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Blockchain developers can find it very daunting to attract an audience these days, when so many new ventures are hitting the market at an ever increasing pace. This is why Smart Marketing Token stepped up to help projects with promotion, so they can reach all their goals and spread the word about blockchain technology around the globe. SMT Is Building on the Success of Student Coin Smart Marketing Token is a tokenized marketing agency that will be responsible for promoting tokens created on the Student Coin Terminal. SMT will be providing promotional services for ICO, IDO, and IEO. All of the assistance will be billed based on the commission from the generated net profit. All ICOs Launchpads that will be listed on Student Coin Terminal will be promoted by SMT, and the service will cost just 3% of the total net profit raised in funding on STC Ecosystem. If you are not yet familiar with this ecosystem, Student Coin is a platform that allows users to easily design, create, and manage personal, corporate, NFT, and DeFi tokens. STC raised more than $21 million in its ICO on April 22, 2021, and ranked within the top 500 crypto on the coin rankings. Wojciech Podobas, the CEO and Founder of Student Coin, now also serves on the Smart Marketing Token Advisory Board. This will ensure that SMT tokens are set to gain a lot from the experience and expertise developed by the success of Student Coin. SMT has a growing list of partners in addition to Student Coin, which includes: Coinzilla – an initiative to promote the continuously expanding crypto niche; Lean Token – the currency for Lean and Continuous Improvement Practitioners; Coinranking – Provider of the freshest data about cryptocurrency; Dextools – Real-time data analysis service; and Coincodex – Provider of the freshest data about cryptocurrency and AI trading. One of the long term goals of Smart Marketing Token is to build a platform on which projects will be able to automatically purchase marketing services that will be done by freelancers 24/7 in an exceptionally fast time. This will include everything needed for promotion such as buying traffic, creating high-performing banners, SM promotion and more. Another goal is to also build an educational platform, available only for SMT Token holders to share knowledge and find tips and tricks from marketing experts. The Best Way to Buy SMT Tokens Every quarter Smart Marketing Token will give the community of SMT holders an opportunity for their voices to be heard. They will be able to choose and vote with their coins on the project that they want SMT to promote. The more SMT they hold, the stronger their voice will be. This element will have an impact on the SMT token price, the better the project that the community chooses, the higher the price will rise. At some point of the project, it is also planned to introduce the buyback and staking program. SMT Token buybacks will be performed using part of the funds raised from B2B clients and will be distributed via SMT Token stakers. Smart Marketing Token launched SMT on August 2, 2021, for community members and the public to purchase tokens. The event will run until October 31, 2021, and will be divided into 100 phases. Each phase has a target cap of $20,000, with subsequent phases attracting a 1% rise in SMT value. For now, the team has already collected more than $700,000 via the event. The SMT team is fully transparent in its activities and operates under the regulations of the European Union. To learn more about the project visit SmartMarketingToken.com right now. You can also purchase SMT Tokens through the website – the easiest way to buy SMT using your credit card, Coinbase or Metamask wallets. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Fintech firm Centbee recently announced it has successfully completed the testing of its cross-border remittance application, Minit Money. The testing of the application was carried out within the framework of the South African Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG)’s regulatory sandbox. Using Crypto to Enable Faster and Cheaper Remittances In a statement, the fintech firm claims its Minit Money application has demonstrated an ability to “enable foreigners living in South Africa to send money home across Africa to bank accounts or mobile money wallets at a competitively low cost.” Meanwhile, in his remarks following Centbee’s formal graduation from the regulatory sandbox, the firm’s co-founder, Angus Brown, spoke of “incredible” future growth in the remittance app market. Brown explained: We’re proud to have graduated from the IFWG’s inaugural regulatory sandbox and are aggressively scaling up our winning remittance solution. We expect to see incredible growth in the remittance app market in the coming years and are confident in our ability to bring fast, low-cost transactions to everyone. Centbee One of the First to Graduate Centbee, along with five other start-ups, was accepted into the first cohort of the IFWG’s regulatory sandbox. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, Centbee was one of the five crypto or blockchain-related start-ups that had been given the nod to test their products by the IFWG. Therefore, as part of its arrangement with regulators, Centbee would test the “regulatory treatment of crypto assets (specifically BTC and BSV) for low-value cross-border remittances between South Africa and Ghana and vice versa.” The fintech firm’s statement reveals that the start-up has “since expanded operations to include money sending from South Africa to Nigeria, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast and Uganda.” Furthermore, there are plans “to add Mali, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in the coming months,” the statement explained. What are your views on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The Central Bank of Russia has recently expanded its database of financial market players suspected of illicit activities. Several crypto companies have been added to the list along with entities bearing signs of Ponzi schemes, as well as illegal credit organizations and forex dealers. Central Bank of Russia Blacklists Crypto Platforms As part of its monitoring of the financial sector, the Central of Russia (CBR) regularly identifies illegal financial services providers and warns Russian investors about fraudulent platforms. This week, the regulator added another 105 companies to its growing list of businesses showing “signs of illegal activities in the financial market.” Among the new entries, the monetary authority has blacklisted a number of crypto companies. Most of them have been classified as resembling financial pyramid schemes. Bitflows, Bitkoresh, Bittrex-global, Crypto Invest Club, Idleminer, Miners Capital, and Money Miner fall under this category. Another entity, Bitford, has been designated as an “illegal professional participant in the securities market.” The bank reminded the public that in order to offer most financial services in the Russian Federation, providers are required to obtain a license from the central bank or register with the regulator. “If this condition is not met, then, most likely, the organization operates illegally, and consumers can be deceived,” the authority says while also warning it’s not obliged by current law to compensate victims of illegal platforms. Last month, Bank of Russia blacklisted three entities — To The Mars, To The Moon, and TTM Group — linked to the promotion of the Finiko crypto pyramid. Financial damages attributed to the Ponzi scheme, one of the largest in modern Russian history, amount to $4 billion, according to independent estimates quoted by Forklog. A report by Chainalysis revealed the pyramid received over $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in less than two years before it collapsed this summer. CBR blacklisted Finiko in February and a batch of 15 cryptocurrency projects was added in June, the crypto news outlet noted. “To suppress illegal financial activities, the Bank of Russia takes measures to block the websites of such companies, and also interacts with law enforcement and other authorized bodies, foreign regulators to apply other measures,” the authority explained. The Central Bank of Russia has continuously opposed the adoption of cryptocurrencies, issuing multiple warnings for investors. Last week, its Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov stated the bank would not support increasing access to crypto markets, insisting cryptocurrency is “highly risky and has signs of a pyramid scheme.” Earlier in September, the regulator recommended banks block cards and wallets used to transact with crypto exchangers, and in July, CBR advised Russian stock exchanges to avoid trading crypto instruments. Do you think Bank of Russia is treating companies involved in the crypto space equally? Share your opinion in the comments section below. View the full article

