roadrunner

Hacking group Anonymous has reportedly published a large amount of data allegedly belonging to the Bank of Russia. The release comes after the collective announced it had hacked Russia’s central bank earlier this week, a claim that was denied by the monetary authority in Moscow. Anonymous Publishes Leaked Bank of Russia Files A group affiliated with the international hacktivist collective Anonymous, identified by the Twitter handle @Thblckrbbtworld (The Black Rabbit World), has announced it leaked 28GB of data obtained from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). Another Twitter account associated with the hackers, @YourAnonTV (Anonymous TV), confirmed the news. JUST IN: The Central Bank of Russian Federation leak (28 GB) has been published by #Anonymous hackers (@Thblckrbbtworld).#Ukraine #OpRussia 🔻 https://t.co/msXQ24qDZ2 — Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 (@YourAnonTV) March 25, 2022 On Thursday, Anonymous said it had hacked the CBR and vowed to release more than 35,000 files within the next 48 hours. According to the statement, they contain some of the regulator’s “secret agreements” among other documents. Bank of Russia rejected the claim insisting that none of its information systems had been hacked. The latest move by Anonymous comes after it declared a cyberwar on the Russian Federation over its decision to invade Ukraine. The group threatened to disrupt Russia’s internet, targeted the websites of the Kremlin, the State Duma, and the Defense Ministry as well as state-run television channels such as Russia Today (RT) and some streaming platforms. The CBR’s documents have been distributed to various online points, the hacking group noted, adding it will share them through different links if the ones it has provided are censored. According to a post by the BBC Russian Service, quoted by Forklog, in the files are hundreds of audit reports and information on bank owners. Parallel to the military conflict on the ground, Russia and Ukraine have also clashed in the cyberspace. Just before Russian troops crossed the border in late February, a number of Ukrainian websites were attacked reportedly by hackers supporting Moscow. The government in Kyiv has been recruiting experts for its cyberforce who have been allegedly involved in both defensive and offensive operations. Do you think the files released by Anonymous contain original Bank of Russia documents? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

An Indian parliament member has warned that imposing a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on every crypto transaction will kill the nascent asset class. This tax provision is contained in Finance Bill 2022 which Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, has passed. However, India’s finance minister insists that the TDS on crypto transactions is for tracking purposes. Parliament Member Raises Concerns Over 1% TDS on Crypto Transactions Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of parliament, passed Finance Bill 2022 Friday which includes a proposal to tax crypto income at 30% and impose a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on every crypto transaction. The 1% TDS will go into effect on July 1 while the 30% income tax will start levying on April 1. Parliament member Ritesh Pandey raised concerns regarding the 1% TDS on crypto transactions. He explained in Lok Sabha how this tax will kill the crypto industry. For example, he said that if a user buys crypto, then transfers the coins to a wallet, and uses them to buy a non-fungible token (NFT), the user will be charged a 1% TDS at each stage. He exclaimed: When you impose a 1% TDS at three stages, it will give birth to red tapism. Doing so will also finish this asset class, which is very young. However, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman claims that the 1% TDS on crypto is for tracking purposes and it is nothing new. She said in parliament Friday: “TDS (tax deducted at source) is more for tracking. It is not an additional tax and not a new tax.” The finance minister emphasized: It is a tax that will help people track it, but at the same time the taxpayer can always reconcile it with the total tax to be paid to the government. Nonetheless, many people in the crypto community in India agree with Parliament Member Pandey about the negative impact imposing a 1% TDS on crypto will have. Aditya Singh, who co-founded the Crypto India Youtube channel, commented: “No loss setoff plus 1% TDS will force a lot of traders to stop day trading or to move to international exchanges & dex.” He added that “This will result in liquidity crises on Indian exchanges plus lower trading fee collection hence lower GST revenue” for the Indian government. The founder of cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx, Nischal Shetty, noted that “1% TDS is an example of killing the golden goose.” He opined: Hope to see the government revisit this and reduce or eliminate this TDS in order to help the crypto industry grow further What do you think about how India plans to tax crypto income and transactions? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk says that he is “giving serious thought to” creating a new social media platform with free speech as a top priority. “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” the Tesla billionaire said. Elon Musk Considers Building New Social Media Platform, Says Free Speech Is Essential to Democracy The CEO of Tesla and Spacex, Elon Musk, has been discussing the need for a new social media platform on Twitter over the past couple of days. He has recently become more critical of Twitter and its policies, claiming that the social media platform is undermining democracy by failing to adhere to free speech principles. Replying to a question about whether he would consider building a new social media platform with an open source algorithm, where free speech is given top priority and propaganda is minimized, Musk replied: “Am giving serious thought to this.” The discussion began when Musk put up a Twitter poll Friday asking his 79.2 million followers to vote whether they believe Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech, which “is essential to a functioning democracy,” he wrote. The Tesla boss emphasized: “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” After 24 hours, the poll ended with more than 2 million votes; 70.4% said no. Musk opined: Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done? In a follow-up tweet, the Spacex CEO asked: “Is a new platform needed?” A few platforms already advertise themselves as free speech alternatives, but none have come close to the size of Twitter. Parler, for example, has gained some traction as a Twitter alternative but it is a similarly centralized service. Some platforms are built with decentralized, open source protocols, such as Gab and Truth Social, a platform recently launched by former U.S. President Donald Trump after Twitter banned him. Truth Social did not take off and even Trump barely uses it. Several different protocols can be used to build decentralized Twitter alternatives, including Mastodon, Diaspora, Misskey, Friendica, Pleroma, and Twister. Do you think Elon Musk should build a new social media platform with free speech as a top priority? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The crypto economy has managed to remain above the $2 trillion mark during the last five days since March 22. Currently, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization is 1.3% higher during the last 24 hours, as the valuation stands at $2.1 trillion today. Furthermore, the price of bitcoin jumped over the $46K zone on Sunday as well capturing an $870 billion market cap. Digital Assets Gain This Week, Bitcoin Cracks $46K, TVL in Defi Holds Above $200 Billion Digital currencies have gained in value during the last seven days and for five consecutive days, the crypto economy’s total value has held above $2 trillion. The last time the crypto economy was above the $2 trillion zone was during the first week of March. During the last seven days, bitcoin (BTC) increased by 8.9% and ethereum (ETH) gained 8.5% against the U.S. dollar. Out of the top ten largest crypto market caps, cardano (ADA) saw the biggest seven-day gain with ​​26.5% this week. The 13,421 crypto assets traded on 587 exchanges currently has a market valuation of $2.1 trillion and its risen 1.3% during the last day. The biggest gainer during the last week was zilliqa (ZIL) jumped 148% this week, convex finance (CVX) spiked 53.2% higher, and vechain (VET) increased by 44.9% over the last seven days. The top privacy coins by market valuation increased by 3.4% in 24 hours, and the top smart contract platform coins by market capitalization rose in value by 1.7% on Sunday. Furthermore, the top rebase tokens by market capitalization increased by 9% during the last 24 hours against the U.S. dollar. While the value of the crypto economy is $2.1 trillion on Sunday, over the last day there’s been $78.5 billion in global trade volume on exchanges. At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) has a market dominance of around 40.3% of the crypto economy’s value and ethereum (ETH) represents 18% of the $2.1 trillion. The stablecoin tether (USDT), which is the third-largest crypto market valuation, has a market dominance today of around ​​3.84%. Out of the $78.5 billion in global trade volume on exchanges, $42.7 billion of those trades are swapped with stablecoins. The overall value of the stablecoin economy on Sunday is $188.9 billion. In addition to the $2.1 trillion crypto economy, $216.58 billion is locked in decentralized finance (defi) protocols. The total value locked (TVL) in defi today has increased 1.04% in value during the last 24 hours. The largest defi protocols in terms of TVL include Curve Finance, Makerdao, Lido, Anchor, and Aave. What do you think about the crypto economy managing to hold above the $2 trillion zone for five consecutive days? Do you expect digital assets to increase in value next week or slide? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Last week, non-fungible token sales saw an improvement after tumbling week after week in terms of sales volume. This week, NFT sales are down 2.15% from last week’s $544.6 million to this week’s $539.2 million. The top NFT collection in terms of weekly sales was the Azuki compilation of collectibles, as the project saw a 318% increase in sales during the last seven days. Weekly NFT Sales Drop 2%, Cronos and Solana NFT Sales Spike Data stemming from the non-fungible token (NFT) economy indicates that sales are down this week by 2.15%. Statistics indicate that NFT sales across 16 different blockchain networks recorded roughly $539.2 million in sales this week. Metrics from cryptoslam.io show that the blockchain Ethereum captured most of the week’s sales with $443 million settled. However, Ethereum-based NFT sales are down 7.36% this week. The blockchain with the most NFT sales this week is Cronos as the network obtained $1.3 million in NFT sales, up 236% in the last seven days. Following Cronos was Solana’s sales, as $44.7 million in NFT sales stemmed from the Solana network. Solana-based NFT sales are up 96% this week, which is followed by Binance Smart Chain’s 86% sales increase this week. The two biggest losers in terms of seven-day NFT sales include the blockchain Polygon down 51% this week, and the blockchain network Waves saw a 92% drop in sales. Azuki Collection Takes the Top Sales Position This Week, Art Blocks’ NFT Fidenza #692 Sells for $993K The top collection this week in terms of sales volume was Azuki, as it captured $50.2 million in seven-day sales. Azuki’s NFT sales were followed by Bored Ape Yacht Club ($45.9M), Mutant Ape Yacht Club ($38.9M), and World of Women Galaxy ($36.1M) in terms of total weekly sales volume. Other notable NFT collections in the top ten this week as far as sales are concerned include projects like Muri, Crabada, Clonex, World of Women (WoW), Cryptopunks, and the Bored Ape Kennel Club. The top NFT sale this week was the NFT Fidenza #692 from the Art Blocks NFT collection, as it sold for 320 ether or $993K three days ago. Cryptopunk #7971 sold two days ago for 235 ether or $733K, and Bored Ape Yacht Club #3250 exchanged hands for 250 ether or $720K during the beginning of the week. Additionally, the ‘Queen of Pop’ Madonna recently acquired Bored Ape #4988 for 180 ether or $564K at the time of settlement, and the American rapper Wiz Khalifa bought Bored Ape #1506 for 115 ether or $364K. What do you think about the week’s NFT sales action? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

As bitcoin has increased more than 5% in value against the U.S. dollar during the last week, in less than seven days, the 19,000,000th bitcoin will be mined into existence. Meanwhile, on Sunday morning, 81.79 bitcoin worth $3.65 million today and created in 2011, moved for the first time since sitting idle for more than 11 years. ‘Sleeping Bitcoin’ That Sat for Over a Decade Moved on Sunday, Data Shows 14 Spends from 2011 Occurred This Year On Sunday, March 27, 2022, the price of bitcoin (BTC) has increased 5.8% during the last week, 14.8% over the last two weeks, and 16.4% during the last month. Year-to-date, BTC is down 18.9% in value against the U.S. dollar and there’s 18,995,393 BTC in circulation today. During the morning hours on Sunday, $3.65 million worth of BTC that were mined in 2011, was moved for the first time in 11 years. The ‘sleeping bitcoin’ transactions were caught by the blockchain parser Btcparser.com. Data shows that the 50 BTC, that was sent on Sunday, originated from mined BTC that were issued on January 30, 2011. Interestingly, unlike many ‘sleeping bitcoin’ subsidy rewards that sit idle for more than a decade, the 50 BTC transfer has a 100% “healthy” privacy rating stemming from Blockchair’s privacy-o-meter tool. No privacy issues were discovered according to Blockchair’s tool. The 50 BTC from January 30, 2011, were worth $2.22 million at the time of transfer at block height 729,187. Following the 50 BTC spend from 2011, another group of ‘sleeping bitcoins’ from August 30, 2011, were sent from the original address after ten years and six months. This particular spend was approximately 31.793 BTC and it was spent at block height 729,248 after the 50 BTC spend. Data shows when the 31.793 BTC was sent it was worth $1.4 million at the time of transfer according to today’s BTC exchange rates. However, unlike the 50 BTC spend today, the 31.793 BTC was sent with less privacy. Blockchair’s privacy-o-meter tool indicates that the 31.793 bitcoins sent on Sunday had a score of 75 which is a “moderate” amount of privacy. Matched addresses were identified and the tool says: “Using several indicators we were able to link the similar types of addresses involved in this transaction. We identified which of the recipient addresses possibly belong to one or more senders. Such matching significantly reduces the anonymity of addresses.” Some of the bitcoin from the 31.793 BTC stash derived from this wallet which originally sent 22.099 BTC on August 30, 2011. So far for 2022, there’s been approximately 14 BTC spends from 2011 ‘sleeping bitcoin’ stashes, four in January, seven in February, and three so far in March. Prior to the two 2011 spends today, the last one occurred on the first day of March at block height 725,515. At that time, 12 bitcoin worth $536K using today’s exchange rates, were sent from a wallet with BTC that sat idle since June 14, 2011. In addition to the 2011 BTC, on March 26, 2022, a dormant bitcoin address that held 500 bitcoin activated after 9.8 years, according to Whale Alert. 400 BTC stemmed from a transaction from June 14, 2012, and the remaining 100 BTC came from a transaction sent on November 23, 2013. That transaction of 500 BTC caught by Whale Alert was worth $22.1 million at the time of settlement. What do you think about the 81.79 bitcoin from 2011 that was sent on Sunday for the first time in over a decade? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The ‘Queen of Pop,’ Madonna has revealed she has “entered the metaverse” after she acquired the non-fungible token (NFT) collectible Bored Ape #4988. According to onchain data, Madonna’s Bored Ape #4988 was purchased for 180 ether or $564K at the time of settlement. Madonna Says She ‘Finally Entered the Metaverse’ Madonna is the latest celebrity to join the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collectors. The singer-songwriter and actress revealed the purchase on March 25, 2022, via the pop star’s Instagram page. “I finally entered the Metaverse… My very own Ape! What should I name her? Thanks [Moonpay]. We all need protection from Evil Eye,” Madonna told her Instagram followers. During the last two days, Madonna’s Bored Ape reveal on Instagram received around 86,668 likes. Furthermore, a number of fans gave Madonna advice on what to name the newly acquired BAYC. “This is cute, I like it,” one individual wrote to Madonna. “Btw, isn’t Evil Eye just a superstition? Noone is evil by nature. I would name her Pinky,” the person added. Another individual on Instagram was a bit more sarcastic and said: Name her: ‘Nobody Will Care About This In 10 years.’ A Cabbage Patch Beanie Baby FOMO for the 21st century. Destined for the digital trash heap. Moonpay Acquires Expensive NFTs for Celebrities, Madonna Owns 17 NFTs from 8 Collections It seems Moonpay has been involved in purchasing expensive NFTs for celebrities in recent times. The American rapper, singer, and songwriter Wiz Khalifa leveraged Moonpay to acquire Bored Ape #1506 around the same time frame as Madonna’s purchase. Besides Bored Ape #4988, the metaverse ‘Material Girl’ owns a bunch more NFT collectibles as well. Statistics indicate that Madonna currently holds 17 NFTs from eight different collections. While Madonna’s wallet only has $30 worth of ethereum, the wallet does hold $21,285 worth of apecoin (APE). In addition to Madonna and Wiz Khalifa, BAYC NFTs are also owned by Eminem, Paris Hilton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Shaq, and Justin Bieber. At the time of writing, the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection has the most expensive floor price with a current floor value of 103.69 ether. The collection has an estimated market capitalization of around $1 billion and during the last 24 hours, the BAYC collection has seen $7.2 million in volume or 2,311 ether. What do you think about the Queen of Pop becoming a metaverse material girl with the purchase of Bored Ape #4988 for $564K in ether? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Given the rapid evolution associated with technological advancements and new developments regarding Web3 and dApps, TooNFT has decided to launch the decentralised webtoon platform in conjunction with Toomics, which happens to be one of the largest webtoon platforms in South Korea, and to begin gradually transitioning to a new era of applications constructed using blockchain technology, with the goal of bringing a new level of adoption for the IPs which are smoothly incorporated via the NFT standards. TooNFT is the decentralised webtoon application, with the overall objective of bringing the greatest freedom and transparency to the entire industry. TooNFT aims to create a decentralised marketplace by proactively tackling market concerns for online comic fans and developing a transparent compensation system which is designed to support and motivate content creators. The primary purpose of the TooNFT Dapp is to facilitate the transition from centralised platforms to decentralised ecosystems, in which content producers may earn a fair return by ‘NFTizing’ their webtoons and exchanging them in the P2P NFT marketplace. What makes TooNFT unique? The TooNFT platform’s key features are intentionally aimed at addressing a market vacuum for online comic enthusiasts. The team is developing a platform that will include a content subscription service, community building elements, content selection voted on by the project’s governance DAO system, NFT for content distribution, and profit sharing. The content subscription service enables writers to publish content without having to pay a publication fee. The goal was to give subscribers more options while also increasing webtoon accessibility. Key performance indicators, reviews, opinions, stars, and so on are included here. Community building entails the establishment of community pages in order to create a community inside the same platform. Users can express their views and opinions on community pages and assist in the development of fandoms. The team also intends to design incentives through which users can be encouraged to engage in community activities via awards purchased and distributed to posts and comments. Additionally, content selection via DAO governance will begin with team discretion and progress to being determined by votes in the DAO mechanism through decentralised governance. NFT infrastructure and a profit-sharing system will involve stakeholders who create, distribute, and consume material that is tied to the NFT earn a share of the revenues created. Furthermore, TOON tokens are used to power all of the aforementioned services on the TooNFT platform. The TOON token will be the primary unit, granting access to all services and features available in the TooNFT ecosystem. As a result, TOON token holders may stake tokens and receive rewards by voting in governance procedures.w About TooNFT TooNFT is the first blockchain-oriented decentralised Web3 platform, aspires to build an industry-leading platform for webtoons, manga, and comics, together with Toomics. In fact, Toomics, one of the leading webtoon platforms with over 60 million users, 22 million MAU, and up to 10 billion page views, is poised to revolutionise the industry by addressing the industry’s most pressing pain points via blockchain technology innovations and bringing the TooNFT platform to a wider audience. Toomics also has a global presence and branches of it can be found in North America, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States. The key functionalities are therefore centred on facilitating direct exchanges between authors, readers, and investors without the need of an intermediary, developing a transparent reward system for investors and creators, and converting webtoons and manga works into tradable NFTs. For more information and regular updates, visit the official website or the SNS channels Twitter and Facebook. 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 Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory package passed another potential hurdle this week and is moving to the next stage of the EU’s legislative process. Proponents of a controversial text prohibiting proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies, which was recently dropped from the draft, did not take an opportunity to block the draft’s progress. EU Parliament, Commission and Council to Negotiate Over MiCA Regulations Wording proposed by members of the European Parliament (MEPs) which aimed to impose a ban on cryptocurrencies relying on PoW mining was removed from MiCA before a recent vote. In mid-March the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) approved the regulations without a provision that would have effectively prohibited the offering of services for bitcoin and the like. However, the crypto community couldn’t greet the development with relief as it was still possible to prevent the draft from progressing to the next stage of the legislative process – the trilogue between the European Parliament, the European Commission, the executive arm in Brussels, and the Council of the EU, the other legislative body of the Union. The deadline by which an objection could be filed expired at midnight on Thursday, March 24, the German crypto news outlet BTC Echo noted in a report. Until then, the factions of the Greens, Left and Social Democrats, the supporters of the de facto bitcoin ban, could halt the advance of MiCA and attempt to reintroduce the text which had sparked negative reactions from the crypto community. Stefan Berger, the rapporteur for the legislation, confirmed on social media that MiCA will now be subjected to negotiations between the three leading EU institutions. Berger who is also a member of ECON, thanked his colleagues at the committee and other supporters of his efforts. In a tweet he stated: #MiCA: Gute Nachricht! Mein Mandat wird NICHT gechallenged. Ich werde nun in die Trilog-Verhandlungen gehen mit der Position, dass es keinen #PoW-Ban geben wird. Das EU-Parlament gibt mir Rückenwind & zeigt Innovationskraft /1 — Stefan Berger (@DrStefanBerger) March 25, 2022 The MEP also pointed out that he had suggested connecting MiCA to the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance. With its taxonomy classification system, the EU is evaluating economic activities according to their sustainability and trying to direct investments towards sustainable projects. “I am optimistic that this proposal will be approved by the Commission and the Council,” Berger emphasized. Regulatory bodies and officials from several EU member states called for a Union-wide ban on the energy-intensive PoW crypto mining, citing environmental reasons. The group includes the bloc’s economic powerhouse, Germany, and Sweden which warned that the increasing use of renewable energy to mint bitcoin comes at the expense of climate neutrality goals in other sectors. EU institutions have been working to regulate the European crypto space in the light of concerns that Russia may use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine and crypto assets were targeted in a recent agreement to expand the restrictive measures. In February, President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde urged the Union to quickly approve the new crypto regulations with the same motive. Do you think the European Union will adopt the MiCA regulations without the bitcoin ban? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

