Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Residents of Ukraine will be able to legally keep, exchange, and spend cryptocurrencies once the new virtual assets law is adopted. The legislation will comprehensively regulate the crypto space, possibly lower taxes for Ukrainians and create conditions for new services, a government official revealed. New Regulations to Create Market for Crypto Services for Ukrainians Ukrainians owning cryptocurrency will benefit from the law “On Virtual Assets” as it will introduce investor protection and allow them to legally exchange and declare their crypto holdings. The legislation will make virtual assets “a completely legal and common phenomenon for the government and the society,” Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Oleksandr Bornyakov, said in an interview with the financial news portal Minfin . Oleksandr Bornyakov The official expects to also see a whole new market for services allowing coins to be stored, exchanged, and used in payments. Although the draft states tha...

The president of Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto arm of Fidelity Investments, says that crypto is “its own unique asset class.” He revealed, “We and others are very engaged with regulators … to bring this asset class into the mainstream.” Fidelity Sees Long-Term Interest in Crypto Assets Among Institutional Investors Fidelity Digital Assets President Tom Jessop shared his view on the future of cryptocurrency in an interview with Yahoo Finance Thursday. He also discussed his firm’s efforts to engage with regulators to bring the asset class mainstream. Fidelity is one of the largest traditional money managers. It has about 37 million individual investors, 83.4 million customer accounts, and $10.4 trillion in managed assets as of the end of March. The company established Fidelity Digital Assets in 2018 to provide cryptocurrency products and services, including bitcoin, to institutional investors. “What’s apparent are two things,” Jessop explained: This is seen as its own unique...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken its first enforcement action involving decentralized finance (defi). The commission has charged a defi platform and its executives for unregistered securities sales of more than $30 million and misleading investors. SEC’s 1st Enforcement Action Involving Decentralized Finance The SEC announced Friday that it has taken the first enforcement action involving decentralized finance (defi). The case involves “securities using defi technology.” The regulator charged two Florida men — Gregory Keough and Derek Acree — and their Cayman Islands company, Blockchain Credit Partners, for “unregistered sales of more than $30 million of securities.” The three were also charged “for misleading investors concerning the operations and profitability of their business Defi Money Market.” They used smart contracts and defi technology to sell two types of digital tokens: mtokens and DMM governance tokens (DMG). The former promised to pay 6.25%...

According to data on August 7, there’s 253,510 bitcoin-pegged or wrapped tokens worth more than $11 billion in value on the Ethereum blockchain. Out of the seven different bitcoin-pegged projects, the Wrapped Bitcoin protocol has 194,023 bitcoin-pegged ERC20 tokens in circulation. Over 250K Tokenized Bitcoin In Circulation Split Between 7 Ethereum Projects, Binance Smart Chain’s Bitcoin-Peg Reaches 73K Issued Ethereum (ETH) jumped over the $3K zone in value on Saturday, as the protocol successfully upgraded on August 5. ETH ’s market valuation has gained a significant amount of dominance in terms of the $1.78 trillion crypto-economy capturing 20% of that value on Saturday. The crypto asset has also gained more than 700% against the U.S. dollar during the last 12 months. Much of this has been attributed to decentralized finance (defi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and a myriad of decentralized exchange (dex) platforms over the last year. The number of tokenized bitcoin on Ethere...

The well known luxury auction house Christie’s has announced the company’s first non-fungible token (NFT) art sale in Asia on September 17. According to the announcement, the NFTs will feature Cryptopunks by Larva Labs, Meebits, and Bored Apes. Christie’s Reveals First NFT Auction in Asia Founded in 1766 by James Christie, the British auction house Christie’s has been auctioning luxury goods, artwork, clothing, and jewelry for well over 100 years. Christie’s got into the cryptocurrency and blockchain scene last year and sold its first NFT for $131,250. The first NFT the auction house sold was Robert Alice’s “Block 21 (42.36433° N, -71.26189° E) (from Portraits of a Mind).” During the second week of May, Christie’s held a Cryptopunks auction where the auction house sold nine punks for over $16 million . Christie’s was also instrumental during the Beeple NFT sale which sold for a whopping $69 million and is the most expensive NFT to date. In July, the artist “Fewocious” raked in ov...

