American lawmakers have more questions for the embattled crypto bank Silvergate. In a new letter to the firm’s CEO Alan Lane, three U.S. senators allege that the crypto bank’s dealings with the ill-fated FTX exchange “further introduced crypto market risk into the traditional banking system,” demanding Silvergate provide more information. Signed by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Kennedy (R-La), and Roger…
Blockchain use cases continue to surface as the technology becomes more accessible. In the case of already-known use cases, such as blockchain-based messaging applications, mass adoption is on the horizon. According to a new report from Grand View Research, the global blockchain messaging application market size is forecasted to hit a valuation of $536.5 million by 2030. The report, released…
Tether (USDT) — the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization — has never received any loan from the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius, according to the chief technology officer. Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether and Bitfinex crypto exchange, took to Twitter on Jan. 31 to announce that Tether has “never borrowed from Celsius.” The tweet came in response to the Celsius…
His Majesty’s Treasury published a long-anticipated consultation paper for the United Kingdom’s upcoming crypto regulation. The extensive 80-page document covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and initial coin offerings (ICOs). As stated by the HM Treasury, the proposals seek to place the U.K.’s financial services sector at the forefront of…
Bitcoin (BTC) hovered around $23,000 on Feb. 1 after sealing its best January performance in ten years. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView End of Bitcoin bear market is “default view” Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed a monthly close of around $23,100 for BTC/USD — its highest since July 2022. The largest cryptocurrency finished the first…
Celsius users rejoice. Well, some of them, anyway. Today, the now-bankrupt crypto lender announced that certain “eligible users” can expect to withdraw their funds soon. A court filing indicates that “on or around February 15, 2023” this batch of users will be notified of their eligibility as well as begin the process to withdraw their funds. This process involves updating…
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology found no mention in India’s union budget for the year 2023, bringing down the hopes of millions of crypto holders in the country. Many in the Indian crypto community were hoping for some reduction to the high crypto tax, implemented in March 2022. Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget on Feb. 1, announcing…
Leading crypto exchange Binance and credit card giant Mastercard have partnered to launch a prepaid crypto-linked card in Brazil as part of Binance’s expansion plans in Latam. The Binance card features 8% cashback for eligible purchases and supports on-the-fly conversion of 13 cryptocurrencies to make payments to local merchants. Brazil Receives Binance Prepaid Card Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange by…
Bankrupt cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius had come up with a withdrawal process for users who had their crypto in its custody when it stopped withdrawals in June 2022. Celsius released an official update on upcoming withdrawals on Jan. 31, providing the list of users that will be eligible to withdraw approximately 94% of eligible custody assets. The firm laid out the process…
After initially ignoring pleas to extend the period for returning old naira banknotes, the Nigerian central bank recently said it has shifted the deadline for returning old banknotes to Feb. 10. The bank’s governor, Godwin Emefiele, said some 30,000 so-called super agents have been deployed nationwide to help with the cash-swapping process. CBN Governor Says Currency Swapping Exercise Has Been…
