Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

In a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fund managers for the Miller Opportunity Trust, Bill Miller’s hedge fund, state that “bitcoin has significant upside potential as a form of digital gold.” The report details that despite its volatility, bitcoin’s “risk-reward is attractive.” Hedge Fund Manager Sees Bitcoin’s ‘Significant Upside Potential’ Miller Value Funds’ semi-annual report for the Miller Opportunity Trust, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week, states: We believe bitcoin has significant upside potential as a form of ‘digital gold.’ The Miller Opportunity Trust hedge fund has $2.72 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of July 31. Its portfolio managers are Bill Miller and Samantha McLemore. “We have been observers of bitcoin for a long time and during the quarter, the fund received approval to invest in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which is an open-ended grantor trust fully invested in bit

Russia has no reason to recognize bitcoin, President Putin’s press secretary has noted after El Salvador became the first country to adopt the digital coin as legal tender. In a statement to the press, Dmitry Peskov revealed he is convinced that such a move would not bring any benefits to the Russian Federation. Kremlin Not Open to Bitcoin Adoption in Russia The government in Moscow sees no reason to recognize bitcoin at this point, according to Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Describing it as a quasi-currency, the Kremlin representative insisted that equating bitcoin to official monetary instruments wouldn’t do anything but harm Russia’s financial and economic system. Speaking to reporters, Peskov emphasized: Clearly, Russia is not ready for such steps. The statement, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency on Tuesday, came as the Republic of El Salvador became the world’s first country to recognize bitcoin ( BTC ) as legal tender for payments in

PRESS RELEASE. Since early August, CoinFLEX has seen a tremendous increase in trading activity, climbing to a staggering high of $3 billion USD daily trading volume with Open Interest over $200 million dollars. The increase in trading volumes and market liquidity are indications of CoinFLEX’s rapid adoption. CoinFLEX’s repo volume has also seen a significant increase, with total trading volumes surpassing $120 billion. The repo market is vital to the CoinFLEX ecosystem as its profits fuel flexUSD’s competitive APRs. On CoinFLEX and other futures exchanges, futures markets have a lot of trading activity, creating “basis.” Basis is the price differential between spot trades and futures contracts. flexUSD is deployed through the repo market to take advantage of the price difference. For this reason, although flexUSD offers variable market-based interest rates, current users are experiencing high APRs . When there’s a dislocation between the spot and futures price, a trading bot w

On the day El Salvador implemented the bitcoin tender law, the official government wallet called the Chivo wallet had some initial issues for five hours on Tuesday. Residents could not leverage the application and had issues accessing the app on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. The situation seems to be resolved now as Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele explained on Twitter that the Chivo wallet’s “maintenance” was complete. Chivo Wallet Down Five Hours for ‘Maintenance,’ Bukele Says ‘Take It Slow,’ Google Play Servers Were ‘Saturated’ El Salvador now has the U.S. dollar and bitcoin ( BTC ) as the nation-state’s legal tender following the implementation of the Bitcoin law on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. In addition to creating the law, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele and his government have been buying BTC in mass quantities and have also developed crypto infrastructure for the nation’s citizens. For instance, the Salvadoran government launched the Chivo wallet which allows user

Decentralized finance (defi) has set a trend during the latter half of 2020 and into this year, as statistics show $168 billion is locked in defi across various blockchains. The Bitcoin Cash network now has the Smartbch protocol and in recent times, a decentralized exchange (dex) platform has joined the defi fray. The newly launched Smartbch dex platform benswap.cash gives users the ability to earn via liquidity pools, and swap tokens in a noncustodial fashion. Bitcoin Cash Supporters Flock to Benswap.cash for 1,000% APY and Decentralized Trading Five months ago, the BCH community anticipated the benefits of a project that combines the forces of Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) with the Ethereum ( ETH ) network. The project is called Smartbch , a smart chain that maximizes the throughput of EVM and Web3 on a sidechain of Bitcoin Cash. Smartbch has matured quite a bit since Bitcoin.com News reported on the project successfully launching three nodes. Now BCH community members have been leve

