Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The latest round of layoffs at Microsoft, which announced it will cut 10,000 jobs this year, has hit key teams for its VR (virtual reality) and metaverse efforts, according to reports. The company will close two projects in these areas, Altspacevr and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit, potentially affecting the progress of Microsoft in these areas. Microsoft VR and Metaverse Teams Hit by Layoffs The latest round of layoffs announced by Microsoft on Jan. 18, has reportedly hit metaverse and VR (virtual reality) initiatives of the company, potentially affecting progress in these areas. Among the 10,000 jobs to be cut this year, representing 5% of Microsoft’s global workforce, teams behind initiatives like Altspacevr and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit are being axed as part of this reorganization process. Altspacevr, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2017, has already announced it will sunset its platform on March 10. The platform, which was aimed at providing services to facilitate the crea

Crypto adoption achieved new milestones in 2022, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million during the year, a new report by Crypto.com shows. Moreover, the report reveals that the number of bitcoin owners reached 219 million in December while the number of ether owners reached 87 million. Cryptocurrency Adoption Achieves New Milestones Crypto.com published a report titled “Crypto Market Sizing” for the year 2022 last week. The company explained that its analysis is built on a combination of Bitcoin and Ethereum on-chain data, survey analysis, and its own internal data. Regarding the total number of global crypto owners, the firm’s Research and Insights team wrote that “in spite of macro headwinds,” namely high inflation, the conflict in Europe, supply chain disruptions, and lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic: Crypto adoption in 2022 achieved new milestones, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million (December 2022). The overall number of crypto o

Singapore’s senior minister and the chairman of the central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), says there should be just “ one regulatory system” for both crypto and traditional finance. In addition, he stressed that regulators should provide “ultra clarity as to what’s an unregulated market,” so investors are aware that they go in at their own risk. ‘One Regulatory System’ Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s senior minister who is also the chairman of the country’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), talked about cryptocurrency regulation during a panel discussion with other regulators and bankers at the World Economic Forum last week. Shanmugaratnam previously served as Singapore’s deputy prime minister and the minister for finance. He is also currently the coordinating minister for social policies and adviser to the prime minister on economic policies. “Something is very clear, whether it’s crypto or traditional finance, you gotta regulate

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of state for foreign trade says that cryptocurrency “will play a major role for UAE trade going forward.” He stressed: “The most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies.” Crypto to Play a Major Role in the UAE United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi talked about cryptocurrency Friday during an interview with Bloomberg in Davos, Switzerland. He shared that one area the UAE is looking to expand is cryptocurrencies, adding: Crypto will play a major role for UAE trade going forward. “The most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies,” Al Zeyoudi described. “We started attracting some of the companies to the country with the aim that we’ll build together the right governance and legal system, which are needed,” the official noted. Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has given his opinion about the metaverse and the impact that the tech might have in the future. In a conversation with Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Nadella stated that the sense of presence achieved while interacting using metaverse tech is “game-changing.” Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Talks Metaverse Benefits Satya Nadella, CEO of tech giant Microsoft, has declared his support for the metaverse, citing its potential to bring people together compared to other less interactive technologies. In a conversation with Klaus Shwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), held as part of the Davos 2023 meetings, Nadella praised the benefits that using this tech brings. Nadella stated: For me, the thing that is most game-changing for this particular technology is the sense of presence one has, which is when you are even virtually interacting. Nadella believes that, while Covid-19 changed the environment when it comes to me

The company developing China’s blockchain network wants to create a system for international settlements with stablecoins and state-issued digital currencies. The plan is to establish a platform facilitating the use of these two fiat-based digital assets in foreign trade. Company Behind China’s Blockchain Push Aims to Make Stablecoins and State Coins Interoperable Hong Kong-based Red Date Technology, the designer of China’s state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), has launched a new project to implement both stablecoins and central bank digital currencies ( CBDCs ) in cross-border payments. The initiative was announced this week at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the South China Morning Post reported. The future platform, called Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN), should ensure the interoperability between the two types of tokens. The goal is to allow businesses from different countries to “transact and settle in different regulated digital