Author: Staff Writer

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies should be used to empower democracy, not undermine it. Policymakers in India say unregulated transactions in digital currencies could hurt macroeconomic and financial stability. After initially planning to ban cryptocurrencies, the Modi government is instead considering legislation to regulate their use. “We must … jointly shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and cryptocurrencies so that they are used to empower democracy, not to undermine it,” Modi told a virtual summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. There are an estimated 15 million to…

Michael Saylors company bought an extra $82.4 million worth of bitcoin about a week after announcing a $414 million purchase. Software intelligence company and bitcoin accumulator MicroStrategy has increased its BTC holdings with a recent acquisition of 1,434 coins, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing Thursday. The purchase was made between November 29 and December 8 for $82.4 million in cash, valuing each BTC bought at about $57,477 on average. https://twitter.com/saylor/status/1437386724443926535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1437386724443926535%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsbtc.com%2Fnews%2Fbitcoin%2Fmicrostrategy-buys-240m-bitcoin%2F The acquisition came a little over a week after the company announced it had purchased more than 7,000 BTC for $414.4 million. MicroStrategy said it now holds approximately 122,478…

Crypto startup Palm NFT Studio said on Thursday it had raised $27 million in an early-stage funding round led by Microsoft Corp’s venture fund M12 with participation from venture firm Griffin Gaming Partners. Palm NFT, co-founded by Joseph Lubin, offers services for artists to establish NFT marketplaces. Lubin was also one of the co-founders of ethereum, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency after bitcoin. An NFT is a digital asset that exists on a blockchain, which serves .. Palm NFT Studio’s chief executive officer Dan Heyman told Reuters in an interview that the company intends to use the capital to scale its…

The analyst of Bloomberg Intelligence Mike McGlone argues that the United States could fully embrace cryptocurrencies next year. “Spurred by China’s ban and the proliferation of breakthrough technologies like crypto dollars and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), we expect the US to embrace cryptocurrencies in 2022, with proper regulation and consequent upward implications for prices.” McGlone wrote in his article published Monday. In the expert’s opinion, the unlimited supply of fiat money “should sustain the rise in prices, especially in bitcoins and Ethereum, whose supply is limited.” McGlone expects there will be a wider adoption of bitcoin, Ethereum and crypto dollars in…

In another compelling year for the trillion-dollar crypto industry, Singapore hits top spot to become the world’s most crypto-ready country at the end of 2021. In Coincub’s latest ranking of the world’s most dynamic crypto countries for 2021/Q4, Singapore goes to number one with Australia rising swiftly up the ranking to number two.(Photo : Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Sergiu Hamsa, CEO of Coincub, the producer of the quarterly crypto rankings says:  “Events are moving at breakneck speed in the crypto economy. In the last few months alone, bitcoin hit new price highs, driving renewed demand worldwide, El Salvador declared bitcoin as…

Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Ripple Chris Larsen has unveiled his plan for Bitcoin miners to move away from Proof of Work (PoW), saying they should view it as “a net positive for their longevity.” He argues it could provide a major boost to the share prices of listed mining firms “as any new code proposal would almost certainly have to include lucrative incentives to gain their support.” PoW is the consensus algorithm that secures Bitcoin (BTC) transactions on the blockchain. While the Bitcoin network is the most secure and reliable, the amount of energy BTC mining requires causes endless debate in the crypto space.…

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a final decision on the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, amid conflicting views, financial newspaper the Economic Times reported on Friday. The draft bill for cryptocurrencies has been finalised by the finance ministry but certain sections of the government felt more detailed discussions might be required, according to the report citing two persons familiar with the development. The officials are likely to meet later in the day to form a final consensus on the Bill, the report added. The bill is expected to be tabled in the current session of the parliament. The finance ministry didn’t…

Dechert partner Timothy Spangler well remembers standing next to a whiteboard on Franklin Templeton Investments’ San Mateo campus in California, about three years ago. He was with some of the asset manager’s senior executives. The hype about blockchain technology — which instantly creates secure digital records on a distributed database — was close to fever pitch. Experts across the world were speculating on its potential to disintermediate old financial services systems where simple jobs can take days. Franklin Templeton wanted in, and executives had gathered to brainstorm ways to exploit blockchain. But, unlike many other companies hunting for a blockchain…

As 2021 is coming to a close, one of the largest players in the cryptocurrency lobby has seen a surge in membership and funding.  The Blockchain Association, a 501(c)6 trade association for the crypto industry, has been a player in Washington, DC since its founding in 2018. But 2021 has seen record growth. Membership has risen from 28 firms to 65 since January 1. Meanwhile, the 2020 budget that was just shy of $2 million has gone up to nearly $8 million, according to executive director Kristin Smith and the association’s most recently filed 990 forms. Among the most recent…

Tether published its latest ‘proof of funds’ last week. The figures are a snapshot of the controversial stablecoin issuer’s assets as of Sept. 30, 2021 and show it holding some $69.2 billion in reserves to back its tokens, which form an important backbone of the cryptomarket, and for Bitcoin in particular. The breakdown looks like this: Source: Tether Look closely and you’ll see a line for “Reverse Repo Notes” that’s immediately followed by a big fat $0. When Tether first provided an update on its holdings earlier this year it said it had 3.6% of its ‘cash equivalent’ assets in reverse repo notes (which worked out to about $1.11 billion based…