Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Fiat, an automotive brand property of Stellantis, has launched its first metaverse-based store, which the company claims is the first showroom of its kind. The experience, which was developed with tech supplied by Touchcast and Microsoft, aims to make the virtual process of reviewing a car more interactive. Fiat Introduces Metaverse-Based Store Fiat, an automotive brand property of one of the top ten car manufacturers in the world, Stellantis, has launched its first virtual metaverse store. The company will allow customers to try the experience they will have inside and outside one of its models, the New 500 La Prima by Bocelli, through a virtual simulation of the model. The showroom will let the users review the car via a 360-degree view of the car model, and test the systems and the infotainment array that the company offers on this vehicle. Also, the customers can change the appearance and equipment of the car depending on the version and extras chosen, and even drive the vehic

Daesung Private Equity, a Korean venture capital firm, has announced the launch of a metaverse fund of 110 billion won ($83.5 million). The fund, which will have the participation of the Korean state represented by Korea Venture Investment Corporation’s Korea Fund of Funds, aims to put investments into virtual reality (VR) and digital twins-related businesses. Daesung Private Equity to Launch Metaverse Fund Korean venture capital firm Daesung Private Equity has decided to get into the metaverse investment field. The company announced on Nov. 30 the launch of a metaverse-focused fund, that would have 110 billion won (equivalent to $83.5 million) to invest. The “Metaverse Scale-Up Fund,” which the company claims is Korea’s biggest private fund in the sector, will see the participation of the Korean state with the support of the Korea Venture Investment Corporation’s Korea Fund of Funds. 60 billion won (close to $46 million) was also injected by different companies of the Daesung con

In a recent statement, the European Parliament said its members would shortly “vote on adopting the regulation on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA).” According to the parliamentary body’s think tank, the envisaged regulations are expected to provide “legal certainty for crypto-assets not covered by existing EU legislation.” A crypto counselor, Paulius Vaitkevicius, said any regulation of crypto is likely to result in more capital and talent coming into the space. ‘Harmonized Rules’ for Crypto-Assets at EU Level After months of discussions and negotiations which culminated in the June 30 preliminary agreement , the European Parliament (EP) is now set to “vote on adopting the regulation on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA).” The vote is set to take place during the legislative body’s plenary session. European leaders assert that the adoption of MiCA will lead to the creation of “harmonized rules for crypto-assets at [the] E.U. level.” According to a Nov. 29 briefing by the parliament’s

The authority responsible for crypto oversight in Uzbekistan has determined the order of issuing and circulating digital assets in the country. The main reason behind the move is to establish a mechanism that would allow local companies to attract capital through coins and tokens. Uzbekistan Government Sets Out to Regulate Digital Asset Investments The National Agency of Perspective Projects ( NAPP ), under the President of Uzbekistan, has released a new regulation on the procedures for the issue, registration, and release in circulation of crypto assets in the Central Asian Nation. The document provides basic legal definitions for crypto assets and makes distinction between the different types. It introduces requirements for crypto issuers, depositaries and custodians and determines their obligations, including those concerning relations with customers. The authority has also approved rules for the establishment and maintaining of an electronic register of crypto assets and adopt

Nine U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns regarding the U.S. central bank digital currency project led by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The lawmakers stressed: “Any U.S. CBDC must be open, permissionless, and private.” Congressmen Say Any US CBDC Must Be Open, Permissionless, and Private U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN) announced Thursday that he has led an inquiry into the central bank digital currency (CBDC) effort led by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Emmer and eight other members of Congress sent a letter to Susan Collins, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, raising concerns about Project Hamilton , an initiative to develop a U.S. CBDC in collaboration with the digital currency initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “It has come to Congress’s attention that some firms participating in Project Hamilton intend to use government resources from the project to design a CBDC with the intent to then sell those products to commer

