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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...

Acala wins first Polkadot parachain auction with over 32M DOT staked

The upcoming Polkadot DeFi hub raised nearly $1.3 billion in its token ICO from approximately 25,000 contributors. On Thursday morning, Acala, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol operating on the Polkadot (DOT) network, announced it had won the first-ever Polkadot parachain auction .  Acala raised a total of 32.5 million DOT, worth roughly $1.28 billion, from 24,934 contributors via an initial coin offering (ICO) structured as a crowdloan . As the proceeds are classified as 'crypto debt,' Acala would eventually need to pay back the DOT it had solicited from investors. Users' DOTs are locked for the duration of the rental agreement for Polkadot's parallel chains up for sale. It’s a testament to the strength of @Polkadot that so many talented teams are in the running to be among the first five projects to launch on Dec 17. In this respect, we’re all winners. We’re looking forward to kicking off the multi-chain future with you! (2/3) — Acala - DeFi Hub of Polka...

World’s Largest Collector Car Auction House RM Sotheby’s to Accept Cryptocurrencies

On Wednesday, the world’s largest collector car auction house by total sales, RM Sotheby’s, announced the company will be accepting cryptocurrency payments via Bitpay. The firm’s upcoming Guikas Collection sale on November 19 will be RM Sotheby’s first auction to accept digital currency payments for collectible automobiles. RM Sotheby’s Announces Crypto Payment Support via Bitpay While cryptocurrencies have increased significantly in value, a great number of businesses have turned toward accepting digital assets for goods and services payments. The company RM Sotheby’s is a classic car auction firm that’s located in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. Originally called RM Auctions, the company is now partly owned by the leading fine art and luxury goods auction house Sotheby’s, since 2015. On November 17, the company announced its plans to accept digital currency payments at auctions via Bitpay . The company chose to accept crypto assets so it can attract a new customer base in order to ...

Eldrige leads Digital Currency Group's maiden $600 million debt funding round

Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Francisco Partners, and Capital Group were among the investors in Digital Currency Group's debut into the debt capital markets. On Thursday, the Digital Currency Group (DCG) announced that it has raised $600 million in a new credit facility, making its debut into the debt capital markets. The debt funding round was led by private equity firm Eldridge. The company stated  that the increase, which provides DCG with a credit facility enabling it to draw on as needed, "enhances DCG's strategic, operational, and financial capabilities" by lowering its cost of capital and boosting the development of its investment portfolio and fully owned enterprises. Another US$600m for @LunoGlobal parentco @DCGco to help us upgrade the world to a better financial system. Let’s go! https://t.co/awiAWjX3kL — Marcus (@marcswane) November 18, 2021 Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Francisco Partners, and Capital Group were among the investor...

Russia’s Prosecutor General Wants Cryptocurrency Recognized as Property Under Criminal Law

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia has proposed to define cryptocurrency as property in the country’s Criminal Code. Decentralized digital money has already been qualified as such in the provisions of several other laws although various aspects of cryptocurrencies remain unregulated. Prosecutors in Russia Draft Legislation Granting Cryptocurrency Property Status The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft law to recognize cryptocurrency and other virtual assets as property . The legal definition will be used in court proceedings within the framework of the Criminal Code, Russia’s Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov explained in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Krasnov also expressed concerns over the growing use of modern financial technologies to commit crimes which, in his view, is facilitated by existing gaps in the legal regulation of this particular field. Quoted by the Interfax news agency, he further elaborated: The stat...

Lawmakers push back on crypto provisions in Infrastructure Bill

The latest proposal from a group of House Democrats seeks to change how updates to the tax code affect crypto entities “who do not engage in brokerage services.” Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are fighting back against changes to tax reporting rules for crypto brokers and transactions over $10,000 in the newly passed Infrastructure Bill.  Ten U.S. Democratic Congresspeople led by Rep. Darren Soto from Florida called for revisions to the definition of a broker in the infrastructure bill that was passed into law on Nov. 15. The group issued an open letter, signed by Soto along with Representatives Ro Khanna, Stacey E. Plaskatt, Eric Swalwell, Tim Ryan, Susan Wild, Marc Veasy, Jake Auchincloss, Al Lawson, and Charlie Crist calling for updates to section 6045(c)(1) in the tax code under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF). Experts warned that the contentious new rule could see miners, validators, and wallet developers considered as brokers for tax purposes. The ...

Famed Economist Doubts Bitcoin Will Become Global Currency

Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at financial services company Allianz, says that bitcoin is not going to be a global currency and will not replace the U.S. dollar. However, he believes the cryptocurrency will always exist in the ecosystem and will not be regulated out of existence. Bitcoin Won’t Become Global Currency Rivalling US Dollar, Says Economist El-Erian Famed economist Mohamed El-Erian talked about the future outlook for cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, in an interview with CNBC Monday. El-Erian is the chief economic advisor at Allianz, the corporate parent of PIMCO, one of the largest investment managers, where he was CEO and co-chief investment officer. The Egyptian-American businessman is also president of Queens College, Cambridge University. While El-Erian believes that bitcoin is a “very disruptive force,” he does not think it will ever become a “global currency” that rivals the U.S. dollar. He said: I think it will always exist in the ecosystem bu...

VR Metaverse comes closer to reality as Meta previews haptic gloves

Meta says the VR gloves rely on haptic rendering to send “precise instructions to the actuators on the hand,” and outlined a vision where people’s sensations match what they are doing in the Metaverse. Meta — the company formerly known as Facebook — is diving straight into virtual reality with a preview of its latest research and development on haptic gloves which give sensory feedback while in digital realms. Facebook rebranded to Meta in late October to shift its focus from social media to Metaverse and VR tech development. In a Nov. 16 blog post, Meta shared the latest breakthroughs in haptic glove research from its VR tech firm Reality Labs, noting that the product has been seven years in the making. The firm shared a video that shows two people testing the haptic gloves in a demo Metaverse, as they clench their fists, pick up blocks, throw objects, shake hands, knock over dominoes, and play Jenga together. Haptic glove preview: Meta Meta says the gloves rely on haptic r...