Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The U.K.’s advertising authority has launched an investigation into advertisements for the cryptocurrency floki inu (FLOKI). The ads, titled “Missed Doge? Get Floki,” have appeared on London buses and the underground. The team behind the floki inu ad campaign says the advertisements are “legally cleared,” and the advertising authority’s action is “an attack against cryptocurrency and against the people’s freedom of choice — a clear attempt at censorship.” UK’s Advertising Authority Investigating Ads for Floki Inu Cryptocurrency The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the U.K.’s regulator of advertising, is investigating advertisements placed on public transport in London for the cryptocurrency floki inu (FLOKI). Floki inu is the cryptocurrency named after Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s shiba inu dog. Musk has been called the Dogefather for his support of the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE). He tweeted on June 25, “My shiba inu will be named Floki.” The Tesla boss followed up with a t...

Israeli police have arrested eight suspects in connection with a cryptocurrency fraud scheme after raiding their homes and seizing evidence. One of the suspects is Moshe Hogeg, a well-known owner of the premier soccer team Beitar Jerusalem Football Club. 8 People Arrested in Crypto Fraud Scheme in Israel Israeli police arrested eight suspects Thursday allegedly stealing tens of millions of shekels in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme. The arrests were made after officers from the police’s Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit raided the suspects’ homes and offices. They gathered evidence and seized items related to the investigation. The investigation lasted several months and unearthed suspected money laundering and tax offenses, the police detailed. One of the suspects is Moshe Hogeg, an owner of Beitar Jerusalem Football Club, an Israeli professional soccer club that plays in the Israeli Premier League. The police explained that the suspects operated a cryptocurrency fraud scheme “in a s...

The price of bitcoin has dipped below the $60K zone, a number of people have been talking about the third-largest bitcoin address called “1P5ZED” which has accumulated thousands of bitcoin during the last few days. Nobody knows who the owner of the wallet is but it holds more than 111,359 bitcoin, as it’s been steadily accruing bitcoin since the wallet’s first transaction on February 5, 2019. While some assume the address is a mega bitcoin whale, onchain data indicates that the wallet could be tied to an exchange. A Myriad of Tales Tied to the Third Largest Bitcoin Wallet Speculate the Address Is a Whale That ‘Bought the Dip’ Bitcoin’s fiat value has been volatile and it’s one of those times where everyone is looking for answers to why BTC has slid in value. For instance, on November 10, bitcoin ( BTC ) slid from a $69K all-time high (ATH) and five days later, it was coasting along in the mid-$65K to $66K per unit range. Since the crypto asset’s ATH, bitcoin is down 16% in value a...

The annual Sports Illustrated (SI) Awards have just revealed the line-up for the firm’s 2021 awards show that will broadcast live from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. This year, fans will be able to win a whole bitcoin from FTX as the crypto exchange has partnered with the SI Awards ultimate sports sweepstakes. This Year’s Sports Illustrated Awards Features a Bitcoin Sweepstakes The American sports magazine owned by Authentic Brands Group, Sports Illustrated, has been a very popular magazine since its inception in 1954. Since the day SI was created, for 67 years the company has presented the Sportsman of the Year award annually. This year, the SI Awards will be hosted at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida on Tuesday, December 7 at 8:00 p.m. (EST). The 2021 SI Awards will also feature a sweepstakes with rewards provided by the crypto exchange FTX. Fans will have the opportunity to win a single bitcoin ( BTC ), tickets to the award show...

PRESS RELEASE. LTNM – another cryptocurrency that takes us to the next level! LTNM is an insured, asset-backed currency based on the Bitcoin blockchain. Monsoon Blockchain Corporation developed it on behalf of the LTNM Foundation. LTNM is a greener, faster and safer version of great Satoshi Nakamoto’s work. Now you can trade it on FMFW.io exchange! Due to the essential aspect of Bitcoin’s high energy consumption, LTNM uses the proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithm to increase the network’s TPS speed and, above all, reduce the energy loss. LTNM uses MPoS – Mutualized Proof of Stake to strengthen network security by targeting costly barriers for an attacker to verify the block and recover all charges using mining. This makes it harder for anyone to perform DoS (Delegated Proof of Stake) attacks on the network. Additionally, LTNM has its chain that supports PoS at the difficulty of guaranteeing that blocks are distributed uniformly across the network. The problem depends on the size of the ...

