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Listing SPL tokens would appear to mark a major development in Coinbase’s token onboarding strategy. Up to now, it has only listed Ethereum-based coins and flagship Layer 1 assets such as Algorand (ALGO) and Cosmos (ATOM), a review of its listings found. Source link

“The Sandbox’s metaverse accelerator is a major expansion of our ongoing commitment to support the next generation of metaverse entrepreneurs,” Sebastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox, said in a press release. “With imagination, ideas and hard work, startups from all over the world can realize their visions and drive societal impact by creating more opportunities for everyone.” Source link

The value of Tesla’s (TSLA) bitcoin holdings at the end of the fourth quarter remained unchanged from the end of the previous quarter at $1.26 billion, the electric car maker said in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday. Tesla did not buy or sell any bitcoin in the quarter, nor did it record any impairments to the value of its bitcoin holdings because the price of bitcoin was essentially flat from the end of the third quarter to the end of the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, Tesla also did not add to or reduce its bitcoin holdings, but was […]

“Short-positioned traders are dominating the derivative market. This indicates that bitcoin’s bounce was driven by [the spot market] rather than derivatives, which is confluent with the significant bidding seen on Coinbase,” Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at the UK-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, wrote in an email to CoinDesk. Source link

The relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart is rising from extreme oversold levels, which could keep buyers active this week. On the weekly chart, the RSI is approaching oversold territory, similar to July 2021, which preceded a strong price rally. Source link

Our early experience with partners like Microsoft tells us that we can cut the cycle-time required to handle documents by more than 90% on a blockchain and the cost of administration by around 50%. Unfortunately, without strong privacy, none of this is going to get widespread adoption. If a company were to implement these processes today, their competition would instantly be able to see how much it was producing, how much it was buying in raw materials, its key sales markets, and even the prices paid all along the supply chain. Data points like these are often among a company’s most […]

If the Fed stays the course, it could amount to a dramatic change to the macroeconomic environment. More to the point, it might be perceived as a major change by investors and employers, who would shift their own choices accordingly. Among other impacts, higher Fed interest rates usually draw capital away from speculative sectors because savers and investors are drawn to safer returns in government bonds. At the margins, this will inevitably pull value out of both tokens and crypto startups (along with tech and venture capital more generally). Source link

Meet Tether’s new accounting firm, same as Tether’s old accounting firm. U.K.-based mid-tier firm MHA MacIntyre Hudson, announced Jan. 14 its Cayman Islands office, MHA Cayman, now handles the clients of the Cayman-based Moore Cayman firm, Tether’s accountant. As far as Tether’s relationship with its accountant is concerned, the change should be insignificant “other than they’re going to see a letter with a different letterhead … unless for some reason they are going to do something different or provide more services,” Francine McKenna, founder and editor of the re: The Auditors.com blog, said. “Both [accounting] practices have grown quickly in parallel […]

A project’s TVL doesn’t only change when users make new deposits or withdraw their assets. It is constantly changing in line with the fluctuating dollar value of all those assets in the cryptocurrency market. Some or even all of a DeFi protocol’s deposits may be denominated in its native token. When its native token appreciates in value, the protocol’s TVL grows in tandem. Source link

And DeFi is not the only crypto-related money laundering method on the rise: Mining pools, high-risk exchanges and mixers also received an increased amount of crypto from wallets tied to criminal activity last year. However, Chainalysis’ research suggests the largest group of crypto criminals still prefer to launder their money the old fashioned way, through centralized exchanges. Source link

Crypto asset manager Valkyrie has applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list its exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering exposure to stocks in bitcoin mining companies on Nasdaq. The Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF will invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities of firms that derive a minimum of 50% of their profit from bitcoin mining, according to a filing with the SEC Wednesday. Following the SEC’s reluctance to approve a spot bitcoin ETF, asset managers and investment firms have turned to products offering exposure to the futures market or companies that are themselves exposed to bitcoin […]

The broader crypto market recorded its second day of growth ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) statement on Wednesday. Prices of bitcoin, ether and other major cryptocurrencies rose as much as 7% in the past 24 hours, with memecoin Dogecoin leading gains among the biggest assets by market capitalization. Terra’s LUNA tokens were among the only losers, posting a 4.6% decline, data from analytics tool CoinGecko showed. Wednesday’s Fed meeting may reveal the bank’s stance on the timing of an interest-rate increase that many observers expect will come in March. The Fed has said it will tighten monetary policy with […]

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG. Source link

Grimacecoin isn’t the only instance of crypto hopefuls creating a shitcoin market. In December 2021, Brad Sherman, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, joked about a “mongoose coin” in a hearing about cryptocurrencies, spurring the issuance of hundreds of mongoosecoins in the hours afterward. Source link

Crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly Capital Partners is raising $500 million for a new fund, according to a new regulatory filing. The Dragonfly Ventures III Feeder fund has a $500 million target and hasn’t accepted its first investment yet. Dragonfly indicated that it doesn’t expect the offering to remain open for more than one year. If the raise is a success, Dragonfly will be the latest high-value fund to emerge in recent months. Paradigm smashed records with a $2.5 billion fund announced in November. Andreessen Horowitz is reportedly doubling down on its already-prodigious crypto war chest with a $4.5 billion target […]

Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $36,000 on Tuesday but was still down about 0.38% over the past 24 hours, compared with a 0.76% fall in ETH. Considering the rebound earlier today, it appears that buyers are starting to return, but some analysts expect choppy price action ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s press conference on Wednesday. Fed officials kicked off their policy meeting today. Source link

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo has joined Digital Asset’s board of directors, and will advise the smart contracts-focused provider of software and services for financial services on a range of blockchain issues. Source link

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG. Source link

ARK Investment Management, the firm led by star manager Cathie Wood, predicts that bitcoin’s price could exceed $1 million by 2030 as the cryptocurrency’s global usage is still only in its early days. “Bitcoin’s market capitalization still represents a fraction of global assets and is likely to scale as nation-states adopt [it] as legal tender,” wrote ARK analyst Yassine Elmandjra in the firm’s “Big Ideas 2022” outlook report, which was released on Tuesday. ARK added in its bitcoin outlook that the cryptocurrency is taking market share as a global settlement network. According to ARK’s research, bitcoin’s cumulative transfer volume increased by […]

At the time of publication, the oldest cryptocurrency was changing hands near $37,000, up slightly over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. Ether, the second biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading above $2,400 level, also up slightly over the same period. Source link

“I am honored to serve as the Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services. As the first African American woman to lead DFS, I am personally committed to working with all stakeholders to build a robust, fair and sustainable financial system, creating a better economic future for all New Yorkers,” she said. Source link

Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) has issued a warning about decentralized finance (DeFi) based companies that offer lending, banking and investment services. The OFR is cautioning the public that before using any DeFi-based service, it is important to do the necessary due diligence and understand what DeFi is in order to avoid becoming the victim of a scam. The state regulatory body warns the DeFi investment market is still new, highly volatile and driven mostly by psychological factors rather than investment fundamentals. DeFi is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the crypto industry, with $92 billion worth of assets currently […]

Bitcoin (BTC) buyers remain active, pushing the cryptocurrency over $37,000, which is near the top of week-long price range. Still, upside could be limited around the $40,000-$43,000 resistance zone over the short-term. BTC was trading at $37,500 at press time and is up 3% over the past 24 hours. The relative strength index (RSI) on the four-hour chart triggered an oversold signal on Jan. 22, which preceded the latest price bounce. On the daily chart, the RSI is starting to rise from extreme oversold levels, which could stabilize the current sell-off. Initial resistance is at the 100-period moving average on the […]

As late as November, when bitcoin surged to an all-time-high price of $69,000, some traders hoped the $100,000 psychological milestone might be reached in 2021. Now, at the current price of around $36,000, bitcoin would have to nearly triple to hit $100K. Source link

David Chaum, a pioneer in cryptography and in privacy-preserving and secure voting technologies, is the creator and founder of the xx network. In 1995, his company, DigiCash, created and deployed eCash, the first digital currency, which used Chaum’s breakthrough blind-signature protocol. This post is part of CoinDesk’s Privacy Week series. Source link

A fair amount of news happened last week: The Federal Reserve announced it is still nowhere close to issuing a digital dollar and the U.S. House of Representatives held a surprisingly substantive discussion around crypto’s energy impact. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. Blockchain bucks The narrative The U.S. Federal Reserve finally published its central bank digital currency (CBDC) report! The long-awaited missive outlined the Fed’s chief questions about CBDCs and provided a window into its thinking on the issue. Why it matters The Fed is […]

Kazakhstan crypto miners will have their energy supply cut off from Jan. 24 until the end of the month, three people in the local industry told CoinDesk. A memo from national grid operator KEGOC, dated Jan. 21 and seen by CoinDesk, said that “the planned supply of electricity to persons engaged in digital mining is completely canceled” from Jan. 24 until midnight Jan. 31. Kazakhstan’s energy grid has been struggling to meet power demand, especially during the winter. KEGOC said it will consider rolling the limitations back if the energy situation improves. The memo was signed by KEGOC Managing Director for […]