The Ethereum game Axie Infinity continues to see demand as the developer Sky Mavis revealed on Friday there are now more than 1 million daily active players. Additionally, the game token utilized within the Axie Infinity gaming universe tapped an all-time high at $52 per unit 10 days ago. Despite being down 18% from the price high, axie infinity (AXS) tokens have gained over 60% in the last two weeks. Axie Infinity Celebrates 1 Million Daily Active Players While blockchain gaming and non-fungible token (NFT) assets continue to see significant interest, the developers of the Ethereum-based game Axie Infinity revealed the project’s overall growth. “It’s official,” the Axie Infinity Twitter account said on Friday. “More than 1M daily active players. Let’s keep pushing, together.” For further clarification, the Twitter account for the project also added that “some players download the game client without owning Axies. There are still less than 1M Axie owners.” Interestingly, a few ...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says there is no crisis that compels hasty cryptocurrency regulation. He agrees with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that the U.S. government should not pick winners or losers in cryptocurrency innovation. Elon Musk and Coinbase CEO Agree on Crypto Regulation Tesla CEO Elon Musk has chimed in on the heated discussion of the U.S. government picking winners and losers in the crypto space. This followed the endorsement by the White House of a crypto tax amendment to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that the crypto industry and several lawmakers have opposed. The Tesla CEO responded to a thread on Twitter started by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong about the crypto tax amendment “that would decide which foundational technologies are ok and which are not in crypto,” Armstrong wrote. “This is disastrous.” Musk tweeted, “Agreed, this is not the time to pick technology winners or losers in cryptocurrency technology.” He added, “There is no crisis that compels hasty regula...

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey has called on Congress to stop the Treasury Department from maximizing its ability to regulate and tax crypto by picking winners and losers. “Congress should not allow that to happen,” he said. US Senator Urges Lawmakers Not to Crush Crypto Innovation Following the endorsement of a crypto tax amendment by the White House, concerns have been raised that the U.S. government is picking winners and losers in the crypto space. Two crypto tax amendments to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill have been introduced but the White House has chosen to endorse the one that favors proof-of-work over all other consensus mechanisms, including proof-of-stake. Senator Pat Toomey is one of the sponsors of the amendment that is not endorsed by the Biden administration but has gained support within the crypto community. He tweeted Friday: While I appreciate that my colleagues and the White House have acknowledged their original crypto tax had flaws, the Warner-Portman amen...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has reportedly raised objections to lawmakers about the cryptocurrency tax amendment to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is supported by the crypto community. The White House subsequently announced its support for a competing amendment. Yellen Exerting Influence on Lawmakers Regarding Crypto Taxation The new crypto tax proposal in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill has become a topic of intense controversy over the past week. Two amendments have been put forward so far: one sponsored by Senators Mark Warner, Rob Portman, and Kyrsten Sinema. The other, which has gained the support of the crypto community, is sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden, Cynthia Lummis, and Pat Toomey. According to Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke with lawmakers Thursday to raise objections to the amendment sponsored by Senators Toomey, Wyden, and Lummis. He tweeted Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter: Treasury...

Truefi, an uncollateralized loan platform, has raised $12.5 million from three important investors. The token sale was led by Blocktower, a New York-based cryptocurrency investment firm. Other important investors were Alameda Research — owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX — and A16z. Truefi is one of the few uncollateralized defi-based lending protocols in the industry. Truefi Raises $12.5 Million Truefi has raised $12.5 million dollars to expand its operations and its offer of lending products. The investment was made through the purchase of its native token truefi (TRU), which will be liberated in stages. The token sale was led by New York-based Blocktower, a cryptocurrency blockchain VC firm, with the participation of Alameda and A16z, some of the biggest investment firms in the crypto space. The protocol is the product of experimentation with a system that emulates traditional finance conditions on defi. While most defi loans must have collateral to even be issued in th...

