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Study: Half of Canadian Institutional Investors Actively Offered One Crypto Asset Product in 2023
A16z Exec Blasts Meme Coins: They Make Crypto Look ‘Like a Risky Casino’
Republic First Bank Fails, Triggers Minor Crypto Market Downturn Amid Banking Sector Concerns
New UK Law Empowering Authorities to Seize and Destroy Crypto Assets Takes Effect Today
Stablecoins Gain Ground as Global Financial Asset
Swiss National Bank Chief Raises Concerns About Adding Bitcoin to Currency Reserves
Bitcoin Conference to Bring Star-Studded Lineup of Speakers to Hong Kong on Dawn of Historic ETFs
Bank of Russia and Rosfinmonitoring Reveal Fiat-to-Crypto Tracking System Pilot
Acinq to Withdraw Phoenix Wallet From US Markets Amid Regulatory Concerns
Contrary to Crypto Influencer Hype, Data Reveals ‘It is Not Altcoin Season’
Bitcoin Enters ‘Danger Zone’ Post-Halving, Analyst Warns Of Potential Downside
Forbes Unveils 20 Crypto ‘Zombies,’ Declares Ripple And XRP Among The Undead
Expert Makes Bold Call: It’s Time To Swap Your Dollars For Bitcoin
Timing The Breakout: When Will Bitcoin Escape The Post-Halving Consolidation?
Brace For Price Impact: Dogecoin Whales Move Massive 456 Million DOGE To Exchanges
NEAR Protocol Soars 7.3%, Is It Poised To Go Higher?
Bitcoin Under Pressure But Whales Hold Over $331 Billion Of BTC: A Sign To Buy?
Crypto Analyst Predicts Massive Move For Bitcoin, What’s The Target?
XRP Whales Are Active: Here’s Where They Are Sending Coins
Ethereum Withdrawals From Exchanges Top 260,000 ETH – What This Means For Price
Study: Half of Canadian Institutional Investors Actively Offered One Crypto Asset Product in 2023
A16z Exec Blasts Meme Coins: They Make Crypto Look ‘Like a Risky Casino’
Republic First Bank Fails, Triggers Minor Crypto Market Downturn Amid Banking Sector Concerns
New UK Law Empowering Authorities to Seize and Destroy Crypto Assets Takes Effect Today
Stablecoins Gain Ground as Global Financial Asset
Swiss National Bank Chief Raises Concerns About Adding Bitcoin to Currency Reserves
Bitcoin Conference to Bring Star-Studded Lineup of Speakers to Hong Kong on Dawn of Historic ETFs
Bank of Russia and Rosfinmonitoring Reveal Fiat-to-Crypto Tracking System Pilot
Acinq to Withdraw Phoenix Wallet From US Markets Amid Regulatory Concerns
Contrary to Crypto Influencer Hype, Data Reveals ‘It is Not Altcoin Season’
Nvidia shares up 15% in 5 days — Will AI crypto tokens follow?
Nvidia's share price saw a 15% increase after a brief slump during the previous trading week, prompting analysts to speculate about the price movements of AI crypto tokens.
Republic First Bank closed by US regulators — crypto community reacts
Republic First Bank's 32 branches across the United States will reopen under Fulton Bank starting next week, according to the FDIC.
‘Lost’ Yuga Labs restructures again, with layoffs, new executive
The creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club has been struggling with a changing market and still plans to focus on its Otherside metaverse project.
Crypto Biz: X payment system, Block moves into Bitcoin mining and more
This week’s Crypto Biz examines X’s upcoming payment system, the NYSE’s potential 24/7 trading, Block’s expansion into Bitcoin mining, and more.
John Deaton files amicus brief in support of Coinbase appeal against SEC
The lawyer said he had filed a brief on behalf of 4,701 Coinbase customers for no charge as part of his advocacy work in the crypto space.
EU DeFi regulations set to welcome big banks, challenge crypto natives
New rules under the MiCA framework may encourage big banks to enter the DeFi space, potentially complicating compliance for native crypto projects.
Biden’s Homeland Security team taps tech elite for AI defense board
The board includes the CEOs of Adobe, Alphabet, Anthropic, AMD, AWS, IBM, Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as other business, civil rights and academic leaders.
Here’s what happened in crypto today
Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
Bitcoin price holds steady amid spot BTC ETF outflows and uptick in unfriendly regulation
Bitcoin price holds above $63,000 even as regulatory enforcement ramps up and spot BTC ETF outflows raise concern.
Liquid staking on BNB Smart Chain, millions stuck in DeFi bridge contracts: Finance Redefined
Arkham Research notified DeFi wallet owners to look at the addresses and try to retrieve their funds, which have been stuck for months in bridge contracts.
Custodia Bank takes case to higher court after March setback
Custodia Bank is challenging a lower court’s ruling in its battle for a Federal Reserve master account.
Binance wants the court to know US government’s position on USDC
The U.S. government’s arguments on stablecoins in an unrelated criminal case could bolster Binance’s position in its civil case with the SEC.
Price analysis 4/26: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, AVAX, SHIB
Bitcoin and altcoins could be en route to retest their recent strong support levels as bears try to extend the correction.
Cboe reorganization will merge or eliminate digital arm’s activities
The exchange is optimizing operations after acquiring ErisX on the eve of crypto winter and expects to save millions.
Bitcoin entering most likely 2 weeks for new BTC price dip — Analysis
Bitcoin market inertia is dragging on, and a BTC price drop over the next fortnight would correspond to classic post-halving behavior.
Insights from Token2049: How crypto wealth is made
Attendees at Token 2049 in Dubai shared their personal stories on how they became rich.
Bitcoin chart bull flag is a ‘strong bullish setup’ — Analyst
Bull flags are historically associated with more upside momentum, but Bitcoin price could still use a catalyst before rallying to new highs.
Fortune favors something — Eminem takes Crypto​.com mantle from Matt Damon
Slim Shady was the latest celebrity to advertise “fortune favors the brave†for Crypto.com following Matt Damon’s ad spot in October 2021.
EU touts health benefits for children in the metaverse despite risks
The European Union’s in-house think tanks says the metaverse can help children heal from diseases.
Mainland China investors won’t be able to buy Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs
Mainland Chinese citizens will not be able to purchase Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in Hong Kong because mainland China banned crypto transactions years ago.
Q-Day approaching: Can Ethereum survive a quantum emergency?
Quantum computing is the next most significant disruptive technological leap and its rapid evolution and funding will soon make it a reality.
UK police authorized to seize criminal crypto holdings without arrests
From April 26, police can transfer seized illicit crypto to wallets controlled by the authorities, with victims able to reclaim funds from the accounts.
Bitcoin’s daily transactions reach new record high
The Bitcoin network surpassed 926,000 daily transactions, driven by a growing interest in Runes.
Does the metaverse need to be on the blockchain? Execs weigh in
Imaginary Ones co-founder Clement Chia believes that simply adding blockchain to the metaverse doesn’t solve its “purpose†problems.
Nvidia-backed AI startup releases avatars that express human emotion
Nvidia-backed AI startup Synthesia unveils “Expressive Avatars,†enabling AI to convey human emotions and movements for corporate presentations and training.
Crypto mixing is ‘not a crime,’ says CryptoQuant CEO
The arrest of the founders of Samourai Wallet led to widespread concerns in the crypto community that the U.S. government was attempting to crack down on the industry.
Chinese ‘Crypto Dad’ faces government investigation
Yao Qian, the first director of CBDC development at China’s central bank, is reportedly under investigation for suspected law violations.
Runes are offering a significant lifeline for Bitcoin miners — TeraWulf COO
The transaction fees are the “wild card†for Bitcoin miners, with the current increase representing a crucial revenue boost for BTC miners, according to TeraWulf’s COO, Nazar Khan.
Trader earns $23M flipping Solana memecoins: Here’s how
The trader received a $6.28 million payday trading BONK, $9.51 million trading WIF and $7.04 million from BODEN.
AI takes center stage as Microsoft and Google earnings signal booming market
Microsoft and Google’s Q2 earnings reports highlight significant revenue and profit increases driven by their investments and advancements in AI technologies.
Bitcoin Enters ‘Danger Zone’ Post-Halving, Analyst Warns Of Potential Downside
Forbes Unveils 20 Crypto ‘Zombies,’ Declares Ripple And XRP Among The Undead
Expert Makes Bold Call: It’s Time To Swap Your Dollars For Bitcoin
Timing The Breakout: When Will Bitcoin Escape The Post-Halving Consolidation?
Brace For Price Impact: Dogecoin Whales Move Massive 456 Million DOGE To Exchanges
NEAR Protocol Soars 7.3%, Is It Poised To Go Higher?
Bitcoin Under Pressure But Whales Hold Over $331 Billion Of BTC: A Sign To Buy?
Crypto Analyst Predicts Massive Move For Bitcoin, What’s The Target?
XRP Whales Are Active: Here’s Where They Are Sending Coins
Ethereum Withdrawals From Exchanges Top 260,000 ETH – What This Means For Price
Study: Half of Canadian Institutional Investors Actively Offered One Crypto Asset Product in 2023
A16z Exec Blasts Meme Coins: They Make Crypto Look ‘Like a Risky Casino’
Republic First Bank Fails, Triggers Minor Crypto Market Downturn Amid Banking Sector Concerns
New UK Law Empowering Authorities to Seize and Destroy Crypto Assets Takes Effect Today
Stablecoins Gain Ground as Global Financial Asset
Swiss National Bank Chief Raises Concerns About Adding Bitcoin to Currency Reserves
Bitcoin Conference to Bring Star-Studded Lineup of Speakers to Hong Kong on Dawn of Historic ETFs
Bank of Russia and Rosfinmonitoring Reveal Fiat-to-Crypto Tracking System Pilot
Acinq to Withdraw Phoenix Wallet From US Markets Amid Regulatory Concerns
Contrary to Crypto Influencer Hype, Data Reveals ‘It is Not Altcoin Season’
Top 5 Bitcoin ATM Locations in Athens for Fast and Easy Crypto Access
As a crypto analyst and frequent investor in the Greek digital currency market, I can confidently recommend Bcash for convenient and secure Bitcoin purchasing in Athens. With 10 strategically located crypto ATM hotspots spanning central Athens and the northern suburbs, Bcash enables instant access to leading cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and USDT. Experience the Leading […]
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Bitwise launching spot bitcoin ETF (BITB)
Bitwise Asset Management, the largest crypto index fund manager in America, announced today that the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), the firm’s first spot bitcoin ETF, intends to begin trading today, January 11th. BITB will join Bitwise’s comprehensive suite of 18 crypto investment products, which currently includes five other crypto ETFs. “We expect significant demand for […]
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Cryptocurrency Payments for Insurance: Are Insurance Companies Really Embracing Bitcoin and Altcoins?
It is no longer unusual to hear that a bank accepts savings in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the like. Or that a loan company helps businesses with crypto. After all, the traditional financial and insurance industries were among the first to adopt cryptocurrencies. The latter ones have found more than one way to incorporate these means of payment […]
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4 Things We’ve Learned About Owning Bitcoin in 2023
For some people, the word bitcoin still triggers an eye-roll, but by now, most of us know that cryptocurrency is here to stay. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re clued up and well-educated on the topic, especially if you’ve ever considered investing yourself. However, with so much misinformation floating […]
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Fuse Network welcomes Liquify as new blockchain infrastructure partner
Today, Fuse Network, an enterprise-grade, use-case agnostic, decentralized EVM-compatible public blockchain, announced Liquify as its newest remote procedure call (RPC) provider and ecosystem partner. Liquify will provide public RPC services – both free and private. RPC nodes help process requests from decentralized applications (dApps). They are vital for improving the usability of web3 and for […]
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BITmarkets – Spot, Futures, Margin Trading with 150+ Cryptocurrencies
Welcome to the world of BITmarkets – a leading cryptocurrency exchange offering a wide range of trading options for both retail traders and corporate clients. In this comprehensive review, we will explore the various features and services provided by BITmarkets, including spot, futures, and margin trading. Whether a seasoned trader or just starting your cryptocurrency […]
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Hong Kong’s first licensed crypto exchange HashKey is now live
HashKey Exchange, the first licensed retail virtual asset exchange registered in Hong Kong, announced its official launch today. Together with executives from the HKSAR government, top-tier banks, insurers, and Big 4 auditing firms, HashKey held the grand launch in Hong Kong. Strictly adhering to the SFC’s user registration and KYC requirements, the HashKey Exchange platform […]
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Adenasoft launches new crypto exchange white label solution: ACE
Adenasoft, a South Korea-based IT/software company, has just announced the launch of ACE, their new SaaS product designed for cryptocurrency exchanges. ACE fully prepares businesses for exchange operations quickly, taking less than a month to get up and running. ACE offers a comprehensive suite of features that enables crypto exchanges to streamline their operations and […]
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Maximize Your ETH Investment: The ETHphoria Vault by Pods
This week, the team of Pods, a provider of structured products for crypto assets, unveiled its latest offering – the ETHphoria Vault. This innovative yield strategy is designed explicitly for ETH enthusiasts who are bullish about its future prospects and want to earn even more from increasing prices. ETHphoria is a low-risk, principal-protected strategy designed […]
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Crypto traders can mitigate risk with PODS’ FUD Vault – now live on mainnet
The team of Pods recently announced the mainnet launch of its 3rd strategy on Pods Yield: FUD Vault, which now complements ETHphoria and stETHvv. FUD Vault provides a way for users to benefit from market downturns by offering a mechanism to hedge against significant price drops in ETH while preserving the deposited principal. Who is […]
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What is DeFi Returns? A new way of DeFi Investing
DeFi Returns brings comprehensive up-to-date information on DeFi strategies and protocols, to easily compare and analyze their performance. Getting the most reliable data source for historical yield on DeFi, to help users make informed decisions when investing in the ecosystem. All data displayed is sourced from the protocol’s smart contracts directly. The new DeFi Returns […]
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RockX broadens suite with launch of new ether (ETH) native staking solution
RockX, an Asia-based institutional-grade staking services provider, announced today the broadening of its staking product suite with the addition of a new ether (ETH) native staking solution. This latest offering strengthens RockX’s position as a comprehensive provider of diverse staking needs, maneuvering quickly to the evolving crypto market landscape. Navigating the Ethereum ecosystem presents institutions with […]
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The Sandbox teams with Hex Trust for licensed, secure custody of its virtual assets
Hex Trust, a regulated institutional-grade crypto-asset custodian, today announced it has partnered with The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming virtual world to enable fully-licensed and highly-secure custody of assets such as LAND in The Sandbox’s metaverse. The partnership sees Hex Trust fully integrate LAND into its custody platform, Hex Safe, which supports cryptocurrencies, security tokens, and NFTs. […]
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CoinFlip launches new self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet platform ‘Olliv’
CoinFlip, a bitcoin ATM and crypto services company, announced today a new offering with the launch of ‘Olliv,’ a self-custody-powered crypto platform. The Olliv platform provides a frictionless way to buy, sell, send, receive, and swap cryptocurrency securely stored on a self-custodial wallet, removing the uncertainty of unknown third-party custodians. By leveraging CoinFlip’s existing network […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to launch zero-fee spot trading
Deribit, a popular cryptocurrency derivatives platform, has announced the launch of zero-fee spot trading, allowing clients to buy and sell crypto while simultaneously managing risk using other derivatives. Spot trading will start on April, 24th 2023 at 1 PM UTC with three pairs (BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, and ETH/BTC), providing clients with a simple and free solution […]
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Nomura’s Laser Digital invests in Infinity, an Ethereum-based money market protocol
Japan-based banking giant Nomura, announced today that its digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has made a strategic investment in Infinity, a non-custodial interest rate protocol built on Ethereum. Infinity’s wholesale exchange, the first of several planned infrastructures, provides inter-exchange clearing, fixed and floating rate markets, as well as enterprise-grade risk management utilizing hybrid on-chain/off-chain infrastructures […]
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ETH infrastructure platform Blocknative adds TX bundles, cancellation, and replacement support
Blocknative, a real-time Ethereum (ETH) infrastructure platform, has newly introduced features including transaction bundle send, cancellation, and replacement support for the Blocknative Builder. Searchers can now submit MEV bundles privately to the Blocknative Builder to be included on-chain. This market utility builds upon Blocknative’s reliable, real-time infrastructure that is systematically important to the Ethereum ecosystem. […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to put in place trade surveillance platform from Eventus
Eventus, a provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, announced today that cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit has chosen the firm’s Validus platform to provide market abuse monitoring on the exchange. Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, Deribit is one of the largest cryptocurrency options exchanges by volume and open interest, with approximately 90% […]
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Crypto exchange Gemini launches new electronic OTC trading solution
Gemini, the popular bitcoin & crypto exchange company, today announced the launch of electronic over-the-counter trading (eOTC), an automated crypto trading solution designed for institutions. The Gemini eOTC solution offers a variety of advantages to institutional traders including: Competitive Pricing & Execution: Liquidity is sourced from top-tier liquidity providers with deep liquidity pools, enabling counterparties […]
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Crypto securitization platform GenTwo links to all Coinbase assets
GenTwo Digital, the crypto-asset securitization platform based out of Crypto Valley in Zug, Switzerland, today announced a partnership with Coinbase, the publicly-listed cryptocurrency platform. This new partnership for GenTwo Digital allows all Coinbase crypto assets to be wrapped in bankable financial investment products and enables financial intermediaries to issue certificates such AMCs (Actively Management Certificates). […]
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Blockchain ecosystem ThunderCore teams with Huobi and MyCointainer in node expansion
ThunderCore, a leading blockchain & web3 ecosystem announced today that they are making a new development push, partnering with new validators as the chain rolls out its new crypto staking model. The newest ThunderCore validators include the famous crypto-asset exchange Huobi and one of the earliest staking platforms in the space, MyCointainer. Users of both […]
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DeFi protocol Pods raises $5.6M to support its structured crypto products dApp
Pods, creators of a DeFi platform, announced today that earlier this year, the team raised $5.6M in seed funding to create structured products for crypto-assets. The financing featured investors such as IOSG, Tomahawk, Republic, Framework Ventures, and more. The first strategy on Pods Yield is stETHvv (Ethereum Volatility Vault). stETHvv is a low-risk product focused […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit releases new client verification of assets tool
Deribit, the popular cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, announced today it has launched a new ‘Proof of Reserves‘ tool for clients using the trading platform. Now, clients are provided with the functionality to verify their assets to be included in Deribit’s overall reserves. How it Works Deribit provides all addresses for all on-chain assets and it delivers […]
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Tenderly introduces TXN simulations on its blockchain gateway for efficient dApp development
Tenderly, creators of a blockchain development platform, today announced that it is the first web3 development platform to offer simulations through RPC on its Tenderly Web3 Gateway, the company’s production node as a service. Note, Tenderly already processes more than 50 million simulations per month through its Transaction Simulator. Now, the company is introducing the […]
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DFINITY brings new smart contract functionality to Bitcoin with Internet Computer integration
DFINITY Foundation, the not-for-profit organization contributing to the development of the Internet Computer (IC) — a high-speed, internet-scale public blockchain — has announced today the Internet Computer’s mainnet integration with Bitcoin, bringing smart contract functionality to the cryptocurrency. Now, the Internet Computer can serve as a layer-2 for Bitcoin where smart contracts on the Internet […]
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Nvidia shares up 15% in 5 days — Will AI crypto tokens follow?
Nvidia's share price saw a 15% increase after a brief slump during the previous trading week, prompting analysts to speculate about the price movements of AI crypto tokens.
Republic First Bank closed by US regulators — crypto community reacts
Republic First Bank's 32 branches across the United States will reopen under Fulton Bank starting next week, according to the FDIC.
‘Lost’ Yuga Labs restructures again, with layoffs, new executive
The creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club has been struggling with a changing market and still plans to focus on its Otherside metaverse project.
Crypto Biz: X payment system, Block moves into Bitcoin mining and more
This week’s Crypto Biz examines X’s upcoming payment system, the NYSE’s potential 24/7 trading, Block’s expansion into Bitcoin mining, and more.
John Deaton files amicus brief in support of Coinbase appeal against SEC
The lawyer said he had filed a brief on behalf of 4,701 Coinbase customers for no charge as part of his advocacy work in the crypto space.
EU DeFi regulations set to welcome big banks, challenge crypto natives
New rules under the MiCA framework may encourage big banks to enter the DeFi space, potentially complicating compliance for native crypto projects.
Biden’s Homeland Security team taps tech elite for AI defense board
The board includes the CEOs of Adobe, Alphabet, Anthropic, AMD, AWS, IBM, Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as other business, civil rights and academic leaders.
Here’s what happened in crypto today
Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
Bitcoin price holds steady amid spot BTC ETF outflows and uptick in unfriendly regulation
Bitcoin price holds above $63,000 even as regulatory enforcement ramps up and spot BTC ETF outflows raise concern.
Liquid staking on BNB Smart Chain, millions stuck in DeFi bridge contracts: Finance Redefined
Arkham Research notified DeFi wallet owners to look at the addresses and try to retrieve their funds, which have been stuck for months in bridge contracts.
Custodia Bank takes case to higher court after March setback
Custodia Bank is challenging a lower court’s ruling in its battle for a Federal Reserve master account.
Binance wants the court to know US government’s position on USDC
The U.S. government’s arguments on stablecoins in an unrelated criminal case could bolster Binance’s position in its civil case with the SEC.
Price analysis 4/26: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, AVAX, SHIB
Bitcoin and altcoins could be en route to retest their recent strong support levels as bears try to extend the correction.
