Blockchain.com said the institutional backing will power an increasingly institutional-minded business. Source link
Danny Nelson
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Bitcoin’s march onto corporate balance sheets could be hampered by the crypto’s legendary volatility, according to a survey by Gartner released Tuesday that found only 5% of business executives intended to invest in bitcoin as a corporate asset this year. Source link
MicroStrategy is moving to assemble a blockchain analytics team. It would be the first bitcoin-related software product from a company best known for CEO Michael Saylor’s whopping bet on BTC as a reserve asset. The firm, based in Tysons Corner, Va., put out calls on LinkedIn Friday for a Blockchain Data Analyst and Blockchain Data Engineer, explaining in job postings they will join a team “building an analytics platform with advanced metrics and insights for Bitcoin.” MicroStrategy hinted last November its interest in building blockchain data products and even stated its intention to hire for them. Executives did not go public […]
Peirce also pushed back against an emerging government narrative that cryptocurrency is a dangerous rail for terrorist financing. Source link
Amazon’s grip on the internet economy appears to be coming for currency next, with the e-commerce giant preparing to launch a “digital currency” project in Mexico. The yet-to-be-announced project, which Amazon sketched out across a series of recent job posts, appears to be an effort to keep lucrative Prime customers eternally plugged into Amazon’s platform. “This product will enable customers to convert their cash in to digital currency using which customers can enjoy online services including shopping for goods and/or services like Prime Video,” one job post said of Amazon’s “new payment product.” Amazon’s Digital and Emerging Payments (DEP) division intends […]
Mastercard is planning to give merchants the option to receive payments in cryptocurrency later this year. According to a source familiar with the matter, the functionality will see Mastercard customers’ digital currency payments settled in crypto at participating merchants, a first for the financial giant. The company has not yet disclosed which digital currencies it intends to support, or where. The details shed new light on CEO Michael Miebach’s Q4 pledge to integrate digital currency payments “directly on our network” in a move the new chief, helming his first earnings call on Jan. 28, said will provide maximal flexibility to customers […]
The CNBC host said it’s almost irresponsible not to include bitcoin on balance sheets following Tesla’s buy. Source link
Peer-to-peer crypto payments platform Metal Pay has filed to become a national bank in the U.S. The startup filed a charter application for “First Blockchain Bank and Trust, N.A.” with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Feb. 3, CEO Marshall Hayner told CoinDesk. This story is developing and will be updated. Source link
Michael Saylor, the MicroStrategy CEO-turned-king of bitcoin treasuries, called upon fellow business executives Wednesday to avoid the path of financial “serfdom” at his virtual WORLD.NOW bitcoin-themed conference. In his solo address, Saylor detailed the cryptocurrency playbook that propelled his three-decade-old data firm to newfound relevance in less than a year. Largely eschewing the near-mystical rhetoric that has punctuated his public crypto musings since August, Saylor focused on hardline business strategies, procedures and dollar-sense language in a calibrated appeal to corporations. “There’s a macroeconomic wind blowing – big – it’s gonna impact $400 trillion of capital. That capital is sitting in fiat […]
The largest public pension in the U.S. bought more RIOT shares for the first time since 2017. Source link
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday charged three associates of defunct crypto firm Bitcoiin2Gen with defrauding investors of $11.4 million through the 2018 B2G token offering infamously peddled by actor Steven Seagal. Bitcoiin2Gen and Start Options founder Kristijan Krstic and company promoter John DeMarr allegedly violated federal securities laws during the 2018 raise with DeMarr associate Robin Enos “aiding and abetting,” according to the SEC. DeMarr also faces criminal fraud charges in a parallel suit filed Monday. The trio allegedly promised to deliver Bitcoiin2Gen’s investors an Ethereum-based token the SEC claims never existed. They allegedly disseminated misleading brochures […]
MicroStrategy (MSTR) CEO Michael Saylor pledged to keep pouring the business intelligence company’s excess cash into bitcoin Thursday, telling investors his team will also “explore various approaches” for additional buys. “Going forward, we continue to plan to hold our bitcoin and invest additional excess cash flows in bitcoin. Additionally, we will explore various approaches to acquire additional bitcoin as part of our overall corporate strategy,” Saylor said in the company’s quarterly filing. The company is currently sitting on a trove of 70,784 bitcoins. While most of that was purchased with excess cash, Saylor raised $650 million late last year in a […]
