Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Financial giant Nomura’s digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has announced the launch of its Bitcoin Adoption Fund to provide “long-only exposure to bitcoin whilst being one of the most cost-effective and secure investment solutions.” Laser Digital’s Bitcoin Adoption Fund Nomura’s digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, announced the launch of its Bitcoin Adoption Fund on Tuesday. Nomura Group is Japan’s largest investment bank and brokerage group. The announcement explains that Bitcoin Adoption Fund will be the first in a range of digital adoption investment solutions that Laser Digital Asset Management will bring to the market. Laser Digital emphasized: The Laser Digital Bitcoin Adoption Fund provides long-only exposure to bitcoin whilst being one of the most cost-effective and secure investment solutions. “To secure the fund’s assets, Laser will use Komainu , which was founded in 2018 by Nomura, Ledger, and Coinshares and delivers a regulated custody solution for ins

A registered broker and former investment banker with financial giant Deutsche Bank has pleaded guilty to defrauding investors into a fraudulent crypto fund. He is facing up to 30 years in prison and will be required to pay restitution of more than $1.5 million, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Ex-Deutsche Bank Investment Banker Pleads Guilty The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that Rashawn Russell has pleaded guilty to “participating in a scheme to defraud clients of the R3 Crypto Fund,” a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment fund that he operated. Russell, who was formerly an investment banker and registered broker with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), was charged in April. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York explained: When sentenced, Russell faces up to 30 years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, Russell will be required to pay restitution in the amount of more than $1.5 million. “Russell lev

The world’s debt has surged to a record high level in the second quarter, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF). The increase has also helped lift the global debt-to-GDP ratio which had been declining for seven quarters but is now projected to reach 337% by the end of this year. Major Markets Behind Latest Surge in Global Debt, Slower Growth and Inflation Cause Debt Ratio Rise Global debt has hit a record $307 trillion in Q2 of 2023, jumping by $10 trillion in the first half of the year despite rising interest rates that have been curbing bank credit, Reuters and Bloomberg informed, quoting a report by the IIF. On Tuesday, the financial services trade group, which represents the world’s largest international banks and financial institutions, further pointed out that world debt has ballooned by a “staggering” $100 trillion over the past decade. Debt has also resumed its increase as a share of the global gross domestic product (GDP), climbing to 336% from 334% a

As artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) continue to gain prominence, the organization Defense Distributed has unveiled an experimental LLM-based agent named “Gatgpt.” The platform is being referred to as “The Digital Second Amendment,” and the LLM is trained on a combination of open-source and proprietary firearms files, texts, and datasets. Cody Wilson’s Defense Distributed Steps Into Generative AI Cody Wilson and his organization, Defense Distributed (DD), are well-known for advocating fundamental privacy rights and the right to bear arms. Wilson is also the co-creator of the now-defunct bitcoin (BTC) wallet, Dark Wallet, and the inventor of the first functional 3D-printed firearm, known as the Liberator. Now, Wilson and DD are entering the era of AI with a generative chatbot project called “ Gatgpt ,” an LLM that enhances open-source gun datasets in support of “the interests of American riflemen.” “ The Digital Second Amendment ” document hosted on t

Rollups are structures that have been designed as a way of scaling Ethereum’s capacity to process transactions and data. They group a bunch of tasks and compute them offchain, only posting the result of these transactions to Ethereum, allowing more data to be piled up on L1 (layer one). Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been pushing rollups as part of the future of Ethereum scaling since 2020, and with the proposal of Danksharding, its scaling roadmap has become rollup-centric. Rollups and the Scalability Problem Ethereum, one of the first-generation smart contracts-enabled blockchains, has been facing a scalability problem due to its limited capabilities for processing transactions and data. In its base layer, Ethereum can process approximately 15 transactions per second (TPS), which was enough in its first stages but is now insufficient given the popularity of the blockchain. Rollups attack this problem by taking part of the blockchain burden offchain, while maintaining a c

