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John Waldron, the chief operating officer (COO) of Goldman Sachs, says the financial services giant is seeing rising customer demand to own and invest in bitcoin. Nevertheless, the COO explained that his organization was still exploring ways of satisfying this demand without running afoul of regulators. ‘How Banks Should Be Regulated When Dealing With Digital Money’ In remarks made during an interview, Waldron, who is also the banking giant’s president, adds that Goldman Sachs “is in discussions with regulators and central banks about how banks should be regulated when dealing with digital money.” Meanwhile, in explaining the financial giant’s unique approach towards satisfying customer demand, Waldron said: We are regulated on what we can do. We continue to evaluate it … and engage on it. In addition to looking for ways of satisfying the growing consumer demand for cryptos, the Reuters report also reveals that “Goldman is also exploring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and has issued a request for information to explore digital asset custody.” ‘Covid-19 Pandemic a Significant Accelerant’ In the meantime, Waldron is quoted in the same report explaining how the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an “explosion in online commerce” and how this trend is unlikely to change going forward. He said: The pandemic has been a significant accelerant. There is no question in our mind there will be more digital commerce … and (use of) digital money. Meanwhile, as Waldron reveals Goldman Sachs’ cautious crypto approach, recent reports, however, indicate that the banking giant has already”restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk.” Additionally, the banking giant also “started dealing in bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards for clients.” Do you agree with Waldron’s assertion that the use of digital currency will explode? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Through the novel use of hardware security modules in conjunction with a communication module, a collaboration between Bluzelle and Equinix will significantly reduce the barriers preventing the equal distribution of opportunities for potential proof-of-stake (PoS) node validators. Lower Cloud Hosting Barriers Transform The Validator Landscape The gradual transition to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithms has tackled some of the most urgent problems facing greater blockchain adoption, like scalability and energy consumption. Despite these enormous benefits over the more traditional proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains, staking accessibility has been a high hurdle for prospective node validators. For an industry bent on leveling the playing field for all stakeholders and participants, the costs for running a validator node are notoriously high due to the accompanying hosting and security requirements. These costs involve running a robust and highly performant private infrastructure, which precludes most individuals from participating. Accordingly, only companies with the capital to finance private hosting infrastructure and enterprise-grade security protocols can participate in staking, effectively denying access to small and medium-sized validators. Concurrently, even though cloud hosting architecture is super accessible for ordinary individuals and can effectively match private server infrastructure in terms of speed, performance, and uptime, securing information in a cloud network has proven to be a formidable With the latest hardware security module (HSM) solution delivered for cloud environments, the infrastructure stranglehold on validator nodes can no longer prevail. Migrating Into The Cloud Hosting Environment One of the primary reasons why node validators do not work on cloud infrastructure is security conditions that could expose a validator’s private keys. Validator nodes must be highly performant to maintain the node’s reputation. If a node is compromised for any reason and breaches the blockchain’s staking protocol, it can reduce the reputation and result in slashing, which effectively means losing some or all the coins staked in a node. With no means to secure the private keys needed to communicate with the network and validate blocks of transactions, cloud staking has been ignored as a solution for small and medium-sized validators. This is where HSMs have arisen as the answer to leveling the validator playing field. Distributed database solution Bluzelle, in collaboration with digital infrastructure provider Equinix, has introduced a workaround that effectively enables validators to protect their private keys from cloud-network exposure. By connecting Equinix’s Smartkey HSM with Bluzelle’s communication module, exchanges between a blockchain network and a validator node can go uninterrupted without exposing the private keys protected by the HSM. Validator Potential For All The novel solution arrived at by Bluzelle will lower all staking barriers by making it significantly more affordable to run a cloud-based node without compromising on security. This effectively opens the doors to any participant with an ordinary computer who wishes to become a network validator. The inclusion of the enterprise-grade HSM means that validators don’t have to build private infrastructure while benefiting from the affordable costs of availing providers like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Moreover, cloud hosting delivers the high speeds and performance needed to maintain validator node reputations. This new staking solution will only be available for Cosmos at the outset. Still, Bluzelle intends to expand compatibility to other blockchains in the future, including Ethereum, granting unprecedented staking accessibility to community members previously left behind by high infrastructure barriers. Do you think that reducing the entry barrier for validators will significantly increase their number? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The controversial host of Infowars and the Alex Jones Show claims that he has lost a laptop containing 10,000 bitcoins. The laptop was given to him by popular television personality Max Keiser, who confirmed the story. Alex Jones Claims He Lost 10,000 Bitcoins Stored on Laptop Alex Jones, the founder of the right-wing media group Infowars, has revealed that he has lost the laptop containing 10,000 bitcoins given to him by television personality and bitcoin proponent Max Keiser. During the Flagrant 2 show with Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh on Tuesday, he said that Keiser gave him 10K BTC on a laptop 10 years ago. The American far-right web and radio show host is known for his imaginative conspiracy theories. He has been described by New York Magazine as “America’s leading conspiracy theorist,” and the Southern Poverty Law Center describes him as “the most prolific conspiracy theorist in contemporary America.” A long-time bitcoin critic, Jones refused to warm up to cryptocurrencies until mid-February last year, when he admitted to Keiser on-air: “You’re right, I should have gotten involved in bitcoin a long time ago.” At that time, Keiser predicted that the price of bitcoin would reach $400K. During Tuesday’s show, Jones shared: “Ten years ago … Max Keiser comes to me and he says I have 10,000 bitcoins for you. This is the future. It will be the new global currency. He is on record.” However, Jones claimed: I lost the laptop he put the 10,000 bitcoins on. Today, what’s 10,000 bitcoins worth? A lot. Schulz immediately helped Jones calculate how much his bitcoins would have been worth. Rounding up the price of bitcoin, he estimated that 10,000 BTC would be worth about $500 million. “You fucking idiot. Find that laptop,” Schulz said laughingly. At the request of Jones, Schulz got up and lightly slapped him twice. “I deserve it,” Jones exclaimed while everyone on the set laughed. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is $56,200 and Jones’ lost BTC would have been worth more than $562 million. Bitcoin’s price chart over the past five years. Source: markets.Bitcoin.com Max Keiser Confirmed He Did Give Jones 10K Bitcoins “I swear to God this is real. I didn’t know Keiser was like hooked up with Putin and the Easter Bunny,” Jones further said on the show. Keiser subsequently confirmed that he did indeed give Jones a laptop containing 10K BTC. “Yep. The price was under $5 at the time,” he emphasized, adding that Jones’ story is “One of the most startling chapters in bitcoin.” Keiser then opined: Now [the 10K bitcoins Jones lost are] worth $565 million … Soon (in 2021) to be worth $2.2 billion. Do you think Alex Jones really lost his laptop with 10K bitcoins on it? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Gold bug Peter Schiff has revealed that his son, Spencer Schiff, has gone all-in on bitcoin. Calling his son “brainwashed” for buying so much of the cryptocurrency, Schiff added that he may need to “disinherit” his son to avoid the youngster burning through his hard-earned money. Peter Schiff’s Son Has Gone Full Bitcoin Euro Pacific Capital CEO and host of the Schiff Radio Show, Peter Schiff, tweeted on Wednesday: My son Spencer Schiff went all in on bitcoin on the last drop below $50k. 100% of his portfolio is now in bitcoin. He sold the last of his silver stocks to raise the cash. If my own son is this brainwashed imagine how vulnerable most kids are. He’s HODLing to infinity or bust. At the time of writing, his tweet has gotten 5.4K comments. It has also been liked 21.6K times and retweeted 3.1K times. The price of bitcoin currently stands at $57,983, based on data from markets.Bitcoin.com. Schiff further claimed: “The young generation likes bitcoin because most lack the knowledge or experience to see through the hype. When they get older they will prefer gold too, assuming bitcoin is even still around.” “My son Spencer Schiff’s latest bitcoin buy resulted in a follow by Jack [Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey]. I guess that means he doesn’t have to worry about being de-platformed now. That’s still a risk for me as Jack doesn’t follow me,” Schiff opined. Morgan Creek Digital partner Anthony Pompliano commented on Spencer going all-in on bitcoin. He told Peter, “At least someone in your family is growing their wealth this year.” Twitter user Adam Moody chimed in, asserting, “And that’s why he [Spencer] will be richer than you.” Schiff promptly replied: I need to disinherit him. Otherwise, he will squander my hard-earned wealth on more bitcoin. Responding to a question about whether he is ready for bitcoin’s price to break out above $60K and how much BTC he bought on the dip, Schiff insisted that he bought “none.” However, he added: “Unfortunately my son Spencer Schiff wasn’t as smart. Sure he could sell now at a profit, but he refuses to sell any. So the paper gain means nothing.” Furthermore, the elder Schiff insisted that he cannot bail Spencer out if he were to lose money on bitcoin. “Can’t do that. He needs to suffer the consequences of his mistakes. That’s the only way to learn a lesson.” Spencer subsequently tweeted the popular “Old Man Yells at Bitcoin” meme to his father. The 18-year-old bitcoin proponent previously said that his father’s understanding of money is flawed. Meanwhile, Peter Schiff recently admitted that the price of BTC could reach $100K after it soared past his expectations. What do you think about Peter Schiff’s son going all-in on bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Win from a prize pool of 50,000 Free Spins in the newly launched tournament by Bitcoin Games 50 players will win loads of Free Spins on a game of their choice Online casinos are known to host regular promotions and tournaments that end up dishing out insane amounts of rewards. Prizes offered in casino tournaments, especially Free Spins, often end up doling out massive cash loot. Players can spin the reels of a desired slot game hundreds, or in this case thousands, of times without spending a single satoshi of their own. A Free Spin is essentially a free round carrying a bet value that you can spin for free, on the house, but keep what you win from the result of that spin. Spins of Victory is the newest tournament launched by Bitcoin Games that promises 10,000 Free Spins to the player that bags the top spot on the leaderboard. A single player can win up to 10,000 Free Spins on the house on any of the games from Playson! Exclusively featuring all the popular slot games from the software provider Playson, Spins of Victory will dish out a total of 50,000 Free Spins to 50 players who manage to top the leaderboard at the end of the promotion on the 18th of March, 2021. Bitcoin.com’s very own gaming portal Bitcoin Games is a go-to casino for crypto lovers all around the world. The platform provides a smooth gaming experience combined with excellent customer support that has made it one of the most trustworthy crypto casinos to play online games on. Play selected popular casino games to win 1000s of Free Spins, only on Bitcoin Games. This is a promoted post. Learn more on how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Ripple and Youtube had ended a legal battle initiated in April last year amid allegations related to crypto-related scams. The U.S. blockchain company sued the video platform for negligence in acting against crypto scams that impersonated Ripple. Terms of the Resolution Are Confidential During a Twitter thread, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced both parties have now “come to a resolution to work together to prevent, detect and take down” XRP scams streamed on Youtube. Garlinghouse clarified terms of the settlement are confidential, as the blockchain firm revealed no major details. He added: Social platforms are starting to acknowledge their role in allowing crypto scams to persist and recognize the need to be part of the solution. Some like @xrpforensics are helping detect/track stolen funds, but platforms need to lead the charge or it’s still just whack-a-mole. Ripple’s anger against Youtube woke up on April 2020, when the firm filed a lawsuit against the video platform, accusing them of not doing enough to remove crypto-related giveaway scams. With the legal action, the blockchain company wanted Youtube to take enough measures to protect its users from such scams. At that time, XRP fake giveaway promotions were out of control on the platform, with some scammers promising returns up to 5 million XRP or about $930,000. Court Granted Youtube Motion to Dismiss Ripple’s Trademark Suit Garlinghouse was vocal on the matter, revealing some examples of scammers impersonating him on several fake giveaways. He also said: (This is) indicative of an industry-wide problem of a lack of accountability. Victims are forced to jump through hoops to report these scams, and oftentimes that doesn’t even work. Afterward, in November 2020, the Northern District of California granted Youtube’s motion to dismiss a complaint filed by Ripple Labs on an alleged trademark infringement. Ripple claimed that the video platform allowed scammers to violate the trademark rights of the company and its CEO. What do you think about Ripple ending the legal dispute with Youtube? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Over the last few months, the non-fungible token (NFT) space has heated up and NFTs have become a topical conversation in the cryptocurrency community. Many supporters believe that NFTs are going to be huge and transform everything from the art industry to online gaming. Others believe that NFTs are completely worthless and nothing more than the hype seen during the initial coin offering (ICO) phase in 2017. Non-Fungible Token Assets and Reliable Immutability Data shows that to-date, more than 5.3 million non-fungible token (NFT) asset sales have been recorded on nonfungible.com’s market history. Out of all these sales, artists, blockchain firms, and NFT dealers have sold $414.5 million worth of NFTs. Out of all 5.3 million sales recorded on nonfungible.com’s list, NFTs sell for an average of $76 per unit. Furthermore, NFTs have gathered mainstream attention and on March 11, 2021, the popular NFT artist, Beeple, sold his work at the world-famous Christie’s auction house. The Christie’s online auction 20447 dubbed “Beeple: Everydays- The First 5000 Days,” saw the artwork sell for a staggering $69.3 million. It seems that every day, a new NFT project is being released and a new celebrity endorses their own non-fungible token collectibles. Many crypto supporters believe NFTs will be a transformative idea that will shake up a number of industries like art, music, and online games. Meanwhile, NFT’s are not popular with everyone, and the hype is getting a lot of online criticism these days. For instance, when Jack Dorsey endorsed the NFT application called Valuables, which was created by a startup called Cent it caused a stir. The Valuables platform allows people to purchase a digital certificate of a tweet and sell it on the open market for ethereum. But the Valuables concept came with immense scrutiny and controversy. “What happens if you buy someone’s tweet and then they delete it?” software developer Jameson Lopp said after it launched. Following this criticism from Lopp and many others, the Twitter account dubbed @slvtrmndi proved that this could happen. “Someone just deleted a tweet they sold on Cent,” @slvtrmndi tweeted on March 6. The very next day, Dennison Bertram from withtally.com explained how he created some NFTs stored on the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) and they eventually vanished. “Fun fact,” Bertram said. “I minted NFTs a few years back for my hybrid metapunks,” he explained. “I stored them in IPFS. I still have them. Because I also stored them on AWS S3. All the IPFS versions have disappeared,” he added. Bitcoin solved double spend, NFT reinvented it. — Paul McKellar (@pm) March 9, 2021 Additionally, the recent Banksy burning NFT transformation had also sparked controversy earlier this week. In an email to news.Bitcoin.com, the cofounder of myartbroker.com, Joey Syer, said the burned Banksy NFT sale raises the idea that “the only morons in this transaction are the buyers and stunt artists themselves.” Syer also insisted that the Banksy NFT was no different than swiping a free copy (jpg or png image) from the open web. “You could right-click on the same image that floods the internet and have your very own version for free,” Syer scathed. ‘Pulling the Rug’ – Creator Hosting NFTs on Opensea Changes the Images Following the Banksy NFT critique and the controversial debates about selling NFT tweets, the Twitter account @neitherconfirm explained to his followers that he pulled an NFT rug trick this week. He simply swapped the images he had listed on Opensea for images of oriental rugs after the fact the NFTs were minted. “I just pulled the rug at my NFT collection on Opensea,” he tweeted. “Nobody got hurt. It is pretty easy to change the jpg, even if it does not belong to me or it is on auction. I am the artist, my decision, right? A thread from somebody making his living with art irl about the value of NFTs. All discussions about the value of NFTs are meaningless as long as the token is not inseparable from the artwork itself,” the NFT artist @neitherconfirm wrote. The Twitter account @neitherconfirm added: I [have been] in Bitcoin since 2014. My 9-5 is making sculptural art. For more than a decade I worked with a large team for one of the top selling artists worldwide. Some artworks we produce are selling in the double digit millions. With every work of art we sell comes a certificate of authenticity. The paper without the artwork is worthless. The artwork without the certificate remains the same, but may not be (re-) sellable. Furthermore, @neitherconfirm said that if a person