Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A British jeweler has sued its insurance company for refusing to cover a bitcoin ransom payment of $7.5 million. The jeweler paid the hackers to prevent sensitive customer data from being published. Insurance Company Faces Lawsuit for Refusing to Cover Bitcoin Ransom Payment A luxury British Jeweler, Graff, has sued its insurer, The Travelers Companies, for refusing to cover a ransom bitcoin payment, Bloomberg reported last week. The jeweler paid a bitcoin ransom of $7.5 million to the Russian hacking gang Conti after the group threatened to leak data of the company’s big clients, including Middle East royalty. Graff negotiated the ransom payment amount with the hackers and managed to reduce it from $15 million. Conti attacked Graff in September last year and leaked data about the royal families from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar. The hackers apologized to the families but said that they may need to leak more of Graff’s data. “Our goal is to publish as m...

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) says it is working on a “robust” regulatory framework for crypto assets and will report its recommendations to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in October. FSB to Present Robust Crypto Regulatory Framework to G20 in October The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system, released a statement Monday on the “international regulation and supervision of crypto asset activities.” The G20 watchdog stated that it is committed to promoting “international consistency of regulatory and supervisory approaches amongst national authorities and international standard-setters as they work towards developing risk-based, technology-neutral policy for the wide spectrum of crypto-assets, grounded in the principle of ‘same, activity, same risk, same regulation.'” Noting that crypto assets, including stablecoins, are fast evolving, the FSB explained that th...

NFT domains enable users to establish a presence on the decentralized web and the metaverse, with Quik.com providing top-level domains such as .metaverse, .vr, .web3, and many other powerful options for users to claim. Check out metaverse domains . The metaverse ideology and the emerging concept of brands establishing themselves in the decentralized web-based virtual universe have created a race for top-tier domains for businesses, individuals, and many developers to acquire the best at the early stages of this virtual universe. While traditional domains optimize a centralized dispute resolution process and are managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), decentralized domains give rightful owners control over their websites and prevent third-party interference, reducing reliance on ICANN. The growing popularity of NFTs and decentralized technology giving sole autonomy to the owner have raised the bar to eliminate the high barriers controlling the ...

A new survey shows that the majority of nearly 1,000 investors who responded expect bitcoin’s price to drop to $10K. In addition, 28% of respondents expressed strong confidence that cryptocurrencies are the future of finance while 20% said they are worthless. Investors Believe Bitcoin Could Fall to $10K The latest Bloomberg MLIV Pulse survey, conducted from July 5-8, asked 950 investors who responded where they see bitcoin’s price heading. Respondents were asked, “Which level will bitcoin trade at first? $10K or $30K.” According to the results published Monday, 60% of them said BTC will drop to the $10K level first. Furthermore, 28% of respondents expressed strong confidence that cryptocurrencies are the future of finance while 20% said they are worthless, Bloomberg conveyed, adding that most respondents were at least slightly skeptical about cryptocurrencies. When asked about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), only 9% of respondents said they were an investment opportunity. The majori...

Venezuela, one of the first countries in Latam to be considered “crypto-friendly” by some standards, has ranked third in adoption rates, according to a report issued by the United Nations. The report, issued last month, states that the cryptocurrency ecosystem has grown by 2,300% between September 2019 and June 2021, and that the Covid-19 pandemic was one of the main catalysts for this growth. Venezuela Among Countries With Most Crypto Adoption A report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has found that Venezuela ranks third among the countries with the most cryptocurrency adoption, only behind Russia and Bulgaria. The report, which also deals with the causes of this growth and crypto regulation, found that 10.3% of citizens in Venezuela held cryptocurrencies. Russians were second on the list, with 11.9% of the population holding crypto, while Ukraine ranked first, with 10.7% of its citizens holding some kind of crypto. This can be explained by the eco...

Bitso, a Mexican-based, Latam operating cryptocurrency exchange, announced it is launching a remittance service in Colombia. The company will now allow its customers in Colombia to send and receive remittances using dollar-pegged stablecoins on the platform. The exchange launched a similar service in Mexico last year in partnership with Circle. Bitso Expand Remittances Program to Colombia Exchanges are embracing crypto as a useful tool to transfer value across borders. Bitso, a Mexican-based exchange with operations in several countries in Latam, has announced the launch of a remittance service in Colombia this week. With these new services, Colombian users will be able to send and receive remittances using digital dollars on the platform of the exchange. The service will be focused on remittances sent from and to the U.S., and according to the exchange, it’s one of the destinations where remittances sent experienced significant growth during the last year. While the company did n...

Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges worldwide, has secured a license from the Bank of Spain that will let the exchange operate in compliance with the local laws. This certification means that the exchange is currently complying with its AML/KYC processes required by the government of the country. More than 17 companies have received this certification by now. Binance Gets Operating License From the Bank of Spain Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange, has received the certification of the Bank of Spain to operate as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the country. This means that the authorities have found that Binance, through its Spanish subsidiary Moon Tech Spain, S.L., complies with all of the AML/KYC processes established by the Bank of Spain. This is a major milestone for the exchange in the country, that had applied to receive this certification since January. The company is now allowed to offer its cryptocurrency trading and custody services in the country wi...