In 2021, the market cap of cryptocurrencies skyrocketed 286% year over year, uplifting a $2.17 trillion industry into the stratosphere. But, with this vast creation of wealth comes the explosion of peculiar tales throughout the sector. From the suspicious death of multiple crypto-evangelists and crypto scams involving hacked Twitter accounts of heads of states to much-promoted celebrity NFT drops that bombed at the auction, 2021 was truly a wild year for the cryptocurrency cyberspace. Without further ado, let’s look at the top strangest stories that have captivated blockchain enthusiasts this year. No 1. The death of John McAfee On June …
On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, the country's central bank, published a critical bulletin regarding the cryptocurrency industry. While the report praised the innovative distributed ledger technology associated with digital currencies, the RBI dismissed arguments calling for regulation of such assets and called for an outright ban. RBI's core concerns were related to cryptocurrencies threatening the country's financial sovereignty. The RBI wrote: "Historically, private currencies have resulted in instability and therefore have evolved into fiat currencies over centuries. The retrograde step back to private currencies cannot be taken simply because technology allows it without considering the dislocation …
Coinbase Ventures, an investment arm of American crypto exchange Coinbase, shared a plan to invest $1 million in various Indian cryptocurrency and Web3 initiatives via an in-person pitching event. In a blog post drafted while he was in India, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed that the venture firm intends to tap into India’s software talent with the crypto and Web3 technologies and help accelerate India’s economic and financial inclusion goals. Calling India’s cryptopreneurs! Coinbase Ventures is partnering with @BuidlersTribe to host an in-person pitch day in Bangalore in April. $1M+ is up for grabs, including $25k bonus grants provided by …
Crypto exchange Binance announced the parallel launch of three key educational initiatives to fast-track educating Indian investors and students about the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. While recognizing the importance of investors’ awareness of crypto and blockchain, Binance highlighted that Indian regulators and policymakers cite the lack of education as an area of concern, which currently hinders the widespread adoption of crypto. Primarily targeting the student demographic in India, one of the three educational initiatives launched by Binance involves the initiation of the “Blockchain for Good” ideathon, a platform for college students to come up with solutions for making crypto more …
Self-sovereignty is a core principle in the cryptocurrency space: Investors need to rely on a trustless, decentralized network instead of a central entity that has been known to devalue the holdings of others. One shortcoming associated with self-sovereignty, however, is inheritance. An estimated 4 million Bitcoin (BTC) has been lost over time and now sits in inaccessible wallets. How many of those coins belong to HODLers who passed away without sharing access to their wallets with anyone else is unknown? Some believe Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated 1 million BTC fortune hasn’t been touched for this very reason: No one else had …