Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

While some crypto users have been leveraging privacy-centric digital assets like monero, others still use mixing protocols that shuffle unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) from coins like bitcoin, ethereum, and bitcoin cash. Participants using the Bitcoin Cash network utilize applications like Cashshuffle and Cashfusion. Since Cashfusion was introduced in November 2019, there’s been 67,845 fusions or $5.9 billion worth of bitcoin cash that’s been fused. Cashshuffle Still Gets Use With 65K Shuffles Since 2019 During the bull run of 2021, Bitcoin Cash network users are using Cashfusion and Cashshuffle a great deal these days. The elder and sister protocol of Cashfusion, Cashshuffle still gets used today and at the time of writing, there’s been 65,682 shuffles with 283,217 BCH shuffled in total since the protocol’s inception. Now, of course, the UTXOs were not shuffled at the current exchange rate, but that’s around $377 million in shuffled BCH using today’s exchange rates. People ...

PRESS RELEASE. Cryptocurrency exchange, Quidax on Monday, 10th May officially shared plans to expand beyond Africa to the global market. They also announced the launch of their native token, QDX and revealed plans to reposition as the global home of BEP20 tokens. Quidax is a cryptocurrency exchange that launched in August 2018. It had initially positioned itself as an African focused cryptocurrency exchange but has stated a change in strategy following some events in February. Quidax CEO, Buchi Okoro for the first time revealed that they have processed over 3.2 billion dollars worth of transactions since their launch and have grown their customer base from 50 customers in 2018 to over 400,000 customers across 72 countries today. Quidax to launch its Token on JulPad Launchpad in May Quidax is going to launch QDX, its native token. QDX will be a BEP20 token that will power all the functions within the Quidax ecosystem from trading fees on the exchange, to staking, governance, and ...

South Korean authorities are intensifying their monitoring of phishing activity related to cryptocurrencies. The government has identified a record number of websites trying to obtain login details from crypto exchange users. Over 30 sites have been taken down in just three months this year. Seoul Strengthens Monitoring of Crypto Phishing Scams Rising market prices have led to an increased number of phishing attempts targeting investors and users of cryptocurrency in South Korea. The government in Seoul announced it’s strengthening its monitoring system to quickly detect such threats. It will also work closely with the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) to prevent fraud. The Korean Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology said it’s receiving an increasing number of reports of phishing attempts. Attacks are often conducted via text messages convincing crypto traders to enter their exchange usernames and passwords on fake websites. The perpetrators can the...

Dogecoin has a wild ride this weekend starting with Elon Musk’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) and ending with Spacex saying it will launch DOGE-1 mission to the moon. Musk called dogecoin “a hustle” on the show but also said that it is “the future of currency” that’s “going to take over the world.” Dogecoin Is ‘Unstoppable Financial Vehicle That’s Going to Take Over the World, Musk Said on SNL The much-anticipated SNL with Elon Musk and musical guest Miley Cyrus was aired last night. During the show, Musk mentioned cryptocurrency and dogecoin several times. The first mention was during his monologue when his mother, Maye, joined him. “I’m excited for my Mother’s Day gift. I just hope it’s not dogecoin,” she told her son. The Spacex CEO replied: “It is. It sure is.” Then, during SNL’s satirical Weekend Update segment, Musk returned in the role of a financial expert called “Lloyd Ostertag.” As soon as he sat down with anchor Michael Che, he said, “Call me the Dogefather,” a term he prev...

Former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has confirmed that he does not invest in bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies. He says that he is “like Warren Buffett” in that he does not invest in things he does not understand. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway thinks bitcoin is “rat poison squared.” Arnold Schwarzenegger Not Investing in Bitcoin or any Other Cryptocurrencies “Terminator” star Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about bitcoin during an interview with the New York Times published Thursday. Regarding bitcoin, the former California governor said: No, I don’t invest in them. I am like Warren Buffett. I don’t invest in things I don’t understand. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO has long been a bitcoin critic. He called it “rat poison squared” back in 2018 after his business partner Charlie Munger compared the cryptocurrency to “rat poison” and “turds.” Buffett is well known for operating within his “circle of competence,” meaning he does not invest in anything he does not unde...

