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Canadian investment firm plans to plant trees matching buys in Bitcoin ETF
Accelerate Financial Technologies is planning to match each investment in its pending Bitcoin exchange-traded fund with the planting of thousands of trees. According to a Friday report from Bloomberg, the Calgary-based investment services company has pledged to plant 3,450 trees for every $1 million CAD — roughly $792,000 at the time of publication — invested in its Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, or ETF. The move is part of Accelerate’s aim to have its Bitcoin ETF be carbon negative — that is, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the energy required for Bitcoin mining and transactions would create. The company claims each major investment would result in the offset of 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Accelerate chief investment officer Julian Klymochko pushed back agains...
Powell walks high wire as Fed plans to ease support for Biden’s economy
“With vaccinations rising, schools reopening, and enhanced unemployment benefits ending, some factors that may be holding back job seekers are likely fading,” Powell said. “While the Delta variant presents a near-term risk, the prospects are good for continued progress toward maximum employment.” Powell made clear that even if the Fed begins to slow its asset purchases, that doesn’t mean it’s close to raising interest rates, saying there was “much ground to cover” in the labor market recovery. “It’s best for Fed policy for him to be as forthright as possible without scaring anyone, which also happens to be what’s best for him politically,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said before the speech. Biden’s presidency is riding on his pledge to both defeat the virus and res...
China to ‘maintain a high-pressure situation’ on crypto, official says
China has reportedly doubled down on its crypto crackdown with a public reminder stating that Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital currencies “are not legal tender and have no actual value.” In a local media briefing, Yin Youping, the deputy director of the Financial Consumer Rights Protection Bureau of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), said the central bank will maintain a “high-pressure situation” and continue to crack down on digital currency-related transactions. At the briefing session, which was coincidently held during China’s “Financial Knowledge Popularization Month,” Youping stated that digital currency-related transactions are pure investment hype. Youping said that the public should increase its risk awareness and stay away from crypto investments. Despite the government’s continue...
Cuba set to recognize and regulate cryptocurrency
The Cuban government is reportedly planning to recognize and regulate cryptocurrencies for payments. According to Aljazeera, the Caribbean nation’s central bank will establish rules for mainstreaming cryptocurrency transactions. Cuban authorities are also expected to distribute relevant licenses to businesses based on the crypto-related services they provide. Some sources claim that the move to allow cryptocurrency as a legal tender has been well received by Cuba’s tech-savvy population as the country had to temporarily stop accepting cash bank deposits in United States dollars, given tighter restrictions set by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Struggling economies, such as El Salvador, have also started mainstreaming Bitcoin (BTC) adoption. On Monday, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ...
Nomura offers customers token subscription service for a luxury Italian restaurant
Japan’s largest financial brokerage, Nomura Holdings Inc., has launched a subscription service offering customers the opportunity to purchase and trade food dishes at a high-end Italian food delivery service. The blockchain-based security tokens represent four luxury food parcels from Japanese chef Masayuki Okuda. Owner of two established restaurants in the capital, Tokyo, Okuda is known for his idiosyncratic cooking style, often presenting his clients with niche delicacies, including olive-fed beef and zusayama chicory. Annual subscriptions to the Italian restaurant cost 60,000 Japanese yen, which is equivalent to $546, in addition to an up-front membership payment of 3,000 yen ($27.30). According to the service’s website, dishes available for customers on the delivery menu include pumpki...
Binance lawsuit: Claimants mount up in arbitration for decentralization
When does decentralization stop being an experiment in technological democracy and start being a way to avoid accountability? That’s the question at the heart of a potential $100 million arbitration lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Binance, where close to 1,000 traders seek damages for losses suffered during the site’s outage on May 19. Binance experienced technical issues for several hours on May 19 amid one of the worst market crashes of the year as the global cryptocurrency market suffered a 33% drop. Traders were unable to execute trades for the duration of Binance’s outage, and many found their accounts depleted when the site came back online. Binance’s click-through terms of use absolve it of any responsibility for losses incurred by new users upon registering with the e...
