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UK Regulator Extends Temporary Registrations Regime as Crypto Firms Fail to Meet AML Rules

Many companies operating with cryptocurrencies are not meeting anti-money laundering regulations, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority revealed. The government agency has extended its temporary registration scheme after facing a growing number of crypto firms that are withdrawing their applications. FCA Extends Temporary Registrations Regime Till End of March 2022 The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA ) announced Thursday it’s extending the end date of the Temporary Registrations Regime (TRR) for crypto businesses to March 31, 2022. The regulatory body pointed out that a “significantly high number” of companies are not meeting current anti-money laundering (AML) requirements which have resulted in “an unprecedented number” of entities withdrawing their applications. In a statement published on its website, the FCA noted: The extended date allows cryptoasset firms to continue to carry on business while the FCA continues with its robust assessment. Last year, the financial regul

Study Shows NFT Sales Plummeted 90% Over the Last 30 Days, NFT Wallets Dip 70%

According to a recent study, non-fungible token (NFT) sales have dive-bombed 90% since the market’s record sales on May 3. Market data shows over 130,000 NFT sales that day and 30 days later sales are down to a touch over 84,000, dropping more than 35% last month. Protos.com Study Claims ‘NFT Bubble Has Popped’ Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been all the rage in 2021 and sales continue to this day. However, a recent study published by protos.com indicates that NFT sales have been dropping and NFT sale values have plummeted as well. The report shows that last month $102 million in NFTs were sold on May 3 and the latest seven-day data shows only “$19.4 million in NFT sales were processed in the past week.” The protos.com study shows the NFT ecosystem saw a 90% drop from the May 3 high and only a few projects are continuing to sell. Weekly data via nonfungible.com Currently, projects like Cryptopunks and Hashmasks have been able to sustain sales, and market statistics from nonfu

ECB: Digital Euro to Boost Global Appeal of European Money, Fight ‘Artificial Currencies’

The digitization of traditional currencies like the euro has the potential to increase their international appeal, the European Central Bank says in a new report. A failure to offer a digital currency would endanger financial stability, ECB warns. The regulator is concerned about the prospect of tech giants dominating payments through their “artificial currencies.” Eurozone’s Central Bank Reviews Role of Euro in Light of CBDC Project The global appeal of fiat currencies depends on economic fundamentals, but some characteristics of digital money could promote their adoption beyond the issuing jurisdiction, the European Central Bank ( ECB ) has noted in a recent review of the international role of the euro. Specific design features can also incentivize non-residents to use a digital euro as a means of payment, unit of account and store of value, the regulator says. Safety is a key feature, the bank points out, as a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be a claim on the balance

Vitalik Buterin Says People Difficulties Not Technical Difficulties Slowed the Ethereum 2.0 Rollout

The cofounder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, recently discussed the highly anticipated full transition from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model to proof-of-stake (PoS) as its replacement. Buterin admitted at Hong Kong’s Startmeup HK 2021 Festival that the transition was taking too long and highlighted that it wasn’t technical problems but “related to people.” Buterin: ‘If You Build a Team, It Is Important to Know Who You Are Working With Vitalik Buterin has discussed the anticipated Ethereum 2.0 transition during the Startmeup HK 2021 Festival in Hong Kong this past week. The Ethereum cofounder detailed that he understood the changes were taking a long time and said that it was mostly people deterring the improvements. “One of the biggest problems I’ve found with our project is not the technical problems, it’s problems related with people,” Buterin said during his interview with Forkast news. “Ethereum is now in a better economic position, but it took us five years to get to whe

Data Shows BSC Dapps Lost $167 Million Last Month From Flash Loan Attacks

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) decentralized applications (dapps) have been hit with a number of flash loan attacks in recent weeks. According to collected data by Rekt, during the last 30 days BSC has lost a total of $167 million from these flash loan exploits. Flash Loan Hackers Prey on Binance Smart Chain Dapps – $167 Million Siphoned in May Flash loan attacks have become an issue for the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) as a myriad of BSC dapps were breached during the month of May. Essentially, these flash loans provide people with the ability to borrow crypto without relinquishing any collateral. The person using the flash loan leverages the method to trigger decentralized finance (defi) apps associated with oracles to sell at the desired spot price. Sometimes the hackers leverage phony ERC20s and other malicious methods during the flash loan execution to siphon defi liquidity pools. Bitcoin.com News has reported on numerous BSC flash loan attacks that have siphoned funds from projects

Binance Extends Blockade of Zimbabwean Crypto Users to Include Non-Resident Traders

Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has reportedly extended its blockade of Zimbabwean users to include non-resident citizens. As a result of the new measures, all Zimbabwean nationals are now precluded from using the Binance trading platform. Zimbabwean Nationals Blocked Prior to the introduction of this new measure, Binance apparently allowed Zimbabwean nationals with non-Zimbabwean residential addresses to access its trading platform, while those residing in-country were blocked. Still, some Zimbabwe-based crypto users were able to circumvent this blockade by installing virtual private network (VPN) apps on their devices. The new measures appear to have plugged these loopholes. In a letter addressed to one user, Binance, which recently installed former U.S. banks regulator Brian Brooks as CEO of its U.S division, refuses to divulge the reasons why it is now rigorously enforcing the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) measures against Zimbabwe. Instead, the cr