Following El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender, privacy activist and whistleblower Edward Snowden says, “there is now pressure on competing nations to acquire bitcoin — even if only as a reserve asset.” He warned, “Latecomers may regret hesitating.” Edward Snowden Warns Countries That Hesitate Adopting Bitcoin May Regret Their Decisions Former computer intelligence consultant for the National Security Agency (NSA) and contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Edward Snowden, commented on El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender Tuesday. He tweeted: Today Bitcoin was formally recognized as legal tender in its first country. Beyond the headlines, there is now pressure on competing nations to acquire bitcoin — even if only as a reserve asset — as its design massively incentivizes early adoption. Latecomers may regret hesitating. El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went into effect on Sept. 7 and BTC is now a national currency alongside the U.S. dollar. Nayib Bukele, the presid

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has threatened to sue the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase over its lending product. The exchange says, “We don’t know why … We got no explanation from the SEC.” Coinbase Threatened by SEC Coinbase revealed Tuesday that it received a Wells notice from the SEC last Wednesday about its planned Lend program. A Wells notice is the official way a regulator tells a company it intends to sue the company in court. In a blog post titled “The SEC has told us it wants to sue us over Lend. We don’t know why,” Coinbase explained that it has been “proactively engaging with the SEC about Lend for nearly six months” so the notice came as a surprise. The company described that the Lend product will “allow eligible customers to earn interest on select assets on Coinbase, starting with 4% APY on USD coin (USDC).” The Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange detailed: The SEC told us they consider Lend to involve a security, but wouldn’t say why

PRESS RELEASE. The Revive Project’s Unique ecosystem offers the crypto community a chance to be a part of and benefit from its unique investment platform and NFT marketplace. Zug, Switzerland — The Revive Project is a revolutionary platform that will allow the blockchain community to come together to invest in crypto and develop exciting NFT projects. Revive has created an unique ecosystem for NFT and crypto investments, governed by its native utility token, PULSE. The ecosystem uses a 10% transfer commission to benefit its community of users in a variety of different ways. Revive Project – Building an Ecosystem The Revive Project is developing right now 3 innovative platforms: Revive Wallet: Store & Vote The Revive Wallet will have an impressive level of application and functionality, specifically the ability to vote for upcoming Revive developments. The Revive Wallet and PULSE token will be specially combined so they can be integrated 100% in the Revive NFT Marketplac

The chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has singled out the growth of cryptocurrencies as something that now poses “a far greater danger to the world economy.” Therefore, in order to deal with such dangers or threats, Bawa advocates for a “collective and collaborative approach by authorities around the world.” Economic Crimes Harm the Global Financial System According to a report by Vanguard, the EFCC chairman made these remarks while speaking at a symposium organized by the Centre for International Documentation on Organized and Economic Crime (CIDOEC). Meanwhile, at the same meeting which was organized to discuss the cost of economic crimes and who should foot this bill, Bawa is quoted explaining why countries must collaborate on this. He said: [Economic crimes] affect the vital structures of global economies, causing significant damage to the global financial system and depriving developing nations of the needed resources f

Mauricio Moura, a current director of the Central Bank of Brazil, stated that anonymity won’t be a choice when making cryptocurrency transactions in the country. The representative stated that, sooner or later, all users would have their transactions identified by the government. These comments came at an event promoted by the Institute of Professionals for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. Central Bank of Brazil: ‘Anonymity Won’t Be an Option’ Mauricio Moura, director of citizenship relations and supervision of conduct for the Central Bank of Brazil, stated that the coming regulation could ban anonymity in cryptocurrency transactions made in the country. Moura stated that the central bank is currently devising ways to achieve this objective jointly with the Brazilian Securities Commission. He declared: I can’t say much. But the names of those involved in cryptocurrency operations will be known end-to-end. I can say that anonymity will not be an option.

In 2021, two very distinct crypto trends stood out which include non-fungible token (NFT) assets and decentralized finance (defi), as billions of dollars in crypto has flooded into these sectors. On September 7, Piplsay, a global consumer research platform, polled 30,870 Americans and 9,170 Britons to get some insight on what consumers think about NFTs today. According to the survey, 48% of American respondents think NFTs are a “good and safe investment.” Piplsay Survey Shows Americans Like NFTs More Than Britons Not long ago, when you asked people about non-fungible token (NFT) assets, most were clueless. However, crypto trends like defi and NFTs have exploded this year and consumers are becoming more aware of the growing markets. In recent times, a few surveys with 1,000 or up to 10K participants have explained their thoughts about the growing NFT space and whether or not they think NFTs are a good investment. In December 2020, Bitcoin.com News reported on a survey indicating th

