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Showing posts from July 8, 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...

Israeli Knesset Creates Special NFT for New President Isaac Herzog

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has become the first national legislature to release a non-fungible token. The special NFT has been created for the country’s new president, Isaac Herzog, who took office this week after his election in early June. Knesset Becomes First Parliament to Issue NFT Isaac Herzog received the token right before his inauguration on Wednesday, the Jerusalem Post reported. The unique NFT represents a copy of the original oath signed by his late father, Israel’s sixth president, Chaim Herzog. President Isaac Herzog With the symbolic gesture, the Knesset becomes arguably the first parliament to create an NFT. “I am excited to present President Herzog with a special memento of his father that includes the oath he signed 38 years ago,” Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy was quoted as saying. Levy also stressed: It is a great honor for the Knesset to implement one of the world’s most innovative technologies in order to preserve such a significant historical docume...

Nifty News: Walking Dead invade Sandbox, mining lease NFTs, CryptoPunk in art gallery

CryptoPunk 5293 is set to be displayed in a Miami-based art museum, Australian mining firms are tokenizing mining and exploration leases, and Sandbox secures IP rights to the Walking Dead. Tokenized Walking Dead Ethereum-based NFT metaverse “The Sandbox” has partnered with Skybound Entertainment to incorporate a Walking Dead game in the virtual world. The Walking Dead is famous thanks to the TV show, however the story and characters are based on original comics from Skybound Entertainment. The Sandbox is owned by NFT game and property developer Animoca brands, with the firm describing it as “part virtual real-estate, part amusement park.” It already has an impressive list of existing partnerships such as The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari, Deadmau5 and CryptoKitties. The Walking Dead: The Sandbox metaverse “The team will give users the possibility to get pieces of virtual real estate close to The Walking Dead’s spot in the metaverse, enabling fans and gamers alike to be as close a...

11% of Central Bankers Consider ‘Cryptocurrencies Like Bitcoin’ Gold Alternatives: UBS Survey

A UBS survey finds that central bankers see benefits in investing in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. 28% see benefits from cryptocurrency being an uncorrelated asset and “11% would consider it as an alternative to gold.” Central Bankers See Benefits in Investing in Cryptocurrencies Like Bitcoin The 27th Annual Reserve Management Seminar Survey by UBS explores the prospects of cryptocurrencies as investments for central banks. This survey, conducted between April and June, questioned central bankers from close to 30 central banks in all regions globally, UBS explained. According to Switzerland’s largest bank, this survey “is among the most authoritative depictions of official reserve management activities available.” Central bankers were asked what the motivation for central banks to invest in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin would be. The most popular answer was “Learning/ building up knowledge about crypto investing process and investment management.” UBS described, “83% of participan...

Survey finds most El Salvador citizens are skeptical of making BTC legal tender

More than half of Salvadorans surveyed don’t seem as keen as their president to adopt Bitcoin. According to a newly released survey, up to three-quarters of Salvadorans are skeptical over President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin adoption plans. The survey, which polled 1,233 people across El Salvador between July 1 and 4, revealed that only 20% approved of the plan to make Bitcoin legal tender The survey, which has a margin of error of 2.8%, was conducted by researcher Disruptiva, which is affiliated with Francisco Gavidia University. According to Reuters , it found that about 54% of people viewed the Bitcoin adoption program as “not at all correct”, while another 24% described it as “only a little correct.” Almost half of the respondents, or 46%, admitted that they knew nothing about Bitcoin. Around 65% of them were not open to the idea of being paid in digital currency. Head of Disruptiva’s institute of science, technology, and innovation, Oscar Picardo, commented that “this is a risky...

