Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reportedly processed nearly $346 million in crypto transactions for Bitzlato, the coin trading platform that was shut down in an international law enforcement operation. U.S. authorities say the world’s largest trading platform for digital assets was among Russian-owned Bitzlato’s major counterparties. Blockchain Data Indicates Binance Moved Over 20,000 BTC for Bitzlato Since 2018 The global leader in the crypto trading sector, Binance, has allegedly transferred cryptocurrency worth almost $346 million for the Hong Kong-based Bitzlato, Reuters reported quoting data from Chainalysis. Bitzlato was a little known exchange until it was recently targeted in what U.S. authorities described as a “significant blow to the crypto crime ecosystem.” Last week, the Justice Department announced that Bitzlato’s co-founder and majority shareholder, Russian citizen Anatoly Legkodymov who lives in China, was arrested in Miami and charged with operating an unlice

While the Ethereum community prepares for the upcoming Shanghai hard fork in March, the development team for the liquid staking project Lido revealed plans to create an in-protocol withdrawal feature. Lido’s team is seeking community feedback on the proposal that would allow withdrawals after the Shanghai upgrade is completed. Lido Dominates Defi Economy With $7.9 Billion in Total Value Locked, Team Prepares for Shanghai Withdrawals As of the time of writing, the decentralized finance (defi) liquid staking protocol Lido is the most dominant defi protocol today, in terms of total value locked (TVL). Statistics from defillama.com show that Lido’s $7.92 billion TVL dominates the $46.56 billion TVL held in defi today by approximately 17.01%. Lido is the largest holder of staked ethereum as the protocol commands around 29% of the staked ether supply . Lido’s ethereum derivative token STETH is the 13th largest market valuation in the cryptocurrency economy with $7.73 billion. Furtherm

In January 2023, ViaBTC Capital and CoinEx jointly released the 2022 Crypto Annual Report to offer data analysis and insights into nine sectors, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, NFT, public chains, DeFi, SocialFi, GameFi and regulatory policies. This report also predicts the crypto trend in 2023. According to the report, affected by factors such as the macro environment and bull-to-bear transition, the whole cryptocurrency industry became bearish in 2022. In particular, following the Terra meltdown in May, most cryptocurrency sectors were hit by the bearish impact. Below is the overview of each segment. 1. Bitcoin In 2022, the overall performance of Bitcoin remained sluggish, with significant declines in price and trading volume compared to 2021. The price at the end of 2022 even fell below the peak of the last bull market. The price trend of Bitcoin throughout the year is obviously influenced by the pace of US interest rate hikes, but as the US interest rate hike policy c

Crypto asset service providers in South Africa seeking to attract investors via advertisements must “expressly and clearly state that investing in crypto assets may result in the loss of capital.” Influencers working on behalf of crypto asset service providers must “not offer advice on trading or investing in crypto assets and may not promise benefits or returns.” New Code the Result of Collaborative Effort Between ARB and Crypto Entities According to the latest code of practice released by South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB), crypto-related advertisements must clearly warn the public that investing in digital assets “may result in the loss of capital.” Furthermore, ARB’s latest code states that the overall wording of such adverts should not contradict this warning. The new crypto asset advertising guidelines, which are reportedly the result of the collaborative effort between ARB and South African crypto exchanges, are seemingly intended to preclude scammers from ta

Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla, has given his opinion about the latest reports on the creation of a common currency in Latam, to be initially worked on by Argentina and Brazil. Musk stated that this move would be “probably a good idea,” commenting on the topic on social media. Elon Musk Gives His Take on Latam Common Currency The latest reports that Brazil and Argentina will start to study the issuance of a common currency for Latam have already caused reactions all over the world. Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter and Tesla, has recently given his appreciation when it comes to the issuance of such a currency, that would come to create a common economic area for the countries of Latam. Answering a tweet that stated other nations in Latam would be invited to join the plan to create the second-largest currency union behind the European Union, Musk stated : Probably a good idea. Minister of economy of Argentina, Sergio Massa, warned that this discussion would be just one of

You know what they say, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But when it comes to protecting your crypto funds on centralized exchanges (CEXes), the old adage should be “when life gives you regulations, make a self-custody wallet.” Self-custody is undoubtedly a better solution for protecting the interests of customers in crypto. Regulation alone is not enough. The following opinion editorial was written by Joseph Collement, General Counsel at Bitcoin.com. Don’t get us wrong, regulation is important. It’s like a flimsy umbrella on a sunny day – better than nothing, but not something you want to rely on during a monsoon. Just ask the folks at Gemini, who despite being the “most regulated” CEX out there, still managed to lose all of their “Earn” customer money. Talk about “earn-ing” a bad reputation! Ouch. But let’s be real here, the crypto world is like the Wild West. And let’s be honest, the U.S. Government is like the sheriff who just got to town, trying to make sense of t

