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 Economist: BTC already consumes more electricity than the Netherlands

Italian economist Fabio Panetta is confident that mining digital currencies carries risks for ensuring environmental safety. A member of the board of the European Central Bank believes that "colossal electricity consumption" and carbon emissions from the mining of crypto assets can negatively affect socio-economic development. The ECB notes that due to the pandemic, the volume of carbon dioxide emissions has decreased. But experts say this has a temporary effect. Panetta believes that cryptocurrency mining poses a potential threat to international environmental security. “Bitcoin alone is already consuming more electricity than the Netherlands. Controlling and limiting the environmental impact of crypto assets, including through regulation and taxation, should be part of the global discussion,” Panetta said.

 eBay users will be able to trade NFT

The e-commerce platform eBay has released a statement that its users can now buy and sell non-fungible tokens on the site. NFT can be operated by “eBay-compliant sellers”, and anyone can purchase tokens. All transactions will be in US dollars, with many other platforms suggesting using Ethereum. A significant part of the non-fungible tokens presented on the site is created on the basis of WAX. Because of this, sellers offer buyers to create a wallet in this network to receive NFT. "In the coming months, eBay will add new capabilities that bring blockchain-driven collectibles to our platform," said Jordan Sweetnam, senior vice president and manager of North American Marketplace for eBay.

 Crypto enthusiast announces a possible drop of BTC below $50,000

The main cryptocurrency price may fall below the $50,000 level. This is probably due to the decrease in the number of "whale" addresses to the minimum since this year. This point of view was expressed by Pankaj Balani, the head of the cryptocurrency platform Delta. According to Glassnode, the number of addresses that store at least 1000 bitcoins dropped to 1943. The negative trend has been traced since the first decade of February when a record high of 2237 addresses was recorded. “The data looks bearish, as it shows a clear trend of whales offloading their holdings,” Balani is sure.

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 Anthony Scaramucci advises investing in bitcoins up to 3% of the investment portfolio

SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci believes that the main cryptocurrency is still an asset that should be in an investment portfolio. According to him, it is still difficult to convince many investors to pay attention to BTC. The head of SkyBridge Capital advises investing relatively little money in bitcoin. According to the entrepreneur, BTC is the only crypto-coin that has reached “space speed”. “As an investment adviser and someone who’s been running money for 30-plus years, it’s responsible of me to tell my clients to own 1%, 2% or 3%. I’m not telling them you’ve got to own 100% of your net worth in it - but if we’re right, you don’t want to be missing out on this," Scaramucci said.

 Losses of traders because of BTC fall reach $2.4 billion

As a result of the collapse of the first cryptocurrency coin, traders lost about $2.4 billion. In 24 hours, cryptocurrency exchanges forcibly closed the positions of 304 thousand users, analysts of the bybt service noted. The market collapse was preceded by another post by Elon Musk on Twitter. In it, he criticized the main cryptocurrency. “Bitcoin is actually highly centralized, with supermajority controlled by handful of big mining (aka hashing) companies. A single coal mine in Xinjiang flooded, almost killing miners, and Bitcoin hash rate dropped 35%. Sound “decentralized” to you?” Musk wrote on May 16. However, on May 17, in response to a barrage of criticism, the entrepreneur hastened to "refute the speculation”, saying that "Tesla has not sold a single bitcoin."

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 Poll: over 50% of Australians think that Elon Musk is the creator of BTC

According to a survey of Finder website users, 56% of Australians believe Elon Musk is the creator of Bitcoin. They had never heard of Satoshi Nakamoto. The study involved over a thousand Australian residents. Many of those surveyed do not know that the Bitcoin supply is limited to 21 million cryptocoins. 44% of respondents are sure that the number of BTC is not limited. In addition, 25% of survey participants said they have already purchased cryptocurrency or intend to do so by the end of the year. However, about 20% of respondents do not know how to do this.

 German politician advocates restricting bitcoin miners

Sven Giegold, a politician from Germany, considers it necessary to pass a law that limits the consumption of electricity by bitcoin miners. The deputy calls for the introduction of appropriate restrictions on the territory of the European Union. “As long as cryptocurrencies were small sandbox games, there was no need for regulation, and it was necessary to give innovative technologies room for development. But if something becomes ecologically damaging on the scale of mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, then you have to intervene,'' the politician said. According to Giegold, carbon dioxide emissions from BTC miners are a threat to the German economy. The MEP stressed that the regulation of the cryptocurrency mining industry lags far behind the development of this industry.

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 American GameStop Network to launch an NFT-related project

The American network for the sale of game consoles, computer games, and game accessories GameStop will launch an Ethereum platform for NFT tokens. The exact date of the platform launch has not yet been disclosed. “We are building a team. We welcome exceptional engineers (solidity, react, python), designers, gamers, marketers, and community leaders,” the company's announcement, which is posted on the site's website, says. Probably, the target audience of the project will be not only players and developers, but also potential NFT collectors. There is also a slogan on the site: “Power to the players. Power to the creators. Power to the collectors."

