Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Monetizing online identities with SimpDAOs

Managing editor of Bloomberg Crypto, Stacy Marie Ishmael, and her guests, Bloomberg reporter Emily Nicolle and Ph.D. student Florence Smith Nicholls talked about online identities and the emergence of SimpDAOs as a way to monetize them in a recent episode of the Bloomberg Crypto podcast.　　Ishmael stressed the importance of the subject by saying:　　Experimenting with who you are online, especially if those identities are really different from how you present to the analog world is not a totally new concept. […] Its no surprise that folks are using crypto and blockchain to play with their self-expression　　But some folks are using blockchain-enabled structures to monetize these experiments with identity, including their gender presentation.　　These DAOs have been increasing in numbers since January 2022. They can be established by the influencer themselves to monetize their online identity, sexually or platonically, or they could be set by a third party who doesnt seek permission from the influencer.　　The term comes from Simping- a slang term used to describe someone who has intense sympathy towards someone else. In the case of SimpDAOs, the members, or “simps,” are usually men willing to express their admiration toward a female influencer.SimpDAOs by influencers　　One of the first and most popular SimpDAO,

2022-07-10Deep Dive

Crypto Payments Are Acceptable in Foreign Trade, Russia’s Financial Watchdog Says

Top Financial Regulator in Russia Welcomes International Crypto Payments　　The Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation, also known as Rosfinmonitoring, fully accepts that cryptocurrencies can be employed for settlements with foreign partners, Yury Chikhanchin, director of the regulatory body has stated.　　Speaking in the Federation Council, the upper house of Russian parliament, Chikhanchin emphasized that payments with digital assets inside Russia are prohibited by law. The countrys current legislation bans “money surrogates.”　　However, under certain conditions, such payments may well be used in international trade, Chikhanchin said. The high-ranking official believes this can help businesses oriented towards exporting Russian products. Quoted by the Bits.media crypto news outlet, he also noted:　　If the supply chain is controlled, then this is quite acceptable.　　Yury Chikhanchin further emphasized that in order to take advantage of cryptocurrency payments, Russian companies need to know to whom exactly they are exchanging the digital currencies.　　The regulator revealed that his department has developed and already launched a special information system for tracking crypto transactions. It allows financial authorities to identify both the sender and the recipient of funds and has been used already in some investigations.　　The debate over the future of cryptocurrencies in Russia is still ongoing. A new bill “On

2022-07-10Deep Dive

Will release of $3B Bitcoin from Mt Gox cause market bottom in August?

137,000 BTC worth roughly $2.8 billion will soon be released into the market as funds lost to the Mt. Gox hack of 2011 and subsequent loss of 850,000 BTC worth around $17.8 billion at todays price. In 2014 Mt. Gox reported that it had found 200,000 BTC, but those coins have been locked in litigation until now.　　In November 2021, Mt. Gox released a formal “Rehabilitation Plan” to return lost funds to investors who lost access to their crypto some 7 years ago. Then, on July 6, 2022, Mt. Gox and “Rehabilitation Trustee” Nobauaki Kobayashi sent an email to creditors giving them the option to receive USD, BTC, or BCH. The news brings us closer than ever to funds finally being released to creditors.Will the Mt. Gox coins affect Bitcoins price？　　As a crypto analyst and Crypto Banter host, Miles Deutscher, pointed out, many investors are worried that the release of 137,000 BTC could cause a devastating decline in the price of Bitcoin due to increased sell pressure.　　Some have even theorized that a drawdown in Bitcoins price could align with the Ethereum merge, leading to “The Flippening” being realized. The Flippening is a hypothetical event where Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin in market cap,

