Augur(REP)

Three countries, including the U.S., are currently demanding for the arrested suspect.

Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, has reportedly been arrested in Montenegro. Kwon has been on Interpol and South Korean authorities’ radar for his alleged involvement in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The Minister of the Interior of Montenegro, Filip Adzic, announced in a post that an individual suspected of being Do Kwon had been arrested in the Podgorica region on March 23. Following the announcement, local media outlet Vijesti confirmed that the Twitter account that posted the news belonged to the minister of interior of Montenegro. The person arrested was a South Korean national. Adzic tweeted: Montenegrin police have detained a person suspected of being one of the most wanted fugitives, South Korean citizen Do Kwon, co-founder and CEO of Singapore-based Terraform Labs. Kwon was reportedly detained at the Podgorica airport with falsified documents. The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and South Korean authorities were on the hunt for Kwon for his alleged role in the collapse of the $40 billion Terra Luna (LUNC) and Terra USD (USDT) ecosystem in May 2022. Kwon became an internationally wanted man when Interpol issued a red notice on him in September. Interpol’s red notice came only weeks after a court in South Korea issued an arrest warrant for the founder, alleging that he violated the Capital Markets Act. Montenegro is geographically south of Serbia and shares a border with the Balkan nation. In December, it was reported that Kwon was hiding in Serbia. Serbia and South Korea do not share an extradition treaty. At the time, prosecutors indicated that Kwon fled to Dubai as a stopover after he exited Singapore. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Users can earn staking rewards by delegating the staking process to Cardano staking pool operators via reputable exchanges.

Cointelegraph Markets Pro’s latest VORTECS™ Report reveals the advanced indicators members used to realize outsized crypto market gains.

London, UK, 23rd March, 2023, ChainwireMizar, a platform with more than 10,000 users that aims to bring advanced and automated trading to the blockchain, is proud to announce the launch of its native token, MZR, on Camelot DEX, a fully decentralized exchange (DEX) built on Arbitrum.The emergence of Arbitrum and the launch of the $ARB token, along with its recent airdrop, have caused a buzz in the ecosystem, leading to a surge in popularity for DEXs like GMX. The Mizar team anticipates substantial growth in decentralized trading on Arbitrum over the next few years and is dedicated to being one of the first to provide automated trading tools for current and future Abitrum traders.The scalability of Arbitrum, along with its faster transaction processing and lower fees, make it a top technology choice for users engaged in active trading and portfolio management. Mizar believes that these features make Arbitrum a perfect product for traders who prioritize efficiency, self-custody, and asset decentralization in their trading activities. As a result, the DeFi trading experience has been significantly enhanced, opening doors for on-chain automated and advanced trading.Francesco Ciuci, CEO of Mizar, is thrilled to share his excitement about the next steps for Mizar. HeCiuci said, "Our goal is to transform the way individuals participate in DeFi trading. Despite the successful development of sophisticated DEXs like GMX, there still remains a considerable amount of manual effort involved for DeFi traders. Given that most trades in traditional and centralized finance are conducted using advanced artificial intelligence and automation, we must progress and introduce similar tools to DeFi."Referring to the recent launch of the MZR token on Camelot DEX, Ciuci added “For us, launching on Camelot DEX represents progress towards the Arbitrum ecosystem. It will grant us access to a native Arbitrum community that will aid us in developing suitable tools for their needs.”Camelot DEX is a recent Arbitrum native project that is completely decentralized and driven by its community. Mizar is enthusiastic about Camelot DEX due to its innovative strategy for providing liquidity, which distinguishes Camelot DEX from other decentralized exchanges. Its community-driven approach makes it simple for anyone to provide liquidity and earn rewards, resulting in a significant advantage for new and established projects.The launch of MZR on Camelot DEX, on Arbitrum, marks a significant milestone for Mizar, and the team is excited about the opportunities this presents for them. They are committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the world of decentralized finance and are looking forward to what the future brings.About MizarWith over 10,000 active users and millions of volumes traded daily, Mizar is the go-to choice for those who demand the best when trading crypto. Say goodbye to FOMO and missed opportunities, and embrace hands-free trading on your favorite CEX and DEX with advanced bots and smart tools. Share your bots with others on the to-be-largest social trading platform in the crypto world and earn a passive income. And thanks to the MZR token, you can get access to all these features without paying any subscription fee.ContactMizar [email protected]

The former blockchain executive is wanted by Interpol for his role in the $40 billion collapse of the Terra Luna ecosystem during May 2022.

