Monthly Archives: March 2021

Six people were arrested in FBI raids in New Hampshire Tuesday as part of a crackdown on an allegedly unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange business based in Keene, authorities said.

Federal prosecutors say the New Hampshire residents operated a virtual currency exchange, in which people exchange cryptocurrency like Bitcoin for fiat currency like the U.S. dollar, but did so in violation of federal laws and rules that prevent money laundering. Some of the accused allegedly tried to hide the scheme as a religious institution.

Some of the accused "engaged in substantial efforts to evade detection of their unlawful virtual currency exchange scheme by avoiding answering financial institutions questions about the nature of the business and misleading financial institutions into believing their unlawful virtual currency exchange business was instead a religious organization receiving charitable contributions," according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire's Office.

In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.

All six of the people arrested in coordinated raids in Keene, Manchester, Nashua, Derry and Alstead face conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business charges, prosecutors said. Some are facing wire fraud, money laundering and financial crimes charges.

Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are all the rage, but what exactly are they, and how do they work?

Among the people arrested were Keene residents Nobody, who tried to run for mayor in 2019, and Aria DiMezzo, a Libertarian who secured the Republican nomination for sheriff of Cheshire County last year as a Satanist anarchist, according to The Boston Globe. DiMezzo lost in the general election.

Also arrested were Ian Freeman, a 40-year-old from Keene; Colleen Fordham, a 60-year-old from Alstead; and Renee Spinella, 23, and Andrew Spinella, 35, of Derry, prosecutors said.

It wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys who could speak to the charges; they were due to appear before a federal judge Tuesday afternoon.

Their cryptocurrency exchange business, which wasn't named in a news release, started in 2016 and has exchanged over $10 million for virtual currency, prosecutors said.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have been gaining value in recent years as people find new ways to use them, as well as because of speculating on an expanding market. Their value is derived from their scarcity -- a set amount of Bitcoins exist, for example -- and the transparency they provide, since each transaction is recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain.

But the regulatory status of cryptocurrency remains in flux.

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FBI Arrests 6 Over NH Cryptocurrency Business - NBC10 Boston

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Inflows into cryptocurrency funds and products have already hit a record $4.2 billion for the first quarter, reflecting growing institutional investor interest, CoinShares data showed.

The previous high for crypto inflows was $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, driving total inflows for 2020 to $6.7 billion, the asset manager's data shows.

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, has had the most inflows so far this year with $3.3 billion, while ethereum was second with $731 million.

Bitcoin hit a record high of $61,781.83 on Saturday, but has fallen since then as investors consolidated gains and amid plans by India to ban cryptocurrencies.

"As bitcoin moves into the mainstream and captures greater attention, it will likely draw further scrutiny from regulators in the United States and Asia," Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, said.

On Tuesday, the virtual currency was at $55,415.

"The potential for more scrutiny and tighter regulation remains the biggest headwind for bitcoin," Cohen added.

Crypto assets under management have also surged to a peak of $55.8 billion, CoinShares data showed. Last year, AUM for the sector reached $37.6 billion. Five digital asset investment providers now oversees assets of more than $5 billion.

Grayscale is still the largest digital currency manager, with $43.73 billion in assets, while CoinShares, the second biggest, oversees nearly $5 billion in assets.

CoinShares' analysis further showed investors continue to choose investment providers that simply track the price of digital assets, so-called passive funds, over those that have active management strategies.

Passive funds have AUM of $54.1 billion, compared with $786 million for those with active strategies. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Alexander Smith)

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Cryptocurrency inflows hit record high of $4.2 bln, CoinShares says - Yahoo Finance

ZURICH, March 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --With the increasing demand for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the need for an easy solution to find the best exchange has become more obvious than ever.

Recently, Bitcoin Buyers Guide, a crypto reviews network, has launched the most advanced crypto exchange search filter. The search filter consists of numerous triggers and options in order for potential newcomers to the industry to avoid illicit exchanges and brokers.