According to the findings of one study, nearly 91% of deaths from natural disasters recorded between 1970 and 2019 occurred in developing countries. This study adds that such a high number of deaths is largely due to a lack of early warning systems and disaster management protocols. Using Blockchain to Store Climate Data It has been shown that improvements in technology can help to lower the number of lives lost as a result of flooding or cyclones. Unfortunately for third world countries, their poor access to centralized data which is used to predict weather patterns means the number of lives lost due to natural disasters remains unacceptably high. It is this sad state of affairs that prompted individuals behind the Kanda Weather Ballon project and creators of the Telos protocol to seek an unusual solution to the problem — the use of the blockchain. Already, this project is reportedly empowering African university students to utilize the Telos blockchain to offer a viable solution for the lack of real-time and historical climate data in West Africa by building an entirely community-owned balloon network. Telos Uptime and Minimal Storage Costs Supporters of the Kanda Weather Balloon project believe that collecting data this way will enable communities to prepare for and recover from severe weather. Therefore, to learn more about this balloon project and how the blockchain makes this type of data collection cost-effective, Bitcoin.com News reached out to Nicolas Lopez. Lopez is a former software engineer with Boeing and the current chief engineer of Kanda. Below are Lopez’s responses to questions sent to him via email. Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Can you briefly tell us why weather tracking is important? Nicolas Lopez (NL): The upper air observations with in-situ sensors are important because there’s currently very little data in this regard. Weather satellites are very good at measuring values near the ground but perform poorly in the middle of the atmosphere. Most weather models need data up to 35,000 feet or so to make good predictions about rainfall and even climate. For example, we’ve seen instances where a single weather balloon launched out of Douala, Cameroon changes the initial model state by 5+ degrees Celsius 100 miles away over southeast Nigeria. Without this data, models rely on false data assumptions and perform very poorly over West Africa in particular. We are talking with weather company Climacell.org to demonstrate how only a few launch stations can greatly impact the accuracy of rainfall forecasts. BCN: How does this work and why Telos? NL: We use the Telos blockchain to store the data we collect from our launches. Most weather data is already difficult to obtain due to funding constraints by NOAA and the use of outdated data repositories. We use the blockchain because it has 100% uptime and low storage costs for small amounts of data. Also, the Telos smart contract allows us to send digital currency “mining” rewards to the launcher of the balloon in real-time. We call it “mining” because atmospheric pressure always decreases with elevation and is difficult to fake by someone on the ground… much like how bitcoin hashes cannot be faked. When the sensor measures lower pressure values, it knows the balloon has been launched and sends Telos currency accordingly. BCN: Do you have any plans of expanding this to other parts of the continent? NL: Telos has active communities in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria and they are growing. Telos was recently listed on Kucoin, which is widely used in Nigeria as an off-ramp for Telos to local currencies. Right now Kanda is working with university students in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon, but we want to expand to other parts of Africa like Kenya, because of the large amounts of rainfall near Lake Victoria. We think we could add a lot of value there as well. What are your thoughts on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Nexi, a leading European payments company, is reportedly giving advice to the European Central Bank (ECB) related to the digital euro project. The announcement was made by Nexi’s CEO Paolo Bertoluzzo, who also gave his opinion about the future of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and cryptocurrencies during the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam. Nexi Advising ECB on Digital Euro Issues Nexi, one of the biggest payments companies in Europe, is working in tandem with the European Central Bank toward the creation of a digital euro, according to statements made by Paolo Bertoluzzo, Nexi’s CEO. During an interview at the Money 20/20 conference, Bertoluzzo declared: We are engaging with the European Central Bank and contributing to the design of the future digital euro because we believe that can be a positive force in the evolution of digital payments. Nexi offers payments services for other banks, managing 41.3 million payment cards and 2.7 billion transactions each year, according to reports. Nexi also offers services for merchants and digital banking groups. As to the nature of the collaboration, Bertoluzzo stated: We’re starting to talk about a new version of cash. That’s the way they think about it. CBDCs Could Be the Future of Payments Nexi’s position is that central bank digital currencies may be very important for the future of payments, at the same level as stablecoins. What’s important about these instruments is that they offer stability merchants and users need while making any type of payment. Bertoluzzo does not see cryptocurrencies in the same light. Nexi’s CEO believes that the volatility that makes cryptocurrencies useful as trading tools is the same element that negatively affects their usability in payments. He stressed: They are clearly an asset class. But they fluctuate up and down on a daily basis based on the latest statement from someone in Silicon Valley. The EU is playing catch up with countries like China, which is already well advanced in its CBDC project, a digital representation of the renminbi. The digital euro is just starting to be investigated by the ECB, according to ECB president Christine Lagarde. This investigation phase could last two years, and the development of the CBDC would start immediately after. What do you think about Nexi advising the ECB on the design of the digital euro? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Last Friday, blockchain project the Wormhole Network launched the protocol’s ethereum solana bridge which enables users to exchange assets from both networks in a cross-chain fashion. Five days later, the Wormhole Network team announced the launch of a non-fungible token (NFT) bridge for transferring NFTs between both blockchains. Wormhole Launches Ethereum Solana NFT Bridge The cryptocurrency network Solana (SOL) has been making waves during the last few months and recently made it into the top ten crypto assets ranked by market valuation. SOL has gained more than 12% today and 30-day stats show the crypto asset is up 92.3%. Five days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on the ethereum solana bridge launched by the project the Wormhole Network. The launch of the new service allows Solana protocol participants and Ethereum blockchain users to move assets back and forth between the chains. Wormhole is following up with a new service for non-fungible token (NFT) assets held on both chains. “Today we’re incredibly excited to announce the launch of our NFT bridge between Ethereum and Solana,” Wormhole tweeted on Wednesday. “Users will now be able to send Ethereum and Solana NFTs cross-chain. This includes your favourite (wrapped) Cryptopunks, @DegenApeAcademy and @BoredApeYC and more,” the team added. The new tool the Wormhole team created opens up a “bi-directional highway for more than 6.68 million NFTs minted on Ethereum,” a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News from the Wormhole team details. Records from Solanartnft show that SPL assets (Solana-minted NFTs) have seen an aggregate total of 2,633,632 SOL in volume. Wormhole Plans to Launch NFT Verification Tool The ethereum solana NFT bridge tool can be leveraged to list a Solana-based NFT on a marketplace like Opensea. By bridging the NFT assets to Ethereum, the assets are locked and a “wrapped” version on Ethereum will exist. According to the Wormhole team, the transfer takes about five minutes and then the SPL will be controllable like any other ERC721 standard token. “Conversely, anyone can also take ERC-721 NFTs and transfer them to Solana so users can list their e.g. BAYC NFT on Solana markets,” the Wormhole Network operators explained. The Wormhole team also detailed that down the line, Wormhole developers plan to add a user interface that allows users to check which original NFT (on the original chain) is backing the asset so authenticity can be verified. Hendrik Hofstadt, director of special projects at Jump Crypto, former co-founder of Certus One, and the lead contributor to Wormhole, told Bitcoin.com News verification will be important. “Imagine a ‘wrapped/bridged NFT’ as a kind of check or claim that grants you the right to redeem the original NFT on the chain it came from,” Hofstadt said. What do you think about Wormhole’s NFT bridge between Ethereum and Solana? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Cryptocurrency addresses allegedly used by Russian exchange Suex, recently placed under U.S. sanctions, have received more than $934 million in crypto assets, blockchain analysis suggests. According to the Treasury Department, over 40% of the platform’s transactions involved criminal actors. A Suex co-founder has denied any illegal activity. Sanctioned Crypto Broker Suex Processed $370 Million of Illicit Crypto Funds, Report Taking steps to counter ransomware attacks, the U.S. Department of the Treasury set its sights on digital asset exchanges this week. As part of the measures, the Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Suex, a Russia-based over-the-counter crypto broker, which has been accused of facilitating ransomware payments and money laundering. On Tuesday, OFAC issued an updated advisory on the risks associated with ransomware and added Suex OTC s.r.o. to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. The office also published a number of BTC, ETH and USDT addresses controlled by the entity, which is incorporated in the Czech Republic but operates out of physical offices in major Russian cities Moscow and Saint Petersburg. According to a report by Elliptic, the 25 blacklisted addresses have received over $934 million worth of crypto assets. Based on OFAC’s claim that 40% of the trading on Suex involved illicit funds, the blockchain analytics company estimates that the total of crypto transactions linked to illegal activities amounts to over $370 million in fiat equivalent. Elliptic notes that with the action against the Russian exchange, the number of cases in which OFAC has imposed sanctions on activities involving cryptocurrencies has reached seven. Furthermore, the office’s list of crypto addresses linked to threat actors has exceeded 120 entries. Following the decision of the U.S. financial intelligence and enforcement agency, American companies and private individuals should not engage in crypto transactions with the sanctioned Russian broker. Restrictions apply to U.S. banks as well, which must avoid processing fiat currency transactions on behalf of Suex and clearing transfers for banks working with the exchange, Elliptic added, emphasizing: The impact could be a chilling one — effectively cutting off Suex from any downstream access to the U.S. dollar clearing system. Suex Co-Founder Rejects Allegations of Illegal Activities There has been no official reaction to the sanctions from Suex yet, but a Russian entrepreneur and executive, Vasily Zhabykin, has confirmed in a phone conversation with the New York Times that he is one of its founders. Suex, he explained, was established to develop software for the financial industry. Zhabykin denied any illegal activity and suggested his company might have been targeted by mistake. The Treasury Department has provided few details about the entity, except for two addresses in Moscow and Prague, respectively, and the exchange’s website, Suex.io. Besides Vasily Zhabykin, reportedly involved in the company are Egor Petukhovsky, Ildar Zakirov, Maxim Subbotin, Maxim Kurbangaleev, and the Czech venture capitalist Tibor Bokor, Forklog reported. Speaking to the crypto news outlet, Kurbangaleev denied direct involvement, admitting only that he and his business partners considered a partnership with the Czech-registered entity back in 2019. Petukhovsky, a Russian national, has been identified as the biggest shareholder in Suex OTC s.r.o., while Zhabykin and Bokor are believed to be its executives. An investigation by the blockchain Intelligence firm TRM Labs reveals that “Suex initially operated under the corporate ownership of an Estonian company – Izibits OU, which still holds an Estonian virtual asset service provider license on its behalf.” Izibits, which is listed as Suex’s corporate owner on its Russian-language website, is also the operator of Chatex, a Telegram bot offering crypto exchange services. The Suex.io domain is registered by the St. Vincent-based Hightrade Finance Ltd. which is the legal entity Chatex users are required to contract under in its Terms of Service agreement. What are your thoughts on the Suex case and the U.S. sanctions imposed on the Russian crypto broker? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Former Monero developer Riccardo Spagni has been released from a U.S. prison where he reportedly spent “sixty-one days in solitary confinement.” The developer’s release was prompted by the failure of South African authorities “to make a timely submission in support of an extradition request.” South African Government Fails to Submit Extradition Documents As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Spagni was arrested in the U.S. while en route to Mexico. His arrest by U.S. law enforcement had been made courtesy of a request by the South African government, which wants to extradite Spagni. However, after South African authorities failed to submit the necessary documents for the extradition hearing, the U.S. court subsequently ordered Spagni’s release. With Spagni now out of prison, his legal representatives, according to a report, are now seeking to access the documents that were used to make the arrest. “Spagni now seeks information already in the possession of the [US] Government, namely South Africa’s submission for provisional arrest,” the legal representatives explained. Once obtained, the lawyers said this information will be used to “make an informed decision about waiving extradition while out of custody and determine if South Africa’s provisional arrest request cites an arrest warrant within the treaty.” Spagni Planning to Return to South Africa Meanwhile, Spagni also confirmed via his Twitter account that he was out of jail and is now working with his attorneys to find a solution for the fraud case. Spagni said in a tweet: I am very pleased that the U.S. court has released me. I am actively working with my attorneys on a way to return to South Africa as soon as possible so I can address this matter and get it behind me once and for all. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do. Spagni’s legal troubles started after his former employer, Cape Cookies, accused him of defrauding the company of an equivalent of $98,200. This offense is alleged to have occurred between October 1, 2009 and June 8, 2011, when Spagni was an employee of Cape Cookies. After some delay, Spagni’s court appearances were finally scheduled for March 24 and April 19, 2021. However, before the commencement of the hearing, Spagni left South Africa for Bermuda, where he briefly stayed before leaving for the U.S. According to a report, Spagni and his wife are believed to have entered the U.S. on April 19, the same day he was scheduled to appear in court in South Africa. It is this failure to attend a scheduled court hearing that prompted the South African government to lodge an extradition request with U.S. law enforcement. What are your thoughts about this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

On Thursday, the pseudonymous operator of Bitcoin.org told the public on Twitter that the web portal has been “compromised.” The operator, Cobra, explained that the hackers were able to implement a bitcoin doubler scam model and stressed that the site would be down for a “few days.” Website Operator Cobra Warns Bitcoin.org Has Been Compromised The mysterious operator of the web portal Bitcoin.org, Cobra, is once again surrounded by controversy. According to the pseudonymous operator of the website, Bitcoin.org has been attacked. “Bitcoin.org has been compromised,” Cobra tweeted early Thursday morning (EST). “[I am] currently looking into how the hackers put up the scam model on the site. May be down for a few days.” The scam model Cobra speaks of is a doubler scam that attempts to entice people to deposit a fraction of bitcoin with the promise of doubling the deposit. Of course, victims who deposit funds into the doubler scam never get the double reward, as the hackers simply take all the funds after they have accumulated to something worthwhile. According to one account, the scammers were able to get $17,000 in bitcoin (BTC) while the phony page was online. Some have said that the scam wallet did not make as much money as the website displayed. “For context, 3 people have sent $100, 1 person has sent around $200, the rest(0.4 BTC) seems to have been sent as a way to make the ‘giveaway’ seem legitimate, so likely [a] scammer’s own coins,” one individual mentioned. Attack Seems to Be DNS Hijack, Cobra Complains to Cloudflare The operator behind the website nuke.asia said that the takeover was most likely “social engineering.” “It appears the domain was taken over,” Charles from nuke.asia said. “The WHOIS info was updated at the time of the hack, the nameservers + DNS changed, and if you try to visit any of the actual pages other than the index you’ll get a 404. It’s a completely different website save for the domain name.” Meanwhile, Cobra has also been tweeting to the company Cloudflare for assistance. “Bitcoin.org hasn’t been hacked, ever. And then we move to Cloudflare, and two months later we get hacked. Can you explain where you were routing my traffic too? Because my actual server didn’t get any traffic during [the] hack. @Cloudflare @eastdakota,” Cobra said. Then someone asked Cobra if his accounts were compromised. Cobra stressed: Nope, nothing. None of my accounts seem compromised. Server is fine too (it wasn’t even getting traffic during the hack). The attackers just seem to have exploited some flaw in the DNS. What do you think about Bitcoin.org getting compromised by hackers who replaced the site’s main page with a doubler scam? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The National Bank of Ukraine recognizes the benefits of endorsing crypto innovations but also fears cryptocurrencies could gain ground on the national fiat. Announcing its monetary policy guidelines for the near future, the regulator noted it’s going to defend the status of the hryvnia as the only legal tender in the country. Bank of Ukraine Won’t Let Crypto Replace Fiat Money Under the current administration in Kyiv, Ukraine has taken steps to regulate its expanding crypto space. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law “On Virtual Assets” legalizing crypto-related activities and is now working on tax amendments pertaining to cryptocurrency transactions. President Volodymyr Zelensky designated the crypto market as a “development vector” of the nation’s digital economy. Against this backdrop, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has acknowledged that innovations associated with virtual assets, or cryptocurrencies, can improve access to financial services for Ukrainians while increasing competition among market participants, and also bring investments to the East European country. The regulator supports facilitating the growth of the nascent digital currency industry. At the same time, the central bank sees certain risks in cryptocurrencies, its recently adopted “Basic Principles of Monetary Policies for 2022 and Medium-Term Perspective” revealed. According to the document quoted by Forklog, the spread of decentralized money may stimulate the outflow of funds from bank deposits into digital assets, endangering financial stability, and could increase evasion of financial monitoring. Most of all, the NBU fears that cryptocurrency can potentially substitute the national fiat money, the Ukrainian hryvnia, leading to the “emergence of a parallel monetary circulation.” To limit these risks, the authority intends to prevent any restrictions on the use of the hryvnia as the exclusive legal tender in Ukraine as it’s also preparing to issue a digital version of the sovereign currency. While noting that cryptocurrencies don’t have a significant impact on the government’s monetary policy and financial stability at present, the National Bank of Ukraine admits this is likely to change in the future. With technological progress and market expansion, growing awareness and investor interest, “the prevalence of virtual assets may increase significantly, and their price volatility may decrease,” the central bank concludes. In an interview in August, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Oleksandr Bornyakov promised Ukrainians will be able to keep, trade, and spend cryptocurrencies. The government official pointed out that although the new legislation does not permit their use as a means of payment, it will be legal to pay with crypto through instant conversion to the hryvnia. Bornyakov added he expects to see a whole new market for intermediary services allowing digital coins to be stored, exchanged, and used in payments. Do you think the National Bank of Ukraine will accept cryptocurrency as legal tender in the future? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Blockdaemon, a blockchain infrastructure provider, has raised $155 million in its Series B funding round, which will aid its expansion plans to make acquisitions in the crypto infrastructure market. The funding round had the participation of Goldman Sachs, Softbank Vision Fund 2, Matrix Capital Management, Sapphire Ventures, and Morgan Creek Digital, among others. Blockdaemon Raises $155 Million in Series B Funding Round Blockdaemon, one of the leading node infrastructure providers, has raised $155 million in its latest Series B funding round. The company, which specializes in providing node support for other companies to simplify access to blockchains, will use these funds to cement its position as the leading infrastructure provider for businesses and institutions. Matrix Capital Management, Sapphire Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Kraken Ventures, Morgan Creek Digital, and Coinfund participated in the funding round. This funding round puts Blockdaemon at a valuation of $1.255 billion, making it one of the leaders of the industry. The company has experienced a resurgence in providing its services this year with the recent bull market, and is now responsible for 10,000 ETH 2.0 validators and has more than $70 billion in staked assets. Konstantin Richter, founder and CEO of Blockdaemon, stated: This latest large infusion of capital is another major milestone for Blockdaemon and will ensure that we continue to revitalize existing financial infrastructure around the globe. Hiring and Acquisitions Coming The company plans to increase its headcount, sourcing talent from countries like Singapore, Japan, the U.K., and Germany. Also, Blockdaemon is planning to funnel these funds to make strategic acquisitions that will help it create new products and deepen the integration these have with each one of the blockchains with which they interact. Oli Harris, North America head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs, stated: Goldman Sachs is very pleased to continue our relationship with and investment in Blockdaemon as they continue to innovate for the financial services industry. We believe Blockdaemon has a key role to play in the future of blockchain and crypto adoption. Blockdaemon stepped up its game in this latest funding round, going from raising $28 million in its Series A, in which Goldman Sachs also participated, to the $155 million raised this time around. Since then, the valuation of the company has risen significantly, as well as the number of institutional customers that use Blockdaemon’s services for day-to-day operations. What do you think about Blockdaemon’s latest funding round? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The decentralized exchange (dex) platform Orca has announced the platform has raised $18 million in a Series A financing round with Polychain, Placeholder, and Three Arrows co-leading the funding. The dex platform is a Solana-based project that aims to be the “go-to swap” platform for Solana. Solana’s Orca Gets an $18 Million Capital Raise On Wednesday, the Solana-based decentralized finance (defi) service Orca revealed the team has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round. The investment, Orca says, will “jumpstart our path toward making Orca the go-to swap for the Solana ecosystem.” Solana (SOL) has seen a massive increase in value gaining roughly 5,184% in 12 months. The Solana protocol has attracted the development of all kinds of defi projects. Defi projects like Serum, Solaris, Parrot, Solrise, Dexlab, Senswap, Spiderswap, Solend, Port, Sypool, Solanax, Hydraswap, and more. At the time of writing, the Orca defi protocol has $300 million total-value locked (TVL) into the platform. Orca details that the $18 million in financing stems from Three Arrows, Polychain, and Placeholder as the co-leads. Participation also came from firms like Defiance, Zee Prime, Coinbase Ventures, Solana Capital, Jump Capital, Sino Global Capital, and Collab & Currency. “Not only is Orca responsive and affordable, but it is finance made fun, with a cheery experience, community, and broader values-based mission,” Placeholder partner Chris Burniske said during the announcement. “It’s teams like Orca that will bring crypto to the mainstream and redefine how we think of finance in our everyday lives.” Orca launched in February 2021, by the Yutaro Mori and Grace “Ori” Kwan and the project started with no outside funding. “Since then, we’ve expanded the core team to 8, spanning three continents, broad professional experience, and many hobbies,” the Orca team said. Three Arrows Executive: ‘Orca’s AMM Is a Critical Addition to the Solana Ecosystem’ The automated market maker (AMM) also has a native token called ORCA which is used for trading fees and liquidity pools on Aquafarms. Kyle Davies, the co-founder of Three Arrows believes a Solana AMM like Orca is needed. “Orca’s AMM is a critical addition to the Solana ecosystem,” Davies remarked. “We are excited by the strength of the team, performance, and their community-focused mission,” he added. While Solana has seen significant gains in 2021 and is now the seventh-largest crypto asset in terms of market cap, the network suffered an outage on September 14, 2021. Solana users were not pleased with the situation and following the aftermath, the Solana project team published an official blog post that discusses the outage in-depth with a detailed timeline of the events. What do you think about the Solana-based dex platform and AMM Orca raising $18 million from investors? