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As part of an initiative that seeks to build the crypto and blockchain space talent base, the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO1), a community-led protocol, will be holding a major collaborative computer programming or a hackathon. Organizers are hoping this event will help to create a buzz about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. To understand more about the hackathon, Bitcoin.com News’ columnist Terence Zimwara reached out to Leo Gordon, the Chief Strategist at DAO1. Below are Gordon’s responses to a set of written questions. Terence Zimwara (TZ): Could you start by explaining what the DAO1 Hackathon is all about? Leo Gordon (LG): The DAO1 hackathon is an initiative to promote innovation in the crypto space. We encourage the community to submit their next big product ideas and even work on them, while we provide them with the necessary resources to turn such ideas into reality. The DAO1 hackathon is more of an outreach program with incentives for participants. They will be able to put their idea to the test by creating a proof of concept and submitting this for evaluation. These submissions will be reviewed by experts who will also provide valuable feedback that would go a long way in helping the participants develop a more viable product in the future. The best entries will receive rewards and the Hackathon panel will extend an offer to eligible participants to join the DAO1 incubator program. TZ: What sort of rewards are you going to give to applicants with the best entries? LG: The participants with the top three entries will all be enrolled in the first DAO1 Incubation program. The Top 3 winning projects will also receive the following: Sponsorship for the project expert technical, and non-technical mentorship financing for the seed round assistance for launching in the market on a launchpad – terms & conditions apply TZ: When is this hackathon? LG: This first edition of the DAO1 Community hackathon will run from June 18 to July 2, 2021. TZ: Who is eligible to participate in this hackathon? LG: The entire crypto and tech community. Anyone who thinks they have an innovative idea that could solve real-world challenges using blockchain technology. And yes, there should be at least one person in a team with enough tech skills to build the product, or at least the PoC. However, we are encouraging African Devs to get involved in the Hackathon. TZ: Why are you encouraging more African Devs to come on board? LG: We strongly believe that Africa is underrepresented within the Blockchain space, and for this reason, we are using our platform to enable more developers from the continent to get involved in the space. In addition, our platform will play its part in encouraging African devs to build blockchain solutions to local problems. TZ: As you already know, many hackathons have been held in the past. So tell us, what is it you want to achieve with this particular hackathon? LG: We are aiming to foster innovation in the blockchain sector by encouraging projects with real-world applications. We think it is high time we bridged the gap between decentralized and traditional solutions and the hackathon is one way to find people with ideas to do just that. The hackathon is just the stepping stone for our incubator program. Crypto startups and venture funds and even future partnerships with other industry players will provide the necessary support for the select few to turn their idea into a full-fledged business. TZ: Should we expect more of this from DAO1 in the future? LG: Yes, DAO1 will frequently conduct hackathons. While the initial events are of the online format, once the pandemic recedes we will be holding these events in different locations, in the real physical world. What do you think of this DAO1 hackathon? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

As the decentralized finance movement proves its staying power and resilience, one of the world’s largest decentralized autonomous organizations, Bitdao, has concluded a private fundraising round to promote mass adoption of open finance. DAO to Allocate Capital Towards Improving Defi R&D, Funding, & Liquidity As decentralized finance (defi) slowly regains its footing following the May decline in total value locked, there is no shortage of investment capital chasing after the idea’s tremendous potential. Bitdao, a decentralized autonomous organization focused on defi, is launching following the successful conclusion of a $230 million private funding round. The private capital raise featured participation from more than 20 institutions and defi partners, including hedge fund manager Alan Howard, well-known entrepreneur Peter Thiel, Dragonfly Capital, Fenbushi, Founders Fund, Jump Capital, Pantera Capital, and Spartan Group, among others. To resolve the Bitcoin network’s persistent throughput issues and Ethereum’s high transaction cost, Bitdao’s multichain design intends to unseat existing centralized pegged tokens that pose censorship and counterparty risks through a fast and affordable decentralized solution. The organization’s native BDAO governance and defi token is pegged to the value of bitcoin, with plans to introduce other pegs in the future for coins like ethereum. The fresh capital will be allocated to multiple areas of operation, including research and development, funding, and liquidity operations. Attracting developer talent is one of the primary aims of this initiative, and capital will also be distributed as grants and token swaps to support blockchain technologies. In addition, contributions to the Bitdao treasury will be used to back partners, add liquidity, and help bootstrap new protocols in decentralized exchange (dex) platforms, lending, and synthetics. Besides this funding, Bybit, one of Bitdao’s ardent supporters, has pledged 2.5 basis points from all futures contracts transaction volume on its platform in recurring support to the treasury. Based on the platform’s 2021’s transaction volumes, this figure could reach $1 billion annually, helping underpin Bitdao’s mission of improving adoption, collaboration, and innovation within decentralized finance as inclusively as possible. What do you think about Bitdao raising $230 million? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Beijing-based ASIC mining rig manufacturer Canaan announced the sale of 10,000 bitcoin mining machines to the firm Genesis Digital Assets Limited. Canaan plans to deliver the 10,000 A1246 and A1166 Pro Avalonminers by the end of the month. Canaan to Deliver 10,000 Bitcoin Miners to Genesis Digital Assets The company Canaan (Nasdaq: CAN) has been making lots of business moves in 2021, as the ASIC mining rig manufacturer believes it will see around $250 million in revenue at the end of the second quarter. The larger share of expected revenue is due to a number of mining rig orders placed in 2021 from a variety of companies purchasing thousands of Avalonminers. On Wednesday, the firm announced that Genesis Digital Assets had settled a purchase order for 10,000 A1246 and A1166 Pro Avalonminers. According to Canaan, the mining rig shipment to Genesis Digital Assets will be delivered in full by June 30, 2021. Both companies have an existing relationship as Canaan sold $93 million worth of next-generation bitcoin miners to the company at the end of April. “We are excited to continue our strategic partnership with Canaan to support these plans,” the cofounder and executive chairman Abdumalik Mirakhmedov of Genesis Digital Assets, commented on Wednesday. Mirakhmedov further added: Our strategy has always been to grow faster than the rest of the market. Achieving this requires building and launching new data centers, expanding the capacities of our existing facilities, and installing first-class hardware. Our recent purchase orders for Canaan’s Avalon Miners will help us to increase our hash rate by a minimum of twofold over the upcoming months. Genesis Digital Assets was launched in 2013 and claims to have mined “over US$1 billion in bitcoin” since then. “As of June 2021, Genesis Digital Assets’ data center capacity was more than 140MW, translating into a total hashrate in excess of 2.1 EH/s, which is more than 1.4% of the total Bitcoin network hashrate,” the company’s disclosure notes. Canaan has been revealing orders all year long with companies like Mawson Infrastructure Group and Hive Blockchain. The Beijing-based ASIC mining rig manufacturer also launched a new submerged liquid-cooled bitcoin miner this year called the Avalonminer A1066I. In recent times, since the bitcoin mining crackdown in China, Canaan disclosed that the company was developing an ASIC mining rig service in Kazakhstan. Other top bitcoin mining rig producers like Microbt and Bitmain have been seeing thousands of rigs being ordered as well this year. What do you think about Canaan selling Genesis Digital Assets 10,000 bitcoin miners? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Crypto trading platforms in South Korea are delisting certain digital currencies as they move to comply with stricter rules for the industry. The trading of some high-risk coins has been either halted or completely suspended on several Korean exchanges this week. South Korean Exchanges Wipe Trading Lists of Risky Digital Assets Trying to meet Seoul’s tougher new rules for the cryptocurrency sector, Korean exchanges are now purging their trading lists of high-risk assets. According to a report by Arirang, a number of crypto trading platforms have temporarily halted or ended the exchange of some digital coins, while warning customers to be cautious of other currencies. Out of 20 exchanges that have already obtained Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification, 11 have made such changes, the publication reveled. Among them are some of Korea’s leading crypto exchange providers, with observes reading the move as an attempt to meet new requirements for government approval. Upbit has so far decided to delist five digital currencies – paycoin, maro, observer, solve.care, and quiztok starting from Friday. Huobi Korea has discontinued trading of the Huobi token. And Coinbit has ended the trading of eight cryptocurrencies while putting another 28 coins on a warning list issued for its users. Cryptocurrency Exchanges Trying to Please Banks and Regulators in Seoul South Korean crypto exchanges are now required to register with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). In May, the government tasked the agency with the oversight of the country’s expanding digital asset market. To operate legally, the trading platforms need to open real-name bank accounts for their customers in partnership with local banks. However, Korean financial institutions have been reluctant to get involved in the crypto space. It has been reported recently that only four crypto exchanges – Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit – are currently working with commercial banks to implement the real-name account system. Major banking groups such as Hana have decided not to issue real-name accounts for crypto trading. K Bank, which opens accounts for crypto traders on Upbit, has expressed doubts about whether it should continue to do that. Its management is weighing up the proceeds from trading fees against risks such as hacking threats and illicit funds. In April, the Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) warned that around 200 domestic platforms could be shut down under the new regulations that must be enforced in September. Many smaller exchanges are failing to meet the registration requirements as banks remain concerned they could be held liable for money laundering offenses related to cryptocurrency transactions. What do you think about the delisting of high-risk coins by crypto exchanges in South Korea? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The latest Bank of America’s Global Fund Manager Survey shows that “long bitcoin” is now the second most crowded trade. Moreover, most fund managers believe bitcoin is in a bubble and agree with the Fed that inflation is transitory. Bank of America’s June Fund Manager Survey Bank of America (BofA) released its June Global Fund Manager Survey this week. The survey, conducted between June 4-10, covers 224 fund managers with $667 billion under management. The fund managers were asked about many issues of concern to investors, ranging from where the economy and markets are heading to how much cash portfolio managers are holding and which trades they see as most overdone. “Long commodities” is now the most crowded trade, overtaking “long bitcoin” which is now the second most crowded trade. The third most crowded trade is “long tech stock,” followed by “long ESG,” “short U.S. Treasuries,” and “long euro.” Despite the BTC price pullback, 81% of the fund managers surveyed still think that bitcoin is in a bubble. This is a slight increase from May when 75% of the fund managers surveyed said bitcoin was in a bubble zone. Bank of America itself has also warned about the cryptocurrency being in a bubble. The bank’s chief investment strategist said in January bitcoin was “the mother of all bubbles.” Meanwhile, 72% of fund managers say that inflation is transitory, agreeing with what the Fed has been saying. However, 23% think inflation is permanent. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has used the word “transitory” to describe the threat of inflation to the U.S. economy several times. Nonetheless, a number of people have indicated that they disagree with him, including famed hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. What do you think about this Bank of America Fund Manager survey? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), which has 15 member countries, will help El Salvador implement bitcoin as legal tender. The CABEI president has expressed his support. “We’re very optimistic,” he said. Central American Bank for Economic Integration Supports El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law The head of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) expressed his support for El Salvador’s bitcoin law Monday. CABEI Executive President Dante Mossi said that the bank will give El Salvador technical assistance to implement bitcoin as legal tender. Last week, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass a law making the cryptocurrency legal tender. The CABEI has 15 member countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Belize, Mexico, Republic of China (Taiwan), Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Cuba, and Korea. The bank’s objective is to “promote the economic integration and the balanced economic and social development of the Central American region,” its website details. Mossi said his organization will work with El Salvador’s finance ministry and central bank to select a team to work on the implementation, Reuters reported. Mossi believes that the move to make bitcoin legal tender would offer many benefits to people in El Salvador. For example, it would lower the cost of remittances for relatives of Salvadorans living abroad, he explained, adding: We’re very optimistic. The CABEI executive president also called on El Salvador’s government to develop a regulatory framework for bitcoin in order to prevent “bad actors” from taking advantage of the system’s anonymity, the publication conveyed. Following El Salvador’s move to make bitcoin legal tender, lawmakers in a number of Latin American countries have expressed their interest in bitcoin. The countries include Paraguay, Argentina, Panama, Brazil, and Mexico. Moreover, Tonga and Tanzania have also reportedly expressed interest in bitcoin. Do you think other CABEI member countries will follow El Salvador’s lead and make bitcoin legal tender? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The CEO of General Motors (GM), America’s largest automaker, says that nothing precludes her company from accepting bitcoin if there is consumer demand for it. “Certainly, we want to make the whole buying and ownership experience as easy as possible,” said the GM chief executive. GM Will Accept Bitcoin if There’s Demand, CEO Indicates Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors (NYSE: GM), talked about the prospect of the largest automaker in the U.S. accepting bitcoin in an interview with CNBC Wednesday. Referencing Tesla CEO Elon Musk stating last week that his electric car company may start accepting BTC again, Barra was asked whether GM will be accepting the cryptocurrency for payments. She replied: There’s nothing that precludes us from doing that. We will be driven by our customers. Certainly, we want to make the whole buying and ownership experience as easy as possible. We will follow their lead. When Tesla announced in February that it would accept bitcoin for payments, the GM CEO said that her company was not interested in doing the same. However, in an earnings call at the end of March, Barra softened her stance on BTC and said the company would consider accepting the cryptocurrency “if there’s strong consumer demand.” She confirmed Wednesday that her company’s position on bitcoin has not changed. Meanwhile, Musk said this week that Tesla will resume accepting bitcoin “When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend.” Do you think General Motors will soon accept bitcoin for payments? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday told the public that it has forwarded the time frame for raising interest rates. “Progress on vaccinations will likely continue to reduce the effects of the public health crisis on the economy, but risks to the economic outlook remain,” the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a statement. The Meeting Before the ‘Meeting’ – Fed Expects Two Rate Hikes in 2023 After a number of market players waited for the Federal Reserve to reveal some signals, they got some on June 16, when 13 of the FOMC’s 18 committee members projected a rate hike by the end of 2023. “You can think of this meeting that we had as the ‘talking about talking about’ meeting,” the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell noted on Wednesday. The ‘meeting’ Powell refers to is the one where the FOMC raises interest rates after keeping rates suppressed at zero. The so-called plot of individual member interest rate expectations, shows a possibility of two interest rate hikes in 2023. The Fed believes that at the end of 2021, the unemployment rate will be around 4.5%. FOMC press conference: Not a single question by the media about record and expanding wealth inequality, asset bubbles, speculative behavior, or the homeless camp. — Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) June 16, 2021 “The problem now is that demand is very strong, incomes are high, people have money in the bank accounts. Demand for goods is extremely high, and it hasn’t come down,” Powell explained on Wednesday. “But in terms of over-correcting, there is a possibility on the other side of this that inflation could actually be quite low going forward. But that is not where our focus is right now.” At the post-meeting news conference, Powell discussed inflation. “Our expectation is these high inflation readings now will abate,” Powell stressed to the press. The post-meeting statements from the Fed saw the inflation