 Canadian regulator accuses Poloniex of illegal asset trading

The Ontario Securities and Exchange Commission has sued the popular crypto platform Poloniex. OSC believes that the exchange is carrying out illegal trading in stocks and derivatives. In early spring of this year, it became known that companies conducting operations with cryptoassets in Canada are required to register as investment dealers. Until April 19, such companies had to contact the regulator to warn of possible sanctions against them. 70 platforms applied to OSC, some of which were registered outside Canada, but Poloniex was not among them. Now the platform faces a large fine, as well as a ban on trading in securities.

 Wharton School of Business talks about the possibilities of decentralized finance

DeFi has the potential to transform the global financial market. According to experts at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, such assets can be used in insurance, lending, capital management, the development of decentralized exchanges, and the issuance of stablecoins. In addition, the use of DeFi is possible when running "ancillary services" such as wallets and oracles. Decentralized finance can help alleviate market pressures, transaction costs, and asset allocation costs. However, business school experts have also pointed out the disadvantages of DeFi. For example, these are frequent cases of fraud, an uncertain attitude of regulators towards such assets, and immaturity of the technology.

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 The head of the Japanese regulator speaks out against bitcoin

The volatility of the main cryptocurrency is "excessively high". This opinion was voiced by the Governor of the Bank of Japan Haruhiko Kuroda. “Most of the trading in the cryptocurrency industry is speculation on excessive volatility. It is unlikely that Bitcoin can be used as a means of payment, ” Kuroda said. But he treats stablecoins differently. According to the Governor of the Central Bank, if stablecoins meet the standards of regulators and have "sound government practices", then in the future they will turn out to be a convenient payment instrument.

 Ray Dalio considers the first cryptocurrency to be an alternative currency

Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, is convinced that a clear distinction needs to be made between “digitized” money and alternative digital currencies. At the same time, he called the main crypto-coin an alternative currency. “Bitcoin is an alternative currency compared to digitalization,” the entrepreneur said. In his opinion, the digital yuan can become a competitor to BTC, but the state digital currency will not be able to conquer the crypto market. At the same time, the digital dollar will be stable and competitive, the businessman believes.

 In the UK, the bank has banned customers from sending funds to crypto exchanges

In the UK, Starling Bank has imposed a temporary ban on its clients from sending funds to crypto trading platforms. The reason is the high risks associated with online financial crime. However, Starling clients still have the ability to withdraw funds from cryptocurrency exchanges to bank accounts without any restrictions. Starling plans to lift the ban after the end of special checks, which will oblige the bank's customers to transfer funds to crypto platforms. Starling's initiative is not yet widespread. For example, the world's largest bank Barclays issued a message stating that it does not plan to impose a ban on customers from making deposits on crypto exchanges.

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 Coinbase Pro to add DOGE to listing

Cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Pro has released a statement on plans to add dogecoin to the listing. Clients of the exchange can already transfer cryptocoins to their accounts. That being said, DOGE should start trading at 09:00 PT tomorrow, June 3. This will happen if the conditions that relate to liquidity are met. Coinbase Pro users will be offered DOGE pairs against the US Dollar, Euro, British Pound, USDT and BTC. Against the backdrop of this news, the Dogecoin rate has increased by 32% over the past 24 hours, according to Coinmarketcap data. The DOGE price is $0.42.

 Goldman Sachs draws a parallel between BTC and copper

Goldman Sachs’s Global Head of Commodities Research Jeff Curry believes that bitcoin does not fit the common concept of digital gold. According to the expert, BTC is more like copper. “Digital currencies are not substitutes for gold. If anything, they would be a substitute for copper, they are pro-risk, risk-on assets. They are substitue for risk on inflation hedges not risk off inflation hedges,” Curry said. The economist believes that bitcoin correlates with the business cycle, as it is linked to its payment system. Curry believes that BTC, like copper, is an effective defense against "good inflation" arising from growing demand. But gold is hedging against the "bad inflation" caused by the increase in supply.

 Guggenheim Partners creates a fund to invest in the first cryptocurrency

Guggenheim Partners, which manages more than $350 billion in assets, is launching an investment fund for Bitcoin transactions. The new structure will focus on maximizing profits "by combining current income and capital gains." The portfolio of the Guggenheim Active Allocation Fund will consist of a large list of securities, which are planned to be diversified through an “alternative investment pool”. “The Fund may seek investment exposure to cryptocurrency (notably, Bitcoin), often referred to as «virtual currency» or «digital currency,» through cash settled derivatives instruments, such as cash settled exchange traded futures, or through investment vehicles that offer exposure to Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies through direct investments or indirect exposure such as derivatives contracts,” the company's prospectus says.

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 El Salvador approves BTC as legal means of payment

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved a bill on the legalization of BTC, in which the president of the state proposed to make the crypto coin an official means of payment, on a par with the American dollar. The legislative initiative was supported by 62 out of 84 possible deputies, 17 opposed, one parliamentarian abstained. The draft law will enter into force 90 days after publication in the official government media. If the initiative of the head of the country Nayib Bukele is approved, bitcoin will be the official payment instrument in El Salvador. Information about this appeared in the politician's microblog.

 Coinseed stops working

Cryptocurrency investment app Coinseed is suspended due to a lawsuit from the New York State Attorney's Office. Earlier, the department filed a lawsuit against the crypto project, accusing the platform of fraud and deceiving users for $1 million. The prosecutor's office believes that about 2 years ago, the top management of Coinseed conducted an unregistered ICO. In addition, the platform's management applied hidden fees and attracted investors with implausible promises. Coinseed CEO Delgerdalai Davaasambuu said the service had received no complaints from users. At the same time, the prosecutor's office said that since the filing of the claim, the department received more than 170 complaints about the crypto project.