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Tuesday, the bitcoin mining firm Genesis Digital Assets announced the firm raised $431 million from strategic investors. The mining company Genesis detailed that Paradigm led the multi-million-dollar funding round and one of the firm’s co-founders has joined Genesis’s board of directors. Genesis Digital Assets to Bolster Bitcoin Mining Operations in the US and Nordics The industrial-scale bitcoin mining company, Genesis Digital Assets, revealed the firm has raised $431 million in a recent financing round. The funding was led by the company Paradigm but also included participation from firms like NYDIG, Stoneridge, FTX, Ribbit, Electric Capital, Skybridge, and Kingsway Capital. Matt Huang, the Paradigm co-founder and managing partner of Paradigm explained during the announcement that he will join the Genesis Digital Assets (GDA) board. “Over nearly a decade, GDA’s team have built what we regard as the most impressive bitcoin mining operation in the world,” Huang said in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. “They have everything it takes to continue to scale their operations and make bitcoin mining even more efficient, and we’re thrilled to support their mission.” Genesis Plans to Add 8.6 Exahash Over the Next 12 Months Genesis detailed that the company’s current mining capacity right now is 170 megawatts. The megawatts are transferred into 3.3 exahash per second (EH/s) of hashpower or 2.4% of the global hashrate. Genesis details that it aims to add 8.6 EH/s in hashpower to the fleet during the next year and by the end of 2023, GDA hopes to have around 1.4 gigawatts of capacity. “As we work towards our goal of bringing 1.4 gigawatts online by 2023, the capital raised from this round will be used to expand our bitcoin mining operations in locations where clean energy is easily accessible,” Marco Streng, the CEO and co-founder of Genesis Digital Assets said. “We’re excited to have strategic investors on board and look forward to executing on our mission together.” The announcement from GDA follows the firm’s acquisition of 20,000 mining rigs from Canaan and the option to acquire 180,000 more from the publicly-listed mining rig manufacturer. The company has had a strong relationship with Canaan during the year and has already settled on a few prior mining rig acquisitions before the 20K purchase. What do you think about GDA raising $431 million to expand operations? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The host of Mad Money, Jim Cramer, is begging crypto investors to take profits on any crypto gains in their portfolios. “I’m begging you to. Don’t let it become a loss,” he said, emphasizing, “I don’t want you to lose money.” Mad Money’s Jim Cramer Advises Investors to Take Profits on Crypto Gains The host of CNBC’s Mad Money show, Jim Cramer, said Monday that cryptocurrency investors should take profits on their crypto holdings if they have any gains in their portfolios. A former hedge fund manager, Cramer co-founded Thestreet.com, a financial news and literacy website. He said: I know the crypto-lovers never want to hear me say sell, but if you’ve got a big gain as I did, well, I’m begging you to. Don’t let it become a loss. Sell some, stay long the rest, then let’s wait and see if China changes its attitude toward an Evergrande bailout. Cramer warned that the struggles of Evergrande, a major property developer in China, are likely to keep weighing on crypto markets. Evergrande also operates in other industries such as healthcare services and electric vehicles. The company has more than $300 billion in total liabilities and recently warned investors it may default on its debts. The Mad Money host explained that his crypto concerns right now start with tether (USDT). “The problem with tether is that it’s backed by various holdings and roughly half of those are commercial paper — short-term loans — and much of that is believed to be, but we don’t know, Chinese commercial paper,” he said. Cramer added: “Tether said they have no Evergrande exposure. But tons of Chinese businesses stand to get crushed by this fiasco, and they have Evergrande exposure, and that could spell real trouble if the dominoes fall here.” He warned: “If tether collapsed, well, then it’s going to gut the whole crypto ecosystem. So if you own crypto in any form and you’ve got big gains, I recommend taking something off the table.” Nonetheless, the Mad Money host emphasized that he still sees potential for cryptocurrencies to go “mainstream.” He opined: Right now, owning crypto is what’s known as a ‘crowded’ trade and I don’t want you to lose money if this space keeps getting hit by Evergrande’s contagion worries. In August, Cramer recommended that investors should put up to 5% of their portfolios in cryptocurrency. In June, he revealed that he had sold his bitcoins and bought ethereum, citing that “it’s more of a currency.” What do you think about Jim Cramer’s advice to take profits on crypto gains? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has taken actions targeting cryptocurrency exchanges “responsible for laundering ransoms” as part of the whole-of-government effort to counter ransomware. One cryptocurrency exchange has already been sanctioned along with related crypto addresses. “We will continue to crack down on malicious actors,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. US Government Targets Crypto Exchanges in Ransomware Fight The U.S. Treasury Department announced a set of actions to counter ransomware Tuesday, which include the publication of an updated advisory on ransomware and the addition of entities to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)’s list of Specially Designated Nationals. The Department of the Treasury declared: As part of the whole-of-government effort to counter ransomware, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced a set of actions focused on disrupting criminal networks and virtual currency exchanges responsible for laundering ransoms. The actions also aim to improve cyber security across the private sector and increase ransomware payment reporting to U.S. government agencies, including both Treasury and law enforcement. The announcement further notes that ransomware payments surpassed $400 million in 2020, more than four times their level in 2019. “Some virtual currency exchanges are a critical element of this ecosystem, as virtual currency is the principal means of facilitating ransomware payments and associated money laundering activities,” the Treasury stated, elaborating: While most virtual currency activity is licit, virtual currencies can be used for illicit activity through peer-to-peer exchangers, mixers, and exchanges. This includes the facilitation of sanctions evasion, ransomware schemes, and other cybercrimes. Among the actions taken was the sanctioning of cryptocurrency exchange Suex for facilitating “financial transactions for ransomware actors.” According to the Treasury, this was the first crypto exchange targeted “for laundering cyber ransoms.” All property and interests in property of the exchange “that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them,” the announcement details. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen commented: “Ransomware and cyber-attacks are victimizing businesses large and small across America and are a direct threat to our economy. We will continue to crack down on malicious actors.” She added: As cyber criminals use increasingly sophisticated methods and technology, we are committed to using the full range of measures, to include sanctions and regulatory tools, to disrupt, deter, and prevent ransomware attacks. What do you think about the U.S. government targeting crypto exchanges to combat ransomware? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

AMC Theatres chain is exploring how to accept dogecoin alongside four other cryptocurrencies. AMC’s CEO conducted a poll on Twitter and was overwhelmed by the results and enthusiasm of the dogecoin community. “It’s clear that you think AMC should accept dogecoin. Now we need to figure out how to do that,” he said. AMC Considers Adding Dogecoin to List of Accepted Cryptocurrencies Following the announcement that AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. will accept bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, and ether for payments, CEO Adam Aron set up a poll on Twitter to ask the crypto community if his company should also accept the popular meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE). AMC Entertainment Holdings is the largest movie exhibition company in the U.S., Europe, and the world. As of March 31, AMC owned or operated approximately 950 theaters and 10,500 screens globally. Aron tweeted Tuesday: I sincerely want to hear your opinion, via this Twitter Poll. By year-end 2021, AMC will take bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash for online payments. I hear from many on my Twitter feed we should accept dogecoin too. Do you think AMC should explore accepting dogecoin? According to the poll results, 68.1% of the 140,388 voters said, “Yes, for sure do it.” A further 8.6% supported the addition of dogecoin as a payment method but said they “won’t use it.” Only 23.3% said “no” to the company accepting DOGE. The CEO’s tweet was liked 14.9K times and retweeted 7.1K times at the time of writing. Among those who liked his tweet was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a dogecoin supporter who has been called the Dogefather. Musk recently revealed that he owned some DOGE. He and the NBA team Dallas Mavericks’ owner, Mark Cuban, said that dogecoin was the “strongest cryptocurrency for payments.” Commenting on Musk liking his tweet, the AMC CEO wrote: “I never thought I would see this day. Elon Musk liked my Dogecoin Twitter Poll tweet. If you happen to see this tweet too Mr. Musk, congratulations on Tesla and Spacex. I have strived to be an innovator my entire career, but you sir are the epitome of innovation above all others.” On Wednesday, Aron announced on Twitter that AMC is now exploring how to accept dogecoin. The CEO tweeted: “So Fascinating! Dogecoin Poll was by far my highest ever read tweet. In 24 hours, 4.2 million views, my most ever retweets, most ever replies. 