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President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a law that will allow the National Bank of Ukraine to issue its own digital currency. The new legislation, which aligns Ukrainian regulations with EU rules, will also stiffen authentication requirements for clients of payment service providers. New Legislation Allows Ukrainian Central Bank to Issue Digital Currency The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed the law “On Payment Services” which was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament on June 30, the president’s administration announced this week. The legislation aims to “modernize and further develop” the payment services market and promote the introduction of innovations in the financial sector, a press release explains. One of the provisions in the bill grants the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) powers to issue its own central bank digital currency ( CBDC ). Authorities in Kyiv have been mulling over a project to create a digital hryvnia for quite a while. A recently conducted su

PRESS RELEASE. Antier Solutions, a blockchain development company recognized for its end-to-end solutions, is offering crypto exchange script to expedite the development and deployment of crypto exchange platforms by 50%. Given the cut-throat competition to tap into the billion-dollar crypto market, Antier’s cryptocurrency exchange script solutions help start-ups and enterprises to quickly launch their exchange platforms and take the lead. “The crypto market is highly volatile; businesses need solutions that can help them quickly enter the market, especially when the market is favorable. This has catapulted the demand for cryptocurrency exchange clone or script solutions.”, said Parvinder Singh, Chief Technical Officer at Antier Solutions . The company receives several requests from start-ups and established organizations to create a clone of popular exchange platforms. “Out of all the queries we get, the majority ask for a Binance clone script . This is because they strive t

Indian authorities are reportedly investigating cryptocurrency exchange Binance in connection with an ongoing Chinese money laundering case that raked in more than 10 billion rupees ($134 million). Binance’s Regulatory Troubles Continue India is reportedly investigating whether the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance had any role in a Chinese money laundering scheme involving betting apps, local media reported Friday, citing people with knowledge on the matter. The country’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), a law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Finance, has summoned Binance’s executives for questioning, according to the people who asked not to be identified as the matter is still under investigation. The case centers around betting apps run by Chinese operators. They allegedly raked in more than 10 billion rupees over the past 10 months. They were suspected of laundering part of the money through local Indian crypto exchange Wazirx , which was acquired by Binance in 2019.

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, says he does not consider dogecoin an investment. “I don’t participate in that kind of thing. I don’t understand why anybody would,” he said. Kevin O’Leary Won’t Invest in Dogecoin Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary talked about the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin in an interview with CNBC last week. The chairman of O’Shares ETFs said: I don’t participate in that kind of thing. I don’t understand why anybody would, but that’s their own choice. He explained that investing in dogecoin is like gambling in Las Vegas, noting that he might not even call it “investing” at all. The Shark Tank star explained that when someone invests in a stock, they are betting on the company’s ability to execute its business plan and achieve its goals. In contrast, he said that there is no informed decision making with dogecoin as buyers are simply hoping that the price of the cryptocurrency will increase. In addition, dogecoin has an unlimited supply, unlike

Venture capital firms and large investors are driving up the prices of crypto startups. Boutique investment firms and family offices are being elbowed out by big venture capital firms, private equity funds, and even some pension funds. VC Firms Driving Up Prices of Crypto Startups Cryptocurrency firms are seeing high valuations due to large investors entering the space, according to Henri Arslanian, Crypto Leader at professional accounting and financial services firm PWC, also known as Pricewaterhousecooper. In an interview with Bloomberg Thursday, the executive explained that boutique investment firms and family offices are being elbowed out by big venture capitalists, private equity funds, and even some pension funds. He noted that smaller venture capital firms are unhappy about this trend. Arslanian described: Let’s say they’re looking at a deal and they believe it’s worth $10 million, and you’re seeing large VCs come in and put a bid in for a higher valuation. This is happeni

The day before the fourth Bitcoin Cash anniversary, the Smart Bitcoin Cash team (Smartbch), announced the project has launched three nodes as genesis validators. Smartbch disclosed that Btc.com, Viabtc, and Matrixport are participating and the project has officially started its voting period. Smartbch Fires up Smart Chain’s Genesis Validators For quite some time now, the Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) community has been patiently waiting on the development of the Smartbch project . The reason for this is because Smartbch could unlock massive potential between Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash. The protocol could bolster decentralized finance (defi) on Bitcoin Cash and be compatible with the second largest crypto asset in terms of market capitalization. Bitcoin.com News first reported on Smartbch during the first week of April and interviewed the project’s lead developer 15 days later. By the end of the month, Smartbch launched the testnet publicly and which gives developers and decentral

The crypto lender Blockfi is now dealing with regulators from five states as Kentucky has joined the fray against the firm’s Blockfi Interest Accounts (BIAs). On July 30, Blockfi shared a statement on Twitter that explained the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has sent the company an order that aims to ban new BIA accounts. Blockfi Now Has Problems With Regulators From 5 States The New York City-based cryptocurrency finance company Blockfi was founded in 2017 by co-founders Zac Prince and Lori Marquez. The firm is a cryptocurrency lending firm that offers interest-bearing accounts called “BIAs” and also provides customers with a cryptocurrency-denominated credit card. Since January 2018, the company has allowed lending services that leverage crypto collateral. Bitcoin.com News reported on Blockfi’s initial issues with New Jersey regulators which was followed by problems with Texas, Alabama , and Vermont . The regulators from all of the states take issue with th

