Cryptocurrency Bitcoin NEWS

2021-12-23 17:48:17 ​The head of MicroStrategy disclosed the amount of personal investments in bitcoin

The head of MicroStrategy, Michael Sailor, named in an interview with The Information the amount of personal investments in cryptocurrencies. According to him, he personally owns about 17,732 BTC. At the current exchange rate, this amount is estimated at ~ $ 858 million. The head of the company himself has never sold his cryptocurrency, and in general he does not consider it advisable to sell bitcoin at all.

This, according to Sailor, is due to the fact that the price of bitcoin will rise to $ 6 million, which is more than 12,000% higher than the current rate. However, the head of MicroStrategy did not specify when approximately Bitcoin can reach such marks.

Earlier it became known that MicroStrategy allows the use of their bitcoins for passive earnings through crypto-credit companies. For example, Sailor noted that the company could give the cryptocurrency to a "respectable company" in trust. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-23 10:48:19 ​Chainlink Labs: DeFI will interact with the real world through the metaverse

William Herkelrath stated that the metaverse is a collection of ecosystems that are powered by DeFi.

“DeFi companies need to interact with the outside world, so they will be forced to have ecosystems in the metaverse.

For example, if consumers choose to use loyalty programs outside of specific platforms, then they are more likely to choose brands that provide the opportunity to use rewards in other ecosystems.

The metaverse allows data, physical assets, commercial and financial assets to be hosted at and outside of a centralized environment. ”

Even though the concept of the metaverse looks futuristic right now, projects using blockchain are starting to embrace it.

Head of Blockchain at Vodafone Business David Palmer said at the European Blockchain Convention on December 21 that he sees the metaverse as more than a virtual world in which interactions can take place through games or social networks.

In his understanding, the metaverse is now being applied to financial concepts based on blockchains such as cryptocurrencies, NFT and DeFi.

In metaverse projects, there is currently no way to transfer virtual transactions to the real world. Palmer believes that the mobile phone can connect the two worlds by acting as an intermediary. Vodafone Business uses blockchain to create digital IDs that can be used in both the metaverse and real life.

“Digital identity will go beyond the digital and physical worlds. For example, a digital wallet will contain a bank account, mortgage information, tokens, NFTs, and more. But the decentralized person will also have access to these credentials, allowing people to interact in the metaverse and in the physical world. ”

Many companies are already exploring early use cases for their business models in the metaverse. According to the Blockchain Gaming Alliance (BGA), the market capitalization of the metauniverses in DeFi has reached an all-time high of $ 4.6 billion. Grayscale predicts that the metaverse will reach $ 1 trillion in annual revenues over the next few years. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-22 16:33:32 ​Kraken Exchange Acquires Staked Betting Platform

Kraken said its staking business has grown more than 950% since the beginning of the year to reach $ 16 billion by November.

Major cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced that it has acquired blockchain infrastructure company and investment manager Staked for an undisclosed amount.

Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange targeting a $ 10 billion valuation, said Tuesday that it has added Staked to its portfolio of lucrative products following the acquisition. The company described the deal with Staked as “one of the largest acquisitions by the crypto industry to date,” but did not disclose the amount.

According to Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, Staked users will have access to Kraken's portfolio of products. Staked CEO Tim Ogilvy cited the exchange's "commitment to supporting Proof-of-stake networks" as well as her customer experience and security in her decision to move the deal.

The crypto exchange said its staking business has grown more than 950% since the beginning of the year and reached $ 16 billion in November. This could be partly due to the funds in which one can invest in Ether (ETH) and receive staking rewards.

Kraken has acquired several companies in the past few years related to staking and other businesses. Since 2017, the firm has acquired accounting and portfolio reconciliation service provider Interchange, Australian cryptocurrency exchange Bit Trade and Cryptowatch, among others. Powell also hinted that the exchange could go public before the end of 2022. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-22 10:17:20 ​Changpeng Zhao: "Digital currencies of the Central Bank should not be isolated from cryptocurrencies"

Changpeng Zhao suggests that the use of digital currencies by central banks will have a positive impact on the economy. He warns issuers against isolating central bank digital currencies. Zhao believes that this is an additional tool for governments of different countries, and it would be worse if it did not exist.

“Governments and regulators are eager to create their digital currencies, and I caution them against the limitations of these currencies,” he wrote.

Zhao noted that the exchange may need permission to use central bank digital currencies from various jurisdictions to conduct certain types of transactions. Due to the fact that the process of obtaining a license to use digital currencies of the Central Bank can be quite lengthy, integration will take longer. Therefore, the founder of Binance sees the undeniable benefits of free cryptocurrencies.

“You cannot learn about blockchain without learning bitcoin. And when you learn about bitcoins, you learn about the fundamentally necessary properties of money - scarcity, freedom of transactions and low fees. "

He noted the main properties of state cryptocurrencies.

The first is an unlimited offer. The Central Bank will be able to issue them for any amount, which could lead to inflation.

Second, users will need permission from the Central Bank to use money.

Third, high transaction fees. Especially, they can increase with cross-border payments compared to most cryptocurrencies.

Fourth, governments can ban bitcoin and other independent cryptocurrencies in order to bolster their central banks' digital currencies. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-21 10:05:31 ​Crypto brokerage company Voyager has included Brian Brooks, CEO of Bitfury on the board of directors

Voyager Digital, a publicly listed crypto broker company, announced Monday that Brian Brooks, CEO of Bitfury and former CEO of US crypto exchange BinanceUS, has been invited to the board of directors.

