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A professor with the University of Johannesburg, Rabelani Dagada, has urged South Africa to finalize its cryptocurrency public policy if the country still wants to become a hub for digital currency innovation. History Will Repeat Itself In an opinion published by Itweb, Dagada warned South African authorities that the continued efforts to stifle cryptocurrencies will not achieve the intended objectives. He adds that regulators must learn from history that violently opposing an emerging innovation will not kill it. He explained: Technology has prevailed against violent and regulatory opposition. During the era of the industrial revolution, some workers in Britain rioted against mechanised manufacturing firms. Blue-collar workers waged a war against technology. They physically destroyed production machinery, cotton and woollen mills. Dagada also shared a recent example of how “some people in the UK and SA falsely accused 5G technologies of causing the COVID-19 pandemic, and destroyed some mobile networks’ base stations.” Opposing Cryptocurrencies Is a Futile Exercise While South African authorities have not violently opposed cryptocurrencies, they have however refused to allow them to go mainstream. To illustrate this point, Dagada cites the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)’s refusal to approve the application by Sygnia to list bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF). Dagada insists however that if the JSE approved the application, South Africa “would possibly have become a hub of cryptocurrency innovation, especially if one considers the country has highly-sophisticated financial services among the developing economies.” Nevertheless, Dagada points out in his opinion piece that new technologies always eventually prevail despite opposition. Similarly, just like earlier technologies, cryptocurrencies — which are a “product of money and technology”— will similarly prevail. Dagada also argued that in addition to being an exercise in futility, formalizing crypto-currencies works in favor of South Africa because such digital currencies “hold lots of taxable tax.” Do you agree with the professor’s opinions? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

As the lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse insists that the Commission has provided no clarity in crypto regulation. He said the SEC is using its meetings with crypto companies as lead generation for enforcement actions, and the agency has lost sight of its mission to protect investors. Ripple’s CEO Claims SEC Uses Meetings With Crypto Companies as Lead Generation for Enforcement Actions Amid the SEC’s lawsuit over XRP, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reiterated his concerns over the lack of clarity in crypto regulation provided by the securities watchdog. He tweeted Saturday: American innovation is on the line because of the SEC’s refusal to provide a clear framework for crypto. Instead of working with the industry, the SEC is using their meetings with companies as lead generation for their enforcement actions. The Ripple CEO’s tweets followed his interview with Fox Business Friday where he also talked about the lack of clarity in crypto regulation in addition to discussing the XRP lawsuit and its implication. “I think there has been and continues to be a lack of clarity,” Garlinghouse reiterated, emphasizing, “If we want this industry to thrive here in the United States, there needs to be clarity.” He insisted that the SEC chairman cannot continue to say “hey, there is clarity” but then called on “Congress to write new laws to make it clear.” Garlinghouse stressed that “Both those things can’t exist.” He also referenced the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase which recently abandoned its plan to launch a lending product after the SEC threatened a lawsuit. The exchange said the Commission provided no explanation about its decision. Discussing the XRP lawsuit, Garlinghouse said that the SEC’s “mission is to protect investors and help ensure orderly markets.” However, he argued that in the XRP case: More than 10,000 people who are holding XRP have filed a class-action lawsuit against the SEC. These are the exact people the SEC is supposed to be protecting. He added that without providing clarity, the securities watchdog “allowed XRP to be listed and traded very freely across the United States.” Consequently, “more and more people got involved” and XRP “traded for eight years, and then [the SEC] brought a suit driving the price down 60% or 70%.” Garlinghouse opined: “If the goal is orderly markets and the goal is to protect investors, I think we lost sight of the big picture of what the SEC’s main mandate is.” The Ripple executive was asked what Gary Gensler’s end game is with Ripple, XRP, and the entire crypto business. He replied: I think we lose sight of the fact that crypto is regulated. It’s regulated by the CFTC, it’s regulated by other government agencies, whether it’s FinCEN, U.S. treasury. So, when I heard the SEC people come and say, ‘hey, this is the Wild Wild West, it’s not regulated,’ that’s not entirely true. Garlinghouse is not the only one concerned about the lack of clarity in crypto regulation. U.S. Senator Pat Toomey wrote a letter to Gensler Friday asking for clear guidance on crypto regulation. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has also voiced her concerns over the lack of clarity regarding crypto regulation. Garlinghouse further noted that the SEC often said, “Hey, come talk to us.” However, “every time someone goes to talk to them from the crypto community, it feels like it’s lead generation to bring enforcement actions. That’s not a good way for us to help this industry thrive in the United States,” he opined. The SEC claimed that XRP is a security, unlike bitcoin or ether, and must be registered and regulated as such. Garlinghouse described: “If you start treating XRP as a security, that means you are subject to a whole lot of regulations [and] costs associated with security settlement. The magic of XRP is how incredibly fast and how incredibly cost-efficient it is for cross-border payments, how Ripple deploys the technology.” The CEO warned: If you start treating it as a security, the costs and speed change dramatically and really that is an example of where the SEC is in effect picking the winners and losers of this new industry. Ripple’s legal team recently said that it had no plans to settle with the SEC and is confident that SEC Chairman Gensler will be convinced that “pursuing the case is picking winners and losers in the crypto business to the detriment of innovation.” Do you agree with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” has predicted a “giant stock market crash” coming in October. He believes that “bitcoin may crash too.” The famous author also offered his opinion on China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies. Robert Kiyosaki Warns of ‘Giant’ Market Crash in October Famous author and investor Robert Kiyosaki has predicted that a “giant stock market crash” is coming in October, noting that gold, silver, and bitcoin may crash as well. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. Kiyosaki tweeted Saturday: Giant stock market crash coming October. Why? Treasury and Fed short of T-bills. Gold, silver, bitcoin may crash too. Cash best for picking up bargains after crash. Not selling gold, silver, bitcoin, yet have lots of cash for life after stock market crash. Stocks dangerous. Careful. Kiyosaki has been vocal in predicting the greatest market crash. In June, he warned that the “biggest crash” in the world’s history was coming since the “biggest bubble” in the world’s history was “getting bigger.” He suggested at the time to buy more gold, silver, and bitcoin. The famous author said in August: “Bitcoin has the greatest upside. With dollar dropping, bitcoin and silver are the best investments.” He also shared: “The primary reason I invest in bitcoin, gold, and silver is because I do not trust our leaders, the Fed, Treasury, nor the stock market. Unfortunately, mom and pop who save money do.” On Friday, after the news of China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency, the Rich Dad Poor Dad author commented: China announced this morning a new crackdown on crypto. What does that mean? It means China is about to launch its government crypto coin. If U.S. follows, Fed coin means bitcoin outlawed, U.S. becomes centralized gov, like China, U.S. communism begins, our freedoms end. While China is already heavily testing the digital yuan, the U.S. Federal Reserve still has not decided whether to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the Fed will soon publish a discussion paper on the subject. Some people see China’s action to crack down on crypto as positive news, including several U.S. lawmakers, who said the Chinese crypto crackdown is a big opportunity for the U.S. to lead in the area of cryptocurrencies. “China’s authoritarian crackdown on crypto, including bitcoin, is a big opportunity for the U.S. It’s also a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China,” Senator Pat Toomey opined. What do you think about Robert Kiyosaki’s predictions? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The billionaire investor and CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, says the bitcoin market is in good shape, noting that he sees “so much capital coming into the space.” He also commented on the dwindling influence China has over the crypto market. Billionaire Investor Says the Market Is ‘in Good Shape’ — ‘I’m Not Nervous’ Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz commented on the crypto market and the latest news of China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies Friday. He explained that the crypto market was down for three reasons. The first is China reiterating its anti-crypto and anti-freedom stance. The second is the U.S. Federal Reserve “putting taper in motion,” and the third is the big overhead resistance level for bitcoin and ether. Novogratz noted that he believes BTC and ETH will consolidate. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin stands at $43,695 and the price of ether stands at $3,090 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. Furthermore, the billionaire CEO believes that the bitcoin market is in good shape. In an interview with CNBC last week, he explained that the $40,000 level for bitcoin and $2,800 for ethereum “are very important levels for people to watch,” noting: As long as those hold, I think the market is in good shape. Novogratz further shared: “I’ve seen nothing but engagement activity from our investing clients and our corporate clients. The level of inquiry, the level of business hasn’t been higher.” He continued: We see so much capital coming into the space, in private ways and public ways. I am not nervous. Commenting on China’s influence over the prices of cryptocurrencies, particularly BTC and ETH, Novogratz said: “It was a lot more important five months ago before China basically said we’re banning crypto so miners have moved out of China.” He continued: “China was never a big source of innovation in the space but it was a big source of trading and I think there’s still plenty of trading in China … The Chinese are smart, they know how to use VPNs, but it’s harder and harder and so I think it’s less and less important.” Do you agree with Mike Novogratz? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

