Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

About 14% of Saudi residents are either current crypto investors or have traded crypto in the past six months, the latest Kucoin study has found. The study has also found that 76% of investors have less than one year of experience and thus may be in need of relevant crypto education. Crypto Winter Effect Around three million Saudi Arabians, or about 14% of the adult population aged 18 to 60, are either crypto investors or have traded crypto over the last six months, the latest study conducted by the cryptocurrency exchange Kucoin has shown. The study findings also suggested that a further 17% of the country’s adults are said to be “crypto-curious and are likely to invest in cryptocurrencies over the coming six months.” According to the crypto exchange’s Into The Cryptoverse report , the study also looked at how Saudi residents’ sentiment toward crypto trading has shifted since the onset of the ongoing crypto winter. “In the first quarter of 2022, 49% of crypto investors intended

Swiss post office’s banking unit, the state-owned Postfinance, is reportedly preparing to enter the crypto market. “Our clients want direct access to this market through their house bank.” Swiss Post Office’s Banking Arm to Enter Crypto Market The banking and financial services arm of Swiss Post, the state-owned enterprise responsible for Switzerland’s postal and other essential public infrastructure services, is reportedly planning to offer its customers direct access to cryptocurrencies. The Swiss parliament established Postfinance’s predecessor in 1906 to provide payment services to retail customers. Postfinance operated as a division of Swiss Post until June 2013, when it became a bank under Swiss law. It is currently regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The bank already offers crypto exposure to its customers through the Yuh app , which it co-developed with banking group Swissquote. “Yuh combines paying, saving, and investing in one package,

European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) Chair Verena Ross says that the crypto market crash should be a “cautionary lesson” for investors. She noted that there is a “real question” about whether many crypto assets will survive. ESMA Chair on Crypto Risks and Regulation Verena Ross, chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has cautioned investors about cryptocurrency investing after the crypto market lost 70% of its value, the Financial Times reported Sunday. Emphasizing that there was no prospect of a European bailout for out-of-pocket crypto investors, she said: We already warned earlier this year . . . about the serious risks retail investors were taking investing in some of the crypto assets. ESMA will be responsible for licensing crypto asset service providers as recently agreed in Brussels as part of the provisional agreement on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) proposal. The deal will enter into force from mid-2023 and has an 18-month im

PRESS RELEASE. Adshares (ADS) is putting another stake in Metaverse’s advertising territory through a partnership with Sandbox (SAND) . The long-awaited partnership by the Adshares community has finally come to a head. The official partnership will bring the two projects closer, in order to jointly devise a clear and transparent path for the development of Adshares in the Sandbox space. Already, at this early stage of development, Sandbox is attracting the attention of the world’s largest corporations by building its brand in the metaverse and crypto space. The partnership can help automate the process of establishing relationships with companies inside the world presented by Sandbox. As mentioned earlier, this is the first step of a collaboration that, over time and agreements, will bring many benefits to companies, players and both ecosystems. Adshares intends to build its interactive headquarters in the Sandbox world, thus providing a gamified experience for its community and m

According to the latest crypto prediction report published by the product comparison platform finder.com, 77% of 53 fintech specialists polled in the report say cryptocurrency markets are officially in a “crypto winter.” The poll further explains that only 29% of the report’s participants believe the bear market will end in 2022. While bitcoin is expected to surpass $100K per coin by 2025, Finder’s experts think bitcoin will bottom out at $13,676 per unit, but also end 2022 at $25,473 per unit. Finder’s 53 Fintech Specialists Attempt to Guess Bitcoin’s Future Value Finder.com published a new forecast that says bitcoin ( BTC ) will drop to $13,676 per unit this year, according to 53 surveyed fintech specialists. While the report notes that the experts think the bottom will be around $13,676 per BTC , they also expect the leading crypto asset to end the year at $25,473 per coin. The panelists’ prediction is very much aligned with the 80% drop theory as BTC has lost more than 80% fr

As crypto matures and continues along its path of inevitable adoption, so too does the importance placed on adequately accounting for crypto as an asset class and a source of income. Cryptocurrencies at their core were not designed to fit into traditional financial systems, after all, that’s where some of their primary benefits over fiat and banking systems are found. For crypto natives, trying to fit the square peg of crypto into the round hole of traditional finance is done begrudgingly, often come tax time – or in the case of businesses with crypto, monthly to close books. In the US and other regulated economies, these actions are necessary evils to maintain crypto – but accounting for crypto neither has to be hard nor detrimental to the overall crypto ecosystem. But let’s back up for a moment. A Paradoxical Equation As companies and funds continue to make the push for a Bitcoin spot ETF and other financial products involving cryptocurrency functioning in the more traditional