 CFTC Commissioner: "DeFi derivatives may be illegal in the US"

The Commissioner for the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission believes that some DeFi products may be illegal on US soil. CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkowitz said DeFi markets, such as for futures contracts, may be illegal due to US law. These are the provisions of the American Mercantile Exchange Act. “DeFi markets, platforms, or websites are not registered as DCMs or SEFs. The CEA does not contain any exception from registration for digital currencies, blockchains, or «smart contracts, ”said the CFTC Commissioner.

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 Founder of Tudor Investment Corporation is ready to invest in bitcoins

The founder of the hedge fund Tudor Investment Corporation Paul Tudor Jones intends to invest part of his capital in bitcoins. The American billionaire said he prefers to invest in "something reliable, consistent, honest and definite," and the first cryptocurrency has these characteristics. “The only thing I know for certain, I want 5% in gold, 5% in bitcoin, 5% in cash, 5% in commodities. At this point in time, I don’t know what I want to do with the other 80% until I see what the Fed is going to do,” Jones said. The Fed will meet this week to discuss forecasts for interest rates and inflation. Depending on the further actions of the regulator, Jones admitted that he could invest more in digital assets.

 The Netherlands calls for a ban on BTC

Pieter Hasekamp, head of the Dutch Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Ministry of Economy and Climate Policy, believes that local authorities are obliged to introduce a complete ban on mining, storing, and trading the main cryptocurrency. He is confident that bitcoin cannot be used as a unit of account, payment instrument, and storage medium. The official believes that the Netherlands is currently lagging behind other states in terms of its policy of containing the growth in popularity of digital currencies. Hasekamp cited China as an example, where they had previously called for tight control over the circulation of cryptocurrency assets in the country. “Dutch regulators have tried to tighten supervision of marketplaces, but without much success. The Central Planning Bureau pointed to the risks of cryptocurrency trading in 2018, but concluded that stricter regulation is not needed yet, ” Hasekamp added.

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 Goldman Sachs urges not to invest in bitcoin

Goldman Sachs analysts believe that investment in digital assets cannot be called “viable”, but cryptocurrencies are suitable for speculation in the market. The investment bank is confident that despite the increasing interest of people in digital currencies, investing in them is still risky. Analysts at Goldman Sachs noted that serious fluctuations in the crypto market scare off potential investors. And the conflicting opinions of industry participants about cryptocurrencies simply confuse many Goldman Sachs clients interested in acquiring such assets. “As Bitcoin soared to new highs over the past year, many wondered if they should invest in it. Now, a team at Goldman Sachs is telling retail investors that the digital currency isn’t worthy of most portfolios — at least not yet, ”the analysts of the investment bank are sure.

 Beijing residents will be able to exchange cash for digital yuan at more than 3,000 ATMs

The Metropolitan Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has added the function of converting the yuan to and from the digital version. This opportunity can now be used in more than 3,000 ATMs. In addition, the Agricultural Bank of China has added a similar option. So far, it is available only on 10 devices located in Beijing. The initiative of the capital branches of banks indicates that the development and testing of the digital yuan is underway. Earlier, several Chinese cities tested the state cryptocurrency, when citizens received digital yuan to make purchases.

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 Miner spoke about the "solvency" of bitcoin

Restrictive measures in relation to the production of the main cryptocurrency should be taken positively, as they confirm the "solvency" of bitcoin. This was stated by the miner Brandon Arvanagi, who previously worked as a security engineer for Gemini. Arvanagi believes that now the authorities of various states are forming a consensus on BTC. And the tightening of the Chinese government's policy on mining and digital currency trading could prove to be a positive factor in the medium to long term. Former security engineer Gemini said that the role of the People’s Republic of China will be transferred to the United States, where the mining of cryptocurrencies is capable of becoming a large industry. He believes that Texas and Florida can offer favorable terms for miners. A similar opinion is shared by the head of Facebook Financial, David Marcus, who, commenting on news from China, said that this is "a great development in the history of bitcoin."

 ARK Investment Management invested in BTC, after which the crypto coin began to grow

ARK Investment Management invested in the first cryptocurrency. This became known on June 22, when the BTC price dropped to $28,800. The investment company has acquired over a million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. We would like to remind the readers that on June 22, the value of the main crypto coin for the first time since January 2021 fell below $30,000. The market capitalization of BTC, according to CoinGecko, fell to $554 billion. However, after the news of the ARK Investment investment, bitcoin rose by more than 11%. Today, June 23, according to Coinmarketcap, the cost of BTC is $34'921.

 SEC accuses Loci crypto project of fraud

The SEC has accused the head of the Loci crypto project, John Wise, of illegally selling digital assets and defrauding investors. According to the regulator, the startup and its top management raised $7.6 million thanks to the illegal sale of LOCICoin tokens. The SEC believes that Wise spent about $38,000 of the investment received for personal needs. “Loci and its CEO misled investors regarding critical aspects of Loci’s business. Investors in digital asset securities are entitled to truthful information and fulsome disclosures so they can make informed investment decisions,” Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit, said. As a result, the crypto project destroyed all LOCICoins and will not participate in similar token sales in the future. In addition, the company will have to return $7.6 million to investors.

