roadrunner

European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Luis De Guindos has stated he wants cryptocurrencies to be subject to the same rules that other assets are. The statements were offered in a presentation given as part of the summer courses offered by the European Parliament, where De Guindos declared his opinion about cryptocurrency regulation. ECB Vice President: Crypto Should Follow Same Laws as Other Assets Luis De Guindos, current Vice President of the ECB, stated he thinks crypto-assets should be regulated as any other asset in the market. De Guindos expressed his opinion during a series of summer courses sponsored by the European Parliament and the European Union. Specifically, on cryptocurrencies, he stated: I would not prohibit them, but issuers must be required to follow the same conditions as those of other financial assets and avoid everything that has to do with money laundering or terrorist financing. To De Guindos, cryptocurrencies can be easily used for unlawful purposes due to their pseudonymous traits. De Guindos has always taken a skeptical posture when it comes to cryptocurrencies, which he calls “crypto-assets” because according to his view, they don’t work as valid payment methods. At the same time, he stated that these crypto assets don’t have any impact on the financial stability of the region. Relative Value De Guindos also noted that these new tools don’t have an economic basis when compared to other more traditional assets. To him, the value of cryptocurrencies only comes from scarcity, rather than their relationship to other assets. This is not the first time De Guindos has issued this kind of opinion on crypto. On May 19, he stated that cryptocurrencies aren’t real investments due to the fragility of their value proposition. However, the ECB is studying the feasibility of the creation of a digital euro. This would give the ECB an instrument to fight the rise of private alternative payment methods such as cryptocurrencies and those offered by fintech companies. The public is still expecting the ECB to reach a decision on the issuance of a digital euro soon. De Guindos believes that such a currency is really needed. He stated that the digital euro is: Something we just have to do. It’s not trivial in terms of the potential implications for financial stability and for monetary policy, so we will have to calibrate this project to minimize any potential negative consequences it could have. What do you think of De Guindos’ stance on cryptocurrency? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Australian Department of Home Affairs stated that the country lacked the technical capabilities to implement a system that complies with the travel rule proposed for cryptocurrencies. The Department concluded this in an appearance before the Senate in Australia last Friday. However, the Australian Department also stated that, if implemented, the system would be a game-changer for preventing crypto-related crimes. Australian Department Thinks Tech to Implement a Crypto Travel Rule Is Still Not Present Last Friday, the Australian Department of Home Affairs acknowledged that it lacked the technical capabilities to implement a travel rule system for crypto transactions. The remarks were made by Daniel Mossop, assistant secretary of Australia’s Department of Home Affairs during a session with the Australian Senate. Mossop stated: “I think it depends on the way that [the travel rule] is implemented so a technological solution that takes a lot of the legwork out of that would be a game changer. [But] we are not at the point where, globally, there is such a technological solution.” Bradley Brown, national manager of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, who also appeared in the Senate session, shared the same opinion on the issue. He stressed that to implement the travel rule in the country would need a solid technologic solution behind it. FATF Crypto Travel Rule The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommended the implementation of a travel rule on cryptocurrency transactions since June 1st, 2019. The implementation of this travel rule would mean that a global system of interchanging information would have to be integrated into wallets and virtual asset service providers like exchanges and wallet operators. However, due to the pseudonymous traits of most cryptocurrencies, this has been difficult to implement. Most countries are still not compliant with the travel rule completely. According to a report issued by the FATF on June 25, most countries haven’t been able to implement this solution. The report states: The majority of jurisdictions have not yet implemented the FATF’s requirements, including the “travel rule”. This disincentivizes further investment in the necessary technology solutions and compliance infrastructure… We do not yet have global safeguards to prevent the misuse of VASPs for money laundering or terrorist financing. Some exchanges have implemented systems that claim to comply with the travel rule automatically. This is the case of Binance, which announced the implementation of Traveler on July 2, a system designed by Ciphertrace, one of the biggest crypto intelligence companies. Traveler would address Binance’s travel rule compliance, according to the software provider Ciphertrace’s claims. What do you think of FATF’s travel rule applied to crypto? Tell us in the comment section below. View the full article

Russian authorities have investigated a number of cases involving the theft of crypto mining equipment in the past months. A resident of Yaroslavl has just been found guilty of stealing mining hardware worth over $20,000 and sentenced to three years in prison. Russian Convicted of Stealing Mining Rigs Receives Prison Sentence A 34-year-old man from the city of Yaroslavl, some 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow, has been found responsible for the theft of equipment for cryptocurrency mining. The hardware’s value has been estimated at 1.6 million rubles (almost $22,000), Forklog reported quoting an announcement by the regional prosecutor’s office. Investigators were able to establish that in February of this year the defendant managed to enter a friend’s garage where the devices were deployed. He later tried to mint digital coins on his own but failed to set up the equipment properly. As the perpetrator admitted his guilt, the Zavolzhsky District Court gave him a suspended sentence of three years with a three-year probationary period. The stolen mining rigs have already been returned to the owner. In the past few years, cryptocurrency mining in basements, garages and homes has grown in popularity in the Russian Federation as an additional income source. And as it involves the use of relatively expensive computer equipment, crime involving the theft of mining hardware has increased as well. Earlier in August, neighbors stole six rigs with 30 powerful video cards from a room used by a crypto miner in Kursk. According to a report by the local news portal Kurskie Izvestia, the equipment was valued at over 4 million rubles (almost $55,000). The thieves face possible imprisonment for up to seven years, the police said. A number of similar cases have been reported in Irkutsk, Forklog noted. In June, law enforcement officers detained a 21-year-old man accused of stealing mining hardware worth 120,000 rubles (over $1,600). He was arrested days after police busted a group of several people responsible for the theft of around two dozen mining rigs valued at 2 million rubles (approximately $27,000). With many of Russia’s regions providing access to cheap electrical energy and cool climate conditions, the country has around 6.84% of the global hashrate, according to a recent report. Household electricity rates are also lower in comparison with the tariffs in many other countries which makes home crypto mining profitable. Do you think crime targeting crypto miners is on the rise in Russia? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

With the trading volume and number of NFT projects always on the increase, it’s getting harder and harder to compete for users and bring innovative products to the market. One project is about to shake the NFT gaming and collectibles industry, setting the bar high for all market players. SIDUS, The City of NFT Heroes takes NFT to the next level by combining an NFT avatar collection, a gaming metaverse and NFT yield farming into one product and backing it with the philosophy that’s close to every crypto enthusiast’s heart. A single NFT avatar costing 0.055 ETH will open the user up to a world of 7,500 characters from 12 blockchain planets. The characters have all inherited the strongest traits associated with the top 100 crypto projects and companies – welcome to a world of unique features and unlimited opportunities. NFT Heroes appeals to the market’s desire to invest in NFT projects that won’t turn to dust in a couple of months, projects that are backed by real value and liquidity. Take a quick tour around the new ecosystem and discover what new goodies the team has to offer NFT and crypto communities. Major Moving Parts of the NFT Heroes Ecosystem There’s no single term to describe the essence of NFT Heroes. The project merges the functionality of an NFT game, a yield farming service and a digital art collection, interconnecting them all together. First Layer: NFT Collectibles NFT Heroes is a collection of 7,500 unique NFT avatars created by over 400 modern artists from the international collective known as NFT256. The characters come from 12 blockchain planets and each inherits 11 traits, such as skin, helmet, backpack, etc. The collection features 6,000 Original NFT Heroes; 1,000 Rare Heroes and 500 Legendary NFT Heroes. The Original Heroes have the same rarity and value within the community and the same market price of 0.055 ETH. The Original personas are available for sale but the Rare