Crypto news
Central Bank of Jordan reveals CBDC plans
Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has revealed that it is researching issuing a digital currency. The central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be linked to the Jordanian dinar and have legal standing. Adel Al Sharkas, the governor of CBJ, has reportedly stated that his institution is researching the option of creating a legal digital currency. He also predicted that cryptocurrency trading might eventually be permitted in Jordan once the appropriate legislation is in place. He said: “With regards to the plans to issue a Jordanian digital currency, a study is underway to develop a legal digital currency linked to Jordanian dinar. It is possible in the future to allow cryptocurrency trading, after enacting [the] legislation and regulations.” Per the report, Sharkas’ comments were made duri...
Russia houses $200B worth of crypto, Kremlin estimates
Russian citizens reportedly own 16.5 trillion rubles ($214 billion) worth of cryptocurrencies, according to government estimates. A Bloomberg report noted that Russians own about 12% of the total global crypto holdings. The crypto holdings estimates were calculated by analyzing IP addresses of some of the most significant crypto exchange users in the country along with a few other data points, said two people working with Kremlin. The crypto holdings analysis of Russian citizens is being carried out to get an overview of the crypto market and formulate new regulations. The proposals are yet to be finalized. The estimates are believed to be on the lower side, given crypto regulations are not yet clear in the country and many users prefer to use anonymous tools to carry out their transa...
Solana Pay launches to expand crypto e-commerce market
Solana Pay is a peer-to-peer payments infrastructure designed to enable the global market of online merchants and point-of-sale providers the ability to accept and settle payment transactions in a panoply of digital assets. A joint collaboration between Solana Labs, Checkout.com, Circle and Citcon, in addition to wallet integrations from Phantom and FTX, the platform’s inbuilt software development kit acts as an intermediary between traditional fiat-centric businesses and the cryptocurrency sector, promising to promote wider engagement and adoption from traditional consumers. In an exclusive statement, Solana Pay revealed that they perceive the “most prevalent use-case to be with digital dollar currencies” such as Circle’s USDC stablecoin, but also are enabling the option of Solana-related...
Can Ethereum price reach $4K after a triple-support bounce?
Ethereum’s native token Ether (ETH) looks ready to continue its ongoing rebound move toward $4,000, according to a technical setup shared by independent market analyst Wolf. Classic bullish reversal pattern in the works? The pseudonymous chart analyst discussed the role of at least three support levels in pushing the ETH price up by nearly 30% from its local bottom of $2,160. These price floors included a 21-month exponential moving average, the 0.786 Fib level of a Fibonacci retracement graph drawn from $1,716-swing low to $4,772-swing high, and the lower boundary of an ascending triangle pattern. ETH/USD daily price chart featuring the three-supports. Source: TradingView Wolf noted that the triple-support scenario could push Ether price to $3,330. In doing so, ...
Meta calls it a wrap on Diem project, pockets $182M from its sale
Rumours about the Menlo Park-based tech company looking for a buyer of the project started circulating last week The project, formerly Libra, faced many regulatory stumbling blocks throughout its life, prompting a rebrand to Diem at some point Last week’s unconfirmed reports of Meta looking to sell assets and intellectual property under the Diem project have been verified. Yesterday, the Diem Group revealed it was abandoning the stable coin venture after agreeing to a $182 million sales deal of its technology. The Facebook-backed digital currency project was bought by Silvergate Capital, a California-based innovative financial infrastructure solutions and services provider with a keen interest in the digital currency industry. The company wrapped the deal by paying $50 million and is...
DFINITY-based Internet Computer unveils Bitcoin and Ethereum integration plans
Internet Computer will integrate Bitcoin via the ‘Chromium Satoshi Release’ before the end of Q1 this year The Ethereum integration would not come until Q3 when the ‘Vanadium Vitalik Release’ is run DFINITY Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports the public blockchain Internet Computer, has released its roadmap for 2022. The release detailed that Internet Computer plans to develop Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains integrations. This would effectively cut out the current need for a bridge, eliminating a potential loophole for ill-intentioned actors. “The ICP [and] BTC integration will prompt a new wave of DeFi applications built to leverage the world’s largest cryptocurrency,” a tweet from the DFINITY Foundation read. Unlocking the power ...
