Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) has put forward a set of guiding principles to be considered in the creation of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), also referred to as digital dollar. The organization, which unites hundreds of companies in the payments industry, confirms its commitment to ensuring access to financial services for all Americans. Payments Industry Association ETA Issues Guiding Principles for CBDC ETA is the world’s leading trade association representing the interests of companies involved in providing products and services pertaining to electronic transaction processing. Among its more than 500 members are Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Bank of America, Google, Apple, and many other established players in the sector. In a document put out by its official publication, Transaction Trends, ETA lists “ 7 Guiding Principles ,” against which any CBDC should be measured. The trade association is convinced that the U.S. government should carefully conside...

National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has issued a call for companies in the fintech sector, financial institutions and technology firms to support its efforts to create a digital currency. Georgia’s central bank wants to employ new technologies to raise the efficiency of the country’s payment system and promote financial inclusion. Georgia’s Central Bank Mulling Digital GEL NBG is now inviting companies from innovative industries as well as interested financial institutions to join a public-private partnership tasked to facilitate the adoption of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The bank is considering launching the digital version of the national fiat, Georgian lari (GEL), as a publicly available coin that will have legal tender status. The digital GEL can be used to settle payments or as a store of value, the National Bank of Georgia explained in an announcement published on its website. But what its management really hopes to achieve with the currency is to “unlock the tremendo...

Coinbase, the most prolific U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it will close the doors of its former San Francisco HQ by 2022, in its push to go 100% remote. Earlier the company had announced its intention of ditching the traditional office-based model to decentralize its operations and instead impulse work from home politics as part of its response to Covid-19. Coinbase to Shutdown Former San Francisco HQ Office by 2022 Coinbase has announced today it would shut down its former San Francisco HQ office via its official Coinbase News Twitter account. The company is transitioning from a traditional work model to a remote-first company since the Covid-19 epidemic last year. This move is yet another action that the exchange is taking to show its compromise with decentralization, stating that no location is more important than the others. Coinbase stated: Closing our SF office is an important step in ensuring no office becomes an unofficial HQ and will mean career outco...

PRESS RELEASE. TimeCoinProtocol is a blockchain project operated by TimeTicket GmbH, a company based in Switzerland and fully owned by TimeTicket Inc. Japan. The project issued its crypto currency called TimeCoin(TMCN) which is traded at more than 250 USD per TMCN on several exchanges such as BitForex , BitMart , and BiKi . The TimeCoinProtocol is the sharing economy protocol which aims to replace the centralized sharing economy systems, such as YouTube and Twitch video streaming systems. The project operates several applications including TimeTicket , a skill sharing economy service with more than 500,000 users and generates more than several million dollars in annual revenue and is growing its business at a rapid pace. It also operates eSportStars , the esports gamer matching service which can add more than 4,000 games and 30 languages. eSportStars plans to add a lot of attractive features like DeFi and NFT this year. The project was initially financed by a few investors w...

Bitso, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latam, has reached unicorn status after a funding round that managed to raise $250 million with the participation of some big names in the cryptocurrency world. The company announced it would use these resources to expand its operations and keep growing in its core markets, including remittances. Bitso Reaches Unicorn Valuation After Series C Funding Round Mexico-based exchange Bitso has become the first LATAM cryptocurrency unicorn, after getting a valuation of $2.2 billion on its Series C funding round. The round got participation from important names in the investing sphere, being led by New York-based privately-owned hedge fund Coatue Management LLC and Tiger Global, another top investment firm. The round managed to raise $250 million and included other investors like Pantera Capital and Paradigm. The company declared that it would use these resources to strengthen its core business in Latam and expand to other markets. Bit...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is putting up warning signs on bitcoin ATMs in Cuyahoga County of the U.S. state of Ohio to warn residents not to fall for scams asking victims to send money to scammers via bitcoin ATMs. FBI Putting Warning Signs on Bitcoin ATMs The Cuyahoga County Scam Squad in Cleveland and the FBI are collaborating to alert the public about scams involving bitcoin, News 5 Cleveland reported this week. Old scams ranging from grandparent’s scam, explained Sheryl Harris, Director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs. FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson warned that once the victims sent bitcoin, “it’s almost impossible to get it back so the best we can do is prevention and that’s why we’re trying to get the word out.” The news outlet described that “Signs will soon be put up on bitcoin ATMs across the county,” noting that “The signs are intended to make people think twice before going through with a transaction because they could be caught in...

