Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Turkey has now jailed six suspects connected to the cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, which has been accused of an exit scam. Turkish authorities and Interpol have widened their search for the exchange’s CEO, who fled the country before shutting down his trading platform, preventing customers from withdrawing their funds. Search Widens for CEO of Crypto Exchange Thodex A Turkish court has jailed six suspects in connection with the cryptocurrency exchange Thodex which has been accused of an exit scam, Reuters reported Thursday. The exchange abruptly halted trading last week after its CEO, Faruk Fatih Ozer, fled the country to Albania. Customers have filed complaints against the exchange as they cannot log in to their accounts and withdraw their funds. The spokeswoman for Istanbul’s Anadolu prosecutor’s office said that the six jailed suspects include Ozer’s brother, sister, and senior company employees, noting that they are awaiting trial. At least 83 people were detained over the p

On April 30, the crypto-focused data analytics company Skew announced the firm has been acquired by the San Francisco company Coinbase. The exchange will leverage Skew’s data with the firm’s institutional subsidiary Coinbase Prime. The goal is to make “cryptocurrency markets more transparent and accessible for institutional investors.” Coinbase Acquires Analytics Company Skew Skew, the company behind the crypto data and analytics website skew.com has been acquired by Coinbase according to a recently published blog post . Bitcoin.com News and a myriad of other crypto industry service providers have leveraged Skew’s analytics for reports in regard to cryptocurrency derivatives markets. Skew’s comprehensive data showcases both bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) spot, futures, and options market data. The platform was founded three years ago by Emmanuel Goh and Tim Noat and during the last two years the analytics Skew provides has been quite popular. The Skew team says that it looks f

In less than three days, the renowned photographer Jesse Frohman will be holding an auction featuring a non-fungible token (NFT) collection of his last photoshoot with the now-deceased Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. On May 3, at 12 p.m. (ET) Frohman’s iconic photos that were transferred into NFTs will be auctioned for ethereum. A portion of the auction’s proceeds will go to the JED Foundation, a suicide prevention nonprofit for teens. ‘The Last Session’ NFT Auction Featuring Over 100 Kurt Cobain Images to Start at 27 Ethereum Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain changed the lives of many people with his awe-inspiring music, as the American singer, songwriter and musician took the world by stage back in the early nineties. Often heralded as one of the pioneers of alternative rock, Cobain’s legacy has lived on long after he committed suicide on April 5, 1994. The now-deceased spokesperson for Generation X will soon have his photographs sold as non-fungible token assets. The photographer Jesse Frohma

While it may still be the primary network hub for defi activities, smart contracts, and NFTs, bridges built using competing networks like Tezos could pose a serious challenge to Ethereum’s market share in these areas. New Solutions to Old Problems Could Undermine Network’s Potency In the time since the network’s unveiling, Ethereum-killers have abounded with claims that they would displace the network with faster transactions, more scalability, lower fees, and effectively do just about everything better. Despite all the hype surrounding these answers to Ethereum’s flaws, no network has been able to displace the network’s appeal in totality. Yet, Ethereum’s deficiencies are currently coming under attack from all sides, and more so than ever before. The recently unveiled WRAP Protocol from Bender Labs is one of several arrows that could seriously maim Ethereum’s status. This highly interoperable decentralized protocol will enable the transformation and transfer of Ethereum tokens,

The fever surrounding non-fungible tokens continues to spread as it penetrates new areas and industries. Political memes have now entered the NFT fray, Dole is fighting food insecurity with a humorous angle, Digitalax is bridging the physical and digital fashion divide, and even acclaimed wine is getting a taste for digital collectibles. Drumpfs Mint Trump’s Tweets for Charity Capitalizing on the momentum of Meme PAC’s viral presence in the American political conversation, 18-year incoming Columbia freshman and President behind the famed youth political action committee (PAC) Jackie Ni is introducing political NFTs. Through Strategic Meme Group (SMG), where Ni serves as Chief Meme Officer, unique digital political collectibles will be minted and auctioned to monetize former President Donald Trump’s tweets for charitable purposes. The so-called “ Drumpfs ,” which mark the first undertaking of SMG, will be presented as cubes with different images affixed to each side. One side of ea

