roadrunner

Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Bank of England have revealed the establishment of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) taskforce. According to the announcement, the group’s purpose aims to explore a potential UK CBDC. UK Entities Invoke a CBDC Taskforce to Explore a Central Bank-Issued Digital Currency Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have been popping up throughout a number of countries and most are still in the exploration phase. A few countries like Venezuela, Sweden, and China are ahead of the game by a longshot in comparison to countries like the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. On Monday, the HM Treasury and the Bank of England (BoE) published an announcement indicating that it plans to join the CBDC race. The two UK entities have established a CBDC taskforce as the Exchequer says the group will be dedicated to “the exploration of a potential UK CBDC.” The press release wants the public to know that bureaucrats and the BoE have “not yet made a decision on whether to introduce a CBDC in the UK.” However, the taskforce is meant to strategically approach the idea and “promote close coordination” between officials exploring a UK-based CBDC. The CBDC taskforce will be co-chaired by Jon Cunliffe the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and Katharine Braddick the HM Treasury’s Director General of Financial Services. “Full membership of the taskforce will be limited to relevant individuals from the Bank of England and HM Treasury,” the announcement details. “Other UK authorities will be involved in the taskforce’s work on CBDC as appropriate, and will be invited to meetings when relevant. The Bank of England and HM Treasury will jointly provide secretariat duties,” the Exchequer’s announcement notes. A CBDC Will ‘Secure the UK’s Title as a World Leader for Fintech Innovation’ In a note to Bitcoin.com News, Jorge Lesmes, Global Head of Blockchain Banking Practice at Everis believes the HM Treasury’s and BoE’s recent announcement is positive. “The UK is a world leader for fintech, and the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) would help secure this title,” Lesmes explained. “With the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating our transition away from physical fiat and enhancing the customer appetite for convenient, tech-driven access to financial services and digital payments, the introduction of a CBDC would be key in meeting these shifting consumer demands,” he added. The Everis executive continued: However, the first stage of implementation is likely to arrive with commercial banking, for interbank settlements, before retail banks benefit from the uses of a digital currency. Of course, the introduction of a CBDC will not come without its risks. For this partnership to succeed, the newly established taskforce must examine how the UK government will work alongside the Bank of England, to ensure that all potential risks have been considered and that the correct regulation is in place to eliminate threats and maintain value. Members of the HM Treasury and BoE effort plan to evaluate design features to achieve specific goals. The CBDC will need “rigorous, coherent and comprehensive assessment,” the Treasury insists. Both entities will also participate in engaging with CBDC stakeholders. Furthermore, the organizations will monitor the CBDC developments in order to make sure the UK “remains at the forefront of global innovation.” What do you think about the HM Treasury and BoE effort introducing a CBDC taskforce for the UK? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

After bitcoin and a myriad of other crypto-assets tumbled in value on Sunday a number of significant whale movements took place. During the morning trading sessions on Sunday (EST), an old school miner transferred three decade-old coinbase rewards with 150 bitcoin worth more than $8.5 million. Later on in the evening, just before the transition into Sunday, two major whale transactions stemming from Binance resulted in three new massive wallets. One wallet contains 58k in bitcoin worth more than $3.3 billion using today’s exchange rates. Over $4 Billion in Bitcoin Moved Yesterday Yesterday on April 18, 2021, Bitcoin.com News alongside the help of Btcparser.com and team members from the Telegram channel Goldfoundinsh*t caught a number of interesting onchain transactions pop up on our radar. This was five days after Goldfoundinsh*t and Bitcoin.com News researchers discovered more than 12k in BTC from the 2016 Bitfinex hack that got transferred to a number of unknown wallets. That day, bitcoin (BTC) touched an all-time high on three occasions, and touched a final ATH at $64,895 per unit on April 14, 2021. On Sunday, April 18, BTC prices slid to a low of $51,541 per unit following the massive decline in SHA256 hashrate and rumors of the U.S. Treasury allegedly cracking down on the crypto industry. During the course of Sunday’s trading sessions, a number of whale movements and even sleeping bitcoin transfers took place. A touch after 11:00 p.m. (EST), two transactions processed at block height 679,739 and 679,743 transformed into three new whale addresses. Bitcoin address tagging shows that the funds stemmed from the popular crypto exchange Binance, and it is assumed that the newly created addresses are new cold wallets. A member of the Goldfoundinsh*t team discussed the situation with Bitcoin.com News. “These are the first and second whale movements that hit the radars of our Btcparser2 last night. The result of two transactions was three new wallets: 3LQeSjqS5aXJVCDGSHPR88QvjheTwrhP8N +58,814 BTC – Most likely this is a new cold Binance wallet 3ByyPAZmzANfV1sMALVU8zdorPUHEbkZZi +20,498 BTC 3LYJfcfHPXYJreMsASk2jkn69LWEYKzexb +11,000 BTC It is unknown whether this transfer was a reorganization of Binance wallets or an over-the-counter deal in the making. “After all, we do not know who the final owners of the new wallets with thousands of bitcoins are,” a Goldfoundinsh*t team member noted. “Surprisingly, the date of such a major reorganization (after all, 68k of that BTC has not been touched since August last year) and yesterday’s significant rout of the bitcoin price coincides,” the researcher added. $8.5 million in Bitcoin from 2010 Spent After Sitting Idle for Over Ten Years Furthermore, 150 bitcoin from 2010 was transferred after the price of BTC slid a few hours prior. All 150 BTC worth $8.5 million today, was mined on July 13, 2010, and it was likely mined by the same entity. The first coinbase reward was spent at block height 679,688 and then two more coinbase rewards from 2010 were spent at block height 679,692 all stemming from the same day. April has not seen many 2010 coinbase reward transfers unlike the recent string spends of 20 block rewards on various occasions. The last decade-old coinbase reward from that year was transferred on April 10, 2021, just before BTC’s ATH four days later. There was also a spend of the same caliber from 2010 spent the day before on April 9. The last time the mega-whale, which spends 20 block rewards at a time, transferred coins was on March 23, 2021. The whale seems to be skipping out on April or it’s possible it has ended the run of transferring more than 10,000 BTC from 2010. Whatever the case may be, bitcoin whales and large crypto fish are moving massive amounts of BTC since prices have been higher than ever before. What do you think about the massive whale movement yesterday from Binance and the 2010 coinbase rewards spent? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Luno, one of Africa’s pioneering crypto exchanges, has revealed that South Africa’s cryptocurrency trading is largely dominated by young people with those under the age of 29 accounting for 40% of transactions. The exchange, which claims to have added nearly a million new South African customers in 2020, also reveals that “around 65% of Luno’s users are male and about 35% female.” These figures compare favourably with the industry average of 70% male to 30% female. Rising Retail Demand In addition to achieving a 300% year-on-year growth, Luno reports seeing the number of active users surging by 167% during the same period while “the number of app installs increased 119%.” Meanwhile, a report quotes Marcus Swanepoel, CEO and cofounder of Luno attributing the increase in transactions volumes to rising retail demand for cryptos. Swanepoel explained: While a lot of the attention has been around institutional adoption, retail adoption has been growing at an arguably even more frantic pace. In 2021, we expect to continue this exponential growth, on track to reaching our goal of one billion customers by 2030. Between January 2019 and 2020, Luno, which was acquired in September 2020 by Digital Currency Group, says it “recorded $8.3 billion (R121 billion) in transactions worldwide.” Further, Luno says it “processed nearly $3 billion in volumes in South Africa last year, and was already above this number at the end of March.” South Africans Curious About Cryptos Meanwhile, the same report also quotes the exchange’s general manager, Marius Reitz, stating that “South Africans are definitely curious about crypto.” To support this assessment, Reitz points to Google bitcoin search trends data. According to this data, South Africa is ranked fourth globally and on the African continent, the country is placed second behind Nigeria. In addition, to the Google Trends data, Luno also makes reference to the Global Web Index data which shows that “an estimated 15% of South Africans have invested in bitcoin.” With this figure, which is the second-highest in the world, South Africa ranks ahead of countries like the U.S. and Japan. Do you think South African crypto transactions volumes will surge again in 2021? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