Ron Paul Wants Bitcoin Totally Legalized to Compete With Dollar and Let the People Decide

Former U.S. congressman Ron Paul says that he wants to legalize the dollar’s competition, including bitcoin, and let the people decide which money to use, not the government. “Freedom of choice will sort it out,” he said. Ron Paul Wants to Legalize Bitcoin as Money to Compete With Dollar Former presidential candidate Ron Paul discussed bitcoin as an alternative asset in an interview with Kitco News’ Michelle Makori Wednesday. Paul is an American author, physician, and retired politician. The former congressman from Texas launched The Ron Paul Liberty Report in 2015 to bring “provocative opinion and analysis to the breaking issues affecting our lives and finances,” its website details. When asked about his views on bitcoin, Paul said that he knows a lot more about precious metals being money than cryptocurrency. “I was fascinated with it for a long long time. But I’m also fascinated with what’s coming,” he opined. The former congressman added that “people ought to have as much fre

Steve Wozniak Can’t Stop Bitcoin Giveaway Scams Using His Name — Federal Law Protects Youtube

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has lost his lawsuit against Youtube over bitcoin giveaway scams using his name and image. The judge reportedly said that “Youtube and its parent, Google LLC, are protected by the federal law that shields internet platforms from responsibility for content posted by users.” Bitcoin Giveaway Scams Continue on Youtube as Steve Wozniak Loses Lawsuit Steve Wozniak has lost his lawsuit against Youtube over bitcoin giveaway scams on the video-sharing platform fraudulently using his name and image. Bloomberg conveyed that Judge Sunil R. Kulkarni of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County said in a tentative ruling Wednesday: Youtube and its parent, Google LLC, are protected by the federal law that shields internet platforms from responsibility for content posted by users. Scammers have been using Youtube to post videos claiming that famous people are giving away bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, such as ether. They promise to double the amount of bitcoin

QE Begins to Slow — Federal Reserve Reveals Winding Down of Corporate Bond Purchases

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would be winding down its corporate bond purchases and selling part of its portfolio. The central bank plans to start with exchange-traded funds and then move on to bonds as the Fed insists “sales will be gradual and orderly.” Federal Reserve Starts to Unwind QE All eyes have been on the American central bank in recent times as the Federal Reserve has started tapering back quantitative easing (QE) tactics. It’s fascinating to onlookers because an estimated 24%-30% of all the USD ever created was added to the M1 monetary system by the central bank in 2020 and 2021. Moreover, the Fed told the press at the recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings that it would take some time for tapering discussions to begin. Fed Chair Jerome Powell hasn’t discussed the recent slow down toward QE since he said the Fed wasn’t even ready to have a conversation concerning tapering back QE. The central bank followed up with these stateme

Defi Economy Is Recovering Faster Than Most Crypto Assets After Market Rout

Decentralized finance (defi) exchanges and tokens are recovering a lot faster than a great number of digital assets that lost more than 40% in value last week. Defi tokens like curve, kyber network, terra, hxro, and more have been seeing double-digit gains. On May 23, the defi economy’s aggregate total-value locked (TVL) dropped to a low of around $50 billion and has since gained $17.4 billion. Defi Economy Lifts Higher Than the Rest Defi fans are seeing the economy improve a bit after many decentralized finance tokens lost a significant amount of value during the recent market rout. However, the defi economy is picking up steam once again as a myriad of metrics show the ecosystem is healing faster than other crypto assets. TVL has jumped 34.8% since May 23, 2021. Seven-day statistics for decentralized exchanges (dex) show $19 billion swapped on dex applications like Uniswap, Sushiswap, Curve, 0x Native, and Tokenlon. Decentralized exchange (dex) volumes according to Dune Anal

Why On-Chain Governance Is Critical for Blockchain Growth and Longevity

The decentralized properties that make blockchain architecture unique can also be its Achilles heel, demonstrating the importance of bringing network governance on-chain to promote a more inclusive and democratized consensus on network upgrades. Governance Transformation Is the Key To Unlocking Decentralization’s Innovative Potential There are many bitter arguments over blockchains, whether involving how they should be run, the consensus mechanisms, implementing changes, or upgrading the frameworks. These debates have often put network communities at odds, creating schisms that eventually unfolded in hard forks. Despite the success of these consensus systems as evidenced by rising transactions and valuations, Bitcoin and Ethereum’s future could be in doubt. The term consensus has to do with everything enshrined in code for the two largest networks, like transfers of value, how much miners get paid, smart contract operations, and other basic network-coded functionality. Unfortunatel

