Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

According to Chris Watkins, the co-founder and CEO of the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Digital Arms, many of the Web3 games developed in the last bull cycle were not only seemingly rushed but “lacked the essential element of fun,” hence they ultimately failed. Watkins also argued that the few games which did gain traction “relied on the allure of making money” which is not a sustainable model. Web3 Gaming Not a Passing Fad However, in his written answers sent to Bitcoin.com News, the Digital Arms CEO insisted that the industry’s focus has shifted back to making games with experiences and benefits which cannot be matched by traditional gaming. This shift in turn means Web3 gaming “is really just getting started” and may not be a passing fad as claimed by some critics, Watkins added. Concerning his platform’s reported collaboration with the firearms industry, the CEO disclosed that this was made possible by the fact that some of Digital Arms’ founding members, including himse...

Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, has filed to register a bitcoin trust that some believe is actually a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in disguise. Blackrock is seeking to launch a bitcoin product despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) efforts to crack down on unregistered crypto platforms and securities tokens. The asset management firm has also chosen Coinbase, the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange that was recently charged by the SEC for securities law violations, to serve as custodian for its bitcoin trust. Blackrock Files to Launch a Bitcoin Trust The world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock, filed for the registration of Ishares Bitcoin Trust (the Trust) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday despite the regulator’s ongoing regulatory crackdown on the cryptocurrency sector. According to Blackrock’s filing: The assets of the Trust consist primarily of bitcoin held by a custodian on behalf of the Trust. The Tru...

Bittrex US, the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, has recently introduced a plan that permits American customers to withdraw crypto and fiat from the platform, provided they satisfy the required regulatory criteria. This withdrawal arrangement was approved on Tuesday by the U.S. bankruptcy court located in Delaware. Cryptocurrency Exchange Bittrex US Enables Customer Withdrawals On May 8, 2023, Bittrex US filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing liabilities ranging from $500 million to $1 billion and having over 100,000 creditors. Before the bankruptcy filing, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had sued Bittrex for running an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency, and for listing unregistered crypto securities. Bittrex sent emails to its U.S. customers this week, following approval from the U.S. bankruptcy court to enable withdrawals. However, there is a caveat: users must update their know-your-customer (KYC) informatio...

Makerdao’s DAI stablecoin is now the third-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, surpassing Binance USD (BUSD), which has officially declined to $4.304 billion. DAI’s market valuation on Friday, June 16, 2023, is approximately $4.394 billion, but the number of circulating DAI has decreased by 5.7% since last month. Stablecoin Rankings Shuffle: DAI Ascends to Third-Largest Stablecoin Position In May 2022, terra usd (UST), now known as terra usd classic (USTC), decoupled from its $1 parity, causing its value to plummet by over 98%. As a result, BUSD emerged as the third-largest stablecoin asset. Additionally, the stablecoin token issued by Paxos held a position among the top ten largest crypto assets by market valuation for several months, until February 13, 2023, when the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) instructed the company to halt the minting of BUSD. Since then, a substantial amount of BUSD has been redeemed, with data indicating that approximately 11...

A judge in the United States considered on Thursday whether the cryptocurrencies created by Terraform Labs were securities. The failed blockchain firm and its founder, Do Kwon, have asked the court to dismiss a case filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging that they defrauded investors whom they sold unregistered securities. Judge Reviews Status of the Digital Assets Sold by Terraform in SEC’s Fraud Case A judge in New York has considered whether the digital coins issued by Terraform Labs were securities during a hearing in the SEC’s case against the crypto company and its South Korean co-founder and CEO Kwon Do-Hyung, better known as Do Kwon. Earlier this year, the U.S. securities regulator charged the crypto entrepreneur and his company with defrauding investors and selling billions of dollars’ worth of digital assets that the commission deems unregistered securities. The value of the cryptocurrencies in question, stablecoin terrausd and the token luna...

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has criticized the role that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to assume against the cryptocurrency industry. After the release of the Hinman docs, which explain the internal discussions of the institution before the now famous Hinman speech, Garlinghouse stated that the SEC “weaponized the lack of regulatory clarity,” throwing an entire industry into chaos. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Accuses SEC of Overreach Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reacted to the recent release of a set of documents that show the internal debates of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) previous to a 2018 speech from its Director of the Division of Corporation Finance William Hinman. Commonly referred to as the Hinman docs, these show the internal differences and the confusion the agency had to deal with in qualifying some tokens and cryptocurrencies as securities. According to Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty, Hinman ignored some of the offer...