Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

On Friday, American social news aggregation and discussion website, Reddit published a job listing seeking a senior backend engineer for a non-fungible token (NFT) platform. As part of Reddit’s development team, the new hire would help “design, build and ship backend services for millions of users to create, buy, sell and use NFT-backed digital goods.” Reddit’s Job Application Is Looking for a Senior Engineer for a Possible NFT Platform Reddit seems to be in the midst of creating a non-fungible token (NFT) feature on its platform and from a recent job description it seems to be a marketplace. Reddit is seeking a “senior backend engineer” for its “NFT platform,” the recently added job listing explains. Reddit has already dipped its feet into cryptocurrency solutions and blockchain technology by leveraging Ethereum and Arbitrum . The job listing for a new engineer dedicated to NFT technology has a different focus than the firm’s community points system. “If there is one thing we’ve...

PRESS RELEASE. The next-generation NFT Infrastructure – Label Foundation has announced the successful completion of its private sale round. Supported by many leading VCs and famous Grammy-winning artists, the NFT platform raised $1.0 million during the private sale that generated major interest from top investors and venture capitalists in the finance and blockchain industries. A major milestone for Label Foundation The private sale round was led by HG ventures and backed by some of the leading venture capitals and institutions in the blockchain sphere, such as GBIC, Mindfulness Capital, IOST, M6, Adaptive, and Icetea Labs, Alphabit,, and Pragma. These Venture Capital firms have joined forces to fund the next generation NFT infrastructure that provides the P2P incubating platform to foster the education platform. Speaking on the development, Simon Jeung co-founder at HG Ventures, revealed his delight in the development. “As the lead investors in the LABEL Foundation, we are first a...

The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, is expected to formally launch the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) on October 25, 2021. High-Level Endorsement of the CBDC According to a statement released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the formal event marking the e-naira’s launch will be held at the Buhari’s official residence. After the initial launch was postponed due to different factors, the CBN suggests in the statement that it has done enough to prepare for the launch this time around. The press statement explains: Following a series of engagements with relevant stakeholders including the banking community, fintech operators, merchants and indeed, a cross-section of Nigerians, the CBN designed the digital currency, which shall be activated on Monday, October 25, 2021. Describing the e-naira launch as a major step forward in the evolution of money, the CBN insists its CBDC will be available to everyone. The CBN to Promptly Address Challenges Encountered...

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has warned that hyperinflation will soon happen in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. “Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening,” he predicted. Many people disagreed with him, however. US Will Soon Experience Hyperinflation, Says Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey The CEO of Twitter and Square Inc., Jack Dorsey, tweeted a warning about hyperinflation in the U.S. Friday. “Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening,” he wrote. Comments flooded his tweet. At the time of writing, it had garnered more than 7K comments and had been liked 70.1K times and retweeted 22.9K times. In a follow-up tweet, Dorsey emphasized: “It will happen in the U.S. soon, and so the world.” The Twitter CEO’s tweet came as consumer price inflation is running near a 30-year high in the U.S. and there are increasing concerns that the problem could be worse than what policymakers led on. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged Friday tha...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shared what he believes to be the most important dogecoin improvements. He also clarified that he does not have anything to do with the Dogecoin Foundation and is not investing in the shiba inu (SHIB) token. Musk confirmed that he is only holding three cryptocurrencies. Elon Musk on Dogecoin Improvements, Shiba Inu Token Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk made several tweets about cryptocurrency, bitcoin, dogecoin, and the shiba inu token Sunday. Regarding Dogecoin’s improvements, he was asked whether he had any recent interactions with the Doge development team. While admitting that he had not interacted with them lately, Musk shared: What matters imo is lowering fees, decreasing block time & increasing block size. A single layer network with exchanges as de facto layer 2 seems like the simplest solution for a medium of exchange. Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus chimed in and responded to Musk’s Doge improvement tweet. He stressed that in his opinion, “...

While the African continent is generally viewed as one of the most ideally placed to embrace and fully exploit the blockchain, the reality on the ground suggests otherwise. The East Africa Blockchain Expedition As Adedayo Adebajo, the managing director of Jelurida Africa and a blockchain enthusiast told Bitcoin.com News, much of the focus in terms of investment has been on two regions, Southern and West Africa. Adebajo suggests in written responses to questions sent to Bitcoin.com News that the East Africa region is being left behind. Therefore, to correct this anomaly, Adebajo has organized the East Africa Blockchain Expedition, an education and awareness campaign that will see him tour several African countries. This expedition, which commenced on October 23, is set to run for 30 days. To learn more about this expedition as well as its objectives, Bitcoin.com News sent questions Adebajo, and below are his responses. Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Can you explain in brief what this bl...

