Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

PRESS RELEASE. Right after the Marnotaur DeFi leverage platform announced the extremely quickly completed of its Marnotaur NFT collection presale, the team announced that the collection would go public. The date for the sale has been set for October 4th on the official website https://nft.marnotaur.com/ and there are expectations in the community that it will not last long. In this article, you get a look at the design, utility and sustainability of the collection’s tokenomics model. Created by NFT256, inspired by Bullish DeFi Cycle (which will bring BTC to $100,000) The first release of the Marnotaur NFT collection contains 2,775 uniquely designed creatures – Marnotaurs . The collection is issued in squadrons of 555 NFTs. Every NFT is designed and created by members of the renowned artistic community – NFT256. This group unites talented people from all over the world, artists who are interested in modern technology but are still in love with art. NFT256 artists collaborate with...

Jean-Pierre Verster, the founder of a South African hedge fund Protea Capital Management, has said he does not believe there is “intrinsic value” in cryptocurrencies. He insists that cryptocurrencies have “elements of a Ponzi scheme” and for that reason, he has not invested in them. A ‘Wonderful Technology’ In remarks made during an interview , Verster however appears to adopt a stance on blockchain technology that is similar to that of cryptocurrency opponents. He explained: I think the technology of blockchain is a wonderful technology. And will find applications when it comes to having open ledgers – when it comes to transactions that you need to make sure are captured somewhere or recorded somewhere in a way that people can’t after the facts – fiddle with those recordings. For that blockchain is great. Although he points to foreign exchange restrictions and hyperinflation as some of the legitimate factors that contribute to the popularity of cryptocurrencies, Verster still a...

Threats related to cryptocurrency have followed prices, decreasing significantly after the market slump in May, suggests a recent report released by a leading internet security firm. Detections fell by almost a quarter but Russia remains the most affected country, with the U.S. ranking in the top three as well. ESET: 1 in 10 Crypto-Focused Threats Detected in Russia Software threats in the crypto space, mining malware in particular, are quite dependent on developments in the cryptocurrency market, cybersecurity company ESET has concluded in its Threat Report T2 2021. However, the drop in cybercriminal activity surrounding cryptocurrencies “does not mean that all was quiet,” note the authors of the study, covering the second third of the year, and add: Cryptocurrency investments scams, in which con artists lure their unsuspecting victims to fake investment websites or impersonate government authorities and even celebrities, are more popular than ever. Victims lost at least $80 mi...

Virgin Galactic’s chairman and CEO of Social Capital, Chamath Palihapitiya, says bitcoin has effectively replaced gold. Having predicted that the price of the cryptocurrency would hit $200,000, the executive said bitcoin’s “market cap is just going to grow.” Palihapitiya: ‘I Can Pretty Confidently Say That Bitcoin Has Effectively Replaced Gold’ Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya talked about bitcoin in an interview with CNBC at the Delivering Alpha Conference last week. The billionaire executive is also the founder and CEO of Social Capital. Earlier this year, Palihapitiya predicted that the price of BTC would hit $200K in about five years. Commenting on his price prediction, he said Wednesday: It’s very hard for me sitting here to give you a price prediction, but I can pretty confidently say that bitcoin, I think, has effectively replaced gold. And it will continue to do so. And so that market cap is just going to grow. The price of bitcoin is $48,093 and its marke...

The Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase has been meeting with members of Congress to discuss the cryptocurrency regulation it plans to propose, according to CEO Brian Armstrong. In addition, the company has met with more than 30 crypto firms, four major law firms, and three trade groups about its crypto proposal. Coinbase Meeting Congress Members and Crypto Firms on Regulatory Framework for Crypto Coinbase is on a mission to influence crypto regulation in the U.S. CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted Thursday: We’ve now met with 30+ crypto firms, 25+ members of congress and/or staff, 4 major law firms, and 3 trade groups about our regulatory proposal for crypto. Our policy team is doing great work and we’re trying to be part of the solution. Armstrong first revealed that his company was preparing a draft regulatory framework to submit to lawmakers in an interview at Techcrunch Disrupt 2021 on Sept. 22. He said that he expected to begin distributing the crypto regulatory proposal this ...

The central bank of Laos intends to explore issuing its own digital currency, according to a media report that provided details on the plan. A study on the matter will commence soon and will be conducted with the support of a fintech startup based in Japan. Central Bank of Laos Joins Race to Develop Digital Fiat The Bank of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is going to launch the study focused on the development of a central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) as early as this month, Nikkei Asia unveiled on Sunday. The monetary authority has employed the Japanese fintech firm Soramitsu which was involved in a similar project in neighboring Cambodia. The report of the collaboration comes out after Laos recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Soramitsu, a company specializing in blockchain finance, took part in the establishment of the Bakong digital payment system in Cambodia designed to reduce the country’s dependence on the U.S....

The Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele revealed on Friday that Chivo wallet users will be able to get a discount on petroleum fill-ups at the largest gas stations in the country. Chivo wallet users paying for fuel will save $0.20 per gallon using the government’s crypto wallet. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s Government Subisidizes Country’s Gasoline Market Following the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele revealing the volcano-powered bitcoin mining facility last week, this Friday, Bukele told his Twitter followers about two positive implementations the government has enacted. To start, Bukele explained that he signed a decree that authorizes a fund to stabilize the price of gas in El Salvador. He noted that gas prices were expected to increase but his decree has stopped the increase. In fact, gas prices will see a “slight reduction,” Bukele stressed. “The Government will absorb the increases that are taking place in the international market for one year,” the Salvadoran pres...

Several U.S. lawmakers have called on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to support cryptocurrency innovation. “The Federal Reserve must work to support domestic innovation … Our government should never be in the business of thwarting innovation.” Members of Congress Urge Fed Chair Powell to Support Crypto Innovation Several U.S. Congress members have sent a letter to Fed Chair Jerome Powell asking him several questions regarding the Fed’s effort on cryptocurrency regulation. The bipartisan letter is signed by Reps. Tom Emmer, Darren Soto, Frank Lucas, Ted Budd, Ro Khanna, Glenn “GT” Thompson, and Eric Swalwell. Rep. Emmer described: Empowering individual Americans to become everyday investors should be our highest priority – decentralized digital assets provide that opportunity. The Federal Reserve must work to support domestic innovation … Our government should never be in the business of thwarting innovation. The congressman explained that his letter “highlights concern...

President Joe Biden says that the U.S. will bring together 30 countries to stop “the illicit use of cryptocurrency.” The United States is “partnering closely with nations around the world” to respond to the cybersecurity threats, Biden further said. US Will Bring 30 Countries Together to Combat Illicit Use of Crypto, Says Biden The White House released a statement by President Joe Biden Friday on the government’s cybersecurity efforts as October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. President Biden explained that the U.S. is “partnering closely with nations around the world” to respond to the cybersecurity threats, “including our NATO allies and G7 partners.” He added that this month: The United States will bring together 30 countries to accelerate our cooperation in combating cybercrime, improving law enforcement collaboration, stemming the illicit use of cryptocurrency, and engaging on these issues diplomatically. “The Federal government needs the partnership of every American an...

In 2021, the subreddit forum r/wallstreetbets, also known as Wallstreetbets (WSB) became an extremely popular forum after the members played a major role in the Gamestop short squeeze escapade. In recent times, the founder of WSB, Jaime Rogozinski has been behind a new decentralized finance project called the Wallstreetbets Dapp (wsbdapp.com). Rogozinski spoke with Bitcoin.com News this past week and he discussed the Wallstreetbets Dapp and how traditional and crypto finance are spilling over into each other. Wallstreetbets Collides With Decentralized Finance Just recently, Bitcoin.com News chatted with Jaime Rogozinski, the founder of the infamous Wallstreetbets forum. These days, Rogozinski is very focused on defi and the WSB founder is now behind a new defi project called the Wallstreetbets Dapp ( wsbdapp.com ). Rogozinski discussed the project with Bitcoin.com News in great detail, in order to give our readers some perspective of the decentralized app , exchange-traded portfoli...

The government of Kyrgyzstan has recently revised its electricity tariffs for various groups of consumers. Authorities in Bishkek have raised the rates at which crypto mining businesses buy power citing the energy-intensive nature of the coin minting process. Crypto Miners in Kyrgyzstan to Pay More for Electricity Companies operating crypto mining facilities in Kyrgyzstan will have to pay a higher price for the electrical energy they need to mint digital currencies. The increase follows a government decision to update electricity rates across the board in order to “ensure the stable and reliable functioning of the energy sector.” According to an official announcement , the changes are part of the country’s Medium-Term Tariff Policy for Electricity (2021–2025), approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. “Mining entities (cryptocurrency)” is one of the 14 groups of end users affected by the revision. The base tariff for consumers in that category is calculated with a multiplying factor o...

