roadrunner

Financial authorities in Hong Kong have announced a second phase of trials for mainland China’s digital currency. As part of the upcoming tests, the city will link the Chinese digital yuan to its domestic payments system to evaluate the CBDC’s usability in cross-border scenarios. Hong Kong Residents to Load E-CNY Wallets via Mobile Phones China has gained a lot of ground in its push to develop and implement a central bank digital currency (CBDC). And while officials in Beijing have indicated that the e-CNY is a domestic project at this stage, cross-border trials have been launched in the special administrative region of Hong Kong. After initial small-scale experiments with digital yuan wallets, the latest testing round will check how Hong Kong residents can load the e-CNY wallets using the city’s faster payment network, Reuters reported. The system is currently processing domestic payments ordered through mobile devices. The new trials were announced during a press conference on Tuesday. Speaking to the media, the chief fintech officer at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Nelson Chow, elaborated that “This will help Hong Kong residents to use e-CNY when they cross the border.” HKMA to Examine Feasibility of Retail-Focused CBDC The HKMA has previously revealed it’s working on the implementation of CBDCs to streamline cross-border interbank payments. This week, the regulatory body said it would issue a paper exploring the feasibility of a retail-focused CBDC within a year. The document will review potential use cases for an e-HKD that Hong Kong may decide to create. Matters related to data privacy and anti-money laundering standards will also be in the focus of the study, Hong Kong’s central banking institution added. HKMA’s CEO Eddie Yue commented: People are now a lot more used to digital payments, and if other central banks are exploring possible use cases for CBDCs … you have to try out to see whether you can make it successful. HKMA continues its cross-border CBDC trials in parallel to other consumer-focused projects, the report further noted. The central banks of China and the United Arab Emirates have earlier this year joined a wholesale CBDC pilot conducted by the HKMA and the Bank of Thailand. Meanwhile, the People’s Republic has been advancing with its own digital currency tests. This month, authorities in the capital Beijing and the city of Shanghai announced plans to disperse over $9 million worth of digital yuan in red envelope lotteries. Winners who receive the handouts will have the opportunity to spend the funds at merchants that are already accepting CBDC payments. Do you think China plans to expand the use of the digital yuan in cross-border transactions? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

One of Africa’s oldest museums, the Uganda National Museum (UNM), is set to create digital representations of the unique artifacts that are on display at this facility. Working in concert with software development firm Murcom, Uganda’s biggest museum is expected to display and auction the digitally represented items on Binance’s non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. Uganda National Museum Artifacts to Be Made NFTs According to Murcom’s post on Medium, the “blockchain-based digital representations of the various items under the Museum’s custody” will be created using the software firm’s MUDA NFT platform. On June 24, Binance NFT will launch and both UNM and MUDA will be participants in the crypto exchange’s “100 Creators’ Campaign.” In the meantime, discussing the reasons prompting the Ugandan museum to join the NFT movement, Murcom Director Suleiman Murunga starts by explaining the token creation and authentication process. Next, he summarizes Murcom’s working relationship with the museum saying: This partnership with the National Museum will see us set up an online web page that will be used to display the NFTs and the items that the Museum represents. We shall take professional photos of the different items and convert them into digital artworks after which we shall apply these digital artworks on the blockchain and create the afore-mentioned NFTs. The Murcom director adds that NFTs for items such as Ugandan cultural pieces, royal regalia, pre-historic pieces and ancient tools will be created. Meanwhile, the same Medium post reveals that this project has been initiated with the key objective of raising awareness and funds for the Museum. Further, this NFT marketplace “will also allow artists and content creators to launch NFTs on the Binance Smartchain.” What do you think of Uganda National Museum’s decision to create NFTs? You can share your thoughts in the comments section below. View the full article

U.K.-based crypto payments provider Bottlepay has started offering services in other European countries. Users on the Old Continent will be able to send and receive even small amounts of euro and also buy, store and spend bitcoin with merchants accepting cryptocurrency. Bottlepay Promises Low-Cost Transactions in Euro and Bitcoin The Bottlepay app will allow Europeans to make instant cross-border payments using the Eurozone’s common fiat currency, the euro, as well as bitcoin (BTC). The startup, which launched its service in the U.K. earlier this year, promises to process these transactions at a low cost. It announced its upcoming European expansion on social media before the weekend. Europe, see you next week✌️#europelaunch #euro #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/r4zjafonJn — Bottlepay ⚡ (@bottlepay) June 4, 2021 The app can be downloaded via a link sent to mobile devices. Starting Tuesday, European residents will be able to top it up with euros to buy bitcoin or make payments. U.K. users can send and receive British pounds and BTC, and also set the app to convert funds sent to Europe into euro or cryptocurrency. Bottlepay Founder Pete Cheyne was quoted by Yahoo Finance saying: Bottlepay is attempting to rewrite the rules when it comes to cross-border transactions. Half a billion people across the U.K. and Europe can now make cost-effective, instant payments to each other with a payments app that’s built on top of the Bitcoin network. Users Can Buy Crypto, Send Money via Twitter The platform supports orders via Twitter. Funds can be transferred with a simple command such as “@bottlepay send @recipient €10.” Buying bitcoin with the bot is also simple. Tweeting “@bottlepay buy €10 of BTC” will immediately convert the fiat amount to crypto within your account. The company plans to offer the service on Reddit, Telegram, Discord, and Twitch as well. Both Brits and other Europeans can use the application to make BTC payments at stores and online merchants accepting the cryptocurrency. Bottlepay facilitates Lightning Network transactions. Crypto users can also withdraw money from Bitcoin ATMs around the world. As a participant in the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s Innovation Hub, Bottlepay managed to sign up more than 20,000 users for a beta version of its mobile application. The British crypto payments startup is backed by billionaire Alan Howard, co-founder of the Brevan Howard hedge fund. This year, Bottlepay raised 11 million pounds (around $15.5 million) in seed funding from Howard and other investors including “present and former” Goldman Sachs partners. The startup was founded in 2019 but December of that year saw the company announce it was ceasing operations due to new, stricter EU anti-money laundering regulations at the time. Would you use Bottlepay for euro transfers and cryptocurrency payments? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The crypto trading platform Coinseed is shutting down operations according to a written statement from the company’s CEO Delgerdalai Davaasambuu. A court order secured by New York Attorney General Letitia James told Coinseed to halt all of its operations. Following the announcement of the shutdown, Coinseed’s CEO said he created an ERC20 token called “FLJ” that’s dedicated to Attorney James “and her cronies.” New York Attorney General Letitia James Obtains Court Order, Agency Claims 170 Complaints Filed Coinseed is calling it quits after the firm was served with a court order to continue “a mandated pause” on operations. Bitcoin.com News reported during the first week of May when James announced that the attorney general took “legal action” against Coinseed. The platform was also instructed by the U.S. government to “immediately halt” all operations. The court order obtained by the New York Attorney General (NYAG) and the press release that followed, said that the shutdown is meant to ensure the “protection of investors’ money going forward.” Moreover, the NYAG claimed it obtained more than 170 complaints from investors involved with Coinseed operations. “When platforms operating illegally in New York seek to trade on investors’ money, we will use every tool at our disposal to stop their unlawful actions,” said Attorney General James. “This order appoints a court-appointed receiver before any other investments are squandered by Coinseed and its CEO. We will not allow rogue operators to hold innocent investors’ funds hostage,” the NYAG added. Coinseed CEO Tells NY Crypto Operators To Run Away, FLJ Token Created for ‘NYAG and Her Cronies’ The company’s CEO Delgerdalai Davaasambuu wrote on the website coinseed.co that the company’s “fatal mistake” was its association with the state of New York. In 2017, Coinseed conducted an initial coin offering (ICO) and the CEO claims it was raised from “non-US investors (mostly European) to support Coinseed’s future development.” “Immediately upon our ICO, they subpoenaed us over the ICO and they have been constantly harassing us for the last 3 years,” the Coinseed executive stressed. He added: Run away from NY if you are running a crypto business there. The Coinseed CEO also detailed that he created a token for “NYAG Letitia James and her cronies” and it’s called FLJ (F*** Letita James). Davaasambuu left the FLJ contract address and told people to check it out. It will be listed on a myriad of decentralized finance (defi) platforms soon and “will be available for trading,” Davaasambuu concluded. “I’ll also donate some FLJ token to the NYAG office to support their other causes,” the Coinseed CEO said at the end of his letter. What do you think about Coinseed shutting down operations and the FLJ token airdrop? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The bill to make bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador has been approved by a supermajority in the Salvadoran Congress. “The purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out,” the bill describes. Bill to Make Bitcoin Legal Tender Approved by Congress in El Salvador The bill to make bitcoin legal tender has passed Congress in El Salvador. President Nayib Bukele announced via Twitter early Wednesday morning: “The Bitcoin Law has been approved by a supermajority in the Salvadoran Congress. 62 out of 84 votes. History.” The bill was sent to Congress late Tuesday night; it contains 16 articles. Article 1 states: The purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out. The bill details that the exchange rate between bitcoin and the U.S. dollar “will be freely established by the market” and the “prices may be expressed in bitcoin.” Furthermore, “tax contributions can be paid in bitcoin,” the bill adds, noting: “Exchanges in bitcoin will not be subject to capital gains tax, just like any legal tender.” In addition, bitcoin must be accepted as payment by anyone offering goods and services. Article 12 notes that those who “do not have access to the technologies that allow to carry out transactions in bitcoin are excluded from the obligation” to accept bitcoin as payments. “The State will promote the necessary training and mechanisms so that the population can access bitcoin transactions.” Article 14 explains: Before the entry into force of this law, the State will guarantee, through the creation of a trust at the Banco de Desarrollo de EI Salvador (BANDESAL), the automatic and instantaneous convertibility of bitcoin to USD necessary for the alternatives provided by the State. According to the bill: “This decree will take effect ninety days after its publication in the Official Gazette.” The full bill can be found here. What do you think about El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

One of the biggest franchises in the videogame industry, Grand Theft Auto, will feature in-game payments of “bitcoin” or another fictional cryptocurrency. Contractors will pay the player with this currency when they need to make anonymous, untraceable payments. This would constitute another push for Bitcoin awareness into mainstream media culture. Grand Theft Auto 6 to Feature in-Game Fictional Cryptocurrency Grand Theft Auto 6, one of the biggest gaming franchises, will feature an in-game cryptocurrency for payments according to insiders. The game will allow the player to accept cryptocurrency payments from big shot contractors who want to remain anonymous. Industry insider Tom Henderson leaked the news on Twitter earlier this week. He stated: I heard recently that in GTA 6, some missions will reward you in bitcoin instead of cash for completing some missions. The stock market feature will return, with the addition of a broker for different cryptocurrencies. If GTA 6 incorporates this right, it’s huge for crypto. Henderson also clarified the final name of the cryptocurrency might not be bitcoin, but that he was confident that it would be present in the game. He has leaked accurate information before regarding other franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield. As one of the most beloved gaming franchises in the world, Grand Theft Auto has managed to ship more than 345 million units worldwide, according to Statista. The appearance of a “GTA bitcoin” or another fictional cryptocurrency could raise popular awareness of the real-world crypto space. Bitcoin in Popular Culture As important as this appearance might be, it would not be the first time Bitcoin has been featured in popular culture. Bitcoin references can already be found aplenty. In Fox’s Family Guy, bitcoin is referenced as an investment opportunity in a tongue-in-cheek way. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse also jokes about bitcoin’s price volatility. The animation depicts a TV news channel announcing bitcoin prices reached new highs and lows, alternating these announcements. Crypto, a blockbuster movie, delves into the serious side of crypto. The movie depicts a criminal case showing cryptocurrencies being used to launder money. The Simpsons also touch on crypto themes frequently. But what’s really unique about the Grand Theft Auto inclusion is that the player will be able to harness this crypto and use it in a persistent world. A kind of virtual, gaming experience of the real-world, digital asset. What do you think about Grand Theft Auto 6 including bitcoin as in-game currency? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Mike Novogratz declared institutional investors are waiting for the next narrative shift in a recent interview at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. The CEO of Galaxy Digital thinks the market is now in a consolidation phase after the price crash last month. Novogratz also commented on what the rise of defi could mean for banking operators in the near future. Mike Novogratz Thinks Bitcoin Investors Are Waiting for a New Narrative Galaxy Digital’s CEO Mike Novogratz thinks Bitcoin is still in a phase of consolidation after the dump in prices experienced last month. According to the entrepreneur, possible investors are waiting for the next shift in the Bitcoin narrative. This new push would entice them to start pumping money into digital assets again. Novogratz explained in an interview with Yahoo Finance that he thinks institutional investors are to blame for the recent tank in prices. Institutional investors were able to accumulate Bitcoin cheap at $9K prices, and with the sudden price hike this year, they had to take profits. Novogratz elaborates: A year later it’s at $60,000 and the urge to ring the cash register is such a deep-seated human urge that that’s what happened … We’ll see a long period of consolidation … and you’re waiting for the new narrative to arrive that brings the next wave of money and I think we’re in one of those periods right now.” Novogratz thinks the new narrative shift is already in the works. A Bitcoin or crypto ETF might bring this new blood to the market. These instruments could push crypto to older Americans, that have been traditionally skeptical of cryptocurrency investments. Galaxy Digital, Novogratz’s company, filed an application for a Bitcoin ETF back in April. Defi Will Affect Traditional Banking Mike Novogratz also commented on the state of defi and how it will affect traditional banking in the near future. For him, the next five years will see the world surprised at the rise of defi. This means that banking services will suffer in comparison, due to the regulations they have to comply with. Defi protocols, on the other hand, are pretty much free to offer whatever yield they want according to their activities. Traditional finance service providers will fight for these to be regulated. In any case, the entrepreneur thinks banks are fighting a losing battle. He stressed: Banks are going to lobby like crazy — less against bitcoin, more against Defi — but bitcoin is the trojan horse to get everything in to digital assets and so revolutions don’t happen without a little bloodshed. What do you think about Mike Novogratz’s thoughts on the market? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Six East African states are reportedly set to explore the possibility of using central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as an alternative to their shared payment system. The six countries, which are all members of the East Africa Community (EAC) trading bloc, are hoping this alternative will create a pathway that leads to the attainment of “a single currency for the region by 2024.” The Moribund EAPS The revelations of the EAC’s digital currency plan follow the bloc secretariat’s “consultancy call for a feasibility study” on the planned upgrade of the East African Payment System (EAPS). Since its launch in 2014, the EAPS has failed to function properly due to member states’ distrust of each other’s currency. Consequently, according to a report, the EAC says the selected “consultant will conduct an exploratory scoping of such developments.” The consultant is similarly expected to conduct an exploratory scoping for “emerging technologies and their adoption, including but not limited to technologies involving the use of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).” Distrust Between Member States Meanwhile, the same report quotes the EAC secretariat detailing some of the key challenges that have been observed with the EAPS. The secretariat said: The original funding model where participants sourced for funding of other EAC currencies from the market is proving expensive due to unavailability of partner States’ currencies in the local market. The secretariat adds that the “lack of a centralised user support means that resolution of any problems with the usage of the system takes a long time.” This in turn impacts negatively on the operations of the system. “The fact the system does not operate on a single platform also means that centralised liquidity and collateral management is not possible,” concludes the EAC secretariat. According to the report, Kenya currently dominates transactions in the EAPS, which allows citizens of member countries to make and receive payments in regional currencies. The other five member states that will be party to the CBDC exploratory process are Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. What are your thoughts on the EAC members’ plan to create a CBDC? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he “pretty much” agrees with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin about a collaboration between Dogecoin and Ethereum. Buterin said: “if we can have a secure Doge-to-Ethereum bridge. That would be amazing.” Vitalik Buterin Talks About Dogecoin and Ethereum Bridge, Elon Musk Agrees Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin talked about a potential collaboration between Ethereum and Dogecoin in an interview with AI researcher Lex Fridman last week. Referring to the Tesla and Spacex CEO repeatedly tweeting about dogecoin, Fridman said, “There’s a power behind someone like Elon Musk pushing the development of a cryptocurrency.” He then asked Buterin, “is there a way to leverage that power and momentum to improve Ethereum?” Buterin said: If DOGE wants to somehow bridge to Ethereum, and then people can trade DOGE thousands of times a second inside of loopring, then that would be amazing. “I definitely don’t think Ethereum is opposed to dog coins,” the co-founder emphasized. “I kind of want the fans to feel like Ethereum is, at least a little bit, in spirit itself a dog coin.” He elaborated: “I think if we can have a secure Doge-to-Ethereum bridge. That would be amazing, and then when Ethereum gets any scalability that works for Ethereum assets, you would be able to trade wrapped DOGE with very low transaction fees and very high speed as well.” Commenting on Musk’s action to support dogecoin, Buterin said: “You would make a mistake if you were to ascribe too much sophisticated malevolence or any deep intentionality to the whole process. He’s just a human being, and he likes dogs just like I like dogs.” Musk then commented on the interview, tweeting: I pretty much agree with Vitalik. Ethereum is currently undergoing an upgrade transitioning from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model. Buterin recently explained why the upgrade is taking longer than expected. “One of the biggest problems I’ve found with our project is not the technical problems, it’s problems related with people … Ethereum is now in a better economic position, but it took us five years to get to where we are now. We have a lot of internal team conflicts in these five years. If you are building a team, it is important to know who you are working with,” the Ethereum co-founder described. Last month, Musk proposed some improvements for Dogecoin, claiming to have met with DOGE developers. Musk wrote: “Ideally, Doge speeds up block time 10X, increases block size 10X & drops fee 100X. Then it wins hands down.” Do you think Ethereum and Dogecoin should collaborate? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has revealed record growth in its institutional business. “This year, interest from pension funds and hedge funds has skyrocketed, supported by the roll-out of crypto-ETPs as well as an increased understanding of the crypto economy,” said Coinbase. Coinbase Sees Interest From Institutional Investors Skyrocketing Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) reportedly revealed Tuesday that between Dec. 31 last year and the end of the first quarter this year, its institutional holdings grew 170% from $45 billion to $122 billion. The company has over 8,000 institutional clients currently, including hedge funds, asset managers, pension funds, and endowments. Many institutional clients use Coinbase Custody, a crypto custody service with an insurance policy for institutional clients. The service, launched in 2018, supports over 90% of cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Drew Robinson, Head of Hedge Fund Sales at Coinbase, says: Over the last 12 months, we have seen a growing interest from institutional investors seeking to take advantage of the crypto space. However, this year, interest from pension funds and hedge funds has skyrocketed, supported by the roll-out of crypto-ETPs as well as an increased understanding of the crypto economy. He was further quoted as saying: “Over time we have seen a variety of factors pulling institutional investors into the space; these range from hedging against inflation, diversification of corporate balance sheets and the desire for broader engagement in the digital economy, including areas such as payments, payroll and cross border payments. Client demand is also playing a significant role.” Coinbase is not the only company seeing soaring institutional demand for cryptocurrency. Goldman Sachs said last month that fear of missing out (FOMO) has driven institutional investors to cryptocurrency. The firm has been saying for months that it is seeing huge institutional demand for bitcoin. What do you think about Coinbase’s institutional holdings growing 170%? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On June 7, the United States Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the “recovery” of 63.70 bitcoin from the funds Colonial Pipeline sent to the hackers. The official story has a number of inconsistencies and federal investigators did not disclose how the FBI was able to confiscate the Darkside gang’s private key. Darkside Ransomware Gang Story Loaded With Discrepancies and a Vague Bitcoin Key Capture The cryptocurrency space has been discussing the recent law enforcement capture of 63.7 BTC or $2.3 million worth of bitcoin at the time of seizure. There have been issues with the way the story has unfolded and people are skeptical of the official story. Bitcoin.com News reported on Monday, how the Justice Department and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco revealed the seizure story. Monaco detailed that federal authorities had “turned the tables on Darkside.” But from the very moment this story broke by a number of mainstream media outlets, there were a few discrepancies. The first was whether or not the U.S. government advised Colonial Pipeline to oblige the ransomware demands or specifically told the company to pay. If the government did tell the business to pay Darkside then it would contradict the government’s stance toward not paying ransomware hackers. The criminals used a "Payment Server" that was easily tracked by the FBI and their physical cloud server was just found and searched for a password. This had nothing to do with #Bitcoin itself.https://t.co/AmJsHXJRha — Documenting Bitcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) June 8, 2021 Another issue with the original story is when CNN originally reported on the hack, the news outlet claimed the oil company wasn’t intending to pay the ransom. According to Bloomberg, shortly after, Colonial Pipeline did pay nearly $5 million to the ransomware gang Darkside. Besides the two contradicting elements in both CNN and Bloomberg’s stories, the articles also noted differences with the digital currency used. CNN originally reported that the payment was demanded to be paid in “bitcoin,” while Bloomberg wrote Darkside asked for “difficult-to-trace” cryptocurrencies. CNN’s article was updated after Bloomberg’s article published to reflect the same narrative. Then there’s the fact that it is impossible to crack a bitcoin (BTC) key without forcing the owner to reveal the private key. This is a constant theme on Twitter, as the crypto community discusses the situation of how the FBI agent obtained the private key. The story’s affidavit filed on June 7, 2021, explains how law enforcement leveraged “blockchain explorers” to