El Corte Ingles, one of the biggest retailers and distributors in Spain, has taken its first step into the cryptocurrency world. The company is reportedly launching its own cryptocurrency exchange for customers of its stores. The firm has enrolled the help of Deloitte to build a new platform that will allow its customers to access cryptocurrencies as investments. El Corte Ingles Goes Crypto El Corte Ingles, the third-biggest retailer and distribution company in Spain, is reportedly launching its own cryptocurrency exchange. The goal is reportedly to take advantage of its current customer portfolio, having an already established target regarding investors. The customers of El Corte Ingles are small savers that the company feels could be intrigued about investing in cryptocurrencies through a known company, instead of turning to other, newer brands. The company has partnered with Deloitte, one of the Big Four firms, to help create a platform to serve the more than 11 million customers the organization has associated with its credit card. The new exchange will be called Bitcor, and will offer cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, ethereum, and others. This new platform will be one more investment option for customers of the company, who have access to various other investment opportunities through El Corte Ingles’ services. Spanish Companies, Crypto, and Opposition To some, this is a logical move in the expansion of the brand. The company registered the Bitcor name with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) via fast-track, with the goal of offering “financial services, financial transactions related to currency exchange and foreign exchange trading,” hinting at the possibility of the launch of a crypto exchange since last year. But El Corte Ingles is not the only company that is taking cryptocurrency investments seriously in Spain. Six Group, the current owner and operator of the Spanish bourse, also partnered with LMAX Group recently, one of the largest institutionally focused global fintech companies, to allow its users to invest in crypto futures. However, the company had to go through an internal debate to decide to take this path due to the regulatory situation in the country and in the EU, with different institutions warning against the use of cryptocurrencies as investment vehicles. Just recently, the Spanish ombudsman referred to cryptocurrencies as a “new problem” in a report after having received complaints about people having lost their funds after investing in the same. EU supervisory organizations have also called out crypto, claiming the assets are not suited to be used as investments or as means of payment. What do you think about El Corte Ingles launching its own cryptocurrency exchange operation? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Koinly is a tax solution for cryptocurrency investors and accountants. Anyone who owns multiple exchange accounts or wallets knows the pains when it comes to declaring taxes. Koinly was built to solve this very problem – by integrating with all major blockchains and exchanges Koinly reduces crypto tax reporting to a few minutes of work. Robin Singh is the Founder of Koinly. He recently joined the Bitcoin.com News Podcast to talk about the challenges crypto users face with regards to taxes in 2022: Koinly currently supports USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Ireland and 20+ other countries – check out the website for the full list and use the code Bitcoin20 to get a 20% discount. The Bitcoin.com News podcast features interviews with the most interesting leaders, founders and investors in the world of Cryptocurrency, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), NFTs and the Metaverse. Follow us on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play. This is a sponsored podcast. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development have backed efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies and integrate them into the country’s economy. The support comes amid mounting sanctions over the war in Ukraine which restrict Russia’s access to global finances. Finance Ministry’s Push to Legalize Russian Crypto Space Gains Traction Russian authorities are moving towards the adoption of a comprehensive legal framework for cryptocurrencies, despite the central bank’s persisting opposition. The Finance Ministry’s approach, which favors legalization, has been winning support from other government institutions and officials, even more so now as Russia faces unprecedented sanctions, including financial restrictions. In early February, the federal government announced its approval of Minfin’s regulatory concept. Then the ministry submitted a new draft law “On Digital Currency” aiming to fill the regulatory gaps remaining after the enforcement of the law “On Digital Financial Assets” in January, 2021. Commenting on the efforts to adopt a special regime for cryptocurrency operations, the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was quoted on Friday as stating that the government has reviewed the proposal in great detail. During a meeting with lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) at the State Duma, he elaborated: Of course, it will be necessary to integrate the mechanism for the circulation of digital currencies into the country’s financial system. At the same time, Mishustin emphasized that the relevant issues can be resolved only with the participation of Bank of Russia (CBR). In his view, the central bank has to assess the risks that cryptocurrencies create. In January, the monetary authority proposed a blanket crypto ban, citing risks for the country’s financial stability and its citizens. While the CBR wants to prohibit a wide range of crypto-related activities, including issuing, trading and mining of digital currencies, the Russian prime minister revealed his cabinet is ready to regulate operations like crypto mining. “It was detailed in the concept. It has been approved by us,” Mikhail Mishustin concluded, according to a release by the government press service. Earlier this week, Minfin’s bill was also backed by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development which wants to help finalize the legislative proposal. Bitcoin mining, cryptocurrency payments, and the requirements for operators of digital asset exchanges need further clarification, the department said, noting it’s still waiting for feedback from the Finance Ministry. Do you expect sanctions to motivate Russia to quickly adopt comprehensive regulations for its crypto space? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs has changed its homepage to feature cryptocurrency, the metaverse, and digitalization. “From cryptocurrencies to the metaverse, explore the megatrends that are reshaping economies,” Goldman Sachs’ landing page now says. Goldman Sachs’ Homepage Now Features Crypto and Metaverse Goldman Sachs has updated its homepage to feature digitalization, including cryptocurrencies and the metaverse. The bank’s landing page now reads: From cryptocurrencies to the metaverse, explore the megatrends that are reshaping economies. Below the above message is an “Explore Topic” button that leads to a bunch of resources Goldman has published on the metaverse, web 3.0, cryptocurrency, decentralized web, blockchain, and other topics relating to the digital economy. Many people on social media expressed their disbelief at Goldman Sachs’ move to feature crypto and the metaverse above other topics on its homepage. Several pointed out that the global investment bank has come a long way from its original assessment of bitcoin and cryptocurrency. In May 2020, Goldman Sachs said bitcoin was not an asset class. The bank brought back its bitcoin trading desk in March last year and saw huge institutional demand for BTC. In May, it formally established a cryptocurrency trading team and launched a derivatives trading desk for bitcoin. Goldman Sachs’ analysts said at the time that bitcoin is now considered an investable asset. In June last year, the bank expanded its cryptocurrency trading desk to include ether futures and options. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs executed its first over-the-counter (OTC) crypto transaction with Galaxy Digital. In January, the bank’s analysts predicted that bitcoin could reach $100,000 as the cryptocurrency continues to take gold’s market share. As for the metaverse, Goldman Sachs said in January that it sees the metaverse as an $8 trillion opportunity. What do you think about Goldman Sachs featuring crypto and the metaverse on its homepage? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Russia is moving away from the dollar and the euro as payment options for its energy exports, and bitcoin has been mentioned as a possible substitute alongside the ruble and the national currencies of partnering countries. A high-ranking parliamentarian has indicated that Moscow may take cryptocurrency for natural gas and other resources. Russian Official Mentions Bitcoin Among Alternative Settlement Methods for Its Gas The Russian Federation has been taking steps in response to unprecedented Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. The energy-rich nation is now looking to other currencies to replace the U.S. dollar and the euro in its gas trade. On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will ask “unfriendly” nations to pay with rubles for the natural gas they buy. EU member states, many of which are heavily reliant on Russian gas supplies for heating and power generation, fall in that category. U.S. and European sanctions are hurting Russia’s economy and fiat currency. Some of the measures are targeting its access to the global financial market and foreign currency reserves. The ruble gained some lost ground following Putin’s announcement, while gas prices in Europe soared. “If we can’t store a currency, acquire it, pay with it, then why should we trade in it?” Pavel Zavalny, head of the Energy Committee at the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, commented for Russian media on Thursday. “Gas is just the beginning, this will also affect other resources. If they want to buy, let them pay either in hard currency, for us that’s gold, or in currencies that are convenient for us, that’s the national currency,” the lawmaker said. Zavalny explained that settlements with friendly countries like China and Turkey can be made using the ruble or their currencies, the yuan and the lira. Serbia will be able to pay in either convertible foreign currency or Russian rubles. He further elaborated: The set of currencies may vary and that’s normal practice. If there are bitcoins — we will trade in bitcoins. The official added that a number of European countries are now ready to buy Russian fuel with rubles. “To do this, we just need to solve some organizational issues and sign additional agreements. Nothing changes in our obligations under the contracts. If they don’t pay for the gas, there simply won’t be any gas,” the parliamentarian stated. Russia has been trying to reduce its dependence on the dollar even before the military crisis in Ukraine. In October, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told Interfax that Moscow may partially replace the greenback in its currency reserves and trade settlements with other fiat currencies and potentially digital assets like bitcoin. His remarks came shortly after Putin himself said in an interview with CNBC that cryptocurrency can be utilized for oil trade settlements in the future. Do you expect Russia to employ cryptocurrency in settlements for its gas and oil exports? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Russian law enforcement agencies have gone after the organizers of a large crypto pyramid which has been promising extraordinarily high returns. The Ponzi scheme is being unraveled after a similar project defrauded thousands of investors in Russia, the region, and far beyond. Police Find Crypto Pyramid Organizers in Dagestan, Russia Officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Russian republic of Dagestan have identified persons suspected of organizing a major financial pyramid offering victims profits of up to 500% per year on their investments in digital assets. According to sources quoted by the Russian business daily Kommersant, the suspects are representatives of the Yusra Global project, Forklog reported. Besides Dagestan, the fraudulent entity had established offices in other Russian regions, Kazakhstan in Central Asia, and Turkey. The publication reveals that the authorities have detained four people in January, all Russian citizens, who are believed to be behind the Ponzi scheme. They were initially placed under arrest for a period of two months. The defendants may face up to ten years in prison on top of hefty fines. The perpetrators of the fraud were inflating quotes of values of digital assets and paid out dividends using the funds invested by new participants in the pyramid, the report detailed. They distributed the rest of the money amongst themselves and purchased real estate. Preliminary estimates suggest the victims’ losses amount to 1 billion rubles, or more than $10 million according to current exchange rates at the time of writing, the Russian newspaper revealed. The news about the investigation into Yusra Global comes after last year, when Russian authorities busted arguably the country’s largest financial scam since the notorious MMM pyramid in the 1990s. Finiko, also a Ponzi scheme exploiting the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies, is responsible for the loss of up to $4 billion in total. Its founder Kirill Doronin — a social media influencer linked to other scams in the past — and a number of his accomplices were arrested. Citizens of Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the former-Soviet space, EU member states, and the U.S. are among the people who sent 800,000 separate crypto deposits to the phantom entity. The pyramid, which was based in another Russian republic, Tatarstan, received over $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in less than two years, according to Chainalysis. Do you expect Russian authorities to target other financial pyramids related to crypto investments? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. GensoKishi Online, the GameFi and metaverse incarnation of the award winning Nintendo Switch/PS4 game “Elemental Knights” is proud to announce its collaboration with one of Japan’s greatest. YOSHITAKA AMANO, the legendary designer, the god of game art, the superstar, behind so many of Japan’s most beloved games, has agreed to come on board to design his very own original characters that will be introduced and developed into the GensoKishi metaverse, offering new possibilities and aspects for GensoKishi Online. Yoshitaka Amano, is known for creating characters in animations, and also for designing characters for games such as the Final Fantasy series. Amano will work with us in “Character Design”, “Concept Art” for our Cosplay NFTs that will be used in-game, and GensoKishi’s “Logo Design”. We will interview Amano about his plans with GensoKishi and about his thoughts on the “Metaverse”, the revolutionary digital world of the Web3 era. Amano has undoubtedly been the centerpiece of many of Japan’s most popular animations and games since their early days, and has contributed to numerous characters and game titles as an artist. We cannot wait to share his thoughts with his fans and with our GensoKishi Online community. Amano’s designs will also be used to develop a new NFT collection. Further announcements will be made on the official website and inside our community. Please, join our official