obtained an artwork rightfully and can prove it but lost the paper, a person would likely get a new one. “A blank signature is an autograph, not a certificate,” he said. Moreover, he added that every certificate of authenticity includes a title, year of production, the artist’s name, materials used, dimensions, number of items produced, number of the item itself, date of signature, and the artist’s signature as well. ‘NFTs Need to Be Backed by an Immutable and Permanent Storage Provider’ Another Twitter account called @checkmynft has been discussing NFT issues like this on the social media platform as well. “Based on the FAQs on the Cent website, the NFTweets metadata is being stored on Matic (now Polygon),” @checkmynft wrote. The author of the Twitter thread explained how Cent’s NFT platform works and how it could be done better. “While the author, date, and tweet content are saved on Matic, the image URL and tweet URL are stored off-chain on Twitter and Cent respectively,” the Twitter account detailed. “Centralized storage of NFT assets and metadata pose an extreme risk to the underlying value and longevity of the NFT. Storing an NFTs metadata and assets on centralized platforms makes the NFTweet highly vulnerable to loss of the assets if Twitter or Cent were to shut down. The underlying assets of the Tweet will survive only as long as the providers do,” @checkmynft added. The Twitter account continued: Storage of the assets is an easily overlooked aspect of NFTs but one that is fundamental to their value. In the case of the person bidding $2.5 million for Jack’s first tweet, you can see why this would be terrible if the assets were lost due to closure or for other reasons. With no reliable backup, the NFTweet would essentially be rendered worthless. The metadata, tweet URL, and image file should be backed by an immutable and permanent storage provider. The @checkmynft Twitter account further said that a project called Arweave provides this very utility by backing up “NFT assets, files, apps, and blockchains permanently through an endowment mechanism.” Ardrive.io or Arweave is a project that aims to provide immutable and permanent storage. On May 30, 2020, Arweave wrote about the subject of “NFT permanence” and utilizing Arweave as a solution. “Oftentimes NFTs’ actual digital assets, metadata, and code are stored off-chain on centralized servers,” Arweave’s blog post details. “This information is sometimes seeded to IPFS, but remains at risk of being lost forever if the wrong hard drive fails or node goes offline— just like the centralised web. Without their associated data and assets, such as digital graphics for an NFT-based art piece, NFTs themselves become functionally worthless to the end-user.” According to Arweave’s claims, the protocol the team designed is meant to permanently store virtually unlimited quantities of data onchain. “Due to Arweave’s ‘pay once, store forever’ data storage model, NFT creators using Arweave can rest assured that their NFT’s assets will be available hundreds of years in the future,” the project’s blog post insists. Another project that is similar to Arweave is Filecoin, an open-source digital payment system aimed at providing blockchain-based cooperative digital storage. In addition to those looking to harden the NFT concept, in general, many developers are leveraging alternative chains instead of ethereum. Blockchain competitors who could serve the NFT space include projects like Filecoin, Cardano, EOS, Tron, Komodo, Qtum, Polkadot, Cosmos, and Avalanche. What do you think about the controversy about non-fungible token (NFT) asset immutability? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The highly popular right-wing commentator devoted a 15-minute Youtube video to inform his followers of the merits and potential that bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies, in general, as an anti-government monetary system. The grassroots embracement of bitcoin is the first of its kind in the alt-right American universe. Crypto Adoption is Taking a Surprising Right Turn in the American Political Landscape On March 7, 2021, Ben Shapiro, a prominent American conservative political pundit, released to his Youtube channel a video titled “Bitcoin: The Future of Finance or Fool’s Gold?”. In three days the video accumulated more than 800,000 views, suppressing Aatonop’s flagship video, “Introduction to Bitcoin: what is bitcoin and why does it matter?” that took four years to get to his current 733,000 views. This is the first time Shapiro discusses bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, or finance in general. The 15 minute Shapiro video is vastly different from Andreas Antonopoulos’s. While Antonopoulos speaks to the tech crowd and focuses on the blockchain innovation that enables bitcoin, Shapiro explains the crypto world in the most basic terms, as if he knows that his viewers are encountering the concept of fiat-vs-crypto for the first time. The fact that Shapiro chose to introduce cryptocurrencies and bitcoin to his 2.87 million subscribers is an eye-widening moment in crypto acceptance and adoption in the U.S. in its most folksy form. Shapiro isn’t perceived like Elon Musk or Mark Cuban, billionaire public figures in the tech arena that are followed by the in-crypto crowd. Shapiro is considered a man of the people, a political pundit that is followed by the alt-right crowd – republican, conservative, middle-of-America working-class people. For readers of news.Bitcoin.com, it might be hard to imagine a world devoid of crypto. But this world does exist, and it’s far larger than the crypto world. Shapiro’s attempt to break the barrier between these two worlds is indicative of the massive inroads bitcoin has made in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, on its path to be fully embraced by the mainstream. The Libertarian Angle After explaining the monetary concept that fiat currencies are predicated on, Shapiro, as an intro to explaining what actually bitcoin is, says this: What if you could do transactions with pretty much everyone, and you could do it without having to refer to the dollar? You wouldn’t have to worry about central banks. You wouldn’t have to worry about governments blowing up the value of the currency. This is a direct reference to Libertarian thinking in the U.S., and it’s not hard to see where Shapiro is heading here. Cryptocurrencies, in essence, are a Libertarian dream come true – a monetary system with zero governmental oversight, which collides perfectly with the Libertarian dogma that the government should “stay out” of people’s lives altogether. If until now Libertarian talking points revolved around the size of government, taxes, gun ownership, and even cannabis, now the holy grail of libertarianism is becoming a reality – a non-governmental economical system. Shapiro doesn’t utter the word “libertarian” throughout the entire video, but he keeps hammering over and over again the point of people losing faith in the governmental monetary system, the dollar, and turning to bitcoin for rescue. It would be interesting to see if other prominent libertarian figures in the U.S., like republican senator Rand Paul, or former governor and Libertarian Party 2016 presidential nominee Gary Johnson, 2020 presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen would soon jump on the crypto wagon as well, shilling bitcoin as the ‘People’s Money.’ The Shapiro Verdict This is how Shapiro concluded his video: Remember – bitcoin goes up when faith in the system goes down. If you have full faith and credit in the United States, you’re buying bonds. If you don’t have faith that the United States isn’t going to inflate the currency, you’re buying bitcoin. And then, finally, gives his seal of approval: My feeling is, that over time, cryptocurrencies, particularly ones that find their place in the market as bitcoin has, I think that those are going to rise. I think as we have less and less faith in centralized governments, and it seems to me that we are right now… An anecdotal proof that Shapiro isn’t a crypto-head comes at about the five-minute mark when he dives into what bitcoin is. This is what Shapiro says about bitcoin’s creator: So who created the bitcoin? Supposedly he’s name is Satoshi Nakamoto. Now the reason I say supposedly is because nobody really knows who created bitcoin. It’s supposedly this guy, who is supposed to be 40? And from Japan? Do you see cryptocurrencies getting “politicized” in the future? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The NFT industry has been exploding recently with all types of artists, sports brands and gaming companies joining the party. As a result, the top 100 NFT tokens by market cap are now worth well over $7 billion. However, many of the options in the segment offer simplistic game mechanics and a rather shallow experience. VulcanVerse shows how an NFT based game should be done, with amazing graphics, entertaining gameplay, a play-to-earn economy and a rich lore backed by professional authors. Enter the VulcanVerse for Next Level NFT Gaming VulcanVerse is an AAA fantasy decentralized universe that bridges the gap between normal blockchain sandbox games to MMO (massively multiplayer online) game functionality. It offers complex building tools as well as fight, forage and spy mechanics embedded into the game world. VulcanVerse encompasses a 3km by 3km virtual environment set in a Greco-Roman fantasy theme. The game is developed by Vulcan Forged, a multi-dApp platform, game studio, launchpad and a top volume NFT marketplace with more than 12,000 users and over $6 million in NFT trading volume. The company prides itself on removing gas and crypto for game developers using its platform and offers support to any third-party with a simple idea wanting to turn it into reality. Vulcan Forged has an enormous community of gamers, developers and streamers. Last year it was revealed that the rich story and lore of the VulcanVerse universe is backed by the professional authors of Fabled Lands, Fighting Fantasy and Way of the Tiger. These artists bring their rich experience in writing popular role-playing and choose-your-own-adventure gamebooks to create a fascinating universe like no other in the blockchain game market. Tokens, Play-to-Earn Economy and DeFi Elements Many popular games these days are based on the pay-to-win or freemium business models that are designed to make gamers waste as much money as possible. In sharp contrast, VulcanVerse uses blockchain technology, NFTs and DeFi elements to empower its gamers to actually earn as they play and create in the virtual environment. For example, users can create their own quests for others to enjoy and thus earn rewards. In January 2021, Vulcan Forged and Matic have announced a cross-chain partnership to launch their ecosystem-wide token PYR. The token will be used in fee settlement, staking, defi game launchpads, play-to-earn benefits, gaming platform pools and discounted marketplace usage. PYR is a deflationary token, where on every PYR transaction, 10% will be sent to reward pools, and 5% used to buy-back and lock supply. PYR tokens can be used as a lock up token to stake and earn within the gaming ecosystem. To learn more about the game and join the fun visit VulcanVerse.com. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