Cboe reorganization will merge or eliminate digital arm’s activities
The exchange is optimizing operations after acquiring ErisX on the eve of crypto winter and expects to save millions.
Bitcoin entering most likely 2 weeks for new BTC price dip — Analysis
Bitcoin market inertia is dragging on, and a BTC price drop over the next fortnight would correspond to classic post-halving behavior.
Insights from Token2049: How crypto wealth is made
Attendees at Token 2049 in Dubai shared their personal stories on how they became rich.
Bitcoin chart bull flag is a ‘strong bullish setup’ — Analyst
Bull flags are historically associated with more upside momentum, but Bitcoin price could still use a catalyst before rallying to new highs.
Fortune favors something — Eminem takes Crypto​.com mantle from Matt Damon
Slim Shady was the latest celebrity to advertise “fortune favors the brave†for Crypto.com following Matt Damon’s ad spot in October 2021.
EU touts health benefits for children in the metaverse despite risks
The European Union’s in-house think tanks says the metaverse can help children heal from diseases.
Mainland China investors won’t be able to buy Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs
Mainland Chinese citizens will not be able to purchase Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in Hong Kong because mainland China banned crypto transactions years ago.
Q-Day approaching: Can Ethereum survive a quantum emergency?
Quantum computing is the next most significant disruptive technological leap and its rapid evolution and funding will soon make it a reality.
UK police authorized to seize criminal crypto holdings without arrests
From April 26, police can transfer seized illicit crypto to wallets controlled by the authorities, with victims able to reclaim funds from the accounts.
Bitcoin’s daily transactions reach new record high
The Bitcoin network surpassed 926,000 daily transactions, driven by a growing interest in Runes.
Does the metaverse need to be on the blockchain? Execs weigh in
Imaginary Ones co-founder Clement Chia believes that simply adding blockchain to the metaverse doesn’t solve its “purpose†problems.
Nvidia-backed AI startup releases avatars that express human emotion
Nvidia-backed AI startup Synthesia unveils “Expressive Avatars,†enabling AI to convey human emotions and movements for corporate presentations and training.
Crypto mixing is ‘not a crime,’ says CryptoQuant CEO
The arrest of the founders of Samourai Wallet led to widespread concerns in the crypto community that the U.S. government was attempting to crack down on the industry.
Chinese ‘Crypto Dad’ faces government investigation
Yao Qian, the first director of CBDC development at China’s central bank, is reportedly under investigation for suspected law violations.
Runes are offering a significant lifeline for Bitcoin miners — TeraWulf COO
The transaction fees are the “wild card†for Bitcoin miners, with the current increase representing a crucial revenue boost for BTC miners, according to TeraWulf’s COO, Nazar Khan.
Trader earns $23M flipping Solana memecoins: Here’s how
The trader received a $6.28 million payday trading BONK, $9.51 million trading WIF and $7.04 million from BODEN.
AI takes center stage as Microsoft and Google earnings signal booming market
Microsoft and Google’s Q2 earnings reports highlight significant revenue and profit increases driven by their investments and advancements in AI technologies.
Bitcoin Enters ‘Danger Zone’ Post-Halving, Analyst Warns Of Potential Downside
Forbes Unveils 20 Crypto ‘Zombies,’ Declares Ripple And XRP Among The Undead
Expert Makes Bold Call: It’s Time To Swap Your Dollars For Bitcoin
Timing The Breakout: When Will Bitcoin Escape The Post-Halving Consolidation?
Brace For Price Impact: Dogecoin Whales Move Massive 456 Million DOGE To Exchanges
NEAR Protocol Soars 7.3%, Is It Poised To Go Higher?
Bitcoin Under Pressure But Whales Hold Over $331 Billion Of BTC: A Sign To Buy?
Crypto Analyst Predicts Massive Move For Bitcoin, What’s The Target?
XRP Whales Are Active: Here’s Where They Are Sending Coins
Ethereum Withdrawals From Exchanges Top 260,000 ETH – What This Means For Price
Study: Half of Canadian Institutional Investors Actively Offered One Crypto Asset Product in 2023
A16z Exec Blasts Meme Coins: They Make Crypto Look ‘Like a Risky Casino’
Republic First Bank Fails, Triggers Minor Crypto Market Downturn Amid Banking Sector Concerns
New UK Law Empowering Authorities to Seize and Destroy Crypto Assets Takes Effect Today
Stablecoins Gain Ground as Global Financial Asset
Swiss National Bank Chief Raises Concerns About Adding Bitcoin to Currency Reserves
Bitcoin Conference to Bring Star-Studded Lineup of Speakers to Hong Kong on Dawn of Historic ETFs
Bank of Russia and Rosfinmonitoring Reveal Fiat-to-Crypto Tracking System Pilot
Acinq to Withdraw Phoenix Wallet From US Markets Amid Regulatory Concerns
Contrary to Crypto Influencer Hype, Data Reveals ‘It is Not Altcoin Season’
Bitcoin $6609.990 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 09:08
Hot news: These changes have happened in the last hour.
In the last one hour Bitcoin is leading the record of among the most popular crypto-currency in the trading ecosystem, it has an decrease of -0.33% from its previous value from 6631.875 dollars now at 6609.990 dollars exchange rate. Next to Bitcoin is T..
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Bitcoin $6668.000 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 08:08
Hot news: The summaries of the last one hour are the followings:
Bitcoin is leading the rank on the most popular crypto-currency, it has an upsurge of 0.12% in its exchange rate, which means 6668.000 dollars from the 6660.008 dollars earlier. Tether is in the second position as Bitcoin leads the first spot. ..
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Bitcoin $6640.360 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 07:08
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
In the last hour, Bitcoin is leading the cryptocurrency rank. A fall in the exchange rate was seen from 6663.014 dollars to 6640.360 dollars a -0.34% change. Next to Bitcoin is Tether in the second position..
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Bitcoin $6674.850 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 06:07
Hot news: Here you can read the new CryptoCurrency report of the last 60 Minutes.
Bitcoin is leading the rank in the last hour as the most popular crypto currency in the trade market, with a recorded fall on its value of about -0.12% in the last hour with a current standing rate of 6674.850 dollars from 6682..
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Bitcoin $6686.310 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 05:07
Hot news: There were a lot of happenings in the last 60 minutes on the Crypto stock exchanges.
Bitcoin is listed as the most popular cryptocurrency in the market. In the last sixty minutes, it had an downswing of -0.19% on its trading price. This means from 6699.038 dollars now at 6686.310 dollars. Tether is..
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Bitcoin $6704.570 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 04:07
Hot news: Now we show you the newest summary of 60 minutes.
Bitcoin is now leading the rank on the most popular digital currency in the trade market. It has an decrease of -0% in its exchange rate from 6704.570 dollars now at 6704.570 dollars. Bitcoin is seconded by Tether, in a 60 minutes time it has a drop..
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Bitcoin $6709.350 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 03:07
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
Bitcoin was in the top position in the last hour, the exchange rate decreases from 6710.021 dollars to 6709.350. This is a -0.01% recorded change. Tether is at the second position next to Bitcoin, with a re..
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Bitcoin $6709.780 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 02:07
Hot news: These changes have happened in the last hour.
Bitcoin was in the top position in the last hour, the exchange rate increases from 6689.711 dollars to 6709.780. This is a 0.3% recorded change. Bitcoin is followed by Tether, with a -0.07% tumble on its trade value in the last one hour, equivalent to 0..
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Bitcoin $6687.450 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 01:07
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
The number one cryptocurrency leader is Bitcoin, this data was fetched in the last hour. It has an decrease on its trade value to -0.2%, now at 6687.450 dollars from 6700.852. Tether is at the second positi..
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Bitcoin $6692.560 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 00:07
Hot news: These are the changes of the CryptoCurrency market in the last one hour.
Bitcoin is now leading the rank on the most popular digital currency in the trade market. It has an increase of 0.05% in its exchange rate from 6689.215 dollars now at 6692.560 dollars. Tether is next to the leading crypto Bit..
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Top 5 Bitcoin ATM Locations in Athens for Fast and Easy Crypto Access
As a crypto analyst and frequent investor in the Greek digital currency market, I can confidently recommend Bcash for convenient and secure Bitcoin purchasing in Athens. With 10 strategically located crypto ATM hotspots spanning central Athens and the northern suburbs, Bcash enables instant access to leading cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and USDT. Experience the Leading […]
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Bitwise launching spot bitcoin ETF (BITB)
Bitwise Asset Management, the largest crypto index fund manager in America, announced today that the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), the firm’s first spot bitcoin ETF, intends to begin trading today, January 11th. BITB will join Bitwise’s comprehensive suite of 18 crypto investment products, which currently includes five other crypto ETFs. “We expect significant demand for […]
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Cryptocurrency Payments for Insurance: Are Insurance Companies Really Embracing Bitcoin and Altcoins?
It is no longer unusual to hear that a bank accepts savings in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the like. Or that a loan company helps businesses with crypto. After all, the traditional financial and insurance industries were among the first to adopt cryptocurrencies. The latter ones have found more than one way to incorporate these means of payment […]
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4 Things We’ve Learned About Owning Bitcoin in 2023
For some people, the word bitcoin still triggers an eye-roll, but by now, most of us know that cryptocurrency is here to stay. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re clued up and well-educated on the topic, especially if you’ve ever considered investing yourself. However, with so much misinformation floating […]
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Fuse Network welcomes Liquify as new blockchain infrastructure partner
Today, Fuse Network, an enterprise-grade, use-case agnostic, decentralized EVM-compatible public blockchain, announced Liquify as its newest remote procedure call (RPC) provider and ecosystem partner. Liquify will provide public RPC services – both free and private. RPC nodes help process requests from decentralized applications (dApps). They are vital for improving the usability of web3 and for […]
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BITmarkets – Spot, Futures, Margin Trading with 150+ Cryptocurrencies
Welcome to the world of BITmarkets – a leading cryptocurrency exchange offering a wide range of trading options for both retail traders and corporate clients. In this comprehensive review, we will explore the various features and services provided by BITmarkets, including spot, futures, and margin trading. Whether a seasoned trader or just starting your cryptocurrency […]
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Hong Kong’s first licensed crypto exchange HashKey is now live
HashKey Exchange, the first licensed retail virtual asset exchange registered in Hong Kong, announced its official launch today. Together with executives from the HKSAR government, top-tier banks, insurers, and Big 4 auditing firms, HashKey held the grand launch in Hong Kong. Strictly adhering to the SFC’s user registration and KYC requirements, the HashKey Exchange platform […]
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Adenasoft launches new crypto exchange white label solution: ACE
Adenasoft, a South Korea-based IT/software company, has just announced the launch of ACE, their new SaaS product designed for cryptocurrency exchanges. ACE fully prepares businesses for exchange operations quickly, taking less than a month to get up and running. ACE offers a comprehensive suite of features that enables crypto exchanges to streamline their operations and […]
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Maximize Your ETH Investment: The ETHphoria Vault by Pods
This week, the team of Pods, a provider of structured products for crypto assets, unveiled its latest offering – the ETHphoria Vault. This innovative yield strategy is designed explicitly for ETH enthusiasts who are bullish about its future prospects and want to earn even more from increasing prices. ETHphoria is a low-risk, principal-protected strategy designed […]
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Crypto traders can mitigate risk with PODS’ FUD Vault – now live on mainnet
The team of Pods recently announced the mainnet launch of its 3rd strategy on Pods Yield: FUD Vault, which now complements ETHphoria and stETHvv. FUD Vault provides a way for users to benefit from market downturns by offering a mechanism to hedge against significant price drops in ETH while preserving the deposited principal. Who is […]
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What is DeFi Returns? A new way of DeFi Investing
DeFi Returns brings comprehensive up-to-date information on DeFi strategies and protocols, to easily compare and analyze their performance. Getting the most reliable data source for historical yield on DeFi, to help users make informed decisions when investing in the ecosystem. All data displayed is sourced from the protocol’s smart contracts directly. The new DeFi Returns […]
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RockX broadens suite with launch of new ether (ETH) native staking solution
RockX, an Asia-based institutional-grade staking services provider, announced today the broadening of its staking product suite with the addition of a new ether (ETH) native staking solution. This latest offering strengthens RockX’s position as a comprehensive provider of diverse staking needs, maneuvering quickly to the evolving crypto market landscape. Navigating the Ethereum ecosystem presents institutions with […]
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The Sandbox teams with Hex Trust for licensed, secure custody of its virtual assets
Hex Trust, a regulated institutional-grade crypto-asset custodian, today announced it has partnered with The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming virtual world to enable fully-licensed and highly-secure custody of assets such as LAND in The Sandbox’s metaverse. The partnership sees Hex Trust fully integrate LAND into its custody platform, Hex Safe, which supports cryptocurrencies, security tokens, and NFTs. […]
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CoinFlip launches new self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet platform ‘Olliv’
CoinFlip, a bitcoin ATM and crypto services company, announced today a new offering with the launch of ‘Olliv,’ a self-custody-powered crypto platform. The Olliv platform provides a frictionless way to buy, sell, send, receive, and swap cryptocurrency securely stored on a self-custodial wallet, removing the uncertainty of unknown third-party custodians. By leveraging CoinFlip’s existing network […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to launch zero-fee spot trading
Deribit, a popular cryptocurrency derivatives platform, has announced the launch of zero-fee spot trading, allowing clients to buy and sell crypto while simultaneously managing risk using other derivatives. Spot trading will start on April, 24th 2023 at 1 PM UTC with three pairs (BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, and ETH/BTC), providing clients with a simple and free solution […]
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Nomura’s Laser Digital invests in Infinity, an Ethereum-based money market protocol
Japan-based banking giant Nomura, announced today that its digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has made a strategic investment in Infinity, a non-custodial interest rate protocol built on Ethereum. Infinity’s wholesale exchange, the first of several planned infrastructures, provides inter-exchange clearing, fixed and floating rate markets, as well as enterprise-grade risk management utilizing hybrid on-chain/off-chain infrastructures […]
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ETH infrastructure platform Blocknative adds TX bundles, cancellation, and replacement support
Blocknative, a real-time Ethereum (ETH) infrastructure platform, has newly introduced features including transaction bundle send, cancellation, and replacement support for the Blocknative Builder. Searchers can now submit MEV bundles privately to the Blocknative Builder to be included on-chain. This market utility builds upon Blocknative’s reliable, real-time infrastructure that is systematically important to the Ethereum ecosystem. […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to put in place trade surveillance platform from Eventus
Eventus, a provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, announced today that cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit has chosen the firm’s Validus platform to provide market abuse monitoring on the exchange. Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, Deribit is one of the largest cryptocurrency options exchanges by volume and open interest, with approximately 90% […]
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Crypto exchange Gemini launches new electronic OTC trading solution
Gemini, the popular bitcoin & crypto exchange company, today announced the launch of electronic over-the-counter trading (eOTC), an automated crypto trading solution designed for institutions. The Gemini eOTC solution offers a variety of advantages to institutional traders including: Competitive Pricing & Execution: Liquidity is sourced from top-tier liquidity providers with deep liquidity pools, enabling counterparties […]
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Crypto securitization platform GenTwo links to all Coinbase assets
GenTwo Digital, the crypto-asset securitization platform based out of Crypto Valley in Zug, Switzerland, today announced a partnership with Coinbase, the publicly-listed cryptocurrency platform. This new partnership for GenTwo Digital allows all Coinbase crypto assets to be wrapped in bankable financial investment products and enables financial intermediaries to issue certificates such AMCs (Actively Management Certificates). […]
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Blockchain ecosystem ThunderCore teams with Huobi and MyCointainer in node expansion
ThunderCore, a leading blockchain & web3 ecosystem announced today that they are making a new development push, partnering with new validators as the chain rolls out its new crypto staking model. The newest ThunderCore validators include the famous crypto-asset exchange Huobi and one of the earliest staking platforms in the space, MyCointainer. Users of both […]
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DeFi protocol Pods raises $5.6M to support its structured crypto products dApp
Pods, creators of a DeFi platform, announced today that earlier this year, the team raised $5.6M in seed funding to create structured products for crypto-assets. The financing featured investors such as IOSG, Tomahawk, Republic, Framework Ventures, and more. The first strategy on Pods Yield is stETHvv (Ethereum Volatility Vault). stETHvv is a low-risk product focused […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit releases new client verification of assets tool
Deribit, the popular cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, announced today it has launched a new ‘Proof of Reserves‘ tool for clients using the trading platform. Now, clients are provided with the functionality to verify their assets to be included in Deribit’s overall reserves. How it Works Deribit provides all addresses for all on-chain assets and it delivers […]
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Tenderly introduces TXN simulations on its blockchain gateway for efficient dApp development
Tenderly, creators of a blockchain development platform, today announced that it is the first web3 development platform to offer simulations through RPC on its Tenderly Web3 Gateway, the company’s production node as a service. Note, Tenderly already processes more than 50 million simulations per month through its Transaction Simulator. Now, the company is introducing the […]
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DFINITY brings new smart contract functionality to Bitcoin with Internet Computer integration
DFINITY Foundation, the not-for-profit organization contributing to the development of the Internet Computer (IC) — a high-speed, internet-scale public blockchain — has announced today the Internet Computer’s mainnet integration with Bitcoin, bringing smart contract functionality to the cryptocurrency. Now, the Internet Computer can serve as a layer-2 for Bitcoin where smart contracts on the Internet […]
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Nvidia shares up 15% in 5 days — Will AI crypto tokens follow?
Nvidia's share price saw a 15% increase after a brief slump during the previous trading week, prompting analysts to speculate about the price movements of AI crypto tokens.
Republic First Bank closed by US regulators — crypto community reacts
Republic First Bank's 32 branches across the United States will reopen under Fulton Bank starting next week, according to the FDIC.
‘Lost’ Yuga Labs restructures again, with layoffs, new executive
The creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club has been struggling with a changing market and still plans to focus on its Otherside metaverse project.
Crypto Biz: X payment system, Block moves into Bitcoin mining and more
This week’s Crypto Biz examines X’s upcoming payment system, the NYSE’s potential 24/7 trading, Block’s expansion into Bitcoin mining, and more.
John Deaton files amicus brief in support of Coinbase appeal against SEC
The lawyer said he had filed a brief on behalf of 4,701 Coinbase customers for no charge as part of his advocacy work in the crypto space.
EU DeFi regulations set to welcome big banks, challenge crypto natives
New rules under the MiCA framework may encourage big banks to enter the DeFi space, potentially complicating compliance for native crypto projects.
Biden’s Homeland Security team taps tech elite for AI defense board
The board includes the CEOs of Adobe, Alphabet, Anthropic, AMD, AWS, IBM, Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as other business, civil rights and academic leaders.
Here’s what happened in crypto today
Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
Bitcoin price holds steady amid spot BTC ETF outflows and uptick in unfriendly regulation
Bitcoin price holds above $63,000 even as regulatory enforcement ramps up and spot BTC ETF outflows raise concern.
Liquid staking on BNB Smart Chain, millions stuck in DeFi bridge contracts: Finance Redefined
Arkham Research notified DeFi wallet owners to look at the addresses and try to retrieve their funds, which have been stuck for months in bridge contracts.
Custodia Bank takes case to higher court after March setback
Custodia Bank is challenging a lower court’s ruling in its battle for a Federal Reserve master account.
Binance wants the court to know US government’s position on USDC
The U.S. government’s arguments on stablecoins in an unrelated criminal case could bolster Binance’s position in its civil case with the SEC.
Price analysis 4/26: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, AVAX, SHIB
Bitcoin and altcoins could be en route to retest their recent strong support levels as bears try to extend the correction.
Cboe reorganization will merge or eliminate digital arm’s activities
The exchange is optimizing operations after acquiring ErisX on the eve of crypto winter and expects to save millions.
Bitcoin entering most likely 2 weeks for new BTC price dip — Analysis
Bitcoin market inertia is dragging on, and a BTC price drop over the next fortnight would correspond to classic post-halving behavior.
Insights from Token2049: How crypto wealth is made
Attendees at Token 2049 in Dubai shared their personal stories on how they became rich.
Bitcoin chart bull flag is a ‘strong bullish setup’ — Analyst
Bull flags are historically associated with more upside momentum, but Bitcoin price could still use a catalyst before rallying to new highs.
Fortune favors something — Eminem takes Crypto​.com mantle from Matt Damon
Slim Shady was the latest celebrity to advertise “fortune favors the brave†for Crypto.com following Matt Damon’s ad spot in October 2021.
EU touts health benefits for children in the metaverse despite risks
The European Union’s in-house think tanks says the metaverse can help children heal from diseases.
Mainland China investors won’t be able to buy Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs
Mainland Chinese citizens will not be able to purchase Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in Hong Kong because mainland China banned crypto transactions years ago.
Q-Day approaching: Can Ethereum survive a quantum emergency?
Quantum computing is the next most significant disruptive technological leap and its rapid evolution and funding will soon make it a reality.
UK police authorized to seize criminal crypto holdings without arrests
From April 26, police can transfer seized illicit crypto to wallets controlled by the authorities, with victims able to reclaim funds from the accounts.
Bitcoin’s daily transactions reach new record high
The Bitcoin network surpassed 926,000 daily transactions, driven by a growing interest in Runes.
Does the metaverse need to be on the blockchain? Execs weigh in
Imaginary Ones co-founder Clement Chia believes that simply adding blockchain to the metaverse doesn’t solve its “purpose†problems.