Brooks also served as the Trump Administration's Controller of Currency, serving from May 2020 to January 2021. He also served as Chief Legal Officer for Coinbase from 2018 to 2020.

"Brian's extensive experience as the CEO of the largest crypto companies and the leader of important government regulation initiatives in the crypto space will help accelerate the growth of Voyager's digital assets and business," said Philip Eitan, Voyager's chairman of the board, in a statement.

Brooks left BinanceUS after three months in office. Bitfury announced early last month that it had recruited Brooks as CEO. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-20 17:40:03 ​Terra blockchain bypasses Binance Smart Chain in the number of TVL investments

Investors have frozen $ 17.07 billion in various DeFi projects of the Terra blockchain. This figure, Total Value Locked (TVL), turned out to be higher than that of Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which once ranked second after Ethereum, the leader and founder of the decentralized finance industry.

The BSC blockchain began to rapidly lose customers after the cryptocurrency market crash in May, which brought down the value of the Binance Coin (BNB) utility token by 70%.

Investors did not increase their investments due to the lack of a technological perspective, the centralization of the blockchain and a large number of scams. The BSC network is a copy of Ethereum with an opaque selection of validators. There are only 21 nodes in the network, but even this fact could not save investors from losing funds on numerous scam DeFi projects.

The Terra blockchain (LUNA) is also not without flaws, in particular, the network was unable to achieve a variety of smart contracts. The Anhor project "took" 43% of the investments, 76% of the invested funds of the investors are distributed among the three platforms. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-20 10:37:22 ​LionTree CEO: institutional investors can no longer ignore the cryptocurrency market

Aryeh B. Bourkoff, chairman of LionTree investment company, in his report said about the exponential growth and potential of the cryptocurrency market.

"It embodies the potential of the new economy: cutting-edge technology at the service of communities that can act according to their shared vision and in a way that creates lasting value."

He argues that cryptocurrencies can empower people. Cryptocurrencies “can no longer be ignored,” he said, as the industry has a market capitalization of over $ 2 trillion.

“We are exploring ways to start accepting cryptocurrencies to pay for our services, and as our ecosystem grows and our relationship develops further, we may even create our own LionTree token.”

Burkoff highlighted the challenges that need to be addressed before cryptocurrencies truly go mainstream. To gain widespread acceptance, the industry must become more energy efficient. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-19 11:06:11 ​Exodus Announces the Launch of the NFT Marketplace

Users of this marketplace will have some advantage if they agree to store and view NFTs in the Exodus app. In addition, users will also be able to send and receive NFT Solana in the Exodus app.

It is worth noting that simplifying the NFT transaction process was made possible in part by Exodus' partnership with Solana NFT's leading marketplace, Magic Eden. Through this partnership, the company is able to offer its users the ability to view, search and sort NFTs from the comfort of their Exodus wallet.

In addition, users also have the ability to buy and sell NFTs while in the wallet. The Solana NFT ecosystem is attractive to the Exodus user base due to its low transaction fees. Currently, more than 190 projects have been created on its basis, and new ones appear every day.

Exodus CEO and co-founder J.P. Richardson praises the company's efforts to launch an NFT marketplace with user-friendly features:

“We are the first to offer in-app buying and selling capabilities for NFTs powered by Magic Eden. NFTs are a new asset class and we are committed to helping our clients streamline the process of buying, selling and holding their NFTs as the industry continues to grow. In addition, our new NFT Gallery will make the world of cryptocurrencies more accessible to all Exodus customers. ”

Users will be required to use SOL when buying and selling NFTs. However, Exodus has simplified the process so that users can receive SOL directly from their wallets and pay for the FTX exchange. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-18 11:14:56 ​VanEck ETN Adds Polygon And Avalanche To Its Cryptocurrency Investment Offers

VanEck, a New York-based investment management firm, is expanding its cryptocurrency offerings with two new ETNs on Avalanche and Polygon.

ETNs will allow investors to access the price of Avalanche (AVAX) and Polygon (MATIC) without having to buy cryptocurrency directly.

Both ETNs are fully collateralized and each Exchange-Traded Note share represents a stake in Polygon or Avalanche. ETNs are also 100% crypto supported and stored in cold storage with a regulated crypto custodian with crypto insurance. VanEck also notes that Exchange-Traded Note is traded like ETFs on regulated exchanges.

As such, Polygon and Avalanche join the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Solana, and Tron on the ETN list that the firm is offering.

Exchange-Traded Note are similar to exchange-traded funds in that they are traded on the stock exchange and track a reference index. The key difference is that the Exchange-Traded Note is a senior unsecured debt security issued by a bank, as opposed to an ETF, which contains the assets that form the basis of the ETF's price.

In November, the US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected an offer to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) from VanEck, only to later approve the VanEck fund, based on bitcoin futures.

VanEck continues to expand its current cryptocurrency offerings in Europe, which now consist of seven exchange-traded notes. Öffnen / Wie

2021-12-17 10:33:30 ​Nansen Raised $ 75 Million Investors Evaluate The Company At $ 750 Million

Analyst firm Nansen raised $ 75 million in a Series B funding round led by Accel.

GIC, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Tiger Global, SCB 10X and other venture capitalists also participated in the round.

Nansen will use the raised funds to create and develop new products, recruit staff, and expand its global presence through "innovative functions and multi-chain integrations."

As a reminder, Nansen raised $ 12 million in June in a Series A funding round led by a16z. Öffnen / Wie