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Ethereum

Ethereum balances on cryptocurrency exchanges at their lowest levels

Ethereum price
Ethereum (ETH) Market Update 09/08

The amount of Ethereum native token, ETH, held by crypto exchanges has dropped to its lowest level since September 2018, indicating traders’ intent to hold the tokens in anticipation of a price rally in 2022.

According to Glassnode data, nearly 550,000 ETH (worth approximately $1.61 billion) have left centralized trading platforms this year. The massive outflow has reduced the exchanges’ net-Ether balance to 21.72 million ETH, down from 31.68 million ETH in June 2020.

Interestingly, over 30% of all Ether withdrawals from exchanges seen in 2022 appeared earlier this week, according to data from IntoTheBlock. In particular, over 180,000 ETH left crypto trading platforms on March 15, bringing the weekly outflow’s value to slightly more than $500 million as of March 18.

According to Chainalysis data, Ether tokens could have left exchanges at an average of about 120,000 units per day this week, indicating a bullish signal. IntoTheBlock shared a similar bullish outlook, citing a fractal from October 2021 in which the Ether price rose by 15% ten days after the Ethereum network detected massive ETH withdrawals from centralized crypto exchanges.

According to IntoTheBlock, the increase in Ether withdrawals from exchanges this week coincided with approximately 190,000 ETH moving into Lido’s “stETH liquid stakin” pools. To summarize, Lido is a noncustodial staking service that helps users overcome the challenges of staking on the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain, such as the requirement of staking a minimum of 32 ETH or its multiples.

Furthermore, Lido proposes that the capital efficiency problem be solved by issuing stETH, a tokenized version of staked ETH.

Over the last 30 days, Ether holders have invested over 1 million ETH in the Ethereum 2.0 contract. And, as the protocol prepares to transition completely to proof-of-stake (PoS) in the summer — following its “Merge” earlier this week on the Kiln testnet — the likelihood of more Ether tokens leaving active supply has increased.

The optimism surrounding Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake has caused Ether to rebound this week. The price of ETH has risen by more than 17% week to date, reaching nearly $3,000. Surprisingly, the upward retracement began at a technical level, with rising trendline support, which has a recent history of limiting Ether’s bearish outlooks.

Ether’s gains could be limited by another technical level, this time a falling trendline resistance that has also played a role in limiting its upside attempts since January 2022.

These trendlines appear to have formed a continuation pattern known as a symmetrical triangle, indicating that Ether will most likely continue in the same direction as before. For the time being, a pullback from the triangle’s resistance trendline could send ETH back toward the triangle’s support trendline.

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Altcoins Price Analysis

Shiba Inu (SHIB) Forecast 03/20

Shiba eternity
Shiba Inu Unveils Shiba Eternity

Shiba Inu has had a somewhat melancholy ride since it first appeared on the crypto world in August 2020. The crypto asset that was labeled as a ‘joke coin,’ along with an unnamed developer, quickly shed that label and stormed the crypto market.

SHIB was created to dethrone Dogecoin and was even dubbed the “Dogecoin Killer.” Shiba Inu exceeded DOGE’s market capitalization on October 27, 2021, largely to market commentators, analysts, and traders warming up to the crypto asset, sending its price skyrocketing.

Although the reasoning behind its price increase remained unknown, market analysts ascribed it to speculation rather than technical changes.

SHIB supporters, dubbed the ‘Shib Army,’ tirelessly marketed the coin on social media, with an occasional statement from billionaire investor and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk throwing the community into a frenzy.

Some market observers also attributed the coin’s ascent to the creation of the decentralized exchange ShibaSwap, which prompted many supporters to hold onto their hoard for an extended amount of time in the hope of reaping exceptional returns.

Shiba Inu’s popularity would expand further when the coin was listed on most exchanges in September 2021, prompting a petition to ask Robinhood to do the same.

The price of the digital coin continued to rise the following month, when Elon Musk tweeted a tweet with an image of the Shiba Inu puppy on his Twitter account, generating a 600 percent spike in value.

Shiba Inu, on the other hand, was not immune to the high market volatility and soon found itself in the red.

The excitement around Shiba Inu has subsided, but the coin appears to be making a comeback this year. Despite the fact that SHIB has lost about two-thirds of its value since October 2021, many happenings surrounding it have piqued the curiosity of supporters once more.

ShibaSwap 2.0, the proposed new version of Shiba Inu’s decentralized crypto exchange, would contain a feature that allows the burning of SHIB tokens, reducing its circulating quantity and, perhaps, boosting values, according to a major member of the Shiba Inu team known as ‘Archangel.’

Although ShibaSwap 2.0 is still in the works and no precise launch date has been revealed, many market observers expect it will be available before the third quarter of the year, with the burning process tipped to be a major stimulus for the coin’s growth.

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Bitcoin Blockchain Ethereum Opinion Price Analysis

Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Forecast 03/20

Bitcoin
bitcoin ethereum bnb forecast 03/20

The last six days appear to be the beginning of a new altseason. Many people were ecstatic to see that many projects had made significant progress. This is reflected in the overall crypto market, which has risen by nearly 9% in the last six days. It began the week worth $1.72 trillion but is now worth $1.87 trillion.

The sector has broken a two-week trend in which it opened and closed an intraweek session at the same valuation. Despite the rise in the prices of most altcoins, general market sentiment has not risen significantly. After a brief overview of the industry, let’s take a look at how some Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB performed this week.

The previous intraweek session ended with no discernible increase. Bitcoin began at $38,404 and climbed as high as $42,591 before closing at $37,790. Unfortunately, Bitcoin remains in the $37k – $42k range.

This is especially true given that the top coin has been unable to reach $43k after several attempts above $42,000 in the last six days. It began the current week at $37,763 and has increased by nearly 5% since the first day.

On Tuesday, BTC retraced and failed to close in on the greens, resulting in lower trading volume and increased selling pressure. On the third day, Bitcoin saw a lot of trading, dipping to a low of $38,865 and reaching a high of $41,693.

The largest cryptocurrency, on the other hand, is currently experiencing its largest correction this week. As of the time of writing, it was down by 3%. The on-chain data is consistent with the most recent movement in BTC.

It is printing more bearish than bullish action. Nonetheless, we observed that transactions worth more than $100,000 exceeded $153 billion in the last six days (a slight decrease from the previous six days).

Ethereum reached a high of $2,779 and a low of $2,445. The coin saw a lot of trading activity during that time, but it didn’t record any significant gains or losses at the end of that session.

The failure of ETH to emerge from the previous seven-day period with any discernible growth is the result of nearly equal amounts of both opposing influences. Over the last six days, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has experienced more bullish action than bearish.

Starting the week at $2,516, the largest alt saw a significant boost and was off to a solid start. Following that strong start, the asset remained bullish throughout the week, experiencing uptrends for the majority of the time.

Tuesday witnessed only minor improvements compared to Monday, although it concluded with a green candle, indicating a small increase. On Wednesday, the digital asset saw the greatest increase, rising about 6%.

The second-largest coin, like Bitcoin, showed a bullish divergence on the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) four days ago, signaling the start of the rise. The asset has moved above its Displaced Moving Average (DMA) and is now above it.

In the end, ethereum gained about 15% in the last six days. Despite optimistic signals from numerous indicators, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is falling following a more than four-day rise due to a reduction in demand concentration.

Over the weekend, BNB returned to its previous pattern of retracement. The candle for the current intraday session is red, indicating that the asset is down a few percent.

Without a doubt, BNB saw larger price rises than the prior year. Like the previous project, it had a bullish divergence on the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) four days ago, signaling the beginning of the rise.

It also gained stability above its DMA and pivot point. With a minor uptick at the start of the week, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency got off to a solid start. Apart from Tuesday, the coin has been rising for the majority of the current intraweek session.

BNB soared as high as $406, gaining stability above $400 but only for a short while before retracing below it. Unfortunately, the pullback has resulted in a downturn in the RSI, which is currently at 52.

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Altcoins Blockchain News

Uniswap, Solana, and Cardano networks are rapidly growing

Uniswap

Uniswap, Solana, and Cardano continue to be among the top-performing blockchain networks. Uniswap (UNI), an Ethereum-based decentralized network protocol, has dominated blockchain platforms with the most development activity in the last 30 days.

According to Santiment Data, the Uniswap protocol’s GitHub repository has received 1,070 notable code submissions per day from developers. Uniswap outnumbered the previous leader, Solana, who received 418 submissions. Meanwhile, Cardano, Polkadot, and Kusama rounded out the top five blockchains in terms of developer activity. According to data from the crypto social sentiments tracker, the blockchains saw 386, 381, and 381 daily code submissions, respectively.

The brisk development activity among blockchain platforms is remarkable, especially given the recent market volatility. In the time under consideration, the platforms’ tokens have also generated positive returns.

Uniswap is up 10.5 percent on the 7-day chart, Solana is up 11.48 percent, and Cardano is up 9.33 percent. Polkadot and Kusama are also up 5.16 percent and 17.1 percent in price, respectively.

Uniswap has not only outperformed in terms of development activity. The automatic market maker (AMM) DEX has the second-highest total value locked (TVL) of any decentralized exchange at the moment. According to DefiLlama, a DeFi data aggregator, Uniswap has a TVL of $7.53 billion. Among DEXs, Uniswap is only surpassed by Curve (CRV).

Similarly, Uniswap is ranked seventh on all DeFi platforms by TVL. UNI, the protocol’s governance token, has also been performing well in the market. UNI is currently trading at around $9.29, up 6.79 percent in the last 24 hours and 10.93 percent in the last seven days. The UNI token is ranked 24th in the crypto market, with a market cap of more than $6.6 billion.

Uniswap’s success is undeniably linked to Ethereum’s growing adoption and popularity. The Ethereum blockchain, dubbed the “world computer,” has lived up to its moniker. It continues to outperform other blockchains in terms of total value locked in DeFi.

Ethereum has a TVL of $116.3 billion, giving it a 55.14 percent market share. The blockchain also has the most extensive DeFi ecosystem, hosting 567 top protocols.

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Blockchain News Regulation

Binance will shut down operations in Ontario

Binance U.S.
Binance was sued over Terra

Binance confirmed in a Wednesday undertaking to the Ontario Securities Commission, or OSC, in Canada that it will cease activities involving Ontario residents. Binance will also stop opening new Ontario accounts and will offer fee waivers and reimbursements to certain Ontario users under the supervision of a third party, according to the company.

The agreement appears to be the end of a dispute that began in June when Binance announced that it would no longer service Ontario accounts and advised customers to close out active positions by the end of the year. The OSC introduced a new prospectus and registration requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges a month before Binance’s announcement.

Binance informed investors in December that it was permitted to continue operations in the province despite the lack of registration. That claim was quickly debunked by the OSC. Binance admitted in its undertaking submitted on Wednesday that its statement was false. The exchange also admitted that it informed Ontario investors in a January 1 email that trading and onboarding were restricted, but that they could continue to trade as usual. Ontario users were given 90 days to close out their positions in the project.

The OCS stated that it reserves the right to take enforcement action against Binance for any past, present, or future violations of Ontario securities law that are not the result of the events described in the undertaking.

The Ontario regulator is notable for its tough stance on cryptocurrency exchanges. It recently took action against several former province-based exchanges, including Bitfinex, OKEx, Bybit, KuCoin, and Polo Digital Assets. Bitbuy, Coinberry, CoinSmart, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Wealthsimple were the only exchanges permitted to operate in Ontario as of late January. Tether (USDT) was also banned by the OSC in August.

Binance will continue to operate in other provinces of Canada. The Alberta Securities Commission is the country’s primary regulator of the exchange.

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Altcoins Blockchain Interview News

Overview of Vitalik Buterin’s Time Interview

Vitalik Buterin
Vitalik Buterin's Concept For An Extremely Secure Blockchain

This month, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin graced the front page of Time Magazine following an interview with the publication about the potential dangers of the industry he helped to create.