South Africa’s famed Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) coins or the Krugerrands collection are set to be tokenized and will be available to potential buyers from a price as low as $200. Tokenized coins will be minted by Web3 tech firm Momint and will be available on the firm’s non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. Fractionalized Krugerrand Coins The South African Web3 tech firm Momint, in conjunction with two gold coin dealers, the Scion Shop and the South African Gold Coin Exchange, is set to tokenize the old Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) coins. The availability of tokenized ZAR coins makes it possible even for the less wealthy enthusiasts to own portions of South Africa’s famed coins. As explained in a report published by IT News Africa, possession of the non-fungible tokens (NFT) of ZAR coins means holders are also part owners of the actual coins. The complete set of coins being tokenized includes those minted before the South African War of 1899. To ensure the tokenized c

Electronics giant Samsung has announced the launch of Space Tycoon, a metaverse-based experience built as part of the Roblox world. The gaming metaverse, which is directed to entertain Gen Z users, will feature a world in which Samsung products can be constructed by picking their fundamental components. The experience will also include a shop for buying in-game items. Samsung’s New Metaverse in Space Big companies are now focusing part of their efforts on creating enticing metaverse-based worlds as part of their strategy. Samsung, the electronics company, is launching a metaverse world constructed as a part of the Roblox universe. The experience, called Space Tycoon, will allow users to participate as part of a space station getting resources to design and produce Samsung products. The virtual world will also offer the opportunity to purchase items for the players’ avatars from a shop. This experience is directed toward a younger audience, which will have the opportunity to learn

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed into law a bill amending the country’s Tax Code to impose higher tax rates on crypto miners. The levy will depend on the amount and average price of electricity utilized in the extraction of digital currencies like bitcoin. Cryptocurrency Miners in Kazakhstan to Pay Higher Taxes President Tokayev of Kazakhstan has signed a new piece of legislation introducing changes to the nation’s law “On Taxes and Other Mandatory Payments to the Budget” and supplementary law enhancing the implementation of the Tax Code. The amendments introduce differentiated tax rates for cryptocurrency mining. The exact levies will be determined based on the average price of the electricity consumed to mint coins during a certain tax period. They start as low as 1 Kazakhstani tenge (approx. $0.002 at the time of writing) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), when a miner paid 25 tenge or more ($0.053) per kWh, and can reach 10 tenge, if the electricity tariff was in

Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, has a message for investors considering cryptocurrency. “Never touch it,” he stressed, adding that everyone should follow his example and avoid crypto “as if it were an open sewer, full of malicious organisms.” Charlie Munger Reaffirms His Anti-Crypto Stance Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right-hand man and longtime business partner, threw more insults at cryptocurrency in an interview with The Australian Financial Review, published Tuesday. Munger previously called bitcoin “rat poison” and said last year that he hated the success of BTC . Noting that the “crypto craze” is a “mass folly,” he told the publication: I think anybody that sells this stuff is either delusional or evil. I won’t touch the crypto. The Berkshire executive continued: “I’m not interested in undermining the national currencies of the world.” Munger was then asked what advice he would give to other investors who may be consi

Twitter Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk to force the Tesla CEO to go through with the agreement to buy the social medial platform for $44 billion. Twitter alleges that Musk has breached the agreement repeatedly since he signed the deal with the company. Twitter v. Elon Musk: Lawsuit Battle Begins Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) has filed a lawsuit against Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk for backing out of the deal to buy the social media platform. The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, names Musk and his companies — X Holdings I and X Holdings II — as defendants. Twitter alleges: Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests. The lawsuit explains that after Musk signed the agreement with Twitter, the market fell and the value of his stake in Tesla, and therefore his personal wealth, dropped by more than $100 billion since its November 2021 peak. The social media giant

