Crypto Bubble

2023-01-30 14:00:11 ​Ripple Leads the Way in Creating First Digital Currency for Montenegro

Recently, Dr. Dritan Abazović, who has been the prime minister of Montenegro since 28 April 2022, reported on his meeting with two executives from FinTech firm Ripple.

Montenegro is a small country in Southeastern Europe, which is a part of the Balkans.

On 14 December 2021, Ivan Boskovic, the former Director of Payment Systems and Financial Technology Department at the Central Bank of Montenegro (“CBM”), published an article in currency Research titled “Central Bank of Montenegro: How to Boost Banking and Payment Innovation in a Small Developing Economy.” Open / Comment

2023-01-28 14:00:09 ​Crypto Custodian Aegis to Add Coverage of Lido's Staked Token Derivatives

Crypto custodian Aegis will offer custody for liquid staking derivatives issued by DeFi protocol Lido.

Aegis, which says it holds trust license in Hong Kong and and the U.S., offers custodial services for on-chain transactions, while Lido, the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) app by total value locked, provides staking services to users that want to access liquidity to their staked assets.

The partnership comes as interest in liquid staking derivatives increases in part because of the Merge: Ethereum’s transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

Aegis’ end-to-end custody entails handling every aspect of digital asset management for users, which already included safe storage and fiat-to-cryptocurrency conversation. With the new Lido partnership, Aegis said clients can now participate in liquid staking.

Aegis CEO Serra Wei said the latest play stems from demand from family offices and regulation-sensitive businesses overall.

“Entities that are subject to regulations specifically want to access staking benefits and services through a secured gateway,” Wei said.

Additionally, by providing custody solutions for Lido’s digital assets, Aegis is able to increase the security of user’s digital assets, said Lido Co-Founder Vasiliy Shapovalov.

Aegis did not disclose how much capital is stored through its custodial services, while Lido has $8 billion worth of ether staked in its protocol. Open / Comment

2023-01-26 11:32:54 ​Crypto Influencers Clash Over Aptos Manipulation Allegation

Crypto investor and founder of multiple crypto startups Cryptojoe has accused the acclaimed crypto influencer Hsaka (on Twitter) of using his followers as exit liquidity. He shared some evidence of Hsaka’s activities where he compared the timing of his market signals to the actual market conditions.

Cryptojoe referenced Hsaka’s tweet regarding Aptos, subtly suggesting a buying opportunity as bait to his followers. He accused Hsaka of using them as a tailwind in a trade that Hsaka may have joined much earlier.

A war of tweets ensued between the two with accusations and counter-accusations following each other. Hsaka responded by letting Cryptojoe know that he had already closed his positions on Aptos. In a clapback he trolled Cryptojoe on being upset about getting his analysis wrong on the token’s price trajectory. Open / Comment

2023-01-23 21:40:00 ONLY ONE DAY GIVEAWAY!

Galaxy Villains is an upcoming project with a community-driven token on ERC 20.

$GVC is a utility-centric token that focuses on diversity across many areas of the decentralized space – from GameFi, and NFTs to the Metaverse.

The project is developing its mobile and pc game and its own gaming-oriented EVM blockchain.

GVC's global community is highly involved and active across the DeFi space. Join it and become a part of the gaming industry!
(link)

In addition, Galaxy Villains are running a giveaway with a partner – a P2B exchange. You can get 30 USDT for subscribing to Twitter.

Link to giveaway: https://sweepwidget.com/c/66396-p0b79fu8

Follow the link: https://t.me/+lLwQzAQfvOxmM2Ux Open / Comment

2023-01-21 13:00:10 ​TeraWulf has increased bitcoin mining by 2.2 times and is doubling its fleet of miners

U.S. mining company TeraWulf, amid a bearish phase of the bitcoin market, chose to increase its operational activity. During the fourth quarter of 2022, the company mined 2.2 times more bitcoins than in the third quarter, that is, 378 BTC.

In total, a fleet of 18,000 miners with more than 2 Eh/s were in operation. The company intends to double the number of mining machines in operation within a short period of time: 15 thousand additional miners are to be put into operation till April and then another 3 thousand miners will be put into operation till the end of the year.

The supplier of this equipment is a company from China, Bitmain Technologies Limited. In addition, the company has agreed to purchase another 31,000 miners on the open market. Open / Comment

2023-01-18 20:00:19 $PVK IEO is started

$PVK is a token on Ethereum blockchain by Privok company. They work on windmill-based renewable green energy. $PVK symbolizes energy production and simplifies the currently existing energy investment ecosystem throughout the globe.