Hydro plant from 1897 earns 3X as much mining BTC as selling power to the grid

An historic renewable energy facility in New York has tripled its profits by mining Bitcoin. New York’s Mechanicville hydroelectric plant — one of the oldest hydropower generation facilities in the United States — is now host to Bitcoin mining. The plant is owned by Albany Engineering Corp (AEC), which was asked to restore it by the National Grid in 1986. Jim Besha Sr., AEC’s chief executive, notes that cryptocurrency mining offers triple the profit margins available from selling electricity back to the grid: “We think this is the oldest renewable energy facility in the world that’s still running. We can actually make more money with Bitcoin than selling the electricity to National Grid.” Besha noted he is content to liquidate the BTC as it comes in, expressing skepticism regarding the crypto asset’s longer-term potential. Despite the robust profit margins, Besha laments not selling his electricity to be used as power, but a decade of fighting with the National Grid has left him...

Yield App Launches DeFi Bitcoin Fund, Gives Users up to 12% APY

PRESS RELEASE. ESTONIA — JULY 8, 2021 — YIELD App , the decentralized finance (DeFi) wealth management platform bridging traditional and digital finance, is pleased to announce the launch of its Bitcoin Fund, allowing users to earn high-interest returns on the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin ( BTC ). This will consist of a base annual percentage yield (APY) of 6% on BTC with a further 6% available in YLD rewards. * The fund will initially be available to YIELD App Tier 5 users only. These are users of the YIELD App platform that hold 20,000 YLD tokens or more in their on-platform wallets and who are entitled to the maximum APYs available. Tier 5 users will be able to deposit unwrapped Bitcoin into the YIELD App Bitcoin Fund from today, 07:00 UTC Thursday, July 8, until 07:00 UTC Sunday, July 11, or until an initial fund cap of 500 BTC is reached. Unwrapped Bitcoin is BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain, rather than synthetic BTC tokens used to trade the asset’s value on other ...

Jack Dorsey confirms Square is building an ‘assisted custody’ BTC hardware wallet

Jack Dorsey and hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker have both confirmed Square’s plans to develop a Bitcoin hardware wallet. Digital payments firm Square is building a Bitcoin hardware wallet, with CEO Jack Dorsey and hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker both confirming the plan on Twitter. The tech entrepreneur and Bitcoin proponent , first teased the idea for a Square hardware wallet and custody service last month, bu revealed today that “we’re doing it.” We’re doing it #Bitcoin https://t.co/IwbKuBoXGv — jack (@jack) July 8, 2021 Dorogusker said on Twitter that Square wants to make Bitcoin custody more mainstream, and outlined the pathway for the hardware wallet rollout: “We have a lot of questions and issues to reconcile and we’ll start with this product direction: Bitcoin first, global distribution, multisig to achieve ‘assisted-self-custody,’ and prioritizing mobile use.” Our next step is to build a small, cross-functional team, which will be led by @max_guise (welcome back!!)....

Ethereum's London upgrade deployed to final testnet ahead of August 4 fork

The long-awaited EIP-1559 upgrade is just 26 days away now. The long-awaited London upgrade for the Ethereum network is edging closer as the code was deployed to the final testnet this week. Ethereum’s London hard fork, which will usher in the EIP-1559 upgrade, has now been scheduled for August 4 following the launch on the Rinkeby testnet on Thursday. Ethereum developer Tim Beiko posted the testnet update confirming that the code has now been successfully deployed to all three testnets. And we are live https://t.co/a5blKgbZym All three testnets have now successfully upgraded to London Note: because of OpenEthereum being deprecated after London, a block hasn't been set for Kovan yet, and it will likely upgrade after mainnet. https://t.co/rCnLDMjxZj — Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth (@TimBeiko) July 8, 2021 The mainnet launch will occur at block 12965000 which puts the estimated date at August 4. The first block was produced on the Ropsten testnet on June 24 , and the Goerli t...

