roadrunner

A new poll of finance managers by Gartner Finance finds that a majority are not planning to hold bitcoin as a corporate asset. In their responses, most of the 77 finance leaders interviewed cite bitcoin’s volatility as one characteristic of the crypto asset that is “extremely difficult to mitigate.” The Concerns of Finance Executives The survey’s findings appear to contradict the growing sentiment that many more listed companies will follow in the footsteps of Telsa, Microstrategy, and Square Inc. In a statement released alongside the survey’s findings, Alexander Bant, chief of research at Gartner Finance reveals that 84% of the respondents believe that “bitcoin’s volatility posed a financial risk.” In addition to the cryptocurrency’s volatility, the executives also name six other areas of concern. As shown by the survey’s findings, about 39% of the respondents cite their board’s risk aversion as another factor that contributes to the decision not to hold BTC. About 38% cite the slow adoption of the crypto asset as an accepted form of payment or exchange. Regulatory concerns (32%) and lack of expertise in dealing with cryptocurrencies (30%) are the next major reasons cited by the top finance leaders. Still, the findings suggest that understanding the impact of holding BTC on companies like Telsa and Microstrategy will become a factor for finance managers that may want to follow suit. According to Gartner Finance’s statement: (About) 71% of respondents said one of the top things they’d like to know is what others are actually doing with bitcoin. (A further) 68% want to hear more from regulators about bitcoin and better understand the risks involved with holding it. Prospective Buyers Are Not in a Hurry Meanwhile, the findings also show that 16% of respondents that are willing to adopt cryptocurrency as part of their organization’s financial strategy, appear to be in no rush to do so. Regarding those that have near term plans, the findings show: Five per cent of respondents indicated they would begin to hold bitcoin in 2021, 1% said they’d hold bitcoin at some point in 2022-2023, and the remaining 9% who indicated they would begin holding bitcoin said it would be 2024 or later. In the meantime, the survey findings show that “there was no difference in intent to hold bitcoin between small organizations ($1 billion revenue).” Fifty percent of respondents from the technology sector anticipate holding the leading cryptocurrency in the future. Private company finance executives were less favorable towards bitcoin with just 7% saying they would ever hold it. Do you agree with the findings of this survey? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

On Wednesday, as the leading crypto asset bitcoin has been riding above the $50k handle, the well known firm Blockchain.com announced the company has raised $120 million in a strategic financing round. Blockchain.com says the financing comes at a momentous occasion, as the firm’s wallets have seen 65 million created to-date in over 200 countries. London Firm Blockchain.com Raises $120 Million from Macro Investors Blockchain.com is a popular cryptocurrency company that has been around since 2012. On February 17, 2021, the company’s cofounder and CEO, Peter Smith, revealed Blockchain.com has raised $120 million from a number of macro investors. Smith also recalled how the company raised money in 2014 and they only had around two million wallets issued at the time. “Six years later, we’ve come a long way,” Smith wrote on Wednesday. “Bitcoin just crossed the monumental price target of $50k. Over 65 million wallets have been created in 200+ countries. And 28% of all bitcoin transactions since 2012 have occurred via Blockchain.com, representing billions in transaction volume,” the cofounder added. According to Blockchain.com’s announcement, investors who participated in the company’s strategic financing round include firms like Lakestar, Eldridge, Moore Strategic Ventures (Louis Bacon), Kyle Bass, Access Industries, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and GV (Google Ventures). Blockchain.com’s Institutional Markets Business Sees Significant Growth Smith further says that Blockchain.com’s Institutional Markets business is swelling from growth. That part of the business is “significant enough to cover the entire operating cost of the business globally while also delivering additional operating profits,” he added. The pandemic has also added an “unprecedented level of distrust in traditional financial institutions,” which has spurred demand. The London-based company sees a fundamental shift coming when it comes to commerce, investments, and global communications. Blockchain.com’s cofounder stressed that he “couldn’t be more optimistic about the future.” “Paradigm shifts like crypto can feel to the world as though they happened overnight— but for those of us working day in and day out to build technology and innovation in crypto, this has been a long time coming,” Smith insisted. The Blockchain.com CEO said to him, cryptocurrencies seem like the “real Robin Hood of finance,” and he highlighted how a number of well known firms are adding BTC to their balance sheets. “Our mission is to empower anyone anywhere to control their money and we’re just getting started,” Smith concluded during the fundraising announcement. “What I’m most excited about hasn’t happened yet,” he added. What do you think about Blockchain.com raising $120 million in a strategic financing round? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

According to various reports, the cryptocurrency network Verge has suffered a 51% attack that led to a massive 560,000+ block reorganization. Analysts believe the Verge network attack could be the deepest blockchain reorganization (reorg) in history with roughly 200 days worth of verge transactions wiped. Reports Show Verge Network Experienced a Massive 560,000+ Blocks Reorg The blockchain Verge and its native token XVG once made headlines for being added to the popular adult website Pornhub. This week, the Verge network has been 51% attacked according to multiple analysts and observers on social media. Verge has suffered from a total of three 51% attacks. One back in April 2018, and then another 51% attack a month later, when a malicious XVG attacker rejected a number of blocks. The network data analyst at Coin Metrics, Lucas Nuzzi tweeted about the issues with XVG on February 15. The past 200 days worth of XVG transaction history just vanished,” Nuzzi told his 9,000 Twitter followers. “This is likely the deepest reorg that has ever taken place in a “top 100” cryptocurrency,” he added. The action was caught by a Coin Metrics node according to Antoine Le Calvez who also wrote about the Verge network situation. “Looks like XVG (Verge) experienced a massive 560k+ blocks reorg,” he said. “Coin Metrics node is on a new chain whose last common ancestor with the previous chain dates to July 2020,” Le Calvez added with a screenshot of the action. The researcher and author Hasu also wrote about the problems with XVG. “Verge (XVG) is experiencing the deepest ever reorg in any PoW blockchain,” Hasu said at the time. “An attacker has replaced 200 days worth of [transactions] with empty blocks, so thousands of balances have simply evaporated.” Hasu added: What sounds scary is actually pretty easy to counter – nodes will reject the attacker’s chain and restore the previous one. But it’s another data point showing why GPU mineable coins are inherently insecure. Bittrex Pauses Verge Wallet Additionally, the popular cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex announced it had paused the XVG wallet. “The XVG wallet on bittrex.com and the Bittrex Mobile App is currently in maintenance,” the exchange wrote on Monday. The creator of litecoin (LTC) Charlie Lee told people on Twitter to “always be wary of coins that are highly NiceHash-able.” “When there’s no upfront cost, the incremental cost can be quite cheap. And it would be easy to do a 51% attack and reorg the chain,” Lee explained. The cryptocurrency verge (XVG) is a multi-algorithm enabled proof-of-work-based token, according to the project’s “black paper.” The multi-algorithm allows people to mine XVG with a variety of devices the paper adds. Verge (XVG) is open source and claims to be privacy-centric by leveraging Tor and stealth transactions. However, XVG had also been accused of leaking IP addresses associated with hundreds of XVG transactions. Since the third attack on the Verge network this week, XVG has shed more than 10% in value. What do you think about the 51% attack on the cryptocurrency verge? 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 MahaDao under the trading pair of MAHA/USDT and ARTH/USDT on Feb 15 at 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. EST. MahaDAO is a set of DeFi protocols governed by a decentralized autonomous organization. Its smart contract-controlled vaults are used to mint ARTH, a decentralized algorithmic stablecoin that maintains buying power irrespective of which direction the market moves. Different from USDT and Dai, ARTH is pegged against various uncorrelated assets, seeking to provide users a stable intrinsic value that will not be affected by inflation. MAHA is a governance token within the ARTH ecosystem. Community members can use MAHA to vote on saving rates, stability fees, strategies, and future actions to collectively manage the parameters which in turn can help supporting the value stability of ARTH. The MahaDAO team brings together entrepreneurs from the media, artificial intelligence (AI), and venture capital industry with broad-based exposure to blockchain projects. Backed by leading investment companies, MahaDAO just launched MahaSwap, an innovative new DEX with ARTH incentives that will allow users to stake LP tokens for a higher APY. MahaDAO is on track to launch its ARTH CDP Portal during the first quarter of 2021. 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 and innovative design ranging from cash and margin trading, derivatives trading, staking products, to 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 MahaDAO MahaDAO is a set of DeFi protocols governed by a decentralized autonomous organization. Its smart contract-controlled vaults are used to mint ARTH, an innovative stablecoin that maintains buying power irrespective of which direction the market moves. MAHA is a governance token within the ARTH ecosystem that enables community members to vote on saving rates, stability fees, strategies, and future actions. For more information and updates, please visit: Website: https://mahadao.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMahaDAO Telegram: https://t.me/MahaDAO Medium: https://medium.com/mahadao Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/MahaDAO/ 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