Owning a $PVK token in the early stages of an ICO provides significant benefits

Join the project's IEO on P2B: https://p2pb2b.com/token-sale/PVK-459/

More about the project: Telegram channel and https://www.privok.in/ Open / Comment

2023-01-17 14:00:13 ​DeFi Ondo Finance issued cryptocurrency ETFs

Decentralized platform Ondo Finance, founded by former Goldman Sachs investment bank employees Nathan Allman and Pinku Suran, created new cryptocurrency funds.

The firm has developed three financial instruments:

Short-term OUSG with a 4.62% annualized yield;
Medium-term OSTB, which yields 5.45%;
Long-term OHYG with an APY of 8.02%.

ETF units can be purchased for fiat currency and USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT) and Dai (DAI) staples. Buyers will receive tokens issued in the Ethereum blockchain (ETH) to a linked wallet, confirming the fact of ownership of the fund's shares. These assets can be sold and even lent to other white-listed investors at Ondo Finance.

DeFi-developed funds provide access to ETFs issued by BlackRock and Pacific Investment Management for investments in debt securities. Service fees range from 0.30% to 0.63%, and Ondo Finance does not withhold unit purchase fees. Open / Comment

2023-01-14 14:00:11 ​Huobi and Solaris crypto-to-fiat debit card launches in the EU.

The Visa-backed debit card will allow Huobi users in the European Economic Area to pay from their crypto accounts at point-of-sale stations globally.

As the crypto space continues to expand into the mainstream, bridging the gap between digital and fiat currencies is a priority for many legacy financial institutions.

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi announced its partnership with Solaris, a European financial services provider, to launch a crypto-to-fiat debit card.

The program, approved by Visa, allows Huobi users to use their digital assets globally at the point of sale. Users residing in the European Economic Area (EEA) will have access to the card beginning in the second quarter of 2023.

The EEA comprises all 27 European Union (E.U.) member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Commenting on the partnership, Andrea Ramoino, the chief strategy officer at Solaris, hinted at future developments in its collaboration with Huobi. Open / Comment

2023-01-12 21:00:04 ​Brunei’s national police shuts down 2 illegal block reward mining operations

Brunei’s national police have shut down two block reward mining operations that failed to obtain licensing from regulators.

The illegal mining firms were closed following a raid by the trio of the Department of Electrical Services (DES), the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), and the Autoriti Elektric Negara Brunei Darussalam (AENBD). According to the official report, a team of 30 security operatives stormed the premises, disguising them as legitimate commercial operations at Kampong Menglait and Kampong Serasa.

Law enforcement confirmed that block reward mining rigs and machines were discovered at the two locations. Both premises used illegal electricity connections to mask their mining activity, but it is unclear how long the operations have been running.

The RBPF confirms that the raids were done to prevent property damage from electrical fires and to protect the lives of residents.

If found guilty, the suspects could face a grim three years in prison in addition to the payment of a fine. They will be tried under sections 3 and 9 of the Electricity Act for illegally using power without the consent of grid operators.

Brunei’s law enforcement agents have been cracking down on illegal mining operations in the country in recent weeks. The raid on the two locations is coming on the heels of two separate successful raids at the tail end of December.

Block reward mining has picked up steam in Brunei, fuelled by an abundance of cheap electricity and a lack of clear regulations. In May 2022, SMI Vantage launched four mining facilities in Brunei’s capital Bandar Seri Begawan, housing 1500 mining rigs.

However, environmental concerns stemming from the use of natural gas and the grim prospects of a chilling winter may have forced the hands of law enforcement to adopt a negative stance against illegal miners. Open / Comment

2023-01-09 14:00:26 ​Nearly 65% of USDC reserves are held as US Treasury Bills

According to Circle’s most recent reserve report, around 65% of all USD Coin (USDC) reserves are held as US treasury bills.

Circle held $43.4 billion in USDC reserves to back 43.23 billion USDC in circulation as of Nov. 30, 2022. Of these reserves, $12.79 billion lay in the Circle Reserve Fund, a registered government money market fund wholly owned by Circle and managed by BlackRock. The fund’s holdings included 12 US treasury bills as of Nov. 30.

Circle created its Reserve Fund on Nov. 3, and in less than a month, it transferred around 29.5% of the stablecoin reserves to the fund. Since then, Blackrock’s disclosures information reveals that “USDC reserves invested in the Circle Reserve Fund have risen to around $28.6 billion, or 65%,”

Popular crypto analyst John Paul Koning called it a “win” for USDC users, adding:

“Circle is yielding some of its control over USDC’s reserves to an external manager subject to SEC regulation, which ultimately makes USDC safer. Transparency improves too, since USDC users can now get regular updates from BlackRock.”

Another $19.41 billion worth of USDC reserves were held as treasury bills directly by Circle as of Nov. 30.

Additionally, $11.15 billion of the stablecoin’s reserves was stored as cash at US-regulated financial institutions, which include Bank of New York Mellon, Citizens Trust Bank, Customers Bank, New York Community Bank, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Silvergate Bank. Open / Comment