Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

On February 8, the subsidiary of Animoca Brands and the decentralized gaming virtual world project, The Sandbox, announced the company has partnered with the French video game company Ubisoft. According to the announcement, Ubisoft will have its own land in the virtual metaverse, and the world will begin by featuring voxelized versions of Rabbids’ characters. The Sandbox Partners With Ubisoft, Multimedia Game Franchise Owner to Bring IP Elements to the Sandbox Gaming Metaverse Ubisoft and the Rabbids are coming to the blockchain-based virtual world The Sandbox, according to an announcement from the company. The gaming giant Ubisoft is well known for its multimedia franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Tom Clancy’s, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, and Rayman. The Sandbox says the project has “strategically partnered with Ubisoft to introduce Ubisoft game IP elements to The Sandbox gaming metaverse.” To start, Ubisoft is bringing characters from the franchise Rabbids, a spin-o

PRESS RELEASE. Dvision Network’s second LAND sale has now been successfully conducted on the Polygon Mainnet. As a matter of fact, all 4650 LAND NFTs offered on the primary sale had been sold out at an incredibly fast pace, sealing the successful sold out both on Dvision Marketplace as well as OpenSea . The original first LAND sale had occurred not too long ago, and it was similarly successful, which became the largest LAND NFT Sale to occur on Binance Smart Chain’s history, completing the LAND Sale on Binance NFT, Dvision Marketplace and NFTb in less than 5 minutes. Building upon that success, the second sale saw plenty of action from buyers and investors who were all eager to partake as soon as the sale officially started on January 27th, 2022, at 11:00 AM UTC. It should be noted, that secondary trading on OpenSea is continuously occurring, with the floor price for the most common LAND NFT being traded at x2 from the original price, and the total volume currently exceeding 3

Authorities in Kazakhstan are discussing new regulations for the country’s crypto space that may lead to a serious increase in the tax burden on the mining business. Among the proposed changes is a fivefold hike of the fee miners pay per each kilowatt-hour of utilized electricity. Mining Companies in Kazakhstan Expected to Pay Much More to the State Government officials in Kazakhstan are debating over new legislation for the cryptocurrency industry. The authors of a draft law “On Digital Assets in the Republic of Kazakhstan” have covered certain matters that concern the growing crypto mining sector, local media reported. Quoted by Kazinform, First Deputy Minister of Finance Marat Sultangaziyev noted at a recent meeting of an interdepartmental commission that mining activities are now subject only to registration , but more rules are to come. He also emphasized that it’s very difficult to identify underground miners who consume a lot of electricity illegally. Kazakhstan has been tr

India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has reportedly revealed that the government is “constantly monitoring” and “watching the crypto sector.” Referring to her budget speech, she noted that crypto taxation will be implemented before the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issues its digital currency. Indian Finance Minister on Monitoring Crypto Sector and RBI’s Digital Currency Launch India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has revealed that government officials are constantly monitoring the crypto sector, India Today reported Monday. Speaking at India Today Budget Roundtable 2022 on the “State of India’s Economy: The Final Word,” she was quoted as saying: We have a team of people who are constantly monitoring, watching the crypto sector and listening to people from that area. They are giving me feedback. In addition, the finance minister said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working on issuing India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the di

Crypto exchange FTX is giving away bitcoin during the Super Bowl this weekend. The company estimates that each winner could receive between eight and 10 bitcoins. The actual prize amount depends on the time FTX’s Super Bowl commercial airs. FTX Giving Away Bitcoin in Super Bowl Sweepstakes Cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced Monday that it is giving away bitcoin during the Super Bowl this weekend. The company’s website explains: We’re making our Big Game debut and giving away the time our ad runs in bitcoin. Super Bowl LVI, the upcoming championship game of the National Football League (NFL), will be played between the National Football Conference Champion Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference Champion Cincinnati Bengals. “When the ad airs, we’ll tweet the commercial and pin the tweet. To enter, follow us and retweet that pinned tweet on our @FTX_Official Twitter account between the time it airs and 11:59 p.m. EST,” FTX detailed, adding that no purchase is nec

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has named the evaluation of crypto assets a priority this year. “The rapid introduction of a variety of crypto-asset or digital asset products into the financial system could pose significant safety and soundness and financial system risks,” the FDIC said. Crypto Evaluation Named a Priority for FDIC The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced Monday that Acting Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg has released the FDIC’s priorities for the coming year. The FDIC is an independent agency created by the U.S. Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system. One of the priorities is to “evaluate crypto-asset risks,” the announcement details, elaborating: The rapid introduction of a variety of crypto-asset or digital asset products into the financial system could pose significant safety and soundness and financial system risks. “It is imperative that the federal banking agencies c

The first real estate purchase with Bitcoin has been registered in Colombia last week. The company, called La Haus, sold one property in Santa Marta to a buyer that was not in Colombia at the time of the purchase. While Colombia is just starting to consider bitcoin for real estate payments, in neighboring countries like Venezuela, it is becoming more common to use crypto for such transactions. Colombia Debuts Real Estate Purchases With Crypto The real estate sector in Colombia has reached a milestone when it comes to cryptocurrency usage, after registering its first purchase with bitcoin. La Haus, an online real estate company, mediated in this purchase after having received a reserve payment for 0.03 BTC a month ago. The purchase was recently completed by a buyer that was not in Colombia, so the operation was completed using Lightning Network through Opennode, a payment processor. The purchase comes roughly one month after the company announced it would accept bitcoin for reser

PRESS RELEASE. INTERNET CITY , DUBAI, Feb. 8, 2022, LBank Exchange, a global digital asset trading platform, will list FutureCoin (FUTURE) on February 9th, 2022. For all users of LBank Exchange, the FUTURE/ USDT trading pair will be officially available for trading at 16:00 (UTC+8) on February 9th, 2022. The digital currency market is growing rapidly, along with the platforms and technology surrounding it, but most of the traded coins have lost their practical utility on the market and in people’s lives. To address this problem, FutureCoin (FUTURE) is here to provide a truly efficient, more secure and much faster coin that can be used in everyday life, with solid projects that back it up. The FUTURE token will be listed on LBank Exchange at 16:00 (UTC+8) on February 9th, 2022, to further expand its global reach and help it achieve its vision. Introducing FutureCoin FutureCoin is a project for creating a more stable, promising and safer virtual coin than those already on the mar

Cryptocurrency and blockchain firms are concerned about the future legislation revolving around the cryptocurrency industry and money spent on lobbying cemented this fact. A recently published study indicates that money spent on crypto lobbying jumped 116% in 12 months with $9.56 million leveraged to seek to influence from politicians and public officials. Millions of Dollars Were Spent on Crypto Lobbying and Interest Representation in 2021 While the digital currency and blockchain industry has matured a great deal, a number of crypto advocates are concerned about regulation and politicians misunderstanding an innovative technology. This month researchers from cryptohead.io published a study that highlights crypto lobbying in 2021. In U.S. politics, the act of persuading bureaucrats into interest representation is lawful, and lobbyists are found in nearly every American industry. Cryptohead.io study written by James Page shows the California-based financial services company Robin

A U.S. senator has warned about China’s central bank digital currency. “Analysts have raised the eCNY’s potential to subvert U.S. sanctions, facilitate illicit money flows, enhance China’s surveillance capabilities, and provide Beijing with ‘first mover’ advantages,” the senator informed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. U.S. Senator Warns About the Threat From China’s Central Bank Digital Currency U.S. Senator Pat Toomey sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Tony Blinken last week raising concerns about China’s central bank digital currency, the digital yuan. “I write to request your engagement on a momentous development in Beijing this week: the rollout of the world’s first major central bank digital currency (CBDC) to a foreign audience,” he told Yellen and Blinken. “While the United States is still evaluating the concept of a digital dollar, China is using the Beijing Winter Olympics as an international test for the digital yuan (eCNY), which h

KPMG in Canada has added bitcoin and ether to its corporate treasury in what the company called a “first-of-its-kind investment.” KPMG said: “This investment reflects our belief that institutional adoption of crypto assets and blockchain technology will continue to grow and become a regular part of the asset mix.” Bitcoin and Ether on Balance Sheet of KPMG in Canada KPMG in Canada announced Monday the company’s “first-of-its-kind investment.” KPMG is one of the Big Four accounting firms. The announcement details: KPMG in Canada has completed an allocation of crypto assets to its corporate treasury, the firm’s first direct investment in crypto assets. “The allocation includes bitcoin ( BTC ) and ethereum ( ETH ), as well as carbon offsets to maintain a net-zero carbon transaction to deliver on the firm’s stated environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments,” KPMG detailed. The accounting firm acquired bitcoin and ether on its balance sheet through Gemini Trust Company L

Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, has filed an annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showing bitcoin holdings with a fair value of almost $2 billion at the end of December. The company sees crypto as both an investment and liquid alternative to cash. Tesla Has $2 Billion in Bitcoin Tesla filed an annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Friday. “We continue adapting our investment strategy to meet our liquidity and risk objectives, such as investing in U.S. government and other marketable securities, digital assets and providing product-related financing,” the company wrote, adding: The fair market value of our bitcoin holdings as of December 31, 2021, was $1.99 billion. The report explains that Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in early 2021 and later accepted the cryptocurrency as a form of payment for certain products in some regions. However, the electric car company suspended accepting BTC in May l

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has warned investors of a “massive phishing scam via SMS.” The scammers sent SMS messages to crypto users informing them of a withdrawal request from an unknown IP address they may want to cancel. Massive Phishing Scam Targeting Crypto Investors Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted Friday: There is a massive phishing scam via SMS with a link to cancel withdrawals. It leads to a phishing website to harvest your credential as in the screenshot below. According to the Binance boss, scammers sent SMS messages to cryptocurrency investors stating that a withdrawal has been requested from an unknown IP address. The message then asks investors to click a link to cancel the withdrawal request. However, the link leads to a phishing website that will attempt to steal credentials from investors. The Binance CEO further advised that users should always go directly to the Binance website via a bookmark or type the URL into the browser. He stressed: Never

PRESS RELEASE. The world of e-commerce is rapidly transitioning to that of social commerce, where demand for products is driven by videos and posts from social media. Both brands and their consumers can benefit from advertising products through social media, with stronger sales and valuable insights into product use cases, which further encourage online shopping. Video commerce already accounts for 10% of Chinese e-commerce – a trend that is already making its way to the West. That’s why we are thrilled to be hosting the seed sale of Meloot ($LADA) on the KICK.IO launchpad . Meloot is the first decentralized e-commerce platform on the Cardano blockchain, powered by its native utility token $LADA. You can think of Meloot as Amazon driven by TikTok, where e-commerce capabilities are utilised in synergy with video-based shopping, and Meloot algorithm connects people to the brands they like through an interactive medium. Meloot offers a platform for the sale and purchase of physical

Nike has filed a lawsuit against an online reseller using unauthorized Nike shoe images in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). “Those unsanctioned products are likely to confuse consumers, create a false association between those products and Nike, and dilute Nike’s famous trademarks,” Nike alleges. Nike Sues Online Retailer Over NFT Sales Sneaker giant Nike filed a lawsuit against online reseller Stockx in New York federal court last week for selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) using unauthorized images of Nike shoes. Detroit-based Stockx, valued at more than $3.8 billion last year, began selling NFTs last month, Nike detailed, adding that the reseller has sold over 500 unauthorized Nike-branded NFTs. The sneaker giant further noted that Stockx told buyers they would be able to redeem the tokens for physical versions of the shoes “in the near future.” Nike claims that by minting “Vault” NFTs based mostly on popular Nike sneakers, Stockx is infringing upon and diluting its trademarks. Acc

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has declared his bitcoin purchase worth up to $50,000. “I’m also particularly proud that my home state, Texas, is becoming an oasis for the blockchain community, for bitcoin miners, for innovators and entrepreneurs in the crypto world,” said the senator. Senator Ted Cruz Declares Bitcoin Purchase U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has bought the bitcoin dip. A Periodic Transaction Report filed on Friday shows that the senator from Texas personally bought bitcoin worth between $15,001 and $50,000 on Jan 25. On the date of the transaction, the price of bitcoin was hovering around $37,000 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is $41,708. BTC is up 10.5% over the past seven days but down 4.2% over the last 30 days. The senator from Texas has long been a vocal bitcoin proponent. In June last year, he said that people are flocking to BTC because the U.S. is on the verge of an inflation crisis. In November last year, he introd

Google has shared some details of its web3 and blockchain strategies. “As a company, we are looking at how we might contribute to the ecosystem and add value,” said Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc. Google’s Web3 and Blockchain Strategies The CEO of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google, Sundar Pichai, shared some information on the group’s blockchain strategy during the company’s Q4 earnings call last week. Pichai was asked about his view on web3 and Alphabet’s approach to the industry. “Anytime there is innovation, I find it exciting,” the Google CEO began, elaborating: On web3, we are definitely looking at blockchain, and such an interesting and powerful technology with broad applications, so much broader, again, than any one application. “As a company, we are looking at how we might contribute to the ecosystem and add value,” he continued, adding: Just one example, our Cloud team is looking at how they can support our customers’ need

The U.S. treasury department has warned that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may present new illicit finance risks. According to industry estimates, the NFT market could reach $35 billion in 2022 and more than $80 billion by 2025. NFTs May Present Illicit Finance Risks The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Friday the release of a “study on illicit finance in the high-value art market.” The study was mandated by Congress in the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. “This study examined art market participants and sectors of the high-value art market that may present money laundering and terrorist financing risks to the U.S. financial system,” the Treasury wrote, adding: The emerging digital art market, such as the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), may present new risks, depending on the structure and market incentives. In order to combat the risks, the study recommends several options, including updating training for law and customs enforcement, enhancing private sector informa

The federal government of Russia should be ready with different regulatory scenarios for the country’s crypto market by the end of next working week, documents from a recent meeting have indicated. The executive power in Moscow favors regulation over the prohibition of cryptocurrencies and related activities. Government Inclined to Legalize Rather Than Ban Cryptocurrency in Russia The Russian government, which is hosting the ongoing debate on the future of decentralized digital money in Russia, is going to produce alternative scenarios for crypto regulation by Feb. 11. The Russian business daily Kommersant broke the news, quoting documents from a meeting held at the White House in Moscow last week. The fate of cryptocurrencies in the country is likely to be decided by the outcome of a clash between two opposing views. While the Central Bank of Russia proposes a blanket ban on crypto-related activities such as issuance, exchange, and mining, the Ministry of Finance pushes for lega

Following a two-year hiatus, the American magazine that’s dedicated to music, politics, and popular culture, Rolling Stone, announced the return of Rolling Stone Live. According to the publication, the Rolling Stone Live event marks the company’s first collaboration with Coinbase and the two firms will be dropping exclusive non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Rolling Stone Live 2022 Will be Presented by Coinbase This Year, Event Will Feature a Limited Edition Collection of NFTs Crafted by 12 Digital Artists Rolling Stone has teamed up with Coinbase in order to drop an exclusive Rolling Stone Live NFT collection featuring 12 digital artists in the blockchain space. According to Rolling Stone, the artists were tasked with creating the NFTs that also showcase the Rolling Stone logo. Artists include Deadfellaz, Elise Swopes, Boss Beauties, Kideight, Mikegrillmadeit, Markthehabibi, Domino, Giant Swan, Alida Sun, Jeff Manning, Mister Goldie, and Emonee LaRussa. The American magazine says the

Two reports claim that the creators of the popular non-fungible token (NFT) project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) are in talks of raising funds from investors such as the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The alleged funding round is expected to be around $200 million, but sources further say “the deal is not yet closed.” Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Yuga Labs in Talks of Raising $200 Million, Multiple Sources Say According to the news outlet Axios, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creators have been in talks of raising funds from investors. Axios contributors Kia Kokalitcheva, and Dan Primack write that the investment firm Andreessen Horowitz “is in advanced talks to lead a large funding round for Yuga Labs.” Yuga Labs created the BAYC NFT project alongside the associated NFT collections like Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC). There are 10,000 NFTs, in the case of BAYC, and each ape has different properties. At the time of writing, 6,296 unique addresses own at least one BAYC out o

Billionaire Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has shared his view on cryptocurrency investing and the future of money. He believes that crypto will be banned by different governments. Ray Dalio on the Future of Money and Crypto Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio discussed cryptocurrency regulation and the future of money in an interview with David Rubenstein Thursday. Dalio currently serves as the Bridgewater Associates chairman and cochief investment officer. His firm’s clients include endowments, governments, foundations, pensions, and sovereign wealth funds. He was asked, “How do you foresee crypto impacting the world order?” The Bridgewater chairman replied, “I think it’s interesting,” disclosing that he has “a tiny percentage” of his portfolio in crypto. He explained: “I wanted to diversify but it’s a very vulnerable incident because they can track who is operating on it. It can be tracked.” He added: It’ll be outlawed,

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has warned that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury are destroying the U.S. dollar. Noting that they are sending billions of dollar savers and uninformed investors to “financial hell,” he advised, “Save gold, silver, and bitcoin.” Robert Kiyosaki’s Warning and Advice Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, tweeted this week that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department are “destroying the dollar.” Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. Kiyosaki wrote, “There are a million paths to financial heaven and a billion paths to financial hell,” adding: Fed and Treasury [are] destroying the dollar sending billions of dollar savers and uninformed to financial hell. Go to fina

Several U.S. lawmakers have introduced the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act to strengthen “the legitimacy of cryptocurrency in our digital economy.” The bill also aims to expand the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act Introduced in the US Representatives Suzan DelBene and David Schweikert introduced the “Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act of 2022” on Thursday. The bipartisan bill is cosponsored by Congressmen Darren Soto and Tom Emmer. The bill “would create a workable structure for taxing purchases made with virtual currency, also known as cryptocurrency,” the lawmakers explained. It will also expand the use of cryptocurrency for payments and further strengthen “the legitimacy of virtual currency in our digital economy.” The current legislation states that any crypto gains must be reported as taxable income regardless of the size or purpose of the transaction, the lawmakers stressed, emphasizing that “This includes purchases as small as buying

A group of cypherpunks recently initiated a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in order to try and free the incarcerated Wikileaks founder and activist Julian Assange. So far, the DAO has raised $7.5 million in ether and the funds will be used to help with Assange’s legal fees and raise public awareness about his case. Assangedao Raises Nearly $6 Million to Help Fund Julian Assange’s Legal Efforts and Shine a Light on the Systemic Failure of Our Justice Systems. A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) has been created that aims to help Julian Assange gain freedom. Assange is a well known journalist and activist that founded the website Wikileaks and he’s been investigated by the U.S. government for publishing a series of 2010 Army intelligence leaks that were given to him by Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning). The United States would like to see Assange extradited to the U.S. due to his involvement with publishing classified American intelligence documents.

Konami, one of the leading Japan-based game developers, elaborated on its future policy regarding NFTs. In its latest financial results meeting, Konami touched briefly on the subject of NFTs, and explained it would go on with its activities involving this technology as a preservation tool for some of its beloved franchises. Konami to Use NFTs as ‘Preservation Tool’ Konami, the Japanese developer responsible for franchises such as Castlevania, has shed some light on its stance when it comes to the use of NTFs. In its latest financial results meeting, the company indicated it will continue leveraging NFTs as a form of preservation, stating that: We will also be selling Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in an effort to preserve content that has been loved by our customers as commemorative art. This statement resonates with what Konami has done with NFTs in the past. The company organized a commemorative NFT auction for the 35th Anniversary of the Castlevania franchise last year, raising

The crypto-friendly nation of Belarus is preparing to permit investment funds to put money into digital currencies. A proposal to do so is part of a package of necessary legal changes tailored to attract such institutions to the country. Finance Ministry Takes Steps to Facilitate Crypto Investments in Belarus Amendments aimed at luring investment funds to Belarus have been published by the Ministry of Finance for public consultations. Despite having in place a regulatory framework for collective investments, not a single fund has been registered in the country so far, the department noted in its motives for the initiative. One of the main reasons for the absence of such funds is that they are currently prevented from investing in crypto assets, representatives of professional circles have pointed out. The market for “digital signs (tokens),” the legal term used to describe cryptocurrencies, has been growing at a fast pace, the finance ministry has acknowledged. To lift the restri