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 The Fed is concerned about the growing popularity of stablecoins amid the lack of regulation of this market

Boston Federal Reserve Bank Governor Eric Rosengren has raised concerns about the risks associated with Tether to the soundness of the financial market. According to the official, USDT has become a "new problem" in the short-term lending markets. “The reason I talked about tether and stable coins is if you look at their portfolio, it basically looks like a portfolio of a prime money market fund but maybe riskier. We actually had a stablecoin that ran into financial difficulties last week. Tether, as you highlighted, has a number of assets that, during the pandemic, the spread got quite wide on those assets,” Eric Rosengren said. He noted that stablecoins are already playing a significant role in the modern economy. However, the absence of a significant degree of regulation of this industry can be dangerous for all players in the financial market.

 British regulator has decided to complicate the work of Binance

The British Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning to top managers at Binance, which states that the crypto exchange is not allowed to conduct regulated activities in the country. Because of this, the local division of the company got in a deplorable situation. The FCA ruling states that Binance cannot carry out any activity requiring licensing without the consent of the regulator. Since the company goes through the registration procedure in the authority, it has no right to provide unregulated services, for example, the ability to conduct transactions in the derivatives market. In addition, the management demanded that the company stop advertising campaigns launched earlier in the country in the coming days. Until June 30, the crypto exchange is obliged to warn its customers about the FCA restrictions on the site.

 Mexican entrepreneur announces approval of major crypto coin

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego said that the Banco Azteca he created will become the first bank in the country to accept BTC. The entrepreneur wrote about this on Twitter. “Sure, I recommend the use of bitcoin, and me and my bank are working to be the first bank in Mexico to accept bitcoin,” Salinas said. According to the businessman, bitcoin is "an asset that should be part of every investor's portfolio." Salinas noted the value of BTC, "which is traded with huge liquidity on a global level."

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 US Senator approves bitcoin usage

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said she invested in a major cryptocurrency to secure future retirement. In addition, she encourages to follow her example. According to Lummis, BTC is great for long-term and retirement savings. She noted that she now owns 5 bitcoins, at the same time she purchased the first BTC at a cost of $330. “I worry about having all of our retirement monies denominated in U.S. dollars. So as part of diversification, having a very diverse asset allocation, so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket, I think one of the strongest stores of value for the long run is bitcoin, ”said Lummis.

 Europe should prioritize digital asset regulation

The head of the Central Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau is confident that the EU must make the regulation of digital currencies a priority. Otherwise, it will threaten the financial sovereignty of Europe. François Villeroy de Galhau said the EU "only has one or two years" to create a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market. In his opinion, inaction could "undermine our monetary sovereignty" and potentially weaken the euro. “I want to stress the urgency of regulating cryptoassets. We do not have much time left – just one or two years,” Villeroy de Galhau said.

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 Messari analysts are confident in the superiority of the USDC in the near future

Analysts at Messari concluded that USDC's popularity on ETH has grown much faster this year than Tether's. Experts believe that USDC has every chance of becoming the dominant stablecoin on ETH. The study found that interest in USD Coin increased so much that stablecoin was able to absorb a significant portion of USDT's market share. Messari believes that in the short term, this may contribute to a decrease in the share of Tether among stablecoins on ETH. Messari analyst Ryan Watkins noted that more than 40% of the stablecoins on ETH are in USDC. “Although this percentage is not as high as DAI, USDC leads by a wide margin in dollar terms and has become the preferred stablecoin in DeFi for now,” the analyst concluded.

 Analyst predicts bitcoin recovery

Well-known cryptanalyst Willie Woo said that the market has not yet become "bearish". He believes that in the near future the rate of the main cryptocurrency will recover, as evidenced by the data of the blockchain performance indicators. Woo pointed out that long-term investors are now busy accumulating assets in BTC. They buy off bitcoins against the backdrop of a fall in the rate of a crypto coin. “The ‘Rick Astley’ is the holder that keeps buying and never tends to sell much ... And of course Rick was very active over 2021, and then suddenly all the coins moved away from Rick to the weak hands — the speculative traders that buy and sell. Now we’re seeing that cross back into moving to Rick," Willie Woo said, hinting at the hit of the singer Rick Astley "Never Let You Down".

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 Binance is looking to hire ‘UK Version of Brian Brooks’

Binance is attempting to hire a former regulator or government official in the U.K. in order to lend the brand some compliance clout as global regulatory pressure mounts on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange operator, according to two people familiar with the plans. Binance is looking to hire “a U.K. version of Brian Brooks,” one of the people told CoinDesk, referring to the well-regarded former head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) who was brought in to run Binance.US in April of this year. The search for a respected former regulator to represent Binance’s interests in the U.K. follows an announcement last month by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which said that Binance was not allowed to conduct any regulated activities in the country. As a result of the FCA’s action, British bank Barclays said earlier this week it was blocking customers from using its debit and credit cards to make payments to Binance.

