Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A bitcoin ATM operator has been indicted in New York for running an illegal business “marketed towards individuals engaged in criminal activity.” The district attorney in charge described: “Robert Taylor allegedly went to great lengths to keep his bitcoin kiosk business as secret as possible to attract a clientele that would pay top dollar for anonymity.” Operator of 46 Bitcoin ATMs Charged Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. announced Wednesday that Robert Taylor has been indicted “for operating an illegal bitcoin ATM business that he marketed towards individuals engaged in criminal activity.” The announcement states: Taylor operated bitcoin kiosks in at least 46 locations in New York City, mostly in laundromats, as well as locations in New Jersey and Miami. Between 2017 and 2018, the 35-year-old “converted more than $5.6 million of his customers’ cash into bitcoin while charging a fee of between 10% and 20%,” the district attorney detailed. Taylor is charged “with mu...

Grayscale Investments’ CEO explains that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could potentially violate the Administrative Procedure Act by not approving a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). SEC Approving Spot Bitcoin ETF Is ‘a Matter of When and Not If’ The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has now approved not one but two different structures of bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This has led to the optimism in the crypto industry that the securities watchdog is closer to approving a spot bitcoin ETF. The first structure utilizes the Investment Company Act of 1940 (40 Act). Most proposed bitcoin futures ETF to date are filed under this Act. The second uses the Securities Act of 1933 (33 Act). The Teucrium Bitcoin Futures ETF was approved earlier this month using the latter structure. Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein explained to CNBC last week: “From the SEC standpoint, there were several protections that 40 Act products hav...

Non-fungible token (NFT) sales saw a small uptick over the last week as $658.4 million in NFT sales were recorded, up 3.35% in seven days. Out of 15 blockchains, Polygon-based NFT sales saw the largest increase in volume, jumping 106.68% this week. Moreover, over the last seven days, an NFT collection called Moonbirds saw the largest sales volume gathering $231.9 million. Weekly NFT Sales Record a Slight Increase NFT sales volume managed to increase slightly this week, as sales jumped 3.35% higher than last week’s sales. The sales volume stemming from 15 different blockchain networks saw $658.4 million in sales this past week. Seven days ago, on April 10, sales volume the week prior had dropped by 13%. This week, Ethereum recorded $562.9 million in sales, up 3.74% higher than last week. The largest sales volume percentage increase out of all 15 blockchains, compared to last week was Polygon, jumping 106.68% with $7.3 million in sales. BSC-based NFT sales jumped 58.89% higher this w...

Transaction fees on the Ethereum network are dropping again after average fees saw a brief spike on April 5 jumping to $43 per transfer. 12 days later, average ether fees are close to dropping below $10 per transaction and median-sized fees have slid below $4 per transaction. Moreover, layer two (L2) transaction fees have also dropped in recent times as the lowest L2 rate today is $0.03 per transfer. Average and Median Ethereum Fees Drop From mid-March up until the first week of April, Ethereum’s average network fees rose from a low of $5.98 per transfer to $43.41 on April 5, 2022. That’s an increase of 625% but after April 5, the average ether gas fee started to drop once again to much lower levels. Today, April 17, 2022, Ethereum’s average network fee to simply send ETH onchain via layer one (L2), is 0.0034 ETH or $10.32 per transfer. The average network fee is dynamic, not an exact science, and it always changes. It’s also not a hard mandate as the average fee simply represen...

Another spicy week of crypto news heads into the weekend, with Mexico’s third-richest billionaire advising “save your skin” from hyperinflation by buying bitcoin, Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary predicting that bitcoin mining will “save the world,” Bitcoin.com News noting eerie similarities between the current great monetary shift and the creation of the U.S. Federal Reserve, and SHIB achieving some notable burn statistics. Without further ado, this is your bite-sized digest of the week’s hottest crypto news, the Bitcoin.com News Week in Review. Buy Bitcoin, ‘Save Your Skin’ — Mexico’s Third Richest Billionaire The third-richest billionaire in Mexico, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, has shared his experience of living through hyperinflation. He warned that the U.S. and several other civilized countries are “going exactly the same route” his country went through in the 1980s. He warned: “The bad news is that the U.S., and Japan, and the U.K., and the euroblock — they are going exactly the sam...