Over the past 13 years, the world has seen innovation at its finest. The creation of Bitcoin, the development of cryptocurrencies, the launch of blockchain projects, Decentralized Applications (Dapps), and far more. To gauge the financial evolution of blockchain one need only consider the price of Bitcoin in 2013 and compare it to today. In 2013, a single Bitcoin was worth $22. Today, Bitcoin is comfortably over $60,000, with analysts suggesting $100,000 is in sight. With the steady expansion of blockchain technology, the Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) revolution has begun. PARSIQ strives to pioneer the use cases of this BaaS revolution. PARSIQ: An Overview PARSIQ promotes BaaS through its next-gen monitoring and intelligence platform. Users can observe and utilize blockchain data for a number of use cases. These include: Tracking digital assets in real-time Notifications of Blockchain network activity Gathering and processing on-chain data Combining on-chain with off-chain data such as Risk Data/Market Data etc. PARSIQ also enables multi-blockchain interoperability and the ability to create complex workflows between them. Easy-to-use, flexible, and scalable; PARSIQ removes the complexity from blockchain-specific workflows so that users can efficiently and comfortably transform blockchain data. Moreover, PARSIQ provides integration with many high-profile blockchains such as Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Solana. With this wide range of blockchain platforms steadily increasing, the potential use cases for users only continues to increase. The main business objective and vision of PARSIQ is to monitor and protect blockchain data. PARSIQ enables the creation of fully customizable complex monitoring solutions with the ability to integrate on-chain data with notification systems, effectively creating alerts for blockchain-based data events. At the core of PARSIQ’s first day of formation, these two groupings pioneer the PARSIQ platform’s vision. These encompass the utilization of on-chain/off-chain data and workflow optimization as we will explore further below. Keeping Up-to-Date Block by Block One of the main use cases of PARSIQ is its ability to facilitate flexible and easy-to-use on-chain analysis. On-chain analysis provides a fundamental approach as opposed to a sentimental approach and can be used to identify historical trends. PARSIQ enables effective on-chain analysis via the use of its platform and many analysis tools. Both small businesses and large enterprises can implement on-chain analysis using PARSIQ’s blockchain connection automation, fully customizable workflows, and versatile integration selection. Spanning on-chain data and off-chain apps, workflows can be augmented with conditional logic, aggregate, formatting of data, and far more to effectuate all analysis targets. Taking PARSIQ’s Smart-Trigger automation into consideration, this process further develops next-gen on-chain analysis. Smart-Trigger receiving input events, processes each according to the user-specified logic, and produces intermediate/output events in correlation with User Data specifications. When a user defines their monitoring targets in User Data, the Smart-Trigger can be programmed using ParsiQL language to process and consider all monitored information. In layman’s terms, using the Smart-Trigger process, users are able to amalgamate mass information quickly and effectively to conclude their on-chain analysis. Smart-Trigger: Developing Upon Blockchain Oracle Interoperability Blockchain oracles enable blockchain or smart contracts to interact with external data. This facilitates the on and off-chain pathway and lays the foundation for interoperability between blockchains. Smart-Trigger contributes to the Blockchain technology space by directly improving upon this interoperability via its monitoring and data-gathering utilities. As with any smart contract or blockchain, an oracle is required to facilitate the transferral of information between it and the real world. How Smart-Trigger builds upon this process is by automating the movement of data across multiple blockchain integrations, all based upon user-specified requirements. Unlike oracles, Smart-Triggers are flexible, easy-to-use, fully customizable, and can be tailored for any user’s needs. Using the logic chosen, the mass information gathered can be filtered, aggregated, and specified down to the minutest criteria. This process cuts time requirements, eliminates unnecessary information transferral, and develops upon the core of oracle interoperability. An on-chain analysis tool of this caliber fits comfortably into the same league of analysis tools employed by businesses such as Chainalysis. Similarly, PARSIQ’s Smart-Trigger enables the same efficiency of risk management, blockchain data monitoring, and data-gathering. Indeed, PARSIQ Smart-Triggers have the potential to bridge the gap between consumer apps and on/off-chain analysis using an approach that has never been trialed before. Optimizing the Workspace Using PARSIQ Another strong use case of PARSIQ is the efficient optimization of workflow applications. Used in conjunction with Smart Triggers, PARSIQ workflows can be fully customized, organized, and utilized to establish a solution that grows with the user. A workflow facilitates a multi-action data transaction and automates responses to specified events using Smart-Triggers. An example could be as follows: Smart-Trigger: A Bitcoin transaction – an address has received a new transaction. Telegram Bot: user alerted via Telegram integration about the new transaction. Data Risk Score: adds a risk score utilizing off-chain data. Slack Alert: notification of the risk score is provided to the user compliance team on Slack. This multi-step process of action and response is referred to as a workflow and can be completely customized to automate a chain of reactions based upon a Smart-Trigger event. Using the array of tools provided, users can customize their workflow to develop real value for their business. With an easy drag & drop visual editor, The PARSIQ platform will allow users to easily structure their own business logic and input conditions with an easy-to-use user interface currently under construction. Deploying Smart-Triggers to achieve automation goals, users can specialize workflows tailored to their own business. This cuts time requirements, response times and allows more time for the development of more important business aspects. When PARSIQ secures integration with Slack and Trello, both communication and task management could then be managed simultaneously via PARSIQ workflow optimization. This potential process would begin with a Smart-Trigger, which then automates the communication responses. Following this theoretical chain of automation, the automated Slack response to the Smart-Trigger would instigate a Trello response which would organize and update task management layouts. The Subscription Model Re-evaluated The PARSIQ subscription model, IQ Protocol, aims to provide a cheap and flexible method for on-chain subscription implementation – without sacrificing workflow quality/utility. Rather than staking to access PARSIQ’s IQ services, this new Decentralized Finance (DeFi) framework enables businesses to subscribe. This framework works to avoid token issuance pitfalls often encountered by other BaaS’s. To deliver this subscription model service, PARSIQ has introduced the notion of ‘Power Tokens’. Power Tokens are not considered a form of payment, but instead, a measure of energy generation. The energy accumulated takes the role of being an accountable unit spent for service consumption (much like gas fees for Ethereum transactions). This token model proposed by PARSIQ sets the stage for collateral-less borrowing of Power Tokens which in turn ensures the loan side of the IQ Protocol is risk-free. PARSIQ’s innovation via the IQ Protocol opens up mainstream adoption of DeFi participation while nullifying the associated risks. Establishing tokenomics that are both sustainable and measurable over time, the IQ Protocol aims to utilize Power Tokens to revolutionize the future of BaaS. PARSIQ Is the Future Indeed, PARSIQ’s IQ Protocol is a determined attempt to bridge the worlds of DeFi and mainstream, one of the first such attempts seen in the space since its rise to popularity last summer. The proposition of an entirely new approach to obtaining utility from DeFi platforms in a subscription-like manner puts IQ in step with the traditional subscription model used in mainstream application development. This results in a shallower learning curve for mainstream organizations looking to develop in the DeFi space, whilst also alleviating some of the concerns associated with holding often volatile tokens to gain access to DeFi platforms. In addition, PARSIQ’s integrations are a clear effort to lower the cost of development, as well as encourage an open and multi-platform approach to development. This gives potential developers more flexibility when it comes to choosing where to base in the DeFi space, as well as opening up the mainstream world to several DeFi-focussed platforms at the same time. The future of DeFi depends on its integration with the mainstream world. PARSIQ embodies the move in that direction, with IQ being its defining step. To learn more about PARSIQ and its vision for the future of DeFi today, visit their main page here. To learn more about IQ Protocol and how PARSIQ uses it to re-imagine DeFi, read the IQ blog post here. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