Notable short seller Hindenburg Research accuses Block of "wildly" overstating user counts, while understating customer acquisition costs.

Ziglu is also looking to raise around $2.46 million to enable it to continue operating until a sale is agreed

The crypto trading platform has successfully raised $250 million in funding at a total valuation of $3.5 billion. SPAC Cancelled; Funding Commenced The company had previously called off its plans to go public in 2022. At that time, its company valuation stood at a whopping $10.4 billion. The latest round of fundraising revealed that the valuation had dropped significantly to rest at $3.5 billion. eToro first announced its plans to go public back in March 2021. Back then, its valuation was calculated to be around $10.4 billion. However, in January 2022, the valuation got cut down by 15% to $8.8 billion. By the time July 2022 rolled out, the company had decided to terminate the SPAC deal due to the regulatory changes, resulting in further dropping of the company’s valuation. eToro’s AIA eToro has raised $250 million in an Advanced Investment Agreement (AIA), which is not your typical equity round. In an AIA, the investors pay discounted rates in advance to have shares allocated later. In this instance, the companies that have invested include ION Group, Social Leverage, SoftBank, and Spark Capital. These companies invested in the AIA back in 2021 as a backup in case the proposed SPAC did not pan out. The agreement between eToro and the investors was that if the SPAC transaction did not go through in two years and the company had not raised any additional capital, the AIA investment would be converted. Since then, the company terminated its SPAC agreement in July 2022. Even though there were reports of a private funding round for between $800 million and $1 billion, the company denied such claims. Therefore as per the agreement, the AIA investment has been converted. The State Of eToro The company has had a very uneven growth in revenue over the last three years, despite announcing its metaverse ambitions in 2022. It even had to delist certain crypto from its platform over regulatory issues in 2021. However, the management is still projecting a very positive view of its situation. Recently, eToro CFO Meron Shani released a statement in which he wrote, “At eToro, we need no reminder that markets are cyclical. The diversified nature of our multi-asset product offering ensured that commissions from equities and commodities partially offset the decrease in commissions from cryptoassets in 2022. It’s also worth noting that we were not impacted by the liquidity concerns which plagued many in the crypto industry.” Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The network’s early success was a double-edged sword as the large number of transactions resulted in network congestion and rising transaction fees, the report said.

With banks on the edge of meltdown and Bitcoin about to embark on its bull market, has Gensler been told to bring Coinbase down, and with it a large proportion of retail investors who are buying crypto? A broken system The banking system is broken, and perhaps it has got to the point of no return, even given the massive sums of currency that central banks have used to try and prop the system up. With the Federal Reserve saying that it will make all depositors whole in the U.S. should any more banks go down, the fractures have been papered over for now. The public is now aware What is obvious to the U.S. government though is that the public has been shocked at the weakness of the banking system, and has been made painfully aware of the apparent ease with which large banks can fall in only a matter of days. It must also be aware that crypto has lost its largest 3 fiat on/off ramps in the form of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, in just a few days, yet the crypto bull market appears to be starting regardless. As banks fail, interest in crypto grows For government and central banks the situation has become untenable. It knows that despite all efforts to keep banks afloat, more could potentially fail over the coming months as the Federal Reserve continues to keep interest rates high. Institutions have been kept away from investing in Bitcoin in the main, given the extremely tight regulatory environment, but the general public is definitely still interested in crypto, and should crypto assets keep rising, the interest might become a flood. Damping down ardour for crypto Therefore, throwing a huge cloud of negativity and uncertainty over Coinbase could bring about a cooling of the public’s crypto investing ardour. The serving of a Wells Notice on Coinbase by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the first step in a potential enforcement action. It doesn’t always result in an action but just serving it had the effect of toppling the Coinbase share price around 17% since yesterday’s close. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said of the notice by the SEC that it was like a game of “pickleball” (the fastest growing new sport in the U.S.) whereby referees were from both football and soccer, and “one of them suddenly decides to change a call they made back in April 2021” (no doubt referring to the SEC’s approval of Coinbase going public). Coinbase published a blog on Wednesday, in which it laid out its complaints against the SEC. In it, Coinbase quoted Federal Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles on the ongoing Voyager case. He said: “Regulators themselves cannot seem to agree as to whether cryptocurrencies are commodities that may be subject to regulation by the CFTC, or whether they are securities […] subject to securities laws, or neither, or even on what criteria should be applied in making the decision. This uncertainty has persisted despite the fact that cryptocurrency exchanges have been around for a number of years.” The stakes are incredibly high Coinbase is potentially a very large pawn in an incredibly important chess game, with the future of finance as the prize. On the one side is the government, petrified over losing full control of ‘money’, along with the legacy banks, terrified of falling into obsolescence. On the other side is a dynamic and innovative industry which is gaining ground despite government and bank control of the mainstream media. Crypto has much to offer the financial system, and the financial system can certainly repurpose itself and gain from what crypto has to offer. Enforcing control has never worked throughout history, and has only ever served to slow the demise of the enforcer. In a changing world where many more countries are scrambling to join the BRICS nations and trade in currencies that are backed by tangible commodities, the U.S. must reinvent itself in order to survive. Crypto could be that path. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Protocols like Near, Polkadot and Cardano are using new approaches to improving the tradeoff between scalability, decentralization and security, the report said.

