BITCOIN

India’s Finance Ministry has highlighted the necessity for “a common approach to regulating the crypto ecosystem” in its flagship Economic Survey this year. “Crypto assets are self-referential instruments and do not strictly pass the test of being a financial asset because it has no intrinsic cashflows attached to them,” the Indian government stated. Finance Ministry’s Economic Survey Includes Crypto This Year Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2022-23 in Parliament Tuesday. The Economic Survey is an annual flagship document of the Ministry of Finance that outlines the performance of the Indian economy in the previous financial year and presents an economic outlook for the current financial year. Including cryptocurrency for the first time this year, the Economic Survey highlights the “necessity of a common approach to regulating the crypto ecosystem.” The 414-page document explains, “The recent collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and the ens

Asset management firm Devere Group says that 82% of millionaires surveyed have asked their financial advisors about adding cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, to their portfolios despite the crypto winter. “Wealthy investors understand that digital currencies are the future of money, and they don’t want to be left in the past,” the firm’s chief executive said. Millionaires to Capitalize in Forthcoming Crypto Bull Run, Devere Says Devere Group, a global financial advisory and asset management firm with $12 billion in assets under management (AUM) worldwide, published the results of its crypto survey Monday. Devere found that among its millionaire clients with between $1 million and $5 million of investable assets, 82% have sought advice about investing in cryptocurrencies. Without providing additional details, the asset management firm wrote: Eight out of 10 high net worth (HNW) individuals have asked their financial advisers about including cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, into t

Russian crypto traders have been looking to obtain unrestricted accounts for global exchanges as their access to such platforms is limited. Over the past year, the offering of such accounts on the dark web has increased significantly, cybersecurity experts told the Russian press. Supply of Crypto Exchange Accounts for Russian Users Doubles in a Year of Sanctions More and more ready-to-use accounts for cryptocurrency exchanges are being sold to Russian residents. While this is not a new phenomenon — such accounts are often employed by fraudsters and money launderers — the current growth in supply has been attributed to the restrictions imposed by the trading platforms on customers from Russia, as a result of compliance with sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Russian residents have been buying these accounts despite the dangers, including the risk that whoever created them could maintain access after the sale, the Kommersant reported. But they are inexpensive and offers on darknet ma

A new decentralized exchange (dex) on Arbitrum, called Vest Exchange, was announced this past weekend, and the team that created the project said the platform aims to focus on democratizing perpetual futures. The team behind Vest further detailed that the new Arbitrum dex is backed by firms such as Jane Street, QCP Capital, and Big Brain Holdings. Vest Aims to Revolutionize Defi Perpetuals With Cutting-Edge Risk-Engine and Backing From Prominent Investment Firms The creators of a new dex platform built on the Arbitrum layer two blockchain announced on Jan. 28, 2023, that the project has emerged from stealth mode. The project, called Vest Exchange , closed a seed round with investments from firms including Jane Street, QCP Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Pear VC, Cogitent, Moonshot Research, Fugazi Labs, Ascendex, Builder Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto, and Robert Chen (Ottersec). Vest Exchange also provided a summary of the project in a blog post published on the same day. Vest

A U.S. lawmaker has introduced a resolution that encourages Capitol gift shops to accept cryptocurrency payments. He stressed that lawmakers “should increase accessibility and signal our support for the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry to those who visit Capitol Hill.” US Senator Advocates Crypto Payments U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced Thursday that he has reintroduced the Adopting Cryptocurrency in Congress as an Exchange of Payment for Transactions (ACCEPT) Resolution. Cruz first introduced this resolution in November 2021. The senator from Texas said: Cryptocurrency is generating new jobs, encouraging entrepreneurs to invent new values and creating new hedges against inflation, and presenting new opportunities. It is also increasingly being used as a secure form of payment for goods and services. “This is precisely why we, here at the United States Capitol, should increase accessibility and signal our support for the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry to those who

