Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The cryptocurrency bill that was listed to be taken up in the current session of parliament is reportedly being reworked. The government seeks wider consultation on crypto before finalizing the rules to govern digital currencies in India. Indian Government Seeks More Consultation on Proposed Crypto Legislation India’s cryptocurrency bill is unlikely to be introduced in the current session of parliament. The bill is not on the list of business to be taken up in the last week of the winter session of parliament, Bloomberg reported Monday, noting that the government can still bring in the legislation through an ordinance after the session. The government is still finalizing details of the cryptocurrency legislation, the news outlet noted, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Last week, local media reported that the government is planning to make additional changes to the cryptocurrency bill. The country’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, recently said that the bill needed

The crypto economy has slid in value 2.9% during the last 24 hours and bitcoin slipped under the $46K price zone on Monday. Furthermore, the top ten digital currencies have lost anywhere between 3% to 7% in value during the last day following bitcoin’s price slide. Top Ten Crypto Coins See More Losses, Crypto Economy Slides Close to 3% in 24 Hours The price of bitcoin ( BTC ) is down 3.7% today and trading for $45,738 per unit at the time of writing. While year-to-date, bitcoin is up more than 90% in value, during the last 30 days BTC shed 21.8%. Currently, BTC has a market valuation of around $864 billion which represents 38.6% of the $2.24 trillion crypto economy. The second-largest crypto asset in terms of market valuation is ethereum ( ETH ) and it has slid 4.4% during the last 24 hours and 8.7% during the last day. At the time of writing, ether is exchanging hands for $3,787 per unit. Ethereum’s dominance today among the rest of the coins in the $2.24 trillion crypto economy

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A cryptocurrency bill introduced in July to the Senate of Paraguay has been approved. The text, which defines several important concepts including virtual assets, and establishes the need for licenses to mine cryptocurrencies, will now advance to the Deputy Chamber to be discussed. Paraguay Could Approve Crypto Law by Next Year A new cryptocurrency bill has taken its first step toward being approved as law in Paraguay. The project, which was introduced in July, was approved in the Paraguayan Senate after a heated discussion, according to reports from its promoter, Senator Fernando Silva Facetti. The politician also stated that the law aimed to: …recognize mining of virtual asset as an industry, [and] establishes the grounds to guarantee access to energy and requirements that guarantee the formalization of an expanding sector. In its body, the legal text includes the definition of virtual assets, tokens, cryptocurrency mining, and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Furthe

Radioshack, the electronics-associated brand, has announced it will now pivot to a cryptocurrency-centric model. The company informed that its focus will be to “bridge the gap” to bring cryptocurrency into mainstream use. This is the latest iteration in the story of the brand, which was known for offering electronic products at a retail level in the ’70s and ’80s. Radioshack Introduces Defi Business Radioshack, a 100-year-old brand associated with consumer electronic devices and personal computers in the ’70s and ’80s, is now pivoting its operations to a cryptocurrency model, according to data provided by the company. The mission of this new iteration of the company will be to “bring cryptocurrency to the mainstream.” For this, Radioshack will start with launching a decentralized exchange, or a “swap,” to allow its users to exchange currencies for others without having to register in a commercial exchange. The backend for this endeavor, Radioshack explains, will be provided by a p

PRESS RELEASE. BitYard is delighted to announce our integration of 80+ Chainlink Price Feeds to obtain accurate price data in a timely manner within our exchange. By integrating the industry-leading decentralized oracle network, BitYard has access to decentralized price feeds for popular spot trading pairs—with plans to continually add additional feeds over time. Chainlink Price Feeds support BitYard’s existing frameworks by helping ensure that we are offering users more precise and transparent pricing for perfect spot trading executions. BitYard is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that offers crypto asset trading services in over 150 countries worldwide. BitYard has over 300 spot trading pairs, along with CFD, perpetuals, forex, commodities and copy-trading features. The platform simplifies crypto trading for novice investors and offers an easy-to-understand user interface. As a cryptocurrency exchange in the CeFi ecosystem, BitYard experiences price volatility across trading

