Even as the crypto market continues to forge an impressive recovery from the 2022 bear market, the industry continues to attract the wrath of regulators worldwide, especially in the United States. Three U.S. financial watchdogs recently issued stern warnings to individuals looking to invest in retirement funds offering exposure to digital assets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, the North American Securities Administrators Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) warned investors that individual retirement accounts (IRAs) that include cryptocurrencies could potentially be classified as “securities,” unless they are registered with the …

Sergey Vasylchuk, the chief executive officer of staking provider Everstake, said the company is continuing to move forward despite the continuing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Exactly one year ago today — Feb. 24, 2022 — Russian military forces invaded many areas of Ukraine in what has become one of the biggest conflicts in modern Europe since World War II. In the last twelve months, more than 8,000 civilians have died, many Ukrainian cities have been shelled with at least one almost leveled, and the country continues to be at risk of missile attack and ground invasions. Vasylchuk said …

Who takes the cake as the prime mover of the crypto and blockchain sector for 2023? The answer is more of a “what” than a “who.” Good Ol‘ Bitcoin, the industry’s pioneer cryptocurrency, sits atop the list as the most impactful player in the space on the Cointelegraph Top 100. Bitcoin (BTC) was created following the 2008 global financial crisis with the goal of doing things differently — in a decentralized fashion requiring less trust than traditional finance. But the cycle has made a full circle, and global financial trouble has once again reared its head, begging the question of …

In a world where cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology make direct peer-to-peer transactions possible and transcend traditional financial norms, more people want to learn about them to keep up with the times. Universities worldwide are beginning to offer cryptocurrency-related courses to cater to this new paradigm. Due to rising demand, many of the world’s top universities offer crypto-related courses. There’s been a lot of hype regarding cryptocurrencies — mainly due to their disruptive potential — and the rise of crypto education has strongly coincided with this. According to a 2022 survey from Study.com, about two-thirds of American parents and college students …

NFT Steez hosts Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond chatted with Victor Solomon to discuss his journey in bridging his in-real-life artwork with NFTs and how he cultivates the community and culture that surrounds his art. Solomon's work centers around basketball — not just the object, but the sport itself. For Solomon, the inspiration for his work comes from wanting to play hockey in his early childhood. At the time, this was a sport that was not accessible for him, but it led to his eventual discovery of basketball, which he found to be more accommodating. Solomon said: "Basketball was such …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently made another anti-crypto move, expressing its opposition to crypto becoming a legal tender. In response to this, members of the crypto community were quick to fire back, going on Twitter to express disagreement. The executive board of the IMF recently endorsed a crypto asset policy framework that included not granting crypto assets an official currency or legal tender status. The executives agreed with the framework and highlighted that it’s a necessary move to safeguard monetary stability. The best #Bitcoin promotion. https://t.co/vwW6YdzBhJ — Dennis Parker (@Xentagz) February 23, 2023 From expressing their support for Bitcoin …

The rise of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has created a new frontier for brands looking to engage with consumers in a more meaningful way. However, as more and more brands enter the space, many are discovering that what they have committed to actually requires methodical, continuous effort and engagement that escalates with each milestone. Basically, brands are finding themselves in a type of ‘engagement Ponzi scheme’ that their marketing teams are not equipped to handle. Here’s why. The challenge stems from two things: Many users ask for “utility” from NFTs, but what they actually mean is “entertainment” (which is a basic …

It’s possible that many people have already forgotten that Bitcoin’s (BTC) price closed 2022 at $16,529 and the recent rebound and rejection at the $25,000 level could raise concern among certain investors. Bears are pushing back at the $25,000 level and there has been multiple failed attempts at the level between Feb. 16 and Feb. 21. Currently, it looks like the $23,500 resistance is continuing to gain strength with every retest. Pinpointing the rationale behind Bitcoin’s 45.5% year-to-date gain is not apparent, but part of it comes from the United States Federal Reserve’s inability to curb inflation while raising interest …

The rapid downfall of FTX has hastened the shift from centralized exchanges (CEXs) to decentralized exchanges (DEXs), but selecting the right DEX is not an easy task. Besides looking for convenience and an intuitive interface, crypto traders face several challenges with DEXs that can greatly affect their trading activity. The problem is that many traders are unaware of some of these challenges because some DEXs don’t provide enough information to simplify the trading process. This leaves many crypto traders vulnerable to several DEX risks, such as: Price impact — the risk of the trade being executed at a worse price …

2022 will go down as a tough year for the cryptocurrency space and bleak market conditions were mirrored by a downtrend of venture capital funding flowing into blockchain and crypto activities. A report from Blockdata highlights consecutive drops in funding through all four quarters of 2022, following booming venture capital funding into the wider Web3 space through 2021. Analyzing data from CB Insights, Blockdata rounded off 2022’s final quarter of venture capital funding value noting a 34% decline from Q3 2022. The last quarter of the year was down drastically in funding value in contrast to Q1 and Q2, dropping …

BlueWallet is sunsetting its lightning node connection to Lndhub.io according to an official statement. BlueWallet will cease custodial Lightning operations–meaning that BlueWallet users of the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network must connect to nodes to continue using BlueWallet lighting services. What does BlueWallet sunsetting LndHub mean for you? - If you use BlueWallet for on-chain bitcoin: ✅ nothing - If you use other LndHub services (like LightningTipBot, LNbits, Alby): ✅ nothing - If you use the Lightning account hosted by them: ⚡️ Move your sats out Read on — calle ⚡️ (@callebtc) February 23, 2023 Calle, a Lightning Developer who tweeted …

A judge from the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled that emojis like the rocket ship, stock chart and money bags mean "a financial return on investment," according to a recent court filing. In a tweet, former United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) branch chief Lisa Braganca warned users of the potential legal consequence of their use of such emojis that may indicate future gains. She tweeted: A federal court judge ruled that these emojis objectively mean "one thing: a financial return on investment." Users of these emojis are hereby warned of the …