Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from October 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...

JMP Securities Sees Crypto Entering the Mainstream, Says Adoption Has Hit Escape Velocity

Investment banking and asset management firm JMP Securities says that “The crypto economy is entering the mainstream,” emphasizing that crypto “adoption and early use cases have established ‘escape velocity.” However, the firm’s analysts noted that “the industry is still in its formative stage.” ‘The Crypto Economy Is Entering the Mainstream’ JMP Securities recently published a research note that discusses cryptocurrency adoption. Noting that “The crypto economy is entering the mainstream,” the analysts wrote: The crypto market has come a long way in its short existence, and we believe both adoption and early use cases have established ‘escape velocity,’ whereby binary arguments about its fate are all but off the table at this point. The analysts further explained that “The industry is far from perfect today, scams do exist, regulation is undeveloped, and the industry needs more education given technical aspects of the space that make adoption and usage not always intuitive.” N...

US Senator Lummis Thanks God for Bitcoin as Congress Discusses Raising Debt Ceiling

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis said, “Thank God for bitcoin,” during her speech to the Senate about raising the U.S. debt limit. “Bitcoin is not issued by a government, so it is not beholding to the debts that are run up by governments,” she explained. US Senator to Congress: ‘Thank God for Bitcoin’ Senator Cynthia Lummis praised bitcoin during her speech on the Senate floor last week about raising the U.S. debt limit. The senator has been a bitcoin hodler since 2013 and has repeatedly stated that bitcoin is a great store of value . Lummis pointed out that while lawmakers were intensely discussing raising the debt limit, “almost no one is talking about the debt” itself. “We are getting closer to $30 trillion. Certainly, if the spending that is being entertained by the majority party and the Biden administration passes, it will be over $30 trillion,” she warned. The senator from Wyoming explained: Countries have historically tended to decline once the debt surpassed their gross dom...

Mark Cuban Won’t Invest in Bitcoin ETF, Prefers to Buy BTC Directly

The owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has said “no” to investing in bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), one of which could start trading next week in the U.S. The Shark Tank star does not see a reason for him to invest in a bitcoin ETF, emphasizing that he can buy the cryptocurrency directly. Mark Cuban Says No to Bitcoin ETF The Shark Tank star and owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has shared his thoughts on the heavily hyped bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to approve a bitcoin ETF, the first bitcoin futures ETF could begin trading in the country as early as next week. However, Cuban is not planning to invest in a bitcoin ETF or a bitcoin futures ETF when one starts trading on an American exchange. Responding to a question in an interview with CNBC, published Friday, whether he plans to invest in any bitcoin-based ETF, the shark tank star bluntly replied: No. I can ...

Binance launches $1B BSC fund, BTC futures ETF approval could arrive soon, and Celsius raises $400M: Hodler’s Digest, Oct. 10-16

Coming every Saturday, Hodlers Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Binance to launch $1B fund to develop BSC ecosystem Binance, the worlds biggest cryptocurrency exchange, announced an accelerator fund worth a whopping $1 billion this week. The funds will go toward supporting the development of the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem. Binance outlined that the 10-figure sum will be part of a tiered development model across four specialist areas: Talent Development, the Liquidity Incentive Program, the Builder Program and the Investment & Incubation Program. The largest benefactor of the fund is said to be the Investment & Incubation Program, which will receive around $500 million, according to Binance. The branch will focus on multichain expansion in areas such as ...

Economics Professor Warns ‘Cryptocurrencies May Contribute to Monetary and Financial Instability’

Cornell University’s professor of economics and former head of the IMF’s China division, Eswar Prasad, has warned that “Cryptocurrencies may contribute to monetary and financial instability.” He added that the risk is amplified if the industry is unregulated and lacks investor protection. Economist Sees Crypto Posing Risks to Financial Stability Eswar Prasad, the Nandlal P. Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy and professor of economics at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, shared his view on cryptocurrency in an interview with CNBC, published Wednesday. Prasad is also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he holds the New Century Chair in International Economics, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He was previously chief of the Financial Studies Division in the research department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and head of the IMF’s China division. He said: Cryptocu...

