Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

FTX Trading Ltd. announced the firm has closed the largest capital raise in crypto exchange history in a Series B funding round for $900 million. The financing gives FTX a valuation of around $18 billion and the crypto firm aims to expand its global presence. FTX Closes Largest Capital Raise in Crypto Exchange History FTX has seen a number of partnerships and growth in 2021 and following the firm’s Series A financing round last year, the company raised $900 million from over 60 investors for its Series B. The company details that since the last funding round, FTX revenues have increased tenfold and it now has over one million users. Investors that participated in the $900 million Series B include Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Willoughby Capital, the Paul Tudor Jones family, Izzy Englander, Alan Howard, Vaneck, Hudson River Trading, and Circle Financial. The newly injected funds will be dedicated to expansion and increasing both FTX users and products. FTX will

As Georgia seeks to bring its millennia-old wine industry into the 21st century, it is collaborating with blockchain platform Wiv to put the nation’s winemakers in front of a global audience of wine collectors, producers, and merchants. Move Brings Wines and Accompanying Provenance to Blockchain Although not well-known on the global wine stage, Georgia has a long and storied history of wine production that dates back more than 8,000 years. Much of the winemaking techniques remain unchanged for millennia, with producers still employing traditional methods that involve clay storage vessels during the maturation process, known as a kveri, instead of wooden barrels. Today, the country boasts approximately 525 grape varietals and more than 1,800 producers, with wine exports reaching 94 million bottles in 2019. To modernize the industry and engage with the growing global community of wine producers and consumers, the Georgian government has selected Wiv to bring its wine industry into t

PRESS RELEASE. 20th July 2021, SINGAPORE – Leading DeFi and NFT gaming platform Seascape Network is working with Binance NFT, enabling the integration of BSC for exclusive NFTs from their upcoming Zombie game series on the brand new Binance NFT Marketplace . Binance NFT Mystery Boxes The limited edition zombie slayer character Wichita will be exclusively available only through Binance NFT patented Mystery Boxes and will be available in 5 qualities. Higher quality NFTs are extremely rare and bring players higher rewards when using them in Seascape’s upcoming 5th game. With a finite number of the rare NFTs minted, serious players are encouraged to try and acquire them via the NFT Mystery Boxes to start staking them for competitive rewards. Seascape tops DeFi games category This news comes after a series of high points for the growing gaming network this summer. All of its DeFi games earned top 10 spots in BSC’s DeFi games category , and their original NFTs Scapes were Number

A documentary project called “Ethereum: The Infinite Garden” has raised 1,036 ether to complete its fundraising proposal. The project will use these funds to finance the first feature-length Ethereum documentary, that will cast members from the community and key individuals from the Ethereum Foundation, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The initiative aims for a 2023 release. ‘Ethereum: The Infinite Garden’ Documentary Project Gets Funded “Ethereum: The Infinite Garden,” a project that aims to produce the first documentary about how the smart contracts project was conceived, fulfilled the goal of its recent fundraising campaign. The initiative managed to raise 1,036 ether from more than 600 backers in just three days, an amount bigger than what they established as their goal in the first place (750 ether). The team is now entering the preproduction phase by establishing connections with people from the Ethereum Foundation. The project proposal states that “Ethereum:

Beleaguered Mirror Trading International (MTI) investors have been told to ignore unsolicited offers from individuals claiming to have the ability to trace and recover their missing bitcoins. This warning from the court-appointed liquidators was made after reports emerged that several MTI investors had received such bogus offers from individuals claiming to be agents for cryptocurrency organizations. Fake Agents According to a report , these so-called agents have been asking MTI investors that may be interested in their services to pay them in bitcoins. However, in his warning to investors, MTI joint liquidator Adriaan van Rooyen dismisses the agents’ claims. He said: We have information that MTI members are being contacted by people purporting to be agents with access to MTI’s database. These agents are falsely claiming they can recover bitcoin deposited by members into MTI. This is clearly yet another attempt to defraud members of the MTI. Only the provisional liquidators have a

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has asked the regulators overseeing crypto assets to “act quickly to ensure there is an appropriate U.S. regulatory framework in place” for stablecoins. U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Public Affairs announced Monday the outcome of the meeting of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convened to discuss stablecoin regulation. The meeting , which took place Monday, was joined by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). “In the meeting, participants discussed the rapid growth of stablecoins, potential uses of stablecoins as a means of payment, and potential risks to end-users, the financial system, and national security,” the announcement details, adding: The Secretary underscored the need to act quickly to ensure there is an appropriate U.S. regulatory framework in place … The PWG expects to issue recommendatio

