BITCOIN

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has revealed its plan to expand in several European markets. The company is reportedly in the process of registering a crypto exchange in Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Coinbase Expanding in Europe Coinbase Global Inc. (Nasdaq: COIN) is reportedly planning to expand operations in Europe, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing an interview with Nana Murugesan, Coinbase’s vice president of International and Business Development. Noting that Coinbase is focused on growing its presence in Europe, the executive revealed that the exchange is in the process of applying for a license in various European markets including Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. The Nasdaq-listed company is currently registered in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany, Murugesan confirmed, noting that Coinbase also recently hired its first employee in Switzerland. “In all these markets our intention is to have retail and institutional products,” the executive emphasiz

Microstrategy has purchased more bitcoin amid a heavy market sell-off. The announcement followed a clarification by the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, stating that bitcoin is a commodity. Microstrategy Buys the Dip The Nasdaq-listed software company Microstrategy has bought the bitcoin dip again. In a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company declared that during the period between May 3 and June 28, it “acquired approximately 480 bitcoins for approximately $10.0 million in cash, at an average price of approximately $20,817 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.” The filing adds: As of June 28, 2022, Microstrategy, together with its subsidiaries, held an aggregate of approximately 129,699 bitcoins. Overall, the company’s BTC “were acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $3.98 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $30,664 per bitcoin, inclusive of fee

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, says he’s waiting for the price of bitcoin to test $1,100. He added that he will buy more if the cryptocurrency recovers from that price level. Robert Kiyosaki on Bitcoin Testing $1,100 The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has returned with a new bitcoin outlook. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. The famous author tweeted a “Rich Dad lesson” Monday night. He explained that “losers quit when they lose,” but “winners learn from their losses.” Asserting that “Bitcoin losers are quitting,” he said he is waiting for BTC to test $1,100, adding that he will buy more if the crypto recovers. “If it does not, I will wait for losers to ‘capitulate’ quit then buy more,” he further sta

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested two men who participated “in a violent plan to break into a family’s home in the middle of the night” to steal bitcoin worth tens of millions of dollars,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. They could go to prison for 20 years. 2 Men Charged for Planning to Steal Bitcoin The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday the unsealing of an indictment charging Dominic Pineda and Shon Morgan with a “plan to commit home invasion robbery for tens of millions of dollars in bitcoin.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested the two on Thursday in Virginia. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams detailed: The defendants participated in a violent plan to break into a family’s home in the middle of the night and force its residents to provide the code to what the defendants believed was tens of millions of dollars in bitcoin currency. According to the court document, the defendants participated in the plan from May 1

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says bitcoin is a commodity. He emphasized that the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and banking regulators will collaborate to oversee the crypto sector. Gary Gensler: Bitcoin Is a Commodity SEC Chairman Gary Gensler clarified his position on cryptocurrency, particularly bitcoin, in an interview with Mad Money host Jim Cramer on CNBC Monday. “This is a highly speculative asset class. We’ve known this for a long time,” Gensler said when asked about cryptocurrency. Citing the “ups and downs of this speculative asset class,” he explained that when people invest in “bitcoin and hundreds of other crypto tokens,” they hope for a return, “just like when they invest in other financial assets” that are securities. Chair Gensler stressed that many of these “crypto financial assets” have “the key attributes of a security.” He added: “Some of them … are under the Securities and Exchange Comm

Meta, the metaverse-based platform, has announced the launch of a new wallet directed to support value interaction in the metaverse. Meta Pay, a rebrand of the former Facebook Pay service, will keep fulfilling the same functions that Facebook Pay did in the past, but will be developed as a universal way of paying for goods and services using digital identities in the metaverse. Facebook Pay Rebrands to Meta Pay Meta is trying to solve the problem of transaction and value interactions in the metaverse. The company announced the launch of a new digital wallet that will support the economy of users in the upcoming iteration of Meta’s metaverse. The wallet, dubbed Meta Pay, will be an evolution of what’s known today as Facebook Pay, still supporting the array of payments it handles currently, but with a new focus on digital identity and proof of ownership. According to Meta (formerly Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Pay will be a solution to two issues in the metaverse: accessibili

PRESS RELEASE. TAMPA, Fla., June 27, 2022 / — Pocket Network, an infrastructure middleware protocol which facilitates decentralized multichain blockchain access to developer applications in Web3, including Ethereum, Polygon, Gnosis Chain, Avalanche, Solana, Fuse, Fantom and Near , recently marked a significant milestone in its multichain strategy with 50 supported blockchains on its network after integrating Moonbeam and Moonriver blockchains. Pocket has its sight on the century mark – with 100 blockchains supported by the end of 2022. “As we see developer demand drive more activity and apps to a wider variety of blockchains, interoperability challenges, as well as latency and reliability, from centralized infrastructure providers will continue to grow,” said Michael O’Rourke, Co-founder and CEO of Pocket Network. “With our multichain strategy, we are positioned to cement Pocket as the true decentralized, full-node RPC protocol in the industry.” The real breakthrough of a m