With the price of bitcoin (BTC) tanking and the U.S. Federal Reserve now moving to tamp down rising inflation, some analysts think dollar-pegged stablecoins could be this year’s winning crypto trade. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s monetary policy-setting committee, holds its January meeting starting Tuesday. Traditional and crypto investors will be awaiting what is said during this meeting, likely the last before several interest rate increases are announced during this year. While other central banks may keep their monetary policy loose, the Fed is expected to tighten in order to slow increasing inflation. The U.S. Consumer Price Index […]

John Lennon’s son Julian is selling a collection of Beatles memorabilia as a set of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The centerpiece of the “Lennon Connection” is some notes jotted by Paul McCartney while writing “Hey Jude,” one of the Beatles’ most famous songs. The song was penned by McCartney as a comfort for the young Julian during his parents’ divorce. The collection also includes clothing worn by John Lennon in the Beatles’ films and various guitars given to Julian Lennon by his father. The NFTs take the form of audio-visual collectibles each accompanied with a narration by Julian. The auction will take […]

The round was co-led by Foundation Capital with participation from BACKED VC, PayU (the e-payments business of Prosus), Digital Currency Group, Nexo, Wintermute, Menai Financial Group, Circle, Tokentus Investment, Cowa, Profluent Ventures and LAUNCHub Ventures. Source link

“First Mover” hosts were joined by Marc Lopresti, managing director at The Strategic Funds, for an in-depth analysis on the crypto markets as cryptocurrencies suffer yet another sell-off. Since November, about $1.3 trillion has been wiped out in the total market cap. Plus, what could we expect from the Biden administration’s digital asset strategy that’s reportedly set to release next month? Nyca Partners Executive-in-Residence Matt Homer and CoinDesk Managing Editor for Global Policy & Regulation Nikhilesh De provided their insights. Then CoinDesk Executive Editor Marc Hochstein explained Privacy Week at CoinDesk. Source link

Grayscale Investments, which manages the Grayscale DeFi Fund and Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund, has added 25 digital assets, including tokens for a number of high-profile DeFi and metaverse protocols, to a list it keeps of potential investments, the company said in a Monday blog posting. Source link

Binance will become the main sponsor of Argentina’s powerhouse national soccer team and the naming sponsor of its national soccer league for five years, the crypto exchange announced on Monday. The company said that it had signed an agreement with the Argentine Football Association (AFA), the governing body of Argentine soccer. It is the first deal Binance has closed with a national soccer team worldwide, the company said Monday in a statement. Argentina is a two-time world champion and boasts arguably soccer’s best player, Lionel Messi, and one of its most passionate fan bases. According to Binance, the deal includes the […]

The Blockchain-Based Service Network (BSN), China’s state-sanctioned blockchain infrastructure project, said it is releasing its platform for non-fungible tokens (NFT) in the country today. The BSN-Distributed Digital Certificate (BSN-DDC) network is a structure for building NFTs that is compliant with Chinese regulations, the organization said in a press release. Authorities in China discourage public networks like Ethereum that are commonly used in the NFT ecosystem. Instead, as CoinDesk reported in October, BSN is making 10 Open Permissioned Blockchains available on the BSN-DDC. These are localized versions of their permissionless counterparts that set restrictions on who can participate in network governance and […]

On today’s episode, NLW looks at the growing bearish sentiment around the crypto industry. The culprit, he argues, is a deepening macro malaise that has been exacerbated by growing concerns about war in Eastern Europe. That, piled on top of existing inflation concerns and the Fed’s 180-degree shift from quantitative easing to quantitative tightening have the week kicking off in a particularly bearish mood. Source link

Meanwhile, Robinhood, whose crypto trading revenue has increased significantly in the last year, hit a low of $11.15 per share in the morning, down 87% from its 52-week high of $85. Shares rebounded to finish the day at $13.21, giving the company a market cap of just under $12 billion. Robinhood debuted as a public company last July. Source link

In the meantime, I plan to keep experimenting with how I price my NFTs. I plan on releasing my old grad school poems, and, to make Juno proud, I plan to keep writing poems on Thursdays, which is ruled by Juno’s love, Jupiter. Maybe, just maybe, this new routine will help me fall in love with NFTs and – most important – my own art again. Source link

Cryptocurrencies are deep in the red this year after industry market capitalization plummeted to $1.6 trillion as of Monday from $2.3 trillion at the start of 2022, a decline of about 30% in just over three weeks. According to data from CoinGecko, nearly $700 billion of value has been erased when the market correction sent bitcoin (BTC) down 28% for the year to date and ether (ETH) fell 40%. The new figures imply cryptocurrency market capitalization has roughly halved since its all-time high around $3.1 trillion in November. “Crypto winter” flashback It’s not unusual for highly volatile cryptocurrencies to experience swift […]

