Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Just recently, the onchain data and research company Glassnode published a report that introduces variations of Bitcoin’s Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) and Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Ratio. Glassnode analyst, Rafael Schultze-Kraft, explains the difference between long-term holders and short-term holders in order to analyze the behaviors of these types of investors. Assessing Bitcoin Spending Behaviour Ever since bitcoin ( BTC ) touched an all-time high at $61,782 per unit market prices have been a bit more tumultuous. Currently, BTC is hovering just above the $55k handle and it happened awfully close to the anniversary of March 12, 2020, when Bitcoin’s Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Ratio dropped to 0.88. Basically an MVRV is a calculation that divides market value by realized value every day. It can give someone a sense of what the “fair value” just might be when looking at the two combined. Researchers from Coinmetrics show that after the MVRV ratio dropp

A massive police operation took place in Istanbul, Turkey, against a Chinese gang’s crypto scam. Authorities found that criminals kidnapped 101 people and forced them to run scam operations. Scammers Tricked Hostages by Promising Them Work in a Legit ‘Crypto Investment Consultancy’ According to Demirören Haber Ajansı , Istanbul police cracked down a fake “crypto investment consultancy” agency that allegedly hired these 101 people to run the scheme. In reality, the gang turned out to be a massive criminal operation, as they held hostage the employees in villas across the city. Per the investigation, 18 Chinese nationals suspects are involved in the gang, who are computer engineers and programmers, and promised hostages a work opportunity in their scam. The scam published online ads with texts such as “hand over your virtual money to us, we will win twice and give it back to you.” The Public Security Branch Extortion Bureau Team deployed 100 police officers to crack down on the gang

The token economy is exploding, as is decentralized finance. But no matter how brilliant these new ways of controlling and building wealth may be, they are not penetrating the mainstream market the way that they should. Joshua Galloway, Founder, and CEO at Lepricon.io, a community-driven hyper-casual games platform, believes he knows why. Attacking the Mainstream Audience’s Real-Life Activities “People need to hear about blockchain as it relates to an activity that means something to them. For example, Gamers understand in-game currencies, in-app purchases, and special game items and power-ups. If these are delivered on-chain, they become tokens, swaps, and NFTs.” Galloway says that the next generation of token-financed companies must start attacking the mainstream audience’s real-life activities. He believes that gaming is the low-hanging fruit that can do this most quickly. What is Lepricon? Lepricon is a community-driven gaming platform specializing in hyper-casual prediction

As the Polkadot project enters the final phase of a strategic rollout that’s been orchestrated over the last year, prominent stakeholders Moonbeam, Acala and Centrifuge shed a light on the future of the ecosystem and how the blockchain’s infrastructure will deliver its advantages for users. Soon To Be Parachain Projects Underline Their Perspectives On Polkadot Ahead of a formal launch of the parachain functionality on the Polkadot network protocol, Zero-Knowledge Podcast host Anna Rose joined several key crypto stakeholders to discuss how this progress will transform the blockchain landscape for developers and users alike. The conversation centered primarily on how three budding projects plan to use these advances and the promise the future holds. Bringing Parachains To Life Parachains play a fundamental role in unlocking the complete functionality of the Polkadot network. As the final stage of the overall rollout proceeds, many commentators seek to compare the network with othe

New details have emerged suggesting that the Indian government will go ahead with banning cryptocurrency, in contrast to what the crypto community believes. In her latest interview regarding cryptocurrency legislation, India’s finance minister said that there will be a window for experimentation for cryptocurrency, blockchain, and fintech. Reports of India Banning Cryptocurrency The Indian crypto community is closely watching whether the government will ban cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. A cabinet note regarding cryptocurrency legislation is being finalized and will soon be submitted to the cabinet. The latest information regarding the Indian crypto ban comes from Reuters which reported Sunday night that “India will propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, fining anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets.” The publication cited an unnamed senior government official who claims to have direct knowledge of the plan. He said that bill “would criminalise pos

A new study, which was undertaken by the Slovakian internet security company Eset, finds 50% of 35 to 44-year-olds have become involved in cryptocurrencies since the pandemic. The figure, the highest for any age group, underscores the role Covid-19 restrictions had in forcing citizens from six countries into embracing crypto assets. Changed Habits and Preferences According to Eset’s press release, a total of about 10,000 consumers participated in the study, and from that figure, 2,000 came from the United States. The rest of the respondents were from the U.K., Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Brazil. As the findings of the so-called Eset Global Fintech Study suggest, the changed habits and preferences may have been prompted by the “lack of access to physical banks during the Covid-19 lockdowns.” In addition to fueling the use of cryptocurrencies, the pandemic lockdowns also contributed to the rise of banking practices that adhere to social distancing regulations. “(About) 30% of Ame

PRESS RELEASE. BitMax.io (BTMX.com), an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the listing of Gather Tokens (GTH) under the trading pair of GTH/USDT on March 15th at 10:00 a.m. EST. Gather is a platform that allows online publishers to monetize without ads and provides businesses & developers access to cheap and reliable processing power. Gather offers a cost-effective cloud computing solution for businesses’ complex computational operations. With Gather Cloud, companies can lower their costs and unlock new revenue streams. The native token of the Gather network, GTH, is used as a medium of exchange. Use cases for GTH include gas fees, network interaction charges, settlement and processing power related charges for the Gather Cloud, settlement of Gather online rewards, incentive for masternodes and staking, and E-governance for voting on the token’s future.   About BitMax.io Launched in August 2018, BitMa