During the 80-minute interview, Buterin discussed the “dystopian potential” of digital assets if they are not implemented correctly. Overzealous investors, high transaction fees, and public displays of wealth by those claiming to have made a fortune trading crypto and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are among his top concerns.

Although Buterin has high hopes for Ethereum — the network that powers the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and countless other projects — he is concerned that his vision of a more egalitarian digital economy will be overtaken by nefarious actors driven solely by greed.

The interview also delved into Buterin’s other Ethereum-related pain points, such as how much power to wield in the community during highly contentious periods in its evolution, such as the infamous 2016 hack of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO. Buterin was portrayed in the interview as a pragmatic leader who takes a “middle ground” approach to resolving community issues.

Buterin has used his personal blog to advocate for technical solutions related to Ethereum’s development over the years. He published “Endgame” in December 2021, a thought experiment that explores the evolution of Ethereum 2.0, which is now referred to as the consensus layer. Vitalik Buterin proposed network scalability improvements with significant trade-offs in the post, the most notable of which was the centralization of block production.

While Ethereum’s transition to a proof-of-stake chain continues to be delayed, the investing community remains optimistic about the future. Beacon Chain on Ethereum now has over 316,000 validators and approximately 10.1 billion ETH staked.

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Blockchain

Altcoins Leading the Crypto Market

Following a tumultuous week, the crypto markets appear to be recouping their losses. The geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the EU parliament’s proposal to ban Proof-of-Work, shook markets.

The crypto markets appear to be recovering after falling on Sunday as a result of news of the EU’s proposed rule, which could have effectively banned Proof-of-Work cryptos like bitcoin and Ethereum across the European Union (EU).

Bitcoin gained nearly 7% in 24 hours after the majority of the EU Parliament voted against the provision, bringing it back near the $40k mark as bulls stepped in to buy the dip.

AVAX led the pack in terms of gains this week, rising up to 17 percent to trade at $84.22, while Ethereum rose 15 percent to close at $2,935. Solana performed well with a gain of 12%, while Polkadot and XRP both gained at least 7%.

At press time, Bitcoin’s price has not moved much and is up 2.08 percent in the last 24 hours, trading around the $41k mark. Ethereum, on the other hand, is up 4.38 percent and trading near the $2,933 mark. Avalanche and Solana continue to rise, with gains of 5.66% and 2.29 percent, respectively. AVAX is the biggest gainer among the top ten assets by market cap in the last seven days, up 17.97% to $83.55.

Around $150 billion was wiped out of the crypto market at the start of the week. The market has since recovered some of its losses, gaining an additional $139 billion, bringing the global crypto market cap to around $1.87 trillion.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis has increased global anxiety and panic. The crypto and equity markets began to fall within minutes of Putin’s initial broadcast on Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, as the correlation between the crypto and traditional markets persisted.

The trend has coincided with institutions’ increasing exposure to the nascent market. According to Chris Dick, a quantitative trader at B2C2, this correlation demonstrates that Bitcoin is currently behaving like a risk asset, rather than the safe haven it was touted to be a few years ago.

It is worth noting that, while these markets were collapsing, gold, the traditional inflationary hedge, soared to $2000 per ounce. Despite all of this, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor believes that the conflict will only increase Bitcoin’s appeal. He claims that wars cause inflation, stifle commerce, and make Bitcoin more appealing.

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Blockchain News Regulation

The Russian Central Bank tightens its oversight of P2P transactions

Russia
Proposals to Exempt Crypto Issuers from Russia Taxes Approved

According to local media, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has recommended that the country’s commercial banks increase their monitoring of users’ transactions that could be aimed at circumventing the CBR’s “special economic measures to counter the outflow of foreign currency abroad.” The recommendation includes tighter oversight of cryptocurrency trading, which is mentioned as one of the methods for withdrawing capital from Russia.

The letter, sent to banking organizations on Wednesday by CBR vice chairman Yuri Isaev, directs them to pay closer attention to instances of “unusual behavior” by their clients. This includes “abnormal” transactional activity and unusual spending patterns. Any money withdrawals made using digital currencies should also be scrutinized more closely, according to the letter.

Suspicious transactions must be blocked if necessary, and information about them must be passed to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring).

During the early days of the Ukraine war and the resulting economic sanctions, special measures were put in place to limit the outflow of foreign currency. They include a $5,000 limit on foreign currency transactions for Russian citizens, as well as a $10,000 cash limit for those traveling abroad. Purchasing real estate, securities, and other assets from residents of “unfriendly” jurisdictions necessitates government approval.

The news comes as no surprise given that over 10 million Russian citizens collectively own approximately 5 trillion rubles ($63 billion) in cryptocurrency. With their Visa and Mastercard cards deactivated and their own government imposing strict transaction restrictions, many Russian citizens are left with cryptocurrency as their only option for transferring funds.

Aleksey Voylukov, vice-chairman of the Russian Banks Association, told journalists that the CBR’s recommendations aim to prevent the spread of schemes to circumvent the imposed limits, particularly through crypto exchanges.

Despite widespread perceptions of Russian oligarchs attempting to conceal their wealth, it is ultimately ordinary people who rely on digital asset infrastructure in the face of skyrocketing inflation and tightening government monetary control.

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Blockchain News

Analysts at Coinbase predict $1.2 billion in revenue from NFT business

Coinbase
Coinbase Prominence Soars Amidst Everything

Needham equity analyst for Coinbase, John Todaro, outlined a bullish case for the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in a research note to clients on Thursday.

According to Benzinga, if Coinbase’s new non-fungible token (NFT) business goes as planned, the exchange could see a $1.2B revenue. Benzinga reported that annualized revenue is estimated to be at a scale of [$1.26 billion], which would represent an added EV of $10.1Bn, $12.6Bn, and $13Bn at 8x, 10x, and 13x multiples, respectively.

The analyst based his estimates on comparing Coinbase’s upcoming NFT business to top NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea.

OpenSea is worth more than $13.3 billion and has a total NFT sales volume of more than $20 billion with approximately 1.2 million traders. The platform is the world’s largest NFT marketplace.

Although Coinbase has yet to make its NFT service available to users, the company’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, has stated that he expects the firm’s NFT service to be larger than its current cryptocurrency offerings, according to Benzinga.

Coinbase announced the launch of its NFT marketplace in October of last year. Users were encouraged to join the waitlist in order to gain early access to the platform, which would allow them to mint, trade, and collect various non-fungible tokens.

According to reports, the exchange has a waiting list of over 1 million customers for its NFT marketplace.

While NFT was the hottest topic in 2021, with sales volume reaching $40 billion, the asset class has been relatively quiet this year. An earlier report confirmed that major NFT sales have dropped significantly since the beginning of 2022.

Interestingly, the drop in NFT sales does not appear to be discouraging investors, who are excited about the upcoming Coinbase NFT marketplace and eagerly await its launch. Some customers seem to think that it will be a rival to popular NFT marketplace Opensea.

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Blockchain News NFT

Dogecoin’s Billy Markus Believes Badly Affect the NFT Space

Billy Markus
Billy Markus Mocks Bitcoin's Performance

Billy Markus, one of the creators of the meme coin DOGE, has revealed why he opposes the creation of ApeCoin. He expressed his concern that introducing tokens into the NFT space would cause toxicity. Markus revealed that speculations about token markets tend to elicit a lot of negative reactions from people.

https://twitter.com/BillyM2k/status/1504612421687685132?s=20&t=6U7EIdnm6ilmNnJg-I23Pg

ApeCoin was announced on Wednesday by Yuga Labs, the creators of the BAYC collection. The creators revealed that ApeCoin would be the ecosystem’s governing token. The asset would be managed by the ApeCoin DAO, and token holders would be able to vote on and fund projects in the ecosystem.

Billy Markus concluded his thought by saying that it was fine for others to disagree with him, but he urged them to do so constructively rather than attacking him or Dogecoin. He claimed that choosing the latter would only serve to prove his point.

It would not be the first time the creator of the DOGE has been critical of cryptocurrency communities. In many ways, it was the catalyst for the creation of the sensational meme coin, which Markus and his partner Jackson Palmer devised to mock the fervor surrounding cryptocurrencies at the time.

In previous tweets and memes, the Dogecoin co-creator urged the DOGE community to focus on utility if the asset was to gain traction. He stated that the price should not be the primary focus of the community.

It is important to note that Markus is no longer involved in the Dogecoin project. DOGE is down 1.32 percent in the last 24 hours and is trading around $0.11.

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News NFT

Bored Ape Yacht Club Introduces ApeCoin to Bored Ape NFT Holders

Are e Yacht ClubBoy e
BAYC raised more than $300m in virtual land sales

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), the official project behind the popular Bored Ape NFT collection, announced the launch of ApeCoin, a native token, on Wednesday (APE). According to the project, Bored Ape NFT holders will receive a free airdrop of the newly launched Ape coin in their account within 90 days.

APE is described by BAYC as a governance and utility token that runs on the Ethereum network and is used to empower a decentralized community at the forefront of web3.

In other words, ApeCoin will be the official currency of the BAYC ecosystem, enabling the community to create blockchain games and services, host events in the metaverse or in real life, and create digital and physical products.

According to the NFT project, holding the token is the only requirement for membership in the ApeCoin decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

According to BAYC, approximately 62 percent of the total supply of ApeCoin will be allocated to the ApeCoin community, with the remaining 15 percent used as airdrops for BAYC and MAYC NFT holders.

While the airdrop is only available to NFT holders, the project stated that once the token is listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges, it will be available to everyone.

ApeCoin has been added to CoinMarketCap as of the time of writing and is currently trading at around $8.15. Binance announced on Thursday that it will list ApeCoin on its platform, following the token’s launch.

Binance announced on Thursday that it will list ApeCoin on its platform, following the token’s launch. APE/BTC, APE/BUSD, and APE/USDT trading pairs will be added to the exchange.

While many BAYC NFT holders and crypto users are pleased with the token’s release, others are skeptical, describing it as the latest pump and dump scheme.

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Blockchain News

Coinbase is being sued in a class action lawsuit again

Coinbase
Coinbase Prominence Soars Amidst Everything

Three people who purchased cryptocurrency through Coinbase filed a proposed class action in the Southern District Court of New York on March 11 alleging that Coinbase is an unregistered securities exchange. The lawsuit lists 79 tokens as securities that Coinbase is selling in violation of state and federal law, and buyers were not warned of the risks involved in their purchases.

The plaintiffs, Christopher Underwood, Louis Oberlander, and Henry Rodriguez, were represented by the Connecticut law firm Silver Golub & Teitell when they filed the amended complaint, which named Coinbase Global, Coinbase, and CEO Brian Armstrong as defendants. The 255-page document argues that each token in question qualifies as a security under the Howey test as investment of money in a common enterprise with a common purpose.

Furthermore, the suit claims that when an exchange occurs, Coinbase is the “actual seller,” crediting and debiting the parties involved in the transaction in its accounts rather than facilitating a direct exchange between those parties.

“The case is not surprising,” said Philip Moustakis, counsel at Seward & Kissel. After all, the SEC has indicated that it intends to conduct investigations or take action against cryptocurrency exchanges.”

Similar cases arose after the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, cracked down on initial coin offerings in 2018, according to Moustakis.

However, while the SEC has pursued cases against token issuers, such as its current dispute with Ripple, and market participants, such as BlockFi, which offered a lending product based on digital assets, it has yet to take action against an exchange.

The painstaking one-by-one examination of the tokens, according to Moustakis, exemplifies the need for greater regulatory clarity. “Unless and until the SEC provides additional guidance and a path to compliance for token issuers, crypto lending products, exchanges, and other market participants,” he said, “the question of whether any particular cryptoasset or transaction is a security will be litigated one at a time.”

This is because, while the tests for determining whether a token is a security […] are well established, the analysis is based on facts and circumstances, and different evaluators weigh different factors more heavily than others, so the results can vary depending on one’s point of view.

