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Showing posts from September 26, 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...

Genesis tests end-of-day pricing for institutional crypto futures product

Genesis has introduced a trading method allowing institutional investors to trade Bitcoin futures contracts based on their end-of-day closing price. Cryptocurrency brokerage firm Genesis Global Capital has announced the completion of a first-of-a-kind trade that will pave the way for new institutional crypto futures products. Genesis has executed the first-ever over-the-counter (OTC) block trade of a Basis Trade at Index Close (BTIC) transaction using Bitcoin futures contracts issued b Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) . The trade was made in collaboration with derivatives market maker Akuna Capital according to a Sept. 26 announcement . This is the first time a BTIC has been used for cryptocurrencies as it is more commonly used in equities markets. This form of trading allows investors to buy and sell futures contracts with prices based on the end-of-day close of the index. CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, said that the produ...

South African University Professor Urges Country to ‘Finalize Cryptocurrency Policy’ — Warns Against Resisting Crypto

A professor with the University of Johannesburg, Rabelani Dagada, has urged South Africa to finalize its cryptocurrency public policy if the country still wants to become a hub for digital currency innovation. History Will Repeat Itself In an opinion published by Itweb, Dagada warned South African authorities that the continued efforts to stifle cryptocurrencies will not achieve the intended objectives. He adds that regulators must learn from history that violently opposing an emerging innovation will not kill it. He explained: Technology has prevailed against violent and regulatory opposition. During the era of the industrial revolution, some workers in Britain rioted against mechanised manufacturing firms. Blue-collar workers waged a war against technology. They physically destroyed production machinery, cotton and woollen mills. Dagada also shared a recent example of how “some people in the UK and SA falsely accused 5G technologies of causing the COVID-19 pandemic, and destr...

US House of Reps to deliver verdict on infrastructure bill this week

While Speaker Nancy Pelosi expects the infrastructure bill to pass, the Democrats are divided on whether to pass the legislation before the terms of a follow-up $3.5 trillion package is finalized. According to Reuters, Pelosi expressed confidence the legislation will pass upon announcing the date on Sunday, Sept. 26, stating : “Let me just say that we're going to pass the bill this week." Earlier that same day she reportedly indicated she would not bring the bill to a vote unless she believed it would pass. Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi announced that the house will vote on whether to pass the Biden administration’s controversial $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Thursday, Sept. 30. “Tomorrow, September 27, we will begin debate on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework on the Floor of the House and vote on it on Thursday, September 30.” Pelosi noted the vote is slated to take place the day before the Surface Transportation Reauthor...

Derivatives DEX dYdX beats out Coinbase by volume amid China FUD

Chinese traders appear to be flocking to derivatives DEX dYdX amid concerns over a renewed crypto crackdown in China. Decentralized derivatives exchange dYdX has seen a surge in trade activity as concerns surrounding a renewed Chinese crypto crackdown have circulated this year, with the DEX now processing more volume than Coinbase for the first time. According to CoinGecko, dYdX has facilitated more than $4.3 billion worth of trades in the past 24-hours, beating out Coinbase $3.7 billion in volume by nearly 15%. DYdX founder and former Coinbase employee Antonio Juliano celebrated the milestone in a Sept. 27 tweet. 5 years ago I left @coinbase and eventually founded dYdX Today, for the first time, @dydxprotocol is doing more trade volume than Coinbase pic.twitter.com/QzoKAUpH29 — Antonio | dYdX (@AntonioMJuliano) September 26, 2021 The surging growth for dYdX comes amid renewed concerns regarding the threat heavy-handed Chinese regulation could pose for the global crypto sec...

Ripple CEO Says SEC Gives No Clear Framework for Crypto, Discusses XRP Lawsuit

As the lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse insists that the Commission has provided no clarity in crypto regulation. He said the SEC is using its meetings with crypto companies as lead generation for enforcement actions, and the agency has lost sight of its mission to protect investors. Ripple’s CEO Claims SEC Uses Meetings With Crypto Companies as Lead Generation for Enforcement Actions Amid the SEC’s lawsuit over XRP , Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reiterated his concerns over the lack of clarity in crypto regulation provided by the securities watchdog. He tweeted Saturday: American innovation is on the line because of the SEC’s refusal to provide a clear framework for crypto. Instead of working with the industry, the SEC is using their meetings with companies as lead generation for their enforcement actions. The Ripple CEO’s tweets followed his interview with Fox Business Friday where he also talked about the l...

