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The chairman of India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance explains that cryptocurrency legislation in India will be “distinct and unique.” He added, “We have to balance stability and growth but we recognize how important this whole area of crypto is.” Lawmaker Provides an Update on Crypto Legislation Jayant Sinha, a lawmaker of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, talked about India’s cryptocurrency legislation Wednesday at an event organized by the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC) of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). Sinha, who is the chairman of India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, explained that it is not possible for India to adopt the cryptocurrency policies used in advanced economies because the nation still does not have a full capital account convertibility. He clarified that India’s crypto policies will not follow the U.S., Japan, or El Salvador, the country which made bitcoin legal tender this week. The lawmaker elaborated: Our solution will have to be distinct and unique simply because of our unique circumstances. We have to balance stability and growth but we recognize how important this whole area of crypto is. Furthermore, he noted that the committee will consider crypto legislation with national security in mind, adding: “We have to be very watchful about what happens to these crypto assets and cryptocurrencies. Use of these kinds of crypto instruments in terror financing and for domestic security threats is something we have to be mindful of.” On Tuesday, a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), R. Gandhi, said that crypto must be regulated as an asset or commodity in India and governed by existing laws. He explained that “Once cryptocurrencies are accepted, rules governing commodity exchanges could apply and the coins could be used to pay for goods and services,” Bloomberg conveyed, and quoted him as saying, “Then automatically people can start buying, selling and holding.” According to a recent report, the Indian government is planning to regulate crypto assets as commodities and by use cases. Previously, there were reports of the government planning to ban all cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, allowing only central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to be issued by the RBI. Meanwhile, the central bank is planning to unveil a digital rupee model by the end of the year. What do you think about India’s approach to crypto regulation? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The parliament in Kyiv has passed legislation determining the rules for crypto-related operations in Ukraine. The law “On Virtual Assets” recognizes cryptocurrencies as intangible goods while denying them the status of legal tender. It also regulates the activities and obligations of crypto businesses. Ukraine Legalizes Crypto Activities, Defines Virtual Assets Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, the country’s parliament, has adopted the law “On Virtual Assets” on second and final reading. The legislation regulates operations with cryptocurrencies in the Ukrainian jurisdiction. Deputies passed the bill with a large majority of 276 votes out of 376 present MPs, with only six voting against the motion. The long-awaited law will enter into force after lawmakers approve amendments to the country’s tax code pertaining to the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions. The Ukrainian legislature is yet to vote on these changes, Forklog noted in its report on the development. Provisions of the new law recognize virtual assets as intangible goods, which can be secured and unsecured. However, cryptocurrencies are not accepted as a legal means of payment in Ukraine and their exchange for other goods or services will not be allowed. The law also introduces the term “financial virtual assets” that must be issued by entities registered in Ukraine. In case these assets are backed by currencies, they will be regulated by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the country’s central bank. If the underlying asset is a security or a derivative, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) will be the main regulator. Crypto market participants will be able to independently determine the value of virtual assets, open bank accounts to settle transactions, and seek judicial protection for associated rights. Service providers are required to abide by the country’s anti-money laundering regulations and prevent attempts to finance terrorism using their platforms, just like traditional financial institutions. Current Ukrainian authorities have maintained a positive attitude towards the country’s growing crypto industry, confirmed by representatives of the executive power this week. During a visit to the U.S., President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the importance of launching a legal digital assets market which he described as a “development vector” of the nation’s digital economy. Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, added the country is working to become an attractive jurisdiction for crypto companies. The draft law “On Virtual Assets” was voted on first reading in the Rada last December. After introducing a number of changes, lawmakers presented a revised version of the document in June of this year. Following criticism from various regulators, including NBU and NSSMC, the bill was once again amended with the authors taking into account concerns expressed by other government institutions. Do you think Ukraine’s business climate will improve for crypto companies following the adoption of the virtual assets law? Share your expectations in the comments section below. View the full article

A high-ranking representative of Russia’s notorious Finiko Ponzi scheme has been arrested in Tatarstan. Ilgiz Shakirov, a businessman from Kazan, rose to the rank of vice president of the crypto pyramid which is believed to have defrauded millions of investors in the Russian Federation and surrounding regions. Kazan Police Detain Finiko Vice President Police in the Russian republic of Tatarstan have detained Ilgiz Shakirov, a businessman from the capital city Kazan, for his suspected involvement in the fraudulent theft of funds in the Finiko case, Realnoe Vremya reported. The local news outlet quotes undisclosed sources familiar with the investigation. Shakirov has allegedly attracted 100,000 people to the Ponzi scheme which is one of the largest financial scams in Russia’s modern history. For his achievements, the Tatarstan native was granted the status of vice president of the cryptocurrency pyramid. Ilgiz Shakirov. Source: Realnoe Vremya According to a recent report by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, Finiko received over $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin between December 2019 and August 2021. The digital money came in 800,000 separate deposits from investors lured with promises of monthly returns of up to 30%. Chainalysis noted that while it’s unclear how many individual victims were behind those deposits and how much of the total amount was paid out to investors to keep the Ponzi scheme going, “it’s clear that Finiko represents a massive fraud perpetrated against Eastern European cryptocurrency users.” Most of the defrauded bitcoin holders are based in the Russian Federation and neighboring Ukraine, analysis of the sending addresses shows. Finiko had been mostly targeting potential investors among Russian-speaking populations in the former Soviet space before the scheme collapsed this summer. Police investigators are now expected to request a permanent arrest warrant for Shakirov within 48 hours, Realnoe Vremya added in its report published Wednesday. Before he was apprehended, the only other Finiko executive in custody was the pyramid’s founder, Kirill Doronin, an Instagram influencer associated with other Ponzi schemes in the past. International arrest warrants have been issued for three of Doronin’s associates. Together with their boss, they are accused of embezzling at least 250 million rubles (almost $3.5 million) in collusion with “unidentified persons.” However, estimates of caused damages in the case continue to grow. So far, 80 individuals have been officially recognized as victims of the scam with more applications pending review. Do you think Russian authorities will be able to detain the remaining suspects in the Finiko case? Share your expectations about the investigation in the comments section below. View the full article

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s director of monetary policy, Hassan Mahmud, has suggested that the institution is not worried about the naira’s valuation but is instead interested in “boosting dollar supply on the currency market.” Naira Depreciation According to a report, Mahmud’s remarks were made just a day after the local currency touched a new low of 532 naira for one dollar on the parallel market. This new parallel market exchange rate differs significantly from the CBN’s current spot exchange rate of approximately 411 naira to the dollar. Yet, in spite of the glaring differences between the two rates, Mahmud, who was addressing a virtual investor conference, insisted that fixing this gap is not the priority of the central bank. Mahmud explained: We are not really bothered much about valuation. What we are worried about is the supply side and the confidence in the system. Forex Shortages Since the second quarter of 2020, Nigeria has grappled with shortages of foreign exchange which in turn increase pressure on the naira. To ease pressure on the naira, the CBN has devalued the currency three times since March 2020. In addition, the central bank has imposed a series of restrictions that are aimed at controlling the movement of foreign exchange. Despite the devaluations and the restrictions imposed, the naira has continued to lose ground against major currencies like the U.S. dollar due to what Mahmud calls “market failures.” According to the CBN’s director of monetary policy, it is these market failures that prompted the central bank to “adopt a managed float regime.” What is more important for Nigeria, currency valuation or USD supply? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

