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Spain nears the final day for its citizens to file their tax statements, and this year cryptocurrency traders are in the sights of tax authorities. Any trader that has obtained revenue after selling cryptocurrencies must file taxes and pay a percentage of the operation. However, many new traders are still unsure of what needs to be done. Spain’s Tax Authority Prepares to Target Crypto Traders Spain is nearing the end of the period stipulated to file tax statements. This year, the tax authorities are especially focused on cryptocurrency traders due to the enormous growth of the industry. According to local reports, 7.5 million Spanish citizens have entered the world of cryptocurrencies. Not only that, but about 60% of them are using it as investment vehicles. According to Spanish law, any trade or cryptocurrency sale registered with revenue should be declared. Spanish citizens that fail to file their statements can be sanctioned with fines. While cryptocurrency tax duties weren’t important before for tax authorities, this year will be different. The Spanish government is ramping up oversight, and the tax authority has announced a plan to minimize crypto-related tax evasion this year. The tax authority will now require trading data from Spain-based exchanges to systematically attack traders that don’t file their taxes. Also, the Spanish government is modifying an anti-fraud law to force third-party custodians to deliver data on their customers. While this modification is still in the works, it depicts the government’s stance for the near future. The period for filing tax finalizes next June 30, and late statements will have to pay a penalty fee. General Inexperience and Lack of Tools Despite the improved oversight and the educative campaigns, most Spanish traders still don’t know what to do when it comes to filing tax statements. Many are new to these environments and don’t have a domain of tax laws and such. This can potentially create a scenario where most crypto traders would have to pay tax fines in the future. And many who do know of these tax duties lack the tools to report them. The average trader does hundreds of operations in a month. Most traders don’t file and order these operations for a tax report. However, there is software that can assist traders in this journey. Accountants are advising traders to use these software tools to ease this complicated chore. However, experts estimate most trades won’t declare crypto taxes due to ignorance. What do you think of Spain’s stance on cryptocurrency taxing? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Major North American bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 Mining has been approved for listing on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol HUT. The company is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Hut 8 Mining Corp. announced Thursday that its common shares have been approved to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (Nasdaq) under the ticker symbol HUT. Nasdaq’s website explains that the global select market “has the highest initial listing standards of any exchange in the world.” Hut 8 Mining describes itself as “one of North America’s oldest and largest innovation-focused bitcoin miners.” It is incorporated under and governed by the Business Corporations Act of British Columbia. Most of the company’s directors and officers reside principally in Canada. The company is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol HUT. It was the first publicly traded bitcoin miner on the TSX exchange. Hut 8 says that its TSX listing will remain unchanged. The Hut 8 Mining shares are already quoted on the OTCQX market under the symbol HUTMF. Hut 8 Mining is ranked 11th (of 10,000) on the 2021 OTCQX Best 50. The company announced its plans to list on Nasdaq on May 12 after it filed the F-10 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 10. Hut 8 Mining is also a founding member of the Bitcoin Mining Council, which “is a voluntary and open forum of bitcoin miners committed to the network and its core principles,” its website details. “We promote transparency, share best practices, and educate the public on the benefits of bitcoin and bitcoin mining.” The council was formed after a meeting between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a number of major North American bitcoin miners. The meeting was hosted by Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor. What do you think about Hut 8 Mining listing shares on Nasdaq? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of “a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues” surrounding El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender. “Crypto assets can pose significant risks and effective regulatory measures are very important when dealing with them,” an IMF spokesperson cautioned. IMF Sees Issues With Bitcoin Being Legal Tender in El Salvador The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised a number of economic and legal concerns Thursday regarding El Salvador making bitcoin a legal tender, with equal footing with the U.S. dollar. With the recent approval of the “Bitcoin Law” proposed by President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador has become the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Gerry Rice, an IMF spokesman, said during a scheduled press briefing in Washington: Adoption of bitcoin as legal tender raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues that require very careful analysis so we are following developments closely and will continue our consultation with authorities. Crypto assets can pose significant risks and effective regulatory measures are very important when dealing with them. The spokesperson added that the IMF will meet with President Bukele later on Thursday to discuss the recently passed bitcoin law. El Salvador has been in discussions with the IMF seeking a near $1 billion loan. Following the adoption of the bill to make bitcoin legal tender, El Salvador announced that it will be mining bitcoin using energy from volcanoes. “I’ve just instructed the president of La Geo (our state-owned geothermal electric company) to put up a plan to offer facilities for bitcoin mining with very cheap, 100% clean, 100% renewable, 0 emissions energy from our volcanos. This is going to evolve fast,” said President Bukele. What do you think about the IMF’s concerns about bitcoin being legal tender in El Salvador? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The crypto market is busier than ever. More and more tokens and cryptocurrencies are flooding the exchanges and it’s getting difficult to recognize the best trading opportunities. The majority of tokens and altcoins available on the market fail to represent any real value. A new cryptocurrency that will soon be listed on the new CEX seems to have a solution to this problem. Continue reading to find out more about TecraCoin and have a look at the bigger picture of the ecosystem of Tecra. Bullish Run on Uniswap From the latest news, Tecra has added a liquidity pool on Uniswap, the market responded with a strong rise. After adding more funds to the pool, the price increased by about 150% within 3 days. Currently, the price is holding at $3 amid positive news, which might give the market a chance to continue growing. Listing on the new CEX can lead to the strong bullish trend on TCR soon. Tecra’s Innovation on the Crypto Market With the grant received from European Union, the company has clear, ambitious goals to achieve – bringing value to tradable tokens and making a positive change in the world. Tecra’s project seamlessly integrates various rapidly growing sectors: investment, crypto, fintech, technological development, and more. The previous article on the company’s activity introduced the readers to the ecosystem of Tecra – their currency (TecraCoin), crowdfunding platform (Tecra Space) and a decentralised exchange (Tecra DEX). This time, the article will put some focus on TecraCoin and its tokenomics – what is the real value of this coin, how is it connected to other elements of Tecra’s ecosystem and what exactly makes it different from other altcoins available on the market. The Value and Mechanics of TecraCoin The main functionality of TecraCoin is connected to the crowdfunding platform TecraSpace. The currency is used to purchase the tokens of the projects with active fundraisers on the website. The tokens serve as a confirmation of your participation in the project and concluding an agreement between you (the investor) and the project creator. The tokens you can obtain on Tecra Space represent real early-stage businesses, therefore there is a tangible value behind both the token and the TecraCoin currency. This is how Tecra responds to the current trend of tokens with unlimited supply and no real use. The value of TecraCoin is linked directly to the tokenomics of Tecra’s project. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, the price of TCR does not fluctuate according to market speculation, but is influenced by the development and success of real businesses and projects on Tecra Space. In addition to the coin on Tecra’s native blockchain, the company specifically created an ERC-20 based TecraCoin token to quicker and easier integrate with new exchanges, and to speed up the global expansion of the project. The circulating supply of TecraCoin is limited. The fully diluted supply is 80 million coins – most of them are dedicated for the development of the company, and locked. Currently, 5,7 million coins are circulating on the market, with 81.4% locked in the adviser wallets. There are 1 000 000 coins available on Uniswap – no more coins will be added on this exchange. Current market cap on Uniswap is 3M$. It’s clear to see that the project at its current stage is severely undervalued. Additional details on lockups and vesting will be announced soon. At the moment, the creators of the project are implementing business solutions on how to facilitate the circulation of coins in the market and between blockchains. Real Life Impact of TecraCoin One of the biggest advantages TecraCoin has over many other cryptocurrencies is that the usability of this coin goes beyond the boundaries of the world of crypto. Obtaining TecraCoin allows you to participate in a multitude of interesting projects on Tecra Space, which means that the currency has a real, positive impact on the world. With projects such as a large-scale photovoltaic farm by Expanse Plus, TecraCoin makes it possible for you to support technological development, sustainable energy production, and much more. How Do You Benefit From Project Tokens? The first way for token holders to profit from their participation in the projects are the commissions on Tecra Space. 