One of the largest decentralized exchange (dex) platforms in terms of trade volume, Uniswap, has announced that the dex community has approved a governance proposal to support the Polygon blockchain. Uniswap to Support Polygon PoS Blockchain In terms of trade volume, statistics show that Uniswap version three (v3) commands the largest 24-hour trade volume with $1.5 billion swapped during the last day. As far as total-value locked (TVL) in defi is concerned, Uniswap has $8.6 billion on December 19, 2021. That’s the second-largest TVL below Curve Finance’s $21.8 billion TVL. On December 18, the official Uniswap Labs Twitter account notified the public that the Uniswap community has voted to support the deployment of Uniswap v3 contracts on the Polygon (MATIC) network. “The Uniswap community has voted to deploy v3 on Polygon through the governance process. Uniswap Labs will deploy Uniswap v3 contracts within a few days. Stay tuned,” Uniswap Labs said on Saturday. Uniswap has al

India’s minister of state for external affairs says that cryptocurrencies must be blocked if they are used for illegal purposes, such as “to launch cyber-attacks in India, to launch other attacks on India, to do other kinds of illegal and unethical work like drug trafficking.” Meanwhile, the Indian government is reportedly making changes to the crypto bill that is listed to be taken up in the current session of parliament. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs on Cryptocurrency and Crypto Regulation Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi has reportedly stressed that cryptocurrencies need to be blocked if they are used for illegal means to harm India’s sovereignty and integrity. Lekhi is also India’s current minister of state for culture. She was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was reelected to the 17th Lok Sabha in May 2019. Speaking at the sixth Global Technology Summit, jointly organized by the M

An executive with Blockfi says that “this year has been a huge year for mainstream consumer demand into crypto.” Noting that fear of missing out (FOMO) will be a huge driver for investors, the executive expects some regulatory clarity next year. Crypto FOMO Will Drive Investments in 2022 Flori Marquez, Blockfi’s co-founder and senior vice president of operations, discussed the future outlook for cryptocurrency going into 2022 in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live Friday. Founded in 2017, Blockfi was created to provide credit services to markets with limited access to simple financial products. The crypto-focused financial services firm has institutional backing from investors, including Valar Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Fidelity, Akuna Capital, Sofi, and Coinbase Ventures. “It’s been a huge year for crypto,” she began. While acknowledging that the price of bitcoin has dipped slightly, she put it in perspective: “If you look at year over year returns for bitcoin, bitcoin has return

Billionaire Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has shared his investment strategy with cryptocurrency as part of his portfolio. He warned that cash is the worst investment because it is eaten away by inflation. Ray Dalio’s Investment Advice: Cash Is Depreciating, Diversify Portfolio Well Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio shared his investment strategy last week. He currently serves as Bridgewater Associates’ chairman and co-chief investment officer. His firm’s clients include endowments, governments, foundations, pensions, and sovereign wealth funds. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, published Friday, he explained that he views cryptocurrency “as an alternative money in an environment where the value of cash money is depreciating in real terms.” Referring to bitcoin, he opined: I think it’s very impressive that, for the last 10, 11 years, that programming has still held up. It hasn’t been hacked and so on. And it has an adop

A Bank of International Settlements (BIS) executive, Benoît Cœuré, says that crypto is “growing very fast” and ”becoming mainstream in different ways.” Emphasizing that decentralized finance (defi) is a “wake-up call” for financial regulators, he said countries “are likely to agree on a global framework for crypto next year.” BIS Officer Sees Defi as a Wake-up Call for Regulators, Global Policy Expected Next Year Benoît Cœuré, a member of the BIS Executive Committee who is currently head of the BIS Innovation Hub, talked about cryptocurrency, global regulation, and decentralized finance (defi) last week. Cœuré was a member of the European Central Bank (ECB)’s Executive Board and served in various positions at the French Treasury and the French debt management office prior to joining the ECB. He announced Thursday that he has been nominated to lead France’s competition authority. The BIS Innovation Hub chief told the Financial Times that regulators globally have intensified their d

