Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A new task force set up by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), KleptoCapture, will also target cryptocurrency exchanges. Financial institutions, banks, money transmission services, and crypto exchanges that allow Russian oligarchs to move money “will be in the crosshairs of this investigation.” DOJ’s KleptoCapture Task Force Will Take ‘Broader View’ A new Department of Justice (DOJ) task force, KleptoCapture, will enforce sanctions against Russian oligarchs as well as target anyone who helps hide their money, including crypto service providers, a senior DOJ official reportedly said Friday. The KleptoCapture task force was launched on March 2. It is “an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine,” the DOJ described. Noting that the KleptoCapture task force wi...

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has shared his cryptocurrency investment strategy. He revealed that 20% of his portfolio is now in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. “The whole point is you don’t know who is going to win.” Kevin O’Leary’s Cryptocurrency Investment Strategy O’Shares ETFs chairman and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has shared his crypto investment strategy in an interview with CNBC Friday. Firstly, he said one-fifth of his investment holdings are tied up in cryptocurrencies or companies operating in the crypto space. Mr. Wonderful said: I have millions of dollars, 20% of my portfolio is now in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. In November last year, he said that crypto accounted for 10% of his portfolio . His investments in cryptocurrency exceeded his gold investments for the first time in October last year. O’Leary was asked whether some cryptocurrencies will be around in a decade. Noting that he factored that risk into his strategy, the Shark Ta...

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak expects the price of bitcoin to hit $100,000. “I just really feel it from all of the interest,” he explained. “The interest in crypto is so high.” Steve Wozniak’s Bitcoin Price Prediction Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak shared his view on cryptocurrency in an interview on the Wild Ride with Steve-O podcast, published last week. He began by sharing his bitcoin investment experience. “I bought a bunch of bitcoin at the start to say how do you play with this new thing? How do you buy something online? I conquered that. How do you buy things in other countries, and how would you pay for a donut in another country? How do you find an ATM that works on your bitcoin? I want to experiment and learn it all,” the Apple co-founder described, adding: And then bitcoin went way up. Well, I got scared and I sold all my bitcoin except one bitcoin. Wozniak explained that his purpose is “to have enough to play with, experiment with, but not make money on.” However, ...

Payment giant Stripe has brought back crypto support after it stopped processing bitcoin payments four years ago. The company now says, “Our optimism for the future of crypto was not unfounded … Crypto is going mainstream.” Stripe Brings Back Crypto Support Payment giant Stripe has re-entered the crypto space after four years, with the launch of a suite of products to support crypto businesses. Stripe is a payment infrastructure company headquartered in San Francisco and Dublin, with 14 global offices. According to its website, millions of companies in over 120 countries use Stripe to start, run, and scale their businesses, including Amazon, Google, Shopify, Microsoft, Spotify, Uber, and Nasdaq. Stripe co-founder John Collison announced on Twitter Thursday that his company now supports crypto businesses, including exchanges, on-ramps, wallets, and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces. Stripe was one of the first major companies to embrace bitcoin. “In 2014, we became the first ...

Remittance giant Western Union has joined other financial services companies supporting sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The decision will affect customers in the Russian Federation as well as those in Belarus, an ally of Moscow, backing its military operation. Western Union Condemns Invasion of Ukraine, Halts Services in Russia and Belarus Money transfer specialist Western Union has condemned Russia’s military assault on neighboring Ukraine, expressing “shock, disbelief, and sadness around this tragedy and humanitarian disaster.” The company has been working to support its Ukrainian clients, including through donations, humanitarian relief efforts, and by waiving fees. The cross-border payments provider announced its decision to suspend operations in the Russian Federation and Belarus, taken after discussing the matter with various stakeholders. The company added it had also evaluated the consequences for its partners, and customers. In a statement released T...

Terraform Labs, the company behind the creation of Terra, has announced a new donation to support the ecosystem of the terra (LUNA) token. Do Kwon, CEO of Terraform Labs, announced that the company has donated 12 million LUNA (approximately $1.2 billion) to the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) with the goal of continuing to grow its decentralized forex reserve to intervene during stressful market conditions if necessary. Terraform Labs Fills LFG Vaults Terraform Labs, creator of the terra token, is putting funds toward supporting the growth of its flagship stablecoin, UST. The company announced a new donation of 12 million LUNA to the Luna Foundation Guard, another decentralized organization, that will be directed to grow the stabilization fund to maintain the UST dollar peg. Do Kwon, CEO of Terraform Labs, explained on Twitter that these funds will be used to be burn and mint $UST, which then will be used to grow the reserves of the Luna Foundation Guard. The Luna Foundation Guard has...