Crypto news
Splinterlands CEO on recent milestone: ‘we look forward to achieve more of these’
Splinterlands, currently ranked as the top blockchain game according to Dappradar, said in a recent press release it hit 2.32 million daily rentals on April 15. The concept of Splinterlands is simple: it is an NFT trading card game that lets users own their cards and other game assets. It is powered by the HIVE blockchain and gamers use their cards to battle for rewards, hold them as collectibles, and trade with each other, among other features. The rental concept Splinterlands launched in mid-2021 a concept in which users can rent or lend their digital cards directly through its website on a daily basis. This not only allows users to save money by renting cards but also offers gamers the ability to generate revenue through the lending process. According to Splinterland’s press relea...
High-growth crypto exchange Currency.com announces foray into US
Currency.com, the exchange helping users connect with the booming world of cryptocurrencies, has announced an expansion into the US, Coin Text learned from a press release. US clients will be able to access the website from 1 May 2022. Strong global growth Currency.com’s expansion into the US is a consequence of impressive global growth. In 2021, its trading activity was up by 445% year-over-year. The total number of trades carried out on the crypto exchange grew by 409% in the same period. Simplified onboarding, fiat-to-crypto wallet Currency.com US will feature a faster, more streamlined onboarding procedure and fiat-to-crypto payment gateways. This makes US clients the first to benefit from faster and simpler onboarding and more effective performance. Currency.com US ...
A dozen Bitcoin ATMs installed at the largest EU electronics retailer
Austrians have “sufficient funds” for more Bitcoin ATMs — that’s the verdict that MediaMarkt, a German electronics retailer, reached following a successful Bitcoin ATM pilot in Austria. MediaMarkt has rolled out Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs in 12 branches across the country, including Seiersberg and Klagenfurt. Confinity and its spinoff ATM company, Kurant, manage over 200 Bitcoin ATMs in Austria, Germany, Spain and Greece. Kurant’s Head of Marketing & Sales, Europe, Thomas Sperneder told Cointelegraph: “MediaMarkt stores across the country have been equipped with Bitcoin vending machines. In total, these are now present in twelve markets and enable the simple and secure purchase of cryptocurrencies.” A Bitcoin ATM in Austria. Source: Kurant A successful pilot project fea...
Russian central bank needs to ease up digital asset projects, governor says
Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, has admitted that Russia’s central bank might have taken a bit too tough a stance on digital assets and should look to reconsider that. On Thursday, the Russian State Duma reappointed Nabiullina as Bank of Russia governor, marking the third time for her to take the post since she started serving in the position back in 2013. At the official Duma session, Nabiullina talked about many measures that Russia has been taking and is planning to adopt in order to help the government mitigate the impact of massive Western sanctions against the Russian economy. As part of the government’s measures to maintain the economy, the Bank of Russia is working to bring the topic of digital financial assets to a “working state,” Nabiullina stated. She emphasi...
More institutions are looking to invest in crypto, says NEAR Foundation CEO
Cointelegraph’s Joseph Hall interviewed Marieke Flament, the CEO of NEAR Foundation at the Paris Blockchain Week Sumit (PWBS) last week, discussing a range of topics such as the struggle by institutional investors to understand how they can participate in the crypto space. Hall and Flament talked about how institutional investors are trying to learn about crypto to understand how they can enter the market. According to Flament, as more Web2 companies get into Web3, other institutional players are forced to think about what these events mean for their businesses. “We are seeing a very strong appetite from institutional investors to understand the space, to understand where they can participate.” Flament also noted that regulation will play a very significant role in the decision-makin...
As labor struggle takes center stage, can DAOs democratize work?
Web3 has given rise to a number of innovative business models. In particular, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have started gaining traction as Web3 as the creator economy comes to fruition. Natalie Salemink, CEO and founder of Prismatic — a tooling and treasury management platform for DAOs — told Cointelegraph that DAOs are internet-native organizations that utilize smart contracts to facilitate coordination and governance in pursuit of a common goal. When it comes to traditional businesses, though, one of the most interesting aspects a DAO structure can provide is leadership based on computer-generated code rather than individual authority. The idea of operating a business without any central governance has become especially intriguing to brick and mortar compani...