 Bitcoin miner revenue jumps by 50% in 4 days since record difficulty drop

Bitcoin miner revenue jumped after the network saw its biggest-ever difficulty drop. According to figures from monitoring resource Blockchain.com, daily revenues have surged by over 50%. Bitcoin mining is currently in a unique state of flux — around half of the hashing power is offline as miners relocate from China, and it remains unknown how quickly they will be able to come back online. At the same time, those miners unaffected by the Chinese rout have seen half their competitors disappear overnight, and profitability has gone up as a result. With data now coming in for the past few weeks, the scale of the changes is plain to see. Daily mining revenue was around $20.7 million on Friday, the day before the difficulty adjustment. A day later, it hit $29.3 million, and by Tuesday this week — $31.9 million.

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 Guardtime: regulators from various countries have significantly accelerated the development of their own cryptocurrencies

According to Guardtime, which works in the blockchain field, central banks from various countries have significantly accelerated the development of their own cryptocurrencies amid the pandemic. Experts believe that in the near future, at least one country will issue its digital currency. According to Luukas Ilves, head of strategy at Guardtime, "competition for the launch of state-owned cryptocurrencies is increasing, and the coronavirus has not only accelerated digitalization, but also changed the use of money by the population." Lockdown has sparked the growth of the online payments market, which is where CBDCs are most applicable. “The development of CBDCs has been accelerated by up to five years. There is also no doubt in our mind that a major central bank will soon launch a digital currency and we expect this to happen within the next three years, ” Guardtime analysts said.

 The Bogdanov brothers announced that they had participated in the development of the first crypto coin

Former Russian-born theoretical physicists and TV presenters Igor and Grigory Bogdanov stated that they were personally acquainted with Satoshi Nakamoto. In addition, they claim to have been involved in the development of the first cryptocurrency. The Bogdanovs noted that they once collaborated with François Mizzi, who created the touchscreen. The scientist Soichiro Shimod worked in his laboratory, who is "related to a mythical character or group of people" associated with Nakamoto. According to the brothers, they often discussed the concept of digital currency with Shimod. The Bogdanovs also noted that in 2008 Nakamoto gave them two "first bitcoins in physical form." “As mathematicians, we were able to take part in the development of the Bitcoin source code, including the forecasting code,” the Bogdanovs said on the air of the French TV show Non-Stop People.

 Bitcoin may fall to $10,000

Scott Minerd, investment director of Guggenheim Partners, believes that the BTC rate may fall to $ 10.000. He is confident that for now, traders do not need to buy bitcoins. “When we look at the history of crypto and we look at where we are, I mean, I really do believe this is probably a crash, and you know a crash would mean we’d be down 70-80% which, let’s just say that’s between 10 and 15 thousand," Minerd said. At the end of last year, Guggenheim Partners predicted a rise in the price of the first crypto coin to $400,000. And in early 2021, Scott Minerd confirmed the prediction but advised investors to fix some of the profits.

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 FTX BTC exchange may buy the biggest BTC beneficiaries

The CEO of the FTX crypto exchange announced that he could buy the American giants of the conservative financial market as soon as he overtakes competitors like Coinbase and Binance. The head of the Bankman-Freed platform said this in his last interview. “If we are the largest exchange, [the purchase of Goldman Sachs and CME Group] is not ruled out at all,” he said. Earlier, FTX reported about raising about $1 billion. It was expected that with these investments, the project's estimate would rise to $20 billion.

 Glassnode: "BTC rate stabilization is the calm before the storm"

The price of the main cryptocurrency has been in the range between $30,000 and $35,000 for several weeks now. Glassnode experts have announced the reasons that can push the price of BTC up. Analysts believe that after the movement of miners from the China abroad, the hashrate of the BTC network began to recover. After the recent peak hashrate decline of 55% from the maximum, this figure has grown by 39%. Analysts believe that the overall market sentiment may depend on the rate of recovery of the computing power of the BTC network. It will take the pressure off the sellers of mining equipment.

 ECB approves transition to research stage of digital euro

The initiative became relevant about two years ago. And at the end of 2020, the ECB published a report on this topic. In November, its chairman, Christine Lagarde, said that the digital euro could appear in four years. “It has been nine months since we published our report on a digital euro. In that time, we have carried out further analysis, sought input from citizens and professionals, and conducted some experiments, with encouraging results. All of this has led us to decide to move up a gear and start the digital euro project,” Lagarde said. The regulator believes that the digital euro will help in the fight against illegal activity and will not create an undesirable impact on financial stability and monetary policy. CBDC will complement, but not replace, cash

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 Crypto funds reject any cooperation with Binance exchange

Several cryptocurrency funds stopped working with Binance at once. According to mass media, this case is a direct consequence of international regulator’s complaints to the Binance. “Our mission is preventing clients from uncertainty, which is based on the idea of current tightening of screws by the financial authorities of many countries”, — notes Ed Hindi, co-founder of Tyr Capital crypto fund. According to CEO ARK Ulrik Lykke, all problems Binance faced are the “wake-up call for all players with large holdings on the Binance exchange. Previously, regulators in Singapore, Thailand and the Cayman Islands initiated an audit of the legality of Binance's operations in these countries. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has stated that the Binance Group entities are not licensed. In addition, Barclays and Santander UK have suspended operations with the crypto platform.