140,000 votes 77% yes 23% no.” He added: It’s clear that you think AMC should accept dogecoin. Now we need to figure out how to do that. Stay tuned! Do you think AMC should accept dogecoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Singapore, September 22, 2021 – Alchemy Pay is now using Chainlink Price Feeds to enable users to buy crypto on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and obtain loans in leading DeFi lending platforms directly from wallets using Alchemy Pay’s ERC-20 utility token, ACH. Chainlink Price Feeds help assure users that they are receiving fair market exchange rates when purchasing assets directly via their wallets on DEXs like Uniswap, Sushiswap, and ForTube using their ACH, as well as when collateralizing DeFi loans with ACH. “It is crucial to the success of our payment gateway solution that the value of ACH is accurately shared throughout the ecosystem,” said Alchemy Pay CEO, John Tan. “The accuracy of Chainlink Price Feeds is underpinned by the robust technology Chainlink has deployed to protect against downtime and manipulation.” Since the price of assets is not a data feed inherently available on the blockchain, a solution is needed to fetch it off the blockchain (off-chain) and then deliver it on-chain to be referenced when users make transactions involving different cryptocurrencies. It’s important that asset prices reflect a volume-weighted average from all trading environments, as opposed to just one exchange, to prevent inaccuracies. Chainlink decentralized oracle networks fetch and deliver the prices, as opposed to a centralized entity. Following Alchemy Pay initial integration in 2020, Chainlink has become a key component in Alchemy Pay’s payment gateway system. In order to use Alchemy Pay’s payment facilitation services, retailers pledge ACH on the network. By collateralizing ACH, retailers are able to use Alchemy Pay systems to accept cryptocurrencies at their online and physical stores, which Alchemy Pay converts to the merchant’s required fiat currency. Transactions on the system complete in seconds at about 30% of the cost of legacy payment systems. Alchemy Pay connects with merchants through major platforms like Shopify, Binance, and QFPay, which represent more than 2 million touchpoints worldwide. Chainlink already helps secure tens of billions in value across DeFi and CeFi. Some of the benefits of Chainlink Price Feeds include: High-Quality Data — 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 removing outliers and suspicious volumes. Secure Node Operators — Chainlink Price Feeds are secured by independent, security-reviewed, and Sybil-resistant oracle nodes run by leading blockchain developers with a strong track record for reliability, even during high gas prices and extreme network congestion. Decentralized Network — Chainlink Price Feeds are decentralized at the data source, oracle node, and oracle network levels, generating strong protections against downtime and tampering. Economy of Scale — Chainlink Price Feeds benefit from an economy of scale, where increasing adoption allows multiple projects to collectively use and fund shared oracle networks to fetch commonly required datasets. This allows DeFi projects to get premium data quality and robust oracle security for a fraction of the total cost of traditional feeds. “Our hybrid crypto-fiat system enables both crypto and fiat for everyday digital payments – large or small – in a single system,” said Tan. “This requires an accurately represented ACH token moment by moment. We can depend on Chainlink for that.” 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 Alchemy Pay Alchemy Pay is the inventor of the world’s first hybrid fiat and digital currency gateway solution for businesses and investors. Alchemy Pay powers seamless crypto and fiat acceptance for merchant networks, developers and financial institutions, and powers adoption of blockchain technology by making crypto investment and DeFi services readily accessible to consumers and institutions in the fiat economy. Today, Alchemy operates in 18 countries and regions and has touchpoints with more than 2 million merchants through partnerships with industry giants such as Binance, Shopify, Arcadier, QFPay and more. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

On September 22, the team behind the Wallstreetbets defi application called Wsbdapp announced the launch of a non-fungible token (NFT) collection featuring 15,000 generative NFTs. According to the team, the NFTs provide utility like VIP access to special metaverse events and yield farming boosts. Wsbdapp Project Launches NFT Collection During the first week of September, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Wallstreetbets’ (wsbdapp) platform, which allows users to transact with decentralized finance (defi) protocols like a decentralized exchange (dex). The project partnered with the defi project Balancer a few days later and this week, the Wallstreetbets (WSB) defi project has launched a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Jaime Rogozinski, the founder of WSB and strategic partner of the Wsbdapp project details for quite some time WSB memes were given out to the public free of charge. “The Wallstreetbets community has been giving out memes for free for too long; Apple should be paying everyone royalties for rocket and diamond emojis at this point,” Rogozinski said in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. “That’s why we brought together a global team of artists, builders, DeFi pioneers and blockchain fanatics to develop an NFT experience that combines the culture and creativity the community has shown over the last year,” he added. The founder of WSB continued: We’re proud to introduce the Diamond Hands Pass NFT collection as we enter new frontiers in defi and create offerings that can help regular people own their financial futures. And cool art. Raffle Tickets and the ‘Diamond Hands Pass NFTs’ According to WSB, the NFT statistics will include: 30,000 NFT raffle tickets 15,000 Diamond Hands Pass NFTs 153 unique artwork traits 40,600,560 unique possibilities The project’s team also revealed that the genesis Diamond Hands NFT can unlock specific benefits. “There are 15,000 handcrafted genesis NFTs up for grabs, each with unique qualities and some with desirable rarities,” the WSB team disclosed. “In the interest of fairness, WSB is introducing a 30,000 raffle ticket system that allows participants to mint up to five raffle tickets per wallet. Once all tickets have been sold or the minting window closes, the draw will be chosen randomly by a computerized selection process. All non-winning raffle tickets will be refunded.” Every Diamond Hands NFT will be handcrafted generative art and Diamond Hands Pass owners get access to the members-only Discord room. NFTs will also benefit users by offering “enhanced yield farming rewards on [the Binance Smart Chain], and premium access to Wallstreetbets events.” The Wsbdapp project is not the first defi project to add NFTs to the project’s unique defi system and likely won’t be the last. Beyond collectibles, NFT concepts have been stretching into the realm of utility with concepts like VIP access, raffle tickets, discounts, and more. The NFT art was designed by the popular artist yung.lils. What do you think about the Wallstreetbets founders and Wsbdapp project launching a collection of NFTs? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