The glossary behind the filter consists of machine learning algorithms that study the behavior of every cryptocurrency enthusiast and is able to return the most suitable broker or exchange for that particular user.

The website provides a list of top-rated exchanges that corresponds to the selected categories. The selector is comprised of the following options:

Derivatives TradingOptions TradingSpot TradingUser CountryDeposit Options

And can grade brokers by the following criteria:

AnonymityCopy-TradingFeesRegulationSecurityUser-friendlinessDeposit and Withdrawal methodsTrading InstrumentsUser Experience

Thanks to the exchange filter, now every newcomer to the crypto industry can freely explore and find the best options for his needs, avoiding many hours of research that must be done to make the best choice of a broker.

About the company

Bitcoin Buyers Guide is an award-winning research agency, which has reviewed and graded the most prominent cryptocurrency trading brokers. With over 60 reviews and multiple ratings for different exchanges, BitcoinBuyersGuide is aiming to provide the most comprehensive review and guide for newcomers to the crypto trading industry. With years of experience and research, the information on display is of high quality. There are more than 10 000 hours put into researching exchanges and the crypto market as a whole.

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE Bitcoin Buyers Guide

https://bitcoinbuyersguide.com/

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BitcoinBuyersGuide Introduces the Most Advanced Exchange Filter in the Cryptocurrency Industry - PRNewswire

India is reportedly moving forward with a sweeping ban on cryptocurrencies. According to Reuters, the countrys legislature will introduce a bill that criminalizes trading, mining, issuing, transferring, or possessing cryptocurrency. The bill is likely to pass if its introduced, giving India some of the worlds strictest digital currency laws.

Under the plan, people who own these digital assets would have six months to liquidate their holdings. Reuters source, a government official, didnt specify the punishment for breaking the rules after that. But a 2019 government panel recommended a jail sentence of up to 10 years for cryptocurrency-related offenses. The official says the discussions are in their final stages, although theres no strict timeline for introducing the bill.

The Indian government outlined its plans in January, when it published an agenda for the upcoming legislative session. That agenda included banning all private cryptocurrencies in India, with some exceptions to promote the general use of blockchain technology. The goal is to roll out an official government-issued digital currency while outlawing private alternatives like Bitcoin which reached a record high earlier this month, trading at $59,755.

No other large country has implemented this kind of ban on cryptocurrency. China, which has some of the harshest policies, prohibits trading coins but does not outlaw owning them.

The in-progress proposal follows a years-long fight between cryptocurrency traders and the Indian government. Indias central bank cracked down on Bitcoin in 2018, banning banks from dealing in virtual currencies. Its Supreme Court overturned the decision in 2020, but it didnt necessarily preclude passing a new, even stricter law like whats on the table now.

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India will reportedly introduce bill to make owning cryptocurrency illegal - The Verge

QINGDAO, China, March 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SOS Limited (NYSE:SOS) (the "Company" or "SOS") announced todaythat it has successfully installed its second fleet of 5,000 cryptocurrency mining rigs. Together with its prior fleet of 5,000 mining rigs, the Company expects the combined fleet to have the capacity to calculate an average of 353 Peta-Hashes per second (PH/s) for mining Bitcoin and 707 Giga-Hashes per second (GH/s) for mining Ether (ETH). These hash rates are subject to numerous factors, including down time for maintenance, reconfiguration and other variable factors that may materially impact computing performance in the future.

The Company also announced that on February 24, 2021, it was awarded its first Bitcoin from successful mining activities. SOS Chairman Yandai Wang commented, "This is a significant milestone for our Company. To memorialize this event, SOS is creating a commemorative gold coin that will serve as a tangible representation of our first mined Bitcoin. We anticipate that this will be the first of many future mining successes, as we continue to execute our cryptocurrency mining strategy."

