Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Barclays has reported it no longer supports wiring funds to Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of daily volume. The bank announced its issues with wiring funds to Binance in a resolution message to the customers today. The banking giant cites the warning that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued against Binance last week. The measure affects more than 24 million Barclays customers at a worldwide level. Barclays Blocks Wires To Binance Barclays, one of the leading banking institutions in the UK, announced they would no longer support wiring funds to Binance. The bank made this announcement effective immediately and told customers it was meant to protect their money. Barclays based this measure on the warning that the FCA issued last week on the cryptocurrency exchange. The bank stated: This action does not impact on the ability for customers to withdraw funds from Binance. The decision has been taken following the FCA warning to consumers. Last...

The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is actively building a cryptocurrency hub in India. The company says it has “ambitious plans” for the South Asian crypto hub and is looking to hire for many positions, including hundreds of engineers. Coinbase Has ‘Ambitious Plans’ for Its Indian Crypto Hub Coinbase published a blog post on Friday, authored by Pankaj Gupta, the company’s VP of Engineering and Site Lead in India. Gupta joined Coinbase about two months ago “to establish and lead a new tech hub for Coinbase in India,” he explained, elaborating: There’s never been a more exciting time for builders working in crypto. This is true worldwide, but especially in India which is seeing a boom in crypto-native talent and in creating and growing important crypto projects. “It is early days for our India tech hub but it has already taken off with an incredible amount of interest in our open roles from across India,” Gupta emphasized. He added that Coinbase is “also exploring ...

Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, has advised investors to “stay clear” of cryptocurrencies and “build their portfolio around less risky assets.” The UBS analysts warned that “Regulators have demonstrated they can and will crack down on crypto.” UBS’ Crypto Advice and Warning The global wealth management team at UBS warned in a note published last week that regulators worldwide, particularly the U.S. and the U.K., will impose tougher cryptocurrency regulations. Citing that “China’s latest crackdown — extending to miners, banks, e-payment networks, and social media — hurt crypto prices and operators,” the UBS analysts wrote: Regulators have demonstrated they can and will crack down on crypto … So we suggest investors stay clear, and build their portfolio around less risky assets. “We’ve long warned that shifting investor sentiment or regulatory crackdowns could pop bubble-like crypto markets,” the analysts added. “We think investors should avoid crypto speculation, and consider ri...

Equity strategists and portfolio managers were asked about what the price of bitcoin will be by the year-end. Almost half of the surveyed participants say the price of the cryptocurrency will fall below the $30K level but some believe it will rise to $60K. Year-End Bitcoin Price Expectations by Equity Strategists and Portfolio Managers Equity strategists and portfolio managers revealed what they think bitcoin’s price will be at the end of 2021 in a survey by CNBC, published last week. Every quarter, the media outlet polls about 100 chief investment officers, equity strategists, and portfolio managers about their views on the markets for the rest of the year. The latest survey was conducted from June 23-30. According to the survey results unveiled last week, 44% of respondents said the price of bitcoin will be below $30,000 by the end of the year. In addition, 25% of equity strategists and portfolio managers said it will be $40,000 and another 25% said it will reach $50,000. Only 6...

After tweeting through its account since 2018, Splinterlands, a blockchain-based NFT trading card game, has been banned from the service permanently as social media giant Twitter refuses to respond to appeals. Suspension Coincides With Twitter Unveiling its Own NFTs While non-fungible token (NFT) hype may have cooled, there is no shortage of controversy surrounding the space. The latest incident includes none other than the social media outlet Twitter. Although Jack Dorsey warmly embraced the NFT movement after auctioning off his very first tweet in NFT form, the platform’s recent decision to suspend blockchain-based gaming operator Splinterlands has embroiled the social media platform in a fresh censorship debate. Splinterlands, which offers gamers the opportunity to collect, trade, and battle with scarce NFT collectibles, was among the first to embrace the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens as part of its platform experience. The company’s Twitter account was suspe...

