Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The law “On Virtual Assets,” Ukraine’s attempt to regulate its growing crypto space, has been revised again and recommended for final adoption. A key parliamentary committee has given its support for the bill which was vetoed by the Ukrainian president this month. Ukrainian Deputies to Vote on Updated ‘Virtual Assets’ Law in November The saga with Ukraine’s long-awaited legislation regulating cryptocurrencies and related activities is heading towards its end. The Digital Transformation Committee at the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, has discussed the amended draft law “On Virtual Assets” this week and supported the latest changes. The law has been updated after it was returned to the legislature by President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier in October. The head of state motivated his decision mainly with the argument that the establishment of a new regulatory body for the crypto market, which was envisaged in the bill, would be too expensive for the state. Zelensky propose

PRESS RELEASE. NFTs have emerged as a unique digital asset in the past 24 months, expanding the potentials of digital arts, collectibles and gaming. The sports industry has taken to NFTs, but the functionalities of NFTs go beyond speculation, and SportsIcoin is redefining NFTs in the sporting industry. SportsIcon is connecting fans and superfans to their sporting heroes with bespoke cinematic footage delivered by NFTs. This brings a level of connection with sporting heroes not seen in the blockchain space. Built on the highly scalable Flow blockchain SportsIcon is an innovative NFT platform built on Flow, the blockchain behind NBA Top Shot, engineered by Dapper Labs and Roham Gharegozlou. Flow is a blockchain protocol designed specifically for NFTs and provides a highly scalable architecture with low transaction fees. NFT enthusiasts can accumulate NFT collectibles without the problems of high transaction fees experienced on conventional blockchains. SportsIcon aims to deliver mor

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is going to have to deal more and more often with cases involving new kinds of individual rights, its head has recently admitted. Some of them will be related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, the official believes. Constitutional Court of Russia to Defend Rights Related to Cryptocurrencies Constitutional justice, as far as protection of human rights is concerned, will be increasingly influenced by the emergence of a new generation of rights, Valery Zorkin, chairman of the Constitutional Court of Russia has acknowledged. These are various rights, including environmental, reproductive and informational, Zorkin says in an article published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the official government daily. Having recognized that, the high-ranking representative of the Russian judiciary notes that in the very near future, the Constitutional Court will have to consider these new rights of individuals, stemming from the scientific and t

On October 29, the publicly listed firm Canaan announced the mining manufacturer has secured a follow-on purchase order from the mining operator Hive Blockchain for 6,500 units of Canaan’s next-generation Avalon mining rigs. Hive expects to increase the operation’s hashrate from 1.2 exahash per second (EH/s) to 3 EH/s by March 2022. Hive Secures an Order for 6,500 Avalon Miners This week the Nasdaq-listed Hive Blockchain ( Nasdaq:HIVE ) and Canaan ( Nasdaq: CAN ) announced that Hive secured a follow-on purchase order for 6,500 Avalon miners from Canaan. According to the announcement, the shipment of the 6,500 mining rigs manufactured by Canaan will be shipped in three tranches. 3,000 miners will be delivered in December 2021, 3,100 miners in January 2022, and an additional 400 Avalon miners by February 2022. Hive had already acquired 10,400 miners from Canaan in January and August 2021. In recent times, Hive announced the company is constructing expansions to its largest data cent

The popular candies and collectibles company Topps has announced the launch of its 2021 Topps NOW MLB World Series non-fungible token (NFT) collection, following the firm’s second series 2021 Topps Baseball NFT collection. Similar to the company’s past NFT drops, Topps is utilizing the Avalanche blockchain network for the new World Series NFT collection. Topps Releases MLB World Series NFT Collection During the last year, the American company that produces Bazooka chewing gum, candy, and collectibles, Topps Company, Inc., has been very focused on non-fungible token (NFT) and blockchain technology. The company has released a number of collections featuring fan favorites like Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Garbage Pail Kids. Two weeks ago the firm dropped a collection called Godzilla Rage which featured packs of NFTs that showcased 17 pages of comic animations. Following the recent 2021 Topps Baseball NFT collection, Topps has launched the 2021 Topps NOW MLB World Series NFT col

