Cointelegraph.com News https://cointelegraph.com Cointelegraph covers fintech, blockchain and Bitcoin bringing you the latest crypto news and analyses on the future of money. cointelegraph.com Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:51:26 +0000 en hourly 1 Cointelegraph.com News https://cointelegraph.com https://cointelegraph.com/assets/img/CT_Logo_YG_tag.png Cointelegraph covers fintech, blockchain and Bitcoin bringing you the latest crypto news and analyses on the future of money. <![CDATA[ Bitcoin levels to watch next as BTC price risks sub-$60K retest ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-levels-next-btc-price-risks-sub-60k Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:37:08 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-levels-next-btc-price-risks-sub-60k

Bitcoin bulls face an uphill struggle to stem selling amid worries that BTC price weakness will end up challenging levels below $60,000.

Bitcoin (BTC) is hitting fresh intraweek lows on March 19 — where could BTC price action end up?

This is the question for traders and analysts as downside momentum continues across crypto markets.

After successive new all-time highs, Bitcoin is testing the resilience of levels only recently reclaimed as support. So far, a reliable floor has not been found.

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<![CDATA[ World’s largest pension fund explores diversifying into Bitcoin ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-gpif-state-pension-fund-bitcoin Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:29:01 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-gpif-state-pension-fund-bitcoin

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, the largest pension fund in the world, is willing to learn more about Bitcoin as a potential diversification tool.

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the largest pension fund in the world, is looking at Bitcoin (BTC) as a potential diversification tool.

The GPIF officially announced on March 19 the development of new long-term investment policies in response to “major changes in the economy and society, and rapid technological progress.”

In response to the new challenges, the GPIF is launching a five-year research plan to explore innovative methods to diversify investments with an emphasis on sustainability and risk management.

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<![CDATA[ Slerf’s memecoin launch: ‘Mindless’ screw-up or marketing stunt? ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/slerf-memecoin-launch-accident-or-intentional-community-debates Tue, 19 Mar 2024 06:40:32 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/slerf-memecoin-launch-accident-or-intentional-community-debates

The developer behind the Slerf memecoin claims the snafu was due to a “mindless misclick,” but skeptics suggest the drama may have been a very daring marketing stunt.

A $10-million snafu involving the Solana-based Slerf (SLERF) memecoin may have actually been a sophisticated marketing stunt — at least, according to some onlookers of the debacle that unfolded. 

On March 18, the developer of the Slerf project drew widespread attention after claiming to have accidentally burned a pre-sale allocation of 53,000 Solana’s SOL (SOL) tokens intended to be airdropped to early investors.

The Slerf developer posted “oh fuck” on X upon realizing his mistake before following up with an explanation and “I am so fucking sorry” in a post 10 minutes later. Slerf’s posts then went from apologetic to awe as volumes of the token spiked over $2 billion in trading volume in the hours after.

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<![CDATA[ Novogratz’s Galaxy reaches $10B AUM amid surge of investor interest in crypto ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/novogratz-galaxy-asset-management-hits-10-billion-aum Tue, 19 Mar 2024 06:02:02 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/novogratz-galaxy-asset-management-hits-10-billion-aum

Galaxy's asset management arm partially attributed the milestone to its spot Bitcoin ETF with Invesco, though inflows have been low.

Crypto investment firm Galaxy Asset Management has exceeded $10 billion in assets under management for the first time, citing a surge of institutional interest in digital assets. 

On March 19, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz shared the milestone on X, which he said was part of “continuous progress in enabling investor access to the growing digital economy.”

In a company blog post updated on March 18, Galaxy Asset Management (GAM) reported preliminary assets under management of $10.1 billion as of Feb. 29, 2024.

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<![CDATA[ Spot Bitcoin ETFs hit negative flows as GBTC sheds $642M in a day ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/grayscale-gbtc-outflow-highest-daily-record-spot-bitcoin-etfs Tue, 19 Mar 2024 04:31:16 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/grayscale-gbtc-outflow-highest-daily-record-spot-bitcoin-etfs

Grayscale’s GBTC has just notched its largest day of outflows since its launch, though ETF analysts are optimistic that BTC ETFs are only just starting to gain momentum.