The Central Bank of Russia has reaffirmed its opposition to cryptocurrency investments citing the volatility of the digital assets as a key motive for its conservative stance. Governor Elvira Nabiullina has recently indicated that the regulator has the means to restrict them. Nabiullina Insists Bank of Russia Can Limit Investments in Crypto Assets Russia’s monetary authority does not welcome investments of Russian citizens in cryptocurrencies, the head of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), Elvira Nabiullina, said during an online press conference this week. She highlighted their volatility and potential use in criminal activity as major reasons for the regulator’s position. The governor also noted Bank of Russia’s stance that the Russian financial infrastructure should not be employed to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions. She stressed that the regulator is capable of implementing restrictions and reiterated the bank’s skepticism towards these assets. Quoted by the business new

The end of 2021 is approaching and the market capitalization of meme-based digital currencies like dogecoin and shiba inu has been extremely prominent this year. In fact, the $46.9 billion worth of meme crypto-assets represents 2% of the $2.32 trillion crypto economy. Dogecoin and shiba inu alone capture roughly 85.28% of the meme crypto market valuation today. Meme-Based Crypto Economy Taps $46 Billion in 2021 It’s been a good year for meme-based crypto assets like dogecoin (DOGE), the OG of meme-based assets, which has seen its market valuation swell by 4,375.9% year-to-date (YTD). Dogecoin is the largest meme-based crypto asset in terms of market capitalization as it commands a valuation of around $22.8 billion on Sunday, December 19. The second-largest meme coin, in terms of market capitalization, is shiba inu (SHIB) . The crypto asset SHIB has gained a whopping 46,960,505.7% against the U.S. dollar YTD. Both of these coins have inspired other meme-based crypto assets to thr

On Sunday, December 19, a dormant address that received 235 bitcoin in 2013 was activated after more than nine years of sitting idle. Bitcoin’s price has dropped lower after reaching its all-time high on November 10, and throughout December, records show a great number of so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ have activated during this period. Dormant Addresses Wake up After Years of Slumber The day that bitcoin (BTC) tapped an all-time price high at $69K per unit on November 10, a miner from 2010 spent 1,000 sleeping bitcoins and 1,000 bitcoin cash (BCH) as well. The 1,000 bitcoins stemmed from 20 block rewards mined well over a decade ago in 2010. This same entity spent another 1,000 BTC and 1,000 BCH the following day. Additionally, a single block from 2010, worth 50 BTC or $2.3 million was spent on November 3. During the month of November, a total of 11 block rewards that were ten years old and mined in 2011, were activated and sent to new BTC addresses. That’s a total of 550 BT

SBI Group, the financial services company group based in Tokyo, Japan, has announced the launch of a crypto asset fund that consists of seven different digital currencies. The crypto fund launched by the Japanese company includes bitcoin, ethereum, xrp, litecoin, bitcoin cash, chainlink, and polkadot. SBI Group’s New Crypto Fund Leverages 7 Different Digital Assets Three months ago, SBI Holdings, often referred to as SBI Group revealed the company was planning to launch a crypto asset fund. At the time, SBI said that the new fund would launch at the end of November, but the official launch press release published on December 17. In addition to the press announcement, SBI also published a more detailed summary of the digital currency fund. SBI’s crypto fund consists of bitcoin (BTC) , ethereum (ETH) , polkadot (DOT) , chainlink (LINK) , litecoin (LTC) , xrp (XRP) , and bitcoin cash (BCH) . The financial services company is calling it “Japan’s first cryptocurrency fund for general

The market for crypto mining equipment in Russia has seen strong interest from buyers of both new and used devices, retail data indicates. This year, demand for application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machines has multiplied exponentially while video cards have been in short supply leading to rising prices. Crypto Miners in Russia Looking to Increase Computing Power Online retailers have registered a surging demand for mining machines, brand new and second hand, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. Searches for devices designed to mine bitcoin ( BTC ), or ASICs , on the Russian classifieds site Avito.ru have increased 14 times year-on-year, when supply rose 13 fold. The price of a mining unit averaged 117,900 rubles (almost $1,600). The most sought-after products were Whatsminer ming rigs manufactured by the Chinese manufacturer Microbt , demand for which spiked 23 times. At the same time, searches for Antminers built by the Beijing-based company Bitmain were 11