community to catch the latest news! Official comments from Yoshitaka Amano “I have designed many characters in my career, but this was the first time for me to work with this “generative art” concept. Disassembling a character to parts and putting them back together. I had a lot of fun. I’ve heard that GensoKishi already has plans on bringing real-life stores onto the game. I am pushing them right now so that I can design not only characters, but also it’s towers, castles, and streets.” What is GensoKishi Online? GensoKishi Online Metaworld is a GameFi and metaverse incarnation of the award winning Nintendo Switch/PS4 game “Elemental Knights”. This iconic game has a 13 year history and has accumulated a total of 8 million downloads worldwide. It already has a 3DMMORPG game with active users, with a fully-functioning 3D metaverse, that simultaneously connects users from around the world, be it smartphones, PCs, or video game consoles. The development team behind the development has a brilliant track record, having developed online games and prominent MMORPG titles for 20+ years, also winning the “Game of the Year Gold Award” in Taiwan in 2012. GensoKishi opened its community in December 2nd 2021, and has already exceeded 240K community members across Discord, Twitter, Telegram, and LINE. To date, Gensokishi has set various records, including a record breaking IDO on TRUSTPAD (20secs on FCFS) and the largest number of staking participants in the history of Bybit’s LaunchPool with 69,000 people and over $200 million in TVL. The token was listed on Bybit on January 27th and ranked 3rd above ETH/XRP/SAND/LUNA in 24 hour volume 1 week later. It has grown 45x since the listing. The project was inducted into the Kickstarter Hall of Fame on the virtual currency exchange MEXC as the project that achieved a 500% voting goal in just 10 minutes. Our partnership with Mr. Amano will further revitalize the community, and we will work diligently to develop the game so that it gets off to the best possible start, on our official launch in August 2022. Community Official Site : https://genso.game/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/genso_meta Discord : https://discord.gg/gensometa Telegram（English） : https://t.me/gensometamain Telegram（Chinese） : https://t.me/gensometazw The GensoKishi Online project will continue to bring the latest news to our fans. Please join our community to learn more :):) 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 Bank of England has revealed that it is working on sketching a regulatory framework for crypto assets, according to statements stemming from the central bank’s Financial Policy Committee on Thursday. BOE Stresses Crypto Assets Need Effective Public Policy Frameworks On Thursday, the Bank of England (BOE) told the press that it is sketching out a regulatory framework for digital currencies. The BOE statements derive from the central bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and the bank mentioned sanctions tied to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. In recent times, financial regulators and bureaucrats worldwide have been concerned that Russia could bypass economic sanctions via crypto assets. “While crypto assets are unlikely to provide a feasible way to circumvent sanctions at scale currently, the possibility of such behaviour underscores the importance of ensuring innovation in crypto assets is accompanied by effective public policy frameworks to… maintain broader trust and integrity in the financial system,” the BOE press statement mentioned on Thursday. BOE Says Crypto Assets Could ‘Present a Number of Financial Stability Risks,’ Central Bank Is Concerned About Stablecoins Members of the BOE have criticized the cryptocurrency economy for quite some time. In mid-November last year, the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, raised concerns about El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender in the South American country. The following month in December, Sir Jon Cunliffe, the BOE’s deputy governor for financial stability, said that crypto asset prices could drop to zero. The report on Thursday stemming from the FPC mentions financial stability. “The FPC continues to judge that direct risks to the stability of the UK financial system from crypto assets are currently limited, reflecting their limited size and interconnectedness with the wider financial system,” the central bank’s committee noted. The FPC further added: However, if the pace of growth seen in recent years continues, and as these assets become more interconnected with the wider financial system, crypto assets will present a number of financial stability risks in the future. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, politicians worldwide have been either discussing, proposing, or even implementing legislation to research and regulate digital currencies. Statements from the FPC meeting on Thursday further indicate that the BOE wants crypto assets to fall under the same regulatory umbrella as traditional financial assets. In addition to sketching a regulatory framework for crypto assets, the FPC mentioned stablecoins, and that a major one without a reliable deposit guarantee could pose a threat to the financial system. “The FPC judges that a systemic stablecoin that is backed by a deposit with a commercial bank would introduce undesirable financial stability risks,” the committee added. What do you think about the Bank of England prepping to sketch out a regulatory framework for crypto assets? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

DOGE was higher during today’s session, as it was reported that a Bitcoin ATM operator added the token to its Kiosks. This comes as cardano also added to recent gains, after it was revealed that Coinbase is now offering cardano staking. Despite this, it was axie infinity (AXS) that led Thursday’s gainers. Axie Infinity (AXS) The token axie infinity (AXS) was up by almost 25% today, as traders continued to react to tweets from Axie Infinity that said that the ears of “Axies” will have their own cards for the first time ever. Following a low of $50.76 on Wednesday, AXS/USD rallied to an intraday high at $69.02 during today’s session. Today’s move came as AXS broke past its resistance level of $57, rising to its highest point since February 7 in the process. After breaking out of one ceiling, today’s surge which saw prices climb by as much as 25%, rising to yet another point of resistance. This new ceiling is the $69.24 resistance, which has been in place for over six weeks, following a selloff from $84. Bulls will likely be aware of this, and may liquidate some gains, in order to avoid price uncertainty, should bears re-enter the market. Cardano (ADA) Although dogecoin (DOGE) rose by as much as 10% on Thursday, these gains were not sustained as today’s trading session matured. However, cardano (ADA), on the other hand, maintained its percentage gain, trading close to 10% higher throughout the day, and was up 9.29% as of writing. Today’s rally was the sixth day in seven that the price of ADA has risen, with today’s gains taking it to the highest point since February 10. As a result of recent gains, the 14-day RSI has surged to over 74, which is the peak point for price strength since August last year. Looking at the chart, February 10 is a good indicator of what typically happens at these current price levels, and with ADA currently overbought, we could be in store for reversal. Recent surges in ADA follow the news that Coinbase is set to begin allowing for the use of cardano (ADA) staking services. Do we expect the prices of ADA to turn around heading into the weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. View the full article