More than $640 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) flowed out of crypto asset manager Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF on March 18, marking the largest day of outflows for the fund since its conversion to a spot ETF on Jan. 11. 

Grayscale notched a total of $642.5 million in outflows on March 18. At the same time, inflows into Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF — the second-largest fund — stumbled to just $5.9 million, its lowest day on record, according to data from Farside Investors.

Both led to a net outflow for spot Bitcoin ETFs of $154.3 million. 

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<![CDATA[ USDM stablecoin eyes retail rollout next month: Mehen founder ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/usdm-stablecoin-retail-rollout-april-mehen-founder Tue, 19 Mar 2024 03:38:37 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/usdm-stablecoin-retail-rollout-april-mehen-founder

Some industry pundits say USDM has superior properties to USDT and USDC in that it can’t be frozen — but problems could arise if regulators demand action.

Mehen Finance, the firm behind Cardano’s newest stablecoin, USDM, is aiming for a public “retail rollout” of its fiat-backed stablecoin as early as next month.

USDM officially launched on Cardano on March 17 but is currently only available to institutional users.

“Retail rollout will likely be in April,” Mehen Finance founding partner Matthew Plomin told Cointelegraph.

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<![CDATA[ Crypto’s ‘Alameda Gap’ vanishes amid Bitcoin’s meteoric rise: Kaiko ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-alameda-gap-liquidity-slump-vanishes-bitcoin-rally-kaiko Tue, 19 Mar 2024 03:25:23 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-alameda-gap-liquidity-slump-vanishes-bitcoin-rally-kaiko

Crypto market depth has almost fully recovered and is back to its pre-FTX average, reports crypto research firm Kaiko.

A major decrease in market liquidity that persisted after the shutdown of FTX and Alameda Research in November 2022 has now recovered to pre-collapse levels, according to crypto research firm Kaiko.

In a March 18 research bulletin, Kaiko data shows that the liquidity gap, dubbed the “Alameda Gap,” recovered to pre-FTX levels last week due in part to a recent Bitcoin (BTC) rally.

Kaiko coined the term “Alameda gap” in November 2022 due to the firm’s role as a large market maker. It refers to a drop in liquidity on global exchanges caused by huge losses incurred by market makers.

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<![CDATA[ SEC requests extra $158M from federal budget to police crypto’s ‘Wild West’ ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-2025-federal-budget-extra-160-million-crypto-enforcement Tue, 19 Mar 2024 02:40:20 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-2025-federal-budget-extra-160-million-crypto-enforcement

Part of the funds would hire staff across SEC divisions, with one job dedicated to crypto and another to help with the increased lawsuits the agency faces.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is asking Congress for an extra $158 million from the federal budget next year to address “significant growth and change in our markets,” including the “Wild West of the crypto markets.”

The SEC’s March 11 Congressional Budget Justification — a document that outlines its budgetary needs for the upcoming 2025 fiscal year — is requesting $2.594 billion for 2025 — up from $2.436 billion it requested in 2024.

“Technology is rapidly transforming our markets and business models,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler wrote in the 148-page document that outlined its need for the money and included its performance report for last year.

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<![CDATA[ Fidelity amends spot Ethereum ETF proposal to include staking ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/fidelity-amends-spot-ethereum-etf-proposal-include-staking Tue, 19 Mar 2024 00:14:26 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/fidelity-amends-spot-ethereum-etf-proposal-include-staking

The price of LDO jumped briefly after an updated spot Ether ETF application from Fidelity which proposed to stake “a portion” of the fund’s ETH to generate additional income.

Financial services giant Fidelity is seeking permission to stake a portion of the Ether (ETH) held by its proposed spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), to provide investors with additional income. 

In a 19b-4 amendment filed to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on March 18, Fidelity wrote that if the ETF were to be approved, the fund would stake an undisclosed amount of its assets through one or more trusted staking providers.

“The Sponsor may, from time to time, stake a portion of the Fund’s assets through one or more trusted staking providers, which may include an affiliate of the Sponsor (“Staking Providers”),” wrote Fidelity in its amended application.

