Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

On Wednesday, the non-fungible token (NFT) market platform Makersplace secured $30 million in a Series A financing round. The team behind the NFT marketplace says it plans to leverage the funds to “acquire additional talent and scale the business.” While the Series A was co-led by Pantera Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners, the world-famous hip hop star Eminem also invested in Makersplace. Makersplace Raises $30 Million to Scale the NFT Business The company that developed the non-fungible token (NFT) market platform Makersplace has revealed the firm has raised $30 million from a number of investors. Bessemer Venture Partners and Pantera Capital co-led the financing round with participation from Sony Music Entertainment, Coinbase Ventures, 9Yards Capital, Uncork Capital, and Draper Dragon Digital Assets. Moreover, Makersplace revealed the investment round saw notable angel investors like Paul Rosenberg and 3LAU in music, Eminem, Acquavella Galleries, Sabrina Hahn and Bill Ruprec...

Both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have claimed jurisdiction over the crypto industry. A CFTC commissioner clarified that pure commodities, including crypto assets, or their trading venues are not regulated by the SEC. Regulation of Crypto Assets by SEC and CFTC A commissioner with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brian Quintenz, clarified Wednesday that pure commodities, including crypto assets, fall under the jurisdiction of his agency. He tweeted: “Just so we’re all clear here, the SEC has no authority over pure commodities or their trading venues, whether those commodities are wheat, gold, oil …. or crypto assets.” Quintenz’s clarification followed the statements by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on Tuesday and Wednesday regarding the regulation of the crypto industry whenever investment products are considered securities. Gensler stressed that there is not enough investor protection when it co...

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has outlined how the SEC plans to regulate the crypto industry. Focusing on investor protection, Gensler discussed concerns the SEC has about crypto trading, exchanges, lending, defi platforms, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Gary Gensler Outlines SEC’s Crypto Priorities SEC Chairman Gary Gensler outlined the agency’s plans regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies at the Aspen Security Forum Tuesday. He described: Right now, we just don’t have enough investor protection in crypto. Frankly, at this time, it’s more like the Wild West. This asset class is rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications … If we don’t address these issues, I worry a lot of people will be hurt. He elaborated: “There’s a great deal of hype and spin about how crypto assets work. In many cases, investors aren’t able to get rigorous, balanced, and complete information.” Regulating Crypto Platforms: Gensler Sa...

China’s cryptocurrency transactions related to criminal activities have decreased significantly over the past couple of years, a new report suggests. At the same time, its special administrative region of Hong Kong is seeing a spike in crypto-related crime this year, with authorities attributing the rise to the popularity of crypto investments. Chinese Crime-Related Crypto Transactions Drop, According to Chainalysis China has been a leader in the global crypto space, not only because of its control over a large portion of bitcoin’s hashrate but also in terms of activity of its crypto businesses and users. With the current government offensive on decentralized money, however, including a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining and trading, the role of the People’s Republic is likely to diminish. That has already happened with China’s share in crypto-based crime, according to a report by Chainalysis. Between April 2019 and June 2021, Chinese crypto addresses sent over $2.2 billion worth ...

PRESS RELEASE. Since May 30, the BTC mining difficulty has lowered for 4 times in a row. The mining rig migration is continuing, leading to a surge of incomes in mining farms outside China. With early layout of mining farms outside China, BitFuFu takes the lead to restart running plan and restock new mining plans. As the first cloud mining platform that restarts running plan in the industry, BitFuFu provides users with a mining feast from a drop of difficulty. Early move makes BitFuFu the industry-first platform to restart running plan Thanks to its forward-looking layout in the mining farms outside China, BitFuFu outpaces other platforms to restart running plan. As early as the beginning of this year, BitFuFu has started its expansion to mining farms outside China. On April 16, affected by outage in some areas, the BTC network hashrate suffered a plummet. With fast response, BitFuFu transferred affected hashrates to other mining farms within 12 hours and its users were barely af...

The Ethereum community has been gearing up for the highly anticipated London Network Upgrade which should take place on August 5 around 2:00 p.m. (EDT). Node operators have been asked to upgrade their nodes as soon as possible, as the upgrade is scheduled to take place at block height 12,965,000. Ethereum Set to Fork on Thursday, Blockchain Will See 5 Improvements According to the countdown clock hosted on etherscan.io, the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain will be upgraded in the near future, on or around Thursday afternoon. Previously, Bitcoin.com News reported on the London upgrade on July 9, 2021, and at the time it was estimated block 12,965,000 would fall on or around August 4. According to Ethernodes data, as of 16:20 Beijing time, 65.6% of the nodes are ready for the Ethereum London hard fork, and the remaining 34.3% will be upgraded within 2-3 days. pic.twitter.com/BXIl67LIeh — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 3, 2021 The “London Mainnet Announcement” was revealed b...

