Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

PRESS RELEASE. Charity donation project MUNCH announces the ground-breaking milestone of donating over 1000 ETH to various charitable projects, making MUNCH the world’s leading charitable crypto project. MUNCH is a Defi project that incorporates automatic donations into financial transactions. 3% of every MUNCH transaction is diverted, automatically converted to ETH , and then routed to a community-chosen and verified charity. It requires no action or decision making and gives people autonomy over their investments. MUNCH converts donations at the point of the transaction and sends it directly to the charity’s wallet address. This means that donations do not destabilize the token’s value and the charities can either store the ETH which has a relatively stable value or choose to auto-convert directly to FIAT as soon as they receive the donations. Utilizing blockchain technology creates a system of automated, trustless donations, MUNCH has just celebrated the tremendous mile

The largest stablecoin by market capitalization, tether has announced the launch of tethers on the Avalanche blockchain protocol. The stablecoin tether has launched a myriad of blockchain networks and today there’s more than 74.8 billion tethers in circulation today. Tether Launches on Avalanche On Wednesday, Tether Operations Limited, the firm that issues the stablecoin asset tether ( USDT ) has announced the launch of USDT on Avalanche (AVAX). The crypto exchange Bitfinex has also revealed it will support Avalanche-native USDT tokens on the exchange. Avalanche (AVAX) is a smart contract platform that is both compatible and a competitor of the blockchain protocol Ethereum ( ETH ). “Tether’s token’s launch on Avalanche will aim to support the long-term growth and sustainability of the Avalanche network while driving stablecoin usage across the defi ecosystem,” the company explained on Wednesday. “ USDT on Avalanche is an essential building block for DeFi users,” Emin Gün Sirer,

On November 9, the two-time Grammy-nominated producer and DJ, Steve Aoki, announced a new partnership with the popular comic book artist and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. The two plan to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that leverages the Solana blockchain. The NFT marketplace will be called Odd Key and Aoki and McFarlane aim to launch the platform on November, 18. Grammy-Nominated DJ and Spawn Creator to Launch NFT Marketplace Called Odd Key Next week on November 18, the DJ Steve Aoki and comic book artist Todd McFarlane will be launching an NFT marketplace “designed to empower creators to showcase and sell authenticated digital art.” The launch announcement sent to Bitcoin.com News explains that the new NFT marketplace will be named Odd Key and one of the first drops on the platform will be McFarlane’s notorious “Spawn #1” from 1992. That was the year McFarlane helped form the firm Image Comics and the Canadian comic book creator’s first issue of Spawn sold close to

154 days ago, a mystery bitcoin mining entity spent a string of 20 block rewards from 2010 that sat idle for well over a decade. Our newsdesk has been investigating this bitcoin whale’s actions since catching the entity in 2020. Now after the June 9th appearance, on November 10, the mystery whale returned once again to spend another 1,000 bitcoin stemming from 20 block rewards mined more than ten years ago. 1,000 ‘Sleeping Bitcoins’ Worth $68 Million From 2010 Wake After a Decade of Hibernation Last year, following the market carnage on March 12, 2020, otherwise known as ‘Black Thursday,’ Bitcoin.com News discovered a large whale spending 20 consecutive block rewards in a row stemming from blocks mined way back in 2010. From here, similar to Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab, our investigation led our newsdesk to discover a myriad of whale sightings, as large quantities of 2010 bitcoin (BTC) block reward strings were spent in 2020 and 2021 as well. According to our timeline, the enti

Authorities in Iran persist with their efforts to curb unauthorized cryptocurrency mining. The state-run power distribution company has recently identified over a dozen underground crypto farms in Tehran and other regions, unplugging hundreds of mining units illegally connected to the grid. Power Utility Busts 14 Crypto Farms in Homes Across Iran The Iranian government continues to crack down on unlicensed crypto mining operations. The state-owned Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company, Tavanir , has confiscated 227 mining rigs last week. Its employees found the devices in 14 illegal cryptocurrency farms set up by households in different parts of the country. The mining machines were found in homes during inspections carried out by Tavanir, the utility announced, quoted by Ibena news agency and the English-language business daily Financial Tribune. The coin minting facilities were discovered in the provinces of Tehran, East Azerbaijan, Isfahan, and Khuzestan,

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a unique data unit contained within a digital ledger and cannot be interchanged. They are used as a representation of items that can be reproduced easily like artwork, images, videos, and audio files, among other digital files. NFTs are unique in their own way, using the blockchain technology in building a verified and accessible certificate of ownership. Happy Hippos are a class of AI-generated NFTs randomly produced via a programmed mechanism and base on based on the Ethereum blockchain. The Hippos have been developed from more than one million varieties to sample a first generation collection of 8888 Hippos. About the Hippos The Hippos are found in Africa where they are Happy and co-exist in Harmony. Nonetheless, as this class of Hippos is fast a threatened species fast going extinct, they await to be adopted by willing individuals. While the Hippos are generally wonderful to own, they each stand out for their own physical appearance. The best o