French financial services giant Société Générale has issued security tokens on Tezos’ public blockchain as part of its ongoing experimentation with cutting-edge fintech applications. Latest Move Reflects Bank’s Efforts to Fold Cryptocurrency Operations Into Its Ecosystem In its latest milestone in the blockchain arena, French multinational bank Société Générale has issued its very first structured product security token. The token, which represents €5 million of Euro Medium Term Notes (EMTN), represents the first move by the bank to tokenize assets. The insurance arm of the bank, Société Générale Assurances, fully subscribed to the security token offerings. This latest development follows other work the bank has already undertaken through its regulated subsidiary Société Générale – Forge. Since it first tokenized a €100 million covered bond settled in Euros in 2019 on the Ethereum blockchain, the bank has also handled another covered bond worth €40 million for settlement in the Banque de France’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in 2020. The security token, issued on Tezos’ open-source public blockchain, reflects the growing role of this disruptive technology framework, given its ability to make transactions more efficient and cost-effective. From the bank’s perspective, blockchain adds significant capacity for structuring assets with fewer intermediaries in addition to better speed and greater transparency. Although blockchain technology still presents a challenging regulatory issue in the region given the absence of clear guidelines, the Société Générale has already been tapped by the European Central Bank to assist with digital bond issuance. As part of its foray into the crypto ecosystem, the bank intends to leverage its experience in blockchain to effectively bridge the technology with legacy financial systems integrated with the SWIFT system. This initiative will also eventually grow to include crypto-asset structuring, issuance, exchange, and custody services for the bank’s institutional clients planned for launch in 2022. Do you see advantages in having complex financial instruments on a public blockchain? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

While Americans are still getting their third stimulus payments, discussions of tacking on a fourth round of direct payments to Joe Biden’s trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal have started trending. Just recently, a coalition led by Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden and over a dozen Democratic leaders wrote a letter to President Biden asking to get “much-needed relief to American families.” A Coalition of American Bureaucrats Want More Stimulus Payments Distributed Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden and 21 Democratic senators want U.S. President Joe Biden to initiate a fourth round of stimulus payments. The last stimulus payments of $1,400 per individual and more funding for Americans with dependents are still being distributed. The U.S. senators have sent a letter to Biden requesting more “recurring, smartly-targeted, auto-stabilized direct payments” for American citizens. The coalition highlights that they want the direct payments “to be included in President Biden’s next economic recovery package as a top legislative priority.” Four days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on Joe Biden’s push to get Congress to approve of his infrastructure plan in order to “build back a better” America. Initially, estimates said the package Biden is proposing would be around $2.25 trillion, but Biden seems willing to compromise. However, with the letter sent to Biden from Democratic leaders and if he approved of adding direct payments, the stimulus could be much larger. The letter stresses that senators are “worried about the cliff facing unemployed workers when the unemployment insurance extensions expire on September 6.” The letter signed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Edward Markey, Sherrod Brown, Debbie Stabenow, Richard Blumenthal, and others notes the senators think there are plenty of reasons to keep payments going. The group of senators believes that President Biden must be bold and help the American people in need right away. The letter states: Now is the time for boldness. As you prepare your Build Back Better plan for long-term economic recovery, know that we are ready to work with you in support of recurring direct checks and extended unemployment insurance benefits to support Americans who are still struggling during the pandemic. CPI Jumps to 2.6%, Politicians and Economists Agree on Stabilizing the Economy With Automatic Payments This week, however, data has shown the annual consumer price inflation rate in America jumped to 2.6%, the highest rate in two years. After all the money creation in 2020 and 2021, in mid-March, numerous reports indicated that Americans have started getting worried about inflation and losing purchasing power. One study has shown 77% of Americans are concerned about rising inflation and the alleged 2% to 2.6% inflation rate is considered a myth, according to a number of statistics. As Bitcoin.com News has reported on various occasions American bureaucrats and central bankers do not seem concerned about inflation and the letter to Biden highlights this fact. Alongside this, the newly appointed governor on the Federal Reserve’s Washington-based board, Christopher Waller, is not too concerned about accelerating inflation. “I do buy into the idea that this is going to be temporary,” Waller said during an interview on CNBC. The letter to President Biden asking for more direct payments also cites a poll that indicates “65 percent of Americans support recurring cash payments for the duration of the pandemic.” The letter backed by 21 senators further remarks that “54 percent of Republicans and 60 percent of independents” support the idea as well. The Democrats also have the backing of economists, as the letter stresses that 150 economists support the idea of “automatic stabilizers.” What do you think about a fourth stimulus check? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, formerly BitMax, an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the launch of its staking service for OIN token (OIN) on Apr 16 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. AscendEX’s innovative staking product allows users to participate in staking and earn rewards directly on the platform. OIN joins a growing portfolio of notable tokens including DOT, ATOM, and XTZ. AscendEX will be receiving validator rewards by running an OIN node which will then be passed along to staking users. OIN is the first DeFi platform that provides liquidity mining through their decentralized exchange and a loan platform starting with the Ontology platform and ultimately expanding to other top platforms through cross-chain functionality. OIN will build the bridge technology to seamlessly integrate Ethereum into its ecosystem, opening up to all of the current DeFi space players. OIN’s dedication to DeFi is reflected in its three-pronged mission: to become the gateway into DeFi, promote the DeFi industry, and grow the DeFi Space to maturity. The OIN ecosystem is built upon the second layer of OINChain, giving it cross-chain capabilities and access to various public chains. This provides a powerful tool to lay down a strong foundation for future uses. Based on Ontology’s network, their platform first connects with the Ontology ecosystem for expansion of its initial platform: OIN-Swap, OIN-Wallet, OINDAO, USDO stable coin and OIN-Lend. As a result, there will be a massive increase in accessibility of their initial platform through the bridge technology, opening up the other public chains, including the Ethereum network. About AscendEX Originally founded in 2018 as BitMax.io, AscendEx is a leading crypto and digital asset financial platform catering to both professional and retail traders. Our venue offers spot, futures, margin trading and staking products and incorporates key elements from the DeFi space to foster a unique market structure for users. AscendEx is led by a team of Wall Street veterans who have applied traditional markets’ rigor to create a robust, secure, and reliable experience for all participants; and a consistent source of liquidity for primary offerings. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://ascendex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AscendEX_Global Telegram: https://t.me/AscendEXEnglish Medium: https://medium.com/ascendex About OIN OIN is the first DeFi platform to provide liquidity mining through their decentralized exchange, as well as a loan platform starting with the Ontology platform, and ultimately expand to other top platforms through cross-chain functionality. OIN will build the bridge technology to seamlessly integrate Ethereum into its ecosystem, opening up to all of the current DeFi space. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://oin.finance Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinanceOin Telegram: https://t.me/OIN_Finance_Eng Blog: https://medium.com/oin-finance 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

