Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Cryptocurrency sell-off is not a systematic concern for the Fed and does not affect Fed’s policies, two Federal Reserve Bank presidents said Wednesday. “We are all quite aware that crypto can be very volatile,” said the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Crypto Sell-off Does Not Change Fed Policy Two Federal Reserve Bank presidents have commented on the steep sell-off in cryptocurrencies Wednesday. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who firmly believes that cryptocurrency poses no threat to the U.S. dollar, said: By itself I don’t see that as a systemic concern at this point. We are all quite aware that crypto can be very volatile. Bullard said in February that whether “bitcoin price goes up or down” it “doesn’t really affect” the Fed policies. He added that the cryptocurrency is no threat to the USD because “investors want a safe haven. They want a stable store of value, and then they want to conduct their investments in that currency.” Anothe

Wells Fargo will soon offer “a professionally managed solution” for cryptocurrency to clients. “We think the cryptocurrency space has just kind of hit an evolution and maturation of its development that allows it now to be a viable investable asset,” said the president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute. Wells Fargo Getting Into Crypto Darrell Cronk, the president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute, a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, revealed his team’s crypto plans to the Insider in an interview published Wednesday. He said that his firm is in the final stages of adding an actively managed cryptocurrency investment strategy to its platform for qualified clients. The crypto research and due diligence effort are being led by Greg Maddox, head of Global Manager Research, a division of Wells Fargo Investment Institute. Emphasizing that the firm has been searching for “a professionally managed solution” for months, Cronk expects the stra

Digital currency markets have shed billions in value over the past week and during the market carnage, bitcoin haters have come out in flocks. Moreover, according to numerous crypto skeptics, bitcoin has officially died 21 times this year and this week’s downturn is sure to provide another eulogy. Bitcoin Haters Step Out to Troll Crypto Proponents On April 14, 2021, the price of bitcoin ( BTC ) tapped an all-time price high at $64,895 per unit, and then slid to a low of $30,066 a touch over a month later on May 19. That’s a percentage loss of 53% down from the high. Tesla has 💎 🙌 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 19, 2021 BTC has regained some of the losses it has taken on Wednesday morning, but is still down quite a bit from yesterday’s price highs. Market trauma like this causes numerous bitcoin haters to come out of the woodwork, as many feel the need to explain to the public that crypto is nothing more than speculative ‘tulip mania.’ On Wednesday, the bitcoin hater Nouriel

Sony, the electronics giant, has revealed a patent that would introduce bitcoin wagering in its consumer electronic products and consoles, like the Playstation system. Spectators of a game could wager about what will happen next in an e-sports competition, and odds would be calculated by a machine algorithm depending on rankings or previous match history. This could be tied to some movements Sony made earlier this year. Sony Files Patent for Bitcoin Wagering on Playstation Sony, the consumer electronics company, has revealed it filed a patent for gambling or wagering in e-sports competitions that would include bitcoin as a usable currency. The patent, which was filed back in 2019, would include a machine algorithm to calculate the odds of every bet based on the abilities of the players or in the previous match history. The filing mentions this system might be run in a slew of consumer electronic devices, mentioning Sony’s crown jewel, the PlayStation. But it also includes other s

PRESS RELEASE. Sweet’s consumer-first enterprise NFT platform now allows brands to seamlessly offer NFTs through existing online store-fronts. New York, New York – Sweet , the leading enterprise NFT solutions provider, announced the integration of its NFT distribution platform into the Shopify marketplace, empowering brands, shop owners, and IP holders to sell NFTs through existing online store-fronts. The addition of Sweet into the Shopify platform enables global retail and entertainment brands to capitalize on the growing demand for NFTs while keeping consumers in their own branded checkout experience. According to Tom Mizzone, CEO and founder of Sweet : “To date, NFTs have been primarily sold through third-party crypto marketplaces, forcing brands to make the hard choice of directing consumers to an off-brand experience. Additionally, broader consumer bases want to buy and own NFTs but are confused by complex and intimidating blockchain wallet setup, and don’t know how to get

On Wednesday, cryptocurrency markets continue to drop lower in value, as the entire crypto-economy has plunged 17% below the $2 trillion mark and now rests at $1.801 trillion. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, touched a high of $40,770 per unit at 4:48 a.m. (ET). A few hours after hitting that price range, the crypto asset tapped a low of $36,250 dropping over 11%. Cryptocurrency Markets Shed Billions, Crypto Economy Plunges Below $2 Trillion Bitcoin ( BTC ) has lost considerable value during the last few days, alongside a great number of other digital assets that have seen price drops as well. The entire crypto-economy has slid over 17% during the past 24 hours and rests under the $2 trillion range at $1.801 trillion. BTC /USD on May 19, 2021, via Bitstamp. BTC is currently exchanging hands for $37,544 per unit after tapping a low of $36,250 at around 7:30 a.m. (ET). Seven-day stats show BTC is down over 20% and 30-day records show BTC lo

To pave the way for greater adoption of non-fungible tokens and bring down the barriers hampering more widespread participation, Polygon is leveraging its parallel network’s proof-of-stake approach to reduce Ethernity Chain’s gas costs. Layer 2 Solution to Make Ethereum-Based NFTs More Accessible Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) remain the talk of the town, intriguing crypto enthusiasts and collectors alike with their value proposition for creators and unique ownership properties. Yet, despite the intrigue, the hype has also illuminated the many drawbacks of these novel tokens, primarily their steep environmental and transactional costs. For many interested parties, NFTs simply remain out of reach due to their costs. Costs in this context don’t simply refer to the price of the works being auctioned but also the accompanying gas costs, which can add hundreds of dollars to any transaction. Gas fees have been a hot topic this year, and although Ethereum has pledged to address this matter, t

