Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from July 28, 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...

Helium Hotspot Miner – Mining With Helium Bar

PRESS RELEASE. Helium Network developed a decentralized peer to peer wireless network, which can connect different compatible devices through a series of hotspots. By being a part of this network, people can earn cryptocurrencies (HNT). The Helium hotspot miner network is growing steadily. Hence, it is worthy to think about mining HNT. To help people with mining HNT, Helium Bar has developed an excellent solution. Helium.Bar is nothing but a helium network, which is made out of hotspot miners. Any person who is interested in HNT mining can take a look at it. Helium.Bar is one of the fastest-growing communities in Helium Hotspot mining. This concept was initiated by a team, who had years of experience in the radio network industry. The previous experience helped them to ensure the overall success of this massive helium network. The concept behind Helium Bar is simple and easy to understand. People who wish to mine HNT with it will need to choose a hotspot plan. That’s the only thing...

Russian ‘Time Capsule’ to Facilitate Inheritance of Crypto Assets

Researchers in Moscow are developing a new service that will allow users to transfer digital data to their heirs, including crypto keys. The Russian “time capsule” will be capable of storing and relaying other private information as well such as a record of the whereabouts of valuable items. Russian Universities to Provide Service Allowing Crypto Investors to Secure the Future of Their Coins Experts from three Russian universities – Lomonosov Moscow State University, National Research Nuclear University, and Moscow State Institute of International Relations – are working to give crypto holders the peace of mind that their digital assets will not be lost after their death. The service will be based on blockchain technology, RIA Novosti reported quoting Russia’s National Technology Initiative Platform. The joint team is now creating a website through which people will be able to store the precious information, encrypted and ready to be transferred to the possession of specified perso...

Senators add crypto taxes to infrastructure deal to raise $28B in extra revenue

U.S. lawmakers believe they can find $28 billion worth of infrastructure funding by expanding taxation on crypto transactions. Last-minute additions to the bipartisan infrastructure deal in the United States Senate saw lawmakers propose expanded cryptocurrency taxation to raise an additional $28 billion in revenue. The proposal will implement tighter rules on businesses handling crypto, expand reporting requirements for brokers and mandate that digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 are reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, the lead Republican for the infrastructure discussions, noted Congress has expressed concerns regarding crypto reporting and taxation requirements for some time: "Everybody's been talking about the appropriate way to provide more reporting in particular and that leads to better compliance."  The crypto measures were hastily added to the deal on July 28, following weeks of back and forth between the Re...

Erik Voorhees lashes ‘disgusting’ behavior of Bitcoin maxis: ‘Not the community I come from’

Erik Voorhees is embarrassed by toxic Bitcoin maxis and told a podcast: “I don't know when they got into Bitcoin, but absolutely that is not the community that I come from in Bitcoin.” Erik Voorhees, the founder and CEO of ShapeShift, has revealed in a podcast that he felt embarrassed and disgusted by the behavior of Bitcoin maximalists at the 2021 Bitcoin conference in Miami. A Bitcoin OG who can see some merit in altcoins, Voorhees spoke on a panel during day two of the Miami conference in June. He caused a stir when he said “Did I hear someone on that prior panel say ‘If you’re against toxic maximalism, you’re against Bitcoin and you’re against freedom?’… Yeah, that’s some bullshit.” The ShapeShift CEO expanded on those comments in a July 27 interview on the Unchained Podcast hosted by journalist Laura Shin. The 35-year-old slammed Bitcoiners who believe that toxic behavior such as trashing proponents of other cryptocurrencies is a good thing for BTC: “They’ve spun themse...

BlockCrushr drops lawsuit accusing ConsenSys of stealing its IP

ConsenSys described the case’s conclusion as highlighting “the value of aggressively combatting meritless claims.” Canadian blockchain startup BlockCrushr has agreed to drop an intellectual property (IP) lawsuit against early backer, Ethereum-focused software engineering firm, ConsenSys. The two firms filed a joint agreement to dismiss the case on July 27, with the deal’s terms prohibiting BlockCrushr from attempting to pursue the matter in future. ConsenSys has characterized the agreement as a victory for its position, stating: “BlockCrushr has dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice after review of the evidence provided in discovery established that BlockCrushr's claims were entirely without merit.” ConsenSys’ lead counsel, Tibor Nagy, added: “This is an important and complete victory for ConsenSys and illustrates the value of aggressively combating meritless claims." Filed in July 2020, the complaint claimed ConsenSys launched its “Daisy Payments” recurring payments pla...

