Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

On Tuesday, Concierge.io, the exclusive travel service backed by Travala.com announced it added new luxury services in order to give crypto investors “a more premium experience to live out their travel dreams.” The concierge service for “the crypto world’s elite” details its added experiences like a seven-star igloo in Antarctica, all-inclusive African safaris, and a stay at a Japanese castle. Exclusive Travel Service Adds New Services The firm Concierge.io is the concierge service focused on cryptocurrencies and it leverages professional travel managers in order to provide customers with unique and luxurious experiences. The company is also backed by Travala.com , a crypto-friendly travel service that accepts a myriad of digital assets for payment. On October 19, Concierge.io announced the company has added new exclusive experiences to its luxury travel services so crypto investors can enjoy their riches in style. The firm has detailed it has already provided first-class stays

PRESS RELEASE. Chimeras successfully raised over $2 million in its latest fundraising round, which will help to fund the play-to-earn project’s market and product development. October 18th, 2021 – The Chimeras Play-to-Earn metaverse project has completed its funding round with the participation of leading blockchain venture companies, including Master Ventures, AU 21, Poolz, BullPerks, X21, OIG Invest, Panda Capital, Shima Capital, LVT Capital, Otis Capital and Lotus Capital. The round successfully raised over $2 million which the Chimeras team has earmarked for the metaverse’s product development and marketing campaigns, including the launch of its brand native token, CHIM. The team is also announcing the upcoming Chimeras initial DEX offering (IDO) on the Ignition , Poolz , and BullPerks platforms. The Poolz platform IDO will take place on October 26th, followed by the Ignition and BullPerks IDOs two days later on October 28th. Additionally, Chimeras are in the process of nego

The central bank of Iran is gearing up to begin the pilot phase of its digital currency project in the near future, its new head announced to representatives of local media. The monetary authority is also preparing to move forward with a plan to reform the legislation that governs its own activities. Iran Preps Pilot for Sovereign Digital Currency The “national cryptocurrency” of Iran will enter its pilot stage soon, the recently appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Iran ( CBI ) Ali Salehabadi has unveiled. Speaking to reporters after his first meeting with lawmakers, the high-ranking official said the regulator is now studying potential risks and benefits associated with the initiative. Quoted by IRIB News and the Financial Tribune, he explained: The pilot trial will start, once the Money and Credit Council approves it. Salehabadi, who has been heading the CBI since Oct. 6, did not provide any further details regarding the Iranian central bank digital currency ( CBDC ). Ac

Prior to the launch of the Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), open interest in bitcoin futures products has been surging since the start of the month, according to data from the Coinbase Institutional arm Skew Analytics. Binance and FTX command the lion’s share of bitcoin futures’ open interest with 40.67% of the market. Moreover, data from bybt.com’s bitcoin futures’ open interest metrics, shows the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) commands 15.54% of all the open interest in bitcoin futures tallied this week. Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Has Risen Significantly On Tuesday, October 19, 2021, the first exchange-traded fund based on bitcoin futures was launched in the United States. So far, Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ( BITO ) is trading above the ETF’s initial value when the opening bell kick-started trading. Since the first bitcoin ETF is based on BTC derivatives markets, prior to the launch a large influx of bitcoin futures open interest was recorded by a number of analy

Following shiba inu’s 260% gains during the last 30 days, the third-largest meme-based crypto asset in terms of market capitalization, baby doge coin (BABYDOGE), has taken the lead in terms of market performance. Another meme asset, dogelon mars (ELON) has soared 286% this past week. Moreover, during the last seven days, baby doge coin’s price spiked 40% in value and over 3.4% in the last 24 hours. This Past Week Dogelon Mars and Baby Doge Coin Soared in Value While bitcoin ( BTC ) has spiked over the $60K zone and currently rests above $62K per unit, a number of other crypto-assets have followed the leading digital currency’s rise. The original and popular meme-based crypto-asset dogecoin (DOGE) has increased in value 6.4% during the last week, but two other meme cryptos have skyrocketed in recent times. As far as the top meme-based crypto assets, in terms of market capitalization, two unique tokens have seen massive gains. The spikes in value follow the second-largest meme-based

Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has called on the Indian government to regulate cryptocurrencies. “The government has to ensure that it is regulated in the larger interest of the society,” the group reportedly said. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Calls for Crypto Regulation Mohan Bhagwat, head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said during his speech at an annual event marking the Hindu festival of Dussehra Friday: Clandestine, uncontrolled currency like bitcoin has the potential to destabilize the economy of all countries and pose serious challenges. The RSS is a Hindu nationalist paramilitary group founded in 1925 by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur. According to the group’s website, any Hindu male can become a member of the group by attending an RSS shakha, a daily gathering. There is no formal membership procedure and there are no fees to join. The group’s website further states that the RSS does not keep a record of the number of members.

