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Over the last few weeks, furious debates over Covid-19 and vaccine mandates have divided people into two classes. On December 21, one individual from Argentina explained in a forum that “banks in Argentina are not letting unvaccinated people inside.” The person said that whether people are for or against vaccines, the mandate was “nuts” and the “decision to go all-in on bitcoin” was the best decision he’s made in his life. Vaccine Mandates in Argentina and Nigeria Ban Unvaccinated From Visiting Bank Branches Vaccine mandates have been causing a lot of division in many countries worldwide. Mandates include coercing people to choose between a vaccination or employment, and various cities in the world have made it so only vaccinated people can enjoy indoor dining in public venues, entertainment, and other public resources. On Monday, Boston became the latest city to implement a vaccine mandate for public venues, and Boston mayor Michelle Wu was met with protests during the mandate announcement. Protestors flocked to Boston City Hall to say “shame on Wu,” and that the Boston mayor was not a doctor. In response to protest, @wutrain says "There is nothing more American than coming together to ensure that we are taking care of each other." https://t.co/wbwCNfdORS https://t.co/uVcJ4e9dOi — WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) December 20, 2021 Boston follows U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles that have implemented strict vaccine mandates. The stringent requirements are taking place in other countries like Argentina, Israel, Australia, France, and Canada. While people think it’s bad enough that the unvaccinated cannot enjoy public places, many others are complaining about being able to access their finances in a public environment. For instance, Covid-19 protocol is very strict in Argentina and the country just opened its borders to vaccinated travelers during the first week of November. On December 21, an individual published a post to the bitcoin-centric forum r/bitcoin and said residents who were unvaccinated could not go inside regional bank branches. The individual wrote: Banks in Argentina are not letting unvaccinated people to get inside… The only way to withdraw dollars from your account is to do it physically in your bank. Whether you are pro vaccines or anti vaccines, this is nuts. My decision to go all-in on Bitcoin has been the best decision I’ve made in my life. The forum post got a lot of attention, and one person asked the individual if Argentine residents could access automated teller machines (ATMs). “Not for dollars. Just for our local currency, which has like a 50% rate of inflation,” the individual replied. The Reddit post got a great number of upvotes and moved to the front page of r/bitcoin on Tuesday afternoon (EST). Many Redditors agreed with the individual’s statements and one person said: “Authoritarianism is on the rise. Bitcoin fixes this.” #Bitcoin does not discriminate. “Banks in #Argentina are not letting unvaccinated people to get inside… The only way to withdraw #dollars from your account is to do it physically in your bank” https://t.co/k0MgxfmxZT — Shabs (@spicyhodl) December 21, 2021 One person theorized that it was possible the central banks would introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC) using this tactic of coercion and pressure. “Banning people from accessing their bank accounts without being vaccinated is probably what will happen when central bank digital currencies are introduced,” the person remarked. “You will get a new digital wallet tied to your i.d and proof of vaccination record. if you don’t get vaccinated you are locked out of your account. or if you are double vaxxed but don’t get booster shots in the future then you will be locked out of your account,” the Redditor added. Nigeria: "Large gatherings, places of worship and banks will only be accessible to those with proof that they’ve received at least one Covid-19 shot" (article from September) https://t.co/i5ggJmsgPL — David Vuorio (@david_vuorio) December 21, 2021 The individual from Argentina is not the only person discussing the unvaccinated being banned from banks. Reports indicate that banks in Nigeria have banned the unvaccinated from banks and places of worship. Nigeria’s Edo state governor Godwin Obaseki explained during the last week of August that large gatherings, financial institutions, and places of worship will only be available to those who can prove Covid-19 vaccination status. After Obaseki announced the rules, Nigeria’s Ondo state governor followed with the same vaccine mandates on August 30. Unvaccinated Canadians Pull Money From Banks, Victoria Premier Dan Andrews Claims ‘There’s Going to Be a Vaccinated Economy’ In Ontario and other parts of Canada, the unvaccinated are also feeling “ostracized” and a number of people who are unvaccinated believe their funds will not be available via traditional banks. “On the west coast [in Ontario] people are panicking [and] raging about the restrictions and the ostracization of the unvaccinated,” an individual tweeted on Monday. “We [are] being denied services [and] it is terrifying. Some people are withdrawing money from their banks [because] they may not serve the unvaccinated,” the person added. Some Canadians have no issues with ostracising the unvaccinated and feel these types of citizens are “lazy and irresponsible.” During the first week of September Australian state of Victoria premier Dan Andrews said the state will “lock out” unvaccinated people from participating in the economy, according to a report from rt.com news. “There is going to be a vaccinated economy, and you get to participate in that if you are vaccinated,” Andrews said. “We’re going to move to a situation where, to protect the health system, we are going to lock out people who are not vaccinated and can be,” the Australian state premier added. US President Joe Biden Warns Unvaccinated Americans: ‘We Are Looking at a Winter of Severe Illness and Death for the Unvaccinated’ Meanwhile, American president Joe Biden and ​​White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients are being criticized for what they have been saying about unvaccinated citizens. “I want to send a direct message to the American people: Due to the steps we’ve taken, omicron has not yet spread as fast as it would have otherwise done,” Biden said last week. The U.S. president added: But it’s here now, and it’s spreading, and it’s going to increase … We are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for the unvaccinated – for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm,” he added. “But there’s good news: If you’re vaccinated, and you have your booster shot, you’re protected from severe illness and death. Furthermore, on Tuesday, Biden had a press conference and told Americans that getting vaccinated is “your patriotic duty” and “an obligation to your country.” Biden said that Americans who are not vaccinated this winter “have good reason to be concerned” in regards to the Omicron variant. What do you think about the furious debates over Covid-19 and vaccine mandates in recent times? What do you think about the unvaccinated being barred from specific parts of the economy like visiting local bank branches? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

More than 100 companies that applied for a license to offer crypto services in Singapore have either been turned down or withdrawn their applications. “Cryptocurrencies could be abused for money laundering, terrorism financing, or proliferation financing due to the speed and cross-border nature of the transactions,” said the country’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Tough Crypto Regulation in Singapore Since Singapore began regulating the crypto sector, about 170 companies have applied for a license to offer “digital payment token services,” which include crypto-related services. However, more than 100 companies that applied for a license have either been turned down or withdrawn their applications, Nikkei Asia reported Monday. Companies that were operating in the country prior to the introduction of the licensing regime were granted exemptions until their license applications have been processed. Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told parliament in July that 90 companies were operating under such exemptions. A spokesperson for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank and regulator of the crypto sector, told the news outlet: “Cryptocurrencies could be abused for money laundering, terrorism financing, or proliferation financing due to the speed and cross-border nature of the transactions.” The spokesperson elaborated: Digital payment token service providers in Singapore … have to comply with requirements to mitigate such risks, including the need to carry out proper customer due diligence, conduct regular account reviews, and monitor and report suspicious transactions. So far, only three companies are listed as licensed entities on the MAS website: DBS Vickers Securities, a unit of DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia’s largest bank; digital payments startup FOMO Pay; and Australia’s Independent Reserve. The MAS said in November that Singapore strives to become a global crypto hub. DBS’s head of capital markets and the chairperson of the bank’s crypto exchange said in September: “We are growing very rapidly. Investors are gradually exploring cryptocurrencies and digital assets.” In September, the central bank ordered Binance to stop providing crypto services to residents. Last week, Binance announced that its Singapore platform will be shutting down. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) claimed that the reason behind the closure of its Singaporean exchange was due to an 18% stake in Hg Exchange (HGX), a regulated securities exchange in Singapore. However, Bloomberg reported that the real reason was because Binance could not meet the requirements for a license to operate a crypto exchange. What do you think about Singapore’s tough crypto regulation? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Former U.S. President Donald Trump says that crypto is “a very dangerous thing.” Commenting on cryptocurrencies, he warned of “an explosion someday” that will “make the big tech explosion look like baby stuff.” He also talked about his new social media platform, Truth Social, and his wife’s non-fungible token (NFT) venture. Former US President Trump Warns of a Massive ‘Explosion,’ Stating that Crypto Is ‘Very Dangerous’ Donald Trump commented on cryptocurrency, his wife’s non-fungible token (NFT) endeavor, and his new social media platform, Truth Social, in an interview with Maria Bartiromo over the weekend. Fox Business published the interview Tuesday. “What do you think about crypto?” Trump was asked. Bartiromo noted that “New York and Miami are really getting cryptocurrency into their financial systems.” The former U.S. president reiterated his anti-crypto stance: “Well, I never loved it because I like to have the dollar. I think the currency should be the dollar so I was never a big fan. But it’s spilling up bigger and bigger, and nobody is doing anything about it.” Emphasizing, “Look, I want a currency called the dollar,” he warned: I don’t want to have all these others, and that could be an explosion someday — the likes of which we’ve never seen. It will make the big tech explosion look like baby stuff. I think it’s a very dangerous thing. Trump has never been a fan of crypto. In August, he predicted that cryptocurrencies are “a disaster waiting to happen.” In June, he called bitcoin a scam that needs heavy regulation. Trump was also asked about the former first lady’s non-fungible token (NFT) endeavor. Melania Trump announced last week that she’s selling an NFT, titled “Melania’s Vision,” on her newly launched NFT platform, which plans to release NFTs regularly. “I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts, and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative,” she said in a statement. Commenting on his wife’s NFT plans, Trump said: “She’s going to do great … She got a great imagination. And people love our former first lady, I can tell you that. They really do, they love her.” Regarding his social media platform Truth Social, he stressed, “It’s going to be so big.” Trump previously explained that the new platform will be an alternative to Silicon Valley internet companies that he says are biased against him and other conservative voices. He plans to launch Truth Social nationally early next year. The former U.S. president was further asked how he is going to compete with big tech companies like Twitter and Google. “We have no choice,” he replied, reiterating that he thinks “it’s going to be very big.” What do you think about Donald Trump’s crypto warning, Truth Social, and Melania Trump’s NFT venture? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Visa’s head of crypto has revealed that the payments giant has partnered with about 60 leading crypto platforms “to launch card programs that make it easy for consumers to convert and spend digital currency at 80 million merchant locations worldwide.” He emphasized, “We’ve built a lot of momentum in this space, and we’ll continue to support the crypto ecosystem in several ways.” Visa Committed to Growing Crypto Ecosystem Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, talked about the payments giant’s digital asset efforts in an interview with NDTV, published Monday. “At Visa, the scale and scope of our work in crypto has grown dramatically,” he began. “The number of people cross-functionally at Visa working on crypto in some capacity is now in the hundreds — up from just a handful of employees. And we’ve more than doubled our number of partnerships with crypto platforms in the last 18 months — up to 60 partnerships today.” Sheffield elaborated: We’ve partnered with more than 60 of the leading crypto platforms, like FTX, Blockfi, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Binance, to launch card programs that make it easy for consumers to convert and spend digital currency at 80 million merchant locations worldwide. “Crypto-linked cards make it easy for consumers to convert and spend digital currencies, without requiring coffee shops, dry cleaners, or grocery stores to directly accept crypto at the checkout,” he continued. “All the conversions from crypto to fiat happen instantly, behind the scenes. In-store, online, it’s as easy as a standard Visa transaction.” The executive was asked whether Visa is planning to launch a crypto consulting service in India. The company announced the launch of its crypto advisory services in early December. “Visa aims to provide our crypto advisory services to clients globally wherever there is interest, and currently, we offer services in markets where the regulations permit such transactions,” he replied. The Visa head of crypto opined: At the end of the day, we want to serve as a bridge connecting the crypto ecosystem with our global network of 80 million merchant locations and more than 15,000 financial institutions. “We’ve built a lot of momentum in this space, and we’ll continue to support the crypto ecosystem in several ways,” he concluded. What do you think about Visa’s crypto efforts? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Affyn’s private round was oversubscribed within a week of its website unveiling, resulting in the opening of a new strategic round that once again became oversubscribed, ahead of its presale in December 2021. Backed by more than 50 venture capitalists, institutional investors and partners, signaling high confidence and strong demand for Affyn’s Play-to-Earn Metaverse. The much anticipated presale round will be launched in December 2021 in preparation of the public launch in early 2022. Whitelisting is now open for registration on their website, www.affyn.com. SINGAPORE, Dec. 21, 2021 – Singapore startup Affyn, a blockchain-powered Metaverse project, is developing a Free-to-Play and Play-to-Earn mobile game with integrated geolocation and augmented reality (AR) capability. Reimagining Free-to-Play and Play-to-Earn As a metaverse-based project with geolocation capability and AR mechanics, Affyn incorporates the fun concept where every in-game character, which they call “Buddy”, is a non-fungible token (NFT). If you are not yet familiar with NFT, it just means that the buddy actually belongs to you, and not to the game developers. This disrupts the traditional gaming industry where players grind thousands of hours for in-game items and currencies which they do not really own. Creating a Closed-loop Economy Similar to how every game has its own set of currency, Affyn’s currency is also known as FYN tokens. The utility of FYN tokens is aimed to be highly versatile – apart from the usual in-game transactions, it is in progress to adopt real world utility. By creating this integrated ecosystem whereby players can earn the tokens virtually, and being able to utilise them in the real world, a closed-loop economy is formed – driving the value of FYN tokens. Ensuring a Sustainable Game Economy Affyn is one of the pioneers of the mobile Play-to-Earn model, created with the intention of changing the way players can derive value from the ecosystem as compared to traditional gaming platforms. The team spent more than a year designing a detailed blueprint to create a sustainable game economy. This helps to ensure rewards remain attractive to existing and new players in the long run. Lucaz Lee, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, who fronts the fundraising, on why he started this project: “Our idea of a Metaverse is a world where people can meet, play and connect not just virtually, but also in real life. By using blockchain technology as a bridge, Affyn aims to drive a global movement where we can play, earn, and have more fun together at the same time.” Token Pre-launch & Project Public Sale The whitelisting is now open for registration at their main site, www.affyn.com. This is in preparation for Affyn’s public launch in early 2022. The pre-sale will begin in December 2021. To find out more about Affyn: Website: https://www.affyn.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/affynofficial Telegram channel: https://t.me/affynofficial Contact: Zac Chen enquiries@affyn.com 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

