Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Coinbase has announced that the company plans to introduce a number of changes for customers in the Netherlands in order to comply with the 1977 Sanctions Act, a law that recently applied know-your-customer (KYC) guidelines to non-custodial wallets. If the person living in the Netherlands wants to send crypto to a third-party wallet via Coinbase, they must identify the wallet owner’s name, the purpose of transfer, and the full residential address of the recipient. On June 27, Coinbase Says KYC Info Will Be Required in the Netherlands for Outgoing Crypto Transfers Dutch Coinbase customers may have a harder time sending funds to people with a third-party or non-custodial wallet if they don’t provide KYC information. Starting on June 27, 2022, Coinbase will require users from the Netherlands to provide KYC data if they plan to send crypto to a wallet off the Coinbase platform. Coinbase says the new rules are being applied because the company must comply with local regulations. The 19

Crypto exchange Binance has launched a new platform for VIP and institutional investors. The VIP program allows Binance users to “get rewarded with more discounts and VIP privileges” as their trading volume climbs up VIP tiers. ‘Binance Institutional’ Launched Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Thursday the launch of “ Binance Institutional ,” a new platform for VIP and institutional cryptocurrency investors. It is one of Binance’s efforts “to upgrade its institutional offerings and services,” the exchange said. Binance Institutional’s services are tailored for all types of institutions, its website describes. They include asset managers, brokers, hedge funds, family offices, proprietary trading firms, liquidity providers, high net worth individuals, and mining companies. The new platform offers a number of services, including direct access to OTC liquidity, asset management, custody, and brokerage. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) commented: Brokerage services are

British Parliament Member Matt Hancock has called for “liberal” cryptocurrency regulation, noting that no country can stop the crypto revolution. “I hate the patronizing idea of regulators telling people what they can and can’t do with their money,” the lawmaker stressed. British MP Wants ‘Liberal’ Crypto Regulation Matt Hancock, a Conservative member of parliament and former British health secretary, reiterated the importance of having a “liberal” regulatory framework for cryptocurrency this week. The lawmaker explained in an interview with UKTN, published Friday, that the crypto market sell-off has not shaken his confidence in the sector. He told the news outlet: No country can stop this revolution. We can only choose whether it happens on our shores or happens to us from elsewhere. In his keynote speech Wednesday at Crypto A.M.’s fourth-anniversary conference, Hancock called for an “attractive” tax system and “liberal” regulatory regime to help the U.K. become “the jurisdict

The Central Bank of Russia continues to step up efforts to test and issue the digital ruble, with a roadmap for the full implementation of the new form of the national fiat now expected by the end of 2023. Trials with real transactions and users are scheduled to begin next April, earlier than originally planned. Bank of Russia to Present Digital Ruble Roadmap Next Year The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) will develop a roadmap for the introduction of the digital ruble by the end of 2023, First Deputy Chairman Olga Skorobogatova said in an interview with the Tass news agency, revealing an earlier deadline than previously set. The high-ranking official also noted that the regulator intends to start testing operations with the Russian central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) with real clients as early as April 2023, indicating these plans have been adjusted, too. Skorobogatova emphasized that next year will be very important for the project and elaborated: Testing of real

Russian law enforcement is looking into the alleged theft of mining hardware valued at around $1.9 million. The powerful computing equipment disappeared from a crypto mining hotel in Irkutsk, the owners of which have been accused of large scale fraud. 100 Russians Lose Mining Machines Worth 100 Million Rubles Police in the Russian Irkutsk Oblast have launched an investigation of the operators of a mining hosting facility suspected of defrauding clients and stealing their expensive coin minting hardware, Tass news agency reported, quoting the region’s Main Directorate of the Interior Ministry. In anticipation of quick earnings, the miners handed over their devices to those who were running the mining hotel, law enforcement officials explained. At some point, the latter stopped all payments to their customers and failed to return the expensive machines. “A criminal case was initiated based on these facts under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (la