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has revealed that he bought bitcoin and ether right after the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill passed the Senate, heading to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed. He said bitcoin “is definitely going to go up … because I don’t think people are going to want to stay in dollar-denominated currencies.” Mayor Suarez is also working to make Miami a “crypto city.” Miami’s Mayor Personally Bought Bitcoin Miami Mayor Francis Suarez revealed at the 2021 Ethereal Summit last week that he purchased bitcoin right after the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief stimulus package passed the Senate in March. In an interview with Decrypt Editor-in-Chief Dan Roberts and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Mayor Suarez was asked whether he had already purchased bitcoin since he indicated in February that he would soon be ready to buy some cryptocurrencies. The mayor confirmed: I did buy, thankfully. I bought bitcoin and ethereum. I didn’t buy DOGE, but I did buy bitcoin and ethereum, a...

Spacex, the pioneer private space agency founded by Elon Musk, announced it will launch the DOGE-1 mission to the moon in coordination with Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC). The mission, whose objective will be to deliver a commercial payload to the moon, was paid in full using Dogecoin, the meme coin that has been made popular by Musk himself. DOGE-1 to The Moon Spacex, the innovative space exploration company that has been a pioneer in commercial spaceflight and in its plans for a planned trip to Mars, has announced today a new mission called DOGE-1 in partnership with Geometric Energy Corporation, a renewable energy-based firm. According to a PR statement , the first objective of the mission will be to put a commercial payload on the moon. But what’s particular about this mission is that it was paid entirely on Dogecoin , the memecoin that has been adopted by several influencers after being popularized by Spacex CEO himself, Elon Musk . Being the first commercial mission of t...

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 CasperLabs Token (CSPR) under the pair USDT/CSPR on May 6 at 3:00 p.m. UTC. Casper is a decentralized proof-of-stake blockchain network optimized for enterprise and developer adoption. The Casper Network is the first live blockchain built off the Correct-by-Construction (CBC) Casper specification, allowing the network to create sustainable new markets and unlock value by tokenizing nearly any asset without compromising performance or security. With the CBC specification integrated, finality increases security and guarantees past decisions are irreversible, making decisions deterministic rather than probabilistic. Casper is flexible and block times can adjust based on network conditions. These benefits make transaction settlement faster and improves users’ confidence in the protocol’s data output. The protoc...

Reports from the decentralized finance project Rari Capital detail that the protocol’s ethereum pool has experienced a recent exploit. Rari Capital says they are assessing the situation and the team removed funds from the recent Alpha Finance Lab integration. At first, the project’s team revealed they were assessing the hack, but later estimates assume the project lost $10 million to the hacker. Rari Capital Drained for 2,600 Ether, Hacker Taunts Project There has been no shortage of defi hacks at the end of 2020 and into 2021, as a myriad of projects has seen funds drained from a wide range of vulnerabilities. Now it seems the Rari Capital project lost $10 million from a malicious hacker who gained access to an exploit in the ethereum ( ETH ) pool. Essentially, Rari Capital is a Web3 defi tool that allows people to deposit crypto assets and rebalance them into the “highest-yielding stable opportunities.” The protocol builds a “lego effect” of defi apps and claims the platform pro...

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, warned that cryptocurrencies are prone to money laundering. She agrees with the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, who recently said that cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and investors should be prepared to lose all their money if investing in them. ECB Chief Lagarde Sees Crypto as a ‘Real Risk’ for Investors European Central Bank (ECB) chief Christine Lagarde talked about cryptocurrency Friday during a webinar hosted by the European University Institute. She said: Crypto-currencies — these two things don’t go well together and I totally agree with Dr. Bailey’s conclusion in that respect. Lagarde further noted that “There are crypto assets … which people are free to invest in and take total risk into, and there are particular cryptos that are, in my view, so prone to money laundering activities.” She did not mention any cryptocurrencies by name. When asked whether the ECB is competing with...

