Crypto
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CFTC commissioner appoints crypto-experienced CME Group director as chief counsel
Kristin Johnson, one of five commissioners currently serving at the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has announced that a CME Group executive director with experience in crypto will be joining her staff. In a Thursday announcement, Johnson said Bruce Fekrat will be her chief counsel at the CFTC starting on June 1. Fekrat worked as an executive director and associate general counsel at the CME Group for more than eight years, where he was lead regulatory counsel for issues including digital assets. During his time at the derivatives marketplace, he regulated cryptocurrency reference rates and helped in the development of financial products including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) derivatives. Nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden in September 2021, Johnson was swo...
Descending channel pattern and weak futures data continue to constrain Ethereum price
Despite bouncing from a 45-day low on April 30, Ether (ETH) price is still stuck in a descending channel and the subsequent 9% gain over the past four days was just enough to get the altcoin to test the pattern’s $2,870 resistance. Ether/USD price at FTX. Source: TradingView Federal Reserve monetary policy continues to be a major influence on crypto prices and this week’s volatility is most likely connected to comments from the FOMC. On May 4, the United States Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point, which is the biggest hike in 22 years. Although it was a widely expected and unanimous decision, the monetary authority said it would reduce its $9 trillion asset base starting in June. Chairman Jeremy Powell explained that the Federal Res...
Bitcoin.com completes private sale for new VERSE token
Bitcoin.com, an online cryptocurrency platform designed to introduce newcomers to cryptocurrency, said in a Thursday press release it completed the private sale of $33.6 million for its Bitcoin.com VERSE token. The VERSE token is a rewards and utility token for users who participate within the Bitcoin.com ecosystem. Several high-profile entities participated in the private sale, including Digital Strategies, KuCoin Ventures, Blockchain.com, Roger Ver, Jihan Wu, among many others. VERSE to be minted this summer According to the press release, Verse will be minted this summer as an ERC-20 token. It is comparable to other utility and rewards tokens such as Crypto.com’s CRO and Binance’s BNB. VERSE will also offer features that place it on the same playing field as Nexo, Celsius, a...
Hawaii Senate sets up crypto task force
The Commerce and Consumer Protection (CPN) and Ways and Means (WAM) approved in a unanimous vote to launch of a specialized task force. The two committees of the Hawaii State Legislature want to investigate the use and regulation of the crypto ecosystem. Hawaii Senate president Ron Kouchi received a letter in which legislators, Donovan Dela Cruz and Roz Baker, proposed the creation of a task force. For the first time, the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Task Force was proposed in Bill 2B2695. Bill 2B2695 is titled “A Bill For An Act Relating To Cryptocurrency,” which seeks to establish a task force within the Ministry of Budget and Finance to review and compile nationwide data on crypto and blockchain. The findings and potential legislation will be sent back to the Capitol, signifying a plan...
Bitcoin trader keeps $40.8K BTC price target amid warning over risk asset ‘pain trade’
Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated below $40,000 on May 5 after United States economic policy excitement saw a spike to one-week highs. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Fed sparks little crypto reaction Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed an overnight peak of $40,050 on Bitstamp following comments from the Federal Reserve and Chair Jerome Powell. The U.S. central bank had conformed to market expectations with a 0.5% key rate hike, also suggesting that similar repeat hikes would follow. With that, a modest market rally left Bitcoin eerily lacking volatility in what was a strong contrast to previous Fed pronouncements on topics such as inflation. While many expected risk assets en masse — including crypto — to deflate under the new poli...
Bitcoin celebrates halfway to the halving with new hash rate record
Bitcoin (BTC) marks a milestone mining journey on Thursday, crossing the halfway point on the way to its next halving. In Block number 735,000, mined at approximately 10:29 UTC, Bitcoin crossed the halfway point to the next halving. The block was mined by Poolin, earning 0.16215354 BTC ($6,402.45) in fees. Halvings occur every 210,00 blocks, and May 5 marks the cross-over point into the second leg of 105,000 blocks. For some Bitcoiners, such as Samson Mow, the Bitcoiner pioneering Bitcoin nation-state adoption, the halving is a reminder to stack more SATs: WE ARE HALFWAY TO THE NEXT HALVING AND YOU HAVEN’T STACKED ENOUGH #BITCOIN YET. — Samson Mow (@Excellion) May 5, 2022 The halving cycle is a unique device that envelops the Bitcoin issuance rate. As the Cointelegraph Cry...
