Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Computer chip manufacturer Intel Corp. has revealed it holds a stake in the leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase. The tech giant purchased the shares worth almost $800,000 after the digital asset trading platform went public earlier this year. Intel Acquires Shares of Crypto Exchange Coinbase Intel has disclosed it owns Coinbase stock in a quarterly report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) on Friday. The Santa Clara, California-based technology company bought the stake following the listing of the cryptocurrency exchange this spring. According to the filed Form 13F, Intel had 3,014 shares of the platform’s operator, Coinbase Global Inc., as of June 30, valued at over $760,000 at the time. On that date, Coinbase’s stock closed at $253.30 per share, Market Watch details. The price at the end of June was 22.8% lower than the $328.28 closing rate registered on the first day of trading of the COIN shares, April 14. The stocks have since recover

The global charity organization, CARE, has created crypto-based vouchers that will be distributed to women and select groups in Africa and Latin America. According to CARE, these vouchers will be redeemable for goods, services or cash and linked to the needs of recipients. However, in its statement announcing the launch of the pilot phase, the NGO reveals only groups in Kenya and Ecuador are set to participate. In Kenya, the vouchers will go to the “village savings and loans associations that are coping with the economic impact of COVID-19.” In Ecuador, the crypto vouchers will be distributed “to survivors or women at risk of gender-based violence.” Project Launched in Partnership With Crypto Organizations Commenting on the voucher launch, Christian Pennotti, the senior director for market-based approaches at CARE, said: We are excited to be working alongside Celo and Emerging Impact in Ecuador and Binance’s Blockchain Charity Foundation in Kenya to test new ways that these tech

A Venezuelan merchant was kidnapped and killed after his family failed to gather a ransom that kidnappers explicitly asked to be paid in bitcoin. The perpetrators asked for a sum of 1.5 bitcoin to release the hostage, later lowering the ransom to 0.5 bitcoin. The family of the victim finally was unable to gather the ransom money. Venezuelan Citizen Abducted, Bitcoin Ransom Demanded A Venezuelan citizen identified as Gustavo Torres González was murdered yesterday when his family failed to gather ransom money that kidnappers requested be paid in bitcoin. Torres was abducted on August 10 when he was presumably heading home in the Zulia state, according to police. The kidnappers quickly communicated with Torres’ family and asked to be paid 1.5 bitcoin to release him, according to local media . However, his family was not able to gather the funds, and in communications with the kidnappers, managed to lower the ransom to 0.5 bitcoin. Still, this was tragically a sum too hefty for his fam

Lionel Messi, the Argentinian soccer superstar, has opted to receive cryptocurrency as part of his new contract signed with the French club Paris Saint-Germain. The club revealed that the player will receive crypto as part of his $30 million payment, as a “welcome package” given to the player. The proportion of the crypto stash in his payment was not disclosed, but the club stated it was a “significant” portion. Lionel Messi Gets Part of His Contract Paid in Cryptocurrency Lionel Messi, the Argentinian soccer player, will receive part of his contract payment in cryptocurrency, according to reports from his new French club, Paris Saint-Germain. Messi, arriving at the club after spending many years playing for the Spanish Barcelona soccer team, will receive a part of an estimated $30 million in the fan token of the new club as part of a welcome package offered as an incentive to the player. While the total amount of this welcome bonus that will be paid in cryptocurrency has not been

On Friday, the price of the token cardano spiked over the $2 handle nearing the crypto asset’s all-time high that took place three months ago. Cardano’s price jump derived from a video announcement stemming from Cardano’s Nigel Hemsley when he explained the Cardano network would upgrade on September 12, 2021. The highly anticipated “Alonzo Purple” upgrade aims to boost the Cardano project with fully functional, advanced smart contract solutions. Alonzo Upgrade Scheduled for September 12 Cardano is looking to upgrade the network in the near future, as IOHK’s Nigel Hemsley revealed the project plans to launch the upgrade on September 12 . In a tweet, Input Output (IOHK) also explained the upgrade will happen on the same date mentioned in the video. The name “Alonzo” derives from the mathematician and computer scientist Alonzo Church. The Alonzo implementation has been slowly upgraded by colored-coded stages with the final being purple. “It’s happening,” IOHK said. “We’re targeting 1

