Crypto

South Korea’s public pension fund, the Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU), is reportedly looking to gain exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) via a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF). KTCU, one of the largest institutional investors in South Korea, is considering investing in a pure Bitcoin ETF or Bitcoin-linked ETFs in the first half of 2022, local news agency The Korea Economic Daily reported Monday. According to the report, KTCU is considering investing in several Bitcoin ETF products, including those by South Korean asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments. The company launched two ETFs tracking the value of Bitcoin futures via its Canadian subsidiary Horizons ETFs in April 2021. “As there are some well-made cryptocurrency-linked ETF products by asset managers such as Korea’s Mirae A...

Payment companies are increasing their presence within the cryptocurrency space as the industry continues to grow. Crypto trading platform Bakkt has partnered with card giant Mastercard to broaden the cryptocurrency services they offer to their partners. The partnership will see the duo roll out a series of cryptocurrency tools aimed at financial institutions. According to The Wall Street Journal report yesterday, the initiative is to offer quick access to cryptocurrency features. The companies said the partnership is designed to make it easier for banks, fintech firms and other merchants to offer and accept cryptocurrency payment. Banks and other financial institutions that issue Mastercard cards can also issue cryptocurrency debit or credit cards, allowing people to make payments and ear...

Ecosystem development funds have become one of the latest market-moving trends in the crypto sector and protocols with large treasuries have discovered that  reward and incentive programs are one of the best ways to attract new users and protocols to a project.  One protocol that has recently seen its token price rally following the release of an ecosystem development grant is Harmony (ONE), a blockchain protocol focused on improving scalability between networks. The project uses cross-sharded contracts and a cross-chain infrastructure between multiple blockchains including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT) and the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low near $0.095 on Aug. 30, the price of ONE has ...

Tesla, the majo electric vehicle manufacturer headed by Dogecoin proselytizer Elon Musk, has hinted that it may soon look to restore support for crypto payments. In a September quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), the firm stated it “may in the future restart the practice of transacting in cryptocurrencies,” suggesting Tesla is eying resuming support purchases made using digital assets. The company also expressed its long-term belief in crypto assets as a store of value and means of payment, stating: “We believe in the long term potential of digital assets both as an investment and also as a liquid alternative to cash.” Tesla previously accepted Bitcoin as payment for electric vehicle purchases between January and March of this year. The move came...

U.S. regulatory bodies have reportedly agreed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will lead the United States’ efforts to regulate the stablecoin sector. According to an Oct. 26 Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources “familiar with the matter,” the SEC has reached an agreement with other U.S. agencies to take the reins on proposing legislation and overseeing the stablecoin industry. The sources add that the SEC’s newfound “significant authority” over the sector will be formally announced in the Treasury Department’s forthcoming stablecoin report that is scheduled to be published this week. The report will also clarify the regulatory jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Treasury Department with regard to stable tokens. The Treasury’s report wa...

The share price of the Intercontinental Exchange-backed crypto services company Bakkt ($BKKT) has surged as it unveiled two partnerships with major global payments firms. On Monday 25 Oct., Mastercard announced it would be working with digital asset platform Bakkt to allow its customers based in the United States to buy, sell and hold digital assets through custodial wallets. On the same day, global payment provider Fiserv also announced a strategic collaboration with Bakkt to offer merchant-facing digital asset services. The news drove a bullish day of trading for BKKT, with the stock rallying by more than 50% outside of regular trading hours from Friday Oct. 22’s closing price of $9.15, before surging a further 120% to close out Monday Oct. 25 at $30.60. While Bakkt’s debut on the New Yo...

Smart contract ecosystem Near Protocol has earmarked $800 million for new funding initiatives aimed at growing its decentralized finance capabilities, offering the latest evidence that the highly lucrative DeFi market is still in its infancy.  The new funding, which includes the $350 million grants program announced by Proximity Labs last week, gives ecosystem developers added incentive to create new product offerings on Near, the company announced Monday. Roughly $250 million will be allocated to existing ecosystem developers; another $100 million is earmarked for startup grants, with Near planning to fund more than 20 startups at a rate of $5 million each. The remaining $100 million will be spent on so-called regional funds across Asia, Europe and the United States. Value locked in ...

The cryptocurrency market is abuzz on Oct. 25 as the sight of multiple altcoins hitting new all-time highs and Bitcoin’s (BTC) return to $63,000 has traders looking for a resumption of the bullish uptrend. Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24 hours were PARSIQ (PRQ), Handshake (HNS) and NEAR Protocol (NEAR). PARSIQ advocates for interoperability between networks PARSIQ is a blockchain-based analytics platform that specializes in connecting blockchain activity to real-world applications. According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for PRQ have been favorable for some time. The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Coi...

Digital currency exchange Crypto.com has donated $1 million to water.org, a clean-water initiative co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White in 2009. The direct donation will go toward supporting Water.org’s mission of ending the global water crisis by providing safe water and sanitation to people in need, the companies announced Monday. The partnership is also aimed at exposing Water.org to Crypto.com’s more than 10 million users, who are also being encouraged to donate to the project. Damon cited the ongoing financial transformation brought on by cryptocurrency as one of the chief motivations for partnering with Crypto.com. “As our financial solutions and platforms evolve, we can use them for good,” he said. “Crypto.com and Water.org are both working toward positive transformation, and our...

Electric services provider the Ameren Corporation announced Monday that it has successfully mined upwards of 20 Bitcoin using excess energy generated by one of its coal-based power plants — the Sioux Energy Center in West Alton, Missouri. While the company set up the data center used to mine the coins back in April, it did not publicly announce the addition until today. Its half-megawatt mining facility taps into the Sioux Energy Energy Center’s 972 MW generation capacity to complete the necessary proof-of-work based mining activities. Ameren’s goals in launching the operation appear to have been to stop a decline in the power plant’s energy generation, and to provide the company with a new revenue stream. When mining began in April, the power plant was allegedly running at a mere 17% of i...