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PRESS RELEASE. GensoKishi is pleased to announce that the MV (Metaverse) token has been listed on QuickSwap (a decentralized exchange) at 10:00 UTC on January 29, 2022. GENSOKISHI Online , is a GameFi project that evolves from an award winning Nintendo Switch/PS4 game called “Elemental Knights”, that has been vigorously played for 13 years and has accumulated a total of 8 million downloads worldwide. GensoKishi already has a 3DMMORPG game with active users, with a fully-functioning 3D metaverse, that simultaneously connects users from around the world, be it smartphones, PCs, or video game consoles. What is QuickSwap (Decentralized Exchange/DEX)? QuickSwap is a decentralized exchange based on the Polygon Network. Unlike centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges are characterized by the absence of an intermediary or administrator, have lower fees, and no need for identity verification. In addition, instead of traders exchanging currencies with each other, they let smart cont

On Monday, the team behind the Solana Web3 wallet platform Phantom announced it had raised $109 million in a Series B fundraise. The crypto company is now a Unicorn with a post valuation of $1.2 billion in value. Solana Web3 Wallet Phantom Raises $109 Million The Phantom wallet team has raised $109 million in a Series B financing round according to the firm’s recent blog post. Furthermore, Phantom also launched the Solana wallet’s iOS version for Apple smartphone users. According to the announcement, the $109 Series B was led by Paradigm. Additionally, Jump Capital, Solana Ventures, Variant, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) participated in Phantom’s latest fundraise. The funds will be dedicated to onboarding more users and developers on to Web3 and also “innovating on the multi-chain wallet user experience.” Moreover, the company said it plans to scale the team and specifically hire specialists in community support and product development. The Series B fundraise follows the Series A

A recent survey by Deloitte shows that 82% of Indians plan to invest in cryptocurrency when the government provides more clarity surrounding the regulation of crypto assets. Moreover, 77.4% of respondents want cryptocurrency to be treated as securities. Indian Crypto Survey: 82% Plan to Invest in Crypto Once It Is Regulated Professional services firm Deloitte and the Times of India recently conducted a survey on cryptocurrency investing. The results were published Sunday. Out of 1,800 respondents, 55.2% said they have invested in cryptocurrencies and will continue to do so. A further 26.8% said they have not invested in crypto but are willing to invest once the government provides more clarity regarding cryptocurrency regulation in India. Meanwhile, 10.3% said they have invested in crypto but will avoid investing in this asset class in the future. The remaining 7.8% said that they are against investing in crypto. The report also notes that about 20 million people in India have inve

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned about social media being used in cryptocurrency investment scams. “Social media is a tool for scammers in investment scams, particularly those involving bogus cryptocurrency investments — an area that has seen a massive surge in reports,” said the FTC. Federal Trade Commission Warns of Crypto Scams Utilizing Social Media The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a “Consumer Protection Data Spotlight” last week, warning the public about scams, including crypto investment scams, utilizing social media. The FTC is an independent agency of the U.S. government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil U.S. antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. “More than 95,000 people reported about $770 million in losses to fraud initiated on social media platforms in 2021,” FTC’s program analyst Emma Fletcher wrote. “Those losses account for about 25% of all reported losses to fraud in 2021 and represent a stunning

Eight U.S. lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have sent letters to top U.S.-based bitcoin mining firms questioning them about their crypto mining operations. “The extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with bitcoin mining could undermine our hard work to tackle the climate crisis — not to mention the harmful impacts cryptomining has on local environments and electricity prices,” Senator Warren wrote. US Senators Want Answers From Top Bitcoin Mining Firms U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, announced Thursday that she and seven other senators have sent letters to six crypto mining companies “raising concerns over their extraordinarily high energy usage.” The announcement details: “Senator Warren and her colleagues asked each company to detail their electricity consumption, scaling plans, agreements with electricity companies, and impact on energy costs for consumers and

PRESS RELEASE. Ariva , a next-generation tourism & travel blockchain protocol, has announced a partnership with World Tourism Forum Institute and Global Tourism Forum. This is a significant development and will place Ariva at the forefront of the tourism industry. Ariva reveals key partnership Ariva will be leveraging its collaboration with World Tourism Forum Institute and Global Tourism Forum to position itself as a leading blockchain service provider in the global tourism sector. World Tourism Forum Institute will also serve as a bridge between Ariva and the global tourism industry. In addition, the organization plans to create fund the Ariva ecosystem with $50 million in two years. Ariva expects the partnership to enable ARV to become a globally accepted cryptocurrency. It would also achieve its aim of fostering blockchain use within the tourism community. As part of the partnership, the three organizations will be working together on several projects and initiatives. Fur