and Legendary Heroes must be created by using upgrade cards and the Galaxy Modificator. Upgrade cards randomly appear on the project’s website and OpenSea.io once a week. Galaxy Modificator assigns upgraded traits randomly. The tool is powered by Chainlink’s Verifiable Random Function (VRF), a randomness generator for smart contracts. This technology ensures fair distribution and robust security for the platform. The featured upgrade system is the first innovation introduced by NFT Heroes. Generally, NFT avatar projects issue the whole collection at once and exclude users from the creative process. An NFT collection is one way to look at the NFT Heroes project. Each avatar is its owner’s ticket into the NFT ecosystem, where they can craft, play, trade and earn. The rarity of the Heroes determines what opportunities the user has within the community as well as the rewards they receive. At the starting point however, all players have an equal opportunity to rise to the top of SIDUS society. Second Layer: Gaming Metaverse The next step on the path of the project’s development is the launch of the gaming functionality. Each NFT Hero can be transformed into a gaming character belonging to the SIDUS metaverse. The mythos underpinning the NFT Heroes’ story leaves a lot of room for imagination and future gaming scenarios. The story of NFT Heroes unfolds in the times of the intergalactic war. Driven by different motives, 6,000 inhabitants from different blockchain planets fled from their homes and found refuge in an abandoned city. They decided to build a new society, free from the conflicts of the past. They chose a new identity for themselves – NFT Heroes – and called the new city SIDUS. In time, it became a struggle for the Heroes to coexist peacefully. Lust for power and a shortage of resources pushed the NFT Heroes to fight with each other. The NFT Hero Battle Arena will resemble famous fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct and Jump Force. NFT Heroes challenge other players to duels, fight in the Arena and try to rise to the top of the social structure. Heroes can undergo upgrades with the Galaxy Modificator and equip themselves with weapons from the Galaxy Marketplace to compete in the Battle Arena. The upgrade cards will randomly appear on OpenSea.io and the NFT Heroes website. The upgrade cards will be available for purchase with ETH. The Galaxy Marketplace will have a wide selection of light-sabers, sonic grenades, armor-piercing bullets and other next-gen guns. Weapons will be sold for NFTS tokens, the NFT STARS native token. In time, the team will incorporate payments with the MILK2 token. More details will be shared in the future. Third Layer: NFT Yield Farming Every NFT Hero is an NFT token and a high-resolution avatar that holders can use for its intended purpose. It can also be used to fund further adventures in the SIDUS city. The platform offers three tiers of Galaxy staking: Original, Rare and Legendary. By staking NFTs, NFT Heroes can farm NFTS tokens. That way, without any additional investment, players can upgrade their ammunition and have a better chance of winning their next battle in the Arena. The difference between the three tiers is the amount of rewards the player receives. One big bonus of the Galaxy staking feature is that the NFTS token has much greater utility than the regular in-game coin. NFTS is the native token of the NFT marketplace NFT STARS, the developers behind SIDUS, The City of NFT Heroes. The big community of digital art collectors and artists, together with the gaming community, ensures greater use of the token and thus, better price stability and growth. Earning Opportunities With NFT Heroes A common earning mechanism for all NFT avatar projects is to buy early and sell when interest in the project intensifies. NFT avatars are perceived as investment assets that you keep idle until they double in price. SIDUS, The City of NFT Heroes changes the established norm and introduces several tools that double your investment, meaning you don’t have to wait years for the market to change or for a generous buyer to come along. In the SIDUS community, everything depends on the player: NFT Heroes redistributes 50% of the royalties received from all secondary sales of the collection to the community. The only condition for Heroes to be eligible for royalties is to hold a minimum of $200 in NFTS or MILK2 tokens. NFT Heroes can stake their NFT and receive rewards in NFTS. Holders of an original NFT Hero can look for upgrade cards and sell the upgraded Hero on the market. The project supports a wrapped NFT feature. Users can deposit other cryptocurrencies and NFTs into their Hero and aggregate the liquidity. So, Heroes will have real value and will provide their owners with the opportunity to sell multiple assets simultaneously. All this means that your NFT Hero is as valuable as you make it. These services minimize the NFT’s dependency on the market to derive its value while providing tools with which users can generate income. Blockchain Planets and the Community of Crypto Enthusiasts A big part of NFT avatar projects is the community they build up around them. These projects use avatars as a means to convey a message to the world, build a digital identity and prove the owner’s affiliation to the NFT and crypto club. SIDUS, The City of NFT Heroes, encapsulates blockchain philosophies and provides users with characters, traits and in-game items to show their support for a project or a blockchain. The collection of NFT Heroes features 7,500 unique characters who have come from 12 blockchain planets: Bitcoione, Etheredus, Binaxima Sentauri Cybele, Solantrum, Avalanya, Polygopus, Huoris Helvetios, Polkacyon, Cardaggar, Tronguan, Ripplatan Centricus, Cosmernicus. Each planet relates to one of the major networks, inheriting its signature traits and by the way… each planet has Easter eggs hidden in their stories! Bitcoione is the largest planet in the Universe which many refer to as ‘the cradle of civilization’. Avalanya stands out from the other planets because of its inclusive governmental system. The Polygopus society was built by the settlers from Etheredus. Polkacyon is an agglomeration society that unites dozens of inhabited asteroids. Cosmernicus is a caravan of ships. Solantrum is known for its unique time system – “Proof of History”. SIDUS is a place where blockchain and market experts will find a well thought-through society of blockchain planet inhabitants. On top of that, NFT Heroes take on the strongest traits of the top 100 crypto projects and companies. They are hidden in the ammunition that Heroes wear to the Arena, in their upgrade gear and weapons. Meet the Artists and Developers NFT Heroes is being developed by the NFT marketplace NFT STARS in partnership with a collective of artists known as NFT256. The partnership between the two ensures that the project is technically advanced and every avatar is unique and holds real artistic value. NFT256 is the biggest international collective of modern artists today, working with a variety of art mediums. The fellowship includes more than 500 artists who were previously involved in Disney, Sony and Marvel projects. Bringing so many artists to the project, the team ensures each character is special and a one-of-a-kind. The artists spent over 10,000 combined hours thinking through every little detail and drawing every Hero trait. Even if a NFT Hero holder decides to abstain from using the gaming and staking mechanisms, they will still have a unique piece of crypto art. NFT STARS is the mastermind behind the technical aspects of the NFT Heroes project. NFT STARS is an NFT marketplace with a distinguished history of developing innovative NFT products and services. The platform regularly hosts successful celebrity drops and is changing market perceptions of digital art. All of these factors ensure the utility of the NFTS token and its price stability, which is crucial for Heroes to receive NFTS as a farming reward. NFT STARS also acknowledges the assistance it has received from its partners – Chainlink, Avalanche and Polygon – they each had an input into the smooth operations of the platform. Your Ticket to a City Populated by Thousands of Heroes NFT Heroes is a project born from the new direction that NFT development is taking and is in line with growing market trends. The project resembles more of an NFT ecosystem than just a collection of NFT cards. It combines characteristics and features inherent in NFT avatar projects, gaming and yield farming. A variety of earning opportunities, from distribution of royalties to NFT staking, satisfies the NFT community’s quest for NFTs that have real value. The relatively low price of 0.055 ETH (less than $170) opens the NFT world up to the general population. Take your chance and join the unique NFT Heroes club. Play, stake, craft, earn! Learn more about the project on its official social media pages: Website, Twitter, Discord. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that crypto assets, like bitcoin, are privately issued with substantial risks, and “Making them equivalent to a national currency is an inadvisable shortcut.” The crypto community disagrees. IMF Claims Bitcoin Is Privately Issued Crypto With Substantial Risks, Inadvisable for Use as Legal Tender The International Monetary Fund tweeted about crypto assets on Saturday, asserting that they are privately issued, come with substantial risks, and are inadvisable for use as legal tender. The IMF wrote: “Privately issued cryptoassets like bitcoin come with substantial risks. Making them equivalent to a national currency is an inadvisable shortcut.” The IMF’s tweet references a blog post written on July 26 by two of its legal counsels, as Bitcoin.com News previously reported. In the blog post, titled “Cryptoassets as National Currency? A Step Too Far,” the authors warned of the risks of making bitcoin legal tender as El Salvador did. One of the concerns mentioned was that “monetary policy would lose bite,” since “Central banks cannot set interest rates on a foreign currency.” Many people on social media mocked the IMF for calling bitcoin “privately issued.” One Twitter user pointed out that the IMF is “framing BTC (a public, open-source protocol) as a ‘privately issued’ asset to discredit its legitimacy over national currencies, which are actually privately issued.” Some argued that fiat currencies come with more “substantial risks” than bitcoin. “Government-issued fiat assets like the U.S. dollar come with substantial risks. Especially when they are loaned out by intergovernmental organizations with a history of bankrupting countries,” one Twitter user opined. Noting that bitcoin and crypto are competing as an international reserve asset, a third Twitter user described: The IMF is getting nervous because companies and individuals are diversifying their wealth into bitcoin and cryptocurrencies instead of their special drawing rights (SDR). Some people stated that the IMF is becoming an irrelevant organization. DTAP Capital founder Dan Tapiero predicted: “The IMF won’t exist within 10 years.” What do you think about the IMF’s statement on bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A commissioner with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has detailed how crypto assets are regulated in the U.S. and whether they fall under the jurisdiction of the CFTC or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “There has often been a grossly inaccurate oversimplification” of how crypto assets are regulated in the United States, said the commissioner. How Crypto Assets Are Regulated in the US CFTC Commissioner Dawn D. Stump clarified last week how crypto assets are regulated in the U.S. by the CFTC or the SEC. “The recent growth in popularity of crypto products and other digital assets has drawn much attention to the question of how this new financial asset class is regulated in the United States,” she began, adding: There has often been a grossly inaccurate oversimplification offered which suggests these are either securities regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or commodities regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “The CFTC does not regulate commodities (regardless of whether or not they are securities); rather, it regulates derivatives — and this is true for digital assets just as for any other asset class,” Commissioner Stump emphasized. “The CFTC does not have regulatory authority over cash commodities,” she explained, clarifying the derivatives watchdog “regulates futures contracts on commodities, and other derivatives products such as swaps.” This includes “futures contracts on bitcoin and ether listed for trading on various CFTC-regulated exchanges.” The commissioner noted that digital assets that are securities fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC, but “futures contracts and other derivatives on securities may be regulated by the CFTC or the SEC, or jointly by both.” To determine who has the jurisdiction in a specific case, Commissioner Stump said that “An analysis of Congress’ statutory framework,” the CFTC rules, the SEC rules, and “the specific characteristics of the product” is required, elaborating: Therefore, if a digital asset is a security, further analysis is required to determine where regulatory authority lies for a derivatives product on that digital asset. As for whether a particular crypto asset is a security, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said that the rules are clear. “Certain rules related to crypto assets are well-settled. The test to determine whether a crypto asset is a security is clear,” he said early this month. However, some people, such as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, disagree. He is being sued by the SEC over the sale of XRP. Commissioner Stump further noted that the CFTC has “enforcement authority” that “includes a broader application for anti-manipulation and anti-fraud authority.” This authority extends to even cash commodities which the CFTC does not regulate in order “to protect the integrity of the derivatives markets” overall. An example of this enforcement authority is the action the CFTC took against Bitmex. The commissioner concluded: For a number of years, the CFTC has aggressively used its broader enforcement authority to deter manipulation and fraud involving cash digital assets, even though the CFTC does not regulate them. What do you think about how crypto assets are regulated in the U.S.? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A cryptocurrency project called Safemoon has been trending in forums and social media in recent times, as the crypto asset team promised a few new products, but the team claims that the launch has seen difficulties. This weekend, a post published to the subreddit forum r/cryptocurrency claims “Safemoon has been exploited from day 1 and $68,460,000 have been siphoned out of the liquidity pool.” Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include the official audit from Doxxlocker. Safemoon Project Runs Into ‘Unforeseen Technical Issues’ Launching Products, Skeptics Surround Project The project Safemoon has been a controversial cryptocurrency project for quite some time now. It has been called a Ponzi scheme and there are plenty of Safemoon reviews, accusations, and people attempting to find out whether or not the project is legit. Remember just because you make money off of a ponzi does not change the fact that it is a ponzi. #safemoon — Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) April 21, 2021 On August 29, 2021, the hashtag trend “#safemoonwallet” has seen a great number of tweets on Sunday. This is because the project was supposed to drop three different products, which include an iOS and Android compatible safemoon (SAFEMOON) wallet. However, the official Safemoon Twitter page says the project hit a few problems launching these new products. “Thank you for bearing with us,” the account’s message notes. “We’ve experienced unforeseen technical issues launching all 3 products at the same time,” the tweet says. When those buttons are clicked, the code that fires has never done anything other than reload the page. Ever. The moment they added the buttons, they were set 'disabled' and non-clickable, then they made it clickable, but only fires a reload. pic.twitter.com/EvDv0RFbLK — Ryan Dunn (@Not_Ryan_Dunn) August 28, 2021 The tweet has more than 12,800 likes and over 3,000 retweets at the time of writing. Safemoon has a very active social media ‘army’ and it matches other active social media armies from crypto coins like DOGE, XRP, and the LINK marines. But there are a number of people that have warned the project may not be legitimate. Despite this, hardcore community members believe there is nothing to worry about and they are telling others to “be patient.” @safemoon is definitely not a scam. #SAFEMOONWALLET was highly anticipated and #SAFEMOONARMY overloaded the servers. Be patient. Greatness is coming soon! 🚀🚀🚀 — Au. In. (@Slice_71) August 29, 2021 Reddit Post Alleges Safemoon Is ‘Exploited,’ Safemoon Community Insists Accusations Are ‘FUD’ At the time of writing, safemoon (SAFEMOON) is exchanging hands for $0.00000266 per unit and the coin is a Binance Smart Chain token. The market is volatile at times, in comparison to most coins, and in addition to the troubles with the wallet launch, Safemoon has been accused of being “exploited.” On August 28, 2021, a post submitted to the Reddit forum r/cryptocurrency by the user u/tngsystems, accuses Safemoon of being “exploited from day 1” and it has allegedly siphoned $68.4 million. At press time, this specific Reddit post has more than 2,000 upvotes, and over 900 comments. The claims are disputed and a great number of Safemoon community members deny the allegations entirely. There are those who believe the person who wrote the thread and his commentary, while many from the Safemoon community defended the project. A number of people called the accusations “baseless,” “public information,” and the forum poster’s first comment has been pushed down. “Yesterday, on the 27th August, the team at Doxxlocker released their audit on Safemoon,” the Redditor u/tngsystems said. “According to Doxxlocker, they are commissioned to perform on-chain analysis to find discrepancies or evidence of wrongdoing on BSC tokens. An analysis of the protocol deployer (V1 Liquidity Pool [LP]) and the contract owner’s wallet (interacts with the V2 LP) has found that generated liquidity from the contract (5% tax on transactions) has not been fully returned to the liquidity pool.” The Redditor further added: A total of 28.96 trillion Safemoon tokens have been sent to wallets that are not recognized by the Safemoon team. At the market price of this report, this is $68.46 million USD worth of SFM tokens removed from liquidity. In addition, these wallets still hold 20.22 trillion Safemoon tokens at the time of this report (worth $47.79 million USD). However, the Doxxlocker audit has been accused of shilling another token called “hyperdeflate (HDFL),” and the Safemoon community has criticized the audit a great deal. “It’s been posted here (r/safemoon) like 30 times since yesterday,” said one individual. “I would give it little merit due to the timing and the fact that the people spreading it posted their token into the reports. I directly asked them about the reasoning of that yesterday and they would not answer. They instead deflected.” The auditor’s website does indeed show a token called hyperdeflate (HDFL) and no other tokens are present at the time of writing. The official Doxxlocker report, that’s discussed in u/tngsystems’ r/cryptocurrency thread, can be read in its entirety here. What do you think about the controversy that surrounds the Safemoon project and the recent post on the Reddit forum r/cryptocurrency? Do you think there is validity to the accusations or no? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The pseudo-anonymous bitcoin analyst called Plan B gave his 704,000 Twitter followers an update on the notorious stock-to-flow (S2F) bitcoin price model. Plan B stressed on August 27, that the “next months will be key” as he believes the bitcoin S2F model “predicts $100K by Christmas.” ‘$100K by Xmas’ Plan B is a popular figure in the bitcoin world as the pseudo-anonymous analyst is well known for his stock-to-flow (S2F) price model. In basic terms, the model quantifies the commodity’s (bitcoin) scarcity and then divides it by yearly issuance (the flow). For quite some time now, Plan B and many other S2F fans have insisted that if the model is correct, BTC could one day reach $100K and in the future, possibly a million U.S. dollars per coin. However, in June and July, bitcoin (BTC) prices pulled back a great deal, after reaching a value of more than $64K per unit. S2F chart shared by Plan B on August 27, 2021. After the price drop, Bitcoin.com News reported on how Plan B was still confident that the bitcoin “bull is not over.” Following the last S2F update, Plan B spoke about his model on August 27th, and gave a prediction. “Bitcoin stock-to-flow model predicts $100K by Christmas,” Plan B tweeted. “Time model (diminishing returns, lengthening cycles) $30K. Next months will be key. Note that color overlay is on-chain signal (not time to halving), indicating we are between bottom (blue) and top (red), in line with S2F,” the pseudo-anonymous analyst added. The Time Model Discussion, Plan B’s S2F Preference Intothecryptoverse.com’s Benjamin Cowen replied to Plan B’s August 27 tweet, and said: “The time model just shows the ‘fair value.’ It does not say that the price of bitcoin has to be that price at a certain time. We can move above and below it, like we do with the S2F model.” Plan B responded to Cowen’s statement and said: Of course BTC price can move above and below both models.[The] point is that BTC price is currently ABOVE time model, so it is not illogical to expect lower prices if you follow [the] time model. And [the price of BTC] is BELOW S2F model, so it is logical to expect higher prices if you follow S2F.” Cowen, however, replied further stating: The extension above the time model in terms of percent shows that we should expect it to ultimately extend further than it already has. If we started expecting it to go lower the minute it moved above the fair value, well that would also be irrational. Plan B has been bullish for a long time and Bitcoin.com News has covered the S2F trajectory and the model’s criticisms. The model’s creator has often said that BTC will see six-digit prices and he believes the model is on track. The pseudo-anonymous analyst tweets about S2F regularly among other statistics and figures that are tethered to bitcoin. Chart shared by Plan B on August 25, 2021. “Nobody who bought bitcoin and hodled 4+ years (200 weeks) lost money, ever,” Plan B said last week. “Also, both 200wma and realized cap (average cost price of all 18.8M BTC) are at all-time high (ATH).” On August 19, Plan B explain why he prefers the S2F model in contrast to the time model and other estimates. S2F chart shared by Plan B on August 19, 2021. “S2F model: BTC=a*(S2F ratio)^b,” Plan B stated. “Time model: BTC=a*(months from Jan09)^b. Why I prefer S2F model: [It] tells you when price increases: after halvings, [has] more robust parameters (a,b), time not an input variable, S2FX not a time series, interpolation [is] possible, [and its] usable with other assets,” the S2F creator added. What do you think about Plan B’s stock-to-flow update and the call for a $100K by Christmas? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A bar in Brussels frequented by local anarchists has introduced crypto payments. Bitcoin is the money of the future, say the owners who have recently renovated the place. It is among the first such establishments in the Belgian capital to take coins for pints, they say. Dolle Mol Bar on Rue des Éperonniers Will Take Your Crypto The Dolle Mol café and bar in downtown Brussels, the heart of Europe, has started accepting cryptocurrencies for the beverages it offers. The famous anarchist bar on Rue des Éperonniers street has become one of the first establishments of this kind in the Belgian city to support crypto as a payment option, its owners claim. The bar has been renovated in the past two years by a group of young Brussels residents. “The cafe has to move with the times,” said Grégoire, one of the owners, quoted by the Belgian English-language news portal the Bulletin. Commenting on the decision to allow digital coin payments, he elaborated: Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are the money of the future. We want to give everyone the opportunity to buy a pint with this new payment method. The owner admits they haven’t had any customers who wanted to pay with cryptocurrencies yet but the service has only recently been introduced. It’s going to take some time before crypto users learn about it. “We’re only just accepting it and people don’t really know that yet,” Grégoire told the Bulletin. “There is a sticker on the door that makes that clear but that’s about it. It’s a bit like the internet in the 1990s,” the entrepreneur added. Dolle Mol café. Source: The Bulletin. Cryptocurrency regulations in Belgium and Brussels are still rather fuzzy, the publication notes in its report. “I have the impression that there is not really a clear, watertight regulation,” Grégoire noted. That’s why the bar keeps it simple and safe. “If you want to pay for a pint with, say, bitcoin, you can easily do so with a QR code. The money will then be placed in our personal bank account, and we will put that amount in the cash register,” the Belgian explained. Crypto payments are yet to be regulated in the EU. Last year, the European Commission adopted a digital finance package that will determine the future of Europe’s fintech sector. Part of it is a new legislative proposal called Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) which aims to introduce rules for digital currencies and crypto service providers. The Union is also discussing amendments to its anti-money laundering directive that may ban anonymous crypto wallets. Have you ever used cryptocurrency to pay for a pint and where? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The United States government through the FBI recently helped to run a training exercise whose goal is to enhance the capacity of Nigerian cryptocurrency crime investigators, the U.S. Mission Nigeria (USMN) has said. The exercise saw over 50 Nigerian investigators and prosecutors participate. Understanding the Trends In its August 25 tweet, the USMN reveals that the training exercise was held in conjunction with the International Computer Hacking & IP Attorney Advisers (ICHIP) of Addis & Abuja. The mission also explained what the investigators learned from the exercise. “Trainers shared patterns and trends in criminal use of cryptocurrency and described the various ways in which criminal enterprises use cryptocurrency,” explained the U.S. Mission Nigeria in the tweet. This collaboration between the FBI and Nigeria comes as the latter continues to grapple with the numerous incidences of crypto-related crimes. Although Nigeria has had successes in tackling some crypto fraud cases or apprehending masterminds like Omotade-Sparks Amos Sewanu of the infamous Inksnation crypto Ponzi scheme. However, many cryptocurrency-related crimes in that country remained unresolved. High Number of Crypto Fraud Cases The high number of crypto fraud cases in Nigeria has in the past prompted bodies like the Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission to issue public warnings or advisories that discouraged crypto-related activities. However, despite these warnings or the restrictions imposed by the central bank, Nigerian interest and use of cryptocurrencies continue to grow. However, following the training exercise, officials now hope to turn the screws against criminals that have hitherto made Nigeria a safe haven for crypto fraudsters. What are your thoughts on this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, a leading cryptocurrency trading platform, is excited to celebrate Polygon (Curve) Yield Farming on their staking portal by offering an increased APR for active participants. For a limited time, AscendEX users will earn extra returns while Yield Farming with Polygon for any accounts under $10,000 USDC. AscendEX originally announced the launch of Yield Farming with the Polygon stablecoin in July. Starting this week, users can deposit their USDC into Polygon DeFi Yield Farming and receive interest paid in USDC, MATIC, and CRV, earning up to 20% APY with a 10% bonus from September 1st to 7th! In addition, by farming on AscendEX, users enjoy the benefit of no gas fees and a seamless farming experience by offering a simple “one-click” solution. Yield Farming Explained: Yield Farming can be a resource-intensive process where a user allocates capital to a supported DeFi protocol and is rewarded for their liquidity contribution. The rewards are granted to the user in various tokens, depending on the operating DeFi protocols. Right now, one of the easiest ways to participate in Yield Farming is through AscendEX. The AscendEX team handles all backend integration and removes the technical hurdles associated with DeFi protocols, allowing users to simply click and farm using high-quality tokens and enjoy a timely yield distribution mechanism with no predetermined lock-up period. Polygon and the Ethereum Blockchain Most current DeFi applications, including Polygon’s, are built on Ethereum, the world’s second-largest digital asset blockchain. Ethereum is unique because its blockchain makes it easier to create different decentralized applications beyond simple transactions. Polygon and DeFi Yield Farming: Polygon is a protocol and a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. Aggregating scalable solutions and supporting a multi-chain Ethereum ecosystem, Polygon combines the best of Ethereum and sovereign blockchains into a full-fledged multi-chain system. Polygon solves pain points associated with Blockchains, like high gas fees and slow speeds, without sacrificing security. In celebration of the Polygon project, AscendEX users will now be able to participate in Polygon DeFi Yield Farming with up to a 30% APR from September 1st to the 7th. Users can start Yield Farming Polygon HERE. 