Crypto Exchange Binance Plans to Be Regulated Financial Institution, Seeks CEO With Strong Compliance Background

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) says that his company wants “to be licensed everywhere” and “From now on, we’re going to be a financial institution.” Following warnings by a growing list of regulators worldwide, Zhao also revealed that Binance is seeking “a strong compliance background CEO to show our commitment to compliance as this is the top priority of the organization.” Binance’s CEO Unveils Company’s Regulatory Compliance Plans Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has addressed recent compliance issues his exchange has been facing and reports of the exchange hiring a new chief executive. Governments and financial watchdogs are paying closer attention to the cryptocurrency space. A growing number of regulators worldwide have warned Binance about operating in their countries without being properly authorized. They include regulators in Japan, the U.K. , Cayman Islands , Hong Kong , Thailand , Germany , and Lithuania . Commenting on regulatory scrutiny, Zhao told journal...

Unique Bitcoin-backed home loan refinancing deal in California

Glen Oaks Escrow has made its first BTC-backed refinancing of a property in San Diego. One of Southern California's largest independent escrow companies, Glen Oaks Escrow, has announced its first property refinancing with a Bitcoin-backed loan. The company stated that this is the first time a refinancing has been completed using Bitcoin as collateral. In the July 28 announcement it added that it has previously facilitated a number of real estate transactions that used BTC as the form of payment. Glen Oaks Escrow, which started accepting Bitcoin payments in 2018, views the transaction as proof that Bitcoin’s value proposition is becoming clearer to debtors and creditors. Company Chief Operating Officer Joe Curtis commented: “Seeing a lender use cryptocurrency for a refinance shows us that this payment method is continuing to grow in how it's used and who it's used by.” He added that seeing the lender rather than the home buyer using BTC in a real estate transaction “t...

Bears scattered as Bitcoin hit $40K, but pro traders remain cautious

Bitcoin's rally to $40,000 alleviated some of the bearish sentiment in the market, but data shows derivatives traders still walking on eggshells. Bitcoin ( BTC ) traders might be feeling extra euphoric after the recent 35% rally, but data suggests bears are not too worried because a similar breakout took place in mid-July and the price failed to hold the $40,000 support. To understand how bullish investors are this time around, let's take apart the derivatives data and look at the futures contracts premium and options skew. Typically, these indicators reveal how professional traders are pricing the odds of a potential retrace to $36,000. Bitcoin price at Coinbase, in USD. Source: TradingView Even though the pattern isn't exactly similar, Bitcoin crashed to $31,000 on June 8 and bounced to $41,000 six days later. The 32% rally caused $1.4 billion BTC short contracts liquidation that spread over the week. Bears were clearly not expecting this move, but in less than thr...

Genesis Digital Assets raises $125M as mining sector pivots to the west

Genesis plans to more than triple its hashing capacity from 2.6 EH/s to 8.1 EH/s. Genesis Digital Assets has become the latest Bitcoin mining firm to raise millions towards plans for aggressive expansion amid the exodus of miners from China due to its crackdown on the sector. On July 28, Genesis announced it had closed a $125 million equity funding round led by U.K.-based Kingsway Capital. The capital will be mobilized to purchase mining hardware and launch new data centers in the United States and Nordic region. The terms of the deal will also see Kingsway Capital CEO, Manuel Stotz, join Genesis’ board of directors. Stotz highlighted Genesis’ extensive experience in mining. “The GDA team has been building highly profitable large-scale Bitcoin mining farms for nearly eight years and the industry has only been around for twelve,” he said, adding: “Bitcoin is going to be the most important technology for financial inclusion of the global poor and unbanked and mining provides securi...

