Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

India’s market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), says the decentralized nature of crypto assets makes consumer protection and regulatory enforcement challenging. SEBI on Crypto Regulation The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reportedly told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that the decentralized nature of crypto assets makes any consumer protection or regulatory enforcement of this asset class challenging. Noting that “crypto assets are maintained in decentralized distributed ledgers,” SEBI was quoted by local media as saying: There is a great likelihood of execution of unauthorized trades not in consonance with any regulatory framework. The market regulator emphasized the need for clarity about whether crypto assets are securities. “If crypto assets are not banned, then there is a need for feature-based characterization of the tokenized version of the assets, which may attract supervision of different sectoral regulators,...

The Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real, will be more of a wholesale asset instead of a public retail-focused token, according to statements from the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto. Campos Neto indicated that private banks in the country will be able to issue their own stablecoins that will be collateralized with digital real deposits. Digital Real Will Not Be Retail Oriented Brazil is planning to issue a CBDC that has a very different design when compared to other CBDCs like the digital renminbi , known also as Digital Currency Electronic Payment. The digital real, the Brazilian CBDC, will have a wholesale purpose, and will not be used for retail purposes. This information was revealed by Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, at a crypto summit hosted in Rio. About the projected uses of the digital real, Campos Neto stated: Banks will be able to issue stablecoins on their deposits and will develo...

Following a move towards $32,000 to start the week, BTC was fighting to stay above $29,000 during Tuesday’s session. The red wave which captured bitcoin bulls, also overcame ETH , pushing prices nearly 8% lower, as of writing. Bitcoin Following a strong start to the week, bitcoin was once again trading lower, as prices dropped below the $30,000 mark. Tuesday’s selloff saw BTC /USD slip to an intraday low of $29,311.68, which is over 7% lower than yesterday’s peak at $31,693.29. After breaking out of its $30,500 ceiling on Monday, prices were unable to penetrate the higher resistance point of $31,550, which was an entry point for bears. Looking at the chart, today’s candlestick appears to be a bearish engulfing candlestick, which has wiped out the precious three days of gains. Although prices are still trading above $29,000, should this floor break, then the target will likely be the $28,800 support level. As of writing, the 14-day RSI is tracking at 44.20, with its own support...

A Chinese prosecutor is reported to have given a thumbs up to the arrest of a listed big data company director accused of embezzling $8 million and using the funds to buy bitcoin mining rigs. Although Li Qunnan has denied the allegations, executives insist their evidence implicates him. Director’s Unsanctioned Use of Funds Discovered in November 2021 A prosecutor in Beijing, China, has reportedly approved the arrest of a former director of a listed big data firm who is accused of using fraudulently acquired funds to purchase bitcoin mining rigs. According to the company’s filings with Shanghai Stock Exchange, the director, Li Qunnan, is alleged to have embezzled about $8 million (55.53 million yuan) from Zhongchang Big Data. As per one Chinese language report , Qunnan, a former chairman of Zhongchang Big Data, is thought to have misappropriated funds during his tenure as a senior executive of the company. Zhongchang Big Data claimed it only became aware of the director’s unsanction...

The South Korean science and ICT ministry has said it will recruit companies that will participate in its 2022 Metaverse Content Creation Project. A director in the ministry said the project is being promoted as part of the country’s industry-leading metaverse strategy. Building Trust in the Metaverse Content Creation Ecosystem South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT in conjunction with the National Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) has said it will recruit companies that will be participating in the 2022 Metaverse Content Creation Project. Through the project, South Korea intends to support local metaverse content makers as well as the issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to a report in the Korean language publication News 1, the goal of the project is to engender trust in the metaverse content creation ecosystem. Four companies will be selected to participate in the project and each one will receive approximately $160,000 (200 million...

Bitso, the Mexico-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a new partnership with Addem Capital, a debt fund that provides startups and other companies with financing options. The cryptocurrency exchange will process payments for the fund and provide conversion functions, allowing it to accept cryptocurrency as part of its payment options. Bitso Partners Addem Capital to Allow Latam Users to Invest With Crypto Cryptocurrencies are starting to be included more and more in traditional financial structures in the world and also in Latam. Bitso, a Latam-based exchange, announced a partnership with Addem Capital, a Mexican debt fund that allows startups to get access to financing structures. On the importance of these decentralized finance methods, Pedro Cetina, co-founder and managing partner of Addem Capital, stated: Cryptocurrencies and DeFi protocols have the potential to become a driver for financial inclusion in Latin America. Our model intrinsically has some operational com...

Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser warns that a recession is more likely in Europe than in the U.S. Nonetheless, she stressed that it is not easy for the U.S. to avoid a recession. Citigroup’s CEO on Global Recession Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser warned about the health of the global economy Friday, Reuters reported. Citi is the third-largest and most globally-focused U.S. bank. Speaking at an investor conference in New York, she talked about how “the three Rs” are affecting the global economy, stating: “It’s rates, it’s Russia, and it’s recession.” Fraser explained that Europe’s energy problems are “really having an impact on a number of companies in certain industries that are not even competitive right now.” She added that “some of them are shutting down operations … because of the cost of electricity and the cost of energy.” The Citi executive opined: Europe definitely felt more likely to be heading into a recession than you see in the U.S. Major central banks are already planning inte...

The U.S. Department of Labor has been sued by a 401(k) plan administrator over its cryptocurrency guidance. “This lawsuit seeks to preserve the rights of American investors to choose how to invest money in their own retirement accounts.” U.S. Labor Department Sued Over Crypto Guidance The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh have been sued over the department’s Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01. The guidance, titled “401(k) Plan Investments in ‘Cryptocurrencies,'” was issued on March 10. The lawsuit alleges that the Labor Department breached its statutory purview by threatening “an investigative program” aimed at plan sponsors that offer digital assets. According to the court document: This lawsuit seeks to preserve the rights of American investors to choose how to invest money in their own retirement accounts. The plaintiff is Forusall Inc., which provides administrative and other services to retirement plans. The company claims t...

Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk believes that Twitter is in material breach of the merger agreement with him, so he has the right to terminate the deal. The social media giant has refused to provide critical information relating to spam and fake accounts on its platform, Musk’s legal team explained. Elon Musk Could Terminate His $44 Billion Twitter Buyout Offer In a letter sent to Twitter Inc. Monday, which was also filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Elon Musk’s legal team wrote: Twitter has … refused to provide the information that Mr. Musk has repeatedly requested since May 9, 2022 to facilitate his evaluation of spam and fake accounts on the company’s platform. “Mr. Musk has made it clear that he does not believe the company’s lax testing methodologies are adequate so he must conduct his own analysis,” Musk’s lawyer added. The letter notes that Twitter is required to provide the data Musk asked for under the merger agreement. Musk’s legal team furt...

On June 6, the Web3 entertainment company Gala Games announced that the Wild West-focused battle royale blockchain game Grit will soon be available via the Epic Games Store and accessible to 194 million users. The well known company Epic Games is the producer of the Unreal Engine and the popular online video games Fortnite and Gears of War. Blockchain-Powered Grit Gets Added to the Epic Games Store — Gala Games Exec Says Epic Listing Brings Legitimacy to This New Genre of Gaming The Epic Games Store currently hosts a blockchain video game called Grit , a Wild West-based battle royale game built using the Unreal Engine. Grit players face a gang of gunslingers “in epic showdowns and shootouts” and the game features over 400 types of old-school guns. The game crafted by the Web3 entertainment firm Gala Games is listed on the Epic Games Store but the description notes that Grit is “coming soon.” Gala Games is also behind the Web3 first-person-shooter (FPS) Last Expedition , and the...

Gate.io is building on its success and evolving to become a remarkable crypto ecological landscape for its users, its ecosystem encompassing a vast variety of digital assets that collectively offer a feature rich experience to its users. With the 9th anniversary celebrations now kicked off, Gate.io is bringing even more innovative features to its users and updating its brand to continue to deliver quality and offer excellence. Read on to know more about Gate’s ecological map and what is in-store for users as part of its 9th anniversary! The Ecological Map of Gate.io One of the several secrets to Gate.io’s success is that it was one of the first to build a comprehensive solution for users on one platform – an ecosystem of digital assets. To date, Gate.io has grown and gone through a developmental curve, updating itself and gaining several achievements based on courageous innovation , being user-centric , and focused on global market improvement . Its wide range of product and serv...