The host of Mad Money, Jim Cramer, has advised investors to avoid crypto and stick with gold if they “seriously want a real hedge against inflation or economic chaos.” He added that bitcoin is too volatile to use as a currency. “Imagine business owners trying to conduct transactions with shares of Facebook or Google … it’s ridiculous,” he stressed. Jim Cramer Prefers Gold to Crypto The host of CNBC’s Mad Money show, Jim Cramer, gave some investment advice regarding gold and cryptocurrencies on Monday. Cramer is a former hedge fund manager who co-founded Thestreet.com, a financial news and literacy website. He believes that investors should stay away from cryptocurrencies despite bitcoin’s recent gains. Referencing charts interpreted by Decarley Trading’s senior commodity strategist and options broker, Carley Garner, Cramer emphasized that investors “need to ignore the crypto cheerleaders now that bitcoin’s bouncing.” He proceeded to advise: If you seriously want a real hedge agai

Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff has explained why bitcoin and gold are going up this year. “They’re rising for opposite reasons,” he said, claiming that the price of gold is climbing as investors view the metal as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar. Peter Schiff Explains Why Bitcoin and Gold Are Rising Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff has shared his view on why bitcoin and gold are going up this year. Schiff is the founder and current chairman of Schiffgold, a precious metals dealer specializing in gold and silver bullion. He has long been a bitcoin skeptic, regularly bashing the crypto while promoting gold. He tweeted Monday: Both gold and bitcoin are up in 2023, but they’re rising for opposite reasons. “Gold is rising as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar, while bitcoin is rising with other high-risk assets as speculators bet that a Fed pivot will cause a rally in 2022’s biggest losers,” the economist detailed. A number of people on Twitter disagr

Seven major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, have reportedly teamed up to launch a digital wallet that will compete with other third-party wallet providers such as Paypal and Apple Pay. Big Banks to Launch a Digital Wallet Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and four other financial institutions behind the payment network Zelle are collaborating to launch a digital wallet for consumers to use at online checkout, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The wallet will be managed by fintech firm Early Warning Services (EWS), which owns and operates Zelle. EWS provides risk management solutions to financial institutions, government entities, and payment companies. It is co-owned by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Truist, Capital One, PNC Bank, and U.S. Bank. The new digital wallet, which will be linked to shoppers’ debit and credit cards for online payments, will operate separately from Zelle. The banks aim to compete with o

Brazil and Argentina are looking to begin work on the issuance of a common currency. Sergio Massa, minister of the economy of Argentina, also stated that the two countries will be inviting other nations in the area to join this economic integration project in the future. Brazil and Argentina to Spearhead Common Currency Issuance Project Ministries of Brazil and Argentina will be discussing the first steps to issue a common bilateral currency. According to statements given by the minister of the economy of Argentina, Sergio Massa, representatives of both countries will be discussing this subject at the CELAC summit in Buenos Aires on Jan. 24. Massa told Financial Times that the discussion would revolve around initial considerations for the issuance of the coin that would be called “sur,” Spanish for south. Massa stated: There will be … a decision to start studying the parameters needed for a common currency, which includes everything from fiscal issues to the size of the economy

Members of the crypto community have been discussing the number of bitcoins that have been bridged over to the Avalanche network, which is now larger than the total value locked on the Lightning Network. At the time of writing, there are 5,493 bitcoins circulating on the Avalanche blockchain, while the Lightning Network holds 5,248 bitcoins. Number of Bitcoin Bridged to Avalanche Climbs Past Lightning Network Capacity This past week digital currency advocates have been discussing the rising number of bitcoin ( BTC ) bridged over to the Avalanche (AVAX) network. Seven days ago, the crypto asset known as BTCb saw its supply surpass the number of bitcoins locked on the Lightning Network (LN). The reason for the celebration is that it took much less time to beat the LN’s total value locked (TVL) or capacity . At the time of writing, the LN has around 5,248 bitcoin TVL , which is worth around $120 million using today’s BTC prices. A week ago on Jan. 16, an Avalanche (AVAX) supporter