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Altcoins Blockchain News

Ripple’s XRP Ledger with new 1 billion XRP Developer Grant

Ripple odl brazil
Ripple Debuts On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) in Brazil

Ripple, a payment services provider, is gearing up to promote the development of multiple open-source projects based on XRPL. Ripple intends to distribute one billion XRP as grants to developers on the XRP Ledger.

According to a RippleX representative, the Ripple arm will carry out the distribution over the next 10 to 20 years.

The funds will be distributed to projects that develop projects in accordance with its payment-oriented blueprint. At the current XRP price, 1 billion XRP coins are worth approximately $794 million.

Ripple already has a grants program called ‘XRPL Grants,’ which was launched in June of this year. So far, two rounds of project selection have been completed under the scheme.

Out of over 100 applicants, VerifyEd, a UK-based educational blockchain credentialing platform, was awarded a $100,000 grant in the most recent round.

The deadline for submitting projects for consideration in the next round is March 28. New open-source projects on the XRP Ledger will be eligible for the grant, as will projects contributing to existing open-source efforts, adding XRP and XRP Ledger support to projects, and integrating XRPL into APIs, SDKs, and libraries.

It is unclear whether the recently revealed funding plans will be integrated with the XRPL Grants scheme. The news follows RippleX’s recent announcement that it is making progress with the disbursement of the $250 million ‘Creator Fund’ for NFT developers, which was launched last year.

According to Ripple’s report on the developers’ fund, over 4,000 NFT projects applied for grants. It was also noted that the XRPL NFT ecosystem was expanding and diversifying.

Ripple, in addition to supporting the XRP blockchain, is expanding its payments-services provider business through a number of initiatives and partnerships. Ripple recently launched a collaboration with Tranglo, an Asian financial services firm. Tranglo will assist Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) services in establishing a foothold in the Asian market.

Ripple also made a significant regulatory compliance announcement yesterday. It announced the appointment of Michael Warren, MD of Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), to its board of directors.

Warren has over 20 years of experience navigating regulatory issues and significant clout in the United States, having served under two former Presidents.

However, the price of XRP remains constrained in the market as a result of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple. XRP is currently trading at around $0.79, up 3.24 percent on the day. Market participants anticipate that if Ripple’s case with the SEC is successful, the price of XRP will skyrocket.

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Blockchain News

Binance has obtained a permit to operate in Dubai

Binance U.S.
Binance was sued over Terra

Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Wednesday that it had received a license to operate in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The company’s presence in the Middle East has been growing recently, with the acquisition of a crypto service provider license in another Gulf market, Bahrain, earlier this week.

Binance will be able to set up an office in the emirate and provide digital asset exchange services to pre-qualified investors and financial firms under the newly adopted regulatory guidelines under the Dubai virtual asset provider (VASP) license.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE federation. It has 22 VASPs and a new virtual asset exchange (VAX) license in the emirate’s special economic zone.

The first cryptocurrency company to receive one was FTX, which announced the news earlier this week. Binance quickly followed in the footsteps of its competitor.

This move is part of Binance’s Middle East ascension strategy. On March 15, the cryptocurrency exchange announced that it had obtained a license to operate in another Gulf country, Bahrain. It will enable the world’s largest exchange by volume to offer trading, custody, and portfolio management services to Bahraini customers.

Both Bahrain and the UAE (particularly Dubai) take an innovative approach and compete for the title of the region’s most crypto-friendly jurisdiction. The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) successfully trialed JP Morgan’s crypto payment system in January 2022.

As the country’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, put it, the introduction of new crypto legislation in the UAE in March 2022 was a major step in the federation’s ongoing efforts to help the sector grow and protect investors.

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Blockchain News

Coinbase’s Chrome browser extension allows users to fund their wallets

Coinbase
Coinbase Prominence Soars Amidst Everything

Coinbase launched a new feature called “Coinbase Pay” on Wednesday, allowing users to fund their Coinbase Wallets directly from a Chrome browser extension. Coinbase Pay intends to make it simple for anyone to participate in decentralized finance, or DeFi, swap tokens on decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, and purchase nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, with just a few clicks, according to its staff. They specifically stated:

“Before Coinbase Pay, users who wanted to add funds to their Coinbase Wallet from the browser extension needed to navigate to Coinbase.com, sign in to their account, copy-paste their wallet address, and manually transfer funds from their Coinbase account. The process was not only cumbersome, but also left the user vulnerable to user error.”

With Coinbase Pay, all that is required is to select the currency to add to one’s Chrome wallet, enter the amount, and confirm the transaction. “There will be no more switching between apps, copy-pasting addresses, or manually transferring funds,” a staff wrote.

Users do not need a Coinbase.com account to use Coinbase Wallet, according to the company. However, before using Coinbase Pay as a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp service, they must link their self-custody wallet to their account. Despite coming from a centralized exchange, the extension’s private keys are stored by the user, not by the platform.

The wallets added support for the Ledger hardware wallet last month. By the end of last year, the exchange had grown to store 13% of all cryptocurrency across more than 150 asset types. In addition, the company intends to launch its own NFT marketplace. At the time of publication, 3.86 million email addresses were listed on the platform’s NFT waitlist.

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Blockchain DeFi News News

Nuvei collabs with Ledger to provide direct crypto on-ramp

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Nuvei Corporation (“Nuvei” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: NVEI) (TSX: NVEI) today announced a partnership with Ledger, the leading hardware wallet provider, to enable direct on-ramps for 125+ cryptocurrencies with all leading fiat funding options via its Simplex by Nuvei solution. Ledger users will be able to purchase cryptocurrencies through Ledger Live using Visa, Mastercard, SEPA, SWIFT, and over 100 other fiat funding options for various global currencies.

Nuvei is a global payment technology partner for well-known brands. Through a single integration, we provide businesses with the intelligence and technology they need to succeed locally and globally, propelling them further and faster.

Ledger is a digital asset and Web3 platform. Ledger Nanos are used to secure over 15% of the world’s crypto assets. The platform’s team of over 500 professionals is working on a variety of products and services that will allow individuals and businesses to securely buy, store, swap, grow, and manage crypto assets.

The integration allows Ledger users to buy cryptocurrencies without going through external exchanges or fiat-to-cryptocurrency payment gateways. This is critical for maximizing security and ease of use for hardware wallet users because it avoids the extra steps of interacting with exchanges and temporarily abandoning the device’s security.

Integrating with Nuvei’s platform significantly expands the range of available funding and purchase options for Ledger users, who can now select from a list of the most common combinations of local currencies and digital assets. Simplex by Nuvei ensures protection against chargebacks, fraud, and other annoyances associated with cryptocurrency purchases, allowing Ledger to focus on acquiring new users and providing value to Ledger and Ledger Live users.

Ledger Live is the desktop and mobile companion app to the Ledger hardware wallet products. The app provides users with a simplified interface that allows them to safely interact with their hardware wallet.

From Ledger Live, you can stake assets to verify transactions and earn a passive income, use DeFi platforms, manage NFTs, and purchase cryptocurrencies. Ledger Live becomes a one-stop shop for all of the users’ potential needs with Simplex by Nuvei.

“We’re excited to partner with Ledger to make it easier for more users to acquire crypto with maximum security,” said Philip Fayer, Nuvei’s Chair and CEO. “With the number of possible verified uses of crypto in the ecosystem growing all the time, having easy onramps within the wallet is critical for the sector’s continued growth.”

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain News

President Zelenskyy legalizes crypto in Ukraine

Ukraine crypto
President Zelenskyy legalizes crypto in Ukraine

Ukraine Ministry of Digital Transformation has officially confirmed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legalization of the crypto sector, as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin donations to the country surpass $100 million.

Last month, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed legislation legalizing digital assets, including cryptocurrency. President Zelensky has now signed the Law “On Virtual Assets,” completing the final requirement for establishing cryptocurrencies’ legal status in the country.

The law allows Ukrainian and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges to legally operate in the country. Closer government oversight of their activities will be implemented in order to provide additional guarantees to their clients.

Furthermore, new taxation regulations will enable the Ukrainian government to obtain a consistent flow of tax revenues, contributing to greater financial stability. The law also allows banks and other financial institutions to open accounts for cryptocurrency companies, allowing for better integration of traditional financial and cryptocurrency operations.

According to Ukrainian officials, it is a critical step toward the development of a developed virtual assets market in the country. Although Ukraine does not recognize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as legal tender, it does provide crypto holders with the necessary legal protection, allowing them to freely invest in cryptocurrencies and create digital portfolios.

Ukraine is likely to consolidate its position as one of Europe’s major crypto hubs, distinguishing itself from other East European countries with more conservative policies.

According to the Global Crypto Adoption Index, Ukraine ranks fourth in the world in terms of population cryptocurrency use. While the initial adoption of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies in Ukraine was largely driven by high inflation and financial risks, recent regulatory changes have created additional stimuli for the crypto market’s development.

Many crypto investors, in particular, may be interested in legalizing their wealth and virtual assets while paying relatively low taxes. Crypto holders in neighboring countries may reroute their funds to Ukraine in order to avoid economic pressure from their respective governments.

If Ukraine’s regulations are strictly enforced, the crypto and financial sectors will grow rapidly in the coming months. The plausible short-term effects of this policy refer to increased fiscal revenues for Ukraine, which may be critical in light of the country’s current crisis. The main long-term effects of the Law “On Virtual Assets” include the establishment of a strong cryptocurrency market in the country, which combines the major productive efforts of private investors, financial intermediaries, banking institutions, and the Ukrainian government.

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Blockchain News NFT

Instagram will soon be including NFTs

instagram
Instagram will soon be including NFTs

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has revealed that the company’s video and photo-sharing app, Instagram, is planning to integrate nonfungible tokens (NFTs) into the platform.

“We’re working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term,” Zuckerberg reportedly said at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. The Facebook founder did not specify when the implementation would take place.

Casey Newton, a Platformer newsletter writer, tweeted from the conference that Zuckerberg also stated that he hopes that Instagram users will be able to mint their own NFTs on the platform in the coming months.

Meta did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s question about when NFT functionality would be available. Meta famously changed its name from Facebook to focus on its metaverse-related projects last October. For the first time, company reports from the fourth quarter of 2021 revealed that the financial details of its virtual and augmented reality research and development business, Reality Labs, showed losses of more than $10 billion.

To be fair, Meta’s corner of the Metaverse isn’t yet operational, so profiting from it would be difficult. This isn’t Meta’s first foray into a cryptocurrency-related project. In 2019, the company announced plans to launch “Libra,” later renamed “Diem,” a US dollar-pegged stablecoin that failed due to a lack of regulatory approval and community opposition.

The project was purchased by Silvergate Capital, but some ex-Meta employees are now attempting to resurrect the open-source stablecoin by establishing their own network.

Following Twitter’s famous decision to add support for NFT profile pictures in January, social media companies have been looking to integrate cryptocurrencies and NFTs into their platforms. In December 2020, adult site OnlyFans enabled NFT profile pictures from its own collection, and Reddit implemented NFT avatars from its own collection.

It’s not just social media behemoths looking to get in on the crypto action. According to trademark filings, traditional finance companies are showing interest in the space, with major credit card company, American Express, hinting at its expansion into the Metaverse.

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Blockchain DeFi News News

Deus Finance suffers a $3 million loss due to price exploitation

deus
Deus Finance suffers a $3 million loss due to price exploitation

Another DeFi exploit, another day. This time, it’s Deus Finance, a Fantom blockchain-based DeFi technology.

According to a Tuesday update from blockchain security firm PeckShield, the hacker stole over $3 million, including 200,000 DAI ($200,000) and 1101.8 ETH (approximately $2.8 million).

PeckShield, on the other hand, believes Deus Finance may have lost more than $3 million. Deus Finance is a Fantom-based DeFi protocol that provides access to global markets to users and developers.