PRESS RELEASE. The ZoidPay Chrome extension will allow users to spend their cryptocurrencies on products, pay subscriptions, and even book flights with 40 + million online retailers. October 19th, 2021, Bucharest, Romania — ZoidPay has announced the launch of its Chrome Extension, allowing millions of users to shop using various cryptocurrencies with all online merchants across the world. Shop Easier than Ever Before The ZoidPay Chrome Extension is platform agnostic, letting shoppers connect to it using any digital wallet. Currently being rolled out in phases, the Chrome Extension will be available globally by November 2021. It promises to bridge the gap in making crypto adoption mainstream. Users can choose from any major cryptocurrency to make payments for their purchases on Walmart, Alibaba, MediaMarkt, Lazada, and eMag to name a few. Through the Chrome Extension, ZoidPay offers instant liquidity of up to $1 billion for crypto assets per day. Eduard Oneci, CEO and Co-found

Sandile Shezi, the young South African bitcoin trader who is facing fraud charges, has denied allegations he scammed shareholders in his Global Forex Institute. Shezi: Shareholders Signed Up for Education, Not Investments Despite his rejection of the allegations, a spokesperson for the country’s police told the Sunday Times newspaper that Shezi has agreed to turn himself in. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, a warrant for Shezi’s arrest had been issued after two aggrieved investors reported the bitcoin trader to the South African police. Now, as he contemplates turning himself in, Shezi — who is referred to as South Africa’s youngest millionaire — has also launched a spirited defense of his actions. He further beat back suggestions that the Global Forex Institute is a financial services provider. According to a report by the Sunday Times, Shezi said: These shareholders signed up, not for investments, but our education programme. Our training includes technical analysis, fundamen

One of the biggest asset managers in Brazil, Kinea, disclosed it made an exploratory investment in Ethereum. The announcement was made by Marco Aurélio Freire, manager of funds for Kinea, who stated the company had invested a small amount of its holdings in ethereum starting two months ago. Kinea, the investment arm of Banco Itau, has more than R$56 billion (about $10.2B) in assets under management. Kinea Looks Into Crypto Investments Kinea, one of the leading asset managers in Brazil, has made an exploratory investment in the cryptocurrency world. The company, which has a vast amount of assets under management, chose to invest in ethereum instead of in the most popular choice, bitcoin. Marco Aurélio Freire, manager of the funds of the company, declared to local media the investment was made two months ago. Freire did not disclose the amount of the investment but did say it was a small amount to test the market. Freire believes in the role of cryptocurrencies as a necessary asset

The National Police have issued a warning for a wave of cryptocurrency-related investment scams in Spain. The amount that has been lost in these kinds of investments recently is €240,000 related to just two complaints. However, there has been a rise in the complaints presented by citizens due to the popularity that these financial instruments are experiencing now. National Police Warn About Crypto Scams in Spain The National Police of Spain has issued a warning to citizens about the rise of cryptocurrency-related scams in the last few days. In the two more recent complaints the national police have received alone, crypto investors have lost €240,000 (~$278,385). These two complaints stem from the city of Navarra. This happens because the market is flooded with companies that offer cryptocurrency investment opportunities guaranteeing a high level of returns. But to guarantee these returns, the companies ask for high amounts of money as an investment. Many of these companies have pr

FinCEN, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, linked more than $5 billion in bitcoin transactions to the most common ransomware variants out there. The organization stated in a report issued last week that the mean average total monthly suspicious amount of ransomware transactions was $66.4 million during the first two quarters of 2021. FinCEN also determined that the most used cryptocurrency associated with these activities was bitcoin. FinCEN Dives Into Ransomware Attacks FinCEN, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, found that more than $5 billion in bitcoin transactions were linked to payments made to the top-ten most popular ransomware variants. These findings were published by the institution in a report titled “Ransomware Trends in Bank Secrecy Act Data Between January 2021 and June 2021,” which summarizes the ransomware activity during the first two quarters of the year. The report, which examines ransomware trends and their critical effect on infrastruc

Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor has suggested Nigeria and Zimbabwe issue currencies that are backed by bitcoin if they want to fix their economies. He surmised that using the bitcoin standard will end starvation and allow citizens of both countries to have a decent life. National Currencies Backed by Bitcoin In a video clip where he also addresses claims that the Bitcoin network cannot scale, Saylor suggests that if Nigeria and Zimbabwe purchase bitcoins worth $2-3 billion, they could well end the currency woes they presently face. Saylor explained: You wanna fix your country like Nigeria, or Zimbabwe? The way you fix your country is you buy $2 billion, $3 billion worth of bitcoin and you issue currency backed by the bitcoin. That is the bitcoin standard. And every one of your citizens stops starving to death. And they live a decent life. Bitcoin as ‘the Kingmaker’ Before mentioning Nigeria and Zimbabwe, Saylor, whose company now holds more than 114,000 bitcoins, also ident

