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El Salvador approves BTC as legal means of payment

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved a bill on the legalization of BTC, in which the president of the state proposed to make the crypto coin an official means of payment, on a par with the American dollar. The legislative initiative was supported by 62 out of 84 possible deputies, 17 opposed, one parliamentarian abstained. The draft law will enter into force 90 days after publication in the official government media. If the initiative of the head of the country Nayib Bukele is approved, bitcoin will be the official payment instrument in El Salvador. Information about this appeared in the politician's microblog.

Coinseed stops working

Cryptocurrency investment app Coinseed is suspended due to a lawsuit from the New York State Attorney's Office. Earlier, the department filed a lawsuit against the crypto project, accusing the platform of fraud and deceiving users for $1 million. The prosecutor's office believes that about 2 years ago, the top management of Coinseed conducted an unregistered ICO. In addition, the platform's management applied hidden fees and attracted investors with implausible promises. Coinseed CEO Delgerdalai Davaasambuu said the service had received no complaints from users. At the same time, the prosecutor's office said that since the filing of the claim, the department received more than 170 complaints about the crypto project.

CFTC Commissioner: "DeFi derivatives may be illegal in the US"

The Commissioner for the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission believes that some DeFi products may be illegal on US soil. CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkowitz said DeFi markets, such as for futures contracts, may be illegal due to US law. These are the provisions of the American Mercantile Exchange Act. “DeFi markets, platforms, or websites are not registered as DCMs or SEFs. The CEA does not contain any exception from registration for digital currencies, blockchains, or «smart contracts, ”said the CFTC Commissioner.

 

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Founder of Tudor Investment Corporation is ready to invest in bitcoins

The founder of the hedge fund Tudor Investment Corporation Paul Tudor Jones intends to invest part of his capital in bitcoins. The American billionaire said he prefers to invest in "something reliable, consistent, honest and definite," and the first cryptocurrency has these characteristics. “The only thing I know for certain, I want 5% in gold, 5% in bitcoin, 5% in cash, 5% in commodities. At this point in time, I don’t know what I want to do with the other 80% until I see what the Fed is going to do,” Jones said. The Fed will meet this week to discuss forecasts for interest rates and inflation. Depending on the further actions of the regulator, Jones admitted that he could invest more in digital assets.

The Netherlands calls for a ban on BTC

Pieter Hasekamp, head of the Dutch Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Ministry of Economy and Climate Policy, believes that local authorities are obliged to introduce a complete ban on mining, storing, and trading the main cryptocurrency. He is confident that bitcoin cannot be used as a unit of account, payment instrument, and storage medium. The official believes that the Netherlands is currently lagging behind other states in terms of its policy of containing the growth in popularity of digital currencies. Hasekamp cited China as an example, where they had previously called for tight control over the circulation of cryptocurrency assets in the country. “Dutch regulators have tried to tighten supervision of marketplaces, but without much success. The Central Planning Bureau pointed to the risks of cryptocurrency trading in 2018, but concluded that stricter regulation is not needed yet, ” Hasekamp added.

 

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General Motors may start selling cars for bitcoin

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the auto giant could start selling its cars for BTC. According to her, this is possible if such a need arises among the company's clients. “Nothing prevents us from doing this. We will be guided by the wishes of our customers,” Barra said. Earlier, the media wrote that Tesla abandoned the idea of selling its cars for bitcoins. Canadian entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary said Tesla shareholders had a significant impact on the decision to refuse to accept payments in BTC.

John McAfee claims to have lost his cryptocurrency fortune

American businessman John McAfee, who is in a Spanish prison, said that he had lost his fortune in cryptocurrencies, and other assets of the entrepreneur were confiscated. In the US, McAfee faces legal proceedings related to allegations of tax evasion, money laundering, and market manipulation. “The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association. I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing," McAfee wrote on Twitter.