Binance has chosen a new payments partner amid the suspension of direct fiat deposits and withdrawals in Brazil. The company stated it will now work with Latam Gateway, a payments processing company that has been in the payments intermediation business since 2019. Binance reported it would be working to normalize the fiat deposit and withdrawal situation shortly. Binance Partners With Latam Gateway for Payments Processing Binance, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges by volumes traded, has announced a new partnership to solve the problems it had been facing with fiat movements on its platform in Brazil. The exchange stated that it has enrolled the services of Latam Gateway, a payments processing company that will substitute its earlier partner, Banco Capitual. In a blog post, the exchange told that Latam Gateway has been a payments processing company in Brazil since 2019, being founded by executives with experience in the field since 2014, when they also founded Boa Compra

Tencent, the Chinese technology and entertainment giant, announced the creation of its own metaverse-driven division. The division, named the extended reality unit, will be the one tasked with encompassing all metaverse-driven efforts, including hardware and software developments. According to reports, the company aims to employ over 300 in this unit, with Tencent giving it big importance even among executing cost-cutting measures. Tencent Officially Announces Metaverse Division Tencent, one of the biggest Chinese software companies, has taken another step toward getting into the metaverse. According to Reuters , the Chinese tech and entertainment giant announced the creation of its extended reality unit, which will encompass all of the initiatives that the company will run with the goal of entering the metaverse-driven market. The division will be led by the current Global’s Chief Technology Officer Li Shen, and will be part of the entertainment division of the company. While ther

PRESS RELEASE. INTERNET CITY, DUBAI, Jun. 27, 2022 – LBank Exchange, a global digital asset trading platform, has listed My Liquidity Partner (MLP) on June 23, 2022. For all users of LBank Exchange, the MLP/ USDT trading pair is now officially available for trading. Utilizing liquidity partners’ crypto within the liquidity pools, My Liquidity Partner (MLP) enables them to receive a weekly passive income from a major DEX with over $1 Trillion U,S. Dollar in trade volume. Its native token MLP has been listed on LBank Exchange at 22:00 (UTC+8) on June 23, 2022, to further expand its global reach and help it achieve its vision. Introducing My Liquidity Partner My Liquidity Partner (MLP) is a way of making its liquidity partners’ crypto create an extra source of weekly passive income for them without spending hours in front of the charts. It utilizes their crypto within the liquidity pools, runs on Uniswap, with its advanced algorithms and experts it’s able to give its Liquidity Par

The recently reintroduced seasonal ban on cryptocurrency mining has provoked backlash from the local crypto community. This week, the country’s power distribution company ordered miners to suspend activities citing electricity shortages during the hot summer months. Restrictions on Crypto Mining Are Ousting Iran From Global Coin Minting Industry, Critics Say After last year crypto miners were forced to deal with interruptions in power supply on more than one occasion, the Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Company (Tavanir) has told them to halt operations again, until the end of this summer. The utility is citing expected electricity shortages in the next three months of hot weather, when demand will spike due to rising consumption for cooling. The company’s spokesman, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, has been quoted as stating that the measure should help reduce the heavy load on the national grid during the peak season. According to a report by the Iranian business ne

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, formerly Facebook, has shared how the metaverse will be a key part of his business and bring hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. “Our playbook over time has been build services, try to serve as many people as possible,” said Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg on the Metaverse Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, talked about the metaverse in an interview on Wednesday with Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money. The Facebook co-founder explained that he expects the metaverse to be massive and become a major part of his company’s business over the next decade. Commenting on Meta’s metaverse efforts, Zuckerberg said: Our playbook over time has been build services, try to serve as many people as possible — you know, get our services to a billion, two billion, three billion people, and then we basically scale the monetization after that. “We hope to, basically, get to around a billion people in the metaverse doing hundreds o

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has reportedly proposed “one rule book” for the regulation of crypto assets. “If this industry is going to take any path forward, it will build some better trust in these markets,” said Gensler. SEC Chairman Calls for One Rule Book for Crypto SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has proposed “one rule book” for the regulation of crypto, the Financial Times reported Friday. He is looking to strike agreements with other financial regulators, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to avoid gaps in the oversight of the crypto sector. He told the publication: I’m talking about one rule book on the exchange. The SEC chief elaborated that the rule should protect investors against fraud, front-running, and manipulation, in addition to providing transparency over order books. The rule book will apply to “all trading regardless of the pair — [be it] a security token versus security token, security t

