Crypto news
British regulator lists FTX crypto exchange as ‘unauthorized’ firm
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the chief financial regulator in the United Kingdom, issued a warning to Bahama-based crypto exchange FTX, claiming it operates without authorization. The company joined a growing list of unregistered cryptocurrency-related businesses that continue to outweigh those signed up with the FCA. A warning note, dated Sept. 16, claims that the firm “may be providing financial services or products in the UK without authorization.” Addressing the potential customers, the FCA notes that they won’t be able to get their money back or seek the protection of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme “if things go wrong.” By the end of August, the list of crypto companies registered with the FCA included 37 entities, with the Crypto.com becoming the latest to...
Waves founder: DAOs will never work without fixing governance
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have been heralded as the future of governance, unlocking a more egalitarian approach to decision-making. However, decentralizing leadership isn’t a magical solution that instantly leads to better results. To truly get the most out of a decentralized organization, steps must be taken to regulate weighted voting and tokenomics. If not carefully balanced, DAOs can implode — and some already have. Decentralized governance explained DAOs offer a model for managing a project or company that distributes voting rights across all members. There is usually no central authority, only the will of the collective. While this sounds equitable in theory, the opposite can be true for certain governance models. Perhaps most problematic of all structures a...
Here is why a 0.75% Fed rate hike could be bullish for Bitcoin and altcoins
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite index suffered their worst weekly performance since June as investors remain concerned that the Federal Reserve will have to continue with its aggressive monetary policy to curb inflation and that could lead to a recession in the United States. Bitcoin (BTC) remains closely correlated to the S&P 500 and is on track to fall more than 9% this week. If this correlation continues, it could bring more pain to the cryptocurrency markets because Goldman Sachs strategist Sharon Bell cautioned that aggressive rate hikes could trigger a 26% fall in the S&P 500. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 The majority expect the Fed to hike rates by 75 basis points in the next meeting on Sept. 20 to Sept. 21 but the FedWatch Tool shows an 18% probab...
Terra co-founder Do Kwon says he’s not ‘on the run’
Do Kwon, the co-founder of the Terra ecosystem, took to Twitter on Saturday asserting he’s “not ‘on the run’ or anything similar” after the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said Kwon wasn’t in the city-state. On Sept. 14, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and five other associates for alleged violations of the country’s capital markets laws. All were known to be in Singapore at the time, with prosecutors also attempting to revoke their passports a day later on Sept. 15. “For any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide,” Kwon tweeted. I am not “on the run” or anything similar – for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t hav...
Bandai Namco, SEGA among gaming giants eyeing blockchain gaming
Japanese gaming giants are positioning for mainstream blockchain game adoption, and will not be swayed by the section of gamers that are against crypto and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), an exec from the Oasys blockchain project told Cointelegraph. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the 2022 Tokyo Games Show last week, Oasys Representative Director Ryo Matsubara emphasized that the project’s big-name partners such as Bandai Namco, Sega and Square Enix are not just jumping on the crypto bandwagon —there’s a long-term vision for blockchain-based Play-to-Earn (P2E) gaming: “We have a shared vision about blockchain at the executive level. They don’t [want to] change that policy. They really understand the future adoption of blockchain. They’re not thinking about, you know, j...
Influential celebrities that joined the crypto club over the past year
The inclusive crypto ecosystem has become home to numerous A-list celebrities over the years — primarily driven by the nonfungible tokens (NFT) hype of 2021. However, despite the prolonged bear market and an evident dip in cryptocurrency prices, celebrities continue to pour in support for the crypto market. Over the past year, celebrities have started exploring sub-ecosystems beyond NFTs, trying to diversify their presence across trading, gaming and other investment avenues. In this light, here’s an overview of some of the most influential celebrities that got into crypto over the past year and how well-prepared they are for the next bull run. Connor McGregor partners with Tiger.Trade UFC superstar Connor McGregor, one of the highest-paid athletes, recently partnered with Tiger.Trade...
