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Trading platform Robinhood is launching a non-custodial, web3 cryptocurrency wallet. “Customers will be able to hold the keys for their own crypto,” the company said. Robinhood Building Non-Custodial, Web3 Wallet Popular trading platform Robinhood announced Tuesday that it is “building a brand new non-custodial, web3 wallet that will allow customers to have total control of their crypto.” The announcement details: This new, multichain, web3 wallet will launch as a standalone app … Customers will be able to hold the keys for their own crypto. In addition, customers will be able to “trade and swap crypto with no network fees,” “earn yield using their assets,” store non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and connect to NFT marketplaces, Robinhood explained. Vlad Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood, commented: “At Robinhood, we believe that crypto is more than just an asset class … Our web3 wallet will make it easier for everyone to hold their own keys and experience all the opportunities that the open financial system has to offer.” The announcement further notes that customers can sign up for Robinhood’s non-custodial wallet waitlist to get early access to the company’s new product. The company said: We’ll begin inviting waitlist customers to join our Beta program later this summer and make the product generally available to all Robinhood customers by the end of the year. Last month, Robinhood rolled out its custodial crypto wallets to more than two million customers. With the upcoming non-custodial wallet launch, Robinhood will compete with the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which also offers a self-custodial wallet. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted Monday that his company’s non-custodial wallet is now “the most downloaded mobile self-custody wallet in the U.S.” He noted: “And you don’t have to migrate anything over to use it – the same seed phrase can be used across multiple wallets.” Robinhood recently began its European expansion by acquiring a regulated crypto firm based in the U.K. What do you think about Robinhood launching a non-custodial, web3 crypto wallet? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On May 18, the billionaire investor and crypto proponent Mike Novogratz published a post about the recent Terra blockchain fallout. Novogratz and his firm Galaxy Digital were big believers in the Terra project, and the investor even got a LUNA-centric tattoo on his arm. Despite the recent events and losses, the crypto economy felt this past week, Novogratz stressed that he still firmly believes the “crypto revolution is here to stay.” Novogratz Reflects on Terra’s Demise: ‘It’s Time to Talk About Last Week’ Just recently, Bitcoin.com News reported LUNA and UST’s implosion and the big name backers that invested in Terraform Labs. One of the investors mentioned in our report was the billionaire investor and crypto proponent Mike Novogratz. For quite some time, Novogratz and his firm Galaxy Digital were big believers in the Terra ecosystem. On January 26, 2021, Bloomberg quoted Novogratz and the investor called the Terra blockchain project one of “the canaries in the coal mines of what else is going to happen.” Novogratz also got a LUNA-themed tattoo and said he was “officially a Lunatic.” After the UST de-pegging incident and the entire Terra ecosystem getting obliterated, Novogratz was not as talkative as he usually is on Twitter. On Wednesday, May 18, Novogratz tweeted for the first time since May 8, 2022. “After much thought, it’s time to talk about last week and, more importantly, the weeks ahead,” Novogratz said. In addition to the tweet, Novogratz left a link to a blog post that discusses the Terra fiasco in detail. “There is no good news in what happened in markets or to the Terra ecosystem,” the investor detailed in his blog post. “In Luna and UST alone, $40bn of market value was destroyed in a very short amount of time. Both large and small investors saw profits and wealth vanish. The collapse dented confidence in crypto and [decentralized finance]. Whenever money is lost in such an abrupt fashion, people want answers. I am going to try to add some insights to the ongoing discussion.” Novogratz then got into Galaxy’s principal investments in LUNA starting in Q4 2020, and how the team noticed that the project had “more than 1.8m users and was a top 5 finance app in South Korea that we considered had significant growth potential.” Galaxy was “intrigued” by the Terra ecosystem, and thought of it as “an example of crypto finding a real-world use case.” Then the investor noted that the global macro backdrop did a number on many risk assets this year, and he believes the “macro backdrop put pressure on Luna and the reserves held to back UST.” Novogratz added: UST’s growth had exploded from the 18% yield offered in the Anchor protocol, which eventually overwhelmed other uses of the Terra blockchain. The downward pressure on reserve assets coupled with UST withdrawals, triggered a stress scenario akin to a ‘run on the bank.’ The reserves weren’t enough to prevent UST’s collapse. Novogratz Highlights the ‘Core Tenets of Investing’ — Galaxy Founder Says ‘It’s Important That Less Experienced Market Participants Only Risk What They Are Comfortable Losing’ Novogratz said that the LUNA and UST incident shined a light on some core tenets of investing which include diversification, taking profits along the way, risk management, and an understanding of investing under a macro framework. The billionaire investor said that Galaxy Digital kept to these core tenets when it came to its investments in LUNA. “Reading the stories of retail investors who lost their savings in one investment is heart- wrenching,” Novogratz’s blog post explains. “A core tenet in the crypto belief system is equal access to markets. But it’s important that less experienced market participants only risk what they are comfortable losing. I’ve often said people should allocate 1%-5% of their assets to the space.” The Galaxy Digital founder concluded by noting that he’s still a firm believer in the crypto space but that does not mean the bottom is in and the market will be going straight up after this. “It will take restructuring, a redemption cycle, consolidation, and renewed confidence in crypto. Crypto moves in cycles, and we just witnessed a big one,” Novogratz added. What do you think about the reflection blog post Mike Novogratz wrote about his belief in Terra and the LUNA and UST fiasco that took place this past week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The blockchain firm Aave has launched the Lens Protocol, a social media project with applications built on the Polygon blockchain. Lens is similar to the social media platform Twitter but Lens profiles are linked to a non-fungible token (NFT) that can be ported into decentralized applications. Lens Protocol Is Live – Aave Founder Believes People Are ‘Ready for a Better Social Media Experience’ On Wednesday, the blockchain company Aave announced that the Lens Protocol is now live and roughly 50 applications have debuted on the platform. Aave first revealed the Lens Protocol during the first week of February 2022 and the first applications are built on top of the Polygon network. Stani Kulechov, CEO and founder of Aave Companies said the recent Twitter ordeal with Elon Musk shows that people are looking for something different than the incumbent social media platforms. “The social media experience has remained relatively unchanged for the last decade, and much of that is due to your content being solely owned by a company, which locks your social network within one platform,” Kulechov said in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. The Aave founder added: But ultimately, as seen from Elon Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter, people are ready for a better experience than what they’re used to. Ownership over not only the content you create online, but also your profile and social network is long overdue, and empowering users is what Lens aims to achieve. Lens Boasts 50+ Social Applications and Creator Monetization Tools Built on Polygon The 50 applications built on Lens covers social applications to creator monetization tools, the announcement notes. Lens users that have already minted their NFT profile can access any of the applications such as Peerstream, Lenster, Swapify, Spamdao, and more. “Building a Web3 social media platform on Lens Protocol has opened up a new realm of possibilities for our development team and users,” @yoginth.eth the founder of lenster.xyz remarked during the announcement. Lens Protocol will provide users with the foundations to leverage full ownership over their “profile, content, and relationships” while plugging into any decentralized application. G.Money, the NFT filmmaker and creator, detailed that lens will empower the platform’s userbase. “An open social graph will allow creators and brands to fully own content distribution and their audiences in a truly multi-platform way. Lens empowers platform choice and opens up wider audiences through direct creator/brand-community relationships,” the NFT filmmaker said. What do you think about Aave’s Lens Protocol? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Metaverses are here, and they are the next generation of gaming. That’s why KICK.IO launchpad is excited to be hosting the public sale of YOANN.IO, an Anime Action Adventure. YOANN.IO empowers players to go on exciting adventures, interact with other players, as well as earn passive income from the marketplace. Within the exciting anime multiverse environment, you may choose to roam solo, with an AI, or with friends – completing multi-level quests and earning exciting rewards. Within the multiverse, every player may contribute to the community’s passive income pool through mining activity, staking YOAN, or completing Yoann adventures. Users can earn token profits and receive NFT assets such as custom skins and accessories, which are tradeable within the marketplace. YOANN.IO is thus modernizing the gaming experience – delivering new ways old hobbyists and new gamers alike can interact within the metaverse. Game Trailer YOANN.IO Begin the Anime Action Adventure Website | Twitter | Telegram Seed sale on KICK.IO YOANN.IO seed sale will kick off on May 18th, 13:00 GMT, and will then be opened to the general public on May 31th, 13:00 GMT. We have already received many enquiries about the project, so be sure to mark the dates! Seed sale details: Ticker: YOAN KYC: No Token lock: 10% at TGE, remainder vested over 10 months Payment options: ADA, USDT Seed Sale round 1: Price: $0.20 Start: May 18th 13:00 GMT End: May 24th 13:00 GMT Requirement to participate: 10,000 KICK staked in a locked pool Seed sale round 2: Price: $0.22 Start: May 24 th 13:00 GMT End: May 31 th 13:00 GMT Requirement to endorse: 10,000 KICK staked in a locked pool. About KICK.IO KICK.IO is a Cardano-based fundraising platform and project accelerator, designed to provide transparent, efficient, and fully decentralized crowdfunding services. KICK.IO is set to mature into a cornerstone of the new Cardano-dominated DeFi landscape, becoming the place where Cardano’s extensive community can come together to fund projects characterized by the immense potential for future success. Our next-generation decentralized launchpad will be built according to the best DeFi industry practices, ensuring real-time settlement, top-notch security, interoperability, true decentralization, zero counterparty risk, while also being fully scalable to meet the needs of institutional investors. Unlike our competitors, we offer full support of Cardano native tokens and a suite of advanced DeFi tools that upcoming projects need to thrive and prosper. Twitter | Telegram | Medium | Website 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

The first digital financial assets based on Russian blockchains may be issued as early as this year, a high-ranking parliamentarian announced. Three platforms are already registered as issuers, said Anatoly Aksakov, who chairs the Financial Market Committee at the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament. Russian Digital Financial Assets Likely to Appear by Year’s End Authorized Russian blockchain platforms may issue their first digital financial assets (DFAs) by the end of 2022, according to the head of the parliamentary committee overseeing Russia’s financial sector, Anatoly Aksakov. Speaking during the Moscow Academic Economic Forum, Aksakov noted that Russia is now actively working in this field after adopting the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which went into force in January 2021. DFA is the legal term that encompasses cryptocurrencies in the current Russian legislation. The Russian deputy revealed that three platforms — developed by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, Transmashholding, and Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank — are already registered as DFA issuers. Another two will be approved in the near future. Aksakov was quoted by Russian media as stating: We expect that, maybe even this year, the first digital financial assets will be issued, and they will gradually become the basis for financial settlements on the blockchain. The lawmaker believes that these DFAs will be used for financial settlements and as units of account in economic relations with partners and subsidiaries. “This is, to a certain extent, an alternative to those financial settlements that today exist on the basis of the dollar or the euro or other currencies,” he elaborated. Anatoly Aksakov emphasized that the Russian government supports the legalization of the digital assets market through strict regulation and has prepared a new bill to achieve that. He was referring to the law “On Digital Currency” drafted by the Ministry of Finance, which is yet to be submitted to the State Duma. Russia has been stepping up efforts to adopt rules for its digital assets space and this bill should expand the legal framework for the sector, which was only partially regulated with the law “On Digital Financial Assets.” While the finance ministry favors regulating cryptocurrencies along with other digital assets, the Central Bank of Russia remains opposed to their legalization in the country. Do you expect Russian companies to employ DFAs for settlements with foreign partners? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

ATOM moved closer towards a one-year low on Wednesday, as prices dropped by nearly 10%. This came as DOT also declined during today’s trading session, when global crypto markets fell by over 3% as of writing. Cosmos (ATOM) On Wednesday, ATOM was one of the biggest movers in the session, as it fell by nearly 3% lower during hump-day. ATOM/USD slipped to an intraday low of $10.47 during today’s stretch, which came following a peak of $11.73 on Tuesday. This bottom saw prices move towards their long-term support level of $10.30, a level which was established last week, after prices dropped to multi-month lows. As of writing, prices are down 8.46%, with the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) also lower, trading almost below 30. Looking at the chart, the index is marginally above 30, after failing to break beyond its own resistance level of 33. With prices being so close to a floor, the automatic view would be that we are set for a drop, which could see us recapture recent one-year lows. Polkadot (DOT) DOT was also down during hump-day, as prices slipped by over 8%, with prices falling for two of the last three days. Following an intraday high of $11.14 over the course of Tuesday’s session, DOT/USD dropped to a low of $9.78 earlier today. As prices declined, bears began to outline potential target points, with the floor of $8.40 a level of interest for those expecting further declines. This support level was first established six days ago, when prices fell below $7, hitting their lowest point since January 21 as a result. Although this floor has proven itself to be firm, price strength is still currently oversold, with the RSI tracking at 35.33. This point is a floor in its own right, and as long as it remains firm, we will likely not see any further drops in price in the next few days. Do you believe $8.30 is the true floor in DOT? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

