Crypto News – Weekly Digest – August 22
Bitcoin price almost reached $49,000
On Sunday, August 22, Bitcoin exchange rate renewed it’s maximum since May, and is currently exceeding $ 48,800. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $ 48,860. Over the past 7 days, the asset has risen in price by 4.4%, according to CoinGecko.
Meanwhile, Ethereum price decreased by 0.47% to $ 3236. Current dominance index BTC – 44.0%, ETH – 18.2%. Bitcoin skeptic and gold supporter Peter Schiff admitted that the rate of the first cryptocurrency could soar to $ 100,000 and said that it was wrong decision to skip buying the digital asset in 2011.
Bitcoin Suisse and Worldline Launched Payment Solution for Merchants
Swiss crypto trading platform Bitcoin Suisse and European payment service provider Worldline have unveiled WL Crypto Payments, a multichannel cryptocurrency payment solution for merchants. The integrated service allows more than 85,000 Swiss merchants on the Worldline network to accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as a POS and e-commerce payment option. To do this, they need to download the WL Crypto Payments mobile application or install the Worldline payment plugin on the website of their online store.
Prices quoted by the merchant in Swiss francs are converted to digital assets in real time. The cryptocurrency transaction is converted to fiat immediately after confirmation of the payment to avoid volatility risks. The buyer can pay through a regular mobile crypto wallet.
South African lost almost $ 1 million worth of Bitcoin
A young man from Pretoria (South Africa) has lost access to a wallet with 20 BTC mined 10 years ago, according to MyBroadband report. At the time of writing, the value of the bitcoins he lost is around $ 980,000. 24-year-old electronics engineer Mark Michaels (name has been changed) said that he mined cryptocurrency at school age. To do this, he used a computer based on an AMD Phenom X3 processor with 512 GB of RAM and Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 graphics card.
In the end, he got tired of it, since the computer could not be used for other tasks, and the cryptocurrency was almost worthless in that period of time. In addition, he did not find an opportunity to sell it. During that year, the price of the first cryptocurrency surged from $ 0.0008 to $ 0.08. Then he lost the paper with the key and password from the Bitcoin wallet, and at some point, while cleaning the computer, he also deleted the data file.
About 7 years later, when the price of the cryptocurrency had already reached $ 1000, Michaels made the first attempt to recover access to his mined coins. Michaels also tried using special data recovery software on the main hard drive. However, the HDD had been repeatedly formatted and attempts had failed.
According to Chainanalysis estimations, around 20% of mined Bitcoins are still held in lost or forgotten cryptocurrency wallets.
Eurex Launches Europe’s First Regulated Bitcoin ETN Futures
On September 13, financial derivatives platform Eurex will launch Bitcoin ETN futures with physical delivery of the first cryptocurrency. Investors’ protection will be ensured by standard clearing, netting and risk management processes. This will reduce the risks of counterparties and the operating costs of market participants, according to a press release.
The contract is based on the exchange product BTCetc, which is one of the most traded instruments in this category on the Xetra platform from the Deutsche Börse structure. ETN is equivalent to 1/1000 bitcoin, fully collateralized and redeemable in Bitcoin
Previously Deutsche Börse Group acquired a majority stake in the Crypto Finance AG holding. The deal will allow the platform to expand its digital asset offering for whose who are looking to invest in cryptocurrencies. Moreover, crypto mutual funds are also becoming increasingly popular.
Central Bank of Brazil supported cryptocurrencies regulation
The President of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto, has called for establishment of regulatory framework for the crypto industry. The regulator is discussing the ways to this with the Securities Commission (CVM).
According to QR Capital CEO Fernando Carvalho, Brazil’s regulatory authorities recognize the growing maturity of the crypto market and understand that it is important for investors to offer regulated and trustworthy products for consumers, professional traders and local institutional investors.
In March 2021, the company he leads received approval from CVM to launch a Bitcoin ETF. In July, the agency registered a similar product from QR Capital based on Ethereum.
Brazil became the second country in the world after Canada that approved cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In July, CVM candidate Otto Eduardo Fonseca de Albuquerque Lobo said that the agency should pay “special attention” to cryptocurrency transactions not covered by the current regulatory regime.
City in Missouri will distribute Bitcoins to all residents
The mayor of Cool Valley, Missouri, Jason Stewart, plans to distribute bitcoins to all residents. He is seeking funding for the project, which expects to launch by the end of 2021, according to the local KSDK TV channel. Most of the funds will come from several undisclosed investors, the mayor said. He noted that “supportive patrons” are ready to invest a few million dollars in the project.
Stewart is also trying to get support from several government funds. Part of the funding will be attracted through incentive payments against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayor does not exclude the possibility of using budget funds.
The project assumes that the residents of Cool Valley will receive cryptocurrency under certain conditions. In particular, they will not be able to spend Bitcoins for several years. Stewart Says that residents would be greatly regretted if they spent payments in digital assets to close the next payment for a mortgage or a car. He believes that in a few years these assets will be worth “hundreds of thousands dollars”. Stewart highlighted that the experience of acquaintances pushed him to create the project.
Ontario regulator accused OKEx exchange of violating securities law
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has reported that Bitcoin exchange operator OKEx has violated the provincial securities law.
According to OSC statement, Aux Cayes Fintech, a Seychelles-based company, provides Ontario residents with access to cryptocurrency products that qualify as securities and derivatives through the OKEx platform. At the same time, the company does not comply with the legal and regulatory requirements for registration and disclosure of information, confirms the OSC division.
In March 2021, the regulator notified crypto trading companies and platforms of the need to bring their business activities in compliance with regulatory requirements. The commission decided that by April 19, they must contact its staff to discuss the necessary measures but Aux Cayes didn’t. The company blocked the registration of new accounts on OKEx for Ontario residents and added the region to the list of jurisdictions with applied restrictions only after regulator’s request.
The company also told OSC that it will identify Ontario clients to close accounts and assist with withdrawals. However, Aux Cayes refused to provide the regulator with number of such users and the amount of funds held on their accounts.
Free TON Developers Introduce True NFT Technology
The TON Surf and RSquad teams have published the code for a new solution called True NFT. The key differences of the technology are the placement of all data about NFT including content on the Free TON blockchain and the ability to search for records about collections and tokens, as well as about historical actions by sending standardized requests from smart contracts.
True NFT allows users to interact with tokens in decentralized browsers and applications using a single blockchain address, or send NFTs with only the recipient’s address. As conceived by the creators, the new technology should greatly facilitate the trade and exchange of NFTs.
When using True NFT, information about its owner is included in the initial data of the token, which makes it possible to find it when searching. The data is placed in a separate non-removable contract, thus forming a semblance of a search index, which is recreated when the owner changes.
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