The price of bitcoin jumped over the $47K handle on Friday afternoon and at 4:15 p.m. (EDT) the price tapped $47,929 per unit. Bitcoin has jumped over 8% today and is more than 45% up over the course of the last month. Bitcoin’s Value Jumped 45% Last Month The crypto economy grew to around $1.99 trillion on August 13, increasing more than 7.4% during the course of the day. The price of bitcoin ( BTC ) jumped over 8% and reached a new high for the month of August reaching $47,929 per unit. Seven-day statistics show BTC has climbed more than 11% and during the month more than 45% against the U.S. dollar. While a touch lower than the high this afternoon, BTC is still up 304% during the course of the year. Bitcoin ( BTC ) on Friday, August 13, 2021. Out of the $1.99 trillion, however, bitcoin only holds a 45% dominance among the 10,000+ digital assets in existence. Ethereum ( ETH ) commands 19.4% of the crypto economy dominance, while BNB and ADA hold more than 3% per market. Du

The United States is facing severe inflation despite the Federal Reserve and mainstream media doubling down on saying the loss of purchasing power is just “transitory.” This week consumer and producer metrics from July have been published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and inflation is growing stronger. July CPI Stats Show a Jump to 5.4%, Producer Prices Skyrocket by 7.8% President Joe Biden has been compared to Jimmy Carter as Americans are witnessing the rebirth of stagflation. The term “stagflation” was very relevant during the Carter administration because America saw slow economic growth and vast unemployment numbers. Economic growth and unemployment numbers in 2021, look a bit more gruesome because of the aftermath of 2020’s Covid-19 lockdowns and government mandates caused. Looks like consumers are no longer buying the Fed's transitory BS. https://t.co/WiGReLiUBa — Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) August 13, 2021 This week’s data from the U.S. Bureau of Labo

PRESS RELEASE. Charitable company MUNCH will lead a philanthropic effort called Charity Circle, which will donate to charitable global causes using ETH . 13th August 2021, London, UK — Leading DeFi charity platform MUNCH has announced ‘Charity Circle’ – a philanthropic effort led by Munch to encourage DeFi projects to donate to charitable causes through sending Ethereum to Munch’s smart contract, Charity Circle will trustlessly and automatically donate to the current charity selected by the Munch community. MUNCH and Partnerships MUNCH is a DeFi cryptocurrency that uses blockchain technology to build in giving back as an inherent part of every interaction. Through automated, trustless donations from transaction fees. MUNCH has already donated more than $3M to various community-chosen charitable causes. The project are official partners with TheGivingBlock and recently became the first crypto partner with charity: water , joining major corporations such as Google and Amazon. C

On Friday, a few days after the initial hack for $611 million, the Poly Network project detailed that the company has obtained all the assets stolen minus the frozen tether that was blacklisted by Tether Limited. The Poly Network team said they are in control of the funds along with “Mr. White Hat,” but the repayment process is not complete. Poly Network Hacker Returns Most of the Stolen Crypto Assets According to a message from the Poly Network team, a large majority of the stolen funds from the August 10 hack have been returned. The stash of tether ( USDT ) are the only funds that remain in limbo according to a recent letter from the Poly Network team. The Poly Network hacker stole ​​$611 million worth of ETH , WETH, WBTC, UNI, RENBTC, USDT , USDC, DAI, SHIB, FEI, BNB , and various BEP-20 tokens. All have been returned except the frozen the USDT which equals roughly $33 million in tethers. The Poly Network protocol is a cross-chain service that stems from the NEO blockcha

The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase says that it wants to be “the Amazon of assets” and list every legal crypto asset out there. The company has outlined two major long-term trends affecting its business. Coinbase Wants to List All Legal Cryptocurrencies Coinbase revealed its plan during the Q2 2021 earnings call Tuesday. CEO Brian Armstrong explained: “We at Coinbase always think about longer-term cycles of crypto … We’re always looking at the long-term trends.” He described two key trends affecting Coinbase. “The first one is that we’re continuing to see this trend of people using crypto for more and more things beyond trading,” Armstrong detailed. He added that “For example, we now have 1.7 million users doing staking in crypto, which is a way to earn a yield on your assets.” The CEO continued, “The second big trend we’re seeing is this idea of Coinbase embracing decentralization,” elaborating: We want to be the Amazon of assets, list every asset out there in c

DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, has announced a series of milestones for its crypto business. Its brokerage arm has obtained preliminary approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank, and its crypto exchange will start operating 24-7 to meet the growing demand for cryptocurrency. DBS Sees ‘Keen Interest Among Asset Managers and Corporates’ for Cryptocurrencies Southeast Asia’s largest bank, DBS, made several announcements Thursday. Firstly, the bank’s brokerage arm, DBS Vickers (DBSV), “has received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act (PS Act) to provide digital payment token services as a major payment institution.” Noting that as one of the first few financial institutions to obtain such approval, DBS is now working to comply with the central bank’s requirements for a full license, the company elaborated: Once licensed, DBSV, as a member of DBS Digital Exchange (Ddex), will b

On August 13, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance revealed it is ending a great number of services in South Korea. The company noted in the announcement that it evaluated local regulations and “will discontinue the following offerings in Korea, effective immediately.” Binance Ends Korean Crypto Services Last week, former CEO of Binance US and former acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks, announced that he was leaving his position at the exchange. Prior to that HSBC suspended payments tied to Binance and the company also discontinued derivatives products in Hong Kong. On Friday, Binance announced that it will not be offering products and services in South Korea. “As Binance constantly evaluates its product and service offerings to proactively comply with local regulations,” Binance said, “we will discontinue the following offerings in Korea, effective immediately.” The products and services that Binance has suspended in South Korea include: KRW trading pairs KRW pa

Have you ever wanted to harness the capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning to trade in the cryptocurrency markets? Soldex will not only offer you a way to do this easily, it will also allow you to share the trading algorithms you developed with the community and be rewarded for it. Create Your Own AI-Powered Trading Bots With Soldex Soldex is an upcoming third-generation cryptocurrency exchange built on the Solana blockchain. It’s designed to resolve common issues experienced on typical decentralized exchanges. The major advantage over other platforms that the system will offer is the possibility for automated trading using unique trading algorithms developed by the users. This new tool will allow users to trade in all market conditions, 24/7, and without the possibility of human error. Soldex AI will employ machine-learning and neural network algorithms and traders can choose the bots they want to use according to their risk tolerance, budget, time frame, ma

The Bank of Ghana (BOG) says it has signed an agreement with Giesecke Devrient (GD) to implement a pilot central bank digital currency (CBDC) project. This pilot CBDC, which is a precursor to the e-cedi digital currency, is set to be tested with banks, payment service providers, merchants, consumers and other relevant stakeholders. Learning From the Trial Phase In a press release , the Ghanaian central bank says GD will provide the technology and a solution that suits Ghana’s requirements. The press statement adds that during the trial phase, a study seeking to look at “the acceptance of the e-Cedi from the end users’ perspective” will also be undertaken. The pilot CBDC’s impact on monetary policy and payment systems as well as the legal implications will be evaluated. In turn, the BOG says it will use valuable lessons gained from pilot user experiences when it finally rolls out the e-cedi. Ghana’s CBDC Mission The press statement quotes the BOG governor, Ernest Addision,

A South African tax expert, Thomas Lobban, has warned non-tax paying crypto traders that they now face possible jail time if the South African Revenue Services (SARS) decides to lay tax offense charges against them. He adds that this threat of jail time similarly applies to South African crypto traders that use offshore exchange platforms to trade or store their crypto assets. Lack of Guidance Blamed Lobban’s warning follows reports earlier in the year which suggested that changes to South African tax laws may have made it “easier for SARS to secure criminal convictions for tax offences.” The warnings also follow reports in June which suggested that SARS had asked “independent South African crypto platforms to provide it with information pertaining to its client base.” However, despite this dire warning, Lobban — a legal manager at a local tax consultancy firm, Tax Consulting South Africa — admits that many crypto traders are not aware of the extent of their tax liabilities. The e