Three members of Terraform Labs’ legal team have left the company, according to their Linkedin profiles that show their departure from the firm this month. The resignation of the company’s in-house litigation, regulatory, general, and corporate counsel members follow the project’s fallout last week as the blockchain’s native crypto assets dropped significantly in value. Linkedin Profiles Show 3 Legal Counsel Members Ended Their Relationship With Terraform Labs in May 2022 The crypto community is once again throwing the spotlight on the Terra blockchain fiasco, as the project’s in-house legal team seems to have left the company Terraform Labs (TFL) unexpectedly. That’s according to three individual profiles on Linkedin that show Noah Axler, Lawrence Florio, and Marc Goldich left in May. Terra was once a leading multi-billion-dollar project, and TFL raised millions from prominent investors. An in-house lawyer or legal team is common among blockchain projects dealing with global regulators. Axler’s Linkedin profile indicates that his title was “chief litigation and regulatory counsel” for TFL. He worked full-time for TFL, between January of this year and this month, or a total of five months. Goldich’s Linkedin profile explains that his title was “general counsel” and he worked for TFL for ten months. Florio was dubbed TFL’s “chief corporate counsel” and he worked from January to May as well. The news rattled the crypto community and it became a trending conversation on social media and crypto-related forums. Bitcoin advocate Stacy Herbert tweeted about the latest Terra situation on Tuesday. “Terraform Labs legal team resigns,” Herbert said. “Nothing they can do when the CEO wouldn’t stop emailing whales with ridiculous ‘rescue’ plans and then tweeting about those proposals as if they were a done deal (they were nowhere near).” Axler’s and Goldich’s profiles further show the duo worked for the blockchain platform Lawcoin. The project is described as “the world’s first blockchain platform for investing in legal claims and social justice crowdfunding.” Some digital currency users mocked TFL’s in-house legal counsel members for leaving, while others appreciated the litigation team’s moves. “Two points,” one individual tweeted. “Massive respect to these guys. This signals just how incredibly f***ing rotten Do Kwon [and] TFL are. That is all.” The news follows the recent fork plan published by Do Kwon that aims to revive the fallen project from the ashes. The proposal dubbed “Terra Ecosystem Revival Plan 2,” will be voted on Wednesday, May 18. While some people liked the idea of a new Terra chain and an airdrop, others loathed the idea and people have been urging TFL to burn the remaining LUNA. The news on Tuesday about the in-house legal team leaving was considered another blow to the fallen project and a deterent from a successful revival. An individual on Twitter called “Metaverse Lawyer,” tweeted: You know things are bad when an entire in-house legal team resigns at once. What do you think about Terraform Labs’ legal team leaving the organization abruptly? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Metatheory, a Web3 gaming company founded in 2021, has announced it has raised $24 million in a Series A funding round. The investment round, which was led by big VC names in the crypto space like a16z, also had the participation of Pantera Capital and FTX Ventures. Kevin Lin, CEO of the company and co-founder of Twitch, stated the company will focus on making high-quality games with blockchain elements. Metatheory Scores $24 Million in Series A Round Metatheory, a Web3 gaming company that combines entertainment experiences with blockchain elements, informed it has raised $24 million in its Series A funding round. The CEO of the company, who is also co-founder of Twitch, Kevin Lin, stated that this is an opportunity to build high-quality games that also include blockchain elements in their design. The Web3 gaming premise seems to be enticing for VCs like a16z, which led the funding round and has been actively investing in projects of this kind, including Mythical Games, Yield Guild Games, and Sky Mavis, makers of Axie infinity. Other participants include Pantera Capital and FTX Ventures, Breyer Capital, Merit Circle, Recharge Thematic Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Daedalus, Sfermion, and Global Coin Research. Metatheory did not report a valuation for the company after this funding round. Web3 Gaming Advantages Metatheory is among a group of companies trying to blend gaming elements with blockchain and play-to-earn mechanics in order to produce high-end entertainment experiences. About this, Lin stated: I truly believe blockchain will open the door to even more possibilities and have a major impact in the gaming, storytelling and community building space. According to the company, a staff of veteran devs will differentiate its products when compared to other, less refined blockchain games, already having a team of 42 employees devoted to these tasks. The company has already produced its first franchise, called Duskbreakers, releasing its first drop of 10K NFTs that was sold in less than a week. NFTs have had a polarizing effect in traditional gaming circles, with different companies taking various stances on the subject. Lin supports NFTs due to the ownership problem they aim to solve in these games. On this, Lin explained: I think the idea of ownership in the digital economy, in the digital world, especially as we emerge into whatever the metaverse might be, is going to mean that blockchain is important technology. However, he clarified that the company will focus on producing “good, fun games at the core.” What do you think about Metatheory’s Series A funding round? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. BitcoinUSD.com, a website developed to educate the public on crypto exchanges and current prices, launched its new website. The new site provides more information on current cryptocurrency prices, live market cap, news and educational articles through its crypto blog. The new site offers a variety of features. These include information on various coins, the Binance exchange, the biggest gainers and losers, a crypto calculator, a crypto ICO calendar, a block explorer, and a function allowing users to build a portfolio and blog for all of the latest cryptocurrency news. BitcoinUSD.com began as a Bitcoin-focused cryptocurrency site, only to grow into a destination website for all cryptocurrencies. The site breaks down information on various cryptocurrencies and provides users with additional information on NFTs and other coins. BitcoinUSD also provides options for its users on where to find a cryptocurrency exchange platform and outlines how trustworthy each exchange is. Throughout the site are the up-to-the-minute prices for the top currencies and the site also outlines the day’s biggest gainers and losers. For those looking to get involved with the newest cryptocurrencies, BitcoinUSD provides a list of the upcoming ICOs. Users can upload their portfolios and track their gains, losses, and total valuation for current crypto owners in real-time. The site offers a large swath of cryptocurrency news through the website’s blog. The blog helps to guide readers through their cryptocurrency journey, including how to read cryptocurrency indices and providing information on all of the important cryptocurrencies. For more information or to view the current crypto prices, visit bitcoinusd.com. About BitcoinUSD.com BitcoinUSD.com is a premier news and resource platform, working since October 2020 to bring quality news content, reviews, technical analysis and other unique insights to the ever-growing cryptocurrency community. After starting with the sole focus on Bitcoin and its potential impact on the traditional financial systems, the company has grown with the cryptocurrency industry to cover various altcoins, blockchain projects, crowdsales, regulatory developments and the futuristic confluence of some of the leading technologies of time viz., blockchain, artificial intelligence, internet of things and more. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BitcoinUSDcom Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cryptoweazels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/69875404 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

