Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The past week has been busier than usual for the NFT ecosystem. Rap stars Jeezy and Riff Raff entered the NFT realm, Hoard introduced its lending platform for NFT-collateralized crypto loans, The Topps Company is dropping its Series 1 Baseball collectibles, super-quarterback Tom Brady is launching his own NFT initiative, Terra Virtua is releasing a Godzilla vs. Kong NFT line, and even Annoying Orange is NFTing. NFT-Collateralized Crypto Loans Arrive Hoard , an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace, launches a new loan platform called Pawn Shop, where you can use your NFTs as collateral to obtain crypto loans. The platform will support users as they trade, buy, sell, loan, and rent NFTs like in-game items, domain names, digital art, and more. If you own extra stablecoins and are looking for a way to generate profit from them, Hoard’s platform offers you high profits as a lender. The platform plans to gradually transition into a DAO with its own governance token, the HRD coin. The First ML...

Bitcoin bull and billionaire investor Mike Novogratz has warned about cryptocurrency market volatility in a recent interview stemming from the Barron’s and Marketwatch’s “Investing in Crypto” virtual event series. In general and over the long term, Novogratz is bullish about bitcoin and companies like Coinbase remaining prosperous. Novogratz Warns of a Crypto Market ‘Washout’ Shares in Coinbase Global, Inc. ( Nasdaq: COIN ) are currently down 5% since yesterday’s opening and during the launch billionaire Mike Novogratz spoke about the San Francisco firm and the crypto-economy in general. Novogratz has been a long-time supporter of bitcoin ( BTC ) and other digital assets like ethereum ( ETH ) as well. Just recently, the crypto investment company he founded, Galaxy Digital filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund. While speaking positively about the COIN launch on Wednesday, Novogratz said the excitement woul...

The CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, says that he is fascinated by cryptocurrency, believing that it could become a “great asset class.” However, he said that Blackrock has not received many inquiries from its institutional clients about having bitcoin in their portfolios. Blackrock’s CEO ‘Fascinated’ About Crypto Following Coinbase’s IPO via a direct listing on Nasdaq, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink was asked in an interview with CNBC Wednesday whether his view on cryptocurrency has changed. Blackrock is the world’s largest asset manager, with more than $8.7 trillion in assets under management. “I’m still fascinated about it,” he began. “I’m encouraged by how many people are focusing on it. I’m encouraged about the narrative. It may become a great asset class.” He emphasized, “I do believe this could become a great asset class, cryptocurrency.” However, the executive noted: “I don’t believe it’s a substitute for currencies. I think we are going to have cryptocurrenc...

Crypto tax evasion is becoming a hot potato for the authorities in some Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea. A South Korean city is now actively fighting against tax evaders who are suspiciously reporting meager earnings in their filings. 511 Individuals in the Authorities’ Eyes According to Gugkje News , the authorities of Gyeongju, in North Gyeongsang Province, are aware of several possible cases of crypto tax evasion where individuals are reportedly hiding money into cryptocurrencies without reporting them before the tax authorities. As the new “Specific Financial Information Act” rules enforced the monitoring of the crypto exchanges to combat money laundering and tax evasion, Gyeongju City and the North Gyeongsang Province are cooperating with four domestic exchanges to identify the alleged tax evaders. In fact, Bithumb and Upbit are reportedly providing the data asked by the authorities to analyze possible irregularities. As of press time, 511 individuals are unde...

The whistleblower and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee and subcontractor Edward Snowden has revealed he is stepping into the world of non-fungible token (NFT) assets. Moreover, 100% of the NFT sale proceeds will be donated to the Freedom of the Press Foundation. American Whistleblower Edward Snowden Mints an NFT Edward Snowden is a well known whistleblower who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) back in 2013. Snowden is a privacy advocate and has explained that he is positive about digital currencies like bitcoin ( BTC ) in the past. The whistleblower has also been critical of BTC ’s development in regard to the blockchain’s ability to scale to the masses. Edward Snowden’s “Stay Free” non-fungible token (NFT) collectible is pictured on the left and will be auctioned on April 16, 2021, via the NFT marketplace Foundation. Now Snowden has released an NFT called “ Stay Free ” and it claims to be the “only known NFT produced b...

