Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

On May 7, the privacy-centric crypto asset monero captured an all-time high at $515 per unit, as demand for confidential transactions has increased in recent times. Monero has gained more than 190% during the last three months, while a number of other privacy coins like zcash, verge, horizen, and grin have seen significant gains as well. Monero XMR Taps a New ATH Before Most Privacy Coins While cryptocurrencies have been growing wildly in value, the climate of regulation has stepped up a great deal. Governments and blockchain surveillance firms worldwide have been making themselves right at home in this industry. Interestingly, as the regulatory crackdowns increase and exchanges delist privacy coins, it has pushed demand even higher. In 2021, privacy coins have been moving northbound and on Friday, monero (XMR) touched an all-time high (ATH). Monero was conceived in 2014 and the open-source code is not a fork of bitcoin (BTC) , but a proof-of-work (PoW) digital asset based on th

The Toronto-based Bitcoin mining operation Bitfarms announced the company has been approved for a common stock listing on Nasdaq Global Market tier. The company is already listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the firm’s Nasdaq listing will be listed under the ticker symbol “BITF.” Bitcoin Mining Operation Bitfarms to be Listed on Nasdaq Global Market Tier Bitfarms has announced that it will be a publicly-traded Bitcoin miner listed on Nasdaq Global Market tier. The tier platform by Nasdaq is reserved for companies who have sustainable finances and pass requirements that go above and beyond Nasdaq’s lower tiers. The company Bitfarms, which was invoked in 2017, says the Nasdaq Global Market tier acceptance “represents a powerful validation.” “The approval for listing on The Nasdaq Global Market is an incredible achievement for Bitfarms and is the fruition of multiple years of work and dedication,” Emiliano Grodzki, Bitfarms’ chief executive officer said. “Over the last fo

South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has apologized to a Cape Town-based crypto start, Ovex, less than 24 hours after warning that the firm was operating outside the law. Ovex Does Not Require Licence From FSCA In its May 7 retraction , the financial watchdog said the findings of an investigation into Ovex, which specializes in crypto arbitrage services, suggest that the firm is operating outside the FSCA’s purview. The statement says: Based on the information provided by Ovex we are satisfied that Ovex does not currently require a licence from the FSCA, as its business activities fall outside the current jurisdiction of the FSCA. The previous media release has been retracted. Meanwhile, the FSCA’s about-face comes after its head of enforcement, Brandon Topham, was quoted in the local media defending the regulator’s initial handling of the matter. Responding to a media inquiry, Topham admitted that the issuing of the warning did not mean Ovex was “operating u

  While most exchanges require as much personal information as possible, Swapex.xyz has no interest in any of your personal documents. The focus remains on what they do best: exchanging one cryptocurrency for another. With over 170 currencies available to exchange, swapex.xyz is aiming to provide anyone in the world with their desired currency. The mechanism behind the exchange will then automatically search for the best possible price on either Binance, Bitfinex, Huobi, or OKEx, depending on the chosen currency, and perform the transaction. Easy as it gets. After launching in September 2017, swapex.xyz is now offering a wide variety of services: a payment solution, NOWPayments , blockchain developers’ tool NOWNodes, a fee-free lightning node, a cross-chain token swapping service, and more products are ready to be added to this list. As a core product of this ecosystem, the NOW token will soon be introduced to more use cases to put the token into real use other than the current optio

Citigroup is reportedly seeing a “very rapid” accumulation of interest in bitcoin across a broad spectrum of clients, including large asset managers. The bank is now considering launching its own crypto services as a growing number of banks are offering bitcoin-related services to their clients, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Citigroup is reported considering launching cryptocurrency services after seeing a surge in interest from clients, the Financial Times reported Friday. While no decision has been made regarding its crypto services, the publication reported that “trading, custody, and financing are all under consideration,” citing Itay Tuchman, the bank’s global head of foreign exchange. The Citigroup executive told the publication that Citi has seen a “very rapid” accumulation of interest in bitcoin across a broad spectrum of clients, including large asset managers. The news of Citigroup considering launching crypto services came as a growing number of ma

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has officially formed a cryptocurrency trading team, according to the firm’s internal memo. Goldman Sachs says it is working to broaden its market presence in the crypto space and is currently selectively onboarding new liquidity providers to help expand its crypto service. Goldman Sachs Now Has Dedicated Cryptocurrency Trading Team Goldman Sachs has officially set up a cryptocurrency trading team, according to the bank’s internal memo seen by CNBC Friday. The publication described that this memo was the first time the New York-based investment bank officially acknowledged its involvement in cryptocurrency trading. The memo, entitled “Formation of Cryptocurrency Trading Team,” was written by Goldman partner Rajesh Venkataramani. “I am pleased to announce the formation of the firm’s cryptocurrency trading team, which will be our centralized desk for managing cryptocurrency risk for our clients,” he wrote. “The crypto trading team will be a part of Glob