Gold bug Peter Schiff has revised his bitcoin prediction after the price of the cryptocurrency exceeded his expectations, reaching an all-time high above the $50K level. He now says, “I must admit that a move up to $100,000 can’t be ruled out.” Nonetheless, the long-term bitcoin skeptic warns that the price can also drop to zero and one should buy gold instead. Peter Schiff Now Predicts Bitcoin Can Reach $100K Euro Pacific Capital CEO and host of the Schiff Radio show, Peter Schiff, was mocked by the bitcoin community on Tuesday after the price of bitcoin crossed the $50K mark. The gold bug thought leader had predicted and emphasized repeatedly that bitcoin’s price would never reach that level. After he was proven wrong on Tuesday, Schiff revised his stance, tweeting: Now that bitcoin has hit $50,000 I must admit that a move up to $100,000 can’t be ruled out. Nonetheless, he warned: “A move down to zero can’t be ruled out either. While a temporary move up to $100K is possible, a permanent move down to zero is inevitable.” Schiff proceeded to recommend: “If you don’t want to gamble buy gold.” The quintessential bitcoin skeptic elaborated: “A financial asset is in a bubble when its price has no relationship to its underlying present value or a reasonable expectation of its future value, and investor conviction in price appreciation is high and fear of loss is low. At $50K bitcoin is the biggest bubble of them all.” Schiff had been saying since 2019 that the price of bitcoin would never reach $50K. However, he insisted on Tuesday that he was “not wrong” about his prediction, claiming that he only said that “it was highly unlikely.” He tweeted explaining: “I never said it was impossible. Sometimes things that are unlikely to happen, happen.” However, many users on Twitter accused Schiff of lying, reposting his 2019 tweet as evidence that he did say bitcoin’s price would never get up to $50K. “From the guy who had a $50,000 price target on bitcoin for the year end 2018. My gold forecast came alot closer than your bitcoin forecast. Plus at least gold will eventually hit 5K. Bitcoin will never hit 50K,” Schiff wrote on Aug. 21, 2019. His son, Spencer Schiff, chimed in and commented on his dad’s 2019 tweet: “Yeah you’d have to be nuts to think bitcoin will ever hit 50K.” Spencer then presumed that Peter Schiff’s next tweet about bitcoin’s price might be: Future tweet: ‘Now that bitcoin has hit $500,000 I must admit that a move up to $1,000,000 can’t be ruled out. However…’ The $50K bitcoin price has long been the subject of debate between Schiff and Max Keiser, a popular television personality and bitcoin proponent. Keiser has publicly said many times that bitcoin’s price hitting $50K will “trigger” Peter Schiff to panic buy the cryptocurrency. Peter Schiff has so far rejected the notion. What do you think about Peter Schiff’s bitcoin prediction? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A government-owned entity in Dubai has started accepting bitcoin, ether and tether as payment for its services, according to local media reports. Kiklabb is a free trade zone that helps companies set up shop in Dubai, a wealthy city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Kiklabb issues trade and other licenses as well as processes visas. The entity also leases office space to its customers on-board the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise liner anchored at Port Rashid in Dubai. Payments for these and other services can now be made in bitcoin (BTC), the Gulf News reported on Feb. 16. Tasawar Ulhaq, chief executive officer of Kiklabb, said the decision was made in response to a “growing interest in cryptocurrency with several customers in blockchain and fintech (financial technology) sectors.” He noted that crypto-based payments allowed for more accessibility for global entrepreneurs looking to start a business in the UAE. “It really was just a matter of time before we recognized bitcoin, ethereum, and tether. Cryptocurrencies are the payment method of the future,” said Ulhaq. Kiklabb worked with unnamed “international partners for payment processing of cryptocurrency transactions.” The CEO believes other government departments will follow in his footsteps. “We’re the first government owned licensing entity in the UAE to accept cryptocurrency payments – and certainly not the last. With the technology rapidly gaining traction across the Middle East, I’m eager to see how it changes the way we do business in the near future,” Ulhaq stated. The UAE is planning to use blockchain technology for 50% of government transactions this year. The Dubai Future Foundation estimates that the country could save more than $3 billion through blockchain and cryptocurrency use, per the Gulf News report. What do you think about Kiklabb’s move to accept cryptocurrency payments? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A crypto “smart city” could become a reality in Nevada’s desert, as a blockchain firm applied to make it possible. The investment company asked the state of Nevada to form a local government in Storey County. Crypto City Aims to Host 33 Million Square Feet of Commercial Space According to a report published by the Associated Press, Blockchains LLC wants to build the crypto city within its 67,000 acres of land located in Reno’s east. But the application is not limited to Blockchains LLC. The firm’s CEO, Jeffrey Berns, wants that local authorities grant other companies the green light to do similar projects in the state. Per the company’s CEO, if they get the approval, the firm will establish its own laws, as they’ll be granted power on building schools and even law enforcement. The crypto city also expects to deploy an economy based on digital currencies, where residents could purchase goods and pay for services via crypto assets. However, they don’t want to limit the project to an economy’s digitalization. In fact, the smart city aims to record financial statements, medical records, and personal data on the blockchain. The city will be located 12 miles east of Reno. The proposal also aims to build 15,000 homes starting from 2022, if the firm gets the approval. For the long term, precisely within 75 years, Blockchains LLC would like to build 33 million square feet of commercial and industrial space. Berns commented on the idea that Nevada changes its legal framework to allow “innovation zones” in the state: We bought 70,000 acres of land in the county. What did they think we were going to do? (…) For us to be able to take risks and be limber, nimble and figure things out like you do when you’re designing new products, that’s not how government works. So why not let us just create a government that lets us do those things? Nevada Governor Already Discussed the Idea of ‘Innovation Zones’ Although, Ben Kieckhefer, a blockchain-friendly Nevada Republican senator didn’t go into in-depth details on Blockchains LLC proposal, he said the following: I don’t know enough yet to say whether I’m comfortable with this as the next step or not. But, look, it’s a big idea, and Nevada has been built on big ideas, so let’s hear it out. The “innovation zones” mentioned by Berns are not a new concept in Nevada, at least within the local political sphere. The state’s governor Steve Sisolak highlighted the idea during his State of the State address on January 19, 2021, to “diversify the economy” in a post-pandemic era. What do you think about the concept of a crypto “smart city”? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Simone Mazzuca is innovative in his style of management. Being the founder of Wallex and creator of the EURST, he is agile and motivated with a strong orientation to bridge traditional finance with the new digital world. He focuses his energies on management and advisory robustness that leads to the creation of borderless opportunities within the financial sector and oversees the success of his clients by the achievement of their objectives. The Founder of Wallex and Creator of EURST The impact of digitization on the world economy has presented the fourth industrial revolution, transforming the economic structure, economic policies, systems impact and governance. The digital era has changed patterns of consumption, production, business models making it an important issue from a financial perspective. Over the next decade an estimated 70% of new value will be based on digitally enabled platform business models. With these technological advancements evolving at an exponential rather than linear pace, organisations must ensure to keep up and even ahead, in order to stay competitive in an ever changing economy. Only a handful have carved their niches into infinity, others are still trying. But the few who are taking this road in determination are emerging among the thong. And among the names being dropped, one keeps emerging – Simone Mazzuca. Simone Mazzuca is innovative in his style of management. Being the founder of Wallex and creator of the EURST, he is agile and motivated with a strong orientation to bridge traditional finance with the new digital world. He focuses his energies on management and advisory robustness that leads to the creation of borderless opportunities within the financial sector and oversees the success of his clients by the achievement of their objectives. Owing to many valuable years spent in financial consulting, Mazzuca’s wealth of experience in the production of financial instruments and services, such as investment and credit advice, took him as the direct manager of private and institutional clients across the countries of Italy, the USA, and Great Britain. The rarity of Simone Mazzuca’s breed earned him a reputation difficult to resist as he is found consolidating his professional experience with a fourth country – Spain – specifically, the Canary Islands. There, his work has been orientated to the promotion of tax advantages and the attraction of private capital for the