Schottz Tech

quinta-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2021

El Salvador Buys 21 More Bitcoins to Celebrate 21st Day, Year, Century – Featured Bitcoin News

El Salvador, the country which made bitcoin legal tender, has purchased 21 more bitcoins to celebrate “the last 21st day of the year 21 of the 21st century,” President Nayib Bukele announced. The country has bought about 1,391 bitcoins altogether.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced Tuesday that his country has bought more bitcoin.

His announcement began with a tweet that reads: “El Salvador’s entire size is 21,000 km2. Coincidence? I don’t think so!” He followed up with a series of tweets that collectively read:

Today is the last 21st day of the year 21 of the 21st century. At 21:00 hours … We are buying 21 bitcoin for the occasion. I’m holding the purchase till 21:21:21.

El Salvador Buys 21 More Bitcoins to Celebrate 21st Day, Year, Century

He then posted an image of a list of BTC buy transactions that add up to about 21 bitcoins. “Got a receipt,” he wrote.

El Salvador Buys 21 More Bitcoins to Celebrate 21st Day, Year, Century

El Salvador has been stacking bitcoins since the country made bitcoin legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in September. Including the latest purchase, it has bought 1,391 bitcoins altogether.

Before the bitcoin law went into effect, El Salvador bought 400 BTC. The country then purchased 300 more BTC. President Bukele announced at the time that El Salvador now had 700 bitcoins.

In October, the country bought 420 more BTC. In November, the country bought 100 more bitcoins. The latest large purchase was in early December for 150 BTC, bringing the total purchases to 1,370 BTC. With the 21 BTC bought on Tuesday, the total purchases amount to 1,391 BTC.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned El Salvador against using bitcoin as legal tender. The warning came one day after President Bukele announced his plan to build a “Bitcoin City” powered by a volcano and financed by bitcoin bonds.

What do you think about El Salvador’s bitcoin purchases? Let us know in the comments section below.

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Robinhood Launches Cryptocurrency Gifts Program

Trading platform Robinhood is launching a cryptocurrency gifts program, allowing users to gift several cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, dogecoin, ether, bitcoin cash, and litecoin. As with crypto trading, gifts are commission free and users can gift as little as $1 in ... read more.

Digital Currency Exchange Kraken Acquires Crypto Staking Firm Staked – Bitcoin News

The digital asset company Kraken announced it has acquired the non-custodial staking platform Staked for an undisclosed sum. While the sum of the purchase was not disclosed, the company claims that it was “one of the largest crypto industry acquisitions to date.”

On December 21, Kraken announced that it acquired the staking firm Staked, a company that specializes in providing people with access to proof-of-stake (PoS) networks. “Staked helps investors earn yield from staking and defi without taking custody of their crypto assets,” the firm’s website explains. Kraken is one of the largest crypto exchanges worldwide in terms of trade volume and digital asset reserves.

In terms of global crypto-asset reserves data from Bituniverse, Peckshield, Chain.info, and Etherscan, metrics show Kraken is the fourth-largest exchange in terms of reserves held today. Kraken holds $15.81 billion in digital assets according to the data, and those reserves represent more than 102,000 bitcoin (BTC) and 2.27 million in ethereum (ETH) on December 22. The acquisition announcement notes that Kraken wants to play a major role in providing staking services to consumers and institutions.

“We are excited to add Staked to our portfolio of yield products, which has seen great uptake by a growing population of crypto investors,” Jesse Powell, the CEO and co-founder of Kraken remarked about the announcement. “Staked is highly complementary to our existing staking business and will allow us to further strengthen our product offering through world-class infrastructure for clients who prefer to retain custody of their staked assets,” Powell added.

Staked explains in its 2021 third-quarter report that “Q3 was an absolute banner quarter for PoS crypto assets.” The report goes on to explain that there were four PoS assets in the top ten in Q3, and 28 PoS crypto assets in the top 100 coins by market capitalization. “The market cap of the top 35 PoS assets represented 30% of the total crypto market capitalization as of [September 30],” Staked wrote at the time. “Marking the first time PoS assets have accounted for [more than] 25% of the total crypto market cap,” the report adds.

The acquisition of Staked makes it Kraken’s fifth acquisition in 2021, according to the announcement on Tuesday. Kraken also noted that the company’s trade volume across spot, margin, and futures grew by 430% this year. “Kraken’s acquisition of Staked represents an exciting new chapter for us,” Tim Ogilvie, the CEO of Staked said in a statement. Kraken is not the only crypto firm making acquisitions as the company Coinbase scooped up numerous startups in 2021 as well.