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 cryptocurrency ATM has been installed in Honduras where users can buy bitcoin and ether. According to reports, this is the first crypto ATM in the country. Honduras borders El Salvador, where bitcoin is set to become legal tender in a little over a week. Cryptocurrency ATM in Honduras A cryptocurrency ATM launched this week in Honduras, Reuters reported Friday. According to reports, this is the first cryptocurrency ATM in the country. It allows users to buy bitcoin and ethereum using the local lempira currency. The Republic of Honduras is a country in Central America. It borders El Salvador, the country which passed a law making bitcoin legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. The law is set to go into effect on Sept. 7. The cryptocurrency ATM in Honduras, locally called La Bitcoinera, was installed in an office tower in the capital of Tegucigalpa by Honduran firm TGU Consulting Group. TGU CEO Juan Mayen, the 28-year-old CEO who led the crypto ATM effort, explained that there was no automated way to buy cryptocurrencies until now, stating: You had to do it peer-to-peer, look for someone who … was willing to do it, meet in person and carry x amount of cash, which is very inconvenient and dangerous given the environment in Honduras. The cryptocurrency ATM tracking website Coinatmradar does not currently list any cryptocurrency ATMs for Honduras. Mayen said that he hopes to install more cryptocurrency ATMs. He noted that many software developers in the country are already paid in cryptocurrencies, emphasizing that using cryptocurrency will lower the cost of sending remittances. In 2020, Hondurans living abroad sent $5.7 billion, about 20% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), in remittances. With the upcoming Bitcoin Law going into effect, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said last week that 200 crypto ATMs are being installed. Do you think Honduras should have more cryptocurrency ATMs? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On Saturday, August 28, the non-fungible token (NFT) project Cryptopunks crossed $1 billion in all-time sales. Cryptopunks joins the heavyweight NFT hitters Axie Infinity’s $1.6 billion and Opensea’s $3.53 billion. Three NFT Projects Have Sold More Than a Billion-Dollars in Sales The non-fungible token project Cryptopunks is now a billion-dollar NFT collection as statistics show all-time sales tapped $1.095 billion, according to dappradar.com data. Cryptopunks has a bunch of records on dappradar.com’s “top sales” page, in terms of NFT sales. Cryptopunks is just below Opensea ($3.54B) and Axie Infinity ($1.68B) in terms of all-time sales. The biggest sale shown on August 28, is Cryptopunk #8888 which sold for 888.8 ether or $2.87 million. There’s also Cryptopunk #9373 which sold for 499.99 ether on Saturday or roughly $1.63 million using ethereum (ETH) exchange rates at the time of sale. Cryptopunk #2310 sold for 380 ETH or $1.23 million, Cryptopunk #9100 sold for 350 ether or $1.14 million, and Cryptopunk #7674 sold for 342.69 ether or $1.11 million on Saturday afternoon (ET). According to nonfungible.com market stats, Cryptopunk is just below Artblocks this week in terms of sales. While Artblocks saw 24,454 sales which add up to $228 million, seven-day statistics show Cryptopunk saw only 686 sales but also saw $173 million settled. One Entity Owns 254 Cryptopunks, NBA Top Shot Sales Taps $671 Million There are 10,000 Cryptopunks minted and today, 2,888 unique wallets hold at least one Cryptopunk NFT. One entity owns a total of 254 punks and 75% of punk owners own at least two Cryptopunks. The project’s sales across seven days have jumped 750% and Cryptopunks saw $144.605 million in sales among 343 traders. In terms of all-time sales, Cryptopunks $1.095 billion is well above the rest of the projects listed on dappradar.com. NBA Top Shot has $671 million in all-time sales, Rarible has $197 million, and Superrare has $103 million on August 28. What do you think about Cryptopunks tapping $1 billion in all-time sales? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

President Alexander Lukashenko has advised workers to stay in their home country instead of emigrating to fill low-paid farming jobs in Poland and Germany. The Belarusian leader pointed to an alternative source of income, noting there’s enough electricity in Belarus to power cryptocurrency mining. Lukashenko Calls on Belarusian Workers to Build Mining Farms, Not Work at Foreign Farms During a meeting at the state-owned enterprise JSC Belaruskali, one of the world’s largest producers of potash fertilizers, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko urged employees to use the available surplus electricity to mine cryptocurrency. The head of state also remarked that Belarusian workers are not wanted abroad, except for farming jobs. “We must understand, they are not waiting for us anywhere. And if someone is, it may be on the plantations,” Lukashenko warned in a video posted by the Пул Первого Telegram channel. His speech was quoted by Forklog and the Russian business news portal RBC. Lukashenko said that guest workers are “squirming” in the strawberry farms of Poland and Germany. The Belarusian leader visited Pietrykaw, a town in the southern Gomel region, where he also attended the opening ceremony of a mining and processing plant. In his address, the president pointed out that the area has a lot of empty industrial sites and called on his audience to use the available space and abundant energy to build greenhouses, for example. He then added: Create something on electricity. In the end, start mining cryptocurrency or whatever it’s called. There is enough electricity in the country. Belarus legalized crypto-related business activities, including mining, with a presidential decree that went into force in March 2018. In April 2019, Alexander Lukashenko suggested that bitcoin farms could be built at the nuclear power plant in Grodno region on the Lithuanian border to utilize the surplus electrical energy produced by the NPP. In November last year, the country’s largest banking institution, Belarusbank, launched a service allowing users to buy and sell digital currencies with a Visa card. However, during a meeting with senior government officials in March this year, the Belarusian president hinted at tightening the regulatory framework to control the usage of cryptocurrencies, citing as an example China’s experience in the building of a digital society. Do you think the government in Minsk will actively facilitate the development of the crypto mining industry in Belarus? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The dogecoin millionaire who invested all his savings in the meme cryptocurrency early this year says he is now going “all in” on cardano, calling it the “next best bet.” He is bullish on both cryptocurrencies. Dogecoin Millionaire Thinks Cardano Is the ‘Next Best Bet’ Glauber Contessoto, the 33-year-old dogecoin millionaire, told CNBC in an interview published Thursday that he is planning to go “all in” on cardano (ADA). Contessoto invested all his savings in the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin in February. After its price soared, he became a DOGE millionaire in April. He explained that he now plans to invest in another cryptocurrency and his pick is cardano. Noting that he does not plan to sell his dogecoin, he said: I’m going to start buying up as much cardano as humanly possible with every bit of money I start making from now on. He tweeted Thursday that in the next five years, the top five cryptocurrencies will be dogecoin, ethereum, bitcoin, cardano, and XRP. He explained that since he did not buy ethereum early on, he views cardano as the “next best bet.” The dogecoin millionaire plans to wait until there is a dip in the price of ADA to begin buying. He is bullish on both dogecoin and cardano. Emphasizing that “it’s still early on” for ADA, he opined: I’m going to be the biggest Cardano supporter. I’m just waiting on a massive dip before buying into it. What do you think about the dogecoin millionaire going “all in” on cardano? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Turkish police have launched an investigation into a dogecoin investment scheme that has allegedly duped 350 million dogecoins from about 1,500 investors. Dogecoin Scheme Dupes Investors in Turkey The chief public prosecutor’s office of Küçükçekmece, a suburb of Istanbul, is conducting a large-scale investigation into a cryptocurrency scam, Turkish news television channel TV100 reported this week. The scheme claims to be a cryptocurrency system operating under the name “Dogecoin mining.” It promised users a 100% profit in 40 days. The scam’s alleged mastermind, Turgut V., organized one-on-one meetings in luxury venues, with attractive promotions in order to convince investors to join the scheme. He also used a Telegram channel to direct investors to transfer their dogecoins to the system. The system worked well for the first three months and investors were able to regularly receive their promised returns. This has caused the number of investors to substantially increase. In total, about 1,500 people transferred their dogecoins to the scheme. However, in the fourth month, Turgut V. abruptly shut down the system. Unable to log in, confused investors tried to contact him and his associates by phone or at their office to no avail. Realizing that they were defrauded, some investors filed a complaint in the prosecutor’s office through their lawyer Sinan Keskin. One of the victims, Ecem Ashyrova, told TV100: “I deposited 4 million dogecoins. I have lost 12 million Turkish lire at the moment. We were promised to gain 100% with a 40-day package, but what we had in the palm of our hand is gone.” The Turkish Terrorism and Organized Crimes Bureau launched an investigation on Turgut V. and 11 other suspects associated with him. The prosecutor’s office has also issued a ban on leaving the country for Turgut V. According to the investigation, Turgut V. had collected 350 million dogecoins by the fourth month of the system’s operation. The meme cryptocurrency is currently trading at $0.2849. At the current DOGE price, this amount is worth approximately $100 million. What do you think about this dogecoin scheme? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On Friday, the CEO of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey talked about the decentralized exchange Square is constructing called “TBD” or the “TBD BTC DEX.” First mentioned in July, Dorsey tweeted that the company has “determined [TBD’s] direction and he also shared a Twitter thread written by Mike Brock, the TBD lead at Square. Jack Dorsey and Mike Brock Share TBD’s ‘Direction’ Jack Dorsey has been talking an awful lot about the next steps Square has been taking in order to craft a hardware wallet and decentralized exchange (dex) bitcoin (BTC) platform called TBD. Dorsey tweeted about TBD on Friday and shared commentary from the project’s lead Mike Brock. “We’ve determined @TDB54566975’s direction: help us build an open platform to create a decentralized exchange for [bitcoin],” Dorsey tweeted. The TBD lead’s tweet that was shared said: There’s been a lot of speculation about what TBD is and isn’t. Over the last few weeks our team has been determining what needs to be determined. We wanted to finally share our direction, and we have some questions. We believe bitcoin will be the native currency of the internet. While there are many projects to help make the internet more decentralized, our focus is solely on a sound global monetary system for all. But including all requires a few pieces we think are missing. Solving Current Issues and Removing Barriers to Entry Brock further said that in order to get bitcoin there are “centralized and custodial services” like Square’s Cash App or Coinbase. He detailed that these platforms can have issues and are not “distributed evenly around the world.” Did I miss the meeting? https://t.co/Y4n7iZwbu8 — TBD (@TBD54566975) August 27, 2021 Brock insists this is the problem TBD aims to solve and the platform’s goal is to “make it easy to fund a non-custodial wallet anywhere in the world through a platform to build on- and off-ramps into bitcoin. You can think about this as a [decentralized] exchange for fiat.” Brock added: As we said, this platform will be entirely developed in public, open-source, open-protocol, and any wallet will be able to use. No foundation or governance model that TBD controls. Permissionless or bust. Brock also mentioned leveraging platforms like RSK in order “for this to be Bitcoin-native, top to bottom.” The Lightning Network was also mentioned in Brock’s tweetstorm alongside saying there needs to be a “[solution] for exchange infrastructure between digital assets, like stablecoins.” Dorsey’s other team of developers at Bluesky are also in the midst of creating a decentralized social media service that someday Twitter will adopt. What do you think about Square’s attempt to build a Bitcoin-native dex application called TBD? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The troubles in Afghanistan rage on after the U.S. government spent 20 years and trillions of dollars on a conflict that was never resolved. The U.S. government, Federal Reserve, and allied partners have seized the central bank of Afghanistan’s assets and as time passes, the country’s citizens have run out of money. Regional reports show that “no one has money” after the U.S. seizure and under the current Taliban rule. Afghani Citizens Can’t Afford Daily Expenses as Money Runs Dry Years ago U.S. president George W. Bush initiated a war and occupation in Afghanistan and other countries in the Middle East over so-called threats of “weapons of mass destruction” and terrorism. The occupation dragged on well after Bush and Obama and Trump kept the military-industrial complex going strong. The Afghanistan War has been America’s longest foreign battle, exceeding Vietnam. While the Biden administration claims to be removing troops and ending the conflict, thousands of troops remain, and the U.S. has initiated airstrikes against alleged insurgents after the disaster at the Kabul airport. pic.twitter.com/wihiSdQ4On — Kathy Lette (@KathyLette) August 20, 2021 Just recently, Bitcoin.com News reported on the fact that not only is the U.S. not ending the conflict in a peaceful fashion, it is also leveraging weapons of financial warfare against Afghanistan. The U.S. government revealed that the Federal Reserve and other financial partners have confiscated $10 billion worth of Afghani assets that belong to the country’s central bank. Following that report, this week, reports show that the Afghani people have zero money thanks to the asset confiscation. Speaking about the situation, a central bank of Afghanistan employee stressed: No one has money. Anonymous Economic Source: ‘A Stack of Cards Is About to Come Down’ The employee from Afghanistan’s central bank said that people have run out of cash. The employee spoke anonymously over safety fears. The central bank representative said that paychecks have stopped and Afghani families have zero daily spending money. Afghanistan’s banks have been closed and the Taliban wants them open, but reports say the bank is out of assets entirely. “You’ve got a stack of cards that is about to come down,” another anonymous source explained. “As soon as you open the banks, it will expose how fragile the system is.” The reports highlight how the “Biden administration swiftly blocked the Taliban from accessing the billions of dollars held by the central bank in the United States.” In addition to the U.S. and allied confiscation of $10 billion in assets, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) halted $450 million in funds that were meant to be distributed to Afghanistan. The World Bank has also frozen the Afghanistan central bank’s access to monetary support. After leaving Afghanistan an utter wasteland, the U.S., the Biden administration, and mainstream media have shown no accountability for America’s actions that took place over the last 20 years of worthless warfare. Countless deaths of innocents and trillions of dollars were spent by the U.S. government only to replace the Taliban with the current Taliban. An economic source familiar with the situation in Afghanistan told CNN this week that a crisis will likely happen. “Very quickly, this is going to get very bad,” the individual said. “I have many wishes… all of them are going to die. We are moving towards a hopeless future.” What do you think about the U.S. actions against Afghanistan and how the people have run out of funds? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

In 2021, meme-based crypto assets skyrocketed in value following the lead of the original meme crypto-asset dogecoin’s massive gains. This week a great number of digital currencies have rebounded in price but a slew of popular meme tokens are not doing so hot this week. However, one specific meme-crypto called “cake monster” has jumped 112% in value during the last 24 hours. Dogecoin and Shiba Inu Markets Have Seen Better Days Bitcoin.com has covered a wide variety of meme-based cryptocurrencies that followed the ‘Dogefather’s’ 8,818% one-year gains. Dogecoin (DOGE) has seen a triumphant rise in 2021 thanks to mainstream media coverage and shoutouts from the Tesla CEO Elon Musk. DOGE has gained 36.5% during the last month, but dogecoin is down 13% over the course of the week. At the time of writing, a single DOGE is swapping for $0.284508 per unit. DOGE/USD on August 28, 2021. Another meme-asset that took the crypto world by storm is shiba inu (SHIB) as it has outpaced dogecoin’s gains gathering a whopping 8,750,740% in less than 12 months. But just like DOGE, SHIB is down 14.8% during the last seven days. SHIB has only gained 16.6% during the last 30 days and at the time of writing a single SHIB exchanges hands for $0.00000721 per token. SHIB/USD on August 28, 2021. Cake Monster Performance Outshines All the Meme Token Markets Those two crypto assets are the largest meme-based cryptos in terms of market capitalization as DOGE has a $37 billion market valuation and SHIB has a ​​$3.5 billion capitalization. The top nine meme-based crypto assets by market capitalization according to Coingecko’s stats on August 28, 2021. This is followed by monacoin ($129M), hoge finance ($74M), yooshi ($60M), cumrocket ($58M), cake monster ($32M), and dogelon mars ($31M). The crypto-token cake monster (MONSTA) has been the largest gainer out of all the meme assets in terms of gains. MONSTA/USD on August 28, 2021. MONSTA has jumped a whopping 844% in seven days and 1,550% over the last two weeks. 