How crypto donations are helping victims of the Texas winter storm

There is a running gag among many Texans that anytime someone drops a cup filled with ice, it‘s enough of a reason to cancel school — major winter storms are so rare that authorities don’t often have the means to clear and salt icy streets.  However, what happened last month in the Lone Star State was no joke. Millions of people experienced a week-long storm with sub-zero temperatures, many impassable streets, burst water pipes, and days without power. In mid-February, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, had been forced to shut down large areas of the states independent power grid, leading to people burning furniture, bundling up with every piece of clothing they owned, or pitching tents in their living rooms to stay warm.  Water was one of the biggest concerns. As temperatures dropped below freezing overnight and stayed there for days, many homes and apartments flooded, completely destroyed by water damage, leading to people displaced in the middle of a storm in which many roads were unsafe and stores unable to provide basic necessities, cut off from supply trucks.  Unfortunately for Texas, the now rising temperatures — it was over 70 degrees Fahrenheit in Austin only one week after the

2021-03-11Deep Dive

American Home Warranty Company to Accept Crypto Payments, Plans to Add BTC to Investment Portfolio

Following in the footsteps of Tesla, the home warranty company American Residential Warranty (ARW) says it will accept cryptocurrency payments for its services. In addition, the company also plans to acquire and hold bitcoin as part of its strategy “to expand its investment portfolio and boost returns on cash.”  In his statement following the announcement, Josh Brauser, the companys chief revenue officer said that by adopting crypto payments, ARW is demonstrating that it is a “tech-forward company that adapts quickly to emergent technologies.”  “As businesses around the world embrace this new era of global currency, at American Residential Warranty we are proud to continue being an innovator in the home warranty space with plans to accept bitcoin payments from our increasingly tech-savvy customers,” added Brauser.  Concerning the Boca Raton-based companys plan to add bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet, the statement reveals that ARW, which offers its services in all of the 50 U.S states, will be working with the crypto exchange, Gemini. The exchange will be handling custodial services for American Residential Warranty.  Furthermore, the statement hints that BTC, which has grown by more than 300% in the past 12 months, is an asset that fits the profile of securities that ARW wants

2021-03-11Deep Dive

The OECD Wants to Tax Your Crypto to Pay for COVID-19 Recovery Efforts

Per a new OECD report, the organization said it wants to promote transparency in all transactions involving cryptoassets, ensuring revenues generated from trading are taxed in the worlds biggest economies.  Intended for the attention of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, the document stated that, in the aftermath of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis, the global publics “tolerance for tax evasion and tax avoidance is expected to reach historic lows.”  And this, said the OECD is necessitating a set of measures to “tackle increasingly sophisticated, non-compliant taxpayers and aggressive tax planning, to collect missing and much-needed tax revenues.”  The organization said the new tax reporting framework will use the G20/OECDs Common Reporting Standard (CRS) as its starting point. It described the CRS as the “global benchmark for ensuring tax transparency with respect to financial assets and income”.  The G20 is a global forum comprising central bank governors from the worlds 19 major economies and the European Union.  The reports authors wrote,  “Building on the existing framework for the exchange of financial account information will help ensure consistency between the reporting on traditional financial assets and cryptoassets, as well as the income derived from such assets.”  The new information flows will use the same architecture used by

2021-03-11Deep Dive

South Korean Shinhan Bank pilots digital currency platform with LG CNS

Major South Korean commercial bank Shinhan Bank is looking to collaborate with the countrys central bank on developing a national digital currency.  Shinhan Bank has developed a blockchain-based pilot platform for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, in partnership with LG Corporations IT services arm, LG CNS, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Monday.  Shinhan Bank and LG CNS created a virtual CBDC model where the Bank of Korea issues a CBDC, while other banking institutions like Shinhan Bank act as financial intermediaries. The bank emphasized that CBDC intermediaries would be an integral part of a digital won ecosystem, stating, “If the Bank of Korea issues a CBDC, an intermediary agency will be necessary for the smooth distribution and use of digital currency.”  According to the report, Shinhan Banks CBDC system allows individuals and affiliates to use the issued CBDC for payments, remittances and foreign exchange transactions. The platform also divides the CBDC issuance into general funds held by individuals and government funds intended for specific purposes like emergency funding.  The report does not specify which blockchain network was used. Shinhan Bank and LG CNS did not immediately respond to Cointelegraphs request for comment.  As previously reported, Shinhan Bank is deepening its involvement in

2021-03-11Deep Dive

Why You Shouldn’t Put DeFi and ICO in the Same Row

IN BRIEF  DeFi has little in common with the ICO boom aside from its fast rise.  Mike Curtis breaks down DeFi further to understand why it is not the new ICO.  Many ICO projects were built on top of Ethereum, making it a platform with an understandable use case.  2017 feels like it happened a decade ago for most people, but many of us still have vivid memories of it, especially those who invested actively in the past bull run.  The bull run of 2017/18 was a time like no other. One of the most memorable things about it was the so-called initial coin offering (ICO) craze, where new crypto projects promised enormous gains in a modest amount of time.  One would find it difficult to see the words “ICO” and “craze” being used separately. Two words almost became synonymous with each other, and for a good reason.  Fast forward to 2020/21, and we have another bull run and a new “hot thing” people want to get involved with — DeFi, or decentralized finance space.  The public drew comparisons between two entirely different things because of their meteoric rises. For that reason, I will briefly review how different ICO and DeFi are and why you shouldnt put them