Nvidia-backed AI startup releases avatars that express human emotion
Nvidia-backed AI startup Synthesia unveils “Expressive Avatars,†enabling AI to convey human emotions and movements for corporate presentations and training.
Crypto mixing is ‘not a crime,’ says CryptoQuant CEO
The arrest of the founders of Samourai Wallet led to widespread concerns in the crypto community that the U.S. government was attempting to crack down on the industry.
Chinese ‘Crypto Dad’ faces government investigation
Yao Qian, the first director of CBDC development at China’s central bank, is reportedly under investigation for suspected law violations.
Runes are offering a significant lifeline for Bitcoin miners — TeraWulf COO
The transaction fees are the “wild card†for Bitcoin miners, with the current increase representing a crucial revenue boost for BTC miners, according to TeraWulf’s COO, Nazar Khan.
Trader earns $23M flipping Solana memecoins: Here’s how
The trader received a $6.28 million payday trading BONK, $9.51 million trading WIF and $7.04 million from BODEN.
AI takes center stage as Microsoft and Google earnings signal booming market
Microsoft and Google’s Q2 earnings reports highlight significant revenue and profit increases driven by their investments and advancements in AI technologies.
Bitcoin Enters ‘Danger Zone’ Post-Halving, Analyst Warns Of Potential Downside
Forbes Unveils 20 Crypto ‘Zombies,’ Declares Ripple And XRP Among The Undead
Expert Makes Bold Call: It’s Time To Swap Your Dollars For Bitcoin
Timing The Breakout: When Will Bitcoin Escape The Post-Halving Consolidation?
Brace For Price Impact: Dogecoin Whales Move Massive 456 Million DOGE To Exchanges
NEAR Protocol Soars 7.3%, Is It Poised To Go Higher?
Bitcoin Under Pressure But Whales Hold Over $331 Billion Of BTC: A Sign To Buy?
Crypto Analyst Predicts Massive Move For Bitcoin, What’s The Target?
XRP Whales Are Active: Here’s Where They Are Sending Coins
Ethereum Withdrawals From Exchanges Top 260,000 ETH – What This Means For Price
Study: Half of Canadian Institutional Investors Actively Offered One Crypto Asset Product in 2023
A16z Exec Blasts Meme Coins: They Make Crypto Look ‘Like a Risky Casino’
Republic First Bank Fails, Triggers Minor Crypto Market Downturn Amid Banking Sector Concerns
New UK Law Empowering Authorities to Seize and Destroy Crypto Assets Takes Effect Today
Stablecoins Gain Ground as Global Financial Asset
Swiss National Bank Chief Raises Concerns About Adding Bitcoin to Currency Reserves
Bitcoin Conference to Bring Star-Studded Lineup of Speakers to Hong Kong on Dawn of Historic ETFs
Bank of Russia and Rosfinmonitoring Reveal Fiat-to-Crypto Tracking System Pilot
Acinq to Withdraw Phoenix Wallet From US Markets Amid Regulatory Concerns
Contrary to Crypto Influencer Hype, Data Reveals ‘It is Not Altcoin Season’
Crypto.com Delays App Launch in South Korea over Regulatory Scrutiny
Crypto.com has postponed the planned launch of its app in South Korea due to scrutiny by the regulators on the exchange's anti-money laundering practices. According to a local media publication Segye Ilbo, Korean financial authorities have initiated an emergency on-site inspection of the crypto exchange.
Anti-Money Laundering Concerns
The inspection, conducted by the Financial Intelligence Unit under the Financial Services Commission, followed the discovery of anti-money laundering-related concerns in the data submitted by Crypto.com.
Crypto.com has emphasized its commitment to maintaining proper anti-money laundering standards, according to a report by Coindesk. The firm mentioned that it adheres to the "highest" standards. However, it intends to postpone the launch of the new service to ensure that Korean regulators are fully apprised of its policies, procedures, systems, and controls.
The exchange had announced plans to launch a local mobile application facilitating coin trading next week. According to the firm, the service promises competitive pricing and support for various virtual asset transactions. Crypto.com obtained approval to operate in South Korea in 2022. However, regulatory hurdles have proved challenging for the crypto exchange.
Early this month, Crypto.com announced the decision to debut the new app in South Korea, describing it as a specialized trading platform specifically designed for the Korean market. Commenting about the launch, Eric Anziani, the Chief Operating Officer of Crypto.com, highlighted Korea's tech-savvy population and its adoption of innovation as key factors driving this decision.
Anziani mentioned: "The first product we will be launching in Korea is the crypto.com app, which is our most popular product globally. It's a fully mobile product offering a convenient and safe way to buy, sell, and store digital assets, including non-fungible tokens, enabling Korean customers to access global prices in a regulated manner."
Navigating Korean Crypto Regulations
Moreover, the company aims to support Korean creators and artists through potential partnerships, leveraging the country's influence as a cultural powerhouse. Continuing talks with local banks, Crypto.com plans to establish partnerships for account authentication, a regulatory requirement in Korea.
Presently, the Korean cryptocurrency market has five won-based exchanges authorized by financial authorities. By entering this market, Crypto.com will offer users an alternative trading platform while fostering competition and innovation in the local cryptocurrency sector.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Ripple Pushes Back: Challenges SEC's Proposed $2 Billion Fine
Ripple Labs has formally opposed the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposition to levy a substantial fine of nearly $2 billion against the company linked to the XRP Ledger blockchain. Filed yesterday (Monday), Ripple's opposition challenges the SEC's proposal, which seeks to persuade a New York judge to impose the hefty penalty.
Legal Battle between Ripple and SEC
The SEC's proposal outlines a fine totalling $1.95 billion, comprising $876 million for disgorgement, $198 million for prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $876 million. The basis for the SEC's case stems from allegations that Ripple Labs violated federal securities laws through its institutional sales of XRP. Notably, the court ruled in favour of Ripple on some fronts, dismissing parallel claims by the SEC regarding the legality of XRP sales on exchanges and algorithms.
Ripple's opposition document includes a redacted paragraph concerning its revenue from institutional sales, the income taxes it paid, and its incurred losses. Within this segment, Ripple asserts that it had no gains to disgorge, positioning it as a crucial argument in its defence against the SEC's proposed penalties.
“The Court should deny the SEC’s requests for an injunction, for disgorgement, and for pre-judgment interest, and should impose a civil penalty of no more than $10 million,†the filing said.
🚨 BREAKING SEC VS. RIPPLE NEWS:#Ripple has filed a Motion to Strike new expert materials the SEC submitted in support of its Motion for Remedies and Entry of Final Judgment! FINAL JUDGEMENT! 🥳🎉Source: https://t.co/QgmUZcL0aX pic.twitter.com/uaFAluXMG2
— ð“ð“¶ð“®ð“µð“²ð“® (@_Crypto_Barbie) April 22, 2024
Anticipating Rise in Cryptocurrency Integration
Meanwhile, Ripple has upgraded its crypto-enabled cross-border payments solution, known as Ripple Payments, as reported by Finance Magnates. This enhancement aims to improve enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure. In a statement released today, the cross-border remittance network highlights the ongoing shift in the global financial space, with increasing investment from companies and legacy payment institutions in blockchain integration.
It's anticipated that over 80% of global financial firms will incorporate cryptocurrencies into their operations within the next three years. Currently, Ripple offers expanded access to its extensive global network, spanning over 70 crypto and traditional payout markets, resulting in nearly 100% global payout coverage through a single onboarding process.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.Strike's Expansion into Europe Accelerates Bitcoin Adoption
Strike, a payments application utilizing the Bitcoin blockchain, has launched its services in Europe, enabling customers in the region to engage in buying, selling, and withdrawing bitcoin (BTC). The announcement was made today (Wednesday).
Expanding Operations across Continents
Having recently expanded its operations to Africa, Strike has already established its presence in Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. However, availability may vary by country, and interested customers are encouraged to check their local iOS or Android app stores for accessibility, as some regions may be excluded from the expansion.
“As the third-largest economy globally … Europe presents vast opportunities for bitcoin adoption,†Strike said in a press release. “We’ve seen the demand and heard the feedback first-hand from the community.â€
Blockchain technology is reshaping global payments with its security and efficiency. Unlike traditional methods prone to fraud, blockchain's decentralized ledger ensures secure transactions. Advanced cryptographic techniques like digital signatures bolster security further.
Eliminating intermediaries, blockchain enables direct peer-to-peer transactions, expediting settlements and reducing costs. Cross-border payments, often costly and time-consuming, stand to benefit greatly from blockchain's streamlined approach. With its potential to simplify and secure transactions, blockchain emerges as a disruptive force in the global payment landscape.
🚨LATEST: Bitcoin Payment App Strike Expands to Europe, Boosting Crypto Accessibility https://t.co/5p4jJ6qpDX
— CryptoCrunchApp (News Feed) (@GoCryptoCrunch) April 24, 2024
Introducing Bitcoin-Powered Payment Solution for European Market
Developed by Chicago-based Zap Solutions under the leadership of entrepreneur Jack Mallers, Strike was initially introduced in the United States in 2020. Similar to widely used online payment platforms such as Cash App or PayPal, Strike facilitates global money transfers for its users. Notably, Strike distinguishes itself by leveraging the Bitcoin blockchain, which enables swifter and more cost-effective transactions compared to conventional alternatives.
In Europe, customers will have the convenience of conducting BTC transactions directly with euro deposits via SEPA, the region’s payments provider. Recipients of these funds will have the flexibility to opt for receiving the value in either bitcoin, euro, or, in select areas, Tether’s USDT stablecoin.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.US Prosecutors Recommend 3-Year Prison Sentence for Binance's Changpeng Zhao: Report
US prosecutors have proposed a 36-month prison sentence for Binance's former CEO, Changpeng Zhao. According to a report by CNBC, the prosecutors argued that such a sentence, which is double the advisory guidelines, reflects the seriousness of the charges against Zhao.
The recommendation, outlined in a sentencing memorandum filed with the Western District Court of Washington, highlights the severity of the accusations against Zhao, who stepped down from his position last November following a plea deal with the US Department of Justice.
US Prosecutors' Charges against Zhao
US prosecutors said a 36-month custodial sentence is necessary to underscore the seriousness of the charges against Zhao, which include failure to implement anti-money laundering measures as mandated by the Bank Secrecy Act. The memorandum emphasized Zhao's alleged role in allowing Binance to process transactions involving unlawful activities, including those from sanctioned countries.
The case against Zhao occurs amidst a backdrop of legal challenges for Binance, with the exchange facing lawsuits from both the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Allegations include mishandling customer assets and operating an illegal, unregistered exchange in the US. Authorities have also ordered Binance to pay hefty fines, with Zhao agreeing to a $50 million penalty as part of the plea deal. However, he has not publicly commented on the recent developments. Zhao's official sentencing is scheduled for April 30.
Binance CEO's Legal Struggle
In January, a federal judge rejected a travel request from Zhao to visit his home in the United Arab Emirates for a family emergency. The judge deemed him a significant flight risk due to his immense wealth and ties to the UAE, despite offering to post his $4.5 billion equity in Binance as security for his return.
In November, Zhao pleaded guilty in a Seattle federal court to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance. As part of the case, Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties.
In a letter to Judge Richard Jones dated December 22, Zhao's lawyers requested permission for him to travel to Abu Dhabi on January 4 for one to four weeks due to a family emergency. However, federal prosecutors did not consent to Zhao's request, leading to a hearing on December 29, when Judge Jones denied the travel bid.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Middle East Records 166% Surge in Crypto Adoption, UAE Leads
The Middle East has emerged as a hotspot for cryptocurrency adoption, according to a recent report by Bitget Research. The average daily number of crypto traders in the region soared to 500,000 in 2024. This figure represents an increase of 166% year-over-year.
Crypto in the Middle East
This surge in crypto adoption is driven by several factors, such as favorable regulatory frameworks, the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, and the overall bullish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) leads, with 72% of crypto users actively investing in Bitcoin.
Centralized crypto exchanges globally have experienced an increase in the number of users from the Middle East. According to Bitget Research, these exchanges recorded over 500,000 daily active users on average in February 2024. This figure represents a substantial jump from the previous year. The UAE's crypto-friendly policies and the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs have played an important role in crypto adoption.
Although centralized exchanges dominate, decentralized platforms have gained momentum among Middle Eastern crypto users. Decentralized exchanges built on blockchains like Solana, BSC, and Ethereum are becoming the go-to digital platforms for P2P trading. Trust Wallet, MetaMask, and Bitget Wallet are among the top choices in digital wallets.
Bitget Report: Middle East Crypto Market Surges, Daily Traders Up 166% in Year https://t.co/LBVs0UdlxD
— Jared Kirui (@JaredLopta79285) April 22, 2024
Speaking about the report, Gracy Chen, the Managing Director of Bitget, mentioned: “We are excited about the potential of the Middle East market and anticipate continued growth in both users and market size. The UAE, in particular, holds significant importance as a base within the region.â€
“It has emerged as a hub for cryptocurrency talents, funds, and enterprises while also steadily gaining global influence in the crypto space. We look forward to contributing to and witnessing the further development of this dynamic market."
Steady Rise in Crypto Adoption
Generally, Bitget Research's report highlighted a positive outlook for the future of cryptocurrency adoption in the Middle East. The report projects that the region's daily active users will continue to rise, reaching an estimated 700,000 by the end of 2024.
Recently, Binance secured a fully operating virtual-asset service provider license from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. The exchange's journey began with an Operational MVP license obtained by its local unit, Binance FZE, in mid-2023. This license allowed the exchange to offer broker-dealer services and virtual-asset derivative trading to institutional and individual investors.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Binance Faces Fresh Regulatory Storm: Philippines Orders Google and Apple to Remove Apps
The Philippines' securities regulator has taken enforcement action against Binance, ordering Google and Apple to remove their apps from their respective app stores. This action follows allegations that Binance offered unregistered securities to Filipino investors.
Philippines' SEC Targets Binance's Apps
The Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), through its Chairperson, Emilio Aquino, highlighted the threat posed to the security of investors' funds by continued access to Binance's sites and apps.
The regulator alleged that Binance's presence in the app stores facilitates the spread of its illegal activities in the country. This action is a response to findings that the exchange promoted its services to attract funds from Filipinos despite lacking the necessary licensing from the regulator.
🚨PHILIPPINES SEC GOES TO WAR AGAINST BINANCE🚨Blocking Binance will “prevent the further proliferation of its illegal activities in the countryâ€- According to a post on the regulator’s official website, The Philippines version of the SEC is actively working with… https://t.co/kDCxReyoZ7 pic.twitter.com/IooxO752Jv
— BSCN (@BSCNews) April 23, 2024
The latest enforcement action in the Philippines adds to Binance's mounting legal challenges, including the recent replacement of its CEO and a hefty fine imposed by the US government against the exchange for alleged violation of anti-money laundering regulations.
Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, awaits sentencing on charges related to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Furthermore, the exchange is entangled in legal battles with both the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over purported mishandling of customer assets.
The Philippines' SEC has advised investors holding assets in Binance to promptly close their positions or transfer them to registered exchanges or wallets within the country.
Binance Grapples with Legal Hurdles
Last month, the Philippines' SEC blocked Binance's operations as an investment and trading platform due to claims that the exchange lacked the required license. According to the watchdog, Binance has continued its activities despite warnings issued since November 2023.
In a meeting held on March 12, the SEC formally requested the National Telecommunications Commission to block Binance's website and associated web pages. Aquino emphasized the threat posed to Filipino investors' funds by allowing continued access to the platform.
Binance's failure to secure the necessary license from the SEC contradicts the Philippines' regulations, which mandate companies secure approvals before soliciting investments and operating securities exchanges. Additionally, the exchange's extensive social media promotional campaigns targeting Filipino investors have raised concerns about compliance and investor protection.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Gains Momentum: Shares Surge as Coverage Begins
Hut 8, the result of a merger with US Bitcoin Corporation last November, has garnered attention due to its diversified business model, according to a research report by Benchmark released today (Monday).
A Close Look at Revenue Streams and Crypto Reserves
Benchmark analysts highlighted the company's various revenue streams, including self-mining, managed services, hosting, and involvement in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence sectors. Initiating coverage on Hut 8, Benchmark issued a buy rating with a $12 price target. At the time of publication, Hut 8's shares were trading 5.2% higher at $8.47.
The report also noted Hut 8's bitcoin holdings, ranking second among listed miners as of March 31, with 9,102 bitcoins held in reserve. This substantial bitcoin reserve not only provides the company with a substantial liquidity cushion but also positions it to benefit from price rallies in the cryptocurrency market.
Broker Benchmark initiated coverage of $BTC miner @Hut8Corp with a buy rating and a $12 price target. It said the company was more diversified following its merger with US Bitcoin Corporation. @willcanny99 reports.https://t.co/fsRstb2FXP
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) April 22, 2024
“Hut trades at a discount to its bitcoin mining peers that we expect to shrink as the company executes on its self-mining expansion plans,†Mark Palmer, an analyst, wrote. “Management has focused on actions aimed at reducing the company’s cost of mining bitcoin and its realized cost of energy and increasing its cash flow.â€
Hut 8's crypto holdings are valued at approximately $592 million, which accounts for about 82% of its market capitalization.
Shutting Down Alberta Facility for Cost Savings
Hut 8 recently closed its Bitcoin mining facility in Alberta, Canada, as part of its efforts to optimize operations and improve financial performance, as reported by Finance Magnates. The company has planned to relocate efficient miners to its Medicine Hat site while retiring old and inefficient ones. This move is expected to increase the company's cash flow, reduce mining costs, and boost Bitcoin production by approximately 11% per EH.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.Worldcoin Defies Regulatory Challenges: Seeks Partnership with OpenAI
Worldcoin is eying a potential partnership with artificial intelligence research firm OpenAI, according to a report by Bloomberg. This latest development arrives despite the regulatory hurdles facing the digital identity platform over privacy concerns. Through its parent company, Tools for Humanity, the cryptocurrency project plans to expand its services.
Navigating Regulatory Challenges
Recently, Spain and Portugal raised concerns over the inclusion of children in the project's iris scanning initiative, prompting regulatory action. Previously, the project collaborated with cybersecurity firm Okta Inc. to offer an authentication service. Worldcoin's identity systems support solutions for validating individuals in the digital world dominated by AI.
With the rising adoption of AI, the need to distinguish between humans and bots is important. Sam Altman, the Co-Founder of Worldcoin, is renowned for his involvement with OpenAI. Currently, he serves as the company's CEO. Amidst regulatory challenges, Tools for Humanity is enhancing its product. The firm is planning to launch a layer-2 blockchain called World Chain and improve the orb device.
However, despite a successful fundraising round last year, Tools for Humanity is reportedly facing uncertainty in tapping into the crypto market for additional funding. Market volatility and pricing fluctuations have prompted a reevaluation of planned token sales.
Driving Future Growth in AI
Meanwhile, OpenAI recently hosted top executives from Fortune 500 companies in major business hubs like San Francisco, New York, and London to pitch AI services. At the center of this initiative is OpenAI's enterprise-grade chatbot, designed to cater to specific industry needs ranging from finance to healthcare and energy.
OpenAI is proactively reaching out to corporate clients to offer customized AI solutions while assuring data security. The firm's CEO, Sam Altman, and COO, Brad Lightcap, emphasized the value of personalized services and direct engagement with the tech giant.
Beyond corporate clientele, OpenAI is also eyeing Hollywood with video creation tools and offerings like ChatGPT Enterprise and the Sora video creation tool. However, concerns loom regarding AI's reliability and copyright implications in content creation.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Consensys Sues the SEC: Calls Its Authority over Ethereum “Unlawfulâ€
Consensys, a United States-based blockchain firm, has initiated legal action against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a bid to deter the regulator from overseeing the Ethereum blockchain. Filed yesterday (Thursday), the lawsuit termed the efforts of the regulator a “campaign to seize control over the future of cryptocurrency.â€
A Strategic Lawsuit
The lawsuit argued that if the SEC continues to exert its authority over Ethereum, it would bring the blockchain to a halt, “crippling one of the internet’s greatest innovations.â€
Consensys revealed that its actions against the SEC followed its receipt of a Wells Notice on April 10, indicating that the regulator is preparing to bring enforcement actions against the company over the services of its MetaMask wallet. The company highlighted that MetaMask is not a broker and “neither holds customers’ digital assets nor carries out any transaction functions.â€
Today, Consensys took an important step towards preserving access to ether and by extension the Ethereum blockchain in the U.S. We are suing the SEC and fighting back against its overzealous regulatory overreach. You can find more of my thoughts here: https://t.co/VmvOsrCxjw… https://t.co/5IubZo69FW
— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) April 25, 2024
Clarifying Regulations
With the lawsuit, the blockchain company is seeking the Texas federal court’s ruling that Ethereum is not a security and not under the authority of the SEC. Furthermore, it needs the assurance that any investigation into the company on the premises of Ethereum as a security “would violate†its Fifth Amendment rights and the Administrative Procedures Act. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks the ruling that MetaMask is not a broker and that the staking services offered by the platform do not violate securities laws.
“The SEC’s unlawful seizure of authority over ETH would spell disaster for the Ethereum network, and for Consensys,†the lawsuit noted.