In Todays Headline TV CryptoDaily News: European crypto startups raised $5.7B in VC Funding in 2022. European crypto startups raised a record $5.7 billion in VC funding last year, up from $5 billion in 2021, according to the latest report. The investment cycle followed the global trend of peaking in the second quarter and declining sharply in the first quarter of this year. Australia regulator seeks risk reports from banks on startups, crypto -report. Australia's prudential regulator has started asking the country's banks to declare their exposure to startups and crypto-focused ventures following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, according to the Australian Financial Review. Bitcoin sinks below $27K. Bitcoin sank below $27,000 as the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee did as was widely expected, raising interest rates again, this time by a quarter point. The decision reinforces the Federal Reserve's concerns that inflation remains problematic. BTC/USD plummeted 3.3% in the last session. The Bitcoin-Dollar pair plummeted 3.3% in the last session. According to the Stochastic-RSI, we are in an overbought market. Support is at 26831.3333 and resistance at 29075.3333. The Stochastic-RSI is signalling an overbought market. ETH/USD dove 4.2% in the last session. The Ethereum-Dollar pair plummeted 4.2% in the last session. The Ultimate Oscillator is giving a negative signal. Support is at 1671.281 and resistance at 1898.181. The Ultimate Oscillator is currently in negative territory. XRP/USD plummeted 10.0% in the last session. The Ripple-Dollar pair plummeted 10.0% in the last session. The Williams indicator is giving a negative signal. Support is at 0.325 and resistance at 0.5645. The Williams indicator is currently in the negative zone. LTC/USD skyrocketed 5.0% in the last session. The Litecoin-Dollar pair gained 5.0% in the last session after rising as much as 6.8% during the session. The Ultimate Oscillator is giving a positive signal. Support is at 74.371 and resistance at 87.451. The Ultimate Oscillator is giving a positive signal. Daily Economic Calendar: US Chicago Fed National Activity Index The Chicago Fed National Activity Index, released by Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is a monthly index designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure. The US Chicago Fed National Activity Index will be released at 12:30 GMT, the US Initial Jobless Claims at 12:30 GMT, the Eurozone's Consumer Confidence at 15:00 GMT. US Initial Jobless Claims The Initial Jobless Claims is a measure of the number of people filing first-time claims for state unemployment insurance. EMU Consumer Confidence The Consumer Confidence is a leading index that measures the level of consumer confidence in economic activity. JP National Consumer Price Index The National Consumer Price Index is a measure of price movements obtained by comparing the retail prices of a representative shopping basket of goods and services. Japan's National Consumer Price Index will be released at 23:30 GMT, Japan's Foreign Bond Investment at 23:50 GMT, the UK's Monetary Policy Summary at 12:00 GMT. JP Foreign Bond Investment The Foreign Bond Investment refers to bonds issued in a domestic market by a foreign entity in the domestic market’s currency. UK Monetary Policy Summary The Monetary Policy Summary contains the outcome of the vote on interest rates and other policy measures, along with commentary about the economic conditions that influenced the vote. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

