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An official with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has claimed that cryptocurrencies have played no significant role in Iran’s sanction hit economy. According to Mohammadreza Mani Yekta, the deputy head of CBI’s office for payment systems, “studies” have shown that digital currencies have “made no contribution to bypassing the sanctions.” The unenthusiastic assessment of cryptocurrencies by an Iranian official appears to contradict the 2018 report by the Majlis Research Center, which urges the use of digital currencies to circumvent U.S. sanctions. According to one Iranian publication, which quotes Yekta, the country, which recently endorsed “legal” cryptocurrency mining, is already planning to “come up with new and effective cryptocurrency measures to serve national interests.” At the same time, Yekta’s remarks seem to follow earlier statements by another Iranian official Ali Tazreji, urging “utilities and the Ministry of Industries to work closer with the judiciary to help curb illegal crypto-mining and crypto-mining-related offenses.” Meanwhile, the same publication also quotes Yekta discouraging Iranians from investing in cryptocurrencies. The CBI official says: People must be aware of the risks associated with putting money in crypto-assets…crypto prices are highly volatile and there is simply no oversight body to control the market and investors are likely to incur huge losses. According to the report, Yekta’s remarks were apparently prompted by the bitcoin bull-run, which has seen the dominant crypto setting a new all-time high of just under $28,400 on December 27. Finally, Yekta adds that efforts are underway to amend regulations to “include penalties for unauthorized mining and trading cryptocurrencies.” What do you agree with the CBI official’s remarks that cryptocurrencies have no significant role in the Iranian economy? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. The post Central Bank of Iran Official Says Cryptocurrencies Have ‘Made No Contribution to Bypassing Sanctions’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On December 28, the publicly listed firm Marathon Patent Group announced the purchase of 70,000 Antminer S19 bitcoin miners from Bitmain for $170 million. Marathon expects the shipments to complete in 2021, giving the mining operation over a hundred thousand ASIC miners or more than ten exahash of hashpower. Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) revealed the company is dedicating a lot of capital toward the bitcoin mining industry. On Monday, Marathon announced one of the largest mining rig purchases to-date, as the firm has purchased 70,000 Antminer S19 bitcoin miners from Bitmain. The purchase will cost $170 million according to Marathon’s announcement on Monday morning. The company anticipates the first delivery by July 2021, and the final shipment during the last month of next year. Marathon states that the company already commands a fleet of 33,000 miners and the recent purchase will triple the size of the operation. The company just bought 10,000 ASIC miners during the first week of December 2020 as well. That particular purchase will max out the company’s 100MW data house located in Montana, Merrick Okamoto, Marathon’s chairman and chief executive officer explained at the time. Once the newly acquired 70,000 S19 miners are fully deployed, Marathon said that the company will command 103,000 ASIC miners with 10.36 exahash per second (EH/s). Irene Gao, the sales director at Antminer North, Central, and South America (NCSA) at Bitmain said the milestone purchase will serve both company’s interests. “We are excited that Bitmain has won this record-breaking purchase contract from Marathon,” Gao said during the announcement. The Bitmain executive added: Marathon has quickly become our largest customer, and our partnership continues to mutually benefit both of our companies. Marathon’s CEO, Merrick Okamoto, believes the recent purchase order for 70,000 ASIC miners is one of the biggest deals in the bitcoin mining industry. “This purchase is the largest order in dollar terms as well as the single largest order for S19 ASIC miners that Bitmain has ever received,” Okamoto stressed. “We appreciate the hard work their team is putting in to fulfill this order as well as the 30,000 S-19 miners we have purchased since August 2020,” he added. The company’s sizable bitcoin mining rig order is part of an ongoing trend that’s been happening all year long in 2020. Enterprise-grade businesses have been purchasing thousands of ASIC miners from companies like Bitmain, Microbt, and Canaan. The trend has made it more difficult for smaller buyers and individuals to get their hands on next-generation ASIC miners directly from the manufacturer. Five days ago the company publicly listed company Riot Blockchain, Inc.(NASDAQ: RIOT) purchased 15,000 next-generation miners from Bitmain. What do you think about Marathon Group purchasing 70,000 ASIC miners from Bitmain for $170 million? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Marathon Settles Record-Breaking ASIC Acquisition, Buys 70,000 High Performance Bitcoin Miners appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. CoinDeal is pleased to announce that it is now the first publicly known company to have obtained a Class 4 Virtual Financial Assets License in Principle Approval from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). The exchange received the letter on 16 December, 2020. This allows CoinDeal to provide the following VFA services to both Experienced and Non-Experienced investors: Operation of a VFA Exchange, Dealing on own account and Holding and controlling of clients’ assets and money. In-principle approval means that the exchange received ‘in-principle approval’ which is valid for three months from the date of its reception. During this time, the applicant must meet additional requirements for both pre-licensing and post-licensing conditions. Once the application for a license has been approved, the exchange will be able to obtain it officially. The company is currently talking with various private investors, funds and other market players about the potential investment needed to start global marketing and to grow its 400,000 customer base. Media Contact: justyna.hurkala@coindeal.com 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. The post CoinDeal Obtains in-Principle Approval for Maltese Class 4 VFA License appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Regional reports from China detail that bitcoin miners located in certain areas in South China are running short on electricity. The country has been having massive issues with coal prices soaring across the mainland, as the Chinese government hasn’t been allowing coal carriers into ports. Because of the sweeping electrical shortages, mining activities have been threatened by emergency power rationing measures. This week, while bitcoin (BTC) prices touched all-time highs and the overall network hashrate has been soaring, reports detail that Chinese miners have had issues with electrical shortages. Financial columnist for 8btc.com, Lylian Teng, detailed that while miners are dealing with mining rig and component shortages, electricity is also lacking in some parts of China as well. Teng’s report details that the reason for the electricity issues is due to the Chinese government’s standoff with the world’s biggest coal countries. Sailors from coal carriers have been stranded for months on end and Teng said “provinces in South China have implemented emergency power rationing measures.” “Under such circumstances, power-hungry bitcoin mining activities are the most heavily affected,” Teng explained. “In addition to the trade frictions between China and Australia, it is said that due to the extremely cold weather in Russia this year, Russia has cut off the electricity transmission to China, and the regions that use Russian electricity are concentrated in south China, which will only exacerbate pressure on the power supply in China.” Bitcoin (BTC) recently touched a high of $28,378 per unit on December 27, 2020, but has dropped some after the recent high. On Sunday, the overall hashrate has been riding high between 130 to 145 exahash per second (EH/s). On Sunday afternoon, the network difficulty was hovering at around 18.67T (18,670,168,558,399) but also changed today hitting just a tad lower at 18.65T. With 18 mining operations dedicating processing power to the BTC network, a lion’s share of the top miners in terms of exahash per second, stem from China. F2pool commands the most hashrate with 19.7% of the distribution or 25.9EH/s. This is followed by Binance Pool (16.15 EH/s), Antpool (13.11 EH/s), Viabtc (12.80 EH/s), and Btc.com (11.89 EH/s). Despite recent reports that China was losing its share of BTC processing power, Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) map shows China still commands 65% of the hashrate today. While some small miners may be suffering from electrical shortages, the overall SHA256 hashrate worldwide is still humming away at higher than average speeds. What do you think about Chinese miners facing issues with electrical shortages in South China? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post China’s Coal Standoff Causes Power Shortages, Chinese Bitcoin Miners ‘Heavily Affected’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Top U.S. banks have racked up almost $200 billion in fines and penalties over the past 20 years from illegal activities in 395 major legal cases. Bank of America tops the list, followed by JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, according to a new report, which also covers Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Big Banks’ $200 Billion in Fines Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo have collectively racked up $195 billion in fees and penalties, according to Washington-based advocacy group Better Markets. The fees and penalties from 395 major legal cases since 2000 were disbursed among government agencies, investors, and consumers harmed by the banks’ conduct. The report finds that “the banks’ behavior is deteriorating because it finds their conduct since the financial crisis has triggered more major legal actions than their behavior before it,” the Financial Times reported Better Markets chief executive Dennis Kelleher explaining on Thursday. Between 2000 and the financial crisis, the banks were hit with 85 major legal complaints, the report details. During the financial crisis between 2008 and 2012, there were 110 major cases. Between 2012 and the present, there were 204 legal actions against the banks. The number of major legal actions and sanctions or settlements against six major banks. Source: Better Markets’ report The types of financial crime banks engaged in include money laundering, bribery, “massive fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities,” credit card and checking account abuses, and foreclosure and debt collection violations, the report describes. Also included were breaches of fiduciary duty, antitrust violations, market manipulation, enabling Ponzi schemes, and election law violations. “They’re all major legal actions,” Kelleher was quoted as saying. “It’s not like it was a ‘broken