Month: July 2021

Venture capital firms and large investors are driving up the prices of crypto startups. Boutique investment firms and family offices are being elbowed out by big venture capital firms, private equity funds, and even some pension funds. VC Firms Driving Up Prices of Crypto Startups Cryptocurrency firms are seeing high valuations due to large investors entering the space, according to Henri Arslanian, Crypto Leader at professional accounting and financial services firm PWC, also known as Pricewaterhousecooper. In an interview with Read more …

Bitcoin has retaken the highs of its current range. The first cryptocurrency by market cap trades at $41,300, at the time of writing, with a 6% and 23.8% profit in the daily chart. BTC moving sideways after retaking $40,000 in the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview The general sentiment in the market has flipped bullish, the fear and greed index signals greed for the first time in months. Other indicators, as many experts have pointed out, suggest a definite shift Read more …

The day before the fourth Bitcoin Cash anniversary, the Smart Bitcoin Cash team (Smartbch), announced the project has launched three nodes as genesis validators. Smartbch disclosed that Btc.com, Viabtc, and Matrixport are participating and the project has officially started its voting period. Smartbch Fires up Smart Chain’s Genesis Validators For quite some time now, the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community has been patiently waiting on the development of the Smartbch project. The reason for this is because Smartbch could unlock massive Read more …

The crypto lender Blockfi is now dealing with regulators from five states as Kentucky has joined the fray against the firm’s Blockfi Interest Accounts (BIAs). On July 30, Blockfi shared a statement on Twitter that explained the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has sent the company an order that aims to ban new BIA accounts. Blockfi Now Has Problems With Regulators From 5 States The New York City-based cryptocurrency finance company Blockfi was founded in 2017 by co-founders Zac Read more …

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) governor, Lesetja Kganyago, has once again confirmed that the central bank is presently studying the feasibility of issuing a digital currency. In his remarks at the SARB’s annual general meeting, governor Kganyago suggested his organization has embarked on this study to keep abreast with the growing trend of central banks that are studying CBDCs. Retail CBDC In the past few years, several central banks including a few in Africa have similarly announced their CBDC studies. Read more …

Cryptocurrency exchange Phemex has announced it is hosting an Olympics competition for traders. The competition will give traders a chance to earn rewards based on their trading volume and return on investments (ROI). The competition is scheduled to start at the end of July on the 30th. Kick-off time has been placed at 8 AM UTC. The Olympics will run for two weeks until August 13th at 8 AM UTC. Check the Phemex Olympics website to register and monitor your Read more …

Pointing to a number of reasons why a digital version of the U.S. dollar should be created, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard insisted that not having one wouldn’t lead to a sustainable future. The central bank official believes a digital dollar will have both international and domestic applications. US Fed’s Lael Brainard Can’t Wrap Head Around Not Issuing CBDC With other nations, most notably China, moving forward with their own digital currency projects, Lael Brainard, member of the U.S. Federal Read more …

As the U.S. Senate approaches the finish line of the upcoming infrastructure deal, Coindesk has reported that congress is considering legislation with an escalating adversarial posture against the nascent digital asset industry. These policy changes need to be thoughtfully scrutinized rather than rushed, as they risk creating unintended consequences. Physical infrastructure does not need to compete with emerging digital financial infrastructure. Like the early days of the internet, Bitcoin represents a digital infrastructure that can unlock economic opportunities for progressives Read more …

Crypto assets have climbed in value during the last 24 hours as the price of bitcoin tapped a high on Friday, reaching $42,411 per unit at 8:00 p.m. (EDT). The entire market capitalization of all 10,000+ crypto assets is $1.64 trillion on Saturday, up over 6% during the last day. Bitcoin Climbs Over 20% This Week The price of bitcoin (BTC) and a number of other digital assets have climbed higher in value during the last few days. Five days Read more …

On Tuesday, the New York Knickerbockers, in partnership with Sweet, launched the NBA team’s first-ever non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The NFTs feature limited edition digitally designed 3D game tickets made specifically for the Atlantic Division basketball team. With less than 24 hours left on the auction, the Knicks’ NFT sale has sold out a number of tickets. 3D NFT Tickets from 5 Classic New York Knicks’ Games A number of NBA teams are getting in on blockchain technology and many Read more …

On Thursday, the Palo Alto-based automated investment service firm, Wealthfront Inc., announced that customers can now get exposure to crypto assets via the company’s platform. The firm revealed that clients can choose from two Grayscale investment trusts, as the company now offers investments in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). Wealthfront Connects Customers to Two Grayscale Trusts This week Wealthfront has added two Grayscale crypto trusts to the firm’s menu of investments. Wealthfront is an Read more …

Paxos, a blockchain services and tokenization firm has added Coinbase Ventures, FTX, Bank of America, and Founders Fund as backers in its Series D funding round that started last April. These institutions were listed as “strategic investors,” but the amounts of their contributions were not disclosed. Paxos has now raised more than $540 million in funding. Bank of America, FTX, and Coinbase Invest in Paxos Two leading cryptocurrency exchanges and the second-biggest U.S. bank invested in Paxos, a Read more …