Cuba has witnessed some exciting times in the last few months as far as nationwide digital currency acceptance, but the road toward this goal is still under construction. The country’s central bank recently issued a warning about the rising number of cryptocurrency-related scam cases across the island. Alleged Crypto Scams Are Mentioned in the Alert According to the notice published by the Banco Central de Cuba, citizens should be aware of the Ponzi schemes hiding under legit-looking digital asset investments. The schemes have been scamming several people across the nation, whose has been hurt by a long-lasting economic crisis. The central bank’s officers also released the names of some of the alleged scams operating without licenses in Cuba, such as Mind Capital, Mirror Trading, Arbistar, Trust Investing, Qubit Life/Qubit Tech, X-Toro, among others. Arbistar has been under the loop of the Spanish authorities, as the bogus company is accused of being a million-dollar crypto scam

A South Africa-based tax expert, David Lesperance, says with the country’s revenue collector now closing in on cryptocurrencies, holders must now take the initiative and approach South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) before it descends on them. Lesperance argues that by making the first move, cryptocurrency investors will be able to avoid the punitive penalties that SARS often imposes on tax dodgers. Crypto Taxes Inevitable In the meantime, Lesperance, in remarks that were made during a call with Bitcoin.com News, urged crypto holders to get over “the fantasy that they are not going pay taxes.” Also, in his message aimed especially at early crypto adopters, the tax expert explains how features of the public ledger work in the favor of revenue collectors like SARS. He said: Cryptocurrency based transactions are a revenue collector’s dream because everything is on the public ledger whose data cannot be changed. Lesperance, who recently delivered a presentation at a recent tax web

North Africa’s largest bank, National Bank of Egypt, joins RippleNet via LuLu International Exchange to process cross-border payments from the UAE to Egypt. The post National Bank of Egypt and LuLu International Exchange Connect Through RippleNet to Elevate Remittance Experience into Egypt appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/Rzxq2S

Chess.com, one of the most popular chess internet sites, has announced it will host a contest called “Cryptochamps,” a crypto-themed chess tournament. The event, which will be sponsored by Coinbase, will feature several important cryptocurrency personalities and will offer prizes that will be donated to charity next month. Crypto Meets Chess at Cryptochamps Chess.com , the largest chess-playing site on the internet, just announced it will host a new cryptocurrency-themed tournament called Cryptochamps. Powered by Coinbase, the online event will pit important crypto influencers and other characters against each other starting June 12. Some of the participants of the tournament include known Bitcoin influencer Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano, founder and CEO Of Optimism Jing Wang, co-founder of Paradigm Matt Huang, Coinshares CSO Meltem Demirors, Civic CEO Vinny Lingham, and the crypto podcaster Peter McCormack. The influencers will compete for a total prize of $25,000 that will be donated

PRESS RELEASE. Blockchain-backed ecosystem, the Travel Coin Project, set to challenge the status quo by leveraging the ever-growing technology. The Travel Coin project is looking like a gamechanger in the tourism industry as the blockchain-backed solution is looking to bring freedom to different stakeholders in the market. The ecosystem includes the Travel Coin token, otherwise known as TCOIN, the Travel Coin Mobile App, and the all-inclusive Travel Coin Dashboard. The comprehensiveness of the project and its versatility, especially as it allows everyone and anyone to leverage decentralization in the tourism industry, are some of the unique features of the Travel Coin project. The popularity and acceptance of blockchain technology have continued to increase over the years, as more businesses across different industries look to harness its features and benefits. The multi-billion-dollar tourism industry has also embraced the technology, with the emergence of a wide range of solutions

For quite some time now cryptocurrency traders have been leveraging bitcoin-based assets tethered to alternative blockchains. Mid-May statistics show there’s more than 299,000 bitcoin, worth over $12.8 billion today, tied to wrapped or synthetic bitcoin projects hosted on Ethereum or the Binance Smart Chain. Layer 2 and Sidechain Competitors Command $251 Million in Bitcoin Value Collateralized crypto tokens with underlying assets like fiat currencies or stocks, bonds, and commodities have been around for years now. In fact, with just fiat currencies alone, the stablecoin market valuation today is around $97.5 billion . During the last two years, bitcoin-pegged tokens have been all the rage, and a significant number of collateralized BTC is tied to alternative chains today. Bitcoin-pegged tokens are hosted on a variety of blockchains and bitcoins are also utilized in the layer 2 solution called the Lightning Network (LN) as well. The LN total-valued locked (TVL) statistics for Tues

A number of asset managers have cautioned about investing in cryptocurrencies, including UBS Wealth Management, Pimco, T. Rowe Price, and Glenmede Investment Management. “We expect more stringent policy and regulatory controls ahead for crypto as it becomes more mainstream,” said UBS. Asset Managers Caution of Crypto Investing A number of asset managers have expressed caution on cryptocurrency after the recent price swings, including UBS Wealth Management, Pimco, T. Rowe Price, and Glenmede Investment Management, the Financial Times reported Monday. UBS Wealth Management explained that the price volatility that followed the Tesla bitcoin announcement “highlights risks companies face if they take on crypto balance sheet exposure.” The bank added: We expect more stringent policy and regulatory controls ahead for crypto as it becomes more mainstream. Last week, Bitcoin News reported that UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, was exploring offering cryptocurrency services to its