Visa and 50 Crypto Platforms to Enable Cryptocurrency Payments at 70 Million Merchants

Visa Inc. announced Wednesday that the transactions via crypto-linked Visa cards exceeded $1 billion in the first quarter. The company further said that it is partnering with 50 major cryptocurrency platforms “to launch card programs that make it easy to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide.” Visa Announces $1 Billion in Crypto Card Transactions and Partnerships With 50 Crypto Platforms Visa announced Wednesday that more than $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency was spent by consumers globally through crypto-linked Visa cards in the first six months of the year. The payments giant also said that it is partnering with 50 leading crypto platforms “to launch card programs that make it easy to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide.” Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu told CNBC: “We see a lot of volume on our [network] of people buying cryptocurrencies at these various regulated exchanges and as far as we can see that trend continues.” H...

EU eyes new money laundering regulator and stricter crypto reporting requirements

The new Anti-Money Laundering Authority would comprise the “centerpiece” of a new supervisory system that would include national regulators. The European Union is looking to launch a new agency designated with cracking down on money laundering at the regional level, with increased reporting requirements around crypto transactions listed among its principal objectives. A July 8 report from Reuters citing leaked EU documents asserts the European Commission is proposing forming a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) that would act as the “centerpiece” of an oversight system also including national regulators. The report also states that European lawmakers are drafting new requirements for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) mandating stringent data collection standards surrounding parties making cryptocurrency transfers. Data collected would also be made accessible to European regulators. The report notes that crypto asset transfers are not currently under the scope of EU ...

Bank of America Establishes Cryptocurrency Research Team

Bank of America has become the latest major bank to make a foray into the cryptocurrency sector. According to an internal memo, the bank has created a team dedicated to researching cryptocurrencies. Bank of America believes that it is “uniquely positioned to provide thought leadership” on cryptocurrencies and the technology behind them. Bank of America (BOFA) has created a new team dedicated to researching cryptocurrencies, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed the contents of the memo. The new crypto team will be led by Alkesh Shah, a founding member of the Data & Innovation Strategy Group at Bank of America. It will report to Michael Maras, who leads the bank’s global fixed income, currencies, and commodities research. Besides cryptocurrencies, the team will also cover technologies tied to digital currencies. Candace Browning, head of Bank of America’s global research, said in the memo: Cryptocurrencies and digital assets co...

Shanghai Man: Central bank speaks out, BTC searches down and HK fund backs Animoca

PBoC says no to virtual currencies, Jack Ma's fund invests $50m into NFT game maker, searches for BTC in China at 90 day low 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 crackdown: Week 7 The summer of crackdowns continued this week, making it seven weeks since the initial announcement on May 18 that virtual currencies were a risky investment and financial institutions should not provide services for them. The crackdown appears to be having a desired effect as public interest in the asset class is cooling. This is evident by 90-day lows on WeChat searches for the word 'Bitcoin' over the past weekend, although this was a trend mirrored on worldwide Google searches as well. The central bank was the aggressor this week, posting an announcement on its website on July 6 that it ...

Is Bitcoin overbought or oversold? Use Bollinger Bands to find out!

Bollinger Bands are a powerful indicator that traders use to gain clarity when the markets are rallying, consolidating and correcting. Trading is neither an exact science nor art. It is a mixture of both. There are scores of publicly available indicators and each claims to be the best. However, none of them are perfect or designed to be used in isolation. One of the more popular indicators widely used by several traders is Bollinger Bands, an indicator that can be used to spot price peaks, lows, and opportunities for shorting during exhausted rallies and buying during sharp pullbacks. Let’s learn three simple methods to use this indicator in trading. What are Bollinger Bands? John Bollinger created and copyrighted the Bollinger Bands in the 1980s. The indicator consists of a middle band, which is a simple moving average whose default is set at 20-periods and two outer bands set at two standard deviations below and above the middle band. BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingVie...

