Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

US SEC investigates crypto firms for offering lending products

According to the Bloomberg report, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is scrutinizing three crypto companies, Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, and Gemini Trust, as a part of a broader investigation against cryptocurrency lending platforms. The report detailed that the investigation of the regulator is focused on checking if the crypto lending companies should register their offerings as securities, citing anonymous sources.　　The US SEC did not accuse the companies of any wrongdoings or brought charges yet.　　Crypto lending companies mostly operate more like commercial banks: they take cryptocurrencies of customers as deposits and offer interest on them. These lending companies then loan these deposited cryptocurrencies to institutions to cover their crypto trading positions. Though the crypto lending companies are facing a federal investigation now, several U.S. state regulators have already moved against them for violating state securities laws. New Jersey, Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, and a few other states brought enforcement actions against Celsius and BlockFi and even threatened to block their business. However, the US SEC did not accuse any of these firms of any wrongdoing or brought charges against them yet.　　The securities regulator did not officially confirm its latest probe.　　SEC did not officially confirm its latest probe, but all

2022-01-28Deep Dive

Biden Administration Sees Crypto Regulation as a Matter of National Security

President Joe Bidens administration has plans to task various federal agencies with regulating crypto assets as a matter of national security. The executive order is expected within weeks.　　Biden to Task Agencies with Proposing Crypto Regulations　　Cryptocurrency regulation is an important component of national security, according to the Biden administration.　　Per a Barron‘s source, the White House will order government bodies to conduct analyses on digital assets including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens for the purpose of creating a regulatory framework. According to the source, the administration’s goal is to take a holistic look at crypto assets in order to “develop a set of policies that give coherency to what the government is trying to do in this space.”　　The White House, nevertheless, has no plans to issue recommendations of its own but rather would require government agencies to put forth their own proposals, for which the White House would synthesize and bring together.　　The Barron‘s source emphasized the administration’s desire for the “harmonizing” of regulations, particularly globally and between nations since “digital assets dont stay in one country.”　　Many parts of the government are set to be involved, including the State Department, Treasury Department, Council of Economic Advisers, National Economic Council, and the White House

2022-01-28Deep Dive

IRS Special Agent on Crypto: 'We See Mountains of Fraud in This Area'

A special agent with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says the tax agency is “seeing mountains and mountains of fraud” in the cryptocurrency space. The IRS criminal investigation unit is trying to train all of its agents on crypto and non-fungible token (NFT) issues because “this space is the future,” he stressed.　　 IRS Special Agent Says Crypto Is Rife With ‘Mountains and Mountains of Fraud’　　A special agent in charge of the IRS criminal investigation division in Los Angeles, Ryan Korner, talked about cryptocurrency at a virtual event hosted by the USC Gould School of Law Tuesday. He was quoted by Bloomberg as saying:　　“Were just seeing mountains and mountains of fraud in this area.”　　He explained that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and crypto in general are prone to market manipulation, adding that high-profile individuals could influence crypto prices with just one tweet.　　Noting that celebrities are not immune to the tax authority‘s criminal probes, the special agent clarified: “We’re not necessarily out there looking for celebrities, but when they make a blatant or open comment that says ‘Hey, IRS, you should probably come look at me,’ thats what we do.”　　Korner detailed that a range of crypto-related activities are of concern to law enforcement agencies,

2022-01-28Deep Dive

COINBASE: The best Crypto exchange according to Wikibit rankings

By: Damian Okonkwo　　COINBASE the largest crypto exchange in US has emerged the best rated Crypto exchange market according to Wikibit rankings. However, this Crypto exchange was found not to have a physical office based on the findings of Wikibit visiting agents　　A. Wikibit Ranking of Coinbase.　　Following the usual Wikibit investigations and rankings of various Crypto currency exchange platforms, Coinbase has emerged the number one most recommended Crypto exchange by Wikibit based on the quality of services they offer and positive assessments from clients who have engaged their services for the past 10 years in which they were founded. COINBASE has scored 9.57/10 and with this high score emerged the best Crypto exchange according to Wikibit rankings.　　B. Regulation　　COINBASE Crypto exchange is regulated by multiple regulators such as: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA in UK), Security and Economic Commission (SEC in US), Nation wide multi-states License System (NMLS) and New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS).　　C. Foundation of Coinbase.　　Coinbase Global, Inc., which had been branded Coinbase, is an American exchange company that was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam.　　This exchange would turn out to become the preferred exchange by US citizens thus by March 2021 it was discovered to be