Cardano has established a bearish trend, crypto analyst forewarns
A popular crypto analyst has projected that BTC would drop below $30k before it eventually bounces above $40k. He also tips off that Cardano’s ADA has carved a clear bearish path and could fall towards the support at either $0.80 or $0.65. Capo, a pseudonymous crypto analyst on Twitter, has told 240,000-large following that crypto assets are yet to come out of the bearish run. Change of tune on the leading cryptocurrency The analyst was initially bullish on Bitcoin, predicting that it would first rally beyond 40k before potentially seeing a bearish outturn. However, he has now changed his view and instead sees the flagship cryptocurrency directly plunging. “Whales are adding supply and removing bids below the current price. It seems that it will go just straight down without to...
Tusk Ventures CEO: Don’t repeat social media mistakes with Metaverse regulations
Tusk Ventures CEO and founder Bradley Tusk says that the failure to regulate cryptocurrency and social media effectively in the United States is a “really good lesson for how we should handle the Metaverse.” In a Feb. 1 interview on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Tusk urged U.S. policymakers to “get ahead” of the Metaverse and implement regulations sooner rather than later. “Typically speaking, our policy has been that we wait for technology to be introduced to gain market fit and traction [before introducing regulation].” However, “It’s very hard to do that retrospectively,” he said. “We know the Metaverse is coming — it’s already here in some ways. We know it’s got all the problems of the internet, probably times five or ten. So why don’t we think about it now, and get ahead of it?” He echoed th...
Yield Guild Games Raises $1.45M for Philippine Typhoon Relief
Yield Guild Games (YGG) has raised $1.45 million to support people affected by December 16’s Typhoon Odette in the Philippines, with nearly $1 million already dispersed to people in need. The funding was used to purchase essential goods like medicines, power generators, and canned food, which were turned over to the Philippine Army and Navy and non-profits to distribute among affected communities. There is still about $458,000 worth of crypto and tokens that have been donated to the relief fund but they have yet to be converted to fiat currency for deployment, according to a representative from YGG. Our Transparency Report for Typhoon #OdettePH relief efforts is up! @yieldguild raised $1.45M and has so far disbursed a total of $992K to date. Meanwhile, our direct financial assistance...
Circle’s USDC stablecoin gobbles Tether’s market share with 50B milestone
The world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization keeps on growing as it erodes the dominance of the current leader, Tether. The stablecoin landscape is a constantly-shifting dynamic but one trend has become clear over the past year or so — Tether’s dominance is diminishing. Its main rival, Circle, has just reached a milestone of 50 billion USDC in circulation according to CoinGecko and a Feb. 1 tweet by company co-founder and CEO, Jeremy Allaire. 50 BILLION USDC (w/ thread below) pic.twitter.com/5FEaPmXjup — Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) February 1, 2022 Allaire said that while this is a massive number, “it’s the massive growth and ecosystem around it that tells the broader story.” He added that USDC has seen 10,000% growth over the past two years. The total stablecoin s...
Bitcoin Network Transaction Volume Surpasses American Express: Research
New research has found that the annual transaction volume on the Bitcoin network surpassed that of some well-known card networks, such as American Express (AmEx) and Discover, during 2021. The NYDIG Research Weekly’s Jan. 29 report stated that Bitcoin processed $3 trillion worth of payments during 2021, placing it above popular credit card networks American Express ($1.3 trillion) and Discover ($0.5 trillion). The report authors, NYDIG Global Head of Research Greg Cipolaro and Research Analyst Ethan Kochav, also found that the Bitcoin network had settled more transaction volume in Q1 2021 than “all credit card networks combined for the entire year.” “This is astonishing growth, in our opinion, for a payment network that just had its 13th birthday,” they wrote. American Express issued its f...
COVID restrictions stymie digital yuan rollout at Beijing Winter Olympics: Report
Though athletes and support staff arriving for the Beijing 2022 Olympics still have the option of using digital currency for payments at many venues, the international test run of China’s CBDC is reportedly facing hurdles due to the pandemic. According to a Monday report from CNN, athletes, officials and journalists for the country’s Olympics games are largely separated from the population of China in a quarantine “bubble” to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These precautions combined with the Chinese government deciding to limit the number of in-person spectators may result in far fewer people testing the digital yuan as a method of payment at the major event. “The Olympic Games would have been the first real chance for tourists and Chinese nationals alike to familiarize themselves w...
