Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A new regulatory overhaul could put 40 out of 60 exchanges out of business in South Korea after the firms are expected to fail to meet the conditions that are being proposed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). This action might also affect holders of locally used “kimchi” coins, that won’t be able to trade them for fiat in other exchanges. This could bring losses of more than $2.6 billion. South Korea Exchange Options to Reduce Drastically A regulatory overhaul might reduce drastically the number of exchanges operation in South Korea. According to FT , it is expected that 40 of the 60 exchanges that operate in the country will be closed due to the inability to comply with the new regulatory framework issued by the Financial Services Commission. This rule, which has a deadline for next September 24, establishes that all exchanges need to register with the institution to operate in the country. However, many of these exchanges have no way of complying with the requisites to...

UwUFUFU.com, a content marketing platform, has successfully raised $1.7 million USD from early investors. Adopting the play-to-earn mechanism in the form of viral quizzes, anyone can create, play, share quizzes and earn NFTs through FUFU’s reward system. NFTs on FUFU function as a collectible and a potential membership to gain access for future events, drops, sales, and more. They also function as “boosts” in drop rate and rarity of items from loot balls, which serve as the delivery mechanism of rewards. This is the backbone of FUFU, which they believe will propel the platform to the forefront of the industry. Through this, they are able to introduce the concept of rewards to active users, generating traffic and revenue. The team is grateful for the support from both the community and early investors. “We’d like to give special thanks to GBV, Faculty Group, and Boxmining for being the first to support our vision at FUFU. The backing of the investors further instilled confidence in o...

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, expects a “trillion dollars” more to flow into bitcoin in the next couple of years. He also sees cryptocurrencies becoming an institutional asset class. “We don’t know when but it is definitely going to come. It’s not going away,” he said. Kevin O’Leary Sees Trillion-Dollar Opportunity in Bitcoin Kevin O’Leary talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrency in an interview on CNBC’s Capital Connection, published Monday. “I’m bullish on crypto,” O’Leary began, adding that he is also bullish on decentralized finance (defi). Citing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pushing back against Coinbase’s Lend product, he said: “That’s a slowdown in what is really emerging as a very interesting space.” Mr. Wonderful emphasized: We want the regulator to actually make some decisions about crypto, because none of us that are in financial services want to actually be cowboys about this. I don’t want to get involved in crypto if the regul...

DBS Group Holdings, the largest bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia, says its crypto business is “growing very rapidly.” The bank’s digital asset trading platform expects to double the number of members by year-end. Singapore’s DBS Expects Substantial Growth in Crypto Business DBS’s senior executives said in an interview, published by Reuters Monday, that the bank is seeing robust demand from corporate investors, accredited individuals, and investment firms that manage assets of wealthy families. The executives added that the bank expects the number of members trading on its cryptocurrency exchange platform to double by the end of December and grow by 20-30% annually for the next three years. Eng-Kwok Seat Moey, head of capital markets at DBS and chairperson of the exchange, commented: We are growing very rapidly. Investors are gradually exploring cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The bank launched its crypto trading platform, DBS Digital Exchange, in December as a member...

Cardano, the third cryptocurrency ranked by market cap, has successfully applied the “Alonzo” hard fork, adding smart contract capabilities to its functionality. The update, that had been deployed in testnet days ago, finally was incorporated in mainnet yesterday. Cardano is now looking to deploy defi apps, and there are already several parties working on widening the Cardano ecosystem in that regard. Cardano Enters Smart Contracts Arena Cardano, one of the leading cryptocurrency chains by market cap, has successfully applied the “Alonzo” hard fork. With this update, the chain has added support for smart contracts to its blockchain. The update that happened yesterday, after being deployed in testnet , features the inclusion of Plutus, a Solidity-like language that will allow programmers to put scripts on-chain. With this update, Cardano is now a new challenger in a crowded defi ecosystem, that is dominated by other more established chains in the space, like Ethereum and Solana. How...

