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Showing posts from November 4, 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...
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Warner Bros to Launch Matrix NFT Avatars With Blue Pill and Red Pill Options

Warner Bros., the American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate has announced the launch of non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles for the upcoming film “The Matrix Resurrections” after dropping official Space Jam NFT collectibles. The Matrix NFT program will start on November 30 as Warner Bros. plans to drop 100,000 Matrix Resurrections’ NFTs. ‘You Take the Blue Pill…the Story Ends — You Take the Red Pill…You Stay in Wonderland, and I Show You How Deep the Rabbit Hole Goes’ The entertainment giant Warner Bros. is knee-deep in the non-fungible token (NFT) industry these days after launching the official Space Jam NFTs with the Miami-based firm Nifty’s, Inc. The NFTs stemmed from the recently released “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” which starred a cast of famous Looney Tunes characters and the NBA star LeBron James. Warner Bros. has joined a number of big-name entertainment firms like Fox , Lionsgate , Dolphin , and ViacomCBS. The entertainment companies WWE and UFC ...
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Former Comptroller Brian Brooks gets a new gig as Bitfury CEO

Former Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks has become the new CEO of Bitfury and will oversee the firm’s rapid expansion plans. Former Comptroller of the Currency and Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks has been announced as the new CEO of crypto (BTC) mining firm BitFury. According to a Nov. 4 announcement from Bitfury, Brooks was appointed last Friday and he will lead the firm as it prepares for a new funding round. Bitfury founder and former CEO Valery Vavilov will serve as Chief Vision Officer and the Chairman of the Board of Directors. “Mr. Brooks will lead the 10-year-old crypto unicorn as it launches a new funding round, increases the growth of its mining business with a revolutionary new microchip design and new global data center locations, and scales a portfolio of innovative businesses,” the breathless announcement read. Bitfury’s last funding round occurred in 2018, when it raised $80 million at a valuation of $1 billion. Vavilov confirmed to Cointelegraph on Oct. 18 that the firm w...
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Raoul Pal: Expect the 'path of most pain' around December

Pal says that the upcoming release of ETH 2.0 and and ETH ETF will extend the crypto market cycle Former Goldman Sachs hedge fund manager and founder of Real Vision, Raoul Pal, believes that the social media pundits are wrong and the crypto market cycle won’t end this year. But things might get a bit hairy on the way. In a Real Vision interview on Nov. 3rd Pal predicted that the current bull run won’t end in December as it did spectacularly in 2015 and 2017, and will instead extend to some time between March and June. According to Pal, Bitcoin, Ethereum and altcoin markets are likely to “take the path of most pain”, potentially crashing twice over the next six months . “My guess is that we probably have a sell-off, and then it rips again because that is the path of most pain and markets tend to take the path of most pain.” Cointelegraph reported on Nov. 4th that on-chain data source Econometrics data suggests that if the current cycle follows the same pattern as 2017, the next ...
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Korea's FSC confirms that NFTs will not be regulated

The recent FATF updated guidance made it easy for regulators to pass on issuing new rules for NFTs. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) in South Korea reaffirmed in a public statement today that nonfungible tokens (NFT) are not virtual assets, and will not be regulated. The confirmation of the decision to keep NFTs unregulated came after a review of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) updated guidelines. The October 28 guidance report from FATF states that “NFT, or crypto-collectibles, depending on their characteristics are generally not considered to be [Virtual Assets].” On November 5, an official from a branch of the FSC said in a statement to reporters: “Due to the FATF position on NFT regulation, we will not issue regulations for NFTs.” Korea’s financial regulator focused on the fact that FATF considered NFTs to be “unique, rather than interchangeable,” — which is of course the definition of nonfungible — and are used as collector items instead of as a means of pay...
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3air Solves Africa’s Massive Internet Access Problem With Cardano-Based ISP Platform

