Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has named the fintech firm Bitt Inc. as a technical partner for its digital currency project, the e-naira. As a technical partner, Bitt is expected to use its “technological competence and implementation experience” to help the CBN successfully launch the central bank digital currency (CBDC). E-Naira Draft Guidelines The CBN’s unveiling of the Barbados-based firm as its partner comes shortly after reports suggested that the central bank had released draft guidelines for the e-naira. In justifying the selection of Bitt, Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN’s director of communications, touted the fintech’s “tested and proven digital currency experience.” These claims by Nwanisobi appear to be supported by a statement on Bitt’s website that suggests the fintech firm had signed a contract to conduct a CBDC pilot for the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). The contract was signed in 2019 and in April of 2021, ECCB finally launched its digital currency. E-Nai

PRESS RELEASE. TradeStars has launched “Olympic Torch”, the Mainnet of their Fantasy Sports Stock Trading Game, on 31 st August, 2021. TradeStars’ new Fantasy Sports Game allows users to trade Fantasy Stocks of world-class athletes, whose value is directly influenced by the real life performance statistics of the respective player. The Fantasy Stocks can be purchased using USDT for now; fiat payment gateways (for INR and USD) are on their way. Fantasy Sports Gaming Today Fantasy Sports Gaming has seen a steady rise in both popularity and valuation over the last decade. The global Fantasy Sports market was valued at $20.7 billion in 2020. It is expected to reach $48.1 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2021 to 2027. Existing Fantasy Sports games all work on a similar model, which involves users creating their own ‘dream teams’ of their favorite players and earning points based on how their selected athletes perform in real life. The top users with the maximum point

On Tuesday, the noncustodial digital currency wallet Metamask announced that the platform has surpassed 10 million monthly active users (MAUs). Year-to-date, Metamask has seen 19x growth since July 2020 as MAUs climbed 1,800% in 12 months. Metamask Hits Over 10 Million Monthly Active Users There’s no doubt that Metamask has been a popular Ethereum blockchain wallet that is also compatible with technologies like Polygon, Optimism , and Arbitrum . The wallet was created by the blockchain software company Consensys in 2016 and a great number of decentralized finance (defi) applications support Metamask. In a Tuesday announcement, Metamask says that in July 2020 the platform saw 545,080 MAUs and by April 2021, Metamask had 3 million MAUs . Today, Metamask has 10,354,279 MAUs and has grown 1,800% since July 2020. In the announcement, Metamask described some of the drivers that pushed the software’s MAU growth exponentially. For one, Metamask is considered the “primary way” global defi

The popular professional tennis player Naomi Osaka has been discussing non-fungible token (NFT) assets and the meme crypto asset dogecoin in recent times. In a recent interview, Osaka said that she’s been talking to her agent about dogecoin and that she sees the crypto ecosystem “is getting bigger.” Naomi Osaka Drops ‘Finding What Was Lost’ NFT Naomi Osaka is a very popular tennis player and was ranked No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The tennis legend has approximately 1.1 million Twitter followers, 2.8 million Instagram followers, and she’s reported on regularly by the press. On August 30, Osaka crafted a non-fungible token (NFT), according to Cool Media PR and the NFT is called “Finding What Was Lost.” Osaka and her sister, Mari Osaka, also introduced a collection of six NFTs back in April. According to Mari, “Finding What Was Lost” is “Naomi’s favorite of the six” NFTs. Osaka’s NFT collection in April sold for close to $600K. A caption by the NFT artist Mari Osak

Sparklingly hot casino slot game Gem Splitter unlocks a treasure worth 2 BTC for this lucky player! A ludicrously big multiplier was applied to one of the bets that a lucky player placed on the dazzlingly beautiful slot game ‘Gem Splitter’ at Bitcoin.com Games. This big win marks a second for the month of August as another player bagged a jackpot of $75,000 previously on the game ‘Book of Aztec’. The fortunate player had the casino gods on their side as a 1000x multiplier was triggered on a bet of $95, bringing the effective win amount to $95,000 or 2 BTC , as per current evaluation. Slot games are known for churning out huge money multipliers on even the smallest amounts of bets, turning the fortunes in favor of anyone’s life, empowering them towards desirable objects and lavish lifestyles. Gem Splitter is a stylish 5-reel slot with up to 9000x multiplier ! ‘Gem Splitter’ is a relatively new jewel-filled slot game from the gaming provider Wazdan. As a 5-reel slot, the game fe