PALO ALTO, California, 23rd March, 2023, ChainwireUpland, the metaverse super app mapped to the real world, is partnering with the EOS Network Foundation, a community-led, not-for-profit organization that coordinates public-goods funding and support to encourage the growth of the EOS Network, to launch Upland’s second hackathon where web2 and web3 developers are invited to bring new games and experiences leveraging Upland assets. As the only metaverse mapped to the real world, developers are able to create experiences that leverage unique characteristics of the Upland ecosystem, which include geo-specific context and assets like FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ Legits, to the largest growing web3 community.Web3 gaming coupled with metaverse experiences, will transform the way people play, interact and socialize. This year’s Upland Hackathon is designed to empower developers to create unique, immersive, and community-driven experiences that drive increased engagement in the metaverse. Developers are invited to participate in one of three tracks: 1. Metaverse Innovation Track; 2. FIFA Women World Cup 2023 (FWWC23) Track, and 3. Design Track. with the best ideas earning financial prizes and the chance to enter Upland’s post-hackathon incubator.Upland is one of the most popular and fastest-growing metaverses utilizing blockchain technology. Upland is the Earth’s metaverse, spread across dozens of global cities that have been mapped to the real world and are accessible via the Web, iOS, and Android. “After a successful first round in 2022, we are thrilled to be hosting our 2nd hackathon for web2 and web3 developers alike to leverage our tools to create new experiences in the Upland metaverse,” says Idan Zuckerman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Upland. “As part of our mission to build the first Metaverse Super App, the main topics of this hackathon will have developer teams leverage web3 concepts by integrating games and experiences with the Upland platform to drive engagement and adoption in new innovative ways”This year’s Hackathon event will encompass three unique tracks, each contextual to the Upland ecosystem, community and economy. Developers, designers, artists, gamers, and blockchain enthusiasts will be provided with the tools, support, and inspiration to bring their Web3 game ideas to life. Utilizing Upland’s simple Rest APIs, participants will have a chance to put themselves on its virtual map.The Upland 2023 Metaverse Super App Hackathon’s panel will consist of four judges, including representatives from Upland, FIFA, and the EOS Network Foundation. Each project submission will be rated for the quality of each pitch and its prototype, its use of Upland’s 3rd-party development tools, its team’s composition and diversity, business feasibility, and fulfillment of the Hackathon’s mission statement. "We are very excited about this opportunity to meet and collaborate with some of the brightest metaverse developers today," said Yves La Rose, Founder and CEO of the EOS Network Foundation. "EOS has made GameFi a cornerstone of its ecosystem development, and Upland is one of its biggest success stories so far. Upland chose to build on EOS because it's one of the most robust and scalable networks of all, with an extremely diverse and talented pool of developers. Now we'll get the chance to see what those developers can do, and we're extremely enthusiastic about helping them bring their ideas to life."The FIFA Women’s World Cup Track builds on Upland’s status as FIFA’s official metaverse partner and provides a unique opportunity for developers to build games and experiences that utilize Upland’s third-party SDK alongside FIFA NFTs in Upland. Developers are tasked with creating unique games or gamified experiences leveraging FIFA Legits and Upland assets, with the winning project set to be showcased in the FIFA World Cup Village in Upland.In the competitive Design Track, Upland is inviting creators to design a 3D asset that will serve as the trophy for the World of Football eSports tournament. In World of Football players compete in live football matches taking place in the Upland metaverse.Finally, the Innovation Track invites developers to submit community-focused Web3 games or experiences that bring people together to play, socialize and share value. This is a flexible track where developers can leverage Upland’s developer tools, to create almost any kind of game or experience they believe has the potential to become an Upland metaverse hit.Participants of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and Innovation Tracks will compete for Grand Prizes worth $10,000, with $5,000 going to the runners-up of each track. Meanwhile, the winner of the Design Track will be awarded 2 million Upland UPX tokens. Both the Grand Prize and Runner-up Prize winners will also be invited to join Upland’s post-hackathon incubator.The Hackathon will begin with a kick-off party with OnePiece Labs followed by its official launch at GDC on March 22. Teams have until May 12 to register for the Hackathon, with May 26 being the deadline for submissions. Finalist selection will occur on May 28, with the final presentation and awards show taking place during Upland’s annual Genesis Week Conference at the Sahara Casino and Resort in Las Vegas on June 9.About UplandUpland is an open web3 platform for the metaverse mapped to the real world. The company’s mission is to build one of the leading and most dynamic maker-communities through a strong entrepreneur economy that allows players, creators, developers, and brands to manufacture goods and experiences, monetize assets, and provide utility and fun to other players. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with hubs in Las Vegas, Ukraine, and Brazil, Upland was named among Fast Company’s “Next Big Things in Tech” in 2021 and one of “22 San Francisco Startups To Watch in 2022” by Built In SF. Upland is committed to becoming carbon negative and is a proud partner of Carbonfuture. For more information about our sustainability commitment visit https://www.upland.me/sustainability. Upland is available on iOS, Android and the Web, and can be played from anywhere in the world.About EOS Network FoundationThe EOS Network Foundation (ENF) is a not-for-profit organization that coordinates financial and non-financial support to encourage the growth and development of the EOS Network. EOS is the native token of the EOS Network, which launched in 2018. The EOS Network provides a world-class, robust, smart contract functionality that enables developers to build the best-in-class decentralized applications (dApps) easily, facilitating the open web of the future and, in so doing, powering the Web3 economy. The ENF is the hub of the EOS Network, uniquely suited for NFT, GameFi, DeFi, and enterprise applications. The organization is committed to unlocking the full potential of the EOS blockchain to drive innovation, create new possibilities, and empower individuals and communities.About EOSThe EOS Network is a 3rd generation blockchain platform powered by the EOS VM, a low-latency, highly performant, and extensible WebAssembly engine. Purpose-built for enabling optimal Web3 user and developer experiences, EOS is a go-to Layer-1 network for developers looking to build blockchain-based games (GameFi), deploy decentralized applications (dApps), and create digital assets such as NFTs. EOS benefits from a multi-chain collaboration of blockchains built upon the Antelope framework using Antelope Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC). EOS drives public goods funding for free and open source tools and infrastructure through the EOS Network Foundation (ENF).ContactLindsay Anne [email protected]

