United States
Jack Dorsey on UBI: Bitcoin encourages transparency, long-term thinking
Twitter co-founder and Block (previously Square) CEO Jack Dorsey discussed the implications of a Bitcoin (BTC)-powered universal basic income (UBI) strategy with US congressional candidate and a full-time elementary school teacher, Aarika Rhodes. “Obscurity of information forces and incentivizes people to negative (financial) behaviors that don’t work for them, their community or family,” said Dorsey while pointing out the lack of transparency within the existing centralized financial system. “If there’s one thing to focus on in Bitcoin — the operations are transparent, the code is transparent, the policy is transparent.” This base foundation of BTC is what Dorsey believes has the potential to solve numerous use cases and problems as a direct result of using fiat currency. Through bu...
America COMPETES Act passes House without ‘disastrous’ provision on crypto
A piece of legislation aimed at addressing supply chain issues to keep the U.S. economy and businesses competitive has passed the House of Representatives — without a provision many in the crypto space had criticized for giving the Treasury Secretary authority to shut down exchanges. In a 222-210 vote on Friday, the House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act mostly along party lines. The provision originally proposed by Connecticut Representative Jim Himes would seemingly have allowed the Treasury Secretary to have fewer limits on surveilling financial institutions with suspected transactions connected to money laundering and not open the matter to include public feedback. However, lawmakers modified the wording earlier this week to safeguard restrictions currently under by t...
Blockchain startups grow as global VC funding generated $25.2B in 2021
Last year was impressive for blockchain startups, as research from CB Insights found that venture capital funding reached new heights during every quarter of 2021. According to CB Insights’ “State Of Blockchain 2021” report, $25.2 billion worth of venture capital funding went to global blockchain startups last year, demonstrating a 713% increase from $3.1 billion in 2020. The report also found that the United States led the greatest amount of funding deals in Q4 of last year, generating $6.26 billion for 157 deals. The document notes that global growth was driven by increasing consumer and institutional demand for crypto-related products and services. VC funding focused on crypto adoption Chris Bendtsen, a senior analyst at CB Insights, told Cointelegraph that CB Insights’ report con...
US lawmakers reintroduce bill to stop IRS from taxing crypto transactions under $200
A bill previously introduced by Washington Representative Suzan DelBene aims to exempt crypto users from paying taxes on transactions under $200. According to a Tuesday draft of the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act of 2022, Washington Representative Suzan DelBene is seeking to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude gains from certain personal transactions of virtual currency. If signed into law, the bill could stop the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, from requiring U.S. filers to pay taxes on capital gains from crypto transactions of $200 or more. “Antiquated regulations around virtual currency do not take into account its potential for use in our daily lives, instead treating it more like a stock or ETF,” said DelBene. “Virtual currency has evolved rapidly in the past few y...
USA vs Honduras prediction: World Cup qualifier betting tips, odds and free bet
HONDURAS travel to Minnesota tomorrow to take on the USA, in a match the Americans must win to keep their World Cup qualification hopes on track. Match Info Date: Thursday, February 3rd Kick-Off: 00:30am GMT, Allianz Field, Minnesota Bet £10 Get £50 in bonuses with bet365 Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. USA vs Honduras predictions There’s a huge gulf in difference between the US and Honduras. The US are second in the group and need a win to stay ahead of the teams close behind them, while Honduras are at rock bottom, with no wins so far in the final round of qualifying. It’s clear...
USA vs Honduras prediction: World Cup qualifier betting tips, odds and free bet
HONDURAS travel to Minnesota tomorrow to take on the USA, in a match the Americans must win to keep their World Cup qualification hopes on track. Match Info Date: Thursday, February 3rd Kick-Off: 00:30am GMT, Allianz Field, Minnesota Bet £10 Get £50 in bonuses with bet365 Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. USA vs Honduras predictions There’s a huge gulf in difference between the US and Honduras. The US are second in the group and need a win to stay ahead of the teams close behind them, while Honduras are at rock bottom, with no wins so far in the final round of qualifying. It’s clear...