The CEO of Paypal has revealed that the company’s cryptocurrency business is showing “really great results.” The first quarter was Paypal’s best quarter ever overall and the strongest year in the history of the company, the CEO emphasized. Paypal Sees ‘Really Great Results’ in Its Crypto Efforts Payments giant Paypal reported its first-quarter earnings Wednesday. During the company’s earnings call, President and CEO Dan Schulman said his company “generated $6.033 billion of revenue in Q1, growing a record 31% spot and 29% on an FXN basis.” He said this is the strongest year in Paypal’s history and Q1 was the “strongest quarter ever with record financial and operating results.” He also noted that Venmo continued its strong performance in Q1 with $51.4 billion of total payment volume, up 63% year over year. The executive reiterated that the company “ launched the ability for Venmo customers to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies” during the quarter. “Both cryptocurrencies and cent...

Precious metals (PM) markets have been trading a bit higher in recent days, while cryptocurrency markets have been seeing gains as well. Spot gold prices have jumped to $1,805 per ounce, up more than 1.3% during the last 24 hours, while silver prices have increased by 2.5%. As PMs have gathered strength this week, crypto-asset markets are still inching closer toward gold’s and silver’s market valuations. In fact, bitcoin’s market capitalization is just below silver’s $1.47 trillion market. Precious Metals Rise, But Investors See Digital Gold Eclipsing These Markets Ever since the U.S. Federal Reserve said last week that it would allow inflation to rise moderately above the 2% mark and the central bank will also continue its monetary easing policy, crypto assets and precious metals like gold and silver have been on the rise. Gold prices have jumped over 1.3% during the last day and as the PM has crossed the psychological $1,800 price per ounce zone on Thursday. Gold prices are als...

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has reportedly begun offering a bitcoin investment product to clients. The firm has opened up trading with non-deliverable forwards, a bitcoin derivatives product. To hedge against the cryptocurrency’s volatility, Goldman Sachs will trade bitcoin futures on CME Group. Goldman Sachs Begins Offering Bitcoin Product to Clients Investment bank Goldman Sachs “has opened up trading with non-deliverable forwards, a derivative tied to bitcoin’s price that pays out in cash,” Bloomberg reported Thursday. The firm is protecting itself from bitcoin’s volatility by buying and selling bitcoin futures in block trades on CME Group Inc., using Cumberland DRW as its trading partner, the publication conveyed. The investment bank recently brought back its bitcoin trading desk and revealed in March that it plans to offer a full spectrum of bitcoin investment products. Goldman Sachs’ Asia Pacific head of digital assets, Max Minton, explained that the firm’s new bitcoin o...

PRESS RELEASE. (Puerto Rico, USA – May 6, 2021) To celebrate its numerous recent successes, one of the world’s foremost decentralized social networks, Pocketnet.app, has launched a trading contest on its newest exchange, Bilaxy.com. Competition ends on May 13th, the rewards for active PKOIN traders on Bilaxy just doubled to total 20k PKOIN! PKOIN already gained over 960% since its recent start of trading on the Bilaxy exchange. What Is Pocketnet? Decentralized, Blockchain-Based Social Network Pocketnet – think Facebook / Twitter / YouTube minus the censorship, all built on Bitcoin-like foundation. Pocketnet has also solved one of the key challenges of a censorship-resistant social media platform, which is content moderation. The network sits atop fully autonomous, decentralized nodes. Pocketcoin, the native token, helps facilitate this censorship resistance. If you like crypto, you’re gonna love Pocketnet! Pocketnet was born out of a desire to return the power and control of soc...

On May 5, the cryptocurrency data and analytics provider Coin Metrics announced the firm has raised $15 million in Series B financing round. The funding was led by Goldman Sachs and a number of other venture firms, as digital currency data has become a hot commodity in recent times. Digital Currency Data and Analytics Firm Coin Metrics Raises $15 Million The Boston-based Coin Metrics has revealed the company has raised $15 million in a Series B financing round that was led by the American multinational investment bank and financial services company, Goldman Sachs . The company Coin Metrics provides analytical market data, indexes, and network risk solutions for a myriad of digital currencies like bitcoin ( BTC ) and ethereum ( ETH ). In addition to Goldman Sachs, the financing round was also bolstered by Collab+Currency, Castle Island Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Avon Ventures, Communitas Capital, and Fidelity Investments. Coin Metrics details that the company has “instit...