2022-07-10Deep Dive

Bitcoin 'cheap' at $20K as BTC price to wallet ratio mimics 2013

Fidelity Investments Jurrien Timmer stays upbeat on Bitcoin network strength, while another commentator flags a “compelling” risk/reward ratio at $20,000.　　Bitcoin (BTC) has not been this good value since it cost $1,130, one analyst argues as BTC offers a “compelling” risk/reward ratio.　　In a Twitter thread on July 7, Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at asset manager Fidelity Investments, simply described $20,000 Bitcoin as “cheap.”　　Timmer: “In other words, Bitcoin is cheap”　　While fears that crypto markets could suffer further drawdowns this year remain, some believe that current Bitcoin price levels offer the kind of value for money not seen in years.　　Analyzing the BTC price versus the number of non-zero addresses — wallets with a positive balance — Timmer concluded that BTC/USD is now back at where it was at the peak of the 2013 bull market.　　At the time, BTC/USD managed to hit around $1,130 before spending several years consolidating thanks to the demise of exchange Mt. Gox.　　“I use the price per millions of non-zero addresses as an estimate for Bitcoins valuation, and the chart below shows that valuation is all the way back to 2013 levels, even though price is only back to 2020 levels,” Timmer explained.　　“In other words, Bitcoin is cheap.”　　The

2022-07-10Deep Dive

Stop Your Crypto Operations in Russia, Washington Tells Japanese Exchanges & Miners

Washington wants Japanese regulators to convince domestic crypto exchanges and miners to cut all ties with Russia, per a new report.　　The Financial Times claimed that American “diplomats” believe “several” Japanese crypto exchanges are “still running in Russia,” according to unnamed “people close to the situation.”　　The diplomats reportedly want Japanese miners to pull the plug on the crypto mining operations they are operating in the Irkutsk Oblast in Southern Siberia, according to “two people familiar with the matter.”　　Irkutsk has become a hotspot for miners both domestic and international in recent times, with activity stepping up after Chinas mining crackdown last year.　　A number of major Japanese players from a variety of sectors have invested heavily in overseas crypto mining operations – due mainly to the prohibitively high costs of mining in Japan.　　Although most Japanese operators have kept the exact location of their overseas mining operations a secret, a number of East Asian investors are known to have established mining centers in Central Asia, with some thought to be working in Siberia.　　As previously reported, back in March, both Japan‘s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), and the Ministry of Finance told the country’s exchanges to suspend all transactions with sanctioned Russians

2022-07-09Deep Dive

Elon Musk Cancels Twitter Purchase Agreement

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has withdrawn his $44 billion offer to buy Twitter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.　　Musk offered to buy the social media platform in April, however his comments since have triggered ample “will he or won‘t he” speculation about his looming purchase. And today, we finally know for sure: he won’t.　　Musks lawyers alerted the firm that he will terminate the merger agreement that would have seen Musk buy out all remaining shares and fully own the platform.　　“Mr. Musk is terminating the merger agreement because Twitter is in material breach of multiple provisions of that agreement, appears to have made false and misleading representations upon which Mr. Musk relied when entering into the merger agreement, and is likely to suffer a company material adverse effect,” reads an SEC filing from Musks attorneys.　　Musk had previously acquired a 9.2% stake in the social media platform, where he has 100 million followers. He offered $54.20 per share to acquire the rest of the firm, and Twitters board unanimously recommended accepting the deal in June.　　However, it increasingly appeared that Musk was looking to back out of the deal. He had previously cited concerns over spam and

2022-07-09Deep Dive

Keys lost in the Vauld: Singapore crypto exchange freezes withdrawals

Crypto contagion claims another casualty. In a statement, Singapore-based crypto exchange Vauld has made the “difficult decision to suspend all withdrawals, trading and deposits on the Vauld platform with immediate effect.”　　In what appears to be a run on the crypto bank, the group intends to “apply to the Singapore courts for a moratorium,” as Vauld customers have tried to withdraw an “excess of a $197.7 million since 12 June 2022.”　　The decision to suspend withdrawals is a screeching U-turn. Reportedly, Vauld boasted $1 billion assets under management in May this year, while on June 16, a company email stated that business would “continue to operate as usual.” Just 18 days later, the company is exploring “potential restructuring options.”　　On June 21, CEO Darshan Bathija tweeted that Vauld had cut its team by 30% — the first sign that the company was under duress. Separately, Bathija also stressed that Three Arrows Capital (3AC) was an early investor in the company, but had exited in late 2021.　　The statement from Vauld suggests that “volatile market conditions, the financial difficulties of our key business partners inevitably affecting us, and the current market climate” were reasons behind their decision to freeze customers money.　　Nonetheless, 3AC‘s demise is cited