Following the disclosure of the price exploit, monies were removed from the protocol, reducing its total value locked (TVL) from $18 million to $16.7 million as of press time.

PeckShield claimed in subsequent tweets that the hacker was able to carry out the crime thanks to Deus’ flash loan feature, which aided in manipulating the protocol’s pricing oracle. As a result, asset prices read “from the pair of StableV1 AMM – USDC/DEI, so that even normal users become insolvent.”

The current attack has, as expected, had a detrimental impact on the protocol’s native token, DEUS.

The token, which had reached a new all-time high (ATH) of $444.79 only a day before, fell as low as $286 just minutes after the attack was reported. However, as of press time, the token was trading at $317, reflecting a 23 percent loss in value in the last 24 hours.

Andre Conje and Anton Nell, two of Fantom’s primary developers, declared on Twitter earlier this month that they were quitting the DeFi space and no longer wanted to be involved with the ecosystem, including Fantom.

Although Fantom’s CEO, Michael Kong, stated that the protocols running on the platform will continue to function normally, the revelation shook several Fantom projects. Within 24 hours after the exit announcement, the platform’s TVL dropped by 20%.

The current news of Deus Finance’s adventures is undoubtedly another major setback for Fantom.

Likewise, a security compromise last month cost QiDAO, a decentralized finance protocol built on the Polygon network, $13 million.

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Bitcoin Blockchain News Regulation

Crypto transactions from Russia and Belarus banned in Japan

Japan
Japan Has Plans To Invest in Web3, NFTs and the Metaverse

Following the introduction of anti-Russia sanctions by the Group of Seven (G7) last Friday, Japan has gone into full compliance mode, requiring all 31 active exchanges to block transactions involving Russia.

The measure comes after rumors of significant crypto liquidations related to Russians in the UAE surfaced, raising concerns about possible sanction evasion. In its reaction, the White House press stated:

“We will ensure that the Russian state and elites, proxies, and oligarchs cannot use digital assets to avoid or mitigate the impact of international sanctions, further restricting their access to the global financial system.”

The G7 nations, which include the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom, met over the weekend to devise a new set of tougher penalties against the Russian government. The Kremlin government’s Most Favored Nation status would be revoked, and it would be barred from receiving any type of international financing in the future.

The White House also intends to curb the dissemination of Russian disinformation, reduce all trade relationships with Putin’s regime, and sanction senior Russian oligarchs thought to be close friends of the president.

Following claims of huge crypto-dumping by Russians to the UAE, concerns are growing that cryptocurrency will continue to be used as a viable means of bypassing sanctions. The G7 has now decided to prohibit all Russian access to cryptocurrency transactions, despite the fact that many experts have refuted assertions that cryptocurrency cannot be used to circumvent sanctions.

As the only Asian member of the G7, Japan will have to deal with the new resolution, which suggests 36-month imprisonment or a fine of $8,470 (1,000,000 JPY) for defaulters.

So far, a comprehensive list of 10 Russia-linked groups, 44 Russians, 19 Belarussians, and 15 Belarus-linked organizations has been targeted, including both President Putin and President Lukashenko, and the Japanese government promises to extend the sanctions to all forms of crypto-assets, including NFTs.

VTB Bank, Novikombank, Bank Otkritie, and Sovcombank – four of Russia’s largest banks — will face sanctions on April 2nd. These banks will be withdrawn from the SWIFT interbank communication network, according to the EU.

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Bitcoin Blockchain News

Michael Saylor Explains Why His Company Adopted Bitcoin

Michael Saylor
Michael Saylor Explains Why His Company Adopted Bitcoin

Michael Saylor has become a household name in the crypto space as a result of his unwavering support for cryptocurrency. Yesterday, the CEO of MicroStrategy explained why his company has been aggressively adopting Bitcoin over the last year.

Michael Saylor is a well-known Bitcoin promoter who has become more vocal about the primary digital asset since 2021. Yesterday, at the Economic Club of New York meeting, the CEO of software company MicroStrategy explained why the company turned to crypto, specifically Bitcoin.

The executive stated that his company was facing two financial risks at the time: the first was what he called a quick death from the technology space, and the second was a slow death from the increasing fiat supply highlighted by the pandemic.

According to Saylor, the firm chose Bitcoin as an inflationary hedge due to its ability to produce returns comparable to real estate.

While gold is widely regarded as a traditional inflationary hedge, he claims it cannot be developed or rented in the same way that real estate can. He admitted that he preferred real estate to gold, calling it a better idea. Saylor explained that by staking Bitcoin, you can earn returns comparable to rent, and you can always carry it with you in your digital wallet in times of conflict. He pointed out that real estate lacked this ability to transport it.

He expanded on this, demonstrating that properties in Ukraine and Russia were under threat as a result of Putin’s war effort, a risk that a digital asset like Bitcoin is unlikely to face. Taylor asked, “Where can you go if your property isn’t safe outside your country and it’s not safe inside your country?”

It would not be the billionaire’s first time making such comparisons. He stated on the PBD Podcast less than a week ago that he believed Bitcoin was the only true scarce asset. Saylor pointed out that the supply of all other assets or commodities could always increase, citing companies’ ability to create more real estate, bonds, and stock shares.

Saylor remains convinced that Bitcoin is a high-risk investment. For example, the executive stated in a tweet at the start of the Russian invasion, “Wars create inflation, cripple commerce, and make bitcoin compelling.” Indeed, as a result of the conflict, there has been a significant increase in Bitcoin trading activity in Ukraine.

However, Saylor’s view of Bitcoin as a risk-off asset is not shared by everyone. In recent months, the crypto market, including Bitcoin, has been highly correlated with traditional equity markets.

Bitcoin is currently trading at around $39,061 on major exchanges. The asset is up 0.11 percent in the last 24 hours and 0.74 percent in the last seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Blockchain News

Cryptocurrency Volumes in Russia Have Dropped

Russia
Proposals to Exempt Crypto Issuers from Russia Taxes Approved

Binance prohibited Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia, causing cryptocurrency trade volumes to plummet. While Russian citizens still have access to cryptocurrency exchanges, sanctions on traditional payment channels appear to be limiting their capacity to trade.

While most crypto exchanges oppose blanket bans on Russian consumers, many have ceased taking payments from sanctioned banks and businesses, limiting Russians’ access to cryptocurrency. People are also afraid about putting their wealth in bitcoin for fear of losing access.

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have all halted operations in Russia, citing US sanctions as the reason. The majority of foreign banks have likewise stopped doing business in the country.

According to data from digital asset analytics source Kaiko, ruble-denominated Bitcoin and Tether trade volumes have slowly decreased since Binance’s decision last week, and are now at levels observed prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A discrepancy between ruble and hyrvnia-denominated crypto trading was also highlighted by Kaiko. Following the invasion, BTC-UAH buying soared, showing that traders in Ukraine were flocking to cryptocurrency in the face of financial turmoil.

Trading volumes in Ukraine have remained high, with Tether in particular showing strong demand. As the hyrvnia plummeted, citizens were spotted paying up to a 20% premium for the stablecoin.

However, it was only after the application of sanctions, notably the exclusion of Russian institutions from the SWIFT network, that BTC-RUB volumes began to rise. Sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow are the toughest they’ve ever been, virtually cutting Russia off from major global financial markets.

The United States recently imposed a ban on Russian oil imports, and Europe is considering doing the same. This would further upset the Russian economy, given that oil is its major export.

The Russian ruble has recovered from record lows against Bitcoin thanks to lower BTC-RUB trading activity. One Bitcoin is now worth roughly 4.6 million rubles, down somewhat from last week’s peg of over 5 million rubles.

In currency markets, the ruble is still under a lot of pressure. It is now trading at near-record lows against the dollar and the euro.

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Blockchain News Opinion

The Russia-Ukraine Crisis Tests Crypto’s Utility

Russia
The Russia-Ukraine Crisis Tests Crypto's Utility

As the US launched an effort against Russia’s use of crypto and fiat to avoid financial penalties for entering into war with Ukraine, the same crypto and fiat are being used to support war activities in Ukraine against Russia. The problem has the potential to divide the world into three groups: those who favor each of the countries, those who oppose them, and those who are indifferent, but it now has a crypto edge to it.

The US Department of Justice has now said that it will investigate and punish cryptocurrency exchanges and their operators who are found to be assisting sanctioned Russians in evading financial sanctions imposed on the country for entering into war with Ukraine.

According to a senior department official, the task force established last week to enforce financial sanctions will also look into lawyers, accountants, and other individuals who are found concealing and facilitating evasion or assisting sanctioned oligarchs and individuals in moving money into or out of Russia in violation of the sanctions.

He stated that the task force would target exchanges and traditional financial institutions who do not have proper anti-money laundering policies and procedures in place, allowing for unlawful transactions. But will these be enough to put a stop to it? Most crypto anti-money laundering attempts, like anti-money laundering initiatives implemented on fiat transactions and payment rails, have proven to be ineffective.

Although this remains to be seen, there are concerns that cryptocurrency might be used to avoid penalties. According to analysts, as a result of the country’s financial sanctions, many more Russians will begin utilizing cryptocurrencies.

Russians collectively own over $214 billion in digital assets, and the country is the world’s third-largest Bitcoin miner. As a result, the country has a sizable crypto user base. It has contributed a significant amount of crypto transactional volume before to the war, but this could alter for the better or for the worse as a result of the sanctions.

It is not apparent whether crypto would aid in dodging penalties in or out of the purview of official censorship. With some degree of anonymity and decentralization, it is unlikely that the DOJ task force efforts will be fruitful if Russians use crypto to evade sanctions, unless a large volume of money is exchanged in a single transaction.

Furthermore, without a blanket prohibition on all transactions entering and exiting Russia, not every transaction would be reported or prevented. No crypto exchange has yet enforced a blanket ban on all Russian transactions, however this may become a possibility as the Russia-Ukraine situation escalates.

According to certain sources, some Russians have used and are using cryptocurrencies to move money from some countries and then re-invest it in real estate and other hard assets in Dubai UAE, afraid that other nations may freeze it as a result of the sanctions. Dubai, like a few other cities, has remained neutral in the Ukraine dispute between Russia and the West. A few other countries have also chosen to remain neutral.

As a result, crypto may be more difficult to utilize in dodging sanctions in countries that have already imposed them. Meanwhile, a portion of the more than $55 million in crypto donations received so far by and for Ukraine has been spent openly fanning the flames of a so-called excellent defensive war front by Ukraine against Russia. The Ukrainian authorities admitted that it was used to purchase vests and other military supplies.

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Bitcoin Ethereum News Regulation

The EU Parliament Decides Against Bitcoin and Ethereum PoW Ban

EU
The EU Parliament Decides Against Bitcoin and Ethereum PoW Ban

The EU Economic Committee voted against the MiCA proposal that would effectively outlaw Proof-of-Work (PoW) crypto. It was thought over the weekend that the provision might succeed because it appeared to have majority support.

Members of the European Parliament voted against the MiCA clause, which will be considered as a significant legislative triumph for Bitcoin. The vote was 32 to 24, with 32 voting against and 24 voting in favor of the provision.

The European People’s Party, the European Conservative Party, and the Renew movement were among those that opposed the provision with a majority of legislators. Their votes would eventually outnumber those of the green and regionalist parties, the socialists and democrats, and the green left-wing parties.

As a result of this decision, Bitcoin mining would be governed by the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy rather than MiCA. The European Union’s RegTrax contributor Patrick Hansen noted that the “EU taxonomy is a classification system that establishes a list of ecologically (un)sustainable economic activity.” It defines which economic activities can be considered sustainable for corporations, investors, and regulators.”

He believes that under the classification, Bitcoin mining will most likely be deemed unsustainable. As a result, he anticipates that “mining corporations will have a considerably tougher time collecting money from European investors, enterprises, and governments that must spend more and more of their capital to green aims.”