The chief marketing officer (CMO) of a cryptocurrency payments solution company, Rotimi Ogunwede, has insisted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s decision to bar crypto entities from the banking system may be the reason why Nigerians are now more knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies. CBN Prohibition Forced Patricia to Establish Operations Outside of Nigeria An executive with a cryptocurrency payments solution company called Patricia, has argued that cryptocurrency knowledge levels in Nigeria rose just shortly after the CBN asked financial institutions to exclude crypto entities from the banking ecosystem. The executive, Rotimi Ogunwede, insists such growth in knowledge levels, as well as the adoption of cryptocurrencies in general, shows that Nigerians are against the CBN’s tough policies. Speaking in an interview with Legit, Ogunwede, who is the crypto payments company’s CMO, admitted that the CBN’s abrupt move on February 5 had affected Patricia. The same CBN prohibition,

According to the findings of a new survey, the number of financial advisors currently counseling crypto holding clients is expected to double from the current two out of ten or 20% to 44% by the end of 2022. Only Four Percent Expect the Number of Crypto Holding Clients to Decrease The number of financial advisors in the United States that currently counsel their clients on crypto holdings is expected to double in 2022, a new study has found. According to the study, which surveyed wealth management experts based in the U.S., this predicted rise is in the number of advisors to 44% is in tandem with their expectation that more clients (about 33%) will likely become holders of crypto by the end of 2022. As shown by the data that was obtained from the 153 respondents that participated in Arizent Research’s 2022 Prediction survey, about 60% of financial advisors expect to see the number of crypto holding clients increase. And with only 4 per cent of the respondents expecting to see thi

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the metaverse has a lot of potential and his company is investing accordingly. “It’s very interesting to us,” he noted. Global investments banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have predicted that the metaverse could be an $8 trillion opportunity. Apple Sees a Lot of Potential in the Metaverse, Says CEO Tim Cook Apple Inc. answered a question about the metaverse during its Q1 2022 earnings call last week. CEO Tim Cook was asked, “How are you thinking about the metaverse opportunity and Apple’s role in that market?” “We’re a company in the business of innovation,” the Apple CEO replied. “So we’re always exploring new and emerging technologies. And I’ve spoken at length about how this area is very interesting to us.” Cook elaborated, “Right now, we have over 14,000 ARKit apps in the App Store, which provide incredible AR [augmented reality] experiences for millions of people today,” emphasizing: We see a lot of potential in this space and are investing acc

ADALend’s mission is to democratize the lending industry by using the Cardano blockchain to eliminate the traditional banking middlemen. This will be accomplished through the development of a platform that connects borrowers, and lenders in a decentralized manner. With the help of blockchain technology and IOHK’s research and development, the platform will provide a simple, secure, and more transparent way of exchanging value. The decentralized lending platform will allow creditors to perform lending activities and create a safer and more efficient lending environment for all users. Ensuring the Security and Safety of Lending in a Decentralized Environment While traditional banks continue to disregard the needs and concerns of the people, ADALend has come to provide access to loans for those in need who have been ignored. The inability to gain access to funds has long-term consequences. ADALend provides a platform to change the current state of financial affairs. While the cryptocur

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has restricted 281 Nigerian user accounts. Citing user security and fraud prevention, CEO Changpeng Zhao explained that “approximately 38% of these cases [are] restricted at the request of international law enforcement.” 281 Nigerian Accounts Restricted by Binance, CEO Says 79 Cases Have Been Resolved Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has sent a letter to its Nigerian users. In the letter, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) apologized for the inconvenience caused by delays in resolving customer support requests. Noting that “User security” remains his exchange’s top priority, Zhao detailed: “Protection mechanisms such as KYC, anti-money laundering measures, collaboration with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place to ensure our community remains protected and that fraudulent activity is prevented. This is a global approach applied in every country.” The CEO added: Some 281 Nigerian accounts have been affected by these personal account re

