Crypto
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NCA wants regulation for coin mixers, but the crypto industry is already one step ahead
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) seeks to regulate the crypto coin mixers under the country’s laws against money laundering. Coin mixing tools are popular in the decentralized world as they maintain the privacy of transactions. These tools often mix several transactions to obscure the origin of a particular transaction. Then the recipient receives the transactions from a mixing “black box” comprised of hundreds of transactions from various wallets. While privacy-focused, these tools often face regulators’ ire as they are also a known way for hackers and criminals to wash their funds. Gary Cathcart, the NCA’s head of financial investigation, claimed that these transaction mixing tools offer a layer of anonymity to criminals that can be use...
LimeWire chooses Algorand to host its relaunch as an NFT marketplace
The imminent LimeWire marketplace would be initially focused on music collectables The marketplace chose Algorand for energy efficiency, carbon-negative state, scalability, safety and speed Following the announcement of its comeback as a mainstream-ready NFT marketplace focused on music collectables last week, LimeWire has now chosen the Algorand blockchain to power the platform. LimeWire explained that it settled on Algorand for its sustainable blockchain environment. As a PoS chain, Algorand is one of the most environmentally friendly blockchains and became the first carbon-negative chain last year. Also, as LimeWire intends to offer free minting, Algorand’s performance and scalability will come in handy. “We have partnered with Algorand as our official blockchain partner. Wh...
Bitcoin’s current price trend is reflective of its pattern before last year’s huge downturn, analyst observes
Crypto Capo believes an extended third wave of the current correction could push BTC to achieve bearish targets as low as $21k FTM and LUNA are both showing signs of a further downward correction Well-known crypto markets analyst, Crypto Capo, has said that Bitcoin’s recent recovery in the markets during the February mini-surge could soon be defied by a strong descent move. He notes that the BTC market is showing a similar pattern as it did during the massive correction of May 2021. Capo adds that February’s relief rally and the successive price action is evocative of the period before when the market nosedived, starting May last year and eventually pitting bottom below $30k in July. BTC/USD trading chart A more recent update from the crypto analyst indicates that Bi...
Binance is now a licensed virtual asset service provider in Bahrain
The score is Binance’s first regulatory approval in the Gulf as a VASP The exchange has been courting the Middle East with initiatives in countries within the region, including Dubai Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is stretching its wings in the Middle East further. The exchange announced on Monday that it had won full approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to legally operate in the Kingdom of Bahrain. By receiving the licence, Binance became the first crypto asset provider allowed to offer fully regulated services within the larger Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). The Bahrain approval comes amidst efforts by Binance to seek regulatory approval and compliance around the world. CEO of the exchange, Changpeng Zhao, explained th...
Ethereum ‘Merge’ edging closer with final Kiln testnet launch
The much-anticipated ‘Merge’ on the Ethereum network is another step closer to becoming a reality after the final public testnet Kiln launched to put it through its paces. On March 14, the Ethereum Foundation urged network stakeholders to run tests using Kiln “to ensure a smooth transition on existing public testnets.” “We strongly recommend that developers run through a full testing & deployment cycle on Kiln and report any issues with tools or dependencies to those projects’ maintainers.” Ethereum developer Tim Beiko confirmed that Kiln has gone live and will soon be ready to merge with the Beacon Chain in a March 14 tweet. The testnet launched late last week in proof-of-work mode only. Kiln, the next iteration of Ethereum merge testnets, is now live Highly recommended that node oper...
Binance awarded Bahrain crypto service provider license
Crypto exchange Binance will provide fully regulated services to its first country in the Middle East thanks to a license granted by Bahrain’s central bank. Bahrain was able to issue the license through the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). The world’s largest exchange and CEO Changpeng Zhao announced the crypto-asset service provider license on March 14. #TeamBahrain.#Binance has been granted the first license for a global crypto-asset provider in The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) by the Central Bank of Bahrain. pic.twitter.com/Ndnb4xhA5y — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) March 14, 2022 Binance’s new license allows it to offer crypto services, including trading, custody, and portfolio management for customers in the Middle East’s smallest econ...