The latest round of layoffs at Microsoft, which announced it will cut 10,000 jobs this year, has hit key teams for its VR (virtual reality) and metaverse efforts, according to reports. The company will close two projects in these areas, Altspacevr and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit, potentially affecting the progress of Microsoft in these areas. Microsoft VR and Metaverse Teams Hit by Layoffs The latest round of layoffs announced by Microsoft on Jan. 18, has reportedly hit metaverse and VR (virtual reality) initiatives of the company, potentially affecting progress in these areas. Among the 10,000 jobs to be cut this year, representing 5% of Microsoft’s global workforce, teams behind initiatives like Altspacevr and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit are being axed as part of this reorganization process. Altspacevr, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2017, has already announced it will sunset its platform on March 10. The platform, which was aimed at providing services to facilitate the crea

Crypto adoption achieved new milestones in 2022, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million during the year, a new report by Crypto.com shows. Moreover, the report reveals that the number of bitcoin owners reached 219 million in December while the number of ether owners reached 87 million. Cryptocurrency Adoption Achieves New Milestones Crypto.com published a report titled “Crypto Market Sizing” for the year 2022 last week. The company explained that its analysis is built on a combination of Bitcoin and Ethereum on-chain data, survey analysis, and its own internal data. Regarding the total number of global crypto owners, the firm’s Research and Insights team wrote that “in spite of macro headwinds,” namely high inflation, the conflict in Europe, supply chain disruptions, and lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic: Crypto adoption in 2022 achieved new milestones, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million (December 2022). The overall number of crypto o

Singapore’s senior minister and the chairman of the central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), says there should be just “ one regulatory system” for both crypto and traditional finance. In addition, he stressed that regulators should provide “ultra clarity as to what’s an unregulated market,” so investors are aware that they go in at their own risk. ‘One Regulatory System’ Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s senior minister who is also the chairman of the country’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), talked about cryptocurrency regulation during a panel discussion with other regulators and bankers at the World Economic Forum last week. Shanmugaratnam previously served as Singapore’s deputy prime minister and the minister for finance. He is also currently the coordinating minister for social policies and adviser to the prime minister on economic policies. “Something is very clear, whether it’s crypto or traditional finance, you gotta regulate

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of state for foreign trade says that cryptocurrency “will play a major role for UAE trade going forward.” He stressed: “The most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies.” Crypto to Play a Major Role in the UAE United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi talked about cryptocurrency Friday during an interview with Bloomberg in Davos, Switzerland. He shared that one area the UAE is looking to expand is cryptocurrencies, adding: Crypto will play a major role for UAE trade going forward. “The most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies,” Al Zeyoudi described. “We started attracting some of the companies to the country with the aim that we’ll build together the right governance and legal system, which are needed,” the official noted. Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has given his opinion about the metaverse and the impact that the tech might have in the future. In a conversation with Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Nadella stated that the sense of presence achieved while interacting using metaverse tech is “game-changing.” Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Talks Metaverse Benefits Satya Nadella, CEO of tech giant Microsoft, has declared his support for the metaverse, citing its potential to bring people together compared to other less interactive technologies. In a conversation with Klaus Shwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), held as part of the Davos 2023 meetings, Nadella praised the benefits that using this tech brings. Nadella stated: For me, the thing that is most game-changing for this particular technology is the sense of presence one has, which is when you are even virtually interacting. Nadella believes that, while Covid-19 changed the environment when it comes to me

The company developing China’s blockchain network wants to create a system for international settlements with stablecoins and state-issued digital currencies. The plan is to establish a platform facilitating the use of these two fiat-based digital assets in foreign trade. Company Behind China’s Blockchain Push Aims to Make Stablecoins and State Coins Interoperable Hong Kong-based Red Date Technology, the designer of China’s state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), has launched a new project to implement both stablecoins and central bank digital currencies ( CBDCs ) in cross-border payments. The initiative was announced this week at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the South China Morning Post reported. The future platform, called Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN), should ensure the interoperability between the two types of tokens. The goal is to allow businesses from different countries to “transact and settle in different regulated digital

The Bank of Spain has given approval for the launch of a pilot program involving the issuance and usage of euro-pegged stablecoins. The program, which MONEI, a fintech institution, is launching, will allow users to issue digital euros with fiat deposits in order to experiment with these in payment applications, increasing their transparency. Bank of Spain Authorizes Digital Euro Token Tests Europe is becoming a hotspot for stablecoins and CBDC (central bank digital currency) experimentation. On Jan. 19, the Bank of Spain greenlighted a pilot program that involves the issuance of euro-pegged digital tokens. The project, which is being spearheaded by MONEI, a regulated fintech payments company, will allow users to issue their own euro stablecoins for different purposes. Using Ethereum and Polygon blockchain technology, the eurm token will be issued with deposits coming from users, with each token being backed by real euros. The test, inscribed as part of the actions in the financial