Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, formerly BitMax, an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the listing of the DefiDollar Token (DFD) under the pair USDT/DFD on Apr 29 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. DefiDollar is a DeFi lab that aims to bring mass adoption to DeFi with a wide-ranging product suite. The first product offering to go live will be the stablecoin index – DUSD, with ibBTC and optionCoin currently in development. DefiDollar (DUSD) aspires to be a risk-insured stablecoin layer for DeFi. It is designed to provide a safe and stable way for users to hold their assets with DUSD being optimized for peg safety, yield, and diversification. DefiDollar uses DeFi primitives to stay close to the dollar mark. DUSD provides an avenue for diversifying stablecoin holdings to hedge against an event where the underlying stablecoins like Tether or DAI deviate from their peg. DUSD is collateralized by Curve Finance LP tokens. DFD is the n...

A group of South African investors recently confessed to losing money to a brazen scammer after he convinced them to buy and hold nearly worthless physical coins. The coins, which are denominated in the Bostwana pula currency, were initially sold to a group of South African women back in 2019 when bitcoin was only worth $3,500. However, according to a report , this con only came to light when one member of the group, who is only known as Lizet, attempted to cash out after she lost her job. Lizet explained: I lost my job and decided to sell one bitcoin since it had doubled in price (and that is when) I found out I had bought two 5 pula coins for $6,988 (100,000 rands) and now the Nigerian man who scammed us is no where to be found. Meanwhile, Lizet adds that before the women realised they were being conned, the scammer would tell them that what they were “doing is what investors call hodl” and that “when the price is right people will be fighting to purchase the coins from us.” It...

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, says “Bitcoin will always be the gold,” outperforming other cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum, in the long run. He said “there are interests being brought out of all kinds of institutions” for bitcoin. Kevin O’Leary Bullish on Bitcoin Kevin O’Leary shared his thoughts about bitcoin and ether in an interview with CNBC Wednesday. While acknowledging that ether has been performing well lately, O’Leary insisted: Bitcoin will always be the gold. The chairman of O’Shares ETFs added that “Ethereum will always be the silver,” but emphasized, “that’s not a bad thing necessarily.” He did not mention other cryptocurrencies by name. While noting that there is potential upside for Ethereum as it shifts to a new model, the Shark Tank star believes that Ethereum is primarily “going to be used as a form of tracking and payment system.” O’Leary pointed out, however, that Ethereum 2.0 has the potential to be “far more green in terms of...

A cryptocurrency exchange with about 2 million users worldwide announced that it has “suffered a serious cyber attack.” A number of basic services are paralyzed and the attacker tried to access the exchange’s wallets. Consequently, the platform has shut down, stating that it needs to perform a “comprehensive inspection” which is expected to last one to two weeks. Hotbit Says It ‘Suffered a Serious Cyber Attack’ Crypto exchange Hotbit announced Friday: Hotbit just suffered a serious cyber attack starting around 08:00 PM UTC, April 29,2021, which led to the paralyzation of a number of some basic services. The announcement adds that “the attackers also tried to hack into Hotbit’s wallets,” but the exchange claims that “the attempt was identified and stopped by our risk control system.” The exchange says that it is “about to exceed 2 million registered users and has a huge service system architecture of more than 200 servers online, in order to ensure security, Hotbit team will com...

Authorities in Beijing have been conducting checks on cryptocurrency mining datacenters to assess and understand its energy consumption and thus the impact on the electric infrastructure. Although it was reported as a rumor by international media outlets, Chinese state media confirmed it. Authorities Sent an ‘Emergency Note’ to Three Biggest Telecom Operators As first reported by Reuters, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology was the entity that ordered the checks on the city’s data centers. In the first instance, they wanted to verify if these companies are involved in bitcoin ( BTC ) and other cryptocurrency mining businesses by sending an “Emergency Notice Concerning the Data Center Involving Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrency Mining Businesses in Our City’s Data Centers.” According to an unnamed source cited by Reuters, the notice also targeted three of the biggest telecommunications operators in China. The measure took place on Tuesday, and then s...

PRESS RELEASE. Peer-to-peer internet ThreeFold integrates with several popular blockchain ecosystems in an effort to increase adoption for the world’s largest such network 29th April 2021, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – ThreeFold plans to integrate its peer-to-peer internet platform with three of the leading blockchain ecosystems in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space; Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum, and Huobi’s ECO Chain. ThreeFold is set to integrate BSC in the next couple of weeks, with Ethereum and Huobi’s ECO Chain following shortly later on in Q2. These integrations will provide the ThreeFold ecosystem access to a wide array of DeFi applications. In turn, this will allow ThreeFold to be more accessible to the DeFi world and provide ThreeFold Farmers and users with more platforms to exchange TFT. ThreeFold ’s bold move comes while the wider cryptocurrency market is booming. The total value of all cryptocurrency-related or blockchain-based projects has surpassed $2.1 ...

Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, discussed a number of topics this week such as inflation and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) following the multi-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. The central bank’s lead executive was asked about feverish stocks like Gamestop shares and the crypto asset dogecoin. Powell said that the Federal Reserve aims to provide financial stability but notes there are some things in capital markets that are a bit frothy. Fed Chair on Inflation: The committee Seeks Inflation Moderately Above 2% This week the FOMC meetings have shown that the U.S. central bank plans to continue its monetary easing policies until it is satisfied the economic effects of the pandemic are dealt with. The FOMC meetings were also followed by press conferences where the Fed Chair Jerome Powell answered questions from a number of different news agencies. Powell discussed the benchmark interest rate and inflation, while he was also asked about digital currenci...