expectation rise to 3.4%. “We don’t in any way dismiss the chance that it can work out that this goes on longer than expected, and the risk would be that over time, it does begin to affect inflation expectations,” Powell remarked. “We’re on path to a very strong labor market,” Powell also said at the post-meeting news conference. The Dow Jones Industrial Average or Dow fell 260 points on Wednesday after the Fed’s rate hike signals. “With respect to inflation it’s the factors that have restrained it over the past 25 years, and which Powell expects to continue to restrain it in the future that are transitory,” Economist and gold bug, Peter Schiff, wrote on Wednesday following the FOMC meeting. “After years of reckless Fed monetary policy the inflation chickens are finally coming home to roost,” Schiff added. The Fed has ignored all the urging to slow down purchases,” said the northmantrader.com founder, Sven Henrich, after the Fed’s committee meeting. “Powell cut the rug from under any dissenters on the committee, is insisting on printing more than during the depth of the GFC w/ the hottest economy in 50 yrs, inflationary pressures & the largest asset bubble in history.” “This is not what the market expected,” James McCann, deputy chief economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments explained in an interview with CNBC. “The Fed is now signaling that rates will need to rise sooner and faster, with their forecast suggesting two hikes in 2023. This change in stance jars a little with the Fed’s recent claims that the recent spike in inflation is temporary.” What do you think about the Fed explaining it may raise interest rates twice in 2023 and expects higher inflation levels? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Ever since El Salvador passed a bill that was approved by a supermajority in the Salvadoran Congress legalizing bitcoin as legal tender in the nation, the country has remained in the spotlight. Furthermore, there’s an area in El Salvador called “Bitcoin Beach” with a small group of beach villagers that are attempting to leverage bitcoin on a daily basis. El Zonte Beach Town and Surfer Village Attempts to Create a Bitcoin Circular Economy in El Salvador In a region located about 50 miles from the Litoral highway, there’s a small village and a lively surfer community situated in Playa El Zonte beach. After El Salvador legalized bitcoin as a form of tender in the country, this beach village area started gaining lots of attention. Not only will you find a number of hotels, hostels, and local eateries for surfers and backpackers, Playa El Zonte also has a bustling bitcoin community. The community or village calls itself “Bitcoin Beach” and people can follow the residents on Twitter. Photo credit @Bitcoinbeach on Twitter. The Bitcoin Beach residents were recently featured in a Reuters editorial published two days ago. A few residents of Bitcoin Beach discussed what was happening in the region ever since El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender. The story highlights that Bitcoin Beach members aim to make the beach town “one of the world’s first bitcoin economies.” The reporter discusses the area with Take Zulma Rivas, a 38-year-old mother who accepts BTC payments for fruit. Photo credit @Bitcoinbeach on Twitter. According to Bitcoin Beach residents, the BTC-fueled town was first invoked by an anonymous BTC donor and a San-Diego native Michael Peterson. The mission is to create a BTC circular economy that involves every aspect of the village’s economy. Entrepreneurs and Foreign Businesses Flock to Bitcoin Beach Furthermore, Bitcoin Beach has pushed the idea to Punta Mango, another region located three hours away from Playa El Zonte. Since bitcoin became legal tender in El Salvador, the village is seeing widespread appeal. It seems a great number of bitcoiners want to reside in the region and set up businesses in the bitcoin-friendly country. The country of El Salvador gets all the attention as being the first country to adopt #bitcoin, but it’s important to know that there is a small team, in a small village, that sparked all this. Those people don’t get the recognition they deserve. This thread brings more context. pic.twitter.com/EFniGvJPaW — Nicolas Burtey 🇸🇻⚡️ (@nicolasburtey) June 13, 2021 The Bitcoin Beach resident’s official Twitter account has amassed more than 27,000 followers since its introduction in 2019. The account grew massively following El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele officially announcing the legal tender plans. The Twitter account shows all the action that’s been taking place in Playa El Zonte since then. “Bitcoin Beach team working late to produce educational material for 6 million future Bitcoiners,” the Twitter account tweeted on Wednesday sharing a number of pictures of the progress. According to the residents of the village, a great number of entrepreneurs are showing up to the beach to visit or help the bitcoin economy flourish. “If you just randomly showed up in El Salvador this week you would definitely think there was a huge bitcoin conference going on,” Bitcoin Beach said. The Twitter handle added: Non-stop flow through the airport of company leaders looking to support this moment and bring jobs to El Salvador. 30 foreign business leaders coming to visit Bitcoin Beach tomorrow -to see how they can invest in El Salvador. Just this morning had 2 companies tell us they already have lawyers setting up their legal business entities. [El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele] has opened the jobs floodgates #bitcoin. The residents of Bitcoin Beach have shared a myriad of photographs covering the work that’s been done so far in the area. “Desks have all filled up at Hope House Bitcoin Beach shared workspace with bitcoin companies streaming into El Salvador – So of course we are building more space,” the group stressed the other day. “Crazy Days here at Bitcoin Beach We are thrilled and humbled by the number of companies and governmental agencies that are putting everything into plans to support the rollout of Bitcoin as an official currency of El Salvador,” the Bitcoin Beach group further said. What do you think about the Bitcoin Beach community located at Playa El Zonte in El Salvador? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Swiss company TRES Group GmbH is launching an exciting and innovative program aiming at adding a solution to the Climate Change challenge. For several months, the FOSTER project has been under development, which aims to mass plant trees around the world for the benefit of increasing carbon dioxide absorption using blockchain technology. Climate the Change is an existential threat requiring participation by all to find and implement solutions to stay below 1.5 degree centigrade global warming. Nature Based Solutions are one form of alleviating CO2 emissions. Forestation and reforestation are a very effective way of creating an offset of CO2 emissions generated by fossil fuels utilization. Trees absorb CO2 and hence reducing the CO2 emissions, essentially the main reason for global warming, in the atmosphere. The world is going through “Energy Transition” gradually moving away from coal and fossil fuels to renewable energies. However, that this transition is a long journey and use of fossil fuels in several sectors such as aviation and heavy transportation cannot stop overnight. Nature Based Solutions can provide offsets. Individuals started to develop a personal awareness about their own Carbon footprint in their daily lives and would, if that was possible, adopt solutions where they see a direct link between their action and its impact. Foster intends to use blockchain technology to enable ownership of trees through tokens. Each token will represent a tree! FOSTER takes control of all processes, from the purchase of land, its preparation for tree planting to certification and the trading of CO2 credits on international sites. Absolutely anyone can become a participant in solving the global problem of our time and make a contribution by purchasing FOSTER tokens, which will act as a guarantor of the planted tree in one of the 6 countries selected by the company. FOSTER’s profits will be generated from the development of biomass and trade of CO2 credits. The local communities, who were until now threatening the survival of forests by cattle raising or farming, would now generate alternative economic revenues through the sustainability of the forests valued by tokenized trees ownership and generation of CO2 credits. There will be three main elements in the FOSTER ecosystem: 1) Main token – FOSTER. The total supply of 8.000.000.000 tokens. 20% – 1.600.000.000 FOSTER is allocated for sale. This is a utility token of the company and is aimed at its development, purchase of land, marketing, advertising, development, tokenization, and listing on exchanges, as well as other important components for the successful implementation of the FOSTER project. The 1st round of selling FOSTER tokens for a total amount of 405.000 USDT at $0.00125 for 1 FOSTER started on 11.06.21. Based on the data obtained, a relatively narrow circle of investors among which the 1st round of the Tokensale was held, there is a great demand in favor of the development of this project. You can say that the sample of investors is representative (covering different gender, income, and place of residence). Thus, The team believe that the interest from large investors and eventually the entire population of the planet as a whole will continue to grow exponentially because ecology and environmental protection are becoming an increasing focus of interest to absolutely every person. The first round of the project continues. For participation TRES Group recommends using the following algorithm of actions described in the instructions: https://forms.gle/DLJFQBTq4xKyAsLw5 The main element of investing in this project is the token of the Swiss company TRES. The TRES token is available for purchase on the UNISWAP decentralized exchange. Only if this token is available, it is possible to purchase FOSTER tokens during the Tokensale period. The next round is scheduled for November 2021 for a total of 900.000 USDT, with a total of 480.000.000 FOSTER sold. The last round of the Tokensale is scheduled for March 2022, where 800.000.000 FOSTER will be sold at $0.0125 for 1 FOSTER. 