CryptoKitties was the first to bring blockchain gaming to life, and games such as Axie Infinity defined how a good blockchain game should be. The Three Kingdoms aims to build on this with their next-generation play-to-earn game. The Three Kingdoms is a highly strategic third-generation NFT game based on the historical characters of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The historical characters enable users to have engaging gameplay while obtaining rewards for their achievements. The Next Generation of GameFi What does the new era of play-to-earn games mean? The TTK team believes the current generation of NFT games has limited ways for players to earn in them. Additionally, they suffer from outdated and cartoony graphics and minimal gameplay features. The Three Kingdoms team set out to build a blockchain game that features multiple methods never seen before in the GameFi market to earn tokens. Additionally, they are creating an authentic gaming experience that compares more to the AAA games gamers have been accustomed to playing. To achieve this, The Three Kingdoms will feature high-end graphics, a featureful game where users can collect NFT characters, complete quests, and join siege gameplays to earn NFTs. Furthermore, The Three Kingdoms will be the first game that incorporates the idea of battling and sieging cities and a deep, engaging storyline providing a breath of fresh air to the GameFi landscape. In the game, users can also host, stake, and monetize events. Build your base, expand your territories, upgrade your character’s attributes, win battles and emerge victorious in PVE and PVP battles. The History of The Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms is based in 220 AD, the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty. The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, with cities and regions forming their alliance for survival. Warlord Dong Zhuo seized control of the capital under the pretext of protecting the young emperor. Cao Cao, who had gradually taken control of territories in the North, saved the emperor and led the central government. Still, formed clans are already eager for the chance to rule over China. The country broke into civil war, and soon, China was divided into three spheres of influence: Cao Cao dominating the North, Sun Quan the South, and Liu Bei, the west. The three fought for sixty years to conquer China, and this is where the story for the player begins. The Three Kingdoms land is modelled after the historical map of China split into Wei, Shu, and Wu regions. The land will be split into unique squares. For additional utility, these lands are where you can host, stake, and monetize events. Conquer and own your base of operations where you can fight and expand your territory. What’s Next for The Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms team recruited games and NFT enthusiasts who wished to revolutionize the crypto landscape and become part of something bigger. The Three Kingdoms is well underway, with plans to begin passive gameplay in Q4 of 2021. Referred to as Phase 0, users will be able to earn NFTs by recruiting heroes via outskirts. The team also plans to include additional gameplay features such as the ability to siege empty cities (stake NFTs) and occupy cities (earn APY, In-game currency, and NFTs) in 2022 (Phase 1). Phase 2 will feature PvP, where users can attack and defend cities, the attacker and defender both stake NFTs, with the winner earning an APY, currency, NFTs + attributes. Finally, phase 3 will be the introduction of active gameplay via Arena and Tournaments. Players will be able to stake their NFTs against other players in a winner takes all battle. About The Three Kingdoms Collect your favourite Three Kingdoms characters and battle for a piece of land that only you can truly own! The Three Kingdoms is a 3rd Generation NFT Game that adopts the three Kingdoms storyline. Prepare to immerse yourself in a gaming experience enriched with extensive history, well-developed characters, progression gameplay and more. Prepare your heroes for battle, siege cities, and win battles to expand your own land. Be your own hero in the land of The Three Kingdoms! Follow TTK’s social media channels to stay up to date with the latest news: Website — https://ttk.gg/ Twitter — https://twitter.com/PlayTTK Telegram Announcements — https://t.me/TTK_Official Telegram Official Community — https://t.me/PlayTTK Discord — https://discord.com/invite/kg4SMdCCM5 Reddit — https://www.reddit.com/r/PlayTTK Medium — https://medium.com/@PlayTTK This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

On September 24, 2021, the Fantom Foundation announced the launch of a new non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that aims to compete with the myriad of NFT markets out there today. The market dubbed Artion is an NFT marketplace built on the Fantom network and claims to bolster “0% commissions, with the near-zero transaction costs.” Fantom Reveals Beta Version of the NFT Marketplace Artion A new NFT marketplace has been announced by the Fantom Foundation following the billions of dollars worth of NFT sales stemming from veteran NFT markets that leverage the Ethereum (ETH) network like Opensea, Rarible, and Makersplace. In more recent times, the Ethereum network, due to excessive network fees and transaction congestion, has been losing ground to other blockchains like Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Terra (LUNA), Tezos (XTZ), and more. This includes taking money from decentralized finance (defi) and non-fungible token (NFT) sales as other blockchains are now offering these services. Fantom is another blockchain network aiming to enter the fray of defi, NFTs and smart contracts. The website fantom.foundation says the protocol is a “fast, high-throughput open-source smart contract platform for digital assets and dapps.” The platform has a native cryptocurrency called fantom (FTM) which has gained 151% in 30 days and increased by 3,070% year to date. On Friday, the Fantom Foundation announced the launch of an NFT marketplace that’s currently in beta called Artion. The NFT market is built on Fantom and will connect with wallets like Metamask and the Coinbase defi compatible wallet. “Artion is feature-filled, open-source, fast, and inexpensive: 0% commissions, with the near-zero transaction costs and fast finality that you are used to,” the Fantom Foundation blog post details. “Artion supports Fantom-based ERC20 tokens, beginning with FUSDT, USDC, DAI, and WFTM. Future releases will add support for even more tokens— Additionally, creators can set royalties at the time of minting and earn revenue on secondary market sales,” the blog post explains. Defi Coder Andre Cronje: ‘It’s Not About the Money… It’s About Sending a Message’ The creator of Yearn Finance and Keep3rV1, Andre Cronje is also behind the Artion NFT project. The prolific coder talked about the market in comparison to the leading NFT market Opensea in a recent interview. Following the interview, Cronje tweeted a GIF from the “Joker” movie starring Joaquin Phoenix which says “It’s not about the money… It’s about sending a message.” The NFT marketplace already has a number of NFT collectibles featured on the web portal from art, sports, trading cards, NFTs with utility, virtual world NFTs, and more. Artion also features Chainlink price feeds as well and offers users the ability to mint their own non-fungible token collectibles. “The next release of Artion will add a built-in version of Anyswap’s Ethereum-Fantom NFT bridge for interoperability with Ethereum,” the Artion announcement further details. The Fantom network already has a number of collections like Fantom Punks, Strange Brew, and Fantom Waifus. The Artion project is all open source and tech savvy individuals can review the code for the smart contracts, the server, the Artion-client, and the marketplace tracker. “Our mission, in short, is to unburden creators of the high-fees and constraints that limit the potential of imagination,” the Fantom Foundation concludes. What do you think about the Fantom Foundation and Andre Cronje’s Artion NFT marketplace built on Fantom? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Authorities in Abkhazia have confiscated thousands of mining machines, closing down all large crypto farms, yet they have admittedly failed to put an end to illegal mining operations. The breakaway republic of Georgia has been struggling with power shortages blamed on underground miners. 