Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

PRESS RELEASE. The AdGram service was founded a year ago and is currently the largest advertising exchange in Telegram. AdGram helps brands place large advertising volumes in channels and groups quickly and efficiently. Channels and groups benefit from expansion of their audience, it is easy to find advertisers and increase the earnings from advertising placements via AdGram . Over the last 12 months, the service has gained a huge experience in communications with both advertisers and administrators from different countries, which has highlighted issues with settlements in multiple currencies. After overcoming these obstacles, it was decided that cryptocurrency could be the key to solving this problem. With the termination of the Telegram team’s work on the TON project in May 2020 (the messenger lost one of its monetization methods), Free TON was launched which took over the development and popularization of TON Crystal using the open source code from the original TON. The unique...

21Shares AG, a Zurich-based investment provider, is launching what is being dubbed as the world’s first Polkadot exchange-traded product, or ETP. The DOT ETP will be listed on the Swiss exchange SIX on Thursday, February 4, said the company in a statement on Tuesday. DOT is the native token of the Polkadot network. DOT has since been added to 21Shares’ Crypto Basket ETP (HODL), which tracks five major assets including bitcoin ( BTC ) and ethereum ( ETH ). Since its addition on Jan. 29, DOT now accounts for 27% of the product behind BTC at 50%. Hany Rashwan, chief executive officer of 21Shares, said the firm has seen “unprecedented demand” from institutional investors wanting exposure to crypto-assets. He stated that demand for its range of crypto ETPs has soared 500% since the third quarter of 2020, but there has been “a recent surge in interest” for DOT. “After investors purchase their first bitcoins through our ETPs, there is a natural transition to invest in other crypto asse...

One River Asset Management’s CEO says his firm now holds bitcoin worth “well over” $1 billion. He revealed that the institutional interest in bitcoin is “astounding,” noting that almost all major institutions in the U.S. are having discussions about the cryptocurrency. He believes that bitcoin will be worth more than gold, placing its value at approximately $500K. One River Asset Management’s CEO Is a Bitcoin Bull The CEO and co-founder of One River Asset Management, Eric Peters, shared his view on bitcoin at length in an interview with Bloomberg last week. Firstly, he revealed that his asset management firm now holds bitcoin “well in excess of a billion dollars at this point.” He then discussed the case for institutional investors to own cryptocurrencies currently. “We are in a unique period right now,” Peters began. It is the period seen many times throughout history where “governments become extremely indebted, monetary policy becomes less effective, and ultimately governments ...

On February 2, the crypto asset manager, Bitwise Asset Management, announced it had filed a Form 211 with the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). If the proposal is approved Bitwise will be able to deploy its shares publicly via over-the-counter (OTC) desks and secondary markets. Bitwise Plans to Compete With Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust The popular cryptocurrency index fund provider, Bitwise Asset Management , hopes to get regulatory approval from America’s financial regulators in order to publicly list the Bitwise Bitcoin Fund on OTC markets. The Bitwise Bitcoin Fund (BBF) if approved, will follow the public quotation of the firm’s Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund that recently obtained regulatory approval. The BBF will trade on OTCQX Best Market and currently Bitwise hasn’t chosen a ticker for the fund yet. Bitwise President Teddy Fusaro explained during the announcement that the fund has been managed since 2018 and the company looks forward to an OTCQX public quotat...

Global music distribution service Ditto has unveiled the latest addition to its service lineup for musicians with a blockchain-based financing platform named Opulous. Opulous Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform Serves as a Loan Pool Designed to Help Artists Ditto continues its efforts to improve the value chain for artists. Unlike other decentralized finance (defi) protocols, Opulous reflects asset-based lending, which bridges the physical and digital worlds. The Opulous’ defi lending mechanism, which is being developed on the Algorand public blockchain , leverages music copyrights’ tangibility through a smart contract setup that automatically handles principal and interest payments along with distributions to investors. For musicians already receiving royalties, this presents a unique opportunity to monetize their assets or contribute to the pool to stake other artists. When seeking capital, artists can access funds by collateralizing loans from Opulous’ Music Copyright Pools with t...

During the last year, Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem has grown exponentially to form a multi Billion Dollar market. As Decentralized Finance expands, it becomes more and more relevant to have cross-chain connections that enable crypto assets to flow instantly and seamlessly across blockchain networks. These make it possible for DeFi platforms to be an effective alternative to centralized exchanges. Today, pNetwork launches the first EOS to Ethereum cross-chain connection to enable the EOS crypto asset to be moved into Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem. EOS on Ethereum EOS , the native token on the EOS blockchain, is a top20 cryptocurrency by market cap and the engine powering one of the most active dApps ecosystems. The asset counts over $ 3.5 Billion in daily trading volumes, figuring as the 9th most traded cryptocurrency. At present, only a fraction of the total is happening in a decentralized fashion. While the DeFi ecosystem on EOS continues to grow, it has not yet reached Ethereum’s s...

As the so-called ‘meme coin’ is actively making the headlines within the crypto sphere, a publicly-traded company is joining the dogecoin frenzy. Kronos Advanced Technology announced they’ll start accepting dogecoin as one of its payment methods. Kronos Also Accepts Other Cryptocurrencies Such as Bitcoin and Ether According to the announcement , the Los Angeles-based firm is adding dogecoin (DOGE) to its accepted payment form. In fact, customers will be able to purchase air purifiers, and personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies via the meme coin. Adopting dogecoin as a payment method was not as part as just of a crypto adoption-driven maneuver. The company praised the popularity of the token and its uniqueness within the industry. Also, Kronos pointed out that dogecoins transactions’ speed is a positive note for the Shiba Inu inspired meme token. So far, the company accepts several cryptos as payment methods, such as bitcoin ( BTC ), ethereum ( ETH ), litecoin ( LTC ), among ...

