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Showing posts from January 11, 2022

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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SEC Chair Gensler Discusses How Securities Laws Apply to Crypto Tokens — Won’t Say if Ethereum Is a Security

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has explained how securities laws apply to cryptocurrency tokens as he outlined the commission’s priorities in regulating the crypto space. “Our role at the SEC is to ensure that the public still gets basic protection,” he stressed. SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Cryptocurrency Regulation SEC Chair Gary Gensler discussed cryptocurrency regulation and the agency’s 2022 regulatory agenda on CNBC Monday. The chairman explained that, in general, “If you are raising money from the public, and the public is in anticipation of profit based upon that promoter, sponsor, that group’s efforts — that’s within the securities laws, and it’s within the securities laws because Congress painted with a broad brush.” He elaborated: They want to protect you — the investing public — so that you have proper information, or what’s called full and fair information, and protect you against fraud and scammers and the like. Gensl...
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Animal Concerts partners with Korea’s Klaytn: K-pop in the Metaverse?

The US-based Metaverse concert organizer Animal Concerts has partnered with South Korea’s Klaytn blockchain network to bring leading global music entertainment stars to the Metaverse. Metaverse concert organizer Animal Concerts has partnered with South Korean unicorn Kakao’s Klaytn network to increase its exposure to the Korean entertainment industry and facilitate Klaytn’s global expansion plans. The Jan. 10 announcement from Klaytn explains that the partnership between Klaytn and Animal Concerts is expected to help Klaytn increase the number of NFTs that are traded on the platform. Klaytn is one of just three blockchains with native support on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, but has the lowest trading volume. Klaytn’s parent company Kakao is also planning an NFT and Metaverse platform called Kakao Games. Animal Concerts will organize and promote concerts in the Metaverse and plans on issuing a cryptocurrency, nonfungible tokens ( NFT ), and merchandise for top recording a...
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Meta poaches staff from Microsoft and Apple for Metaverse plans

According to former staff, around 100 people have already jumped ship from Microsoft to Meta alone. Meanwhile, Apple is offering generous bonuses to hold onto their workers. Employees from Microsoft and Apple are jumping ship to join Meta Platforms as the company sets its sights on creating the Metaverse. According to former employees of Microsoft quoted by the Wall Street Journal, around 100 people have ditched the tech giant’s augmented reality team over the past year to join Meta Platforms. They claim that Meta has been particularly focused on snapping up people who have worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headsets. According to the WSJ, Linkedin profiles show that more than 70 people who were part of Microsoft’s HoloLens team have left the project over the past year, with more than 40 of them taking on new positions at Meta. Microsoft’s first mover advantage in the AR space makes its employees valuable assets to Meta. Microsoft announced its HoloLens proje...
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Billionaire Jeff Gundlach Expects Recession This Year, Advises Against Buying Bitcoin

Doubleline Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach, also known as the “Bond King,” has warned about “a recession in the later part of this year.” He also advised against buying bitcoin at the current level. “Maybe you should buy it at $25,000,” he said. Billionaire ‘Bond King’ Jeff Gundlach on Recession, Bitcoin, and the Fed Raising Interest Rates Billionaire fund manager Jeff Gundlach warned about a recession happening in the later part of this year in an interview with Yahoo Finance, published Saturday. He also commented on whether investors should buy bitcoin. Gundlach is the CEO of Doubleline Capital, which has over $137 billion in assets under management (AUM). He is sometimes referred to as the “Bond King” after he appeared on the cover of Barron’s in 2011 as “The New Bond King.” Institutional Investor named him “Money Manager of the Year” in 2013 and Bloomberg Markets named him one of “The Fifty Most Influential” in 2012, 2015, and 2016. According to Forbes, his net worth is currently ...
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Don’t mention ‘K’ country: Bitcoin Magazine's YouTube restored after ban

