Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The investment company Galaxy Digital Holdings has revealed it is joining the growing list of firms looking to sponsor a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Novogratz’s crypto firm applied with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday to launch a product called the “Galaxy Bitcoin ETF.” Galaxy Digital Wants to Provide a Bitcoin ETF Galaxy Digital Holdings (TSX: GLXY) filed a Form S-1 registration with the SEC on Monday in order to get approval for a new bitcoin ETF. The “Galaxy Bitcoin ETF” filing was submitted on April 12, 2021, and joins the seven other bitcoin ETF contenders waiting for approval from the U.S. regulator. Galaxy Digital is an investment company led by Michael Novogratz , a former executive from the macro-strategy hedge fund Fortress. “Galaxy Bitcoin ETF is an exchange-traded fund that issues common shares of beneficial interest that trade on NYSE Arca,” The Galaxy ETF filing notes. “The trust’s investment objective is to reflect the performance of

Africa remains the home to a large proportion of the world’s population that is unbanked according to a 2017 World Bank Global Index survey. Many of those who are unbanked cite their lack of official identification particulars as one of the main reasons for their predicament. Cryptos Narrowing Financial Exclusion Gap Therefore, in their effort to reduce the number of people that have no access to banking services, Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin , a decentralized digital currency and network that is available to anyone. Now, more than ten years later, the crypto asset has had successes in narrowing the financial exclusion gap as some financial services are now available to those lacking identification documents. Local.bitcoin.com is a peer-to-peer bitcoin cash ( BCH ) marketplace that’s available in every nation in the world. However, the rising fees on networks such as bitcoin ( BTC ) or ethereum ( ETH ) mean the respective crypto assets may eventually become less accessible

The U.S. government is reportedly concerned that China’s digital yuan could threaten the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s dominant reserve currency. Officials at the Treasury, State Department, Pentagon, and National Security Council are increasing their efforts to understand the implications of China’s central bank digital currency. Digital Yuan Could Be a Threat to US Dollar The U.S. government is reportedly increasing scrutiny of China’s digital yuan. Some government officials are concerned that the Chinese central bank digital currency “could kick off a long-term bid to topple the dollar as the world’s dominant reserve currency,” Bloomberg reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. Officials at the Treasury, State Department, Pentagon, and National Security Council are strengthening their efforts to understand the potential implications of China’s digital currency. Particularly, they want to understand how the digital yuan will be distributed and whether it cou

The price of bitcoin has crossed a new all-time high (ATH) on Tuesday, as the leading crypto asset has jumped to $63,275 per unit during the early morning trading sessions (EST). At the time of publication, the entire market economy with over 9,203 cryptos is valued at $2.153 trillion with $164 billion in global trade volume . Bitcoin Price Touches New Highs Bitcoin ( BTC ) has finally crossed the psychological resistance at the $60k mark and even brushed past the last all-time price high. At around 5 a.m. (EST), bitcoin’s price jumped to a new ATH reaching $63,275 per BTC . At the time of writing, BTC is just under the $63k handle and has a market valuation of around $1.177 trillion today. That’s approximately 54% of the entire $2.153 trillion crypto market economy, while ethereum ( ETH ) captures 11.9% on Tuesday. Top five crypto asset markets on April 13, 2021. Ethereum is swapping for $2,225 per ETH and has a market valuation of around $256 billion. The forerunner today is

TIME Magazine will be holding bitcoin on its balance sheet, the company’s president has confirmed. TIME is also partnering with Grayscale Investments to produce a video series on cryptocurrency and has agreed to be paid in bitcoin. TIME Magazine Will Hold Bitcoin on Balance Sheet TIME Magazine has partnered with Grayscale Investments to produce a crypto video series. The company will be paid in bitcoin and has committed to keeping the cryptocurrency on its balance sheet. Founded in 1923, TIME Magazine provides guides for current affairs, politics, business, health, science, and entertainment. Published biweekly, the company says every week over 20 million subscribers worldwide turn to its magazine for exclusive coverage. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein tweeted Monday explaining that the videos explaining the crypto space will come out in the summer. He also confirmed that Keith Grossman, President of TIME, has agreed to take his payment in bitcoin and will hold BTC on the balan

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, formerly BitMax, an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the listing of the OptionRoom Token (ROOM) under the pair USDT/ROOM on Apr 13 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. OptionRoom is a user-governed oracle and forecast protocol built on Polkadot. OptionRoom can serve as an OaaS — Oracle as a Service where oracle requests are solved by governance. Oracle requests cost a fee and a solution incentive paid in ROOM, rewarded to request solvers. OptionRoom allows users to create and participate in event derivatives pegged to real-world outcomes by governance consensus. OptionRoom’s mission is to create a self-reliant protocol with multiple use cases powered by the community. By rewarding honest protocol participants and punishing bad actors, OptionRoom aims to create a governance that is pegged to the real world without relying on outside data streams. OptionRoom has three critical distinguishing produc

The Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela (GNB) is known for having a tough stance against crypto mining rig counterfeits, as several operations have been assigned to combat the issues over the last few months. This time, the Venezuelan authorities seized 76 mining rigs after allegedly detecting inconsistencies in the transport documentation. Rigs Are Presumably ASIC Miners According to a press note published by the GNB, the procedure took place in a checkpoint on the Bolivar state, specifically in the Puente Angostura. An individual transported the bitcoin ( BTC ) mining equipment on a Ford vehicle Triton, and he was stopped by the military units in a routine check procedure, stated the authorities. However, the Bolivarian National Guard detected some “inconsistences in the documentation” required to transport the crypto mining rigs legally. Members of the military then proceeded to seize the 76 pieces of bitcoin mining equipment, as they suspected the documentation didn’t com

