Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that he personally owns bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin. Meanwhile, his companies, Spacex and Tesla, own bitcoin. He also said that bitcoin’s energy usage “is shifting a lot more toward renewables,” and Tesla will likely resume accepting the cryptocurrency after he does more due diligence. Elon’s Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin The Bitcoin event “B Word,” which took place Wednesday, featured a live discussion with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon musk, Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood. The discussion was moderated by Steve Lee, head of Square Crypto. Responding to the question of what influenced his view on bitcoin, Musk began by outlining the benefits of the cryptocurrency. Tesla’s Technoking , who wore an evolution of money t-shirt during the live discussion, then said, “It’s got a lot of potential.” Emphasizing, “I’m not an investor,” Musk said that the only significant publicly traded stocks h

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin of America is one of the fastest growing BTM operators worldwide. GreatPlaceToWork.com recently certified the Illinois-based Bitcoin of America as an elite company to work for. A whopping 92 percent of BoA’s employees reported that they feel free to take time off from work, when necessary, while another 88 percent claim to have the necessary resources and equipment to do their jobs. Employees routinely cited “opportunities,” “teamwork,” “diversity” and “experience” as some of the strongest selling points of working at Bitcoin of America. To put those numbers into perspective, only 59 percent of employees at typical American companies consider their place of employment to be “a great place to work.” Bitcoin of America, which is registered as a money services business with the United States Department of Treasury (FinCEN)(RegNum), instead offers its employees a vastly different experience, according to the annual survey. There’s a very good reason why employe

According to the latest data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), diaspora remittances inflows to the country surged to $1.75 billion in the first six months of 2021. This figure represents a nearly 20% increase from the $1.46 billion recorded in the same period last year. 2021 Inflows Set to Surpass 2020 Total At this growth rate, Kenya’s 2021 remittances inflows appear on course to surpass the 2020 total of just over $3 billion. However, the data shows that on a monthly basis, the inflows dropped slightly from the $315 million recorded in the fifth month to almost $306 million. This drop from what is so far the highest monthly total is the only time the diaspora inflows have tapered off in 2021. In the meantime, the latest data shows that North America has now cemented its position as the key source of remittances for the East African country. For instance, in the first month of 2020, the North American diaspora’s share of total remittances was about 48% or approximately $125 m

Europe’s digital currency project has made some progress recently, with the Eurozone’s central bank moving to its next stage. Critics point, however, to the continuing lack of clarity around the design and purpose of the digital euro after a decade-long delay, if cryptocurrency is taken as a benchmark. Digital Euro to ‘Feel Like a Prepaid Card of Sorts’ A week after the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to proceed with its plan to create a digital version of the euro, experts have voiced concerns about its unclear future. On July 14, the Governing Council of the ECB approved the launch of the project’s next, “investigation phase.” The stage is going to last 24 months during which key issues regarding design and distribution should be addressed. But according to Hugo Coelho, former chief of staff to Eurogroup President Mario Centeno and partner at Forefront, “the outcome is not clear yet and might not be for a long time.” The Eurogroup is the informal but politically important me

On Wednesday, the non-fungible token (NFT) platform called Autograph, co-founded by the Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady, announced a strategic partnership with the companies Draftkings and Lionsgate. Draftkings Inc. also revealed on Wednesday that the publicly listed company is launching an NFT marketplace dedicated to NFT digital collectibles. Tom Brady’s Autograph Brings Star-Studded Lineup, Signs Deal With Lionsgate and Draftkings The company Autograph is an NFT platform that aims to meld iconic brands and well-known names from sports, entertainment, and culture into digital collectible experiences. The seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady co-founded the project, based in Los Angeles, which was revealed in mid-April. Brady has recently shown his appreciation for bitcoin and he and his wife, Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen, recently signed a long-term deal with crypto exchange FTX. On July 21, Autograph revealed the company has partnered with the entertainment firm Lionsg

In another world-first for the non-fungible token (NFT) space, Steve Job’s handwritten job application letter in its physical form and an accompanying digital NFT of the same item will go head to head in respective auctions. Auction to Expose How Collectors Value Different Formats As NFTs continue to push the boundaries of possibilities, whether introducing new, novel use cases for tokenization or adding layers of value propositions to existing physical items, the question of collector preference is set to best tested. Today, at 9:41 AM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), Rarible and Snoofa will be hosting simultaneous auctions set to last for six days featuring Steve Job’s 1973 handwritten job application in two rival formats: the original physical copy and an NFT version. The written application highlights Job’s skills and interests, underlining his experience just a year before moving to Atari, which was then just a startup in the gaming space. Rarible, an NFT marketplace for creat

