crypto blog
New Hampshire hopes its express approval of crypto-friendly law will attract new business
The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday to adopt the new version of Chapter 12 of the Universal Commercial Code, or UCC, which will govern transfers of digital assets. The chapter is still in draft form, but if HB1503 is signed into law, New Hampshire will be the first U.S. state to adopt the chapter. Like the draft chapter of the UCC, the bill — titled “Exempting the developer, seller, or facilitator of the exchange of an open blockchain token from certain securities laws” — seeks to create a “workaround” to make it easier to buy and sell cryptocurrencies by stipulating conditions under which “a developer or seller of an open blockchain token shall not be deemed the issuer of a security.” It passed by a vote of 187 to 150. The UCC is a set of model l...
How blockchain intelligence can prevent Russia from evading sanctions
As pointed out by Caroline Malcolm, head of international policy at Chainalysis, the transparent nature of blockchain technology makes it relatively easy for crypto intelligence companies to track funds related to sanctioned entities. “We’re in quite a unique position because of the transparency and the permanency and the immutability of that public record,” explained Malcolm in an exclusive Cointelegraph interview. Governments around the world have expressed concerns that Russia could use crypto to evade sanctions imposed as a response to its military offensive against Ukraine. Addressing those concerns, Malcolm pointed out that in the last few years there has been substantial improvement in the crypto industry’s Anti-Money Laundering and counter-terrorism framewor...
Ukraine passes law legalizing cryptocurrencies
Amid a war with Russia, the Ukrainian government’s Ministry of Digital Transformation released a statement on Wednesday announcing that President Zelenskyy has signed the country’s “virtual assets” law. The law will provide a legal framework for introducing cryptocurrencies. Ukraine’s National Securities and Stock Market Commission will work on creating a national cryptocurrency policy in the country and licensing approved cryptocurrency providers. The update comes after cryptocurrency donations to Ukraine’s war effort surpassed $100 million after an earlier version was rejected by Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s National Securities and Stock Market Commission will regulate the market and providers of virtual assets such as exchanges will be allowed to operat...
Aussie fintech to offer mainstream direct access to DeFi with a fixed rate
Australian fintech company Block Earner has officially gone live, offering everyday investors a 7% fixed rate investment product by utilizing decentralized finance (DeFi) technology. Block Earner has already attracted attention from big names in the crypto industry, finalizing a $6.4 million seed funding round in December last year. It was led by Framework Ventures and joined by Coinbase Ventures, DeFi Alliance, LongHash Ventures and crypto veteran Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix, an Australia-based crypto derivatives exchange. Jordan Momtazi, the co-founder of Block Earner, said in an interview to Cointelegraph that Australia’s current economic climate makes products that offer yields on savings attractive, especially when it is practically impossible to achieve similar returns usi...
Bitcoin maintains $40K support as Fed confirms rate hike in 4 years
Bitcoin (BTC) held $40,000 on March 17 after an anticipated key interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve delivered a strong response. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Fed singles out Ukraine war in inflation comments Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD climbing to local highs of $41,500 after the Fed announced it would raise rates by 25 basis points to 0.5% — the first such move since 2018. The Federal Open Market Committe (FOMC) voted almost unanimously for the raise, with an accompanying statement warning of persisting “upward pressure on inflation” thanks specifically to the war in Ukraine. “The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is causing tremendous human and economic hardship,” it read. “The im...
Exodus crypto wallet starts trading on SEC-registered platform
Major software cryptocurrency wallet Exodus has gone public on the digital asset securities firm Securitize Markets following a $75 million crowdfund capital raise. Exodus’ shares started trading on Securitize on Wednesday, allowing investors from all across the United States and international investors from more than 40 countries to trade the Exodus Class A common stock. Trading under the ticker symbol EXOD, the Exodus Class A common stock is digitally represented on the Algorand blockchain via common stock tokens. Tokenized shares in @Exodus_io are now trading on Securitize Markets. Retail investors included! With 24-7 order placement, 8am-8pm ET trading hours, near-instant deposits and promotional $0 fee trading, get started here: https://t.co/h55WEoAQMr pic.twitter.com/JasA5C7Qbx — Sec...
