California DMV Is Putting Its Titles on the Blockchain – Blockchain Bitcoin News

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California is running a project to digitize all of its titles and put them on a blockchain. The project, which will use the Tezos blockchain and has the assistance of Oxhead Alpha, a crypto dev company, aims to allow users to transfer titles as NFTs in the future. Innovation Comes to the DMV in California The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California is working to bring innovation to its tasks by decentralizing its functions. The institution is currently in the process of…

U.S. Institutions Are Driving Bitcoin Prices, Matrixport Research

Bitcoin prices have been on the rise in the last couple of weeks and the digital asset has been able to return to its November 2022 levels. This has been a much-needed boost for the market during this time, but an unexpected investor group is reportedly driving the price of the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Surges Are Happening During U.S. Hours In a new Matrixport report that was shared with NewsBTC via email, U.S. institutional investors are driving the recent price increase of bitcoin. The report notes that over the course of…

Argo Blockchain IPO: Lawsuit Claims Miner Made Untrue Statements

During the selling phase of the initial public offering (IPO), which took place in 2021, investors in the cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain have launched a class-action complaint against the miner. The investors accuse the miner of making deceptive promises and omitting essential facts in their complaint. The investors claim that the miner purposefully deceived them in their dealings with him. According to the allegations that have been levelled against the miner in this scenario, the miner is said to have acted in such a way on purpose with the…

Total crypto market cap rises above $1T, and data suggests more upside is in store

Despite the recent negative crypto and macroeconomic newsflow, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization broke above $1 trillion on Jan. 21. An encouraging sign is that derivatives metrics are not showing increased demand from bearish traders at the moment.  Total crypto market cap in USD, 1-day. Source: TradingView Bitcoin (BTC) price gained 8% on the week, stabilizing near the $23,100 level at 18:00 UTC on Jan. 27 as the markets weighed the potential impact of Genesis Capital’s bankruptcy on Jan. 19. One area of concern is Genesis Capital’s largest debtor is Digital…

Bitcoin Holds Steady Above $23K, White House Urges Congress to ‘Step Up’ Crypto Regulation

The SSR measures the ratio between the supplies of bitcoin and stablecoins. As stablecoins represent buying power, a reduction in the SSR implies that investors are sending stablecoins to exchanges, likely for the purpose of buying bitcoin. Since Jan. 11, the SSR has increased 32%. So while BTC’s price has risen, investors do not appear to be sending stablecoins to exchanges en masse to add to long positions. Original

Fed policy to align bank oversight could limit crypto activities by state banks

The United States Federal Reserve Board announced Jan. 27 that it was issuing a policy statement on limitations on banks. The policy seeks to create a level playing field and limit regulatory arbitrage for state banks with deposit insurance, state banks without deposit insurance and national banks, which are overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), by allowing them the same scope of permissible activities. The new policy will limit the activities of state banks by not allowing them to engage in activities not permitted by…

Proof Reveals Artists Behind Grails III NFT Release, Urging Collectors to Appreciate Digital Art Over Hype

Proof’s Grails III is the third iteration of its mystery NFT compilation series. In February 2022, Grails I dropped, with work from entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, CryptoPunks and Meebits creator Larva Labs and generative artist Tyler Hobbs. The next edition, Grails II, was released in August and featured works from Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon, Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova and generative artist Refik Anadol. Source

Hive Ransomware Network Dismantled by American, European Law Enforcement – Bitcoin News

Law enforcement authorities from over a dozen countries in Europe and North America have taken part in disrupting the activities of the Hive ransomware group, the U.S. Justice Department and Europol announced. Hive is believed to have targeted various organizations worldwide in the past couple of years, often extorting payments in cryptocurrency. Captured Decryption Keys Helped Hive Victims Avoid Paying $130 Million in Ransom Ransomware network Hive, which has had around 1,500 victims in more than 80 countries, has been hit in a months-long disruption campaign, the U.S. Department of…