30 day stats show cake monster (MONSTA) is up 1,295% during the last month. The Cake Monster team says that the defi protocol is the first to leverage Gravity Vaults. Cake is deflationary and transaction fees are continuously added to the Gravity Vault. Furthermore, when the Gravity Vault taps 1 million MONSTA, holders can claim their coins from the defi vault. A single MONSTA is swapping for $0.00538036 per unit at press time. Catecoin, Floki Inu See Double-Digit Gains — Gpunks, Kawakami Inu Tokens Slide Despite DOGE and SHIB not doing so hot during the last seven days, a myriad of meme assets have seen double-digit gains. Catecoin (CATE) is up 46% this week, floki inu (FLOKI) has gained 42%, hoge finance (HOGE) 42%, and yooshi (YOOSHI) gained 26% this past week. The biggest meme-coin losers include grumpydogepunks (GPUNKS) down 52% this week and kawakami inu (KAWA) is down 47% over the last seven days. What do you think about the meme-based asset’s performance this week and cake monster’s 112% 24-hour gains? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Blockchain data platform Chainalysis has published its 2021 Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, which ranks 154 countries by crypto adoption. According to the firm, global crypto adoption has grown by over 2,300% since Q3 2019 and over 881% in the last year. New Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index On Wednesday, Chainalysis published a preview of its 2021 Geography of Cryptocurrency report, which will be released in September. The report contains the “2021 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index,” the company’s second iteration “to measure grassroots cryptocurrency adoption around the globe.” The blockchain data analytics firm explained that its Global Crypto Adoption Index is made up of three metrics. The first is “on-chain cryptocurrency value received, weighted by purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita.” The second is “on-chain retail value transferred, weighted by PPP per capita,” and the third is “peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange trade volume, weighted by PPP per capita and number of internet users.” Chainalysis noted that the biggest change to its new crypto adoption index methodology from last year’s index “was the elimination of a fourth metric,” which was the “Number of deposits by country weighted by [the] number of internet users.” The company described: We rank all 154 countries according to each of those three metrics, take the geometric mean of each country’s ranking in all three, and then normalize that final number on a scale of 0 to 1 to give every country a score that determines the overall rankings. The closer the country’s final score is to 1, the higher the rank. According to the 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Vietnam ranks first, followed by India, Pakistan, Ukraine, Kenya, Nigeria, Venezuela, and the U.S. The top 20 countries in Chainalysis’ 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index and their rankings in the component metrics that make up the overall ranking. Source: Chainalysis. China and the U.S. dipped in the new overall ranking. Last year, China ranked fourth overall while the U.S. ranked sixth. This year, the U.S. ranks eighth while China ranks 13th. “The biggest reason both countries dropped is that their rankings in P2P trade volume weighted for internet-using population declined dramatically — China fell from 53rd in this component to 155th, while the U.S. fell from 16th to 109th,” Chainalysis detailed. “Growing transaction volume for centralized services and the explosive growth of defi [decentralized finance] are driving cryptocurrency usage in the developed world and in countries that already had substantial adoption, while P2P platforms are driving new adoption in emerging markets,” the firm explained, adding: Cryptocurrency adoption has skyrocketed in the last twelve months, and the variation in the countries contributing to that show that cryptocurrency is a truly global phenomenon … Global adoption has grown by over 2,300% since Q3 2019 and over 881% in the last year. What do you think about Chainalysis’ Crypto Adoption Index? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Molecule, a decentralised biopharma marketplace, has developed a novel IP-to-NFT framework with Web3 technology innovator Nevermined. In a historic transaction, the first biopharma IPNFT was successfully transferred to research collective VitaDAO to fund novel longevity therapeutics at the University of Copenhagen. 18th August 2021, Basel, Switzerland — For the first time in history, NFTs are being used for a transfer of IP ownership in medical research. This unique milestone is a result of a partnership between biopharma IP marketplace Molecule, and VitaDAO, a decentralized collective (DAO) funding longevity research, and the University of Copenhagen. This innovation is enabled by a groundbreaking data storage solution developed by web3 technology innovator Nevermined. VitaDAO, Nevermined and Molecule Overcome Biopharma Industry Challenges Early-stage biopharma research is the lifeblood that fuels advances in medicine. However, many domains in biopharma suffer from chronic underfunding or commercialisation challenges that prevent innovation from reaching patients. Legal complexity, illiquidity of IP assets and lack of access to investors contribute to the problem for researchers. By applying Web3 technology, Molecule is enabling a world where researchers get access to an open marketplace that makes novel research and IP discoverable, universally fundable and distributes ownership. Nevermined’s data storage and access control frameworks create entirely new ways of how the data rights surrounding this IP can be transacted with and accessed. VitaDAO recently became the first benefactor of this advancement. The collective used Molecule’s protocol and IP NFT framework to acquire IP resulting from longevity research run at the Danish Scheibye-Knudsen Lab and transferred ownership to VitaDAO. Molecule CEO Paul Kohlhaas stated: “This NFT transfers marks a historic milestone for both the NFT and biopharma space. It’s the first time real-world pharma IP is transacted on a blockchain, while also moving into custodianship of a DAO.” Combining Legal Frameworks with Web3 Interoperability The early-stage research phase is plagued by a phenomenon coined the Valley of Death – where funding is hard to obtain, meaning many promising discoveries never make it to market. Molecule is building a marketplace for biopharma IP. A specialised technical framework combines legal agreements such as IP licenses with the novel technology of NFTs and decentralised secure data storage networks that are coupled with the NFT. By ledgering ownership rights on Ethereum, Molecule is building a marketplace for liquid biopharma research data and IP via NFTs. Researchers and biotechs list their projects and discoveries, receive funding via DeFi and can connect directly with patients. Paul Kohlhaas added: “IP NFTs could effectively replace patent models and become new value drivers thanks to Nevermined’s data storage frameworks. We hope to enable a myriad of use cases like this, first focusing on longevity and mental health and then broadly becoming a sort of “OpenSea” for Biotech NFTs that helps empower new research organizations like VitaDAO.” Simultaneously, new vehicles to collaborate and fund research are forming in the web3 space. VitaDAO is a “Decentralised Autonomous Organisation” that collectively funds early longevity research projects via its community contributors. In June 2021, it raised $5 million from hundreds of individuals via a Gnosis batch auction – placing the organisation directly into the hands of its community. Now it is on a mission to finance the most promising longevity research endeavours and decentralise their ownership. Want to Live Forever? There’s an NFT for That The complex requirements for storing, transferring and accessing IP-related files require more than just a standard NFT. Nevermined implemented its Access Control module to create NFTs on steroids with Molecule. These novel NFTs enable the transacting parties to engage with the underlying protected research data via federated access control. This use case has a wide range of applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Nevermind CTO Aitor Argomániz stated: “Access Control allows creators and owners of digital assets to attach conditions to an NFT. Think of things like pricing, verified users, privacy parameters, etc.. At the same time, it acts as a Gateway to guarantee that only parties that fulfill certain conditions can get access to the underlying documents.” The module is also cross-tech-compatible. This allows apps to make secure, critical connections between Ethereum, the cloud (e.g AWS) and decentralised hosting (e.g Arweave). This is the only way to guarantee a Certificate of Authenticity with permanence, traceability and privacy built-in.. Nevermined Socials Medium | Discord | Twitter Molecule Socials Medium | Telegram | Twitter | Discord VitaDao Socials Medium | Telegram | Twitter | Discord Media Contact Details Contact Name: Oana Ionescu Contact Email: oana@keyko.io Molecule 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 Dogecoin Foundation has been reestablished with “a renewed focus” to accelerate the development of Dogecoin. Among the foundation’s advisers are Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Jared Birchall, the manager of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s family office. Dogecoin Foundation Relaunched The Dogecoin Foundation has been reestablished “with a renewed focus on supporting the Dogecoin ecosystem, community and promoting the future of the Dogecoin blockchain,” the foundation announced Monday. After being inactive for many years, the foundation tweeted Monday: “Guess who’s back!” Emphasizing that it is “not here to ‘take control’ of the Dogecoin Core wallet project,” the foundation explained: We are here to accelerate the development effort by supporting current Dogecoin Core and future Dogecoin developers to work on a full-time basis through sponsorship, as well as providing a welcome landing for new contributors hoping to help with the project. The Dogecoin Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 2014 by members of the Dogecoin team to provide “Support for the Dogecoin cryptocurrency through development and advocacy,” its website details. The organization is also responsible for defending the Dogecoin trademark “to prevent abuse and fraud” and establishing “A roadmap and governance for the future of Dogecoin.” The foundation said it “holds the Dogecoin mark and the Dogecoin logo and will maintain them for the community.” The foundation’s website lists four advisers: Jared Birchall, Max Keller, Shibetoshi Nakamoto (Billy), and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Birchall, a former Morgan Stanley executive, is a close associate of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He is the managing director of Musk’s family office, Excession. Buterin has previously spoken about a possible collaboration between Dogecoin and Ethereum. “If we can have a secure Doge-to-Ethereum bridge. That would be amazing,” he said in June. The other advisers are Dogecoin Core developer Max Keller and Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus (also known as Shibetoshi Nakamoto). The foundation noted that in the coming weeks, it “will be announcing new projects that will complement the current Core wallet to enable faster integration and easier APIs for financial, social and charitable projects wishing to use Dogecoin.” What do you think about the reestablishment of the dogecoin foundation with Vitalik Buterin and Jared Birchall as advisers? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid is suspending deposits and withdrawals after a security breach resulting in the loss of around an estimated $80 million in digital assets. The platform published the suspected hacker’s addresses and said it’s moving funds to cold storage. Hacker Hits Japanese Crypto Exchange Liquid Asian cryptocurrency exchange Liquid Global has confirmed it has been targeted in a hacking attack. In a notice tweeted early on Thursday, the coin trading platform revealed that some of its warm wallets were compromised, adding that it’s currently investigating the incident. Important Notice: We are sorry to announce that #LiquidGlobal warm wallets were compromised, we are moving assets into the cold wallet. We are currently investigating and will provide regular updates. In the meantime deposits and withdrawals will be suspended. — Liquid Global Official (@Liquid_Global) August 19, 2021 Liquid, which operates under a license from Japan’s Financial Services Agency, informed users it’s suspending deposits and withdrawals and promised further updates. The exchange also said it’s moving crypto assets to cold wallets. The trading platform later published four addresses, in BTC, ETH, TRX, and XRP, believed to be in the control of the hacker. It did not provide an estimate on the value of the stolen crypto but initial reports have suggested the total amounted to around $80 million in the hours prior to the announcement. The following assets had been transferred to hacker’s following addresses (Further investigation to come): BTC: 1Fx1bhbCwp5LU2gHxfRNiSHi1QSHwZLf7q ETH/EWT: 0x5578840aae68682a9779623fa9e8714802b59946 TRX: TSpcue3bDfZNTP1CutrRrDxRPeEvWhuXbp XRP: rfapBqj7rUkGju7oHTwBwhEyXgwkEM4yby — Liquid Global Official (@Liquid_Global) August 19, 2021 In a follow-up tweet, Liquid said it’s working with other cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze and recover the digital funds. Kucoin blacklisted the hacker’s addresses after their publication. Liquid Global also stated: We will continue to work with the community to take the appropriate actions. The Japanese platform said it’s continuing to trace the movement of the misappropriated assets, noting that the hacker deposited XRP via another exchange and withdrew BTC to two other addresses. In subsequent updates, Liquid expanded the list of tracked crypto addresses and transactions. This isn’t the first time Liquid has been compromised. In November 2020, the exchange admitted to a user data leak. In an announcement, the company insisted it had contained the attack, assuring clients that funds were “safe and secure.” It also emphasized it had performed a “comprehensive review” of its infrastructure and promised to further bolster its security. The news of this latest attack on Liquid comes after decentralized finance (defi) project Poly Network recently lost over $600 million to a hacker. A few days later, the project’s team announced that a large portion of the funds stolen in the Aug. 10 heist had been returned by the perpetrator. What’s your take on the latest crypto exchange hack? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly frozen bank accounts belonging to four fintech firms for up to 180 days after a Federal High Court in Abuja acceded to an “ex parte motion.” The ex parte motion, which is a form of temporary suspension, was granted after a Nigerian chief, Micheal Kaase Aondoakaa, filed the motion on behalf of CBN governor Godwin Emefiele. Accounts Frozen to Enable Further Investigation According to one report, this temporary freeze of the bank accounts will enable the CBN to institute further investigations into the activities of the four firms. Meanwhile, several Nigerian media outlets have identified the affected firms as Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Chaka Technologies Limited, and Trove Technologies Limited. The report also suggested that the CBN’s decision to seek the ex parte motion was made after the findings of the central bank’s preliminary probe showed that the four firms were operating unlicensed asset management businesses. In addition, the central bank accuses the fintech firms “of utilizing forex sourced from the Nigerian forex market for purchasing foreign bonds/shares in contravention of the CBN circular dated July 01, 2015.” In the past few years, Nigeria has grappled with shortages of foreign currency which, in turn, have led to the continuing depreciation of the naira. In response to the naira’s decline, the CBN has placed restrictions or limits on the amount of foreign exchange ordinary Nigerians can withdraw from banks. Fintech Firms Unperturbed CBN has also blocked cryptocurrency firms from accessing the country’s banking system while sales of foreign exchange to bureaux de change operators was recently stopped. However, despite such CBN interventions, the naira continues to lose ground against major currencies. At the time of writing, the naira’s parallel market exchange rate against the U.S. dollar is 1:515 while the official rate is unchanged at 1:411. Meanwhile, in arguing the CBN’s case against the fintech firms, a Nigerian prosecutor told a Federal High Court judge that foreign exchange deals done with the four companies “were making the Naira weaker to the United States dollars, hence, the need to block 15 of their accounts for about 180 days.” However, a different report quotes the CEO of Rise Vest Technologies Limited reassuring users that his company’s “trading activities will continue as usual and the issue will be sorted out with the regulators.” Similarly, Bamboo Systems told its users via Twitter that its “legal and government relations teams are looking into it.” What are your thoughts about this story? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Digital currencies have seen significant gains in 2021 jumping 154% in value since January 1. On August 18, Cryptovantage published a study that shows 3 in 4 crypto investors said they had made money on their crypto holdings and cryptocurrencies represent 12% of the average millennial portfolio. 3 in 4 Digital Currency Investors Have Profited Following the recently published research by Cryptovantage concerning people forgetting their crypto passwords, the company published another poll surveying 1,044 people born between 1965 to 1997. The poll explains how millennials, xennials, and Gen Xers invest in digital assets. “The popularity of crypto assets varied by age,” the new Cryptovantage report called “Generational Philosophies on Investing in Crypto,” explains. “Crypto-assets represented 12% of the average millennial portfolio, compared to 9.2% of the average xennial portfolio and only 6.3% of the average Gen Xer portfolio,” the study details. “Despite this larger proportional holding, millennials were not the most likely to report making a profit in cryptocurrency investing. Xennials, with the largest total investment, were the most likely to make a profit off crypto assets at 80.5%, compared to 76.2% of millennials and just 71.5% of Gen Xers.” The survey adds: It’s worth noting that 3 in 4 people profited off cryptocurrency investments overall. Bitcoin Is the Most Popular Digital Asset, Xennials Prefer Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin The survey indicates that across all the generational participants, bitcoin (BTC) was the most popular and besides BTC, Millennials and Gen Xers preferred ethereum (ETH). Xennials, on the other hand, chose bitcoin cash (BCH) and dogecoin (DOGE) over ETH. Most of the Millennials chose to leverage services like Coinbase and a number of xennials prefer services such as Bitcoin IRA. While the report notes that the lion’s share of participants detailed that “curiosity” was the main reason for investing, the second most popular reason was for high profits. Roughly 39% of the 1,044 respondents also explained that Elon Musk was beneficial to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. “Xennials were the most likely to start investing in cryptocurrencies because they believed they offer security and transparency and will give them greater independence,” the Cryptovantage report author wrote. “Gen Xers were the least likely to believe those same ideas; however, they were more likely than both millennials and xennials to view cryptos as the currency of the future.” What do you think about the study that shows 3 in 4 crypto investors have profited from crypto investments? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article