Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The popular meme-based crypto-asset dogecoin has seen phenomenal gains during the last few days. On August 16, 2021, the digital currency featuring the likeness of the Shiba Inu dog tapped an all-time high at $0.44 per token. However, the cost to send a transaction in dogecoin has jumped to that price as well on Friday. Who Let the DOGE Out? Dogecoin (DOGE) has spiked massively this week in value shocking everyone watching digital currency markets in action. DOGE jumped to a high of $0.44 per unit on Friday morning at 9:45 a.m. (EST). At 11:16 a.m. (EST), DOGE 24-hour gains have jumped to 187.22% and seven-day gains have spiked over 497.11% against the U.S. dollar. Against bitcoin ( BTC ), dogecoin has gained 465.06% this week. Meanwhile, at the same time frame, stats also show that dogecoin has gained 3,872.55% in a mere three months. 509.30% during the course of the last month, and a whopping 18,299.46% against the U.S. dollar during the last 12 months. DOGE transaction f

The Federal Reserve chairman believes that cryptocurrencies are “really vehicles for speculation” and “No one is using them for payments.” He then compared crypto to gold. His comments about cryptocurrency followed Coinbase’s direct listing on Nasdaq. Fed Chair Powell Thinks Crypto Is for Speculation Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell talked about cryptocurrency in an interview with The Economic Club of New York on Wednesday. The event took place amid Coinbase’s IPO via a direct listing on Nasdaq. With the rising popularity of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, he was asked if he was worried about the impact they may have on the economy and the ability for people to use them as payments. Firstly, “We think of them more as crypto assets,” Powell said, adding: What people call cryptocurrencies, they’re really vehicles for speculation. No one is using them for payments, for example, like the dollar. The Fed chair proceeded to compare cryptocurrency to gold in terms of how it is us

The Central bank of the Republic of Turkey has issued a cryptocurrency regulation prohibiting the use of cryptocurrencies for payments of goods and services. From the end of this month, crypto assets cannot be used directly or indirectly as a means of payment in the country and no service can be provided for this purpose. Turkish Central Bank Prohibits Crypto Use for Payments of Goods and Services The Turkish central bank (also known as CBRT or TCMB) has issued “Regulation on the Disuse of Crypto Assets in Payments.” It was published Friday in the official newspaper of the Turkish government. The central bank also announced Friday that “studies on the regulation regarding the disuse of crypto assets in payments have been completed.” The TCMB wrote: Recently, some initiatives have emerged regarding the use of these assets in payments. It is considered that their use in payments may cause non-recoverable losses for the parties to the transactions. The bank described that “Crypto

Digital currency markets have seen some slight losses on Friday morning, as a great number of cryptocurrencies saw significant gains the day prior. Bitcoin dropped to a low of $60,042 during the early morning trading sessions shedding 3% during the last 24 hours. Crypto Markets Shed Some Value After Heating Up the Day Prior Bitcoin ( BTC ) has dropped in value during the most recent trading sessions, as the price per BTC slid from $63,299 to $60,042 losing 5% in value. However, the price rebounded a hair and currently, BTC is exchanging hands between $60,900 to $61,100 per unit. BTC /USD on Friday, April 16, 2021, on Bitstamp. BTC is still up 3.86% today and 2.52% for the month. The second-largest market cap is ethereum ( ETH ) today and each coin is swapping for $2,374 per unit. ETH touched a high during Thursday evening’s trading sessions at $2,532 per ether. ETH /USD on Friday, April 16, 2021, on Deribit. Binance coin ( BNB ) is down over 5% today, as it was trading f

