Trust Machines—launched by Stacks founder Muneeb Ali and a Princeton University Computer Science professor JP Singh—has raised $150 million to build an ecosystem of applications designed to “unlock the potential of Bitcoin” for Web3. Bitcoin is still largely seen as strictly a speculative investment, while advancements in DeFi, NFT trading, and the decentralized management of online communities through DAOs are…
Let’s talk about the humanitarian case for bitcoin — specifically, how it solves issues of government corruption and how it improves the effectiveness of foreign aid. Starting in the mid to late 20th century, western countries began investing heavily in foreign aid. Over the past five decades, wealthy countries have donated more than $4 trillion to poorer countries, with 60%…
Crypto farms in Kazakhstan will remain unplugged until Feb. 7, as the local utility has extended power cuts for miners. The company points to ongoing difficulties with electricity supply as the main reason for the measure, which was supposed to expire at the end of January. Mining Facilities in Kazakhstan Still Shut Down Data centers authorized to mint digital currencies…
Is Bitcoin (BTC) in a bull market or a bear market? Has the current market cycle already peaked or can we expect another leg higher? Venture capital funds don’t seem to care either way. They’re too busy building equity in promising blockchain plays. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter features two major funding rounds from the world of blockchain, as well…
In brief A couple sued the IRS after they were denied a refund request for taxes paid on Tezos staking rewards. After the lawsuit started, the IRS offered a refund. But the plaintiffs now want a more definitive ruling about crypto taxation. Should a person be taxed when they receive a staking reward in the form of cryptocurrency—or when they…
Kraken customers can now independently verify that the bitcoin funds they hold on the cryptocurrency exchange are backed by actual assets after the firm launched its Proof of Reserves feature, enabling a new level of transparency and accountability to emerge in the industry. The feature is the product of an independent, cryptographic audit of Kraken’s funds performed by accounting firm…
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is stepping into non-fungible token (NFT) technology space, according to the festival’s official Twitter account. Coachella partnered with the crypto exchange FTX US, and the NFTs are minted on the Solana blockchain. Coachella Partners With FTX US to Mint Solana-Based Digital Collectibles Since 1999, the festival co-founded by Rick Van Santen and Paul…
A bill previously introduced by Washington Representative Suzan DelBene aims to exempt crypto users from paying taxes on transactions under $200. According to a Tuesday draft of the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act of 2022, Washington Representative Suzan DelBene is seeking to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude gains from certain personal transactions of virtual currency. If…
After releasing its latest financial results report, Nintendo held a live Q&A where they reportedly expressed “interest” in the “potential” of the Metaverse when it comes to introducing blockchain and nonfungible token (NFT) technology into their video games. David Gibson, senior analyst at MST Financial, asked in a tweet what the Japanese gaming giant thought about the Metaverse and NFTs,…
For one day only, a solid gold cube weighing over 400 pounds was on display in New York’s Central Park. Why? It was a part of European artist Niclas Castello’s foray into cryptocurrency. Castello created the gold cube with his digital currency and NFTs in mind. NFTs are cryptographically unique tokens that demonstrate ownership over a digital or physical asset.…
