Bitcoin

Binance has officially launched a cryptocurrency exchange in New Zealand after successfully registering with the country’s financial regulator. “We see significant value in having a serious New Zealand presence,” said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ). Binance Launches Crypto Trading Platform in New Zealand Global crypto exchange Binance announced Friday that it has successfully registered as a financial service provider with the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The crypto exchange also announced the official launch of Binance New Zealand (Binance NZ). Noting that the registration was actually effective on Sept. 10, the company detailed: This registration allows Binance NZ to offer a range of financial services, including spot trading, staking, NFTs and more. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) commented: “A lot of major tech firms are slow to open a New Zealand office. I guess for some, it’s easy to overlook as it’s a smaller market but we see sign

Several U.S. lawmakers have introduced the Retirement Savings Modernization Act to provide 401(k) retirement savers access to a wide range of investments, including crypto assets. “With inflation at record highs, a stock market downturn, and a potential recession on the horizon, many Americans are rightfully concerned about their financial future,” said U.S. Senator Pat Toomey. Retirement Savings Modernization Act Introduced The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs announced Thursday that Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Tim Scott (R-SC) and Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI) have introduced a bill called the Retirement Savings Modernization Act. The bill aims “to bolster Americans’ retirement savings by allowing workers to diversify assets included in defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans,” the announcement details. “This legislation will amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to clarify that private sector retirement pl

The Delaware Department of Justice’s Investor Protection Unit has issued a cease and desist order against 23 entities and individuals involved in a popular cryptocurrency scam known as “pig butchering.” The order also freezes the accounts allegedly holding cryptocurrencies belonging to the victims. Delaware Cracks Down on Pig Butchering Crypto Scam The attorney general of the U.S. state of Delaware, Kathy Jennings, announced Wednesday that the Investor Protection Unit of the state’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has “issued a summary order to cease and desist against 23 entities and individuals involved in a cryptocurrency scam known as the ‘pig butchering scam.'” Pig butchering crypto scams have recently become alarmingly popular . Victims of this type of scam “are groomed over time to make investments using cryptocurrency, only to find that what they thought was a safe investment was a scam,” the Delaware DOJ detailed. “The moniker stems from the scammers’ practice of ‘fattenin

The mobile software, cloud-based services, and business intelligence (BI) firm Microstrategy is seeking a full-time Lightning Network software engineer, according to a job listing published this week. The developer, if hired, will build a Lightning Network-based software as a service (SaaS) platform for the company so it can be used for ecommerce use cases and connect with enterprises looking for payment solutions as well. Microstrategy Looks to Hire Lightning Network Software Developer After the company purchased 301 bitcoin ( BTC ) to hold on its balance sheet, the BI firm Microstrategy published a job listing on the web portal smartrecruiters.com. Microstrategy’s job offer is for full-time employment as a Bitcoin Lightning Software Engineer and the chosen individual will be in charge of creating a Lightning Network (LN) SaaS platform. “As a Bitcoin Lightning Software Engineer at Microstrategy, you will build a Lightning Network-based SaaS platform, providing enterprises with in

The Paraguayan Senate has decided to reject the total veto that President Mario Abdo exerted over a proposed cryptocurrency bill on September 2. The Senate defended the initiative, stating that passing the bill would benefit the country due to its effect on tracking the energy consumption of crypto miners and the income that mining taxes would bring to the state. Paraguayan Senate Affirms Cryptocurrency Bill Approval The Paraguayan Senate is ready to fight against the president when it comes to the passing of the recently approved cryptocurrency bill. President Mario Abdo exerted a complete veto action on this initiative earlier this month, but the Senate has reaffirmed its support for the sanction of this bill in a new discussion, rejecting the action. Senators argued that there are several decisions in the bill that would bring benefits to the state and the cryptocurrency industry, including crypto miners. Senator Enrique Salyn Buzarquis vowed in support of the sanction of the b

