Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

FinCEN, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, linked more than $5 billion in bitcoin transactions to the most common ransomware variants out there. The organization stated in a report issued last week that the mean average total monthly suspicious amount of ransomware transactions was $66.4 million during the first two quarters of 2021. FinCEN also determined that the most used cryptocurrency associated with these activities was bitcoin. FinCEN Dives Into Ransomware Attacks FinCEN, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, found that more than $5 billion in bitcoin transactions were linked to payments made to the top-ten most popular ransomware variants. These findings were published by the institution in a report titled “Ransomware Trends in Bank Secrecy Act Data Between January 2021 and June 2021,” which summarizes the ransomware activity during the first two quarters of the year. The report, which examines ransomware trends and their critical effect on infrastruc

Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor has suggested Nigeria and Zimbabwe issue currencies that are backed by bitcoin if they want to fix their economies. He surmised that using the bitcoin standard will end starvation and allow citizens of both countries to have a decent life. National Currencies Backed by Bitcoin In a video clip where he also addresses claims that the Bitcoin network cannot scale, Saylor suggests that if Nigeria and Zimbabwe purchase bitcoins worth $2-3 billion, they could well end the currency woes they presently face. Saylor explained: You wanna fix your country like Nigeria, or Zimbabwe? The way you fix your country is you buy $2 billion, $3 billion worth of bitcoin and you issue currency backed by the bitcoin. That is the bitcoin standard. And every one of your citizens stops starving to death. And they live a decent life. Bitcoin as ‘the Kingmaker’ Before mentioning Nigeria and Zimbabwe, Saylor, whose company now holds more than 114,000 bitcoins, also ident

PRESS RELEASE. The Floor NFT’s are fresh, hand-drawn, non-PFP (Profile Picture), artistic collectibles on the Ethereum Blockchain, crafted with love by DAHR in his pleasing cartoonish art style. Only 7777 provably rare artworks were generated from 150 traits/attributes in order to gather together a first-ever NFT condominium community. The Floor NFT spawned from the idea of wanting to give back to the world, what the NFT community has given to the founders of the project in the form of a charity based project. The Floor NFT tries to capture the rift between different classes and environments in society. In some images you have the toxic smoggy background with dilapidated buildings which vary from slums to wrecks. On the flip side, some of the Floor NFTs will feature perfect sunny backgrounds with luxurious penthouses in the foreground with diamonds and gold plated walls. With the roots of the project being focused on charity, The Floor NFT has set aside $77,777 to go to a community

Registered investment advisors (RIAs) with about $110 trillion under management can now offer their clients cryptocurrency trading through Interactive Brokers. RIAs manage portfolios of almost 61 million clients. Registered Investment Advisors Can Now Offer Cryptocurrencies to Clients Global investment firm Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR) announced Monday the launch of cryptocurrency trading for registered investment advisors (RIAs) in the U.S. This offering will enable RIAs to “trade and custody bitcoin ( BTC ), ethereum ( ETH ), litecoin ( LTC ) and bitcoin cash ( BCH ) via Paxos Trust Company on behalf of clients.” They will be able to manage their clients’ crypto holdings alongside traditional investments, including stocks, options, futures, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Nearly 14,000 investment advisors registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reported nearly 61 million clients in 2020, according to a joint study

New York Attorney General Letitia James has ordered two cryptocurrency lending platforms to shut down and requested three other platforms to answer questions regarding their activities immediately. The letters to the companies published on the attorney general’s website indicate that the two platforms are Nexo and Celsius Network. New York Cracks Down on Unregistered Crypto Lending Platforms New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James announced Monday her new efforts to crack down on unregistered cryptocurrency companies. In New York, lending platforms must register with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to operate in the state or offer products to its residents. The announcement details: Today, Attorney General James directed two of these lending platforms to immediately cease their unregistered and unlawful activities in New York and directed three other platforms to immediately provide information about their activities and products. The notice explains that crypto

Grayscale Investments has confirmed its plan to file for its bitcoin trust (GBTC) to be converted into a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). “The NYSE Arca will file a document called the 19b-4 to convert GBTC into an ETF,” said Grayscale’s official. GBTC to Become Bitcoin ETF Grayscale Investments has confirmed that it will convert its flagship product, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), into a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Jennifer Rosenthal, Grayscale’s communications director, tweeted Monday: Today, I’m happy to confirm that Grayscale will file for GBTC to be converted into an ETF as soon as there’s a clear, formal indication from the SEC. She described: “Grayscale’s position has always been clear: we are 100% committed to converting GBTC — and our product family — into ETFs, when the SEC has formally expressed their requisite comfort with the underlying bitcoin market.” The Grayscale communications director added that there are positive developments within the SEC, incl