Cryptocurrency is gaining mainstream traction among consumers who want to use it for purchases, according to a new report. Out of more than 8,000 U.S. consumers surveyed, 93% of crypto users would make purchases with cryptocurrency in the future. Growing Number of People Want to Pay With Cryptocurrencies A new report titled “The Cryptocurrency Payments Playbook: Cryptocurrencies Gain Momentum As A Payment Option” published by Pymnts and Bitpay shows that consumers are increasingly interested in using cryptocurrencies for payments. “The report analyzes a census-balanced survey of 8,008 U.S. consumers who were current and former cryptocurrency owners and cryptocurrency nonowners between Feb. 8 and Feb. 23, 2021,” it details, adding: Interest in cryptocurrency is gaining mainstream traction among consumers who would like to use it for purchases. The study found that 93% of crypto users would consider making purchases with cryptocurrency in the future while 59% of those who have n...

Reports show that the Bitcoinsv blockchain suffered from a 51% attack on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, as the founder of Blockchair, Nikita Zhavoronkov explained the network endured a 100 block reorg “wiping out 570k transactions.” Onchain Observers Witness a Deep Bitcoinsv Reorg The Bitcoinsv ( BSV ) network has been having issues lately following problems the protocol saw in mid-July. At that time, 78% of the network was mined by a single entity called Taal and a number of exchange providers halted services. On August 3, the founder of Blockchair, Nikita Zhavoronkov, and numerous onchain observers discovered the BSV chain suffered from a deep blockchain reorganization, otherwise known as a reorg. Screenshot Blockchair’s Nikita Zhavoronkov shared on August 3, 2021. Zhavoronkov tweeted about the issue on Tuesday and then clarified that the chain lost 100 blocks. “The reorg was 100 (!) blocks deep wiping out 570k transactions,” the Blockchair founder said . The onchain analysts at ...

Following the hype surrounding dogecoin, shiba inu, and then baby doge, another token called daddy doge (DADDYDOGE) has been gathering steam. The coin saw some interest after Elon Musk said the words “daddy doge” in a video of Tesla’s CEO being escorted to a car. Furthermore, the developers of the Daddy Doge project claim the coin will be the first of the Doge family of cryptocurrencies to be sent to space. During the last seven days of trading, daddy doge has gathered 57.6% in gains. Another Doge-Like Token Claims To Be ‘the Head of the Family,’ Becomes the 30th Shiba Inu Knockoff Coin Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be another dogecoin -related crypto asset, another token called daddy doge (DADDYDOGE) has entered the pack of competing canine assets. In fact, daddy doge joins the puppy mill of coins or the 30 meme crypto assets that leverage either the name “doge” or the “shiba inu” breed. The Daddy Doge project has become the 30th Doge or Shiba-inu-like token crea...

Former lead maintainer of Monero Riccardo Spagni, aka Fluffypony, has been arrested in the U.S. and is now waiting for his extradition to South Africa where he will stand trial for fraud. Spagni described the case as “an old matter, which I have continuously been trying to resolve since 2011.” Fluffypony Arrested, Waiting for Extradition to South Africa The U.S. government filed a Memorandum of Extradition Law and Request for Detention Pending Extradition Proceedings for Riccardo Paolo Spagni with a district court in Tennessee on July 21. Spagni, also known as Fluffypony, was formerly a Monero lead maintainer. The court document states that “Spagni is believed to have significant cryptocurrency assets that would enable him to flee.” The U.S. is “executing its treaty responsibilities and acting at the request of the government of South Africa,” the filing details, adding that the South African government seeks his “provisional arrest with a view toward his extradition to stand tri...

Press Release: Rocket Launchpad is launching a Tezos-based IDO platform, allowing users to invest in the latest Tezos-based projects. Tortola, British Virgin Islands – Recently, the Tezos ecosystem has seen several high-profile partnerships, including collaborations with McLaren and Red Bull Racing. Since its launch, the number of projects currently using Tezos has grown to a total of 135. As its popularity continues to rise, a need for an efficient means to support early-stage projects is steadily starting to appear within the ecosystem. Rocket Launchpad is providing the solution for developing Tezos-based projects, with the aim to keep and grow the ecosystem’s fast pace of development. Rocket Launchpad is a decentralized Initial DEX Offering (IDO) platform built on the Tezos blockchain. It provides an efficient and secure method of investing in the rapidly growing number of Tezos projects. The platform is set to launch in August, with a corresponding token sale for its native...

Internet giant Google’s new ad policy has gone into effect. The company now allows certain cryptocurrency ads, such as those promoting cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets. Advertisers must meet certain requirements and be certified by Google. Google Now Allows Some Crypto Ads Google’s new ad policy for financial products and services, announced in June, has gone into effect. A notice on the internet giant’s website details: Beginning August 3, advertisers offering cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets targeting the United States may advertise those products and services when they meet the following requirements and are certified by Google. To be certified by Google, advertisers must either be registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a money services business or be a federal or state-chartered bank. They must also comply with relevant legal requirements and their ads and landing pages must comply with Google’s advertising policies. In 2018, Google b...