Invictus Capital has unveiled its first non-fungible token collection, called “Out of Africa,” through the Invictus NFT Lab. Through this collection, Invictus Capital will showcase fine art via blockchain technology as well as connect artists from Africa with the rest of the world. Invictus Capital to Release NFT Collection Blockchain investment platform Invictus Capital recently unveiled its first non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The unveiling, which was done by way of the Invictus NFT Lab, attempts to combine fine art with blockchain technology, and to bring many contemporary digital artists from Africa to a global market. As explained in the It Online report , this project is expected to begin in January with the distribution of NFT posters. In February, an auction for NFT representations of the original, physical artworks will be conducted. Invictus Capital’s decision to unveil the NFTs has won praise from stakeholders in the art space. For instance, Marelize van Zyl, the

Binance has formed a joint venture with a consortium led by Telkom Indonesia’s $830-million venture capital arm. Binance aims “to expand the blockchain ecosystem in Indonesia with the development of a new Indonesian-based digital asset exchange.” Binance Building Cryptocurrency Exchange in Indonesia Blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Binance announced Wednesday that it has established a joint venture with a consortium led by Telkom Indonesia’s $830-million venture capital arm, MDI Ventures (MDI). Telkom Indonesia is the country’s largest telecoms company. The aim of the joint venture is “to expand the blockchain ecosystem in Indonesia with the development of a new Indonesian-based digital asset exchange,” the announcement details, elaborating: Binance will provide world-class asset management infrastructure and technology to support the development of the new exchange platform. “Our ambition at Binance is to grow the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem gl

On December 15, FINMA-licensed Swiss bank, Seba, announced the launch of a gold token that can be delivered in physical form, on-demand, at any time from the firm’s partner refineries. Seba believes the token can be leveraged as a compliant stablecoin “backed by responsibly sourced gold.” Swiss Bank Introduces ‘Seba Bank Gold Token’ Backed by Physical Gold Stored at Partner Refineries Switzerland-based crypto bank Seba has introduced a number of new crypto products this year, like adding decentralized finance (defi) tokens to the company’s product lineup. In October, the Swiss bank revealed that customers can earn a yield on crypto holdings in an “institutional-grade” fashion. On Wednesday, Seba revealed its gold token offering that can be traded for physical gold at any time. “The Seba Bank Gold Token is a landmark development in investment products, enabling investors for the first time to own a digital form of physical gold via a fully regulated, cost-effective, and future-pr

The wealth manager Vaneck has announced it has expanded its exchange-traded note (ETN) offerings to support the tokens polygon and avalanche. The two ETNs follow five previously launched funds in Europe that allow investors to gain exposure to leading digital assets. Vaneck Adds Polygon and Avalanche to Its List of Cryptocurrency ETNs Vaneck has announced the launch of two ETNs that leverage the crypto assets polygon (MATIC) and avalanche (AVAX). The ETNs represent shares of either AVAX or MATIC and the funds are fully collateralized. “Vaneck expands its crypto investment offering with two new ETNs on crypto platforms Avalanche and Polygon,” the wealth manager tweeted on December 16. Avalanche and polygon have seen significant demand this year and have gathered massive gains year-to-date. The token avalanche (AVAX) has seen its market capitalization join the top ten digital assets in the world, in terms of overall valuation. Today, AVAX holds the 9th position after climbing 3,509

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has reportedly told the central board of directors that it favors a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, stating that a partial ban will not work. The central bank reiterates that it has serious concerns regarding crypto. Meanwhile, the Indian government is reportedly making additional changes to the crypto bill. RBI Wants a Blanket Ban on Crypto, Says a Partial Ban Won’t Work The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held the 592nd meeting of the central board of directors Friday under the chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das. The central board is the highest decision-making body of the apex bank. The board reviewed the current domestic and global economic situation, evolving challenges, and remedial measures. The directors also discussed various aspects relating to cryptocurrency and central bank digital currency (CBDC). The RBI reportedly said at the meeting that it favors a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, noting that a partial ba