The status of Ethereum hangs in the balance as the SEC’s Chair, Gary Gensler, earlier said that many digital currencies are unregistered securities and fall under the regulator’s purview. Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that the regulator considers a commodity, giving its regulatory rights to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Meanwhile, Coinbase sued the SEC over the clarification of crypto-centric rules. However, the regulator took action against a number of crypto companies over lapses in regulations and is now fighting legal battles with multiple big names like Ripple, Coinbase, and Binance.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Detained Binance Executives’ Bail Hearing in Nigeria Pushed to May 17
Tigran Gambaryan, the detained Binance executive in Nigeria, will remain in custody until a bail hearing on May 17. Meanwhile, his trial is scheduled for May 2.
More Jail Time in Nigeria
The extension of Gambaryan’s remand was granted by the Nigerian court yesterday (Tuesday) amid opposition from federal prosecutors to the appeal for bail. The crypto exchange’s executive has already pleaded not guilty to charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
Gambaryan holds the position of Head of Financial Crime Compliance at the crypto exchange. He and another fellow Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds the position of its African Regional Manager, traveled to Nigeria in an official capacity earlier this year but were detained by local authorities.
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission brought four counts of tax evasion charges against the exchange and the two detained executives. The charges primarily blame the defendants for non-payment of value-added tax, income tax, and failure to file tax returns. The exchange has been accused of aiding Nigerians in evading tax through its platform.
In an earlier statement, the exchange made it clear that the two executives were wrongly blamed as they did not have any decision-making authority.
The Great Escape
Meanwhile, Anjarwalla, one of the detained defendants and a citizen of both the UK and Kenya, escaped detention earlier this month and reportedly fled the country. Although his UK travel documents were seized by Nigerian authorities, he allegedly used Kenyan credentials to flee the country on a Middle Eastern airline.
Several local Nigerian publications recently reported on Anjarwalla’s arrest in Kenya and possible extradition to Nigeria to face trial. However, Anjarwalla’s wife came out and denied all these reports.
Yuki Gambaryan, the wife of Gambaryan, launched a petition requesting the US State Department, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian government, and US President Joe Biden to return her husband to the US.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Breaking: Bitcoin Halving is Sealed after Mining of Block 840,000
The Bitcoin halving just took place at block number 840,000. This event today reduced the mining reward for each block to 3.125 Bitcoins from 6.25 Bitcoins. New Bitcoins are introduced into circulation through these mining rewards.
Another Bitcoin Halving
Halving is one of the most significant events in the cryptocurrency world and occurs approximately every four years, specifically after every 210,000 blocks. It greatly reduces the supply of Bitcoin, thus helping to control inflation by maintaining scarcity.
Bitcoin was created on 3 January 2009. Initially, the reward for mining each block was 50 Bitcoins. The mining reward was first halved on 28 November 2012 in the first halving event. The next halving event took place on 9 July 2016, reducing the mining reward to 12.5 Bitcoins per block, while the third halving on 11 May 2020 reduced it further to 6.25 Bitcoins.
Now, the reward for mining each Bitcoin block is 3.125 Bitcoins.
The Cap of 21 Million Bitcoins
Bitcoin operates on a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, and according to the algorithm, a halving must occur every 210,000 blocks until all 21 million Bitcoins are mined. It is estimated that the next Bitcoin halving will happen in 2028.
To alter this pre-set algorithm, a majority of Bitcoin miners, more than 50 percent, must agree, which is nearly impossible given Bitcoin's decentralized and extensive network.
Currently, around 19 million Bitcoins have already been mined, leaving only 2 million more to be mined.
The halving of Bitcoin supply has a significant impact on the cryptocurrency's price. Historically, it has been one of the major price drivers, with Bitcoin prices surging around the event. The event affects Bitcoin miners' operations, as a reduction in the reward by half without a corresponding significant price increase, affects the cash flow of the mining operations.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Bitcoin Halving and Geopolitics: The Liquidity Conundrum
The long-awaited day of the 4th phase of Bitcoin's halving is looming in the cryptocurrency sector. The countdown to this event shows that it could happen around the final hours of Friday evening if you are located in the Americas or Saturday morning if you are in Asia or Europe.
According to the market metrics, the event is much anticipated and should be discounted well in advance of its actual occurrence. In contrast to unpredictable overnight barrages of rockets in the heat of the Middle East, the halving event has a clear outcome; the amount of BTC rewards that miners get for completing a block will be reduced in half to 3.125 BTC from the current 6.25.
This will inevitably lead to less supply from miners, but does it change the liquidity of the overall market? We will attempt to answer that question in the coming paragraphs, and while at it, we will highlight some challenges related to the current geopolitical landscape and the resulting jittery market conditions we have recently observed.
Are Previous Halvings Linked to Liquidity Squeezes?
Every time 210,000 blocks are mined, the Bitcoin network's protocol cuts the amount of new rewards in half. As highlighted by the institutional research team at Coinbase, therefore, the newly minted supply will drop from 900 Bitcoins per day to 450 Bitcoins per day. At current market prices ($65,000 per BTC), this equates to roughly $30,000,000 worth of new supply per day or $900,000,000 per month.
These figures are rather low compared to the average daily trading volumes across crypto exchanges, especially since the launch of BTC ETF trading, which triggered increased interest in the asset class.
The amount of tradable Bitcoin has been on the rise during the recent bull run that accelerated since early Q4 2023. According to the team at Coinbase Institutional Research, active BTC supply, defined as Bitcoin moved in the past three months, rose to 1.3 million. This figure is in comparison to 150,000, which was mined during that time.
In a statement shared with Finance Magnates, Coinbase's Research Analyst, David Han, mentioned that the decline in BTC mining issuance could create new supply-side dynamics that are constructive in the longer term.
Han expressed his doubts as to whether that can result in an imminent supply crunch: “We find that the largest contributors to increased BTC supply during bull markets come from long-term wallets beginning to activate instead of from newly mined BTC.â€
Crypto and Fiat Liquidity Cycles – the Signal and the Noise
A widely held belief in the cryptocurrency community is that halving events are usually followed by a significant rally in the value of their digital assets. While there is some historical correlation to corroborate this notion, science has long established that correlation does not imply causation.
The logical fallacy where two events that occur at a similar time have a cause-effect relationship is at the center of spurious relationships: two events can be correlated, but that connection may not be causal.
With only three halving events behind us and a fourth one brewing, one can observe correlations, but not necessarily cause-effect relationships. Halving events don’t perfectly coincide with central bank liquifying cycles, but as the chart below shows, there is some food for thought for risk-management teams and traders alike.
Around the first halving in 2012, the Fed launched the third chapter of its post-financial crisis quantitative easing program (QE3), shortly followed by the first US debt ceiling crisis and the loss of the reserve currency issuer’s AAA rating.
The second one, in 2016, was followed by the Bank of England’s post-Brexit ramp-up of bond buying in tandem with the ECB’s asset purchase program. Fast-forward to 2020, and we all remember the central bank and fiscal policy bazookas firing left and right with fiat liquidity so ample that it ultimately caused the sharpest spike in inflationary pressures globally since the 1970s.
Geopolitical Blocks
It was an early morning in the Middle East, as a well-telegraphed attack by Iran had been unleashed upon Israel. With all other financial markets closed, it was up to crypto to reflect the current state of mind (or compute).
The old Wall Street saying, “up the stairs, down the elevator,†came to mind as BTC and ETH dropped in tandem in rapidly dwindling liquidity conditions. That night, Coinbase registered about $2 billion worth of liquidations, the company’s institutional research team highlighted in a recent weekly market call.
In contrast to the rather gradual price action that unfolded in the aftermath of the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, the Iranian attack, despite being well-telegraphed before the weekend, did result in material price action across the crypto market.
At one point, Pax Gold, a crypto token supposed to be fully backed by gold, spiked about $1,000 at a time when the physical gold market, which is underpinning the coin's value, wasn’t open. The magnitude of the attack certainly surprised market participants, while some automatic “stop trading†commands must have been unleashed across algorithmic trading strategies.
Events centered around geopolitical stress have certainly caused some leveraged players to rethink, not only in the crypto market. Jerome Powell's, the Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States, higher rates for a longer period re-pivot raise questions about a widely expected easing of monetary policy.
Speech by Chair Powell on the economic outlook @StanfordGSB: https://t.co/y6oLUN0LYwWatch live: https://t.co/a0ApMRHum2
— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) April 3, 2024
To Bid, or Not to Bid
As the halving cycles come and go, the impact of these events could lessen in time. Since most bitcoins have already been mined, the current market liquidity state is much more about the existing supply of BTC on the market than newly mined coins.
A supply crunch overnight is the least likely event, and if very recent history is any guide, geopolitical tensions can create more volatility or liquidity waves on cryptocurrency and traditional financial markets.
Guided by risk-on and risk-off flows, cryptocurrencies have been defying the trend occasionally, but at their core they remain a high-risk asset with a digital store of value component behind it. Only time will tell whether or not that narrative has become a well-established characteristic, but so far, so good.
As the halving event comes and passes us by, it is the central banks that will have the ball in their court: ready to do whatever it takes to address inflationary challenges or supply more fiat liquidity to the monetary system.
With Bitcoin ETFs breaking new ground, the liquidity situation for the king of crypto has significantly improved. As David Han outlined: “Net US spot ETFs inflows to date approximately offset the BTC that was mined in the previous six months.â€
This article was written by Victor Golovtchenko at www.financemagnates.com.Federal Prosecutors Charge Samurai Wallet Founders with Money Laundering
Federal prosecutors charged Samurai Wallet founders, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, with conspiracy to commit money laundering yesterday (Wednesday), marking another development in the US government's ongoing efforts to address the use of crypto mixing tools potentially exploited by illicit actors and foreign entities to conceal financial transactions.
Facing Legal Action over Alleged Transactions
According to a press release issued on Wednesday, Rodriguez and Hill stand accused of developing, marketing, and operating the mixer, purportedly facilitating more than $100 million in money laundering transactions from illegal dark web markets. The release further alleges that Samourai Wallet facilitated approximately $2 billion in "unlawful transactions" from 2015 to the present.
Prosecutors have claimed that Rodriguez and Hill accrued around $4.5 million in fees for their mixing services, with different features carrying various pool fees, as outlined in the indictment. The charges against the duo include conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, carrying potential maximum sentences of 20 years and five years, respectively.
Rodriguez was reportedly arrested on Wednesday morning and is expected to be arraigned in Pennsylvania today or tomorrow, while Hill, the Chief Technology Officer of Samourai Wallet, was apprehended in Portugal and will face extradition to the US.
Federal prosecutors have charged Samurai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill with conspiracy to commit money laundering 🚨According to a press release, the pair developed, marketed and operated the mixer, which "facilitated more than $100 million in money… pic.twitter.com/wOY8iZR95y
— Waivly (@Waivly) April 24, 2024
Website Seized Following Developer Indictment
The Samourai Wallet website, previously hosted in Iceland, has been seized, along with a seizure warrant issued for the mobile application on the Google Play Store. The website's homepage now displays a warning from US officials following the developers' indictment.
The Department of Justice's press release highlighted that Samourai Wallet had been under development since 2015, alleging that Rodriguez and Hill actively encouraged users to launder criminal proceeds through the mixer, citing social media posts and private messages. The mobile application reportedly garnered over 100,000 downloads.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.Thailand Cracks Down on Unregistered Crypto Services to Tackle Cyber Crime
Thailand is planning to block unauthorized cryptocurrency service providers to fight online crime. The Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is partnering with Thai government agencies to prevent criminals from utilizing crypto exchanges for illicit activities, including money laundering.
Thailand Warns about Unregistered Crypto Platforms
According to the press release, Pornanong Busaratrakul, the Secretary General of the SEC, recently disclosed plans to submit information about unauthorized crypto service providers to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
The regulator's decision reflects similar actions taken by other countries like India and the Philippines. The SEC is strengthening its commitment to protecting investors and safeguarding the financial system by taking action against unregistered crypto service providers in Thailand.
In light of this development, the SEC has urged users of unauthorized platforms to promptly withdraw their assets. Additionally, the commission has cautioned investors against using services offered by unauthorized digital asset operators, as they may not be protected by law.
Besides that, the Thai securities watchdog has encouraged crypto traders to verify the legitimacy of digital asset operators by consulting its list of licensed businesses or using the "SEC Check First" application. Any suspicious activities can be reported to the SEC's Complaint and Whistleblower Center for further investigation.
Global Crypto Regulation Shifts
While Thailand reinforces its regulations on crypto exchanges, digital asset platforms in Europe are also facing regulatory scrutiny. For instance, the recently adopted Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation mandates the European Commission to assess the feasibility of decentralized finance for specific regulations by the end of the year.
In South Korea, the country's financial regulator is preparing to adopt significant laws for virtual asset service providers (VASP), targeting the employment of executives in the sector.
Specifically, these regulations would necessitate the vetting of executives before they assume roles within the VASP firms. This action is aimed at granting the Financial Services Commission (FSC) authority over personnel matters within the crypto industry.
Should these proposals be enacted, companies seeking to renew their VASP licenses would face heightened scrutiny regarding their personnel decisions. The FSC will have the mandate to suspend the VASP licenses if there is an ongoing investigation targeting the executives.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Ripple vs. SEC: Trial Resumes as Crypto Industry Braces for Impact
The legal battle between Ripple and the SEC over allegations of illegal sale of cryptocurrencies has reached a crucial step as the long-awaited trial starts today (Tuesday). The SEC first accused Ripple Labs of offering unregistered securities in December 2020.
Ripple's defense is based on the argument that its native cryptocurrency, XRP, should not be classified as a security. As the trial begins, the crypto sector is eagerly awaiting the outcome, which could have significant implications for the future of Ripple and the broader digital asset industry, CryptoPotato reported.
A Prolonged Legal Dispute
This trial represents an important moment for both parties, as a federal judge will ultimately determine the outcome of the dispute. Despite facing legal challenges, Ripple has garnered some favorable rulings in the run-up to the trial, fueling optimism among its supporters.
A favorable ruling for Ripple could boost investor confidence and pave the way for regulatory clarity surrounding XRP. However, a ruling in favor of the SEC could negatively impact Ripple, potentially resulting in regulatory sanctions. It could also cast doubt on the legitimacy of XRP as a digital asset.
Recently, the SEC sought nearly $2 billion in fines and penalties from the crypto company, Finance Magnates reported. In a motion filed in court in New York, the SEC requested substantial fines and penalties totaling $1.95 billion from Ripple Labs. Despite initial charges against the firm's CEO and Co-Founder being dropped last October, the company faces scrutiny from the regulators.
SEC Demands Financial Transparency
Additionally, the SEC is pushing Ripple to provide financial statements for the years 2022 and 2023 and documents disclosing the sale of XRP to institutions. The securities watchdog argues that the presiding judge previously identified these sales as unregistered securities offerings. Besides that, the SEC wants a clarification on the proceeds from institutional sales.
Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, has criticized the regulator's tactics, accusing it of issuing false and misleading statements aimed at punishing Ripple and intimidating the broader crypto industry.
While charges against Ripple's CEO and Co-Founder were dropped last October, the company continues to face scrutiny over its XRP sales. The latest motion filed by the SEC underscores the regulator's determination to hold Ripple accountable for alleged violation of securities regulations.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Dubai-Based CoinW Unveils Rebranding and Prop Trading Product
CoinW Exchange, a notable presence within the digital asset trading domain, is undergoing changes as it observes its sixth-year anniversary. Situated in Dubai, the exchange has revealed an exhaustive rebranding effort alongside the debut of its Proprietary Trading (Prop Trading) product.
Introducing Prop Trading for Profit Opportunities
Having cemented its position within the digital assets trading industry, CoinW Exchange is now set to enter a fresh phase of development. A centrepiece of its transformation is the launch of the Prop Trading product, an offering aimed at providing traders with expanded avenues for profit optimization. This new product is set to play a role in CoinW Exchange's strategic outlook for the future according to the firm.
According to Sonic, the Director of CoinW PropTrading: "We have a host of exciting plans in the pipeline that promise to revolutionize the way digital assets are traded. We hope CPT can bring more opportunities to talented traders who are short of fund. CoinW will be the place that they can truly shine."
Challenges and Opportunities: UAE's Crypto Journey
A recent survey by KuCoin sheds light on the growing cryptocurrency landscape in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as reported by Finance Magnates. Despite challenges, 59% of UAE crypto users view it as a long-term investment and 35% use it for portfolio diversification. Additionally, 29% see crypto as a more convenient asset storage method than traditional banks, and 22% use it for daily transactions.
Challenges include market volatility (52%), trust issues with crypto platforms (48%), and a lack of education (26%). However, the UAE benefits from strong financial infrastructure, cultural openness, regulatory favorability, access to capital, a skilled workforce, and global networks, positioning it as a promising hub for crypto industry growth.
Amidst escalating tensions, MetaQuotes is reportedly tightening restrictions on the use of MetaTrader platforms, although no official confirmation has been issued. This has led to the abrupt termination of partnerships between many proprietary trading firms and their brokerage partners. The primary concern appears to be the presence of active US clients onboarded by these platforms.
Proprietary trading has been predominantly linked with unregulated entities. However, regulated brokerages such as OANDA, Axi, and Hantec Markets have recently ventured into this space, keeping their services outside the US jurisdiction and under offshore regulatory entities.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.SEC Seeks a Total of $5.3 Billion from Terraform Labs and Do Kwon
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States is seeking $4.7 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest from bankrupt Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon. The regulator is further seeking civil penalties of $420 million from Terraform and $100 million from Kwon.
The Regulator Seeks a Hefty Sum
The regulator’s request for monetary recovery and penalties was revealed in a motion it filed last Friday with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The motion also seeks a ban on Kwon from serving as an officer or director of a securities issuer. He is also required to provide complete details of all his accounts and assets.
Meanwhile, legal representatives of Terraform and Kwon have filed briefs for potential remedies in the civil case simultaneously, suggesting a maximum monetary penalty of $3.5 million from the company and $800,000 from Kwon.
However, the court has yet to rule on the newly filed motion. In an earlier ruling, the US court found Terraform Labs and Kwon liable for fraud in the case brought by the SEC.
The trial against Kwon in the US proceeded in his absence.
“Defendants have not shown remorse for their conduct, nor can there be any doubt that they are in the position where additional violations are not only possible but likely are already occurring,†the motion by the SEC noted.
“The Court should send an unequivocal message that this sort of brazen misconduct, and Defendants’ misbegotten attempt to excuse their behavior by crafting new rules and standards of behavior for crypto markets in contravention of the federal securities laws [...] will not be tolerated.â€
Kwon’s Fate Hangs in the Balance
Kwon was known for building Terraform Labs. However, the two cryptocurrencies of the project, TerraUSD and Luna, collapsed in 2022, resulting in the wipeout of about $37 billion in value. The collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin triggered the shuttering and collapse of several other cryptocurrency companies.
He disappeared immediately from public sight after the collapse of his company but was arrested in Montenegro last year while traveling with fake travel documents. Both South Korea and the United States have been trying to extradite him. Meanwhile, he was released from the Montenegro prison on bail due to some technical issues in the extradition ruling against him.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Binance under Fire: Ontario Court Certifies Class Action over Crypto Derivatives
Ontario's Superior Court of Justice has certified a class action lawsuit against Binance, according to a report by Advisor.ca. The lawsuit alleges that Binance Holdings Limited violated securities law by offering crypto derivative products to retail investors without proper registration.
Regulatory Scrutiny
This latest development occurred amid increasing scrutiny from regulatory authorities, including the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). In 2021, Binance promised to cease operations with Canadian investors in response to the OSC's scrutiny and later agreed to an undertaking with the OSC to halt trading activities in Ontario. However, the OSC's investigation into possible regulatory breaches by the exchange is ongoing, with no formal allegations yet made against the company.
The court noted that regulators have previously categorized crypto contracts as securities or derivatives, suggesting that the marketing of such contracts falls under securities law. This classification paves the way for the plaintiffs' claims of violation of securities law against Binance. Moreover, the court dismissed Binance's argument that it was merely a facilitator of trades between users, highlighting evidence that investors traded directly with Binance.
Investors who purchased cryptocurrency derivative contracts from Binance starting September 13, 2019, are considered members of the class affected by the lawsuit. The case highlights the importance of regulatory compliance and investor protection in the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency trading landscape.
Binance Faces Regulatory Pressure in Canada
Last year, Binance terminated its operations in Canada due to stringent regulations, particularly concerning stablecoins. Canada's regulations regarding cryptocurrencies took a new turn when the Canadian Securities Administrators classified stablecoins as "securities and/or derivatives."
This action barred regulated crypto exchanges from offering services involving stablecoins, a significant component of the crypto market. Additionally, the province of Ontario mandated the registration of all cryptocurrency exchanges operating within its jurisdiction.
Binance, acknowledging the evolving regulatory landscape, cited the new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits as the main reason for its exit from the Canadian market. The exchange emphasized that the regulatory environment in Canada had rendered its operations untenable.
Binance is not alone in its departure from Canada. Other prominent crypto exchanges, including Paxos and OKX, have opted to end their services for Canadian users due to regulatory pressure. However, exchanges such as Gemini, Coinbase, and Kraken are actively seeking authorization to strengthen their presence in the region.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Monex Group Bets Big on Crypto with 3iQ Acquisition and QMAP Investment
The Tokyo-based financial services company Monex Group has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in 3iQ Digital Holdings, a Canadian crypto asset manager. The acquisition, initially announced in December 2023, has resulted in 3iQ and its subsidiaries becoming part of the Monex Group.
Monex Group Acquires Majority Stake in Canadian Crypto Asset Manager 3iQ
To support 3iQ's rapid business expansion, Monex Group has also invested $7.5 million in 3iQ's Managed Account Platform (QMAP). QMAP offers institutional investors access to a diverse range of crypto hedge funds, featuring alpha-oriented strategies tailored to meet the complex demands of global institutions. This investment significantly strengthens 3iQ's institutional digital asset management position.
