Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

PRESS RELEASE. INTERNET CITY, DUBAI – LBank Exchange, a global digital asset trading platform, will list NBL on September 15, 2021. For all users of LBank Exchange, the NBL/ USDT trading pair will be officially available for trading at 22:00 (UTC+8) on September 15, 2021. Esports industry has grown rapidly in recent years, and now, crypto space is trying to further reshape it. As a revolutionary new BSC utility token, Nobility (NBL) focuses on disrupting the esports industry with its unique smart contract capabilities, offering the industry a fairer, more balanced, and sustainable revenue system. Nobility’s NBL token will be listed on LBank Exchange at 22:00 (UTC+8) on September 15, 2021. What is NBL? Nobility (NBL) is a revolutionary esports platform and utility token on Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It focuses on revolutionizing the esports landscape by organizing and providing tournaments with large prize pools, helping content creators earn more from playing the game they lo

A news release published by the New Jersey government web portal indicates that the cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius has been sent a cease and desist order from the New Jersey Bureau of Securities. Furthermore, the Texas State Securities Board has ordered Celsius to appear at a hearing and is also threatening with a cease and desist. Regulators are not taking too kindly to platforms that offer high-yield interest rates on various cryptocurrencies. New Jersey Regulators Send Cease & Desist to Celsius Over ‘Earn Rewards Accounts’ U.S. regulators from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), politicians , and securities watchdogs from single states have targeted centralized exchanges, decentralized finance (defi), and more specifically platforms that offer yields. In recent times, Blockfi had issues with regulators in New Jersey and Vermont , Texas, Alabama , and Kentucky . The state watchdogs had problems with the firm’s Blockfi Interest Accounts (BIA). Even Coinbase

One of the African continent’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Luno, has told its Nigerian users that it is “in the process of reinstating deposit and withdrawal functions on our platform.” According to an email that was sent to Nigerian users, this reinstatement is expected to happen “in the coming weeks.” Luno Not in Direct Communication With CBN As a report by The Guardian noted, this announcement by Luno is coming some seven months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed banks to exclude cryptocurrency entities from the banking ecosystem. Consequently, some users in Nigeria have speculated that this announcement means the CBN is about to reverse this decision. However, Owen Odia, Luno’s country manager for Nigeria, denied that this was the case. He suggested in a statement to Bitcoin.com News that the mere sending of the emails does not mean the exchange is privy to CBN discussions about the lifting of its directive to banks. The Luno manager, however, did

Laos has authorized a series of cryptocurrency mining and trading projects in the country, looking for another source of income to supplement the losses caused by the drop in tourism due to COVID-19 related measures. Six companies have been authorized to start cryptocurrency trading and mining operations in the country, according to the office of the prime minister. Laos Embraces Digital Currencies Laos has authorized mining and trading operations in its territory, contradicting policies from its central bank that issued warnings against crypto just a month before. The move comes as the small Asian nation tries to find alternative income sources to deal with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The office of the prime minister stated that six companies were now authorized to conduct cryptocurrency-related activities in the country. Now, according to reports, the government will start work to regulate these activities. Laos could also be trying to attract some of the miners oust

Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it is preparing changes to be able to work with regulators more closely. Its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, stated the company is ready to apply the needed revisions to transform the exchange into a regulated financial institution in the future. This is Binance’s answer to a series of regulatory issues it has been facing with regulators from all over the world. Binance Readies Regulator-Friendly Changes Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, has announced it is preparing changes to better fit the requirements of regulators. The statements were made by Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, in an interview with the South China Morning Post published on September 16, where he hinted at a change in how the institution will treat regulatory matters. He stated: As we run a centralized exchange , we have come to realize that we need to have a centralized entity to work well with regulators. This is a clear depar

PRESS RELEASE. Pledge Finance is launching a cross-chain decentralized finance ecosystem, purpose-built for the financial sector following a successful private round in which it raised more than $3 million. Hong Kong – Pledge Finance, an algorithm-driven, multi-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, is announcing the launch of an NFT-powered structured collateralized lending platform targeted at the traditional financial sector. The Binance Smart Chain (BSC) based platform will be fully interoperable with other public chains, meaning other DeFi platforms will be able to interact with Pledge’s numerous product and service offerings. Pledge Bridges the Gap Between DeFi and Finance Pledge Finance will include liquidity pools which will act as money markets so that users can exchange cryptocurrencies without the need for a centralized exchange. The interest rate for staking to provide liquidity to these money markets will be algorithmically fixed and determined by the supply a