The China-based bitcoin ASIC mining machine manufacturer Canaan has announced the company has forged a partnership with Genesis Digital Assets, and the two firms have now signed a deal for a large purchase order. Genesis will buy 20,000 bitcoin miners from Canaan and the mining operation also has the option to purchase an additional 180,000 mining rigs from the Chinese ASIC manufacturer. Canaan Sells Genesis 20K Miners, Genesis Can Buy 180K More Bitcoin mining rig manufacturers have made very large sales during the second half of 2020 and into 2021. For instance, in December 2020, Bitcoin.com News reported on Marathon’s record-breaking acquisition of 70,000 high-performance bitcoin miners from Bitmain for $170 million. That same month, Riot Blockchain bought 15,000 Antminers from Bitmain. During the first week of August 2021, Marathon purchased 30,000 miners from Bitmain. Canaan sold 11,760 next-generation A1246 ASIC Avalonminers to a company called Mawson Infrastructure Group i

The American firm that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles, The Topps Company Inc., has announced the launch of the 2021 Topps MLB Inception NFT collection. Furthermore, Topps is now leveraging the Avalanche blockchain for NFTs after the company was using the Wax blockchain for projects like the Garbage Pail Kids and Godzilla series. Topps Launches MLB Inception NFT Series via the Avalanche Network On Tuesday, Topps revealed the firm’s 2021 Topps MLB Inception NFT Collection, a non-fungible token collection of cards released in conjunction with Major League Baseball and MLB Players, Inc. Topps web portal, called Toppsnfts.com , will host the new series of NFT baseball cards this September and the NFTs will be minted on the Avalanche (AVAX) blockchain. The avalanche token has seen massive gains in recent times, capturing 126.6% in two weeks and 223% during the last month. The latest Topps’ MLB Inception NFT series is based on the physical card series the company has r

Bitcoin will become legal tender in El Salvador alongside the U.S. dollar in seven days. The Salvadoran government has released a video explaining what to expect when the Bitcoin Law enters into force. The video features the government’s fee-free crypto wallet, Chivo. Government’s Video Explaining What to Expect When Bitcoin Becomes Legal Tender The Bitcoin Law in El Salvador will come into effect on Sept. 7 when BTC will become legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele tweeted a video explaining what to expect, including the benefits of using the government’s official crypto wallet, Chivo. A partir del 7 de septiembre 🇸🇻 #Bitcoin @chivowallet pic.twitter.com/HNiHWdY3x1 — Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) August 30, 2021 According to a translation of the video content posted on Twitter, “Starting September, bitcoin will be legal tender in our country alongside the U.S. dollar,” the video begins. It further details: Using bitcoin is not m

The tax authority of Slovenia has put forward a proposal to change the crypto taxation rules in the country, local media reported. The amendments aim to introduce a 10% tax rate for transactions involving the spending or converting of cryptocurrencies into fiat money. Tax Office Wants to Simplify Crypto Taxation in Slovenia The Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia ( FURS ) has proposed changes to the taxation regime applicable to cryptocurrencies. The authority wants to impose a 10% tax for the crypto amounts spent on goods and services or converted into cash. Quoted in a report by the STA news agency, FURS clarified: We would like to emphasize that it is not profit which would be taxed but rather the amount a Slovenian tax resident receives on their bank account on turning the virtual currency into cash or when buying a thing. The Slovenian tax office intends to implement the new taxation scheme through the adoption of legislative changes. FURS claims it would s

According to a report, the value of annual dollar remittances by Nigerians working abroad has surged to $34 billion, a figure that easily surpasses the previous record-high of $25 billion. Still, a large portion of the funds doesn’t seem to be entering domestic forex markets. Target Attained Two Years Ahead of Schedule The increase, which has been attributed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s “naira for dollar” incentive scheme, once again highlights the growing importance of diaspora remittances to Africa’s most populated country. As Biodun Adedipe, an economist with Adedipe Associates Limited is quoted explaining, the CBN’s incentive scheme may well be the reason why the target of $34 billion in annual diaspora remittances was reached two years ahead of schedule. However, despite this surge in remittance inflows, Nigeria continues to grapple with shortages of foreign exchange. Such forex shortages, in turn, contribute to the naira’s continued depreciation as well as the r