PRESS RELEASE. Adshares ($ADS) decentralized network working since 2017, created the possibility to connect Publishers and Advertisers directly with the use of blockchain and allows them to sign advertising contracts without intermediaries. The Adshares team is constantly putting in a lot of effort to grow their ecosystem which shows that Adshares is considered one of the biggest players in the decentralized ad network market in the world for a reason. This is well illustrated by the number of impressions of their ads, which surpassed 200 million per month . Metaverse is a concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared 3D visual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe. The metaverse in a broader sense may not only refer to virtual worlds, but the Internet as a whole, including the entire spectrum of augmented reality. Metaverse is just a big evolution of physical reality, augmented reality and virtual reality all combined into one creation....

Bitcoin’s hashrate has been increasing a great deal during the last three months, as it’s increased more than 32% from 103 exahash per second (EH/s) on July 25 to today’s 137 EH/s, with a few highs in between around the 189 EH/s mark. Bitcoin’s price spike has pushed the hashrate higher and in a week’s time, the overall mining difficulty is expected to increase for the eighth time in a row. Bitcoin Hashrate Steadily Rises Higher As bitcoin’s price is still more than 30% higher during the last month, even after the fall below the $60K region, the network’s mining power has increased a great deal. Three-month statistics show that Bitcoin’s hashpower has jumped above the 160 EH/s zone nine times since July 25 and over 180 EH/s once so far. At that time three months ago, BTC ’s hashrate was steadily recovering from the bitcoin mining crackdown in China and the mass migration that followed. The hashrate and bitcoin’s spot price was much lower three months ago, as the network’s processin...

According to a recent report, Beijing is pressing the fast-food retail chain McDonald’s to support the digital yuan before the Winter Olympics in China scheduled for February 2022. The report notes that China is also pushing companies like Visa and Nike to join in on the central bank digital currency (CBDC) rollout. Chinese Government Pushes McDonald’s, Visa, Nike to Accept CBDC The People’s Republic of China is preparing for its full roll-out of the CBDC in February 2022, during the introduction of the Beijing Winter Olympics. According to the Financial Times ’ (FT) unnamed sources, the Chinese government wants McDonald’s to get on board with the digital yuan. FT notes that a large quantity of McDonald’s restaurants in Shanghai are currently testing China’s CBDC. Now Beijing is pressing the company itself to get more McDonald’s restaurants to follow Shanghai’s lead. A source stemming from McDonald’s told FT: “Shanghai is our pilot city and we will learn from customers’ response.” ...

During the last month, four out of five of the top stablecoins by market capitalization saw their valuations swell in size. At the time of writing, there’s $135.4 billion in stablecoins but the top five collectively represent 94.40% of that total. While the largest stablecoin in terms of market cap increased by 2% over the last 30 days, the stablecoin DAI issued by the Makerdao protocol expanded by 22%. Tether and Circle’s USD Coin Rule the Roost Stablecoins are very popular these days and it’s safe to say that these dollar-pegged tokens are not going anywhere any time soon. For instance, at the time of writing, there’s around $29.2 billion in global trade volume dedicated to bitcoin ( BTC ) trades only. Currently, the stablecoin tether ( USDT ) commands 61.46% of all the BTC trades according to cryptocompare.com data . Below the U.S. dollar is the stablecoin BUSD, a stablecoin curated on the Binance Smart Chain as BUSD commands 5.29% of all BTC trades today. BUSD is, in fact, t...

On October 22 at 4:52 p.m. (EDT), a miner that acquired 50 bitcoin on May 17, 2010, spent the funds that sat idle for 11 years and five months. There hasn’t been a 2010 block reward spent in three months and the last time a 2010 miner spent their ‘sleeping bitcoin’ was on July 4, 2021. After waiting patiently for more than a decade, the miner who spent the ‘sleeping bitcoin’ on Friday saw a percentage gain of 76,249,900% if the individual cashed out into U.S. dollars today. Old School Miner Spends 2010 Block Reward After Bitcoins Sat for More Than a Decade It’s been a while since a block reward of 2010 ‘sleeping bitcoins’ have been spent and on Friday, a block reward from that era was transferred after sitting for 11 years and five months. Prior to Friday’s 2010, block reward spend, the last 2010 block transferred was on July 4, 2021. Bitcoin.com News, alongside help from the creator of the blockchain parser btcparser.com , and members of the Telegram channel “Gold Found In Sand,”...

