roadrunner

According to a recent report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has allegedly started probing the startup that operates the decentralized exchange (dex) Uniswap. The dex platform Uniswap is the largest dex in terms of trade volume with over $10 billion in crypto tokens swapped in the last seven days. Sources from the report also said SEC enforcement is investigating crypto lending applications as well. Unnamed Sources Familiar With Matter Say SEC Is Investigating Defi Exchange Uniswap A recently published report from the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) Dave Michaels and Alexander Osipovich claims unnamed sources told the outlet that SEC enforcement attorneys are probing the dex Uniswap Labs. The report shows that the SEC has not commented on the matter but a Uniswap Labs spokesperson said: [Uniswap is] committed to complying with the laws and regulations governing our industry and to providing information to regulators that will assist them with any inquiry. The unknown informants told the WSJ that the SEC enforcement officials want to know how Uniswap is marketed, and it wants information on crypto lending applications. The “people familiar with the matter” said that the SEC wants to find out if the dex or lending applications “resisted oversight.” The investigation seems to be a developing story and the WSJ says no allegations have stemmed from the informant’s information. Uniswap Commands More Than 60% of Ethereum-Based Dex Trade Volume, Uniswap Labs Recently Removed 100 Tokens Uniswap is the largest dex by trade volume today and as more than a dozen dex platforms including Uniswap captured $16 billion this week in volume, Uniswap commanded $10.3 billion of that volume. Uniswap commands 65.1% of all the dex trade volume (Ethereum dex platform volumes only) on Friday morning (EST), according to Dune Analytics stats. News of the alleged probe into Uniswap Labs follows the flak the company got for removing 100 tokens from the main user interface at the end of July. It was assumed at the time that some of the 100 tokens listed could be deemed unregistered securities by U.S. regulators. “These tokens have always represented a very small portion of overall volume on the Uniswap Protocol,” Uniswap Labs wrote at the time. The story concerning the SEC allegedly investigating the world’s largest dex application is still developing and we promise to keep our readers informed of any updated information pertaining to this topic. What do you think about the report that says the SEC may be probing the world’s largest dex platform, Uniswap? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Evan Luthra is a prolific angel investor having been in crypto since 2014 and early discoverer in Eaze.com (Fastest growing on-demand Tech company in 2016) and Wheelys Cafe (over 1000+ coffee shops in 40 countries), more recently investing in the seed round of Hashgraph.com (The billion dollar Crypto Currency), Admix.in (Biggest Gaming AD Publisher), JoshTalks, FTcash and more. The leading entrepreneur inspired many when he exited his first company and simultaneously took over the TedX stage at the age of 17. Evan is a successful keynote speaker with hundreds of speeches around the world for organizations like United Nations, Nielsen, Google, Blockchain Life, and many more. Evan also has over 2 Million followers on Instagram (Instagram.com/evanluthra) where he shares daily tips about investing in crypto markets. There will be powerful synergies between Evan’s portfolio companies, industry network and the Soldex.ai ecosystem. About Soldex.ai Soldex.ai is one of the first basic decentralized exchanges (DEX) built on Solana. Soldex.ai allows users to conduct peer-to-peer transactions in a safe and reliable manner, with liquidity provided by users. Third-generation cryptocurrency exchange tat aims to use advanced machine learning and neural network algorithms to solve the current problems faced by decentralized exchanges in order matching, centralized exchanges, and trustless custody. Website | Twitter | Telegram | Medium This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

The central banks of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Republic of South Africa have set out to test the use of state-issued digital currencies in cross-border payments. The trial, led by the Bank for International Settlements, aims to establish whether they can simplify transactions and make them cheaper. Reserve Bank of Australia Teams Up With Counterparts in Asia-Pacific, Africa on CBDC Project While a number of nations are still testing their central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in domestic applications, some are preparing to conduct international experiments. The Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the South African Reserve Bank have joined forces to carry out cross-border trials. The cooperation aims to develop shared platforms for cross-border transactions using different CBDCs, the institutions said in a statement quoted by Reuters. The scheme is led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub. Fraziali Ismail, assistant governor at Bank Negara Malaysia, has been quoted as saying: The multi-CBDC shared platform… has the potential to leapfrog the legacy payment arrangements and serve as a foundation for a more efficient international settlement platform. The prototype platforms should enable financial institutions to transact directly with each other using the sovereign digital currencies, the report elaborates. This approach would allow them to eliminate the need for intermediaries. Transaction times and costs are also expected to decrease. The participants will explore various designs in terms of technology, governance, and operation. This isn’t the first experiment of this kind. BIS Innovation Hub heads another project involving central banks from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. In June, Bank of France and the Swiss National Bank announced a collaboration with the hub to trial the use of wholesale digital currencies in cross-border settlements. In July, the IMF, the World Bank, and BIS recommended that countries work together on CBDCs to enhance cross-border payments. Earlier this year, financial authorities in Hong Kong launched a second round of tests for the national digital currency issued by the People’s Bank of China, which has arguably the most advanced CBDC project. The Chinese special administrative region revealed it’s going to connect its domestic payments system to the mainland’s digital yuan network to assess the currency’s usability in cross-border scenarios. Do you think central bank digital currencies will challenge the current international payments system? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The very low power rates in Venezuela have created a powerful incentive to mine Bitcoin for a lucky few that have the capital (and dare) to purchase miners and infrastructure in the country. The rise of digital currencies has created a new industry that uses cheap energy and turns it into precious Bitcoin. In other regional news, Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn game, has created opportunities for the less fortunate ones. The country is going digital because of the possibilities these new tools offer. Cheap Power Creates Mining Opportunities in Venezuela The cheap cost of electricity is creating opportunities to leverage this resource and turn it into bitcoin, a more scarce and valuable resource. This is what many investors have been doing in the country. Theodoro Toukoumidis, CEO of Doctorminer, a services-oriented Bitcoin mining company, has more than 80 ASICS working non-stop. According to him, all those machines put together cost less than $10 in power monthly. However, each of the mining machines costs approximately $400 dollars, a steep price for a country whose minimum wage doesn’t reach the $10 threshold. In any case, the price of mining goes even higher, with miners having to adapt power infrastructure and make repairs to be able to connect to the aging power grid. Venezuela is a country that went through a power rationing period that left citizens suffering disastrous blackouts back in 2019. The situation has since improved, but there are still analysts worried about the effect that a power shortage could have on the operation of miners. Just last month, authorities in a key Venezuelan state disconnected the power supply to all miners due to their supposedly massive power consumption. These miners have since been reconnected to the power grid, after a delay. The Hidden Cost of Mining Mining has been a regulated and legal activity in Venezuela since Sunacrip, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog, established it as such last year. To establish mining operations, investors must comply with a series of requirements. Complying with these steps can be a little complicated, but these ensure that, in theory, the government will not take action against them. But experience states otherwise. There have been many stories about authorities visiting miners to extort them due to their activities. In fact, Sunacrip had to clarify miners couldn’t be visited by state security forces without a representative from the institution, to curb the incidence of these questionable visits. But due to this, some miners have decided to carry out their activities hidden from the eye of the regulator. This has resulted in the seizure of thousands of mining machines by the authorities. Digital Economy Blooming All of these factors combine to create a climate that seems conducive for the development of a digital economy, allowing some Venezuelans to escape the dire situation the country faces. While most Venezuelans cannot purchase and organize a mining operation, there are other ways to make money in crypto that carry a lower entry cost. Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn game that was launched in 2018, has allowed some Venezuelans to invest and offer scholarships for others to earn while playing the game. Axie Infinity has become so popular that a number of academies offering scholarships for the game have gained notoriety in social networks. Vzlatothemoon, one of these academies, has reached trending status on Twitter several times. A scholarship in Axie means that an investor lends the characters needed to play the game to another player, and they split the earnings. This is now so popular in Venezuela that more than 300 stores are currently accepting SLP, one of the native tokens of the game, as a payment option. What do you think about the digital economy that’s brewing in Venezuela? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Fabio Araujo, a representative of the Central Bank of Brazil, talked about the possible development of a Digital Real at a public hearing before the Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication and Information Technology of the Brazilian Senate. Araujo clarified that the Digital Real is still at the debate stage, and they are determining the demand for such an instrument. Central Bank of Brazil Still Debating Digital Real The Central Bank of Brazil is still studying the creation of a Digital Real, according to statements given by Fabio Araujo, a representative of the institution. Araujo stated at a recent public hearing with the Senate Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication, and Information Technology that the bank is still debating the need society might have for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Araujo declared: Our goal is to clarify what demands society presents to Real Digital. After that, we will soon move on to the testing phase with proof of concept and possibly an innovation laboratory, and this should take place throughout 2022. Araujo also revealed the Central Bank of Brazil was still having meetings with different parties that could help to design the Digital Real project. Senator Cunha, the senator that proposed the meeting, stated that the use of digital currencies was a necessary discussion due to the lack of information on the subject. He stressed: We need to debate this topic. Digitization is a reality in the lives of the population, in various fields, but there is still no clearer information on how this will happen regarding the money in circulation in Brazil. Central Bank Digital Currencies vs. Cryptocurrency However, this openness about the Digital Real, a central bank digital currency, doesn’t translate to a de-facto approval of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum. In fact, the stance that the Central Bank of Brazil has taken is a negative one. Araujo clarified: CBDCs are not to be confused with cryptoactives. The Central Bank of Brazil maintains the opinion that cryptoactives are speculative assets and bring high risk to individuals’ portfolios. While the Central Bank of Brazil is still in the research phase of a hypothetical Digital Real, it issued general guidelines that such a currency must follow in May, showing there is real interest in the subject. This puts Brazil at the vanguard of central bank digital currency investigation in Latam, a region where central banks don’t seem to be too interested in the issue just yet. What do you think about Brazil’s research regarding a Digital Real? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The professional basketball team owned by the billionaire Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks, announced “Mavs Cryptomania,” which gives Dallasmavs.shop customers a $25 e-gift card if they pay with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash, and dogecoin. The Mav’s owner has been a big proponent of crypto assets and the Mav’s was the first NBA team to accept dogecoin for tickets and merchandise. Dallasmavs.shop Customers Paying With Crypto Will Get a Gift Card Reward Mark Cuban, Shark Tank star and the owner of the NBA basketball team the Dallas Mavericks is a big believer in crypto assets. More specifically, Cuban and Tesla’s Elon Musk think dogecoin (DOGE) is the ”strongest” cryptocurrency for payments. Cuban told his Twitter followers that the Mav’s were hodling DOGE after sales, and he even told the popular Talk show host Ellen Degeneres to get into dogecoin. When speaking about hodling dogecoin, Cuban said: FYI, the Mavs sales in dogecoin have increased 550pct over the past month. We have now sold more than 122k Doge in merchandise. We will never sell 1 single Doge ever. So keep buying Dallasmavs.shop. The web portal Dallasmavs.shop uses the crypto payment processor Bitpay to accept payments in crypto and the shop accepts BTC, BCH, ETH, USDC, GUSD, PAX, BUSD, and DOGE. Now the Dallasmavs.shop has announced “Mavs Cryptomania,” which will give customers who pay for items in crypto a reward. $25 Gift Card for Crypto Purchases, Cuban Believes People Miss the Point of Dogecoin The Dallasmavs.shop rewards give users a “free $25 e-gift card for purchases made with eligible cryptocurrency on Dallasmavs.shop. [Customers] must spend [a] minimum of $150 (before tax and shipping.) Only one e-gift card per transaction,” the website says. The reward promotion is valid from August 13, 2021, through September 30, 2021. I don’t prefer doge over btc. They are completely different. But to say DOGE doesn’t have a place is wrong — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) August 15, 2021 The website says the e-gift card will be emailed between “5-7 business days after order is placed” and the card expires at the end of the year. Two weeks ago Cuban spoke about the benefits of DOGE and why observers miss out on when they see the crypto asset’s “imperfections.” “The point about DOGE that people miss is that DOGE’s imperfections and simplicity are its greatest strengths,” Cuban said at the time. “You can only use it to do [two] things: Spend It or HODL It. Both are easy to understand. And it’s cheap to buy. Which makes it a community anyone can join and enjoy,” the billionaire investor added. However, Intothecryptoverse.com’s Benjamin Cowen disagreed with Cuban’s statement. “You could replace ‘DOGE’ with basically any other altcoin and the argument stays the same. Meaning it’s a somewhat weak argument,” Cowen replied to Cuban. “The strong argument for DOGE is just that people with influence promote it, which is at least something to consider,” Cowen added. What do you think about the Mavs giving rewards to crypto spenders who shop at the online store? Do you agree with Mark Cuban about the crypto asset dogecoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

BlockBank will be enabling its users to earn interest on the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), with rates up to 60x the US national average of a traditional savings account. Best of all, your USDC is guaranteed by BlockBank, giving you complete certainty whilst you earn interest. With the BlockBank application V2 update arriving in Q3 this year, you will be able to view your live portfolio and receive monthly payouts, all with no deposit and withdrawal fees or limits. Generating a passive income by obtaining the best interest rate is on everyone’s mind nowadays. In fact over the years, interest rates in traditional banking have decreased close to zero, making it hard for you to earn a passive income on your assets. The US national average for a traditional savings account hovers around 0.07% per year, with high-yield savings accounts at around 1%, still nothing to rave about. BlockBank’s high-yield alternative to traditional savings accounts offers competitive APY on your USDC, a stablecoin that can always be redeemed one-to-one for USD. This means, by lending your USDC to BlockBank, you can earn between 60x more than the traditional savings accounts and 4x more of high-yield savings accounts. Recently investors have seen the rise of crypto interest accounts that offer attractive rates on customers’ assets. While the high interest rates are appealing, they can present varying levels of risk. When you read the full terms and conditions, you may find that your assets are loaned to unidentified third parties and subject to their credit risk, which could result in a total loss of your crypto