Ark Investment Management (Ark Invest) has predicted that the price of bitcoin could surpass $1 million per coin by 2030. “Our research suggests that bitcoin has the potential to transform monetary history by providing financial freedom and empowerment in a fair, global, and distributed way,” Ark’s analyst added. Bitcoin’s $1 Million Prediction by Ark Invest In Ark Invest’s “Big Ideas 2022” report published last week, the firm’s analyst Yassine Elmandjra explained that “As bitcoin’s market capitalization hit an all-time high in 2021, Ark’s research indicated that its network fundamentals remained healthy.” Noting that “Bitcoin’s market capitalization still represents a fraction of global assets and is likely to scale as nation-states adopt [it] as legal tender,” the analyst detailed: According to our estimates, the price of one bitcoin could exceed $1 million by 2030. El Salvador adopted BTC as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in September last year. The Salvadoran presi

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs has warned that bitcoin is increasingly vulnerable to the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes as the cryptocurrency grows more widely adopted. “Over the last two years, as bitcoin has seen wider mainstream adoption, its correlation with macro assets has picked up,” the Goldman analysts explained. Goldman Sachs Warns Bitcoin Increasingly Vulnerable to Fed Rate Hikes Global investment bank Goldman Sachs published a research note Thursday detailing bitcoin’s increased vulnerability to the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates. Zach Pandl, bank’s co-head of foreign exchange strategy, and FX analyst Isabella Rosenberg explained that as mainstream adoption of bitcoin increases, so does the cryptocurrency’s vulnerability to Fed policy. They described: Over the last two years, as bitcoin has seen wider mainstream adoption, its correlation with macro assets has picked up. Noting that higher bond yields have affected technology stocks in recent weeks, with

Kenya’s position on cryptocurrencies is still unchanged the governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Patrick Njoroge has said. Njoroge latest remarks come as Kenya continues to cement its position as one of the countries on the African continent that has the highest adoption of cryptocurrencies. CBK’s New Stance of Cryptocurrencies to Be Unveiled Soon The governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Patrick Njoroge, has said Kenya’s stance on cryptocurrencies remains unchanged. Njoroge, who made the comments soon after the CBK’s monetary policy announcement, revealed however that the central bank will be talking more about cryptocurrencies in the near future. As noted in the Kenyan Wallstreet report, the governor’s reiteration of the CBK’s stance on cryptocurrencies is coming more than six months after reports emerged that Kenyan banks were issuing alerts that urged clients to desist from the practice of trading cryptocurrencies. Njoroge’s reaffirmation of the central bank’s

A new survey has indicated that Russians who have heard about cryptocurrency are deeply divided in their opinions on the recently suggested ban on operations with digital assets. A third of the respondents support the central bank’s proposal while an equal number of participants in the survey oppose it. Bank of Russia’s Call to Prohibit Cryptocurrencies Backed by 32% of Russians Who Know Bitcoin Amid ongoing discussions on the future of digital currencies, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (Vtsiom) has published a new study measuring the attitudes of Russian citizens towards crypto assets and operations with them. It comes as officials are trying to put the country’s crypto space in order, not without disagreements between regulators. According to the poll, the majority of Russians (64%) have heard about bitcoin and 17% have good knowledge of the cryptocurrency, an increase of four percentage points in comparison with the data from a 2017 survey. The share of those who ar

Visa has now partnered with more than 65 crypto platforms and exchanges. In addition, the payments giant revealed that crypto-linked card usage exceeded $2.5 billion in the first fiscal quarter, “which is already 70% of the payments volume for all of fiscal 2021.” Visa Outlines Crypto Strategy and Achievements Visa Inc. discussed its crypto strategy and achievements during the company’s earnings call Thursday. Visa CEO Al Kelly said: “Many current trends in payments, including … crypto, and wallets, are enabling new ways to pay. These represent opportunities for Visa.” Regarding his company’s efforts in the crypto space, the executive highlighted: We’re also providing on-ramps for crypto players creating connectivity with fiat economies. There are over 65 crypto platforms and exchanges that have partnered to issue Visa credentials. Recently, Bitcoin.com News reported that consumers will be able to spend cryptocurrency at 80 million merchants using crypto-linked Visa cards. How