PRESS RELEASE. The Floor NFT’s are fresh, hand-drawn, non-PFP (Profile Picture), artistic collectibles on the Ethereum Blockchain, crafted with love by DAHR in his pleasing cartoonish art style. Only 7777 provably rare artworks were generated from 150 traits/attributes in order to gather together a first-ever NFT condominium community. The Floor NFT spawned from the idea of wanting to give back to the world, what the NFT community has given to the founders of the project in the form of a charity based project. The Floor NFT tries to capture the rift between different classes and environments in society. In some images you have the toxic smoggy background with dilapidated buildings which vary from slums to wrecks. On the flip side, some of the Floor NFTs will feature perfect sunny backgrounds with luxurious penthouses in the foreground with diamonds and gold plated walls. With the roots of the project being focused on charity, The Floor NFT has set aside $77,777 to go to a community

Registered investment advisors (RIAs) with about $110 trillion under management can now offer their clients cryptocurrency trading through Interactive Brokers. RIAs manage portfolios of almost 61 million clients. Registered Investment Advisors Can Now Offer Cryptocurrencies to Clients Global investment firm Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR) announced Monday the launch of cryptocurrency trading for registered investment advisors (RIAs) in the U.S. This offering will enable RIAs to “trade and custody bitcoin ( BTC ), ethereum ( ETH ), litecoin ( LTC ) and bitcoin cash ( BCH ) via Paxos Trust Company on behalf of clients.” They will be able to manage their clients’ crypto holdings alongside traditional investments, including stocks, options, futures, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Nearly 14,000 investment advisors registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reported nearly 61 million clients in 2020, according to a joint study

New York Attorney General Letitia James has ordered two cryptocurrency lending platforms to shut down and requested three other platforms to answer questions regarding their activities immediately. The letters to the companies published on the attorney general’s website indicate that the two platforms are Nexo and Celsius Network. New York Cracks Down on Unregistered Crypto Lending Platforms New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James announced Monday her new efforts to crack down on unregistered cryptocurrency companies. In New York, lending platforms must register with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to operate in the state or offer products to its residents. The announcement details: Today, Attorney General James directed two of these lending platforms to immediately cease their unregistered and unlawful activities in New York and directed three other platforms to immediately provide information about their activities and products. The notice explains that crypto

Grayscale Investments has confirmed its plan to file for its bitcoin trust (GBTC) to be converted into a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). “The NYSE Arca will file a document called the 19b-4 to convert GBTC into an ETF,” said Grayscale’s official. GBTC to Become Bitcoin ETF Grayscale Investments has confirmed that it will convert its flagship product, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), into a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Jennifer Rosenthal, Grayscale’s communications director, tweeted Monday: Today, I’m happy to confirm that Grayscale will file for GBTC to be converted into an ETF as soon as there’s a clear, formal indication from the SEC. She described: “Grayscale’s position has always been clear: we are 100% committed to converting GBTC — and our product family — into ETFs, when the SEC has formally expressed their requisite comfort with the underlying bitcoin market.” The Grayscale communications director added that there are positive developments within the SEC, incl

The price of bitcoin recently jumped above the $60,000 per unit mark on October 15, and the leading crypto asset has not seen prices this high since mid-April six months ago. However, as far as the top digital assets are concerned, in terms of market capitalization, things are a whole lot different. For instance, ether tokens are worth a lot more than they were six months ago and binance coin values were higher back then than they are today. Six Months Later as Bitcoin Returns to $60K, Some Crypto Coins Trade for More Value, While Others Trade for Less On April 11, 2021, statistics from coinmarketcap.com ’s historical snapshot data show that on that day, bitcoin ( BTC ) exchanged hands for $60,204 per unit. BTC also reached an all-time high three days later on Apr 14, 2021, at $64,804 per coin that week. The data from the historical snapshot indicates that ethereum ( ETH ) was swapping for $2,157 per coin on April 11 and today, a single ether is trading for $3,761 per unit. The st

PRESS RELEASE. Blockchain Euro Project BEUROP has announced the launch of its DeFi trading and Marketing platform for cryptocurrency startups and everyday users. Monday 18th, London, England — Following the launch of it’s deflationary BEPR token, Blockchain Euro Project ( BEUROP ) is preparing to establish its first product: a DeFi crypto trading and marketing platform for developing blockchain industry startups. What is BEUROP? BEUROP is a European blockchain-powered company that focuses on making cryptocurrency startups transparent, efficient, and reliable. The company’s new flagship product is a DeFi trading & marketing platform that will help legitimize emerging companies, tokens, and blockchain projects; while offering token holders potential income, and liquidity. DeFi & Marketing Platform The BEUROP platform aims to integrate projects in the DeFi, NFT, CeFi, Gaming, and Business space into its ecosystem, while also providing benefits to regular crypto users. The

