BitDigest – Thursday September 16, 2021
- The House’s Ways and Means Committee voted to include changes to wash rule in Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending plan
- Russia expects to release digital ruble pilot by end of year
- OpenSea employee accused of front running NFT drops
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| Weekly Stock Update |
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| The Headlines |
| House Approves Crypto Tax Provision ChangesThe House Ways and Means Committee voted to include the proposed changes to the wash rule for crypto transaction to the $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better” reconciliation package.www.theblockcrypto.com |
| Crypto Exchanges Blocked from Using State Bank Payment APIsThe State Bank of India has blocked local digital exchanges from using the bank’s unified payment interface (UPI) which allows bank account holders to send and receive money from their smartphones without entering bank account information.economictimes.indiatimes.com |
| Russia Makes Digital Ruble a PriorityAccording to the recently released Strategy for the Development of the Financial Markets report Russia’s Ministry of Finance has declared the launch of a digital ruble a state priority with Bank of Russia officials announcing a prototype CBDC will be released by the end of the year.news.bitcoin.com |
| EU Commission Wants to Control it’s Own “Digital Transformation”The European Commission wants to pool resources and establish its own technological leadership position across data fields including blockchain projects to drive a “digital transformation” and break it’s reliance on US and Chinese suppliers.www.reuters.com |
| Anti Government Protestors Vandalize Bitcoin ATMsEl Salvadorians protestors have taken to the streets to object to President Nayib Bukele’s recent law making bitcoin legal tender and have vandalized ATMs where bitcoin can be exchanged for dollars.www.reuters.com |
| Inner Mongolia Looking for Illegal Mining OperationsThe Development and Reformation Commission of China’s Inner Mongolia has hired a third-party agency to establish an intelligence and response unit to monitor for illegal mining operations.www.theblockcrypto.com |
| CAN Reports Best Quarter Since IPOChinese crypto-mining rig manufacturer Canaan (NASDAQ: CAN) increased sales over 500% generating $167 million in revenue and net income of $37 million for the quarter ending June 30, 2021.canaan.io |
| Hut 8 Prices Public OfferingHut 8 Mining (NASDAQ: HUT) priced it unwritten public offering and has agreed to sell 17.5 million common shares at a price of $8.55 resulting in total gross proceeds to the company of $150 million.www.prnewswire.com |
| Coinbase Files to Become FCMIn an effort to “broaden [its] offerings,” Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) has filed an application with the National Futures Association to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM).mobile.twitter.com |
| AMC to Start Accepting BitcoinAMC Theatres (NYSE: AMC) CEO Adam Aron tweeted that movie theatre chain “will accept bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments” by the end of the year and intends to add ether, bitcoin cash and litecoin as a payment option in the future.twitter.com |
| Front Running NFT DropsOpenSea issued a letter explaining that team members may not use insider information and transact on featured or promoted collections in response to a tweet that accused the NFT marketplace’s Head of Product of buying NFTs ahead of drops and selling them “after the front-page-hype spike for profits.”opensea.io |
| Franklin Templeton Starting Crypto FundFranklin Templeton (NYSE: BEN) with over $1.4 trillion in assets under management, announced plans to enter the crypto space filing to raise $20 million for the Franklin Templeton Blockchain Fund I.www.sec.gov |
| Final BitMEX Executive Agrees to be Extradited to the USThe former head of business operations at BitMEX, Gregory Dwyer has agreed to be extradited to the US to face charges for his role as a conspirator to violate the Bank Secrecy Act. www.royalgazette.com |
| Vitalik Included in 100 Most Influential People of 2021Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, who Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian calls a “builder’s builder” and credits with getting “it” all started, has been named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2021 by Time Magazine.time.com |
| Exchange, Custody and Product News |
| Binance Rebuilding as a Centralized BusinessBinance has succumb to regulators and is backtracking on its goal to have a decentralized headquarter structure, the leading digital currency exchange will establish a “centralized entity to work…with regulators.”www.scmp.com |
| Thoughts on the Ecosystem |
| State and Municipal Pension Funds Turning to CryptoS&P Global Ratings is reporting that US state and municipal governments have taken a more open approach to crypto investing and are adding digital asset to their pension funds as a response to the ongoing period of low yields.www.bloomberg.com |
| ‘Cash is Trash’Investor Ray Dalio expressed that “cash is trash” and sees digital currencies as a good investment alternative but warned that crypto’s growth will result in government pressures to subdue it.www.bloomberg.com |
| Daily Cartoon |
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