Crypto

Niantic, the developer of the popular augmented reality (AR) mobile game Pokemon Go, is planning to build a “real-world” metaverse with newly raised funding. The company officially announced Monday the completion of a $300-million raise from the technology-focused investment manager Coatue, bringing the company’s valuation to $9 billion. Coatue is known as a major investor in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, backing companies such as blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, cryptocurrency startup Fireblocks, blockchain security firm CertiK and others. The firm has also recently participated in a $555-million funding round for cryptocurrency fintech startup MoonPay. “Niantic is building a platform for AR based on a 3D map of the world that we believe will play a critical ro...

Bitcoin (BTC) whales are moving large amounts of coins to exchanges in tandem with large outflows, curious new data shows.  According to the exchange whale ratio indicator from on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, large transactions have accounted for over 90% of recent exchange deposits. Top 10 deposits make up 90% of exchange inflows In a marked change from previous behavior, over the past week, whales have become much more active prospective sellers on exchanges. The exchange whale ratio, which measures how large the top 10 deposits to exchanges are relative to all deposits, is sounding the alarm. “Whales are depositing BTC to exchanges,” CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju summarized.  “$BTC Exchange Whale Ratio(72h MA) reached 91%. This indicates the top 10 deposits take 91% of the ...

With crypto regulation reportedly set to ramp up in Australia over the next 12 months, Kraken Australia’s Managing Director Jonathon Miller thinks that a strict crypto regime could stifle local competition. The Senate Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Center, led by crypto-friendly Senator Andrew Bragg tabled 12 extensive recommendations for regulation of the digital asset and Fintech industry last month. The proposals included a new licensing regime for crypto exchanges, new laws to govern decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and an overhaul of capital gains tax in decentralized finance (DeFi) to name a few. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Miller said it was “yet to be seen” if the proposed regulations would have a positive or negative effect on ...

Glassnode’s latest weekly on-chain report indicated that long-term holders of Bitcoin (BTC) are at a multi-year high and markets are not yet saturated with profit-taking. These long-term holders (LTH) appear to be reducing their spending while continuing to add to their positions, according to the Nov. 22 report by analytics provider Glassnode. The analysis delved into Spent Volume Age Bands (SVAB), which are used to identify the age of coins dominating the on-chain flows on any given day. The metric can be used to identify when the process of profit-taking or accumulation begins, according to Glassnode. Consistent spending of coins older than one month began in November 2020 and ended between April and May in 2021. The SVAB metric has now fallen back to 2.5% of the daily volume since conc...

As the state of Texas faces a rapid influx of Bitcoin mining operations, its electrical infrastructure will have to support the industry’s expected 5,000 megawatts (MW) of additional power demands by 2023. The Bitcoin mining industry in Texas currently consumes around 500 to 1,000 MW of power. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) anticipates that demand could increase as much as fivefold by 2023 and has planned an additional 3,000 to 5,000 MW according to reports.  This expansion comes as the Lone star state plans to become the home to 20% of the world’s Bitcoin mining operations. Texas emerged as the go-to destination for Bitcoin miners ever since the Chinese government officially banned Bitcoin mining earlier this year. The state government has capitalized on China’s cl...

Matt Comyn, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), said that the bank is more concerned about the risks of missing out on crypto than those associated with its adoption. The CBA is set to become the first of the “big four” banks in Australia to offer crypto-based services, after the company announced on Nov. 3 that it will support the trading of 10 digital assets directly via its banking app. Speaking with Bloomberg TV on Friday, Nov. 19, Comyn was questioned on the CBA’s take on the crypto sector, with the CEO noting that: “We see risks in participating, but we see bigger risks in not participating. It’s important to say that we don’t have a view on the asset price itself, we see it as a very volatile and speculative asset, but we also don’t think that the sector and t...

It takes a lot of energy for miners to verify transactions and mint new blocks on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. According to Statistica, one Bitcoin transaction consumes as much electricity as over 1 million VISA transactions. Moreover, the cryptocurrency’s environmental burden increases even more if the energy used for mining stems from fossil fuels. But SAITech, a Eurasia-based Bitcoin mining operator with headquarters in Singapore, seeks to recycle the waste energy from mining for use in residential, agricultural, and industrial applications. The company is also undergoing a $228 million special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, merger with TradeUP Global Corp for its stock to list on the NASDAQ exchange. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, SAITech’s CEO Arthur...

Sotheby’s, the world’s oldest art and luxury auction house, announced its collaboration with the public health care advocate and nonprofit organization Sostento to auction off its latest NFT collection via the Sotheby’s Metaverse. The auction titled Gifted: The 140 Collection is considered to be Sotheby’s “biggest NFT charity auction ever,” with all of its proceeds going towards Sostento.  The NFTs were originally gifted by Twitter as part of a giveaway of 140 NFTs to 140 random followers in June of this year. Its recipients became known as “The Besties.” Now, 7 of these Besties have elected to sell the full set of 7 NFTs and support Sostento frontline health care workers in their efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose crisis. The NFT giveaway followed Twitter C...

Cooler heads are calling for a collective deep breath and a step back to see the long-term outlook for the future of Bitcoin (BTC) price and the wider crypto market, but today’s drop back under $56,000 is raising eyebrows among traders. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after starting the week near $60,000, several days of bears hammering the price of Bitcoin resulted in a revisit to $55,600. BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView Here’s what analysts have to say about the latest price action from Bitcoin and what to look out for in the days ahead. Keep an eye on the monthly close A closer look at the monthly price action for Bitcoin was discussed by independent market analyst ‘Rekt Capital’, who posted the following chart showing that BTC is close to ...