JPMorgan says a lot of its asset and wealth management clients think cryptocurrency is an asset class and they want to invest in it. “Our job is to help them to put their money where they want to invest,” said the CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management. A Lot of JPMorgan Clients Consider Cryptocurrency an Asset Class Mary Callahan Erdoes, J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management’s CEO, talked about her firm’s approach to cryptocurrencies in an interview with Bloomberg Wealth, published Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase’s asset and wealth management line of business is one of the world’s largest investment managers and private banks, with $3.4 trillion in client assets. Erdoes, who joined the firm 20 years ago, was asked what she would do if a client came to JPMorgan and said that they wanted to invest in cryptocurrency. Specifically, she was asked: “Do you say you shouldn’t do it? do you facilitate it? or are you still evolving your position?” The chief executive replied by firs

Payments giant Mastercard has announced that its crypto card program is being enhanced for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges. The company said, “Making the process simpler will allow more banks and crypto partners the opportunity to offer their consumers the choice of paying with cryptocurrency.” Mastercard Making It Simpler to Convert Cryptocurrency to Traditional Fiat Currency Mastercard announced Tuesday that “it will enhance its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges,” making it “simpler for partners to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency.” The company elaborated: Mastercard and its partners will test this new capability to enable more banks and crypto companies to offer a card option to people wanting to spend their digital assets anywhere Mastercard is accepted. The enhancement to Mastercard’s existing crypto card program involves a suite of key partners. Evolve Bank & Trust and Metropolitan Commercial Bank will issue cards, while Upho

On July 20, the CEO of Circle Internet Financial LLC., Jeremy Allaire, published a blog post that explains the firm’s dollar-pegged stablecoin is backed by “prioritized trust, transparency, and accountability.” Allaire’s blog post follows a letter from the Centre Consortium’s accountant, Grant Thornton explaining that the stablecoin’s reserve account information matches the accompanying reserve account report, which is “correctly stated.” Circle Publishes Stablecoin Reserve Transparency Blog Post, Letter from Grant Thornton, and the Latest Reserve Attestation At the end of May, the cryptocurrency community started discussing the stablecoin usd coin (USDC) as the project’s reserve backing attestations were running late. At the time, USDC’s token issuance was swelling rapidly and at the end of the month, the Centre Consortium partner Coinbase revealed interest-bearing USDC accounts with 4% APY. A few days later, Circle disclosed that the project expanded to the Tron network, and p

An amended prospectus filed yesterday by Robinhood indicates the company is aiming to get a valuation of up to $35 billion in its upcoming IPO. The fee-free options, cryptocurrency, and stock trading service is expecting to sell up to 55 million shares and raise more than $2 billion when the IPO launches next week. Robinhood Aims for $35 Billion Valuation Robinhood, the fee-free, trade-it-all exchange, is aiming to achieve a valuation as high as $35 billion in its upcoming IPO, according to an amended prospectus filed with the SEC on Monday. The exchange, which is reportedly going public as soon as the next week, expects to sell about 55 million shares in its IPO to raise more than $2.3 billion in the process, with a share price in the range of $38 to $42. The exchange, whose self-imposed mission is to democratize access to investment products, reached a valuation of $11.7 billion last September. At the time, Robinhood raised $460 million in an extension of its Series G funding r

On Tuesday, the company that owns the brand of male grooming products, Axe, announced the launch of a dogecoin-themed and “crypto scented” body spray. The release was limited and currently, the body spray featuring the image of the cartoon Shiba Inu is no longer available to U.S. residents. ‘Much Disappointment’ — Doge-Themed Body Spray Is No Longer Available Around 1,000 lucky Americans entered a giveaway of a limited edition dogecoin-themed body spray called “The Dogecan.” The body spray was released by the brand of male grooming products, Axe, a subsidiary of the firm Unilever. Axe scents are created for young male consumers and the Dogecan product allegedly contains a “crypto scent,” which lasts up to 48 hours. We’re Going To The Moon!!!! @AXE #DogeCan 👃🏽 Thanks For The Gift @AXE #DogecoinRise 🐕🪙🚀 pic.twitter.com/a3aIyWe31w — Dogecoin Rise 🐕🪙📈🚀🌕 (@DogecoinRise) July 19, 2021 The Dogecan product was released to U.S. residents only, as Axe is branded “Lynx” i