 Anonymous Source: Amazon may start accepting Bitcoins by the end of 2021

The media, citing an anonymous source, posts that Amazon will add support for payments to BTC. This could happen as early as the end of 2021. “This isn’t just going through the motions to set up cryptocurrency payment solutions at some point in the future – this is a full-on, well-discussed, integral part of the future mechanism of how Amazon will work,” the source told City AM. According to its words, Amazon is on its way to add other popular digital currencies. The insider insists the initiative is going from Amazon's leadership, even from Jeff Bezos, and the whole project is on the final straight. “The next would be Ethereum, Cardano и Bitcoin Cash, and right after that Amazon may add about 8 cryptocurrencies” — notes the source of City A.M. With the latest background about Amazon, a popular Twitter blogger with the nickname CryptoCobain wrote that it was him to deceive the "silly crypto-journalist" and became the source of rumours about its plans to accept payments in BTC. However, Amazon's interest in the cryptocurrency industry is evidenced by the recent post of a blockchain and digital currency specialist vacancy on the trading platform's website. The applicant for the position must have experience in the crypto sphere and the digital currencies of regulators.

 Bobby Lee insists China is closing to full BTC dismissing

One of the first Chinese BTC enthusiasts, Bobby Lee, is confident that the Chinese authorities are able to increase pressure on the cryptocurrency industry and impose a complete ban on Bitcoin ownership. “The next thing they could do, the final straw, would be something like banning cryptocurrency altogether. When Bitcoin goes to $500,000, $1 million, China might ban Bitcoin altogether when people are no longer allowed to hold it,” — Bobby Lee said. On his opinion, such prohibition possibility spreads across the “50 on 50” scheme. Besides, Lee notes that the Chinese government would take such  “unregulated and volatile assets” away from the citizen’s pockets to create financial stability.

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 For the first time, MasterCard would support cryptocurrency projects

MasterCard has started an updated Start Path program aimed to support crypto startups working with blockchain. The company has already chosen 7 startups from different countries. “One of our main goals is to arrive the future of cryptocurrency, so we do, connecting strong financial principles with innovations”, notes Jess Turner, Mastercard Executive Vice President, Digital Infrastructure and Fintech. The Start Path participants will get access to multiply tools and innovations of MasterCard for scaling their own innovative products. It also lets companies start mutual pilot projects with the worldwide payment system. Besides, the participants would retain their intellectual property rights.

 A large investor predicts further BTC crushing

Mark Mobius, the founder of Mobius Capital Partners, believes any form of regulation would harm any furthers BTC developments. He notes, “the governments regain its pressure on the whole crypto industry”. That is why many projects appear right now until it is not too late to use possible opportunities, the investor believes. In his opinion, for now, BTC is held by two elephants, called a great sums infusion from and excitement around BTC, which is wrong compared with gold. “I'm hesitant to condemn it because so many people have faith in it. It's all a matter of belief and faith, rather than a strict interpretation of the numbers,” Mobius said, noting he is not investing in the cryptocurrency at this moment.

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 Chinese regulator will continue to pressure the cryptocurrency market

The People's Bank of China intends to continue to exert regulatory pressure on the digital currency trading industry. The bank came to such conclusions following a working conference of the structure, which was devoted to the results of the first 6 months and goals for the second half of 2021. The People’s Bank of China wants to tighten the regulation of Internet finance sites. In addition, the regulator intends to suppress illegal operations with cryptocurrencies. The People's Bank of China also plans to promote green digital asset transactions to minimize carbon emissions.

 The U.S. official considers it necessary to accelerate the development of the local state cryptocurrency

Lael Brainard, who is on the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve, considers it necessary to speed up the process of creating a state digital currency. In her opinion, the country lags behind other states in the development of the digital dollar. “The dollar is very dominant in international payments, and if you have the other major jurisdictions in the world with a digital currency, a CBDC offering, and the U.S. doesn't have one, I just, I can't wrap my head around that. That just doesn't sound like a sustainable future to me.” Brainard said.  The Fed spokesman believes that one of the key prerequisites for the digital dollar is the growing popularity of stablecoins. Brainard fears that the issuance of stable cryptocoins, which are controlled by individuals and companies, could provoke a "fragmentation of the payment system."

 Jack Dorsey's fintech project invests in an installment service from Australia

Square, founded by Jack Dorsey, is gearing up to buy Afterpay, an Australian installment platform. In exchange for shares of the service, Square will pay in its own shares worth $29 billion. Afterpay offers the sale of goods in installments. The company operates in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the project brand operates in European countries under the Clearpay brand. The parties intend to carry out the deal in the first quarter of next year. After that, the service will be integrated by Dorsey into its own acquiring system and the Cash App Square mobile application.

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 Bitcoin SV network suffers from 51% attack

Bitcoin SV suffered from a 51% attack, which resulted in criminals gaining control of the network. About one hundred blocks and 570 thousand cryptocurrency transactions were compromised. “BSV is going through a massive 51% attack. After an attempted attack yesterday, some serious hashing power was unleashed today at 11:46AM and attackers are succeeding. Over a dozen blocks are being reorgd & up to 3 versions of the chain being mined simultaneously across pools," CoinMetrics network data product manager Lucas Nuzzi wrote on Twitter. He also noted that there is no data yet on who was behind the attack. CoinMetrics is researching potential criminals in search of "traces of double spending on the stock exchange."

