Cryptocurrency Bitcoin NEWS

2021-12-30 11:00:10 ​South Korea demands Apple and Google block GameFi apps

Blockchain games based on the Play-to-Earn (P2E) principle are becoming more and more popular. In them, gamers receive rewards for certain actions, and also use non-fungible tokens (NFT) to sell in-game items or virtual real estate. The Game Management Committee of South Korea (GMC) believes that such games can be tools for speculative earnings.

Given that cryptocurrencies can be exchanged for regular money, tokens earned from participating in P2E-based games should be categorized as prizes and not considered additional income. According to the Law on the Promotion of the Gaming Industry, the maximum cash prize in South Korea is capped at 10,000 Korean won (about $ 8.42). However, the rewards received by users in GameFi projects significantly exceed the established limit.

The committee asked tech giants Apple and Google, as well as all app distributors, to block P2E-based games in South Korea to prevent citizens of the state from using them. The regulator noted that it does not prohibit games on the blockchain. The ban only applies to games using the P2E model. Earlier, GMC chairman Kim Gyu-cheol said that the committee does not impede the development of the latest technologies such as blockchain and NFT, but only tries to prevent speculation with their use.

Recently, China Central Television (CCTV) also called token-earning games (GameFi) and NFT gambling, warning citizens of the risks of participating in them.

In November, South Korean regulators began preparing taxation of income from cryptocurrency trading. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea believes that collectible tokens should also be taxed. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-29 10:28:47 ​The Mastercard company predicted the growth of innovations in the cryptocurrency market in 2022

Payment company Mastercard predicts even more digital currency innovation in 2022, because the potential of cryptocurrency lies not so much in the coins themselves, but in the blockchain. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way people shop, bank, and do business.

Special attention was paid by Mastercard analysts to the digital currency of the central bank (CBDC). They noted that official cryptocurrencies will help countries effectively fight tax evasion and money laundering. In addition, the new form of money will attract more unbanked people into the economy, while making it easier to pay benefits.

Realizing the benefits and benefits of CBDC implementation, the central banks of a number of countries, including China, Sweden and Singapore, are preparing test projects for their application. In some states, digital currencies have already received official status. Thus, eNaira helps the regulator maintain control over the integrity and stability of the Nigerian economy, and DCash helps the East Caribbean region.

Another trend that the analysts of Mastercard drew attention to is the fascination with non-fungible tokens (NFT). This sector has grown from several million dollars in 2020 to tens of billions in 2021. Now these are not just collectible assets, but entire communities. Such well-known brands as Coca-Cola, Dolce & Gabbana and others have joined them. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-28 17:24:47 ​Former Google Engineer called Bitcoin the best token for transactions

The ex-engineer of Google under the pseudonym JHL said that Bitcoin cryptocurrency will forever remain the fastest and best token for transactions. Such opinion expert expressed at the event Dcentral Miami, where the leading representatives of the cryptocuridate industry were gathered.

During the discussion of ideas related to virtual currencies, the former developer of the search giant spoke about the usefulness of digital gold and the prospects for the development of the cryptocurrency market. He also told about the best cryptoin investments for the next year.

JHL noted that Bitcoin is greater value despite the huge amount of alternative cryptocurrency. The expert does not believe that this virtual asset is worth nothing. In his opinion, gold is also outdated, but still is a reference in the financial sector. The specialist stated that BTC will always be one of the fastest and cheap funds for payments and translations.

JHL also stressed that he advises to pay attention to projects such as Uniswap and Sushiswap. Their protocols will be improved and will benefit the huge number of people. He stated that UNI and SUSHI tokens allow investors to earn well and discover enormous opportunities for them in matters of decentralized management. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-28 11:12:31 ​Terra founders claim SEC violated procedure in synthetic token platform litigation

Terraform Labs, the company behind the LUNA digital currency, has filed a motion with a New York court in an ongoing litigation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In its petition, the company claims that the regulator violated the procedure by forcing its lawyers to serve a subpoena to the founder of Terraform when he came to the United States to speak at a digital currency event.

At the center of the battle is the Mirror Protocol, a platform built on the Terra blockchain that allows users to trade synthetic assets tied to real stocks. Users can create and trade these so-called mirror assets that track popular stocks like Apple, Google, and Amazon.

