Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

PRESS RELEASE. In a radically different approach to handling an NFT sale, PlanetQuest, has just launched its community friendly Planet Sale at planetquest.io. The Cinematic Multiverse and Blockchain Game, backed by Hollywood and Gaming talent, top tier investors and a community of over 215.000 Explorers, is pioneering a whole new sales approach that promises to eliminate gas wars, frustration and front running bots, while ensuring their first ever, real-time 3D Planet NFTs end up in the hands of deserving buyers and community members. After coming out of stealth on the 15th of December of 2021, PlanetQuest had already built a massive fanbase. With its interactive storyline, that saw community members voting to decide the fate of beloved characters, closing in on the end of its first season, an ancient artifact, known as The Cradle, has been discovered and activated, opening wormholes to unexplored galaxies, and setting the stage for the next phase of the PlanetQuest journey: The Co

The average Ethereum network fee has dropped to the lowest value recorded in over ten months, after fees hit a low of $2.96 per transaction on Sunday afternoon (ET). The last time ethereum transfer fees dropped below the $3 mark was last year on July 11, 2021. Moreover, median fees are even cheaper, as the median-sized ethereum transaction fee on May 29 is around 0.00086 ether or $1.56 per transfer. Ethereum Gas Costs Sink to Lowest Levels Since July 2021 Ethereum network fees are the cheapest they have been in over ten months and around 12 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, the average ETH transfer fee slid to a low of $2.96 per transaction . As the day continued on, average ether fees have jumped a bit higher to 0.002 ether or $3.56 per transfer. Ethereum’s transaction fees have not been this low in quite some time. Bitcoin.com News has been covering the fact that gas costs have been dropping since mid-February and during the first week of March, ethereum transaction fees slid to just above

Crypto exchange Binance has received regulatory approval from Italy’s financial regulator to operate as a cryptocurrency service provider in the country. “Clear and effective regulation is essential for mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies,” said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Binance Now Licensed in Italy Binance announced Friday that Binance Italy “has received regulatory approval” through registration as a Cryptocurrency Service Provider with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), as required by the Italian legislation on crypto assets. The announcement states: The registration of Binance Italy … allows the company to offer crypto products to its customers in Italy. Binance Italy, established in recent months, is the legal entity of the Binance Group in Italy. Earlier this month, Binance said it has received approval from the French financial regulator , the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), to operate as a registered Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP). The crypto

Hedge fund manager Michael Burry, famed for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, has warned of a looming consumer recession and more earnings trouble. He cited falling U.S. personal savings and record-setting revolving credit card debt despite trillions of dollars in stimulus money. Michael Burry’s Recession Warning Famous investor and founder of investment firm Scion Asset Management, Michael Burry, warned on Friday about a looming consumer recession and more earnings trouble ahead. 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 explained on Twitter Friday: US Personal Savings fell to 2013 levels, the savings rate to 2008 levels – while revolving credit card debt grew at a record-setting pace back to the pre-Covid peak despite all those t

Allianz Chief Economic Advisor Mohamed El-Erian says the Federal Reserve will have to “decide between two policy mistakes.” One risks triggering a recession and the other could prolong inflation well into 2023. “I think the time has passed for a soft landing,” the economist stressed. Mohamed El-Erian on Inflation, Recession, and the U.S. Economy Economist Mohamed El-Erian discussed where the U.S. economy is headed and the Federal Reserve’s plan to bring inflation under control in an interview with Bloomberg Friday. El-Erian is Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, the corporate parent of PIMCO, one of the largest investment managers, where he was CEO and co-chief investment officer. He is also the president of Queens’ College, Cambridge University. He was asked what’s feasible for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell under the current economic environment. The economist replied that “at best,” it is “what Chair Powell called a ‘softish’ landing, and the ‘ish’ is really important.”