The crypto industry is still waiting for its ‘iPhone moment’

The most important innovation that the iPhone brought — which the crypto space needs to gain mass adoption — is the user experience. This year, a great crypto cycle has played out with new all-time highs, euphoria and mainstream media paying lip service to the crypto trend du jour. However, the uncomfortable truth for us in the industry is that crypto is no more present in most people’s daily lives than it was in 2017. Four years have passed — what stalled its progress? 2017 marked my first professional foray into the blockchain space when I joined Crypto.com (then known as Monaco) as its first chief marketing officer. The company grew to become one of the largest crypto service providers and fiat-to-crypto gateways in the world. During that time, the crypto space changed. Payments are much less of a focus and many of the projects aimed at crypto adoption have been sidelined. Decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the spotlight, but they’re ultimat...

Jack Dorsey Says Square Is Considering Building a ‘Bitcoin Mining System Based on Custom Silicon’

Following the latest report from Cambridge University that shows a large percentage of the Bitcoin network’s hashrate resides in the United States, the CEO of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey, has announced that Square is considering building a “bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon.” Square Considers Building a Mining System On the same day the CFTC fined Tether Limited and Bitfinex, and the filings that give the impression that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the Proshares Trust bitcoin futures ETF, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said Square is possibly jumping into the bitcoin mining industry. Dorsey has been a bitcoin proponent for years and he recently explained that Square is in the midst of building a bitcoin hardware wallet in order to “make bitcoin custody more mainstream.” In recent times Dorsey has also said that bitcoin will be a big part of Twitter’s future. He shared a URL link to a book called “Anatomy of the State” by the economist Mu...

Impossible to Run Away From Cryptocurrencies Says Zimbabwe Finance Minister

Zimbabwe’s increasingly pro-crypto finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, recently told his colleagues in government that it is now impossible to run away from cryptocurrencies. Ncube said this after revealing that some 30% of the country’s youth are now invested in cryptocurrencies. Zimbabwe Ready to Make Concessions on Cryptos According to a report by the Herald, Ncube also hinted that his ministry is now willing to make certain concessions on cryptocurrencies. However, unlike his recent comments in which he simply extolled cryptocurrencies, Ncube insists that these must not be treated as currencies. He explained: But our view is that we do not want it to be a currency. Want this to be an investment class. So through the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange platform, we will try to create crypto-based products there, which are ring-fenced within the offshore zone. By referencing the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFSE) as the ideal platform for cryptocurrency transactions, Ncube is echoin...

BTC price hovers above $61K amid fresh concerns over fate of physical Bitcoin ETF

Suspicions arise over U.S. regulators' acceptance of physical Bitcoin ETF products later this year, amid reports than investors are voting with their feet. Bitcoin ( BTC ) saw some rare calm on Oct. 16 as the market continued to digest the approval of the United States' first exchange-traded funds (ETFs). BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Lack of faith over non-futures ETF approvals Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView  showed BTC/USD circling $61,500 on Saturday, still up by 4% in 24 hours.  The pair had hit $62,940 hours after the Wall Street open on Friday as news hit that regulators had green-lit two ETF applications after years of failed applications. These ETFs will have CME Bitcoin futures as the underlying asset, rather than Bitcoin itself, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set to begin deciding the fate of "physical" ETFs next month. Futures-based ETFs have had a mixed reception, with opinio...

Survey: 14% of Americans Want Crypto Rewards for Using Their Credit Cards

During the last few years, prepaid cards that offer cryptocurrency rewards have grown popular and a number of digital asset payment cards offer these types of rewards. This means instead of accruing frequent flyer miles or points, consumers get rewarded in crypto assets every time they make a purchase with the card. A recent study with 1,011 Americans shows that 14% of U.S.-based credit card users want cryptocurrency rewards from their credit cards. Percentage of U.S. Residents Prefer Crypto Asset Card Rewards It’s been a number of years since the introduction of the first prepaid digital currency payment cards that can be loaded with crypto assets in order to make purchases. There’s now a slew of different crypto-infused cards, as some of them leverage the Mastercard payment network and others utilize Visa’s payment infrastructure. After the intro of a few different kinds of crypto cards, companies started to add cryptocurrency rewards to card users for every purchase. For instanc...