Sky Mavis, the team that created the Ethereum-powered non-fungible token (NFT) game Axie Infinity, revealed the project plans to launch a decentralized exchange (dex), according to the company’s co-founder Jeff Zirlin during a podcast with Frank Chaparro. Moreover, Axie Infinity recently captured over $2 billion in NFT sales, making it the second-largest project in terms of NFT sales, just below the marketplace Opensea. Axie Infinity Plans to Launch a Dex Platform The Axie Infinity economy has swelled exponentially during the last few months, as the Ethereum-powered game has seen $2.27 billion in all-time sales among 687,495 traders. While the project offers an in-game experience with NFTs, Axie Infinity also has two native token assets. The token asset axie infinity (AXS) has increased 55.4% in value during the last month. Meanwhile, year-to-date, Axie Infinity’s other native token smooth love potion (SLP) is up 98.7% against the U.S. dollar. Jeff Zirlin appeared on the podcast T...

Kazakhstan is facing electricity shortages and cryptocurrency mining has been singled out as the main culprit. Amid an ongoing crackdown in China, the Central Asian nation has become a magnet for crypto miners who are taking advantage of its low electricity rates. Republic of Kazakhstan Sees 7% Increase in Electricity Demand Due to Crypto Miners Kazakhstan plans to boost its power generating capacities in the coming years but right now the country is experiencing electricity shortages. In 2021, consumption has surged by 7% in comparison with last year, a government official revealed at a press conference. The spike in demand is largely due to a growing number of data centers devoted to cryptocurrency mining, Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliev told local media this week, referring to numbers released by the grid operator, KEGOC. Stressing that “this is a very big increase,” he stated: We need to make a number of decisions. First, we must be able to ensure that system operators ha...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns that the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies poses new challenges to financial stability. “Cryptoization can reduce the ability of central banks to effectively implement monetary policy. It could also create financial stability risks.” IMF Sees New Challenges to Financial Stability From Crypto The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned about the risks posed by the cryptocurrency boom in a blog post published Friday. The post, titled “Crypto boom poses new challenges to financial stability,” is authored by three financial experts from the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department: Dimitris Drakopoulos, Fabio Natalucci, and Evan Papageorgiou. Noting that “The total market value of all the crypto assets surpassed $2 trillion as of September 2021 — a 10-fold increase since early 2020,” they said that many entities in the ecosystem “lack strong operational, governance, and risk practices.” These include exchanges, wallets, miners, and ...

One of the largest darknet markets (DNM), White House, announced the market is retiring as the DNM’s administrators say the team has reached its goal. After revealing the retirement plan, White House admins explained that user registration and orders have been disabled. Darknet Market White House Plans to Close Its Doors Soon, User Registration and Orders Have Been Disabled When the DNM Dark Market was seized by global law enforcement, White House marketplace became the second-largest DNM just below the Russian darknet behemoth Hydra. White House also was a monero ( XMR ) only DNM, which means XMR was the only digital currency accepted by White House vendors. White House and the DNM Archetyp Market were the only two DNMs that had a strict XMR only rule. However, the administrators of White House market announced the DNM is closing down voluntarily as the team has reached its goal. White House (WH) admins further emphasized that users should not expect the DNM to return so if a WH...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee that he has no intention to ban or limit the use of cryptocurrencies. He also commented on the regulation of stablecoins. Powell Says ‘No Intention to Ban’ Crypto The chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Jerome Powell, talked about cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee Thursday. The main focus of the meeting, however, was the Federal Reserve’s and Treasury’s responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke for the Treasury Department. U.S. Congressman Ted Budd from North Carolina said to Powell: “In a July hearing before this committee, you were asked about CBDCs or the central bank digital currencies and their impact on stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies, and you stated , ‘You wouldn’t need stablecoins, you wouldn’t ne...

The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has disclosed that at least 6,000 users were victims of a hacking campaign to gain unauthorized access to the accounts of Coinbase customers. The hackers also took advantage of a flaw in Coinbase’s SMS Account Recovery process to gain access to user accounts. Cryptocurrencies of at Least 6,000 Coinbase Customers Stolen by Hackers Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reportedly informed over 6,000 customers this week that their accounts had been compromised and funds were removed. A copy of the letter is posted on the website of California’s Attorney General. In the letter, the exchange explained: Unfortunately, between March and May 20, 2021, you were a victim of a third-party campaign to gain unauthorized access to the accounts of Coinbase customers and move customer funds off the Coinbase platform. At least 6,000 Coinbase customers had funds removed from their accounts, including you. In order to access a user account at Coinbas...