Turkey has now jailed six suspects connected to the cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, which has been accused of an exit scam. Turkish authorities and Interpol have widened their search for the exchange’s CEO, who fled the country before shutting down his trading platform, preventing customers from withdrawing their funds. Search Widens for CEO of Crypto Exchange Thodex A Turkish court has jailed six suspects in connection with the cryptocurrency exchange Thodex which has been accused of an exit scam, Reuters reported Thursday. The exchange abruptly halted trading last week after its CEO, Faruk Fatih Ozer, fled the country to Albania. Customers have filed complaints against the exchange as they cannot log in to their accounts and withdraw their funds. The spokeswoman for Istanbul’s Anadolu prosecutor’s office said that the six jailed suspects include Ozer’s brother, sister, and senior company employees, noting that they are awaiting trial. At least 83 people were detained over the p...

On April 30, the crypto-focused data analytics company Skew announced the firm has been acquired by the San Francisco company Coinbase. The exchange will leverage Skew’s data with the firm’s institutional subsidiary Coinbase Prime. The goal is to make “cryptocurrency markets more transparent and accessible for institutional investors.” Coinbase Acquires Analytics Company Skew Skew, the company behind the crypto data and analytics website skew.com has been acquired by Coinbase according to a recently published blog post . Bitcoin.com News and a myriad of other crypto industry service providers have leveraged Skew’s analytics for reports in regard to cryptocurrency derivatives markets. Skew’s comprehensive data showcases both bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) spot, futures, and options market data. The platform was founded three years ago by Emmanuel Goh and Tim Noat and during the last two years the analytics Skew provides has been quite popular. The Skew team says that it looks f...

In less than three days, the renowned photographer Jesse Frohman will be holding an auction featuring a non-fungible token (NFT) collection of his last photoshoot with the now-deceased Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. On May 3, at 12 p.m. (ET) Frohman’s iconic photos that were transferred into NFTs will be auctioned for ethereum. A portion of the auction’s proceeds will go to the JED Foundation, a suicide prevention nonprofit for teens. ‘The Last Session’ NFT Auction Featuring Over 100 Kurt Cobain Images to Start at 27 Ethereum Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain changed the lives of many people with his awe-inspiring music, as the American singer, songwriter and musician took the world by stage back in the early nineties. Often heralded as one of the pioneers of alternative rock, Cobain’s legacy has lived on long after he committed suicide on April 5, 1994. The now-deceased spokesperson for Generation X will soon have his photographs sold as non-fungible token assets. The photographer Jesse Frohma...

While it may still be the primary network hub for defi activities, smart contracts, and NFTs, bridges built using competing networks like Tezos could pose a serious challenge to Ethereum’s market share in these areas. New Solutions to Old Problems Could Undermine Network’s Potency In the time since the network’s unveiling, Ethereum-killers have abounded with claims that they would displace the network with faster transactions, more scalability, lower fees, and effectively do just about everything better. Despite all the hype surrounding these answers to Ethereum’s flaws, no network has been able to displace the network’s appeal in totality. Yet, Ethereum’s deficiencies are currently coming under attack from all sides, and more so than ever before. The recently unveiled WRAP Protocol from Bender Labs is one of several arrows that could seriously maim Ethereum’s status. This highly interoperable decentralized protocol will enable the transformation and transfer of Ethereum tokens, ...

The fever surrounding non-fungible tokens continues to spread as it penetrates new areas and industries. Political memes have now entered the NFT fray, Dole is fighting food insecurity with a humorous angle, Digitalax is bridging the physical and digital fashion divide, and even acclaimed wine is getting a taste for digital collectibles. Drumpfs Mint Trump’s Tweets for Charity Capitalizing on the momentum of Meme PAC’s viral presence in the American political conversation, 18-year incoming Columbia freshman and President behind the famed youth political action committee (PAC) Jackie Ni is introducing political NFTs. Through Strategic Meme Group (SMG), where Ni serves as Chief Meme Officer, unique digital political collectibles will be minted and auctioned to monetize former President Donald Trump’s tweets for charitable purposes. The so-called “ Drumpfs ,” which mark the first undertaking of SMG, will be presented as cubes with different images affixed to each side. One side of ea...

Individuals and companies are not the only ones who take advantage of the significant bitcoin prices surging across the board, despite recent pullbacks. In New Jersey, United States, a county yielded profits after liquidating seized cryptocurrencies during a drug investigation. Authorities Gained Control of the Cryptos in 2019 According to NBC New York , local authorities from Monmouth County got the bitcoin ( BTC ) during a raid in the context of an illegal narcotics distribution crackdown in 2018. Investigators found that such digital assets were part of the profits gained by the criminals due to its drug sales. Approximately, the county netted 300% in profits from the liquidation when BTC was exchanging hands around the $57,000 threshold, selling it at around $198,000, said the media outlet. Per the report, in 2019, the county filed a forfeiture complaint after the suspect pleaded guilty. That said, the county gained ownership of the seized crypto. Christopher Gramiccioni, the...

On Thursday, Apifiny, a global digital asset trading and mining network, announced the company’s subsidiary Apifiny Prime has been granted a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The firm now joins the ranks of brokerage and exchange businesses like Coinbase, Etoro, and Circle. FINRA Grants Apifiny Prime a Broker-Dealer License The leading regulator that oversees American broker-dealers, FINRA has granted a broker-dealer license to Apifiny Prime. The license allows Apifiny to make private investor placements and vend securities, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and other types of financial products. Apifiny was founded by Haohan Xu in 2018 after he saw inefficiencies across global bitcoin exchanges, and said that he “took advantage of this by buying and selling bitcoin across different exchanges.” Haohan Xu detailed in the company announcement concerning the FINRA approval, that his firm has grown significantly and saw a “4x increase in monthly ...