Italian-Anglo-Saxon businesses. As if it was not enough, Mazzuca found his passion for financial innovation taking him to Bulgaria, a fintech hub space, where his tried and tested capabilities created cutting-edge companies that were timely suited for the new digital economy. Asked why his dedicated disposition to nascent financial technology is with such enormity given that he has no particular person in mind who inspired him to follow the path to the world of finance, Mazzuca’s words echo the hearts of great European leaders in ages past: Since I was young, I knew that I will create a strong financial institution, which will lead the way to others and make a change.” “My vision and capacity are focused on the future technological expression of the assets in international financial markets, being cryptoactive, and realizing the existing potential in bringing positive changes to the world economy.” – Simone Mazzuca It would be a regret when found the chance not to delve deeper into what visionary leaders see beyond, that mere mortals were not favored to have the ability to. Like a treasure found and kept to heart so as to be shared with many, their words of wisdom can serve as guideposts to all digital travelers. The backbone of today’s technology is blockchain, with Bitcoin as a use case. These game-changers inspired Simone Mazzuca to create Wallex. It became a technological vehicle for him given his financial experience. For Mazzuca, blockchain is a technology that is helping people in real life by allowing the financial system to perform better and more adequately. Mazzuca expressed his viewpoint that “Bitcoin is the algorithm of God, expressed through technology” -Simone Mazzuca and it is connecting investors all over the world, allowing them to trade without boundaries. For this reason, high volume of trade can be generated, become transparent, and easily accessible to all on a worldwide scale. His bit of advice to entrepreneurs is to trade Bitcoin for collateral in order to manage the risk of their company and to increase the company’s profit. To that effect, Mazzuca found a loop gap in the economy and decided to go ahead helping and reinventing the European economy by creating the EURST stablecoin and its potential financial engineering. According to Mazzuca, “EURST was conceived as an upgrade in the technology language of the traditional economic function of currency by using the trade criteria. Its framework was built considering the current financial situation.” “EURST is a live audited asset-backed stablecoin on the blockchain. And of course, it is faster, cheaper, secure, and, last but not the least – it is borderless.” – Simone Mazzuca A grounded advocate of financial technology and what it has to offer, Mazzuca firmly believes that stablecoins and CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) are the future. “Of course, they are. Aren`t they a more practical way of spending?” “They are the technology tool for better performance of the payments and can keep one general ledger that is transparent, which is very important.” -Simone Mazzuca Governments and central banks are the staunch defenders and protectors of the fiat. Economies of the world have long been running behind the power of the highly centralized fiat whether it is money backed by the gold standard or currency pegged to real commodities like oil and gas. But now the threat of decentralization brought about by blockchain technology is gathering into a huge wave of disruption aiming to dislodge legacy structures, designs, systems, and processes from their seats. Mazzuca opines that despite the changes blowing in the wind, great lessons of the past must be carried well into the future through the digitization of things. Fiat currency is just a physical representation of the value of a currency. And since stablecoins are holding a big part of the future, they are two separate worlds with their own criteria in their own time of usability. Someday soon somewhere down the road, the meeting of the two will take place, putting everything into the right perspective. So, there is actually no need of a good balance or understanding between them both. What goes on in the mind of a visionary leader like Simone Mazzuca may still be a mystery. But one thing for sure, it is exciting. Exciting in the sense that Mr. Mazzuca is excited about the new digital era. “For me, the new digital era is still an empty space. It is an opportunity, where we can create a better world for ourselves. And a better one for our kids too, isn`t that exciting by itself?” -Simone Mazzuca Footnote: Articles on Wallex Trust, Wallex Custody and EURST may be found by clicking the links. This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

The government of Spain continues to harden its stance against widely adopting cryptocurrencies. The Spanish Secretary of State for the Economy recently expressed her concerns on risks that she thinks cryptos possess for the national economy. Secretary Doesn’t Like Bitcoin as It Cannot Be ‘Supervised or Sanctioned’ During the Online Fintech Summit 2021, Ana de la Cueva said that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) carry “a risk of default, given that the user does not have the protection offered by traditional payment systems against a default by the counterparty.” In fact, the Secretary blasted off on the lack of a “centralized guarantee system” in bitcoin. Interestingly, at the beginning of her speech, De La Cueva mentioned that the cryptocurrency’s technology is based on blockchain. However, she later pointed out that there is no standard “clarity” on the nature of bitcoin. The Secretary repeated the same rhetoric of Spanish state entities on crypto assets, saying that the industry lacks a standardized regulatory framework. She even mentioned that one of the negative sides of BTC is that it “cannot be supervised or sanctioned.” De La Cueva added: At the moment, the use [of bitcoin] is very limited, but the European Central Bank already warns that a generalization could trigger unwanted effects on the functioning of the monetary system. Replicating the Bank of Spain and CNMV Rhetoric The same statement was used by both the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) in a recently issued document. Both entities warned on how crypto assets could harm the stability of the traditional monetary system. The efforts of the Spanish government to tax crypto holdings have been evident in the last few months. As news.Bitcoin.com reported, the government recently approved a bill that requires cryptocurrency owners to disclose their crypto holdings and any gains on their assets. The measure is part of the tax authorities’ efforts to remind crypto owners of their tax obligations. Still, Spain’s tough stance against crypto assets made the headlines in 2018. The Bank of Spain, jointly with the CNMV, issued its first warning on risks that carry cryptos and initial coin offerings (ICOs). What do you think about the Spanish Economy Secretary’s words on cryptos? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The price of Polkadot’s native token hit an all-time high (ATH) this week, soaring above $30, as the company laid out the next steps of its plans and the systems to finalize the network launch. Polkadot Roadmap Outlines Layer 0 Deployment Initiatives Polkadot released a roadmap highlighting that it is currently in its Rococo phase, the first of three major phases until the network goes live. Here is a breakdown of the roadmap. Rococo Testnet Rollout Polkadot (DOT) plans to continue with its launch of parachains, also referred to as application-specific data structures. These parachains, just like with parathreads, are what will allow Polkadot to pair with other more established networks, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, through a mechanism called Cross-Chain Message Passing-lite. Polkadot is still in the Rococo phase of testing its parachains. Once the code is evaluated and approved, we can expect to see Polkadot submit its vote via onchain governance to power the parachains and slot auctions on Kusama. Kusama Rollout The scalable multi-chain network, Kusama, is what Polkadot says will serve as an “additional proving ground” for parachains. It’s effectively a sandbox designed to support further testing and network effects before launching on Polkadot. Its looser parameters allow developers to test new ideas while also helping gain visibility amongst community members. Enabling parachain functionality will ultimately fall down to a vote by Kusama governance. Should the rollout be approved, non-permissioned candle auctions will be used to allocate 100 parachain slot leases. Polkadot emphasizes that users can expect a new auction “roughly every two weeks,” with more set to come available as each lease expires. Polkadot Slot Bidding The slot bidding involved in parachain offerings plays a significant role. Rather than using the initial coin offering (ICO) model, which can be (and was) easily exploited due to the limited terms of proof needed, its parachain offerings incorporate candle auctions alongside a heavy focus on governance. But these aren’t traditional candle auctions. Rather than taking the typical route of using a random number to determine the duration of its opening phase in bids, Polkadot’s will be retroactively determined, meaning that the bids that have been placed earliest stand the highest probability of success. Once an auction has ended, Polkadot will deploy the winning parachain to the network at the beginning of its lease period. Parachain slots can be leased in six-month increments for a maximum of two years, after which they’ll go back up for auction. Although difficult to estimate the costs of running these parachains, given the price, is “purely a function of market supply and demand,” as Polkadot is aiming for a safer and more secure way of bidding with its parachain auctions. Next Steps Once auctions have ended and these parachains are live, Polkadot says the network’s launch will be fully complete. While it’s possible to see future upgrades to the network, this scalability will ultimately be in the hands of its community. What do you think about the Polkadot network and the project’s roadmap? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin-buying frenzy among major companies could hit Mexican firms soon, as interest keeps increasing across the country. An expert is expecting that local businesses will follow the same path as mainstream U.S.