Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Tokyo bankruptcy court trustee for the defunct Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, Nobuaki Kobayashi, has published a letter stating that creditors have until March 10, 2023 (Japan Time) to register their repayment claims. Kobayashi explains that the team is dealing with “a large number of inquiries” and may not be able to respond to creditors in time if they have questions about the process. Mt Gox Trustee Shares Final Deadline for Creditor Registration The Mt Gox saga appears to be nearing its conclusion as the Shibuya-based bitcoin exchange’s rehabilitation committee and bankruptcy trustee have outlined a repayment process. The exchange, which launched in 2010, suspended operations in February 2014 and filed for bankruptcy after 800,000 bitcoins were stolen. Since then, 200,000 bitcoins have been recovered, and that amount, along with the corresponding bitcoin cash ( BCH ) funds tied to the bitcoins, is being used to repay Mt Gox creditors. In a letter dated March 7, 2023,

On March 8, Coinbase announced the launch of its Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) product. The WaaS product aims to “bring the next hundred million consumers into Web3 through a seamless wallet-onboarding experience.” The Coinbase WaaS offers wallet infrastructure application programming interfaces (APIs) to companies, enabling them to build their own custom Web3 crypto wallets. Coinbase’s Wallet-as-a-Service Aims to Simplify Onboarding Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN ) has revealed a new addition to its suite of offerings and services: Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS). In a Twitter thread, Coinbase stated that the WaaS “is a scalable and secure set of wallet infrastructure APIs, enabling companies to create and deploy fully customizable onchain wallets.” Additionally, the Coinbase wallet infrastructure provides “multi-party computation (MPC)” cryptography, which removes the need to manage a complicated 24-word recovery phrase. 1/ Today we introduce Wallet as a Service, making it easier for

At 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Silvergate Bank announced its intention to wind down the crypto-friendly bank’s operations and voluntarily liquidate the company’s assets. The news follows significant financial troubles the bank faced, and the firm’s stock plummeted in value. Details of Silvergate’s Wind Down and Liquidation Plan Over the last six months, Silvergate Capital Corporation’s (NYSE: SI ) stock dropped 94.82% against the U.S. dollar as the company faced significant financial troubles tied to its exposure to the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX . On Wednesday, March 8, 2023, the company announced it was winding down operations and plans to liquidate the bank. Four days ago, Silvergate discontinued the firm’s Silvergate Exchange Network payment platform. “In light of recent industry and regulatory developments, Silvergate believes that an orderly wind down of bank operations and a voluntary liquidation of the bank is the best path forward,” the company’s press release detailed.

Some retailers in Argentina are already pricing imported items in U.S. dollars, according to reports from local news outlets. The idea behind this would be to keep prices stable and avoid repricing articles each day, a practice that has already been adopted in other Latam countries like Venezuela, which present high levels of inflation. U.S Dollars Now Used to Price Merchandise in Argentina The U.S. dollar is starting to make inroads in Argentina as a unit of account. According to reports from local outlets, some Argentine stores and retailers are pricing their goods in dollars, seeking to avoid constant repricing due to the devaluation of the national fiat currency, the Argentine peso. According to reports from La Nacion, these prices are mostly associated with clothing, including sneakers, and branded t-shirts and caps, that are mostly imported from other countries. However, to purchase these articles, customers can also pay with Argentine pesos, using the informal exchange rate

PRESS RELEASE. It is incredible to see the utilisation of AI in every industry in some shape or form, but above all else, companies such as ChatGPT or DALL-E that are able to respond to millions of requests within a matter of seconds provide a clear illustration of the amount of processing and power being utilized in the backend. In order to produce accurate results, these large companies will need sufficient processing power to train their AI models for deep learning. So, they will have to rely on HPC data centres. Solidus is building an HPC data centre in Europe and has already raised over $6,000,000 in investment from interested companies and high net-worth individuals. The idea is to reduce computing costs and transform the way computing and technology activities are organised when combined with scalable tools in order to support and nudge developers to deliver and monetize their applications easily, quickly, and securely. In addition, large institutions will also be able to be

