Month: May 2023

Coinbase remains ‘100% committed’ to US market: Armstrong

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United States-founded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has no plans to move its operations out of the U.S., CEO Brian Armstrong told investors in an Q1 earnings call. On May 5, Armstrong assured shareholders the firm is “100% committed” to the U.S. market over the long term despite regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. “So let me be clear, we’re 100% committed to the U.S. I founded this company in the United States because I saw that rule of law prevails here. That’s really important, and I’m actually really optimistic on the U.S.…

Cash App Bitcoin revenue tops $2 billion in the first quarter

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Fintech firm Block, owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has reported a staggering $2.16 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) revenue on its bellwether product Cash App in Q1. According to a shareholder letter announcing its Q1 2023 earnings, Block (NYSE:SQ) reported that its Bitcoin revenue — which counts BTC revenue as total sales of the cryptocurrency to customers — was up 18% from $1.83 billion in Q4 and 25% from Q1 2022. Our Q1 earnings are now available. $SQ https://t.co/oGcnRuzFb3 — Block Investor Relations (@BlockIR) May 4, 2023 Cash App’s total…

Terraform Labs seeks to dismiss class action arguing US laws don’t apply

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Terraform Labs is seeking to have a class action lawsuit against the firm dismissed, arguing the United States securities laws referenced are not applicable to its foreign-developed protocols.  On May 3, Terraform Labs requested a California federal judge dismiss an investor suit brought by Nick Patterson that claimed the company sold unregistered securities and misled investors. The firm’s attorneys, Dentons, argued that federal securities laws do not apply since the protocols were developed and used outside of the United States. Excerpt from dismissal motion, Case No. 3:22-cv-03600. Source: Law360 The…

ECB Raises Interest Rates by 25bps Amid ‘Too High’ Inflation, ‘No Pause,’ Lagarde Says – Finance Bitcoin News

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The European Central Bank (ECB) raised its key interest rates by 25 basis points, slowing the pace from previous increases. However, as inflation in the euro area remains persistently high, future rate hikes may still be expected with the regulator insisting it will continue to seek a “timely return” to its 2% inflation target and ECB president Christine Lagarde stating that rates are not “sufficiently restrictive” yet. ECB Eases Pace of Hiking Interest Rates in the Eurozone The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to raise three…

Blockchain security firm freezes $160K stolen in Merlin DEX ‘rugpull’

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Smart contract auditor CertiK claims to have blocked $160,000 from Merlin, a zk-Sync-based decentralized exchange (DEX) which has been the center of a rogue insider “rugpull” that lost users $1.8 million last week. CertiK shared the news of its successful $160,000 freeze of the stolen funds in an update to its 257,700 Twitter followers on May 5. “We have successfully frozen $160K of the stolen funds with the help of partners,” CertiK said, adding that they’re continuing to monitor the movement of the stolen funds: We have successfully frozen $160K…

Israel Has Seized 190 Crypto Exchange Binance Accounts With Alleged Terrorist Ties Since 2021: Reuters

According to those documents, the NBCTF confiscated in January an undisclosed amount of crypto from two accounts with alleged links to Daesh, a terrorist group based in Syria and Iraq. Other government records, dating as far back as 2021, allege more than 100 of the seized Binance accounts had ties to Hamas, an armed Palestinian group that has often clashed with the Israeli Defense Forces. Source

Kenya considers tax on crypto, NFT transfers and online influencers

Kenya’s lawmakers are considering the introduction of a 3% tax on cryptocurrency and nonfungible token (NFT) transfers and a 15% tax on monetized online content, according to a newly introduced bill. Introduced to the Kenyan parliament on May 4, The Finance Bill, 2023 would enact a digital asset tax on “income derived from the transfer or exchange of digital assets” which also included specific language for NFTs. The bill will undergo five rounds of readings, committees and reports by the National Assembly, if passed, it will then be passed to…

Iran Seeks BRICS Membership to Counter Western Hegemony, Promote Multipolar World, Says President Raisi – Economics Bitcoin News

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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has condemned the current unipolar world order, emphasizing that Iran plans to join the BRICS group to help create a multipolar world. “Iran wants to have constructive relations with all states on the basis of common interests,” he stressed. Iran Condemns Unipolar World Order Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday that Iran plans to join the BRICS group to participate in the creation of a multipolar world, Russian news outlet Tass reported, citing his interview with Lebanese television channel Al Mayadeen. He explained that after…

Voyager creditors could start seeing funds in the ‘next few weeks’

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Funds stuck on the platform of bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital may begin returning to creditors in “the next few weeks,” according to a committee of Voyager creditors. A May 4 tweet from the Voyager Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (UCC) said the now-defunct crypto firm is in the final stages of bankruptcy liquidation procedures. The UCC is “hopeful” that “initial distributions will begin within the next few weeks.” 4/ Voyager is also finalizing everything internally that is necessary to make distributions to creditors. We are hopeful that initial distributions…