PRESS RELEASE. The blockchain-based metaverse Dvision Network has announced that their metaverse known as ‘’Dvision World’’ will be launched on November 1st, 2021 . This event is anticipated to herald a new era for the not only Dvision ecosystem but also for the whole metaverse industry. Moreover, Dvision is holding a special NFT giveaway event, calling their users for action to pre-register and secure their spot before the metaverse goes live. Dvision World goes LIVE in 2 days! Dvision Network has shared details about the launch in a press release on its Medium blog page. According to Boburjon Muydinov, Head of Business Development at Dvision Network, users can now join Dvision World from November 1st and explore combat-ready activities and discover the greatest adventure of the metaverse. Dvision users will be able to design customized avatars and access various events while traversing the different meta-spaces (lands) within the metaverse. The launch of Dvision World was anti

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has confirmed that the Supreme Court of New South Wales has ordered the forfeiture of cryptocurrency belonging to a convicted hacker. “The amount of cryptocurrency forfeited, more than $1.2 million, is the largest Commonwealth forfeiture of cryptocurrency,” the AFP said. ‘Largest Commonwealth Forfeiture of Cryptocurrency’ The Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced Friday that a convicted hacker “has been ordered to forfeit more than $1.66 million [Australian dollars] in cryptocurrency and cash to the Commonwealth.” The 23-year-old Sydney offender pleaded guilty to various criminal offenses in October last year. The AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) “obtained restraining orders over cryptocurrency plus bank and Paypal accounts held in false names, but suspected to be controlled by the man,” the AFP explained. The Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered the forfeiture of his 1.66 million Australian dollars to the Commonweal

Ripple publishes the quarterly XRP Markets Report to voluntarily provide transparency and regular updates on the company’s views on the state of crypto markets such as quarterly sales updates, relevant XRP-related announcements and commentary on market developments over the previous quarter.  As an XRP holder, Ripple believes proactive communication and transparency are part of being … Continued The post Q3 2021 XRP Markets Report appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/SBYn1L

The CEO of the world’s largest movie exhibition company, AMC Entertainment, is asking the crypto community whether his company should accept shiba inu (SHIB) for payments. The company is already planning to accept several cryptocurrencies by year-end, including dogecoin. CEO Asks Whether AMC Should Accept Shiba Inu The CEO of AMC Entertainment, Adam Aron, put up a poll on Twitter Friday asking the crypto community whether his company should accept payments in shiba inu (SHIB). 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. Aron wrote : “As you know, you can now purchase AMC gift cards using cryptocurrency, and our IT group is writing code so that soon we can accept online payments in bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and dogecoin among others. Should we strive to take shiba inu too?” At the time of writing, 44,659 votes have already been counted but th

State-owned Russian energy giant Inter RAO is now discussing electricity supplies for Kazakhstan where crypto miners have allegedly caused a spike in consumption this year. The country is expecting the power deficit to reach 600 megawatts as demand during the winter increases even further. Kazakhstan Likely to Buy Electricity From Russian Federation to Deal With Shortages Inter RAO, a major electricity producer in Russia, is holding talks on the possible supply of electricity for Kazakhstan starting from November, a high-ranking representative told reporters. Alexandra Panina, a member of the company’s management, explained that consumption growth in Kazakhstan is around 7%, noting that for the first time the country is facing a deficit in the cold winter months. Quoted by the Interfax news agency, she stated: I am now discussing the possibility of commercial supply of Russian electricity to Kazakhstan in November. Shortages in Kazakhstan are expected to amount to 600 megawatts

Ripple was the first company to leverage crypto to tackle the trillion-dollar challenges associated with cross-border payments. Many companies have entered this space to address the pitfalls that businesses and consumers alike experience when interacting with our current financial system, but without addressing the underlying infrastructure that this system was built on – financial institutions, … Continued The post ODL Sees Record Growth and Traction in 2021 appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/SBYVD5

The Zimbabwean Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube, recently told business leaders that he is not planning to make the U.S. dollar the country’s sole currency again. Government Focused on Strengthening Local Currency Instead of entertaining those calling for the dollarization of the Zimbabwean economy, Ncube suggested his ministry is in fact focused on defending the value of the zimdollar. According to a report by the Sunday Mail, the Zimbabwean minister made these comments while speaking at a pre-budget seminar held in Victoria Falls. Since its reintroduction in 2019 when it was briefly at parity with the USD, the Zimdollar has seen its official exchange rate against the U.S. dollar drop to over ZWL$90 for every one USD. On the parallel market, one U.S dollar is currently equivalent to more than ZWL$160. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, it is this growing difference between the parallel and official market exchange rates that prompted one of Zimbabwe’s biggest business lo

