Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

India’s minister of state for external affairs says that cryptocurrencies must be blocked if they are used for illegal purposes, such as “to launch cyber-attacks in India, to launch other attacks on India, to do other kinds of illegal and unethical work like drug trafficking.” Meanwhile, the Indian government is reportedly making changes to the crypto bill that is listed to be taken up in the current session of parliament. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs on Cryptocurrency and Crypto Regulation Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi has reportedly stressed that cryptocurrencies need to be blocked if they are used for illegal means to harm India’s sovereignty and integrity. Lekhi is also India’s current minister of state for culture. She was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was reelected to the 17th Lok Sabha in May 2019. Speaking at the sixth Global Technology Summit, jointly organized by the M...

An executive with Blockfi says that “this year has been a huge year for mainstream consumer demand into crypto.” Noting that fear of missing out (FOMO) will be a huge driver for investors, the executive expects some regulatory clarity next year. Crypto FOMO Will Drive Investments in 2022 Flori Marquez, Blockfi’s co-founder and senior vice president of operations, discussed the future outlook for cryptocurrency going into 2022 in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live Friday. Founded in 2017, Blockfi was created to provide credit services to markets with limited access to simple financial products. The crypto-focused financial services firm has institutional backing from investors, including Valar Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Fidelity, Akuna Capital, Sofi, and Coinbase Ventures. “It’s been a huge year for crypto,” she began. While acknowledging that the price of bitcoin has dipped slightly, she put it in perspective: “If you look at year over year returns for bitcoin, bitcoin has return...

Billionaire Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has shared his investment strategy with cryptocurrency as part of his portfolio. He warned that cash is the worst investment because it is eaten away by inflation. Ray Dalio’s Investment Advice: Cash Is Depreciating, Diversify Portfolio Well Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio shared his investment strategy last week. He currently serves as Bridgewater Associates’ chairman and co-chief investment officer. His firm’s clients include endowments, governments, foundations, pensions, and sovereign wealth funds. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, published Friday, he explained that he views cryptocurrency “as an alternative money in an environment where the value of cash money is depreciating in real terms.” Referring to bitcoin, he opined: I think it’s very impressive that, for the last 10, 11 years, that programming has still held up. It hasn’t been hacked and so on. And it has an adop...

A Bank of International Settlements (BIS) executive, Benoît Cœuré, says that crypto is “growing very fast” and ”becoming mainstream in different ways.” Emphasizing that decentralized finance (defi) is a “wake-up call” for financial regulators, he said countries “are likely to agree on a global framework for crypto next year.” BIS Officer Sees Defi as a Wake-up Call for Regulators, Global Policy Expected Next Year Benoît Cœuré, a member of the BIS Executive Committee who is currently head of the BIS Innovation Hub, talked about cryptocurrency, global regulation, and decentralized finance (defi) last week. Cœuré was a member of the European Central Bank (ECB)’s Executive Board and served in various positions at the French Treasury and the French debt management office prior to joining the ECB. He announced Thursday that he has been nominated to lead France’s competition authority. The BIS Innovation Hub chief told the Financial Times that regulators globally have intensified their d...

The Central Bank of Russia has reaffirmed its opposition to cryptocurrency investments citing the volatility of the digital assets as a key motive for its conservative stance. Governor Elvira Nabiullina has recently indicated that the regulator has the means to restrict them. Nabiullina Insists Bank of Russia Can Limit Investments in Crypto Assets Russia’s monetary authority does not welcome investments of Russian citizens in cryptocurrencies, the head of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), Elvira Nabiullina, said during an online press conference this week. She highlighted their volatility and potential use in criminal activity as major reasons for the regulator’s position. The governor also noted Bank of Russia’s stance that the Russian financial infrastructure should not be employed to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions. She stressed that the regulator is capable of implementing restrictions and reiterated the bank’s skepticism towards these assets. Quoted by the business new...