windows’ theory post-crash where prosecutors are fining every little violation.” The Beter Markets CEO remarked: If they were held to higher standards they all would have been put out of business because the recidivism is really quite shocking. He pointed to some examples of the cases that emerged this year showing that banks repeated their past mistakes. While financial institutions generally do not admit or deny wrongdoing in most cases, guilty pleas have become more common. In October, JPMorgan Chase was fined $920 million over its alleged manipulation of metals and Treasury markets. The company “entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in 2014 after admitting anti-money laundering failings linked to Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and pleaded guilty in 2015 to criminal charges for manipulating foreign exchange markets,” the report notes. Kelleher opined: It’s absolutely shocking that JPMorgan has now pleaded guilty to three separate criminal charges for egregious years-long criminal conduct. Over the last 20 years, JPMorgan has racked up $40 billion in 83 different cases, about $10 billion of which related crisis-era activities at Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, which it bought when they were in trouble in 2008. Bank of America paid $91 billion, the highest fees and penalties, in 86 legal cases, most of which were related to “mortgage-related issues that predated Bank of America’s acquisitions of companies more than 10 years ago.” The report adds that $40 billion of the bank’s fines and penalties were linked to Countrywide, a mortgage lender the bank bought in 2008, and billions were linked to Merrill Lynch, the brokerage it bought during the crisis. In addition, Goldman Sachs recently paid settlements for its role in Malaysia’s 1MDB development fund. What do you think about banks’ illegal activities and fines? Let us know in the comments section below. The post $200 Billion in Fines: Mega Banks Rack up Penalties From Illegal Activities appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, has warned about regulators coming down hard on bitcoin. In addition, he says that “even if bitcoin were to go up another 2,000%, it’s completely irrelevant to institutional clients.” Kevin O’Leary Warns of Brutal Bitcoin Regulation, Says Bitcoin Is Not an Institutional Product Canadian investor and television personality Kevin O’Leary talked about bitcoin in an interview on Thursday with CNBC’s Squawk Box. O’Leary was asked whether he had changed his mind about bitcoin from thinking that it was “not a real currency” to investing in it and possibly buying more. “Let me be clear … I’ve been a cryptonian for years,” the Shark Tank star replied. Whipping out his phone, he said, “here is my bitcoin wallet. At the time, all you can get was ethereum, XRP, bitcoin, litecoin, stellar lumen, and bitcoin [cash]. I bought this at the last craze. I put $100 to work here. This morning it is worth $52.77 because not all cryptocurrencies are the same, clearly.” He elaborated: I’m involved in this because it’s fun but this is not an institutional product … This whole market, even if bitcoin were to go up another 2,000%, is completely irrelevant to the institutional clients. Reiterating that he owns bitcoin, O’Leary noted, “I ride with it on the weekends,” but emphasized that “you can’t put this into a fiduciary product … it’s irrelevant to financial markets.” He clarified that “The real problem is if you get involved in this as a fiduciary, and it gets regulated, and it gets cut in half or goes to zero, who knows what, you have never seen the mother of class action lawsuits that’s coming from that one.” O’Leary was asked to comment on how the Dallas Mavericks, the professional basketball team owned by his fellow Shark Tank star Mark Cuban, recently began to offer merchandise discounts to customers paying with bitcoin. “That’s another arena … where you can see legitimacy to bitcoin from people like Mark Cuban, your buddy, who’s trying to make this into a more relevant part of people’s lives,” said the CNBC host. Cuban also recently said bitcoin was more of a religion than a solution to anything. “I know Mark quite well, he also was quoted saying he thinks bananas are bigger common currency and he is probably right,” O’Leary said, adding: My whole point is for all of us … who monitor and work within the financial services’ multi trillion dollar global industry, is this a nothing burger? It’s not even a single cell amoeba. The Shark Tank investor proceeded to detail that “The financial markets deal with regulators, and you can only operate within the confines of those rules, and so when we glorify something like this [bitcoin], it really has nothing to do with the financial markets that make the whole world work. And no institutional sovereign fund investors I’ve ever talked to has said to me go index all of the cryptocurrencies for me.” Asserting that the institutional investors he talked to do not want to own bitcoin because “they fear the regulator,” O’Leary warned: Watch what happens one day and I’m waiting for this one. I’m waiting for the day that one of these regulators come down hard on bitcoin. Grown men are going to weep when that happens. You will never see a loss of capital like that ever in your life. It will be brutal. And, I’m just saying you have to get ready for it. Meanwhile, a growing number of institutional investors are investing in bitcoin. Bitgo recently said that it is seeing “unprecedented institutional interest” and Skybridge Capital has launched a bitcoin fund, expecting an “avalanche of institutional investors.” More banks have also started offering crypto services to institutional clients, such as Standard Chartered Bank. In terms of regulation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently proposed new rules affecting cryptocurrency wallets. Do you agree with Kevin O’Leary? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Warns Regulators Will Come Down Hard on Bitcoin — ‘It Will Be Brutal’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against another startup in the crypto space for selling unregistered securities. Tierion, which raised $25 million in a token sale, has agreed to “return money to investors” and disable the trading of its token. SEC Brings Charges Against Tierion Over Its Crypto Offering Texas-based blockchain company Tierion Inc. has settled charges with the SEC for conducting an unregistered security offering when it sold the TNT token. The settlement followed the SEC’s order instituting cease-and-desist proceedings against the company. The securities regulator detailed: Tierion has agreed to return funds to harmed investors, pay a $250,000 penalty, and disable trading in its ‘tokens’ … Tierion raised approximately $25 million through the sale of ‘Tierion Network Tokens’ (TNT) in July of 2017. The SEC clarified that under the settlement agreement, Tierion will “provide compensation to current holders of TNT who purchased in the token sale or in the secondary market, or who received TNT as a reward from Tierion, and to those who purchased TNT in the token offering and later sold at a loss.” The company consented to the SEC’s order without admitting or denying the regulator’s findings. Moreover, the SEC explained that Tierion told investors that it would “use the sale proceeds to fund the continued development of the ‘Tierion Network,’ through which Tierion would offer a ‘blockchain receipt’ service and other yet-to-be-developed services.” The regulator finds that “TNT are securities” and Tierion did not register its token sale, therefore violating securities registration provisions. Following the SEC news, the price of TNT dropped from about $0.0064 on Dec. 23 to $0.0022 on Dec. 26. Along with the settlement, Tierion has been granted a waiver from the SEC, allowing it to complete the retirement of the TNT token, CEO Wayne Vaughan explained on Wednesday. He added that the TNT token will not be registered as a security. A day prior, the SEC charged Ripple Labs, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Christian Larsen with conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering of the XRP cryptocurrency. What do you think about the SEC’s action against Tierion? Let us know in the comments section below. The post SEC Lawsuit: Tierion to Refund Investors From Its $25 Million Token Sale appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The crypto community is extremely curious about what will happen to Ripple Labs and the token asset XRP, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed a lawsuit against Ripple and two executives. On December 25, the large cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp announced delisting XRP for U.S. customers, and a former SEC Commissioner thinks the lawsuit will invoke multi-billion losses to innocent third parties. Luxembourg Crypto Exchange Drops XRP Support for US Customers: ‘Will Closely Follow the Unfolding Situation and Adapt Accordingly’ One of the most topical conversations in the crypto space, besides the all-time high prices, is the recent charges against Ripple Labs that were filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC said that the regulator “filed an action against Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives, who are also significant security holders, alleging that they raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering.” Following the SEC charges, three exchanges (OSL, Crosstower, and Beaxy) decided to drop XRP support, alongside the fund Bitwise Asset Management. On December 25, 2020, the cryptocurrency exchange based in Luxembourg, Bitstamp, announced it would be halting XRP services for all U.S. customers on January 8, 2021. In a blog post about the subject Bitstamp said: In light of the recent SEC filing against Ripple Labs Inc., which alleges that XRP is a security, we are going to halt all trading and deposits of XRP for our US customers on 8 January 2021 at 9 PM UTC. We will closely follow the unfolding situation and continue to adapt accordingly. Our U.S. customers will still be able to withdraw XRP from Bitstamp. Customers from other countries are not affected. SEC Action Will Impose Substantial Harm on Innocent Holders The XRP action is also happening as SEC Chairman Jay Clayton decided to give his resignation. The SEC Commissioner, Hester Pierce, announced on Twitter that Elad Roisman has been appointed the acting Chair of the U.S. financial regulator. “Congratulations, Chairman Roisman,” Pierce tweeted on December 24. “I look forward to your leadership of the SEC,” she added. Moreover, The Block’s Frank Chaparro obtained a letter from Joseph Grundfest, a former Commissioner of the U.S. SEC. Former Commissioner of the U.S. SEC, Joseph Grundfest. According to a letter to Jay Clayton, Grundfest allegedly said that the Ripple lawsuit was “unprecedented” and there’s “no pressing reason compels immediate enforcement action.” “The views of a soon-incoming Administration and Congress as to the regulation of transactions similar to those at issue can differ substantially from current perspectives,” the Grundfest letter details. The former SEC Commissioner further wrote: Simply initiating the action will impose substantial harm on innocent holders of XRP, regardless of the ultimate resolution. Upon learning of the proceeding, intermediaries will cease transacting in XRP because of the associated legal risk. The resulting reduction in liquidity will cause XRP’s value to decline. The SEC’s acting Chair Elad Roisman also reportedly discussed the evolving cryptocurrency markets back in 2018. “The SEC must examine and re-examine its rules, regulations, and guidelines to ensure that they are still working as intended to accomplish the SEC’s mission,” Roisman said at the time. “This is most recently manifested in areas such as data protection and cybersecurity, as well as the emergence of new investments and technologies such as initial coin offerings and blockchain.” What do you think about Bitstamp dropping XRP for U.S. customers and the letter from former Commissioner Joseph Grundfest? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Ripple Lawsuit Could Invoke Billions in Losses to ‘Innocent Third-Parties,’ Says Former SEC Commissioner appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