The Central Bank of Iran has issued a warning against unrestrained crypto trading and reminded investors that only cryptocurrencies minted by licensed miners in the Islamic Republic can be used under limited circumstances. Traders will bear full responsibility for the risks, the bank cautioned, although spending crypto on imports through approved banks and exchanges remains legal. Central Bank of Iran Speaks Against Crypto Investments Despite Plunging Stock Market The popularity of cryptocurrencies among Iranians has grown significantly with the rising prices of the decentralized assets in recent months, Fars News Agency noted in a report. Crypto trading platforms have taken advantage of the volatile state of the Iranian stock market, where deals have seen a remarkable decline since last summer. Quoted by ILNA, a member of the High Council of Securities and Exchange which governs the stock market, Mohsen Alizadeh, noted: The capital outflow is traceable. Liquidity has flown into p

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 SplytCore Token (SHOPX) under the pair USDT/SHOPX on May 6 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. SplytCore is a utility NFT for eCommerce, created in 2017. They conceptualized the NFT idea before the NFT community formally adopted the ERC-721 standard. SplytCore presents a model for a decentralized eCommerce ecosystem regulated by internal mechanisms of the system and governed by consensus. SplytCore stands apart from the competition by building out technology that integrates with other infrastructures and systems. They don’t ask businesses to walk away from their existing eCommerce stores and internal structures. They are building apps to plugin into those existing structures. Their eNFT can be created with brands’ existing SKUs and metadata so that all brands can carry their own unique identifiers. The eNFT universalizes the

The well-known Phillips Auction House has announced the company plans to accept cryptocurrency for the first time in a physical art auction set for June 7-8. Phillips will be auctioning a world-famous piece of artwork called the “Laugh Now Panel” created by the anonymous street artist Banksy. ‘Laugh Now’- Phillips to Accept Cryptocurrency at a Banksy Auction in June Whether Banksy likes it or not, his artwork has been tied to blockchain technology and sold for crypto assets in recent times. Additionally, the infamous street artist’s work was even burned after it was transferred into a non-fungible token asset. The NFT sold for more money in an auction than the physical piece itself. Phillips Auction House has decided to accept cryptocurrency for the first time during a Banksy auction on May 7-8. Phillips’ entry into the crypto space is a bit behind, in comparison to world-renowned auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s. In fact, Sotheby’s announced last week it was auctioning a ph

The infamous meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin is on the move again just before the upcoming Saturday Night Live episode featuring Elon Musk. While dogecoin is up 81% today a lot of cryptocurrency veterans have been warning newbies about the digital currency that was meant to be a joke. Meanwhile, others believe that dogecoin has a lot of potential, and could be a long-standing competitor in the world of crypto assets. Dogecoin Markets See a Pre-SNL Rise The cryptocurrency that literally began as a joke, dogecoin (DOGE) is nearing a $100 billion market capitalization on Saturday. DOGE is a crypto asset that was developed and launched in December 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. The dogecoin logo features the face of the Shiba Inu dog and the logo is popular due to the original Doge meme that went viral on the internet. Currently, the crypto asset is on a tear up 81% during the last seven days and a whopping 1,073% during the last month. DOGE/USD chart

Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk sees dogecoin as his “private stimulus for the people” that represents “legit hope for people” hit by the coronavirus pandemic. While the price of dogecoin has been pumping alongside a number of other cryptocurrencies, Musk cautioned, “Cryptocurrency is promising, but please invest with caution.” Elon Musk Sees Dogecoin as His Stimulus for the People Elon Musk has been tweeting about dogecoin and cryptocurrency investing leading up to him hosting Saturday Night Life (SNL) on May 8 with Miley Cyrus as the musical guest. Responding to a tweet on Friday suggesting that “Dogecoin was in a way Elon’s private stimulus for the people,” Musk said, “That’s how I feel about it.” The tweet includes an image of a sign that says, “Dogecoin represents legit hope for people kicked by pandemic. Change my mind.” Dogecoin’s price is currently $0.7172 at the time of writing; its market cap is $92.88 billion. The meme coin’s price has increased more than 98% this month