Federal prosecutors struck back at a favorite tool of the ransomware community Wednesday, indicting one alleged NetWalker user, a Canadian national named Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, on wire fraud, hacking and network extortion charges, and coordinating the takedown of a victim guidebook hosted on the darkweb. The action, which included assistance from Bulgarian authorities, is the U.S. government’s first public assault against a malicious software that’s booming in popularity. Ransoms against schools, hospitals, businesses and governments netted NetWalker attackers tens of millions of dollars in 2020. NetWalker burrows into and encrypts victim computers, only releasing its hold once victims pay a ransom – […]
Retail traders in two U.S. states sued Robinhood Markets Thursday over its decision to prevent buy orders on GameStop and other so-called “meme stocks” swept up in the Reddit-fueled trading frenzy. The separate suits slam Robinhood over a decision that had immediate repercussions for impacted shares. GameStop, which had been soaring for days on short squeezing and mass speculation, began tumbling downward after Robinhood, a major retail trading hub, implemented the hold. Massachusetts resident Brendon Nelson alleged Robinhood tried to “slow the growth of GME” without legitimate cause, a move he said benefits Robinhood’s institutional investors over its clients in violation […]
The chief banker at the bank for central banks, Agustín Carstens, cast doubt on bitcoin’s long-term viability Wednesday, saying it was only a matter of time before a 51% attack brings down the world’s original cryptocurrency. Carstens’ comments, which he delivered to the Hoover Institute, underscored his belief that bitcoin fails as a currency, a medium of exchange and a value storage mechanism, working only as a “speculative asset” and seldom as money. He also issued a dire warning to would-be bitcoin investors: the center cannot hold: “Above all, investors must be cognizant that Bitcoin may well break down altogether. Scarcity […]
Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein pooh-poohed bitcoin’s “store of value” and “medium of exchange” propositions on CNBC Monday, stressing that if the cryptocurrency ever grew to a substantial size the regulators would likely move to shut it down. Source link
Ark Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood said she doubts U.S. regulators will green-light a bitcoin exchange-traded fund before the original cryptocurrency’s market cap hits $2 trillion. “The flood of demand has to be satisfied so it’s going to have to get well over a trillion dollars – $2 trillion, I think, before the [U.S Securities and Exchange Commission] will feel comfortable about” a bitcoin ETF, Wood said at Tuesday’s ETF Trends Big Ideas event. Bitcoin’s market capitalization hovered a tick under $600 billion at press time Tuesday. Wood was bullish on bitcoin’s prospects under Gary Gensler, the former CFTC commissioner and […]
Hawaii is letting more companies play in its no-license-necessary digital currency sandbox. The state reopened applications for Digital Currency Innovation Lab (DCIL) hopefuls on Monday, raising the possibility that yet more crypto exchanges and service providers could soon do business in the historically restrictive-to-crypto islands. State law requires crypto companies maintain cash reserves equivalent to their digital currency holdings, an unreachable bar for even the largest exchanges. But sandbox participants are exempt from that requirement, and from acquiring the usual money transmitter license, through June 2022. “The process has been seamless,” BlockFi CEO Zac Prince told CoinDesk. BlockFi is one of […]
ARK Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood said she believes more companies will load their balance sheets up with bitcoin. In a Saturday interview with Yahoo Finance, the exchange traded fund (ETF) magnate and outspoken bitcoin advocate said large companies have asked her if they should follow Square. Inc’s lead. Square is one of the few public companies to invest in bitcoin as an inflation hedging strategy. “I think we’re going to hear about more companies putting this hedge on their balance sheet,” she said, “particularly tech companies who understand the technology and are comfortable with it”. Her prognosticatoions have yielded returns […]
Cryptocurrency mining company Marathon Patent Group bought $150 million in bitcoin for around $31,100 apiece during the crypto asset’s recent price rout. The Nasdaq-listed firm said Monday it purchased the bitcoins through institutional bitcoin shop NYDIG. Marathon is the latest publicly traded company to swap a cash treasury for bitcoin, and, with 4,812.66 BTC now on the books, one of the largest by sheer investment size. Marathon CEO Merrick Okamoto said in a statement the bitcoin buy “accelerates” his mining company’s transformation into a “pure-play bitcoin investment option” for crypto-hungry Wall Street traders. Wall Street traders already have a few options […]
Stock-picking personality Jim Cramer recommended the unknown Maryland-based winner of Wednesday’s $731 million Powerball jackpot allocate 5% of his or her newfound fortune in bitcoin. “You know what, if you won the lottery – Yes, I’m gonna say it: 5% in bitcoin,” Cramer said Thursday night on his Mad Money program. His investment advice, of course, came with a few caveats: Don’t buy the bitcoin all at once, don’t buy it on the weekend. “Crypto could be incredibly volatile,” he said on the day bitcoin tanked 13%. Cramer identified bitcoin as an “important new store of value.” His words echoed the […]