The price of bitcoin recently jumped above the $60,000 per unit mark on October 15, and the leading crypto asset has not seen prices this high since mid-April six months ago. However, as far as the top digital assets are concerned, in terms of market capitalization, things are a whole lot different. For instance, ether tokens are worth a lot more than they were six months ago and binance coin values were higher back then than they are today. Six Months Later as Bitcoin Returns to $60K, Some Crypto Coins Trade for More Value, While Others Trade for Less On April 11, 2021, statistics from coinmarketcap.com ’s historical snapshot data show that on that day, bitcoin ( BTC ) exchanged hands for $60,204 per unit. BTC also reached an all-time high three days later on Apr 14, 2021, at $64,804 per coin that week. The data from the historical snapshot indicates that ethereum ( ETH ) was swapping for $2,157 per coin on April 11 and today, a single ether is trading for $3,761 per unit. The st

PRESS RELEASE. Blockchain Euro Project BEUROP has announced the launch of its DeFi trading and Marketing platform for cryptocurrency startups and everyday users. Monday 18th, London, England — Following the launch of it’s deflationary BEPR token, Blockchain Euro Project ( BEUROP ) is preparing to establish its first product: a DeFi crypto trading and marketing platform for developing blockchain industry startups. What is BEUROP? BEUROP is a European blockchain-powered company that focuses on making cryptocurrency startups transparent, efficient, and reliable. The company’s new flagship product is a DeFi trading & marketing platform that will help legitimize emerging companies, tokens, and blockchain projects; while offering token holders potential income, and liquidity. DeFi & Marketing Platform The BEUROP platform aims to integrate projects in the DeFi, NFT, CeFi, Gaming, and Business space into its ecosystem, while also providing benefits to regular crypto users. The

October has been a strong month for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin but a number of decentralized finance (defi) tokens have seen higher double-digit gains this past week. Moreover, non-fungible token (NFT) sales have picked up and after the total-value locked (TVL) in defi crossed $200 billion on October 5, two weeks later another $22 billion has been added to the TVL. Defi Network Tokens Polkadot, Polygon, Binance Coin, Stacks Outperform Bitcoin’s Weekly Gains Bitcoin ( BTC ) has been doing extremely well and BTC dominance has increased to 45.3% during the last week. However, a decent quantity of defi tokens from specific blockchain networks have outperformed BTC during the last week. In fact, out of all the crypto assets in existence today, nine different digital assets saw better gains than bitcoin and a great deal of them are focused on defi. Polkadot (DOT) was this week’s leader with an increase of 19.6% and those gains were followed by polygon’s (MATIC) 19.4% percentage gain

American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, one of the ‘Big Three’ credit rating agencies, has published a report that says stablecoin growth could affect securities and commercial paper (CP) markets. The agency says stablecoins could be “disruptive” and “stablecoin-related turbulence” could “transmit shocks” to other markets. Fitch Ratings: ‘Stablecoins Could Be Disruptive for CP Markets’ On Monday, the ‘Big Three’ credit agency Fitch Ratings published a report on stablecoins and the growth of these new assets. The report follows a study from Fitch that discusses El Salvador adopting bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in the country. The latest report explains that stablecoins have grown exponentially and the Fitch report’s authors highlight the growth of the popular stablecoin tether (USDT) . The study also mentions Facebook’s reported plans to launch a stablecoin crypto asset called “Diem.” “The rapid growth in stablecoins means these securities holdings are already relatively l

The governor of New York state, Kathy Hochul, has been urged by a group of local companies to deny business permits to bitcoin miners. The letter specifically asks for the “denial of permits for the Greenidge Generating Station and the Fortistar North Tonawanda Facility.” The letter also calls for the New York government to assess “proof-of-work” (PoW) digital currency mining in the state as the local businesses believe PoW mining “drastically undermines New York’s climate goals.” Local Businesses From New York Urge Governor Kathy Hochul to Impose a Statewide Bitcoin Mining Moratorium Climate change is a big deal to a number of local businesses in the state of New York as a large coalition of companies has urged governor Kathy Hochul to deny bitcoin mining permits. The coalition’s letter is backed by businesses and organizations such as Seatuck Environmental Association, Ravines Wine Cellars, Peconic Baykeeper, Nassau Hiking & Outdoor Club, NYPAN Environmental Committee, Mothers

