Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Wall Street Bets saga, an incredibly ridiculous story about a group of amateur Reddit investors who beat career Wall Street hedge funds at their own game, is to be made into a movie. According to a report by online news site Deadline on Jan. 31, Metro Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) won the rights to produce the film in a bidding war involving major Hollywood movie houses. The movie is to be based on a book proposed by author Ben Mezrich. Mezrich’s previous work, “The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding Of Facebook, a Tale Of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal,” was adapted into the motion picture “The Social Network.” The title to his planned latest book offering is called “The Antisocial Network ,” said the report, quoting sources familiar with the development. The book is expected to go out to publishers later this February, it said. However, it is not yet clear what shape or structure the movie will take. MGM’s Michael DeLuca will produce the film. DeLuca also produced the Academy-Aw...

Alongside the cryptocurrency’s meteoric climb over the back half of 2020 and early 2021, a curious phenomenon has unfolded; heightened profit-taking and conversion to fiat currencies. Data collected by Simplex, a fiat-crypto gateway, underscores this seemingly paradoxical development. A Curious Race to Convert Crypto to Fiat Has Accompanied Bitcoin’s Latest Drive Higher Sharing exclusive data with Bitcoin.com, Simplex cofounder and chief analytics officer Netanel Kabala says: While the international press coverage of Bitcoin’s rally has caused a swathe of new users to flock to the industry and buy-in, outflows have been equally significant. Of the total amount of cryptocurrency sold in the last six months, 43% was off ramped in December alone. A quick look at Google Trends for the term ‘Bitcoin’ echoes these developments, especially now that new equity instruments like Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and big-name funds like Blackrock are adding exposure and raising crypto awareness...

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has posted a job advertisement that seeks to hire a role related to stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The Fed is looking for a research manager to join its team to assess the “benefits and risks” of digital assets. The Role Is Part of the Fed’s Digital Innovation Policy Per the Linkedin job posting , the Federal Reserve Board expects the selected candidate to manage the “Digital Innovation Policy Program.” The department oversees “all aspects of a program focused on emerging issues at the intersection of technology and payments.” The Fed highlights in the post, the “changing nature” of payment platforms in a digital environment. However, the role is not limited to doing in-depth research on how digital assets could benefit the economy. In fact, the U.S. Federal Reserve is aiming with the research manager of the Digital Innovation Policy Program to address “regulatory framework for emerging payments platforms” issues. The job ad...

This past week, another social media trend started on the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets, which aims to initiate a large silver short squeeze in order to push the price of the precious metal to $1,000 per ounce. However, the silver squeeze trend comes with controversy, as numerous wallstreetbets supporters believe hedge funds like Melvin Capital and Citadel are behind the silver push. The Controversial ‘Silver Squeeze’ During the last week, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the wallstreetbets (WSB) saga taking place on social media forums and the infamous subreddit r/wallstreetbets. Since the mega short squeeze on the Gamestop (GME) shares, the squeeze maneuver has also spilled into a number of other stocks. This week, shares from the Russell 3000 Index (RUA) were targeted including tickers like NOK, GOGO, AMCX, and FIZZ. But the trend didn’t stop there, as one post, in particular, had called for a “silver squeeze.” The WSB Reddit post called for the silver squeeze to push the price of...

As dogecoin’s frenzy keeps making the headlines in the crypto sphere, some people are not happy with it. Billy Markus, Dogecoin’s cofounder, has been a target of long-lasting online harassment, which still doesn’t end, he claims. Markus Sold All His Doge in 2015 The so-called meme coin, DOGE skyrocketed well over 325% in a single day, specifically on January 29, 2021. The dynamic was the similar one followed by the Gamestop/Wallstreetbets saga. In this case, a Reddit group called Satoshistreetbets was allegedly behind the recent dogecoin’s pump. However, Markus, also known in the crypto industry as “Shibetoshi Nakamoto,” published some tweets, clarifying publicly that he sold all his DOGE in 2015 after “getting laid off and freaking out about money.” In fact, he pointed out that money was enough to buy a used Honda Civic car. Dogecoin’s cofounder also claimed that he left the Dogecoin project seven years ago due to harassment from the community. However, Dogecoin’s cofounder say...

BitGesell represents a deflationary cryptocurrency that closely resembles bitcoin, but comes along with a few design changes. Its value proposition stems from Silvio Gesell’s financial market philosophy, who imagined monetary units that lose their value over time through demurrage. To keep things simple, BitGesell achieves scarcity through the means of accelerated block reward halvings and transaction fee burns. The Dawn of the Crypto Age & Replacing Outdated Fiat Over the last few years, the worldwide financial system has continuously lost its legitimacy, thereby positioning itself on the path to collapse. The key reason behind this downfall consists of monetary devaluation fueled by soaring levels of public debt. Instead of employing viable strategies for debt management, some governments prefer to keep themselves solvable via shameless money printing. In doing so, inflation rises so fiat money loses its purchasing power. Luckily, this is the onset of a new era – the cryptoc...

