Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

While non-fungible token (NFT) assets have been raking in millions, numerous NFT projects like Cryptopunks, Meebits, and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) have been outpacing the competition. The BAYC NFT collectibles is a collection of 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs and just recently the project sales volume has risen exponentially as it rests just below Cryptopunks with $49.5 million in sales last week. Moreover, BAYC’s official Twitter account revealed the project donated 66.45 ether (over $200K) to Orangutan Outreach. Bored Ape Yacht Club Sees Massive Sales This Week, Donates Over 66 Ether to Charity On August 3, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Cryptopunks project and how one punk owner wanted to sell a rare Cryptopunks NFT for $91 million. At the time, Cryptopunks held the top position in terms of seven-day NFT sales, and today the NFT project still holds the top spot with $117 million sold last week. Stats via nonfungible.com on August 11, 2021. However, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)...

Italian soccer club AC Milan and Bitmex have reached a long-term partnership agreement that will put the logo of the cryptocurrency exchange on Milan’s jerseys. As part of the sponsorship deal, Bitmex will become Milan’s ‘official sleeve’ and ‘crypto trading’ partner. Bitmex Brand to Feature on Sleeves of Milan Playing Kits Bitmex, a leading crypto derivatives platform, will be AC Milan’s Official Cryptocurrency Trading Partner, the Italian football grand announced on Tuesday. A press release published on its website reveals the two sides have agreed on a multi-year sponsorship. According to the agreement, the digital asset exchange will also become the soccer team’s “first-ever Official Sleeve Partner.” The Bitmex brand will appear on the sleeves of both the men’s and women’s team playing kits in all competitions, including the UEFA Champions League. The logo will also feature on the sleeve of Milan’s esports team AQM’s outfit. BitMEX becomes our first-ever Official Sleeve Part...

On August 11, the blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis published its findings on the recent Poly Network hack which saw the loss of approximately $611 million crypto tokens. The assessment from Chainalysis backed up the claims made by the security company called Slowmist that shows the hacker left a fingerprint on the relatively unknown exchange Hoo.com. As of August 11, at 4:18:39 p.m. (UTC), Poly Network details that the hacker has returned $260 million in assets so far. Chainalysis Observes Hackers Onchain Fingerprints The crypto community has been infatuated with the recent decentralized finance (defi) hack that exploited the Poly Network protocol. Bitcoin.com News reported on the aftermath of the hack and how the hacker started to troll the project with onchain messages. On Wednesday, the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis published an in-depth report on what it discovered when it investigated the situation. According to Chainalysis, the hacker stole ETH , WETH, ...

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, is increasing his cryptocurrency allocation. He is also taking an equity stake in the FTX crypto exchange and has signed a multi-year deal to become its ambassador and spokesperson. He will be paid in crypto for his services. Kevin O’Leary Increasing His Crypto Allocation Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary has revealed that he is increasing his cryptocurrency allocation. He tweeted Tuesday: Finally solved my compliance problems with cryptocurrencies. I’m going to use FTX to increase my allocation and use the platform to manage my portfolios. His tweet followed FTX Trading Ltd. and West Realm Shires Services Inc., owners and operators of FTX.com and FTX.us respectively, announcing “a long-term relationship” with O’Leary. Mr. Wonderful will be taking an equity stake in both companies and will be “paid in crypto to serve as an ambassador and spokesperson for FTX,” the announcement details, adding: He has asked that his compensation for ...

U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry has slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for asking for jurisdiction over all crypto exchanges, including non-securities ones. He called it “a blatant power grab that will hurt American innovation,” adding, “We don’t need another backroom deal between Gensler and Elizabeth Warren.” Lawmaker Slams SEC for Blatant Power Grab Over Crypto Rep. Patrick McHenry from North Carolina released a statement Wednesday in response to a letter SEC Chairman Gary Gensler sent to Senator Elizabeth Warren about cryptocurrency regulation. Senator Warren shared the letter Wednesday. Gensler wrote : “I believe we need additional authorities to prevent transactions, products, and platforms from falling between regulatory cracks. We also need more resources to protect investors in this growing and volatile sector.” McHenry’s statement “on Gensler power grab over digital asset exchanges” explains that the SEC chairman is “asking for jurisdiction of all...

The Nasdaq-listed auto insurance company Metromile has purchased $1 million in bitcoin. The company plans to “become the first insurance company to allow policyholders the option to pay for insurance and receive payment for eligible claims in either bitcoin or dollars.” Auto Insurance Platform Adds Bitcoin to Balance Sheet The Nasdaq-listed insurance company Metromile Inc. disclosed its bitcoin purchase in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated Aug. 10. Metromile is a digital insurance platform and pay-per-mile auto insurer. The filing states: In June 2021, the company purchased and received $1.0 million of bitcoin. During the three months and six months ended June 30, 2021, the company recorded $0.1 million of impairment losses on bitcoin. “There were no realized gains or losses recognized during the three months and six months ended June 30, 2021,” the filing details. “As of June 30, 2021, the carrying value of the company’s bitcoin digital asse...