Recent data shows a single mining pool controls more than 53% of the hashrate for the cryptocurrency network Zcash. On September 19, 2023, the crypto mining pool Viabtc had 4.2 giga solutions per second (GSol/s) of Zcash’s total 7.84 GSol/s hashrate. Electric Coin Co., which oversees the Zcash project’s codebase, acknowledged the issue Tuesday, citing a “lack of finality.” Zcash Network Hashrate Faces Dominance: Industry Players and Electric Coin Co Respond Recently, chatter within crypto circles has centered on the Zcash protocol, especially after observations that Viabtc holds over 51% of the network’s entire hashrate. On September 19, 2023, at 6:49 p.m. Eastern Time, archived records reveal Viabtc’s hashrate dominating with 53.69% of the total, registering at 4.2 GSol/s out of an overall 7.84 GSol/s. Just days prior, the crypto exchange Coinbase released a “Security PSA” titled “Observed risks in Zcash mining pool distribution.” In the PSA, Coinbase detailed the prevailing iss

A judge in the U.S. has rejected a request by a lawyer who laundered $400 million from the Onecoin crypto pyramid to have a new trial. The ruling clears the path for sentencing 54-year-old Mark Scott despite a key prosecution witness admittedly lying in court. Judge Not Convinced in Onecoin Lawyer’s Innocence Despite Lies Told by Witness One of the lawyers who helped the organizers of the notorious crypto Ponzi scheme Onecoin launder money will not get a new trial despite the lies of a witness against him, the brother of Onecoin’s mastermind, “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova, Konstantin. Prosecutors claimed that Mark Scott made $50 million for setting up a phony investment fund that was used to process funds that Ignatova, still wanted by the FBI, Interpol, and Europol, took from the scam which collected $4 billion from defrauded investors around the world. Scott, a former Locke Lord partner, was found guilty in November 2019, Bloomberg reminded in a report. He used the money he rece

Citigroup has announced the creation and piloting of Citi Token Services for cash management and trade finance. “Citi Token Services will integrate tokenized deposits and smart contracts into Citi’s global network, upgrading core cash management and trade finance capabilities,” the financial giant explained. Citi Launching New Token Services Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) announced on Monday the “creation and piloting of Citi Token Services for cash management and trade finance.” The financial giant’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) explained: The service uses blockchain and smart contract technologies to deliver digital asset solutions for institutional clients. Citi Token Services will integrate tokenized deposits and smart contracts into Citi’s global network, upgrading core cash management and trade finance capabilities. “Digital asset technologies have the potential to upgrade the regulated financial system by applying new technologies to existing legal instruments and well-es

A fraud investigation of cryptocurrency exchange JPEX in Hong Kong has led to the shutdown of some trading activities on the platform, the arrest of multiple people, and increased regulatory scrutiny of the entire crypto sector. “This incident highlights the importance that when investors want to invest in virtual assets, then they must invest on platforms that are licensed,” Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee stressed. Crypto Exchange JPEX’s Troubles Continue Cryptocurrency exchange JPEX announced Monday that it has suspended some trading activities on its platform. This decision comes as the Hong Kong police persist in their investigation of the exchange. The announcement explains that users will be unable to create new orders through the platform’s Earn Trading interface. The exchange claimed that it was “negotiating with … third-party market makers to resolve the liquidity shortage.” On Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said at a news conference: This incident highl

Economist Peter Schiff has warned that the U.S. economy is headed for a tragic ending. “We’re going to have a dollar crisis and a sovereign debt crisis,” he stressed, cautioning that the Federal Reserve is “going to print money until the dollar collapses.” He added: “I think that day of reckoning is at hand.” Peter Schiff Foresees ‘Tragic Ending’ Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff issued more dire warnings about the U.S. economy and the U.S. dollar in an interview on First TV last week. Schiff explained that the current inflation we are experiencing has its origin in the 2008 financial crisis. “What the government did in response to that crisis — QE1, QE2, QE3 — all of that, plus what we did during Covid, that is the source of all this inflation. And it’s going to continue to get worse as long as we continue to run these massive deficits,” the economist explained. Noting that the U.S. is running annual budget deficits of around $2 trillion and its national debt continues to incre

New York’s financial regulator has significantly reduced the number of pre-approved cryptocurrencies that licensed crypto trading platforms can list. XRP , dogecoin, litecoin, and ethereum classic are among the coins removed from the Greenlist. The regulator also proposed new crypto guidance that “heightens risk assessment standards for coin-listing policies and tailors enhanced requirements for retail consumer-facing businesses.” New York Updates Crypto Greenlist On Monday, New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris issued an update on the department’s “ongoing initiative to strengthen DFS oversight of virtual currencies.” The DFS also published an updated list of cryptocurrencies approved for all licensees to list or custody. Any entity licensed or chartered by the DFS to conduct virtual currency (VC) business activity in New York “may list coins on the Greenlist without having a separate DFS-approved coin-listing policy,” the regulat