holdings. BlockBank wants to offer its customers the opportunity to earn more interest than the traditional banks, while also providing peace of mind and a safe, secure way to earn. That’s why BlockBank is proud to offer a principal guarantee for the USDC in your BlockBank account. “The integration with USDC’s ecosystem will allow our users to achieve high yield APYs in a risk free & insured platform. This shows that we are here to stay and compete with top providers out there in the market.” – Darren Franceschini, Chief of Operations – BlockBank Once V2 of the BlockBank application is available, it will be as simple as USDC to the pool and you will automatically start earning APY on the USDC in your account. Safely and securely earning on your USDC is just the beginning — BlockBank will continue to build more rewarding ways for you to earn interest on your crypto savings. Visit the Interest section of your BlockBank Portfolio to see all of the different ways you can earn interest by holding cryptocurrencies and stable coins. About USDC As an open standard and public smart contract, USDC has rapidly grown the largest stablecoin industry ecosystem in the world. Hundreds of companies, products, and services support the USDC standard, including digital wallets, exchanges, DeFi protocols, savings, lending, and payment services. USDC is creating value for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Twitter —https://twitter.com/circlepay Facebook —https://www.facebook.com/circle Discord —https://discord.com/invite/Q7bKN5y LinkedIn —https://www.linkedin.com/company/circle-internet-financial/ Blog — https://www.circle.com/blog About BlockBank BlockBank is a one-stop solution that combines the power of decentralized and centralized technology in a simple and secure Mobile & Web application. BlockBank’s vision is to create an all-in-one crypto application that simplifies the user experience without compromising security, privacy, or decentralization. BlockBank aims to combine the best of DeFi and CeFi worlds in one application, incorporating patented Robo Advisor technology to bring financial empowerment to clients. Telegram — https://t.me/BlockBankApp Twitter — www.twitter.com/BlockBankapp Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/blockbank Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/blockbankapp/ LinkedIn —https://www.linkedin.com/company/blockbankapp Blog — https://blog.blockbank.ai/ This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s U.S. arm could be going public in three years, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has revealed. He said that his exchange “is just going to do what Coinbase did.” Coinbase Global went public on Nasdaq via direct listing. Binance Plans to IPO in the US Within 3 Years Binance’s founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, said in an interview with The Information Wednesday that his company’s U.S. arm could have an initial public offering (IPO) in the next three years. He described: Binance.us is just going to do what Coinbase did. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase went public on Nasdaq in April via a direct listing. The exchange recently said that it wants to be the “Amazon” of crypto and list all legal cryptocurrencies. Binance.us is also set to close on a large private fundraising round in the next two months, Zhao told the publication, adding that his company generated $800 million to $1 billion in profit last year. Binance has recently been heavily scrutinized by regulators worldwide, including those in Malaysia, Japan, the U.K., the Netherlands, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, and Lithuania. The company recently complied with the June requirements imposed by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In an effort to become a financial services company, Binance imposed mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) requirements for all users in August. Former acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks, also recently left Binance as the CEO of Binance U.S. What do you think about Binance going public in the U.S.? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The $2 billion crypto fraud scheme Bitconnect and its founder have been charged in the U.S. In a parallel enforcement action, a Bitconnect director and top promoter has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the U.S. “The Bitconnect scheme is believed to be the largest cryptocurrency fraud ever charged criminally,” said the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). US Authorities Take Action Against Bitconnect and Its Founder U.S. authorities continue to take action against the fraudulent crypto trading scheme Bitconnect and its executives this week. “The Bitconnect scheme is believed to be the largest cryptocurrency fraud ever charged criminally,” the DOJ described. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Wednesday that it has filed an action against Bitconnect, its founder Satish Kumbhani, its top U.S. promoter Glenn Arcaro, and his affiliated company Future Money Ltd. The SEC noted that Kumbhani, age 35, is an Indian citizen who resided in Surat, India, but whose current whereabouts are unknown. According to the Commission: They defrauded retail investors out of $2 billion through a global fraudulent and unregistered offering of investments into a program involving digital assets. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, explains that from early 2017 through January 2018, the “Defendants conducted a fraudulent and unregistered offering and sale of securities in the form of investments in a ‘Lending Program’ offered by Bitconnect.” The SEC states that the Bitconnect Lending Program “ultimately succeeded in obtaining more than 325,000 bitcoin” from investors worldwide. The complaint alleges that the “defendants falsely represented, among other things, that Bitconnect would deploy its purportedly proprietary ‘volatility software trading bot’ that, using investors’ deposits, would generate exorbitantly high returns.” The Commission added: Bitconnect and Kumbhani established a network of promoters around the world, and rewarded them for their promotional efforts and outreach by paying commissions, a substantial portion of which they concealed from investors. “The SEC’s complaint charges [the] defendants with violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement plus interest, and civil penalties,” the Commission continued. The regulator previously reached settlements with two of the five individuals it charged in connection with promoting the Bitconnect scheme. Top US Director and Promoter of Bitconnect Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges In a parallel action, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Arcaro, a Bitconnect director and the top U.S. promoter of the scheme, has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. The DOJ described: Arcaro admitted that he earned no less than $24 million from the Bitconnect fraud conspiracy, all of which, according to court documents, he must repay to investors. The Justice Department detailed that the maximum penalty for Arcaro is “Twenty years in prison, $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater; forfeiture and restitution.” What do you think about the U.S. authorities’ action against Bitconnect and its executives? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Of all funds sent to illicit cryptocurrency addresses from Eastern Europe, scams attract the greatest amount, according to a new report. In the past year alone, crypto addresses based in the region have sent the fraudulent schemes a staggering $815 million in crypto. Eastern Europe Leads by Volume of Illicit Crypto Transactions Among the world’s regions with a total crypto transaction volume of at least $400 million, Eastern Europe is the only one where illicit activity exceeds 0.5% of the total value sent and received, Chainalysis notes in a preview of its 2021 Geography of Cryptocurrency report. In a blog post published Wednesday, the blockchain forensics company revealed: Between June 2020 and July 2021, Eastern Europe-based addresses sent $815 million to scams, second only to Western Europe. Crypto addresses in East European countries have the second-highest rate of exposure to illicit addresses, with Africa topping the chart and Latin America ranking third, the excerpt details. However, Eastern Europe has a much larger overall cryptocurrency economy than either of the other regions in the top three. Source: Chainalysis Researchers also remark that Eastern Europe accounts for the most web traffic to scam websites during the studied period. Among all nations, Ukraine is the marked leader with more than twice the number of web visits registered in the United States which is a distant second. The total number of monthly East European visitors to crypto scam sites peaked at 12.5 million in January. Source: Chainalysis While Eastern Europe sends more digital currency than other regions to darknet markets such as Hydra Market, which targets the Russian-speaking