In this regard, unlike the previous bill, exchanges and other crypto-service providers will not be prohibited from providing Bitcoin services in the region. “This is a significant improvement over the last compromise proposal (POW-ban),” he tweeted. Hansen anticipates that once the MiCA draft is approved by the European Commission, Parliament, and Council in the next months, it will be implemented, giving businesses six months to become compliant.

Patrick Hansen points out that the parties to the ban still have a choice. He tweeted, “They could block a MiCA fast-track procedure through the trilogies and bring the discussion to the Parliament’s plenary.” They need one-tenth of the EP’s votes to do so, which they have.”

According to Hansen, the results of such an attempt would be unforeseeable and, as such, “should be avoided.” He recognizes that the votes may not change, but that it will “delay the regulation for at least a couple of months.”

Hansen highlighted that the argument about PoW crypto was far from done, since it will at the very least be mentioned in the taxonomy. He added that, while there was still more work to be done in the coming months and years, today “is a significant political success for crypto in the EU,” he said.

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Altcoins Price Analysis

Binance Coin (BNB) and Solana (SOL) Forecast 03/14

Binance
bnb sol forecast 03/14

Because of the current level of anxiety and uncertainty in the crypto market, some assets, such as Binance currency and Solana, have been unable to rise. Most tokens in the top ten by market capitalization have recently shown more stability than volatility.

SOL has been the hardest damaged by this pattern of the two highlighted projects, since it has been on a continual slide. We may infer that February was a particularly dismal month for cryptocurrencies, as it failed to close any of the prior five weeks in the green.

BNB, on the other hand, is going through the same thing. However, the exchange token concludes the intraweek session with gains on a few occasions during the span under study.

Based on the current situation of the market, both tokens, particularly SOL, may be doomed. However, due to the continual reduction in price, indicators have been displaying optimistic signals.

We will use the Moving Average Convergence Divergence to monitor this minor shift (MACD). We noted a minor decrease in selling pressure on the weekly chart by focusing on the histogram linked with this signal.

This claim is shown further in the figure below. We noticed that the MACD’s histogram has been printing a progressive decline in bearish actions on BNB over the last four weeks.

A closer check at the Relative Strength Index, similar to binance coin, revealed that, in line with the previous metric, it has seen a lot of stability over the last four weeks.

Solana has not experienced this level of stability since its debut on the market. However, a slow dip in RSI from May to July of last year was followed by a strong rally, which saw the asset reach a new high and ascend up the market cap list.

It is difficult to forecast when the adjustments will cease. Nonetheless, based on the previous year’s experience, we saw that both assets relied on strong fundamentals to reverse their slump.

At the moment, the market was inundated with bullish stories. As the news-induced FOMO subsided, most traders remained positive on the asset and continued to pump.

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News Opinion Technology

Austin’s mayor is a supporter of Web3 and cryptocurrency

Mayor Adler
Austin Mayor Adler is a big supporter of web3 and cryptocurrency

Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler has fully embraced the discovery of what blockchain technology and cryptocurrency payments may offer to his community by proposing two new initiatives.

The first project is to ensure that Texas’ fourth-largest city promotes blockchain technologies and “promotes equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion” in the technical environment. To that aim, May Adler asked the city manager to investigate how the city can use Web3 and blockchain in 20 different industries, ranging from smart contracts, supply chain management, and insurance to the arts, media, fundraising, and identity verification.

The City Manager is tasked with ensuring that the city government and the community as a whole foster an atmosphere that encourages the creation and development of new technologies, including but not limited to blockchain and other Web3-related technologies, protocols, and applications.

The second proposal of Mayor Adler directs the city manager to conduct a “fact-finding research” on how the city could implement Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency-related policies. Mayor Adler appears to want to create ways for Austin people to lawfully pay their bills using cryptocurrency through these efforts.

As the first set of regulations to consider under this effort, the city manager should look into ways to allow “the acceptance of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payment for municipal taxes, fees, and penalties.”

The impact of innovative applications on the daily lives of Austin citizens will determine the success of the two programs. On March 24, the municipal council will vote on the recommendations.

Since at least 2020, when a proposal to employ smart contracts for the MyPass identity verification protocol was presented, Austin’s City Council has been studying blockchain technological integrations.

Austin has joined forces with Miami, New York City, and the state of Colorado in rapidly growing cryptocurrency exploration initiatives and proposed policy implementation. Miami and New York have already launched their own city-wide coin projects on the Stacks layer-1 blockchain via City Coin, while Austin’s scheme is still in the works.

Philadelphia has expressed interest in participating in the City Coins scheme, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis stated in a Feb. 15 interview that the state will accept cryptocurrency for state tax purposes. He expects to accept cryptocurrency for a broader range of state government services in the future.

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Bitcoin Opinion Price Analysis

Bitcoin (BTC) Forecast 03/13

Bitcoin inflows
Bitcoin exchange volumes have dropped to multi-year lows

Bitcoin has been fluctuating between troughs and peaks in recent weeks, leaving much to be desired. The price action, according to Glassnode, indicates a natural balance from which the Bitcoin market can either rebound or fall depending on investor emotion.

Glassnode noticed many indicators in its The Week On-chain Report that can provide insight into where Bitcoin’s market performance is headed. According to the research, the market is at a phase where bulls are attempting to establish a floor price.

This is reflected in Bitcoin’s price range over the last week. According to Glassnode, Bitcoin has been trading in a volatile consolidation range.

Bitcoin began the week at a low of $37,333, climbed to a high of $45,039, and then fell to conclude the week at $38,220. As a result, the market has reached a relative balance.

As the global macroeconomic and geopolitical stage continues to create market volatility, Bitcoin bulls strive to establish a price floor. The bulls have been suffering small but continuous sell-side pressure for more than two months, according to the article.

The analysis, however, focused at exchange inflows to address the question of which direction the market will break from equilibrium. This investigation focused on two types of exchanges that are now influencing the market.

On the one hand, there were exchanges that had seen significant inflows of Bitcoin over the course of several months. Binance, Bittrex, Bitfinex, and FTX were particularly significant in this regard. Since the end of July 2021, these exchanges have received total BTC inflows of approximately 200k BTC, or a 24.3 percent increase.

Other exchanges, on the other hand, have seen a total outflow of 253,000 BTC since July 2021. However, the increasing balances of some exchanges, particularly Binance and FTX, indicate a preference for futures trading rather than spot selling of Bitcoin.

Glassnode derived indicators that indicate investor mood among diverse categories of investors from exchange balances. Short-term Holders looked to be the source of the majority of sell-side pressure on the exchanges (STHs). The bulk of STHs are currently underwater in their holdings, having a realized price of $46,400.

Long-term holders (LTHs) continue to wield significant influence, keeping the price at present levels. With a realized price of roughly $24,100, LTHs investors are overwhelmingly in profit despite a small contribution from sell-side pressure.

Regardless, Glassnode found that any large degree of seller tiredness, or conversely, seller re-invigoration, can upset the delicate balance.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Ethereum News Opinion

Bitcoin Ethereum Dogecoin Dominating Crypto Ownership

Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency investment received $87 million in inflows

According to a new survey, while there are over 18,000 cryptocurrencies as of 2022, a few remain market favorites. Bakkt, a Bitcoin and crypto marketplace and custodian, performed a survey to determine the amount of engagement of women in the crypto market.

The findings of the poll, which included over 1,000 US customers, revealed some important insights into rising patterns in the crypto sector. The study, titled “Women and Crypto,” discovered that female crypto adoption outpaced male adoption.

While men are early adopters, women are more likely to be first-time buyers. According to the data, 38 percent of women in the study made their first cryptocurrency purchase in the previous six months, compared to 30 percent of men.

In the last year, 71 percent of women were first-time buyers, compared to 60 percent of men. The study also looked into these investors’ coin ownership habits. The top three coins owned by both men and women in the study were Bitcoin, Ether, and Dogecoin. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to own a greater variety of coins, according to the survey.

Nancy Gordon, the chief product officer of Bakkt’s Loyalty & Rewards business, stated that the study’s findings were extremely encouraging for women’s cryptocurrency adoption.

She observes that there was a tremendous appeal for accumulating cryptocurrency through channels such as giving and reclaiming points. These strategies have the potential to broaden the crypto market’s inclusion and accessibility, regardless of gender or financial level.

Other research have also verified the conclusions of Bakkt’s study. According to a new survey conducted by the crypto lending site BlockFi, many more women will invest in cryptocurrency this year.

According to BlockFi’s research, most women are drawn to cryptocurrency as a method to have an economic hedge. Their primary crypto investment strategy was discovered to be buy and hold; 70% of respondents had never sold their holdings after purchasing.

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Altcoins Ethereum Opinion Price Analysis

Ethereum and BNB Price Analysis 03/13

Ethereum
Ethereum and BNB price analysis 03/13

Many people will agree that the crypto market has been boring for the last six days. We saw a recurrence of the previous week, when it opened at $1.7 trillion and closed at the same price. The global cryptocurrency market cap reached $1.84 trillion during the current intraweek session.

The high came as a result of the anticipation for US President Biden’s decision to sign the long-awaited executive order on digital assets. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm faded over time, and the sector was back below $1.8 trillion the following day.

The Crypto Fear and Greed index has also experienced little fluctuation, peaking at 28 in response to the executive order announcement. Another week has come and gone with little to no solid fundamentals.

Nashville Soccer Club (SC), on the other hand, has established a partnership with digital asset management startup Valkyrie. Kevin O’Leary, commonly known as Mr. Wonderful, has acknowledged that crypto assets account for 20% of his entire investments. These are just a few of the stories that made the news.

While most assets improved in terms of stability, waves grew by more than 45 percent. According to one forecast, the $25 resistance level may be tested next. If the current momentum continues, the token may retest $30 and close between $28 and $25. The prediction was correct, and the coin has been the top gainer for the last six days.

The graphic above depicts the market’s current state over a seven-day period. Anchor Protocol lost about half of its value, making it the biggest loser throughout the time period under examination. Let’s take a quick look at how Ethereum and BNB have been performing.

Ethereum

Last week’s price movements were preferred to the seven-day timeframe. Ethereum had an almost perfect start, gaining 11% and turning the $2,800 barrier along the way. That rise lasted two days, as ETH traded above $3,000 for a few hours before relinquishing the peak on Tuesday.

The current seven-day period is markedly different, with ether failing to post any major gains at the start of the week. It began at $2,550 and fell to a low of $2,445. After the decline, the largest alt experienced little buy-back but failed to fully recover from the setback.

Tuesday saw a significant change in the picture, with Ethereum reaching a high of $2,626. The coin finished the intraday session up over 4%. However, the project began its downward trend on Thursday, losing the majority of its accrued profits over the next three days.

Based on the performance of the second largest coin over the last seven days, we can deduce that the asset reached a high of $2,774 and a low of $2,445. Ethereum did not experience any substantial gains or losses.

The peak indicated that Ethereum was on the verge of testing its pivot point but failed. It is continuing trading below the mark, indicating that it is firmly entrenched in bearish dominance. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is providing no comfort, as it has dropped below 0 again, and the fast line is currently at 80.

Binance coin, like the preceding digital currency, began the week on a strong note, gaining more than 9.88 percent during the first intraday session. The price rise has been prolonged for a second day. The coin finished that session below its pivot point as well as its DMA, leaving bulls expecting for better results.

BNB got the current seven-day session off to a sluggish start, as the intraday session was marked by a doji. On the second day, trade volume fell as another doji formed on the chart. Wednesday was a different story, as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency climbed about 4%.

Following that price increase, the token had a more severe selloff, losing more than 5% on Thursday. The correction has persisted at of this writing, with the exchange token down by 5%. The present price implies that all attempts to flip and remain above the pivot point have failed. Furthermore, BNB is currently trading below its 200-day moving average. More negative news from MACD, as the asset recently witnessed a bearish divergence.

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Blockchain News

20% of Kevin O’Leary Is In Cryptocurrency

O'Leary
According to Kevin O'Leary, a Crypto Crisis is imminent

Kevin O’Leary, a Canadian businessman and television host known as “Mr. Wonderful,” has disclosed that crypto assets account for 20% of his entire interests. He revealed this in an interview with CNBC on Friday.

“I have millions of dollars, and cryptocurrencies and blockchain now account for 20% of my portfolio,” he stated.

One interviewer inquired whether any cryptocurrency would cease to exist within the next ten years.

“You must be versatile. I am the owner of 32 different positions, including equity FTX. The whole point is that you have no idea who will win. Is Ethereum going to triumph? Is Solana going to be victorious? Is it Avalanche or Helium? I own them all,” he said.

O’Leary’s recent revelation comes the same week that US President Joe Biden signed an executive order demanding that the government study the impact of bitcoin on financial stability and national security.

During the conversation, O’Leary claimed that he had purchased a stake in at least one private Bitcoin mining plant. He further stated that following the executive order, he sold his investments in publicly traded Bitcoin mining firms.

It’s worth mentioning that O’Leary was once a crypto skeptic before lately becoming a firm believer. In 2019, he referred to Bitcoin as a valueless money.

It’s not only O’Leary’s. There is a large list of other people who have previously expressed skepticism about cryptocurrency. Some, though, have eventually become believers. Don Tapscott, Niall Ferguson, Joe Weisenthal, and Kevin Roose are all previous crypto skeptics who have since become believers.

At the same time, billionaires and huge corporations have shown a strong interest in cryptocurrency in recent years.

In late 2020, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas claimed that Bitcoin accounted for 10% of his liquid assets. He also advised prospective investors to study “The Bitcoin Standard,” an award-winning book written by Bitcoin educator Saifedean Ammous.

Seek Capital, the family office of billionaire Simon Nixon, declared plans to raise its crypto exposure last August, claiming that it is a crucial component of the future. Recently, fund manager Bill Miller stated that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies account for around half of his personal holdings.

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Altcoins Price Analysis

Kadena (KDA) Price Analysis 03/12

KDA crypto
Kadena (KDA) Price Prediction 08/25

In bull and bear markets, the mantra for long-term sustainable bitcoin projects is “always be building.” Despite the overall slump in the crypto market, Kadena (KDA) has reaped rewards for its forward-thinking approach to development, and the layer-1 proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain protocol has recently seen its price reverse direction.

According to Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data, the price of KDA increased 40% from a low of $5.94 in the early hours of March 11 to a high of $8.28, while its 24-hour trading volume increased 784 percent to $325 million.

The recent price increase for KDA can be attributed to three factors: a new listing on Binance, the launch of the first decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Kadena network, and impending roadmap goals that include the implementation of an NFT standard and wrapped native currencies.

The most important driver of KDA was its March 11 listing on Binance. Following the news, 24-hour trading activity increased from an average of $38 million to $325 million during Friday trading. The KuCoin exchange also saw significant trading volume, with $117.4 million in trades taking place before the Binance listing became live.

The implementation of new protocols on the Kadena network, including Kaddex, the first decentralized exchange in the project’s ecosystem that provides gas-free trading, was a second development that aided the price of KDA.

Kaddex also announced an interface with Simplex, which would provide a fiat onramp into the burgeoning DeFi ecosystem. Other protocols that have recently launched and linked with Kadena include Hypercent Launchpad, a platform that allows validated projects to be launched on Kadena, and the crypto liquidity provider ZoidPay.

The project’s forthcoming roadmap ambitions, which include the launch of a native NFT standard called Marmalade, are a third factor attracting attention to Kadena.

Other noteworthy milestones on the Kadena roadmap include the debut of wrapped native coins such as kBTC, kETH, and kUSD, a drive for additional US and global exchange listings, the development of lending platform infrastructure, and the launch of a sustainable mining program.

The project’s developers have also revealed intentions to deploy testnets for a Kadena Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) bridge and a Kadena to Cosmos bridge, which will allow for compatibility with other major blockchain ecosystems.

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Ethereum News NFT

NFTs Are On Ethereum Layers 2

NFTs
NFTs are on Ethereum layer 2s

Ethereum is the most popular platform for creating and exchanging NFTs. According to this 1confirmation research, the Ethereum ecosystem accounted for 90% of the NFT trading volume in 2021. Users prefer it for its security, decentralization, and liquidity. Nonetheless, due to the high gas prices, it has become increasingly difficult for small investors to operate in Ethereum. This website allows you to examine the prices for minting, bidding, and listing NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.

As a result of this, many retail investors are turning to alternative blockchains such as Binance Smart Chain, Solana, and Fantom. The truth is that none of these networks has the same level of development and opportunity as Ethereum does. Fortunately, there is a solution that could become commonplace by 2022.

Layer 2s are the most visible answer to Ethereum scalability difficulties. These are protocols that are created on top of the main chain to boost scalability while leveraging Layer 1 security. Most L2s are based on rollups, which means they work by grouping together a number of off-chain transactions and delivering a proof of those transactions to the L1. As a result, the gas price is distributed across hundreds of transactions.

There are two forms of rollups, which differ in how those bundled transactions are validated. On the one hand, there are optimistic rollups, which presume that all transactions are legal and allow anyone who notices a discrepancy to submit a fraud proof. The transaction is then evaluated individually to see whether it is honest or not. This technique works even when there is only one trustworthy entity watching over transactions.

Zero knowledge rollups, on the other hand, work by synthesizing the bundled transactions using a complicated encryption mechanism known as zero knowledge proof. This technique is capable of proving the validity of all transactions without displaying them.

These technologies can be leveraged to create NFT markets that use Ethereum’s security and development while charging 10x fewer costs. Let’s look at some Ethereum layer 2s that enable NFTs.

Arbitrum:

It is a hopeful rollup that runs on Ethereum; gas fees in this network are roughly 0.5 USD for a transfer and 0.8 USD for a swap. Treasure, NFT Alliance, Abrazaar, and Agora are the most popular NFT platforms on Arbitrum.

Optimism:

Another upbeat rollup, with gas fees of roughly $1 each transaction. Quixotic is the most popular NFT marketplace in Optimism, and the leading project is OptiPunks, a pfp (profile picture) collection.

Immutable X:

It is a Layer 2 with no prior knowledge that is solely focused on NFTs. Immutable X is currently offering no-fee transactions in its marketplace. The trading card game Gods Unchained is the most noteworthy collection.

Layer 2s are an Ethereum scaling option that can dramatically lower gas expenses. They function by executing transactions off-chain and submitting verification of those transactions to the main chain. Optimistic and zero knowledge rollups are the most prominent L2 mechanisms. The Ethereum L2 ecosystem is constantly expanding, yet it is still in its early phases. If these projects can get traction and obtain funding, their growth will be parabolic. Behind a rollup might be the next CryptoPunk or BAYC.

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Altcoins News Regulation

Ripple Gets A Huge Win on SEC Case

Ripple
SEC vs. Ripple Case Continues

Ripple secured yet another crucial victory on Friday when Judge Analisa Torres, a United States District Judge, denied the SEC’s petition to dismiss Ripple’s fair notice claim.

The SEC filed a motion last April to dismiss Ripple’s make-or-break fair notice defense, which sought to compel the SEC to provide some information through a discovery order and prove that the agency provided Ripple with fair notice that its XRP distributions would be prohibited under securities law since 2013.

If allowed, Ripple’s motion would seek to demonstrate that the SEC was aware of what it now alleges to be a regulatory violation in April.

As a result, the court determined on Friday that the SEC had failed to persuade it to strike out Ripple’s fair notice of affirmative defense by failing to reference case law where that had been done at the pleadings stage. Furthermore, the agency failed to demonstrate that the continuation of Ripple fair notice defense will cause it undue prejudice.

In that case, the court was also convinced that the SEC was on a mission to use delay tactics by increasing the time, expense, and complexity before the case could proceed to full trial, which led to the decision to refuse the SEC’s request.

The Court shall not determine, at this early stage of the litigation, that Ripple’s defense is invalid, according to the order. As a result, the SEC’s move to strike Ripple’s affirmative fair notice defense is DENIED.

However, the matter will now go to a full hearing because the court refused a similar petition filed last April to dismiss the action by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen, giving a setback to the individual defendants.

“Today’s judgment makes it clear that there’s a fundamental question about whether the SEC ever gave Ripple fair notice that its XRP distributions – which have been ongoing since 2013 – would ever be illegal under securities law.”

Following the order, Ripple general counsel, Stuart Alderoty, made a statement. The Ripple case, which was brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2020, has been a thorn in the side of XRP holders, who remain hopeful that the two sides will reach an agreement without going to full trial, or, better yet, that the trial will take the shortest amount of time possible.

Categories
Bitcoin News

El Salvador $1 billion Bitcoin Bond Postponed Due to Ukraine Conflict

El Salvador
El Salvador $1 billion Bitcoin bond

El Salvador is keeping an eye on the situation in Ukraine before deciding when to launch its $1 billion Bitcoin bonds.

Alejandro Zelaya, the country’s finance minister, confirmed this today during an appearance on El Salvador’s “Frente a Frente” TV show, adding that the bond was meant to be released between March 15 and 20 but could be postponed owing to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“We believe that between Mar 15 and 20 is the right timing, we have the tools almost finished. But the international context will tell us. I didn’t expect the war in Ukraine. We’re still finishing some details, almost everything is ready, the thing is there is also a timing issue.”

Meanwhile, El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, said in November that the government will build “Bitcoin City,” the world’s first crypto-powered city, which will be financed by $1 billion in Bitcoin bonds.

The Bitcoin City will be erected near the Conchagua volcano in La Unión’s eastern section.

President Bukele anticipated that the bond will be oversubscribed earlier this year, as well as making other Bitcoin positive forecasts for 2022. El Salvador has been steadfast in its acceptance of Bitcoin as a legal tender alongside the US dollar.

The country has continued to add more Bitcoin to its balance sheet after introducing it legal tender in September of last year.

El Salvador now has around 1,701 BTC in its portfolio after reporting its most recent purchase in January.

President Bukele also said that revenues from the country’s Bitcoin investments are being used to build a pet hospital and 20 Bitcoin schools.

Meanwhile, the Latin American country has been praised and chastised for making Bitcoin official tender.

President Bukele recently chastised US senators for telling them to stay out of the country’s “internal affairs” after they demanded an investigation into the economic threats the US faces as a result of El Salvador legalization of Bitcoin.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain News

New South Korean President is Crypto-Friendly

President
South Korea new president is crypto-friendly

Yoon Suk-yeol, the head of South Korea’s main opposition party, won the election on Thursday, March 10, with around 49 percent of the vote, thanks to a platform that appealed to crypto fans, among other campaign methods. He is now the President of South Korea.

Yoon, 61, had devised a superb strategy for disseminating a crypto-friendly narrative and attracting a large number of people in their twenties and thirties who were already knee-deep in cryptocurrency.

The former prosecutor, who is admired by South Korea’s youth for his role in imprisoning two former presidents accused of corruption, has promised to raise the capital gains tax threshold on cryptocurrency from $2000 to $40,000, making it one of the most generous government seigniorages on cryptocurrency in the world.

The President also promises to implement a comprehensive legal framework for digital assets, which he claims would assist the country “recover illegitimate earnings from unfair trade practices.”

In his final attempt to convince young voters, Yoon released at least 4000 NFTs containing a video of himself on the Aergo Blockchain on Monday, with sales taking place on CCCV, a South Korean marketplace, for 50,000 Korean won (US$40.78) each. His presidential opponent, Lee Jae-Myung of the Democratic Party of Korea, attempted to deploy similar techniques, however his manifesto mostly appealed to elderly people.

According to a recent report by the country’s National Federation of Business Entrepreneurs, four out of ten Koreans in their twenties and thirties have invested in cryptocurrencies, with deposits totaling more than 60 trillion Korean won ($50.9 billion) in the four largest South Korean crypto exchanges.

