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Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk has clarified his position on bitcoin. Emphasizing that he is an engineer, not an investor, Musk says that bitcoin “is simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash.” Musk also disputed gold bug Peter Schiff’s claims about bitcoin and commented on the price of the cryptocurrency. What Elon Musk Thinks About Bitcoin The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, was interviewed by Bloomberg Thursday after the demand for dogecoin on his exchange soared. He commented on Elon Musk’s enthusiasm towards the meme cryptocurrency during the interview. “I’m surprised that Elon’s so gung-ho on dogecoin,” Zhao began, noting that “This is a decentralized, free world and anybody can like anything. He [Musk] can like dogecoin for any reason he likes.” Emphasizing his strong belief that Musk is not associated with dogecoin, the Binance CEO pointed out that Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, not dogecoin. Musk saw the interview on Twitter and replied: Tesla’s action is not directly reflective of my opinion. Having some bitcoin, which is simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash, is adventurous enough for an S&P500 company. “To be clear, I am ‘not’ an investor, I am an engineer. I don’t even own any publicly traded stock besides Tesla,” he elaborated. Nonetheless, Musk clarified: “However, when fiat currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere. Bitcoin is almost as BS as fiat money. The key word is ‘almost.'” Gold bug Peter Schiff, who recently bashed Musk and Tesla for buying bitcoin, tweeted Friday: “According to Elon Musk ‘Bitcoin is almost as BS as fiat money.’ So Musk regards both bitcoin and fiat as BS.” He further wrote: “I agree, I just think bitcoin, which is digital fiat, is even more BS than the paper fiat issued by central banks. Gold is not BS. It’s real money and better than both.” Musk saw the tweet and replied to Schiff: An email saying you have gold is not the same as having gold. You might as well have crypto. Money is just data that allows us to avoid the inconvenience of barter. That data, like all data, is subject to latency & error. The Tesla CEO continued, “The system will evolve to that which minimizes both.” He additionally noted, “That said, BTC & ETH do seem high.” Refusing to give in to Musk, Schiff continued to express his opinion about gold, bitcoin, and money. On Saturday, he asked Musk to join him for a conversation on Clubhouse. Do you agree with Elon Musk? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Day trader Dave Portnoy has admitted that he is an idiot when it comes to bitcoin after the price of the cryptocurrency continually hit all-time highs. He panic-sold his bitcoins when its price was just around $11,000 and has now vowed to never buy the cryptocurrency again. Dave Portnoy Regrets Panic-Selling Bitcoin at $11K American day trader and founder of Barstool Sports blog Dave Portnoy admitted Thursday that he is an idiot when it comes to bitcoin and said that he will never buy the cryptocurrency again. Portnoy bought his first bitcoin on Aug. 13, 2020, when the Winklevoss twins, who are his neighbors, went to his home and personally walked him through how to buy bitcoin on their cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. Portnoy invested $200K in BTC that day when the price of the cryptocurrency was around $11,172, according to markets.Bitcoin.com. He subsequently bought two other cryptocurrencies: chainlink and orchid. However, when the price of some of his cryptocurrencies toppled, Portnoy panic-sold and got out of cryptocurrency altogether. He explained at the time, “I’m out on crypto because coins don’t always go up. Stocks on the other hand continue to always go up.” Then on Thursday, the Barstool Sports founder admitted that he was an idiot about bitcoin as the price of the cryptocurrency continued to skyrocket, hitting multiple all-time highs. “I’m such an idiot … with bitcoin. At least I know I’m an idiot, alright,” he said, tweeting: I know I’m an idiot with bitcoin. But I refuse to be the poorest man on the ship. I won’t swab the decks. Portnoy exclaimed that he is not going to give bitcoiners “the satisfaction of [seeing him] jumping and being the last man on board, being the poorest guy on the ship.” He ranted on: “‘Hey fucking poor guy, swab the deck. I’ll throw you a little fucking bitcoin’ and watch me scramble like a rat for like one 100th-millionth of a bitcoin while Winklevoss and fucking parabolic guy and Pomp [Anthony Pompliano] laugh at me from the fucking upper deck. Uh-uh. I’ll just be on a different ship.” The parabolic guy he referred to was Jason Williams. “I love [the] parabolic guy,” Portnoy said, adding that he “is one of my favorite guys.” Nonetheless, the Barstool Sports founder insisted, “I ain’t swabbing his deck.” He further justified his decision to stay away from bitcoin by saying: And God forbid, if I buy bitcoin and it crashes, that’ll force me to hate some people I don’t hate, and I don’t want to be put in that position. On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin crossed the $51K mark and Portnoy made a video in which he lamented his decision to sell all of his bitcoins in August last year. “Bitcoin’s the only thing that doesn’t go down. $51,000. Bitcoin’s at fucking $51,000. It was at 11,000 in August. Jesus Christ.” He then concluded: I’m never buying bitcoin. Never. Never, never. I don’t believe a thing about it, but I do think it’s profitable, and I think that with enough steam that it may just continue to go up forever, but I don’t buy the underlying junk behind it. At the time of writing, the price of BTC stands at $56,279 after hitting multiple all-time highs throughout the week. Its market capitalization has surpassed $1 trillion. If Portnoy had kept the BTC which he bought at around $11K in August last year, his investment would have risen by about 412%. What do you think about Dave Portnoy’s reaction to the rising price of bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is no longer a bitcoin bear. He has now taken a neutral stance on bitcoin as an investment. However, as an innovation, he says that cryptocurrency is one that the world would be better off without because it allows for certain criminal activities. Bill Gates Changes His Mind About Bitcoin Bill Gates spoke about bitcoin and cryptocurrency in two separate interviews Thursday. One was with CNBC where he was asked what he thinks about bitcoin “in the context of climate change seeing how bitcoin takes an enormous amount of energy to digitally mine.” Gates simply replied: I don’t own bitcoin. I’m not short bitcoin. So, I’ve taken a neutral view. “Bitcoin can go up and down just based on the mania or whatever the views are, and I don’t have a way of predicting how that will progress,” Gates continued. The Microsoft founder added: “I do think moving money into a more digital form and getting transaction costs down, that’s something the Gates Foundation does in developing countries. But there, we do it so you can reverse the transactions so we have total visibility of who’s doing what. It’s not about tax avoidance or illegal activities.” Gates has been no fan of bitcoin. In an interview with CNBC in 2018, he, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, and vice chairman Charlie Munger talked about bitcoin being worthless. “As an asset class, you’re not producing anything and so you shouldn’t expect it to go up. It’s kind of a pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment,” Gates remarked. “I would short it if there was an easy way to do it.” BTC was trading at around $9,300 on that day. Since then, the price of the cryptocurrency has risen almost 511% to $56,805 at the time of writing. Bill Gates Thinks the World Is Better Off Without Cryptocurrency Innovation Another interview published Thursday where Gates talked about cryptocurrency was with The Wall Street Journal. Responding to the question, “What’s the one tech innovation the world would be better off without?” he said: The way cryptocurrency works today allows for certain criminal activities. It’d be good to get rid of that. However, Gates quickly added, “I probably should have said bioweapons. That’s a really bad thing. We shouldn’t have technology for that.” According to Forbes’ real-time list of billionaires, Gates ranks fourth with a net worth of $124 billion. The first on the list is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with $189 billion in net worth, followed by Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk with $182 billion, and then Bernard Arnault with $159 billion. Meanwhile, Microsoft has been granted a patent for a “cryptocurrency system using body activity data.” This crypto-mining system leverages human activities, including brain waves and body heat, when performing online tasks such as using search engines, chatbots, and reading ads. What do you think about Bill Gates’ remarks regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The mainstream has caught a whiff of the gains cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum have seen, but many people are not aware of the passive income crypto users are getting as well. While financial incumbents are giving people with savings accounts a measly 0.35% to 0.60%, digital currencies can give people 1-17% or even more by leveraging certain tactics. Crypto Returns That Outpace the Savings Account You may have heard the term “make your money work for you” in the past, and that’s what savings accounts do if they earn a