Latin American cryptocurrency exchange Bitso has said it now has 1 million users. 

Already the most popular crypto exchange in its home market of Mexico, where it launched back in 2014 as the country’s first such platform, Bitso has now also taken the top spot in Argentina, where it went live in February 2020. 

The exchange is also an early partner of Ripple, and received an undisclosed investment from Coinbase and Ripple in October 2019.

During a Unitize panel on 8 July, Bitso’s director of cross-border payments, Santiago Alvarado, said the exchange hit one million users last week, and is now planning to launch in the potentially huge Brazilian market. 

Alvarado attributed Bitso’s Argentine success to the country’ large crypto and freelance community – many of whom use cryptocurrencies to receive payments from employers in the United States and other countries. 

He also pointed to the fact that, in Latin America as a whole, nearly 80% of people have smartphones, but only 50-60% have bank accounts, meaning many people are bypassing traditional financial services completely, and going straight to crypto. 

Notably, the week ending 7 July Argentina saw Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume hit a record high in terms of Argentine pesos value, with 92 BTC traded on LocalBitcoins – equivalent TO 100 million pesos. 

With Argentina’s economy already facing a third year of recession before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the economic crisis now likely to be much worse, crypto use in the country only looks set to grow.

AYO.NEWS says:

Considering the relative economic instability of many nations in Latin America, it’s logical that crypto use is growing fast, with people finding it an easier and more dependable way to both store and transfer wealth. 

Latin America is also seeing its fair share of home-grown crypto innovation. For example, in April Colombian cross-border remittance startup Valiu launched its own Bitcoin-backed synthetic dollar, to help Venezuelan migrant works transfer money home without losing most of its value in the process.

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Blockchain gaming company Animoca Brands has reported record revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

Animoca Brands, whose blockchain-based game line-up includes titles like The Sandbox, F1 Delta Time, and Crazy Defence Heroes, reported revenue of $7.34 million USD during the first four months of 2020 – with the first quarter generating $4.33 million, and an incredible $3 million being added in April. 

According to the company, at the end of April it held $6.08 million in fiat and crypto assets, of which around $770K was in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and $1.2 million in various altcoins. The significant increase in crypto assets was attributed to its non-fungible token (NFT) sales for The Sandbox, F1 Delta Time, and Crazy Defense Heroes.

As we’ve previously reported, Animoca Brands is one of the companies leading the blockchain gaming revolution, which promises to give players true ownership rights over in-game assets. 

Being blockchain-based means the ownership is not dependent on the fate and management whims of a particular publisher or game title – as has been the case with in-game assets previously. 

Logically, this should motivate players to invest more of their time and money into games, and is already leading to the rise of a true parallel digital economy.  

The potential of blockchain-based games isn’t being lost on major investors either. The Sandbox (TSB), which is now a standalone company, with Animoca Brands as a major shareholder, has attracted investments from Square Enix, B Cryptos, Mindfulness Capital, and True Global Ventures, while F1 Delta Time has been developed in partnership with Formula 1. 

AYO.NEWS says:

As with the boom in esports, companies may see things settle down a bit when the COVID-19 crisis is over – but that could be a long way off, with lockdowns being reimposed and fears of an even worse second wave of infections growing. 

But, even so, there are signs that the crisis has changed the way many think about the world and the global economy. It has highlighted how vulnerable our physical systems are, and particularly how exposed many people’s livelihood are. 

Given this, the appeal of existing more in an online world, and even potentially building wealth through creating and trading digital in-game assets, must surely have increased for many millions of people. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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The Venezuelan National Guard has seized 315 Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines, while the government has been denied access to its gold reserves stored in England.

Venezuelan National Guard seizes Bitcoin mining rigs

The Venezuelan National Guard has seized 315 Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines as they were being transported in Puerto Ordaz.

Apparently the owners of the Bitmain miners didn’t “have the required permits to own and operate the machines.” Authorities in Puerto Ordaz also said the owners were not authorised to transport them during the COVID-19 quarantine. 

Under Venezuelan law anyone wanting to own or operate cryptocurrency mining machines must first secure permits from the “National Superintendence of Cryptoactivities.” 

UK Court prevents Venezuela from accessing its own gold reserves

Just last week, the UK High Court blocked Venezuela’s ‘president’ Nicolas Maduro from accessing  gold stored at the Bank of England – which amounts to some $1 billion USD worth. 

Venezuela’s central bank, Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), had sued the Bank of England for access to the gold, but Maduro’s rival, Juan Guaidó, who declared himself acting president in 2019, argued that Maduro would use the gold for corrupt purposes, not to fight the COVID-19 outbreak as claimed.

The Bank of England asked the High Court to rule on who the UK government should recognise as legitimate president of Venezuela, and it concluded that the UK had “unequivocally recognised opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president.”

This will put further pressure on the Venezuelan government’s finances, which were already reeling from a collapsing economy and hyperinflation before the COVID-19 crisis hit, and the international demand for oil collapsed.