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<![CDATA[ SEC hit with sanctions for its ‘gross abuse of power’ in Debt Box case ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-s-conduct-in-debtbox-case-constituted-a-gross-abuse-of-power Mon, 18 Mar 2024 21:51:21 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-s-conduct-in-debtbox-case-constituted-a-gross-abuse-of-power

The SEC initially conceded it misled the court but argued a sanction wasn’t appropriate.

A United States district court has imposed sanctions on the Securities and Exchange Commission for acting in “bad faith” in a lawsuit it brought against Debt Box.

The SEC initially filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice, but that was denied by Judge Robert J. Shelby, who slammed the regulator for intentionally lying to the court about evidence it obtained to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) and freeze of Debt Box’s assets last August.

“The Commission’s above-discussed conduct constitutes a gross abuse of the power entrusted to it by Congress and substantially undermined the integrity of these proceedings and the judicial process,” Shelby said in the March 18 filing.

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<![CDATA[ OKX reportedly delists USDT pairs in Europe ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/okx-delists-usdt-pairs-tether-europe Mon, 18 Mar 2024 20:18:37 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/okx-delists-usdt-pairs-tether-europe

Only EUR and USDC trading pairs will be supported on the platform in the EU area going forward, according to the message.

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency and digital assets exchange OKX has reportedly stopped support for Tether (USDT) trading pairs in the European economic area, according to images shared on the X social media platform. 

A message shared by X user MartyParty showed a screenshot of a customer support message that appears to confirm that USDT trading pairs are no longer supported in the European market.

Per the post:

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<![CDATA[ AI Act and stablecoin regulations in the EU, 30% crypto mining tax in the US: Law Decoded ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-act-stablecoin-regulations-eu-30-crypto-mining-tax-us-law-decoded Mon, 18 Mar 2024 20:00:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-act-stablecoin-regulations-eu-30-crypto-mining-tax-us-law-decoded

The European Parliament granted final approval to the European Union’s artificial intelligence law, one of the world’s first set of comprehensive AI regulations.

The European Parliament has granted final approval to the European Union’s artificial intelligence (AI) law — the EU AI Act — which marks one of the world’s first set of comprehensive AI regulations.

The bill will go to a second vote in April and be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, likely in May. The EU AI Act places machine learning models into four categories based on the risk they pose to society, with high-risk models subject to the most restrictive rules.

“High-risk” applications include critical infrastructures, educational or vocational training, safety components of products, essential private and public services, law enforcement that may interfere with people’s fundamental rights, migration and border control management and administration of justice and democratic processes.

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<![CDATA[ Is Bitcoin ready for new all-time high now that excessive leverage is gone? ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/is-bitcoin-ready-for-a-new-all-time-high-now-that-the-excessive-leverage-is-gone Mon, 18 Mar 2024 19:45:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/is-bitcoin-ready-for-a-new-all-time-high-now-that-the-excessive-leverage-is-gone

The funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures has been reset after $370 million in contracts was liquidated. Is that a good sign?

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a 12.5% drop in price from March 14 to March 17, falling to $64,545, which led to significant buying activity around the $65,000 mark. Currently, opinions are mixed, and while the excessive leverage in Bitcoin futures has been resolved, investors are still pondering if BTC will be able to surpass its all-time high of $73,755.

Many believe that investors are waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting on March 20 before deciding to invest more in cryptocurrencies, despite the widespread expectation that interest rates will remain unchanged. This decision goes beyond short-term considerations, focusing on the Fed’s confidence in the economy’s ongoing strength.

Another key uncertainty for Bitcoin investors is when the Fed will cease reducing its $7.5 trillion balance sheet. Generally, a more expansive Fed monetary policy indicates more money in circulation, which is beneficial for risk-on assets.

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<![CDATA[ Crypto-focused lawmaker wants to lead House Financial Services Committee in 2025 ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/french-hill-lead-house-financial-services-committee Mon, 18 Mar 2024 19:45:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/french-hill-lead-house-financial-services-committee

French Hill has chaired the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion since its creation in January 2023.