From a desperate investor’s ill-advised visit to Terra co-founder Do Kwon’s house resulting in an arrest, the announcement of a new Terra network, and blockchain talk at Davos, to predictions of U.S. economic collapse if inflation isn’t reigned in quickly, there’s no shortage of action-packed crypto stories this past week. Without further ado, this is the Bitcoin.com News Week in Review. LUNA Investor Arrested for Knocking on Do Kwon’s Door After Losing $2.4 Million in Terra Crash A crypto investor has been arrested after knocking on Do Kwon’s door following the collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and stablecoin terrausd (UST). He lost about $2.4 million and is now under investigation by the South Korean police. “I felt like I was going to die,” he said about losing his investments. Read More A New Terra Network Is Coming With Support From Major Exchanges, LUNA and UST Holders Eligible for Airdropped Tokens According to a recent announcement from the Terra blockchain team,

China’s anti-crypto regulations have reportedly forced the non-fungible token (NFT) game, Stepn, to exclude users from the mainland starting on July 15. Shortly after the announcement, Stepn’s in-game cryptocurrency is reported to have briefly dropped by 38%. Stepn Adheres to Local Regulations China mainland users of the NFT gaming app Stepn will not be able to access the app starting on July 15, the developers have said. The blockade on users from this region is set to become effective when Stepn stops providing GPS and IP location services. Despite revealing the plans to stop serving users from the mainland, the dev team insisted in a tweet that they had not engaged in any business with players from the region. The team tweeted: We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. STEPN has not engaged in any business in mainland China since its establishment and has not provided download channels. STEPN has always attached great importance to compliance ob

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has accelerated the development of its digital ruble in response to Western sanctions. The monetary authority now intends to pilot transactions with the new version of the national fiat in early 2023 instead of 2024, as originally planned. CBR to Launch Transactions, Smart Contracts With Digital Ruble as Early as Next Year Sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have convinced the Bank of Russia to speed up the development of the digital version of the ruble, the Russian-language edition of Forbes reported, quoting CBR’s First Deputy Chairman Olga Skorobogatova. She revealed this during a meeting organized by the Association of Banks of Russia. The high-ranking official remarked that Russia’s central bank had initially scheduled the digital ruble pilot with real transactions and users for 2024 but it has been decided to launch the project in April 2023. At the same time, the regulator also wants to start implementing smart contracts base

Bitcoin bears re-entered the marketplace on Saturday, as prices moved closer to a multi-week low to start the weekend. BTC once again fell below $29,000, whilst ETH continues to move lower, and now hovers around $1,750. Bitcoin Following a brief rebound on Friday, BTC once again moved lower, with prices falling under the $29,000 mark to start the weekend. Yesterday saw BTC /USD hit an intraday peak of $29,335.03, however with bears re-entering the market, prices fell to a low of $28,326.61 earlier today. Today’s move sees bitcoin fall below its current support level of $28,800, and push price closer to a 16-day low below $27,700. Overall, BTC is down over 1% in the last seven days, with markets mainly consolidating during that period. Many now believe that after bearish stints in April and May, we might have seen the worst of the selling in crypto, with a potential for a slight rebound in June. The 14-day RSI is currently tracking at a floor of 35. Should this break we coul

PRESS RELEASE. In another groundbreaking achievement, the blockchain-based metaverse platform Dvision Network has just announced its official onboarding on Binance Custody. As such, Binance’s custody services arm will support deposits and withdrawals of Dvision’s native token, DVI, on its platform. The support for DVI token on Binance Custody will be provided in a cross-chain manner, adding support for both ERC-20 and BEP-20 versions of the Dvision’s native token. What is there to know? Through the Binance Custody’s official Twitter account, it has been announced that it is currently accepting DVI token deposits and withdrawals for Dvision Network on its custody service. Binance Custody ’s platform is undergoing an independent SOC 2 audit to validate its operational security. With that in mind, Binance employs safe MPC (multi party computation) to disperse control over client funds, thereby significantly reducing the dangers associated with centralization. Moreover, Dvision Netw