Bitcoin continued to trade above the $27,000 level on Tuesday, after a crossover of moving averages triggered a return of bullish sentiment. The move pushed price to a multi-week high, with the global market cap trending over 1% higher. Ethereum also extended recent gains. Bitcoin Bitcoin was once again trading above the $27,000 level on Tuesday, after moving averages crossed over in today’s session. Following a low of $26,660.56 to start the week, BTC /USD surged to a peak of $27,414.73 earlier in the day. This move has resulted in bitcoin remaining close to its strongest point since August 31, 2023, and marginally closer to a target of $28,000. One of the catalysts was that the 10-day (red) moving average moved above its 25-day (blue) counterpart. In addition to this, the relative strength index (RSI), moved past another point of resistance at the 55.00 mark. Currently, price strength is at a reading of 60.23, with a ceiling at 66.00 the next visible target for traders. Ethe

Paris-based Bubblemaps, a firm specializing in blockchain data visualization, announced on Monday that it had secured $3.2 million in seed funding from a group of investors. Bubblemaps stated that the newly acquired funds would be directed toward a mission to increase access to blockchain data, serving both individuals and institutions. Bubblemaps Raises $3.2M to Boost Blockchain Data Access Bubblemaps secured $3.2 million in a seed funding round, with INCE Capital leading the investment effort. Other contributors to the fundraising initiative included Cronos Chain, Avalanche, V3ntures, Momentum 6, Lbank, Stake Capital, and others. “We’ve successfully raised €3M to accelerate blockchain data innovation,” announced Bubblemaps on the social media platform X. The platform offers users vibrant bubble visualizations linked to onchain data for blockchains, decentralized finance (defi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Bubblemaps dubs the platform the “first supply auditing tool for defi

Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, talked about the future of cash in the context of the digital ruble pilot currently being executed in the country. Nabiullina explained that physical money was not disappearing and that the future implementation of the digital ruble was directed to offer payment options to users. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina: ‘People Should Be Able to Choose How to Make Payments’ Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, explained that the institution had no intention of eliminating cash in the context of the tests being conducted with the digital ruble, Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). In a press conference on September 15 after a meeting with the bank’s board of directors, Nabiullina explained that the institution was focused on giving Russians more choices when paying. According to Russian state-owned news outlet TASS, Nabiullina stated : Our fundamental position is that people should be able to choose how t

Details have been released about Polygon’s upcoming upgrade, Polygon 2.0. The company, known for its Ethereum scaling solutions, has introduced a few Polygon improvement proposals (PIPs) as part of its shift to a network of interconnected zero-knowledge-powered chains. Polygon 2.0 Unveiled in 3 PIPs According to the announcement , Polygon 2.0 focuses on scalability and interoperability by implementing zero-knowledge (ZK) technology. The intent of the upgrade is to transition Polygon into a network resembling the structure of the Internet. This network of ZK-powered chains seeks to enhance Ethereum’s capacity without compromising its security. “Three Polygon Improvement Proposals (PIPs) were released that lay out the specific changes that, following community endorsement, will begin to take place in early Q4 of this year,” the update details. The initial proposals concentrate on modifications to Polygon’s current Ethereum contracts, aiming to prevent inconvenience for users and dev

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin in the market, has shared his skepticism about the passing of a stablecoin law anytime soon. On Laura Shin’s podcast, Unchained, Allaire explained that, while there is a consensus about the importance of regulating stablecoins in the U.S., he doesn’t believe that the recently advanced ‘Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act’ will be signed into law. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire Skeptical About the ‘Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act’ Jeremy Allaire, CEO of stablecoin company Circle, is skeptical about the possibility of the recently advanced Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act being passed into law. On Unchained, Laura Shin’s cryptocurrency podcast, Allaire stated that, while there has been a consensus around the need for stablecoin regulation in the country, he doesn’t think this legislation will pass. The reason behind his opinion lies in the lack of definition of key subjects in the bill that, according

