Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

According to the latest data from the World Bank, international money transfers into Nigeria dropped by nearly 40% from $23.8 billion recorded in 2019 to $17.2 billion in the past year. Yet despite this fall, remittances, which account for 4% of the country’s GDP, still remain an important source of foreign exchange for the oil-rich country. Migrants Shunned Official Channels As shown by the data , Nigeria has only previously recorded a yearly total remittance inflow of below $20 billion just once since 2011. This occurred in 2016 when a total of $19.7 billion in official remittances flowed into the Nigerian economy. The latest drop, however, makes it only the second time in the past decade when money transfers by Nigerians abroad have declined. Meanwhile, also coinciding with this latest remittances plunge was the naira depreciation and the ensuing shortages of foreign exchange during that year. This depreciation, in turn, forced many within Nigeria’s expatriate community to shun

The local tax authority could soon hunt tax evaders who trade cryptocurrencies in Argentina following a notice sent to domestic crypto exchanges. The Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) ordered them to report all virtual currency-related transactions every month. Payment Gateways Are Also Subject to the Ruling According to Bae Negocios , the watchdog issued a “Form 8126” and forwarded it to every single digital asset exchange operating in the country to comply with the new ruling. Companies will have until the 15th of the month following the month reported to fill out the form. The report states that exchanges should report “the list of accounts with which they identify each of the clients; registrations, cancellations, and modifications that occur; total amounts of income, expenses and final monthly balance” of the wallets. Interestingly, Mercado Pago, a domestic payment gateway that users can use to buy cryptos such as bitcoin ( BTC ) via peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms

A highly scalable, decentralized blockchain platform gets a convenient browser wallet to facilitate dApps development. Crystal Wallet Metamask. Anyone who has worked with Ethereum for more than a week is familiar with this browser wallet. It lets countless decentralized applications (dApps) connect to Ethereum, send transactions, and interact with smart contracts. Metamask has become an industry standard and benchmark for users, who expect at least the same convenience from any new retail blockchain. It is with that level of convenience in mind that the Broxus team, developer of the bridge between Free TON and Ethereum networks and one of Free TON’s core validators and maintainers, has created a new, thorough browser wallet. Having deep expertise in the development of dApps for Free TON, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, Broxus has remastered its Crystal Wallet, a fork of the original Gram Wallet created by the Telegram team. The new wallet has retained the name of Crystal Wallet, warmly

The Los Angeles-based company Big Time Studios has announced the company is set to raise $21 million in two funding rounds backed by a number of investors. The company’s founder Ari Meilich was the CEO and co-creator of the Ethereum metaverse Decentraland. Big Time Studios aims to bring non-fungible token (NFT) assets to the billion-dollar gaming industry. Multiplayer NFT Game Maker Big Time Studios to Raise $21M in Funding A Decentraland founder who started the firm Big Time Studios wants to bring NFT solutions to the popular gaming universe. This week, Ari Meilich’s company revealed it is set to raise $21 million in funding in two parts. Investors that participated in an initial $10.3 million round include FBG Capital, Alameda Research, Sound Ventures, Circle Financial, North Island Ventures, and Digital Currency Group. The NFT economy has exploded and members of the Big Time Studios team stem from major gaming firms like Blizzard, Epic Games, Riot Games, and Electronic Arts. I

Cuba has been actively discussing the possibility of adopting cryptocurrencies over the last few months during high-political summits. This time, the president of the Caribbean island discussed crypto assets once again during a virtual currencies topic on the summit agenda, talking about the possibility to consider it for future economic plans. Discussions Underway Despite Domestic Crypto-Related Scams According to Periodico Cubano , Miguel Díaz-Canel told regional governors and politicians during a virtual summit about a possible upcoming crypto adoption phase for “the convenience” of the national economy. He wants to assess the feasibility of implementing such decentralized technologies and their impact on the country. Interestingly, Díaz-Canel is an electronic engineer. Although he declined to provide further insights on the matter, the Cuban president promised to inform citizens of the latest developments about his virtual currencies’ assessment. However, during the meeting,

The banking subsidiary of the national postal service of Switzerland, Postfinance, has launched a mobile app providing clients with access to cryptocurrencies, ETFs and more. The software allows users to make payments, save funds or invest in various assets, with a commitment to a level of security provided only by the country’s leading online banks. Swiss Post’s Bank Offers Clients Access to Crypto Assets and Stocks The new application called Yuh is the product of a partnership between Postfinance and the online trading platform Swissquote. The collaboration was established late last year and the software was unveiled at a virtual launch event on May 11, the bank said in a press release. Anyone who wants to test it is welcome to download and install the app on either an iOS or an Android device. Postfinance emphasized: With the Yuh app, you can not only execute payments and save for future projects or goals, but also make small or large investments, all from your smartphone.