The French government will auction 611 bitcoins that were seized from hackers next week. There will be two sales comprised of 478 lots altogether. Each lot consists of between 0.11 and 20 bitcoins. Paris-based auction house Kapandji Morhange will auction 611 bitcoins on March 17. The company says this is the first auction of seized bitcoin by the French government. At the current price, this amount of bitcoin is worth almost $34 million. According to the auctioneer’s website, two sales will be conducted: one at 9 A.M. and the other at 2 P.M. The first sale consists of 437 lots of between 0.11 and two bitcoins. The second sale consists of 41 lots of between five and 20 bitcoins. The bitcoins were seized from hackers in 2019 and 2020 by France’s Agency for the Recovery and Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC). Most of the bitcoins to be auctioned were seized by the courts in connection to an attack on the cryptocurrency platform Gatehub, local news outlet Cyberguerre described. The London-based crypto exchange was hacked in 2019 and bitcoins were subsequently seized from hackers. The court case is still ongoing and the accused have not been sentenced. If they are not found guilty, they will collect the proceeds from the sale. Once the auction has ended, the proceeds from the sale will be consigned and transferred to an account of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations until the court case has concluded. The price of bitcoin is $55,271 at the time of writing. It has surged about 20% this month, 55% since the beginning of February, and 72% since the beginning of the year, based on data from markets.Bitcoin.com. What do you think about this bitcoin auction in France? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A Colombian entrepreneur has joined forces with a Venezuelan teenager to launch a cryptocurrency in Boyacá, Colombia. The region is now known in the local crypto industry as the home of the most popular emerging local crypto in the country. Over 5,000 People From Other Countries Currently Hold The “Bitcoin Boyacense” Kmuschicoin, popularly known as “bitcoin boyacense,” was created by Germán Viasus, a local environmental engineer, and José Carmelo Campos, a Venezuelan programmer. The creators of the “bitcoin boyacense” say that kmuschicoin can be considered the first “environmental cryptocurrency” globally. Currently, it’s also the most valuable Colombian cryptocurrency in the market. In fact, Viasus pointed out in an interview with local TV program Testigo Directo that it was initially created to sell stocks from the company Tierra Viva. The firm is a Boyacá-based entrepreneurship that transforms solid waste into organic compost through beetles. About the name of the Colombian cryptocurrency, Viasus stated that it was inspired by the Japanese word “kabutomushi,” which means a Japanese rhinoceros beetle. Campos, considered by Viasus as the mastermind behind kmuschicoin’s technical aspects, says they don’t stop to perform innovations on the cryptocurrency. He means creating educational resources, launching wallet apps, among other tasks. The masterminds behind the Colombian crypto claim over 5,000 people in the U.S., Brazil, Colombia, and Russia already hold kmuschicoins. Moreover, local shops and restaurants in Boyacá are accepting payments with the cryptocurrency. The interview features videos of some stores with QR codes that accept kmuschicoin as a means of payment and even offer deals if people pay with the “bitcoin boyacense.” Kmuschicoin Has Been Unstoppable Since Its Creation On the price of a kmuschicoin, one token is worth $2.54 as of press time. The coin started to trade at $0.1 when it was created by Viasus and Campos in 2019. The Colombian token has then been skyrocketing, reaching $1.5 in 2020. At the start of 2021, kmuschicoin surpassed its all-time high and exchanged hands at $3.9. According to the creators, a kmuschicoin buyer is also considered a “provisional owner” of Tierra Viva. One person is allowed to purchase only 3.5 million kmuschicoins. What do you think about this emerging Colombian cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Crypto adoption keeps spreading among the real estate industry in Europe, specifically in Spain. Recently, a leading agency in the Canary Islands announced it would start accepting cryptocurrency payments. Firm Praises Bitcoin’s Decentralized Nature According to Digital Sevilla, Piso Barato Inmobiliaria, a Tenerife-based real estate firm, has enabled the feature that allows customers to acquire properties by paying with bitcoin (BTC). Although they mentioned the word “cryptocurrencies,” the firm talked mostly about BTC throughout the announcement. Piso Barato Inmobiliaria argues that a group of experts stated that bitcoin is becoming the “primary currency” of exchange globally, and thus, the firm became interested in digital assets. Future owners of properties, through the real estate agency, can purchase any property in Tenerife. The Tenerife-based agency pointed out: The evolution of expert agents in the real estate market has been so constant that buying a flat in Tenerife with bitcoin is currently possible. They assure that it is a positive contribution to expand the number of potential buyers internationally and give life to the sale and purchase of the real estate. Moreover, Piso Barato Inmobiliaria praised the fact that bitcoin payments avoid tampering in the acquisition process of the properties. The agency also says that cryptocurrencies’ decentralized nature avoids any government intervention, making the process smooth. Spanish Real Estate Agencies Keep Joining Bitcoin Adoption’s Bandwagon Crypto payment adoption by the agency is part of a strategy to bolster a growing trend of the housing market in the islands, says the media outlet. As news.Bitcoin.com reported on Feb. 26, another Spanish real estate platform, Idealista, listed its first-ever property for sale for cryptocurrency. The offer is entirely online, and whoever wants to buy the apartment in Barcelona must pay in bitcoin. Although the first real estate transaction made in bitcoin in Spain happened in 2018, the firm clarified at the time that it was done “the traditional way.” What do you think about the growing crypto adoption by the Spanish real estate industry? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Financial services company Etc Group on Tuesday launched its centrally-cleared ethereum exchange-traded product (ETP) on the Deutsche Borse’s Xetra marketplace. Etc Group Launches Ethereum Exchange-Traded Product The listing follows the success of the firm’s bitcoin ETP, which was launched on the same exchange in June 2020. That bitcoin exchange-traded product now has $1 billion assets under management (AUM), it said. In a press release, London-based Etc Group revealed that the ether exchange-traded product (primary ticker: ZETH), tracks the price of ethereum (ETH) and is 100% physically backed by the cryptocurrency. ETPs allow investors to gain exposure to an asset, in this case ether, but without having to buy it directly themselves. Approved by Bafin, the German financial regulator, each unit of ZETH is backed by ethereum stored at custody services provider Bitgo Trust Company, “giving the investor a claim on a predefined amount of the underlying ETH,” said the company. ‘Similar Liquidity and Tight Spreads as Etc Group’s Physical Bitcoin Product’ Securities brokers or banks assume custody of ZETH bought through their desks on behalf of investors. With its new ethereum exchange-traded product, Etc Group is particularly targeting institutional investors – who until now might have appeared to lean heavily toward bitcoin. “The listing on Xetra is especially relevant for institutional investors as they can now get exposure to ether while trading an institutional-grade product with similar liquidity and tight spreads as Etc Group’s physical bitcoin product,” it explained. The ether ETP will be distributed and marketed on a platform operated by Hanetf, a European Union-approved private issuer of exchange-traded funds. Last June, Etc Group listed its bitcoin ETP, or BTCE, on Xetra, becoming the “most traded product on the exchange’s ETN segment in the second half of 2020. BTCE is also listed and traded on Swiss exchange SIX. Furthermore, the competitor 21shares, formally known as Amun launched an ether ETP this week, alongside a bitcoin cash (BCH) ETP listing on Deutsche Borse’s Xetra. What do you think about the Etc Group crypto investment products? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Crypto adoption is a hot topic in South Korea, and recent figures have been proving it. However, crypto mining activity is also starting to gather interest across the country, per the latest reports from local media outlets. A Single Rig Should Worth $150 ‘or Less’ to Be Considered for Personal Use According to Kyungin Ilbo, custom officials in one of the biggest ports of South Korea, Incheon, are reporting a boost in mining rig hardware imports. The port is also the most prominent air terminal in the nation. During October 2020 and January 2021, authorities from the Incheon Headquarters Customs had intercepted 41 shipments with mining rigs. Although the number is not so high compared to other countries’ reports, in 2019, South Korea had just one case of crypto mining-related shipment interception. Officials believe that the crypto prices plunge seen in 2019 could be the reason behind the little interest among South Korean crypto miners. However, with the current bull-run, miners might be recovering the interest towards acquiring mining rigs. But customs authorities warned that there are legal consequences for crypto miners who don’t file declarations and pay taxes. An import of mining rigs can be considered “for personal use” if it’s worth $150 or less. However, if the import is worth above that value and the individual doesn’t declare it correctly, they may be at the risk of violating the Customs Act. An official quoted by Kyungin Ilbo said: To avoid paying customs duties, if you falsely report the product name, price, and quantity, or distribute it under the names of several people, you may be punished for violation of the customs law. PC Gaming Rooms Are Becoming Mining Farms in the Country Although there are no reports of massive mining rigs operating in South Korea recently, there is a particular trend on the rise that arose during the pandemic. Operators of the “PC bangs,” a common term used for the PC gaming rooms in South Korea, are leveraging their computers to take advantage of the pandemic-driven restrictions. Some PC bang owners in Seoul are mining ether (ETH) by relying on highly-equipped computers with top-notch graphic cards. What are your thoughts on the crypto mining industry in South Korea? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Following in the footsteps of Tesla, the home warranty company American Residential Warranty (ARW) says it will accept cryptocurrency payments for its services. In addition, the company also plans to acquire and hold bitcoin as part of its strategy “to expand its investment portfolio and boost returns on cash.” In his statement following the announcement, Josh Brauser, the company’s chief revenue officer said that by adopting crypto payments, ARW is demonstrating that it is a “tech-forward company that adapts quickly to emergent technologies.” “As businesses around the world embrace this new era of global currency, at American Residential Warranty we are proud to continue being an innovator in the home warranty space with plans to accept bitcoin payments from our increasingly tech-savvy customers,” added Brauser. Concerning the Boca Raton-based company’s plan to add bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet, the statement reveals that ARW, which offers its services in all of the 50 U.S states, will be working with the crypto exchange, Gemini. The exchange will be handling custodial services for American Residential Warranty. Furthermore, the statement hints that BTC, which has grown by more than 300% in the past 12 months, is an asset that fits the profile of securities that ARW wants to invest in. By embracing BTC and crypto payments, the U.S. firm ARW joins the growing list of companies and prominent individuals who have made the same decision. Meanwhile, companies keeping bitcoin and ethereum on their balance sheets is also trending internationally. What is your impression of ARW’s decision to embrace BTC? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

On March 10, the hip-hop artist Lil Pump announced the multi-platinum-selling artist has partnered with the non-fungible token (NFT) platform Sweet. The American rapper will drop three unique NFT collectibles in total and he’s also releasing a one-of-a-kind “digital jewelry collectible NFT” collection. Lil Pump Launches Non-Fungible Token Assets via Sweet The multi-platinum-selling hip-hop recording artist, Gazzy Garcia, known professionally as Lil Pump has jumped into the non-fungible token (NFT) assets game by partnering with the company Sweet. Lil Pump got mainstream recognition back in 2017 with the hit single “Gucci Gang” and the single was certified five-times platinum by the RIAA. Since then he’s released the albums like the self-titled “Lil Pump” and the record “Harverd Dropout.” On Wednesday, Lil Pump detailed that he’s collaborated with Sweet, a scalable NFT platform dedicated to the top music, entertainment, and consumer brands. According to the recent announcement, the hip-hop artist is dropping three unique NFT collectibles and one of the tokens is considered a one-of-a-kind digital jewelry concept. “The 3-piece collection features a 500-piece giveaway to fans, an affordable and exclusive collectible card with a limited 2,000 piece inventory, and the uber-rare capstone “Esskeetit Diamond VVS” NFT for the true connoisseur,” the announcement details. Two of the Lil Pump NFTs have been released on Wednesday, and fans of the artist can obtain the “Esskeetit Card” and the “Lil Pump Artist Card V1” via the Sweet platform. The rare “Esskeetit Diamond VVS” NFT claims to tether the non-fungible token asset to a piece of one of the American rapper’s multi-million dollar jewelry collection. The announcement further says that Lil Pump has minted five “Esskeetit Diamond VVS” NFTs in total. Each digital jewelry NFT can be bought with bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), or even a credit card. The digital jewelry NFTs will be available in a secure fashion on a “first-come-first-served basis,” according to the Sweet and Lil Pump collaboration announcement. “This is the future. Now you can live like me and own a rare NFT collectible of one of my favorite chains,” Lil Pump commented. Lil Pump Plans to Release Multiple NFT Drops Tom Mizzone, Sweet’s chief executive officer, explained that the growing interest in the NFT space proves Lil Pump’s point that this is the future. “The future of rare, collectible merchandise is in the digital arena, as evidenced by the growing interest in NFTs,” Mizzone noted. Mizzone emphasized that the team is pleased to be working with the recording artist and Lil Pump has plans to drop more NFTs. “We are thrilled to be the ones giving Lil Pump fans and global collectors a new way to own exclusive digital goods,” Mizzone added. “This is the first of multiple drops we will be doing with Pump.” During the last few months, numerous celebrities and musicians have been getting into the NFT space including actress Lindsay Lohan, 76ers owner Michael Rubin, Justin Roiland, the co-creator of “Rick and Morty,” Youtuber Logan Paul, Swish DJ Alesso, and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. Even the world-famous gamer and Youtuber, Pewdiepie has been involved in the NFT space with skins in the 3D augmented reality video game Wallem. What do you think about Lil Pump’s non-fungible token (NFT) assets? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

In October 2020, the entertainment software company Atari launched a digital currency and later revealed plans to join the Ethereum virtual reality game Sandbox. On March 8, Atari announced that the company is now launching a casino in Decentraland, another metaverse built on Ethereum. According to the announcement, the firm’s gaming platform in Decentraland will showcase classic video games and Atari-themed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as well. Software Firm Atari Partners With Decentral Games, Plans to Host a Casino on Decentraland’s Metaverse Back in 1972 and into the early eighties, the brand name Atari was a well known video game console and software firm that created numerous trends. The brand has passed through several owners since its peak in popularity, and Atari Interactive is now a subsidiary of the French publisher called Atari SA. Over the last few years, the company has been planning a comeback and while doing so it discovered blockchain technology and cryptocurrency solutions. Atari launched its own digital asset in October 2020, and recently the firm has been partnering with blockchain projects like Sandbox. On March 8, 2021, Atari revealed it has partnered with Decentral Games, the team behind the Ethereum-based Decentraland metaverse. According to the announcement, Atari is planning to build an Atari-themed gaming casino inside an area being constructed in Decentraland called “Vegas City.” The announcement also reveals that the playing ground Atari will leverage will be leased for a period of two years. The partnership press release also says that the two firms expect bets in the millions to take place in the gaming arena. Moving the Atari Gaming Experience Onto the Blockchain Atari’s chief executive officer Frederic Chesnais believes the venture with Decentral Games will “move the Atari gaming experience onto the blockchain.” The Atari-themed gaming platform will feature games that designed to reflect Atari’s most memorable games and non-fungible token (NFT) assets as well. The entertainment software company is best known for classic video games like Missle Command, Centipede, Asteroids, and Pong. Atari has been making moves with a number of projects and at the end of January, it partnered with Virtually Human Studio (VHS), the creators of the Ethereum-built game Zed Run. Players will be able to win Atari-themed NFTs leveraging the entertainment company’s casino, and also other digital assets as well. Atari’s announcement reveals that players will be able to earn the native token tethered to Decentral Games, Decentraland’s MANA token, atari tokens (ATRI), and the stablecoin DAI as well. At the time of publication, a single ATRI is exchanging hands for $0.29 per token. ATRI has a circulating supply of 400,000,100 coins and a market valuation of around $118 million on March 10. What do you think about Atari’s recent partnership announcement with Decentral Games and the casino coming to Decentraland? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

