Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Crypto exchange Valr has announced it has closed its crypto arbitrage service to new customers in order to comply with the requirements of its banking partner. This announcement makes Valr the latest South African crypto exchange platform to close its arbitrage business. Ovex was one of the first exchanges to announce its exit from the market. Banking Partner Requirements Push Exchange out of Arbitrage Market The South African cryptocurrency exchange, Valr, will be exiting the crypto arbitrage market on February 28 in order to comply with its banking partner’s requirements, a report has said. The exchange also revealed it stopped offering crypto arbitrage to new customers on January 31. With this announcement, Valr becomes the latest South African cryptocurrency exchange to exit the crypto arbitrage market in 2022. Ovex became one of the first exchanges to state it would be exiting the crypto arbitrage business after it issued a statement informing its clients of the decommissioni...

PRESS RELEASE. ADALend and Robatz Network sign the contract for development of the decentralized lending protocol. Robatz Network and ADALend represents a significant milestone for developing the lending protocol and will allow both companies to work together to further the development of the protocol, which will ultimately increase the utility of the platform for users. ADALend is a scalable, trustless, and decentralized lending protocol built on the Cardano blockchain. The partnership will allow developers to perform further research to analyze the aggregate protocol environment, including liquidity, swap, UI, and UX. Robatz Network will also be involved in the design and deployment of the platform, with an expected date to commence development of the protocol architecture around the 1st of April 2022. Robatz Network plans to improve the user experience on the ADALend platform, allowing users to conduct self-governed lending transactions with greater ease. About Robatz Network R...

Grayscale Investments has launched its first exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Grayscale Future of Finance ETF “seeks to invest in the companies and technologies shaping the ‘future of finance.'” Grayscale’s First ETF Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, announced Wednesday the launch of its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) called Grayscale Future of Finance ETF (symbol: GFOF). The company explained that its new ETF “seeks to invest in the companies and technologies shaping the ‘future of finance.'” In addition, it is “the first equity ETF to track the investment performance of the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index.” David LaValle, global head of ETFs at Grayscale Investments, opined: Through GFOF, investors now have the opportunity to receive exposure to the companies that are pivotal to the evolution of the global financial system. 22 Holdings but No Microstrategy The fund has 22 holdings as of Feb. 2. The top holdings a...

The Nasdaq-listed company Microstrategy sees “evidence of a lot more institutional adoption” of bitcoin. The firm cited various reasons including “The circumstances and the currency volatility” in Turkey, South America, and Africa — “all of these things have elevated institutional awareness of bitcoin.” Microstrategy Outlines Future Outlook for Bitcoin The Nasdaq-listed software company Microstrategy discussed the future outlook for bitcoin during the company’s Q1 earnings call Wednesday. “With regard to the outlook for bitcoin, I think that in the past 12 months, the asset class has evolved and matured,” Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor explained, elaborating: I see evidence of a lot more institutional adoption, greater adoption amongst macro and other hedge funds. “We’ve made great progress with corporations,” he continued. “There will be 24 publicly traded bitcoin miners by the end of the quarter, so lots of publicly traded companies in the Bitcoin space.” Saylor also predi...

A commissioner with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voiced concerns regarding a new proposal that could give the securities regulator new powers to regulate cryptocurrency platforms and decentralized finance (defi) protocols. New SEC Proposal Could Hurt the Crypto Industry, Commissioner Peirce Cautions U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce has warned that a recent proposal could be devastating for the crypto industry, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. Peirce is a pro-bitcoin commissioner, who is also known in the crypto community as “crypto mom.” The SEC proposed amendments to regulate “significant Treasury markets platforms” within Regulation ATS last week. The 654-page proposal seeks to “expand Regulation ATS for alternative trading systems (ATS) that trade government securities, NMS [National Market System] stock, and other securities.” It also proposes to “extend Regulation SCI to ATSs that trade government securities” and “ame...

