Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Indian government’s chief economic adviser has warned about innovations like crypto and decentralized finance (defi) in the absence of regulation. “We may not be fully aware or comprehend the kind of forces we are unleashing ourselves,” he opined. Indian Government’s Chief Economic Adviser Skeptical of Crypto, Defi, Decentralization The Indian government’s chief economic adviser (CEA), V. Anantha Nageswaran, reportedly warned about the danger of crypto and the risks posed by its lack of regulation Thursday at an Assocham event. Referring to cryptocurrency, he was quoted by local media as saying: The more decentralized they become and the absence of a watchdog or a centralized regulatory authority also means that there is a world of Caribbean pirates or a world of ‘winner take all’ in terms of being able to really take it all from somebody else. The government’s economic adviser explained that he agreed with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar on crypto...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns crypto is a “very risky investment,” adding that she would not recommend it to most people who are saving for retirement. However, Yellen noted that Congress could restrict the type of investments allowed in retirement accounts, including 401(k) plans. Janet Yellen on Investing in Cryptocurrencies for Retirement The topic of whether Americans should be able to put retirement savings in cryptocurrencies continues to be hotly debated. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was asked Thursday at an event organized by the New York Times about Fidelity’s announcement to allow bitcoin as an investment option in 401(k) plans. Yellen replied: It’s not something that I would recommend to most people who are saving for their retirement … To me it’s very risky investment. Fidelity’s announcement followed a guidance issued by the Labor Department (DOL) warning 401(k) plan administrators about allowing cryptocurrencies in retirement plans. Fidelity...

American Express and Abra are launching a new credit card that will allow shoppers to earn cryptocurrency rewards “tradable across over 100 different cryptocurrencies” without annual or foreign transaction fees. American Express and Abra Launching Crypto Rewards Credit Card American Express (Amex) and crypto trading platform and wallet provider Abra announced the upcoming launch of the Abra Crypto Card on the American Express network Friday. Abra described the new card as: The first crypto rewards credit card on the American Express network that will transact in U.S. dollars and offer crypto back on any purchase category and amount. “The crypto rewards will be tradable across over 100 different cryptocurrencies supported by Abra, with no annual or foreign transaction fees,” the crypto company detailed. The Abra Crypto Card will offer several benefits from the American Express Network, including Amex Offers, presale ticket access, global dining benefits, and purchase protections...

The government in Vilnius has approved amendments introducing more stringent regulations for the country’s growing crypto space. The legislation is aimed at managing risks associated with crypto assets and preventing Russian attempts to circumvent Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine. Lithuanian Authorities to Tighten Rules for Crypto Industry Lithuania is preparing to revise its Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing with the stated goal of ensuring greater transparency and sustainable development for its cryptocurrency sector. This week, the government approved amendments that the small Baltic nation plans to adopt before the upcoming EU regulations . The new provisions have been prepared by the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Lithuania, the Financial Crime Investigation Service, the Ministry of Interior, and the Lithuanian Money Laundering Prevention Competence Center. Their main purpose is to further regulate the operations of crypto service...

Crypto prices plunged as the weekend commenced, following yesterday’s U.S. inflation report, which came in at a 40-year high of 8.6%. ETH fell to its lowest point in fifteen months, while BTC dropped below $29,000. Bitcoin Following days of consolidation, BTC finally moved late on Friday into Saturday, as crypto prices responded to the latest inflation report. Data from the United States showed that inflation came in at a 40-year high of 8.6%, which is higher than the 8.3% many had expected. As such, investors seem to have panicked, and in turn liquidated some of their positions in crypto markets. BTC /USD fell to an intraday low of $28,911.36 to start the weekend, taking prices to their weakest point in almost two weeks. Despite the drop, prices still remain above support at $28,800, however some expect the sell-off to intensify as the weekend progresses. Should we see the 14-day RSI move below its current support of 40.50, then we could see this expectation come into fruit...

