Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

UK Set to Disclose Plans for Regulating Crypto in Coming Weeks: CNBC

The U.K. government is set to reveal its plans for regulating the crypto industry in the coming weeks, according to CNBC.　　Although details are still being finalized, the regulatory regime will focus heavily on stablecoins which are cryptocurrencies fixed to the value of other assets, CNBC reported Sunday citing unnamed sources.　　The U.K. Treasury Department has discussed the upcoming regulatory package with multiple crypto firms including Gemini, the issuer of stablecoin Gemini dollar (GUSD), which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, according to the report.　　The European Union‘s landmark regulatory framework for crypto assets, currently moving through the bloc’s complex legislative process, also has a heavy emphasis on oversight into stablecoins.　　The U.S. Congress is also working on specific regulations for stablecoins over potential risks these private cryptocurrencies may pose to financial stability.　　On Thursday, U.K. regulators published a report voicing concerns about how crypto adoption poses financial risks.　　Rishi Sunak, Britain‘s finance minister, is set to announce the U.K. government’s regulatory plans for crypto in the coming weeks, according to the report.　　For more Blockchain news, please download WikiBit- the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.

2022-03-28Deep Dive

Elon Musk Giving 'Serious Thought' to Creating Social Media Platform With Free Speech as Top Priorit

Elon Musk Considers Building New Social Media Platform, Says Free Speech Is Essential to Democracy　　The CEO of Tesla and Spacex, Elon Musk, has been discussing the need for a new social media platform on Twitter over the past couple of days. He has recently become more critical of Twitter and its policies, claiming that the social media platform is undermining democracy by failing to adhere to free speech principles.　　Replying to a question about whether he would consider building a new social media platform with an open source algorithm, where free speech is given top priority and propaganda is minimized, Musk replied: “Am giving serious thought to this.”　　The discussion began when Musk put up a Twitter poll Friday asking his 79.2 million followers to vote whether they believe Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech, which “is essential to a functioning democracy,” he wrote.　　The Tesla boss emphasized: “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” After 24 hours, the poll ended with more than 2 million votes; 70.4% said no.　　Musk opined:　　Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done？　　In a follow-up

2022-03-28Deep Dive

EU Cracking Down on Unhosted Wallets

According to a Twitter thread posted by Patrick Hansen, head of growth and strategy at decentralized finance startup Unstoppable Finance, the European Parliament is on track to vote to include unhosted wallets, such as Ledger or Metamask, in the anti-money laundering (AML) package as part of the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR).　　Hansen says that the European Commission might end up entirely prohibiting transactions to private wallets.　　The existing Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule requires businesses to verify all transactions that exceed 1,000 euros ($1,098). However, the draft doesnt include any lower limit, meaning that all cryptocurrency transactions will be accompanied by compulsory identity checks.　　The move to crack down on anonymous transactions enjoys broad support among lawmakers, which means that a few dissenting right-wing voices wont be enough to prevent the passage of the draconian proposal.　　The effort to de-anonymize all cryptocurrency transactions is spearheaded by Ernest Urtasun, a Spanish ecosocialist politician, and Assita Kanko, a Belgian journalist, human rights activist who represents the New Flemish Alliance.　　The Economic Affairs Committee is set to vote on de-anonymizing all cryptocurrency transactions to self-hosted wallets on March 29. If the proposal passes, it will then be debated by the “trilogue.” As reported, the European

2022-03-28Deep Dive

Can Crypto Miners Make the World Greener?