While bitcoin has jumped well above the $26,000 zone, a number of crypto proponents are extremely bullish for the crypto asset’s performance in 2021. During the last year, a number of pundits, experts, luminaries, and speculators have predicted bitcoin’s 2021 value after the digital currency has experienced a phenomenal year in 2020. 2021 Bitcoin Price Predictions On December 26, 2020, the price of bitcoin (BTC) spiked well over the $26k handle, as the cryptocurrency had a spectacular year amid a crazy global economy. Ever since BTC started gaining popularity, a number of people have tried to predict the future price of the crypto asset ahead of time. In 2020, the forecasts have been no different and numerous individuals have given their predictions on bitcoin’s future value and what the price may be in 2021. For instance, as BTC rallied throughout the year, researchers from finder.com polled 47 cryptocurrency experts about their 2021 predictions. The finder.com poll was also completed before BTC crossed the $20k zone, and most (58%) of the panelists said that the bull run will last at least until the second half of 2021. According to the survey, panelists predict the price of BTC will more than double by the end of 2021. The finder.com survey respondents also forecasted an average price of $51,951 per bitcoin as well. Although, 52% of the panelists expect bitcoin (BTC) will see a sharp drop after the peak in 2021. In mid-November, billionaire investor and Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz predicted bitcoin (BTC) could reach $65k in 2021. Novogratz forecasted this price range when he gave the “Game of Thrones” star Maisie Williams some advice. “I bought more BTC last night at 15800,” Novogratz tweeted. “It’s going to 20k and the. To 65k. The network effect has taken over. I see tons of new buyers and there is very little supply. It’s an easier trade here than at 11k. So YES, buy it,” he stressed to Williams at the time. The analyst Mike McGlone from Bloomberg has also predicted some future bitcoin (BTC) prices and said that by 2022, BTC could tap $170k. “The key thing about Bitcoin this year is very simple— it just added a one to the front of the number,” McGlone said. “Remember, it was around $7,000 at the end of last year. What I’m worried about— if you look at the past performance, which is potentially indicative of the future, next year or two could add a zero to the back of the number.” By the end of 2021, BTC will trade at $318,000 according to the prediction from Citibank analyst Tom Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick said BTC will likely see ”unthinkable rallies followed by painful corrections.” Furthermore, the Citibank executive said that bitcoin was the new gold with fewer restrictions. “Gold has restrictions such as storage, non-portable, and could possibly be even called ‘yesterday’s news’ in terms of a financial hedge. Bitcoin is the new gold,” Fitzpatrick insisted. This summer, the cofounder of crypto-analysis firm Blockfyre, Simon Dedic, predicted that BTC will touch a high of $150k. “In 2017, you could have bought literally any [altcoin] and it was a good investment. IMO this won’t happen again,” Dedic said. “However, I still believe that the bull run will return pumping the few solid [altcoins] out there,” he added. Dedic’s summer tweet forecasts a number of price predictions including ETH ($9K), LINK ($200), BNB ($500), VET ($1), and XTZ ($200). During a May 6, 2020 interview, the CEO of capital management giant Morgan Creek, Mark Yusko, predicted that bitcoin could easily reach $100,000 in 2021 or 2022. During the discussion, Yusko also insisted that bitcoin’s price could reach $400 to $500K as well. Yusko stated at the time: “If we come to gold equivalence, meaning the market cap of Bitcoin equals the market cap of gold, which I think is perfectly logical, you could easily see that $400,000 to $500,000 price [at] some [point in time].” From Zero to Six-Digits Not everyone is so enthusiastic about bitcoin’s future value, as the Seeking Alpha financial columnist Anton Wahlman believes bitcoin is worthless and will go to zero. “Sometimes there’s something so absurd that you hardly know where to begin to make the argument,” Wahlman’s recent editorial insists. “For it’s so obvious and self-evident that it should not have to be explained. Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies are such a case,” Wahlman added. The financial contributor for The Times UK, Oliver Kamm, told his readers that “cryptocurrencies are a fad best avoided, despite Paypal accepting bitcoin.” “Cryptocurrencies don’t belong in your portfolio,” Kamm wrote when BTC was trading for $12,931 per unit. “The reason is you can’t value them. An asset that doesn’t pay even a notional stream of cashflows— like bonds, which pay interest, or shares, which pay dividends, or property, which provides rental income— is just a gamble. By all means engage in it, like punting on a roulette wheel, for recreation, but be prepared to lose your entire stake,” Kamm added. The creator of the price model called stock-to-flow who goes by the Twitter name “Plan B” thinks the price of bitcoin (BTC) could reach $100K by December 2021. “Current bitcoin price action is nice, but we are waiting for a real jump (like the red arrows early 2013 and 2017). IMO that will be the start of the real bull market, and indeed phase5. January 2021?” Plan B tweeted on November 22. Overall there are a lot of bullish predictions from proponents and of course, detractors believe the crypto asset is still worthless. A number of other experts, executives, and pundits have predicted six-digit prices included RT host Max Keiser, venture capitalist Tim Draper, Pantera Capital’s crypto analyst Nicholas Merten, and Morgan Creek’s executive Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano. And there will likely always be detractors as well, like the economist and hedge fund manager Mike Dow who tweeted earlier this year that “Bitcoin is over. #RIP.” What do you think about the eight bitcoin price predictions for 2021? Let us know what you think about these forecasts in the comments section below. The post Zero to $318,000: Proponents and Detractors Give a Variety of Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2021 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against a cryptocurrency hedge fund founder for fraud. The regulator is seeking an emergency order freezing $25 million in digital assets held by a crypto hedge fund he controls. Crypto Hedge Fund Founder Sued in the US The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued a crypto hedge fund founder in Manhattan federal court. The regulator alleges that Stefan Qin, a 23-year-old Australian, defrauded investors in his $92.4 million cryptocurrency arbitrage fund, according to Tuesday’s court filing. Qin founded New York-based Virgil Capital and four other entities. He allegedly fabricated records, failed to redeem $3.5 million for investors, and tried to withdraw $1.7 million of investor funds to pay off Chinese loan sharks, the SEC said. According to Reuters: The SEC has asked U.S. Judge Lorna Schofield for an emergency order freezing $25 million in digital assets held by another Qin-controlled fund. The SEC explained that Qin controls two cryptocurrency funds: the Virgil Sigma Fund and the VQR Multistrategy Fund. He “claims to trade for the Sigma Fund by taking a market-neutral ‘arbitrage approach to the cryptocurrency market,’ utilizing ‘a proprietary algorithmic trading system that continually scans for price differences between cryptocurrency markets,'” the SEC noted. Qin further claimed that his trading algorithm can “generate better returns than an investment in bitcoin.” The Sigma Fund documentation provided to investors claimed that the fund “held millions of dollars worth of digital assets at 39 trading platforms, including three of the largest U.S.-based platforms,” the SEC wrote, emphasizing: In reality, the Sigma Fund held no assets at any of those U.S.-based platforms, and the purported platform account balances were fabricated. Moreover, the SEC explained that the crypto hedge fund founder told investors wanting to redeem investments totaling $3.5 million in the middle of this year that their funds would be moved to the VQR Multistrategy Fund. However, in reality, the funds were not transferred. In December, Qin asked VQR head trader Antonio Hallak to help him withdraw $1.7 million from that hedge fund, according to a declaration by Hallak filed in the case. Qin claimed he had a “liquidity issue” and needed to repay a loan that he had taken out “from lenders he feared in China,” the SEC detailed. After Hallak informed him that he could not use the investors’ capital in the VQR Fund, Qin threatened to “fire everyone if necessary” to make the full withdrawal. “Bank records show that several large wire transfers totaling approximately $2.5 million have been received by the Sigma Fund since June 2020,” the SEC continued. “Approximately $1.3 million of the $2.5 million was transferred by Qin first to a foreign bank account in the Sigma Fund’s name and then transferred immediately to a U.S. bank account in Qin’s name.” The SEC has asked the court to permanently restrain Qin and his companies from participating in “the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any security,” as well as order them to “disgorge their ill-gotten gains according to proof, plus prejudgment interest” and pay civil penalties. What do you think about Qin’s case? Let us know in the comments section below. The post US Regulator Sues Crypto Hedge Fund Founder — $25 Million in Digital Assets to Be Frozen appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The top U.S. banking regulator is concerned that the Biden administration may roll back some cryptocurrency regulations aimed at protecting consumers. This includes allowing national banks to custody crypto assets put in place during the Trump administration. Biden Administration Could Change US Crypto Regulations Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks, shared several concerns regarding cryptocurrency regulations in an interview with CNBC last week. Brooks is the administrator of the federal banking system and chief officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC supervises almost 1,200 national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banks. He was asked to comment about the recent bitcoin bull run from the regulatory viewpoint. Brooks replied: I will tell you what I am worried about is all of this is happening in the environment where we are about to have a change of presidential administration, and there are calls on Capitol Hill to dismantle some of the regulatory protections we put in place for this stuff. The OCC green-lighted banks under its supervision to provide cryptocurrency custody services in July. Brooks explained that his agency “is trying to make it safer for people to custody in national banks.” He added: “We’ve talked about banks supporting some of these stablecoin projects. If those protections aren’t in place, I really worry about the environments for these kinds of things. That’s what I’m most focused on. How do we preserve the safety for the people who participate in that market.” He noted that “We are at a really critical inflection point right now is what I’d tell you. It’s kind of a fork in the road.” He proceeded to outline two paths for crypto regulation. “One path forward is that we find ways of addressing money laundering risks and we find ways of addressing terrorism financing which I think can be done. But we make this safe for the consumers and investors who participate, that’s why the banking system has such an important role to play,” he asserted, adding: The other path which is a very real potential here is that we politicize some of these tech issues, whether it’s crypto or fintech more broadly. We politicize it by undoing all of the good work this administration has done to make it safer, to make it more real. Brooks then referenced the letter by Congresswoman Maxine Waters urging the Biden administration to roll back some of the regulations the OCC put in place. Among the recommendations was rescinding allowing national banks and federal savings associations to provide crypto custody services. Regarding the suggestions Waters put forth in her letter, Brooks said, “If we do those things, then I’m not sure we have enough of a foundation to move forward. It’s all about consolidating regulatory gains and consumer protection that we are trying to put in place. That’s got to stick around.” He further detailed that “The role of the government is to make sure that markets are well-regulated and well-organized so that people who are transacting know that they are transacting with good people and not bad people.” He emphasized, “Part of that means that, as in any financial markets, there has to be tracing and no anonymity.” The acting comptroller of the currency clarified that people who hold cryptocurrencies need to know that they are not going to lose them. “That’s why it’s important to people that they be able to custody their assets in a bank, for example, the same way you might custody your stock certificates or any other assets that you own,” Brooks opined. “This is a real political debate right now,” Brooks noted, emphasizing: People may not realize this but there’s leadership in Congress who’s urging the incoming Biden administration to roll back some of those protections. I think, in the name of politics, not in the name of protecting investors. Recently, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed new regulation for cryptocurrency wallets. Public comments can be submitted before Jan. 4. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking action against a number of crypto firms for selling unregistered securities, including Ripple Labs. Do you think the Biden administration will roll back some crypto regulations? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Biden Administration May Roll Back Some Crypto Regulations, Top Banking Regulator Warns appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitgo’s assets under custody have surpassed $16 billion. The company says it is seeing “unprecedented interest from institutional investors,” resulting from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the recent bitcoin bull run. Paypal was also rumored to be in acquisition talks with the company. $16 Billion in Cryptocurrencies Under Custody Bitgo announced Wednesday that it has hit a new milestone of more than $16 billion in digital assets under custody. The company noted that the achievement further validates institutional investor interest in cryptocurrency, elaborating: As institutional interest in cryptocurrencies continues to surge, top investors are seeking institutional-grade security and financial infrastructure for custody, trading and lending of their digital assets. Bitgo detailed that it currently accounts for more than 20% of all on-chain Bitcoin transactions, processing over $15 billion in monthly volume and supporting over 300 coins and tokens. The company is backed by Goldman Sachs, Craft Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Drw, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners. Bitgo says it has over 400 clients spanning 50 countries, including Bitstamp, Nexo, and Pantera. Once a simple cryptocurrency wallet provider, Bitgo has expanded its business into providing crypto financial services — including liquidity, custody, and security solutions — to institutional investors. In 2018, the company launched its custody service, Bitgo Trust Company. This year, it launched Prime Trading and Lending as well as Portfolio and Tax services. Bitgo CEO Mike Belshe commented that his company “set out to deliver trust and pave the way for mainstream investment in digital assets,” adding: We’re seeing unprecedented interest from institutional investors as a result of the pandemic’s economic impact, as well as bitcoin’s extraordinary performance. In October, payments giant Paypal was rumored to be in talks to acquire Bitgo. However, according to a source cited by Fortune, that deal has fallen through and Paypal is now considering other companies in the crypto space. What do you think about Bitgo having $16 billion in digital assets under custody? Let us know in the comments section below. The post ‘Unprecedented’ Institutional Demand for Bitcoin: Bitgo’s Custodied Assets Top $16 Billion, No Paypal Deal appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The price of bitcoin jumped well over the $25k handle touching a high of $25,890 on Saturday morning (EST). The crypto asset has an overall market valuation of $476 billion this weekend gaining over 6.8% during the last 24 hours. The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization of all the crypto assets in existence today is roughly $665 billion and up over 3.8% over the course of the day. Bitcoin (BTC) has surpassed the $25k mark and is currently trading for $25,700 per unit. At the time of publication, there is $11.6 billion in reported trade volume for BTC trading pairs. BTC is up over 6% for the week, 48% for the last month, and 136% over the course of the last 90 days. The crypto asset against the U.S. dollar over the last year has seen a 250% increase. There are 18 mining pools pointing SHA256 hashrate at the Bitcoin (BTC) network and F2pool is leading the pack on Saturday. Out of the current 133 exahash per second (EH/s) BTC hashrate, F2pool captures 24.3 EH/s or 18.2% of the overall hashrate. Bitcoin’s issuance rate or inflation per annum is currently 1.78% on December 26, 2020. While BTC has touched new price highs, the gold bug Peter Schiff said that regulators will go after bitcoin soon. “Bitcoin is hitting new record highs, as its dominance of total crypto market cap rises to 69.3%,” Schiff tweeted as BTC jumped above the $25k handle. “It hasn’t been above 70% since Mar. of 2017. As regulators target altcoins, speculators are taking cover in Bitcoin. Not for long as Bitcoin will eventually be in the crosshairs too.” When an individual asked who the SEC would sue and jokingly said “Satoshi,” Schiff responded: “No, just companies that allow trading in bitcoin, or banks that facilitate bitcoin-related wires.” Meanwhile, a great number of crypto proponents on social media and forums celebrated the $25k price. “Bitcoin just touched $25,500. I said a month ago it was gonna hit $25k by the end of 2020,” one individual wrote on Twitter. The founder of Bitgive, Connie Gallippi, tweeted: “Holy Moly $25k, Moon Day— everyday bitcoin.” “Hey Elon Musk are you buying bitcoin?” another individual asked the Tesla founder on Twitter. Michael Saylor, the CEO of Microstrategy, the company that purchased thousands of bitcoins to hold as reserves said “cash is a refuge from risk, but there is a price to pay.” “Would you sacrifice 98% of your opportunity to avoid the uncertainty of tomorrow?” Saylor tweeted after bitcoin surpassed $25,000. “Volatility is Vitality. Bitcoin is Hope,” he added. The stock-to-flow (S2F) creator Plan B wrote: “Start of this bitcoin bull run feels more like 2013 than 2017.” What do you think about bitcoin surpassing the $25k mark on Saturday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Bitcoin Hits $25,890, Peter Schiff Thinks BTC Price Rise Will Attract Regulators appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency trading platform Livecoin claims that it has been hacked after the crypto community noticed the price of bitcoin shoot up to half a million dollars. Meanwhile, users are complaining that they cannot withdraw their funds, suspecting the exchange of pulling an exit scam. $500K per Bitcoin on Livecoin Exchange Russian cryptocurrency exchange Livecoin claims that it suffered a security breach over Christmas after the crypto community observed the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies soar exponentially on the exchange above their market prices. Bitcoin was reportedly trading at about $500,000, while ETH surpassed $15,000, and XRP rose above $17. At other exchanges, BTC is currently trading at around $24,813, ETH at $630, and XRP at $0.31. Bitcoin’s price chart in USD on the Livecoin exchange showing $500k per bitcoin. Meanwhile, a number of users are complaining on social media that their deposits were not credited to their accounts and they could not withdraw their funds from the exchange. This has caused many to suspect an exit scam. Livecoin subsequently posted a message on its website on Christmas Eve asking customers to stop using its services. “Don’t deposit funds, don’t trade, don’t use API,” the notice reads, adding: We are under a carefully planned attack, which has been prepared, as we assume, over the last few months. We lost control of all our servers, backend and nodes. The notice posted on the Livecoin exchange. The notice continues, “we were not able to stop our service in time … We are working in contact with local police authorities. We really do our best to overcome this issue.” Do you think Livecoin is exit scamming? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Bitcoin Hits $500K on Russian Crypto Exchange After Hackers Take Control — Users Cry Exit Scam appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