DC Comics, the American comic book publisher may be getting into the non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem in the future. The company is the oldest comic book publisher in the U.S. owning characters such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. In a letter dated on March 11, 2021, DC Comics’ senior VP of legal affairs wrote a letter to freelancers that said “DC is exploring opportunities” to enter the NFT market economy. ‘DC Is Exploring Opportunities for the Distribution and Sale of Original DC Digital Art With NFTs’ A letter from DC Comics has been revealed from a report stemming from Gizmodo i09’s Rob Bricken that shows the American comic book publisher is exploring blockchain technology and more specifically non-fungible token (NFT) assets. The popular company also doesn’t want freelance artists auctioning NFT’s featuring DC Comics’ intellectual property (IP). NFT technology has gotten so popular that the trend or search term “NFT” has touched the highest point it can on Google Tre

On March 15, 2021, Mizuho Securities Co., a firm wholly-owned subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, revealed the findings of a new survey that says a great deal of stimulus money will find its way into stock markets and the cryptocurrency economy. Participants in Mizuho’s survey made less than $150k per year and estimates suspect 10% of the $380 billion in direct stimulus checks will go toward bitcoin and stocks. Mizuho Securities Survey Estimates $24 Billion from Stimulus Checks May be Used to Buy Bitcoin Japanese investment banking and securities firm, Mizuho Securities, recently surveyed 235 individuals who make less than $150,000 annually. The survey covered stimulus expenses or what they expect Americans to purchase with the direct checks. Out of the whopping $1.9 trillion relief package signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, $380 billion is appropriated for direct stimulus checks. The recently published survey says that the bank estimates around 10% or $40 billion worth of the s

Tesla has informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Elon Musk has officially changed his title to “Technoking of Tesla” and CFO Zach Kirkhorn has changed his title to “Master of Coin.” Musk is not stepping down as the CEO of Tesla, as the filing confirms that he will maintain his current position. Tesla’s SEC Filing Shows New Titles: Technoking of Tesla and Master of Coin Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla Inc., filed Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday stating that effective as of March 15: The titles of Elon Musk and Zach Kirkhorn have changed to Technoking of Tesla and Master of Coin, respectively. While his title may have changed, Elon Musk is not stepping down as the CEO of Tesla. The filing clarifies, “Elon and Zach will also maintain their respective positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.” The SEC filing does not provide an explanation of why the two executives’ titles have been

The non-fungible token (NFT) artwork and collectible ecosystem has exploded in recent months and just last week, a Beeple-crafted NFT sold for $69 million at the world-famous auction house Christie’s. As the NFT space swells, a new product has been launched called “Qonos,” a purpose-built digital display for NFT art and collectibles. The company’s initial sale sold out in less than 24 hours and the company is preparing the next shipment of products for pre-order customers. The Qonos Digital Display for NFT Art and Collectibles Initial Sale Sells Out in 24 Hours NFTs have clearly been all the rage and a great number of new non-fungible token ideas have come out of the woodwork. On March 14, Bitcoin.com’s newsdesk reported on a slew of celebrities that have entered the non-fungible token (NFT) asset economy. Well known luminaries such as NFL greats like Patrick Mahomes, and Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski, Latin superstar Ozuna, the multi-platinum recording artist Lil Pump, and the band Kings

PRESS RELEASE. NOWPayments presents a new feature for all the business-owners out there who would like to explore crypto payouts along with payments. With the mass payments solution, your cryptocurrency-savvy employees can receive their salaries in crypto. Set up a crypto payroll! Whether it’s affiliate rewards for your partners or commissions you need to send to the freelancers you hired – the efficient NOWPayments solution is perfect for these needs. Mass Payments can be beneficial for faucets, casinos, betting and e-gaming services and basically any type of projects dealing with payouts. Explore Mass Payments in cryptocurrency. The payment flow is very easy. It can be described in 3 steps: You deposit your funds into your account. You specify the addresses where the payments should go and the amounts of each payment. The service sends the funds for you immediately. What are the benefits? NOWPayments offers the lowest fees on the cryptocurrency market while supporting

Romanian authorities pursued an operation that left a person detained for the individual’s alleged involvement in a case of stealing from a cryptocurrency exchange. The investigation revealed that the unnamed trading platform company is located in the Cayman Islands. Over $620,000 Stolen During the Cyberattack According to the prosecutors of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism of Romania, the crypto exchange suffered a massive cyberattack between January 28 and 31, 2021. Although there are no significant details on the company, authorities categorized it as the “7th largest cryptocurrency operator in the world.” The unidentified man is suspected of having been caught in the heist involving over $620,000 worth of crypto. Per the official press release, prosecutors have charged him with IT fraud, money laundering, and hacking. Findings also show that the alleged hacker got access to sensitive API codes, which eventually opened the doors to the ent

While bitcoin has been gathering widespread attention with prices touching all-time highs, mainstream pundits have tried to attack the leading crypto asset for its energy consumption. It seems a new ‘bitcoin is bad for the environment’ editorial is published nearly every week by mainstream journalists, tech authors, and climate activists. This week a representative from the crypto company and dedicated mining operation, Bixen explained that it is wrong to assume that bitcoin mining is unsustainable to the global environment. Climate Activists Love to Attack Bitcoin With Washed Up Energy Arguments from Three Years Ago Ever since bitcoin (BTC) and a number of other digital assets touched fresh new price highs, the crypto assets have seen mainstream attention. Moreover, a lot of journalists and popular pundits have focused on the energy consumption the Bitcoin network leverages. This has been happening every week since BTC prices have grown hot, and it happened a lot in 2017 as well