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on Congress to ensure regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), have the tools to regulate the crypto industry effectively and crack down on crypto money laundering activities. “The current legal structure essentially holds up a giant sign over crypto that says, money laundering done here,” the lawmaker stressed. Senator Urges Congress to Crack Down on Crypto Money Laundering U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said in an interview with Politico’s Morning Money Wednesday that cracking down on money laundering activities is her “main focus” in terms of crypto-related legislation. The senator confirmed that she will reintroduce her bill titled “Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022.” Originally introduced in December last year, this bill is “the most direct attack ” on the personal freedom and privacy of crypto users, according to experts in the field. Warren explained that money laundering is “not nearly as

Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk has reaffirmed his commitment to eat a McDonald’s Happy Meal on TV if the fast food chain accepts the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE). Musk originally made the offer a year ago but McDonald’s responded with a counteroffer at the time. Elon Musk, McDonald’s, and Dogecoin Payments Tesla, Spacex, and Twitter CEO Elon Musk has reaffirmed his commitment to eat a McDonald’s Happy Meal on Television if the fast food giant starts accepting payments in dogecoin (DOGE). It has been a year since the billionaire tweeted his offer on Jan. 25, 2022. However, McDonald’s did not accept his offer at the time. “Only if Tesla accepts grimacecoin,” the Twitter account for the fast food corporation replied to him. Grimace is a fluffy, purple character who tags along with Ronald McDonald in McDonaldland commercials. The subject came up again this week when Twitter user Dogedesigner asked Musk on Thursday whether his offer is still open. The Tesla boss replied with t

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, says that we are in a global recession. Warning of soaring bankruptcies, unemployment, and homelessness, he noted that there is good news for investors looking for “bargains.” Robert Kiyosaki’s Latest Warnings The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, is back with more warnings about the U.S. economy and global recession. 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. Kiyosaki tweeted Saturday: “Q: What is worse than a great depression? A: a global recession.” He added: Unfortunately, we are in global recession. Hang on. Rough landing for world. Bad news. Bankruptcy, unemployment, homelessness soar. Retirements toast. However, the famed author pointed out there is good news for investors

Bitcoin started the weekend hovering near $23,000, as markets continued to react to personal consumption data in the United States. Figures released on Friday reported that spending fell by 0.2% last month, despite overall consumer sentiment moving higher. Ethereum remained close to $1,600 to start the day. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) remained close to the $23,000 level on Saturday, as markets continued to react to Friday’s U.S. personal consumption data. Following a high of $23,417.72 late on Friday, BTC /USD fell to an intraday low of $22,880.60 earlier in the day. This came as bitcoin was once again unable to break out of a key resistance level at $23,500, leading to a resurgence of bearish sentiment. In addition to this, the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) has dropped below the 80.00 mark, and looks to be headed for a floor at 76.00 Should momentum continue in a downward direction, it is likely that BTC will collide with a floor at $22,400. Currently, the index is trackin

A commissioner with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called for “a coherent and consistent legal framework that works across all asset classes,” including crypto assets. She warned that the SEC’s current enforcement-centric approach would take 400 years to go through all the crypto tokens that are allegedly securities. SEC’s Commissioner on Crypto Regulation A commissioner with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Hester Peirce, talked about crypto regulation in her speech at the “Digital Assets at Duke” conference on Jan. 20. Noting that the securities regulator has “pursued registration violations in a seemingly random fashion, often years after the original offering,” the commissioner stressed: We must develop a coherent and consistent legal framework that works across all asset classes. Our imprecise application of the law has created arbitrary and destructive results for crypto projects and purchasers. “When we insist on applying the secu

