Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Tencent, the Chinese software and tech company, has announced its metaverse suite of services designed to target Asian markets. The company revealed that it will revamp its media offering with its new “metaverse-in-a-box” proposal, which aims to facilitate the task of building virtual worlds for third-party companies. Tencent to Focus on Offering Metaverse Tools to Third Parties Tencent, one of the biggest Chinese tech companies, has revealed its hand regarding the future of its metaverse strategy. The company announced that it will focus on offering “metaverse-in-a-box” services to its customers through its cloud division. This move, which comes as a complement to the media services offering that the company launched last year, aims to facilitate the task of developing virtual worlds for Tencent customers. The tools launched by Tencent will reportedly be used to build and design these metaverse spaces by companies in gaming, media, entertainment, and retail, with various purposes ...

Crypto exchange BTC-e’s alleged operator Alexander Vinnik may be a candidate for prisoner swap between the United States and Russia. That’s according to a statement by one of his lawyers for Russian media. The latest court hearing in Vinnik’s case has been postponed. Russian Accused of Laundering Billions Through Crypto May Return Home, According to Lawyer A lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, alleged operator of the infamous cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, believes that his client may be considered for an exchange of prisoners between the United States and the Russian Federation. David Rizk, who represents Vinnik in the U.S., commented on Vinnik’s potential return home in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency, quoted by other Russian media and crypto news outlets. “I wouldn’t rule out that possibility,” he said. The Russian IT specialist has been in U.S. custody since August, last year, when he was extradited from Greece. American authorities accuse him of laundering at least $4...

The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has announced the deployment of Base, an Ethereum layer two (L2) scaling network, after developers launched the Base testnet on Thursday. The company said it is incubating Base within Coinbase and that the L2 chain will progressively decentralize over time. Coinbase L2 Scaling Platform Aims to Help Scale the Crypto Economy Coinbase is joining the competition of Ethereum L2 scaling projects, such as Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Loopring, Starknet, and others, by launching an L2 called Base. The company announced the launch of the Base testnet on Thursday and advised the public to stay tuned for the upcoming mainnet launch. On Twitter, Coinbase stated , “Base is an Ethereum L2 that offers a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly way for anyone, anywhere, to build decentralized apps. Our goal with Base is to make onchain the next online and onboard 1B+ users into the crypto economy.” The cryptocurrency exchange explained that Base will be open-sour...

U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer has introduced the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Anti-Surveillance State Act “to halt efforts of unelected bureaucrats” from “stripping Americans of their right to financial privacy.” The bill also prohibits the Federal Reserve “from issuing a CBDC directly to anyone.” CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act Introduced U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN) announced Tuesday that he has introduced the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Anti-Surveillance State Act in the House of Representatives. The recently elected House Majority Whip tweeted: Today, I introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to halt efforts of unelected bureaucrats in Washington, DC from stripping Americans of their right to financial privacy. Emmer elaborated in a follow-up tweet that the bill “does three things” by amending the Federal Reserve Act. Firstly, it “prohibits the Fed from issuing a CBDC directly to anyone,” the lawmaker wrote. Secondly, it “bars the Fed from using a...

Social media groups devoted to cryptocurrencies in Russia have been attacked by bots in what looks like a campaign against bitcoin and the like. Their comments on Russia’s largest social media platform are triggered by certain keywords like crypto and blockchain, members of the community have noticed. Bots Flood Vkontakte Groups With Comments Against Cryptocurrency In the past week or so, crypto-themed groups on Russia’s state-controlled social network Vkontakte ( VK ) have been seeing a growing number of comments seeking to discredit cryptocurrencies and related technologies, the crypto news outlets Bits.media and RBC Crypto reported. The comments appear under posts and linked articles about crypto assets. They are all similar, for example: “It’s more expensive to delve into crypto, it’s always big risks,” “Someone still talks about bitcoins?” or “People who buzz about crypto don’t even understand it.” According to Nikita Zuborev, senior analyst at the exchange aggregator Bestcha...

A British national wanted with a red notice from Interpol for consulting North Korea on cryptocurrencies has been detained in Moscow. U.S. authorities allege that the man helped the regime in Pyongyang to bypass sanctions using digital assets. U.K. Citizen Sought by U.S. for Violating North Korea Sanctions Apprehended in a Moscow Hostel The Russian Bureau of Interpol has arrested a British man wanted by Interpol at the request of the United States, the Russian Telegram channel Baza revealed . Authorities in the U.S. claim he was assisting North Koreans in efforts to circumvent sanctions using crypto. The 31-year-old Christopher Emms, who is accused of committing fraud against the U.S. government, was detained in the hostel where he was staying. The International Criminal Police Organization issued a ‘red notice’ arrest warrant for him in the beginning of February. Its announcement details: Christopher Douglas Emms is wanted for allegedly conspiring to violate the International E...