USA vs Honduras prediction: World Cup qualifier betting tips, odds and free bet
HONDURAS travel to Minnesota tomorrow to take on the USA, in a match the Americans must win to keep their World Cup qualification hopes on track. Match Info Date: Thursday, February 3rd Kick-Off: 00:30am GMT, Allianz Field, Minnesota Bet £10 Get £50 in bonuses with bet365 Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. USA vs Honduras predictions There’s a huge gulf in difference between the US and Honduras. The US are second in the group and need a win to stay ahead of the teams close behind them, while Honduras are at rock bottom, with no wins so far in the final round of qualifying. It’s clear...
SEC’s proposed rule on exchanges could threaten DeFi, says Crypto Mom
Hester Peirce, a commissioner for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission known by many in the space as Crypto Mom, is warning that a proposed rule from the agency could potentially affect the regulation of firms involved with decentralized finance. According to a Tuesday Bloomberg report, Peirce said that the 654-page proposal recently released by the SEC to amend the definition of “exchange” as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 could impact the digital asset space. The SEC commissioner reportedly opposed opening the proposal to public comment and said the text could impose additional regulations on decentralized finance, or DeFi, firms. “The proposal includes very expansive language, which, together with the chair’s apparent interest in regulating all things crypto, sugg...
Law Decoded: Russia flounders, America competes, IMF keeps fuming, Jan. 24–31
One of the most fascinating implications of the collision between traditional political institutions and the crypto space is how it can reveal the glaring lack of cohesion within power systems that otherwise look monolithic. Digital assets reside in a parallel policy dimension where neither a centralized consensus nor a clear rulebook exists, leading to a surprising variety of voices and opinions emerging in the absence of a politically coordinated course. Last week, a rare lively policy debate broke out in Russia in the aftermath of its central bank’s attempt to promote a hardline stance on crypto. One does not often see such a public interagency disagreement on substantive issues. Below is the concise version of the latest “Law Decoded” newsletter. For the full breakdown of policy develo...
UNICEF calls for child safeguards amid mainstream crypto adoption
The United Nations Children’s Fund has called for incorporating child safeguards into online child protection initiatives, citing financial and exploitative threats posed by unregulated crypto markets. UNICEF’s “Prospects for children in 2022” report, which examines the impact of global trends on children, anticipates further mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies — “demonstrating both the promise of greater financial inclusion and the need for new child safeguards.” Source: UNICEF The report shows that digital currencies have gained widespread interest in 87 countries by the end of 2021, with the majority of jurisdictions experimenting on their own versions of a central bank digital currency. UNICEF expects a similar growth trajectory in 2022, as the report states: “A potentia...
Canada vs USA prediction: World Cup Qualifiers betting tips, odds and free bet
Canada will be looking to pick up a win against the United States when the two sides meet in the World Cup qualifiers on Sunday. Match Info Date: 30th January 2022 Kick-off: 20:05 pm BST, Tim Hortons Field. Bet £10 on Canada vs USA Get £40 In Free Bets Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. Canada vs USA Prediction Canada are coming into this game on the back of a 2-0 win over Honduras and they have been quite impressive in their recent outings. The home side are currently unbeaten in their last six qualifiers and they will be confident of picking up all three points here. Meanwhile, the Unite...
Bitcoin miners believe global hash rate to grow ‘aggressively’
Bitcoin (BTC) seems to be on everyone’s mind lately as the world recently witnessed the price of BTC take a rather unexpected bearish turn this month. On January 21, 2022, Bitcoin reached six-month lows, sinking below $40,000 for the first time in months. While some panicked, other industry experts pointed out that the Bitcoin network has become verifiably stronger than ever before. The growth of the Bitcoin network has become apparent, as hash rate figures for BTC continue to set new highs this month. For example, on Jan. 22, the BTC network recorded an all-time high of 26.643 trillion with an average hash rate of 190.71 exahash per second (EH/s). The hash rate will continue to grow, which is a good thing Samir Tabar, chief strategy officer at Bit Digital — a publicly listed Bitcoin...