European Union to Release Digital Wallet for Payments Next Year

The European Union (EU) will launch a digital wallet allowing citizens of any country in the bloc to make payments and access services provided by each state, also allowing for the storage of digital ID information. The wallet, which will reportedly be launched next year, could be tied in with the digital euro project, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) proposal that the ECB is still working on. European Union to Release Digital Wallet for Payments Next Year The European Union has plans to release a digital wallet that would allow its citizens to make payments across all member states with minimal friction. The wallet would be launched next year and integrate private and public services under just one app, according to a report from Reuters. The wallet would work as a sort of payments and ID vault, and would allow users to store digital equivalents of their physical permits, such as passports or driver’s licenses, integrating other state-dependent services too. Due to its char

Daymak to Launch Crypto Mining Vehicle by 2023

Daymak, a Canada-based electric vehicle company, has announced the Daymak Spiritus, an electric car that will be able to mine cryptocurrencies. According to the specs, it will also feature solar charging to lessen the load on the battery while driving. The company, which has only offered the car for 60 days, claims to have managed to get more than 350 million dollars in pre-orders. Daymak to Launch Crypto Mining Electric Car Daymak, a Toronto-based electric car company, has announced the launch of its new product, the Daymak Spiritus, a car that will feature cryptocurrency mining. According to its press release, the Daymak Spiritus will be able to mine “from Dogecoin to Bitcoin while it’s parked.” The Spiritus will include a GPU onboard that will let its users direct their mining power to harvest any cryptocurrency. While it states it will feature bitcoin mining, there is no mention of ASIC hardware anywhere in the statement. Apart from its cryptocurrency mining features, the Day

South African Crypto Exchanges Confirm Receiving Request for Client Data From Tax Collection Body

Three leading cryptocurrency exchanges from South Africa recently confirmed receiving a request for client data from the country’s revenue collector. In a joint statement, the exchanges, (namely Altcointrader, Luno, and Valr) said this request, which targets a “selection of customers”, has been made “in terms of section 46 of the (South African) Tax Administration Act.” Data Needed for Future Action Explaining the tax collector’s move to access crypto traders’ personal information, the statement says the South African Revenue Service (SARS) wants this information “as part of a tax risk assessment exercise on residents involved in “the mining, speculation and/or investment in crypto-assets.” For its part, the revenue collector says the collected data “will inform the need for future action with respect to crypto-assets.” However, according to a report , one of the approached exchanges, Valr, has since expressed its concerns with the tax collector. Its co-founder and CEO, Farzam Ehsa

SmartKey and Orange Revolutionize the Blockchain of Things

As technology moves forward, you use more and more innovations to facilitate your daily activities. The cooperation of the largest Polish telecommunications operator with the innovative BoT (Blockchain of Things) provider improves the standard of your daily life. With the use of technology provided by SmartKey, Orange’s Live Objects platform puts an end to all the problems that arise when using your devices. ORANGE POLSKA is the largest telecommunications operator in Poland, serving 14.36 million customers, and a leader of M2M. The company plays a huge role in digitalization of the country by implementation of innovative technologies on a national scale. Now, thanks to SmartKey, the Orange Live Objects leads in integrating the cities of the future in the BIoT (Blockchain IoT) model. The platform covers the core functions of the IoT (Internet of Things) project and lets you manage connected devices with the use of decentralized applications (dApps) blockchain. IoT solutions in over

Beijing to Disperse $6 Million in Digital Yuan in a Red Envelope Lottery

China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) continues to gain further ground as the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau revealed 40 million worth of the country’s digital yuan ($6.3 million) will be distributed to Chinese citizens. Beijing and China’s Central Bank Launches Digital Yuan Lottery The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau have announced a new digital yuan test for local residents. Bitcoin.com News has reported on China’s last CBDC red envelope test in the past, as the central bank has dispersed millions in digital yuan for testing. Now Beijing plans to disperse $6.3 million worth of the CBDC to citizens by giving out 200,000 digital red envelopes with 200 digital yuan each. As usual, residents can spend the digital yuan at merchants that accept the CBDC like the popular marketplace Jd.com. Residents who want to get some of the red envelopes must enter a lottery system via the Bank o

Guggenheim Registers Fund That Allows Bitcoin Exposure After CIO Calls Crypto Tulipmania, Predicts BTC Crash

Guggenheim has registered a new fund with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that could have exposure to cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin. The filing came as the asset management firm’s chief investment officer repeatedly made bearish bitcoin predictions, calling cryptocurrency Tulipmania. Guggenheim Launching Fund Which Could Have Exposure to Bitcoin Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors LLC filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Tuesday for the Guggenheim Active Allocation Fund. Guggenheim Investments has about $270 billion in total assets under management across fixed income, equity, and alternative strategies. The filing describes the fund as “a newly-organized, diversified, closed-end management investment company.” Among the investments that the new fund can invest in are “Cryptocurrency, Digital Assets, or Virtual Currency Investments.” The filing states: The fund may seek investment exposure to cryptocurr
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