After Bitcoin Magazine’s YouTube channel was temporarily shut down without prior warning, the livestream’s hosts suggested that mentions of “Kazakhstan” may have been flagged by the platform’s algorithm. Bitcoin Magazine’s YouTube channel was restored around three hours after being shut down, with the publication attributing the short ban to the YouTube algorithm flagging the word “Kazakhstan.” In a Jan. 12 Twitter post, Bitcoin Magazine noted that its YouTube account with 56,600 followers was banned in the middle of a livestream with no prior warning from the platform. "Our @YouTube with 60,000 followers just got BANNED mid-livestream with no warning. DELETED. When will the aggression against #Bitcoin content end?" The livestream was focused on topics relating to Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Bitcoin (BTC) mining and the recent internet blackout in Kazakhstan that was reportedly initiated by the government in response to mass protests over surging fuel prices in the nation. ...
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Crypto Tops Investor Threats for US Securities Regulators

U.S. state securities regulators have revealed that cryptocurrency investments are their top investor threat this year. “Before you jump into the crypto craze, be mindful that cryptocurrencies and related financial products may be nothing more than public facing fronts for Ponzi schemes and other frauds,” one regulator warned. Crypto Is the Top Threat for US Securities Regulators The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) released its “annual list of top investor threats” Monday. The NASAA, formed in 1919, is a nonprofit association of state, provincial, and territorial securities regulators in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The association has 67 members, including the securities regulators in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “The top threats to investors were determined by surveying North American securities regulators to identify the most problematic products, practices, or schemes,” the association exp...
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Republic of Palau and Cryptic Labs launch digital residency program

The Pacific island nation is now offering a digital residency and blockchain-based verified ID, which can be used for KYC and ID verification. The Republic of Palau and blockchain development firm Cryptic Labs announced the launch of the Root Name System (RNS), a digital residency program on Tuesday. To inaugurate the partnership between Palau, Cryptic Labs and the sovereign-backed digital residency program, Palau’s President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. signed an agreement to grant “all global users” digital residency through the  RNS under the country’s Digital Residency Act. The Republic of Palau is located in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of about 340 islands inhabited by 18,221 residents. President Whipps said: “Our Digital Residency Program will have capacity for internationally recognized standards of identity verification to ensure that Palau upholds the rule of law and our reputational integrity. We welcome all global citizens to apply to participate in Palau’s d...
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Key on-chain metric shows Bitcoin miners in ‘massive’ BTC accumulation mode

Data shows lost and held Bitcoin hitting a one-year high, while miners opened the year by accumulating “massive” amounts of BTC. New data shows that Bitcoin ( BTC ) miners are hoarding more coins than at any time in the past five months, which could be a fresh signal that the current prices are not for selling. Analyzing its miner net position change indicator on Jan. 11, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode revealed what popular Twitter account Bitcoin Archive described as "massive" accumulation by miners. Miners show no desire to sell Bitcoin price may be disappointing spot traders this year, but long-time market participants are anything but concerned. In addition to strong hands or seasoned hodlers, miners are now no exception, increasing their BTC holdings considerably in the first two weeks of 2022. Bitcoin miner net position change annotated chart. Source: Bitcoin Archive/ Twitter The past five days have each seen more than 5,000 BTC per day land on miners...
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Coinbase announces 'nearly the entire company will shut down' for four weeklong breaks in 2022 to allow workers to recharge

"Given the intensity of our work throughout the year, we think this is the best way to ensure our pace is sustainable for the long term,” said chief people officer L.J. Brock. Major U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase will be giving its employees one week off each quarter in 2022 to recharge after “long days and long weeks” of intense work. In a Monday blog post, Coinbase chief people officer L.J. Brock said “nearly the entire company will shut down” for four separate weeks this year as part of an experiment in allowing workers to recuperate after completing intense workloads. Brock said the exchange’s employees aren’t necessarily limited to 40-hour work weeks and may have to “pivot at a moment’s notice,” seemingly creating the potential for burnout. “We realized in 2020 that many employees weren’t taking enough time off to recharge, either because they didn’t want to force their teammates to cover for them or because they didn’t want to fall behind on their work,” said Brock. “We ...
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eToro rolls out smart portfolios for new metaverse investors