30,000 Rigs Remain in the Hands of Miners, Government Says In recent years, a growing number of people in Abkhazia, a partially-recognized de facto state in the South Caucasus, have turned to cryptocurrency mining as an alternative income source. However, the government of the Russia-backed republic has targeted the energy-intensive process as a major cause of the territory’s growing electricity deficit. A temporary ban on mining activities and hardware imports was introduced back in 2018 and extended this spring until March 31, 2022. But officials in Sukhumi have recently admitted their efforts to impose the restrictions throughout the region have largely proved unsuccessful. At a press conference this week, President Aslan Bzhania revealed that Abkhaz authorities have seized 6,000 units of coin minting equipment that are currently stored in a “special warehouse.” Quoted by Sputnik-Abkhazia, he noted that practically all large crypto farms have been shut down. Nevertheless, government estimates suggest that around 30,000 mining devices remain in the hands of people who build their business around the currently illegal activity. Power engineer Pavel Maksimov told Sputnik that the main reasons why the ban on crypto mining is not being implemented properly have to do with difficulties in exerting control over unauthorized miners. Inspectors are rarely able to get in contact with them and then they are often dragged into conflicts, Maksimov explained. He also warned that when connecting to the power grid illegally, the operators of the underground farms are not protected in any way, legally or financially. Crackdown on Crypto Mining in Abkhazia to Continue Members of the central government, local authorities, and representatives of the republic’s power utility met recently to discuss these issues on a request from President Bzhania. During the meeting in Sukhumi, the officials concluded that their offensive against illegal cryptocurrency mining hasn’t radically changed the situation in Abkhazia. Akhra Gagulia, head of the Gudauta branch of the region’s state-owned power distribution company, Chernomorenergo, announced that the joint raids with law enforcement agencies will continue but stressed the task requires a lot of work and constant monitoring. He also warned that the effort to prevent illegal connections of mining facilities to the grid is an endless one. Earlier this year, reports came out that Abkhazia was holding talks with Russia to solve the problem with its electricity shortages. The Minister of Economy Christina Ozgan said at the time that Abkhaz authorities plan to organize additional supplies from the Russian Federation and even set up facilities where miners can install their equipment as the government wants crypto farms to be legally connected to the grid. Do you think Abkhazia can turn into a crypto mining-friendly destination if it overcomes its power deficit? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. View the full article

MetaWars is a highly immersive multiplayer strategy game. With an infinite universe that is established in a digital metaverse, players can use a wide variety of NFTs to determine the journey they take in-game. MetaWars allows players all around the world to earn through gameplay, “adopting blockchain into the thriving gaming industry”. The Booming Game Industry The global gaming industry market size is flourishing with a staggering 48% on mobile game returns in 2020. With the rising popularity of the gaming industry, investors are searching for blockchain-based games to play-to-earn and experience state-of-the-art innovations. MetaWars hopes to provide a highly addictive NFT gaming experience for everyone to enjoy and gain profits from interactive challenges and quests. Introducing MetaWars MetaWars is a futuristic sci-fi strategy game with a multi-layered, critical tactic battlefield, allowing players to monetize from the game’s war economy. Players can picture themselves in a realistic space exploration with resources that they can conserve and use. Through MetaWars, everyone can create a growing industry with power to control the game’s metaverse. MetaWars enables cooperation with various game commanders to revolutionize the galaxy in different missions. The play-to-earn gaming ecosystem would allow players to have fun while earning NFTs and collecting limited edition robots through various auctions. MetaWars focuses on space exploration, giving users the opportunity to discover different galaxies, unlock mysteries, and protect valuables from enemies. The challenges allow players to stake, play-to-earn, and collect NFT collectables. The earnings will enable them to earn MetaWars’ token ($WARS) and the governance token. The gameplay also aim to allow players to widen their army with unique ships, classes and various optimization options. Players can combine modules, weapons, devices and equip perks, helping their characters level up their strength, rank up and receive amazing rewards across the metaverse. Roadmap Q3, 2021 — MetaWars will focus on the preparation and planning such as verifying ideals, building the game and connecting with advisors. Q4, 2021 — The team will announce its Dapp Launch, IDO listings , staking and NFT auction. Q1, 2022 — The company will be releasing more elements and properties for the warriors with a new PVE platform and NFT Marketplace. Q2, 2022 — MetaWars will focus on exploring unity gameplay and PVP gameplay. With exciting gameplay features and an interactive world full of imagination, MetaWars will revolutionise the crypto industry NFT gameplay. To follow them on their journey, follow their social media channels below! About MetaWars MetaWars is a strategy, multiplayer game with multiple universes that is built in a digital metaverse on blockchain technology. MetaWars enables worldwide users to choose different gameplay paths with NFTs. The platform is packed with immersive battles that can be used to gain digital collectibles to monetize from and earn profits. MetaWars is committed to adopting blockchain into the thriving gaming industry, revolutionizing the great world of NFTs. Social medias: Website | Twitter | Telegram | Reddit This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Recently a student from the University of Kent in London was robbed at knifepoint for his bitcoin. After eight thugs stormed his dorm room and demanded that he reveal his crypto credentials and passwords, the student was forced to leave the campus and he moved back home. Freshmen College Student Loses Bitcoin in an On-Campus Mugging A recent report shows that a college student who started the year as a freshman was robbed at the University of Kent, a school located in the historic city of Canterbury. The student’s mother details that five days before starting his course, her son started to talk about cryptocurrencies with a friend from the school. “They were just having lads’ talk. [Then] the conversation turned to [finance] and the friend started talking about cyber currency,” the student’s mother explained. After the discussion, the boy’s friend alleges that the student brought eight friends from East London to visit the student’s room and he instantly “knew he was in trouble,” his mother declared. The student says that his bitcoin stash was worth around £6,000 ($8.2K) at the time he was robbed. But now that same stash of bitcoin is worth £68K ($93,000) and the gang of thugs stole £3,000 worth of his school grant money. The student then called the police and ran to the security hut and the student’s mother said the security guards didn’t go to the crime scene. The police never arrived because there were more important matters to attend to that evening. The student’s mother stressed: The only action the university took was moving him to different accommodation. He was too traumatised so he moved back home even though he had safer and better accommodation. Police Dropped the Case 8 Months Later, Mother Warns of London’s ‘Freshers’ Fishing Week’ To make matters worse, the money was never returned to the student. The Canterbury District Police Department dropped the case after eight months. The mother detailed that she was upset that the Kent security guards and police did nothing. She also warned other freshmen students that the same could happen to them. “The police commonly call Freshers’ Week ‘fishing week’ because all the criminals come down,” she said. “They know the students have got grants, laptops, and new stuff. Attacks, assaults, and muggings are quite common across the country,” the student’s mother added. The fact of the matter is, it is not wise to disclose crypto asset holdings to others, unless you truly trust them. Bitcoin muggings have been taking place for years, but there’s been an increase in crypto robberies that leverage violence to steal bitcoin or other digital assets, since the crypto economy’s massive rise in value during the latter half of 2020. What do you think about the college student that was robbed at knifepoint by eight thugs and his so-called friend? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Former U.S. treasury secretary and chief economist at the World Bank, Larry Summers, says cryptocurrency will do better regulated in a sound way instead of being treated as a libertarian paradise. Larry Summers Sees Crypto Benefiting From Strong Regulation Lawrence Summers, who served as the Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration and director of the White House National Economic Council in the Obama administration, talked about cryptocurrency regulation during an interview with Bloomberg Friday. A former chief economist at the World Bank, Summers is currently Harvard University’s President Emeritus. He was asked why regulators worldwide are “deeply skeptical” about cryptocurrencies. China, for example, has been cracking down on crypto activities. Summers began by stating that the word “crypto” suggests a “desire for secrecy with respect to large financial sums,” elaborating: When you have large financial sums happening in secret, you have risks of money laundering, risks of supporting various kinds of criminal activities, risks of innocent people being ripped off. “The truth is that we wouldn’t have a viable airplane industry if we weren’t regulating airline safety,” he continued. “We wouldn’t have the transportation system we do if we didn’t regulate automobile safety.” He added that the blockchain-based payments industry “is going to do better regulated in a sound way, rather than trying to be some kind of libertarian paradise,” noting: I think the crypto community needs to recognize that, and needs to work cooperatively with governments and if they do that. I think that this innovation can be one of the important innovations of this period. The former IMF chief economist pointed out that some people believe in the idea that cryptocurrency is “going to be some kind of a libertarian paradise where we are not going to be able to enforce bank rules, like knowing your customers [KYC], where we are going to be able to move money freely and avoid paying taxes.” Summers opined, “I think it’s a recognition that all industries need to come to that are systemic in their importance,” adding: It’s not entirely unlike the discussion of big tech companies. They need to have a regulatory framework. They don’t just need it for the protection of their consumers, they need it for the protection of themselves. In conclusion, he said, “We wouldn’t have the New York Stock Exchange as the center of the world’s stock market if we didn’t have a strong SEC,” emphasizing, “Even if people didn’t like the rules some of the time.” What do you think about Larry Summers’ comments? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Authorities in Indonesia do not intend to follow China’s example of imposing an outright ban on cryptocurrencies, a government official said, noting the country will limit itself to ensuring they are not used in illegal activities. The statement comes after local crypto exchanges registered a serious increase in turnover this year. Indonesia to Tighten Regulations Without Prohibiting Crypto Transactions The Indonesian government will not follow in the footsteps of China, which has confirmed a ban on all cryptocurrency transactions, the country’s Minister of Trade Muhammad Luthfi emphasized in comments to local media. The official added, however, that the government is looking into how to make them less prone to being used in illegal financial activities. Quoted by Berita Satu and the Jakarta Globe, Luthfi stated: We don’t prohibit it, but we will tighten the regulations. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin are currently regarded as assets and commodities in Indonesia. Their legal treatment allows residents of the Southeast Asian nation to trade the digital coins, but using them as a means of payment is not permitted. This week, the Central Bank of China stated that transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, echoing previously imposed restrictions. All related financial activities, including crypto trading, token sales, and transactions with virtual currency derivatives are also banned. The announcement, which hurt cryptocurrency markets, comes after a months-long crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading across the country. Indonesian Crypto Trading Spikes in First Half of This Year China’s reiterated firm stance on decentralized money affected crypto prices in Indonesia, too. Bitcoin (BTC) fell 7.4% on the country’s largest exchange, Indodax, to 595 million Indonesian rupiah (below $41,000) right after the PBOC notice on Friday. The price of the leading cryptocurrency by market cap has since recovered to 609 million rupiah per coin ($42,650 at the time of writing). According to the reports, Indonesian crypto trade has been flourishing in the past year and a half. Transactions on 13 domestic exchanges authorized by the Futures Exchange Supervisory Board have increased by 40% in the first five months of 2021. During 2020, the transaction volume reached 65 trillion rupiah ($4.5 billion), the quoted data shows. Meanwhile, the number of individuals involved in trading exceeded 6.5 million in May, from 4 million at the end of last year. Luno Indonesia, another major exchange operating in the country, expressed confidence it could double or even triple its customer base from the current 700,000 users. “The growth is breakneck today… Crypto is booming,” the platform’s manager Jay Jayawijayaningtiyas said Wednesday. Do you think the popularity of cryptocurrencies will continue to grow in Indonesia? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. LD Capital announced it established a 50 million US dollars FOF towards supporting high-quality blockchain funds worldwide. Besides the financial support, hundreds of the projects invested by LD Capital will be shared as resources to the participated funds with post-investment services such as strategy consulting, market growth, and capital relations to enable the outstanding blockchain projects. LD Capital FOF has invested in well-known global funds like 1kx, Kraken Ventures, Republic, Shima Capital, Big Time Eco-fund, Signum Capital, and Hero Ventures. LD Capital FOF will continue to invest global top tier blockchain funds, reach strategic cooperation with more outstanding funds, enable excellent blockchain projects, and promote the development of the blockchain industry. LD Capital is a leading crypto fund in investment and trading in primary and secondary markets, whose sub-funds include dedicated eco fund, FoF and hedge fund. Owing to industrial resources and professional investment and research team, LD Capital has successively discovered and invested more than 300 companies in DeFi/infra/protocol/NFT/Dapp/Metaverse/DAO/Layer2/GameFi fields since 2016. LD Capital has 30+ industrial experts around the world based in China, Singapore, Australia, EU and US, who worked for financial and high-tech companies like Visa, Cisco and now actively invest in blockchain companies. 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

While Pepe the frog and Doge made it into the limelight with unique and rare non-fungible token (NFT) assets, another NFT meme collection tied to the infamous 2010 meme “Wojak” has entered the fray. A new NFT collection stemming from the web portal called rarewojak.com has leveraged the notorious, old-school meme to release a compilation of Rare Wojak NFTs via the Solana network. Meet the Rare Wojak NFT Collection Wojak is an 11-year-old meme that appeared on the now-defunct imageboard Krautchan and after the picture went viral it could be seen regularly on sites like 4chan. Wojak has a number of variants. The meme is also known as “Feels Guy” as people used to comment “I know that feel bro” after posting the meme. One notable Wojak variant is the “NPC Wojak,” which became a viral visual interpretation of individuals who can’t think for themselves. Alongside “NPC Wojak,” there’s also the “Coomer,” the “Doomer,” and “Soyjak.” Just like Doge and Pepe the frog, Wojak is a popular meme among crypto proponents and the Wojak variants are shared regularly. For instance, there’s a meme of a Wojak losing all his money from investing in crypto-assets and getting the ‘feels’ from working at McDonald’s following the crypto-market dump. In that specific meme, Wojak sports a McDonald’s uniform and hat, his gray skin features crypto symbol tattoos on his arm, and he’s in tears because he has returned to work at the fast food chain’s grill. Do YoU wAnT tO bE a WaGie ForEvEr An0n? Mark your calendars Wojaks, we mint on Oct 1, 2021 – 4PM CST. See https://t.co/Y5H0OPwlgS for details. Video by @Leonardo_of_Biz pic.twitter.com/IztHHlr3iQ — RARE WOJAK (@rare_wojak) September 25, 2021 Now a non-fungible token (NFT) collection featuring Wojak has joined the thousands of NFTs circulating around the blockchain ecosystem. The project comes from the website rarewojak.com and the team’s official Twitter handle is called “@rare_wojak.” The collection is on the Solana (SOL) blockchain and in recent times, the team has been teasing and dropping random Wojak NFTs to the project’s followers on Discord and other channels. “Attention Frens,” the official Rare Wojak NFT project’s Twitter handle said. “Do you like Wojaks? Are you an NFT enjoyer? Then say no more, you’re in the right place.” Additionally, on Discord and Twitter, the creators have been sharing previews of some of the Wojak artwork used for the NFT collection. Candy Machine Launch, Legendary Video Wojaks to Be Time-Released The collection launch is on October 1, 2021, and by utilizing Solana, the team will also use Candy Machine for 24 hours. Basically, Candy Machine is an onchain protocol that governs a fair minting process. The web portal notes that there will be “4,000 randomly generated vectorized Wojaks with 50+ traits.” Moreover, Legendary Video Wojaks are also slated to be launched and will be “time-released in the days following the sale.” “This NFT project is dedicated to ‘that feels guy,’ Wojak,” the website details. “We’ve tediously rebuilt Wojak as vectors for the crispest Rare Wojak’s on the internet. The end result is X randomly generated unique Rare Wojaks you can own, trade, and use in any way you choose. While all of the art is technically new as it [has] been rebuilt, the charm and detail of the original has been preserved wherever possible.” What do you think about the Rare Wojak NFT collection? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

