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A former school assistant facilities director in Cohasset, Massachusetts, has been accused of operating a cryptocurrency mining operation inside a crawlspace at Cohasset High School. The Cohasset Police Department alleges that Nadeam Nahas stole nearly $18,000 in electricity to power the crypto mining scheme. Former Cohasset School Employee Faces Charges for Electricity Theft in School Crawlspace Crypto Mine A report published by Boston’s WCVB network alleges that Nadeam Nahas, a former school employee in Cohasset, Massachusetts, stole electricity from the district to mine cryptocurrency. Nahas is accused of setting up the operation at Cohasset High School’s crawlspace, where multiple computers, ventilation devices, and connected wiring were found. Photographs taken by the Cohasset Police Department show that the mining devices appear to be application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rigs, possibly used for mining bitcoin. Police accuse Nahas of secretly mining cryptocurrency for eight months on the school’s campus, and the town’s IT director discovered the operation was a crypto mine. Investigators, Cohasset police, and members of the Department of Homeland Security were involved in the case and removed the miners from the high school’s crawlspace. The investigation lasted three months, and investigators estimate that approximately $17,492 in electricity was stolen. Nahas is one of many individuals accused of stealing electricity to power cryptocurrency mining operations over the years. For example, in 2021, Malaysia seized 1,720 bitcoin mining machines during an electricity theft crackdown. Law enforcement officials in Malaysia revealed last year that they had arrested more than 600 people for stealing electricity to mine cryptocurrency in the previous two years. In 2020, a kennel owner in China was arrested for stealing power to run a bitcoin mining farm. In Rotterdam, Netherlands, two brothers were arrested in 2016 for stealing electricity to mine bitcoin and grow cannabis. WCVB reporter William Bennett reports that Nahas is facing charges of school vandalism and fraudulent use of electrical resources. Nahas is scheduled to appear in Quincy District Court for arraignment on Feb. 23, 2023. According to Bennett, when reached by phone, the accused former Cohasset school employee declined to comment on the matter. What do you think about the former school employee accused of stealing electricity to mine cryptocurrency in the Cohasset High School crawlspace? Share your thoughts on this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

According to statistics recorded this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, the layer two scaling project Arbitrum’s transaction count has surpassed Ethereum’s. On Wednesday, Arbitrum processed 1,090,510 transactions, compared to Ethereum’s 1,080,839 transfer count. L2 Scaling Solution Arbitrum’s Daily Transfers Skyrocket Layer two (L2) scaling networks have become popular over the last two years as secondary chains allow users to transact faster and pay fewer fees. Thirty-nine days ago, in mid-January 2023, the combined daily transaction count from L2 networks Optimism and Arbitrum surpassed Ethereum’s daily transaction count. However, the transaction count subsided and ETH’s transfer count exceeded both networks’ counts until Feb. 21, 2023. Statistics show that Arbitrum’s daily transaction count has surged this week and surpassed Ethereum’s for the first time ever on Tuesday. On Feb. 21, 2023, Arbitrum processed 1.1 million transactions, compared to Ethereum’s 1.08 million. The next day, on Wednesday, Arbitrum beat Ethereum again by processing 1.09 million, while Ethereum processed 1.08 million. Abitrum tweeted about the watershed moment on social media. “For the first time ever, Arbitrum One processed more transactions than Ethereum,” the official Abitrum Twitter account said. This is a huge milestone achieved by our team and Arbinauts. We’ve come a long way as a community and we’re grateful to have you along with us. Our mission to scale Ethereum continues.” The increase in Arbitrum transactions comes at a time when Ethereum network transactions have risen significantly. Statistics show that on Thursday, the average fee to transact on Ethereum’s blockchain is 0.0041 ETH, or $6.87 per transaction, while the median fee is 0.0017 ETH, or $2.84 per transfer. On the same day, the average fee to transact on Arbitrum is $0.307 per transfer, while Optimism costs $0.3601 per transaction. What do you think about Arbitrum’s daily transfer count rising above Ethereum’s? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced co-founder of FTX, faces four more charges after a new indictment was unsealed on Wednesday. The charges include operating an unlicensed money transfer business and conspiring to commit bank fraud. SBF Gets 4 New Charges Tacked Onto His Indictment The former CEO of FTX was originally indicted 72 days ago by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, and prosecutors charged the crypto exchange co-founder with eight different offenses. The charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. A new indictment was unsealed by the court on February 22, 2023, adding four new charges to SBF’s case. The charges include operating an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. “Exploiting the trust that FTX customers placed in him and his exchange, Bankman-Fried stole FTX customer deposits and used billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes,” the new indictment reads. The newly revised indictment did not name any other defendants, and it alleges that SBF “corrupted the operations of the cryptocurrency companies he founded and controlled—including FTX.com and Alameda Research.” The revised indictment further adds that SBF “perpetrated this multibillion-dollar fraud through a series of systems and schemes that allowed him, through Alameda, to access and steal FTX customer deposits without detection.” In addition to operating an unlicensed money transfer business and bank fraud, SBF is accused of defrauding customers in connection with the purchase and sale of derivatives. Furthermore, SBF faces a charge of making unlawful political contributions and defrauding the Federal Election Commission. What impact do you think these new charges will have on SBF’s case? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued cryptocurrency exchange Coinex “for failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and for falsely representing itself as a crypto exchange.” The NY attorney general also stressed that Coinex is not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) even though the platform lets users trade crypto tokens that are allegedly securities. Coinex Violates New York Law, Says NYAG Letitia James The office of New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James announced Wednesday that the attorney general has sued cryptocurrency trading platform Coinex “for failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and for falsely representing itself as a crypto exchange.” The announcement details: The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on Coinex in New York, although the company is unregistered in the state, which is a violation of New York’s Martin Act. The OAG explained that it created an account with Coinex using a computer with a New York-based IP address to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, which Coinex charged a fee for. The state’s Martin Act gives the attorney general broad law-enforcement powers to conduct investigations of suspected fraud in the offer, sale, or purchase of securities. The Attorney General’s Office further alleged that Coinex offers trading of crypto tokens that are securities and commodities, naming AMP, LUNA, LBC, and RLY in particular. “New York law requires securities and commodities brokers to register with the state, which Coinex failed to do,” the announcement stresses. Coinex Allegedly Offers Securities Trading Without Registering With SEC The NY Attorney General’s Office also stated that “Coinex claimed to be an exchange, but is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a national securities exchange or appropriately designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as is required under New York law.” Furthermore, “Coinex also failed to comply with a subpoena issued by OAG to provide more information about its digital asset trading activities in the state,” the Attorney General’s Office noted. The announcement further details: Through her lawsuit, Attorney General James seeks a court order that stops Coinex from misrepresenting that it is an exchange, prevents the company from operating in New York, and directs Coinex to implement geo-blocking based on IP addresses and GPS location to prevent access to Coinex’s mobile app, website, and services from New York. Coinex issued a statement Thursday in response to the enforcement action by NYAG James. The exchange stated: Given the recent lawsuit against Coinex for allegedly operating an unregistered cryptocurrency exchange, we are paying high attention to the allegations and taking active steps to address New York Attorney’s concerns promptly. James has taken action against several crypto firms in the past. Last month, she and a multistate coalition recovered $24 million from Nexo. In January, she sued former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky for defrauding investors and concealing the company’s dire financial condition. In June 2022, she reached a settlement of nearly $1 million with crypto lender Blockfi for offering unregistered securities. In October 2021, she directed unregistered crypto lending platforms to cease operations for not fulfilling their legal obligations. In September 2021, she shut down crypto trading platform Coinseed. In November last year, she urged Congress to ban crypto in retirement accounts. What do you think about New York Attorney General Letitia James taking action against Coinex? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Ethereum rebounded on Feb. 23, as markets reacted to the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes. The minutes showed that the Fed hinted at maintaining its current policy until further signs that inflation is “substantially” slowing. Bitcoin was also higher, as it rose back above $24,000. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) moved back above $24,000 on Thursday, as cryptocurrency markets rebounded following the latest FOMC minutes. Following a low of $23,644.32 on Wednesday, BTC/USD surged to an intraday high of $24,572.09 earlier in the day. As a result of this, the world’s largest cryptocurrency broke out of a key resistance level at the $24,200 point. This rebound also came as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI), bounced from a floor of its own at 59.00 Currently, the index is tracking at a reading of 59.90, with the next visible point of resistance at the 66.00 zone. Should bulls attempt to reach this level, there is a strong chance that bitcoin will be trading above $25,000. Ethereum Like BTC, ethereum (ETH) was back in the green in today’s session, with prices nearing $1,700 following yesterday’s sell-off. ETH/USD rose to a peak of $1,674.60 earlier in the day, which comes after bottoming out at $1,604.80 on Wednesday. The move saw ethereum come within touching distance of its long-term ceiling at $1,675, however bullish pressure was not sustained. Since hitting this earlier high, prices have gone on to slip, with ethereum now trading at $1,665.75. This coincides with the RSI indicator running into a hurdle, in the form of the 57.00 resistance point. At the time of writing, the index is tracking at 56.10. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Could ethereum reenter the $1,700 mark in the coming days? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

The Nigerian fintech, Chipper Cash, recently said it has let go of more employees and that this step has been taken to help the firm contain its operating costs. Although no figure of the number of axed workers was given, one report estimated this to be around 100, or 12.5% of Chipper Cash’s entire workforce. Chipper Cash CEO Ham Serunjogi has dismissed reports that the fintech has shut down its crypto department. The Deteriorating Macroeconomic Climate The Nigerian fintech, Chipper Cash, recently confirmed it had laid off a second batch of employees as part of measures aimed at containing the company’s operating costs. Although no figure has been provided, one report estimated the cuts to be around 100 people, or 12.5% of Chipper Cash’s entire workforce. According to a Techcrunch report, the fintech’s firm latest retrenchment exercise has impacted all areas, from human resources to the research and legal departments. Commenting on the fintech’s axing of talented employees less than three months after it laid off the first group, Chipper Cash CEO Ham Serunjogi detailed the circumstances that prompted the company to let go of some of its talent. “The last two years were a period of rapid growth and scaling for us as a business and, to reflect this, our global headcount grew by around 250 people. However, given the macroeconomic climate, we are narrowing our current focus to core markets and products – concentrating our efforts where we know we can thrive,” Serunjogi reportedly said. The CEO added that with the unfavorable circumstances that have now prevailed for more than one year, Chipper Cash can only operate effectively with a smaller team. Meanwhile, the same report quotes Serunjogi denying reports that Chipper Cash has shut down its crypto department. According to the CEO, the fintech startup’s crypto trading platform is one of the largest in Africa and one of its “fastest growing products,” hence Chipper Cash will “continue to invest in the product.” Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox: What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Social media groups devoted to cryptocurrencies in Russia have been attacked by bots in what looks like a campaign against bitcoin and the like. Their comments on Russia’s largest social media platform are triggered by certain keywords like crypto and blockchain, members of the community have noticed. Bots Flood Vkontakte Groups With Comments Against Cryptocurrency In the past week or so, crypto-themed groups on Russia’s state-controlled social network Vkontakte (VK) have been seeing a growing number of comments seeking to discredit cryptocurrencies and related technologies, the crypto news outlets Bits.media and RBC Crypto reported. The comments appear under posts and linked articles about crypto assets. They are all similar, for example: “It’s more expensive to delve into crypto, it’s always big risks,” “Someone still talks about bitcoins?” or “People who buzz about crypto don’t even understand it.” According to Nikita Zuborev, senior analyst at the exchange aggregator Bestchange.ru, these bots first appeared in his platform’s community and official page on Vkontakte on Feb. 13. The accounts are typical for such attacks and are only recently registered or stolen dormant accounts. Bots are often used to spread spam and advertisements or attract users to fraudulent schemes but this is not the case this time. The messages lack external links and their content is limited to abstract criticism of cryptocurrencies and activities like trading. Vkontakte’s press service told RBC that the company “does not register an increase in the number of bots on the platform” and assured that its moderators “promptly respond to complaints” about bots that post the same information en masse. Zuborev also commented that it is still difficult to establish what exactly the bots are reacting to. According to his observations, they ignore posts containing images but are activated by those containing words like “Binance,” “bitcoin,” or “blockchain.” Attacks have intensified this week, the analyst noted. Crypto Channels on Telegram Not Affected by Bot Attacks It’s hard to understand the meaning and the effectiveness of such campaigning against cryptocurrencies, remarked the CEO of defi banking platform Indefibank, Sergey Mendeleev, as most of the Russian-speaking crypto community does not use this social platform, “for obvious reasons.” Mendeleev believes that someone ordered the attacks so that they can later refer to “the large volume of negative comments on the most popular social network.” The expert pointed out that no such attacks have been seen in crypto channels on Telegram. Vkontakte was founded in 2006 by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov who later launched the Telegram messenger. In April 2014, Durov was dismissed as CEO of VK. He suggested that the move was due to his refusal to hand over personal user details to Russian law enforcement agencies, including those of members of a group dedicated to the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine, and left Russia. In September of that year, the Mail.ru group became the sole proprietor of the company. In December, 2021, the Russian state-owned bank Gazprombank and insurance company Sogaz bought out 57.3% of the VK shares, becoming the holders of its controlling interest. Vkontakte recently launched an NFT service. Who do you think is behind the attacks on crypto groups on Vkontakte? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A British national wanted with a red notice from Interpol for consulting North Korea on cryptocurrencies has been detained in Moscow. U.S. authorities allege that the man helped the regime in Pyongyang to bypass sanctions using digital assets. U.K. Citizen Sought by U.S. for Violating North Korea Sanctions Apprehended in a Moscow Hostel The Russian Bureau of Interpol has arrested a British man wanted by Interpol at the request of the United States, the Russian Telegram channel Baza revealed. Authorities in the U.S. claim he was assisting North Koreans in efforts to circumvent sanctions using crypto. The 31-year-old Christopher Emms, who is accused of committing fraud against the U.S. government, was detained in the hostel where he was staying. The International Criminal Police Organization issued a ‘red notice’ arrest warrant for him in the beginning of February. Its announcement details: Christopher Douglas Emms is wanted for allegedly conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). More specifically, he was conspiring to violate United States sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) by working with an American citizen to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to the DPRK. In early 2018, Emms, who is a crypto businessman, planned and organized the “Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference,” the agency explained. He also recruited a cryptocurrency expert from the United States and arranged his travel to the country in April of 2019 for the event. Both answered questions about blockchain and crypto technologies from the North Korean audience, including persons working for the government in Pyongyang. They also proposed plans for creating smart contracts for the DPRK and mapped out crypto transactions designed to avoid U.S. sanctions. Despite Emms taking steps to conceal their activity, the American crypto expert was arrested in November 2019, which disrupted the scheme. The Brit and his co-conspirator Alejandro Cao de Benós, a Spanish political activist with close ties to North Korea, never obtained permission from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to provide services to the DPRK, as required by U.S. law. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Emms in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, on Jan. 27, 2022, after the British citizen was charged with conspiracy to violate the IEEPA. Interpol also said that Emms is known to have resided in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and had been in Saudi Arabia in or about March, 2022. He also had various business interests in multiple jurisdictions, including UAE, Malta, Gibraltar, and throughout Europe. Baza noted that apparently he decided to wait out the turbulent times in Russia where he is now under arrest. North Korea is believed to have stolen a record amount of cryptocurrency last year, according to a draft U.N. report. An estimate quoted by the authors, independent sanctions monitors, suggests that the total value of the virtual assets obtained by hackers linked to the DPRK in 2022 is greater than in any previous year and exceeds $1 billion. Do you think Russia will extradite Christopher Emms to the United States? Share your thoughts on the case in the comments section below. View the full article

On Wednesday, the stablecoin project Trueusd announced that it is leveraging Chainlink Proof of Reserve (POR) technology to provide real-time verification for the minting of trueusd tokens. The trueusd crypto asset has a circulating supply of over 968 million tokens and is the sixth-largest stablecoin by market capitalization. Archblock Uses Chainlink to Verify Reserves Before Minting New TUSD Stablecoins Archblock, the issuer of the trueusd (TUSD) stablecoin, has announced that it is using Chainlink to verify reserves before minting new TUSD stablecoins. According to the project, it is the first U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin to use proof-of-reserves (POR) technology for real-time on-chain verification of TUSD’s offchain reserves. The POR data feed is a smart contract that automatically checks “whether the total supply of TUSD would exceed the total amount of U.S. dollars held in reserve before any new stablecoin is minted.” According to a statement by Ryan Christensen, the CEO of Archblock, the firm is looking forward to using Chainlink’s POR technology to improve transparency and verifiability. “As the industry-standard decentralized oracle network, Chainlink helps ensure that TUSD is always collateralized by offchain fiat reserves, furthering TUSD’s commitment to trust and transparency,” Christensen said in a statement on Wednesday. Stablecoins have had a tumultuous past 12 months, to say the least, with Terra’s UST imploding, HUSD depegging, and U.S. regulators telling Paxos that they cannot issue BUSD any longer. As of Feb. 22, 2023, trueusd (TUSD) is the sixth-largest stablecoin by market valuation, with over 968 million tokens in circulation. However, TUSD’s trade volume is comparatively smaller than that of USDT, USDC, BUSD, and DAI. The TUSD stablecoin is deployed on several blockchains, including Arbitrum, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), BNB Chain, Cronos, Ethereum, Fantom, Polygon, Aurora, Optimism, and Tron. Out of the top ten stablecoins by market capitalization, TUSD, along with USDT and Tron’s USDD, are the only three stablecoins that have increased their supplies over the last 30 days. “With Chainlink Proof of Reserve, TUSD can provide greater levels of assurance and confidence to its users,” said Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov during the announcement. What do you think about Archblock leveraging Chainlink’s POR technology? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Revenue from cryptocurrency scams dropped 46% in 2022, according to blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis. “We attribute most of this decline to market conditions, as scam performance tends to worsen when cryptocurrency prices are in decline,” the firm explained. ‘Crypto Scam Revenue Fell Significantly in 2022’ Blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis published its 2023 Crypto Crime Report last week with a section on crypto scams. “Crypto scam revenue dropped 46% in 2022,” the 109-page report reads, elaborating: Crypto scam revenue fell significantly in 2022, from $10.9 billion the year prior to just $5.9 billion. Chainalysis tracks several types of crypto scams, including giveaway scams, impersonation scams, investment scams, non-fungible token (NFT) scams, and romance scams. Noting its numbers are “a lower-bound estimate,” the blockchain analytics firm explained that “estimates of the true amount lost to fraudsters will grow as we identify more addresses associated with scams.” The firm specifically mentioned “pig butchering” scams which have become alarmingly popular. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned about this type of crypto scam many times. Last November, U.S. authorities seized seven domains used by pig butchering scammers. Regarding the decline in crypto scam revenue, Chainalysis detailed: We attribute most of this decline to market conditions, as scam performance tends to worsen when cryptocurrency prices are in decline. “Cryptocurrency scam revenue began the year trending upwards, but plummeted in early May — the same time the bear market set in following the collapse of Terra Luna — and then declined steadily throughout the rest of the year,” Chainalysis described. While noting that “some types of scams see revenue changes increase as crypto asset prices decrease,” the blockchain analytics firm pointed out: “Scam revenue throughout the year tracks almost perfectly with bitcoin’s price, consistently maintaining a three-week lag between price moves and changes in revenue.” What do you think about cryptocurrency scam revenue dropping 46% last year? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has launched a cryptocurrency scam tracker to help residents “spot and avoid crypto scams.” The regulator stated: “As reports of new crypto scams emerge, the DFPI will continually update this tracker to promptly alert and protect the public.” California Regulator’s Crypto Scam Tracker The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) of the U.S. state of California announced last week the launch of its Crypto Scam Tracker to help people in the state “spot and avoid crypto scams.” The financial regulator described: The tracker details apparent crypto scams identified through a review of complaints submitted by the public and allows California consumers and investors to do their own research and prevent harm to themselves and others. The Californian regulator’s crypto scam tracker is a database — searchable by company name, scam type, or keywords — for consumers to learn more about crypto-specific complaints the DFPI has received. Each year, the DFPI receives thousands of consumer and investor complaints; the tracker’s content is based on information reported by members of the public to the DFPI. The regulator clarified that it “has not verified the losses reported by complainants.” There is also an accompanying glossary that “aims to help consumers better understand common scams,” the state regulator continued. “As reports of new crypto scams emerge, the DFPI will continually update this tracker to promptly alert and protect the public.” DFPI Commissioner Clothilde Hewlett commented: “Scammers are in the shadows using the public’s interest in crypto assets to take advantage of the most vulnerable Californians.” The commissioner added: Through the new crypto scam tracker, combined with rigorous enforcement efforts, the DFPI is committed to shining a light on these ruthless predators and protecting consumers and investors. There are already some well-known crypto scam trackers to help investors avoid crypto-related scams, including Bitcoin Abuse and Scam Alert. Last week, blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis published a report showing that crypto scam revenue dropped 46% in 2022 to $5.9 billion from $10.9 billion the year prior. What do you think about the crypto scam tracker launched by the California state regulator? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Gemini’s co-founder believes that the next crypto bull run will come from the East. “It will be a humbling reminder that crypto is a global asset class,” he said. “The West, really the U.S., always only ever had two options: embrace it or be left behind. It can’t be stopped.” Gemini Co-Founder on Next Crypto Bull Run Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, believes that the next crypto bull run will come from the East. He tweeted Sunday: My working thesis [at the moment] is that the next bull run is going to start in the East. It will be a humbling reminder that crypto is a global asset class. “The West, really the U.S., always only ever had two options: embrace it or be left behind. It can’t be stopped. That we know,” he emphasized. “Any government that doesn’t offer clear rules and sincere guidance will be left in the dust. Quickly. This will mean missing out on the greatest period of growth since the rise of the commercial Internet,” the Gemini co-founder continued. “And it will mean missing out on shaping and being a foundational part of the future financial infrastructure of this world (and beyond).” The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has come under heavy scrutiny following its recent enforcement actions against crypto firms. The regulator charged crypto exchange Kraken on Feb. 9 over its staking program and Paxos days later over its stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) issuance. The SEC also took action against Gemini in January for allegedly offering and selling unregistered securities to retail investors through its “Earn” crypto asset lending program. Many crypto supporters, including SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and several lawmakers, have expressed their concerns that the SEC is not providing clear rules for crypto firms to come into compliance. Instead, the Commission has chosen to take an enforcement-centric approach to regulating the crypto industry. Meanwhile, a growing number of jurisdictions in Asian countries are making efforts to become a crypto hub, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea’s second-largest city, Busan. Several places in Europe are also striving to establish themselves as a crypto hub. A recent study by crypto tax firm Recap ranked London as the “most crypto-ready city.” The CEO of Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, said last week that the U.S. risks losing its status as a financial hub if there is no clear crypto regulation. He and the CEO of Kraken have urged Congress to act soon to pass clear crypto legislation. Do you agree with the Gemini co-founder that the next crypto bull run will start from the East? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Crypto hedge fund Galois Capital is shutting down after losing about half of its assets to the FTX disaster. “Given the severity of the FTX situation, we do not think it is tenable to continue operating the fund both financially and culturally,” the fund’s co-founder told investors. Crypto Hedge Fund Shuts Down Due to FTX Collapse Crypto hedge fund Galois Capital is shutting down as nearly half of its assets are trapped on FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange which filed for bankruptcy in November last year. “Galois Capital is a crypto hedge fund that specializes in over-the-counter trading and algorithmic market-making,” its website describes. Galois Capital told investors that all trading has been halted and all its positions unwound, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. Galois co-founder Kevin Zhou wrote: Given the severity of the FTX situation, we do not think it is tenable to continue operating the fund both financially and culturally … I’m terribly sorry about the current situation we find ourselves in. Clients of the hedge fund would receive 90% of the money not trapped on FTX, Galois said, adding that it is temporarily holding back the remaining 10% until discussions with the fund administrators and auditor are finalized. Since informing investors of its shutdown, Galois has sold the fund’s claim on FTX for approximately 16 cents on the dollar, the publication conveyed. Galois previously told Bloomberg that it had as much as $45 million of assets exposed to FTX’s bankruptcy. Zhou is known for warning about the impending implosion of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and stablecoin Terrausd (UST) last year. He also profited from shorting LUNA, now called LUNA classic (LUNC). Zhou opined: This entire tragic saga starting from the luna collapse to the 3AC credit crisis to the FTX/Alameda failure has certainly set the crypto space back significantly. Following news reports of his hedge fund’s closure, Zhou took to Twitter to confirm the shutdown of Galois’ flagship fund. He tweeted Monday: In spite of that, I am proud to say that although we lost almost half our assets to the FTX disaster and then sold the claim for cents on the dollar, we are among the few who are closing shop with an inception-to-date performance which is still positive. “Although this is the end of an era for Galois, the work we have done together for the past few years has not been in vain. I can’t say more than this for now,” the Galois co-founder concluded. What do you think about crypto hedge fund Galois Capital shutting down due to its assets being trapped on the collapsed crypto exchange FTX? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Andy Schectman, CEO of Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments, explained in a recent interview that the five leading emerging economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, collectively known as BRICS nations—are “coalescing against the dollar.” Schectman believes that since 2022, de-dollarization “seems to be spinning much, much faster.” De-Dollarization and CBDCs: Monetary Historian Suggests a Great Reset Is Imminent In an interview published on Feb. 16, 2023, Miles Franklin executive Andy Schectman discussed his economic predictions with Michelle Makori, the lead anchor and editor-in-chief at Kitco News. Schectman expects a large portion of the world to abandon the U.S. dollar and he also predicts a “tsunami of inflation.” With rising inflation, Schectman suggests that the interest rate set by the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to rise and a “collapse” in asset prices will soon follow. Schectman’s opinion is similar to that of Lynette Zang, chief market analyst at ITM Trading, in a recent interview with Kitco’s Makori. Like Zang, Schectman expects an economic collapse and suggests that it will be the time for a Great Reset to take place, with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) being ushered in. Schectman says that the U.S. dollar was weaponized in 2022, and as a result, de-dollarization “seems to be spinning much, much faster.” The Miles Franklin executive and monetary historian believes that the BRICS nations are “coalescing against the dollar.” “All it would take,” Schectman said. “Would be for Saudi Arabia to stand up on the stage [and declare] we’re now going to consider taking up other currencies for oil. And all of a sudden, bang, all of the countries that had to hold dollars for the last fifty years, no longer have an interest in holding them. And if they all start to dump dollars, and I think it would happen quickly, you would have a tsunami of inflation hitting the shores of the West.” Schectman told Makori that when asset prices collapse, CBDCs would be deployed. Schectman insisted: That’s when they would come in and roll out their new CBDC. This gives them cover to roll it in. Recently, Saudi Arabia has shown interest in joining the BRICS nations, and the kingdom’s finance minister, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, said at the recent World Economic Forum event that Saudi Arabia is open to trading in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. In June of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of a new international reserve currency at the 14th BRICS Summit. Amid this news, tensions between Russia and China, and the United States continue to escalate. What are your thoughts on the potential impact of de-dollarization and the rise of CBDCs on the global economy? Share your opinions and insights in the comments section below. View the full article

After the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), Ethereum’s annual issuance rate has been reduced to negative 0.057%, according to statistics 158 days after The Merge. The metrics indicate that more ethereum tokens have been removed than issued, and if the chain were still under PoW consensus, 1,823,678 ether would have been minted to date. Ethereum’s Negative Annual Issuance and Unlocked Ether in March Could Shift Equilibrium Statistics from the analytics website ultrasound.money show that the Ethereum network is deflationary these days. More than 1.023 million ether is removed from circulation annually, according to metrics following the London hard fork’s implementation of EIP-1559. Since the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) known as The Merge, the current annual issuance rate is negative 0.057% or -29,797 ether. The data shows that more ethereum (ETH) is currently being removed from circulation than is being issued. If Ethereum were still using PoW, the issuance rate would increase by about 3.49% annually. As of 10:30 a.m. (ET) on Feb. 20, 2023, data indicates that 1,823,678 ethereum tokens would have been added to the number of coins in circulation under PoW consensus. As of 10:55 a.m. (ET) on the same day, approximately 120,491,331 ethereum (ETH) tokens are in circulation. At that same time, 16,763,815 ether is locked into the Beacon chain contract, and when the Shanghai update occurs in March, many of those coins could be released from their locked state. The locked ether represents $28.61 billion of the second-largest cryptocurrency’s $205.77 billion market valuation, or 13.91% of the circulating supply and market value. According to statistics from ultrasound.money, Ethereum’s current annual issuance rewards are 4.1%, and the burn rate for non-stakers is 1.8% per year. What do you think the future holds for Ethereum’s issuance rate and circulating supply as the network continues to transition to proof-of-stake and implement updates like the upcoming Shanghai update? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. TOTHESMART is a PlayToEarn mining farm built on Binance Smart Chain blockchain. The project works on decentralization principles and believes that the best way to develop community and promote blockchain industry in Mass Adoption is a game engine with open rules of the Game prescribed in blockchain. The project was released more than 200 days ago. We’ve already wrote about it in a previous press release. TOTHESMART uses stable BUSD token to interact with smart contract mining farm, but due to a series of high-profile negative events related to Stablecoin and its decoupling from USD exchange rate TOTHESMART decided to switch to its own token TTS built on Binance Smart Chain. The main idea of token is decentralization and fair distribution of tokens among blockchain enthusiasts community. Thus, 80% of the maximum issuance of the TTS token is inside the Play to Earn smart contract of the mining farm. These tokens can only be obtained by purchasing virtual miners and selling namained tokens for real TTS tokens. 10% of the tokens were sold in a private sale with a 25% monthly split. 5% are team tokens that will be unlocked monthly for 20 months. 1% of the tokens have already been locked into the liquidity pool until 2107. The remaining 4% were distributed to the community in the form of Airdrop. They can only be spent to purchase Tothesmart virtual miners. The TTS token is already available on PancakeSwap Binance Smart Chain Slippage for buying and selling on DEX – 12% The distribution is as follows: 5% is sent to the Play To Earn TOTHESMART smart contract for additional user rewards. 2.5% is burned. This deflationary model allows the issuance of tokens to decrease over time and thereby increase their value. 2.5% replenishes the TTS token liquidity pool 2% – replenishes the marketing and advertising fund of the TOTHESMART ecosystem. TOTHESMART is committed to build an international healthy community of blockchain enthusiasts and implement new products needed by the market. One of the planned products is ido startup site where users can get important information about new cryptocurrency stratagems in a game-like manner and participate in IDO and Airdrop token allocation. More info Website – http://ttsfarm.com Audit – https://hazecrypto.net/audit/tothesmart Telegram feed – https://t.me/tothesmartofficial Community chat – https://t.me/tothesmartofficialchat Twitter – https://twitter.com/tothesmart This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Over the past seven days, the crypto asset solana has increased more than 23% against the U.S. dollar after the announcement that the Helium Network plans to migrate to the Solana blockchain on March 27. Helium Network’s native token, helium, has also risen, jumping 25% over the past week against the greenback. Core Helium Devs Reveal Network Migration Date to Move to Solana The Helium Network, a chain dedicated to the internet of things (IoT), plans to migrate with the Solana blockchain network, according to a blog post published by the core devs. The Helium Foundation has scheduled a migration date after “months of meticulous planning and technical development,” according to the post. The Helium team said the upgrade will take place on March 27, 2023, at 10 a.m. ET. Helium developers say the upgrade will take place over a 24-hour transition and will affect all the network’s wallets, hotspots, and the network state. “The completion of the migration marks a new era for the Helium Network, enabling it to achieve greater scale and truly become a network of networks,” the blog post said. “The Helium community has onboarded nearly 1 million hotspots, and commercial demand for the network is becoming a larger focus.” HNTUST chart by TradingView Both Solana (SOL) and Helium (HNT) tokens have seen a significant rise over the past week, with HNT leading the way. SOL has increased by 8.5% in the last 24 hours and 23% in the last seven days. On Feb. 20, 2023, HNT was up 7.3%, and during the past week, it climbed 25% higher. While SOL is the 12th-largest blockchain network in terms of market valuation, HNT was in the 117th position on Monday. According to the Helium team, after the approval of HIP 70, core programmers have been developing programs for the Solana network, such as new “governance tools on Realms,” the implementation of PoC Oracles, the establishment of “Open LNS and Data Transfer Accounting Oracles,” and loading the Helium account state data to the Solana Devnet. Core developers from Helium further explained that a majority of HNT token holders and hotspot owners will “not need to take any action to participate in the upgrade.” What are your thoughts on the Helium Network’s migration to the Solana blockchain? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Solana rose by as much as 11% to start the week, as the token moved higher for a fourth consecutive session. Market sentiment has mostly been bullish in the past two weeks, leading to prices hitting a multi-month high on Monday. Bitcoin cash also surged, climbing to its strongest level since July. Solana (SOL) Solana (SOL) rose by over 11% in Monday’s session, as the token raced to a multi-month high earlier in the day. Following a low of $24.04 on Sunday, SOL/USD surged to an intraday peak of $26.93 to start the week. As a result of this move, solana climbed to its highest level since November 8, when price hit a high of $31.78. This is the fourth straight session that solana has risen, with prices breaking out of a key resistance level of $26.00 in the process. In addition to this, the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) has moved beyond a ceiling of its own at 62.00. Currently, the index is tracking at 63.58, and should it continue in this upward direction, SOL could hit $30.00 in the coming days. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Another notable gainer on Monday has been bitcoin cash (BCH), which also moved to its highest point in the past several months.. BCH/USD raced to a high of $146.83 earlier in the day, which comes after trading at a bottom of $134.55 on Sunday. The rally took bitcoin cash to a point not seen since July 31, when the cryptocurrency traded above $150.00. This comes as the 10-day (red) moving average nears a crossover with its 25-day (blue) counterpart. Additionally, the RSI has also moved to a 16-day high, and is tracking at 65.85, which is near a ceiling of 66.00. Should price strength pass this hurdle, then BCH bulls will likely recapture the $150.00 mark. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: What is behind today’s rally in bitcoin cash? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. On 21st February, BitFuFu will announce the launch of the ANTMINER coupons trading function at the WDMS conference. ANTMINER coupons are issued by the world’s leading miner manufacturer BITMAIN, which can be used to offset the purchase order amount of ANTMINER produced which was sold by BITMAIN, thereby reducing the cost of miners for investors and improving the return on investment efficiency. Currently, ANTMINER coupons can be transferred through the BITMAIN website, and miner investors can find relevant information on the Coupon Master, which is BITMAIN official forum. BitFuFu’s launched coupon trading function to provide a formal platform for global miner investors to communicate, trade, and circulate ANTMINER coupons, so that traditional investors and new investors can obtain relevant information about coupons in a timely manner, and realize safer and more convenient coupons trading transactions, while avoiding the disturbance caused by fake coupons in the market. Based on the Standardized trading process, interested investors can easily match the expected type and price of coupons through simple searching on BitFuFu to achieve efficient trading. For coupon holders, they can quickly dispose of idle preferential resources and obtain additional funds, allowing them to develop mining plans more flexibly. BitFuFu’s coupon trading function promotes the circulation of ANTMINER coupons, further improving their mining production and operation efficiency. Built upon BitFuFu’s proprietary technologies, the coupon trading function on BitFuFu’s official website creates a secure and transparent trading platform for ANTMINER coupons trading and verification. BitFuFu believes that its strategic partnership with BITMAIN will help attract coupon holders and interested investors to its platform, creating traffic vortex to further promote transactions. The launch of the trading platform not only creates a market for coupon buyers and sellers, but also promotes the circulation of ANTMINER coupons and market activity. At the same time, it will also provide convenience for new investors to enter the mining industry, and promote capital increments and changes in the mining industry. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

On Feb. 14, 2023, Milena Mayorga, the Salvadoran ambassador to the United States, announced that her country is considering opening a second bitcoin embassy in the Lone Star State. Mayorga said that Texas is “our new ally” and the goal is to expand “commercial and economic exchange projects.” Ambassador Milena Mayorga Fosters Growing Relationship Between El Salvador and Texas This week, Milena Mayorga, the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S., discussed her recent meeting with Texas Secretary of State Joe Esparza. Mayorga stated that government officials were considering the possibility of opening a second bitcoin embassy in the state. She noted that discussions had already taken place with authorities from Lugano, Switzerland about a similar bitcoin embassy concept. “The state of Texas, our new ally,” Mayorga tweeted. “In my meeting with the deputy secretary of the Government of Texas, Joe Esparza … We discussed the opening of the second [bitcoin] embassy, and the expansion of commercial and economic exchange projects.” The Salvadoran ambassador’s proposal comes after El Salvador’s approval of the Digital Assets Issuance Law in January 2023 and a recent mission statement on El Salvador’s economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF noted that El Salvador had managed to avoid cryptocurrency-related risks due to the slow and tepid adoption of bitcoin in the country. This development also follows comments by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele regarding disinformation in the media. El Salvador’s finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya, took to Twitter to refute claims made by some national and international media, tweeting: “El Salvador has met its debt obligations. We announce that on this day we have completed the payment of the 2023 Bond for $800 million, plus interest.” The Salvadoran ambassador, Mayorga, noted in her own Twitter thread that Texas Secretary of State Joe Esparza had expressed a positive view of the relationship between El Salvador and Texas in terms of commercial and economic exchange, with the two entities having exchanged $1,244,636,983 in 2022. Will the potential opening of a second bitcoin embassy in Texas further strengthen the relationship between El Salvador and the Lone Star state, and potentially boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the region? Share your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. LONDON, ENGLAND – February 15th, 2023 – Neon Link, the new blockchain gaming ecosystem consisting of a layer-1 blockchain, native coin, wallet, dex, bridge, games and more is opening up the opportunity to own part of this project by holding the NEON coin on the 15th February at 5PM UTC. By connecting a wallet and purchasing coins with ERC-20 $ETH or $USDT, anyone can invest in some of the 55 million coins that are on offer in this presale. Combining web3 innovation with gameplay-first experiences for gamers and game developers, Neon Link is racing through a sophisticated roadmap that includes, amongst other things, the release of an AI-enhanced Software Development Kit (SDK) for game developers. The game-focused NEON coin provides utility and governance to the Neon Link blockchain and its suite of products and can be earned through gameplay in any of the three upcoming Neon Link Games: Ascend The End (which has recently launched its Closed Alpha test), Neon Saga and Neon Punks Arcade. The Neon Bridge can be used to bridge tokens from one chain to another, with all major chains supported and more to be added in the future. The minimum purchase is $12 and the maximum is $50,000 worth of Neon Coin, and prices are discounted through bands as the sale progresses. Funds will be allocated to the development of the games, community growth, and an accelerator program for the first 20 projects that sign up to build games on Neon Link. Visit the Presale Page to find out more, and sign up to receive important updates and take part on the 15th of February at 5pm UTC. For media inquiries, please reach out to roland@neonlink.io. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Dogecoin rallied on Feb. 15, as Elon Musk tweeted a picture of a Shiba Inu dog, with the caption: “The new CEO of Twitter is amazing.” Following this tweet, both dogecoin and shiba inu surged, extending recent gains. Overall, the global cryptocurrency market cap is 2.42% higher as of writing. Dogecoin (DOGE) Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by as much as 6% on Wednesday, as markets reacted to tweets from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. DOGE/USD surged to an intraday high of $0.08707 earlier in today’s session, which comes a day after trading at a bottom of $0.08141. Today’s move saw the meme coin climb for a second straight session, breaking out of a resistance level at $0.0840 in the process. Upside momentum comes as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) surged, and as of writing it is tracking at 50.81 Price strength has now risen to its highest point in nearly a week, and is fast approaching a ceiling at 52.00. As a result of this, earlier gains have somewhat eased, with dogecoin now trading at $0.08656. Shiba Inu (SHIB) Shiba inu (SHIB) also rose for a second consecutive day, breaking out of a resistance level of its own. Following a low of $0.00001222 on Tuesday, SHIB/USD raced to an intraday high of $0.00001313 earlier in the day. Like with dogecoin, today’s rally saw the meme coin race past a ceiling at $0.00001285, climbing by nearly 6% in the process. As can be seen from the chart, there was also a breakout on the RSI indicator, which moved beyond a ceiling at 55.00 Currently, the index is tracking at 56.95, with the nearest point of resistance at the 61.00 mark. There is a chance that early bulls will opt to take profit close to this point, as overall market sentiment remains partially bearish. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Could meme coins continue to rally as the week progresses? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