South Korean prosecutors and regulators are directing their attention toward reported issues concerning unregulated cryptocurrency-based over-the-counter (OTC) trading and deposit enterprises. During the third annual prosecutors’ conference, officials proposed the necessity for enhanced regulation in the crypto sphere, citing concerns that these enterprises facilitate money laundering and fraud. The Korea Customs Service estimates that unlawful cryptocurrency exchanges totaling 5.6 trillion won ($4 billion) transpired in 2022. Unregulated Crypto OTC Firms in South Korea Draw Regulatory Focus South Korean authorities are setting their focus on the crypto OTC market, according to a regional report published on Sunday. Essentially, over-the-counter (OTC) trading involves the direct buying and selling of assets, such as stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrencies, between two parties rather than on a formal exchange. OTC trades occur off-exchange and do not entail the same disclosure requiremen

After the Republican House of Representatives speaker, Kevin McCarthy, directed the House to open an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, bettors on the cryptocurrency-powered Polymarket platform have started placing bets on whether Biden will be impeached by two specific dates. Currently, bettors are wagering against impeachment on or before two specific dates: September 30, 2023, and December 31, 2023. Polymarket Bettors Predict Slim Odds for Biden’s Impeachment In both traditional and decentralized betting circles, gamblers are placing bets on whether Joe Biden will be impeached after House speaker Kevin McCarthy initiated an inquiry into Biden on September 12, 2023. McCarthy and other GOP House members contend that U.S. president Biden may have misled Americans regarding his son Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings. Specifically, Biden is accused by McCarthy and others of alleged “abuse of power, obstruction and corruption.” “I am directing our House committees to open a

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are present in Chainalysis’ 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index; Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei blames socialism for Argentina’s economic decline, and Bull Bitcoin expands to Costa Rica. Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico Among the Countries With Most Crypto Adoption Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are among the 20 countries in the world where cryptocurrencies are used most, according to the Chainalysis 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index, a yearly report that seeks to estimate the countries where the most grassroots crypto adoption is located. According to several metrics, Chainalysis estimated that India, Nigeria, and Vietnam were the three countries with the most crypto adoption in the world, as the company acknowledged that while global crypto grassroots adoption was down, it was growing in lower medium-income

PRESS RELEASE. La Jolla, California – September 18th, 2023 – Presearch is a revolutionary platform that is changing the way people search the internet. Presearch is a decentralized search engine designed to empower users, respect their privacy, and provide a better search experience. It is powered by almost 70,000 user computers (nodes) in more than 100 countries. In a world where Big Tech search engines dominate the web with monolithic force, Presearch stands apart as a user-centric, privacy-focused, and community-driven alternative. Why Presearch Matters Traditional search engines are subject to censorship, collecting vast amounts of user data, invading privacy, tracking and profiling users for profit, while controlling the world’s access to information. “The world needs a search engine that is created by the people, for the people, in a way that protects privacy, can’t be censored and runs on decentralized infrastructure to provide resilience. That’s what we’re building here w

Softbank, one of the largest investment management conglomerates in the world, is reportedly eyeing several investments in the artificial intelligence (AI) field after having paused its crypto investments. According to the Financial Times, Softbank founder and chief executive officer Masayoshi Son is prepared to put tens of billions of dollars into AI, with Microsoft-backed Openai being one of these potential opportunities. Softbank Reportedly Prepared to Invest Billions in AI Initiatives Softbank, the Japanese investment management conglomerate, is considering entering the field of artificial intelligence (AI) investments, according to reports from the Financial Times. According to two people familiar with the matter, Softbank’s founder and chief executive officer Masayoshi Son is considering putting “tens of billions of dollars” into AI-related investments, with a partnership with Microsoft-backed Openai also in the company’s sights. The company posted a net loss of $3.3 billio

A Hong Kong Legislative Council member has assured Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin that the friendly cryptocurrency policies in Hong Kong are “very stable.” In response to Buterin’s comments expressing his unfamiliarity with Hong Kong and its “complicated interaction” with Mainland China, the legislator has extended an invitation for the Ethereum co-founder to visit Hong Kong and acquire a deeper understanding of the city’s crypto regulations. Hong Kong’s Legislator Responds to Vitalik Buterin’s Crypto Policy Comments Johnny Ng, a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, has responded to the remarks by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin regarding Hong Kong’s crypto policies. Buterin cautioned crypto projects seeking to set up operations in Hong Kong at this year’s Web3 Transition Summit in Singapore which took place on Sept. 4. “Yesterday, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin shared his views on the development of virtual asset projects (cryptocurrencies project) in Hong Kong. I