As we’ve previously reported, the Venezuelan government had pinned its economic hopes on its national oil-backed Petro cryptocurrency. However, even prior to the current global crisis, the digital currency system had been lambasted as a joke, and seemed to be falling apart, with only the government itself taking it seriously, and the Venezuelan people opting to stick with cryptos like Bitcoin.

AYO.NEWS says:

This is interesting, as only last week Max Keiser predicted that a Bitcoin hash rate war will soon break out between the United States on one side, and Iran and Venezuela on the other. 

We wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the 315 Bitmain machines make their way to some secret government run mining farm, along with all the other rigs that have been confiscated over the last few years. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

In another sign that China is nearing the launch of its much anticipated digital yuan, the country’s central bank has partnered with ride-hailing behemoth DiDi. 

China’s answer to Uber, DiDi is currently the world’s second highest valued unicorn startup, worth some $56 billion USD, and backed by international tech giants including Apple, Alibaba, and Tencent. 

The company says it now has 550 million users across Asia, Latin America, and Australia, and also plans to launch an autonomous vehicles division and get over a million self-driving cars onto the road by 2030. In fact, in June, the company launched its on-demand robotaxi service in Shanghai. 

By entering a strategic partnership with DiDi, with a view to designing and implementing pilot projects, the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is signalling it is transitioning into what could be the final phases of testing before a general rollout. 

Although, despite the partnership with DiDi, and pilot projects in the cities of Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan, and Chengdu, the PBoC still hasn’t revealed a release date for the digital yuan.

AYO.NEWS says:

Given the scale of DiDi’s operations, covering essential daily services like transport, the PBoC’s partnership with the company seems to suggest the digital yuan project is pretty much set from a technical point of view, and is ready for mass real-world testing. 

And, with the rest of the world, and especially arch-rival the United States, still distracted by the COVID-19 crisis, China seems to be building a lead when it comes to the Central Bank Digital Currency field, and public blockchain infrastructure in general. 

Only last week authorities in Beijing published the Beijing Blockchain Innovation Development Action Plan 2020-2022 – a 20-point plan to encourage the development and deployment of distributed ledger technologies. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Binance has added fiat gateway support for 15 national currencies through a partnership with Etana Custody. 

According to an official announcement today, the Malta-based global blockchain company and crypto exchange has added support for the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED), Australian Dollar (AUD), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Swiss Franc (CHF), Czech Koruna (CZK), Euros (EUR), British Pound (GBP), Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), Danish Krone (DKK), Hungarian Forint (HUF), Mexican Peso (MXN), Norwegian Krone (NOK), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Polish złoty (PLN), and Swedish Krona (SEK).

Support for the currencies has been made possible through a partnership with crypto and fiat institutional custodian Etana Custody.

Commenting on the news Binance Founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), said:

“We are pleased to introduce this new fiat gateway through Etana Custody. The integration helps make access to digital assets more effortless for people across the European, Asian, North American and Oceanian markets.

“At Binance, we are committed to furthering global digital assets adoption by launching multiple fiat-to-digital assets gateways. Binance’s fiat gateways covers over 170 countries and regions in the world and we are continuing to add more to make crypto more available across the globe.”

Users can now link their Binance accounts to Etana Custody accounts, wire funds directly from their bank accounts to Etana, and then get their Etana fiat balance credited to their Binance accounts, instantly and free of charge. 

Etana has full Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes in place, and has waived custody and deposit fees for sums of $1,000 USD or higher until 5 August 2020 (a $35 bank wire transfer fee still applies). Maximum deposit and withdrawal limits will depend on the level of the Binance account, and minimum deposit and withdrawal limit is $150. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Yet again we see Binance making an effort to attract the all-important institutional clients – and this easier onboarding for a host of major fiat currencies should do just that. Last month the company also announced it is planning to launch a UK-based platform this summer, to meet rising demand from institutional clients.

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Tokenised securities exchange Currency.com has been granted a new distributed ledger technology license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). 

The London-headquartered company is already licensed in Belarus, but it hopes being licensed in Gibraltar, whose laws are largely based on those of England and Wales, will make its services more attractive to European clients.

Discussing the news Currency.com CEO, Jonathan Squires, said:

“Our operations in Gibraltar are part of our commitment to expanding across the globe, offering a blockchain-backed, highly regulated and secure service designed to give customers the flexibility they’ve been looking for. 

“The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission is composed of sharp-minded, informed individuals, who are at the forefront of regulating complicated emerging industries. Gibraltar has been working on financial regulation in this area for many years and has a strict application process for crypto companies. 

“Our Gibraltar licence is an important endorsement for the platform and further confirms our adherence to the most stringent standards, providing the highest level of safety and security for our traders.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Gibraltar has been working to expand its DLT and blockchain sector for some time now, seeing it, like fellow Mediterranean jurisdiction Malta, as a logical complement to its already well-developed iGaming and financial sectors.

Of course, with the end of the Brexit transition period fast approaching, and the COVID-19 economic crisis intensifying, the British Overseas Territory will have an added impetus to nurture the nascent sector. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020