Arkansas Representative French Hill, who chairs the United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, plans to take over leadership of the full committee following Patrick McHenry’s departure.

According to a March 17 Punchbowl News report, Hill is one of the contenders to chair the full financial services committee starting in January 2025, when McHenry’s term will end. McHenry announced in December 2023 that he did not plan to seek reelection after 20 years in office.

Hill has chaired the digital assets subcommittee since its creation in January 2023 and serves as vice chair of the full House committee. Under his and McHenry’s leadership, the committee has conducted hearings into crypto-related issues, including the financing of terrorism and money laundering.

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<![CDATA[ Here’s what happened in crypto today ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-happened-in-crypto-today Mon, 18 Mar 2024 19:35:09 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-happened-in-crypto-today

Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

A United States district court judge has imposed sanctions on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission over "gross misconduct" in last year's Debt Box case. Meanwhile, MetaMask has partnered with CoinLedger to help streamline tax reporting for its 30 million active users, and a memecoin developer claims he accidentally burned over $10 million worth of Solana raised in a pre-sale.

A United States district court has imposed sanctions on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for acting in “bad faith” in a lawsuit it brought against Debt Box.

The SEC initially filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice but that was denied by Judge Robert J. Shelby, who slammed the regulator for intentionally lying to the court about evidence it obtained to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) and freeze of Debt Box's assets last August.

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<![CDATA[ Bitcoin maxis are about to kick off the altseason as BTC turns institutional ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-maxis-kick-off-altseason-btc-turns-institutional Mon, 18 Mar 2024 19:22:04 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-maxis-kick-off-altseason-btc-turns-institutional

As the Bitcoin behemoth grows, we should expect some of the original OGs to depart in search of decentralized alternatives and bigger gains.

The arrival of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for spot Bitcoin (BTC) has changed everything, but not just for institutions. It created a polarized market for retail crypto investors, and we’re about to see a major rebalancing as a result.

On one hand, we have mom-and-pop investors who are now getting exposure to Bitcoin via their advisers investing in spot BTC ETFs for the first time ever. It’s only a matter of time until Bitcoin becomes as common in these household portfolios as gold. On the other hand, though, we have the “OGs” of the crypto market — those that have been around since the early days and fully subscribe to the ethos of Web3. They invest in Bitcoin because of its decentralization and censorship resistance. But now that every man and his dog are adding Bitcoin to their portfolios, they’ve lost their first-mover advantage — and they're about to revolt.

From the point of view of an early Bitcoin investor, the world's biggest crypto asset has, indeed, strayed far from its original purpose — to replace the existing broken payments system. Inadvertently, it has now become part of the very system it was designed to subvert. It would be a little like discovering a hidden gem of a restaurant, only to see it explode in popularity and be taken over by a large corporation. The quality would drop, the original purpose be all but forgotten, and you’d struggle to get a seat at the table.

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<![CDATA[ Bitcoin investment products see another record $2.9B inflow ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-bitcoin-spot-etfs-see-another-record-inflow Mon, 18 Mar 2024 19:16:51 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-bitcoin-spot-etfs-see-another-record-inflow

The total assets managed by crypto exchange traded notes have eclipsed $100 billion.

United States spot Bitcoin investment products had another record weekly inflow, with $2.9 billion in new assets added.

According to a March 18 report by digital asset investment company CoinShares, a total of $13.2 billion in new capital has flowed into investment products such as spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) year-to-date, with $74.61 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) now under custody. Bitcoin products accounted for 97% of the total inflows. “Digital asset investment products saw record weekly inflows totaling US$2.9bn, beating the prior week’s all-time record of US$2.7bn,” wrote CoinShares analyst James Butterfill. 

Interestingly, Ether (ETH) and other altcoin investment products have not been as popular with investors, with their year-to-date inflows combined amounting to a tiny fraction of the total that has gone into Bitcoin. Furthermore, despite an all-time high ETF inflow, the price of Bitcoin has tumbled by 7% in the past week and now trades at $67,418 at the time of publication.