During the first week of April, Bitcoin.com News reported on the sidechain project Smart Bitcoin Cash Project (Smartbch), as the community has been very excited about this new venture. Smartbch aims to connect Ethereum’s EVM and Web3 APIs to a smart sidechain built using the Bitcoin Cash network. On April 7, 2021, Smartbch’s lead developer Wang Kui was interviewed by Satoshi’s Angels’ cofounder Cindy Wang and he explained the many benefits Smartbch will bring to the crypto ecosystem. Smartbch: Maximizing TPS With Bitcoin Cash There are many reasons why people are bullish about bitcoin cash ( BCH ), as the digital asset has been processing more transactions per day than BTC since February. Moreover, proponents like internet entrepreneur, Kim Dotcom has been telling the world about the many benefits BCH has to offer. Dotcom plans to leverage BCH for his content monetization application K.im . Furthermore, BCH supporters have been excited about the decentralized finance (defi) pr...

The French multinational insurance firm AXA is now allowing clients in Switzerland to pay for services in bitcoin. The newly added support is part of the company’s “digital future” and stems from customer demand for crypto payments. AXA Supports Bitcoin Payments In Switzerland AXA has announced it is the first all-lines insurer in the country of Switzerland to accept bitcoin ( BTC ) for bill payments. At the end of 2019, AXA conducted a study and asked people 18 to 55 about what they thought about cryptocurrencies. The study had shown that many respondents already held digital currencies and others were also very interested. Covid-19 has accelerated this demand and interest, AXA notes in its announcement and therefore it is now “allowing its customers to pay their bills with bitcoin.” Soon, AXA customers will see a new payment option on bills sent by email and via invoice.inapay.ch/axa as well. Payments in bitcoin ( BTC ) can then be completed on a desktop computer or smartphone. ...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now has a new chairman, Gary Gensler. President Joe Biden’s pick, the MIT professor, whose classes included blockchain technology, digital currencies, and financial technology, has been confirmed by the Senate to lead the SEC. SEC Has a New Chairman President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has been confirmed by the Senate as the new chairman of the top financial regulator. The Senate voted 53-45 on Wednesday to confirm his nomination. The four commissioners at the SEC released a statement welcoming the agency’s new chairman, stating: A warm congratulations to Gary Gensler on his Senate confirmation to become Chair of the SEC … We welcome him back to public service and look forward to working together to execute our vital mission. Gensler is a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is also a co-director of Fintech@CSAIL and a senior advisor to the MIT M...

PRESS RELEASE. SimpleFX, one of the world’s leading trading apps with both crypto and fiat accounts is going to invite traders to try out their beta staking module. The trading app is already recognized as a great alternative to mainstream Robinhood or eToro platforms. They win new users by being Independent of Wall Street, banks, and hedge funds. If you want to profit from growing stock or cryptocurrency markets all you can sign up with your e-mail, buy and sell Tesla, Alphabet, Toyota, or any other global stocks, silver, gold, Bitcoin, altcoins, and more with cryptocurrency accounts. Use any leverage up to 1:500. SimpleFX is a renowned trading app that has been in business since 2014. Was one of the first brokers offering cryptocurrency accounts. You can sign up for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin accounts with just an email. The broker’s agile team is improving its tools constantly. Recently they have created a native HarmonyOS app for Huawei users. SimpleFX’s purpose is to p...

Nearly every day now a new company is announcing the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in some form or another. Now one of the world’s largest fine wine auction houses and America’s oldest wine shop Acker has revealed digital currency acceptance to pay for auction payments and retail wine purchases. Wine Shop Acker Jumps Into the Crypto Space This week the wine shop and auction house Acker revealed that it is now accepting cryptocurrencies for goods and services. Effective immediately Acker will accept BTC , BCH , ETH , DOGE, and three stablecoins via the payment processor Bitpay. Moreover, the wine company that started in 1820 has also added BTC and ETH to the company’s markets web portal . During the announcement, Acker Chairman John Kapon said he believes that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. “Cryptocurrencies are no longer a passing fad, and, as one of the oldest licensed businesses in America, Acker is proud to accept this novel form of payment as we continue to evolve in o...

With a population of over 200 million, Nigeria is widely regarded as one the biggest crypto markets in the world. Some in the crypto world believe Nigeria is one of the few countries better placed to see a greater acceptance of digital currencies. However, despite this optimism, the Nigerian crypto industry continues to be plagued by constant hurdles that then complicate mass adoption efforts. Some of the problems faced include an uncertain regulatory environment as well as the proliferation of bitcoin-related scams which often taint the image of cryptocurrencies. However, according to Tony Emeka, the founder and CEO of Cryptotvplus a Nigerian crypto-focused media organization, some of these challenges can be overcome through education. Nigeria is very active when it comes to digital currencies and is one of the top countries in Africa in terms of cryptocurrency trade volumes. However, Nigeria’s blockchain and cryptocurrency industry has been dealing with regulatory uncertainty. ...