2022-01-28Deep Dive

Sunacrip Revokes Licenses Of Two Cryptocurrency Exchanges In Venezuela

Sunacrip, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog, has suspended the operating licenses of two exchanges for lack of compliance with current regulations. The announcement was made by Joselit Ramirez, superintendent of Sunacrip, who also mentioned the exchanges that are approved by the institution, leaving some big names like Binance off of the list.　　 Sunacrip Tightens Compliance Requirements For Exchanges In Venezuela　　Sunacrip, the institution in charge of the regulation of all things crypto in Venezuela, has announced it has revoked the trading licenses of two exchange platforms on January 26. The superintendent of the organization, Joselit Ramirez, made the announcement via Twitter, stating:　　“WE INFORM all our users that two general operating licenses of the exchange houses Criptomundo and Cave Blockchain have been REVOKED, for not complying with the rules established by Sunacrip to operate in our country.”　　While Ramirez didnt disclose the specific reasons for these licenses being revoked, he did mention all of the exchanges that were still authorized by Sunacrip to conduct exchange operations in the country. Among these are Criptoactivos Amberes Coin, Asesoría Financiera IO, Criptoex, Criptoven Trade, Digital Factoring, Venecrip, and the Patria Platform, which is operated by the government.　　Other exchanges authorized by Sunacrip, but that are not operating due

2022-01-28Deep Dive

ZKSea Marketplace Allows Users to Earn Rewards on NFTs, Here's How

ZKSea, a marketplace for non-fungible tokens that leverages second-layer scalability solution zk-proofs, adds two novel instruments to its toolkit. Both are designed to allow NFT buyers and sellers to earn periodic rewards.ZKSea introduces rewards for both buyers and sellers of NFTs　　According to the official announcement shared by the team of ZKSea, two novel instruments will be introduced within its NFT mining program before February. Proof-of-Liquidity Mining and Proof-of-Transaction Mining are now live for all NFT enthusiasts on ZKSea.　　To be eligible for one of the rewards programs, users should either mint, buy or sell NFTs on the ZKSea platform. 　　Proof-of-Liquidity Mining is designed to stimulate buyers on the platforms by rewarding their liquidity injections. The rewards can be claimed after minting and listing NFTs on OpenSea. The exact sum of rewards will be calculated based on the proportion of daily listed quantities to the entire network.　　Once the minting transaction is authorized, users can claim up to 120% of transaction fees in ZKS equivalent. The event will go live for 14 days, with a total of 1.68 million ZKS allocated to the Proof-of-Liquidity Mining program.　　To launch this program in a user-friendly way, the ZKSea team launches the NFT Proof-of-Liquidity Mining Card. This

2022-01-27Deep Dive

MrBeast Burger May Now Accept DOGE After Dogecoin Cofounder's Positive Response

The Twitter account of the MrBeast Burger fast food chain has addresses Elon Musk with an offer—if he retweets it, they will begin working on accepting Dogecoin.　　The Tesla CEO seemed to have ignored the tweet; however, Doge cofounder Billy Markus did not.MrBeast Burger offers Musk a deal on Doge　　After Elon Musks recent tweet about accepting Dogecoin, addressed to McDonalds two fast food chains—Burger King and MrBeast Burger—seem to have shown interest in accepting Dogecoin.　　McDonalds politely refused Musk when he offered eating a Happy Meal on TV if McDonalds begins to accept Doge; however, the tweet of the Tesla boss gained support from the official Twitter page of Burger King. The latter posted a vague response which, the Doge community interpreted as interest in their favorite crypto.Billy Markus urges Doge Army to support MrBeast Burger　　Billy Markus retweeted MrBeasts message instead of Musk, admitting that he is not such a big influencer but would still do it.　　He also urged the Dogecoin community to show that the Doge Army is strong enough without Elons retweet and can provide all the necessary engagement for MrBeast Burger.　　Markus then stated that Doge is great for tipping online and tagged sodogetip (the online tipping bot for Dogecoin)

