Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The number of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains is nearing the two million mark as 1,888,209 ENS names have been etched into the Ethereum blockchain to date. The project recently detailed that July saw the largest monthly rise in revenue scoring 5,400 ether worth roughly $2.48 million during the course of the month. ENS Registrations Spiked Last Month with 378K Names Etched Into the Ethereum Blockchain ENS names are nearing the two million mark this week as registrations have steadily risen during the few months. Data from Dune Analytics indicates that after 67,095 ENS registrations in February, the following month the number kicked up to 85,272 ENS registrations. May saw a significant spike reaching 365,652 registrations or 328% higher than the month prior. The month of June saw a much lower count of ENS registrations as statistics show 122,327 names were registered that month. July, however, was an entirely different story as 378,804 ENS registrations were logged during the 3...

Mastercard sees cryptocurrency as more of an asset class than a means of payment, according to the payments giant’s chief financial officer. Mastercard’s crypto strategy “has been fairly successful ever since crypto environments came up,” he added. Mastercard’s CFO on Crypto as Asset Class vs. Means of Payment Mastercard Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sachin Mehra shared his view on cryptocurrency in an interview published Tuesday by Bloomberg. He was asked how successful Mastercard’s crypto strategy has been. “In the crypto world, we play the role as an on-ramp, with people using our debit and credit products to buy crypto. And we act as the off-ramp: When people want to cash it, we help them gain access to be able to use their crypto balances everywhere Mastercard is accepted,” he detailed, elaborating: That’s a revenue-generating capability which has been fairly successful ever since crypto environments came up. The company previously explained that it has plans to develop p...

Microstrategy (MSTR) has “outperformed every asset class and big tech stock” since the company adopted a bitcoin strategy and started accumulating the cryptocurrency in its corporate treasury, says CEO Michael Saylor. The pro-bitcoin executive will be stepping down as the CEO of Microstrategy and take the role of the company’s executive chairman to focus on bitcoin. Microstrategy’s Performance Since Adopting Bitcoin Strategy The Nasdaq-listed software company Microstrategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR) released its Q2 financial results Tuesday. CEO Michael Saylor tweeted Wednesday: Since adopting a bitcoin strategy, MSTR has outperformed every asset class & big tech stock. He added that the price of bitcoin increased 94% during that time period while the S&P500 rose 23% and Nasdaq climbed 13%. In contrast, gold, bonds, and silver are down 13%, 14%, and 29%, respectively. Microstrategy adopted a bitcoin strategy in the third quarter of 2020. He explained in a different tweet: Si...

A South African professor, Steven Boykey Sidley, has branded as “balderdash” claims by the South African central bank deputy governor that “90% of cryptocurrency transactions” are illicit. The professor also accused the senior central bank official of spreading inaccurate information that “does immeasurable damage to an important new industry.” Only 0.15% of Crypto Transactions Are Tied to Illicit Activity A South African university professor and author, Steven Boykey Sidley, has slammed Kuben Naidoo, the country’s central bank deputy governor, for claiming that “90% of cryptocurrency transactions” are illicit. Describing Naidoo’s claims as “balderdash,” Sidley insisted the “real stats are continuously assembled and reported by numerous data analytics companies” and prove that only a tiny fraction of crypto transactions are tied to illicit activities. In an opinion piece published by the Daily Maverick, Sidley accuses the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) deputy governor of spread...