Massive government spending accelerating crypto adoption: Sen. Cynthia Lummis

Senator Cynthia Lummis said that inflation and massive government spending is accelerating the adoption of digital assets. Republican Senator and Bitcoin proponent Cynthia Lummis said that massive government spending is accelerating crypto adoption. Lummis made the comments while sharing an interview she did with “Varney & Co” on the Fox Business cable network on July 29, in which she called for a crypto regulatory sandbox and support to attract Bitcoin miners to set up in US states. On Twitter she stated that “big gov’t spenders are (accidentally) doing far more to accelerate the adoption of digital assets than I am,” and asserted that the debasement of the U.S. dollar is driving citizens to store value in digital assets such as Bitcoin. Not that this was necessarily a good thing: “BUT spending America deeper into a hole is a stupid, inflationary & altogether undesirable way to drive ppl to digital assets.” “I want USD to continue as the world's reserve currency. We...

Price analysis 7/28: BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA, XRP, DOGE, DOT, UNI, BCH, LTC

Bitcoin's defense of the $38,000 level and renewed interest from institutional investors could be a sign that the bull trend is resuming. Bitcoin ( BTC ) and most major altcoins are attempting to break above their respective overhead resistance levels, indicating the return of the bulls. Data from Bybt shows that the Grayscale premium has been climbing  and reached -5.88% on July 27, its closest level to zero since May 25. This suggests that institutional investors may have again started building positions via the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Another institutional investment product showing a possible return of buyers is Canada’s Purpose Bitcoin ETF whose assets under management rose to 1.1 billion Canadian dollars on July 27, its highest level since May 13. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 Swiss private bank Vontobel said in its half-year financial report that its Bitcoin tracker certificate investment product had generated significant interest from cl...

Mike Novogratz Says Institutions Are Buying Bitcoin, Politicians Need More Crypto Education

Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz says that cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, have bounced back because institutional investors are buying. Responding to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto stance, he stated, “We need to do a much better job going to D.C.” to educate lawmakers. Novogratz Says Institutions Are Buying Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz talked about the outlook for bitcoin in an interview with CNBC Wednesday. He was asked how he sees bitcoin’s price action and what he thinks has been driving the price of the cryptocurrency back to the $40,000 level. The pro-bitcoin executive replied: Crypto has bounced back because institutions are buying. He brought up the FTX exchange as an example. The exchange recently raised $900 million from more than 60 investors, putting the company’s valuation at $18 billion. Investors included Softbank Group Corp., venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, private equity giant Thoma Bravo, Daniel Loeb’s Third Point, the Paul Tudor...

Ripple and SBI Collaborate to Launch On-Demand Liquidity in Japan — XRP Surges

Ripple has launched its first On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service implementation in Japan in partnership with SBI Remit, a large Japanese money transfer provider, and Philippine crypto exchange Coins.ph. Ripple, SBI, Coins.ph Collaborate to Launch Ripplenet’s On-Demand Liquidity Ripple Labs announced Wednesday “the launch of Ripplenet’s first live On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service implementation in Japan” in collaboration with SBI Remit Co. Ltd. and Coins.ph. SBI Holdings, an investor and shareholder of Ripple, independently announced Wednesday that SBI Remit and crypto exchange SBI VC Trade have launched “Japan’s first international remittance service using crypto assets” in partnership with Ripple Labs. SBI Remit, a subsidiary of SBI Fintech Solutions, is one of the largest money transfer companies in Japan. It has been using Ripplenet since 2017. Coins.ph, a product of Betur Inc., is a crypto exchange and a leading mobile wallet service in the Philippines that is regulated by the...

Ghana's vice president declares Africa should embrace digital currencies

Digital currencies are primed to reinvent trade between African countries. Ghana's vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia believes that African governments need to embrace digital currencies to facilitate trade throughout the continent. As reported by Ghanaweb Bawumia outlined his argument during the Fifth Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference, which boasted the theme of “Facilitating Trade and Trade-Finance in AfCFTA; The Role of the Financial Services Sector.” He argued that trade between African countries demands a “single central payment” system. Currently, moving goods over African borders is costly and time-consuming. A digital payments system, Dr. Bawumia believes, would rectify these issues. Related: Can blockchain make a difference? Africa sees vast monetary potential “Digitization has also become one of the most consequential policies of the Nana Akufo-Addo government,” said Dr. Bawumia. “When the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic hit and forced many econom...