The cryptocurrency market is stagnant. Investors are cautious and hesitant to make investments. Some initiatives, however, thrive even in such circumstances: Mars4, a play-to-earn project, has seen an upsurge in NFT sales. Mars4 is growing thanks to scheduled releases (such as a game demo) and some help from Japanese KOLs. Mars4, a metaverse game , has been generating increased sales in the first weeks of June. Mars4’s use of a regional marketing strategy has seen the majority of the sales come from Japan. In collaboration with KOLs such as Daisuke and Crypto Train , Mars4 is grabbing the Japanese market. Yuzo Kano , a famous crypto advocate and CEO of BitFlyer, took an interest in Mars4 a year earlier. This inspired the Mars4 team to create a Telegram group for Mars4 Japan , which was quickly followed by other cultural communities such as Turkey , Italy , China , and others. Some cultural channels are available on Mars4 Discord too, as the company tries to be inclusive to every...

A Nigerian court has convicted and sentenced a man to one year in prison who is accused of duping an unsuspecting cryptocurrency investor. On its charge sheet, the prosecution said that the man had contravened Nigeria’s anti-fraud laws and hence should be punished accordingly. Fake Cryptocurrency Investment Scheme A court in Nigeria has convicted a man accused of using a bogus cryptocurrency platform to defraud $680 from an unsuspecting investor, a report has said. In its ruling, the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the man, Obu Ebibo, whose alias is Kenneth Gibson, must serve one year in jail. The court however said the accused has an option to pay a fine of $1,180 (N500,000) which he can deposit into the government’s consolidated revenue account. According to a PM News report that details the accused’s alleged crimes, by committing the alleged offenses, Ebibo was in contravention of Nigeria’s anti-fraud laws. “That you Obu ...

Felix Capital, a London-based VC company, has raised $600 million in its fourth fundraising round, this being its biggest yet. The company, which has been investing in commerce and money-tooling startups, is planning to use part of the funds raised to increase its Web3 exposure as part of its new business strategy. Felix Capital Includes Web3 in Business Plan Venture capital firms from all over the world are now turning their eyes to Web3, a new field that intertwines the internet and crypto. One such firm has been Felix Capital, a London-based VC company that has expanded its business plan to include Web3 as part of its current interests. With its latest fundraising round, the company obtained $600 million, surpassing its initial goal of $500 million. For the firm, this is its fourth and largest fundraise to date, bringing its total assets under management to $1.2 billion. In a blog post, the company explained that these funds will be used to back another 20 to 25 companies over t...

Blockchain.com has announced it has partnered with the Web3 digital identity platform and NFT domain name provider Unstoppable Domains in order to launch .blockchain NFT domains. The company says that in the next few weeks, 83 million Blockchain.com wallet users will get a free .blockchain domain. Blockchain.com Partners With Unstoppable Domains — Firms Launch 1st Branded Top-Level Domain Blockchain.com has been a pioneer in the crypto space for quite some time, as the company launched the first Bitcoin ( BTC ) block explorer in 2011. This week, the company has announced it has teamed up with the Web3 digital identity company Unstoppable Domains . The startup is an identity firm dedicated to Web3 services and a domain name provider that has issued 2.4 million registered usernames. The two firms announced the launch of the first-ever branded top-level domain by Unstoppable Domains which will be called .blockchain. In the coming weeks, Blockchain.com says that all 83 million Blockch...

While Bitcoin’s mining difficulty was expected to decrease two days ago on June 8, instead the difficulty increased by 1.29% on Wednesday. On the same day, at block height 739,928, Bitcoin’s hashrate tapped an all-time high (ATH) reaching 292.02 exahash per second (EH/s). Bitcoin’s Blockchain Secured by Close to Three Hundred Quintillion Hashes per Second This week, the Bitcoin network has never been more powerful as the protocol’s computational processing power reached a lifetime high on Wednesday. In fact, at 292.02 EH/s the network neared the 300 EH/s region for the first time. The last hashrate ATH took place on May 2, 2022, at Bitcoin block height 734,577, when it reached 275.01 EH/s. The jump to 292.02 EH/s 37 days later, was approximately 6.18% higher than the ATH on May 2. The ATH on Wednesday was only 2.73% away from reaching 300 EH/s or 0.3 zettahash per second (ZH/s) range. The hashrate has been running so high that the difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) that was ex...