Hexa, a 3D modeling company, has raised $20.5 million in its latest funding round to facilitate the task of bringing products into the metaverse. This new injection will ostensibly allow the company to expand its current workforce involved in engineering and business tasks, to improve the workflow of the company. Hexa Raises $20.5 Million in Series A Funding Round Hexa, a 3D modeling company, has announced the results of its Series A funding round, raising raised $20.5 million. The round, which saw the participation of Point72 Ventures, Samurai Incubate, Sarona Partners, and HTC, will allow the company to extend its current workforce to tend to the growing number of customers seeking its services, which tripled this year. Hexa, which is already working with stores like Macy’s, Logitech, and Unity, the gaming engine, consists in taking real products to metaverse worlds. This modeling process is semi-automatic, using AI algorithms and engineers to transform a catalog of 2D images, l

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released a report summarizing the “Project Icebreaker” trial, which explored the potential advantages and difficulties of utilizing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in cross-border payments. The experiment was designed to test “the technical feasibility of conducting cross-border – cross-currency transactions between different [distrubuted ledger technology]-based CBDC proof of concepts.” Technical Feasibility of Cross-Border Retail CBDC Payments Reportedly Proven in Project Icebreaker Trial Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have been a key focus for the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in recent times. BIS recently published a report asserting that most crypto asset investors lost money over the past seven years. The report highlighted BIS insisting there’s an urgent need for regulating the crypto industry and developing a CBDC. Following the report, BIS general manager Agustin Carstens stated that crypt

Compass Mining, a bitcoin mining firm, published a blog post stating that Bitmain, the company behind the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rig, has made changes to its design. The post advised miners to be aware of the changes as Compass Mining identified “three issues” with two different Antminer S19 series mining devices. Bitcoin Miner Compass Mining Identifies 3 Issues with Antminer S19 Series Compass Mining, a bitcoin mining company, posted a blog post titled “Bitmain Changed Its ASIC Design. Miners Need to Be Ready,” highlighting changes in Bitmain’s ASIC design. Compass believes bitcoin mining facility operators should be aware of the changes, which could cause issues. For example, the firm identified three problems with the Antminer S19, producing 90 terahash per second (TH/s), and the S19 XP, offering 140 TH/s. William Foxley of Compass Mining explains that the new machines lack a peripheral interface controller (PIC) on the ASICs, making it harder to

The organization representing Russia’s crypto and blockchain sector has urged Vladimir Putin to spur regulatory efforts. The association fears the Russian Federation may lag behind other nations if it maintains its conservative approach towards new financial technologies. Russian Crypto Businesses Want Putin to Engage With Regulatory Process The Russian Association of Cryptoeconomics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain (Racib) has called on President of Russia Vladimir Putin to back the crypto community in shaping the country’s regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and related technologies. In a letter to the Russian head of state, its members warn that the government’s attitude towards digital asset regulation poses “serious risks of the economy lagging behind in the introduction of new financial technologies,” crypto news outlets Bits.media and RBC Crypto reported. The organization insists that the current state policy does not allow Russian companies to take advantage

Bitcoin remained in consolidation earlier in Tuesday’s session, as markets prepared for this afternoon’s testimony from Fed Chair Powell. The head of the U.S. Federal Reserve will be speaking in front of the Senate Banking Committee later in the day. Ethereum was also largely unchanged, as it traded close to a support point. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) continued to trade sideways on Tuesday, as market uncertainty remained high ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s testimony. Many believe that Powell will give some forward guidance into the Federal Reserve’s current thinking, and how aggressive they may be in their upcoming meeting. BTC /USD fell to a low of $22,356.62 earlier in the day, less than 24 hours after trading at a high of $22,584.29. Looking at the chart, today’s move sees the world’s largest cryptocurrency continue to trade above a floor at $22,300. This coincides with the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) also hovering above its own point of support at 42.00. At the time of w

