The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has announced a $1.4-million settlement with former NBA player Paul Pierce for allegedly promoting a token project on social media. In a Feb. 17 announcement, the SEC said Pierce touted EthereumMax (EMAX) tokens through social media channels without disclosing he had received payment for the promotion and made
Bitcoin miner CleanSpark is growing its mining capacity in the United States with the purchase of 20,000 new Antminer S19j Pro+ units for $43.6 million. The acquisition is expected to boost the company’s computing power by 37% and brings the total number of miners purchased during the bear market to 46,500 units. According to a
Prosecutors in the financial fraud case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) are attempting to persuade the judge to restrict his use of electronic devices. It has been revealed that SBF used a virtual private network (VPN) to watch the Super Bowl through a foreign subscription service he had purchased before his arrest. Prosecutors,
Bitcoin (BTC) climbed back above $24,000 at the Feb. 17 Wall Street open as analysis favored “consolidation and continuation” higher. Bitcoin faces key level to “break” bear trend Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD recovering some overnight losses after dipping to $23,369 on Bitstamp. The pair had hit fresh six-month highs the
Most blockchain upgrades have an impact on price action. The Ethereum Shanghai upgrade would be no different. Ether supplies on exchanges have already started to plunge as investors choose to move their assets to self-custody. The previous Ethereum upgrade created good volatility in the market, which traders tapped into. ETH prices skyrocketed from around $1,000
Opera, the Web3 browser, and Unstoppable Domains, the non-fungible token (NFT) domain provider, have announced that users can now access all domain endings, including .x, .crypto, and .nft, across Opera’s browsers. Additionally, Opera and Unstoppable are offering a free .nft domain that matches an Opera user’s Twitter handle after account verification. Opera Expands Web3 Capabilities
In a year of crypto upheavals, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s settlement with crypto exchange Kraken, announced on Feb. 9, set off yet another tremor. Agency chief Gary Gensler took to mainstream media last week to explain the agency’s action, which seemed to be an attack on crypto staking — part of the
Bitcoin fell below the $25,000 mark on Friday, as markets moved into consolidation, following recent gains. Prices fell by almost $1,700 in the last 24 hours, with the global cryptocurrency market cap down 1.89% as of writing. Ethereum also dropped, after breaking into the $1,700 level on Thursday. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) fell sharply below a
On this week’s episode of NFT Steez, co-hosts Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond continue their chat with Justin and J.P. Alanis, the co-founders of StoryCo — an open media platform — on the prospect of a community of creators franchising intellectual property (IP) through collaboration and soulbound tokens. Speaking on his experience with musician Tyler
The Bank of Russia is preparing to roll out the first consumer pilot for the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) on April 1, 2023. Russia’s central bank is set to soon debut the first real-world digital ruble transactions involving 13 local banks and several merchants, first deputy governor Olga Skorobogatova said. The official noted
Bitcoin mining operation Cleanspark has acquired 20,000 brand-new Bitmain mining rigs for $43.6 million, the company reported. Once installed, Cleanspark expects to increase its capacity by 37% by adding roughly 2.44 exahash per second (EH/s) to the firm’s fleet. Cleanspark CEO Says Proprietary Mining Model Gives Company Greater Control and Efficiency Cleanspark, the publicly listed
A Bitcoin (BTC) price indicator has flashed green for just the fourth time ever this week in a major warning to bears. In a tweet on Feb. 16, crypto market analyst Mohit Sorout announced that the Dollar Cost Average (DCA) Indicator was now “suggesting a raging bull market.” DCA breakout last preceded 640% BTC price
Japanese gaming company Square Enix has announced that it will be using Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain, as a base for Symbiogenesis, its upcoming Web3 experience. Naoyuki Tamate, producer of the game, cited the high transaction speeds and low transaction gas costs as the reasons for making this change in the game’s design. Square Enix to
Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon being in the sights of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have sparked various reactions from lawyers within the crypto community. On Feb. 16, the SEC accused and charged Kwon and Terraform Labs for allegedly selling a “suite of crypto asset securities.” While community members are
The collapsed crypto exchange FTX reportedly used the lure of high earnings to convince African university students to become its ambassadors. In addition to encouraging new FTX investors to use the platform, student ambassadors were also required to teach them about crypto and the blockchain. Some of the students insisted they will not quit crypto
Ripple has defined Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) as a key priority in its 2023 projections and goals, and already boasts notable collaborations with several countries. As Bitcoinist reported, in mid-January the fintech company landed the southeastern European country of Montenegro to pilot a digital stablecoin. Already in the second half of last year, Ripple
Japan, a nation where foreign stablecoins like USDT are prohibited, plans to begin its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot in April 2023. It will aim to include private businesses and test an ecosystem. On Feb. 17 the Bank of Japan (BoJ) released the opening speech of its executive director Shinichi Uchida at the CBDC
PWC, one of the ‘Big Four’ auditors and among the largest professional services networks globally, recently published a report on FTX Digital Markets, the bankrupt crypto exchange’s Bahamian subsidiary. The report indicates that the entity’s accounting records have been limited, and it also noted that there is “little distinction between what represents potentially client monies
The top Mt. Gox creditor chose to have an early payout in Bitcoin (BTC), deciding against waiting longer for an even larger payment. Mt. Gox Investment Fund, the largest creditor of the defunct crypto exchange, reportedly decided to take its chances with a lesser but earlier payout rather than waiting for all the legal processes
The Capital Market Authority (CMA), the regulator of Oman’s financial markets, looks to establish a new regulatory framework for the virtual asset industry in the Sultanate. According to a Feb. 14 press release, the new rules would include oversight of virtual asset activities, a licensing process for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and a framework