The Nigerian pop artist and celebrity, Davido, recently posted several tweets endorsing ‘rapdoge,’ the so-called “first deflationary meme token fully supported by celebrities & rappers.” In one of the tweets, Davido tells his 9.5 million followers to “buy $20, $100 or $1000 worth of rap doge tokens and be ready to make some money.” Pump and Dump In a subsequent tweet , Davido, who has previously said he was thinking about starting a bitcoin trading company, asks: “Who listened to me about RapDoge?” Following the artist’s shilling of the coin on July 19, 2021, the rap doge token price surged by more than 100% as interest in the crypto grew. However, at the time of writing, rapdoge, which promoters claim to be the next big meme coin, saw its value return to pre-shilling levels. In the meantime, it seems the pop artist’s latest endorsement of a crypto asset has not gone over well with some of his followers. As a Cryptotvplus report explains, Davido’s shilling of the rapdoge tok

Opensea has become the latest non-fungible token (NFT)-focused firm to raise funds this year as the company announced raising $100 million in a Series B this week. The venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz led the Opensea financing round alongside investors like Kevin Durant, Ashton Kutcher, and Tobi Lutke. NFT Marketplace Opensea Joins the Blockchain Unicorns, Project Now Supports Polygon One of the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces today, Opensea , has announced the company has raised $100 million in a Series B funding round. Additionally, the project also announced it was expanding its features to “cross-blockchain support” and Opensea will start supporting the Polygon blockchain. The funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) puts Opensea into the unicorn status of blockchain startups with a valuation of $1.5 billion after the Series B. “At Opensea, we believe NFTs are emerging as one of the first consumer-oriented killer applications for blockchains,” the

On Wednesday, following the drop below the $30,000 region, bitcoin’s price has rebounded more than 8% since Tuesday’s low. Meanwhile, the sentiment metric recorded by the Crypto Fear and Greed Index (CFGI) is extremely low, pointing to “extreme fear” in the market. Despite being a scary term, the time is usually the best time to obtain assets for a lower price. However, data from Tradingview’s technicals show bitcoin is still in the “sell” range, while bitcoin market oscillators are more “neutral.” CFGI Sentiment Metric Reaches ‘Extreme Fear’ The price of bitcoin (BTC) tapped a low of $29,300 on July 20, 2021, and since then the price has managed to jump back above the $32,000 handle. Despite the rebound, there’s a lot of uncertainty within the crypto space as far as short-term bitcoin price predictions are concerned. BTC /USD chart shows bitcoin managed to climb back above the $32K zone on Wednesday. Some believe the price may plunge to the $20,000 zone again and others believ

According to reports stemming from investigative journalist Matthew Russell Lee, from Inner City Press, former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has violated the terms of his bail and has been taken into custody. According to the reports, the U.S. Attorney’s Office revoked Griffith’s bond because he allegedly tried to access the crypto exchange Coinbase. Report Says Virgil Griffith Violated His Bond Terms At the end of November 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) arrested the former Ethereum Foundation member Virgil Griffith for allegedly “assisting North Korea in evading sanctions.” After the Manhattan U.S. Attorney revealed the news, the cryptocurrency community erupted in outrage . A year and eight months later, Griffith was released on bail but reports from Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press note that he’s recently been taken into custody. Allegedly, Griffith violated the terms of his bail and the SDNY judge presiding o

Off the coast of the Irish Sea, humans have lived on the Isle of Man since before 6500 B.C. The island has a robust history of Viking Age treasures. According to a recent announcement from Manx National Heritage, a heritage agency located there, an amateur treasure hunter recently discovered a hoard of Viking silver on the island. U.S.-based researcher and numismatist, Dr. Kristin Bornholdt-Collins, said the unearthed Viking silver hoard was similar to today’s cryptocurrency and embodied a 1,000-year-old comparison to Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin. Viking ‘Hack’ Silver Hoard Was Modern-Day Equivalent to a Cryptocurrency Just recently, an amateur treasure hunter searching for trinkets on the Isle of Man found a hoard of Viking silver otherwise known as “hack silver.” Manx National Heritage disclosed that the stash of ancient money contained 87 silver coins, 13 pieces of silver arm-rings, and a small fraction of other numismatic artifacts. The Viking stash was discovered in April when Ka