As of September 25, 2021, there’s $129.3 billion worth of stablecoin assets in existence which represents 6.54% of the crypto economy. The second-largest stablecoin by market valuation, USDC, has seen its capitalization increase a great deal, rising more than $10 billion in 125 days. Since May, USDC’s Market Cap Increased by 54% In recent times, Bitcoin.com News has reported on the growth of tether (USDT) as the market capitalization of USDT is near $70 billion today as the supply increased 1,500% in five years. Following that report, our newsdesk reported on the decentralized stablecoin called DAI, which is issued by the Makerdao project. DAI’s market capitalization increased more than 800% in 12 months and today the aggregate total of all the DAI in existence is worth $6 billion. Now the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, usd coin (USDC), just recently grew significantly in a mere four months to $30.9 billion. USDC is issued by the Centre Consortium which is led by Circle Financial, and Coinbase is also a Centre Consortium member. On May 23, 2021, the market valuation of USDC was around $20 billion. Four months later, USDC’s valuation has seen $10 billion added to the project. That’s an increase of 54% since May 23, and 30-day stats indicate an increase of around 14.1%. USDC Stablecoin Market Cap Represents 1.5% of the Entire Crypto Economy USDC has been a popular stablecoin for quite some time as people use the asset to hedge against volatility, leverage the asset for decentralized finance (defi) applications, and more. At the time of writing, while the crypto economy is worth $1.97 trillion, USDC represents 1.56% of the crypto economy’s valuation. On Saturday, USDC commands around $3 billion in global trade volume. While usually, USDC has very little fluctuation because it’s pegged to the USD, it can still be $0.98 to $1.02 per token. On May 8, 2019, USDC exchanged for $1.17 per token as it was 14.6% higher that day. While tether and USDC are the kings of the stablecoin economy today, many other stablecoin tokens are moving up the ladder. For instance, wault usd (WUSD) increased by 55.2% in 30 days, celo dollar (CUSD) saw a 47.4% increase, and pax dollar’s (USDP) market valuation jumped by 26.4% last month. What do you think about USDC’s 54% increase in valuation during the last four months? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A U.S. senator has asked the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, to provide clear guidance on cryptocurrency regulation. The senator stated that in many enforcement actions, “the SEC did not identify the securities involved or the rationale for their status as securities, which would have provided much-needed public regulatory clarity.” US Senator Wants SEC to Provide Clear Guidance on Crypto Regulation Senator Pat Toomey, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, wrote a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Friday regarding cryptocurrency regulation. His letter followed Gensler’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last week. Toomey began: I write to follow up on the concerns I expressed at the hearing about the need for regulatory clarity around emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins. Noting that “For investors to benefit from a fair and competitive marketplace, regulators must proactively provide rules of the road to industry,” the senator said the SEC “has instead adopted a strategy of regulation-by-enforcement in this area.” So far, the Commission has brought more than 75 enforcement actions on the crypto industry and has imposed fines and penalties totaling more than $2.5 billion on crypto firms and individuals. At the Senate hearing, Gensler touted “the SEC’s success in pursuing crypto-related enforcement actions.” However, Toomey pointed out that “In many of these enforcement actions, the SEC did not identify the securities involved or the rationale for their status as securities, which would have provided much-needed public regulatory clarity.” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce is also concerned about the SEC’s approach to crypto regulation. She criticized her own agency in August for taking an enforcement-centric approach to crypto regulation. The senator from Pennsylvania noted that the SEC’s approach appears related to Gensler’s belief that “the probability is quite remote” that any given cryptocurrency platform has zero securities. For example, Gensler told Senator Elizabeth Warren at the hearing that the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) may have dozens of tokens that may be securities. Recently, Coinbase had to drop its plan to launch a lending product after the SEC threatened a lawsuit and the company claimed it received no explanation from the regulator. Meanwhile, the securities watchdog is in an ongoing lawsuit with Ripple Labs and its executives over whether XRP is a security. Senator Toomey emphasized: The SEC has a responsibility to do more than just provide probabilistic estimates. The senator concluded his letter by providing a list of questions he wants Gensler to answer in an effort to obtain additional guidance on crypto regulation. What do you think about Senator Toomey asking SEC Chairman Gensler to provide clear guidance for crypto regulation? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Several U.S. lawmakers see China’s authoritarian crackdown on cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, as “a perfect opportunity for American leadership on cryptocurrency.” One senator noted that it is “a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China.” US Lawmakers Comment on China’s Cryptocurrency Crackdown Following the latest news of China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency, several U.S. lawmakers have shared their views on the situation. Senator Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania said: China’s authoritarian crackdown on crypto, including bitcoin, is a big opportunity for the U.S. It’s also a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China. “Beijing is so hostile to economic freedom. They cannot even tolerate their people participating in what is arguably the most exciting innovation in finance in decades,” he added. “Economic liberty leads to faster growth, and ultimately, a higher standard of living for all.” The pro-bitcoin senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, who has been trying to educate her colleagues in Congress that bitcoin is a great store of value, chimed in. Commenting on Toomey’s tweet, she wrote: “Gradually, then suddenly. Closer to the ‘suddenly’ phase by the day. Keep up the education on the Hill. It’s spreading.” Congressman Tom Emmer from Minnesota opined: “Digital. Authoritarianism. China is forcing its citizens away from decentralized currency and onto the digital yuan so the CCP can track all money movements. You fear Big Brother? Then you should also fear what the Fed might be designing.” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently said that the Fed will soon publish a discussion paper on a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Emmer further stated: Open. Permissionless. Private. If China bans it, you know it’s something worth fighting for. U.S. Representative Warren Davidson from Ohio described: “America has an incredible opportunity to protect personal digital wallets, embrace true distributed ledger technology, and strengthen our advantage over China’s authoritarian Communist Party.” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is trying to make his city a bitcoin hub, stressed: “China banning bitcoin is a massive mistake with impacts that will be felt for generations. Their loss is our gain and America can and will lead the future by providing a clean power home for bitcoin miners and all who are building on/with/for bitcoin.” Congressman Patrick McHenry from North Carolina concurred with the mayor of Miami. “You’re exactly right Mayor Francis Suarez,” he replied to the mayor’s tweet, emphasizing: China’s decision to restrict access presents a perfect opportunity for American leadership on cryptocurrency. Do you agree with these U.S. lawmakers? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A court in Tatarstan has extended the detention of Kirill Doronin, founder of Russia’s largest Ponzi scheme in recent times, Finiko. Doronin will spend at least two more months in custody as authorities fear he could hide from law enforcement. Ilgiz Shakirov, vice-president of the crypto pyramid, remains under detention as well. Finiko Mastermind Doronin Denied House Arrest Vakhitovsky District Court of Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, has decided to keep the two most prominent figures of the Finiko crypto pyramid in custody. This week, the court announced it has extended the detention period for Kirill Doronin, who established the Ponzi scheme in December 2018, until Nov. 28. Finiko defrauded hundreds of thousands of investors before it collapsed in July this year when he was arrested. Three lawyers representing Finiko’s founder asked judicial authorities to place Doronin under house arrest, insisting he has to look after his wife, pregnant with their third child. The court, however, rejected their plea, citing the severity of the crimes he is accused of as well as the risks of him hiding from investigators, exerting pressure on witnesses and engaging in other criminal activity. Judges also pointed out that he has a Turkish passport and does not reside at his official address. Quoted by local news outlet Realnoe Vremya, Doronin, an Instagram influencer associated with other Ponzi schemes in the past, admitted he was well aware of the risks he was taking “as a person who most often talked about the ‘Phoenician’ project in this country.” He insisted that the analysis of the investigation materials shows his role “was not dominant in the management of the assets” and stated: I intend to understand what is happening, and why exactly I am accused of embezzlement. With promises of extraordinarily high returns, Finiko lured investors from Russia, Ukraine, and a number of other countries in the region and beyond, including Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Hungary, Austria, Germany, and the United States. Over 3,300 complaints have been filed so far. According to a report by Chainalysis, the Ponzi scheme has received over $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in less than two years of existence. Crypto Pyramid ‘Vice President’ Ilgiz Shakirov Remains in Custody Besides Doronin, authorities in Tatarstan arrested the crypto pyramid’s “Vice President” Ilgiz Shakirov this month, a businessman from the city of Kazan who rose to the high rank in the phantom entity after allegedly attracting 100,000 people to the Ponzi scheme. On Wednesday, the Vakhitovsky District Court extended his detention until the last Sunday of November — the same date given to Doronin. Law enforcement in the Russian republic also detained two women, members of the crypto pyramid’s team. Dina Gabdullina, another “vice president”, and Lilia Nurieva, who achieved the status of a so-called “10th star” in the Finiko hierarchy, are suspected of enticing investors to send over $10 million to the scam through multi-level marketing techniques. International arrest warrants have been issued for another three co-founders, Zygmunt Zygmuntovich and Marat and Edward Sabirov, who managed to leave Russia before the investigation began in late July. According to media reports, court authorities have allowed investigators to seize control over 12 real estate properties belonging to Zygmuntovich and Kirill Doronin. What are your thoughts on the latest developments in the Finiko case? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador has been one of the biggest events in the cryptocurrency world this year. However, Nayib Bukele, president of the country, has taken a course of action many consider mistaken. In any case, the Bitcoin Law has put Bitcoin in the global spotlight as a potential engine for financial change in the Central American country. Bukele’s Bitcoin Law Barges In When President Nayib Bukele announced he would push to approve a law declaring bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador, he might not have expected to set in motion all of the events that have happened as a consequence of that decision. Be it for people that approve of this decision, or citizens that are not comfortable with it (most Salvadorans, according to some polls), bitcoin has become a part of the political panorama in the country. As such, it is being harnessed by political agents as a very important part of Bukele’s mandate. The irruption of bitcoin, a totally external element, into Salvadoran politics, has caused a shift that might not be completely favorable to the government after all. Bukele, who was often hailed as an outsider, elected as a result of the anger that citizens had for career politicians, had succeeded in maintaining this support due to his actions against criminal actors. Often, protests against him were small events, only gathering dozens of people. But bitcoin and other happenings changed this, powering rallies against the government with massive attendance. On September 15, the biggest protest against Bukele’s government brought together thousands of people, marking a clear departure from the little demonstrations of discontent he had faced thus far. This is unlikely to affect his government in the short term, as polls suggest he still has an 80% approval rating, but it does make a dent in his record as the people’s leader. Not Completely Adopted Yet While everyone saw the pictures of fast food chains accepting bitcoin as payment, the truth is that bitcoin is still far from being accepted universally in the country. And the government is in part responsible for this. A citizen has reported on the inability to pay for a government-related certificate with bitcoin, something that supposedly is very common in some areas. According to some reports, this scene is playing out frequently in regard to other government functions where the law has still not been adopted, and people cannot pay with bitcoin. Lines and lines in every Chivo ATM of people selling their bitcoins for USD. Yeah, but Bitcoin was a sucess in El Salvador #Bitcoin #ElSalvador @Bitcoinbeach pic.twitter.com/JJ3B3qYSFm — Florence S. Olivares  (@laflorenceo) September 23, 2021 Long Lines to Exchange Bitcoin for USD Salvadorans also don’t seem to be much enthusiastic about bitcoin adoption in the country. There have been reports of long lines of people withdrawing the $30 dollars in BTC that were given by the administration to each citizen. And while the government had announced this wouldn’t be possible, Salvadorans found a way of doing it. Residents of the country discovered that sending these funds to another wallet seems to unlock the $30 for withdrawal, without having to spend it via the state-created Chivo wallet as bitcoin. This is reportedly the cause of the long lines to withdraw fiat dollars at several Chivo wallet cashiers in the country. According to some reports, the mass of Salvadorans still don’t understand what bitcoin is or its use cases, and in this regard, the government has a big job in educating its citizens about the true value of bitcoin. What do you think about the state of El Salvador after declaring bitcoin legal tender? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Central Bank of Bhutan, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA), has partnered with Ripple to start testing a model of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) using Ripple’s technology. The test will be using Ripple’s own CBDC private ledger, to support similar use cases. The pilot test will include retail, cross-border and wholesale payments for the proposed CBDC. Bhutan Involves Ripple in CBDC Pilot Test Bhutan, a small country located in the south of Asia, is working on the issuance of a central bank digital currency of its fiat currency, known as the Ngultrum. The nation will be partnering with Ripple, the cryptocurrency and payments company, to pilot test the digital currency in different use cases. The Royal Monetary Authority (RMA), Bhutan’s central bank, will use Ripple’s technology for the tests. This pilot provides yet another example of a country approaching the digital currency world as a way of improving access for citizens to financial services. In this regard, Bhutan expects these actions to increase the accessibility of its citizenship to the financial market by 85% by 2023. Yangchen Tshogyel, deputy governor of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, stated they chose Ripple because it may allow them to use their existing infrastructure. Tshogyel stated: Ripple’s groundbreaking technology will allow for the experimentation of a CBDC with our existing payments infrastructure — while ensuring efficient and cost-effective cross-border transfers. Ripple and CBDCs While Ripple has been touted as the go-to platform for remittances and bank-related applications — and even as a SWIFT replacement of sorts — this is the first time it has been involved in a test of a CBDC. However, this test is not using Ripple’s public ledger. The test is taking advantage of another Ripple technology called CBDC private ledger, which was introduced by the company in March. The private ledger is powered by Ripple’s own consensus, which is based on proof-of-stake, and according to the company supports tens of thousands of operations per second with negligible fees, suitable for massive payment operations. James Wallis, VP of Central Bank Engagements at Ripple, stated: We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with the RMA on its CBDC agenda and foster our shared values in creating a more sustainable, accessible, and financially inclusive reality. Bhutan now joins other geopolitical regions like China and the EU in actively researching central bank digital currencies for implementation. What do you think about Bhutan testing a central bank digital currency? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Non-fungible token (NFT) assets have taken the world by storm in 2021 and three current projects in the NFT universe have seen sales stretch into the billions. Statistics show that the NFT marketplace Opensea, the blockchain NFT game Axie Infinity, and the digital collectible series Cryptopunks have collectively captured over $10 billion in sales. Opensea, Axie Infinity, Cryptopunks Crack $10 Billion in Sales As the end of September approaches, the combined sales of three distinct NFT projects have made more than $10 billion in all-time sales. All three projects are unique as well, as the leader in NFT sales, Opensea, is a marketplace that allows users to purchase and sell a wide variety of NFT collectibles from the Ethereum and Polygon networks. To date, Opensea has seen $6.85 billion in total sales among 452,319 traders, according to dappradar.com’s NFT market stats. Opensea has seen a monthly increase of around 74.26% as it has captured $3.78 billion in sales over the last 30 days. The blockchain game that leverages a few native tokens and NFTs, Axie Infinity, crossed the $2 billion handle this week as the project has seen an aggregate total of $2.17 billion in all-time sales among 640,376 traders. Monthly Axie Infinity records show that the game saw $574 million worth of NFT sales, down 33.79% during the trailing 30 days. Lastly, the NFT collection called Cryptopunks is also a billion-dollar NFT project as it commands $1.33 billion in sales today. There’s a total of 10,000 Cryptopunks and according to Dune Analytics, there are 2,980 unique owners (addresses) that own a Cryptopunk NFT. A single entity owns approximately 254 or 2.54% of the entire Cryptopunks NFT collection. Out of the $1.33 billion in sales, 4,948 traders are tallied by dappradar.com metrics. So far, the Opensea, Axie Infinity, and Cryptopunk projects have seen a total of $10.35 billion in sales. Records from dune.xyz also indicate that out of a wide variety of Ethereum-based NFT projects, there’s been $8.53 billion or 3,100,960 ether in sales. NFT projects listed include Cryptopunks, Art Blocks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Rarible, Meebits, Loot, and Superrare. The $8.53 billion was across 4,471,826 transactions and there are 6,385 NFT projects on Ethereum. What do you think about Opensea, Axie Infinity, and Cryptopunks all-time sales? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. When people talk about technology, the first thoughts are cell phones, applications, or equipment; but you rarely recall Sim Cards. Those small cards people often despise, thinking that they are only chips that you use to call or have data. Contrary to this, Sim Cards store much more information than you imagine, storing in addition to your number, contact information, chats, photos, and even financial data. Bet you didn’t know that. This is why Sim Cards have become one of the favorite targets of cybercriminals because, by squeezing them, they will be able to obtain sensitive information with which they will commit a large number of computer crimes. Faced with this situation, today people have begun to see a new trend in communications that assure privacy, security, and anonymity, it is about Encrypted Sim Cards. What is an Encrypted Sim Card? An Encrypted Sim Card is an ultra-secure chip built with state-of-the-art technology and protocols based on cybersecurity, seeking to offer security, trust, anonymity, and privacy. Thanks to its technology, you will not be able to be located, intervened, and hacked since all the information on your device will be protected and far from the reach of any malicious third party. What are the differences between Standard Sim Cards versus Encrypted Sim Cards? The first big difference lies in the calls. When you make a call with a regular Sim, this one creates a direct connection between the caller and the person who answers; which makes it easier for the signal to be picked up and intercepted by third parties. When making the call with an Encrypted Sim Card, the signal travels to the service provider server to the secure one, where it is protected before reaching the recipient. This makes it impossible to intercept the call. Additionally, Encrypted Sim Cards allow you to create random numbers for each call. Another difference is that the Encrypted Sim Cards come with the IMEI/IMSI concealment system, unlike a standard Sim; which are the identity codes of the cell phone and the Sim. By hiding them, makes it impossible to associate the Sim to a mobile device; making it impossible to obtain personal data or access location services. Additionally, Encrypted Sim Cards work almost everywhere in the world for very similar rates, so it is not necessary to obtain new cards in each country, which facilitates travel and the flow of communication with your family, friends, or colleagues. A significant item to highlight is the freedom that you have with an Encrypted Sim Card. Since you will be the one who puts together the package; without the need for contracts, plans, or cut-off dates. You will have lifetime data that you will be able to consume as you need it. Finally, an aspect to highlight is the difference between the providers of these services and conventional mobile phone operators. The last one will request personal data, contract signatures, and data policies, then your information may be used for commercial purposes, offered to third parties, and where the same company may have access to your data traffic and call history. On the other hand, the service providers of Encrypted Sim Cards do not request any type of document, personal data, or contract at the time of purchase, this offers complete security for the client. In conclusion, having an Encrypted Sim Card is synonymous with protection and privacy. Sim Encriptados, a sim that turns you into a ghost on the web and allows you to communicate in more than 200 countries The Sim Encriptados is one of the best Encrypted Sim Cards on the market that is offered by the international company Encriptados.io, an expert company in secure communications. In addition, having the best encrypted cell phone brands in the world, and encrypted applications centered the ground for them to launch their Encrypted Sim. That offers excellent features and quite affordable prices for any individual or organization. The Sim Encriptados works in more than 200 countries around the world without being able to be located, intervened, or hacked. It is compatible with any Android, IOS, Windows, or BlackBerry device, just install it to start enjoying all its benefits. You can buy it with your favorite means of payment, including cryptocurrencies, and recharge it from wherever you are easily and quickly. While you are using it, the balance never expires, so you will be able to take as long as you want to consume your Sim’s resources, without worrying about contracts or cut-off dates. Are you interested in improving the cybersecurity of your devices, protecting your transactions, and becoming a ghost on the network? Then you must have the Sim Encriptados. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encriptados_english/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Encriptados.io This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Six days ago, the securities regulators from New Jersey and Texas cracked down on the cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius. Additionally, the Alabama Securities Commission joined in and filed a cease and desist order against Celsius. Now the state of Kentucky is following suit and has filed a cease and desist order against the crypto lending platform. Kentucky Sends Cease and Desist Order to Celsius Four states in the U.S. have an issue with the cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius and the company’s interest-earning accounts. The same issues have affected the crypto lender Blockfi as well, as multiple states sent orders to the company over its interest-bearing accounts. After New Jersey, Texas, and Alabama cracked down on Celsius, Kentucky is now telling the firm it needs to stop “soliciting or selling” its interest-bearing accounts to Kentucky residents. Similar to the rest of the state regulators from securities departments, Kentucky’s regulator believes the Celsius interest-bearing accounts are securities. The cease and desist order reviewed by Bitcoin.com News notes: The department has become aware that the company is offering securities in the form of investment contracts in exchange for the deposit of assets with the company. These investment contracts allow passive investors to earn profit in the form of interest on the assets deposited with the company, and qualify as securities under the Act. Securities Watchdogs Believe Crypto Interest Bearing Account Users ‘Are Subject to Additional Risks’ Unlike Blockfi, the Celsius Network has not used Twitter or its blog channel to address the allegations from state regulators. While the co-founder of Celsius recently discussed issues with Facebook authentication methods, the Kentucky cease and desist order had not been brought up, at least at the time of writing. Kentucky’s securities watchdog believes “Celsius investors are subject to additional risks.” All four states are using similar arguments and claim the same risks are involved with Celsius accounts. Blockfi also had issues with regulators in New Jersey and Vermont, Texas, Alabama, and Kentucky. Moreover, state securities regulators may crack down on other crypto platforms that offer digital currency accounts that bear interest. When a Bloomberg reporter reached out to Celsius for comments about Kentucky’s cease and desist order, the firm did not respond back. However, when the reporter contacted the firm last week, a Celsius spokesperson said the firm “was disappointed that the actions had been filed and disagreed with the allegations.” What do you think about the issues the Celsius Network now has with Kentucky and three other state regulators? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On September 21, former Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen published an interesting blog post about “a possible [Bitcoin] future.” The blog post details a theoretical situation for the Bitcoin network in 2061, where most [bitcoin] transactions don’t happen on the [Bitcoin] network. A Theoretical Look at $6 Million Dollars per Bitcoin and the Year 2061 Following Satoshi Nakamoto’s departure from Bitcoin in 2010, for a few years, Gavin Andresen was considered the software’s lead maintainer after Nakamoto left him the keys. In 2011, Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn also claims he received an email from Satoshi which said that the blockchain inventor “moved on to other things” but also added, “It’s in good hands with Gavin and everyone.” However, Andresen is not the lead maintainer anymore, and has not been an active Bitcoin Core developer in years. Censored on Reddit r/bitcoin (I think, but maybe I’m just not looking in the right place) — Gavin Andresen (@gavinandresen) September 22, 2021 In the past, Bitcoin.com News covered Andresen’s opinion concerning Ethereum’s Tornado mixing protocol and wallet privacy in general. Andresen also discussed the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network in January 2018 in a proposal he wrote called “Storing the UTXO as a bit-vector.” In more recent times, after the Tornado mixing blog post, Andresen shared his opinion in a blog post called: “It’s not about the tech (yet?)” Then, on September 21, 2021, Andresen once again has something to say about the Bitcoin (BTC) network. The former Bitcoin Core developer said that people should “take this as a little piece of science fiction,” however, he further added, “of all the possible futures I think this has as good a chance of any of happening.” “Imagine: it is the year 2061,” Andresen writes in his latest blog post. “The BTC price is six million US dollars– equal to about a million 2021 dollars because of inflation. Miners are being rewarded 0.006103515625 BTC per block, plus transaction fees of about 5 BTC for 4,000 or so transactions ($7,500 per transaction). But most BTC transactions don’t happen on the BTC network. Most BTC is locked up in multisignature outputs secured using multiparty computation and mirrored on another chain as ‘wrapped’ tokens,” Andresen adds. The blog post further stresses: People moved their BTC either because they want faster transactions, lower fees, more privacy, or want to invest their BTC in decentralized financial stuff. Or maybe all of the above. The transactions that do occur on the main BTC network are high-value, mostly between super-whale-size holders (centralized exchanges, central banks, and the decentralized multiparty computation addresses that hold all the wrapped coins). Andresen: ‘The Possibility of Zero Bitcoin Circulating on the Bitcoin Network’ Andresen’s theory could very well happen and there currently is a lot of wrapped or synthetic bitcoin (BTC) being used on other blockchains. Dune Analytics shows the number of BTC leveraged via Ethereum is 269,642 BTC across seven different projects. The Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) project commands an aggregate total of 205,921 of those coins at the time of writing. Andresen continues his theoretical post by saying the super whales take hold of the network forever. “These whales maintain the BTC network forever,” Andresen writes. “They are the miners and the transaction creators; they don’t care how high transaction fees go, because they receive as many fees as they pay. In the year 2100, the whales notice that the mining reward is basically zero, and there are fewer and fewer transactions happening on the slow, expensive, zero-privacy BTC network. So they decide to simplify and save money by shutting it down,” the former Bitcoin developer adds. Andresen’s blog post goes on: One by one, they shutdown the ‘bridges’ that move BTC between chains. Then they burn any BTC locked on the BTC chain by sending it to the 0x000… address, to make sure nobody can ever spend it on the BTC