Amid Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange standing up for crypto staking and economic freedom, the online community has urged the company to support XRP as well. On Feb. 9, Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal claimed that Coinbase's staking program is not affected by rival exchange Kraken shutting down its staking services. The executive argued that Kraken’s staking platform was “essentially offering a yield product,” while Coinbase’s staking services are “fundamentally different and are not securities.” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also took to Twitter on Thursday to declare that the exchange will continue to oppose the government when it comes to protecting …

The cryptocurrency community has ridiculed well-known Bitcoin (BTC) critic Charlie Munger for calling the United States to follow in the footsteps of China in banning crypto. In an op-ed article on The Wall Street Journal, the 99-year-old investment veteran has once again slammed crypto, calling a cryptocurrency a “gambling contract with a nearly 100% edge for the house.” Munger also said that a cryptocurrency is “not a currency, not a commodity, and not a security,” adding that “obviously” the U.S. should now enact a new federal law that would ban crypto. According to Munger, the best way to approach crypto …

"Bitcoin (BTC) is Freedom" is one of Bitcoin’s many epithets. Like “Bitcoin is digital gold,” “Bitcoin is property,” or even Bitcoin is absolute digital scarcity, these phrases ricochet around the walls of Bitcoin-themed conference arenas. They’re also memed into eternity on social media. But one of Bitcoin’s overarching mantras is “Don’t trust, verify.” Rooted in an old Russian proverb, the phrase has come to define the Bitcoin ethos. It suggests rules, ideas, and concepts should be tested, tried and verified. So with that in mind, to what extent is Bitcoin actually freedom? How far can we make the point that …

The acquisition of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk got mixed reactions from crypto and global communities, sparking discussions around changes to censorship, account verification and the launch of new crypto and blockchain-centric features. However, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s decision to invest $500 million in the social media site took the limelight. Acknowledging the buzz, CZ shared six reasons why he opted to support Twitter and what it may mean for the future of Twitter. Ever since Twitter’s new sink was in, I was asked about it in every interview. And I had many interviews last week. So, here is …

Kraken is the latest cryptocurrency exchange to restrict accounts of Russian users on its platform in compliance with sanctions from the European Union. On Oct. 19, Kraken sent out email statements to its Russian clients to announce that the exchange is halting services to its Russian customers. “Due to the new European legislation, we have to take measures to restrict your Kraken account,” the company said. According to an email statement seen by Cointelegraph, Russian users would be able to withdraw their funds by request. “We will update our support center if there are any changes,” Kraken noted, adding: “We …

On Wednesday, South Africa celebrated Freedom Day, which honors the country's first post-apartheid democratic election in 1994. Cointelegraph reached out to different notable individuals in the South African crypto community to see what the holiday meant to them. BitcoinZAR, a Bitcoin advocate in South Africa, noted that "Freedom Day means you are free to use your own money to live your best life," adding: “We are free on Freedom Day to choose Bitcoin instead of losing value with government money. Stop aiding and abetting state capture, corruption and looting in South Africa. Vote with your money, and buy Bitcoin.” Several …

Major crypto exchange Binance challenged the accuracy of a report, which stated one of its regional heads agreed to supply Russia's financial intelligence unit with customer data potentially related to donations for anti-corruption and anti-Putin activist Alexei Navalny. Reuters reported on Friday that Binance's head of Eastern Europe and Russia Gleb Kostarev met with officials from Russia's Rosfinmonitoring, a financial monitoring service linked to the country's Federal Security Service, or FSB, in April 2021. Kostarev reportedly agreed to a request from the government body to turn over certain user data — including names and addresses — later telling an associate …

Motivations for buying Bitcoin (BTC) are numerous: hedging against inflation, financial independence or even hopes for a Lamborghini and life in the sun. For “Mr. ERB,” a blogger and Bitcoin enthusiast, it’s all about retiring early. ERB keeps a detailed account of his finances on his “Early Retirement by Bitcoin” blog and spoke to Cointelegraph about his retirement plan. He told Cointelegraph that he first “got interested in Bitcoin in summer 2017” when a coworker briefly brought up the decentralized peer-to-peer currency. However, in a familiar story for Bitcoiners when they first enter the space, “The price was about 2,000 …

While the West is growing increasingly concerned over Russia’s potential use of cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions, some Russians are using their Bitcoin (BTC) to help Ukrainian people. Pavel Muntyan, a renowned Russian animation producer and creator of the animated web series “Mr. Freeman,” has called on anti-war Russians to support Ukrainian citizens amid Russia’s ongoing military attack on the country. Muntyan took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the opening of a cryptocurrency donation address for Russians who want to support Ukrainian people anonymously as Russia has banned its citizens from helping people in Ukraine. On Feb. 27, Russia’s General …

The transition from Web2 to Web3 is inevitable. Yet, as the demand for decentralization gains momentum, several important questions are being raised about the current state of blockchain technology and its promised “decentralization.” Vitalik Buterin responded with a confession that “a lot of it comes down to limited technical resources and funding. It’s easier to build things the lazy centralized way, and it takes serious effort to ‘do it right.’” Or, Jack Dorsey’s recent tweet where he claimed that it’s actually the venture capitalists who own the networks that exist today. You don’t own “web3.” The VCs and their LPs …

Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, took to Twitter to respond to a recent attack on crypto by Dogecoin (DOGE) co-creator Jackson Palmer. In a Twitter thread on Thursday, Armstrong pointed out some of the biggest benefits of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), stressing that crypto is “simply providing an alternative for people who want more freedom.” The CEO emphasized that one’s stance on the crypto industry depends on a perspective, elaborating that people who want more control from financial regulators are free to enjoy the traditional fiat system. But crypto is a “much-needed breath of fresh …

Hong Kong cyber-activists are not giving up on the freedom of speech and are backing up articles from the pro-democracy tabloid newspaper Apple Daily using blockchain technology. Following a national security probe, Apple Daily printed its last edition on Thursday. But Hong Kong activists took it from there and uploaded the publication’s articles on a distributed network, Reuters reported. Ho, a 21-year-old anonymous activist working in tech, started uploading Apple Daily articles on decentralized file storage platform ARWeave this week. Backed by investors like Andreessen Horowitz, the platform deploys a blockchain-like structure called blockweave to enable the permanent storage of …