Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are steadily becoming a serious discussion among governments globally, with Kazakhstan as the latest country unveiling its plans. The National Bank of Kazakhstan is making preparations to launch a CBDC pilot program soon. The National Bank Released a Public Consultation Paper According to the announcement published on their website, the bank expects to pilot its prototype of a digital tenge within the private companies of the financial industry in the first stage. The participants will adopt the CBDC to provide payment services via a two-tier architecture where the digital currency will be built. That said, to guarantee the proper official launch of Kazakhstan’s digital tenge, the National Bank looks forward to conducting “a comprehensive study of the benefits and risks with the definition of the tasks solved by the digital currency, the method of its emission and distribution, the technology used, the impact on monetary policy, financial s...

The cryptocurrency industry in South Korea keeps facing regulatory challenges, and it seems that dust is far from settling. Now, crypto miners will be required to pay taxes, following the same path as digital assets traders. Ruling to Take Place Starting 2022 According to a report published by Donga, miners should be accountable for paying taxes by deducting the amount from their earnings. Expressly, officials from the South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance are set to apply a new rule for those who earn tokens over $2,220 annually by imposing a 20% tax rate. However, regulators clarified that crypto miners would be able to deduct their electricity from the taxable income total in the filings, as those are considered as “necessary expenses.” An official from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance cited by Donga commented on the matter: You have to prove how much you have mined the virtual currency by putting your computer in a specific place and how much the electricity bil...

Bitcoin and the crypto economy have been making their way into the world of real estate these days. A recently published report shows that Realtor.com data indicates that people selling property for crypto assets have risen a great deal. Statistics show that there are 14.3 crypto accepting listings per 100,000 homes in the company database. Real Estate Listings Are Seeing More Bitcoin Acceptance for Homes and Properties According to a report from Yahoo Money, the housing market and bitcoin are starting to “collide.” The report talks with real estate agent Whitney Pannell who listed a renovated home for $300,000 and wrote in the listing: “Sellers are accepting Bitcoin for this home.” Pannell says that she is a “firm believer in bitcoin” and told Yahoo Money contributor Janna Herron that she believes “it will be the future.” Bonnie Heatzig, a South Florida MLS realtor, has also seen an increased amount of real estate listings for crypto in the Sunshine State. “It’s certainly indica...

The NFT ecosystem is in full bloom, with several renowned names entering the playing field. As more and more artists and creators join the cash-strapped world of NFTs, we’ve got you covered with the latest announcements and launches of the week that are taking the world by storm. Hashmasks Introduce a Passive Opportunity to Earn Two of the biggest creative platforms, Terra Virtua and Hashmasks , recently collaborated to launch a unique set of NFTs called the Vflect Hashmasks. Setting a new benchmark in the NFT industry, Terra Virtua and Hashmasks have joined hands to implement a “rolling royalty” framework where Hashmasks NFT owners will be entitled to royalties and proceeds from the forthcoming Vflect Hashmasks Collection sale. Hashmasks owners need to apply to license their Hashmask to be eligible to earn royalties. With over 16,000 unique Hashmasks and hundreds of special features of each Vflect collectible, this collaboration can generate millions of possible combinations. ...

The publicly-listed Canadian firm Nuvei Corporation announced the acquisition of the cryptocurrency company SimplexCC Ltd in an all-cash deal for $250 million. The deal is pending regulatory approval and Nuvei expects Simplex to “enhance” the firm’s portfolio of alternative payment method solutions. Nuvei Acquires Crypto Payments Provider Simplex On May 6, the Canadian company Nuvei (TSX: NVEI), a global payment technology firm, revealed the acquisition of the crypto asset payment operation Simplex. The digital currency startup offers fiat to the crypto on and off-ramps alongside the ability to provide Visa cards to crypto consumers. The company notes that it “processed approximately $500 million of total volume” last year and estimates it will process $2 billion this year. “We expect Simplex to enhance and expand Nuvei’s steadily growing portfolio of alternative payment methods, adding turnkey simplicity to the process of buying and selling cryptocurrency and converting it back to...