The U.S. government’s top investments watchdog flagged a series of unregistered cryptocurrency companies for apparently duping mostly international investors with false corporate information. Of the 28 suspect investment firms the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) called out Thursday, CoinDesk found eight that appear to target would-be cryptocurrency investors. Some purport to be trusted newcomer trading hubs; others peddle their services to retirees. One even fashions itself as a law firm that can help against crypto fraud. Flagged companies AxTrading-Investment, Passive Trade Plan, RetireWell Investors, Reclaws International Inc. and SmartCoins24 all offered cryptocurrency and blockchain services on their websites Thursday, CoinDesk […]
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $7.81 trillion under management, appears to have granted at least two of its funds the ability to invest in bitcoin futures. Prospectus documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday indicate that BlackRock Global Allocation Fund Inc. and BlackRock Funds V are at least eyeing bitcoin. They both include the world’s oldest cryptocurrency on their lists of derivative products cleared for use. BlackRock did not state which commodity exchange it will choose to execute these crypto futures buys. However, the funds may only invest in cash-settled bitcoin futures. CME is the only […]
Adult entertainment website Pornhub, which last month was booted off mainstream payment networks, is now accepting payment in a cryptocurrency others are shunning: XRP. Along with XRP the massive video site began taking payments in USDC stablecoins sometime in the past month, according to The Block. Also being accepted for payment now are dogecoin (DOGE) and binance coin (BNB), bringing the total number of cryptocurrencies accepted for payment for Pornhub premium subscriptions to 16. Litigation against XRP issuer Ripple Labs alleging the token is an unregistered security has prompted over a dozen exchanges to delist the token, making the Pornhub move […]
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced it’s buying blockchain infrastructure company Bison Trails. Bison Trials, which builds cross-blockchain integration tools that link disparate protocols, will become a “foundational element” of the Coinbase product suite, the top U.S. cryptocurrency exchange said in a Tuesday blog post. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bison Trails did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This story will be updated. Source link
Bitfinex expects to finish turning documents over to the Office of the New York Attorney General (NYAG) in the coming weeks, a procedural hurdle that would move the state prosecutor’s investigation of the alleged $850 million Tether cover-up one step closer to conclusion Charles Michael, the Steptoe lawyer representing defendant Bitfinex, told the court Tuesday that parent company iFinex has “produced a substantial volume [of] material” for the NYAG already. He said the next update will come in 30 days. The documents could shed light into the financial goings-on of tight-lipped iFinex. New York state prosecutors alleged in April 2019 that […]
Wireline is now barred from distributing the tokens it promised investors in its 2018 SAFT sale. Source link
Alt-right extremist groups and a handful of personalities linked to last week’s storming of the U.S. Capitol building received a bitcoin donation worth about $522,000 one month before the D.C. siege, according to crypto tracing firm Chainalysis. Chainalysis explained in a Thursday blog post that an unnamed French blogger sent 28.15 BTC to 22 wallets on Dec. 8. Nick Fuentes, the far-right internet personality whose livestream from the Capitol takeover resulted in his banning from the streaming site DLive, received the single-largest donation: about $250,000, or 13.5 BTC. There is no evidence that Fuentes entered the Capitol building during the events […]
The regulator’s stance contrasts with that of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Source link
IHS Markit will likely join the cryptocurrency index game, the company’s President of Financial Services Adam Kansler said during the financial information giant’s Wednesday earnings call. Kansler told analysts that IHS Markit already has “tactical partnerships” with crypto firms like Lukka to source cryptocurrency pricing and reference data. These data points could form the bedrock of a cryptocurrency index product although Kansler said IHS Markit currently uses them to help clients value portfolios. “So it’s an area where we’ll continue to focus not just on the valuations side, but probably even moving into the index side in the near future as […]
The mea culpa was mum on Coinbase’s broader troubles in keeping global trading running smoothly. Source link
Reps. Rudy and Freeland’s bill would exempt crypto miners from paying either Kentucky sales or excise tax. Source link