world, scams receive the largest share of East European crypto funds sent to illicit addresses, Chainalysis concludes. “We can assume that most of this activity represents victims sending money to scammers,” point out the authors of the report. Finiko Ponzi Scheme Collects Over $1.5 Billion Worth of Bitcoin in 2 Years Chainalysis further notes that over half of the value sent to scam addresses from Eastern Europe went to one particular scam based in the Russian Federation — Finiko. The Ponzi scheme, which enticed crypto investors promising monthly returns of up to 30%, collapsed in July after receiving more than $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin (BTC) since December 2019, mostly from Russian and Ukrainian crypto holders. Source: Chainalysis According to Russian media, Finiko has been led by Kirill Doronin, an Instagram influencer also linked to other Ponzi schemes. With incomes falling amid economic difficulties worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, the scam targeted people who needed extra money. Many Russians fell for the financial pyramid scheme, just like in the “wild 1990s.” Meanwhile, the officially estimated damages in the Finiko case have reached 250 million rubles (over $3.4 million), Forklog reported. The crypto news outlet quoted the latest version of the indictment against the pyramid’s founder in the Russian republic of Tatarstan. Independent experts claim the total losses exceed $4 billion. So far, 80 individuals have been recognized as victims of the scam, although the number of depositors is believed to be at least 850,000. What are your thoughts on the findings in the Chainalysis report? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Vasyl Virastyuk, the strongest man on the planet in 2004 and 2007, tokenized his autograph through the innovative NFT project PHILOGRAPHY. The strongman was the first to start a partnership with PHILOGRAPHY.BIZ. He provided his original autograph to produce a limited edition of collectible NFT autographs and sell them. This is the project’s first NFT token, which will increase its collectible value and investment value in the long run. Vasyl Virastyuk is the owner of the 2004 and 2007 World’s Strongest Man titles and the multiple world champion in strongman competitions. According to reputable online media, the athlete is among the top 10 strongest men in the world in mankind’s history. Vasyl Virastyuk has set a number of world records. Among them: Movement of 5 streetcars weighing 101.5 tons. Movement of 10 cars with a total weight of 16.5 tons over a distance of 18.5 meters. Movement of 7 cars with a total weight of 11 tons over a distance of 25 meters. Vasyl Virastyuk is a pioneer strongman. He was the first to work with ice when within a minute he lifted and installed four ice cubes weighing 150 kg each on the threshold of 130 cm high. Under his leadership, the Ukrainian Strongman team has 4 times won the World Strongman National title. In 2007 he defeated Žydrūnas Savickas, the two-time IFSA world champion. After this victory, he became the first athlete in the history of strongman to win both a World’s Strongest Man title and an IFSA World title. What is the PHILOGRAPHY NFT PROJECT? PHILOGRAPHY NFT PROJECT is the world’s first repository and auction platform for tokenized NFT autographs. The PHILOGRAPHY team officially collaborates with global celebrities from film, culture, sports, politics, and business and tokenizes their original autographs. All autographs are confirmed (verified) by the celebrities. PHILOGRAPHY team independently organizes autograph sessions and interviews with celebrities. Subsequently, the team converts autographs into NFT tokens – collectible NFT autographs of the celebrities. PHILOGRAPHY.BIZ produces limited editions of celebrity autograph collections and sells them on the world’s NFT marketplaces – OpenSea and Rarible. The limited number of NFT autographs guarantees an increase in the collection and investment value of the digital asset in the long term. The next step in the development of the PHILOGRAPHY platform is its integration with British and American auction houses. The NFT market showed growth last year. In the first half of 2020, the total turnover of NFT tokens reached $232.5 million. The growing interest in NFT tokens is attracting new investments. A few days ago, Visa bought the NFT token “CryptoPunk” for $150,000. As of the second half of 2021, the NFT token market has crossed the $3B mark, and experts predict it will grow further. “PHILOGRAPHY NFT PROJECT is the blue ocean in the world of investing in collectible autographs of celebrities”, said Vasyl Virastyuk, the world’s strongest man of 2004 and 2007. The interview of the strongman legend can be found on the official website of the project – PHILOGRAPHY.BIZ. It confirms that the autograph of Vasyl Virastyuk is authentic and it was made by the strongest man in the world for PHILOGRAPHY. PHILOGRAPHY NFT PROJECT team created and develops an ambitious project, which transforms the existing investment market in collectible autographs of celebrities. The PHILOGRAPHY platform has created an innovative technological tool to protect investors against fake autographs. Thanks to this project, autograph collectors will be assured of their authenticity. You can buy confirmed collectible NFT autographs of the world celebrities on specialized websites – OpenSea, Rarible and PHILOGRAPHY.BIZ 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

A Zimbabwean artist, Greatjoy Ndlovu, joined the growing list of African artists pivoting to the non-fungible tokens (NFT) market after his digital artwork was sold for 0.7 ethereum. The sale, which took place on the Async Art NFT marketplace, is Ndlovu’s first foray into the digital art space. NFTs an Opportunity for African Artists According to a report, Ndlovu’s digital art piece, which is called Burnt Out, depicts the challenges that were experienced by health care workers who were fighting to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the report says Ndlovu is hopeful that his break into the NFT space will help “inspire many young creators to take a leap and test the market themselves.” According to the artist — who also serves as the Ambassador of SOS Children’s Village — NFTs represent an “alarmingly bright future” for African art makers. Artists Embrace NFTs Meanwhile, with this pivot to NFTs, Ndlovu joins Nyasha Warambwa and Indigo Saint, the first artists from Zimbabwe to embrace NFTs. Warambwa, who also goes by the name “Hulio,” reportedly revealed via social media that his two NFTs had been sold for 1.55 ETH (or over $5,700 at current prices). Indigo Saint, on the other hand, is believed to have sold his NFT inside the first four hours of listing. The works were sold “at a price of 50 SOUL coin which was valued at US$29 on the day.” However, despite the three artists’ positive remarks about NFTs, some Zimbabweans on social media are raising concerns about a bubble. For instance, one Zimbabwean social media user known as Link Marine remarked: “[An] NFT crash is imminent…only a few months or even weeks.” Do you see NFTs as a bubble? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

A recently published report that went viral across social media details how a former U.S. Marine, Stephen Lara, was pulled over by police and was suspected of being a drug trafficker. Police then searched Lara’s vehicle and subsequently took $87,000 in cash from a bag kept in Lara’s trunk. Lara, who also had a stack of automated teller machine (ATM) receipts that showed the funds were legitimate, said “I could not believe that I had just been literally robbed on the side of the road by people with badges and guns.” Policing for Profit — DEA and Nevada Police Leverage Controversial ‘Adoptive’ Forfeiture Scheme to Take Former Marine’s $87K in Cash Civil forfeiture has been a problem for a long time in the U.S., as law enforcement has been known to “police for profit” over the last decade. All law enforcement needs to have is the “preponderance of evidence” to seize funds from someone and then leverage the funds for their own use cases. Since the year 2000, it has been estimated that the government has taken at least $68.8 billion and a great majority of the cases find zero criminal activity involved. The police in America don’t just take cash, they also are known for seizing large quantities of vehicles, properties, and now even cryptocurrencies. A recent report published by the Washington Post shows how law enforcement seized $87,000 in cash from a former U.S. Marine named Stephen Lara. The former Marine explained he was on his way to see his daughter, driving from Texas to Northern California. Police pulled him over for allegedly driving too close to another vehicle and asked Lara if they could search his vehicle. Lara complied with the search and told the officers he had “a lot of cash” in his car. Former Marine Stephen Lara had $87K in cash taken from him by law enforcement but was not charged with a crime. Law enforcement officials leveraged an adoptive forfeiture scheme to take Lara’s