2) The TREE token is a utility token of the company, intended for planting, cultivating, and caring for the tree. 1 TREE = 1 tree. This token will be available for purchase exclusively on the FOSTER portal. After statistical calculations, registration of the company, purchase of land, and data generation, the price for 1 TREE token will be determined and declared, which will be formed based on the following components: 50% – purchase of new land, planting, care for 7 years, salaries of service personnel, and taxes. 30% – partner program. 20% – quarterly profit from the sale of TREE tokens, intended for all FOSTER token holders. 3) O2PLUS are utility tokens that do not have a limited issue. The issue of these tokens will be based on the issued international certificates for CO2 Credits generated By Foster reforestation activities. These certificates will be tokenized and placed on exchanges in the form of O2PLUS tokens. Income from the sale of O2PLUS tokens will be distributed to all TREE token holders. “The atmosphere is one and it has no boundaries, no matter where you planted a tree in New Zealand, Colombia, Paraguay or Alaska — you are already positively impacting our own global atmosphere.” — TRES Group GmbH. In addition, trees not only purify our air and help fight global warming, but also contribute to biological diversity. A study conducted in Costa Rica found that planting a single tree can increase the number of bird species from almost none to 80. The team believes that every person on the planet who breathes air should invest in at least 1 tree for the benefit of the future generation and the survival of planet earth as you knew it so far. FOSTER was born from the passion of several people sharing similar values but bringing in diverse skills and experiences. Mounir Bouaziz, FOSTER President (former Shell Vice President): “I worked for Shell for 30 years and learned a lot about sustainability, Energy Transition and Global Warming challenges. For the next 30 years, I want to focus on Nature Based Solutions leveraging my international and diverse experience”. Anton Katin, Board Member, CEO at SIMBA Storage: “We are all first and foremost citizens of the planet Earth. I believe that by joining the efforts of all mankind, thanks to the technologies that we have today, we can leave the Earth clean and comfortable for our children. My planet deserves another chance.” Alex Liakhovnenko, Board Member, CEO at TRES Group GmbH: “Blockchain technology removes borders and allows everyone to contribute to make our planet a better place.” Join the project and make the world around you a better place. You can find out the details of participation in the current round by mail: zug@tres.swiss This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. 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Fresh off the heels of announcing a non-fungible token (NFT) organization called Blockchain Creative Labs and a blockchain-based animated series, Fox Broadcasting Company has revealed it’s invoked a $100 million fund with Bento Box Entertainment (BBE) that aims to bolster NFT content creators. Fox and Bento Box to Fuel NFT Ecosystem With a $100 Million Fund On June 15, the New York-based television network and entertainment firm Fox revealed a $100 million fund that aims to help further NFT creators and the industry. Fox and its subsidiary Bento Box Entertainment (best-known for producing the show “Bob’s Burgers”) have explained that the companies are working with Blockchain Creative Labs to further the venture. The $100 million fund news follows the introduction of Blockchain Creative Labs revealed in mid-May. BBE was founded by Scott Greenberg, Joel Kuwahara, and Mark McJimsey and was acquired by Fox in 2019. The two firms believe the new venture will help innovate and mold the blockchain-based NFT ecosystem that has seen massive growth during the last 12 months. BBE’s cofounder and CEO, Scott Greenberg detailed on Tuesday: Fox and Bento Box are uniquely situated to bring exciting offerings to the digital goods, token, and NFT marketplace. Fox Entertainment CEO, Charlie Collier, detailed during the announcement that BBE’s use of blockchain improves upon the company’s craft. “[Blockchain technology has bolstered a] new marketplace that is a natural extension of Bento Box’s talents, one that allows the team to support, elevate and reward innovators and artists in new and creatively exciting ways,” Collier said on Tuesday. Collier added: Our new company, Blockchain Creative Labs, also under Scott and Bento Box, will help shape and grow the fast-evolving world of creatively-led digital goods and tokens. Fox and BBE alongside the recently invoked Blockchain Creative Labs, have yet to announce any product launch dates or reveal when the blockchain-based animated series crafted by Dan Harmon called “Krapopolis” will air. Greenberg explained that BBE team will always be “entrepreneurs at our core” and said that the company has had “longstanding relationships within the creative community.” “BBE will harness this technology to bridge together brands and producers with fans in new and interesting ways, and we’re looking forward to seizing this opportunity,” Greenberg further remarked. Fox aims to show the world its tokens and NFTs in the future and noted during the last announcement that an NFT marketplace was also being constructed. What do you think about the entertainment firm Fox revealing a $100 million fund toward NFTs and fueling Blockchain Creative Labs? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released its regulatory agenda which does not mention bitcoin or cryptocurrency regulation. Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies Not on SEC’s Latest Regulatory Agenda The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the Biden administration’s Spring 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions last week. It details “the actions administrative agencies plan to issue in the near and long term,” which provides “important public notice and transparency about proposed regulatory and deregulatory actions within the Executive Branch,” the accompanying announcement explains. Included in the agenda is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s “annual regulatory agenda,” the agency independently announced, clarifying: The report, which includes contributions related to the Securities and Exchange Commission, lists short- and long-term regulatory actions that administrative agencies plan to take. Some of the items the SEC will consider include disclosures relating to climate risk, corporate board diversity, and beneficial ownership and swaps. The SEC will also focus on rules relating to SPACs and short sale disclosure reform. The full list can be found here. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler commented: “To meet our mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation, the SEC has a lot of regulatory work ahead of us. I look forward to collaborating with my fellow commissioners and the dedicated staff to propose and finalize rules that will strengthen our markets, increase transparency, and safeguard investors.” While bitcoin and cryptocurrency are not on the SEC’s regulatory agenda this year, Gensler has been talking about the need to protect investors and regulate cryptocurrency exchanges. Last month, the chairman urged Congress to pass cryptocurrency legislation to protect investors, adding that cryptocurrency exchanges needed more regulation. In addition, the SEC cautioned investors about funds trading in bitcoin futures last week. So far, the agency has brought 75 crypto-related enforcement actions. Meanwhile, a growing number of companies are seeking approval to trade bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Do you think the SEC will either approve a bitcoin ETF or impose new crypto rules this year? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

