Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Payments giant Mastercard is launching crypto-linked payment cards for the Asia-Pacific region in partnership with three crypto service providers. “For the first time, consumers and businesses in the Asia Pacific region will be able to apply for crypto-linked Mastercard credit, debit, or prepaid cards,” Mastercard said. First Crypto-Linked Mastercards in Asia-Pacific Region Mastercard announced Monday that it has partnered with three crypto service providers across the Asia-Pacific region “to launch the region’s first crypto-linked payment cards.” The three partners are Amber Group, Bitkub in Thailand, and Coinjar in Australia. All three companies offer cryptocurrency exchange services in their respective domestic markets. In partnership with Mastercard, they “will be launching crypto-funded Mastercard payment cards,” the announcement notes, adding: For the first time, consumers and businesses in the Asia Pacific region will be able to apply for crypto-linked Mastercard credit, d

The CEO of the world’s largest movie exhibition company, AMC Entertainment, says that his company is “on track” to accept four cryptocurrencies by year-end. Dogecoin (DOGE) is expected to be added in the first quarter of next year, and the company is currently figuring out how to take shiba inu (SHIB) as a currency. AMC Discusses Its Crypto Plans: Dogecoin, Shiba Inu Included AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC), aka AMC Theatres, provided an update of its crypto plans during the company’s Q3 earnings call Monday. AMC is the largest movie exhibition company in the U.S., Europe, and the world. As of March 31, the company owned or operated approximately 950 theaters and 10,500 screens globally. “We started accepting cryptocurrency for AMC gift cards and are encoding right now to accept cryptocurrency for online payments on our website and mobile app,” AMC CEO Adam Aron explained, elaborating: We are on track right now to accept, as we promised, bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitc

Just before the 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP-26), the UK government polled 3,071 adults from Britain to ask them their opinions on cryptocurrencies and the crypto industry’s effects on climate change. According to the survey, 45% of Britons would support banning crypto assets for environmental reasons and 18% would oppose a ban. Even though 45% of the polled crowd would ban crypto assets, very few respondents think a ban would be effective. 45% of British Adults Surveyed Would Ban Crypto Assets Over Climate Change Concerns This week climate change has been more topical than usual because of the COP-26 event being held in Glasgow. COP-26 is basically a conference hosted by the UN where global participants discuss solutions for mitigating climate change. Political party members who attend typically make national pledges in order to combat the so-called climate crisis. During this year’s COP-26, the U.K. government decided to survey 3,071 Britons before the

Polygon , an Ethereum scaling platform onboarding millions to Web3, has announced the addition of convenient and flexible fiat payment onramps for the Polygon Network, thanks to a new partnership with Alchemy Pay . Alchemy Pay will create a bridge between fiat and crypto payments by embedding into the Polygon Network, enabling any Polygon-based protocol to set up a fiat on-ramp. The new capability is expected to propel the next phase of growth for Polygon’s DeFi ecosystem. More than 4,000 hosted applications within Polygon’s DeFi ecosystem will now be able to enact transactions on their DeFi apps via direct fiat on-ramps to traditional financial payment platforms like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and multiple local payment channels around the world. The move will also simplify DeFi app payments on e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify and other networks. Alchemy Pay currently handles $5 million daily transactions, primarily from Asia and Europe. A greater volume of US transactions is e

The CEO of the tech giant Apple, Tim Cook disclosed that he owns cryptocurrency and said that he thinks it’s reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio.” Cook’s statements stemmed from an appearance with the New York Times Dealbook’s host Andrew Ross Sorkin. Apple CEO Tim Cook Tells the Press He Owns Crypto and It’s Something Apple Is ‘Looking At’ The cryptocurrency economy has been on a tear and recently captured $3 trillion in value this week as bitcoin ( BTC ) and a number of other crypto assets reached all-time price highs. The value of the crypto economy is now more than $500 billion larger than the market capitalization of Apple. The crypto economy also grew significantly faster in value than the American multinational technology company. Meanwhile, Apple’s CEO disclosed that he owns crypto and the executive thinks that its reasonable to add to a portfolio. When asked if he owns crypto, Cook responded: “I do. I think it’s reasonable to own it as part of a div