On December 2nd at Art Basel Miami, the very first Ross Ulbricht non-fungible token (NFT) collection will be showcased at the event and auctioned via Superrare. The proceeds from the auction will support Ross Ulbricht’s freedom efforts and a donor-advised fund called Art4giving, which helps support people who have incarcerated family members. 10 NFTs Featuring Ross Ulbricht’s Personal Work Non-fungible token (NFT) assets have become a big deal this year and turned into a billion-dollar industry in what seems like overnight. This week Ross Ulbricht , the founder of the now-defunct Silk Road marketplace, introduced his first NFT collection after spending nine years behind bars for a non-violent offense. Ulbricht was a first-time offender and a great majority of individuals believe his case was a “miscarriage of justice.” His double life sentence without parole, plus 40 years, for creating a website has been deemed draconian as well. Ulbricht is still fighting for his freedom and a pe...

A lawyer representing investors defrauded by the notorious crypto scam Onecoin has urged authorities in Bulgaria to act on the case, claiming that the “world’s largest pyramid scheme” is still operating from the country. In a petition with the Bulgarian Constitutional Ombudsman, Jonathan Levy accuses officials in Sofia of failing to provide justice to the victims while seemingly protecting “the most notorious criminal organization.” Lawyer Slams Bulgarian Authorities for ‘Misfeasance’ in Onecoin Case In the petition , Dr. Levy points out that Onecoin has been recognized as a criminal enterprise by a number of countries including the United States, Argentina, and Germany, and classified as a pyramid scheme by law enforcement agencies such as the FBI. At the same time, the €20 billion cryptocurrency scam allegedly maintains several offices in the Bulgarian capital, uses a number of corporate identities, continues its operations unabated, and has even held a recruitment event this pas...

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to repeal the $1 trillion infrastructure package’s crypto provision, which he said is a “devastating attack” on the crypto industry. “I urge my colleagues in the Senate to repeal this harmful language that will create regulatory uncertainty and in turn an unnecessary barrier to innovation,” he said. Senator Cruz Pushes for Infrastructure Bill’s Crypto Provision to Be Repealed U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said Tuesday that he has introduced “legislation to repeal infrastructure bill’s ‘devastating attack’ on emerging cryptocurrency industry.” President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law early this week. Senator Cruz explained that his bill “would repeal an overly broad and poorly-crafted provision from the infrastructure package that creates new reporting requirements for many participants within the blockchain industry.” He emphasized: This provision will stifle innovation in the industry, endanger the privacy of man...

India is reportedly considering allowing only preapproved cryptocurrencies to be listed and traded on exchanges. In addition, the government aims to both introduce and pass a cryptocurrency law by year-end. Indian Crypto Regulation and Preapproved Cryptocurrencies India is considering allowing only cryptocurrencies that have been “preapproved by the government” to be listed and traded on exchanges, Reuters reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the discussions. The approval process is intentionally cumbersome to deter investors from holding cryptocurrencies, the sources said, adding that the government is unlikely to go through with its earlier plan to ban cryptocurrencies. The publication quoted one of the sources as saying: Only when a coin has been approved by the government can it be traded, else holding or trading it in may attract a penalty. In addition, several Indian news outlets reported that the government could introduce a cryptocurrency bill during the...

PRESS RELEASE. Liquid Craft – is bringing a new concept to the NFT space by using collectible handcrafted bottles of Liquor to add value to their digital art pieces. Their first series Dragons and Bourbon is launching for pre-sale on Nov 20th at 12 PM PST with the public sale going live on Nov 23rd at 12 PM PST. Liquid Craft is aiming to bring innovation to two markets simultaneously with this release as well as their upcoming NFT marketplace. The NFTs are all backed by collectible bottles of liquor and with each series they release, they aim to deliver something unique in the form of fine wines, spirits, craft beers, and various other Liqueurs, from a range of international crafters. The Dragons and Bourbon NFT Series – The First Release The first release from Liquid Craft is titled Dragons and Bourbon and is a series of 1500 NFTs, released in two tiers – one tier of 750 NFTs on the Binance Smart Chain and the other tier of 750 on Ethereum. Each of the 1500 NFTs is backed by a ...