On July 19, the CEO of the crypto financial services firm Blockfi, Zac Prince, told the public that the New Jersey Bureau of Securities has told the company to “stop accepting new BIA clients residing in New Jersey beginning July 22, 2021.” New Jersey’s acting attorney general Andrew Bruck also tweeted about the issue and said “we’ve been closely monitoring activity involving cryptocurrencies for compliance.” New Jersey’s Bureau of Securities Cracks Down on Crypto On Monday, an unpublished draft of a cease and desist order was discovered by the Forbes staff writer Michael del Castillo. The order was sent to the crypto-financial services firm Blockfi , a company that provides users with interest-bearing crypto accounts and crypto debit cards. The same day, Blockfi’s CEO Zac Prince confirmed the cease and desist order from the New Jersey Bureau of Securities (NJBoS) was real. “Late Monday evening Blockfi received an order from the New Jersey Bureau of Securities regarding Blockfi I

Most institutional investors look forward to adding digital assets to their portfolios, in spite of concerns over crypto market volatility. More than half of the respondents in a new survey conducted by Fidelity’s crypto subsidiary have revealed they already have digital asset investments. Poll Confirms Strong Institutional Interest in Digital Assets Despite the uncertain regulatory environment in the crypto space, 70% of institutional investors are likely to acquire digital assets in the near future, a study carried out for Fidelity Digital Assets has indicated. Price volatility remains a major obstacle to capital inflow, yet 90% of these respondents expect their firms and clients to buy cryptocurrency or make other crypto-related investments within the next five years. The survey has been conducted by Coalition Greenwich among 1,100 institutional investors between December last year and April 2021. High net worth investors, family offices, digital and traditional hedge funds, fin

The price of bitcoin has slid under the $30K zone on Tuesday, dipping to $29,300 per unit during the early morning trading sessions (EDT). The global cryptocurrency market capitalization of all the crypto coins in existence is $1.19 trillion as it decreased by more than 6% in the last day. Bitcoin’s Market Cap Sees $19 Billion Shaved in 24 Hours Digital currency markets have lost considerable value during the last week and seven-day stats show a number of coins have shed double-digit percentages. Bitcoin ( BTC ) is currently trading for $29,656 per unit at the time of writing, down 5% during the last 24 hours. Weekly statistics show BTC is down more than 10% and holds a $556 billion market valuation. BTC ’s market cap has shaved off $19 billion since yesterday. BTC /USD on Bitstamp on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Today, BTC commands 46.7% of the $1.19 trillion, while ethereum ( ETH ) captures 17.1%. Ethereum is swapping for $1,757 per unit, down 5.7% on Tuesday and seven-day statis

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the listing of ETL, being available to trade on the 19th July 2021 at 16:00 UTC. ETL was created by the EtherLite team, as the utility token for their borderless, decentralized network with validators and community members from all around the world. ETL will start trading with USDT and ETH pairs. What is EtherLite? EtherLite uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model as it seeks to pick off where its much larger peer, Ethereum, leaves off. In fact, EtherLite is a hard fork of Ethereum, representing a major change in the code of the larger blockchain that took place in May. EtherLite has been moving through its roadmap, which in addition to the hard fork has included an air drop and an initial exchange offering. Now it’s time for the token to hit exchanges. The EtherLite team says that ETL has been audited by “top core experts” and is poised to begin trading on exchanges in July. They are quite ambitious and are callin

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood will be featured speakers at the Bitcoin event “The B Word,” which will feature a live discussion between the three focused on how Bitcoin is perceived by the mainstream. The ₿ Word event organizer announced Monday that Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk will be a featured speaker, along with Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Ark Investment Management (Ark Invest) CEO Cathie Wood. The event is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 21. It will feature a live discussion with Musk, Dorsey, and Wood. Musk and Dorsey initially agreed to have a discussion about Bitcoin at The ₿ Word event in June. Dorsey tweeted to Musk at the time: “Let’s you and I have a conversation at the event. You can share all your curiosities.” According to the event website, “The ₿ Word is a Bitcoin-focused initiative that aims to demystify and destigmatize mainstream narratives about Bitcoin, explain how institution

The Zimbabwean government recently revealed its intention to widen the definition of securities to include virtual asset service providers (VASPs). According to a document released by the cabinet, the proposed inclusion of VASPs into the category of defined securities will be made possible via the amendment of the Securities and Exchange Act. The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Factor According to one local report , it is this amended law that will “enable Zimbabwe’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SECZ) to come up with regulations to supervise the VASPs on a risk-based approach.” Similarly, the document states that Zimbabwe’s anti-money laundering law will be amended to enable authorities to deal with the possible abuse of crypto assets by bad actors. The cabinet document explains: The Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act will be amended to in order to provide for identification and assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks that may arise in