The end of 2021 is approaching and the market capitalization of meme-based digital currencies like dogecoin and shiba inu has been extremely prominent this year. In fact, the $46.9 billion worth of meme crypto-assets represents 2% of the $2.32 trillion crypto economy. Dogecoin and shiba inu alone capture roughly 85.28% of the meme crypto market valuation today. Meme-Based Crypto Economy Taps $46 Billion in 2021 It’s been a good year for meme-based crypto assets like dogecoin (DOGE), the OG of meme-based assets, which has seen its market valuation swell by 4,375.9% year-to-date (YTD). Dogecoin is the largest meme-based crypto asset in terms of market capitalization as it commands a valuation of around $22.8 billion on Sunday, December 19. The second-largest meme coin, in terms of market capitalization, is shiba inu (SHIB) . The crypto asset SHIB has gained a whopping 46,960,505.7% against the U.S. dollar YTD. Both of these coins have inspired other meme-based crypto assets to thr...

On Sunday, December 19, a dormant address that received 235 bitcoin in 2013 was activated after more than nine years of sitting idle. Bitcoin’s price has dropped lower after reaching its all-time high on November 10, and throughout December, records show a great number of so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ have activated during this period. Dormant Addresses Wake up After Years of Slumber The day that bitcoin (BTC) tapped an all-time price high at $69K per unit on November 10, a miner from 2010 spent 1,000 sleeping bitcoins and 1,000 bitcoin cash (BCH) as well. The 1,000 bitcoins stemmed from 20 block rewards mined well over a decade ago in 2010. This same entity spent another 1,000 BTC and 1,000 BCH the following day. Additionally, a single block from 2010, worth 50 BTC or $2.3 million was spent on November 3. During the month of November, a total of 11 block rewards that were ten years old and mined in 2011, were activated and sent to new BTC addresses. That’s a total of 550 BT...

SBI Group, the financial services company group based in Tokyo, Japan, has announced the launch of a crypto asset fund that consists of seven different digital currencies. The crypto fund launched by the Japanese company includes bitcoin, ethereum, xrp, litecoin, bitcoin cash, chainlink, and polkadot. SBI Group’s New Crypto Fund Leverages 7 Different Digital Assets Three months ago, SBI Holdings, often referred to as SBI Group revealed the company was planning to launch a crypto asset fund. At the time, SBI said that the new fund would launch at the end of November, but the official launch press release published on December 17. In addition to the press announcement, SBI also published a more detailed summary of the digital currency fund. SBI’s crypto fund consists of bitcoin (BTC) , ethereum (ETH) , polkadot (DOT) , chainlink (LINK) , litecoin (LTC) , xrp (XRP) , and bitcoin cash (BCH) . The financial services company is calling it “Japan’s first cryptocurrency fund for general...

The market for crypto mining equipment in Russia has seen strong interest from buyers of both new and used devices, retail data indicates. This year, demand for application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machines has multiplied exponentially while video cards have been in short supply leading to rising prices. Crypto Miners in Russia Looking to Increase Computing Power Online retailers have registered a surging demand for mining machines, brand new and second hand, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. Searches for devices designed to mine bitcoin ( BTC ), or ASICs , on the Russian classifieds site Avito.ru have increased 14 times year-on-year, when supply rose 13 fold. The price of a mining unit averaged 117,900 rubles (almost $1,600). The most sought-after products were Whatsminer ming rigs manufactured by the Chinese manufacturer Microbt , demand for which spiked 23 times. At the same time, searches for Antminers built by the Beijing-based company Bitmain were 11 ...