As crypto traders suffered last week through the market’s worst stretch in months, investors in digital-asset funds appear to have bought the dip. Cryptocurrency funds brought in $14.4 million of new investor money during the seven days through Jan. 21, ending a streak of five straight weeks of outflows, according to a report Monday from the digital-asset manager CoinShares. The inflows came during the latter part of the week, “during a period of significant price weakness,” according to the report. “Investors, at current price levels, are seeing this as a buying opportunity.” Bitcoin’s (BTC) price tumbled 16% in the seven days […]

Stablecoins are likely to see an increase in usage in the absence of CBDCs, the bank noted, adding that the two largest by market value, tether and USD coin, had a combined market value of around $121 billion as of Jan. 21. Their use as a means of payment is increasing, particularly for cross-border remittances, the report said, as they are faster and cheaper than using fiat currency. Source link

China’s government has begun rejecting trademark applications related to metaverse projects, according to numerous local media reports. Trademark applications containing yuan yuzhou – Mandarin for metaverse – have been denied registration by the National Intellectual Property Administration, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported Monday citing data from business and trademark registration tracking firm Tianyancha. Those rejected include applications by NetEase, iQiyi and Xiaohongshu. Applications by the country’s tech giants including Tencent and Alibaba (which owns the SCMP) are still pending review. The action has been attributed to an attempt to combat a rush of such applications which could cause trademark […]

Yeah, I think people are concerned. I think people are educated and understand this. But I also think that people have mostly decided that “Oh, somebody is going to fix this” or, “I’m sure somebody’s looking into that,” when the opposite is the case. Nobody is really focused on this. For me, it’s cultural. The biggest concern I have in the privacy realm is that people know they’re being tracked, they know they’re being surveilled and they’re just like, “Well, what can I do, really?” And I think that’s a cultural issue. Source link

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG. Source link

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG. Source link

Cross-chain swap Multichain is the biggest protocol by value locked on Fantom, with over $6.97 billion worth of assets in its smart contracts. In second place is the relatively new 0xDAO, which locks over $3.91 billion, while decentralized exchange SpookySwap takes third place with just over $1 billion in locked value. Source link

Tokens of protocols built on Cosmos that were previously airdropped to stakers, were among the biggest gainers on Monday morning even as the broader crypto market saw nominal losses. Tokens of Juno Network (JUNO), Stargaze (STAR), and Comdex (CMDX) – DeFi-centric tokens built on Cosmos – rose as much as 6% in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko. Source link

The White House is readying an executive order for release as early as next month that will outline a comprehensive government strategy on cryptocurrencies and ask Federal agencies to determine their risks and opportunities, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources. Source link

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening: Market moves: Bitcoin was trading at over $36,000 on Sunday after continuing its recent decline earlier in the weekend. Technician’s take: BTC is stabilizing on intraday charts, although $30,000 is a more significant level to watch given the decline in long-term momentum. Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis. Prices Bitcoin (BTC): $36,202 +3.4% Ether (ETH): $2,532 +5.4% Top gainers Asset Ticker Returns Sector Cosmos ATOM +3.4% Smart Contract Platform ` Top losers Asset Ticker Returns Sector Internet Computer ICP −9.2% Computing Litecoin LTC −9.2% Currency Filecoin […]

Under standard accounting rules, the value of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies must be recorded at their cost and then only adjusted if their value is impaired, or goes down. But if the price rises, that does not get reflected until an asset is sold. Source link

Bitcoin appeared to stabilize on Sunday after an unusually harsh sell-off, but the largest cryptocurrency was still on track for its worst weekly performance in eight months. As of press time, bitcoin (BTC) was changing hands just below $35,000, up 1.6% over the past 24 hours. More than $1.5 billion of bitcoin trading positions were liquidated over the past three days due to margin calls, according to the data site Coinglass. The bitcoin price is down 19% in the past seven days – the cryptocurrency’s worst weekly performance since May 2021, when fears of China’s renewed crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and […]

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. As 2022 kicks into gear many of us are wondering what’s in store for bitcoin and the broader crypto markets. Our lives, although our own, are driven by cycles which are often outside of our control. These cycles create the environment in which we each try to find happiness and success. But we can’t see the cycles, at least not until they’ve come to pass and so we can’t tell if this time is different until it’s too late. Credits: Today’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by […]