The cryptocurrency-infused financial tech company Revolut has announced it has purchased a Wework office with bitcoin. Revolut detailed that the office space in Dallas, Texas will house 300 employees to prepare for the company’s U.S. expansion. Revolut Pays Bitcoin for Wework Property in Texas On September 16, 2021, Revolut, the fintech firm that offers users cryptocurrency services and aims to provide the world with a “global financial superapp” announced a deal with Wework. According to the announcement, Revolut will be leveraging the Wework workspace at 6900 Dallas Parkway in Dallas, Texas. Revolut details that the payment for the workspace was settled in bitcoin ( BTC ). The company said on Thursday: Revolut will also be Wework’s first enterprise member to sign new space using cryptocurrency, specifically bitcoin, as it establishes its largest office yet in the U.S. While the move aims to bolster Revolut’s U.S. expansion, Revolut said it is also introducing a concept called

All of the ‘Big Three’ credit agencies have said that El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin could affect the country’s credit rating in a negative manner. After both Moody’s and Fitch Ratings published reports on the matter in El Salvador, S&P Global said that the bitcoin adoption has had “immediate negative implications for its credit rating.” S&P Global Joins Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Casting Criticism Down on Salvadoran Bitcoin Adoption On August 17, 2021, Bitcoin.com News reported on Fitch Ratings detailing that El Salvador adopting bitcoin ( BTC ) as a legal currency may push the country toward “regulatory and operating risks.” Moreover, Fitch said that the adoption of bitcoin would negatively affect the insurance system in the Latin American country. Fitch Ratings’ report in August followed Moody’s downgrade in June, after the ‘Big Three’ credit agency dropped the country to a Caa1 from a B3 rating and highlighted a “deterioration in the quality of policymaking.” S&P

As the floodgates are opening for large businesses and corporations to enter the crypto market, you see increasing demand for an established digital asset management platform. Luckily, Unido is among just a few who fits these criteria, but with all the noise in the crypto space now, it is crucial to compare similar products and projects to understand the options and differences between platforms better. Among the very few options today, this article will look at Fireblocks to analyze the different product offerings against the Unido ecosystem. Fireblocks is a digital asset management platform with similar product offerings as Unido, such as Multi Party Computation (MPC), DeFi integration, DeFi APIs, complete control over governance, and a thoroughly robust security system for digital assets. Fireblocks vs. Unido Fireblocks was founded in 2018 and is an end-to-end blockchain security platform that protects, stores, transfers, and issues digital assets to the blockchain/s while usin

The Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has directed his staff to start an ethics inquiry into the financial activities of Fed members, as a number of senior central bank officials are being questioned for their investments. Reports indicated last week that the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve branch, Robert Kaplan, benefitted from “multiple million-dollar-plus stock trades” in 2020. Fed Presidents Profit From Multiple Million-Dollar Stock Deals Members of the Federal Reserve seem to have a mess to deal with as politicians and the media have called out a few members of the Fed for benefitting from major stock deals. Bitcoin.com News has reported on critics looking directly at the Fed’s members and even accusations of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell doing the same thing. Last Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article that revealed Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan “made multiple million-dollar-plus stock trades in 2020, according to a financial

U.S. Senator Margaret Hassan has requested that government agencies take “additional targeted steps to prevent and prosecute the use of cryptocurrency for criminal purposes.” She expressed her concern over “the rise in the use of cryptocurrency for criminal purposes.” US Senator Requests Agencies Take Steps to Prevent and Prosecute Use of Crypto for Criminal Purposes U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland expressing her concern about the criminal use of cryptocurrencies Thursday. Garland is the 86th U.S. attorney general, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer who leads the Department of Justice (DOJ). Senator Hasan wrote: I write to express my concern over the rise in the use of cryptocurrency for criminal purposes, and request that your agencies take additional targeted steps to prevent and prosecute the use of cryptocurrency for criminal purposes. The letter was also forwarded to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Hom

Following the successful Alonzo hard fork, the Cardano network now has a large swathe of new smart contracts. However, developers must wait to use them as they are locked in a timelock contract. At the time of writing, metrics show an aggregate total of 2,352 smart contracts since the Alonzo upgrade was implemented. Cardano Has More Than 2,300 Smart Contracts Waiting to Be Deployed The Cardano ( ADA ) network upgraded last week and since then the most topical conversation among ADA proponents is smart contracts. The use of smart contracts on the Cardano network has been a holy grail of sorts for ADA fans and even skeptics. Critics have wondered why ADA has been the third-largest crypto asset by market capitalization well before the protocol had smart contract capabilities. Meanwhile, networks like Terra, Avalanche, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and more have been gathering steam as they already have compatibility with Ethereum and smart contract benefits. Image via smartcontr