Nifty News: Grow-to-earn with Snoop — and is Dorsey’s tweet priceless or worthless?
The nonfungible token (NFT) of the first ever tweet made on Twitter by founder Jack Dorsey is currently struggling to attract a bid even 1% of its sale price last year. The iconic “genesis tweet” was sold for 1,630 Ether (ETH) valued at $2.9 million about a year ago on March 22, 2021. The highest current bid for this attempt to auction it is 10.3 ETH worth about $31,739 on NFT marketplace OpenSea. The nonfungible token (NFT) of the first ever tweet made on Twitter by founder Jack Dorsey is currently struggling to attract a bid even 1% of its auction price last year. The genesis tweet made on Twitter by founder Jack Dorsey. Its owner, Bridge Oracle founder Sina Estavi hoped the tweet would generate at least $50 million dollars, half of which he said he would donate to charity after closing ...
AUSTRAC releases 2 new guides to help spot illicit crypto use
Australian financial compliance enforcement agency AUSTRAC has released two new guides to help entities to spot when customers are using crypto for illicit means, or when they are being forced to pay the creators of ransomware. But it warned that debanking customers merely on suspicion of such activity was a harmful practice with serious negative effects. In an announcement posted earlier today, AUSTRAC noted that the growing acceptance, value and adoption of crypto and blockchain tech has been accompanied by an increase in cybercrime. “Cyber-enabled crime is an increasing threat to Australians. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), 500 ransomware attacks were reported in the 2020-21 financial year, an increase of nearly 15 percent from the previous year,” AUSTRAC state...
German banking giant Commerzbank applies for crypto license
One of the largest banking institutions in Germany has confirmed it applied for a local crypto license earlier this year, marking the first time a major bank has made a move toward cryptocurrencies in the country. A spokesperson from Commerzbank confirmed to local media outlet Börsen-Zeitung on April 14 that it “applied for the crypto custody license in the first quarter of 2022.” If approved it would be authorized to offer exchange services along with custody and protection of crypto-assets. Commerzbank serves over 18 million customers and over 70,000 institutional clients, and the cryptocurrency offering will reportedly target its institutional client base. Since Jan. 1 2020 any business wishing to offer cryptocurrency services in Germany must first seek approval from the Federal Financi...
US investors realized 6X more crypto gains in 2021 than next country
Crypto investors from the United States realized crypto gains nearly six times higher in total than the UK, the second highest country in terms of realized gains. According to a report by Chainalysis, crypto investors in the US accrued a record $46.9 billion in realized gains throughout 2021, leading the rest of the world by a wide margin. The US is followed at quite some distance by the UK at $8.1 billion and Germany on $5.8 billion. Total realized cryptocurrency gains 2021: Chainalysis. The report comes as global cryptocurrency adoption continues to gain widespread traction. The US witnessed a massive increase in adoption and realized gains, with the total estimated gains for 2021 up 476% from $8.1 billion the year before. Special mentions were given to countries that outperformed ...
US Treasury Dept lists crypto mining firm in latest sanctions against Russia
The United States Treasury Department has added Russia-based crypto mining services provider BitRiver and several subsidiaries as firms facilitating the evasion of sanctions. In a Wednesday announcement, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said it was taking action against BitRiver AG as well as 10 of its Russia-based subsidiaries, naming the companies as ‘Specially Designated Nationals’. Firms and individuals listed as such by OFAC have their assets blocked and “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.” According to the U.S. Treasury, the actions against BitRiver and its subsidiaries were based on them allegedly facilitating “sanctions evasion for Russian entities,” hinting crypto may have played a role in helping Russia’s govern...
Analysts say Bitcoin has ‘already capitulated,’ target $41.3K as the most hold level
Traders’ struggle to build sustainable bullish momentum persisted across the cryptocurrency market on April 20 after prices slid lower during the afternoon trading session and ApeCoin (APE) appaers to be one of the few tokens that is defying the current market-wide downturn. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that an early morning attempt by Bitcoin (BTC) bulls to breakout above $42,000 was soundly rejected by bears, resulting in a pullback to a daily low of $40,825 before the price was bid back above $41,000. BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView Here’s a look at what several market analysts are saying about the weakness in Bitcoin and what levels traders are looking at as a good spot for opening new positions. Whales accumulate near $...