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled how he will use $100 million in cryptocurrency from India’s Covid Crypto Relief Fund (Cryptorelief) to accelerate relief efforts and “bring great benefit to Indians and non-Indians.” The crypto is part of the Shiba Inu funds Buterin donated to Cryptorelief last year. Vitalik Buterin to Personally Deploy $100M From Shiba Funds to Help Covid Relief Efforts Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin tweeted Friday that Cryptorelief is sending $100 million in cryptocurrency from the “Shiba funds” back to him. He added that he plans to “personally deploy these funds” in some “higher-risk, higher-reward Covid science and relief projects worldwide.” Buterin’s statement was in response to a tweet by Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon. Nailwal founded the Covid Crypto Relief Fund (Cryptorelief) in April last year. Noting that he and Buterin have been in discussion “on how to accelerate relief efforts in India,” the Cryptorelief founder detailed

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman sees parallels between the crypto market and the subprime mortgage crash. “There’s growing evidence that the risks of crypto are falling disproportionately on people who don’t know what they are getting into and are poorly positioned to handle the downside,” he stressed. Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman Warns About Crypto Crashing Like Subprime Mortgage Nobel laureate Paul Krugman warned about cryptocurrency investing in an opinion piece he authored in the New York Times, published Thursday. Krugman won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2008 “for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity,” the Nobel Prize website shows. The Nobel Prize winner began by acknowledging that “crypto has become a pretty big asset class,” noting that the market value of all cryptocurrencies reached almost $3 trillion last fall. He added that the prices of cryptocurrencies have crashed, “wiping out arou

Robinhood has “set aggressive goals to start opening its crypto platform up to customers internationally in 2022,” the popular trading platform revealed during its Q4 earnings call. “The company believes in the immense potential of the crypto economy and sees a big opportunity in serving customers across the globe.” Robinhood’s Crypto Earnings, Expansion Plans Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) released its fourth quarter and full year 2021 results Thursday. The company’s total net revenues for the quarter increased 14% from the same period in 2020 to $363 million. For the year, the total net revenues increased 89% to $1.82 billion from the previous year. The trading platform’s transaction-based revenues, which include revenues from cryptocurrency trading, were $264 million in Q4 and $1.40 billion in 2021. Robinhood detailed: Cryptocurrencies for the quarter increased 304% to $48 million, compared to $12 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, and for the year increased to $41

Nansen, a cryptocurrency and blockchain statistics and analytics platform, has issued a report on the growth of decentralized finance (defi) in 2021. The document highlights how defi managed to keep growing, opening the field to new participant chains. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) also had a notable year, with many new wallets experiencing growth as a result. Nansen Puts 2021 in Review Nansen, a blockchain analytics firm backed by Coinbase Ventures and a16z, has presented a report about the behavior and growth that decentralized finance and NFTs experienced in the last year. The document, titled “Nansen’s State of The Crypto Industry Report 2021,” highlights how defi growth accelerated and NFTs rose as an important part of the crypto industry, as well as other industries — even attracting celebrities. Regarding defi, Nansen estimates the growth of the market compared to 2020 was 1,120% in TVL. While ethereum finished the year with 70% dominance in the defi sector, the crypto’s inab

Leading investment bank JPMorgan has changed its view on the estimate of bitcoin’s price on a long-term basis. The institution had estimated a long-term price of $146K back in November when bitcoin was over $60K. One of the most important reasons for this change has to do with the increased volatility the asset has faced in recent times. JPMorgan Changes Long-Term Bitcoin Price Estimate JPMorgan, one of the biggest financial institutions in the world, has drastically changed its opinion on the price that bitcoin will reach long term. While JPMorgan was bullish last year, when it estimated this number at almost $150K, it has lowered its estimations due to the situation the market is experiencing this year. The new $38K price, about one-fourth of the previously calculated number, was estimated in a different context concerning gold and bitcoin and the volatility of the market. On this, JPMorgan stated in a note: Our previous projection that the bitcoin to gold volatility ratio wil

Some disgruntled Nigerian users of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance have launched a campaign to boycott the platform, which they accuse of freezing client accounts without valid reason. Accounts Blocked Cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance recently became the target of a boycott campaign initiated by disgruntled users in Nigeria. Using the hashtag #Binancestopscamming, the campaigners are urging other Binance users around the African continent to join them in registering their displeasure with the exchange. According to a report in the Premium Times newspaper, the users’ anger towards Binance stems from apparent changes made to the platform’s terms of use which have resulted in certain users losing access to their funds. Similarly, on Twitter, frustrated users shared their experiences with the exchange and how efforts to get their issues resolved have proved to be in vain so far. For instance, one user named Brown-Mi alleges that Binance blocked his account and therefore h