CEO of Pantera Capital is confident that the time has come to buy BTC

Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead spoke about the fall in the cryptocurrency market and the resulting panic. According to the entrepreneur, this is a great opportunity to buy bitcoins. In a letter to investors, Morehead noted that it is necessary to buy digital currencies, like any other asset, when the markets are "below trend." In the case of BTC, now is a good period for its acquisition - bitcoin was so “cheap relative to the trend” only 20.3% of the time during its entire existence. The investor believes that the significant increase in the rate of the main cryptocurrency in the last year is not evidence that bitcoin is overvalued. “The year-on-year return never went literally off-the-chart like in past peaks. It’s currently trading at 281% year-on-year — which seems entirely plausible given the money printing that has occurred in that period,” Morehead said.

 

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Goldman Sachs urges not to invest in bitcoin

Goldman Sachs analysts believe that investment in digital assets cannot be called “viable”, but cryptocurrencies are suitable for speculation in the market. The investment bank is confident that despite the increasing interest of people in digital currencies, investing in them is still risky. Analysts at Goldman Sachs noted that serious fluctuations in the crypto market scare off potential investors. And the conflicting opinions of industry participants about cryptocurrencies simply confuse many Goldman Sachs clients interested in acquiring such assets. “As Bitcoin soared to new highs over the past year, many wondered if they should invest in it. Now, a team at Goldman Sachs is telling retail investors that the digital currency isn’t worthy of most portfolios — at least not yet, ”the analysts of the investment bank are sure.

Beijing residents will be able to exchange cash for digital yuan at more than 3,000 ATMs

The Metropolitan Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has added the function of converting the yuan to and from the digital version. This opportunity can now be used in more than 3,000 ATMs. In addition, the Agricultural Bank of China has added a similar option. So far, it is available only on 10 devices located in Beijing. The initiative of the capital branches of banks indicates that the development and testing of the digital yuan is underway. Earlier, several Chinese cities tested the state cryptocurrency, when citizens received digital yuan to make purchases.

 

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Miner spoke about the "solvency" of bitcoin

Restrictive measures in relation to the production of the main cryptocurrency should be taken positively, as they confirm the "solvency" of bitcoin. This was stated by the miner Brandon Arvanagi, who previously worked as a security engineer for Gemini. Arvanagi believes that now the authorities of various states are forming a consensus on BTC. And the tightening of the Chinese government's policy on mining and digital currency trading could prove to be a positive factor in the medium to long term. Former security engineer Gemini said that the role of the People’s Republic of China will be transferred to the United States, where the mining of cryptocurrencies is capable of becoming a large industry. He believes that Texas and Florida can offer favorable terms for miners. A similar opinion is shared by the head of Facebook Financial, David Marcus, who, commenting on news from China, said that this is "a great development in the history of bitcoin."

ARK Investment Management invested in BTC, after which the crypto coin began to grow

ARK Investment Management invested in the first cryptocurrency. This became known on June 22, when the BTC price dropped to $28,800. The investment company has acquired over a million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. We would like to remind the readers that on June 22, the value of the main crypto coin for the first time since January 2021 fell below $30,000. The market capitalization of BTC, according to CoinGecko, fell to $554 billion. However, after the news of the ARK Investment investment, bitcoin rose by more than 11%. Today, June 23, according to Coinmarketcap, the cost of BTC is $34'921.

SEC accuses Loci crypto project of fraud

The SEC has accused the head of the Loci crypto project, John Wise, of illegally selling digital assets and defrauding investors. According to the regulator, the startup and its top management raised $7.6 million thanks to the illegal sale of LOCICoin tokens. The SEC believes that Wise spent about $38,000 of the investment received for personal needs. “Loci and its CEO misled investors regarding critical aspects of Loci’s business. Investors in digital asset securities are entitled to truthful information and fulsome disclosures so they can make informed investment decisions,” Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit, said. As a result, the crypto project destroyed all LOCICoins and will not participate in similar token sales in the future. In addition, the company will have to return $7.6 million to investors.

