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Two U.S. lawmakers have urged the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to establish a joint working group for the regulation of crypto assets. SEC and CFTC Urged to Collaborate on Crypto Regulation U.S. Representatives Patrick McHenry and Glenn “GT” Thompson sent a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and acting CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam Monday regarding cryptocurrency. McHenry is the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee while Thompson is the ranking member of the House Committee on Agriculture. The letter begins by referencing Gensler’s comments to Senator Elizabeth Warren stating that “additional authorities” and “resources” are needed for the oversight of the crypto industry. McHenry previously raised concerns that Gensler wanting jurisdiction over all crypto exchanges, including non-securities ones, is “a blatant power grab that will hurt American innovation.” The letter to Gensler and Behnam states: Rather than regulate innovation and job creation out of this country, we should promote an active dialogue between regulators and market participants … An open and collaborative dialogue with all relevant agencies, stakeholders, and market participants is critical. McHenry and Thompson explained, “This is the goal of H.R. 1602, the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April.” H.R. 1602 is a bipartisan act that requires the SEC and CFTC “to establish a joint working group on digital assets with market participants, organizations involved in academic research, and investor protection organizations, among others,” the two lawmakers detailed. They emphasized that nothing prevents the two agencies from creating a working group under existing law. “A working group on digital assets would enable both the SEC and CFTC to explore how to effectively use their current jurisdiction cooperatively,” the letter adds. While the SEC claims jurisdiction over all crypto-related securities, including exchanges that trade them, the CFTC has jurisdiction over crypto assets, which are considered commodities. A CFTC commissioner clarified earlier this month: “Just so we’re all clear here, the SEC has no authority over pure commodities or their trading venues, whether those commodities are wheat, gold, oil …. or crypto assets.” The lawmakers’ letter to the two agencies concludes: We request a response from you and your fellow commissioners describing the ways the SEC and CFTC plan to work together on these critical issues. What do you think about the suggestions by Reps. McHenry and Thompson? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Fitch Ratings, the American credit agency and member of the ‘Big Three’ credit agencies, has published a paper on El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin and making the crypto asset legal tender in the country. Fitch believes that after the country enforces the new tender law it will face “volatility risk” alongside “regulatory and operating risks” as well. Fitch Ratings Says El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption Invites New Risks In 21 days, El Salvador’s bitcoin tender law will be enforced after the bill to make bitcoin legal tender in the country was approved by the Salvadoran Congress supermajority on June 9. Since then a number of opinions have surfaced about the country’s choice to adopt bitcoin stemming from organizations like Bank of America, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), members of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and individuals like European Central Bank (ECB) president, Christine Lagarde. Now one of the Big Three credit rating agencies, Fitch Ratings, has published a paper on why it thinks El Salvador adopting bitcoin may be risky. For one, Fitch doesn’t think bitcoin (BTC) will be widely used by the insurance sector and if they do leverage bitcoin, “insurers will likely convert bitcoin into USD as quickly as possible to limit exchange risks, if policyholders decide to use it to pay premiums,” Fitch’s report stresses. The bitcoin tender law set to be mandated on September 7, 2021, “appears to be unnecessarily rushed and leaves insurance companies with very little time to adapt to its requirements,” the credit agency’s editorial notes. The Fitch Ratings report adds: The ability of insurers to minimize their holding period will depend on whether the regulatory and operational framework allows for bitcoin to be immediately converted to USD, which is not clear at this time. Insurers that hold bitcoin on their balance sheets for extended periods will be acutely exposed to its price volatility, increasing asset risk, which is a credit negative. Fitch Follows Moody’s El Salvador Downgrade, Credit Agency Warns Bitcoin Gains Could Quickly Reverse Fitch Ratings is not the only Big Three member that is not pleased with El Salvador’s decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Moody’s downgraded El Salvador’s rating at the end of June and the bitcoin law is partly responsible. Moody’s lowered the country to a Caa1 from a B3 rating and highlighted a “deterioration in the quality of policymaking.” Fitch explains that it views earnings stemming from “speculative activities or risky exposures such as bitcoin as a credit negative.” The Fitch Ratings report further notes: Since [bitcoin] gains could quickly reverse, creating a volatile earnings stream. The country’s insurance sector is already exposed to low credit quality securities, mainly sovereign bonds (B-/Rating Outlook Negative) so additional holdings of high-risk assets will only compound this risk. As of YE20, sovereign and related investments represented 24% of capital and 21% of total investment portfolios of the insurance industry. Fitch concluded that it is expecting the adoption of bitcoin to force certain sectors of the economy like auditors, insurance agents, and more to “absorb new IT.” If bitcoin is adopted these types of economic sectors will have to leverage expenditure toward cryptocurrency infrastructure. “These likely will include a need to enhance internal protocols to accept payments, reinforcing the security of their systems from cyber risks and fraud and investing in advisory for the board of directors and managers, as well as training of personnel who will directly manage transactions,” the Fitch report concludes. What do you think about Fitch Ratings saying El Salvador adopting bitcoin as legal tender will be a negative situation? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

During the last few weeks, a crypto asset called solana has been making its way up the charts and has made it into the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Solana reached an all-time price high on Monday, capturing $74 per unit and an 80% gain over the course of the week. In addition to the fresh price highs, the Solana ecosystem has grown significantly with more than 300 projects leveraging the system. Solana Captures an All-Time Price High The crypto asset solana (SOL) has made it into the top ten cryptocurrencies in terms of market valuation on Monday. The digital currency SOL reached an all-time high (ATH) as well that day, when it jumped above the $74 handle. According to statistics, during the course of the seven trailing days up until Monday, SOL jumped over 80% in a week, 109% over the last two weeks, and 160% in the last month. Against the U.S. dollar, SOL has gained 1,960.5% during the trailing 12-month period. Solana’s official Twitter page has 393.4K followers and Google Trends data shows the search query worldwide has jumped in recent times. The project’s website solana.com claims developers can “build crypto apps that scale” and says “Solana is a fast, secure, and censorship-resistant blockchain providing the open infrastructure required for global adoption.” The Solana network is not like Bitcoin (BTC) which uses proof-of-work (PoW) for consensus. Quite a few projects are utilizing the Solana blockchain, as a tweet from Coin98 Analytics shows the Solana protocol is leveraged by over 300 different projects. Solana comprises a system of 200 nodes that support significant throughput and a consensus method called proof-of-history. The founder and CEO of Solana, Anatoly Yakovenko, believes that “Solana outpaces the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Libra, Tendermint, and Algorand blockchain networks.” “Whereas other blockchains require validators to talk to one another in order to agree that time has passed, each Solana validator maintains its own clock by encoding the passage of time in a simple SHA-256, sequential-hashing verifiable delay function (VDF),” Yakovenko explains. The Solana founder’s blog post about the subject adds: This differs from the current standard of blockchain infrastructure, which relies on a sequential production of blocks that are hindered by waiting for confirmation across the network before moving forward. Proof of History presents a fundamental move forward in the structure of blockchain networks in regards to speed and capacity. $20 Billion Market Cap, Solana Mainnet Stops Producing Blocks on December 4, 2020, for 6 Hours Solana says it can process 50,000 transactions per second and fees are about $0.00025 per transaction. SOL’s market valuation on August 16 is over $20 billion, and the crypto asset has a circulating supply of around 286,294,787 coins. SOL’s top trading pair is tether (USDT), capturing 50.3% of swaps and is followed by the U.S. dollar, commanding 23% of trades. These are followed by BTC (12.12%), BUSD (7.25%), ETH (2.97%), and TRY (1.41%). Solana has also had some hiccups along the way. In December 2020, a blog post detailed that the protocol’s mainnet stopped producing blocks. “At approximately 1:46 p.m. UTC on December 4th, 2020, the Solana Mainnet Beta cluster stopped producing blocks at slot 53,180,900, which prevented any new transactions from being confirmed,” the team detailed. What do you think about the Solana project and the crypto asset’s recent rise in value? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Lagos – African-founded cryptocurrency exchange, Quidax is integrating with Polygon. Polygon is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Quidax’s integration with Polygon is Polygon’s first in Africa and represents a significant milestone as it gains increased developer adoption. As part of the integration, Quidax has listed Polygon’s native token Matic on its exchange. This will allow Quidax customers to trade Matic once it is listed. The listing of Matic on Quidax will also expose the exchange to new customers that want to trade the crypto asset. Beyond listing, Quidax will be bringing Polygon’s architecture to its customers. This will mean that Quidax customers will be able to access projects that are already in Polygon’s ecosystem and benefit from various services including lending, borrowing, staking, gaming, NFTs, and more. According to Buchi Okoro, Co-founder and CEO of Quidax, “the integration could not have come at a better time as we just marked 3 years since we launched. We are excited about the integration with Polygon as it fits into our goal of bringing DeFi and Cefi services to Africa”. In a comment from Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder of Polygon, “We welcome Quidax to our Polygon ecosystem as they align with our goal of bringing Blockchain infrastructure to the masses & the world.” Quidax to Launch Crypto Self-Service Listing Quidax also announced that it will launch a self-service listing. This service will make it possible for blockchain projects to list their tokens on Quidax in 24 hours. The service will enable projects to access Quidax depth and liquidity as well as over 400,000 Quidax customers across 72 countries. Ahead of the launch projects can join the waitlist for the self-service listing service. Quidax Turns 3 On the first of August, Quidax celebrated 3 years since its launch in 2018. To celebrate its 3rd anniversary the exchange is running several competitions with over $20,000 in rewards to be won including a trip to the Maldives. About Quidax Quidax is an African founded cryptocurrency exchange that gives anyone access to tokens on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and popular cryptocurrencies. It also enables Fintech companies to offer cryptocurrency services to their customers. Quidax was officially launched in 2018 and currently has customers in over 70 countries. About Polygon Polygon is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building and connecting Secured Chains like Plasma, Optimistic Rollups, zkRollups, Validium, etc, and Standalone Chains like Polygon POS, designed for flexibility and independence. Polygon’s scaling solutions have seen widespread adoption with 350+ Dapps, ~128M txns, and ~1M+ unique users. Website | Twitter | Ecosystem Twitter | Studios Twitter | Reddit | Discord | Telegram | Instagram 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

As blockchain technology expands its horizons, attention is turning towards Hollywood with the introduction of a brand new decentralized series titled “HODL,” which will feature fan engagement tokens and highlight mining services-for-all. Audience to Gain Exposure to Token Incentives and Mining Art imitates life in one of the latest expressions of the blockchain universe as a tale involving a budding entrepreneur introducing a blockchain project advances towards viewers’ screens. Cudos, a decentralized layer 1 and layer 2 blockchain network, has joined with forthcoming TV series “HODL” and fan engagement protocol Sator to deliver a value-added experience for viewers through the mining platform. Short for Hold On For Dear Life, “HODL” will revolve around Aveer, a token project named after a lost friend, chronicling the ensuing comedy and drama. The decentralized TV series is set to air in 2022, drawing on influences from actual crypto life while featuring a lineup of real crypto personalities in addition to a soon-to-be-announced Hollywood A-lister who will be narrating the role of Satoshi Nakamoto. The fictional work set to be produced by Beacon Pictures and distributed in a decentralized format is being co-written by Chris Martin, who also serves as the CEO of Sator. Sator, which delivers fan engagement tokens (SATOR) for audiences, will incentivize “HODL” viewership by connecting viewers with the show’s memorabilia. Users who download Sator’s application and watch compatible content or participate in associated interactive quizzes and games gain opportunities to collect NFTs, rewards, and earn the platform’s native SATOR token. The tie-up between these projects will see the TV series introduce viewers to Cudo Miner through in-show spots. This mining application developed by Cudo is designed to help users leverage spare computing power to generate tokens via a system that automatically adjusts itself to mine the most profitable coins and maximize returns for users. The miner fits squarely within Cudos’ existing ecosystem delivering on-demand decentralized cloud computing services derived from the community’s spare computational and graphics resources. Cudos Network aims to play a larger role in the entertainment industry, given the extensive resources needed for rendering video during the post-production process, especially as it moves towards decentralized resources. In terms of the new partnership, “HODL” viewers who download Cudos’ mining application will earn SATOR tokens to bid on digital memorabilia NFTs or opportunities to appear in the TV series’ storylines. HODL isn’t the first industry attempt at bringing a crypto-themed television series to more mainstream audiences. “StartUp,” a crypto-focused show that debuted on Crackle, a free Sony Pictures Entertainment streaming service, ran for three seasons before being discontinued. A planned reality show titled “Crypto Castle Chronicles” that planned to follow young crypto entrepreneurs living together in so-called Crypto Castles founded by creator Jeremy Gardner was canceled before it was ever released. While the idea of cryptotainment isn’t necessarily new, these cases demonstrate just how difficult it has been for crypto to penetrate more mainstream entertainment and the hurdles the industry faces as it tries to build more mass appeal. Who do you think will narrate Satoshi Nakamoto? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A Ghanaian blockchain and crypto association, Afroblocks, has warned the Bank of Ghana (BOG) to resist the urge to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that is based on the “old traditional siloed financial thinking.” Afroblocks Not Consulted Afroblocks (formerly Blockchain Society Ghana) instead wants the central bank to emulate “financial projects that are borderless and decentralized like modern-day cryptocurrencies.” According to Omar Majdoub, one of the association’s co-founders, doing this will increase the likelihood of the CBDC’s success. These remarks by Afroblocks’ Majdoub follow the BOG’s recent release of a press statement in which it reaffirms the central bank’s desire to be one of the first countries in Africa to launch a CBDC. As reported recently by Bitcoin.com News, the BOG has selected a Germany-based firm as its technology partner for its CBDC project. The firm, Giesecke Devrient, is tasked with the job of providing “the technology and a solution that suits Ghana’s requirements.” Still, despite the BOG’s seeming willingness to engage with organizations that have the relevant experience and expertise, Afroblocks’ Majdoub claims that Afroblocks has not been consulted. Majdoub explained: We were never consulted about this initiative, all the facts we know are what was in the BOG’s public releases. In fact, public details on the CBDC are very sparse. We would be more than willing to contribute our expertise if called upon. Ghana’s Unclear Stance on Cryptocurrencies Meanwhile, the Afroblock co-founder also suggested that the BOG’s continuing failure to clarify “if cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance will play any role in their upcoming CBDC” means there has been no change in the country’s stance towards crypto assets. While Ghana does not officially regulate cryptocurrencies, this lack of clarity, unfortunately, creates an atmosphere that is not crypto-friendly, laments Majdoub. Despite the perceived snub, however, the Afroblocks leader nonetheless offered the BOG some advice on what the central bank still has to do to ensure the success of the e-cedi. Majdoub explained: We would advise them to learn more about modern cryptocurrencies, and reach out to crypto communities in Ghana and abroad. So that they can better integrate and make allowances for modern crypto into their CBDC. Many young Ghanaians have been finding great opportunities in the exploding international cryptocurrency space. Finally, Afroblocks urged the BOG to make “more information about the CBDC plans available to the public.” At the same time, the central bank needs to “make very clear their intentions regarding cryptocurrencies.” Do you agree that the BOG needs to consult players in Ghana’s blockchain space? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