On Wednesday, the programmable liquidity platform Balancer Protocol announced the project has partnered with the Wallstreetbets defi project Wsbdapp. The announcement details that the two projects will collaborate in order to launch Wsbdapp’s exchange-traded portfolios (ETPs) on Balancer V2. Balancer Protocol and Wallstreetbets’ Defi Project Partner to Launch Exchange-Traded Portfolios Last week, Bitcoin.com News reported on the newly launched Wsbdapp decentralized finance (defi) platform hosted on the website wsbdapp.com. The application’s creators claim to be the leaders behind the Wallstreetbets community alongside backing from Jaime Rogozinski, according to a video the team shared on Twitter. On Wednesday, the team behind the Balancer Protocol revealed the project will be collaborating with the Wsbdapp creators. Balancer Protocol is a liquidity provider and decentralized exchange (dex) platform that leverages the Ethereum blockchain. According to Wednesday’s data, Balancer Protocol is the seventh-largest dex application using Ethereum with $471 million in trade volume during the last week. Metrics from Dune Analytics indicate that Balancer’s volume is just above 1inch Network and Synthetix. Balancer’s and Wsbdapp’s announcement shows the two projects plan to launch Wsbdapp’s “exchange-traded portfolios (ETPs) on Balancer V2.” “We are excited to partner with the Wsbdapp and bridge the gap between traditional and defi investing,” the Balancer Labs CEO Fernando Martinelli remarked during the announcement. “Wallstreetbets shares our mission of scaling accessibility to defi, and we are thrilled to welcome them into our ecosystem.” Reducing Gas Fees and Leveraging ‘Educated Financial Decisions’ The teams detail that crypto ETPs will help retail investors diversify and they can acquire a myriad of defi tokens. “Like an ETF or index fund, Wsbdapp’s ETPs on Balancer create a carefully selected portfolio of tokens that are fully liquid, balanced to avoid inflation, and noncustodial,” the collaboration announcement details. Wsbdapp users will be able tap into the Balancer Protocol and leverage “the proper currency to buy-in and receive a token representing their holdings,” the teams emphasize. “The Wallstreetbets community has something for everyone, and with democratic tools like ETPs, we’re showing the world how financial markets should really be managed,” said BTCVIX, CEO of the Wsbdapp platform. “Balancer is providing our community the data they need to access and evaluate these portfolios, enabling really educated financial decisions.” The creators of the Balancer project say that Balancer V2 will help Wsbdapp platform users reduce fees. “Users will receive frequent updates about the status of their ETPs,” the Balancer team said. “Once the funds are held, users get access to any upside of the collection and can sell back their shares when ready.” What do you think about the defi project Balancer Protocol teaming up with the Wsbdapp decentralized finance project? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. TimeCoinProtocol is a decentralized sharing economy protocol which aims to optimize world resource usage. Various applications can be built and run on the TimeCoinProtocol including third party applications. The project puts a strong focus on the Gig Economy and Creator Economy. The project has issued an original crypto currency called TimeCoin(TMCN) which is already listed on BitFrorex, BiKi, and BitMart and is planning to be listed on Binance DEX in November and other major exchanges as well. The project has raised over 7 Million USD from equity and crypto investors. There is a limited number of tokens available for special token sales ending at the end of October. The project is currently focusing on Gig Economy applications such as TimeTicket, GameTomodachi, eSportStars, and VTuber Production, NeoRad. TimeCoin will be used on various applications on the platform. TimeTicket is a well-established skill-sharing platform with more than 560,000 users in Japan and it generates several million US dollars in sales. The revenue from TimeTicket has grown more than 40 times over 3 years and the business plans to expand internationally. GameTomodachi has been re-engineered from the TimeTicket business model, matching buyers and sellers, but its main focus is games. GameTomodachi is a game player matching application that targets the international market, including the two big markets: India and Indonesia. The application plans to support more than 30 languages and 1,000+ games and will be released in October, 2021. GameTomodachi facilitates friendship through games and chats; it’s a great way to get to know other players and make friends who have common interests beyond international borders. The users can easily find their ideal game-mates with the easy search options including game titles and service features such as fun chats, video chats and anime voice. In addition, the users can earn money by selling tickets for their chosen entertainment services, such as game playing, cosplay, singing etc. Utilizing the business model of TimeTicket, it is possible to earn a decent income as some ticket sellers on TimeTicket are already earning about $10,000 per month from ticket sales. Even under the Covid pandemic restrictions, the users can earn money from home by playing their favourite games or teaching gaming techniques as coaches. NeoRad Production is a VTuber management service that also targets the global market. NeoRad has supported several VTubers that perform game, anime, and song related streaming videos. Shirahari Uni was its first VTuber. She has over 100,000 subscribers now. NeoRad has engaged the contracts with other VTubers such as Koizumi Hoshi targeting South East Asia and US audiences. The project is planning to offer an innovative DeFi system which is called Creator Sponsor Staking (CSS) along with the NFT marketplace. Fans can increase their TimeCoin holding by 12% after 6 months of staking and 24% after 12 months of staking. The increased portion will be split 50/50 between the fans and the creators. In return for sponsoring, creators will provide memberships with exclusive services, NFT digital items, services and discount coupons. TimeTicket GmbH CEO, Masato Kakamu, explained in a recent AMA: “We want to create a place where professional players, creators, and fans can easily earn money which also helps them to better engage with their fans. To extend the GameTomodachi and eSportStars service, we want to offer an innovative GameFi (Game plus DeFi) and eSports mining for participants to earn TimeCoin. The more games users play, the more TimeCoin they will get. Similarly, the more TimeCoin participants own, the better service they can get.” The project requires further development, including the implementation of DeFi and NFT functionalities on the TimeCoinProtocol for these applications and VTuber production, and also new funds to support development and marketing costs. The project is planning to create an NFT marketplace where its VTubers and other creators in the world can trade NFT items. This will allow both creators and fans to receive additional tokens, as well as in-game items, art and anime characters traded For this reason, the decision has been made to launch off-market token sales. Investors of TMCN can earn additional income by supporting creators as well.　 Out of a total of 100,000,000 existing TMCN tokens, 10,000,000 tokens will be sold during the special token sales. Several million dollars-worth of TimeCoin (TMCN) have already been sold and there is a limited number of tokens available for sale. It will be possible to purchase TimeCoin in BTC, USDT or ETH via the TimeCoinProtocol.com/sale page, where it is also possible to consult the table of the token release periods. To purchase TMCN, an investor is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to prepare a private wallet like MetaMask. (An investor is NOT recommended to purchase TMCN using a crypto exchange account.) Subscribe to the TimeCoinProtocol Telegram to earn TMCN Free Rewards and buy TMCN. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

One of South Africa’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Luno, has confirmed that it has started restricting withdrawals by clients. The exchange insists the limits are meant to “act as a deterrent for illicit actors moving large amounts of funds within the crypto ecosystem.” The Restrictions on Transfers However, despite this acknowledgement, Luno has so far refused to explain how the exchange sets the so-called “dynamic risk-based limits.” According to a report, the limits — which are separate from the send limits that appear on Luno’s website — were discovered by one of the exchange’s clients. The discovery became apparent to the client when their attempt to transfer crypto assets from a Luno account to a Binance wallet failed. When approached for answers, Luno explained to the client(s) that the limits had been imposed in order to “protect our customers and in an effort to comply with best practices in anti-financial crime and anti-fraud.” Furthermore, the exchange told the client that “the limits are dynamic in nature and are calculated based on our overall customer risk scoring, the limits may differ from customer to customer.” However, Luno told to the affected client that the exchange “does not disclose how [the] send limits are calculated on an individual level.” Luno Customers Unable to Influence Their Risk Score In the meantime, the report quotes Marius Reitz, general manager for Luno Africa, explaining why and how the wider concept of a risk-based approach is being used to determine the limits for each client. He said: As part of the wider concept of a risk-based approach mentioned, for instance in the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), customer risk profiles are designed and scored based on a multitude of different data points. Reitz adds that while customers are not in a position to influence their risk score, they can still “optimise their risk position by keeping their account information up to date, enabling safety features on their account, and generally keeping their account secure.” When asked about speculation that the exchange has started implementing these dynamic risk-based limits at the request of the financial surveillance department (Finsurv), Reitz denied this. Instead, the general manager asserts that Luno is doing this because the exchange “takes the utmost care to keep our financial crime measures as confidential as possible to ensure they remain effective.” What are your thoughts about this story? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