Former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt says that he expects a “fair amount” of crypto regulation coming from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the confirmation of the new chairman. Former SEC Chair Expects ‘Fair Amount’ of New Crypto Regulation Harvey Pitt talked about the future of cryptocurrency regulation under the new chairman, Gary Gensler, in an interview with Bloomberg Friday. Pitt is the American lawyer who served as the 26th chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), from 2001 to 2003. With the market debut of Coinbase via a direct listing on Nasdaq, Pitt was asked what he expects to happen with the regulation of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchanges. The former SEC chair said: I expect to see a fair amount of regulation of cryptocurrencies. Right now, I think the rules are unclear. “Whether or not certain offerings involve securities or not is unclear. There is a definite likelihood that the SEC will move forward. Gary Gensler is an expert on cryptocurrencies. He has taught about them. He is a market expert,” Pitt continued. “I would expect to see clear rules of the road evolve under his leadership.” Gensler, a crypto professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was confirmed last week as the chairman of the SEC. He was sworn into office on Saturday as a member of the SEC. Pitt was also asked if the SEC should be the regulator of cryptocurrencies or whether it should be the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where Gensler was a former chairman. Pitt further opined: There’s a real question about where jurisdictions lie and there may be a need for clarifying legislations. The SEC has already taken the position that bitcoin and ethereum are not securities and therefore there is no regulatory involvement on the SEC’s part. The former chairman further explained that companies like Coinbase, “which is effectively making markets in cryptocurrencies,” are subject to SEC regulations, therefore the commission will indirectly have an influence on how these cryptocurrencies are marketed. Recently, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce also said that she is “optimistic” that under the new chairman who has deep knowledge of the crypto markets, the SEC can “build a good regulatory framework” for cryptocurrencies. Do you think the SEC will impose many new crypto regulations? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The most recent Bank of America Fund Manager Survey shows that about three out of four professional investors think that bitcoin is a bubble. The fund managers also rated bitcoin second on the list of the most crowded trades. Recently, investment bank JPMorgan also warned that cryptocurrency as a sector is in a bubble. Bank of America Survey Shows Most Fund Managers Think Bitcoin Is a Bubble The Bank of America Fund Manager Survey for April shows that the majority of fund managers see bitcoin as a bubble. The survey asks 200 fund managers with $533 billion in assets under management. Answering the question of whether bitcoin is a bubble, 74% of investors replied “yes.” Just 16% said “no” to the question and 10% said they either did not know or did not want to answer the question. In comparison, only 7% of investors think that the U.S. equity market is in a bubble. Most respondents think that the equity market is in “a late-stage bull market.” Chart showing 74% of investors who responded to the survey think that bitcoin is a bubble. Source: Bank of America Global Research, Yahoo Finance The fund managers who responded to the survey also rated bitcoin second on the list of the most crowded trades, with 27% said BTC was the most crowded trade. Technology stocks rank first with just over three in 10 respondents citing tech as the most crowded trade. Nonetheless, about 10% of fund managers still believe that bitcoin will outperform in 2021. Bank of America has been saying that bitcoin is in a bubble for months. Earlier this year, Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at Bank of America Securities, said that bitcoin looks like “the mother of all bubbles.” In March, the bank’s strategist said that the only good reason for holding BTC is “sheer price appreciation.” Recently, investment bank JPMorgan also named cryptocurrency as one of the sectors it believes is in a bubble. Despite this view, the firm has predicted that the price of bitcoin could reach $130,000 in the long term. What do you think about the Bank of America survey suggesting that bitcoin is a bubble? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Congressman Kevin McCarthy has urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell not to ignore bitcoin like they have been trying to do. He believes it is the future, emphasizing, “I do not want America to fall behind” other countries. Government and the Fed Should Not Ignore Bitcoin GOP leader Kevin McCarthy talked about bitcoin in an interview with CNBC last week. Congressman McCarthy serves California’s 23rd district and is currently the Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was asked specifically if he thinks that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have a good understanding of digital currencies or bitcoin given their recent comments and what advice he has for them. A longtime proponent of bitcoin, McCarthy said in July 2019, “I like bitcoin” and the security of the blockchain technology behind it. Reiterating his view on bitcoin back in 2019, the congressman replied, “I was right then and I’m right now,” elaborating: I think they tried to ignore it to make it go away. I think Jamie Dimon will tell you that from the beginning he was wrong. This is moving toward the future. They should not ignore it. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a “fraud” that is “worse than tulip bulbs” in 2017. His bank has come a long way since then. Today, JPMorgan says it sees massive institutional demand for bitcoin and has launched a crypto investment product tracking public companies with bitcoin exposure. Federal Reserve Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary have not warmed up to bitcoin. Powell said last week that cryptocurrencies are “vehicles for speculation.” He claimed that “They’re not really being actively used as payment,” despite a growing list of companies accepting them for payment, including Elon Musk’s Tesla. Treasury Secretary Yellen shares a similar sentiment. She called bitcoin was a “highly speculative asset” in February, asserting that it was not “widely used as a transmission mechanism” and was an “extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions.” Yellen also warned that the misuse of cryptocurrencies is a growing problem, noting that cryptocurrencies are mainly used for illicit financing. McCarthy additionally said during last week’s interview that regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, Treasury Secretary Yellen and Fed Chair Powell “should not only learn more about it but the basis is going to continue to grow.” He further opined: This is something that those who regulate, those who are in government that make policy better start understanding what it means for the future. The congressman emphasized that “other countries are moving forward” in the area of digital currencies. “I do not want America to fall behind. I want the next century to be ours. That’s why I want to look forward, not backward, and not keep my head in the sand,” the lawmaker concluded. What do you think about what McCarthy said about bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Brevan Howard, one of Europe’s largest hedge funds with $13.7 billion in assets under management, is reportedly set to start buying cryptocurrencies. The investment firm previously bought a 25% stake in One River Asset Management, which runs a number of cryptocurrency funds. Major Hedge Fund to Start Investing in Cryptocurrencies Investment management firm Brevan Howard is reportedly preparing to start buying cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The firm’s cryptocurrency investments will be overseen by Distributed Global’s co-founders Johnny Steindorff and Tucker Waterman. Distributed Global is an asset management company that focuses on digital assets. Founded in 2002, Brevan Howard describes itself as “one of the world’s leading global macro absolute return managers.” The firm manages assets for institutional investors around the globe including sovereign wealth funds, corporate and public pension plans, foundations, and endowments. The group has offices in London, New York, Geneva, Jersey, Hong Kong, Washington, and Singapore. According to Business Insider, the firm has $13.7 billion in assets under management. The fund managers at Brevan Howard believe that the cryptocurrency market has matured significantly which led to the firm’s decision to start investing for its clients. The publication quoted the person as saying: The hedge fund is looking to invest in a range of assets, not just bitcoin. Brevan would initially invest up to 1.5% of its main $5.6 billion fund in cryptocurrencies. Crypto funds gained 116.8% in the first quarter this year, outperforming bitcoin’s return over the same time period, according to data from Eurekahedge. In comparison, global hedge funds increased 4.8% in the first quarter of the year. Brevan Howard already has some bitcoin exposure. Last year, the firm bought a 25% stake in One River Asset Management, which runs a number of cryptocurrency funds, investing in bitcoin and ether. The company said in December that its holdings of the two cryptocurrencies would reach $1 billion early this year. Its CEO and co-founder, Eric Peters, expects bitcoin to be worth more than gold, valuing the cryptocurrency at $500K. Meanwhile, Alan Howard, Brevan Howard’s co-founder, is an investor of Distributed Global. He has also backed a number of companies in the crypto space, including British bitcoin payments app Bottlepay. What do you think about Brevan Howard getting into cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Rumors concerning the U.S. Treasury cracking down on several financial institutions over money laundering has been spreading like wildfire on social media and forums. There’s been no formal announcement from the U.S. entity and at this stage, the news is widely considered FUD. However, some are assuming the hearsay stems from the recent Russian sanctions announcement last Thursday. On April 15, the U.S. Treasury published a press release explaining government escalated sanctions against the Russian government and the announcement touches upon the use of cryptocurrency addresses for illicit transactions. U.S. Treasury Rumors Flood Social Media, OFAC Cracks Down on 16 Groups That Allegedly Leveraged Crypto Assets On social media and cryptocurrency forums, rumors have spread about the U.S. government cracking down on the crypto industry. For instance, a Twitter account called “Fxhedge” tweeted about