3% of the funds raised during the campaign will be distributed among the token holders, and 2% will be designated for burning native TCRs from the exchanges, which will increase their market value. The second way is to re-sell the tokens to project creators. The creators are contractually obliged to repurchase their tokens from the market over a period of 10-20 years once the project enters the commercialization stage. For example, the photovoltaic farm project of Expanse Plus declared to contribute 80% of their revenue to repurchase the tokens from the market over a period of 15 years. The repurchasing of tokens are conducted quarterly on Tecra DEX from a time specified by the project creator beforehand. Lastly, the tokens that represent early-stage businesses are a valuable crypto-asset in themselves. They will be tradable on Tecra’s dedicated decentralised exchange, Tecra DEX. The launch of the exchange is planned for early 2022. Advantages of TecraCoin: possibility to participate in crowdfunding with a low entry-barrier (from 1 USD) obtaining project tokens of real businesses participating in projects that make breakthroughs in technological development price does not fluctuate according to market speculation, but according to measurable value of real businesses a multitude of trading opportunities – TCR is tradable on CEXs, DEXs and (in the future) on Tecra’s own exchange. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

On Thursday, the Boston-based financial services and bank holding company State Street Corporation announced the launch of a division dedicated to cryptocurrencies, the digital economy, and decentralized finance (defi). State Street Invokes New Division Dedicated to Crypto, Blockchain, and Defi The financial services company State Street (NYSE: STT) offers a wide array of products like Investment management, securities lending, stock trading, and custodial banking services. In Q3 2020, data shows that State Street has around $3.15 trillion assets under management (AUM). On June 10, the company revealed it is stepping into the world of digital finance in a big way by launching a new division focused on innovative technologies. State Street’s announcement on Thursday reveals the financial institution plans to “expand to include crypto, central bank digital currency, blockchain, and tokenization.” The company also notes that it already operates the firm’s proprietary Globallink technology platform. The technology will be enhanced, State Street details and it will become a “digital multi-asset platform.” “The financial industry is transforming to a digital economy, and we see digital assets as one of the most significant forces impacting our industry over the next five years,” Ron O’Hanley, chairman and chief executive officer of State Street Corporation explained. “Digital assets are quickly becoming integrated into the existing framework of financial services, and it is critical we have the tools in place to provide our clients with solutions for both their traditional investment needs as well as their increased digital needs.” The banking firm further noted that as the objective is to evolve into a multi-asset platform it will support both crypto asset classes and other types of assets. “The aim will also be to support our peer-to-peer ambitions by creating new liquidity venues for our clients and investors worldwide,” State Street’s announcement said. “State Street has a major role to play in the evolution of digital market infrastructure and this new division will help us bring our expertise and resources to the conversation,” State Street executive Nadine Chakar explained. “As digital currencies and tokenization not only gain momentum, but transform financial infrastructure and operating models, we can help our clients bridge the gap between the industry of today and the one of tomorrow.” Chakar was recently appointed to lead State Street Digital to address the financial industry shift to a digital economy and defi, the announcement highlights. The financial services firm executive concluded that the company has been “developing a number of digital capabilities and other solutions,” alongside investing in infrastructure. What do you think about State Street launching a division dedicated to cryptocurrencies, the digital economy, and defi? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Nigeria’s House of Representatives has moved a motion calling on the country’s central bank to end the continuing devaluation of the naira. In his unanimously adopted motion, House Representative Bamidele Salam warned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of the negative “implications of further devaluing the naira.” Lawmakers Slam CBN U-Turn The House’s warning follows the CBN’s recent decision to devalue naira from an exchange rate of 393 to the current one of just under 411 nairas for every dollar. Furthermore, the Nigerian lawmakers’ call for intervention comes just a few days after the currency marginally depreciated against the USD on the black market. At the time of writing, the naira sell rate on the black market was 502 to the dollar. Meanwhile, a report points to Salam reminding the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele of his earlier stance on currency devaluation. Before the naira’s devaluation in May 2021, Emefiele had repeatedly defended the country’s overvalued exchange rate. He also slammed parallel market traders for fueling the naira’s continued depreciation on the forex black market. Still, in expressing his exasperation with the CBN’s exchange rate policies, Salam said: The House is concerned that devaluation is likely to cause inflation because imports will be more expensive – any imported goods or raw material will increase in price; Aggregate demand increases, causing demand-pull inflation. Firms/exporters have less incentive to cut costs because they can rely on the devaluation to improve competitiveness. Salam adds that lawmakers are now concerned that any “long-term devaluation (of the naira) may lead to lower productivity because of the decline in incentives.” CBN Abandons Multiple Exchange Rate Policy Since the year 2020, the CBN has adopted a multiple exchange rate policy as it sought to avoid an outright devaluation. For instance, Nigeria’s previous official exchange of 393 naira to one dollar was “used as a basis for budget preparation.” On the other hand, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing Methodology (NAFEX) is a closely controlled exchange rate for investors and exporters. Following the devaluation of the naira, the official exchange rate and the NAFEX are now both pegged at just under 411 to the dollar. In the meantime, the report also quotes Salam explaining some of the possible implications of a rapid devaluation on the Nigerian government’s ability to raise funds. The lawmaker said: “It makes investors less willing to hold government debt because the depreciation effectively reduces the actual value of their holdings. In some cases, rapid devaluation can trigger capital flight.” Do you agree that the devaluation of the naira will cause inflation? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies yesterday in a Banking Senate Subcommittee hearing. In the hearing, Warren criticized the energy consumption that Bitcoin and other proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies need to operate. Warren also thinks cryptocurrencies are the “wild west” of investments and called for a regulatory crackdown on the industry. Some on social media were quick to bite back, however, pointing out Warren’s flawed logic and perceived hypocrisy. Senator Elizabeth Warren Takes on Bitcoin Senator Elizabeth Warren declared her opinion on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies yesterday in a senate subcommittee hearing. The hearing, titled “Building a stronger Financial System: Opportunities of a central bank digital currency,” served as an opportunity to criticize Bitcoin’s energy consumption and its usage in criminal activities. Warren quickly stated how Bitcoin needed too much energy to settle even one transaction, stressing that: A single Bitcoin transaction uses more energy than a typical US household in a month. I think the estimate is 53 days. But Warren’s critical viewpoint of Bitcoin doesn’t end there. The former Democrat presidential candidate also thinks bitcoin as an investment vehicle is flawed. In an interview on Bloomberg TV, Warren explained Bitcoin was very volatile, being like the “wild west” of investments. She declared: If you were buying stock for speculation you’d be protected from pump and dumps, but not when you are buying Bitcoin; we need to talk with the SEC about that. To Warren, cryptocurrencies are also a tool for criminals to be used in ransomware attacks. An example of this is what happened with the Colonial Pipeline’s system hijack. As a consequence, she is calling for a stricter regulatory oversight on the system. Regarding this call for clampdown, Warren stated: Our regulators and congress are an hour late and a dollar short. We need to catch up with where cryptocurrencies are going. Community Enraged This barrage of criticism towards Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies made the community quickly move to disregard Senator Warren’s opinions. Ari Paul, CIO of Blocktower Capital, stated Warren’s use of social media was far more harmful to the environment than Bitcoin. He declared: Social media uses more electricity than bitcoin. You could do more for climate change by not tweeting. Kraken’s Dan Held sarcastically proposed canceling Christmas lights due to their energy consumption, citing a report from Phys.org, and another tweet criticized Warren’s hypocritical use of fossil fuel-guzzling private jets — instead of virtual media — to attend meetings. Warren’s statements are the latest of a series of attacks Bitcoin has faced in the last two months. Former President Donald Trump also criticized Bitcoin recently, saying he believes Bitcoin is “kind of a scam” in an interview with Bloomberg last week. What do you think about Senator Elizabeth Warren’s criticism of Bitcoin? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Synthetic assets open up several opportunities for investors by not confining them to a specific location. If the concept excites you, there’s good news from XCarnival. Recently, XCarnival announced it has secured a two-million US dollar seed investment in its quest to reinvent synthetic assets in crypto. This investment was led by top crypto funds including Fundamental Labs, Zonff Partners, SNZ, EVG, NGC, etc. At the same time, institutions like AU21, Incuba Alpha, DFG, WaterDrip, LD Capital, Gate, ChainCapital and Bitrise Capital. “We are very excited for the funding progress, which reflects the confidence from the investors in our project and our team,” said Leon Liu, founder of XCarnival, a crypto influencer, investor and one of the most influential community leaders in the Binance Smart Chain Chinese community. Being a next generation synthetic asset platform, XCarnival has been committed to building non-standard asset leasing, pawning, and lending businesses. At the same time, XCarnival also provides several synthetic asset templates to those users who want to create financial products quickly. The first version of XCarnival is based on the deployment of R&D on the Binance Smart Chain, while it promotes R&D on ETH Layer 2 and Solana. Why XCarinval Will Reinvent Synthetic Assets? Essentially, a synthetic asset is a tokenized derivative that imitates the value of another asset, with very few changes in the properties of both assets. Recently, synthetic assets have grown in popularity since they help people who do not want to hold an actual asset. Synthetic assets tokenize the relationship with an underlying asset rather than using contracts to build the chain between assets. As a result, synthetic assets are able to provide exposure to any asset in the world by operating within the cryptosystem itself. People now prefer synthetic assets over every other asset for a variety of reasons. With XCarnival, you can overcome the barriers set forth by synthetic assets. Not only can you use them to inject liquidity into the market, but XCarnival has also enabled synthetic asset solutions that lower the barrier to issuance for financial derivative products. What would otherwise have taken millions of dollars and months to develop and apply for distribution on Wall Street, can now be easily produced and exposed to public in less than ten minutes and hundreds of dollars by anyone, all thanks to XCarnival’s synthetic asset solutions. This type of platform, which allows people to use their creativity, will significantly boost innovation and efficiency, allowing synthetic assets to become more mainstream. Youtube is a prominent previous example of such a platform. When Youtube was launched, it changed the whole concept of filmmaking and distribution, as we all know. They not only lowered the cost of filming and production from millions of dollars and months in Hollywood to minutes and almost nothing, but they also changed the filmmaking landscape for the better. Youtube has also aided in the creation of a number of multi-billion dollar industry giants such as Tik Tok, as short films and videos have become an integral part of people’s everyday entertainment. The Youtube of finance is the breakthrough that XCarnival is looking to introduce, and synthetic assets are the way to get there. Synthetic Assets in Decentralized Finance Synthetic assets play an important role, especially in the area of Decentralized Finance or DeFi. The use of synthetic USD has been of particular popularity. Today’s investors are more concerned with obtaining the best possible return on their assets than with anything else. Synthetic assets are here to save the day by enabling smoother and cheaper transactions in such a situation rather than filling out loads of paperwork and hefty contracts required of normal assets. With the growth of decentralized finance as well as this latest round of investment in XCarnival, the year ahead is full of opportunities and looks quite promising. If you want to learn more about XCarnival and how they operate with synthetic assets, check them out below: Website: https://xcarnival.fi Twitter: https://twitter.com/XCarnival_Lab Medium: https://xcarnival-lab.medium.com Telegram Community: https://t.me/XCarnivalCommunity This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

El Salvador has begun exploring bitcoin mining using energy from its volcanoes, President Nayib Bukele has revealed. “Our engineers just informed me that they dug a new well that will provide approximately 95MW of 100% clean, 0 emissions geothermal energy from our volcanos,” he detailed. Bitcoin Mining Using Volcanoes’ Energy El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter Wednesday: “I’ve just instructed the president of La Geo (our state-owned geothermal electric company) to put up a plan to offer facilities for bitcoin mining with very cheap, 100% clean, 100% renewable, 0 emissions energy from our volcanos. This is going to evolve fast.” The president soon followed up with another tweet that says: Our engineers just informed me that they dug a new well that will provide approximately 95MW of 100% clean, 0 emissions geothermal energy from our volcanos. Starting to design a full bitcoin mining hub around it. What you see coming out of the well is pure water vapor. Many bitcoiners welcome President Bukele’s decision to use energy from volcanoes to mine bitcoin, seeing it as a bullish move. Thousands of comments flooded his tweet with tens of thousands of likes and retweets at the time of writing. Among commenters was Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey who wrote: “Bitcoin incentivizes renewable energy.” Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor opined: “Bitcoin mining is the world’s best technology for converting energy into prosperity.” He added, “Bitcoin incentivizes renewable energy,” tagging Elon musk. Saylor recently hosted a meeting between the Tesla CEO and North American bitcoin miners to discuss mining using renewable energy. The miners agreed to form the Bitcoin Mining Council. The president first revealed his bitcoin mining plans Wednesday morning on a Twitter Spaces room hosted by Nic Carter as the Salvadoran Congress discussed his bill to make bitcoin legal tender. More than 20,000 people tuned in to listen to the discussions hosted by Carter. The bill subsequently passed with a supermajority. President Bukele was asked if he had any bitcoin mining plans. He mentioned that the country had plans to expand infrastructure and stimulate development around its source of geothermal energy. “On the outskirts of the plants, we want to promote industrial parks where you can set up your factory and you will receive cheap, clean, renewable [energy],” he described. He then suggested bitcoin miners might find these parks ideal given the close proximity to cheap, clean, electricity. Morgan Creek Digital partner Anthony Pompliano commented: “The president of El Salvador is reporting that the country’s engineers have already dug a new well for their zero emissions bitcoin mining facility. This is less than 24 hours since the idea surfaced. Speed kills.” What do you think about El Salvador mining bitcoin with volcanic energy? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Several major global cryptocurrency exchanges are reportedly exploring ways to enter the Indian crypto market. “The Indian market is huge and it is only starting to grow, if there was more policy certainty by now Indian consumers would have been spoilt for choice in terms of exchanges because everyone wants to be here,” said an executive of a crypto firm. Major Crypto Exchanges Want to Enter India Global crypto exchanges are exploring ways to enter the Indian cryptocurrency market, Reuters reported. Four sources told the publication that U.S.-based Kraken, Hong Kong-based Bitfinex, and rival Kucoin are actively scouting the Indian crypto market. One source claimed to be directly involved with an exchange that is considering acquiring an Indian crypto firm and had begun due diligence for it. The source described: These companies have already begun talks to understand the Indian market and the entry points better. The other two exchanges are in the initial stages of deciding whether to enter India and weighing their options, the publication conveyed. This usually comes down to a choice between setting up an Indian subsidiary or acquiring a local firm. Another U.S.-based crypto exchange, Coinbase, has already announced plans for a back office in India. While there is no official data, industry analysts estimate there are 15 million crypto investors in India holding over 100 billion rupees ($1.37 billion), the publication noted. Kumar Gaurav, founder of digital bank Cashaa, commented: The Indian market is huge and it is only starting to grow, if there was more policy certainty by now Indian consumers would have been spoilt for choice in terms of exchanges, because everyone wants to be here. Meanwhile, the Indian government has yet to introduce a cryptocurrency bill. The current bill seeks to ban cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. However, there are reports that the government is reevaluating the ban recommendations and is setting up a panel of experts to come up with new recommendations to regulate the crypto industry. The central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), recently clarified its position on cryptocurrency. The RBI governor said the central bank still has major concerns. However, the RBI told banks that its April 2018 circular which banned financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses and traders is no longer valid. What do you think about global crypto exchanges wanting to enter the Indian crypto market? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Amidst the stratospheric rise of defi and heightened demand for unique and innovative solutions, the global community of angel investors and VC firms is continuously engaging in private funding rounds and token sales. The resulting flood of capital demonstrates that entrepreneurs and startups play their part in developing a new generation of blockchain technology. Balancer Labs Raises $24.25 Million to Accelerate Protocol Development Balancer Labs, the company behind Balancer, an automated portfolio manager, liquidity provider, and price sensor, has raised $24.25 million from leading investors in its recent token sale, which will be utilized to accelerate the development of the Balancer protocol. The recent round witnessed an influx of new investors, including Alameda Capital, Pantera Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Blockchain Capital, Longhash Ventures, Fintech Collective, and Continue Capital. One of the Balancer Protocol highlights is that it uses multidimensional values to build a mathematical and analytical framework, allowing varied portfolios to auto-adjust to market conditions. The second evolution of the Balancer protocol (Balancer V2) will restructure the current system architecture to improve transaction costs while easing developer integration and user experience. World’s First FBA Network, Flare, Raises $11.3 Million Flare, a new contract platform built on a modified version of Avalanche, is a distributed network with some unique properties. Not only can it be used to create two-way bridges between networks, such as Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, but it is also the world’s first Turing complete FBA network. Flare claims to be the only platform that applies Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA) consensus to smart contracts, making it secure and accessible to most blockchain development communities. Led by Kenetic Capital, the platform has recently raised $11.3 million from some of the world’s leading venture capitalists, such as Digital Currency Group, Coinfund, LD Capital, cFund, Wave Financial, Borderless Capital, and Backend Capital, and angel investors including Vinny Lingham, Do Kwan, and Litecoin founder Charlie Lee, as well as Newform Capital, Genesis Capital, ZB Group, Ripple, and DeFi Capital. Automata Network Backed With $2.4 Million to Build Privacy-Oriented Web 3.0 Automata Network, which purports to offer seamless privacy for dApps, has raised $2.4 million from prominent investors such as IOSG Ventures, KR1, and Jump Trading. The platform, officially launched on Binance Launchpool, aims to deploy a privacy-first and cross-chain compute protocol, offering developers the required infrastructure to leverage Web 3.0. The protocol aims to empower Web 3.0 applications and businesses built on Polkadot and Ethereum with privacy-first, high assurance and friction-less transactions. In addition, Automata supports unified cross-chain connections for better operability, a collaborative reward mechanism, and a framework to make data privacy a built-in option across dApps, among several other unique features. Defi Startup Cryption Network Collects $1.1 Million From Private Round Switching between blockchains, navigating the complex interfaces, and issues related to scalability and fees are the biggest obstacles blocking the mass adoption of defi according to many. To address these concerns, retail defi startup Cryption Network, built on Polygon, offers a suite of user-friendly crypto products for the everyday retail investor who wants to invest in crypto but is intimidated by its complexity. Cryption Network, with its wide range of products and services aimed to increase the adoption of cryptocurrencies, recently wrapped up a successful private funding round. The project attracted many acclaimed investors from the crypto universe, including VC firms like Genblock, Master Ventures, CMS Holdings, X21 Digital, Gravity X Capital, Water Drip, and AU21, leading to a capital influx of $1.1 million. In addition, angel investors like Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal and Fetch.ai’s Humayun Sheik, also funded the network. Panther Protocol Raises Allotted $8 Million to Build a Defi Privacy Solution In a world where digital assets are constantly under the spotlight of regulators, privacy seems to be the one thing that’s troubling many traders, retailers, and investors. Panther Protocol, an end-to-end privacy solution, provides defi users with interoperable, fully collateralized privacy-enhancing digital assets to address this problem. Panther Protocol provides users with customizable transaction-level privacy. Using zk SNARK technology, the protocol aims for a robust privacy mechanism, allowing users to mint zero-knowledge zAssets and leverage them across a range of defi applications. The platform has completed its private funding round, raising more than $8 million from over 140 investors. VC firms and angel investors from across the globe participated in the private financing round. Some early contributors include Alphabit Fund, Deep Ventures, Ex Network, Market Across, Master Ventures, Moonwhale, Nextgen, Protocol Ventures, Rarestone Capital, Titans Ventures, and more. Impossible Finance Receives $7 Million to Open Defi Incubator, Launchpad, and Swap Platform Impossible Finance, a platform offering inclusive financial instruments via defi, has raised over $7 million from its recent funding round. The platform aims to make Defi easy by removing complicated interfaces, allowing users to quickly swap tokens, add liquidity, and stake their tokens for additional rewards. Impossible Finance, built by Defi pros from top fintech firms, aims to use the funds to accelerate work on its multifaceted platform that offers a Defi incubator, launchpad, and swap features. The recent funding round featured participation from True Ventures, CMS Holdings, Hashed, Alameda Research, Genesis Block Ventures, Emniscap, Primitive, Incuba Alpha, BR Capital, Sino Global Capital, IOSG, Coin98, The LAO, Maple Leaf Capital, and others. Several prominent angel investors, including Sandeep Naiwal (Matic), Kain Warwick & Jordan Momtazi (Synthetix), Bette Chen & Ruitao Su (Acala), Bobby Ong & TM Lee (Coingecko), Larry Cermak (The Block), Calvin Liu (Compound), and others also invested in this novel concept. Reef Finance Announces $20 Million Grant to Encourage App Development To drive increased participation from developers willing to build applications on the Reef Chain, Reef Finance has announced a grant of $20 million spread across several categories, including defi lending protocols and bridges, runtime modules/chains, NFT development, decentralized exchanges (dex), wallets and interfaces, and development and deployment tools. In addition to being an EVM-compatible defi chain built on Polkadot substrate, Reef Chain is said to be fast, highly scalable, and boasts minimal transaction costs. The latest announcement of allocating grants to developers aligns with the company’s vision of simplifying defi and making it accessible to everyone. Leading defi brands like Lendefi, Realm, and Kwikswap are some of the outstanding examples of the ecosystem’s unique capabilities. Alongside the launch of the grants program, Reef Finance will also continue enhancing the features and functionalities of Reef Chain in an attempt to drive mainstream adoption of its funding ecosystem. ROK Capital and Solana Foundation Establish $20 Million Solana Eco Fund To attract more developers to Solana infrastructure development projects and expand the blockchain’s reach in Korea, ROK Capital, a leading blockchain accelerator in the country, and the Solana Foundation have unveiled a $20 million fund to support teams and projects. The ecosystem fund endeavors to bootstrap companies adding value in multiple areas of the Solana blockchain by building the architecture to support activities in Web3.0, NFTs, and defi. The fund is also joined by Factblock, a blockchain consulting organization, and community-based accelerator Despread, which will share their expertise with the initiative as partners. Already the fund has bootstrapped several organizations as part of its mandate, including Mercurial Finance, Parrot, Serum, Symmetry, and Synthetify. What do you think is the most interesting project? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On the heels of the SpaceX announcement that the company accepted dogecoin as payment, an apparel store on Brooklyn’s colorful Flatbush Avenue took the jump as well into the deep, cold Doge waters. Brick-and-Mortar Is Another Brick in the Crypto Adoption Wall Crypto adoption has been widely and thoroughly discussed in the media and on social networks, as both an investment vehicle and a payment method. Companies large and small have declared their willingness to accept this or that cryptocurrency in return for their services or products; some companies have even reversed such decisions. While bitcoin has attracted most of the attention in the adoption debate, not far behind it is turned-serious dogecoin. In Cryptwerk’s Dogecoin Directory there are “1300+ places, stores and services accepting dogecoin” though only a handful are physical stores. Bitcoin cash has quite a few locations around the world where it is accepted as well, including many brick-and-mortar locations. Still, even among the most enthusiastic advocates of cryptocurrencies, the experience of strolling down the street, entering a store or a cafe and paying with crypto as an everyday occurrence, remains largely unrealized. Enter Ragga Muffin on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, which recently started accepting dogecoin. The clothing and footwear store that has been open since 1992 has decided to accept the trendy crypto “because young people are all about dogecoin,” says the store owner, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Dan. Many of our young customers are excited about cryptocurrencies in general and specifically about dogecoin so I wanted to be the first store in Flatbush to accept Doge, to attract more customers. Dan himself owns dogecoin, and ethereum. His investment philosophy isn’t compatible with the prevailing hodl gospel. He is a hands-on trader, chasing the dips and tips to turn quick profits. As a testament to that, his aspirations for dogecoin weren’t for $1, but rather for $0.35. Dan was reluctant to disclose sales figures generated from his recent business endeavor, but seemed very pleased with his decision to accept crypto in his store. A lot of people come in when they see the sign, it creates a hype. Some are asking if we also accept bitcoin. I tell them no – go buy Doge and come back! Dan didn’t provide a concrete answer as to why he doesn’t accept bitcoin as well. On the Dogefather himself, Dan had only good words: Elon Musk did a great service for the Doge community. Before him, who knew about Doge? I sure didn’t. I hope he’ll continue promoting it. I’m waiting for him to say that you can buy a Tesla with Doge, that’ll sure send Doge to the moon! What would you like to be able to buy with cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