Cream finance, a defi borrowing and lending protocol, has been the victim of a hack that erased more than $29 million from its vaults. The attacker took advantage of a loophole in the implementation for adding the amp token to the protocol. This is the second time the platform has been involved in a hack. The first breach happened in February, when Cream lost $37.5 million. Cream Protocol Suffers Hack Cream protocol , a defi lending-borrowing platform present on four different chains (Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, and Fantom), suffered a hack Monday that resulted in the loss of $29 million in several cryptocurrencies. The attacker took advantage of a bug caused by the introduction of the amp token into the protocol. According to Peckshield , a blockchain security and data analytics company, the hack was perpetrated in just one transaction, taking advantage of a reentrancy bug present in the code of the amp currency. This allowed the hacker to re-borrow assets during the transfer before

The British auction house Christie’s has been immersed in the non-fungible token (NFT) art and collectibles industry for quite some time. Christie’s has auctioned blockchain-backed items like Block 21 of “Portraits of a Mind,” Cryptopunks, and Beeple’s NFT that sold for more than $69 million. On October 1, Christie’s plans to sell a set of old 2017-issued Curio Cards and the set will also include a secret rare card. Leading Auction House Christie’s Is Auctioning a Set of NFT Curio Cards The non-fungible token (NFT) space has swelled quite a bit and the auction house Christie’s has been involved for a while now. The popular British auction house first dipped its toes into the NFT world in September 2020 when the firm showcased Block 21 of “Portraits of a Mind.” Ever since then, the company has continued to auction NFTs of all colors, shapes, and sizes. Now the company will auction a unique set of NFT collectibles called Curio Cards , which is one of the oldest Ethereum NFT collectib

81 years ago on August 31, 1939, the company Marvel Comics was introduced to the world for the first time and people were presented with a whole universe of superheroes. In celebration of Marvel’s birthday and the firm’s collaboration with Veve Digital Collectibles, “Marvel Month” will conclude with special edition Captain America non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles. A Lineup of Captain America Statue NFTs At the end of June, the wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment, announced the company was dipping its toes into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). During the first week of August, Marvel revealed “Marvel Month” and launched Spider-Man NFTs. The collectible sets included the “Common – Spider-Man,” “Uncommon – Spider-Man,” “Rare – Spider-Man,” “Ultra-Rare – Spider-Man,” and the “Secret-Rare – Spider-Man.” Marvel’s comic book competitor DC Comics has also dropped a lineup of NFTs via the Veve Digital Collectibles application. The conc

Venture capitalist Bill Gurley has taken a personal position in ether because he “was swayed by the arguments of the ethereum crowd.” He explained that it is “the smarter way to play if you’re going to have crypto exposure.” Bill Gurley Prefers Ethereum to Bitcoin Bill Gurley, a general partner at Benchmark, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm in San Francisco, California, shared his view on cryptocurrency in an interview with Bloomberg last week. He began by admitting that he is late getting into crypto because he was focusing on direct listings and did not spend much time on the subject until April this year when he dedicated quite a bit of time to reading about cryptocurrencies. Gurley shared: I have to say I was swayed by the arguments of the ethereum crowd. And so, I’ve taken a personal position. Without specifying how much he invested in ETH , the venture capitalist emphasized that the investment was personal and not for his firm. “I’m swayed by the ethereum cro

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, famed for making a fortune betting against the U.S. housing market, says that cryptocurrencies are a bubble that will prove to be “worthless.” While he sees unlimited downside to crypto, he will not short bitcoin, however. “Even though I could be right over the long term, in the short term, I’d be wiped out,” he explained. Famous Investor John Paulson Predicts Crypto Will Be Worthless John Paulson, the president and portfolio manager of U.S. investment firm Paulson & Co., is an American billionaire hedge fund manager who became world-famous in 2007 by shorting the U.S. housing market. He foresaw the subprime mortgage crisis and bet against mortgage-backed securities by investing in credit default swaps. Paulson shared his views on cryptocurrency and bitcoin on Bloomberg TV Monday in an interview with Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein. Responding to the question of whether he is a believer in cryptocurrency, Paulson affirmed: “N

