- Ark Invest Adds Coinbase Stock as Crypto Exchange’s Price Slides
Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management said in an e-mail it bought 78,982 shares in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN), its first investment in the crypto exchange in a month.
At Friday’s closing price of $40.24 , the purchase would have cost about $3 million. The stock has been in a funk in recent months, and is down almost 60% from $98 in early August.
The purchase takes the ARK Innovation ETF’s (ARKK) holding to 5.7 million COIN shares. That puts the purchase on the small side – increasing the ETF’s exposure by 1.4%. It suggests the investment firm still sees bullish signs for the crypto sector, though may be opting for a cautious approach while the dust settles on a rocky period.
- Rock Legend Gene Simmons Is Holding Crypto Despite Market Sell-Offs and FTX Collapse
Rock legend Gene Simmons confirmed Thursday that he is still holding cryptocurrencies despite the crypto winter and the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Simmons is an Israeli-born American musician, singer, songwriter, actor, and producer. He was the frontman, bassist, and co-lead singer of Kiss, the rock band he co-founded with lead singer and guitarist Paul Stanley.
Responding to a question from Crypto Housewife at his Moneybag Vodka launch event in Alberta, Canada, about whether he is “still hodling” his cryptocurrencies, Simmons said: “Well, I’m not gonna suggest or recommend anything. I’m not a financial advisor.” The rock legend added:
But since you’re asking me, yes, I’m deep in crypto. I believe in it. I’ve got bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, quite a few others … Personally, I’m holding, but everybody should do their own due diligence.
- U.S. Senator Says He Sees ‘No Reason Why’ Crypto Exists
In a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Montana farmer and teacher turned U.S. Senator Jon Tester told host Chuck Todd that cryptocurrency has “not been able to pass the smell test for me.”
The Democratic senator, who serves on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, was invited on the program to discuss the defection of former Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
“You used some colorful language to describe crypto,” Todd asked as the segment drew to a close. “Should the government be regulating it or banning it?”
“One or the other,” Tester replied.
https://decrypt.co/116916/u-s-senator-jon-tester-no-reason-crypto-exists
- SEC Requires Listed Companies To Disclose Cryptocurrency Information
In a document published on December 8, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires listed companies to disclose whether they hold crypto assets, including whether or not they do business with any crypto companies.
“In meeting their disclosure obligations, companies should consider the need to address crypto asset market developments in their filings generally, including in their business descriptions, risk factors, and management’s discussion and analysis”.
The agency guidance continues
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7317148
- Bitcoin Lightning Network to be used in fiat transfers between EU and Africa
The ongoing crypto winter is not stopping the industry from pushing for global adoption and accessibility. A new partnership between CoinCorner and Bitnob opens a way for users across continents to perform cross-border transactions involving multiple fiat currencies.
Typically transfer of funds between Europe and Africa requires a third-party facilitator like Western Union, which rely on centralized entities. These transactions often have processing times of multiple parties prior to approval and are known for their expensive cuts. World Bank estimates that remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa went upwards of $40 billion yearly as of 2020 —with Nigeria receiving almost half of the sum alone.
- Terra’s Do Kwon Is in Serbia, CoinDesk Korea Reports
Do Kwon, who is wanted internationally in connection with the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, has moved to Serbia through Dubai, CoinDesk Korea reported on Monday.
Kwon was the co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, which was behind the stablecoin terraUSD (UST) that was deppeged from the U.S. dollar in May. The depegging quickly sent Luna (LUNA), the token that was used to stabilized UST, on a downward spiral. The Terra/Luna domino was the first to fall in a crypto winter that most recently saw the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.
South Korea, where Kwon is from, had issued an arrest warrant for the founder. Interpol had also reportedly issued a red notice for the co-founder, which is a request to law enforcement around the world to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/12/12/terras-do-kwon-is-in-serbia-report/
- Constant Blackouts Have Ruined Cryptocurrency Mining Investments in Cuba
Cryptocurrency has reached a notable level of functionality in Cuba, as citizens use it as an alternative to getting services that they would be unable to get otherwise, including international shopping, mobile and internet top-up services, and even sending and receiving remittances. However, cryptocurrency mining is facing problems to reach the same level of popularity.
While crypto mining was once considered a smart investment by Cubans, this idea has been demolished by the current state of the Cuban power grid, which puts mining operations in jeopardy due to the constant blackouts the country is facing. Raydel González, a small cryptocurrency miner that built his own rig, explained to the local news site Cubanet the difficulties that a miner faces in the country today. He stated:
I, like many others, had invested a lot of money in cryptocurrency mining equipment that is not cheap. With the advent of blackouts, cryptocurrency mining in Cuba is unsustainable.
https://news.bitcoin.com/constant-blackouts-have-ruined-cryptocurrency-mining-investments-in-cuba/
- Dogecoin Plummets 9% as Crypto Markets Flash Red
The crypto industry’s largest “meme coin” by market capitalization, Dogecoin, has plummeted over 9% overnight.
DOGE is now trading at around $0.088 following the latest drop. Bears have been in control of the token for the past week, too; in the past seven days, Dogecoin has fallen almost 16%, per CoinGecko.
After Ethereum and Bitcoin, DOGE generated the third-most liquidations in the past 24 hours.
Coinglass reports a total of $6.34 million in DOGE liquidations, the majority of which occurred on crypto exchange Binance. Roughly half of those liquidations ($3.79 million) were liquidated in the last 12 hours.
https://decrypt.co/116941/dogecoin-plummets-crypto-markets-flash-red
- UK Extends Crypto Tax Break for Investment Managers in Financial Reforms
The U.K. has confirmed it will extend tax breaks for investment managers to cover crypto assets, after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wanted to make the country a crypto hub.
In October, minister Andrew Griffith said he wanted to “tentatively seize” crypto opportunities, and promised a consultation on how to use new legislative crypto powers contained in the Financial Services and Markets Bill before the Christmas holiday.
In a package of financial services reforms unveiled today, setting out how to replace European Union banking and financial-market laws, the Treasury said it would extend an existing tax break, which allows investors to use a U.K.-based manager without drawing extra tax liability, to the crypto sector. The change will be made via regulations this year.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7317601
- Crypto spam bots go silent as Musk promises to prosecute scammers
Elon Musk’s latest salvo in his war against crypto spam bots on Twitter appears to have made a real impact, with the crypto community reporting a vast reduction in the number of bots responding to their posts.
In a Dec. 11 post, the Twitter CEO hinted that “bots are in for a surprise tomorrow” and later explained that they’ve found a small number of people behind a large number of bot/troll accounts and the platform will be shutting down IP addresses of “known bad actors.”
He then followed up by explaining that while scammers might try other methods to circumvent the IP address block, Twitter will be “shutting them down as soon as they show up.”
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-spam-bots-go-silent-while-musk-promises-to-prosecute-scammers