A former federal prosecutor says that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “will stop at nothing to control the entire crypto space.” The SEC has now threatened to sue the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase. The regulator is already in an ongoing lawsuit with Ripple Labs and its executives. SEC Going After Entire Crypto Space, Says Former Federal Prosecutor James K. Filan, a former federal prosecutor who served for nine years in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, commented on the warning issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding Coinbase’s Lend program Wednesday. Filan is an attorney specializing in securities litigation and government investigations. He is also a prominent voice in the Ripple community. Filan tweeted: The SEC will stop at nothing to control the entire crypto space. This isn’t just about Ripple. Coinbase accuses the SEC of using ‘intimidation tactics behind closed doors’ to stop the company from launching a lending program. Coinbase revealed late Tuesday that the SEC has threatened to sue the company over its lending product. “The SEC told us they consider Lend to involve a security, but wouldn’t say why or how they’d reached that conclusion,” the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange said. The crypto community was quick to point out similarities between the SEC’s threat against Coinbase and its enforcement action against Ripple Labs and its executives over the sale of XRP. When the SEC sued Ripple Labs, Coinbase was quick to delist XRP. Now, XRP proponents are asking Coinbase to stand with them against the SEC and relist the token. Supporters of XRP and Ripple have long said that the SEC’s lawsuit is not restricted to XRP but an attack on the entire crypto industry. The SEC is also reportedly investigating the startup that operates the decentralized exchange Uniswap. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted Wednesday: “The SEC’s continued warfare on crypto continues to play out. In Dec 2020, I said that we’d been having discussions with the SEC for nearly 3 years about XRP, ‘..and yet never been met with clarity.’ Sound familiar!?” Stuart Alderoty, a general counsel for Ripple, chimed in: We are told to engage w/ the SEC in good faith … and what do we get? Enforcement actions (or threats of them) with no clarity. Their preferred method of strong arm intimidation and inconsistently applying unclear rules hurts consumers and markets in the end. Do you agree that the SEC will stop at nothing to control the entire crypto space? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

In a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fund managers for the Miller Opportunity Trust, Bill Miller’s hedge fund, state that “bitcoin has significant upside potential as a form of digital gold.” The report details that despite its volatility, bitcoin’s “risk-reward is attractive.” Hedge Fund Manager Sees Bitcoin’s ‘Significant Upside Potential’ Miller Value Funds’ semi-annual report for the Miller Opportunity Trust, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week, states: We believe bitcoin has significant upside potential as a form of ‘digital gold.’ The Miller Opportunity Trust hedge fund has $2.72 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of July 31. Its portfolio managers are Bill Miller and Samantha McLemore. “We have been observers of bitcoin for a long time and during the quarter, the fund received approval to invest in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which is an open-ended grantor trust fully invested in bitcoin,” the report details. “In the quarter, as bitcoin fell, the trust traded at one of its larger discounts to its underlying holdings in bitcoin providing additional upside potential.” As of June 20, the fund holds 1.5 million shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) valued at $44,715,000, the report filed with the SEC shows. The fund managers added, “With gold’s market capitalization greater than $11 trillion, bitcoin’s current cap close to $600 billion would have a long way to go to catch up,” elaborating: We are early in a continuing adoption curve and bitcoin will be volatile but we think the risk-reward is attractive. Veteran investor Bill Miller has long been a bitcoin proponent. In May, when the price of bitcoin fell from $58K level to below $34K, he said it was “pretty routine.” Miller added that the correction was “right in line with moves we have seen many times in bitcoin.” In April, he disagreed with some analysts that bitcoin was in a bubble. Instead, he said bitcoin was entering the mainstream as demand grew faster than supply. Do you agree that bitcoin has significant upside potential as digital gold? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Russia has no reason to recognize bitcoin, President Putin’s press secretary has noted after El Salvador became the first country to adopt the digital coin as legal tender. In a statement to the press, Dmitry Peskov revealed he is convinced that such a move would not bring any benefits to the Russian Federation. Kremlin Not Open to Bitcoin Adoption in Russia The government in Moscow sees no reason to recognize bitcoin at this point, according to Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Describing it as a quasi-currency, the Kremlin representative insisted that equating bitcoin to official monetary instruments wouldn’t do anything but harm Russia’s financial and economic system. Speaking to reporters, Peskov emphasized: Clearly, Russia is not ready for such steps. The statement, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency on Tuesday, came as the Republic of El Salvador became the world’s first country to recognize bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender for payments in its jurisdiction. On Sept. 7, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law came into effect, making the leading crypto by market cap a national currency alongside the U.S. dollar, as Bitcoin.com News reported. Residents of the small Central American nation can now pay for goods and services using the cryptocurrency as all prices can be denominated in BTC. Furthermore, taxpayers can use bitcoin to cover their obligations to the state. On Monday, President Nayib Bukele revealed his government had also started purchasing BTC, later announcing that the country had acquired 200 coins, bringing the total it holds to 400, and then “buying the dip” with another 150 coins when the price fell to below $43,000. Russia, on the other hand, is a long way from accepting any cryptocurrency as legal tender. Moscow partially regulated coins and tokens with the new law “On Digital Financial Assets” which entered into force at the beginning of this year. Its provisions recognize cryptocurrencies as property but prohibit their use for payments. According to the country’s current legislation, the national fiat ruble remains the only legal tender, and “money surrogates” are banned in the Russian Federation. Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank which has categorically opposed the adoption of decentralized digital money, is preparing to launch a digital ruble prototype by the end of 2021. Russian media reported in May, however, that members of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, had started working on amendments to the Civil Code that would permit the use of crypto assets as contractual means of payment. If approved, the changes will allow parties to a contract to pay each other with cryptocurrency, only under the terms of their agreement. Do you think Russia will change its position on cryptocurrencies in the future? Share your expectations in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Since early August, CoinFLEX has seen a tremendous increase in trading activity, climbing to a staggering high of $3 billion USD daily trading volume with Open Interest over $200 million dollars. The increase in trading volumes and market liquidity are indications of CoinFLEX’s rapid adoption. CoinFLEX’s repo volume has also seen a significant increase, with total trading volumes surpassing $120 billion. The repo market is vital to the CoinFLEX ecosystem as its profits fuel flexUSD’s competitive APRs. On CoinFLEX and other futures exchanges, futures markets have a lot of trading activity, creating “basis.” Basis is the price differential between spot trades and futures contracts. flexUSD is deployed through the repo market to take advantage of the price difference. For this reason, although flexUSD offers variable market-based interest rates, current users are experiencing high APRs. When there’s a dislocation between the spot and futures price, a trading bot will arbitrage the price difference and pay flexUSD holders on-chain every 8 hours. Last month, flexUSD experienced one 8-hour window of 70% APR and an average 16.58% 7-day APR. These rates are extremely attractive compared to other DeFi lending platforms that see low single-digit APRs or, worse, saving accounts in traditional banks that see 0.01% APRs. flexUSD Marketcap Hits $100M With the competitive APRs that flexUSD offers, it’s no surprise users have minted $100 million of the stablecoin as a safe and secure way to generate high-yielding passive income. AMM+ While flexUSD is showing interest rates that are magnitudes higher than those generated through its DeFi and TradFi counterparts, users of CoinFLEX’s AMM+ are reporting even higher rates. AMM+ TVL hit $99 million. The market volatility was felt most significantly in AMM+ volume, which soared to an incredible $933 million. Although AMMs generally require more active participation than managing stablecoin deposits such as flexUSD, providing liquidity on the AMM+ requires far less effort than running traditional market-making operations. Instead of needing the skills of a professional market maker and actively managing trade positions, with the AMM+ anyone can put on an AMM position and begin trading. The AMM+ benefits the CoinFLEX ecosystem by providing liquidity to all CoinFLEX markets. This creates a far better trading experience for AMM+ users, as it allows users to execute trades more accurately and effectively. Thank you FLEXers “Who can we thank for this incredible growth? FLEXers, both old and new. August has seen our highest number of new users, largely coming from the