The Nigerian blockchain and crypto advocacy group, the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association in Nigeria (SIBAN) recently announced the introduction of a code of conduct for Nigerian virtual assets service providers. The code of conduct, which was initiated by the office of the President of Nigeria, applies to all Nigerian VASPs. Making the Nigerian Blockchain Industry a Safe Space The Nigerian blockchain group, the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association in Nigeria (SIBAN) has introduced what it called a code of conduct for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The objective of the code is to help “transform Nigeria into the world’s safest and biggest blockchain space with the largest blockchain solutions, investments, and adoption.” According to a press statement released by the lobby group, when preparing the code SIBAN had considered the principles and codes that are usually applicable to VASPs such as the Cayman Islands’ Statement of Principles: Conduct...

Bitfarms, a global bitcoin mining company, has told that the price of bitcoin, above all other elements, is one of the most important factors for the future of the industry. Damián Polla, Bitfarm’s Latam General Manager, stated that countries like Argentina, where Bitfarms is currency building a bitcoin mega-mining center, were a very good destiny for bitcoin mining companies due to different factors. Falling Bitcoin Prices Constitute a Challenge Bitcoin mining companies are starting to feel the effects of the deceleration of the price of bitcoin in crypto markets. The company has declared that the fall of bitcoin prices, above all elements, is the most important problem that miners are facing right now. This has affected the company directly due to its holdings, taking its valuation from a unicorn status to a sub $500 million currently. In an interview given to local media, Damian Polla, Bitfarm’s Latam General Manager, stated : The biggest challenge facing the sector in the sho...

2TM Group, a Latam unicorn and parent company of Mercado Bitcoin, a Latam-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it will execute a series of layoffs due to the current market cooldown. The company declared that this action was motivated by the recent global financial scenario changes, making it reconsider its position, and reducing its operative expenses. 2TM Group Lays off 90 Employees Several companies at a worldwide level and also in Latam are preparing for the negative changes that several analysts have predicted will happen in the market. 2TM Group, a Brazilian unicorn that is also the parent company of Mercado Bitcoin, one of the biggest crypto exchanges in Latam, has announced that it will execute a number of layoffs that will contribute to maintaining its operations in the future. According to local media , the company will lay off little more than 10% of its operating staff, with 90 employees out of its total workforce of 750 leaving its offices soon. 2TM Group attr...

A cryptocurrency trader has been convicted in the U.S. for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business using Localbitcoins and Paxful. He faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. Crypto Trader Pleads Guilty The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to take action against crypto traders using services such as Localbitcoins and Paxful to buy and sell cryptocurrencies as a business without a license. The latest such case involved Hien Ngoc Vo, a 49-year-old man from Seattle, Washington, who operated an unlicensed crypto business in Houston, Texas. The DOJ announced Wednesday that Vo has pleaded guilty to running an unlicensed money transmitting business in the Houston area between March 16 and June 8, 2016. The Department of Justice detailed: Vo used Paxful and Localbitcoins to buy and sell bitcoin … He profited from sales by collecting a percentage of the transactions which ranged from 5-30%. Within the three months specified, Vo...

PRESS RELEASE. KryptoPips, the world’s first multi-broker rewards coin, allows brokers to reward their clients for participating in various trading activities. As key drivers of customer loyalty, the rewards coins will enable brokers to acquire new customers and maintain existing ones, thereby growing the brand. The reward coins can help boost business and incentivise trading activity throughout the year. It offers a customisable multiple-level rewards system to deliver a robust client loyalty program for global brokerages. A number of intended partnerships are set to be announced in the coming weeks, which will see the platform allow various global brokers to plug in, and disrupt the industry by showcasing an entire ecosystem of products and services to delight their partners and clients. Brokerages across the globe can adopt the multi-broker rewards coin, KryptoPips, to entice traders & partners with benefits, such as: Earning more income while enjoying reduced trading comm...

