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Showing posts from December 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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OVR and the Results of the Token Burning Program’s First Month

OVR launched its new Token Burning Program on 1 November to make its own tokens more rare and valuable. The results of this first month of November saw a total of 246 thousand OVR burned. OVR and the Numbers From the Token Burning Program’s First Month OVR’s updated token economics started on November 1, 2021, after the OVR team burned nearly 1 million of its tokens last May. By the end of last month, the platform had collected a total of 615,365 OVR from its sales of OVRLand NFTs, excluding GAS costs. As anticipated, the Token Burning Program foresees that 40% of the collected OVR are burned, while 10% is used to incentivize OVRLand sales with monthly draws among new OVRLand buyers using Chainlink VRF . And indeed, for this month of November 2021, the total tokens burned amount to 246,146 OVR , while exactly 61,536 OVR have been dedicated to the OVRLand draw on Chainlink . In general, the more OVRLands purchased on Chainlink, the higher the probability of winning the jackp...
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Russia, Ukraine Shut Down Several Cryptocurrency Farms

Authorities in Russia and Ukraine have closed down a number of illegal crypto mining facilities allegedly powered by stolen electricity. The underground farms have been discovered around the capital cities, Kyiv and Moscow, as well as in the Russian republic of Dagestan. Russia Busts Illegal Mining Farms in Moscow Region and Dagestan Russian law enforcement and customs agents have recently uncovered the theft of a large amount of electricity from the network operated by Rosseti in Moscow Oblast, the region adjacent to Russia’s capital. Tass broke the news about the operation this week, quoting Ekaterina Korotkova from the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Office. The official explained: An audit revealed an unauthorized connection to the power grid, theft of electricity and illegal seizure of land for the operation of equipment designed to perform cryptographic calculations related to the mining of digital currencies. The cost of the illegally consumed electricity use...
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Bitmart hacked for $200M following Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain exploit

The hackers made away with a mix of over 20 tokens that includes altcoins such as BNB, Safemoon, BSC-USD and BPay. Crypto exchange Bitmart lost nearly $200 million in a hot wallet compromise hosted over the Ethereum ( ETH ) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchains. The $200 million Bitmart hack was first revealed by Peckshield, a blockchain security and data analytics company, who initially identified a transfer of roughly $100 million over the Ethereum blockchain. Further investigation from the team revealed a concurrent hack of $96 million over the crypto exchange’s BSC reserves: Total estimated loss: ~200M (~100M on @ethereum and ~96M on @BinanceChain ). (Previously we only counted the loss on @ethereum ). And here is the list of affected assets/amounts on @BinanceChain pic.twitter.com/cXXApDFtd7 — PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) December 5, 2021 The hackers made away with a mix of over 20 tokens that includes altcoins such as BNB, Safemoon, BSC-USD and BPay. Sizable amo...
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Berkshire’s Charlie Munger Praises China for Banning Crypto — Wishes Crypto Had Never Been Invented

Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, says China did the right thing to “ban” cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. He wishes that cryptocurrencies had never been invented, emphasizing that he will not participate in the crypto boom. He considers “this era even crazier than the dot-com era.” Warren Buffett’s Right Hand Man, Charlie Munger, Wishes Crypto Had Never Been Invented Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, often known as Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, talked about cryptocurrency Friday at the Sohn Hearts and Minds, Australia’s premier investor event. The 97-year-old previously called bitcoin “rat poison” and likened cryptocurrency trading to “trading turds.” Commenting on the current investing environment, he said: I think the dot-com boom was crazier in terms of valuations than even what we have now. But overall, I consider this era even crazier than the dot-com era. Discussing cryptocurrency, Munger said: “I just...
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Jack Dorsey steps down from Twitter, MicroStrategy snaps up 7K BTC and Square rebrands to Block: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 28-Dec. 4

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 Jack Dorsey has stepped down as Twitter CEO Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey announced Monday that he has stepped down from his role as CEO. Replacing Dorsey will be Twitter board member and chief technology officer Parag Agrawal, who was unanimously appointed to CEO by the companys board of directors. Dorsey also serves as the CEO and chairman of crypto-friendly payments tech firm Square, and it is unclear if he left Twitter to solely focus on the platforms plans to develop a decentralized Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange. He did note, however, that the company does not need to be founder-led to thrive. I believe its really important to give Parag the space he needs to lead, said Dorsey. I believe its critical...
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US SEC Charges Man With Defrauding Crypto Investors in Two Digital Asset Securities Offerings

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a citizen of Latvia with defrauding investors in two crypto offerings. The fraudster “used fake names, fictitious entities, and fraudulent profiles to perpetrate his schemes, and misappropriated nearly all of the investor funds that were raised.” Two Fraudulent Crypto Schemes The SEC announced Thursday that it has “charged a Latvian citizen with defrauding hundreds of retail investors out of at least $7 million through two separate fraudulent digital asset securities offerings.” Noting that Ivars Auzins defrauded U.S. and foreign investors, the securities watchdog explained: Auzins allegedly used fake names, fictitious entities, and fraudulent profiles to perpetrate his schemes, and misappropriated nearly all of the investor funds that were raised. His first scheme ran from January through March 2018. “Auzins fraudulently offered and sold unregistered digital tokens as part of an ICO [initial coin offering] of Denaro...
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Virtual Land Adjacent to Snoop Dogg’s Sandbox Estate Sells for $450K in Ethereum

