Archive for the ‘Cryptocurrency’ Category

Brad Garlinghouse on Cryptocurrency’s Impact on US Elections: Candidates Will Only Gain Votes For Being Pro-Crypto – CCN.com

Key Takeaways

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouses recent remarks about the US Presidential Election have sparked significant debate.

He noted an expected surge in pro-crypto funding soon, and his comments have heightened discussions on how cryptocurrency advocacy might impact US politics.

In a recent X post, Brad Garlinghouse, a prominent crypto and blockchain technology advocate, emphasized that political candidates will increasingly align with pro-crypto positions to secure votes.

He mentioned that candidates stand to gain votes by supporting crypto and risk losing them by opposing it, highlighting that advocating for clear regulations in one of the USs fastest-growing industries has no downside.

The influence of cryptocurrency on US politics is becoming more pronounced. Erin Griffith, a journalist based in New York, discussed this trend in a recent article, highlighting how cryptocurrency funding is reshaping electoral dynamics.

In a post on X, she pointed out that while $150 million may not seem substantial in the crypto industry, it represents a significant amount in the political arena. This highlights the substantial impact that even modest contributions from the crypto sector can have on political campaigns.

Additionally, Garlinghouses support for cryptocurrency is well-documented, especially considering the companys ongoing legal disputes with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ripple has consistently pushed for clearer regulatory guidelines, arguing that the current regulations hinder innovation and growth in the digital asset field.

This advocacy is increasingly extending into the political arena, where pro-crypto funding is set to play a crucial role in shaping policy and regulatory frameworks.

Garlinghouse suggested that candidates who support digital assets and advocate for clear crypto regulations are likely to receive significant backing from the crypto community. Conversely, those who oppose or aim to over-regulate the industry could face considerable opposition, which might negatively affect their chances in elections.

However, recently he expressed skepticism about significant crypto legislation being passed in the US before the presidential election in November. Despite noting a softening stance on crypto from the Biden Administration, Garlinghouse believes that substantial regulatory developments are unlikely to occur before 2025.

With the global cryptocurrency market valued at approximately $2.5 trillion, the emergence of the Trump Coin also highlights the increasing role of digital currencies in crafting political strategies and potentially influencing voter sentiment in forthcoming elections.

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Brad Garlinghouse on Cryptocurrency's Impact on US Elections: Candidates Will Only Gain Votes For Being Pro-Crypto - CCN.com

Dissecting The Rise Of Cryptocurrency Casinos | Cryptoglobe – CryptoGlobe

Disclaimer: This article is sponsored content and should not be considered as financial or investment advice. Always do your own research before making any financial decisions. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CryptoGlobe.

Digital casino operators have navigated the new rise of digital innovations with impressive adaptability. It wasnt long ago that those in traditional, land-based casinos would shrug off the idea that digital casinos could ever take on their near-century-long dominance in the gambling sector.

However, turn the dial forward just a few decades after the first online casino, and its now the primary way people play their casino games all over the world. Following the initial boom, there was a growing demand for smartphone and mobile app gaming, and digital casino websites could still retain large sections of the market.

As the scope for innovation from a gaming perspective narrowed somewhat, given that platforms can only host a finite number of traditional casino games online, innovative designers took a step back. They explored what other sections of the casino industry had untapped potential. While this approach initially covered e-wallets or other mobile payment options, the focus has switched significantly over the last decade to cryptocurrency casinos.

For those unfamiliar with how a cryptocurrency casino operates, its mostly the same as a flat currency provider but with secure and modern cryptocurrency payment methods. Traditional casino games like blackjack are easy to find at crypto casinos. Once you have deposited the digital asset youd like to use for your wager, the game follows the same rules as blackjack would in any other type of casino.

As blackjack online continues to adapt to a world that is becoming increasingly transfixed on the potential of blockchain technology and the real use cases that cryptocurrency can offer people who might not be experts about how the mechanics of the blockchain actually work, they just need to see in real-time how connecting their wallet and depositing their crypto can offer a smoother payment system than traditional casinos that rely on centralized financial institutions.