Authorities in Russia are mulling over the possible use of digital currencies for international payments, a high-ranking official from the finance ministry has indicated. If recognized as property, he noted, cryptocurrency can be utilized in barter deals with foreign partners. Finance Ministry Suggests Russia May Employ Crypto in International Trade The possibility of using cryptocurrencies in international settlements is under consideration at the Ministry of Finance of Russia since the country’s access to the traditional payment channels is limited, Ivan Chebeskov, director of the ministry’s Financial Policy Department announced, quoted by the Interfax news agency. Speaking at a forum organized by the ruling United Russia party, Chebeskov revealed that the Minfin is actively discussing the employment of digital currency in barter transactions, if it is recognized as property in the Russian Federation. The topic deserves attention, the official emphasized, as Russia is restricted

The South Korean government is considering imposing tougher regulations, including a unified listing standard, on all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country following the collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and stablecoin terrausd (UST). Korean Government’s Meeting With Cryptocurrency Exchanges The South Korean government is shifting responsibility for the crash of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) onto crypto exchanges, the Korea Times reported Thursday. The Korean National Assembly and the government held an emergency meeting with the heads of major crypto exchanges in the country Tuesday to discuss measures to prevent the recurrence of the LUNA and UST implosion. However, the lawmakers and financial authorities appeared to support the imposition of tougher regulations on crypto exchanges, the publication conveyed. The Korean government has criticized crypto exchanges for their delayed response to the collapse of the two cryptocurrencies.

A16z, one of the most influential VC firms in the crypto field, has announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency fund to invest in the development of Web3 startups. This fourth crypto fund from the firm, which will launch with a budget of $4.5 billion dollars, is set to focus on several key fields in the crypto environment, including blockchain games and decentralized finance. A16z Bets Big on Web3 and Crypto A16z, one of the most active VC firms in crypto, has revealed it is launching yet another crypto investment fund. The new endeavor of the company, which will have $4.5 billion at its disposal, will focus on Web3 investments in companies at any growth rate. This, according to the company, is a bet on blockchain as one of the important technologies of the future. A blog post written by Chris Dixon, a general partner at A16z and founder and leader of its crypto division, stated : We think we are now entering the golden era of Web3. Programmable blockchains are sufficiently adv

Bitso, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latam, has announced a series of layoffs due to the recent downturn in the cryptocurrency market. The exchange, which has a workforce of 800 workers, has decided to let go of more than 10% of its staff citing a change in the long-term strategy for the company, just when it had announced its expansion to Colombia. Crypto Exchange Bitso Lays Off Over 10% of Its Employees Bitso, one of the first cryptocurrency unicorns in Latam, has announced it is taking measures to preserve the operation of the company during the current market downturn. The Mexico-based exchange announced a series of layoffs that will affect its presence in the 35 countries where it has operations. According to local media, the exchange will be laying off 80 employees out of its total 600-employee workforce, with most of the layoffs happening in Mexico. About these layoffs, which cut the employee count by more than 10% for the company, Bitso declared: Our dec

Spacex and Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that dogecoin will soon be accepted at Spacex for merchandise, in the same way Tesla is accepting DOGE payments. Furthermore, Starlink subscriptions may also be paid with dogecoin “one day.” Spacex to Soon Accept Dogecoin for Merchandise Dogecoin got a little boost Friday when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced via Twitter that Spacex will soon accept the meme cryptocurrency for merchandise. The Spacex boss tweeted: “Tesla merch can be bought with DOGE, soon Spacex merch too.” In addition, Musk said that Spacex’s Starlink subscriptions may “one day” be paid with dogecoin. Starlink provides “High-speed, low-latency broadband internet in remote and rural locations across the globe,” its website describes. Following Musk’s tweet about Spacex accepting dogecoin, the price of the meme cryptocurrency spiked. At the time of his tweet, DOGE was trading at $0.078399 per coin. It quickly rose more than 8% to $0.084927. However, the meme coin soon lost most o