On Thursday, at the Converge22 event in San Francisco, Circle announced the acquisition of the payment orchestration company Elements. Circle explained that the acquisition includes plans to “quickly scale payment offerings.” Circle says the new service will make it easier for merchants to integrate their existing points of contact with Circle’s crypto solutions. Circle Reveals New Permissionless Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol at Converge22 This week Circle and a number of other crypto industry heavyweights attended the Converge22 event in San Francisco. During the conference, Circle has made a number of announcements like usd coin (USDC) support being added to Robinhood Markets’ offerings. In addition to partnering with Robinhood, Circle also announced the firm’s new “cross-chain transfer protocol to support USDC interoperability for developers [and] their users.” “Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol is permissionless and enables USDC to be sent natively across ecosystems, improving l

PRESS RELEASE. The Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) has announced CoinEx as its official cryptocurrency trading platform partner. Founded in 2017, CoinEx is a professional global cryptocurrency exchange. Dedicated to ‘making crypto trading easier’, CoinEx provides a highly secure, stable and efficient service for its three million global users. It’s a first for the World Cup to be in a position to follow other sports in having a cryptocurrency company as a partner, and CoinEx is honoured to have the opportunity to establish a partnership with RLWC2021. CoinEx CEO Haipo Yang said, “We genuinely admire what the RLWC2021 represents. The tournament is set to trail blaze a way to reach new audiences for the sport, and we are excited to be a part of that through our partnership. “This will be the first major sponsorship activity we have undertaken, and we look forward to working together to make it a success for both parties.” Jon Dutton, RLWC2021 ‘s Chief Executive, said:

Renowned billionaire hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller says he could see cryptocurrency “having a big role in a Renaissance because people just aren’t going to trust the central banks.” He added that he will be “stunned” if the U.S. isn’t in a recession next year. Stanley Druckenmiller: People Just Aren’t Going to Trust Central Banks Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller discussed the U.S. economy and cryptocurrency in an interview at the CNBC Delivering Alpha conference Wednesday. Druckenmiller is the chairman and CEO of Duquesne Family Office LLC. He was previously a managing director at Soros Fund Management where he had overall responsibility for funds with a peak asset value of $22 billion. According to Forbes’ list of billionaires, his personal net worth is currently $6.4 billion. Referencing the news of the Bank of England buying 65 billion pounds of U.K. bonds, he said “if things get really bad” and other central banks take similar action in the next two or thr

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin says inflation may have peaked but a recession is coming. “We’re in a very uncertain time for investors,” the executive cautioned, adding that the Federal Reserve “is grappling with a level of inflation we haven’t seen in a long time.” Citadel’s Ken Griffin on U.S. Economy, Inflation, Recession, and Cryptocurrency Kenneth Griffin, founder and CEO of global investment firm Citadel, shared his views on a variety of topics, including the U.S. economy and cryptocurrency, at the CNBC Delivering Alpha conference Wednesday. “It’s a very uncertain time,” he began. “We are grappling with the threat of nuclear war in Ukraine. We’re grappling with unprecedented central bank interventions. We’re grappling with record-high inflation in the United States in our lifetimes. We’re in a very uncertain time for investors,” Griffin stressed. Noting that the U.S. equity market is showing “a level of resiliency” and the U.S. economy “is still strong,” he asserted: We’re proba

PRESS RELEASE. Arbswap, the Arbitrum-native automated market maker decentralized exchange, has seen significant progress over the past months. Following the migration of its contracts to the Arbitrum Nova network, Arbswap has recently launched the Nova Accelerator with support from Old Fashion Research, a multi-strategy blockchain investment fund. By establishing the Accelerator, Arbswap has set out to support the growth of Arbitrum Nova’s ecosystem through investments and advisory services for projects building on the platform. According to Arbswap, the Nova Accelerator aims to invest $10 million in the Arbitrum Nova ecosystem. About Arbswap and Arbitrum Nova Arbitrum Nova is an Arbitrum Layer-2 scaling solution that optimizes ultra-low-cost transactions while offering strong security guarantees. Being the first Arbitrum chain built on its AnyTrust technology, Arbitrum Nova is meant to serve applications that handle high volumes of price-sensitive transactions, such as gaming, s