As political leaders in crisis-hit Lebanon bicker over positions in the yet-to-be-formed government, the country’s runaway inflation rate surged to 211% in May 2022, new data has shown. Economist Steve Hanke insists that a currency board is a solution to Lebanon’s currency woes. Black Market in Fuel Driving Inflation The inflation rate in crisis-torn Lebanon surged to 211% in May, making it the 23rd consecutive time the consumer price index (CPI) has surged, a report has said. The revelation of the latest inflation figure comes as the country’s politicians reportedly struggle to form a new government more than a month after parliamentary elections. According to a National News report , the politicians’ failure to create a new government is delaying the implementation of key reforms that allow Lebanon to receive a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The report also quotes a note from Byblos Bank that attempts to reveal factors likely to be worsening the in

British Parliament Member Matt Hancock has called for “liberal” cryptocurrency regulation, noting that no country can stop the crypto revolution. “I hate the patronizing idea of regulators telling people what they can and can’t do with their money,” the lawmaker stressed. British MP Wants ‘Liberal’ Crypto Regulation Matt Hancock, a Conservative member of parliament and former British health secretary, reiterated the importance of having a “liberal” regulatory framework for cryptocurrency this week. The lawmaker explained in an interview with UKTN, published Friday, that the crypto market sell-off has not shaken his confidence in the sector. He told the news outlet: No country can stop this revolution. We can only choose whether it happens on our shores or happens to us from elsewhere. In his keynote speech Wednesday at Crypto A.M.’s fourth-anniversary conference, Hancock called for an “attractive” tax system and “liberal” regulatory regime to help the U.K. become “the jurisdict

The Central Bank of Russia continues to step up efforts to test and issue the digital ruble, with a roadmap for the full implementation of the new form of the national fiat now expected by the end of 2023. Trials with real transactions and users are scheduled to begin next April, earlier than originally planned. Bank of Russia to Present Digital Ruble Roadmap Next Year The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) will develop a roadmap for the introduction of the digital ruble by the end of 2023, First Deputy Chairman Olga Skorobogatova said in an interview with the Tass news agency, revealing an earlier deadline than previously set. The high-ranking official also noted that the regulator intends to start testing operations with the Russian central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) with real clients as early as April 2023, indicating these plans have been adjusted, too. Skorobogatova emphasized that next year will be very important for the project and elaborated: Testing of real

Brave Group Inc., a Japanese virtual IP firm, recently said it had raised $10 million in new capital and that the company expects to use part of these funds to boost its “solution services for clients in the metaverse marketing business.” Taking part in Brave Group’s latest funding round were two local companies, foreign investment funds, as well as individual investors. Metaverse Market Growth A Japan-based virtual IP business, Brave Group Inc., recently said it had raised $10 million in new funding, thus bringing the total raised so far to $18 million. The company is set to use the new capital to strengthen its existing business operations and to “expand its solution services for clients in the metaverse marketing business.” In a recent statement , Brave Group revealed that Japanese companies like Dawn Capital and Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. had participated in the round that also featured “foreign investment funds and individual investors.” In remarks following the announcement of the ca

DeFi is a sub-sector in the crypto industry that has witnessed significant innovation since its inception. However, the narrative has struggled to stay consistent, affecting the domain overall. The current bear market has wiped out more than half of DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL), hampering innovations. Furthermore, several projects have simply forked (copied) existing protocols and brought zero ideas to the market. Amidst all of this, one project is making strides with the best innovations DeFiers have seen in a long time. Saddle Finance is the protocol that enables efficient DeFi trading for stablecoins and pegged-value crypto assets like wETH and wBTC. It redefines DeFi trading by offering cheap, efficient, swift, and low-slippage swaps for traders and high-yield pools for Liquidity Providers. The protocol has facilitated over $2B in transaction volume to date. Enabling an Efficient and Secure DeFi Trading Experience Saddle Finance is an AMM-based decentralized exchange (DEX)

A Chinese state-run newspaper has published an article warning about bitcoin’s price falling to zero amid the crypto market sell-off. Meanwhile, financial regulators in Shenzhen have issued a new warning about cryptocurrency. State-Run Newspaper Warns About Bitcoin Becoming Worthless China’s state-run newspaper Economic Daily published an article warning about bitcoin Wednesday, according to SCMP. The nationwide newspaper is directly under the control of the Central Committee of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The article warned that investors should beware of the risk of bitcoin prices “heading to zero” amid the recent crypto market sell-off. “Bitcoin is nothing more than a string of digital codes, and its returns mainly come from buying low and selling high,” the newspaper details, adding: In the future, once investors’ confidence collapses or when sovereign countries declare bitcoin illegal, it will return to its original value, which is utterly worthless. The newspaper