Authorities in Albania are finalizing regulations that will allow the taxation of income and profits from cryptocurrency investments. The government intends to begin imposing the levy in 2023, after adopting the necessary legislation which has been proposed for public consultations. Albania Set to Impose Crypto Tax as Early as Next Year The Albanian state should begin collecting taxes on income from crypto assets as of 2023 in accordance with a new income tax bill, the local English-language portal Exit News reported on Friday. The government also hopes to pass a number of other laws and bylaws this year in order to comprehensively regulate the matter. The special tax legislation is currently open for public consultations . It introduces the concept of taxing crypto holdings and income derived from virtual assets. The latter have been defined as “a digital representation of a value that can be deposited, traded or transferred in digital form, and that can be used for payment or inv

Brave Group Inc., a Japanese virtual IP firm, recently said it had raised $10 million in new capital and that the company expects to use part of these funds to boost its “solution services for clients in the metaverse marketing business.” Taking part in Brave Group’s latest funding round were two local companies, foreign investment funds, as well as individual investors. Metaverse Market Growth A Japan-based virtual IP business, Brave Group Inc., recently said it had raised $10 million in new funding, thus bringing the total raised so far to $18 million. The company is set to use the new capital to strengthen its existing business operations and to “expand its solution services for clients in the metaverse marketing business.” In a recent statement , Brave Group revealed that Japanese companies like Dawn Capital and Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. had participated in the round that also featured “foreign investment funds and individual investors.” In remarks following the announcement of the ca

DeFi is a sub-sector in the crypto industry that has witnessed significant innovation since its inception. However, the narrative has struggled to stay consistent, affecting the domain overall. The current bear market has wiped out more than half of DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL), hampering innovations. Furthermore, several projects have simply forked (copied) existing protocols and brought zero ideas to the market. Amidst all of this, one project is making strides with the best innovations DeFiers have seen in a long time. Saddle Finance is the protocol that enables efficient DeFi trading for stablecoins and pegged-value crypto assets like wETH and wBTC. It redefines DeFi trading by offering cheap, efficient, swift, and low-slippage swaps for traders and high-yield pools for Liquidity Providers. The protocol has facilitated over $2B in transaction volume to date. Enabling an Efficient and Secure DeFi Trading Experience Saddle Finance is an AMM-based decentralized exchange (DEX)

A Chinese state-run newspaper has published an article warning about bitcoin’s price falling to zero amid the crypto market sell-off. Meanwhile, financial regulators in Shenzhen have issued a new warning about cryptocurrency. State-Run Newspaper Warns About Bitcoin Becoming Worthless China’s state-run newspaper Economic Daily published an article warning about bitcoin Wednesday, according to SCMP. The nationwide newspaper is directly under the control of the Central Committee of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The article warned that investors should beware of the risk of bitcoin prices “heading to zero” amid the recent crypto market sell-off. “Bitcoin is nothing more than a string of digital codes, and its returns mainly come from buying low and selling high,” the newspaper details, adding: In the future, once investors’ confidence collapses or when sovereign countries declare bitcoin illegal, it will return to its original value, which is utterly worthless. The newspaper

Bybit, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it will be expanding its operations to Argentina. The exchange wants to offer Argentinian citizens another platform on which to transact, given the popularity that the cryptocurrency industry is enjoying in the country. The exchange will also have a dedicated team to support Argentinian operations. Bybit Lands in Argentina The growth of the cryptocurrency industry in Argentina has not gone unnoticed by international companies. Bybit, a Singapore-based, top-ten crypto exchange by volume traded, has announced that it will expand its trading operations to support Argentinian customers directly. To better achieve this goal, the company will dedicate a team to attend to applicable requirements and support its upcoming Argentinian customers, allowing them to transact, purchase, and sell cryptocurrencies on Bybit’s platform. Also, the platform will be available in Spanish, the native language of the country. Regarding this d

