Crypto

Decentralized finance (DeFi) offers one of the most widely applicable use-cases for distributed ledger technology and today it is one of the main avenues for the wider adoption of blockchain technology. Last week, as the wider crypto market corrected and Bitcoin (BTC) dropped by 22%, DeFiChain (DFI) bucked the trend and rallied 76% to establish a new high at $5.70 on Dec. 6 as its 24-hour trading volume surged from an average of $3.6 million to $24.3 million. DFI/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Three reasons for the price breakout for DFI include the launch of decentralized assets on the DFI mainnet, a surge in transactions and users on the network and an increase in the total value locked on the protocol. Traders pile into decentralized stocks and cryptocurrencies The biggest sourc...

French crypto-friendly fintech startup Lydia has raised $100 million in a Series C funding round, per a report in TechCrunch.  The latest capital raise reportedly helped Lydia attain unicorn status with a valuation of over $1 billion.  The $100-million fundraise comes nearly a year after its Series B funding round of $86 million in December 2020. The round was led by investors Tencent and Accel and saw participation from Dragoneer and Echo Street. The fintech startup aims to use the fresh capital to expand its footprint in Europe. The firm hopes to have onboarded 10 million Europeans by 2025. Lydia did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. The app started as a peer-to-peer mobile payments app and later expanded to include cashback and personal loans. The...

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. Sometimes a project’s name tells you all you need to know about it, no matter how niche. Take Kryptomon, for example, the NFT game that recently completed a 24-hour sale in one second. You understand, based on its name, that some kinds of cutesy monstrosities evolving and fighting one another must be involved, and you know it must be blockchain-based. Clear, concise and to the point. Facebook’s new name, Meta, doesn’t exactly fit on the same shelf. Granted, it does make clear that the company is setting sail for the Metaverse, but this destination sti...

The House Committee on Financial Services heard from several chief executive officers at major crypto firms in the United States, some of whom seemed to present a united front in urging lawmakers to provide a clear regulatory framework for crypto. Speaking at a Wednesday hearing on Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Bitfury CEO Brian Brooks, Paxos CEO Chad Cascarilla, Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon, and Alesia Haas, the CEO of Coinbase Inc. and the CFO of Coinbase Global, told U.S. lawmakers about the challenges their companies faced as both stablecoin issuers and digital asset exchanges. [embedded content] In a written state...

Bitcoin (BTC) recovered from a dip below $50,000 on Dec. 8 as Wall St. trading opened on a fresh bullish note. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Bitcoin market ditches “extreme fear” Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView captured a classic rally for BTC/USD on hourly timeframes, gaining $2,000 in a single one-hour candle. The pair had hit daily lows of $48,656 on Bitstamp before a dramatic trend change brought back the psychologically significant $50,000 level. Buckle up — Zhu Su (@zhusu) December 8, 2021 #Bitcoin held crucial level and continues probably to a new test at $51.6K and $53.6K. Nice! — Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) December 8, 2021 As positive signals began to emerge from well-known names on social media, sen...

National Iceland electrical company Landsvirkjun has cut the amount of power it will provide for some industries, including aluminium smelters and Bitcoin miners. A representative from the island’s power utility reported it has been forced to reduce energy allocations to southwestern Bitcoin miners and various industrial facilities due to a series of issues including a problem at a power station, low hydro-reservoir levels and accessing energy from an external supplier. Mining operations have long been attracted to the country due to its abundance of geothermal energy which is harvested to create a cheap and plentiful supply of renewable energy. But from Dec. 7 for an unknown period of time, any new requests for electricity from mining operations will be rejected, according to Landsvirkjun...

Bitcoin (BTC) retained $50,000 as support overnight into Dec. 8 amid confidence that the 2021 bull market was not yet over.  BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Silver lining for BTC weekly Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD testing but failing to crack through $50,000 after reaching local highs of $51,990 on Bitstamp Tuesday. The pair had accelerated at the start of trading on Wall Street, adding to existing gains from Sunday to give BTC  some short-term relief. Now, however, it was time to consult longer timeframes to get a clearer picture of Bitcoin market health, according to trader and analyst Rekt Capital. In his latest YouTube video, Rekt Capital eyed the weekly chart to reveal what appeared to be a previous...

Payments giants Visa is launching new consulting and advisory services in a move to help its clients navigate the world of cryptocurrencies.  The firm said on Dec. 8 that its crypto advisory practice, housed within its consulting and analytics division, will offer advice to financial institutions, retailers and other firms on everything from rolling out crypto features and exploring nonfungible tokens, to developing wallets for central bank digital currencies. According to Visa, part of banks’ interest in cryptocurrencies is in remaining competitive. Citing a recent in-house study, Visa said that “40% of crypto owners surveyed report they would be likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto-related products in the next 12 months.” Per Reuters, Am...

The United States House Committee on Financial Services released a memorandum detailing the points of discussion during the hybrid hearing on digital assets, to be held today at 10:00 a.m. ET. Addressing the members of the Financial Services Committee, the memo confirmed that the hearing will dedicate one panel to six executives from the crypto community as witnesses. The list includes Circle’s Jeremy Allaire, FTX’s Samuel Bankman-Fried, Bitfury Group’s Brian Brooks, Paxos’ Charles Cascarilla, Stellar’s Denelle Dixon and Coinbase’s Alesia Jeanne Haas. The hearing, entitled “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States,” seeks to discuss four key aspects related to crypto exchanges: stablecoin offerings, reg...

The cryptocurrency market is back in high spirits on Dec. 7 after the wider market bounced back from the Dec. 3 downturn in Bitcoin (BTC) price. Currently, bulls are aiming to send the price of BTC above the $52,000 support/resistance level and Ether (ETH) is trying to reclaim $4,400 but both assets are encountering push back at overhead resistance.  Even with BTC and ETH consolidating, traders’ change of sentiment has been a boon for altcoins and many have seen gains in excess of 50% within the past 24-hours. Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that a few of the biggest gainers over the past 24 hours were SuperFarm (SUPER), PolkaBridge (PBR) and BitTorrent (BTT)....

French video game publisher Ubisoft announced its first foray into nonfungible tokens (NFTs) via a new platform called Ubisoft Quartz to launch in beta this week with Ghost Recon Breakpoint for PC players on Ubisoft Connect.  Introducing Ubisoft Quartz We’re bringing the first energy efficient NFTs playable in a AAA game to Ghost Recon: Breakpoint! Try it in the beta from December 9 with three free cosmetic drops and learn more here: https://t.co/ysEoYUI4HY pic.twitter.com/owSFE2ALuS — Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) December 7, 2021 Related: Microsoft muscles into the metaverse with Teams updates and Xbox upgrades According to a statement shared on the Ubisoft website, players can get collectible pieces of Ubisoft game worlds called Digits, which are “the first NFTs playable in AAA games an...