Can Bitcoin help Black Americans build wealth in a country that has historically and intentionally prevented them from doing so? The Agenda podcast recently sat down with Najah Roberts, a Bitcoin educator and entrepreneur, to explore the question. In Part 1 of the conversation, released on Feb. 1, Roberts told hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond that Bitcoin (BTC) might be the greatest opportunity Black Americans have had to close the country’s wealth gap. She stressed the importance of communities having financial sovereignty and control over their own money, which can help uplift entire generations. In Part 2 of their …

Despite attempts to police cryptocurrency through enforcement actions, United States financial regulators “are bound by legal reality” and Congress will ultimately decide crypto regulations the policy expert for the crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association has suggested. The association's chief policy officer, Jake Chervinsky, shared his views in an extensive Feb. 14 Twitter thread on the state of crypto policy. He noted neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nor the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) “has the authority to comprehensively regulate crypto.” 14/ No matter how many enforcement actions the SEC and CFTC bring, they are bound by legal reality: …

The price of Ether (ETH) declined 10.2% between Jan. 8 and Jan. 10, and has since been range trading near the $1,500 level. More importantly, on a broader time frame, Ether is down 52.5% in twelve months, which partially explains why derivatives metrics were somewhat neutral after Ether’s failed attempt to break $1,700 on Feb. 8. Currently, investors' biggest concerns are the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) lawsuits and enforcement actions against crypto firms, which included Kraken’s tanking of its-as-a-service program and PayPal reportedly pausing its stablecoin project due to regulatory concerns. A crackdown by the SEC on crypto …

Cumulative NFT trading volume trended higher in January and data from a recent Delphi Digital report showed monthly volumes reaching an eight-month high above $1 billion. The key factor that influenced NFT trading was Blur token airdrop on Feb. 14. Since its launch last year in Q3 2022, Blur has rewarded users with “care packages,” which can be redeemed for tokens starting Feb. 14 at 12 p.m. EST. Many users have tried to farm these airdrops, increasing the platform's trading volume. Since the start of 2023, Blur’s trading volume has surpassed that of OpenSea, the market leader in the NFT …

After twenty days of holding the $22,500 support, Bitcoin (BTC) price finally broke down on Feb. 9. Bullish traders had placed their hope on a sustained rally, but this has been replaced by a tight trading range with resistance at $22,000. The downtrend is even more concerning since the S&P 500 is trading near its highest level in six months, yet the wider crypto market continues to correct. Regulatory pressure, mainly in the United States, can explain Bitcoin's recent lackluster performance. For starters, on Jan. 9, Kraken exchange reached an agreement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) …

Bitcoin (BTC) and select altcoins are threatening to deepen their correction after reports emerged that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Wells Notice to Paxos, alleging that the dollar-pegged Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin is an unregistered security. Separately, Paxos has been ordered by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to halt the issuance of BUSD. After the crackdown on Kraken last week and now Paxos, the regulator’s actions may increase nervousness among crypto investors. FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terrett tweeted on Feb. 12 that “more Wells notices going out in the coming 2-3 weeks, …

Brian Armstrong, the chief executive officer of United States-based cryptocurrency firm Coinbase, is looking for lawmakers and regulators to discuss regulatory clarity in the crypto space. In a Feb. 13 tweet, Armstrong put a call out for anyone with access to the Dirksen Senate Office in Washington, D.C. to meet him at the building’s snack bar and “chat about crypto”. According to the Coinbase CEO, he was looking for “low sugar options” amid the selection of soft serve ice cream and toppings. "’I'm in Washington D.C. and had a meeting canceled," said Armstrong. "If anyone wants to come chat about …

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has announced that it will discontinue its Huobi Cloud Wallet platform in May 2023 citing ‘strategic and product adjustments’. As per an announcement on Huobi’s support page, maintenance and upgrades of the multi-token wallet service will officially stop on Feb. 13. Users that are still using the Cloud Wallet are being encouraged to transfer cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to their main Huobi accounts or other wallet addresses. Huobi Cloud Wallet’s withdrawal and transfer functions will work for the next three months, while users are cautioned not to transfer digital assets to their Cloud Wallet. Huobi Cloud …

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their ability to offer users a high degree of control over their assets and a more secure trading environment than centralized exchanges. However, one major limitation of DEXs is their inability to support cross-chain and margin trading. There are multiple decentralized exchange protocols that aim to overcome this limitation by enabling DEXs to support cross-chain trading, margin trading and other features. Injective Protocol is a decentralized exchange protocol built on Cosmos, a decentralized and interoperable blockchain ecosystem. Injective Protocol enables DEXs to support cross-chain trading and margin trading, …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ramping up pressure on the crypto sector. On Feb. 9, the SEC reached a $30 million settlement with Kraken over the centralized staking program offered to its users. The news of the crackdown sent Bitcoin (BTC) price to a 3-week low as investors became fearful of the regulatory enforcement. On the news, Ether's (ETH) price also corrected, cementing the token’s worst-performing day of 2023. While the overall crypto market was down after the SEC announcement, bright spots arose with decentralized liquid staking tokens Lido (LDO) and Rocketpool (RPL) and Frax (FXS) …

On Feb. 9, United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler explained why the regulator had cracked down on Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, forcing it to stop its crypto staking program for U.S. clients. This news may have rattled crypto investors and they sold aggressively. Bitcoin (BTC) crashed about 5% on Feb. 9 and several altcoins also followed suit. The fresh round of selling has traders wondering whether the bear market has resumed or if the dip should be interpreted as a buying opportunity. This question may be troubling to investors, but for now the correction looks to be …

On Feb 10, Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced a major upgrade to its Proof of Reserves Verification system to include zk-SNARKs — a cutting-edge technology that Binance says will allow it to verify its reserves in a more secure and transparent manner. 3. Product and Service. Plus transparency. The #Binance Proof of Reserve system has now integrated with zk-SNARK, a zero-knowledge verification method. It will also be made open source. We hope this would help the entire industry benefit. https://t.co/ijVVeF8iFT — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) February 10, 2023 After the FTX incident in 2022, Proof of Reserves Verification became a crucial aspect …