Gemcoin founder Steve Chen was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison for defrauding tens of thousands of investors in one of the largest early cryptocurrency investment schemes. Chen, 63, admitted last February to running U.S. Fine Investment Arts (USFIA) and peddling $147 million in “gem coins” (crypto purportedly backed by gems) to over 70,000 investors from 2013 through 2015. Prosecutors have described USFIA as a Ponzi scheme and a multi-level marketing scheme. His guilty plea on one count of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carried a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence. Judge John F. […]
A top gambling tech company has patented a way for bitcoiners to pay for their next digital roll of the dice with cryptocurrency. International Game Technology plc, which builds slots and other tech for casinos, has yet to reveal any plans to integrate bitcoin, bitcoin cash and ether into its tech. But its new patent awarded Tuesday covers a means for HODLER-gamblers to pay for their bets with any of the three. As described in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filings, users of IGT’s method would be able to transfer cryptocurrency into their gaming accounts as a means of payment. There, […]
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. Treasury Department wing tasked with monitoring potential legal violations of domestic financial laws, wants Americans to report if they have more than $10,000 in cryptocurrencies with foreign financial or virtual asset service providers. FinCEN announced its intention to amend the Bank Secrecy Act’s Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) regulations in a rulemaking notice published on New Year’s Eve, just three weeks before the Treasury Department’s leadership is expected to change. According to a brief notice published Thursday, “FinCEN intends to propose to amend the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regarding […]
Turkey will begin piloting a previously undisclosed digital currency in the second half of 2021, the country’s chief central banker Naci Ağbal told members of parliament Friday. “There is an R&D project initiated on digital money. Currently the conceptual phase of this project has been completed. We aim to start pilot tests in the second half of 2021.” Ağbal’s surprise comments place Turkey on the fast track to a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Turkey seldom discloses any digital currency ambitions; The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), known in monetary circles as the “bank for central banks,” does not even record […]
Cryptocurrency exchange Livecoin has suffered what it called a “carefully planned attack.” The Russian exchange said in a web post it has “lost control of all of our servers, [backend] and nodes” and pleaded with clients to cease making deposits, trading or interacting with the exchange. “We were not able to stop our service in time,” the post said. It was not immediately clear if clients funds’ were affected in the breach. CoinGecko charts indicate Livecoin usually handles about $50 million in daily trading volume. However, in the last 24 hours volume climbed to $805 million. Livecoin CEO Ivona Zlatova did […]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered Tierion to pay back investors in its TNT tokens after finding the data verification startup’s $25 million initial coin offering (ICO) violated securities laws. TNT holders and ICO investors who sold their tokens at a loss have 60 days to ask Tierion for what is essentially a refund – at cost, plus interest. Node operators can sell their compensatory TNT back to Tierion for .01 cent plus interest. Tierion must immediately disable trading of its ERC-20 token, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain, under the settlement disclosed Wednesday. It will pay the SEC […]
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez may try to turn his city into a hotbed for cryptocurrency innovation. Suarez tweeted Thursday that he is “absolutely exploring” making Miami, the seventh-largest city in the U.S., home to the country’s first crypto-centric municipal government, seemingly endorsing concepts from tokenization to on-chain voting. He tagged new city resident Anthony Pompliano, founder and partner of Morgan Creek Digital and a crypto Twitter celebrity, for help. In a subsequent tweet, Suarez said he wants South Florida “on the vanguard of legislation that promotes crypto and makes us forward-leaning on innovation.” He said he’d reach out to Wyoming’s blockchain […]
Supermarket kiosk company Coinstar has added Coinme bitcoin ATM functionality to 5,000 change-sorting machines across the U.S. The service is now available in nearly 25% of Coinstar’s total kiosk fleet and in 40 U.S. states, according to figures provided by Neil Bergquist, chief executive of Coinme. Coinstar change-counting machines are located in supermarkets, gas stations and convenience stores around the country. “There is a Coinstar kiosk located within five miles of 90% of the American population,” he told CoinDesk. “So the collective opportunity here is to be able to give the majority of the U.S. population access to digital currencies.” Over […]