 Rothschild Investment Fund invested in Aspen Digital crypto project

Jacob Rothschild's investment fund RIT has invested in the Hong Kong cryptocurrency project Aspen Digital. The company is developing a digital platform for wealthy investors to manage digital assets. RIT Capital Partners has become the lead investor for the $8.8 million round. Aspen Digital will focus on family funds and asset management companies operating in the European Union, Asia and the Middle East. The Hong Kong crypto project will offer consulting services to its clients. In addition, he will take control of compliance with local laws and will bear the operational risks of the counterparty.

 US Senator criticizes US Congressional plan for expanded taxation of digital currencies

Pat Toomey, Senator from Pennsylvania, criticized the US Congress initiative to tax digital currencies. According to the politician, the proposals of the legislative body are “unrealizable”. The politician believes that Congress should not rush into "this hastily designed tax reporting regime for cryptocurrency, especially without fully understanding the implications." “Simply put, the text is unworkable. I plan to offer an amendment to fix it,”said Toomey. Senator's criticism was provoked by the definition of a broker. Toomey considered it too broad and noted that it could affect miners, whose activities should be regulated by different regulations. In addition, the politician pointed out the possible difficulties of non-custodial services in fulfilling the proposals of the US Congress.

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 Crypto enthusiasts are unhappy with US plans for expanded taxation of digital currencies

Jack Dorsey criticized the plans of the US authorities to introduce an extended taxation regime for digital currencies in the country. The founder of Twitter and Square is confident that the legislative initiative in its current form will hinder the development of innovations. “Forcing reporting rules on Americans who develop software and hardware, who mine and secure the network, or who run nodes to build resilience and efficiencies, is an impossible ask that will only drive development and operation of this critical technology outside the US, ” the entrepreneur said. Dorsey believes that the definition of "broker" within the industry should be narrowed down to platforms where cryptocurrencies are exchanged for fiat. Earlier, the creator of Coinbase Brian Armstrong called the situation related to the plans of the American authorities, "determining our future", and the amendment - "a disaster." He was joined by Tesla founder Elon Musk, who pointed out the absence of objective circumstances, because of which it would be worth adopting such hasty bills.

 The expert said about "some kind of enthusiasm in the crypto market"

The price of the main cryptocurrency yesterday, August 8, for the first time since mid-May, rose above $45,000. Bitcoin is up 33% over the past month and 15% over the past seven days, according to data from Coinmarketcap. According to Nikita Soshnikov, head of the Alfacash cryptocurrency exchanger, the prerequisite for the growth of the digital asset market was not only the increased price of BTC, but also the successful London hard fork on the ETH network. The expert is confident that the advancement of Ethereum to protocol 2.0 allowed the altcoin to grow to $ 3'112. “I see an improvement in the emotional component, some kind of enthusiasm in the crypto market. Its participants are tired of the prolonged stagnation and the decline in quotations and are now showing an appetite for growth,” Soshnikov noted.

 Alchemy Pay service to release cryptocurrency virtual card

Alchemy Pay, the solution provider for Binance's payment app, will release a virtual card with support for over 40 digital currencies. The card will be valid in all places where Visa and Mastercard are accepted. The company stressed that the owners of the virtual card will be able to link it to the Google Pay and PayPal wallets. Users will also be able to shop on platforms such as Amazon and eBay. The service has already launched beta testing of the project. At the end of 2021, or at the beginning of 2022, the developers want to present the map to the general public.

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 The hacker who hacked Poly Network declared his readiness to return the stolen funds

The hacker, who participated in the hacking of the Poly Network project and stealing $611 million, announced his readiness to return the stolen funds. This is how the hacker reacted to the request from the Poly Network team, in which they had asked the criminals to return the stolen assets. The founders of the project said that the hackers committed the largest theft in the history of DeFi, so the authorities of various states are initiating their prosecution. Afterwards, the attacker made a statement, embedding it in an ETH transaction, which he sent to himself. In another message, he wrote that he could not contact the Poly Network team and asked for a wallet address to return the stolen funds. As a result, representatives of the crypto project created three wallets. According to media reports, the hacker has already made the first payments in the amount of more than 1 million USDC. In addition, the attacker sent $1.1 million in BTCB token, $2 million in Shiba Inu and over $622,000 in FEI stablecoin. We would like to remind our readers that on August 10, there was the largest hack in the history of decentralized finance. The Poly Network team has publicly asked miners and cryptocurrency exchanges to blacklist tokens coming from the addresses of the thieves.

 Cardano rises sharply amid the upcoming hard fork

Cardano's price has surged 11% between August 10 and August 11 to $1.77, according to data from Coinmarketcap. This happened against the background of the statement of the creator of the project, Charles Hoskinson, about the announcement of the launch date for smart contracts as part of the Alonzo Purple update. “We will know the final date based on the feedback we receive from exchanges, EMURGO and other partners who need to integrate,” Hoskinson said during a live broadcast on YouTube. The developers also claim that the hard fork will add smart contract functionality to the blockchain. Thanks to Alonzo Purple, it will be possible to create DeFi applications.

 PayPal-related payment service added cashback in digital currencies

Now, credit cardholders who use Venmo's payment service can convert their monthly cashback to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Interestingly, the service is owned by Paypal. According to its own data, Venmo's usual commissions for the purchase of digital currencies can vary from 0.5% to 2.3% of the total transaction amount, however, there is no commission under the new Cash Back to Crypto program. At the same time, according to the terms of the program, it will not be possible to withdraw the cryptocurrency to external wallets. “We are delighted to introduce this new level of interoperability on the Venmo platform by linking our Venmo credit card to cryptocurrencies. We provide our customers with another way to spend and manage their money with Venmo,” said Venmo General Manager Darrell Ash.