Invictus Capital has unveiled its first non-fungible token collection, called “Out of Africa,” through the Invictus NFT Lab. Through this collection, Invictus Capital will showcase fine art via blockchain technology as well as connect artists from Africa with the rest of the world. Invictus Capital to Release NFT Collection Blockchain investment platform Invictus Capital recently unveiled its first non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The unveiling, which was done by way of the Invictus NFT Lab, attempts to combine fine art with blockchain technology, and to bring many contemporary digital artists from Africa to a global market. As explained in the It Online report , this project is expected to begin in January with the distribution of NFT posters. In February, an auction for NFT representations of the original, physical artworks will be conducted. Invictus Capital’s decision to unveil the NFTs has won praise from stakeholders in the art space. For instance, Marelize van Zyl, the ...

Binance has formed a joint venture with a consortium led by Telkom Indonesia’s $830-million venture capital arm. Binance aims “to expand the blockchain ecosystem in Indonesia with the development of a new Indonesian-based digital asset exchange.” Binance Building Cryptocurrency Exchange in Indonesia Blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Binance announced Wednesday that it has established a joint venture with a consortium led by Telkom Indonesia’s $830-million venture capital arm, MDI Ventures (MDI). Telkom Indonesia is the country’s largest telecoms company. The aim of the joint venture is “to expand the blockchain ecosystem in Indonesia with the development of a new Indonesian-based digital asset exchange,” the announcement details, elaborating: Binance will provide world-class asset management infrastructure and technology to support the development of the new exchange platform. “Our ambition at Binance is to grow the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem gl...

On December 15, FINMA-licensed Swiss bank, Seba, announced the launch of a gold token that can be delivered in physical form, on-demand, at any time from the firm’s partner refineries. Seba believes the token can be leveraged as a compliant stablecoin “backed by responsibly sourced gold.” Swiss Bank Introduces ‘Seba Bank Gold Token’ Backed by Physical Gold Stored at Partner Refineries Switzerland-based crypto bank Seba has introduced a number of new crypto products this year, like adding decentralized finance (defi) tokens to the company’s product lineup. In October, the Swiss bank revealed that customers can earn a yield on crypto holdings in an “institutional-grade” fashion. On Wednesday, Seba revealed its gold token offering that can be traded for physical gold at any time. “The Seba Bank Gold Token is a landmark development in investment products, enabling investors for the first time to own a digital form of physical gold via a fully regulated, cost-effective, and future-pr...

The wealth manager Vaneck has announced it has expanded its exchange-traded note (ETN) offerings to support the tokens polygon and avalanche. The two ETNs follow five previously launched funds in Europe that allow investors to gain exposure to leading digital assets. Vaneck Adds Polygon and Avalanche to Its List of Cryptocurrency ETNs Vaneck has announced the launch of two ETNs that leverage the crypto assets polygon (MATIC) and avalanche (AVAX). The ETNs represent shares of either AVAX or MATIC and the funds are fully collateralized. “Vaneck expands its crypto investment offering with two new ETNs on crypto platforms Avalanche and Polygon,” the wealth manager tweeted on December 16. Avalanche and polygon have seen significant demand this year and have gathered massive gains year-to-date. The token avalanche (AVAX) has seen its market capitalization join the top ten digital assets in the world, in terms of overall valuation. Today, AVAX holds the 9th position after climbing 3,509...

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has reportedly told the central board of directors that it favors a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, stating that a partial ban will not work. The central bank reiterates that it has serious concerns regarding crypto. Meanwhile, the Indian government is reportedly making additional changes to the crypto bill. RBI Wants a Blanket Ban on Crypto, Says a Partial Ban Won’t Work The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held the 592nd meeting of the central board of directors Friday under the chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das. The central board is the highest decision-making body of the apex bank. The board reviewed the current domestic and global economic situation, evolving challenges, and remedial measures. The directors also discussed various aspects relating to cryptocurrency and central bank digital currency (CBDC). The RBI reportedly said at the meeting that it favors a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, noting that a partial ba...