A group of Venezuelan Bitcoin miners that were disconnected from the power grid by regional authorities in the state of Carabobo might resume operations in the next 48 hours, according to the national cryptocurrency watchdog, Sunacrip. The institution met with affected miners on Wednesday and assured them it will make the necessary adjustments with regional authorities to allow them to operate and avoid further interruptions to the service. Venezuelan Miners in Carabobo Meet With Sunacrip A group of miners disconnected from the national power grid in the Carabobo state in Venezuela met Wednesday with the national cryptocurrency watchdog, Sunacrip, to discuss the cause of this measure and find a possible solution to the problem. Asonacrip, the National Cryptocurrency Association, reported that Joselit Ramirez, the National Superintendent of Crypto Assets of Venezuela was present in the meeting and promised them a reconnection of the farms in the next 48 hour period. Asonacrip also

Broxus, a leading developer of the FreeTON project, has unveiled the second version of their FreeTON DEX, TON Swap. The update consists of a reworking of existing features, an expansion of functionality and available information and the addition of key new features. The FreeTON project has been busy this summer, expanding the offerings it has for users, working to bring in and support promising, fledgling projects, and making inroads throughout the DeFi industry. The latest update, consisting of an overall of the Broxus -powered TON Swap DEX, is perhaps the most significant due to the enhancements that have been made to the exchange’s user experience and the groundwork that has been laid for the platform to grow into a launchpad for other projects in DeFi. FreeTON started just over a year and a half ago when work on the Telegram Open Network was halted by a court order. A community of people that had studied the technology developed by the Durov brothers decided that, rather than

The team behind the platform that allows users to track data on the Ethereum blockchain, Dune Analytics, announced the firm has raised $8 million from strategic investors like Union Square Ventures. Dune Analytics detailed the firm plans to leverage the new financing in order to hire more help and monitor other blockchains. Crypto Metrics Provider Dune Analytics Raises $8 Million Crypto data services and analytics has seen massive demand in 2021 as everyone wants to gather factoids on their favorite crypto assets. Bitcoin.com News recently reported on the crypto firm Messari raising $21 million in a financing round. Furthermore, the crypto analytics company Skew was acquired by Coinbase this year and Coin Metrics recently raised $15 million with Goldman Sachs leading the round. Dune Analytics is a set of data tools that users can leverage for free in order to gather insight on Ethereum and decentralized finance (defi) analytics. Last September, Dune Analytics raised $2 milli

Over three years ago, a Netherlands native made headlines when he told the world he and his minimalist family sold everything for bitcoin. At that time, Didi Taihuttu and his family sold their home, valuables, and vehicles in order to accumulate the digital asset. Taihuttu recently discussed how things have been after three years, explaining that 74% of his crypto holdings are currently held in cold storage. Taihuttu Family Keeps Six Cold Storage Stashes Hidden Across Several Nations Didi Taihuttu and his family are doing quite well in 2021 living like digital nomads and hidden hardware wallets all over the world, according to a recent interview with CNBC. Bitcoin.com News reported on the Taihuttu family on October 10, 2017, as Didi Taihuttu told the press he and his wife sold everything for bitcoin ( BTC ). In his latest interview, Taihuttu told CNBC that the family safeguards a total of six hardware wallets hidden across several nations. Photograph of Didi Taihuttu back in 201

U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo has asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to amend the crypto provision in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that the Senate passed this week. She urged the House to adopt the bipartisan amendment supported by the Treasury Department that provides a solution. Rep. Eshoo Asks Pelosi to Amend ‘Harmful Language’ on Crypto in Infrastructure Bill Congresswoman Anna Eshoo from California announced Thursday that she is fighting “to fix potentially harmful language on cryptocurrency in bipartisan infrastructure bill.” Eshoo wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday “to express concern regarding the tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrency brokers in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the bipartisan infrastructure legislation recently passed by the Senate,” the announcement details, adding: The legislation uses a broad definition of ‘broker’ that could encompass miners, validators, and developers of wallets who are unable to comply w