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<![CDATA[ Facing potential prison time, former Binance CEO hints at new project ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/changpeng-zhao-former-binance-ceo-new-project Mon, 18 Mar 2024 18:35:32 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/changpeng-zhao-former-binance-ceo-new-project

Since his guilty plea in November 2023, Changpeng Zhao has largely stayed off social media but broke this pattern to announce a project with “no new tokens.”

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, expected to return to court on April 30 to face a judge for sentencing over his guilty plea of one felony count, has hinted at a project with “no new tokens.”

In a March 18 X post, Zhao announced an education-focused project purportedly related to cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. The former Binance CEO said “no new tokens” would be involved in the mysterious project, adding he planned to release more details soon.

CZ resigned as CEO of Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, in November 2023 as part of a plea agreement with United States authorities. The deal with the U.S. Justice Department, Department of the Treasury, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission required Binance to pay $4.3 billion as part of a settlement and Zhao to plead guilty to one count related to failure to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at the exchange.

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<![CDATA[ Price analysis 3/18: SPX, DXY, BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP, ADA, AVAX, DOGE ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/price-analysis-3-18-spx-dxy-btc-eth-sol-bnb-xrp-ada-avax-doge Mon, 18 Mar 2024 18:30:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/price-analysis-3-18-spx-dxy-btc-eth-sol-bnb-xrp-ada-avax-doge

Crypto traders are struggling to hold Bitcoin price above $68,000, and altcoins are suffering as a result of BTC's weakness.

Bitcoin (BTC) witnessed profit-booking in the past few days, but the bears could not sink the price below $64,500. However, Bitcoin may come under renewed selling pressure if history repeats itself. 

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital said in a X post that Bitcoin was about to enter the “Danger Zone” when it tends to correct. That period happens to be 14 to 28 days leading up to the halving, which is expected on April 20 in this cycle. In 2020, Bitcoin had fallen 20% during the said period, while in 2016, the correction was 40%.

Analysts will closely monitor the inflows into the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). If inflows remain steady during a pullback in Bitcoin, then the likelihood of the uptrend continuing remains high. However, if inflows dry up considerably, then the next leg of the uptrend may get delayed.

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<![CDATA[ Bitget Wallet to launch native token 1 year after $30M raise ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitget-wallet-launch-native-token-1-year-after-30-m-raise Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:25:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitget-wallet-launch-native-token-1-year-after-30-m-raise

The wallet received a $30 million controlling-stake investment by crypto exchange Bitget in March 2023 and rebranded shortly after.

Cross-chain wallet BitKeep, now known as Bitget Wallet, will be launching its own native token after securing a $30 million investment at a $300 million valuation from the namesake exchange last year. 

According to the airdrop plan unveiled on March 18, the total supply of BWB is set at 1 billion, with a 5% allocation to users holding digital assets within Bitget Wallet or using in-app swap transactions. The airdrop will feature an initial six-week points reward system, which can be converted to BWB tokens in the second quarter following its initial exchange offering. In addition, users who received rewards from BitKeep wallet before its rebranding last year can convert them to BWB in Q2 at a ratio of 6:10. 

“It’s important to us that BWB serves as a key to unlocking exclusive benefits for its holders, offering them a voice in community governance, access to ecosystem airdrops, and a dividend in the rewards,” said Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet. Shortly after the announcement, the wallet’s servers experienced a service overload,  with users reporting they couldn’t claim their BWB. Bitget Wallet has since clarified that “our team is working hard to repair it and the issue will be resolved soon.” 

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<![CDATA[ Why is Bitcoin price down today? ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-is-bitcoin-price-down-today Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:15:52 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-is-bitcoin-price-down-today

Bitcoin price is down today as traders realize profits and futures liquidations surge.

The bullish momentum that propelled Bitcoin (BTC) to an all-time high of $73,835 on March 14 is waning. Bitcoin is down 8.3% from the all-time high on March 18. 

The contraction in Bitcoin price comes as some investors believe the BTC market is overheated after spot ETF approval.

Let’s take a closer look at the factors impacting Bitcoin price today.