An industry organization controlled by the Chinese government has updated a list of topics users of video-sharing apps should avoid. Crypto-related content is now among the entries along with traditional taboos in China like mocking its leadership, provoking sectarianism, and showing sex. Clips on Crypto Trading, Mining Banned in China The China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA) has recently published a blacklist of 100 topics that online videos posted on platforms similar to Tiktok should not feature. Among them are the usual suspects like questioning China’s official history, imitating its political leaders, challenging the country’s guiding ideology of “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” and discussing fascism. The “Online Short Video Content Review Standard Rules (2021)” document marks a number of other banned themes. A report by the Register points to a few of them like drug use, gambling machines, crime and gangs, violence, and mental abuse. Sexually explicit con...

The number of cryptocurrency holders in Serbia has climbed to around 200,000 with interest in cryptocurrencies increasing alongside growing crypto markets. The country’s decision to legally recognize digital assets this year has also contributed to their increasing popularity. Law on Digital Assets Puts Serbia on Crypto Map Recently adopted regulations and genuine investor interest have placed Serbia, a nation of 7 million located in Southeast Europe, among countries that view cryptocurrency as a thing of the present. About 200,000 Serbs now own one coin or another, local media reported, quoting the latest estimates provided by the crypto industry. Serbia’s Law on Digital Assets entered into force at the end of June, this year. The legislation recognizes cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as virtual assets. Its provisions define them as digital records of value that can be purchased, sold, transferred, and exchanged. Serbs holding cryptos have increased in number since its adoption, the...

The Argentinian Chamber of Fintech, a membership-based organization whose goal is to lead the digitization and modernization of the financial services industry, issued a series of recommendations for the upcoming regulation of virtual assets in the country. The proposed framework asks the government to follow FATF recommendations, and it calls for a clear definition of virtual assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). Argentinian Chamber of Fintech Weighs In on Regulation The Argentinian Chamber of Fintech, a group that works for the modernization of the structure of financial service providers, issued its take on how the Argentinian government should regulate cryptocurrency assets in the future. The proposal, which takes into account the rise in usage of these assets in the country, establishes a series of key issues that, according to the group, should be followed to better regulate cryptocurrency. The first one of them mentions the need to follow the recommendations o...

Consensys, an Ethereum software company, announced yesterday the launch of a new scaling solution for Ethereum, called “Consensys Rollups.” The company enlisted Mastercard programmers to design the solution, which aims to allow the network to reach a throughput of 10,000 TPS (transactions per second), according to a PR statement. The solution can be implemented on top of private, permissioned protocols like Quorum, or on public chains like Ethereum. Consensys to Address Scaling With Mastercard’s Assistance Consensys, an Ethereum software company, launched Consensys Rollups yesterday, a ZK-proof-based scaling solution for Ethereum-based networks. The company revealed that this initiative had been undertaken with the help of Mastercard’s engineering team, which helped to design the solution. According to Consensys, the Consensys Rollups solution will be deployable on enterprise-focused protocol platforms such as Quorum , or directly on Ethereum. Quorum is a Consensys-acquired, JPMor...

The team behind Polygon, the protocol dedicated to interconnected blockchain networks like Ethereum, and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture capital company have revealed a $200 million investment fund in blockchain-based social media projects. According to the announcement, the partner’s mission is to attempt to bridge blockchain, Web3 technology, and social media together. Polygon and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six Launch $200 Million Fund Dedicated to Web3, Blockchain, and Social Media Polygon and Alexis Ohanian’s firm Seven Seven Six plan to bolster Web3 technology with social media via blockchain compatibility with an investment of $200 million, according to the Polygon team’s most recent blog post . Polygon is best known for its scaling enhancements with the open-source blockchain network Ethereum and its native token called MATIC. Alexis Ohanian is well known for co-founding the social media and news aggregation web portal Reddit with Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz. ...

