Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Financial Market Committee at the Russian parliament, has reiterated a warning for cryptocurrency investors and insisted that Russians owning coins should declare their digital assets. The parliamentarian also urged for the comprehensive regulation of crypto mining and taxation. Aksakov Warns Russian Crypto Investors They Can Lose Everything Russians have put 5 trillion rubles (around $67 billion) into crypto and some of them may lose everything as cryptocurrencies are not backed by anything, Anatoly Aksakov, a deputy with a key role in the regulation of Russia’s crypto space, has recently stated. Many of these people are non-qualified investors and as such, pyramid schemes are likely to occur, added Aksakov who heads the Financial Market Committee at the State Duma , the lower house of parliament. Repeating previously issued warnings in an interview with the parliamentary Duma TV channel, the Russian lawmaker emphasized that there is no stability in t...

In our view, blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) present a perfect tool to revolutionize the traditional Fine Art industry, to the benefit of both artists and collectors. With this in mind, the Invictus NFT Lab’s inaugural Out of Africa collection aims to blaze the trail by facilitating, via the Ethereum blockchain, the sale of a professionally-curated collection of 118 unique physical artworks from Southern Africa’s top artistic talent. Throughout history, major socioeconomic change has largely only taken place as new generations displace older generations that are more set in their ways. Often these changes are necessitated or enabled by technological development. For Millenials and Gen Z, growing up in a period that has seen computers, the internet and smartphones revolutionize our way of life has left these generations to look with skepticism at many traditional institutions that have failed to adapt. The world of Fine Art is a sphere that is dangerously at ri...

Crypto.com, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, experienced an incident on January 17 when some of its users reported strange activity in their accounts. The exchange acknowledged the event, and conducted an investigation immediately after, declaring that all funds were safe. However, reports from security and blockchain auditing firms Certik and Peckshield indicate that some funds were removed from exchange wallets. Crypto.com Suspends Withdrawals After Suspicious Activity Reported Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency exchange, suspended normal withdrawal operations after customers reported having experienced suspicious activity regarding their accounts. In its first statements, the exchange told customers that all funds were safe. The reports led to an enhancement in the security measures applied to access the accounts, with all customers having to sign back into their accounts. Also, the two-factor authentication (2FA) for all accounts had to be reset. Some customers complained about n...

The U.K. government has announced plans to impose new rules on cryptocurrency ads to ensure they are fair, clear, and not misleading to consumers. The rules will be enforced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). UK to Impose New Rules on Crypto Ads The U.K. government announced Tuesday plans to impose new rules on cryptocurrency advertisements to “protect consumers from misleading claims.” The announcement states: New rules will increase consumer protection while encouraging innovation. The U.K. chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, commented: “Crypto assets can provide exciting new opportunities, offering people new ways to transact and invest – but it’s important that consumers are not being sold products with misleading claims.” The new rules will bring the promotion of crypto assets within the scope of financial promotions legislation to ensure they are “fair, clear, and not misleading,” the government explained, elaborating: This means the promotion of qualifying...

Crypto exchange Binance is launching a new exchange in Thailand after the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint against the company for operating without a license. Binance has now signed an agreement with Gulf Energy Development, a Thai public company, to establish a crypto exchange in Thailand. Binance and Gulf Energy to Establish a Crypto Exchange in Thailand Gulf Energy Development, a Thai public company, notified the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Monday that its wholly owned subsidiary Gulf Innova has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Binance Group “to jointly study avenues for the development of digital asset exchange and related business in Thailand.” The company added that it “foresees rapid growth in digital infrastructure in Thailand as the economy increasingly becomes driven by innovation and technology, with digital assets and related technology playing a prominent role in improving efficiency of financial infrastructure i...

The reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou has announced the mixed martial artist has partnered with the payments firm Cash App and plans to take half of his UFC 270 purse in bitcoin. Ngannou told his 620,100 Twitter followers that he believes “bitcoin can empower people everywhere.” ‘Bitcoin Is the Future and I’m a Believer’ — Mixed Martial Arts Champ Francis Ngannou to Take Half of His Purse in Bitcoin On January 18, 2022, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou explained that the fighter plans to get half of his UFC 270 purse paid in bitcoin ( BTC ). UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane will debut on Saturday, January 22, 2022, as the ‘Predator’ Ngannou will face the mixed martial artist ‘Bon Gamin’ Ciryl Gane. The knockout artist Ngannou will defend his title at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The French Cameroonian mixed martial artist will join the likes of athletes like Russell Okung, Odell Beckham Jr, and Aaron Rodgers choosi...

The use of bitcoin as a digital currency for payments has gone down significantly, according to the numbers stemming from Bitpay, one of the leading cryptocurrency payments processors. While most of the purchases were made with bitcoin back in 2020, this dominance has dwindled, opening the space for other tokens and currencies, such as ethereum and stablecoins, to enter the crypto payments arena. Bitcoin Use for Payments Diminished in 2021, Bitpay States Bitcoin’s use as digital payments currency has dwindled since 2020. This was the conclusion that Bitpay, one of the leading cryptocurrency-based payment processors, had when reviewing the numbers the market left them last year. Bitpay told Bloomberg that the dominance of bitcoin for purchases in its platform went down from 93% during 2020, to 65% in 2021. This loss of almost a third of its dominance has to do with the entrance of other currencies into the payment arena. The rise of stablecoins and the popularity that some meme coi...

According to new data from Linkedin, a professional work-based social network, the number of cryptocurrency-related job postings soared in 2021. The increase was even higher than the general increase in tech-related job postings. The nature of these posts is also diversifying, with various industries requiring people with crypto know-how. Linkedin Says Crypto Jobs Are on the Rise An analysis of the cryptocurrency jobs sector made by the work-based social network Linkedin found that cryptocurrency job postings soared in 2021 even when compared to other growing fields. The company stated that job postings including the words “ethereum,” bitcoin,” and “cryptocurrency” grew almost 400% in 2021 when compared to the year before. The field outgrew even tech, which only managed to grow 98% in its job listings during the same period. The analysis concluded this demand had to do with the influx of funding that flooded the crypto environment last year: $30 billion were poured into the crypt...