the U.S. Treasury on Sunday, April 17. “U.S. Treasury to charge several financial institutions for money laundering using cryptocurrencies -sources,” the tweet declared. The tweet has been retweeted over 5,000 times since it was published and no one can reply to the tweet. The so-called “sources” are not mentioned in the tweet either, and there is very little information backing up the claim. There has been no official confirmation of this news as of press time, but the rumors have been spreading wildly on Twitter and Reddit. At the time of publication, a great number of crypto advocates regard the Treasury crackdown hearsay as FUD. Meanwhile, some speculators have said that the hearsay might have to do with the recent U.S. sanctions against the Russian government and a few international organizations. The U.S. Treasury published a press release on Thursday afternoon explaining that the entity and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) cracked down on 16 entities and 16 individuals. The press release says that these groups and people under the leadership of Russian officials tried to sway the U.S. election in 2020. Moreover, digital currencies were allegedly used according to the press releases. The U.S. Treasury’s announcement states: As part of today’s listing of SES on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), OFAC is also identifying digital currency addresses used by SES to fulfill customer orders in order to help assist financial institutions, and their third-party identity verification services, in identifying customers on their platforms who have purchased fraudulent identity documents. ‘Cryptocurrencies Are a Particular Concern,’ Says Janet Yellen As bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto economy swells, a number of skeptics think the U.S. government will attack the economy with everything it can do to stop it from growing. Billionaire hedge fund manager, Ray Dalio recently said there was a good probability of the U.S. doing this similar to when it outlawed gold in 1933. This past Tuesday, Treasury Department lead Janet Yellen spoke about cryptocurrencies and told the Senate Finance Committee and Senator Maggie Hassan she is concerned. “Cryptocurrencies are a particular concern. I think many are used— at least in a transactions sense— mainly for illicit financing,” Yellen remarked. “[The U.S. government should] examine ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that [money laundering] doesn’t occur through those channels,” Yellen added on April 13, 2021. OFAC’s crypto address list shows BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH addresses. In addition to the U.S. Treasury’s recent press release concerning so-called Russian Foreign Intelligence Service meddling and the Solarwinds cyberattack, the Treasury’s OFAC published a list of crypto addresses that authorities believe are behind these ostensible attacks. Government entities, pundits, and mainstream media have relentlessly tried to tether cryptocurrencies to criminal behavior and illicit transactions. Despite the many reports that show blockchains are not attractive to criminals and money laundering is far easier with untraceable U.S. dollars. What do you think about the recent rumors about the U.S. Treasury crackdown and the OFAC press release concerning Russian intelligence using cryptos? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

After the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a directive targeting the country’s cryptocurrency industry, bitcoin and altcoin trade volumes on centralized exchanges immediately plunged. Nevertheless, the new regulations seem to have succeeded in boosting crypto trade volumes on informal markets or on peer-to-peer trading platforms. Nigerian Crypto Traders Get Creative Still, the increasing trades on informal platforms have also led to increased reports of users losing money to con artists. Moreover, with the CBN seemingly eager to see volumes of crypto trades plummet, Nigerian users had to find ingenious but legal ways of getting around the central bank’s imposed restrictions. As shown in one local report, one such legal way is through an app created by one local crypto start-up, Patricia. According to the report, this application is already enabling Nigerian users to buy or sell their crypto assets securely and without running afoul of CBN regulations. Therefore, in this report, we relist five legitimate ways Nigerians can use this app to safely trade their bitcoins. Airtime Refill As explained in the report, users of the Patricia platform are still able to use their BTC balances to pay for regular expenses like airtime, utilities as well as internet data packages. The conversion from crypto to fiat is done seamlessly within the app. Peer to Peer Exchange The Patricia platform is also being used to facilitate safe and secure peer-to-peer transactions. According to the report, Patricia’s peer-to-peer platform is powered by Vaunt, an international P2P digital currency marketplace that facilitates faster and easier money transactions. Receiving Payments For Nigerian businesses that want to hasten the process of receiving payments from customers abroad, Patricia Business offers this opportunity. As explained in the report, Patricia Business “is a bitcoin payment gateway that allows traders, merchants and business owners across the country to receive bitcoin payments from their customers.” Once received, the crypto will be seamlessly converted to naira and transferred into their local bank accounts. Patricia Debit Card Nigerians can also legally use their bitcoin to make purchases locally via the Patricia naira debit card. Additionally, Patricia has a bitcoin debit card option that comes in both physical and virtual forms. This card can be used to shop online or at a bitcoin ATM anywhere in the world. Gift Card Trading Patricia users can also buy gift cards with their bitcoin funds on the Patricia app. Converting bitcoins into gift cards enables users to shop on major online marketplaces without necessarily violating CBN regulations. Do you know of other options that Nigerians can use to trade cryptos? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, formerly BitMax, an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the listing of the Julswap Token (JULD) under the pair USDT/JULD on Apr 16 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. JulSwap is a community-centric decentralized exchange that helps crypto projects raise liquidity by conducting IDOs, organizing staking pools, and conducting liquidity mining in a decentralized fashion through the innovative power of JULD tokens. JulSwap offers governance structure to JULD holders who can vote for governance. The purpose of that is to ensure that appropriate structures are in place for managing the protocol in a controlled and orderly way. The major benefit of good governance is that team members can remain focused on their goals instead of wasting time in political debates about what is or is not allowed. JulSwap is often compared with projects like Uniswap, but Julswap has many more unique products available to users. For example, Julswap offers NFT staking so users can stake JULD for OBRNFT Cards. Some additional product features JulSwap offers are staking in special pools for rewards, staking for external project tokens, debit card staking, and JulSwap fee participation, where users can stake JULD and get JulSwap fee participation rewards. JULD is the community token created by JulSwap, allowing users to participate in special events. JULD is built with the vision to introduce digital assets to people worldwide and create one of the world’s most significant digital asset communities. About AscendEX Originally founded in 2018 as BitMax.io, AscendEx is a leading crypto and digital asset financial platform catering to both professional and retail traders. Our venue offers spot, futures, margin trading and staking products and incorporates key elements from the DeFi space to foster a unique market structure for users. AscendEx is led by a team of Wall Street veterans who have applied traditional markets’ rigor to create a robust, secure, and reliable experience for all participants; and a consistent source of liquidity for primary offerings. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://ascendex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AscendEX_Global Telegram: https://t.me/AscendEXEnglish Medium: https://medium.com/ascendex About JulSwap JulSwap is a community centric Decentralized Exchange that helps crypto projects raise liquidity by conducting IDOs, organizing Staking Pools and conducting liquidity mining in a decentralized fashion through the innovative power of JULD tokens. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://info.julswap.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulSwap Telegram: https://t.me/justliquidity 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