Manasquan Bank, a mutual community bank in New Jersey serving residents since 1874, has announced it is partnering with the company Bakkt to give its retail clients the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through the bank’s mobile banking application. Manasquan Bank to Give Customers Access to Crypto A mutual community bank headquartered in Wall Township, New Jersey will give bank customers the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. Manasquan Bank announced this decision on Tuesday in a press release published by Bakkt Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKKT). The New Jersey bank offers personal and business banking services and operates fifteen separate branches in Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties. Bakkt’s partnership with Manasquan Bank is part of the company’s early adopter program. The program will begin in the second quarter of 2022 and is still contingent on the “adoption by the bank’s core financial service provider.” James Vaccaro, the chair, president, and chief executive officer of Manasquan Bank explained that the bank is focused on pioneering the future. “We’re focused on driving growth and introducing new opportunities for our clients to participate in the digital economy,” Vaccaro said in a statement. “Our developing partnership with Bakkt to introduce these new offerings and features comes at an exciting time when consumers continue to seek out crypto assets as an option for the acquisition of a portfolio of cryptocurrencies even if it is in very small increments to start, and without having to leave their existing, trusted banking environment.” Bakkt Executive: Program ‘Provides Manasquan Bank Clients Entry Point to Adopt Cryptocurrency as an Additional Asset Option’ Bakkt has been making a number of moves toward the end of 2021 and recently went public after a SPAC merger in mid-October. Bakkt also partnered with Google the week prior to the public listing. Last month, Bakkt revealed the company was planning to provide ethereum (ETH) services. “This is an incredible opportunity to provide Manasquan Bank clients with an entry point to adopt cryptocurrency as an additional asset option,” Sheela Zemlin, the chief revenue officer at Bakkt remarked about the partnership with Manasquan Bank. The Bakkt executive added: It’s clear that cryptocurrency is the center of the Web3 economy, in which consumers can participate in new value creation and exchange with digital assets. What do you think about Manasquan Bank joining Bakkt’s early adopter program and its plans to allow customers access to cryptocurrencies in 2022? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The crypto trading platform Bitmex has announced the launch of its own native cryptocurrency called “BMEX,” following a slew of crypto platforms that have issued exchange tokens. According to the company, a user who registers and completes the KYC process will get five BMEX coins and ten tethers. Bitmex to Airdrop BMEX Tokens to Registered and KYC-Processed Users On Tuesday, the crypto exchange Bitmex announced the minting of its own token called BMEX. The digital currency exchange said on Twitter that the newly minted asset is a “token for true believers.” Bitmex is an exchange that was founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed. There are a few ways to get the BMEX token and one way is to register as a new user and complete the KYC process. People who do this will get five BMEX and ten tether (USDT) tokens. Bitmex says that the company will airdrop coins to existing and new users by February 1, 2022. Users can also earn BMEX by trading on the exchange or referring at least three friends to register. Referrals will get a person 15 BMEX tokens if a person can get three people to register and complete Bitmex’s KYC process. According to the announcement, traders can save up to 25% trading by leveraging BMEX tokens. Bitmex Late to the Exchange Token Party Bitmex follows a long list of trading platforms like FTX, Binance, Coinflex, and others that have introduced exchange tokens. Bitmex details that BMEX will start trading in the second quarter of 2022 and the firm will also explain the coin’s tokenomics. After the announcement, a few people registered to get their rewards, but had issues. Bitmex then disclosed that there were “some intermittent delays in the creation of accounts and USDT deposit addresses.” Another individual jokingly wrote that Bitmex was a few years late to the game when it comes to releasing exchange tokens. “4 years late but nice try,” the individual said in response to Bitmex’s BMEX announcement tweet. Another person wrote: “Do I get a token for each liquidation notice?” Bitmex has had a few issues such as the founders being indicted on charges of violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. Reed was arrested, Hayes turned himself in, and Delo also turned himself in to the authorities. When Hayes turned himself in he was released on bond and all three co-founders are due to appear for a trial scheduled for March 28, 2022, in New York. What do you think about Bitmex airdropping a token called BMEX? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has announced the company has partnered with the Angel City Football Club (ACFC) as the ACFC’s official cryptocurrency and NFT partner. The deal follows a slew of sports-related partnerships Crypto.com has made this year, including acquiring the naming rights agreement to the former Staples Center home of the Los Angeles Lakers, and partnering with the largest mixed martial arts promotion company, UFC. Crypto.com Partners With Angel City Football Club On December 21, the digital asset trading platform Crypto.com revealed it has partnered with the Angel City Football Club (ACFC), the 11th member of the National Women’s Soccer League. The expansion team is based in Los Angeles, California, and the team is expected to start playing in 2022. A myriad of high-profile owners co-own the team, including Serena Williams, Mia Hamm, and Natalie Portman. The team will be LA’s first women’s professional soccer team since the Los Angeles Sol ended in 2010. Crypto.com inked a long-term partnership with ACFC and sources familiar with the matter told Bitcoin.com News that the deal will be around four years in length. The “four-year deal [is] roughly worth seven figures per annum,” the source explained to our newsdesk. Crypto.com says the deal is an effort to “foster financial education, independence, and financial empowerment.” The press announcement mentions how Web3 and cryptocurrency can bolster these goals. “Key to Angel City’s goal to drive equity for women is to empower them with the tools and resources to be financially independent,” ACFC’s co-founder and president Julie Uhrman said in a statement. The ACFC executive added: Given the speed with which Web3 and cryptocurrency is changing our world, we want to ensure that women are being brought along on the journey as investors and creators. Partnering with Crypto.com was a natural fit given their leadership in the space and mission to level the playing field with crypto. We are excited to work with them to educate our community and players on crypto and allow our players to use the power of NFTs to connect with and create a deeper relationship with their fans. Crypto Companies Flock Toward Athletes and Sports Crypto.com’s partnership with ACFC follows the company’s purchase of the naming rights to the Los Angeles Lakers’ arena and it is now called Crypto.com Arena. The exchange says the move with ACFC aims to continue the company’s prominence in LA. The company has also partnered with the popular mixed martial arts promotion company UFC, and did a commercial with celebrity actor Matt Damon. Crypto.com is not the only company making headway into the sports industry as FTX has announced numerous partnerships with athletes and sports organizations this year. On Monday, FTX said it signed a partnership with Monumental Sports Entertainment (MSE), which gives it exposure to four professional sports teams. Leading digital asset manager Grayscale partnered with the New York Giants in May and last month, a baseball team in the Australian Baseball League, Perth Heat, inked a deal with the crypto firm Opennode. What do you think about Crypto.com partnering with LA’s ACFC? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has criticized the current state of the metaverse and the Web3 movement, suggesting the latter concept is a “marketing buzzword.” The crypto influencer also posted a video of David Letterman making fun of the early internet in an interview with Bill Gates, and wondered what the future will bring. Musk Skeptical About Current Web3 Movement CEO of Tesla and known crypto influencer Elon Musk has issued his take on the current state of Web3 and the metaverse movement. Musk is skeptical about the validity of the Web3 movement right now, saying he believes it “seems more marketing buzzword than reality right now.” Web3 and metaverse are terms that encompass a group of concepts including blockchain technologies, smart contracts, and decentralized economies whose aim is to create an alternative reality to the one we live in. This concept, which dates from a long time ago, was revived recently by Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. Meta wants to help shape the metaverse with its own tools and developments. While Musk may be a nonbeliever in the present reach of these technologies, he is more optimistic about the future and what it might bring to consumers. Musk emphasized: Given the almost unimaginable nature of the present, what will the future be? Just wondering what the future will be like in 10, 20, or 30 years. 