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Some analysts say GBTC’s discount is narrowing because investors are pricing in the SEC’s approval on several pending spot Bitcoin ETF applications. Grayscale’s Bitcoin investment vehicle, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is trading at its lowest discount in nearly two years, as spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to inch toward potential approval in the United States. The latest data from YCharts shows GBTC’s discount to Bitcoin net asset value (NAV) has narrowed to 15.87% as of Oct. 13. Discount to net asset value (NAV) is a percentage that measures the amount that a mutual fund or ETF is trading below its net asset value. The metric is used to track how far away a security is trading away from its true value. Data shows that GBTC’s discount began to narrow when BlackRock and several other financial institutions filed spot Bitcoin ETF applications in mid-June, where the discount fell from 44% on June 15 to 26.7% by July 5. Since then, the figure has continued to narrow. GBTC’s Discount to N...

The orders to pass the pending motion come just a day before the key hearing between Binance and the SEC on Oct. 12. United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District Court for the District of Columbia has reportedly signed multiple orders to clear pending motions in the ongoing lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against crypto exchange Binance ahead of a crucial hearing. Among the key orders, Jackson cleared an amicus brief filed by USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle before the key hearing on Oct. 12. Circle filed a court motion on Sept. 29 in the ongoing SEC vs. Binance lawsuit, arguing that assets pegged to the U.S. dollar, such as USDC, are not securities. Circle, at the time, Circle said that buyers of these stablecoins do not expect any profit from acquiring them. According to Circle, payment stablecoins do not have the “ Features of an investment contract” on their own. Jackson accepted Circle as amicus curiae in support of neither Bi...

A fault in the Stars Arena price function allowed hackers to escape with roughly $2,000, however the vulnerability has since been patched. The team behind the new friend.tech-inspired protocol Stars Arena has dismissed what it called “coordinated FUD” after patching an exploit that saw attackers escape with $2,000 from the Avalanche-based decentralized social media platform. In an Oct. 5 post on X (Twitter) the Stars Arena account said the exploit was fixed, adding "don’t get this wrong, we are at war.” THE EXPLOIT HAS BEEN FIXED. BUT DON’T GET THIS WRONG WE ARE AT WAR. We’re being targeted by malicious actors in the space that want to steal your money. The little guy is under attack. You are under attack. Your right to platform diversity is under attack. Don’t get it… pic.twitter.com/DmbMdf9cAq — Stars Arena (@starsarenacom) October 5, 2023 Pseudonymous X user “0xlilitch” took a swipe at Stars Arena saying its "noob devs" missed patching a vulnerability in the pla...

Dubbed "Synapse," the platform will accelerate trades placed by international investors for Mainland Chinese stocks. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), the operator of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Futures Exchange, and London Metal Exchange, is launch ing a novel equities settlement acceleration platform . Dubbed "Synapse," the platform will utilize smart contracts in the DAML programming language to streamline post-trade flows and enhance operational efficiencies, according to the October 4 announcement.  Synapse will be deployed on Stock Connect, an HKEX channel that enables international investors to access more than 1,000 Mainland Chinese stocks through routing in Hong Kong. "Average daily turnover of Northbound Stock Connect totalled RMB109.3 billion in the first half of 2023, up 5 per cent from a year earlier, and a 50 per cent increase from 2020 levels," developers wrote. HKEX will be linked to Hong Kong's Depos...

In a recent Pantera survey, less than 2% of respondents said they worked full-time in an office setting, with the rest working remotely. A typical Web3 developer has a median salary of $128,000 in 2023. According to a recent survey by Pantera Capital, the highest Web3 engineer salaries were reported in North America at $166,610, followed by $102,226 in Europe, Middle East and Africa, $90,559 in Latin America, and $75,000 in the Asia Pacific Region. The survey featured over 1,600 respondents across 77 countries; 40.1% of respondents worked in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, followed by centralized finance (26.1%) and blockchain infrastructure (15.2%).  Less than 2% of developer s surveyed said they worked in a physical office space full-time, while 10.6% said they worked in a hybrid in-person/remote work environment. The remaining 87.8% said their work was fully-remote. In the U.S., junior and intermediate-level Web3 developer salaries fell by 4-8% within the past year to ...