Just a few days after launching the e-naira digital currency, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now reportedly ramping up the pressure against cryptocurrency traders. Bank Employees Warned In a memo to its staff seen by Bitcoin.com News, one of Nigeria’s leading banks, FCMB, warns its employees against aiding cryptocurrency traders. The bank reveals that any account that is found to be in violation of the CBN directive will be closed. In addition, FCMB said employees that willfully fail to disclose the existence of an account that is involved in cryptocurrency trading will also be punished. According to the memo, all FCMB employees are now expected to be involved in the monitoring of accounts, transactions, and customers in order to ensure the bank is fully complying with the CBN directive. Meanwhile, in order to help employees easily identify accounts that are used by cryptocurrency traders, FCMB has produced and shared a list of 20 red flags to look out for. Some of these re

Cryptocurrency mining should be recognized as an entrepreneurial activity under Russian law and taxed accordingly, representatives of key ministries in Moscow and the parliament have indicated. Officials believe the regulatory move would benefit both the state and the crypto industry. Russian Government to Collect Millions of Dollars in Taxes After Legalizing Crypto Mining While the law “On Digital Financial Assets” — which entered into force in January this year — regulates certain crypto-related activities such as “digital currency issuance,” it does not explicitly mention cryptocurrency mining. The sector remains unregulated, the Russian Ministry of Finance has recently acknowledged in comments to the local press. The industry has been expanding in Russia which is rich in energy resources and ranks among the world’s top destinations in terms of share of the global hashrate. According to the Ministry of Economic Development, Izvestia wrote in an article, mining should be regulat

Brave, the company behind the Brave browser, has partnered with Solana to provide support for the blockchain directly from its browser. According to a press release, the Brave browser will now default to Solana for cross-chain and decentralized app support. Brave users, that are now in the millions, will have access to a Solana wallet within the app. This feature is expected to roll out during the first half of 2022. Brave Partners With Solana to Offer Dapp Support Brave, the company in charge of the development of the Brave browser, a leading privacy-first web browser, has announced it is partnering with Solana , a top five smart contract enabled cryptocurrency, to offer support for Solana-based apps directly from the browser. The announcement was made during Solana’s Breakpoint conference, where Brave’s CEO Brendan Eich praised the scalability and functionality that Solana would offer for Brave users. At the event, Eich stated: With more and more users and creators requiring t

A Venezuelan court in the capital of the country has rolled back a seizure of more than 1,000 Bitcoin miners due to irregularities that occurred during the confiscation. According to court documents, the equipment that was seized was in the custody of a third-party company that was doing maintenance services. The court ordered Sunacrip, the national crypto watchdog, to retrieve these miners from their owners. Venezuelan Court Decides On Crypto Seizure Case A Venezuelan court located in the capital of the country has decided to roll back a seizure measure that the national cryptocurrency watchdog, Sunacrip , executed last month. The operation, which was carried out in a joint effort by the scientific police of the country and Sunacrip, presented several irregularities and according to court documents , violated the “right to defense and due process, as well as the right to property of the plaintiff company.” The equipment seized was undergoing maintenance by third parties and the op

In recent times cryptocurrency platforms have been airing a number of commercials on television in order to entice a broader audience to get into cryptocurrencies. The digital currency community has witnessed crypto commercials starring the seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady and his supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen, award-winning director Spike Lee, and the actor Matt Damon. Another commercial starring actress Rebecca Ferguson is now airing on Bloomberg Television that promotes the institutional digital asset custody and trading solutions firm Copper.co. Institutional Digital Assets Custodian Copper Films Crypto Commercial With Dune Actress Rebecca Ferguson Copper.co , the institutional digital asset custody and trading solutions provider, has announced the first annual television commercial campaign with the launch of a commercial called “The Unfair Advantage.” Copper is a London-based crypto firm that launched in 2018 and has raised $84.3 million in funding to date. Essentiall

On November 2rd, 2021, RChain ‘s blockchain scientist Atticbee visited ZB exchange as an invited guest for a very technical AMA. ZB is a global exchange being in operation for 8 years with a focus on keeping customers’ assets secure. Atticbee discussed the problems of current blockchain technology and RChain’s answer to these challenges, and why one day RChain will be the most user and developer friendly Web 3.0 infrastructure. What is Missing In All Current Public Blockchains In Atticbee’s view, none of existing public chains has addressed these issues that are critical to Web 3.0: Currently there is NO REAL solution to the scalability problem: the scalability of Layer 2 and ETH 2.0 is an illusion because the individual Layer 2 and shard subsystems are not interoperable – they do not “look and feel” like one logical chain. They are designed for token transfer applications, not data intensive Web 3.0 applications. Contracts cannot safely call each other, lacking the “secure

Alarmed by the rising energy needs of cryptocurrency mining, Sweden’s financial and environmental regulators have recently proposed an EU-wide ban on proof-of-work coin minting. The Swedish officials believe this would encourage a move towards a more energy-efficient extraction of bitcoin while supporting the transition towards climate neutrality in Sweden and Europe. A state-run power company warns, however, that restrictions could have an adverse effect on global carbon emissions. Expensive Bitcoin Generates More Emissions, Swedish Authorities Allege The rising value of crypto assets attracts more businesses to join the competition to solve the encryption puzzle at the core of cryptocurrency mining while the proof-of-work method is the main reason for its high energy consumption. The remarks come from a joint statement by the director generals of Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority and Environmental Protection Agency, Erik Thedéen and Björn Risinger. The two officials have

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