Payments giant Mastercard has announced it is working to bring direct payment support for a number of NFT and Web3 platforms with its cards. According to the company, this will enable more customers to enter the industry as the barrier to acquiring such digital goods is lowered via more flexible payment products. Mastercard To Enable NFT and Web3 Payments Traditional payments companies are starting to embrace cryptocurrencies and include them as options in their business strategies. Mastercard, one of the biggest payments companies in the world, has announced it is working with a number of companies in the NFT and Web3 fields to enable customers to pay with Mastercard technology for their products. According to a PR statement, the company is working directly with Immutable X, Candy Digital, The Sandbox, Mintable, Spring, Nifty Gateway, and Web3 infrastructure provider Moonpay, to allow customers to use their Mastercard cards to pay for digital goods provided by these platforms. Ma...

PRESS RELEASE. Recent news reveals that AuroraFS has progressed in its vision and direction concerning the development of the next generation of DApps which will be deployed on the decentralized P2P cloud storage and distribution network. AuroraFS announced intentions to begin building DApps which will run on the content storage and streaming network, in addition to Web3Tube. Web3Tube is the decentralized video storage and sharing application which has been in full test mode for over a month now. Web3Tube was the first decentralized application to display the power and ability of the decentralized cloud network known as AuroraFS. Now, with the expansion into development of more DApps, the search for DApps developers is on. What do the New Development Plans Look Like? The development of the next generation of DApps has triggered a search for Decentralized Application Developers to bring talent to AuroraFS in order to deliver just that. In order for the AuroraFS blockchain network ...

A survey conducted by Deloitte in collaboration with PayPal found that over 85% of merchants “are giving high or very high priority to enabling cryptocurrency payments.” In addition, “nearly three-quarters of those surveyed reported plans to accept either cryptocurrency or stablecoin payments within the next 24 months.” Majority of Merchants Surveyed Plan to Enable Crypto Payments Financial services firm Deloitte published a report titled “Merchants getting ready for crypto” on Wednesday in collaboration with payments giant Paypal. The report includes the results of a survey conducted between Dec. 3 and Dec. 16, 2021. The survey polled a sample of 2,000 senior executives at retail organizations with annual revenues ranging from less than $10 million to over $500 million across the U.S. “Respondents reported at least a general knowledge of cryptocurrency and stablecoins,” the report notes, adding that most of them are “a primary decision-maker when deciding whether their organizat...

Americans are worried about a new tax reporting requirement that will force applications like Venmo, Cash App, Paypal, Airbnb, and Ebay to send 1099-K forms to users. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is specifically focusing on payments of $600 or more for goods and services received through a third-party payment network. US Residents Think Form 1099-K Will Cause Headaches — IRS Says It’s Important ‘Records Reflect Business Income’ A new tax reporting requirement from the IRS will require third-party payment processors to send users who receive payments of $600 or more from goods and services a form 1099-K . The third parties must send users the form by mail or electronically for transactions that occurred during the 2022 tax year. The new rule has a number of Americans worried about side hustles, part-time gigs, and under-the-table income. Janet Yellen defended the push by the IRS to require US banks to report all transactions over $600. Here's a better idea: How abou...

PRESS RELEASE. EverRise , a leading web3 security and infrastructure platform, has released EverRevoke. The newest addition to the EverRise Ecosystem is a utility to review and revoke token and NFT approvals from a single place across multiple blockchains. EverRevoke supports five blockchains: Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, and Fantom. Token approvals are an often overlooked vulnerability in decentralized finance. EverRise developed EverRevoke not only to provide a solution to revoking active permissions but also to bring awareness to the potential problem . With DeFi and web3 gaining more adoption, security must be at the forefront to give users assurance that their assets are protected. EverRise believes credible tools must be readily available. “The token revoking tools currently available aren’t the most reliable and don’t provide users with an easy way to navigate what is in their wallet. EverRevoke provides them with the information they need to know to make an inf...