Around 15,000 cryptocurrency mining rigs are humming away at HIVE Blockchain’s 30 megawatt (MW) data center in Boden, Sweden. But not all the time. Sometimes, the facility powers down to help the local grid.　　The data center, drawing cheap energy from local hydropower producers, acts as one of the largest, if not the largest, active energy reserves the Swedish grid can call upon whenever there are major disturbances to the local power supply. The facility can shut down its machines almost instantaneously, so that energy can quickly be diverted to public use.　　“In five seconds, we have to power down half of what we have allowed into the system,” said Johanna Thornblad, HIVE Blockchain’s Sweden country president. “And within 30 seconds, the entire power supply that is being requested has to be participating in the FCR-D system” – the Frequency Containment Reserve for Disturbances that keeps the lights on in the region.　　When managed like that, the energy demand of HIVE’s mine is an asset to the local electricity grid; the miners are a stable source of cash flow when public energy consumption is low, but can power off during peak hours.　　The mutually beneficial relationship between the HIVE facility and the local grid

2022-03-27Deep Dive

TOP 10 GOOD CRYPTOCURRENCY FORUMS FOR YOU TO JOIN IN 2022

Cryptocurrency forums are the places where crypto enthusiasts exchange their thoughts　　Cryptocurrency forums are one of the most crucial parts of the cryptocurrency world. Cryptocurrency forums are the places where people like crypto investors, enthusiasts, entrepreneurs gather to exchange their thoughts, ideas, perspectives, promotions, etc. For those who are entering the crypto market now, it is an excellent opportunity to be aware of what is most important today in the cryptocurrency world. For example, which cryptocurrencies are performing well, or should you consider buying expensive or cheap cryptocurrencies, etc. This article features the top 10 good cryptocurrency forums for you to join in 2022.　　Here are the top 10 cryptocurrency forums to join in 2022:Master The Crypto　　Master The Crypto is a knowledge hub and a resource center for everything Cryptocurrencies and blockchains. With the technical complexities of the Crypto market which is a major hurdle to the masses, MTC aims to bridge the gap by featuring articles that are broken down and easy to understand for many. It is one of the best cryptocurrency forums for you to join in 2022.　　The Bitcoin Forum　　Read various Bitcoin discussions in the Bitcoin Forum. Here you can talk about Bitcoin economics, mining, project development, marketplace, and

2022-03-27Deep Dive

Manchester police returned over $25 million in stolen cryptocurrency to scam victims

In the last 18 months the police in Manchester, the home of the two of the most famous football teams in the world, have returned over $25 million to victims of a global crypto scam. As of the last report, not all the people who have come forward to request their funds back have been verified and had their crypto returned.　　However, figures suggest that the sums were around $230,000 per victim. Some requests may still be being processed but appeals for further victims to come forward are being made by the service.　　A recent report by MPs claimed that there was not enough being done to stop and prosecute online scammers. This is a big win for blockchain as it again shows the power of a validated and open decentralized ledger. Transactions on the blockchain are visible to all and thus scammers transactions can be tracked by following the transaction history.　　This is something that can not always be done with traditional banking and is impossible with cash. Scams within the traditional financial system still massively outweigh those in the crypto space.　　MPs called for a “single law enforcement agency with responsibility to fight economic crime, along with one government department to take

2022-03-27Deep Dive

Coinbase Makes Changes to Services in Canada, Japan, Singapore to Comply With Local Crypto Regulatio

Changes Affecting Coinbase Customers in Canada, Japan, Singapore　　The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced this week:　　Starting on April 1, 2022, Coinbase will introduce a few changes for customers in Canada, Singapore, and Japan to comply with local regulations in those countries.　　“This change will only impact users in Canada, Singapore, and Japan who are transferring digital assets from their Coinbase exchange wallet to a wallet off the Coinbase platform,” the exchange detailed. “This change will not affect a users Coinbase experience of buying and selling digital assets using Coinbase.”　　Coinbase detailed that customers located in the aforementioned three countries who are sending digital assets outside Coinbase “may need to provide information about the type of wallet youre sending assets to and information about the recipient, depending on the country.”　　Different rules apply in each country, the Nasdaq-listed exchange noted. For example, in Canada, only transactions of 1,000 CAD ($780) or more will be affected and the full names and addresses of the recipients will be required. For Singapore, all crypto transactions to an address that is not controlled by Coinbase will be affected.