The People’s Bank of China’s upcoming digital yuan card will feature IDEX Biometrics and fingerprint scanning, according to regional reports. China’s “Digital Currency Electronic Payment” or DCEP is getting closer toward launch by the day. Last week, smart card manufacturer Chutian Dragon and IDEX Biometrics announced the companies are working on a digital yuan payments card. China’s DCEP Will Boast Advanced Fingerprint Identification and Authentication Solutions China’s DCEP continues to make headlines as the crypto asset and central bank-crafted network inches closer toward reality. As the digital yuan draws near, Bitcoin.com News reported on JD.com’s employee participation, Tencent and Ant Group’s help, and Mastercard looking to engage with DCEP transactions. Additionally, reports had shown that the People’s Bank of China-run Digital Currency Research Institute’s, Ma Changchun, stressed that the DCEP would not be fully anonymous. Now regional reports from China reveal that a...

On Saturday evening, the privacy advocate and well known whistleblower, Edward Snowden, spoke out against some criticism stemming from the Human Rights Foundation’s Alex Gladstein. Snowden attacked the tribalism taking place in the crypto space and said that some people “lose sight of the world beyond their cave.” Alex Gladstein Calls Snowden’s Interview Clip a ‘Disaster’ Just recently, the Human Rights Foundation’s (HRF) Alex Gladstein had some words to say to the former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden . Gladstein didn’t like the statements Snowden made in a recently published video, when the privacy advocate criticized bitcoin ( BTC ). It’s not the first time Snowden has given BTC a scathing review that knocked BTC ’s ability to scale and privacy. For instance, on December 25, 2020, Snowden explained that BTC developers have had years to address scaling and privacy in a video with the popular Youtuber, Naomi Brockwell. The famed whistleblower said he was “puzz...

Russia’s central bank has examined three platforms offering crypto-related services. The projects have been tested in its regulatory sandbox in the course of 2020. Bank of Russia has received dozens of requests to pilot various financial services since it created the closed regulatory environment around three years ago. CBR Pilots 3 Crypto Projects in 2020 The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR), also known as Bank of Russia, launched the sandbox back in 2018, when developments in financial technology and decentralized digital assets presented regulators with a new set of challenges. Since the start of the initiative, over 70 entities, including financial institutions and fintech companies, have asked the regulator to test their new products, services, technologies, and business models. CBR’s 2020 annual report published recently reveals that the bank admitted three crypto platforms to the sandbox last year. Centrobank reviewed the operation of a cryptocurrency mining p...

People’s Remedy, a growing chain of cannabis stores, has started accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method, allowing their customers to use them as a fast, easy way of getting their products while taking advantage of the traits cryptocurrencies bring to the table. Unlike other stores, People’s Remedy assumes this symbiotic relationship between cannabis and crypto as a commitment, wanting to build a circular economy by paying its employees with crypto assets. People’s Remedy Starts Accepting Cryptocurrencies as Payment People’s Remedy, a California-based cannabis chain of dispensaries, has started taking cryptocurrencies as payment methods, allowing their customers to leverage the power of crypto to acquire their products with the benefits of privacy and anonymity coming with it. With four stores in California, and still growing, People’s Remedy products are designed specially to help those with medical ailments that can be treated with cannabis, offering the bests strains and ...

The incredible momentum of the nascent non-fungible token (NFT) market has attracted significant attention from collectors and investors alike. Still, one group that is notably benefiting from this paradigm shift is the artists behind these creative works. New Era for Art Emerges as a Net Positive for Creators Over the last few months, much of the attention drawn to NFTs have been a function of soaring valuations for digital art and collectibles that seemingly set new records every week. Enthusiasts needn’t look any further than the appearance of multiple exchange platforms, niches, and new mediums that NFTs are pioneering to recognize the inherent value proposition of this fresh standard. While auction results are certainly a fascinating interest story, the advantage for artists who are largely overlooked is even more compelling. Yet, the artist’s point of view has largely been absent from the NFT discussion and debate, despite playing a central role in this budding movement. Ins...