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US Senators criticize Facebook’s new crypto wallet Novi

By
Tracy Bona
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0

Facebook yesterday unveiled its new crypto wallet Novi, originally intended for Facebook-owned stablecoin Diem

Social networking service provider Facebook yesterday selected Coinbase as its custody partner for Novi. The news was great for Coinbase, whose shares skyrocketed after being earmarked as the exchange of choice for custody services for users logging into the wallet.

Coinbase confirm the news on Tuesday and stated that the offer will start with a pilot program. Users of the Novi platform will have the opportunity to receive and send cash abroad immediately and without fees, while ensuring the security of their transactions. Coinbase Custody will handle the transactions. Users will hold their money in Pax Dollars (USDP Stablecoin), which they will then use to conduct transactions.

“Remittances are a crucial way to achieve financial inclusion. Today we are launching a small pilot project with the Novi Wallet digital app in two countries – the USA and Guatemala. People can send and receive money instantly, securely and free of charge”, sagte David Marcus, head of Facebook’s F2 finance department.

Facebook justifies its decision to launch the USDP stablecoin with consumer protection, key regulatory aspects and full fiat support for the currency. However, Facebook plans to switch its wallet from USDP to Diem at some point. The tech giant explained the change by saying that the latter offers better consumer protection measures and controls.

“The goal for Novi has always been, and will always be, to be interoperable with other digital wallets, and we believe that a purpose-built blockchain for payments, such as Diem, is critical to delivering solutions to the problems people are experiencing with the current payment system.”, explained Facebook.

Diem was launched in 2019 under the name Libra, but the proposed stablecoin has been plagued by setbacks and endless trials. In particular, Senators Brian Shatz and Sherrod Brown wrote to the social network to complain that the project exposes both consumers and the financial system to several risks.

Shortly after Facebook launched its Novi Wallet, call the two senators, along with Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith, sent a letter to Facebook asking it to discontinue the Diem and Novi projects. The senators complained that Facebook has not set out how it intends to thwart criminal activity and illegal financial transactions with its new product.

“You can’t trust Facebook to manage a payment system or a digital currency if its previous ability to manage risk and protect consumers has proven to be completely inadequate. We urge you to immediately discontinue your Novi pilot project and commit not to bring Diem to market.”

“You can’t trust Facebook to manage a payment system or a digital currency if its previous ability to manage risk and protect consumers has proven to be completely inadequate. We urge you to immediately discontinue your Novi pilot project and commit not to bring Diem to market.”

Coinbase becomes exclusive crypto partner of the NBA

By
Norma Charette
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0

This is the second major deal Coinbase has struck this week, following a collaboration with Facebook

Coinbase has struck a new sponsorship deal with the NBA, making it the official cryptocurrency platform for the sports franchise. CNBC reported yesterday that the crypto platform intends to expand its reach, and the sports league will provide the necessary exposure.

“Beginning with today’s kickoff of the NBA’s 75th anniversary season, Coinbase will have a branded presence during nationally televised games.  The company will also be Presenting Partner of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup and the USA Men’s and Women’s National Basketball teams, as well as partner of the NBA G League Ignite.”the NBA in a Press release with.

Through this exclusive partnership, Coinbase will reach the divisions under the NBA umbrella, including the WNBA, NBA 2K League, USA Basketball, and the NBA G League. The deal did not mention anything about NBA fans being able to buy tickets and merchandise using crypto.

It’s not the first time the paths of US basketball have crossed with cryptocurrencies. Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks have made significant steps in acquiring crypto, as the team has been accepting payments with digital assets through BitPay since 2019. In addition, the Sacramento Kings have already ventured into mining Ethereum. The California-based Kings were also the first major sports team to offer player salaries in Bitcoin earlier this year.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers announced a partnership with blockchain-based fan token platform Socios to offer virtual events for fans, reflecting Socios’ continued expansion in the United States. Now fans can interact and discuss topics related to their favorite team.

Tim Harris, the Lakers’ president of business operations, said the partnership with Socios.com allow the team to better support fan initiatives. The Managing Director of Socios.com , Alexandre Dreyfus, praised the LA Lakers as a strong brand that will help his company expand.

“The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most prestigious brands in sports, and I’m thrilled to work with them while Socios.com rapidly expanding into the US market. What a great way to round off another great, incredible week of growth. We’ve laid some really important groundwork to take fan engagement in U.S. sports to the next level, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come next.”

The token provider is continuously growing in sports and is also a big investor in football. He has worked with some major European football clubs, including Barcelona, Juventus, PSG and Milan. Last month, an agreement was reached with the Argentine club Boca Juniors for a fan token that could bring about $ 10 million to the club.