While most cryptocurrency markets are down today in value, dollar-pegged stablecoins have seen significant demand during the last 24 hours. Currently, the entire market valuation of all the stablecoins in existence is roughly $96 billion. The Rise of Fiat-Pegged Stablecoins Crypto assets like bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) can be volatile and this has caused demand for stablecoins in recent years. Since July 2017, the stablecoin market has swelled considerably but after April 2020, it skyrocketed. One of the main use cases for stablecoins is so people can hedge their funds when crypto prices become extremely volatile. Top ten stablecoins by market capitalization on May 13, 2021. Since the recent market downturn , demand for stablecoins increased dramatically. As most people know, tether (USDT) is by far the largest stablecoin in existence and today it commands a $58 billion market valuation. Tether also captures the most volume, in terms of all the trade volume across the e

Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather will release his own NFTs before the upcoming bout with Youtuber Logan Paul. The exclusive collection celebrates Mayweather’s legacy in life and sport with unique items. Floyd remained undefeated throughout his professional career after winning major titles in multiple weight classes. NFT Collection to Feature Rare Mayweather Memorabilia The NFTs will represent а digital collection of artwork, animations, and rare memorabilia offered to boxing fans and non-fungible token (NFT) collectors around the world. The exclusive pieces will be released later this month, ahead of Mayweather’s exhibition match with famous Youtuber and now boxer Logan Paul in early June. Speaking about the initiative, the boxing icon stated: I started from nothing and beat all the odds to achieve what I did in my career and I think that’s the American dream… These digital collectibles give everyone a chance to be part of the Mayweather legacy. The items in the NFT collection wi

The leading blockchain Virtual Reality (VR) Metaverse platform Dvision Network is set to migrate to the Binance Smart Chain network through the cross-chain bridge. Dvision Network has changed the blockchain space by offering users an ecosystem that encompasses NFTs and virtual reality. The migration to Binance Smart Chain could prove to be a masterstroke by the cutting-edge NFT Metaverse platform. Binance Smart Chain Offers Wide Range of Possibilities Dvision has already announced their readiness to launch on BSC in their blog post and also started a countdown in their website, which pinpoints to the official launch of the bridge on 20th May. Currently, Dvision Network is based on the Ethereum network, and despite the popularity of Ethereum, it has been plagued by significant problems. Ethereum current architecture is not readily scalable, which has led to congestion on its network leading to high transaction fees. This problem is quite crucial for Dvision Network, set to launch a

Tether, the largest stablecoin by market cap, has reached a milestone by issuing 30 billion USDT on top of the Tron blockchain. While the stablecoin is now present on several chains, including BSC (Binance Smart Chain) most of it is now on Tron due to the blockchain’s low transaction fees, which make using it easy and cheap. Tether Reaches 30 Billion USDT Issued on Tron Tether, the biggest stablecoin in the market, has reached a volume of 30 billion USDT issued as TRC20 tokens on the Tron blockchain, being this the highest the stablecoin has issued on top of any chain so far. The announcement was made by Tron’s founder Justin Sun via Twitter, where he congratulated the company for reaching this milestone. 🎉Congrats on #TRC20 – #USDT reaching the milestone of 30 Billion, as the best-performing stablecoin with immediate transactions and free handling fees on #TRON . 📢The circulation amount of #TRC20 – #USDT issued by @Tether_to on the #TRON network exceeded 30.9 Billion. p

Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, is now being probed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the assumption that it could be immersed in money laundering transactions. The investigation will also include inquiries from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which has been recently investigating a number of crypto trading platforms. Binance Probed by US Department of Justice Today, it was revealed that Binance, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, is being the subject of an investigation related to transactions involving alleged money laundering, according to an article from Bloomberg. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will be making inquiries to people with knowledge on the inner workings of the company stealthily, due to the confidentiality of the probe. The inquiry will be bolstered by an investigation by Chainalysis , which states that more than $700 million of illicit funds have gone through the exchange. The IRS is