The Australian tax agency has listed crypto-related profits among several priority areas where more efforts are needed to ensure correct reporting. The authority has reminded taxpayers they need to calculate any capital gain or loss from the sale of digital coins and tokens and record it in their tax returns. Australian Taxpayers Warned They Should Report Crypto Gains The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced four key areas where it will focus its attention this year. These include record-keeping, work-related expenses, and rental property income and deductions. Ensuring better scrutiny on the reporting of capital gains from property, shares, and crypto assets completes the list of stated priorities. “The ATO is targeting problem areas where we see people making mistakes,” Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh has been quoted as noting. The high-ranking official emphasized taxpayers should rethink their claims and abide by applicable rules. The tax authority is warning Australians that if they dispose of crypto assets this financial year, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), they will need to establish any capital gain or capital loss and record it in their tax returns. Loh commented: Crypto is a popular type of asset and we expect to see more capital gains or capital losses reported in tax returns this year. The assistant commissioner remarked that the ATO knows that many Australian residents are buying, selling, or exchanging digital assets, so it’s important that people understand what this means for their tax obligations. He also reminded taxpayers they cannot offset crypto losses against their salaries and wages. The agency’s decision to focus on the reporting and taxation of gains from crypto investments comes after a recent study revealed that more than a million Australians, or 5% of those aged 18 and over, own one or more cryptocurrencies. According to its authors from market research firm Roy Morgan, young male Australians are the most likely cryptocurrency holders. Do you expect Australia to collect more money in tax revenue from crypto-related capital gains next year? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has given his take regarding the future of Bitcoin’s usage. Bankman-Fried stated he doesn’t believe that Bitcoin will work as a payments network, due to its limited capability for scaling to fulfill this task. However, he believes it might become “an asset, a commodity, and a store of value.” Sam Bankman-Fried on Bitcoin as a Payments Network FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has given his opinion about where bitcoin is going and the real value of its structure in the future. In an interview published by the Financial Times, Bankman-Fried criticized the implementation of Bitcoin as a payments network. To him, the Bitcoin blockchain system will never work as a day-to-day payments system for several reasons. A perceived lack of scalability of the Bitcoin blockchain is one of them, and the second reason presented by the executive has to do with the energy and environmental implications of this hypothetical growth compared to other alternatives. To Bankman-Fried, bitcoin for payments is akin to gold, in that it would be impractical to use. He stated: Why don’t we go to a store and pay with physical gold bars? First of all, it would be ridiculous and absurd. It would be unbelievably expensive. And I’m sure it’d be bad for the climate. He also declared that proof-of-stake (PoS) networks would be more efficient to complete these tasks, explaining: Things that you’re doing millions of transactions a second with (will) have to be extremely efficient and lightweight and lower energy cost. Proof of stake networks are. Bankman-Fried believes that Bitcoin has other unique properties that make it good as “an asset, a commodity, and a store of value.” Differing Opinions However, some views differ from Bankman-Fried’s opinions. The inception of the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN), the second layer (L2) expansion protocol for Bitcoin that proposes very low transaction costs, might be a solution to the scaling problems that first-generation blockchains like Bitcoin face when congested. This is the opinion of Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, who believes Lightning has the potential to turn Bitcoin into a feasible payment rail. He stated: Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is quietly emerging to make manifest Satoshi Nakamoto’s prophecy of a decentralized, peer-to-peer payment network. A case in point is El Salvador where the country’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender has made the nation a laboratory for Lightning usage with global corporations integrating the technology. David Marcus, former crypto chief at Meta, recently launched Lightspark, a VC-backed company that will explore the capabilities of the Lightning Network for payments. The protocol, which was proposed in 2015, has still not managed to gain mainstream support, and it sits at number 32 on the list of decentralized protocols with the most value locked, according to Defi Pulse, a decentralized finance index. What do you think about Sam Bankman-Fried’s opinion on Bitcoin as a payments network? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Chinese authorities in Rong County recently said they have prosecuted eight individuals accused of being the masterminds behind the Magic Data Chain (MDC) pyramid scheme. The pyramid is thought to have handled transactions with a total value of over $147 million. Virtual Currency Pyramid Scheme Authorities in China’s Rong County, Zigong City, recently prosecuted eight people accused of orchestrating the MDC virtual currency pyramid scheme, a local report has said. According to the report, the prosecution of the case was handled by the Rong County People’s Procuratorate, and was only carried out some ten months after the arrest of MDC’s 12 core members. According to a report from the Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department, the MDC pyramid scheme was initially cracked in May 2021. Subsequent investigations by authorities in Rong County then determined that the scheme had been in existence since July 2019. MDC’s 2 Million Registered Members In the report, authorities said the criminals — who were led by an individual called Yang — had “built a blockchain website of ‘Magic Data chain’ and a virtual currency trading website of ‘XIN Exchange.'” According to the report, the MDC virtual currency platform had handled transactions with a total value of over $147 million (1 billion yuan). In addition, the scheme had 2 million registered members and some 200,000 participants in 30 provinces across China. When authorities in Rong County finally raided MDC in 2021, the assets “seized and frozen” were worth just over $4.4 million, the report said. What are your thoughts on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Algoracle has recently announced the close of its seed round for $1.5 million (USD) to help accelerate the development and launch of Algorand’s native decentralized oracle network. Algoracle’s seed round was led by Borderless Capital, with major contributions from the Algorand Foundation, Valhalla Capital, and Big Brain Holdings, and rounded out by strategic investors Xpand Capital, Parea Capital, OrcaDAO, GMI Capital, and EXA Finance. Thanks to the support provided by all of these organizations, the seed round was a resounding success and generated the aforementioned amount of $1.5 million, much to the delight of the community. “We are excited to back Algoracle and their vision of bringing data on-chain in a decentralized fashion. This will help developers to build more powerful and sophisticated applications and smart contracts, enabling innovative and disruptive new use cases on top of the Algorand blockchain” said David Garcia, CEO and Managing Partner of Borderless. About Algoracle Algoracle is a decentralized oracle network that links the Algorand blockchain to the physical world. To obtain data, smart contracts building on Algorand can call the feed contract for values. Algoracle will also debut sports, cryptocurrencies, stock, and weather feeds over the coming months. The Algorand Foundation says this about Algoracle, “Algoracle is Algorand’s premier oracle, built natively on Algorand for and by Algorand developers. We’re excited for what’s to come!” Moreover, Algoracle employs a network of feed providers and node runners to deliver feeds to smart contracts to ensure decentralization. Currently, institutional-grade providers such as AmberData, Brave New Coin, CryptoCompare, and dxFeed are providing Cryptocurrency price data to power the testnet app. Regarding future goals, the focus will be on adding a variety of feeds such as Sports, Weather, NFT prices as well as off-chain computation capabilities before launching to mainnet. For more information about Algoracle, check out the official website along with the Twitter and Discord channels. About Algorand Algorand is a PPoS (Pure Proof of Stake) blockchain that accelerates the convergence between decentralized and traditional finance by enabling the simple creation of next-generation financial products, protocols, and exchange of value. Founded by Silvio Michali, the recipient of the Turing Award (in computer science), the Gödel Prize (in theoretical computer science), and the RSA prize (in cryptography), the blockchain has managed to find an approach that solves the blockchain trilemma without any compromise. Since its launch in 2019, Algorand has had no downtime and has never forked. For more information on Algorand, visit the official website and Twitter, and Medium. 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