Fintech firm SoFi declared it may be “forced to cease trading in certain types of assets” amid the US regulatory hurdle. In a recent filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SoFi outlined several regulatory risks related to crypto trading in its latest quarterly filing with the SEC. The company is waiting for changes to the regulator’s proposed crypto exchange classification rules. SoFi admits it could halt trading digital assets considered securities until it obtains additional regulatory permission. “The time and cost of obtaining such permission could be significant, and is not guaranteed.” SoFi’s filing to SEC Among the cryptocurrencies supported by SoFi are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and others. Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) were removed from the platform in June as US regulators indicated they may be securities. SoFi is trying to expand its presence in the crypto market while ensurin...

From real estate to franchising, and from renewable energy to Hollywood, tokenization has the potential to transform the way we do business. Asset tokenization has long been regarded as one of the most compelling applications of blockchain technology. Back in June 2019, the United States investment banking giant BNY Mellon declared it has the potential to “dramatically change the dynamic” for investors and unlock opportunities that were previously out of reach.  Real estate is an inevitable place to start. Tokenizing properties can open the door to fractional ownership, enabling individuals to purchase a small chunk of a building. The volatility of global markets has shown why diversification is crucial — but until now, the sheer cost of real estate has made it inaccessible for many. The benefits might not stop here, either. It can take up to six months to close a purchase on a home, all thanks to a process that is time-consuming, agonizing and surprisingly paper-based. Tokenization h...

Claims can be converted into collateral to trade crypto futures on the exchange. OPNX, an exchange dedicated to the trading of bankruptcy claims against fallen crypto firms, has listed FTX and Celsius claims. According to the July 14 announcement, FTX claims specifically can be immediately onboarded and converted into collateral in the form of OPNX's native reborn OX (reOX) tokens or oUSD, its credit currency. Users can then trade crypto futures using reOX as collateral. The claims are tokenized in partnership with Heimdall, which also handles onboarding and user verification. Developers wrote: "Claims will initially be converted into reOX tokens at a 100% bonus of the market price, which will converge to 0% bonus over a period of 50 weeks. This means, during Week 1, users will receive double the market price for their FTX claim." In an illustrative example by OPNX, a $1 million FTX claim with a claim price of 30 cents on the dollar would receive $600,000 in equivalen...

Through the collaboration, Axelar will be the first cross-chain protocol to join Microsoft’s Azure marketplace. On July 11, cross-chain protocol Axelar and tech giant Microsoft announced a partnership to bridge public and private blockchains. The collaboration will see Axelar joining Microsoft’s Azure marketplace, becoming the first cross-chain protocol listed on the developer’s online store. Galen Moore, Axelar’s spokesperson, told Cointelegraph that the initiative would enable Axelar to reach tens of thousands of companies that use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud service. “This has tremendous potential for products that integrate established internet technology with public blockchain s in ways that are meaningful for users,” Moore stated. In the marketplace, developers will have access to tools via the AxelarJS software development kit (SDK), as well as Axelar’s general message passing, which helps developers integrate functionality independently of blockchain s and databases. The companie...

The move provides PAX coin access to Mexico’s 3.1 million-plus cryptocurrency users. Blockchain fintech company Paxos and online marketplace MercadoLibre have entered a partner ship to bring the Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoin to Mexico via the MercadoPago payment service on June 28.  According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, USDP will be available to all MercadoPago customers throughout Mexico. While the company is based in the United States — with offices in New York, London and Singapore — more than 60% of its active wallets support customers throughout Latin America. Mexico currently boasts a 9.3% penetration rate for cryptocurrency use, with more than 12 million users, per a report from Statista. By 2027, analysts estimate more than 20 million people in Mexico will hold crypto, bring ing the total penetration to 14.6%. The introduction of USDP to the MercadoPago payment ecosystem adds stablecoin access to the service’s options in Mexico, a feature that could provide m...

The company expects to raise another $20-$30 million when the full round closes in the coming months. Game publisher Mythical Games has secured $37 million in Series C1 funding, with plans to launch a new marketplace and pursue other revenue-generating initiatives. With this funding, Mythical will continue to hold the unicorn status with a valuation of over $1 billion. “Our focus is optimizing our business to get to profitability by year's end, and the funds will primarily be used in our efforts to achieve that," told John Linden, co-founder and CEO of Mythical Games speaking to Cointelegraph. The round was led by Scytale Digital with ARK Invest, Animoca Brands, MoonPay, PROOF VC, and Stanford Athletics, alongside previous investors Andresseen Horowitz, WestCap, Gaingels, Signum Growth, and Struck Capital. Mythical expects an additional $20-$30 million raise in the coming months, when the full round is expected to close. The publisher plans to release in a few months its n...

Panelists at a discussion on “Fighting the Anti-crypto Army” sought to dismiss the idea that working with lawmakers to regulate crypto should be framed as a fight. A trio of speakers in attendance at Industry Day, May 18, during the Bitcoin 2023 event in Miami held a discussion on government regulation and how the cryptocurrency industry should fight back against the “anti-crypto army.” Moderated by David Zell, cofounder of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, the panel featured Perianne Boring, Founder and CEO at Chamber of Digital Commerce, Mina Khattak, Senior director of crypto and web3 at Worldpay, and Dana Syracuse, a partner at law firm Perkins Coie. The discussion opened with Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Boring describing the current regulatory situation as “dire,” after placing part of the blame for the contentious nature of some of the discourse surrounding cryptocurrency regulation on the recent scandals in the space. “With a lot of negative headlines,” explained Boring, “there...

The partnership will enable BNP Paribas China's corporate clients to make payments using the digital yuan through an e-CNY management system. The French bank BNP Paribas is collaborating with the Bank of China (BOC) to promote China's digital currency, the digital yuan, to its corporate clients, the South China Morning Post reported.  The partnership will enable BNP Paribas China's corporate clients to connect with the BOC system, allowing users to manage their digital yuan wallets by linking them to their bank accounts, track transactions, and make payments using China's digital currency via an e-CNY management system. The e-CNY management system also promises to make it easier and more convenient for clients to use digital cash for real-time transactions. The e-CNY management system can facilitate “efficient, real-time and convenient [digital cash] practice,” BNP shared, according to The South China Morning Post.  BNP Paribas China also plans to explore the use...

According to insiders, 50% of uninsured deposits will be paid out by next week. According to a post on Mar. 11 by Bob Elliot, chief investment officer of unlimited funds, relief efforts may already be underway less than 72 hours after the collapse of prominent American tech bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Elliot claimed, among many items, that "big banks actively working on buying svb business," the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is planning to cover 95% of uninsured depositors to the acquirer, and that "50pct of uninsured paid out next wk." Cointelegraph reported earlier today that Circle, the issuer of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, had over $3.3 billion in reserves stuck in the troubled bank out of a total of over $40 billion. In addition, SVB reportedly custodied an estimated $5 billion in funds for prominent Blockchain venture capital firms such as a16z, Pantera Capital, and Paradigm. Earlier today, USDC depegged from its one-to-one U.S. d...

NFT marketplace Blur surpassed OpenSea in daily ETH trading volume as users — anticipating greater returns on their NFT investments — are looking for a trading arena that works in their favor. Major nonfungible token (NFT) Marketplace OpenSea announced a massive structuring around lower platform Fees and greater creator earnings as competing marketplaces continue to drain away its once dominant user base. On Feb. 18, NFT marketplace Blur surpassed OpenSea in daily Ethereum (ETH) trading volume as users — anticipating greater returns on their NFT investments — are looking for a trading arena that works in their favor, shows Nansen data. Daily trading volume of major NFT marketplaces. Source: Nansen As a reactionary measure, OpenSea announced three major changes to win back its migrating customers. The measures include a 0% fee for a limited time, introducing optional creator earnings and leniency on other operators. We’re making some big changes today: 1) OpenSea fee → 0% for a limited...