This year a great deal of popular hip-hop superstars like Eminem, Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Lil Pump, and many more have been getting into the non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles scene. On Monday, the American rapper Snoop Dogg revealed that he is an avid collector of NFTs. Snoop claims to be a pseudonymous Twitter account dubbed “Cozomo de’ Medici,” an online character known to hold millions of dollars in NFTs. Snoop Reveals His Pseudonymous Twitter Account This past Monday, Snoop Dogg revealed on Twitter that he is “Cozomo de’ Medici” an NFT collector that joined Opensea.io in August and also started a Twitter account the same month. The wallet on Opensea owns close to $17 million worth of non-fungible tokens from various NFT collections like Cryptopunks, Cosmoflowers, and Snoop Dogg cash. At the time of writing, Cozomo’s Opensea account has approximately 207 NFTs. Cozomo’s NFT account purchases NFTs regularly and the account has a variety of different kinds of digital collectibles. The Cozomo de’ Medici Twitter account (@Cozomomedici) follows 247 people on Twitter but 38,200 individual Twitter accounts follow Cozomo. The Twitter account’s bio also has a link to the Opensea account and the bio notes that Cozomo likes to “[Share] tales & insights from the wild world of NFTs.” Snoop didn’t declare ownership of the Twitter account and Opensea profile until September 20, 2021. The American rapper tweeted: “I am @Cozomomedici.” Now and then, Cozomo also speaks about NFTs on Twitter and the phenomena behind the NFT ecosystem. “Did I imagine my very 1st purchase of a “useless” jpeg would cost $2m USD?” asked Cozomo on September 2. “Absolutely not. It should have been $4m. Frens, today I share the uncensored tale of how I entered the wild world of NFTs. From 0 to 8 figures in 30 days. Grab a glass, take a seat, & hold on tight,” the Twitter account added. Cozomo Gifts an Ethereum to a Lucky Follower, Some Individuals ‘Not Pleased’ With the Dox When he doxed himself, Snoop took to the Cozomo Twitter account and gave away a single ethereum (ETH) to one of his Twitter followers. “Dear frens,” Cozomo said, “since I announced my dox, events have transpired [that] most would not believe, nor understand. What I can share is I’ve received an outpouring of kindness here on Twitter. And many say they prefer to know me as Cozomo, and no one else.” Cozomo continued: So here is what I’ve decided to do: To make this more fun, I have decided I will gift one random person who finds and shares the tweet, 1 ETH from the Medici Vault. Interestingly, Cozomo further added that some people who directly messaged (DM) the Twitter account before it was revealed, may want to delete their DMs. “Some important and powerful people have gotten word of this dox and are not pleased,” Cozomo stressed on Monday. “If we have had DM conversations I kindly and urgently ask you [to] delete them. Father made a phone call. The dox will go on.” What do you think about Snoop Dogg’s pseudonymous Twitter account and his million-dollar NFT collection? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Tuesday, the fast food restaurant chain Burger King announced the company has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) campaign called the “Keep It Real Meals” initiative. The campaign is in collaboration with the NFT marketplace Sweet and will feature celebrities like Nelly, Anitta, and LILHUDDY. Six Million Meal Boxes With Burger King NFTs The NFT marketplace Sweet has revealed a partnership with fast food giant Burger King on Tuesday. Burger King has entered the NFT fray and the new campaign is quite different from other NFT concepts. The Burger King “Keep It Real Meals” initiative will showcase QR codes tethered to close to six million meal boxes. Scanning the QR codes will unlock a digital collectible and Burger King’s announcement says “collecting them can lead to unlocking bonus NFTs.” The campaign will feature three celebrities including the American social media personality LILHUDDY, the Brazilian singer Anitta, and the American rapper, singer-songwriter, and entrepreneur, Nelly. Some of the unlockable bonuses have interesting utilities like being able to have a phone call with one of the campaign celebrities. “Guests can choose from three Keep It Real Meal boxes curated by Nelly, Anitta, and LILHUDDY, available at participating U.S. Burger King restaurants, while supplies last,” the announcement explains. “When guests scan an artist’s Real Meal box QR code, they are awarded one of three variations on one of three collectible NFT game pieces. Guests complete the artist’s set when they’ve collected the same variation of each collectible NFT game piece.” The announcement further added: Once a set is complete, guests will be programmatically granted a 4th reward-based NFT, which awards prizes ranging from 3D BK digital collectibles, Whopper sandwiches for a year, autographed swag, or even a call with one of the artists. Burger King is one of many well-known brand names that has delved into the non-fungible token (NFT) industry and cryptocurrency products in general. Brands like Oscar Mayer, Snickers, Milky Way, Axe Body Spray, Arizona Iced Tea, and more have been dipping their feet into the blockchain conversation and experimenting with different ideas. What do you think about Burger King’s NFT campaign? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Treasury Department has blacklisted Suex, a cryptocurrency broker based in Russia, for its money laundering activities. The platform is suspected of processing hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto transactions related to scams, ransomware attacks, darknet markets, and the infamous BTC-e exchange. OFAC Adds Russian Crypto OTC Exchange Suex to Blacklist The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has added Suex to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. The move, announced Tuesday, effectively prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging with the platform. OFAC also published a list of cryptocurrency addresses linked to Suex. The company behind the crypto broker, Suex OTC s.r.o., is an entity registered in the Czech Republic. However, it operates mainly from branches in the Russian Federation, including its offices in the capital Moscow and the country’s second-largest city, Saint Petersburg. It’s believed that Suex maintains presence elsewhere in Russia, the surrounding region, and possibly the Middle East as well. According to a report by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, which supported the U.S. government-led investigation, Suex (“Successful Exchange”) offers users conversion of their cryptocurrency into cash and other assets at its physical locations. It’s these services that have attracted ransomware actors, scammers, and darknet market operators that have allegedly sent over $160 million in bitcoin (BTC) to the over-the counter (OTC) crypto broker. Since launching in early 2018, Suex has received a total of more than $481 million in BTC alone, according to exchange rates at the time of transfer, and it also accepts ether (ETH) and tether (USDT) among other coins. Of that amount, almost $13 million came from ransomware operators such as Ryuk, Conti, and Maze. Over $24 million was sent by crypto scams including the Finiko Ponzi scheme, more than $20 million originated from darknet markets like the Russian Hydra Market, and another $20 million came from mixers, Chainalysis detailed. The OTC broker also got more than $82 million from “high-risk” digital asset trading platforms. According to the investigation, Suex received over $50 million worth of cryptocurrency from addresses associated with the now defunct BTC-e. Although the exchange was shut down four years ago for facilitating large-scale money laundering on behalf of cybercriminals, the funds were sent to the crypto broker after that, likely by former administrators, associates, or users. One of the alleged operators of BTC-e, Russian IT specialist Alexander Vinnik who was arrested in Greece in the summer of 2017, was sentenced by a French court last December to five years in prison for money laundering. Another Russian national, Dmitry Vasiliev, who managed BTC-e’s successor platform, Wex, was recently arrested in Poland. Earlier this week someone moved over $30 million worth of ether from a Wex wallet. What are your thoughts on the blacklisting of Russian crypto OTC broker Suex? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