Ripple publishes the quarterly XRP Markets Report to voluntarily provide transparency and regular updates on the company’s views on the state of crypto generally including the XRP market, such as quarterly sales updates, relevant XRP-related announcements and commentary on previous quarter market developments.  As an XRP holder, Ripple believes proactive communication and transparency are part … Continued The post Q1 2021 XRP Markets Report appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/RzCJTf

South African venture capitalist, Michael Jordaan, recently suggested that a single decentralized cryptocurrency may be the solution that brings great benefits to inter-regional trade and investment in Africa. According to Jordaan, who is also the former CEO of one of South Africa’s leading banks, FNB, such a single African currency “would go a long way to make borders matter less.” A Decentralized Currency for Africa However, in his tweet on April 27, Jordaan offers his take on why he sees crypto (and not fiat) as the solution that unlocks the “most under-penetrated payments market in the world.” Jordaan tweeted: Imagine a day when Africa has only one currency. (Such a currency) will make it so much easier to trade with each other and invest across the continent. Cannot see all/ most of the countries agreeing on a central bank or a monetary policy. More likely to be a decentralised cryptocurrency. But which one? Nevertheless, the venture capitalist concedes that such a decent...

On May 6, 2021, the total locked value (TVL) held by decentralized finance (defi) is more than $77 billion. Much of this money is used by decentralized exchange (dex) platforms and liquidity pools. With dex platforms capturing over $2 billion in trade volume daily and $18 billion during the last seven days, a project called the Dechart DAO aims to provide traders with the ability to make “the most informed, efficient trades.” Dechart – Decentralizing Defi Data The cryptocurrency ecosystem has swelled this year and defi platforms and Web3 applications make up quite a bit of the value. Moreover, participants have been able to find a lot more value with concepts like oracles, automated market makers (AMMs), decentralized exchange (dex) platforms, liquidity pools, decentralized stablecoins, and more. With all the trading action happening in real-time, traders find that it’s hard to get insight into all the markets in one place. Dechart recently launched the 1.0 version of its trading ...

Payments giant Visa and financial services provider Tala have partnered to boost cryptocurrency adoption in emerging markets. The collaboration aims to “make it easier for underbanked consumers to convert, store, and use cryptocurrencies.” Visa and Tala Boosting Crypto Adoption in Emerging Markets Visa and Tala have formed a new partnership “to help underbanked populations participate in the crypto economy,” Tala announced Wednesday. Tala is “a financial technology company on a mission to enable and accelerate financial health for all,” its website details. The company’s Android app “offers instant credit and personalized financial education,” the company noted, adding that it has delivered more than $2 billion in credit to more than 6 million customers across Mexico, the Philippines, Kenya, and India. There are two additional partners for the project – Circle and the Stellar Development Foundation – that “will bring the benefits of the digital currency ecosystem to emerging marke...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has obtained court authorization to serve a John Doe summons on cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. The tax agency is seeking data of users with $20,000 or more in cryptocurrency transactions during the years 2016 to 2020. IRS Wants User Information From Crypto Exchanges The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that a federal court in the Northern District of California has authorized the IRS “to serve a John Doe summons on Payward Ventures Inc., and subsidiaries d/b/a Kraken.” The IRS is “seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who conducted at least the equivalent of $20,000 in transactions in cryptocurrency during the years 2016 to 2020” on Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, the DOJ described. According to the summons filed: IRS directed Kraken to produce records identifying the U.S. taxpayers described above, along with other documents relating to their cryptocurrency transactions. IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig commented: “This ...

PRESS RELEASE. The global shopping platform Buyaladdin announces a huge collaboration with ABBC Foundation in an event called the 100x100x100 ABBC Event. In this event, the Buyaladdin team will pick 100 winners of 100 dollars every day for 100 days. More specifically, the team gives their supporters an opportunity to win and shop with products worth 100 USD with only 1 ABBC. The event will start on May 3, 2021 and end after 100 days. According to the team, they will hold the event every day from 00:00 to 23.59 (GMT+ 9). Users that have at least 1 ABBC in the app can participate in this event. Buyaladdin will draw 100 winners every day and will make the announcement at 10:00 (GMT +9) on the following day of participation. As mentioned above, the team will pick 100 winners every day throughout the duration of the event. These winners will be able to shop items worth 100 USD with their 1 ABBC. Their ABBC will be converted into Event ABBC that they can use to shop. Winners can shop on...