An official with the Zimbabwean government recently confirmed the country’s administration is currently gathering views about cryptocurrencies from knowledgeable persons. Government’s Lingering Concerns Charles Wekwete, who is the head of the e-government unit, suggested that the country will only adopt a formal position on cryptocurrencies once the consultation process is complete. According to a Sunday News report , Wekwete — who addressed delegates that attended an IT summit that was held in Victoria Falls — made the comments while responding to an inquiry from the attendees. The attendees had asked Wekwete if the Zimbabwean government’s position on cryptocurrencies had shifted. In his response, Wekwete starts by reiterating his government’s lingering concerns about cryptocurrencies and its fears these could be used to facilitate nefarious activities. However, Wekwete still went on to reveal that the Zimbabwean government is already working towards finding the appropriate regu

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a second cryptocurrency exchange “for facilitating financial transactions for ransomware actors.” Two ransomware operators have also been sanctioned and $6.1 million in funds were seized. US Treasury Sanctions Another Cryptocurrency Exchange The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Monday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned ransomware operators and a cryptocurrency exchange. Crypto exchange Chatex and its associated support network have been sanctioned “for facilitating financial transactions for ransomware actors,” the Treasury states. “Analysis of Chatex’s known transactions indicate that over half are directly traced to illicit or high-risk activities such as darknet markets, high-risk exchanges, and ransomware.” Chatex has direct ties with Suex OTC , the first crypto exchange sanctioned by the OFAC on Sept. 21, the Treasury noted. The OFAC also sanctioned Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi and Russian Yevg

The Indian government is reportedly trying to “fast track” a modified cryptocurrency bill to be introduced in the winter session of parliament. India’s crypto legislation is expected to take a “middle path” approach to balance all stakeholders’ concerns. India Reportedly Modifying Crypto Bill to Introduce at the Start of Winter Session of Parliament India is currently working on cryptocurrency regulation. The government is now considering taking a “middle path” that balances all stakeholders’ concerns to regulate cryptocurrencies, the Economic Times reported Monday, citing an unnamed government source. An outright ban on cryptocurrencies is not seen as feasible given a large number of Indians are investing in crypto assets, the person explained, adding that making cryptocurrencies legal tender, as El Salvador did, is not an option either. The source said: A balance has to be found … A middle path that balances the concerns of all stakeholders is more likely. Policymakers were r

The world is fast moving towards a crypto-first future. One in which every company will have a strategy for how to leverage crypto, tokenized assets, smart contracts and more to transfer value and fuel a rising tide of global digital transactions and commerce. Liquidity – the ability to instantly, seamlessly and affordably exchange assets – … Continued The post Ripple Liquidity Hub for the Enterprise appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/SCB9Sk

FIDE , the International Chess Federation, has become the first global sports federation to launch its own NFT marketplace. It announced a partnership with core developers of the Everscale Network (ex-FreeTON) , TON Labs , to launch ChessNFT.com – a new chess non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem. Full marketplace functionality is scheduled for later this month, to coincide with the upcoming World Championship in Dubai. ChessNFT hopes to welcome a new demographic to the world of blockchain, attracting both players and fans of chess alike. Users will be able to bid on and purchase chess-related NFTs featuring iconic match moments, unique collectibles, chess related art, and much more. The platform’s interface will accommodate the use of both fiat and cryptocurrencies. Most interestingly, these NFTs will be in the new TrueNFT format on the Everscale Network. Everscale is the new name for the recently rebranded FreeTON network. TrueNFTs bring a number of benefits over existing forma