South Africa’s Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJCD) has denied claims that it has received a 50 bitcoin ransom demand from hackers that attacked its systems on September 6, 2021. Reports of Ransom Demand Deemed ‘Completely Untrue’ Instead, the DOJCD insists that its tech experts, “industry partners and selected organs of state have been working hard to contain the problem and to restore systems affected by the ransomware attack.” Consequently, the department stated in a tweet that an article published by Mybroadband on September 20, is, therefore “completely untrue.” A tweet shared by the country’s Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services explained: The DOJCD would like to place it on the record that it has not received any ransom demand following the ransomware attack as suggested by an article on http://mybroadband.co.za/news/ published on 20 Sept 2021. The Mybroadband article to this effect is completely untrue. The South African tech news site Mybroadband stated that hackers behind the ransomware attack had in fact demanded 50 BTC in return for restoring access to the compromised systems. The same report added that a tech firm was subsequently “brought in to attempt to regain control of compromised systems.” Upon examining the ransomware attack, the unnamed tech firm is reported to have advised the DOJCD “to pay the ransom and [to] budget for a cloud backup system.” By agreeing to this ransom demand, the DOJCD would be able to regain control of all electronic services provided by the department. Also in its report, Mybroadband said it had asked the DOJCD for more information about the nature of the attack against its IT system and that the latter had promised to provide further feedback. Justice Department Attacked Meanwhile, some Twitter users have questioned the DOJCD’s claims that it had not received a ransom demand. For instance, one user named Ravi Singh insists that this ransomware attack will only be solved by giving in to the hackers’ demands. The user said: If you are infected with a ransomware virus, you won’t need to receive a ransom, the virus will automatically show you the bitcoin or altcoin address to pay to, to gain access to your files. It’s named ransomware for a reason. There’s no other classification or family period. Another user said this attack has exposed the ineptitude of the person that is overseeing the IT department. As a result of the ransomware attack, some of the DOJCD’s services are now being performed manually. However, the department has noted that “some functionality of the Mojapay system has been recovered and most [child] maintenance payments have been processed.” Can the DOJCD successfully regain access to its systems without paying a ransom? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Ripio, a Latin American (Latam) exchange headquartered in Argentina, raised $50 million in its latest funding round, led by Digital Currency Group (DCG). The exchange, which has a stronghold in countries like Argentina and Brazil, will use these new funds to further expand to new countries in the area and consolidate its spot as one of the pioneering companies in the crypto exchange business. Ripio Gets $50 Million in Series B Funding Round Ripio, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latam, has raised $50 million in its series B funding round, aiming to keep growing in the region. The funding round was led by Digital Currency Group (DCG), the famous New York-based cryptocurrency venture capital firm. The round also had the participation of bitcoin investor Tim Draper, Amplo (investors of Robinhood), Marcos Galperin (CEO of Mercado Libre), and Martin Migoya (CEO of Globant). These funds will help Ripio to keep growing its brand in Latam, after having acquired Bitcointrade, of the most recognizable exchanges in Brazil, earlier this year. The expansion plan of the exchange includes further cementing its position in current markets while also expanding to other countries like Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay later this year. About this, Ripio’s CEO, Sebastián Serrano, stated: This announcement is for us a natural step that allows us to continue expanding and consolidating our products in the region, with the mission of expanding access to the crypto world, building simple tools and offering quality information and resources to facilitate the path to the new digital economy. Crypto Is Still Fresh for Latam Markets Ripio wants to capitalize on how new cryptocurrency is to Latam markets. Outside of already-saturated cryptocurrency strongholds like Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil, the region seems to be an especially fertile ground for new business. Juan Mendez, brand chief of Ripio, stated the company is preparing to announce the acquisition of an exchange in Colombia. Colombia is a country where some crypto firms have made inroads, but it is still in its initial stages when it comes to crypto usage and adoption. DCG is also confident that the exchange will keep growing in the future, giving access to the cryptocurrency ecosystem to the underbanked in the region. Jason Yacavone, chief investment officer of Digital Currency Group, stated: Ripio is an important piece of the digital asset ecosystem and its work is essential to expand access to financial products throughout South America. What do you think about Ripio’s latest funding round? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Amid regulatory scrutiny worldwide, global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it will cease offering futures, options, and leveraged tokens to Australian users in 90 days. Changes Coming to Binance Australia Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced some changes to its offerings in Australia Tuesday. The exchange will cease offering futures, options, and leveraged tokens to existing Australian users. Binance explained: Effective from 2021-09-24 09:00 AM (UTC), existing Australian users will have 90 days to reduce and close their positions for these products. “Users will be able to top-up margin balances to prevent margin calls and liquidations, but they will not be able to increase or open new positions,” Binance added. “Users will no longer be able to manually reduce or close their positions after 2021-12-23 11:59 PM (UTC). Thereafter all remaining open positions will be closed.” Binance Australia has recently gone through some changes. On Aug. 30, the company announced that former Digitalx CEO Leigh Travers had joined Binance Australia as CEO. Digitalx is an ASX-listed blockchain technology company. Meanwhile, the exchange has been heavily scrutinized by regulators worldwide, including those in the U.K., Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Lithuania, Italy, and Canada. Last week, reports indicate that U.S. authorities are investigating Binance for possible market manipulation and insider trading. What do you think about Binance ceasing offering derivatives trading in Australia? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On September 19, 2021, the software developer and cofounder of Casa, Jameson Lopp, announced a new project called bitcoinpoliticians.org which sifts through Congressional financial disclosures and records them into a database. Lopp says the aim is to create “more transparency around bitcoin ownership” and so far he’s analyzed about 13% of Congressional financial disclosures. Jameson Lopp Launches Bitcoin Politician Project These days politicians owning bitcoin has become a rising trend during the last few years in contrast to the early days when bureaucrats criticized the concept regularly. There’s definitely a great number of politicians that still hate bitcoin and the crypto economy, but now lawmakers are starting to see the benefits of the technology and there’s a number of bureaucrats in a variety of countries who now own the leading crypto asset. Members of Congress and other U.S. federal leaders are required to disclose their finances to the public, as was the case with the recent scrutiny against senior Federal Reserve officials and the Fed chairman Jerome Powell. The cofounder of Casa Jameson Lopp started a new project called bitcoinpoliticians.org which attempts to record bitcoin ownership among U.S. bureaucrats. “Based upon public financial disclosures, we can know which politicians in Congress actually have skin in the game,” the website explains. “Because searching through financial disclosures can be a time-intensive process, this project’s goal is to crowdsource the work.” Lopp details in a tweet that he’s “analyzed 13% of the 538 reports” stemming from the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and the U.S. Executive Branch. Lopp is hoping that the crypto community will help finish the rest of the reports in order to have a more accurate list of bitcoin-holding U.S. politicians. “I estimate about 40 hours of labor required to research and fill in the remaining 435 Congress members’ financial disclosures on bitcoinpoliticians.org,” Lopp added on Tuesday. “A full week of work for a sole contributor, but far less if a few dozen folks lookup 10 disclosures each.” With 13% Analyzed Only One Politician Has Been Named So Far While scanning the list of U.S. bureaucrats from the Senate, House, and Executive Branch, a great number of the politicians listed have either a “no” or a question mark next to their name. This means the person either definitely does not own bitcoin by their own testimony or at the moment the politician’s financial disclosure has not yet been assessed by Lopp or community members. There is only one “yes” mark next to the politicians listed and that person is the Republican Cynthia Lummis. According to Lopp’s website, Lummis owns around $100K – $250K of bitcoin (BTC). However, Lopp’s website does mention that the Republican Patrick Toomey owns the Grayscale products GBTC and ETHE. Bitcoinpoliticians.org does disclose a few American bureaucrats who own gold like the Republican Mitt Romney who owns $250K-$500K of gold bullion. The Republican Joshua Hawley owns $1K to $15K of the Gold Trust. As Lopp’s list has not been fully analyzed it does not mean Lummis is the only bitcoin owner. When the disclosures are fully combed through, there may be a few more U.S. bureaucrats who have disclosed that they own the leading crypto asset. What do you think about Jameson Lopp’s bitcoinpoliticians.org website? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article