Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

There’s a new website the crypto community has been discussing called The NFT Bay, a web portal that operates in a similar fashion to The Pirate Bay (TPB), because the platform hosts a huge selection of NFTs stemming from various blockchain platforms for free. On Thursday, the web portal’s creator revealed a file called “The Billion Dollar Torrent,” which claims to hold all the NFTs from Ethereum and Solana. ‘The Massive NFT Heist:’ Pirate Bay Clone The NFT Bay Sparks Heated Discussions During the last year, non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles have seen massive popularity and billions of dollars have been spent on these digital items. Meanwhile, a great number of people in the crypto space think NFTs are worthless and people can simply right click the NFT image and own the artwork without paying. It’s been a heated discussion ever since NFTs were introduced. The debate became even more controversial in March when an NFT immutability debate ensued and crypto supporters highlighted...

The U.S. city of Williston in North Dakota is installing a cryptocurrency ATM at its international airport. “This marks the first government-hosted cryptocurrency kiosk,” the city said. Williston also accepts cryptocurrencies for payments of utility bills. ‘The First Government-Hosted Cryptocurrency Kiosk’ The city of Williston in the U.S. state of North Dakota announced Wednesday a partnership with crypto ATM operator Coin Cloud to install a cryptocurrency ATM at its Williston Basin International Airport (XWA). The city wrote: This marks the first government-hosted cryptocurrency kiosk and the first Coin Cloud installation in an airport. “This is an ambitious step in introducing and engaging the public towards cryptocurrency while proactively playing a role in building the digital ecosystem,” commented the city’s finance director, Hercules Cummings. “Although we are a smaller rural community, we are making an impact. Taking this small step may pave the way for other government ...

One of the most successful baseball teams in Australia, the Perth Heat, is adopting the bitcoin standard. The team will pay players and staff in bitcoin, accept the cryptocurrency for payments, and hold bitcoin on its balance sheet. The Perth Heat Will Operate on Bitcoin Standard The Perth Heat, a major baseball team in the Australian Baseball League, announced Wednesday that it will “operate on bitcoin standard.” The team, which is one of the most successful in Australia, has partnered with bitcoin payments company Opennode to accept and send bitcoin payments powered by the Lightning Network. “In partnership with Opennode, the Perth Heat is setting bitcoin as the new standard for payments and payouts,” the team wrote. According to the announcement: Perth Heat will pay players in bitcoin, pay staff in bitcoin, accept bitcoin payments for sponsorships, merchandise, and ballpark concessions, [and] hodl bitcoin on the club’s balance sheet. Perth Heat CEO Steven Nelkovski commented...

The government in Norway is considering ways to limit the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining and may support Swedish proposals to that end, including a European ban on proof-of-work mining. The European Commission has revealed it is already working to promote a transition to “more sustainable” protocols. Extensive Use of Renewable Energy for Mining Is Hard to Justify, Norway Minister Says Authorities in Norway are mulling over potential policy measures to deal with the effects of crypto mining on the environment, the country’s minister responsible for local government and regional development has indicated. As part of the review, the Norwegian government intends to look into solutions recently put forward by Swedish regulators and work for common European rules. Speaking to Euronews Next, Minister Bjørn Arild Gram also stated: Although crypto mining and its underlying technology might represent some possible benefits in the long run, it is difficult to justify the exten...

Bitcoin.com Games dishes out a massive jackpot win for a lucky player who cashes out the big loot! Player Cashes out 2.25 Bitcoin After a Single Lucky Spin Turning up the heat on Bitcoin.com Games, our very own crypto casino is Wazdan’s smashing new slot game Sizzling Bells . The brand new game was just recently released back in October and features some of the most sought-after features in a game by slot lovers across the world. Sizzling Bells is a modern take on classic slot machines and features stunning bells, juicy fruits, lucky stars, and is capable of producing wins of up to 15000x a player’s initial bet amount. With 5×5 reels and options to set custom volatility levels, the new slot game has now chosen one lucky player to reward with a massive jackpot of $134,000 on a flick of a single spin. Sizzling Bells is capable of dishing out big jackpot wins of up to 15000x a player’s bet amount ! The game features Sticky Bonus symbols that can land the player into the lap of a bi...

PRESS RELEASE. WENZHOU, China/PRNewswire/ — ZK International Group Co., Ltd’s (Nasdaq: ZKIN) (“ZKIN”, “ZK International” or the “Company”), and its subsidiary xSigma Collectibles (“xSigma”), is pleased to announce the launch of MaximNFT’s open beta on November 29th. MaximNFT is an upcoming NFT marketplace launched by xSigma in partnership with Maxim magazine. It will include exclusive NFT collections from high-profile individuals such as Brian Tracy, and a host of NFL players. Brian Tracy is a personal development speaker, and author of the worldwide best-seller “The Psychology of Achievement”. The book is just one of Tracy’s hundreds of textual, audio and video learning programs. His other works include “The Art of Closing the Sale”, “Eat that Frog” and “Maximum Achievement”. Tracy’s NFT collection is a charity project. Jon Orlando – CEO of MaximNFT – said he looks forward to hosting the collection, alongside other charity projects on MaximNFT in the future. Meanwhile, MaximNF...

