Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Spain’s second-largest bank, BBVA, is opening up its bitcoin trading and custody service to all private banking clients in Switzerland in a few days. The bank has been testing the cryptocurrency service for six months. “The bitcoin management system is fully integrated” in the bank’s app, “where its performance can be viewed alongside that of the rest of the customers’ assets, funds, or investments.” BBVA’s Fully Integrated Bitcoin Service Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) announced Friday that BBVA Switzerland will open a bitcoin trading and custody service to all private banking clients on June 21. The bank has been testing this new cryptocurrency service with a selected group of clients for six months. BBVA explained: For the time being, BBVA Switzerland’s offer includes bitcoin trading and custody services, with the aim of extending it to other cryptocurrencies. The entity will not offer advice on these types of investments. BBVA explained that the new cryptoc

PRESS RELEASE. A South Korean blockchain-based community messenger “Nestree” has announced that it is launching an innovative and cutting-edge reward-based digital commerce platform called “Nestree Mall’. Nestree Mall is part of the roadmap of the blockchain platform that will expand the core business of Nestree and increase the use of its native token EGG. Reward-based Comprehensive Shopping Mall Nestree Mall is the first reward-based shopping mall for the cryptocurrency market that is designed to incentivize users. Nestree will integrate NestreeMall with its blockchain-based community messenger service to provide value to its community and EGG token holders. Nestree Mall will offer products from famous brands at competitive prices and discounts to EGG token holders. The range of the discount will be calculated according to the holder’s EGG reserves which are checked using the wallet interlocking system in the Nestree Wallet and Metamask Wallet. “Nestree Mall” introduced 6 premiu

According to regional reports, bitcoin miners in Sichuan have been told by the Ya’an municipal government that they have until June 25 to shut down operations. Sichuan has been eyed closely in recent times as it’s estimated that a large demographic of miners are situated in the region. Sichuan Ya’an Energy Bureau Tells Bitcoin Miners to Close Shop Sichuan power plants have been told to stop servicing bitcoin miners in the area according to reports stemming from the Ya’an municipal government. The regional publication Panews was told by an “insider” that the Sichuan Ya’an Energy Bureau and the Science and Technology Bureau held a meeting about the decision and came to a resolution to “clean up and rectify bitcoin mining companies in Ya’an.” Sichuan #bitcoinmining bans from 25 June. This is a poor translation, but it is the official documents. Medium to large farms will not be allowed power, smaller farms will likely be targeted later. China is done with #bitcoin for good it see

The mining company Bitfarms has revealed the firm will commence trading on Nasdaq Global Select Market starting on June 21. The firm claims to process 1% of the global hashrate and with “99% green hydroelectricity.” Bitfarms Renewable Operations to List on Nasdaq Global Select Market The Canadian bitcoin mining firm Bitfarms announced on Thursday that the company will be listed on Nasdaq on Monday, June 21. The company is already listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and leverages the ticker “BITF.” For the Nasdaq listing, the company will utilize the same ticker symbol. According to the announcement, Bitfarms has obtained DTC eligibility which essentially means shares can be deposited through DTC, the largest securities depository in the world. “Listing on Nasdaq is an important achievement for Bitfarms and is a significant milestone following multiple years of development and achievement by the company,” Bitfarms’ founder and chief executive officer Emiliano Grodzki said during the

On Thursday, McLaren Racing announced the British motor racing team selected Tezos as the organization’s official partner across the Indycar series, Formula One, and esports. Tezo will create a non-fungible token (NFT) platform for McLaren Racing in order to showcase the motorsport group’s world-class drivers and “illustrious racing heritage.” McLaren and Tezos Team up to Construct an NFT Platform The non-fungible token (NFT) economy has exploded and world-renowned automakers and motor racing teams are jumping in on the action. This week the German carmaker Porsche revealed it was launching NFT card assets called “Fanzone.” Now McLaren Racing has announced it will partner with Tezos in a multi-year technical partnership that is also focused on the NFT space. The racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England explained that Tezos and McLaren will innovate the NFT industry. “Tezos and McLaren Racing uniting to create a unique fan-focused NFT platform