Cryptocurrencies impact the way consumers and businesses – in the US and beyond – interact with financial institutions, the planet and one another. However, crypto remains an abstract, misunderstood concept. It’s important to understand what’s real about crypto, and how it has become a very real force driving US innovation. Like many other tech innovations … Continued The post What’s Real About Crypto? appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/S9pmNl

Emurgo, the investment arm of Cardano, has partnered one of its subsidiaries with Adanian Labs, a pan-African venture studio that is focused on building a platform where African tech start-ups can thrive and access all key resources that allow them to grow sustainably. Financial and Educational Empowerment via the Blockchain According to a statement issued by Adanian Labs, the goal of this partnership arrangement is to bring financial and educational empowerment via Cardano’s blockchain platform to the billions who lack these opportunities. “This investment is part of EMURGO Africa, a subsidiary of EMURGO ’s new $100 million Cardano ecosystem investment vehicle,” the statement details. In his comments following the announcement, John Kamara, CEO of Adanian Labs, commends the partnership arrangement which he believes will help sustain economies that have limited resources. He explained: We aim to build 300 tech-powered, impact-driven start-ups by 2025. We are passionate in our

PRESS RELEASE. CoinFLEX, a crypto futures exchange, is the first centralized exchange to launch a hybrid Automated Market Maker called AMM+. CoinFLEX will be hosting an ‘ AMM+ Arena ’ competition where users will be rewarded based on their ranking and weekly trading volume. The past two years have been an enormous period of growth for AMMs. While the AMMs are a crypto-native innovation born out of decentralized finance, CoinFLEX is the first centralized exchange (CEX) to launch an AMM for the futures market. The AMM, called AMM+ , trades directly in CoinFLEX’s perpetual futures market and offers users unique features that dramatically increase users’ capital efficiency. Specifically, users can trade with up to 10x leverage and have the option of choosing from multiple collateral types . Because the futures markets are orders of magnitude larger than the spot markets, users benefit from higher trading volume than DEX volumes. For reference, the total value locked (TVL) in Uniswa

Authorities in Belarus and the Russian Federation are taking steps to separate cryptocurrency miners from other groups of power users and deny them access to subsidized energy. This could lead to the adoption of differentiated electricity rates for businesses involved in digital coin minting activities. Cryptocurrency Miners in Russia and Belarus May Face Higher Energy Prices Entities engaged in the extraction of digital currencies in both Russia and Belarus may have to pay more for the electrical energy they need, media reports have revealed. Authorities in both countries are making changes that are likely to result in the introduction of special tariffs for this category of electricity consumers. The idea has been recently backed by the Russian Ministry of Energy. Crypto miners should not pay for the electricity they use at the rates intended for households, the head of the department Nikolai Shulginov told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week. Quoted by the busi

A court-appointed liquidator, Dewald Breytenbach of National Liquidators, recently claimed that out of the 76 bitcoins that belonged to the now-defunct South African cryptocurrency exchange, Ice3, his firm can only account for 22. Ice3’s Abrupt Shut Down The liquidator adds that the crypto exchange’s Zurich-based tech provider Merkeleon is now being asked to help unravel this mystery. These new revelations by the South African liquidator are coming some six months after Ice3 abruptly stopped processing withdrawals. At the time of the announcement, the exchange’s management claimed the decision to suspend BTC and LTC withdrawals had been taken in order to protect users. However, just a few weeks after reassuring its users, Ice3 was abruptly shut down . Some reports then attributed Ice3’s decision to cease operations to the liquidity challenges which were being experienced by the exchange. Yet, according to an explanation now being offered by a Moneyweb report, Ice3 management’s

Brazilians have brought over $4 billion of cryptocurrencies to the country, according to numbers from the Central Bank of Brazil. The commercial asset balance report presented shows that Brazilians have consistently acquired over $350 million dollars of cryptocurrencies each month since January. However, according to some analysts from the central bank, this number has the potential to reach double its worth this year. Brazilians Purchase Millions Worth of Cryptocurrencies Every Month The Central Bank of Brazil released a report that shows Brazilians have purchased more than $4 billion in cryptocurrency imports since the start of the year. The report, which shows cryptocurrencies as part of the commercial balance of goods, shows these imports have been holding over the $350 million number since January. The peak of the cryptocurrency buying spree occurred in May when crypto purchases reached $756 million during that month only. Since then, purchase numbers have decreased, reaching