Last December, the renowned professional skateboarder Tony Hawk released his “Last Trick” non-fungible token (NFT) collection via the NFT marketplace Autograph. Next week, Hawk will be auctioning the skateboards he used during his last tricks, and each of the NFTs will come with the physical skateboards signed by Hawk. Tony Hawk to Drop Another NFT Collection via Autograph Tony Hawk has plans to launch another NFT collection tied to the skateboards he used in his “Last Trick” NFT collection launched in December. The “Last Trick” digital collectibles compilation was sold on the Autograph NFT marketplace, a platform launched by the seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. Hawk announced the latest NFT sale of the last trick skateboards on Saturday, and explained that an individual named Garry DeBoer was randomly chosen to win his Frontside Cab board. Autograph tweeted about the event as well on Saturday and said: “Congrats to Autograph collector Garry DeBoer. A piece of Tony Haw...

Real estate tokenization is set to be incorporated into Oman Capital Markets Authority (OCMA)’s virtual asset regulatory framework. According to an advisor with the authority, the tokenizing of real estate will open investment opportunities for local and foreign investors. Real Estate Tokenization Creates Investment Opportunities Oman Capital Market Authority (OCMA) is set to include real estate tokenization in its virtual asset regulatory framework, a report quoting an advisor of the authority has said. According to the report, Oman expects to complete drafting the virtual assets regulatory framework by Q3 of 2022. The advisor, Kemal Rizadi is reported to have made the remarks about tokenizing real estate property while attending the Real Estate Exhibition and Conference that was held in Muscat, Oman. “The Regulatory Framework for Virtual Assets and Virtual asset service providers currently being established will allow the issuance of virtual assets such as real estate tokens for...

The Central Bank of Brazil has confirmed that the institution will run a pilot test regarding the implementation of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real. Roberto Campos Neto, president of the bank, also stated that this new test will include a fixed supply of the mentioned token, and detailed this pilot will be executed during the last six months of this year. Central Bank of Brazil Advances CBDC Project The Central Bank of Brazil has offered details about the advancements it has made regarding its CBDC project, the digital real. Its president, Roberto Campos Neto, hinted at an unspecified test involving the usage of the currency during the final six months of this year. At an event, he declared: This is a way to create currency digitization without creating a break in bank balance sheets. This project should have some kind of pilot in the second half of the year. Campos Neto also gave hints about the way in which this currency will be used, sayin...

The CEO of Ripple Labs says that the lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against him and his company over XRP “has gone exceedingly well.” He stressed: “This case is important, not just for Ripple, it’s important for the entire crypto industry in the United States.” Ripple’s CEO Comments on SEC Lawsuit Over XRP Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse discussed the SEC lawsuit over the sale of XRP during a fireside chat at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit Thursday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple, Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen in December 2020 over the sale of XRP , which the securities watchdog said is an unregistered security offering. Ripple has disputed the SEC’s findings, insisting that XRP is not a security. Garlinghouse shared: The lawsuit has gone exceedingly well, and much better than I could have hoped when it began about 15 months ago. However, he noted that “the wheels of justice move slowly.” In November...

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, says that hyperinflation and depression are here. He also warned that the biggest bubble burst is coming, advising investors to buy gold, silver, and bitcoin. Robert Kiyosaki’s Latest Warnings The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, gave a series of warnings regarding the U.S. economy Friday. 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 tweeted that a Wile E. Coyote moment and the biggest bubble burst are coming. Claiming that hyperinflation and depression are here, the famous author recommends buying gold, silver, and bitcoin “before the coyote wakes up.” The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad opined that baby boomers’ retirements will be “stolen” and that the $10 trillion in fake...

A district court in Moscow has arrested a man whom local media reports identify as Dmitry Pavlov, alleged administrator of the recently shut down darknet market Hydra. Russian authorities believe he has been involved in drug-related crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Moscow Court Arrests Russian Believed to Be Hydra Administrator Meshchansky District Court of Moscow has taken into custody a certain Dmitry Olegovich Pavlov accused of production, sale, and distribution of drugs under Russia’s Criminal Code, the “Moscow” City News Agency reported this week, quoting the court’s press service. Pavlov, who was arrested on Monday, April 11, has the same names as a 30-year-old Russian citizen and resident charged for similar offenses in relation to his alleged role as an administrator of the recently busted Hydra Market, one of the largest marketplaces on the darknet . Earlier this month, German law enforcement seized Hydra’s server infrastructure in the country and took dow...