Camarasal, a well known entrepreneur association in El Salvador, announced the results of a poll made this month. The poll shows almost 100% of Salvadorans worry about the implementation of the bitcoin tender law approved recently. Most criticize the obligatory character of receiving bitcoin payments and don’t expect this move to bring investment to the country. Camarasal Poll Shows Concerns About Bitcoin Tender Law Implementation A quick poll conducted by Camarasal, one of the biggest entrepreneur groups in El Salvador, is showing people have deep concerns about the future application of the Bitcoin Law . The poll got more than 1,600 answers in just four days from entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Camarasal president Jorge Hasbún stated on the massive participation that: We believe that this excellent response is a reflection of how urgent this issue is for Salvadorans, in the sense of the implications it will have for the family economy on a day-to-day basis. More than 96%

PRESS RELEASE. Singapore – A fast-growing cryptocurrency trading platform, MCS ( https://mycoinstory.com ), which offers a variety of inverse and quanto perpetual contracts, has announced to launch a trading competition from June 23, 2021 to July 7, 2021 to celebrate its one year anniversary and introduction of their native token. The registration begins June 15, 2021. The ‘MCS Day! Trading Competition’ is comprised of a prize pool of 30,000 USDT and 1 million MCS tokens. The competition is applied to all inverse and quanto perpetual contracts on the MCS trading platform. The prize pool is split between traders with the highest profit rates and the highest trading volume. This competition remarks its uniqueness by airdropping the MCS token. MCS token is a CeFi & DeFi token that will be used for the upcoming DeFi services and the MCS trading platform. The stability of the MCS token has been thoroughly audited by Certik, a global blockchain and cryptocurrency security company,

In the latest twist to the Mirror Trading International liquidation saga, Clynton Marks, a co-owner of the bitcoin Ponzi outfit, has opposed attempts to have a court grant a final liquidation order. Marks, who reportedly owned 50% of MTI, argues that the liquidation application was “premature” and that liquidators may “not have the members’ best interests at heart.” The Argument Against Liquidation As explained in a Mybroadband report , Marks, who recently battled a team of MTI liquidators in a South African court, argues that the liquidation notification process was not properly carried out. Marks asserts that he and his wife, Cheri Marks (Head of Communications for MTI), were supposed to be served with the notice. In addition, the MTI co-founder says that the recovery of 1,200 bitcoins belonging to MTI from FX Choice nullifies the liquidators’ insolvency argument. In their statement to Mybroadband, the Markses added: MTI is a solvent company and any chance of members (however

Billionaire investor and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban has called for cryptocurrency regulation focusing on decentralized finance (defi) and stablecoins after a token he invested in collapsed from $64 to near zero. Cuban Wants Defi and Stablecoin Regulation After Investing in Collapsed Token The billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, invested in a token that crashed from about $64 to near zero Wednesday. Iron Finance called the collapse of its iron titanium token (TITAN) “the world’s first large-scale crypto bank run.” The price of the token is $0.000000029585 at the time of writing. Responding to a tweet asking whether he “rugged” or “got rugged” on Iron Finance’s token, Cuban wrote: “I got hit like everyone else. Crazy part is I got out, thought they were increasing their TVL [Total Value Locked] enough. Then bam.” The billionaire investor has been fascinated by defi for quite some time. He wrote a blog post on June 13 touting the potential of defi innov

Antivirus tycoon John McAfee says he has no hidden cryptocurrencies, no assets left as there were all seized by the Feds, no friends, and no regrets. He has shared his story from prison, where he says he has “never felt more free.” McAfee Says He Has No Cryptocurrencies, No Assets, No Friends but Also No Regrets John McAfee is still in a Spanish prison after he was arrested in October last year. He was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with fraudulently pumping initial coin offerings (ICOs) and was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for “tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns,” fraud, and money laundering conspiracy crimes. Early this month, the National Court of Spain suspended his extradition hearing. McAfee tweeted from prison Wednesday: The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized. My f

Actor and bitcoin investor Neil Patrick Harris has partnered with a leading cryptocurrency ATM operator to help people see “how easy and accessible it is to invest in cryptocurrency and join the future of finance.” Harris also shared how he got into bitcoin. Neil Patrick Harris Partners With Bitcoin ATM Operator Coinflip Coinflip, one of the largest cryptocurrency ATM operators, announced Tuesday a partnership with actor and long-time crypto investor Neil Patrick Harris, to launch a marketing campaign with the actor as the spokesperson. Founded in 2015, Coinflip currently operates over 2,200 cryptocurrency ATMs across 47 U.S. states supporting the buying and selling of nine cryptocurrencies with cash. Harris is best known for his TV roles in “Doogie Howser M.D.” and “How I Met Your Mother,” although he has over 100 acting credits under his belt, including movies like “Starship Troopers” and the “Harold & Kumar” franchise. Also famous for starring in 12 broadway productions, he

