Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The U.K. police have returned over $5.4 million to victims of an international cryptocurrency scam. The police say that almost $10 million more will be returned to victims. So far, 127 more people have filed a claim to recoup their investments. Police Return Funds to Crypto Scam Victims The U.K.’s Greater Manchester Police (GMP) announced Friday that about $5.4 million of the funds seized from an international cryptocurrency scam rumbled by its police officers in July last year have been returned to rightful owners. The announcement details: Over four million pounds have been returned to 23 verified victims and another 127 reported claims are currently being investigated by officers alongside partners in international law enforcement across the globe. The police noted, “another seven million pounds to be returned to rightful owners.” However, the announcement does not specify whether the victims will receive cryptocurrency or fiat currency from the police. “A sum of $22.25 mil...

PRESS RELEASE. DeFi ecosystem Alium Finance , which combines a native multi-chain decentralized exchange and NFT marketplace, announced a massive airdrop in honor of listing on the MEXC cryptocurrency exchange . In order to participate in the free token giveaway, MX token holders must stake coins, and then they will receive the right to vote and can become one of the winners of the Alium Finance airdrop. Recipients of ALM tokens will be selected randomly, depending on the size of the balance of MX coins in the Spot Wallet. “Partnership with such a large cryptocurrency exchange as MEXC, which today serves more than 6 million users from all over the world, is an important event for our company. We plan to expand our interaction in the future and launch new joint initiatives for the community,” commented Denis Denisov, CEO of Alium Finance. Voting with MX tokens will start on Tuesday, February 22, and will last from 02:00 to 10:50 (UTC). Airdrop winners will receive rewards in ALM tok...

Indian police have arrested 11 people so far in connection with a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that has duped about 2,000 investors out of $5.4 million. 11 People Arrested so Far in Cryptocurrency Scam in India Indian police have cracked down on a cryptocurrency investment scheme that has duped over 2,000 investors out of 40 crore rupees ($5.4 million). The number of arrests reached 11, seven of whom were arrested on Sunday in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, according to PTI. The main accused, Nishid Wasnik, and his wife Pragati, along with two other associates, Gajanan Mungune and Sandesh Lanjewar, were arrested one day prior in Pune. They went into hiding in March last year and had been on a run until they were arrested Saturday, the police said. An official described that Wasnik used to flaunt his luxurious lifestyle to lure people to invest in a firm he claimed to be dealing in ether ( ETH ) cryptocurrency. The official was quoted as saying: He manipulated the website of the firm...

The co-founder of crypto exchange Huobi has shared his view about the current state of the bitcoin market and when the next bull run will be. “We are now at the early stage of a bear market,” he said, expecting the next bitcoin bull market to be around the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. Huobi’s Executive on the Next Bitcoin Bull Market Du Jun, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, discussed when the next bitcoin bull market might be in an interview with CNBC, published Sunday. The exchange executive explained that bitcoin bull markets are closely tied to the halving, which occurs every 210,000 blocks or approximately every 4 years. The next one will take place in 2024. He detailed that the last halving took place in May 2020, and bitcoin topped an all-time high above $68,000 in 2021. Similarly, the halving that took place in 2016 saw BTC hitting a record high the following year. The price of bitcoin then tumbled after hitting record highs. Noting that bitcoin has f...

PRESS RELEASE. London, England, Feb 21st, 2022 – Earn Guild, a next-gen guild system for play-to-earn gaming, will be conducting its public sale tomorrow, February 22, at 2:00 pm UTC on the PancakeSwap exchange. Shortly after the Initial Decentralized Offering (IDO), the $EARN token will be listed on three major exchanges. The project has successfully closed its early sales rounds, with a total investment of $8.1 million, and is firmly backed by a long list of renowned partners and venture capital (VC) firms. However, the token sale still presents an excellent opportunity for Earn Guild to expand and further its exposure, as PancakeSwap is the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) of the popular Binance Smart Chain (BSC) ecosystem. What is Earn Guild? Designed for the play-to-earn market, Earn Guild offers all the tools needed to transform gaming into more than just a hobby. Through Earn Guild, players will have a fair chance to participate in most play-to-earn games and effi...

The American streaming television service Sling TV has announced the company is now accepting cryptocurrency payments from customers paying their monthly subscriptions. Sling TV detailed the company is leveraging the crypto payment provider Bitpay and will accept seven different cryptocurrencies and five stablecoins. Sling TV to Accept Crypto Assets for Monthly subscription Services Sling TV LLC , has revealed that it has partnered with the Atlanta-based cryptocurrency payments provider Bitpay and will accept a variety of crypto assets for monthly subscription payments. Sling is a streaming television service provider that offers a selection of channels competing cable providers do not. The company is a subsidiary of Dish Network, the direct-broadcast satellite provider that also accepts crypto payments for subscription services. Data from cordcuttersnews.com indicates that Sling surpassed 2.55 million subscribers in September 2021. By offering over-the-top (OTT)-originated ser...

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a new medium of artistic expression that gives artists the freedom and the ability to reach a diverse audience, Saudi Princess Reem Al Faisal has said. Decentralized Art According to the Saudi Arabian princess, Reem Al Faisal, NFTs are a natural evolution of art that gives artists the freedom to reach different races, cultures and places. Al Faisal also asserts that NFTs have done what decentralized finance (defi) has done to finance — they have “decentralized art.” The Saudi princess’ comments about artists’ adoption or growing use of NFTs follow recent reports that she had launched her first NFT as well as the first virtual exposition of Saudi NFTs. Also, prior to launching the NFTs, Al Faisal, a photographer for more than 30 years, had sold her works on the NFT marketplace, Opensea. Remarking on the reaction to her own NFT launch, the Saudi princess said she is surprised that people still fail to see NFTs as a new way of exhibiting art. She said: ...

PRESS RELEASE. On February 17th, 2022, Hoo announced the completion of the first-stage token-repurchase plan on HOO Token with a cumulative total of 423,982.18 HOO repurchased from the secondary market. From January 2022, Hoo had imposed the strategic plan on generating 30% of the income revenue from spot trading (Spot Zone + Innovation Zone) of Hoo Exchange for enhancing the liquidity of the AMM pool. 15% of the income revenue would be used to repurchase HOO from the secondary market, and all the repurchased HOO would be placed into AMM liquidity pool. The remaining 15% income revenue would also be transferred to the AMM liquidity pool for optimizing the depth and activation of the secondary market continuously. According to the announcement, Hoo’s accumulated spot transaction income is 3,385,520 USDT in January 2022. Thus, 1,015,656 USDT will be imposed into token-repurchase agreement, and half of which will be used to repurchase HOO from the secondary market and the remaining...

Following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charging the crypto lending platform Blockfi with failing to register its retail crypto lending product and fining the firm $100 million, the crypto lender Nexo has announced it will no longer allow U.S. citizens to earn interest on new savings wallet top-ups. However, Nexo customers from the U.S. will continue to earn interest on their current savings wallet balances held prior to the announcement. Nexo ‘Reveals Big Savings News for US Customers’ Last week, the SEC cracked down on the crypto lending platform Blockfi and the company was fined $100 million in penalties. The news followed several regulators from a myriad of states like New Jersey , Kentucky , Texas, Alabama , and Vermont giving warnings to Blockfi about the firm’s interest-bearing accounts. Some states issued cease and desist orders and the company had to stop offering Blockfi Interest Accounts (BIAs) by a certain date. After Blockfi’s penalties were hand...

Global Investment bank JPMorgan says, “The metaverse will likely infiltrate every sector in some way in the coming years, with the market opportunity estimated at over $1 trillion in yearly revenues.” The firm has set up a lounge in Decentraland. JPMorgan on the Metaverse Global Investment bank JPMorgan recently published a report titled “Opportunities in the metaverse.” The report is authored by Christine Moy and Adit Gadgil. Moy is the global head of Liink, Crypto & the Metaverse at Onyx by J.P. Morgan. Gadgil is the head of e-commerce solutions at J.P. Morgan Payments. The JPMorgan report details: The metaverse will likely infiltrate every sector in some way in the coming years, with the market opportunity estimated at over $1 trillion in yearly revenues. The report cites research by Grayscale Investments which states: “The metaverse is estimated to be a trillion-dollar revenue opportunity across advertising, social commerce, digital events, hardware, and developer/creat...

The third-richest billionaire in Mexico, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, advises to buy bitcoin, keep buying while the price is still low, and hold the crypto without thinking of selling. “Trust me, you’re going to thank me later,” he affirmed. Billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego’s Bitcoin Advice Mexico’s third-richest billionaire, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, gave some advice Saturday about investing in bitcoin. Salinas is the founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a group of companies with interests in telecommunications, media, financial services, and retail stores. According to Forbes’ list of billionaires, his net worth is currently more than $13 billion. The billionaire tweeted Saturday urging his Twitter followers to buy bitcoin and keep buying while the price of BTC is still low. His tweet reads: You have to buy bitcoin (keep buying when the price is low), then just hold your BTC , forget about selling … Trust me you’re going to thank me later. Bitcoin has fallen more than 40% sinc...

U.S. President Joe Biden is reportedly expected to issue an executive order on cryptocurrency this week. It will direct a wide range of government agencies to come up with a government-wide strategy to regulate crypto assets. Executive Order on Crypto Expected This Week U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to issue an executive order on cryptocurrency this week, an administration official familiar with the matter reportedly told Yahoo Finance. The news of the Biden administration preparing an executive order on crypto was first reported in January. The executive order will direct a wide range of government agencies to study cryptocurrency and central bank digital currency (CBDC), and come up with a government-wide strategy to regulate crypto assets, the publication conveyed. Various government agencies will be asked to produce a report on the future of money and payment systems, including the Departments of the Treasury, State, Justice, and Homeland Security. The Financial Stabi...

A new report issued by LAVCA, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America, has found that the venture capital (VC) investment in the region has grown immensely compared to the previous year’s numbers. In general, the region registered investments of more than $15 billion, more than three times the amount registered in 2020. However, crypto and blockchain investments grew almost tenfold. Crypto Outpaces Conventional VC Investments in Latam A new report issued by LAVCA, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America, details the growth of the venture capital (VC) movement in the region and highlights the interest that these companies took in crypto in 2021. The report found that the region experienced notable growth when it comes to venture capital investments, more than tripling the numbers registered the previous year. In 2020, LAVCA registered $4.14 billion in VC investments, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, this influx reac...

Over the last week, there’s been a lot of discussion about Canada ‘freezing’ digital currency accounts that are associated with the Canadian trucker’s Freedom Convoy. Amid the topical conversation, it should be stressed that decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, cannot be frozen directly within the network. However, the Canadian government can flag specific digital currency addresses and take it even further, by asking centralized entities like crypto exchanges and payment processors to freeze the funds. Canadian Officials Can Flag Crypto Addresses and Threaten Exchanges, but They Can’t ‘Freeze Bitcoin’ Last week, the Canadian government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the country’s Emergencies Act and enacted Canada’s terrorist financing policy in order to blanket cryptocurrencies donations. Trudeau and the government did this to quell the protesters occupying the streets of Ottawa. The Canadian government managed to get Gofundme to shut down the Fr...

Veteran trader Peter Brandt has warned that bitcoin’s price corrections have taken many months in the past and it may take some time for the price of the cryptocurrency to hit another all-time high. He criticized bitcoin’s proponents for constantly hyping the crypto regardless of the price. Peter Brandt Warns It May Take Some Time for Another Bitcoin Peak Veteran trader Peter Brandt cautioned investors Thursday that it could take some time for the price of bitcoin to reach another all-time high. Brandt has been a futures and FX career trader since 1975. He is a chartist and the author of the Factor Report. He trades a variety of markets, including Dow futures, bonds, corn, crude oil, European wheat, Osaka Dow, U.S. dollar, and sugar. He criticized bitcoin’s proponents for constantly hyping the cryptocurrency regardless of what the price is doing. “Cheerleaders who constantly beat the drums of ‘to the moon’ are doing a huge disservice to BTC investors,” the trader tweeted, elabora...

Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has shared what he thinks the price of bitcoin will be in the coming years. He said when institutions get the go-ahead from their compliance departments to invest in bitcoin, the price of the cryptocurrency “is going to appreciate dramatically.” Kevin O’Leary’s Bitcoin Prediction Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary shared his prediction of the price of bitcoin in an interview with Stansberry Research last week. He explained that many institutions are not allowed to invest in bitcoin, stating: “That’s well-known because it just hasn’t been ruled by the regulator yet. So, as a proxy to getting exposure to bitcoin, they buy the equities of public bitcoin mining companies, Marathon, Riot, etc.” O’Leary detailed: You want to talk about bitcoin going to $100K, $200K, $300K, it’s going to happen when institutions can finally buy it. “I can tell you with certainty right now because I service sovereign wealth funds and pension plans,” Mr. Wonderful continued...

Elon Musk has revealed that Tesla’s upcoming futuristic diner and drive-in theater, planned for the Hollywood area, will accept the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin. The electric car company currently accepts DOGE for some merchandise on its website. Tesla CEO Elon Musk: ‘You Can Pay in Doge’ Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk tweeted about future dogecoin payment acceptance Friday in reply to a tweet by developer Ryan Zohoury, who said a new Tesla supercharger station in Santa Monica, California, is almost full 10 minutes after it opened. The Tesla boss tweeted, “And futuristic diner / drive-in theater planned for Hollywood area.” He added in a follow-up tweet: And, of course, you can pay in Doge. At press time, the Tesla CEO has not clarified what exactly customers can pay for with the meme cryptocurrency. Some people assume that Tesla supercharger stations will accept dogecoin while others interpreted Musk’s tweet as applicable to only the upcoming diner and drive-in theater in the...

The Federal Reserve has banned its senior officials from investing in cryptocurrency. “Officials covered by the new rules will have 12 months from the effective date of the rules to dispose of all impermissible holdings,” said the Federal Open Market Committee. Senior Federal Reserve Officials Prohibited From Investing in Cryptocurrency The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced Friday that it has “unanimously formally adopted comprehensive new rules for the investment and trading activity of senior officials.” The FOMC is a committee within the U.S. Federal Reserve System charged with overseeing the nation’s open market operations. The rules were first announced in October last year to strengthen “the impartiality and integrity of the Committee’s work by guarding against even the appearance of any conflict of interest,” the announcement details, elaborating: Under the new rules, senior Federal Reserve officials are prohibited from … holding investments in individual bon...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is getting ready to start issuing federal licenses to cryptocurrency service providers in the first quarter. The UAE crypto regulation will take a hybrid approach. The government hopes that a nationwide crypto licensing system will attract big companies to the region. UAE Prepares to Regulate Crypto Sector Nationwide The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is getting ready to start issuing federal licenses to virtual asset service providers (VASPs) by the end of the first quarter, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing an unnamed government official. The UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) is in the final stage of amending legislation to regulate VASPs. The government hopes that a nationwide crypto licensing system will attract big companies to the region. The country completed a risk assessment of crypto assets late last year. The assessment involved 14 public-sector agencies and 16 private-sector entities. The government concluded that proper regu...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a new unit to tackle crypto exploitation. The new team will work with the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat “the criminal misuse of cryptocurrencies.” FBI Establishes New Crypto Unit; DOJ Appoints First Director for National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a new crypto unit. According to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ): The FBI’s new Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit [is] a specialized team of cryptocurrency experts dedicated to providing analysis, support, and training across the FBI, as well as innovating its cryptocurrency tools to stay ahead of future threats. In addition, the Justice Department announced Thursday the appointment of Eun Young Choi to serve as the first director of its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). Choi “is an accomplished leader on cyber and cryptocurrency is...

While the Canadian government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau try to quell the demonstrations in Ottawa by sending police to the encampment on Friday, a United States version of the Canadian trucker’s Freedom Convoy called the “People’s Convoy” is underway. According to the American Foundation for Civil Liberties & Freedom, the U.S. convoy has raised more than $100K so far. As Trudeau Cracks Down on Trucker’s Protest in Ottawa an American Convoy Is Underway For weeks, the entire world has been watching the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada and the hundreds of truckers participating in the effort. The truckers protested in the streets of downtown Ottawa over the Covid-19 vaccine mandates applied to the trucking industry. In recent times, the Canadian government has enacted the Emergencies Act, after Trudeau said he would do “whatever it takes” to end the protest in Ottawa. The national police in Canada also sent letters to crypto exchanges asking them to single out over tw...

A U.S. congressman has introduced the “Keep Your Coins Act” in order to “preserve Americans’ right to privacy in transacting with crypto assets.” The lawmaker says, “this legislation would prohibit any federal agency from promulgating a rule that would impair a person’s ability to act as self-custodian.” US Lawmaker Seeks to Protect Privacy in Crypto Transactions With ‘Keep Your Coins Act’ The office of Congressman Warren Davidson (OH-R) announced Thursday that the lawmaker has introduced the Keep Your Coins Act “to protect transaction privacy.” The announcement explains that the proposed legislation is “designed to preserve Americans’ right to privacy in transacting with crypto assets,” adding: Specifically, this legislation would prohibit any federal agency from promulgating a rule that would impair a person’s ability to act as self-custodian. “A person would then be able to conduct peer-to-peer transactions with their crypto assets without the need to utilize a third-party i...

Binance has reportedly halted services in Israel after the cryptocurrency exchange was approached by the country’s financial regulator inquiring about its activities and the licenses under which it operates. A growing number of regulators have been scrutinizing Binance for operating without a license in their jurisdictions. Binance Halts Crypto Services in Israel Israel’s Capital Market, Insurance, and Savings Authority has reportedly approached Binance regarding the crypto exchange’s activities in the country. The authority, which is responsible for licensing crypto businesses in Israel, has asked Binance for clarification about the services it offers to Israelis and the licenses under which it operates, according to Globes publication. Companies offering crypto services in Israel are required to obtain a license. Binance has not submitted an application to the authority for approval to operate in the country. However, the crypto exchange has activities in Hebrew and it is estim...

On Friday, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) announced the firm launched digital collectibles for this year’s Daytona 500. NASCAR’s series of limited-edition Daytona 500 NFT drops is part of a partnership with the Wax blockchain team. NASCAR Reveals 2022 Daytona 500 NFT Collection NASCAR plans to issue Daytona 500 non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles and 500 ticket holders can get one NFT per wallet. The stock car racing company emailed 25,000 Daytona 500 ticket holders about the event prior to the launch. According to the announcement sent to Bitcoin.com News, ticket holders had 24-hour notice to sign up for a Wax blockchain wallet in order to enter the contest. “500 NFT winners were automatically entered into a draw to win one of five autographed NASCAR driver helmets,” a representative told Bitcoin.com News. The stock car racing company announced the official digital collectibles launch on February 16. NASCAR explained that it chose Wax because it w...

The Pakistani central bank governor, Reza Baqir, recently revealed that his organization has determined the risks posed by cryptocurrencies “far outweigh the benefits.” The governor, however, suggested that if solutions that address these potential risks emerge, the central bank “is open to looking at them.” Crypto Said to Have No ‘Real Economic Benefits’ for Pakistan The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Reza Baqir, recently said his institution had concluded that the potential risks that are associated with cryptocurrencies “far outweigh the benefits.” According to Baqir, Pakistan, just like other jurisdictions that have banned or restricted the use of cryptocurrencies, needs more time to “fully understand these technologies not only from the perspective of risk-response.” In his speech at the 2022 MASIC Annual Investment Forum, Baqir defended the SBP’s conclusion, which he said is similar to the ones reached by “large emerging markets including China, India and Russ...