On November 17, a report disclosed that the leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, Opensea, is “fielding new investment offers” according to two unknown sources familiar with the matter. The investment could propel Opensea’s valuation by six times to a $10 billion market valuation, according to the sources. Report Claims Opensea Offered a $10 Billion Valuation During the first week of November, the popular NFT marketplace Opensea surpassed $10 billion in all-time sales, according to statistics from dappradar.com. At the time of writing, dappradar.com metrics indicate Opensea’s all-time sales equate to $11.11 billion today. Now, according to a report published by theinformation.com’s Kate Clark and Berber Jin, Opensea is fielding new investment offers and a new investment could make the company’s market valuation rise to $10 billion. The two sources told Clark and Jin that the NFT marketplace did not “initiate” the financing as the people familiar with the matter stresse...

On Wednesday, the world’s largest collector car auction house by total sales, RM Sotheby’s, announced the company will be accepting cryptocurrency payments via Bitpay. The firm’s upcoming Guikas Collection sale on November 19 will be RM Sotheby’s first auction to accept digital currency payments for collectible automobiles. RM Sotheby’s Announces Crypto Payment Support via Bitpay While cryptocurrencies have increased significantly in value, a great number of businesses have turned toward accepting digital assets for goods and services payments. The company RM Sotheby’s is a classic car auction firm that’s located in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. Originally called RM Auctions, the company is now partly owned by the leading fine art and luxury goods auction house Sotheby’s, since 2015. On November 17, the company announced its plans to accept digital currency payments at auctions via Bitpay . The company chose to accept crypto assets so it can attract a new customer base in order to ...

The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, has urged democratic countries to work together to ensure that cryptocurrency, particularly bitcoin, does not end up in the wrong hands. Meanwhile, the Modi government is working on a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in India. India’s Prime Minister Modi on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about cryptocurrency, specifically bitcoin, during his virtual keynote address at the Sydney Dialogue Wednesday. He called on countries to work together to ensure that cryptocurrency does not fall into the wrong hands. “Take cryptocurrency or bitcoin for example. It is important that all democratic nations work together on this and ensure it does not end up in wrong hands, which can spoil our youth,” Modi said. In addition, the prime minister urged Australia and India’s partners in the Indo-Pacific region “and beyond” to invest together in future technologies to “deepen intelligence and operational coopera...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has acknowledged that the recently launched Nigerian central bank digital currency (CBDC) is attracting interest from many institutions globally, including central banks. Still, the fund warns that the CBDC carries risks for monetary policy implementation, cyber security, operational resilience, and financial integrity and stability. CBDC Attracting Interest In its latest country focus report authored by economist Jack Ree, the IMF explains why Nigeria’s new CBDC has drawn substantial interest from the outside world and from central banks in particular. In the report, the author notes that the e-naira, unlike cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or ethereum, features stringent access rights controls by the central bank. Also, unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, the CBDC draws its value from the physical naira. According to the IMF, it is by way of such features that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is hoping that its CBDC will bring multiple benefits ...

SevenX Ventures is a community and research-driven blockchain investment firm built alongside entrepreneurs. They invest in blockchain startups and projects shaping the future of open finance and decentralized networks. Their portfolio covers more than 100 projects, including DeFi (DODO, Zerion), NFT (Whale, AlchemyNFT), Polkadot ecosystem (Acala, Litentry), AR ecosystem (Koii, Everpay), Near ecosystem (Aurora, Octopus), Web3.0 (YGG, Mask Network), etc. Li Rongbin is a Founding Partner of SevenX Ventures . He recently joined the Bitcoin.com News Podcast to talk about the market: “Eraser” Li is known as an independent thinker and he specializes in the token economic design, valuation methodologies, and investment logic. He is not just an investor, but also an NFT collector. He holds a double major in Computer Science and Finance from Nanjing University, Master of Business from the University of Waterloo. You can find him on Twitter or reach out directly on email . SevenX Venture...

NBA basketball team the Houston Rockets has partnered with NYDIG, a leading bitcoin solutions provider, to be the team’s official bitcoin services partner. The deal will provide the team with cryptocurrency-related opportunities and give NYDIG exclusive exposure in the team’s social, digital, and arena platforms. The full amount of the sponsorship, which was not disclosed, is being paid in bitcoin. NYDIG Forges Crypto Services Partnership With the Houston Rockets NYDIG, the bitcoin services company, has forged a sponsorship deal with the Houston Rockets, the two-time NBA champion basketball team. The deal will allow NYDIG to be the official bitcoin services partner and bitcoin platform of the team, meaning that the company will have exclusive access to several spaces of the franchise, including social, digital, and in-arena platforms. The Houston Rockets will also work with NYDIG to expand knowledge and awareness about the cryptocurrency world and the uses of these new investment ...

Creditors of a South African crypto trading firm, Africrypt, have agreed to a proposal recently tabled by an unnamed investor who is seeking to resuscitate the collapsed company. Africrypt’s Intellectual Property In addition to paying $4 million — which will be used to pay off some of the crypto firm’s debts — the investor is also willing to part with $1 million which will go towards the acquisition of 51% of Africrypt’s shares and the company’s intellectual property rights. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, an unnamed investor had proposed injecting a total of $5 million in the now-defunct crypto company. While a few of the creditors had voiced their disapproval of the investor’s proposal to have criminal charges against Africrypt’s two young directors dropped, there was an expectation that creditors would still accept the proposition. ‘Not the Worst Deal’ Indeed, as the Moneyweb report explained , a majority of the creditors voted in favor of the offer because this ...