Cryptocurrency & Financial
Markets News & Stats
17th Nov 2021


Today, I talk about the following:

1. VeChain upgrades to Proof of Authority 2.0 consensus mechanism The latest consensus mechanism upgrade is expected to improve several aspects of the network’s security and key operations while making it even more environmentally friendly. https://cointelegraph.com/news/vechain-upgrades-to-proof-of-authority-2-0-consensus-mechanism

2. Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao has said that he intends to donate up to 99% of his wealth as many business magnates do.

3.Privacy-oriented browser Brave continues to deepen its commitment to cryptocurrency adoption by replacing its extension-based cryptocurrency wallet with a browser-native one.

The company announced to Cointelegraph on Tuesday that it is prepping the official launch of Brave Wallet, a self-custody cryptocurrency wallet built into the Brave desktop browser, enabling users to store and buy cryptocurrencies like Ether (ETH).

4.The IOTA network is moving forwards with the development of its multi-asset ecosystem. The foundation will soon launch a staging network – the Shimmer network – to test its new staking feature for IOTA tokens. Interestingly, other tokens minted on the blockchain will be sent to stakers – not IOTA itself.https://cryptopotato.com/iota-price-surges-20-daily-as-team-announces-staking-testnet/

5. BlockFi’s high-yield crypto interest products have reportedly come under the federal microscope. Citing one anonymous source, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is “scrutinizing” the New Jersey-based crypto lender. Reportedly at issue are BlockFi’s marquee landing products, which can yield as much as 9.5%. BlockFi has maintained that its product is not a security.

6.Portal partners with Polygon to advance DeFi on Bitcoin “Given that Portal is a DeFi layer on Bitcoin, we are excited to partner with Polygon to enable WBTC/BTC and POS-WBTC to BTC swaps. We believe that having liquid markets and enabling price discovery will appropriately price wrapped Bitcoin based on risk and enables increased usability for Bitcoin.”

7.Perth Heat Integrates Bitcoin Payment -The baseball club has rebranded itself to be called “the Bitcoin baseball team.” As part of the partnership with OpenNode, Perth Heat is setting Bitcoin as the new standard for payments and payouts. Players and staff will get their pay in Bitcoin, although it is not mandatory. Players can still be paid in traditional fiat or partially in Bitcoin. However, the club’s CEO, Steven Nelkovski, said that all current employees of the club were on board with the scheme.. https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/top-australian-baseball-club-to-pay-players-in-bitcoin/

8. Ethereum Wallet MetaMask Reports 21 Million Users, Up 420% Since April

9.Nearly half a million e-naira wallets have been downloaded a few weeks after the central bank digital currency (CBDC) was officially launched by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

10. Crypto.com has agreed to pay $700 million in cash to AEG to rename Staples Center in the U.S. The centre is home to various professional sports franchises as well as entertainment events, such as the GRAMMY Awards. Crypto.com has struck a 20-year deal with AEG, the owner and operator of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, to rename one of the most famous sports and entertainment venues in the U.S. Staples Center, the official home to four professional sports franchises — basketball’s Lakers, Clippers and Sparks, and ice hockey’s Kings — will be renamed to Crypto.com Arena. The center has also hosted over 15 GRAMMY Awards shows. The upcoming GRAMMY Awards in January will also be held at the same center. https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/124583/crypto-com-spending-700-million-cash-rename-staples-center-los-angeles?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

11.Binance will open trading for POWR/BUSD and POWR/USDT trading pairs at 2021-11-17 06:00 AM (UTC).

12.Binance Smart Chain hit a record-breaking milestone of over 14.7 million blockchain transactions in one day; a milestone no other blockchain project has ever achieved!

13. Developer group Oasis Foundation has launched a $160 million ecosystem fund to bootstrap promising projects building on top of Oasis Network, a privacy-enabled blockchain with a focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) and the so-called data economy. In addition to Oasis Foundation’s contributions, the ecosystem fund was financed by several leading blockchain venture funds, including AME Cloud Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Draper Dragon Fund, Electric Capital, FBG, Jump Capital, Kenetic Capital, NGC Ventures and Pantera Capital, among others. https://cointelegraph.com/news/oasis-foundation-launches-160m-development-fund

14. KuCoin Labs, the company behind the world's sixth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume with more than 500 crypto assets listed, announced on Wednesday that it would be launching a $100 million metaverse fund for early-stage projects. The money is also available for entities that develop blockchain-based games, nonfungible tokens, and decentralized applications. In addition, Kucoin will also provide business incubation services, branding, incentives, and business partnerships for developers selected into the fund.https://cointelegraph.com/news/kucoin-labs-launches-100-million-venture-capital-fund-to-empower-early-stage-metaverse-projects

15. Fiat markets, social media, derivatives, liquidity, volatilities, stagflation and much more