Cloudflare, an internet services and DDoS protection company, has announced a new strategy regarding its Web3 experiments. The company revealed it will run Ethereum validator nodes as part of its commitment to help to scale the internet by using proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus technologies. This will ostensibly allow the company to access the energy efficiency and consistency of this technology. Cloudflare to Enter Crypto via Ethereum Cloudflare, one of the leading content delivery and DDoS mitigation companies, announced a new Web3 push that leverages Ethereum’s upcoming proof-of-stake network. The company informed it will be running Ethereum validator nodes as part of its experiment in order to assess the viability of the scaling technology in the future. Cloudflare stated that blockchain technologies could be part of the story of the internet in the long run and that these experiences might help in the decentralization of such networks. About this, the company stated: For the Ethereum ecosystem, running validator nodes on our network allows us to offer even more geographic decentralization in places like EMEA, LATAM, and APJC while also adding infrastructure decentralization to the network. Cloudflare specified these actions will be conducted in the coming months before The Merge, the change of consensus mechanism the Ethereum network aims to execute later this year. Proof-of-Stake Preference Cloudflare made clear that it supports proof-of-stake networks due to the low energy usage compared to proof-of-work-based counterparts, declaring that “the energy required to operate a proof of stake validator node is magnitudes less than a proof of work miner.” About proof-of-work-based networks, like Bitcoin, Cloudflare stated: Proof of work networks are wasteful. This waste is driven by the fact that proof of work consensus mechanisms are electricity-intensive. The company also declared that, as part of its commitment to sustainability, “Cloudflare has not and will not run our own proof of work infrastructure on our network.” While Cloudflare will start experimenting with Ethereum first, it also mentioned another consensus mechanism, “proof of spacetime,” in its press release. This consensus mechanism is the one used by Filecoin, a decentralized storage network that uses incentives to maintain the files of the participants. This may hint at the possibility of the inclusion of this network in the set of experiments that the internet company will be conducting in the future. What do you think about Cloudflare’s decision to run Ethereum validator nodes? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed its first criminal complaint against an American who allegedly used cryptocurrency to circumvent U.S. sanctions. “The payments platform advertised its services as designed to evade U.S. sanctions, including through purportedly untraceable virtual currency transactions.” DOJ Charges US Citizen in Crypto Sanctions Evasion Case The U.S. Justice Department has filed its first criminal complaint against a U.S. citizen who allegedly tried to evade American sanctions using cryptocurrency, according to a judicial opinion document filed on Friday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui. The case is still sealed. Judge Faruqui explained why he approved the DOJ’s criminal complaint against the American citizen accused of transmitting more than $10 million worth of bitcoin to a crypto exchange in a comprehensively sanctioned country. Comprehensive sanctions are currently placed on Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the regions of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed fines against crypto exchange platforms for violating sanctions laws. However, the judge explained: The Department of Justice can and will criminally prosecute individuals and entities for failure to comply with the OFAC’s regulations, including as to virtual currency. The DOJ alleged that the defendant, a U.S. citizen, used an IP address in the U.S. “to conspire to operate an online payments and remittances platform” based in a comprehensively sanctioned country. The Justice Department noted: The payments platform advertised its services as designed to evade U.S. sanctions, including through purportedly untraceable virtual currency transactions. The defendant also opened an account with a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange to buy and sell bitcoin. The defendant then used this crypto exchange account to transmit over 10 million dollars worth of BTC between the U.S. and sanctioned countries for the platform’s customers. In doing so, the defendant conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and defraud the United States, the DOJ detailed. The judge further noted: “The question is no longer whether virtual currency is here to stay … but instead whether fiat currency regulations will keep pace with frictionless and transparent payments on the blockchain.” What do you think about this case? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk says that the U.S. economy is probably in a recession and it could be “tough going” for 12 to 18 months. He added: “The honest reason for inflation is that the government printed a zillion more money than it had.” Elon Musk on U.S. Recession and Inflation Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, talked about the U.S. economy on the All-In podcast, published Monday. Commenting on whether the U.S. economy is in a recession, Musk said: We probably are in a recession and that recession will get worse but these things pass and then there will be boom times again … It’ll probably be some tough going for, I don’t know, a year, maybe 12-18 months. He added that 12 to 18 months is roughly the amount of time for a correction to happen. Recession fears have escalated recently as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy to help cool down inflation. Musk explained that in his opinion, recessions are not necessarily a bad thing, emphasizing that he’s been through a few of them in his time at public companies. “What tends to happen is, if you have a boom that goes on for too long, you get misallocation of capital — it starts raining money on fools, basically,” he described. Noting that the rising prices resulted from money printing, the Tesla boss said: The honest reason for inflation is that the government printed a zillion more money than it had … This is not like, you know, super complicated. Musk added that countries like Venezuela had already been down the same path. The Tesla executive is currently in the middle of a takeover bid to buy Twitter Inc. He offered the social media giant about $44 billion which Twitter has accepted. However, the deal is now on hold. Musk has also indicated that he may seek a lower price for Twitter, stating that there could be at least four times more fake accounts than what the company has said. He opined: “You can’t pay the same price for something that is much worse than they claimed.” What do you think about Elon Musk’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