Web3 will be key to the future of China’s internet, says security regulator
The director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission Yao Qian has called for a special focus on Web3, deeming it to be the future of the internet. Yao published an article titled “Web 3.0: A New Generation of Internet that is Approaching,” talking about the significance of the evolving tech and how the world is at a crucial transition from Web2 to Web3. The article talked about the significance of forward-looking research and strategic infrastructure development. Yao predicted that Web3 will reconstruct the organizational form and business model of the Internet economy and is expected to greatly improve the existing Internet ecosystem, Related: Republican lawmakers introduce bill targeting China’s CBDC on...
Klaytn token down 15% in a month, but network’s TVL shows resilience
Klaytn (KLAY) had a promising start in March 2021, reaching an impressive $11 billion market capitalization following its debut. However, investors have exaggerated their expectations as the token’s current total value stands at $3 billion, down roughly 70%. KLAY/USD on Binance. Source: TradingView Although not as well known as the leading smart contract blockchains, Klaytn remains a top-35 token by capitalization rank. Moreover, the network holds $1.2 billion worth of deposits locked on smart contracts. Capital locked on smart contracts is known in the industry as total value locked, or TVL. Real use cases and strong backing Klaytn is a flexible modular network architecture created by Kakao, a publicly-traded South Korean internet giant. The Asian tech group’s shares are value...
Run-DMC’s McDaniels at SXSW: Blockchain can take the power back for artists
Cointelegraph’s senior reporter, Rachel Wolfson visited South by Southwest (SXSW) — a ten-day annual technology, film and music festival based in Austin, Texas — to connect with, and interview, a melting pot of pioneers, luminaries, and enthusiasts from the crypto, blockchain and Web3 industries. Wolfson spoke to Darryl McDaniels — known culturally as DMC — founding member of the infamous New York hip-hop trio Run-D.M.C, about the group’s illustrious discography, his views on the capitalistic-induced flaws within the traditional music industry, as well as his overarching vision in collaboration with blockchain project The Song That Owns Itself (STOI)) to advance decentralized digital ownership. Run-D.M.C. achieved colossal success across the 80’s and 90’s with m...
Congress members concerned SEC stifling innovation with crypto scrutiny
In a bipartisan letter put forward by Republican Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer, a cohort of Congress members has written to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, challenging the regulator’s scrutiny of cryptocurrency firms and expressing concern that “overburdensome” investigation may be suffocating the crypto industry. They suggest the SEC is drowning companies in paperwork in contravention of the SEC’s stated aims and mandated jurisdiction. Emmer tweeted to his 51,000 followers: “My office has received numerous tips from crypto and blockchain firms that SEC Chair @GaryGensler’s information reporting ‘requests’ to the crypto community are overburdensome, don’t feel particularly… voluntary… and are stifling innovation.” This is why I sent a bipartisa...
Internet Computer founder’s $250M plan to help end the war in Ukraine
Internet Computer (ICP) and DFINITY founder Dominic Williams has conjured up an oddball plan to speed up the end of the Russian invasion of Ukraine via smart contracts and $250 million worth of crypto rewards. DFINITY’s Internet Computer was launched in May 2021 and is a public blockchain and protocol that’s trying to decentralize the internet. Williams’ March 16 proposal is focused on countering propaganda, and informing the Russian population — who he suggests are in general “completely ignorant” — on the reality of what is actually taking place in Ukraine, which will then, in turn, spur them on to pressure the government to stop the conflict. “We should not hold out too much hope that sanctions alone will turn the Russian population against their leaders, for the simple reason tha...
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirms Instagram users could soon mint NFTs
Mark Zuckerberg says Instagram will bring functionality such as minting Avatar clothes into NFTs The social will support natively minted NFTs and imported ones CEO and co-founder of Meta (formerly Facebook) Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed a long-running rumour that the mammoth tech firm is looking to explore initiatives around NFTs. Zuckerberg was speaking at the ongoing South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, during which he confirmed that the digital collectables would be coming to Instagram. The internet entrepreneur did not provide any specific date by which he expects the collectables to launch on the media-sharing app. He, however, indicated that it should be within the coming months. The new feature will likely allow Instagram users to display NFTs they currently own an...
