Crypto
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Business – Crypto
Commonwealth Bank puts crypto trading trial on ice as regulators dither
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has put its plans for a second pilot program of crypto trading services on hold indefinitely and cut off access to those in the first round of testing. CBA sent Cointelegraph a transcript of a Tuesday bank briefing where CEO Matt Comyn said that he was still waiting on regulatory clarity. He also said that he was “working with a number of regulators very closely, as you would imagine, about the appropriate treatment of this particular product:” “Our intention still, at this stage, is to restart the pilot, but there are still a couple of things that we want to work through on a regulatory front to make sure that that is most appropriate.” Comyn said there is a Treasury submission for the program already under review, but he did not share any expected...
Ethereum devs tip The Merge will occur in August ‘if everything goes to plan’
Ethereum’s long-awaited migration to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which has been pushed back time and time again, looks set to occur sometime in August. Hopefully. Preston Van Loon, a core developer of the Ethereum (ETH) network, told attendees at the Permissionless conference that the transition, known as the Merge, would occur sometime in August if everything plays out according to plan. Ethereum core Dev @preston_vanloon just said the eth merge is ready,they are now only testing, and expects the merge to happen in August. Packed room @Permissionless are excited about it. Great question @TrustlessState. Also on panel @drakefjustin pic.twitter.com/vX4beNatJ5 — Benjamin Cohen (benjicohen.eth) (@benjicohen421) May 19, 2022 Van Loon told the 5000 attendees that the team ...
Weaker dollar lifts Bitcoin to $30.7K as analyst eyes 60% BTC dominance
Bitcoin (BTC) hit 48-hour highs overnight into May 20 as U.S. dollar weakness gave bulls some much-needed respite. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Dollar strength declines after 20-year record Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView recorded a high of $30,725 for BTC/USD on Bitstamp. Still struggling to flip $30,000 to reliable support, the pair nonetheless avoided a deeper retracement, helping calm fears that last week’s $23,800 capitulation event did not mark the bottom. The U.S. dollar index (DXY) provided the background to Bitcoin’s relatively solid performance, this coming off two-decade highs to dip 2% in a week. This appeared to relieve some pressure on stock markets, the S&P 500 finishing May 19 down a more modest 0.58% compared to previo...
Try topping this: PizzaDAO celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day with 100 parties worldwide
Pizza DAO, the decentralized blockchain project seeking to unite the global community of pizza fanatics with the technological potential of Web3, are celebrating Sunday’s Bitcoin Pizza Day in authentic style. On Sunday, the project will host commemorative events at 100 pizzerias in over 75 countries around the world, including the United States, Argentina, South Korea, Ethiopia, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, and more. Alongside a nonfungible token (NFT) drop and charitable campaign, the events will attract a number of supporters including 13-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani, Seth Green, Steve Aoki, the Dogecoin team, and comedians Cheech and Chong, among others. Bitcoin Pizza Day has become a permanent fixture and cultural highlight in the crypto calendar since th...
Biden’s pick for Fed vice chair for supervision calls for congressional action on stablecoins
Michael Barr, a law professor and former advisory board member of Ripple Labs who is United States President Joe Biden’s pick for vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve, called for U.S. lawmakers to regulate stablecoins in an effort to address “financial stability risks.” In a confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Barr said innovative technologies including cryptocurrencies had “some potential for upside in terms of economic benefit” but also “some significant risks,” citing the need for a regulatory framework on stablecoins to prevent the risk of runs. Barr added that the Fed potentially releasing a central bank digital currency was an issue that required “a lot more thought and study,” echoing Fed chair Jerome Powell’s views concerning due dilig...
Contrarian Bitcoin investors identify buy zones even as extreme fear grips the market
Bitcoin (BTC) support at the $30,000 level has proven to be quite resilient amidst the turmoil of the past two weeks with many tokens in the top 100 now showing signs of consolidation after prices bounced off their recent lows. Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me During high volatility and sell-offs, it’s difficult to take a contrarian view and traders might consider putting some distance from all the noise and negative news-flow to focus on their core convictions and reason for originally investing in Bitcoin. Several data points suggest that Bitcoin could be approaching a bottom which is expected to be followed by a lengthy period of consolidation. Let’s take a look at what experts are saying. BTC may have already reached “max pain” The spike in realize...