Yield Guild Games, an online gaming guild, has raised $4 million to power its play-to-earn proposal in a Series A funding round. The funding round was led by Bitkraft, a venture capital company specializing in e-sports investments. Other blockchain and crypto-related companies also participated. The company plans to include more gamers in its activities with these new funds. Yield Guild Games Raises $4 Million in Series A Funding Round Yield Guild Games, an online gaming guild, has managed to raise $4 million in its series A funding round, according to a company blog post. The round was led by Bitkraft , an e-sports and interactive world venture capital fund. The funding round also saw participation from Atelier Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Greenfield One, IDEO CoLab, Mechanism Capital, ParaFi Capital, and Third Prime Capital. With these funds, Yield Guild Games plans to further deepen its sponsorship of players. This will enhance its play-to-earn proposal. Yield Guild Game’s busine

PRESS RELEASE. DeFi11, a decentralized gaming ecosystem, is introducing major changes to both revamp the platform and make it fairer to users as part of an expansion fuelled by recent funding. 17th June 2021, New Delhi, India – Fantasy sports have gained massive popularity in recent years. The market is expected to grow by 7% by 2024. However, a lack of regulation has allowed companies to exploit users. Many fantasy sports and virtual gaming platforms have been accused of publishing false volumes, creating fake winners, and misusing user data. DeFi11 was created to stop these unfair practices, providing a safe platform for the users. Powered by blockchain, DeFi11 eliminates centralization and maintains user privacy. In addition, DeFi11 will tokenize gaming assets using non-fungible tokens (NFTs), allowing users to access features like liquidity pools, prediction-based smart contracts, and staking. Touted as the first DeFi-powered fully decentralized gaming ecosystem in the worl

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently seeking additional commentary from the public, as the regulating body ponders the Vaneck bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) decision. In a notice published on Wednesday, the SEC thinks “interested persons” should provide comments on the proceedings. SEC Is Looking for Comments Concerning Vaneck’s Proposed Bitcoin ETF Listing In December 2020, New York-based investment management firm Vaneck filed with the SEC to list a bitcoin ETF. Following the original filing, in March 2021, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) applied to list the Vaneck Bitcoin Trust. Then at the end of April, as the U.S. regulator was determining whether or not it would reach a conclusion on the Vaneck ETF, the SEC gave itself 45 more days to decide. The SEC’s order detailed that the notice of designation has been postponed to June 17, 2021. The regulator could increase it to a “longer period up to 90 days” the notice said. “As the Commissio

The Iron Titanium token (TITAN) value has quaked a great deal after the project suffered from what the team called “the world’s first large-scale crypto bank run.” After touching a high of $64 per token on Wednesday, the project slid to near zero and remained worthless on Thursday afternoon. Iron Finance Claims Project Suffered from a ‘Bank Run’ The world of decentralized finance (defi) is exciting but it also comes with major risks stemming from smart contract exploits, flash loans , and alleged bank runs. That was the case for the Iron Finance project, as the team’s native token lost all of its value in a matter of hours. On Wednesday, the Iron Finance team explained what happened on Twitter and then followed up with a post mortem on Thursday. “Dear community, please withdraw liquidity from all pools. We will share a post-mortem as soon as we have a better understanding of this bank run,” the official Twitter account noted on Wednesday. “USDC collateral is available for redempt

The World Bank has refused to provide technical assistance to El Salvador in implementing bitcoin as legal tender. The bank cited bitcoin’s “environmental and transparency shortcomings” as the reason. World Bank Won’t Help El Salvador With Bitcoin Law The World Bank said on Wednesday it cannot help El Salvador implement the law making bitcoin legal tender. A World Bank spokesperson told Reuters, “We are committed to helping El Salvador in numerous ways including for currency transparency and regulatory processes,” elaborating: While the government did approach us for assistance on bitcoin, this is not something the World Bank can support given the environmental and transparency shortcomings. El Salvador has become the first country in the world to make bitcoin legal tender after its congress passed President Nayib Bukele’s bitcoin bill last week. On Wednesday, The finance minister of El Salvador, Alejandro Zelaya, said that the country has sought technical assistance from the