What do you think about Kraken acquiring Staked for an undisclosed sum? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

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Adidas Reveals the Originals NFT Collection With Punks Comics, Gmoney, Bored Apes

On Thursday, the German multinational corporation Adidas announced the launch of the company’s first Adidas Originals NFT collection. The Adidas Originals NFT drop is in partnership with the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), the cryptocurrency investor Gmoney, and the comic ... read more.

Defi Marketplace and NFT Platform Arcade Raises $15 Million in Series A Funding Round – Finance Bitcoin News

The decentralized finance (defi) marketplace, non-fungible token (NFT) financialization platform, and lending application Arcade has announced the company has closed a Series A investment round for $15 million. Just recently, Arcade facilitated an onchain loan of $800,000 against an NFT portfolio from a lender with over $10 billion.

The defi marketplace Arcade has raised $15 million in capital during a Series A financing round, according to the company. The investment was co-led by Pantera Capital, Castle Island Ventures, and the Franklin Templeton Blockchain Fund. Furthermore, Lemniscap, Eniac Ventures, Probably Nothing Capital, Protofund, and Golden Tree Asset Management participated in Arcade’s funding.

Arcade’s milestone onchain loan of $800,000 is part of “$3.3 million in total loan volume that has been secured during Arcade’s private release, with the total value of assets that have been loaned on Arcade equaling $10 million, Arcade says. While Arcade is fully compatible with a myriad of ERC20 tokens, the project also features a proprietary Wrapped NFT technology.

“[Wrapped NFT] allows multiple NFT assets to be bundled and utilized to acquire a single loan, enabling for the acquisition of larger loans and greater liquidity,” the Series A funding announcement details describing the Wrapped NFT feature. “As an open-source defi primitive, Arcade will also enable developers to build on top of the platform, supporting the broader utilization of this new asset class.”

Pantera Capital’s Lauren Stephanian explained during the Series A announcement that the company looks forward to Arcade’s potential. “Arcade’s collateralization of this new asset class will incentivize the participation of new entities from both the traditional and digital art and finance worlds, including institutional lenders, high-net-worth individuals, DAOs, companies with NFTs on their balance sheets, and NFT collectors and creators,” Stephanian added.

What do you think about Arcade raising $15 million in a Series A funding round? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Crypto Lender Nexo Launches NFT Lending Desk, Loans up to 20% for Popular NFTs

On December 16, the blockchain-based lending platform Nexo announced the firm has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) lending desk. While the company offered crypto-backed loans using tokens like bitcoin and ethereum for instant funds, Nexo is offering instant liquidity to ... read more.

Dubai to Create Crypto Zone, Binance Joins Effort – Bitcoin News

The Dubai World Trade Centre will become a comprehensive ecosystem for cryptocurrencies and providers of related services. The move is part of efforts to support new industries and the emirate intends to source help from crypto companies like Binance.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates plan to establish a special zone at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from which businesses dealing with digital assets will be able to offer their products and services. The government of Dubai announced that the DWTC will also play the role of a regulator for the sector, enforcing “rigorous standards for investor protection, anti-money laundering (AML), combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) compliance and cross border deal flow tracing.”

According to an official announcement, the goal is to further develop Dubai’s virtual assets space and market by introducing a regulatory framework for innovative financial products that includes legislative and enforcement policies. Officials hope this will facilitate the adoption of new blockchain-related trends and improve Dubai’s standing as a global business center.

Dubai authorities also emphasized that the DWTC will work together with the private sector and other relevant entities to create an attractive environment for the crypto industry. One such collaboration has already been agreed with Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange in terms of volume, the Straits Times reported. Dubai wants to license such crypto trading platforms and other blockchain businesses.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed with the authority governing the Dubai World Trade Centre, Binance will share its experience with regulators in other jurisdictions with the administration, the company announced on Tuesday. A report by Bloomberg revealed that the exchange has been negotiating with Dubai and Abu Dhabi to set up its headquarters in UAE.

According to the Straits Times, Binance’s founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao recently bought a home in Dubai and met key representatives of the local crypto industry while praising the emirate’s pro-crypto stance on social media. The executive has been quoted as saying in a statement released on Tuesday:

Today, the adoption of crypto and blockchain technology remains in its infancy, but through our leadership position and expertise, combined with the long-term vision of Dubai, we plan to develop a regulatory framework appropriate to fit the fast-moving and progressive nature of virtual assets.

