Press Releases TheBitTimes.com

On Nov. 9, the Laos government announced it would halt business activities, levy fines and potentially revoke licenses of companies that do not meet their commitments or show progress in cryptocurrency mining and trading agreements in what is considered an inactive status. At the same time, outstanding fees from crypto operators owed to the state reached a U.S. equivalent of $20 million, according to Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. A lack of progress During the proceedings of the sixth ordinary session of the National Assembly’s ninth legislature, Siphandone acknowledged a lack of progress from the two companies. The delay in fee payments to the state was attributed to the sluggishness of certain entities, while numerous investors demonstrated noteworthy advancements, contributing significantly to the state budget. The PM also acknowledged that payments were likely to be slow due to the value of crypto currencies, specifically Bitcoin, dropping in value by more than ...

ProShares’s new Short Ether Strategy ETF is set to start trading on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol SETH. ProShares, a major issuer of exchange-traded funds (ETF), has officially announced the launch of the short Ether- linked ETF. Incepted on Nov. 2, ProShares’s new Short Ether Strategy ETF is set to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) Arca under the ticker symbol SETH. The new crypto ETF is designed to provide investors with an opportunity to profit from the volatility of the Ether price. Similarly to other ProShares crypto- linked ETFs, SETH seeks to obtain exposure through Ether futures contracts, the announcement notes. According to ProShares CEO Michael Sapir, SETH aims to address the challenge of acquiring short exposure to ETH, “which can be onerous and expensive.” “With today’s launch of SETH, ProShares now offers investors opportunities to profit both on days when Ether increases and when it drops — all through the convenience of a traditional bro...

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage The Canadian crypto industry has seen an increase in interest and activity by traditional financial institutions following the increase in regulatory efforts and clarity by the Canadian government, according to Dean Skurka, President and CEO of Canada-based exchange WonderFi. In an interview with Cointelegraph during the Blockchain Futurist conference in Toronto, Skurka stated that the platform had witnessed a rise in trading by institutions compared to retail investors. “What we have seen in the first half of this year is growth in our OTC institutional segment,” he said, adding that “These institutional investors, more sophisticated investors, are [more] immune to sentiment and trends in the market, and they’re more fundamental in their investment approaches. […] We’re starting to see, […] through clear regulation , that the segment of our client base is shi...

Sam Bankman-Fried attempted to publicly discredit government witness Caroline Ellison, who was once his business ally and a romantic partner, the DoJ argued. The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a complaint against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), accusing him of leaking the private papers of Caroline Ellison, who was once his business ally and romantic partner. In a new complaint filed on July 20, the DoJ accused Bankman-Fried of an attempt to interfere with a fair trial by publicly discrediting Ellison, who became a government witness in SBF’s case in late 2022. SBF sought to publicly discredit a government witness by sharing her personal writings with a reporter so that those private documents would be featured in an article published by The New York Times on July 20, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams argued in the complaint. In her diary , Ellison described feeling overwhelmed by her job at Alameda Research, alongside other things like the pain from her romantic...

The U.S. SEC filed a lawsuit against the bankrupt crypto lender on July 13 followed by news reports about the arrest of the former CEO Alex Mashinsky. The former CEO of now-bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, was reportedly arrest ed on the morning of July 13. The news broke minutes after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the crypto lender on the same day. The former CEO was reportedly arrest ed after a probe into the company’s collapse, reported Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter. Mashinsky was reportedly charged with fraud and intention to manipulate the market. Celsius Network filed for bankruptcy on July 14 last year. Mashinsky was recently found guilty by investigators of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which concluded that the former CEO broke numerous U.S. regulations before the company’s implosion in 2022. The investigation against the former CEO began after New York Attorney General sued Mashin...

Attackers of this kind are supposedly "big game hunting” large-scale organizations with deep pockets to extract ”the most money possible” out of these firms. Cryptocurrency scams have fallen a massive 77% from $3.3 billion to $1.1 billion over the first six months of 2023, according to a recent report by blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis. The catch, though, is that ransom attacks are back in trend, with perpetrators pocketing 62.4% more revenue than the first six months of 2022. On July 12, Chainalysis released its Mid Year Crypto Crime report, noting it’s the second consecutive year that scam revenue has trended downwards. The firm observed that historically, scam revenue increases in bull markets — but that hasn’t been the case so far in 2023: “Usually, positive price movements translate to higher scam revenue, likely because increased market exuberance and FOMO make victims more susceptible to scammers’ pitches. But 2023’s drastic scam decline bucks that long-standing ...

Bitcoin price continues to explore the lower regions of its trading range, but a drop to $25,000 seems nearly inevitable according to derivatives data. Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading in a narrow 3.4% range for the past three days after successfully defending the $25,500 support on June 10. In this time, investors’ attention has shifted to the macroeconomic area as the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on June 14. Cryptocurrencies might work independently from the traditional finance markets, but the cost of capital impacts almost every investor. Back in May, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate to 5%–5.25%, the highest since 2007. All eyes will be on Fed’s Chair Jerome Powell media speech 30 minutes after the rate announcement as markets are pricing in 94% odds of a pause at the June meeting, based on the CME FedWatch tool. Crypto fears more than just a FOMC meeting The upcoming FOMC meeting isn’t the only concern for the economy, as the U.S. Treasu...

Florida-based lawyer Drew Hinkes described the bill as “the most unworkable state law” related to Blockchain and cryptocurrency that he has ever seen. A recently introduced Illinois Senate Bill has been ridiculed by the crypto community over its "unworkable" plans to force blockchain miners and validators to do "impossible things" — such as reversing transactions if ordered to do so by a state court. The Senate Bill was quietly introduced into the Illinois legislature on Feb. 9 by Illinois Senator Robert Peters but appears to have been only recently noticed by Florida-based lawyer Drew Hinkes who discussed the bill in a Twitter post on Feb. 19. The bill titled the “Digital Property Protection and Law Enforcement Act,” would authorize the courts — upon a valid request from the Attorney General or a State's Attorney that is made pursuant to the laws of Illinois — to order a blockchain transaction that is executed via a smart contract to be altered or rescinded. ...

The online community has expressed bewilderment over how China’s crypto ban aligns with the United States’ proclaimed principles of freedom. The cryptocurrency community has ridiculed well-known Bitcoin (BTC) critic Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, for calling the United States to follow in the footsteps of China and ban crypto. In an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal, the 99-year-old investment veteran has once again slammed crypto, calling a cryptocurrency a “gambling contract with a nearly 100% edge for the house.” Munger also said that a cryptocurrency is “not a currency, not a commodity, and not a security,” adding that “obviously” the U.S. should enact a new federal law that would ban crypto. According to Munger, the best way to approach crypto is to follow the example of China, which put a blanket ban on crypto in September 2021. The Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman stated: “What should the U.S. do after a ban of cryptocurrencies is in place? Well, on...

Crypto-friendly cities throughout the world report growth and innovation despite recent events. The sudden failure of FTX has left many people questioning the impact this will have on the cryptocurrency ecosystem. For instance, it remains questionable whether or not crypto hotspots will continue to flourish or if there will be a decline in innovation.  While it may be too soon to fully understand the impact of the FTX collapse, industry leaders within crypto-friendly geographies believe that the FTX failure will not hamper innovation. For example, Dubai — which has been dubbed as one of the most innovative regions for crypto and blockchain development — continues to see ecosystem activity. Most recently, The Algorand Foundation, the organization driving the growth of the Alogrand blockchain, hosted its second annual Decipher conference in Dubai. The event took place Nov. 29–30, just weeks after FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down and announced bankruptcy. While a number of d...