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A cryptocurrency collective that made a big media splash by announcing plans to buy one of 13 surviving copies of the U.S. Constitution was ultimately outbid on Thursday, losing out on a piece of history, but putting a new crypto-crowdfunding trend on the map. ConstitutionDAO announced earlier this week its intension to bid on the Constitution, which Sotheby’s estimated would fetch $15 million to $20 million. The auction’s eventual winner, who was unidentified, bid $41 million, beating ConstitutionDAO’s final bid of $40 million. “While this wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, we still made history tonight with ConstitutionDAO,” the group…
Bitcoin fell to a one-month low on Friday and was headed for its worst week in six months as traders have booked profits from a long rally and been spooked by an expectation that creditors of collapsed crypto exchange Mt Gox might liquidate their payments. The largest cryptocurrency by market value, bitcoin was down 1.6% at $55,980 by mid-session in Asia, its lowest since mid-October and 20% below last week’s record high. “Selling pressure has been quite constant,” said Matthew Dibb, chief operating officer at Singapore-based crypto asset manager Stack Funds, who expects it could continue until the token finds…
Gemini Trust Co., the cryptocurrency exchange founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, said it raised $400 million in a round of funding that values the company at $7.1 billion. The exchange’s first-ever outside financing was led by Morgan Creek Digital with participation from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and other investors. The bank is also partnering with Gemini to give its customers safe storage for tokens they buy and sell. Bloomberg first reported the funding round yesterday. In addition to supporting trading, Gemini already custodies more than $30 billion in crypto assets, runs a marketplace for nonfungible tokens and lets…
Bitdeer Technologies said on Thursday it plans to go public by merging with blank-check firm Blue Safari Group Acquisition Corp in a deal valuing the cryptocurrency mining platform at $4 billion. The Singapore-based company was spun-off from Chinese bitcoin mining giant Bitmain in January and has been doubling down on its adoption of renewable technology in digital asset mining. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Blue Safari Group, went public in June, raising $57.5 million from its initial public offering. A SPAC is a listed firm with no business operations but a pool of capital that it uses to merge…
A stronger regulatory and supervisory framework is needed to ensure that stablecoins are a safe form of payment, but they should not necessarily be subject to all of the same rules as banks, Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller said on Wednesday. “The regulatory and supervisory framework for payment stablecoins should address the specific risks that these arrangements pose — directly, fully, and narrowly,” Waller said during a virtual conference organized by the Cleveland Fed. “But it does not necessarily mean imposing the full banking rulebook, which is geared in part toward lending activities, not payments.” Stablecoins, a form a…
Fraud and theft at decentralized finance platforms has totaled $10.5 billion so far this year, research showed on Thursday, laying bare the risks in the fast-growing but still mostly unregulated area of cryptocurrencies. So-called DeFi platforms allow users to lend, borrow and save – usually in cryptocurrencies – while bypassing traditional gatekeepers of finance such as banks. Backers say the technology offers cheaper and more efficient access to financial services. Cash has poured into DeFi sites this year, mirroring the explosion of interest in cryptocurrencies as a whole. Many investors, facing historically low or sub-zero interest rates, are drawn to…
When rare copies of historic documents go up for auction, it’s often wealthy businesspeople who make the winning bids. But in an auction scheduled for Thursday, a ragtag group of cryptocurrency fans who found one another on social media may be the ones who walk away with a first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution. Powered by cryptocurrency memes and inspired by a 2004 Nicolas Cage movie, the group, which calls itself ConstitutionDAO, reported having raised more than $32 million from thousands of mostly anonymous donors in less than a week of online organizing. It’s a project that demonstrates the power…
Stakeholders in the business and justice sector have advocated for a strong law to regulate new innovations in Fintech to safeguard citizens and growing investments in the sector. Speaking at the Punuka Annual Lecture, 2021 edition tagged ‘Fintech, Crypto and Frontier Technologies in Trade; Prospects and Legal Challenges,’ the stakeholders identified emerging issues in the area and called for strong regulation. Some of those who spoke at the event include Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, Associate Professor, the University of Wisconsin in the USA, Charles Von Simson, Senior Partner at Punuka Attorneys and Solicitors,…
The incoming mayor of New York City thinks cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are the future. Eric Adams has advocated to reshape the city into a crypto hotspot, with crypto being taught in schools. He also plans to take his first three paychecks in bitcoin payment. Adams said in an interview that bitcoin was the “new way of paying for goods and services throughout the entire globe” and that schools “must” teach the technology behind it, as well as “this new way of thinking”. He’s not alone in America. The mayor of Miami announced in February that the city plans to…
Has “Elon Musk” asked you to send him bitcoins, offering to double your money? Did you get an official-looking solicitation from the Texas firm “Peters Wealth Management” to buy cryptocurrency? How about someone on a dating app touting a “great new investment”? All of these are scams involving the latest buzz-worthy investment — cryptocurrency. While legitimate currencies such as Bitcoin can offer good, if often volatile, returns, scam artists are proficient at separating unwise investors from their money. State attorneys general and regulatory agencies are cracking down. Attorneys general in Massachusetts and New York have issued fines and cease and…