money. Law enforcement said the drug-sniffing canine that was on the scene had smelled narcotics on the cash found in Lara’s vehicle. Lara’s vehicle had zero drugs in it and he was not charged with any crimes. However, the police called a member of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to help with the seizure. It meant that the police could take Lara’s cash without charging him with a crime. Despite having all the ATM receipts and complying with the officer’s search, the state agents took his money. Lara was stunned. Lara told the Washington Post this week: I left there confused. I left there angry. And I could not believe that I had just been literally robbed on the side of the road by people with badges and guns. Government Says It Will Return Lara’s Funds, Justin Amash Says ‘Adoptive Forfeiture Is Legalized Theft Authorized Through Executive Policy’ The government has said it would return Lara’s funds but it was only after he hired an attorney and contacted the media. At first, the U.S. Justice Department, DEA, and Nevada Highway Patrol declined to comment on Lara’s story. However, after the news broke a spokesperson from the DEA said Lara’s money will be returned and that the DEA is “reviewing existing policy on adoptive forfeitures.” The news of Lara’s civil forfeiture story made headlines everywhere and went viral on social media. The American attorney and U.S. representative for Michigan’s 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2021, Justin Amash, also spoke out against the government’s actions against the former Marine. Amash said president Joe Biden could end the horrible practices tied to civil forfeiture easily. “President Biden continues Donald Trump’s abusive and unjust civil asset forfeiture policy known as ‘adoptive’ forfeiture,” Amash said. “It’s legalized theft authorized through executive policy. Biden could end it with a phone call. It needs to end now.” What do you think about Stephen Lara getting his $87K taken by the Nevada Highway Patrol and the DEA? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Over the last few weeks, Americans have read about the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) upping its tax enforcement to catch cryptocurrency users who have not paid taxes. According to one report, the IRS may get access to bank inflows and outflows via Joe Biden’s American Families Plan. On top of this, another story explains how an IRS agent posed as a bitcoin trader called “Mr. Coins” on the peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace Localcryptos.com in a $180K sting operation. America’s Tax Agency Is Stepping Up Enforcement via Biden’s American Families Plan The IRS has been stepping up enforcement against tax evaders and has recently been specifically focused on cryptocurrency transfers. This past April, Forbes contributor Guinevere Moore published a report on how U.S. President Biden’s “American Families Plan” aims to increase IRS enforcement. Essentially, Moore details that America’s financial institutions have always had to report capital gains to the IRS, but under Biden’s plan banks are required to “aggregate account outflows and inflows.” Two days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on how the Biden administration is pushing for global crypto data sharing rules in the $3.5 trillion budget bill. At the end of July, the IRS also modified the digital currency question as the tax agency is more focused on finding taxable crypto transfers. IRS Agent Goes Undercover as ‘Mr. Coins’ Additionally, the IRS has been actively engaged in sting operations and Forbes associate editor, Thomas Brewster, explained on September 1, how an IRS agent went undercover in a $180K sting operation last year. Brewster said the publication reviewed a search warrant that shows an IRS agent called himself “Mr. Coins” on the P2P marketplace Localcryptos.com. According to the report, Mr. Coins went undercover to bust a darknet market (DNM) drug dealer and conned him into trading $180K in cash for digital assets. Mr. Coins communicated with people via Whatsapp and Wickr and Brewster details that Mr. Coins had a 100% positive feedback rating on the P2P trading platform. The DNM dealer was arrested in July and the report details that no plea has been filed to-date. The suspect’s lawyer, Localcryptos.com, and the IRS all declined to comment on the matter, Brewster said. The charges were filed in the Eastern District of New York and allegedly the suspect was involved with cocaine, cannabis, and “pills and opioids.” What do you think about the IRS upping its enforcement against tax evaders and the Mr. Coins sting operation? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The overall market capitalization of all 10,000+ digital assets has reached a September high of $2.33 trillion as it has risen over 5% on Thursday. The crypto economy hasn’t been at this U.S. dollar value since mid-May or approximately 108 days ago, as the value has increased 83.46% since the crypto economy’s low point on July 19 ($1.27 trillion). Crypto Economy Rises 83% in Value, But It Wasnt Due to Bitcoin A lot of money has entered the crypto economy since July 19, and the market capitalization of all the coins in existence today is worth $2.33 trillion. Up more than 5% over the last 24 hours, the crypto economy has not been this valuable in over three months. The last time the crypto economy was in the $2.33 trillion range was May 16, 2021, and prior to that date, it reached an all-time high (ATH) at $2.493 trillion. On July 19, the crypto economy dropped as low as $1.27 trillion and has since gained 83% in value. In fact, the entire crypto economy only needs to gain more than 6.995% to surpass the last record. At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) has managed to hold roughly 40.5% of the $2.33 trillion as far as market dominance is concerned. However, ethereum (ETH) has steadily moved up the ladder and now holds 19.1% of the entire crypto economy’s value. A Variety of Lesser-Known Crypto Assets Gather Higher Market Dominance Levels But those two leading crypto assets are not the only coins gathering gains and improving dominance levels. BTC’s dominance levels have slipped downward from 47% on August 1, 2021, to today’s 40.5% dominance. Cardano’s (ADA) market valuation represents 4.37% of the entire crypto-economy, while binance coin (BNB) has 3.7% of the $2.33 trillion value today. The world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, tether (USDT), holds approximately 3.01% of the crypto economy’s dollar value. Other notable coin market caps include xrp (XRP) with 2.28% dominance and dogecoin (DOGE) with 1.78% dominance. Alongside this, many other coins have seen massive gains during the last seven days propelling their market caps higher. Ecash, formally Bitcoin ABC (XEC), is up 155.6% this week, arweave (AR) is up 116.7% in seven days, and fantom (FTM) has gained 66.4% this week. Approximately 25 crypto assets this past week have seen double-digit gains above the 10% region. What do you think about the crypto economy’s 83% gain since July 19? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

In late August, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) released new guidelines that clarify the correct treatment of taxable crypto events. The new guidance, which was published on the revenue collector’s webpage, explains how cryptocurrency-related income should be disclosed in tax returns. Distinction Between Income and Capital Gains Tax As shown on SARS’ crypto-asset tax webpage, “income received or accrued from crypto assets transactions can be taxed on revenue account under ‘gross income.'” Alternatively, the new guidance says such gains “may be regarded as capital in nature, as spelt out in the Eighth Schedule to the Act for taxation under the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) paradigm.” SARS also reveals that “taxpayers are also entitled to claim expenses associated with crypto assets accruals or receipts, provided such expenditure is incurred in the production of the taxpayer’s income and for purposes of trade.” Meanwhile, a tax consulting firm, Tax Consulting SA, told to Bitcoin.com News in an email that the publication of the guidance should perhaps be best viewed in the context of the various comments recently made by SARS on the taxation of crypto assets. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, South African crypto holders found on the wrong side of the law now face possible jail time. Similarly, Tax Consulting SA asserts that the new crypto asset tax guidance is another reminder of how SARS now sees crypto tax as an important revenue source and the extent to which it will go to enforce compliance. The Cost of Not Disclosing Consequently, in its analysis of the new guidance, the Tax Consulting SA team says “all individuals who have acquired and held crypto assets during the tax year must disclose these holdings to SARS in their returns, regardless of whether any taxable events took place.” The team cautions however that “this is easy to get wrong and taxpayers should be sure to tread carefully.” Tax Consulting SA also warned: Where you do not make this disclosure, even negligently, this is now a criminal offence under the Tax Administration Act. Concerning the “confusion” on whether a taxable event should be treated as income or capital gains tax, the consulting firm insists that the “information published [by SARS] earlier this week only gives examples of capital gains tax disclosures.” Also, since the revenue collector has not given examples of income tax disclosure, it “means taxpayers may fall on the wrong side of the law by just following the guidance provided by SARS.” Yet, despite this lack of clarity, Tax Consulting SA insists crypto holders still have to disclose because “there is no legitimate way for crypto asset investors to remain ‘invisible’ from a SARS perspective.” The firm argues that “non-disclosure is permanent and [that this] will come back in a few years to catch up with the taxpayer.” What are your views on SARS’ latest crypto tax guidance? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and everyone. By simply using the platform players can earn native platform tokens or NFTs – both of which have real-world value. Allowing players to earn tokens and NFTs that can be sold or traded has created a paradigm shift in online gaming – Polker is leading the way with the Play-to-Earn poker platform. Why Polker.Game? With Play-to-Earn blockchain gaming growing at an unprecedented pace, Polker.game is poised to change the world of online poker with its unique approach to gameplay. Since the chips used in Polker have no value – the game removes the gambling aspect of poker whilst maintaining prizes that have real-world value. Polker’s play-to-earn poker platform is about competition and skill instead of gambling. Although still in the early days, Polker NFTs have already sold for $10,000 (3.8ETH) on OpenSea. Growth Potential of Polker (PKR) With Akon supporting the platform and Polker’s play-to-earn poker platform being live, Polker and $PKR have a huge amount of growth potential. The fact that $PKR is now being listed on centralized exchange BitMart increases this potential massively. The business model that Polker follows is similar to that of AXIE INFINITY (AXS) which has a fully diluted market cap of $19.4bn at the time of writing. Polker (PKR) currently has a fully diluted market cap of $40.2m. If PKR were to reach the same market cap as AXS then the current value would increase over 482x. Simply put, a $1000 investment in PKR today would be worth over $482,000 if Polker were to grow to the same market cap as AXIE INFINITY. Even reaching half the market cap of AXS in the short-term which is a much more reasonable expectation would allow for a 24,000% increase in value – an ROI that is too good to miss out on for any investor, especially with Akon backing the platform. Polker Listing on BitMart Polker (PKR) is a cross-chain token with a functional bridge between Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Tron – with a Polygon bridge under development. Until now, $PKR has only been tradeable on decentralized exchanges UniSwap, and PancakeSwap. Now listed on popular and centralized exchange BitMart, Polker (PKR) can be traded by a much larger demographic with the newly listed USDT-PKR pair. With BitMart listing $PKR and Akon shouting out the play-to-earn poker platform offered by Polker the potential of this platform is unrivalled. Website | Twitter | Telegram | Telegram Announcements | Facebook | Medium This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

This past weekend at the Market America Worldwide Shop.com 2021 International Convention (MAIC2021), the president of the e-commerce firm, Steve Ashley, announced Shop.com sites from around the world will be accepting cryptocurrencies via Bitpay. This means that bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash, and several other digital assets can be used to purchase products via Shop.com’s websites. Shop.com Now Accepts Digital Currencies via Bitpay Shop.com is accepting cryptocurrencies via Bitpay, the largest crypto payment service provider in the world. Steve Ashley the president and COO of Shop.com announced “the use of cryptocurrency as the next chapter in purchasing products on all Shop.com sites.” Ashley revealed the crypto support at the Market America Worldwide Shop.com 2021 International Convention (MAIC2021). “Today I’m announcing that Shop.com is going to be offering bitcoin, ethereum, and several other cryptocurrencies through Bitpay,” said Ashley. “We’re going to be offering this at Shop.com sites worldwide in all of our Market Countries,” Ashley added. Shop.com is a fairly popular e-commerce web portal that’s ranked 26,133 worldwide and 191 against “E-commerce and shopping” websites, according to similarweb.com statistics. Shop.com is owned by Market America, a multi-level marketing (MLM) firm that was created in 1992. Market America purchased Shop.com for an undisclosed sum at the end of 2010. Market America also specializes in manufacturing a line of Isotonix it introduced to the public the year after the company started. “Shop.com and Market America are such great brands,” Sonny Singh, Bitpay’s chief commercial officer said in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. “What I really like about them as such a great fit is because of your international presence. The fact that you’re only doing 40% of your volume in America means it’s a really global brand,” Singh added. The Bitpay chief commercial officer continued: In countries like Taiwan, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, and Indonesia, it’s very hard to make payments. Credit cards are not everywhere and in those countries, Bitpay and crypto is the cheapest, quickest payment option to accept Bitcoin and to receive crypto payment options as well. JR Ridinger, the founder and CEO of Market America, said that Shop.com, thanks to Steve Ashley’s leadership, continues to be a trendsetter. “As different online retailers scramble to create a plan of action to implement things like accepting cryptocurrency as a method of online payment, thanks to Steve Ashley – we’ve already done that,” Ridinger said. When visiting the Shop.com website, the web portal displays a newly added message about the crypto acceptance. The message leads to a page that describes how Shop.com customers can leverage the Bitpay crypto payment system to pay for items. The website also details that Shop.com customers can “earn cashback on thousands of products with Bitpay.” What do you think about Shop.com announcing that the firm has implemented crypto acceptance across all of its websites? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

An overwhelming majority of Russian investors view cryptocurrencies as a more attractive investment proposition than traditional fiat currencies or gold, a new survey has established. Even among those who have never traded digital assets, most already think of buying crypto in the near future. Crypto Is the Promising Opportunity for Russian Investors National currencies are losing attractiveness for investors in Russia, a poll by the country’ Association of Forex Dealers (AFD) has recently found. Only a little over 14% of the respondents said they would put money into fiat while a staggering majority of 76.9% would rather buy cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Less than 9% don’t see good perspectives in any currency and have chosen gold. Over 17% of the participants in the survey transact with digital currencies at least once a month and 35.1% trade crypto even more often than that. Another 24.7% can skip a month and less than a quarter, or 23.1%, have never performed crypto transactions. However, 77.1% of the latter group of investors, those who have never traded digital coins, consider acquiring cryptocurrency in the near future. Another 15.3% of the polled admitted they had not yet made a final decision on the matter, and only 7.6% stated they were not going to buy crypto at all. The poll has been conducted between Aug. 4 and 24 among 502 respondents, more than 90% of whom were males in the age range of 25 to 44 years. An impressive 76.5% of them believe that the share of digital currencies in circulation will continue to grow within the next five years and 8% expect them to replace cash completely. A study in April showed that 14% of all Russians aged 18-65 think cryptocurrency will oust fiat in a decade. Another interesting finding in the AFD survey, quoted by Forklog, is that over half of the questioned investors, 51.5%, decided to buy digital currencies in order to increase their long-term savings while those who sought quick profits are only 8%. Respondents who intended to use coins to pay for goods and services are 22.2%. They have also admitted their plans were negatively affected by the law “On Digital Financial Assets.” Most Russian investors who took part in the poll share an opinion that regulation is important, to weed out unscrupulous market players, for example. But at the same time, 40.4% said government control should be as limited as possible. Almost 16% believe cryptocurrencies do not require any regulations and close to 9% doubt that decentralized digital money can at all be subjected to state control in the first place. Do you agree with Russian investors that crypto assets are the most promising investment opportunity? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