Bitcoin mining could be a proper asset to solve one of the significant issues in the Ukrainian energy sector: spending. A financial expert praised the recent push given by Ukraine’s government to nuclear-powered crypto mining across the nation. Crypto Mining Can ‘Smooth out’ Fluctuations in Consumption, Says Expert During an interview with Inshe , Alexei Mushak, an economic advisor to the former Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, Ukraine needs bitcoin ( BTC ) miners, but most importantly, to take advantage of the nuclear power plants that favor smooth operations while helping to save costs. He explained: Modern equipment (ASIC miners) can turn on or off in the space of a minute. Crypto mining can smooth out fluctuations in consumption and generation [at nuclear power plants]. Moreover, by boosting crypto mining in the country, NAEC Energoatom, the state-run company that operates Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, could have the possibility to expand its sales markets in the near fu

Earle Loxton, the cofounder of EC10 (formerly DCX Capital) the institution behind the South African crypto index fund, says plans are afoot to launch the country’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ETF is expected to offer South African institutional investors an indirect way of getting exposure to bitcoin. According to Loxton, an application for this ETF will soon be lodged with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). However, Loxton also reveals in a podcast that before proceeding with the application, EC10 alongside Easy Equities will initially prioritize finding a suitable custodian for its crypto assets. Loxton explained: To get to the level where we will be compliant with the requirements of a listed instrument, we definitely need the services of a dedicated, regulated and registered custodian. Therefore, as part of an arrangement, Easy Equities, which acquired the controlling stake in DCX Capital in 2020, will help secure the services of a custodian. This custodian wi

The past week has been busier than usual for the NFT ecosystem. Rap stars Jeezy and Riff Raff entered the NFT realm, Hoard introduced its lending platform for NFT-collateralized crypto loans, The Topps Company is dropping its Series 1 Baseball collectibles, super-quarterback Tom Brady is launching his own NFT initiative, Terra Virtua is releasing a Godzilla vs. Kong NFT line, and even Annoying Orange is NFTing. NFT-Collateralized Crypto Loans Arrive Hoard , an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace, launches a new loan platform called Pawn Shop, where you can use your NFTs as collateral to obtain crypto loans. The platform will support users as they trade, buy, sell, loan, and rent NFTs like in-game items, domain names, digital art, and more. If you own extra stablecoins and are looking for a way to generate profit from them, Hoard’s platform offers you high profits as a lender. The platform plans to gradually transition into a DAO with its own governance token, the HRD coin. The First ML

Bitcoin bull and billionaire investor Mike Novogratz has warned about cryptocurrency market volatility in a recent interview stemming from the Barron’s and Marketwatch’s “Investing in Crypto” virtual event series. In general and over the long term, Novogratz is bullish about bitcoin and companies like Coinbase remaining prosperous. Novogratz Warns of a Crypto Market ‘Washout’ Shares in Coinbase Global, Inc. ( Nasdaq: COIN ) are currently down 5% since yesterday’s opening and during the launch billionaire Mike Novogratz spoke about the San Francisco firm and the crypto-economy in general. Novogratz has been a long-time supporter of bitcoin ( BTC ) and other digital assets like ethereum ( ETH ) as well. Just recently, the crypto investment company he founded, Galaxy Digital filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund. While speaking positively about the COIN launch on Wednesday, Novogratz said the excitement woul

The CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, says that he is fascinated by cryptocurrency, believing that it could become a “great asset class.” However, he said that Blackrock has not received many inquiries from its institutional clients about having bitcoin in their portfolios. Blackrock’s CEO ‘Fascinated’ About Crypto Following Coinbase’s IPO via a direct listing on Nasdaq, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink was asked in an interview with CNBC Wednesday whether his view on cryptocurrency has changed. Blackrock is the world’s largest asset manager, with more than $8.7 trillion in assets under management. “I’m still fascinated about it,” he began. “I’m encouraged by how many people are focusing on it. I’m encouraged about the narrative. It may become a great asset class.” He emphasized, “I do believe this could become a great asset class, cryptocurrency.” However, the executive noted: “I don’t believe it’s a substitute for currencies. I think we are going to have cryptocurrenc