Following the introduction of the Crypto Market Integrity Coalition (CMIC) with 17 member firms last February, the organization has added eight new members. New coalition recruits include Bittrex, Merkle Science, Crystal Blockchain and Bitgo. 8 Crypto Market Firms Join Crypto Market Integrity Coalition to Improve Self-Regulation Seven months ago, 17 crypto firms announced the formation of the Crypto Market Integrity Coalition (CMIC), a group that aims to bolster a sensibly-regulated crypto industry. Original CMIC members included Circle, Coinbase, Anchorage Digital, Huobi Tech, Liberty City Ventures, and the Chamber of Digital Commerce. “Through the pledge, the coalition seeks to send an unequivocal message at this critical moment in the evolution of digital assets: The crypto industry has made enormous strides to improve market integrity in the past few years,” the CMIC launch announcement noted on February 7, 2022. On Thursday, CMIC detailed that eight new members have joined t

Moments after the Chinese yuan’s onshore exchange rate versus the U.S. dollar slumped to 7.2458 per dollar, the Peoples Bank of China responded by stating that it will prioritize stabilizing the currency. Similar to other currencies that have been depreciating against the dollar, the yuan has now lost 12% versus the greenback so far this year. Central Bank Warns Currency Speculators The Chinese yuan’s onshore exchange rate against the greenback recently plunged to 7.2458 for every dollar, the lowest since January 2008. The yuan’s latest slump came just days after the exchange rate between the two currencies breached the 1:7 mark. Since then — September 15, 2022 — the yuan has now depreciated by over 3%. Overall, the Chinese yuan has lost over 12% against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year. According to a Reuters report , the Chinese yuan, just like other global currencies, has struggled against the dollar ever since the U.S. Federal Reserve began marginally increasing int

On September 28, the bitcoin mining operator and clean-technology company, SAI Tech, announced the launch of two liquid cooling bitcoin mining infrastructure products called the Tankbox and Rackbox. The two new models join the firm’s SAIHUB Box and feature plate cooling and immersion cooling technologies. SAI Tech Unveils Tankbox and Rackbox Bitcoin Mining Infrastructure Products As cryptocurrency mining continues to improve application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) efficiency and mining infrastructure technologies, SAI Tech (Nasdaq: SAI ) has announced the launch of two mining infrastructure modules that leverage liquid cooling schemes. The first is the Tankbox, which can accommodate roughly 72-144 ASIC mining rigs and produce anywhere between 12 to 20 petahash per second (PH/s) of hashrate. Tankbox will be available to the public by the end of 2022 and the module is “equipped with heat recovery system and can provide ~50°C hot water outflow.” SAI Tech has also introduced t

On Wednesday, the decentralized oracle network platform, Chainlink, announced the launch of a market-wide interest rate product for Web3 protocols and the decentralized finance (defi) economy, called the CF Bitcoin Interest Rate Curve (CF BIRC). Chainlink revealed the new product at Smartcon 2022 in New York City, and the newly launched CF BIRC product aims to provide “a reliable and transparent base rate” for Web3 market participants. Chainlink and CF Benchmarks Launch Manipulation-Resistant Base Rate CF BIRC Chainlink has made a number of announcements during the Smartcon 2022 event in New York City. For instance, on Wednesday the smart contract and oracle network project revealed a program called the Sustainable Chainlink Access for Layer 1 & 2 Enablement otherwise known as SCALE. “SCALE is a holistic and win-win economic model for both blockchains and the Chainlink Network,” Chainlink tweeted on September 28. “As [layer one and layer two] userbases expand, fees from [de

Humans have sought to preserve memories since prehistoric times, etching images into cave walls and tying knots into a crudely fashioned cord. Tribes and clans gave birth to language that could preserve the past in words, and words found their way into print forms, thereby conceiving history. In the information age, the Internet has become the carrier of historical records, which achieved an almost geological level of permanence through the power of immutable “blocks” recorded on blockchains. Blockchain was a timely development–a solution, in fact, to certain curses of history. What are the curses of history? Centralized historical records: From ancient times to the present, the power to record history has been in the hands of centralized entities. Unofficial history and folk records may be available but are obscured by media nobility. Yet, despite the “information age,” this situation remains unbroken and arguably worse, as powerful centralized media accumulate more power than e