PRESS RELEASE. Shellboxes, a leading Web 3 company with top-level blockchain security and consulting services, has announced its commitment to help project owners stay protected amid rising cyberattacks in the industry. The Shellboxes team has raised the alarm over the carefree attitude of most Web 3 project owners who pay little to no attention to the growing risk of cyberattacks. According to a report by Chainalysis, 2022 witnessed the most significant loss of crypto assets to hackers. The report revealed a whopping $3.8 billion was stolen, mainly from DeFi protocols. As the risk of these cyberattacks increases in the Web 3 space, ShellBoxes is advising Web3 project owners to take the security of their platform/project seriously. These owners need to ensure their projects undergo robust and thorough security audits. Some project owners settle for low-tier quality audits with the sole purpose of laundering the business’ brand image instead of the security of the project. ShellBoxe

While interest in digital assets has waned in some parts of the world, in the Middle East and Northern Africa adoption of crypto has been skyrocketing according to Mustafa Kheriba, the executive chairman of the asset management firm Iceberg Capital Limited. According to Kheriba, factors such as high inflation and residents’ desire for high-return investment opportunities have drawn many to cryptocurrency. The Many Benefits of Blockchain Despite the bearish conditions that persisted in much of 2022, according to Mustafa Kheriba, the executive chairman of Iceberg Capital Limited, interest and adoption of crypto and blockchain has not dissipated. To support this assertion, Kheriba pointed to the 23rd State of the Developer report which suggests that most experienced software developers are “most likely to be working on blockchain projects.” Nevertheless, the Iceberg Capital Limited executive chairman told Bitcoin.com News interest has particularly been surging in the Middle East an

Three Russians are going to spend time in high-security prison for stealing over a million U.S. dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from another man. In addition, the court has also ordered them to fully compensate the victim for the damages, prosecutors announced. Robbers Get Prison Sentence for Cryptocurrency Theft in Russia A court in the Russian city of Omsk has issued a verdict in a criminal case against three men from Moscow who extorted a large amount of digital currency from a man in Siberia. Two of them have been found guilty of robbery and forgery of documents and the third one of fraud. In July 2021, these individuals learned that a resident of Omsk owned significant crypto funds. They traveled all the way from the capital to the Siberian city where they followed the victim for about 10 days, examining his movements and daily routines. On the day of the attack, they stopped the man on the street, presented fake IDs and forced him into a car. Later, they took away 3 million

A recent study indicates that Spain is one of the hottest countries regarding real estate offerings that can be paid with cryptocurrency. The report, prepared by Forex Suggest, found that Spain is the country with the most properties available for crypto, followed by Thailand, Portugal, and the UAE. Spain Ranks First Among Countries With Properties on Sale for Crypto A recent study made by Forex Suggest, which examined which countries had the most properties on sale for cryptocurrency, found that Spain was the hottest destination for real estate crypto investors. The study, which aggregated properties available in specialized crypto real estate portals, found that 289 properties were available to purchase with crypto in Spain alone. The report explains that the properties offered are mostly located in the cities of Alicante and Marbella, and more urban properties are in the city of Barcelona. This number puts the country at the forefront of all other nations by a significant numb

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an emergency action against Miami-based investment adviser Bkcoin and one of its principals, Kevin Kang. “The defendants disregarded the structure of the funds, commingled investor assets, and used more than $3.6 million to make Ponzi-like payments to fund investors,” the SEC alleged. SEC’s ‘Emergency Action’ Against Bkcoin, Kevin Kang The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Monday that it has filed an “emergency action” against Miami investment adviser Bkcoin and one of its principals, Kevin Kang, “for orchestrating a $100 million crypto fraud scheme.” The securities regulator explained that “it successfully obtained an asset freeze, appointment of a receiver, and other emergency relief” against Bkcoin and Kang. The SEC detailed that from at least October 2018 through September 2022, Bkcoin raised approximately $100 million from at least 55 investors to invest in crypto assets. “Bkcoin and Kang assured

Meta, the social network company, is getting some pushback on its plan to market and bring Horizon Worlds, its flagship metaverse app, to teens. Democratic senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal directed a letter to the company to halt these actions, citing concerns about the interactions that teens could have in Meta’s virtual worlds. Meta Sees Opposition to Metaverse Adoption Plans for Teens Two Democratic senators have written a letter asking Meta to stop its recently reported plan of opening its metaverse world to teens. Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal, Democrat senators from Massachusetts and Connecticut, criticize the idea of opening Horizon Worlds, Meta’s flagship metaverse app, to teens 13 years and up, citing diverse factors that might endanger them through the interactions available in this virtual world. The letter differentiates between standard virtual reality experiences and Horizon Worlds, explaining that “the cumulative set of immersive virtual reality experien

