The European Commission announced to remove a number of Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging system, aimed at hindering Russia’s capacity to carry out cross-border payments. In a joint statement released by the European Commission, leaders from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States highlighted
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Mirror Protocol, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built on the Terra blockchain, was hit by one of the biggest collapses in financial history this week after Vladimir Putin ordered military strikes against Ukraine. Terra tokens rally Mirror Protocol’s native token, MIR, dropped to $0.993 on Feb. 24, its worst level to date amid a selloff
Several Russian banks that have been sanctioned over Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine will no longer support major payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB — as well as other banks like Sovcombank, Otkritie, Novikombank and Promsvyazbank — are on the list of companies sanctioned by the United States,
Bitcoin (BTC) price traded down 23% in the eight days following its failure to break the $45,000 resistance on Feb. 16. The $34,300 bottom on Feb. 24 happened right after the Russian-Ukraine conflict escalated, triggering a sharp sell-off in risk assets. While Bitcoin reached its lowest level in 30 days, Asian stocks were also adjusting
Bitcoin (BTC) kept $40,000 in play at the Wall Street open on Feb. 25 after 16% daily gains increased bulls’ confidence. Whales “leading the charge” towards $40,000 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD circling the $39,000 mark at the start of trading Feb. 25, geopolitical turmoil failing to induce a fresh major sell-off.
A rebound rally in the Terra (LUNA) market this week risks exhaustion as the price retests a key trendline for a potential pullback. Descending channel risks LUNA decline LUNA has been trending lower inside a falling channel—made up of two parallel descending trendlines—since December 2021. In doing so, the Terra token typically tests the lower
The U.S. equity markets and Bitcoin (BTC) have rebounded sharply from their Feb. 24 lows while gold has made a retreat from its recent highs. This indicates that investors may be buying risky assets and reducing exposure to assets perceived as a safe haven. Recent reports also suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin may send a delegation
The cryptocurrency ecosystem has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the past couple of years, as the introduction of decentralized finance (DeFi) and the popularity of nonfungible tokens (NFT) have led to an explosion of projects on more than a dozen blockchain networks. The rapidly growing ecosystem means investors have to keep track of
Bitcoin (BTC) began a nervous weekend at around $39,000 on Feb. 26 after an overnight spike briefly saw $40,000 return. Stocks gains but crypto “fear” pervades Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView revealed calmer conditions for BTC/USD Saturday after overnight volatility saw highs of $40,330 on Bitstamp. With traditional markets closed, the probability of “fakeout”
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has called on lawmakers to approve a regulatory framework on crypto, hinting at potentially preventing Russia from getting around economic sanctions. Speaking to reporters at an informal meeting of economics and finance ministers on Friday, Lagarde said the European Central Bank would be “decisively and rigorously”
The founder of the infamous crypto exchange BitConnect, Satish Kumbhani, has been charged for allegedly misleading investors globally and defrauding them of $2.4 billion in the process. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), a San Diego-based federal grand jury specifically charged Kumbhani for orchestrating the alleged Ponzi scheme via BitConnect’s “Lending Program”: “BitConnect operated
The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase says the number of monthly transacting users on its platform rose to 11.4 million at the end of 2021, which was more than four times the previous year. In addition, Coinbase’s trading volume grew more than 8.5 times from the previous year, and the number of verified users has risen
The European Parliament will not hold a planned vote on crypto regulations after texts that can be interpreted as an attempt to ban coins with energy-intensive mining sparked negative reactions. The lawmaker leading the legislative effort says the matter needs clarification before MEPs can have a say, but the head of the ECB has insisted
Ether (ETH) reached a $3,280 local high on Feb. 10, marking a 51.5% recovery from the $2,160 cycle low on Jan. 24. That price was the lowest in six months, and it partially explains why derivatives traders’ main sentiment gauge plummeted to bearish levels. Ether’s futures contract annualized premium, or basis, reached 2.5% on Feb.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz during his Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) speech on Friday advocated for Bitcoin (BTC) again while lauding its decentralization. Cruz said he is very bullish on Bitcoin because it is highly decentralized and cannot be controlled by any government or entity. He went on to cite the example of an ongoing
Buyers returned to the Bitcoin (BTC) market, locating interim upside opportunities as the price rebounded to nearly $40,000 on Feb. 25, gaining 16% in less than 24 hours. Investors bulk up Bitcoin holdings The number of Bitcoin addresses with a balance greater than 0.01 BTC (~$400) reached a record high of 9.51 million, the latest
Anton Bukov, the co-founder of 1inch Network, thinks that Ethereum will likely become the main settlement layer for a multi-chain decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. “There is like a high chance that most of the chains will try to commit their states to Ethereum as a higher layer,” Bukov said in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph.
Major Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten has announced the launch of its own nonfungible token (NFT) trading platform dubbed Rakuten NFT. The firm initially revealed its plans to launch a proprietary NFT marketplace in 2021 amid the growing popularity of non-fungible tokens worldwide. According to Rakuten, the NFT marketplace also hosts a platform that allows IP
The world’s most popular sport suffered an own-goal as European clubs canceled their partnerships with Bitci, a Turkish crypto exchange. However, plenty of substitute crypto companies are on the bench, ready to bring crypto to the mainstream through soccer. Growing yet unclear cryptocurrency regulations in Turkey have reportedly hampered the company’s ability to make payments, leading to a
The founders of crypto exchange BitMEX have pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act after a lengthy litigation process with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). American Arthur Hayes and British Hong Konger Benjamin Delo admitted to “willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) program” at their crypto derivatives and