PRESS RELEASE. 3air is using an ISP platform built on Cardano to provide internet to the most unconnected regions in Africa. November 2nd, 2021, Dubai, UAE – Today, 3air , a blockchain-based startup, announced it will leverage the power of decentralization to provide internet connectivity to consumers in Africa and provide the physical infrastructure to support this through its partnership with K3 Telecom. Only 20% of people on the African continent are active internet users, with less than 1% having access to broadband. Compare this with the 60% of the world population that are active internet users and it quickly becomes evident that African nations have quite a distance to go in order to fully benefit from the world wide web. The lack of internet in this region not only means it has been more difficult to implement successful COVID-19 containment methods, but there is also a social and economic impact including the way citizens interact with their government, with businesses, ...
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Should Zuck lead us to the Metaverse? Crypto leaders weigh in

“In order for him to have a clean slate for Meta, he must step down and he must have a new CEO to run it,” said Jenny Ta. Crypto leaders are divided over whether Mark Zuckerberg should lead Facebook into the Metaverse, with Hodl Asset’s Jenny Ta saying he needs to resign if Meta is to succeed while Animoca’s Yat Siu says Zuck is the only one who can drive the company forward. Ta is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of nonfungible token (NFT) platform developer Hodl Assets, and said that Zuckerberg needs to head off lawsuits and protect the company’s image by relinquishing his role as CEO. But the co-founder and Chairman of blockchain game and virtual property developer Animoca Brands, Yat Su said that Zuck is a “force of nature” who can make Meta’s vision a reality — but that he hopes he embraces a decentralized model. The comments came in light of Facebook’s recent rebrand to Meta, in which the firm is aiming to provide a platform for creators to build virtual online businesse...
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Indian Payments Giant Paytm Could Offer Bitcoin Services if Government Makes Crypto Legal, Says CFO

Paytm, one of India’s largest payments companies, is open to offering bitcoin services if the crypto asset becomes legal in the country, according to its chief financial officer. If bitcoin “was ever to become fully legal in the country, then clearly there could be offerings we could launch,” he said. Paytm Open to Bitcoin Offerings Paytm Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora has indicated that his company is open to offering bitcoin services if the crypto asset becomes legal in India, local media reported Thursday, citing his recent interview with Bloomberg TV. Deora was quoted as saying: Bitcoin is still in a regulatory grey area if not a regulatory ban in India. At the moment Paytm does not do bitcoin. If it was ever to become fully legal in the country, then clearly there could be offerings we could launch. In August last year, Paytm reportedly froze Paytm Payments Bank’s customer accounts suspected of crypto trading. Paytm is currently India’s second most-valuable interne...
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8-word crypto amendment in Infrastructure Bill an ‘affront to the rule of law’

A proposed bill waiting for vote in Congress contains a “dangerous” amendment. Legal experts have warned that a section of the Infrastructure Bill, which is due for a vote today, amends a part of the tax code and makes a failure by businesses and individuals to report digital asset transactions a criminal offense. University of Virginia School of Law lecturer Abraham Sutherland said it is a separate provision to the controversial “broker” provision that attracted all the attention when the bill was in the Senate: “It’s bad for all users of digital assets, but it’s especially bad for decentralized finance. The statute would not ban DeFi outright. Instead, it imposes reporting requirements that, given the way DeFi works, would make it impossible to comply.” Meltem Demirors, CSO at CoinShares, raised her concerns on Twitter about what she sees as the unconstitutional and anti-American nature of the amendment. this bill is unconstitutional and inherently anti-American private citi...
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BetaShares crypto company ETF smashes Australian records on opening day

The CRYP fund was marketed as an opportunity for stock market investors to dip their toes into crypto Australian fund management company BetaShares’ new crypto company ETF smashed Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) records within the first 15 minutes of listing. The Capital Appreciation Portfolio Diversification (CRYP) fund enables investors to gain exposure to 50 pure-play listed crypto companies from around the world such as exchanges, mining companies and equipment firms. Some of the top companies on CRYP include Galaxy Digital (12.0%), Marathon Digital (11.3%), Coinbase Global (10.7%), Silvergate Capital (10.2%) and Microstrategy (9.4%). Investors blasted through the existing ETF record of $5.8M (A$8M) within minutes and soared to a total of almost $31.3M (A$42.5M) by the end of opening day signalling massive pent up demand for crypto exposure on the ASX. CEO of Australian crypto investment platform Zerocap Ryan McCall said that CRYP’s success didn’t come as a surprise, g...
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ANZ bank executive: The ‘weight of money’ means crypto can’t be ignored

