Bitcoin looks to regain poise after defense of key support
Adobe will roll out a ‘prepare as NFT’ option in preview by the end of the month.
“Web3 games are a fast-moving and exciting category of games that have a place within the Steam ecosystem,” the companies said Tuesday.
Big Papi will serve as an ambassador for the exchange, joining its long list of sports-related sponsorship deals.
Adobe is introducing a Photoshop feature that allows users to prepare images as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which will include content credentials that marketplaces like OpenSea can display on their websites for each asset.
The post Adobe partners with OpenSea and other NFT marketplaces to display content credentials appeared first on The Block.
99Pay, the digital wallet of Brazilian ride-hailing company 99, will enable the purchase and sale of bitcoin on its platform, the company announced on Tuesday.
Users of 99Pay will be able to execute commission-free transactions with a minimum purchase amount of 10 Brazilian reais and a maximum of 10,000 reais — equivalent to 1,800 U.S. dollars — starting Nov. 3.
99Pay, part of the Chinese vehicle-for-hire company DiDi, said that the platform will deliver bitcoin cashback promotions as well.
The initiative comes amid rapidly increasing interest in cryptocurrency among Brazilians and demand for crypto services. According to data published by the country’s Central Bank (BCB) in October, Brazilians have already acquired $4.27 billion so far in 2021. On the legislative front, Brazil’s congress plans to discuss a bill that would regulate companies operating in the cryptocurrency sector.
Brazil’s 99 is a ride-hailing, food delivery and financial services company founded in 2012. It was acquired by DiDi Chuxing, the Chinese equivalent of Uber, in a $1 billion transaction in 2018. The 99Pay platform has 20 million active users, according to the company.
99 launched its digital wallet in July 2020 within its app. The company launched a 99Pay’s stand-alone app last week.
Users will not be able to use bitcoins to pay for trips on 99, since crypto will first have to be switched to fiat, 99Pay’s Director, Maurício Orsolini Filho, told CoinDesk.
Orsolini Filho added that the company implemented the bitcoin trading feature following research conducted at the company’s request that showed potentially strong demand for the service. According to the data, 81% of Brazilian digital banks’ users already know or have heard of cryptocurrencies, while another 54% do not invest in digital assets but have shown interest in entering that market.
In 2020, DiDi told CoinDesk it was forming a task force to design and run a trial of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) on its transportation platform.
Operation Dark HunTor cracked down on criminals involved in the sale of tens of thousands of illicit goods and services throughout Europe, Australia and the U.S.
Exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Direxion wants to short the price of a bitcoin futures contract.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, the Direxion Bitcoin Strategy Bear ETF will maintain short exposure to bitcoin futures contracts issued by the CME exchange. The product will not directly invest in bitcoin.
In addition, the ETF might invest in other bitcoin futures ETFs or money market funds, deposit accounts or short-term debt instruments.
“The Fund will generally maintain its short exposure to Bitcoin Futures during periods in which the value of bitcoin is flat or declining as well as during periods in which the value of bitcoin is rising,” the filing said.
This is Direxion’s first bitcoin ETF filing in three years, after the SEC rejected past efforts.
Direxion isn’t the only issuer hoping to put a creative spin on bitcoin futures ETFs. Tuesday, Valkyrie investments filed to offer an ever-so-slightly leveraged bitcoin futures ETF. It was one of two firms to launch the first bitcoin futures ETF products last week.
While the SEC has proven receptive to a narrow class of bitcoin ETFs – after years of stonewalling – it has not yet weighed in on these more ambitious follow-ups. The agency has 75 days to respond before Direxion’s ETF would automatically take effect.
Leveraged funds held a net short position of 31,000 contracts in the seven days to Oct. 19, marking an increase of 6,000 from the previous week.
After months of waiting, the Bank of Spain has finally issued instructions on how to register to offer crypto-related services in the country.