PRESS RELEASE. INTERNET CITY, DUBAI, Dec 2nd, 2022 – LBank , a global crypto exchange, hosted an ‘LBank & Crypto Friends’ afterparty alongside the Web3 conference DCENTRAL Miami . LBank was proud to host more than 200 guests from all layers of the industry. This was LBank’s second event in Miami after exhibiting at the Bitcoin 2022 conference earlier this year. ‘LBank & Crypto Friends’, hosted on November 28th, served as a buffer between conference days, giving many attendees a chance to unwind after an intense day. A diverse crowd stopped over for the laid-back event, including Web3 entrepreneurs, investors, crypto enthusiasts, and more. “I met a lot of interesting people here. It was good to meet with LBank’s team in person and discuss our partnerships and potential collaborations,” a guest at the afterparty said. DCENTRAL Miami, the most significant Web3 conference in the industry, hosted a large group of attendees this year and many industry-leading speakers. LBank was

Animoca Brands, the parent company of metaverse projects like The Sandbox, has announced it plans to launch a $2 billion metaverse fund. The new fund, which would be focused on returns for potential investors wanting to get more Web3-related capital exposure, will focus its activities on companies in the mid-to-late investment stages. Animoca Brands Plans Animoca Capital Fund Launch Animoca Brands, one of the most recognized metaverse and NFT companies in the ecosystem, has announced plans to launch its own metaverse fund. According to statements made by co-founder Yat Siu to Nikkei on Nov. 29, the company aims to raise between $1 billion and $2 billion for this new initiative. Animoca Brands, which has raised $804 million from several investors in several funding rounds already, aims to put the new funds (once raised) into established metaverse platforms in the mid-to-late investment stages, as it seeks to prioritize revenue over developing the Web3 environment, allowing partners

Galaxy Digital’s CEO Mike Novogratz talked to Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s Squawk Box and gave his reaction to Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) recent New York Times (NYT) Dealbook Summit interview. Novogratz said that SBF was “delusional” and insisted that the former FTX CEO needs to be prosecuted and further said, “he will spend time in jail.” Mike Novogratz: ‘Sam Was Delusional’ The billionaire and CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz , was very candid about what he thought about Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) most recent interview held virtually at the NYT Dealbook Summit. Novogratz explained that SBF needs to take responsibility for his actions and stressed that the comments he made during the interview were “delusional.” “Let’s be really clear. Sam was delusional about what happened and his culpability in it,” Novogratz told the CNBC Squawk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin on Thursday. “He needs to be prosecuted. He will spend time in jail. They perpetuated a large fraud. And it wasn’t jus

PRESS RELEASE. A game-changing Web3 security solution was launched on December 1, 2022. As the digital world is getting more advanced, scammers invent new elaborate ways to cheat web3 users and steal their assets. Smart contracts forgery, phishing websites, airdrop scams, and spamming are just a few of the dangers one faces when browsing the Web3 space. In 2022, more than $1.6 billion in crypto has gone missing because of massive exploits in DeFi, which is way more than the thefts in 2020 and 2021. Where’s the bright side? Luckily, there is a solution designed specifically to fight off these malicious activities, helping users keep digital assets safe and enjoy Web3 experiences with confidence. Web3 Antivirus (W3A) is a free open-source Chrome extension powered by proprietary security audit frameworks and equipped with millions of websites in blocklists and allowlists it draws the data from. It needs zero setup, never asks for access to wallet or assets, and works with MetaMask

While many crypto exchanges have seemingly embraced the use of proof-of-reserves (PoR) to showcase their transparency and reassure nervous users, crypto analyst Martin Hiesboeck insists such so-called proofs are susceptible to manipulation or misrepresentation. He added that PoRs alone are not a suitable method of verifying an exchange’s reserves because they do not “account for liabilities and off-chain assets at all.” PoR May Be ‘Misleading and Deceptive’ Following the collapse of FTX in November, trust in centralized exchanges ebbed, with many users rushing to move their assets off of such platforms. This, in turn, sparked a rush by crypto exchanges to present or publish their proof-of-reserves (PoR). Seen as an emergency response to the confidence crisis created by FTX’s fall, PoR Merkle trees have seemingly become the de-facto standard measure used to project a crypto exchange’s transparency. Proponents of PoR assert that using this audit method reassures users that a crypto e