-based companies such as Tesla. Current Bitcoin Performance Could Make Companies Rethink Their Business Models During an interview with El Economista, Mauricio Hurtado, managing partner of Price Waterhouse Cooper Mexico, says Mexican companies’ current appetite to acquire cryptos like bitcoin (BTC) is seeing bullish steam. Despite the uncertainties that cryptos have, current crypto market performances create enough confidence to rethink the current business model, said the expert. Hurtado added on the matter: This occurs because there is a significant number of players who are seeing in these currencies a transaction mechanism that is reliable and therefore, businesses adjust to market realities to prevail and have an advantage over their competitors; then you see an important change in this aspect. Tesla, Microstrategy, Square Investments Leverage Bitcoin ‘as a Store of Value’ Moreover, Hurtado said that cryptocurrencies bring some “stability” to people in terms of their plans for savings. Citing Tomás Álvarez Melis, Volabit’s director, El Economista stated that Microstrategy, Tesla, and Square’s million-dollar bitcoin investments also bolstered the consolidation of BTC as a store of value. PWC’s managing partner agreed with such a statement, adding that crypto confidence is being transmitted to both retailers and companies. Hurtado pointed out that consulting firms should keep an eye on cryptocurrency developments and their consumer patterns: The technological changes that we are experiencing have made many entrepreneurs, such as Tesla, have a greater acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in commercial transactions. It is a trend that is there, and we, as a firm, PWC, are very attentive in not neglecting all traditional currencies’ trajectory. But in giving the attention that corresponds to all the changes in terms of even market consumption patterns in the matter technology and employment patterns of the workforce, which has a direct correlation with currencies like this. What do you think about such analysis on Mexican companies possibly following Tesla’s path on bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Just recently, during Microstrategy’s “Bitcoin for Corporations” event, Stone Ridge Asset Management and New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) founder, Ross Stevens, explained that he sees a “wall of money” entering the bitcoin space. A week later after that statement, NYDIG has revealed that the company has filed for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and is hoping for regulatory approval. NYDIG Files for a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund With Hopes to Trade on NYSE Arca Last week, when Ross Stevens told the Microstrategy CEO and bitcoin bull, Michael Saylor that he believes a lot of money was coming into bitcoin he probably had a pretty good inclination. Not too long afterward, Stevens’ firm NYDIG a subsidiary of Stone Ridge Asset Management revealed the company is aiming to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The news follows the recent Purpose Bitcoin ETF approval, which will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. NYDIG also falls behind the bitcoin-based ETF filings registered by the firms Valkyrie Digital Assets and Vaneck. The “NYDIG Bitcoin ETF” filing was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 16, 2021. The registration is a Form S-1 statement, which aims to distribute common shares trade on NYSE Arca. “The [NYDIG Bitcoin Trust’s] investment objective is to reflect the performance of the price of bitcoin less the expenses of the Trust’s operations. The Trust will not seek to reflect the performance of any benchmark or index,” the registration filing notes. “In seeking to achieve its investment objective, the Trust will hold bitcoin,” the filing continues. “The Trust will value its assets daily in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, which generally value bitcoin by reference to orderly transactions in the principal active market for bitcoin.” There are around ten companies shooting for a bitcoin ETF in the U.S., according to Jeff Kilburg, founder and CEO of KKM Financial and a partner at Valkyrie. Kilburg thinks that 2021 will be the year the SEC approves a U.S.-based exchange-traded fund that leverages the leading digital asset. Kilburg jokingly said that it was similar to constantly asking someone to get married. “It’s a similar approach to the way I strategically asked my wife to marry me. Around the 15th or 20th time I asked, she finally said yes,” Kilburg told CNBC. NYDIG Names Morgan Stanley as the Authorized Participant NYDIG’s SEC filing for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund coincidentally was registered the day BTC jumped to a new all-time high. BTC temporarily touched an average price of around $50,603 during the early morning trading sessions (EST) on Tuesday. NYDIG’s filing also notes that the firm will be working with Morgan Stanley as an initially authorized participant. Of course, the NYDIG Bitcoin ETF filing also has a whole page (pg. 9) dedicated to explaining the “risks” involved with a bitcoin-based investment vehicle. “Investment in the trust involves significant risks and may not be suitable for shareholders that are not in a position to accept risks related to bitcoin,” the registration warning says. “The shares are speculative securities. their purchase involves a high degree of risk, and you could lose your entire investment. you should consider all risk factors before investing in the trust.” What do you think about the latest bitcoin ETF filing by New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG)? View the full article

Following the Cream Iron Bank flash loan attack, preliminary findings of a probe have shown that contracts and markets still function normally. As a result, markets have now been re-enabled while the asset borrowing function has been paused. The Cream team also reveals that investigations are continuing. The Exploit After the exploit, the value of the Cream protocol token plummeted from just over $280 on February 12 to $186.48 24 hours later. At the time of writing, Messari data shows that the token had recovered although it has remained mostly under $230. Meanwhile, in his analysis of the exploit, researcher Igor Igamberdiev reveals that the attacker(s) had “used Alpha Homora for borrowing Synthetix stablecoin from Ironbank.” He adds that “each time they (would) borrow twice as much as in the previous one.” The attacker(s), did this through two transactions and whenever they lend the funds back into Ironbank they would receive Yearn Synthetix stablecoin. According to Igamberdiev, the attacker(s) had at some point secured a 1.8 million USDC flash loan from Aave v2. This flash loan was then swapped with Synthetix stablecoin for onward lending to Ironbank. Millions Siphoned Using similar tactics, the attacker(s) would take out an even bigger loan. In his Twitter thread, Igamberdiev explains: Also, a $10 million flash loan is taken, which is also used to increase the number of Yearn Synthetix stablecoin. In the end, the number of their Yearn Synthetix stablecoin reaches an incredible amount, which allows them to borrow anything from Iron bank. Consequently, the attackers went on to borrow stablecoins valued at $13.4 million as well as wrapped ETH valued at over $23 million. At the time of writing, it had been revealed that the debt resulting from the attack “will not be between users and Alpha Homora.” Instead, it will be Alpha Homora and Iron Bank that will have to “find a solution that resolves the debt between the two protocols.” What do you think needs to be done to prevent future flash loan attacks? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Gradual warming to cryptocurrencies by financial companies combined with both retail investments and institutional interest has carved the way for litecoin’s renewed momentum in 2021. Litecoin is Riding the Bull Market to its Next Resistance Level Litecoin had a challenging start. In late 2017 its founder, Charlie Lee, allegedly sold his entire bag of LTC “to concentrate on the project’s development.” Lee, understandably, received a lot of criticism for his decision. The founder, that goes by the Twitter handle Satoshilite (a reference to bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto) didn’t hold back, replaying a year later: I sold because holding LTC made it a situation where I may do something to pump the value short term. but is bad for the long term success of Litecoin. I didn't want that conflict. I've explained this many times. If all you still don't understand, I can't help you. Be gone. — Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) July 7, 2018 Interestingly though, LTC had a 5,000 percent jump in December 2017, though the market correction in 2018 brought it back to its pre-jump level of around $26. The gradual warming up to cryptocurrencies from large institutions marks a significant shift in attitude compared to the last bitcoin boom in 2017. In October last year, Paypal partnered with New York chartered trust company Paxos, announcing it would allow its users to trade cryptocurrency directly from their Paypal accounts. Square Inc, a financial services and payment company led by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, purchased $50 million of bitcoin shortly after, a decision that rewarded the company with a 10% rise. As far as litecoin (LTC), Visa launched an LTC-only Visa card that can be used digitally and physically in the United States. All of these crypto adoptions work together to create a network effect, as crypto assets like ethereum, bitcoin cash, and litecoin seem to be some of the select altcoins that benefit the most. Moreover, Cryptwerk lists over 2,200 companies currently accepting LTC as payment. LTC is currently the 8th most valuable crypto asset with a market cap above $14 billion this week. ‘The Original Sin’ The recent adoption from financial companies has been trickling down to retail investors. Litecoin has been on a bull run since September, with gains of over 350%. Though it’s been struggling to get past its critical resistance at $170 until recently, it is now breaking above this key level and riding the bull market to its next resistance level at $228. Active addresses chart is clearly showing LTC momentum during the second half of 2020: Drilling down to the beginning of 2021, transaction history also indicates steady growth for LTC; it’s a trend, no longer a singular jump: Institutional interest followed when just last week Grayscale, the largest crypto asset manager in the world, purchased 6,987 litecoin, bringing the total value of Grayscale’s LTC assets under management to above $250 million. Institutional investments strengthen even more a coin’s trajectory as these kinds of investments are the result of thorough research combined with calculated, data-driven predictions. The “original sin” of Lee came to a closing over the last weekend when Litecoin Foundation’s project director, David Schwartz, offered in a tweet a public redemption for Lee pointing out that Lee sold his LTC at an average value of $205, a value that now has been suppressed. .