This week Blockchain.com CFO Macrina Kgil discussed how the company has surpassed $1 trillion in cryptocurrency transactions and the company may go public with an initial public offering (IPO) in 2023. The cryptocurrency firm is one of the oldest in the industry and Kgil explained that 76 million Blockchain.com wallets have been created since the company’s inception. $1 Trillion in Crypto Transactions Processed, 76 Million Wallets Created In March 2021, Bitcoin.com News reported on Blockchain.com raising $300 million and receiving a post-money valuation of around $5.2 billion. The company has been around for quite some time and when it was called “Blockchain.info” it was established by Ben Reeves way back in 2011. In 2013 it was led by Nicolas Cary and was considered the most popular bitcoin wallet at the time. In 2014, Blockchain.com was led by Peter Smith and he’s remained the company’s CEO ever since. Macrina Kgil, Blockchain.com’s chief financial officer, detailed this week

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX , a global digital asset trading platform with a comprehensive product suite , is thrilled to announce the listing of the Kava Swap token (SWP) under the pair USDT/SWP on Aug 31 at 1 p.m. UTC. In celebration of the SWP listing, AscendEX will work with the team at Kava Swap to launch two limited-time promotional events, taking place from Aug. 31, 1:00 a.m. UTC to Sept. 7, 12:00 a.m. UTC. By completing tasks and executing trades, users will be given the chance to share pooled rewards worth up to 90,000 USDT ! Kava is focused on democratizing financial services and making them openly accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Kava Chain is a decentralized, permissionless, censorship-resistant blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK. This means it operates much like other Cosmos ecosystem blockchains, and is designed to be interoperable with other chains. Kava.io is the first cross-chain Decentralized Finance (DeFi) hub providing applications and services to t

The Binance NFT Marketplace announced today that the non-fungible token (NFT) platform will launch a premium NFT collection backed by the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The NFT auction will begin on August 31 and run until September 7, 2021. The NFT auction will feature NFT artwork by the world-renowned artists’ Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Leonardo da Vinci. State Hermitage Museum and Binance Collaborate to Sell World-Renowned Art in NFT Form It seems that 2021 is the year of non-fungible token (NFT) collections, as NFT collectibles and artworks have sold for millions of dollars. So far, Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” NFT is the most expensive as the NFT ever sold, as it was purchased for $69.3 million. Another high-profile NFT sale is Cryptopunk #7523, which was acquired for $11.8 million in ethereum (ETH) . Bitcoin.com News has been covering a myriad of NFT projects making millions like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and the Weird Whales NFT

Approximately 25 days ago, the Ethereum blockchain implemented the London hard fork and a number of features were added to the ruleset. One of the most anticipated changes was EIP-1559 which makes the crypto asset ether deflationary by burning a fraction of coins. Since August 5, over $432 million worth of ether has been burned, and at the time of writing, 136,606 ether has been burned. Over $432 Million in Ethereum Burned The Ethereum ( ETH ) blockchain is the second most valuable crypto market in terms of market valuation. Out of the $2.14 trillion market capitalization of all the coins in the crypto economy, ethereum’s overall market valuation is $374 billion or 17.5% of the entire crypto economy. 25 days ago, ETH saw a successful London upgrade and ether has gained 29.7% this month. However, the Ethereum chain had a hiccup this past week when the chain split and ether gas fees doubled in value week-over-week. The EIP-1559 feature makes it so the network follows a differe

The price of bitcoin has dipped a hair in value this past week, but the crypto asset is still up 14.4% over the course of the last month. Statistics show that Bitcoin’s hashrate has seen a resurgence and because bitcoin’s price has increased, mining profitability and hashrate has followed suit. Today’s top bitcoin mining rig is Microbt’s Whatsminer M30S++ (112 TH/s) but with higher bitcoin profits, older machines like Bitmain’s Antminer S9 have seen a revival as every S9 model is profitable today. New Generation Models Rake in $20 to $29 per Day The end of August is approaching and over the last month, bitcoin ( BTC ) prices have increased a great deal. Currently, BTC is over 14% higher in value than it was 30 days ago and this has elevated mining rig profitability. At the time of writing, there’s 124 exahash per second (EH/s) of SHA256 hashrate dedicated to the BTC chain. BTC ’s hashrate has risen dramatically after sliding to a low of 69 EH/s on June 28, 2021. Today’s BTC pric