Growing confidence in new metaverse markets appears to be solidifying new investment opportunities across the industry. Brokerage firm eToro introduced MetaverseLife , a new smart portfolio covering stocks and crypto-assets from within the growing metaverse industry, on Tuesday. The company stated that its goal is to offer a diverse range of investments made for long-term exposure.  Currently included in the portfolio are Meta Platforms, the new parent company behind Facebook, Roblox and other blockchain-based metaverse developments like Decentraland , The Sandbox and Enjin. There are also a few companies listed in this portfolio that aren’t exclusively blockchain-based but have still contributed to metaverse adoption and development. These include tech firms like Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia. Dani Brinker, head of investment portfolios at eToro, stated “when evaluating the investment opportunity of emerging industries, diversification is key as not everyone involved will be ...
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Was $39,650 the bottom? Bitcoin bulls and bears debate the future of BTC price

BTC bulls seem to believe the bounce off $39,650 marked the bottom, but bears warn that a looming death cross on the daily chart is a sign of further downside. Bitcoin ( BTC ) price made a quick pop above $43,100 in the U.S. trading session but uncertainty is still the dominant sentiment among traders on Jan. 11 and bulls and bears are split on whether this week's drop to $39,650 was BTC's bottom.  Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of Bitcoin has traded tightly around the $42,000 level as the global financial markets digested U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's statements on the upcoming fiscal policy changes. BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView Powell  indicated that the central bank is prepared to “raise interest rates more over time” if inflation continues to persist at high levels, but analysts were quick to note further comments, suggesting that a low-interest environment could persist for some t...
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Bitrue Is Launching a New Yield Farming Hub

PRESS RELEASE. In the world of cryptocurrencies, it is important for any crypto exchange to offer plenty of different options when it comes to making money. This is precisely why Bitrue , a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has recently announced the launch of a new yield farming hub, available to all of its users from January 10th at 10:00 UTC. The main reason and context behind this new initiative has to do with the fact that staking and yield farming have become immensely popular methods through which investors can earn additional income. Bitrue therefore wants to cater to the real needs of its clientele in a safe manner and also keep up with all of the latest updates and changes regarding this industry, which it shall accomplish through the formation of key partnerships in the future as well as the mitigation of risks such as impermanent loss. What will the new hub do? The new hub enables the users to mine for tokens in a manner comparable to DeFi (decentralized finance) pools...
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Ramp expands presence in US with FinCEN regulation

Last August, Ramp became one of only eight crypto firms to secure approval from U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority. On Tuesday, crypto-fiat gateway payments platform Ramp announced that its U.S. subsidiary Ramp Swaps LLC had received its registration as a Money Service Business with the Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The regulatory greenlight enables Ramp to do business in 38 states across the United States. Besides the development, Ramp also has regulatory clearance with the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority and Poland's Financial Supervision Authority. Ramp allows users to buy crypto directly in their wallets and decentralized applications, or DApps. Last year, the company grew its transaction volume by approximately 30x. It has partnerships with over 400 blockchain entities worldwide, including Axie Infinity, Mozilla, Opera Browser, Aave, Trust Wallet and is the exclusive on-ramping partner for fantasy nonfungible tokens ...
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175-Year-Old News Cooperative the Associated Press Plans to Launch NFT Marketplace

On January 10, 2022, the Associated Press (AP), the American non-profit news cooperative founded in 1846, has announced the news agency is launching a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. The AP NFT market was built by the distributed ledger technology provider Xooa and on top of the Polygon blockchain network. AP Announces NFT Marketplace Launch The 175-year-old news cooperative the Associated Press revealed that the organization is launching an NFT marketplace using the Polygon blockchain network. According to the AP announcement, the NFT market built by Xooa will allow NFT collectors to collect the news agency’s iconic photojournalism. AP’s newly crafted Polygon-based NFT market will launch on January 31, 2022. Dwayne Desaulniers, AP director of blockchain and data licensing, explained that the non-profit news cooperative is thrilled to showcase the organization’s Pulitzer Prize-winning images from current and former AP photojournalists. “Each NFT will include a rich set of ori...
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Zero-knowledge scaling tech Plonky goes live on Polygon