Blockchain forensics firm finds millions in sanctioned crypto wallet
Blockchain security and forensics firm Elliptic has been working with authorities to expose crypto wallets affiliated with sanctioned individuals or organizations. The United Kingdom-based company has discovered a wallet with “significant crypto-asset holdings” in the millions of dollars that may be linked to sanctioned Russian officials and oligarchs. Speaking to Bloomberg on March 14, Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson said that crypto could be used for sanctions evasion. However, it has been widely reported and generally accepted now that Russia is very unlikely to pivot to crypto assets to circumvent them. The report did not specify the exact value of the crypto in the wallet it discovered or the nature of the assets it held. Robinson added that the scale of the use of crypto is in...
Short term Bitcoin buyers transition to long term holders: Glassnode
Over the past week, long-term holders of Bitcoin increased their spending to a level that suggests de-risking from the market, but hodling remains the predominant investing strategy. Uncertain macroeconomic headwinds are likely to have precipitated the increase in the sell-offs last week by long-term holders and shaken some short-term holders out of their positions according to data from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode. Last week, coins older than six months accounted for 5% of total spending, which is a level not seen since last November. Short-term holders (STH) who have held coins for less than 155 days continue to decline in number, but not necessarily due to selling. Glassnode suggests that while it is generally more common for STH to sell, the recent decline in STH supply “can on...
Mila Kunis’ studio debuts an NFT-backed animated web series ‘The Gimmicks’
A public NFT mint is planned for Friday, via which users could get one of 10,000 NFTs to join the show’s community Holders would be able to vote on the direction the show’s story takes Web 3 animated studio Toonstar has partnered with actress Mila Kunis’ production studio, Sixth Wall, to launch an animated wrestling show that follows the lives of retired professional wrestlers, The Gimmicks. The show’s creators aim to build an NFT community around The Gimmicks, whose members would vote on which path the storyline should take next at the end of every episode. The show, loosely described as ‘South Park meets WWE, but interactive and greasier’ by Toonstar CEO John Attanasio, was conceptualised following the release of athletes by WWE at the onset of the COV...
Blockchain play-and-earn games focus on building even as NFT prices fall
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were in a strong bull run from Jan. 1 to mid-February. During this time, OpenSea volumes topped $5 billion and then fell to $3.6 billion toward the end of February. This could have been a sign that the overall sentiment of the crypto and NFT market was correcting. As Q2 approaches, the total volumes and sales for NFTs have been in decline, leading new entrants and investors to wonder whether the sector is dying. According to data from DappRadar, OpenSea trading volumes have dropped nearly 11% in the last week and so far, the total volume on the marketplace continues to cool off as the number of users dropped by 13% in the last 30 days. It seems the NFT community has realized that it has exhausted options for blue-chip derivatives and investors are looki...
Bitcoin’s got 3 strikes, but investors remain calm despite price drop
After Bitcoin (BTC) faced its third consecutive rejection, investors became more confident in adding altcoin positions. For the leading cryptocurrency, the path to $50,000 appears more challenging than previously expected. According to Euronews Next, on March 14, the European Union rejected a proposed rule that could have banned the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining algorithm used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Several EU parliamentarians have been pushing to ban PoW mining over energy concerns. BTC/USD price at FTX. Source: TradingView In terms of performance, the aggregate market capitalization of all cryptos was relatively flat over the past seven days, registering a modest 0.4% gain to $1.77 trillion. However, the apparent lack of performance in the overall market doe...
How Chainalysis helps in crypto monitoring and blockchain analysis?
Chainalysis has five different types of products that help in monitoring crypto assets. These are Chainalysis Business Data, Chainalysis KYT, Chainalysis Kryptos, Chainalysis Market Intel and Chainalysis Reactor. Chainalysis Business Data Chainalysis Business Data gives crypto companies an extra layer of customer intelligence, allowing them to understand their customers before and after leaving their platforms, customize product offerings and enhance customer experience. Furthermore, it allows companies to find the most avenues impacting the business and making data-driven decisions. Data is updated on a regular basis to ensure that relevant adjustments are made in response to the changing ecosystem. A simple data warehouse integration allows you to augment current information to...