The company was the first to launch a Bitcoin fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada. It further assisted CoinShares in creating a cryptocurrency ETF. Now, it will expand its crypto services under the Monex umbrella.
QMAP employs a stringent due diligence process to select fund managers with proven track records of generating alpha and effectively managing risks across various market cycles. These managers bring institutional backgrounds, specialized expertise, and operational excellence to the table.
"I have high [hopes] that QMAP will quickly become the leading platform for sophisticated investors to invest in a diversified suite of crypto hedge funds,†Yuko Seimei, the CEO of Monex Group, stated.
The platform's managed account structure allows 3iQ direct control over assets, enhancing transparency and risk management capabilities. This approach eliminates the extra layer of fees typically found in traditional fund-of-funds structures, enabling investors to customize their allocations or choose from pre-designed model portfolios at no additional cost.
“Together with Monex, we aim to create a superior investor experience that sets new standards globally,†added Pascal St. Jean, the President of 3iQ. "With a seasoned team, we remain committed to upholding our firm's decade-long tradition of developing cutting-edge investment solutions for institutional investors.â€
The acquisition of 3iQ and investment in QMAP align with Monex Group's goal of strengthening its asset management business. Recently, the company has expanded its operations in the APAC region, planning to increase employment in the sales department by 80%.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.Crypto Mining Company Argo Reduced Losses by 85% in 2023
Argo Blockchain (LSE: ARB; NASDAQ: ARBK), a cryptocurrency mining company, has released its 2023 financial results, revealing a year marked by strategic adjustments amidst industry challenges. However, despite achieving a modest gross profit, net income was negative for another consecutive year.
Argo Blockchain Tried to Weather Crypto Storm, Cuts Debt by 63% in 2023
The company mined 1,760 Bitcoin throughout the year, averaging 4.8 Bitcoin per day, despite facing increased global hashrate and network difficulty.
Annual revenues reached $50.6 million, a decline of 14% from the previous year, as the mining margin decreased to 43% from 54% in 2022. However, Argo made significant strides in optimizing its operations, increasing its hash rate by 0.3 EH/s through the introduction of ePIC BlockMiners at its Quebec facilities and generating $7.2 million in power credits through strategic energy curtailment at the Helios location.
The company reported a net loss of $35 million for 2023, a substantial improvement from the $229 million loss in 2022. This was largely due to a reduction of 49% in interest expenses, achieved through debt management efforts. By year-end, Argo had reduced its debt owed to Galaxy Digital to $23.5 million, with a total debt standing at $66.2 million.
"Despite a turbulent market, we have worked hard to strengthen our balance sheet and reduce Argo's debt burden by $22 million, or 63%, and improve our cash positions,†commented Thomas Chippas, the CEO of Argo.
In early 2024, Argo successfully raised $9.9 million through a share placement with institutional investors and sold its Mirabel, Quebec data center for $6.1 million, using the proceeds to reduce debt further. Preliminary Q1 2024 results show continued growth, with 319 Bitcoin mined and revenues nearing $17 million.
Mining Operations Post-Halving
As the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve after the recent halving, Argo Blockchain remains focused on navigating challenges, optimizing operations, and positioning itself for long-term success in the competitive mining landscape.
“We exited the Bitcoin halving with a stronger balance sheet and leaner operations, and we are optimistic about the ongoing growth and development of Argo with a clear objective of delivering shareholder value,†Chippas added.
However, the new operating environment is not easy. After the fourth halving, Bitcoin recently underwent its initial difficulty adjustment, experiencing a rise of 1.99% and elevating the mining difficulty to a new record. The network’s difficulty level increased from 86.39 trillion to 88.10 trillion.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.Bitcoin $6609.990 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 09:08
Hot news: These changes have happened in the last hour.
In the last one hour Bitcoin is leading the record of among the most popular crypto-currency in the trading ecosystem, it has an decrease of -0.33% from its previous value from 6631.875 dollars now at 6609.990 dollars exchange rate. Next to Bitcoin is T..
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Bitcoin $6668.000 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 08:08
Hot news: The summaries of the last one hour are the followings:
Bitcoin is leading the rank on the most popular crypto-currency, it has an upsurge of 0.12% in its exchange rate, which means 6668.000 dollars from the 6660.008 dollars earlier. Tether is in the second position as Bitcoin leads the first spot. ..
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Bitcoin $6640.360 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 07:08
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
In the last hour, Bitcoin is leading the cryptocurrency rank. A fall in the exchange rate was seen from 6663.014 dollars to 6640.360 dollars a -0.34% change. Next to Bitcoin is Tether in the second position..
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Bitcoin $6674.850 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 06:07
Hot news: Here you can read the new CryptoCurrency report of the last 60 Minutes.
Bitcoin is leading the rank in the last hour as the most popular crypto currency in the trade market, with a recorded fall on its value of about -0.12% in the last hour with a current standing rate of 6674.850 dollars from 6682..
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Bitcoin $6686.310 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 05:07
Hot news: There were a lot of happenings in the last 60 minutes on the Crypto stock exchanges.
Bitcoin is listed as the most popular cryptocurrency in the market. In the last sixty minutes, it had an downswing of -0.19% on its trading price. This means from 6699.038 dollars now at 6686.310 dollars. Tether is..
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Bitcoin $6704.570 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 04:07
Hot news: Now we show you the newest summary of 60 minutes.
Bitcoin is now leading the rank on the most popular digital currency in the trade market. It has an decrease of -0% in its exchange rate from 6704.570 dollars now at 6704.570 dollars. Bitcoin is seconded by Tether, in a 60 minutes time it has a drop..
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Bitcoin $6709.350 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 03:07
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
Bitcoin was in the top position in the last hour, the exchange rate decreases from 6710.021 dollars to 6709.350. This is a -0.01% recorded change. Tether is at the second position next to Bitcoin, with a re..
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Bitcoin $6709.780 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 02:07
Hot news: These changes have happened in the last hour.
Bitcoin was in the top position in the last hour, the exchange rate increases from 6689.711 dollars to 6709.780. This is a 0.3% recorded change. Bitcoin is followed by Tether, with a -0.07% tumble on its trade value in the last one hour, equivalent to 0..
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Bitcoin $6687.450 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 01:07
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
The number one cryptocurrency leader is Bitcoin, this data was fetched in the last hour. It has an decrease on its trade value to -0.2%, now at 6687.450 dollars from 6700.852. Tether is at the second positi..
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Bitcoin $6692.560 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 00:07
Hot news: These are the changes of the CryptoCurrency market in the last one hour.
Bitcoin is now leading the rank on the most popular digital currency in the trade market. It has an increase of 0.05% in its exchange rate from 6689.215 dollars now at 6692.560 dollars. Tether is next to the leading crypto Bit..
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Top 5 Bitcoin ATM Locations in Athens for Fast and Easy Crypto Access
As a crypto analyst and frequent investor in the Greek digital currency market, I can confidently recommend Bcash for convenient and secure Bitcoin purchasing in Athens. With 10 strategically located crypto ATM hotspots spanning central Athens and the northern suburbs, Bcash enables instant access to leading cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and USDT. Experience the Leading […]
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Bitwise launching spot bitcoin ETF (BITB)
Bitwise Asset Management, the largest crypto index fund manager in America, announced today that the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), the firm’s first spot bitcoin ETF, intends to begin trading today, January 11th. BITB will join Bitwise’s comprehensive suite of 18 crypto investment products, which currently includes five other crypto ETFs. “We expect significant demand for […]
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Cryptocurrency Payments for Insurance: Are Insurance Companies Really Embracing Bitcoin and Altcoins?
It is no longer unusual to hear that a bank accepts savings in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the like. Or that a loan company helps businesses with crypto. After all, the traditional financial and insurance industries were among the first to adopt cryptocurrencies. The latter ones have found more than one way to incorporate these means of payment […]
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4 Things We’ve Learned About Owning Bitcoin in 2023
For some people, the word bitcoin still triggers an eye-roll, but by now, most of us know that cryptocurrency is here to stay. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re clued up and well-educated on the topic, especially if you’ve ever considered investing yourself. However, with so much misinformation floating […]
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Fuse Network welcomes Liquify as new blockchain infrastructure partner
Today, Fuse Network, an enterprise-grade, use-case agnostic, decentralized EVM-compatible public blockchain, announced Liquify as its newest remote procedure call (RPC) provider and ecosystem partner. Liquify will provide public RPC services – both free and private. RPC nodes help process requests from decentralized applications (dApps). They are vital for improving the usability of web3 and for […]
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BITmarkets – Spot, Futures, Margin Trading with 150+ Cryptocurrencies
Welcome to the world of BITmarkets – a leading cryptocurrency exchange offering a wide range of trading options for both retail traders and corporate clients. In this comprehensive review, we will explore the various features and services provided by BITmarkets, including spot, futures, and margin trading. Whether a seasoned trader or just starting your cryptocurrency […]
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Hong Kong’s first licensed crypto exchange HashKey is now live
HashKey Exchange, the first licensed retail virtual asset exchange registered in Hong Kong, announced its official launch today. Together with executives from the HKSAR government, top-tier banks, insurers, and Big 4 auditing firms, HashKey held the grand launch in Hong Kong. Strictly adhering to the SFC’s user registration and KYC requirements, the HashKey Exchange platform […]
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Adenasoft launches new crypto exchange white label solution: ACE
Adenasoft, a South Korea-based IT/software company, has just announced the launch of ACE, their new SaaS product designed for cryptocurrency exchanges. ACE fully prepares businesses for exchange operations quickly, taking less than a month to get up and running. ACE offers a comprehensive suite of features that enables crypto exchanges to streamline their operations and […]
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Maximize Your ETH Investment: The ETHphoria Vault by Pods
This week, the team of Pods, a provider of structured products for crypto assets, unveiled its latest offering – the ETHphoria Vault. This innovative yield strategy is designed explicitly for ETH enthusiasts who are bullish about its future prospects and want to earn even more from increasing prices. ETHphoria is a low-risk, principal-protected strategy designed […]
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Crypto traders can mitigate risk with PODS’ FUD Vault – now live on mainnet
The team of Pods recently announced the mainnet launch of its 3rd strategy on Pods Yield: FUD Vault, which now complements ETHphoria and stETHvv. FUD Vault provides a way for users to benefit from market downturns by offering a mechanism to hedge against significant price drops in ETH while preserving the deposited principal. Who is […]
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What is DeFi Returns? A new way of DeFi Investing
DeFi Returns brings comprehensive up-to-date information on DeFi strategies and protocols, to easily compare and analyze their performance. Getting the most reliable data source for historical yield on DeFi, to help users make informed decisions when investing in the ecosystem. All data displayed is sourced from the protocol’s smart contracts directly. The new DeFi Returns […]
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RockX broadens suite with launch of new ether (ETH) native staking solution
RockX, an Asia-based institutional-grade staking services provider, announced today the broadening of its staking product suite with the addition of a new ether (ETH) native staking solution. This latest offering strengthens RockX’s position as a comprehensive provider of diverse staking needs, maneuvering quickly to the evolving crypto market landscape. Navigating the Ethereum ecosystem presents institutions with […]
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The Sandbox teams with Hex Trust for licensed, secure custody of its virtual assets
Hex Trust, a regulated institutional-grade crypto-asset custodian, today announced it has partnered with The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming virtual world to enable fully-licensed and highly-secure custody of assets such as LAND in The Sandbox’s metaverse. The partnership sees Hex Trust fully integrate LAND into its custody platform, Hex Safe, which supports cryptocurrencies, security tokens, and NFTs. […]
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CoinFlip launches new self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet platform ‘Olliv’
CoinFlip, a bitcoin ATM and crypto services company, announced today a new offering with the launch of ‘Olliv,’ a self-custody-powered crypto platform. The Olliv platform provides a frictionless way to buy, sell, send, receive, and swap cryptocurrency securely stored on a self-custodial wallet, removing the uncertainty of unknown third-party custodians. By leveraging CoinFlip’s existing network […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to launch zero-fee spot trading
Deribit, a popular cryptocurrency derivatives platform, has announced the launch of zero-fee spot trading, allowing clients to buy and sell crypto while simultaneously managing risk using other derivatives. Spot trading will start on April, 24th 2023 at 1 PM UTC with three pairs (BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, and ETH/BTC), providing clients with a simple and free solution […]
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Nomura’s Laser Digital invests in Infinity, an Ethereum-based money market protocol
Japan-based banking giant Nomura, announced today that its digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has made a strategic investment in Infinity, a non-custodial interest rate protocol built on Ethereum. Infinity’s wholesale exchange, the first of several planned infrastructures, provides inter-exchange clearing, fixed and floating rate markets, as well as enterprise-grade risk management utilizing hybrid on-chain/off-chain infrastructures […]
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ETH infrastructure platform Blocknative adds TX bundles, cancellation, and replacement support
Blocknative, a real-time Ethereum (ETH) infrastructure platform, has newly introduced features including transaction bundle send, cancellation, and replacement support for the Blocknative Builder. Searchers can now submit MEV bundles privately to the Blocknative Builder to be included on-chain. This market utility builds upon Blocknative’s reliable, real-time infrastructure that is systematically important to the Ethereum ecosystem. […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to put in place trade surveillance platform from Eventus
Eventus, a provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, announced today that cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit has chosen the firm’s Validus platform to provide market abuse monitoring on the exchange. Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, Deribit is one of the largest cryptocurrency options exchanges by volume and open interest, with approximately 90% […]
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Crypto exchange Gemini launches new electronic OTC trading solution
Gemini, the popular bitcoin & crypto exchange company, today announced the launch of electronic over-the-counter trading (eOTC), an automated crypto trading solution designed for institutions. The Gemini eOTC solution offers a variety of advantages to institutional traders including: Competitive Pricing & Execution: Liquidity is sourced from top-tier liquidity providers with deep liquidity pools, enabling counterparties […]
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Crypto securitization platform GenTwo links to all Coinbase assets
GenTwo Digital, the crypto-asset securitization platform based out of Crypto Valley in Zug, Switzerland, today announced a partnership with Coinbase, the publicly-listed cryptocurrency platform. This new partnership for GenTwo Digital allows all Coinbase crypto assets to be wrapped in bankable financial investment products and enables financial intermediaries to issue certificates such AMCs (Actively Management Certificates). […]
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Blockchain ecosystem ThunderCore teams with Huobi and MyCointainer in node expansion
ThunderCore, a leading blockchain & web3 ecosystem announced today that they are making a new development push, partnering with new validators as the chain rolls out its new crypto staking model. The newest ThunderCore validators include the famous crypto-asset exchange Huobi and one of the earliest staking platforms in the space, MyCointainer. Users of both […]
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DeFi protocol Pods raises $5.6M to support its structured crypto products dApp
Pods, creators of a DeFi platform, announced today that earlier this year, the team raised $5.6M in seed funding to create structured products for crypto-assets. The financing featured investors such as IOSG, Tomahawk, Republic, Framework Ventures, and more. The first strategy on Pods Yield is stETHvv (Ethereum Volatility Vault). stETHvv is a low-risk product focused […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit releases new client verification of assets tool
Deribit, the popular cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, announced today it has launched a new ‘Proof of Reserves‘ tool for clients using the trading platform. Now, clients are provided with the functionality to verify their assets to be included in Deribit’s overall reserves. How it Works Deribit provides all addresses for all on-chain assets and it delivers […]
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Tenderly introduces TXN simulations on its blockchain gateway for efficient dApp development
Tenderly, creators of a blockchain development platform, today announced that it is the first web3 development platform to offer simulations through RPC on its Tenderly Web3 Gateway, the company’s production node as a service. Note, Tenderly already processes more than 50 million simulations per month through its Transaction Simulator. Now, the company is introducing the […]
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DFINITY brings new smart contract functionality to Bitcoin with Internet Computer integration
DFINITY Foundation, the not-for-profit organization contributing to the development of the Internet Computer (IC) — a high-speed, internet-scale public blockchain — has announced today the Internet Computer’s mainnet integration with Bitcoin, bringing smart contract functionality to the cryptocurrency. Now, the Internet Computer can serve as a layer-2 for Bitcoin where smart contracts on the Internet […]
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Nvidia shares up 15% in 5 days — Will AI crypto tokens follow?
Nvidia's share price saw a 15% increase after a brief slump during the previous trading week, prompting analysts to speculate about the price movements of AI crypto tokens.
Republic First Bank closed by US regulators — crypto community reacts
Republic First Bank's 32 branches across the United States will reopen under Fulton Bank starting next week, according to the FDIC.
‘Lost’ Yuga Labs restructures again, with layoffs, new executive
The creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club has been struggling with a changing market and still plans to focus on its Otherside metaverse project.
Crypto Biz: X payment system, Block moves into Bitcoin mining and more
This week’s Crypto Biz examines X’s upcoming payment system, the NYSE’s potential 24/7 trading, Block’s expansion into Bitcoin mining, and more.
John Deaton files amicus brief in support of Coinbase appeal against SEC
The lawyer said he had filed a brief on behalf of 4,701 Coinbase customers for no charge as part of his advocacy work in the crypto space.
EU DeFi regulations set to welcome big banks, challenge crypto natives
New rules under the MiCA framework may encourage big banks to enter the DeFi space, potentially complicating compliance for native crypto projects.
Biden’s Homeland Security team taps tech elite for AI defense board
The board includes the CEOs of Adobe, Alphabet, Anthropic, AMD, AWS, IBM, Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as other business, civil rights and academic leaders.
Here’s what happened in crypto today
Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
Bitcoin price holds steady amid spot BTC ETF outflows and uptick in unfriendly regulation
Bitcoin price holds above $63,000 even as regulatory enforcement ramps up and spot BTC ETF outflows raise concern.
Liquid staking on BNB Smart Chain, millions stuck in DeFi bridge contracts: Finance Redefined
Arkham Research notified DeFi wallet owners to look at the addresses and try to retrieve their funds, which have been stuck for months in bridge contracts.
Custodia Bank takes case to higher court after March setback
Custodia Bank is challenging a lower court’s ruling in its battle for a Federal Reserve master account.
Binance wants the court to know US government’s position on USDC
The U.S. government’s arguments on stablecoins in an unrelated criminal case could bolster Binance’s position in its civil case with the SEC.
Price analysis 4/26: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, AVAX, SHIB
Bitcoin and altcoins could be en route to retest their recent strong support levels as bears try to extend the correction.
Cboe reorganization will merge or eliminate digital arm’s activities
The exchange is optimizing operations after acquiring ErisX on the eve of crypto winter and expects to save millions.
Bitcoin entering most likely 2 weeks for new BTC price dip — Analysis
Bitcoin market inertia is dragging on, and a BTC price drop over the next fortnight would correspond to classic post-halving behavior.
Insights from Token2049: How crypto wealth is made
Attendees at Token 2049 in Dubai shared their personal stories on how they became rich.
Bitcoin chart bull flag is a ‘strong bullish setup’ — Analyst
Bull flags are historically associated with more upside momentum, but Bitcoin price could still use a catalyst before rallying to new highs.
Fortune favors something — Eminem takes Crypto​.com mantle from Matt Damon
Slim Shady was the latest celebrity to advertise “fortune favors the brave†for Crypto.com following Matt Damon’s ad spot in October 2021.
EU touts health benefits for children in the metaverse despite risks
The European Union’s in-house think tanks says the metaverse can help children heal from diseases.
Mainland China investors won’t be able to buy Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs
Mainland Chinese citizens will not be able to purchase Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in Hong Kong because mainland China banned crypto transactions years ago.
Q-Day approaching: Can Ethereum survive a quantum emergency?
Quantum computing is the next most significant disruptive technological leap and its rapid evolution and funding will soon make it a reality.
UK police authorized to seize criminal crypto holdings without arrests
From April 26, police can transfer seized illicit crypto to wallets controlled by the authorities, with victims able to reclaim funds from the accounts.
Bitcoin’s daily transactions reach new record high
The Bitcoin network surpassed 926,000 daily transactions, driven by a growing interest in Runes.
Does the metaverse need to be on the blockchain? Execs weigh in
Imaginary Ones co-founder Clement Chia believes that simply adding blockchain to the metaverse doesn’t solve its “purpose†problems.
Nvidia-backed AI startup releases avatars that express human emotion
Nvidia-backed AI startup Synthesia unveils “Expressive Avatars,†enabling AI to convey human emotions and movements for corporate presentations and training.
Crypto mixing is ‘not a crime,’ says CryptoQuant CEO
The arrest of the founders of Samourai Wallet led to widespread concerns in the crypto community that the U.S. government was attempting to crack down on the industry.
Chinese ‘Crypto Dad’ faces government investigation
Yao Qian, the first director of CBDC development at China’s central bank, is reportedly under investigation for suspected law violations.
Runes are offering a significant lifeline for Bitcoin miners — TeraWulf COO
The transaction fees are the “wild card†for Bitcoin miners, with the current increase representing a crucial revenue boost for BTC miners, according to TeraWulf’s COO, Nazar Khan.
Trader earns $23M flipping Solana memecoins: Here’s how
The trader received a $6.28 million payday trading BONK, $9.51 million trading WIF and $7.04 million from BODEN.
AI takes center stage as Microsoft and Google earnings signal booming market
Microsoft and Google’s Q2 earnings reports highlight significant revenue and profit increases driven by their investments and advancements in AI technologies.