The popular American rapper Snoop Dogg revealed at the end of September that he acquired land in the blockchain-based virtual metaverse The Sandbox and had plans to recreate his mansion. On December 2, The Sandbox held a “Snoopverse Land Sale,” which allowed participants to purchase land adjacent to the famous hip hop star’s virtual estate. Plot of Land Next to Snoop’s Virtual Mansion in The Sandbox Metaverse Sells for Six-Digits Two days ago, The Sandbox disclosed it was selling virtual plots of land that are located next to Snoop Dogg’s virtual property. Snoop has been a cryptocurrency advocate for quite some time and in recent days, he revealed he was a non-fungible token (NFT) whale called “Cozomo de’ Medici.” Then at the end of September, Snoop partnered with The Sandbox, a gaming ecosystem where people can create, share and monetize NFTs and gaming experiences on the Ethereum ( ETH ) network. The Sandbox blog post published on Thursday, explains that plots of land in the...
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Things to know (and fear) about new IRS crypto tax reporting

The new law redefines "cash" to include "any digital representation of value" including cryptocurrency, but in an anonymous system, is this going to work? The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ( H.R. 3684 ) put crypto in the crosshairs, where Congress and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) hope to scoop up enormous tax dollars. This reporting regime is projected to rake in an astounding $28 billion over the next ten years. No other provision in this massive recently enacted federal law is supposed to produce tax dollars that are even close. If you don’t think that means the IRS is coming for your crypto in a very big way and that Congress is trying hard to facilitate it, think again. The crypto community was outraged when the measure was first proposed and tried to push back hard. That effort resulted in some narrowing, but the provisions were enacted anyway. Some people are still talking about a repeal effort, but that could prove to be a hard sell when $...
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ECB Paper Marks Success Factors for CBDCs, Digital Euro

A paper published by the European Central Bank (ECB) discusses various conditions for successful implementation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) such as the eurozone’s own digital euro. The authors also point to different risks that such projects entail, like the danger of crowding out the private sector. ECB: Digital Euro Should Be Widely Used for Payments, Not Investment In order to create a successful CBDC , a monetary authority needs to establish the digital currency as a widespread means of payment and exchange that also has a sufficient store of value function, according to the paper released by the European Central Bank. At the same time, central banks need to ensure that currencies like the digital euro do not turn into a significant means of investment, crowd out private payment solutions, or undermine the banking sector’s intermediation role. The document, which was published this week, is authored by three high-ranking ECB officials — Fabio Panetta, Ulrich Bin...
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2021 ends with a question: Are NFTs here to stay?

NFTs are the biggest disrupter in art this year, with artists minting, exhibiting and auctioning, and investors buying, selling and trading. In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. On Nov. 14, Tezos-based nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Hic Et Nunc — which in Latin means “here and now” — abruptly shut down. Artists became worried about their NFTs on exhibit at the Hermitage Museum’s first-ever NFT exhibition , “Ethereal Aether” (Nov. 10 to Dec. 10), as well as Art Basel Miami’s first-ever NFT exhibition, “Humans + Machines: NFTs and the Ever-Evolving World of Art” (Dec. 2 to 4). Diane Drubay, founder of We Are Museums and a minter of NFTs on Hic Et Nunc — who curated a panel discussion at Art Basel Miami — explained to me: “Of course, it ...
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Ethereum Might Dethrone Bitcoin as Best Crypto Store of Value, Study Argues

A recent paper authored by members of several universities, including Sydney and Macquarie, argues that recent changes in Ethereum monetary policy are making it a better store of value than bitcoin. The deflationary effect that the EIP-1559 proposal has caused in the issuance of the currency is said to be the main cause of this. Ethereum in the Spotlight A new paper released by members of Australian universities last month is putting the spotlight on Ethereum and its possible future as a store of value. The paper , titled “Better than Bitcoin? Can cryptocurrencies beat inflation?,” is authored by Ester Félez-Viñas of the University of Technology in Sydney and other academics, and compares the issuance of Bitcoin with the new issuance model of Ethereum, that is making the currency deflationary. The paper states: We show that following the recent change in its transactions protocol, the digital currency Ethereum displays a significantly lower net issuance rate of tokens than Bitcoi...
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Bitcoin could 'consolidate until 2022' after mass wipeout sends BTC price to $41K

$2.5 billion liquidated across cryptocurrency in a mass rout which sends Bitcoin price action back to the end of September. Bitcoin ( BTC ) traded near $47,000 on Dec. 4 after a sudden crash confirmed bulls' worst nightmares with 22% daily losses. BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Crypto liquidations pass $2.5 billion Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView  showed BTC/USD hitting local lows of $41,960 on Bitstamp — its lowest since Sep. 30. As panic set in , leveraged positions unwound and traders capitulated, 24-hour cross-crypto liquidations passing $2.5 billion. Crypto liquidations chart. Source: Coinglass "$50k is likely to be resistance for a decent amount of time now unless stonks to incredible things," filbfilb, co-founder of trading platform Decentrader, summarized in a fresh synopsis after the move. "Size of dump & distribution likely to mean consolidation into Q1 next year. Moon mission is not dead bu...
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FTX releases crypto regulation proposals before US congressional hearing

The “FTX’s Key Principles for Market Regulation” blog consists of a 10-points proposal aiming to help U.S. regulators build a crypto-centric regulatory framework. Bahamian-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX released a list of principles and proposals to help policymakers build the regulatory framework. The policy recommends the market-structure choices made by several leading crypto exchanges and suggests its implementation across all jurisdictions.  FTX shared the “FTX’s Key Principles for Market Regulation” blog after Maxine Waters, the chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, invited several CEOs of major crypto firms to testify on the topic of digital assets and the future of finance. Out of the 10 key principles , one of the recommendations calls for an alternative regulatory approach that proposes a unified regulatory regime for spot and derivatives marketplaces. According to the blog: “The regulatory label on a given product or market need not change the core...
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