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 American billionaire says digital currencies are "a limited supply of nothing"

An investor and trader who rose to prominence after the mortgage crisis in 2008, John Paulson, sees digital currency as a bubble. In his opinion, the crypto market "will ultimately turn out to be useless." Paulson advised against investing in cryptocurrencies. “Cryptocurrencies are a bubble. I would describe them as a limited supply of nothing. So to the extent there’s more demand than the limited supply, the price would go up. But to the extent the demand falls, then the price would go down. There’s no intrinsic value to any of the cryptocurrencies except that there’s a limited amount,” said Paulson. Earlier, the chief investment strategist of Bank of America, Michael Hartnett, expressed the opinion that BTC is "the worst of the bubbles." According to him, the rapid rise in the bitcoin rate is the result of speculative mania.

 Cream Finance project accused of exit scam

Representatives of the Cream Finance cryptocurrency project announced that the platform was hacked and funds were stolen. However, participants in the digital asset market believe that this could be an exit scam. This is the project's second attack this year. Cream Finance claims that hackers have compromised the platform's DeFi protocol security. According to preliminary data, criminals stole more than 418 thousand AMP tokens and 1.3 thousand ETH. Thus, there were stolen totaling $30 million of crypto assets. However, the well-known crypto blogger Mr. Whale is convinced that this is not the case. On his Twitter page, he called Cream Finance's announcement an excuse to cover up the exit scam.

 Solana and Gnosis tokens rise in price

The cost of the native Solana token, according to CoinGecko data as of August 30, has risen above the $100 mark. Over the past 24 hours, the coin has risen in price by 4%. The price of another token - Gnosis - this morning made a sharp jump to $418, having risen in price by 42%. After that, the price of the crypto coin began to decline. Gnosis is currently priced at $355. Crypto industry participants associate the rise in the Gnosis rate with the launching of token trading on Binance. Altcoin is available in pairs with BTC, BNB, BUSD and USDT.

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 Analysts predict the growth of the Solana token

The price of the Solana token in 2021 has already increased 78 times, however, analysts believe that the value of the crypto coin will continue to grow. The Spartan Group believes that SOL will triple in price. "If $90B is the right valuation for $ADA, then $SOL is easily a 3X from here," Spartan Group analyst wrote on Twitter. Anonymous cryptanalyst Bluntz shared a similar point of view. He believes that according to technical analysis, the price of Solana is capable of reaching the $200 mark and even rising higher. Genesis Capital's head of digital assets and finance, Matt Ballensweig, is also confident that SOL will grow. He pointed to the rather modest capitalization of the token, even at today's prices.

 ETH rises above $3,500

On September 1, the cost of Ethereum surpassed the $3,500 mark. This happened for the first time since the fall of the cryptocurrency in May this year. According to Coinmarketcap, ETH was worth $3,535. Over the past 7 days, the coin rate has grown by almost 13%. In early August of this year, the London hard fork took place on the ETH network, which changed the mechanism for calculating commissions for operations. A part of the reward for miners who received it for mining a block is now burned.

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 Solana CEO is confident that there are no bubbles in the cryptocurrency market today

Solana CEO Anatoly Yakovenko believes that currently there are no bubbles in the crypto market. It is noteworthy that the growth rate of the SOL rate is significantly higher than that of most digital currencies. Over the past month, Solana's price has tripled. Some crypto enthusiasts believe in the further growth of this token. “Now is a completely different time and it is not worth comparing the current situation with a bubble. In 2017, the bubble quickly inflated and quickly burst, but since then three years have passed and all this time people have been working, creating various solutions and projects. Now is the time when we have created the infrastructure so that new engineers and developers quickly “merge” into the ecosystem,” Yakovenko believes.

 US Senator: cryptocurrencies are the new shadow banks

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to criticize the crypto industry and urges regulators to take control of projects related to digital assets. This is stated in a series of public letters between Senator, SEC head Gary Gensler and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Warren previously called on Yellen for a "coordinated and consistent regulatory strategy to mitigate the growing risks that cryptocurrencies pose to the financial system." In her address, the senator pointed out that "some" digital currencies are very volatile, and the unpredictability of their rate movements can provoke financial instability. Warren is actively promoting the initiative to "ban the holding of cash deposits that provide stablecoins in the United States." She is confident that this could slow down the market boom and reduce interest in such assets. “Crypto is the new shadow bank. It provides many of the same services, but without the consumer protections or financial stability that back up the traditional system. It’s like spinning straw into gold,” Warren said.

 Retail network Grupo Elektra will start accepting cryptocurrencies

Mexican entrepreneur and owner of Grupo Elektra retailer Ricardo Salinas Pliego made a statement that the retailer intends to add support for the Lightning Network to accept payments in BTC. According to the businessman, this will happen very soon. It is likely that in the future, other companies of the holding will add support for the first crypto coin. Pliego has previously made statements in support of bitcoin. Last autumn, he announced that he had invested 10% of his own "liquid investment portfolio" in BTC.