As bitcoin (BTC) soared in February, social media, particularly Twitter, appeared to take on an expanded role in cryptocurrency markets, with prices pumping in response to tweet after tweet. It became clear that investor appetite for risk remained strong despite earlier concerns about rampant speculation. Original
According to a recent report by a Russian lawmaker, the country’s citizens have invested over 5 trillion rubles ($67.5 billion) in the crypto market, but the regulatory terrain remains hostile and unclear with the governor of the Central Bank of Russia increasingly hinting at a highly regulated environment Cryptocurrencies have had legal status in Russia since 2020, although it is forbidden to use them as means of payment in the country. Authorities, however, have expressed opposing views stating that they could be a tool of money laundering and possibly used…
Ethereum 2.0 has been long in the making ever since the Beacon Chain went into operation in 2020. Since then, there have been numerous upgrades made to prepare the network for the final proof of stake move. Most recently of this has been the Kintsugi testnet that allows users of the blockchain to get a glimpse of what is to come when “The Merge” finally happens. It has been a year since the move to ETH 2.0 was set into motion and there have been some notable happenings since then.…
On Wednesday, the Singapore-based digital currency exchange Crypto.com told the press that the firm purchased a 2022 Super Bowl advertisement slot. The firm follows the exchange FTX after the trading platform purchased a Super Bowl advertisement slot in October. Crypto.com Tells the Press the Exchange Purchased a Super Bowl LVI Advertisement Purchasing an ad slot for the upcoming 56th Super Bowl is very expensive because the event attracts millions of viewers tuning in to watch the NFL’s championship football game. Recent statistics show that NBC Sports was running low on…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected investment firm Kryptoin’s proposal for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in a letter on Wednesday. The decision comes roughly five weeks after the agency had rejected VanEck’s application for a spot bitcoin ETF. It was also not unexpected, as SEC Chair Gary Gensler has indicated his preference for a bitcoin futures ETF over an ETF that holds bitcoin itself. Two bitcoin futures ETFs, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) and the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF), began trading in October. The…
Arcade, a platform that allows users to utilize nonfungible tokens as loan collateral, has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round with participation from Pantera Capital. In a Wednesday announcement, Arcade said Pantera, Castle Island Ventures, Franklin Templeton Blockchain Fund, Golden Tree Asset Management, Eniac Ventures, Protofund, Probably Nothing Capital, and Lemniscap in addition to angel investors BlockFi CEO Zac Prince and Quantstamp CEO Richard Ma were behind the investment in an effort to connect NFT-collateralized lending with the decentralized finance space. The platform is also coming out…
Hello, Market Wrap readers! During the final two weeks of 2021, we’re using this space to recap the year’s most dramatic moments in cryptocurrency markets – and highlight the key lessons from this fast-evolving corner of global finance. Over a series of eight posts starting on Dec. 20 and running through Dec. 30, we’ll recap what shook crypto markets this year. (For the latest digital-asset prices and news headlines, please scroll down.) In Tuesday’s episode, we documented the social-media craze that fueled price rallies in bitcoin and dogecoin in January…
On Tuesday, Solana nonfungible token (NFT) project Monkey Kingdom, which has received notable backing from American DJ Steve Aoki, announced via Twitter that hackers made off with $1.3 million of the community’s crypto funds through a security breach on Discord. According to its developers, the hack first occurred with the breach of Grape, a popular solution for verifying users on Solana. Hackers then used the exploit to take over an administrative account, which posted a phishing link in the Monkey Kingdom Discord’s announcement channel. Users who followed the link connected…
The Orlando, Florida-based Stratos Jet Charters Inc. has announced the company has partnered with FTX US and the collaboration will make it so Stratos Jet customers can pay for services with crypto payments via FTX Pay. The CEO of Stratos Jet says the company has been in search of a crypto partner and noted that FTX was an “ideal fit.” Stratos Jet Customers Can Book and Pay for Flights Using Cryptocurrencies On Tuesday, the firm Stratos Jet Charters Inc. revealed the company has inked a deal with the crypto firm…
Day, however, argues that the hack was instead simple fraud. According to filings posted by Day and prepared in collaboration with the Canadian law firm Stockwoods, in addition to the Mareva injunction, Indexed developers are filing a class action suit arguing that the exploit was “civil fraud” and are seeking “rescission for misrepresentation or mistake, and/or unjust enrichment.” Source