This concept is not new: Binance pioneered it even before the launch of the Mirror Protocol. However, as Binance has learned from its own experience, regulators are not very good at such platforms. This was one of the main reasons Binance experienced its worst year in terms of regulatory repression, when supervisors such as Germany's BaFin ordered it to shut down the exchange trading platform.

The Mirror Protocol got interested in the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. However, at that time, its jurisdiction was very limited. Terraform Labs is based in Singapore and its founder, Do Kwon, is a South Korean resident also in Singapore. The only thing the SEC could do was contact Kwon and ask him for voluntary cooperation, which she did. Kwon's lawyers said he spent quite a bit of time voluntarily providing information on the Mirror Protocol, including one five-hour video call.

On September 20, Kwon came to the United States to attend and speak at the Mainnet conference in New York. The SEC took advantage of this and served him a subpoena right before he took the stage. According to Kwon, he learned that he had been handed a summons later, when he got acquainted with the papers that had been handed to him earlier.

The subpoena requires Kwon to hand over several documents related to the Mirror Protocol, explain his role in the project, disclose his ownership of MIR (which is the platform's token manager), and personally report to Washington, where the SEC is located, to answer some questions.

In a statement filed December 17 with the Southern District of New York, Kwon claims the SEC violated its procedures by serving him a subpoena in this way. In addition, he claims that the Commission has no jurisdiction over him or his company.

However, in the past, the SEC has argued that because the Mirror Protocol serves American users, the Commission has the necessary jurisdiction. And since Do Kwon was in New York when the subpoena was handed to him, the regulator claims to have not violated any procedure. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-27 17:29:03 ​NEAR token has risen in price by 70% in a week, and LUNA price has renewed its maximum

On Monday, December 27, the price of the NEAR platform token of the same name at the moment exceeded $ 16.4. The asset has gained 70.5% in the past seven days, according to CoinGecko.

Over the past day, the growth was 3.3%. At the time of writing, NEAR is correcting and is trading at $ 15.1.

Positive dynamics is observed after the announcement of the integration of the UST stablecoin from the DeFi project Terra. On December 23, the NEAR team announced this, after which the price of the token rose from levels around $ 8.8 to levels above $ 14.

The LUNA-backed algorithmic stablecoin UST is a key building block of Terra. On December 24, the price of the native token of the project renewed its maximum, breaking through the $ 100 mark, and on December 27 at the moment it reached $ 103.4.

LUNA ranks ninth in terms of capitalization. Over the past seven days, the token has risen in price by 26.1%.

In December, the volume of funds blocked in the Terra ecosystem exceeded $ 18 billion. According to this indicator, the project is second only to Ethereum. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-27 10:36:10 ​PlanB analyst and other crypto industry participants discuss the future of bitcoin

Many representatives of the crypto community see the growth potential of the cryptocurrency rate.

The most capitalized cryptocurrency - bitcoin - started Monday with a correction. As of 07:02 (Moscow time), the digital asset is trading at $ 50,994. The minimum value of bitcoin in 24 hours, according to the CoinGecko resource, was fixed at $ 49,687, the maximum at $ 51,376.

Against the background of the bitcoin correction at the beginning of the last working week of 2021, members of the crypto community gave their predictions for the cryptocurrency. PlanB analyst believes that digital asset growth is ahead. This is indicated by the signals of his S2F forecasting model.

Previously, PlanB claimed that bitcoin will be able to break through the $ 100K level by the end of the year. Despite the fact that his forecast was not realized, the analyst continues to believe the S2F signals. He drew attention to the fact that the model has repeatedly correctly predicted the behavior of bitcoin. PlanB is confident that the BTC growth signals that come from S2F will be implemented.

According to PlanB's point of view, bitcoin has yet to realize its growth potential.

The largest Twitter community of BTC investors compared the behavior of a digital asset after halvings (halving the rate at which cryptocurrency is released from the network). In 2021, bitcoin did not repeat the scenarios of yesteryear. In the comments, members of the crypto community drew attention to the fact that the entry into force of restrictions related to China's pressure on the crypto industry may have a negative impact on the prospects for the movement of BTC.

Analyst Lark Davis, in turn, believes that growth is ahead of bitcoin.