On October 29, the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (defi) protocols is around $243 billion with Curve capturing 7.76% of the dominance. Meanwhile, as ethereum has the largest dominance of TVL in defi, a number of alternative blockchains are seeing significant increases every week. Moreover, the TVL in cross-chain bridge technology has reached $22.48 billion, up 48.8% over the last month. Defi Total Value Locked Hovers Above $240 Billion — Avalanche, Fantom, Polygon, Tron, Arbitrum TVLs in Defi Increase The total value locked in decentralized finance apps has continued to climb higher this year reaching new heights. Data from defillama.com ’s dashboard shows the TVL on Friday is $243 billion with Curve’s $18.91% commanding a 7.76% dominance rating. The defi protocol Curve supports seven different blockchains, which means users can access cross-chain bridge technology to leverage the decentralized exchange (dex). Statistics indicate that Ethereum ( ETH ) is still t

The NBA team Dallas Mavericks has partnered with crypto platform Voyager and is offering its fans a $100 bonus in bitcoin to sign up and trade crypto on the partnered platform. “We’re going to come up with new ways to introduce Mavs fans to cryptocurrency and help them understand it,” said Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas Mavericks and Voyager Offer $100 Bitcoin Bonus The NBA team Dallas Mavericks has partnered with cryptocurrency platform Voyager “to make crypto more accessible to all,” the professional basketball team said Wednesday. Announcing the partnership, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said: The Mavs have entered into a five-year international, integrated partnership with Voyager. They are our first international partner and our first crypto partner. “I think working together, we’re going to be at the forefront of innovation,” Cuban opined. “We’re going to come up with new ways to introduce Mavs fans to cryptocurrency and help them understand it.”

Nine days ago, bitcoin reached a new all-time high (ATH) and now the second leading crypto asset ethereum has tapped an ATH on Friday morning. Ethereum reached a high of $4,416 per unit and has since retreated around 2% down from that price position. Ethereum Reaches New All-Time Price High The second-largest crypto market capitalization belongs to ethereum (ETH) with a valuation of around $510 billion today. Currently, there is $28.9 billion dedicated to ether trades and ETH ’s market cap has a dominance rating of around 18.8%. ETH reached its all-time high during the early morning trading sessions on October 29, tapping a high of $4,416 per ETH . Year-to-date, ethereum (ETH) has gained 1,013% and during the last 30 days the crypto asset has increased by 54.7%. The stablecoin tether ( USDT ) is the top pair trading with ethereum ( ETH ) on Friday commanding 43.53% of all trades. This is followed by USD (20.65%), BTC (9.75%), BUSD (7.90%), EUR (4.03%), and KRW (3.34%).

Crypto miners now bring more than $230 million into the economy of Kazakhstan each year and estimates show the figure could increase significantly in the future. The industry’s leading organization has projected that the government can collect more than $300 million in taxes over the next five years. Kazakhstan Makes Millions From Cryptocurrency Miners Kazakhstan’s growing coin minting industry has the potential to pour $1.5 billion into the nation’s economy in a five-year period, resulting in over $300 million in tax revenue, according to the National Association of Blockchain and Data Center Industry which unites major companies involved in cryptocurrency extraction that account for 70% of the mining sector. Budget revenues can reach $400 million with the opening of cryptocurrency exchanges, the organization added. According to the association’s president, Alan Dordzhiev, even now legal participants in the mining market bring Kazakhstan 98 billion tenge (close to $230 million) an

Ethereum defi protocol Cream Finance suffered an exploit yesterday that allowed attackers to steal $130 million from its holdings. The news was first revealed by Peckshield, a blockchain analytics company that discovered a flash loan had exploited the platform. This is the third hack the protocol has suffered in its history, being exploited for $36 and $29 million before, respectively. Cream Finance Hacked Yet Again Cream Finance, an Ethereum-based lending and borrowing protocol, suffered an exploit that allowed the hackers to steal $130 million worth of ether and ERC-20 tokens. According to Slowmist , a blockchain security organization, the attack netted 2,760.22 ether and 60 tokens including HBTC, USDT , BUSD, and others. The attack was perpetrated in the form of a series of flash loans in a very unorthodox way, which has led some to think the hacker was an experienced defi developer. Another blockchain security firm, Peckshield, broke the news, linking to the flash loan that cau