The Company's board of directors also commissioned an independent review of the Company's cryptocurrency mining activities. As part of the review, payments from multiple mining pools were traced to SOS through the public Bitcoin and ETH blockchain ledgers. The review also validated SOS's control over certain electronic wallets and that the rate of Bitcoin and ETH payouts received in those wallets was generally consistent with the expected productivity of the Company's deployed fleet based on its hash rate capacity.

The Company expects to generate at least 41 Bitcoins and 909 ETH in the first quarter of 2021, based on various assumptions relating to down time for its fleet, worldwide hash power and other operating conditions. SOS Chief Financial Officer Steven Li elaborated, "These expected mining results reflect only a partial quarter of operations, since our current fleet of mining rigs was only recently installed during the first quarter. Our output should grow in future quarters as we receive and install our third batch of mining rigs and have a full quarter of operations for our current rigs."

These mining results do not include any financial results for the Company and do not address the Company's other, non-mining operations, such as the Company's marketing data, technology and solutions for emergency rescue services. United States generally accepted accounting principles for cryptocurrency mining are complex, emerging and uncertain. Cryptocurrencies may not be recognized as cash or cash equivalents, and mining activities may not qualify for revenue recognition. Cryptocurrencies have no inherent value, are not legal tender recognized by any governmental entity, and might not be able to be converted into fiat currencies. Investors are advised not to place undue reliance on mining results alone, without considering other financial and non-financial metrics.

About SOS Limited

SOS is a high-technology company providing a wide range of services to its corporate and individual members, including marketing data, technology and solutions for emergency rescue services. Recently, SOS began rolling out its cryptocurrency mining business and plans to develop insurance and security management solutions for digital assets and cryptocurrencies. SOS transforms digital technology into data-driven operations through research and development of big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence. The Company created an SOS cloud emergency rescue software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform with three major product categories: basic cloud (medical rescue card, car rescue card, financial rescue card, mutual assistance rescue card), cooperative cloud (information rescue center, intelligent big data, intelligent software and hardware), and information cloud (News Today, E-Commerce Today). The Company's corporate clients include insurance companies, financial institutions, medical institutions, healthcare providers, auto manufacturers, security providers, senior living assistance providers and other service providers in the emergency rescue services industry. For more information, please visit: http://www.sosyun.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, our expectations for future financial performance, business strategies or expectations for our business. These statements constitute projections, forecasts and forward-looking statements, and are not guarantees of performance. SOS cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Words such as "may," "can," "should," "will," "estimate," "plan," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "seek," "target," "look" or similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. Specifically, forward-looking statements may include statements relating to the Company's:

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release and our management's current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but not are limited to, the risk factors described by SOS in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). These risk factors and those identified elsewhere in this press release, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from historical performance and include, but are not limited to:

Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in deciding whether to invest in our securities. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE SOS Limited

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SOS Installs Second Batch of 5,000 Cryptocurrency Miners and Gives First Quarter Mining Projections - PRNewswire

One-third of investors will not put their money into cryptocurrency because they feel theymissed the boat, according toresearch.

The new report, called The Great Cryptocurrency, polled 2,000 UK savers about their investment plans for 2021and found30 per cent will not invest in cryptocurrency due to feeling it is a missed opportunity.

Despite this, the six-page report published by think tank Parliament Streetfound 31 per cent of investors admittedthey expected the price of bitcoin to hit a valuation of 50,000 this year.

Over the weekend the value of bitcoin surged past $60,000 - or just over 43,000 - for the first time.

But the reluctance to plough savings into cryptocurrency was echoed by chartered financial planner Alan Chan.

The director for London-based IFS Wealth & Pensions, said: As far as our clients are concerned, Id say 99 per cent of them are not interested in cryptocurrency because they understand that they are not an investment and they are akin to gambling.

"You can see that from the extreme volatilities that you can literally lose everything you put into it. They have no intrinsic value and pay no interest or dividends.

"If investors want a flutter with a small part of their portfolio and are willing to accept the risk of losing it all then thats fine, but to put all your assets into bitcoin or whatever the latest coin is would be completely reckless. Investing with hindsight is a fools game.