2051 sounds crazy futuristic! Web3 Potential The commentary Musk made comes after he posted a video where David Letterman criticizes the functionality of the early internet in an interview with Bill Gates. However, contrary to Musk’s recent statements, Gates has revealed himself to be a big believer in the metaverse movement and has predicted a shift to virtual spaces. In a post on his personal blog, Gates stated: Within the next two or three years, I predict most virtual meetings will move from 2D camera image grids—which I call the Hollywood Squares model, although I know that probably dates me—to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars. In the same way, companies and investors are putting resources behind metaverse-related initiatives. Grayscale recently released a report on the opportunities that the metaverse could bring as a business and estimated that potentially it could become a $1 trillion opportunity for investors who enter the sector early. What do you think about Musk’s opinion regarding the current state of Web3 and metaverse technologies? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The digital asset xrp has gained more than 10% in value during the last seven days, shrugging off the losses a majority of crypto coins experienced last week. According to data from Whale Alert, someone moved 449.3 million xrp on December 19. Moreover, xrp holders are expecting to receive an airdrop from a project called Sologenic. XRP Gains 10% in the Last Week, Whales Move Hundreds of Millions of Tokens The crypto asset xrp (XRP) and its markets have been buzzing as the digital currency has gained more than 10% during the last week. XRP is up 54% year-to-date (YTD) and commands 1.76% of the $2.3 trillion crypto economy. During the last day, XRP has been changing hands for prices between $0.83 and $0.91 per unit. While 54% YTD gains are decent, XRP’s 12-month gains have been much lower than most of the crypto assets in the top ten. Furthermore, XRP is still down 74% lower than the crypto asset’s all-time high (ATH) almost four years ago on January 07, 2018. XRP has a myriad of pairs but tether (USDT) commands 62.97% of all trades on December 20, 2021. This is followed by KRW (11.93%), BTC (5.97%), USD (5.34%), TRY (2.62%), JPY (2.40%), BUSD (2.13%), EUR (1.92%), USDC (0.91%), and GBP (0.75%). Some of the most active exchanges dealing in XRP today include Binance, Bequant, Hitbtc, Crypto.com, Huobi Pro, and Huobi Japan. XRP has seen a lot of whale movement during the last 48 hours as well. For instance, Whale Alert caught 17,700,000 XRP worth $15 million transferred from Bitso to an unknown wallet. The bot also caught 20,000,000 transferred from Bithumb to an unknown wallet. The whale parser saw other XRP transfers of 20,000,000 XRP to Coinsph and 20,000,000 XRP to Bitso. Whale Alert also caught an entity moving 449.3 million xrp on December 19 in two separate transactions. Sologenic’s SOLO Airdrop Sparks Demand Besides the whale movements, some believe XRP demand is stemming from people who want in on a $500 million airdrop. Sologenic, a firm leveraging XRP, plans to drop a coin called SOLO tokens to XRP holders. The project aims to “become the most influential blockchain-based project in the world by bridging the gap between traditional financial markets and cryptocurrencies.” In addition to the upcoming SOLO snapshot, the project is also doing another airdrop with a token called coreum (CORE). Sologenic explains that SOLO will be available for trade on the project’s decentralized exchange (dex) platform and there will be “a total supply of 400,000,000 SOLO available.” The Sologenic team says that the SOLO coins are issued on the XRP Ledger. What do you think about xrp climbing in value during the last week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Social-fi has been the trend of the blockchain industry as of late. The concept, closely linked to the idea of co-creating, combines the terms “social” and “DeFi” to promote a diversified interactive platform for the public. Element.Black, a recent social-fi platform transforms the concept to a new level by bridging the gap between famous celebrities and fans. This includes their game Pixel Infinity, which allows celebrities and fans to break social barriers by including social interaction and making art together. Recently, Element.Black announced a new collaboration with DJ Snake, a French producer at the forefront of the electronic music revolution. DJ Snake has worked his way into the top tier of the music industry, collaborating with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Who is DJ Snake? DJ Snake, whose early influences include Cypress Hill and KRS-One, was a major fan of graffiti art as a child. He almost always eluded arrest by the Paris gendarmes, who used to chase him for defacing public walls with graffiti. This ability to evade capture earned him the moniker ‘Snake.’ When he began deejaying later in life, he was christened ‘DJ Snake,’ and the nickname stuck. As a teenager, he began his career as a DJ, performing in Paris discotheques and nightclubs. He acquired global recognition a few years later when he collaborated with Lady Gaga, Diplo, and Lil John to produce and release many chart-topping tunes. DJ Snake first collaborated with Lady Gaga on the Grammy-nominated album ‘Born This Way.’ Later in his career, he cooperated with rapper and record producer Lil Jon on the music video ‘Turn Down for What,’ which earned a Grammy award for ‘Best Music Video.’ DJ Snake’s serious efforts to pioneer the musical genres of ‘Trap,’ ‘House,’ and ‘Electronic Dance Music’ have been awarded Grammy, Billboard, and MTV Video Music Award nominations. Element.Black Partners with DJ Snake DJ Snake will be providing Element.Black with some of his own produced work and the art will be minted as NFTs on the Element.Black’s platform. The NFT versions of his craft will have a significant positive impact on the wider community. DJ Snake will also be participating in Element.Black’s gaming platform, “Pixel Infinity”. More on Pixel Infinity Element.Black’s gaming platform, Pixel Infinity, is a prime example of Social-Fi. Pixel Infinity is Element.Black’s first co-created game. Gamers create artwork by coloring pixels on a 400×400 pixel canvas. Each pixel in Pixel Infinity corresponds to a different color in the image, which can also be generated by importing NFT art. The images’ fundamental unit is the pixelated box. The platform offers the opportunity for fans to co-create with their favourite celebrities. It has gained popularity among students due to its affordable cost. DJ Snake, for example, recently joined Element.Black’s roster. A fan can participate in the creation of an NFT artwork. Once the NFT artwork is sold, DJ Snake and the fan can divide the returns. In addition to NFTs, celebrities throughout the world can send out limited airdrops to their fans. The Element.Black community is thrilled to announce DJ Snake as a new partner. Stay tuned on their social media channels to tune in on DJ Snake’s latest collaboration with Element.Black and join him on Pixel Infinity. About Element.Black Element Black is an NFT game development and infrastructure company that is focused on growing its game platform/ game center and game development as well as the NFT marketplace development. Element Black offers various entertainment services such as games, movies, music, art, and audio. Also, the ecosystem is known for its Element Marketplace, Digital Wallet & Decentralized application, Game Center, Public Chain, and Staking & Protocol. Website: http://www.element.black/ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070875120357&refsrc=deprecated&_rd Twitter: https://twitter.com/ELTblack YouTube Channel: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxhYiYczJcBhwsTL9pWtA-A 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

UST, one of the stablecoins of the Terra project, has become the largest stablecoin by market capitalization today, after having surpassed its Ethereum-based rival, DAI. UST is now the largest decentralized stablecoin in the market, closing a year of growth for the Terra ecosystem, which is now among the most valuable top ten cryptocurrency projects in the market. UST Flips DAI As The Most Valuable Decentralized Stablecoin UST, one of the stablecoins derived from the Terra project, has become the most valuable project of its kind by market cap, taking the spot that DAI, another decentralized stablecoin, once held. This closes a year of growth for the Terra ecosystem and for UST, which managed to swell from a market capitalization of $182 million at the start of 2021, to more than $9 billion this December. Now, UST cements its new position as the fourth stablecoin with the most market cap, behind USDT, USDC, and BUSD, all centralized stablecoins. While these work by depositing collateral to back the tokens in the market, UST is an algorithmic stablecoin that uses another token of the Terra ecosystem (LUNA) to balance its peg against the U.S. dollar’s value. Other Decentralized Stablecoins and LUNA Also Grew In the last 30 days, other decentralized stablecoins have also grown in terms of market cap. Tokens like Frax and MIM, have gained more than 30%, with FRAX even reaching a 40% in terms of market cap. These decentralized tokens do not depend on a centralized point of issuance and cannot be blocked by a central authority. Due to the heightened attention that the rise of stablecoins like USDT and USDC are facing from regulators, there are some that believe these alternative stablecoins will experience further growth, with users flocking to these alternatives for a number of reasons. But even with all this growth, USDT is still the most used stablecoin on exchanges, with more than $68 billion worth of the token changing hands yesterday. The rise of UST has also propelled the price of LUNA, its sibling token, to ATH values. To mint UST, users in the Terra protocol need to burn LUNA, and this makes the token more scarce. LUNA’s price rose from a little more than $0.64 this January to more than $80 dollars today, a 125x growth in less than a year. Do Kwon, founder and CEO of Terraform Labs has declared he will propose to establish a backup for UST in the form of bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies using the token governance method, aiming to shield its peg from volatility during stressful times in the market. What do you think about UST flipping DAI as the decentralized stablecoin with the biggest market cap? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