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently confirmed he had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Burundi. This MOU agreement is Hoskinson’s first major preliminary agreement he has secured since kickstarting Cardano’s African tour in mid-October, 2021. Meetings With Burundi and Zanzibar Leaders Before traveling to Burundi, Hokisnson had visited Zanzibar where he held meetings with Hussein Ali Mwinyi, the island nation’s president. However, it is Hoskinson’s Burundi visit that has helped Cardano to achieve its latest major agreement with an African state after it signed another deal with the Ethiopian government back in April 2021. To break the news about his interactions with the Burundi government as well as Cardano’s latest achievement, Hoskinson went on Twitter and shared some key moments of his Burundi tour. In his last tweet, he said: “Yes, we signed a great MOU today.” In an earlier tweet , Hoskinson — who has since changed his Twitter profile

On Thursday, South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals announced the company will be minting the first SXSW NFT, and at the 2022 festival in Austin, Texas, participants will be able to tokenize their work using NFT technology. SXSW’s 2022 festival will be held on March 11-20 and will feature a major on-site NFT workshop for artists, filmmakers, and brand participants. SXSW Plans to Drop It’s First NFT at This Year’s 10-Day Festival — Blockchain Creative Labs to Issue NFTs According to an announcement stemming from SXSW , the annual conglomeration of parallel film, music and art festivals, and interactive media, this year’s festival will have a strong focus on non-fungible token (NFT) technology. The creative NFT studio and business backed by Fox Entertainment, Blockchain Creative Labs (BCL), will be the official blockchain sponsor of SXSW. This year’s 10-day event will feature the first SXSW non-fungible token (NFT) and BCL will also be “offering NFT Services” to SXSW part

The crypto-friendly travel company Travala published its third-quarter 2021 report showing the firm has grown significantly alongside the growth of crypto adoption. In fact, cryptocurrency adoption has “more than offset the negative impact of the pandemic,” the company said as Travala posted a record-setting quarter in Q3 2021. Crypto Adoption Bolstered Travel Company Travala’s Third Quarter According to a third-quarter 2021 report published by Travala, the company has seen “explosive growth” in the firm’s three core services: hotels, flights, and activities. In Q3, Travala introduced its “Community Pool” and “Community Vote” concepts alongside its “proof-of-travel” NFTs. Thanks to services like hotels, flights, activities, concierge, and integration fees, Travala’s Q3 revenue was $9.8 million which represents 651% growth compared to Q3 2020. Travala noted that hotel bookings and flights grew 50% from Q2 2021 and activities increased by 70%. However, the firm’s concierge service sa

British police have seized bitcoin worth almost $3 million from a teenager who set up a fake website to scam consumers. “At the time they were worth £200,000. They are now worth a little over £2 million.” UK Police Seize $2.8 Million in Bitcoin British police have arrested a 17-year-old boy from South Lincolnshire and seized bitcoin worth almost $3 million from him, BBC News reported Tuesday. The authorities cannot name the boy for legal reasons. Prosecutor Sam Skinner said the teen set up a fake website that was almost identical to the official site of Love2shop, which sells gift vouchers. He then paid to advertise on Google, resulting in his bogus site appearing above the genuine site in search results. The scam site duped Love2shop users into entering their personal details. The prosecutor said: People were duped into clicking on his website thinking they were accessing the official site. The teen took the site down after a week when Love2shop began investigating him follow

Shiba inu supporters are petitioning on Change.org for the trading platform Robinhood to list the shiba inu token for trading. Robinhood currently lists the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin which made up 62% of the company’s crypto trading volume in Q2. Petition to Get Robinhood to List Shiba Inu A petition on Change.org for the trading platform Robinhood to list the shiba inu crypto has garnered almost 400,000 signatures. At the time of writing, almost 397K people have signed the petition. If the petition gathers 500K signatures, it would become one of the top signed petitions on Change.org. The petition, started by SHIB supporter Tristan Luke, explains that it “is designed to kindly request of Robinhood to please list shiba inu coin to trade,” adding: Dogecoin has been a huge success for Robinhood, and its investors. We have all enjoyed the ride. Shiba Inu is a similar meme coin with genuine potential, up 2,000% in the last weeks. The petition further describes that the cryptoc

Famous actor Matt Damon is starring in an ad for cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com. The ad, called “Fortune Favours the Brave,” is directed by Oscar-winner Wally Pfister and will be aired in more than 20 countries. The crypto platform “shares my commitment to empowering people around the globe with the tools needed to take control of their futures,” said Damon. Matt Damon Featured in Crypto.com Ad Campaign Cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com announced a global ad campaign Thursday starring Hollywood actor Matt Damon. CEO Kris Marszalek tweeted: Today we unveiled Fortune Favours the Brave. The “Fortune Favours the Brave” ad is directed by Oscar-winner Wally Pfister and produced by David Fincher. It “highlights the company’s own ethos, while inspiring those who want to change the course of history with a timeless phrase first uttered thousands of years ago,” the announcement details. The company said that the ad starring Matt Damon will be aired in more than 20 countries and will