Yet the narrative of bitcoin offsetting the devaluing dollar is even weaker than the one about it being a tech-related investment. The correlation coefficient between bitcoin and the U.S. Dollar Index is just -0.13. Against U.S. bonds, represented by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), it is just -0.02. In other words, no relationship at all. Source link

Lawyer James Burnham speculates the Supreme Court would likely strike down similar securities rules today, perhaps if a challenge was brought before it by a crypto company, without a congressional mandate. But even if a lawsuit reaches the high court, an agency reprimand would already have required a company to spend gargantuan legal fees and endure years of litigation before even the chance to argue the case. Source link

This episode is sponsored by Nexo, Abra and FTX US. Download this episode On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads David Z. Morris’ “Meta Leans In to Tracking Your Emotions in the Metaverse.” See also: Who Writes the Story of the Metaverse? “The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Time” by OBOY. Image credit: […]

Don’t write off Ethereum just yet. The second-largest blockchain network by market capitalization after Bitcoin has become the dominant venue for some of the hottest cryptocurrency innovations, from decentralized finance (DeFi) to non-fungible tokens (NFT). The network’s popularity – and the high fees of transacting on it – has inspired a bevy of competitors aiming to undercut Ethereum with lower costs, faster speeds and higher throughput. Speculation that up-and-coming “ETH killers” or layer 1 blockchain alternatives such as Solana, Binance Smart Chain and even Cardano might one day overtake the market leader has sent the rivals’ token prices soaring. But analysts […]

Finally, the gang unpacked Buterin’s baby pod idea, which he floated as a means of female empowerment:“Disparities in economic success between men and women are far larger once marriage+children enter the picture. Synthetic wombs would remove the high burden of pregnancy, significantly reducing the inequality,” he wrote on Twitter. Source link

El Salvador bought 410 bitcoin for $15 million Friday, the country’s President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter. “Some guys are selling really cheap,” he added in his tweet. It is difficult to verify such claims on the public blockchain, since a buyer of a block of BTC that size would almost certainly have to buy it in smaller chunks to avoid slippage. Bitcoin was down about 12% late Friday to the $36,500 level as broader crypto prices also retreated. Nope, I was wrong, didn’t miss it. El Salvador just bought 410 #bitcoin for only 15 million dollars 🥳 Some guys are […]

This episode is sponsored by Nexo, Abra and FTX US. Download this episode This week on the “Weekly Recap,” NLW breaks down the House hearing on energy in the crypto industry. He looks at problems with the advance memo and provides refutations of some of the misunderstandings. See also: Witnesses Debate Crypto Mining’s Efficiency in Congressional Hearing on Environment “The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by […]

According to Steiner, the government has been in talks with Acumen since October 2021, following the approval of bitcoin as legal tender in the Central American country. In parallel, it holds negotiations with different crypto lending platforms looking to provide loans to Salvadoran SMEs, Steiner said, adding that, if signed, the agreements could total $200 million. Source link

“Talk of the town this week is the latest jump in bond yields, most notably U.S. Treasuries, as investors continue to position for an accelerated tightening timeline. The market is now pricing in at least 4 rate hikes this year, with the probability of a 5th ticking up this week. While a lot of headlines have focused on nominal yields, it’s the recent spike in real yields that matters more in our opinion, especially for non-income-producing assets like bitcoin and gold,” they wrote. Source link

The mining difficulty on the bitcoin network increased by 9.32% and hit an all-time high of 26.64 trillion on Jan. 21, at 22:07 UTC, beating the previous record set on May 13, 2021. The difficulty is automatically adjusted based the amount of computational power on the network, or hashrate, to keep the time it takes to mine a block roughly stable at 10 minutes. The higher the hashrate, the higher the difficulty, and vice versa. On May 13, 2021, bitcoin’s mining difficulty hit a record 25.04 trillion, as primarily Chinese and North American miners deployed their machines. The difficulty started dropping […]

Rep. Cathy Rodgers (R-Wa.), who began the hearing with an off-topic speech about inflation, COVID and the current U.S. president, asked about the potential of blockchain to protect citizens’ privacy, as well as the potential adverse impact of regulation on job and investment growth. Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) inquired about innovations that could stem from bitcoin mining and benefit other industries. Source link

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening: Market moves: The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization falls under $41,000; ether and other major altcoins also drop. Technician’s take: Oversold conditions are attracting short-term bitcoin buyers. Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis. Prices Bitcoin (BTC): $40,882 -2.2% Ether (ETH): $3,024 -2.8% Top gainers Asset Ticker Returns Sector Cosmos ATOM +4.7% Smart Contract Platform ` Top losers Asset Ticker Returns Sector Ethereum Classic ETC −6.5% Smart Contract Platform Filecoin FIL −4.8% Computing Stellar XLM −3.7% Smart Contract Platform ` Sector classifications are provided via the Digital […]

The CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said the self-regulatory body will look at potential changes to crypto regulations this year as crypto adoption grows, Barron’s reported, citing a virtual conversation with Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) CEO Kenneth Bentsen Jr. on Wednesday. CEO Robert Cook said FINRA isn’t looking at making wholesale changes to current rules, but instead is planning to issue “an early-stage, concept release type of notice,” especially in the context of advertising and disclosure. “We’re not looking to regulate or fundamentally change the regulatory structure here,” Cook said during the webcast, according to […]

Sure, you might “own” that cartoon monkey in your profile picture, in the sense that the token is affixed to your Ethereum address on an immutable, append-only ledger – but what’s stopping me from just right-clicking the image and setting it as my profile picture, too? Source link

11:53 (AA) A quick market check while the hearing continues. Bitcoin is holding its gains, rising more than 3%, above $43,000 levels. Ether, the native token for Ethereum, gained more than 5%. Meanwhile, the shares of most crypto miners, which are highly levered to the movements of crypto currency prices, are up 5% or more on Thursday. Source link

Italian luxury fashion house Prada and sportswear giant Adidas, which recently ventured into the metaverse, have joined forces to launch a new non-fungible token (NFT) project built on the Polygon network. The project will allow fans to contribute their own designs. Prada and Adidas Originals said they will auction a collection of NFTs designed by the digital artist Zach Lieberman on SuperRare between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3. The proceeds from the NFT sale will be donated to a charity supporting artists and creators. This Prada-Adidas tie-up is another sign of clothing brands – from both haute couture and fast fashion […]

The community behind EOS is looking to right itself by renewing tech ties with the network’s OG developer, Dan Larimer, who has engineered a “Mandel” hard break from the company that insiders say “burned” its $4 billion blockchain darling. Larimer, who quit Block.one – EOS’s now-estranged mother company – last January, is ratcheting up technical contributions on the software he spearheaded in 2017. In return, EOS Network Foundation (ENF) – now the ecosystem’s de-facto shot-caller – will bankroll Larimer’s development work with token grants in native EOS. Larimer’s “Mandel” upgrade is a hard fork that would give ENF effective control of […]

El Salvador’s CDS has tripled, though as shown in the chart, it’s a very illiquid, hence the very spikey price action, ADMISI’s Ostwald said in an email. “As for other emerging markets, the picture is heavily divergent, depends on region, but the overall JPM EM Bond avg spread has drifted wider, mostly on the back of rising U.S. rate expectations.” Source link

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm that has invested extensively in the crypto industry, is looking to raise $4.5 billion for new funds, the Financial Times reported. The firm told investors it is looking for $3.5 billion for a crypto venture fund, the FT said, citing people briefed on the discussions. That will surpass the $2.2 billion it raised in June for its Crypto Fund III, at the time the industry’s largest. It has targeted another $1 billion for a fund that will invest in seed funding for digital asset startups, according to the FT. The discussions took place last […]

Sin embargo, el alza parece estar acotada hacia la zona de resistencia de entre $43.000 y $45.000. Por otra parte, una cotización de $48.000 podría suponer otro obstáculo para los compradores, dada la serie de máximos de precios más bajos desde noviembre. Source link

“Think of all the tier-one banks in the market, they’re probably all IBM clients, many of them strategic clients,” said Donoghue in an interview. “They can leverage the existing stack, existing run capabilities to manage Metaco vaults directly from existing infrastructure. And we have a number of other similar deals in the pipeline, leveraging our combined capabilities.” Source link

The trading volume, for now, rivals that of Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shot, which has seen roughly $2 million in sales each day of January, a representative told CoinDesk. The sales figures offer another glimpse at an NFT market that has weathered a general downturn in crypto prices from 2021’s frothy highs. NFT marketplace OpenSea, for example, has seen its highest volume month ever so far in January while ETH, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, has sagged 15% over the same time period. Source link

The most popular show in Netflix history, “Squid Game,” earned an estimated $900 million for the streaming company. And the producers are not stopping there. They are gearing up for even more revenue as they look towards season two and have secured more than two dozen trademarks for the property as they tee up a range of merchandising and licensing deals. Sam Ewen is the head of CoinDesk Studios. What the company did not approve of in their effort to grow their bags were the non-fungible token (NFT) collections for The Squid NFT, Squid Game Card. The two derivative franchises – […]

