Crypto news
Russian protest group Pussy Riot seeks to tackle gender inequality in the NFT space
Russian punk rock collective Pussy Riot is planning to launch a DAO for LBTQ+ and women artists. As the group’s co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova told Cointelegraph, the DAO will be working on reducing the gender inequality that still marks the nonfungible token (NFT) space and, more broadly, the crypto industry. Despite the large gender gap in crypto — around 60% of US crypto investors are white men, according to a survey from August 2021 — Nadya is convinced that it is still early enough for Pussy Riot to make an impact. “The NFT space is still so small, I feel that with a good enough effort you can actually change it,” she said. Nadya is already using her follower base to promote the work of women and LGBTQ+ artists and connect them with potential collectors. The DAO will continue doi...
Northwest Arkansas offering $10K in Bitcoin to attract remote workers
The Northwest Arkansas Council, consisting of business leaders aimed at promoting development in the region, has announced a crypto incentive program to bring in tech professionals and entrepreneurs willing to work remotely. In a Wednesday announcement, council president and CEO Nelson Peacock said the area would be looking to expand its range of talent in the tech industry by offering $10,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) — roughly 0.23 BTC at the current price of $43,610 — in addition to a bicycle or membership to arts and cultural facilities. The “Bitcoin and a Bike” program, the next stage of the area’s Life Works Here initiative, is specifically aimed at embracing professionals in blockchain-related fields. The program will offer the crypto incentive to qualifying individuals willing to live for a...
Price analysis 1/12: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, ADA, XRP, LUNA, DOT, AVAX, DOGE
Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins appear to have started a relief rally. Glassnode data suggests that Bitcoin addresses with a non-zero balance have risen to about 40 million, indicating increasing adoption by retail traders. Edelman Financial Engines founder Ric Edelman said that the number of Americans owning Bitcoin could rise from 24% currently to one-third by 2022. He expects this to happen as “Bitcoin is becoming more and more mainstream. People are hearing about it everywhere — it isn’t going away.” Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 The investors buying Bitcoin seem to be in it for the long haul if the outflows from major exchanges are any indication. CryptoQuant data shows outflows of 29,371 BTC on Jan. 11, the highest withdrawals since Sep. 10. Could the...
Bitcoin funding rates stay negative as BTC price spikes to $43.5K
Bitcoin (BTC) surged almost $1,000 in minutes on Jan. 12 as encouraging signs emerged from exchanges. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $43,468 Wednesday, its highest since Jan. 6. The pair had been due to continue volatile moves, traders said, with more and more favoring a push higher rather than a renewed downside. This would likely come in the form of a “short squeeze” against latecomer shorters, they argued, and Wednesday’s sudden wick higher appeared to support the theory. Funding rates across derivatives platforms stayed either neutral or negative during the volatility, further hinting that the market had been overly betting on fresh losses. Bitcoin funding rates chart. Source: C...
Retail is pushing the Bitcoin price up, says Ledger CEO
As crypto prices recover after a slump last week, Pascal Gauthier, CEO of crypto wallet firm Ledger, addressed questions relating to the state of the crypto market. In an interview taken by CNBC at the Crypto Finance Conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Gauthier said the situation panning out with Bitcoin (BTC) comes as no surprise. The retail trend is prominent and it’s “always the same.” He explained: “The number of addresses with the minimum number of BTC is actually growing compared to the number of whales. There is a profound retail trend everywhere in the world; they trust Bitcoin more and more. It’s the people that will push the price up.” Recent data from on-chain market intelligence provider Glassnode supports the claim. The number of BTC addresses with...
Wiki contributors want to drop crypto donations over environmental concerns
Back in 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation started accepting crypto donations through Bitpay, but three years later, the nonprofit organization behind Wikipedia is facing pressure from contributors to disable the option over environmental concerns. A proposal submitted by Molly White (GorillaWarfare) urges the foundation to stop accepting crypto. According to White, accepting crypto does not align with Wikimedia’s commitments to making active efforts to improve environmental sustainability. White suggested that the acceptance of crypto echoes as an “endorsement of the cryptocurrency space” by Wikimedia and its members while noting that there are risks of damaging the organization’s reputation because of its continued acceptance of crypto. Discussions immediately ensued. Wiki ...