The private investment management firm with $402 billion in assets under management (AUM), Neuberger Berman Group LLC, has revealed the company now has active exposure to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The multi-billion-dollar asset manager disclosed this information in a Form 497 in order to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR filing system. Neuberger Berman’s 497 Shows Bitcoin and Ethereum Exposure Neuberger Berman (NB) has detailed in a Form 497 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it is now permitting active exposure to crypto investments. The company is a well known wealth manager with $402 billion AUM today and in 2003 Neuberger Berman merged with Lehman Brothers. Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, Neuberger Berman continued to operate and spinned itself away from the parent company. The filing with SEC shows the firm permits exposure to cryptocurrencies now and mentions the leading crypto assets ...

Following a number of statements this week from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Gary Gensler, wealth management firm Vaneck has filed for a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF). Vaneck Files for a Bitcoin Futures-Focused Fund Called the Bitcoin Strategy ETF On August 10, the wealth manager Vaneck filed an application with the SEC in order to list the “Bitcoin Strategy ETF,” a fund that seeks “capital appreciation.” The fund will be an actively managed ETF that leverages bitcoin futures, pooled investment vehicles, and other ETFs that provide exposure to bitcoin (BTC) . The latest Vaneck bitcoin ETF filing stresses: “The Fund does not invest in bitcoin or other digital assets directly.” The Bitcoin Strategy ETF will utilize bitcoin futures under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and it may also invest in “ETFs listed and traded in Canada, and exchange-traded products that provide exposure to bitcoin through the subsidiary.” Vaneck currently commands $63 bil...

In a strange twist of fate, two companies named Polygon are the source of a storm of confusion on Twitter as a video game community gets a unique introduction to Polygon’s blockchain technology. Crypto Scammers Hit Game-Related Feed Polygon , the rebranded layer 2 blockchain solution (previously Matic Network), has been mixed up with another identically named organization. This case of mistaken identity has caused some perplexing activity on Twitter as spammers and scammers highlight a “coin drop” to an online American video gaming website named Polygon that is entirely unrelated to the blockchain network. In several posts published by the video game organization’s Twitter feed, which operates under the handle @Polygon , spam accounts with little to no history and activity mentioned coin drops for Polygon and Matic. Twitter users who scrolled past the normal responses to the “Might Be Offensive” content were quickly inundated with crudely written tweets that tagged @POLYGON_BONUS ...

Global cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bitmex has settled charges with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The exchange has agreed to pay as much as $100 million to end investigations by the two agencies. Bitmex Settles With CFTC and FinCEN Bitmex confirmed Tuesday that “it has reached a resolution with both the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in relation to investigations by both agencies.” The company wrote: Bitmex agreed to pay as much as US$100 million to resolve the charges. “Today marks an important day in our company’s history, and we are very glad to put this behind us,” commented Bitmex CEO Alexander Höptner. “As crypto matures and enters a new era, we too have evolved into the largest crypto derivatives platform with a fully verified user base.” The CFTC separately announced Tuesday that “the U.S. District Court for th...

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has written a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren about crypto regulation. After outlining his concerns and priorities in the crypto sector, he said, “additional authorities” and “more resources to protect investors in this growing and volatile sector” are needed. SEC Chair Gensler Replies to Senator Warren About Crypto Regulation On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren released the letter she received from the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, in response to her July 7 letter about cryptocurrency regulation. Gensler’s letter, which mirrors his speech at the Aspen Security Forum last week, outlines numerous areas in crypto the chairman is concerned about. It is dated Aug. 5 even though Senator Warren demanded that he reply to her by July 28. The former crypto professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) explained that there are both centraliz...

On Tuesday, the decentralized finance (defi) project Poly Network was hacked for over $600 million in digital assets. The attack was the largest defi hack to date eclipsing all of 2021’s defi hacks combined. The very next day, however, the hacker started to send funds back to the Poly Network team as the project’s official Twitter account says it received $4.7 million so far. White Hat Hacker Communicates With Poly Network Attacker The Poly Network hack will go down in history as one of the largest defi attacks since the inception of this technology. In fact, the hack is up there with some of the largest hacks in crypto as it surpassed the Coincheck hack in 2018 which saw a loss of $530 million. Following the hack on Poly Network, the team published a letter that asked the hacker to start communicating with the project’s team members. “Law enforcement in any country will regard this as a major crime and you will be pursued,” Poly Network’s letter detailed. The hacker allegedly wr...

PRESS RELEASE. The Estonian based company SWAG celebrates the first 2 years of international activity by signing an important agreement with Coincover, a platform providing industry-leading technical protection and insurance-backed guarantees for cryptocurrency investors. This choice allows Swag to continue its careful and constant growth trend, increasing the number of top partners and offering its users a growing number of useful services to improve performance, system reliability and economic return. These are the main points of the deal signed between Swag and Coincover: The agreement reached with Coincover allows Swag to offer a new and important deposit protection guarantee for each specific customer, protecting them from the risk of their wallet being lost or that access to the cryptocurrency is limited in the event that the Swag platform is not available or accessible. A service of great importance and similar to the bank guarantee provided by the FDIC. In addition to the ...

