roadrunner

According to regional reports, El Salvador’s current leadership is in the midst of developing a stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, others believe the stablecoin idea was scrapped now that Nayib Bukele’s government chose to leverage bitcoin. Some Say the Colón-Dollar Is Being Developed, Others Claim the Salvadoran Stablecoin Idea Was Scrapped There’s lots of debate going on concerning a report published by the regional news outlet El Faro. The investigation claims the Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele and his regime plans to issue a stablecoin. The El Faro report references videos that show the president’s brothers discussing the stablecoin dubbed “Colón-Dollar.” The report from El Faro does note a spokesperson from the Bukele regime says the stablecoin plans were scrapped, but “sources familiar” with the matter told El Faro they disagree. This is because it has been said that meetings about the Colón-Dollar are still continuing and happened after Nayib Bukele passed the new bitcoin tender law. “El Faro has a copy of several videos that add up to more than two hours of virtual meetings, in which different negotiations appear with delegates from at least five technology companies and where the Bukele brothers are protagonists,” the reporters Sergio Arauz , Nelson Rauda and Roman Gressier wrote. “El Faro also obtained documents in which the action plan proposed by foreign companies to leverage the implementation of a new financial system and the new currency is registered,” the report adds. #efNEWSLETTER📰 The Bukele administration has been planning to launch a national stablecoin cryptocurrency, which it was calling “Colón-Dollar,” by the end of this year. https://t.co/Gy54hmHXEI — El Faro (@_elfaro_) July 17, 2021 In a discussion on Twitter, the owner of the Twitter account tied to the bustling Bitcoin Beach community at Playa El Zonte believes the stablecoin idea was scrapped. The statement was in response to an individual from El Salvador that said the stablecoin idea reminded them of the petro from Venezuela. “From my understanding, they were considering going this route (which would have been very concerning) but chose to embrace Bitcoin instead,” the Twitter account @bitcoinbeach tweeted. “From what I am hearing this is no longer a consideration. They gave up control to instead embrace an open protocol,” the account added. However, another individual disagreed with the Bitcoin Beach account and believes otherwise. The person said that “several” of his “Salvadoran correspondents” corroborated the El Faro article, but he could not “vouch for their accuracy.” Colón-Dollar Could be Integrated With Chivo, Alleged Meetings With Blockchain Teams The El Faro source notes that the stablecoin called the Colón-Dollar may be introduced by the end of the year. Financial reporter Frances Coppola believes she predicted the creation of a Salvadoran stablecoin in a tweet she wrote on June 9, 2021. “I reckon that’s what he will do. It won’t be backed with actual USD, it will be backed with a ‘USD-equivalent” stablecoin,’” Coppola said at the time. In addition to people disliking the idea that Nayib Bukele’s regime may be creating a stablecoin, bitcoiners, as well as citizens from El Salvador, have taken issue with Bukele’s recent vaccine mandates. A great number of Salvadorans said they were displeased with Bukele’s vaccine mandates and said the Salvadoran “population does not want” these Covid-19 vaccines. One individual tweeted to Bukele and said: “The Bitcoin community does not support you in this.” Furthermore, the regional source that claims the stablecoin creation is still a go noted that Bukele’s brothers were in charge of the concept, and that the Colón-Dollar would be integrated with the government wallet dubbed “Chivo.” In addition to the video meetings, the sources also detailed that members of Bukele’s regime met with blockchain teams from Whizgrid, Alogrand, and Cardano. What do you think about El Salvador reportedly building a stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar? Do you think the concept was scrapped after the country adopted bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below. View the full article

A data center busted by Ukrainian law enforcement this month for suspected electricity theft may have had a purpose different from mining cryptocurrencies. Ukraine’s security service described the facility as the “largest underground crypto farm” found to date but media reports are challenging that assertion. Ukrainian Company Files Complaints Against SBU Raid on Its Facility Earlier in July, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced it uncovered a crypto mining farm that had been powered with stolen energy in the city of Vinnytsia. Officers seized around 5,000 units of hardware, including 3,800 gaming consoles and 500 video cards, from a former warehouse of Vinnytsiaoblenerho. The local electric utility allegedly suffered losses of up to $256,000. The illegal mining facility, the law enforcement agency said, was operated by residents of Vinnytsia and the capital Kyiv. According to an article by Ain.ua, the confiscated equipment belongs to a company called MMI Engineering which is engaged in software development, network maintenance, and AI training. Its lawyers contacted the news outlet and accused the SBU of spreading false information. Source: MMI Engineering The IT firm claims it buys its electricity from JSC Vinnytsiaoblenerho and the area’s grid operator, Enera Vinnytsia Ltd., paying its bills at commercial rates and in accordance with the meter readings. It also rents the premises hosting its hardware from a company called Alfa Energy which is the current owner of the warehouse. Meanwhile, Vinnytsiaoblenerho released a statement, according to which the warehouse has never been occupied by a cryptocurrency farm. Its employees were also unable to detect any signs of electricity theft during an investigation conducted with representatives of the regional branch of Ukraine’s State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision. The utility emphasized: The information about multimillion dollar thefts of electricity does not correspond to reality. MMI Engineering said the seized equipment costs about 30 million Ukrainian hryvnia (over $1 million) and it’s now trying to get it back. The company added that the SBU raid has paralyzed its operations and its lawyers have already filed official complaints with the Pechersk District Court and the Prosecutor General’s Office in Kyiv. Suspected Crypto Mining Farm Turns Out to Be Minting In-Game Currency The Ukrainian entity, which is owned by the UAE-based firm Zafar Technology, did not provide any details regarding the specific use of its computer equipment. Playstation 4 Slims gaming consoles and discs have been spotted in the photographs released by the SBU on June 8. And although it’s generally possible to mine cryptos with them, many in Ukraine believe it’s more likely the consoles have been used for gaming-related applications. The evidence suggests that the facility in Vinnytsia could have been a gaming bot farm rather than a crypto mining one. According to an investigative report by the Ukrainian business portal Delo.ua, the bot farm may have been used for grinding. That’s when gamers employ software to perform repetitive tasks in gameplay that reward the player with something valuable in the particular scenario like gaining experience points, for example, or raising a character’s level. The SBU declined to comment on the possible use of the hardware citing the ongoing investigation. Delo is quoting an unnamed source from the SBU, who reportedly said that the Playstations were used for “pumping bots” for FIFA, EA Games’ famous soccer video game series. In FIFA’s popular Ultimate Team mode, gamers can gather a team of favorite players and compete against each other online. They can either spend real cash on loot boxes that give them a limited chance of obtaining high-value cards, Eurogamer explains, or play for months in order to save enough FUT coins, the in-game currency, to spend on the FIFA auction house. It appears the PS4 consoles in the Ukrainian bot farm have been grinding to create accounts loaded with FUT money that can be subsequently sold to gamers, likely on the black market. What do you think about the case of the alleged crypto mining farm in Vinnytsia? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. View the full article