On November 8, 2021, the price of bitcoin reached an all-time high of $68,564 per unit at 10:57 p.m. (ET) on Monday evening. Meanwhile, Plan B, the creator of the bitcoin price model called stock-to-flow (S2F), has correctly predicted the last three months of bitcoin prices and recently said that based on the floor model the price will reach $100K this year. ‘Bitcoin Looking Strong’ — Plan B’s Poll Results Show 40% of Voters Believe $100K Will Happen This Year Four months ago in June, Plan B tweeted that his “worst-case scenario for 2021” bitcoin (BTC) prices “on-chain based” would be “Aug>47K, Sep>43K, Oct>63K, Nov>98K, Dec>135K.” During the first week of August, Plan B reconfirmed his confidence in the price forecast and said “$64K was not the top.” After correctly predicting the bitcoin prices for the months of August, September, and October, Plan B has been discussing BTC ’s current price run-up during the first week of November. On November 3, Plan B tweeted

The organizers of Art X Lagos, a West Africa art exhibition, recently kickstarted a non-fungible token (NFT) art fair that features the works of African artists drawn from more than six countries. Blockchain Provides Important Opportunity for Artists In a statement made on Art X Lagos’ website, the organizers argue that blockchain is now providing digital artists with an opportunity to sell their work. They added that such a paradigm shift opens up the possibility of a more decentralized and more collaborative economy, where creators can lead the way towards a more inclusive, and more diverse society. To demonstrate the extent of Art X Lagos’ determination, the organizers, alongside Superrare — a digital art market on the Ethereum blockchain — recently kickstarted the art fair. According to a report , the physical version of this fair began on November 4 and was expected to end on November 7. The online fair, on the other hand, is expected to end on November 21. NFTs Getting Mor

PRESS RELEASE. Hollywood, CA – Riskie Forever, renowned creator of the iconic album cover art of “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory”, steps onto the digital collectibles stage in partnership with Zelus for a truly unique NFT collection. Beginning on November 5th, the 25th anniversary of the acclaimed album’s release, Zelus will release a series of twenty-five NFTs every day for seven days, each one inspired by the cover art of the Death Row Records classic. The collection will features all new digital artwork inspired by Riskie Forever’s original album artwork. Each day, Zelus will release different limited editions of video artwork paired with physical items created by Riskie. The campaign will culminate on the seventh day with the release of a 3D NFT of the album cover. “Our studio was founded on the idea of creating NFTs that are not only potentially valuable, but also hold unique meaning for collectors and fans,” noted Dale Alexander, Chief of Creative for Zelus. “It doesn

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS), the entity that controls the decentralized domains built on top of Ethereum, announced it would pivot to a decentralized governance model, opening the door to the formation of a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). The ENS is now calling for delegates to propose their views to the community in order to be elected. The airdrop of the DAO tokens will open on November 8. ENS Pivots to Decentralized Governance The Ethereum Name Service, the organization behind the decentralized domain service on Ethereum, announced recently its intention of pivoting its governance model to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The organization is adopting a delegate model that will allow individuals to present their proposals and other users to delegate their tokens to support them. The ENS explained that while most of the core functions of the organization operate without supervision, there are some issues that still require dedicated human interactio

Bitfarms, the Canada-based Bitcoin mining unicorn, has at last revealed details about its activities in Argentina. The company says that the Bitcoin mega mining farm, whose construction started last month, will be built in the province of Cordoba, in association with a private power plant. Bitfarms will purchase the energy directly from this private power company, reportedly without causing stress to the power grid of the country. Bitfarms Opens Up About Plans in Argentina Bitfarms has revealed details about the construction of its bitcoin mega-mining farm in Argentina, which, when finished, will be the largest mining complex in the country. The location of the farm had not been announced by the company until now. According to local media, it was revealed that it will be located in the province of Cordoba, in the city of Rio Cuarto. The facility will house more than 210 megawatts of power capacity for installing miners at a very low price for the company. The facility will be con

PRESS RELEASE. Prague, Czech Republic, 5 Nov 2021, StackSwap, the first complete DEX and Launchpad on the Bitcoin Network has announced the completion of its private round. According to the official press release, the blockchain platform was able to raise $1.3 million during the funding round. The investment round was led by the Stacks Foundation along with key blockchain venture capitalists including HashKey, Genesis Block Ventures (GBV) and SOSV. The early investors share the long-term vision of StackSwap to eventually become the biggest DEX on the Bitcoin Network. Stacks protocol on which Stackswap is built has attracted over $93 million in investments from renowned institutional investors like Coinbase Ventures and Winklevoss Capital. It is built on a Bitcoin-based layer-1 project that implements a smart contract function on Bitcoin and was the first token sale to be approved by the United States SEC. StackSwap released a statement following the successful private funding round