Decentralized Data Platform MDT Introduces DeFi-focused Oracle

By
Norma Charette
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0

Oracle enables developers in the decentralized financial sector to securely integrate off-chain trading data

The decentralized data exchange network Measurable Data Token (MDT) has presented a financial data oracle that aims to build a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi).

The blockchain-based service is called Measurable Finance (MEFI) and provides the secure connection developers need when accessing external data for use on the chain, the platform said in a press release.

With MeFi, the blockchain community can safely navigate between smart contracts and traditional financial markets, with functionality enabled for Ethereum and via testnets.

The MeFi interface will allow developers to obtain reliable real-time trading data from all markets, including global exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) and Nasdaq.

Why are oracles important?

Oracles provides a decentralized network through which blockchain users can access real-world data and connect it to smart contracts on the blockchain. The growth in the crypto sector means that more and more data is getting on the chain.

To ensure security and authenticity, oracles like MeFi and those accessed through Chainlink (LINK) and other networks prove to be very important for developers.

For MDT, the main goal is to bring decentralized services for data exchange to the market. Once the ecosystem is set up, the team hopes that its use in DeFi projects will help achieve widespread adoption.

MDT also wants to explore the possibility of giving developers of decentralized applications (dApps) access to key data such as financial reports, derivatives and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“Data is like the superpower in the capital markets. If DeFi is to become mainstream, DeFi innovations and dapps must be connected to the external context”, MDT co-founder Heatherm Huang said in a Explanation.

According to him, the MeFi service of the platform is like “Bloomberg on the Blockchain”, with its world-class security protocols that make it easy for users to switch between smart contracts on-chain and capital markets off-chain.

Total crypto assets under management reach record $72.3 billion

By
Darrell Heatherly
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Capital flows into crypto investments have increased as the cryptocurrency market has consistently seen positive price movements

Cryptocurrency investment products continue to see huge inflows. The investment management company CoinShares reportthat the sector recorded another $80 million in inflows last week.

According to the company, new funds poured into crypto investment products have increased the sector’s total assets under management to $72.3 billion. According to the CoinShares report, this is the highest assets under management in the crypto sector and has increased sharply since May, when total assets stood at $71.6 billion.

Leading crypto investment manager Grayscale leads with an AUM of over $52.4 billion, while CoinShares holds just over $5 billion and Bitwise around $1.1 billion.

Bitcoin records 5th consecutive week of inflows

According to the report, $70 million of the total weekly inflows flowed into bitcoin products, with the leading cryptocurrency seeing inflows for five consecutive weeks. BTC inflows in the current year are currently around $4.64 billion, bringing the total assets managed in Bitcoin to about $50.3 billion.

CoinShares highlights that the SEC’s decision to allow the first futures-backed ETF could lead to new investors entering the market and significantly increase inflows in the coming weeks.

Bitcoin price has risen near its all-time high, and at a price of over $64,000, the world’s largest cryptocurrency value by market capitalization is likely to reach new highs.

But while Bitcoin has seen five consecutive weeks of investment inflows, that hasn’t been the case for the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH).

As the report’s data shows, Ethereum saw outflows for the second week in a row, with last week’s $0.9 million outflows pushing monthly deductions to $12.5 million.

Regarding Ethereum outflows, CoinShares researchers shared that the “Outflows currently are not significant to define a trend”.

Solana (SOL) also saw minor outflows last week. Investors in funds and products of the seventh-ranked crypto-currency project withdrew about 0,3 million dollars.

Bitcoin Near New All-Time High Amid ETF Optimism

By
Tracy Bona
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0

BTC/USD hit an intraday high of $64,500 on Coinbase on Tuesday

Bitcoin surged as high as $64,500 on Tuesday, bringing the value of the cryptocurrency closest to its record of $64,805 reached in April so far.

Bitcoin’s price hit an intraday high of $64,399 on U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase this Wednesday, indicating a bullish desire to hit a new all-time high.

According to crypto analyst Rekt Capital, the Bitcoin pair BTC/USD has broken through the last resistance line with the rise above $64,000 before potentially entering a price discovery. If successful, Bitcoin could expand its profits in the short term towards $70,000.

https://twitter.com/rektcapital/status/1450745375892164609

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $63,956, with a new daily candle closing higher than Tuesday’s $64,303 likely to push the bulls further up.

BTC price benefits from ETF News

A day after the ProShares Bitcoin Futures ETF debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BITO, BTC is under increased pressure from the buyer side.

The data showed that the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF recorded a daily trading volume of almost $ 1 billion on the first day. According to TradingView, BITO opened at $40.88, recorded 20.406 million BITO shares traded and reached a daily closing price of $41.94.

