Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Adoptions news
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Bitcoin (BTC) has outperformed Ethereum (ETH) in terms of the daily transferred value, reaching USD 14.58bn per day, compared to Ethereum’s USD 13.96 per day, according to the data provided by Money Movers. BTC re-took the lead in the second half of December 2020, after Ethereum had surpassed it in early September last year.
Source: money-movers.info
Altcoins news
- After examining binance coin (BNB)‘s burn yield’s, Price/Earnings (P/E), Price / Sales, transactions per day, and regulatory risks, Messari said it has valued BNB at USD 43.5 per token. The 10th largest cryptoasset by market capitalization trades at around USD 44 today and is up by 6% in a day and 20% in a week.
Exchanges news
- BitMEX said it has completed its User Verification Programme, adding in an announcement that it has been “successfully implemented, making BitMEX one of the largest crypto derivatives exchanges in the world with a fully verified active user base.” With the remaining open positions from unverified accounts closed and the scheduled expiry of the December 2020 futures completed, 100% of volume on the BitMEX platform is now fully verified. Over USD 100bn equivalent volume has been traded following the December 4 verification deadline, said the exchange.
Tokenization news
- Ukraine’s football club Dynamo Kyiv is set to release its own “team-branded,” blockchain-powered digital token. The club, which has won an unequaled 28 Ukrainian Premier League titles, as well as two UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup trophies, will work with a United States and UK-based blockchain provider named Moonwalk on its new crypto project. In a press release, Moonwalk wrote, “Fans will be able to earn tokens based on their participation with the team and spend the tokens in Dynamo Kyiv’s [70,000-seater] stadium and digital marketplace.”
Mining news
- The Iranian electricity provider, the Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said that it has, in conjunction with law enforcement authorities, closed down 1,620 illegal crypto mining farms that have burned through 250Mw of power since July 2019, the month when crypto mining was legalized in the country. Per the Financial Tribune, Tavanir claimed that it would be “strict in dealing with unauthorized miners,” claiming that offenders would be fined to the same degree as “the loss they impose on the national grid,” with mining rigs “disconnected from the national grid” and prosecutions sought.
Investments news
- Decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregator Furucombo has raised USD 1.85m in seed funding round backed by SevenX Ventures, Defiance Capital, 1kx, Multicoin Capital, and Aave founder Stani Kulechov, among others. Per the emailed press release, the funds raised will be used to expand Furucombo’s core team and strengthen the security layer of the ecosystem. The company has captured over USD 200m in trading volume, they said, adding that they plan to launch Furucombo v2 in the near future.
- TaxBit, a cryptocurrency tax automation software provider, said it received an unspecified investment from PayPal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and existing investor, Winklevoss Capital.
Tax news
- Starting 2023, an South Korean crypto investor making an annual income of more than KRW 2.5m (USD 2,285) from digital assets will be taxed at 20%, Asia Today reported, citing the Ministry of Economy and Finance. For digital assets owned prior to the start of taxation, the higher amount of either the market price or actual acquisition price at the end of this year will be regarded as the acquisition price, the report added.
Decentralization news
- Dfinity, a tech startup building an advanced blockchain-based computing system, has announced on January 6 that a crucial part of its “Internet Computer” blockchain’s decentralization was launched back in December. The company’s founder Dominic Williams wrote in a blog post that “this means that the Internet Computer’s mainnet now exists, and is hosted by standardized “node machines” that are independently owned and installed within independent data centers, which have been placed under the control of the Network Nervous System (NNS).”
Regulation news
- Swiss crypto investment manager FiCAS AG said that it has received regulatory approval to make its crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) available across the European market. According to the press release, investors can purchase the 15 FiCAS Active Crypto ETP through any broker or financial institution connected to SIX Swiss Exchange. Since FiCAS first launched its ETP in Switzerland in July 2020, listing it on SIX Swiss Exchange, assets under management have increased to over USD 5m as of January 6 this year, and the ETP has featured a performance of nearly 60%, said the company.
Career news
- Michael Sonnenshein has been named CEO of Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager. He previously served as managing director of the company, and will be replacing Barry Silbert as CEO. As CEO, Michael expects to double the firm’s staff in 2021, as well as roll out multiple new products, the company said in a press release.
Crime news
- Police in Alicante, Spain, have unearthed what they believe is evidence of a USD 8.6m crypto fraud scheme. Per Las Provincias, police officers in the region have arrested four people of “Spanish, Italian and Argentine origin,” aged between 23 and 36 years old, charging them with involvement in a sting that allegedly saw them trick people in the nation out of “a large quantity of cryptoassets” and refusing to reimburse them upon request. The police were called in after reports of “many victims” all of whom claimed that scammers had convinced them to transfer their crypto holdings to an unnamed company.