2022-03-27Deep Dive

Fed Governor Says 'Blockchain Is Totally Overrated,' Claims Crypto Is 'Just Electronic Gold'

The American economist and member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Christopher Waller, believes blockchain technology is “totally overrated,” even though the U.S. central bank “put a lot of resources into understanding digital currencies and the blockchain.” On Friday, Waller spoke during a panel that discussed central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and said that CBDC white papers were similar to “infomercials.”　　Fed Governor Insists: ‘These Things Aren’t Payment Instruments at All　　On Friday, a virtual panel made up of Yales Gary Gorton, Bank for International Settlements (BIS) executive Hyun Song Shin, and the Feds Christopher Waller discussed blockchain technology and CBDCs at great length. The hour-long panel discussion was called “Should Central Bank Issue Digital Currencies？” and Waller is very skeptical about such technologies.　　“These things aren‘t payment instruments at all,” Waller remarked during the virtual panel. “My view is these things are just electronic gold. They’re forms of storage carrying wealth across time. Look at art, look at baseball cards. Look at all of this stuff thats intrinsically useless that people pay a lot of money and hold on to because they think they can sell it later and get their money back.”　　Waller further stressed that he doesn‘t think blockchain technology

2022-03-27Deep Dive

Bank of England Taps MIT to Research CBDC Pros and Cons

After bashing the cryptocurrency industry for years, the Bank of England has decided to go down the central bank digital currency path by collaborating with MIT. Thus, Englands central bank has become the second such institution to partner with the prominent university on the matter.　　BoE Joins Forces With MIT　　The announcement shared earlier this week informed that the two entities began their collaboration on whether the banking institution should develop and launch a CBDC back in February this year.　　The Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) agreed on a twelve-month research project to determine the pros and cons of digitalizing the pound. More specifically, the team will look into “potential technical challenges, trade-offs, opportunities, and risks involved in designing a CBDC system.”　　It‘s worth noting, though, that this research doesn’t necessarily mean that the BoE will launch a CBDC.　　“This work is focused on exploratory technology research and is not intended to develop an operational CBDC. No decision has been made on whether to introduce a CBDC in the UK, which would be a major national infrastructure project.” – reads the statement.　　The Bank of England and its Governor – Andrew Bailey – have been among the most vocal critics of the crypto

2022-03-27Deep Dive

BNB Chain’s top lending protocol integrates with Coinbase Wallet

BNB Chain-based (former Binance Smart Chain) lending/borrowing platform Venus Protocol (XVS) has been integrated with Coinbase Wallet, a self-custody digital assets wallet provided by the eponymous U.S. crypto exchange.　　“We do love our DeFi. Our integration with Venus Protocol, the top borrowing/lending protocol on BNB Chain is now complete!,” Coinbase announced yesterday.　　Venus is one of BNB Chains flagship “killer dapps” that touts itself as “a fast, low-cost and decentralized lending system” that “allows borrowers to borrow funds using $XVS and 22 other currencies as collateral.”　　According to decentralized finance (DeFi) metrics platform DeFi Llama, Venus is currently the second-largest protocol in the Binance ecosystem by the total value locked (TVL) on it. At press time, Venuss TVL amounted to $1.71 billion—right behind decentralized exchange PancakeSwap ($4.85 billion TVL).　　Top five platforms on BNB Chain by their TVL. Image: DeFi Llama　　Unsurprisingly, the price of XVS, Venus Protocols native token, saw an uptick after the announcement was made. Per crypto metrics platform CoinGecko, XVS is now trading at roughly $10.45, up around 10% over the past 24 hours.New face, new features　　Just like Binance Smart Chain itself, Venus has also recently undergone some visual rebranding, changing the platforms logo and color palette.　　Apart from the visual fluff,

2022-03-26Deep Dive

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