On November 10, 2021, Vogue Singapore, a team dedicated to fashion, beauty, and “stories that matter,” is launching a non-fungible token (NFT) drop on the marketplace Opensea. The drop will be the fashion and lifestyle magazine’s first NFT collection featuring digital-only Vogue covers crafted by NFT artists. Vogue to Drop the Firm’s First NFT Collection The fashion and lifestyle magazine Vogue and its subsidiary from Singapore is entering the world of non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles. The fashion firm is an old company as it was founded in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure, and the American company has since created a number of international offshoots. Vogue Singapore announced the launch of Vogue’s first NFT collection hosted on Opensea on November 10. The drop will feature “two digital-only cover NFTs created in collaboration with local and international digital designers,” Vogue Singapore’s team details. One of the Vogue Singapore NFT covers was crafted by the metaverse arti

New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams plans to make NYC the center of crypto and innovation. He says we must open our schools to teach cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, noting that bitcoin is “a new way of paying for goods and services throughout the entire globe.” NYC Mayor-Elect Wants Schools to Teach Bitcoin, Crypto, Blockchain New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams talked about making NYC the center for innovation and cryptocurrency in an interview with CNN Business Sunday. He also explained the reasoning behind his tweet saying that he will take his first three paychecks in bitcoin. Adams was asked, “Would you encourage businesses in New York City to accept bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies?” He replied: “We are going to look at it. We are going to tread carefully. We are going to get it right.” He proceeded to explain: “l want to send a signal. This city was the Empire State … This is the center of innovation, self-driving cars, drone development, cybersecurity, life s

Square Inc. has affirmed that its focus is on helping bitcoin become the native currency for the internet. CEO Jack Dorsey explained, “We have a number of initiatives toward that goal” that will help “bitcoin reach a mainstream audience while at the same time strengthening the network and ecosystem.” Square’s Focus Is on Helping Bitcoin Become the Native Currency for the Internet Square Inc. reiterated its commitment to bitcoin during the company’s Q3 earnings call Friday. Square also revealed that its mobile payment platform Cash App generated $1.8 billion in bitcoin revenue . Square’s market cap is currently $110 billion. During the call, Dorsey was asked whether Square is “looking to expand into crypto beyond bitcoin buy and sell,” such as offering other cryptocurrencies and enabling users to “engage in defined NFT ecosystems.” Dorsey simply replied, “We’re not,” emphasizing: Our focus is on helping bitcoin to become the native currency for the Internet … We have a number of

Building great products and teams is something Dushyant Acharya has approached with passion in his eighteen months as a Senior Manager in Engineering at Ripple. The road to creating the Internet of Value isn’t linear, but Dushyant navigates with commitment and enthusiasm. “I absolutely love everyone I work with, especially my team,” says Dushyant. “They … Continued The post Making an Impact with the Asian at Ripple Community appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/SC84C0

On November 8, 2021, the cryptocurrency economy’s market capitalization reached the $3 trillion mark after gathering significant value over the course of 12 years. The overall value of the 10,464 crypto-assets in existence is now larger than Microsoft’s market valuation at $2.52 trillion and Apple’s $2.47 trillion market cap. Cryptocurrency Economy Is Now More Valuable Than Company’s Like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Saudi Aramco Statistics indicate that on Monday, November 8, the net worth of the entire crypto-economy is valued at over $3 trillion, after jumping roughly 3.7% in value during the last day. The 10,464 coins in existence, worth over $3 trillion, have produced $206 billion in global trade volume during the last 24 hours. Years ago, people laughed and described crypto as merely valueless ‘Beanie Baby’ collectibles. Today, however, most are not laughing and they are either angry or simply taken back by the momentum of value. The crypto economy’s climb to $3 trillion has bee