There are now three bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in North America, all approved within the past month by Canada’s securities regulators. They are currently trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The latest approved bitcoin ETF, backed by Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, began trading Tuesday. 3 Bitcoin ETFs in Canada Canada’s securities regulators have approved three bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) within the past month. The first approved North American bitcoin ETF was Purpose Bitcoin ETF, followed by Evolve Bitcoin ETF. Both are now trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The third one is CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, which started trading on the TSX exchange Tuesday. This bitcoin ETF is trading under the ticker symbols BTCX.B and BCTX.U. The former trades unhedged in Canadian dollars while the latter trades in U.S. dollars. The announcement describes: BTCX’s management fee of just 0.40% represents the lowest management fee of any bitcoin ETF in the world today. The newest North American bitcoin ETF is managed by CI Global Asset Management, one of Canada’s leading investment managers. Galaxy Digital Capital Management LP, the Asset Management arm of Galaxy Digital, serves as the bitcoin sub-advisor and executes bitcoin trading on behalf of the ETF. The announcement further details that “BTCX invests directly in bitcoin with its holdings priced using the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index,” which tracks the performance of a single bitcoin in U.S. dollars. The index is owned and administered by Bloomberg Index Services Ltd. CI Global Asset Management has several other crypto products. The firm launched the CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund (TSX: BTCG) in December 2020, which it intends to merge into the ETF. Moreover, it is in the process of launching CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF, which it expects to become “the first ETF in the world to invest directly in ether.” The fund manager has also “filed and obtained receipts for the preliminary prospectuses of CI Bitcoin and CI Ether Funds, which are mutual fund versions with the same investment objectives as BTCX and the Ether ETF, respectively,” the announcement adds. Mike Novogratz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Digital, commented: Bitcoin adoption has hit a tipping point and investors don’t want to sit on the sidelines. Do you think the U.S. SEC will catch up to Canada and approve a bitcoin ETF soon? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

How can you make sure that your memories and private data are transmitted reliably to the future? Security, durability, respect for integrity: these are all essential components for ensuring the transmission of data. However, the process is often complex , in particular in the event of death. The various steps are not only long and tedious but also expensive. Based on this observation, the French startup Capsule Corp. has had the idea to create Ternoa. Ternoa to Redefine Data Transmission Designed to securely store and transmit data, Ternoa uses the blockchain and all the benefits it brings to redefine data transmission. To achieve this, Ternoa allows its users to create time capsules whose opening and reception procedures are decided by their creators. Entirely open source and decentralized, the Ternoa blockchain is based on Polkadot, a protocol focusing on interoperability by linking several specialized blockchains into a single unified network. This interoperability is the key to Ternoa’s success, helping it to communicate with other blockchains specializing in certain data protocols. “The Ternoa blockchain redirects files stored in time capsules to blockchains whose decentralized file storage is the main mission such as Arweave, Sia or Storj, while keeping a copy of the file on its own network”, says the team. Ternoa will also use Chainlink’s oracles, which ensure that certain conditions are met in managing the issuance and delivery of a capsule. The Ternoa blockchain has its own token, called the CAPS. This token will play many roles in Ternoa’s ecosystem, including the creation of the capsules, the financing of the decentralized storage of the capsule over time, and its encryption. It should be noted that the Ternoa network uses the Nominated-Proof-Of-Stake (NPos) consensus, and therefore has validators and nominators to ensure its integrity. The latter are remunerated in the form of CAPS tokens. How Do Ternoa’s Time Capsules Work? Ternoa time capsules are non-fungible tokens, more commonly known as NFTs. These unique and identifiable tokens come with a wide range of use cases. The creation of a time capsule is therefore associated with the generation of several encryption keys, dispersed between the different masternodes of the Ternoa blockchain. To open a time capsule, it is therefore necessary to bring together these same keys. Regarding the issuance of a capsule, the user will be able to pay the costs either with fiat currencies (euro, dollar) or with CAPS tokens. With Ternoa aiming for large-scale adoption, the team wants the process to be as transparent as possible for the user. Thus, in the event of payment with euros, the latter will be converted into CAPS in the background. The process will remain invisible to the user, even if of course the Ternoa blockchain is requested for the issuance of the capsule. Ternoa will deploy the first version of its NFT market based on the SubstraPunk project during the year 2021. Built on the Polkadot network, this NFT ecosystem will allow creators to offer and sell NFTs compatible with Ternoa. A Series of 5 Transmission Protocols For its capsules, the Ternoa team has developed five data transmission protocols, each with its own characteristics guided by a smart contract. Thus, it is possible to transmit capsules for specific use cases. 1 – The Safe Protocol Using this smart contract, it is possible to store data in a decentralized manner through the Ternoa blockchain, and to consult and retrieve it at any time. This is a classic form of storage, combining the security and transparency inherent in Ternoa. 2 – The D-Day Protocol This smart contract allows you to set the exact date for sending a capsule to a given recipient. The capsule therefore acts as a kind of digital safe, which can only be opened on a specific date. 3 – The Consent Protocol By using this smart contract, the recipients have the right to request access to the time capsule after a given period and provided that the owner does not use their right of veto. If the creator does not oppose the sending of the capsule for a period that they have personally defined, the smart contract judges that the creator consents to the issuance of the capsule. 4 – The Death Protocol With this smart contract, the time capsule is issued upon the death of its creator. To operate under the best conditions, this protocol is based on the programming interfaces (API) of local death registers. Initially, this protocol will only be available in certain eligible countries. 5 – The Countdown Protocol As its name suggests, this smart contract allows you to activate a countdown before sending a capsule. When this ends, the capsule is immediately issued. If desired, the creator of the capsule can restart the countdown from the start, as many times as necessary. Conclusion Supported by a French team, the Ternoa blockchain and its time capsules provide a new use case for non-fungible tokens. As well as facilitating the transmission of private data, Ternoa relies on maximum security, while making the use of its solutions as ergonomic as possible. In addition, its ingenious use of Polkadot provides Ternoa with the most complete interoperability, an essential component nowadays in growing a potential user base. The wide variety of available methods for sending time capsules allows Ternoa to multiply its use cases. Each user can find their account, whether it is for the simple transfer of data or the transmission of an inheritance. Moreover, the Ternoa team is currently working on a smartphone app entirely dedicated to its ecosystem. This will allow you to send capsules and manage CAPS tokens. You can follow the Ternoa project on social media. Ternoa currently has more than 6,800 followers on Twitter and more than 5,900 active users on Telegram across its English and French channels. This is a translation of the French article written by Clément Wardzal. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