Rich Dad Poor Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki Predicts ‘Giant Stock Market Crash’ in October — Says ‘Bitcoin May Crash Too’

Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” has predicted a “giant stock market crash” coming in October. He believes that “bitcoin may crash too.” The famous author also offered his opinion on China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies. Robert Kiyosaki Warns of ‘Giant’ Market Crash in October Famous author and investor Robert Kiyosaki has predicted that a “giant stock market crash” is coming in October, noting that gold, silver, and bitcoin may crash as well. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. Kiyosaki tweeted Saturday: Giant stock market crash coming October. Why? Treasury and Fed short of T-bills. Gold, silver, bitcoin may crash too. Cash best for picking up bargains after crash. Not selling gold, silver, bitcoin, yet have lots of cash for lif...

Billionaire Mike Novogratz Says Bitcoin Market Is ‘in Good Shape’ — China Has ‘Less and Less’ Influence Over Crypto

The billionaire investor and CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, says the bitcoin market is in good shape, noting that he sees “so much capital coming into the space.” He also commented on the dwindling influence China has over the crypto market. Billionaire Investor Says the Market Is ‘in Good Shape’ — ‘I’m Not Nervous’ Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz commented on the crypto market and the latest news of China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies Friday. He explained that the crypto market was down for three reasons. The first is China reiterating its anti-crypto and anti-freedom stance. The second is the U.S. Federal Reserve “putting taper in motion,” and the third is the big overhead resistance level for bitcoin and ether. Novogratz noted that he believes BTC and ETH will consolidate. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin stands at $43,695 and the price of ether stands at $3,090 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. Furthermore, the billionaire CEO believes that ...

Ethereum alternatives and layer-1 solutions see steady gains in September

Multi-million dollar incentive programs and the ease of cross-chain transfers are boosting the value of L1 and L2-based tokens and raising the total value locked in their associated DeFi platforms. The competition among layer-one (L1) smart contract platforms has been on the rise in the past couple of months as traders and developers continue to embrace Ethereum ( ETH ) network alternatives that offer faster transaction times and lower fees . According to a recent report from Delphi Digital, the price of Ether has remained relatively flat over the past month while competitors like as Solana (SOL) and Fantom (FTM) have seen their prices rally more than 200% during the same time. Relative performance of L1 tokens over the past 30 days. Source: Delphi Digital One of the drivers of the rallies seen in Fantom (FTM), Avalanche (AVAX) and Terra (LUNA) is the fact that each has launched a variety of mulit-million dollar funding initiatives designed to attract developers, investors and n...

The Three Kingdoms: The New Era of Play-to-Earn Games

CryptoKitties was the first to bring blockchain gaming to life, and games such as Axie Infinity defined how a good blockchain game should be. The Three Kingdoms aims to build on this with their next-generation play-to-earn game. The Three Kingdoms is a highly strategic third-generation NFT game based on the historical characters of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The historical characters enable users to have engaging gameplay while obtaining rewards for their achievements. The Next Generation of GameFi What does the new era of play-to-earn games mean? The TTK team believes the current generation of NFT games has limited ways for players to earn in them. Additionally, they suffer from outdated and cartoony graphics and minimal gameplay features. The Three Kingdoms team set out to build a blockchain game that features multiple methods never seen before in the GameFi market to earn tokens. Additionally, they are creating an authentic gaming experience that compares more ...