The Brazilian Congress is trying to approve a cryptocurrency legal framework before the end of Q2. According to reports from local media, The proponents of the different law projects presented in the Senate and the Congress have stated they will seek the unification of the projects due to their similarity. This new unified project presents incentives for green mining and the inclusion of crypto-related fraud as a crime. Brazilian Congress Moves Gears to Approve Crypto Laws The Brazilian Congress has the disposition of approving a definitive law to regulate cryptocurrency before Q2 ends. According to local media , the rapporteurs of two different proposals seeking to regulate crypto interactions in the country will combine these two documents to present a unified version of them. Senators Iraja Abreu and Deputy Aureo Ribeiro will prepare this text, which will be on track for approval later this month. Abreu has already combined three proposals, and he will ask the Senate for these ...

Three African countries — namely Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Republic of Congo — are reportedly planning to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions powered by The Open Network (TON). Separately, Cameroon is considering issuing a national stablecoin that is based on the same blockchain network. Phased Adoption of the Solutions The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is reportedly considering issuing a national stablecoin that is built on blockchain, a statement released by The Open Network (TON) has said. In addition, the DRC, along with Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, are planning to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain-based solutions powered by the TON. According to TON’s statement , the announcement of the blockchain entity’s plan to deliver these solutions follows its successful engagements with each of the three countries. Adoption of TON’s crypto and blockchain solutions by the three countries will be phased, the statement suggested. De...

PRESS RELEASE. Universe Island is an action packed classic, third person shooting game that rewards players with $UIM tokens . These tokens fuel the Play-to-Earn ecosystem of the game and is scheduled to get listed at PancakeSwap on 18 th April 2022 . The launch of the beta version of the game and NFT marketplace would shortly follow. The NFT Marketplace will allow players to stake UIM tokens to activate lootboxes , get special monthly NFT airdrops , governance rights on decision for the game as well as access to Whitelist after 6 months of staking! The NFT cards will provide unique boosts for characters and can be traded at the NFT marketplace via UIM tokens with no additional fees or be displayed at the Metaverse Gallery . Furthermore, these NFT cards can also be viewed by players on characters in their real-time environment with our Augmented Reality (AR) Technology ; thereby making Universe Island the first Play-to-Earn game enabling its players to view their heroe...

Crypto and blockchain firms constituted 16% of the 655 new company registrations that were recorded in Q1 of 2022, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has said. The surge in crypto-related registrations also coincided with a quarterly period in which the DMCC is reported to have recorded its “highest Q1 performance” since inception. Rise in Registrations Attributed to the Launch of DMCC Crypto Centre One of the UAE’s largest free zones, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), has said 16% of the 655 new company registrations recorded in Q1 of 2022 were crypto and blockchain firms. The DMCC has attributed this surge in crypto and blockchain companies joining the free zone to the presence of the DMCC Crypto Centre, which was launched in May 2021. According to a statement released by DMCC, the rise in the number of new registrations by crypto firms came during a quarter that has been named “the highest Q1 performance since 2002 inception.” In the statement, Ahmed Bin Sulayem...

On Thursday, Uniswap Labs, the company behind the popular decentralized finance (defi) protocol, Uniswap, launched a tool called the Swap Widget. Essentially, the widget allows developers and decentralized app (dapp) operators to embed the Uniswap decentralized exchange (dex) app with “one line of code.” Software Engineers Can Now Embed Uniswap Swapping Functionality Into Web3 Dapps One of the largest dex applications in terms of trade volume, Uniswap, announced the launch of a new widget tool that gives dapp operators the ability to integrate Uniswap into their third-party applications. The Uniswap blog post that announces the new Swap Widget explains that integration is easy as it only requires a single React component and one line of code. “We envision a world in which everyone is able to access fair, open, and transparent markets,” the company said on Thursday. “The Swap Widget brings this vision closer to reality by allowing developers to easily embed Uniswap swapping function...