This week the Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana has announced the firm is launching a non-fungible token (NFT) collection. Dolce & Gabbana also known as D&G will reveal the first-ever Alta Moda NFT collection called “DGGenesi.” D&G to Reveal Alta Moda-Inspired NFT Collection Well known name brands have invaded the crypto space in order to join the non-fungible token (NFT) revolution. Brands like Topps, Warner Bros., UFC, DeLorean Motor Company, Playboy, MLB, TIME, and USA Today have all entered this new industry. On July 14, the popular fashion brand and Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana explained that it too was joining the NFT craze. D&G has a crafted a large assortment of products like clothes and perfume, but this will be the firm’s first NFT product. “Dolce & Gabbana proudly reveals DGGenesi,” D&G tweeted. “The first ever Alta Moda NFT exclusive collection in partnership with luxury marketplace unxd.com. The marketplace unxd.com explains how D&G NFT bidders can “reserve a spot in line.” D&G’s Collezione Genesi Collection Follows High Fashion NFTs by Clothia and Gucci According to a report stemming from the fashion publication Vogue, the D&G NFT collection will premiere at the August 28-30 Alta Sartoria and Alta Gioielleria shows in Italy. The term “alta moda” means “high fashion” and DGGenesi or the “Collezione Genesi” collection was inspired by this trend. Usually, Alta Moda is otherwise known as “Haute Couture,” which is basically when a fashion designer leverages hand-made fabrics with an attention to detail. In the 1880s and late 19th century, Alta Moda in Milan also meant ​​”fashion conscious.” D&G followed the high fashion brand Gucci when the company recently sold its NFT “Gucci Aria” using the auction house Christie’s. The Gucci brand NFT sold for $25K and proceeds from the Gucci Aria NFT will be directed toward Unicef USA. Clothia, a luxury online retailer has also recently announced an NFT collection based on high fashion dresses. What do you think about Dolce & Gabbana joining in on the NFT craze? Let us know what you think about D&G’s wearable high fashion NFT collection in the comments section below. View the full article

Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe believes that cryptocurrencies are not big enough to pose financial stability risk. “They’re not of the size that they would cause financial stability risk, and they’re not connected deeply into the standing financial system,” said the deputy governor. Crypto Poses No Financial Stability Risk, Says Deputy Governor of Bank of England Jon Cunliffe, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, talked about cryptocurrency and whether it poses financial stability risk in an interview with CNBC Wednesday. He said: The speculative boom in crypto is very noticeable but I don’t think it’s crossed the boundary into financial stability risk. The Bank of England’s deputy governor explained that crypto speculation was mainly limited to retail investors currently. He reiterated the British central bank’s position that people investing in cryptocurrency should be prepared to lose all their money, the viewpoint expressed on several occasions by Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England. Cunliffe described: There are issues of investor protection here. These are highly speculative assets. But they’re not of the size that they would cause financial stability risk, and they’re not connected deeply into the standing financial system. He noted: “Were we to start to see those links develop, were we to start to see it move out of retail more into wholesale and see the financial sector more exposed, then I think you might start to think about risk in that sense.” Cunliffe noted that speculative crypto assets, like bitcoin, should be distinguished from stablecoins, emphasizing that stablecoins should be regulated. The deputy governor opined: “I think the international community needs to at least be developing standards to actually be able to distinguish but also to have regulatory standards for that sort of product.” The governor of the Bank of England previously called cryptocurrencies dangerous, predicting that they won’t last. He said in June, “There will inevitably be elements of tough love” in crypto regulation. In May, Bailey said cryptocurrencies “have no intrinsic value,” but noted that it “doesn’t mean to say people don’t put value on them, because they can have extrinsic value.” The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, agreed with him. What do you think about the comments by the deputy governor of the Bank of England? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Doubleline Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach, also known as the “Bond King,” has predicted that the price of bitcoin will fall below the $23K level. “Right now, the chart on bitcoin looks pretty scary,” he said, adding that “it looks like a massive head-and-shoulders top.” Jeffrey Gundlach Expects Bitcoin’s Price to Fall Below $23K Billionaire fund manager Jeff Gundlach talked about his outlook for bitcoin and the U.S. dollar in an interview with CNBC Thursday. Gundlach is the CEO of Doubleline Capital, with had over $135 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of March 31. He is sometimes referred to as the “Bond King” after he appeared on the cover of Barron’s in 2011 as “The New Bond King.” Institutional Investor named him “Money Manager of the Year” in 2013 and Bloomberg Markets named him one of “The Fifty Most Influential” in 2012, 2015, and 2016. According to Forbes, Gundlach’s net worth is currently $2.2 billion. He said: “Right now, the chart on bitcoin looks pretty scary. It’s dropped a lot from $60,000 down to around $31,500, and it looks like a massive head-and-shoulders top.” At the time of writing, the price of BTC stood at $31,616, based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. The Doubleline CEO added: I’m not a big believer in head-and-shoulders tops, but this one looks pretty convincing. Turning neutral at $23,000 was obviously too early, but I’ve got a feeling you’re going to be able to buy it below $23,000 again. Gundlach also commented on other investments. “Interestingly, gold is actually negative this year. Commodities are very strong. Commodities are up more than stocks this year as a basket. But gold can’t seem to get out of its own way. And obviously, the dollar being firmer lately is not positive for gold either,” he opined. Moreover, the billionaire fund manager said that “The dollar has been moderately firmer in the last several weeks, and that will continue,” elaborating: In the near term, the dollar seems firm. In the longer term, the dollar is doomed. The Bond King believes that a significant drop in the dollar is coming in the intermediate term, citing the size of the U.S. deficit. Gundlach said in November last year that bitcoin and gold were good as hedges against inflation. Furthermore, he predicted that within 18 months, the stock market was “going to crack pretty hard,” stating, “When the next big meltdown happens, I think the U.S. is going to be the worst-performing market, actually, and that’ll have a lot to do with the dollar weakening.” What do you think about Jeffrey Gundlach’s prediction? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a warning about unregulated cryptocurrency trading platforms, particularly Binance. The regulator said that the crypto exchange is offering the trading of “stock tokens.” The SFC issued a statement Friday warning the public about unregulated crypto trading platforms. The regulator addressed Binance in particular, stating that the global crypto exchange may be offering trading services in “stock tokens” to Hong Kong investors. The SFC detailed: The SFC wishes to make it clear that no entity in the Binance group is licensed or registered to conduct ‘regulated activity’ in Hong Kong. “Stock tokens are virtual assets that are represented to be backed by different depository portfolios of underlying overseas listed stocks,” the SFC detailed. The regulator noted that “In Hong Kong, stock tokens are likely to be ‘securities.’” For those that are considered securities, “marketing and/or distributing such tokens – whether in Hong Kong or targeting Hong Kong investors – constitute a ‘regulated activity’ and require a licence from the SFC unless an applicable exemption applies,” the announcement explains. Thomas Atkinson, the SFC’s Executive Director of Enforcement, commented: Investors should be wary of the risks of trading virtual assets on an unregulated platform. If the platform ceases operation, collapses, or is hacked, investors may face the possible risk of losing their entire investments held on the platform. The SFC noted that it “has received complaints from investors who experienced difficulties in withdrawing fiat currencies or virtual assets from their accounts opened with unregulated platforms.” Besides Hong Kong, an increasing number of regulators have issued warnings about Binance, including the U.K., Japan, Italy, Thailand, Lithuania, and the Cayman Islands. What do you think about the Hong Kong regulator’s warning? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Street performers, or buskers, are leaning more toward digital platforms these days compared to the old method of accepting loose change. A report recently published by economists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia has found that in certain areas, buskers get more donations via digital payment methods like Paypal and bitcoin from people passing by, than by traditional means. Buskers Leaning Toward the Digital World Economists at RMIT University in Melbourne and data collected from The Busking Project indicate that digital methods of payment are becoming the norm for street performers. According to statistics from the study, the research combed through the payments stemming from 3,500 buskers from 121 countries. Street performers getting payments via digital avenues have been leveraging different methods for quite some time. A myriad of stories and forum posts show bitcoiners have been busking for bitcoin throughout the last ten years. In April 2018, ABC interviewed a busker named Josh Thompson who was “busking for bitcoin.” At the time, Thompson said in Australia people passing by were “hesitant to make electronic payments to buskers.” However, Thompson remarked that it wasn’t the case everywhere, as other regions were more receptive to paying by digital means than loose change. “In Europe and the UK, with apps and Paypal and everyone getting into bitcoin, people actually are paying buskers with digital currency,” Thompson said. The most recent study compiled by RMIT economists was led by Dr. Meg Elkins, a senior lecturer in the School of Economics, Finance, and Marketing at RMIT. Elkins detailed that the report’s findings suggest street artists have more of an “entrepreneurial” spirit these days. “Buskers performing in public for coin is a centuries-old practice, but they have to move online as our society becomes increasingly cashless,” Elkins said. The economist further added: We know many street performers become personalities in their own right and we wanted to uncover how they could use digital payment systems to increase their online earnings and create more sustainable careers. Digital Payments Simplify the Process The Busking Project itself is an application that street performers and fans use to connect. The platform enables tipping from bank transfers in a few different fiat currencies. However, a few of The Busking Project’s blog posts highlight the use of bitcoin for payments as well. In one particular article, The Busking Project gives the reader six digital methods to choose from and one of them is bitcoin. In the bitcoin section of the post, the author says the digital currency is: “My absolute favorite way to get tipped.” The author of the post, written in 2017, further highlights that bitcoin (BTC) “transaction fees are getting higher” and “it’s in the early adoption phase.” The author adds that bitcoin is well worth learning about and BTC’s value could rise over time. “So, if you get paid with bitcoin and keep it in your bitcoin wallet, you could end up making more than the tip amount,” the author of the six digital payments article adds. The RMIT economist believes digital payments and QR codes are an excellent way for buskers to get paid. RMIT’s study also shows circus acts obtained the largest donations. The probability of musicians getting donations is the highest, but musicians get the smallest payments as well. “In the future, we could see QR codes as part of the street performance, which would simplify the payment process even further,” Elkins remarked. The RMIT report’s author concluded: More than 40 QR code trails are underway across Europe, the US and Australia. Digital platforms can potentially allow street performers to generate more generous donations beyond cash tips. What do you think about buskers getting more in digital tips than by the traditional spare change method? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced it will no longer support the trading of stock tokens. The decision comes against the backdrop of an ongoing regulatory crackdown, with Hong Kong becoming the latest to declare that the platform is not licensed to provide such services in its jurisdiction. Stock Tokens No Longer Available for Purchase on Binance.com Binance, the world’s leading digital asset exchange by daily volume, is ceasing support for stock tokens. The coin trading platform explained that the move is part of its continuous evaluation of products, but it also comes amid an increasing pressure on the exchange from regulators around the world. On Friday, the crypto company said: Today, we are announcing that we will be winding down support for stock tokens on Binance.com to shift our commercial focus to other product offerings. The exchange pointed out that the suspension is “effective immediately,” with stock tokens already unavailable for purchase on Binance.com. The platform will not support any stock tokens after Oct. 14, 2021 but investors will be able to hold and sell them over the next 90 days. The announcement further details that “all stock token positions on Binance.com will be closed at 2021-10-15 13:30 (UTC).” Binance said the closing prices will be based on actual executed prices after the market opens for trading on Oct. 15. It warned these may be different from the rates registered a day earlier. A Binance spokesperson was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as stating: We believe that shifting our commercial focus to other product offerings will better serve our users for the long term. Residents of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland will have an option to transfer their stock tokens to a new portal to be launched by CM-Equity AG in early October. The transition will be subject to additional know-your-customer (KYC) procedures, Binance added, noting that all stock tokens listed on Binance.com are products issued and sold by the Germany-based CM-Equity. Hong Kong Securities Commission Warns Against Stock Token Purchases on Binance Binance’s decision coincides with a growing number of regulators expressing concerns over the exchange offering tokenized stocks among other products and services without authorization. The list includes regulatory bodies in Italy, Lithuania, the U.K., Japan, and Germany where the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Bafin, said earlier this year that tokens linked to stocks of companies like Tesla represent securities, if they can be transferred and traded on a cryptocurrency exchange. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) became the latest agency to issue a warning against Binance. On Friday, the regulator said it’s “aware that Binance has offered trading services in stock tokens in a number of jurisdictions and is concerned that these services may also be offered to Hong Kong investors.” The SFC emphasized that “no entity in the Binance group is licensed or registered to conduct ‘regulated activity’ in Hong Kong.” The commission elaborated that stock tokens are likely to be “securities” under the Securities and Futures Ordinance of the Chinese special administrative region. And if that’s the case, they should be subject to the regulatory remit of the SFC. The regulator warned that the marketing and distribution of such tokens, “whether in Hong Kong or targeting Hong Kong investors,” constitute a “regulated activity” and require a license. Anyone offering stock tokens in the city without registration may face criminal charges, the securities commission stressed, urging potential investors to be “extremely careful” with stock token purchases on unregulated platforms. What’s your opinion about the current regulatory pressure on crypto exchange Binance? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The infamous meme-based crypto asset dogecoin has had an incredible 12 months, rising more than 5,578% against the U.S. dollar. Dogecoin also ignited significant demand for a number of canine-themed cryptocurrencies this year as billions of dollars have funneled into these meme-coin economies. However, in recent times the original dogecoin has faltered, and over the last three months has shed 46.24% of its value. Despite Being Down 76% Since the Meme Token’s All-Time High, 12-Month Stats Show Dogecoin Is Still up Over 5,000% For many years, dogecoin (DOGE) spent its life trading below a U.S. penny — from 2014 all the way until January 2021. But much to the co-creator of dogecoin’s dismay, DOGE has surged in value during the last year against the U.S. dollar, gaining a whopping 5,578%. Against bitcoin (BTC), DOGE has jumped 1,551% over the last 12 months. Still, after all those gains dogecoin has slid immensely in value following the rest of the crypto market’s downturn. On Saturday, July 17, dogecoin (DOGE) has been trading for $0.17 per unit after reaching $0.737 per unit two months ago. The well-known meme crypto is now down more than 76% from the crypto asset’s all-time high (ATH). Seven-day statistics show DOGE has lost 18% this week, and 30-day stats show a loss of more than 43% during the last month. Dogecoin still has a very large market capitalization with $23 billion at the time of writing. The DOGE market cap is much larger than the coin’s ERC20 competitor, shiba inu (SHIB), which has a $3.3 billion market valuation today. Baby Doge Sheds 63% This Week, Yooshi Token and Elondoge Gather This Week’s Double-Digit Meme Token Gains In terms of percentages down from the ATH, dogecoin is down a lot more than many coins in the top twenty positions. Compared to dogecoin’s competitors like SHIB, dogecoin lost more weekly gains than SHIB’s 15% losses this past week. However, baby doge (BABYDOGE) has lost a massive 63.2% this week. All the canine meme tokens have seen deep losses and only a few meme tokens have done well. A meme-crypto asset called yooshi (YOOSHI) has been the only big gainer, gathering 57% this week. YOOSHI is not a dog coin, as it looks more like a frog, but the token community that claims to boast 220K members aims to create a metaverse, NFTs, and also to give to charity. Finally, a relatively unknown dog coin called Elondoge token (EDOGE) has gained double digits this week with a 28% rise. It’s hard to say what the meme-based token economy will do from here, but it seems these coins are falling victim to the overall market sentiment no matter how colorful they are. What do you think about dogecoin’s market performance in recent times and the other meme-based crypto assets? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will convene a meeting with the Biden administration’s working group on financial markets to discuss stablecoin regulation. “In light of the rapid growth in digital assets, it is important for the agencies to collaborate on the regulation of this sector and the development of any recommendations for new authorities,” said Yellen. US Government Discussing Stablecoin Regulation U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Friday her plans to discuss the regulation of stablecoins. She will convene a meeting on July 19 of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) to discuss the matter. The meeting will also be attended by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Yellen explained, “Bringing together regulators will enable us to assess the potential benefits of stablecoins while mitigating risks they could pose to users, markets, or the financial system.” The treasury secretary detailed: In light of the rapid growth in digital assets, it is important for the agencies to collaborate on the regulation of this sector and the development of any recommendations for new authorities. According to the announcement, “The PWG was established to enhance the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of U.S. financial markets.” Yellen is a member of the PWG, along with the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The discussion will build on the PWG’s “Statement on Key Regulatory and Supervisory Issues Relevant to Certain Stablecoins,” published in December 2020. Among other things, the document explains that “Depending on its design and other factors, a stablecoin may constitute a security, commodity, or derivative subject to the U.S. federal securities, commodity, and/or derivatives laws.” It further stresses, “Stablecoin participants and arrangements must meet all applicable anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and sanctions obligations before bringing products to market.” The Treasury’s announcement adds: The PWG will examine the current regulation of stablecoins, identify risks, and develop recommendations for addressing those risks. The PWG expects to issue written recommendations in the coming months. What do you think about the comments by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Youtube superstar and rapper KSI, also known as JJ, has shared that he made millions of pounds investing in bitcoin and “lost it all” when the market “crashed.” Nonetheless, he still believes that bitcoin is the future and “eventually you’re going to get a $100,000 bitcoin, a $500,000 bitcoin, and a $1 million bitcoin. It’s going to happen.” KSI Shares His Experience Investing in Bitcoin Famed rapper and popular Youtuber KSI shared his experience investing in bitcoin on the Private Parts podcast, published Thursday. KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, is also known as JJ. In 2019, he was ranked second by The Sunday Times in its list of the top 100 U.K. influencers. He is also part of the British Youtube group known as the Sidemen. The British influencer recently became a vocal fan of cryptocurrency. He was asked about a rumor of him putting “a lot” of money into bitcoin. KSI then revealed that he invested £2 million ($2.75 million) in BTC around November or December last year but later lost money when the bitcoin market crashed. He said: Yeah, I put £2 million into bitcoin. Well, I said bitcoin … [But] This was in cryptocurrencies. I made £7 million, and now I’ve lost it all. “I got lucky with the £7 million, but I should have been smart and taken that money out into fiat and then just wait for everything to drop and go back into it again,” he opined, admitting that he got carried away with the bull market. KSI added: “It’s been a full journey, but I had to experience it. I had to really delve into the whole crypto space, and you know, I fully understand that now. I put money in things where I essentially leveraged myself and I kind of over-leveraged myself to a point where I lost money, because I got liquidated, so I put a lot of money into something I got liquidated because of the bitcoin crash.” Commenting on losing millions of dollars investing in cryptocurrencies, the Youtube star said, “I was like, ok, well big whoop,” elaborating: It is what it is. I’ll move on. There’s no point crying over spilt milk, and I realized that during the bear market is when you want to invest in things. He was also asked whether investing in bitcoin was like gambling. He replied: “No, I don’t think it is. I don’t think it is gambling. It’s not gambling. No, no, no, no. Bitcoin is here to stay. It is the future. It’s just that no one wants to accept it … Same with Ethereum. Yes, of course, it all fluctuates, but it’s going up.” KSI elaborated: If you stand back and look at the whole picture, it’s slowly going up and eventually you’re going to get a $100,000 bitcoin, a $500,000 bitcoin, and a $1 million bitcoin. It’s going to happen. The famed rapper further opined: “Maybe it might take 5, 10, 15, 20 years, but it’s going to happen, you’ve got to remember, bitcoin doesn’t have inflation … That’s what’s so great about it, it’s not controlled by a centralized bank.” What do you think about KSI’s experience investing in bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Defi and blockchain-powered Metaverse, DeNations launches NFT art minting platform, giving away free yield-bearing NFT art to NFT art collectors DeNations is a blockchain-powered metaverse platform based in Hong Kong that everyone can own nations, build cities/civilizations, and earn tokens. In DeNations, ownership of core assets is represented by Ethereum NFT (Non-Fungible Token). Players can register their NFTs at DeNations’ metaverse platform (http://play.denations.com), run their nations and earn token (DENA) profits. These NFTs are currently trading on OpenSea and DeNations was ranked 4th in terms of trading volume under the Virtual World category. As DeNations is becoming noticeable each day, it has recently released a new collaboration project called DeNations Art Chain, a decentralized ecosystem where various talented artists can easily and sustainably produce valuable NFT arts. A contemporary artist Jeon Byeong Sam is chosen as an artist of the Genesis Block of DeNations Art Chain. He has developed a global reputation with large-scale media installation art and also been creating works of art that represent the relationship between the seen and unseen within the realms of the analog and digital. Collaborated with DeNations Art Chain, he recreated the 193 ‘National Flags’ through his series, which symbolizes and conveys the notion of the theme “Things You See Only When They Disappear.” Flags of each country are created as digital images; the original shape of the flag disappears and is reborn as an abstract striped image throughout the process of decomposing and recombining one pixel at a time. These artworks will be issued as Non-Fungible Token (NFT) in the blockchain. To commemorate these works, the DeNations and the artist hosted an offline exhibition, under the title of that exclusively reveals 207 NFTs and 207 pieces of physical arts that related to each other. The first drop is on 14th July UTC 8:00 AM; a unique edition of 15 national flags will be disclosed. 207 Physical arts that were exhibited, will be shipped to the buyer of unique edition after the exhibition. In order to let more people get familiar with the concept of NFT, Defi, and metaverse by having their own NFTs in their wallets, DeNations holds an online event where everyone can claim a free Art NFT. This Special Art NFT has two major in-metaverse functions: “Art Farming” and “DGDP Boosting.” Unlike the other common NFTs, NFTs of the Art Chain Block are profitable under the support of the DeNations metaverse ecosystem. By observing how the disparate concepts of art, blockchain technology, nations merge together harmoniously, we are witnessing the beginning of another surrealistic world. DeNations Art Chain project and Jeon Byeong-Sam’s artworks will be a meaningful step in the art history and blockchain industry. Moreover, this exhibition will be the world’s first NFT art exhibition sponsored by the blockchain-based Metaverse. Please contact info@denation.com for further queries. 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

German bank Comdirect, with about three million customers, is now offering 11 cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs). “Comdirect has succeeded in significantly bridging crypto investments to retirement plans, something that our clients have longed for a while,” the bank said. German Bank Offering Crypto ETPs to Clients German direct bank Comdirect AG is now offering 11 cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) from 21shares AG. The bank provides online brokerage, banking, and advisory services in Germany. Announcing that its exclusive partnership with Comdirect was effective Tuesday, 21shares detailed: In this innovative partnership, 21shares was retained as the sole provider of physically-backed crypto ETPs to the online broker’s savings plan program (Spar plan). The 11 ETPs are currently listed in Germany and are now available on the Comdirect platform at zero commissions, the announcement adds. The ETPs offer investments in bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, bitcoin cash, polkadot, stellar, cardano, solana, and more. Hany Rashwan, CEO of 21shares, explained that his company was “the first crypto issuer to list a fully collateralized, 100% physically-backed bitcoin ETP on most German exchanges back in 2019.” In addition, it is currently “the only issuer to admit four crypto ETPs on Xetra alone.” The company has also listed “the world’s first physically-backed crypto ETP on the SIX Swiss Exchange in 2018,” he said, elaborating: We are very excited to offer German clients who wish to add bitcoin and other crypto assets to their savings plan a compelling option to do so thanks to Comdirect, an option that was not available for any crypto products until now. Comdirect’s product manager and crypto saving plan initiator, Rene Louis Delrieux, noted that through Comdirect, “investors are now able to use crypto ETPs by 21shares which fits the needs of our demanding clients and ensures market participation. This additional service adds flexibility for immediate use.” She opined: Together with our partner 21shares, Comdirect has succeeded in significantly bridging crypto investments to retirement plans, something that our clients have longed for a while. What do you think about Comdirect offering cryptocurrency ETPs in its savings plan? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Adding to the exchange platform’s existing cryptocurrency derivatives products, Bybit will now offer spot cryptocurrency trading in four pairs, with additional pairs set to be rolled out in the near future. Bybit Adds Spot Trading The recent weakness in crypto prices and transaction volumes hasn’t stopped the industry’s exchanges from competing for order flow. Despite the lull, platforms are continuing to roll out new features and products as innovation abounds. The latest to introduce new offerings is Bybit, which has opened up trading in spot pairs. The derivatives exchange, which regularly ranks in the top ten crypto derivatives exchanges by volume, has now added support for four spot trading pairs, including BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, EOS/USDT, and XRP/USDT. Other popular pairs will also be gradually added to the platform. This complements Bybit’s existing offerings, especially derivatives trading, by offering a method for traders to hedge positions in the spot market without having to change trading venues. The latest introduction of spot trading only adds value to the crypto ecosystem, in general, in terms of added liquidity and fungibility for miners and derivatives traders. An Eye on Volumes Crypto derivatives have been a hot topic, with total derivatives transaction volumes exceeding spot market values back in June. This contrasts the first few months of the year when spot trading volumes overtook derivatives turnover. Accordingly, exchanges that formerly dealt strictly in derivatives, are adding spot offerings to bring more opportunities and utility to clients. The move by Bybit mirrors the strategy of other competing derivatives exchanges that have recently embraced spot trading, including Bitmex’s decision to add support for spot pairs back in April and Bit.com’s similar move in June. Although these exchanges haven’t cracked the top 100 exchanges in terms of spot trading volume, they are nevertheless expanding their offerings. Are you excited about the expanding offering for spot crypto trading? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Reports from South Africa suggest that tax authorities have plugged a loophole on the online tax filing system that enabled crypto arbitrage traders to make several purchases on overseas cryptocurrency platforms using just one approval. As a consequence of these tweaks, crypto arbitrage traders are now forced to make a new application each they need to place an order. In addition, this change also effectively rules out daily arbitrage trades. Loophole Plugged As the publication Moneyweb’s report explains, some South African crypto traders have been known to “profit from differences in the prices of crypto assets on local and overseas exchanges.” The price differences have ranged between zero and three percent in recent months. However, according to the report, South African crypto traders can exploit such differences using their nearly $700,000 (10 million rands) annual foreign investment allowance (FIA). They can also profit from these price differences using their special discretionary allowance (SDA) of approximately $70,000 per year. For traders using their FIA allowance, however, a tax clearance from the South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) is needed. Once this initial approval is given, crypto traders would be able to get subsequent approvals “by going online and hitting a Pin ‘refresh’ button on the Sars website.” However, SARS has now updated its e-filing system, and now “each time the refresh button is hit, the Pin remains unchanged.” Changes to Affect the Frequency of Trades In the meantime, the Moneyweb report further reveals that one South African crypto exchange, Valr, has already informed its clients of the changes. Valr said: The implication of this is that refreshed FIA Pins will not be accepted as valid Pins for the purposes of arbitrage trading and an entirely new FIA application will need to be made in order to conduct further arbitrage trading under FIA once the original FIA Pin is exhausted. In addition, the exchange’s CEO, Farzam Ehsani, was quoted warning clients that they now need to “wait for each FIA application to be approved before trading.” However, Jon Ovadia, CEO of Ovex, a cryptocurrency broker, is also quoted dismissing fears that the changes to the e-filing system will affect his firm. He said: We never used the automatic Pin renewal system as we know Sars did not like this system [even though it made it available to the public]. What are your thoughts on the changes that have been made by the SARS? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested federal agencies stop signing appreciation letters for Binance. The exchange used these letters as proof they are actively helping these agencies in criminal probes. However, this behavior seems to have bothered agents of these state organizations, who argue the exchange is bound to cooperate with these investigations by law. DOJ, Says ‘No Thanks’ to Binance Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, seems to have fallen from grace with U.S. government agencies. The exchange normally requested appreciation notes regarding its cooperation with criminal probes. Now, according to two people with knowledge in the matter, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered the top law enforcement agencies to stop signing these thank-you notes. Binance used these notes from the FBI and the IRS as public confirmation that it is a law-abiding company. But Binance is compelled by law to help these institutions in their probes. From the stance of the DOJ, Binance’s will to help has nothing to do with this fact, so the appreciation notes are unnecessary. A Binance spokesperson told Bloomberg they: Engage with regulators and law enforcement in a collaborative fashion to combat cybercrimes as part of our ongoing effort to help make the industry a better place. The letters we’ve received acknowledging our assistance speak for themselves. Thank-You Notes Do Exist In any case, law enforcement agencies have extended these notes to Binance before. Binance has shown several examples of these notes of appreciation from officials in the past. But some of them have very similar wording. Robert Gonzalez, a detective with the California police department, said Binance sent a kind of template of these letters, but he made a few changes to it before signing it. Also, Gonzales stated to Bloomberg that Binance always collaborated with him in several forms. The letters are unlikely to help Binance with the investigations agencies are organizing regarding the exchange. According to some sources, the DOJ and the IRS are probing Binance on money laundering and tax offense suspicions, and have been questioning Binance officers since last May. Binance has no offices in the U.S., and it established a separate company for its American customers, called Binance.us. What do you think about these appreciation notes requested by Binance? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

On July 14, IOHK, the Cardano network developers, announced the project’s latest testnet called Alonzo white has been deployed. IOHK detailed that it has onboarded new participants and the move will help the project move “closer to smart contracts.” Two days later, a Cardano-based project called Spores raised $2.3 million to build a non-fungible token (NFT) and decentralized finance (defi) marketplace. Cardano Launches Alonzo White This week the Cardano (ADA) network launched the project’s successful hard fork of the Alonzo Blue testnet to the Alonzo White node. The upgrade aims to increase participation but also will help bolster functional Cardano-based smart contracts. “Hard fork successful,” IOHK tweeted on Wednesday. “Delighted to report around 19.44 UTC today we successfully forked the Alonzo testnet to the new Alonzo White node. The new network is happily making blocks already. Over the past week, we have spun up a new network and onboarded our new intake ready to help us move us closer to smart contracts. Now the next stage of the journey begins,” IOHK added. The recent testnet upgrade follows the recent backlash the founder of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, saw on Twitter in recent times. Hoskinson was criticized for making projections that hadn’t satisfied some of the expectations within the crypto community. “As well as our core SPO group, we’re now joined by members of the Project Catalyst crew and more Plutus partners. Plus a few more pioneers to move us forward before opening up further. You can hear more about the journey in our mid-month update,” IOHK said on Wednesday. NEW VIDEO: On Wednesday, we successfully hardforked into the #AlonzoWhite testnet phase. @timbharrison caught up on the day of the hardfork with some of the team working on the program. Here’s our mid-month update on the progress so far #Cardano 👍 https://t.co/kh8qCeSAd1 — Input Output (@InputOutputHK) July 16, 2021 Full-Stack NFT and Defi Marketplace Project Spores Raises $2.3 Million On Friday, a Cardano-based project called Spores revealed the startup has raised $2.3 million in new funding. According to the announcement, Spores aims to build “the first full-stack NFTs and decentralized finance (defi) marketplace.” Investors who participated in the Spores funding round include NGC, SVC, Exnetwork, SL2, Twin Apex, Focus Labs, Maven Capital, OIG, and Vivian Capital. Duc Luu, the Spores’ executive chairman, hopes the company can become a crypto-infused marketplace similar to the likes of giants like Alibaba. “We will launch Asia’s premier NFT marketplace and decentralized financing tools to be the Alibaba and Alipay of the crypto world,” Luu said in a statement on Friday. Polymarket Odds Bet Against Cardano Producing Smart Contracts by October 1 Meanwhile, a polymarket prediction market has been launched that shows participants wagering on whether or not Cardano will release smart contracts by October 1, 2021. At the time of writing, the prediction market betting on Cardano smart contracts has $255,075 in trade volume. Odds show it is currently 58-42 against the project producing functional smart contract technology by that date. The polymarket prediction market odds on July 16, 2021. Additionally, two days ago, Bitcoin.com News columnist Terence Zimwara reported on Save the Children in Rwanda partnering with the Cardano Foundation. The arrangement became possible after Cardano “installed a payment gateway that allows [cardano] donations to come directly to the project without intermediaries,” the report notes. What do you think about IOHK launching the Alonzo White testnet and the recent Spores’ fundraise? What do you think about the polymarket prediction market betting on the outcome of Cardano smart contracts? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Internet City, Dubai — As an innovative global trading platform for various crypto assets, founded in 2015. LBank officially launched the Global Ambassadors Recruitment at the end of June in 2021. LBank provides its users with safe crypto trading, specialized financial derivatives and professional asset management services. It has become one of the most popular and trusted crypto trading platforms with over 5.6 million users in more than 50 countries around the world. User-oriented with 24/7 support LBank has always been user-oriented with protecting their benefits being the fundamental goal since its inception. It has professional 24/7 online customer service and 50 local telegram communities covering North America, the Middle East, and Europe with providing the real-time, multilingual solutions and updates on the latest news of the platform and the industry. Digging out promising projects to benefit users has been the consistent goal of LBank. Perfect coordination among various departments in LBank and efficient decision-making has laid a concrete foundation to dig out new promising projects and get listed on LBank at the earliest time, in the meantime to forecast the future trends. As a result, LBank was the first platform to launch high-quality projects such as ZEC, VET. Also, LBank initially listed high-quality emerging projects such as GTC. Furthermore, LBank is always the first CEX to list or hold special sales of some great projects such as Babydoge, Mina, Dora, KINE, Nabox, etc. Multi-country compliance to accelerate global deployment As one of the earliest crypto exchanges, LBank has reliable financial licenses such as NFA/ MSB (U.S), MSB (Canada), and AUSTRAC (Australia). LBank ranks first in the industry in terms of annualized return on defi mining. In addition to strong asset management services, LBank has also invested more than 100 projects in the primary market with the aim at building a comprehensive crypto ecosystem. Enjoy the mutual benefits of LBank’s development roadmap At present, LBank has cooperated with many partners in North America, Middle East, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia etc. In order to further develop the global market, it is now recruiting global elites to enjoy a win-win growth! LBank Global Ambassador Global Ambassador is a representative of LBank in a specific country or region and the official local spokesperson for LBank. Only 1 or 2 in each country/region will be recruited as global ambassador. Global ambassadors will be bound to LBank’s business growth and share LBank’s revenue in their countries. LBank provides sufficient marketing budget, media, and operation support to build global ambassadors’ reputations in the blockchain industry. Global Ambassadors will represent LBank in local marketing, branding, event hosting, charity sponsorship, and other industry activities to fully expand the local market. At the same time, the global ambassadors will regularly attend the exclusive investment meetings organized by LBank with senior investment and research teams in the industry, discover and contact local, high-quality blockchain projects, and sincerely participate in the early incubation and service of the projects. Meanwhile, Global ambassadors enjoy projects listing priority in the region and will receive generous rewards. LBank Community Ambassador Community ambassadors are responsible for local community establishment, user growth, and community management, maintaining LBank’s brand image in the local community, delivering the latest market activities, and actively providing feedback and handling various emergencies encountered by the community. They will have independent authority to plan and operate community activities. In the meantime, Community ambassadors will enjoy a much-rewarded referral commission and bonus for community operation and management. In addition, community ambassadors with outstanding performance will be promoted to the global ambassador by LBank and get more rights and rewards. LBank Campus Partners Campus Partners are the pioneers of LBank in universities worldwide and are the new blood in the blockchain industry. LBank will provide a sufficient budget to help Campus Partners to carry out campus onsite activities (forums, lectures, receptions, etc.) to discuss and study blockchain ecologies and projects. Campus partners will write regular industry analyses and commentary, which will be published in top industry media, helping them to increase their recognition in the industry and get highly paid. Campus Partners with outstanding performance will be offered internship opportunities in LBank headquarters and receive a recommendation letter and job referral from LBank. LBank Contact: LBank Ambassador Apply pioneer@lbank.info www.lbank.info Media Contact – Company: LBK Blockchain Ltd Co. CEO: Wei He Contact: candy.huang@lbank.info 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

While decentralized finance took a hit in Q2, stats still show there is an important movement in these protocols. Data taken from Messari’s Q2’21 defi review show that decentralized exchanges are busy settling important numbers. Decentralized Finance Bruised but Still Up The decentralized finance paradigm stormed the market this year, and while it certainly took a hit, it is still healthy. According to numbers extracted from Messari’s Q2’21 defi review report, there is still significant activity going on in the decentralized market. Decentralized exchanges, one of the core engines of the ecosystem, are still moving important amounts of funds. These settled $405 billion during the last quarter, an increase of 83% over the $221 billion settled on Q1. However, exchange volumes fell during May to $95 billion from the $203.5 billion in May. The general deceleration of the cryptocurrency market affected the sector significantly. In any case, June was a noteworthy month in the story of decentralized exchanges, even with the steep fall. Uniswap V3 launched during Q2, becoming the dominating force in the environment in less than two weeks. Uniswap V3 now settles 40% of the volumes exchanged in decentralized finance. Pancakeswap, the top exchange on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), follows in third place with its volumes falling after the May crash. Reaching for Institutions Some of the top protocols in the decentralized environment are expanding into institutional markets, to extend their reach to more stable business. This is the case of Compound, a leading decentralized exchange that launched Treasury, a fixed rewards product for businesses last month. Metamask, the preferred wallet for decentralized finance, also launched an initiative last April trying to capture the segment of institutions wanting to dabble in the defi ecosystem. With current interest rates, any of these institutions can propose a product that offers more yield than traditional finance products. Aave, another decentralized finance protocol, will also offer Aave Pro later this month, to draw in these institutional players. In the same vein, Circle, part of the consortium that issues USDC, is going public via a SPAC deal later this year. While Tether still holds most of the stablecoin dominance, USDC has become popular on decentralized finance protocols in the last quarter. What do you think about defi’s performance during Q2 2021? Tell us in the comment section below. View the full article

Following the largest mining difficulty drop in Bitcoin’s history, this weekend will once again see another slide, but less than 6% of the difficulty will be shaved. Statistics show Bitcoin’s hashrate has been able to climb higher since the difficulty drop two weeks ago, and climbed above 100 exahash per second (EH/s) this week. This weekend’s upcoming bitcoin mining difficulty drop will be the only time in history the difficulty slipped four times in a row. 2021’s Consecutive Difficulty Drops Come Awfully Close to 2011’s Records After China cracked down on bitcoin miners at the end of June, a large quantity of hashpower had temporarily halted. Statistics indicate that the hashrate was around 66 EH/s on June 28 and since then it has increased to above the 100 EH/s zone. There’s currently 18 known mining pools dedicating hashrate to the BTC chain, and 4.71 % of the global hashrate (24-hour stats) or 4.79 EH/s belongs to unknown miners. This weekend, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty will drop for the fourth time in a row. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has never dropped four times in a row, but did drop three times consecutively in 2018. Two weeks ago the Bitcoin network saw the largest difficulty drop ever and another difficulty drop is expected this weekend. Using today’s average hashrate, statistics show the drop will be less than 6% bringing the current difficulty of 14.36 trillion down to 13.5 trillion. This means after the dip, the mining difficulty will have dropped four times in a row. The last time the BTC mining difficulty dropped more than four times in a row was in 2011. From August to November 2011, the mining difficulty dropped eight times in a row. 2018 Saw Three Difficulty Drops in a Row, Five Mining Pools Currently Command 59% of Bitcoin’s Hashrate The only other time BTC’s mining difficulty came close to the four times in a row record was in 2018 for three consecutive difficulty drops between November and December. August to the end of November 2011 saw eight consecutive difficulty drops in a row. The most recent number of difficulty drops saw 49.21% shaved off the difficulty, which is slightly less than the 51.54% shed in 2011. Back then, the difficulty tapped a high of 1.89 million in August and by November it was 1.09 million at block height 155,232. At the time of writing, the top mining pools on Friday afternoon include Viabtc, Antpool, Poolin, F2pool, and Btc.com. These pools are followed by Binance, Foundry and Slushpool, but the top five operations command 59.4% of the global hashrate. Binance, Foundry and Slushpool capture 21.9% of BTC’s hashpower on Friday afternoon. That leaves ten known pools and 4.79 EH/s of unknown hashpower, commanding 18.7% of the global hashrate. What do you think about the four difficulty drops in 2021 compared to the eight drops in 2011? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Payments giants Visa and Mastercard say they are monitoring Binance’s regulatory compliance developments as more regulators come after the global crypto exchange for operating in their countries without authorization. Visa, Mastercard Monitoring Binance’s Regulatory Troubles Visa and Mastercard have not severed ties with cryptocurrency exchange Binance despite rising regulatory scrutiny. The two payments giants have not blocked Binance and cardholders can still use Visa and Mastercard to deposit funds into their accounts at the exchange. Visa told the Financial Times Friday that it was “aware of the recent FCA statement regarding Binance,” noting that it was in “dialogue with Binance to monitor developments,” the publication conveyed. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning on Binance stating that the exchange is not authorized to engage in regulated activities in the U.K. Mastercard similarly told the publication: We continue to monitor this situation, including how the exchanges fulfill their regulatory requirements. Binance also offers a Visa-branded debit card that allows its users to spend funds from their crypto wallets at retailers. The Binance card, available in many European countries, is issued by Contis, a company that provides payments services in the EU through an e-money license from Lithuania’s central bank. A number of banks in the U.K. have halted fund transfers to Binance following the warning by the FCA, including Barclays and Santander. Payment service providers Clear Junction and BCB Group have also reportedly ended relationships with Binance. The exchange has disabled sterling withdrawals through Faster Payments and euro deposits through SEPA bank transfers. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in an open letter last week that the company “has grown very quickly and we haven’t always got everything exactly right.” Claiming that his exchange has already “cleared multiple external anti-money laundering audits,” Zhao promised to take measures to improve regulatory compliance. Besides the U.K., other countries that have issued warnings on Binance include the Cayman Islands, Japan, Thailand, Italy, and Lithuania. What do you think about Binance’s troubles with a growing number of regulators? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The working group involved with the research and development of the digital yuan for the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has published a paper describing the digital currency’s progress. The PBOC initiated a task force dedicated to the creation of a digital yuan in 2014, and the recently published document is the project’s first white paper released in seven years. China’s Digital Yuan Is No Different Than Physical RMB After the creation of Bitcoin and a few years after the cryptocurrency economy started getting recognized, the PBOC was one of the first central banks to introduce the idea of creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC). China’s central bank has recently allowed the digital currency working group to publish a white paper that details the CBDC’s current progress. The white paper titled “Progress of Research & Development of E-CNY in China” notes that over the course of history, “the form of currency has evolved.” The PBOC’s digital currency working group stresses that the digital yuan often referred to as the “e-CNY” is no different than the physical form of money used by the Chinese today. “The issuance and circulation of e-CNY is identical with physical RMB, while the value of the former is transferred in a digital form,” the white paper notes. “Thirdly, e-CNY is the central bank’s liabilities to the public. Backed by sovereign credit, e-CNY has the status of legal tender.” The e-CNY white paper also comes with a number of statistics and defining characteristics that make it different from the likes of bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins. The paper claims more than 20 million digital yuan wallets have been created thus far, and $5.4 billion or 35.5 billion yuan has been settled on the e-CNY network. In addition to the growth of wallets and the settlement seen on the CBDC network, the progress report notes that the digital yuan protocol has built-in programmability. The working group’s study alludes to the use of smart contracts and decision-based transactions. “[The] e-CNY obtains programmability from deploying smart contracts that don’t impair its monetary functions. Under the premise of security and compliance, this feature enables self-executing payments according to predefined conditions or terms agreed between two sides, so as to facilitate business model innovation.” the white paper highlights. Anonymity for Small Value and Traceable for High Value Meanwhile, the digital yuan also supports interoperability with traditional electronic payment systems. The paper further details that in addition to the 20 million digital yuan wallets, 3.5 business wallets have also been deployed. The white paper explains that the digital yuan is “non-interest accrual,” which means it is simply a substitute for the monetary supply that “carries and pays no interest.” The paper also touches upon anonymity and privacy and highlights that the network has some elements of privacy, but it also guards against illegal financial activities. “[The] e-CNY follows the principle of ‘anonymity for small value and traceable for high value,’ and attaches great importance to protecting personal information and privacy,” the white paper notes. “It aims to meet the public demand for anonymous small value payment services based on the risk features and information processing logic of [the] current electronic payment system.” The PBOC’s digital currency progress report adds: Meanwhile, it is necessary to guard against the misuse of e-CNY in illegal and criminal activities, such as tele-fraud, Internet gambling, money laundering, and tax evasion by making sure that transactions comply with AML/CFT requirements. What do you think about the e-CNY and the PBOC’s recently published white paper? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Position Exchange’s Team is pleased to announce the launch of its new Decentralized Trading & Exchange Community driven platform. What is Position Exchange? Position Exchange is the new Decentralized Trading & Exchange platform, powered by a virtual Automated Market Maker (vAMM) and operating on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), aiming to bridge the gap between people and the cryptocurrency markets and enhance trading experiences. The platform is designed to deliver all the advantages of Decentralized Finance whilst bringing the traditional Centralized Finance experience and tools onboard. Position Exchange offers easy and accessible on-chain Derivatives trading with high leverage, low slippage and low costs on Crypto assets and much more to come. “Our Vision is to build the most decentralized and community driven platform in the DeFi industry, where every single user plays an important part of the decisional process by having an effective role in defining and shaping Position Exchange and its future development.” The Main Features The core features of Position exchange consists of on-chain Derivatives trading on Crypto assets as a start (with a plan to expand into other assets in the future), NFTs, Staking, Farming as well as a Build feature offering easy and fast built on-top API creation. Trading derivatives on Defi with a focus on Futures contracts Staking POSI tokens into Pools and generating rewards Farming that allows Liquidity Providers to earn rewards by facilitating transactions Introducing POSI NFTs as a new feature with a process encouraging the community to hold tokens and maintain its stability DAO and API building allowing a strong participation of the community on the future development of Position Exchange A Token for the community: POSI POSI is Position Exchange’s native BEP20 token empowering its ecosystem. The POSI token is a hyper-deflationary token. Position Exchange’s team will implement several mechanisms to maintain the price of POSI stable and guarantee its long-term sustainability such as Token buyback & burn, Anti-whale, Emission rate control, and a Harvest lock-up period (when staking is open) “Position Exchange is implementing a Buyback & Burn mechanism using the total amount of fees generated from the Trading platform to Buy Back & Burn the POSI Token. This strategy will allow us along with our community to control the number of POSI in circulation and maintain the stability of its value in the long term.” This is truly a community-driven project and its success depends on each member of the community. We are implementing RFI technology, which allows holders to share a 1% fee on all transactions just by holding the tokens in their wallets. So that being said, HODLing is what you need to do. Token distribution: The Total supply of POSI tokens will be set at 100,000,000 tokens 1% will be dedicated for the Airdrop 5% for the whitelist sale 4% for the liquidity which will be added at $1 per POSI 80% For the Community: The vast majority of the POSI tokens will be dedicated to the community through staking and farming rewards. This is one of the highest shares addressed to the community in the similar existing protocols! 10% Team and Advisors: The tokens will NOT be available to the team immediately but will rather be minted over time. Position Exchange’s team will retain a position of 10% of any new minted token ensuring a community driven and fair launch. You can find more information about the Position Exchange protocol and the POSI token in the Whitepaper. Stay informed with news and content via the Telegram Announcement channel. Website: position.exchange WhitePaper: https://position.exchange/whitepaper.pdf Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PositionExchange Medium: https://positionex.medium.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/PositionEx Telegram: https://t.me/PositionExchange TG Channel: https://t.me/PositionAnn Github: https://github.com/PositionExchange “By the Community — For the Community — Don’t trust us, Read the code!” 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

Over the last few weeks, cryptocurrency markets have fallen in value as most of these assets reached all-time price highs three months ago. Despite the price drops, 2021 has still been an explosive year for crypto gains and fiat-pegged stablecoins have grown massively as well. 53 days ago, the entire capitalization of fiat stablecoins crossed the $100 billion mark, and the stablecoin market valuation continues to grow, swelling 13% since the end of May. Stablecoin Market Valuation Grows by 13% in 30 Days, Tether Issuance Slows Stablecoins have made their mark in the crypto economy over the last five years as these fiat-pegged tokens have grown immensely during that time period. While digital currency markets have dipped in value, the use of stablecoins has remained frothy and today the market capitalization of all the stablecoins in existence is $113 billion. Of course, tether (USDT) is the largest stablecoin in terms of market valuation and the amount of transactions the stablecoin network processes daily. At the time of writing, the market capitalization of tether (USDT) is $62 billion and USDT’s overall valuation is 4.94% of the entire market valuation of all the crypto coins in existence. Top ten stablecoins by market valuation on Friday, July 16, 2021. Coingecko statistics show tether commands $43.5 billion in global swaps on Friday, but messari.io data shows “real volume” is around $12.51 billion. Either way you look at it, tether has more volume than BTC and ETH markets combined. Tether captures more than 62% of today’s BTC trades and 51.4% of ETH trades on Friday. BUSD commands 4.5% of today’s BTC trades and 7.9% of ETH swaps on Friday as well. Moreover, most of the BTC and ETH trades are swapped for tether (USDT) as BTC statistics show USDT captures 62.48% of today’s share of trades. The stablecoin BUSD, issued by Binance, captures 4.61% of bitcoin (BTC) swaps and is just under the U.S. dollar as BTC’s third-largest trading pair, according to cryptocompare.com data. Tether was growing exponentially from July 2020 up until June 2021, when issuing tethers started to slow down at $61.7 billion. At the start of June, usd coin (USDC) went from $22 billion to mid-July’s $26.5 billion market capitalization. 6 Stablecoins Saw Double and Triple-Digit Growth Last Month At the start of June, the Binance stablecoin BUSD’s valuation went from $8.72 billion to $11.25 billion. In fact, most of the last 30 days of stablecoin growth can be attributed to non-tether stablecoins like USDC, BUSD, DAI, PAX, TUSD, HUSD, GUSD, and LUSD. Stablecoin market valuation on Friday, July 16, 2021. Out of all the well known fiat-pegged tokens, GUSD saw the largest 30-day growth, gaining 56.7%, and the synthetix.io stablecoin SUSD has seen 37.7% growth during the last month. BUSD grew by double digits adding 18.9% in 30 days and usd coin (USDC) rose 10.7% in that time span. Three relatively unknown stablecoins saw very large supply increases. The stablecoin defi dollar (DUSD) increased by 257.5% last month, and it was followed by empty set dollar (ESD) which jumped 129%, and frax (FRAX) which increased by over 98%. Statistics from Coingecko show that combined, the dozens of stablecoins in existence today command $49.5 billion out of Friday’s $82.9 billion in crypto trades worldwide. What do you think about the growth of stablecoins over the last 30 days? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million “for information on foreign malicious cyber activity against U.S. critical infrastructure.” The department further said that “Reward payments may include payments in cryptocurrency.” The U.S. Department of State announced Thursday that its Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is offering a reward of up to $10 million “for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, participates in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).” Rewards for Justice is the State Department’s counterterrorism rewards program established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism. The bureau is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service. “RFJ’s goal is to bring international terrorists to justice and prevent acts of international terrorism against U.S. persons or property,” its website describes. The announcement further reveals that the Rewards for Justice program has paid more than $200 million to more than 100 people across the globe since its inception. The program “has set up a Dark Web (Tor-based) tips-reporting channel to protect the safety and security of potential sources,” the Department of State noted. The announcement adds that the Rewards for Justice is also “working with interagency partners to enable the rapid processing of information as well as the possible relocation of and payment of rewards to sources.” Moreover, the department stated: Reward payments may include payments in cryptocurrency. What do you think about the U.S. government offering to pay in cryptocurrency for information under the Rewards for Justice program? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article