Crypto payments come to WhatsApp, what happened at the trial of the supposed founder of Bitcoin and guess who are still bullish on Bitcoin? These stories and more this week in crypto.
The crypto wallet service Novi has launched an extension of its pilot program on the world’s leading chat application, Whatsapp, which is owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. Selected users in the US now have the opportunity to buy, send, and receive dollar-pegged stablecoins issued by Paxos through the chat app.
Computer scientist Craig Wright, who claims he invented bitcoin, has won a court case against his former business partner. Wright was ordered to pay $100m to his late partner’s company for intellectual property infringement but he can retain the 1.1 million early mined Bitcoins he claims he has access to. Despite calls to do so, however, Wright has never proved he has access to Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet and it is doubtful they are in his custody.
Community platform, Reddit launched its Community Points beta program and opened up a waitlist for users to request the feature for their community, or “subreddit.” Users can earn Community Points in eligible subreddits by posting content and engaging in discussion. The points can be swapped for crypto or be used to purchase features or engage in community governance.
Major video game publisher, Ubisoft unveiled Ubisoft Quartz, a platform that lets players earn and purchase in-game items that are tokenized as NFTs on the Tezos blockchain. Players will have access to NFT drops, items such as free weapon skins, unique armor and apparel, along with a message that teases future initiatives: “This is just the beginning…”
Major exchange Coinbase will support crypto hardware wallets, starting with Ledger. Users of the Coinbase Wallet browser extension will be able to connect their Ledger hardware wallets beginning next year while maintaining self-custody and full control over their assets. Coinbase’s mobile app will also support Ledger hardware wallets in the future.
In an attempt to bring rules for Australia’s payment systems up to date, new regulations were proposed to include the definition of cryptocurrency related services and products taking digital assets “out of the shadows”. Firms that buy and sell cryptocurrencies will have to be licensed, and the government is working on a licensing plan for crypto exchanges in the country.
CIA Director William Burns has revealed the agency currently has a number of different projects in operation focused on cryptocurrency. The CIA is particularly focused on ransomware attacks and assisting other agencies in the U.S. government by providing solid intelligence related to cryptocurrencies.
Less than two weeks after its previous purchase, Microstrategy has added over 1000 more Bitcoins to its treasury. The company’s current Bitcoin stash is worth about $6 billion dollars. The firm’s CEO, Michael Saylor, is fast becoming bitcoin’s biggest fan, and reaffirmed his belief that bitcoin will replace gold in a tweet, “Gold is a dead rock. There is no hope for it.”
Cathie Wood, the CEO of Ark Investment, believes that an influx of just 5% of institutional money could catapult Bitcoin’s price by another $500,000. She asserted that cryptocurrencies are a new asset class with a correlation very different compared to other asset classes which makes it key to diversification and the Holy Grail in terms of asset allocation.
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That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