After years of development, Concordium has unveiled its permissionless blockchain and MVP that is designed to meet the needs of enterprises by delivering transparency and governance, all with an orientation towards protecting user privacy. Identity-Centric Network to Promote Broader Business Adoption Although blockchain’s novel characteristics are not in dispute, corporate adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT) has remained sluggish due to bad actors diminishing trust via the anonymity promised by many existing chains. Besides these relevant concerns, some enterprises are wary of embracing the technology due to regulatory requirements. Since 2018, Concordium has endeavored to overcome these obstacles and now has revealed its answer to these challenges. With its Concordium mainnet now live alongside its corresponding GTU cryptocurrency, the organization is pioneering a new decentralized, public blockchain model. Instead of providing the anonymity features that define other chains, Concordium has focused on delivering a rule-based system that will appeal to enterprises by safeguarding their interests through increased transparency, improved governance, and privacy. Most importantly, the blockchain is purposefully built with regulatory compliance in mind. Much of this rests on its approach to onboarding new users through its built-in user identification methodology at the protocol level. This ensures that an individual’s identity is confirmed, kept private, and verifiable in transactions. Besides adding to the trust quotient the blockchain aims to offer, the value of this degree of compliance directly supports enterprise adoption. The success of this system will rest on its zero-knowledge proofs, which ensure that two parties can interact, transact, and exchange value in a trusted manner without having to expose a counterparty’s identity and compromising their privacy. This embedded form of KYC and AML will go a step further towards wooing the enterprise clients that have shied away from leveraging blockchain’s capabilities. Given this fresh approach to blockchain technology that conforms to more rule-based global business demands, especially in regulatory compliance, Concordium aims to spark more widespread corporate endorsement with its network. These valuable attributes, combined with its secure, high-throughput, low-cost architecture, ensures that services like data sharing, storage, and more, meet the rigorous demands of enterprise operators, opening the adoption floodgates. What are some applications of blockchain can you think of for enterprise use cases? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) plans to guide local banks towards full adoption of fintech technologies, a new strategy reveals. The region’s central banking institution also stressed that it’s going to “walk the talk” by digitalizing its own supervision of financial institutions. Hong Kong Central Bank to Support Fintech Development Hong Kong’s monetary policy regulator has presented its new strategy to stimulate the fintech development of China’s special administrative region. With the strategy, HKMA aims for a comprehensive adoption of new financial technologies in the next four years. The central bank also wants to “promote the provision of fair and efficient financial services for the benefit of Hong Kong citizens and the economy.” Speaking at a seminar organized by the Hong Kong Association of Banks, HKMA’s chief executive Eddie Yue outlined five focus areas of “Fintech 2025.” The regulator wants to encourage all banks to go fintech, future-proof Hong Kong for CBDCs, create next-gen data infrastructure, expand the fintech-savvy workforce, and nurture the ecosystem with funding and policies. One of the key directions in which the monetary authority intends to intensify its efforts is the full digitalization of bank operations. Expanding on the accomplishments of its Smart Banking Era Strategy announced in 2017, the HKMA will continue to “promote the all-round adoption of fintech by Hong Kong banks.” The regulator is going to identify specific fintech areas where the sector is lagging behind and needs support. That applies to its own regulatory framework as well: The HKMA will issue further supervisory guidance to facilitate the uptake of novel technologies and continue to “walk the talk” by digitalising its supervision of banks through the use of advanced technologies. HKMA to Work With Stakeholders on the Implementation of ‘Fintech 2025’ Strategy The new strategy envisages enhancing and expanding the city’s existing data infrastructure. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is planning to establish a credit data sharing platform based on distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and set up a Commercial Data Interchange. The central bank will work to increase the availability of fintech talent through new training programs and cooperation between the industry and academia. One such initiative is the Industry Project Masters Network, a scheme offering internships for postgraduate students to join fintech projects at participating banks. The program launches in September. The HKMA said it will engage industry players in the establishment of a new Fintech Cross-Agency Coordination Group which will be tasked to formulate supportive policies for the fintech ecosystem. The monetary authority will enhance its Fintech Supervisory Sandbox and provide funding for qualified fintech projects in partnership with the region’s Innovation and Technology Commission. HKMA CEO Eddie Yue emphasized: Fintech is, without doubt, a key growth engine for the financial industry in the post-pandemic era, and now is the right time to double down on our efforts to grasp the opportunities. “Fintech 2025” sets out our vision in this regard. I urge all stakeholders to join forces with the HKMA. The financial regulator intends to devote some of its efforts to increase Hong Kong’s readiness to issue central bank digital currencies. HKMA is referring not only to the development of wholesale CBDCs but also the research of retail digital currencies. The financial institution will continue to support the People’s Bank of China in testing the digital yuan (e-CNY) for cross-border payments while launching a separate study on a digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD). Do you expect Hong Kong to become a global fintech hub? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Following the report that indicates specific Chinese miners in the Xinjiang region were told by officials to shut down, another agency in Qinghai has informed miners to cease operations in a recently published government mandate. Similarly, the Qinghai Industry and Information Technology Department’s document explains bitcoin mining operations cannot operate in the area. Qinghai Province Gives Bitcoin Miners Notice to Cease Operations Beijing’s crackdown on bitcoin mining seems to be spreading. It started two weeks ago after a few accounts stemming from Inner Mongolia noted the region’s top economic planner revealed new rules against operating bitcoin mining facilities in the region. The problems with bitcoin mining in Inner Mongolia turned out to be the first enforcement measure against crypto mining. Reports explaining the government’s plans to shut down mining operations in Inner Mongolia started surfacing during the first week of March 2021. At the end of May 2021, the Sichuan Energy Regulatory Office planned to hold a meeting on June 2, to discuss the implications of bitcoin mining. At the time of writing, no reports of banning bitcoin mining have stemmed from this report concerning the Sichuan province. On Wednesday, June 9, 2021, a report disclosed specific bitcoin miners in Xinjiang have been instructed to shut down. The Qinghai Industry and Information Technology Department’s document. The same day, regional reports explained that China’s Qinghai Province issued a notice to bitcoin miners instructing operations to stop mining operations immediately. The notice stems from the Qinghai Industry and Information Technology Department. It notes that businesses will be inspected, existing mining projects must be suspended and no mining companies will be allowed to mine virtual currencies in the province. Speaking on the subject, the regional reporter Colin ‘Wu’ Blockchain tweeted about the provinces that are densely populated with bitcoin miners. “There are three major mining regions in China. Inner Mongolia has completely stopped, Sichuan may not stop, so the situation in Xinjiang is more complicated. The term used in the document is to suspend for rectification, which is not as strict as Inner Mongolia,” the Chinese journalist detailed. Bitcoin’s overall network hashrate has dropped since the shut down announcement in Xinjiang. At the time of that report, the hashrate was around 180 exahash per second (EH/s). At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s SHA256 hashrate has dropped to 120 EH/s. What do you think about the reports saying Qinghai officials are cracking down on miners in the region? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