The new LUNA records gains amidst controversy, “Big Short” investor Michael Burry and author Robert Kiyosaki weigh in on recession, depression, and looming civil unrest. To top it all off, Bank of America’s CEO said “we have hundreds of patents on blockchain” but that regulations are blocking the institution from engaging in crypto. This is your bite-sized digest of this week’s hottest stories from Bitcoin.com News. Let’s dig in. Bank of America CEO: We Have Hundreds of Blockchain Patents — But Regulation Won’t Allow Us to Engage in Crypto The CEO of Bank of America says that his bank has hundreds of blockchain patents but regulations will not allow it to engage in crypto. “The reality is that we can’t do it by regulation,” he said. Read More Rich Dad Poor Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki Warns of Stocks and Bonds Crashing — Depression, Civil Unrest Coming The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has predicted that a depression and civil unrest are co...

Al Jalila Foundation, the United Arab Emirates charitable organization, recently announced that it has been given permission to accept cryptocurrency donations. Accepting cryptocurrencies makes it possible for the foundation to receive funding via what is described as one of the fastest-growing donation methods. Accepting Crypto Expands Foundation’s Donation Channels A United Arab Emirates (UAE) healthcare organization, Al Jalila Foundation, said it has been given permission to accept digital money and that well-wishers can now donate via cryptocurrencies. By accepting cryptocurrencies, Al Jalila Foundation has become one of the first nonprofit organizations from the UAE to do so. In a recently released statement , Al Jalila Foundation also said it has partnered with an unnamed “leading cryptocurrency platform.” Commenting on the move that expands the organization’s donation channels, foundation CEO Abdulkareem Sultan Al Olama said: As a philanthropic organisation we rely on char...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revealed that more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in cryptocurrency to scams since the beginning of last year. FTC Says Scammers Stole Over $1 Billion in Crypto The U.S. Federal Trade Commission published a “Data Spotlight” report on crypto scams Friday. The FTC is the only federal agency in the country with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy, the regulator’s website describes. Emma Fletcher, senior data researcher at the FTC, wrote: Since the start of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in crypto to scams – that’s about one out of every four dollars reported lost, more than any other payment method. Specifically, $680 million in cryptocurrency fraud losses were reported in 2021. In the first quarter of this year, the losses due to crypto fraud amounted to $329 million. The researcher added that the median individual reported lo...

Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon is unlikely to face criminal charges in the U.S. over the collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and stablecoin terrausd (UST), according to legal experts. They explained that civil charges are more likely, including lawsuits by cryptocurrency investors. Do Kwon Unlikely to Face Criminal Charges The recent collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) has raised questions about whether their creator, Do Kwon, can be held accountable. Randall Eliason, a professorial lecturer in law at the George Washington University Law School who spent 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, explained that Kwon is unlikely to be criminally prosecuted, CNBC reported Thursday. Emphasizing that prosecutors have to prove criminal wrongdoing beyond a reasonable doubt, he was quoted as saying, “It’s not like a homicide where you bring in witnesses to testify to who pulled the trigger.” The legal expert describ...

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs’ president and chief operating officer has warned of unprecedented economic shocks and tougher times ahead. His statement echoes JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s warning that a “hurricane” is coming our way. Goldman Sachs President’s Warning About the U.S. Economy Goldman Sachs President and Chief Operating Officer John Waldron shared his outlook for the U.S. economy at a banking conference Thursday. Commenting on current economic conditions, he said: “This is among — if not the most — complex, dynamic environment I’ve ever seen in my career.” The top Goldman Sachs executive elaborated: We’ve obviously been through lots of cycles, but the confluence of the number of shocks to the system, to me, is unprecedented. Waldron’s comments echoed a similar warning by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon , who said Wednesday that there is a “hurricane” coming our way. “You better brace yourself,” he advised. Noting that he will refrain from “using any weather an...

As Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake (PoS) gets closer and the network’s hashrate taps another all-time high, the Ethereum 2.0 contract is close to nearing 13 million ether worth $22.6 billion using today’s ether exchange rates. Moreover, according to a decentralized finance (defi) educator, the $22.6 billion worth of ethereum that continues to grow won’t be unlocked until another upgrade is enforced following The Merge. Ethereum 2.0 Contract Nears 13 Million Ether Locked — Defi Educator Says The Merge Won’t Be a Negative Price Catalyst On June 4, 2022, etherscan.io’s webpage that hosts the Ethereum 2.0 contract , indicates that there’s 12,785,941 ether locked into the contract. The Ethereum 2.0 contract holds the funds for a great number of ETH validators as it takes 32 ETH to become a validator. Every single day, a decent quantity of validators lock funds in the contract and the current value locked in the contract is worth $22.6 billion using today’s ether exchange rates....

Rostec, the Russian manufacturing and technology conglomerate, has developed a system allowing the processing of international settlements and storage of digital currency. The blockchain-based platform has been announced as an alternative to SWIFT, which is unavailable for some Russian banks. Rostec Employs Distributed Ledger Technology to Substitute SWIFT Russian state-owned corporation Rostec has built a platform using blockchain technologies to facilitate international settlements between Russia and its partners and the storage of digital currency. CELLS is intended as an alternative to the global payment messaging system SWIFT, from which a number of Russian banking institutions have been disconnected as part of western sanctions. Russia has been increasingly cut off from global finances, foreign currency reserves, and traditional payment channels as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. The government in Moscow has been trying to transition to payments in national currencies s...

Pablo Hernandez de Cos, governor of the Bank of Spain, has again warned about cryptocurrencies and the growth that the crypto market is experiencing. Hernandes de Cos stated that, while the market is still relatively small at a worldwide level, the cryptocurrency market is now bigger than subprime mortgages before the financial crisis circa 2008, and its links with traditional finance keep growing. Governor of Bank of Spain Warns About Expansion of Crypto The governor of the Bank of Spain has warned about the risks of letting the growing cryptocurrency markets mix with traditional financial institutions. While closing an event, Pablo Hernandez de Cos explained that the interconnection between these unregulated markets and traditional institutions has increased due to the large number of trading instruments that have been launched during this last bull market phase, which includes ETFs, futures, and investment funds. In this sense, Hernandez De Cos also stated that “some large priv...

According to an executive with the Dubai-based DAMAC Properties, the real estate development “company has already succeeded in concluding real estate deals worth $50 million via cryptocurrencies since the beginning of this year.” The executive, however, says his company is facing challenges convincing the older generation decision-makers to buy into the metaverse, non-fungible tokens, and cryptocurrencies. Using a Trusted Intermediary The Dubai-based real estate developer, DAMAC Properties, has since the beginning of the year completed cryptocurrency deals worth $50 million, the company’s chief operating officer (COO) Ali Sajwani has said. In his remarks during an interview , the COO said by accepting either bitcoin or ethereum as payment, DAMAC has shown the extent to which his company will go in order for it to “benefit from the most advanced technology solutions.” When asked about the payment mechanism that was used to conclude the real estate deals, the COO said a trusted inte...

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar says central bank digital currencies could “kill whatever little case there could be” for cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ether. RBI’s Deputy Governor Discusses Impact of CBDCs on Cryptocurrencies RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar talked about the potential impact of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ether, at a webinar organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), local media reported Friday. He was quoted as saying: We (RBI) believe that CBDCs would actually be able to kill whatever little case there could be for private cryptocurrencies. By “private cryptocurrencies,” the Indian government and the central bank refer to all non-government-issued cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether. Sankar explained the central bank’s stance that cryptocurrencies should not be permitted “just because they are backed by hi-tech.” He added: Any tool that can be used for g...

Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk says he has a “super bad feeling” about the U.S. economy. President Joe Biden responded with a list of major investments by large corporations and wished Musk luck on his trip to the moon. Elon Musk’s Bad Feeling About the U.S. Economy Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he has a “super bad feeling” about the U.S. economy in an email to executives seen by Reuters. The email, titled “pause all hiring worldwide,” was sent two days after Musk told staff to return to the workplace or leave. He also said he needs to cut about 10% of staff at his electric car company. Musk has recently warned that the U.S. economy is either already in a recession or is headed towards one. However, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and Spacex believes that a recession is “ a good thing ,” stating: “It has been raining money on fools for too long. Some bankruptcies need to happen.” He also estimated that the recession will last between 12 and 18 months . Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas b...