Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A New York IT supervisor is facing a possible sentence of up to 15 years in jail for mining bitcoin in the office. The man, identified as Christopher Naples, allegedly had hidden 46 mining rigs in the offices of the Suffolk County Center in Riverhead, New York. According to the investigation, 10 of these rigs had been installed since February, consuming more than $6,000 worth of energy. But given there were 36 more machines, the total energy cost could be far greater. New York Man Faces Jail Time for Mining in the Office Christopher Naples, an IT technician for Suffolk County in New York, could spend up to 15 years in jail for mining bitcoin in his offices. According to reports , the man introduced 46 mining machines into the offices of the county, hiding these underneath floorboards. Naples is now facing charges of public corruption, grand larceny, computer trespass, and official misconduct. Prosecutors state the machines spent at least $6,000 worth of power, with the temperature ...

A slew of late court filings by lawyers representing Mirror Trading International (MTI) investors has forced a South African judge to postpone the hearing of the liquidators’ application to have the online bitcoin scam declared an illegal business. Concern Over Implications of Declaration Order As a Mybroadband report explains, the investors’ belated decisions to oppose the motion stems from growing concerns that such a declaration would give liquidators too much power. Before the latest counter applications, only Clynton and Cheri Marks — the co-masterminds of MTI — had opposed the liquidators’ motion. However, as the report states, other investors have now come to the conclusion that the liquidators could be “seeking powers that would allow them to claw back the withdrawals of all members, even if they lost money in the scheme.” In other instances, investors have been warned if “MTI is declared a pyramid or Ponzi, then all profits would be declared proceeds of a criminal enterp...

The British-founded American multinational corporation headquartered in New York City, Sotheby’s, closed the Yuga Labs “101 Bored Ape Yacht Club” non-fungible token (NFT) collection auction at $24.3 million for the lot. The auction ended on September 10 and surpassed the expected settlement for the NFT lot which was estimated to be around $12-18 million. The ‘101 Bored Ape Yacht Club’ and ‘Mutant Serum’ NFT Collection Auctions for $24 Million NFT project the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has been a popular non-fungible token collection since the project’s inception. Many of the NFTs have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single BAYC NFT. There are approximately 10,000 BAYC NFTs in the original collection and 5,423 unique ethereum addresses own at least one BAYC NFT. Onchain statistics show one address owns approximately 105 Bored Ape Yacht Club units and data shows the collection is the fourth largest in seven-day sales this week. Dappradar.com stats indicate that t...

Mining and trading of cryptocurrencies are illegal in Nepal, the country’s central bank has reminded citizens of the Himalayan nation. The regulator also warned that participating in such activities would entail penalties as per the current legislation. Despite its position, however, the Nepalese have continued to invest in bitcoin, media reports reveal. Engaging in Illegal Crypto Activities is Punishable by Law, Nepal Rastra Bank Says in Notice Cryptocurrency trading and mining are punishable as they are illegal in the country, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) remarked in а recently published warning titled “Cryptocurrency transactions are illegal.” In the notice , which appeared on the central bank’s website on Thursday, the financial regulator refers to Nepal’s Foreign Exchange Act which was adopted in 2019. Quoted by the online news outlet Khabarhub, the NRB stated: Cryptocurrency trading and mining and encouraging the illegal activities is punishable as per existing laws. “Like...

Bastyon’s messaging app would include end-to-end encryption, no link to phone number or any other metadata making it the most private messenger. Pocketnet, the social network based on proof-of-stake blockchain technology, enters a new phase of growth by changing its name to Bastyon and by releasing a brand new private messaging component. This new crypto chat app contains state-of-the-art end-to-end encryption and will not use any personally identifiable information from the user. One of the most interesting features of this messenger is its ability to send crypto payments just like any other message. The Bastyon network now includes: a decentralized social network app a decentralized video and live-streaming platform a private messenger app that is also… you guessed it… decentralized The underlying blockchain containing all the data used by Bastyon is still named PocketNet and the network token that is used to compensate node operators and network participants is still the P...

The stablecoin giant tether is by far the largest dollar-pegged crypto asset in the crypto economy and today, the number of tethers in circulation is nearing $70 billion. 90 days ago on June 12, 2021, the number of tethers in circulation was around 63 billion tokens and the supply has swelled by 9.99% since then. Circulating Tether Economy Nears $70 Billion, 1 Billion Tethers Minted on Solana The largest stablecoin today, in terms of market valuation is tether ( USDT ) and on Friday, September 10, USDT ’s market capitalization is $69.3 billion, according to the company’s transparency balance web page . The number is similar to most crypto market aggregation web portals tallying up the value of each coin market. Below USDT ’s market valuation is usd coin (USDC) with $29 billion and the Binance dollar-pegged token BUSD with $12.4 billion. The top four stablecoins by market valuation on September 10, 2021. According to the USDT transparency page, the token is issued on several bl...

Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) is bringing more than 300 airline members and travel merchants cryptocurrency payment options. Airlines in the UATP network include Air Canada, Air China, Delta, Frontier, Japan Airlines, Jetblue, Qantas, Southwest, and United. UATP Gets Into Crypto UATP is an airline-owned global payment network accepted by thousands of merchants worldwide for air, rail, hotel, and travel agency payments. UATP announced Wednesday that it has partnered with Bitpay “to offer its network the ability to accept payments quickly and easily in bitcoin, dogecoin, ethereum, litecoin and six other popular cryptocurrencies for travel.” Bitpay tweeted Friday: UATP is tapping into crypto’s growing payment popularity to bring more than 300 airline members and merchants more payment options. Currently, UATP’s members include Aeromexico, Airplus International (British Airways and Lufthansa), APG Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Air Niugini, American Airlines...

The digital currency network Cardano is two days away from the upcoming hard fork on September 12 and the community is expecting to see functional smart contracts. These can be used for decentralized finance (defi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other types of decentralized applications (dapps). Cardano has managed to capture the third-largest crypto market capitalization among 10,000+ crypto assets but over the last seven days, cardano has lost more than 16% in value. Cardano Expects to Upgrade in 2 Days With more than $400 billion under the hood, the ethereum ( ETH ) market is by far the largest smart contract platform today in terms of fiat valuation. Ethereum has held this position for a few years now, but a number of other smart contract crypto asset networks have been moving toward ETH ’s position. Besides ETH , today’s top smart contract markets by market valuation include cardano (ADA) , solana (SOL), polkadot (DOT), terra (LUNA), avalanche (AVAX), and more. Ethereum’s fe...

PRESS RELEASE. esports company & BSC Utility token Nobility has announced the appointment of Rostik Rusev on its board of advisors as the company gears up for launch. September 10th, 2021, Florida, USA — Nobility (NBL) is a revolutionary new BSC utility token focused on disrupting the esports industry with it’s unique smart contract capabilities. The project has just announced DeFi enthusiast, crypto entrepreneur, and blockchain business leader, Rostik Rusev as an advisor on its board. Crypto Magician in the Shadows Nobility is proud to announce the appointment of the ‘Crypto Magician in the shadows’ to its advisory board. Rostik Rusev is highly revered in the crypto space and will bring to the project a vast wealth of experience from not only the De-Fi space, but also from his previous work in the PR, Entertainment, and Music industries. Previously known as “The Bad Boy of crypto” Rusev made his name as an early pioneer in blockchain PR and will look to use his industry ex...

A Panamanian lawmaker has introduced a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies in the National Assembly. Among the proposals in the bill is the legalization of cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ethereum, as a means of payment, including for paying taxes. Proposed Crypto Law Will ‘Give Legal Certainty and Safety to Crypto Assets in Panama’ As the Bitcoin Law went into effect in El Salvador making BTC legal tender, Panamanian legislator Gabriel Silva tweeted on Sept. 7, “Today we proposed the Crypto Law.” He elaborated: We want Panama to be compatible with blockchain, cryptoassets, and the internet. This has the potential to create jobs, attract investment and bring transparency. The draft law he presented in the National Assembly is titled “Crypto law: Making Panama compatible with the digital economy, blockchain, cryptoassets, and the internet.” Silva explained that the law “seeks to revolutionize public administration, making it transparent, innovative and also promoting a digit...

Nigerian fintech entrepreneurs have slammed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s decision to select Bitt Inc as its fintech partner. They insist that the choice of Bitt Inc, a Barbados based firm, undermines central bank claims that it is “fighting for the naira in the forex market.” Bitt Inc’s Market Capitalization In fact, as the report by Itedgenews explains, some players in the country’s fintech industry are now lobbying for the CBN to rescind this decision. They cite the small number of people employed by Bitt Inc (three) as well as the fintech firm’s “lower market capitalization when compared to any of Nigeria’s major fintech companies” as some of their key concerns. Others, like fintech analyst Abu Idrissee, see the choice of Bitt Inc ahead of local companies as a continuation of Nigeria’s practice of snubbing local solutions. “With an abundance of indigenous online payment processing platforms and over 30 Fintech companies, Nigeria has the talent, expertise, experience, wo...

Leading cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have reached agreements with Korean banks to maintain the issuance of real-name accounts, media reports revealed. The deals, although not yet permanent, will allow the trading platforms to register with financial authorities before the Sept. 24 compliance deadline. Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit Maintain Partnerships With Korean Banks Banks have reportedly agreed to keep issuing real-name accounts for South Korea’s top digital asset exchanges. The arrangements will still need to be finalized but the received confirmations will allow the coin trading platforms to complete their registration with the country’s financial authorities before the regulatory deadline expires later this month. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Nonghyup Bank revealed the institution has agreed to extend deals to issue real-name accounts for traders at Bithumb and Coinone. According to a report by the Korea Jongang Daily, the representative confirmed the bank will...