Weekly analysis: ETH, LINK and IOTA looking to overturn recent losses
The cryptocurrency market has sustained losses over the past few days, but the momentum is becoming positive as we head into the weekend The cryptocurrency market has seen bearish sentiment over the past few days, with Bitcoin’s price dropping below $46,000 earlier this week. Ether also dropped below the $3,100 level as the negative movement continued. However, the market is slowly starting to recover as we enter the weekend. The prices of Ether, Chainlink and IOTA are entering the green zone and could record more gains over the weekend. Ethereum price outlook Ether is trading above the $3,100 mark after rising by less than 1% over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency would need to move above the $3,133 pivot to ensure it surpasses the $3,211 major resistance point over the coming hours. ...
Monthly report: regulatory pressure and adoption dominate August
The cryptocurrency space recorded massive adoption in August despite some regulatory agencies clamping down on the activities of cryptocurrency service providers More financial institutions are getting in on cryptocurrency One of the most interesting trends in August is the continued adoption of cryptocurrencies by institutional investors. MicroStrategy confirmed its status as perhaps the most bullish corporate entity in the cryptocurrency space after spending another $177 million on Bitcoin. Over the past few months, the company has bought Bitcoin worth nearly $3 billion, making it one of the biggest holders of the cryptocurrency. The company holds over 100,000 bitcoins, worth over $5 billion. Financial institutions also got in on the act of adopting cryptocurrencies. Citigroup is expecte...
Want Guitar Lessons From Metallica? Yousician Launches New Artist Series
“I’ve partnered with Yousician because I hope that anyone at any age feels that now is the right time to learn,” said Mraz in a statement. “Yousician makes it so easy to learn and play. It’s like having a friend to personally guide you on your musical journey.” Hadley Spanier, head of brand marketing and artist relations at Yousician who joined the company in January 2020 after a stint as senior vp and head of marketing at UMG’s Verve Label Group, calls the Spotlight series a “natural progression” for the growing platform, which currently boasts a combined 20 million users across Yousician and its associated guitar-tuning app GuitarTuna. Spanier tells Billboard the initiative grew out of a series of live virtual sessions the platform hosted last year, which saw artists includin...
AID:Tech to use Circle in fraud-proof disaster relief delivery
The company uses digital ID and blockchain technology to deliver international aid and disbursements Financial services company AID:Tech announced yesterday that it will be using the payment rails of stablecoin issuer Circle to provide fraud-resistant disaster relief delivery in USDC. AID:Tech aims to reduce inequality and increase opportunity by bringing accountability and transparency to the distribution of federal relief. They became the first company to use blockchain technology to deliver international aid in 2015. Those in need can easily access and receive data and payments directly with AID:Tech’s technology and the company has worked with development banks, governmental bodies and charities such as St. Vincent de Paul Disaster Services and Women’s World Banking. CEO of St. Vincent...
‘Surveillance state’: Australian police given sweeping new hacking powers
Sweeping legislation allowing officials from the Australian Federal Police and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to target suspected criminals online has passed through the country’s parliament with bipartisan support. On August 25, the Identify and Disrupt bill passed through Australia’s Senate, introducing three new warrants allowing authorities to take unprecedented action against suspected cybercriminals. The new warrants include authorizing police to hack the personal computers and networks of suspected criminals, seize control of their online accounts and identities, and disrupt their data. Home Affairs Minister, Karen Andrews, praised the broad expansion of powers available to Australian authorities targeting cyber actors. “Under our changes, the AFP will have more tools t...
Turkish prosecutors investigate alleged $119M Dogecoin mining scam
Turkish media reports that authorities there are investigating an alleged Dogecoin mining scam that pulled the rug on investors after amassing $119 million worth of deposits. An Aug. 23rd report from local channel TV100 broke the news, with police identifying pseudonymous online avatar “Turgut V.” as the scheme’s suspected operator. Authorities believe that Turgut and 11 associates managed to gather close to 350 million Dogecoin valued at $119 million before disappearing. Turgut reportedly solicited investments from 1,500 Turkish citizens, drumming up excitement for the Dogecoin “mining” operation at in-person networking events held at ritzy locations, and by using a Telegram group online. Investors were promised returns of 100% in 40 days and reportedly paid returns for around 3 mon...