Creating meaningful change starts within our own company. That’s why we are evaluating and improving the ways we attract, hire, retain and create equity for our employees with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. First, we are focused more intentionally on creating a culture of inclusion and belonging for everyone: Our newly created Employee Resource Groups … Continued The post Creating a More Inclusive and Equitable Workplace appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/Rrp6v8

In September of 2020, the frontman for the rock band Kiss, Gene Simmons, tweeted a cryptic message about bitcoin with one of the cofounders of the Gemini crypto exchange. Then on Sunday, the Kiss singer tweeted to his 900k Twitter followers that he bought “bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and others.” The bassist and co-lead singer of the classic rock band Kiss discussed cryptocurrencies on Twitter on Sunday, after a few months ago when he tweeted about the subject with Cameron Winklevoss last September. His tweet at the time simply said “I will. I am,” in response to a Twitter discussion about the leading cryptocurrency. Gene Simmons told his fans he purchased BTC , ETH , LTC , DOGE, and XRP on Sunday. The message was cryptic and people didn’t really understand what the Kiss frontman meant at the time. However, on Sunday the rockstar, also known by his stage persona “the Demon,” said he bought and owned some digital currencies. “I’m not recommending any of this to anyone,” Simmons...

Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has clarified his position on bitcoin and dogecoin. He confirmed that he supports bitcoin, stating that it is “a good thing.” Admitting that he is late to the game on bitcoin, Musk said that he should have bought some eight years ago when his friend fed him a slice of a bitcoin cake. Elon Musk Confirms He Supports Bitcoin In an interview on The Good Time Show via the Clubhouse app Sunday night, Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked about bitcoin and dogecoin. “I’ve got to watch what I say here because some of these things can really move the markets,” Musk responded when asked to comment about bitcoin. “Many friends of mine have tried to convince me to get involved in bitcoin for a long time … I was a little slow on the uptake.” He added that one of his friends called Billy had a bitcoin cake, and he fed him a slice in 2013. “I at least should have bought some bitcoin eight years ago,” Musk admitted, elaborating: I do at this point think bitcoin is...

PRESS RELEASE. Stratis’ innovative blockchain solutions have attracted the attention of the digital asset investment fund, Alphabit, who have injected an initial investment while committing to a further 8 figure investment over the next 24 months for growth and development of the BaaS ecosystem. 1st February 2020, London, United Kingdom : Blockchain as a Solution (BaaS) service provider Stratis makes decentralized adoption easier for any firm with its innovative products designed to fit seamlessly with legacy operations, by allowing companies access to the Stratis blockchain via the widely-used C# programming language. The platform allows seamless running of smart contracts, multiple sidechains, and houses a full-scale ICO platform. Alphabit , A billion USD AUM fund and one of the world’s first regulated digital asset investment funds focused on delivering turn-key solutions and assisting projects with end-to-end partnerships, enters into this venture to rapidly scale Stratis’ de...

According to the findings of a study by Ark Investment Management (AIM), the value of bitcoin can potentially increase by $40,000 if all S&P 500 companies allocate 1% of their cash holdings to the crypto. Similarly, if all these companies were to convert 10% of cash holdings into bitcoin, the value of the crypto asset will potentially rise to $400,000. Institutional Adoption The study findings , which are based on December 1, 2020 data, seem to get validation from BTC ’s price movement after Square and Microstrategy acquisitions. As on-chain data shows, the value of the crypto asset went up after the two companies announced their BTC acquisitions. Still, in making the case for a greater allocation of bitcoin in institutional portfolios, the AIM study says: Untethered from traditional rules and regulations and generally uncorrelated to the behaviour of other asset classes, bitcoin seems to have earned a strategic allocation in well-diversified portfolios. Further, the stu...

In a surge reminiscent of dogecoin’s recent rally, the value of the XRP token soared by more than 100% in just 48 hours. After starting the day at $0.29 on January 30, data shows that the token peaking at just above $0.67. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at around $0.66   As shown on markets.Bitcoin.com , after this price surge, the market capitalization of XRP went up to almost $28 billion, a figure close to double that of Polkadot. This means XRP has now reclaimed its position for now as the fourth highest-ranked crypto. Similarly, data from messari.io shows that XRP peaked at $0.68 on February 1.   With the token issuer Ripple Labs facing legal challenges , XRP ’s unexpected price surge might lend credence to reports that an offshoot of the Wallstreetbets (WSB) is helping to pump the crypto. Already, this movement of retail traders known as Satoshistreetbets has received partial credit for dogecoin’s recent meteoric rise. Buoyed by Wallstreetbets’ Game...

PRESS RELEASE. Crypto-backed lending service CEX.IO LOAN that launched in October 2020 in select global jurisdictions, has been experiencing major demand, receiving over $100 million worth of loan requests to date. While the service has been widely popular among retail investors, most of the platform’s loan requests came from institutional investors. According to CEX.IO LOAN, such an increase in demand can be attributed to the institutionalization of the cryptocurrency industry. Institutional investors, who have cryptocurrencies in their possession, regard it as a potential collateral for borrowing funds and actively utilise it as such. The borrowed funds are then used for further investment purposes. In addition to featuring cutting-edge security and advanced anti-fraud measures, CEX.IO Group operates a regulated service, which has been licensed as a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) provider by the Gibraltar Financial Service Commission (GFSC) since last year. In addition to t...