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<![CDATA[ MetaMask partners with CoinLedger to make tax reporting easier for users ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/meta-mask-partners-cryptocurrency-coin-ledger-taxes-tax-reporting Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:00:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/meta-mask-partners-cryptocurrency-coin-ledger-taxes-tax-reporting

The partnership allows MetaMask users to export their tax information into CoinLedger via a single click.

CoinLedger, a tech platform specializing in cryptocurrency tax reporting software, announced a partnership with Web3 self-custody wallet provider MetaMask on March 18. 

The partnership brings streamlined interoperability and functionality for MetaMask users. According to a press release, users who connect their accounts can now load their transaction history into CoinLedger’s tax reporting software in a single click. This can alleviate the hassle of gathering, transposing and combining tax reports from various accounts and/or wallets.

David Kemmerer, co-founder and CEO of CoinLedger, told Cointelegraph that this partnership brings full integration with MetaMask’s Portfolio offering:

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<![CDATA[ Binance’s user assets under custody surpass $100B ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-user-assets-under-custody-surpass-100-b Mon, 18 Mar 2024 16:41:06 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-user-assets-under-custody-surpass-100-b

“In the past few weeks, there has been no shortage of records, all-time-highs, and crypto industry firsts,” Binance wrote.

It appears that crypto exchange Binance has emerged to be largely unaffected by a series of United States Department of Justice actions against the exchange and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao, with its assets under custody surpassing $100 billion as of March 18. 

As per the announcement, Binance users’ assets under custody have more than doubled from $40 billion at the beginning of the year. “We hold all user funds at a 1:1 ratio, plus additional reserves, which anyone can verify using Binance’s proof-of-reserves (POR) system,” Binance said, adding: “Recent weeks have witnessed a remarkable, sustained uptick in digital asset prices, a trend that has undoubtedly played a significant role in elevating the value of user assets under Binance’s custody."

Binance’s proof-of-reserves currently show over 100% collateralization ratios for all major cryptocurrencies and altcoins. Experts have warned, however, that proofs-of-reserves only include half the relevant information on reserves and do not include an entity’s liabilities to calculate its net equity. Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, has since claimed that the exchange’s capital structure is “debt-free.” The exchange stated: 

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<![CDATA[ Bitcoin ‘dumb money sells’ as whales, sharks add 328K BTC in a month ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-dumb-money-sells-whales-sharks-328k-btc-month Mon, 18 Mar 2024 16:19:51 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-dumb-money-sells-whales-sharks-328k-btc-month

Bitcoin big players seem ready to buy BTC at any price, while smaller market participants decrease exposure.

Bitcoin is splitting hodler sentiment near all-time highs as coins migrate to larger players.

Data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode shows that Bitcoin (BTC) whales are “furiously accumulating” BTC at current prices.

Bitcoin investors have vastly different impressions of the current bull market, and the latest on-chain data confirms it.

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<![CDATA[ Ether ETF is less likely than Bitcoin ETF was — Recharge Capital founder ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/ether-etf-less-likely-bitcoin-etf-recharge-capital-founder Mon, 18 Mar 2024 16:01:38 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/ether-etf-less-likely-bitcoin-etf-recharge-capital-founder

The SEC could bring more regulatory scrutiny toward Ether ETF applications, despite the prior approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, according to Recharge Capital’s John Lo.

The approval of a spot Ether exchange-traded fund is less certain than the previous approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, Recharge Capital founder John Lo told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview.

Lo expects the Securities and Exchange Commission to put increased scrutiny on all upcoming crypto-based ETFs, especially Ether ETFs:

Companies vying for an Ether ETF include BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, Hashdex and Franklin Templeton.

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<![CDATA[ Milady NFT memecoin reaches $18.6M presale goal in less than 2 hours ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/milady-nft-memecoin-reaches-18-6-million-presale-goal-less-2-hours Mon, 18 Mar 2024 15:32:40 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/milady-nft-memecoin-reaches-18-6-million-presale-goal-less-2-hours

“Presale is live for the ever-fashionable SOL-loving Milady wif hat. Sending some love to the SOL community now,” the project wrote.