Individuals and companies are not the only ones who take advantage of the significant bitcoin prices surging across the board, despite recent pullbacks. In New Jersey, United States, a county yielded profits after liquidating seized cryptocurrencies during a drug investigation. Authorities Gained Control of the Cryptos in 2019 According to NBC New York , local authorities from Monmouth County got the bitcoin ( BTC ) during a raid in the context of an illegal narcotics distribution crackdown in 2018. Investigators found that such digital assets were part of the profits gained by the criminals due to its drug sales. Approximately, the county netted 300% in profits from the liquidation when BTC was exchanging hands around the $57,000 threshold, selling it at around $198,000, said the media outlet. Per the report, in 2019, the county filed a forfeiture complaint after the suspect pleaded guilty. That said, the county gained ownership of the seized crypto. Christopher Gramiccioni, the

On Thursday, Apifiny, a global digital asset trading and mining network, announced the company’s subsidiary Apifiny Prime has been granted a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The firm now joins the ranks of brokerage and exchange businesses like Coinbase, Etoro, and Circle. FINRA Grants Apifiny Prime a Broker-Dealer License The leading regulator that oversees American broker-dealers, FINRA has granted a broker-dealer license to Apifiny Prime. The license allows Apifiny to make private investor placements and vend securities, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and other types of financial products. Apifiny was founded by Haohan Xu in 2018 after he saw inefficiencies across global bitcoin exchanges, and said that he “took advantage of this by buying and selling bitcoin across different exchanges.” Haohan Xu detailed in the company announcement concerning the FINRA approval, that his firm has grown significantly and saw a “4x increase in monthly

PRESS RELEASE. The first ever community-minted NFT launched at OpenSea this week, attracting a bid of 7 ETH for this historic event and giving 256 lucky users the opportunity to share the proceeds of the NFT auction with the artist. That large bid is the latest stage of a highly popular campaign, one that saw the opening rounds of NFT minting happen in a matter of minutes, instead of the expected span of five days. More than 12,000 clients enrolled wallets to the MetisDAO.org website as part of the NFT contest. The NFT is named “Rebuilding the Tower of Babel”, connecting the idea of the old Biblical Babylonian tower and its mission of uniting people around the world who speak different languages with the city of the future and the huge potential of blockchain technology. Bidders can bid on the NFT from now until the auction’s end Monday, May 3 at 1:53 pm UTC. Elena Sinelnikova, CEO and co-founder of Metis, said the venture shows the spirit of collaboration that a community-m

On Thursday, the Smart Bitcoin Cash team announced the launch of the Smartbch testnet explaining that developers and decentralized app makers can now experiment and develop with the high-performance, EVM-compatible Bitcoin Cash sidechain. Further, Bitcoin.com News spoke with Wang Kui the lead developer of the Smartbch project. The Smartbch tech lead told our newsdesk about the inner workings of the sidechain that can connect with the Ethereum network. Testnet for Smart Bitcoin Cash, a Bitcoin Cash Layer-2 Project Is Live During the last few weeks, the Smartbch project has been a topical conversation within the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community. The reason for these conversations is because the Smartbch team has revealed a project that is EVM and Web3 compatible, but far cheaper in terms of transaction fees. This is because the Smartbch project is a sidechain built on Bitcoin Cash and it leverages the BCH chain’s lower transaction fees. Bitcoin.com has reported on the project on a few

Investment bank JPMorgan has published a report explaining why ether is outperforming bitcoin. Citing several key reasons, the firm concluded that “there is evidence of more resilient liquidity, less reliance on derivatives markets to transfer and warehouse risk, and more durable underlying demand base – for now at least.” JPMorgan Says Ether Outperforms Bitcoin JPMorgan published a report on Tuesday entitled “Why is ETH outperforming?” The analysts with the firm’s Fixed Income Strategy for the U.S. wrote: In recent days, one of the more interesting developments in cryptocurrency markets has been the outperformance of ether ( ETH ) relative to other tokens. Noting that bitcoin is “more of a crypto commodity than currency,” JPMorgan said that “ ETH is the backbone of the crypto-native economy and therefore functions more as a medium of exchange.” The analysts then asserted that “To the extent owning a share of this potential activity is more valuable … ETH should outperform BT

A public-private task force has submitted a report to the Biden administration that includes recommendations to tighten the regulation of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, with the aim to combat ransomware. “The cryptocurrency sector that enables ransomware crime should be more closely regulated,” the task force wrote. White House Urged to Tighten Crypto Regulation A task force, organized by the Institute for Security and Technology, submitted a report entitled “Combating Ransomware” to the Biden administration Thursday with 48 recommendations, some of which aim at tightening crypto regulation. The recommendations were developed by the Ransomware Task Force (RTF), which the report describes as “a broad coalition of volunteer experts from industry, government, law enforcement, civil society, cybersecurity insurers, and international organizations.” Its goal is to “provide a strategic framework for a systemic, global approach to mitigating the ransomware problem.” The report clai

