After becoming one of the top mining destinations in the US, the State of Texas is making it easier to receive crypto as a form of payment. The Texas Ethics Commission proposed a set of new rules regarding cryptocurrency contributions. On approval, the new rule will permit candidates, officeholders, and political committees to accept cryptocurrency.Continue reading “Texas Ethics Commission is pro-cryto on officeholders, others accepting contributions”

IOTA, a smart contracts platform redesigning the distributed ledger technology, has released the beta version of the network’s new smart contracts solution. With the launch, the Internet of Things (IoT) protocol has made a move towards Web3, along with adding new utility of decentralized applications (dApps). Interestingly, the move now supports interoperability of IOTA SmartContinue reading “IOTA launches beta smart contracts; argues it’s not an ‘Ethereum killer’”

Spanish banks are now interested in testing crypto waters as they await regulatory clarity from the central bank, according to local media reports. The Bank of Spain had announced earlier in June that it will release registration instructions for crypto-exchanges and custody platforms by 29 October. However, the supervisor has not released any document yet.Continue reading “Spanish banks are eager to offer crypto, but when will the central bank oblige”

Algorand COO Sean Ford recently claimed in an interview that ALGO has “bulletproof” technology with “zero downtime” in the last two years. Algorand is a layer-1 solution for interoperability and smart contracts functionality, one that enables DeFi and NFTs. With the use of the proof-of-stake protocol, it’s a competitor to chains like ETH, Chainlink, Cardano,Continue reading “2021 will see Algorand focus on performance, system activity but…”

ProShares Bitcoin ETF crossed over $1 billion in Assets under Management (AUM) within two days of its listing on 19 October, according to a report by Bloomberg. Bloomberg Intelligence further revealed that no other exchange-traded fund has ever hit the $1 billion mark in terms of volume this quickly. It ranked BITO as the secondContinue reading “ProShares Bitcoin ETF leaves Gold behind after beating 18-year record”

A Whitehat hacker recently disclosed a critical vulnerability on Polygon, one that could have resulted in losses to the tune of $850 million. However, the Polygon team was quick to assure the community that no user funds were lost due to the exploit. In fact, in return for “responsibly disclosing the bug,” Polygon revealed thatContinue reading “Polygon avoids losses worth $850M; pays out $2M for disclosing vulnerability”

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced a ban on investment advice pertaining to unregulated instruments, including crypto. In its circular dated 21 October 2021, the Indian regulator said, “It has come to the notice of SEBI that some registered Investment Advisers are engaged in unregulated activity by providing platform for buying/selling/dealingContinue reading “India: SEBI bans registered investment advisors from giving crypto-advice”

Liz Young, Head Of Investment Strategy at SoFi, recently shared some advice about when and how to decide which asset classes to allocate in one’s portfolio, during a recent podcast. According to the exec, “The first rule of portfolio construction is to have asset classes that are not correlated to one another.” However, on theContinue reading “Here’s the downside to ‘trading in and out’ of Bitcoin and crypto”

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has once again reminded fellow regulators that the crypto-sector is, in fact, hard to ignore. At Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference, the outspoken commissioner commented, “I think it’s safe to assume that crypto is going to grow in size.” In the past as well, she has questioned if the negativeContinue reading “‘Conservative’ SEC does not handle change well, claims Commissioner Peirce”

CBDCs are all the rage of late. While cryptocurrencies continue to be seen with skepticism by most regulators, the idea of a CBDC has grabbed a lot of eyeballs. In doing so, it has also stoked a lot of conversation around it. During a recent event, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) spearheaded a discussion onContinue reading “IMF: How regulators can ensure co-existence of private stablecoins, CBDCs”

According to the U.K Police, crypto-linked frauds have surged significantly in 2021. In fact, as per reports, victims lost over $200 million in the first nine months of the year alone. What’s more, the incidence rate has risen by 30%, when compared to last year. The U.K’s national reporting center is said to have receivedContinue reading “U.K sees 30% hike in crypto-linked frauds despite FCA’s warnings”

Bitcoin-focused DeFi has long been in the works, to take advantage of its decentralized network. Recently, Stacks co-founder and data scientist Muneeb Ali stated, “Bitcoin apps and contracts always sounded like good ideas in theory. The only thing that has changed now is that Stacks is making them real.” Stacks was introduced as a layer-1Continue reading “With dApps and smart contracts, will Stacks be Bitcoin’s entry into Ethereum’s turf”