Crypto Exchange Binance.us Hires Former Financial Regulator

Binance.us has hired Manuel Alvarez, a former financial regulator from California, to work as its chief administrative officer. The San Francisco-based crypto exchange, which sources technology from Binance, is aiming to deal with “the big question” — compliance. Binance.us Filling Roles in Compliance, Risk Management, and Legal Binance.us, powered by matching engine and wallet technologies licensed from the world’s leading coin trading platform, announced the appointment of Alvarez in a statement released this week. The exchange’s new chief administrative officer has previously served as the commissioner of the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, Bloomberg reported. Manuel Alvarez will join the company on July 22 and report to its CEO Brian Brooks , himself a former bank regulator. Brooks, who was acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), took his post at Binance.us in May this year. Since then, Brian Brooks has been building h...

3 reasons why Ethereum exchange reserves are falling to new lows

Ethereum held in exchange reserves reached a new low after a surge in Ether staked in Eth2 and the approach of the long-awaited London hard fork. Over the past week, astute crypto market analysts noticed some interesting developments related to the supply of Ether ( ETH ) as the network's August 4  London hard fork approaches. Recent data from CryptoQuant, an on-chain analytics firm, indicates that the amount of Ether held in cryptocurrency exchanges' reserves has hit new daily lows since the start of July. Ethereum all exchange reserves. Source: CryptoQuant To determine if this is a bullish or bearish development for the top altcoin, let's take a closer look at some of the factors playing a role in the increased demand for Ether, including the Eth2.0 staking contract, increased activity in decentralized finance and traders' possible excitement ahead of the implementation of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559. Eth2 staking surpasses 6 million Ether One ...

OVR and the Future of Augmented Reality Chats

It was announced today that OVR , a mobile app linked to the world of blockchain and NFTs, is heading towards a new front, that of augmented reality chats. In fact, the new update of the app, available for both iOS and Android, promises AR face-to-face chats, i.e. the ability to talk to friends within the app using avatars and interacting with them. It is the first app to allow such a feature, especially if we think about the crypto sector and the implications of OVR in the blockchain world. OVR is therefore moving towards a new direction of inclusivity and greater customization of avatars thanks to 10 new characters and ethnicities that can be used in the app. With this new update of the app, you will also be able to receive notifications of chats with your friends and avatars that you meet in the OVR metaverse and also the ability to share links to your LANDs. Prior to this update, it was not possible to share a simple LAND URL to invite people into your metaverse. Now each ...

First Midwest Bank Trust Division increases Grayscale Bitcoin Trust holdings by 283%

A report on the firm's holdings to the SEC for Q2 2021 revealed the bank's trust division had 29,498 shares in Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust, worth more than $880,000. Illinois-based financial services company First Midwest Bank’s trust division has reported it held 29,498 shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust as of the second quarter of 2021.  According to an institutional investment manager holdings report filed by the First Midwest Bank Trust Division to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company increased its shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin ( BTC ) Trust by more than 283% over that of the first quarter of 2021, from 7,693 shares at the end of March to 29,498 shares in two separate lots on June 30. First Midwest reported the holdings were worth $880,000 at the time of filing, but they have since fallen to roughly $803,000. The share price of Grayscale's BTC Trust, or GBTC, has dropped by more than 22% this year, from $35.08 on Jan. 4 to $27.18 at the time ...

Circle to Go Public via Bob Diamond-Backed SPAC Deal — Boston Firm Valued at $4.5 Billion

The Boston-based crypto financial company Circle has announced the firm plans to go public this year in a merger with Concord Acquisition Corp. Circle revealed the news on Thursday and noted that the company expects to close the deal in Q4 with a valuation of $4.5 billion. Circle Announces SPAC Deal With Plans to Go Public The payments technology company Circle founded by Sean Neville and Jeremy Allaire in 2013 plans to go public soon. The company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts has operated numerous services during the last eight years and more recently it launched the usd coin (USDC) with Coinbase and the Centre consortium . For a small period of time Circle also owned Poloniex and then sold the exchange, and Circle sold the digital asset trading platform to Voyager Digital in February 2020 as well. Circle was the first company in New York to receive the Bitlicense back in September 2015 and now the company plans to leverage a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) me...