2021-03-11Deep Dive

7 DeFi Stocks and Investments to Watch for the Blockchain Revolution

The DeFi revolution is underway, and meaning alternatives to revenue for these buyers savvy sufficient to get forward of the curve.  DeFi is brief for ‘decentralized finance.’ It is a broad time period referring to numerous platforms and cryptocurrencies constructed on blockchains.  Blockchain networks are run by folks all around the world. There isnt a central location or middleman, that means members of the community can deal immediately with one another.  For instance, once you pay for dinner at a restaurant, you could suppose you might be paying the restaurant immediately. And thats true if you happen to use money. However if you happen to use a credit score or debit card, you might be really paying the establishment that backs the cardboard. The establishment then pays the restaurant. And naturally, that intermediary establishment takes a price.  Nevertheless the cryptocurrency world works otherwise.  Lets say you go to a restaurant that accepts payment in cryptocurrency. Once you pay on your meal, the cost is transferred immediately over the blockchain community to the restaurant. The members of the community confirm the transaction, versus a third-party establishment.  The shopper offers immediately with the restaurant, and meaning the transaction is each cheaper and safer than conventional bank cards.  Listed below

2021-03-11Deep Dive

Canada’s Financial Regulator Greenlights a Bitcoin ETF

While the US still fights the idea of an ETF tracking the performance of BTC, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has approved an application from the financial services company Purpose Investments Inc. to launch such a product in several Canadian territories.  The approval document reads that Purpose Investments filed the prospectus under Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System for the following Canadian jurisdictions:  British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories.  The fund will purchase only the primary cryptocurrency and enable investors to buy in with US dollars or Canadian dollars. It will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).  The prospectus describes the Purpose Bitcoin ETF as an alternative mutual fund that “invests in and holds substantially all of its assets in long-term holdings of the digital currency bitcoin.”  The fund‘s custodian will be Cidel Trust Company – a subsidiary of Cidel Bank Canada. Interestingly, the sub-custodian will be Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss’s crypto company Gemini, while Ernst & Young will serve as the auditor.  According to a fact sheet shared by the financial company, only investors seeking long-term capital growth and who can tolerate “high risk” should allocate funds in the ETF.

2021-03-11Deep Dive

Bitcoin on the Balance Sheet? Corporate Buying Might Become a Global Trend

Bitcoin and ether (ETH, -1.84%) purchases by companies in Scandinavia and Hong Kong are fueling speculation a wave of non-U.S. corporate treasurers might follow MicroStrategy, Tesla and Square into buying cryptocurrencies, according to a new report by the Norwegian analysis firm Arcane Research.  Hong Kong-listed Meitu, a maker of photo-retouching software, said it bought 15,000 ETH and 379 BTC (+2.48%) in open-market transactions last week. Arcane figures the company paid an average $47,230, well below the current market level of around $57,000.  In addition, on Monday Aker, a Norwegian energy engineering company, added 1,170 BTC to its balance sheet, paying approximately $58 million, at an average price of around $49,600.  According to Arcane, the new corporate buyers appear intent on keeping the cryptocurrencies for the long term “and see further upside potential in bitcoin.” MicroStrategy, led by CEO Michael Saylor and based in Virginia, holds about 91,064 BTC purchased over the past three months, now worth about $5 billion. Meanwhile the U.S. electric-vehicle maker Tesla, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, bought about $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in February..  “The first wave, initiated by MicroStrategy, started in the U.S., but now the trend shows signs of turning global,” Arcane wrote.  With bitcoin firmly in a

2021-03-11Deep Dive

Gemini crypto exchange sponsoring the Oxford-Cambridge boat race

“We are thrilled to be combining two of our greatest passions — rowing and crypto — with our sponsorship of this historic event,” said the Winklevoss twins.  Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange and former Olympian rowers, will be sponsoring the 2021 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.  In an announcement from Gemini on Tuesday, the Winklevoss twins said the crypto exchange would be the principal sponsor of this years boat race between Oxford University and Cambridge University — an event going back to 1829. In addition, Gemini will be funding a 75,000 euro ($89,256) scholarship for “young people with limited access to rowing.”  Both brothers rowed at Harvard University for four years while majoring in economics, later competing at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2008 Beijing Olympics. The twins also participated in the 2010 Boat Race while studying business at Oxford.  “Rowing was our first foray into entrepreneurship, inspiring us to create the varsity rowing team at our high school,” said the Winklevoss twins. “We are thrilled to be combining two of our greatest passions — rowing and crypto — with our sponsorship of this historic event.”  With a combined net worth of more than $2 billion, the twins are some of

2021-03-10Deep Dive

Southeast Asia's first Bitcoin fund launches to meet local institutional demand

The BCMG Genesis Bitcoin Fund-I will be available to accredited Asian investors.  The Malaysia-based BCMG Genesis Bitcoin Fund-I, or BGBF-I, has officially launched, claiming to have become the first insured institutional crypto product available in the Southeast Asian region.  An announcement states the fund launched in response to a growing demand for institutional crypto products in Southeast Asia. The fund leverages an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered blockchain-based platform provided by Calfin Global Crypto Exchang, which purports to offer increased security for customer holdings.  BGBF-I is regulated in Labuan, Malaysia, where IBH Investment Bank serves as the funds main advisor. Professional financial services provider, Hong Kong-based Alpha Calibration, will provide regulatory compliance services, and be audited by HLB Hodgson.  The investment vehicle also offers insurance coverage and underwriting for Public Offering Security Insurance. Fund Manager, Subbu Vempati explained:  “BGBF-I is a secure, insured and regulated platform where investors can get exposure to the Digital Assets industry. Investors get to benefit from our expertise in the financial, technical, and security aspects of Bitcoin investments, as well as enter this class with a peace of mind without any challenges or risk in directly handling the Digital Asset.”  According to its official website, the BGBF-I Fund projects a minimum return

2021-03-10Deep Dive
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