On April 12, the international provider of colocation services for low-carbon cryptocurrency mining Bitriver announced it is launching a pre-sale of tokens backed by 100 megawatts (MW) of mining power in Siberia. The ERC20 tokens called “bitriver token (BTR)” will represent a single watt-hour (Wh) of Bitriver’s power in Bratsk. A Low-Carbon Crypto Mining Token The blockchain and mining firm Bitriver announced the organization is launching the public sale for its new tokens called “ bitriver token (BTR) ” on April 19, 2021. Each token represents a single watt-hour (Wh) of Bitriver’s low-carbon cryptocurrency mining power and the tokens will have utility as well. According to the company’s announcement, the tokens will be able to be used to pay for Bitriver’s colocation services and “will be bought back by Bitriver at original listing price after a five-year period.” Right now BTR is available to pre-sale investors with a minimum order quantity of 100,000 BTR tokens per order. As f

Spanish authorities are enforcing their tough stance on the cryptocurrency industry, and the national tax agency seems to be taking it very seriously. Now, the Hacienda issued 14,800 warning letters to Spaniards under their watch for allegedly having failed or need to declare crypto holdings. Fines Could Be ‘Over $5,900’ if a Crypto Holder Fails to Declare Mandatory Tax Filings According to Telemadrid , Spain’s tax agency was clear on making cryptos taxable, and notifications have already arrived to their correspondent receivers. Spanish crypto holders should declare their earnings in the tax filings, and if they fail to do it, Hacienda said they could incur fines of over 5,000 euros ($5,900). However, Hacienda clarified domestic crypto holders are not accountable for their crypto buying operations, but only the profitable sales. Experts quoted by the local media outlet explained that Spaniards should declare profitable sale operations “made over 2020” on this occasion: Either b

Gambling may be no stranger to the blockchain, but poker’s appeal amongst players has only expanded further as poker sites embrace bitcoin and Covid-19 moves gameplay increasingly online. Famed Game Puts Spotlight on Varied Blockchain Use Cases Although online betting and gaming were already widely popular before the emergence of blockchain, as the technology has played a pivotal role in gaming’s ongoing transition. Online poker was one of the earliest games to join the blockchain framework due to the inherent fairness and equity that accompanies distributed ledger technology, not to mention the legal woes it faced. Users from all over the world could join these platforms and verifiably trust that their funds would be kept safe. The discretion of using bitcoin to transact didn’t hurt either, given the anonymous nature of this payment method, allowing players restricted by regulation and geography to participate. Bitcoin and blockchain have become a mainstay of the poker ecosyste

PRESS RELEASE. Jorge de los Santos is the man behind Euler.Tools, a platform that wants to change how people analyze the blockchain industry by providing an all-encompassing view of crypto paired with an easy to use interface. Similar to the legendary mathematician and project’s namesake Leonard Euler, who founded graph theory and solved the Königsberg bridge problem, Euler.Tools aims to create a method for navigating a complex problem. Euler.Tools helps users find the most efficient way for users to navigate blockchain technology using educational, interactive tools. T raders have to utilise different platforms since each provide different data and offerings. Euler.Tools solves this by offering users 10 different tools that allow traders to cross examine on-chain activity, price action, and other data points to make more informed trades. Euler.Tools offer a combination of all the popular toolsets in a single interface, making blockchain technology and activity easy to understand.

This week our newsdesk covered the world’s wealthiest cryptocurrency billionaires after the American business magazine Forbes published the 2021 list of billionaires. Now it was mentioned in our report that Satoshi Nakamoto didn’t make the cut, even though Bitcoin’s inventor is one of the wealthiest people in the world. Using today’s bitcoin exchange rates, data shows that if Nakamoto has 1 million bitcoin, then the infamous creator has made it into the top twenty, as far as the world’s wealthiest billionaires are concerned. Bitcoin’s Creator Is a Member of the 1% The mysterious creator behind the Bitcoin project is unknown and there is very little information out there concerning the identity of the blockchain inventor or group of inventors. However, there is some information that the community is aware of, and it is well known that Satoshi Nakamoto helped kickstart the network and was with the community up until 2010. It is estimated that Nakamoto holds at least 750,000 to 1.1 m

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recently suspended the provision of the bank validation number (BVN) service to all fintech and third-party partners. The decision means non-banks entities include crypto startups “have lost one of the most comprehensive means of identity verification in the country.” New Identification System Before the latest decision, the CBN accepted the use of the BVN alongside any other acceptable identity documents for KYC purposes. According to the apex bank, this service helped to “check risk and determine whether or not there is an element of money laundering, fraud and other corruption-related activities.” However, as one local media report explains, the central bank’s sudden decision may be linked to the Federal government’s determination to change Nigeria’s identification system. The report says: Over the last few months, the Federal government has been changing the unique means of identification of all agencies, parastatal and industries to Nat

While bitcoin’s price has been consolidating for quite some time now, every now and then bulls have tried to press the price past the psychological all-time high captured in March. Meanwhile, a few bitcoiners have been saying that the bull market is “just getting started” even though the price has multiplied in value quite a bit. The financial entrepreneur Dave Levine has a bone to pick with these statements, after he insists the bottom was back in December 2018. Levine wholeheartedly believes, as far as the bull run is concerned, “it’s year 3 of the bull; the top of the 7th inning.” Searching for the Elusive Bitcoin Bottom and Top It’s only natural for a large group of investors who have been watching an asset rise relentlessly believe that the asset will continue its upward trajectory for a very long time. Of course, many crypto proponents are all about the ‘long game’ and are willing to hold their crypto assets for 5, 10, and even 20 years or longer. There’s also a great number o