American venture capital investor Tim Draper still believes in a bitcoin price prediction he made in mid-April 2018, at the Draper University blockchain party. At the time, Draper said that he thinks bitcoin could reach $250K by 2022, and during an interview with CNBC’s Jade Scipioni this week, Draper reiterated his six-digit bitcoin price forecast. Tim Draper Envisions Six-Digit Bitcoin Prices by Next Year Tim Draper, the venture capitalist who has his hands in a myriad of blockchain and crypto companies, discussed his bitcoin (BTC) price prediction with CNBC this week. Draper is well known in the crypto community as he has founded a number of firms that work within the industry. He has also founded organizations like Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Draper University, Draper Venture Network, Draper Associates, and Draper Goren Holm. Draper is famous for purchasing thousands of bitcoin (BTC) in July 2014 from the U.S. Marshals Service auction that sold BTC stemming from the Silk Road marketplace. Back then, Draper predicted that BTC would reach $10K per coin and this prediction came to fruition. This made people begin to think of Draper as an oracle, and he was pressed for a new prediction when BTC came close to the $20K zone in 2017. Venture capitalist Tim Draper has doubled down on his $250K by 2022 bitcoin price prediction. In 2018, Draper said: “People ask me, ‘Are you going to sell your bitcoin [for fiat]?’ and I say, ‘Why would I sell the future for the past?’” After many reporters asked Draper his next bitcoin price forecast, he finally answered on Friday the 13th, April 2018. “Serious winds (of change) at our block(chain) party last night,” Draper explained to his followers on Twitter. “I predict $250K by 2022,” Draper added. Since then, as far as predictions are concerned, Draper stepped out of the limelight and many other investors have given their own bitcoin price predictions over the last three years. Now that BTC has tapped a new all-time-high above $64K per unit, Draper is once again standing behind his $250K prediction. While speaking with CNBC’s Jade Scipioni on the broadcast “CNBC Make It,” Draper said: I think I’m going to be right on this one. I’m either going to be really right or really wrong [but] I’m pretty sure that it’s going in that direction. Draper Speaks About Dogecoin and Elon Musk’s Critique of Bitcoin’s Energy Use Draper then explained that he thinks merchants will flock to support BTC within the next few years. “Give it about a year and a half and retailers will all be on Opennode, so everybody will accept bitcoin,” Draper stressed. “Then beyond that, I think [bitcoin] continues up because there are only 21 million of them,” the venture capitalist added. Tim Draper predicted bitcoin (BTC) would hit $250,000 by 2022 back in mid-April 2018 at a Draper University event. The executive also touched upon dogecoin (DOGE) during his interview and explained that there has to be something that makes the public like the dog token. “There must be something to dogecoin because it makes us all smile but no engineers are working on it,” Draper said. “Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising. I tend to focus on the ones where people are dedicating their lives to improving the currency.” Draper told CNBC he thinks bitcoin will be the center of financial activity worldwide for a long time and described BTC as one of the world’s tech giants. “[Bitcoin] is sort of like Microsoft [in] the software world or Amazon in the e-commerce world,” Draper remarked. Furthermore, before Draper made his prediction the venture capitalist spoke about Elon Musk and Tesla’s critique of Bitcoin’s energy use. He commended Musk for what he had previously accomplished but in terms of understanding bitcoin’s energy consumption, Draper thinks he’s wrong. “Elon, first of all, is one of the most brilliant men in the world…maybe the most brilliant, [but] he got this one wrong,” Draper said. What do you think about Tim Draper’s 2022 bitcoin price prediction? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey says there will be an element of “tough love” in regulating cryptocurrency. “What we cannot have is a world where innovation gets a free pass to ignore the public interest. The odds of such an approach not ending well are too high,” the governor said. Bank of England’s Bailey Wants to Regulate Crypto With ‘Tough Love’ Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey talked about cryptocurrency regulation Monday at the annual conference of financial trade body The City UK. He was quoted as saying: “We must, both domestically and working with international partners, ensure that we understand and respond to the public interest issues that arise here.” He said it will allow the Bank of England to protect financial stability while allowing innovation to happen “in a world where the public interest is well defined and protected.” Emphasizing, “What we cannot have is a world where innovation gets a free pass to ignore the public interest. The odds of such an approach not ending well are too high,” the governor detailed: There will inevitably be elements of tough love in such a process, and some disappointed ambitions, but I am confident that out of it will come a robust form of innovation. Governor Bailey has long been a critic of cryptocurrencies. Last month, he said cryptocurrencies are “dangerous,” reiterating that they “have no intrinsic value” and “Buy them only if you’re prepared to lose all your money.” He also talked about stablecoins, noting that they “have the potential to be systemic in terms of their importance for the financial system and its stability.” Bailey elaborated, “A key requirement will be to ensure that, unless the stablecoin is operating as a bank, the backing assets for stablecoins cover the outstanding coin issuance at all times.” Moreover, the governor of the Bank of England warned against using cryptocurrencies for payments, stating: They fluctuate in value substantially, which is why they’re on the whole not a good medium for making payments. Addressing the Bank of England’s work on a central bank digital currency (CBDC), he said the bank and the U.K. Treasury are weighing the potential of creating one. “We’re going to engage with users, the technology sector, to understand the potential for these things,” he said. What do you think about the comments by the Bank of England governor on bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Fighting to stop the value of the naira from dropping further, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) faces yet another problem: abuse of naira banknotes. According to the CBN’s Aladeen Badajo, the central bank is concerned with the rate at which Nigerians “mutilate, deface, squeeze and even spray and sell the naira notes.” He adds that as a result of this abuse, Nigeria is now spending more money on reprinting banknotes than it should. According to a report that quotes Badajo, an assistant director at the CBN’s Currency Operations Department, offenders now face possible jail time. Badajo elaborated: Abuse of the currency attracts a penalty of not less than six months or a fine of not less than $120 (N50,000) or both. The assistant director adds that instead of damaging the banknotes, “people [should] consider Nigeria’s currency as a symbol of national identity.” Meanwhile, Bitcoin.com News reached out to Nathanial Luz, a Nigerian “cryptocurrency thought leader” to understand why his countrymen continue to abuse the banknotes despite the CBN’s pleas and threats. According to Luz, Nigerians see the practice of spraying banknotes as some kind of celebration and the CBN is aware of this but has not been able to enforce a ban. Luz told Bitcoin.com News: Nigerians go as far as buying new banknotes at a premium of 70% just so they could spray the notes. So I could buy $10,000 worth of naira banknotes for between $15,000 and $17,000 just to spray the money. Nevertheless, Luz says he is certain that this practice has little to do with the naira’s continuing depreciation. Do you think the renewed threats by the CBN will end the Nigerian practice of spraying banknotes? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The decentralized exchange (dex) Dydx announced the organization has raised $65 million in a Series C funding round led by Paradigm. The Dydx announcement notes that the additional capital will be leveraged to “significantly improve liquidity” on the dex platform “through the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets.” Defi Exchange Dydx Raises $65 million from Strategic Investors On Tuesday, the Ethereum-based decentralized finance (defi) exchange Dydx revealed the project has raised $65 million in a Series C funding round. The round was led by Paradigm but funding also stemmed from a16z, Three Arrows Capital, Polychain Capital, and Wintermute. Liquidity providers and crypto VCs like Hashkey, Electric Capital, Delphi Digital, Sixtant, Menai Financial Group, MGNR, and Kronos Research also participated. In the announcement, Dydx also discussed the dex partner Starkware and how the two launched a Layer 2 protocol back in February for cross-margined perpetuals. This was due to a combination of the Starkex scalability engine and Dydx’s perpetual smart contracts. Dydx said that in five months, the dex obtained $40 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) from more than 13K unique addresses. The project launched 15 markets and the announcement says more will be “coming soon.” Top Ten Dex Platform Holds $188 Million TVL Today’s data shows Dydx is one of the top ten dex platforms according to Dune Analytics statistics. On Tuesday, the dex held the ninth position with $49,537,567 in weekly volume and $6.5 million during the last 24 hours. On Monday, Dydx had around $9 million worth of defi swaps. It holds less than 2% of the market share of $16 billion in global dex swaps as Uniswap commands 63% and Sushiswap captures 11.5%. Besides significantly improve liquidity, Dydx says the project aims to utilize the additional capital to: Decentralize the protocol Rapidly add new assets and features to the perpetuals contracts Launch a mobile application Partner with infrastructure players bridging the gap between centralized and decentralized finance Strategically invest in international growth markets such as Asia Continue to hire world-class engineers, designers, and business operators During the Series B funding round at the end of January, Dydx raised $10 million from Three Arrows, Defiance Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Polychain Capital. Today, according to defipulse.com stats, Dydx has a TVL of around $188 million and holds the 28th position among other dominant defi platforms. Fred Ehrsam, the cofounder and managing partner at Paradigm talked fondly of Dydx founder Antonio Juliano and said that the dex platform was loved by its users. “[Dydx] has built a simple, crypto native, and global exchange that users love. We’ve known Antonio since he left Coinbase years ago. He’s built a great team around him to support the company’s growth and future potential,” Ehrsam said on Tuesday. What do you think about the Ethereum dex platform Dydx raising $65 million from a number of investors? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Hedge funds are likely to significantly increase their crypto holdings, a global poll of chief financial officers has indicated. According to an average figure based on their forecasts, the funds will keep more than 7% of assets in cryptocurrency within the next five years. Hedge Fund CFOs Expect Sizable Increase in Crypto Investments The survey, conducted among 100 CFOs around the world, signals that the hedge funds are planning to markedly expand their exposure to cryptocurrencies by 2026. Reuters described the poll results as a major vote of confidence for digital assets, one that comes after the recent market decline and amid plans for stricter capital regulations. The executives believe their funds will hold 7.2% of all assets in cryptocurrency five years from now, or around $312 billion based on estimates for the size of the industry, fund administrator Intertrust detailed. And while this is the average forecast of the sample, 17% of the respondents shared higher expectations, stating that the hedge funds will probably manage more than 10% in crypto. Precise data about the sector’s current crypto holdings is not available right now but the report notes that several big names in the industry have already committed certain amounts to digital assets. Investments have been motivated by the rising cryptocurrency prices in the past year and “market inefficiencies that they can arbitrage,” the article elaborates. Hedge Funds Survey Indicates Growing Enthusiasm About Bitcoin While most traditional asset managers remain skeptical about cryptocurrencies, mainly citing their high volatility and uncertain future, the hedge fund survey shows a growing enthusiasm. According to David Miller, Executive Director at Quilter Cheviot Investment Management, hedge funds “are well aware not only of the risks but also the long-term potential” of crypto assets. Among those that have already invested in crypto includes firms like Man Group which trades bitcoin futures through its AHL unit and Renaissance Technologies which announced last year that its Medallion fund could buy futures contracts as well. Reuters also reminds that hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, Brevan Howard, and Skybridge Capital have invested some funds into crypto too. The hedge funds in the Intertrust survey manage an average of $7.2 billion in assets. The price of bitcoin (BTC), the crypto with the largest market cap, rose to a record high of over $63,000 earlier this year but has since dropped to around $40,000 per coin. At the same time, it remains unclear how upcoming regulations will affect the global crypto space and ultimately the valuation of most digital currencies that exist today. What are your expectations regarding the future involvement of hedge funds in the crypto market? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Porsche, the German carmaker, is diversifying to digital markets through the launch of Fanzone, an NFT-based trading card market. Fanzone, built by Forward31, a Porsche company builder, seeks to capitalize on classic trading card demand. At the same time, Fanzone tries to combine this classical market with the NFT craze to offer digital products. Porsche Launches NFT-Based Trading Card Platform Fanzone Porsche, the German luxury car brand, is now dabbling in NTF markets. The brand just launched an NFT-based trading card platform called Fanzone, where users will be able to purchase and trade digital assets. The startup was launched by Forward31, a digital company builder that expands Porsche into non-core markets. Fanzone lets users acquire, trade, and even game with their soccer trading cards. Each card features a different player with their unique traits and info. These cards live as digital assets on the Lukso blockchain, so anyone can extract them from the platform for safekeeping. Christian Knörle, head of company building at Porsche Digital, stated on the new platform that: The demand for classic trading cards and albums has been unbroken for decades. With Fanzone, we are now digitizing this promising market. We look forward to strategically supporting Fanzone. The brand has partnered with the German National Soccer Selection to showcase its players in the cards. As a result, the first card packs feature players from the men’s, women’s, and under 21 teams. While putting their legendary cars into NFT form might seem a bright idea, Porsche passed on the idea. Porsche hopes the NFT craze will bring them engagement-powered revenue in the future. Sport-Based Platforms Are Thriving While some indicators show the NFT craze has subsided since April, NFTs are still being leveraged to produce quality work in selected startups. And now sport-based platforms are leading this new push. This is the case for Fanzone, which will offer licensed products on its platform. Another similar instance is the NBA Top Shot platform, which offers licensed NBA NFTs. This all seems to imply that while amateurish artwork NFTs are declining, other high-quality platforms are springing up, integrating NFTs as a pivotal element of their functionality and services. Also, money is flowing to other sports-based initiatives too. The Argentinian Soccer Selection launched its own token recently in partnership with Socios.com, selling more than 600K tokens in its Initial Offering. What do you think about Porsche’s new digital trading card platform? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The celebrity influencer Kim Kardashian posted about a project called Ethereum Max on Instagram this week by sharing an advertisement with her 228 million followers. The project Ethereum Max has also been promoted by former Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and professional boxer Floyd Mayweather. Kim Kardashian Follows Mayweather and Pierce by Shilling Ethereum Max on Instagram The American reality television personality, socialite, model, and businesswoman Kim Kardashian posted about a cryptocurrency project called Ethereum Max. The Ethereum Max project (emax or ETH max) is an ERC20 project built on the Ethereum blockchain and launched roughly 30 days ago. There are many questions, reports, and forum posts with people who are skeptical of the project asking whether or not emax is “legit or a scam.” The recent Instagram Ethereum Max post wasn’t the first time Kardashian posted about emax as she posted about the project last month as well. Kardashian’s Instagram post which clearly notes it is an “#AD” said: “Are you guys into crypto???? This is not financial advice but sharing what my friends just told me about the Ethereum Max token! A few minutes ago Ethereum Max burned 400 trillion tokens—literally 50% of their admin wallet, giving back to the entire e-max community. Swipe up to join the e-max community.” Of course, as soon as Kardashian posted the emax advertisement, the crypto community was up in arms about the post. Almost as if they haven’t noticed the swarm of celebrities who have been paid to advertise certain crypto projects in 2021. Even Newsweek gave Kardashian’s Instagram emax shilling attention when columnist Aatif Sulleyman wrote about how Safemoon fans have been trying to court Kardashian. The famous socialite Kardashian also shared an ad on her Instagram timeline last month which also featured the emax website domain. Hall of Fame Boston Celtics champion forward Paul Pierce tweeted about emax too at the end of May. When Pierce declared he was leaving ESPN he noted that he made more money with Ethereum Max and he didn’t need them. “I made more money with this crypto in the past month then [sic] I did with y’all in a year,” Pierce tweeted at the time. Then the undefeated professional boxer Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather also wore an Ethereum Max t-shirt at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. Mayweather was booed at the event when he said he believes another crypto will be “just as large as bitcoin someday.” The ERC20 token team is also responsible for sponsoring Mayweather’s bout with Logan Paul. The emax token (EMAX) is currently swapping for $0.000000155041 and it hasn’t really seen a huge lift from Kardashian’s post. Although on Tuesday EMAX is up close to 5% and 234.1% during the last 30 days according to Coingecko stats. What do you think about Kim Kardashian shilling for Ethereum Max this week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The chairman of Italy’s financial regulator has raised concerns over the cryptocurrency market without proper regulation. “Without proper oversight there could be a worsening in market transparency, the basis of legality and rational choice for (market) operators,” he said. Chairman of Italy’s Securities Regulator Sees Issues With Unregulated Cryptocurrency Market The chairman of the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob), Paolo Savona, voiced concerns regarding cryptocurrency Monday. Consob is the government authority of Italy responsible for regulating the Italian securities market. He said as he presented the watchdog’s yearly report: Without proper oversight there could be a worsening in market transparency, the basis of legality and rational choice for (market) operators. The Consob chairman noted that there are some 4,000-5,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation without any form of real regulation. He further opined, “If we add to this Consob’s recent own experience in closing down in Italy hundreds of websites illegally gathering savings, the picture that emerges is worrying,” elaborating: If it takes too long at a European level to come up with a solution, (Italy) will have to take its own measures. Savona also warned that cryptocurrencies could be used in criminal activities, such as tax evasion, money laundering, funding terrorism, and kidnapping. A number of lawmakers worldwide have voiced similar concerns as Savona, including the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, who previously said cryptocurrencies were largely used in illicit activities, particularly money laundering. What do you think about the comments by the Consob chairman? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Personal finance guru and best-selling author Suze Orman has given advice on how to invest in bitcoin. She likes the cryptocurrency as a long-term investment despite regulatory uncertainty and the influence Tesla CEO Elon Musk seems to have on the bitcoin market. Suze Orman’s Bitcoin Investing Advice Suze Orman has shared her bitcoin investment strategy in an interview with CNBC Monday. The Suze Orman Financial Group founder, whose show ran on CNBC from 2002 to 2015, has written 10 consecutive New York Times bestsellers about personal finance. She was named twice on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people and was appointed as a personal finance educator for the United States Army and Army Reserve in 2016. In addition, she won two Emmy Awards and eight Gracie Awards. Emphasizing that she likes bitcoin as a long-term investment but not as a currency, the famed author of the book “The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+” said: You have to hold it for the long run. She previously said, “Any money that you can afford to lose, then I don’t have a problem with you investing in bitcoin.” Orman also warned that the price of bitcoin could still sink to the $30,000 level or even to $26,000. The price of BTC is $40,134 at the time of writing based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. The famed financial advisor believes that bitcoin is a legitimate investment largely due to major corporations pouring millions of dollars into the cryptocurrency. In addition, she said the American youth likes it, noting, “You really have to validate them as to where they are going.” Regarding Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s tweets affecting the price of bitcoin, Orman opined: I don’t like that one man can come out and say something and it controls the market. When Tesla announced that it had invested in BTC and would accept the cryptocurrency for payments, the price of bitcoin soared and then plummeted when Musk said that his electric car company had suspended accepting bitcoin due to environmental concerns. When Musk clarified that Tesla will resume accepting BTC “When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions.” Orman also dislikes bitcoin being used in ransomware attacks. She questioned: Will the government come in and start to regulate it and everything? The Biden administration has made ransomware a priority and the G7 leaders have called on Russia to urgently “identify, disrupt, and hold to account” ransomware hackers and those abusing cryptocurrency to launder ransoms. Despite regulatory uncertainty and Musk seemingly affecting the price of bitcoin with his tweets, Orman said: I still think for the long run … it’s a place to put some money and just leave it, but not a lot. Orman further pointed out that besides purchasing cryptocurrencies directly, investors can also gain exposure to bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies by buying stocks of companies that invest in BTC or are engaged in crypto projects. “There are other ways to play it other than just simply buying the crypto itself,” Orman suggested, naming Microstrategy and Square as examples. What do you think about Suze Orman’s bitcoin advice? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The price of shiba inu cryptocurrency got a boost Tuesday after Coinbase announced that the meme crypto will start trading on Coinbase Pro as early as this week. This announcement follows Coinbase adding trading for dogecoin. Coinbase Pro Adds Shiba Inu Trading Following the listing of the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE) early this month, Coinbase announced Tuesday that the shiba inu (SHIB) crypto will start trading on Coinbase Pro this week. The ERC20 crypto shiba inu is seen by some as an alternative token to dogecoin. The Nasdaq-listed company says that starting immediately, Coinbase Pro users can transfer shiba inu tokens into their accounts. However, SHIB will not be available to New York residents. The company clarified: Trading will begin on or after 9AM Pacific Time (PT) Thursday June 17, if liquidity conditions are met. The announcement also covers chiliz (CHZ) and the keep network (KEEP). Besides dogecoin, the company recently added trading support for a number of tokens on Coinbase Pro, including polkadot (DOT), gitcoin (GTC), enzyme token (MLN), amp (AMP), and internet computer (ICP). Price chart for the shiba inu cryptocurrency on Tuesday. Source: Coinbase The price of the shiba inu cryptocurrency jumped over 30% around the time of the Coinbase announcement. At the time of writing, the price of SHIB is $0.0000092 and its market cap is $3.6 billion, based on data from Coinbase. Once sufficient supply of the shiba inu cryptocurrency is established on the Coinbase Pro platform, trading of SHIB-USD and SHIB-USDT order books will launch in three phases, post-only, limit-only and full trading, the company detailed. Coinbase launched the trading of dogecoin earlier this month. The company tweeted on Jun 3, “Our DOGE-BTC, DOGE-EUR, DOGE-GBP, and DOGE-USDT order books are now in full-trading mode. Limit, market and stop orders are all now available.” What do you think about Coinbase Pro listing shiba inu coin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Cryptocurrency investing has been rising in popularity among New Zealanders and a fifth of the respondents in a new survey either plan to or have already, put money into digital assets. The poll also found that young Kiwis are more likely to use micro-investing platforms than older generations. Over 20% of New Zealanders Plan to or Have Invested in Cryptocurrency Investing in cryptocurrencies and shares has been on the rise in New Zealand, with young people getting into digital investments faster than other age groups. According to a survey conducted for the Financial Services Council (FSC), 40% of Kiwis are currently using or intend to use micro-investing platforms, the New Zealand Herald reported. The poll found that 21%, or a fifth of 2,000 respondents, have either invested in cryptocurrencies or plan to buy digital coins in the future. That’s a 7% increase since March 2020, the report noted. Actual crypto investors have increased markedly, from 3% to 9.5%, between March last year and April 2021. FSC Chief Executive Richard Klipin commented: The research shows that since early 2020 New Zealand has followed the global trend towards investing in shares, as well as more speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies. Klipin highlighted the “incredible rise in digital investors” over the past 18 months. “Our research has revealed that 38.2% of adult New Zealanders currently use, or plan to use, micro-investing platforms.” The percentage figure corresponds to 1.5 million New Zealand residents and “and reflects a transformational shift in how we are choosing to invest our money,” the CEO explained. Klipin emphasized that younger New Zealanders have been quicker to change, with 55% of those under 39 years of age likely to use platforms such as Sharesies, Hatch or Stake. The study has also registered a noticeable increase in stock investments, from 23% to 30% for respondents holding New Zealand shares and from 11% to 18% for those with international share investments. Kiwis Concerned About Security of New Investment Platforms The poll has further established that traditional online banking, as well as money transfer and mobile apps, are quite popular, with the majority of people either having used or planning to use them. At the same time, less than half of the respondents were using or planning to use newer technologies such as digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, ‘buy now pay later’ services (around 43%), micro-investing platforms (38.2%), digital currency and robo-advice tools. Technology adoption is said to have been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The ease of access that tech provides makes investment more appealing for people who previously didn’t really consider it as an option,” Richard Klipin noted. Growing personal wealth through better investments is the first cited reason for using micro-investing platforms. Their ease of use is the next major motivation along with the desire to expand financial knowledge and capabilities. The survey has also found that many New Zealanders remain concerned about security issues associated with new investment technologies. A majority of those polled pointed to the risks of online fraud, identity theft, and scams that could result in financial losses. A staggering 80% of Kiwis said they were worried about privacy. “After a number of high-profile cyberattacks and ransomware attacks, it’s understandable and encouraging that many are wary about the privacy of their personal information and their finances when using online platforms,” the FSC official elaborated. Klipin believes it’s crucial that the financial services industry keeps pace with the new instruments for investment and personal finance management, while working to provide the information needed to support financial decisions. What are your thoughts on the findings in the FSC poll? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On June 13, the billionaire investor and co-host of the television series Shark Tank, Mark Cuban, explained his fascination with decentralized finance (defi) in an editorial published to his blog. Cuban details that many defi organizations are different because they are not corporate entities or based in the United States. He believes that “no one owns majority control” of these operations which makes them “permissionless” innovations. Mark Cuban Sees Massive Potential When It Comes to Permissionless Finance The entrepreneur Mark Cuban has been in the crypto space for quite some time now, and a recently published blog post explains he is focused on defi innovation and decentralized exchange (dex) platforms. Cuban wrote an opinion piece on his blog called: “The Brilliance of Yield Farming, Liquidity Providing and Valuing Crypto Projects,” which explains the defi universe from his point of view. Cuban stressed that yield farming via staking and liquidity providing are the core features of defi and as far as the economy is concerned, he believes defi could be the “next great growth engine.” Cuban discussed his interest in certain projects like Polygon/Matic and a number of dex platforms he personally leverages. “Examples of such exchanges that I use are zapper.fi, quickswap.exhange, bancor.network, [and] uniswap,” Cuban wrote. The investor further detailed the benefits of these operations by explaining how finance companies need financial depth to offer specific services. “You need to be able to afford to hedge the risk of pricing volatility between currencies. If you want to do this business with scale, across the world, it can be very expensive and risky,” Cuban’s blog post insists. The Shark Tank co-host added: Not for Defi Exchanges. What makes running a Defi exchange so much better than a traditional centralized financial business of this and any kind is that rather than the owners of the business, investors and their creditors putting up capital for all the transactions to take place, Liquidity Providers (LPs) do it for them. ‘The Rewards Have to Be High Because It Is Truly a Laissez Faire Market’ Cuban remarks that currently exchange competition is “brutal,” and he describes the rewards of this economy as “a Laissez Faire market.” The investor discusses projects like Compound and Aave, and how Aave is a “completely automated, permissionless platform where there are no bankers, no buildings, no toasters, no vaults, no cash, no holding your money, no forms to fill out, no credit ratings involved.” Cuban further emphasized: Everything is controlled by smart contracts. It’s fully automated. You don’t have to get approval from anyone and it takes minutes to take out a loan. This is called being Permissionless — This approach is the future of personal banking. The Shark Tank co-host reminisced about when he gave a Zoom speech during the pandemic and said he sees the world changing after what happened in 2020 and 2021. The world’s companies will transform, Cuban said at the time, and he envisions defi and crypto firms being an important part of this global transformation. Moreover, if the U.S. doesn’t pay attention, the country could miss out on the “next great growth engine.” “Among those [transformative] companies, it’s already a certainty that Defi and other crypto organizations will be at or near the top of the list,” Cuban’s blog post concludes. “Unlike the early days of the internet where we fostered and supported innovation and entrepreneurs, we are already seeing our politicians shitting on the innovations crypto is fostering. Hopefully, this changes quickly or we will lose the next great growth engine that this country needs.” What do you think about Mark Cuban’s outlook when it comes to crypto and defi? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Investment bank JPMorgan Chase is stockpiling cash according to the company’s CEO Jamie Dimon. The investment banker doesn’t seem to believe inflation is “transitory” and he thinks there’s a “very good chance” inflation could stick around. JPMorgan Chase CEO: ‘I Do Expect to See Higher Rates and More Inflation’ At the end of April, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and explained how FOMC members said the benchmark interest rate will be kept near zero. Moreover, members of the FOMC also said the committee wasn’t too concerned about inflation, but admitted inflation may have “transitory effects” on the American economy. JPMorgan Chase’s boss doesn’t believe this is the case, according to his recent statements. While telling the public he warned people about cryptocurrencies at the end of May, Dimon recently warned of runaway inflation, alongside Larry Summers’ inflation predictions. On Monday during a conference, Dimon reiterated his inflation forecast and noted that his financial institution was “effectively stockpiling” cash. The reason JPMorgan Chase is hoarding cash is because Dimon thinks inflation won’t be temporary. “We have a lot of cash and capability and we’re going to be very patient, because I think you have a very good chance inflation will be more than transitory,” Dimon explained at the conference. Dimon further asserted that JPMorgan Chase would be prepared for incoming inflation levels and higher rates. “If you look at our balance sheet, we have $500 billion in cash, we’ve actually been effectively stockpiling more and more cash waiting for opportunities to invest at higher rates,” Dimon stressed. “I do expect to see higher rates and more inflation, and we’re prepared for that.” Macro Analyst Sven Henrich: ‘The Fed Has Skewed Wealth Inequality to Unjustifiable Levels’ Dimon is not the only investment mogul who believes inflation may slow the American economy, as many others have warned about the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing policy. The founder of northmantrader.com Sven Henrich continues to criticize the U.S. central bank’s behavior. “The Fed has skewed wealth inequality to unjustifiable levels while making [the] cost of living increasingly unaffordable for many, and in process have blown a historic asset bubble that, if and when it blows up, will hurt everyone,” Henrich said on Tuesday. Henrich added to his scathing criticism by saying: The institutional arrogance is mind-boggling and there does not appear anyone on that Fed board with any backbone and sense of responsibility to stand up and say: Enough. On Monday, the founder of asset management firm Tudor Investment Corp., Paul Tudor Jones, also indicated disapproval for the Federal Reserve’s lack of inflation concerns. Jones essentially noted that the U.S. central bank’s credibility is at stake if inflation is not temporary as FOMC members predict. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller told CNBC last week that investors would ignore inflation “until the Fed stops canceling market signals.” In another conversation during the broadcast Closing Bell, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman told CNBC’s Wilfred Frost that he doesn’t believe inflation will be transitory and the Federal Reserve’s hand may be forced to raise interest rates. “The question is when does the Fed move?” Gorman remarked. “It has to move at some point, and I think the bias is more likely earlier than what the current dots suggest, rather than later,” Morgan Stanley’s CEO added. Peter Schiff Thinks It’s Strange Finance Firms Are Stockpiling Greenbacks Rather Than Gold Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff thinks that the American populace, however, seems “to be even more confident now that inflation is transitory than they were before we got all this really bad data.” Instead of stockpiling greenbacks, like JPMorgan Chase’s boss Jamie Dimon is doing, Schiff detailed he would assume dollars would be ditched in an effort to escape from falling values. “The reality is, when you have inflation, what really should be happening is investors should be selling dollars because they’re losing value,” Schiff said on his podcast on Tuesday. “They should be selling bonds even faster because they represent dollars in the future, which will be worth even less than dollars in the present. And you should be buying gold as a hedge against that inflation.” Schiff stressed that right now the opposite is taking place, and he said he honestly doesn’t understand why businesses are stockpiling greenbacks. Of course, the economist shilled his favorite shiny yellow commodity on the podcast as well, and said smart people will purchase gold as a hedge against this financial disaster. “In the long run, anybody who actually understands the significance of what’s going on would be taking advantage of these market moves to sell dollars into the rally and buy gold into the dip because the bigger moves obviously are going to be down in the dollar, way down in U.S. Treasuries, which represent future payments of dollars, and a big move up in gold,” Schiff concluded. What do you think about Jamie Dimon’s statements about inflation and JPMorgan Chase stockpiling cash? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article