PayPal's crypto 'super app' set to roll out soon

Dan Schulman said the project was already "code complete" and planned to be fully ramped in the United States in the next several months. Payment provider company PayPal said its users may not have much longer to wait to have greater crypto functionality through the platform.  During PayPal’s Q2 2021 investor update call today, CEO Dan Schulman said the initial version of the company’s super app wallet was “code complete.” The PayPal president said the company planned for the wallet to be fully ramped in the United States in the next several months. The super app wallet will feature high yield savings, early access to direct deposit funds, messaging capability, “additional crypto capabilities,” and more. Schulman said each wallet would be “unique, driven by advanced AI and machine learning capabilities.” PayPal reported that it had more than 400 million active user accounts as of June 30, with $311 billion in total payment volume for the second quarter of 2021. The firm...

Anchorage Digital will custody crypto seized by US Marshals

Co-founders Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley cited the Anchorage's "stringent processes and procedures" as likely factors in the decision from the federal agency. Crypto custody bank Anchorage Digital will be providing digital asset services for the United States Marshals Service for seized funds related to federal crimes. In a Wednesday announcement from Anchorage, the digital asset platform said  the U.S. Marshals Service, or USMS, “seized some amount of digital assets in recent years” which required a partner in the space to provide certain financial services. Anchorage will be responsible for custodying, liquidating, and other actions as part of the forfeiture process. Anchorage co-founders Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley cited the platform's "stringent processes and procedures" as likely factors in the USMS decision.  According to a 2019 proposal, the U.S. Marshals’ office had been seeking a digital asset platform capable of accounting, customer ...

Survey Shows 3 out of 4 Sports Fans Are Skeptical About the Longevity of NFT Investments

Over the last year and a half, non-fungible tokens (NFT) have seen massive hype and millions of dollars worth of sales executed at auctions. A recent survey produced by bonusfinder.com shows sports fans are doubtful of the NFT craze as the poll’s findings show nearly three out of four people are “moderately skeptical” about the long-term outcome of NFTs as an investment. Sports Fans Are Skeptical of NFTs but 62% Know About the Technology Non-fungible tokens have been a very hot topic in 2021 and worldwide Google Trends (GT) data shows the subject reached an all-time high in terms of Google queries in mid-March. Since then, however, GT data shows interest has dropped significantly as search queries for the term “NFT” slid from a top score of 100 to this week’s score of 38. Just recently, the web portal bonusfinder.com published a survey with 1,009 sports fans in the U.S. revealing what they thought about NFTs. Roughly 64.1% identified as men and 35.7% identified as women and particip...

Multiverse secures $15M investment from Samsung Next, leading blockchain VCs

“Ideas have value,” said Cliff Szu, co-founder of Multiverse Labs. “[O]ur overriding goal is to help people with great ideas to discover the true value of their innovations and inventions.” Multiverse, a decentralized artificial intelligence ecosystem that funds early-stage tech companies, has secured $15 million in investments from some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds.  Samsung Next, a developer ecosystem focused on AI, blockchain and fintech, was among the investors, along with Arrington XRP Capital, Huobi Ventures and Fenbushi, Multiverse announced Wednesday. With the raise, Multiverse now has an implied valuation of $250 million, making it one of the largest ecosystem developer funds at the intersection of blockchain and AI. The investment will go towards expanding Multiverse's capacity across engineering, research and marketing. The organization is eyeing a bigger presence in Europe and Southeast Asia.  Related: New Samsung service Paperless adds document disp...

VORTECS™ Spotlight: Here’s why Telcoin’s (TEL) rebound eclipsed most altcoins

As Bitcoin price reversed course, a key trading indicator flashed bullish hours before TEL embarked on a sharp 82% rally. Last week, as Bitcoin resurged after briefly falling below $30,000, a good number of altcoins embarked on their own relief rallies. Telcoin ( TEL ) was among this large group of digital assets whose prices shot up on July 21.  Unlike most of its peers, however, TEL’s upward trend remained alive for the entire week, leading to a respectable 82% gain against the dollar and a 43% gain against Bitcoin ( BTC ) over a seven-day period.  Given the market dynamics of the time, many traders may simply attribute this performance to a marketwide oversold bounce — but was there a way for traders to spot the potential for this tremendous run early? TEL’s second wave TEL is the utility token of Telcoin, a blockchain protocol designed to facilitate affordable mobile-based remittances globally. Telcoin is built on the Ethereum blockchain, and the token trades across ...