October has been a strong month for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin but a number of decentralized finance (defi) tokens have seen higher double-digit gains this past week. Moreover, non-fungible token (NFT) sales have picked up and after the total-value locked (TVL) in defi crossed $200 billion on October 5, two weeks later another $22 billion has been added to the TVL. Defi Network Tokens Polkadot, Polygon, Binance Coin, Stacks Outperform Bitcoin’s Weekly Gains Bitcoin ( BTC ) has been doing extremely well and BTC dominance has increased to 45.3% during the last week. However, a decent quantity of defi tokens from specific blockchain networks have outperformed BTC during the last week. In fact, out of all the crypto assets in existence today, nine different digital assets saw better gains than bitcoin and a great deal of them are focused on defi. Polkadot (DOT) was this week’s leader with an increase of 19.6% and those gains were followed by polygon’s (MATIC) 19.4% percentage gain

American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, one of the ‘Big Three’ credit rating agencies, has published a report that says stablecoin growth could affect securities and commercial paper (CP) markets. The agency says stablecoins could be “disruptive” and “stablecoin-related turbulence” could “transmit shocks” to other markets. Fitch Ratings: ‘Stablecoins Could Be Disruptive for CP Markets’ On Monday, the ‘Big Three’ credit agency Fitch Ratings published a report on stablecoins and the growth of these new assets. The report follows a study from Fitch that discusses El Salvador adopting bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in the country. The latest report explains that stablecoins have grown exponentially and the Fitch report’s authors highlight the growth of the popular stablecoin tether (USDT) . The study also mentions Facebook’s reported plans to launch a stablecoin crypto asset called “Diem.” “The rapid growth in stablecoins means these securities holdings are already relatively l

The governor of New York state, Kathy Hochul, has been urged by a group of local companies to deny business permits to bitcoin miners. The letter specifically asks for the “denial of permits for the Greenidge Generating Station and the Fortistar North Tonawanda Facility.” The letter also calls for the New York government to assess “proof-of-work” (PoW) digital currency mining in the state as the local businesses believe PoW mining “drastically undermines New York’s climate goals.” Local Businesses From New York Urge Governor Kathy Hochul to Impose a Statewide Bitcoin Mining Moratorium Climate change is a big deal to a number of local businesses in the state of New York as a large coalition of companies has urged governor Kathy Hochul to deny bitcoin mining permits. The coalition’s letter is backed by businesses and organizations such as Seatuck Environmental Association, Ravines Wine Cellars, Peconic Baykeeper, Nassau Hiking & Outdoor Club, NYPAN Environmental Committee, Mothers

Cryptocurrencies impact the way consumers and businesses – in the US and beyond – interact with financial institutions, the planet and one another. However, crypto remains an abstract, misunderstood concept. It’s important to understand what’s real about crypto, and how it has become a very real force driving US innovation. Like many other tech innovations … Continued The post What’s Real About Crypto? appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/S9pmNl

Emurgo, the investment arm of Cardano, has partnered one of its subsidiaries with Adanian Labs, a pan-African venture studio that is focused on building a platform where African tech start-ups can thrive and access all key resources that allow them to grow sustainably. Financial and Educational Empowerment via the Blockchain According to a statement issued by Adanian Labs, the goal of this partnership arrangement is to bring financial and educational empowerment via Cardano’s blockchain platform to the billions who lack these opportunities. “This investment is part of EMURGO Africa, a subsidiary of EMURGO ’s new $100 million Cardano ecosystem investment vehicle,” the statement details. In his comments following the announcement, John Kamara, CEO of Adanian Labs, commends the partnership arrangement which he believes will help sustain economies that have limited resources. He explained: We aim to build 300 tech-powered, impact-driven start-ups by 2025. We are passionate in our

PRESS RELEASE. CoinFLEX, a crypto futures exchange, is the first centralized exchange to launch a hybrid Automated Market Maker called AMM+. CoinFLEX will be hosting an ‘ AMM+ Arena ’ competition where users will be rewarded based on their ranking and weekly trading volume. The past two years have been an enormous period of growth for AMMs. While the AMMs are a crypto-native innovation born out of decentralized finance, CoinFLEX is the first centralized exchange (CEX) to launch an AMM for the futures market. The AMM, called AMM+ , trades directly in CoinFLEX’s perpetual futures market and offers users unique features that dramatically increase users’ capital efficiency. Specifically, users can trade with up to 10x leverage and have the option of choosing from multiple collateral types . Because the futures markets are orders of magnitude larger than the spot markets, users benefit from higher trading volume than DEX volumes. For reference, the total value locked (TVL) in Uniswa