MicroStrategy announced Friday it raised $650 million, up from a recently boosted $550 million, in a convertible senior note sale designed to allow the business intelligence company to buy more bitcoin. The company estimates $634.9 million of that sum – the net proceeds – will be available for bitcoin allocations in accordance with its treasury reserve policy. The amount of the offering was boosted to $650 million from the $550 million announced on Wednesday after the purchaser of the notes exercised in full an option to buy up to an added $100 million of the convertible senior notes. This story will […]
Digital asset custodian Aegis Custody has received the South Dakota Division of Banking’s blessing to start forming a trust company in the state. The full-service digital asset shop must clear a series of minor regulatory hurdles before it can secure the trust charter necessary to do business, President Michael McCarty said. He said the process would likely wrap up in weeks. Once it does, Aegis will become the latest digital asset custodian with a foothold in Sioux Falls. BitGo and Anchorage both base their operations in the trust company-friendly city. But while those industry stalwarts cater mostly to the cryptocurrency custody […]
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. is jumping into the institutional bitcoin game with a $100 million investment in bitcoin and a $5 million equity stake in NYDIG. The twin plays – both revealed in a Thursday press release – give MassMutual direct exposure to the cryptocurrency’s price swings and signal it’s betting that other big fish will follow suit. NYDIG is one of the fastest-growing institutional crypto shops with $2.3 billion under management. It provided MassMutual with the $100 million buy. Without specifically explaining why it saw bitcoin as a reasonable investment, MassMutual told the Wall Street Journal it was seeking “measured […]
Enforcement Director Stephanie Avakian led SEC investigations during the heart of its ICO crackdown. Source link
The French Ministry of Finance unveiled sweeping know-your-customer (KYC) requirements on all cryptocurrency companies operating in and servicing the country on Wednesday, a move that could ultimately strip the French crypto space of any semblance of anonymity. All virtual asset service providers must immediately begin checking their customers’ identities, verifying “beneficial owners” and prohibit anonymous crypto accounts, according to the press release from Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. He called the action a necessary step in France’s fight against terrorism. The press release invoked a terrorist cell that apparently financed itself with crypto until its dismantling in September 2019. “We must […]
Citi analyst Tyler Radke lowered his recommendation on MicroStrategy to “sell” from “neutral,” warning investors in a Tuesday research note that the company’s recent bitcoin euphoria may be overextended, according to SeekingAlpha. Radke cited CEO Michael Saylor’s “disproportionate focus” on bitcoin as a potentially troubling trend for the business intelligence company. He also said MicroStrategy’s planned $400 million debt offering to fund additional bitcoin purchases signals “incremental risk to the story.” Insider-selling also contributed to Radke’s eyeing a $250 price target (still above his previous MSTR target of $200). Shares of MSTR were down more than 10% to $300.86 in recent […]
MicroStrategy is turning to investors to fund up to $400 million more in bitcoin purchases. Source link
Citigroup Chief Executive Michael Corbat said his bank is helping governments “around the world” in creating sovereign digital currencies, otherwise known as central bank digital currencies, or CBDC. Speaking to David Rubenstein at a Friday Bloomberg event, Corbat made clear CBDCs are an “inevitable” development in the future of money. Citigroup, the multinational banking giant, is helping bring that future about. “We’ve been working with governments around the world in terms of the creation and commercialization” of sovereign digital currencies, he said. Corbat did not disclose Citigroup’s government partners. Citi spokesperson Danielle Romero Apsilos said Citigroup is “actively participating” in CBDC […]
MicroStrategy’s share prices have increased over 170% since the company first announced its interest in bitcoin in July. Source link
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) fintech hub is getting an upgrade. Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, or FinHub for short, will become a stand-alone office with Senior Advisor for Digital Assets Valerie A. Szczepanik continuing at the helm. Szczepanik will now report directly to the SEC commissioner under a reorganization announced Thursday. FinHub has played prominently in the SEC’s crypto strategy since its 2018 formation. Now a permanent fixture of the regulator’s hierarchy, FinHub is poised to take on an even more expansive role. SEC said the shift “strengthens” its ability to adapt to ever-changing financial markets. […]
Darknet markets are having a rough 2020. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on all shipping-centric industries, drug sellers included. Criminologist Andréanne Bergeron estimates that only 21% of darknet market transactions resulted in on-time deliveries during the height of pandemic lockdowns in the spring. But the virus only accounts for part of their pain. According to crypto tracing firm Chainalysis, darknet marketplaces are suffering their largest consolidation in at least five years. Only 38 marketplaces for drugs and other illegal goods and services were operational in October 2020, Chainalysis found in a Thursday report. That’s a 37% decline from the industry’s February peak. […]