2022-01-27Deep Dive

Ban less likely? Putin says crypto mining has advantages in Russia

Putin says that a surplus of electricity and well-trained personnel gives Russia a “competitive advantage” in crypto mining.　　Russian president Vladmir Putin has given crypto enthusiasts a glimmer of hope for the future of digital assets in the country, which have been under threat from a recent push to ban cryptocurrencies and mining.　　The strongman leader opened a Jan 26 video conference with members of the Russian government by saying he would like to “start with an issue that is currently in the spotlight — the regulation of cryptocurrencies.”　　“Of course, we also have certain competitive advantages here, especially in the so-called mining. I mean the surplus of electricity and the well-trained personnel available in the country.”　　According to analysts in spring 2021, the price of electricity in Russia was $0.06 per kilowatt-hour for household use and $0.08 for business. To compare, in France, a kWh of electricity costs $0.2 for householders and $0.14 for business, which is four times more expensive than in Russia.　　He also called on the countrys Central Bank to meet with his government in the near future so that they might come to a consensus on the use of crypto.　　Last Thursday, Russias central bank published a report proposing a blanket

2022-01-27Deep Dive

ETH to hit $20 trillion market cap by 2030: Ark Invest

ARK Invest‘s new report predicts Ether’s market cap will reach $20 trillion and the Bitcoin price will exceed $1 million by 2030 based on BTCs use cases and how ETH captures market share from TradFi.　　A new report from Cathy Woods ARK Invest forecasts Ethereum (ETH) will meet or even exceed a $20 trillion market cap within the next 10 years, which would equate to a price around $170,000 to $180,000 per ETH.　　The report also predicted big things for Bitcoin (BTC), saying it is “likely to scale as nation-states adopt (it) as legal tender… the price of one bitcoin could exceed $1 million by 2030.”　　ARK Invest is a tech focused American asset management firm based in the United States with $12.43 billion AUM.　　The prediction in ARK Invests report Big Ideas 2022 is predicated on how quickly the Ethereum network has grown in utility and efficiency. Much of the growth over the past two years has come from decentralized finance (DeFi). ARK described the appeal of DeFi, stating:　　“Decentralized Finance promises more interoperability, transparency, and financial services while minimizing intermediary fees and counterparty risk.”　　According to ARK, smart contracts and decentralized apps (DApps) on Ethereum is “usurping traditional financial functions at the margin.” The

2022-01-27Deep Dive

NASA blasts NFTs: Says they won't take off with its imagery

Concerning NFTs, NASA stated that it does not wish for its images to be used for these purposes.　　Despite a general consensus amongst degen apes that NFTs are headed to the proverbial moon, space agency NASA has revealed it will not clear the use of its content and logos for take off.　　This is an important clarification as the US government agencies images and video content are typically not copyright protected, and can ordinarily be freely used for educational and informative purposes in media. (Its logos meanwhile are copyrighted and can only be used if approved by NASA).　　While the NFT sector continues to surge full steam ahead — with platforms such as OpenSea posting record monthly volumes in January already — NASA has stated via its media usage guidelines that it does not wish for any of its content to be tokenized:　　“Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are, in essence, digital tokens owned by someone as a ‘one of a kind’ digital asset. NASA does not wish for its images to be used for these purposes. It is unlawful to falsely claim copyright or other rights in NASA material.”　　NASAs logo has often been used for commercial purposes such as branding on fashion items, however the

2022-01-27Deep Dive

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