Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Silvergate Capital, an investment firm that is the parent company of the Silvergate Bank, acquired the technology and assets of Diem, the formerly Facebook-backed stablecoin payment system. The payment totaled $182 million. The technology and assets acquired will reportedly be used for the launch of a Silvergate branded stablecoin. Silvergate Purchases Diem Operations Silvergate Capital, a payments services company, has acquired Diem, a stablecoin payments system originally put in motion by Facebook (now Meta), to integrate it into its operations. The announcement was made on January 31st, when the company explained the details of the rumored operation. The deal includes the purchase of intellectual property and other technology assets related to running a blockchain-based payment network from the Diem Group, according to a press release. Silvergate Capital aims to leverage the acquired assets to issue a stablecoin of its own, with the support of a California-chartered and Federa...

The Chinese government has established 15 pilot zones and 164 entities for blockchain projects. “Projects will be carried out in various fields such as manufacturing, energy, government and tax services, law, education, health, trade and finance, and cross border finance.” China Establishes Blockchain Testing Zones Sixteen Chinese governmental bodies jointly announced Sunday a list of national blockchain pilot zones “in order to further carry out the innovative application of blockchain” technology. The 16 governmental bodies include the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The list has 15 pilot zones, including areas in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou and Chengdu in the southern Guangdong and Sichuan provinces respectively. It also names 164 entities, including hospitals, universities, and companies that have been selected for blockchain pilot projects. Among the companies ...

Thailand has relaxed tax rules for cryptocurrency investors, scrapping its planned 15% withholding tax. “The revenue department did a lot of homework and reached out to crypto operators as well to get feedback … It is much more friendly to both investors and the industry,” said the CEO of a crypto exchange. Thailand’s New Crypto Tax Rules Thailand has scrapped its plan to impose a 15% withholding tax on cryptocurrency transactions after facing pushback from the crypto industry. The Thai Revenue Department has also published a manual outlining the new tax rules applicable to cryptocurrencies and digital tokens. Tax officials said Monday that income from cryptocurrency could be reported as capital gains, the Financial Times reported, adding that the new rules will allow traders to offset their annual losses against gains made in the same year. The crypto community welcomes Monday’s announcement. Pete Peeradej Tanruangporn, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Upbit and co-chair of the Tha...

Fidelity Digital Assets has released a report explaining why bitcoin is a superior form of money. The report discusses the future of the digital asset ecosystem and compares bitcoin to newer and smaller cryptocurrencies. Fidelity Says ‘Bitcoin First’ Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, published a report this week titled “Bitcoin First: Why investors need to consider bitcoin separately from other digital assets.” The report addresses some concerns investors have including whether bitcoin “may be vulnerable to innovative destruction from competitors (such as the story of Myspace and Facebook)” or whether the cryptocurrency “offers the same potential reward or upside as some of the newer and smaller digital assets.” Report authors Chris Kuiper and Jack Neureuter explained: Traditional investors typically apply a technology investing framework to bitcoin, leading to the conclusion bitcoin as a first-mover technology will easily be supplanted by a superior...

Reports indicate that the Wormhole Network’s ethereum solana bi-directional bridge has been exploited by an attacker for 93,750 ether or more than $250 million using today’s ethereum exchange rates. The developers behind the Wormhole Network have told the public the network is “down for maintenance,” as the team “looks into a potential exploit.” Wormhole Network’s Ethereum Solana Bridge Exploited, More Than 93,000 Ethereum Siphoned According to various reports and a few onchain transactions the Wormhole Network’s crosschain ethereum solana bridge has been exploited for $250 million in ether or 93,750 ETH . While the team has not published a post mortem, the Wormhole Network developers published a tweet that said the network was down for the time being. “The wormhole network is down for maintenance as we look into a potential exploit,” the tweet said. “We will provide updates here as soon as we have them. Thank you for your patience.” Other accounts of the situation noted t...

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has announced the acquisition of Liquid, which operates a regulated Japanese exchange, Quoine. The two companies “expect to work together to provide products and liquidity to clients in the Japanese and global markets.” FTX Acquiring Liquid to Provide Services to Japanese Customers Crypto exchange FTX is entering the Japanese crypto market. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted Wednesday: FTX is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Liquid group of companies, including an FSA-registered crypto-asset exchange to provide products and services to our customers in Japan. Liquid independently tweeted Wednesday: “Liquid Group and all of its operating subsidiaries are being acquired by FTX Trading Ltd.” Liquid operates Quoine, a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan that is licensed by the Financial Service Agency (FSA), the country’s top financial regulator. Quoine, founded in 2014, was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan to be registered by th...