This week there’s been a lot of talk about Terra’s Luna Foundation purchasing bitcoin to hold in its reserves pool. Onchain data shows the organization’s wallet has transferred at least three tranches of tether worth $125 million each. Furthermore, reports show that the Luna Foundation has confirmed the recent bitcoin purchases. Onchain Data Indicates Terra’s Luna Foundation Has Sent 3 Tranches of Tether to Purchase Bitcoin, Foundation Confirms Bitcoin Address Two days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on Terra’s founder Do Kwon discussing how he looks forward to building with bitcoin. In the report, accounts and onchain data showed that $125 million in tether (USDT) was transferred from a wallet that reportedly stems from Terra’s Luna Foundation. The wallet is a Gnosis safe address and it holds $1.39 billion in ERC20-based stablecoins like tether (USDT) and usd coin (USDC). After the first transfer of $125 million in tether two days ago, there’s been two more transactions of the same amount. On March 23, $125 million in tether was moved and then the following day $124.9 million in USDT was transferred. While speculation over the purchases has been circulating wildly on social media and forums, Bitcoin Magazine’s official Twitter account tweeted on March 23: “Luna Foundation confirms 6,000 bitcoin purchase worth $250 million to back its UST stablecoin.” Additionally, the Twitter account left a Blockchair explorer PDF document that shows the Luna Foundation’s BTC address. The Twitter account further added that “the 5,934 bitcoin – purchased today and yesterday – will be wrapped on Cosmos and deposited in smart contracts supporting the algorithmic stablecoin.” Blockchair’s blockchain explorer shows the wallet currently holds 18,423 BTC worth $788.5 million. The last transaction it received was for 440 BTC, but it’s also received transactions of around 1,499, 999, 469, 498, 499, 500, and 501 BTC first received on March 23, 2022. The transactions were sent with no privacy tactics as Blockchair’s privacy-o-meter tool gives most of the transactions a privacy score of “critical” or 0. The last transaction stemming from the wallet had three critical issues tied to the privacy of the transaction and one privacy vulnerability was “matched addresses.” At the time of writing, the Terra-owned Gnosis safe address still has $999.35 million worth of tether (USDT) and $397.23 million worth of usd coin (USDC). What do you think about the reports and data showing Terra’s Luna Foundation purchasing large amounts of bitcoin for reserves? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On March 23, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced the platform will now allow cardano staking services. The company’s senior product manager Rupmalini Sahu mentioned that cardano is one of the top ten crypto assets by market cap and its proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain “seeks to be more flexible, sustainable, and scalable.” Coinbase Now Offers Cardano Staking Services Cardano (ADA) holders can now leverage the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase to stake their ADA, according to an announcement from the Coinbase executive Rupmalini Sahu. The firm’s senior product manager said that while people can stake on their own by delegation, Coinbase’s staking is “easy [and] secure.” According to Sahu, the current staking annual percentage yield (APY) on Coinbase is 3.75% and after a probation period of 20-25 days, users can then obtain rewards with the exchange. The Coinbase blog post stresses that the users “always maintain control” and claims “your Cardano always stays in your account; you just earn rewards while keeping your crypto safely on Coinbase.” Furthermore, the company says ADA stakers can opt-out at any time. Sahu’s blog post adds: The Cardano network sets the underlying return rate depending on the number of staking participants. Coinbase distributes the return to customers, less a commission. Cardano Is Coinbase’s 5th Staking Product, Senior Product Manager Says Firm ‘Plans to Continue to Scale Staking Portfolio’ The trading platform’s latest product addition follows a class-action lawsuit that has been filed against the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase is being sued for allegedly listing 79 unregistered securities and cardano (ADA) is mentioned in the list. After the ADA staking announcement, the crypto asset cardano jumped roughly 20% higher during the last 24 hours. The cardano (ADA) staking product from Coinbase is the company’s fifth staking service to date. Currently, besides ADA, Coinbase customers can stake tezos, ethereum, cosmos, and algorand. According to the Coinbase senior product manager, more coins will be added to the firm’s “staking portfolio in 2022.” What do you think about Coinbase adding cardano staking services? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Ethereum rebounded during Thursday’s session to recapture the $3,000 level, climbing to a fresh one-month high in the process. This comes as BTC rose back above $43,000, hitting a 20-day high as a result. Bitcoin On Thursday, BTC rose to its highest level since March 3, as prices of the world’s largest cryptocurrency gained for a third consecutive day. After trading at a low of $41,812 on Wednesday, BTC/USD rallied to a peak of $43,231.29 during Thursday’s session. This is the highest price bitcoin has hit in 21 days and comes following a breakout of the $42,500 resistance level. Recent bullish momentum in BTC has come as traders seem to have moved past the market uncertainty following Biden’s executive order, in addition to the Fed rate decision. Should we see the upward trend continue, the $45,050 resistance point could be a potential price target for bulls. However, one of the hurdles that could come in the way of this is the upcoming 61.65 ceiling on the 14-day RSI indicator. . Ethereum Yesterday’s drop in prices did not carry forward into Thursday for ethereum, as ETH once again rose above the $3,000 level. Ethereum climbed to an intraday high of $3,067.99 during today’s session, which is the highest point it has traded since February 17. This five-week high comes as the 14-day RSI saw its ceiling of 59.73 broken for the first time since February 9. Looking at the chart, should this bullish strength persist, we could be looking at $3,260 as the next point bulls look towards, in terms of taking profits. However, with prices currently overbought, relatively speaking, there could be some bears looking at this as an opportune time to enter the market. Will we see today’s rise in ETH sustain for the rest of the session? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

Moonwell is an open lending and borrowing DeFi protocol on Moonbeam and Moonriver. Moonwell’s composable design can accommodate a full range of DeFi applications in the greater Polkadot and Kusama (DotSama) ecosystem. Luke Youngblood is the co-founder of Lunar Labs, which is developing the Moonwell DeFi protocol. Luke has decades of experience working in tech, is a former Coinbase and AWS Principal Engineer, and also built Coinbase Staking Rewards. He recently joined the Bitcoin.com News Podcast to talk about the technology: Moonwell recently secured a strategic funding round for the development of Moonwell Artemis. The round was co-led by Hypersphere Ventures and Arrington Capital, raising $10 million at a $90 million valuation. Additionally, a number of leading crypto and Polkadot ecosystem funds participated. These include: Haun Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Lemniscap, C Squared, Mirana Ventures, nfr, Woodstock, Robot Ventures, Signum Capital / UOB Ventures, Charterhouse Strategic Partners, KeyChain Capital, and FMFW. Moonwell Artemis will be activated by the Moonwell community on Moonbeam, the gateway to the Polkadot ecosystem. Moonwell users will be able to supply assets to earn rewards, and obtain assets through over-collateralized loans while earning tokens as rewards for providing liquidity. To learn more about the project visit the Moonwell website and follow the team on Telegram, Discord and Twitter. The Bitcoin.com News podcast features interviews with the most interesting leaders, founders and investors in the world of Cryptocurrency, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), NFTs and the Metaverse. Follow us on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play. This is a sponsored podcast. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Blockbank is proud to announce that the existing partnership with Orion Money has extended to include a number of new developments. Ana Plotnikova, blockbank CEO and Co-Founder, stated “We are extremely excited about the partnership with Orion.Money. It has been imperative for us to partner with projects that complement our diverse crypto-finance product portfolio and align with our values and vision.” The first step in the integration phase involves Orion.Money’s native cryptocurrency token $ORION which is now implemented into the Centralized side of the blockbank platform, providing users the ability to purchase the token directly with the EURO currency as well as USDT. Orion.Money utilizes the Terra blockchain to achieve a high yield on stablecoins as well as low transaction fees. Orion.Money offers competitive yields of 13.5% for USDT, USDC, DAI, BUSD, and 16.5% for UST, with yields increasing in the near future. Compared to other savings solutions on the market — Orion.Money yields are fixed and do not vary depending on the market conditions and do not have impermanent loss risk, unlike when providing liquidity to the decentralized exchanges. Users receive yields in the same stablecoins as deposited with an option to receive it in the $ORION token. Users of blockbank’s platform will have the ability to utilize the above via the Orion.Money dApp integration as well as the $ORION token as a deposit for their debit cards. Just like an ordinary debit card, using cryptocurrency debit cards allows users to complete day-to-day transactions. The user will need to activate the smart swap feature with the digital currency of their choice. Blockbank debit cards offer our customers a number of market-leading advantages including cash back incentives, borrowing and lending options, free virtual cards, and no monthly/yearly fees. To entice new applicants for this card, blockbank will waive its application fee for new applicants in addition to any transaction fees for the first 90 days. And finally, developers from Orion.Money will be working side by side with blockbank developers in our sandbox development environment. Central to these joint development efforts will be the integration of the Orion.Money dApp into the blockbank mobile and web applications. The sandbox is open to any project that wishes to expand its offering into the blockbank application in a joint effort with blockbank to ensure the expansion of products and services to the blockbank users. Vol Pigruth, Co-Founder of Orion.Money, summarized the benefits of these joint efforts as follows: “We’re very happy to partner with blockbank as both our projects work for the same goal – to bring financial independence and passive income for our users. By working together Orion.Money will benefit from more ways to trade $ORION token, access to blockbank debit card and other useful features.” If you want a deeper dive into the Orion.Money dApp, check out our previous blockbank update. Blockbank bridges the gap and strives to provide our users with frictionless integration between traditional financial systems and CeDeFi. In short — we are bringing the full banking experience to CeDeFi. We are a user-friendly, highly functional, empowering, and future-proof tool to fulfill any of your decentralized or centralized financial needs — the all-in-one gateway to cryptocurrency. Our Robo advisor is the next generation of analytical tools, AI-powered recommendation systems, and educational materials to help our users navigate all things crypto, make sound and informed decisions. Telegram — https://t.me/BlockBankApp Twitter — www.twitter.com/BlockBankapp Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/blockbank LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/blockbankapp Blog — http://blockbank.ai/blog Download the app Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/blockbank-v2/id1592298073 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.blockbank.bbexpoapp&hl=en_AU&gl=US 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

Regulators in Thailand have decided to limit the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. The authorities consider the country’s current payment system efficient and insist cryptos would only bring risks for the financial system, economy, people and businesses. Thailand SEC Issues Regulations Limiting Use of Digital Assets for Payments Financial regulators in Thailand are taking steps to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies in payments for goods and services, citing various financial and economic threats. On Wednesday, the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced rules designed to discourage digital asset operators from offering and supporting such services. The move comes after discussions with the Bank of Thailand (BOT) on the benefits and risks of digital assets, during which the two institutions recognized the need to adopt regulations preserving the stability of the nation’s financial system and economy, and preventing risks for its citizens and companies. Price volatility, personal data leaks, and money laundering were listed among these risks. The Thai SEC will in future supervise the providers in the sector closely to make sure they are not offering digital assets as a payment method. At the same time, the new regulations are not intended to block crypto trading and investing. The regulator explained: All types of digital asset business operators must not provide services or act in a manner that encourages or promotes the payment of goods and services with digital assets, such as advertising, soliciting or presenting itself to be available to pay for goods or services to merchants. Companies should not implement systems and tools to facilitate crypto payments or open wallets for that purpose, the commission elaborated. If a crypto platform establishes that its clients use trading accounts for payments, it must notify the customers about the misuse and take further action, if necessary, including temporary suspension or termination of services. The newly adopted rules will take effect on April 1, 2022, the SEC said. Companies that have been providing services affected by the introduced restrictions will have 30 days to comply with the regulations, the body noted in its statement. The SEC and the BOT revealed their plan to regulate crypto payments in January. The regulatory update comes despite previous attempts to facilitate such payments in Thailand, a popular tourist destination. For example, the tourism industry recently held talks with the central bank to find alternative payment methods, including crypto, for Russian visitors whose country has been placed under sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Do you expect the new rules to significantly limit crypto payments in Thailand? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Loopring was trading by over 42% on Wednesday, overtaking QNT as the world’s 65th largest crypto in the process. This came as ethereum classic was trading 10.30% higher on the day, taking its one week gain to over 80%. Loopring (LRC) On Wednesday, loopring (LRC) rose to its highest level in three months, a move which saw it cement itself as the world’s 65th largest cryptocurrency. Following a low of $0.8075 on Tuesday, LRC/USD rallied to an intraday high above $1.21 during hump-day. Today’s move came as LRC has consolidated for the last few months, moving between support of $0.6222 and resistance of $0.8889. However, prices finally broke out of this range today, coming after bulls piled on the pressure, once the floor in the 14-day RSI of 51.16 failed to break. Looking at the chart, price strength then rose to a high above 71, which is the most overbought it has been since November. Despite this, history has shown that the RSI can go to as high as 91, so although it is now relatively overbought, there could still be further gains in loopring (LRC). Ethereum Classic (ETC) Ethereum classic (ETC) was over 10% higher earlier in the session on Wednesday, as prices continued to hover close to a five-month high. ETC/USD rose to an intraday peak of $54.07 during Wednesday’s session, which was marginally below yesterday’s high of $54.37. That was the most ETC has traded since November last year, as markets were falling from a then-high of $65 in that month. During the past ten days, ETC has rallied from support of $25, gaining by almost $30 during that period, which is just over an 80% rise in value. This comes as the 14-day RSI indicator rose to its highest point since August, moving marginally above the 86.04 level in the process. As seen from the current chart, momentum has since slowed, with a selloff ensuing, as traders likely took profits after climbing to today’s peak. Does this afternoon’s selloff signal a reversal in momentum for ETC? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article