Since April 15, the Bitcoin network hashrate has dropped more than 49% after touching an all-time high at 218 exahash per second. Regional reports noted that in China the Xinjiang grid is having blackouts and “safety inspections.” Reports Claim Blackouts in Xinjiang, China Have Pushed Bitcoin’s Hashrate Down 49% At the time of writing, the Bitcoin (BTC) network hashrate has seen a 49% drop off after touching an all-time high (ATH). Data shows on April 15, BTC’s hashrate climbed to a massive 218 exahash per second (EH/s). Almost immediately after that point, the network hashrate started to spiral downwards. When the hashrate started dropping the regional reporter Colin Wu (@wublockchain) tweeted about electrical grid blackouts in China. “The hashrate of bitcoin mining pools plummeted in 24 hours. Antpool fell by 24.5%, Btc.com fell by 18.9%, Poolin fell by 33%, Binance pool fell by 20%,” Wu tweeted. “The reason is that Northwest China is undergoing a complete blackout for safety inspections.” The founding partner at Primitive Crypto, Dovey Wan also spoke about outages the next day. “Xinjiang is facing a major power outage due to a coal mine explosion,” Wan remarked. “Bitcoin hashrate drops almost 30% instantly… Expected to recover in a week or so. All data centers were shut as well,” she added. Wan continued: Xinjiang [and] Sichuan combined together have well over 50% of the overall [Bitcoin] hashrate. Hope [we] can have more distributed hashrate in the future for resilience purposes. Next Week’s Data Could Show an Estimate of Xinjiang’s Hashrate Share The cofounder of blockchain data aggregator Coinmetrics.io, Nic Carter also tweeted about the situation in China and the hashrate drop. “The Xinjiang grid going down and its effects on bitcoin hashrate are what economists call a ‘natural experiment.’ [A] very helpful source of data. Xinjiang is heavily coal-based but not exclusively so. There’s huge amounts of wind and solar – 35% renewable as of 2019. [Third] highest renewable share of all Chinese provinces (behind Gansu and Ningxia) (hydro ≠ renewable for purposes of this data). Carter added that next week, the drop could show just how much hashrate resides in the region. He said: Based on what the next week’s worth of data tells us, we will be able to devise an estimate of Xinjiang share of [the] BTC network (assuming we know for sure that the entire grid is down – hard to tell based on scant reports). Price and hash rate has always been correlated. This is BTC price vs today's hash rate collapse (from the Xinjiang blackout). pic.twitter.com/mywEZLHlA0 — Willy Woo (@woonomic) April 18, 2021 Meanwhile, a great number of people have said that the price dump is correlated with the hashrate plunge. The director of research at The Block Crypto, Larry Cermak disagrees the blame can be cast so easily on the loss of hashpower. “LOL, if you think the hashrate drop was the reason for the dump you’re ngmi,” Cermak said in response to Willy Woo’s tweet. “For those looking for some explanation, corrections are natural after massive run-ups. Weekends with low liquidity are perfect, some dumb catalyst to spook traders off, and down we go. Markets were bid up for Coinbase and that ended up disappointing as well. Not surprising,” Cermak added. Network Fees Spike and Price Starts to Follow Hashrate on Sunday Evening The conversation surrounding BTC’s hashrate has been a trending topic on social media and forums. The cofounder and CBO at Compass Mining, Thomas Heller, also shared a source of the accident in the coal mine as well. “Mining farms in Xinjiang closed this morning for inspections – network hashrate from most Chinese mining pools have a significant drop,” Heller wrote. “It’s related to the accident in the Xinjiang coal mine earlier in the week,” he added. On Saturday at 11:00 p.m. (EST), bitcoin’s price dropped to a low of $51,541 but has regained some losses during Sunday’s early morning trading sessions. At the time of publication, at 7:30 a.m. (EST), bitcoin (BTC) is down 10% and exchanging hands for $54,848 per unit. The entire crypto-economy shed more than 8% since 11:00 p.m. last night. What do you think about the Bitcoin hashrate plummeting over 49% this weekend? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The world’s largest provider of cryptocurrency payment services, Bitpay has announced the company is joining the Square-founded crypto patent effort the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA). Bitpay has been working with blockchain products since 2011 and the firm will share open-source projects and use a shared patent library with the crypto patent organization. Bitpay Joins Crypto Patent Effort COPA The Atlanta-based cryptocurrency payment and blockchain company Bitpay is joining forces with COPA. The Crypto Open Patent Alliance was originally invoked by Square, Inc., and the organization bolsters open access to patents and protection from patent threats. On January 1, 2020, the San Francisco-based company which was just listed on Nasdaq, Coinbase, joined COPA’s mission as well. The founder and CEO of Bitpay, Stephen Pair, believes partnering with COPA is a step forward toward innovation. “Bitpay is partnering with and supporting COPA because we believe that the blockchain space is at an inflection point where crypto is becoming mainstream forever changing the way businesses and consumers receive and spend funds,” Pair explained during the announcement. The Bitpay founder added: We see both business and consumer adoption accelerating as a result of COPA industry leaders working together to advance technology innovation making the blockchain easy to use for both businesses and consumers. COPA’s Board Chair: ‘We Want to Eliminate Barriers to Innovation’ The nonprofit COPA is made up of companies like Coinbase, Bitbank, Satoshi Labs, Ark.io, Blockchain Commons, Kraken, Stacks, Square, Microstrategy, and Stakenet. Anyone can join the consortium of firms and benefit from the patent alliance. “Regardless of whether they have patents or not,” organizations can join COPA notes. “COPA acknowledges that cryptocurrency technology is built on the collaborative efforts of a community made up of developers, engineers, and designers. “We want to eliminate barriers to innovation, rather than letting patents become one, and welcome BitPay and their many contributions to the blockchain and payments space,” Kirupa Pushparaj, COPA’s Board Chair concluded during the announcement. Just recently, COPA filed a civil lawsuit against the self-styled Bitcoin inventor, Craig Wright over the ownership of the Bitcoin white paper. What do you think about the Atlanta-based Bitpay joining up with COPA? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin.com Games brings $110,000 worth of smiles and happiness to this player! Massive Win on ‘Elvis Frog in Vegas’ Earlier in March, a fortunate player cashed out $160,000 in two epic winning rounds on The Dog House Megaways slot at Bitcoin.com Games. Now, another lucky player has bagged over $110,000 from a small bet of 0.0015 BTC on one of the most popular slot games on the casino – Elvis Frog in Vegas. With a 5×3 layout, this entertaining slot sees the titular character taking to the microphone with his female frog side-kick to put players in just the right mood for big wins. 1,195x multiplier applied to player’s bets resulting in a total win amount of $110,000 on Elvis Frog in Vegas slot!. The big win left the player with an experience that is reported to be one of the happiest moments in the player’s life. Astonishing that a bet worth such a small amount of BTC can flip the fortune in anyone’s favor. The game that the player landed a winning round in, is able to dish out a win as big as 2,500x the initial bet value. This means that at its maximum, the game is able to reward players with $250,000 on a bet as small as $100! Huge amounts of fortunes can be made on such games where big money multipliers can land winning rounds worth over 100,000x the initial bet amount, let alone the free rounds that are given as bonuses across the board. The premium crypto casino is also host to regular promotions and tournaments where players can take home extra bonuses and big wins from jackpots – all in Bitcoin, the preferred cryptocurrency of online gaming enthusiasts. Play Elvis Frog in Vegas now or check out other games with big jackpots and bonuses that you can exclusively play on Bitcoin.com Games. This is a promoted post. Learn more on how to reach our audience here. Read the disclaimer below. View the full article

Two executives of Mirror Trading International (MTI) have been summoned by a high court in connection with another cryptocurrency investment scam called BTC Global. The court summons followed a civil lawsuit filed by 18 plaintiffs demanding compensation from them. Two MTI Executives Linked to BTC Global Scam A High Court summons was issued to Clynton Marks, Cheri Marks, and Andrew Caw in connection to a bitcoin investment scam called BTC Global, South African news outlet Mybroadband reported last week, noting that it has seen the court document. The court summons followed a civil lawsuit filed by 18 plaintiffs demanding compensation of R2.5 million (approximately $174,662) plus 7% annual interest for the losses they have suffered from the BTC Global scam. In addition, they asked the court for “further and alternative relief” and the legal costs they have incurred as part of the lawsuit. The court document explains that between September 2017 and March 2018, the defendants “conducted business under the names and style of BTC Global or BTC.” This scam claimed to allow clients to invest in a trading pool managed by a “master trader” called Steven Twain. According to the publication, there is no evidence that Twain ever existed. In addition, when investors could not withdraw their funds from the scheme, they were informed that Twain was attacked in his home and his equipment was stolen. Twain disappeared in early 2018; some say his disappearance led to the collapse of BTC Global. More than 27,000 people were reportedly scammed by this bitcoin investment scheme, including investors in South Africa, the U.S., and Australia. Clynton Marks and Cheri Marks are also involved in a larger bitcoin investment scam, Mirror Trading International (MTI). In its latest crypto crime report, the blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis named MTI the biggest cryptocurrency scam of 2020. The news outlet explained that Clynton is a 50% shareholder in MTI while Cheri was the scheme’s head of communications. It noted that MTI and BTC Global share “striking similarities,” adding that they both promised too-good-to-be-true returns on investment and used a multilevel marketing scheme to recruit new members. The publication also claimed to have seen a legal notice signed by Selzer Law attorneys showing that Caw and the Marks intend to defend against the BTC Global allegations. Caw previously told Mybroadband that he was only an investor in BTC Global and lost a significant sum when it collapsed. “I was, however, neither a founder nor leader in BTC Global, although I was later accused of being both,” he claimed, asserting that he was not involved in MTI but did offer a proposal early on that would enable MTI to deliver cryptographic proof of its bitcoin holdings. Cheri Marks has denied owning or being in control of BTC Global. She has also denied using the scheme to steal investor funds, setting up fake profiles for Steven Twain, or knowingly promoting anything illegal. In a statement delivered by her lawyer, Marks said, “Steven Twain is a real person and his disappearance was a shock.” The statement adds that “It is denied that Cheri was/is Steven Twain.” What do you think about the two crypto scams? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Famed Silicon Valley “super angel” investor Ron Conway sees the crypto economy as the next multitrillion-dollar opportunity in innovation. The Silicon Valley legend likens Coinbase to Google after the company’s IPO via a direct listing on Nasdaq. Crypto Is the Next Multitrillion Dollar Opportunity in Innovation Legendary investor Ron Conway, who is often described as a Silicon Valley “super angel,” discussed the state of the crypto market and its future outlook in an interview with CNBC Wednesday. Conway, an early investor of Coinbase, likens the company to Google. An American venture capitalist and philanthropist, who is considered the “Godfather of Silicon Valley,” Conway has placed more bets on Internet startups than anyone else in Silicon Valley. He was an early angel investor in Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Paypal, Airbnb, Square, and Pinterest to name a few. Regarding the crypto market, the famed investor said: “If you start at the very top of the funnel. Look at the market size for the crypto economy. Last year, it was $778 billion, headed to over a trillion. And the crypto economy is in its infancy.” He affirmed: The crypto economy is the next multitrillion-dollar opportunity in innovation. As for Coinbase with its huge valuation that exceeds that of the exchange it is listed on, he said, “If people look at the size of the opportunity, then the market cap of these companies look a little more reasonable.” Coinbase was valued at as much as $100 billion in its public debut. “We are in an inflated market no matter what, so all companies are worth a pretty high price today. When you look at the size of the market of crypto, I think they are analogous,” Conway detailed. Coinbase Is the New Google, Says the ‘Godfather of Silicon Valley’ Cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase went public via a direct listing on Nasdaq on Wednesday. Retail investors poured $57.35 million into the company on its IPO day, according to Vandatrack, which monitors retail investing activity in 9,000 individual stocks and ETFs in the U.S. The data-monitoring firm estimates that Coinbase’s public debut was the fifth largest in terms of retail buying for newly listed shares since 2017. Given the sheer number of companies piling into the crypto space, including Square Inc. and Robinhood, Conway was asked what sets Coinbase apart and why he thinks Coinbase is the new Google and not Yahoo, for example. “What really sets Coinbase apart is it is a crypto-only company … All these other companies, crypto is an add-on. Coinbase is what we called a crypto-first company, and that focus is what is making them a market leader,” Conway described, elaborating: I absolutely believe that Coinbase is the Google for the crypto economy and opens this huge opportunity to consumers. Conway also believes that Coinbase already has a “great brand” and “great reputation” with consumers, adding that “They are the user-friendly door to crypto.” Do you agree with Conway? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran, the entrepreneur who turned a $1,000 loan into a billion-dollar real estate empire, says she will get rich by investing in real estate, not cryptocurrencies. The American investor takes every extra dime she has and puts it in real estate, emphasizing that she will get rich nice and slow this way. Investing in Real Estate vs. Cryptocurrency Real estate entrepreneur Barbara Corcoran shared her view on cryptocurrency and bitcoin in an interview with TMZ this week while out and about in Union Square in New York City. Corcoran is the American investor famed for building a billion-dollar real estate empire with just a $1,000 loan. She is also a star of the popular ABC television show “Shark Tank” and the author of the best seller book “Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business.” Firstly, she was asked if “Cryptocurrency is all the rage right now.” The shark tank star promptly replied, “of course.” Given that she is an old-school investor, Corcoran was asked whether she thinks that investors should be getting into cryptocurrencies right now. “I have so many smart business guys I know that have hopped on it and want me on the train with them. I don’t. I take every dime I have extra put into real estate. It’s a slow way to get rich,” she explained, elaborating: I know I’m going to get rich nice and slow by investing in real estate. Meanwhile, her fellow Shark Tank stars, Kevin O’Leary and Mark Cuban, have embraced cryptocurrencies. O’Leary has put 3% of his portfolio in bitcoin and ether, and is also looking to invest in companies that produce “clean” bitcoins. Earlier this month, he explained that he will not buy “blood coins from China.” Cuban said in March that bitcoin is better than gold. His NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, has been accepting the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin for tickets and merchandise sales. He has a portfolio of bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, and has invested in companies in the crypto space. Do you agree with Barbara Corcoran that real estate is a better investment than cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Canada has been approving crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF) more quickly than the United States and after three successful bitcoin ETFs, the country has approved three ethereum-based ETFs. The three ether ETFs in Canada will debut on Toronto’s stock exchange (TSX) on April 20, 2021. Three Ethereum ETFs Set to Launch in Canada Next Week Back in February, Bitcoin.com News reported on the launch of the first North American bitcoin exchange-traded fund. A few days later, the fund called the “Purpose Bitcoin ETF” captured massive volume with $165 million traded at the time. The three new ether-based ETFs will be provided by CI Global Asset Management, Purpose Investments, and Evolve ETFs. All three will appear on Toronto’s stock exchange (TSX) this Tuesday. Both Purpose and Evolve already sponsor crypto ETFs, and CI Global Asset Management aims to join the fray. CI Global is working with Bitcoin bull and billionaire investor Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. Novogratz’s organization has also applied for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund that aims to be listed in the U.S. with regulatory approval. The senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, Eric Balchunas, tweeted about the three approvals on Friday. “Canada is approving three Ethereum ETFs to launch on Tuesday,” Balchunas wrote. “Seems more fair than giving Purpose a crucial head start again. The SEC should/prob will do the same here,” he added. Canada’s Crypto ETF Approvals Continues to Outshine the US Ethereum has been doing very well on spot markets, and has been trading for over $2,400 per unit this weekend. The digital asset touched an all-time high on April 16, 2021, reaching $2,533 per ETH. Ethereum is up a whopping 1,317.64% during the last 12 months and up 13.3% this week. Evolve’s prospectus shows that the ETF will trade under the ticker “ETHR”. The ETF will leverage the CF Benchmarks Ether-Dollar Reference Rate (ETHUSD_RR). The Purpose ether ETF will have exposure to physically settled ether with three unique units ETHH, ETHH.B, and ETHH.U. The Purpose-based ETHH units will leverage CAD and ETHH.U will utilize USD. The CI Global Asset Management and Galaxy Digital-backed ETF will use both USD and CAD units as well on TSX. With three bitcoin ETFs approved in Canada and three ethereum-based ETFs approved as well, the country’s regulators seem to be optimistic about these investment vehicles. Unlike the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has yet to approve an American ETF, but has eight applications on its desk. What do you think about the three ethereum ETFs approved to be listed on TSX next week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Texas-based Blockcap Incorporated revealed the blockchain and mining firm has mined approximately 544 bitcoins during the first quarter of 2021. Blockcap says the $33 million worth of bitcoin stems from the firm’s fleet of 12,176 mining rigs. Blockcap Rakes in 544 Bitcoins During the last three months, bitcoin (BTC) markets have seen phenomenal gains and alongside the price rises bitcoin miners are pulling in profits. This week the Austin-based firm Blockcap revealed its Q1 earnings in terms of bitcoin (BTC) revenue. The company has acquired $33 million or 544 bitcoins during the first quarter. Bitcoin.com News recently reported on Blockcap moving its headquarters to Austin. At the time, former governor of Texas, Rick Perry welcomed Blockcap for bringing tech innovation to Texas. The company acquired the 544 bitcoins this year by leveraging 12,176 mining rigs and Blockcap hopes to deploy more machines. Blockcap says by next year it hopes to get 43,000 bitcoin mining rigs fully deployed. Since the company