The saga started earlier this week when Multichain instructed its users to remove approvals for six tokens, warning that otherwise their assets would be exposed to a security vulnerability. The tokens were WETH, PERI, OMT, WBNB, MATIC and AVAX. Multichain tweeted on Tuesday that hackers had siphoned about $1.4M in wrapped ether from users. Source link

Bitcoin continued to slide, falling under $42,000. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been languishing well off last week’s high as investors worry about dicey macroeconomic conditions, including supply chain issues, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, rising inflation and a slump in technology markets. Source link

After detecting the breaches, Marszalek said the firm quickly paused withdrawals, fixed the issue and was “back online in about 13 to 14 hours.” He added that the same day, “all of the accounts that were affected were reimbursed so there was no loss of customer funds.” Source link

“Despite major developments in the bitcoin market, the current market narratives continue to lean towards emerging developments outside Ethereum and Bitcoin, namely Ethereum competitors, scaling solutions and OpenSea alternatives,” 21Shares, a crypto investment firm, wrote in a report. Source link

This episode is sponsored by Nexo, Abra and FTX US. Download this episode On today’s episode, NLW looks at the latest from governments and crypto, including: India’s prime minister calling for global cooperation to “fight” crypto Pakistan’s security agency blocking crypto sites The U.K., Singapore and Spain introducing new rules around crypto advertising See also: Fidelity: ‘Countries That Secure Some Bitcoin Today Will Be Better Off Than Their Peers’ “The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is […]

The recent crypto sell-off also may have contributed to a wider GBTC discount. Bitcoin is down roughly 37% from its all-time high around $69,000 in November, although the cryptocurrency’s price appears to be stabilizing around $42,000 at the time of writing. Source link

Crypto exchange Gemini is introducing a prime brokerage following the acquisition of trading technology platform Omniex less than a week after it bought digital-asset management company Bitria as it looks to attract more institutional investors. Terms for the Omniex acquisition announced Wednesday were not disclosed. Omniex provides order, execution and portfolio management services for institutional crypto traders. The acquisition comes less than a week after the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss acquired digital asset management startup Bitria to expand its ability to manage clients’ portfolios from a single interface. Gemini announced the launch of Gemini Prime, which aims […]

“Our operational expansion continues at pace, with both our Georgia and Pennsylvania facilities ramping up rapidly – this is a tremendous achievement from our team given the current bottlenecks in global supply chains,” Mawson CEO and founder James Manning said in the statement. Source link

As a technology, Ethereum and other smart contract chains have proved to be an exciting and profitable platform for creators and developers to build and share their work. DeFi developers have created billions of dollars in value by building financial products open and accessible to the world, and artists have found amazing success with creating digital, liquid art in the form of NFTs. That being said, Ethereum’s “creator economy” is competing with top platforms like YouTube, Spotify and OnlyFans, delivering $3.5 billion in earnings to those building on top of the network. Source link

Proof-of-work crypto mining should be banned in the European Union (EU), according to the vice chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Erik Thedéen said that EU regulators should nudge the crypto industry towards the less energy-intensive proof-of-stake mining in an interview with the Financial Times. “The solution is to ban proof-of-work,” he said. “Proof-of-stake has a significantly lower energy profile.” The proof-of-work model involves miners using scores of powerful computers to solve complex mathematical problems in order to record transactions on the blockchain an be rewarded with new coins. The world’s largest two cryptocurrencies – bitcoin and ether […]

At press time, ADA was trading near $1.36, a 10.6% fall in the last 24-hour. Scaling solution Polygon’s MATIC token fell 6% even as the network implemented Ethereum’s fee-burning mechanism, which will destroy MATIC tokens making its supply deflationary. Solana’s token SOL, binance token BNB, and ether each fell over 2%, while bitcoin traded 1% lower near $41,200, according to CoinDesk data. Source link

“We actually believe that browsers will be more important in Web 3 than they were in Web 2,” Jorgen Arnesen, vice president of Web 3 at Opera, told CoinDesk in an interview. “We’ve been around the block for 25 years, and around Web 3 since 2018. A multi-chain token strategy will be essential to a good user experience.” Source link

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Wonderland saw its TIME token briefly drop below its treasury-backed value on Monday, prompting the team to buy back millions worth of TIME tokens to bolster the price. Wonderland falls within a category of popular DeFi projects known as “Ohm forks,” experimental protocols with aims of creating an independent monetary system. Yesterday’s incident appears to be the first time an Ohm fork has stepped in with buybacks, perhaps the crypto version of central banks carrying out quantitative easing. On Monday afternoon, the price of TIME plummeted 40% from $1,400 to $832 within a span of two hours […]

As stablecoins become an attractive option for clients, the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) industry needs to adapt in order to integrate this new technology into the existing infrastructure. Advisers need to educate themselves today to prepare for a future filled with stablecoins. Source link

