Shaurya Malwa

Nandan Nilekani. Image: Australia India Institute/Creative Commons

Billionaire Nandan Nilekani: Indians Should Be Allowed to Own Crypto

Amid concerns over a government ban on cryptocurrency, Indian tech billionaire Nandan Nilekani has come out in favor of the use of crypto in India, calling the sector a new “asset class” for citizens. "We should think of crypto as an asset class and allow people to have some crypto," said Nilekani in a Clubhouse session with crypto evangelist Balaji Srinivasan and venture capitalist Karthik Reddy, as per a report on markets outlet Moneycontrol. He added that the Indian government should also fa

This NFT sold for $69 million at Christie's. Image: Beeple

Anonymous Buyer of $69 Million Beeple NFT Has Been Unmasked

You may not know Vignesh Sundaresan by name, but he’s made it into the crypto history books. In a Substack post yesterday, Sundaresan was revealed as the man behind ‘Metakovan,’ the anonymous purchaser of a non-fungible token (NFT) artwork by Beeple that sold for over $69 million last week—making it the most expensive piece of digital art ever. We could have remained pseudonymous, but we decided to drop a few hints with Christie’s, and a few more in Clubhouse. Now here's the story of how crypto

Bank of America Slams Bitcoin in Research Note

Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the US, slammed Bitcoin in a recent note to clients and questioned the environmental implications of maintaining the asset. Per financial publication The Street this morning, the report, titled “Bitcoin’s Dirty Little Secrets,” argued that Bitcoin had little role to play in an investor’s portfolio. "Bitcoin has also become correlated to risk assets, it is not tied to inflation, and remains exceptionally volatile, making it impractical as a store of we

UK Advertising Regulator Bans “Irresponsible” Bitcoin Ad

An advertisment by crypto exchange Coinfloor has been banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for "irresponsibly" promoting Bitcoin as an investment to pensioners. The advert, in a December edition of local paper the Northamptonshire Telegraph, featured a testimonial from a 63-year-old woman who invested her pension money into Bitcoin and used the exchange’s service to buy the asset “automatically straight from my bank account.” The ASA drew attention to the advert's use of the p

India’s government is considering a bill to limit cryptocurrency use in the country. Image: Shutterstock

India's Finance Minister Says a "Window" for Bitcoin is Coming

India’s government gave crypto investors another reason to fear on Monday after high-ranking officials said a new law would ban the possession or usage of cryptocurrencies, as per a report on Reuters this morning. The officials said the use of blockchain technology would be promoted in the country but the use of “private crypto-assets”—such as Bitcoin and Ethereum—would be stamped out. A previous bill from 2019 went as far as proposing jail terms for offenders, but for now, the officials say st

Institutional investors are increasingly interested in buying Bitcoin. Image: Shutterstock

Survey: 85% of Wealth Managers Who Hold Bitcoin Plan to Buy More

Over 85% of institutional investors holding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies plan to increase their allocation to the asset class over the next two years, a recent survey found. The survey, shared with Decrypt by London-based crypto fund Nickel Digital Asset Management, recorded the answers in January 2021 of 50 wealth managers and 50 institutional investors—with a collective $110 billion under management—based in Germany, Switzerland, the US, and the UK. A majority of the surveyed investors

Grayscale manages billions of dollars worth of crypto assets. Image: Shutterstock.

Crypto Fund Grayscale is Hiring Specialists For An ETF

Institutional cryptocurrency fund Grayscale is making nine key hires for roles focused on exchange-traded funds (ETF), job listings on its careers page reveal. “Grayscale Investments is seeking a Specialist to support the creation and redemption process of Grayscale’s exchange-traded fund (ETF) products as well as business expansion plans,” reads one such listing. Thinking about a career in #crypto?! We're hiring!https://t.co/j9VVt7x5FZ — Grayscale (@Grayscale) March 9, 2021 Grayscale’s “Tru

Bitcoin being auctioned off. Image: Shutterstock.

US Government to Sell (a Little Bit of) Bitcoin

The US General Services Administration, a division of the US government is set to sell 0.7501 Bitcoin (worth $40,700 at press time) in an auction from March 15-17, according to a report by Bloomberg. The Bitcoin is being sold alongside other items including forfeited cars, a heavy-duty tractor, and a 12,000-gallon storage container. How the government came to hold the Bitcoin itself has not been shared with the public. The US government's Bitcoin auctions This is by no means the first (or the l

StakeWise Raises $2 Million To Make Ethereum 2.0 Staking Easier

StakeWise, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) designed to make Ethereum 2.0 staking easier for users, has completed a $2 million raise ahead of a public launch. StakeWise aims to make staking easier for Ethereum users ahead of its Eth2 proof-of-stake upgrade, one that consists of users staking their ETH to run nodes instead of “miners” that utilize massive computing power to process blocks and validate transactions. The funding round was led by Greenfield One, with contributions from

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Image: Shutterstock.

Floyd Mayweather-backed Centra ICO Founder Gets 8 Years in Prison

The Department of Justice in the Southern District of New York sentenced Sohrab Sharma, one of the co-founders of the infamous crypto project “Centra Tech,” to eight years in prison yesterday. The project raised over $25 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017 before it was flagged as a fraud. Centra touted itself as a niche firm that specialized in crypto finance products such as debit cards. It advertised a false partnership with international card processors Visa and Mastercard to

Crypto Exchange Bybit To End Trading for UK Customers

Crypto derivatives exchange Bybit will stop serving UK clients on March 31, it said in an announcement this morning. The exchange cited new regulations for crypto-based derivatives as the reason behind the move. “To comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) ban of crypto derivatives, Bybit will cease to provide services to customers from the United Kingdom,” the exchange said in its release, requesting clients to close any positions and withdraw all funds before the end of this month.