Meanwhile, Yoon’s crypto-friendly posture contrasts with past administrations, with the outgoing government slamming digital assets the hardest since 2017. His victory is consequently viewed as a victory for digital asset investors, with South Korea gaining the lead in terms of worldwide crypto adoption rates.

Categories
Blockchain Guides & Tutorials News

Bfarm Launches a BNB and BUSD Referral Program

Bfarm
Bfarm a launches BNB and BUSD referral

Bfarm. Co is a novel yield farming program that allows users to maximize their income by staking their native Binance tokens on the BSC network to earn quick staking yields. Users also benefit from the large referral system, which allows them to invite other BNB users onto the network.

BFarm is a farming investment forum that was created to reward and benefit the community. The contract is most useful when the crypto ecosystem is experiencing severe market volatility, as it is right now.

BFarm ensures that consumers have a consistent daily revenue. It also provides stake returns in the form of a Return on Investment (ROI). This platform offers a strategy for short-term investors seeking quick profits, and the return rate is designed to have minimal impact on long-term investors. This plan includes a 16-day lockup return of 188 percent and a 2% quick credit giveaway incentive.

Users can earn a passive income by staking a minimum BNB stake of 0.05BNB Max unlimited or a minimum BUSD stake of $10 Max unlimited within the 8-day lockup period, which will yield 140 percent. There is a technique for this optimal return that includes a 25-day lockup return of 245 percent and a 3-month lockup return of 245 percent for those who want to arrange a monthly investment.

The BFarm referral program has five levels, each with its own set of benefits:

5-percentage level 1

3-percentage level

2-percentage level 3

0.5 percent at level 4

0.5 percent at level 5

Since it was cleared of any backdoors, scam scripts, or flaws by Hazecrypto security audit, the platform is impenetrable for users wishing to optimize their profits through staking.

The purpose of this program, according to BFarm’s whitepaper, is to establish a community that consistently profits users who are passionate about the company’s mission to build high-quality DeFi apps.

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain News Regulation

Lawmakers Propose Legislations Imposing Penalties on China’s CBDC

New York
New York State Assembly new crypto legislation

Nine Republican lawmakers have endorsed legislation aimed at regulating US federal agencies’ policies in response to worries that China’s digital yuan could be used to bypass sanctions and compromise users’ personal information.

Louisiana Senator Law Cassidy and Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn submitted the Say No to the Silk Road Act on Wednesday, backed by seven other Republican senators. The bill would require certain government agencies to report on China’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC. The two senators expressed concerns about digital surveillance and privacy of citizens and overseas users as a result of China’s CBDC expansion.

If the bill is passed, the United States Secretary of Commerce and Commerce Representative will report on the effects of the digital yuan on trade as well as trade enforcement activities, while the Department of State will issue a warning about the CBDC. The bill also required the Office of Management and Budget to set criteria for agencies using the digital yuan, as well as foreign governments receiving military aid to reveal if they were using the CBDC.

“If left uncontrolled, technologies like as China’s digital yuan would enable Russia to circumvent global sanctions on systems such as SWIFT and enable the CCP to further spy and threaten their populace,” Blackburn warned.

With sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union harming Russia’s economy, some sources say the country may turn to China for solutions, tapping into payment systems such as UnionPay. Many politicians have focused on digital assets as a possible way for Russia to circumvent these sanctions. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden announced the signing of an executive order aimed at creating a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, emphasizing its potential role in bypassing sanctions.

While crypto-related regulations in the US have not always been entirely partisan, Republican lawmakers appear to be leading the campaign against China’s CBDC, potentially undermining the dollar’s dominance. Senator Blackburn and Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, both supporters of the aforementioned bill, addressed a letter to Olympic organizers in July 2021 urging them to prohibit US athletes from utilizing digital yuan during the Beijing Winter Games. According to reports, few foreign athletes used the digital currency at the tournament, despite the fact that Visa was also available.

Categories
Blockchain News

CEO of Ripple Says Biden Executive Order Is A Major Move

Russia
Biden Thoughts on Russia Selling Oil and Gas in Crypto

After months of anticipation, the Biden administration finally signed and released the long-awaited crypto executive order. According to the Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, multiple government departments in the United States are required to coordinate and consolidate policies on a national framework for crypto.

The majority of people in the cryptocurrency business believe the executive order is a significant step in the right direction.

Since its announcement in October, President Biden’s executive order has created a great deal of anxiety in the crypto sphere. Most people expected the directive to result in a multi-pronged regulatory crackdown against crypto assets. Industry leaders have been pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

Importantly, the directive enables the development of a coordinated government approach to preventing the use of cryptocurrency in unlawful operations, all while encouraging innovation and reinforcing the United States’ technological leadership in this quickly emerging field.

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire praises the Biden administration’s decision to employ a “whole-of-government approach to simultaneously exploit benefits while managing and mitigating inherent dangers in responsible innovation.”

The executive order, according to Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of blockchain payments firm Ripple, signals a critical inflection point and makes it obvious that “crypto is here to stay.”

Other analysts feel the executive order could assist crypto miners in addition to providing regulatory clarity in the crypto business. Jonathan Peterson, a strategist with the American international investment firm Jefferies, stated in a client note that they feel that the fact that the United States government is now more formally acknowledging, working with, and ostensibly backing the digital asset business would benefit public crypto mining companies.

Peterson noted the contrast between the United States and China, which put a blanket ban on cryptocurrency mining last year, forcing miners to relocate to friendlier states. The EO, according to the analyst, is just another indication that the regulatory environment in the United States is increasingly supportive of miners and cryptocurrencies.

Categories
Blockchain News

Crypto-Related Companies Surge After Executive Order

crypto
crypto-related stocks see a surge after Biden's Executive order

The stock prices of crypto-related companies have risen as the larger market has reacted positively to US President Joe Biden’s long-awaited executive order. This will need the development of a regulatory framework for digital assets, as well as the investigation of a future digital dollar by federal agencies in the United States.

According to TradingView, Coinbase was up 10.5 percent after market closing, while shares in Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy were up 6.4 percent.

Blockchain-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) benefited from the market’s increased confidence in crypto, with ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF up 10% and Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF up 10.3%.

Riot Blockchain Inc. and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. had the most gains in cryptocurrency mining businesses, with Riot Blockchain Inc. up 11.2 percent and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. up 13.5 percent, respectively. In a letter to clients, Jefferies analyst Jonathan Peterson allegedly reaffirmed his buy recommendation for Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., arguing that crypto miners will benefit now that the US government is more formally acknowledging, working with, and seemingly backing the digital asset business.

While 10% swings are frequent in cryptocurrency, these are exceptionally dramatic moves in traditional markets. Despite the recent uptick, Coinbase is still almost 48 percent lower than its direct listing price in April of last year. Riot Blockchain is in even worse shape, down 76 percent from its most recent peak in February 2021.

Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 9% after learning about the leaked executive order, before reverting to its current 5% gain.

Aside from the initial positive price action, most investors saw the executive order as, if not a net positive for the crypto business, at least a lot less awful than had been predicted. President Biden characterized the emergence of digital assets as an opportunity to bolster American leadership in the global financial system and at the technical frontier.

The decree did not specify what kind of regulatory steps could be expected, but the overall tone from the US Federal government appeared positive. This indicates that the presidential order could help to extend the use of virtual currencies in the US banking system.

This was backed up by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who stated in a statement that the measure will benefit both consumers and companies. Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer presented an excellent critique of the presidential order’s omissions, advising his 48,000 Twitter followers that there is no reason to expect the US government to favor policies for open, permissionless, or private technology.

Categories
Blockchain News Regulation

Justin Sun Speaks Up On Recent Allegations

Justin Sun
Justin Sun Transfers 100 Million USDT to Accumulate BTC and TRX

Recent claims leveled against Justin Sun have been refuted. Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron network, responded to the Verge’s reports that he was being probed by the FBI and the US Securities and Exchange Commission in a series of tweets posted today.

Sun maintains that the exchange is dedicated to cooperating with regulators and to implementing KYC facilities for its consumers. Poloniex, according to the Tron inventor, is not registered in Seychelles, does not operate in the United States, and does not serve US customers. He concludes by revealing his legal position on the matter.

Sun’s answer comes after The Verge published a piece on March 9th criticizing Justin Sun, Zhao Changpeng, and Poloniex. The piece effectively poked fun at Sun’s dubious reputation in the crypto market throughout the years.

The paper also stated that trading crypto assets on Poloniex was dangerous. It went on to say that Sun fled Beijing for Seoul in order to dodge the ICO prohibition, which could have a negative impact on the TRX coin.

As these charges emerge, they add to the already-existing criticisms leveled at cryptocurrency exchanges over the years.

Previously, exchanges such as Binance were beset by regulatory repercussions. Many of the aforementioned exchanges, as well as a few others, were forced to relocate to crypto-friendly locales in order to keep operations running.

Apart from the regulatory controversy, exchanges were hacked many times during that time period. The largest theft to date occurred in 2018, when hackers stole $534 million from Coincheck.

However, some of the largest exchanges have recently gotten into trouble with the SEC. Binance was hit with a slew of penalties last year, forcing it to close its doors in Singapore and Israel. The SEC also threatened to sue Coinbase, a US-based exchange, last year.

Categories
News Price Analysis

Gold Hits An All-Time High

Gold
Gold hits an all-time high

Gold has reached an all-time high of $2,078.80 per ounce, sending its estimated market capitalization above the $13 trillion dollar barrier for the first time ever, as investors hurry to safeguard their investments from inflation caused by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war.

Gold futures are currently up 0.55 percent, trading at $2,055.70 per ounce. The yellow gold reached a high of $2,069.89 per ounce during the Asian session, not far from the recently established all-time high. The dollar, which generally moves inversely to gold, is down 0.09 percent at 98.98 basis points but remains close to a more than one-and-a-half-year high achieved earlier this week.

Apart from the United States and the United Kingdom prohibiting Russian oil imports, DailyFX strategist Margaret Yang told Reuters that “there appears to be a lack of further escalation in hostilities between Russia and Western powers.” Geopolitical events are the primary drivers of gold, and if the political skies clear, I expect gold prices to quickly return to $1,800 levels.

Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States, announced an embargo on Russian oil and other energy imports. Britain also stated that it will phase out Russian oil and oil products imports by the end of 2022, giving the market and businesses time to identify alternatives. Treasury yields in the United States are rising as investors anticipate the U.S.

Treasury yields in the United States are rising as investors expect the Federal Reserve of the United States to raise interest rates this month when it announces its policy decision next week. On the other side of the Atlantic, the European Central Bank will announce its policy decision on Thursday.

Apart from gold, other precious metals have been positive since the beginning of the war, as investors want to hold on to as much as they can as a hedge against inflation. Palladium, for example, is up 2.01 percent as of this writing, selling at $3,212.47 per ounce. The metal has risen by more than 38% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago, reaching an all-time high of $3,417.02 per ounce on Monday.

Russia is a significant global producer of palladium, accounting for more than 40% of global exports. Palladium, according to ED&F Man Capital Markets analyst Edward Meir, “may move significantly higher since, of all commodities, it has the biggest percentage share coming out of Russia.” It recently surpassed previous year’s high. So, if it’s the same as last year’s high before the invasion, this tells me that we should be considerably higher after the invasion.

“In only a few months, the globe moved from loathing gold as prospects for a healthy global economic rebound dampened demand for safe-havens, to now growing concerned about stagflation and recession threats,” said Ed Moya, analyst at online trading platform OANDA.

Categories
Blockchain News NFT

Wladimir Klitschko Releases NFT Collection In Support Of Ukraine

NFT
NFT purchases are soaring!

Wladimir Klitschko, a former professional boxer from Ukraine, has joined the efforts of other celebrities in supporting the Ukrainian army and people during Russia’s current invasion.