trace the coins. But other than that the affidavit is extremely vague and contains lots of redactions. The report published yesterday on Bitcoin.com News explains that executives from Blockchain Intelligence Group (CSE: BIGG) highlight that law enforcement was dependent on “training and analysis [that] requires advanced tools and learning” Other blockchain surveillance companies also followed the ransomware coins as Elliptic recently wrote about following Darkside funds. So far between all the comments from Monaco, the Justice Department, the FBI agent’s affidavit, and comments from a few blockchain analysis teams, there are no dots that are deeply connected to how the FBI obtained ownership of the private key now in possession. Crypto Sleuths Discover Hackers Stored Data on the Cloud, Feds Obtain Cloud Server Password via Warrant A report published by NPR discloses three possible scenarios. One possibility, NPR’s Vanessa Romo notes is that maybe the federal agents were tipped off by an insider in the Darkside gang. The second theory is that Darkside was “careless” or a member of the gang slipped by releasing information tied to the key. Another theory could be that the FBI was able to shakedown a third party or possibly a cryptocurrency exchange. Some people even openly attacked bitcoin’s “key selling points” that it was supposed to be “beyond the reach of the government.” Something seems weird about this whole case. Was the BTC sent to an exchange? — Rick McCracken DIGI (@RichardMcCrackn) June 8, 2021 The lawyer Jake Chervinsky who often comments on the blockchain and crypto space regularly said: “We don’t know exactly how FBI seized the Colonial Pipeline ransom [and] they’re not telling us. The warrant application suggests they got the private key. Maybe from the DarkSide server seizure? There’s no suggestion that an exchange or custodian was involved, but that’s possible.” Independent journalist Jordan Schachtel gave his opinion about the situation on Twitter and told his 123,000 followers that the “FBI did not ‘hack back’ a bitcoin wallet, despite claims that they did. It’s mathematically impossible to hack private keys.” Schachtel continued: [There is] no evidence of Russian involvement. This was all entirely avoidable if Colonial had basic security measures in place. I think it’s fair to say that it is currently impossible to hack private keys. Improbable is not strong enough language to demonstrate how unlikely it is to retain a private key through computing power. Quantum is still very much a theoretical threat. Schachtel and many others also discovered the warrant that does indicate the U.S. government obtained the key by leveraging a warrant. The journalist said that it was possibly an exchange based in San Fransico or a database server based in the state of California. Ransom hackers used a rented cloud server. FBI got a subpoena to take control of the rented server and recover half of the total 75 #btc The FBI didn’t “crack Bitcoin.” They got the wallet encryption key (password) from the server. pic.twitter.com/WwHTRjiHod — Amy Snow (@helloamysnow) June 8, 2021 The CSO at Coinbase, Philip Martin, said he saw a lot of accusations pointing at Coinbase as possibly being “involved” with the seizure. Martin and Coinbase insist that “Coinbase was not the target of the warrant and did not receive the ransom or any part of the ransom at any point. We also have no evidence that the funds went through a Coinbase account/wallet.” The election attorney, litigator, and bitcoin practice group leader, Bryan Jacoutot, reiterated the fact that bitcoin private keys cannot be “hacked.” “For those of you who think the US gov’t cracked SHA-256 and correctly guessed the private key of the Colonial Pipeline hackers,” Jacoutot said. “Here’s a fun fact: The size of bitcoin’s private key space is 10^77. For comparison, the amount of *atoms* in the observable universe is 10^80.” A Twitter account called “Cthulhu” mentioned it could be a false flag and said: So either the FBI were the hackers of the Colonial Pipeline or they don’t need a key to get anyone’s BTC. LOL. I don’t think too much thought went into doing this false flag. “The FBI either was given the private keys or they stole them,” another individual dubbed Kingt Crypto remarked on Monday. The fact is the FBI didn’t crack a bitcoin wallet. No one can crack a secure bitcoin wallet. The FBI obtained the private keys to the Darkside funds via getting an encryption key to a cloud server by obtaining a warrant issued in San Fransico. Currently, as the story continues to trend across the web, there are lots of skeptics questioning the ‘official’ tale told by the U.S. government. Do you believe the federal government’s official story about the Colonial Pipeline bitcoin ransomware case? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Amazon is looking for a blockchain expert, according to a job posting published on the company’s employment portal. The firm wants someone who is “passionate about blockchain and decentralized networks” and someone who can build innovative “business use cases” across decentralized finance (defi). Online Marketplace Amazon Hopes to Hire a Head of Product to Lead Blockchain Innovation The world’s largest online marketplace Amazon is seemingly watching blockchain innovations and current defi platforms make waves in the world of finance. Since the firm’s inception, Amazon has disrupted the online world via technological innovation and now it wants someone to help with blockchain technology. The company posted a job listing this week that shows Amazon is looking for a “Head of Product” with a comprehensive blockchain and cryptocurrency background. The business already has a product called the “Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB)” and a team behind the project as well. “Come join us to head product on the Amazon Managed Blockchain team,” Amazon’s job listing states. “Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB) is a fully managed service that accelerates customers’ ability to create and leverage scalable blockchain technology for current and innovative business use cases across Defi, Supply Chain, Financial Services, Identity, and more. We are looking for an experienced product leader to drive the vision, roadmap, feature definition and go-to-market strategy of the AWS product offering across the rapidly evolving and broad landscape of blockchain technology and use cases.” Interested applicants are required to have a BS or BA degree, over a decade of experience in the field of product management experience and the company prefers someone with a degree in computer science. Amazon’s job listing description adds: The candidate will have a track record delivering outstanding products at scale in emerging spaces, and is passionate about blockchain, distributed systems, and cloud scale software. Ideally you will have experience delivering products or innovations in the blockchain space, and in particular Defi or Traditional Financial Services. Not the First Job Listing Seeking Blockchain Help The blockchain expert job listing posted on Amazon’s employment portal follows the job listing added back in February when the e-commerce giant was looking to build a pilot project in Mexico. “This product will enable customers to convert their cash in to digital currency using which customers can enjoy online services including shopping for goods and/or services like Prime Video,” the Amazon job listing explained at the time. The listing from February has since been removed from the e-commerce firm’s employment web portal. What do you think about Amazon looking for a blockchain expert who can build business use cases tethered to defi? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says it needs congressional authority in order to obtain the information needed to regulate cryptocurrency. “We get challenged frequently and to have a clear dictate from Congress on the authority for us to collect that information is critical,” IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said. IRS Says It Needs More Authority to Collect Crypto Data IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said Tuesday during a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the IRS needs more authority to do its job in regulating cryptocurrency. He said: I think we need congressional authority. We get challenged frequently and to have a clear dictate from Congress on the authority for us to collect that information is critical. The commissioner noted that the cryptocurrency market is growing and its value is now approximately $2 trillion, with more than 8,600 exchanges worldwide. The Biden administration has proposed requiring businesses to report information on cryptocurrency transactions valued at more than $10,000 to the IRS. This is part of the administration’s broader efforts to crack down on tax evasion. “Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion,” the U.S. Treasury Department stated. Rettig opined: Most crypto, virtual currencies are designed to stay off the radar screen. The IRS recently issued John Doe summonses to cryptocurrency exchanges Circle, including Poloniex, and Kraken to obtain records of their cryptocurrency users. The tax agency seeks “information about U.S. taxpayers who conducted at least the equivalent of $20,000 in transactions in cryptocurrency during the years 2016 to 2020” on these exchanges. The summonses direct the exchanges to “produce records identifying the U.S. taxpayers described above, along with other documents relating to their cryptocurrency transactions.” Robert Wearing, IRS’ deputy associate chief counsel for Procedure & Administration, said last month that the agency will seize cryptocurrencies and sell them to satisfy tax collection if taxpayers fail to meet their tax obligations. In March, the IRS launched Operation Hidden Treasure to target unreported crypto income. What do you think about the IRS seeking congressional authority to collect crypto data? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The chief investment officer of global investment firm Skybridge Capital says bitcoin still has more upside than gold. While expecting both gold and bitcoin to rally, he said his hedge fund is sticking to bitcoin. Asset Manager Skybridge Prefers Bitcoin to Gold Troy Gayeski, co-chief investment officer (CIO) and senior portfolio manager at Skybridge Capital, a $7.5 billion hedge fund, says gold is good but bitcoin is better, Bloomberg reported Sunday. He believes that both gold and bitcoin are likely to rally even as the Federal Reserve moves to taper asset purchases, elaborating: We’re going to stick to bitcoin and crypto because we just think there’s more upside. While acknowledging that bitcoin has more volatility than gold, the CIO noted: “you’re going to capture a little bit more juice than you will in gold from that same phenomenon.” The price of bitcoin soared to the $65,000 level in April before plunging. It currently stands at $32,512 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. Meanwhile, gold came close to sinking into a bear market in March but its price recovered and erases year-to-date losses. Gayeski, added: All fiat-currency alternatives — which have all gone through fairly recent substantial corrections — are in a much better place now to handle that eventual taper and gradual slowing of money-supply growth, than they were as they were making higher-highs after higher-highs. Skybridge launched its bitcoin fund in December last year with $25 million. By the time it opened up to the public in January, the fund’s assets under management had risen to $310 million. The Skybridge Bitcoin Fund is an institutional-grade fund investing in bitcoin. Fidelity Digital Assets, a division of Fidelity Investments, serves as the firm’s bitcoin custodian and Ernst & Young serves as its auditor. According to Gayeski, the Skybridge Bitcoin Fund is up 51.2% as of June 1, from its inception last December. The firm’s founder, Anthony Scaramucci, has predicted that the price of bitcoin will reach $100,000 before the year-end simply due to heavy demand for the cryptocurrency and its diminishing supply. In March, the firm registered a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gayeski expects the SEC to approve the product by the fourth quarter of 2021 or the first quarter of next year. Do you agree with Skybridge Capital’s executive about bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

British asset management firm Ruffer reportedly said its bitcoin investment has generated about $1.1 billion in profit. The firm says bitcoin has been “a wonderful store of value” and it is still optimistic about the cryptocurrency in the long term. Ruffer Profits $1.1 Billion From Bitcoin Investment London-based asset management firm Ruffer revealed that it made $1.1 billion in profit from its bitcoin investment in five months, The Sunday Times reported on June 6. The firm has about £22.4 billion ($32 billion) under management as of April 30. Hamish Baillie, an investment director at Ruffer, said the asset management firm initially invested about $600 million in bitcoin in November last year when the price of BTC was below $20,000. The director detailed: When the price doubled, we took some profits for our clients in December and early January. We actively managed the position and by the time we sold the last tranche in April, the total profit was slightly more than $1.1 billion. Baillie explained that stimulus checks have fueled some demand for cryptocurrencies, noting that younger people’s interest in them could falter as lockdowns end and economies reopen. The investment director expects institutions to keep buying BTC for their portfolios and embrace the cryptocurrency as an alternative haven asset. Regarding whether Ruffer will buy more bitcoin, the director said that it is “certainly not off the menu.” Moreover, he called out “hyperbole and misinformation” surrounding bitcoin’s energy consumption. He also pointed out bitcoin’s “huge social benefits” in countries such as Venezuela. Baillie opined: It’s been a wonderful store of value. Ruffer previously explained that its BTC investment “diversifies the company’s investments in gold and inflation-linked bonds, and acts as a hedge to some of the monetary and market risks that we see.” The firm further noted: “Due to zero interest rates the investment world is desperate for new safe-havens and uncorrelated assets. We think we are relatively early to this, at the foothills of a long trend of institutional adoption and financialisation of bitcoin.” A spokesperson for Ruffer was quoted by Reuters on Tuesday as saying: Long term, we remain interested in digital assets and the role they can play in real wealth preservation. In the short term, following the sharp increase in the bitcoin price, we felt bitcoin was exhibiting more risk. What do you think about Ruffer’s bitcoin strategy? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Deutsche Bank published a report Monday noting that the United States is facing “the very real specter of consumer-driven inflation.” The bank’s chief economist David Folkerts-Landau and others notably highlight the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing policy and recent tolerance toward higher inflation. Deutsche Report: ‘Transitory Inflation Could Feed Into ’70s Style Stagflation’ The price of commodities in the U.S. has surged according to a number of recently published studies over the last two months. Currently, commodity-price increases are moving in lockstep as products like oil tapped a two-year high, the price of lumber jumped 377% in a year’s time, electronics are 10% more expensive across the board, copper has risen to record highs, soybeans and corn prices have skyrocketed, and retail beef and pork is eliciting “sticker shock.” On June 7, Germany’s lending giant Deutsche Bank published a report with a dire warning to the U.S. concerning inflation. The study features Deutsche’s chief economist, David Folkerts-Landau, the company’s head of economic research, Peter Hooper, and thematic researcher Jim Reid. The analysts believe rising inflation could be a ticking “time bomb” and the U.S. central bank may feel consequences for delaying actions. “The consequence of delay will be greater disruption of economic and financial activity than would otherwise be the case when the Fed does finally act,” Folkerts-Landau wrote in the report. “In turn, this could create a significant recession and set off a chain of financial distress around the world, particularly in emerging markets,” the Deutsche economist added. However, the inflation may start a little later than most think, as economies are more fluid than they were last year being locked down. “Consumers will surely spend at least some of their savings as economies reopen,” Folkerts-Landau detailed in the report. Foreign Markets Rattled by US Inflation Data U.S. inflation fears are troubling foreign markets as both Asian and European markets have been shaken due to American inflation data concerns. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency economy has not performed as most believed it would in the face of inflation, while gold on the other hand has seen a significant lift in value from the economic fears gripping the United States. The Deutsche team says the Fed may be patient for a year and continue to be tolerant of higher inflation rates. However, the Deutsche reports’ authors Folkerts-Landau, Hooper, and Reid disagree with the Fed’s current assessment. “It may take a year longer until 2023 but inflation will re-emerge. And while it is admirable that this patience is due to the fact that the Fed’s priorities are shifting towards social goals, neglecting inflation leaves global economies sitting on a time bomb,” according to the report. “The effects could be devastating, particularly for the most vulnerable in society.” Furthermore, the Deutsche team says that inflation could be transitory but eventually it could boil over into something far worse. “A lack of preparation for the return of inflation is concerning. Even if some inflation today is transitory, it may feed into expectations as in the 1970s,” the report concludes. “Even if only embedded for a few months, these expectations may be difficult to contain with stimulus so great.” What do you think about the Deutsche Bank report warning the U.S. about rising inflation? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Tim Wu, top advisor to the Biden administration on technology and competition policy, holds more than $1 million in cryptocurrency, shows a recently filed financial disclosure. The antitrust expert, who is known as a prominent big tech critic, has in the past questioned the value of bitcoin. Top Biden Advisor Tim Wu Is a Bitcoin Millionaire U.S. President Joe Biden’s tech advisor, Tim Wu, is a millionaire in bitcoin, Politico wrote in article this week, quoting his personal financial disclosure. The declaration has been provided to the publication by the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia University, which requested the document from the White House. Timothy Wu, Columbia University. According to the disclosure Wu owns between $1 million and $5 million in bitcoin (BTC) as well as between $100,001 and $250,000 in filecoin (FIL), the cryptocurrency of a platform that offers decentralized crypto storage services. The official information also reveals that Wu’s bitcoin investment is the largest holding in his financial portfolio. Wu now serves as a special assistant for technology and competition policy to the president at the National Economic Council. In March, he went on leave from his position as a law professor at Columbia University to join the White House. He is considered a strong critic of the growing power large tech corporations wield. Timothy Wu is not involved in shaping the Biden administration’s cryptocurrency policy. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a White House official told Politico: Tim is recused from any particular matters involving bitcoin or cryptocurrency generally because of his financial interest, and has not worked on any such matters. Bitcoin Skeptic Turned Cryptocurrency Investor The university professor hasn’t always been bullish on bitcoin. Questioning its worth, Tim Wu called it a “bubble” back in 2017. “Bitcoin isn’t backed by any sovereign, and unlike a stock or a bond, it gives you a claim to nothing other than Bitcoin itself,” Wu wrote in an article while also admitting that this “illusory quality” describes most other forms of money as well. He recognized bitcoin’s potential to “work fine” as a store of value although doubting its usability for everyday payments. Based on a BTC price of around $34,000 at the time of writing, Politico estimates Wu’s holdings at between 29 and 146 actual bitcoins. The publication notes, however, that the value of the leading cryptocurrency is now more than 40% down from its highs earlier this year. The White House advisor’s bitcoin investment accounts for 25 to 43% of his assets worth between almost $4 million and $11.5 million. The Biden administration has recently made cryptocurrency a key point in a new presidential directive on fighting corruption as Bitcoin.com News reported. A White House official emphasized that the U.S. government will focus on modernizing existing anti-corruption laws to address cryptocurrencies and cybercrime, stating that the executive power in Washington is “looking at crypto as a means of illicit finance.” What do you think of White House advisor Tim Wu’s bitcoin investment? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Upland.me is a blockchain-based game in which users can buy, sell, and trade virtual NFT properties mapped to the real world. By becoming a digital landowner, users can build properties, earn UPX coins, and even cash out their gains to USD. Currently open in cities including NYC, San Francisco, Oakland, and more, the project utilizes blockchain to guarantee true ownership of properties to its users in its metaverse. Users from anywhere in the world can purchase properties in these cities, and expansion into international cities is planned for the future. Unique from many new blockchain-based games in the market today, Upland is seeking to create a market-based digital economy that blurs the lines between the real world and the digital world. To celebrate the beginning of this ambitious goal, Upland is currently in the midst of its Genesis Week to celebrate the minting of its first metaverse property on June 6th, 2019. Since then, the metaverse has expanded rapidly, and each year Upland takes time to reflect on and celebrate the growth and progress of its metaverse. As such, Upland is hosting a series of Genesis Week events to celebrate Upland’s birthday with their incredible community, and invites you to become an Uplander and join in on the festivities. All week long, there will be many prizes for community members and players to win. This includes UPX, which is Upland’s in-game currency, Spark, which is Upland’s ultra-valuable resource token that allows players to construct buildings, and even some very special collection properties. Players will be able to qualify by participating in the different Genesis Week activities and a full schedule is available here. The best way to keep track of ongoing events is to join Upland’s Upland’s Discord and follow them on Twitter for more updates. To further celebrate these activities, Upland is also hosting a massive Genesis Week crypto giveaway with a 1st place grand prize of 0.05 BTC & 300 EOS, an estimated value of $3,500 USD at today’s market prices. 2nd to 11th place will each receive 5 Upland Collectibles card packs that contain 10 NFTs. Enter for the giveaway with this link — the giveaway winner will be announced on Friday, June 11th. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Solana, a proof-of-stake, smart contracts-enabled currency, is aiming to raise $450 million in a funding round that was extended last March. The Solana ecosystem, which is backed by Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of derivatives exchange FTX, would use these funds to take on Ethereum supremacy in the Defi ecosystem. Solana to Raise $450 Million in Funding Round Solana, the FTX-backed, proof-of-stake coin is aiming to raise $450 million in a funding round that was set to close, but instead expanded in March, according to a report from Decrypt. The outlet, citing anonymous sources, states the currency had targeted significantly less money in a smaller funding round, but found big capital interested in backing the project. While there is still no confirmation on the amount of money raised by Solana, these funds would be used to entice developers to construct and bring their already existing projects to the network. The project is part of a group of cryptocurrencies called “ethereum killers,” which seek to mimic the functionalities that this project has while improving on throughput and fees. Solana claims to be technically superior to Ethereum, offering to process up to 50,000 transactions per second. The project has experienced a rise in popularity due to its very low transaction fees and the use of its token platform by the FTX exchange, who allows deposits and withdrawals from this network. Last year, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried opted to build the company’s Serum decentralized exchange on top of the Solana blockchain instead of on the Ethereum network due to these advantages. ‘Ethereum Killers’ — One More to the Pile While Solana is one of the most impressive networks aiming to replace Ethereum, with several defi-based projects choosing it as their chain, it is by no means the only one. Avalanche, another similar project launched just last year, has also risen to the top of the ranks of these “ethereum killers,” claiming to be even better, allowing users to issue subnets, with higher throughput and faster finality. Even Cardano, a platform founded by Ethereum founder Charles Hoskinson, is now introducing its smart platform capabilities and has generated significant interest in the cryptocurrency community. All of these chains are racing to achieve some kind of stable support before Ethereum manages to fix its scaling issues. Luckily for them, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin announced that scaling through sharding is not likely to be implemented before late 2022. What do you think about Solana’s current funding round? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