Four days ago, the crypto community and mainstream audiences caught a whiff of a new meme-based crypto asset called baby doge. The coin got a lot more attention when Tesla’s Elon Musk tweeted about baby doge and almost immediately after the tweet, the asset’s value skyrocketed. Musk hasn’t said anything about baby doge since then, but the crypto asset has continued to climb higher in value. Weekly Stats Show Baby Doge Outshines Most Crypto Asset Market Performances Last week, Bitcoin.com News reported on the cryptocurrency called baby doge (BABYDOGE) after the CEO of Tesla tweeted about the coin. At that time, baby doge jumped 228.3% during a 24 hour period on July 1, and during the last few days, the digital currency continues to gather gains. Ever since the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, mentioned baby doge coin (BABYDOGE) on Twitter, the crypto asset has seen mainstream media report about it and the currency has doubled in value in four days. The picture above is a meme shared by t...

While a large quantity of hashrate has stopped dedicating resources to the Bitcoin network, a great number of alternative mining ecosystems are swelling with new participants. China’s ASIC exodus has ignited a significant increase in demand for accessing storage power on both Filecoin and Chia’s proof-of-storage networks. Both networks have seen space allocation spike significantly since the bitcoin mining crackdown in China. Alternative Consensus Algorithms Reap Benefits of the SHA256 Hashrate Drop A lot has been happening in the cryptocurrency mining space recently, as the industry is seeing a massive shift since the start of the bitcoin mining crackdown in various Chinese provinces. SHA256 hashrate dedicated to the Bitcoin ( BTC ) network has plummeted over the last few weeks and the hashrate drop caused the network’s mining difficulty to dip close to 28% this past weekend. Interestingly, this was the largest epoch mining difficulty drop BTC has ever experienced and in two weeks...

Joe Biden wants to crackdown on ransomware according to statements he made on Friday, after hackers hijacked software from a Miami-based IT supplier called Kaseya. Hundreds of American businesses were affected by the breach as the attackers encrypted the files of some 200 clients. Biden said on Friday that he’s ordered an investigation into the exploited Florida-based IT infrastructure. Biden Directs US Intelligence Agencies to Look Into the Kaseya Ransomware Attack Following the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, this past week an IT supplier called Kaseya was breached and the company’s software management tool called VSA was exploited. This attack affected a great number of Kaseya clients on Friday and suspicions of Russian gang involvement were sparked by investigators. Huntress, a security company, said that the company believes Russians were involved and blames a gang called Revil. The Revil ransomware gange is suspected of attacking the meatpacking company JBS last month as...

Around 4,000 institutional funds with almost 2 trillion euros in assets under management in Germany can now invest 20% of their portfolios in cryptocurrency, including bitcoin. The highly anticipated Fund Location Act (Fondsstandortgesetz) went into effect on July 1 in Germany. The German federal parliament, the Bundestag, cleared the legislation on April 22. Under this law, new and existing domestic special funds (Spezialfonds) are permitted to invest up to 20% of their portfolios in crypto assets, like bitcoin. There are approximately 4,000 such special funds covered by this legislation. According to a report by BVI Investments, 1.88 trillion euros ($2.23 trillion) were invested in open special funds, excluding special real estate funds, as of the end of December 2020. If all special funds were to allocate the full 20% in cryptocurrency, it would equate to more than 376 billion euros ($446 billion). Traditionally, special funds are open-ended, regulated investment fun...

While the American economy witnesses small business failures across the nation, historical unemployment rates, major issues with the supply chain, countless product shortages, and the cost of goods and services inflating, the stock market continues to rally. The CEO of the Forward Thinking Group UK, Neil McCoy-Ward, thinks the current stock market is “completely disconnected from the economy,” for various reasons, but McCoy-Ward believes today’s bubbling stock market mostly stems from things like excessive stimulus and share buybacks. Neil McCoy-Ward Describes an Unsustainable Economic Situation Just recently, the investor, financial forecaster, and housing market expert Neil McCoy-Ward was featured in a Youtube video produced by the Financial Monster channel. This Youtube channel is dedicated to daily videos about bitcoin, investing, finance, and wealth building. The five-minute video called “How The Stock Market Crash Will Happen Step By Step” is quick and to the point. McCoy-Wa...