Silvergate Capital, an investment firm that is the parent company of the Silvergate Bank, acquired the technology and assets of Diem, the formerly Facebook-backed stablecoin payment system. The payment totaled $182 million. The technology and assets acquired will reportedly be used for the launch of a Silvergate branded stablecoin. Silvergate Purchases Diem Operations Silvergate Capital, a payments services company, has acquired Diem, a stablecoin payments system originally put in motion by Facebook (now Meta), to integrate it into its operations. The announcement was made on January 31st, when the company explained the details of the rumored operation. The deal includes the purchase of intellectual property and other technology assets related to running a blockchain-based payment network from the Diem Group, according to a press release. Silvergate Capital aims to leverage the acquired assets to issue a stablecoin of its own, with the support of a California-chartered and Federa...

The Chinese government has established 15 pilot zones and 164 entities for blockchain projects. “Projects will be carried out in various fields such as manufacturing, energy, government and tax services, law, education, health, trade and finance, and cross border finance.” China Establishes Blockchain Testing Zones Sixteen Chinese governmental bodies jointly announced Sunday a list of national blockchain pilot zones “in order to further carry out the innovative application of blockchain” technology. The 16 governmental bodies include the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The list has 15 pilot zones, including areas in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou and Chengdu in the southern Guangdong and Sichuan provinces respectively. It also names 164 entities, including hospitals, universities, and companies that have been selected for blockchain pilot projects. Among the companies ...

Thailand has relaxed tax rules for cryptocurrency investors, scrapping its planned 15% withholding tax. “The revenue department did a lot of homework and reached out to crypto operators as well to get feedback … It is much more friendly to both investors and the industry,” said the CEO of a crypto exchange. Thailand’s New Crypto Tax Rules Thailand has scrapped its plan to impose a 15% withholding tax on cryptocurrency transactions after facing pushback from the crypto industry. The Thai Revenue Department has also published a manual outlining the new tax rules applicable to cryptocurrencies and digital tokens. Tax officials said Monday that income from cryptocurrency could be reported as capital gains, the Financial Times reported, adding that the new rules will allow traders to offset their annual losses against gains made in the same year. The crypto community welcomes Monday’s announcement. Pete Peeradej Tanruangporn, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Upbit and co-chair of the Tha...

Fidelity Digital Assets has released a report explaining why bitcoin is a superior form of money. The report discusses the future of the digital asset ecosystem and compares bitcoin to newer and smaller cryptocurrencies. Fidelity Says ‘Bitcoin First’ Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, published a report this week titled “Bitcoin First: Why investors need to consider bitcoin separately from other digital assets.” The report addresses some concerns investors have including whether bitcoin “may be vulnerable to innovative destruction from competitors (such as the story of Myspace and Facebook)” or whether the cryptocurrency “offers the same potential reward or upside as some of the newer and smaller digital assets.” Report authors Chris Kuiper and Jack Neureuter explained: Traditional investors typically apply a technology investing framework to bitcoin, leading to the conclusion bitcoin as a first-mover technology will easily be supplanted by a superior...

Reports indicate that the Wormhole Network’s ethereum solana bi-directional bridge has been exploited by an attacker for 93,750 ether or more than $250 million using today’s ethereum exchange rates. The developers behind the Wormhole Network have told the public the network is “down for maintenance,” as the team “looks into a potential exploit.” Wormhole Network’s Ethereum Solana Bridge Exploited, More Than 93,000 Ethereum Siphoned According to various reports and a few onchain transactions the Wormhole Network’s crosschain ethereum solana bridge has been exploited for $250 million in ether or 93,750 ETH . While the team has not published a post mortem, the Wormhole Network developers published a tweet that said the network was down for the time being. “The wormhole network is down for maintenance as we look into a potential exploit,” the tweet said. “We will provide updates here as soon as we have them. Thank you for your patience.” Other accounts of the situation noted t...

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has announced the acquisition of Liquid, which operates a regulated Japanese exchange, Quoine. The two companies “expect to work together to provide products and liquidity to clients in the Japanese and global markets.” FTX Acquiring Liquid to Provide Services to Japanese Customers Crypto exchange FTX is entering the Japanese crypto market. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted Wednesday: FTX is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Liquid group of companies, including an FSA-registered crypto-asset exchange to provide products and services to our customers in Japan. Liquid independently tweeted Wednesday: “Liquid Group and all of its operating subsidiaries are being acquired by FTX Trading Ltd.” Liquid operates Quoine, a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan that is licensed by the Financial Service Agency (FSA), the country’s top financial regulator. Quoine, founded in 2014, was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan to be registered by th...

Hump-day provided a hurdle for cryptocurrency prices, which mainly consolidated, after a strong start to February. Bitcoin and ethereum were both trading lower during today’s session. Bitcoin BTC /USD followed up yesterday’s rally with a weak showing on Wednesday, falling by as much as 1.13% as of writing. This decline saw prices hit an intraday low of $38,271.44, following a high of $39,115.13 during Tuesday’s market session, which raised hopes for those targeting $40,000. Today’s move saw BTC ’s 14-day RSI once again drop below the resistance level of 40, which it had briefly broken yesterday, hitting its highest price strength since early January in the process. Recent consolidations in price have meant that the 10-day (red), and 15-day (blue) moving averages have moved closer in proximity, which isn’t a bad thing for bulls. Looking at the chart, the 10-day is now upward facing, which increases the chances of a potential crossover, and this could be the sign that longer term ...

India’s finance secretary has confirmed that it is not illegal to buy or sell crypto assets in India. Regarding cryptocurrency regulation, “the government’s approach is to consult widely and also to look at what’s happening internationally,” he explained. Crypto Is Not Illegal in India, Official Confirms Following the announcement on cryptocurrency taxation by Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Secretary T. V. Somanathan clarified that crypto is not illegal in India. He was asked on Bloomberg Television Wednesday whether the proposed taxation means cryptocurrency will be legalized in India. “Crypto assets, we don’t call them cryptocurrencies. Crypto assets are currently neither illegal nor are they encouraged,” he replied, adding: They are in a grey area. They are not illegal. It’s not illegal to buy or sell crypto assets in India, and it continues to be not illegal. “But, we have now put in a taxation framework that treats crypto assets the same way that we t...

Blockchain is among six emerging technologies that will be prioritized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)’s IT decision makers in 2022 and beyond, according to a recent study. Effect of Covid-19 The government of Saudi Arabia’s IT decision makers have named blockchain as one of the six technologies they plan to prioritize in 2022 and beyond, a survey study has found. In addition, the study found that an overwhelming majority of the decision makers agreed that Covid-19 has accelerated Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation. According to a Datatechvibe report, which cites the latest Yougov survey, artificial intelligence and machine learning are the technologies that 77% of the respondents plan to prioritize. About 65% of the respondents said they will prioritize the internet of things (IoT), while 51% said they will focus on cloud technology. Predictive analytics (38%), robotic process automation (36%), and blockchain (35%) complete the list of the six technologies that IT leaders...

A Tanzanian fintech startup revealed it has raised $10 million in its latest funding round and is planning to use the funds to finance an expansion into other African countries. Fintech Plans to Enter 12 More Countries by Year’s End The Tanzanian fintech behind an app that enables payments from the U.K. to Africa, Nala, recently revealed it raised $10 million in a funding round backed by Amplo, Accel, and Bessemer Partners. So-called angel investors that participated in this round include the founder of Robinhood, Vladimir Tenev, and Jonas Huckestein, CTO at Monzo. According to a report published by Fintechnews Africa, the fintech’s app already enables payments from the U.K. to five African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana. However, following the latest fundraise, Nala will have added twelve more African countries by the end of 2022, according to the report. The publication also revealed that Nala has just begun piloting a version of its app suited for busine...

The DIAN, the Colombian tax authority, has announced it is taking special measures to tighten controls on taxpayers currently using cryptocurrencies to transact. With these actions, the organization seeks to detect any taxpayers that have used crypto assets and failed to report these activities, or reported them erroneously. This action seeks to thwart cryptocurrency-related tax evasion in the country. Colombian Tax Authority Targets Tax Evaders The Colombian tax authority, called the DIAN, has announced that its next target is cryptocurrency-utilizing tax evaders. According to a PR statement released January 28, the institution stated that it was undertaking a series of measures to tighten controls on taxpayers using cryptocurrencies for transacting or trading purposes. While these actions have not been specifically disclosed, the measures follow the objective of gaining more clarity about the movement of cryptocurrency users and traders in the country. The DIAN stated: These a...

The Indian government has announced the upcoming launch of the country’s central bank digital currency. The digital rupee will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the financial year 2022-23, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during her budget speech. RBI’s Digital Currency, the Digital Rupee, Coming Soon India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced Tuesday while presenting the federal budget 2022 in Parliament that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the new financial year. Noting that the “Introduction of central bank digital currency (CBDC) will give a big boost to the digital economy” and “Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system,” She said: It is, therefore, proposed to introduce digital rupee, using blockchain and other technologies, to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23. Following the finance minister’s announcement,...

El Salvador has rejected the recommendation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to drop bitcoin as legal tender. The country’s finance minister reportedly “angrily” said, “No international organization is going to make us do anything, anything at all.” El Salvador Says No to IMF on Bitcoin The government of El Salvador has rejected a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to drop bitcoin as legal tender in the country. The IMF urged El Salvador last week to drop bitcoin’s use as legal tender and dissolve Fidebitcoin, the $150 million trust fund created for the Bitcoin law. El Salvador’s Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya told a local television station that bitcoin is an issue of “sovereignty.” According to the media, he “angrily” said: No international organization is going to make us do anything, anything at all. “Countries are sovereign nations and they take sovereign decisions about public policy,” the finance minister added. According to its analys...

Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy has bought 660 more bitcoins at an average price of $37,865 per coin, bringing the total crypto holdings of the company to 125,051 bitcoins. “Our strategy with bitcoin has been to buy and hold, so to the extent we have excess cash flows or we find other ways to raise money, we continue to put it into bitcoin.” Microstrategy Adds 660 Bitcoins to Its Treasury The Nasdaq-listed software company Microstrategy has bought the dip again. CEO Michael Saylor tweeted Tuesday: Microstrategy has purchased an additional 660 bitcoins for ~$25.0 million in cash at an average price of ~$37,865 per bitcoin. As of 1/31/22 we hodl ~125,051 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.78 billion at an average price of ~$30,200 per bitcoin. According to the company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the purchase was made during the period between Dec. 30, 2021, and Jan. 31, 2022. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is $39,121.89 based on data from Bit...

Circle, the operator of USDC, one of the biggest stablecoins by market cap, has launched USDC as a native asset on top of the Flow blockchain. Flow is a blockchain project made to host NFT and game-based initiatives, aiming for low fees and a high volume of transactions. With this launch, USDC aims to keep expanding its reach to more blockchains, with Flow being the eighth native blockchain where USDC resides. USDC on Flow Circle, one of the biggest payments companies in the U.S., has launched one of its prime products — USDC — on Flow, an NFT and Web3 oriented blockchain. Users of the Flow chain will now be able to mint and redeem USDC natively on the platform. This movement aims to make it easier for users of projects in Flow to transfer and leverage value across the decentralized apps (dapps) of the ecosystem. Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, opined on the importance of Flow and its design, which is thought to be suitable for some new use cases looking for this kind of decentrali...

Binance has announced one of its trademark features, the SAFU fund, has reached a milestone in its development. The SAFU fund, an acronym that stands for “Secure Asset Fund for Users,” has reached the amount of one billion dollars, securing the funds of users in case of a hacking emergency. The exchange, which is one of the pioneers in the establishment of such structures, invited other exchanges to also take similar measures. SAFU Reaches $1B, Transparency Highlighted Binance, the leading exchange in volume traded, has announced a milestone regarding its SAFU fund. The fund, whose name stands for “Secure Asset Fund for Users,” has reached the amount of one billion dollars to reimburse its users in case of a hack or event affecting users’ funds. The exchange also disclosed two wallet addresses where users of the exchange and the public can trace the movements of these funds. As per the press release announcing this information, this disclosure seems to be directed to increase the ...

PRESS RELEASE. GensoKishi is pleased to announce that the MV (Metaverse) token has been listed on QuickSwap (a decentralized exchange) at 10:00 UTC on January 29, 2022. GENSOKISHI Online , is a GameFi project that evolves from an award winning Nintendo Switch/PS4 game called “Elemental Knights”, that has been vigorously played for 13 years and has accumulated a total of 8 million downloads worldwide. GensoKishi already has a 3DMMORPG game with active users, with a fully-functioning 3D metaverse, that simultaneously connects users from around the world, be it smartphones, PCs, or video game consoles. What is QuickSwap (Decentralized Exchange/DEX)? QuickSwap is a decentralized exchange based on the Polygon Network. Unlike centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges are characterized by the absence of an intermediary or administrator, have lower fees, and no need for identity verification. In addition, instead of traders exchanging currencies with each other, they let smart cont...

On Monday, the team behind the Solana Web3 wallet platform Phantom announced it had raised $109 million in a Series B fundraise. The crypto company is now a Unicorn with a post valuation of $1.2 billion in value. Solana Web3 Wallet Phantom Raises $109 Million The Phantom wallet team has raised $109 million in a Series B financing round according to the firm’s recent blog post. Furthermore, Phantom also launched the Solana wallet’s iOS version for Apple smartphone users. According to the announcement, the $109 Series B was led by Paradigm. Additionally, Jump Capital, Solana Ventures, Variant, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) participated in Phantom’s latest fundraise. The funds will be dedicated to onboarding more users and developers on to Web3 and also “innovating on the multi-chain wallet user experience.” Moreover, the company said it plans to scale the team and specifically hire specialists in community support and product development. The Series B fundraise follows the Series A...

A recent survey by Deloitte shows that 82% of Indians plan to invest in cryptocurrency when the government provides more clarity surrounding the regulation of crypto assets. Moreover, 77.4% of respondents want cryptocurrency to be treated as securities. Indian Crypto Survey: 82% Plan to Invest in Crypto Once It Is Regulated Professional services firm Deloitte and the Times of India recently conducted a survey on cryptocurrency investing. The results were published Sunday. Out of 1,800 respondents, 55.2% said they have invested in cryptocurrencies and will continue to do so. A further 26.8% said they have not invested in crypto but are willing to invest once the government provides more clarity regarding cryptocurrency regulation in India. Meanwhile, 10.3% said they have invested in crypto but will avoid investing in this asset class in the future. The remaining 7.8% said that they are against investing in crypto. The report also notes that about 20 million people in India have inve...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned about social media being used in cryptocurrency investment scams. “Social media is a tool for scammers in investment scams, particularly those involving bogus cryptocurrency investments — an area that has seen a massive surge in reports,” said the FTC. Federal Trade Commission Warns of Crypto Scams Utilizing Social Media The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a “Consumer Protection Data Spotlight” last week, warning the public about scams, including crypto investment scams, utilizing social media. The FTC is an independent agency of the U.S. government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil U.S. antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. “More than 95,000 people reported about $770 million in losses to fraud initiated on social media platforms in 2021,” FTC’s program analyst Emma Fletcher wrote. “Those losses account for about 25% of all reported losses to fraud in 2021 and represent a stunning...

Eight U.S. lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have sent letters to top U.S.-based bitcoin mining firms questioning them about their crypto mining operations. “The extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with bitcoin mining could undermine our hard work to tackle the climate crisis — not to mention the harmful impacts cryptomining has on local environments and electricity prices,” Senator Warren wrote. US Senators Want Answers From Top Bitcoin Mining Firms U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, announced Thursday that she and seven other senators have sent letters to six crypto mining companies “raising concerns over their extraordinarily high energy usage.” The announcement details: “Senator Warren and her colleagues asked each company to detail their electricity consumption, scaling plans, agreements with electricity companies, and impact on energy costs for consumers and ...

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the metaverse has a lot of potential and his company is investing accordingly. “It’s very interesting to us,” he noted. Global investments banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have predicted that the metaverse could be an $8 trillion opportunity. Apple Sees a Lot of Potential in the Metaverse, Says CEO Tim Cook Apple Inc. answered a question about the metaverse during its Q1 2022 earnings call last week. CEO Tim Cook was asked, “How are you thinking about the metaverse opportunity and Apple’s role in that market?” “We’re a company in the business of innovation,” the Apple CEO replied. “So we’re always exploring new and emerging technologies. And I’ve spoken at length about how this area is very interesting to us.” Cook elaborated, “Right now, we have over 14,000 ARKit apps in the App Store, which provide incredible AR [augmented reality] experiences for millions of people today,” emphasizing: We see a lot of potential in this space and are investing acc...

ADALend’s mission is to democratize the lending industry by using the Cardano blockchain to eliminate the traditional banking middlemen. This will be accomplished through the development of a platform that connects borrowers, and lenders in a decentralized manner. With the help of blockchain technology and IOHK’s research and development, the platform will provide a simple, secure, and more transparent way of exchanging value. The decentralized lending platform will allow creditors to perform lending activities and create a safer and more efficient lending environment for all users. Ensuring the Security and Safety of Lending in a Decentralized Environment While traditional banks continue to disregard the needs and concerns of the people, ADALend has come to provide access to loans for those in need who have been ignored. The inability to gain access to funds has long-term consequences. ADALend provides a platform to change the current state of financial affairs. While the cryptocur...

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has restricted 281 Nigerian user accounts. Citing user security and fraud prevention, CEO Changpeng Zhao explained that “approximately 38% of these cases [are] restricted at the request of international law enforcement.” 281 Nigerian Accounts Restricted by Binance, CEO Says 79 Cases Have Been Resolved Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has sent a letter to its Nigerian users. In the letter, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) apologized for the inconvenience caused by delays in resolving customer support requests. Noting that “User security” remains his exchange’s top priority, Zhao detailed: “Protection mechanisms such as KYC, anti-money laundering measures, collaboration with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place to ensure our community remains protected and that fraudulent activity is prevented. This is a global approach applied in every country.” The CEO added: Some 281 Nigerian accounts have been affected by these personal account re...

Ark Investment Management (Ark Invest) has predicted that the price of bitcoin could surpass $1 million per coin by 2030. “Our research suggests that bitcoin has the potential to transform monetary history by providing financial freedom and empowerment in a fair, global, and distributed way,” Ark’s analyst added. Bitcoin’s $1 Million Prediction by Ark Invest In Ark Invest’s “Big Ideas 2022” report published last week, the firm’s analyst Yassine Elmandjra explained that “As bitcoin’s market capitalization hit an all-time high in 2021, Ark’s research indicated that its network fundamentals remained healthy.” Noting that “Bitcoin’s market capitalization still represents a fraction of global assets and is likely to scale as nation-states adopt [it] as legal tender,” the analyst detailed: According to our estimates, the price of one bitcoin could exceed $1 million by 2030. El Salvador adopted BTC as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in September last year. The Salvadoran presi...