Cryptocurrency Bitcoin NEWS

2022-02-22 11:22:55 ​Nexo blocks interest payments to new US users

Nexo's Reddit moderator Josh warned that US citizens will face changes to how the crypto marketplace works. Josh explained that the company has "voluntarily made changes" to its Earn Interest loan product in the United States to "comply with recently announced guidelines" from the regulator.

Customers outside the United States are not affected by the changes and interest payments for loans to other users remain in effect.

US customers will be able to continue earning with their existing account balances, but will not be able to earn interest on newly placed deposits. The restriction does not apply to the current balance of wallets replenished before the ban:

"New deposits to your savings wallet today will not earn interest until the interest-bearing product is restructured."

Josh added that "any assets withdrawn from the wallet, even if they are returned later, will be treated as new deposits and will not earn interest." However, right now Nexo is working on Earn Interest 2.0:

“Our team and legal advisors are working around the clock to develop solutions for US clients that will make Product 2.0 as accessible and compliant as possible with new regulatory realities.” Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-21 10:33:00 ​Wyoming State Parliament to Consider Issuing Government Stablecoins

Last week, an initiative group of deputies introduced the Wyoming Stable Tokens (SF0106) bill to the Wyoming Legislature for consideration. If passed, the bill would allow the state treasury to issue dollar-pegged stablecoins.

Caitlin Long, CEO of Wyoming-listed Avanti Bank&Trust, believes the state's stablecoins can legally act as "municipal bonds that don't pay interest or have no maturity, but are still redeemable." ".

The state treasury is empowered to set limits and rules for the circulation of tokens, advisory support to the committee on investment funds, as well as the right to hire "accountants, auditors, consultants and other experts" to issue stablecoins.

No later than December 31, 2022, government officials must authorize the issuance of stablecoins or give a reasoned refusal if such proposal is determined to be “inconsistent with federal or state law.” Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-20 11:39:25 ​UAE decided to develop crypto business and prepare licensing

It is believed that the Office of Securities and Commodities is already at the final stage of introducing the relevant amendments to the legislation.

Obschenatsionalnaya cictema litsenzipovaniya for kompany, zanimayuschixcya viptualnymi aktivami, mozhet pomoch OAE konkupipovat c takim financovymi tsentpami, HOW Cingapup and Gonkong, kotopye naxodyatcya in ppotsecce cozdaniya polnoctyu pegulipuemoy cpedy for topgovli kpiptovalyutoy.

Hekotopye of cvobodnyx financovyx zon ctpany uzhe vydali pazpesheniya nA deyatelnoct kpiptokompany in tom chicle Dubaycky multitovapny tsentp (22 litsenzii) globalny pynok by Abu-Dabi (6) Dubayckoe uppavlenie cilikonovogo oazica (1).

A hybrid approach to supervision will be applied in the country: regulation will be carried out with the participation of the central bank, while local financial centers will be able to establish

This process involves filing an application and due diligence by the government, and the details will depend on whether the organization is setting up the company on the mainland or in a free campus.

In addition, the official representative of the UAE said that the government plans to create an ecosystem for crypto mining, which will also be regulated. Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-19 11:07:33 ​Helium decentralized network raises $200 million

Tiger Global and FTX Ventures have reportedly joined existing sponsors such as Khosla Ventures and Multicoin Capital. The company previously completed a $111 million token sale led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Helium is building a decentralized wireless network based on cryptography that provides bandwidth and collects data from IoT devices. Owners of network access points receive Helium tokens, the amount of which increases as the access point is used. Companies like scooter startup Lime and mousetrap maker Victor use these devices to connect their products.

It is reported that in just two years, this network has united more than half a million miners around the world. Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-18 10:40:48 ​Market valuation of Circle doubled ahead of new attempt to go public

Cryptocurrency company Circle announced that it has improved the terms of its deal with Concord Acquisition, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions (SPAC), in order to enter the public market compared to the previous one. This time, the market value of Circle should be $9 billion.

The contract has been approved by shareholders and regulators. The deal is due to close by the end of 2022, after which the combined company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The deal announcement notes that the new terms reflect an "improved financial outlook for Circle." The company believes that the upcoming increase in the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) key rate could increase the interest that Circle earns on the reserve of dollars backing the stablecoin.

It is worth noting that during the previous deal to acquire Concord Acquisition, Circle was valued at only $4.5 billion.

Despite the changed terms of the contract, the head of Concord Acquisition Bob Diamond (Bob Diamond) is confident that the new terms of the deal are well in line with the current prospects for Circle.

“We continue to believe Circle is one of the most exciting, innovative and exciting companies in the evolution of global finance and we believe it will have a historic impact on the global economic system.” Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-17 17:23:41 ​Bank of America Names Chainlink One of DeFi TVL Growth Drivers

Chainlink's decentralized oracle network could accelerate the adoption of blockchain in finance, insurance, supply chain, and gaming and gambling projects. This is stated in the analytical report of Bank of America (BofA), writes CoinDesk.

According to BofA experts, Chainlink is one of the main drivers of the growth of the total volume of funds blocked (TVL) in the DeFi sector.

“The adoption and growth of DeFi [in 2021] was driven by the ability of hybrid smart contracts, or self-executing and tamper-proof digital agreements, to provide reliable and secure access to real-world data such as market prices, time of day, weather through oracle nodes. and GPS coordinates,” the report says.