NYDIG, a Bitcoin-based fintech firm, has announced it will partner with MVB bank to integrate its Bitcoin services into MVB’s banking as a service solution. The joint effort will allow the development of a white label solution, allowing third parties to complete their financial services with bitcoin functionalities without having to develop these systems in-house. NYDIG and MVB Bank Partner to Integrate Bitcoin NYDIG, a leading fintech solutions company focused on Bitcoin services, has announced a partnership with MVB Bank, a banking-as-a-service provider, to integrate its full bitcoin stack services into its platform. This will allow MVB Bank to offer third parties a full solution that could encompass fiat and bitcoin banking all at once, easing onboarding of its customers to cryptocurrency. MVB Bank currently has over 50 institutional customers among fintech, payments, and gaming companies that use its Victor platform to provide services to their customers. Victor aims to provid...

The Republic of El Salvador has made many headlines this week as the country adopted bitcoin as legal tender on Tuesday and became the first-known nation-state to purchase the leading crypto asset. A recent report details that remittance providers like Moneygram and Western Union could lose up to $400 million annually if the Chivo wallet is used more. Furthermore, the creator of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee has written an opinion piece about why Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele announced the bitcoin tender law at the Miami bitcoin conference. Chivo Wallet Could Hurt Remittance Giants Like Moneygram and Western Union, Says Report Ever since El Salvador adopted bitcoin ( BTC ) as legal currency on September 7, 2021, the country has continued to be a topic of discussion. Bitcoin.com News has reported on the many developments in El Salvador from ‘ Bitcoin Beach ’ to the ‘30for30’ trend that took place this week. Moreover, the country started buying mass quantities of bitcoin (...

PRESS RELEASE. At the end of August, the new NFT avatar collection known as SIDUS: NFT Heroes released its first batch of characters – in just 10 minutes, the entire batch had sold out! The release of the remaining characters from the collection is scheduled for September 10th at 4:00 am UTC. The team has also announced that the Rare and Legendary upgrade cards needed to modify an NFT Hero to Rare and Legendary status will be launched on the same day. I Want an NFT Hero – How Do I Get One? The public sale for the remaining NFT Heroes starts on September 10th at 4:00 am UTC, on the NFT Heroes website. The price for 1 NFT Hero is the same as before – 0.055 ETH . The remaining Heroes will come with new features and physical traits. After the whole collection of Original NFT Heroes is minted, users will be able to learn the precise percentage of their Hero’s rarity. On the same day, September 10th, SIDUS will be presenting its Rare and Legendary upgrade cards. The upgrade cards are t...

Seychelles’ Financial Services Authority (FSA) together with the country’s finance ministry, is reportedly working on a policy to either prohibit or license crypto trading platforms as registered international businesses. Increase in International Investigations of Crypto Platforms According to a report , the move by the FSA happens against the backdrop of a rising number of international investigations into scam crypto trading platforms that have been traced to the island nation. As recently reported by Bitcoin.com News, the Onecoin bitcoin scam became the latest foreign crypto entity to be a target of such an investigation. This after a request for a probe was submitted to the country’s law enforcement. Meanwhile, in the same report, Randolf Samson, who heads the FSA’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing section, is quoted explaining the rationale behind the regulator’s move. Samson detailed: There are many incorporated companies that are facilitating that activity. ...

Two central bank governors have shared their opinions about bitcoin after the cryptocurrency became legal tender in El Salvador. The governor of the Bank of Mexico sees bitcoin as a high-risk investment and a poor store of value while the governor of Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, believes bitcoin could collapse. Central Bankers Continue to Warn About Bitcoin The governors of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) and Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, have shared their views on bitcoin after the cryptocurrency became legal tender in El Salvador. Bank of Mexico Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon said Thursday that bitcoin is more like a means of barter than fiat money, Reuters reported, adding that he called the cryptocurrency “a high-risk investment and a poor store of value.” The Banxico governor is an economist; he was appointed by Mexico’s president to serve as governor of the central bank until Dec. 31. He was quoted as saying: Whoever receives bitcoin in exchange for a good or ...

On Wednesday, the stock and cryptocurrency trading platform Robinhood rolled out recurring crypto investments and now customers can purchase as little as $1 in crypto commission-free daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. The company’s announcement discusses the strategy of investment called dollar-cost averaging “in order to help smooth out the price swings.” Robinhood Rolls Out Recurring Crypto Purchases The investment platform Robinhood (Nasdaq: HOOD) is now providing customers with the ability to purchase crypto assets in a recurring fashion. This means that customers can purchase a set amount of digital currency ($1 or more) and buy it every day, week after week, every two weeks, or on a monthly basis. Additionally, Robinhood says that clients can “set recurring investments across multiple coins without ever incurring a fee.” “Today we’re rolling out crypto recurring investments, a new feature that allows you to regularly buy your favorite coins, commission-free and with as litt...