Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The team behind Polygon, the protocol dedicated to interconnected blockchain networks like Ethereum, and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture capital company have revealed a $200 million investment fund in blockchain-based social media projects. According to the announcement, the partner’s mission is to attempt to bridge blockchain, Web3 technology, and social media together. Polygon and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six Launch $200 Million Fund Dedicated to Web3, Blockchain, and Social Media Polygon and Alexis Ohanian’s firm Seven Seven Six plan to bolster Web3 technology with social media via blockchain compatibility with an investment of $200 million, according to the Polygon team’s most recent blog post . Polygon is best known for its scaling enhancements with the open-source blockchain network Ethereum and its native token called MATIC. Alexis Ohanian is well known for co-founding the social media and news aggregation web portal Reddit with Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz. ...

The total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance has slid 15.63% since the metric’s all-time high of $275 billion sixteen days ago on December 1. Since the end of the first week of December, the TVL is down 7.19% lower with a number of protocols seeing seven-day losses in terms of TVL. Defi Tokens YFI and CVX See 7-Day Double-Digit Gains, Aggregate Locked in Defi Slips Close to 3% to $243 Billion According to statistics , decentralized finance (defi) tokens represent $132.6 billion or roughly 5.79% of the entire $2.28 trillion crypto economy. The largest defi token in terms of market capitalization is terra (LUNA), which commands 18% dominance and a market valuation of around $23.9 billion. The top two performing defi assets during the last week were yearn finance (YFI) and convex finance (CVX). Yearn finance jumped 33% in value this past week and convex finance increased in value by 26.3%. Meanwhile, the defi tokens tokemak (TOKE) and bonfida (FIDA) saw the deepest weekly lo...

A major cryptocurrency exchange in India, Wazirx, has reported “a massive surge in user signups” this year, with 82% of its users making profits on their crypto investments. Its trading volume also rose 1,735% from the previous year. Meanwhile, the Indian government is actively working on the country’s crypto regulation. $43 Billion in Trading Volume, 82% of Users Earned Profit Indian cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx released its “2021 Year of Crypto” report Thursday. “Wazirx witnessed a massive surge in user signups leading to us crossing 10 million users,” the report details, adding that the exchange clocked a trading volume of over $43 billion, a 1,735% increase over the previous year. The report notes: As of 30th November 2021, 82% of Wazirx users have made profits on their crypto investments, i.e., seen a growth in their crypto portfolio. The exchange explained that bitcoin ( BTC ) remained the most traded cryptocurrency on its platform. Other heavily traded cryptocurrencie...

I came to the Sandbox Alpha for the musical experiences of Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5. It was awesome dancing with my voxelated avatar: green hair, pink sports bra, denim shorts, yellow stockings, and red shoes. All with the insane creatures around me dancing, and the feeling of indulging in a real concert with flashing lights and pounding beats. I thought I might just stay at the show for the rest of the Alpha, until I saw the reveal schedule countdown and realized I had to get out of there and complete the quests. I needed to be able to claim assets by the end of the Alpha. The prize NTFs were calling me. Introduction : The Sandbox is a decentralized, community-driven gaming ecosystem where designers and artists can create, share, and monetize NFTs and gaming experiences on the blockchain, and is partnered with many industry giants. Its popular virtual real estate, known as LANDs, are taking over the NFT world. The Sandbox Alpha, Show House for Metaverse Creators What is the Sandb...

Cryptocurrency miners that are illegally connecting their equipment to the power grid should go to prison, says a Russian lawmaker who recently announced that his nationalist party is working on draft legislation to regulate the crypto activity. The industry cannot rely on support from the state, another high-ranking parliamentarian has added. Unauthorized Use of Power Could Land Miners Behind Bars The issue of regulating cryptocurrency mining is looming in Russia and lawmakers have been actively discussing the topic. Andrey Lugovoy, member of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has threatened miners with jail if they plug their hardware into the electrical grid without official permission. If mining is to become legal, the deputy noted, miners should turn to the respective utility before powering up their devices. And if they are denied access but nevertheless connect to the distribution network, they will be in violation of both the Administrative and the Criminal code...

A new cryptocurrency bill was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of the Brazilian Congress last week, and is now awaiting review by the Senate for approval. The project, if approved, would introduce a central body to regulate all cryptocurrency brokerage activity — ostensibly the Central Bank of Brazil — and establish new penalties for crypto-related crimes. Chamber of Deputies Passes New Crypto Bill in Brazil The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of Brazil has approved new proposed legislation that seeks to bring clarity to cryptocurrency regulation in the country. The project, identified as Bill 2303/15 and proposed by Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, establishes definitions for exchanges and virtual currencies. It also requires a central body to oversee all cryptocurrency-based operations, which will be appointed by the executive branch of the government. The bill will now be passed to the Senate, which will ultimately decide if it is passed into law. The regulation doesn’t mention cry...

USDC, the second leading stablecoin by market cap, has been launched on the Avalanche blockchain as a native token. Previously, users wanting to get USDC in Avalanche had to bridge it via Ethereum. Now, Circle, the issuer of usd coin (USDC), will allow users to mint the tokens directly on Avalanche’s C-Chain, saving on fees and eliminating the need for bridges to wrap this token. Native USDC Support on Avalanche Circle, the issuer of USDC, has announced the launch of its stablecoin on the Avalanche network. Circle expects this development to create new opportunities and payment options for projects being specifically developed in the Avalanche ecosystem. While Avalanche users already had the stablecoin available on the chain, it was in a wrapped state, and users had to bridge it from its Ethereum version. This was viewed by some as causing friction due to associated fees. Now, users of the Circle platform will be able to mint and redeem USDC directly on top of Avalanche’s C-chain....