The governor of France’s central bank, François Villeroy de Galhau, has urged EU regulators to “avoid adopting diverging or contradictory regulations, or regulating too late.” He warned that “To do so would be to create an uneven playing field, risking arbitrage and cherry picking.” French Central Bank Governor Warns About Adopting ‘Unduly Complex’ Crypto Regulations Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau talked about cryptocurrency regulation at a conference on digital finance in Paris Tuesday. The French central banker stressed: We should be extremely mindful to avoid adopting diverging or contradictory regulations, or regulating too late. To do so would be to create an uneven playing field, risking arbitrage and cherry picking. Villeroy de Galhau added that “unduly complex” crypto regulations could fall short of investor protection and money laundering prevention. The European Commission introduced the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) bill in Septemb

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the U.S. central bank is looking at whether to issue a digital dollar with a “very broad scope.” He noted that the Fed is collaborating with Congress and the executive branch on whether to issue a central bank digital currency. Fed Chair Powell on Digital Dollar Progress Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell provided an update of the central bank’s digital dollar work Tuesday during a panel discussion on digital finance hosted by Banque of France. “Cash is not disappearing here in the United States. We still use cash quite a lot,” he began. However, the central banker noted: “It is declining, not in absolute terms but compared to non-cash payments, it’s declining.” Powell explained that the Federal Reserve is looking very closely at “the potential costs and benefits” of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the U.S. He detailed: We are looking at it very carefully. We are evaluating both the policy issues and the technolog

Just over two months or approximately 83 days ago, the stablecoin usd coin (USDC) had a market valuation of around $55.52 billion and since then, USDC’s market capitalization has lost 12.05%. For most of 2022, the second largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDC has been above the $50 billion mark, but this week the crypto asset’s market valuation is around $​​48.82 billion. Following Tether’s Recent Stablecoin Reduction, USDC’s Market Cap Drops 12% In mid-June, Bitcoin.com News reported on the largest stablecoin asset tether (USDT) , as USDT ’s saw more than $12 billion erased from the market cap in two months and at that same time, usd coin’s (USDC) market cap rose by 9%. However, USDC’s market cap has shrunk a great deal during the last 83 days, as it has dropped by $6.7 billion since July 7, 2022 . At the time of writing, at 4:15 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday afternoon, USDC’s market valuation is $48.82 billion and on July 7, it was much higher at roughly $55.52 billion. US

Following the latest meeting of the monetary policy committee, the Central Bank of Nigeria says it has hiked the monetary policy rate to 15.5%. By increasing the key interest rate by 150 basis points, the central bank hopes to “narrow the negative real interest rate gap and rein in inflation.” The rate increase came just days after the naira’s parallel exchange rate against the dollar plunged to a new low. Narrowing the Negative Real Interest Rate Gap According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), members of the bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) have voted “unanimously to raise the policy rate to narrow the negative real interest rate gap and rein in inflation.” Following the vote, Nigeria’s key interest rate — the monetary policy rate (MPR) — now stands at 15.5%, up from 14%. In a statement, the CBN said the decision to increase MPR by 150 basis points was made because members of the MPC felt that any attempt to loosen the policy rate would be detrimental. At this [MPC] me

Crypto exchange Binance is reportedly seeking to reenter the Japanese crypto market. The company exited Japan four years ago after the country’s financial regulator warned that Binance was operating illegally without a license. Binance Wants Back in Japan Crypto exchange Binance is seeking a license to return to the Japanese crypto market, four years after exiting the country, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The key reasons behind Binance’s renewed interest in Japan are the Japanese government’s easing regulatory approach to crypto and substantial potential for user growth, according to one of the people. A spokesperson for Binance told the publication that the company is “committed to working with regulators and policymakers to shape policies that protect consumers, encourage innovation, and move our industry forward.” However, the spokesperson would not comment on specific license applications, noting that “It would be inappropriate to comment