2022-07-09Deep Dive

eToro Terminates the SPAC Agreement with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V. Business

eToro Group, a social investment network, stated on Tuesday that it had canceled its planned public listing via a merger with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V. SPAC (special purpose acquisition company).　　The closing requirements agreed upon by the two companies when the merger was proposed in March of last year, according to eToro, have not been met.　　The two companies announced their intention to merge in March 2021, but subsequent agreements and changes have failed to achieve the closing conditions within the stipulated period.　　As a result, the two companies were unable to meet the transaction deadline of June 30, prompting the abandonment of their planned merger for an IPO (IPO).　　When the two parties announced their proposal in March of last year, eToro estimated a valuation of $10.4 billion. FinTech V Chairman Betsy Cohen, on the other hand, emphasized eToros merits as a social trading firm outside of the United States, as well as its many revenue streams. In other words, the merger company was meant to generate a combined entity worth $10.4 billion, indicating a $9.6 billion implied business value for eToro.　　However, the most recent meeting between the two firms resulted in new findings. Betsy Cohen, Chairman of Fintech V, commented on the

2022-07-08Deep Dive

Huobi Subsidiary HBIT Gets US MSB License

HBIT Inc, a subsidiary of Huobi Technologies, has been granted a Money Services Business Registration License (MSB) by the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Bureau (FinCEN).　　The trading platform is pleased with its latest step, as it has recently faced major challenges in its global operations.　　HBIT is now well-positioned to offer “conduct foreign exchange (Dealer in Foreign Exchange) and money transfer (Money Transmitter) operations throughout the United States,” adding that “in the future, Huobi Technology is expected to further provide users in the United States with safe and compliant digital asset services and consolidate the momentum of international business expansion.”　　The United States is arguably one of the countries where obtaining an operating license might be difficult.　　The fact that HBIT was able to secure the license is seen as “another progress in Huobi Technologys compliance process, creating a good compliance foundation for the company to carry out digital currency-related business in the United States in the future, so as to further achieve the strategic goals of globalization and compliance.”　　Huobi, like Binance, has recently experienced intense regulatory scrutiny, forcing it to depart important Asian markets. While Huobi no longer operates in China due to a year-old prohibition on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency activities, the

2022-07-08Deep Dive

Binance Eliminates Spot Bitcoin Trading Fees to Celebrate Fifth Anniversary

Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is celebrating its fifth anniversary by lowering some Bitcoin spot trading costs.　　The exchange stated that the fee reduction would apply to 13 pairs, including BTC/USDT, BTC/BUSD, BTC/USDC, BTC/EUR, and BTC/TRY.　　According to the exchange, the fees would be in effect indefinitely beginning July 8. The trading platform was founded in July 2017 and has since evolved to become one of the most popular sites for spot and futures trading.　　“In line with our user-first philosophy, Binance has always strived to provide the most competitive fees in the industry. At its core, Binance is an inclusive platform with accessibility in mind. Eliminating the trading fees on selected BTC spot trading pairs is another move towards that direction,” said Chanpeng Zhao, Binance Chief Executive Officer and Founder. 　　“Within the span of five years, Binance has amassed an amazing community that believes in us and supports our vision. Our growth and achievements would not have been possible without them. We hope to give back to the community by providing them with the worlds best products and services.”　　This is not the first time a Binance-affiliated firm has reduced fees. Binance.US, the trading platforms US spinoff, said last

2022-07-07Deep Dive

...

223225

...

743