After bitcoin prices took a hit following Tesla’s recent u-turn, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty jumped over 25 trillion, the highest the metric has seen during the protocol’s lifetime. The mining difficulty spike follows the recent 12% difficulty drop the network experienced two weeks ago. Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Jumps to 25 Trillion, Could Hit 30 Trillion in Two Weeks After some issues with the Xinjiang grid in China three weeks ago, the overall SHA256 hashrate used by the Bitcoin ( BTC ) network dropped considerably. This in turn caused the BTC network’s mining difficulty to drop 12.6% when the hashrate lowered. Essentially, BTC ’s mining difficulty is the measurement of how difficult it is to find a hash below a given target. The more hashpower there is, then the more the difficulty increases, and when the hashrate lowers, the difficulty drops as well. The difficulty system Satoshi Nakamoto crafted is meant to keep equilibrium within the mining system and fairly consistent 10-

Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy has bought the dip and purchased $15 million more bitcoins, taking advantage of the falling price for the cryptocurrency after Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that his company has suspended accepting bitcoin for payment. Microstrategy now holds about 91,850 bitcoins. Microstrategy announced Thursday that it has purchased $15 million more in bitcoin. CEO Michael Saylor tweeted: Microstrategy has purchased an additional 271 bitcoins for $15.0 million in cash at an average price of ~$55,387 per bitcoin. In the company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Microstrategy declared that as of May 13, the company holds about 91,850 bitcoins that it acquired for approximately $2.241 billion at an average price of about 24,403 per bitcoin. The price of bitcoin is currently $50,250 based on data from markets.Bitcoin.com. It plummeted Wednesday evening to a low of $45,700 but regained some of the losses after Elon Musk announc

Facebook-backed cryptocurrency project Diem, formerly Libra, is moving from Switzerland to the U.S. In collaboration with Silvergate Bank, the association, which oversees the development of the diem cryptocurrency, has unveiled a new launch plan. Facebook-Backed Stablecoin Has New Launch Plan The Diem Association announced Wednesday a partnership between Diem Networks U.S. and Silvergate Capital Corporation (NYSE: SI). Silvergate is a California state-chartered bank and a member of the Federal Reserve. Diem Networks U.S. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the association. It plans to register as a money services business with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The 26-members association explained that “Under this partnership, Silvergate Bank (‘Silvergate’) will become the exclusive issuer of the diem USD stablecoin and will manage the Diem USD reserve,” adding: The Association is also announcing a strategic shift to the United States

Nano, a relatively obscure cryptocurrency, managed to catch the spotlight yesterday due to its singular transactional proposal. But, what is Nano really, and why did the token manage to skyrocket more than 60% in just a few hours? Nano and Its Fee-Free Approach Nano, a fairly unknown cryptocurrency for people not directly related to the crypto world, that features a fee-free transactional method, managed to catch the spotlight yesterday. Nano’s price raised more than 60% in just a few hours, surprising investors who normally don’t take it as a particularly important currency for speculating. But what is nano (NANO) and why it experienced this price intense fluctuation? Nano is a cryptocurrency created in 2015 by Colin Lemahieu, that has its own blockchain structure called “block-lattice,” where each wallet has its own blockchain, constituted by the ledger of transactions. However, blocks are not mined, because Nano uses proof-of-stake (PoS) as a consensus algorithm, and transacti

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the listing of STC, being available to trade on the 13th May 2021 at 10:00AM UTC. STC was created by the Student Coin team, as the reference currency for all tokens created on its terminal. STC will start trading with USDT , BTC and ETH pairs. What is Student Coin? The aim of the project is to put the tokens and blockchain into the mainstream. Student Coin is the first platform that allows to perform the wide-scale tokenization for people, organizations, corporations, startups and decentralized finances (DeFi). Wide-scale tokenization is a process that needs an easy-to-use and universal ecosystem that is constructed by the Student Coin. With the STC ecosystem, everyone will be able to easily create any kind of token and develop it in the long run. Student Coin will allow for tokenizing people, firms and organizations, as well as, manage token utilities, perform crowdfunding and easily list new projects. University is a

Digital currency markets have seen better days, as billions of dollars were shaved off the entire crypto-economy after Tesla revealed it would not be accepting bitcoin over environmental concerns. The entire market capitalization of all the crypto assets in existence has dipped under the $2 trillion mark, and most coins are down between 5-30% during the last 24 hours. Crypto Economy Sheds Billions Following Tesla’s Announcement Bitcoin ( BTC ) and a large swathe of other digital assets have been under selling pressure ever since the Tesla announcement . The original announcement that took place a few weeks ago, when Tesla said it would accept BTC for payments, initially pushed the price up. The reconsideration and decision to stop accepting BTC over environmental concerns caused prices to slide. On Wednesday evening, bitcoin dropped to a low of $45,700 per unit but quickly regained some of the losses. Top five coins on May 13, 2021. At the time of writing, BTC is exchanging h