PRESS RELEASE. Popular Bitcoin ATM operator, Bitcoin of America, has announced their newest location in one of Chicago’s hottest nightclubs. Joy District is known for its nightclub/restaurant hybrid. It is located in the heart of River North and has been awarded as one of Chicago’s best and hottest rooftop bars. You can now socialize at Joy District with friends and even interact with a Bitcoin ATM all at the same time. Bitcoin of America is a popular virtual currency exchange, registered as a money services business with the United States Department of Treasury (FinCEN)(RegNum). Bitcoin of America is known for ensuring a fast and hassle-free transaction, while providing top of the line customer support. They are headquartered in Chicago and have locations in most major cities across 31 US states. To date, Bitcoin of America has 30 plus Bitcoin ATM locations across the city of Chicago. You can find a majority of their locations in convenience stores, liquor stores, and 24-hour gas s

Nike, the American multinational footwear and sports apparel giant, is getting ready to step into the metaverse and the world of non-fungible token (NFT) technology. Reports show Nike has a few employees “thinking about the metaverse” and a 2019 patent for “cryptokicks” indicates Nike has been preparing to use NFTs for quite some time. Nike’s Well-Known Trademarks and ‘Downloadable Virtual Goods’ Several reports indicate that Nike ( NYSE:NKE ) is getting ready to step into the non-fungible technology realm and the footwear corporation may have been preparing to do so for a while now. The senior correspondent at Business Insider’s (BI) retail desk, Matthew Kish, explains in a recent analysis that “Nike is going all in on its metaverse play.” The report discusses Nike’s recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filing published this week. A number of well-known trademarks Nike owns were also included such as the “ Just Do It ” tagline, its SNKRS logo, the Air Jordan “Jumpman,” and

While companies like Microbt, Bitmain, Innosilicon, Strongu, Ebang, and Canaan have ruled the roost in terms of manufacturing application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin miners, a new challenger has entered the competition. A relatively unknown integrated technology firm called AGM Group Holdings has seen a lot of ASIC sales and partnerships in recent times. A Relatively Unknown Semiconductor Firm Has Been Revealing Large Bitcoin Mining Rig Purchase Orders 2021 has seen record sales, in terms of ASIC mining rigs sold by bitcoin mining rig manufacturers like Microbt, Bitmain, and Canaan. Mining operations located all around the world have purchased thousands of bitcoin mining devices from these firms during the last year. The demand for ASICs has been so high, many orders placed this year are due to be shipped at some point in 2022. Now a new challenger has entered the ASIC bitcoin mining rig manufacturing competition and recent press announcements detail AGM Group Holdin

While gold is generally perceived to be the best hedge against inflation, a report written by author Kelsey Williams has now questioned this longstanding assertion. In the report, Williams argues that the current gold price of around $1,810 per ounce is much lower than the commodity’s average price in 1980. Gold Price Rise Lags Behind Inflation Williams’ averments suggest the yellow metal’s rate of increase in value over the past 41 years has lagged behind that of inflation. In a report that was published by FX Empire, the author uses nominal and inflation-adjusted gold prices to illustrate this point. For instance, according to a table shared in the report, the nominal price of gold has been on an upward trajectory from $664 per ounce recorded in February of 1980 to $1,825 by August 2011. However, when adjusted for inflation, it is the February 1980 price that rises the fastest, to $2,309, compared to the August 2011 price which is pegged at $2,220. A similar trend is also obser

The following article was written by CZ, Binance CEO & Co-Founder. DYOR, or do your own research, is a concept I think every investor should know about. It’s as close to a golden rule as anything in the world of crypto, but it applies more even broadly to anything you’re planning to invest in, from Bitcoin and bonds to stablecoins and stocks. Earlier this week, the anonymous developers behind a DeFi project named Squid Game token abruptly performed a “rug pull”, a common scam where the team behind a crypto project takes off with users’ funds. Because these scams are becoming more commonplace as the DeFi space grows, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind users that DeFi is not without its risks, and we hate to see anyone lose their funds due to scams and other cybercrimes. Squid Game Tokens: What Happened and Why? Last week, a cryptocurrency called SQUID began trading on PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange. It quickly gained traction among users, many of whom thought th