FTX continues its path toward the sports world as it signed a partnership with Monumental Sports Entertainment (MSE) on Monday. The deal makes it so FTX US will be MSE’s exclusive crypto exchange and non-fungible token partner. FTX and Monumental Sports Entertainment to Collaborate Monumental Sports Entertainment (MSE) announced on December 20, that the organization has partnered with FTX US in a “multi-year deal.” The collaboration will make “FTX US the official cryptocurrency exchange and non-fungible token (NFT) partner for MSE and its properties,” MSE said on Monday. The properties also include the NHL’s Washington Capitals, NBA’s Wizards, WNBA’s Mystics, and Capital City Go-Go, the announcement details. MSE is embracing “next-generation engagement to increase brand awareness,” the company added. With the NFT partnership, the “FTX US NFT platform will have exclusive rights to future NFT drops by Monumental Sports teams.” MSE was founded by the American businessman, investor, filmmaker, and author, Ted Leonsis who was a former senior executive with America Online (AOL). The company is also the co-owner of Axiomatic, which manages the global esports franchise Team Liquid. “Monumental Sports & Entertainment is thrilled to be working with FTX to bring the leading cryptocurrency exchange to the most loyal and sophisticated fans in the country,” Jim Van Stone, MSE’s president, business operations, and the firm’s chief commercial officer said in a statement. The ‘Big Block-Chain’ Campaign and ‘Increasing Digital Asset Awareness’ FTX will be the official presenting partner for a highlight series called: FTX US “Big Block-Chain.” According to the announcement, the Big Block-Chain campaign will be published on social media, in-game announcements, and arena LED signage. “FTX US will also be featured on the premium, concourse, and arena television networks, maximizing arena patrons’ exposure to the FTX US brand,” MSE’s announcement details. FTX has made numerous sports partnerships during the last year including sponsoring a Sports Illustrated sweepstakes, signing the Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani as an ambassador, and Tom Brady and supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen as well. The company has partnered with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, and also added Green Bay Packers Running Back Aaron Jones to the FTX ambassador team. The exchange is the MLB’s official cryptocurrency exchange brand and FTX paid $210 million to rebrand the esports giant TSM. The announcement concerning the partnership between FTX and MSE is all about increasing awareness as MSE claims the organization “regularly gathers the world’s top leaders, advocates, and influencers at its games and events in the heart of a global city and in the nation’s capital.” “One of our key goals at FTX US is to continue growing the awareness of digital assets, while also providing users of the FTX US platform with a unique experience,” FTX US vice president of business development, Avi Dabir remarked on the collaboration. What do you think about MSE and FTX partnering? Do you think advertising with sports teams and athletes increases digital asset awareness? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

According to the CEO of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, the social media application is looking into non-fungible token (NFT) technology. During an ask-me-anything (AMA) session on Instagram, Mosseri said that the company wants to make NFTs “more accessible to a wider audience.” Instagram CEO: ‘We Are Definitely Actively Exploring NFTs’ Following the firm’s parent company Facebook transforming itself into Meta, Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri discussed NFT technology on Saturday. The Instagram story was part of a series of AMA questions directed at the company’s lead executive. When asked his thoughts on NFT integration with Instagram, Mosseri explained the company was looking into the idea. “Nothing to announce yet, but we are definitely actively exploring NFTs and how we can make them more accessible to a wider audience,” Mosseri elaborated. “I think it’s an interesting place where we can play, and also a way to hopefully help creators,” the Instagram CEO added. Alleged Instagram NFT Features and Creator Week Mosseri did not go further in his Instagram story and the CEO did not mention any specifics about the company adding NFT support. Toward the end of May, Instagram hosted its first annual “Creator Week” which showcased non-fungible tokens and NFT creators. In July, software developer Alessandro Paluzzi shared screenshots of Instagram’s alleged plans to incorporate NFTs. #Instagram is working on Collectibles 👀 pic.twitter.com/OQLFaWSAid — Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) June 21, 2021 Furthermore, Paluzzi also shared an alleged leaked feature that allows Instagram users to bid on NFT collectibles within the app. The developer also explained at the time that Instagram would likely support Facebook’s Novi blockchain project and native crypto asset. Instagram and Facebook are not the only social media platforms to explore blockchain as Twitter launched a BTC tipping feature at the end of September and said it was exploring NFT authentication. Besides saying Instagram was “exploring NFTs” and trying to scale to a “wider audience,” much like its parent Facebook, Instagram is pretty tight-lipped about such features. Three days ago, Polygon and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture capital company announced the creation of a $200 million fund to bolster social media tied to Web3 and blockchain technology. What do you think about the CEO of Instagram Adam Mosseri talking about NFTs this weekend? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

“Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion.” – Isaac Newton The Future of the Mars4 Metaverse Will Be Set in Motion by Our Community With that in mind, please allow us to introduce you to one of our first community members and Mars4 investors, an Arab Sheikh, who decided to make a significant and early investment in our project with a purchase of the Super Rare NFT known as Newton – the very first Rare NFT sold on Mars4. This 300km wide southern crater, located in the Terra Sirenum, was named in 1973 after famed physicist Sir Isaac Newton. Everyday more and more people discover the potential of Mars4 NFTs as interactive investments. They are the key building blocks of the red planet metaverse, a world filled with bold in-game attributes that encourage collaboration and resource sharing among land owners and players! Today, we are thrilled to announce the first in a series of major reveals of the Mars4 project with an exclusive sneak peek into this exciting new world. Virtual Reality is Coming to Mars4 The Mars4 project is fully committed to creating the most immersive, realistic, and imaginative experience. Yes! The Mars4 Metaverse is being built to take full advantage of the Ethereum blockchain and of virtual reality technology, with in-depth and detailed views of the virtual world of Mars. You won’t just be sitting in front of a movie screen or computer, instead, after putting on your VR headset, it will feel like you have entered a completely different environment – transporting the viewer directly into a bold landscape filled with craters, volcanoes, and a host of fun surprises that the Martian Community will help to define. All Mars4 NFT Owners Will Have Direct Input Into the Mars4 Metaverse The goal of this project is not just to create an amazing game, we are building a vibrant Martian Community, an outpost in the larger metaverse where anything is possible! If you believe in this extraordinary life on Mars, hold an NFT or get yourself a Mars4 token and get involved. “No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.” – Newton We are early to Mars4 and this bold guess is going to be fun! JOIN Mars4 Discord “VR MOVIE PARTY” Channel To See NEW DUBAI VR MOVIE First! This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