Core Scientific, a major blockchain hosting and digital asset mining company, is going public through a merger with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. The deal values the combined company at approximately $4.3 billion. Core Scientific to List on Nasdaq Core Scientific Holding Co., one of the largest blockchain hosting and digital asset mining companies in North America, announced Wednesday its plan to go public on Nasdaq via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The crypto firm has entered into “a definitive merger agreement” with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: XPDI), a publicly traded SPAC backed by the world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock. Under the agreement, XPDI will acquire Core Scientific. The combined company is expected to operate as Core Scientific Inc. and remain a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq stock market. The announcement states: The transaction [acquisition] values the combined company at an imp

China’s first insurance policy using the digital yuan for settlement has been issued in Shenzhen, local media reported. The new product, targeting medical personnel exposed to coronavirus risks, is offered by the country’s largest insurer, Ping An. The financial giant also has fintech and healthtech entities under its umbrella. Ping An Teams Up With Bank of China to Offer Digital Yuan Insurance Policy In what has been described as another major step towards wider deployment of China’s central bank digital currency ( CBDC ), the first digital yuan-settled insurance policies have been launched in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. They come as the result of cooperation between the local subsidiary of Ping An Property Insurance and the Bank of China’s branch in the city, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported . The new insurance product is oriented towards medical staff in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district. The policy provides 300,000 yuan (over $46,000) in coverage for death resulting from C

Three U.S. senators have urged the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee to forbid American athletes from receiving or using digital yuan during the Beijing Olympics. Raising many concerns, including privacy, they warned, “Olympic athletes should be aware that the digital yuan may be used to surveil Chinese citizens and those visiting China on an unprecedented scale.” US Senators Raise Concerns About China’s Digital Yuan Three U.S. senators wrote a letter to Susanne Lyons, the chairman of the board of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Monday with concerns regarding the digital yuan. Senators Marsha Blackburn, Roger Wicker, and Cynthia Lummis wrote: “We write to express our concerns with the communist Chinese government’s plans to officially launch the Digital Currency Electronic Payment, commonly referred to as the digital yuan, prior to the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.” They clarified: Specifically, we urge the United States Olympic &am

The HOPR protocol provides network-level and metadata privacy for every kind of data exchange. Designed to be better than TOR, the mixnet protects the identity of both sender and recipient by routing data via multiple intermediate relay hops that mix traffic. Now the project launches staking with NFT rewards and you can earn over 18.25% APR. The HOPR Staking Program HOPR , the first-ever open incentivized communication mixnet where users earn tokens for running nodes, is launching a gamified staking program. The contract is available for staking deposits from July 20th, rewards will start to pay out from July 27th and the program will run for 175 days. The contract will be deployed on xDAI Chain and the staking token will be xHOPR. To stake and lock tokens you can simply send xHOPR to the contract address from the address you want to stake from. Rewards will be paid out in wxHOPR, the project’s wrapped token. The developers will also provide an interface to manage your stake, rewar

The European Commission has proposed legislation to “ensure full traceability of crypto-asset transfers, such as bitcoin,” in order to prevent and detect “their possible use for money laundering or terrorism financing.” Moreover, “anonymous crypto asset wallets will be prohibited.” New EU Rules Ban Anonymous Crypto Transactions and Wallets The European Commission presented a set of legislative proposals Tuesday aimed at strengthening the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) rules. Among the proposals is a revision of the 2015 Regulation on Transfers of Funds “to trace transfers of crypto-assets.” The proposals take into account “new and emerging challenges linked to technological innovation,” including “virtual currencies, more integrated financial flows in the Single Market and the global nature of terrorist organisations,” the Commission explained. At the heart of the proposed legislative package is the creation of a new “EU-level Anti-Money La

The Turkish government has prepared a bill designed to implement new regulations for the country’s crypto space. The legislation, which will be filed in the parliament this fall, will introduce taxation for crypto holdings and specific capital requirements for companies operating with digital assets. New Legislation to Regulate Turkey’s Crypto Market Following in the footsteps of the West, Turkey is planning to soon put its crypto space in order. The work on a draft law aiming to strengthen investor protection, prevent dirty money laundering, and improve control over cryptocurrency trading has been completed, the Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Şakir Ercan Gül announced. Quoted by the Sabah daily, Gül noted that the Turkish regulations will be similar to those that are being introduced in Western Europe and the United States, although a “little more stringent,” the official remarked, citing the country’s free-floating exchange rate regime as a factor. Speaking to the parli