One of the world’s biggest palladium producers, based in Russia, announced that it’s starting the first stage of issuing blockchain-powered tokens to its industrial partners Traxys and Umicore. Palladium Producer Giant Issues Its First Blockchain-Powered Tokens According to the announcement, Norilsk Nickel (known as Nornickel) said the issuance of the digital coins involves metal contracts, and it aims to optimize “supply chain efficiency as well as transparency.” Led by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, the mining giant also specializes in producing nickel. The company confirmed that the miner firm Traxys and materials technology company Umicore, based in Luxembourg and Belgium respectively, are the first clients to make use of its brand-new Global Palladium Fund. Anton Berlin, vice-president of sales and distribution at Nornickel, commented on the tokenization process: The tokens issued by the Global Palladium Fund on the Atomyze platform will allow it to deliver Nornickel’s products to customers in a more efficient and transparent way. We are confident that it will provide the industry with the necessary tools to guarantee responsible sourcing. Potanin got the regulatory approval from Russian watchdogs in February, as the country discussed at that time the possibility of making a crypto law a reality in the nation. Tokens Linked to Palladium, Cobalt, Among Other Metals The mining giant pointed out that its first-stage tokens will be tied to palladium, cobalt, copper mining, and exploration. However, other metals are expected to be included in further stages. Moreover, Bernhard Fuchs, senior vice-president of marketing services of precious metals management at Umicore, said: We recognize the value that the Atomyze platform is delivering: efficiency, cost optimization and flexibility that tokenization brings along – it’s a leap forward towards new levels of business efficiency as well as multi-layer-documentation, and we are looking forward to set off on this innovative path. In July, news.Bitcoin.com reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the bill that regulates digital financial asset (DFA) transactions. It was approved by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, on July 22 and by the Federation Council on July 24. The law will come into force on Jan. 1, 2021. What do you think about this palladium mining giant’s tokenization process? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Major Producer Nornickel Issues Its First Metal Contract-Backed Digital Coins appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The revenue collector, the Israel Tax Authority (ITA) has reportedly sent notifications to dozens of Israelis who own digital currencies asking them to fully disclose their assets and be taxed accordingly. In addition to sending letters to local citizens, the tax body has also sent inquiries to cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Israel and those based outside the country. Data Sharing Reports of the notifications and inquiries being sent by the revenue collector were preceded by Israeli media speculation that tax assessors across the country were exerting “pressure on the digital currency market.” However, as Globes is now reporting, the ITA wants to “obtain information about Israelis trading in these currencies.” Before sending notices and inquiries to crypto exchanges, the Israeli revenue collector had been receiving “data about the Europe-based funds and accounts held by Israelis.” Israel receives this data in line with the “EU Common Reporting Standards (CRS) regulations for the automatic exchange of financial account information.” Similarly, the Israeli tax collector is reported to have a different arrangement with its counterpart in the United States. The report explains: Additional information comes through the FATCA agreement, which conveys the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data to Israel. Meanwhile, the Globes report tries to tie the “renewed interest” in the taxation of cryptocurrencies “to the revival in digital currency, especially the leap in bitcoin, along with an intense need to fill state coffers.” Capital Gains Tax Still, prior to its latest interest in taxing cryptocurrency holders, the ITA had published its position on cryptocurrencies back in 2018. According to that published document, Israeli “investors in digital currencies are subject to a 25% capital gains tax, as long as their activity does not turn into a commercial enterprise.” Nevertheless, in the event of this becoming a commercial activity, “proprietors will be charged a two-stage corporate tax, or a marginal tax according to the individual tax brackets.” In the meantime, according to the Globes report, the Israel Tax Authority’s letters to Israeli crypto holders are intended to encourage them voluntarily “report their income before the tax authority gets to them.” What are your thoughts on the tax letters sent to crypto holders by tax authorities in Israel? You can share your views in the comments section. The post Israeli Tax Authorities Notify Cryptocurrency Owners to Disclose Their Holdings for Taxation Purposes appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Coinrule – a hyper-growth, automated trading platform based out of London, UK – is poised for explosive growth in the months ahead, after announcing that its recent investment round on Seedrs secured over 200% of its target, raising $700k, at a valuation of $6m. This funding will allow Coinrule to grow the team, expand into the fast-growing market of tokenised stock trading, and deliver a ‘market leading backtesting tool’, all aimed at furthering their mission of democratizing access to finance. 2020 has been an extraordinary year in crypto, with a torrent of investor cash pouring into the space like the proverbial flood. Through a “beginner-friendly” trading platform that can “catch the next market opportunity on your behalf”, Coinrule’s fast-growing user base has been able profit from the upside gains, while protecting their downside, by automating their trading and investments. Its intuitive interface – which connects to all the popular exchanges – gives users the tools and the flexibility needed to execute any crypto trading strategy, without having to learn a single line of code. How It Started Founded by entrepreneurs Oleg Giberstein, Gabriele Musella and Zdenek Hofler, Coinrule has come a long way since the three met at the Masschallenge Accelerator Programme in 2017. Compared to those early days, the company is almost unrecognizable. The team successfully raised a seed round from the Fintech Lab of prestigious Hungarian Bank MKB, as well as the investment arm of Zilliqa, ZilHive. A group of 13 experienced angel investors – including John Austin former CSO of IG Index, Robin Bade, former CEO of Mirum WPP, Stelios Gerogianakis, Lead Engineer at Go Cardless, and Oliver Snoody, former Head of Brand Marketing at Twitter & VP of Marketing at Deliveroo – joined this initial funding round, and were soon followed by a coterie of impressive advisors, including none other than Dr Andrea Baronchelli, research fellow at the prestigious UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies. With such an all-star team, the future looks very bright indeed. How It’s Going Coinrule recently closed an unusually successful investment round via Seedrs, reaching 209% in overfunding with around $700,000 raised from over 670 individual investors. The mission of ‘giving financial power back to regular people’ and ‘democratizing access to investing’ is clearly resonating well with Coinrule’s millennial target audience, as well as with the tech-oriented investor community. This fresh injection of capital is explicitly to be used for 3 key goals. Firstly, it will allow Coinrule to grow its very international team – currently 13 staff spread across 7 time zones. Secondly, it will allow them to expand their ‘tradable assets’ to include tokenised stocks alongside their current crypto-based offering, which should open the company up to a new, multi-trillion dollar market. Thirdly, it will allow the team to release ‘the most simple backtesting tool in the world’ – allowing investors to easily compare trading strategies against historical data. A number of exciting and innovative features sit on its long term road map, one of which is a ‘social marketplace’ that will allow users to share strategies and copy/follow the best performing traders. The Stats Speak for Themselves Already, Coinrule proudly boasts that a full 67% of its users’ funds are in profit. This isn’t a result of any dark magic or creative accounting. Simply, users have strategies in place – using templates provided inside the app by Coinrule’s trading team, as well as users’ own custom-made strategies – that protect their funds on the way down while ensuring they take profits on the way up. Active investing isn’t rocket science, even for normal people with little time – so long as you have the right tools at hand. Coinrule’s fresh injection of cash will allow them to further progress their mission of delivering these tools to a much wider audience, and to help build the future of finance via intuitive, automated trading. As founder Gabriele Musella says – “the new world of finance requires levelling the playing field between regular traders and hedge funds. Until that point is reached, we’re here to hustle.’ For further information visit: http://coinrule.io/ https://twitter.com/coinrulehq https://www.linkedin.com/company/coinrule/ https://www.youtube.com/c/Coinrule About Coinrule Coinrule is a beginner-friendly and safe trading platform that enables you to send automated trading instructions to your favorite exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, Coinbase and others. Its intuitive interface gives you the tools and the flexibility needed to execute any crypto trading plan, without having to learn a single line of code. 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. The post Coinrule Fundraises $700k to Expand Automated Trading to Tokenised Stocks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) raised concerns about the strengthening financial surveillance through the proposed crypto regulations announced by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The Nonprofit Organization Is Concerned About New Rules on Self-Hosted Crypto Wallets Proposed by FinCEN According to the nonprofit organization based in the United States, the FinCEN is trying to undermine “one of the most important aspects of cryptocurrencies from a civil liberties perspective,” which can provide privacy protections for their users. The traditional banking system’s financial surveillance could be just imported to cryptocurrencies through a heavy overseeing in crypto transactions on exchanges, said the EFF. On December 18, 2020, the U.S. Treasury’s bureau proposed new rules “aimed at closing anti-money laundering regulatory gaps for certain convertible virtual currency [CVC] and digital asset transactions,” amid rumors of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rushing out regulations for self-hosted crypto wallets before Biden took office as president of the United States. The nonprofit organization clarifies that although they’re still in the process of reviewing the full FinCEN’s proposal, they commented: The regulation will likely chill the ability to use self-hosted wallets to transact with the privacy of cash. (…) The proposed regulation’s requirement that money service businesses collect identifying information associated with wallet addresses means that the government may have access to a massive amount of data beyond just what the regulation purports to cover. The EFF also believes that new rules could “hamper broader adoption” of self-hosted crypto wallets at technologies that rely on them, as it could make it “significantly more difficult” for users to seamlessly interact “with other users who have wallets provided by a service subject to the regulations.” Adopting FinCEN’s Proposed Rules Is Premature: Bitcoin-Friendly Senator Moreover, there are concerns from the nonprofit organization on the obligation of hosted wallet services to collect certain information about self-hosted wallet users “who transact with their customers in some circumstances.” The EFF adds: Although the proposed rules purport to simply apply pre-existing regulations involving cash transactions to cryptocurrencies, they ignore that these digital financial tools exist in part to afford financial privacy and anonymity equal to and perhaps beyond that of traditional cash. In this respect, the proposed regulations are part of a larger troubling trend of the U.S. government extending the financial surveillance of the traditional banking system to cryptocurrencies. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican lawmaker and bitcoin-friendly senator-elect for Wyoming, also expressed its concerns on the Treasury Department’s new game rules for self-hosted digital asset wallets: Rather than prematurely adopting a rule on this complex topic, Treasury should immediately begin a transparent process to engage with Congress and industry, building a consensus to drive America forward. What do you think about the opinion of the nonprofit organization? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Electronic Frontier Foundation: US Government Will Expand Financial Surveillance Through FinCEN’s Proposed Crypto Wallet Rules appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments Sam Zell says he is sceptical of bitcoin but concedes that it may be part of the solution. In particular, the billionaire and real estate magnate thinks the bitcoin community is composed of many individuals that he is not fond of. Fast Talking Characters In remarks made during an interview, the billionaire, who predicts that the U.S. dollar will lose its status as the world’s reserve currency within the decade, has no kind words for some unnamed individuals in the bitcoin space. A report quotes Zell remarking: I am very sceptical, frankly, of bitcoin. Ultimately, it may be the answer or one of the answers. But right now, it’s a world that’s extraordinarily populated by chameleons and other fast-talking characters. I don’t believe everybody involved in it are the kind of people I’d like to follow. Although the billionaire does not explain how BTC can be one of the answers, the same interview, however, does provide some hints as to why Zell thinks so. When talking about the possibility of the U.S. dollar losing its reserve status, Zell warns: “If we keep doing what we are doing right now, I think it is 10 or 15 years away. If we lose the reserve status, I could see a 25% reduction in our standard of living.” US Dollar Reserve Currency Status Meanwhile, other individuals and organizations including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seem to share the billionaire’s sentiments on the U.S. dollar’s future status. The IMF says central banks now need to think about the possibility of replacing the dollar with other alternatives which include digital currencies. However, for his part, Zell warns of the disastrous consequences ahead if the tradition of “unlimited debt and irresponsible activity” does not end. Many analysts including bitcoiners see the excessive borrowing and printing of money as the prime cause of the U.S. dollar’s depreciation. The resulting diminished dollar value then forces some investors to seek and invest in inflation resistant assets like fiat money. Bitcoin is proving to be one such asset. What do you think of Zell’s bitcoin remarks? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. The post Real Estate Billionaire Sam Zell Skeptical of Bitcoin but Says ‘It May Be the Answer or One of the Answers’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Yield Finance Farm attempts to correct a few major issues plaguing the market at this time. Primarily, YieldFinanceFarm provides new crypto users an easier alternative to earn a passive income with the use of the latest and best strategies to invest. Compared to trading cryptocurrencies, yield farming requires less understanding and effort. In this way, the Yield finance farm provides a more secure alternative to trading cryptocurrencies without experience. Where to Buy YIF Tokens : (2nd Pre-sale Event is live) Yield Finance Farm is one of the few Yield Farming that has a Limited token supply. Only 30,000 YIF minted will be distributed to the community through Airdrops and Pre-sale Events. The token presale will reward investors with a discounted listing price where they can grab 1 YIF for 1.4 ETH and benefit from a presale bonus of up to 30%. YIF Presale token Balance will Receive instantly, and the primary utility token allows investors, full access to all YieldFinanceFarm DeFi products. The Token will be get listed on exchanges like Uniswap, and Hotbit, Digifinex, 1inch with an initial listing price of 3000$ per YIF Token. Presale link: https://yieldfinance.net/presale-yif-token ETH Sale Address: 0xd6764493d6C71d4FE356E12C36E60BCe05AE18Dd Follow instructions here: https://telegra.ph/Yield-Finance-FarmYIF-2nd-Pre-Sale-Event-is-Live-12-21 About YieldFinanceFarm Yield Finance Farm (YIF) is a high-yield Defi farm that allows you to Stake, Farm, Lend Borrow, and Earn. Bringing real value to yield farming, it’s a modern-age project designed to meet the demand for financial innovation and improved financial system efficiency through Defi and blockchain technology. It strives to create a decentralized financial ecosystem by used The YIF token to gain full access to all YieldFinanceFarm products. Allowing for community governance orchestrated in building decentralized products, After the launch of the protocol, YieldFinanceFarm will be under the governance of YIFDAO Website: https://yieldfinance.net WhitePaper: https://yieldfinance.net/Doc/whitepaper Presale details: Token Type: ERC-20 Token symbol: YIF Token Name: YieldFinanceFarm Contract : 0x79f434795124a3956704c4a8a90241a3462b2de7 Total Supply: 30,000 YIF Circulating Supply: 15,000 YIF Initial Uniswap Liquidity: 6,000 YIF (LOCKED IN UNICRYPT FOR 2 YEARS) YIF for Pre-sale: 12,000 YIF (Unsold Tokens will be Burned) Team Tokens: 1,500 YIF (Locked for 5 Month) Marketing: 1,800 YIF Development : 2,700 YIF Airdrops: 1,200 YIF What makes it different? – No Gas Fees: By farming with Yield Finance Farm (YIF), you enjoy the benefit of paying no gas fees, thus maximizing your yield. – Seamless Farming Experience: At Yield Finance Farm (YIF), the team handles all backend integration with DeFi protocols, thus allowing users to farm yield via a simple and easy-to-use “one-click” function – Maximized Yields: Yield Finance Farm(YIF) offers pure “yield driven” strategies for the subscription for users seeking only to maximize yield on principal capital, rather than accumulating DeFi governance tokens. YIF DeFi Products: YIF Token:is a governance token of the YieldFinanceFarm project, The token will be used to gain full access to all YieldFinanceFarm DeFi products. Yield Farming: This is the new yield farming approach where users get cover tokens instead of getting nothing by depositing liquidity or tokens into a pool. Cover tokens represent liquidity rate for the pair of the pool and served by separate smart contract and can be redeemed anytime. Lending: YIF will provide you with the highest yield in the market today, Up to 30% APR for supported coins (DAI, USDC, USDT, TUSD, BUSD,) Staking: Stake YIF and Earn 25% APR, YIF can be unlocked anytime without any locking period or other obstacles on your way. Dapp: YieldFinanceFarm is also developing its own Dapp running on the Ethereum Network, allowing users to use it from any of their favorite wallet (Trust wallet, MEW, Metamask, etc.) to search and use their Decentralized Ecosystem. Community: Telegram Group: https://t.me/YieldFinanceFarm Telegram Channel: https://t.me/YieldFinanceFarmNews Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/finance_farm Email: support@yieldfinance.net 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. The post YieldFinanceFarm Next Generation Rewards Maximizing DeFi Farm – 2nd YIF Presale Is Live appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

I asked some friends who were Bitcoin noobies what they wanted to know about Bitcoin, and was ready with some answers. Here’s what we came up with. Common Questions about Bitcoin, Answered How does mining work? Mining is a key component of the Bitcoin system. It helps secure the network, is integral to the issuance of new coins, and in a sense ties everything together. But how does it work? Well, it’s slightly complicated, so I’ll try to explain it in a condensed way that is simple but not “too simple”, so you hopefully get the gist of it: On average every ten minutes, transactions on the Bitcoin network are bundled together into a “block”. But in order for a block to be accepted by the network, the creator of the block (i.e. “the miner”) needs to prove they did the proper “work”. This is known as “proof of work”. Think of it like this: In order to create a block, you have to solve a math puzzle. The puzzles are hard to solve, yet easy to verify (sort of like a Sudoko puzzle). When a miner sends a solved block to the network, the other miners can quickly check if it’s correct, and then everyone starts working on the next block. Obviously, unlike Sudoko puzzles, these proof-of-work “math puzzles” are solved by computers running the Bitcoin software, rather than people using a pencil and paper. The puzzles are solved using brute force trial and error. There are scads of combinations tried every second from miners all around the world. In fact, a single miner will be computing trillions of “hashes” per second. You may hear the word “hash” or “hashing” being thrown around quite a bit in Bitcoin conversations. (You don’t really need to know what a mathematical hash function is, but essentially it is the math puzzle I am referring to). In the early days of Bitcoin, mining could be done on any computer, simply with the computer’s CPU. Over the years, mining moved away from CPU to GPU, then to FGPAs, and finally to ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits). Today, you need a specialized ASIC piece of hardware to mine (ordinary computers are far, far too slow.) When a miner produces a block, they have to bundle all the transactions that will be included, and also refer back to the previous block. All this gets put into the hash function. Because each block refers to the previous, together they make a chain of blocks (hence the term “blockchain”). Since the blocks are chained together, this is what creates the security for Bitcoin. No one can build an alternate history of transactions without redoing all the work for those blocks, and if this is attempted, the