Growing shortages of foreign exchange on the interbank market have reportedly forced the Central Bank of Kenya to ask financial institutions to ration dollar purchases by Kenyan businesses. The shortages have forced Kenyan firms to seek greenbacks on alternative markets where the exchange rate is higher than the official government rate. New Limits Curtailing Operations of Kenyan Firms Kenya’s ongoing foreign exchange shortages have reportedly forced the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to instruct financial institutions to impose caps on the amount of forex that businesses and individuals can purchase. According to a Business Daily report, some financial institutions have imposed caps as low as $5,000 per day. The imposed limits make it difficult for Kenyan manufacturers and importers to meet their obligations. The shortages, which reportedly began in mid-2022, suggest that the country’s foreign currency woes are worsening. In October of that year, a CBK statement denied Kenyan Deput

PRESS RELEASE. In traditional financial markets, the term trading strategy describes a comprehensive plan covering all trading activities, guiding investors to execute their target trades. In the world of crypto, a trading strategy refers to a predetermined plan or trading behavior designed to help investors profit from buying or selling cryptos in both long and short markets. Although not necessary for all types of crypto trading, a sound trading strategy can help investors mitigate potential risks. During extreme market conditions, an effective trading strategy enables crypto users to take prompt countermeasures and minimize their losses. In other words, by setting out a trading strategy, investors prepare for all sorts of scenarios and design the corresponding measures. Overall, a mature and well-designed trading strategy is crucial for investors, as it helps them take advantage of market swings, make easy investments, and maximize profits or minimize losses. Generally speaking

Israel’s tax authority is after two creators of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) suspected of failing to report almost $2.2 million in revenue. The news of the investigation comes after the recent arrest of a graphic designer from Tel Aviv accused of similar offenses. Thousands of ‘Western Wall NFTs’ Allegedly Sold Without Tax Reporting Israel Tax Authority is investigating two NFT creators in Jerusalem who did not report millions of U.S. dollars in revenue received from the sale of their digital works. The tokens they offered were based on a 3D scan of the stones of the Western Wall. The suspects, Avraham Cohen and Antony Polak, own the Holyrocknft.com website through which they sold their NFTs, the Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. The platform claims to “combine the business world and technological progress with Jewish faith and spirit.” Investigators were able to establish that since 2021 the two Israelis sold 1,700 digital works for 620 ETH . At rates at the time of transactions,

Numbers from the Brazilian tax authority indicate that the cryptocurrency market experienced a resurgence in January, with trading increasing more than 10% compared to December. Tether’s usdt is still the currency that moves the most volume, a reality related to OTC (over-the-counter) trades, according to market analysts. Crypto Market Moves Again in January, According to Brazilian Tax Authority The Brazilian tax authority, which receives reports of the movements of cryptocurrency by law for tax collecting purposes, released its crypto volume reports corresponding to January. The institution revealed a growth in the volume of the cryptocurrency market, with $2.85 billion dollars being transacted during the period. When compared to December, the market experienced growth of more than 10%, recovering after events that have been affecting the cryptocurrency sector worldwide, like the bankruptcy of several exchanges and crypto lenders such as FTX, Celsius, and Blockfi. The numbers of

Banks in Pakistan plan to launch an electronic platform for know-your-customer procedures that will be operating on a national level. The blockchain-based system will allow them to exchange the personal information of customers through what they describe as a decentralized and self-regulated network. Banks of Pakistan Looking to Employ Blockchain for KYC Checks Pakistan Banks’ Association ( PBA ) has signed a contract for the implementation of a blockchain-based know-your-customer (KYC) platform which will be developed by Avanza Group. The latter unites companies specializing in advanced banking applications, customer experience management solutions, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. The signing ceremony was held at the industry organization’s office in Karachi on Thursday and was attended by a number of officials, including its Chairman, Muhammad Aurangzeb and the CEO of Avanza Innovations, Waqas Mirza, the PBA announced. The project to create the electronic KYC system is