"Our clients prefer traditional assets, like equities and bonds, which have over a 100-year track record of delivering returns over a number of different market conditions and cycles."

The survey revealed 55 per cent of respondents revealedthey have no plans at all to invest in cryptocurrency this year.

Additionally, 52 per cent admitted that they are still more likely to invest money into traditional assets such as gold, stocks or shares, than into cryptocurrency.

Stephen Kelso, cryptocurrency expert and head of capital markets at ITI Capital, said: Many traditional investors are still cautious of cryptocurrencys volatility and have been cautious about adding it to their investment portfolios.

"The nomenclature cryptocurrency has deterred many who have perceived it to be anti-establishment rather than as the increasingly relevant store of value against the rapidly accelerating debasement of fiat currencies."

According to the data, 37 per cent of investors felttraditional assets, such as stocks and shares, were too risky at the momentdue to the economic downturn caused by Covid-19.

As a result, cryptocurrency, and especially bitcoin, have appeared to become an increasingly legitimate option as an investment asset, with 29 per cent revealing that they would never have considered investing in cryptocurrency before the most recent bitcoin bull run, but they are now.

Bitcoin has also been buoyed by other external events, such as Elon Musk and Teslas endorsement of the digital currency which saw its value surge.

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Investors feel they 'missed the boat' on cryptocurrency - FT Adviser

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Inflows into cryptocurrency funds and products have already hit a record $4.2 billion for the first quarter, reflecting growing institutional investor interest, CoinShares data showed.

FILE PHOTO: A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin is seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

The previous high for crypto inflows was $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, driving total inflows for 2020 to $6.7 billion, the asset managers data shows.

Bitcoin, the worlds largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, has had the most inflows so far this year with $3.3 billion, while ethereum was second with $731 million.

Bitcoin hit a record high of $61,781.83 on Saturday, but has fallen since then as investors consolidated gains and amid plans by India to ban cryptocurrencies.

As bitcoin moves into the mainstream and captures greater attention, it will likely draw further scrutiny from regulators in the United States and Asia, Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, said.

On Tuesday, the virtual currency was at $55,415.

The potential for more scrutiny and tighter regulation remains the biggest headwind for bitcoin, Cohen added.

Crypto assets under management have also surged to a peak of $55.8 billion, CoinShares data showed. Last year, AUM for the sector reached $37.6 billion. Five digital asset investment providers now oversees assets of more than $5 billion.

Grayscale is still the largest digital currency manager, with $43.73 billion in assets, while CoinShares, the second biggest, oversees nearly $5 billion in assets.

CoinShares analysis further showed investors continue to choose investment providers that simply track the price of digital assets, so-called passive funds, over those that have active management strategies.

Passive funds have AUM of $54.1 billion, compared with $786 million for those with active strategies.

Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Alexander Smith

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Cryptocurrency inflows hit record high of $4.2 billion, CoinShares says - Reuters

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Prices subject to change.

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Learn to trade cryptocurrency using algorithms with this quantitative training bootcamp - Cheddar

The online cryptocurrency and stock brokerage platform Etoro has announced the company is going public via a deal with a special purpose acquisition company called Fintech Acquisition Corp V. The Etoro merger is a $10.4 billion deal, backed by the banking entrepreneur and Fintech Acquisition Corp V chair Betsy Cohen.

The popular cryptocurrency trading platform and stock brokerage service, Etoro, has plans to go public with a $10.4 billion merger. The merger was invoked by a firm called Fintech Acquisition Corp V, and investments also stem from the Japanese company Softbank and the finance managers Vision Fund 2.

The deal is a special purpose acquisition (SPAC) as it leverages the proceeds from an initial public offering (IPO) to take private firms to the public venue.

In addition to the merger with Fintech Acquisition Corp V, an acquisition business, the firms Fidelity Management & Research, and Wellington Management also added a $650 million common share private placement.