DeFi community thanks to our recent Metamask integration. This means signing up for a CoinFLEX account can be done in just a few clicks with your Metamask wallet!” CoinFLEX Pushes to Decentralization Chainlink Partnership CoinFLEX has partnered with Chainlink to integrate decentralized price feeds to the system. This will serve as an additional layer of reliability, becoming the default source of price data in the unlikely event that our systems become unresponsive for a short period of time. This will give us a constant, decentralized source of price information. Decentralized Custody CoinFLEX is also excited to announce its continued commitment to decentralization with the introduction of decentralized custody later this year. CoinFLEX will be decentralizing private key ownership of outgoing withdrawal transactions. This means CoinFLEX will not be able to have any control over their customer’s account activity, unlike other centralized exchanges. This is the type of customer protection users can experience with a hybrid CEX-DEX model. In addition to decentralized custody, users benefit from CoinFLEX’s impressive seven-year track record in custodying crypto assets. This outlines how seriously CoinFLEX takes security and gives users peace of mind that their assets are secure from any threat from both internal and external factors. SmartBCH CoinFLEX is a major participant in the Smart Bitcoin Cash, or smartBCH, ecosystem, serving as the primary centralized bridge before the decentralized “SHA Gate” solution is live. smartBCH is a sidechain for Bitcoin Cash that is designed to be fast and have inexpensive transactions. It is also EVM compatible, so it can bridge with the Ethereum network and provide high throughput for decentralized applications in a fast, secure, and decentralized manner. To further explore how to earn and trade crypto in the CoinFLEX ecosystem, check out www.coinflex.com. To further explore how to earn and trade crypto in the CoinFLEX ecosystem, check out www.coinflex.com. About CoinFLEX Founded in 2019, CoinFLEX is the Home of Crypto Yield and is committed to providing institutional and retail investors an easily accessible platform to earn and trade crypto. CoinFLEX creates innovative solutions to bring investors and crypto markets together through intuitive yield products such as flexUSD, the world’s first interest-earning stablecoin, and AMM+, the most capital-efficient automated market maker in the world. CoinFLEX is backed by crypto heavyweights, including Roger Ver, Mike Komaransky, Polychain Capital, and Dragonfly Capital. Telegram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Youtube | Reddit 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 the day El Salvador implemented the bitcoin tender law, the official government wallet called the Chivo wallet had some initial issues for five hours on Tuesday. Residents could not leverage the application and had issues accessing the app on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. The situation seems to be resolved now as Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele explained on Twitter that the Chivo wallet’s “maintenance” was complete. Chivo Wallet Down Five Hours for ‘Maintenance,’ Bukele Says ‘Take It Slow,’ Google Play Servers Were ‘Saturated’ El Salvador now has the U.S. dollar and bitcoin (BTC) as the nation-state’s legal tender following the implementation of the Bitcoin law on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. In addition to creating the law, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele and his government have been buying BTC in mass quantities and have also developed crypto infrastructure for the nation’s citizens. For instance, the Salvadoran government launched the Chivo wallet which allows users to accept bitcoin (BTC) for goods and services. El Salvador legalized bitcoin (BTC) in the country and the day the law went into effect, users had myriad issues with the Chivo wallet. However, on the day El Salvador implemented the bitcoin tender law, many Salvadorans had issues with the Chivo wallet. Users complained that they could not download the application via Google Play and Apple’s App Store. Bukele took to Twitter telling citizens to take it “slow” and that the Google Play store is “the most used store in El Salvador, so we have opened [the Chivo wallet launch] in parts and thus not saturating the servers.” Chivo wallet issues also stemmed from users who did not have the right version of Samsung’s Galaxy brand smartphone. Bukele added: Chivo wallet is now available in Google Play, but only for versions of the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Samsung Galaxy S21. Number 1 App in Apple’s Finance Section in El Salvador, Complaints About Not Receiving the $30 Bitcoin Gift Bukele also exclaimed that in El Salvador, the Chivo wallet was the “number 1 finance app in the [Apple App Store] in just 8 hours.” But immediately after Bukele tweeted that statement the complaints from Salvadorans having issues with the Chivo wallet rolled in. This resident says: “I don’t even get it in the Play store.” “President, I already downloaded and installed it,” one individual wrote. “But now that I want to open it… only this appears for me and I have had this for a long time, and it does not resolve.” Many Salvadoran residents shared screenshots of the Chivo wallet verification failure. Others have been complaining that the $30 worth of free bitcoin (BTC) that was promised was not showing up after they uploaded identification. “There are people who registered but could not take a photo of the DUI or the selfie because the system [shut down], and that $0 BTC appears within the app, what solution is there?” a Salvadoran citizen asked the president. Another person responded to the person who said funds were not being delivered to people’s wallets and said: The same thing happened to an aunt, when she was going to take the selfie [but] the system closed and when she started again, $0 BTC came out. Any solutions, please? All of the aforementioned comments and many more stem from a tweet from Bukele explaining that the five-hour downtime for maintenance was over. “We have finished today’s maintenance of the Chivo wallet,” he said. “Report any malfunction here, in the comments,” the Salvadoran president added. Meanwhile, Bitcoin.com News downloaded the Chivo wallet this morning with no issues, and the application was installed without any errors. The free $30 is reserved for Salvadoran residents only and in order to obtain the funds, a Chivo wallet user must upload identification. What do you think about the Chivo wallet’s hiccups on Tuesday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Decentralized finance (defi) has set a trend during the latter half of 2020 and into this year, as statistics show $168 billion is locked in defi across various blockchains. The Bitcoin Cash network now has the Smartbch protocol and in recent times, a decentralized exchange (dex) platform has joined the defi fray. The newly launched Smartbch dex platform benswap.cash gives users the ability to earn via liquidity pools, and swap tokens in a noncustodial fashion. Bitcoin Cash Supporters Flock to Benswap.cash for 1,000% APY and Decentralized Trading Five months ago, the BCH community anticipated the benefits of a project that combines the forces of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with the Ethereum (ETH) network. The project is called Smartbch, a smart chain that maximizes the throughput of EVM and Web3 on a sidechain of Bitcoin Cash. Smartbch has matured quite a bit since Bitcoin.com News reported on the project successfully launching three nodes. Now BCH community members have been leveraging a dex trading platform called benswap.cash, a clone of the dex benswap.finance. Basically, the ability to earn yields and swap tokens in a noncustodial manner is now possible using bitcoin cash (BCH), the Smartbch sidechain, the SEP20 token protocol, and benswap.cash. The dex benswap.cash operates similarly to swapping platforms like Uniswap, Pancakeswap, and Sushiswap. In order to leverage benswap.cash you will need a wallet like Metamask to interact with the Smartbch network and connect with benswap.cash. A Comprehensive Guide for Smartbch Newbies, Leveraging the Coinflex Bridge and the ‘Green Ben’ Token In order to get started, there are a few prerequisites, which are explained in comprehensive detail in a guide posted to the blogging site read.cash. The Smartbch for newbies walkthrough written by “Moregainstrategies” shows the reader how to configure Metamask to work with the Smartbch network. Furthermore, the blog post explains that for the time being, the only bridge to access sBCH is via the trading platform Coinflex. Because sBCH is required, anyone looking to test the network’s capabilities must swap bitcoin cash (BCH) for sBCH. The only cost a person will pay when swapping BCH over to the SEP20 token sBCH will be BCH network fees. Benswap.cash is compatible with noncustodial Web3 wallets like Metamask. Users need to connect to the Smartbch network and obtain sBCH via the Coinflex bridge. Read.cash author “Moregainstrategies” published a detailed guide on how to obtain sBCH, use sBCH with Metamask, and the benswap.cash dex. Coinflex only requires an email address to register, however, a person can also simply use Metamask and avoid registration. After the account is registered or tethered to a Metamask wallet, the user needs to deposit bitcoin cash (BCH) into the Coinflex wallet. After the funds have been confirmed, the user can withdraw but instead, they need to withdraw sBCH using the SEP20 standard. The Metamask wallet address is the address needed to send the sBCH to, and after a small wait, the sBCH should arrive in the wallet. From here, benswap.cash can be used to either swap Smartbch tokens or join a yield farm in order to gather passive income from their liquidity tokens. For instance, on the benswap.cash platform there is a section where swaps can happen for Smartbch tokens like “$cats,” “arg,” “green ben,” “honk,” and more. The token green ben (EBEN) is the native token for benswap.cash and is also leveraged for governance decisions. Benswap.cash offers staking. At the time of writing, a single green ben (EBEN) is trading for $2.4826019 per EBEN and there is a circulating supply of 5,723,529 EBEN today. The price per EBEN and the number of tokens in circulation give the coin a market cap of around $14.2 million. In