Hump-day provided a hurdle for cryptocurrency prices, which mainly consolidated, after a strong start to February. Bitcoin and ethereum were both trading lower during today’s session. Bitcoin BTC /USD followed up yesterday’s rally with a weak showing on Wednesday, falling by as much as 1.13% as of writing. This decline saw prices hit an intraday low of $38,271.44, following a high of $39,115.13 during Tuesday’s market session, which raised hopes for those targeting $40,000. Today’s move saw BTC ’s 14-day RSI once again drop below the resistance level of 40, which it had briefly broken yesterday, hitting its highest price strength since early January in the process. Recent consolidations in price have meant that the 10-day (red), and 15-day (blue) moving averages have moved closer in proximity, which isn’t a bad thing for bulls. Looking at the chart, the 10-day is now upward facing, which increases the chances of a potential crossover, and this could be the sign that longer term ...

India’s finance secretary has confirmed that it is not illegal to buy or sell crypto assets in India. Regarding cryptocurrency regulation, “the government’s approach is to consult widely and also to look at what’s happening internationally,” he explained. Crypto Is Not Illegal in India, Official Confirms Following the announcement on cryptocurrency taxation by Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Secretary T. V. Somanathan clarified that crypto is not illegal in India. He was asked on Bloomberg Television Wednesday whether the proposed taxation means cryptocurrency will be legalized in India. “Crypto assets, we don’t call them cryptocurrencies. Crypto assets are currently neither illegal nor are they encouraged,” he replied, adding: They are in a grey area. They are not illegal. It’s not illegal to buy or sell crypto assets in India, and it continues to be not illegal. “But, we have now put in a taxation framework that treats crypto assets the same way that we t...

Blockchain is among six emerging technologies that will be prioritized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)’s IT decision makers in 2022 and beyond, according to a recent study. Effect of Covid-19 The government of Saudi Arabia’s IT decision makers have named blockchain as one of the six technologies they plan to prioritize in 2022 and beyond, a survey study has found. In addition, the study found that an overwhelming majority of the decision makers agreed that Covid-19 has accelerated Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation. According to a Datatechvibe report, which cites the latest Yougov survey, artificial intelligence and machine learning are the technologies that 77% of the respondents plan to prioritize. About 65% of the respondents said they will prioritize the internet of things (IoT), while 51% said they will focus on cloud technology. Predictive analytics (38%), robotic process automation (36%), and blockchain (35%) complete the list of the six technologies that IT leaders...

A Tanzanian fintech startup revealed it has raised $10 million in its latest funding round and is planning to use the funds to finance an expansion into other African countries. Fintech Plans to Enter 12 More Countries by Year’s End The Tanzanian fintech behind an app that enables payments from the U.K. to Africa, Nala, recently revealed it raised $10 million in a funding round backed by Amplo, Accel, and Bessemer Partners. So-called angel investors that participated in this round include the founder of Robinhood, Vladimir Tenev, and Jonas Huckestein, CTO at Monzo. According to a report published by Fintechnews Africa, the fintech’s app already enables payments from the U.K. to five African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana. However, following the latest fundraise, Nala will have added twelve more African countries by the end of 2022, according to the report. The publication also revealed that Nala has just begun piloting a version of its app suited for busine...

The DIAN, the Colombian tax authority, has announced it is taking special measures to tighten controls on taxpayers currently using cryptocurrencies to transact. With these actions, the organization seeks to detect any taxpayers that have used crypto assets and failed to report these activities, or reported them erroneously. This action seeks to thwart cryptocurrency-related tax evasion in the country. Colombian Tax Authority Targets Tax Evaders The Colombian tax authority, called the DIAN, has announced that its next target is cryptocurrency-utilizing tax evaders. According to a PR statement released January 28, the institution stated that it was undertaking a series of measures to tighten controls on taxpayers using cryptocurrencies for transacting or trading purposes. While these actions have not been specifically disclosed, the measures follow the objective of gaining more clarity about the movement of cryptocurrency users and traders in the country. The DIAN stated: These a...