New York Digital Investments Group (NYDIG) raised $150 million for two new funds to invest in cryptocurrencies, a move that underscores the one-stop crypto shop’s skyrocketing clout on the institutional bitcoin scene. As revealed in two U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, NYDIG Digital Assets Fund I raised $50 million from institutional investors while NYDIG Digital Assets Fund II raised $100 million. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to CoinDesk that Fund I invests entirely in bitcoin. The source said it is NYDIG’s latest offering for a growing lineup of institutional clients going long on BTC. It was not immediately […]
Crypto-jacking is giving nation-state hackers a decoy for their more malicious attacks, warned Microsoft in a Monday report. The company’s intelligence team said a group called BISMUTH hit government targets in France and Vietnam with relatively conspicuous Monero mining trojans this summer. Mining the crypto generated side cash for the group, but it also distracted victims from BISMUTH’s true campaign: credential theft. Crypto-jacking “allowed BISMUTH to hide its more nefarious activities behind threats that may be perceived to be less alarming because they’re “commodity” malware,” Microsoft concluded. It said the conspicuousness of Monero mining fits BISMUTH’s “hide in plain sight” MO. […]
Brian Armstrong is worried the Trump Administration is about to send the cryptocurrency industry a parting gift. The Coinbase CEO took to Twitter Wednesday night to blast the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to attempt to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets with an onerous set of data-collection requirements. If the whispers are to be believed, outgoing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is preparing to tamp down on one of the fundamental tenets of the cryptocurrency ethos: the ability of the individual to hold their crypto (unmolested) themselves. “This proposed regulation would, we think, require financial institutions like Coinbase to verify the […]
Galaxy Digital’s bitcoin funds raised $58.7 million in their first year as predominately high-dollar buyers staked their claim to the surging cryptocurrency. The institutional fund in particular appears to capture high-rollers’ spiking interest in bitcoin. With a minimum investment of $250,000, the $55 million fund attracted 33 investors for an average allocation of $1.6 million. That’s a little less than half of what Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP managed to raise overall. There, 56 investors pitched in at least $25,000 each for the full $3.6 million raise. Funds have long appealed to investors who seek exposure to bitcoin’s price without having to […]
Crypto.com is trying to bulk up its Maltese financial licenses in search of a competitive edge across Europe. The Hong Kong-based crypto firm received preliminary approval from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) for two financial licenses that govern how payment companies operate and what services they can provide. Crypto.com could soon start offering payment services and issue e-money as a licensed financial institution with MFSA oversight. It could additionally execute, custody and deal in-house with customers’ crypto assets as one of the first-ever holders of a Class 3 Virtual Financial Assets license from Malta. But the licenses are only granted […]
Schulman spoke the fall of cash, the rise of bitcoin, and the institutional traders taking note. Source link
MicroStrategy executives are on the hunt for blockchain experts who could help the publicly traded firm build a suite of bitcoin data services. Exactly what those services might be, when they would come online and how they would be monetized are still open questions. But in a Nov. 16 conference call, Chief Executive Michael Saylor, who spearheaded MicroStrategy’s nine-figure bitcoin allocations this summer, told investors his firm is eager to “leverage” its business intelligence experience in the bitcoin data space. “There’s an entire exploding universe of intelligence opportunities all wrapped around this kind of unique bitcoin intelligence coming off the blockchain,” […]
Olaf Scholz said banks need to adapt for a digital world but seemed to rule out private digital currencies from that future. Source link
U.S. Treasury Department officials are weighing the pros and cons of a risk-based approach to cryptocurrency tax reporting versus a model more focused on tax liabilities. Top considerations are the trade-offs each model would bring to a still-developing set of crypto tax rules, said Erika Nijenhuis, senior counsel at Treasury’s office of tax policy. Bloomberg Law first reported the comments. Source link
Monaker Group, which builds booking platforms for the travel industry, is venturing into tokenized assets with the indirect acquisition of Thailand’s Longroot initial coin offering (ICO) portal. The Nasdaq traded company took an “indirect controlling stake” in the entity that owns Longroot on Thursday, one day after buying up a third of Longroot minority shareholder Axion Ventures, a video game company. It is now at the helm of one of the few ICO portals regulated by Thailand’s relatively crypto friendly Securities and Exchange Commission. Longroot could begin hosting ICOs for the travel and video game industries in 2021, according to Richard […]