The report notes that energy-rich Dubai has been trying to boost non-oil growth in order to ensure the sustainability of its economy. The project to turn the Dubai World Trade Centre into a regulated zone for cryptocurrency operations is part of these efforts.

Do you expect Dubai to become a crypto hotspot in the near future? Tell us in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Lending Platform Ledn Launching Bitcoin-Backed Mortgage Product, Raises $70 Million

Global digital asset savings and credit platform Ledn has announced the upcoming launch of a bitcoin-backed mortgage product, calling it "the first product of its kind to hit the market." The company has also raised $70 million, which brings its ... read more.

Elon Musk Criticizes the Current State of Web3, Wonders About Future of Metaverse – Bitcoin News

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has criticized the current state of the metaverse and the Web3 movement, suggesting the latter concept is a “marketing buzzword.” The crypto influencer also posted a video of David Letterman making fun of the early internet in an interview with Bill Gates, and wondered what the future will bring.

CEO of Tesla and known crypto influencer Elon Musk has issued his take on the current state of Web3 and the metaverse movement. Musk is skeptical about the validity of the Web3 movement right now, saying he believes it “seems more marketing buzzword than reality right now.”

Web3 and metaverse are terms that encompass a group of concepts including blockchain technologies, smart contracts, and decentralized economies whose aim is to create an alternative reality to the one we live in. This concept, which dates from a long time ago, was revived recently by Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. Meta wants to help shape the metaverse with its own tools and developments.

While Musk may be a nonbeliever in the present reach of these technologies, he is more optimistic about the future and what it might bring to consumers. Musk emphasized:

Given the almost unimaginable nature of the present, what will the future be? Just wondering what the future will be like in 10, 20, or 30 years. 2051 sounds crazy futuristic!

The commentary Musk made comes after he posted a video where David Letterman criticizes the functionality of the early internet in an interview with Bill Gates. However, contrary to Musk’s recent statements, Gates has revealed himself to be a big believer in the metaverse movement and has predicted a shift to virtual spaces. In a post on his personal blog, Gates stated:

Within the next two or three years, I predict most virtual meetings will move from 2D camera image grids—which I call the Hollywood Squares model, although I know that probably dates me—to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars.

In the same way, companies and investors are putting resources behind metaverse-related initiatives. Grayscale recently released a report on the opportunities that the metaverse could bring as a business and estimated that potentially it could become a $1 trillion opportunity for investors who enter the sector early.

What do you think about Musk’s opinion regarding the current state of Web3 and metaverse technologies? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

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Robinhood Launches Cryptocurrency Gifts Program

Bitcoin's Bearish Prices at the End of 2021 Not Much Different Than 8 Previous Year-End Cycles – Markets and Prices Bitcoin News

The price of bitcoin is down more than 33% from the crypto asset’s all-time high captured about a month ago on November 10. A while back, people expected the price of bitcoin to be extremely bullish during the months of November and December, and many expected a $100K bitcoin price by the year’s end. However, during the last 13 years, more so than not, bitcoin prices are typically bearish in the last two months of the year.

There have been a few occasions when BTC had a monumental November and December run in terms of price gains. This year has not been so bullish and people don’t realize that for most of bitcoin’s life, these months have been bearish a majority of the time. For instance, after bitcoin started seeing real-world value and a USD exchange rate in September through November 2010, after November 10, just like this year, BTC’s price slid from a high of $0.35 per unit to $0.17 by December 10, 2010. That’s a 51.42% loss in bitcoin’s fiat value over 30 days over 11 years ago.

In 2011, BTC had a decent bull run jumping from $2 per unit in mid-November that year to $6 by the year’s end, or a 200% increase in USD value. In 2012, bitcoin (BTC) meandered between $10 and $13.50 during the months of November and December. The price had already tapped $13.50 per coin in August and remained lackluster until January 2013. In 2013 during the months of November and December, BTC’s price was once again bullish. In mid-December 2013, BTC’s price came awfully close to $1,200 per coin.

The months of November and December 2014 were bearish as BTC slipped from $471 per coin in mid-September to just above $300 per coin by mid-December 2014. The price of BTC lost 33.12% during that period of time in 2014. The price of BTC in 2015 was again bearish during the two months and in 2016 the price was bullish in November and December. 2017 was a bullish time for BTC during those two months, as the price came very close to $20K per unit.