Hot new games from two of the top providers added to Bitcoin.com’s very own crypto casino! Anticipation has been running high among players at Bitcoin.com Games for their favorite games from the leading software provider, NetEnt . Coming off of the recent addition of a range of live casino games from Evolution Gaming and iSoftBet , the popular casino is now bringing some of the most entertaining titles from this iGaming developer that players have come to cherish over the years. With in-demand slots like Dead or Alive 2 Feature Buy, Ghost Pirates and Narcos , as well as the space arcade styled slot Starburst and beautifully designed Gonzo’s quest , the newly added range of games from NetEnt promise a long and enjoyable gaming session enriched with bountiful of chances to win Bitcoin. Hundreds of paylines and thousands of multipliers await for players to spin the reels and open possibilities to take home a fortune. Bitcoin.com Games is also home to their very own exclusive g...

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX is thrilled to announce the listing of the HaloDao token (RNBW) under the pair USDT/RNBW on Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. UTC. HaloDAO intends to unlock potential for non-USD stablecoins to generate permissionless on-demand liquidity. They are building their Protocol in the Balancer ecosystem. This will enable local populations to swap and earn crypto, acting as the base layer for additional innovation for local payments. HaloDAO provides an incentivization system embodied in a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The stablecoin marketplace protocol connects traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi) by enabling deep liquidity networks for local stablecoins and money market fund products. The project aims to create a foundational layer for the digital economy by building an optimized Automated Market Maker (AMM) that efficiently facilitates swaps and minimizes slippage between differently priced stablecoins. HaloDao plans to bootstrap a lending mar...

The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk shared a picture of a Shiba Inu pup and said “Floki has arrived” to his 59.8 million Twitter followers. Of course, the tweet affected the price of a few specific meme-based crypto assets that leverage the “Floki” name. Shiba Floki Token Soars After Elon Tweets an Image of His New Pup Elon Musk has been a fan of dogecoin (DOGE) for a while now and on a few occasions, the CEO of the electric car manufacturer Tesla has tweeted a reference to other meme-based canine coins in the past. Musk referenced “baby doge” in a tweet and in a video shared on Twitter, Musk said “daddy doge,” while being escorted to his car. At that time, there were more than 30 doge-like coins that either shared the name “doge” or the type of dog “Shiba Inu.” On Sunday, September 12, Elon Musk tweeted about a new puppy arrival and happily tweeted “Floki has arrived.” Now of course, just like his baby doge coin sing-along shared on Twitter in July and the daddy doge video mention , th...

Grayscale Investments has partnered with Icapital Network to provide more than 6,700 advisors access to its cryptocurrency investment products. “Advisors and their clients have expressed increasing appetite for uncorrelated return potential in their portfolios, and digital currencies are at the center of the conversation right now,” said the CEO of Icapital. Over 6,700 Advisors Now Have Access to Grayscale’s Crypto Investments Grayscale Investments announced Monday a partnership with Icapital Network, a platform connecting advisors and high net worth investors to alternative investment managers. Icapital services more than $80 billion in client assets across more than 780 funds globally as of July 31, according to the company. The New York-headquartered firm has offices in Zurich, London, Lisbon, and Hong Kong. The partnership will “offer Icapital Network’s more than 6,700 network advisors serving high-net-worth clients with access to digital currencies through a Grayscale diversi...

Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy has purchased 5,050 more bitcoins for $243 million, raising its total bitcoin holdings to 114,042 coins. Microstrategy Continues to Grow Its Bitcoin Stash The pro-bitcoin software company Microstrategy announced Monday that it has purchased more bitcoins. CEO Michael Saylor tweeted: Microstrategy has purchased an additional 5,050 bitcoins for ~$242.9 million in cash at an average price of ~$48,099 per bitcoin. As of 9/12/21 we hodl ~114,042 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.16 billion at an average price of ~$27,713 per bitcoin. The company also informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about its bitcoin purchase Monday. The filing states that in the third quarter Microstrategy “purchased approximately 8,957 bitcoins for approximately $419.9 million in cash, at an average price of approximately $46,875 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.” The 8,957 BTC figure includes the 3,907 BTC purchase that was announced in August. ...

On Monday, September 13, a press release was published by globenewswire.com and said it was connected to “Walmart Inc,” the American multinational retail corporation. Several mainstream media outlets published stories about it including Reuters, Bloomberg, and CNBC. Not too long after these reports were published, the press release saying Walmart and Litecoin partnered was verified as being “not authentic” by a Walmart spokesperson. Fake Walmart and Litecoin News Exposes Pump and Dump Scheme It appears that a phony Walmart press release has been published on Monday which said that the Walmart retail chain was partnering with the cryptocurrency project Litecoin. The press release featured Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, and Charlie Lee the creator of Litecoin. Yahoo Finance reported on the news in a video. Furthermore, an official Litecoin Twitter account with a blue checkmark also tweeted about the press release. The release claimed Walmart partnered with Litecoin and would...

At the end of August, Ethereum network gas costs skyrocketed and tapped a high of $59 per transaction on September 7, according to the average transaction fee spent on that day. The median fee for an ether transaction on September 7 was around $20 per transaction. Days later, ether transaction fees have subsided to a degree as the median and average ether fees have been slashed in half since then. Ethereum Fees Subside, Transfer Costs Less Expensive One of the biggest complaints people have with digital currencies is how much the transaction fee can cost to send these assets. Critics don’t care for the fact that Layer 1 bitcoin ( BTC ) and ethereum ( ETH ) transactions can be quite costly and unpredictable as well. The common answer for bitcoiners is the Layer 2 protocol the Lightning Network, but there are also Layer 2 schemes for ethereum ( ETH ) transactions. First off, a Layer 1 transaction that is settled onchain will cost an ethereum user between $3.39 to $18.74 per transacti...

PRESS RELEASE. BitYard , a Singapore-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, is continuously improving its trading services in response to the changing needs of global investors. Recently, the exchange has partnered with Banxa, the world-leading payment service provider (PSP) for the digital asset industry, to provide more convenient fiat deposit methods supporting 13 of the world’s most mainstream currencies such as USD, EUR, CAD, and AUD to global users. It helps investors from all over the world to purchase cryptocurrencies easily using their fiat money. Fast and Easy Deposit Methods Banxa , with a mission to build the bridge between traditional financial systems, regulation, and the digital asset space, offers Visa, Mastercard, and Apple Pay payment methods for BitYard users in over 150 countries worldwide, and local bank transfer and cash deposit ways for the users in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific, to purchase major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin ( BTC ), E...

The regulatory status of cryptocurrency mining remains somewhat undetermined in Ukraine, even after the recent adoption of the law “On Virtual Assets.” However, albeit unregulated, the minting of digital coins isn’t prohibited either, according to a leading advisor on crypto matters at the Ukrainian parliament. Amendments to Ukraine’s Tax Law to Regulate Accounting for Crypto Mining Entities The mining of digital currencies has remained outside the scope of Ukraine’s newly adopted legislation intended to regulate transactions involving cryptocurrencies in the country. Various accounting aspects pertaining to crypto-related activities, including mining, will be addressed in upcoming amendments to the tax code, an important advisor at the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, told Forklog. Konstantin Yarmolenko, who heads a team of advisors to the multipartisan Blockchain4Ukraine group of deputies, further remarked that the mining of cryptocurrencies should not be subject to lic...

The U.S. Treasury Department is reported to have held meetings with participants from the country’s financial industry to discuss “the risks and benefits posed by stablecoins.” In addition, officials are said to have used the meetings to discuss “whether stablecoins would require direct oversight if they become extremely popular.” Policymakers Alarmed by Growth of Crypto Market According to a report , the meetings come on the heels of a “rapidly expanding cryptocurrency market which exceeded a record $2 trillion in April.” This rapid growth of both cryptocurrencies and stablecoins has reportedly alarmed policymakers in Washington. It has also alarmed central bankers like Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren who asserts that stablecoins could be a “disruptor” to prime money market funds. Consequently, in one of the two meetings held last week, the U.S. Treasury officials and players in the financial industry are said to have “discussed how regulators should try to mitiga...

Bancoagricola, the biggest bank in El Salvador, is now accepting bitcoin to pay for debts originated from the use of its instruments, according to a PR statement. The institution partnered with Flexa, a payments network, to include cryptocurrency capabilities in its software. Bancoagricola also allows merchants using Wompi services (a digital payment processor) to receive bitcoin for goods and services sold. Bancoagricola Embraces Bitcoin Bancoagricola, the biggest financial institution in El Salvador, has been one of the first to include bitcoin support for its financial instruments. This means that its customers will be able to pay for financial instruments (like loans, mortgages, and credit card debt) with bitcoin, complying with the bitcoin law . Customers of the bank that use a digital payments gateway known as Wompi, will also be able to receive payments in bitcoin through this service. Carlos Mauricio Novoa, COO of Bancoagricola, stated: We are excited to be the first fin...