Privacy opt-ins are coming to Litecoin even as regulators continue to scrutinize anonymity-boosting protocols.

After two years of development, Litecoin (LTC) has finally launched its highly anticipated Mimblewimble upgrade, opening the door to more privacy-oriented transactions on the network.

Mimblewimble’s integration into Litecoin came by way of the Mimblewimble Extension Block, also known as MWEB, which allows the network’s users to opt-in to confidential transactions. MWEB lead developer David Burkett, who has been sponsored by the Litecoin Foundation, said the upgrade improves Litecoin’s viability as a fungible currency that can be used for everyday transactions, pay employee salaries and even purchase real estate.

Mimblewimble is a privacy-focused decentralized protocol that derives its name from a tongue-tying spell that was first made famous in the Harry Potter book series. The protocol has a confidentiality feature that allows users to conceal transaction information. It also provides a framework for other blockchains to enhance the usability of their cryptocurrency.

Litecoin first embarked on Mimblewimble integration in a pair of Litecoin Improvement Proposals dating back to October 2019. The network launched its first Mimblewimble testnet in October 2020 following initial delays due to low community participation. The testnet was also launched around the time that regulators in Europe — chiefly, Europol — were sounding the alarm over privacy coins.

Related: Crypto policy advocacy group warns of 'disastrous' provision in a new US bill

Privacy coins that promote anonymity and attempt to obfuscate digital ledger transactions have come under scrutiny around the world. As Cointelegraph reported, several exchanges ditched their support of leading privacy coins Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC) and Dash (DASH) in early 2021 amid regulatory heat.

In addition to anonymity and private transactions, Mimblewimble’s technology places heavy emphasis on fungibility and scalability — key features that are currently lacking across many blockchains. The Litecoin Foundation believes the Mimblewimble integration will contribute to LTC’s status as “sound money,” which is a broad concept that refers to stable monies that are less susceptible to depreciation and influence from monetary policy.

Despite being one of the earliest cryptocurrencies to hit the market, Litecoin has struggled to stay relevant over the years. LTC is currently ranked 21st in the market cap rankings with a total value of $7.5 billion.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/litecoin-is-finally-launching-its-major-mimblewimble-upgrade

President Nayib Bukele confirmed that the purchase of 410 BTC was made against $15 million, placing the trading price at approximately $36,585 per BTC.

The Central American country of El Salvador has added 410 Bitcoin (BTC) to its central reserve as BTC prices trade below $37,000, a price last seen on July 26th, 2021.

The fresh addition to El Salvador’s BTC reserve was announced by President Nayib Bukele, who confirmed that the purchase of 410 BTC was made against $15 million, placing the price at approximately $36,585 per BTC.

El Salvador adopted BTC as a legal tender on Sept. 7, 2021, as a means to overcome catastrophic inflation amid the weakening spending power of the nation. Fast forward to today, the country has strategically accumulated 1,801 BTC over the past four months, especially when the market sees a momentary price fall.

The latest purchase is currently the cheapest acquisition for El Salvador ever since the country adopted BTC as a legal tender.

With BTC trading just above the $36,000 mark and the resultant sell-off, Bukele believes that “some guys are selling really cheap,” supporting his long-term vision of mainstream Bitcoin adoption.

As evidenced above by data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, BTC experienced a steady rise in prices from mid-July, which resulted in an all-time high of almost $69k in the first week of November. However, the next three months saw a steep decline in market prices as investors redirected BTC profits into buying other tokens.

Related: Nations to adopt Bitcoin, crypto users to reach 1B by 2023: Report

A new report from Crypto.com predicts that the global crypto market will host one billion users by the end of 2022 as more developing nations mimic El Salvador’s move to mainstream BTC adoption.

As Cointelegraph reported, Crypto.com estimates that “If we extrapolate a similar rate of increase in 2022, we are on track to reach 1 billion crypto users by the end of 2022.” The report concludes that a combination of developing nations following El Salvador and a “friendlier stance” towards the crypto industry means that “nations can no longer afford to ignore the growing push towards crypto by the public.”

