Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Brazilian tax authority (RFB) has revealed its numbers corresponding to the month of July regarding cryptocurrency statements. More than one million Brazilians have declared cryptocurrencies in the month, which constitutes a record in statements for the organization. Also, there was a rise in the number of women holding crypto for this period. Tax Authority Reports More Than a Million Brazilians Invest in Crypto The Brazilian tax authority (RBF) has reported that more than one million citizens presented their cryptocurrency statements in July. Specifically, 1,336,715 citizens presented their crypto information, the highest number of people since reporting became a requirement in 2019. Brazilian law dictates that all cryptocurrency holders must report their information to the institution, even if trades are not made using centralized exchanges. This gives the organization the information needed to release such statements regularly. In comparison, in May 2022, only 365,000 citi...

This week, the hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor, and the non-custodial bitcoin wallet with a built-in Coinjoin mixer, Wasabi, revealed the two teams are working together to introduce Coinjoin mixing into hardware wallets. On Sunday, Wasabi tweeted “hardware wallet Coinjoins are coming next year with our friends at [Trezor].” Trezor Says Company Is ‘Working on a Coinjoin Implementation’ According to Trezor and Wasabi , a form of Coinjoin mixing is coming to hardware wallets in the near future. Coinjoin is a privacy-enhancing process that is leveraged to anonymize transfers on a blockchain. Basically, the scheme involves a number of parties transacting together and mixing their unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) in a pool to obfuscate the origin of all the funds. On Sunday, Wasabi’s official Twitter account tweeted about adding the privacy-enhancing scheme to hardware wallets. In the thread, someone asked Wasabi when they would release an “album,” and Trezor replied : “Hi, we’...

The Korean subsidiary of Renault, a historic brand in the automotive industry, is establishing a partnership with The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based metaverse platform, to enter the metaverse space. With this partnership, Renault Korea’s objective is to establish its brand presence in the metaverse and to present Renault-based virtual automotive experiences to customers. Renault to Enter Metaverse Through the Sandbox Renault, one of the biggest automotive companies in the world, has signed a partnership with The Sandbox to be present in its virtual metaverse world. The Korean subsidiary of the organization will be responsible for this, establishing the brand presence in the space through a series of automotive-related activities to introduce virtual customers to the products of the company. These automotive experiences aim to enrich The Sandbox platform and allow Renault to reach a more ample audience, expanding the potential customer base of their products. About the partnership, The...

The Saudi Arabian central bank has reportedly appointed Mohsen Al Zahrani as the lead of the bank’s virtual assets and digital currency project. The emergence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the regional crypto hub is believed to have forced authorities in Saudi Arabia to consider formally regulating cryptocurrencies. Saudi Arabia’s Changing Position on Crypto According to a report , the Saudi Arabian central bank has selected Mohsen Al Zahrani to lead its virtual assets and digital currency program. The appointment of Al Zahrani, according to the report, signals that the country which banned cryptocurrencies just over four years ago has changed its stance. The appointment also comes at a time when Saudi residents, just like their peers in the region, are embracing cryptocurrencies. Further, as reported by Bitcoin.com News in April, a study found that 54% of Saudi residents not only saw cryptocurrency as an investment asset, but believed it should be used as currency. Simila...

Meta recently announced a partnership with mobile chip company Qualcomm to produce chips geared for the metaverse market. The agreement will allow Meta to use Qualcomm’s XR technology, designed for extended and virtual reality tasks, to design and manufacture silicon to be put in the next line of Meta’s VR application, including future headsets for its Meta Quest line of products. Qualcomm and Meta to Bring the Metaverse to Chips While the metaverse company has focused more on the software part of the computing equation thus far, Meta is making moves to bring more efficient and powerful chips to its products. The company has now inked a partnership with Qualcomm, one of the biggest fabless mobile chip companies in the world, to help it produce silicon specially designed to fulfill metaverse tasks. The custom chips will use Qualcomm’s XR technology, which includes virtual reality and extended reality functions. About the importance of this partnership, Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualco...

A Nigerian presidential election candidate, Peter Obi, has said the local currency’s exchange rate against the dollar must not be fixed but must be determined “by the forces of demand and supply.” Pointing to the success of the Nigerian fintech Flutterwave, the candidate said if elected, his government will create an enabling environment for other startups to similarly thrive and succeed. Two-Tier Exchange Rate Regime Attacked A candidate in Nigeria’s upcoming presidential elections, Peter Obi, has said the local currency’s official exchange rate — currently pegged at just under N450 for every dollar — must be determined by market forces. Obi, who is one of three main candidates who are seeking to replace outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, also attacked the two-tier exchange rate regime currently in use. The remarks by the Labour Party candidate come just over a month after the naira plunged to its worst exchange rate ever against the US dollar. As reported by Bitcoin.com News ...