Kraken CEO: Bitcoin Hitting $1 Million Is 'Very Reasonable'

Forget Bitcoin price targets of $100,000 or even $400,000; Jesse Powell, CEO of crypto exchange Kraken, predicts Bitcoin may reach as high as $1 million in the next ten years, according to a recent interview with Bloomberg. “People see it surpassing gold as a store of value. So, you know, I think a million dollars as a price target within the ten years is very reasonable,” Powell said, adding that the younger demographics saw it as a “better version of gold.” Bitcoin has, for a long time, been

Dogecoin's celebrity followers are intent on memeing the crypto to the moon. Image: Shutterstock.

Dogecoin Becomes More Popular Than Bitcoin on Twitter

There were more mentions of the meme coin Dogecoin in the last month on Twitter than any other cryptocurrency, according to data from crypto tracker ICO Analytics. It even overtook the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap: Bitcoin. In February it was inevitable… $Doge has flipped $BTC as the most discussed digital asset in Feb 2021. In the chart below you can find a share of mentions of each coin among top 150 by marketcap.$eth $ada $xrp $link $pols $bnb $dot $egld $ltc $cake $vet $trx $algo $n

Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin! Image: Shutterstock

17% of Bitcoin's Supply Hasn't Moved for Over 7 Years

A significant chunk of Bitcoin has not moved in over seven years, markets insights platform Unfolded pointed out yesterday, citing data from “HODL Wave,” an indicator by on-chain analytics tool Glassnode. This indicator tracks the time period between Bitcoin transactions and represents a macro view of how long a given coin is held before it is moved. It's named after a now-popular Bitcointalk post that told forum-goers in 2013 to continue hodling their Bitcoin instead of selling. The HODL Wave

Litecoin on a pile of Litecoin. Image: Shutterstock

Grayscale Bought 80% of All Litecoin Mined in February

Crypto fund manager Grayscale Investments has bought the majority of Litecoin mined last month, data from markets tool Bybt shows. Grayscale currently holds over 1.44 million Litecoin ($248.33 million), making it the firm’s third-largest crypto holding after Bitcoin and Ethereum. The firm is one of few services in the US that allows accredited and institutional investors to purchase cryptocurrencies. It offers over nine crypto-based “trusts” that are available both as a subscription or as a tr

Rakuten is a Japanese business conglomerate. Image: Shutterstock.

Japan’s Rakuten Makes it Easier to Spend Bitcoin, Ethereum

Japanese business conglomerate Rakuten will now allow users to easily spend their cryptocurrency on goods and services, as per a release last week, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash. The firm is one of the biggest business groups in Japan and runs its own crypto exchange, among other varied businesses. As per the release, users can now easily exchange their crypto holdings for ‘Rakuten Cash,’ the firm’s own virtual currency, directly on the Rakuten Wallet app, which, in turn, can b

A stack of Tezos coins. Image: Shutterstock.

Tezos Gets Integrated Into Computational Tool Wolfram Alpha

The Tezos blockchain is now fully integrated into computational tool Wolfram|Alpha as a result of a partnership between Wolfram Blockchain Labs and TQ Tezos, a New York-based incubator of the Tezos blockchain, according to a press release shared with Decrypt. Wolfram Blockchain Labs (WBL) provides developers and companies with the necessary tool to create smart contracts and other blockchain-based programs. It is a division of Wolfram Research Inc., the firm behind Wolfram|Alpha, which is a sear

Kraken is a crypto exchange. Image: Shutterstock

Crypto Exchange Kraken Aims at $10 Billion Valuation: Report

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is seeking a fresh round of funding to expand its business, financial outlet Bloomberg reported yesterday. The exchange looks to value its business at over $10 billion—or double that of its current valuation. Sources familiar with the matter said Kraken is speaking to executives of financial services giant Fidelity and technology venture fund Tribe Capital, among others, adding the business could increase its valuation to as much as $20 billion based on investor d

The World's First Bitcoin ETF Now Holds 10,000 BTC

Purpose Investments now holds over 10,000 Bitcoin in just a week after the launch of its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund product, data from on-chain analytics service Glassnode shows. It's touted as the world’s “first” Bitcoin ETF. One of the benefits for investors to purchase the Purpose Bitcoin ETF is that it holds “spot” (or actual) Bitcoin whenever an investor purchases its shares. This is different from most Bitcoin futures products, which allow investors to bet on rising/falling prices but t

Dubai Fund Sells $750 Million of Bitcoin to Buy Cardano, Polkadot

Editor's Note: This story was updated on Feb. 27 at 9:50pm EST and on March 1 at 10:44 EST. Dubai-based crypto fund FD7 Ventures says it will sell over $750 million worth of Bitcoin in the next month to purchase Cardano and Polkadot instead, according to a press release on Thursday. "The company has actually been in the works for over 8 months with the announcement being just made recently. Many of the [liquidity providers] in the fund are already holders of Ethereum and [Bitcoin] which have b

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Stories by Shaurya Malwa