Xcoins Awarded Coveted MFSA License, as Crypto Community Gathers for Bitcoin Conference 2021
There were celebrations at the Xcoins offices this week as the exchange was awarded regulatory approval from the MFSA. Elsewhere, the cryptocurrency community gathered in Miami ahead of Bitcoin Conference 2021. Discover which company is working towards the first enterprise-scale renewable Bitcoin mining facility and which country is about to allow Bitcoin as legal tender.
- The crypto community gather in Miami for Bitcoin Conference 2021
- Xcoins awarded a world-leading license by MFSA
- Google lifts cryptocurrency advertising ban
- Elon Musk breaks up with Bitcoin?
- El Salvador to allow Bitcoin as tender
- G7 agrees new corporation tax reform
- Big-ticket reports to watch out for this week
12,000 gather for Bitcoin Conference 2021
On Friday and Saturday last week the Bitcoin Conference 2021 was hosted in the city of Miami, Florida. With a sold-out crowd of over 12,000 attendees, it was confirmed as the largest Bitcoin event ever to take place.
Organised by Bitcoin Magazine, the event was originally set to take place in Los Angeles. However, due COVID-19 regulations, and Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez pushing Miami as the ‘world’s cryptocurrency capital’, the conference was moved earlier this year. Taking on a music festival design, stages at the conference included the ‘Nakamoto Stage’, ‘Stacking Sats’ and ‘End of Fiat Stage’. With multiple industry-leading talks arranged across the two days, attendees were spoilt for choice.
The conference hosted the world’s cryptocurrency elite from MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Morgan Creek Co-founder Anthony Pompliano. United States government officials Senator Cynthia Lummis and Warren Davidson were also present. It presented the opportunity for likeminded individuals to interact and connect.
Hot topics of conversation included the destruction of the dollar due to Federal Reserve monetary policies, a call for Congress to step up digital currency education and frustration regarding influential people, such as Elon Musk, manipulating the markets.
Along with those actively involved in the cryptocurrency industry, the conference saw the appearance of Tony Hawk, Floyd Mayweather, Paris Hilton and a whole host of internet-famous celebrities.
Xcoins receives a world-leading license from MFSA
It was celebrations at Xcoins this week as our exchange obtained a Class 3 Virtual Financial Asset license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). With few cryptocurrency regulators in the world, it establishes Xcoins as a premium leader in the industry. Obtaining the license requires internal process and policies to be of the highest quality.
Speaking on Monday, the Founder and CEO of Xcoins Rob Fyre said “We’re proud to announce that we’ve received our VFA license from the MFSA. Being one of the first cryptocurrency platforms to achieve this milestone means that we can keep paving the way for a more secure and regulated industry. Xcoins is leading the way as digital assets gain popularity worldwide.”
By achieving this milestone it highlights Xcoins’ intent to offer a secure and efficient platform for cryptocurrency investors.
Google lifts cryptocurrency advertising ban
In an unexpected move last Wednesday Google announced that it would be allowing the advertisement of cryptocurrency exchanges through its platform.
Google previously banned the advertisement of crypto exchanges in 2018 in a move that caused the Bitcoin price to tumble and has not lifted the ban since. Google has not always been the greatest supporter of cryptocurrencies and at one stage even blacklisted the word ‘Ethereum’ from ads.
However, with the ban reversal, US-based exchanges can once again start using the services of Google for promotion. A policy update from Google’s support page states that exchanges that wish to use Google’s advertising services will need to be registered with the US authority FinCen as a Money Services Business. They will also need to be registered within at least one state as a money transmitter or as a federal/state-chartered bank entity.
The move means that US-based cryptocurrency enthusiasts may soon be bombarded with advertisements from US regulated exchanges. The change will take place from 3rd August.
More Musk Manipulation?
Elon Musk was back in action last week and caused Bitcoin prices to tumble throughout much of Friday’s trading. Late Thursday evening, just before the start of the Bitcoin Conference 2021, the CEO of Tesla excited Twitter followers by posting a break-up relationship meme, accompanied by a short tweet with the word Bitcoin followed by the broken-heart emoji.