Goldman Sachs’ bearish macro outlook puts Bitcoin at risk of crashing to $12K
A sequence of macro warnings coming out of the Goldman Sachs camp puts Bitcoin (BTC) at a risk of crashing to $12,000. Bitcoin in “bottom phase?” A team of Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius raised their prediction for the speed of Federal Reserve benchmark rate hikes. They noted that the U.S. central bank would increase rates by 0.75% in September and 0.5% in November, up from their previous forecast of 0.5% and 0.25%, respectively. Fed’s rate-hike path has played a key role in determining Bitcoin’s price trends in 2022. The period of higher lending rates — from near zero to the 2.25-2.5% range now — has prompted investors to rotate out of riskier assets and seek shelter in safer alternatives like cash. Bitcoin has dropped by almost 60% year-to-date and is...
NFTs will bring crypto to billions of users, explains VC investor
Avichal Garg, the CEO and co-founder of Electric Capital, defines himself as “an NFT maximalist” – who believes that nonfungible tokens (NFTs) will play an essential role in bringing crypto to the masses. Unlike other crypto niches, NFTs are relatable to aspects of everyday life such as art, music and games. “I could imagine that NFTs are actually many billions of people because it’s ultimately culture. And that’s something that everybody can participate in and everybody can understand,” said Garg in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. [embedded content] In particular, Garg is bullish about NFTs being used in the gaming industry, which he sees growing at an exponential pace. “In 18-24 months from now, I think we’re just going to see this onslaught of (N...
Business owners should get off PayPal and move to the blockchain
Do you believe that in five years every second transaction in e-commerce will be settled on blockchain? No? Well, that’s what people thought of plastic credit cards versus cash a few decades ago when it came to traditional stores. There is no doubt that Web3 will drastically transform the way e-commerce operates. Using cryptocurrency payments in e-commerce stores will become just as common as accepting PayPal, Klarna, Visa or Mastercard. Stores that don’t adapt their e-commerce platforms to accept cryptocurrencies will soon find themselves out of business. How Web3 has changed the e-commerce landscape Thanks to the converging forces of Web3 — blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), AI and machine learning — new, smart algorithms can analyze and adapt to provide user-centric experie...
South Korean ministry recommends enactment of special Metaverse laws
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of South Korea revealed plans to move away from imposing traditional video gaming laws on the Metaverse. Instead, the ministry decided to issue new guidelines for incentivizing the growth of the budding ecosystem. South Korea’s interest in garnering Web3 and the Metaverse ecosystems is evidenced by the $200 million investment it made for the creation of an in-house Metaverse. Running parallel to this effort, the MSIT identified that imposing older regulations serve as a deterrent to the growth of new ecosystems. In the first meeting of the National Data Policy committee, MSIT noted that “We will not make the mistake of regulating a new service with existing law.” However, discussions around designating the Metaverse as a video game are still on the ta...
Flashbots build over 82% relay blocks, adding to Ethereum centralization
Following the completion of The Merge upgrade, Ethereum (ETH) transitioned into a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, helping the blockchain become energy efficient and secure. However, mining data reveals Ethereum’s heavy reliance on Flashbots — a single server — for building blocks, raising concerns over a single point of failure for the ecosystem. Flashbots is a centralized entity dedicated to transparent and efficient Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) extraction, which acts as a relay for delivering Ethereum blocks. Data from mevboost.org show that there are six active relays currently delivering at least one block in Ethereum, namely Flashbots, BloXroute Max Profit, BloXroute Ethical, BloXroute Regulated, Blocknative and Eden. Relays sorted by number of delivered blocks. Source:&n...
Dogecoin has crashed 75% against Bitcoin since Elon Musk’s SNL appearance
Dogecoin (DOGE) may be back in the top-ten cryptocurrency by market capitalization, but its loses in both USD and Bitcoin (BTC) terms since Elon Musk’s SNL appearance are considerable. Dogecoin loses Musk-effect The DOGE/BTC trading pair has fallen 75% after peaking out at 1,287 satoshis on May 9, 2021, a day after Musk was a guest host on Saturday Night Live, including a sketch titled “The Dogefather.” DOGE/BTC daily price chart. Source: TradingView Before his appearance, the billionaire entrepreneur was relentlessly tweeting Dogecoin memes, images, which helped DOGE — a cryptocurrency that started out as a joke — to attain a market capitalization north of $90 billion in May 2021. That’s more than 36,000% gains in just two years. But things have gone downhill ever since. ...