“When you look under the hood on that, we've concluded that this is a major protocol shift for financial market infrastructure,” said Nigel Dobson, ANZ’s Banking Services Portfolio Lead. One of the ANZ bank’s senior executives has told a Blockchain Australia forum that the crypto sector has grown too big to be ignored by traditional finance. The comments came a day after rival Commonwealth Bank announced that it would roll out crypto trading services for 10 digital assets via its Commbank app. The “State of Play” forum was held by Blockchain Australia on Nov. 4 and featured representatives from organizations including Mastercard, ANZ and NAB offering their take on the crypto sector in the wake of CBA’s play. Today we hosted the 'State of Play' with over 1200 registrations and speakers from some of Australia's most recognisable businesses. The conversation signalled very clearly that a revolution in payments is on our doorstep. pic.twitter.com/S32Vc4KToO — Blo...
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US Lawmakers Urge SEC to Permit Trading of Bitcoin Spot ETFs

U.S. lawmakers have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Since the SEC has approved the trading of bitcoin futures ETFs, the lawmakers said it “should no longer have concerns with bitcoin spot ETFs and should show a similar willingness to permit the trading of bitcoin spot ETFs.” Lawmakers Urge SEC to Permit Trading of Bitcoin Spot ETFs U.S. Representatives Tom Emmer and Darren Soto sent a bipartisan letter to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, Wednesday regarding bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). So far, the SEC has approved two bitcoin futures ETFs but has yet to approve any bitcoin spot ETF. Rep. Emmer said: The SEC’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation has been unacceptable. While the trading of bitcoin futures ETFs is a great step forward for the millions of American investors who have been demanding regulatory clarity, it does not make sense that bitcoin sp...
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Shanghai Man: $130M hack raises suspicions, Chinese miners head to Laos, Huobi’s moon mission

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industrys most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. It was a quiet week in the mainland as much of the Chinese crypto community was either lying low, off in Lisbon, or recovering from a week-long hangover following the Shanghai Blockchain Week that concluded over last weekend. The largest blockchain-related news was the $130 million hack of DeFi platform Boy X Highspeed, or BXH for short. BXH is a decentralized exchange running on BSC, Ethereum, HECO, and OKEx.     We are sorry to announce that BXH was attacked on #BinanceChain . Other chains assets are safe. We are cooperating with BSC and Peckshield to follow up and trace. #BXH @HECO_Chain @BinanceChain @AnyswapNetwork @O3Swap @renprotocol @cz_binance @peckshield pic.twitter.com/jNo8C53DM0 — BXH (@BXH_Blockchain) October 30, 2021...
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ACX's parent company Blockchain Global collapses owing $15M

Investors are worried the may not be able to recoup their funds from ACX, now that parent company Blockchain Global has entered voluntary administration. Blockchain Global (BGL), the parent company of the now-defunct Australian crypto exchange ACX, has collapsed with outstanding debts of $15 million. On Sept. 13, The Victoria Supreme Court placed a freeze order on 117.33 Bitcoin ( BTC ) —worth around $7.1 million — held by two companies behind the exchange, BGL and ACX Tech. Three days later the companies were ordered to disclose the full scope of assets held locally and abroad but failed to meet the Sept. 30 deadline. The Australian Financial Review reported that BGL has since entered voluntary administration, with a figure of $15 million (AUD $21 million) owed to creditors. BGL’s CEO Sam Lee said said that he stepped down as a director in March 2019, but still retains ownership of the brand. Lee downplayed his current role at BGL, noting that: “[I] was reappointed on April 1...
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NY Mayor-elect Eric Adams will take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin

The Mayor-elect said he plans to make New York the “center of the cryptocurrency industry” after he takes office in January. New York Democrat Mayor-elect Eric Adams revealed on Twitter today he intends to take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin. Adams also doubled down on his plans to make New York the “center of the cryptocurrency industry” after he takes office in January. The clear statement of political support for cryptocurrency came in response to an earlier tweet by Bitcoin podcaster Anthony Pompliano: “Who is going to be the first American politician to accept their salary in bitcoin?” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who won reelection earlier this week, replied to the tweet saying that he plans to take his next paycheck in Bitcoin. I’m going to take my next paycheck 100% in bitcoin…problem solved! @Sarasti can you help? https://t.co/v4YdPZ0tYc — Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) November 2, 2021 This prompted Adams to respond by one-upping his Republican collea...
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Square's Cash App Bitcoin profits fall 23% — Will opening it to teenagers help?

