and the misuse of virtual assets that exploits and undermines their innovative potential, including through laundering of illicit proceeds. The document adds that “Countering ransomware has been identified as a top priority for the United States...

Ether price hits 2-week high as London hard fork momentum builds

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization peaked north of $2,350 on Sunday, its highest reading since June 18. Bitcoin price stability and anticipation of major protocol upgrades are fueling investors’ appetite for ETH. Ether’s ( ETH ) $230 million options expiry on Friday appears to have shifted market sentiment in favor of the bulls, at least momentarily, as investors remain cautiously optimistic about the upcoming London hard fork and the prospect that Bitcoin ( BTC ) has established a firm bottom. ETH price update ETH rose more than 6.5% to $2,370 on Sunday, the highest in over two weeks, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro . Weekend trade volumes remained characteristically low at just over $18 billion. Ether's price sees renewed upside on Sunday. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro At current values, Ether has a total market capitalization of $274.8 billion. The DeFi market, which is largely built on top of Ethereum, saw cumulative gains of 9% on S...

Brian Armstrong Meets With Fed Chair Jerome Powell – ‘US Needs to Be a Major Crypto Player to Stay Relevant’

According to Jerome Powell’s conference calendar, the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, met with the Federal Reserve chairman and former House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan to speak about the implications of digital currencies. The meeting’s details are unclear but most of the discussions seemingly revolved around the construction of an American central bank digital currency (CBDC) and countries that are already ahead of the game. Coinbase CEO: ‘China’s Digital Yuan represents a Threat to US Reserve Currency Status’ The Federal Reserve wants to build a digital dollar and moves to make it a reality have been happening more frequently. Almost every member of the Fed has something to say about an American CBDC and in May the Fed chairman held a number of meetings with members of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Participants who discussed the CBDC idea with Powell include individuals like the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, members of the Bank for International S...

Crypto asset manager Valkyrie raises $10M in Series A round

A diverse cross-section of investors from the crypto sector participated in the raise, including Litecoin founder Charlie Lee. Digital asset manager and Bitcoin ( BTC ) ETF proponent Valkyrie Investments recently concluded a $10 million Series A funding round, once again highlighting growing investor interest in crypto-focused firms. In addition to Charlie Lee, who is a well-known entrepreneur in the cryptocurrency industry, the funding round also saw participation from XBTO, BTC Media, UTXO Management, Consolidated Trading and 10X Capital. Interestingly, former Major League Baseball pitcher CJ Wilson was also among the investors, as was Tron founder Justin Sun. Valkyrie CEO and World Bank veteran Leah Wald said her firm is focused on broadening investor access to cryptocurrencies in a “managed, research-driven manner that ultimately provides best-in-class products to all kinds of investors.” Referencing Wald and Steven McClurg, Valkyrie's chief investment officer, Litecoin ...

Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, ETH, UNI, ICP, AAVE

Bitcoin may pick up momentum in the next few days and select altcoins ETH, UNI, ICP, and AAVE could also rally along. In a recent CNBC survey of a group of portfolio managers and equity strategists, only 6% of respondents expect Bitcoin ( BTC ) to reach $60,000 in 2021. A large portion, 44% of the participants, predict Bitcoin to remain below $30,000 this year. From the remaining, 25% expect the recovery to reach $45,000 and the rest 25% anticipate a move to $55,000. This suggests that the sentiment remains negative. However, the recent Chinese crackdown on crypto miners or the regulatory actions have failed to trigger the next leg of the downtrend in Bitcoin. This indicates that smart money is not panicking but bottom fishing on dips. Analyst Willy Woo recently said in an interview on the What Bitcoin Did podcast that long-term holders who had sold their Bitcoin earlier this year are slowly accumulating at lower levels. Woo added that on-chain data suggests that Bitcoin is in ...

‘We Want You,’ Pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis Invites Crypto Miners to Wyoming

U.S. lawmaker and bitcoin advocate Cynthia Lummis has indicated that cryptocurrency miners are welcome in Wyoming. In a recent interview, the senator defended bitcoin’s carbon footprint and later invited miners to her home state on social media. Crypto Mining Adapted to Non-Carbon Emitting Energy With the ongoing crackdown on cryptocurrency mining in China, companies in the business of coin minting have been actively looking for friendlier jurisdictions to relocate their operations. Some perspective destinations have emerged in the U.S., with Texas and Florida now being among the prominent examples. Both states can offer crypto miners access to affordable energy. Wyoming, which has maintained a positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies for some time, can easily become the next bitcoin mining hotspot. Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a well-known supporter of Bitcoin, recently took to Twitter to welcome crypto miners to the state urging them to reach out. PS – If you are in the #Bi...

NFTs make it possible for gamers to have digital property rights

The digital ownership conferred by blockchain will allow the Metaverse to fulfill its true potential as community-owned and community-governed. Every day, we hear of more involvement by big industry players (for example, Epic Games and Roblox ) as we creep closer to the Metaverse, a shared persistent virtual environment of interconnected digital experiences. The problem is that none of this matters until netizens are able to truly own digital assets. And it all starts with gaming. Video games make us feel like we can do anything. These virtual worlds of limitless potential allow us to transcend the realities of everyday life as we become heroes. They give us the sense that we are in control of our own destiny. Games and gamers Games are good simulations of life: Players earn rewards to accrue worth, climb the ranks and achieve status. These goals are something on which gamers place extraordinary value, and every week, gamers spend an average of around 30 hours playing games, int...

Sci-fi or blockchain reality? The ‘Ready Player One’ OASIS can be built

Enter the OASIS: The economy of the liveable arcade in the science fiction film could only be built using blockchain technology. Distributed ledgers, in the form of blockchain technology, are jostling their way into financial markets, healthcare systems and the global supply chain, but perhaps the most significant disruption has yet to come. In recent months, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the spotlight as a stamp of legitimacy for digital goods, ranging from art to worn-out internet fads. However, the gaming industry is uniquely suited for the integration of NFTs, something already recognized by several notable entities in the gaming industry, particularly Sony , Ubisoft , GameStop and even Sega . If you find this hard to conceive, the analogy of the livable arcade depicted in Ready Player One presents a functional way of elucidating what shape a blockchain-based gaming industry could take. The film, based on the Ernest Cline novel of the same name and directed by Steven S...