Texas regulators are going after a host of crypto firms they allege to be investment scams, 10 of which they say are are controlled by a single Texas man. The Texas State Securities Board on Thursday ordered 15 firms to cease and desist operations with a series of emergency orders against crypto, forex and binary options hubs that purport to be based in Texas. Ten firms are named in the first order: Proactive Expert Trading, Reliable Miners, BitcoinFX Options, Sure Trade Earnings, CryptoTradeFXWay, Proactive ExpertTrade, ReliableFX Internal Trade, MaxFX Internal Trade, AntPoolTop Mining and ExpertTrades247. Regulators say one man, James Blundell, […]
Helium is hard-capping production of the tokenized fuel that powers its decentralized wireless network. Under a newly passed improvement proposal, Helium miners will stop adding to the circulating supply of HNT tokens at 223 million, a figure they will reach sometime in 2070 once bi-annual “halvenings,” also new to the network, have reduced new HNT monthly issuance to a negligible amount. But that inflation hard cap does not mean an end to HNT mining. Miners will continue to mint HNT tokens even after they hit 223 million by replacing burned tokens. Project contributors say this will continue to incentivize mining even […]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prosecution of rapper T.I.’s 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) has netted $103,000 in court-ordered fines and penalties for the agency, this time from associates of the Atlanta-based act. Defendants Chance White, Owen Smith and William Sparks were all named in the original September FLiK ICO suit for alleged securities law violations and for boosting the coin without disclosing their ties. Eight individuals were charged in September and seven quickly agreed to settle, including White, Smith and Sparks. The trio on Tuesday consented to the final terms of their penalty without admitting or denying wrongdoing, […]
Binance Holdings Limited sued Forbes Media LLC for defamation Wednesday over a story last month that purported to reveal regulatory evasion tactics employed by the global cryptocurrency exchange. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, claims Forbes and two writers, Michael del Castillo and Jason Brett, harmed Binance by publishing a story that “contains numerous false, misleading and defamatory statements.” In the suit, Binance denies a laundry list of allegations in the Forbes story and even refuted the veracity of the “Tai Chi” documents at its core. In the document, Binance demands that Forbes take down the […]
ConsenSys is adding dapp development platform Truffle Suite back to its lineup of Ethereum tools. ConsenSys Chief Strategy Officer Simon Morris said Tuesday the Ethereum-focused firm has acquired the team and technology behind Truffle. The acquisition represents a reunion of sorts. Truffle originated within ConsenSys in 2015 but spun out in 2019 to amass $3 million in an equity sale. Terms of the ConsenSys reintegration were not disclosed. “As the most popular Ethereum development framework, it is a natural fit for Truffle to be part of the ConsenSys product stack,” Truffle founder Tim Coulter said in a statement. Notably, ConsenSys said […]
Somewhere between the Coinbase hawk and the institutional bitcoin whale lies a growing class of high-end retail investors pushing their money managers to join the bull run. Their calls grew loud enough for Mariner Wealth Advisors to take action. Now, the registered investment advisory (RIA) whose network of independent financial advisors (FA) manage $29 billion, is giving its 23,000 clients a way to jump in. On Tuesday, Mariner Wealth announced its 346 FAs will soon have access to the bitcoin markets through a separately managed account (SMA) set up by crypto firm Eaglebrook Advisors. The bitcoin SMA will let Mariner FAs […]
Anthony Scaramucci’s mega hedge fund, SkyBridge Capital, just gave itself the ability to bet on cryptocurrencies from afar. In a series of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published Friday and Monday, the $9.2 billion asset manager helmed by the one-time Trump spokesman signaled that two of its funds “may seek exposure to digital assets.” The documents are meant to give SkyBridge the green light to invest in other funds that have money in the crypto markets or in the companies supporting the ecosystem. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Mooch is long on bitcoin specifically. In fact, his decade-old […]
The founders of digital payments processor Payza will serve year-plus prison terms and forfeit $4.5 million in seized assets for breaking federal money transmission laws, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Brothers Firoz and Ferhan Patel, both Canadian, had pleaded guilty in July to a lineup of financial crimes stemming from Payza, their international payments startup. Prosecutors said the unlicensed firm processed more than $250 million, including funds known to be associated with crime, an allegation the brothers ultimately admitted to. On Tuesday, Firoz received a 36-month sentence and Ferhan an 18-month sentence from U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Their […]
Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe says protecting bank business models is not BoE’s responsibility. Source link
CISA Director Krebs expects to be fired, Reuters reports. Hours earlier, his deputy resigned under pressure. Source link
The new service launch comes just one week after federal agents announced the seizure of over $1 billion in bitcoin. Source link
Several U.S. lawmakers are displeased by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and its focus on crypto and fintech during a pandemic-caused recession. Six members of Congress faulted the banking regulator’s stance on crypto custody and stablecoin services, as well as its plans to offer a fintech charter, in a sharply-worded letter Tuesday that questioned whether acting chief Brian Brooks has his priorities straight during COVID-19’s health and economic crises. Brooks has no business bolstering crypto banking while millions of Americans are still waiting for economic relief, wrote Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) in a letter […]
MicroStrategy’s headline-grabbing bitcoin bet was a rational response to a macroeconomy in chaos, said Chief Executive Michael Saylor. Appearing Tuesday at CoinDesk’s Bitcoin for Advisors virtual conference, Saylor shed new light on one of this year’s biggest cryptocurrency stories: his software company’s recent purchases of $425 million in bitcoin. That surprise September move by Nasdaq-listed MicroStrategy marked one of the first – and largest – embraces of bitcoin by a mainstream corporation. In a prerecorded fireside chat with CoinDesk Chief Content Officer Michael Casey, Saylor unpacked MicroStrategy’s bitcoin thought process, why it decided to eschew cash as a treasury reserve and […]
Central bankers hope the CBDC will help restore confidence in Lebanon’s shaky banking sector. Source link
Texture Capital is preparing to launch a digital securities trading hub for private capital markets after getting the green light from a U.S. financial regulator. With its Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker-dealer registration and alternative trading system go-ahead, revealed to CoinDesk Tuesday, Texture moves closer to taking its issuance marketplace live. The one-year-old blockchain company is the latest tokenization outfit hoping to capture even a sliver of the hulking marketplace for private securities. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told Congress in an August report that companies and funds raised $1.5 trillion through so-called “Regulation D” exempt offerings in 2019. […]
If granted, the charter would replace the blockchain-based lender’s hodgepodge of state licenses with a single nationwide regulator. Source link
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Companies can now raise more money under three key securities exemptions without having to register with SEC. Source link
Crypto IP “puts us in a good position” for central bank digital currency, said Mastercard President Miebach. Source link
Days before a U.S. presidential election marred by court fights over vote counting and partisan allegations of rampant mail-in ballot fraud, Overstock.com is once again touting what it calls a solution: blockchain voting. “If [voting] doesn’t work as well as it should, next week think about how Voatz could have solved that,” Overstock chief Jonathan Johnson told investors during OSTK’s Oct. 29 earnings call. Johnson, who is also president of Overstock’s blockchain investments subsidiary Medici Ventures, was referring to the Medici-backed mobile voting app Voatz, which claims to use blockchain technology to secure users’ vote. Elections officials in 29 of America’s […]
Lawrence Rufrano allegedly hid his work at Stanford and blockchain startup Factom from disability benefits regulators. Source link
Crypto trading colossus Binance created a corporate plan for profiting from the U.S. market while avoiding regulatory scrutiny, Forbes reported Thursday, citing a 2018 document it obtained. Source link
The case should remind members of the cryptocurrency community of the dangers of storing crypto on hot wallets, especially those secured via two-factor authentication methods such as text confirmation. Weakly secured cellular accounts are often an inadequate defense against hackers bent on compromising known crypto holders’ wallets. Source link
Cambodia sees Bakong as a critical step in modernizing its payment system and de-dollarizing its economy. Source link
MicroStrategy is looking to add to its $521 million stash of bitcoin, the company’s president said Tuesday during the business intelligence firm’s earnings conference call. MicroStrategy President Phong LiBesides the 22% return on its BTC investment, the company has seen another benefit from its foray into cryptocurrency – increased visibility. “We’ve seen a notable and unexpected benefit from our investment in bitcoin in elevating the profile of the company in the broader market, Li said. “This is benefitting our reputation overall, raising our mindshare among prospective customers.” CEO Michael Saylor, who has vocally championed BTC since early September, further explained during […]