While the funds represent a small portion of FTX’s overall asset shortfall, the settlement means the firms can avoid a costly legal battle.

Fears about mass financial surveillance are real with CBDCs, but banning them, as Republicans have recently proposed, will not help. Instead, more research is needed, says Ananya Kumar.

Your crypto wallet will become your mailbox and offer functionalities that Web2 messaging platforms like Discord and Telegram can only dream about.

XRP, Ripple XRPLedger’s native token, saw a substantial overnight run attempting to hit its bullish target of $0.50 but ultimately fell short, reaching a high of $0.49. XRP broke away from the general crypto market, recording massive gains and reaching its highest levels since November 2022. XRP, the native token of cross-border payment settlement firm Ripple’s XRPLedger, witnessed an incredible surge on Tuesday, breaking into a solo rally which yielded overnight gains of over 20%. XRP Rides the Wave of Fed Hikes and Banking Failures In response to the voluntary liquidation of Silvergate Bank and Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse, crypto investors have become bullish on Bitcoin and altcoins. As one of the most prominent altcoins by market cap, XRP’s price surged on the back of the recent U.S. banking crisis and the anticipation of an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed’s consequent decision to inject liquidity into the economy and protect banks from collapse has been the catalyst to drive investors toward decentralization and cryptocurrencies. XRP is currently trading at $0.44, representing gains of over 20% in the past 24 hours and 16% on the weekly chart. Bullish Sentiment Surrounding SEC Case XRP has also responded to recent developments in its case involving the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Analysts claim that investors have become more confident in the case’s outcome after a Letter Notice of Supplemental Authority was filed by the defendants in the case. Attorney James Filian revealed in a tweet on March 20 that the defendants in the case sought to support their fair notice defense by referencing a separate legal case where Judge Michael Wiles of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York rejected the SEC’s argument, ruling that it was too vague. The SEC objected to Binance.US’s bid to acquire Voyager Digital’s assets which included an asset known as VGX. The agency claimed that Voyager was an unregistered securities exchange and VGX has “aspects of a security”, to which it gave no further explanation. Judge Wiles stated in his ruling: I reject the contention that the Court, and the Debtors, somehow were supposed to figure out for themselves just what ‘aspects’ of the VGX token might be considered to be aspects of a ‘security,’ or just what particular activities of Binance.US allegedly could raise registration issues, and then somehow to offer evidence and legal argument on those points. Ripple has continually asserted that the lack of clear guidance from the SEC regarding securities laws for digital assets has caused great confusion and uncertainty in the market and made it increasingly difficult for participants to understand how to comply with regulations. A lot hinges on the outcome of the lawsuit, which is expected to have a far-reaching impact on the entire crypto asset industry, which has been stuck in confusion amid the lack of regulatory clarity. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also managed to settle investor’s concerns after it was revealed that Ripple Labs had “some exposure” to SVB. Garlinghouse assured investors that the company “remains in a strong financial position despite its exposure to the failed bank.” Obviously a lot is still unknown about what happens with SVB, and as is the case with many others, we hope to have more details soon – but rest assured, Ripple remains in a strong financial position. — Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 12, 2023 Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Ten percent of crypto holders surveyed made no attempt at protecting their assets; victimization varied strongly by age.