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/el-salvador-buys-its-cheapest-410-bitcoin-as-prices-reach-36k

The tech giant has hired a PayPal veteran to help with the expansion of Google Pay as it sets its sights on the future, including plans to explore crypto.

Google has hired a former PayPal executive to help bolster Google Pay, with plans to expand into the crypto space.

Arnold Goldberg has been given the task of running Google’s payments division as part of a company-wide push into financial services, including crypto.

Google’s president of commerce Bill Ready told Bloomberg that:

“Crypto is something we pay a lot of attention to [...] As user demand and merchant demand evolves, we’ll evolve with it.”
Google Pay is an online payment system developed by Google to allow in-app, online and contactless purchases on mobile devices including Android phones, tablets and watches.

As part of the overhaul, Google will focus more on being a “comprehensive digital wallet” that includes digital tickets, airline passes and vaccine passports, Ready said.

Following the news, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) spiked to a high of $42,478 (from a 24-hour low of $41,254) before falling back down to $41,887 at the time of writing according to Coinmarketcap.

Google has been dipping its toes in the crypto space for quite some time, partnering with several crypto companies through 2021. Ready said that the company plans to pursue more partnerships with more crypto companies.

In April 2021, Google Pay announced a new partnership with global crypto exchange Gemini. The update allowed Gemini users to purchase Bitcoin through Google Pay using fiat currency on a debit or credit card.

The tech giant also partnered with Coinbase in June, allowing customers of the exchange to pay for goods and services through Google Pay using their Coinbase Card. Users also were able to gain crypto rebates of up to 4% for their shopping.

In Oct, a partnership between crypto exchange Bakkt and Google allowed customers of the exchange to purchase goods and services using some select cryptocurrencies through their Google Pay wallet.

As for Paypal, it appears that the fintech company will be one man down as it explores the creation of its own stablecoin. Earlier this month, Paypal confirmed plans to launch “PayPal Coin,” which developer Steve Moser first found in the source code of the platform’s iPhone app.

Related: Bakkt crypto exchange partners with Google for payments

This comes only three months after the tech giant axed its plans for a service called “Plex” that would allow users to create checking and savings accounts.

“We’re not a bank -- we have no intention of being a bank,” Ready said about the decision to cut Plex. “Some past efforts, at times, would unwittingly wade into those spaces.”

Google Pay debuted in 2015, with a revamp in 2020 which transformed the platform into a hub where customers could track their expenses and hunt for discounts.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/google-pay-hires-paypal-exec-to-head-up-crypto-payments-push

"This open call for comment is the only way to appropriately crowd source this issue and appropriately develop a digital asset regulation Genesis Block," said J.W. Verret.

Associate law professor and member of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee J.W. Verret is calling for the government agency to open for public comment in regards to digital asset regulation.

In a petition addressed to SEC Secretary Vanessa Countryman, Verret said opening the floor to comments on digital assets could function as a Genesis Block for the SEC to reform its regulations on digital assets. Verret said he was a holder of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and “a number of layer 1 and layer 2 tokens readily available on top tier exchanges,” and was concerned how the SEC could potentially crack down on tokens it currently does not consider securities.

“Under the SEC’s ‘strategically ambiguous’ interpretation of the Howey test regarding classification of investment contracts, I cannot be certain that the SEC will not in the future target one of my token holdings, under the guise of the Commission’s investor protection mission, in a manner that would ultimately cause me significant losses as a property owner,” said Verret. “This open call for comment is the only way to appropriately crowd source this issue and appropriately develop a digital asset regulation Genesis Block.”

Since the 1940s, the SEC has used the Howey Test to determine whether certain assets qualify as "investment contracts" and are considered securities. Many experts consider the SEC's 2017 DAO Report, in which it said that digital assets could indeed qualify, as one of the most significant regulatory moments for cryptocurrencies in the United States.