According to reports stemming from the Salvadoran Court of Accounts, the regulatory body is planning to investigate the government’s bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM) purchases and Chivo kiosk construction. The investigation follows the recent protest in El Salvador against the adoption of bitcoin as the crowd set fire to a bitcoin ATM. Human Rights Group Cristosal Files Complaint Against Nayib Bukele’s Regime On September 15, a large group of protestors took to the streets in San Salvador to protest the new bitcoin law implemented by Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele. It’s not the first time protests against the law have happened, but this time around a bitcoin ATM was set ablaze . Following the protest, El Salvador’s Court of Accounts is looking into a complaint about the Bukele regime’s bitcoin ATM buys and kiosk construction. A document was witnessed by Reuters staff and the complaint was filed by a human rights and transparency organization called Cristosal. The compla

xSigma, a blockchain R&D lab and subsidiary of ZK International (Nasdaq: ZKIN), is excited to announce the launch of their all-new, official non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, MaximNFT.com. The platform is launched in partnership with Maxim , a legendary men’s magazine available in 75 countries. The burgeoning marketplace will grant exclusive access to Maxim’s own NFT collections. Maxim’s Brand Meets xSigma’s Top Talent The partnership behind the project combines Maxim’s prestigious brand name with xSigma’s world-class software development capabilities. Maxim is a 25-year old men’s lifestyle magazine, covering the world’s finest cars, sharpest clothing, top travel destinations, and most beautiful women. Their content connects with over 10 million men across 75 countries every month, and their covers have featured dozens of female celebrities such as Shakira, Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, and more. xSigma is ZK International’s R&D lab for building blockchain-based infra

Investors in Ireland are attracted to digital opportunities offering better returns and often find them online, a new survey has indicated. According to the poll, 11% of investors have already bought a digital asset and a quarter of the young Irish are betting on cryptocurrencies. Low Interest Rates, Search for Long-Term Returns Push More Irish Investors Toward Alternatives Investors in the Republic of Ireland are exploring opportunities in the digital space and over half of the participants in a new survey, 56%, say they make investments online. A staggering 80% of the respondents do it to achieve better long-term returns on their money while almost half admit their decisions are influenced by the low interest rates in the traditional banking system. The poll, the results of which have been quoted by the national broadcaster RTE and the Irish Independent, also shows that more than one in 10 of those questioned have put money into one crypto asset or another. The share of cryptocu

The Nigerian currency, the naira, plunged to a new all-time low of N570 for every dollar on September 16, 2021. This new exchange rate means since August 17, the naira has now lost about a tenth of its value on the foreign currency black market. Naira Overvalued In spite of this plunge, which has been attributed to the biting shortage of foreign exchange, authorities insist the naira’s real exchange is unchanged at N411 for every dollar. This means forex buyers that source this commodity on the parallel market are now paying a premium of over N150. Alternatively, the new parallel market exchange rate of N570 may suggest that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now overvaluing the naira by 40%. In fact, this latter point appears to be corroborated by comments made by the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele. In his comments to a group of investors in late June 2021, Emefiele suggested at the time that the naira was overvalued by 10%. He also hinted that devaluation of the naira was in th

Avalanche, a smart contract-enabled cryptocurrency, has received a $230 million investment from a group of VC companies. The funding round, which is being described as a private sale, was led by Polychain and Three Arrows Capital, with the participation of other companies. This investment will give these companies participation in on-chain Avalanche governance and exposure to the price via token ownership. Polychain and Three Arrows Capital Put Funds in Avalanche Avalanche, one of the youngest smart contracts-enabled cryptocurrencies, has raised $230 million in a funding round led by Polychain and Three Arrows Capital, two leading VC companies. The funding round, which was categorized as a private token sale, also had the participation of R/Crypto Fund, Dragonfly, CMS Holdings, Collab+Currency, Lvna Capital, and a group of angel investors. About the interest of these venture capital companies, Emin Gun Sirer, director of the Avalanche Foundation, stated: Despite being years youn

Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has made Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2021. The programmer was listed as an innovator, and Time valued his ability to empower other creators with his continued support for Ethereum and all the things that its prime feature, smart contracts, can help them accomplish. Vitalik Buterin in Time’s Top 100 Influencers The most famous Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has been included in Time’s top 100 influential people of 2021 list. The magazine lists the most important people according to current events and specifies the unique roles of the individuals on the list. Others included for 2021 are Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, who pushed the inclusion of Bitcoin as legal tender, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who is also a cryptocurrency enthusiast. Alexios Ohanian, one of the original builders of Reddit, discussed Buterin’s inclusion this ye