Seba Bank raises $119M in Series C funding
Seba Bank, a Swiss-based digital assets banking platform regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, announced on Wednesday that it had completed a successful Series C funding round of 110 million Swiss franc, or $119 million U.S. dollars. Notable investors in the round included cryptocurrency exchange FTX, quantitative digital currency trading firm Alameda Research, decentralized finance asset management firm DeFi Technologies, and venture capital entities such as Altive, Ordway Selections and Summer Capital. The bank said it plans to use the funds to fuel international growth and drive demand from institutional investors in the digital assets industry. Seba has been at the forefront of crypto innovation in Switzerland. In September 2021, the firm was granted the f...
Bitfarm reveals it bought the dip during the early January market slump
The mining firm received a $100 million loan from Galaxy Digital at the end of last year Canada-based bitcoin miner Bitfarms said in a statement released on Monday that it purchased bitcoins as markets sunk by as much as 12% in January’s first week. Explaining the company’s strategy, CEO and founder Emiliano Grodzki held that Bitfarms intends to stack as much Bitcoin as possible in the shortest time possible. “With the dip in bitcoin, we seized the opportunity to move cash into BTC,” the Bitfarms executive explained, adding, “Our guiding company strategy at Bitfarms is to accumulate the most Bitcoin for the lowest cost and in the fastest amount of time for the benefit of our shareholders.” The mining firm had minted 363 BTC last month and 339 i...
The wait is coming to an end: Fed chair promises crypto report release in ‘coming weeks’
The release of the Federal Reserve report touching on digital currency development and crypto regulations has experienced several delays Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee yesterday during his nomination hearing that the much-awaited crypto report is now within weeks of publication despite recent delays. Directing his statement to Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, Powell explained that the report was not yet “quite where [it] needed to” be but insisted that it would get released soon nonetheless. “It’s more going to be an exercise in asking questions and seeking input from the public rather than taking a lot of positions on various issues, although we do take some positions. The report really is ready to go, and I would expect we will drop...
IMF notes that crypto evolution is heightening financial stability worries
The monetary authority is proposing a global regulatory framework to alleviate the financial stability risks posed by crypto and its assurgent adoption In a blog post published on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) penned that as crypto markets are growing, there is an equivalent increase in the correlation between cryptocurrencies and the financial markets. The coronavirus pandemic redefined correlations in the investment landscape Pre COVID-19, the IMF explained, there was little relation between crypto assets like Bitcoin and the stocks. As such, they were considered good options as a hedge against inflation for investors. However, with time the pandemic pushed financial systems to the extremes, causing the central bank to enact policies to ease the strain. Afterward, both c...
Meta poaches staff from Microsoft and Apple for Metaverse plans
Employees from Microsoft and Apple are jumping ship to join Meta Platforms as the company sets its sights on creating the Metaverse. According to former employees of Microsoft quoted by the Wall Street Journal, around 100 people have ditched the tech giant’s augmented reality team over the past year to join Meta Platforms. They claim that Meta has been particularly focused on snapping up people who have worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headsets. According to the WSJ, Linkedin profiles show that more than 70 people who were part of Microsoft’s HoloLens team have left the project over the past year, with more than 40 of them taking on new positions at Meta. Microsoft’s first mover advantage in the AR space makes its employees valuable assets to Meta. Microsoft announced ...
Republic of Palau and Cryptic Labs launch digital residency program
The Republic of Palau and blockchain development firm Cryptic Labs announced the launch of the Root Name System (RNS), a digital residency program on Tuesday. To inaugurate the partnership between Palau, Cryptic Labs and the sovereign-backed digital residency program, Palau’s President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. signed an agreement to grant “all global users” digital residency through the RNS under the country’s Digital Residency Act. The Republic of Palau is located in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of about 340 islands inhabited by 18,221 residents. President Whipps said: “Our Digital Residency Program will have capacity for internationally recognized standards of identity verification to ensure that Palau upholds the rule of law and our reputational integrity. We welcome all gl...
