Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Ethereum network will be undergoing a scheduled upgrade soon called “Arrow Glacier,” a change that aims to mimic the “Muir Glacier” upgrade. Essentially, Ethereum’s Arrow Glacier changes the parameters of the network’s Difficulty Bomb delay to June 2022. This will give the Ethereum network another six months until it leads to the “Ice Age” proof-of-stake (PoS) transition. Arrow Glacier Aims to Postpone Ethereum’s Ice Age At Ethereum block height 13,773,000 the network will implement the Arrow Glacier upgrade which aims to postpone Ethereum’s Difficulty Bomb. The bomb mechanism has been around since 2015 and makes the network’s mining difficulty increase over time. The end result will lead to the Ice Age, a moment in time when the blockchain stops proof-of-work (PoW) block production and the chain is 100% reliant on proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus. The Difficulty Bomb was supposed to happen 4,000,000 blocks or 611 days after the Muir Glacier network upgrade. However, Arrow Glac...

Mirror Trading International, the now-defunct fraudulent bitcoin investment platform, is said to be owed more than $129 million by debtors that had not been declared previously. Unaccounted for Debtors Liquidators of the collapsed South African bitcoin Ponzi scheme, Mirror Trading International (MTI), recently released a statement that suggested the scheme is owed as much as $129.6 million (2.07 billion rands) by previously unaccounted for debtors. According to a report by Moneyweb, preliminary investigations by liquidators also show that MTI had assets valued at over $190 million. However, the report said liquidators conceded they still needed to carry out more investigations. These reports of fresh claims against MTI follow the confirmation by liquidators that they had successfully applied for the liquidation of JNX Online, a firm that is allegedly controlled by Johann Steynberg, the scheme’s former CEO. As explained in the report, Steynberg and his wife, Nerina, had allegedly...

Eco-friendliness and mass market accessibility cited as major factors in choosing WAX. WAX Blockchain has been chosen by Sony Pictures and AMC Theatres (NYSE:AMC) for Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home NFT Promotion, the first ever NFT promotion between a studio and a major theatrical exhibitor. The decision to utilize WAX blockchain was based on several key benefits of WAX Blockchain including eco-friendliness and mass market accessibility. “In addition to being eco-friendly, it was essential that the process for receiving the NFT was also consumer friendly,” said Adam Aron, Chairman of the Board and CEO, AMC Theatres. “It’s easy to use and already widely adopted WAX Cloud Wallet combined with no gas fees for minting, sending and receiving NFTs gave us confidence that everyone, including first time blockchain users, would be able to participate in the promotion.” “We’ve always believed that blockchain technology and NFTs should be accessible to the masses in an environmental...

Russia’s central bank has voiced opposition to the provision of financial services related to cryptocurrencies. The monetary authority believes such offerings would go against the interests of Russian investors as they are highly risky. Central Bank of Russia Unwilling to Allow Financial Services for Crypto Assets The Central Bank of Russia (CBR), known for its hardline stance on the legalization of cryptocurrencies, has dismissed a call by members of the financial sector to authorize the provision of crypto-related services. The regulator announced its position during a meeting with representatives of the industry, held to discuss the prospects for the development of the Russian stock market. According to a recently published announcement , the financial businesses raised the question of allowing crypto investment in the Russian Federation. Responding to their suggestion, the monetary policy regulator stated: According to Bank of Russia, the provision by financial institutions o...

A report issued by the Huobi Research Institute, the investigative arm of the Asian exchange, examines the effect that upcoming changes of U.S. Federal Reserve policy could have on the price of cryptocurrencies. The report, titled “Taper Landed: The Turning Point of The Cryptocurrency Market is Coming,” states that due to the upcoming tapering, the continued growth of high-risk assets (including cryptocurrency) could be difficult to maintain. Huobi Report Examines Fed Taper Effects Huobi Research’s latest report , titled “Taper Landed: The Turning Point of The Cryptocurrency Market is Coming,” establishes the possible route cryptocurrency prices could take due to the action of the Federal Reserve taper. The taper — that is, the continual reduction of dollar liquidity in the market due to reduction in bond purchases — could negatively affect the growth of bitcoin and other assets. The taper discussion started months ago, and according to study forecasts, it could start next June, w...

Binance Smart Chain, one of the leading smart contract platforms in the blockchain market, has partnered with Animoca Brands, operator and investor of several NFT based games, to launch a joint $200 million gamefi (financialization of gaming) incubation program. The two institutions will invest $100 million each to fund and ease the development of new gaming experiences on top of the Binance Smart Chain. Binance Smart Chain and Animoca Bet on Gamefi Binance Smart Chain has a new tool to entice the development of new games on top of its platform. The acceleration and investing branch of the smart contract chain has partnered with Animoca Brands, one of the leading metaverse gaming firms, to establish a $200 million gaming incubation fund. Each one of the parties will put $100 million destined to fund projects focused on gaming on top of the Binance Smart Chain. Establishing these projects from scratch is a difficult thing, according to Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Animoca B...