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) governor, Lesetja Kganyago, has once again confirmed that the central bank is presently studying the feasibility of issuing a digital currency. In his remarks at the SARB’s annual general meeting, governor Kganyago suggested his organization has embarked on this study to keep abreast with the growing trend of central banks that are studying CBDCs. Retail CBDC In the past few years, several central banks including a few in Africa have similarly announced their CBDC studies. Already, the central banks of Ghana and Nigeria have both revealed they will start piloting their respective digital currencies in the second half of 2021. However, as the recent Mybroadband report quotes Kganyago explaining, the SARB’s e-rand study will also seek to understand the feasibility of issuing the CBDC for retail purposes. Kganyago explained: The objective of the study is to investigate if it would be feasible, appropriate and desirable for the SARB to issue a CBD

Pointing to a number of reasons why a digital version of the U.S. dollar should be created, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard insisted that not having one wouldn’t lead to a sustainable future. The central bank official believes a digital dollar will have both international and domestic applications. US Fed’s Lael Brainard Can’t Wrap Head Around Not Issuing CBDC With other nations, most notably China , moving forward with their own digital currency projects, Lael Brainard, member of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors, has highlighted the urgency around the development of a digital dollar. Speaking to the Aspen Institute Economic Strategy Group on Friday, Brainard stated: The dollar is very dominant in international payments, and if you have the other major jurisdictions in the world with a digital currency, a CBDC offering, and the U.S. doesn’t have one, I just, I can’t wrap my head around that. “That just doesn’t sound like a sustainable future to me,” Lael Braina

Crypto assets have climbed in value during the last 24 hours as the price of bitcoin tapped a high on Friday, reaching $42,411 per unit at 8:00 p.m. (EDT). The entire market capitalization of all 10,000+ crypto assets is $1.64 trillion on Saturday, up over 6% during the last day. Bitcoin Climbs Over 20% This Week The price of bitcoin (BTC) and a number of other digital assets have climbed higher in value during the last few days. Five days ago, a massive short squeeze propelled the price of bitcoin higher as it jumped just below the $40K handle from a low of $34,500 per unit. Bybit.com’s Liquidation Data. Similarly, there was also a large derivatives expiry on Friday ending the month of July and at around 8:00 p.m. (EDT) a swathe of short positions were liquidated. During the course of the last day, $284.7 million worth of positions were liquidated according to bybt.com’s Liquidation Data . After 8:00 p.m., the price of bitcoin (BTC) quickly spiked to $42,411 per unit and h

On Tuesday, the New York Knickerbockers, in partnership with Sweet, launched the NBA team’s first-ever non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The NFTs feature limited edition digitally designed 3D game tickets made specifically for the Atlantic Division basketball team. With less than 24 hours left on the auction, the Knicks’ NFT sale has sold out a number of tickets. 3D NFT Tickets from 5 Classic New York Knicks’ Games A number of NBA teams are getting in on blockchain technology and many American professional basketball teams have engaged in all types of crypto concepts like NFTs and partnerships aimed at elevating cryptocurrency adoption. The NBA has its own Blockchain Advisory Committee and teams like the Portland Trail Blazers , Boston Celtics , and Cleveland Cavaliers have recently stepped into the blockchain fray. This week the New York Knicks launched its first-ever NFT collection as the professional team recently partnered with the NFT marketplace Sweet to auction the col

On Thursday, the Palo Alto-based automated investment service firm, Wealthfront Inc., announced that customers can now get exposure to crypto assets via the company’s platform. The firm revealed that clients can choose from two Grayscale investment trusts, as the company now offers investments in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). Wealthfront Connects Customers to Two Grayscale Trusts This week Wealthfront has added two Grayscale crypto trusts to the firm’s menu of investments. Wealthfront is an automated investment operation sometimes referred to as a robo-advisor that offers wealth management services. The company was co-founded in 2008 by Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll and as of 2020, Wealthfront had $15.85 billion assets under management (AUM). The announcement on Wednesday notes that Wealthfront customers can now gain exposure to crypto assets via the platform’s Grayscale bitcoin and ethereum trusts. The news follows the firm’s decision

Paxos, a blockchain services and tokenization firm has added Coinbase Ventures, FTX, Bank of America, and Founders Fund as backers in its Series D funding round that started last April. These institutions were listed as “strategic investors,” but the amounts of their contributions were not disclosed. Paxos has now raised more than $540 million in funding. Bank of America, FTX, and Coinbase Invest in Paxos Two leading cryptocurrency exchanges and the second-biggest U.S. bank invested in Paxos, a New York-based blockchain infrastructure firm that focuses on offering clearing and tokenization services to other traditional firms. Bank of America, FTX, and Coinbase participated as “strategic investors” in the latest Series D funding round that the company started last April. The interest of Bank of America in the firm is not strange. The company included the bank in its Paxos Settlement services, a blockchain platform that allows third parties to settle equity transactions. But for it