PRESS RELEASE. NFTs are all the rage right now – they are essentially unique units of data that generally represent a piece of art, media, or other forms of digital files. There are many interesting projects in youthful stages right now, but one of the most prominent NFT projects to arise recently is CryptoDragons . The project is currently offering a limited collection of 10,000 NFT dragon Eggs for minting. The uniqueness of each individual Egg illustration has been generated through Artificial Intelligence, facilitating a process where the technology creates art. Once the Eggs hatch a unique firstborn Dragon will be minted. It can earn, battle on blockchain Arena, give offspring to the CryptoDragons Metaverse. This means that the initial 10,000 Eggs can be an investment, providing Egg owners an opportunity to generate an offspring of unique NFT dragons. The DNA of a dragon can consist of a genome package of 12,000 possible attributes. The project uses the term “Egg Today, Dra...

The main organization representing participants in the Russian crypto space has lambasted authorities in Moscow for not doing enough to regulate the industry. The criticism comes four years after President Putin directed institutions to legally define the status of digital financial technologies. Regulators Accused of Failure to Take Russian Crypto Market Out of Shadow Russian regulatory bodies have been criticized for their actions regarding the cryptocurrency industry in the country. According to Yuri Pripachkin, head of the Russian Association of Cryptoeconomics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain ( Racib ), their actions are still “half-hearted” and are not aimed at finding a systematic solution for Russia’s state policy in the field of digital assets. Speaking to the business news portal RBC, Pripachkin reminded about President Vladimir Putin’s order from Oct. 21, 2017, in which the Russian leader mandated the adoption of legislation tailored to define the legal status of...

While Colombia is not a country that has embraced cryptocurrencies compared to Venezuela or some African countries, it is the country with the second most cryptocurrency ATMs in the Latam region. The reason behind this could be that Colombia has a high percentage of cash usage. This makes cryptocurrency ATMs a very important tool for adoption in the country. Colombia, Crypto ATM Haven There is a cryptocurrency ATM boom going on in Colombia right now, being this is the country that hosts the second-highest number of these ATMs in the region. Columbia was in first place until not so long ago, before El Salvador made its bitcoin bet and declared the leading cryptocurrency legal tender. Currently, there are 50 cryptocurrency ATMs in Colombia, but the reasons for this boom are still not clear to some. Colombia has not been especially known for its cryptocurrency adoption, and its involvement with cryptocurrencies at a government level was limited to a regulatory sandbox that exchanges...

Central Bank of Russia isn’t prepared to admit a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the market, the head of the regulator, Elvira Nabiullina, told Russian media. Her statement, reaffirming the bank’s hardline stance on cryptocurrencies that has been recently criticized again, came after the debut of bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. Central Bank of Russia Not Open to Bitcoin ETFs Yet The Central Bank of Russia ( CBR ) is not ready to permit the trading of ETFs based on bitcoin futures, its chair Elvira Nabiullina said at a press conference this week, quoted by the business news portal RBC. Nabiullina made the comment in response to a question whether the Russian monetary policy regulator is going to follow the example set by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and authorize the listing of bitcoin ETFs in the country. The first such investment fund, the Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, launched on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Tuesday, Oct. 19, reaching almost $1 bi...

Last week the leading luxury auction house Sotheby’s introduced its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace called “Metaverse.” The Sotheby’s NFT marketplace has featured a number of collectible artworks including cards from the Rare Pepe card collection. Now the socialite Paris Hilton has introduced a few of her NFTs on Sotheby’s native NFT market featuring works from popular NFT artists such as Chelsea Evenstar and Maalavidaa. Leading Auction House Sotheby’s Introduces Metaverse NFT Market The British-founded American multinational luxury auction headquartered in New York City, Sotheby’s has been going big on non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles in recent times. Last week the company introduced the “ Sotheby’s Metaverse ” in order to host and auction the hottest NFTs in the space. The original Sotheby’s website could not offer the same experiences Metaverse offers and people can host their NFT collections by connecting with Sotheby’s. Just recently a collection of some of the rare...