A member of the state’s House of Representatives has introduced a resolution to support the Bitcoin economy in Texas. House Member Calls For Constitutional Rights For Digital Assets Texas, which is already a pretty crypto-friendly state, will be getting further legislation to preserve its “Bitcoin economy.” A recent resolution is seeking a legislature that will support the crypto industry in the state. This resolution was passed by Cody Harris, who is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, in order to provide support to miners and Bitcoiners operating the Lone Star State. On March 21, Harris filed the House Concurrent Resolution 89, where he rallied other Texas lawmakers to show their support for the state’s already-thriving crypto industry. He demanded that coders or developers who work on the Bitcoin network and miners and Bitcoiners need to be protected further through legislation. Furthermore, he pointed out that digital asset holdings should be included in the state’s constitutional rights concerning “all unreasonable seizures or searches.” This means that Harris wants to protect individuals' personal crypto holdings under the same constitutional law as their other property. Currently, cryptocurrencies are already included under an amendment to the state’s Uniform Commercial Code. Resolution To Inspire More Support The resolution targets mostly the sentiment among the lawmakers instead of the state's laws and regulations. It also referenced the crypto crackdown in China and how it had been one of the driving forces behind Texas’s crypto boom. In the resolution, Harris expressed that Texan lawmakers need to hold an even more supportive perspective towards crypto miners so as not to have a repeat of the China situation. An excerpt from the filed resolution reads, “Individuals who mine Bitcoin in Texas will never be inhibited by any law or resolution that restricts the practice of securing the Bitcoin network for the safety of the virtual currency. All those in the broader community who choose to own Bitcoin as a manner of storing their wealth and transacting peer-to-peer with other law-abiding Texas citizens shall always feel free and safe in their ownership and use of Bitcoin.” As of now, crypto firms like Riot Platforms, Core Scientific, and White Rock Management have set up operations in Texas. Texas Loves Crypto Harris’s appeal is probably in reference to the criticism faced by Texas’s easy-going regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. Basically, certain federal lawmakers believe that the state does not have enough oversight over the high energy consumption due to its rampant crypto mining. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has always been a keen supporter of cryptocurrencies. Under his governance, the Austin City Council even passed resolutions to support the industry in 2022. Soon after, the city of Fort Worth in Texas became the first U.S. to mine Bitcoin, followed by the Texas A&M University offering a course on Bitcoin Protocol. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