started last year, it has mined a total of 1,600 BTC or $98 million using today’s exchange rates. “Blockcap has an aggressive growth strategy that is designed to create more jobs in the blockchain industry not just in the United States but also in our home state of Texas and our hometown of Austin,” Darin Feinstein Blockcap’s founder said. “We’re proud to be competing in this industry with a number of other high-quality firms, and we believe there is ample room for all of us to expand together and in turn provide broader, sustained economic growth at the local, state, and national levels.” Committed to Making the US a Bitcoin-Mining Hub and Outperforming American-based Competitors Feinstein explained that the firm is committed to making the U.S. a “blockchain and bitcoin-mining technology” hub. The Blockcap founder also claims it outperformed “several major North American-based companies” mining bitcoins. “This includes Riot Blockchain, a publicly-traded company that mined 491 Bitcoin during the first quarter of the year, as well as 165 bitcoin mined in Q3 of last year by Hive Blockchain,” Feinstein detailed. The Blockcap founder further noted that blockchain technology and cryptocurrency solutions not only create employment opportunities in the U.S. but this tech also helps the unbanked across every border. “Currently there are roughly 60 million Americans who don’t have access to bank accounts and roughly 1.7 billion people globally who are also unbanked,” Feinstein remarked. “And we at Blockap strongly believe that the blockchain industry as a whole will provide these unbanked people with the critical technology necessary for accessing the financial system.” What do you think about Blockcap’s first-quarter bitcoin revenue? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Kotani Pay, a Kenya based digital currency on and off-ramp service provider, has entered into an agreement wherein it will enable the transfer of universal basic income (UBI) payments to African refugees. Working in conjunction with the Refugee Integration Organisation (RIO) and Impact Market, the fintech start-up, which uses the Celo blockchain, will use its platform to ensure payments reach the intended beneficiaries. Using the Blockchain Without the Internet According to Kotani Pay’s recent post on Medium, the start-up’s partnership with RIO and Impact Market will also see non-smartphone holders benefitting. Commenting on this unique feature, Kotani Pay said: (The partnership) is achieving a never-before-done implementation of UBI through a stablecoin that is available to non-smartphone users. This is a pioneering achievement in the world of UBI, digital currencies, and the inclusivity of refugees. The fintech start-up adds it is providing a familiar interface that works on feature phones. This interface “eliminates the need for an internet connection when interacting with blockchain protocols that were designed primarily for smartphone users.” For its part, RIO says the use of the Celo blockchain “will certainly help keep fraud and corruption from this programme, ensuring that for once, every dollar will go to the people they are meant for.” UBI Does Not Foster Dependency In the meantime, Brian Kimotho, the chief marketing officer at Kotani Pay, revealed some of the details relating to the funds that will be distributed as well as the number of refugees involved. Kimotho said: The program will support 5,000 refugees. The refugees can claim the equivalent of $1 (100 shillings) in Celo Dollars (cUSD) daily up to a maximum of $400 (40,000 shillings) in a month. We’re currently running a pilot with 1,000 refugees with plans to onboard the remaining 4,000 within the next few months. Meanwhile, in the Medium post, RIO dismisses the assertion that this UBI program will likely cultivate a dependency syndrome among refugees. The NGO says it believes the UBI “should not be implemented as a sole means of economic development.” Instead, the payments should be combined “with business training, entrepreneurship awareness, and other financial inclusion services, such as micro-loans.” Do you believe the blockchain offers a better way of transferring payments to refugees? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Brazil’s first crypto ETF debut is postponed, but not because plans have failed whatsoever. The Bank of Brazil (Banco do Brasil) is now joining the bandwagon of ETF issuances, following the same steps as Bank Itaú and BTG Pactual did. New Launch Date Set for April 26 According to a letter sent by Hashdex to its clients, the state-backed banking institution will be able to offer its customers the possibility of buying the crypto ETF of Hashdex, which will have the ticker “HASH11.” That said, the Bank of Brazil’s customers could have exposure by investing in the fund, which will replicate the Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI). The letter clarifies that the new date of the ETF debut is set to take place on April 26, 2021, as the original date was April 22. With such maneuver, the banking institution becomes the first public bank in the world to offer such kind of exposure. Subscription orders can be made until April 20, according to Hashdex, and the only ones who can be able to do it are authorized agents “who can do this on their own behalf or behalf of customers.” The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index (HASH11) – coordinated by Itaú, BTG Pactual, and Genial – is composed of crypto assets such as bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), chainlink (LINK), bitcoin cash (BCH), and Stellar (XLM). HASH11 to Be Traded on the Brazil Stock Exchange Overall, the inception of the crypto ETF into the Brazilian market supposes another hurdle passed in terms of crypto adoption. Strict regulatory rulings by the CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission) restrict small investors from exposure to the crypto market due to the “high risks” it possesses. Moreover, the Hashdex 100 fund offered in Brazil is also restricted to professional investors that hold over 10 million Brazilian real ($1.79 million) in financial markets investments. After the official launch on April 26, 2021, HASH11 will be traded through the Brazil Stock Exchange. What are your thoughts on the announcement? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The well known software developer Luke Dashjr is in the midst of controversy over how to upgrade the Bitcoin network in order to add the Taproot protocol. Bitcoin Core developers want to upgrade with “Speedy trial,” which will allow miners to push the feature through. However, Luke Dashjr wants to upgrade in a different manner, and considers the proposal an “attack on Bitcoin” as it’s “not a good thing” from his perspective. Bitcoin Developers Find Controversy Over Taproot Activation Bitcoin developers have revealed “Speedy trial support for versionbits #21377,” which aims to implement Taproot via BTC miner activation. The activation would “Start soon: shortly after the release of software containing this proposed activation logic, nodes will begin counting blocks towards the 90% threshold required to lock in taproot,” David A. Harding’s description notes. A great number of developers have participated in the “Speedy trial” conversation including programmers like Jeremy Rubin, Sjors, AJ Towns, Max Hillebrand, and Michael Folkson. “Speedy trial merged into bitcoin core,” software and Bitcoin developer Ben Carman tweeted on April 14, 2021. Luke Dashjr responded to Carman’s tweet and said: “Community came to consensus on BIP8. These devs are IGNORING that and pushing their own agenda instead. It is an attack on Bitcoin, not a good thing.” Ben Carman disagreed and stated: “[I] disagree, without this, we’d still be bikeshedding over activation methods. I think the stuff you guys are doing with the UASF client is still good however, the correct safety net.” Another Bitcoin developer, Jeremy Rubin said to Dashjr that if he was right about this issue it wouldn’t matter. “Even if it doesn’t practically matter, it is still a violation of community trust in Bitcoin Core,” Dashjr replied. Cobra: ‘A Bit Dangerous to Run Different Consensus Rules’ Following the banter on Twitter, Dashjr released his own “Bitcoin Core 0.21.0 build” and bitcoin.org owner Cobra said he was perplexed. “I’m confused, what’s going on?” Cobra asked. “Taproot activation,” Dashjr responded to the bitcoin.org owner. “Yeah but it’s a bit dangerous to run different consensus rules willy-nilly isn’t it? I mean this is a trillion-dollar network now,” Cobra said to the developer. “Ossification is stupid and suicide,” Dashjr insisted. “Luke is carrying out a personal vendetta at the expense of the community,” one person said in Dashjr’s Twitter thread. “The best analogy I can think of is a toddler throwing a temper tantrum,” he added. Dashjr responded to the statement and stressed: “That’s a lie.” “It’s not a lie, it just doesn’t fit your narrative,” the person remarked. The Bitcoin (BTC) network has not seen a major upgrade since Segregated Witness and the Segwit2x fiasco back in 2017. It has been said because of that situation, it may be hard for the BTC community to fork the chain going forward. This is not Luke Dashjr’s first entry into the land of controversy, as he’s made a number of controversial statements about Segwit and even talked about shrinking Bitcoin’s block size down even lower than 1MB per block. “So it turns out (not so surprisingly) that spammers are abusing Segwit’s block size increase to gain an advantage over legit Bitcoin users,” Dashjr insisted on September 17, 2019. “Reducing the block size limit could rebalance this unfair advantage / bad incentive Segwit has created,” he added at the time. What do you think about the controversy surrounding Taproot activation and Luke Dashjr’s recent statements? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article