An industry organization controlled by the Chinese government has updated a list of topics users of video-sharing apps should avoid. Crypto-related content is now among the entries along with traditional taboos in China like mocking its leadership, provoking sectarianism, and showing sex. Clips on Crypto Trading, Mining Banned in China The China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA) has recently published a blacklist of 100 topics that online videos posted on platforms similar to Tiktok should not feature. Among them are the usual suspects like questioning China’s official history, imitating its political leaders, challenging the country’s guiding ideology of “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” and discussing fascism. The “Online Short Video Content Review Standard Rules (2021)” document marks a number of other banned themes. A report by the Register points to a few of them like drug use, gambling machines, crime and gangs, violence, and mental abuse. Sexually explicit con

The number of cryptocurrency holders in Serbia has climbed to around 200,000 with interest in cryptocurrencies increasing alongside growing crypto markets. The country’s decision to legally recognize digital assets this year has also contributed to their increasing popularity. Law on Digital Assets Puts Serbia on Crypto Map Recently adopted regulations and genuine investor interest have placed Serbia, a nation of 7 million located in Southeast Europe, among countries that view cryptocurrency as a thing of the present. About 200,000 Serbs now own one coin or another, local media reported, quoting the latest estimates provided by the crypto industry. Serbia’s Law on Digital Assets entered into force at the end of June, this year. The legislation recognizes cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as virtual assets. Its provisions define them as digital records of value that can be purchased, sold, transferred, and exchanged. Serbs holding cryptos have increased in number since its adoption, the

The Argentinian Chamber of Fintech, a membership-based organization whose goal is to lead the digitization and modernization of the financial services industry, issued a series of recommendations for the upcoming regulation of virtual assets in the country. The proposed framework asks the government to follow FATF recommendations, and it calls for a clear definition of virtual assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). Argentinian Chamber of Fintech Weighs In on Regulation The Argentinian Chamber of Fintech, a group that works for the modernization of the structure of financial service providers, issued its take on how the Argentinian government should regulate cryptocurrency assets in the future. The proposal, which takes into account the rise in usage of these assets in the country, establishes a series of key issues that, according to the group, should be followed to better regulate cryptocurrency. The first one of them mentions the need to follow the recommendations o

Consensys, an Ethereum software company, announced yesterday the launch of a new scaling solution for Ethereum, called “Consensys Rollups.” The company enlisted Mastercard programmers to design the solution, which aims to allow the network to reach a throughput of 10,000 TPS (transactions per second), according to a PR statement. The solution can be implemented on top of private, permissioned protocols like Quorum, or on public chains like Ethereum. Consensys to Address Scaling With Mastercard’s Assistance Consensys, an Ethereum software company, launched Consensys Rollups yesterday, a ZK-proof-based scaling solution for Ethereum-based networks. The company revealed that this initiative had been undertaken with the help of Mastercard’s engineering team, which helped to design the solution. According to Consensys, the Consensys Rollups solution will be deployable on enterprise-focused protocol platforms such as Quorum , or directly on Ethereum. Quorum is a Consensys-acquired, JPMor

The team behind Polygon, the protocol dedicated to interconnected blockchain networks like Ethereum, and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture capital company have revealed a $200 million investment fund in blockchain-based social media projects. According to the announcement, the partner’s mission is to attempt to bridge blockchain, Web3 technology, and social media together. Polygon and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six Launch $200 Million Fund Dedicated to Web3, Blockchain, and Social Media Polygon and Alexis Ohanian’s firm Seven Seven Six plan to bolster Web3 technology with social media via blockchain compatibility with an investment of $200 million, according to the Polygon team’s most recent blog post . Polygon is best known for its scaling enhancements with the open-source blockchain network Ethereum and its native token called MATIC. Alexis Ohanian is well known for co-founding the social media and news aggregation web portal Reddit with Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz.