Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A new task force set up by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), KleptoCapture, will also target cryptocurrency exchanges. Financial institutions, banks, money transmission services, and crypto exchanges that allow Russian oligarchs to move money “will be in the crosshairs of this investigation.” DOJ’s KleptoCapture Task Force Will Take ‘Broader View’ A new Department of Justice (DOJ) task force, KleptoCapture, will enforce sanctions against Russian oligarchs as well as target anyone who helps hide their money, including crypto service providers, a senior DOJ official reportedly said Friday. The KleptoCapture task force was launched on March 2. It is “an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine,” the DOJ described. Noting that the KleptoCapture task force wi...

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has shared his cryptocurrency investment strategy. He revealed that 20% of his portfolio is now in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. “The whole point is you don’t know who is going to win.” Kevin O’Leary’s Cryptocurrency Investment Strategy O’Shares ETFs chairman and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has shared his crypto investment strategy in an interview with CNBC Friday. Firstly, he said one-fifth of his investment holdings are tied up in cryptocurrencies or companies operating in the crypto space. Mr. Wonderful said: I have millions of dollars, 20% of my portfolio is now in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. In November last year, he said that crypto accounted for 10% of his portfolio . His investments in cryptocurrency exceeded his gold investments for the first time in October last year. O’Leary was asked whether some cryptocurrencies will be around in a decade. Noting that he factored that risk into his strategy, the Shark Ta...

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak expects the price of bitcoin to hit $100,000. “I just really feel it from all of the interest,” he explained. “The interest in crypto is so high.” Steve Wozniak’s Bitcoin Price Prediction Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak shared his view on cryptocurrency in an interview on the Wild Ride with Steve-O podcast, published last week. He began by sharing his bitcoin investment experience. “I bought a bunch of bitcoin at the start to say how do you play with this new thing? How do you buy something online? I conquered that. How do you buy things in other countries, and how would you pay for a donut in another country? How do you find an ATM that works on your bitcoin? I want to experiment and learn it all,” the Apple co-founder described, adding: And then bitcoin went way up. Well, I got scared and I sold all my bitcoin except one bitcoin. Wozniak explained that his purpose is “to have enough to play with, experiment with, but not make money on.” However, ...

Payment giant Stripe has brought back crypto support after it stopped processing bitcoin payments four years ago. The company now says, “Our optimism for the future of crypto was not unfounded … Crypto is going mainstream.” Stripe Brings Back Crypto Support Payment giant Stripe has re-entered the crypto space after four years, with the launch of a suite of products to support crypto businesses. Stripe is a payment infrastructure company headquartered in San Francisco and Dublin, with 14 global offices. According to its website, millions of companies in over 120 countries use Stripe to start, run, and scale their businesses, including Amazon, Google, Shopify, Microsoft, Spotify, Uber, and Nasdaq. Stripe co-founder John Collison announced on Twitter Thursday that his company now supports crypto businesses, including exchanges, on-ramps, wallets, and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces. Stripe was one of the first major companies to embrace bitcoin. “In 2014, we became the first ...

Remittance giant Western Union has joined other financial services companies supporting sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The decision will affect customers in the Russian Federation as well as those in Belarus, an ally of Moscow, backing its military operation. Western Union Condemns Invasion of Ukraine, Halts Services in Russia and Belarus Money transfer specialist Western Union has condemned Russia’s military assault on neighboring Ukraine, expressing “shock, disbelief, and sadness around this tragedy and humanitarian disaster.” The company has been working to support its Ukrainian clients, including through donations, humanitarian relief efforts, and by waiving fees. The cross-border payments provider announced its decision to suspend operations in the Russian Federation and Belarus, taken after discussing the matter with various stakeholders. The company added it had also evaluated the consequences for its partners, and customers. In a statement released T...

Terraform Labs, the company behind the creation of Terra, has announced a new donation to support the ecosystem of the terra (LUNA) token. Do Kwon, CEO of Terraform Labs, announced that the company has donated 12 million LUNA (approximately $1.2 billion) to the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) with the goal of continuing to grow its decentralized forex reserve to intervene during stressful market conditions if necessary. Terraform Labs Fills LFG Vaults Terraform Labs, creator of the terra token, is putting funds toward supporting the growth of its flagship stablecoin, UST. The company announced a new donation of 12 million LUNA to the Luna Foundation Guard, another decentralized organization, that will be directed to grow the stabilization fund to maintain the UST dollar peg. Do Kwon, CEO of Terraform Labs, explained on Twitter that these funds will be used to be burn and mint $UST, which then will be used to grow the reserves of the Luna Foundation Guard. The Luna Foundation Guard has...

The Zapala Free Zone, an area located in Neuquen, Argentina that has the objective of incentivizing various productive activities, will receive its first bitcoin mining-related investment this year. The company that will create the power infrastructure for the mining farm aims to generate more than 114 MW of power for mining operations in the first year. Zapala Free Zone Gets Into Bitcoin Mining Zapala, a free trade zone in the province of Neuquen in Argentina, will get its first bitcoin mining-related investment. For the year 2023, the zone aims to have an installed capacity of 114 MW that will be used for the transformation of the area into a hub for bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining in the region is incentivized in that Zapala, being a free zone, doesn’t charge taxes for using public services. The project, according to a business plan that will be presented to authorities of the province, will contemplate an investment of $20 million, and is expected to be complete for Q1 2023. Th...

Canada’s police have seized bitcoin worth more than $28 million from a former government employee who has been extradited to the U.S. to “face charges for dozens of ransomware attacks resulting in the payment of tens of millions of dollars in ransoms.” Canadian Authority Seizes Bitcoin Worth $28 Million The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that a former Canadian government employee was extradited the previous day from Canada to the U.S. to “face charges for dozens of ransomware attacks resulting in the payment of tens of millions of dollars in ransoms.” The DOJ detailed that from April through December 2020, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins “conspired to and did intentionally damage a protected computer and transmit a ransom demand in connection with doing so.” The Justice Department launched a coordinated international law enforcement action to disrupt ransomware group Netwalker in January last year. The indictment charges the 34-year-old Canadian from Gatineau, Qu...

The world’s largest movie exhibition company, AMC Entertainment, has finally begun accepting payments in dogecoin and shiba inu. Supporters of DOGE and SHIB have been waiting for AMC Theatres to accept the two meme cryptocurrencies since September last year. AMC Customers Can Now Pay With Dogecoin and Shiba Inu AMC Theatres now accepts payments in dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB) cryptocurrencies. AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC), aka AMC Theatres, is the largest movie exhibition company in the U.S., Europe, and the world. The company owns or operates approximately 950 theaters and 10,500 screens globally. Adam Aron, the CEO of AMC Theatres, announced Thursday that amctheatres.com now accepts DOGE and SHIB for online payments. The CEO also gave a special shoutout to Bitpay which processes crypto payments for his company. Bitcoin.com News visited the AMC Theatres website and found that Bitpay is now a payment option. With the integration of Bitpay, AMC Theatres now accepts severa...

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is launching a cryptocurrency awareness program. “We’re just trying to raise awareness without trying to stamp out new technology and new innovation,” said an official of the Treasury. Treasury’s Efforts to Raise Crypto Awareness The U.S. Department of the Treasury is launching an initiative to raise awareness about cryptocurrency investing, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing an interview with Nellie Liang, Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance. “We’re hearing more and more about investors and households who are purchasing crypto assets, and we recognize the complexity of how some of these assets operate,” Liang described, adding: It felt like this is an area also where more education (and) more awareness could be helpful. The Treasury’s Financial Literacy Education Commission will create educational materials and organize outreach on digital assets. The Treasury’s education unit comprises 20 different government agencies, including the ...

Blockchain forensics company Chainalysis is launching two tools that will allow crypto companies to deny sanctioned persons and entities access to their platforms. The move comes amid concerns that Russia may use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions imposed due to its invasion of Ukraine. Chainalysis Offers Crypto Industry New Sanctions-Screening Tools As the military conflict in Ukraine intensifies, western allies continue to expand sanctions on Russia, including by targeting opportunities to employ crypto assets to circumvent the restrictions. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has joined these efforts, announcing two new sanctions-screening tools that will be free for the industry: These solutions will enable the builders of decentralized web3 protocols like DEXs, defi platforms, DAOs and dapps, as well as practically anyone interacting with cryptocurrency, to easily validate that they aren’t interacting with cryptocurrency addresses associated with sanctioned entities. On...

Kraken is planning to hand out more than $10 million in aid for clients affected by the military conflict in Ukraine. The amount covers the fees paid by Ukrainian residents in almost a decade and will also include those withheld from Russian traders in the first half of 2022. Kraken Exchange to Give $1,000 in Bitcoin to Each Eligible Ukrainian Customer U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken is preparing to distribute $10 million to Ukrainian customers suffering from the Russian invasion. Between March 10 and July 1, clients who created an account from Ukraine prior to March 9, 2022, at “Intermediate” or “Pro” level verification, will be eligible to receive $1,000 in bitcoin ( BTC ), the platform announced in a blog post and on social media. Kraken will distribute over $10 million worth of to aid clients in 🇺🇦Ukraine. Tranche 1 recipients will be credited $1000 of #BTC , withdrawable tomorrow. The package is funded by historical Ukraine revenues and H1 2022 revenues from Russia-based ...

PRESS RELEASE. Reef, a layer 1 Substrate based blockchain for DeFi, NFTs, and gaming, announced today it’s launching a new NFT division focused on connecting with graffiti and electronic artists while scaling up it’s blockchain to be more NFT-friendly. In the last two months, Reef has been working behind the scenes to kickstart its contribution to the NFT landscape. They’ve hired Philip Galaviz, an influential figure in the Denver music and art scene, to join the team as Head of NFT. Philip has worked with Digitally Imported Radio, Global Dance, and numerous electronic music artists, and is building a cultural arts and music program via IRL collaborations. As Head of NFT, Philip will spearhead Reef’s business development and expand its offerings to a wide range of artists, beginning with electronic and graffiti artists, and album cover designers. Philip and the Reef team pushed the first stage of their NFT wave at ETHDenver with a packed beginners workshop, metawall, NFT contest, a...

Following the record 7.5% high for January, the U.S. Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data shows February’s CPI metrics rose to 7.9%. The CPI data published on Thursday is a new 40-year high and month over month, inflation jumped by 0.8%. President Joe Biden is blaming the inflation spike on Russia’s invasion, as he previously warned “there will be costs at home.” February’s CPI Data Jumps to 7.9%, US Stocks Suffer In the U.S., there’s been a significant increase in the prices of goods and services in the American economy every single month. American citizens continue to see a decrease in purchasing power when leveraging U.S. dollars for a number of goods and services. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a government-crafted metric that records a market basket of consumer goods and services Americans purchase on a regular basis. The data is published on a monthly basis by the U.S. Labor Department, an entity that is responsible for governing occupational safety and publis...

Dubai has adopted its first law to regulate the crypto sector. It has also established a dedicated regulator to oversee crypto activities and related service providers. Crypto Sector Regulated in Dubai The emirate of Dubai has adopted its first law to regulate crypto assets and established a regulator to oversee crypto activities and regulate crypto service providers. The official Twitter account for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced Wednesday that the first virtual assets law has been approved in Dubai and the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has been established. Sheikh Mohammed commented: The goal [is to] establish the UAE and Dubai’s position as a key player in designing the future of virtual assets globally. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, is also the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation of seven emirates. He previously held the positions of head of Dubai Police and Public security, as well a...

A Cornell University economics professor says that President Joe Biden’s executive order on the regulation of cryptocurrency could benefit the industry. “Ultimately what these sorts of regulations provide to the industry is legitimacy,” said the professor. Cornell Professor on Crypto Industry Benefiting From Biden’s Executive Order Eswar Prasad, professor of economics at Cornell University, shared his thoughts on U.S. President Joe Biden’s crypto executive order and what it means for the industry in an interview with CNBC, published Thursday. Prasad is the Nandlal P. Tolani senior professor of trade policy and professor of economics at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. He previously served as chief of the financial studies division in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s research department and head of the IMF’s China division. The Cornell professor has repeatedly warned about the risks cryptocurrency poses to monetary and ...

Z Holdings, the internet subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate holding company Softbank, is planning to launch a global non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace this spring. Z Holdings’ “NFT Mall” aims to target 180 countries and leverage the firm’s Paypay service in order to attract Web3, metaverse, and NFT patrons. Z Holdings Doesn’t Want to ‘Miss out on Huge Growth Opportunity’ Softbank’s internet firm Z Holdings plans to launch an NFT marketplace called “NFT Mall,” according to a Bloomberg interview with the company’s co-CEO Kentaro Kawabe. The firm’s parent company merged Line and Yahoo Japan into Z Holdings last year. Kawabe’s statements from the interview indicate that Z Holdings plans to leverage Web3, metaverse, and NFT in order to bolster the company’s growth. “It’s possible Web3 will herald a world where life is completely different and we don’t want the company to miss out on the huge growth opportunity,” Kawabe, the co-chief executive officer of Z Holdings stated duri...

The regulatory arm of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s special economic zone, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), has unveiled a consultation paper outlining its proposed regulatory regime for crypto tokens. Changes to the Draft Legislation The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the financial regulatory agency of UAE’s special economic zone, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), has released a consultation paper proposing a regulatory regime for crypto tokens. The DFSA said the public has until May 6, 2022, to comment on the regulatory agency’s proposal “for a regulatory regime for persons wishing to provide financial services activities in respect of crypto tokens.” Once the public consultation phase is over, DFSA will then make the changes to the draft legislation as it sees fit. The paper explains: Following the public consultation, we will decide which changes to the proposed regime are necessary and amend the proposed draft legislation as app...

The Avalanche Foundation has announced a new incentives program to support the use of subnets. The organization announced that the program, dubbed “Multiverse,” will connect developers with a fund of up to $290 million, approximately 4 million AVAX, to incentivize the growth of subnets, a trait that allows AVAX to spur multiple networks that share common computing resources. Avalanche ‘Multiverse’ to Incentivize Subnet Usage The Avalanche Foundation has just announced a new incentives program that seeks to put subnets, a core trait of the Avalanche protocol, in the sights of developers. The organization has agreed to put up to $290 million (4 million AVAX) toward bringing applications to create their own native subnets in the Avalanche ecosystem. Subnets are deployments that allow developers to define rules that can vary from the rule of the Primary Avalanche blockchain. These are flexible enough to be configured to only be validated by a group of nodes and to follow specific rule...

PRESS RELEASE. Recently, blockchain payments startup Basqet announced the launch of its cryptocurrency payments gateway which will allow businesses to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment. Basqet said it is launching a public beta and will be going live with 118 businesses already signed up to start accepting payments in Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies. Prior to the launch of its beta launch, the team at Basqet also revealed that they had done about $1.3 million dollars in transactions with a handful of businesses. According to Bunmi Eleshin, Senior Product Manager at Basqet “we are creating a missing link between people who hold cryptocurrency and businesses who want to accept crypto as a means of payment. And we are doing it without merchants having to experience a loss due to crypto’s price volatility”. Since Bitcoin entered mainstream media there has been a lot of discussion about crypto being the evolution of money, and Basqet could take crypto ad...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is getting closer to issuing a regulatory and supervisory framework that will govern the country’s virtual asset industry, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has said. FATF Recommendations A UAE securities regulator, the SCA has said it is getting closer to “issuing the regulatory and supervisory framework related to virtual assets issued for investment purposes.” In addition, the regulator revealed in a statement that it had consulted the “concerned authorities” during the development of the regulatory framework that addresses the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing that relate “to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers.” Such consultations have been concluded the statement adds. The regulator meanwhile said the development of this framework had been done in order to ensure the country’s crypto industry adheres to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s recommendations. As a result, licensed exchanges “can app...

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has made some gloomy predictions about the economy and the future of cryptocurrency. Besides warning that we are in the biggest bubble in world history, Kiyosaki has predicted that the government will seize all cryptocurrencies. Robert Kiyosaki Warns of the Biggest Bubble, Depression, Hyperinflation The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has made several gloomy predictions and bleak warnings over the past couple of days. 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. On Tuesday, he tweeted to his 1.8 million followers, “Do you have a plan B?” The famous author proceeded to warn that we are in the biggest bubble in world history, citing bubbles in stocks, real estate, commodities, and oi...

On March 7, the publicly-listed mining firm Hive Blockchain Technologies announced the company inked a deal with Intel to purchase new ASIC mining chips. Additionally, Hive has formed an agreement with an original design manufacturer (ODM) and a non-binding letter of intent with Compute North. Hive said the company plans to deploy 100 MW of mining capacity to Compute North’s renewable energy facilities in Texas. Hive to Purchase ASIC Chips From Intel, Aims to Deploy 100 MW in Texas The blockchain company and mining operation Hive (TSX.V: HIVE) (Nasdaq: HIVE ) has revealed it has entered a supply agreement with Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC ). Hive will obtain Intel’s new ASIC mining chips that will be leveraged in custom-built equipment made for the company. The blockchain firm says it has a manufacturing agreement with an ODM that specializes in “electronics manufacturing.” “Hive’s engineering team will draw on its expertise in hardware and software implementation and will work...

The central bank of Pakistan does not see many good use cases for crypto. However, the regulator cites “a lot of misuses” of cryptocurrency around the world, “including human rights violations, trafficking of people, money laundering, and many other things.” Pakistani Central Bank Governor’s Stance on Crypto The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Reza Baqir, talked about cryptocurrency during a panel discussion at the 13th Karachi Litera­ture Festival Sunday, Dawn newspaper reported. Asserting that crypto lacks good use cases, the Pakistani central bank governor remarked: When we look at the value proposition offered by crypto right now, the use cases that have been brought forward have just been exchanges. The SBP governor proceeded to talk about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Noting that “There is no way that the regulator or a law enforcement agency has visibility on who is doing transactions and for what purpose,” he opined: Therefore, around the ...

BSCPad and ADAPad Public Sale On March 14th. Cryptocurrencies and DeFi are experiencing a period of blistering growth: The total value locked (TVL) of tokens in DeFi protocols rose 357% to $255.39 billion among all blockchains. Over $2.5 trillion in cryptocurrencies was traded in January 2022 alone. Global crypto market cap is now over $2 trillion. Within the space, crypto lending has become the most dynamic niche. Over $35 billion TVL is in DeFi lending protocols, which is dominated by Ethereum with a 54% share of TVL as of January 2022. The problem is that Ethereum is slow, expensive, and lacks scalability: Ethereum can only manage 10 to 15 transactions per second, which means orders pile up faster that they can be posted and are delayed. Gas costs when demand is high can be exorbitant, reaching over $50 per transaction on average in January 2022. Ethereum’s market share is rapidly eroding after peaking at 97% in January 2021, as developers and crypto investors flock to m...

Griffin Gaming Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in gaming-related investments, has revealed the launch of its second gaming-related fund. The fund, which was reportedly oversubscribed, managed to raise $750 million to support gaming initiatives, including Web3-based and blockchain endeavors. Griffin Gaming Partners has now amassed more than $1 billion AUM. Griffin Gaming Partners Raises Sizable Gaming-Related Fund Griffin Gaming Partners has announced the launch of its second gaming-related fund, which will focus on investing in seed and growth rounds of companies dedicated to building blockchain-powered or traditional games. The fund, which was reported to be oversubscribed raising $750 million, is one of the biggest funds dedicated to interactive entertainment investments. According to numbers coming from the firm, gaming has become a ubiquitous form of entertainment, surpassing movies, music, and books combined. Per reports, the sector is expected to grow by 248% ...