PRESS RELEASE. Silta Finance, a new DeFi lending solution, challenges traditional banking sector’s predominance in project finance by announcing a partnership with the Singapore headquartered development company WEnergy Global. WEnergy Global has agreed to explore cryptocurrency lending solutions to access project finance. The company is partnering with Silta, a new startup connecting DeFi with infrastructure funding. Silta gives DeFi lenders access to a new real asset class, diversifying the investment universe and offering competitive interest rates. With this deal, WEnergy Global will be one of the first borrowers to receive early access to Silta’s new DeFi solution. Silta facilitates lending for building various kinds of infrastructure assets in a project finance framework. Borrowers can submit loan applications, and Silta conducts a risk analysis and carries out a credit assessment. Based on this information, the Silta community votes on which projects should be financed. A...

Mariah Carey has encouraged her fans to invest in cryptocurrencies. To help them get started, she is offering $20 in free bitcoin via her partnered cryptocurrency exchange. “A portion of your trade will go toward Black Girls Code, a non-profit helping to increase the number of women of color in the digital space,” said Carey. Mariah Carey Offers Free Bitcoin Bonus to Help Fans Get Started Investing in Crypto Award-winning artist Mariah Carey has encouraged her fans to start investing in crypto. Throughout her career, the famous singer, songwriter, and actress has won five Grammy Awards, 19 World Music Awards, and 21 Billboard Music Awards. Carey is also an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Carey has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to offer a small amount of free bitcoin to anyone signing up for a trading account at the crypto exchange and start investing. She tweeted about the offer to her 21.6 million followers and posted a video of herself explaining the of...

Global investment bank JPMorgan says inflation concerns are pushing the price of bitcoin to record highs, rather than interest in recently launched bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Noting that investors are pulling out of gold ETFs into bitcoin funds, the firm noted, “The flow shift remains intact supporting a bullish outlook for bitcoin into year-end.” JPMorgan Sees Inflation Driving up the Price of Bitcoin JPMorgan Chase’s analysts, led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, published a research note last week explaining that inflation has been driving up the price of bitcoin to all-time highs rather than the hype around the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF). Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, ticker BITO, began trading Tuesday and rapidly amassed $1 billion in investments. The second bitcoin futures ETF in the U.S. launched Friday. The JPMorgan analysts believe that “By itself, the launch of BITO is unlikely to trigger a new phase of significantly more fre...

The prime minister of Thailand has cautioned investors getting into cryptocurrencies, noting that they are volatile and highly speculative. Recently, interest in cryptocurrencies has soared as young investors in the country discovered that they could make money quickly by investing in cryptocurrencies. Thai Prime Minister Warns About Crypto Investing Ratchada Thanadirek, deputy spokeswoman for the Thai Prime Minister’s Office, said Saturday that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is worried about people investing in cryptocurrencies, particularly young investors. The warning came as the prime minister learned that Thai people entering the workforce have flocked to invest in cryptocurrencies due to their spectacular returns in a short period of time. However, the prime minister urged investors to consider the risks of investing in this asset class. He noted that cryptocurrencies have no supporting fundamentals, and they are highly speculative and very volatile. He also asked parents...

On November 2, a non-fungible token (NFT) magazine is coming to the Ethereum blockchain called “The NFT Magazine” — a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations in the form of an NFT. The project, promoted by Advtech IT Solutions, has partnered with members of the Zilliqa, Algorand, and Bitcoin Cash blockchain communities, alongside Art Rights, Artuu, The Cryptonomist, and the Poseidon Group. The NFT Magazine — A Non-Fungible Token Periodical Featuring Blockchain Topics and Crypto Artists Non-fungible token (NFT) assets and collectibles have become a mainstay in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain. During the last 12 months, thousands of artists, celebrities , athletes , designers, DJs , and more have published NFTs that have sold for millions of dollars. There have been all types of NFTs such as artwork, gaming items, music, and even physical items that are tethered to some form of blockchain technology. Now, a team called Advtech IT Solutions plans to dr...

On October 21, the bitcoin mining pool operator Titan revealed a new decentralized hashpower routing protocol called Lumerin. The open-source project aims to commodify bitcoin’s hashpower “through smart contracts, making hashpower tradable.” Bloq’s Mining Arm Titan Announces the Lumerin Protocol The bitcoin mining operation Titan , a subsidiary of the company Bloq Inc., has announced its decentralized hashpower routing protocol, “Lumerin.” Titan says that bitcoin mining companies “tend to be concentrated in regions that offer cheap electricity, favorable regulation, and stable infrastructure” and it aims to solve centralization via software. The idea is to commodify bitcoin’s processing power and security by leveraging smart contracts. “The Lumerin Protocol will allow companies and individuals to buy, sell, and deliver hashpower, achieving decentralization through open market dynamics,” Titan’s announcement details. “Furthermore, by making hashpower a transferrable digital commodi...