Crypto finserve Bakkt to soon trade publicly on New York Stock Exchange

From Oct. 18, Bakkt's common stock and warrants will be listed on NYSE under the ticker symbols “BKKT” and “BKKT WS” respectively. The public listing for Bakkt ticker comes as a result of a merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, a Chicago-based special purpose acquisition company. According to an official statement , a shareholders meeting regarding the merger saw approximately 85.1% approval for the business combination: “Upon closing, the combined company’s Class A common stock and warrants are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbols “BKKT” and “BKKT WS” respectively” Additionally, the business combination resulted in gross proceeds of approximately $448 million to Bakkt, which is planned to be reinvested in growing the company's capabilities and partnerships. Just last week, Bakkt crypto exchange announced a partnership with Google to allow the purchase of goods and services using Bitcoin ( BTC ) and other crypto...

Jack Dorsey’s Square plans to build an open-source Bitcoin mining system

Jack Dorsey wants to build a single system that can improve accessibility to Bitcoin mining and further decentralize the BTC network. American finserv Square will soon begin investigating technical requirements for building an open-source Bitcoin ( BTC ) mining system, according to CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey shared a series of tweets explaining his intent to follow a collaborative approach in further decentralizing Bitcoin mining. He said : “Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide. The more decentralized this is, the more resilient the Bitcoin network becomes.” Dorsey believes that further decentralizing the Bitcoin network will be critical for securely settling the transactions “well after the last bitcoin is mined.” Moreover, Square’s system aims to deliver energy-efficient mining solutions by innovation in silicon, software, and integration. The initiative will be led by Jesse Dorogusk...

Bitcoin Mining Operation Being Sued for Producing High Noise Levels in Tennessee

A bitcoin mining operation in Tennessee is being sued by neighbors due to the high level of noise the facility produces. The lawsuit, which was filed in August, asks mining operator Red Dog to shut down operations and pay personal damages fees, as well as compensate owners for decreased property values. The lawsuit could set a precedent for other cases now that Bitcoin mining companies are seeking to migrate to new zones previously ignored. Bitcoin Mining Operation Faces Noise Complaint Red Dog Technologies, the owner of a Bitcoin mining operation located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, is being sued by a member of a neighboring community due to the amount of noise the operation produces. According to reports from local media, the complaint states that the noise coming from the mine creates a situation that “unreasonably interferes” with the “use and enjoyment” of the plaintiff’s property. Worries about the mine disturbing citizens and the legality of the operation have already be...

The responsibility behind a crypto lender’s asset listing

With the lack of regulation and common standards, a lot depends on crypto companies’ social responsibility and blockchain-based CSR. Crypto lenders are the institutions situated between consumers and the untamed, blockchain-based, and often unregulated space of cryptocurrencies. As such, they are in a peculiar position when it comes to responsibility towards their customers and the assets for which they provide services. Consequently, when choosing which currencies to support, lenders lead a delicate dance of responsibility, a balancing act between catering to popular demand and adding cryptocurrencies that are sustainable, worthwhile and safe. Demand vs. approval: The question of endorsement It’s unsurprising that in a nascent industry full of new investors, a lender’s asset integration is often taken for endorsement. What tends to be overlooked when companies add new assets to their range of services is that crypto lending is, in fact, a business, and any asset integration is ul...

Salvadoreans are now selling ‘way more’ US Dollars to buy Bitcoin

President Bukele confirms that Chivo has reported 24,076 remittance requests, which has added up to $3,069,761.05 in one day. El Salvador’s mainstream Bitcoin ( BTC ) adoption gains momentum during the ongoing bull run as citizens increasingly exchange their United States dollar savings for Bitcoin.  President Nayib Bukele shared this new development on Twitter based on the data acquired from El Salvador’s in-house wallet service, Chivo. President Bukele said : “People are inserting way more USD (to buy #BTC) than what they are withdrawing from the Chivo ATMs.” He also urged media outlets to independently confirm the above information by visiting the ATMs. President Bukele further stated that Chivo has reported 24,076 remittance requests “adding up to $3,069,761.05 in one day.” 2 new Chivo Facts: 1. People are inserting way more USD (to buy #BTC ) than what they are withdrawing from the Chivo ATMs (any media outlet can independently confirm this by visiting the ATMs). 2....