Hedge fund manager Michael Burry, famed for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, has warned about “an extended multi-year recession” in the U.S. He believes there isn’t a strategy to pull us out of “this real recession.” Michael Burry’s Recession Warning Famous investor and founder of investment firm Scion Asset Management, Michael Burry, has warned about a “real recession” that will last multiple years. Burry is best known for being the first investor to foresee and profit from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010. He is profiled in “The Big Short,” a book by Michael Lewis about the mortgage crisis, which was made into a movie starring Christian Bale. The Big Short investor tweeted about a recession Tuesday. He wrote: What strategy will pull us out of this real recession? What forces would pull us so? There are none. So we are really looking at an extended multi-year recession. Who is predicting this? There are none. Burry has warned about a

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman have been slammed for stating that they believe Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was telling the truth that he “didn’t knowingly commingle funds.” The former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX also said he “wasn’t running Alameda,” so he “didn’t know exactly what was going on.” Kevin O’Leary, Bill Ackman Defend Sam Bankman-Fried Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman were slammed Thursday after they said they believe former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was telling the truth during an interview at The New York Times’ Dealbook Summit, aired Wednesday evening. Crypto exchange FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11. An estimated one million customers and investors lost billions of dollars in the exchange meltdown. Bankman-Fried said during the interview that he “didn’t knowingly commingle funds.” He also shifted blame to Alameda Research, st

On Nov. 30, 2022, the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) discussed FTX’s collapse at the New York Times’ Dealbook Summit with Andrew Ross Sorkin in his first live-appearance interview since the crypto exchange’s downfall. SBF told the Dealbook Summit host that he was “deeply sorry about what happened” and further stressed that he “didn’t knowingly co-mingle funds.” NYT Dealbook Summit Host Andrew Ross Sorkin Questions Sam Bankman-Fried, Former FTX CEO to Appear on Good Morning America FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) sat down for a long interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin , the host of the New York Times’ (NYT) Dealbook Summit. SBF’s Dealbook appearance followed the SBF interview published the day prior with crypto supporter and reporter, Tiffany Fong. Appearing virtually at the NYT conference, SBF was asked whether or not he was worried about criminal charges being brought against him. “There’s a time and a place for me to think about myself and my own fut

The central bank of Ukraine has presented to interested parties a draft concept of the nation’s future digital currency, the e-hryvnia. The regulator is currently considering several potential applications for its digital coin, including retail payments and cross-border settlements. Ukraine’s Monetary Authority Introduces Banks and Businesses to E-hryvnia Project The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has presented a draft concept for its future central bank digital currency (CBDC) to representatives of banks, other financial institutions and participants in the crypto market. The regulator seeks feedback on the possible issuance of this version of the national fiat currency, the hryvnia. The main purpose of the e-hryvnia will be to supplement the cash and non-cash forms of the Ukrainian money, the monetary policy regulator explained in an announcement published on Monday. The plan is to make it accessible to all segments of the population, legal entities, state bodies, the banking an

Authorities in Manitoba are temporarily suspending the connection of new crypto mining facilities to the power grid. The Canadian province, which relies heavily on hydroelectric generation and attracts miners with low electricity rates, fears it may face overwhelming energy demand. Manitoba Suspends New Crypto Mining Operations Citing Possible Increase in Electricity Usage The government of Manitoba is halting new connections of crypto mining centers to the province’s hydroelectric grid, the Canadian press reported. Officials explain the move with the potential for increasing energy demand that the region may not be able to meet. The suspension, imposed for a period of 18 months, will not affect the 37 currently active mining operations, according to an article by the Toronto Star. The measure is aimed at halting a growing number of requests to power new facilities with combined capacity amounting to a sizable portion of the province’s electricity supply. Providing the reasoning f