Genesis Digital, a leading cryptocurrency trading, lending, and custody desk, released its Q2 reports, where it confirms what it calls the “emerging role” that Ethereum and defi have in the industry. The report also confirms that institutional interest in crypto is still rising despite the crash in prices the market experienced in Q2 2021. Genesis Confirms Ethereum and Defi Market Rise Genesis, a big cryptocurrency lending and trading desk, has confirmed that emergent currencies like Ethereum and defi tokens have taken a relevant part of the market, according to its Q2 2021 Market Observations Report . Genesis saw these currencies take a big part of the interest from bitcoin, which has been traditionally the go-to cryptocurrency for institutional investors. Regarding this, Matt Ballensweig, Head of Institutional Lending at Genesis stated: Bitcoin’s dominance in terms of market cap declined from over 70% at the end of 2020 to under 45% at the end of Q2, as Ether and most of the mai...

The Central Bank of Venezuela announced the new redenomination plan for its fiat currency called “Digital Bolivar.” This new proposal seeks to simplify transactions by slashing six zeroes from the current value of the currency. While it is called digital, it has nothing to do with the proposal of a new central bank digital currency (CBDC), but it claims to have the development of a digital economy in the country as its objective. Digital Bolivar Redenomination Plan Announced The Central Bank of Venezuela issued an official statement yesterday on the implementation of a new redenomination plan for its fiat currency after the measure was leaked by some sources last month. The plan, called by the authorities “Digital Bolivar,” contemplates slashing six zeroes from the current value of the fiat currency to ease the process of making payments and transactions. At the time of writing, there is an exchange rate of 4,000 VES per dollar, which results in uncomfortably large amounts when m...

Award-winning hip-hop artist Megan Thee Stallion has published a video of herself explaining the basics of bitcoin, including what it is, why it is valuable, and how to obtain it. The famed rapper previously gave away $1 million in bitcoin to her fans in collaboration with Square’s Cash App. Famous Hip-Hop Star Breaks Down Bitcoin to Her Fans Popular rapper Megan Thee Stallion, also known as Hot Girl Meg, published a video titled “Bitcoin for Hotties” Tuesday in collaboration with Cash App, a mobile payment service developed by Jack Dorsey’s Square Inc. Megan Thee Stallion has more than 24.1 million followers on Instagram and 6.4 million followers on Twitter. She has received several accolades, including three Grammy Awards. At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, she became the second female hip-hop artist to win Best New Artist. In 2020, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list. Her Bitcoin for Hotties video starts with the star ...

Former acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks has resigned as the CEO of Binance U.S. after just over three months. He cited “differences over strategic direction.” Meanwhile, Binance is facing regulatory scrutiny worldwide, including in the U.K., Malaysia, Japan, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, and Lithuania. CEO of Binance US Resigns The CEO of Binance U.S., Brian Brooks, announced Friday on Twitter that he has resigned from Binance. The former acting Comptroller of the Currency and former chief legal officer at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase tweeted: Greetings crypto community. Letting you all know that I have resigned as CEO of ⁦⁦⁦Binance US. Despite differences over strategic direction, I wish my former colleagues much success. Brooks joined Binance at the beginning of May following his resignation as acting Comptroller of the Currency on Jan. 14, before President Joe Biden took office. Responding to Brooks’s announcement, Binance U.S. posted a me...

Fresh off the heels of Binance’s last announcement to discontinue crypto derivatives offerings in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, the company revealed on Friday crypto derivatives products in Hong Kong will cease as well. Effective immediately, users won’t be able to open new derivatives positions and customers with existing derivatives positions have 90 days to close them. Binance Ends Crypto Derivatives Offerings in Hong Kong Binance revealed on August 6 that the exchange will no longer offer crypto derivatives products to customers. The news follows the company’s current issues with global regulators and large financial institutions ceasing to service Binance. On August 3, Bitcoin.com News reported how HSBC became the latest financial institution to suspend operations with the company. Three days later, Binance revealed it is “restricting derivatives products offerings in Hong Kong.” According to the announcement, the change is aligned with the exchange’s compliance init...