Recent metrics from a variety of analytical web portals show that the quantity of bitcoin whales has been shrinking in recent times. The data indicates that the leading crypto asset has been distributed quite a bit since the price run-up started. Pods of Bitcoin Whales Shrink — Addresses With Small Quantities of Bitcoin Catch the Downward Distribution Cycle Today, data shows that bitcoin whales are shrinking and metrics from bitinfocharts.com ’s top 100 richest bitcoin addresses list compared to a whale count article Bitcoin.com News published on May 14, show things have changed. Statistics from Glassnode show that whale-sized addresses with 1,000 BTC + have dipped to the smallest amount in eight years and ten months ago. In addition to those two sites that offer onchain whale analytics, whalemap.io also implies a decline in whales (balance ≥ 1k) and a downward distribution cycle. Also, the top 100 richest bitcoin addresses from bitinfocharts.com indicate that on May 13, 2021 ,

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin of America is a popular virtual currency exchange, registered as a money services business with the United States Department of Treasury (FinCEN)(RegNum). Apart from ensuring a fast and hassle-free transaction, they are known for their customer support. Bitcoin of America recently announced their newest addition to their Bitcoin ATM machines (BTMs). Ethereum is now available to buy and sell at Bitcoin of America ATM locations. Bitcoin of America recognized the growing popularity of the cryptocurrency Ethereum and decided it was time to include it in their BTMs. To date, Bitcoin of America has 1300 plus BTMs across 31 states. Bitcoin of America also offers Bitcoin and Litecoin options online and at their BTM locations. To find a BTM you can visit their website and enter in your address to find one near you. Bitcoin of America has made several updates to their machines and services this year. In May, Bitcoin of America announced their new Universal Kiosk. Th

Hedge fund manager Michael Burry, famed for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, has confirmed that he has not been shorting cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, despite speculations that he may have. His confirmation came after he recently asked how to short crypto. Michael Burry Says He Is Not Shorting Cryptocurrencies Famous investor and founder of private investment firm Scion Asset Management, Michael Burry, confirmed to CNBC Friday that he has not been shorting bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Burry is best known for being the first investor to foresee and profit from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010. He is profiled in “The Big Short,” a book by Michael Lewis about the mortgage crisis, which was made into a movie starring Christian Bale. He told CNBC Friday: I’ve not been shorting cryptocurrencies at all. And I’m not now … I believe that cryptocurrencies are in a bubble and that most in it do not understand it well. Many people in

Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, now says bitcoin’s future is “very bright,” after predicting a “giant stock market crash” that could also tank the crypto market. He further revealed that he is waiting for the next pullback before investing more in bitcoin. Bitcoin’s Future Is ‘Very Bright,’ Says Kiyosaki Famous author and investor Robert Kiyosaki said last week that bitcoin’s future is “very bright.” Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. Kiyosaki tweeted Friday: Hooray. Bitcoin rising above $60,000. Future very bright. Celebrate yet be cautious. I am waiting for a pullback before investing more. While the famous investor has been recommending bitcoin to investors for quite some time, he predicted that a “giant stock market crash” wa

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has published its proposal for crypto regulation after “more than 75 meetings with stakeholders in government, industry, and academia,” CEO Brian Armstrong revealed. In its Digital Asset Policy Proposal, the company recommends “four core pillars to inform future U.S. regulation.” Coinbase’s Proposal for Crypto Regulation The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase published its Digital Asset Policy Proposal (DAPP) Thursday. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted: “Today we’re launching our Digital Asset Policy Proposal (DAPP) which we hope will help chart a course for clear regulation of cryptocurrency and web 3.0 in the U.S. It’s critical to bring clarity to this space and ensure America remains a financial leader.” He further shared: This is not about Coinbase — we completed more than 75 meetings with stakeholders in government, industry, and academia to help shape this proposal, and we feel it represents a consensus point of view. It’s in

U.S. citizens and financial institutions are concerned about the Biden administration’s goals to get banks to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) aggregate inflows from a customer’s bank account annually that exceed $600. Mainstream media is reporting and Big Tech’s swarm of fact-checkers have said that some lawmakers are mischaracterizing the proposal. Biden Administration’s $600 Tax Proposal Ignites Heated Debate and So-Called Fact-Checking In May, it was reported that Biden’s IRS planned to add more staff and focus on cryptocurrency exchange. The accounts stemmed from a Treasury Department report, and the department’s officials projected that during the next decade it could net $700 billion from tax offenders. The following decade later, the Treasury expects the plan to net $1.6 trillion, and the Federal entity believes those estimates are conservative. At the time of writing, the tax proposal dubbed the “ American Families Plan Tax Compliance Agenda ” is still being de