Cash App’s Bitcoin profits fell in the third quarter, but overall profits are still on the rise. Jack Dorsey’s payments company Square Inc. revealed in its Q3 earnings report that mobile payments app Cash App saw a 23% drop in quarterly profits generated by Bitcoin. But Bitcoin profits and revenue are both up year on year. Square attributes the drop off in quarter-on-quarter Bitcoin revenue and gross profit to the “relative stability of the price of Bitcoin, which affected trading activity compared to prior quarters.” Cash App allows users in the United States and the UK to buy Bitcoin and transfer money and BTC peer to peer. According to AppBrain it currently ranks second in finance app installs on the U.S. Google Play Store behind top-ranked crypto.com . Bitcoin saw much less volatility in Q3 than Q2 after the price dropped from a previous ATH of nearly $63,000 to about $31,000 in Q2, while in Q3 Bitcoin price ranged from about $30,000 to $50,000 . The earnings report states...
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US Senator Proposes Congress Adopt Cryptocurrency for Payments

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a resolution that would position Congress to lead in the area of cryptocurrency by having congressional cafeterias, vending machines, and gift shops accept crypto payments. “Congress is typically slow to adopt new technology,” he said. Senator Pushes for Crypto Adoption in Congress U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a resolution titled “Adopting Cryptocurrency in Congress as an Exchange of Payment for Transactions Resolution,” also referred to as “ACCEPT Resolution,” in the Senate Monday. The resolution proposes cryptocurrency be accepted at “restaurants, vending machines, and gift shops in the Capitol Complex.” According to the text of the resolution: The Architect of the Capitol, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives shall each … solicit and enter into contracts to provide food service and vending machines in such Capitol Buildings with persons that will accept digital assets as p...
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Mythical Games announces $150M raise as the company expands into NFTs

The game developer’s total valuation is now $1.25 Billion, following a successful raise. Mythical Games announced the conclusion of a $150 million fundraising round. The company conducted the raise at a $1.25 billion valuation on Thursday, which was led by global venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Mythical said it plans to use this new infusion of capital to help integrate NFTs into games. Andreessen General Partner Arianna Simpson said in a statement: “Co-Founders John, Jamie, and Rudy have a wealth of experience in the gaming world, and have built a world-class team to support their vision. We’re thrilled to partner with them to bring NFT gaming to an even larger stage.”  Other investors in this round included venture capital firms D1 Capital, 32 Equity (the investment arm of the National Football League), RedBird Capital, Com2Us, and The Raine Group in addition to cryptocurrency exchanges FTX and Binance Labs. Several professional sports franchise owners also partic...
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Colombian exporter developing cryptocurrency to help transport long-horned beetles to Japan

This Colombian beetle exporter once used biotechnology to reduce organic waste. It's now moving into cryptocurrency development. As reported by Reuters Thursday morning, Tierra Viva ("Alive Earth"), a Colombian exporter of long-horned beetles based in Tunja, has been developing its own cryptocurrency to avoid high commission costs on international sales. According to the outlet, the Hercules, Neptunus, and elephant beetle species exported by Tierra Viva have a retail price of $300 a pair in Tokyo. The beetle species are popular among Japanese schoolchildren and collectors. Carmelo Campos, chief programmer of Tierra Viva, said the following in an interview with Reuters: It's an alternative to be able to export the beetles to Japan or any other part of the world and be able to use it as a method of payment. Tierra Viva's digital currency is called the Kumushicoin (KTV), named after the native name of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, the Kabutomushi. As discussed...
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“PlugWalkJoe” indicted for $784k cryptocurrency theft scheme