PRESS RELEASE. Eugene, Oregon April 15th, 2022: If there was ever a universal truth to which we could all agree, it would be change. An unequivocal reality of the cosmos, change is constant. Despite emotions, thoughts, or actions, change is an unstoppable force for which there is no immovable object. As creatures of comfort and habit, we often go out of our way to avoid or ignore changes, negative and beneficial. The world’s financial systems are no exception to this universal law. Technological improvements have progressed the digitization of currency, moving us closer to cashless societies and away from physically held currency. Many people fear this technological shift with our monetary system will be government controlled, leading to the loss of financial freedom. Therefore private and/or decentralized organizations are essential moving forward. These improvements in technology also make innovative tools possible, which can provide people more control and power over their financ...

The government of Kazakhstan is preparing to increase the tax burden for cryptocurrency miners and intends to tie the new rate to the value of the minted cryptocurrency. The authorities in Nur-Sultan believe that such an approach would have a positive effect on the state budget. Miners in Kazakhstan to Pay Tax on the Value of Extracted Crypto Kazakhstan is taking steps to raise the tax for entities mining cryptocurrency in the country. According to a statement by Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov, the plan is to calculate the tax based on the market value of the mined cryptocurrency. The government official noted that the implementation of such a scheme would increase budget receipts, Tengrinews.kz reported. Miners operating in Kazakhstan are currently paying a surcharge on the consumed electricity. Mining enterprises were obliged to pay more than other consumers last summer. Tariffs were increased with a fee of 1 Kazakhstani tenge (approx. $0.0022) per kilowatt-hour ...

A recent study by major market research firm Roy Morgan shows that more than 1 million Australians now own cryptocurrency. “The value of all cryptocurrency holdings for people aged 50+ is around $7.6 billion,” the study shows. Study: Over 1 Million Australians Own Cryptocurrency Australian research firm Roy Morgan has conducted a study into cryptocurrency investments. The study took place between December 2021 and February this year; the results were published Tuesday. Founded in 1941, Roy Morgan described itself as Australia’s largest independent research company with “an unparalleled reputation for reliable, accurate, meaningful, revealing market research.” It has offices across Australia, as well as in Indonesia, the U.K., and the U.S. The firm detailed: The latest Roy Morgan research into Australians’ investments shows 5%, or over 1 million Australians aged 18+, now own at least one cryptocurrency. The firm found that 69% of Australian cryptocurrency investors are men, an...

Four years ago, a mobile game application called “Bitcoin Miner” came out that simulates bitcoin mining but at the time, the game’s development team Fumb Games could not integrate bitcoin rewards. On Thursday, Fumb Games revealed it has partnered with the fintech firm Zebedee and the Bitcoin Miner game now allows players to earn real bitcoin. Crypto Mining Simulation Game Adds Real Bitcoin Rewards The bitcoin mining game for Android and iOS called Bitcoin Miner has recently added real bitcoin ( BTC ) rewards into the game experience. Essentially, Bitcoin Miner is an idle mobile game that reproduces a mock bitcoin mining business. Fumb Games has inked a deal with Zebedee in order to add the real bitcoin rewards into the Bitcoin Miner game. Zebedee is a Hoboken, New Jersey-based company that specializes in integrating bitcoin into games and the firm raised $11.5 million in September 2021 in a funding round led by Lakestar. If a user is playing the game, Zebedee’s blog post publishe...

The regulatory arm of UAE’s financial centre, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), has released a discussion paper that is seeking stakeholders’ comments regarding the regulation of decentralized finance (defi). The paper also makes clear the regulator’s stance regarding the anonymity of defi transactions. Paper Not Guidance for Financial Institutions The FSRA, a regulatory arm of the UAE financial centre ADGM, has issued a discussion paper that seeks the public’s comments on policy considerations for decentralized finance (defi). The release of the document comes as the defi space has seen strong growth both in terms of the number of users as well as the value of such transactions, the FSRA acknowledges in the paper. According to the regulatory arm, the discussion paper will serve “as a starting point for a dialogue on how Defi may be eventually regulated.” The FSRA nevertheless clarified that the paper is not a “guidance” for financial institutions. Instead, the paper contains the r...