Klitschko sees the cryptocurrency business as the most effective and compelling method for raising donations in these difficult times. Klitschko claims that all cash raised would be sent to UNICEF and other reputable organizations to help solve the severe military and humanitarian requirements generated by the Russia-Ukraine war.

The NFT collection is called “Vandalz for Ukraine: WhIsBe x Wladimir Klitschko,” and it features two well-known figures: Klitschko and the artist WhIsBe. They have joined forces to enter the NFT industry in order to fulfill an important social mission and assist underprivileged communities in Ukraine.

They believe that the NFT sphere is the best place for them to use their reputation and expertise to generate donations. The NFT collection has a variable pricing approach with objects priced at $100, $1,000, and $10,000 in order to reach the widest possible audience. People with varying budgets can so freely engage in the humanitarian effort.

Wladimir Klitschko and his elder brother Vitali (now the mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital) are the most visible public personalities in favor of fundraising activities. They advocate for the world community to actively assist Ukrainians in their resistance to Russia’s forces.

They also act as role models for other prominent people, regardless of their standing, who want to join the Ukrainian military forces. Although the eventual success of this collection is unknown, the popularity of similar NFT collections demonstrates its tremendous potential.

An NFT depicting the Ukrainian flag, in particular, fetched as high as $6.75 million at the start of March. As citizens from developed and developing countries support innocent victims subjected to war crimes, the total amount of crypto-based financial assistance to Ukraine has already surpassed $50 million.

Categories
Altcoins Blockchain News

Avalanche Debuts a Program to Speed The Shift to Scalable Subnets

Avalanche
How the month has been for Avalanche (AVAX)

The Avalanche Foundation, a non-profit organization, has unveiled the “Avalanche Multiverse,” a new incentive program worth approximately $290 million (almost four million $AVAX tokens). According to a press release, the new program will be divided into at least six phases, with a focus on the adoption and growth of Avalanche network subnets.

The Avalanche network is intended to provide faster transaction times and lower transaction fees. However, similar with other layer-1 EVM-compatible blockchains, growing network utilization has resulted in higher costs. These subnets are intended to address high-fee issues while still allowing the network to scale.

According to the Foundation, the subnets are native integers of the blockchain and hence have comparable properties. They can, however, be modified to meet the needs of specific apps that run on them.

Commenting on the foundation’s recent relocation Subnets, according to Emin Gün Sirer, Director of the Avalanche Foundation, will be the next growth engine in crypto, providing unique capabilities only conceivable with network-level governance and open experimentation on a never-before-seen scale.

The first set of institutions to engage with the Avalanche Foundation on the current reward program include DeFi Kingdoms, Aave, Golden Tree Asset Management, Wintermute, Jump Crypto, Valkyrie, and Securitize.

The latest Multiverse program news follows the debut of Avalanche Rush, an ongoing $180 million initiative that began last year. The initiative, which intends to assist digital assets and applications released on Avalanche’s default smart contract chain, the ‘C-Chain,’ led the $AVAX token price to increase by 113% at the moment.

The new Multiverse initiative may or may not have a similar effect on AVAX in the future. The coin was trading at $74 at the time of writing, signifying a two percent price rise in 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Ava Labs teamed with the big four accounting firm Deloitte last year in another development. The collaboration will allow Deloitte to use the Avalanche blockchain in a new disaster recovery platform called CAYG (Close As You Go).

Categories
Ethereum

Ethereum Gas Fees Have Dropped to an All-Time Low

Ethereum price
Ethereum (ETH) Market Update 09/08

For the first time in many months, Ethereum costs have fallen to record lows. Analysts attribute this to a variety of causes, including the network’s continued focus on scalability improvements.

Fees on Ethereum protocols have dropped to 7-month lows, and the decrease is being felt across the whole network. During the weekend, the cost of a network transaction was roughly 19 gwei, or little less than a dollar; slightly more than $0.99.

Transaction costs on the Ethereum network have not been this low since August of 2021. Notably, gas prices rose after remaining in this range for roughly three months, with experts attributing the increase to the growing interest in NFT and DeFi ecosystems.

Fees are currently 82.4 percent lower than their January highs, following a two-month downward trend. It may be difficult to pinpoint a specific cause for the latest dip, but a few possibilities can be recognized.

Possible outcomes include reduced network congestion as a result of increased usage of layer 2 solutions, more scalable chains, and lower interest in the NFT market. Ethereum’s supremacy in the DeFi space has dwindled from 97 percent a year ago to 58 percent now. The NFT ecosystem, on the other hand, appears to be the trend with the strongest association.

Trading volume on the Ethereum NFT marketplace OpenSea fell by over half in the first week of February, from $247 million to $124 million. During the same time period, the average gas price dropped from 134 gwei to 65 gwei. Both of these causes are extremely likely to have contributed to the current downturn. As beneficial as this breakthrough is for Ethereum users, it is not a long-term solution to the network’s scalability difficulties.

For a long time, the Ethereum network has been hampered by high gas fees, allowing competitor networks like Terra, Solana, and Avalanche, which offer greater scalability, to thrive. In order to control the situation, the developers have released multiple improvements, including Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin proposing EIP-4488 in November.

Additionally, Zero-Knowledge technology and Optimistic technology are being developed. While both solutions significantly reduce network expenses, ZK roll-ups have shown more potential, despite being confined to one application per chain. The release of the zkEVM rollup is expected to solve Ethereum’s scalability issues.

Categories
Bitcoin News Price Analysis

Bitcoin – Gold Forecast 03/08

bitcoin gold
bitcoin gold forecast 03/09

Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data tracked Bitcoin as it approached $38,000 an hour after Wall Street opened on Tuesday.

After reaching $39,240, the pair quickly reversed course as Biden confirmed the plans, adding to oil’s already robust gains and putting further pressure on stocks and risk assets.

“Today, I’m announcing that the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy,” he stated during a press conference.

They’ve banned all imports of Russian oil, gas, and energy. This implies that Russian oil will no longer be accepted at US ports, and the American people will give another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.

On the announcement, Brent crude hit a high of $133 per barrel, but US markets had little to cheer about, with the S&P 500 down 0.5 percent on the day at the time of writing. Bitcoin, which is still trading within a familiar range, avoided serious losses by bouncing back to $39,000.

Meanwhile, gold jumped back beyond $2,000 per ounce on the latest twist in the Russia–Ukraine conflict, aiming for all-time highs. Similarly, not everyone was convinced that the worst was yet to come for stocks.

In what should be a bright lining for Bitcoin bulls, popular analytics account BTC fuel identified the equities market-related economic anxiety index, indicating that stocks may have already delivered their drop if history is any guide.

The biggest uncertainty was during the massive capitulation for the six occasions this happened. More crucially, stocks rose in the months that followed, rising by 18% on average after three months, they noted.

The most recent and significant such event in Bitcoin’s history was the March 2020 COVID-19 crash and its aftermath.

Categories
Blockchain News

Biden’s Executive Order For Crypto Coming This Week

Russia
Biden Thoughts on Russia Selling Oil and Gas in Crypto

A schism between crypto corporations and the US government over how sanctions against Russia should be enforced appeared to have reached a breaking point, drawing the attention of the White House.

According to Bloomberg, individuals familiar with the situation have claimed that President Joe Biden will sign an executive order this week defining the US government’s plan for cryptocurrencies, ending a two-week standoff since the US imposed sanctions on Russia.

Furthermore, Executive Order ‘E.O’ is intended to completely address the regulatory, economic, and national security concerns posed by digital assets, and will compel federal agencies to submit their reports by the end of the second half of 2022.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which has been monitoring the financial risks presented by cryptocurrencies, and the United States Department of Treasury are among those anticipated to submit reports. 

According to sources, the E.O. will also give particular tasks to a wide range of state departments and agencies in crafting an all-around digital asset strategy to ensure that the United States maintains its competitive edge in the face of the explosive expansion of digital assets globally.

Although the White House has yet to respond, this E.O. may also herald the end of a lengthy dispute about CBDCs that the FED threw to Congress earlier this year, since the POTUS may expect the entire matter to be resolved by May 2022.

As the risks of utilizing cryptocurrencies to conduct crimes become more apparent, Biden’s administration has been under pressure to offer regulatory clarity on digital assets.

Although Coinbase has already pushed the envelope by barring certain Russian organizations that are not on the sanction list, other crypto corporations continue to underestimate the potential of cryptocurrency to pose actual economic threats. 

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao ‘CZ,’ for example, has stated that the market capitalization of cryptocurrency is still much below the global threat threshold, which some in Washington disagree with.

Last week, a group of US legislators led by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senate Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown addressed a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, voicing concerns about Russia’s use of cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions.

Aside from the United States, Singapore and the European Union have pledged to adopt measures, some of which are expected to go beyond the scope of existing legislation, to prevent Russia from exploiting cryptocurrency to circumvent sanctions.

Categories
Blockchain Business News

Ventures Investments in Crypto Projects Was Over $25B in 2021

Ventures
Ventures Investments in crypto project was over $25 billion last year

Bain Capital Ventures, one of the world’s top startup investment firms with $5.1 billion in assets under management, has announced the launch of a new $560 million crypto-focused fund.

According to a Bloomberg article published on Tuesday, the fund closed in November and has already invested $100 million in 12 unnamed projects.

Bain Capital Ventures has a track record of investing in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, having previously funded firms such as BlockFi, Compound, and Digital Currency Group. Bain Capital Ventures’ most recent fund, BCV Fund I, is the first of its type, focusing only on the crypto sector.

According to a BCV spokesman, the crypto fund’s mission is to support entrepreneurs constructing the next generation of open internet infrastructure. The dedicated investment fund, according to the spokesman, is put up with a highly technical and collaborative approach to aid crypto and Web3 makers from seed to growth.

When questioned if cryptocurrencies will play a large part in venture capital in the future, the representative stated that the internet is undergoing a tremendous shift toward open, community-driven, and decentralized services.

The latest development follows a surge in venture capital interest in cryptocurrency throughout 2021. According to Pitchbook data, venture capital investment in cryptocurrency ventures surpassed $25 billion last year, the greatest amount ever recorded.

Despite the fact that crypto asset prices are very volatile in 2022, venture firms have continued to make significant investments in the sector. Sequoia Capital, an American venture capital firm, announced the formation of a $600 million cryptocurrency fund in February. Polygon secured $450 million in an investment round led by some of the best venture firms in blockchain.

Categories
News NFT

Immutable Goes Over $2 Billion in Market Value

NFT
NFT purchases are soaring!

Immutable, a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) startup based in Australia, has raised $200 million in a series-C funding round headed by Singapore’s government-owned investment firm Temasek.

Other investors in the round include Mirae Assets, ParaFi Capital, Declaration Partners, and Tencent Holdings, according to a Reuters story on Monday.

The latest fundraising round brings the Immutable’s worth to $2.5 billion, adding to the previously raised $60 million in September 2021. In 2019, Immutable additionally raised $15 million in a Series A investment.

Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson stated that the new funding will be committed to the company’s global expansion and that more talent will be added to various departments such as sales and marketing. In addition, the startup intends to investigate potential Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) options.

Immutable is the company behind Immutable X, an NFT-focused layer-2 scaling solution. Several sites, including NFT marketplace OpenSea, social media platform TikTok, and video game retailer GameStop, are currently using the network. When compared to Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain network, Immutable X allows transactions to occur at a considerably faster rate.

Popular NFT games made by the Australian firm include Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians. Many other companies, like Immutable, have conducted many investment rounds, the proceeds of which have been used to promote and develop blockchain games in some way.

Solana Ventures, the investment arm of Solana Labs, joined with Forte and Griffin Gaming Partners late last year to form a $150 million investment fund to invest in gaming firms built on the Solana blockchain.

Yield Guild Games (YGG), a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focusing on investing in NFT-based games, raised $4.6 million in a funding round as well. A portion of the funds were invested in digital assets such as games and virtual worlds.

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