While there is a growing respect and more transparent lines of communication between traditional finance and new, emerging multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency platforms the real test for many is how they can use their cryptocurrency in a day-to-day environment. While this is undoubtedly set to change over the next decade, as blockchain begins to permeate other areas of society and finance, the truth remains that crypto casinos are one of the clearest uses for the technology for the layman.

Once someone has set up a cryptocurrency wallet and deposited their funds, the only thing left to do is to connect it to their chosen crypto casino provider. Each deposit and transaction has its own publicly viewable transaction hash on the blockchain, so if they experience any problems, they have verified details you can take to the provider immediately.

Cryptocurrency casinos also aim to have lower fees than traditional operators, allowing you an additional layer of security. If, in the rare instance, a traditional casino is subject to a cyberattack, hackers will target personal details and financial information stored on the platforms database or server. Crypto casinos, on the other hand, do not hold any of this information.

All they have is your wallet address, which is publicly accessible anyway. People value the extra level of anonymity.

Although many of the factors we touched on in our previous section are some of the most common reasons bettors decide to switch to crypto casinos, several external factors within the industry have helped drive the popularity of casino platforms such as the SEC approving the BlackRock ETF in the US.

The renewed interest in Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market that emerged in the early part of 2024 has been a result of positive ETF news and the emergence of multi-billion dollar institutions now considering Bitcoin a version of digital gold.

Anything that causes positive price action in the underlying cryptocurrencies that casinos use, whether its Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin, will eventually trickle down and result in people checking out websites and applications where they can put their assets into real use, so the knock-on effect is likely to be a positive one for crypto casinos.

Blockchain technology is a disruptive innovation that is changing how many companies operate and causing more casino companies to pay attention. Not only are crypto-only casinos part of this seismic shift, but traditional casinos are also exploring the options of introducing blockchain and digital asset gaming on their platforms.

Ultimately, as is the case with any growing technology, anything that can highlight a new way of doing things and arguably more convenient and cost-effective will intrigue people. The growing numbers of people seeking out crypto casinos are the proof and it will be fascinating to see how big they get and what adoption continues to look like in the coming years.

Featured image via Pixabay.

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Dissecting The Rise Of Cryptocurrency Casinos | Cryptoglobe - CryptoGlobe

Consumer Group Warns About Cryptocurrency Commonly Used By Drug Cartels, Terrorists – The Daily Wire

Americans should be careful about using the cryptocurrency Tether because of its use by terrorists and drug cartels, according to a new multimillion-dollar campaign by a consumer group.

Consumers Research, an independent education organization for consumers, launched a multi-pronged media campaign on Tuesday warning that Americans might be opening themselves up to financial risk by using Tether. Tether is one of the worlds most commonly traded cryptocurrencies and is linked one-to-one to the U.S. dollar.

We are shining a light on Tether for their suspicious business practices, including a decade-long refusal to perform an audit and the routine use of the product by terrorists and traffickers of drugs and humans, Consumers Research Executive Director Will Hild said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.

The campaign against Tether includes a seven-figure national television buy, a Times Square digital billboard, and a website called Tethered Corruption.

Is Tether the next FTX? the ad asks, before saying that the cryptocurrency is chronically under investigation and that its the go-to cryptocurrency for drug cartels and human traffickers.

Multiple reports in the last year have highlighted Tethers use by Hamas, Chinese fentanyl suppliers, and the North Korean nuclear program. Back in 2020, the Justice Department charged six members of an international drug ring with using Tether to bribe a government official.

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The cryptocurrency has also been used by countries like Russia and Venezuela to get around sanctions. According to some estimates, there were about $19.3 billion in illicit Tether transactions in 2023.

Tether has pushed back on allegations of wrongdoing, saying that estimates of illicit activity are exaggerated and that it aids law enforcement.

We have always assisted law enforcement when called upon to act, and we remain fully committed to continuing to work proactively with agencies globally, the company said in December 2023. Tether has and will assist in identifying and freezing addresses subject to sanctions, engaged in illicit activity, or engaged in any form of terrorist financing.

However, Consumers Research says that Tether has evaded real accountability, comparing it to FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that imploded in November 2022, costing customers more than $10 billion.

Given these warning signs, we fear that Tether may very well be the next FTX, Hild said. Consumers should be wary of any so-called stablecoin that refuses to properly certify that they actually hold the assets they claim.