Nonfungible token (NFT) collection Milady’s novel Solana memecoin has attracted 91,486 SOL ($18.7 million) within two hours of its presale announcement.

On March 18, Milday revealed that the Solana memecoin, named Milady Wif Hat after the popular Solana memecoin Dogwifhat (WIF), will have a 1 SOL (SOL) minimum investment with an 88,888 SOL cap. Hours later, the presale is now oversubscribed. “Milady Wif Hat presale has soared to its limit of 88,888 SOL and is now closed,” wrote the team, adding: “Any additional Solana raised will have 100% of their funds returned.”

The Milady NFT collection, composed of 10,000 anime-inspired profile picture avatars, has gained traction amid the ongoing crypto bull market and shilling by Su Zhu, co-founder of Singaporean hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. 

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<![CDATA[ Coti launches $10M rewards program to support v2 token rollout ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/coti-rewards-program-v2-token-rollout Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:00:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/coti-rewards-program-v2-token-rollout

In addition to the existing Coti tokenholders, the eligibility for airdrop rewards has been automatically extended to all treasury participants.

Ethereum-based confidentiality layer Coti will distribute Coti v2 tokens worth $10 million via airdrop to the holders of its native Coti (COTI) token.

Coti v2 is a privacy-centric layer-2 protocol on Ethereum dedicated to safely transmitting sensitive data over the blockchain across Web3 applications.

The company announced an upcoming community rewards initiative, which involves airdropping 40 million Coti v2 tokens to its existing native and ERC-20 COTI holders.

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<![CDATA[ Worldcoin says it’s legal in all countries it operates in despite Spanish ban ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/worldcoin-legal-all-operated-countries-ban-spain Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:50:28 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/worldcoin-legal-all-operated-countries-ban-spain

Worldcoin operates “lawfully in all of the locations in which it is available” and is designed to fully comply with related laws, the firm said.

The global digital identity and cryptocurrency project, Worldcoin, has made new statements on its operations and compliance amid growing legal uncertainty in Spain.

Worldcoin took to its blog on March 18 to publish “Essential facts about Worldcoin,” providing basic information about its operations, rules and regulations.

In the blog post, Worldcoin stressed that it operates “lawfully in all of the locations in which it is available” and is designed to be fully compliant with all laws and regulations governing data collection and data transfer.

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<![CDATA[ How much does it cost to build a crypto mining rig at home? ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/cost-home-crypto-mining-bitcoin Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:30:00 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/cost-home-crypto-mining-bitcoin

The cost of building a home mining rig is significant, but there are ways that would-be crypto miners can economize their build.

As Bitcoin (BTC) breaks into new all-time highs, with many predicting a bull market for 2024, some may be thinking again about mining crypto at home.

While Bitcoin mining may no longer be a viable option for home miners due to the increasing difficulty and the soon-to-be-halved rewards for mining a block, there are several other cryptocurrencies that one can mine at home.

Sources like WhatToMine can help people choose the most profitable based on their hardware. For example, a rig of six MSI GeForce RTX 3080Ti graphics processing units (GPUs) will be most profitable when mining Ravencoin (RVN) and bring around $170 per month. Zcash (ZEC) can bring in almost the same revenue while mining Clore (CLORE) can earn $158 per month.

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<![CDATA[ Unnamed presale address amasses $33M SOL in an hour ]]> https://cointelegraph.com/news/unnamed-pre-sale-amasses-33-million-sol Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:14:42 +0000 https://cointelegraph.com/news/unnamed-pre-sale-amasses-33-million-sol

The ambiguous, 24-hour presale promised a bigger allocation for early investors without disclosing any specifics on the project.

An early presale address for an unnamed, artificial intelligence (AI) focused project on Solana amassed over $33 million worth of Solana’s (SOL) tokens in less than an hour.

The presale information for the unnamed AI project was posted on X on March 18 by on-chain sleuth Dexter, with a 24-hour early investor window. The user stated that this would be “our most ambitious project to date” without disclosing any other information about the protocol.

Despite the lack of information about the project, the wallet address received 159,300 SOL — worth over $33 million at publication time — within 50 minutes after the X post went live, on-chain data shows.

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