The governing body of the major professional soccer league in Italy, Lega Serie A, will release a special collection of NFTs in commemoration of Cup of Italy’s last match this year. The 2021 Coppa Italia Final is viewed as a historic event as Juventus and Atalanta prepare to clash for the trophy for the first time. Italian Soccer League to Offer Collectibles for Cup of Italy Final The winner will be determined in a game on May 19, when the two teams meet at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia. After a successful year in the Italian soccer championship, Bergamo-based Atalanta will now challenge the Italian grand Juventus for the Cup of Italy. With 13 title wins so far, Turin’s Juve is the tournament’s most successful club. Lega Serie A wants to commemorate the game with a special NFT collection, including the official trophy and match highlights. The non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be launched in partnership with the payment and cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com after the two sides...

Marathon, one of the biggest bitcoin mining dedicated companies in the U.S. and Canada, has mined the first OFAC compliant bitcoin block, only accepting transactions that comply with the directives of this government office. This has caused a stir in libertarian circles, that argue this can be the start of censorship in the bitcoin blockchain at a mining level. Marathon Mines the First OFAC Compliant Bitcoin Block Marathon, a North America-based mining company, has mined the first OFAC compliant bitcoin block yesterday, that only included KYC validated transactions and excluded transactions from addresses coming from sanctioned subjects. The block was found five days after Marathon completed the transition from its other pools to its completely compliant mining pool on May 1st. Since that day, the whole 10.37 EH/S are assigned to only mine KYC/OFAC compliant transactions. While still somewhat new, in 2018 the OFAC started including cryptocurrency addresses associated coming from...

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, formerly BitMax, an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, has announced the listing of the NIOX Token (NIOX) under the pair USDT/NIOX on May 5 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. The NIOX Foundation and the Autonio trading platform are launching the NIOX suite to address the technical complexity, secrecy, and exclusivity found on existing trading platforms. The Suite’s goal is to provide users with a simple infrastructure for engaging with digital asset markets. The NIOX Suite is an accessible, decentralized and comprehensive set of financial tools for the digital asset economy. The platform makes it easier for traders to conduct analyses, deploy trading algorithms, and exchange digital assets. The NIOX flagship service is Autonio, an artificial intelligence trading platform that democratizes access to advanced trading algorithms. In addition, the NIOX foundation is launching a sentiment analysis tool and decentra...

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) says the country needs a more encompassing approach that enables it to leverage other regulators’ expertise when testing crypto assets. Kenyan Crypto Interest Also, the Kenyan body, which favours a joint financial sector regulatory sandbox, says it is keen to forge “a common stance and joint-messaging with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)” when it comes to cryptos. The CMA’s latest commentary on cryptocurrencies follows the release of the Capital Markets Soundness report of Q1, 2021. According to the quarterly report, which itself relies on the Chainalysis 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, Kenya “is the top 5 in global crypto-trading activity.” The country’s interest in cryptos is also reaffirmed by a Blockchainnenter.net report which places Kenya’s bitcoin search interest at 94.7%. Investor Protection Mandate Yet, despite this acknowledgment of crypto assets’ growing popularity, the Kenyan regulator insists it still has an in...

The now-deceased and former lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, will have a rare piece of his artwork sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) collectible asset. The NFT is a digital piece called “Gift” and is being sold by the Jerry Garcia Foundation, a nonprofit that supports “environmental, artistic and humanitarian causes through the beauty of music and art.” ‘One Man Gathers What Another Man Spills’ On May 5, The Jerry Garcia Foundation released a newly minted NFT for auction called “ Gift ,” a piece of artwork crafted by the late Grateful Dead guitarist. The Grateful Dead was a well known American psychedelic rock band that formed in 1965 and toured up until 1995 playing approximately 2,350 shows. Moreover, the Dead had a massive following known as “Dead Heads,” as thousands of individuals followed the group around the world. The Dead’s lead guitarist Jerry Garcia was not only an extremely popular musician, but he also dabbled in fine art as well. The NFT called t...