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Consumer Group Warns About Cryptocurrency Commonly Used By Drug Cartels, Terrorists - The Daily Wire

Miners are selling their bitcoin again as the cryptocurrency struggles to hold on to $70000 – CNBC

Signs of miner capitulation are emerging as bitcoin wrestles with the $70,000 level. According to data from CryptoQuant, the flow of bitcoin leaving miners' wallets for exchanges which indicates a selling event reached a two-month high last weekend. Additionally, miner-selling through over-the-counter desks saw its biggest daily volume since late March. "The miners are now competing for 450bitcoinper day network-wide versus 900 less than two months ago," or post-halving , said Mike Colonnese, an analyst at H.C. Wainwright. "While rising transaction fees have helped offset some of this impact, mining economics have effectively fallen by 45% compared to pre-having levels so we're not surprised to see some of this force selling in the market as miners effectively look to cover operating expenses and to some extent capex with the proceeds of thesebitcoinsales." CryptoQuant shows the hourly transfer of bitcoin from miners to exchanges rose to more than 3,000 bitcoins on June 9. The next day, miners sold 1,200 bitcoins on OTC desks. The cryptocurrency's price fell to as low as about $66,000 on June 11. Bitcoin has struggled to break through the $70,000 level since hitting its March 14 record of $73,797.68. "[The] selling has emerged in a context of low revenues after the halving," said CryptoQuant's head of research, Julio Moreno. "Daily bitcoin miner revenues stand today at about $35 million, down 55% from their 2024 peak reached in March." That's mostly as a result of "depressed" transaction fees, however, rather than the slashing of miners' block reward at the halving. He said the Bitcoin network's total daily transaction fees are more than 44% lower than they were pre-halving and that, even with record-high transactions on the network, the median transaction fee has remained low. On top of that, the Bitcoin network's hash rate has barely declined since the April 19 halving, Moreno added. "This indicates that basically the same amount of computing power is competing for a decreasing amount of block rewards, putting additional pressure to miners' profitability," he said. Colonnese said the large publicly traded miners are in good shape after the halving. His top picks are CleanSpark and Iren , the former Iris Energy. "We estimate the group is currently generating north of 50% gross margins withbitcoinat $70,000, while we estimate the all-in cash cost to produce abitcoinfor the group is about $45,000 on average," he said. "So the large listed miners have a good amount of breathing room." CleanSpark is down 19% for the quarter, while Iren is up more than 140%. They've gained 55% and 82% for the year, respectively. "On the other hand, smallerbitcoincompanies with less efficient fleets, higher power costs and less access to capital are really starting to feel the burn and could struggle to make it through the next few months unlessbitcoinprices were to experience a significant price rally over the short term, which is currently not our base case," he added.

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Miners are selling their bitcoin again as the cryptocurrency struggles to hold on to $70000 - CNBC

What is NEAR Cryptocurrency? Forbes Advisor Australia – Forbes

The $NEAR token price has risen over 60% year-to-date, and is currently valued around $US6. Its all-time high was in early 2022, when the cryptos value peaked just above $US20. It has a market cap of $US6.9 billion and more than one billion tokens in circulating supply.

Co-founder Illia Polosukhins background is in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning research at Google, and he initially launched NEAR in 2017 as an AI company that involved teaching machines to code. Polosukhin said he first looked into blockchain technology as a solution to difficulties he was having making micro-payments to collaborators on the AI project located around the worldand found the transaction fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum were too high.

He and co-founder Alexander Skidanov ended up focusing their efforts on how to solve the problem: How do we build something thats truly scalablecan actually scale to a billion users or abovethat is easy to useand optimised for developers being able to hit the ground running using traditional programming languages.

In 2018, they launched the NEAR Protocol, a public, proof-of-stake blockchain, designed to make it simpler and cheaper for developers to build scalable decentralised applications (Dapps).

The network has been successful in gaining backers. In its early days, NEAR raised more than US$20 million in venture capital from firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Pantera Capital. In 2022 it completed two successful funding rounds to boost its network, raising $US150 million and $US350 million, which helped to lift its tokens price.

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What is NEAR Cryptocurrency? Forbes Advisor Australia - Forbes