Citing his experience as a law professor, Verret implied that the SEC’s application of the Howey Test on digital assets was inconsistent from the language used in the Supreme Court decision, potentially leading to cases that could result in the highest court overturning the 1946 case:

“The SEC’s present course appears to be one designed to strategically bring cases using the Howey test as a weapon against tokens (and token trading services and technologies) which cannot reasonably be registered as securities (or securities exchanges) under the regulations promulgated pursuant to the ‘33 and ‘34 Acts, even if they wanted to and were required to do so (despite neither necessarily being true). I believe this is ultimately a losing strategy for the SEC as an institution.”
According to Verret, the current regulatory path the SEC is taking seems not to recognize that “digital assets, by their very design, do not fit within the classic framework of regulations designed for equity investments in firms led by boards of directors.” The law professor also criticized SEC chair Gary Gensler’s approach of asking crypto projects to “come in and talk to us,” saying many could be concerned that “engaging with the SEC may make their project the next enforcement target of the SEC.”

In his call for the SEC to open for public comment “to establish a core Digital Asset Regulation Genesis Block,” Verret suggested having the agency address investor protections around crypto, where blockchain-based tokens in decentralized projects could fall within current securities regulations, how federal securities laws might take into account “unique aspects of token offerings,” and Commissioner Hester Peirce’s proposal for a three-year safe harbor for certain crypto projects. In addition, he called for a question on what requirements the SEC will consider in approving a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund.
Related: US lawmaker proposes safe harbor for digital tokens in new bill

While the agency has given the green light to BTC futures-linked ETFs, it has repeatedly rejected applications from companies seeking ETFs with direct exposure to crypto. ProShares launched the first BTC futures-linked ETF in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange in October, with a similar crypto investment product from Valkyrie later launching on the Nasdaq.

“All five SEC Commissioners have a unique opportunity to stake this development with their own priorities via the design of the call for comment,” said Verret. “This Digital Asset Reg Genesis Block can commence an interactive process that can make securities regulation more flexible, more robust, and ultimately better protect investors.”

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-advisory-committee-member-calls-agency-to-open-for-public-comment-on-crypto-regulation

OpenSea's record-high daily volume on Sunday was $261 million. Thus far this month, OpenSea has averaged $169 million in trading volume for each day.

With two more weeks left in January, nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has seen its monthly trade volume in Ether (ETH) exceed $3.5 billion for the first time ever.

According to data from Dune Analytics, OpenSea has now surpassed the all-time high of $3.42 billion set in August 2021 to establish a new all-time high, surpassing the $3.5 billion mark in Ether trading volume.



OpenSea's record-high volume on Sunday, as per Dune Analytics, was $261 million. Thus far in January, OpenSea has broken $169 million in trading volume for each day.

The surge in NFT trade volume appears to be fueled by the price increase in Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and its sibling collections, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) and Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC). BAYC, which has a large number of celebrity owners, is still the most popular NFT collection on OpenSea, with 14,306 ETH (nearly $47 million in current market value) traded over the last 24 hours.

OpenSea announced a $300 million Series C financing round early this year, led by venture capital firms Paradigm and Coatue. The fresh cash brought the firm's valuation to $13.3 billion, with the intention of using it for product improvement and boosting employee numbers.

Related: NFT sales and blockchain games continue to grow despite the recent market slump: Report

New players are rapidly gaining ground on OpenSea, however, and one notable competitor is LooksRare — a new NFT marketplace launched earlier this month that is already outpacing OpenSea in terms of trading volumes, as per Dune Analytics' data. However, according to early reports, the platform appears to be overflowing with wash trading to rig the token-based rewards system.

In other news, Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali, a 22-year-old computer science student from Semarang, Indonesia, became a millionaire by turning 1,000 selfies into NFTs and selling them on Opensea.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/opensea-surpasses-3-5b-in-monthly-ether-trading-volume-setting-new-ath

I think everyone has already heard about the news about buying Tesla cars for a doge. I thought this news will explode the coin and it will grow to $1, but the coin reacted to a 30% increase and is currently trading in the region of $0.17-0.2 Do you think Doge is waiting for the flight? And will there be a new ATH?

As the Bitcoin mining industry matures, it will seek stable political environments and stable energy sources.