PRESS RELEASE. Singapore: HeliconNFT, the brand-new, global, gaming-focused NFT ecosystem, which recently unveiled a partnership with Battlefy, has announced that it will launch an NFT mystery box event on Sunday, 24th October. Ahead of the event, users will be given the opportunity to access an exclusive pre-launch sale and have the chance to be among the first to purchase mystery boxes containing rare NFT game items, artworks and collectibles, after completing their whitelist registration. HeliconNFT x Battlefy The announcement comes just weeks after the unveiling of HeliconNFT’s ground-breaking partnership with esports giant Battlefy – a collaboration that is set to change the way gamers see their favourite games forever. With over 70,000 tournaments under its belt, Battlefy has hosted some of the world’s largest and most prestigious tournaments, providing support for about 40,000 games. Through the collaboration, people can expect to see NFT-enabled games join the ranks of ic

On November 12, the Walt Disney Company will be celebrating the first annual Disney+ Day and will be launching non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles to celebrate the experience. Disney fans will be able to obtain official NFTs from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more via the digital collectibles app Veve. Entertainment Giant Disney to Drop NFT Series Disney has plans to launch official non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles in celebration of the first annual Disney+ Day. The well known multinational entertainment and media conglomerate headquartered in California has revealed a series of NFTs featuring iconic Disney characters and items. The first series collection is called “Golden Moments,” and fans will be able to obtain the NFTs by utilizing the digital collectibles app Veve. The Veve application has dropped NFTs stemming from Marvel , DC Comics , and special promotions based on beloved superheroes like Spider-Man and Captain America . The “Golden Moments” Disney NFT se

Nearly every industry under the sun has started to notice non-fungible token (NFT) technology and on Wednesday, the media and entertainment company World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., otherwise known as WWE, announced the launch of an exclusive NFT marketplace. According to the announcement, the market will produce licensed digital WWE tokens and collectibles that showcase WWE superstars and iconic moments. WWE Plans to Lay the Smackdown With NFT Collectibles On October 27, Fox Entertainment and Bento Box Entertainment revealed the companies have inked an exclusive agreement with the publicly-listed media and entertainment company WWE (NYSE: WWE ). The professional wrestling company was founded in 1953 and is currently the largest wrestling promotion on a global scale with more than 450 events held annually. For years the company owned by Vince McMahon was known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) but changed its name in 2002 to WWE. The three entertainment firms plan to laun

The meme-based digital asset shiba inu has entered the top ten largest crypto assets by market capitalization, knocking dogecoin down a notch. In the last 30 days, the shiba inu token climbed 976% capturing a market cap of over $40 billion. Meanwhile, the concentration of shiba inu whales is still quite large these days alongside the massive circulating supply of 549 trillion tokens. Shiba Inu Taps All-Time Price Highs Knocking Down the Dogefather This week the crypto asset shiba inu (SHIB) reached an all-time high (ATH) on a few occasions, including today, during the early morning trading sessions. SHIB’s ATH was around $0.00008616 and then the value subsequently dipped 11% below the high. SHIB’s market valuation has soared to $40 billion and it has allowed the shiba inu token market to enter the top ten crypto assets. Shiba inu managed to knock dogecoin (DOGE) down a notch as well from the ninth position to the tenth. SHIB is mostly traded with tether ( USDT ) these days as USDT

El Salvador, the country that made bitcoin legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar, has bought the dip again. The Salvadoran government has purchased a total of 1,120 bitcoins, currently worth more than $68 million. El Salvador’s Bitcoin Holdings Grow El Salvador has bought the dip again, taking advantage of the falling price of bitcoin on Wednesday. President Nayib Bukele tweeted: “It was a long wait, but worth it. We just bought the dip.” At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is $61,129, down from an all-time high of almost $67,000 on Oct. 19 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets . The country made bitcoin legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar on Sept. 7. At the time, the price of BTC was around $46,000. The day before its Bitcoin law went into effect , El Salvador purchased two sets of 200 bitcoins. On Sept. 7, the price fell slightly, allowing the country to buy the dip (150 BTC ). On Sept. 20, Bukeke said his country bought the dip again (150 more BTC ), adding, “