FTX, one of the largest derivatives exchanges, has started to offer lumber-based futures markets for its customers, given the recent interest in speculating on commodities prices. Lumber has been one of the key commodities that have skyrocketed in price during these last months, affecting and halting many building projects all across the U.S. FTX Starts Offering Lumber Futures Markets FTX, one of the main cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges, has announced it would start offering lumber futures in its product lineup, amidst a resurgence in the interest of traders on this commodity. Sam Bankman Fried, CEO of the exchange, stated the FTX futures team reacted to the requirements of its users in just 12 hours, programming the logic behind it in just two hours. The contract gives customers exposure to the price of softwood lumber for July 2021, expiring on August 12th. This represents a stark contrast with the time that other institutions like CME spend to launch equivalent products. ...

In this first Ripple Drop for 2021, we explore the power of RippleNet to transform businesses, how RippleX is contributing to the XRPL community and the latest on U.S. crypto regulations.   Digital Acceleration in Pandemic Drives RippleNet Growth Asheesh Birla, General Manager of RippleNet, stopped by to provide an update on the global growth of … Continued The post The Ripple Drop: Digital Acceleration, Developer Communities and U.S. Policy appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/RzGn2N

US Senator Elizabeth Warren sees several issues with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. She said that “we need a good strong regulatory agency that can continue to update,” claiming that cryptocurrencies invite “investors to come in without the ordinary protections of the transparency and disclosures and auditing.” Elizabeth Warren Bashes Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. senator from Massachusetts, was asked about cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and how they should be regulated in an interview with Influencers’ Andy Serwer on Yahoo Finance Thursday. Recalling that Warren previously said that bitcoin was speculative and might end badly, Serwer asked how cryptocurrencies should be regulated and whether they should be regulated at all. “It’s a good question,” Senator Warren replied. “I put this one again, with the SEC [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission], a reminder why we need a good strong regulatory agency that can continue to update. You know, the last...

India’s payments authority, the National Payments Corporation of India, has reportedly said that it will not ban cryptocurrency transactions. Banks are to make their own decision whether to allow crypto transactions. The National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI), has refused to ban cryptocurrency transactions, local media reported Thursday. NCPI runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), an instant real-time payment system that facilitates inter-bank transactions. It is regulated by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Instead of banning crypto transactions, NCPI has advised banks to make their own decision whether to allow transactions involving digital currencies based on their own risk assessment and advice from their own legal and compliance departments, the organization reportedly said. If NCPI had decided to restrict payments involving cryptocurrencies on UPI and Rupay cards, it would have been applied across all banks, leaving investors with little opt...

PRESS RELEASE. DeFi project Munch has raised over $1 million USD in two weeks, to aid community-chosen global causes in developing nations, through non-profit organization GiveWell. May 7th, 2021, London, UK — MUNCH is a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) project which has raised over $1 million USD, in ETH , in just 14 days since its launch. This represents a huge achievement from the MUNCH community and a tremendous boost to the efforts of the GiveWell team. 100% of Fees Go To Charity and Holders The Munch project applies a 10% transaction fee to every buy and sell made. This transaction fee is then split in two, with half redistributed to other holders of the token and half converted to Ethereum ( ETH ) which is then automatically donated to charity. Rodrigo Silva, CEO at MUNCH voiced his strong appreciation to the community for its generosity, stating: “We’ve been utterly blown away by the reaction from the community. It proves that people want their financial systems and se...

Over a million Argentineans have been buying cryptocurrencies in the last few months, and a pattern has been spotted among them in terms of preferences. A local media outlet unveiled that most of them are decanted to acquire bitcoin and stablecoins. Argentineans Like to Invest in DAI, USDC, and USDT According to Ámbito , citing data from South American digital assets crypto exchanges, the boom on such markets had driven Argentina to look for other virtual currencies rather than bitcoin ( BTC ). In fact, per the media outlet, most Argentineans also buy USD-pegged stablecoins, such as dai (DAI), USD coin (USDC), and tether ( USDT ). As the number of users coming from Argentina keeps skyrocketing, exchanges like Ripio have praised such a growing number. Its director, Juan José Méndez, commented on the matter: The pandemic accelerated the adoption of crypto platforms. Today we have 1 million users in Argentina when at the beginning of 2020 we had 400 thousand, and it is a figure tha...