roadrunner

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says that Satoshi Nakamoto’s innovation is real. “It has been and could continue to be a catalyst for change in the fields of finance and money,” he said. Satoshi Nakamoto’s Innovation Is Real SEC Chairman Gary Gensler talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation last week at the Aspen Security Forum where he outlined his plans to regulate the crypto space. He began by referencing the Bitcoin whitepaper and its creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. “His innovation spurred the development of crypto assets and the underlying blockchain technology,” Gensler said about Satoshi, adding that “the crypto asset class has ballooned” and is now worth about $1.83 trillion. Noting that when he was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) prior to being confirmed as the head of the SEC, he researched, wrote, and taught on the subject of bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology. Gensler opined: In that work, I came to believe that, though there was a lot of hype masquerading as reality in the crypto field, Nakamoto’s innovation is real. Further, it has been and could continue to be a catalyst for change in the fields of finance and money. Unlike fiat money, Gensler said that “At its core, Nakamoto was trying to create a private form of money with no central intermediary, such as a central bank or commercial banks.” However, he believes that currently “No single crypto asset, though, broadly fulfills all the functions of money.” The chairman elaborated that crypto assets “are highly speculative stores of value,” asserting that they “haven’t been used much as a unit of account.” He further opined: We also haven’t seen crypto used much as a medium of exchange. To the extent that it is used as such, it’s often to skirt our laws with respect to anti-money laundering, sanctions, and tax collection. It also can enable extortion via ransomware, as we recently saw with Colonial Pipeline. Gensler noted that he is “technology-neutral,” but emphasized that when it comes to cryptocurrency regulation, “I am anything but public policy-neutral.” He continued: “As new technologies come along, we need to be sure we’re achieving our core public policy goals. In finance, that’s about protecting investors and consumers, guarding against illicit activity, and ensuring financial stability.” Meanwhile, the former MIT professor claimed that there is clarity in crypto rules, emphasizing that many tokens “are offered and sold as securities.” Regarding whether something is a security, he described: There’s actually a lot of clarity on that front … Certain rules related to crypto assets are well-settled. The test to determine whether a crypto asset is a security is clear. However, many people disagreed with the SEC chairman that the rules are clear, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse who is currently being sued by the agency over the sale of XRP tokens. The Ripple CEO said: “In my judgment, if you’re dealing with an alcoholic that doesn’t want to admit they have an alcohol problem, to say that we have certainty, we have clarity, is like the alcoholic saying ‘I don’t have a problem’. This is the elephant in the room.” What do you think about the comments by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Last month, the popular bitcoin analyst and creator of the stock-to-flow price model, Plan B, explained that he believed the “bull is not over.” On August, 6, Plan B is still showing confidence in his forecast and reconfirmed his message from last month. Meanwhile, bitcoin prices have been able to bounce back and on Sunday, bitcoin prices tapped a high of $45,355. Plan B Shows Confidence in Previous Forecast While Bitcoin Prices Tap Fresh Highs Bitcoin (BTC) has been on a tear lately and oddly enough in the face of regulatory uncertainty in the United States. BTC has gained over 11% during the last seven days and 30-day stats show the leading crypto asset is up 31% against the U.S. dollar. Since the opening trading sessions on August 5, at $39,734 per BTC, the crypto asset has gained 12.97% in three days. Moreover, following the bullish action, the infamous pseudonym leveraged by the Twitter account @100trillionusd, also known as “Plan B,” seems more confident the bitcoin bull run is not over. Bitcoin.com News has reported on Plan B’s outlook on various occasions since he started documenting his popular stock-to-flow (S2F) price model back in March 2019. The incognito analyst has also updated the S2F price model to the stock-to-flow cross-asset (S2FX) model. On June 1, Bitcoin.com News explained how Plan B thought the S2FX model was still intact and he claimed it was starting to look like 2013. A number of analysts have been comparing this run to the 2013 bull run because during that time BTC saw a double top. BTC/USD chart via Bitstamp on Sunday, August 8, 2021. On August 1, Plan B explained that BTC’s realized capitalization was on the rise and in his opinion, things were looking bullish. “Bitcoin’s realized cap is rising again,” Plan B said. “Realized cap is the average price at which all 18.77M BTC were last transacted (calculated over all UTXO’s). Also, the few sellers at the moment sell at a profit (not a loss like in May and June). IMO this is bullish.” At press time the number of bitcoin (BTC) in circulation today is 18,779,913 BTC and the reward halving is expected in just over 1,008 days from now. At that time, BTC’s issuance will become far more scarce, as the block reward of 6.25 coins per block will be reduced to 3.125 coins per block post halving. Plan B’s S2F or S2FX is all about scarcity and essentially the crypto asset’s low issuance rate and scarcity should bolster the value of BTC over the long term. Basically the stock-to-flow measures the abundance or lack of when it comes to BTC’s long-term issuance rate. The current amount of BTC (stock) is simply divided by the number of bitcoins produced (flow) on an annual basis. In Plan B’s original thesis he also published a chart of other products like precious metals (gold & silver) to describe how the S2F model works with different commodities. Gold historically has shown the highest S2F ratio at least in terms of commodities like precious metals. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has a much higher S2F ratio which means over the long term, the crypto asset retains value or rises from significant demand. In 2019, when Plan B published his original model he added that “gold and silver, which are totally different markets, are in line with the bitcoin model values for SF.” The analyst also emphasized there’s an “indication of a power law relationship.” The pseudonymous analyst added: The model predicts a bitcoin market value of $1trn after next halving in May 2020, which translates in a bitcoin price of $55,000. Plan B: ‘August Will Close Above $47K’ After May 2020, the price of BTC did jump over the $55K per unit zone and the market valuation also spiked over a trillion dollars in overall value. Since then the price of BTC has dropped significantly on two occasions but Plan B is still confident. On August 6, Plan B re-tweeted an older tweet he published on July 2 and said: “Just to reconfirm this message from last month.” At that time, Plan B said that he believes the bull run is not over and today it seems he’s fairly certain his old statement from the first week of July still rings true. Plan B said: My onchain data (color overlay in the chart below) tells me this bull is not over and 64K was not the top. That is in line with [the] S2F(x) model. Also my floor indicator (not based on S2F) says we will not go below $47K Aug close. Plan B clarified that the floor estimator was not based on S2F when a person asked the analyst a question. “So Aug will see the price go above 47k? Is that what you mean?” the Twitter account dubbed “Crypto Storm” asked. “August will close above 47k. Ps, this floor estimator is not based on S2F,” Plan B replied. What do you think about Plan B’s current assessment? Are you a fan of the S2F or S2FX price models? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, a global cryptocurrency financial platform with a comprehensive product suite, is excited to announce the Port Finance token (PORT) under the pair USDT/PORT on Aug 9 at 2 p.m. UTC. Port Finance is a money-market, non-custodial liquidity protocol on Solana. They aim to provide a comprehensive suite of lending products, including variable-rate lending, fixed-rate lending, and interest rate swap. Their idea is to take advantage of the growth in size and capability of the Solana network. Port Finance brings interest rate markets to the Solana ecosystem. It leverages the Solana blockchain’s high speed and low latency with a product suite that includes variable rate lending, fixed-rate lending, and interest rate swaps. Port Finance takes a three-step approach; they provide a baseline lending protocol similar to Compound and Aave on Ethereum. Secondly, they launch a fixed rate lending protocol that utilizes the Serum order book. And finally, they build out an interest rate swap market that uses the Serum order book. Their focus is on leveraging the technological advancements of the Solana blockchain and the Serum ecosystem to bring lending products to the market that are difficult to implement on Ethereum. By utilizing the Solana blockchain’s low latency network, Port Finance will allow the user to borrow more with the same amount of collateral compared to Ethereum products such as Compound and Aave. In the future, they plan to launch fixed-rate borrowing utilizing the Serum order book. This will allow the user to decide on a borrowing rate using a live market instead of a bond curve while also providing a fixed interest rate product. In addition, the native token PORT is utilized as a governance token and to share protocol fees with a buy and burn process. The team is made up of tech and finance veterans with strong technical backgrounds having previously worked at companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and trading firms. The team met in London while studying Computer Science at Imperial College. The team has also contributed to Solana and Serum open-source code development. About AscendEX AscendEX (formerly BitMax) 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 Port Finance Port Finance is a money-market, non-custodial liquidity protocol on Solana. They aim to provide a comprehensive suite of lending products, including variable-rate lending, fixed-rate lending, and interest rate swap. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://port.finance/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/port_finance Telegram: https://t.me/port_finance Discord: https://discord.com/invite/nAMXAYhTb2 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

British bank Standard Chartered will offer cryptocurrency broker services in Ireland through its Zodia Custody subsidiary. The digital asset custodian will focus on signing up institutional investors in the Republic which has become a European base for many financial institutions and crypto companies. Standard Chartered to Provide Crypto Custody to Institutions in Ireland Zodia Custody, the Standard Chartered Bank’s crypto brokerage, is planning to offer its services to institutional investors in Ireland, the Irish daily Independent revealed on Sunday. The company operates as an exchange and brokerage for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. The crypto custodian platform was established late last year by the U.K. bank’s SC Ventures subsidiary and U.S.-based wealth and asset management firm Northern Trust. Both parent companies have already invested heavily in blockchain services in the past few years, the newspaper noted. The joint venture specializes in managing investments in digital and crypto assets for financial institutions. It has already onboarded a number of pilot clients since its launch in December 2020. The new entity applied for registration with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). According to a statement released at the time, Zodia will provide custody services for a number of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ether (ETH), ripple (XRP), and litecoin (LTC). Standard Chartered motivated its decision to create the platform with increasing institutional interest in digital currencies while noting that institutions accounted for only 9% of crypto investments. In June this year, the British banking giant announced that its SC Ventures arm is establishing a cryptocurrency exchange and brokerage service in partnership with BC Technology Group, an investment company specializing in digital assets, which operates out of Hong Kong. The aim is to provide institutional and corporate clients with access to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). With its friendly business climate the Republic of Ireland has become a European base for financial institutions and fintech businesses. These include Bank of New York Mellon, which launched a ‘Digital Innovation Hub’ in Dublin in May, and Goldman Sachs-backed fintech firm Blockdaemon, which has an office in Galway. The country, which is an EU member state, provides unhindered access to the Union’s common market. A number of companies from the cryptocurrency industry, including well-known names such as digital asset exchange Kraken, have also established presence there. Do you think Ireland is becoming a European crypto hub? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has notified several providers of digital payment services that they will be licensed to operate in the city-state. The move, which comes after the approval of a crypto exchange for a license, secures Singapore’s status as Asia’s crypto hub, industry observers say. Digital Payment Service Providers to Be Authorized to Operate in Singapore The central banking authority of Singapore has informed digital payment service providers that it’s going to license them to operate under its jurisdiction. MAS told “several” out of 170 applicants it’s “prepared to grant them payment services licenses,” as long as they implement measures to meet its requirements, the regulator confirmed to South China Morning Post’s ‘This Week in Asia’ edition. Two applications have been rejected so far and another 30 withdrawn for failing to meet anti-money laundering standards. Monetary Authority of Singapore. The news comes after the Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve announced earlier this week it had received an “in-principle approval” from Singapore’s monetary authority for a license as a regulated provider of digital payment token services. The trading platform noted in a statement that it’s among the first virtual asset service providers to receive such approval in the city. The latest MAS announcement has been met with enthusiasm from experts involved in the crypto space, the Hong Kong-based daily pointed out. Grace Chong, a lawyer at Simmons & Simmons and advisor on fintech and regulatory matters in Singapore, described the move as “momentous” and “timely.” Banks and asset managers have been expanding their digital asset offerings, she noted, emphasizing: Technological change is upending finance and we are seeing strong institutional interest in digital assets. MAS Move to Attract Crypto Companies to Asia’s Crypto Hub According to Chong’s estimates, 90 digital payment token service providers were already operating under exemption in Singapore. In March 2020, MAS granted an exemption from holding a license to a number of crypto companies under its new Payment Services Act, as Bitcoin.com News reported. It published a list of exempted entities, including well-known names such as Binance, Coinbase, Upbit, and Wirex. MAS’s decision to move towards permanent licensing “gives certainty to many legit crypto companies who have established operations here,” remarked Kenneth Bok, chief executive of blockchain advisory Blocks. Jason Davis, an associate professor of entrepreneurship and family enterprise at Insead, described it as a “careful next step” into financial innovation. Davis expects more crypto exchanges to seek approval to operate in Singapore: Enabling cryptocurrency exchanges to operate in Singapore is an important part of the country’s strategy to be friendly to businesses using new digital types of assets … The exchanges may be only the first step in the development of a thriving crypto-ecosystem in the heart of Southeast Asia. Industry observers expect the development to increase the number of various crypto companies moving to Singapore and cement its status as a leading Asian crypto-financial hub. The city’s regional rival, Hong Kong, has opted for stricter regulatory policies, for example. According to Sumit Agarwal, professor of finance and economics at the National University of Singapore, Beijing’s growing influence over Hong Kong “creates fear in the minds of investors” as the crackdown on crypto mining and trading in China continues. “People are realizing that Singapore regulators are more open to experimenting because it’s a small economy and decisions can be made faster,” Agarwal pointed out. Do you agree that Singapore is becoming a major crypto-friendly destination in Asia? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The quantity of monthly USD value transferred from seven leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces has reached a total of $356 million during the first week of August. Currently, the project Cryptopunks is leading the pack when it comes to NFT project sales. Meanwhile, the marketplace Opensea captures the lion’s share of transferred value as the trading platform commands 97.19% of the monthly value settled. Opensea’s Tidal Wave of Monthly Sales Captures Lion’s Share of USD Value Transferred At the time of writing, the most prominent non-fungible token project this week is Cryptopunks as statistics from nonfungible.com show the project has seen 1,018 sales worth over $166 million during the last week. Cryptopunks is followed by Art Blocks ($61M) and Meebits ($27M) and Superrare ($6.8M) respectively. Additionally, Cryptoarte ($3.5M), Hashmasks ($2.8M), and the Sandbox ($2M) have also contributed to the past week’s 67,538 NFT sales recorded on Saturday, August 7, 2021. Seven-day statistics from nonfungible.com. According to NFT data stemming from Dune Analytics, the marketplace Opensea is the top NFT trading platform today. Opensea captures a massive 97% of the USD value transferred on a monthly basis between NFT markets like Foundation, Knownorigin, Makersplace, Opensea, Superrare, Rarible, and Asyncart. Data shows the quantity of U.S. dollars transferred from these seven NFT marketplaces was around $356 million. When it comes to the average USD price per NFT on these marketplaces, Opensea and Superrare capture the highest values. Foundation, Opensea, Rarible, Superrare Users Grow — Axie Infinity Nears Opensea’s $1.35B Volume Opensea is also nearing close to 200K, as far as users over time are concerned. There are currently 196,906 registered users who have made at least one transaction using Opensea’s marketplace. Superrare’s count is smaller in comparison with only 3,417 registered collectors who have made a single transaction. While Foundation has around 7K, Rarible has over 60K users recorded over time. Metrics stemming from Dune Analytics, the marketplace Opensea is the top NFT trading platform today. Opensea captures a massive 97% of the USD value transferred on a monthly basis between seven NFT markets. Over the trailing 30 days, NFT sales have been through the roof, as monthly nonfungible.com stats show a grand total of $630 million over 55,815 active wallets. Stats further show 115,124 primary sales and just a hair under $100K in secondary sales over the last 30 days. Metrics from dappradar.com also show that Opensea is the top dog when it comes to all-time NFT volume. All-time volume shows $1.35 billion for Opensea, while Axie Infinity captured $1.086 billion in all-time volume. All-time volume stats for the top 11 NFT projects today according to dappradar.com. Axie Infinity is followed by Cryptopunks ($647.3M), NBA Top Shot ($638.6M), and Rarible ($182.58M) respectively. Sorare ($97.42M), Superrare ($87.42M), and Atomicmarket ($72.02M) hold the sixth, seventh, and eighth market positions. What do you think about the growth of NFT sales and marketplaces? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Residents of Ukraine will be able to legally keep, exchange, and spend cryptocurrencies once the new virtual assets law is adopted. The legislation will comprehensively regulate the crypto space, possibly lower taxes for Ukrainians and create conditions for new services, a government official revealed. New Regulations to Create Market for Crypto Services for Ukrainians Ukrainians owning cryptocurrency will benefit from the law “On Virtual Assets” as it will introduce investor protection and allow them to legally exchange and declare their crypto holdings. The legislation will make virtual assets “a completely legal and common phenomenon for the government and the society,” Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Oleksandr Bornyakov, said in an interview with the financial news portal Minfin. Oleksandr Bornyakov The official expects to also see a whole new market for services allowing coins to be stored, exchanged, and used in payments. Although the draft states that cryptocurrencies are not a means of payment in the country, it will be legal to pay with crypto through an intermediary providing instant conversion to Ukrainian hryvnia, Bornyakov explained. The same currently applies to foreign fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar that can be spent through a bank card, for example. The virtual assets bill was voted through at the first reading in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, in December. Since then, it has been revised and in June the parliamentary Committee on Digital Transformation recommended its final adoption, despite criticism from regulators in Kyiv. In July, government and business representatives unveiled a roadmap to achieve the integration of cryptocurrencies into the country’s economy within the next three years. Crypto Exchanges to Apply for Permits to Operate in Ukraine Oleksandr Bornyakov also announced that cryptocurrency exchanges will have to acquire permits to provide services to Ukrainians and will be checked by regulators. He emphasized this is not a licensing regime as the procedure will be much simpler. Foreign-based trading platforms, for instance, will not be required to register as a legal entity in the East European nation. They’ll only be obliged to meet certain authorized capital requirements. The minister remarked: We understand that the business with virtual assets is global, so if we set conditions for registration in Ukraine, crypto exchanges will not enter our country. Regarding the introduction of customer verification requirements, Bornyakov insisted Ukraine should adhere to international recommendations in this area. “Virtual assets are the future for both Ukraine and the world… However, if they are a tool of the ‘black market,’ of money laundering, they will not become a mainstream technology,” he elaborated. But he also noted the Ukrainian government doesn’t want to hinder the development of this new industry with over-regulation. The crypto law provides for the establishment of a new regulatory body – the National Service for Regulation of Virtual Assets. This will be a fully independent state agency that will issue permits for crypto companies operating in Ukraine. Existing regulators, such as the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), and the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) will have their own responsibilities. For example, the NBU will provide oversight for stablecoins while the NSSMC will take care of crypto derivatives. Bornyakov said that texts in the bill pertaining to crypto taxation and the respective amendments to the Tax Code are still under consideration and will likely be submitted to the Rada in September. The government wants to make it clear that crypto transactions are not subject to VAT and make sure only the difference between their purchase and sale values are taxed. The Digital Ministry has proposed the tax rate for individuals be cut down to 5% from the current 19.5%. Do you think the upcoming Ukrainian regulations will attract crypto companies to the country? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The president of Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto arm of Fidelity Investments, says that crypto is “its own unique asset class.” He revealed, “We and others are very engaged with regulators … to bring this asset class into the mainstream.” Fidelity Sees Long-Term Interest in Crypto Assets Among Institutional Investors Fidelity Digital Assets President Tom Jessop shared his view on the future of cryptocurrency in an interview with Yahoo Finance Thursday. He also discussed his firm’s efforts to engage with regulators to bring the asset class mainstream. Fidelity is one of the largest traditional money managers. It has about 37 million individual investors, 83.4 million customer accounts, and $10.4 trillion in managed assets as of the end of March. The company established Fidelity Digital Assets in 2018 to provide cryptocurrency products and services, including bitcoin, to institutional investors. “What’s apparent are two things,” Jessop explained: This is seen as its own unique asset class with its own fundamental drivers, which differ from other financial assets … And maybe most importantly, what we’re seeing is continued purchase interest over a longer period of time. The executive elaborated: “We see clients digging into those issues, really understanding not only the technology but the application of those assets in their portfolios.” Jessop then referenced a survey Fidelity Digital Assets conducted earlier this year that found around 70% of respondents planning to have an allocation to digital assets over the next five years. Noting “a cross section of institutions ranging from family offices and hedge funds, all the way through to much more traditional institutions,” the executive opined: So we continue to see slow and steady interest and progress towards bringing this asset class mainstream. Recently, Fidelity Digital Assets said it plans to increase headcount by about 70% as demand for cryptocurrency services from institutional investors remains strong. Regarding the legislation of crypto assets, the Fidelity executive described that “The regulation and regulatory clarity still is an issue for many investors who want to make sure there’s a sound footing of regulation, or at least a direction of travel before they commit significant assets to the space.” The U.S. government has recently increased its efforts in regulating the crypto industry. The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) outlined last week his plans to regulate crypto assets and protect investors. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also clarified its jurisdiction over crypto assets. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has taken more interest in stablecoins and the taxing of crypto transactions. “We think the attention is positive,” Jessop described the U.S. crypto regulatory efforts but noted that “there may be some concerning things that are said from time to time.” The Fidelity Digital Assets’ boss detailed: We and others are very engaged with regulators and continue to educate them on ways to bring this asset class into the mainstream and into a regulatory framework that captures a lot of the principles that apply to other asset classes. What do you think about the comments by the president of Fidelity Digital Assets? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken its first enforcement action involving decentralized finance (defi). The commission has charged a defi platform and its executives for unregistered securities sales of more than $30 million and misleading investors. SEC’s 1st Enforcement Action Involving Decentralized Finance The SEC announced Friday that it has taken the first enforcement action involving decentralized finance (defi). The case involves “securities using defi technology.” The regulator charged two Florida men — Gregory Keough and Derek Acree — and their Cayman Islands company, Blockchain Credit Partners, for “unregistered sales of more than $30 million of securities.” The three were also charged “for misleading investors concerning the operations and profitability of their business Defi Money Market.” They used smart contracts and defi technology to sell two types of digital tokens: mtokens and DMM governance tokens (DMG). The former promised to pay 6.25% interest while the latter purportedly “gave holders certain voting rights, a share of excess profits, and the ability to profit from DMG governance token resales in the secondary market.” The SEC explained that in offering and selling the two tokens, they claimed that “Defi Money Market could pay the interest and profits because it would use investor assets to buy ‘real world’ assets that generated income, like car loans.” When they realized that “the price volatility of the digital assets used to purchase the tokens created risk that the income generated through income-generating assets would be insufficient to cover appreciation of investors’ principal,” they did not inform investors. Instead, they “misrepresented how the company was operating, including by falsely claiming that Defi Money Market had bought car loans that they displayed on Defi Money Market’s website.” The SEC noted that the defendants “used personal funds and funds from the other company they controlled to make principal and interest payments for mtoken redemptions.” Daniel Michael, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit, commented: “Here, the labeling of the offering as decentralized and the securities as governance tokens did not hinder us from ensuring that Defi Money Market was immediately shut down and that investors were paid back.” The SEC announcement adds: Without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC’s order, respondents consented to a cease-and-desist order that includes disgorgement totaling $12,849,354 and penalties of $125,000 each for Keough and Acree. According to the commission, the defendants have funded the smart contracts so that mtoken holders could redeem their tokens and receive all principal and interest owed. What do you think about the SEC going after decentralized finance platforms? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

According to data on August 7, there’s 253,510 bitcoin-pegged or wrapped tokens worth more than $11 billion in value on the Ethereum blockchain. Out of the seven different bitcoin-pegged projects, the Wrapped Bitcoin protocol has 194,023 bitcoin-pegged ERC20 tokens in circulation. Over 250K Tokenized Bitcoin In Circulation Split Between 7 Ethereum Projects, Binance Smart Chain’s Bitcoin-Peg Reaches 73K Issued Ethereum (ETH) jumped over the $3K zone in value on Saturday, as the protocol successfully upgraded on August 5. ETH’s market valuation has gained a significant amount of dominance in terms of the $1.78 trillion crypto-economy capturing 20% of that value on Saturday. The crypto asset has also gained more than 700% against the U.S. dollar during the last 12 months. Much of this has been attributed to decentralized finance (defi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and a myriad of decentralized exchange (dex) platforms over the last year. The number of tokenized bitcoin on Ethereum on August 7, 2021. In addition, the Ethereum network houses the most bitcoin (BTC)-pegged tokens out of all the blockchain projects today. However, other blockchain projects are catching up fast as the BTC-pegged token (BTCB) issued on the Binance Smart Chain is around 73,111 BTCB (otherwise known as BEP2) in circulation today. BTCB or BEP2 price on August 7, 2021, at 3:00 p.m. (EDT). Besides the Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) project, BTCB does have more BTC-pegged tokens than the latter six BTC-pegged Ethereum-based projects combined. Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is a project backed by Bitgo and on Saturday, there’s 194,023 WBTC in circulation worth $8.4 billion, according to Dune Analytics statistics. That’s more than 76.3% of the entire BTC-pegged token supply housed on Ethereum. HBTC Nears 54% of BTCB Issued — Lightning, Liquid and RSK Represent 2.8% of the Tokenized Bitcoin on Ethereum Other BTC-pegged ERC20 token projects include HBTC (39,906), RENBTC (13,559), SBTC (3,039), PBTC (1,766), IMBTC (1,146), and TBTC (872). For comparison, HBTC is around 54% of the total amount of BTCB tokens issued on the BSC network. While tokenized bitcoin on Ethereum crosses $11 billion notional during the first week of August, dex platforms are allowing users to gather yields from their BTC via liquidity pools. A number of dex platforms allow users to provide liquidity and gain yield utilizing tokens like WBTC, SBTC, HBTC, BTCB, and RENBTC tokens. Some of the top dex applications allowing tokenized BTC utility like trading and liquidity pools include Uniswap, Sushiswap, Paraswap, and 0x API. Tokenized bitcoin on Blockstream’s Liquid sidechain is around 2,939.47 LBTC for the month of August. Data from the RSK sidechain shows approximately 2,020 RBTC at the time of writing. Meanwhile, there’s also 2,300 BTC in value transferring on the Lightning Network on August 7. What do you think about the amount of bitcoin housed on the Ethereum chain today? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The well known luxury auction house Christie’s has announced the company’s first non-fungible token (NFT) art sale in Asia on September 17. According to the announcement, the NFTs will feature Cryptopunks by Larva Labs, Meebits, and Bored Apes. Christie’s Reveals First NFT Auction in Asia Founded in 1766 by James Christie, the British auction house Christie’s has been auctioning luxury goods, artwork, clothing, and jewelry for well over 100 years. Christie’s got into the cryptocurrency and blockchain scene last year and sold its first NFT for $131,250. The first NFT the auction house sold was Robert Alice’s “Block 21 (42.36433° N, -71.26189° E) (from Portraits of a Mind).” During the second week of May, Christie’s held a Cryptopunks auction where the auction house sold nine punks for over $16 million. Christie’s was also instrumental during the Beeple NFT sale which sold for a whopping $69 million and is the most expensive NFT to date. In July, the artist “Fewocious” raked in over $2 million for an NFT collection at a Christie’s auction. Christie’s has now announced another non-fungible token art auction which will see NFTs like Cryptopunks, Bored Apes, and Meebits sold on the auction block. According to Christie’s, the NFT auction featuring these NFTs will start on September 17 at 2:00 p.m. (HKT) and end on September 28 at 2:00 p.m. (HKT). In a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News, Christie’s said the NFTs are “exceptionally rare.” More information about the auction house’s NFT sale will be released on Monday. “Christie’s presents No Time Like Present, featuring the very first NFT sale in Asia offered by an international auction house,” the Christie’s website notes. The British auction house adds: Key highlights of the sale will include a group of exceptionally rare Cryptopunks created by Larva Labs, as well as Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Larva Labs’ latest creation Meebits. This auction also marks the first time BAYC and Meebits will be offered outside of any NFT-trading platform. This sale is poised to set another milestone in the history of Crypto Art. Besides Christie’s a few other fine auction houses like Phillips and Sotheby’s have joined the NFT and blockchain space. Phillips Auction House auctioned one of Banksy’s “Laugh Now Panel” prints during the first week of June. Sotheby’s has been working with artists like Jay-Z, the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, and auctioning diamonds for crypto as well. What do you think about Christie’s upcoming Cryptopunks, Meebits, and Bored Apes NFT auction? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Ethereum game Axie Infinity continues to see demand as the developer Sky Mavis revealed on Friday there are now more than 1 million daily active players. Additionally, the game token utilized within the Axie Infinity gaming universe tapped an all-time high at $52 per unit 10 days ago. Despite being down 18% from the price high, axie infinity (AXS) tokens have gained over 60% in the last two weeks. Axie Infinity Celebrates 1 Million Daily Active Players While blockchain gaming and non-fungible token (NFT) assets continue to see significant interest, the developers of the Ethereum-based game Axie Infinity revealed the project’s overall growth. “It’s official,” the Axie Infinity Twitter account said on Friday. “More than 1M daily active players. Let’s keep pushing, together.” For further clarification, the Twitter account for the project also added that “some players download the game client without owning Axies. There are still less than 1M Axie owners.” Interestingly, a few Twitter accounts complained to the Sky Mavis developers about issues with the other token tied to the game called smooth love potion (SLP). Axie infinity (AXS) tokens have done extremely well during the last two weeks while also gaining 218% over the last month. SLP’s market performance, on the other hand, has faltered. Smooth Love Potion Slides in Value, Axie Infinity NFT Volumes Climb SLP has lost ​​27.9% during the last week and 14-day stats show SLP is down 35.1%. Even 30-day metrics indicate that SLP is down 1.2%, which is significantly lower than the gains AXS has seen. AXS has a $2.3 billion market capitalization on Friday which is 0.13% of the crypto economy’s $1.79 trillion value. In the last day, $601,927,662 in global AXS trades were settled and 79% of those swaps have been paired with tether (USDT). The Binance stablecoin BUSD captures 9.9% of AXS trades, BTC commands over 5%, and the U.S. dollar has around 4.2% of all trades today. What a day. @AxieInfinity is the first NFT project to hit $1Bn in all-time NFT trading volume. History in the making. $AXS pic.twitter.com/oAc0rOYD9n — Psycheout – Aleksander | Axie Infinity (@Psycheout86) August 6, 2021 SLP has a much smaller market cap at $134,565,864 which is only 0.01% of the $1.79 trillion crypto economy. There’s been around $106 million in 24-hour SLP swaps on Friday and 59% of those trades are in BUSD. ETH commands 35% of SLP trades and tether only has around 4.2% today. The U.S. dollar only captures around 1.1% of the token smooth love potion’s trades. On Friday one of the co-founders of Axie Infinity tweeted about the project’s NFT trade volume. He wrote: What a day. Axie Infinity is the first NFT project to hit $1Bn in all-time NFT trading volume. History in the making. What do you think about the Axie Infinity project and how its assets have been performing lately? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says there is no crisis that compels hasty cryptocurrency regulation. He agrees with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that the U.S. government should not pick winners or losers in cryptocurrency innovation. Elon Musk and Coinbase CEO Agree on Crypto Regulation Tesla CEO Elon Musk has chimed in on the heated discussion of the U.S. government picking winners and losers in the crypto space. This followed the endorsement by the White House of a crypto tax amendment to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that the crypto industry and several lawmakers have opposed. The Tesla CEO responded to a thread on Twitter started by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong about the crypto tax amendment “that would decide which foundational technologies are ok and which are not in crypto,” Armstrong wrote. “This is disastrous.” Musk tweeted, “Agreed, this is not the time to pick technology winners or losers in cryptocurrency technology.” He added, “There is no crisis that compels hasty regulation.” Armstrong explained: “Senator Mark Warner has asked for proof of stake validators to comply with the impossible, but not proof of work miners. Why? It’s not clear, but we could find ourselves with the Senate deciding which types of crypto will survive government regulation.” Facing backlash from the crypto industry and other lawmakers, Senator Warner revised his proposed amendment Saturday. While it no longer limits the validator exception to proof-of-work, it still does not protect protocol developers, requiring them to report transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) like Coinbase does. The Coinbase CEO also warned that if the senators voted for the amendment by Sen. Mark Warner, “we will see future development of blockchain technology move offshore to countries like China that are currently embracing it,” elaborating: If the U.S. fails to embrace the innovation happening in crypto, it risks becoming a financial backwater, missing out on one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. Imagine if we had missed out on the internet, and the largest internet companies had been built overseas. Do you agree with Elon Musk and Brian Armstrong? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey has called on Congress to stop the Treasury Department from maximizing its ability to regulate and tax crypto by picking winners and losers. “Congress should not allow that to happen,” he said. US Senator Urges Lawmakers Not to Crush Crypto Innovation Following the endorsement of a crypto tax amendment by the White House, concerns have been raised that the U.S. government is picking winners and losers in the crypto space. Two crypto tax amendments to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill have been introduced but the White House has chosen to endorse the one that favors proof-of-work over all other consensus mechanisms, including proof-of-stake. Senator Pat Toomey is one of the sponsors of the amendment that is not endorsed by the Biden administration but has gained support within the crypto community. He tweeted Friday: While I appreciate that my colleagues and the White House have acknowledged their original crypto tax had flaws, the Warner-Portman amendment picks winners and losers based on the type of technology employed. That’s horrible for innovation. “The Warner-Portman plan exempts bitcoin miners, but not other transaction validators or software developers who create these platforms,” Toomey added. “What does that mean? Two identical services could receive dramatically different regulatory treatment depending on the technology used.” The senator elaborated: US Treasury wants maximum flexibility to regulate and tax crypto as they see fit. Congress should not allow that to happen. “Now isn’t the time for the IRS to pick winners and losers with a new technology. Crypto has the potential to be the future of the internet,” he further opined. “How foolish to crush it over a tax provision that possibly raises just $500 million per year more in a $1.2 trillion bill.” Senator Toomey added that “The first principle here should be: do no harm,” noting that “The Warner-Portman-Sinema amendment will drive developers to create software outside of the U.S.” He proceeded to urge lawmakers not to rush to impose regulations and “get it wrong,” calling for a full public debate to protect American innovation “before potentially disruptive changes are made that push crypto overseas.” What do you think about the U.S. government attempting to pick winners and losers in crypto? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has reportedly raised objections to lawmakers about the cryptocurrency tax amendment to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is supported by the crypto community. The White House subsequently announced its support for a competing amendment. Yellen Exerting Influence on Lawmakers Regarding Crypto Taxation The new crypto tax proposal in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill has become a topic of intense controversy over the past week. Two amendments have been put forward so far: one sponsored by Senators Mark Warner, Rob Portman, and Kyrsten Sinema. The other, which has gained the support of the crypto community, is sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden, Cynthia Lummis, and Pat Toomey. According to Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke with lawmakers Thursday to raise objections to the amendment sponsored by Senators Toomey, Wyden, and Lummis. He tweeted Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been privately lobbying lawmakers against Wyden-Lummis-Toomey crypto amendment, as White House seeks to fend off push to limit new regulatory authorities. The cryptocurrency tax proposal in the infrastructure bill comprises two key parts. The first requires payments worth more than $10,000 to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The second requires crypto “brokers” to file a type of 1099 form for certain kinds of crypto transactions. The definition of what a crypto broker is in the original proposal includes miners and software developers. This has caused an uproar in the crypto community as miners and software developers do not know who their users are, making it impossible to report to the IRS. Some lawmakers have slammed the original proposal, including Senator Pat Toomey, who said the plan was “unworkable.” The two amendments aim to clarify the definition of a broker. The crypto industry believes that the Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment adequately clarifies what a broker is. In contrast, the Warner-Portman-Sinema crypto amendment only exempts proof-of-work mining, causing more concerns that the government is now picking winners and losers in innovation. Nonetheless, this amendment has gained support from the White House. The initial crypto tax plan was crafted by Senator Portman with the help of Treasury Department officials. It is expected to raise approximately $28 billion over 10 years from crypto transactions to help fund the infrastructure package. Treasury Secretary Yellen has expressed her concerns several times about cryptocurrencies being used in illicit financing. She warned in February: “To the extent it is used, I fear it’s often for illicit finance. It’s an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions, and the amount of energy that’s consumed in processing those transactions is staggering.” What do you think about Treasury Secretary Yellen lobbying against the amendment supported by the crypto community? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Truefi, an uncollateralized loan platform, has raised $12.5 million from three important investors. The token sale was led by Blocktower, a New York-based cryptocurrency investment firm. Other important investors were Alameda Research — owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX — and A16z. Truefi is one of the few uncollateralized defi-based lending protocols in the industry. Truefi Raises $12.5 Million Truefi has raised $12.5 million dollars to expand its operations and its offer of lending products. The investment was made through the purchase of its native token truefi (TRU), which will be liberated in stages. The token sale was led by New York-based Blocktower, a cryptocurrency blockchain VC firm, with the participation of Alameda and A16z, some of the biggest investment firms in the crypto space. The protocol is the product of experimentation with a system that emulates traditional finance conditions on defi. While most defi loans must have collateral to even be issued in the first place, traditional finance doesn’t work in that way. Banks use a credit score to issue loans, and that score is based on the activity and volumes moved by the customer. Truefi seeks to emulate this behavior, allowing users to take out uncollateralized loans according to certain variables. These variables will determine the credit score of each user in the blockchain. This has already resulted in more than $200 million in loan originations for Trusttoken, the company behind the protocol, which is also the issuer of trueusd, a popular stablecoin. Expanding Its Reach The fundraiser allows Truefi to focus on expanding the reach of its protocol to new markets and offering new products. Rafael Cosman, CEO of Trusttoken, stated: This fundraise will allow Truefi to scale through robust hiring and strategic investments of our own, allowing defi to offer more diversified yields for lenders and even better capital access for credit-worthy borrowers. Alameda Research was one of the first institutions to use the protocol, and they are now part of the push leading it to new customers. San Bankman-Fried, CEO of the VC investment firm, stated: Alameda is proud to now become investors in the team and technology behind it. We see Truefi unsecured loans growing far beyond crypto, and we plan to be partners and users at every stage of the protocol’s growth. What do you think of Truefi’s latest token sale? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Genesis Digital, a leading cryptocurrency trading, lending, and custody desk, released its Q2 reports, where it confirms what it calls the “emerging role” that Ethereum and defi have in the industry. The report also confirms that institutional interest in crypto is still rising despite the crash in prices the market experienced in Q2 2021. Genesis Confirms Ethereum and Defi Market Rise Genesis, a big cryptocurrency lending and trading desk, has confirmed that emergent currencies like Ethereum and defi tokens have taken a relevant part of the market, according to its Q2 2021 Market Observations Report. Genesis saw these currencies take a big part of the interest from bitcoin, which has been traditionally the go-to cryptocurrency for institutional investors. Regarding this, Matt Ballensweig, Head of Institutional Lending at Genesis stated: Bitcoin’s dominance in terms of market cap declined from over 70% at the end of 2020 to under 45% at the end of Q2, as Ether and most of the main decentralized finance tokens more than doubled in price from the beginning of the year. According to the Genesis report, bitcoin trading accounted for almost 47% of the total trading done on its platform. However, this number marks a sharp decline from the 80% share bitcoin commanded during Q2 2020. Most of the market share lost by bitcoin migrated to ethereum, which accounted for 25% of the volume traded in the same period. However, what’s more interesting is that institutions also showed demand for defi tokens like uni, sushi, aave, and other Ethereum-based defi protocols. Furthermore, there was a rise in interest for the so-called “Ethereum Killer” tokens like Solana and Binance token, as investors searched for cheaper opportunities to earn yield. Demand for Crypto Products Keeps Growing Genesis reported a marked increase in lending activity, too. The company had an increase in loan originations of 700% YoY and 60% quarter-on-quarter, even with the deceleration of prices the market experienced during that period. The quarter is the thirteenth consecutive quarter of growth for the company, which signals the incredible development the market has sustained. Michael Moro, Genesis’ CEO, believes that there are still significant problems for institutions trying to embrace the cryptocurrency space, but that these will be ironed out in time. Moro stressed: Some barriers to entry still exist for institutional investors, which is likely why we’re seeing such increased demand for Genesis’s more accessible single point of access for the maturing digital asset market. What do you think about the Genesis Q2 2021 Market Observations Report findings? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Central Bank of Venezuela announced the new redenomination plan for its fiat currency called “Digital Bolivar.” This new proposal seeks to simplify transactions by slashing six zeroes from the current value of the currency. While it is called digital, it has nothing to do with the proposal of a new central bank digital currency (CBDC), but it claims to have the development of a digital economy in the country as its objective. Digital Bolivar Redenomination Plan Announced The Central Bank of Venezuela issued an official statement yesterday on the implementation of a new redenomination plan for its fiat currency after the measure was leaked by some sources last month. The plan, called by the authorities “Digital Bolivar,” contemplates slashing six zeroes from the current value of the fiat currency to ease the process of making payments and transactions. At the time of writing, there is an exchange rate of 4,000 VES per dollar, which results in uncomfortably large amounts when making transactions or payments in fiat currency. The Central Bank of Venezuela states the change will bring positive improvements to the fiat currency, paving the way for a recovery of the national economy that, according to the bank, has been wracked by a series of economic attacks and a financial blockage, referring to the economic sanctions that the government of the U.S has exerted over the country. While the redenomination plan is called the “Digital Bolivar,” no central bank digital currency has been proposed in the issued statement. The name is derived from the objective of the measure, which is to “reduce transaction costs in the economy” and “advance in the construction of a modern vision of the currency in everyday transactions.” Third Redenomination Plan for Venezuela This is the third redenomination plan that the Venezuelan government has executed in less than 15 years, a testament to the humongous inflation the country has faced during this period. The first redenomination plan, which changed the name of the currency by adding the “strong” prefix to its name, happened in 2008 when three zeroes were slashed from the currency. However, inflation and devaluation continued, and authorities had to coordinate a new redenomination plan that slashed five zeroes from the currency in 2018. These conditions have made Venezuela a fertile ground for alternative currencies and payment systems, due to the dramatic collapse of the fiat, which has made traditional saving methods almost useless. The adoption of this plan also contemplates the printing of new bills according to the new value of the currency. The implementation of this plan is slated to happen on October 1, when all financial institutions and payment processors will have to adapt their systems to support it. What do you think about the new “Digital Bolivar” redenomination plan? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Award-winning hip-hop artist Megan Thee Stallion has published a video of herself explaining the basics of bitcoin, including what it is, why it is valuable, and how to obtain it. The famed rapper previously gave away $1 million in bitcoin to her fans in collaboration with Square’s Cash App. Famous Hip-Hop Star Breaks Down Bitcoin to Her Fans Popular rapper Megan Thee Stallion, also known as Hot Girl Meg, published a video titled “Bitcoin for Hotties” Tuesday in collaboration with Cash App, a mobile payment service developed by Jack Dorsey’s Square Inc. Megan Thee Stallion has more than 24.1 million followers on Instagram and 6.4 million followers on Twitter. She has received several accolades, including three Grammy Awards. At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, she became the second female hip-hop artist to win Best New Artist. In 2020, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list. Her Bitcoin for Hotties video starts with the star explaining what bitcoin is. She said: Bitcoin is a new kind of money. While the cash in your wallet is issued and regulated by governments, bitcoin is a cryptocurrency like a wild stallion. It can’t be controlled by anyone. “That means that no one person or organization gets to decide how much of it is used, how much of it is in circulation or what it’s worth so boom. There’s only a limited amount of bitcoin, like gold, silver, or me,” she continued. The video then discussed why bitcoin is valuable, emphasizing scarcity and security. After explaining that the price of bitcoin can fluctuate, she explained how to obtain bitcoin, such as from cryptocurrency exchanges or via Cash App. The Bitcoin for Hotties video is the second financial education video released as part of the artist’s partnership with Cash App. The first video, titled “Investing for Hotties,” was about investing in the stock market. It was released a month ago. In December last year, Megan Thee Stallion announced a $1 million bitcoin giveaway in collaboration with Cash App. Last month, they teamed up to give away a million dollars in stock around the release of her single “Thot Sh*t.” 🔥🚨Message from Thee CEO of Hot Girl Enterprises🚨🔥 For any of my Hotties still confused by Bitcoin I teamed up with @Cashapp to help break things down #CashAppForHotties pic.twitter.com/ie7WThrfZl — TINA SNOW (@theestallion) August 3, 2021 What do you think about Megan Thee Stallion making a video about bitcoin to educate her millions of fans? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Former acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks has resigned as the CEO of Binance U.S. after just over three months. He cited “differences over strategic direction.” Meanwhile, Binance is facing regulatory scrutiny worldwide, including in the U.K., Malaysia, Japan, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, and Lithuania. CEO of Binance US Resigns The CEO of Binance U.S., Brian Brooks, announced Friday on Twitter that he has resigned from Binance. The former acting Comptroller of the Currency and former chief legal officer at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase tweeted: Greetings crypto community. Letting you all know that I have resigned as CEO of ⁦⁦⁦Binance US. Despite differences over strategic direction, I wish my former colleagues much success. Brooks joined Binance at the beginning of May following his resignation as acting Comptroller of the Currency on Jan. 14, before President Joe Biden took office. Responding to Brooks’s announcement, Binance U.S. posted a message on Twitter from Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance and chairman of the board at Binance U.S. “I remain confident in Binance.US’s business and its commitment to serve its customers and innovate,” he wrote. “This transition will not impact Binance.US customers in any way as the company will continue to deliver best-in-class products and services.” Wishing the former acting comptroller “the very best in his future endeavors,” Zhao further tweeted, “We hope he will continue to be an integral part of the crypto industry’s growth, advocating for regulations that move our industry forward.” A number of regulators worldwide have issued warnings about Binance, including those in the U.K., Malaysia, Japan, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, and Lithuania. Several banks in the U.K. have also suspended payments to Binance, including Barclays, Santander, Natwest, and HSBC. In a recent interview, Binance’s CEO commented on the mounting regulatory scrutiny, stating that Binance had been looking for a CEO with a strong compliance background. Furthermore, he said that the company wants to be regulated everywhere and become a financial institution. Zhao also tweeted Friday that Binance is “pivoting from reactive compliance to proactive compliance,” asking people to “stay tuned.” What do you think about Brian Brooks resigning as the CEO of Binance US? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Fresh off the heels of Binance’s last announcement to discontinue crypto derivatives offerings in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, the company revealed on Friday crypto derivatives products in Hong Kong will cease as well. Effective immediately, users won’t be able to open new derivatives positions and customers with existing derivatives positions have 90 days to close them. Binance Ends Crypto Derivatives Offerings in Hong Kong Binance revealed on August 6 that the exchange will no longer offer crypto derivatives products to customers. The news follows the company’s current issues with global regulators and large financial institutions ceasing to service Binance. On August 3, Bitcoin.com News reported how HSBC became the latest financial institution to suspend operations with the company. Three days later, Binance revealed it is “restricting derivatives products offerings in Hong Kong.” According to the announcement, the change is aligned with the exchange’s compliance initiatives. “With immediate effect, users from Hong Kong will not be able to open new derivatives products accounts,” Binance said on Friday. “Also, with effect from a date to be announced in a later notice, users from Hong Kong will have a 90 days’ grace period to close their open positions. During the grace period, no new positions may be opened.” On August 3, when Binance revealed it would no longer provide these services to residents in Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany, Binance’s official statement explained it was for the same reasons. “As the crypto ecosystem evolves globally, we are continually evaluating our products and working with our partners to meet our users’ needs,” Binance said at the time. Binance Claims to Be First Exchange to Proactively Restrict Access to Crypto Derivatives In fact, despite all the negative press, Binance believes the exchange is a pioneer when it comes to being proactive with regulatory compliance. “Binance will be the first major cryptocurrency and digital assets exchange to proactively restrict access to derivatives products to Hong Kong users,” the company’s announcement emphasizes. “Our aim is to create a sustainable ecosystem around blockchain technology and digital assets, and we hope that such efforts will help the industry grow in the local market in the long-run,” the crypto exchange’s notice to customers adds. Meanwhile, a recent report published on July 30, noted that bans on crypto derivatives offerings from exchanges like FTX and Binance in heavily regulated regions like the United States are full of loopholes. Despite Binance proactively restricting access to crypto derivatives products, the trading platform is still the largest derivatives exchange in terms of open interest and trade volume. Statistics show Binance has seen a massive $75 billion in volume during the last 24 hours and $7.9 billion in open interest. What do you think about Binance shutting down crypto derivatives products for Hong Kong residents? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Ethereum blockchain has completed the highly anticipated London upgrade on Thursday and ether fans have been discussing the protocol’s burn rate with great fervor following the fork. 5.9 Ether Is Burned Every Minute, Vitalik Buterin ‘Confident’ About the future after London At press time, Ethereum is burning 5.9 ether per minute or $16.8K using today’s exchange rates against the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, in a recent interview from Singapore, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) “1559 is definitely the most important part of London.” On Thursday morning around 8:30 a.m. (EDT) on August 5, the long-awaited Ethereum London hard fork took place and the blockchain was successfully upgraded. The community was ecstatic, to say the least, and on Twitter, terms like “ethereum” and “EIP1559” started trending. Of course, the most topical conversation about the London upgrade was EIP-1559: The fee market change for ETH 1.0 chain. The EIP essentially changes the algorithm tethered to the base fee per gas in the protocol and it burns the base fee per gas. There are numerous websites where ether fans can watch the burn rate stemming from the latest EIP-1559 ruleset change. At the time of writing, more than $16K or 5.90 ETH is burned by this mechanism every minute. On the low end of the spectrum, the burn rate has been around $8,103 or 2.78 ETH per minute. Ethereum evangelists like this concept because they believe it will essentially make the crypto asset deflationary over time. Vitalik Buterin spoke about the London upgrade with Bloomberg from Singapore and told the finance reporter Matthew Leising he was “confident” about the future after London. “Now it gets much easier to send a transaction that will get included in the next block and that’s very important to user experience,” Buterin said. Gas Fees Spiked, Ether Jumps Over 16% This Week However, on the downside, ETH users did notice that the average ETH transaction fee jumped following the fork. For instance, on August 2, the average fee was around $8.39 per transaction but on Friday following the upgrade, the average ether gas fee is $14.60. Since the London upgrade was activated, Ethereum’s fee burn rate and the rising gas fees have taken over the conversations. A decent number of people are also talking about ETH’s current market rally as well. Ethereum (ETH) is up over 3% today and 17.55% over the last seven days. Against the leading crypto asset bitcoin (BTC) during the week ETH has rallied 16.50%. Pitted against the U.S. dollar, ethereum has jumped 24% over the last month, and trailing 12-month stats show ETH has captured triple-digit gains (628.27%). What do you think about the London hard fork, the recent fee spike, and Ethereum’s fee burn rate? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

After a great number of well known product brands like Burger King, Axe, Snickers, Milky Way, and Slim Jim have been riding the dogecoin hype, the American meat and cold cut manufacturer ​​Oscar Mayer has also jumped on the dogecoin bandwagon. Similar to Axe, Oscar Mayer has also created a dogecoin-centric product and is auctioning a “10-pack of weenies” that features the famous Shiba Inu. A 10-Pack of Doge-Themed Weenies Oscar Mayer is a well known hot dog and cold cuts as the Kraft Heinz-owned firm has been around for years. In fact, the Mayer brothers started crafting bratwurst, liverwurst, and weisswurst products back in 1883. In recent times the Chicago-based company’s official Twitter account has been tweeting about the notorious crypto-asset dogecoin (DOGE). The company has joined a number of well known brands getting in on the dogecoin hype. Just recently Axe released a limited edition Dogecan “crypto scented” body spray and a few Burger King locations in Brazil came out with a dogecoin-themed dog biscuit for pets. Recently, the male grooming products manufacturer Axe and the fast-food chain Burger King in Brazil released limited edition dogecoin-themed products. The hot dog company Oscar Mayer has also crafted a dogecoin-centric product and the firm is auctioning a 10-pack of hot dogs that feature the Shiba Inu image. Oscar Mayer says the package also comes with the cash equivalent for 20,000 DOGE as well and there’s only one for the taking. On Friday, August 6, 2021, the 10-pack of DOGE-themed hot dogs has a current bid of around $13,100 for the product. According to Oscar Mayer, the dogecoin-centric pack of hot dogs is very scarce as the company only made one. The company’s Twitter account said that proceeds from the Ebay auction will be given to feedingamerica.org, a U.S. hunger-relief charity. “We’re back and this time with [$] even more [$] much wow. This limited-edition pack of Hot Doge Wieners now comes with the cash value of 20,000 DOGECOINS. Only one pack exists though,” Oscar Mayer tweeted on Thursday. The tweet also leads to an Ebay auction URL which shows there’s two days left to bid on the 10-pack of Oscar Mayer wieners. At the time of writing, the highest bid for the package of hot dogs is $13,100. The Ebay description says: Very meat. So wiener. Much taste. Keep It Oscar, on your trip to the moon and help a good cause at the same time with this one-of-a-kind 10-pack of weenies. The winner of this auction won’t just receive the only pack of Oscar Mayer Hot Doge Wieners in the world, but also enough cash to purchase 20,000 dogecoins. All proceeds will be donated to Feeding America. Good luck and #DoOnlyGoodEveryday! The Oscar Mayer Hot Doge Wiener package auction ends on August 8th, 2021 and the highest bidder will get the 10-pack and the “cash equivalent to purchase twenty-thousand (20,000) dogecoin.” According to the Ebay auction listing, the dogecoin (DOGE) cash equivalent will be “based on the value of twenty-thousand (20,000) dogecoin at auction close.” What do you think about the 10-pack of Oscar Mayer Hot Doge Wiener auction on Ebay? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. central bank’s vice chairman Richard Clarida explained on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve could begin tapering large asset purchases this year. Also, that the first interest rate hike since the onset of Covid-19 could happen in 2023. Meanwhile, despite members of the Fed saying inflation will be transitory, corporate bosses from some of the largest institutions are complaining about rising inflation. Looming Jobs Report, Richard Clarida Say Taper Could Happen This Year At the end of 2019, the Federal Reserve and numerous central banks all around the world started initiating monetary easing practices. Since then, the Fed’s monetary supply has ballooned after the onset of Covid-19, eclipsing decades’ worth of money creation in less than a year. The U.S. central bank kept the monetary spigot on and has yet to shut it off, while the cost of goods and services in America has risen dramatically. Furthermore, while the real economic situation is felt by renters, landlords, and businesses that were forced to lockdown, Wall Street is in the midst of one of the largest bull runs ever. This week Nasdaq and S&P 500 are set to smash record highs once again and economists believe the stock market is not situated in reality. On July 29, Bitcoin.com News reported on the recent Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) meeting and members of the Fed explained the monetary easing would continue and interest rates would remain at near zero. “I think we’re some way away from having had substantial further progress toward the maximum employment goal,” the U.S. central bank chairman Jerome Powell remarked on July 28. The Fed’s vice chairman Richard Clarida hinted this week that tapering back of QE could possibly happen this year. A rise in interest rates could take place in 2023, Clarida said, as the benchmark rate has remained near zero since the beginning of 2020. The jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was published on Friday, and analysts believe the report may make the Fed act sooner. Before the labor report was published, Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets told Barron’s on Friday that investors have been speculating on the outcome of the labor statistics. “There has been plenty of speculation about the importance of today’s jobs report in terms of the timing of a possible tapering of asset purchases,” Hewson said. “As well as when to expect a possible rate hike, whether it be early 2023, or late 2022. The reality is, whatever today’s number is, the picture is unlikely to be any clearer after the numbers drop,” he added. Tapering could happen this year, according to statements from the Fed’s vice chairman Richard Clarida. Vice Chair Clarida explained in a recent interview at the Peterson Institute for International Economics that curbing back large asset purchases stemming from QE (quantitative easing) may happen in 2021. The Fed’s vice chair also noted that it was possible the central bank could lift interest rates by 2023. Clarida further hinted toward assessing U.S. labor statistics and whether or not they have improved enough to taper monetary easing policy. “I think we’re going to know more about the labor market over the next several months than we do right now,” Clarida stressed. The Fed’s vice chair added: The recovery and expansion following the pandemic are unlike any we have ever seen, and it will serve us well to remain humble in predicting the future. Commencing policy normalization in 2023 would, under these conditions, be entirely consistent with our new flexible average inflation targeting framework. U.S. jobs growth published on Friday, August 6, 2021. Chart courtesy of CNBC. On Friday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published the jobs report which noted employers added 943,000 positions in July. 10-year Treasuries and equities markets saw mixed signals and overseas markets were also quite neutral when the U.S. labor statistics were revealed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates a much stronger labor market than the months of May and June. Corporate Bosses Fret Over US Inflation, Senator Joe Manchin Criticizes Fed’s Monetary Easing Policy Americans and the country’s corporate bosses have been worried about rampant inflation rising too fast for the Fed to control. In another report published by Reuters, it shows there’s a significant disconnect between the Fed’s opinion of inflation and those seeing it in the market. “The bosses of top multinationals are fretting about rising inflation but the very people responsible for keeping price growth in check – central bankers – seem unfazed,” Reuters reporters Francesco Canepa and Mark John wrote on Friday. West Virginia democratic senator Joe Manchin is baffled by the Fed’s continued monetary easing policy and wrote a letter to the Fed’s Jerome Powell asking the Fed to reverse this behavior. West Virginia senator and democrat Joe Manchin wrote a letter to the Fed and explained the central bank needs to stop its easy money policy as soon as possible. “With the recession over and our strong economic recovery well underway, I am increasingly alarmed that the Fed continues to inject record amounts of stimulus into our economy,” Manchin wrote. “I am deeply concerned that the continuing stimulus put forth by the Fed, and proposal for additional fiscal stimulus, will lead to our economy overheating and to unavoidable inflation taxes that hard-working Americans cannot afford,” Manchin stressed in his letter. Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff agreed with the West Virginia senator but said he underestimates the issue with inflation. “Yes, senator Joe Manchin is right,” Schiff tweeted on Friday. “But he’s grossly underestimated the inflation problem, and the Fed’s ability to turn off the monetary spigots. The inflation train has left the station and if the Fed tapers it will be the markets and the economy that derail,” Schiff added. Despite people fretting about inflation and the Fed’s monetary easing, the U.S. central bank has not shut the money spigot off. Northman Trader’s Sven Henrich said on August 3, “looks like the Fed’s balance sheet is expanding again” and three days later he wrote that the “Fed’s balance sheet has increased by $14B in the past week.” What do you think about the Fed possibly tapering this year? Are you worried about rising inflation? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Global investment bank JPMorgan is now offering six cryptocurrency investment funds to clients despite its CEO, Jamie Dimon, continually advising against investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan Chase has quietly begun giving its wealth management clients access to six cryptocurrency investment funds, CNBC reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the move. On Thursday, the bank’s financial advisors were allowed to begin placing private bank clients into a new bitcoin fund created by crypto firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), a subsidiary of Stone Ridge, a $10 billion alternative asset manager. This fund is nearly identical to the one NYDIG offers Morgan Stanley’s clients, the people said. Morgan Stanley began offering three crypto investment funds to clients early this year. They are Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP, the Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP, and FS NYDIG Select Fund. Last month, JPMorgan began offering five cryptocurrency funds to all clients. Four of the funds are Grayscale Investments’ products: the Bitcoin Trust, Bitcoin Cash Trust, Ethereum Trust, and Ethereum Classic Trust. The fifth fund is Osprey Funds’ Bitcoin Trust. According to CNBC, the sources speaking about the crypto investment offerings declined to be identified, each citing Jamie Dimon’s anti-crypto stance. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase has been one of the most outspoken critics of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He called BTC a fraud back in September 2017 but later regretted making the statement. As JPMorgan was preparing to offer crypto investment to clients, CEO Dimon publicly advised people to “stay away” from cryptocurrency. While stating that he did not care about bitcoin, the JPMorgan boss admitted that clients are interested. In July, the bank said that lots of clients see cryptocurrency as an asset class and they want to invest in it. What do you think about JPMorgan quietly offering clients bitcoin investment funds despite CEO Jamie Dimon advising people to stay away from cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article