addition to being able to swap tokens in a noncustodial fashion, users can stake LP tokens to earn EBEN via liquidity pools. The native token for benswap.cash called green ben (EBEN). Current Smartcash Farms Show Yields Between 200% and 1,000%+ APY The current annualized percentage yields (APY) for benswap.cash liquidity pools are quite high. For instance, the EBEN-BCH liquidity pool at the time of writing gives a user 1,070% paid in EBEN, minus fees. There’s also the $CATS-BCH and $CATS-EBEN liquidity pools which have current APYs between 210% and 290%. It should be noted that APYs hosted on benswap.cash can fluctuate like the myriad other dex applications that offer liquidity pools. Benswap.cash users can join LP token yield farms. Bitcoin.com News readers should note that benswap.finance and the clone for Smartbch are in the midst of being audited by Certik Security. Defi applications always come with risk and users should do due diligence before they leverage any defi application. It should also be noted that benswap.cash is a clone of the BSC dex benswap.finance, which is in the midst of being audited by Certik Security. This means the audit is not yet complete; all dex applications come with risks, and users should leverage due diligence and make sure their wallet’s network settings and token contracts are not malicious or falsified. Audited or not, traders should never invest more than they are willing to lose on any dex application. Bitcoin cash fans have been discussing the benswap.cash dex regularly on the forum r/btc and on Twitter. The r/btc Reddit forum has a number of posts that discuss how benswap.cash works and that it’s the first dex to build on top of the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network. What do you think about the Smartbch project and the benswap.cash dex? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. 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Following El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender, privacy activist and whistleblower Edward Snowden says, “there is now pressure on competing nations to acquire bitcoin — even if only as a reserve asset.” He warned, “Latecomers may regret hesitating.” Edward Snowden Warns Countries That Hesitate Adopting Bitcoin May Regret Their Decisions Former computer intelligence consultant for the National Security Agency (NSA) and contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Edward Snowden, commented on El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender Tuesday. He tweeted: Today Bitcoin was formally recognized as legal tender in its first country. Beyond the headlines, there is now pressure on competing nations to acquire bitcoin — even if only as a reserve asset — as its design massively incentivizes early adoption. Latecomers may regret hesitating. El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went into effect on Sept. 7 and BTC is now a national currency alongside the U.S. dollar. Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, also revealed Tuesday that his government has purchased 550 BTC. Snowden is not the only one expecting other countries to follow in El Salvador’s footsteps and adopt bitcoin. Dante Mossi, the executive president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), said that if adopting bitcoin as legal tender goes well in El Salvador and the cost of remittances drops substantially, “other countries will probably seek that advantage and adopt it.” Even Bank of America sees benefits in adopting bitcoin as legal tender for El Salvador. “Bitcoin could be used as an intermediary for cross-border transfer … Using bitcoin for remittances could potentially reduce transaction costs compared to traditional remittance channels,” the bank wrote in early August. In addition, global investment bank JPMorgan said in June that the move by El Salvador could be “the beginning of a broader trend among similarly situated, smaller nations.” Do you agree with Edward Snowden? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has threatened to sue the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase over its lending product. The exchange says, “We don’t know why … We got no explanation from the SEC.” Coinbase Threatened by SEC Coinbase revealed Tuesday that it received a Wells notice from the SEC last Wednesday about its planned Lend program. A Wells notice is the official way a regulator tells a company it intends to sue the company in court. In a blog post titled “The SEC has told us it wants to sue us over Lend. We don’t know why,” Coinbase explained that it has been “proactively engaging with the SEC about Lend for nearly six months” so the notice came as a surprise. The company described that the Lend product will “allow eligible customers to earn interest on select assets on Coinbase, starting with 4% APY on USD coin (USDC).” The Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange detailed: The SEC told us they consider Lend to involve a security, but wouldn’t say why or how they’d reached that conclusion … In June, we announced our Lend program publicly and opened a waitlist but did not set a public launch date. But once again, we got no explanation from the SEC. Instead, they opened a formal investigation. The SEC asked Coinbase for various documents, which the company said it “willingly provided.” However, the regulator “also asked for the name and contact information of every single person on our Lend waitlist,” which Coinbase said it has not agreed to provide. Coinbase noted: “The SEC has repeatedly asked our industry to ‘talk to us, come in.’ We did that here. But today all we know is that we can either keep Lend off the market indefinitely without knowing why or we can be sued … The net result of all this is that we will not be launching Lend until at least October.” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to Twitter to share his thoughts and clarify the situation with the SEC early Wednesday morning. “Some really sketchy behavior coming out of the SEC recently,” he began, adding: Ostensibly the SEC’s goal is to protect investors and create fair markets. So who are they protecting here and where is the harm? People seem pretty happy to be earning yield on these various products, across lots of other crypto companies. “Shutting these down would arguably be harming consumers more than protecting them, and by preventing Coinbase from launching the same thing that other companies already have live, they’re creating an unfair market,” he argued. Armstrong further opined: “If we end up in court we may finally get the regulatory clarity the SEC refuses to provide. But regulation by litigation should be the last resort for the SEC, not the first.” Shark Tank star and owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, offered his opinion on the subject. He told Armstrong: “Brian, this is ‘Regulation via Litigation.’ They aren’t capable of working through this themselves and are afraid of making mistakes in doing so. They leave it to the lawyers. Just the people you don’t want impacting the new technologies. You have to go on the offensive.” What do you think about the SEC’s action against Coinbase? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. The Revive Project’s Unique ecosystem offers the crypto community a chance to be a part of and benefit from its unique investment platform and NFT marketplace. Zug, Switzerland — The Revive Project is a revolutionary platform that will allow the blockchain community to come together to invest in crypto and develop exciting NFT projects. Revive has created an unique ecosystem for NFT and crypto investments, governed by its native utility token, PULSE. The ecosystem uses a 10% transfer commission to benefit its community of users in a variety of different ways. Revive Project – Building an Ecosystem The Revive Project is developing right now 3 innovative platforms: Revive Wallet: Store & Vote The Revive Wallet will have an impressive level of application and functionality, specifically the ability to vote for upcoming Revive developments. The Revive Wallet and PULSE token will be specially combined so they can be integrated 100% in the Revive NFT Marketplace, Revive Academy and Revive Exchange. The Revive Wallet will be the gate for accessing these innovative platforms. NFT Marketplace & Academy – Learn, Create and Market NFTs The Revive NFT Marketplace aims to revolutionize, innovate and simplify the way NFTs are created and developed. Exclusive, and only accessible for PULSE holders, the NFT Academy helps guide creators through their journey as NFT developers. Eduard Ifrim, CSO of Revive Project, stated: “The Revive Marketplace and Academy combine in a unique way to completely simplify the marketing, investment and development processes behind NFTs. “ Revive Exchange – a new kind of CEX The Revive Exchange will be the cherry on top of the entire Ecosystem. Its goal is to create a trading environment where we will be able to give the opportunity to all Pulse holders to invest in new and innovative financial derivative crypto products. Marius Smochina, CEO of Revive Project, stated: “We have already in our team some great minds from the financial sector with whom we will develop the Revive Exchange. We have some incredible ideas on how to connect all the points in the Ecosystem to create outstanding derivative assets which will be tradable from next year when we will launch the Exchange. “ Revive Ecosystem & Certik Audit The Revive Ecosystem is designed specifically to encourage long-term holding and discourage token sell-offs, with the express intention of securing maximum benefits to its token holders. To achieve this, from each PULSE transaction the Smart Contract takes a 10% commission which is reappropriated across four areas: 1% goes directly to token holders’ wallets. 