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has acquired a regulated Japanese cryptocurrency exchange and is now preparing to enter the Japanese crypto market as a regulated entity. “The Japanese market will play a key role in the future of cryptocurrency adoption,” said the general manager of Binance Japan. Binance Entering Japan Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Wednesday that it has acquired 100% of Sakura Exchange Bitcoin (SEBC), a Japanese crypto exchange service provider that is regulated by Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency. The announcement explains: Through this acquisition, Binance enters the Japanese market as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity. “By offering Japanese-regulated services through SEBC, Binance aims to support a responsible global environment for cryptocurrencies,” the announcement adds. The Tokyo-based crypto exchange SEBC offers brokerage and consultation services to its customers. The trading platform cu

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that the collapse of crypto exchange FTX shows that the crypto industry “really needs to have adequate regulation.” She added: “It’s a Lehman moment within crypto, and crypto is big enough that we’ve had substantial harm with investors.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on FTX Implosion and the Need for Adequate Crypto Regulation U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked about the need for adequate crypto regulation following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX at an event hosted by the New York Times Dealbook Wednesday. She said: I have been skeptical, and I remain quite skeptical. While emphasizing the importance of ensuring that crypto assets have adequate customer protections, the treasury secretary noted that it is also important to remain open to financial innovations, particularly those that could lower cross-border transaction costs and help improve financial inclusion. Yellen proceeded to comment about the meltdown of FTX, whi

Tesla CEO and Twitter boss Elon Musk has warned of a severe recession in the U.S. The billionaire stressed that the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates “immediately,” emphasizing that the Fed is “massively amplifying the probability of a severe recession.” Elon Musk Warns About Severe Recession Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk warned about a severe recession in the U.S. on Wednesday. Replying to Vincent Yu who tweeted that he is “expecting a real economic recession in 2023,” Musk said the trend is concerning, emphasizing that the Federal Reserve “needs to cut interest rates immediately.” The billionaire stressed that the Fed is “massively amplifying the probability of a severe recession.” Sven Henrich, founder and the lead market strategist for Northmantrader, joined the discussion. He replied to Musk and Yu: “Ironically the Fed continues to project positive GDP growth for next year despite all the obvious signs. But they did the same thing in 2008. As always they wi

Game7, a blockchain gaming-focused DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) has announced the launch of a $100 million grants program. The objective of this grants program is to support the Web3 gaming community in these times of market downturn and to advance the adoption of blockchain gaming on several chains. Game7 to Support Blockchain Gaming With $100 Million Game7, a Web3 gaming-dedicated project which has already supported projects on different chains including Arbitrum, Polygon, Immutable X, and Solana, has announced the launch of a $100 million grants program to support Web3 gaming companies. The chain-agnostic project announced that the objective of this move is to offer support to these initiatives to push the Web3 gaming ecosystem forward even in unfavorable times for the crypto industry. The organization, which is a DAO supported by Bitdao and Forte, aims to distribute these funds over the next five years to the best projects presenting their initiatives. The grants

Just over 12 months after raising $2 million, the Cameroonian fintech whose app allows users to buy and store crypto assets recently said it had received $8 million in its Series A investment round. According to Ruth Foxe Blader, partner at Anthemis, Ejara aims to become the one-stop platform where “a suite of financial products will be accessible at their fingertips, without the need for any crypto knowledge.” Owning the Keys to Your Crypto Ejara, the Cameroonian fintech whose app enables users to buy and store cryptocurrency in decentralized wallets, recently said it had raised $8 million via a series A investment. The fintech’s latest fundraising series was jointly led by the United Kingdom-based venture capital (VC) firm Anthemis and Dragonfly Capital. Participating in the latest round were Mercy Corps Ventures, Coinshares Ventures, and Lateral Capital which just like Anthemis had similarly joined the fintech startup’s previous round. According to a Techcrunch report , new inve