Goldman Sachs has ranked bitcoin the best-performing asset so far this year. The cryptocurrency also tops the global investment bank’s list as the asset with the highest risk-adjusted return — above gold, real estate, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100. Bitcoin Outshines Other Investments on Goldman’s Chart Global investment bank Goldman Sachs has reportedly ranked bitcoin the best-performing asset year-to-date (YTD). The Twitter account Documenting Bitcoin tweeted earlier this week: Bitcoin is the best performing asset in the world this year, according to latest data by Goldman Sachs. The tweet includes a market performance chart by Goldman Sachs showing the top 25 markets’ total returns as well as their year-to-date risk-adjusted returns. Bitcoin tops the total return list at 27%, followed by MSCI Emerging Markets Index at 8%. BTC also tops Goldman Sachs’ risk-adjusted return list, with a Sharpe Ratio of 3.1. The price of bitcoin has risen since the firm published its char

A senator in the U.S. state of Arizona has introduced a set of cryptocurrency bills, one of which seeks to make bitcoin legal tender. “Centralized digital money controlled by the central bankers is slavery. Decentralized bitcoin is freedom,” the lawmaker said. Arizona Lawmaker Wants to Make Bitcoin Legal Tender Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers has introduced several crypto-related bills, including one to make bitcoin legal tender in her state. “Launched my crypto bills today,” Rogers tweeted Tuesday. The bills are co-sponsored by her state senate Republican colleagues Jeff Weninger and J.D. Mesnard. One of the bills proposes making bitcoin legal tender . The legislation defines the cryptocurrency as “the decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency in which a record of transactions is maintained on the bitcoin blockchain and new units of currency are generated by the computational solution of mathematical problems and that operates independently of a central bank.” Another bill

Russia may issue a stablecoin backed by gold to use in international settlements, a high-ranking member of the Russian parliament has admitted. The matter has been discussed during a recent visit to Iran where officials have also signaled interest in such an initiative. Iran and Russia Talk Stablecoin Payments for Bilateral Trade Settlements The Russian Federation is considering the creation of a stablecoin backed by gold that can be employed for cross-border settlements, including with Iran, the chairman of the Financial Market Committee at the lower house of Russian parliament, Anatoly Aksakov, told the Parlamentskaya Gazeta newspaper. “We discussed the issuance of stablecoins, digital financial assets (DFAs) backed by certain valuables. For example, I spoke about gold, gold bars, refineries can provide them, or centers where gold is stored, and DFAs are issued against these reserves,” the lawmaker explained after a visit by a Russian delegation to the Islamic Republic. Such a

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reportedly processed nearly $346 million in crypto transactions for Bitzlato, the coin trading platform that was shut down in an international law enforcement operation. U.S. authorities say the world’s largest trading platform for digital assets was among Russian-owned Bitzlato’s major counterparties. Blockchain Data Indicates Binance Moved Over 20,000 BTC for Bitzlato Since 2018 The global leader in the crypto trading sector, Binance, has allegedly transferred cryptocurrency worth almost $346 million for the Hong Kong-based Bitzlato, Reuters reported quoting data from Chainalysis. Bitzlato was a little known exchange until it was recently targeted in what U.S. authorities described as a “significant blow to the crypto crime ecosystem.” Last week, the Justice Department announced that Bitzlato’s co-founder and majority shareholder, Russian citizen Anatoly Legkodymov who lives in China, was arrested in Miami and charged with operating an unlice

While the Ethereum community prepares for the upcoming Shanghai hard fork in March, the development team for the liquid staking project Lido revealed plans to create an in-protocol withdrawal feature. Lido’s team is seeking community feedback on the proposal that would allow withdrawals after the Shanghai upgrade is completed. Lido Dominates Defi Economy With $7.9 Billion in Total Value Locked, Team Prepares for Shanghai Withdrawals As of the time of writing, the decentralized finance (defi) liquid staking protocol Lido is the most dominant defi protocol today, in terms of total value locked (TVL). Statistics from defillama.com show that Lido’s $7.92 billion TVL dominates the $46.56 billion TVL held in defi today by approximately 17.01%. Lido is the largest holder of staked ethereum as the protocol commands around 29% of the staked ether supply . Lido’s ethereum derivative token STETH is the 13th largest market valuation in the cryptocurrency economy with $7.73 billion. Furtherm