The Ethereum blockchain has completed the highly anticipated London upgrade on Thursday and ether fans have been discussing the protocol’s burn rate with great fervor following the fork. 5.9 Ether Is Burned Every Minute, Vitalik Buterin ‘Confident’ About the future after London At press time, Ethereum is burning 5.9 ether per minute or $16.8K using today’s exchange rates against the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, in a recent interview from Singapore, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) “1559 is definitely the most important part of London.” On Thursday morning around 8:30 a.m. (EDT) on August 5, the long-awaited Ethereum London hard fork took place and the blockchain was successfully upgraded. The community was ecstatic, to say the least, and on Twitter, terms like “ethereum” and “EIP1559” started trending. Of course, the most topical conversation about the London upgrade was EIP-1559: The fee market change for ETH 1.0 chain . The EIP essen...

After a great number of well known product brands like Burger King, Axe, Snickers, Milky Way, and Slim Jim have been riding the dogecoin hype, the American meat and cold cut manufacturer ​​Oscar Mayer has also jumped on the dogecoin bandwagon. Similar to Axe, Oscar Mayer has also created a dogecoin-centric product and is auctioning a “10-pack of weenies” that features the famous Shiba Inu. A 10-Pack of Doge-Themed Weenies Oscar Mayer is a well known hot dog and cold cuts as the Kraft Heinz-owned firm has been around for years. In fact, the Mayer brothers started crafting bratwurst, liverwurst, and weisswurst products back in 1883. In recent times the Chicago-based company’s official Twitter account has been tweeting about the notorious crypto-asset dogecoin (DOGE) . The company has joined a number of well known brands getting in on the dogecoin hype. Just recently Axe released a limited edition Dogecan “crypto scented” body spray and a few Burger King locations in Brazil came out ...

The U.S. central bank’s vice chairman Richard Clarida explained on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve could begin tapering large asset purchases this year. Also, that the first interest rate hike since the onset of Covid-19 could happen in 2023. Meanwhile, despite members of the Fed saying inflation will be transitory, corporate bosses from some of the largest institutions are complaining about rising inflation. Looming Jobs Report, Richard Clarida Say Taper Could Happen This Year At the end of 2019, the Federal Reserve and numerous central banks all around the world started initiating monetary easing practices. Since then, the Fed’s monetary supply has ballooned after the onset of Covid-19, eclipsing decades’ worth of money creation in less than a year. The U.S. central bank kept the monetary spigot on and has yet to shut it off, while the cost of goods and services in America has risen dramatically. Furthermore, while the real economic situation is felt by renters, landlords, and...

Global investment bank JPMorgan is now offering six cryptocurrency investment funds to clients despite its CEO, Jamie Dimon, continually advising against investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan Chase has quietly begun giving its wealth management clients access to six cryptocurrency investment funds, CNBC reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the move. On Thursday, the bank’s financial advisors were allowed to begin placing private bank clients into a new bitcoin fund created by crypto firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), a subsidiary of Stone Ridge, a $10 billion alternative asset manager. This fund is nearly identical to the one NYDIG offers Morgan Stanley’s clients, the people said. Morgan Stanley began offering three crypto investment funds to clients early this year. They are Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP, the Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP, and FS NYDIG Select Fund. Last month, JPMorgan began offering five cryptocurrency funds to a...

PRESS RELEASE. British Virgin Islands — 6th August, 2021 — EQIFI , a decentralized protocol for pooled lending, borrowing and investing Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and select fiat currencies, has today launched its DeFi platform, including newly introduced fixed- and variable-rate ledning products, as well as the advanced yield aggregator and interest rate swaps. Brad Yasar, CEO of EQIFI, said: “We are incredibly excited to bring our new range of DeFi products to our community and clients. By harnessing the power of DeFi technology, EQIFI is positioned to become an industry world leader. Through blockchain technology, EQIFI democratizes financial products previously only available to a select few, and we are confident that EQIFI is best positioned to bring these products to clients who want to embrace the evolution of digital banking, in an accessible and regulated manner.” Outlined in full below, EQIFI’s new products simplify DeFi by consolidating a range of so...