Uphold, a New York-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it is closing its operations in Venezuelan markets. The company, which has already had problems with users in the country in the past — shutting down accounts and requiring KYC controls that some users deemed excessive — declares that the exit from Venezuela has to do with the “complexity of complying with U.S. sanctions.” Uphold Abandons Venezuelan Markets Uphold, a New York-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange and stock trading platform, has announced that it will no longer serve customers registered in Venezuela. The company, which serves more than 184 countries according to its own data, argues that the current situation between Venezuela and the U.S is the cause of this decision. In an email sent to Venezuelan customers of the exchange, Uphold declared : We´re very sorry to tell you that Uphold has decided to withdraw from Venezuela owing to the increasing complexity of complying with U.S. sanctions. Venezuela

PRESS RELEASE. NoVa Battles has taken another step forward by completing another major milestone, being listed on Bitrue. The centralized exchange, Bitrue, has announced that NVA passed the BTR Vote on the 21 st of June, 2022. The launched listing pair is NVA/USDT. Deposits for this coin (ERC20 Network Supported) have already been enabled. NVA Token holders can now trade on Bitrue here: https://www.bitrue.com/trade/nva_usdt Withdrawals for this coin will be enabled approximately 24 hours after trading begins. The NoVa Battles team is excited to bring you another chance to get in on the action. We are going to be announcing most listings soon. Successful Nova Battles ICO Nova battles; a play, invest, and earn crypto game has successfully achieved its target a day ahead of schedule. 850 million NVA Token were sold to its worldwide community through the MaskEx platform. This has paved the way for this game to be here for a long time, growing in popularity and complexity. The compan

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, says crypto assets and decentralized finance (defi) have the potential to pose “real risks” to financial stability. She has some regulatory suggestions to supplement Europe’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) bill. Lagarde on Crypto Regulation ECB President Christine Lagarde talked about cryptocurrency regulation at the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs hearing Monday. She said: We believe, as we are embarking on this work concerning crypto assets and the risk that they pose, that crypto assets and decentralized finance (defi) have the potential to pose real risks to financial stability. “This would be particularly the case if the rapid growth of crypto-asset markets and services continue … and the interconnectedness with both the traditional financial sector and the broader economy is intensified,” the ECB chief added. However, she noted: “For the moment, the links betw

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the central bank is “not really seeing significant macroeconomic implications” from crypto’s volatility. The Fed chair stressed that there is a need for a better crypto regulatory framework. Fed Chair Powell Says Crypto Needs Better Regulation Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on “the semiannual monetary policy report to congress” Wednesday. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) asked him whether the Fed has been tracking crypto activities given the recent market volatility, and what implications crypto has on the broader economic outlook and monetary policy. “We are tracking those events very carefully, of course,” Powell replied, elaborating: [We are] not really seeing significant macroeconomic implications, so far. “The principal implication is really what we’ve been saying, and others have been saying for some time, which is that in this very innovative new

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has taken action against two cryptocurrency trading platforms. Kucoin is permanently banned from participating in Ontario’s capital markets. Bybit has promised to take steps to comply with regulations and register with the OSC. OSC Sanctions 2 Crypto Trading Platforms The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced Wednesday the outcome of enforcement actions against two foreign cryptocurrency trading platforms operating in its jurisdiction. The first is Bybit, a crypto trading platform operated by Bybit Fintech Ltd., incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The other is Kucoin, operated by Mek Global Ltd., incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles, and Phoenixfin Pte. Ltd., incorporated in Singapore. “Bybit and Kucoin both operate unregistered crypto asset trading platforms and allowed Ontario investors to trade securities without a prospectus or any exemption from the prospectus requirements,” the Canadian regulator explained. Regar

PRESS RELEASE. “Play & Earn” is no longer a strange term for most GameFi believers. Recently, Remitano Network, Remitano’s blockchain network, has launched a novel airdrop in the format of “Play to Earn”, allowing users to own the network’s RENEC token in the form of “group mining”. Starting from the free daily RENEC solo mining at Remitano.com, users can now mine together in groups to receive a larger amount of RENEC token airdrop as a reward. Each mining pool is called a mining room, and after 24 hours, the team members will split a larger amount of RENEC than the solo mining effort. This is a fairly new form of airdrop in the market, making the traditional airdrop less boring. Participation is quite simple. You just need to sign up for a free Remitano account and start mining solo or in groups. Try RENEC mining for free here ! Refer to the official RENEC Whitepaper . The RENEC mining program is limited to a maximum of the end of Q3 of 2022, so the sooner you join the bet