The recent announcement from Etoro, follows Coinbases attempt to go public this year and Krakens CEO Jesse Powell also disclosed his exchange is considering an initial public offering next year. The mining firm Northern Data AG is reportedly planning to go public as well with an estimated $500 Million IPO.

Because Etoro offers a stock brokerage service combined with options to trade cryptocurrencies, the firm is a competitor of Robinhood.

The online trading platform Robinhood has already held an IPO and more recently, the firm reportedly had to raise funds over the Wall Street Bets fiasco. On January 29, 2021, New York Times reporters detailed that Robinhood had to draw a line of credit from six banks.

Since 2007, Etoro has gathered roughly 20 million registered users who invest in digital currencies, stocks, and other traditional markets. According to Reuters, after the Etoro announcement Fintech Acquisition Corp Vs shares jumped more than 15% before the bell.

Additionally, Betsy Cohen is a well known businesswoman that has been known for participating in SPAC investments.

What do you think about Etoro announcing the company will go public via a merger worth over $10 billion. Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Cryptocurrency and Stock Trading Platform Etoro Aims to Go Public Through a $10.4 Billion SPAC Deal Finance Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

An artwork by Beeple which exists only as a digital file and was sold as a nonfungible token for a staggering $69.3 million at an online auction handled by Christies on Thursday was bought by an investor known only by a pseudonym and who paid for it with cryptocurrency, the auction house said Friday.

I feel like I got a steal, said the buyer, who goes by the pseudonym Metakovan, in a Google Meet interview (without video) that was arranged by Christies.

Metakovan, the founder of the Metapurse, a fund that collects nonfungible tokens or NFTs, said he would be paying for the work and Christies fees in Ether, a cryptocurrency. As we speak, Im sending the last transaction, he said.

The work he bought, Everydays The First 5000 Days, is a collage of all the images that the digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, has posted online since 2007. The image had been specially created, or minted, by the artist for Christies timed one-lot online auction as an NFT. Such digital collectibles have no physical existence, but are given proof of ownership and authenticity using blockchain technology. Everydays, a JPG, was the first digital-only NFT auctioned by Christies.

For the sale of the NFT, whose value had been far from clear at the outset, Christies had offered to accept payment in Ether for the first time, a move that some saw as bolstering the currencys legitimacy. But the auction house has so far not announced a willingness to accept cryptocurrencies for the more traditional artworks it sells.

With bids that had started at just $100, the two-week timed auction was extended by some 90 seconds as a deluge of last moment bids pushed the price up to the equivalent of $69.3 million, and Metakovan, whose real name was not given, was the successful bidder, according to Christies. The result made Beeple, who is little known in the mainstream art world, the third most expensive living artist at auction, after David Hockney and Jeff Koons.

I was quite anxious at the end, said Metakovan, who had only previously bid at one Christies auction, recalling the final frenzy of online bids during the 90 seconds of extra time at the Beeple sale. But Im used to bidding at crypto auctions, said Metakovan. I dont know how I would have performed if it had been a live sale.

The underbidder, Justin Sun, the owner of the software company BitTorrent, said earlier on Twitter that he was outbid by another buyer in the last 20 secs by $250k.

Metakovan said that his funds collection, founded in 2016, had never sold an acquisition and was acquiring a wide variety of NFTs.

We see NFTs as a larger space; there are so many different kinds, said Metakovan, who started his collection in 2016 by buying land in virtual worlds. In 2019, he paid about $111,000 in an auction for 1-1-1, the first digital car for the blockchain game F1 Delta Time. It was the highest priced NFT sold that year.

Last December, Metakovans collection also acquired a complete collection of 20 Beeple NFT works at the specialist Nifty Gateway online marketplace.

But paying the equivalent of $69.3 million (which converted to 42,329.453 Ether) for a Beeple, for a work of art that doesnt physically exist? He said he felt it was a good deal. This still has a long way to go, said Metakovan.

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The $69 Million Beeple NFT Was Bought With Cryptocurrency - The New York Times