Unredacted documents mistakenly sent to the bankruptcy court indicate that the now-defunct crypto lender Blockfi had more than $1.2 billion tied up with FTX and Alameda Research. The accidentally revealed documentation shows that Blockfi’s exposure to the bankrupt crypto firm FTX was more than what the company had previously disclosed. Unredacted Documents Reveal Blockfi’s $1.2 Billion Exposure to FTX, Alameda Research It seems that Blockfi had a lot more money tied up with FTX and Alameda Research than what was originally suggested by the firm. A CNBC report indicates that unredacted documents were mistakenly sent to the bankruptcy court, revealing that Blockfi had $415.9 million connected to FTX, and roughly $831.3 million in loans to Alameda Research. The latest Blockfi filing shows that $1.2 billion is allegedly tied up with both FTX and Alameda, both of which have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. When Blockfi’s bankruptcy case started in New Jersey, lawyers origin

Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff has explained why bitcoin and gold are going up this year. “They’re rising for opposite reasons,” he said, claiming that the price of gold is climbing as investors view the metal as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar. Peter Schiff Explains Why Bitcoin and Gold Are Rising Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff has shared his view on why bitcoin and gold are going up this year. Schiff is the founder and current chairman of Schiffgold, a precious metals dealer specializing in gold and silver bullion. He has long been a bitcoin skeptic, regularly bashing the crypto while promoting gold. He tweeted Monday: Both gold and bitcoin are up in 2023, but they’re rising for opposite reasons. “Gold is rising as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar, while bitcoin is rising with other high-risk assets as speculators bet that a Fed pivot will cause a rally in 2022’s biggest losers,” the economist detailed. A number of people on Twitter disagr

Crypto adoption achieved new milestones in 2022, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million during the year, a new report by Crypto.com shows. Moreover, the report reveals that the number of bitcoin owners reached 219 million in December while the number of ether owners reached 87 million. Cryptocurrency Adoption Achieves New Milestones Crypto.com published a report titled “Crypto Market Sizing” for the year 2022 last week. The company explained that its analysis is built on a combination of Bitcoin and Ethereum on-chain data, survey analysis, and its own internal data. Regarding the total number of global crypto owners, the firm’s Research and Insights team wrote that “in spite of macro headwinds,” namely high inflation, the conflict in Europe, supply chain disruptions, and lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic: Crypto adoption in 2022 achieved new milestones, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million (December 2022). The overall number of crypto o

Singapore’s senior minister and the chairman of the central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), says there should be just “ one regulatory system” for both crypto and traditional finance. In addition, he stressed that regulators should provide “ultra clarity as to what’s an unregulated market,” so investors are aware that they go in at their own risk. ‘One Regulatory System’ Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s senior minister who is also the chairman of the country’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), talked about cryptocurrency regulation during a panel discussion with other regulators and bankers at the World Economic Forum last week. Shanmugaratnam previously served as Singapore’s deputy prime minister and the minister for finance. He is also currently the coordinating minister for social policies and adviser to the prime minister on economic policies. “Something is very clear, whether it’s crypto or traditional finance, you gotta regulate

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of state for foreign trade says that cryptocurrency “will play a major role for UAE trade going forward.” He stressed: “The most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies.” Crypto to Play a Major Role in the UAE United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi talked about cryptocurrency Friday during an interview with Bloomberg in Davos, Switzerland. He shared that one area the UAE is looking to expand is cryptocurrencies, adding: Crypto will play a major role for UAE trade going forward. “The most important thing is that we ensure global governance when it comes to cryptocurrencies and crypto companies,” Al Zeyoudi described. “We started attracting some of the companies to the country with the aim that we’ll build together the right governance and legal system, which are needed,” the official noted. Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for