Several U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill to prohibit app platforms in the country from hosting apps that enable transactions using China’s central bank digital currency, the digital yuan. “The Chinese Communist Party will use its digital currency to control and spy on anyone who uses it. We can’t give China that chance,” said the senator who introduced the bill. Defending Americans from Authoritarian Digital Currencies Act U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) introduced the “Defending Americans from Authoritarian Digital Currencies Act” Wednesday. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Mike Braun (R-Indiana) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida). According to the text of the bill, the legislation seeks “To prohibit the use of the digital currency payment system operated by the government of the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.” Senator Cotton commented: The Chinese Communist Party will use its digital currency to control and spy on anyone who uses it. We can’t give C

Following the company launching a fiat-pegged tied to the value of the Mexican peso, Tether, the stablecoin issuer has announced the firm has launched tether tokens on the Polygon network. The Polygon integration follows the stablecoin being added to the Avalanche and Kusama blockchain networks. Tether Joins the Polygon Blockchain Ecosystem The largest stablecoin by market capitalization, tether (USDT) , is now supported on the Polygon blockchain (formally called Matic). USDT ’s market valuation today is $72.6 billion and the stablecoin trade volume is $59.15 billion out of the $106.34 billion in global trade volume on Friday. In addition to Polygon , USDT is supported on the Omni Layer blockchain, Ethereum, Tron, EOS , Liquid, Algorand, Solana, Bitcoin Cash (SLP), Kusama, and Avalanche. Furthermore, €195,998,829 worth of EURT, ¥20,503,468 worth of CHNT, and 226,289 XAUT (tether gold) have been issued by the firm. Expanding to the Polygon network’s layer two (L2) scaling s

Kalush Orchestra, the winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, are auctioning off an NFT for charity. The auction started May 25 on MetaHistory — the official Ukrainian charitable NFT museum – and will last only until the 28th. Bids will be accepted in both cryptocurrency and fiat currency (via Monobank), thus creating a friendly competition for what type of currency can bring the most donations. Kalush Orchestra Auction NFT for Ukraine The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 took place on May 14 in Turin, Italy. The event had a television audience of 161 million viewers in 34 measured markets, and 18 million viewers also watched the contest online on YouTube and TikTok. The winner was the song Stefania, performed by Kalush Orchestra. Now the band is auctioning an NFT of the Eurovision Glass Microphone Trophy awarded it to collect donations to help Ukraine. By purchasing the NFT with cryptocurrency, the lucky owner receives: A 100% unique digital NFT file featuring a microphone and K

The government in crisis-stricken Sri Lanka has said it will print more money and cut spending on infrastructure as part of an attempt to pacify the restive population. The government, however, concedes that printing more money will likely see the inflation rate rise to 40%. Printing More Money as the Solution After defaulting on its obligations for the first time, the government in crisis-hit Sri Lanka now expects the country’s inflation rate to top 40%, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said. With the country now facing a steep revenue shortfall, authorities have said they intend to print money worth nearly $2.8 billion (one trillion rupees) which will be used to partly fund the government welfare programs. As per remarks published in the Business Standard, Wickremesinghe concedes that injecting one trillion rupees into circulation may lead to more hardship and further turmoil in the country. Nevertheless, the recently installed prime minister insisted the reforms being un

JPMorgan expects blockchain use in finance to increase as the crypto sector grows. The global investment bank says, “We want to make sure that we are able to not only support that but also be ready to provide related services.” JPMorgan’s Blockchain Plans JPMorgan Chase & Co foresees increased blockchain usage in traditional finance and is getting ready to offer related services, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The global investment bank has been using a blockchain for collateral settlements, allowing its clients to use a wider range of assets as collateral and trade outside of market operating hours. The first such transaction took place on May 20. Ben Challice, JPMorgan’s global head of trading services, was quoted as saying: What we’ve achieved is the friction-less transfer of collateral assets on an instantaneous basis. In addition to derivatives trading, repo trading, and securities lending, JPMorgan said it plans to expand tokenized collaterals to include equities, fixe