DOT rallies 12% in a day as Polkadot gears up to solve a major blockchain hacking problem
Polkadot (DOT) price ticked higher in the past 24 hours on anticipations that its new cross-chain communications protocol would solve a long-standing problem in the blockchain sector. DOT price gains 12% on XCM launch Bulls pushed DOT’s price to $16.44 on May 5 from $14.72 a day before, gaining a little over 12% as they assessed the launch of XCM, a messaging system that allows parachains — individual blockchains that operate in parallel inside the Polkadot ecosystem — to communicate with each other. DOT/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView As Cointelegraph reported, future updates in the XCM protocol would see parachains exchanging messages without relying on Polkadot’s central blockchain, the Relay Chain. That expects to eliminate bridge hacks that have cost the in...
Binance commits $500M to co-invest in Twitter with Elon Musk
Major crypto exchange Binance has participated in Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, according to data filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. On May 5, Musk filed an amended general statement of the acquisition, announcing that Twitter received an aggregate of about $7.2 billion in new financing commitments in connection with the merger agreement, subject to the conditions in co-investor equity commitment letters. According to the document, Binance is one of 18 co-investors in the acquisition alongside major crypto industry players like Sequoia Capital Fund and Fidelity Management and Research Company. Having invested $500 million, Binance is the fourth biggest contributor, following Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust, which invested $1 billion. Sequ...
Kazakhstan ramps up power consumption reporting requirements for crypto miners
The government of Kazakhstan has laid out new reporting requirements for cryptocurrency mining operators with a keen eye on how the industry’s energy usage affects the local power grid. The order published by the country’s Minister of Digital Development earlier this week compels digital mining businesses to provide comprehensive information 30 days before starting operations. The electricity consumption and “technical specifications” for connection to the power grid must be provided before commencing operations. The amount and type of mining equipment used, the customs cargo declarations for that equipment and any investments planned for the next 12 months must also be included. Kazakhstan was flooded with an influx of crypto miners after the Chinese government cracked down on the p...
Shiba Inu has a new use case — Buying land in SHIB: The Metaverse
Holders of the popular memecoin Shiba Inu (SHIB), will now be able to use the cryptocurrency to purchase land in the Shiba metaverse. On Wednesday, the Shiba Inu team took to Twitter to reveal that the SHIB token could now be used to mint parcels of land in the recently unveiled virtual reality project “SHIB: The Metaverse.” New minting option has been released on https://t.co/f2oLn05qWk! Mint lands with $SHIB! Minting with $SHIB Details:0.2 ETH equivalents in $SHIB0.3 ETH equivalents in $SHIB0.5 ETH equivalents in $SHIB1 ETH equivalents in $SHIB#ShibTheMetaverse #ShibMV pic.twitter.com/mOrpwDSkDK — SHIB: The Metaverse (@ShibTheMV) May 4, 2022 There are 100,595 different pieces of land on offer in the SHIB: The Metaverse. Initially it was only possible to purchase land using ETH. Now...
New crypto litigation tracker highlights 300 cases from SafeMoon to Pepe the Frog
A new crypto litigation tracker from commercial law firm Morrison Cohen LLP shows details of more than 300 active and settled court cases since 2013. Morrison Cohen is a New York-based firm that caters to large financial institutions, entrepreneurs and early-growth stage companies, and specializes in capital markets, business litigation, real estate and bankruptcy to name a few. The company also has a cryptocurrency litigation team. The Morrison Cohen Cryptocurrency Litigation Tracker was published on May. 3, and contains any case development related to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and class action/private litigation. The firm stated that it will regularly update the tracker “ to include the ...
Socios signs up Major League Soccer — but it’s not a token effort yet
Fan token platform Socios has partnered with 26 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams to offer fan engagement experiences and rewards, but so far no fan tokens have been announced. The biggest pro soccer league in the U.S. made a joint announcement with Socios on Wednesday detailing that the partnership will help fans gain access to “exclusive rewards, polls, and opportunities” for the 26 partnered MLS clubs. Welcome to https://t.co/2FROhSNgw8, @MLS. pic.twitter.com/340He1OzQA — Socios.com (@socios) May 4, 2022 Although the announcement did not mention any specific fan engagement events, it stated that “MLS envisions that fans will be able to have the chance to win prizes for making correct game-related predictions and for correctly answering questions.” MLS raked in $816 million in total revenu...