5% goes into the Revive Basket, an investment vehicle which uses a Smart Contract to automatically buy tokens from the selected Blockchain Projects. To start off, the basket will invest in FileCoin, Certik, Venus, TrustWallet and Cake. 2% goes into the Revive Launchdome, a platform for funding new crypto projects. Yields from the Launchdome will be intermittently dispersed to the token holders. the final 2% is crucial for constantly injecting token liquidity in PancakeSwap pair Pulse/BNB For all this to work, the Revive Project’s code was audited by the well known company, Certik – you can find it here Token Holder Benefits The benefits for PULSE token holders are vast and strongly encourage long-term token holding. Although the financial benefits of token holding are huge, the knowledge, skills and understanding of NFT creation and marketing could end up holding even more value. Pulse token holders will receive: 1% commission from every transaction Profits from Revive Basket Profits from Revive Launchdome Profits from the Revive NFT Marketplace & Academy Profits from the Revive Exchange The opportunity to automatically enter the Revive NFT Marketplace, Academy, and Revive Exchange Special discounts on fees The right to vote and special offers. Pulse Tokenomics There is a total and maximum supply of 1 billion PULSE tokens, which have been allocated in a structure that uses a vesting period for team members and investors (here) WhiteBIT Listing Following the Public Sale, Pulse token will be listed on DEX on PancakeSwap and on CEX on WhiteBIT shortly after. Eduard Ifrim, CSO of Revive Project, stated: “We chose WhiteBIT as the first CEX to list Pulse token on, because they have a very user friendly trading platform, very good volume and they are very careful with their security: WhiteBIT stores 96% of the digital assets on cold wallets and use WAF to detect and block hacker attacks, so the user’s funds are safe on the exchange.” What is Next For Revive? With the Smart contract development, Certik audit and Revive Basket analysis already completed, the project is looking to the expansive phase of its roadmap, following the Public Sale. Before the full launch of the Revive product line in 2022 the company will raise its token accessibility by partnering with more exchanges (WhiteBIT is already signed) and diversify its basket portfolio through its community voting process. Media Contact Details Contact Name: Eduard Ifrim Contact Email: edward@reviveproject.io Revive Project Socials Blog | Twitter | Telegram | Facebook | Whitepaper | Team Revive Project is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

The chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has singled out the growth of cryptocurrencies as something that now poses “a far greater danger to the world economy.” Therefore, in order to deal with such dangers or threats, Bawa advocates for a “collective and collaborative approach by authorities around the world.” Economic Crimes Harm the Global Financial System According to a report by Vanguard, the EFCC chairman made these remarks while speaking at a symposium organized by the Centre for International Documentation on Organized and Economic Crime (CIDOEC). Meanwhile, at the same meeting which was organized to discuss the cost of economic crimes and who should foot this bill, Bawa is quoted explaining why countries must collaborate on this. He said: [Economic crimes] affect the vital structures of global economies, causing significant damage to the global financial system and depriving developing nations of the needed resources for sustainable development. Bawa also warned that developed countries, just like their less developed counterparts, are not immune from a scourge that has been magnified by “the proliferation of cyber-crimes which threatens the stability of global financial institutions.” To drive home this point, Bawa uses the example of how criminals are now choosing “to transact or receive illegal monies [such as ransom money]for cyber-attacks in cryptocurrencies.” Economic Crime Victims Must Not Bear the Cost In the meantime, the EFCC chair also delved into the topic of who should bear the costs of economic crimes. The report quotes Bawa explaining his viewpoint on this matter. He said: “As the victims of crime continue to suffer globally from the effects of financial crimes, either directly or indirectly as part of a social system, the determination of who pays or who should pay becomes a critical measure of the criminal justice system in place.” Still, the EFCC chairman is adamant “that perpetrators and not the victims” should be made to pay for the crimes. Do you agree with Bawa’s remarks about cryptocurrencies? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Mauricio Moura, a current director of the Central Bank of Brazil, stated that anonymity won’t be a choice when making cryptocurrency transactions in the country. The representative stated that, sooner or later, all users would have their transactions identified by the government. These comments came at an event promoted by the Institute of Professionals for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. Central Bank of Brazil: ‘Anonymity Won’t Be an Option’ Mauricio Moura, director of citizenship relations and supervision of conduct for the Central Bank of Brazil, stated that the coming regulation could ban anonymity in cryptocurrency transactions made in the country. Moura stated that the central bank is currently devising ways to achieve this objective jointly with the Brazilian Securities Commission. He declared: I can’t say much. But the names of those involved in cryptocurrency operations will be known end-to-end. I can say that anonymity will not be an option. Currently, all exchanges and companies in Brazil must report their operations and the operations of their customers to the regulator. But some of these companies still aren’t complying with this mandate. Moura didn’t detail how the bank would accomplish the planned objective. Crypto Regulation Coming Brazil is in the process of issuing a complete regulatory system for cryptocurrency assets, and the Central Bank of Brazil is included in the institutions that have a say in this process. In June, a law project that proposes a fixed period for establishing cryptocurrency regulations was introduced in Congress. While it is still awaiting approval, it would give the government 180 days to propose and approve a system to regulate and tax cryptocurrencies like normal bank transactions. There is another commission that is currently focusing directly on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the Chamber of Deputies. However, even with all these institutions trying to regulate crypto, the market keeps growing, and more companies are integrating crypto-related solutions into their operations. This is the case of Visa, which recently announced it will integrate cryptocurrency solutions with traditional banking. But more importantly, the vice president of new business in Brazil has stated the company will be testing direct bitcoin payments this year. This suggests regulation is not scaring big players still interested in joining the cryptocurrency market or embedding crypto into existing platforms. What do you think about the stance on cryptocurrency transactions that the Central Bank of Brazil has taken? Tell us in the comment section below. View the full article

In 2021, two very distinct crypto trends stood out which include non-fungible token (NFT) assets and decentralized finance (defi), as billions of dollars in crypto has flooded into these sectors. On September 7, Piplsay, a global consumer research platform, polled 30,870 Americans and 9,170 Britons to get some insight on what consumers think about NFTs today. According to the survey, 48% of American respondents think NFTs are a “good and safe investment.” Piplsay Survey Shows Americans Like NFTs More Than Britons Not long ago, when you asked people about non-fungible token (NFT) assets, most were clueless. However, crypto trends like defi and NFTs have exploded this year and consumers are becoming more aware of the growing markets. In recent times, a few surveys with 1,000 or up to 10K participants have explained their thoughts about the growing NFT space and whether or not they think NFTs are a good investment. In December 2020, Bitcoin.com News reported on a survey indicating the NFT market had a lot more room to grow, which came to fruition. Months later, as the NFT hype was in full swing, another survey published in July showed that 3 out of 4 sports fans are skeptical about the longevity of NFT investments. Piplsay’s survey is much larger than these previous surveys as the team’s research managed to poll over 40,000 people from America and Britain. Graphic image via Piplsay’s recent survey on non-fungible token (NFT) assets. While the data shows that 48% of the surveyed Americans think NFTs are a “good and safe investment,” only 22% of residents from Britain feel the same way. 18% of Americans have invested in an NFT while only 5% of Britons have done the same. The survey was conducted just recently, from September 3-5, 2021, and all the individuals were aged 18 years and older. The survey further states: 44% of Americans believe NFTs are here to stay as compared to just 27% of Britons. Revolutionary Concept, or Absurd? Americans and Britons Share Opinions About NFTs When the respondents were asked their personal opinion of NFTs, 50% of Americans said they had no opinion or were not aware of the subject. 68% of Britons also had no opinion or were not aware of the NFT space. 32% of Americans think NFTs are a “revolutionary concept,” while only 15% of Britons agree with that statement. 18% of Americans think NFTs are an “absurd concept,” while 17% of Britons agreed NFTs are absurd. 24% of Americans from the Piplsay survey indicated that NFTs are “neither good or safe,” and 45% of Britons agree that NFTs are not a good investment. 19% of U.S. respondents say the investment may be “good but not safe.” 21% of Britons said the same thing, and only a small fraction of both Americans and Britons said NFTs are “safe but good” investments. Piplsay also broke the survey down into generational demographics. “41% of Millennials in the US have personally invested in NFTs as compared to 33% of Gen Xers and 26% of Gen Zers,” Piplsay researchers wrote. “45% of Millennials in the UK have personally invested in NFTs as compared to 37% of Gen Zers and 18% of Gen Xers,” the researchers added. “Gaming-related NFTs are most popular with US Gen Zers (18%), while brand-related NFTs are most popular with Millennials (17%) and Gen Xers (17%),” the survey concludes. The full research report from Piplsay on NFTs can be found here. What do you think about the Piplsay research survey about NFTs? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Ethair Market is a next generation online global marketplace where you can trade goods using fiat or cryptocurrency and earn points on every purchase. The marketplace is soon to be launched in the U.S. and Canada, with fiat payments support lined up for 43 more countries. You can earn ETHR tokens now as an early registration reward and future developments such as an NFT marketplace integration are already in the works. Introducing the Next Generation of eCommerce Ethair Market (www.ethair.com) incorporates the modern technologies that the traditional marketplaces are too afraid to tackle. It gives buyers and sellers an ability to operate with fiat currencies as well as selected cryptocurrencies. The developers have integrated Stripe for fiat payments which will allow the marketplace to support 45 countries, staying complaint with laws and regulations, and expand internationally with ease. At the upcoming launch the system will initially support the U.S. and Canada. For purchases using cryptocurrencies Ethair Market utilizes an escrow service which increases security on both ends of the spectrum as funds are held by the marketplace while the goods are being delivered. If something goes wrong during the process both parties may try to resolve it themselves or involve Ethair Market to step in and investigate. Escrow service gives both buyer and seller the security that the funds will be rightly deposited on the item’s arrival. Furthermore, it helps sellers deal with fraudulent buyers, deterring them with escrow deposit and keeping the seller safe from unexpected refunds. EthairPay is the proprietary payment processing platform that will allow users to make purchases and sales with cryptocurrency. It currently supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, Ethereum Classic, Dogecoin, USDC and Ethair Token. The goal is to update this payment platform to such extent that third parties may seamlessly integrate it with their stores as well as add support for NFTs and Semi-NFTs on different blockchains. The Points reward system gives points to both buyer and the seller on each successful transaction. These points can be used to decrease the price of future purchases or boost the listed item desirability, as well as to mint ETHR tokens. Ethair Market’s ETHR Token allows for transactions between buyer and the seller without additional transaction fee charges. Fees which are drastically lower than on traditional marketplaces are decreased even further with the Points reward system. Currently the only way to obtain ETHR token is via early registration, where for limited time users earn 100 ETHR tokens by signing up here. Ethair is also currently running a referral program for a 1 year period where users are able to invite new users to the platform and for every referred user that made a purchase they’ll earn a share of ETHR Token from the Referral Program pool which is based upon the number of Points to ETHR Token conversions. Cheapest Way to Sell Online If you are an online merchant looking to expand to a new platform that treats you more fairly than the current marketplaces, Ethair Market is the perfect place for you. For starters, Ethair Market has much lower fees than the traditional markets, meaning that everything from Insertion fees to FVF and various listing “upgrades” are lower than most traditional marketplace fees. With a Market (fixed price items, new items only) and “Buy Offer Bid” (auction items, new or used) selling formats, you are able to sell as a direct checkout as well as auctioning the items. You sell, you choose. On top of traditional marketing schemes, Ethair Market offers unique ways to promote your sales. For example, by adding Points to your listings, you increase desirability with the buyers as they get more rewards for purchasing your items. The Ethair store manager allows you to easily manage your listings, bulk upload, sync your listings count with your inventory stock and across multiple selling platforms, easily message the sellers, check which sales are pending shipping. Ethair Market also has multiple return policy rules which allow you to select the return rules under your own terms. Additional features allow you to customize your store to your liking, create your own categories and sort items in order to allow buyers to easily find desired items. You can also advertise selected store categories only. And verified sellers even have the ability to edit the store profile’s HTML code. As for future developments, the next big step for Ethair is the implementation of the NFT marketplace. This section is planned to have drastically lower fees, help the buyers and the sellers who are not tech savvy and introduce novelties to the whole system. Semi-NFTs are also on the developers’ radar and the EthairPay payment processor is on track to become compatible with every mintable state, as well as different blockchain smart contracts. Expansion into warehouse services is also on the list of future developments, as Ethair’s goal is to offer the best from all the traditional marketplaces and provide everything required for any type of seller. Another plan is to include a social media platform (“0xHello”) that would be inter-operable with the marketplace in order to easily create, list and sell NFTs. This would create a new and never seen before branch where influencers could potentially monetize every post they make, sell limited edition digital collections of cards, books and similar items. To learn more about the project visit www.ethair.com and follow the latest developments on Telegram, Discord, Facebook and Twitter. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Ricardo Salinas, president of Elektra Group, one of the biggest retail franchises in Mexico, hinted at the possibility of integrating payments using Bitcoin’s second layer solution, the Lightning Network. Salinas made the announcement yesterday via Twitter. This would allow residents of the country to pay for appliances in-store, directly with cryptocurrency. Elektra Group Might Accept Cryptocurrency Elektra Group, one of the biggest appliances franchises in Mexico, hinted at the possibility of taking Bitcoin payments in the near future. These payments would be made using a Bitcoin second layer, the Lightning Network, which seeks to address the rising fees of base layer transactions to make bitcoin more appealing for commerce-related uses. The announcement was made by the president of Elektra Group, Ricardo Salinas, who commented on the Bitcoin adoption El Salvador is embracing right now. Commenting on a video message that shows a bitcoin purchase in el Zonte, the “Bitcoin beach,” he stated: Very soon we will have this in our Elektra store network. This could be a way of getting bitcoin and cryptocurrency to the Mexican markets, given that Elektra is one of the most successful franchises in Mexico. According to a report, the Elektra Group sold seven out of every ten motorcycles, one in four televisions, and one in five refrigerators sold in Mexico during 2015. Branching Out Salinas also stated Elektra Group was working on other initiatives to bring Bitcoin closer to residents of Mexico. When asked about the possibility of bringing Bitcoin ATMs to the stores, Salinas answered it could be possible. Salinas also stated that the Elektra group was working on a system to let users save in bitcoin. The Elektra group is an important provider of financial services via Banco Azteca, which is one of the two biggest banks in the country. The statement made by Salinas could mean Elektra plans to offer some kind of savings instrument denominated in bitcoin using its financial arm. Salinas had declared in June he was working toward Banco Azteca being the first bank to accept bitcoin in Mexico, recommending the crypto asset over the dollar. However, he received a quick rebuttal from the finance minister, Arturo Herrera, who stated that cryptocurrencies were not allowed to be used in the Mexican financial system and that this prohibition will likely not change in the near term. What do you think about the Elektra Group hinting at the possibility of accepting payments in cryptocurrency? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin is now legal tender in El Salvador, and the country’s bitcoin stash has grown to 550 coins. The Salvadoran government started buying the cryptocurrency Monday ahead of the Bitcoin Law taking effect. On Tuesday, President Nayib Bukele said El Salvador bought the dip. El Salvador Buys More Bitcoin El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law came into effect Tuesday, Sept. 7, making BTC a national currency alongside the U.S. dollar. El Salvador has been buying bitcoin ahead of the Bitcoin Law taking effect. President Nayib Bukele announced Monday that his government had started buying bitcoin. “El Salvador has just bought its first 200 coins. Our brokers will be buying a lot more as the deadline approaches,” he wrote. A few hours later, he tweeted: “El Salvador just bought 200 new coins. We now hold 400 bitcoin.” The price of bitcoin was rising leading up to the Bitcoin Law entering into force. However, it dipped around 11:00 a.m. EST on Sept. 7, falling from above $51K to below $43K. At the time of writing, the price stands at about $46,883. After the price dipped, President Bukele tweeted: “Buying the dip. 150 new coins added.” The Salvadoran president followed up with another tweet at 11:25 a.m. EST as the price of bitcoin stabilized at the $46K level. He wrote, “It appears the discount is ending. Thanks for the dip @IMFNews. We saved a million in printed paper,” adding: El Salvador now holds 550 bitcoin. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has spoken against countries adopting bitcoin as legal tender on several occasions. In late August, IMF’s legal counsels said that cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, came with “substantial risks” and are inadvisable as legal tender. Sept. 7 got off to a bumpy start for El Salvador when users complained that the government’s bitcoin wallet app, Chivo, was unavailable on various platforms, including Apple and Huawei. When the app became available on Huawei, it was unable to cope with user registration, Bukele explained, adding that the government decided to unplug it in order to connect to more servers and increase capacity. The issue appeared to have been resolved at the time of writing. What do you think about El Salvador buying the dip and growing its bitcoin stash? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has highlighted the importance of launching a legal digital assets market in his country during a working visit to the U.S. The Ukrainian head of state met with top investors including from the cryptocurrency industry. President Zelensky Highlights Importance of Ukraine’s Virtual Assets Market Speaking to venture capital funds and Silicon Valley accelerators, Volodymyr Zelensky praised the opportunity to discuss the prospects for the development of the IT sector and innovations in Ukraine. In his opening remarks at the event, quoted in a press release, the Ukrainian leader emphasized his country has made a “real breakthrough in the digital sphere” and a “huge leap towards creating a digital state” over the past year. At a meeting with representatives of the Stellar Development Foundation, the president expressed hope that in the near future the institution will find more opportunities to expand its activities and team as well as to eventually establish an R&D center in the East European nation. “After all, Ukraine is now the best magnet with blockchain and crypto specialists in Europe,” Zelensky remarked, further emphasizing: And one of the vectors of development of Ukraine’s digital economy is the launch and development of a legal innovative market for virtual assets. Earlier this year, Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation signed a memorandum of understanding with the foundation aimed at supporting the ongoing efforts of the Ukrainian government to develop a legal framework for the country’s expanding crypto space. The agreement also covers Stellar’s participation in building the infrastructure for the Ukrainian national digital currency. Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, who was part of the delegation, noted that Ukraine has one of the world’s largest blockchain developer communities and is working to become an attractive jurisdiction for both local and foreign crypto companies. He added that the country is also modernizing its payments market which will allow the National Bank of Ukraine to issue the digital hryvnia. The current administration in Kyiv has maintained a generally positive attitude towards the crypto and blockchain industry but is yet to adopt comprehensive regulations for its activities. A draft law “On Virtual Assets,” which was recently revised, is expected to be adopted by the end of this year. In July, government officials and business representatives produced a roadmap to transform Ukraine into a leader in cryptocurrency integration. A central part of the new strategy is the plan to develop the country’s virtual assets market within the next three years. Do you expect Ukraine to become a leading crypto friendly destination in Europe? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Higher cryptocurrency prices recently have restored interest in digital coin minting in Vietnam. Crypto mining is once again seen as an investment opportunity with other options being limited by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has been affecting the Asian country. Vietnam’s Sales and Prices of Crypto Mining Rigs Spike in September Demand for crypto mining equipment has increased in Vietnam following the market recovery that saw the price of BTC moving back above the $50,000 threshold, Vnexpress reported. Prices of hardware used to mint bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies have also risen as many Vietnamese miners are now looking to buy mining components. Speaking to the online newspaper, Quang Thuan, owner of several crypto hardware shops in Ho Chi Minh City, noted that a few months ago the mining rig market was gloomy after the leading cryptocurrency fell below $30,000 in July. However, he revealed that his sales have tripled earlier this month compared to the August volumes. Two key factors have facilitated this recovery, according to Le Hung, administrator of a Vietnamese crypto mining group with 80,000 members. “First, Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies have simultaneously seen price hikes, and miners have started to make profits,” he said in a conversation with the Vietnamese news outlet, further elaborating: Second, the pandemic (Covid-19) has prolonged, reducing investment options, and so more people have opted for coin mining. A crypto entrepreneur from Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai provided more insight about the funds needed to start a mining business right now. “It cost me nearly VND3 billion ($130,400) to set up this mine,” said Ngoc Van who recently established an ethereum mining facility. “All rigs are new and stable. I hope I can recoup the investment in six months,” he added. While Vietnamese miners can purchase graphics processing units (GPUs) and assemble their own rigs, they can also buy fully assembled mining machines, including rigs from China, where an ongoing crackdown on the industry has closed numerous mining farms. “On average, a rig is sold for VND30 million ($1,300),” said another owner of a hardware store in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Ngoc Van, however, the best-selling devices are equipped with video cards produced by the leading graphics chip manufacturers AMD and Nvidia, and are more expensive. The prices of these rigs vary between 80 and 100 million Vietnamese dong at the moment, or $3,500 – $4,400. That’s around 5 million dong ($220) higher than in mid-August. Vietnam is yet to properly regulate cryptocurrencies and related business activities. In May this year, the government in Hanoi commissioned a research group for that purpose and the Finance Ministry said it’s conducting an in-depth study of the matter. Cryptos are not recognized as a means of payment and the State Bank of Vietnam has previously issued warnings about the risks of owning, trading, and using them. According to data from Statista released in February, the country had the second-highest rate of cryptocurrency use among 74 surveyed economies, driven by remittances, Vnexpress noted. A poll conducted by Finder in 27 countries showed last month that Vietnam holds the highest percentage of crypto ownership. Do you think Vietnam will eventually recognize cryptocurrencies more broadly and comprehensively regulate bitcoin-related activities? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Within the DeFi space, Wault Finance has demonstrated its revolutionary nature by developing multiple innovative products. The protocol is one of the fastest growing projects in the DeFi sector, providing users a variety of yield farming and staking opportunities. Now, Wault intends to expand its ecosystem with the development of its stablecoin WUSD. WUSD is a next-generation stablecoin that uses an innovative model to ensure that it holds its peg to the dollar and is designed to provide use-cases for holders. This article will explore the key features of the stablecoin. Commerce-backed stablecoin WUSD is different from other stablecoins that are fiat-backed or algorithmic stablecoins. In WUSD’s case the stablecoin is backed by crypto-assets within a sustainable mechanism. The stablecoin is backed by USDT and Wault Finance’s native token WEX at a ratio of 9:1. This means that 90% of WUSD is collateralized by USDT deposits and the remaining 10% from WEX. This ensures the stability of the stablecoin and guarantees that holders do not lose more than 10% of their capital in the worst-case scenario of extreme volatility. WUSD’s process is as follows. When a trader deposits 1000 USDT to purchase WUSD, 900 USDT is deposited by the smart contract to WUSD’s Treasury, and the remaining 100 USDT is used to buy WEX tokens. The two tokens are held in the Treasury, and the protocol deploys a portion of that to generate yields to reinforce the Treasury. This ensures that WUSD is always backed by enough collateral, while also earning yields in the background to reinforce the Treasury. The buyback and lockup on WEX also raises its price, creating a positive cycle for the ecosystem. When the user wants to exchange their 1000 WUSD for USDT, the WUSD is burnt from circulation, and the user receives back 1000 USDT, with 100 of it bought back from WEX according to the market price. This Treasury, along with the following stability mechanisms, ensures that WUSD keeps its peg to the USD and prevents risks associated with internal minting and burning of a governance token. WUSD Stability Mechanisms Wault has also deployed four different stability mechanisms that ensure WUSD maintains its peg. This includes the Treasury, WSwap Emissions Support, WSwap Trading Fees Support, and WUSD Staking Support. The WUSD Treasury ensures collateralization, and the additional stability mechanisms reinforce the Treasury. 15% of the trading fees from WSwap, one of the top DEXs on BSC and Polygon goes towards the treasury. If WUSD moves off-peg, a portion of WEX emissions goes towards the Treasury, supporting it so that arb bots can return WUSD to peg, a guaranteed outcome as long as the Treasury is full. WUSD staking is also a major way that Wault intends to maintain the peg of the stablecoin. Wault intends to incentivize early holders of WUSD with WEX emissions. The emission rate will serve as a stability mechanism for WUSD peg. If the peg shifts from $1, emissions will rise and fall to modulate the incentives for staking WUSD. At the moment, WUSD-BUSD staking on Wault earns 34% APR, a very high yield for stablecoins in DeFi. The WUSD-BUSD pool has already amassed up to $40 million TVL since its recent launch. Wault is also working on new partnerships to establish additional pools and use-cases for the stablecoin, and is making headway in doing just that with its ecosystem of partners. Finally, WUSD is coming to Polygon, launching on Wault’s cross-chain platform there. Future developments Wault has so far been able to become one of the top DEXs on two different blockchains. During the highs of the crypto bull run, Wault hit over $1.5 billion in TVL. In addition, the team behind the project has made significant strides with the timely release of products in recent months. Wault has revealed that it aims to continue building integrations to expand to more blockchains. There are also plans to launch a lending platform to expand the current DeFi products on its protocol. Wault is busy supporting the ecosystem as well. Wault recently launched a Moon Fuel Grant Program to support new projects, as well as a Scholarship Program to support low income gamers to make a living through play-to-earn games. To learn more about Wault Finance, visit its social networks below: Website Twitter Telegram Discord Medium Docs 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