On August 31, 2021, Offchain Labs announced the official launch of Arbitrum One mainnet and further detailed that the company has raised $120 million in funding. The Series B financing led by Lightspeed Venture Partners gives the firm a $1.2 billion valuation. Arbitrum One Mainnet Is Now Live, Offchain Labs Raises $120 Million in Funding The highly anticipated Arbitrum One mainnet launch has been revealed by the firm Offchain Labs and the startup also detailed the company has raised $120 million in financing. Bitcoin.com News has written about the Arbitrum One Layer-2 scaling solution on a few occasions as the protocol leverages Optimistic rollups to help Ethereum scale. A number of popular decentralized finance (defi) projects are leveraging Arbitrum’s gateway in order to give users better fee rates and faster actions. Arbitrum’s technology is leveraged by defi projects like Aave, Balancer, Band Protocol, Coinbase Wallet, Chainlink, Curve, DAI stablecoins, Etherscan, Dodo, Metamask, Shapeshift, Sushiswap, Uniswap, and many more. In addition to the launch, Offchain Labs revealed the startup raised $120 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other Offchain Labs investors included the Shark Tank television host and billionaire Mark Cuban, Polychain Capital, Ribbit Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Pantera Capital, and Alameda Research. Over 400 Projects Leverage Arbitrum’s Technology, Synfutures Implements Arbitrum Bitcoin.com News also reported on how the popular online forum website Reddit is using Arbitrum’s technology with its Ethereum-based community points system. “[Offchain Labs’] dedication to the Ethereum developer community is second to none and they have the best, easiest-to-use scalability product. That’s why over 400 projects have chosen to launch with Arbitrum, including Reddit,” Amy Wu, a partner at Lightspeed said in a statement. Moreover, a few other projects added Arbitrum One support to line up with the mainnet launch. ​​Decentralized derivatives exchange Synfutures revealed on Wednesday that the project was “now deployed on Arbitrum One.” “As we support the variety of investors entering the decentralized derivatives space, we want to be where they are. In a short time, Arbitrum has established itself as one of the most promising chains in the space, so the integration was a natural fit for us,” Rachel Lin, the founder and CEO at Synfutures detailed. What do you think about the Arbitrum One mainnet launch and Offchain Labs raising $120 million? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. The highly anticipated new crypto friendly social platform, Carbon, has launched. Carbon has been in beta stage since March, undergoing thorough testing, improvements and added features and gaining over 12,000 beta testers. Offering an emphasis on free speech as well as great security and privacy, Carbon includes an end-to-end encrypted messenger, integrated crypto portfolio tracker, Twitter style social feed, Reddit style topics and much more. Influencers have begun to migrate to Carbon as their platform of choice and many are expected to follow. Carbon offers generous crypto rewards for the best content creators, as well as tipping, so it’s little wonder it looks set to become an attractive platform for monetising user influence. The Carbon team is based in Western Australia and highly experienced in designing and launching apps and games. Carbon co-founder Daniel Abela says “We really wanted to create a platform that brought the fun back into social media. We’ve added features to make Carbon a great place to hang out, and we’re encouraging positive interactions between users in various ways. Most of all, we’ve made every effort to give Carbon users full control over their experience. There are no sneaky algorithms shaping your content, or guessing what you want to see. You decide who to follow, which topics, you can sort by most reactions, specific reactions and more. Every user is shown identical content if they choose identical settings. No tracking or spying on your activity.” Carbon looks set to become very popular among crypto users and non-crypto users alike, bringing the best of many other platforms into one place and adding layers of security and anonymity as well. Users are also rewarded with points, levels and badges for their progress. The Carbon Android mobile app is available from the Google Play Store, and the website app works beautifully on all devices. MetaMask connection is required for using CRBN tokens on the platform. Join Carbon now at crbn.social and discover the best new social platform for yourself. 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

Iran’s Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade has rejected claims blaming illegal cryptocurrency miners for the continuing electricity shortages in the country. The department believes the state-run utility company, Tavanir, has overestimated their role in the power deficit. Illegal Miners Burn Less Energy Than Tavanir Estimates, Ministry of Industries Says An official from the Iranian Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade has denied claims by the Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) that illegal crypto miners are largely responsible for the ongoing power shortages in the Islamic Republic. Quoted by Way2pay and the English-language business daily Financial Tribune, the ministry’s Director of Investment and Planning Alireza Hadi stated: Figures announced by Tavanir seem to be highly exaggerated. The consumption of illegal miners is considerably lower than the 2,000 megawatts estimated by the utility. According to Hadi, this amount of electrical energy would equal the power usage of 3 million pieces of mining hardware. Tavanir insists, however, that unauthorized miners are still consuming that much, despite having shut down over 5,000 illegal mining facilities across Iran. It also confiscated more than 213,000 mining devices with a capacity of 850 MW. The unusually hot summer, following insufficient rainfall earlier this year, led to a serious increase in power demand for electricity in Iranian cities. Tavanir listed cryptocurrency mining as one of the main reasons for the nationwide shortages. Last week, the company’s spokesman Rajabi Mashhadi commented: Unauthorized miners are the main culprits behind the power outages in recent months. We would have had 80% less blackouts if miners had halted their activities. Subsidized Electricity Rates Entice Miners to Operate Illegally Iran recognized cryptocurrency mining as a legal industrial activity in July 2019, introducing a licensing regime for companies operating in the sector. Tavanir says 56 crypto mining farms authorized by the Ministry of Industries currently consume 400 MW, but according to the department’s website, permits had been issued to 30 companies as of June. In May, the government in Tehran introduced a temporary ban on cryptocurrency mining to deal with the power shortages. In late August, Tavanir announced the restrictions will be removed on Sept. 22. The utility expects electricity demand across the country to decrease by the end of summer, allowing licensed digital currency miners to restart their operations. However, the electricity tariff for authorized entities has gone up significantly over time. Since April, these miners are charged 16,574 rials ($0.39) per kilowatt-hour, four times the initial rate. Meanwhile, the number of illegal mining facilities has increased rapidly as these use subsidized electricity for households and other enterprises, avoiding the much higher, export rates paid by registered miners. According to the report, Iran has a total installed capacity of over 85,000 MW while the country’s actual electricity production is approximately 60,000 MW. The difference is due to various factors including losses as well as low water levels in the dams that have affected the output of hydroelectric power stations. Do you think cryptocurrency miners are responsible for power shortages in Iran? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A crypto survey of U.S. consumers, commissioned by regulated crypto platform Bakkt, shows that nearly half of all respondents said they invested in cryptocurrencies during the first half of the year. Nearly Half of US Consumers Invested in Crypto During the Past 6 Months, Study Shows A survey commissioned by regulated digital asset platform Bakkt shows that nearly half of surveyed consumers in the U.S. invested in cryptocurrencies in the past six months this year. Bakkt was launched in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange, which operates over a dozen of the world’s most prominent exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). “Commissioned by Bakkt and conducted over an online survey tool, we polled more than 2,000 consumers across the U.S. and was fielded in July 2021 … Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States,” the survey report explains. According to the results released Wednesday: Nearly half (48%) of U.S. consumers reported investing money in cryptocurrency during the first half of the year. “Of those who haven’t invested in cryptocurrency, 32% of respondents are interested in buying cryptocurrency in the next six months,” the report notes. Amount of cryptocurrency owned by respondents. Source: Bakkt’s U.S. consumer crypto survey. The survey also found that among those who have already purchased cryptocurrencies, “58% view it as a long-term investment, while 43% admit that they plan to sell when they can make a short-term profit.” In addition, 24% revealed that they plan to use cryptocurrency for online purchases and 12% said they plan to use it for in-person purchases. Furthermore, “The most appealing attribute of cryptocurrency for the full sample is ‘long-term return on investment’ (28%), with all other attributes – lack of fees, ease of access, FOMO, and lack of centralized control closely following.” Meanwhile, the study reveals that “Nearly 40% of respondents did not realize that they could buy part of a cryptocurrency (i.e. not the whole price of a coin).” Noting that “Digital assets are driving a new, increasingly dynamic economy,” Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael commented: The results of the survey demonstrate that Gen Z and millennials are adopting crypto en masse and for alternative forms of payment, but the biggest roadblock standing in their way has been lack of understanding on how to get started and concerns with market volatility. What do you think about this U.S. consumer survey on cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A vocal critic of the upcoming bitcoin law in El Salvador, Mario Gomez, was briefly detained Wednesday. According to reports, he was arrested without a warrant. Critic of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law Arrested An IT specialist and founder of Hackerspace San Salvador, Mario Gómez, was briefly detained Wednesday morning. His attorney said there was never an arrest warrant for him. Gomez has been a vocal critic of the upcoming bitcoin law in El Salvador. The National Civil Police of El Salvador (PNC) said they detained Gómez “while investigating financial fraud relating to an email phishing scam,” El Faro publication described. A press officer at the Attorney General’s Office told the publication: They tell me it’s a move by the National Civil Police. Our office has no information at this time. Gómez’s mother, who was with him when the arrest happened, explained that the police stopped their car, told her son to get out and go with them. She also said they seized his cell phone. The publication conveyed: Gómez’s mother reported that officers presented no warrant when they stopped him in his car, and told him that if he did not come along, he would be handcuffed. Gómez then told the press that he was unaware of why he had been detained. Otto Flores, the lawyer representing Gómez, later told the press that “Apparently he [Gómez] was only being investigated, the police say it was not an arrest.” He added that the PNC has released his client and taken him home. Flores further said that it was “not clear” why Gomez was handcuffed and taken by the police. He noted that he and his mother were even lied to get them out of their vehicle. The lawyer added: “They [the authorities] do not want to tell us which unit of the Prosecutor’s Office is processing the charges.” Gomez has recently been an outspoken critic of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s plan to make bitcoin a legal tender, pointing out flaws in El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law which will go into effect on Sept. 7. Renata Avila, co-founder of Progressive International, explained that Gomez only “exposed flaws in [the] Bitcoin Law promoted by the government,” elaborating: He is not ‘anti-bitcoin’ but someone carefully exposing the weakness of the initiative. Do you think Mario Gomez’s arrest has anything to do with the upcoming Bitcoin Law? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

In 2021, there’s no doubt that non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles have been extremely popular and NFTs have made billions in sales during the last year. For instance, in the last month Opensea saw $3.44 billion in NFT sales, Axie Infinity saw $838 million, and the pixelated NFTs Cryptopunks saw $653 million in sales. However, there are plenty of NFT skeptics who wonder why JPEGs are selling for millions in ether, and some have suspected auctions and sales could be bolstered by shill bidding or rigging. While NFT Market Values Swell, Skeptics Wonder Why JPEGs Sell for Millions You’ve probably seen all the NFTs in the news as rock JPEGs and pixelated images have been selling for more than most medium-sized homes. Non-fungible token (NFT) assets have made billions of dollars during the last 12 months and believers don’t expect the trend to end. For example, Autoglyph #463 sold for 460 ether or $1.582 million on August 31, and the Art Blocks NFT Fidenza #6 sold for 460 ether or $1.582 million. Cryptopunks are selling for millions, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs sell for hundreds of thousands, and the trend continues throughout a myriad of projects. Every day NFTs are being sold for millions and hundreds of thousands of dollars in ethereum and other crypto assets. Of course, many crypto enthusiasts are skeptical of NFTs and the millions of dollars these picture files are selling for. For instance, the software engineer Jameson Lopp showed his distaste for NFTs this week and said he believes the high prices won’t last. “Much like ICOs and overhyped sh**coins,” Lopp stressed on Twitter, “I expect that 90%+ of NFTs will be unable to retain their current level of value. You’re not too late to lose a ton of money.” Shill bidding and NFT market manipulation have been discussed for years and the subject has recently been a more topical conversation as NFTs have soared into the limelight. However, Ethereum proponents and supporters of other blockchains that issue NFTs believe that bitcoin maximalists have it all wrong. One person emphasized this week: I love Bitcoin maxis saying NFTs are a scam to steal your BTC considering they spent years arguing against the notion BTC was a scam to steal your fiat lmfaooooo. Shill Bidding Plagues Internet Auction Markets But how do we know that the non-fungible token (NFT) markets are not being manipulated? There are plenty of skeptics who have talked about how NFT markets could be manipulated by things like shill bidding. Some NFTs have sold for millions but what if some of them were made to look as though they are very valuable by leveraging a shill to manipulate the bids. Essentially a shill is a plant or stooge (typically a friend or accomplice) that has a close relationship with the collectible’s owner. Shills, however, are not known to be associated with the project and act as if they are organic bidders. How do NFT market participants know that NFT buyers are not shill bidding? A shill could easily make it look like a specific NFT was more valuable than it really is in order to dupe a real buyer. All one needs to do is craft an NFT and have a friend purchase the NFT for the said price and meanwhile, the shill pays the owner back with the funds under the table. No one can guarantee this is not happening in the NFT auction space as shill bidding is prominent in the collectible, fine art, and general auction scene. Internet auctions are even worse, as Kenneth Walton’s book “Fake: Forgery, Lies, & Ebay” describes how Walton and his friends were prosecuted for Ebay shill bidding practices. This week, retro video game market participants have been dealing with shill bidding controversy and accusations of market manipulation. The problem still exists today as the retro video game collectible industry is up in arms over a shill bidding controversy. On August 23, accusations about fraud and deception in the retro video game market were sparked by a video by Karl Jobst. Allegedly the retro video game market is plagued by shills and allegations have been cast at Heritage Auctions and Wata Games. Both firms deny the allegations made by Karl Jobst, but the video and manipulation conversation concerning the retro video game industry has gone viral. In the NFT world, buyers are hidden behind alpha-numeric addresses and users can’t tell if shill bidding is happening unless the system is checking for such transgressions. The fact is that the sales NFTs are seeing could be manipulated to a degree and it could happen to any non-fungible token (NFT) collectible project if unethical practices are leveraged in order to up confidence in NFT values. What do you think about the possibility that the NFT market could be bolstered by unethical shill bidding? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article