Bitcoin Enters ‘Danger Zone’ Post-Halving, Analyst Warns Of Potential Downside
Forbes Unveils 20 Crypto ‘Zombies,’ Declares Ripple And XRP Among The Undead
Expert Makes Bold Call: It’s Time To Swap Your Dollars For Bitcoin
Timing The Breakout: When Will Bitcoin Escape The Post-Halving Consolidation?
Brace For Price Impact: Dogecoin Whales Move Massive 456 Million DOGE To Exchanges
NEAR Protocol Soars 7.3%, Is It Poised To Go Higher?
Bitcoin Under Pressure But Whales Hold Over $331 Billion Of BTC: A Sign To Buy?
Crypto Analyst Predicts Massive Move For Bitcoin, What’s The Target?
XRP Whales Are Active: Here’s Where They Are Sending Coins
Ethereum Withdrawals From Exchanges Top 260,000 ETH – What This Means For Price
Study: Half of Canadian Institutional Investors Actively Offered One Crypto Asset Product in 2023
A16z Exec Blasts Meme Coins: They Make Crypto Look ‘Like a Risky Casino’
Republic First Bank Fails, Triggers Minor Crypto Market Downturn Amid Banking Sector Concerns
New UK Law Empowering Authorities to Seize and Destroy Crypto Assets Takes Effect Today
Stablecoins Gain Ground as Global Financial Asset
Swiss National Bank Chief Raises Concerns About Adding Bitcoin to Currency Reserves
Bitcoin Conference to Bring Star-Studded Lineup of Speakers to Hong Kong on Dawn of Historic ETFs
Bank of Russia and Rosfinmonitoring Reveal Fiat-to-Crypto Tracking System Pilot
Acinq to Withdraw Phoenix Wallet From US Markets Amid Regulatory Concerns
Contrary to Crypto Influencer Hype, Data Reveals ‘It is Not Altcoin Season’
Unchained Is Helping Users Secure 90,000 BTC And Counting in Self Custody
Block Enables Millions of Square Sellers to Convert Sales to Bitcoin With Cash App
Bitcoin Lightning App Strike Expands to Europe with Global Transfers
The Patriot Act 2.0
Open Source Justice Manifesto
The Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin Self-custody for Miners
Bitcoin Mixing Service Samourai Wallet Founders Arrested, Charged With Money Laundering
The State Of Things: Open Source Developers Arrested For Writing Code
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Crypto.com Delays App Launch in South Korea over Regulatory Scrutiny
Crypto.com has postponed the planned launch of its app in South Korea due to scrutiny by the regulators on the exchange's anti-money laundering practices. According to a local media publication Segye Ilbo, Korean financial authorities have initiated an emergency on-site inspection of the crypto exchange.
Anti-Money Laundering Concerns
The inspection, conducted by the Financial Intelligence Unit under the Financial Services Commission, followed the discovery of anti-money laundering-related concerns in the data submitted by Crypto.com.
Crypto.com has emphasized its commitment to maintaining proper anti-money laundering standards, according to a report by Coindesk. The firm mentioned that it adheres to the "highest" standards. However, it intends to postpone the launch of the new service to ensure that Korean regulators are fully apprised of its policies, procedures, systems, and controls.
The exchange had announced plans to launch a local mobile application facilitating coin trading next week. According to the firm, the service promises competitive pricing and support for various virtual asset transactions. Crypto.com obtained approval to operate in South Korea in 2022. However, regulatory hurdles have proved challenging for the crypto exchange.
Early this month, Crypto.com announced the decision to debut the new app in South Korea, describing it as a specialized trading platform specifically designed for the Korean market. Commenting about the launch, Eric Anziani, the Chief Operating Officer of Crypto.com, highlighted Korea's tech-savvy population and its adoption of innovation as key factors driving this decision.
Anziani mentioned: "The first product we will be launching in Korea is the crypto.com app, which is our most popular product globally. It's a fully mobile product offering a convenient and safe way to buy, sell, and store digital assets, including non-fungible tokens, enabling Korean customers to access global prices in a regulated manner."
Navigating Korean Crypto Regulations
Moreover, the company aims to support Korean creators and artists through potential partnerships, leveraging the country's influence as a cultural powerhouse. Continuing talks with local banks, Crypto.com plans to establish partnerships for account authentication, a regulatory requirement in Korea.
Presently, the Korean cryptocurrency market has five won-based exchanges authorized by financial authorities. By entering this market, Crypto.com will offer users an alternative trading platform while fostering competition and innovation in the local cryptocurrency sector.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Ripple Pushes Back: Challenges SEC's Proposed $2 Billion Fine
Ripple Labs has formally opposed the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposition to levy a substantial fine of nearly $2 billion against the company linked to the XRP Ledger blockchain. Filed yesterday (Monday), Ripple's opposition challenges the SEC's proposal, which seeks to persuade a New York judge to impose the hefty penalty.
Legal Battle between Ripple and SEC
The SEC's proposal outlines a fine totalling $1.95 billion, comprising $876 million for disgorgement, $198 million for prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $876 million. The basis for the SEC's case stems from allegations that Ripple Labs violated federal securities laws through its institutional sales of XRP. Notably, the court ruled in favour of Ripple on some fronts, dismissing parallel claims by the SEC regarding the legality of XRP sales on exchanges and algorithms.
Ripple's opposition document includes a redacted paragraph concerning its revenue from institutional sales, the income taxes it paid, and its incurred losses. Within this segment, Ripple asserts that it had no gains to disgorge, positioning it as a crucial argument in its defence against the SEC's proposed penalties.
“The Court should deny the SEC’s requests for an injunction, for disgorgement, and for pre-judgment interest, and should impose a civil penalty of no more than $10 million,†the filing said.
🚨 BREAKING SEC VS. RIPPLE NEWS:#Ripple has filed a Motion to Strike new expert materials the SEC submitted in support of its Motion for Remedies and Entry of Final Judgment! FINAL JUDGEMENT! 🥳🎉Source: https://t.co/QgmUZcL0aX pic.twitter.com/uaFAluXMG2
— ð“ð“¶ð“®ð“µð“²ð“® (@_Crypto_Barbie) April 22, 2024
Anticipating Rise in Cryptocurrency Integration
Meanwhile, Ripple has upgraded its crypto-enabled cross-border payments solution, known as Ripple Payments, as reported by Finance Magnates. This enhancement aims to improve enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure. In a statement released today, the cross-border remittance network highlights the ongoing shift in the global financial space, with increasing investment from companies and legacy payment institutions in blockchain integration.
It's anticipated that over 80% of global financial firms will incorporate cryptocurrencies into their operations within the next three years. Currently, Ripple offers expanded access to its extensive global network, spanning over 70 crypto and traditional payout markets, resulting in nearly 100% global payout coverage through a single onboarding process.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.Strike's Expansion into Europe Accelerates Bitcoin Adoption
Strike, a payments application utilizing the Bitcoin blockchain, has launched its services in Europe, enabling customers in the region to engage in buying, selling, and withdrawing bitcoin (BTC). The announcement was made today (Wednesday).
Expanding Operations across Continents
Having recently expanded its operations to Africa, Strike has already established its presence in Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. However, availability may vary by country, and interested customers are encouraged to check their local iOS or Android app stores for accessibility, as some regions may be excluded from the expansion.
“As the third-largest economy globally … Europe presents vast opportunities for bitcoin adoption,†Strike said in a press release. “We’ve seen the demand and heard the feedback first-hand from the community.â€
Blockchain technology is reshaping global payments with its security and efficiency. Unlike traditional methods prone to fraud, blockchain's decentralized ledger ensures secure transactions. Advanced cryptographic techniques like digital signatures bolster security further.
Eliminating intermediaries, blockchain enables direct peer-to-peer transactions, expediting settlements and reducing costs. Cross-border payments, often costly and time-consuming, stand to benefit greatly from blockchain's streamlined approach. With its potential to simplify and secure transactions, blockchain emerges as a disruptive force in the global payment landscape.
🚨LATEST: Bitcoin Payment App Strike Expands to Europe, Boosting Crypto Accessibility https://t.co/5p4jJ6qpDX
— CryptoCrunchApp (News Feed) (@GoCryptoCrunch) April 24, 2024
Introducing Bitcoin-Powered Payment Solution for European Market
Developed by Chicago-based Zap Solutions under the leadership of entrepreneur Jack Mallers, Strike was initially introduced in the United States in 2020. Similar to widely used online payment platforms such as Cash App or PayPal, Strike facilitates global money transfers for its users. Notably, Strike distinguishes itself by leveraging the Bitcoin blockchain, which enables swifter and more cost-effective transactions compared to conventional alternatives.
In Europe, customers will have the convenience of conducting BTC transactions directly with euro deposits via SEPA, the region’s payments provider. Recipients of these funds will have the flexibility to opt for receiving the value in either bitcoin, euro, or, in select areas, Tether’s USDT stablecoin.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.US Prosecutors Recommend 3-Year Prison Sentence for Binance's Changpeng Zhao: Report
US prosecutors have proposed a 36-month prison sentence for Binance's former CEO, Changpeng Zhao. According to a report by CNBC, the prosecutors argued that such a sentence, which is double the advisory guidelines, reflects the seriousness of the charges against Zhao.
The recommendation, outlined in a sentencing memorandum filed with the Western District Court of Washington, highlights the severity of the accusations against Zhao, who stepped down from his position last November following a plea deal with the US Department of Justice.
US Prosecutors' Charges against Zhao
US prosecutors said a 36-month custodial sentence is necessary to underscore the seriousness of the charges against Zhao, which include failure to implement anti-money laundering measures as mandated by the Bank Secrecy Act. The memorandum emphasized Zhao's alleged role in allowing Binance to process transactions involving unlawful activities, including those from sanctioned countries.
The case against Zhao occurs amidst a backdrop of legal challenges for Binance, with the exchange facing lawsuits from both the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Allegations include mishandling customer assets and operating an illegal, unregistered exchange in the US. Authorities have also ordered Binance to pay hefty fines, with Zhao agreeing to a $50 million penalty as part of the plea deal. However, he has not publicly commented on the recent developments. Zhao's official sentencing is scheduled for April 30.
Binance CEO's Legal Struggle
In January, a federal judge rejected a travel request from Zhao to visit his home in the United Arab Emirates for a family emergency. The judge deemed him a significant flight risk due to his immense wealth and ties to the UAE, despite offering to post his $4.5 billion equity in Binance as security for his return.
In November, Zhao pleaded guilty in a Seattle federal court to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance. As part of the case, Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties.
In a letter to Judge Richard Jones dated December 22, Zhao's lawyers requested permission for him to travel to Abu Dhabi on January 4 for one to four weeks due to a family emergency. However, federal prosecutors did not consent to Zhao's request, leading to a hearing on December 29, when Judge Jones denied the travel bid.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Middle East Records 166% Surge in Crypto Adoption, UAE Leads
The Middle East has emerged as a hotspot for cryptocurrency adoption, according to a recent report by Bitget Research. The average daily number of crypto traders in the region soared to 500,000 in 2024. This figure represents an increase of 166% year-over-year.
Crypto in the Middle East
This surge in crypto adoption is driven by several factors, such as favorable regulatory frameworks, the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, and the overall bullish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) leads, with 72% of crypto users actively investing in Bitcoin.
Centralized crypto exchanges globally have experienced an increase in the number of users from the Middle East. According to Bitget Research, these exchanges recorded over 500,000 daily active users on average in February 2024. This figure represents a substantial jump from the previous year. The UAE's crypto-friendly policies and the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs have played an important role in crypto adoption.
Although centralized exchanges dominate, decentralized platforms have gained momentum among Middle Eastern crypto users. Decentralized exchanges built on blockchains like Solana, BSC, and Ethereum are becoming the go-to digital platforms for P2P trading. Trust Wallet, MetaMask, and Bitget Wallet are among the top choices in digital wallets.
Bitget Report: Middle East Crypto Market Surges, Daily Traders Up 166% in Year https://t.co/LBVs0UdlxD
— Jared Kirui (@JaredLopta79285) April 22, 2024
Speaking about the report, Gracy Chen, the Managing Director of Bitget, mentioned: “We are excited about the potential of the Middle East market and anticipate continued growth in both users and market size. The UAE, in particular, holds significant importance as a base within the region.â€
“It has emerged as a hub for cryptocurrency talents, funds, and enterprises while also steadily gaining global influence in the crypto space. We look forward to contributing to and witnessing the further development of this dynamic market."
Steady Rise in Crypto Adoption
Generally, Bitget Research's report highlighted a positive outlook for the future of cryptocurrency adoption in the Middle East. The report projects that the region's daily active users will continue to rise, reaching an estimated 700,000 by the end of 2024.
Recently, Binance secured a fully operating virtual-asset service provider license from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. The exchange's journey began with an Operational MVP license obtained by its local unit, Binance FZE, in mid-2023. This license allowed the exchange to offer broker-dealer services and virtual-asset derivative trading to institutional and individual investors.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Binance Faces Fresh Regulatory Storm: Philippines Orders Google and Apple to Remove Apps
The Philippines' securities regulator has taken enforcement action against Binance, ordering Google and Apple to remove their apps from their respective app stores. This action follows allegations that Binance offered unregistered securities to Filipino investors.
Philippines' SEC Targets Binance's Apps
The Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), through its Chairperson, Emilio Aquino, highlighted the threat posed to the security of investors' funds by continued access to Binance's sites and apps.
The regulator alleged that Binance's presence in the app stores facilitates the spread of its illegal activities in the country. This action is a response to findings that the exchange promoted its services to attract funds from Filipinos despite lacking the necessary licensing from the regulator.
🚨PHILIPPINES SEC GOES TO WAR AGAINST BINANCE🚨Blocking Binance will “prevent the further proliferation of its illegal activities in the countryâ€- According to a post on the regulator’s official website, The Philippines version of the SEC is actively working with… https://t.co/kDCxReyoZ7 pic.twitter.com/IooxO752Jv
— BSCN (@BSCNews) April 23, 2024
The latest enforcement action in the Philippines adds to Binance's mounting legal challenges, including the recent replacement of its CEO and a hefty fine imposed by the US government against the exchange for alleged violation of anti-money laundering regulations.
Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, awaits sentencing on charges related to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Furthermore, the exchange is entangled in legal battles with both the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over purported mishandling of customer assets.
The Philippines' SEC has advised investors holding assets in Binance to promptly close their positions or transfer them to registered exchanges or wallets within the country.
Binance Grapples with Legal Hurdles
Last month, the Philippines' SEC blocked Binance's operations as an investment and trading platform due to claims that the exchange lacked the required license. According to the watchdog, Binance has continued its activities despite warnings issued since November 2023.
In a meeting held on March 12, the SEC formally requested the National Telecommunications Commission to block Binance's website and associated web pages. Aquino emphasized the threat posed to Filipino investors' funds by allowing continued access to the platform.
Binance's failure to secure the necessary license from the SEC contradicts the Philippines' regulations, which mandate companies secure approvals before soliciting investments and operating securities exchanges. Additionally, the exchange's extensive social media promotional campaigns targeting Filipino investors have raised concerns about compliance and investor protection.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Gains Momentum: Shares Surge as Coverage Begins
Hut 8, the result of a merger with US Bitcoin Corporation last November, has garnered attention due to its diversified business model, according to a research report by Benchmark released today (Monday).
A Close Look at Revenue Streams and Crypto Reserves
Benchmark analysts highlighted the company's various revenue streams, including self-mining, managed services, hosting, and involvement in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence sectors. Initiating coverage on Hut 8, Benchmark issued a buy rating with a $12 price target. At the time of publication, Hut 8's shares were trading 5.2% higher at $8.47.
The report also noted Hut 8's bitcoin holdings, ranking second among listed miners as of March 31, with 9,102 bitcoins held in reserve. This substantial bitcoin reserve not only provides the company with a substantial liquidity cushion but also positions it to benefit from price rallies in the cryptocurrency market.
Broker Benchmark initiated coverage of $BTC miner @Hut8Corp with a buy rating and a $12 price target. It said the company was more diversified following its merger with US Bitcoin Corporation. @willcanny99 reports.https://t.co/fsRstb2FXP
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) April 22, 2024
“Hut trades at a discount to its bitcoin mining peers that we expect to shrink as the company executes on its self-mining expansion plans,†Mark Palmer, an analyst, wrote. “Management has focused on actions aimed at reducing the company’s cost of mining bitcoin and its realized cost of energy and increasing its cash flow.â€
Hut 8's crypto holdings are valued at approximately $592 million, which accounts for about 82% of its market capitalization.
Shutting Down Alberta Facility for Cost Savings
Hut 8 recently closed its Bitcoin mining facility in Alberta, Canada, as part of its efforts to optimize operations and improve financial performance, as reported by Finance Magnates. The company has planned to relocate efficient miners to its Medicine Hat site while retiring old and inefficient ones. This move is expected to increase the company's cash flow, reduce mining costs, and boost Bitcoin production by approximately 11% per EH.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.Worldcoin Defies Regulatory Challenges: Seeks Partnership with OpenAI
Worldcoin is eying a potential partnership with artificial intelligence research firm OpenAI, according to a report by Bloomberg. This latest development arrives despite the regulatory hurdles facing the digital identity platform over privacy concerns. Through its parent company, Tools for Humanity, the cryptocurrency project plans to expand its services.
Navigating Regulatory Challenges
Recently, Spain and Portugal raised concerns over the inclusion of children in the project's iris scanning initiative, prompting regulatory action. Previously, the project collaborated with cybersecurity firm Okta Inc. to offer an authentication service. Worldcoin's identity systems support solutions for validating individuals in the digital world dominated by AI.
With the rising adoption of AI, the need to distinguish between humans and bots is important. Sam Altman, the Co-Founder of Worldcoin, is renowned for his involvement with OpenAI. Currently, he serves as the company's CEO. Amidst regulatory challenges, Tools for Humanity is enhancing its product. The firm is planning to launch a layer-2 blockchain called World Chain and improve the orb device.
However, despite a successful fundraising round last year, Tools for Humanity is reportedly facing uncertainty in tapping into the crypto market for additional funding. Market volatility and pricing fluctuations have prompted a reevaluation of planned token sales.
Driving Future Growth in AI
Meanwhile, OpenAI recently hosted top executives from Fortune 500 companies in major business hubs like San Francisco, New York, and London to pitch AI services. At the center of this initiative is OpenAI's enterprise-grade chatbot, designed to cater to specific industry needs ranging from finance to healthcare and energy.
OpenAI is proactively reaching out to corporate clients to offer customized AI solutions while assuring data security. The firm's CEO, Sam Altman, and COO, Brad Lightcap, emphasized the value of personalized services and direct engagement with the tech giant.
Beyond corporate clientele, OpenAI is also eyeing Hollywood with video creation tools and offerings like ChatGPT Enterprise and the Sora video creation tool. However, concerns loom regarding AI's reliability and copyright implications in content creation.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Consensys Sues the SEC: Calls Its Authority over Ethereum “Unlawfulâ€
Consensys, a United States-based blockchain firm, has initiated legal action against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a bid to deter the regulator from overseeing the Ethereum blockchain. Filed yesterday (Thursday), the lawsuit termed the efforts of the regulator a “campaign to seize control over the future of cryptocurrency.â€
A Strategic Lawsuit
The lawsuit argued that if the SEC continues to exert its authority over Ethereum, it would bring the blockchain to a halt, “crippling one of the internet’s greatest innovations.â€
Consensys revealed that its actions against the SEC followed its receipt of a Wells Notice on April 10, indicating that the regulator is preparing to bring enforcement actions against the company over the services of its MetaMask wallet. The company highlighted that MetaMask is not a broker and “neither holds customers’ digital assets nor carries out any transaction functions.â€
Today, Consensys took an important step towards preserving access to ether and by extension the Ethereum blockchain in the U.S. We are suing the SEC and fighting back against its overzealous regulatory overreach. You can find more of my thoughts here: https://t.co/VmvOsrCxjw… https://t.co/5IubZo69FW
— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) April 25, 2024
Clarifying Regulations
With the lawsuit, the blockchain company is seeking the Texas federal court’s ruling that Ethereum is not a security and not under the authority of the SEC. Furthermore, it needs the assurance that any investigation into the company on the premises of Ethereum as a security “would violate†its Fifth Amendment rights and the Administrative Procedures Act. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks the ruling that MetaMask is not a broker and that the staking services offered by the platform do not violate securities laws.
“The SEC’s unlawful seizure of authority over ETH would spell disaster for the Ethereum network, and for Consensys,†the lawsuit noted.
The status of Ethereum hangs in the balance as the SEC’s Chair, Gary Gensler, earlier said that many digital currencies are unregistered securities and fall under the regulator’s purview. Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that the regulator considers a commodity, giving its regulatory rights to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Meanwhile, Coinbase sued the SEC over the clarification of crypto-centric rules. However, the regulator took action against a number of crypto companies over lapses in regulations and is now fighting legal battles with multiple big names like Ripple, Coinbase, and Binance.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Detained Binance Executives’ Bail Hearing in Nigeria Pushed to May 17
Tigran Gambaryan, the detained Binance executive in Nigeria, will remain in custody until a bail hearing on May 17. Meanwhile, his trial is scheduled for May 2.
More Jail Time in Nigeria
The extension of Gambaryan’s remand was granted by the Nigerian court yesterday (Tuesday) amid opposition from federal prosecutors to the appeal for bail. The crypto exchange’s executive has already pleaded not guilty to charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
Gambaryan holds the position of Head of Financial Crime Compliance at the crypto exchange. He and another fellow Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds the position of its African Regional Manager, traveled to Nigeria in an official capacity earlier this year but were detained by local authorities.