The San Diego-based cryptocurrency firm Edge has announced the launch of a confidential crypto Mastercard that doesn’t collect KYC data and doesn’t charge transaction fees. Edge’s website notes that there’s “no name or address associated with [the] Edge Mastercard” giving privacy advocates peace of mind. Edge Reveals Privacy-Centric Crypto Mastercard The digital currency firm Edge has announced the launch of the Edge Mastercard , a loadable crypto debit card that doesn’t collect KYC data. Edge revealed the Mastercard on Twitter and told the company’s followers: “Zero fees. Instant funding — With Edge Mastercard everyone can now spend BTC , DOGE, DASH , LTC , [and] BCH instantly, with zero personal information required.” Blockspace.io founder Gabe Higgins gave Edge props for the new privacy-centric crypto Mastercard. “Kudos to Edge, sticking with their original vision of providing an easy way to secure [and] use bitcoin without compromising on privacy,” Higgins tweeted on Wednesd...

PRESS RELEASE. On June 9, 2022 at 14:30 UTC, the FIAT currency pairs of MV(ERC20)/USD and MV(ERC20)/EUR will be listed on Kraken, a leading crypto exchange. Genso believes that by listing MV on Kraken, Genso will be able to increase the reach of our Metaverse to more users, and therefore stimulate the GensoKishi Online Economy. What is Kraken? Kraken is a US based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. The exchange is known to be the first for providing crypto price information to Bloomberg Terminal, a computer software system by the financial data vendor Bloomberg L.P.. It is also the first crypto exchange to provide BitCoin leveraging as a service, and therefore trusted by millions of users worldwide. Blog： https://blog.kraken.com/ Twitter： https://twitter.com/krakenfx About GensoKishi Online GensoKishi Online Metaworld is a GameFi and metaverse incarnation of the award-winning Nintendo Switch/PS4 game “Elemental Knights”. The iconic game has a 14 year history and has a...

U.S. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen doesn’t think inflationary pressures stem from the stimulus policies enacted after the Covid-19 outbreak. While speaking to lawmakers on Wednesday, during the House Ways and Means Committee, Republicans criticized Yellen for not knowing about the risks of inflation. A U.S. senator from Wyoming questioned the Treasury secretary’s “pronouncements and decisions” concerning the record gas prices and rising inflation. Yellen Claims Stimulus ‘Produced Excellent Rewards for Americans’ — Republican Senator Says American Rescue Plan ‘Overheated the Economy’ On Wednesday, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen downplayed the theory that the stimulus from the American Rescue Plan and other monetary expansion policies contributed significantly to the current rising inflation. “The success of the policy adopted is that we have an economy with the strongest labor market, arguably in the entire post-war period,” Yellen remarked during her House Ways and Means Committ...

BTC was fighting to stay above $30,000 on Thursday, as markets prepare for the release of U.S. inflation data on Friday. Crypto prices mainly consolidated in today’s session, whilst ETH marginally slipped, falling below $1,800. Bitcoin Bitcoin was attempting to stay above $30,000 on Thursday, as traders began to anticipate the latest U.S. inflation report. On Friday, the latest consumer price index (CPI) is expected to show inflation at 8.3%, which is still close to record highs. Prior to the release of this, BTC /USD fell marginally lower on Thursday, hitting an intraday bottom of $30,015.98. This move comes after bulls recaptured the $30,000 mark during yesterday’s session, however they have failed to extend these gains. Some believe this may be a result of the upcoming CPI release, which has been a key economic indicator in recent months. In addition to this, the 14-day RSI remains near its 45.50 floor, and should this continue to hold steady, BTC will likely stay above $...

The Congress of Colombia has approved a bill that regulates the behavior of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country in its first discussion, taking the first steps to bring clarity to this issue. One of the creators of the bill, Mauricio Toro, a representative of the Green Party, stated that this bill is needed to protect users from Ponzi schemes, giving them security in the crypto world. Colombia Gets on the Crypto Regulation Road More and more countries in Latam are realizing the growth and influence crypto and crypto-related businesses are seeing in their territories. Colombia is one of them, and this is moving the government to accelerate the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges to clarify the responsibilities and duties of these companies. In this sense, the Colombian Congress has taken steps in this direction by approving a bill that seeks to give more clarity and security to the operation of crypto exchanges in the country. One of the proponents of the bill, representative...