During a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Terraform Labs (TFL) founder Do Kwon said he was “devastated” by the LUNA and UST implosion that took place in mid-May. He told the WSJ that he was probably a billionaire when LUNA tapped an all-time high before the collapse, but lost a great portion of his net worth following the aftermath. Do Kwon Speaks About the Terra LUNA Collapse Do Kwon has recently discussed the LUNA and UST fallout during an interview with the WSJ contributors Alexander Osipovich and Jiyoung Sohn. The interview was published on June 22, and its the first interview Kwon has done since the Terra collapse. Kwon told the reporters that he lost most of his wealth after the crash but that doesn’t bother him that much. “This doesn’t bother me,” Kwon told the reporters. “I live a fairly frugal life,” the Terra co-founder said. Kwon, however, said he was sorry about the losses investors took from the fallout. “I’ve been devastated by recent events and ho

The Central Bank of Russia and participating commercial banks want to test various types of payments with the digital ruble, the Russian press reported. The plan is to experiment with smart contracts and transactions related to real estate and crypto asset purchases. Bank of Russia to Launch Smart Contracts on Digital Ruble Platform Russia’s central bank intends to start implementing smart contracts with the digital ruble next April, the daily Izvestia unveiled this week, quoting the regulator. Until then, the new incarnation of the national fiat will be put to the test in various scenarios, including automated payments and other transactions between individual users and businesses, like real estate acquisitions. Bank of Russia finalized the prototype platform of its central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) in December, 2021. In January of this year, a dozen Russian banks joined the pilot project. At its first stage, participants are issuing digital rubles, setting up wallets for ban

A The Input-Output Global (IOG) team has said it will postpone sending the Vasil hard fork update proposal because it still needs to solve seven outstanding bugs that are currently ranked as non-severe. While acknowledging that the news will likely be disappointing for some, the IOG team insisted it was “taking an abundance of caution to ensure that we do this deployment correctly.” More Time Needed The core Input-Output Global (IOG) team working to facilitate a Cardano Testnet upgrade announced recently that it had “agreed” to delay sending the Vasil hard fork update proposal as previously stated. The team hinted that some seven outstanding bugs, none of which have been ranked as severe, necessitated the delay. According to a June 20 blog post , the decision to postpone the hard fork followed the core team’s end-of-the-week evaluation call. While noting that the team had managed to get through 95% of the Plutus V2 test scripts, the post said the core team still needed to run a few

PRESS RELEASE. Cryptocurrency exchange LBank has continued to hire more crypto and blockchain talents as well as interns for its global offices. Against the backdrop of extreme volatility in the crypto market and investors dumping risky assets, as well as certain crypto firms laying off employees and freezing withdrawals, LBank makes a move in the right lines. At the moment, the exchange is hiring from all parts of the world including Indonesia, Philippines, Morocco, Turkey, Nigeria, India, etc., to add to its team members located in over 14 countries. The crypto exchange, which has been in the space since 2015 has a slew of advantages that has earned it the spot as one of the top 20 exchanges with deep liquidity. To add to that, in the era of hacks and security breaches among crypto platforms, LBank has managed to remain ‘unhacked’ and secured. In other words, the user-friendly platform provides users with secure, professional and convenient products and services, including s

Billionaire investor Seth Klarman says he cannot see the point of crypto. “I don’t think anybody needs to own it. It just seems to me that it could end up very much in tears,” he added. Seth Klarman on Crypto Investing, Gold, and U.S. Dollar American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Seth Klarman shared his views on a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, gold, and the U.S. dollar, in an interview with Harvard Business School, released this week. Klarman is the chief executive and portfolio manager of the Baupost Group, a Boston-based hedge fund he co-founded in 1982. The investment firm currently has about $30 billion under management. According to Forbes, his estimated net worth is $1.5 billion. On the topic of cryptocurrency, Klarman said: I can’t see the point of crypto. It has this feel to me of being like catnip for techies. “The idea that we’re using more energy than the country of Iceland, to mine extra crypto, to solve math problems that don’t need t