South Korea’s top financial regulators have launched an emergency investigation into the collapse of cryptocurrency LUNA and stablecoin UST. The authorities have asked domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to provide information relating to transactions and investors of the two coins. South Korea’s Emergency Investigation Into LUNA, UST South Korea has launched an “emergency” investigation of domestic crypto exchange operators following the collapse of the terrausd stablecoin (UST) and terra (LUNA) cryptocurrency, Yonhap News reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. Last week, UST lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, sending its price and the price of terra (LUNA) into free fall. At the time of writing, UST is trading at less than $0.09 while LUNA is near worthless. South Korean top financial regulators, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), have asked local cryptocurrency exchange operators to share information relating to UST and LUNA, sources told the news outlet. An official of a local crypto exchange operator was quoted as saying: Last week, financial authorities asked for data on the amount of transactions and investors, and sized up the exchanges’ relevant measures. “I think they did it to draw up measures to minimize the damage to investors in the future,” the exchange official said. The information requested by the authorities includes trading volumes, closing prices, and numbers of relevant investors, the publication noted, adding that the regulators also asked the exchange operators to provide their countermeasures to the recent crypto market crash and analyses of the cause of the collapse. UST and LUNA were invented by Kwon Do-hyung (aka Do Kwon), a South Korean national. His company, Terraform Labs, is incorporated in Singapore. Since the collapse of the two cryptocurrencies, Kwon has come up with a few plans to revive the coins but none has worked so far. Kwon’s wife reportedly sought police protection after an unidentified man trespassed into their apartment building in South Korea. According to media reports, the man was subsequently identified as an investor who lost roughly $2 million in LUNA’s collapse. What do you think about South Korea launching an investigation into UST and LUNA after the two cryptocurrencies collapsed? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

An op-ed article published in the state-backed Chinese publication Economic Daily, has suggested that the recent crash of the Terra blockchain’s LUNA and the de-pegging of the UST stablecoin vindicate the Asian country’s decision to ban crypto-related activities. In the article, the author names the interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the buying and selling of crypto assets by several investment giants as the causes of the recent market crash. Impact of Recent US Interest Rate Hike An author writing for China’s state-backed publication, Economic Daily, has argued that the recent crash of Terra’s LUNA and the de-pegging of the UST stablecoin vindicates his country’s decision to block or prohibit virtual currency-related activities. The author, Li Hualin, also claimed that China’s “decisive” and “timely” action helped to “extinguish the ‘virtual fire’ of virtual currency speculation and put ‘protection locks’ on investors’ wallets.” As reported by Bitcoin.com News, Terra blockchain’s native token LUNA’s troubles started after the network’s other project, the algorithmic stablecoin UST, lost its peg against the U.S. dollar. Initial efforts to rescue the stablecoin precipitated the native token’s plunge from a price of over $87 on May 4, 2022, to a current price of just under $0.0003. While some crypto experts have placed the blame for the token’s crash on the actions of the project’s leader, Do Kwon, in the opinion piece, the Chinese author appears to attribute the token’s fall mainly to the raising of interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Explaining how the rate rise caused the token to plummet, the author wrote: Since the beginning of this year, the Federal Reserve has launched an interest rate hike cycle, and global liquidity has tightened. Especially in early May, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 50 basis points at a time, which had a negative impact on capital and market sentiment, and virtual currencies were the first to bear the brunt. Virtual Currency and the Chinese Law Following the crash of the two Terra tokens, some within the crypto community are still trying to piece together what may have caused the spectacular collapse. However, others have already accused two firms, Blackrock and Citadel, of being behind LUNA’s woes. These allegations have been rejected by the firms. The Chinese author, in the meantime, claims in the piece that the involvement of investment giants in crypto markets “can lead to violent fluctuations in currency values, triggering a large number of sell-offs.” Hualin also reiterated that virtual currency transactions are not protected by Chinese law. These comments appear to contradict the recent Shanghai High People’s Court judgment affirming bitcoin to be a virtual asset protected by Chinese law. The author ends the article by urging investors to “remain rational, promptly eliminate the greed of bottom-hunting and get rich overnight, and stay away from related trading speculations, otherwise it is very likely that ‘currency will go to the fortune.'” What are your thoughts on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Just recently, the product comparison platform finder․com polled 36 fintech specialists about the cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) before terrausd (UST) lost its parity with the U.S. dollar. According to the poll, Finder’s experts predicted LUNA would be $143 before the end of the year. Currently, LUNA is worth far less than a U.S. penny and while it has gained over 23,000% in the last three days from the all-time low, LUNA would need to jump 58,331,533% to reach $143 per unit. Finder’s Poll Recorded Before the Collapse Shows Fintech Experts Thought Terra’s LUNA Had Potential, While Others Remained Skeptical Before LUNA and UST collapsed, a great number of people were very bullish about the Terra blockchain project. The product comparison platform finder․com’s recent terra (LUNA) Price Predictions Report, highlights this fact. The researchers at Finder have conducted many polls with dozens of fintech and crypto specialists concerning crypto assets like XRP, ETH, APE, and more. Finder’s latest survey touches upon terra (LUNA) and the poll’s data stems from late March to early April 2022, weeks before Terra’s ecosystem imploded. Matthew Harry, the head of funds at Digitalx Asset Management, thought LUNA would end up being around $160 per coin by the year’s end. After the fallout, Harry said: “There is a lot of uncertainty around LUNA right now – the project is really ambitious and the objective an admirable one but just what the effect on the LUNA token itself will be is unclear.” 40% of Finder’s panelists did not think LUNA would be the most staked asset. Desmond Marshall, the managing director at Rouge International, expected Terra’s native token LUNA to “fall flat very soon.” Marshall insisted that it was due to the “lack of overall functional support.” Despite 40% thinking LUNA would not be the most staked asset, 24% of Finder’s panelists said it would become the most staked coin, while the rest of the fintech specialists were unsure. Swinburne University of Technology Lecturer Says Algorithmic Stablecoins Are Considered ‘Inherently Fragile and Are Not Stable at All’ According to Dimitrios Salampasis, director and lecturer at the Swinburne University of Technology, algorithmic, fiat-pegged tokens are easily broken. “Algorithmic stablecoins are considered as being inherently fragile and are not stable at all. In my opinion, LUNA will be existing in a state of perpetual vulnerability,” Salampasis said. Ben Ritchie, the managing director at Digital Capital Management, thought LUNA would gain traction as long as regulatory scrutiny on the stablecoins economy was lax. “We believe that LUNA and UST will have an advantage and be adopted as a major stablecoin across the crypto space,” Ritchie said in the poll taken before the Terra fiasco. “LUNA is burnt to mint a UST, so if the adoption of UST grows, LUNA will benefit greatly. Having bitcoin as a reserve asset is a great decision by the Terra governance,” the fintech specialist added. In addition to the bullish commentary, the panel average indicates people predicted lofty prices for LUNA before the UST tumble and LUNA’s value plummeting to zero. Prior to the Terra fallout, the panel thought LUNA would be $390 by the end of 2025, and $997 per unit by the end of 2030. With the way things look today, in mid-May 2022, LUNA will have an extremely hard time reaching $143 per unit. What do you think about Finder’s poll taken before the Terra collapse? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Binance’s Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has said the exchange supports the proposal to compensate retail LUNA users ahead of larger investors. He also said the LUNA tokens received by Binance in exchange for a $3 million investment in Terra have not been sold or moved. Binance’s LUNA Tokens Not Sold After his exchange faced criticism for its handling of LUNA tokens, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted that any compensation for LUNA holders must prioritize protecting the interests of retail users. He said Binance has already taken the lead by electing to be compensated last. In the latest Twitter thread wherein he addresses the controversy surrounding the LUNA token crash, Zhao revealed to his followers that Binance had received 15 million LUNA tokens in exchange for an investment of $3 million. According to the Binance boss, the LUNA, whose value once peaked at $1.6 billion, “still sits on the address we received at. Never moved or sold.” Likewise, the 12,000,000 UST that Binance gained from staking over time, are also still sitting at the same address, Zhao said. He claimed these have never been moved or sold. LUNA Users’ Reaction Despite holding significant amounts of both LUNA and the UST stablecoin, Zhao said the Binance team had agreed with a proposal to prioritize compensating retail users first. He said: Now the important part. To lead by example on PROTECTING USERS, Binance will let this go and ask the Terra project team to compensate the retail users first, Binance last, if ever. Binance (after a 5 min discussion) fully support this proposal. Reacting to CZ’s endorsement of a compensation plan that was initially proposed by a Twitter user known as Persian Capital, some of the Binance CEO’s followers insisted this approach was wrong because it would place at a disadvantage those heavily invested in LUNA. The Twitter user named SEIF Motawi said: “This is extremely wrong. What about the ones who invested money in LUNA and all of their life savings are now gone? Are they not worth being compensated as well?” Another user, Veronica, remarked: “Brilliant! So those of us who bought UST or luna and sent it to Binance, or Metamask, or another platform, for example, got screwed. Make the rich get richer and the poor get poorer! great job.” However, some users who claim to have lost funds are praising the position taken by the Binance CEO, but ask if this proposal can be implemented. What are your thoughts on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Despite BTC and ETH trading lower on Monday, several cryptocurrencies managed to move higher to start the week. XMR was one of the biggest climbers, with solana also moving higher during the session. Monero (XMR) XMR was one of Monday’s biggest gainers, as prices rose by almost $20 from lows during Sunday’s session. Following a low of $128.00 on Sunday, XMR/USD rallied to an intraday high of $174.62 to start the trading week. Monday’s top came as prices surged for four consecutive sessions, hitting a near one-week high in the process. Since these highs earlier in the day, XMR is now trading marginally below a ceiling of $173.00, as bullish strength faded as the day progressed. The 14-day RSI is now trading at a resistance level of its own, which is below 43.14, and should it break, we could see XMR break resistance for the first time since March. Should this happen, prices could move closer to the $200 region. A point which monero last hit only eight days ago. Solana (SOL) Following three consecutive sessions of gains, SOL was also higher to start the week, however prices declined as the day progressed. On Sunday, SOL/USD finished the day trading at $53, and went on to hit a peak of $58.88 during the early part of Monday’s session. Since then, prices have slipped, and as of writing SOL is currently trading at a level of $52.32, which is close to a one-week low. Overall, SOL has dropped by over $100 since the beginning of April, with prices dropping below $35 last Thursday. Looking at the chart, the 14-day Relative Strength Index is now tracking at 33.26, which is marginally below a ceiling of 36. Bulls are likely going to attempt to push prices towards $70, if price strength moves past the current obstacle in the RSI. Could we see runs higher in upcoming sessions? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

On May 13, Circle’s chief financial officer Jeremy Fox-Geen published a blog post called “How to Be Stable,” following the aftermath of Terra’s stablecoin implosion. Circle’s CFO explained that since usd coin’s inception, the stablecoin aims to be “the most transparent and trusted dollar digital currency.” Terra’s Stablecoin De-Pegging Incident Has Cast a Spotlight on the Entire Stablecoin Economy For a few years now, stablecoin assets have been a popular hedging vehicle among many participants within the cryptocurrency community. In more recent times, stablecoins are being loaned out in great numbers in order to gather interest and high yield returns. In the early days, stablecoins were centralized projects and these days there are a few decentralized and algorithmic stablecoin tokens among the giants. Tether (USDT) and usd coin (USDC) are the two largest stablecoin projects in terms of market valuation. Both of them are centralized, which means the company guarantees the stablecoins are redeemable for the $1 parity by holding reserves that cover the funds in circulation. Even before Terra’s stablecoin de-pegging event, more confidence has been placed in the top two stablecoins because they are centralized. Three days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on the stablecoin shuffle after the recent editorial our newsdesk published, showing that for the first time in history, three stablecoins entered the crypto top ten. That is still the case today, except that terrausd (UST) has been knocked out of the top-ten largest crypto market caps and the stablecoin BUSD has replaced the token’s position. After the terrausd (UST) implosion, Circle Financial’s CEO Jeremy Allaire has been speaking to the press about what makes USDC different, and he believes there needs to be “more regulatory framework around stablecoins.” We are ramping up our efforts around trust and transparency with USDC, so stay tuned for more, but getting started here's a new blog post from @circlepay CFO Jeremy Fox-Geen, as well as a thread below breaking it down: https://t.co/SYNpwYxUif — Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) May 13, 2022 Circle CEO Says Company Is Ramping Up Trust and Transparency Efforts, Firm Says ‘USDC Is Always Redeemable 1:1 for US Dollars’ On Friday, Allaire tweeted that Circle was “ramping up our efforts” when it comes to USDC “trust and transparency.” Allaire also shared a blog post written by the firm’s CFO Jeremy Fox-Geen, who gives a summary of what Allaire means about transparency. Fox-Geen’s blog post explains “USDC has always been backed by the equivalent value of U.S. dollar-denominated assets.” The CFO further notes that the funds are held by America’s leading financial institutions such as Bank of New York Mellon and Blackrock. The Circle executive’s report adds: The USDC reserve is held entirely in cash and short-dated U.S. government obligations, consisting of U.S. Treasuries with maturities of 3 months or less. Circle’s CFO detailed that the company has been publishing monthly attestations from the leading accounting firm Grant Thornton International. “The USDC reserve is worth at least as much as the number of USDC in circulation, providing reputable third-party assurance of this fact to the USDC ecosystem,” Fox-Geen summarized in the blog post. “USDC is always redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars,” the Circle executive adds. The blog post concludes that there are thousands of projects and entities that support and facilitate the exchange of USDC in 190 countries. Yes, @DoveyWan, we would ultimately like to see Cash held at the Fed. https://t.co/MHTjjveveQ — Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) May 