Bitcoin logged price losses once again for the crypto asset’s fifth consecutive September in its lifetime, but as soon as the month ended, billions of dollars came back into the crypto economy. Metrics show that while September has consistently been a bad month for bitcoin, October, on the other hand, has traditionally been a good month for bitcoin since 2013. Bitcoin Has Been Profitable in October 77% of the Time In 2020, the price of bitcoin ( BTC ) closed the month of September at around $10,750 per unit but the following month, BTC spiked 25% to roughly $13,450 per unit. This year, September has been dreary price-wise, and many crypto proponents have asked to be woken up when “ September ends .” On September 26, Civic co-founder Vinny Lingham wrote : “This feels like September 2017 again… Who remembers what happened next?” On October 1, 2021, BTC surged from $43,500 per unit to Friday’s high of $48,500 per BTC . That’s an increase of around 11.49% and the spike happened very ...

About 83.7% of those surveyed by Luno in a recent study believe the price of bitcoin will rise significantly in the next few months. In fact, 59.4% of the more bullish respondents are expecting the leading crypto to rise to as much as $100,000. Bullish Beyond Bitcoin These are the findings of Luno’s Q3 Customer Sentiment Survey that was conducted between August 20 and September 20. A total of 1,870 customers of Luno cryptocurrency exchange from South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the U.K. participated in the study. Aside from bitcoin, study participants were also asked to share their thoughts about the prospects of altcoins like ETH , XRP and BCH . As the study findings suggest, many of the respondents across the four countries are similarly bullish on altcoins as well. South Africans Less Bullish on ETH However, it would appear that Luno customers in the U.K. and Malaysia are more bullish on such cryptos as ETH than their counterparts in South Africa. The exchange’s blog e...

A spokesperson for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Osita Nwanisobi, has said the launch of the much-hyped e-naira central bank digital currency (CBDC) has now been postponed to a later date. Nwanisobi’s announcement came less than 24 hours before the CBN was scheduled to launch the digital currency. Launch Date Clashes With Nigeria’s Day of Independence In a Facebook post that reveals the reasons behind the deference, Nwanisobi points to the clash of the CBDC’s launch date with Nigeria’s day of independence. According to the post, the spokesman explained that: The planned unveiling on October 1, 2021, has now been deferred due to other key activities lined up to commemorate the country’s 61st Independence anniversary. However, despite this postponement, Nwanisobi reassures Nigerians that the CBN and its partners are “working round the clock to ensure a seamless process.” According to the CBN post and Nwanisobi, this is being done “for the overall benefit of the customer, par...

Argo Blockchain, a London-based cryptocurrency mining company, has announced an expansion of its mining capacity that will more than double its current hashrate. The expansion will be done through the acquisition of 20,000 S19J Pro bitcoin miners from Bitmain, which will be delivered in several installments. These miners will populate the facility the company plans to build in Texas next year. Argo Blockchain Expands Hashrate Argo Blockchain, a London-based crypto mining company, has announced the purchase of 20,000 mining machines to expand its capacity. This is part of the planned company expansion to West Texas, where it will build a mega-mining facility. The mining machines will be provided by Chinese manufacturer Bitmain in consecutive installments. This purchase agreement will allow Argo to more than double its current mining capacity, taking it to 3.7 exahash for Q3 2022, betting big on the future of Bitcoin as a network and a profitable asset. While the amount of the initi...

PRESS RELEASE. YIELD App, a FinTech company, is thrilled to announce it has become the Official Digital Asset Wealth Management Partner of top Premier League football club, West Ham United. This exciting partnership comes just seven months after the public launch of YIELD App in February 2021, demonstrating the growing attractiveness of digital assets to a mainstream audience across the world. YIELD App enables its users to invest in digital assets and earn as much as 20.5% annual interest at the touch of a button. YIELD App is challenging the status quo of the traditional investment system and has seen significant growth since its public launch, with 60,000 users and an impressive $400 million of managed assets to date. YIELD App users will now benefit from the opportunity to experience hospitality at West Ham United home fixtures, through regular competitions throughout the season. Commenting on the partnership, Justin Wright, Chief Operations Officer of YIELD App, says: “‘We ar...

A government agency in Uzbekistan has published a list of unauthorized crypto exchanges that residents of the country have been advised to avoid. The trading platforms collect personal data and bear no responsibility for the cryptocurrency transactions, officials have warned. Authorities in Uzbekistan Blacklist ‘Unofficial’ Crypto Exchanges The National Agency of Project Management under the President of Uzbekistan has identified a number of online platforms offering crypto trading services without authorization. During a monitoring campaign on the internet, the body registered an increase in activities of such “unofficial” digital asset exchanges. The entities behind them offer Uzbekistani citizens the option to buy, sell or trade crypto assets without having an office in the country. They are usually registered in other jurisdictions and their servers are located abroad, but at the same time they collect personal information from residents of the Central Asian republic, the agenc...