Ethair Market is a next generation online global marketplace where you can trade goods using fiat or cryptocurrency and earn points on every purchase. The marketplace is soon to be launched in the U.S. and Canada, with fiat payments support lined up for 43 more countries. You can earn ETHR tokens now as an early registration reward and future developments such as an NFT marketplace integration are already in the works. Introducing the Next Generation of eCommerce Ethair Market ( www.ethair.com ) incorporates the modern technologies that the traditional marketplaces are too afraid to tackle. It gives buyers and sellers an ability to operate with fiat currencies as well as selected cryptocurrencies. The developers have integrated Stripe for fiat payments which will allow the marketplace to support 45 countries, staying complaint with laws and regulations, and expand internationally with ease. At the upcoming launch the system will initially support the U.S. and Canada. For purchases

Ricardo Salinas, president of Elektra Group, one of the biggest retail franchises in Mexico, hinted at the possibility of integrating payments using Bitcoin’s second layer solution, the Lightning Network. Salinas made the announcement yesterday via Twitter. This would allow residents of the country to pay for appliances in-store, directly with cryptocurrency. Elektra Group Might Accept Cryptocurrency Elektra Group, one of the biggest appliances franchises in Mexico, hinted at the possibility of taking Bitcoin payments in the near future. These payments would be made using a Bitcoin second layer, the Lightning Network, which seeks to address the rising fees of base layer transactions to make bitcoin more appealing for commerce-related uses. The announcement was made by the president of Elektra Group, Ricardo Salinas, who commented on the Bitcoin adoption El Salvador is embracing right now. Commenting on a video message that shows a bitcoin purchase in el Zonte, the “Bitcoin beach,”

Bitcoin is now legal tender in El Salvador, and the country’s bitcoin stash has grown to 550 coins. The Salvadoran government started buying the cryptocurrency Monday ahead of the Bitcoin Law taking effect. On Tuesday, President Nayib Bukele said El Salvador bought the dip. El Salvador Buys More Bitcoin El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law came into effect Tuesday, Sept. 7, making BTC a national currency alongside the U.S. dollar. El Salvador has been buying bitcoin ahead of the Bitcoin Law taking effect. President Nayib Bukele announced Monday that his government had started buying bitcoin. “El Salvador has just bought its first 200 coins. Our brokers will be buying a lot more as the deadline approaches,” he wrote . A few hours later, he tweeted : “El Salvador just bought 200 new coins. We now hold 400 bitcoin.” The price of bitcoin was rising leading up to the Bitcoin Law entering into force. However, it dipped around 11:00 a.m. EST on Sept. 7, falling from above $51K to below $43K. At t

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has highlighted the importance of launching a legal digital assets market in his country during a working visit to the U.S. The Ukrainian head of state met with top investors including from the cryptocurrency industry. President Zelensky Highlights Importance of Ukraine’s Virtual Assets Market Speaking to venture capital funds and Silicon Valley accelerators, Volodymyr Zelensky praised the opportunity to discuss the prospects for the development of the IT sector and innovations in Ukraine. In his opening remarks at the event, quoted in a press release , the Ukrainian leader emphasized his country has made a “real breakthrough in the digital sphere” and a “huge leap towards creating a digital state” over the past year. At a meeting with representatives of the Stellar Development Foundation, the president expressed hope that in the near future the institution will find more opportunities to expand its activities and team as well as to eventual

Higher cryptocurrency prices recently have restored interest in digital coin minting in Vietnam. Crypto mining is once again seen as an investment opportunity with other options being limited by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has been affecting the Asian country. Vietnam’s Sales and Prices of Crypto Mining Rigs Spike in September Demand for crypto mining equipment has increased in Vietnam following the market recovery that saw the price of BTC moving back above the $50,000 threshold, Vnexpress reported. Prices of hardware used to mint bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies have also risen as many Vietnamese miners are now looking to buy mining components. Speaking to the online newspaper, Quang Thuan, owner of several crypto hardware shops in Ho Chi Minh City, noted that a few months ago the mining rig market was gloomy after the leading cryptocurrency fell below $30,000 in July. However, he revealed that his sales have tripled earlier this month compared to the Aug