Joseph O’Connor indicted on a raft of wire fraud, computer hacking, money laundering and identify theft counts. Joseph O’Connor, known in some corners of the internet as PlugWalkJoe, was indicted on an array of charges relating to a May 2019 cryptocurrency exchange hack. During the attack, he is alleged to have absconded with digital assets valued at approximately $784,000. In the criminal scheme, authorities believe O'Connor utilized SIM swap attacks (an artifice of fraud where 2FA phone calls and text messages are rerouted to a device controlled by the scammer) on three separate executives at an undisclosed cryptocurrency company to take control of their employers systems. O’Connor may have then diverted over 7 BTC, 407 ETH, 6363 LTC and 770 BCH from wallets maintained by the corporation on behalf of their users to wallets under his own control.  The indictment was brought by the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York, which is well known for its prosecut...
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Indiana’s Star Bank Launches Bitcoin Trading Services

Star Financial Bank (Star Bank) says it has become the first bank in the U.S. state of Indiana to offer bitcoin services to customers. The services will be offered through the New York Digital Investment Group and Alkami platform. Customers will have the ability to buy and sell bitcoin via the Star Mobile Banking App. ‘First Bank in the State of Indiana to Offer Bitcoin Trading Services’ Star Financial Bank (Star Bank) announced Tuesday: Star is excited to offer customers the ability to buy and sell bitcoin via the Star Mobile Banking App. “We’re launching this new offering as a closed beta,” the bank added. Star Bank is an Indiana-based community bank. Its parent company, Star Financial Group, has $2.80 billion in assets with 36 locations in central and northeast Indiana, according to its website. The bitcoin services are provided by the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) via Alkami, a cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for U.S. banks and credit unions. NYD...
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Layer-2 and multi-chain DeFi platforms see record inflows as Ethereum fees soar

Since October, Multi-chain compatible DeFi platforms saw record inflows as investors and developers attempted to avoid the Ethereum network due to soaring gas fees. High transaction fees have been a persistent thorn in the side of investors and blockchain projects since at least 2014 when Ethereum Network co-creator Vitalik Buterin stated in reference to Bitcoin, “The ‘Internet of Money’ should not cost $0.05 per transaction. It's kind of absurd.”  Fast forward to November 2021 and the simple act of approving a token so that it can be transacted on Uniswap can cost as much as $50 worth in Ether ( ETH )  depending on the time of day. Average Ethereum gas cost. Source: Etherscan Even layer-2 solutions, which were billed as the protocols that would help solve the fee issue, have been unable to escape the high-fee curse of congested networks as new users onboard into the cryptocurrency ecosystem by the day. isnt arbitrum supposed to be cheap lol what a joke pic.twitt...
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Russian Government to Track Crypto Transactions With Help From Anti-Drug Organization

Russian institutions have responded to a call from а public movement for joint efforts to identify cryptocurrency transfers related to drug trade. The anti-drug organization, Stopnarkotik, recently asked the interior ministry and the central bank to investigate alleged connections between U.S.-sanctioned crypto exchange Suex and a darknet market operating in the region. Russian Authorities Respond to Stopnarkotik’s Request for Action Against Drug Trade The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD) and Bank of Russia have agreed to cooperate with the All-Russian Public Movement Stopnarkotik on identifying financial flows involving cryptocurrencies obtained as a result of drug sales. The Russian online news portal Lenta.ru reported on the agreement, quoting a letter from a high-ranking MVD official. The letter signed by Major General Andrei Yanishevsky, head of the Drug Control Department at the Interior Ministry, has been issued after a working meeting with re...
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Why Bitcoin bears are trying to keep BTC price below $62K for Friday’s options expiry

Bitcoin price dropped to $60,700 on Nov. 4 and bears are keen to pin the price under $62,000 to profit from Nov. 5’s options expiry. Bitcoin's ( BTC ) 90% year-to-date gain was largely fueled by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) recent exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval and in the first 48-hours of listing, ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was able to amass $1.1 billion in assets under management. On Nov. 1, the U.S. Treasury released its stablecoins report, which basically urged Congress to regulate the industry . In short, the working group expects government agencies to require stablecoin issuers to meet the same standards as insured depository institutions. Although the consequences of a potential stablecoin regulation for cryptocurrency markets remain unknown, stablecoins are vital for exchanges, market makers and retail investors when seeking protection. Despite this, investors still must account for the possibility that stablecoin i...
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