A South African startup, NFTfi, is reported to have recently raised $5 million which the company intends to use for boosting its business of collateralizing non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Cryptocurrency Loan Marketplace According to a Techcrunch report , NFTfi’s $5 million capital raise was led by U.S. actor Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures. The other investors that participated in the funding round include Maven 11, Scalar Capital, and Kleiner Perkins. The company, which was founded by Stephen Young in February 2020, already acts as a marketplace where users can get a cryptocurrency loan on their NFTs and offer loans to borrowers against their NFTs. By collateralizing their tokens, NFT holders will be able to unlock liquidity without selling, the report explained. Since facilitating its first loan in May 2020, NFTfi claims to have seen more than 1,500 such transactions take place on its platform. Pricing Dynamics The report quotes Young explaining how the lending and borrowing proc...

Kucoin Labs, the investigative and investment arm of Kucoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, has launched a $100 million fund to incubate early metaverse related projects. These include blockchain gaming initiatives, NFT platforms, and decentralized platforms, among others. The support will also include direct involvement with the projects selected, including counseling about branding and marketing. Kucoin Invests in Metaverse Kucoin, one of the leading exchanges in Asia, has taken the first step to hop on the metaverse train. The investment and investigation arm of the exchange, Kucoin Labs, has launched a $100 million fund to invest in metaverse-based initiatives, including blockchain-based games, decentralized structures, NFT platforms, and other similar projects. The support of Kucoin won’t be limited to just economic incentives. These incubated projects will also get help in the form of counseling about branding, market management, exposure, and other important aspects of startin...

Phil Spencer, executive vice president of gaming at Microsoft and the individual responsible for the Xbox program, has addressed the NFT gaming phenomenon trending recently. To Spencer, some of the platforms that leverage the use of NFTs feel more exploitive than entertaining. Some of the biggest developers and publishers in the gaming industry have already signaled their interest in introducing NFT elements to their games. Phil Spencer Not Immediately Supportive of NFTs Phil Spencer, responsible for the Xbox program at Microsoft and one of the most recognized executives in the world of gaming, has issued his opinion about NFTs and the inclusion of these elements in today’s gaming scene. Spencer stated that he thinks these first steps of exploration with these tools are including platforms that are more about speculation than about entertainment. On the subject, Spencer told Axios : What I’d say today on NFT, all up, is I think there’s a lot of speculation and experimentation that...

There’s a new website the crypto community has been discussing called The NFT Bay, a web portal that operates in a similar fashion to The Pirate Bay (TPB), because the platform hosts a huge selection of NFTs stemming from various blockchain platforms for free. On Thursday, the web portal’s creator revealed a file called “The Billion Dollar Torrent,” which claims to hold all the NFTs from Ethereum and Solana. ‘The Massive NFT Heist:’ Pirate Bay Clone The NFT Bay Sparks Heated Discussions During the last year, non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles have seen massive popularity and billions of dollars have been spent on these digital items. Meanwhile, a great number of people in the crypto space think NFTs are worthless and people can simply right click the NFT image and own the artwork without paying. It’s been a heated discussion ever since NFTs were introduced. The debate became even more controversial in March when an NFT immutability debate ensued and crypto supporters highlighted...

The U.S. city of Williston in North Dakota is installing a cryptocurrency ATM at its international airport. “This marks the first government-hosted cryptocurrency kiosk,” the city said. Williston also accepts cryptocurrencies for payments of utility bills. ‘The First Government-Hosted Cryptocurrency Kiosk’ The city of Williston in the U.S. state of North Dakota announced Wednesday a partnership with crypto ATM operator Coin Cloud to install a cryptocurrency ATM at its Williston Basin International Airport (XWA). The city wrote: This marks the first government-hosted cryptocurrency kiosk and the first Coin Cloud installation in an airport. “This is an ambitious step in introducing and engaging the public towards cryptocurrency while proactively playing a role in building the digital ecosystem,” commented the city’s finance director, Hercules Cummings. “Although we are a smaller rural community, we are making an impact. Taking this small step may pave the way for other government ...

One of the most successful baseball teams in Australia, the Perth Heat, is adopting the bitcoin standard. The team will pay players and staff in bitcoin, accept the cryptocurrency for payments, and hold bitcoin on its balance sheet. The Perth Heat Will Operate on Bitcoin Standard The Perth Heat, a major baseball team in the Australian Baseball League, announced Wednesday that it will “operate on bitcoin standard.” The team, which is one of the most successful in Australia, has partnered with bitcoin payments company Opennode to accept and send bitcoin payments powered by the Lightning Network. “In partnership with Opennode, the Perth Heat is setting bitcoin as the new standard for payments and payouts,” the team wrote. According to the announcement: Perth Heat will pay players in bitcoin, pay staff in bitcoin, accept bitcoin payments for sponsorships, merchandise, and ballpark concessions, [and] hodl bitcoin on the club’s balance sheet. Perth Heat CEO Steven Nelkovski commented...