A former executive of FTX allegedly earned profits for a charity by purchasing discounted FTX tokens, FTT, before they became available to the public at $0.05 per unit, according to a report citing anonymous sources. Ruairi Donnelly, the former chief of staff at FTX, has been accused of donating the tokens to Polaris Ventures, a charitable organization based in Switzerland, which later sold the FTT for millions of dollars. Anonymous Sources Claim Polaris Ventures Gained Most of Its Wealth From FTT Transfer in 2019 According to a report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Tuesday, a charity associated with an FTX executive benefited by obtaining ftx tokens (FTT) at a discounted price. The charity in question is Polaris Ventures, a Swiss organization that claims to support artificial intelligence (AI) and effective altruism, anonymous sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ. One specific AI organization that Polaris Ventures supported was the Cooperative AI Foundation, which received $15 million to support its cause and research. WSJ reporter Alexander Saeedy cites anonymous sources who claim that former FTX chief of staff Ruairi Donnelly purchased FTX tokens (FTT) at a discounted rate of $0.05 per unit, which was reportedly the going FTX employee discount at the time. The sources allege that Donnelly used $562,000 of his own salary to acquire FTT at this rate. Saeedy’s report suggests that Donnelly then donated the funds via a grant to Polaris, and that “the foundation made millions of dollars selling the tokens after they began trading publicly at $1 in 2019 and 2020, while Mr. Donnelly was still working at FTX.” Donnelly’s lawyer stated that the FTT in question did not belong to FTX and was intended to pay his client’s unpaid wages. “To be absolutely clear, the FTT that Mr. Donnelly directed to be donated on his behalf to Polaris was not FTX’s funds,” the attorney said. The attorney also noted that $30 million of Polaris’ funds were stuck on FTX, and that the foundation is a major creditor in FTX’s bankruptcy case. Anonymous sources cited in the report further suggest that most of the foundation’s wealth initially came from the FTT transfer in 2019. The same sources concluded that Donnelly is currently attempting to sell bankruptcy credits for a fraction of their value. What are your thoughts concerning the case of Polaris Ventures and the reported FTT deal in 2019? Share your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

Bitcoin traded above $22,000 on Feb. 15, as markets continue to react to the latest U.S. inflation report. The consumer price index rose 0.5% in January, following a gain of 0.1% the month prior. Overall, the annual rate of inflation came in at 6.4%, which, although lower than December’s sum of 6.5%, was higher than the expected 6.2%. Ethereum also rallied on hump-day. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) remained above $22,000 on Wednesday, with traders continuing to digest the latest inflation report in the United States. Following a low of $21,632.39 on Tuesday, BTC/USD rallied to an intraday peak of $22,293.14 earlier today. Today’s move pushes the world’s largest cryptocurrency back towards a key resistance level of $22,500. Looking at the chart, the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) also appears to be edging closer to a ceiling of its own at 60.00 As of writing, price strength is currently at a reading of 51.96, which is its strongest point in the last seven days. Should this momentum be maintained, there is a strong possibility that BTC could not only break $22,500, but could also collide with the $23,000 mark. Ethereum Ethereum (ETH) was also in the green in today’s session, as prices broke out of a recent point of resistance. ETH/USD hit a high of $1,562.03 earlier in the day, which comes less than 24 hours after trading at a bottom of $1,501.80. As a result of this move, ethereum briefly broke out of a price ceiling at $1,550, after bouncing off a floor of $1,505. Earlier gains have somewhat eased, with ETH now trading at $1,557.25, which is marginally higher than the aforementioned ceiling. At the time of writing, the RSI is hovering at 49.86, which is below a ceiling of its own at 50.00. In order for ethereum bulls to head back towards the $1,600 mark, this ceiling will first need to be broken. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Do you expect further rallies in price now that the inflation report has been released? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

Only 4% of the companies in Spain have managed to apply the metaverse to their operations, according to a survey conducted by ISDI, a national business school. 40% of the business managers surveyed have admitted that it is difficult for them to bring parts of their business to the metaverse in a significant way. Metaverse Growing Slowly in Spain While surveys and estimations by banks and companies have predicted the metaverse will become a big business in this decade, some companies are experiencing problems in bringing their vision to the virtual world. A report presented by ISDI, a Spain-based business school, has shown that moving business models to the metaverse has proven difficult for national companies. The survey, which centered its focus on business managers, found that less than 4% of the Spanish companies have jumped into the metaverse, even with the buzz that surrounded the ecosystem last year. Furthermore, 40% of the business managers surveyed don’t know how they could harness it for their specific business models. Also, almost one in four companies recognize that they have trouble understanding the concept, with 14% directly stating they both don’t understand it and have no idea of how to apply it to their operations. An Evolving Situation However, even with all the problems regarding it, almost one in every four companies affirm to be in investigative phases that include a metaverse-based initiative. 28% of the companies surveyed recognize the importance of recruiting special talent for these initiatives. For ISDI’s CEO Rodrigo Miranda, this is a natural part of the evolution that Spanish companies must experience to be able to present their products and services in the metaverse. He stated: The success and the incursion of Spain, its companies, and professionals in this new universe will depend on the speed with which they can accept, adapt and respond to the radical changes that are coming. At least at a governmental level, Spain has manifested its commitment to the growth of the sector, supporting companies wanting to take the leap into the metaverse. In December, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain announced it would invest 8 million euros ($8.5 million) in grants for companies developing metaverse-based immersive experiences in the field of video games. What do you think about the development of the metaverse in the business sector in Spain? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article