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase now allows its U.S. customers to buy cryptocurrencies with Paypal. Millions of customers can now purchase up to $25,000 a day of cryptocurrencies with their Paypal accounts. Coinbase Adds Paypal as Funding Source for Users Coinbase announced Thursday that Paypal has been added as a funding source for buying cryptocurrencies at the exchange. The Nasdaq-listed company wrote: We are now offering millions of customers in the US a simple and speedy way to buy crypto on Coinbase using your debit cards and bank accounts linked to Paypal. Coinbase explained, “If you have an existing Paypal account, you’ll be able to start making transactions on Coinbase right away,” adding that “there’s no need to add bank accounts or card numbers directly to Coinbase.” However, the company noted that “echecks and Paypal-linked credit cards cannot be used to purchase crypto with Coinbase.” To use Paypal on Coinbase, users will select Paypal as a payment method when b

Famous Spain-based project Jobchain has developed an intuitive blockchain solution that allows employers to search for talents and pay employees with cryptocurrency, thus saving valuable time. And some of the major enterprises have already experienced the practice’s benefits in real-world scenarios. The Goal of Jobchain There is nothing more appealing to crypto proponents than accessing more crypto income-generating products. Hence, the emergence of Jobchain has found a strong following amidst surging demand for digital assets. The ecosystem proposes radical solutions to the global unemployment and underemployment crises and enables a blockchain platform where employers and potential employees can network. For Jobchain, the goal is simple: Get as many people to participate in a decentralized job economy powered by blockchain. The platform looks to remove all forms of barriers and offer job seekers added protection against a rigged and centralized system. But the most notable detai

The ASIC bitcoin mining rig manufacturer and chipmaker, Canaan has announced the company has signed a $93.63 million purchase order with the mining firm Genesis Digital Assets. Genesis will be acquiring Canaan’s A1246 Avalonminer rigs that produce 90 terahash per second (TH/s) and deliveries will be shipping during the second half of 2021. Canaan and Genesis Digital Assets Announce a Strategic Partnership According to an announcement from the Beijing, China-based company Canaan (Nasdaq: CAN) a new strategic partnership has been unveiled between the firm and Genesis Digital Assets . The two companies have signed a purchase agreement worth $93.63 million as Canaan plans to deliver the firm’s next-generation A1246 Avalonminer devices to Genesis. The machines will be shipped to Genesis during the second half of 2021 the company’s announcement details. Canaan’s application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) A1246 Avalonminer is a device that processes the SHA256 consensus algorithm. Th

The biggest e-commerce store in Latin America is the latest major company in the region to join the crypto adoption movement. Mercado Libre is now allowing its customers to buy a selected number of properties from real estate agencies with bitcoin. Properties Listed Don’t Offer Alternative Payment Methods Aside From Bitcoin According to the announcement , the firm created 20 years ago offers 75 properties on sale from seven agencies that accept bitcoin ( BTC ) as the only payment method. The houses, apartments, lands, among others, are located in several Argentinean cities, such as Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Cordoba. Mercado Libre believes that cryptocurrencies are an “innovative value haven,” as their traceability, speediness, and security make it a proper way to arrange payments. In fact, the e-commerce store offered a webinar where it provided further information on cryptos targeting over 300 real estate agencies. Juan Manuel Carretero, commercial manager of Vehicles, Real Es

In its foray into Africa, Input Output, a research and development product engineering company, says it will partner with World Mobile Group in a new initiative aimed at bringing sustainable internet connectivity to users in Zanzibar and Tanzania. According to the partnership agreement, the Cardano blockchain infrastructure will be used to provide affordable network nodes to local business owners. Partnership to Open New World According to a statement that shares some details about this working arrangement, subscribers to these networks will be able to access Input Output’s digital identity solution, Atala PRISM. The identity solution “will allow them to use services such as digital banking, healthcare, and education.” Meanwhile, in his remarks following the announcement of the partnership agreement, the CEO of World Mobile Chain, Micky Watkins laments on how years of neglect left some parts of the world behind technologically. Nevertheless, Watkins still expresses his belief that