The government in Norway is considering ways to limit the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining and may support Swedish proposals to that end, including a European ban on proof-of-work mining. The European Commission has revealed it is already working to promote a transition to “more sustainable” protocols. Extensive Use of Renewable Energy for Mining Is Hard to Justify, Norway Minister Says Authorities in Norway are mulling over potential policy measures to deal with the effects of crypto mining on the environment, the country’s minister responsible for local government and regional development has indicated. As part of the review, the Norwegian government intends to look into solutions recently put forward by Swedish regulators and work for common European rules. Speaking to Euronews Next, Minister Bjørn Arild Gram also stated: Although crypto mining and its underlying technology might represent some possible benefits in the long run, it is difficult to justify the exten...

Bitcoin.com Games dishes out a massive jackpot win for a lucky player who cashes out the big loot! Player Cashes out 2.25 Bitcoin After a Single Lucky Spin Turning up the heat on Bitcoin.com Games, our very own crypto casino is Wazdan’s smashing new slot game Sizzling Bells . The brand new game was just recently released back in October and features some of the most sought-after features in a game by slot lovers across the world. Sizzling Bells is a modern take on classic slot machines and features stunning bells, juicy fruits, lucky stars, and is capable of producing wins of up to 15000x a player’s initial bet amount. With 5×5 reels and options to set custom volatility levels, the new slot game has now chosen one lucky player to reward with a massive jackpot of $134,000 on a flick of a single spin. Sizzling Bells is capable of dishing out big jackpot wins of up to 15000x a player’s bet amount ! The game features Sticky Bonus symbols that can land the player into the lap of a bi...

PRESS RELEASE. WENZHOU, China/PRNewswire/ — ZK International Group Co., Ltd’s (Nasdaq: ZKIN) (“ZKIN”, “ZK International” or the “Company”), and its subsidiary xSigma Collectibles (“xSigma”), is pleased to announce the launch of MaximNFT’s open beta on November 29th. MaximNFT is an upcoming NFT marketplace launched by xSigma in partnership with Maxim magazine. It will include exclusive NFT collections from high-profile individuals such as Brian Tracy, and a host of NFL players. Brian Tracy is a personal development speaker, and author of the worldwide best-seller “The Psychology of Achievement”. The book is just one of Tracy’s hundreds of textual, audio and video learning programs. His other works include “The Art of Closing the Sale”, “Eat that Frog” and “Maximum Achievement”. Tracy’s NFT collection is a charity project. Jon Orlando – CEO of MaximNFT – said he looks forward to hosting the collection, alongside other charity projects on MaximNFT in the future. Meanwhile, MaximNF...

On November 17, a report disclosed that the leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, Opensea, is “fielding new investment offers” according to two unknown sources familiar with the matter. The investment could propel Opensea’s valuation by six times to a $10 billion market valuation, according to the sources. Report Claims Opensea Offered a $10 Billion Valuation During the first week of November, the popular NFT marketplace Opensea surpassed $10 billion in all-time sales, according to statistics from dappradar.com. At the time of writing, dappradar.com metrics indicate Opensea’s all-time sales equate to $11.11 billion today. Now, according to a report published by theinformation.com’s Kate Clark and Berber Jin, Opensea is fielding new investment offers and a new investment could make the company’s market valuation rise to $10 billion. The two sources told Clark and Jin that the NFT marketplace did not “initiate” the financing as the people familiar with the matter stresse...

On Wednesday, the world’s largest collector car auction house by total sales, RM Sotheby’s, announced the company will be accepting cryptocurrency payments via Bitpay. The firm’s upcoming Guikas Collection sale on November 19 will be RM Sotheby’s first auction to accept digital currency payments for collectible automobiles. RM Sotheby’s Announces Crypto Payment Support via Bitpay While cryptocurrencies have increased significantly in value, a great number of businesses have turned toward accepting digital assets for goods and services payments. The company RM Sotheby’s is a classic car auction firm that’s located in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. Originally called RM Auctions, the company is now partly owned by the leading fine art and luxury goods auction house Sotheby’s, since 2015. On November 17, the company announced its plans to accept digital currency payments at auctions via Bitpay . The company chose to accept crypto assets so it can attract a new customer base in order to ...