The tweet increased uncertainty during Friday, which saw Bitcoin and Ethereum give up the price advances that had been acquired during the first half of the week. It served as another reminder of the level of influence Elon Musk currently has over the cryptocurrency markets. However, unlike the reaction to tweets in May, there were signs of waning influence.
Although causing a downturn in prices, the downturn was minor in comparison to May’s bearish reaction, which was partially caused by Musk falsely suggesting Tesla had sold all of it’s bitcoin. The lack of reaction to last week’s tweet has offered encouragement to many investors. Perhaps, more people are starting to question Musk’s motives and overall opinion. Knowing his influence in the cryptocurrency industry it is strange to think that the tweets are little more than fun and games for the billionaire.
Square and Blockstream to build solar-powered Bitcoin mining facility
The CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, was front and centre during the Bitcoin Conference 2021 and unveiled a couple of speculative plans for his younger financial services company Square Inc. On the first day of the conference the entrepreneur announced via Twitter that Square Inc would be looking into the development of its own hardware wallet. The wallet would differ from others by giving users a greater control of their digital assets.
Posted on Friday, Dorsey’s tweet reads “If we do it, we would built it entirely in the open, from software to hardware design, and in collaboration with the community. We want to kick off this thinking the right way: by sharing some of our guiding principles”.
Accompanying the speculative plans for a hardware wallet, on Saturday Square Inc confirmed a collaboration with Blockstream Mining to build a solar-powered Bitcoin mining facility. Blockstream Mining, who already own and run Bitcoin mining solutions, plan to develop the solar-powered system at one of the company’s North American sites.
Square will be investing $5 million into the new facility which will be a ‘proof of concept’ for renewable Bitcoin mining at scale. Square released a tweet regarding the news which reads “We hope to show that a renewable mining facility in the real world is not only possible but also prove empirically that Bitcoin accelerates the world towards a sustainable future.”
Discussions surrounding the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining have been brought to light recently. However, with innovations such as this already underway, unsustainable Bitcoin mining may become a thing of the past sooner than expected.
El Salvador first country to make Bitcoin legal tender
Announced via video stream at the Bitcoin Conference 2021, the President of El Saldvador Nayib Bukele, spoke of El Salvador’s intention to allow the use of Bitcoin as legal tender next week. The country is already working with Strike, a digital wallet company, to facilitate the build of the required infrastructure.
Speaking on the development, Jack Mallers, founder of Strike said “What’s transformative here is that bitcoin is both the greatest reserve asset ever created and a superior monetary network. Holding bitcoin provides a way to protect developing economies from potential shocks of fiat currency inflation”. The founder said that it would be a “shot heard” for other countries globally.
70% of El Salvador’s population do not have access to a bank account and 20% of the country’s GDP comes from migrants sending money back home. It is hoped Bitcoin will ease this process.
G7 announces global tax reform
Finance ministers from the most economically advanced countries agreed to back a US proposal last week for at least 15% corporation tax on multinational organisations. This would remove the use of current ‘tax havens’.
The UK’s minister, Rishi Sunak, was interviewed on Saturday and stated that “G7 finance ministers today, after years of discussions, have reach a historic agreement to reform the global tax system, to make it fit for the digital age – and crucially to make sure that it’s fair so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places”.
The group believes that it will remove the ‘race to the bottom’ mentality for corporate taxation and provide a fairer benchmark for all. A consensus from the G7 countries will help push the proposal in talks planned with 135 other countries in Paris later this year.
The agreement comes ahead of the G7 meeting next week, which is due to take place in Cornwall, UK.
Big-ticket reports to watch out for this week:
Tuesday – Japan GDP, Euro GDP, US Goods Trade Balance
Wednesday – China CPI, Bank of Canada Interest Rate Decision
Thursday – European Central Bank Interest Rate Decision, US Initial Jobless Claims
Friday – G7 Meeting, US Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
To stay up to date on all things crypto, like Xcoins on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and sign up at the bottom of the page to subscribe.