G7 financial officials call on Financial Stability Board to step up crypto regulation—report
The top financial officials from the Group of Seven (G7) largest advanced industrial economies has called on the Financial Stability Board to speed up crypto-asset regulation, Reuters reported Thursday, citing a copy of a communique it had obtained. The officials from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States were meeting in Koenigswinter, Germany, following a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting earlier in the week. “In light of the recent turmoil in the crypto-asset market, the G7 urges the FSB (Financial Stability Board)…to advance the swift development and implementation of consistent and comprehensive regulation,” The turmoil referred to was the de-pegging of the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin that began May 8 and sent shockwaves throughout...
Tether launches crypto and blockchain education program in Switzerland
Switzerland’s southern city of Lugano will host a blockchain- and cryptocurrency-focused school as part of a partnership between the local government and Tether (USDT). In a Thursday announcement, Tether and Lugano said they will be launching the Plan ₿ Summer School in an effort “to bring blockchain and crypto education to the masses.” The education center is part of Tether’s “Plan ₿” initiatives with the Swiss city, which have included making Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT) and the LVGA token legal tender in the area. @luganomycity @Tether_to @FranklinSwitz @USI_university announced today the launch of @LuganoPlanB Summer School, 3-16 July 2022. Apply now #Lugano @LuganoLivingLab https://t.co/PI0USZpA96 — Lugano (@luganomycity) May 19, 2022 According to the school’s website...
Tether reports 17% decrease in commercial paper holdings over Q1 2022
USDT Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) has reported it cut its reserves allocation to commercial paper investments and increased that of United States Treasury bills over the first quarter of 2022. In a Thursday blog post, Tether reported its reserves were “fully backed,” seemingly in an effort to assuage many users’ fears around USDT briefly depegging from the dollar on May 12. According to the stablecoin issuer, its commercial paper holdings over Q1 2022 decreased 17% from roughly $24 billion to $20 billion, with an additional 20% reduction to be reflected in the firm’s next quarterly report. Tether also increased investments in money market funds and U.S. Treasury bills by 13% over the same quarter, from roughly $34.5 billion to $39 billion. “Tether has maintained its stability through mu...
Swiss think tank urges greater global cooperation on crypto regulation
In a bid to combat illegal activity and “regulatory arbitrage,” a Swiss-based think tank has urged greater international cooperation on cryptocurrency regulation. On Monday, the Basel Institute of Governance and the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators released a paper calling for further coordinated action against unlawful crypto-markets. Among the proposed solutions are greater cooperation between jurisdictions, as well as the creation of worldwide standards for cryptocurrency regulation. According to the paper, investigators who work with cryptocurrency should invest in learning approaches and technologies that are contemporary with evolving criminal organization techniques. Also, it recommended judicial authorities come up with new methods for prosecuting vir...
Here’s why bears aim to keep Bitcoin under $29K ahead of Friday’s $640M BTC options expiry
Over the past nine days, Bitcoin’s (BTC) daily closing price fluctuated in a tight range between $28,700 and $31,300. The May 12 collapse of TerraUSD (UST), previously the third-largest stablecoin by market cap, negatively impacted investor confidence and the path for Bitcoin’ price recovery seems clouded after the Nasdaq Composite Stock Market Index plunged 4.7% on May 18. Disappointing quarterly results from top United States retailers are amping up recession fears and on May 18, Target (TG) shares dropped 25%, while Walmart (WMT) stock plunged 17% in two days. The prospect of an economic slowdown brought the S&P 500 Index to the edge of bear market territory, a 20% contraction from its all-time high. Moreover, the recent crypto price drop was costly to leverage buyers (l...
Top gaming tokens not to miss this May
Blockchain gaming studios are raising millions for game launches. The metaverse and GameFi as a whole have seen a tremendous level of growth throughout the crypto sphere. These are the best gaming tokens and overall projects that you can buy to get the most out of the blockchain gaming space. Gala (GALA), WAX (WAXP), and Mobox (MBOX) are all gaming tokens that are worth your attention this May. On May 18, 2022, GALA tokens became available on Coins.ph, a mobile wallet that enables Filipinos to buy, make online payments, and trade digital currencies. Furthermore, on May 18, 2022, the WAX Blockchain and ecosystem grew with one more additional game, a play-to-earn (P2E) RPG title that received the community spotlight, The Adventurer’s Guild. There are numerous games consisten...