A Brazilian judge has ruled that the CEO of Mirror Trading International should remain in precautionary detention as authorities in South Africa have already furnished their Brazilian counterparts with the documentation that is required for extradition purposes. The judge also rejected Johann Steynberg’s attempts to use his Brazilian family as the basis for seeking an end to his precautionary detention. Documentation for Steynberg’s Formal Extradition A Brazilian judge recently dismissed an application by Johann Steynberg — the mastermind behind Mirror Trading International (MTI), one of South Africa’s biggest cryptocurrency scams — to have his precautionary detention revoked. In his application, the MTI chief executive had reportedly argued that since no formal extradition request had been made the court should at least place him under house arrest. Steynberg also argued that when he left South Africa in December 2020, there was no outstanding warrant for his arrest and that the c...

Hong Kong’s securities regulator has warned investors to be wary of risks that are associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The regulator also advised investors to consider investing in NFTs only if they fully understand the risks. NFTs ‘Straddle the Line Between Collectibles and Financial Assets’ A Hong Kong regulator has said NFTs face risks that are associated with other virtual assets and investors should not invest in these assets if they do not fully understand such risks. According to a report by Interface News, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission (HKSRC) said some of these risks include a lack of liquidity in the secondary market, volatile prices, a lack of transparency in the pricing of NFTs, and the risk of hacking. The regulator’s warning comes after the HKSRC said it had observed that some NFTs have unique qualities. Explaining this, the report said: “some NFTs straddle the line between collectibles and financial assets, such as subdivision or homogenei...

PRESS RELEASE. Binance Pay, Alchemy Pay, ePayments, and QponBay are collaborating to facilitate offline crypto payment methods at ‘Artaverse’, an NFT and metaverse event to be held in Hong Kong from June 3rd to 12th. Participants of Artaverse will be able to use cryptocurrencies to buy NFTs directly on site. The cryptocurrencies supported are BNB , ETH , ACH, and USDT . The exhibition is one of the largest of its kind and will be held in the 150,000 square-foot Central Harbourfront venue in Hong Kong. Hosted both inside and outside, there will be a giant tent and more than 20 independent exhibition spaces. With a total of more than 100 exhibition pieces, Artaverse aims to promote art forms such as non-fungible tokens(NFTs) and the metaverse, so that art enthusiasts have the opportunity to view, purchase, and even create new kinds of art. With diverse digital art exhibitions, and musical and cultural performances, the public will experience an immersive art, entertainment, and cul...

Two months after the Russian ruble fell below a U.S. penny, the transcontinental country’s fiat currency is the best performing currency worldwide. American economists are baffled by the “unusual situation” because a country facing stiff sanctions typically sees its fiat currency decline in value, but Russia’s ruble has done the exact opposite. Russia’s Ruble Outshines the Euro and Dollar — Transcontinental Country’s Fiat Currency Shows Resiliency On February 28, 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Russian ruble sinking to record lows, and citizens started to withdraw lots of cash causing what many reports called a “bank run.” At the time, Russia was hit with strict financial sanctions from countries opposed to the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, the United States, the European Commission, and Western allies imposed restrictions on the Bank of Russia’s international reserves. However, during the second week of April 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported on the country’s central bank sl...

The World Bank has warned of a possible global recession. “For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” said World Bank President David Malpass. “This is the sharpest slowdown in 80 years.” World Bank on Global Recession, Stagflation The World Bank warned about the rising risk of stagflation and global recession Tuesday. World Bank President David Malpass said: The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid. “Markets look forward, so it is urgent to encourage production and avoid trade restrictions. Changes in fiscal, monetary, climate and debt policy are needed to counter capital misallocation and inequality,” he explained. The World Bank president clarified on Bloomberg Tuesday that we are not in a global recession yet. However, “The downside risk is that it could be a global recession,” he opined. “One of the key variables is whether supply comes...