A Venezuelan individual has reportedly purchased an apartment using cryptocurrency, specifically Tether, in the coastal state of Anzoategui last month. This is one of the first purchases of real estate with crypto that has been recorded in the country, but more properties are listed as accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment option in several real estate businesses across Venezuela. Venezuelan Buys Real Estate Property Using Tether An unidentified Venezuelan citizen bought a property with usdt, the stablecoin issued by Tether, last month in Anzoategui, a coastal state of the country. The citizen purchased the property using the stablecoin due to how easy transactions are, according to Carlos Grau, manager of Grau Real Estate, the company that assisted with the sale. Grau told Criptonoticias that the transaction was completed instantly, a big improvement on how these sales are usually handled using traditional finance tools. Grau stated: An operation of this kind takes between eight and ten days because you have to send a letter announcing that the funds will be received. When using cryptocurrencies the transaction was immediate, only two phones were necessary to close the deal. There is no risk of fraud or scams. The apartment was sold for $12,000, and while the deal was made in crypto, the property document had to reflect the amount in terms of the national currency, because the registries don’t accept documents reflecting cryptocurrency payments in Venezuela yet. Real Estate Inches Closer to Cryptocurrency Acceptance According to a representative from a regional real estate business, while this transaction is the first of its kind for Venezuela, the industry is moving closer and closer to broader cryptocurrency acceptance. According to him, the real estate market is undergoing a process of adaptation to the needs of many people selling its properties. While the dollar is still the most used currency for these transactions, he stated: Cryptocurrencies are taking more and more space in the market. Still, many people do not trust them, but since here many people need to sell their properties, they are listening to different proposals, including paying in cryptocurrency. Most of these sales are paid in dollars — in cash — or in international wires to U.S.-based accounts, but banks have often blocked accounts due to the large influx of funds received. Cryptocurrency bypasses the middle man and allows these transactions to be near-instant. According to the representative, as more sales include crypto as a payment method, people will feel more confident in using the digital assets. What do you think about the sale of this property being done in cryptocurrency? Tell us in the comment section below. View the full article

On December 11, 2019, the CEO of Twitter announced the company was funding a project aimed at creating a decentralized social media standard. Jack Dorsey said that the ultimate goal of the project dubbed “Bluesky” is for Twitter to be a client of the standard. A year and eight months later, Bluesky announced that a former software engineer from the Zcash project, Jay Graber, will be leading the Bluesky initiative. Crypto Dev Jay Graber Will Lead the Bluesky Project The Twitter initiative to decentralize social media called Bluesky will be led by someone involved with cryptocurrency development. On August 16, 2021, the former Zcash software developer Jay Graber announced that she will be leading the project going forward. “I’m excited to announce that I’ll be leading Bluesky,” Graber tweeted on Monday. “An initiative started by Twitter to decentralize social media.” The CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, also welcomed Graber to the project on Monday. “Jay will be leading Bluesky,” Dorsey tweeted. “Another step towards decentralizing Twitter and social media. Now we can move much faster, and through code.” Dorsey revealed the project in December 2019 when the Twitter CEO said: “Twitter is funding a small independent team of up to five open source architects, engineers, and designers to develop an open and decentralized standard for social media.” Dorsey added: The goal is for Twitter to ultimately be a client of this standard. Twitter was so open early on that many saw its potential to be a decentralized internet standard, like SMTP (email protocol). For a variety of reasons, all reasonable at the time, we took a different path and increasingly centralized Twitter. Dorsey further explained that Bluesky is meant to change the centralized social media model and the Twitter CEO also brought up bitcoin. “Square is doing exactly this for bitcoin with Square Crypto,” he said at the time. Bluesky Wants to Spark the ‘Decentralized Public Conversation’ The Bluesky website is called blueskyweb.org, and the page is very bare and has a brief description of the project’s goals. “We’re focusing on re-building the social web by connecting disconnected silos and returning control of the social experience to users,” Bluesky says. The website continues: Our mission is to develop and drive the adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation. Introducing InterRep, a reputation service. Goal: Make social account reputations portable to web3. Implementation: A service that mints a NFT reputation badge attesting an account is linked to an address. https://t.co/0xdqirljOJ — Jay Graber (@arcalinea) July 2, 2021 Graber joined the Zcash team (electriccoin.co) in July 2016 and before that, she was an engineer at Skuchain. “I look forward to partnering closely with Twitter and other companies as we embark on this journey,” Graber said on Monday. “It won’t happen overnight, but we’ll share our progress along the way. If you’re interested in joining Bluesky, we have open roles on our website blueskyweb.org,” she added. Just recently, Graber also introduced Interrep, a reputation service that can link with Twitter and web3. “Interrep started from the high level goal of making reputations on centralized social platforms more accessible to web3 apps, while preserving privacy more than public attestations, and executed on a simple solution: use a centralized server to act as a bridge,” Graber said. What do you think about the Twitter-backed Bluesky project and Jay Graber leading the decentralized social media team? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The product comparison website Finder has published a report that polled 42 financial technology (fintech) specialists and found the average forecast from the group indicates they believe the crypto asset litecoin will be worth more than $200 by the end of 2021. The crypto asset launched by Charlie Lee in 2011, has been trading for prices between $175 and $187 over the last three days. Average Prediction Among 42 Fintech Specialists Say Litecoin Will Tap $266 by the End of 2021 In recent times, Bitcoin.com News has reported on forecasts concerning the price of bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and dogecoin (DOGE) via finder.com polls. For instance, Finder’s expert panels suggest DOGE prices will hit $1.21 by 2025 and $3.60 by 2030. Additionally, another panel report from finder.com shows experts believe ether’s value will reach $4.5K this year and $18K by 2025. The Finder panel with 42 fintech candidates that discussed litecoin (LTC) shows most panelists agree, LTC is predicted to be worth $266 by the end of the year. However, since the rise of a number of different crypto assets, LTC has lost its place within the top ten market capitalization positions. The crypto asset was a top ten contender for at least a decade but in recent times it has been pushed down by competitors. Today, LTC rests in the 14th position in terms of market capitalization with a $12.53 billion market cap. Finder’s panelists don’t believe litecoin can make it back into the top ten and 76% of the fintech experts think that it won’t. The Finder’s panel, that discussed litecoin (LTC) predictions, included Sagi Bakshi the CEO of Coinmama, Joseph Raczynksi the technologist from Thomson Reuters, and the University of East London Senior Lecturer, Dr. Iwa Salami. 81% of the finder.com panelists say litecoin is losing relevance. However, one individual was a lot more bullish toward LTC than the rest of the panel, and told Finder that his predictions for each year included “$900, $3,000 and $6,000.” A Third of Panelist Think Charlie Lee’s Litecoin Sale Tarnished the Coin’s Image John Hawkins, the senior lecturer at the University of Canberra, gave Finder the lowest price forecast for LTC and his prediction is around $80 per unit. “Litecoin now has little media profile and seems to offer no advantage over bitcoin,” Hawkins stressed. The CEO of Allnodes, Konstantin Boyko-Romanovsky, said that LTC will be $180 by the year’s end and worth more than $300 by 2025. “The price of Litecoin does not always seem to correlate with the price of Bitcoin, which is very interesting to observe. However, it makes it even harder to predict LTC’s price 10 years down the road,” the Allnodes executive said. 15% of the Finder panelists think LTC can make the top ten again by the year’s end. A third of the whole group said that Charlie Lee’s LTC sale “tarnished litecoin’s reputation.” Still, some believe that LTC has brand recognition and the co-founder of Trade the Chain, Ryan Gorman’s outlook is on the bullish side. “People new to the space will continue to trade Litecoin because it is always one of the first crypto assets added to new on-ramps like Paypal, Venmo, etc. That built-in support should help it continue to gain value despite being mostly irrelevant,” Gorman remarked. The report published on finder.com can be read in its entirety here. What do you think about finder.com’s litecoin prediction panel? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A new study shows that ethereum is the most popular cryptocurrency among more than 4,000 adults surveyed in Singapore. The second-most popular crypto is bitcoin, followed by cardano. Singapore-Based Crypto Investors Prefer Ethereum, Bitcoin, Cardano The new 2021 State of Crypto in Singapore, a joint study by Seedly, Gemini, and Coinmarketcap, was published Monday. It contains a survey of 4,348 Singapore-based adults ages 18 to 65 across varying household incomes. The survey was conducted between June 29 and July 9. It included 2,862 respondents who said they were current crypto holders and 1,486 respondents who said they were non-crypto holders. One in five crypto holders surveyed were women. According to the survey results, 78% of respondents who had crypto said they owned ethereum (ETH), 69% said bitcoin (BTC), 40% said cardano (ADA), 31% said binance coin (BNB), and 25% said XRP. The report describes: Of the 2,862 crypto holders, 2,236 of them are currently holding on to ETH. BTC is the second most popular cryptocurrency, with 1,975 of the crypto holders holding on to it. Coming in third and fourth are ADA and BNB , held by 1,141 and 893 investors respectively. The most popular cryptocurrencies according to the survey. Source: Report by Seedly, Gemini, and Coinmarketcap. The report notes: “With ETH, BTC and ADA being the most popular cryptocurrencies across both genders, females actually hold and trade XRP and DOT [polkadot] more than their male counterparts. USDT [tether], on the other hand, is more popular among male crypto holders.” Crypto investors also revealed how they were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The report notes, “Out of 2,862 people who invested in crypto, two-thirds of them invested more into crypto because of the Covid-19 pandemic.” The report adds, “The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred more Singaporeans to invest in crypto.” What do you think about this survey? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Bank of America has initiated coverage of Coinbase Global. The bank has identified several factors that could boost Coinbase’s revenue. Regarding the crypto exchange’s plan to become “the Amazon of crypto assets,” Bank of America says it is “still in very early stages of development.” Bank of America Awaits Concrete Signs of Progress Against Coinbase’s Long-Term Vision. Bank of America (Bofa) initiated coverage of Coinbase Global Inc. (Nasdaq: COIN) Friday. Jason Kupferberg, a senior equity research analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, started Coinbase with a “neutral” rating and a $273 price target. While the analyst sees Coinbase as the “leading provider of crypto infrastructure,” he cautioned that its stock, which is trading at 18.3 times sales, may have limited near-term upside. He described: COIN aims to become the Amazon of crypto assets, though in our view COIN’s model is still in very early stages of development, and we await more concrete signs of progress against COIN’s long-term vision. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said last week during the company’s Q2 2021 earnings call: “We want to be the Amazon of assets, list every asset out there in crypto that’s legal. There are thousands of them today. There are eventually going to be millions of them. This is all under the theme of embracing decentralization.” The Bank of America analyst is looking for Coinbase to diversify away from crypto trading fees, which currently account for 95% of the company’s revenue. Noting that services such as staking and lending are starting to gain traction for the exchange, he pointed out that subscriptions and services represent significant cross-selling opportunities that could boost Coinbase’s average revenue per user. Stock chart for Coinbase Global Inc. (Nasdaq:COIN) Several investment banks now cover Coinbase Global. Wedbush Securities began covering Coinbase in May with a stock price target of $275. The company raised the exchange’s price target from $275 to $300 last week with an “outperform” rating for the stock. In July, Mizuho cut the price target for Coinbase from $225 to $210 while Oppenheimer raised the price target for COIN from $434 to $444. Raymond James began covering Coinbase in June with an “outperform” rating. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Coinbase in May. Goldman began with a “buy” rating and a price target of $306 for COIN. JPMorgan started with an “overweight” rating largely due to the company’s key position in the growing cryptocurrency space. The firm set the target price for Coinbase at $371. Do you think Coinbase will soon become the Amazon of crypto assets? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Researchers from Microsoft, Alibaba Group, and Carnegie Mellon University have published a paper that claims the Ethereum network can help prevent piracy. The paper, called “Argus: A Fully Transparent Incentive System for Anti-Piracy Campaigns,” describes how Argus is superior to existing solutions. Argus: An Ethereum-Powered Anti-Piracy Tool A study written by Xian Zhang, Xiaobing Guo, Zixuan Zeng, Wenyan Liu, Zhongxin Guo, Yang Chen, Shuo Chen, Qiufeng Yin, and Mao Yang shows researchers have developed a new blockchain-powered incentive system for anti-piracy campaigns. The authors come from Carnegie Mellon University, Alibaba Group, and Microsoft Research Asia. Argus is a “fully transparent” system according to the Argus white paper hosted on microsoft.com. “The groundwork of Argus is to formulate the objectives for fully transparent incentive mechanisms, which securely and comprehensively consolidate the different interests of all roles,” the researchers write. “These objectives form the core of the Argus design, highlighted by our innovations about a Sybil-proof incentive function, a commit-and-reveal scheme, and an oblivious transfer scheme. In the implementation, we overcome a set of unavoidable obstacles to ensure security despite full transparency,” the white paper’s authors add. The white paper continues: Moreover, we effectively optimize several cryptographic operations so that the cost for piracy reporting is reduced to an equivalent cost of sending about 14 ETH-transfer transactions to run on the public Ethereum network, which would otherwise correspond to thousands of transactions. Researchers Believe the Blockchain Tool Is Superior to Existing Solutions The move by Microsoft to develop an Ethereum-fueled anti-piracy system follows the company’s decentralized identity solution that leverages the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. Microsoft launched the ION Decentralized Identifier (DID) network on the Bitcoin mainnet on March 25, 2021. The developers of Argus are concentrating on fighting pirated content and the researchers hope “real-world anti-piracy campaigns will be truly effective by shifting to a fully transparent incentive mechanism.” The authors from Alibaba, Carnegie Mellon, and Microsoft say: Argus exemplifies the outcome of this disciplined approach. It is superior to existing solutions in terms of the trust assumption and the assured properties. What do you think about the anti-piracy blockchain tool’s white paper hosted on microsoft.com? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Electron Cash, a leading bitcoin cash wallet, has implemented a new feature called Reusable Payment Addresses. While still in its testing stages, this feature is a tool that can be leveraged to acquire a deeper level of privacy for your transactions, due to how it detaches public addresses from payment history, giving Bitcoin Cash some Monero-like capabilities. Reusable Payment Addresses: More Privacy for Your Transactions The developers of Electron Cash, one of the leading bitcoin cash wallets, have introduced Reusable Payment Addresses, a new privacy feature for the wallet. While it is still in its alpha stages, the functionality is there. Reusable Payment Addresses allows users to have another layer of privacy when transacting. When a user gives another a payment address, it also gives away the whole story of payments associated with it, alongside the balance it contains. This poses a big problem for privacy-concerned users: every time a user or company posts an address it means that entity’s financial information is exposed. Reusable Payment Addresses aim to solve this problem by providing an alternate address, called “Paycode.” Paycodes are different from conventional public addresses because they are not associated directly with the history of the user, and in this sense, they can be shared with no worries. Paycodes can also be associated with other usability features like Cash Accounts, which allows users to enjoy both the privacy of Paycodes and the convenience of human-readable account names. Bitcoin Cash Is Gearing Up for More Privacy With this new addition, Bitcoin Cash is gearing up more and more for privacy options, offering some Monero-like capabilities to its users. Reusable Payment Addresses are just another tool that is now available for Bitcoin Cash users to further enhance their privacy arsenal. Combined with other tools like CashFusion, which obfuscates transactions by fusing coins, it offers a comprehensive privacy-oriented suite for privacy-savvy users. While the Reusable Payment Addresses option is still in alpha stages and only available via the Electron Cash wallet, once it is sufficiently tested it could be implemented in any wallet, because it is open-source code software. The generalization of this functionality would create an opt-in privacy feature that could be useful for companies like restaurants and any others that don’t want to reveal their payments flow, and for political and freedom activists in several countries around the world. What do you think about Reusable Payment Addresses and their function? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

According to the blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic, cybercriminals are leveraging cryptocurrency analytics to get ahead of law enforcement. Elliptic says a “blockchain analytics tool has been launched on the dark web” and the tool is called “Antinalysis.” Meet the Blockchain Analytics Tool ‘Antinalysis’ Hosted on Tor On August 13, the blockchain surveillance company Elliptic published a blog post that details how the firm discovered a blockchain analytics tool that is leveraged by cybercriminals to protect themselves. The tool dubbed “Antinalysis” allows “bitcoin addresses to be checked for links to criminal activity,” Elliptic claims. The company’s announcement further states that Antinalysis gives individuals the ability to “test whether their funds will be identified as proceeds of crime by regulated exchanges.” The company’s blog post adds: Antinalysis seeks to help crypto launderers to avoid this, by giving them a preview of what a blockchain analytics tool will make of their bitcoin wallet and the funds it contains. The site runs on Tor, an anonymous version of the web commonly used to host darknet markets and other illicit services. Elliptic says that the creator of Antinalysis is a software developer behind the darknet market (DNM) Incognito Market. The tool’s mission statement is: “offering a perspective from the opponent’s point of view,” Elliptic’s blog post details. Screenshot of the Antinalysis tool via Elliptic’s blog post published on August 13, 2021. People utilizing the Antinalysis tool are paying $3 to look at a single bitcoin address and the tool breaks down onchain movements. Users can pay for the service by using bitcoin (BTC) or monero (XMR), Elliptic’s report highlights. “Antinalysis claims to offer highly accurate results and to have verified this by comparing them to those generated by commercially available blockchain analytics tools,” Elliptic said. “However, Elliptic’s own evaluation of the results returned for a range of bitcoin addresses shows that it was poor at detecting links to major darknet markets and other criminal entities.” The blog post further stresses: Regardless, the tool represents a significant new capability for crypto launderers. Furthermore, Elliptic emphasized in the blog post that an article published by the well known security researcher Brian Krebs also came to the same conclusions. Both Krebs and Elliptic detail that Antinalysis likely leverages the AMLBot API which is a tool crafted by the blockchain intelligence firm Crystal Blockchain. “The results provided by Antinalysis are identical to those provided by AMLBot,” Elliptic’s account of the new tool explains. What do you think about the new tool called Antinalysis? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Alberto Fernandez, the president of Argentina, stated he is open to the adoption of cryptocurrencies as legal tender in an interview this week. Fernandez said there is a big discussion around the value and use of cryptocurrencies not only in Argentina but also all over the world. However, he recognized this issue should be treated carefully, and acknowledged he had limited knowledge in the subject of cryptocurrencies. President of Argentina Open to Allow Crypto to Become Legal Tender Alberto Fernandez, the current president of Argentina, expressed his opinion of cryptocurrencies in the Black Box, an interview program hosted by Julio Leiva, an Argentinian journalist. When asked about the subject of cryptocurrencies, and if his government was looking into it, Fernandez stated that there was a big debate over the function of cryptocurrencies not only in Argentina but in the whole world. He stated: This is a subject that must be treated carefully. In my case, because it is still unknown to me. Some still don’t understand how this money is materialized. These doubts I have are shared by many, that’s why the project has not expanded further. Leiva pushes the issue even further on Fernandez and asked if they would be open to adopting a cryptocurrency as legal tender, as it happened in El Salvador, or to issue a central bank digital currency. Fernandez stressed: Everything is possible. Some say that the advantage of this is that the inflationary effect is nullified in a big way. It is also true that it will bring insecurity because some big scams have been verified to be done using cryptocurrencies. It’ is a difficult subject to touch. To conclude, Fernandez reiterated that the country should not say no to the use of cryptocurrencies because it could bring important advances to the inflation problem, being a somewhat “hard” currency compared to its fiat counterparts. The Central Bank States Otherwise While the president of Argentina is open to the use of cryptocurrency, representatives from the country’s central bank have stated otherwise. This is the case of Miguel Pesce, president of the Central Bank of Argentina, who stated the institution was interested in regulating the intersection of bitcoin and the traditional payment system on August 11. Pesce detailed that it would be prejudicial to the system if the money coming from cryptocurrencies mixed with the funds coming from the traditional exchange market. What do you think about the opinion of the president of Argentina About cryptocurrencies? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, a global cryptocurrency platform, is excited to announce its newest listing: iTrust token (ITG), under the pair USDT/ITG on AUG 17 at 1 p.m. UTC. In celebration of the listing, AscendEX and the iTrust Finance team will jointly launch three limited-time promotional events providing participants a chance to share 50,000 USDT in ITG rewards! iTrust Finance is a capital allocation solution for DeFi insurance projects. Entering into a blue ocean market, iTrust aims to improve the capacity of insurance protocols for different DeFi insurance projects and commit themselves to helping DAO users and users of various insurance protocols enter the market under better conditions. The platform also provides them with a variety of income strategies according to their risk appetite. iTrust Finance operates as a Decentralized Autonomous Organisation (DAO) focused on alleviating the existing pain points in the DeFi insurance sector. They focus on three factors to enhance efficiency and drive growth for DeFi insurance protocols: efficiency, returns, and simplicity. iTrust Finance provides a win-win solution for all parties of the DAO and underlying insurance protocols. Being Managed Yield Aggregator for the DeFi insurance industry, they operate as a capital allocator, working with underlying insurance protocols to build essential “cover capacity.” iTrust Finance creates a mutually beneficial relationship between stakers and insurance protocols by maximizing rewards and growing cover capacity for all DAO participants in the wider DeFi community. What differentiates iTrust from the competition is that, rather than providing individual cover, they are increasing the amount of available cover supply for other protocols to provide premiums, users to purchase premiums, and stakers to earn network rewards. At its core, iTrust enables more efficient and fluid issuance of insurance cover for the benefit of the entire ecosystem. Overall, iTrust seeks to improve efficiency and usability in the DeFi insurance marketplace for individuals and insurance service providers by leveraging the staking of their native token, ITG. About AscendEX AscendEX is a global cryptocurrency financial platform with a comprehensive product suite including spot, margin, and futures trading, wallet services, and staking support for over 150 blockchain projects such as bitcoin, ether, and ripple. Launched in 2018, AscendEX services over 1 million retail and institutional clients globally with a highly liquid trading platform and secure custody solutions. AscendEX has emerged as a leading platform by ROI on its “initial exchange offerings” by supporting some of the industry’s most innovative projects from the DeFi ecosystem such as Thorchain, xDai Stake, and Serum. AscendEX users receive exclusive access to token airdrops and the ability to purchase tokens at the earliest possible stage. To learn more about how AscendEX is leveraging best practices from both Wall Street and the cryptocurrency ecosystem to bring the best altcoins to its users, please visit www.AscendEX.com. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://ascendex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AscendEX_Global Telegram: https://t.me/AscendEXEnglish Medium: https://medium.com/ascendex About iTrust iTrust Finance is the Risk Managed Yield Aggregator for the DeFi Insurance vertical. They operate as a capital allocator, helping underlying insurance protocols to build essential “cover capacity.” iTrust Finance creates mutually beneficial relationships between stakers and insurance protocols by maximising rewards and growing cover capacity for all participants of the DAO, and the wider DeFi community. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://www.itrust.finance Medium: https://medium.com/itrust-finance/itrust-ido- Discord: https://discord.com/invite/WkB2USt Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/3kGHhgf9Y-FlOTFk 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 notorious dogecoin has been moving northbound in value once again climbing more than 17% during the last 24 hours and 32% over the course of the week. Currently, across social media platforms like Twitter, Tiktok, and Facebook, the hashtag #dogecointo1dollar has been trending. Meanwhile, a number of other meme-based digital assets that leverage the Shiba Inu dog breed as a name or logo have also seen significant jumps in value. Dogecoin Spike 17% This Weekend, Supporters Blast the Brand Across Social Media When programmers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer launched the Dogecoin (DOGE) network on December 6, 2013, they never expected the meme-based crypto-asset would grow so wildly. In fact, the Shiba Inu dog-inspired cryptocurrency crafted over 7 years and 8 months ago as a joke, is now a $44.42 billion economy. On Sunday, August 15, Dogecoin supporters have been rallying on Tiktok, Twitter, and Facebook with the hashtag #dogecointo1dollar. At the time of writing, the hashtag trend on Twitter has thousands of tweets mentioning it. #DogeCoinTo1Dollar cool calm collected pic.twitter.com/hkvYXmJf2c — Jeremy (@Jeremy05267232) August 15, 2021 The same thing can be said about Tiktok, which shows 8.2 million views of people mentioning the hashtag #dogecointo1dollar. A touch over 1,000 profiles on Facebook are using the #dogecointo1dollar hashtag today as well. Me seeing #DogeCoinTo1Dollar trending right this minute…. ❤️👑❤️👑 pic.twitter.com/d9hpg9zLG5 — Anthony Buchanan (@anthonyscountry) August 15, 2021 Google Trends Spike Stems From Turkey, Turkish Lira Commands Top Five Dogecoin Pair, Meme-Currency Is Still Down 53% From All-Time High Worldwide statistics from Google Trends (GT) queries show the search term “dogecoin” has seen a major spike between Saturday and Sunday. Turkey is leading according to GT data and is followed by the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Singapore. The Watford Football Club story, that explains the English Premier League football players will wear dogecoin logos, is currently the most trending subject matter tethered to the search term “dogecoin,” according to Sunday’s GT statistics. Worldwide Google Trends data on Sunday, August 15, 2021. DOGE has been trading for roughly $0.339 per unit and has around $6.4 billion in global trade volume on Sunday. The biggest trading pair with DOGE today is tether (USDT) as it captures $69.8% of all the dogecoin swaps. This is followed by USD (11.49%), BUSD (5.75%), BTC (5.40%), and TRY (3.51%). Interestingly, DOGE has had a strong relationship with the Turkish lira for months on end, and TRY has been a top-five pair with DOGE during this period. DOGE/USD on Sunday, August 15, 2021. Data from bitinfocharts.com shows the cost per transaction on the network is 0.0056 DOGE per byte which equals 2.11 DOGE ($0.714) per transaction. Today, onchain metrics show dogecoin has seen around 17,900 transactions during the course of the last 24 hours. On Sunday, August 15, the Dogecoin network hashrate has been coasting along at around 214.48 terahash per second (TH/s). Dogecoin’s network proof-of-work (PoW) Scrypt system, in contrast to Bitcoin’s (BTC) PoW (or total work), would need 526 confirmations to be as secure as one BTC transaction. Dogecoin saw around 41,000 per day in mid-March and the currency is down 53% from its all-time high (ATH). The crypto asset dogecoin (DOGE) tapped an ATH of $0.737 three months ago. On Sunday evening (EDT), a great number of other meme-based, Shiba Inu-branded crypto assets are following dogecoin’s market lead. For instance, shiba inu (SHIB) is up 11.9% this week and polydoge (POLYDOGE) jumped 43% during the same time frame. DOGE has gained 98.30% over the last month and during the last 12 months it has jumped 9,538% in value. Supershiba ($SSHIBA) and shibance token (WOOF) have also spiked more than 40% per coin during the week, but the crypto asset baby dogecoin (BABYDOGE) has lost 21% in the last seven days. What do you think about dogecoin’s rise on Sunday evening? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

English Premier League football players with the Watford Football Club are now wearing the logo representing the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin for the 2021-22 season. The team wore the image for bitcoin in the previous season. Dogecoin Promotion at English Premier League Matches The players of the Watford Football Club, an English professional football team based in Watford, Hertfordshire, are wearing the dogecoin logo on their sleeves. The team plays in the Premier League, also called English Premier League or the EPL, the first tier of English football. The Athletic publication reported Saturday that “Watford’s shirt sleeve sponsor for the 2021-22 season will be cryptocurrency dogecoin.” The publication detailed: The deal — a collaboration with main shirt sponsors Stake.com — will be worth in the region of £700,000 [$970,000] to the Premier League newcomers and could break their previous sleeve partnership with bitcoin of £1 million if it gains global traction. During the Premier League match Saturday, the Watford Football Club players wore shirts with the logo for the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin on their left sleeves. A Watford Football Club player wearing the logo for dogecoin on his left sleeve. Source: Watford Football Club Watford Football Club announced in July a multi-year partnership with Stake.com, a global crypto casino and sports betting platform. The company explained, “Starting in 2021/22, the club-record deal will see Stake become the club’s principal shirt sponsor as they return to the Premier League.” Furthermore, the announcement states that “To commemorate the beginning of the partnership, Stake will be running crypto-themed initiatives, including a 10 million dogecoin giveaway on their international platform.” Prior to the partnership with Stake, Watford Football Club signed a deal with Sportsbet.io in 2019. The deal included the players wearing the Sportsbet.io brand on the front of Watford shirts and the image representing bitcoin on their sleeves for the 2019/20 Premier League. What do you think about English Premier League players wearing the dogecoin logo on their shirt sleeves? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Nubank, a Brazilian digital bank backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is reportedly planning an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq. Nubank is crypto-friendly and offers investments in a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The bank said, “The cryptocurrency ETF can be a way to further democratize access to the crypto market.” Digital Bank Backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Reportedly Plans to IPO on Nasdaq Nu Pagamentos SA, also known as Nubank, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of more than $2 billion on the Nasdaq stock exchange for the end of this year, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Nubank is backed by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In June, Berkshire invested $500 million in the Sao Paulo-based digital bank which has more than 40 million clients throughout Latin America. According to the people, Nubank may seek a valuation of more than $40 billion. However, details may change as discussions are still ongoing. The bank was valued at $10.4 billion after a private fundraising in early 2019 but its valuation soared to $30 billion by June after the $500 million investment by Berkshire. At a valuation of more than $40 billion, Nubank could become the second most valuable financial institution in Latin America. The most valuable is currently Brazil’s Itau Unibanco Holding SA with a $55 billion market value, followed by Banco Bradesco SA with about $41 billion. Banks handling the share sale in the planned IPO include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., and UBS Group AG. Nubank is a crypto-friendly bank. It offers investments in a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) via Easynvest, a trading platform it acquired and renamed to “Easynvest by Nubank” earlier this year. The bitcoin ETF offered by Easynvest is QBTC11 by QR Asset Management. It was the first bitcoin ETF approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM). It is listed on the B3 stock exchange, one of the largest stock exchanges in Latin America and the second oldest in Brazil. Citing Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, Nubank explained on the Easynvest website: “A quick [online] search is enough to discover that even billionaires like Elon Musk and Ray Dalio have already taken an interest in this type of asset.” The bank further wrote: The cryptocurrency ETF can be a way to further democratize access to the crypto market. What do you think about Nubank going public on Nasdaq? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

With bitcoin mining being a regulated activity in Iran, the head of the country’s securities and exchange regulator believes the central bank has to turn its attention to cryptocurrencies. The regulator is ready to consider accommodating crypto trade when digital assets are regulated. Capital Market Regulator to Look Into Crypto Trading if Central Bank Regulates Cryptocurrencies Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) has no immediate plans for hosting cryptocurrency trade in the country’s capital market but that may change if cryptocurrencies are properly regulated. That’s according to a statement by Mohammad Ali Dehqan who heads the authority. Quoted by the Ibena news agency and the English-language Iranian business daily Financial Tribune, Dehqan noted that government rules for the mining of cryptocurrencies are currently the only crypto-related regulations. He further insisted: Use of the mined cryptocurrency by the people is what the CBI should be dealing with. The SEO official pointed out that as the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has not made a specific announcement regarding the use of cryptocurrencies, digital currency trading in the Iranian capital market is not possible at this stage. However, Mohammad Ali Dehqan also emphasized: We will look at the issue if the Central Bank of Iran regulates cryptocurrencies. Iranian Authorities Under Pressure to Put Crypto Space in Order Calls to regulate cryptocurrencies have been mounting in Iran where crypto investments have gained significant popularity. In May, the Iranian parliament called on financial regulators to adopt a cautious approach to dealing with the matter and urged capital market authorities to create efficient investment vehicles for legal crypto trading. In June, the country’s economy minister warned the government cannot interfere with the development of crypto technologies for too long. Last month, lawmakers proposed draft legislation that would prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies in domestic payments but at the same time, regulate crypto exchange and provide support for crypto miners. The authors of the bill want the CBI to take charge of crypto market oversight. Recently, the Iranian National Tax Administration put forward a proposal to tax digital asset exchanges operating in the country and urged regulators to legalize their operations. Iranian authorities have been trying to curb crypto trading although the CBI authorized Iranian banks and moneychangers to process cryptocurrency minted by miners inside Iran to pay for imports. Earlier in August, legal experts from the president’s administration explained the exchange between cryptocurrencies, or coin swapping, is not banned by the current regulations in the Islamic republic. Bitcoin mining remains the one comprehensively regulated crypto business in Iran since the Tehran government recognized it as a legal industrial activity in 2019. Miners are required to apply for a permit from the Ministry of Industries which has already licensed a few dozen mining entities. Do you expect Iranian authorities to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies in the country? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. BitMart has listed $LEOS, the utility token powering the Leonicorn Swap platform. Based on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) ecosystem, the $LEOS token is also available on the PancakeSwap decentralized exchange. $LEOS is the native token from the Leonicorn Swap, a decentralized exchange (DEX) created to solve the issues found in the current centralized and decentralized exchange ecosystem, providing a full suite of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) products in a single platform. At its core, the Leonicorn Swap exchange aims to tackle the most common issues found in the CeFi industry, including security concerns, high transaction fees, low withdrawal limits, along with other pitfalls of centralized management such as high listing requirements for up and coming cryptocurrency projects and the mismanagement of funds by exchange operators. While doing so, Leonicorn Swap also tackles the pitfalls of the most commonly used DEXs, the majority of which run on the Ethereum blockchain which has been notoriously known for its limited scalability, high gas fees, and low transaction speeds, a factor that has been crucial in the stunted growth of the DeFi ecosystem. All of this is achieved while ensuring security for the user, with its smart contracts having gone public security audits from known blockchain security companies like Certik Leonicorn, an all-in-one DeFi solution While Leonicorn offers an Automated Market Maker (AMM) exchange as it’s unique value proposition, it also features a number of DeFi solutions that accommodate the full scope of cryptocurrency users, from the most tech-savvy cryptonauts to the freshly started enthusiasts aiming to explore the nascent industry. A user-experience-driven project Leonicorn Swap offers full asset ownership while providing a convenient and secure solution that can be used by anyone, regardless of their expertise and knowledge. Being built on the Binance Smart Chain, Leonicorn also ensures that retail users can access all the advantages provided by the platform without having to worry about enormous transaction fees. The platform’s AMM, allows users to easily swap a growing list of tokens without any third-party counter risk and to earn additional income by providing liquidity for the assets they hold, allowing them to earn exchange trading fees and additional liquidity farming rewards provided by the project in the aforementioned $LEOS token. While these features can be accessed on other platforms, they serve as a gateway entrance for more advanced features provided within the platform. Traders will have a chance to put their trading expertise to test in regular Trade wars provided by the platform where the most skilled traders will earn rewards for their performance. Additionally, Leonicorn will also provide advanced investment opportunities beyond trading, including an Initial Decentralized Offering (IDO) and Initial Farming Offering (IFO) launchpad and a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace that will allow users to mint, buy and sell NFTs for digital and physical collectibles listed in the platform. For those looking for an additional luck factor, Leonicorn also provides a probability fair lottery feature. Take advantage of all these basic and advanced DeFi products by visiting the official Leonicorn Swap platform here. About $LEOS As previously mentioned, the $LEOS token is based on the EVM-compatible Binance Smart Chain, known for its proven scalability and ease of use. The token serves multiple functions within the platform, providing rewards for its holders through smart staking and liquidity mining incentives. To ensure the long-term sustainability of the token, $LEOS employs a deflationary model in its design. The project operators have implemented a buy-back and burn system to ensure the continued scarcity of the token. Now, the team is focused on improving accessibility for the wider cryptocurrency community, with the BitMart listing being the latest of the many upcoming announcements for the DeFi project. To learn more about $LEOS and its detailed tokenomics, read the whitepaper here. About BitMart Launched on 15/03/2018, BitMart is a centralized exchange based in the Cayman Islands. It also has four offices located in New York, China, Hong Kong, and Seoul. It supports spot trading, otc trading, and USD trading. Its mission is to drive the world towards a better financial system. Operated by the GBM Foundation Company, Ltd, BitMart is a centralized exchange based in the Cayman Islands. It offers basic and advanced trading features for its users through a desktop and mobile app, available on Android and iOS. BitMart was launched in 2018 and provides crypto-to-crypto as well as fiat trading. It also has four offices located in New York, China, Hong Kong, and Seoul. It supports spot trading, otc trading, and USD trading. To learn more about BitMart, visit the official website and start trading now. 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

Approximately 50 years ago today, Americans were introduced to ‘Nixon Shock’ when the 37th president of the United States suspended the convertibility of the U.S. dollar into gold. Since this point in time, the U.S. economy has never been the same as many believe Richard Nixon ushered in a new era of uncontrollable fiat currency creation. 50 Years Ago Today, Nixon Shook the World Today is the anniversary of when U.S. president Richard Milhous Nixon told the American public on August 15, 1971, that the administration along with the Treasury would immediately suspend the U.S. dollar’s convertibility into gold. Nixon essentially revealed the removal of the gold standard from the dollar and it would never return. Moreover, what the American public isn’t fully aware of is why Nixon and his cronies decided to remove gold’s exchangeability with the dollar. Richard Nixon’s Vietnam War expenditure sparked the onset of a new fiat era. The reason why Nixon removed the gold standard is because the U.S. could not hide the massive war expenditure that was fueling the Vietnam War. Part of the Bretton Woods deal was crafted so the U.S. was the holder of three-quarters of the world’s gold. War expenditure under Nixon was so massive other countries like France started taking notice of the U.S. printing massive amounts of USD. On the afternoon of Friday, August 13, 1971, Nixon and members of the Treasury secretly met at Camp David. On August 15, 1971, Nixon addressed the nation and told them about the decision to “suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets.” According to testimony and reports, the secret Camp David meeting was very contentious and led to a huge debate. By the end of the meeting, the Nixon administration ultimately decided to break up the Bretton Woods agreement. Speaking on television on Sunday, August 15, 1971, Nixon said that he instructed the 61st U.S. secretary of the Treasury, John B. Connally, to suspend gold convertibility with U.S. dollars. “In recent weeks, the speculators have been waging an all-out war on the American dollar,” Nixon said on TV. “The strength of a nation’s currency is based on the strength of that nation’s economy— and the American economy is by far the strongest in the world. Accordingly, I have directed the Secretary of the Treasury to take the action necessary to defend the dollar against the speculators,” the 37th U.S. president said. Nixon added: I have directed Secretary Connally to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets, except in amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest of monetary stability and in the best interests of the United States. Now, what is this action— which is very technical— what does it mean for you? Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called devaluation. Ever Since August 1971, the Dollar’s Value Has Eroded, the Military-Industrial Complex Has Grown Massive, and Bureaucrats Can’t Stop Spending Of course, Nixon wasn’t telling the truth and the monetary devaluation of the U.S. dollar began to erode faster than ever before in American history after 1971. Nixon not only opened up the flood gates to a world of fiat like never before, but he also provoked the unaudited Federal Reserve and the U.S. military-industrial complex to grow massive after 1971. Under president Reagan, Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden the national debt has swelled to $28.6 trillion. There are now generations of American children who have not known what it is like to live in a country without excessive government spending and endless wars. Meanwhile, since 1971, American wages have stagnated like never before in history and citizens have been able to afford less and less as the years proceed. After Nixon said that his actions would “not win us any friends among the international money traders” he didn’t tell Americans that the military would need to enforce the petro-dollar to keep the Ponzi alive. Since Nixon’s time, presidents from both the left and the right have continued to keep the money printing scheme going and have convinced Americans that because of crises like Covid-19, 9-11, and the 2008 financial collapse, bailouts are necessary. In 2020 alone, close to 30% of all the USD in existence was funneled into the hands of private institutions. In 2021, the economy looks awfully bleak and investors are resorting back to gold and getting involved with crypto assets like bitcoin (BTC) and many others. The U.S. equities market is not situated in reality, the real estate market is extremely bubbly once again, the Federal Reserve owns one-third of all mortgage-backed securities and U.S. inflation is skyrocketing. What do you think about when Richard Nixon removed the gold standard convertibility from the U.S. dollar? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Two of the largest American news magazines, Fortune and TIME, have jumped headfirst into the non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem in recent times. The New York-based multinational business magazine Fortune raised $1.3 million selling its first NFT collection this week. Furthermore, after selling NFT magazine covers, TIME has revealed the company is teaming up with the Cool Cats NFT project. Cool Cats NFT Project and TIME Magazine Collaborate Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are very popular in 2021, and many people believe the trend will continue for a very long time. The NFT industry has attracted a great number of popular artists and it has lured a large quantity of celebrities as well. Alongside celebrities, well known brands are diving into the crypto sphere via NFTs. For instance, at the end of June, Bitcoin.com News reported on the largest U.S. newspaper publishing company Gannett launching the firm’s first NFTs. In mid-April, Bitcoin.com News reported on TIME magazine telling the public it was adding bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet after auctioning three NFT covers at the end of March. On August 14, the NFT project Cool Cats told its followers that it was teaming up with the company TIME in order to mint 400 NFT pieces. Cool Cats and TIME magazine collaborate. The Cool Cats project is an NFT project similar to Cryptopunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), as Cool Cats has issued 10,000 limited edition NFT cats. The newly minted Cool Cats will feature cats reading TIME magazine and there will be 100x Elu’s cat, 100x Clons’ cat, 100x Xtremetom’s cat, and 100x Lynoid’s cat, according to the recent announcement. “Wow, what a crazy TIME to be alive,” the project’s team said in the announcement. “We are honored and privileged to announce a limited edition drop with one of the most iconic and well-respected companies out there, TIME magazine. The president of TIME, Keith Grossman, likes the cats so much that he suggested we do a collaboration together! As Keith mentioned in this tweet — cats have been in TIME’s DNA.” Business Magazine Fortune Raises $1.3M in Ether In addition to Gannett and TIME magazine, the well known business magazine Fortune announced on August 12 it raised $1.3 million selling NFT covers. Fortune sold 256 limited NFTs for approximately one ether per NFT, as well as three NFTs that were auctioned separately. The artwork was crafted by the “high-quality meme generator” and digital artist dubbed “pplpleasr.” Fortune’s NFT cover illustration was drawn by the digital artist “pplpleasr.” In total, Fortune says the company raked in 429 ether and the authors Robert Hackett and Declan Harty said the firm was donating half of the funds to nonprofits. Just like TIME magazine holding bitcoin on its balance sheet, the remaining ether funds will be held by Fortune. The Fortune authors said the company was now a group of “HODLers.” Furthermore, after the company’s last sale, the news giant Gannett said it predicts non-fungible token (NFT) assets will be a “large opportunity” for publishing companies. What do you think about the publishing giants TIME, Gannett, and Fortune getting into the crypto space and selling NFTs? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Till Lindemann, lead singer of the German metal band Rammstein, has angered Russia’s renowned Hermitage Museum with a crypto initiative. The musician seeks over a hundred thousand euros for an NFT collection containing footage and imagery shot in the cultural institution. The tokens have been created without its authorization. German Singer Till Lindemann Sells NFTs of Russian Art Without Permission Rammstein’s vocalist and songwriter Till Lindemann has put up for sale five non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the most expensive of which has a price tag of €100,000. The NFTill collection contains a video clip of his performance of the popular Russian patriotic ballad “Beloved Town” which was shot in May. The world-famous museum in Saint Petersburg allowed Lindemann to record the video as part of the Year of Germany in the Russian Federation which started in August 2020. However, museum officials did not appreciate Lindemann’s NFT initiative, Forklog reported. In a statement released on Facebook, the Hermitage stressed that the use of images of objects from the museum’s exhibitions and interiors in the token collection labeled ‘Hermitage Edition’ “was not and could not have been agreed with the museum.” It also said Mr. Lindemann was sent a warning notice regarding the violation of the museum’s licensing policy with his NFT project. No response has been received from the German singer so far and the tokens have already been offered for sale online. The Hermitage further pointed out that it’s probably among the first such institutions in the world to have faced an unfair use of its exhibits in the NFT field. It also remarked that Mr. Lindemann had personally signed an agreement with the museum clearly stating the permission to use images and any other materials from the Hermitage applies exclusively to the music video. Source: NFT Frame Art In July, the museum itself announced it was considering issuing NFTs for works of art from its rich collections and was in talks with crypto exchange Binance which had just launched its NFT marketplace. The Hermitage plans to hold its first art exhibition of non-fungible tokens by the end of this year. Its management expects the tokens to bring additional funding and hopes NFTs will be exempted from the current Russian regulations on digital assets. Rammstein is a Neue Deutsche Härte (NDH) band established in Berlin in 1994, which became world-famous with its industrial metal and rock music that produced hits such as “Du Hast,” “Engel,” and “Amerika.” Till Lindemann has been writing the lyrics and singing the songs as the lead vocalist of Rammstein since its formation. What are your thoughts about the conflict between singer Till Lindemann and the Hermitage Museum in Russia? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Crypto trader and investor Scott Melker, also known as “The Wolf of All Streets,” expects the price of bitcoin to hit new all-time highs by the end of the year. “I would not be surprised at all to see bitcoin trading in six figures within the next six to 12 months, or ethereum even pushing towards $10,000 in that time,” he said. The trader also sees the Senate’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill as the biggest advertisement in history for bitcoin. ‘Wolf of All Streets’ Trader Sees Many Upsides to Bitcoin Pushing the Price Toward $100K Scott Melker, the host of “The Wolf Of All Streets” podcast, shared his bitcoin outlook with Kitco News last week. Melker is a trader and investor both privately and at Texas West Capital. He is the author of “The Wolf Den” newsletter and an advisor to a number of blockchain-based projects. In June last year, Binance awarded him the Influencer of the Year Award for North America. Commenting on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that the Senate passed last week, he said it was the greatest advertisement in history for bitcoin. With so many intense discussions within the crypto community and a growing number of lawmakers speaking in favor of cryptocurrency, Melker said: It’s raising awareness, which is probably actually causing more people to buy than to sell. He continued: “We’re talking about printing over a trillion dollars out of thin air to pay for an infrastructure bill that has absolutely nothing to do with cryptocurrency. But the one cryptocurrency provision froze the bill for three or four days. And we had the entire world talking about bitcoin and the crypto industry. There’s some irony there.” The host of The Wolf of All Streets podcast noted that the infrastructure bill still has to pass the House of Representatives and be signed into law. “That wouldn’t even happen until 2023. So we’re talking about a very long time horizon for any activity here.” Another positive factor affecting the crypto market is the likelihood of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) being approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), he opined. “The approval of an ETF would be the biggest single event in the history of bitcoin for that large wall of money to have the confidence to enter — pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds. They will come in when there’s an ETF.” The trader elaborated: That would be the catalyst for real institutional adoption of bitcoin. A regulated asset that they can trust and that is vetted by their risk managers and by the SEC. While noting that regulation in the crypto space is inevitable, Melker said the new SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, who previously taught crypto courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will likely introduce sensible regulations that will benefit the crypto industry. Gensler recently told Senator Elizabeth Warren that additional authorities and resources are needed for the oversight of the crypto industry. “Reasonable regulation that protects consumers is a good thing and would likely open the door to a lot of big institutional money that’s waiting on the sidelines for that sort of green light to enter the space,” said Melker. Melker also discussed his price prediction for bitcoin and ether. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin stands at $47,218 while the price of ether is $3,273 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. “It’s a function of the price actually catching up to the value,” The Wolf of All Streets host explained. “We saw a major liquidation of leveraged traders, which caused the cascade of prices to go down much further than they should have.” He elaborated: “When bitcoin dropped from $60,000 to $50,000, we saw almost $10 billion in liquidation. One million individual retail accounts were liquidated. And we saw similar activity from $40,000 to $30,000. I don’t think that that was the fair value of bitcoin. Now we’re seeing institutional interest coming back in and taking advantage of the dip prices.” Predicting new record-high prices for bitcoin and ethereum by the end of the year, Melker described: I believe that this correction is likely over and that we should see new all-time highs by the end of the year. I would not be surprised at all to see bitcoin trading in six figures within the next six to 12 months, or ethereum even pushing towards $10,000 in that time. He added that in the long run, bitcoin will likely be a seven-figure asset and ethereum a $20,000 to $30,000 asset at a minimum. In May, Melker said that investors could get into the crypto market by investing in the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, recently said that dogecoin is the “strongest” cryptocurrency when it comes to using it as a medium of exchange. What do you think about Melker’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article