With live-tested transaction speeds of 64,000 TPS, infinitely scalable blockchain Everscale is undeniably one of the fastest out there, and if H1 2022 is anything to go by, its development progress is no less rapid. Despite seriously bearish trends in the crypto market triggered in large part by the collapse of Terra’s LUNA token and UST stablecoin, and later compounded by a significant crisis for crypto lender Celsius, Everscale continued to bolster its already considerable advantages at a rate of knots, ticking off plenty of roadmap goals as it went. Listings on major crypto exchanges such as Huobi, KuCoin, and BitMartare a testament to the blockchain’s achievements over the period. Everscale’s transaction costs were already comparatively very low before the recent developments, but Q1, which was still a green one for most tokens and positive for the industry in general, saw the platform’s gas fees reduce to just 0.014 EVER (currently around $0.0014). There was good news for an

The government of Spain has announced it will issue a series of grants and aid for metaverse-related developments. The individuals and companies interested in receiving these grants will have to be based in the European Union or Spain and present a plan, and meet a series of requirements, to be considered. The first batch of grants will be dedicated to the gaming and entertainment sector. Spain Acknowledges Relevance of the Metaverse Countries from all over the world are now considering the metaverse and its related technologies as important developmental pillars for the future. Spain has announced it will dedicate more than $4 million in grants for metaverse-related projects. The grants program, which will be managed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of the country, will be directed to companies and individuals working on the metaverse projects in the European Union or in Spain directly. Those interested in applying for these grants will have to prese

A British jeweler has sued its insurance company for refusing to cover a bitcoin ransom payment of $7.5 million. The jeweler paid the hackers to prevent sensitive customer data from being published. Insurance Company Faces Lawsuit for Refusing to Cover Bitcoin Ransom Payment A luxury British Jeweler, Graff, has sued its insurer, The Travelers Companies, for refusing to cover a ransom bitcoin payment, Bloomberg reported last week. The jeweler paid a bitcoin ransom of $7.5 million to the Russian hacking gang Conti after the group threatened to leak data of the company’s big clients, including Middle East royalty. Graff negotiated the ransom payment amount with the hackers and managed to reduce it from $15 million. Conti attacked Graff in September last year and leaked data about the royal families from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar. The hackers apologized to the families but said that they may need to leak more of Graff’s data. “Our goal is to publish as m

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) says it is working on a “robust” regulatory framework for crypto assets and will report its recommendations to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in October. FSB to Present Robust Crypto Regulatory Framework to G20 in October The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system, released a statement Monday on the “international regulation and supervision of crypto asset activities.” The G20 watchdog stated that it is committed to promoting “international consistency of regulatory and supervisory approaches amongst national authorities and international standard-setters as they work towards developing risk-based, technology-neutral policy for the wide spectrum of crypto-assets, grounded in the principle of ‘same, activity, same risk, same regulation.'” Noting that crypto assets, including stablecoins, are fast evolving, the FSB explained that th

NFT domains enable users to establish a presence on the decentralized web and the metaverse, with Quik.com providing top-level domains such as .metaverse, .vr, .web3, and many other powerful options for users to claim. Check out metaverse domains . The metaverse ideology and the emerging concept of brands establishing themselves in the decentralized web-based virtual universe have created a race for top-tier domains for businesses, individuals, and many developers to acquire the best at the early stages of this virtual universe. While traditional domains optimize a centralized dispute resolution process and are managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), decentralized domains give rightful owners control over their websites and prevent third-party interference, reducing reliance on ICANN. The growing popularity of NFTs and decentralized technology giving sole autonomy to the owner have raised the bar to eliminate the high barriers controlling the

A new survey shows that the majority of nearly 1,000 investors who responded expect bitcoin’s price to drop to $10K. In addition, 28% of respondents expressed strong confidence that cryptocurrencies are the future of finance while 20% said they are worthless. Investors Believe Bitcoin Could Fall to $10K The latest Bloomberg MLIV Pulse survey, conducted from July 5-8, asked 950 investors who responded where they see bitcoin’s price heading. Respondents were asked, “Which level will bitcoin trade at first? $10K or $30K.” According to the results published Monday, 60% of them said BTC will drop to the $10K level first. Furthermore, 28% of respondents expressed strong confidence that cryptocurrencies are the future of finance while 20% said they are worthless, Bloomberg conveyed, adding that most respondents were at least slightly skeptical about cryptocurrencies. When asked about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), only 9% of respondents said they were an investment opportunity. The majori

