Attending and reporting from the two-day Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS), Cointelegraph’s managing editor, Alex Cohen sat down with Helen Hai, head of Binance’s NFT platform for a candid discussion on the early inspirations for their NFT platform, as well as her vision for regulatory communication, among other topics. Citing the methods in which the Asian economy capitalized on the…
In brief BlackRock is a major asset management firm. Circle issues the USDC stablecoin. BlackRock will serve as a strategic partner in Circle. On Tuesday, cryptocurrency payments firm Circle announced a $400 million funding round led by asset management firm BlackRock, with further investments from Fidelity Management and Research, Marshall Wace LLP, and Fin Capital. As part of the deal,…
Nexo, a lending services provider for digital finance, has partnered with Mastercard and DiPocket to launch a crypto-backed credit card allowing users to collateralize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The card allows users to collateralize bitcoin with 0% APR, no minimum payments, no monthly fees, and earn up to 2% back on qualifying purchases to be paid out in bitcoin or…
Requests for comments on a proposal urging the Wikimedia Foundation to stop accepting donations in cryptocurrency have closed, with the majority of users voting in favor. According to a Tuesday update on the proposal, roughly 71%, or 232 out of 326, Wikimedia contributors who responded requested that the Wikimedia Foundation — the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia — stop accepting cryptocurrency…
In brief NFT.com is an upcoming NFT marketplace that will use NFT “keys” for community governance and benefits. The Ethereum-centric marketplace has Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary as an advisor. Right now in the NFT market, there’s OpenSea—and then there’s everyone else. Far, far behind. OpenSea currently dominates the NFT marketplace space, racking up billions of dollars worth of trading…
In the time since last year’s Bitcoin 2021 we’ve seen the world change in so many ways that, if we were to list them here, I’m confident we could give Gladstein or Breedlove a run for their money on the length of the read alone. Hardly anything comes as close to accurately describing what’s been happening in the world as…
Following the controversial bank bailouts and Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008, reports show in late 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Federal Reserve participated in providing trillions of dollars in secret repo loans to megabanks. At the end of March, investigative journalists, Pam and Russ Martens from Wall Street on Parade, uncovered $3.84 trillion in stealth repo loans from…
The China Banking Association, the China Internet Finance Association and the Securities Association of China issued a joint statement warning the public about the “hidden risks” of investing in nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. In a Wednesday notice, the three associations launched initiatives aimed at encouraging innovation in the crypto and blockchain space focused on NFTs as well as “resolutely curb[ing]…
In November 2021, MoonPay announced a $555 million Series A financing round that brought the crypto payment platform’s valuation to $3.4 billion. On Wednesday, the fintech company revealed that $87 million of the total $555 million came collectively from more than 60 public figures and celebrities in the music, sports, media and entertainment industries. While the Series A round was…
Ethereum is about to transition from a power-hungry proof-of-work system to an environmentally friendly proof-of-stake system. This switch is known as “The Merge,” and it’s coming soon. Here’s what you need to know. What is The Merge? Ethereum will be changing the way transactions are validated. As of this writing, Ethereum works a little like Bitcoin—transactions are mined by a…