network. Eventually, there are zero new BTC being produced on the BTC network, and zero BTC circulating on the BTC network. There is nothing left to secure, and the chain stops. Are Sidechains Competitors or Will They Help Bitcoin Scale? Andresen concludes that roughly “20-or-so million BTC” will circulate on other blockchain networks. “Valuable because there are a limited number of them and because BTC was the first scarce digital asset,” Andresen deduces at the end of his blog post. Interestingly, the topic is being discussed in recent times, but not necessarily stemming from Andresen’s blog post. By not actually settling anything in a discrete way. I am not attacking Bitcoin, I am attacking Bitcoin misconceptions. Don't be upset, learn. — John Carvalho (@BitcoinErrorLog) September 24, 2021 For instance, on September 24, the bitcoin pundit John Carvalho, otherwise known as “bitcoinerrorlog,” said: “Good morning, sidechains compete with Bitcoin, not scale it. (They also don’t actually exist.)” Carvalho followed up his tweet with the following opinions: The original idea and design of a two-way peg was never achieved They should be called anchorchains or something They are like shitcoins that compete for transactions instead of as money. They do not reduce sh**coin usage They are not ‘on’ Bitcoin Although, not everyone agreed with Carvalho’s opinion about sidechains. The bitcoin (BTC) proponent John Light shared his opinion about Carvalho’s statements: “Good morning, sidechains that use BTC as the native asset and pay bitcoin miners for security don’t compete with bitcoin,” Light tweeted in response. “Even if sidechains that use BTC as the native asset didn’t pay bitcoin miners for security, they would be no less competing with bitcoin than, say, Lightning which siphons fees away from miners to LN routing nodes,” Light added in his Twitter thread. Light also shared a paper called “Scaling bitcoin with sidechains” and concluded: Sidechains also help scale bitcoin. What do you think about Gavin Andresen’s recent theoretical blog post about the Bitcoin network in the future? What do you think about the conversation between the bitcoin proponents John Carvalho and John Light? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have until midnight on Friday to register with financial authorities in order to continue operating legally. Only 10 digital asset trading platforms have already submitted their documents to the Korean anti-money laundering body. Compliance Deadline for New Korean Crypto Regulations Expires Friday Registering with Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is a key requirement for both local and foreign crypto exchanges providing services to Korean investors under the tougher new regulations coming into force after Sept. 24. A total of 10 out of dozens of coin trading platforms have so far filed applications with FIU, the anti-money laundering division of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The group includes Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Flybit, Yonhap reported, quoting the body on Friday. South Korea’s revised Special Funds Act, which introduces the stricter rules, took effect on March 25 and will be enforced now, after a six-month grace period. According to its provisions, digital asset exchanges also need to obtain an Information Security Management System (ISMS) certificate from the Korea Internet and Security Agency. Financial officials have announced that 28 out of 66 exchanges have acquired the certificate up to this point. Cryptocurrency exchanges are also required to partner with domestic banks on the issuance of real-name bank accounts. If they don’t do that, they will not be able to offer trading pairs with Korean fiat currency. Only the top four platforms – Bithumb, Upbit, Coinone, and Korbit – have secured real-name account deals with commercial banks as the financial institutions fear exposure to crypto-related risks like money laundering. Mid-size exchanges such as Flybit, Coredax, and Foblgate are suspending Korean won pairs, the report notes. While the exact turnover on these and smaller platforms is hard to estimate, market observers quoted by the Korea Herald have said that they account for between 5% and 7% of the total amount of cryptocurrency traded in the Korean market. In light of the upcoming regulations, some exchanges have also delisted certain “high-risk” coins. As Bitcoin.com News reported earlier this week, around 60 cryptocurrency exchanges are expected to discontinue all or some of their services targeting Korean investors. At the time, only Korea’s largest crypto trading platform, Upbit, had been licensed to conduct business in the country after the Financial Intelligence Unit accepted and reviewed the report filed by its operator, Dunamu Inc. Cryptocurrency exchanges that don’t submit the necessary documents such as a written intent to do business by the end of the day will be forced to close down, the national public broadcaster KBS reported, quoting the FSC. Operators that fail to comply with the new rules but continue their activities without a license face up to five years in prison or fines of up to 50 million won (over $42,000). Do you think more cryptocurrency exchanges will be able to meet the new Korean regulatory requirements in the future? Share your expectations in the comments section below. View the full article

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, published a Q&A to its website which said that Chinese citizens participating in virtual currency exchange offshore is “considered illegal financial activity.” The PBOC also reiterated comments it had made in the past stressing that “financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions” cannot process crypto payments. China’s Central Bank Shakes Crypto Markets The cryptocurrency economy shuddered on September 24 after China’s central bank once again said decentralized virtual currencies are not welcome in the country. The PBOC has been saying things like this since 2013 and then four years later, they banned crypto exchanges operating domestically in 2017. In 2021, as the crypto economy reached new heights in value, the Chinese government cracked down on bitcoin miners operating in the country. This caused Bitcoin’s global hashrate to plummet a great deal and many Chinese miners migrated to other regions. Today's China news is the PBoC publishing a detailed Q&A with what seems to be mostly old news. This was taken up by the likes of Bloomberg who incredibly broadcast it as "the toughest blow yet to the trillion-dollar industry". https://t.co/C3Cw0QAenN — Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) September 24, 2021 Now China’s central bank is warning the citizenry of “illegal” behavior when it comes to cryptocurrency use. The PBOC posted a Q&A to the central bank’s website which declares virtual currency exchanges offering services to domestic residents are illegal and will be investigated. “Overseas virtual currency exchanges that use the internet to offer services to domestic residents is also considered illegal financial activity,” a rough translation of the comments noted. The translation also said that employees working for these international exchanges will be investigated. The PBOC further added: Financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions cannot offer services to activities and operations related to virtual currencies. China’s Seventh Warning, ‘Onchain Fundamentals Still Indicate That Bull Market Continuation in Q4 Is Likely’ Meanwhile, prior to the news from China, the crypto economy was in the midst of rebounding from the last downward slide after the initial Evergrande scare. In a note sent to Bitcoin.com News, the executive director at crypto/digital assets hedge fund ARK36, Ulrik K. Lykke, noted that this is the seventh time the Chinese government has cracked down on bitcoin. “Yet again, the Chinese government has cracked down on Bitcoin. Since 2013, it has done so at least seven times now – and twice this year already,” Lykke stressed. “While each time this happens, the markets react with a price drop, each time the effect is smaller and more short-lived. The ‘China bans Bitcoin’ story has gained almost a meme-like status in the Bitcoin community because of this. Investors should be careful not to make emotional decisions based on this trending news story as onchain fundamentals still indicate that bull market continuation in Q4 is likely.” now all the poor people will panic sell rich people will buy it up then the value will skyrocket again leaving poor people holding the bag https://t.co/7oKtGpUgDd — Tim Pool (@Timcast) September 24, 2021 Ballet Founder Bobby Lee: ‘Not the Last Nail in the Coffin’ Bobby Lee, the founder of one of China’s first bitcoin exchanges and the cold storage card firm Ballet, said that the PBOC warning from China is not the end. “Don’t panic: China has just banned bitcoin again. This time, the ban targets trading on offshore exchanges (using VPN), as well as using local agents or OTC services to exchange from CNY to & from USDT. As bad as this may sound, it’s actually NOT the last nail in the coffin,” Lee remarked on Twitter. when my friends ask me about china ban all i can say is “ah that happens all the time” — Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) September 24, 2021 George Zarya, CEO at digital asset prime brokerage and exchange Bequant discussed the subject with Bitcoin.com News on Friday as well. “China has been known to go to extremes with either very assertive statements and prosecutions to complete radio silence,” Zarya told the Bitcoin.com newsdesk. “This time the point was made very clear that China will not support cryptocurrency market development as it goes against its policies of tightening up control over capital flow and big tech. For the institutional crypto industry, it won’t change much as those who could leave already left and those who couldn’t have either closed or gone under the radar. The retail market most likely has gone under the radar and will continue to support market volumes,” the Bequant executive added. What do you think about China’s latest statements about bitcoin and virtual currency exchange? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article