Over the weekend, thousands of Bitcoiners and crypto enthusiasts descended on the small, sleepy Swiss town of Lugano. More specifically, they piled onto a McDonald’s restaurant. Perched on Lake Lugano, McDonald’s Lugano received countless visits from Bitcoiners keen to trade satoshis (the smallest denomination of Bitcoin) for Big Macs, McFlurrys and coffee. But why were
The Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), one of the largest universal banks in the Philippines, debuts cryptocurrency trading via a partnership with a Swiss crypto firm. UnionBank has launched a pilot program for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) custody and trading services for select retail customers, the firm said in a joint announcement on
According to the World Gold Council’s (WGC) latest quarterly report, worldwide gold demand, excluding over-the-counter (OTC) markets, was 28% higher year-over-year. While demand jumped higher than last year in the third quarter, central bank gold buying tapped an all-time quarterly record in Q3 2022. The quarterly report indicates that the world’s central banks purchased close
Bitcoin (BTC) and the rest of the crypto market have been in a bear market for almost a year. The top cryptocurrency has seen its market valuation plummet by more than $900 billion in the said period, with macro fundamentals suggesting more pain ahead. Another bear cycle produces more BTC hodlers But the duration of
Chinese crypto exchange, which recently has had to disavow the rumors about massive layoffs inside the company, unveiled the plans to move its headquarters to one of the jurisdictions in the Caribbean, with Dominica being the first candidate. In the report from Nov. 1, citing one of the board members, the FT revealed the company’s
A growing number of economists have warned about a severe recession in the U.S. if the Federal Reserve keeps up its fight against inflation. “Each adverse development in the outside world implies the Fed is going to have to do more in order to bring the situation under control,” said one economist. Economists Warn of
A simple but elegant Bitcoin (BTC) price metric has returned to lows from before the 2017 bull market. As noted by its creator, Charles Edwards, CEO of asset manager Capriole, the Bitcoin Yardstick is now at its second lowest levels in history. Yardstick prints second-lowest reading ever As on-chain metrics converge to put in a
The largest euro-backed stablecoin in the crypto ecosystem is now available on Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL). According to the STASIS team, the integration on the XRPL, which began in February, was completed yesterday. EURS is the leading Euro stablecoin and ranks among the top 10 stablecoins worldwide with tens of thousands of users. Along with
According to Yi Gang, governor of China’s central bank, the process of designing the country’s digital currency is premised on two principles, the protection of user privacy as well as ensuring “financial security.” To achieve this, the central bank’s role will be limited to managing the digital currency’s “operating system” while the handling of personal
Major cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit has halted withdrawals after suffering a $28 million hot wallet hack. Deribit exchange got its hot wallet compromised before midnight UTC on Nov. 1, the firm reported on Twitter. The exchange emphasized that client funds are safe as losses are covered by Deribit’s reserves, stating: “Client assets, Fireblocks or any
Stablecoin issuers Circle and Paxos have each received approvals for their respective licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state’s central bank. Circle received in-principle approval for a Major Payments Institution License allowing it to issue cryptocurrencies and facilitate domestic and cross-border payments while Paxos received its license to offer digital payment token
On Oct. 31, 2022, the publicly-listed bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain revealed the firm’s attempt to obtain $27 million in a scheduled financing deal fell through. According to the company’s October update, Argo said it did not believe the deal “will be consummated” and now two market analysts have downgraded the company’s shares. Argo Blockchain’s $27
DBS Bank, a major financial services group in Asia, is applying decentralized finance (DeFi) for a project backed by Singapore’s central bank. DBS has started a trading test of foreign exchange (FX) and government securities using permissioned, or private, DeFi liquidity pools, the firm announced on Nov. 2. The development is part of Project Guardian,
Surging Bitcoin (BTC) network hash rates are causing problems for mining companies but might be rolling out the red carpet for energy giants. The Bitcoin hash rate, the amount of computing power given to the blockchain through mining, has reached another record peak. According to Blockchain.com, the metric hit an all-time high of 267 exahashes
The third quarter earnings for business intelligence firm MicroStrategy revealed a narrowed net loss of $27.1 million for the quarter, while it continues to grow its Bitcoin (BTC) portfolio despite poor crypto market conditions. The world’s largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin owner confirmed it still owns 130,000 BTC at the end of Q3 2022. That amount represents
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has filed an amicus brief in support of Ripple Labs in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit over xrp. Coinbase’s support is seen as a significant step in the case given that the crypto exchange was among the first trading platforms to delist xrp following the SEC lawsuit. Coinbase Supports
Sustainability-focused Bitcoin (BTC) mining company CleanSpark has snapped up another 3,843 cryptocurrency miners amid a backdrop of mining industry consolidation. The $5.9 million purchase of the Antminer S19J Pro Bitcoin miners announced by the company on Nov. 1 came at a price of $15.50 per terahash — far cheaper than the current market price of
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are reportedly working closely with major social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, to police “disinformation.” Leaked documents further show their plans to expand censorship. Leaked Documents Reveal How Department of Homeland Security Plans to Police Disinformation Leaked documents and court
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she would love to show that the country is “moving speedily forward” with digital financial technology as it prepares to assume the presidency of the G20. Speaking at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations on Nov. 1, Sitharaman said the people of India have taken to
As November begins, analysts are busy dissecting the major market movements that occurred in October. While Bitcoin (BTC) stayed relatively unchanged with only 5.89% growth in October, Arcane Research senior analyst, Vetle Lunde mapped out the direction the market might take in the next few months. “Uptober,” a reference to Bitcoin’s bullish historical performance in