After months of hype around the launch, the first Kusama parachain auction went off without a hitch. The now active parachain has already begun successfully processing transactions, paving the way for future slot auctions. Kusama’s First Functional Parachain Goes Live The anticipation surrounding Polkadot parachains over the last few months has at last been realized following the first successful parachain auction on the Kusama canary network. This development marks the first time that a 100% decentralized, heterogeneously-sharded blockchain has been launched. The parachain, awarded to “Shell,” has since been upgraded to “Statemine,” a common-good parachain with several different utilities and functionalities. Other parachains will leverage Statemine’s utility thanks to the XCM protocol, which also allows KSM tokens to move between Kusama and the parachain seamlessly. With this proof of concept in place and operational, “Parachain Slot Auctions” can commence, but they will require the input of the KSM community. The selection of parachains for the Kusama relay-chain revolves around staking the greatest amount of KSM tokens for as long as possible. Once the Kusama Council and KSM holders decide on the auction timeline, the next round of auctions can commence. Accordingly, the Polkadot team has recommended the following auction timeline for the council and KSM stakeholders to approve: June 15th, 2021 – 12:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time): Opening of bidding for first Kusama parachain slot auction. June 17th, 2021 – 09:00 CEST: End period of first Kusama parachain slot auction commences. Any bids made prior to this date will be counted in the final result, with any bids made after this date and time facing a lower likelihood of consideration in the final results on a linear-reducing basis. June 22nd, 2021 – 09:00 CEST: Bidding officially ends for the first Kusama parachain slot auction. No bids will be accepted for this auction beyond this point. June 22nd, 2021 – 11:00 CEST: The first parachain slot auction winner will be announced based on the highest bidder over the previous five days. June 22nd, 2021 – 12:00 CEST: The second parachain slot auction will begin. June 29th, 2021 – 12:00 CEST: The third parachain slot auction will begin. July 6th, 2021 – 12:00 CEST: The fourth parachain slot auction will begin. July 13th, 2021 – 12:00 CEST: The fifth parachain slot auction will begin. What do you think about the first Kusama parachain auction? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

A few Kenyan banks have started sending out warning alerts to clients engaged in cryptocurrency trading to be wary of the associated risks. These warnings have reportedly been sent to clients who have “used their credit and debit cards to buy cryptocurrencies on crypto exchanges.” Crypto Trading Risks According to a local report, one of the banks, NCBA Bank Kenya is now advising clients “not to buy, hold, or trade in virtual currencies.” In a warning sent to clients who have previously transacted on crypto exchanges, NCBA Bank said: In accordance with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)’s circular No. 14 of 2015, virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are not legal tender in Kenya. No protection, therefore, exists for you as our customer in the event that the platform holding or trading in cryptocurrency fails or goes out of business. Throughout the emailed alert, the NCBA Bank repeats the common lines that are used by central banks when attempting to discredit digital currencies. For instance, NCBA Bank says “transactions in virtual currencies are largely untraceable, making them susceptible to abuse by criminals.” Unregulated Crypto Exchanges Furthermore, the bank also warns that cryptocurrencies are traded on exchange platforms which “are not properly regulated” and that consumers risk losing all their funds in the “event these exchanges collapse or close business.” While NCBA Bank clients can still transact with cryptocurrency exchanges, the bank still warns that it does not “approve cryptocurrency transactions.” In the meantime, the report speculates that the banks’ latest action could mean that the CBK still frowns on cryptocurrencies. For example, in 2015 the central bank issued an advisory asking Kenyans to desist from cryptocurrency transactions. Similarly, in April 2018, the CBK cautioned banks against dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, despite these warnings, crypto trading continues to grow in Kenya and some reports say the country now has the second-largest peer-to-peer traded volumes on the continent. It remains to be seen if acts by Kenyan banks are going to slow down crypto traded volumes. What are your thoughts on Kenyan banks’ decision to warn clients against dealing with crypto exchanges? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

On Monday, the San Francisco-based retirement plan provider for small to medium-sized businesses, Forusall, announced the launch of an alternative 401(k) plan that offers in-plan cryptocurrency access. According to the alt 401(k) investment option, Forusall is working with Coinbase Institutional as its retirement plan partner. Forusall and Coinbase’s Institutional Arm Offer Crypto-Infused Alt 401(k) Plan Forusall, the “one-click” retirement provider founded in 2012, has revealed that digital currency investors can now leverage the company’s alt 401(k) investment option in order to obtain tax-advantages from crypto asset investments. The company Forusall claims to manage plans for over 600,000 employees from companies like Target, Coca Cola and Citigroup. By November 2019, Forusall was advising employees with over $1 billion in assets. The company’s focus on crypto assets applies to the alt 401(k) product, which can also leverage environmentally focused funds, mutual funds, and real estate. “For too long, too many Americans haven’t had the same access to alternative investments that wealthy and professional investors have had. Our mission is to provide every American with the tools necessary to build a brighter financial future, and making these alternatives more readily available is a key step towards that,” Jeff Schulte, CEO of Forusall explained during the announcement. The company’s website also mentions growing crypto asset interest and highlights that 60% of institutional investors believe in investing in crypto assets. “6 out of 10 institutional investors feel that digital assets have a place in their portfolio and 36% are already using it,” the Forusall website notes. Alt 401(k) Plan Provides 5% Allocation With a Choice Between 50 Crypto Assets Forusall’s announcement on Monday details that employers can choose to add the crypto option and employees can direct up to 5% of their portfolio into digital assets. The plan works with Coinbase Institutional, so employees that leverage Forusall’s alt 401(k) investment option can choose from 50 unique crypto assets. The retirement plan provider further said that the company monitors the crypto allocations and employees can always rebalance their portfolios into different assets. The lead at Coinbase’s institutional crypto arm, Brett Tejpaul, explained during Forusall’s alt 401(k) announcement that expanding digital assets to mainstream retirement plans will broaden the playing field. “When we created our institutional platform, our initial focus was making cryptocurrency accessible to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals,” Tejpaul remarked. “The next evolution is to broaden our reach and we are thrilled to be working with Forusall, the leading 401k technology platform, to expand access to cryptocurrency through 401ks.” The alt 401(k) option from Forusall is not the first retirement plan to add crypto assets into the fray. The U.S.-based Digital Asset Investment Management (Daim) revealed in November 2020, that it offers a company-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan. Daim’s product allocates up to 10% in bitcoin via the institutional-grade custodian Gemini Trust. The firm New York-based Gemini also works with Bitwage to give employees the ability to invest their pre-tax and post-tax dollars in bitcoin (BTC). What do you think about Forusall’s alt 401(k) investment option that allows a 5% allocation into cryptocurrencies via Coinbase? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Investment scams have been by far the most common type in Australia recently, a new report by the country’s consumer watchdog has revealed. And while a growing number of Australians fall victim to fraudulent schemes involving cryptocurrency, bank transfers remain the scammers’ favorite way to extract money. Australians Lose $670 Million to Scammers in a Year, Including $75 Million Through Bank Transfers Residents of Australia have lost $851 million Australian dollars (almost $670 million) in over 444,000 reported scam cases in 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced in its latest Targeting Scams report published Monday. The review compiles data from the commission’s own Scamwatch website, Australia’s cybersecurity center Reportcyber, other government agencies, and about a dozen banks and financial intermediaries. ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard commented: Last year, scam victims reported the biggest losses we have seen, but worse, we expect the real losses will be even higher, as many people don’t report these scams. The agency has registered increasing financial losses to investment scams in 2020 with the total figure reaching a record-high $328 million Australian dollars ($254 million). Reports to Scamwatch increased by 63% to 7,295 and losses rose to $66 million Australian dollars, or over $51 million. Almost 34% of people who reported an investment scam lost money. The average loss was $26,713 Australian dollars, or around $20,000. Bank transfers remained the most common payment method used by scammers, with over $97 million Australian dollars ($75 million) lost through such transfers, a 40% increase over the previous year. According to the ACCC, bitcoin (BTC) was the second-highest payment method, with $26.5 million in losses, or a little over $20.5 million. Adding these to the “Other Payments” category, including cryptocurrencies such as ethereum (ETH) and apps like Zelle or Skrill, brings the total to $50 million Australian dollars (almost $39 million). ‘Romance Baiting’ Scams Lure Young Australians to Fraudulent Crypto Investment Schemes Despite still lagging behind traditional payment methods, bitcoin and other crypto payments are becoming more common. “The perceived anonymity of unregulated cryptocurrencies can impede the ability to recover funds or identify scammers. It is likely that we will see increased use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the years to come,” the ACCC report remarks. Amid an ongoing Covid crisis, health and medical scams increased last year more than 20 fold compared to 2019, accounting for over $3.9 million Australian dollars ($3 million) in losses. But in 2020, Scamwatch identified a new type of scam, which it refers to as “romance baiting,” often associated with crypto payments. Perpetrators are targeting social groups which have not previously suffered heavy losses. Victims are typically contacted on a dating app, redirected elsewhere and lured into an investment scam involving cryptocurrency, the ACCC explained. Young Australians, aged between 25 and 34 years, have lost the most money to romance baiting last year – $7.3 million Australian dollars ($5.66 million). In total, citizens filed 414 reports of such scams, with losses reaching $15.4 million Australian dollars (almost $12 million). Crypto scams are by far the most common in this genre (57%), the commission noted. Other scams targeting potential crypto investors have employed fake celebrity endorsements. The face, name, and personal characteristics of a well-known public figure are usually used to sell a product or a service. This product could be health-related or linked to an investment strategy encouraging people to invest in various cryptocurrency schemes. The report details that victims are offered an opportunity to collect high returns in a rather short period of time from a trading or investment platform that suddenly disappears. What are your thoughts on the findings in the ACCC report? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Internet was once a bastion of freedom and was hoped to bring economic power to everyday people. These days a few centralized platforms such as Google, Facebook and Amazon dominate the online world, deciding what we can and cannot say, while keeping all the value for themselves. In an upcoming 4-session live event you can find out how Pocketnet, a decentralized social media platform, changes this forever. Join an Exclusive Live Crypto Challenge Pocketnet is a decentralized, open-sourced, and censorship-resistant platform that offers an alternative to centralized social network such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It is powered by the cryptocurrency Pocketcoin (PKOIN), a Proof-of-Stake token that allows authors to earn crypto for their content and protects them from arbitrary censorship through community moderation. Blockchain tracks reputation and high reputation users moderate the platform. The token is for decentralized advertising, boosting posts, buying unique fonts and themes in Pocketnet, as well as auctioning off NFT-Scarce tokens. Recently Pocketnet announced a limited space exclusive live event for cryptocurrency supporters. The event will consist of four live sessions on June 10, 17, 24 and 29. Participants will learn how Pocketnet and Pocketcoin will change the internet forever. The speakers will be Pocketnet core developers and surprise guests. There will be no public full recordings available from this exclusive closed-door event so make sure to register right now to reserve your spot. Decentralized Video, P2P Messaging and NFTs The first session – Decentralization, Blockchain, Pocketnet and Pocketcoin (PKOIN) – will take place on June 10 at 10 AM US Eastern Time. In it you learn why centralized platforms are not your friends, how Pocketnet uses a censorship-resistant blockchain nodes to overcome centralization problem in the social media, overcoming the scalability problem in blockchains and the uses of Pocketcoin (PKOIN). The second session – Is Truly Decentralized Video Alternative to Youtube Possible? Pocketnet & Pocketcoin to the Rescue – will take place on June 17 at 10 AM US Eastern Time. It will cover the subject of a decentralized video alternative to Youtube in the Pocketnet ecosystem, how video bloggers can earn with PKOIN and why fighting against censorship is not about politics, it is about common sense. It will include special guest bloggers with millions of subscribers (before censorship): Laura Loomer, Dan Dicks, Sarah Westall, with more guests to be added. The third session – Is Truly Decentralized P2P Encrypted Messaging App Possible? How to maintain the privacy and decentralization? – will take place on June 24 at 10 AM US Eastern Time. In it you will learn why all centralized messengers are a bad idea (even Telegram & Signal), challenges with building a decentralized chat, using blockchain to derive encryption keys for the Pocketnet Chat, how to receive messages offline in a decentralized platform and how to seamlessly log in from new devices in Pocketnet & get contacts with message history. The forth session – NFT-Scarce: A Revolutionary New Way to Sell Your Art and Content on Pocketnet – will take place on June 29 at 10 AM US Eastern Time. It will explain why the current NFT model is flawed (external storage, maintenance, lack of scarcity). This session will also cover the NFT-Scarce as a smart contract auction on the Pocketnet blockchain, how NFT-Scarce sales are scarce and what encryption has to do with it, selling artwork as NFT-Scarce for PKOIN, selling investment ideas as NFT-Scarce for PKOIN, selling special content as NFT-Scarce for PKOIN and the big launch of NFT-Scarce and Demo. Register for the Free Crypto Challenge HERE. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Switzerland-based 21shares announced it’s going to offer its crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) to institutional investors in Britain. The platform said the aim is to provide U.K. investors with exposure to bitcoin without the need to deal with crypto custody and security. New Bitcoin ETP to Be Offered on London-Based Aquis Exchange The 21shares bitcoin ETP (ABTC) will be made available through a partnership with GHCO, a leading market maker and liquidity provider that specializes in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It will be listed on Aquis Exchange, a multilateral trading platform based in London and Paris. The exchange facilitates stock trading across 15 European markets. The ETP is engineered like an ETF and will be centrally cleared, 21shares detailed in a press release on Monday. As ETPs trade on exchanges similarly to stocks, institutional investors in the U.K. will be facing a regulated framework and structure to which they are already accustomed to. The Swiss company further elaborated: The ETP has been designed to provide institutional U.K. investors with secure and cost-effective exposure to Bitcoin without the associated Bitcoin custody and security challenges. UK Launch to Follow Debut on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam The bitcoin ETP will be offered in the United Kingdom this summer, following successful launches on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam on June 1, 21shares revealed. One unit of the ETP represents exposure to roughly 0.00035 bitcoin entitlement, the crypto firm added. Its chief executive Hany Rashwan was quoted stating: This is the right time to bring our successful crypto ETP to the institutional U.K. market. Our strong track record and existing institutional reach across continental Europe means that investors can confidently gain exposure to Bitcoin via a liquid and conventional investment product. Institutional investors will have access to ample liquidity provided by GHCO which is an authorized participant in the offering. “GHCO has been actively trading ETFs and recently started quoting crypto ETPs. It has an unrivaled track record in quoting the tightest spreads, a key demand for institutional investors,” 21shares pointed out. Zug-headquartered 21shares is a leading crypto ETP issuer with over $1.5 billion in assets under management across 14 ETPs listed on several European stock exchanges. The company has already offered cryptocurrency ETPs for institutional investors in Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, and the Netherlands. In March, 21shares launched bitcoin cash (BCH) and ethereum (ETH) ETPs on Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra. What’s your opinion about cryptocurrency exchange-traded products? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article