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening: Market moves: Bitcoin and ether go down and then up; altcoin prices are mixed. Technician’s take: BTC appears oversold into the Asia trading day, but upside remains limited. Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis. Prices Bitcoin (BTC): $42,463 +0.8% Ether (ETH): $3,166 -1.3% Top gainers Asset Ticker Returns Sector Cardano ADA +9.1% Smart Contract Platform Litecoin LTC +4.0% Currency Top losers Asset Ticker Returns Sector Cosmos ATOM −7.9% Smart Contract Platform Chainlink LINK −7.2% Computing Polkadot DOT −7.2% Smart Contract Platform Markets S&P 500: $4,577 -1.8% […]

Student loan and financial service provider Social Finance Inc. (SoFi) has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to create a full service national bank, provided the new entity does “not engage in any crypto-asset activities or services,” the OCC announced on Tuesday. Source link

A House committee will take a look at crypto and its energy requirements this week. It’s another congressional look at crypto. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. Yet another crypto hearing The narrative Crypto’s energy use has been under scrutiny for quite a while. We’re going to hear from U.S. lawmakers about the issue for the first time in years on Thursday, when the House Energy and Commerce Committee hosts a hearing titled “Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchains.” Why it matters Lawmakers have […]

Despite significant growth in recent years, the Lightning Network still faces challenges to overcome if it wants to solve bitcoin’s scalability issues. The most demanding issue is security. Because nodes on the Lightning Network are required to always be online, they become more vulnerable to attacks. And while the network aims to reduce fees incurred from processing transactions on bitcoin’s main network, it includes its own set of additional costs for opening and closing channels, along with routing fees. These are issues that will likely be solved with time, as its technology develops and becomes fully optimized. Source link

If you can believe it, scams and Ponzi schemes have existed and thrived in the cryptocurrency industry well before the recent speculative exuberance around decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and token launches on blockchains like Binance Smart Chain. For sure there are a lot of sketchy “profile pic” projects (PFPs) and questionable economic games played using smart contracts, those lines of code that supposedly cut out the middlemen from basic financial services. So, you know, do your own research. Thankfully, some crypto projects make it easy for you. In 2014, Ponzi.io launched. It promised 1.2 times returns paid in bitcoin […]

Bitcoin miners are still generating healthy profits, despite the sharp sell-off in crypto prices and an increase in the network hashrate, Wall Street investment firm D.A. Davidson’s analyst wrote on Tuesday. “Since the late-October peak, hash price ($/TH/day) has fallen from over $0.40 to just $0.22 today yet gross margins remain quite healthy, around 85% down from 91% at peak,” analyst Christopher Brendler wrote. He also noted the gross margin numbers are based on the specification of “industry-standard” S19 Pro mining machines. When a more efficient miner, the S19 XP, comes online, the margins would go to over 90% at today’s […]

Given that consumers hold only small amounts in cash, there would be greater convenience in switching a current account into Britcoins, BoA said. That could be an area of concern for commercial banks. Checking accounts, or current accounts as they are called in the U.K., are the lifeblood of commercial banks’ business models, providing them with stable funding over a long term. Source link

Intel, one of the world’s largest chipmakers, is likely to unveil a specialized crypto-mining chip at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in February, according to the conference’s agenda. One of Intel’s “Highlighted Chip Releases” at the conference is entitled “Bonanza Mine: An Ultra-Low-Voltage Energy-Efficient Bitcoin Mining ASIC.” The session is scheduled for Feb. 23. This brings the company into direct competition with the likes of Bitmain and MicroBT in the market for bitcoin mining ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits, for the first time. Crypto mining has in the past driven up demand and prices for graphics processing units, including Intel’s, […]

“We believe the metaverse will be open, censorship-resistant and globally accessible,” Sergey Vasylchuk, director of the Metaplex Foundation, said in a press release. “In this metaverse, Metaplex will serve as a common protocol and NFT standard to empower the next wave of decentralized commerce, social and gaming experiences.” Source link

Animoca Brands, an investor in non-fungible token (NFT) and metaverse projects, raised almost $360 million at a valuation of $5.5 billion. The funding round represents a doubling in Animoca’s value in less than three months. The venture capital firm raised $65 million at a $2.2 billion valuation in October last year. Liberty City Ventures led the round, which included contributions from Winklevoss Capital, Soros Fund Management and 10T Holdings. Animoca plans to use the funds to fuel acquisitions and investments, product development and licenses for popular intellectual properties, according to an announcement Tuesday. The company’s portfolio contains more than 150 NFT-related […]