The CEO of e-commerce giant Amazon is optimistic about crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). He says that over time crypto will “become bigger” and NFTs will continue to “grow very significantly.” CEO on Amazon Accepting Crypto Payments and Selling NFTs Amazon CEO Andy Jassy talked about cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in an interview with CNBC Thursday. Jassy replaced Jeff Bezos as president and CEO of Amazon in July last year. He previously led Amazon Web Services (AWS) since its inception in 2003. Regarding whether Amazon will accept cryptocurrency for payments of products on its platform, the CEO affirmed, “We’re not probably close to adding crypto as a payment mechanism in our retail business.” However, he noted: I do believe over time that you’ll see crypto become bigger. Commenting on whether he owns any cryptocurrency, the Amazon executive disclosed, “I don’t have bitcoin myself.” When asked whether Amazon could one day sell NFTs, Jassy replied, “I think...

Hedge fund manager Michael Burry, famed for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, says that the Federal Reserve “has no intention of fighting inflation.” He added that the Fed’s “Serial half-point hikes are for getting elevation before stocks and the consumer tap out.” Michael Burry on Inflation and Fed’s Rate Hikes Famous investor and founder of investment firm Scion Asset Management, Michael Burry, shared his thoughts Thursday on the U.S. economy, inflation, and interest rate hikes. He is best known for being the first investor to foresee and profit from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010. He is profiled in “The Big Short,” a book by Michael Lewis about the mortgage crisis, which was made into a movie starring Christian Bale. Burry tweeted Thursday: The Fed has no intention of fighting inflation. Serial half-point hikes are for getting elevation before stocks and the consumer tap out. “Same with rapid-fire QT [quantitative tightening]. The...

PRESS RELEASE. As the complexity of current dApps (decentralized applications) on Algorand grows, so must the infrastructure, notably oracles, to enable significantly higher and better feature sets. In the Algorand ecosystem, Algoracle’s opinions on off-chain computing are therefore worth discussing in key detail. What is it exactly? Since smart contracts are unable to access external data on their own , all Web 3.0 technology is built on the foundation of the most crucial of blockchain middleware, oracles. The current generation of decentralized oracle networks therefore seeks to connect real-world, off-chain data to blockchains. As the complexity of contemporary dApps grows however, oracles must also mature and expand to accommodate significantly higher and deeper feature sets as aforementioned. The next major frontier in oracle development is indeed off-chain computing, which essentially allows oracles to handle significantly more advanced programming logic as well as data a...

An announcement by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appeared to fulfill incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to bolster the metaverse ecosystem after saying it will adopt a non-fungible token (NFT) copyright policy. Supporting the Metaverse Ecosystem The South Korean government appeared to fulfill president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign pledge after the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on April 12 that it will adopt an NFT copyright policy. This copyright policy is expected to help South Korea deal with the scourge of fake NFTs as well as to support the metaverse ecosystem. According to a report by Ajunews, Yoon Suk-yeol had during his election campaign promised to “nurture a new concept digital asset market through NFT activation.” In addition, the incoming president had said he would revitalize the token economy once he was elected. Indeed, following the April 12 announcement, South Korea’s government — via the Ministry of Culture, Sp...

Currency.com, a crypto exchange founded and initially licensed in Belarus, has suspended operations for Russian clients. The restrictive measure comes in response to Russia’s assault on Ukraine, the platform said, noting that customers in other jurisdictions will not be affected. Currency.com Exchange Denounces ‘Terrible War’ in Ukraine, Denies Services to Russian Traders Crypto trading platform Currency.com has announced its decision to halt operations for residents of the Russian Federation over Moscow’s military aggression against neighboring Ukraine. The move comes after, earlier, the Belarus-born exchange stopped opening new accounts for Russian users. 📢 https://t.co/utaDc9wnIa halts operations for residents of the Russian Federation (Russia). Clients from other countries and regions will not be impacted by this decision. Learn more: https://t.co/PxQRpgjsGa pic.twitter.com/uhsQJvgp6O — Currency.com (@CurrencyCom) April 12, 2022 In a statement released by the platform...