The following year, during the first week of November 2018, BTC’s price was bearish and valued at $6,376 per unit. By the first week of December 2018, the price was $4,139 per BTC. It’s safe to say that those two months were bearish and by the year’s end BTC was trading for $3,865 per unit. In 2019, around October, BTC was swapping for $9,223 per BTC and on November 4, 2019, it was trading for $9,424 per coin. Ten days later BTC was swapping for $8,639.18 and by December 23, 2019, bitcoin was exchanging hands for $7,324 per unit. The last two months of 2019 were definitely bearish in terms of price movement.

The end of 2020 was decent for bitcoin (BTC) prices and by October 13, 2020, bitcoin’s value was $11,425 per coin. Ten days later the price was $12,931 and by the end of 2020 on December 23, BTC was swapping hands for $23,241 per unit. The data clearly shows that November and December 2020 were considered a bullish two months for bitcoin (BTC). Of course, we all know what happened in 2021, and the new bitcoin price highs that were recorded this year.

Despite BTC being 33% below the crypto asset’s all-time high of $69K per unit, it is still 90% above the price it held this time last year. However, bitcoin’s (BTC) price sentiment in November and December 2021 has been bearish and in a continuous downtrend. Bitcoin advocates will have to wait and see how the rest of December 2021 plays out and if it miraculously changes from bearish to bullish by then, or by the first month of 2022.

If the last two months of the first year of bitcoin (2009, with no real-world prices) are considered bearish, and 2021’s November and December are also deemed bearish, then only 5 out of the 13 years of bitcoin’s existence have seen the November and December time interval as bullish for BTC.

What do you think about bitcoin’s price during the last two months of every year? Would you consider 2021’s November and December bearish? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, lookintobitcoin.com,

Lending Platform Ledn Launching Bitcoin-Backed Mortgage Product, Raises $70 Million

Donald Trump Says Crypto Is 'Very Dangerous' — Warns of 'Explosion Like We've Never Seen' – Featured Bitcoin News

Former U.S. President Donald Trump says that crypto is “a very dangerous thing.” Commenting on cryptocurrencies, he warned of “an explosion someday” that will “make the big tech explosion look like baby stuff.” He also talked about his new social media platform, Truth Social, and his wife’s non-fungible token (NFT) venture.

Donald Trump commented on cryptocurrency, his wife’s non-fungible token (NFT) endeavor, and his new social media platform, Truth Social, in an interview with Maria Bartiromo over the weekend. Fox Business published the interview Tuesday.

“What do you think about crypto?” Trump was asked. Bartiromo noted that “New York and Miami are really getting cryptocurrency into their financial systems.”

The former U.S. president reiterated his anti-crypto stance: “Well, I never loved it because I like to have the dollar. I think the currency should be the dollar so I was never a big fan. But it’s spilling up bigger and bigger, and nobody is doing anything about it.”

Emphasizing, “Look, I want a currency called the dollar,” he warned:

I don’t want to have all these others, and that could be an explosion someday — the likes of which we’ve never seen. It will make the big tech explosion look like baby stuff. I think it’s a very dangerous thing.

Trump has never been a fan of crypto. In August, he predicted that cryptocurrencies are “a disaster waiting to happen.” In June, he called bitcoin a scam that needs heavy regulation.

Trump was also asked about the former first lady’s non-fungible token (NFT) endeavor. Melania Trump announced last week that she’s selling an NFT, titled “Melania’s Vision,” on her newly launched NFT platform, which plans to release NFTs regularly. “I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts, and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative,” she said in a statement.

Commenting on his wife’s NFT plans, Trump said: “She’s going to do great … She got a great imagination. And people love our former first lady, I can tell you that. They really do, they love her.”

Regarding his social media platform Truth Social, he stressed, “It’s going to be so big.” Trump previously explained that the new platform will be an alternative to Silicon Valley internet companies that he says are biased against him and other conservative voices. He plans to launch Truth Social nationally early next year.

The former U.S. president was further asked how he is going to compete with big tech companies like Twitter and Google. “We have no choice,” he replied, reiterating that he thinks “it’s going to be very big.”

What do you think about Donald Trump’s crypto warning, Truth Social, and Melania Trump’s NFT venture? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

NBA Legend Kevin Durant Joins Coinbase to Help Promote the Crypto Exchange’s Brand

American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association (NBA) Kevin Durant, is joining Coinbase according to a recent report from Bloomberg. According to the report, Durant will appear as “a face of the brand” and will help promote the ... read more.