Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Social media news
- Popular social media and messaging apps Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, all owned by Facebook, went down today. On Twitter, the company confirmed that they are “aware that some people are having trouble accessing Facebook app” and that they are “working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.” (Learn more: Can You Trust Centralized Big Tech?)
Investments news
- Bank of America said it launched its digital asset research with the publication of a report entitled “Digital Assets Primer: Only the first inning.” The primer provides an investment framework for the digital asset landscape, looking through a variety of lenses, the bank added.
- Digital currency asset manager Grayscale Investments said it has adjusted the Digital Large Cap Fund’s portfolio by selling certain amounts of the existing Fund components in proportion to their respective weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase solana (SOL) and uniswap (UNI). This is the first time SOL is be included in a Grayscale investment vehicle.
- Major crypto lender Nexo (NEXO) said it is bringing SOL to its platform. Users are now able to buy, swap, earn, and borrow against their SOL on Nexo.
Mining news
- Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty, or the measure of how hard it is to compete for mining rewards, is expected to rise more than 3% tonight (UTC time) and reach around 19.60 T, per Bitcoin mining pool BTC.com data. The last time it was close to this level was mid-June this year when the difficulty was on its way down from the all-time high of 25.05 T, hit in mid-May. This will be its 6th increase in a row – a streak length last seen in May through October 2019.
- Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. said that, for the three months ended September 30, 2021, it expects to report revenues in a range of USD 33m to USD 37m, net loss in a range of USD 19m to USD 16m, and Adjusted EBITDA in a range of USD 18m to USD 22m. The expected net loss is driven by approximately USD 30m of charges associated with the merger with Support.com, the company said, adding that it mined 729 bitcoin during the third quarter.
- Hut 8 Mining Corp. has provided a corporate update, highlighting its mining production for September. Per the update, BTC 264 were mined, resulting in an average production rate of BTC 9.11 per day; total BTC balance held in reserve is 4,724 as of September 30; and 100% of the self-mined Bitcoin for the month of September were deposited into custody, consistent with Hut 8’s Hodl strategy.
Exchanges news
- Mainland Chinese users of KuCoin will have to withdraw all their funds and close their accounts by the end of the year, the exchange said. After consideration of what would be the most convenient action for their customers, the team concluded that leaving China is the only option, which complies with the local rules.
Regulation news
- The US Treasury Department Working Group on Financial Markets is aiming to issue a report on stablecoins by the end of the month, where an expected recommendation is that Congress establish a limited charter allowing new crypto banks to manage stablecoins as deposits, Bloomberg reported. They have also been considering urging the Financial Stability Oversight Council to examine whether stablecoins pose a systemic threat, which could also lead to imposing bank-like rules on stablecoins.
- US President Joe Biden has said that top US national security advisers will gather officials from 30 countries this month with plans to combat the growing threat of ransomware and other cybercrime. An online session hosted by the White House National Security Council will also be aimed at “improving law enforcement collaboration” on issues like “the illicit use of cryptocurrency,” Biden added.
CBDCs news
- The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has released a technical whitepaper on retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), titled e-HKD: A technical perspective. The HKMA said it has started a study on the prospect of issuing retail CBDC in Hong Kong, covering both technical and policy considerations, while it aims to come up with an initial view by the middle of next year.
- The US Federal Reserve plans to launch a review of the potential benefits and risks of issuing a US digital currency, as early as this week, as central banks around the world are already experimenting with CBDCs, reported The Wall Street Journal. Fed officials will release a paper and solicit public comment, but they are divided on the matter, making it unlikely they will decide any time soon on whether to create a digital dollar, the report added.
NFTs news
- Yield Guild Games has announced its commitment to purchase USD 1m worth of Star Atlas NFT gaming assets as part of a long-term partnership between the two projects. Yield Guild formed a strategic partnership with Star Atlas in April of this year.
Career news
- Linus Jönsson has been appointed as the new Group Chief Financial Officer of investment company Arcane Crypto AB. He has previous experience in financial leadership and “a heart for fintech and crypto and deep understanding of scalable business models,” according to the team.
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