Coinbase published the company’s shareholder letter on Tuesday which detailed it made over $2 billion in net revenue during the second quarter. The firm said “Q2 was a strong quarter” for Coinbase as it saw both “growth and diversification” this year. While netting in $2 billion, Coinbase said it has 68 million verified users and the company also noted it has been working with Spacex, Tesla, PNC Bank, Wisdomtree, and Elon Musk. Coinbase Q2 Results: Over $2 Billion in Revenue, Retail Users Rise, 9,000 Institutional Customers Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN ) has published data on the company’s second-quarter earnings and growth. The firm said that retail monthly transacting users (MTUs) rose to 8.8 million, spiking 44% since the first quarter. The company also noted that during the second quarter, digital currencies like bitcoin crossed all-time highs. This favorable landscape was “highly correlated” with the firm’s trading revenue. “The crypto market environment heavily influenced our Q2 ...

Personal finance guru Suze Orman says she recommends dollar cost averaging into bitcoin. She sees several upsides to the cryptocurrency, noting that it could “turn into a payment structure.” Personal Finance Guru Bullish About Bitcoin, Advises Dollar Cost Averaging Into the Crypto Personal finance guru and best-selling author Suze Orman has shared her view of why she is bullish about the price of bitcoin. The Suze Orman Financial Group founder, whose show ran on CNBC from 2002 to 2015, has written 10 consecutive New York Times bestsellers about personal finance. She was named twice on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people and was appointed as a personal finance educator for the United States Army and Army Reserve in 2016. In addition, she won two Emmy Awards and eight Gracie Awards. In her recent Women & Money podcast, Orman advised her listeners how to invest in bitcoin and why she thought the cryptocurrency will perform well in the future. In terms of how ...

According to a report, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is planning to have its proposed digital currency designated “critical national infrastructure” in order to protect it from operational and cyber-security risks. In addition, the CBN will also apply regulatory and compliance mechanisms to prevent what it calls “disruptive competition for electronic money.” Cost Versus Benefit As a Thisdaylive report explains, the digital currency which will be known as the e-naira will initially co-exist with traditional payment systems. CBN hopes that this strategy will help it “address interoperability risks that might be associated with the implementation.” With respect to the costs and risks involved, Thisdaylive, whose report is ostensibly based on a leaked CBN document, says the central bank is hopeful that the increased efficiency in operations will offset the initial costs of deploying the digital currency. On the other hand, the CBN reckons the risk of financial disintermediation wi...

Circle, a cryptocurrency fintech services company, announced it intends to become a full-reserve national commercial bank. This would bring a set of responsibilities and duties to the company equal to those of other mainstream banks: having to report to the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, OCC, and the FDIC. However, it would also put the company in a unique position to link blockchain and traditional finance. Circle Aiming to Become Full-Reserve Bank Circle, a cryptocurrency fintech services company part of the Centre consortium, the issuer of USD Coin, has revealed in a blog post yesterday it intends to become a full-reserve national commercial bank. The announcement was made by its CEO Jeremy Allaire in a post where he explains the journey the company will have to undergo to reach that goal. Allaire stated that, since its inception, Circle has intended to become a financial institution. And now that its flagship stablecoin, USD Coin, has reached a critical issuance mass of more ...

Chainalysis, one of the leading blockchain intelligence companies in the world, has announced it will now cover the Dogecoin network in its reports. The company argues that dogecoin became one of the most known cryptocurrencies in the world after being promoted by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla during this year. This, consequently, has attracted criminals to the chain, that are now enticed to use it due to its popularity. Chainalysis Announces It Will Cover Dogecoin The blockchain intelligence company Chainalysis announced it will now include dogecoin (DOGE) , the infamous memecoin, in its upcoming reports. Dogecoin has gone from being a joke meme to becoming one of the most popular currencies in the market, moving big volumes after being promoted by Elon Musk , who has brought knowledge of it to the general audience. This has also put dogecoin in the eyes of criminals and regulators, like internet scammers that use the image of Musk and its relationship with dogecoin to steal cryptocur...

PRESS RELEASE. BENQI , an algorithmic liquidity market protocol, and the Avalanche Foundation are collaborating on a joint liquidity mining program to celebrate the launch of the BENQI protocol on the 19th of August and the next phase of growth within Avalanche’s DeFi ecosystem. $3MM of AVAX will be allocated as liquidity incentives for BENQI users, with additional incentive programs coming soon. The AVAX will be offered as rewards to users who are lending and borrowing AVAX, ETH , LINK, wBTC, USDT , and DAI on the protocol with BENQI. AVAX is the native token of Avalanche. It’s a hard-capped, scarce asset that is used to pay for fees, secure the platform through staking, and provide a basic unit of account between the multiple subnets created on Avalanche. BENQI recently closed a $6MM fundraising round backed by the Avalanche Foundation, Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Arrington XRP Capital, & the Spartan Group. BENQI and Avalanche Brings High-Performance Borrowing and...