JP Morgan is launching a structured investment product based on the performance of its “Cryptocurrency Exposure Basket,” which tracks stocks of publicly traded companies with exposure to cryptocurrencies. The weight of each stock is “determined based in part on exposure to bitcoin, correlation to bitcoin and liquidity,” according to the company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). JP Morgan to Begin Providing Clients With Bitcoin Exposure In a Tuesday filing with the SEC, JPMorgan Chase revealed a structured investment product that enables its clients to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies. “The notes are unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of JPMorgan Chase Financial Company LLC,” the company explained. The payment on which is “fully and unconditionally guaranteed by JPMorgan Chase & Co.” JPMorgan elaborated: The notes are designed for investors who seek exposure to the performance of the J.P. Morgan Cryptocurrency Exposure Basket (Mar 2021) of 11 unequally weighted reference stocks, which we refer to as the basket, as reduced by the basket deduction of 1.50%. The investment bank added: “Notwithstanding the name of the basket, the notes do not provide direct exposure to cryptocurrencies and the performance of the basket may not be correlated with the price of any particular cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin.” The reference stocks represent the common stocks of “11 U.S.-listed companies that operate businesses that we believe to be, directly or indirectly, related to cryptocurrencies or other digital assets, including as a result of bitcoin holdings, cryptocurrency technology products, cryptocurrency mining products, digital payments or bitcoin trading,” JP Morgan detailed. They include Microstrategy’s Class A common stock, Square’s Class A common stock, Riot Blockchain’s common stock, Nvidia’s common stock, Paypal Holdings’ common stock, and Advanced Micro Devices’ common stock. Reference stock allocation for JPMorgan’s new Cryptocurrency Exposure Basket. Source: JPMorgan’s filing with the SEC The minimum denomination for the new investment product is $1,000. The notes are expected to price on or about March 31 and are expected to settle on or about April 6. “The weights of the reference stocks were determined based in part on exposure to bitcoin, correlation to bitcoin and liquidity,” JPMorgan further clarified. “The basket may be subject to extreme price volatility and rapid and substantial decreases in price over the term of the notes.” The investment bank has come a long way since its CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a fraud back in September 2017. The firm recently came up with three key benefits for investing in BTC after its analysts predicted that the price of the cryptocurrency could reach $146,000 as its competition with gold heats up. The firm then recommended that investors could put 1% of their portfolios in cryptocurrency. What do you think about JP Morgan launching a crypto product? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETP) provider 21shares AG, formerly known as Amun, has announced the launch of two new crypto asset ETPs on Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra. The 21shares ETPs will leverage the cryptocurrencies ethereum under the ticker “21XE,” and bitcoin cash under the ticker “21XC.” Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Exchange Traded Products Listed on Xetra Following the firm’s two bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded products listed last year, 21shares AG is launching two new ETPs for the popular crypto-assets bitcoin cash (BCH) and ethereum (ETH). Ethereum is currently the second-largest blockchain, in terms of market valuation, while bitcoin cash holds the eleventh position. On February 3, 2021, the Zurich-based investment provider launched an ETP for the crypto asset polkadot (DOT) on the Swiss exchange SIX. The new bitcoin cash (BCH) ETP will be called “21XC” and the ethereum (ETH) product will be called “21XE.” Both debuted on the Swiss stock market in mid-2019, and both assets are “fully collateralised using Coinbase as independent regulated institutional-grade custodian,” 21shares notes. Collectively with all the products under 21share’s hood, the company assets under management (AUM) is $1 billion as of February 2021. 21shares to Fill the Void of Institutional-Grade Products for Other Large-Volume Crypto Assets Hany Rashwan, the CEO of 21shares said that the company has been at the forefront of the crypto ETP space since the firm’s introduction. “While other issuers continue to follow our steps in listing a Bitcoin ETP on a stock exchange, we had time to build the infrastructure and actively conduct regulatory lobbying for other innovative crypto assets and issuances,” Rashwan detailed. Rashwan further added: This is why we were the first to list an ether and bitcoin cash ETP on the Swiss stock exchange and we are now leveraging our expertise to provide investors in the DACH region and beyond with the same institutional reach, safety, and cost-effective ways to gain exposure to crypto-assets. After the immensely successful launch of the first Polkadot ETP just a month ago, we are working on several more launches in the second and third quarter. 21shares also noted that since the outbreak of the coronavirus in March 2020, bitcoin (BTC) has seen a massive increase in value. It also emphasized the institutional interest in crypto assets with firms like Paypal, Microstrategy, and Tesla jumping on the bandwagon. 21shares highlighted that financial vehicles for BTC are already widely available, and the company recognizes that there’s a demand for products dedicated to alternative crypto assets with large market caps as well. “While there is already an abundance of Bitcoin financial products on the market, there is a significant lack of institutional-grade products for other large-volume crypto assets,” 21shares said. What do you think about 21shares launching ether and bitcoin cash ETPs on Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. BitMax.io (BTMX.com), an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the listing of UMB Tokens (UMB) under the trading pair of UMB/USDT on March 10th at 9:00 a.m. EST. Umbrella Network is a community-owned, decentralized oracle service providing secure, low-cost, and massively scalable data solutions to blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The UMB native token is utilized for governance and liquidity rewards in a Delegated Proof of Stake system. Umbrella provides access to data previously unavailable to blockchain developers across multiple segments, including mid and long-tail crypto assets and real-world financial data. Current oracle solutions require users to compromise between the security of the data or freshness/liveliness of the data. With Umbrella, developers can have both. Recently, several oracle projects have entered the cryptocurrency ecosystem; however, many of these projects are still at early stage with minimal product development and viable business models. Umbrella Network seeks to be the third viable product in-market behind industry leaders Chainlink and Band Protocol. About BitMax.io Launched in August 2018, BitMax.io is a leading digital asset trading platform with a broad range of financial products and services for both retail and institutional clients, with robust design ranging from cash to margin trading, derivatives trading, staking products, and other investment solutions. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://bitmax.io/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitMax_Official Telegram: https://t.me/BitMaxioEnglishOfficial Medium: https://medium.com/bitmax-io About Umbrella Umbrella Network is a Layer 2 Oracle technology delivering data at the frequency, volume, and affordability to enable DeFi at scale. Umbrella has a strong combination of experienced technical and business-oriented team, respected and influential investors, key opinion leaders, social media presence, and existing traction of partnerships and product development. In short, Umbrella is well positioned to be a major player in the DeFi evolution for years to come. Website: https://www.umb.network/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/UmbNetwork Telegram: https://t.me/umbrellanet Medium: https://medium.com/umbrella-network 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

Cryptocurrency adoption among the traditional banking industry keeps spreading across the board, and it has arrived at a bank based in Hamburg, Germany. Donner & Reuschel is set to make its inception into the crypto business by offering related custody services. Bank Will Also Explore Further Blockchain Projects According to the local magazine Asscompact, the Hamburg-based private bank will offer crypto buying and custodial services. Although Donner & Reuschel didn’t provide an exact date of the launch, they are expecting to deliver the products “as soon as possible.” Marcus Vitt, a spokesman of the bank, argued that the decision to enter the crypto business is tied to the surge of interest towards the digital assets: We have been observing the digital assets market for quite some time and are convinced of the potential of blockchain technology also concerning classic securities transactions. Donner & Reuschel is a subsidiary of Signal Iduna, a group that offers insurance and financial services based in Dortmund. Moreover, Vitt stated a high demand for crypto custody services is trending in Germany, and the bank doesn’t want to lag behind the trend. The bank’s spokesman added: Blockchain technology will result in the greatest structural change in the financial industry that I have been able to experience so far in my 20-year banking career. The German bank, founded in 1798 and with subsidiaries in Luxembourg, also hinted at exploring further blockchain projects. In fact, the local magazine pointed out that Donner & Reuschel is already analyzing some projects, such as the ones related to tokenization. Latest Crypto Regulatory Moves in Germany Germany has been witnessing some moves in the last few months within its crypto sphere. Synbiotic SE, a publicly-traded company in Germany that’s listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Xetra, recently announced it is hedging bitcoin (BTC) to protect itself from currency devaluation. In terms of regulation, the German government passed in December 2020 a new legislation to introduce all-electronic securities as part of the country’s broader blockchain strategy. According to the country’s finance ministry, the new law relaxes rules forcing issuers and holders of securities to document transactions with a paper certificate. What do you think about this announcement coming from Germany? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On March 3, a group of anonymous art enthusiasts decided to burn an original Banksy screenprint worth roughly £70,000 or around $95,000 USD, and then turned it into a non-fungible token (NFT) asset. The art now exists as an NFT and was auctioned for 228.69 ethereum or $394k using today’s ether exchange rates. However, not everyone was impressed by the NFT transformation, as the cofounder of myartbroker.com says the NFT sale raises the idea that “the only morons in this transaction are the buyers and stunt artists themselves. A Burned Banksy Transformed Into an NFT Sells for Close to $400K in Ether Just recently a collective of unknown art enthusiasts and non-fungible token (NFT) asset fans decided to transform a physical Banksy screenprint into an NFT. News.Bitcoin.com reported on the group who burned the original Banksy piece called “Morons” and explained why the collective called @burntbanksy chose this route. “The reason behind this is because if we had the NFT and the physical piece, the value would be primarily in the physical piece,” one of the members said before torching the Banksy artwork. “By removing the physical piece from existence and only having the NFT, it makes sure the NFT due to the smart contract on the blockchain will ensure that no one can alter the piece, and it is the true piece that exists in the world.” After the burning, the NFT was listed on the marketplace Opensea and contained a description of the product for sale. “This 1 of 1 NFT was created upon the burning of the original Pest Control-certified Banksy ‘Morons’ print #325 of 500,” the Opensea listing details. “This is the first-ever authentic Banksy piece being turned into an NFT.” Opensea visitors viewing the NFT listing can also view the original COA on Interplanetary File System (IPFS). Following the listing, the Banksy “Morons” NFT added to Opensea by the @burntbanksy team was sold to an individual dubbed “Galaxy.” The NFT was auctioned for 228.69 ethereum or $394k using ether exchange rates on Monday, March 8, 2021. The contract of the non-fungible token tethered to the Pest Control-certified Banksy “Morons” print can be seen here on etherscan.io. Despite the sale being far larger than the physical Banksy print’s worth, a number of critics are skeptical about this new concept. "Burnt Banksy NFT Sells for $380K in ETH". But the profits aren't going to the artist (since the artwork was already purchased). The profits are going to the resellers, entirely. What problem are we fixing again? pic.twitter.com/7HQvTu2k0T — Roxana Nasoi (The Hat) (@roxananasoi) March 8, 2021 NFT Skeptics Proliferate First, many believe that the new NFT is no more valuable than a mere screenshot of the famous “Morons” art ripped off the open web for free. There’s also the proof of an actual burn, as the @burntbanksy team performed the burning via a livestream. This begs the question for skeptics, as to how can people legitimately verify that the team actually burned the legitimate print? Another possible scenario is the fact that the notorious England-based street artist, Banksy, did not authorize the burn and following NFT sale. Moreover, what if the infamous prankster street artist Banksy recreated the screenprint of #325 of 500? Regarding Bansky NFT, there is information loss in the digital. In 100 years, scientist could have studied the ink in the original or did a chemical analysis of the ink or paper– not so with the copy. NFT are interesting but not a fan of burning art. Hope it dont start a trend. — BeyondBacktesting (@BBacktesting) March 8, 2021 Still, non-fungible token (NFT) proponents believe what the @burntbanksy team did was a watershed moment in digital art history. Some NFT proponents have compared the recent Banksy “Morons” burn transformation into an NFT to Banksy’s recent “Girl with a Balloon” stunt when he shredded half the print at a live auction. After Banksy did this stunt at the live auction, the shredded “Girl with a Balloon” art became even more valuable than the original. “At first I was shocked, but I realised I would end up with my own piece of art history,” the unnamed “Shredded- Girl with a Balloon” buyer said after the notable Banksy stunt. However, the cofounder of myartbroker.com, Joey Syer, disagrees with people comparing the two events. “Last week we lost a genuine Unsigned Banksy print to a stunt that can only be described as brave, yet risky,” Syer explained in an email to news.Bitcoin.com. “Despite the NFT reaching a record price, selling for 300% more than the print’s physical valuation, it triggers the question of whether or not art can still be art when it no longer exists in its physical form,” Syer added. The myartbroker.com executive also compared the NFT to simply saving an existing image on the internet for free. “The irony behind the stunt is not that an original Banksy was burned, digitised, and sold for £206,292 ($285,000) more than its original value,” Syer insisted. “But that you could right-click on the same image that floods the internet and have your very own version for free. For us, the use of Banksy’s Moron print represents the person/persons willing to pay £275,102 ($380,000) for the same standard of art as a £10 Banksy print off of Etsy.” ‘Burned Banksy NFT No Different Than Any Other Image Publicly Available on the Internet’ As far as comparing the burned Banksy NFT event to the “Girl with a Balloon” shredding, Syer believes the two events are not the same. “The relationship between the NFT Morons stunt and Banksy’s shredding of “Girl with a Balloon” is non-existent and the two events should not be compared,” he said. Syer’s scathing critique further added: Although viewed as destroyed, Banksy’s Girl with a Balloon was turned into a piece of artwork in itself, still in its physical form. As for the burnt-up Morons print, nothing sets aside the NFT version to any other image publicly available on the internet, raising the idea that perhaps the only morons in this transaction are the buyers and stunt artists themselves. The NFT ecosystem has come under fire from lots of crypto advocates criticizing the space. More recently, Jack Dorsey selling an NFT version of his first tweet sparked controversy. Despite the scathing critiques and NFT non-believers, the non-fungible token asset environment continues to grow relentlessly. It will be interesting to see how the recent Banksy burning stunt affects the art industry going forward. What do you think about the team that burned the Banksy “Morons” screen print? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The Indian finance minister has finally revealed clues about what is in the cryptocurrency bill that is due to be introduced in parliament. Mentioning no crypto ban, she said that the government will take “a very calibrated” approach to cryptocurrencies. Indian Finance Minister Provides Clues on Upcoming Crypto Regulation Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shed some light on the upcoming crypto regulation in her country during CNBC-TV18’s IBLA townhall Friday. This is the first time she talked about the content of the bill and the Indian government’s plans on regulating cryptocurrencies since the bill was listed to be introduced in parliament. “On the cryptocurrency, yes a lot of negotiations [and] discussions are happening with the Reserve Bank because the supreme court order had very clearly told that the government has to take a call on the matter. We are talking with the Reserve Bank,” she confirmed. “Well, I am not sure, much before the cabinet takes a call on it, I want to give you any clues about what is in it.” She continued: “Obviously, the Reserve Bank will be taking a call on how, what kind of an official currency, cryptocurrency, will have to be planned and how it has to be regulated, but also we want to make sure that there is window available for all kind of experiments which will have to take place in the crypto world.” The finance minister emphasized: And therefore, it’s not as if we are going to look inwards and say no we are not, you know, going to have any of this. There will be a very calibrated position taken. “A lot of mixed messages are coming from across the world. I don’t think there is either a complete go this way or complete go that way in this matter,” she added, elaborating: We will have to take very calibrated position. [The] world is moving fast with technology. We can’t pretend we don’t want it. In addition, the finance minister stated: “At the same time, we also recognize that in fintech, we led the way. Many countries are looking at us for fintech, kind of, based steps and the kind of things that we have done in payment Duniya.” She then concluded: “So I would think, I can only give you this clue that we are not closing our minds. We are certainly looking at the ways in which experimentations can happen in the digital world and cryptocurrency and so on.” Minister Anurag Thakur Also Provides Government’s Position on Cryptocurrency Regulation On Saturday, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur also spoke about India’s upcoming cryptocurrency regulation. Stating that the Indian government is open to evaluating and exploring new technologies, including cryptocurrencies, for the sake of improving governance, he was quoted by the media as saying: Let me say that we welcome innovation and new technology … Blockchain is a new emerging technology. Cryptocurrency is a form of virtual currency. I firmly believe that we must always evaluate, explore, and encourage new ideas with an open mind. The minister added that the government would make a decision based on the recommendations of the interministerial committee (IMC) and the legislative proposal. He noted that the cryptocurrency bill will be introduced in parliament following due process, inviting suggestions and views on this issue. Do you think India will still ban bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article