15, 2022 While Terra’s Algorithmic Stablecoin Shuddered, a Few Decentralized Fiat-Pegged Tokens Still Exist, Many Crypto Supporters Believe They Are Needed Meanwhile, there are a few decentralized and algorithmic stablecoin assets that exist today like LUSD, DAI, FEI, MIM, USDV, and USDD. For instance, the Ethereum-based Makerdao project leverages an over-collateralization method to back the stablecoin DAI. Tron recently introduced an algorithmic stablecoin token called USDD, and a blockchain project called Vader has a native algorithmic stablecoin called USDV. Another stablecoin asset, dubbed magic internet money (MIM), is built on top of Avalanche (AVAX) and is issued by the decentralized lending platform Abracadabra. This is an important point! LUSD is technically an algorithmic stablecoin. Not all algorithmic stables are created equal. We need to be careful with how we explain these concepts to the noobs with guns who are trying to tyrannize us. https://t.co/GHe3lH4bt1 — Chris Blec (@ChrisBlec) May 15, 2022 Decentralized and algorithmic stablecoin proponents believe they are needed among the centralized heavyweights like USDT and USDC. Supporters of such assets think that centralized stablecoins are subject to the same failure, and others believe decentralized and algorithmic stablecoins trump centralized models because they cannot be frozen by the issuer. Despite these benefits, centralized stablecoins have ruled the roost and crypto users, at least for now, have more confidence in them. What do you think about centralized stablecoins and Circle’s recent blog post about transparency and the token’s reserve backing? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. 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Following a volatile weekend of trading, cryptocurrency prices consolidated to start the week, with BTC close to its long-term floor. Overall, bitcoin was trading marginally below $30,000, with ETH hovering slightly above $2,000. Bitcoin BTC started the week trading below $30,000 following a volatile weekend of trading, which saw prices mainly consolidate. Following a rise to a peak of $31,308.19 during Sunday’s session, BTC/USD fell to an intraday low of $29,412.58 on Monday. Today’s low has seen prices approach the long-term support level of $28,800, following a rebound from this point on Saturday. Overall, price strength continues to hover in oversold territory, with the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) tracking at 32.44. This is below a resistance level of 36.40, which was held on Sunday, leading to today’s selloff, as bears re-entered the market. Should this momentum continue, we will likely see the price floor of $28,800 hit, with a chance of a potential breakout towards $25,000. Ethereum The world’s second largest cryptocurrency also started the week lower, however, it was able to stabilize above the $2,000 level for most of the session. ETH/USD dropped to a bottom of $2,000.09 on Monday, which is around 3.27% lower than yesterday’s peak of $2,147.19 Similar to BTC, today’s drop sees ETH move closer to its price floor, which is near the $1,950 level. As of writing, prices are trading slightly higher at $2,024.92 following previous lows. However, the 10-day moving average is still pointing to further downwards momentum. This trend was magnified after the 35.35 resistance level on the 14-day RSI failed to break out during yesterday’s session. As discussed earlier with bitcoin, we may inevitably see further lows in the coming days, but how low prices will drop will be the key question to ask. Do you expect ETH to stay above $2,000 this week? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

David Marcus, former cryptocurrency head at Meta, is launching Lightspark, another payments company that will use crypto as its central payment tool. The startup, which will have Marcus at the helm as CEO, also features some of Meta’s former employees and will explore the possibilities of using the layer 2 Lightning Network (LN) as a vehicle for bitcoin payments. Meta’s Former Crypto Boss Kickstarts Lightspark David Marcus, former cryptocurrency project boss at Meta, is doubling down on the importance he thinks crypto might have for payments in the future. Marcus announced this week on social media he and others were launching a cryptocurrency company called Lightspark that aims to harness the capabilities of crypto for the payments area. Marcus is not alone in this task. He took on some of the former Meta employees for this startup. While the details of the company are still scarce, Marcus explained that Lightning Network (LN), the second layer scalability protocol for Bitcoin, will be involved. On this, he stated: As a first step, we’re actively assembling a team to dive deeper into the Lightning Network. While the company is still in exploratory phases, Marcus has been able to attract major names in the VC arena, including A16z and Paradigm, who have co-led an initial investing round with an undisclosed amount raised. Other VCs that participated in the round include Thrive Capital, Coatue, Felix Capital, Ribbit Capital, Matrix Partners, and Zeev Ventures. Bear Market and Lightning Network To some, the timing of the launch of Lightspark might not be the best, as the market faces a downturn with the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and the fall of the stock market. However, Marcus brushed off these comments on social media explaining that: Downturns are good moments to focus on building and creating value with mission-aligned people. We’re excited to dive into Lightning, learn more, and work alongside the community. Lightning Network, with its negligible transaction fees, can be very attractive for a payments company, though it has not been without criticism in the crypto community. The technology, that was proposed back in 2015, has come a long way since its launch, having now 3,807.15 BTC stored in its system, with more than 17,000 active nodes, according to 1ML, a Lightning Network statistics site. What do you think about Lightspark, the newly launched crypto payments company? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Tezos Foundation recently said it has committed $1.23 million to a fund that will be used to collect non-fungible tokens (NFTs) created by African and Asian artists. Photographer Misan Harriman has been selected as the curator of the foundation’s permanent art collection. Supporting a New Generation of Artists The Swiss non-profit organization, Tezos Foundation, recently said it has committed about $1.23 million (£1 million) to a fund, which will be used to collect non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of upcoming artists from Africa and Asia. The artists’ works will be curated by Misan Harriman, a renowned photographer and one of the pioneers in the making and collection of NFTs. As per The Art newspaper report, Harriman — the chair of London’s complex of artistic venues, Southbank Center — will also focus on acquiring the works of artists from regions with less representation in the NFT community. Commenting on his role as the curator of Tezos Foundation’s so-called permanent art collection, Harriman said: As the first curator of this collection, I want to make sure the world sees the diverse voices that are making truly extraordinary work[s] with art. The Tezos Foundation Permanent Collection will support and celebrate a new generation of artists that have chosen a smart contract-enabled path to be their true selves. Breaking Barriers in the Art World While critics of NFTs have voiced concerns over the volatility of cryptocurrencies, proponents of the underlying blockchain technology insist NFTs will break down long-standing barriers in the art world. According to Tezos Foundation, itself an arm of the Tezos Blockchain, whilst hurdles still remain they cannot stop the growing use of NFTs. Meanwhile, in a recently released statement, Arthur Breitman, a co-founder and early architect of Tezos, spoke of how the collection raises awareness for Web3 artists. He added: “This project, in collaboration with Misan Harriman’s talent and expertise, allows us to create a bespoke destination with the sole purpose of elevating digital artists who turn to Tezos for a sustainable way of sharing their work with the world.” What are your views on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article