Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Wirex, a London-based digital payments company, has announced it has become a global partner of Visa, to allow the company to bring its card services to more markets in the world. The new partnership means that Wirex will be able to offer its crypto card services to APAC and U.K. markets. Wirex Partners With Visa to Expand to New Markets Wirex, a payments and crypto company based in London, has reached a long-term service agreement with credit card giant Visa. With this move, qualified as a significant milestone by the company, Wirex will now be able to reach customers in new markets, targeting areas like APAC and the U.K. The company, which offers cryptocurrency-linked card services, will be able to reach customers in over 40 countries with this partnership. The company claims it was the first one to bring this kind of service to mainstream audiences in 2015, also in partnership with Visa. The partnership builds on prior Wirex endeavors, which became a principal member of Visa i...

Ukrainian authorities are speeding up the development of the electronic hryvnia, a high-ranking government official indicated. The executive power in Kyiv is now in talks with the central bank and businesses involved in the project to pilot the digital currency as early as this year. Minister Says Ukraine Aims to Launch Digital Hryvnia Sooner Than Planned Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation wants to step up efforts to finalize the development of the nation’s electronic hryvnia (e-hryvnia), its head Mykhailo Fedorov revealed in an interview. The initial plan was to start the pilot phase in 2024 but the government now wants do that this year. The first blockchain transactions with the digital hryvnia have been already conducted, Fedorov told the business news portal RBC-Ukraine. “It is developing, I was recently presented with an electronic hryvnia based on the Stellar product,” the minister said. In January, 2021, the department chose the Stellar Development Foundation as...

Police in the U.K., in collaboration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), have raided several sites allegedly hosting cryptocurrency ATMs. “No crypto ATM operators currently have FCA registration,” the British financial regulator stressed, adding that it is “working with multiple law enforcement partners, including local police forces, to disrupt and disable illegal crypto ATMs.” UK Regulator Cracks Down on Unregistered Crypto ATMs Authorities in the U.K. have raided several sites around the city of Leeds in a cryptocurrency ATM crackdown. The raids followed a joint investigation between the country’s top financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and West Yorkshire Police’s Digital Intelligence and Investigation Unit. The FCA announced Tuesday that it “has used its powers to enter and inspect several sites around Leeds suspected of hosting illegally operated crypto ATMs.” Emphasizing that “Crypto exchange providers, which includes crypto ATM operators, in ...

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has predicted that the price of bitcoin will hit $500,000 by 2025. During the same time period, he expects the price of gold to reach $5,000 and silver to hit $500. Kiyosaki also warned that a “giant crash” is coming and a depression is possible. Robert Kiyosaki’s Latest Bitcoin, Gold, Silver Price Predictions The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has shared his latest predictions on bitcoin, gold, and silver. 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. Kiyosaki tweeted Sunday: Giant crash coming. Depression possible. Fed forced to print billions in fake money. By 2025 gold at $5,000, silver at $500, and bitcoin at $500,000. “Why? Because faith in U.S. dollar, fake money, will be ...

Hello Pets team is building an open entertainment ecosystem where the community can join in the storytelling and art creation of shared IPs. Starting from their own adorable pet characters, Hello Pets also actively incorporate external NFT characters into their story and invite the holders and communities to create amazing content together. The Hello Pets team believes this is a paradigm shift that can fully unleash the potential of the community. Their ultimate goal is to be the next Disney in Web3. How will Web3 Revolutionize the Entertainment Industry? In the traditional entertainment world, when an artist wants to incorporate well-known IPs (e.g. the classic characters from Disney, Nintendo, and Marvel) into her new story, she has to pay a heavy IP authorization fee and dedicate a significant amount of time communicating, negotiating, and signing contracts with the companies who own the IPs. However, in the NFT world, in most cases all she needs to do is to purchase an NF...

According to reports, the CEO and co-founder of the Nigerian fintech Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, recently visited Kenya where he sought to convince the country’s monetary authorities to grant the firm access to funds that have been blocked since July 2022. Agboola claimed that his firm had “instituted a number of changes over the past year to ensure all internal governance structures are best-in-class.” Money Laundering Allegations More than six months after a Kenyan High Court granted an order to freeze bank accounts belonging to the Nigerian fintech unicorn Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, the co-founder and CEO of the startup, is seeking to convince the Central Bank of Kenya to end the embargo. In addition, Agboola reportedly used his recent trip to the East African state to push for the licensing of his firm. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, more than 50 Flutterwave bank accounts holding funds equivalent to nearly $60 million were frozen at the behest of the Asse...

According to the National Bank of Rwanda, the country’s regulated financial services providers are now prohibited from facilitating crypto-related transactions. In her Jan. 31 letter justifying the decision, the acting governor Soraya Hakuziyaremye cites the unregulated status of most crypto assets and how this leaves users without the “guarantees and safeguards associated with regulated financial services.” Rwanda’s Growing Interest in Crypto The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) has said the country’s financial services providers are forbidden from engaging in “any crypto-related activities until a regulatory framework has been put in place.” In a letter addressed to managing directors and CEOs of financial services providers, the NBR’s acting governor Soraya Hakuziyaremye suggested that the prohibition would help to ensure “efficient and sound financial services.” Despite the central bank’s 2018 warning against crypto-related activities, Hakuziyaremye acknowledged in her letter tha...

On Feb. 12, 2023, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) announced the launch of a new initiative called the “Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program,” which has nine key objectives. One of these objectives is the research and development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) designed to address both cross-border payments and domestic use cases. United Arab Emirates CBDC Initiative to Address Inefficiencies in Cross-Border Payments and Drive Domestic Innovation The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) aims to bolster the region’s financial infrastructure with a new program , the “Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program” (FIT), which includes nine key initiatives. The FIT aligns with the CBUAE’s mission to “enhance monetary and financial stability” through a “robust financial infrastructure” and the adoption of digital technologies. The nine initiatives included in the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program (FIT) include: a dome...