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the global body for central banks, claims the weaknesses in crypto that were pointed out before “have pretty much materialized.” BIS General Manager Agustin Carstens opined: “You just cannot defy gravity … At some point, you really have to face the music.” BIS on Crypto Weaknesses The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has warned that a perceived danger of decentralized digital money is materializing. The BIS explained in its Annual Economic Report, published Tuesday, that the crypto market sell-off and the collapse of cryptocurrency terra (LUNA) and algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) are indicators of a structural problem in crypto. “Structural flaws make the crypto universe unsuitable as the basis for a monetary system: it lacks a stable nominal anchor, while limits to its scalability result in fragmentation. Contrary to the decentralisation narrative, crypto often relies on unregulated intermediaries that pose financial risks

During the past week, Bitcoin’s hashrate has dropped a few percentages after reaching 288 exahash per second (EH/s) on June 8, 2022. Bitcoin miners, however, got a break on Wednesday, June 22, as the mining difficulty dropped by 2.35% making it easier for miners to find blocks. The 2.35% drop brings the difficulty down to the 29.50 trillion range for the next two weeks. Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Drops 2.35% On Wednesday, June 22, at block height 741,888, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty decreased 2.35% lower than two weeks ago. At that time, the difficulty rating was 30.28 trillion and today it is 29.50 trillion. Furthermore, bitcoin’s fiat value dropped to a low of $17,593 on June 18. Essentially, Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) shifts every 2016 blocks and the changes are based on the amount of time it took to find the previous 2016 block subsidies. The difficulty is meant to keep block times consistent at roughly 10 minutes in between each BTC block found. The la

In an apparent message to critics of the Central African Republic’s bitcoin decision, the country’s president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, recently argued that understanding the crypto’s disruptive power is crucial and that “mathematics don’t account for human emotions.” According to Touadéra, the country’s future generations are likely to applaud his government for “choosing the right path during hard times.” Bitcoin Adoption Beneficial for Future Generations In remarks that appear to be directed at critics of the Central African Republic (CAR)’s decision to adopt bitcoin as its currency of reference, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, recently reiterated his country’s unwavering belief in the top cryptocurrency. He suggested to his followers that the CAR’s adoption of bitcoin is set to benefit the country’s future generations. These latest remarks by Touadéra came as the crypto market continued with its downward momentum, initially sparked by the Terra Luna crash but later exac

Popular messaging platform Telegram has announced it is launching a new premium tier of its services as it seeks to monetize a part of its userbase. Reaching more than 700 million active users monthly, the new tier answers to the need of these users for more bandwidth and storage capacity, according to Pavel Durov, CEO of the company. Telegram’s New Premium Tier to Expand User Functionality Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in cryptocurrency circles, has announced it will introduce a paid premium tier of its services that will allow its users to access new features and expand upon some that are already available. The move comes as the company seeks to monetize a good part of its userbase, which recently reached a milestone of 700 million monthly active users. The premium tier is an answer to the requirements of a set of users that wanted to upgrade their bandwidth and storage from within the app, according to CEO Pavel Durov. He stated: After giving it some though

For a few years now, the pseudonymous creator of the popular stock-to-flow (S2F) bitcoin price model, Plan B, has become a very well known bitcoin influencer gathering 1.8 million Twitter followers. However, after the S2F price model didn’t come to fruition and dropped well below the price targets in 2022, Plan B and his price model have been criticized a great deal. On Tuesday, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin denounced the S2F price model and said “financial models that give people a false sense of certainty” can be “harmful,” and they deserve to be mocked. Plan B’s Stock-to-Flow Bitcoin Price Model Is Not as Popular as It Once Was A few specific price models have been mocked this week as people have noticed that bitcoin’s price has not followed the “Rainbow” price indicator and Plan B’s famous stock-to-flow price model . The pseudonymous creator of the S2F model caught the attention of the crypto community years ago on March 22, 2019, when he published an editorial called