A new report issued by Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency exchange and fintech services firm, discovered that the number of people using cryptocurrencies has more than doubled since January, reaching 221 million last June. The report states that the rise of the defi movement, institutions like Tesla, Visa, Mastercard, and Microstrategy adopting cryptocurrency, and El Salvador establishing bitcoin as legal tender, were important events that helped to popularize crypto even more. Cryptocurrency Userbase Jumps to 221 Million Worldwide, According to Crypto.com Report Crypto.com’s “Measuring Global Crypto Users” report found that the number of cryptocurrency users more than doubled during the first half of the year. Cryptocurrency adoption went from 106 million in January to 221 million in June, principally powered by the bull market that took bitcoin ( BTC ) to all-time highs during Q1. The report included information from the leading crypto exchanges in the market, including Binance, Bitfin

Gabriel Makhlouf, the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), has published a blog post in which he shares his views on the digitalization of finance. While echoing concerns expressed by his counterparts regarding cryptocurrencies, the official has also highlighted some of their positives. Don’t Ignore the Positive Elements of Crypto Technology, Central Bank Governor Says The article titled “Digital Money” was published on the bank’s website on Thursday. In the post, Gabriel Makhlouf discusses the project to issue a digital version of the common European currency. The European Central Bank (ECB) recently launched its “Investigation Phase” and although a final decision is yet to be taken, the governor believes that it is not a question of “if” but rather “how and when” a digital euro will be introduced. Central Bank of Ireland Governor Gabriel Makhlouf. Source: CBI Besides central bank digital currencies ( CBDCs ), Makhlouf devotes attention to the rise of decentralized

While non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles have been all the rage, a few projects have been developing the concept of fractionalized NFTs so investors without deep pockets can purchase shares of an expensive collectible. On Thursday, the firm Otis revealed that people can invest in an NFT created by the world-famous Canadian musician and record producer Grimes. The platform allows anyone to purchase a small fraction of the recording artist’s artwork called “Newborn 1 & 3.” Grimes’ Artwork ‘Newborn 1 & 3″ Gets Fractionalized During the last 30 days, statistics from nonfungible.com’s market history show that there was $219 million in NFT sales. Over 48,000 active wallets recorded 214,654 sales which is a steady increase in sales from the start of the month’s 120,150 sales. The website also shows that a Meebits NFT recently sold for 1,000 ETH or $2.1 million and a Cryptopunks NFT character sold for 450 ETH or a touch over $1 million. Unicly offers a dex that allows people

Last February the crypto community was obsessed with a specific dogecoin address that happens to be the largest dogecoin holder today with over 36 billion DOGE. One armchair sleuth studied a number of onchain transactions and suspected the company Robinhood owned the wallet. Now the individual has researched the topic again and claims the latest findings help confirm the dogecoin wallet does belong to Robinhood. Alongside this, the person suspects Robinhood controls the third-largest bitcoin wallet as well. Onchain Research Suggests Robinhood Not Only Owns the Mysterious Doge Whale Wallet, but Also the Third-Largest BTC Wallet Two days ago, the Reddit account u/Andreifromalberta published research that claims the company Robinhood ( Nasdaq: HOOD ) holds more bitcoin (BTC) than the firm Microstrategy. The Redditor Andrei is the same sleuth that published research four months ago on the notorious dogecoin (DOGE) wallet dubbed “DH5,” which happens to be the largest DOGE wallet tod

Finland’s customs authority is looking for brokers to sell 1,981 bitcoins seized in drug cases. The coins are currently worth nearly $80 million. Finland’s customs authority announced Thursday that it is seeking brokers to sell 1,981 bitcoins seized in drug busts, Bloomberg reported, noting that the coins were forfeited to the state by court order. At the time of writing, the bitcoin stash is worth $78.75 million. Most of the seized coins were accumulated in raids before 2018. The Finnish State Treasury set out guidelines for handling crypto assets that year. It prohibited authorities from storing cryptocurrencies at exchanges, requiring them to keep the coins offline. Pekka Pylkkanen, Finnish Customs’ director of financial management, explained that the authorities want a permanent solution to “safely and reliably” sell cryptocurrencies forfeited to the state coffers in the future. The customs agency described in a statement: The main aim of Finnish Customs is to make sure t

The securities regulator of Malaysia has taken enforcement actions against the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Noting that the exchange is operating illegally in the country, the regulator has advised those who currently have accounts with Binance “to immediately cease trading through its platforms and to withdraw all their investments immediately.” Malaysia Issues Public Reprimand Against Binance The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) announced Friday “enforcement actions against Binance for illegally operating a digital asset exchange (DAX).” Under Malaysia’s regulation, digital asset exchange operators must be registered with the Securities Commission as Recognized Market Operators (RMO). Since the global crypto exchange is operating in Malaysia without being registered, the Malaysian securities watchdog “has issued a public reprimand” against four Binance entities and the company’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), for continuing to operate illegally in Malaysia. According t