In 2021, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been extremely popular and have become a billion-dollar industry this year. There’s been a number of NFT marketplaces and collections that have seen a massive number of sales and individual digital collectibles have sold for millions. The NFT hype has also caused significant demand for some of the earliest known NFT collections like Spells of Genesis cards, Curio cards, Bitcorn, Rare Pepe trading cards, and even Fake Rares. Older Non-Fungible Token Collections See Fresh Demand Old non-fungible token (NFT) collections are seeing fresh demand after the NFT hype in 2021 exploded. Most people are unaware that NFTs have been around since roughly 2014 when someone created an NFT called OLGA. Following the creation of OLGA, the next year saw the birth of Spells of Genesis (SoG), Terra Nullius V2, Etheria v1.1, and Etheria v1.2. Since the 2021 NFT hype, SoG cards sell for a lot more than they did when the cards first launched. SoG cards are selling for a couple of hundred dollars to upwards of $2K per card. NFTs stemming from Terra Nullius V2 have a floor price of 0.04 ether or $150 in USD value on the NFT marketplace Opensea. People can still buy Etheria world NFTs via the Etheria exchange but a minimum bid is 0.1 ETH or $385 per unit. Sarutobi Island NFTs crafted in 2016 have seen fresh demand and have a floor price of around 0.03 ETH or $115. Similarly, NFTs such as Force of Will, Rare Pepes, Age of Chains, Pixel Map, and Bitgirls sell for a lot more than they did in 2016. For instance, Pixelmap NFTs sell for a floor price of 0.75 ETH or more. Rare Pepes, Curio Cards, Cryptopunks, Axies, and Crypto Kitties The entire collection of 1,774 Rare Pepe NFTs currently have an overall market capitalization of around $4.1 billion today. Vaulted Rare Pepes are selling for big money on Opensea and also selling for counterparty (XCP) via the XCP decentralized exchange (dex) and dispenser sales. The popular My Curio Cards from 2017, have a floor price on Opensea at 0.299 ETH or $1,151. Some Curio cards are being auctioned for a 1-2 ETH in value as well. The same can be said for older 2017 NFT collections and Cryptopunks issued that year have seen the most demand. The Cryptopunks floor price for a single digital collectible is not cheap as dappradar.com stats show it’s $235.43K today, however, the average price is around $119.75K per punk. The 2017 series of Cryptopunks has seen $2.32 billion in all-time sales. Other popular 2017 series NFT collections include Diecast Club Collection, My Blockchain Corner, Digital Zones, Mooncatrescue, Dada Creeps & Weirdos, Crypto Kitties, Weicards, and Ether Rocks. These collections are also seeing much higher values and fresh demand from NFT investors. Crypto Kitties were so popular during the first week of December 2017, the project congested the Ethereum blockchain and the project’s NFTs still have demand from collectors. Despite a lot of attention in 2021 and a myriad of NFT collections launched this year, 2018 also saw significant progress toward the current NFT ecosystem we know today. NFTs from 2018 collections also sell for high dollar, as NFT collections such as Ethertulips, Crypto Fighters, Angel Battles, and Etherlambos. Axie Infinity non-fungible tokens were launched in 2018 as well and the Axie NFTs have seen a lot more demand in 2021. Old school projects such as Pixelcons, Crypto Graphics, Realms of Ether, Cryptocats, and many other collections are seeing sales they may not have seen if it wasn’t for the exponential growth of the NFT industry. In fact, old school NFTs from collections minted long ago are becoming sought after for their rarity and age. What do you think about the old-school NFT collections that are seeing higher-priced sales and fresh demand after all these years? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The price of bitcoin is down more than 33% from the crypto asset’s all-time high captured about a month ago on November 10. A while back, people expected the price of bitcoin to be extremely bullish during the months of November and December, and many expected a $100K bitcoin price by the year’s end. However, during the last 13 years, more so than not, bitcoin prices are typically bearish in the last two months of the year. The End of 2021’s Bearish Market Sentiment Is a Common Occurrence, Looking at Previous Bitcoin Years There have been a few occasions when BTC had a monumental November and December run in terms of price gains. This year has not been so bullish and people don’t realize that for most of bitcoin’s life, these months have been bearish a majority of the time. For instance, after bitcoin started seeing real-world value and a USD exchange rate in September through November 2010, after November 10, just like this year, BTC’s price slid from a high of $0.35 per unit to $0.17 by December 10, 2010. That’s a 51.42% loss in bitcoin’s fiat value over 30 days over 11 years ago. In 2011, BTC had a decent bull run jumping from $2 per unit in mid-November that year to $6 by the year’s end, or a 200% increase in USD value. In 2012, bitcoin (BTC) meandered between $10 and $13.50 during the months of November and December. The price had already tapped $13.50 per coin in August and remained lackluster until January 2013. In 2013 during the months of November and December, BTC’s price was once again bullish. In mid-December 2013, BTC’s price came awfully close to $1,200 per coin. The months of November and December 2014 were bearish as BTC slipped from $471 per coin in mid-September to just above $300 per coin by mid-December 2014. The price of BTC lost 33.12% during that period of time in 2014. The price of BTC in 2015 was again bearish during the two months and in 2016 the price was bullish in November and December. 2017 was a bullish time for BTC during those two months, as the price came very close to $20K per unit. The following year, during the first week of November 2018, BTC’s price was bearish and valued at $6,376 per unit. By the first week of December 2018, the price was $4,139 per BTC. It’s safe to say that those two months were bearish and by the year’s end BTC was trading for $3,865 per unit. In 2019, around October, BTC was swapping for $9,223 per BTC and on November 4, 2019, it was trading for $9,424 per coin. Ten days later BTC was swapping for $8,639.18 and by December 23, 2019, bitcoin was exchanging hands for $7,324 per unit. The last two months of 2019 were definitely bearish in terms of price movement. Following 2020’s Bullish Rise in November and December, Bitcoin’s Price Still 90% Higher Than Last Year The end of 2020 was decent for bitcoin (BTC) prices and by October 13, 2020, bitcoin’s value was $11,425 per coin. Ten days later the price was $12,931 and by the end of 2020 on December 23, BTC was swapping hands for $23,241 per unit. The data clearly shows that November and December 2020 were considered a bullish two months for bitcoin (BTC). Of course, we all know what happened in 2021, and the new bitcoin price highs that were recorded this year. Despite BTC being 33% below the crypto asset’s all-time high of $69K per unit, it is still 90% above the price it held this time last year. However, bitcoin’s (BTC) price sentiment in November and December 2021 has been bearish and in a continuous downtrend. Bitcoin advocates will have to wait and see how the rest of December 2021 plays out and if it miraculously changes from bearish to bullish by then, or by the first month of 2022. If the last two months of the first year of bitcoin (2009, with no real-world prices) are considered bearish, and 2021’s November and December are also deemed bearish, then only 5 out of the 13 years of bitcoin’s existence have seen the November and December time interval as bullish for BTC. What do you think about bitcoin’s price during the last two months of every year? Would you consider 2021’s November and December bearish? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The cryptocurrency bill that was listed to be taken up in the current session of parliament is reportedly being reworked. The government seeks wider consultation on crypto before finalizing the rules to govern digital currencies in India. Indian Government Seeks More Consultation on Proposed Crypto Legislation India’s cryptocurrency bill is unlikely to be introduced in the current session of parliament. The bill is not on the list of business to be taken up in the last week of the winter session of parliament, Bloomberg reported Monday, noting that the government can still bring in the legislation through an ordinance after the session. The government is still finalizing details of the cryptocurrency legislation, the news outlet noted, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Last week, local media reported that the government is planning to make additional changes to the cryptocurrency bill. The country’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, recently said that the bill needed to be reworked. The publication conveyed: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration wants wider consultations on the matter before finalizing the rules to govern digital currencies and there isn’t enough time as the current session ends on December 23. The Indian government is reportedly planning to regulate crypto assets but ban the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. There will also be a deadline set for investors to declare their crypto holdings. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last week that cryptocurrency should be used to empower democracy. He is expected to take a final decision on the country’s crypto legislation. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, said at its central board meeting that a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies is needed because a partial ban will not work. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has repeatedly said that the central bank has serious and major concerns regarding cryptocurrency. When do you think India will finally regulate crypto? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The crypto economy has slid in value 2.9% during the last 24 hours and bitcoin slipped under the $46K price zone on Monday. Furthermore, the top ten digital currencies have lost anywhere between 3% to 7% in value during the last day following bitcoin’s price slide. Top Ten Crypto Coins See More Losses, Crypto Economy Slides Close to 3% in 24 Hours The price of bitcoin (BTC) is down 3.7% today and trading for $45,738 per unit at the time of writing. While year-to-date, bitcoin is up more than 90% in value, during the last 30 days BTC shed 21.8%. Currently, BTC has a market valuation of around $864 billion which represents 38.6% of the $2.24 trillion crypto economy. The second-largest crypto asset in terms of market valuation is ethereum (ETH) and it has slid 4.4% during the last 24 hours and 8.7% during the last day. At the time of writing, ether is exchanging hands for $3,787 per unit. Ethereum’s dominance today among the rest of the coins in the $2.24 trillion crypto economy is 20%. On Monday, ETH has an overall market valuation of $448.8 billion. Four tokens managed to gather gains during the last 24 hours which include yearn finance (YFI) up 6.5%, olympus (OHM) up 3%, okb (OKB) up 2.8%, and leo token (LEO) up 2.1%. The biggest losers on Monday include curve dao token (CRV) down 10%, compound (COMP) down 10.5%, and waves (WAVES) down 10.2%. Out of the 11,836 crypto coins today traded on 533 exchanges worldwide, there’s $102.8 billion in global trade volume. Huobi Group Exec: ‘Downward Force Is Still Relatively Strong — Pay Attention to the Downward Momentum’ Speaking with Du Jun, co-founder of Huobi Group, Jun says that bitcoin began to fall again after jumping above the $48K region this past weekend. “According to data from Huobi Global, BTC began to fall after reaching a high of 48,300 on weekends,” Jun told our newsdesk. “It is now around 46,000 and the downward trend is relatively stable. It is likely to further break through the 45,500 pressure level. From 4h K-lines, the price is still in a stable downward channel. DIF crossed DEA and formed a downward signal. “The K-line ran near the lower rail of the Bollinger Bands, and the trading volume was relatively sluggish,” the Huobi Group executive said. “At the daily level, price fluctuations have gradually slowed down in recent days, and price fluctuations were temporarily controllable. In short term, pay attention to the downward momentum and the breakthrough of the 45500 position below.” Jun further added: [Ethereum] declined steadily during daytime, falling from a high of 3980 to a low of 3760, and is now near 3780. Judging from the 4h k-line, the k-line fluctuated greatly today, which changed the stability of the past days. However, it is not difficult to see from the daily line that the drop is to pull the k-line back into the downward channel, indicating that the downward force is still relatively strong. In short term, pay attention to extent of the price drop. What do you think about the recent price drops across the crypto economy and Huobi Group’s bitcoin and ethereum outlook? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

In light of the holiday season, and to celebrate a fantastic year for economic freedom enhancing technologies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, NFTs, DeFi, Play-to-earn games, and more, Bitcoin.com is giving away more than $25,000 in cash prizes between now and the end of the year. $20,000 Raffle For every order of $200 or more, you’ll be entered to win. Get your crypto via the Bitcoin.com Wallet or our website between now and the end of the year to be eligible. Gold prize: $5000 (1) Silver prize: $2000 (5) Bronze prize: $100 (50) Full terms and conditions can be found here. $5000 Giveaway To Our Followers We’re giving away $100 to 50 of our followers. To be entered to win, just make sure you’re following us on one or more of the following channels: Instagram, Twitter, Discord, email, and more through Gleam.io here: A December to Remember Bitcoin.com Giveaway View the full article

A cryptocurrency bill introduced in July to the Senate of Paraguay has been approved. The text, which defines several important concepts including virtual assets, and establishes the need for licenses to mine cryptocurrencies, will now advance to the Deputy Chamber to be discussed. Paraguay Could Approve Crypto Law by Next Year A new cryptocurrency bill has taken its first step toward being approved as law in Paraguay. The project, which was introduced in July, was approved in the Paraguayan Senate after a heated discussion, according to reports from its promoter, Senator Fernando Silva Facetti. The politician also stated that the law aimed to: …recognize mining of virtual asset as an industry, [and] establishes the grounds to guarantee access to energy and requirements that guarantee the formalization of an expanding sector. In its body, the legal text includes the definition of virtual assets, tokens, cryptocurrency mining, and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Further, it establishes the authority of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which would receive aid from other organizations in the state to apply the law. Addressing Mining and Virtual Asset Service Providers The bill makes a clear recognition of cryptocurrency mining as a legal activity, explicitly stressing: Virtual asset mining is a digital and innovative industry. This industry will benefit from all incentive mechanisms provided in national legislation. Paraguay is said to produce more than five times the amount of energy it uses. Due to this fact, it is currently being eyed by several companies to the end of establishing cryptocurrency mining operations there. The new bill aims to further clarify this field for interested parties, establishing the use of licenses that would be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, only after having received the industrial electricity consumption authorization, that would be issued by the National Administration of Electricity. The bill also establishes the need for companies and individuals to receive a license for trading or offering custody of cryptocurrencies for third parties. This with the objective of complying with KYC-AML-TF measures. Facetti expects the bill to be considered by the Deputy Chamber next year, where he hopes it will be discussed with public and private companies to improve it if needed. What do you think about the new cryptocurrency bill approved by the Senate in Paraguay? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Radioshack, the electronics-associated brand, has announced it will now pivot to a cryptocurrency-centric model. The company informed that its focus will be to “bridge the gap” to bring cryptocurrency into mainstream use. This is the latest iteration in the story of the brand, which was known for offering electronic products at a retail level in the ’70s and ’80s. Radioshack Introduces Defi Business Radioshack, a 100-year-old brand associated with consumer electronic devices and personal computers in the ’70s and ’80s, is now pivoting its operations to a cryptocurrency model, according to data provided by the company. The mission of this new iteration of the company will be to “bring cryptocurrency to the mainstream.” For this, Radioshack will start with launching a decentralized exchange, or a “swap,” to allow its users to exchange currencies for others without having to register in a commercial exchange. The backend for this endeavor, Radioshack explains, will be provided by a partner protocol called Atlas USV. The company estimates that this partnership will allow this new swap to provide traders with less slippage because the exchange is expected to work with an owned liquidity model. If launched, the exchange will have its own native token, called RADIO. Down Two Times, and Resurrected Radioshack’s path to crypto comes after the company filed for bankruptcy protection twice in 2015 and 2017, posting its last green numbers in 2011. However, that brand was resurrected and acquired last year, to form part of a portfolio of brands in the hands of two investors. Alex Mehr and Tai Lopez acquired the brand and they are now putting it at work in this new cryptocurrency-based focus. The investors declared, at the time of the acquisition of the brand, that they didn’t have the intention of reviving the old electronics retail business and aimed to turn Radioshack into an online marketplace. Merh declared: We bought the raw material to build a big business. Brand means trust. And the brand is very, very strong. I have quantifiable data that the brand is very strong. Radioshack is not the only legacy company that has pivoted to crypto lately. Kodak, a photography-related brand, also made its crypto bet back in 2018, when it announced the launch of its own token called Kodakcoin, which would serve for users to register their photos on a platform and license them for other uses. However, this shift was short-lived, and Kodakcoin never launched. What do you think about Radioshack and its pivot to crypto? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. BitYard is delighted to announce our integration of 80+ Chainlink Price Feeds to obtain accurate price data in a timely manner within our exchange. By integrating the industry-leading decentralized oracle network, BitYard has access to decentralized price feeds for popular spot trading pairs—with plans to continually add additional feeds over time. Chainlink Price Feeds support BitYard’s existing frameworks by helping ensure that we are offering users more precise and transparent pricing for perfect spot trading executions. BitYard is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that offers crypto asset trading services in over 150 countries worldwide. BitYard has over 300 spot trading pairs, along with CFD, perpetuals, forex, commodities and copy-trading features. The platform simplifies crypto trading for novice investors and offers an easy-to-understand user interface. As a cryptocurrency exchange in the CeFi ecosystem, BitYard experiences price volatility across trading pairs on a daily basis. However, by integrating Chainlink Price Feeds, we have a valuable tool for improving the overall price stability and exchange rates offered to users in need of crypto services. This includes improving our backend pricing mechanism, spotting price anomalies, and triggering circuit breakers—all particularly important during times of high volatility. The result is an extra layer of confidence and trust among traders, allowing them to execute strategies based on real-time market conditions. Chainlink Price Feeds stood out from other data solutions because of a multitude of superior features it offers, such as: Accurate Pricing – Chainlink Price Feeds source data from numerous premium data aggregators, leading to price data that’s aggregated from hundreds of exchanges, weighted by volume, and cleaned from outliers and suspicious volumes. Chainlink’s data aggregation model is resistant to API downtime, flash crash outliers, and data manipulation attacks. Reliable Updates — Chainlink Price Feeds utilize decentralized networks of professional node operators run by leading blockchain DevOps teams and traditional enterprises with a strong track record of uptime and responsiveness during market volatility. Transparent Infrastructure — Chainlink provides a robust set of monitoring tools that allow users to verify the historical and real-time performance of price feeds. Industry Leading – Chainlink is an industry-leading oracle that helps secure tens of billions of dollars in value and is trusted by hundreds of different applications “By integrating Chainlink Price Feeds into our platform, BitYard can offer even more accurate and transparent pricing to traders. This will drive a superior platform experience, as users have stronger assurances that they are getting fair market rates with additional layers of protection during market volatility,” stated Michael Hung, BitYard’s Director of Marketing. About Chainlink Chainlink is the industry standard for building, accessing, and selling oracle services needed to power hybrid smart contracts on any blockchain. Chainlink oracle networks provide smart contracts with a way to reliably connect to any external API and leverage secure off-chain computations for enabling feature-rich applications. Chainlink currently secures tens of billions of dollars across DeFi, insurance, gaming, and other major industries, and offers global enterprises and leading data providers a universal gateway to all blockchains. Learn more about Chainlink by visiting chain.link or read the documentation at docs.chain.link. To discuss an integration, reach out to an expert. About BitYard Founded in late 2019 and headquartered in Singapore, BitYard is a leading global cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. As one of the fastest-growing exchanges, BitYard has continuously optimized and upgraded the platform and has brought many quality trading services to users worldwide. With the new corporate slogan “Grow Your Future in the Yard” BitYard will continue to help investors around the world to achieve their goals through providing one-stop financial trading services. 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

One of the largest decentralized exchange (dex) platforms in terms of trade volume, Uniswap, has announced that the dex community has approved a governance proposal to support the Polygon blockchain. Uniswap to Support Polygon PoS Blockchain In terms of trade volume, statistics show that Uniswap version three (v3) commands the largest 24-hour trade volume with $1.5 billion swapped during the last day. As far as total-value locked (TVL) in defi is concerned, Uniswap has $8.6 billion on December 19, 2021. That’s the second-largest TVL below Curve Finance’s $21.8 billion TVL. On December 18, the official Uniswap Labs Twitter account notified the public that the Uniswap community has voted to support the deployment of Uniswap v3 contracts on the Polygon (MATIC) network. “The Uniswap community has voted to deploy v3 on Polygon through the governance process. Uniswap Labs will deploy Uniswap v3 contracts within a few days. Stay tuned,” Uniswap Labs said on Saturday. Uniswap has already adopted two layer-two (L2) protocols which include Arbitrum One and Optimism. Both of these protocols leverage optimistic rollups so users can save on transfer fees leveraging the Etheruem network. While l2fees.info indicates that it costs $31.74 to swap tokens onchain via layer-one (L1), swaps using Arbitrum will cost $2.63 and swaps using Optimism will cost $2.29. Polygon’s CEO Mihailo Bjelic: ‘Polygon PoS Can Bring a Lot of Benefits to Uniswap’ Polygon’s CEO Mihailo Bjelic introduced the Uniswap proposal on November 20 as he said that “Polygon PoS can bring a lot of benefits” to the dex. Bjelic further insisted that “Polygon PoS is battle-tested,” and “Polygon is aligned with Ethereum and its values.” When Bjelic published the proposal, one supporter wrote: “I would love to see Uniswap v3 on Polygon chain. ETH fees [are] just killing all of us. Polygon is the battle-tested solution which can save users from slow [transaction] and high fees.” The Polygon blockchain has been integrated with a number of platforms like Curve, Aave, and Opensea. Curve Finance, however, supports seven different blockchains which also include Avalanche, Fantom, Arbitrum, Harmony, and Xdai. Polygon recently revealed launching a $200 million fund to bolster social media with Web3 and blockchain technology. Furthermore, after acquiring the Hermez Network (now Polygon Hermez) for $250 million in August, Polygon paid $400 million for the Mir protocol. What do you think about Uniswap supporting the Polygon network? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

India’s minister of state for external affairs says that cryptocurrencies must be blocked if they are used for illegal purposes, such as “to launch cyber-attacks in India, to launch other attacks on India, to do other kinds of illegal and unethical work like drug trafficking.” Meanwhile, the Indian government is reportedly making changes to the crypto bill that is listed to be taken up in the current session of parliament. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs on Cryptocurrency and Crypto Regulation Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi has reportedly stressed that cryptocurrencies need to be blocked if they are used for illegal means to harm India’s sovereignty and integrity. Lekhi is also India’s current minister of state for culture. She was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was reelected to the 17th Lok Sabha in May 2019. Speaking at the sixth Global Technology Summit, jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India last week, Lekhi was quoted by IANS publication as saying: If cryptocurrency is going to be used to launch cyberattacks in India, to launch other attacks on India, to do other kinds of illegal and unethical work like drug trafficking, I need to stop all that. “I am sure the finance ministry and IT ministry would have looked deeply into these aspects,” she added. The minister continued: “The cryptocurrency platforms and exchanges are owned by a set of people who are trying to avoid tax, taking the money out of the country without giving benefit to the country where they produce this wealth.” Meanwhile, the Indian government is reportedly making some changes to the cryptocurrency bill that is listed to be taken up in the current session of Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired some meetings on crypto legislation in India and will be taking a final decision on crypto regulation. He recently said that cryptocurrency should be used to empower democracy and not undermine it. Recent reports indicate that the government is planning to regulate crypto assets but ban the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. However, the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has voiced major concerns regarding cryptocurrency and said at its most recent central board meeting that cryptocurrency must be fully banned, emphasizing that a partial ban will not work. What do you think about the comments by this parliament member? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article