@SatoshiLite sold his stack of #LTC at an average of $205 Everyone can shut up now. — David Schwartz (aka – Dasch) (@DaddyCool1991) February 13, 2021 What is your sentiment toward litecoin – bullish or bearish? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The publicly listed company Microstrategy announced that it has plans to purchase more bitcoin after acquiring 71,079 bitcoin during the last six months. On Tuesday, Microstrategy revealed its plans to sell $600 million in convertible senior notes to qualified institutional buyers in order to use the funds for bitcoin. Selling Convertible Notes for Bitcoin At around 7:59 a.m. (EST) on Tuesday morning, Microstrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) CEO, Michael Saylor tweeted about a new private sale his firm is committing to in order to sell $600 million in convertible senior notes. Microstrategy’s announcement says that the notes will be unsecured, senior obligations of Microstrategy, and will bear interest semi-annually to holders. The notes will mature on February 15, 2027, and Microstrategy says that the firm can redeem cash for all the notes sold. The announcement further reads: Microstrategy intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the notes to acquire additional bitcoins. Microstrategy has purchased a great number of bitcoins and currently holds 71,079 BTC worth more than $3 billion using today’s exchange rates. The move to sell convertible notes is not unusual for the intelligence company as Microstrategy completed a $650 million capital raise to purchase bitcoins in mid-December. A screenshot of bitcointreasuries.org and Microstrategy’s current bitcoin balance. While Michael Saylor tweeted the latest announcement, bitcoin (BTC) prices were in the midst of reaching a new all-time high (ATH) on Tuesday morning. BTC shot up to $50,603 per coin on February 16, 2021, and has a market cap valued at over $900 billion today. Following Saylor’s tweet, Michael Sonnenshein the CEO of Grayscale responded to the recent Microstrategy move. “Trying to catch up with Grayscale?” Sonnenshein asked, as the CEO’s Grayscale Bitcoin Trust holds a whopping 649,130 BTC worth $31 billion today. A few other people responded to Saylor’s tweet with criticism and said: “Dude is full knowingly creating the biggest bubble in history, fu**ing legend.” The comment was blasted by a person who disagreed with the “biggest bubble” statement. ”If you think it’s a bubble you don’t get it, we are bursting the fiat bubble,” the individual said. Digital Gold Microstrategy and Michael Saylor have been relentlessly pushing the digital gold narrative and Saylor has said that the popular yellow precious metal gold is antiquated. “If institutions want to move billion-dollar blocks of money around the globe, gold is a million times more expensive than bitcoin,” Saylor said. “And a thousand times slower. We can’t build a modern economy on antiquated technology,” the Microstrategy executive added. Many people support Saylor’s perspective that BTC can be digital gold, a store of value, and something that offers investors long-term potential growth. “The narrative of bitcoin becoming the digital gold is gaining traction,” John Wu, the president of Ava Labs told news.Bitcoin.com on Tuesday. “If that narrative comes to fruition, then the growth potential is off the charts as $50,000 per BTC equates to a market cap of roughly $931B, which is almost 9% of Gold at roughly $10.6T market cap,” Wu said. The AVA Labs president further added: If BTC meets Gold’s market cap, then that would be at least $500,000 per BTC. With 71,079 bitcoin on hand and more to come after selling the convertible notes, Microstrategy will be a publicly listed company with almost as much bitcoin as one of the top BTC hedge funds. Shares of Microstrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) dropped over 2%, after the CEO announced the company would be selling the notes for bitcoin. What do you think about Microstrategy selling convertible notes to purchase more bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The price of bitcoin touched an all-time high surpassing the $50k handle on February 16, 2021. Cryptocurrency advocates celebrated the milestone as bitcoin has spiked more than 200% during the last 90 days and 400% against the U.S. dollar for the entire year. Bitcoin (BTC) has crossed the psychological $50,000 zone after fighting the region for more than 24 hours. The leading cryptocurrency, in terms of market capitalization, has gained more than 154% since the all-time high in December 2017. At around 7:37 a.m. (EST) bitcoin (BTC) hit $50,603 per unit on Tuesday. Bitcoin (BTC) touched an all-time high at $50,603 per unit on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. While BTC captures the $50k mark, the crypto asset’s dominance index is only 61% today. This is due to ethereum (ETH) commanding 13.81% of the overall crypto economy’s value and tether (USDT) capturing 2.21%. Meanwhile, cardano (ADA), polkadot (DOT), and binance coin (BNB) all have a touch less than 2%. BTC’s hashrate has been very high today and at the time of publication, the network is processing at speeds of around 163 exahash per second (EH/s). Moreover, with the network mining difficulty at 21.43 trillion, it has never been harder to mine than it is today. Despite the massive difficulty, a whopping 21 mining pools are mining BTC. The top five mining pools capture a significant amount of SHA256 hashrate as all five operations command 75% of the hashrate. This includes F2pool, Poolin, Antpool, Binance Pool, and Btc.com. While bitcoin (BTC) has reached record highs the U.S. dollar looks weaker than ever as DXY Index charts show the currency continues to sink. Moreover, 2021 has been the year of shorting the greenback, as reports note that USD short positions have been at their highest in ten years. Meanwhile, bitcoin proponents have been excited about positive news like Tesla’s $1.5 billion BTC purchase, Mastercard and BNY Mellon acceptance, the city of Miami’s recent moves to adopt bitcoin, and rumors of Uber and Apple jumping aboard. As BTC captured the $50k price range, analysts think that bitcoin prices could go way higher. The popular Twitter account @Cryptocapo_ tweeted to his 49,000 followers that we could see the $60 range soon enough. “BTC – Bullish continuation seems more likely now,” the trader wrote. “Above $50k it teleports to $60k. $59k-$62k is the Fibonacci confluence zone (resistance). We could see a bigger shakeout there, maybe to $45k,” the analyst added. At the time of publication, after BTC touched $50,603 per coin, the price dipped back under the $50k handle. Currently, bitcoin (BTC) bulls are attempting to cross the psychological zone again. Want to check out all the crypto asset prices, volumes, and stats in real-time? Check out markets.Bitcoin.com today. What do you think about bitcoin crossing the $50,000 zone? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes that too many dogecoins are held by too few whales and has made them a huge offer. He will give his full support if they sell most of their coins, and will even pay actual money for them to destroy their coins in some provable fashion. Some believe that major dogecoin holders need to consider Musk’s offer for the long-term health of the meme cryptocurrency. Elon Musk’s Big Offer to Large Dogecoin Holders Elon Musk believes that dogecoin’s uneven concentration in the hands of a few holders is the only real issue with the meme cryptocurrency and has offered his help to solve the problem. The Spacex CEO tweeted Sunday: “If major dogecoin holders sell most of their coins, it will get my full support. Too much concentration is the only real issue imo … I will literally pay actual $ if they just void their accounts.” At the time of writing, his original tweet got 24.7K comments and has been liked 297.9K times. His follow-up tweet got 6.4K comments and has been liked 93.8K times. Musk did not clarify what he would like to see the dogecoin whales do exactly to void their accounts and did not specify the dollar amount he is willing to pay them. The Tesla CEO could mean he would like to see the holders of the largest dogecoin addresses burn their coins, sending them to addresses without private keys. According to the Dogecoin Rich List on bitinfocharts.com, one address holds 28.7% of all DOGE and the top 12 addresses collectively contain almost 50% of all dogecoins. A few hours after his initial offer, Musk was asked, “What would be your acceptable outcome?” He replied, “~5%.” Commenting on one address holding more than 28% of all dogecoins, Musk wrote: Disturbing concentration. One Twitter user believes that a similar situation is happening with BTC, given Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s huge bitcoin stash. “Same with BTC, really,” he claimed and posted an image displaying: “While the exact figure is unknown, it is estimated that Satoshi Nakamoto may possess 1 million bitcoins, equivalent to 100,000,000,000,000 satoshis.” Musk replied: “An acceptable percentage. Doge is much more concentrated.” Another Twitter user commented to Musk: “Although the price may not reflect it right now, Elon Musk’s ultimatum is good for dogecoin. It shows that his jokes aren’t just jokes, and that he legitimately sees dogecoin’s potential as being the leading currency of the internet. He wants DOGE to succeed. Fate loves irony.” Musk agreed, replying