percentage of interest over time. Certainly, a person can be a bit riskier and invest in stocks and such but with a savings account, the money simply sits there and accrues a return over a period of time. The more money held, the more interest an account will get but these days banks don’t like giving interest. We can see that some of the top banks in the world will only give 0.35% to 0.60% returns according to the best savings account rates on bankrate.com. Today’s bank rates don’t offer a person who is saving high returns, none of them even offer 1%. Now you can do the same thing with cryptocurrencies and get a much better annual percentage yield (APY). A lot of centralized exchanges offer anywhere between 1-12% in interest for staking or holding a digital asset on the trading platform for a period of time. For instance, on the trading platform Coinbase you can earn 1.25% APY for holding USDC. Coinbase aso offers earning rewards for staking algorand (ALGO), cosmos (ATOM), and tezos (XTZ). These three coins see payout rates either daily (ALGO), every three days (XTZ), and once a week (ATOM). People can also leverage the exchange Crypto.com, which gives customers up to 2% to 6.5% per annum (PA) for a myriad of cryptocurrencies and up to 12% for holding specific stablecoins. Crypto.com users can choose an interest rate by selecting a term which can either be flexible, one month long, and three months long. Flexible means you can withdraw and use the cryptocurrencies at any time and you can get 2% for supported crypto assets and 8% for stablecoins. A 30-day term with Crypto.com gets the person 4.5% for the average crypto asset, while stablecoins will get up to 10%. 90-day terms accrue 6.5% for coins like ETH and BTC, and stablecoins like USDC can get up to 12%. The San Francisco-based exchange Coinbase has started offering savings rewards for certain coins and staking rewards as well. Coinbase and Crypto.com are not the only exchanges or custodial solutions that offer interest bearing accounts. Other interest-bearing products are offered by Blockfi, Linus, Outlet Finance, Gemini, Kraken, Youhodler, Coinloan, Nexo, and the Celsius Network. Each and everyone has different terms and interest rates depending on the crypto asset being held. Most of these platforms offer higher percentage rates for stablecoins, as fiat-backed crypto assets can get savers larger returns. Of course, custodial solutions are coins held with a third-party, and people opting to gather interest in this fashion should understand there’s a greater risk. A custodial platform could fake reserves, get hacked, or even run the business into the ground by making poor business decisions. As the old adage goes “not your keys, not your coins,” so holding funds on an exchange means you are trusting them. Leveraging Proof-of-Stake Tokens, Ethereum 2.0 Staking Individuals who want to make passive income can also do so by leveraging noncustodial platforms and staking concepts. Staking involves using a proof-of-stake (PoS) crypto asset and the person needs a staking wallet to perform this function (validating transactions) in order to obtain stake. Similar to a savings account, staking simply means holding the asset and being rewarded coins for the amount the user holds. The more tokens held while staking, the more interest the user will obtain. Currently, some people are staking ethereum (ETH) using the new ETH 2.0 staking feature. However, in order to earn ETH this way in a noncustodial fashion, the user needs a total of 32 ETH to participate. Although, the person can earn anywhere between 5% to 17% PA. People can also stake ETH in a custodial manner via exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase. The San Francisco exchange Coinbase gives “between 3-7.5% reward on any ETH that you stake.” Defi Apps Built on Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Polkadot, and Tron Additionally, besides staking, people who want to acquire yield-bearing returns on their crypto assets can do so by leveraging a decentralized finance (defi) application. There are numerous defi apps like Compound, Aave, Nuo Network, Ddex, and Dydx that can offer a person a return simply by providing liquidity or lending. A good portion of these noncustodial defi apps also provide higher yields these days for stablecoins. Decentralized finance applications, otherwise known as defi, lets people earn yields in a noncustodial fashion. Using these types of apps, people can earn returns based on a period of time with numerous ERC20 tokens like TUSD, LINK, DAI, ETH, WBTC, and USDC. Moreover, there are other blockchains that are moving toward creating defi ecosystems as well including networks like Tron, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, and Polkadot. One example on the BCH network is the Anyhedge protocol developed by the General Protocols team, a concept that allows people to leverage BCH with the noncustodial application Detoken. “The first product available on Detoken is the Anyhedge BCH-USD futures contract,” the team detailed when the app first launched. “This is a smart contract which allows users to Hedge or Long their BCH while earning funding premium. Users also retain control of their own money throughout the entire process.” Make Your Money Work for You All of the aforementioned platforms and tools offer people a chance to make their money work for them. Individuals can earn a return by doing something they probably were doing before they knew they could earn interest – simply holding. This decentralized form of liquidity will continue to grow, as long as the demand for crypto assets remains strong. If mass adoption continues to increase, liquidity and potential earnings can only get better over time. Once the mainstream catches on to these massively larger interest rates, instead of the banks’ petty 0.35% to 0.60% rates, it won’t be long before they will want to move their funds into something that gathers real interest over time. What do you think about all the platforms and services that allow people to make passive income just by storing their crypto assets? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Crypto mining operations have been witnessing some changes within the industry in terms of locations. A recent interview with the CEO of the mining giant Bitriver, revealed that Russia is becoming a preferred hotspot for crypto miners. Russian Mining Giant to Build Two Additional Facilities to Cope With the High Demand According to Igor Runets, CEO and founder of the Russian mining company Bitriver, American and European investors are moving their infrastructure from China, Africa, and Latin America to Russia. The main reason behind the shifting move is the expensive costs of electricity in such regions. That said, most crypto miners are looking to cut costs amid the bitcoin (BTC) bull-run seen over the last few months. Bitriver CEO told Kommersant that its existing capacity as a mining company is at the top. Runets said the company is hoping to reach 1 gigawatt (GW) “in the next 18 months.” Such expectations encourage Bitriver to increase its capacity by building two new crypto mining facilities in Krasnoyarsk with 80 megawatts (MW) in total. On the other hand, the firm seeks to establish another mining infrastructure in Buryatia in the Siberian region, with 300 MW of capacity. However, its first stage will have an initial capacity of 100 MW. Per the CEO, the deadline set by Bitriver is by the end of summer of this year. Increase in Wholesale Chinese Crypto Miners Customers Other domestic mining companies are seeing several applications for crypto mining hosting. Sergey Arestov, the co-founder of Bitcluster, highlighted that a significant number of wholesale Chinese customer orders keep coming to the company. He forecasts that the demand could witness “a strong increase in demand” starting in the fall of 2021, as the expectations for the BTC prices are still very bullish. This trend on a large batch of orders made Bitcluster set a plan to expand their capacity by adding 60 MW at any point of 2021. What do you think about this trend seen in crypto mining globally? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Controversy still surrounds a liquidated New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange, which allegedly got hacked again. Adding to the $30 million stolen in 2019, Cryptopia reports that it was the target of another theft incident on February 1, 2021. Hackers Accessed a Dormant Wallet Which Holds XSN Tokens According to Stuff.co.nz, the hackers took around NZD 62,000 ($45,000) worth of cryptocurrencies from the troubled exchange. The alert first came from Stakenet, a U.S.-based blockchain firm. The investigation unveiled that hackers accessed a wallet that has been dormant since the hack in January 2019, where Cryptopia suffered a loss of over $30 million worth in cryptos. The wallet belongs to Stakenet and is under the control of Cryptopia’s liquidators, Grant Thornton. Per the findings, the dormant wallet was holding around $1.96 million worth of XSN, Stakenet’s native token. A spokesman from the U.S. blockchain company commented on the matter: We had no prior warning of any intended movement, so naturally, we immediately contacted [liquidator] Grant Thornton, who is supposed to be in control of these assets and in charge of redistributing them back to their rightful owners. Moreover, the Stakenet spokesman pointed out that Grant Thornton should clarify how the incident happened, as well as why they failed to prevent it: If this unauthorized transaction has happened under Grant Thornton’s watch, then they need to explain to the users why they failed to secure… [their] assets like they were supposed to do and how someone was able to access them. Former Employee Charged for Stealing Over $182,000 From the Exchange Cryptopia’s liquidators were appointed in May 2019 to start the process of shutting down the crypto exchange. As of press time, they haven’t addressed the recent alleged hack publicly. But the string of troubles appears not to see an end for the crypto exchange. This incident happened just a few months after a former employee allegedly stole over NZD 250,000 ($182,300) worth in cryptos, plus customer data from Cryptopia. However, New Zealand authorities managed to recover the stolen funds and return them to Grant Thornton. What do you think about this latest incident related to Cryptopia? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Police in Malaysia’s Jahor state have busted a seven-men gang that stole 8.6 million Malaysian ringgits ($2.15 million) worth of electricity to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. ● Police said they seized 1,746 bitcoin (BTC) mining machines across 21 premises in raids carried out between Feb.15 and Feb.16, the Malay Mail reported. The miners are claimed to be worth a combined 2.6 million ringgits ($650,000). ● Seven local suspects aged between 24 and 64 were nabbed in the operation, which involved domestic power company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). ● “The syndicate, which has been active since the beginning of last year, carried out its activities on the top floor of a shophouse to avoid detection by the authorities,” said Johor’s police chief, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay. ● Ayob Khan added that police are still investigating the operation, whose alleged mastermind and other gang members are still at large. ● “Investigators are not ruling out the possibility that the syndicate also has links with syndicates in other states that carry out the same modus operandi used in their bitcoin mining activities,” he said. ● According to Johor TNB, last year the electricity company suffered losses of around 90 million ringgits ($22.5 million) from power thefts related to bitcoin mining. What do you think about the theft of electricity for crypto mining? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. View the full article

A recent study unveiled that top-tier cryptocurrency exchanges increased their market share since October 2020, in the context of lower-risk exchanges. The bitcoin bull market fueled that both retail and professional traders utilized such risk, data shows. Stricter Regulations Boosted Transparency Levels in Crypto Exchanges Per information from crypto market data provider cryptocompare.com, top-tier crypto exchange gained 13% market share from October 2020 to January 2021. In fact, it increased from 61% ($347 billion) to 74% ($1.41 trillion). But the study — which covered over 160 exchanges — clarified the following about the market share’s proportion: Based on the most recent ranking update, the proportion of Top-Tier exchange volume in Jan 2021 would be 88% to reflect the increase in the number of Top Tier exchanges meeting the minimum threshold – 68 in July 2020 vs 76 in current update. Cryptocompare highlighted that exchange’s standards “improved” as regulatory requirements toughened to meet anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Also, they praised that crypto exchanges increased their transparency in terms of data provision. The research backs up its statement by showing that 44% of the surveyed exchanges “offer the ability to query full historical trade data via a public API endpoint.” Improvements Seen in Security In terms of security, the crypto market data provider pointed out “fewer hacks” in the last year: 20% of exchanges state that they hold more than 95% of crypto in cold wallets (vs 15% in July 2020). 1% of exchanges have been hacked in the last year (vs 4% as of July 2020). 18% of exchanges use a third party custody provider to store user assets, up from 12% in July 2020 and 9% in our Q4 2019 Benchmark. Funds’ security was also another topic discussed within the study. According to Cryptocompare, 9% of crypto exchanges formally offer some form of insurance. Moreover, 37% of the surveyed exchanges hold a legal license to run the business. What do you think about the study’s findings? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative for Nigeria, Ari Aisen recently discussed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive that targets crypto entities. In remarks made during a special virtual press briefing, Aisen repeats some of the CBN’s claims that cryptocurrencies were being used “for illegal transactions such as money laundering and drug trafficking.” CBN Acting in the Interests of Financial Sector Stability According to a report, Aisen, who says that other central banks have taken similar action, believes that “some care should be taken” concerning the use of cryptocurrencies. In an apparent justification of the directive, Aisen suggests that the CBN only wants a solution that will be “in the interest of the payment system and the sustainability of the financial sector.” However, during the same briefing, Aisen also calls on Nigerian monetary authorities to consider the “unification of foreign exchange rates.” While the CBN maintains the naira’s exchange against the US dollar at 380:1. The parallel market, on the other hand, offers a significantly higher rate of 475:1. Meanwhile, by maintaining an overvalued exchange rate, the Nigerian government is able to easily meet its obligations. Yet, on the other hand, this overvalued exchange rate is partly blamed for the plummeting monthly cross-border remittances into Nigeria. According to Nairanalytics, remittances, which are a vital foreign exchange source, dropped from the high of $2.05 billion in January 2020 to just $54 million by September of that year. Tale of Two Exchange Rates In the meantime, in his remarks, Aiesen attempts to convince the CBN to move towards the unification of the exchange rates as well as the transparent management of this resource. The resident representative is quoted saying: It would be useful to unify rates to allow the currency fluctuate as well as to make forex more accessible to those in need. The Nigerian government, just like its peers across the African continent, has seen its revenues drop significantly due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the dropped revenues, Nigeria is facing ongoing shortages of foreign exchange which in turn adds pressure on the local currency. To mitigate some of these challenges, the IMF representative is advising the Nigerian government against raising taxes. Instead, Aisen urges Nigeria to strengthen the tax administration by expanding the tax base and block leakages. What are your thoughts on the remarks that were made by the IMF resident representative? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. While Ethereum has given way to a brave new world of decentralized financial applications that are completely permissionless, accessible and groundbreaking in many ways. However, it has done so on an experimental basis and with great costs. Ethereum provides a foundation on which these decentralized applications can be built upon but it is not ready for worldwide spread adoption. Simple transactions on the Ethereum network can cost upwards of $10 and interacting with smart contracts can even be several times more expensive. While Ethereum’s undeniable success has allowed it to garner a powerful DeFi community, and massive volumes both in decentralized trading and total value locked (which currently sits close to $40B in total) its infrastructure is simply not ready for widespread use. When the network is highly used, congestion leads to block space competition which drives up standard gas fees. This is where NEXT.chain comes in. Building on the shoulders of giants like Ethereum and Bitcoin, NEXT.chain has taken the best of both worlds to create a DeFi-ready chain that can be leveraged by companies and typical users alike for all their decentralized finance needs. From permissionless trading, to decentralized asset issuance (with a few clicks of a button), and the creation of DAOs or NFTs. Why NEXT.chain is the next big thing in DeFi So what sets NEXT.chain apart from its competitors? Well, the project is leveraging a decade long history of well-known and tested technology, building on Bitcoin-core, but expanding it with multiple new features and characteristics such as Proof of Stake consensus mechanism complete with Masternode network of over 200 peers of validation for quicker transaction speeds and privacy-enabled transfers (up to 10,000 transactions per second). It also allows it to draw from the Bitcoin mining community by providing a merge mining option that will incentivize both community members and developers to use and build on NEXT. This will be made even more evident with an API integration for 3rd parties. NEXT.chain is not just for miners, it’s for the masses. That’s why fees will always remain low and why aliases will be a big part of the NEXT ecosystem, allowing users to send money to their contacts rather than to long strings of random alphanumeric characters. In order to bootstrap NEXT.chain and provide end-users with a seamless payment experience NEXT.chain has partnered with PayAccept. PayAccept allows anyone to easily enter the once-daunting world of DeFi by serving as a fiat gateway that will help users turn their fiat currencies into DeFI-ready digital assets. NEXT token will rely on classical governance aspects of blockchain