Bybit, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it will be expanding its operations to Argentina. The exchange wants to offer Argentinian citizens another platform on which to transact, given the popularity that the cryptocurrency industry is enjoying in the country. The exchange will also have a dedicated team to support Argentinian operations. Bybit Lands in Argentina The growth of the cryptocurrency industry in Argentina has not gone unnoticed by international companies. Bybit, a Singapore-based, top-ten crypto exchange by volume traded, has announced that it will expand its trading operations to support Argentinian customers directly. To better achieve this goal, the company will dedicate a team to attend to applicable requirements and support its upcoming Argentinian customers, allowing them to transact, purchase, and sell cryptocurrencies on Bybit’s platform. Also, the platform will be available in Spanish, the native language of the country. Regarding this d

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the central bank is “not really seeing significant macroeconomic implications” from crypto’s volatility. The Fed chair stressed that there is a need for a better crypto regulatory framework. Fed Chair Powell Says Crypto Needs Better Regulation Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on “the semiannual monetary policy report to congress” Wednesday. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) asked him whether the Fed has been tracking crypto activities given the recent market volatility, and what implications crypto has on the broader economic outlook and monetary policy. “We are tracking those events very carefully, of course,” Powell replied, elaborating: [We are] not really seeing significant macroeconomic implications, so far. “The principal implication is really what we’ve been saying, and others have been saying for some time, which is that in this very innovative new

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has taken action against two cryptocurrency trading platforms. Kucoin is permanently banned from participating in Ontario’s capital markets. Bybit has promised to take steps to comply with regulations and register with the OSC. OSC Sanctions 2 Crypto Trading Platforms The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced Wednesday the outcome of enforcement actions against two foreign cryptocurrency trading platforms operating in its jurisdiction. The first is Bybit, a crypto trading platform operated by Bybit Fintech Ltd., incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The other is Kucoin, operated by Mek Global Ltd., incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles, and Phoenixfin Pte. Ltd., incorporated in Singapore. “Bybit and Kucoin both operate unregistered crypto asset trading platforms and allowed Ontario investors to trade securities without a prospectus or any exemption from the prospectus requirements,” the Canadian regulator explained. Regar

A The Input-Output Global (IOG) team has said it will postpone sending the Vasil hard fork update proposal because it still needs to solve seven outstanding bugs that are currently ranked as non-severe. While acknowledging that the news will likely be disappointing for some, the IOG team insisted it was “taking an abundance of caution to ensure that we do this deployment correctly.” More Time Needed The core Input-Output Global (IOG) team working to facilitate a Cardano Testnet upgrade announced recently that it had “agreed” to delay sending the Vasil hard fork update proposal as previously stated. The team hinted that some seven outstanding bugs, none of which have been ranked as severe, necessitated the delay. According to a June 20 blog post , the decision to postpone the hard fork followed the core team’s end-of-the-week evaluation call. While noting that the team had managed to get through 95% of the Plutus V2 test scripts, the post said the core team still needed to run a few

The government of Ukraine has sold a Cryptopunk NFT donated in support of the war-torn country a few months ago. The token has been purchased by an unidentified buyer who spent more than $100,000 in ethereum for the collectible, the country’s digital transformation ministry said. Ukraine Government Sells Donated Cryptopunk Token for 90 ETH Ukrainian authorities have raised over $100,000 from the sale of a Cryptopunk non-fungible token ( NFT ), Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov and his deputy, Alexander Bornyakov, announced on social media. The unique collectible was acquired by an unknown investor for 90 ethers ( ETH ). Breaking news on crypto donations: #CryptoPunk #5364 has been sold for 90 ETH . It’s over $100K. Few months ago this NFT was donated for @_AidForUkraine fund. Crypto community continues to support Ukraine. — Alex Bornyakov (@abornyakov) June 20, 2022 The NFT, Cryptopunk #5364, was donated to the Aid for Ukraine crypto fundraising campaign in

Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk has shared his views on a variety of topics, including crypto investing, why he supports the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin, “unresolved matters” in his Twitter takeover bid, and the likelihood of a near-term U.S. recession. Elon Musk on Crypto Investing Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared his thoughts on a wide range of topics in an interview with Bloomberg News’ John Micklethwait at the Qatar Economic Forum Tuesday. Crypto investing was among the topics discussed. Musk was asked whether he thinks people should still invest in cryptocurrency given the market downtown. The Tesla CEO clarified that he has never recommended that people buy cryptocurrency, stating: I have never said that people should invest in crypto. In the case of Tesla, Spacex, myself, we all did buy some bitcoin, but it’s a small percentage of our total cash assets. The Spacex chief previously revealed that he also owns ether ( ETH ) and dogecoin (DOGE) while Tesla and Spacex only own bit