Venezuela, one of the first countries in Latam to be considered “crypto-friendly” by some standards, has ranked third in adoption rates, according to a report issued by the United Nations. The report, issued last month, states that the cryptocurrency ecosystem has grown by 2,300% between September 2019 and June 2021, and that the Covid-19 pandemic was one of the main catalysts for this growth. Venezuela Among Countries With Most Crypto Adoption A report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has found that Venezuela ranks third among the countries with the most cryptocurrency adoption, only behind Russia and Bulgaria. The report, which also deals with the causes of this growth and crypto regulation, found that 10.3% of citizens in Venezuela held cryptocurrencies. Russians were second on the list, with 11.9% of the population holding crypto, while Ukraine ranked first, with 10.7% of its citizens holding some kind of crypto. This can be explained by the eco

Bitso, a Mexican-based, Latam operating cryptocurrency exchange, announced it is launching a remittance service in Colombia. The company will now allow its customers in Colombia to send and receive remittances using dollar-pegged stablecoins on the platform. The exchange launched a similar service in Mexico last year in partnership with Circle. Bitso Expand Remittances Program to Colombia Exchanges are embracing crypto as a useful tool to transfer value across borders. Bitso, a Mexican-based exchange with operations in several countries in Latam, has announced the launch of a remittance service in Colombia this week. With these new services, Colombian users will be able to send and receive remittances using digital dollars on the platform of the exchange. The service will be focused on remittances sent from and to the U.S., and according to the exchange, it’s one of the destinations where remittances sent experienced significant growth during the last year. While the company did n

Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges worldwide, has secured a license from the Bank of Spain that will let the exchange operate in compliance with the local laws. This certification means that the exchange is currently complying with its AML/KYC processes required by the government of the country. More than 17 companies have received this certification by now. Binance Gets Operating License From the Bank of Spain Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange, has received the certification of the Bank of Spain to operate as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the country. This means that the authorities have found that Binance, through its Spanish subsidiary Moon Tech Spain, S.L., complies with all of the AML/KYC processes established by the Bank of Spain. This is a major milestone for the exchange in the country, that had applied to receive this certification since January. The company is now allowed to offer its cryptocurrency trading and custody services in the country wi

Jordan Belfort, aka the Wolf of Wall Street, says if you take a three, four, or five-year horizon, he would be shocked if you didn’t make money investing in bitcoin because the underlying fundamentals are really strong. The Wolf of Wall Street Shares Bitcoin Outlook Jordan Belfort, aka the Wolf of Wall Street, recently shared his outlook for bitcoin on Yahoo Finance’s The Crypto Mile show. Belfort is a former stockbroker whose memoir was adapted into a film titled “The Wolf of Wall Street,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese. Belfort founded Stratton Oakmont which functioned as a boiler room that marketed penny stocks and defrauded investors with pump-and-dump stock sales. He pleaded guilty to fraud in 1999 and went to prison for 22 months; he is now a motivational speaker. Belfort was skeptical about crypto and bitcoin back in 2017. He is now marketing himself as a cryptocurrency guru . While insisting that he stands by what he said about crypto back then

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has warned of an impending “big panic event” in the crypto space. “I don’t believe we’ve seen the bottom yet and I have a different view of it,” he said. Kevin O’Leary Warns of a ‘Big Panic Event’ in Crypto Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary shared his crypto outlook in an interview on Youtube channel Meet Kevin last week. He was asked how far the price of bitcoin could fall and whether BTC could drop to $13K as some people have predicted. “It’s impossible to know where the bottom is,” O’Leary replied, adding: I don’t believe we’ve seen the bottom yet and I have a different view of it. Referencing his past experience, the Shark Tank star said: “I go back again to other asset classes that I have invested in for decades. In every case — traditional bonds, traditional equities, real estate, alternative asset classes — bottoms are reached with an event, a panic event as I call it, and you can find it in every asset class.” O’Leary not

Peter Schiff says he will sell his bank, Euro Pacific, for bitcoin if the Puerto Rican regulators let him sell it. “My bank was not put into receivership for being insolvent. It was put there for being under-capitalized,” the bitcoin skeptic said. Peter Schiff Says He’s Willing to Sell His Bank for Bitcoin Bitcoin skeptic and gold bug Peter Schiff is still trying to sell his bank, Euro Pacific. However, the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico, also known as Oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras (OCIF), has suspended the operations of his bank due to its “crass noncompliance with the minimum capital requirements.” Schiff claims that he already has a buyer for the bank lined up but the regulator will not let him sell it. On Friday, he was asked on Twitter whether he is willing to sell his bank for bitcoin. Schiff, who has been a vocal bitcoin skeptic, replied: “Actually yes, I would sell the bank for anything if regulators let me sell it.” “I am c