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission brought four counts of tax evasion charges against the exchange and the two detained executives. The charges primarily blame the defendants for non-payment of value-added tax, income tax, and failure to file tax returns. The exchange has been accused of aiding Nigerians in evading tax through its platform.
In an earlier statement, the exchange made it clear that the two executives were wrongly blamed as they did not have any decision-making authority.
The Great Escape
Meanwhile, Anjarwalla, one of the detained defendants and a citizen of both the UK and Kenya, escaped detention earlier this month and reportedly fled the country. Although his UK travel documents were seized by Nigerian authorities, he allegedly used Kenyan credentials to flee the country on a Middle Eastern airline.
Several local Nigerian publications recently reported on Anjarwalla’s arrest in Kenya and possible extradition to Nigeria to face trial. However, Anjarwalla’s wife came out and denied all these reports.
Yuki Gambaryan, the wife of Gambaryan, launched a petition requesting the US State Department, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian government, and US President Joe Biden to return her husband to the US.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Breaking: Bitcoin Halving is Sealed after Mining of Block 840,000
The Bitcoin halving just took place at block number 840,000. This event today reduced the mining reward for each block to 3.125 Bitcoins from 6.25 Bitcoins. New Bitcoins are introduced into circulation through these mining rewards.
Another Bitcoin Halving
Halving is one of the most significant events in the cryptocurrency world and occurs approximately every four years, specifically after every 210,000 blocks. It greatly reduces the supply of Bitcoin, thus helping to control inflation by maintaining scarcity.
Bitcoin was created on 3 January 2009. Initially, the reward for mining each block was 50 Bitcoins. The mining reward was first halved on 28 November 2012 in the first halving event. The next halving event took place on 9 July 2016, reducing the mining reward to 12.5 Bitcoins per block, while the third halving on 11 May 2020 reduced it further to 6.25 Bitcoins.
Now, the reward for mining each Bitcoin block is 3.125 Bitcoins.
The Cap of 21 Million Bitcoins
Bitcoin operates on a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, and according to the algorithm, a halving must occur every 210,000 blocks until all 21 million Bitcoins are mined. It is estimated that the next Bitcoin halving will happen in 2028.
To alter this pre-set algorithm, a majority of Bitcoin miners, more than 50 percent, must agree, which is nearly impossible given Bitcoin's decentralized and extensive network.
Currently, around 19 million Bitcoins have already been mined, leaving only 2 million more to be mined.
The halving of Bitcoin supply has a significant impact on the cryptocurrency's price. Historically, it has been one of the major price drivers, with Bitcoin prices surging around the event. The event affects Bitcoin miners' operations, as a reduction in the reward by half without a corresponding significant price increase, affects the cash flow of the mining operations.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Bitcoin Halving and Geopolitics: The Liquidity Conundrum
The long-awaited day of the 4th phase of Bitcoin's halving is looming in the cryptocurrency sector. The countdown to this event shows that it could happen around the final hours of Friday evening if you are located in the Americas or Saturday morning if you are in Asia or Europe.
According to the market metrics, the event is much anticipated and should be discounted well in advance of its actual occurrence. In contrast to unpredictable overnight barrages of rockets in the heat of the Middle East, the halving event has a clear outcome; the amount of BTC rewards that miners get for completing a block will be reduced in half to 3.125 BTC from the current 6.25.
This will inevitably lead to less supply from miners, but does it change the liquidity of the overall market? We will attempt to answer that question in the coming paragraphs, and while at it, we will highlight some challenges related to the current geopolitical landscape and the resulting jittery market conditions we have recently observed.
Are Previous Halvings Linked to Liquidity Squeezes?
Every time 210,000 blocks are mined, the Bitcoin network's protocol cuts the amount of new rewards in half. As highlighted by the institutional research team at Coinbase, therefore, the newly minted supply will drop from 900 Bitcoins per day to 450 Bitcoins per day. At current market prices ($65,000 per BTC), this equates to roughly $30,000,000 worth of new supply per day or $900,000,000 per month.
These figures are rather low compared to the average daily trading volumes across crypto exchanges, especially since the launch of BTC ETF trading, which triggered increased interest in the asset class.
The amount of tradable Bitcoin has been on the rise during the recent bull run that accelerated since early Q4 2023. According to the team at Coinbase Institutional Research, active BTC supply, defined as Bitcoin moved in the past three months, rose to 1.3 million. This figure is in comparison to 150,000, which was mined during that time.
In a statement shared with Finance Magnates, Coinbase's Research Analyst, David Han, mentioned that the decline in BTC mining issuance could create new supply-side dynamics that are constructive in the longer term.
Han expressed his doubts as to whether that can result in an imminent supply crunch: “We find that the largest contributors to increased BTC supply during bull markets come from long-term wallets beginning to activate instead of from newly mined BTC.â€
Crypto and Fiat Liquidity Cycles – the Signal and the Noise
A widely held belief in the cryptocurrency community is that halving events are usually followed by a significant rally in the value of their digital assets. While there is some historical correlation to corroborate this notion, science has long established that correlation does not imply causation.
The logical fallacy where two events that occur at a similar time have a cause-effect relationship is at the center of spurious relationships: two events can be correlated, but that connection may not be causal.
With only three halving events behind us and a fourth one brewing, one can observe correlations, but not necessarily cause-effect relationships. Halving events don’t perfectly coincide with central bank liquifying cycles, but as the chart below shows, there is some food for thought for risk-management teams and traders alike.
Around the first halving in 2012, the Fed launched the third chapter of its post-financial crisis quantitative easing program (QE3), shortly followed by the first US debt ceiling crisis and the loss of the reserve currency issuer’s AAA rating.
The second one, in 2016, was followed by the Bank of England’s post-Brexit ramp-up of bond buying in tandem with the ECB’s asset purchase program. Fast-forward to 2020, and we all remember the central bank and fiscal policy bazookas firing left and right with fiat liquidity so ample that it ultimately caused the sharpest spike in inflationary pressures globally since the 1970s.
Geopolitical Blocks
It was an early morning in the Middle East, as a well-telegraphed attack by Iran had been unleashed upon Israel. With all other financial markets closed, it was up to crypto to reflect the current state of mind (or compute).
The old Wall Street saying, “up the stairs, down the elevator,†came to mind as BTC and ETH dropped in tandem in rapidly dwindling liquidity conditions. That night, Coinbase registered about $2 billion worth of liquidations, the company’s institutional research team highlighted in a recent weekly market call.
In contrast to the rather gradual price action that unfolded in the aftermath of the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, the Iranian attack, despite being well-telegraphed before the weekend, did result in material price action across the crypto market.
At one point, Pax Gold, a crypto token supposed to be fully backed by gold, spiked about $1,000 at a time when the physical gold market, which is underpinning the coin's value, wasn’t open. The magnitude of the attack certainly surprised market participants, while some automatic “stop trading†commands must have been unleashed across algorithmic trading strategies.
Events centered around geopolitical stress have certainly caused some leveraged players to rethink, not only in the crypto market. Jerome Powell's, the Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States, higher rates for a longer period re-pivot raise questions about a widely expected easing of monetary policy.
Speech by Chair Powell on the economic outlook @StanfordGSB: https://t.co/y6oLUN0LYwWatch live: https://t.co/a0ApMRHum2
— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) April 3, 2024
To Bid, or Not to Bid
As the halving cycles come and go, the impact of these events could lessen in time. Since most bitcoins have already been mined, the current market liquidity state is much more about the existing supply of BTC on the market than newly mined coins.
A supply crunch overnight is the least likely event, and if very recent history is any guide, geopolitical tensions can create more volatility or liquidity waves on cryptocurrency and traditional financial markets.
Guided by risk-on and risk-off flows, cryptocurrencies have been defying the trend occasionally, but at their core they remain a high-risk asset with a digital store of value component behind it. Only time will tell whether or not that narrative has become a well-established characteristic, but so far, so good.
As the halving event comes and passes us by, it is the central banks that will have the ball in their court: ready to do whatever it takes to address inflationary challenges or supply more fiat liquidity to the monetary system.
With Bitcoin ETFs breaking new ground, the liquidity situation for the king of crypto has significantly improved. As David Han outlined: “Net US spot ETFs inflows to date approximately offset the BTC that was mined in the previous six months.â€
This article was written by Victor Golovtchenko at www.financemagnates.com.Federal Prosecutors Charge Samurai Wallet Founders with Money Laundering
Federal prosecutors charged Samurai Wallet founders, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, with conspiracy to commit money laundering yesterday (Wednesday), marking another development in the US government's ongoing efforts to address the use of crypto mixing tools potentially exploited by illicit actors and foreign entities to conceal financial transactions.
Facing Legal Action over Alleged Transactions
According to a press release issued on Wednesday, Rodriguez and Hill stand accused of developing, marketing, and operating the mixer, purportedly facilitating more than $100 million in money laundering transactions from illegal dark web markets. The release further alleges that Samourai Wallet facilitated approximately $2 billion in "unlawful transactions" from 2015 to the present.
Prosecutors have claimed that Rodriguez and Hill accrued around $4.5 million in fees for their mixing services, with different features carrying various pool fees, as outlined in the indictment. The charges against the duo include conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, carrying potential maximum sentences of 20 years and five years, respectively.
Rodriguez was reportedly arrested on Wednesday morning and is expected to be arraigned in Pennsylvania today or tomorrow, while Hill, the Chief Technology Officer of Samourai Wallet, was apprehended in Portugal and will face extradition to the US.
Federal prosecutors have charged Samurai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill with conspiracy to commit money laundering 🚨According to a press release, the pair developed, marketed and operated the mixer, which "facilitated more than $100 million in money… pic.twitter.com/wOY8iZR95y
— Waivly (@Waivly) April 24, 2024
Website Seized Following Developer Indictment
The Samourai Wallet website, previously hosted in Iceland, has been seized, along with a seizure warrant issued for the mobile application on the Google Play Store. The website's homepage now displays a warning from US officials following the developers' indictment.
The Department of Justice's press release highlighted that Samourai Wallet had been under development since 2015, alleging that Rodriguez and Hill actively encouraged users to launder criminal proceeds through the mixer, citing social media posts and private messages. The mobile application reportedly garnered over 100,000 downloads.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.Thailand Cracks Down on Unregistered Crypto Services to Tackle Cyber Crime
Thailand is planning to block unauthorized cryptocurrency service providers to fight online crime. The Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is partnering with Thai government agencies to prevent criminals from utilizing crypto exchanges for illicit activities, including money laundering.
Thailand Warns about Unregistered Crypto Platforms
According to the press release, Pornanong Busaratrakul, the Secretary General of the SEC, recently disclosed plans to submit information about unauthorized crypto service providers to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
The regulator's decision reflects similar actions taken by other countries like India and the Philippines. The SEC is strengthening its commitment to protecting investors and safeguarding the financial system by taking action against unregistered crypto service providers in Thailand.
In light of this development, the SEC has urged users of unauthorized platforms to promptly withdraw their assets. Additionally, the commission has cautioned investors against using services offered by unauthorized digital asset operators, as they may not be protected by law.
Besides that, the Thai securities watchdog has encouraged crypto traders to verify the legitimacy of digital asset operators by consulting its list of licensed businesses or using the "SEC Check First" application. Any suspicious activities can be reported to the SEC's Complaint and Whistleblower Center for further investigation.
Global Crypto Regulation Shifts
While Thailand reinforces its regulations on crypto exchanges, digital asset platforms in Europe are also facing regulatory scrutiny. For instance, the recently adopted Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation mandates the European Commission to assess the feasibility of decentralized finance for specific regulations by the end of the year.
In South Korea, the country's financial regulator is preparing to adopt significant laws for virtual asset service providers (VASP), targeting the employment of executives in the sector.
Specifically, these regulations would necessitate the vetting of executives before they assume roles within the VASP firms. This action is aimed at granting the Financial Services Commission (FSC) authority over personnel matters within the crypto industry.
Should these proposals be enacted, companies seeking to renew their VASP licenses would face heightened scrutiny regarding their personnel decisions. The FSC will have the mandate to suspend the VASP licenses if there is an ongoing investigation targeting the executives.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Ripple vs. SEC: Trial Resumes as Crypto Industry Braces for Impact
The legal battle between Ripple and the SEC over allegations of illegal sale of cryptocurrencies has reached a crucial step as the long-awaited trial starts today (Tuesday). The SEC first accused Ripple Labs of offering unregistered securities in December 2020.
Ripple's defense is based on the argument that its native cryptocurrency, XRP, should not be classified as a security. As the trial begins, the crypto sector is eagerly awaiting the outcome, which could have significant implications for the future of Ripple and the broader digital asset industry, CryptoPotato reported.
A Prolonged Legal Dispute
This trial represents an important moment for both parties, as a federal judge will ultimately determine the outcome of the dispute. Despite facing legal challenges, Ripple has garnered some favorable rulings in the run-up to the trial, fueling optimism among its supporters.
A favorable ruling for Ripple could boost investor confidence and pave the way for regulatory clarity surrounding XRP. However, a ruling in favor of the SEC could negatively impact Ripple, potentially resulting in regulatory sanctions. It could also cast doubt on the legitimacy of XRP as a digital asset.
Recently, the SEC sought nearly $2 billion in fines and penalties from the crypto company, Finance Magnates reported. In a motion filed in court in New York, the SEC requested substantial fines and penalties totaling $1.95 billion from Ripple Labs. Despite initial charges against the firm's CEO and Co-Founder being dropped last October, the company faces scrutiny from the regulators.
SEC Demands Financial Transparency
Additionally, the SEC is pushing Ripple to provide financial statements for the years 2022 and 2023 and documents disclosing the sale of XRP to institutions. The securities watchdog argues that the presiding judge previously identified these sales as unregistered securities offerings. Besides that, the SEC wants a clarification on the proceeds from institutional sales.
Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, has criticized the regulator's tactics, accusing it of issuing false and misleading statements aimed at punishing Ripple and intimidating the broader crypto industry.
While charges against Ripple's CEO and Co-Founder were dropped last October, the company continues to face scrutiny over its XRP sales. The latest motion filed by the SEC underscores the regulator's determination to hold Ripple accountable for alleged violation of securities regulations.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Dubai-Based CoinW Unveils Rebranding and Prop Trading Product
CoinW Exchange, a notable presence within the digital asset trading domain, is undergoing changes as it observes its sixth-year anniversary. Situated in Dubai, the exchange has revealed an exhaustive rebranding effort alongside the debut of its Proprietary Trading (Prop Trading) product.
Introducing Prop Trading for Profit Opportunities
Having cemented its position within the digital assets trading industry, CoinW Exchange is now set to enter a fresh phase of development. A centrepiece of its transformation is the launch of the Prop Trading product, an offering aimed at providing traders with expanded avenues for profit optimization. This new product is set to play a role in CoinW Exchange's strategic outlook for the future according to the firm.
According to Sonic, the Director of CoinW PropTrading: "We have a host of exciting plans in the pipeline that promise to revolutionize the way digital assets are traded. We hope CPT can bring more opportunities to talented traders who are short of fund. CoinW will be the place that they can truly shine."
Challenges and Opportunities: UAE's Crypto Journey
A recent survey by KuCoin sheds light on the growing cryptocurrency landscape in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as reported by Finance Magnates. Despite challenges, 59% of UAE crypto users view it as a long-term investment and 35% use it for portfolio diversification. Additionally, 29% see crypto as a more convenient asset storage method than traditional banks, and 22% use it for daily transactions.
Challenges include market volatility (52%), trust issues with crypto platforms (48%), and a lack of education (26%). However, the UAE benefits from strong financial infrastructure, cultural openness, regulatory favorability, access to capital, a skilled workforce, and global networks, positioning it as a promising hub for crypto industry growth.
Amidst escalating tensions, MetaQuotes is reportedly tightening restrictions on the use of MetaTrader platforms, although no official confirmation has been issued. This has led to the abrupt termination of partnerships between many proprietary trading firms and their brokerage partners. The primary concern appears to be the presence of active US clients onboarded by these platforms.
Proprietary trading has been predominantly linked with unregulated entities. However, regulated brokerages such as OANDA, Axi, and Hantec Markets have recently ventured into this space, keeping their services outside the US jurisdiction and under offshore regulatory entities.
This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.SEC Seeks a Total of $5.3 Billion from Terraform Labs and Do Kwon
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States is seeking $4.7 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest from bankrupt Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon. The regulator is further seeking civil penalties of $420 million from Terraform and $100 million from Kwon.
The Regulator Seeks a Hefty Sum
The regulator’s request for monetary recovery and penalties was revealed in a motion it filed last Friday with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The motion also seeks a ban on Kwon from serving as an officer or director of a securities issuer. He is also required to provide complete details of all his accounts and assets.
Meanwhile, legal representatives of Terraform and Kwon have filed briefs for potential remedies in the civil case simultaneously, suggesting a maximum monetary penalty of $3.5 million from the company and $800,000 from Kwon.
However, the court has yet to rule on the newly filed motion. In an earlier ruling, the US court found Terraform Labs and Kwon liable for fraud in the case brought by the SEC.
The trial against Kwon in the US proceeded in his absence.
“Defendants have not shown remorse for their conduct, nor can there be any doubt that they are in the position where additional violations are not only possible but likely are already occurring,†the motion by the SEC noted.
“The Court should send an unequivocal message that this sort of brazen misconduct, and Defendants’ misbegotten attempt to excuse their behavior by crafting new rules and standards of behavior for crypto markets in contravention of the federal securities laws [...] will not be tolerated.â€
Kwon’s Fate Hangs in the Balance
Kwon was known for building Terraform Labs. However, the two cryptocurrencies of the project, TerraUSD and Luna, collapsed in 2022, resulting in the wipeout of about $37 billion in value. The collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin triggered the shuttering and collapse of several other cryptocurrency companies.
He disappeared immediately from public sight after the collapse of his company but was arrested in Montenegro last year while traveling with fake travel documents. Both South Korea and the United States have been trying to extradite him. Meanwhile, he was released from the Montenegro prison on bail due to some technical issues in the extradition ruling against him.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.Binance under Fire: Ontario Court Certifies Class Action over Crypto Derivatives
Ontario's Superior Court of Justice has certified a class action lawsuit against Binance, according to a report by Advisor.ca. The lawsuit alleges that Binance Holdings Limited violated securities law by offering crypto derivative products to retail investors without proper registration.
Regulatory Scrutiny
This latest development occurred amid increasing scrutiny from regulatory authorities, including the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). In 2021, Binance promised to cease operations with Canadian investors in response to the OSC's scrutiny and later agreed to an undertaking with the OSC to halt trading activities in Ontario. However, the OSC's investigation into possible regulatory breaches by the exchange is ongoing, with no formal allegations yet made against the company.
The court noted that regulators have previously categorized crypto contracts as securities or derivatives, suggesting that the marketing of such contracts falls under securities law. This classification paves the way for the plaintiffs' claims of violation of securities law against Binance. Moreover, the court dismissed Binance's argument that it was merely a facilitator of trades between users, highlighting evidence that investors traded directly with Binance.
Investors who purchased cryptocurrency derivative contracts from Binance starting September 13, 2019, are considered members of the class affected by the lawsuit. The case highlights the importance of regulatory compliance and investor protection in the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency trading landscape.
Binance Faces Regulatory Pressure in Canada
Last year, Binance terminated its operations in Canada due to stringent regulations, particularly concerning stablecoins. Canada's regulations regarding cryptocurrencies took a new turn when the Canadian Securities Administrators classified stablecoins as "securities and/or derivatives."
This action barred regulated crypto exchanges from offering services involving stablecoins, a significant component of the crypto market. Additionally, the province of Ontario mandated the registration of all cryptocurrency exchanges operating within its jurisdiction.
Binance, acknowledging the evolving regulatory landscape, cited the new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits as the main reason for its exit from the Canadian market. The exchange emphasized that the regulatory environment in Canada had rendered its operations untenable.
Binance is not alone in its departure from Canada. Other prominent crypto exchanges, including Paxos and OKX, have opted to end their services for Canadian users due to regulatory pressure. However, exchanges such as Gemini, Coinbase, and Kraken are actively seeking authorization to strengthen their presence in the region.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.Monex Group Bets Big on Crypto with 3iQ Acquisition and QMAP Investment
The Tokyo-based financial services company Monex Group has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in 3iQ Digital Holdings, a Canadian crypto asset manager. The acquisition, initially announced in December 2023, has resulted in 3iQ and its subsidiaries becoming part of the Monex Group.
Monex Group Acquires Majority Stake in Canadian Crypto Asset Manager 3iQ
To support 3iQ's rapid business expansion, Monex Group has also invested $7.5 million in 3iQ's Managed Account Platform (QMAP). QMAP offers institutional investors access to a diverse range of crypto hedge funds, featuring alpha-oriented strategies tailored to meet the complex demands of global institutions. This investment significantly strengthens 3iQ's institutional digital asset management position.
The company was the first to launch a Bitcoin fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada. It further assisted CoinShares in creating a cryptocurrency ETF. Now, it will expand its crypto services under the Monex umbrella.
QMAP employs a stringent due diligence process to select fund managers with proven track records of generating alpha and effectively managing risks across various market cycles. These managers bring institutional backgrounds, specialized expertise, and operational excellence to the table.
