Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Global investment bank JPMorgan has asked its clients what they think the price of bitcoin will be by year-end. Among the bank’s clients who responded, 55% expect the price of bitcoin to end the year at $60K or higher. What JPMorgan’s Clients Expect the Price of Bitcoin to Be by Year-End JPMorgan has conducted a survey of its clients about what they expect the price of bitcoin to be by year-end. The global investment bank released the results earlier this week. The survey was conducted between Dec. 13 and Jan. 7 as part of a broader macroeconomic outlook for 2022. Forty-seven of JPMorgan’s clients participated in the survey. About 41% of the bank’s clients who responded expect bitcoin to end the year at around $60,000. 23% expect the price to be $20,000 while 20% expect it to be $40,000. In addition, 9% believe that the price of BTC will reach $80,000, 5% think that it could be $100,000 or more, while 2% expect it to fall to $10,000 or lower. Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, a JPMorgan

Payments giant Visa has conducted a survey of small businesses and found that almost a quarter of those who responded plan to accept cryptocurrency payments this year. “I think more people are feeling more confident with crypto,” said a Visa executive. Small Businesses in 9 Countries Plan to Accept Cryptocurrency This Year Visa published a study on digital payments Wednesday. It was conducted by Wakefield Research in December 2021 and included a survey of 2,250 small business owners with 100 employees or fewer in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. Visa described that a path forward for small and micro businesses (SMBs) in 2022 includes “Going long on digital payments – even crypto.” The payments giant detailed: Of those surveyed, 24% said they plan to accept digital currencies such as the cryptocurrency bitcoin. The company elaborated: “An overwhelming 82% of SMBs surveyed said they plan to accept some form of digi

According to British lawmakers, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is likely to raise the cost of borrowing while hurting financial stability. They insist the touted potential advantages of a digital pound are being overstated. Erosion of Privacy British lawmakers have said the use of a central bank digital currency when making regular payments could potentially hurt financial stability and raise the cost of borrowing, a report has said. In addition, they insist the increasing use of the CBDC could also enable the central bank to monitor spending and therefore erode privacy. As per a Reuters report , the lawmakers believe the benefits of CBDC may have been exaggerated and that there are other ways the U.K. can counter the threat posed by cryptocurrencies. One of the lawmakers who is quoted in the report speaking out is Michael Forsyth. He said: We were really concerned by a number of the risks that are posed by the introduction of a CBDC. Forsyth, who is the Economic Affair

The cryptocurrency firm FTX has announced the launch of a $2 billion venture capital fund called FTX Ventures. The fund’s focus will be on advancing blockchain and Web3 technology alongside investments in “social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare.” FTX Reveals $2 Billion Venture Capital Fund, Hires Lightspeed Partner Amy Wu FTX Trading Limited has announced the launch of a new venture capital fund aimed at bolstering blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions that are applied to an assortment of different industries. In addition to launching FTX Ventures’ $2 billion venture capital fund, the company has hired former Lightspeed Ventures partner, Amy Wu. According to the announcement, Wu will lead FTX Ventures’ gaming, M&A and commercial initiatives. The venture capital fund announcement sent to Bitcoin.com News explains: FTX Ventures’ core mission is to advance global blockchain and web3 adoption, with a broad investment mandate across social, gaming, fintech, software,

The Kingdom of Tonga may adopt bitcoin as legal tender, according to a former member of Tonga’s parliament, Lord Fusitu’a, who tweeted about a possible timeline for this event to occur. Fusitu’a believes that by next fall a bill will be passed by Tonga’s parliament and bitcoin could be legal tender in the region by November. Former Member of Tonga’s Parliament Lord Fusitu’a Claims Bitcoin Bill Could Be Passed in Order to Make the Crypto Asset Legal Tender Tonga’s chairman of the Commonwealth Pacific Parliamentary Group on Human Rights, Lord Fusitu’a, is a bitcoin advocate and on January 11, he explained on Twitter that the Kingdom of Tonga’s government may adopt bitcoin as legal tender. The news follows El Salvador’s push to make bitcoin ( BTC ) legal tender last year. A few months ago, the law was codified by the Salvadoran congress and BTC was deemed legal tender in El Salvador. Lord Fusitu’a, who was once a member of Tonga’s parliament, claims the same thing will happen in To

Tesla now accepts dogecoin for some merchandise on its website. CEO Elon Musk delivered on the promise he made in December that his electric car company will accept DOGE. Meanwhile, Tesla still has not resumed accepting bitcoin. Dogecoin Now Accepted for Select Tesla Merchandise Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, has begun accepting dogecoin payments for some merchandise. CEO Elon Musk announced early Friday morning on Twitter, “Tesla merch buyable with dogecoin.” He first tweeted in December last year that Tesla will accept DOGE. Following Musk’s tweet, dogecoin immediately surged about 10% but has since lost most of its gain. The price of the meme crypto is $0.1913 at the time of writing based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. Tesla’s shop now has a few items that can only be bought with the meme cryptocurrency. They include a Cybertruck Graffiti Cuffed Beanie that costs 205 DOGE; a Giga Texas Belt Buckle that costs 835 DOGE; a Cyberquad for Kids that costs 12,020 DOGE;

The Swiss National Bank has successfully employed a wholesale CBDC to settle transactions with five commercial banks, the monetary authority announced. The tests are part of an experiment carried out together with the Bank for International Settlements and Switzerland’s financial services provider SIX. Swiss Central Bank Tests Integration of Wholesale CBDC Settlement With Private Banks A wide-range of transactions involving a wholesale central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) have been processed during the second phase of Project Helvetia, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) revealed in a press release issued on Thursday. The trials are conducted as part of a joint initiative between the SNB, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and SIX, the main provider of financial infrastructure services in Switzerland. Five commercial banks also participated – Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, and UBS. The experiment, which took place in the last quarter of 2021, e

A group of U.S.-based banks is launching their own stablecoin, USDF. The stablecoin will be issued by the USDF Consortium, which will allow its members (financial and banking institutions) to issue USDF. The proposed stablecoin will be the first currency of its kind to be minted by FDIC-insured institutions and compliant with the recommendations on the use of stablecoins made by the president’s working group. USDF Consortium to Launch Stablecoin The USDF consortium, a membership-based group of banks, is launching the first bank-minted stablecoin, also called USDF. According to a press release issued on January 12, the objective behind this release is to remove friction by addressing “the consumer protection and regulatory concerns of non-bank issued stablecoins and offer a more secure option for transacting on blockchain.” The USDF consortium is the entity that will authorize these banks to mint the stablecoin, which will be redeemable 1:1 in cash from any of the banks of the afor