China’s Crackdown Spurs Massive Onchain Transfers, Cold Wallets Move $3 Billion in Bitcoin and 800K Ether

Following the latest statements from China’s central bank concerning cryptocurrencies and offshore crypto exchanges, massive amounts of funds have been moving onchain. On September 26, at approximately 1:00 a.m. (UTC) 72,999 BTC or $3.1 billion in bitcoin was dispersed to unknown wallets. Huobi to Gradually Retire Mainland China Users, 800K Ether Move from Huobi to an Unknown Wallet Word around the crypto campfire is that offshore exchanges near China are seeing massive amounts of crypto transfers during the last few days. For instance, theblockcrypto.com writer Wolfie Zhao revealed on September 25 that the Chinese government’s crackdown has “spooked some retail users” and the action had spilled over to over-the-counter (OTC) markets. Zhao’s report shows a screenshot of “OTC merchant quotes for USDT against Chinese yuan on Huobi.” Following Zhao’s report, Huobi detailed to users on Sunday that the crypto exchange would “gradually retire existing mainland China users.” Meanwh...

Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, AVAX, ALGO, XTZ, EGLD

Bears continue to pressure BTC price but any signs of consolidation could lead to a breakout in AVAX. ALGO, XTZ, and EGLD. China has attempted to stifle the crypto sector’s growth on several occasions in the past 12 years but barring a minor blip, the blanket bans on crypto-commerce have not altered the long-term growth of cryptocurrencies. This shows that no one country, even if it is the second-largest economy in the world, can halt the emergence and growth of cryptocurrencies. Deutsche Bank analyst Marion Laboure said in an update on the bank’s website that Bitcoin ( BTC ) is likely to “remain ultra-volatile in the foreseeable future” as most people buy it either for investment or for speculation rather than using it as a medium of exchange. However, Laboure believes that Bitcoin could become “the 21st century’s digital gold” and the trend could continue for centuries with no major control by the government. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 At Morningstar’s ...

SEC Denies Freedom of Information Act Request Concerning Tether Documents

On September 24, the staff writer for The New Republic, Jacob Silverman, tweeted about a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request he filed that was ultimately denied. On the social media platform, Silverman wrote that he got Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responses to his FOIA requests and said the responses were “withheld because of possible law enforcement investigation.” Jacob Silverman Sought ‘Access to All Documents, Emails, Memos, and Reports Related to Tether’ There’s a ton of stablecoins these days and today, all the stablecoins in existence are valued at $129.7 billion . The oldest stablecoin and the largest, in terms of market valuation, tether ( USDT ) commands $69.7 billion of the aggregate total of all stablecoins. This Friday, a staff writer from the publication The New Republic, Jacob Silverman , tweeted that he had filed for a FOIA request concerning “Tether” and “Tether Operations Limited.” Essentially, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request allows ...

Suex Founder Loses Top Job Over US Sanctions, Major Exchange, Payment Provider Implicated

The scandal around sanctioned crypto broker Suex is growing in Russia where one of the co-founders of the OTC platform has been dismissed from his executive post at a bank. Meanwhile, an anti-drug organization has referred the case to the interior ministry and the central bank, asking authorities to investigate Suex’s connections with financial companies and a darknet market operating in the region. Co-Founder of Suex Fired by MTS Bank, Another Quits Job at Chatex Russian entrepreneur and financial executive Vasily Zhabykin, one of the founders of troubled crypto broker Suex, has been released from his managerial role at MTS Bank, where he headed the innovative Neo bank project, Kommersant reported. Quoting a source familiar with the matter, Russia’s leading business daily added that the dismissal was due to the U.S. sanctions imposed over the platform’s alleged money laundering operations . The news comes after one of Zhabykin’s partners at Suex, co-owner Egor Petukhovsky, announ...