The positive sentiment also follows an announcement by leading crypto asset manager Grayscale regarding its plans to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a BTC spot ETF.

According to Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group, Grayscale and the NYSE have “officially initiated the process”.

https://twitter.com/BarrySilbert/status/1450448566615527425

After falling below the critical $64,000 mark in early morning trading, the world’s largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $1.2 trillion has jumped above the resistance mark and looks set to break through the all-time high.

Huobi Admitted to Trading Crypto Derivatives in Japan

By
Norma Charette
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0

Weeks after announcing its intention to withdraw from the Chinese market, Huobi has confirmed that it has a license to offer crypto derivatives in Japan

The Japanese subsidiary of Seychelles-based crypto exchange Huobi has received regulatory approval to offer and trade crypto derivatives. This makes Huobi the seventh crypto exchange in the country to fully register with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) as a Type I financial instruments company.

“This represents an important milestone for Huobi’s business in Japan, as it allows the company to not only develop derivative products, but also provide trading and market-making services to customers. Currently, only seven of the total of 34 cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan have this license, which requires the holder to comply with certain assets”, Huobi said in a statement released on Monday Explanation.

The registration also means that Huobi will now be able to operate derivatives trading systems. Huobi Japan CEO Haiteng Chen praised this latest milestone and shared that it is crucial for the exchange’s expansion plans. Without the license, Huobi would still be limited to partial spot trading.

“We are very pleased to have reached this milestone. It allows us to expand our business beyond spot trading and drive the next phase of our growth in Japan. In the future, we plan to develop a number of crypto derivatives to meet the growing demands of the market.”, so Chen.

In addition to securities and stock exchange trading, the FSA also has the task of supervising the banking and insurance sectors. It has a reputation for being strict in enforcing regulations. The financial regulator has put in place some strict requirements regarding cryptocurrencies, which explains the limited number of approved companies.

Crypto exchanges are subject to the same policies as other large financial companies, in addition to mandatory registration as a Type I financial instrument company.

Huobi Japan already offers spot trading services for 14 of the most popular cryptocurrencies, and the new license will help the exchange expand its services in Japan by engaging in the trading, acquisition and management of crypto derivatives.

Staying Online Exposes You to Crypto Fraud

By
Darrell Heatherly
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0

The sum of funds lost in reported crypto scams has increased by 30% compared to the previous year

A Bloomberg Report according to the report, the number of crypto fraud cases in the UK rose sharply in the first nine months. More than 146 million pounds ($201 million) was lost to crypto scams between January and October, with most of the victims being young people. The City of London Police said that a total of 7,118 reports of cryptocurrency-related fraud were filed.

Acting Detective Chief Inspector Craig Mullish shared that the rising number of crypto scams is not entirely unexpected.

“Reports of cryptocurrency fraud have increased significantly in recent years. The fact that more people are online means that criminals have a greater chance of targeting unsuspecting victims with fraudulent investment opportunities.”

The local police department warned against rushing into celebrity-endorsed offers, as most scammers create fake endorsements to seduce unsuspecting victims. The warning is backed up by statistics, as nearly four-fifths of complaints filed about fake endorsements in the UK revolve around cryptocurrency.

More than 50% of victims of crypto scams are between 18 and 45 years old. This is not surprising, considering that the younger population makes up the majority of people who invest in cryptocurrency.

A survey conducted in July by market research and intelligence agency Opinium found that half of Britons between the ages of 18 and 29 consider cryptocurrencies as their first investment. In particular, the survey results showed that young Britons see Bitcoin and Dogecoin as the best cryptocurrencies to invest in at this time.

Around the same time, retail and commercial bank NatWest warned its users to be aware of the threat of fraud and scams in the crypto industry. David Lindberg, the bank’s chief executive, specifically warned against fake cryptocurrency platforms created to steal from people who unknowingly invest. Lindberg also described the UK crypto market as a hotbed for crypto scammers.

“Fraud and scams are an industry. They’re intelligent, and they move fast, and it’s heartbreaking to see them trying to destroy lives.”, sagte him at the time.

Invesco abandons Plans for a Bitcoin Futures ETF

By
Tracy Bona
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0

The company’s futures-backed Bitcoin ETF was largely approved by the SEC after the ProShares product had already been approved.

Invesco, a large investment management company with a presence in 20 countries, has decided to abandon its interest in launching an exchange-traded Bitcoin futures fund (ETF).

According to a Bloomberg report, Invesco is no longer seeking approval for its ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Instead, the company wants to apply for a new product backed by real BTC.

The company’s U-turn comes at a time when the investment community is preparing for the debut of the ProShares Bitcoin Futures ETF, the first derivative contract-backed ETF in the U.S. to enter the trading market.