A total of 8,000 bitcoins belonging to Mirror Trading International (MTI) have been traced while an additional 29,000 bitcoins could soon meet a similar fate. The traced coins, which are valued at over $280 million (4 billion rand), represent a potential breakthrough for beleaguered MTI investors. Liquidators Want Court to Declare MTI a Ponzi Scheme The latest revelations came shortly after the granting of a final liquidation order against MTI by a South African court. Before this announcement, liquidators of the Ponzi scheme had only recovered 1,281 bitcoins that were surrendered to liquidators by MTI’s previous broker, FX Choice. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, the 1,281 bitcoins were ultimately sold and more than $70 million was raised from the sale. However, as a Moneyweb report explains, liquidators intend to argue in favour of having MTI declared a Ponzi Scheme on their return to court on September 8. This declaration, according to the report, makes it “easier ...

Pham Minh Chinh, the prime minister of Vietnam, has asked the country’s central bank to conduct a study of cryptocurrency and pilot the implementation of a blockchain-based currency within the next two years. The efforts are part of the Asian country’s new e-government strategy. Cryptocurrency Highlighted in Prime Minister’s Decision Cryptocurrency is one of the highlights in a decision regarding the establishment of a digital government issued recently by the Vietnamese premier. “Cryptocurrency based on blockchain is among core technologies Vietnam hopes to develop and master,” Vietnam Plus said in a report, obviously referring to a coin issued by the state. Other priority areas include artificial intelligence, big data, and augmented and virtual reality, the English-language news outlet detailed. Before mastering crypto, however, the Vietnamese government needs to adopt specific definitions for the various types of digital currencies and virtual assets as well as comprehensively ...

Prompt.cash, a bitcoin cash noncustodial payment processor, is adding a bunch of interesting functionalities. The payment processor now features a URL shortener that allows users to monetize content on any site on the net. Also, Prompt.cash added Paypal API integrations, making it easier for merchants to test Bitcoin Cash payments seamlessly. Prompt.cash Adds URL Shortener Functionality Prompt.cash , a hosted permissionless bitcoin cash ( BCH )-based payment processor, is adding a slew of important updates that extend the functionality of the platform. While the platform launched just three months ago, they are already introducing new features to make its proposal more useful to its users. One of these interesting additions is a URL shortener. This will allow users to monetize access to any website. Prompt.cash can also accept any Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) tokens minted using the Bitcoin Cash chain. Happy to announce we are the first Payment Processor that accepts all #SLP t...

EY, the multinational professional services network commonly known as Ernst & Young, has announced the company has contributed a set of tools for privately managing transactions on the Ethereum network. EY’s global media relations executive Joanna Hardy explained on Thursday how the company’s protocol helps ethereum transaction fees become more affordable and it enables the private transfer of ether. Professional Services Giant and Big Four Member EY Releases Ethereum Protocol Nightfall 3 EY is a well known professional and financial services brand and the company headquartered in London has been working with blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions for quite some time. While EY is one of the largest professional services networks on a global scale it is also a member of the “Big Four” accounting firms. On July 1, Hardy detailed in an EY blog post that the company has released a set of tools that make ether transactions cheaper and more private. The protocol is called “Nightfall...

The U.S. has sold about 500 bitcoins seized back in 2018 for about $19.2 million. This was reportedly the largest net forfeiture in the Northern District of Ohio’s history. Federal authorities in the U.S. state of Ohio have sold bitcoins seized back in 2018 in a fraud case. The seized bitcoins were sold for nearly $19.23 million, Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced Thursday. The coins seized during the investigation were initially valued at approximately $2.88 million. This was reportedly the largest net forfeiture in the Northern District of Ohio’s history. The authorities did not say how and where the coins were sold. The case involved a 37-year-old Toledo-area man, Mark Alex Simon, who made false identification documents for residents of Ohio, Michigan and Utah. The documents included driver’s licenses and personal identification cards. He was paid in bitcoin. Simon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and the transfer of false identification documents i...