 

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The Fed is concerned about the growing popularity of stablecoins amid the lack of regulation of this market

Boston Federal Reserve Bank Governor Eric Rosengren has raised concerns about the risks associated with Tether to the soundness of the financial market. According to the official, USDT has become a "new problem" in the short-term lending markets. “The reason I talked about tether and stable coins is if you look at their portfolio, it basically looks like a portfolio of a prime money market fund but maybe riskier. We actually had a stablecoin that ran into financial difficulties last week. Tether, as you highlighted, has a number of assets that, during the pandemic, the spread got quite wide on those assets,” Eric Rosengren said. He noted that stablecoins are already playing a significant role in the modern economy. However, the absence of a significant degree of regulation of this industry can be dangerous for all players in the financial market.

British regulator has decided to complicate the work of Binance

The British Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning to top managers at Binance, which states that the crypto exchange is not allowed to conduct regulated activities in the country. Because of this, the local division of the company got in a deplorable situation. The FCA ruling states that Binance cannot carry out any activity requiring licensing without the consent of the regulator. Since the company goes through the registration procedure in the authority, it has no right to provide unregulated services, for example, the ability to conduct transactions in the derivatives market. In addition, the management demanded that the company stop advertising campaigns launched earlier in the country in the coming days. Until June 30, the crypto exchange is obliged to warn its customers about the FCA restrictions on the site.

Mexican entrepreneur announces approval of major crypto coin

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego said that the Banco Azteca he created will become the first bank in the country to accept BTC. The entrepreneur wrote about this on Twitter. “Sure, I recommend the use of bitcoin, and me and my bank are working to be the first bank in Mexico to accept bitcoin,” Salinas said. According to the businessman, bitcoin is "an asset that should be part of every investor's portfolio." Salinas noted the value of BTC, "which is traded with huge liquidity on a global level."

 

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US Senator approves bitcoin usage

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said she invested in a major cryptocurrency to secure future retirement. In addition, she encourages to follow her example. According to Lummis, BTC is great for long-term and retirement savings. She noted that she now owns 5 bitcoins, at the same time she purchased the first BTC at a cost of $330. “I worry about having all of our retirement monies denominated in U.S. dollars. So as part of diversification, having a very diverse asset allocation, so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket, I think one of the strongest stores of value for the long run is bitcoin, ”said Lummis.

Europe should prioritize digital asset regulation

The head of the Central Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau is confident that the EU must make the regulation of digital currencies a priority. Otherwise, it will threaten the financial sovereignty of Europe. François Villeroy de Galhau said the EU "only has one or two years" to create a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market. In his opinion, inaction could "undermine our monetary sovereignty" and potentially weaken the euro. “I want to stress the urgency of regulating cryptoassets. We do not have much time left – just one or two years,” Villeroy de Galhau said.

 

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Messari analysts are confident in the superiority of the USDC in the near future

Analysts at Messari concluded that USDC's popularity on ETH has grown much faster this year than Tether's. Experts believe that USDC has every chance of becoming the dominant stablecoin on ETH. The study found that interest in USD Coin increased so much that stablecoin was able to absorb a significant portion of USDT's market share. Messari believes that in the short term, this may contribute to a decrease in the share of Tether among stablecoins on ETH. Messari analyst Ryan Watkins noted that more than 40% of the stablecoins on ETH are in USDC. “Although this percentage is not as high as DAI, USDC leads by a wide margin in dollar terms and has become the preferred stablecoin in DeFi for now,” the analyst concluded.

Analyst predicts bitcoin recovery

Well-known cryptanalyst Willie Woo said that the market has not yet become "bearish". He believes that in the near future the rate of the main cryptocurrency will recover, as evidenced by the data of the blockchain performance indicators. Woo pointed out that long-term investors are now busy accumulating assets in BTC. They buy off bitcoins against the backdrop of a fall in the rate of a crypto coin. “The ‘Rick Astley’ is the holder that keeps buying and never tends to sell much ... And of course Rick was very active over 2021, and then suddenly all the coins moved away from Rick to the weak hands — the speculative traders that buy and sell. Now we’re seeing that cross back into moving to Rick," Willie Woo said, hinting at the hit of the singer Rick Astley "Never Let You Down".