The newly approved fund is scheduled to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Tuesday, October 19.

Invesco turns its attention to a physically settled Bitcoin ETF

Atlanta-based Invesco has not disclosed the details that led to this withdrawal, but has only said through a spokesman for the company that a new direction has been taken in terms of ETFs.

As part of its immediate plans, Invesco will continue to work with Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. The two companies have recently entered into a partnership that will allow the investment management provider to offer various Bitcoin-related products to the growing community of crypto investors.

“We will continue to work with Galaxy Digital to provide investors with a comprehensive product offering with exposure to this transformative form of investment, including the development of a physically collateralized, digital asset ETF.”, the spokesman told Bloomberg.

Invesco’s plans to apply for a spot Bitcoin ETF come just days after leading crypto asset management firm Grayscale hinted at a similar move. As reported on Monday, Grayscale is hoping for SEC approval to convert the groundbreaking Bitcoin (BTC) Trust fund into a Bitcoin Spot ETF.

Interest in and enthusiasm for ETFs has contributed to the rise in Bitcoin’s price over the past week. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at around $62,190. According to CoinGecko, BTC/USD bounced back some of its gains during the day as the pair hit its highest level in over six months at $63,432.04.

The all-time high for Bitcoin is $64,805, recorded on April 14, 2021.

Polkadot Founder Proposes $777 Million for Network Development Fund

By
Norma Charette
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0

Gavin Wood’s announcement comes weeks before the launch of Parachain auctions, scheduled for November 11

Polkadot founder Gavin Wood has revealed that the blockchain platform’s treasury has $777 million in DOT tokens, a significant amount of money that developers believe they can use to build and improve the project.

In a tweet posted on Oct. 17, Wood said Polkadot’s treasury has $18.9 million, which is about $7,777 million at the token’s current price. According to him, the money can be part of a development fund that will be used to build and improve the ecosystem of the network.

He also suggested that the money could be used to educate the community about Polkadot and the crypto ecosystem.

https://twitter.com/gavofyork/status/1449680359138996230

According to Wood, who also founded Kusama and is a co-founder of Ethereum, the amount of DOT held in the treasury is accumulated by the network protocol, with DOT over “Fees, Slashes and suboptimal staking configurations” enter into the contract.

He added that it is best if the DOT is used well, and shared:

“If left unused, it will be slowly burned. Currently, 239,988 DOT are destroyed every month.”

Polkadot Parachain-Auctions

DOT is one of the cryptocurrencies that has shown excellent performance in recent weeks, with DOT/USD rising more than 21% in the last seven days.

The optimism surrounding cryptocurrency is largely due to the upcoming launch of Parachains, a highly anticipated event that will see the growth of the Polkadot network skyrocket.

Parachains are basically side-chains on which developers can build decentralized applications, with the technology enabling interoperability between protocols and the “Relay Chain” easier, cheaper and safer.

Wood’s proposal could lead to millions of dollars being made available to developers of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, ushering in a new era for the eighth-largest cryptocurrency project by market capitalization.

However, the proposal must be approved by the Polkadot Governance Council, with Community participation as the key to unlocking the funding.

Stablecoins pose no financial risk

By
Norma Charette
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0

The lobby group says regulators should not treat stablecoins as investment products

A US-based cryptocurrency lobby group has urged US regulators not to subject asset-backed stablecoins to new rules, report Reuters on Monday.

The Chamber of Digital Commerce, a group that includes Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Inc. and Circle does not want stablecoins to be subject to new, stricter rules as envisioned by the President’s working group on financial markets.

The Chamber has reportedly sent a letter to the president’s regulatory group, which includes the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve, urging that stablecoins backed by the dollar pose no risk to the country’s financial system and that subjecting them to new rules would be the wrong regulatory approach for the burgeoning sector.

According to the lobby group, regulators should not treat stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC) as investment products. Instead of a “separate” Regulating the sector, the government should work towards aligning supervision with broader measures that apply to other digital means of payment.

While the US regulatory group is working to implement some of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s recommendations, the Chamber of Digital Commerce says the sector does not pose systemic risks.

The Board has also asked regulators to work closely with the “well regulated” Stablecoin issuers in the U.S. work together to promote the technology. They also advocate that these companies gain access to the Federal Reserve’s payment infrastructure, according to the letter cited by Reuters.

As the growth of the stablecoin sector has increased over the past two years due to the global financial crisis, various governments have made proposals to prevent further proliferation. At the heart of these measures is the need to protect consumers from potential financial harm, in particular from risks associated with speculative trading.

Earlier this month, the G20 called on governments to step up oversight of stablecoins, with a new “global stablecoin” before its admission must undergo all legal and regulatory examinations.

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