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Earlier today, the Celsius network halted all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between its users’ accounts, citing extreme market conditions. Now, rival crypto lending firm Nexo is extending a letter of intent to buy all the company’s eligible assets.  Trouble in paradise One of the leading cryptocurrency lenders – Celsius Network – is facing major problems. Citing “extreme market conditions”, the company halted all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between its users’ accounts, causing a stir within the crypto community. Shortly thereafter, a rival company – Nexo – sent a letter of intent to “purchase residual qualifying assets” from Celsius Network.  Nexo, its partners and affiliates could easily acquire some or all of the eligible outstanding loan receivables secured by the...

The British government wants to tackle the risks of, among other things, stablecoins. That’s not surprising, given the chaos that Terra’s stablecoin (UST) has caused. A document issued by the UK Treasury Department states that existing ‘regulatory regimes’ can be applied to unregulated digital payment instruments. Managing risks In the new document, released Tuesday, the ministry proposed using existing regulatory regimes to mitigate the risks posed by stablecoins and other crypto. The document started on a positive note. Namely, by reiterating the UK government’s commitment to crypto innovation. In addition, it was also highlighted that stablecoins must be recognized by law. While the collapse of UST probably played a large part in the creation of this document, it is not mentioned anywhe...

Balenciaga is going after Gucci. The brand revealed that it now accepts payment in cryptocurrency. They are starting this in the US, and will then roll out this option to other countries. “Other regions will follow” Balenciaga will initially only accept crypto in its flagship stores, including on Madison Avenue in New York and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. In addition, you may already be able to pay with crypto in the US on the website: balenciaga.com. Other regions and e-commerce will follow, the company said, according to WWD. The fashion house is going after Tag Heuer and Gucci, who recently also started accepting crypto for their products. The latter brand will also first start a pilot in the US, before focusing on other countries. The fashion house is still deciding which payment solu...

Sweden’s central bank, otherwise known as Sveriges Riksbank, has recently delved deeper into Bitcoin (BTC) to determine whether the king’s coin can be classified as a currency. It stated that it must meet three criteria to be considered a currency, namely: store of value, means of payment and unit of account. No reliable store of value The central bank indicated that Bitcoin is not a reliable store of value due to its volatile nature. It said the following: “If an asset acts as a store of value, you have to be confident that you can buy about as much today for, say, 100 Swedish kronor as tomorrow. Bitcoin’s price has had a high level of volatility and so is a relatively poor protector.” The Riksbank also indicated that despite being accepted as a means of payment in a small number of place...

Nigeria wants more clarity on digital currency trading. That is why the country has released new rules for crypto. Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission published “rules on the issuance, platform offering and custody of digital assets” for virtual technologies, the commission said on its website. Second-largest trading volume These rules apply to digital assets regulated by the SEC. By providing more clarity on these rules, it could increase trade in the country, according to Bloomberg. It might be better to say: increase even more. Nigeria is responsible for the second-largest crypto trading volume in the world, according to Bloomberg. “Nigeria accounts for the largest volume of cryptocurrency transactions outside the US,” the article reads. The only dubious thing about this statem...

Spotify, the leading music streaming platform, is ready to enter the realm of Web 3.0. The music streaming giant has joined forces with the popular game Roblox to offer its users a virtual universe experience. “Roblox fans, pack your bags,” the reveal read. Music meets nature Spotify encourages users of the digital universe to visit their new island. Additionally, Spotify’s metaverse in Roblox has a green, nature-focused design and features Spotify’s signature colour scheme, to give those using the Spotify app a familiar feeling. Launched on May 3, Spotify invites its users to perform various tasks to “climb the charts”, or in this case the Roblox leaderboard. Once on Spotify Island, users can do a number of things: Unlock four items for free, experiment with the magic of sound in a crysta...

A total of $37 billion was sent to NFT marketplaces in first four months of the year, compared to $41 billion during all of 2021 Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs lead the way, with three of the top five projects by volume April’s Otherside project is already the fifth-largest project in history by volume NFTs on course for $111 billion in volume this year As the cryptocurrency market reels from the bloodbath of this week (looking at you, Terra), Cointext thought it would be prudent to take a step back and assess how far it has come. Perhaps no sector has seen as much progress as NFTs. By May 1st, there had been  $37 billion sent to NFT marketplaces so far this year. That already places it on the brink of overtaking the entire total from 2021, which landed at $41 billion, accordi...