As people flee the banking system into Bitcoin, even the U.S. President is attempting to besmirch the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. In the recently released annual Economic Report of the President, Bitcoin was given some rough treatment. It was mentioned no less than 75 times in the report, and was compared extremely unfavourably with the U.S. government’s choice of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). What does crypto do? The report did include a section on how Bitcoin works and stated that Bitcoin came about as “something of a repudiation of the existing financial intermediaries that caused the crisis” (Great financial crisis). Then follows what is perceived by the report to be “claims” on what Bitcoin can do. This is set down as: Crypto Assets Could Be Investment Vehicles Cryptocurrencies Could Offer Money-like Functions without Relying on a Single Authority Crypto Assets Could Enable Fast Digital Payments Crypto Assets Could Increase Financial Inclusion Crypto Assets Could Improve the United States’ Current Financial Technology Infrastructure The reality of crypto Next is what the report calls The Reality Of Crypto Assets”. Here it attempts to debunk the earlier “claims” of cryptocurrencies. It starts by stating that “crypto assets are mostly speculative investment vehicles”, calling them “volatile” and therefore “highly risky”. The report authors call into question cryptocurrency as “money”, and declare that cryptocurrencies “generally do not perform all the functions of money as effectively as sovereign money” (e.g. US dollar). “Run risk” Stablecoins are also maligned in that they are said to be “subject to run risk”. This does seem a little rich considering the current environment of impending bank runs, which has only been averted for the time being due to the sheer amount of currency that has been thrown at the problem by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. No mention either of how the general public will pick up the tab through severe dilution of fiat currencies that rob people of purchasing power. Fraud, Blockchain, and CBDCs Next is the assertion that “crypto assets can be harmful to consumers and investors”, stating that many of the participants in the crypto sector do not comply with existing laws and regulations. Crypto “fraudsters” are singled out, such as BitConnect and FTX, and explanations are given as to how their frauds were carried out. A section on how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and Blockchain are just glorified databases comes next, and then all the “other risks” of digital assets that the report’s authors could think of. The report then gets on to eulogising on how a central bank digital currency (CBDC) can “realise the benefits that crypto asset developers have promised”. Fully fledged attack on crypto The publishing of such a report leaves no one in any doubt as to the Biden Administration’s stance on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Operation Choke Point is very real, and it would appear that the government will go to any lengths in order to cut crypto off from the banking system and drive people out of cryptocurrencies. Perhaps what is being said here might fall on deaf ears, given that the vast majority of the population will very likely not read the report, but given some of the technical explanations it is probably aimed at the upper end of the population. It must have been more than slightly problematic to have released this report on the back of bank failures and the biggest currency printing spree since Covid, but with a banking meltdown potentially on the cards within the year, no time better than the present. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

A recent trademark filing reveals that the Japanese tech company Fujitsu is reportedly looking into offering crypto trading services. Licensing Attorney Unveils Fujitsu’s Crypto Interest The Japan-based tech company Fujitsu is looking into offering crypto trading services. The company has recently filed an application for trademarks covering a broad range of services related to banking, finance, and cryptocurrency. The information was shared by trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis, who specializes in NFT and metaverse licensing. Kondoudis revealed that the tech giant filed the application on March 16, and some of the financial services that it is seeking to license include money exchange, securities trading, insurance brokerage, tax planning, and cryptocurrency trading. On March 21, Kondoudis tweeted, “Is Fujitsu moving into banking, finance & crypto? The international tech co has filed a trademark application for exchanging money, securities trading, insurance brokerage, tax planning, [and] cryptocurrency trading.” Financial Insitutes And Their Crypto Adventures As a prominent technology company, it would make sense for Fujitsu to take the next step into cryptocurrency and other web3 technologies. The company had already announced its announced the creation of an Open Metaverse Infrastructure. Many other tech firms have decided to follow this course of action. However, Fujitsu’s position as the largest IT services provider in Japan just highlights further how quickly and expansively crypto is permeating into the businessworld. Digital finance and cryptocurrencies have become an intrinsic part of the entire umbrella of technological innovation. If crypto services are actually offered on this platform, it could impact the established players in the industry and shake up the landscape of the financial services industry. Crypto Vs. Quantum Computing There is another interesting angle to this story. Turns out that the company had already been dabbling in quantum computing. As per reports, Fujitsu had been working alongside Riken, which is the country’s biggest research institute, to develop Japan’s first quantum computer. This is at odds with the company’s crypto ambitions as there are implications that quantum computers could affect cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in a negative way. For example, quantum computing could enable hacking of asymmetric encrypptoon and break into Bitcoin wallets. In fact, this negative application of quantum computing has been researched upon by a team of scientists at Sussex University, who concluded that the technology could be used to decode the SHA-256 cryptographic algorithm and ultimately affect the impenetrability of the Bitcoin network in the next decade. Therefore the question remains - why would Fujitsu invest in two such technologies, where one has such negative implications for the other? Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

A new report from crypto VC firm RockawayX and startup data provider Dealroom showed strength in the region despite the crypto winter.

The Paris-based agency will have to supervise large stablecoins and make rules under the landmark licensing legislation