New submissions by a South African regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and liquidators have exposed the web of lies and deceptive tactics that were used by Mirror Trading International (MTI) CEO Johann Steynberg and others to perpetuate the Ponzi scheme. Undeclared Losses In its report filed with the South African court, the regulator also exposes the true extent of losses that were incurred by the bitcoin investment company. For instance, in what the FSCA calls the “first period,” MTI had a “total of nearly 51 bitcoin (that) were deposited with Belize-based forex broker FXChoice, but 22 — or 43% — of these coins were lost by the traders.” However, at this point there was “no multi-level marketing involved.” Nevertheless, this would change in the second period “when Steynberg purportedly introduced a computerized trading bot” that falsely guaranteed returns of 10% each day. The report explained: FX Choice reported to the FSCA that 1,846 bitcoin were deposited with it between January and June 2020, but of this 566 bitcoin (about 30%) were lost. These trading results were completely at odds with the wild claims of success being promoted on social media by MTI. FX Choice subsequently froze the remaining 1,280 bitcoin. In the last period, Steynberg claimed all investors’ bitcoin had been transferred to a new broker, Trade 300. Still, when the FSCA investigated this claim, “it concluded that Trade 300 was a fraudulent creation of Steynberg’s and does not exist as a bona fide brokerage,” according to a report by Moneyweb. MTI Shareholding Structure Meanwhile, MTI liquidators have similarly submitted “evidence” that exposes the bitcoin investment company’s actual shareholding structure. The liquidators’ position is paraphrased by the Moneyweb report: “Based on the evidence provided by the liquidators, MTI was owned 50-50 by Steynberg and Clynton Marks, who would divvy up 10% of the profits between them every Monday.” However, the liquidators still concede that Steynberg seems to have been the only individual in MTI dealing with a broker in Belize and an India-based server team. “He would supply trading results from the broker to the server team for capture into the back-office system,” the report notes. Nepotism Allegations In the meantime, another director of MTI, Cheri Marks, is facing accusations of using her position in the organization to reward her associates. For instance, Marks is accused of appointing Monica Coetzee to the position of marketing director despite her lack of required qualifications. In addition, Marks is accused of bumping Coetzee’s salary from just over $1000 per month to one BTC per month. Following these proceedings, a Western Cape High Court is now expected to hear arguments by those that want a final liquidation to be granted and those against it. According to a report, these proceedings are scheduled to be heard in the third week of June 2021. What are your thoughts on the latest revelations about MTI’s huge losses and its shareholding structure? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The Danish tax ministry is reportedly mulling over revising the country’s tax law to deal with the challenges posed by cryptocurrencies. Denmark’s tax authority is concerned about the rising risk of fraud and widespread filing errors involving cryptocurrencies. Denmark to Revamp Tax Law to Deal With Cryptocurrency Denmark is considering revamping its tax code in order to deal with cryptocurrency after discovering that two-thirds of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions were not properly taxed, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The country’s existing tax code is not sufficient to deal with the challenges posed by crypto assets, the Danish tax ministry explained. The authority said in a statement Tuesday that the current tax code “dates back to 1922 and therefore doesn’t take financial cryptocurrencies into account.” The ministry cited a heightened risk of fraud as well as widespread tax filing errors involving crypto transactions. Denmark will identify specific challenges to taxation posed by cryptocurrencies and then decide what to change in the legislation. Morten Bodskov, Denmark’s Minister of Taxation, explained that the goal is to be “vigilant and ensure that our rules are up-to-date and limit errors and fraud.” The publication noted that between 2015 and 2019, about 16,000 people and companies in the country traded cryptocurrencies but 67% of those transactions were not reported accurately. In February, Skattestyrelsen, the Danish Tax Agency, said it had collected $4.9 million from crypto investors and reported 48 people suspected of violating the country’s tax code to its crimes unit. In December 2019, Skattestyrelsen reportedly sent out warning letters to 20,000 cryptocurrency owners asking for a full breakdown of all their transactions and requesting them to fix all past reports. Last month, Denmark’s central bank governor Lars Rohde said cryptocurrency is currently not a threat to the central bank. What do you think about Denmark changing its law to better tax crypto owners? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Berkshire Hathaway, the company led by CEO Warren Buffett, has invested $500 million in a pro-bitcoin digital bank. Nubank says it will offer bitcoin investment following its acquisition of brokerage firm Easynvest which offers the trading of Brazil’s first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Berkshire Hathaway Invests in Pro-Bitcoin Digital Bank Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has invested $500 million in the parent company of Nubank, a Brazil-based bitcoin-friendly digital bank, the South American company announced Tuesday. This is part of the bank’s Series G funding round which began in January. The bank said it also raised $250 from other investors. Founded in 2013, Nubank says it has 40 million customers, making it the largest digital bank in the world in terms of the number of clients. With the new investments, Nubank has become “the most valuable digital bank in the world and one of the largest financial institutions in Latin America,” the announcement details. Reuters noted that the new investments give Nubank a $30 billion valuation, which is only slightly less than Banco Santander Brasil SA, Brazil’s no. 3 bank. The publication previously reported that the bank is planning a U.S. stock market listing as soon as this year. The pro-bitcoin Nubank has repeatedly said it will be offering bitcoin investment to customers following the acquisition of Easynvest, a brokerage firm that offers a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Nubank received authorization from Brazil’s central bank to purchase Easynvest in May. Last week, the bank rebranded Easynvest to Easynvest by Nubank. The bitcoin ETF offered by Easynvest is QBTC11 by QR Asset Management. It was the first bitcoin ETF approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM). It is listed on the B3 stock exchange, one of the largest stock exchanges in Latin America and the second oldest in Brazil. Nubank said Tuesday that it plans to use the money raised to fund its international expansion to Mexico and Colombia, launch new products and services, and hire more employees. What do you think about Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investing in a bitcoin-friendly bank? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

An asset management firm with nearly $160 billion in assets under management, Victory Capital, has announced that it is entering the cryptocurrency market. The firm has established exclusive agreements with Nasdaq and asset manager Hashdex. Asset Management Firm Entering Crypto Market Victory Capital Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: VCTR) unveiled its plans to enter the cryptocurrency market Wednesday. Victory Capital is a diversified global asset management firm with $157.1 billion in assets under management as of April 30. The firm provides specialized investment strategies to institutions, intermediaries, retirement platforms, and individual investors. The company said that its wholly owned investment adviser, Victory Capital Management Inc., “has established exclusive agreements” with Nasdaq and asset manager Hashdex Ltd. in advance of plans to enter the cryptocurrency market, adding: Victory Capital will be the exclusive sponsor of private placement funds and other vehicles for U.S. investors, based on the Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI), a multi-coin crypto index co-developed by Nasdaq and Hashdex. Victory Capital plans to launch a private fund for accredited investors that will track the NCI. It will also offer private funds that track the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price Index and the Nasdaq Ethereum Price Index. Sean Wasserman, vice president and global head of Nasdaq’s Index and Advisor Solutions, commented: We have seen a developing maturity in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Our work with industry partners such as Victory Capital and Hashdex furthers the innovation in the digital asset space. What do you think about Victory Capital entering the crypto market in collaboration with Nasdaq? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani discussed cryptocurrencies at the most recent meeting of the government’s Economic Coordination Board and told participants that regulatory policy is needed to protect consumers. Rouhani believes the Iranian government should “communicate the necessary laws and instructions” as soon as possible so dishonorable crypto businesses are avoided. Regulation Necessary to Keep ‘Unprofessional’ Entries Out of Crypto Sector, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Says On Tuesday, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani made comments toward the cryptocurrency industry gaining ground in Iran and also warned retail investors about the possibility of “unprofessional” entries into this space. Overall, Iran has been friendlier toward crypto-assets and businesses like bitcoin mining than most countries. There have been some issues with electrical consumption, but one study indicates that Iran is leveraging bitcoin mining to lessen the effect of economic sanctions against the oil-rich nation. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani spoke about the cryptocurrency sector on Tuesday. Tuesday’s meeting of the government’s Economic Coordination Board shows Rouhani is concerned about the cryptocurrency space. Rouhani detailed that Iranian regulators need to monitor the ecosystem and further stressed to the country’s retail investors the risks involved with dishonorable crypto businesses. Rouhani “For legalizing the activity of cryptocurrencies and protecting people’s capital in this area, we must think of a solution as soon as possible and lay down and communicate the necessary laws and instructions,” Rouhani remarked at the Economic Coordination Board meeting. Iran’s Love and Hate Relationship With Bitcoin Mining Last May, Rouhani instructed mining operations in the country to shut down until September 22. At the meeting, the Iranian president noted that authorities need to “cooperate with the media and cyberspace in the field of information, education and public awareness about this phenomenon and its instructions and laws.” Two years ago, Chinese miners found extremely affordable electric prices ($0.006 per kilowatt-hour) but regulatory guidelines have seen miners deal with fluctuations. In mid-July 2020, Iran licensed 14 bitcoin mining farms and cut the electricity tariff. Following the licensure, power plants in Iran were authorized to mine crypto assets. Not too long after the authorization, the country gave bitcoin miners exclusive access to energy from three power plants. Things have been up and down in Iran in regard to bitcoin mining in the country and Rouhani’s recent statements could be seen as neutral. Rouhani has served as the president for eight years and faces a chance of losing his seat in the near future. What do you think about the Iranian president wanting to regulate the crypto industry in Iran? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Torum prepares to launch an NFT launchpad from its unique DeFi & NFT-infused social media platform, following successive fundraising achievements. 9th June, 2021, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Torum, the first DeFi, and NFT-infused crypto social media platform is now going to launch an NFT launchpad that is designed with cross-chain interoperability. The integration of the NFT feature will enable projects to raise funds from a community of over 56,000 cryptocurrency users and investors. Introducing Torum NFT Launchpad Torum NFT Launchpad is developed on Torum’s DeFi staking platform, Torum Finance that offers any issuing projects to launch NFTs with different rarity and total supply and also the burning period of the NFTs. There are two types of public launches with different criteria and gamification options available to choose from on the launchpad. The first option is a dual token launch which gives NFT holders the vested right to burn the NFTs and receive the native tokens of both the issuing project and Torum in return. This launch creates a mutually beneficial result where NFT owners will receive two types of tokens, while the issuing projects can enjoy a higher public sale completion rate from both Torum and its community. The second option is a single token launch which gives NFT holders the vested right to burn the NFTs to receive the issuing project’s native tokens in return. Other details such as whitelisting, token release rules, and buying limit per participant, will depend on the issuing projects, but will offer such projects immense flexibility to make their first debut on the Torum NFT Launchpad. Why choose Torum NFT Launchpad? Unique from other NFT launchpads in the industry, launching on Torum will provide 5 exclusive benefits to projects, including: An active community with over 56,000 cryptocurrency investors Multi-chain support for public launch in the future (BSC & HECO) Available listing on NFT marketplace that supports ERC-721 assets, including Torum’s upcoming NFT marketplace A premium opportunity to sell the tokens to the loyal community at a price lower than the price of IDO and CEX / DEX listing Resource and brand integrations, including VCs and strategic crypto communities The process does not stop when the Initial NFT Offering is completed, as projects can leverage the premium advantages of Torum, as a social media platform to continue strengthening their community-building effort and post-launch marketing activities. Recent Project Achievements Torum has successfully completed three separate fundraising goals over the last three months. The project completed a $500,000 presale with zero marketing presence in March 2021, raised a $1.5M private round from AU21, Consensus Lab, DFG, M6 and 16 other prominent VCs in April 2021, and successfully sold off $243,000 INO in under 20 minutes in May 2021. In terms of development, the innovation of the team behind Torum has enabled the project to become the first to ever combine DeFi, NFT and social media. By having a social media platform with over 56,000 cryptocurrency enthusiasts, Torum will be developing a BSC-based NFT marketplace and a DeFi staking platform to build a one-stop ecosystem that is specially designed for the crypto space. Mobile App Launch & NFT Ecosystem The Torum Android mobile app launch is expected by mid-June, while the NFT marketplace will be launched by around July. Meanwhile, Torum will be integrating the HECO chain and other mainstream public chain support into the Torum NFT Marketplace to develop the largest multi-chain NFT marketplace in the industry. The continuous expansion of blockchain innovations will help Torum remain focused in the pursuit of its long term vision of becoming the largest crypto ecosystem that connects the general mass to the crypto space. About Torum Torum is the world’s first DeFi + NFT social media platform that is specially designed for cryptocurrency users. Backed by AU21, Consensus Lab, DFG, M6, Waterdrip Capital and 15 other prominent VCs, Torum is now one of the fastest-growing social media platforms with over 56,000 registered users with a consistent 20 – 30% monthly user growth rate. Torum Socials Website | Twitter | Telegram | Medium | Facebook Media Contact Details Contact Name: Jayson Tan Contact Email: hello@torum.com Torum is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone believes bitcoin is “more likely” headed for $40K instead of $20K after discussing the possibility of capitulation in a recent tweet. McGlone’s opinion follows a number of predictions that say bitcoin could drop to the $20K zone if there’s more pullback in the cards. Bloomberg Commodity Strategist Suggests Bitcoin ‘More Likely’ to Hit $40K Than $20K Bitcoin markets have improved on Wednesday, after the announcement stemming from El Salvador which recognized bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in the country. Even though the news has been positive, some people are still not sure if the “bottom is in.” There have been predictions of BTC dropping below the $30K region and even down to the $20K zone. Stephen Kelso, head of markets at ITI Capital explained in a note to Bitcoin.com News that there have been reports that suggest BTC could drop to this low point. “Speculative reports suggest that bitcoin could soon drop to $20,000, referencing the looming bearing cross of the 50 and 200 daily moving averages,” Kelso explained. “However, there are still some positive signs for the price of digital assets to build again, for example the encouraging price action overnight, stabilising funding spreads for futures and a decline in the implied volatilities of options,” the ITI Capital executive added. Kelso further detailed: More significantly, there has been continued accrual of bitcoin by bigger institutional wallets and Michael Saylor’s Microstrategy has increased the size of its current junk bond offering to $500m to buy more BTC at these levels. These will have more impact on macro hedge funds who will look to take advantage of the pullback opportunity. Mike McGlone, the senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, explained his view of the situation on Twitter. “Bitcoin Capitulation? $40,000 Appears More Likely Than $20,000 — The June 8 Bitcoin plunge and revisit of lower-end-range support around $30,000 had many of the earmarks of extreme bearish sentiment typical of more enduring bull-market bottoms,” McGlone tweeted. Chart shared by Bloomberg senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone on June 9, 2021. Although, not everyone agreed with McGlone’s opinion and one individual said: “One problem with this. When we capitulated in 2014, 2018, and 2020 we found a bottom on the 200 Weekly MA. We are nowhere near it. Real capitulation is usually 80%+ from the high. You’ve been overly bullish through this whole collapse.” Nevertheless, some responded to the skeptical response to McGlone and stressed: Days are different, adoption is different, institutional involvement is different. History doesn’t need to repeat… The CTO of Bitfinex, Paolo Ardoino told Bitcoin.com News that the current pause is no surprise to him. “This current market pause is not unexpected,” Ardoino detailed. “Everyone needs time to assess and digest what the community has built. We’re waiting for a new momentum to gather as we continue to build upon the foundations created by some of the greatest minds in fintech. I’m still extremely bullish in the long term about bitcoin and the long-term fundamentals and use cases of the technology.” McGlone: ‘Bitcoin Has Transitioned to a Global Digital-Reserve Asset’ In a couple of tweets prior to McGlone’s assessment of BTC markets on Wednesday, McGlone also said that the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami saw “Woodstock-like” bitcoin adoption. “The June 3-5 Bitcoin 2021 conference further validated our view that Bitcoin has transitioned to a global digital-reserve asset and away from being a speculative crypto,” McGlone remarked on Twitter. The Bloomberg senior commodity strategist has also tweeted about gold’s price rise in recent times and noted that gold’s previous correction looks complete. “Gold Above $2,000, Silver $30 – May Not Wait for June Unemployment – Weaker-than-consensus April and May U.S. unemployment reports support our key takeaway that gold and silver are ripe to resume their bull markets. Headwinds from rising bond yields & Bitcoin have been alleviated,” the strategist added. What do you think about Mike McGlone’s prediction about bitcoin hitting $40K before $20K? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Interactive Brokers will add cryptocurrency trading to its platform by the end of the summer, CEO Thomas Peterffy has revealed. The platform has about 1.33 million customer accounts and $330.6 billion in customer equity as of the first quarter. Interactive Brokers to Offer Cryptocurrency Trading The chairman and CEO of Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR), Thomas Peterffy, said at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange & Fintech Conference Wednesday that his company will start offering direct cryptocurrency trading. Peterffy was quoted by the media as saying: Customers certainly are asking for [crypto trading] and we expect to be ready to offer it to them by the end of the summer. The platform has about 1.33 million customer accounts and $330.6 billion in customer equity as of the first quarter. Clients from over 200 countries and territories invest globally in stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds and funds from a single integrated Interactive Brokers account. The CEO further commented on the launch of cryptocurrency trading: “As for hurdles, the greatest hurdle is how do you keep your customers 100% safe. How do you make it 100% sure that no one will steal their coins in spite of the fact that they are untraceable. We will find out more about this when we open for business at the end of the summer.” Other major brokers, such as Fidelity and Charles Schwab, currently do not offer direct crypto trading on their platforms but some do offer access to some crypto-related funds. Meanwhile, stock trading apps, such as Robinhood, do offer cryptocurrency trading. Interactive Brokers currently offers a variety of cryptocurrency-related investments but not direct crypto trading. Among the products offered are Grayscale Investments’ products: the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Bitcoin Cash Trust, Ethereum Trust, Ethereum Classic Trust, Litecoin Trust, and the Digital Large Cap Fund. The platform also offers XBT Provider Bitcoin Tracker One and XBT Provider Ethereum. It also offer a number of indices: NYSE Bitcoin Index, the Gemini Bitcoin Trace Price Index, CME Bitcoin Reference Rate Index, and CME Bitcoin Real Time Index. As for cryptocurrency futures, the platform offers the Gemini Bitcoin Trace Price Futures, CME Bitcoin Reference Rate Futures, CME Ether Dollar Reference Rate Futures, and Bakkt Bitcoin Futures. What do you think about Interactive Brokers launching cryptocurrency trading? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

An official notice stemming from the Changji prefecture government in Xinjiang details that officials from the Zhundong Economic-Technological Development Park must instruct bitcoin miners to shut down. China’s province of Xinjiang is a highly concentrated region of bitcoin miners and bitcoin activities at the park must cease by June 9, according to the document. Nevertheless, the Bitcoin network’s hashrate has been considerably higher today than last week’s average rate. Development Park Bitcoin Miners in Xinjiang Told to Cease Operations Following Sichuan Energy Official’s Meeting There’s been a number of reports from China that indicate Chinese government officials haven’t been too keen on the crypto mining sector in recent times. Bitcoin.com News has covered a number of reports tied to the country showing a possible crackdown on bitcoin mining taking place in mainland China. For instance, Huobi and Okex revealed the companies would restrict certain services to Chinese residents and then Btc.top and Hashcow halted services to China. Rumors of “cheap” mining rigs surfaced and talks of a massive exodus of Chinese miners migrating to Central Asia started trending. On Wednesday, Wolfie Zhao from The Block, reported on a notice seen and verified by the publication that indicates a development park shut down solely directed at bitcoin mining operations. “According to the notice seen and verified by The Block, officials in the development park have been instructed to shut down all crypto mining activities under their administration by 2:00 pm China time on Wednesday,” Zhao details in the report. The development park in question happens to be the Zhundong Economic-Technological Development Park. Statistics show that there is a deep concentration of bitcoin miners located in Xinjiang and Sichuan. How much hashpower is located in either region is unknown but many people assume that it is a lot of processing power. Interestingly, the notice obtained by Zhao follows the recent Sichuan energy official’s meeting that planned to discuss bitcoin mining implications in that province. Furthermore, a number of mining companies from China have explained that operations may move abroad if crackdowns persist. Bitcoin Hashrate Rises, Top Five Mining Pools Stem from China Despite the notices and government officials in China talking about bitcoin mining, the network’s overall hashrate has increased a great deal. On June 9, 2021, Bitcoin’s hashrate has ramped up to 180 exahash per second (EH/s) after hovering just above the 150 EH/s range last week. Amusingly, the top pools from China Poolin, F2pool, and Antpool have been battling for the number one position during the last few weeks with a few shuffles for the top spot along the way. Today, Poolin commands 15.2% of the Bitcoin hashrate, F2pool captures 14.5%, and Antpool has roughly 13.1%. The top five pools processing SHA256 blocks on the BTC chain today, are all from China. What do you think about the notice to bitcoin miners operating in Zhundong Economic-Technological Development Park? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Two months after the mystery mining whale from 2010 transferred a string of 20 block rewards with 1,000 bitcoin on March 23, it seemed as though the entity was finished, after spending 10,000 bitcoin total. However, it took 78 days for the whale’s next move, as another 20 blocks from 2010 were transferred on Wednesday after the bitcoin sat idle for more than a decade. Despite the fact that bitcoin’s value is much lower today than a month ago, the mystery whale spent 1,000 bitcoin worth $35 million on Wednesday morning (EST) from 2010 at block height 686,865. The 2010 Mystery Whale Is Back, 1,000 Ten-Year-Old Bitcoins Move Last year and into 2021, Bitcoin.com News has been investigating a mystery whale that spends strings of 2010 block rewards in the same pattern every time the entity transfers coins. The strings are precisely 20 decade-old block rewards that contain 50 bitcoin (BTC) each and are also spent in one block. The last time the old-school whale from Satoshi’s era moved coins was on March 23, 2021. The mining entity has now moved another concession of 20 block rewards from 2010 on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at block height 686,865. Every block reward spent today was mined back in 2010 between the months of August through October of that year. Each block reward contained 50 BTC and when spent, the coins were consolidated into one address, which at one time held 999.99 BTC. As usual, Bitcoin.com News has been tracking this particular whale entity, and the ‘sleeping bitcoins’ that woke up on Wednesday morning were caught by Btcparser.com. The consolidated address then dispersed the $35 million worth of crypto to a myriad of different addresses. The zombie coins from 2010 spent today followed the exact same pattern as the 10,000 decade-old bitcoins spent prior. The grand total now is 11,000 coins spent since last year when Bitcoin.com News caught the whale’s first awakening. It all started on March 12, 2020. From there October 11, 2020, November 7, 2020, November 8, 2020, December 27, 2020, January 3, 2021 (Bitcoin’s 12th anniversary), January 10, 2021, January 25, 2021, February 28, 2021, March 23, 2021, and then today’s spend. There Hasn’t Been a Bitcoin Whale Like This One in Ages Ever since the bitcoin bull run began, old school whales have been making mysterious moves, but this whale, in particular, has been quite the oddity. In addition to the 1,000 BTC spent on Wednesday, the whale also moved the corresponding bitcoin cash (BCH) into a consolidated address that contained 1,001 BCH. However, just like the previous patterns, the whale did not transfer the corresponding bitcoinsv (BSV) tokens as those coins still sit idle in their original coinbase addresses. The BCH spent was over $600K at the time of transfer and the BCH was also dispersed to a myriad of different addresses. The crypto community still has no idea who this particular whale from 2010 is but the whale certainly has mined a great number of coins in the early days. It’s also worth noting that the terms “spent” or “spend” in the world of bitcoin, simply mean the transfer from one address to another. The terms “spent” or “spend” do not necessarily mean that the bitcoins were “sold” to a third party like a popular crypto exchange. Although, since the mysterious whale has been moving coins since ‘Black Thursday’ 2020, our onchain analysis at Bitcoin.com News indicates the 11,000 BTC may have been sent to a well-known exchange. What do you think about the mysterious whale from 2010 spending 20 blocks today? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article