A member of the Brussels Parliament, Christophe De Beukelaer, says he will receive his entire salary in bitcoin this year. He believes that the technology will disrupt all industries and crypto adoption is going to be “exponential.” Belgian MP Says He Will Receive Entire Salary in Bitcoin — ‘We Can No Longer Remain Ignorant of This New World’ Christophe De Beukelaer, a member of the Brussels Parliament, said in a blog post on his personal website that he will receive his 2022 salary in bitcoin. The lawmaker explained that “with the blockchain, we are at the dawn of a revolution of the same order as what we experienced with the internet 30 years ago.” He believes that all sectors “will be disrupted,” adding that in other countries, “large institutions are beginning to invest massively in crypto assets in order not to miss this gigantic opportunity.” Noting that “it is the role of politicians to make the population aware of these societal changes that are coming,” he stressed: We

Finder’s panel of 33 fintech specialists has forecasted that the price of bitcoin will peak at about $94K before ending the year above $76K. In addition, the panel expects the price of the cryptocurrency to reach $192,800 in 2025 and $406,400 in 2030. Finder’s Experts Predict BTC Price for 2022, 2025, and 2030 Finder, a major product comparison website, published an updated bitcoin price prediction Wednesday for 2022 by “Finder’s panel of 33 fintech specialists.” According to the panel’s BTC price forecasts: Bitcoin ( BTC ) is expected to peak at US$93,717 this year before dropping to $76,360 by the end of 2022 … This is roughly 60% higher than the price of bitcoin at the beginning of 2022. The panel of specialists also predicted the price of bitcoin for 2025 and 2030. However, their most recent predictions are lower than their October forecasts. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is $36,311.13 based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets. By the end of 2025, the panel

American Express (Amex) sees cryptocurrency as an asset class, according to CEO Steve Squeri. He added that right now, the firm does not see crypto as an immediate or medium-term threat to its business. American Express CEO Discusses Crypto Strategy The chairman and CEO of American Express (Amex), Steve Squeri, answered some questions regarding cryptocurrency during the company’s Q4 earnings call Tuesday. Squeri said: “As far as cryptocurrency goes, we watch cryptocurrencies … We think about the spectrum of digital currencies. We think about crypto. We think about stablecoins. We think about central bank digital currency [CBDC].” The CEO continued: At this particular point in time, we view cryptocurrency more as an asset class. Regarding crypto’s use as currency for payments, he said, “that’s a hard thing to utilize that way.” The American Express executive further noted: “And as far as blockchain, we’ve got investments in blockchain companies … We constantly look at blockchai

Crypto exchange Binance has partnered with Paysafe to allow EUR deposits and withdrawals via the SEPA payment network. “The full re-opening of SEPA channels will scale up across the markets in due course,” Binance noted. Binance Resuming SEPA Transfers in Phases Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Wednesday that it has “reopened EUR bank transfer by SEPA.” The company explained: Binance has partnered with Paysafe to launch the pilot program for EUR deposit and withdrawal via the SEPA payment network, effective 2022-01-26 13:00 (UTC). “Users are selected based on a range of testing criteria to participate in the pilot program,” Binance added. “The full re-opening of SEPA channels will scale up across the markets in due course.” A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the rollout will begin in Belgium and Bulgaria, and could potentially be extended to other uses in the weeks ahead. Binance suspended transfers via the single euro payments area (SEPA) in June l

While Bitcoin’s hashrate has been coasting along above 175 exahash per second (EH/s) and recently reached an all-time high, a global shortage of semiconductor chips could slow the growing industry. The shortfall of supply worldwide has disrupted major industries, and manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) have seen stocks sink in value. At the same time, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) manufacturers are dependent on these chips. Ongoing Semiconductor Shortage Creates Skyrocketing Demand, US Bureaucrats Want to Strengthen American Competitiveness During the last 12 months, bitcoin mining operations have been securing million-dollar deals so they can pre-order thousands of ASIC bitcoin mining rigs. ASIC manufacturers such as Microbt, Bitmain, and Canaan have been selling batches of new models by the thousands to operators running data facilities. Meanwhile, the semiconductors ASIC bitcoin mining rigs leverage are extremely hard