 

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Binance is looking to hire ‘UK Version of Brian Brooks’

Binance is attempting to hire a former regulator or government official in the U.K. in order to lend the brand some compliance clout as global regulatory pressure mounts on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange operator, according to two people familiar with the plans. Binance is looking to hire “a U.K. version of Brian Brooks,” one of the people told CoinDesk, referring to the well-regarded former head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) who was brought in to run Binance.US in April of this year. The search for a respected former regulator to represent Binance’s interests in the U.K. follows an announcement last month by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which said that Binance was not allowed to conduct any regulated activities in the country. As a result of the FCA’s action, British bank Barclays said earlier this week it was blocking customers from using its debit and credit cards to make payments to Binance.

Bitcoin miner revenue jumps by 50% in 4 days since record difficulty drop

Bitcoin miner revenue jumped after the network saw its biggest-ever difficulty drop. According to figures from monitoring resource Blockchain.com, daily revenues have surged by over 50%. Bitcoin mining is currently in a unique state of flux — around half of the hashing power is offline as miners relocate from China, and it remains unknown how quickly they will be able to come back online. At the same time, those miners unaffected by the Chinese rout have seen half their competitors disappear overnight, and profitability has gone up as a result. With data now coming in for the past few weeks, the scale of the changes is plain to see. Daily mining revenue was around $20.7 million on Friday, the day before the difficulty adjustment. A day later, it hit $29.3 million, and by Tuesday this week — $31.9 million.

 

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Guardtime: regulators from various countries have significantly accelerated the development of their own cryptocurrencies

According to Guardtime, which works in the blockchain field, central banks from various countries have significantly accelerated the development of their own cryptocurrencies amid the pandemic. Experts believe that in the near future, at least one country will issue its digital currency. According to Luukas Ilves, head of strategy at Guardtime, "competition for the launch of state-owned cryptocurrencies is increasing, and the coronavirus has not only accelerated digitalization, but also changed the use of money by the population." Lockdown has sparked the growth of the online payments market, which is where CBDCs are most applicable. “The development of CBDCs has been accelerated by up to five years. There is also no doubt in our mind that a major central bank will soon launch a digital currency and we expect this to happen within the next three years, ” Guardtime analysts said.

The Bogdanov brothers announced that they had participated in the development of the first crypto coin

Former Russian-born theoretical physicists and TV presenters Igor and Grigory Bogdanov stated that they were personally acquainted with Satoshi Nakamoto. In addition, they claim to have been involved in the development of the first cryptocurrency. The Bogdanovs noted that they once collaborated with François Mizzi, who created the touchscreen. The scientist Soichiro Shimod worked in his laboratory, who is "related to a mythical character or group of people" associated with Nakamoto. According to the brothers, they often discussed the concept of digital currency with Shimod. The Bogdanovs also noted that in 2008 Nakamoto gave them two "first bitcoins in physical form." “As mathematicians, we were able to take part in the development of the Bitcoin source code, including the forecasting code,” the Bogdanovs said on the air of the French TV show Non-Stop People.

Bitcoin may fall to $10,000

Scott Minerd, investment director of Guggenheim Partners, believes that the BTC rate may fall to $ 10.000. He is confident that for now, traders do not need to buy bitcoins. “When we look at the history of crypto and we look at where we are, I mean, I really do believe this is probably a crash, and you know a crash would mean we’d be down 70-80% which, let’s just say that’s between 10 and 15 thousand," Minerd said. At the end of last year, Guggenheim Partners predicted a rise in the price of the first crypto coin to $400,000. And in early 2021, Scott Minerd confirmed the prediction but advised investors to fix some of the profits.