UNI, SUSHI, MKR, Defi Tokens See 24 Hour Double-Digit Gains, Defi TVL Jumps 6% in 2 Weeks

While a number of popular crypto-assets like bitcoin have been consolidating, decentralized finance (defi) tokens have captured significant gains during the last 24 hours. A few defi crypto assets have seen double-digit gains and the leader of the pack is Uniswap which has jumped 20.9% in the last 24 hours. Uniswap’s Defi Token Leads the Percentage Gains on Sunday Decentralized finance (defi) tokens are making waves during Sunday’s crypto trading sessions, as a dozen defi tokens have seen better gains than most of today’s well known digital assets. While bitcoin ( BTC ) has risen 2% today and ethereum ( ETH ) is up over 3%, crypto tokens like uniswap (UNI) and sushi (SUSHI) have seen double-digit gains. Uni has jumped over 20% during the last day while SUSHI is up 15.6%. Both UNI and SUSHI are followed by coins like maker ( MKR ) up 11.5%, ftx token (FTT) up 10.6% today, and chainlink (LINK) which has risen 10.3% on Sunday. Uniswap (UNI) has a $12.1 billion market valuation today ...

Ethereum price gets back to $3K as institutional investors pile into ETH futures

Ethereum prices recovered on Sunday amid a market-wide upside correction while receiving an additional upside boost from a bullish JPMorgan & Chase report. Ethereum's native token Ether ( ETH ) staged a rebound on Sept. 26 following a massive decline earlier this week that saw its prices plunging to as low as $2,651 on Coinbase. The ETH/USD exchange rate rose 3.63% to hit an intraday high of $3,030. The upside move amounted to a 14.3% upside retracement from the pair's week-to-date low at $2,651, showing that traders attempted to retain their bullish bias despite potential headwinds ahead. Last week, Ether prices fell due to a flurry of issues arising from China. On Monday, traders dumped crypto assets en masse after a tumult in China's heavily indebted property market prompted a selloff across global stock markets. A rebound move ensued later in the week but met with another selloff on Friday after People's Bank of China reiterated that crypto transactions ar...

The next generation of data-driven healthcare is here

Implementing artificial intelligence and blockchain technology into healthcare and medicine is key to unlocking human longevity. In the past 60 years, the life expectancy of the average newborn has increased by nearly 20 years — from 52.5 to 72, as of 2018. We’ve seen an incredible wave of technological innovation in this time: The introduction of the internet, medical breakthroughs and an enhanced understanding of public health initiatives have transformed the course of human life. And with new technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence now taking the stage, we know that even more radical transformation is coming. These disruptive technologies are paving the way for both longer and healthier lifespans. To show you just how much healthcare has advanced thanks to these technologies, I want to highlight a case study of two unique companies, Insilico Medicine and Longenesis. Together, they show how the development of AI for medical care has grown in tandem with the advent...

The NFTs Revolution: LuxFi Is Launching Asset-Backed NFT Marketplace for Luxury Assets

Buying a Rolex watch or a Chanel bag with Bitcoins? It becomes possible with LuxFi. With the vision to bridge the gap between real-world luxury assets and digital assets (NFTs), LuxFi has announced the planned launch of its NFT marketplace. The introduction of LuxFi’s marketplace allows everyone to buy, sell and invest in luxury assets through NFTs, with the possibility of using cryptocurrency and traditional payment methods. The phygital world of luxury evolved into an integral part of human experience. With the recent worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing demand for luxury assets, the luxury market has delved deeper into digital initiatives. The digital revolution has won over the hearts of consumers worldwide, and the prosperous global luxury market has displayed no signs of stopping soon. LuxFi’s NFT Marketplace LuxFi is among the pioneers in the luxury industry to recognize the potential of NFTs. The company will launch a platform to assist consumers by ...

DeFi and Web 3.0: Unleashing creative juices with decentralized finance

The creator economy is one of the most rapidly developing industries, and decentralized technologies have a chance to unlock its full potential. Decentralized technologies are starting to revolutionize the world of finance, with cryptocurrencies applied in different ways to recreate traditional financial instruments. However, since cryptocurrencies aren’t backed by anything but people’s faith in them, they are extremely volatile. That means, when it comes to loaning value with crypto, neither party can be sure that they will get a fair deal. There needs to be a way to secure the value of the assets loaned, which can be done by backing them up with a value in the real world. Here is where the tokenization of real assets comes in. This process is pretty straightforward when we consider tangible assets like a building or gold bars, but what about intangible assets like intellectual property? Related: Understanding the systemic shift from digitization to tokenization of financial serv...