"I have high [hopes] that QMAP will quickly become the leading platform for sophisticated investors to invest in a diversified suite of crypto hedge funds,†Yuko Seimei, the CEO of Monex Group, stated.
The platform's managed account structure allows 3iQ direct control over assets, enhancing transparency and risk management capabilities. This approach eliminates the extra layer of fees typically found in traditional fund-of-funds structures, enabling investors to customize their allocations or choose from pre-designed model portfolios at no additional cost.
“Together with Monex, we aim to create a superior investor experience that sets new standards globally,†added Pascal St. Jean, the President of 3iQ. "With a seasoned team, we remain committed to upholding our firm's decade-long tradition of developing cutting-edge investment solutions for institutional investors.â€
The acquisition of 3iQ and investment in QMAP align with Monex Group's goal of strengthening its asset management business. Recently, the company has expanded its operations in the APAC region, planning to increase employment in the sales department by 80%.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.Crypto Mining Company Argo Reduced Losses by 85% in 2023
Argo Blockchain (LSE: ARB; NASDAQ: ARBK), a cryptocurrency mining company, has released its 2023 financial results, revealing a year marked by strategic adjustments amidst industry challenges. However, despite achieving a modest gross profit, net income was negative for another consecutive year.
Argo Blockchain Tried to Weather Crypto Storm, Cuts Debt by 63% in 2023
The company mined 1,760 Bitcoin throughout the year, averaging 4.8 Bitcoin per day, despite facing increased global hashrate and network difficulty.
Annual revenues reached $50.6 million, a decline of 14% from the previous year, as the mining margin decreased to 43% from 54% in 2022. However, Argo made significant strides in optimizing its operations, increasing its hash rate by 0.3 EH/s through the introduction of ePIC BlockMiners at its Quebec facilities and generating $7.2 million in power credits through strategic energy curtailment at the Helios location.
The company reported a net loss of $35 million for 2023, a substantial improvement from the $229 million loss in 2022. This was largely due to a reduction of 49% in interest expenses, achieved through debt management efforts. By year-end, Argo had reduced its debt owed to Galaxy Digital to $23.5 million, with a total debt standing at $66.2 million.
"Despite a turbulent market, we have worked hard to strengthen our balance sheet and reduce Argo's debt burden by $22 million, or 63%, and improve our cash positions,†commented Thomas Chippas, the CEO of Argo.
In early 2024, Argo successfully raised $9.9 million through a share placement with institutional investors and sold its Mirabel, Quebec data center for $6.1 million, using the proceeds to reduce debt further. Preliminary Q1 2024 results show continued growth, with 319 Bitcoin mined and revenues nearing $17 million.
Mining Operations Post-Halving
As the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve after the recent halving, Argo Blockchain remains focused on navigating challenges, optimizing operations, and positioning itself for long-term success in the competitive mining landscape.
“We exited the Bitcoin halving with a stronger balance sheet and leaner operations, and we are optimistic about the ongoing growth and development of Argo with a clear objective of delivering shareholder value,†Chippas added.
However, the new operating environment is not easy. After the fourth halving, Bitcoin recently underwent its initial difficulty adjustment, experiencing a rise of 1.99% and elevating the mining difficulty to a new record. The network’s difficulty level increased from 86.39 trillion to 88.10 trillion.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.Bitcoin $6609.990 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 09:08
Hot news: These changes have happened in the last hour.
In the last one hour Bitcoin is leading the record of among the most popular crypto-currency in the trading ecosystem, it has an decrease of -0.33% from its previous value from 6631.875 dollars now at 6609.990 dollars exchange rate. Next to Bitcoin is T..
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Bitcoin $6668.000 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 08:08
Hot news: The summaries of the last one hour are the followings:
Bitcoin is leading the rank on the most popular crypto-currency, it has an upsurge of 0.12% in its exchange rate, which means 6668.000 dollars from the 6660.008 dollars earlier. Tether is in the second position as Bitcoin leads the first spot. ..
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Bitcoin $6640.360 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 07:08
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
In the last hour, Bitcoin is leading the cryptocurrency rank. A fall in the exchange rate was seen from 6663.014 dollars to 6640.360 dollars a -0.34% change. Next to Bitcoin is Tether in the second position..
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Bitcoin $6674.850 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 06:07
Hot news: Here you can read the new CryptoCurrency report of the last 60 Minutes.
Bitcoin is leading the rank in the last hour as the most popular crypto currency in the trade market, with a recorded fall on its value of about -0.12% in the last hour with a current standing rate of 6674.850 dollars from 6682..
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Bitcoin $6686.310 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 05:07
Hot news: There were a lot of happenings in the last 60 minutes on the Crypto stock exchanges.
Bitcoin is listed as the most popular cryptocurrency in the market. In the last sixty minutes, it had an downswing of -0.19% on its trading price. This means from 6699.038 dollars now at 6686.310 dollars. Tether is..
The post Bitcoin $6686.310 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 05:07 appeared first on CryptoCurrency Blog.
Bitcoin $6704.570 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 04:07
Hot news: Now we show you the newest summary of 60 minutes.
Bitcoin is now leading the rank on the most popular digital currency in the trade market. It has an decrease of -0% in its exchange rate from 6704.570 dollars now at 6704.570 dollars. Bitcoin is seconded by Tether, in a 60 minutes time it has a drop..
The post Bitcoin $6704.570 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 04:07 appeared first on CryptoCurrency Blog.
Bitcoin $6709.350 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 03:07
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
Bitcoin was in the top position in the last hour, the exchange rate decreases from 6710.021 dollars to 6709.350. This is a -0.01% recorded change. Tether is at the second position next to Bitcoin, with a re..
The post Bitcoin $6709.350 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 03:07 appeared first on CryptoCurrency Blog.
Bitcoin $6709.780 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 02:07
Hot news: These changes have happened in the last hour.
Bitcoin was in the top position in the last hour, the exchange rate increases from 6689.711 dollars to 6709.780. This is a 0.3% recorded change. Bitcoin is followed by Tether, with a -0.07% tumble on its trade value in the last one hour, equivalent to 0..
The post Bitcoin $6709.780 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 02:07 appeared first on CryptoCurrency Blog.
Bitcoin $6687.450 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 01:07
Hot news: Here we summon for you the changes of the market of CryptoCurrency from the last 60 minutes.
The number one cryptocurrency leader is Bitcoin, this data was fetched in the last hour. It has an decrease on its trade value to -0.2%, now at 6687.450 dollars from 6700.852. Tether is at the second positi..
The post Bitcoin $6687.450 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 01:07 appeared first on CryptoCurrency Blog.
Bitcoin $6692.560 – CryptoCurrency Trading Report – 24.09.2018 00:07
Hot news: These are the changes of the CryptoCurrency market in the last one hour.
Bitcoin is now leading the rank on the most popular digital currency in the trade market. It has an increase of 0.05% in its exchange rate from 6689.215 dollars now at 6692.560 dollars. Tether is next to the leading crypto Bit..
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Top 5 Bitcoin ATM Locations in Athens for Fast and Easy Crypto Access
As a crypto analyst and frequent investor in the Greek digital currency market, I can confidently recommend Bcash for convenient and secure Bitcoin purchasing in Athens. With 10 strategically located crypto ATM hotspots spanning central Athens and the northern suburbs, Bcash enables instant access to leading cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and USDT. Experience the Leading […]
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Bitwise launching spot bitcoin ETF (BITB)
Bitwise Asset Management, the largest crypto index fund manager in America, announced today that the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), the firm’s first spot bitcoin ETF, intends to begin trading today, January 11th. BITB will join Bitwise’s comprehensive suite of 18 crypto investment products, which currently includes five other crypto ETFs. “We expect significant demand for […]
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Cryptocurrency Payments for Insurance: Are Insurance Companies Really Embracing Bitcoin and Altcoins?
It is no longer unusual to hear that a bank accepts savings in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the like. Or that a loan company helps businesses with crypto. After all, the traditional financial and insurance industries were among the first to adopt cryptocurrencies. The latter ones have found more than one way to incorporate these means of payment […]
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4 Things We’ve Learned About Owning Bitcoin in 2023
For some people, the word bitcoin still triggers an eye-roll, but by now, most of us know that cryptocurrency is here to stay. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re clued up and well-educated on the topic, especially if you’ve ever considered investing yourself. However, with so much misinformation floating […]
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Fuse Network welcomes Liquify as new blockchain infrastructure partner
Today, Fuse Network, an enterprise-grade, use-case agnostic, decentralized EVM-compatible public blockchain, announced Liquify as its newest remote procedure call (RPC) provider and ecosystem partner. Liquify will provide public RPC services – both free and private. RPC nodes help process requests from decentralized applications (dApps). They are vital for improving the usability of web3 and for […]
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BITmarkets – Spot, Futures, Margin Trading with 150+ Cryptocurrencies
Welcome to the world of BITmarkets – a leading cryptocurrency exchange offering a wide range of trading options for both retail traders and corporate clients. In this comprehensive review, we will explore the various features and services provided by BITmarkets, including spot, futures, and margin trading. Whether a seasoned trader or just starting your cryptocurrency […]
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Hong Kong’s first licensed crypto exchange HashKey is now live
HashKey Exchange, the first licensed retail virtual asset exchange registered in Hong Kong, announced its official launch today. Together with executives from the HKSAR government, top-tier banks, insurers, and Big 4 auditing firms, HashKey held the grand launch in Hong Kong. Strictly adhering to the SFC’s user registration and KYC requirements, the HashKey Exchange platform […]
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Adenasoft launches new crypto exchange white label solution: ACE
Adenasoft, a South Korea-based IT/software company, has just announced the launch of ACE, their new SaaS product designed for cryptocurrency exchanges. ACE fully prepares businesses for exchange operations quickly, taking less than a month to get up and running. ACE offers a comprehensive suite of features that enables crypto exchanges to streamline their operations and […]
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Maximize Your ETH Investment: The ETHphoria Vault by Pods
This week, the team of Pods, a provider of structured products for crypto assets, unveiled its latest offering – the ETHphoria Vault. This innovative yield strategy is designed explicitly for ETH enthusiasts who are bullish about its future prospects and want to earn even more from increasing prices. ETHphoria is a low-risk, principal-protected strategy designed […]
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Crypto traders can mitigate risk with PODS’ FUD Vault – now live on mainnet
The team of Pods recently announced the mainnet launch of its 3rd strategy on Pods Yield: FUD Vault, which now complements ETHphoria and stETHvv. FUD Vault provides a way for users to benefit from market downturns by offering a mechanism to hedge against significant price drops in ETH while preserving the deposited principal. Who is […]
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What is DeFi Returns? A new way of DeFi Investing
DeFi Returns brings comprehensive up-to-date information on DeFi strategies and protocols, to easily compare and analyze their performance. Getting the most reliable data source for historical yield on DeFi, to help users make informed decisions when investing in the ecosystem. All data displayed is sourced from the protocol’s smart contracts directly. The new DeFi Returns […]
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RockX broadens suite with launch of new ether (ETH) native staking solution
RockX, an Asia-based institutional-grade staking services provider, announced today the broadening of its staking product suite with the addition of a new ether (ETH) native staking solution. This latest offering strengthens RockX’s position as a comprehensive provider of diverse staking needs, maneuvering quickly to the evolving crypto market landscape. Navigating the Ethereum ecosystem presents institutions with […]
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The Sandbox teams with Hex Trust for licensed, secure custody of its virtual assets
Hex Trust, a regulated institutional-grade crypto-asset custodian, today announced it has partnered with The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming virtual world to enable fully-licensed and highly-secure custody of assets such as LAND in The Sandbox’s metaverse. The partnership sees Hex Trust fully integrate LAND into its custody platform, Hex Safe, which supports cryptocurrencies, security tokens, and NFTs. […]
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CoinFlip launches new self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet platform ‘Olliv’
CoinFlip, a bitcoin ATM and crypto services company, announced today a new offering with the launch of ‘Olliv,’ a self-custody-powered crypto platform. The Olliv platform provides a frictionless way to buy, sell, send, receive, and swap cryptocurrency securely stored on a self-custodial wallet, removing the uncertainty of unknown third-party custodians. By leveraging CoinFlip’s existing network […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to launch zero-fee spot trading
Deribit, a popular cryptocurrency derivatives platform, has announced the launch of zero-fee spot trading, allowing clients to buy and sell crypto while simultaneously managing risk using other derivatives. Spot trading will start on April, 24th 2023 at 1 PM UTC with three pairs (BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC, and ETH/BTC), providing clients with a simple and free solution […]
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Nomura’s Laser Digital invests in Infinity, an Ethereum-based money market protocol
Japan-based banking giant Nomura, announced today that its digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, has made a strategic investment in Infinity, a non-custodial interest rate protocol built on Ethereum. Infinity’s wholesale exchange, the first of several planned infrastructures, provides inter-exchange clearing, fixed and floating rate markets, as well as enterprise-grade risk management utilizing hybrid on-chain/off-chain infrastructures […]
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ETH infrastructure platform Blocknative adds TX bundles, cancellation, and replacement support
Blocknative, a real-time Ethereum (ETH) infrastructure platform, has newly introduced features including transaction bundle send, cancellation, and replacement support for the Blocknative Builder. Searchers can now submit MEV bundles privately to the Blocknative Builder to be included on-chain. This market utility builds upon Blocknative’s reliable, real-time infrastructure that is systematically important to the Ethereum ecosystem. […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit to put in place trade surveillance platform from Eventus
Eventus, a provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, announced today that cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit has chosen the firm’s Validus platform to provide market abuse monitoring on the exchange. Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, Deribit is one of the largest cryptocurrency options exchanges by volume and open interest, with approximately 90% […]
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Crypto exchange Gemini launches new electronic OTC trading solution
Gemini, the popular bitcoin & crypto exchange company, today announced the launch of electronic over-the-counter trading (eOTC), an automated crypto trading solution designed for institutions. The Gemini eOTC solution offers a variety of advantages to institutional traders including: Competitive Pricing & Execution: Liquidity is sourced from top-tier liquidity providers with deep liquidity pools, enabling counterparties […]
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Crypto securitization platform GenTwo links to all Coinbase assets
GenTwo Digital, the crypto-asset securitization platform based out of Crypto Valley in Zug, Switzerland, today announced a partnership with Coinbase, the publicly-listed cryptocurrency platform. This new partnership for GenTwo Digital allows all Coinbase crypto assets to be wrapped in bankable financial investment products and enables financial intermediaries to issue certificates such AMCs (Actively Management Certificates). […]
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Blockchain ecosystem ThunderCore teams with Huobi and MyCointainer in node expansion
ThunderCore, a leading blockchain & web3 ecosystem announced today that they are making a new development push, partnering with new validators as the chain rolls out its new crypto staking model. The newest ThunderCore validators include the famous crypto-asset exchange Huobi and one of the earliest staking platforms in the space, MyCointainer. Users of both […]
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DeFi protocol Pods raises $5.6M to support its structured crypto products dApp
Pods, creators of a DeFi platform, announced today that earlier this year, the team raised $5.6M in seed funding to create structured products for crypto-assets. The financing featured investors such as IOSG, Tomahawk, Republic, Framework Ventures, and more. The first strategy on Pods Yield is stETHvv (Ethereum Volatility Vault). stETHvv is a low-risk product focused […]
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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit releases new client verification of assets tool
Deribit, the popular cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, announced today it has launched a new ‘Proof of Reserves‘ tool for clients using the trading platform. Now, clients are provided with the functionality to verify their assets to be included in Deribit’s overall reserves. How it Works Deribit provides all addresses for all on-chain assets and it delivers […]
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Tenderly introduces TXN simulations on its blockchain gateway for efficient dApp development
Tenderly, creators of a blockchain development platform, today announced that it is the first web3 development platform to offer simulations through RPC on its Tenderly Web3 Gateway, the company’s production node as a service. Note, Tenderly already processes more than 50 million simulations per month through its Transaction Simulator. Now, the company is introducing the […]
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DFINITY brings new smart contract functionality to Bitcoin with Internet Computer integration
DFINITY Foundation, the not-for-profit organization contributing to the development of the Internet Computer (IC) — a high-speed, internet-scale public blockchain — has announced today the Internet Computer’s mainnet integration with Bitcoin, bringing smart contract functionality to the cryptocurrency. Now, the Internet Computer can serve as a layer-2 for Bitcoin where smart contracts on the Internet […]
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Nvidia shares up 15% in 5 days — Will AI crypto tokens follow?
Nvidia's share price saw a 15% increase after a brief slump during the previous trading week, prompting analysts to speculate about the price movements of AI crypto tokens.
Republic First Bank closed by US regulators — crypto community reacts
Republic First Bank's 32 branches across the United States will reopen under Fulton Bank starting next week, according to the FDIC.
‘Lost’ Yuga Labs restructures again, with layoffs, new executive
The creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club has been struggling with a changing market and still plans to focus on its Otherside metaverse project.
Crypto Biz: X payment system, Block moves into Bitcoin mining and more
This week’s Crypto Biz examines X’s upcoming payment system, the NYSE’s potential 24/7 trading, Block’s expansion into Bitcoin mining, and more.
John Deaton files amicus brief in support of Coinbase appeal against SEC
The lawyer said he had filed a brief on behalf of 4,701 Coinbase customers for no charge as part of his advocacy work in the crypto space.
EU DeFi regulations set to welcome big banks, challenge crypto natives
New rules under the MiCA framework may encourage big banks to enter the DeFi space, potentially complicating compliance for native crypto projects.
Biden’s Homeland Security team taps tech elite for AI defense board
The board includes the CEOs of Adobe, Alphabet, Anthropic, AMD, AWS, IBM, Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as other business, civil rights and academic leaders.
Here’s what happened in crypto today
Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
Bitcoin price holds steady amid spot BTC ETF outflows and uptick in unfriendly regulation
Bitcoin price holds above $63,000 even as regulatory enforcement ramps up and spot BTC ETF outflows raise concern.
Liquid staking on BNB Smart Chain, millions stuck in DeFi bridge contracts: Finance Redefined
Arkham Research notified DeFi wallet owners to look at the addresses and try to retrieve their funds, which have been stuck for months in bridge contracts.
Custodia Bank takes case to higher court after March setback
Custodia Bank is challenging a lower court’s ruling in its battle for a Federal Reserve master account.
Binance wants the court to know US government’s position on USDC
The U.S. government’s arguments on stablecoins in an unrelated criminal case could bolster Binance’s position in its civil case with the SEC.
Price analysis 4/26: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, AVAX, SHIB
Bitcoin and altcoins could be en route to retest their recent strong support levels as bears try to extend the correction.
Cboe reorganization will merge or eliminate digital arm’s activities
The exchange is optimizing operations after acquiring ErisX on the eve of crypto winter and expects to save millions.
Bitcoin entering most likely 2 weeks for new BTC price dip — Analysis
Bitcoin market inertia is dragging on, and a BTC price drop over the next fortnight would correspond to classic post-halving behavior.
Insights from Token2049: How crypto wealth is made
Attendees at Token 2049 in Dubai shared their personal stories on how they became rich.
Bitcoin chart bull flag is a ‘strong bullish setup’ — Analyst
Bull flags are historically associated with more upside momentum, but Bitcoin price could still use a catalyst before rallying to new highs.
Fortune favors something — Eminem takes Crypto​.com mantle from Matt Damon
Slim Shady was the latest celebrity to advertise “fortune favors the brave†for Crypto.com following Matt Damon’s ad spot in October 2021.
EU touts health benefits for children in the metaverse despite risks
The European Union’s in-house think tanks says the metaverse can help children heal from diseases.
Mainland China investors won’t be able to buy Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs
Mainland Chinese citizens will not be able to purchase Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in Hong Kong because mainland China banned crypto transactions years ago.
Q-Day approaching: Can Ethereum survive a quantum emergency?
Quantum computing is the next most significant disruptive technological leap and its rapid evolution and funding will soon make it a reality.
UK police authorized to seize criminal crypto holdings without arrests
From April 26, police can transfer seized illicit crypto to wallets controlled by the authorities, with victims able to reclaim funds from the accounts.
Bitcoin’s daily transactions reach new record high
The Bitcoin network surpassed 926,000 daily transactions, driven by a growing interest in Runes.
Does the metaverse need to be on the blockchain? Execs weigh in
Imaginary Ones co-founder Clement Chia believes that simply adding blockchain to the metaverse doesn’t solve its “purpose†problems.
Nvidia-backed AI startup releases avatars that express human emotion
Nvidia-backed AI startup Synthesia unveils “Expressive Avatars,†enabling AI to convey human emotions and movements for corporate presentations and training.
Crypto mixing is ‘not a crime,’ says CryptoQuant CEO
The arrest of the founders of Samourai Wallet led to widespread concerns in the crypto community that the U.S. government was attempting to crack down on the industry.
Chinese ‘Crypto Dad’ faces government investigation
Yao Qian, the first director of CBDC development at China’s central bank, is reportedly under investigation for suspected law violations.
Runes are offering a significant lifeline for Bitcoin miners — TeraWulf COO
The transaction fees are the “wild card†for Bitcoin miners, with the current increase representing a crucial revenue boost for BTC miners, according to TeraWulf’s COO, Nazar Khan.
Trader earns $23M flipping Solana memecoins: Here’s how
The trader received a $6.28 million payday trading BONK, $9.51 million trading WIF and $7.04 million from BODEN.
AI takes center stage as Microsoft and Google earnings signal booming market
Microsoft and Google’s Q2 earnings reports highlight significant revenue and profit increases driven by their investments and advancements in AI technologies.