Deputy for the Spanish Ciudadanos political party María Muñoz has proposed a bill to make Spain a Bitcoin mining hotspot following the internet shutdown that caused a mining outage in Kazakhstan.

The lawyer and economist Muñoz was steadfast in her support of Spain as a Bitcoin (BTC) destination, in a tweet on Friday:

“The protests in Kazakhstan have repercussions all around the world but also for Bitcoin. We propose that Spain positions itself as a safe destination for investments in cryptocurrencies to develop a flexible, efficient and safe sector.”
A two-page open letter accompanied the tweet directed at the Spanish Congress of Deputies. First, Muñoz highlighted the significance of the protests and the government’s response, which used “all the strength of the police and the army,” before the government switched off the internet to the largest Central Asian economy.

She cited a Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance study that put Kazakhstan as the second-largest Bitcoin miner worldwide, contributing an estimated 20% of the hash rate in the second half of 2021. The government’s decision to effectively pull the rug out from under Kazakhstan’s Bitcoin miners caused the hash rate to plummet a reported 13.4%.

These events inspired pertinent questions for the pro-Bitcoin lawmaker:

What information does the Spanish government have on the impact of the Kazakhstan internet blackout on the Spanish crypto mining industry?
Will the government take measures to attract investors and miners fleeing the Kazakhstan mining industry?
What data does the government have regarding the energy efficiency of Bitcoin and the growth of the mining industry?
A proven proponent for the Bitcoin network, her party Ciudadanos, or “Citizens,” proposed a national strategy on cryptocurrencies in October last year. Her party seeks to position Spain as a pole for investments into cryptocurrencies from the European Union and the world — and Bitcoin mining could be the catalyst.

As Bitcoin hash rate fluctuations have shown time and again, mining infrastructure is not geographically restricted. China’s mining ban, for example, was to the benefit of Kazakhstan and Kosovo.

Alan Konevsky, chief legal officer at PrimeBlock, explained last year's mining changes to Cointelegraph: “Mining companies including those that relocated after the China regulatory changes, set up in countries like Kazakhstan and Kosovo because the cost of electricity is much cheaper than in North America.”

This was shown in Kazakhstan’s growing hash rate in 2021. However, in a premonition to what could take place in Spain, Konevsky goes on to explain:

“If mining becomes a complete non-starter in these countries, we could see miners relocate. This industry is mobile, to a point — but as it matures it requires stability, including stable political climate and stable inputs, including energy.”
Muñoz hopes that Spain harbors these Bitcoin-friendly factors. However, one of BTC's biggest headwinds may be political. Her tweet inspired ridicule from rival Green party member Ernest Urtasun, a European Parliament member.

Labeling her proposal a “bad joke” in a tweet, he said BTC mining is “an environmental aberration.” Muñoz and her Citizens party clearly have their work cut out.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/spanish-lawmaker-sees-opportunity-amid-kazakhstan-s-bitcoin-mining-collapse

Швейцарский регулируемый криптовалютный банк Sygnum закрыл раунд финансирования Серии В на сумму $90 млн. Оценка компании достигла примерно $800 млн.

Инвестиционный раунд возглавила гонконгская финансовая компания Sun Hung Kai & Co. при участии Animoca Brands, WeMade, SBI Holdings, Meta Investments и других.

Привлеченные средства направят на разработку продуктов доходного фермерства и стейкинга, решений по управлению активами с доступом к DeFi и создание новых коммерческих отношений с ведущими блокчейн-экосистемами.

Согласно пресс-релизу, в 2021 году совокупный валовый доход Sygnum увеличился в десять раз, активы под управлением выросли до более чем $2 млрд. Клиентская база криптобанка приблизилась к 1000 организаций.

В июне 2021 года Sygnum расширил линейку оказываемых услуг, предложив клиентам хранение и торговлю токенами DeFi-проектов. Поддержку получили Aave, Aragon, Curve, Maker, Synthetix, Uniswap и 1inch Network.

Напомним, в июле Sygnum первым из банков предложил клиентам стейкинг Ethereum 2.0.

Источник: https://forklog.com/shvejtsarskij-kriptobank-sygnum-privlek-90-mln/