Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, blockchain surveillance companies have discussed and implemented ways to combat sanctioned countries from using digital assets. Last week, Chainalysis revealed screening tools for crypto firms that aim to comply with international sanctions. On Monday, the CEO of Elliptic published a blog post describing the company’s work to combat sanction evasion. Elliptic CEO Speaks on the Company’s ‘Work to Combat Sanction Evasions in Crypto’ This week, Simone Maini, the chief executive officer of the blockchain surveillance firm Elliptic, published a blog post concerning how the company deals with sanction evasions tethered to crypto assets. Maini’s blog post stresses that “the war in Ukraine has demonstrated that powerful technologies such as cryptocurrency can be used in both positive and negative ways.” The Elliptic CEO details how funds were raised for the Ukrainian government and other Ukraine-based NGOs. On the other hand, Maini’s blog post no...

A lot has happened since the idea of Penguin Karts was first conceived. Who would have thought that a nostalgic memory would spawn the development of a blockchain project, let alone one that has been gaining steam like this. Today, we wanted to highlight what we believe makes Penguin Karts special and (if you’ll excuse the pun) how it really drives forward the blockchain gaming scene. The Game For those who don’t know, Penguin Karts is an immersive 3D battle-racing game built on the blockchain . Essentially, it takes the arcade-style kart racing you know and love and seamlessly introduces NFT dynamics alongside a Play-to-Earn system. Here’s what that means for you, as the player: you race against up to eight opponents across a selection of tracks while earning prizes and NFTs , which can be used in game (skins for your character and kart, for example) or sold for profit . There are also leaderboards to contend with, tournaments to take part in and even a wager system to...

The Indian government has told parliament that it does not have a plan to issue cryptocurrency to be regulated by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The government also clarified that India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), that the RBI will launch this financial year, is “a digital version of traditional paper currency.” Indian Parliament Asks Government About ‘RBI Cryptocurrency’ The Indian ministry of finance answered some questions Tuesday in Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of parliament, regarding “RBI Cryptocurrency.” Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh asked the finance minister to state “whether it is a fact that [the] government is planning to introduce a cryptocurrency that will be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).” Pankaj Chaudhary, the minister of state in the ministry of finance, replied: “No sir.” Singh further asked whether the government is aware that cryptocurrency “is unregulated and free from government intervention.” Minister Ch...

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has predicted the end of the U.S. dollar. Furthermore, he said that the Russian-Ukraine war has given rise to crypto as “a safer haven asset than government fake fiat money.” Robert Kiyosaki on War and Bitcoin The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, discussed bitcoin, the Russian-Ukraine war, and the end of the U.S. dollar in a series of tweets Tuesday. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. Citing that many Russians are using bitcoin as a lifeline after the Russian ruble collapsed , he wrote: “Ukraine/Russian war giving rise to crypto as a safer haven than government fake fiat money.” Kiyosaki also tweeted Monday that the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve “want infl...

PRESS RELEASE. Vancouver, Canada – MetaBlox has completed their seed round and have raised over $2 million ​​from some of the most highly regarded firms in Web3. The seed funding is co-led by Synergis Capital and CollabCurrency, followed by NFT Technologies, SNZ holdings, Future Life, Slope, CrowdCreate, and multiple technology and few crypto-focused family offices. While MetaBlox secured funding, they are also ecstatic that they have developed partnerships and relationships with some of the most prominent figures in the space today. The funds Metablox has raised will accelerate their Network Protocol roll out. They are hiring a team to work on MetaBlox full time. They will use the initial funds to focus on marketing their network and garnering as much exposure to the crypto community as a user-centric network. Once they have the initial exposure established, MetaBlox will reward its users with passive income and income generating capabilities. The team at MetaBlox believes the f...

Gladstone Arantes, a director of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), gave new details about the progress of the Brazilian Blockchain Network, a project that has been in development since 2018. The network will be created on top of the Hyperledger Besu 2.0, which uses a proof-of-authority consensus mechanism. The final goal of this project is to move public spending to the network in order to increase the transparency of these fund movements. Brazilian Blockchain Network Advances The Brazilian Blockchain Network, a project that was conceived back in 2018, is now in its development phase. Gladstone Arantes, head of blockchain initiatives at the Development Bank of the country (BNDES), revealed new insights about the development and the technical data of the project. At the Ethereum.Rio event, Arantes stated the project had selected Hyperledger Besu 2.0 to be its base platform, and that the network would also be using a proof-of-authority consensus system. Proof-of-authority mean...

Aptos, a new startup created by some of Meta’s former employees involved in the Diem project, has announced it has raised $200 million for its upcoming goal of creating a scalable blockchain system. The investment, conducted in a strategic funding round, involves some well-known VC names, including Tiger Global, Katie Haun, Multicoin Capital, 3 Arrows Capital, FTX Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures. Aptos to Propose Scalability Solutions A group of Meta’s ex-employees that worked on Diem, and abandoned the company in December, are now dedicated to developing their own blockchain system aiming for it to be used by millions. Aptos, the startup the group founded, has announced the company raised $200 million in its first funding round, which was qualified as “strategic.” The company had the support of several VC companies in this funding round, including Tiger Global, Katie Haun, Multicoin Capital, 3 Arrows Capital, FTX Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures, putting it at unicorn status. Aptos...

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it has received a full license from the Central Bank of Bahrain. “The crypto asset license will allow Binance to provide crypto-asset trading, custodial services, and portfolio management to customers under the supervision of the Bahrain regulators,” said the exchange. Binance Now Licensed in Bahrain Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Monday that it has been granted a crypto asset service provider license from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance, tweeted: Binance has been granted the first license for a global crypto-asset provider in The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) by the Central Bank of Bahrain. He added: “The license from Bahrain is a milestone in our journey to being fully licensed and regulated around the world.” The cryptocurrency exchange company received in-principle approval from the central bank in December last year. And in-principle...