The Binance CEO claimed that algorithmic USD stablecoins may become more popular as well, although they “have risks.” The crypto industry will “probably” start using euro, yen, or Singapore dollar based stablecoins in the future, reducing its reliance on US dollar based stablecoins, according to a Feb. 14 statement on Twitter Spaces by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ.” CZ gave the statement in answer to a question about the crypto industry using gold as a standard of value instead of the US Dollar. CZ agreed that it “makes sense” to use gold. However, “most people’s costs are still in fiat currencies.” For this reason, most people calculate their investment returns in dollars, which is why US Dollar backed stablecoins are “still important.” However, CZ argued that the US government’s recent actions against US dollar stablecoins will probably lead the global crypto industry to rely on other currencies such as the Euro, Yen, and Singapore Dollar to back stablecoins, as he ...

Carbonplace says it will use the funds to scale its services and become the "SWIFT of carbon markets." According to a press release published on Feb. 8, Blockchain carbon credit transaction network Carbonplace has secured $45 million in an investment round from its nine founder Banks with a combined $9 trillion in assets under management. The Banks are BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC, and UBS. The London-based fintech has also announced that it will become an independent entity, led by new CEO Scott Eaton. As told by Carbonplace, the company will use the investment to strengthen its platform and workforce, allowing it to scale its services to a larger client base of financial institutions and seek partnerships with other carbon market players, such as registries and stock exchanges around the world. Carbonplace has been described as the "SWIFT [Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunicati...

Join us as we discuss everything you need to know about mining crypto from the comfort of your home. Hosting the show will be Cointelegraph’s head of markets, Ray Salmond, with special guest Justin Kramer. On this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Justin Kramer, CEO of Badgerland Home Crypto Mining — a home-based crypto mining equipment business. This week, to kick things off, we get to know a little bit about Kramer and his mining business. What are his expertise and experience with crypto mining, and how did he gravitate toward it? We also get his take on the current market conditions and the price of Bitcoin (BTC). Doing anything from your house, whether it’s working from home or mining cryptocurrencies, comes with its own set of challenges, especially when you’re first starting out. We find out what some of those challenges are and how to overcome them. This is especially useful for anyone looking to set up their own mining rig at home. We discuss the five maj...

A number of challenges must be overcome in order for “phygital” NFT projects to gain traction. Despite the crypto winter, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) continue to draw interest. This has become apparent as many brands and retailers have started to offer digital NFTs attached to physical products. Known as “phygitals,” these offerings allow real-world products to be tied to digital NFTs.  For example, RTFKT — a digital fashion and collectible company — recently launched a project called Cryptokicks iRL. According to sources, RTFKT is creating digitally-designed sneakers backed by a physical product. RTFKT’s official Twitter account recently tweeted that Lace Engine NFT holders will be able to reserve a pair of Cryptokicks iRL, which can then be redeemed for its physical version starting May 1, 2023. 1/ We are allowing all Lace Engine holders to reserve their sneakers in the RTFKT Interdimensional Hub. This will allow holders till May to figure out a US shipping address. To pick up a Lac...

The Bitcoin network hashrate has returned to 241.29 EH/s after a temporary 38% fall to 170.60 EH/s from a weekly peak of 276.40 EH/s. Bitcoin’s network hashrate has returned to regular levels again, days after freezing temperatures across the United States put a strain on the nation's electricity grid — leading to a temporary drop in hashrate. In the days leading up to Christmas, bone-chilling temperatures swept across the United States, leading to millions without power and claiming at least 28 lives. According to reports, Bitcoin miners in Texas, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's hashrate, voluntarily curtailed operations to give power back to the grid — so that residents can keep their homes heated.  The disruptions appear to have put a dent in Bitcoin’s hashrate, which typically hovers around 225-300 Exahashes per second (EH/s). This fell to 170.60 EH/s on Dec. 25. As of Dec. 26 however, the hashrate has returned to 241.29 EH/s, according to data f...