The move comes after Polygon allocated $1 billion to the advancement of zero knowledge technology. On Monday, Polygon ( MATIC ), a layer-two Ethereum ( ETH ) scaling solution that is known for its fast transaction times and negligible gas fees, announced the launch of Plonky2, a zero-knowledge scaling technology, claimed to be the fastest in the world. Zero-knowledge algorithms ensure everything is correctly computed on layer two and return the succinct proof to Ethereum without sending the entire data. Instead of every miner (or staker) verifying every posted transaction, zero-knowledge allows the verification of simplified rolled-up proofs, thereby significantly speeding up the overall network. 1/2 We are proud to announce Plonky2, the world's fastest ZK scaling tech! Plonky2 is a recursive SNARK that is ~100x faster than existing alternatives! Furthermore, it is Ethereum compatible (it can prove Ethereum transactions and proofs can be verified on Ethereum). https://t.co/al...
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Ethereum futures and options data reflects traders’ mixed emotions on $3.2K ETH price

ETH’s futures markets are slightly bearish, but options traders appear to be interpreting the rally to $3,200 as a bottoming signal. Ether ( ETH ) has been an emotional rollercoaster over the past three months primarily because its price rallied twice. First, it peaked at $4,870 on Nov. 10 and at $4,780 on Dec. 1. However, the double top was quickly followed by a harsh rejection, which led to $490 million in long futures contract liquidations in 48 hours. Once again, hope was instilled on Dec. 8 after Ether commenced to rally 28.5% in four days to retest the $4,400 support. Soon after, the downtrend continued, leading to the $2,900 bottom on Jan. 10, which was the lowest ETH price seen in 102 days. This low marked a 40% low from the $4,870 all-time high and caused traders to question whether a bear market had been set. Ether/USD price at FTX. Source: TradingView One might argue that Ether is simply following Bitcoin's 42% correction from the Nov. 10 all-time high at $69,000 ...
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Iran to Permit Use of Cryptocurrencies in International Settlements, Reports Reveal

Authorities in Iran are preparing to allow the employment of cryptocurrencies for international settlements. According to local media, central bank and government officials have given the green light to adopt a mechanism using digital coins in the field of foreign trade. Businesses in Iran to Be Able to Pay Foreign Partners With Crypto Iranian companies will be allowed to use cryptocurrencies in settlements with partners in other countries, local media reported. An agreement to that end has been reached by the Central Bank of Iran ( CBI ) and the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade. Quoted by the Financial Tribune, the head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Alireza Peyman Pak, announced: We are finalizing a mechanism for operations of the system. This should provide new opportunities for importers and exporters to use cryptos in their international deals. According to the Iranian news agency IBENA, Pak, who is also deputy minister of trade, took to social media t...
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‘Centralization issues’ are the biggest culprits of DeFi attacks: CertiK

DeFi is one of crypto's biggest growth stories, but it's also riddled with the most controversy. The sector lost $1.3 billion due to exploits in 2021. Decentralized finance, better known as DeFi, may not be “decentralized” enough as attackers exploited centralized weak points to drain users of billions of dollars in 2021, according to research from blockchain security firm CertiK.  In a new report on the state of DeFi security in 2021, CertiK researchers said “centralization issues were the most common attack vector” within decentralized finance. The blockchain security firm cited 44 DeFi hacks totaling $1.3 billion in lost funds in 2021. That’s an increase of over $500 million compared with 2021.  “This underscores the importance of decentralization and highlights the fact that many projects still have work to do to reach this goal,” CertiK said, adding: “Centralization is antithetical to the ethos of DeFi and poses major security risks. Single points of failure can be e...
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US lawmaker hints at upcoming crypto legislation as Jerome Powell says Fed will release report on digital currency soon

“The report really is ready to go and I would expect we will drop it — I hate to say it again — in coming weeks," said Jerome Powell. At his confirmation hearing in front of members of the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the agency would be releasing its report on cryptocurrencies “within weeks.” Addressing Idaho Senator Mike Crapo remotely from the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Tuesday, Powell said the Fed’s report on digital currencies wasn’t “quite where we needed to get it” but would be released soon regardless. The Fed chair cited “changes in monetary policy” as part of the reason for the delayed report, which is expected to address policy surrounding the possible rollout of a central bank digital currency in the United States. “It’s more going to be an exercise in asking questions and seeking input from the public rather than taking a lot of positions on various issues, although we do take some positions,” said Powell. “The report...
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