technology to ensure longevity in the network and community by allowing NEXT token holders to propose and vote on improvement proposals. NEXT.chain announces Liquidity stake event The NEXT.chain is taking a milestone-based approach to its development, focusing first on the development and issuance of assets, the decentralized trading for said assets and liquidity providing for automated market maker trades. The simplicity behind asset issuance in the NEXT.chain is bound to attract new and existing businesses that are looking for simple financial smart contracts that are flexible yet secure, requiring minimal levels of complexity and risk. Projects will be able to raise funds through a user friendly interface, allowing them to lock up their liquidity and make their assets available for trading. The simplicity brought by NEXT.chain phased development is bound to attract new and existing projects to the platforms and to easily bring these communities into the NEXT.chain ecosystem, allowing it to grow organically. Click here to get whitelisted to participate in the NEXT.chain Liquidity staking event hosted by Safu investments and become part of the next wave of DeFi adoption. About NEXT.Chain : Founded on April 23th, 2019, NEXT.Chain is part of a group of companies, headquartered in the Netherlands, with a strong focus on DeFi and blockchain technology. The group is currently in the process of obtaining an Electronic Money license to establish a fiat-to-crypto gateway and deploy cryptocurrency payments on e-commerce platforms. The NEXT.chain project is a new blockchain platform that draws from security and simplicity principles of Bitcoin, 2.0, concepts like masternode technology, while providing companies with easy-to-use and implement web 3.0. solutions for DeFi. About Safu.investments Created in 2020, Safu.investments is a DeFi-centric Presale platform with Uniswap auto listing and locking of liquidity provider tokens, allowing DeFi projects to easily launch and bootstrap projects with verifiable vesting periods. Website: https://nextchain.dev Twitter: https://twitter.com/NextChainGlobal Medium: https://next-chain.medium.com Telegram Chat: https://t.me/nextchain Phone number: +31 85 3030600 Address: Flight Forum 810, 5657 DV Eindhoven, the Netherlands 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

At the end of December, the Carolina Panthers offensive lineman, Russell Okung told the public he would be getting half of his 13 million-dollar salary paid in bitcoin. Moreover, Okung made the decision at the right time, as the National Football League (NFL) just capped the league’s salaries at $180 million. Looking at it from a different perspective, some people think that Okung is now the highest salaried NFL player today because of his decision to stack satoshis. Okung’s Bitcoin Salary Matches His Entire Annual Wage Thanks to Crypto Gains The professional football player, Russell Okung, is well known for his stance toward bitcoin and well before he was paid in BTC, he relentlessly asked to receive his salary in crypto. At the end of December 2020, Okung shocked the world when he announced he would be getting half of his $13 million salary paid in BTC. As bitcoin has continued to climb higher in value week after week since then, a number of people have noted that Okung has made a lot of money so far choosing to be paid in BTC. For instance, when BTC hit $44k, the half of his contract that is paid in BTC climbed to $10.59 million, at $56k+ his half turned into more than his entire quoted salary. As far as 2020 NFL salary stats are concerned, Okung has entered the top five position. However, the NFL has recently decided to cap the league’s salaries at $180 million and a ball player’s contract could change in 2021. Because the Carolina Panthers’ offensive tackle (OT) gets half of his salary in BTC, many proponents think of him as the highest-paid player in the NFL and not just ahead of the highest-paid OTs. “You are the highest-paid player in the NFL,” an individual said to Okung recently on Twitter. “Simply by taking your salary in a different unit of value. Amazing. [It] will not be long before your peers catch on,” he added. NFL Announces New Salary Cap Interestingly, Okung chose the perfect time to be paid in bitcoin, as the NFL informed teams on Thursday that there will be a salary cap this season at $180 million. In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is a standard guideline that creates a limit ball clubs can spend on a players’ salary. There are also other rules the NFL leverages like first-year players get a minimum of $610,000 annually. Seven-year NFL vets earn a minimum salary of $1 million last year. Stack sats or die. — russ (@RussellOkung) February 19, 2021 Even though Okung is already very much ahead of all the other NFL players, he may be years ahead of the game going forward. “Russell Okung is a genius,” another person tweeted recently. “He’s made so much money from just one check,” the individual added. Okung seemed to have known this was a good decision when he said “getting paid in bitcoin is the first step of opting out of the corrupt, manipulated economy we all inhabit.” Moreover, Okung said on Thursday that he continues to accumulate bitcoin no matter the price. “I receive a ton of questions about my price entry point into the BTC,” Okung tweeted. “I stack sats, [the] price goes up, I stack some more, [the] price goes down and stack again,” he said. “This isn’t financial advice,” Okung further insisted. What do you think about Russell Okung’s decision theoretically making him the highest-paid NFL player in the league? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has reaffirmed that it is important to ensure that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not used for illicit financing. In addition, she stresses the importance of regulating institutions that deal with bitcoin. Janet Yellen Claims It’s Important to Make Sure Bitcoin Is Not Used for Illicit Financing U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen answered some questions regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation in an interview with CNBC Thursday. Yellen said she considers bitcoin a “highly speculative asset,” emphasizing its high levels of volatility in recent years. Responding to a question about whether bitcoin and cryptocurrencies need to be regulated, the treasury secretary said: I think it’s important to make sure that it is not used as a vehicle for illicit transactions and that there’s investor protection. And so regulating institutions that deal in bitcoin, making sure that they adhere to their regulatory responsibilities, I think is certainly important. The price of bitcoin hit an all-time high again Friday, pushing its market capitalization above $1 trillion. At the time of writing, the BTC price stands at $54,757. This is not the first time Yellen has talked about cryptocurrencies fuelling illicit transactions. At her Senate confirmation hearing in January, she said: “Cryptocurrencies are a particular concern. I think many are used … mainly for illicit financing.” She subsequently clarified her position and promised to work with other federal regulators to implement “effective” crypto regulation. Then last week, she said the misuse of cryptocurrencies “is a growing problem,” reiterating that they “have been used to launder the profits of online drug traffickers” and have “been a tool to finance terrorism.” Commenting on Yellen’s remarks about bitcoin on Thursday, Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki wrote: Sec Treasury Yellen just said on CNBC bitcoin is used in criminal activity. Give me a break. And the US dollar isn’t. Who can believe these Academic Elites? Do they think we are that naive? Definitely buy more gold, silver, bitcoin. A growing number of large corporations have embraced bitcoin. The cryptocurrency recently got a massive boost when Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, revealed that it had purchased $1.5 billion of BTC and will soon accept the cryptocurrency as a means of payment for its products. Mastercard also announced that it will allow certain cryptocurrencies on its network, and the nation’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, unveiled a crypto unit to provide bitcoin services. In addition, the U.S. city of Miami is trying to become a bitcoin hub. Meanwhile, the pro-bitcoin U.S. Senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, is on a mission to convincing Yellen that bitcoin is a great store of value. Lummis said she met with Yellen and believes that she has an open mind on this subject. However, the senator still believes that it will take some time to convince the treasury secretary. What do you think about Yellen’s bitcoin remarks? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The world’s largest asset manager with almost $9 trillion in assets under management, Blackrock, has started investing in bitcoin. Sharing his view on what’s driving up the price of the cryptocurrency, the firm’s chief investment officer says the technology and the regulation have evolved to where people find bitcoin should be part of their portfolios. In addition, people are looking for investments that could appreciate as inflation and debts move higher. Blackrock Has Entered the Bitcoin Space Blackrock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, Rick Rieder, talked about bitcoin in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. The New York-based asset management firm had $8.68 trillion of assets under management at the end of the fourth quarter. Rieder confirmed that Blackrock has “started to dabble” in bitcoin. When asked about what portfolio allocation should be in the cryptocurrency, he replied: “I wouldn’t put a number on the percentage allocation one should have, [since it] depends on what the rest of your portfolio looks like.” The Blackrock chief investment officer explained: Today the volatility of it is extraordinary, but listen, people are looking for storehouses of value. People are looking for places that could appreciate under the assumption that inflation moves higher and that debts are building, so we’ve started to dabble a bit into it. In January filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Blackrock disclosed its plans to add bitcoin futures to two of its funds: the Blackrock Strategic Income Opportunities and the Blackrock Global Allocation Fund. Bitcoin has been rapidly gaining popularity among institutional investors. More companies are embracing the cryptocurrency, including Elon Musk’s Tesla, which has invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and will soon accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its products. Last week, Mastercard announced that it will allow certain cryptocurrencies directly on its network and BNY Mellon unveiled a crypto unit to provide clients with bitcoin services. Commenting on the spectacular rise in the price of bitcoin, the Blackrock chief investment officer, who previously said that cryptocurrency is here to stay and could replace gold, opined: My sense is the technology has evolved and the regulation has evolved to the point where a number of people find it should be part of the portfolio, so that’s what’s driving the price up. The price of bitcoin hit an all-time high again Friday, pushing its market capitalization above $1 trillion. At the time of writing, the BTC price stands at $53,720. The chief investment officer of the world’s largest asset management firm further detailed: “We’re holding a lot more cash than we’ve held historically. It’s because duration doesn’t work, interest rates don’t work as a hedge.” Noting that he “wouldn’t espouse a certain allocation or target holding,” Rieder concluded: Diversifying into other assets makes some sense. Holding some portion of what you hold in cash in things like crypto seems to make some sense to me. What do you think about Blackrock entering the bitcoin space? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin’s market capitalization has crossed the $1 trillion zone after the price per coin surpassed $53,650 per unit. The valuation comes 145 months after the launch of the Bitcoin network on January 3, 2009. ‘The First Trillion Is the Hardest’ The price of bitcoin (BTC) has surpassed the territory needed to have a $1 trillion market capitalization. The valuation is a milestone to many crypto supporters who have rallied for the leading currency for the last decade. For the last two weeks, digital currency advocates discussed BTC’s slow and steady approach toward the 1 trillion dollar zone. For instance, on February 16, The Block’s director of research Larry Cermak said: If Bitcoin hits ~$53,650, it’s gonna be a trillion-dollar asset. Fully diluted it’s already at $1.04T. At 10:42 a.m. (EST) the price of BTC touched an all-time high at $53,743. The conversation about reaching the 1 trillion dollar milestone was a topical conversation all week, as bitcoiners said it was a long time coming. The same day, the software developer, Jameson Lopp, also talked about the $1 trillion event on social media. “The first trillion is the hardest,” Lopp tweeted to his 262,000 followers. ‘Bitcoin Going for Gold Next’ After Lopp made his statement, a number of people compared the decentralized crypto asset’s market valuation to Apple Inc. (AAPL). It took Apple Inc. around 504 months (42.0319 years) to get to a $1 trillion market valuation one person responded. Another individual mentioned that after Apple captured the $1 trillion valuation, it only took 26 months to reach $2 trillion, which means the ride to a $2 trillion valuation for bitcoin (BTC) very well could be a far less time frame. Bitcoin reaching a $1 trillion valuation has been a big deal to a number of proponents and many believe the crypto asset is just warming up. The popular creator of the stock-to-flow (S2F) model, Plan B, discussed the watershed moment. “Straight line up to a $1trillion market cap,” he said to his 269,000 followers. “Bitcoin going for gold next ($10T),” he insisted. Civic founder Vinny Lingham, often referred to as the oracle, thinks making it to the $60,000 zone might be in the cards. “Bitcoin looks primed to make a big break above $50k,” Lingham wrote just before the price surpassed the $50k handle. “Once it clears, it will likely test and break $60k quickly. We could find out which [altcoins] are uncorrelated, as there will likely be some carnage in the alt market, if such a big move materializes,” Lingham added. What do you think about bitcoin reaching a $1 trillion market valuation? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The North American Purpose Bitcoin ETF launch on Thursday saw massive demand, as more than $165 million in trade volume was recorded. In fact, the exchange-traded fund listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) saw it’s first $80 million swapped during the first hour of trading sessions. Purpose Bitcoin ETF Captures $165 Million in Volume Just recently, the exchange-traded fund called the “Purpose Bitcoin ETF” was approved to be listed in Canada and proponents deemed it to be the “first” bitcoin-based ETF in North America. Bloomberg’s Claire Ballentine revealed that the ETF saw more demand than most ETFs listed on TSX on Thursday. The fund is curated by the firm Canada-based Purpose Investments, and the Ontario Securities Commission granted the fund permission to begin trading. Ballentine noted that during the first hour of trading, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (ticker symbol BTCC) saw a whopping $80 million in trade volume. Ballentine also highlighted that the Purpose Bitcoin ETF roared during its debut, and many analysts think crypto exchange-traded funds have untapped interest. “There’s sizable untapped interest for a Bitcoin investment that has the benefits of an ETF,” the CFRA Research’s director of ETF research, Todd Rosenbluth said. “While most ETFs come to market globally with an educational hurdle to overcome, many investors are familiar with what is inside BTCC.” EBIT Physical Bitcoin ETF Launches Today, Proponents Still Waiting for US Watchdogs to Approve Bitcoin Funds In addition to the significant demand from the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, another ETF is set to debut on TSX today. The exchange-traded fund is managed by the company Evolve, and the fund holds physical bitcoins by using Gemini’s custody arm. The listing scheduled for Friday and distributed by Evolve will be called “EBIT.” Evolve is a Canadian business that manages roughly $1.7 billion assets under management (AUM). Meanwhile, as the two TSX-listed bitcoin-based ETFs trade in Canada, many crypto proponents are hopeful that America will follow suit soon. A number of ETFs are waiting on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval including ETFs registered by the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), Vaneck, and Valkyrie Digital Assets. What do you think about the massive demand the Purpose Bitcoin ETF saw on Thursday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Throughout its history, PIVX has marked many firsts on the crypto market. These include being the first PoS project to use zk-SNARKs, masternodes, blockchain governance, deflationary mechanisms, and private staking. With a solid value proposition and numerous achievements under its belt, PIVX makes use of innovative technology to create a privacy-oriented paradigm within the cryptocurrency space. Blockchain Intelligence and Data Mining Famously referred to as de-anonymization through correlation, blockchain intelligence serves the purpose of tracking transactions and connecting them to their owners. By making use of smart algorithms that crawl through blockchain transactions, chainalysis companies can easily keep tabs on cryptocurrency addresses of interest. Arguments in favor of crypto tracking include deterring cyber-attacks, dealing with money launderers, and stopping illegal activity. However, most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are aware that chainalysis companies have the tendency of digging deeper, oftentimes in people’s private but legal affairs. This is no different when compared to cookie tracking over the internet, but financial information is where most people draw the line. If cryptocurrencies are to disrupt the current financial status quo, then enthusiasts must face the issue that transactions are indeed public – not for the sake of criminals, but rather for the sake of protecting people’s fundamental human right to privacy. The banks of today protect privacy to some degree by at least making transactions invisible to third parties – And for blockchain to realise its true calling, this principle must be mirrored. Transparency vs. Privacy – A Sacrifice? Cryptocurrency transaction tracking is made possible thanks to blockchain’s inherent transparency, which is both a blessing and a curse. Without transparency, blockchains could potentially lose part of their value proposition as transaction tracking brings a host of benefits such as voting, elections, shipping and payment tracking for orders, and more. Indeed, most cryptocurrencies provide a medium degree of anonymity, in the sense that it’s not one’s name or location that’s being tracked, but rather their addresses and the funds held. However, blockchain intelligence succeeds by linking addresses and coins to real-world identities by taking other factors into account. These include linkage to KYC-ed exchange accounts, well-known addresses, and common contacts. With these aspects in mind, is there any hope for attaining the perfect system, fit for national and international needs, housed within one impermeable blockchain? Yes, there is, and privacy coins like PIVX are leading the way. PIVX – A Deep History As a self-labeled “Financial Data Protection” coin, PIVX is nowhere close to being a newly-launched project. PIVX was announced in 2015, and later launched in 2016. Often referred to as one of the pioneers of privacy coins and the “first protected DeFi blockchain project”, PIVX makes use of proof-of-stake (PoS) and the ZK-based SHIELD protocol to facilitate quick transactions that protect user data. PIVX was launched as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that’s self-funded through its treasury. Released in response to the appearance of blockchain tracking software that invades user privacy, PIVX quickly became one of the market’s top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Albeit keen on protecting data, PIVX also supports transparent transactions, whilst providing supportive users with lucrative incentives. Throughout its history, PIVX has marked many firsts on the crypto market. These include being the first PoS project to use zk-SNARKs, masternodes, blockchain governance, deflationary mechanisms, and private staking. With a solid value proposition and numerous achievements under its belt, PIVX makes use of innovative technology to create a privacy-oriented paradigm within the cryptocurrency space. Transparency & Privacy – The Best of Both Worlds with PIVX PIVX is very adaptable to the market’s demands, so it can facilitate both transparent and anonymous transactions. This is possible thanks to the its SHIELD protocol, a world-first, fully customized zk-SNARKs sapling deployment that’s compatible with the proof-of-stake consensus protocol. Simply put, zk-SNARKs allow the processing of encrypted transactions on the blockchain with extreme efficiency – and PIVX has taken this feature from Zcash, and implemented it on top of a PoS (proof-of-stake) consensus protocol. From a top-down perspective, PIVX picked the best privacy features available, and implemented them on a PoS blockchain, eliminating scaling difficulties, large energy consumption, and the risk of 51% attacks associated with PoW. That in a nutshell is the SHIELD protocol. The introduction of a PoS-enabled zk-SNARK marks a crucial turning point in blockchain’s history – no other project has managed to successfully integrate these features before PIVX. Even Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, is also bullish on zk-SNARKs as highlighted in a recent tweet. In fact, upon switching to PoS, Ethereum 2.0 will also implement this innovative protocol. Chainalysis efforts also become futile when attempting to analyze private PIVX transactions. The SHIELD deployment allows the blockchain to verify transaction authenticity without revealing financial data to the public. As blockchain intelligence efforts rely solely on analyzing transparent on-chain data, PIVX transactions remain concealed on demand. Inflation vs. Deflation on PIVX In 2020, the US Federal Reserve came into the spotlight as it minted $3 trillion USD, seemingly out of thin air. Experts worldwide have argued that this will inflate the dollar, leading to a rapid loss in its purchasing power. This monetary policy may have further fuelled bitcoin investments, as US citizens began to lose trust in the dollar value. Unlike the USD, bitcoin’s supply limit is capped at 21M BTC, whereas minting is halved every four years. Unlike the USD and BTC, PIVX has opted for a dynamic coin supply model. This helps ensure a long-term balance between inflation and deflation. The mechanism works by minting 5 PIV on each 1-minute block and burning all transaction fees. Given a small trading volume, PIVX incentivizes spending and becomes slightly inflationary. When there’s a higher trading volume, transaction fees increase, burning more coins. This leads to deflation while encouraging saving through staking, rather than spending. In doing so, the PIVX price can avoid sudden drops while pursuing a steady growth trend. The coin’s total supply is not capped, but PIVX uses a restricted dynamic supply model that limits the maximum number of coins minteable per day, month, and year. Supply is therefore controlled, and inflation is kept at a minimum. Secure Income Streams via Masternodes and Cold Staking Users worldwide are incentivised to support PIVX through masternodes and cold staking contracts. Masternode operators help secure the network while establishing an optimal degree of decentralization, and at the time of publishing there are somewhere in the region of 1700 active masternodes globally, the distributed nature guaranteeing a high level of decentralization. Operators receive approximately 9% in PIV rewards on a yearly basis, as well as 1 vote for each masternode they run. Cold staking brings about yet another revenue stream. By joining the contract, users can stake PIV coins directly from an eligible wallet, be it core, third party light, hardware device, or even a desktop or mobile wallet. The staking mechanism, which is already running smoothly, is quite similar to what Ethereum is planning, with rewards estimated at 8-9% per year. Considering the future PIV price prediction, staking today can potentially unlock huge value in the future. Decentralizing Governance Opting for horizontal vote-based leadership in the form of a DAO, PIVX puts governance rights in the hands of masternode operators. The community can therefore decide on treasury allocations, and other important decisions concerning PIVX’s future. Now that the project has viably solved all technical challenges, the world is ready to witness the revival of privacy-conscious cryptocurrencies. PIVX holds the upper hand in this race, as it fits all new-gen criteria for disruptive projects, unlike other privacy coins that fail to uphold adaptability, true anonymity, or lucrative incentives. As a DAO that makes use of PoS and the innovative SHIELD protocol, a bullish sentiment is actively setting in. PIV’s value will further be fuelled by the upcoming deterministic masternodes, SHIELD staking, SHIELD masternodes, and support for staking pool operators. To find out more about PIVX, visit the website, connect on Twitter or GitHub or join the PIVX community to participate in the next generation of privacy on the blockchain. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

The Binance token has toppled the stablecoin Tether to become the third-largest crypto asset by market capitalization. After starting the month of February a little under $50, the token had raced past the $250 mark on February 19. At the time of writing the token is fluctuating around its all-time high (ATH) and stood at $262. At this price, BNB’s market capitalization currently stands at over $38 billion. This is nearly $4 billion more than that of Tether. Meanwhile, before the February price breakout, the token had experienced a gradual rise alongside other exchange assets. However, since the beginning of February, the token has seen two significant price breakouts. In its first significant rally, the token raced from a little under $50 on February 1 to $147 by February 10, representing a jump of nearly 200%. After a seven day lull, the token recommenced the rally on February 16 and at the time of writing, the token had doubled in value in just 72 hours. In the meantime, the BNB token’s performance is also mirrored by other exchange assets. According to Messari data, a majority of the top ten exchange assets have doubled in value in the past seven days. In the past 24 hours, only four top ten exchange assets were in the red and these are namely, UNI, SUSHI, ZRX and LRC. What are your thoughts on the BNB token’s performance over the past few days? You can share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. The Special Token Sale of TimeCoin (TMCN) will be launched on February 15th with a 93% discount on the token’s current market value. The token was launched on November 11th, 2020 on BitForex with an IEO, at an initial price of $0.7. However, already after the launch of the IEO it had risen to $11, and has since continued to rise. At the beginning of 2021, it had already risen to $22, while now it is close to $30, with a market capitalization of over $2 billion. The project, TimeCoinProtocol was initially financed by a few investors who invested around $4 million, and only a very limited number of tokens were placed on the market. Now with the Special Token Sale, the tokens will be sold on the OTC market, so as not to increase the selling pressure, after most of the tokens available on the market have been bought back by the project. They will also be made available for trading on other crypto exchanges in the future. So far, no public or private sale of TimeCoin has been conducted, but rather small quantities of tokens have been sold during the IEO. The Special Token Sale serves specifically to raise funds for the development and enhancement of the project, and in particular for the eSportStars dApp, which was released in October and is expected to grow faster than expected. This requires further development, as well as the implementation of DeFi and NFT functionalities in TimeCoinProtocol, and new funds to support development and marketing costs. For this reason, the decision has been made to launch two special, off-market token sales in order to enable the implementation of DeFi functionality in the eSportStars and TimeTicket dApps, so that fans can support creators such as eSport players, streamers, VTuber, etc. This will allow both creators and fans to receive additional tokens, as well as in-game items, art and anime characters traded using NFTs. Out of a total of 100,000,000 existing TMCN tokens, 10,000,000 tokens will be sold during the two special token sales. The first one will be launched on February 15th, and will run until April 30th, 2021. 5,000,000 TMCN tokens will be offered for sale at a price of 0.00004 BTC, a 93% discount on the current market value. The second one will be launched on May 1st, 2021 and will last until May 31st, 2021. It will cover another 5,000,000 TMCNs at a price of 0.00009 BTC, or 85% discount. The total amount expected to be raised is approximately $10 million. It will be possible to purchase in BTC, USDT or ETH via the TimeCoinProtocol.com/sale page, where it is also possible to consult the table of the token release periods. Subscribe to the TimeCoin Protocol Telegram chat to read all the latest news. 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

