Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), saw its worst daily performance of the year as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stopped Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, from offering crypto staking services. On Feb. 9, Kraken agreed to pay $30 million to settle the SEC’s allegation that it broke securities rules by offering crypto staking services to U.S. retail investors. The…
The Central Bank of Brazil will focus its first digital real tests on determining the levels of privacy and security that can be achieved with the proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure. The tests will be conducted later this year and will set up a simplified operation to transact with a still-to-be-determined tokenized asset. Central Bank of Brazil to…
Paxos Trust Company — the New York-based stablecoin issuer behind Binance USD (BUSD) and Paxos Dollar (USDP) — is reportedly being investigated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). A “person familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg in a Feb. 10 report that the exact motive behind the probe is currently unclear. An NYDFS spokesperson declined to comment on…
Swiping right in the metaverse Famous New York socialite, Paris Hilton thinks the Metaverse may be the perfect place to find one’s true love. In a Feb. 9 tweet, the celebrity and reality TV star said she will be working with The Sandbox (SAND) to bring “Parisland” to life. The idea is essentially a Virtual Reality (VR) dating experience crossed…
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently revealed that some 25,188 of its value-preserving gold coins were sold between July 2022 and Jan. 13. According to the central bank governor, John Mangudya, the gold coins “have proved to be an effective open market instrument for mopping up excess liquidity in the economy.” Gold Coins as Alternative Value Preservation Tool According to…
The collapse of FTX and related developments did more to pull up or push down the price of Bitcoin (BTC) throughout Q4, compared to macroeconomic events such as rate hikes, according to research. In a “State of Bitcoin Q4 2022” report published on Feb. 10, Messari research analysts Sami Kassab and Chris Collar found that the collapse of the exchange…
On Thursday, the fiat-to-crypto onramp business Moonpay announced a multi-year partnership with the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Looksrare. According to the deal, Looksrare will allow marketplace users to buy and sell crypto assets through Moonpay’s services. Moonpay and Looksrare Join Forces to Streamline NFT Transactions Moonpay, the fiat-to-crypto service founded in 2019, revealed that it has entered into a partnership…
Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm CleanSpark is planning to continue its strategy of scooping up distressed mining company assets this year. The Bitcoin miner released its fiscal Q1 earnings presentation on Feb. 9, where the company said it remained optimistic about the coming year and continued growth. Chief Financial Officer, Gary Vecchiarelli, said CleanSpark has seen “explosive growth” in the last…
Another day, another crypto service shuts down. LocalBitcoins, a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange platform, announced its demise, saying it “can no longer provide its Bitcoin trading service” due to the challenges of the protracted crypto winter. They were an important part of the hardest moments in my country, Venezuela. We will never forget them. Thank you for your service. — blackarepa…
French luxury brand Hermes has won a lawsuit against an artist who depicted its famous Birkin bags in a non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The artist argued that NFTs should be covered under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment but the jury disagreed. Hermes Wins Lawsuit Against ‘Metabirkins’ NFT Creator French luxury design house Hermes has won a lawsuit against Mason Rothschild,…