with just: “Absolutely.” The Tesla CEO also concurred with the user’s follow-up statement stating: Whales will have to consider Elon’s ultimatum here. If they comply, dogecoin becomes the currency of the internet. If they don’t, or ‘cheat’ by distributing their coins across multiple wallets, then it loses Elon’s endorsement. Easy decision for the whales. Do the right thing. A third Twitter user suggested to Musk: “Develop a new eloncoin, offer them to the existing non-major dogecoin holders to void their wallet. You wouldn’t need to pay $ to make those major dogecoin holders richer than they already are and allocate your time and support to make the eloncoin the currency of the Earth.” Musk replied: “Only if necessary.” Musk has long been tweeting about dogecoin and the price of the cryptocurrency jumped following his tweets. Earlier this month, he tweeted, “Dogecoin is the people’s crypto.” He even revealed why he had been tweeting about DOGE: “Occasionally, I make jokes about dogecoin but they are meant to be jokes. Dogecoin was made as a joke to make fun of cryptocurrencies. Obviously.” However, he concluded: “But fate loves irony, and often the most ironic outcome or entertaining outcome is the most likely. And I think that the most entertaining and ironic outcome is that dogecoin becomes the currency of earth in the future.” The Tesla CEO also said last week that he bought some dogecoins for his 9-month-old son. “Bought some dogecoin for lil X, so he can be a toddler hodler,” Musk wrote. What do you think about Elon Musk’s offer to dogecoin whales? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

In Mendoza, Argentina, law enforcement launched an investigation against a sports-related investment site for presumably being a bitcoin scam. Among the inquiries, authorities are investigating if they’re involved in money laundering and tax evasion. Platform Claims to Invest Customer’s Funds in Placing Soccer Bets According to Clarin, Javier Giaroli, the prosecutor from the Public Ministry of San Rafael, leads the inquiries against Ganancias Deportivas. Local authorities have been interviewing several alleged victims to determine whether it’s a Ponzi scam or not. Per the findings, Ganancias Deportivas attracted over 41,000 residents from the province of Mendoza, 30,000 of them living in the city of San Rafael. Allegedly based in Costa Rica, the platform offers investment packages that promise high yield returns of 20% monthly and 240% yearly. However, they ask for a one-time payment of 100 euros to join the site, and if each member can refer others to the platform, they can receive 20 euros per new customer signed up. Investment packages are ranging from 60 euros to 10,000 euros. People can make deposits in bitcoin (BTC) to participate in the platform. The site promotes itself as a “networking company” that invests in sports betting, specifically soccer. They claim to have “expert analysts with ten years of experience” who place bets on soccer matches from the “major international leagues and tournaments,” especially from Europe. Local Promoter to Testify at the Prosecutor’s Request One of the requirements asked by Ganancias Deportivas is that users cannot withdraw initial investment for six months. There are some users, however, who reject the claims that Ganancias Deportivas is a scam. Still, investigators of the Economic Crimes Prosecutor’s Office have raised concerns about the “exorbitant” returns offered by Ganancias Deportivas. In addition, the prosecution sees it contradictory, the fact that a “networking company” is collecting funds to invest in alleged sports betting. Prosecutor Giaroli told Clarin that they have sent requests for reports abroad because although the company is allegedly based in Costa Rica, it was created in Spain. Moreover, he called a former cell phone seller in San Rafael, who is actively promoting the business in the city, to testify. The promoter claimed to have documents that support Ganancias Deportivas’ source of funds. As of press time, there are no detainees, nor arrests, as the investigations keep underway. Also, the website is blocked in Colombia, as the local authorities blacklisted it as an illegal betting site. What do you think about this case of an alleged sports betting-related bitcoin scam? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Online censorship has taken front and center since the sweeping ban of former U.S. President Donald Trump from every social outlet he’s been a part of. Other high-profile censorship acts, like Amazon removing alt-right social network Parler from its servers and My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell being banned from Twitter have presented a new paradigm of online censorship. Decentralized database service Bluzelle has decided to fight back so to speak. It has announced a $500,000 grant for censorship-resistant applications in what seems like a direct response to recent acts of online censorship by Big Tech. Bluzelle CTO, Neeraj Murarka, has shared with news.Bitcoin.com his perspective on the ongoing debate surrounding online censorship and Bluzelle’s strong push against it. Bitcoin.com (BC): With major tech brands currently in hot water with the federal government around issues of censorship, what is the motivation behind Bluzelle getting involved in this issue right now? Neeraj Muraka: The vast majority of people don’t want hate speech. But history has shown that when something is banned, it usually stirs up more interest and the opposite is achieved. The censored or banned product just gathers more steam. On the other hand, if left out in the open, the topic can be discussed, and most often it gets stamped out by the public. Fundamentally, the public will ultimately reject hate speech, so it is best to leave the public to do so. BC: Do you have an example in mind? Muraka: I know the following are examples of products, but human psychology is still applicable. When the first Air Jordan’s came out, the NBA banned them because not enough white colors were on them. What did Nike do? Threw a campaign called “Banned by the NBA” on it. Sales went through the roof. Rap artists like NWA and 2 Live Crew were banned. What did it do? Made my friends and I go listen to them more. Start censoring certain groups, single them out, and it will likely just attract more people. People who feel disenfranchised, marginalized are looking for anything to attach themselves to. I think outright censoring would achieve the opposite of the desired effect — making these very negative elements more attractive. Also, how do they decide what to censor? Is it based on Jack Dorsey’s values? If Jack is a vegan and he thinks people who eat meat are not right for the planet or to animals, and his peers agree with him, does he go and ban any talk about eating meat? It’s a slippery slope. BC: Do you think that censorship laws should be left in the hands of federal legislators in congress? Muraka: As not just a seasoned tech entrepreneur but also having participated in Canadian politics in multiple elections, I do not generally hold most elected legislators in the highest regard. They tend towards populism, which ultimately tyrannizes the minority. Censorship laws should be minimized as best as possible, and if any such laws must exist, they should be in the hands of the legislators closest to the people they apply to. Speaking in terms of the USA, that would mean these laws are in the hands of the governor or county officials. Decentralization is efficient and ensures that laws suit the population. BC: Censorship is obviously a sensitive issue. How do your partners like Polkadot, Elrond, Matic, etc feel about your initiative? Muraka: I can’t speak on their behalf. BC: Why didn’t you just use the money to further invest in apps that already exist instead of waiting for developers to build something from scratch? Muraka: Most developers of established applications are rationally unlikely to take the risk of moving to a new platform, unless there is a very strong reason to do so. On the other hand, fostering new applications designed from the ground up that provide strong freedom of speech features is an effort we can drive deterministically with real results. BC: What do you envision developers in your program will come up with? Muraka: We are making a strong push with values such as freedom of speech, censorship resistance, and liberty. I want to see developers coming up with applications that empower not just large groups with established power but smaller groups that might have exciting new ideas. So I envision, based on the focal points I have shared with the community, that we will see applications that empower freedom. Freedom not just with information but also finance, where people can be in charge of their money and move power away from the big banks and Wall Street. BC: Are you worried that the applications developed become nests of hate speech? Muraka: I am not worried about it — I expect hate speech to show up. It is unavoidable on any platform. Regardless, you don’t quell a platform because some bad apples show up. Every medium (telegraph, telephone, email, etc) allows hate to propagate, but of course, we do not shut them down, right? The vision I have for apps and platforms to tackle this issue is very democratic in nature. It comes down to empowering the public to quell hate. BC: What is your plan to tackle that issue, if and when it were to arise? Muraka: I would never take a direct step and purge Bob’s hate messages. Rather, I allow the public to vote down his messages. What happens? His messages are not deleted, but they get so much negative feedback that they pretty much never show up on anyone’s “feeds”. For all intents and purposes, Bob has been censored, yet, no big power (including myself) has taken a unilateral step to do so. BC: Anything else you’d like to add? Muraka: Freedom of speech and the ideas around it are vital to the evolution of society. We have seen “unpopular” ideas (such as Abolitionism in the USA prior to the Emancipation Proclamation) that ultimately turned the tide and made the world a much better place. If such ideas had been silenced, the improvements would not have happened. It is audacious to assume that unpopular ideas should be silenced and therefore censor them away. I am not saying every unpopular idea is a good one, but I am saying that we, as a progressive society, cannot afford to silence unpopularity. The pros far outweigh the cons. What do you think about Big Tech’s role in online free speech? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A body representing cryptocurrency and blockchain stakeholders in Nigeria has joined other crypto industry players in assailing the recent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive to banks. The CBN order, which seeks snuff out crypto entities from the banking system, took effect on February 5, 2020. Not Just a Mere Reiteration In a statement, the body, known as the Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria (BICCON), also dismisses the CBN’s assertion that the new directive is just a “mere reiteration” of what it said in January 2017. The latest directive effectively banned financial institutions from providing services to persons and/or entities transacting in cryptocurrency. Further, the BICCON castigates the CBN for failing to give “any adequate notice or court order of any court of competent jurisdiction.” Also highlighting the hastiness as well as the chaotic implementation of the order, the BICCON reveals how some crypto companies have been affected by this decision. The BICCON explains: Since 5 February 2021, a number of persons and entities accounts have been closed. In one strange and exceptional case, the funds in the two corporate accounts of a cryptocurrency exchange were wiped out and then eventually closed. Still, the representative body notes that the ban might face legal challenges since “there is currently no legislation by the National Assembly criminalizing or illegalizing trade in cryptocurrency in Nigeria.” Senators Oppose CBN Directive Meanwhile, prior to the release of the media statement by the BICCON, some members of the Nigerian Senate had expressed opposition to the CBN directive. According to reports, the Nigerian Senate wants the CBN to explain this decision, and the governor, Godwin Emefiele is set to appear before the legislative body. However, at least one Senator, Sani Musa has come out in support of the CBN directive. In a speech, Musa claims cryptocurrencies, especially BTC, have made the Nigerian currency “almost useless.” Another regulator, the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission also says it endorses the CBN directive. Reports quote the regulator saying: For the purpose of admittance into the SEC regulatory incubation framework, the assessment of all persons and products affected by the CBN circular of Feb. 5, 2021 is hereby put on hold until such persons are able to operate bank accounts within the Nigerian banking system. The SEC, which previously announced plans to regulate cryptocurrencies, is justifying the apparent about-face claiming there is further need to “analyse and better understand the risks.” The regulator, however, denies that there are “contradictions and inconsistencies” between what the SEC said in September 2020 and its current stance with respect to the CBN directive. Countering False Assertions In the meantime, the BICCON statement also responds to some of the false assertions about cryptocurrencies that are propagated by the CBN in its follow-up statement. Next, the body also lays out what Nigeria, which is already the largest cryptocurrency market on the African continent, stands to lose if the ban is not “reviewed or reversed.” According to BICCON, Nigeria stands to miss out on “boosting remittances into the country.” Remittances sent via crypto rails have proven to be popular with a growing section of Nigeria’s expatriate community. Moreover, the representative body says if this directive is not reviewed, the country will see the “death of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria, particularly indigenous cryptocurrency exchanges who should be getting regulatory support to become globally competitive.” Do you think the CBN is going to review or revise its position? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Cryptocurrency users are leveraging their new-found wealth to fly more often with private jets. This week the directional aviation company Privatefly revealed that close to 20% of the firm’s sales were paid in cryptocurrencies last month, and 13% out of that aggregate used bitcoin. On-Demand Private Flights and Crypto According to data from the company Privatefly, purchasing flights with digital assets has soared in recent times. For instance, the directional aviation company said a few years ago, the company pulled in 1-2% from crypto payments for flights. The numbers jumped significantly in December 2020 to 12%, and subsequently spiked to 13% during the first month of 2021. Out of the 13% in BTC payments, cryptocurrency settlement, in general, makes up 19% of Privatefly’s revenue. Adam Twidell, Privatefly’s CEO. The flight company says that Privatefly started accepting bitcoin early in 2014 and since then, it has expanded its cryptocurrency support. The company uses Bitpay for one-off flights or memberships, and this week it has started a new bitcoin program. Privatefly has launched the “Bitcoin Jet Account,” which allows customers to hold their BTC and open a membership at the same time, but keep the funds held in crypto. “While we have accepted bitcoin payments for many years now,” Adam Twidell, Privatefly’s CEO said. “Cryptocurrency transactions have really taken off in recent months. These are in line with Bitcoin’s climb in value – to the extent that 13% of our flights were paid for in this way last month. We have previously seen just 1-2% each month,” the CEO added. Twidell continued: Some of these are clients who are looking to realise their gains, while others want to hold onto their cryptocurrency, in expectation of future increases. So, in addition to taking out a membership with us in bitcoin and converting the account funds into traditional currency (as we have offered for a while), we now offer a membership program that allows the account funds to stay in bitcoin. ‘The Perfect Way to Pay’ Privatefly explained that years ago, that the Belgian tech entrepreneur, Olivier Janssens, was the firm’s first customer to pay in bitcoin. Janssens took a flight to Nice Cote D’Azur from Brussels and booked and paid for the trip on the same day. “The flight was the biggest Bitcoin payment transaction I have made,” Janssens said at the time. “But it was very easy and efficient, particularly as I wanted to fly at very short notice. It was the perfect way to pay.” Recently, Credit Suisse Group AG, BNP Paribas SA, and a number of other financial institutions said demand for private jets has increased massively and should continue throughout 2021. “Looking back we had a very good year and much, much better than expected,” the chief of aviation for the equipment-finance unit of Societe Generale SA, Werner Slavik, noted during a Jet Investor event. The aviation company Privatefly offers one-off ‘on-demand’ private flights, but regular patrons can also create a membership account and deposit funds regularly. “Privatefly has always sought to make private jet travel easier to book, combining innovative technology with deep industry expertise and the secure backing of one of the world’s largest private aviation groups, with annual revenues of over $2 billion,” Twidell noted during the announcement. “Many of our clients are tech-savvy and entrepreneurial people, which is why we started accepting bitcoin payments for one-off flights in 2014, a world-first at the time,” Twidell concluded. “We are now the first to offer a private jet membership program based on bitcoin funds.” Privatefly also supports payments in bitcoin cash (BCH), ethereum (ETH), and four USD-pegged stablecoins (GUSD, USDC, PAX, and BUSD). What do you think about Privatefly’s recent crypto revenue uptick and the “Bitcoin Jet Account?” Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Just recently the Mexican billionaire, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, joined Elon Musk and a number of high-profile people, by adding the bitcoin hashtag to his Twitter bio. Salinas is one of Mexico’s wealthiest individuals with a fortune of around $13.2 billion and 10% of the entrepreneur’s liquid portfolio is in bitcoin. Grupo Salinas Chairman Joins the Bitcoin Bio Twitter Trend Ricardo Salinas Pliego is the third-wealthiest individual in the nation-state of Mexico and back in 2013, he purchased BTC for $200. At the time he claimed, it was the “best investment ever.” “I want to sit around for another five or ten years”, he said during the interview in December 2020. Moreover, the Mexican billionaire recently told the public that 10% of his liquid portfolio is in bitcoin (BTC). Salinas is also vocal about his love for bitcoin on Twitter and once tweeted that “[bitcoin] is inflationary expropriation. Now the chairman at conglomerate Grupo Salinas has put the bitcoin hashtag on his Twitter bio, following the line-up of luminaries and celebrities contributing to this trend. Elon Musk recently added the bitcoin hashtag to his bio and the price of BTC spiked a few percentages. Since then, a whole slew of well known individuals have continued to add the bitcoin hashtag to their Twitter bios to show support for the leading cryptocurrency. The popular Carolina Panthers offensive tackle, Russell Okung, persuaded many celebrities to jump onboard. “Everyone put #Bitcoin in your bio,” Okung tweeted. “Plant the flag to declare you’re ready for the future. ‘Inflationary Expropriation’ When Salinas was interviewed and said bitcoin was one of the best investments ever, he also talked about a few South American countries facing economic turmoil. “What’s happening in Venezuela, in Argentina where fiat money is collapsing has become a scandal. It really opens your eyes to the problem of fiat cash,” the Grupo Salinas executive explained at the time. Of course, when Salinas mentioned bitcoin on social media, a few individuals called Salinas’ recent commentary an “irresponsible comment.” The bitcoin hashtag in his bio, on the other hand, is a statement he can make without much commentary. So far, thanks to Elon Musk and the NFL player Russell Okung, a great number of people are adding the hashtag including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, spiritual guru Sofia Hayat, and Skybridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci. After the Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego joined the growing trend, he was welcomed with open arms. What do you think about Ricardo Salinas Pliego putting the bitcoin hashtag in his Twitter bio? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Even though Bitcoin and Ethereum are called ‘cryptocurrencies’ people still treat them like assets instead of currencies. People are not spending cryptocurrencies on a large scale, nor are merchants accepting them on a similar scale. Generally speaking, you still cannot pay for a cup of coffee at your local café with your bitcoin. Jax.Network, a project based in Kyiv, Ukraine has endeavored to solve this issue. Its goal is to bring cryptocurrency to mainstream day-to-day use by first replacing the stablecoin market, with its decentralized, scalable, Proof of Work based coin ‘Jax Coin’ and then aiming for the greater global payments market after. A gargantuan goal to say the least, however, it was not born out of a whim. Much thought, time, and research have gone into the project since its inception in 2018. As the project was beginning, members of the newly formed Jax.Network team had one goal: to research and develop a decentralized, scalable, and stable coin that will not sacrifice on security. And from Q3 of 2018 until Q2 of 2020, that is exactly what the team had done and achieved. An elegant and robust solution to the blockchain scalability trilemma has been created. The solution has been extensively outlined in the whitepaper, the latest version of which was released in October of 2020. Jax.Network’s Scalability Solution In short, the Jax.Network protocol plans to use their very own sharding and merged mining solution to ensure the superior scalability of their blockchain. This means that all shards on the Jax.Network blockchain will be protected to the highest degree while being able to continuously scale. The Jax.Network team has claimed that their merged mining solution will be able to prevent 51% attacks much more effectively even on individual shard chains. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, miners will not be given a fixed reward for solving blocks, rather, they will be compensated based on the computing power they contribute to secure the network (inside the shard chains). The purpose of this reward function is to achieve balance on the network shards. Whether a miner mines on 1 shard or 100 shards, they will still receive a reward proportionate to the amount of computing power they bring to the network. Additionally, this is how Jax Coins can claim its status as a relatively stable coin. Since miners are incentivized by profit, they, therefore, follow the law of supply and demand when minting new coins. In other words, miners will mint more coins when the price is high and less when the price is low to drive the price back up. This means that, over time, the price of Jax Coins will be very stable and therefore suitable for day-to-day transactions, similar to the US dollar or Japanese Yen. The project has even decided to boldly ignore what many other crypto projects have done to achieve scalability, which is to create a Proof of Stake based blockchain. According to Jax.Network’s Chief Economist, Lucas Leger, “Proof of Stake, applied to our network, would increase the concentration of power and be a sacrifice on decentralization.” Leger strongly believes that the Jax.Network’s Proof of Work based blockchain can “achieve the necessary scalability to become a global payment platform without sacrificing the network’s security.” In fact, everything is linked to the initial coin distribution. In the case of Jax.Network, the peculiar reward function on shards is at odds with proper economic incentives if it were run under a PoS consensus algorithm. Indeed, some economic work has shown that best incentives are preserved when the reward tends to zero and when validation is restricted to the “sufficiently large stakeholders” (Saleh, 2020). Furthermore, PoW has to be seen as an investment with uncertain returns (Prat & Walter, 2018) due to price fluctuations. Overall, from an economic standpoint, either you would favor a system closer to shareholding with limited responsibilities (in PoS) or a system that relies on favoring entrepreneurship and investments (PoW). Jax.Network have decided to go with the latter, more aligned with economic incentives of the shards reward function.” From the middle of 2020 until now, the Jax.Network project has been in the development phase of the project. Some of the best minds in blockchain architecture, cryptography, and software development have been hired to work on the development of their protocol. According to the Jax.Network roadmap, they plan to launch their mainnet in Q3 of 2021, but after speaking with members of the development team, their target is much sooner, as soon as late April of 2021. Jax.Network are also hosting and attending some offline blockchain events in the coming months. They will be co-organizing the BlockchainUA conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on the 26th of March 2021. The BlockchainUA event is claiming to be the biggest offline Blockchain conference in Eastern Europe. Jax.Network have said the purpose of these events is to “start gathering the community of early adopters, supporters, and blockchain enthusiasts who want to impact the market.” For more information about the Jax.Network project such as its mission, vision, team, roadmap, solution, and more, visit the official website at jax.network. References Prat & Walter (2018). An Equilibrium Model of the Market for Bitcoin Mining, Cesifo Working Paper. Saleh, F. (2020). Blockchain without Waste: Proof-of-Stake. The Review of Financial Studies. 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

Paypal’s cryptocurrency services are coming to the United Kingdom, as the digital payments giant is now targeting non-U.S. countries. Buy, sell and hold digital asset products could be available for Paypal’s U.K. customers in “a number of months.” Results With the Paypal Crypto Services Have ‘Exceeded’ Expectations in the US During Paypal’s Investor Day 2021 event, Jonathan Auerbach, executive chief strategy and growth officer at the digital payments firm, unveiled plans of deploying the crypto services in the region. According to the executive, the crypto product has surpassed Paypal’s expectations in the United States. In October 2020, the firm announced customers could buy, sell and hold bitcoin and other virtual coins with the company’s online wallets. One month later, during an earnings call, Paypal said that “all eligible Paypal account holders in the U.S.” could access the service. The crypto service supports bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and litecoin (LTC). Auerbach added the following comment in the Investor Day event: We’re actually looking at our crypto services to help position Paypal, to help shape the role of cryptocurrencies and CBDCs in consumer payments, commerce, and financial services safely and securely. He added that although “so early days for us here, but we’re moving rapidly.” Paypal to Launch a Dedicated Crypto Business Unit During the event, Paypal also announced that Venmo, a payment app acquired by the company in 2014, is set to enable its crypto feature in the first semester of 2021. Moreover, the digital payments giant is expected to allow its user to shop with cryptos later this year. The company’s plans with cryptocurrencies seem to be ambitious. As news.Bitcoin.com reported on February 3, 2021, Daniel Schulman, Paypal’s CEO, commented that the firm is set to launch a new crypto business unit later this quarter. He commented on how Paypal is betting firmly on the crypto business: We are significantly investing in our new crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies business unit in order to help shape this more inclusive future. What do you think about Paypal’s crypto services expansion to the United Kingdom? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Allianz’s chief economic advisor, Mohamed El-Erian, says that the argument for investing in bitcoin has reached a pivot point. He sees more companies following Tesla’s example and embracing bitcoin as an investment vehicle as well as a form of payment. Allianz’s Economic Advisor Says the Argument for Bitcoin Is Now Positive Economist Mohamed El-Erian has highlighted key reasons for investing in bitcoin in an interview with CNBC last week. El-Erian, an Egyptian-American businessman, is President of Queens’ College, Cambridge University. He is also chief economic adviser at Allianz, the corporate parent of PIMCO, one of the largest investment managers, where he was CEO and co-chief investment officer. “The argument for bitcoin is evolving. It used to be a negative argument,” the chief economic advisor described. He elaborated that the reasons for investing in bitcoin used to be “You don’t trust the system, invest in bitcoin. You are afraid about inflation, about debasement, invest in bitcoin. Yields are too low on treasuries, put bitcoin in your ‘risk mitigation’ bucket.” El-Erian continued: Now, suddenly, we have those reasons and Tesla says there are positive reasons: form of payment, investment vehicle. Now, that is the pivot. He further asserted that Tesla showing the world that bitcoin can now be considered not only as an investment vehicle but also as a form of payment is why we saw the price of the cryptocurrency shooting up to an all-time high last week. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Tesla revealed that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January. The company also said that it will soon accept BTC as a form of payment for its products. El-Erian noted as “several private sector entities consider embracing bitcoin as a form of payment and investment, more officials warn against its risks.” Responding to a question in an interview with CNN Monday about whether other companies will follow Tesla’s example and embrace bitcoin, El-Erian said, “I think you will see more companies do that.” He explained that it is “because they don’t know how else to mitigate risks, so it’s part of the distortion of the financial markets that we are seeing more generally.” A number of analysts also expect a flood of companies to follow Tesla’s move and get into bitcoin. Do you agree with the Allianz economic advisor? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article