In a last-ditch attempt to stall the sale of Mirror Trading International (MTI) assets, two masterminds of the collapsed bitcoin Ponzi scheme have warned investors that liquidating the investment company will likely result in them being asked to return all withdrawn bitcoins. Opposition to Attempts at Declaring MTI a Ponzi Scheme In a court filing that opposes attempts to declare MTI “an illegal business,” Clynton and Cheri Marks insist that such a step will in fact cause investors to “forfeit everything to the state.” As the Mybroadband report reveals, the Marks’ latest opposing application was filed after a South African court postponed ruling on an intervening application to September 8, 2021. The intervening application, which seeks to have MTI labeled a scam, was filed by liquidators soon after the final liquidation was granted by the Cape Town High Court. In pushing back against the liquidators’ intervening application, the Markses warn MTI members that they will not...

On August 2, West Realm Shire Services Inc., the owner and operator of FTX.US, revealed the company has partnered with film and television production company Dolphin Entertainment. According to the announcement, FTX and Dolphin will be launching a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace dedicated to sports and entertainment brands. Dolphin Entertainment Partners With FTX.US While non-fungible token collectibles continue to see demand, a slew of crypto firms revealed plans to launch NFT marketplaces this year. On Monday, Dolphin and FTX explained the two companies have joined forces to launch an NFT market that’s focused on sports and the entertainment industry. Dolphin Entertainment is a Coral Gables, Florida-based company that specializes in film, television, and other forms of entertainment production. The company rose to prominence after producing a number of hit movies and shows. For instance, Dolphin is responsible for Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101” and “Ned’s Declassified School Sur...

Two blockchain-based digital identity projects are being developed in different regions of Argentina, with different objectives. One of them is directed to improve government-citizen relationships, facilitating these interactions in Misiones. The other one seeks to improve financial inclusion in the region of Gran Chaco. These two initiatives are being organized by Project Didi, an organization financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). Blockchain Being Tested to Certify Citizen Identity in Argentina Two new blockchain-based identity projects are now being implemented in different areas of Argentina , looking to improve the experience of citizens in the process. The first of these projects is part of the blockchain push that recently happened in the Misiones province, and it seeks to improve the experience citizens have when dealing with government-related procedures. This project will allow citizens in Misiones and Mar del Plata to simplify the actions required to ob...

Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, stated the country could offer cryptocurrency-based loans to the agricultural sector, in addition to the traditional loans in several fiat currencies. He also stated that Venezuela has worked with petro and other cryptocurrencies for three years, pioneering the use of this kind of asset in Latam. Government Hints at Offering Cryptocurrency Loans in Venezuela Maduro hinted at the possibility of giving loans in cryptocurrency to the agricultural industry in an announcement made in a cabinet meeting last Thursday. He stated the country would look for new ways to finance domestic agriculture and also stated these loans would feature low interest rates to benefit farmers. Elaborating to his ministers, Maduro noted: I ask you personally to lead the public banking sector and summon the private banks to multiply loans and financing under the mildest conditions for all food producers in the country. The proposal also introduces the idea of giving ...

PRESS RELEASE. Singapore, August 3, 2021 – Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has partnered with crypto-fiat hybrid payment solutions provider Alchemy Pay to build a payment bridge between crypto and fiat through the Binance Pay wallet. Binance Pay is a contactless, borderless, and secure user-to-user cryptocurrency payment feature on the Binance App . Launched as beta in February, Binance Pay’s functions allow users and merchants to send and receive crypto payments around the world without incurring special handling fees for using crypto. Supported by Alchemy Pay’s fiat-crypto integration, Binance Pay is available for both peer-to-peer payments and merchant-based transactions. Users and merchants can choose their preferred options for paying and getting paid with 40+ supported cryptocurrencies. “Alchemy Pay was founded in 2018 by a team of fiat payment gateway veterans with a shared vision to build a practical bridge between fiat and crypto,” said Alchemy Pay CEO, Joh...

According to a recent study on crypto asset storage and passwords, a survey that polled over 1,000 digital currency owners shows 39.7% have forgotten their passwords. The study produced by cryptovantage.com indicates that users unable to recover their passwords lost an average of $2,134. Survey Polls 1,000 US Crypto Owners, Respondents Invest $7,245 on Average Since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009, a number of people have lost coins along the way and this has spread to the myriad of crypto assets in existence today. Just recently, researchers at cryptovantage.com published a study that polled 1,021 cryptocurrency owners residing in the United States. The study called “ Coin Storage Security: A Closer Look at Crypto Storage and Passwords ” shows that 39.7% of cryptocurrency owners had lost their password at one time. On the positive side, 95.6%% were able to regain access to their crypto investments, but on average those who could not access their passwords lost over $2K. “A who...