The digital currency exchange Huobi Global has revealed it has acquired Bitex, a Latin American crypto platform that operates in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Huobi details that the company is stepping up its presence in Latin America as it believes the region will be one of the most active crypto adoption areas worldwide. Huobi Aims to Step Up Its Presence in Latin America, Acquires Local Bitex Exchange On Thursday, the leading crypto asset exchange Huobi Global announced the company has acquired the Latin American cryptocurrency exchange Bitex. According to the announcement sent to Bitcoin.com News, the terms of the deal between Huobi and Bitex have not been disclosed. Bitex is an exchange that was founded in 2014 and while Huobi will be the parent company, the trading platform will retain its current branding and management team. Bitex offers digital currency services to residents located in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. “Since Huobi Group first entered th

Ethereum slipped below $1,900 during Thursday’s session, as prices dropped to a two-week low. Bitcoin was also trading lower over the course of the day, as it fell under $29,000. Overall, crypto was down over 3% as of writing. Bitcoin BTC fell below $29,000 earlier in today’s session, as bearish pressure continued to intensify heading towards the end of the week. Following a high of $29,972.64 only yesterday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to an intraday low of $28,954.97 earlier in the session. The move saw BTC /USD head for its support point at $28,800. However, it stopped short of this target, as bulls pushed prices slightly higher. As of writing, BTC /USD is currently trading at $29,018.85, which is roughly 1.26% lower than yesterday’s peak. Relative strength continues to track below its own resistance point, which is under 40, and currently resides at 37, which is marginally above support at 36.6. We will not likely see any significant price movements unless o

A Chinese indexes company, Hang Seng Indexes, has launched a new index which tracks the performance of metaverse-related companies in mainland China. The index is calculated and disseminated in real-time at two-second intervals, the company said. Rising Popularity of the Metaverse Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited, an entity that manages and compiles the Hang Seng Family of Indexes, recently announced the Hang Seng China Metaverse Index launch. The new index tracks the performance of mainland Chinese companies involved in metaverse-related businesses. As explained in a statemen t released by the company, the decision to launch the index comes against a background of growing popularity of the metaverse as an investment theme among investors. Besides the metaverse index, Hang Seng Company Limited — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank — said it has also added Oncology Index to its Megatrend Index Series. Remarking on his company’s launch of the two indexes, Daniel Wong, dire

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The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reportedly said that investors should not completely pull out of crypto after the collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and stablecoin terrausd (UST). IMF Chief Has a Message for Crypto Investors After the Collapse of LUNA, UST Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), discussed cryptocurrency at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos Monday. She urged people not to completely shun crypto after the recent collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) and cryptocurrency terra (LUNA), Bloomberg reported. The IMF managing director was quoted as saying: I would beg you not to pull out of the importance of this world … It offers us all faster service, much lower costs, and more inclusion, but only if we separate apples from oranges and bananas. The IMF chief stressed that it is the responsibility of regulators worldwide to put up protective measures and adequa

A new draft law has replaced an earlier bill introducing a one-year tax and customs amnesty for cryptocurrency miners in Russia. The initial proposal has been withdrawn on the grounds that the tax break would have resulted in losses for the state budget. Revised Crypto Mining Legislation Submitted to Russian Parliament Without Amnesty for Miners Russian lawmakers have again filed legislation with the State Duma designed to regulate cryptocurrency mining. The new draft substitutes a bill submitted at the end of April, which has now been withdrawn. The revised version is missing some provisions that would have reduced the tax burden on miners at the expense of the federal budget, the deputies noted. On the positive side for those extracting digital currencies, mining operators will not be required to check the sources of funds of their clients under the new rules. The previous draft law envisaged the establishment of a special register for entities involved in crypto mining and the