The total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance has slid 15.63% since the metric’s all-time high of $275 billion sixteen days ago on December 1. Since the end of the first week of December, the TVL is down 7.19% lower with a number of protocols seeing seven-day losses in terms of TVL. Defi Tokens YFI and CVX See 7-Day Double-Digit Gains, Aggregate Locked in Defi Slips Close to 3% to $243 Billion According to statistics , decentralized finance (defi) tokens represent $132.6 billion or roughly 5.79% of the entire $2.28 trillion crypto economy. The largest defi token in terms of market capitalization is terra (LUNA), which commands 18% dominance and a market valuation of around $23.9 billion. The top two performing defi assets during the last week were yearn finance (YFI) and convex finance (CVX). Yearn finance jumped 33% in value this past week and convex finance increased in value by 26.3%. Meanwhile, the defi tokens tokemak (TOKE) and bonfida (FIDA) saw the deepest weekly lo...

A major cryptocurrency exchange in India, Wazirx, has reported “a massive surge in user signups” this year, with 82% of its users making profits on their crypto investments. Its trading volume also rose 1,735% from the previous year. Meanwhile, the Indian government is actively working on the country’s crypto regulation. $43 Billion in Trading Volume, 82% of Users Earned Profit Indian cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx released its “2021 Year of Crypto” report Thursday. “Wazirx witnessed a massive surge in user signups leading to us crossing 10 million users,” the report details, adding that the exchange clocked a trading volume of over $43 billion, a 1,735% increase over the previous year. The report notes: As of 30th November 2021, 82% of Wazirx users have made profits on their crypto investments, i.e., seen a growth in their crypto portfolio. The exchange explained that bitcoin ( BTC ) remained the most traded cryptocurrency on its platform. Other heavily traded cryptocurrencie...

I came to the Sandbox Alpha for the musical experiences of Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5. It was awesome dancing with my voxelated avatar: green hair, pink sports bra, denim shorts, yellow stockings, and red shoes. All with the insane creatures around me dancing, and the feeling of indulging in a real concert with flashing lights and pounding beats. I thought I might just stay at the show for the rest of the Alpha, until I saw the reveal schedule countdown and realized I had to get out of there and complete the quests. I needed to be able to claim assets by the end of the Alpha. The prize NTFs were calling me. Introduction : The Sandbox is a decentralized, community-driven gaming ecosystem where designers and artists can create, share, and monetize NFTs and gaming experiences on the blockchain, and is partnered with many industry giants. Its popular virtual real estate, known as LANDs, are taking over the NFT world. The Sandbox Alpha, Show House for Metaverse Creators What is the Sandb...

Cryptocurrency miners that are illegally connecting their equipment to the power grid should go to prison, says a Russian lawmaker who recently announced that his nationalist party is working on draft legislation to regulate the crypto activity. The industry cannot rely on support from the state, another high-ranking parliamentarian has added. Unauthorized Use of Power Could Land Miners Behind Bars The issue of regulating cryptocurrency mining is looming in Russia and lawmakers have been actively discussing the topic. Andrey Lugovoy, member of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has threatened miners with jail if they plug their hardware into the electrical grid without official permission. If mining is to become legal, the deputy noted, miners should turn to the respective utility before powering up their devices. And if they are denied access but nevertheless connect to the distribution network, they will be in violation of both the Administrative and the Criminal code...

A new cryptocurrency bill was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of the Brazilian Congress last week, and is now awaiting review by the Senate for approval. The project, if approved, would introduce a central body to regulate all cryptocurrency brokerage activity — ostensibly the Central Bank of Brazil — and establish new penalties for crypto-related crimes. Chamber of Deputies Passes New Crypto Bill in Brazil The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of Brazil has approved new proposed legislation that seeks to bring clarity to cryptocurrency regulation in the country. The project, identified as Bill 2303/15 and proposed by Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, establishes definitions for exchanges and virtual currencies. It also requires a central body to oversee all cryptocurrency-based operations, which will be appointed by the executive branch of the government. The bill will now be passed to the Senate, which will ultimately decide if it is passed into law. The regulation doesn’t mention cry...