“Bitcoin is the simplest way to increase investment volume 20 times by 2030,” he wrote in his microblog. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-26 12:53:08 ​Kraken is considering issuing loans secured by NFT

According to him, the platform will provide clients with custody services. Kraken is also considering creating a system where customers can use NFTs as collateral for loans.

“If you list a CryptoPunk token on Kraken, we want to be able to reflect its value in your account. If you wish, you can borrow funds against this collateral. The company is working on a system for determining the liquidation value of deposited NFTs, ”Powell said.

The head of the exchange believes that in 2022, the scope of NFT will expand significantly. In his opinion, the use of tokens as collateral is only one of the possible options.

“The first phase is speculation, the second is buying art and supporting artists, and the third is the functional use of NFT,” he explained. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-25 10:56:06 ​Binance CEO: It's Better to Create Your Own Utility Coin

Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, answered a frequently asked question by many crypto investors - should there be one coin for all, or should there be millions of coins? CZ is in favor of the second option, so he wrote a long article that explains the basics of token creation and the benefits of issuing a coin.

In his opinion, the release of a new coin can bring the creator a little profit from the initial sale (ICO, IEO, IDO), if there is trust in the asset. In total, he will get less than 0.1% of the total cost.

In addition, CZ is convinced that the real benefit of issuing a coin is that it creates a new ecosystem, from user interaction to their retention and ecosystem development. He noted that this cannot be done using company shares (securities), fiat currency, or even using bitcoins. Accordingly, you need to create your own coin with clear functionality.

One of the most famous people in the crypto industry believes that people will continue to create new tokens, there will be millions of them, some of which will succeed, some will fail. CZ advises against issuing digital assets until they meet market needs.

In this regard, he offered consulting services to Binance Labs, whose professionals can suggest the optimal design of the token. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-24 17:01:05 ​SWIFT will experiment with tokenized assets in early 2022

According to the SWIFT interbank system, in the first quarter of 2022, a series of experiments is planned to test the exchange of information between participants and financial systems that interact during the life cycle of tokenized assets.

In addition to SWIFT, the experiment will include Clearstream, Northern Trust and SETL, as well as other industry players. The experiment will result in the development of procedures and the achievement of interoperability between asset tokenization platforms. The possibility of paying for tokenized assets will also be tested, both in traditional cash and non-cash form, and in digital currency of central banks.

The reason that prompted the parties to experiment is the potential problem of the simultaneous coexistence of tokenized and traditional assets. Different technologies, platforms and regulatory frameworks create many cross-linkages between securities market participants, which can lead to inefficiencies and fragmentation, as well as increased costs and risks throughout the industry.

“As a neutral intermediary with 11,000 institutions in over 200 countries and controlled by central banks around the world, SWIFT is uniquely positioned to participate directly in the future of securities. Our vision for instant and smooth transactions applies not only to traditional securities instruments, but also to new asset classes, ”says Thomas Zschach, Director of Innovation at SWIFT. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-24 10:29:58 ​Terra (LUNA) network bypasses Binance Smart Chain in terms of blocked assets

According to the data, the volume of blocked assets (TVL) in the Terra stablecoin network (LUNA) reached a record level of $ 20.05 billion (there are 13 offers in total). On December 1, TVL projects were just below $ 12 billion, that is, growth in less than a month was 68%

The LUNA rate also shows steady growth and exceeded $ 94 (plus 31% per week). Now the market capitalization of LUNA is almost $ 35 billion and the asset entered the top 10 for this indicator.

If we take TVL into account, now Terra is second only to Ethereum and bypassed Binance Smart Chain. By comparison, BSC's DeFi ecosystem has 225 products and TVL is $ 16.7 billion. Ethereum is significantly ahead of the competition - its TVL is $ 155.7 billion.

The Terra blockchain was built on top of the Cosmos SDK and Tendermint consensus. Project users can issue dollar stablecoins and convert them into their own LUNA network asset, which is used for staking and management.

According to DeFi Llama, Anchor Savings Protocol (ANC) is in the lead in the Terra ecosystem in terms of TVL level - $ 8.7 billion. The active use of this product has significantly contributed to the growth of TVL Terra. Öffnen / Wie