The new chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has shared his view on how the SEC plans to regulate cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin. He calls bitcoin “a digital, scarce store of value” and stresses the need to put in place some investor protections for this asset class. New SEC Chairman Talks About Bitcoin, Crypto Regulation SEC Chair Gary Gensler talked about cryptocurrency policies and bitcoin in an interview with CNBC Friday. Gensler taught classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in financial technology, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology. He was confirmed as the new SEC chairman last month. Replying to a question about how he would regulate cryptocurrencies, the chairman replied, “To the extent that something is a security, the SEC has a lot of authority.” Noting he will refer to cryptocurrencies as “crypto tokens,” the former MIT professor emphasized that “a lot of crypto tokens … are indeed securities.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a court order to immediately shut down the operations of cryptocurrency exchange Coinseed. The attorney general previously filed a lawsuit against the crypto exchange but the platform allegedly continued to operate and dupe investors. US Authorities Take Urgent Action Against Coinseed The Office of Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday that the attorney general “has taken legal action to immediately halt the continued illegal and fraudulent operations of the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinseed Inc.” A motion was filed late Thursday “asking the court for a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and the appointment of a receiver to immediately block Coinseed and its CEO from making any further unauthorized trades and safeguarding investors’ monies,” the notice reads. The receiver will “oversee all assets in an effort to safeguard investments as Attorney General James’ lawsuit proceeds.” James filed a l

Ethereum Classic, a seemingly forgotten cryptocurrency, reached the attention of many this week when its price skyrocketed out of the blue, but there might be some reasons behind it. Also, Bitcoin Cash and other Bitcoin-based forks enjoyed a healthy week in the green, alongside Dogecoin, whose price boosted on the news of Elon Musk appearing on SNL, the famous comedy sitcom, on May 8th. Ethereum Classic Soared This Week Ethereum Classic, the sibling fork of Ethereum, enjoyed a price revival this week when its price soared more than 200% to become the cryptocurrency that led the way of the bull market. Ethereum classic (ETC) started the week with a price of $36, and slowly crawled its way up to $160 on Thursday, to then experience a correction that took it to $118 at the time of writing this article. But what were the reasons that led to it? Ethereum Classic has not been the trustiest cryptocurrency out there. Just during the last year, it suffered several 51% attacks that compro

Public documents show the wealth manager Vaneck has applied for an ethereum based exchange-traded fund (ETF). Vaneck Digital Assets’ Form S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was filed on May 7, while the company’s bitcoin-based ETF is still under review. While Waiting for Approval for Its Bitcoin ETF, Vaneck Files With the SEC for an Ethereum Fund The ETF and mutual fund manager Vaneck and its digital assets management subsidiary have filed with the SEC on Friday for an ethereum-based ETF. The filing mentions the ETF will be called the “Vaneck Ethereum Trust,” and the company hopes to list shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange. So far in the United States, the SEC has yet to approve a bitcoin-based ETF filing, but there’s been a flurry of applications in 2021 with Vaneck’s bitcoin ETF included. Cboe is also mentioned as the listing exchange for Vaneck’s BTC application. The trust will hold ethereum ( ETH ) as share value will be based on the MVIS Cryptocompare

A recent ban imposed by the South Korean National Police Agency will bar particular officers from purchasing additional cryptocurrencies. The announcement coincides with a report revealing a heightened domestic availability of digital coins, in comparison to the global marketplace. South Korea to Penalize National Police Agency Officers Who Fail to Disclose Crypto Holdings Officers with certain investigative and inspective responsibilities have been prohibited from buying additional cryptocurrency. Reporting on the Friday announcement suggests that Korean National Police Agency ( KNPA ) officers will be obliged to make additional disclosures on any held digital assets. The country’s main law enforcement agency stressed penalties for non-compliance, without any indication to their severity. Domestic sources suggest the move aims to introduce additional transparency to sensitive KNPA departments, after a last-month announcement from the South Korean government that it would crackdow

Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide, has reached a trending topic status in the Twitter social network sphere in Venezuela. The trend before the weekend, shows just how important cryptocurrency topics are for the citizens of the country at the moment. Cryptocurrencies are extremely useful tools for Venezuelans to save their purchasing power and Binance is currently the most popular exchange in the country due to its robust peer-to-peer market. Interest in the company and its services has been peaking in the country. Binance Becomes Trending Topic in Venezuela To the surprise of many, Binance became a trending topic in Venezuela this Friday, with more than 200k tweets directed to several topics including the use of this popular exchange and its services in the country. While most of the tweets praised the exchange and the plethora of options it offers to its customers to manage cryptocurrencies, there was also confusion for some users related to how this s