Open-source platform Tezos has just announced Edo, its fifth and most ambitious upgrade to its blockchain to date. This upgrade will add the Sapling protocol, tickets, and a new Adoption Period to support future upgrades that improve network functionality. Sapling, Tickets, and a New Adoption Period will Bolster Future Upgrades Tezos has been ramping up development activity following the growing hype around its native token XTZ, which has risen nearly 120% year-to-date as of writing. Its last update, Delphi, was released three months ago and cut gas costs by 75%. Tezos says its new Sapling protocol will enable developers to power “new types of applications” by incorporating “voting or supporting asset transactions with selective disclosures.” One-use tickets will act as a ‘convenient mechanism’ to unlock contractual functions, according to Tezos. Besides improving developer efficiency, tickets are designed to encourage more ‘secure and composable contracts’ and issue tokens. New Adoption Period to Ease Transition to New Protocols The new Adoption Period is set to address the common challenges users face on the Tezos network during the transition period of new protocols. Users can now expect a five-cycle period between the approval of upgrades and the adoption process (approximately two weeks). This signals a departure from Tezos’ previous mechanism of four periods to eight cycles, with Tezos declaring its commitment to “seamless upgrade transitions for all users.” Edo will tackle minor bugs, improve overall performance, and lower gas consumption than previous ecosystem upgrades. Tezos’ progress continues apace, with the project already working towards the next milestone. In the Edo release, Tezos stated that users could anticipate news on its next major update, Florence, soon. What do you think about the future of the XTZ token? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The international Pionex cryptocurrency exchange has been one of the fastest growing trading platforms in Asia in 2020 and it is now set to capture even more of the global market in 2021. What makes Pionex so popular is the trustworthy team of professionals behind it and the top notch automated trading tools that it offers for free to all clients. A Professional Crypto Exchange You Can Trust With so many platforms, exchanges and protocols competing for your crypto these days it can be hard to know which to choose. The number one principle that should guide you is to find a company you can trust, and one of the best options for that is Pionex. It has around 100,000 users and it is one of the biggest Binance brokers while it aggregate liquidity from Huobi Global at the same time. Pionex already has a U.S. MSB license and is pending for a Singapore MAS license. It never issued its own token like other exchanges and it is more likely to reach NASDAQ with an IPO than just pull another ICO. Pionex is backed by BitUniverse, and invested by prominent Chinese venture capital firms Banyan Capital, Shunwei Capital and Zhenge Capital. In September 2020, Bloomberg reported about the popularity of Pionex’s trading bots and mentioned that it has a team of around 80 people, most of whom are developers with experience from leading Chinese tech firms such as Cheetah Mobile, Alibaba Group and Baidu. Its Global CEO, Daniel Seng-Cheng YEO, has more than 30 years of experience in the finance industry, with Hong Kong SFC Securities Qualification Paper 1 RO for type 2 license. Get Free Built-in Trading Bots Only on Pionex Unlike some popular exchanges that only focus on short term gains for themselves, Pionex’s approach is to help their clients earn and keep as much as they can in the long term. This is evident as Pionex doesn’t try to push risky highly leveraged trading products on clients, instead encouraging them to limit leverage and think as investors not gamblers. This approach is also evident in the trading bots that Pionex offer. These are not not meant to be similar at all to most advertised trading bots, they don’t promise to be money printing AI algorithms that will give you huge returns and in reality just lose all your funds. Pionex’s trading bots are automated tools that are built to assist a smart investor in implementing his strategy. In total Pionex offers a dozen trading bots, each built for a different market and different situation. The first bot, and also the most popular one, is the Grid Trading Bot. Grid Trading is the strategy that has been used in the forex market and it basically helps traders to buy low and sell high in a specific price range. This bot is very suitable for the highly volatile crypto market as it can help investors to avoid the psychological pitfalls that make all human traders panic sell and fomo buy. The popularity of the Grid Trading Bot on Pionex has made many other leading exchanges try to copy it and offer their own version, but Pionex was the ‘pioneer exchange’ in offering this tool. To learn how you can use it read Pionex’s recent blog post – The Best Bitcoin Trading Strategy For Newbies in 2021 – or watch the following video guide: Get involved and meet the Pionex community on Reddit, Telegram, Twitter and Discord. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Coronavirus-driven lockdowns and social distancing limits affect people’s way of entertaining themselves, such as going to karaoke. In South Korea, that activity is too popular, and despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the crypto industry is trying to capitalize on it. Somesing: A Blockchain-Based Karaoke App Per Fn News, Somesing, a blockchain-based karaoke app, already hit the 400,000 users’ milestone. The figure is significant, considering that it’s doubling the user base (195,000) for the last six months. Karaoke’s hobby is like the norm in several Asian countries, and the coronavirus pandemic knocked down this sector heavily. In fact, according to figures published by local media, at least 2,137 “noraebang” businesses had to shut down across South Korea since the outbreak started. The number is the lowest level ever recorded, stated the Shopping Center Information Research Institute. “Noraebang” is the Korean name given to private singing rooms, translated into Western countries’ language as karaoke places. South Koreans have the habit of going with friends and even workmates after finishing their duties to sing in the noraebangs. Somesing’s platform allows people to sing along to their favorite tunes and upload them on the app. Moreover, the app rewards active users with tokens from other users or friends according to their popularity. However, one-half of the coins will fund the platform, such as paying for maintenance costs and copyright fees, said the company behind the blockchain app. The popularity of Somesing has been on the rise across South Korea, as it has been featured on major TV channels. South Korean Entertainment Sector Relying on Tokenization Solutions Other entertainment sectors have also been struggling with their businesses. Still, tokenization has been offering an alternative during these times. Fn News highlighted a travel-based blockchain platform that doubled its user base in the last three months. Milk relies on a token that can be used to acquire books, and people can exchange it for vouchers in e-commerce outlets such as Shinsaegae. In the cinema industry, Moviebloc is another blockchain-powered service that offers South Korean filmmakers an alternative to showcase their work. Platform’s users can earn tokens by writing reviews and rating films, whose coins can be exchanged in domestic crypto exchanges. What do you think about this karaoke tokenization idea in South Korea? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Tesla is facing more scrutiny over its $1.5 billion dollar bitcoin purchase. A Tesla board member who reportedly approved the company’s bitcoin buy deal is a cryptocurrency investor who also sits on the boards of two major crypto firms. Experts Question Conflict of Interest in Tesla’s Bitcoin Purchase Tesla is further under scrutiny over its bitcoin purchase as experts now question whether there is a conflict of interest surrounding a director who approved the company’s big bitcoin purchase, the Telegraph reported Tuesday. Tesla recently revealed that it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January and plans to accept the cryptocurrency as a form of payment for its products in the near future. The conflict of interest question surfaced when it emerged that a Tesla director who approved the company’s bitcoin buy is also a crypto investor with ties to two crypto firms, the publication described. Antonio Gracias is listed on the Tesla website as an independent director and a member of the audit committee that signed off Tesla’s bitcoin deal. A long-time friend of Musk, he invested in Tesla in 2005 and has been on its board since 2007. Gracias is also the founder, CEO, and chief investment officer of investment firm Valor Equity Partners, which has invested in two crypto companies. The first company is crypto custody service provider Bitgo and the other is crypto derivatives trading platform Erisx. He also sits on their boards. The publication added that Gracias was previously an investor in another crypto firm, the tokenization platform Harbor, which Bitgo acquired last year. The news outlet conveyed: Corporate governance experts said the shared roles created a potential conflict of interest that should mean him recusing himself. Charles Elson, a finance professor at the University of Delaware, said: “Good prudence would have suggested a recusal in those circumstances.” Bill Klepper, a professor of management at Columbia Business School, explained: “If there’s any direct conflict or appearance of that, you better stay arm’s length away from it. The right thing to have done would be to get the advice of legal counsel. We don’t know if he’s done that or not.” He further opined: We have to find out whether or not he is acting in good faith. It’s in the lack of transparency that you find people begin to question your ethics. Gracias also sits on the board of Musk’s rocket company, Spacex, the news outlet added, noting that he is stepping down from Tesla this year. Recently, lawyers warned that Tesla CEO Elon Musk could be probed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the electric car company’s bitcoin purchase. Meanwhile, the value of Tesla’s bitcoin stash has appreciated substantially as the price of BTC surged from around the $30K to $40K level in January to $52,408 at the time of writing. Do you think there was a conflict of interest over Tesla’s bitcoin buy? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On Tuesday, the cannabis firm Synbiotic SE, a publicly-traded company in Germany that’s listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Xetra, has announced it is leveraging bitcoin to hedge against the euro. Synbiotic’s chief executive officer, Lars Müller explained that the company decided to hedge with the leading crypto asset in order to protect the firm from further risk of euro and dollar devaluation. Synbiotic CEO: ‘Bitcoin Is the Exact Antithesis of Traditional Currencies’ A German cannabis company is joining the growing list of firms that are adding bitcoin (BTC) to their treasuries. Synbiotic SE announced on Tuesday that it is holding BTC in order to hedge against fiat currency inflation. Synbiotic’s CEO, Lars Müller explained that the cannabis firm has already started to shift “free liquidity into bitcoin.” “Our decision focused less on price fluctuations than the risk of devaluation of euro and dollar. Bitcoin is the exact antithesis of traditional currencies: its volume is limited to 21 million units,” Müller said during the announcement. “This limit is fixed and inviolable, which the cryptocurrency‘s decentralized organization and the blockchain‘s tamper-proof nature in turn guarantees. For this reason, we have more long-term confidence in bitcoin than in euros or dollars, where a central institution, influenced by politicians, can expand the money supply immeasurably,” he added. Müller continued: In addition, the cannabis sector, in particular, has had very positive experiences with bitcoin as a simple and digital means of payment. Several Synbiotic subsidiaries already accept payments in bitcoin in addition to payments in euros. The Massive Devaluation of Fiat Money Is a Legitimate Concern Synbiotic’s recent announcement follows a slew of companies adding BTC to their balance sheets. This week, Microstrategy announced it was selling $600 million in convertible shares to purchase the leading crypto asset. Synbiotic currently focuses on the synthetic production of cannabinoids, drug development, dietary supplement development, and cosmetic products as well. Much like most of the firms adding bitcoin to their treasuries, Synbiotic’s reasonings and “legitimate concern” are similar. Synbiotic and many other businesses are concerned about the “massive devaluation of fiat money” particularly when it comes to the U.S. dollar and the EU’s euro. Synbiotic believes that the company is the first corporate entity in Germany that has invested in BTC in order to curb inflation. What do you think about Synbiotic’s freeing up liquidity to acquire bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A U.S. publicly-listed Chinese sports lottery firm is extending its arms into the crypto industry by announcing another related maneuver. 500.com Ltd announced it has acquired Btc.com, the well known bitcoin mining pool. Jihan Wu Is the ‘ Biggest Beneficial Owner’ of the Mining Pool Per the announcement, the online lottery service provider bought the company from Blockchain Alliance. 500.com performed the transaction by issuing newly class A shares, representing almost a 10% stake in the listed Chinese company. According to the filings, 500.com Ltd made the share exchange agreement with Blockchain Alliance Technologies Holding Company, a Cayman Islands-based firm. Currently, the Chinese lottery provider giant has a market capitalization of $860 million, and the transaction specifies some conditions. One of them includes the profits generated by Btc.com, which in case that such net figures are no less than $20 million by the end of 2021, the current shareholders will get up to a 5% stake in 500.com Ltd. It means that a maximum of 22,176,718 additional “Class A Ordinary Shares” shall be issuable, stated the announcement. The first transaction under the agreement is expected to happen on or before April 15, 2021. Bitdeer Technologies Holding Company is the operator of the pool. Moreover, its “biggest beneficial owner” is currently is Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu. Btc.com claims to have over 10% of bitcoin (BTC) hashrate, becoming one of the top five largest mining pools globally. Not the First Crypto-Related Business Maneuver Made by 500.com But 2020 wasn’t a good year for the Chinese lottery service provider. According to the yearly figures, the company posted around $29.9 million in losses over 2020. However, 500.com started the year on a bullish note due to a significant bitcoin mining-related acquisition. As news.Bitcoin.com reported earlier in January, the company reached an initial agreement to acquire BTC mining machines from an unnamed non-U.S. seller. The full amount of the transaction — $14.4 million — will allow the company to acquire the machines, including such models as the M20s from Microbt S17, T17, and S9 units from Bitmain. What do you think about the latest 500.com crypto-related acquisition? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. xSigma is a decentralized exchange and liquidity mining platform that supports stablecoin swaps. It enables dollar-pegged assets to be traded onchain with minimal slippage and lower fees than existing AMMs. The project is gearing up for its public launch, when early adopters will have the opportunity to earn rewards for providing liquidity and traders can execute swaps in a highly liquid environment. Backed by a NASDAQ-listed company, and developed by an experienced team that includes former Google engineers, xSigma has secured the support of several high profile figures. These include NBA star Dwight Howard, who has committed to participating in the xSigma launch as an early liquidity provider (LP). Expectations are high ahead of xSigma’s debut, with a sizable community forming on Telegram, aided by extensive media coverage that has fueled interest in the decentralized exchange. The launch of xSigma coincides with the total value locked into defi protocols surpassing an all-time high of over $40 billion. As the defi market accelerates, pulling thousands of new users and billions of dollars into its orbit, final preparations are being laid for the launch of xSigma. The deployment of the decentralized exchange could hardly come at a more favorable time: while interest in defi is at an all-time high, so are complaints from DEX traders, frustrated by the poor user experience. While xSigma can’t fix all of these pain points — Ethereum’s network fees are beyond its purview — it can deliver a more pleasurable and profitable trading experience for its users. And that’s exactly what the team promises to do when xSigma debuts this month. xSigma Lab Team: “Finally, the news you have all been wanting to hear: we’re pleased to confirm that the launch date for xSigma will be February 24. For everyone who’s on our mailing list, look out for an email dropping soon containing a link to our Resource Center where you can access guides and FAQs to help you master xSigma. xSigma has been a long time in the making, and we’re grateful to our community and our backers for supporting us while we perfected our DEX. The wait is almost over and we promise you won’t be disappointed.” If you haven’t already, join the mailing list HERE, join in the conversation on Telegram HERE and see you on the 24th for the xSigma launch! 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