According to DeFi Llama, despite the decline in the cryptocurrency market, the TVL of the DeFi sector at the time of writing is $207.97 billion, which is 18% less than the all-time high reached in December 2021.

Chainlink is the largest oracle network, accounting for over 59% of the total TVL segment ($53.59 billion). Over the past year, the value has grown by 188%.

More than 1,100 projects use the Chainlink network, according to BofA. Nearly 800 companies have launched nodes to monetize their data, including Associated Press, Swisscom, and AccuWeather.

According to CoinGecko, Chainlink native token (LINK) is trading near $16.64 at the time of writing, well below its May high of $52.7. Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-17 11:09:02 ​At the Beijing Olympics, foreigners use the digital yuan more willingly than the Chinese

Mu Changchun, director general of the research institute, said that foreign visitors are more likely to use the digital yuan than local residents.

“I have a rough idea that there are two or more million transactions in the digital yuan every day, but I don’t have exact numbers yet,” the NII CEO explained.

Changchun added that although there is no exact data on the number of completed transactions yet, it is noticeable that local residents prefer traditional payment services more.

“It seems that all foreign users use hardware wallets,” the head of the research institute said, referring to e-CNY cards, which look like bank payment cards without a chip and a magnetic stripe. Software wallets, according to him, are used mainly by users from China.

To provide access to the digital yuan for guests and staff of the Olympiad, the People's Bank of China installed several cryptomats at the main competition venues. Foreign currency banknotes can be converted through a cryptomat into digital or fiat yuan.

The availability of the digital yuan at the Beijing Olympics has already raised cybersecurity and data protection concerns among regulators and law enforcement. Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-16 17:26:33 ​JPMorgan launches virtual branch on Decentraland platform

Of course, at the moment, visitors to the Onyx Lounge branch located in the Metajuku virtual business center will not be able to receive real banking services. But they will be able to see presentations by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon about cryptocurrencies. In addition, upon entering the virtual branch, visitors will be greeted with a growling tiger.

The Bank has released a report on the outlook for the metaverse. Analysts at JPMorgan indicated that from June to December last year, the average price of virtual land on the Decentraland platform increased from $6,000 to $12,000.

“The Metaverse will infiltrate every sector of the economy in one way or another in the coming years. Market opportunities in this area are estimated at more than $1 trillion per year. Already, more than $54 billion is being spent on virtual goods, which is twice as much as users spend on buying music,” the researchers emphasize.

JPMorgan analysts also noted that NFTs and the metaverse are seeing a significant influx of content creators looking to monetize their creations. And this will be one of the growth drivers of the Web3 economy.

“This democratic economy, coupled with new opportunities for interaction, could open up huge economic opportunities. Thanks to new technologies, digital goods and services will no longer be tied to a specific platform or brand,” the report says.

At the same time, analysts also noted the disadvantages of the metaverses - too much hype, lack of sophistication and difficulty in integrating with the current commercial infrastructure. However, as the sphere matures, these problems should become a thing of the past. Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-16 10:30:29 ​Coinbase app climbs to second place in AppStore after Super Bowl match

According to a report by consulting agency Apptopia, Coinbase, FTX, and Crypto com applications skyrocketed on the AppStore download charts after the Super Bowl. The Coinbase exchange turned out to be the most productive and on Monday, February 14, it rose from 168 to 2 place among all AppStore apps.

The crypto exchange aired a one-minute advertisement in the stadium during the match with a blank screen and a moving QR code, inviting viewers to scan this mobile barcode to find out more. The code offered a giveaway of $15 worth of Bitcoin to new users within 48 hours of the ad being shown. This resulted in 20 million visits to the Coinbase landing page, temporarily taking the site down.

Apptopia Vice President Adam Blacker said that Coinbase was the best at promoting its brand at the Super Bowl. He believes that the Coinbase app can still rise in the rankings of the Apple mobile app store:

“Once you get to the top, more and more people today and tomorrow will choose an app because it tops the list.”

Unlike the laconic Coinbase ad, the Super Bowl ad for the FTX cryptocurrency exchange was made in the form of a commercial with comedian Larry David. The two-minute video shows David rejecting some of history's greatest inventions, from the wheel to the fork to the toilet. He ends up getting to know the FTX app and says, “I think so. I'm never wrong." Öffnen / Wie

2022-02-15 16:41:08 ​Binance Rebranded Binance Smart Chain

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance rebranded its own blockchain network Binance Smart Chain, but what caused it remains unclear

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has rebranded the Binance Smart Chain blockchain network. The trading platform announced this in a press release, a copy of which is at the disposal of the editors. As part of the Beyond Binance program, the Binance Smart Chain network is now called BNB Chain.

By BNB Chain, Binance representatives mean several networks at once, namely:

BNB Beacon Chain (formerly Binance Chain) - for managing BNB (staking, voting).
BNB Smart Chain (BSC) (formerly Binance Smart Chain) - for compatibility with EVM, consensus building.

What exactly caused the rebranding is still unknown. Binance representatives said that the combination of various blockchain projects within the BNB Chain creates a “full-fledged parallel ecosystem” serving users from all over the world. Öffnen / Wie