Following the Wallstreetbets saga last week, a great number of the popular shares being fueled by social media have started to tank in value. Gamestop shares dropped over 60% on Tuesday, while AMC dropped more than 49% shaking investors who bought into these stocks to the core. Meanwhile, a number of cryptocurrency advocates believe the only true way to stick it to the bankers and Wall Street is to leverage digital assets like bitcoin. Reddit’s Favorite Stocks Begin to Feel Pain Last week, news.Bitcoin.com published numerous reports on the fiasco that started on the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets and then went viral across the internet. Redditors, meme lords, and retail investors attempted to short squeeze Gamestop (GME) shares and at first they were successful in shaking out billions from hedge funds. The trend also moved into a few other stocks like AMC theaters and the mobile company Nokia. However, after a few days of headlines, these stocks and even silver started to feel th...

Michael Saylor, the ‘bitcoin slayer’ that needs no introduction, continues his attacks on everything non-bitcoin, this time unleashing his wrath on gold. It Feels Great, Says Saylor of Owning More Than 71K Bitcoins In an interview with Andrew Henderson of Nomad Capitalist, a legal finance advisory, Saylor, condemning gold as a “dying asset” and “dead money,” offered his view of the future of investment: gold is out, bitcoin is in. To recap Saylor’s ascent to bitcoin supremacy, his firm Microstrategy made headlines for its relentless bitcoin shopping spree during 2020, buying 29,646 coins in December alone. 2021 is no different, with Saylor announcing today another purchase of 295 bitcoins, bringing his total to 71,079. MicroStrategy has purchased approximately 295 bitcoins for $10.0 million in cash, at an average price of ~ $33,808 per #bitcoin . We now #hodl ~ 71,079 bitcoins acquired for $1.145 billion at average price of ~ $16,109 per bitcoin. https://t.co/lmj3QCgKbw — M...

Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been trying to get to the bottom of what happened with the popular trading app Robinhood when it stopped people from buying shares of hot stocks, like Gamestop. The shares of these stocks became popular due to the Wallstreetbets movement. Elon Musk Says People Want the Truth From Robinhood During an interview on The Good Time Show via the Clubhouse app Sunday night, Elon Musk grilled the CEO of trading app Robinhood, Vlad Tenev, over the company’s decision to restrict hot stocks last week, including Gamestop. On Friday, Robinhood also restricted crypto trading, citing “extraordinary market conditions.” “What happened last week? Why can’t people buy the Gamestop shares? The people demand an answer and they want to know the details and the truth,” Musk said. Tenev began by explaining the structure of his company. “Robinhood is actually a couple of companies,” he described. Robinhood Financial processes trades, Robinhood Securities clears and settle...

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the listing of BTCV on the 2nd of February 2021 at 14:00 UTC. BTCV, a cryptocurrency launched back in 2019, claims to have come up with a theft-proof security solution. According to its makers, Bitcoin Vault (BTCV) was developed as the ultimate coin for the crypto enthusiast, hodlers, and traders alike. BTCV will be listed with BTC as a trading pair on Bitcoin.com Exchange, with more trading pairs being introduced at a later stage. What Is Bitcoin Vault (BTCV)? Since decentralized blockchains are immutable, canceling transactions is not possible. So, if someone makes a mistake while transferring the funds or if there was an unauthorized transaction there is no way to revert the funds back into the wallet. BTCV is not a fork of Bitcoin, it is a new blockchain based on the code behind Bitcoin which uses the same hashing algorithm needed to mine new coins – SHA-256. Since its inception, the creators behind BTCV have contin...

The Indian government has clarified its position on cryptocurrency and the country’s digital currency in answers provided by the Ministry of Finance in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament. The Indian crypto industry sees this clarification as positive news and that the government is unlikely to impose an outright ban on cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Indian Government Answers Questions About Cryptocurrency and Digital Rupee Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, published a list of questions and written answers on Feb. 2 that include the topic entitled the “Introduction of India’s own cryptocurrency.” Member of Parliament Sri Sanjay Raut asked the finance minister whether the Indian government is aware that many business companies are using cryptocurrency for international transactions during the last year and whether the government is considering the possibility of introducing India’s own cryptocurrency. The questions were answered by Minister of...

An Ontario man based in San Bernardino County of the U.S. has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of illegally operating a bitcoin to cash exchange business. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the man, Hugo Sergio Mejia, 49, operated the unregistered exchange business between May 2018 and September 2020. Accordingly, Mejia now faces “a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison” once he pleads guilty. In a statement announcing the charges, the DOJ says Mejia had, as part of his plea agreement, admitted that he had not “registered his business with the FinCEN.” The DOJ explains in the statement that during the “nearly 2½-year period” Mejia had managed to exchange at least $13 million. However, as part of efforts to conceal his true activity, Mejia also admits that he created companies specifically for this purpose. Further, the DOJ statement adds: Mejia advertised his business online and was referred to customers by word of mouth, communicating ...