attacker will be too slow compared with the rest of the network that is continuing to extend the blockchain. In addition to the normal transactions being bundled into blocks, miners are also allowed to include a special transaction on each block, called a coinbase transaction, which awards the miner with freshly minted coins. Thus, the mining process provides an economic incentive to participate in providing security, while it at the same executes the issuance schedule. “Network hashrate” refers to the total aggregate amount of mining being done by all miners on the chain, and this tends to follow the price of the coin. The greater the financial rewards, the more the system attracts miners to compete for those rewards. Finally, there is a difficulty adjustment, whereby, periodically the network will make it either easier or harder to solve blocks, based on how fast (or slow) blocks have been coming in. As the hashrate goes up, the difficulty will also adjust upwards, and the system will continually keep adjusting so that the average time between blocks is ten minutes. What are the other major coins besides Bitcoin (BTC)? Ethereum (ETH) is the #2 coin by market cap today. Ethereum is similar to Bitcoin in that it uses an open source blockchain system, but it is more focused on smart contracts, which are computer programs that automatically execute agreements without the need for trusted intermediaries. Ethereum is often touted as being a kind of “world computer”, and is currently a backbone of decentralized finance (“DeFi”). Ethereum also hosts other coins known as “tokens”. XRP (XRP) is a currency that runs on Ripplenet, a creation of Ripple Labs company. It aims to be an alternative to legacy financial systems like Swift. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, XRP doesn’t use proof-of-work and instead is based on trusted validator nodes, which include universities and banks. XRP coins are issued by Ripplelabs. Tether (USDT) is a coin that is pegged to the US dollar (also called a stablecoin). It doesn’t have its own blockchain and instead is issued on other blockchains including BTC, ETH, and BCH. The peg is achieved by the Tether company maintaining dollars in a bank account, and other assets, equivalent in value to the number of circulating tethers. Tether has claimed that the coin is fully backed by USD reserves and similar assets, but some doubt this and Tether’s reserves have never been fully audited by a third party. Litecoin (LTC) is similar to Bitcoin and is based on the Bitcoin protocol, but introduces some small changes, including faster block times and a different hashing algorithm. This algorithm was originally intended to allow more users to mine the coin, even if they do not have access to ASICS, although today ASIC mining has taken over LTC as well. Litecoin was created in 2011, making it one of the oldest coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is another major coin, and is a fork of Bitcoin (BTC). Forks allow factions of a community to split and go their separate ways when they run into irreconcilable differences. When there is a chain-split and one version of a coin splits into two different projects, holders of the original coin will then own coins on both networks. The Bitcoin Cash project was born out of a chain split when the Bitcoin community could not agree on scaling the network in 2017. The side known as Bitcoin (BTC) has the clear economic majority at least in terms of price, but Bitcoin Cash has strong philosophical reasons for existing — namely, to continue the Bitcoin project as was originally intended: as reliable peer-to-peer electronic cash with low fees. By contrast, BTC has a limited capacity, which results in frequent periods of congestion and high fees when too many people try to use the blockchain at the same time. 3. What is the best Bitcoin wallet? There are many options for Bitcoin wallets, and which is “the best” depends on your goals and level of experience. The highest security and most privacy comes from running your own Bitcoin full node, but this is not practical for most users, nor is it necessary. For many users, the “best” (in my opinion) is the Electrum wallet (or Electron Cash for BCH) because it allows you to have high security without downloading the blockchain or running your own node. A distributed set of servers handle the heaviest parts of blockchain operations, but your own private keys to your coins are never sent to servers and only sign transactions locally. The electrum class of wallets are also open source, which increases their trust. Another nice option (super for beginners) is the Bitcoin.com wallet. It’s a great way to get started using Bitcoin. It’s safe and easy. 4. How can I store Bitcoins safely? Generally, your bitcoins should be stored in your own wallet and not kept on an exchange. As the old saying goes, “not your keys, not your coins”. This means that technically speaking when you have your coins on an exchange, you don’t actually own any coins. Instead, what you have is an IOU from the exchange. Although this may feel like an unimportant distinction on the surface, there are real risks of keeping your money on an exchange. These risks include the exchange refusing to return your funds (either because of malice or regulatory issues), or the exchange getting hacked or going out of business, or a hacker getting into your account. If you must keep coins on an exchange, make sure to use a strong password and two-factor authentication (2fa). When you have your coins in your own wallet, you are immune from many of the risks, but your coins can still be lost if you don’t back up your wallet and your computer dies, or if a hacker gets access. Keeping your computer up-to-date with malware and antivirus protection is recommended. For even better security, you can look into using a hardware wallet, a paper wallet, or a cold storage wallet. We don’t have room here to do a deep dive into each of them, but it’s an excellent place for any aspiring Bitcoiner to start researching. How do you know if a bitcoin transaction is legitimate? Beginners wonder how it’s possible to know if a Bitcoin transaction is legit if it’s just a bunch of data. Can’t that be faked? The short answer is that your wallet knows whether a transaction is valid, and usually won’t even display an invalid transaction. As to how the wallet knows this, Bitcoin transactions must follow a very specific format, and can only spend coins (also sometimes called “inputs”) that are themselves valid and only if the user (wallet) can produce the correct digital signature. Is Bitcoin anonymous? Yes and no. While Bitcoin transactions are not completely anonymous, not all transactions have a clear identity associated with them. The privacy model for Bitcoin is different from traditional finance. Actually, the Bitcoin whitepaper has a nice diagram for this: As you can see, in the traditional world of finance, transactions are shielded from public view, but “trusted third parties” know everything. Those trusted parties include banks, credit card companies, and so on. In the Bitcoin model, the public can see all transactions, but there is no identity that is required to use the network. But in practice, can analysts use heuristics and algorithms to uncover who is behind certain transactions? In many cases, they can. For example, if you withdraw Bitcoin from an exchange to your own wallet, the exchange knows who you are. If you then send the coins from your wallet to someone else, the second transaction can also be assumed to be from the same person. There are several methods available if you want to make your Bitcoin transactions more private. One is to first exchange your coins for another coin that offers better privacy features (such as Monero or Bitcoin Cash), and then exchange them back to BTC. How are Bitcoins taxed? Tax law is complicated and varies widely based on jurisdiction. I am not a tax professional and you should always seek professional tax advice when it comes to finances. That said, it appears taxes on Bitcoin are not particularly different from other assets. When you sell Bitcoins, it is generally a taxable event and taxes are owed on the profits. Unrealized profits are generally not taxed (for example, if you hold coins and don’t sell). Where can you spend Bitcoins? You can spend Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies anywhere they are accepted. Often, online shops offer more cryptocurrency adoption than retail settings. One great place to find stores that accept crypto is map.bitcoin.com. Another option is to get a crypto-based debit card. For example, this one from Bitpay. This allows you to load your coins and spend them anywhere debit cards are accepted (which is basically everywhere). What do you think about the eight beginner questions answered? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post 8 Beginner Bitcoin Questions Answered appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In an unexpected turn of events, the management team at Mirror Trading International (MTI) now suggest that their CEO Johann Steynberg may have exit scammed. The team alleges that Steynberg, now believed to be in Brazil, has locked out key management staff from accessing MTI’s account with a local bank. Additionally, management now appears to confirm earlier allegations that bitcoin withdrawal requests are not being honoured despite previously refuting this. Status of Investors’ BTC Unknown The last-minute revelations by MTI management appear to buttress the findings of an investigation by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), South Africa’s financial services regulator. In its update on the MTI probe, the FSCA said it uncovered losses that were not previously reported as well as bitcoins that cannot be accounted for. The FSCA says the investigation also found evidence suggesting that MTI’s broker, Trade 300 is linked to Steynberg. Interestingly, MTI management now believes that Trade 300 “is potentially owned and operated by Johann Steynberg.” The statement also adds that “communication with this broker has been sparse and unforthcoming.” Meanwhile, in the seven paged “MTI critical statement”, the management team chronicles the chain of events that followed the FSCA’s raid on the residences of the bitcoin trading company’s top executives in late October. The document starts by explaining the steps that Steynberg allegedly took after the raid and how such measures were meant to safeguard investors’ bitcoins. The statement says: Johann told us that when the FSCA took all the electronic devices, a security protocol was put in place with the broker to avoid all our member bitcoin being stolen, this included a limitation of withdrawals. This was communicated to all members on managements’ insistence. Next, the MTI statement states that the CEO then requested Clynton Marks – a member of the MTI management team – for 400 BTC “to pay members that had made withdrawals as the limitation on withdrawals with the broker was still a hindrance.” The statement claims that Marks agreed and transferred the BTC to the CEO but management “has no proof that Johann did contribute the amount stated.” Marks, who reportedly used his personal BTC, carried out three transfers between November 1 and 12. The Email Later, on November 30, Steynberg “received” an email from an anonymous source warning him of an imminent raid by the FSCA, again. In the email, the anonymous sender thanks Steynberg “for everything you do for humanity” before urging him to skip the country for his own safety. Using this email as justification, the CEO apparently left South Africa on or after December 2 and left his wife to manage his affairs in his absence. Later, the MTI management team members, who were uncomfortable with the CEO’s arrangement, threatened not to work with Steynberg unless he conceded to their demand “to appoint a proper second in charge that could run the system in his absence.” Still, Steynberg reportedly refused as he insisted that his wife “Nerina is his 2IC” and the MTI team seemingly relented. Nevertheless, starting on December 15, Steynberg ceased communicating with MTI management. Since uncovering the “terrible situation” the MTI team claims it has been trying to recover investors’ BTC that cannot be accessed. A private investigator has since been hired to trace Steynberg and the team adds it will be working with law enforcement “until this matter is resolved.” What are your thoughts on these new MTI revelations? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. The post CEO of MTI Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme Flees South Africa in Possible Exit Scam – Funds Blocked appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On December 23, 2020, the Canadian financial tech firm Mogo announced its plans to invest 1.5% of the company’s reserve assets into bitcoin by the year’s end. Mogo’s president and CFO said the initial corporate investment of up to $1.5 million in bitcoin builds on the company’s product development related investments in bitcoin during the last few years. Ever since Microstrategy purchased bitcoin to replace a percentage of the firm’s cash reserves, a large swathe of companies followed the bitcoin balance-sheet model. At the time of publication, there are now 28 publicly listed firms, private companies, and ETF-like funds represented on the web portal bitcointreasuries.org. The 28 entities have a whopping 1,150,622 BTC worth over $27 billion using today’s exchange rates or 5.48% of the supply. On Wednesday, the publicly listed Canadian company Mogo (NASDAQ:MOGO) (TSX:MOGO) announced it will be dedicating 1.5% of the firm’s total assets to bitcoin. The established fintech firm will join the 28 entities that have added bitcoin (BTC) to company portfolios. “[Mogo] plans to make an initial corporate investment of up to $1.5 million in bitcoin and will consider additional investments in 2021, as it monetizes its $17 million investment portfolio,” the company revealed. “The initial purchase would represent approximately 1.5% of Mogo’s total assets as of the end of the third quarter of 2020.” Mogo has already been dedicating energy toward the cryptocurrency economy and in 2018 the firm launched the Mogocrypto app. The application allows users from Canada to purchase and sell bitcoin (BTC) by using their smartphones. More recently, Mogo announced the launch of a bitcoin rewards program that rewards users in bitcoin if they interact with Mojo’s products. “Earlier this month, Mogo reported a 135% month-over-month increase in the dollar value of bitcoin traded on the Mogo platform from October 2020 to November 2020,” the company added. “We are strong believers in bitcoin as an asset class and believe this investment is consistent with our goal to make bitcoin investing available to all Canadians,” the company president and CFO Greg Feller said during Wednesday’s announcement. “In addition, we believe bitcoin represents an attractive investment for our shareholders with significant long-term potential as its adoption continues to grow globally,” he added. Feller continued by stating: We plan to initially allocate a modest portion of our capital toward bitcoin investments and will consider additional investments in bitcoin as we monetize some of our existing $17 million portfolio, which we expect to begin doing in 2021. The recent news from Mogo follows Elon Musk discussing putting Tesla’s billions into bitcoin with Microstrategy’s CEO Michael Saylor. It also follows the $745 million purchase Ruffer Investment made with help from the San Francisco-based crypto exchange Coinbase and One River Digital. Coinbase has been helping a lot of firms with big transactions as the firm also brokered Microstrategy’s influential $425 million bitcoin purchase. Mogo likely has its own method of purchasing large sums of bitcoin (BTC) by commanding its own trading platform. “As the only well-established Canadian company publicly traded on the TSX and NASDAQ, offering a simple and low-cost way to buy and sell bitcoin through our award-winning app, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the fast-growing demand for bitcoin,” Mogo’s president concluded. What do you think about all the companies starting to hold bitcoin on their balance sheets? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Publicly Listed Canadian Company Mogo Invests 1.5% of Reserves in Bitcoin, Plans More Next Year appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Global investment firm Skybridge Capital has launched a bitcoin fund with $25 million. The founder of the company, Anthony Scaramucci, is bullish about bitcoin. “It’s the first inning,” he said, adding that “You are about to see that wave of early adoption by the institutional community.” Skybridge’s Bitcoin Fund Starts Trading Skybridge Capital has launched its highly anticipated bitcoin fund. Founder Anthony Scaramucci said on CNBC Tuesday that the fund “started trading today with $25 million of the firm’s capital.” He added that it will “go live on Jan. 4 for outside investors.” Regarding the timing of the launch, particularly after the price of bitcoin has rallied significantly, Scaramucci said: “For us, I don’t think it’s late. If anything, it’s the first inning. You are about to see that wave of early adoption by the institutional community. I’d like to get our investors involved before that goes into full throttle.” The Skybridge founder further shared: We would have loved to deploy the fund three or four months ago. I think it [bitcoin] caught fire but we’re still in very very early innings. He then explained that his company has been doing research on bitcoin over the past two years and is getting more comfortable with the cryptocurrency. After talking to people like Michael Saylor, “it became clear to us that we needed to create a client-friendly product, something with a $50,000 minimum that the mass affluent could access, or RIAs [registered investment advisers] that we are close to could access. And it’s a cheaper offering than the rest, it’s 75 basis points,” he detailed. Saylor is the CEO of Microstrategy, a billion-dollar Nasdaq-listed company that now holds more than $1.6 billion in bitcoin. The company began buying BTC in August. Since then, Saylor has been an avid bitcoin proponent. He recently tried to convince Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to convert billions of dollars of Tesla’s balance sheet into bitcoin. Scaramucci believes that until there is a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), “this will be a way for us to democratize bitcoin like we did the hedge fund industry a decade ago.” The founder of Skybridge added that “you either have to accept that bitcoin is a store of value or not.” Noting that “there are still skeptics out there,” he affirmed that after doing the research, “we believe it is, and given the monetary supply and the global central banking coordination right now, this will be a very strong asset class over the next decade.” Explaining that the Skybridge bitcoin fund has a three-month holding period, aimed for investors to buy and hold, he elaborated: We could be at the precursor of an avalanche of institutional investors heading in … orders [are] building up from a large swath of institutions for the first quarter of 2021. What do you think about Skybridge launching a bitcoin fund? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Skybridge Bitcoin Fund Launches With $25 Million, Expecting ‘Avalanche of Institutional Investors’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. The Bitcoin.com Exchange team will be giving away a Franck Muller Bitcoin Cash watch in a margin trading competition this holiday season. Bitcoin.com has announced a new partnership with the luxury watch brand, Franck Muller, and the branded “Free the Money, Free the World.” watch has now launched. The first-ever Bitcoin Cash watch from Franck Muller is part of the “Encrypto” brand timepiece. The new watch is a limited edition BCH wristwatch that is sold for 9,900 EUR and only 500 pieces are available. The “Free the Money, Free the World” Franck Muller luxury BCH watch was designed by Tyler Gallagher of Regal Assets and the Co-Founder of Bitcoin.com, Mate Tokay. For more information on the Bitcoin.com and Franck Muller partnership, check the press release here. How Can I Win? To win an exclusive Franck Muller watch worth 9,900 EUR, you must simply: Register, or login to the Bitcoin.com Exchange platform. Trade any margin pairs with any leverage. You can trade with up to 12x leverage on the selected 29 markets on our exchange. You must have a total margin trading volume of $10,000 during the 30-day promotional period to receive an entry ticket! The entry ticket mechanism ensures that everyone has the same chance to enter the prize draw to win the exclusive watch! Please consider that margin trading has several risks due to cryptocurrency price volatility and product complexity. We advise you to exercise carefulness and attention. Please check our margin trading article before making your first trade here. Throughout the promotional period, we will announce additional flash competitions that will give you extra opportunities to get more entry tickets and increase your chance to win this amazing Encrypto watch! How Long Will the Promotion Last? The Franck Muller watch promotion is for 30 days. The promotional period will start on Tuesday, December 22th, 2020 at 10:00 UTC and end on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 at 10:00 UTC (“Competition Term”). Terms and Conditions Official Contest Rules – Watch Giveaway (the “Competition”) can be found on our blog here. About Bitcoin.com Exchange The mission of Bitcoin.com Exchange is to empower people from all over the world to trade cryptocurrencies with ease and confidence, from first-time traders to advanced trading professionals. With high liquidity, 24/7 multilingual support and dozens of trading pairs, complemented with a high level of security, we offer an attractive platform for trading any cryptocurrency. Within one year since launch, on average, our exchange has been visited by more than 500K active traders per month, and this number continues to grow as you read this sentence. Media Contact Info Bitcoin.com Exchange Contact Name: Antonio Bileci Contact Email: antonio@bitcoin.com 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. The post Win a Limited Edition Franck Muller Bitcoin Cash Watch “Free the Money. Free the World.” With Bitcoin.com Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article