Crypto tax evasion is becoming a hot potato for the authorities in some Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea. A South Korean city is now actively fighting against tax evaders who are suspiciously reporting meager earnings in their filings. 511 Individuals in the Authorities’ Eyes According to Gugkje News , the authorities of Gyeongju, in North Gyeongsang Province, are aware of several possible cases of crypto tax evasion where individuals are reportedly hiding money into cryptocurrencies without reporting them before the tax authorities. As the new “Specific Financial Information Act” rules enforced the monitoring of the crypto exchanges to combat money laundering and tax evasion, Gyeongju City and the North Gyeongsang Province are cooperating with four domestic exchanges to identify the alleged tax evaders. In fact, Bithumb and Upbit are reportedly providing the data asked by the authorities to analyze possible irregularities. As of press time, 511 individuals are unde

The whistleblower and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee and subcontractor Edward Snowden has revealed he is stepping into the world of non-fungible token (NFT) assets. Moreover, 100% of the NFT sale proceeds will be donated to the Freedom of the Press Foundation. American Whistleblower Edward Snowden Mints an NFT Edward Snowden is a well known whistleblower who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) back in 2013. Snowden is a privacy advocate and has explained that he is positive about digital currencies like bitcoin ( BTC ) in the past. The whistleblower has also been critical of BTC ’s development in regard to the blockchain’s ability to scale to the masses. Edward Snowden’s “Stay Free” non-fungible token (NFT) collectible is pictured on the left and will be auctioned on April 16, 2021, via the NFT marketplace Foundation. Now Snowden has released an NFT called “ Stay Free ” and it claims to be the “only known NFT produced b

During the first week of April, Bitcoin.com News reported on the sidechain project Smart Bitcoin Cash Project (Smartbch), as the community has been very excited about this new venture. Smartbch aims to connect Ethereum’s EVM and Web3 APIs to a smart sidechain built using the Bitcoin Cash network. On April 7, 2021, Smartbch’s lead developer Wang Kui was interviewed by Satoshi’s Angels’ cofounder Cindy Wang and he explained the many benefits Smartbch will bring to the crypto ecosystem. Smartbch: Maximizing TPS With Bitcoin Cash There are many reasons why people are bullish about bitcoin cash ( BCH ), as the digital asset has been processing more transactions per day than BTC since February. Moreover, proponents like internet entrepreneur, Kim Dotcom has been telling the world about the many benefits BCH has to offer. Dotcom plans to leverage BCH for his content monetization application K.im . Furthermore, BCH supporters have been excited about the decentralized finance (defi) pr

The French multinational insurance firm AXA is now allowing clients in Switzerland to pay for services in bitcoin. The newly added support is part of the company’s “digital future” and stems from customer demand for crypto payments. AXA Supports Bitcoin Payments In Switzerland AXA has announced it is the first all-lines insurer in the country of Switzerland to accept bitcoin ( BTC ) for bill payments. At the end of 2019, AXA conducted a study and asked people 18 to 55 about what they thought about cryptocurrencies. The study had shown that many respondents already held digital currencies and others were also very interested. Covid-19 has accelerated this demand and interest, AXA notes in its announcement and therefore it is now “allowing its customers to pay their bills with bitcoin.” Soon, AXA customers will see a new payment option on bills sent by email and via invoice.inapay.ch/axa as well. Payments in bitcoin ( BTC ) can then be completed on a desktop computer or smartphone.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now has a new chairman, Gary Gensler. President Joe Biden’s pick, the MIT professor, whose classes included blockchain technology, digital currencies, and financial technology, has been confirmed by the Senate to lead the SEC. SEC Has a New Chairman President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has been confirmed by the Senate as the new chairman of the top financial regulator. The Senate voted 53-45 on Wednesday to confirm his nomination. The four commissioners at the SEC released a statement welcoming the agency’s new chairman, stating: A warm congratulations to Gary Gensler on his Senate confirmation to become Chair of the SEC … We welcome him back to public service and look forward to working together to execute our vital mission. Gensler is a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is also a co-director of Fintech@CSAIL and a senior advisor to the MIT M

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