Daily Crypto News | 05.03.2021

1- In a video interview with Reuters, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has said “It (the lawsuit) has hindered activity in the United States, but it has not really impacted what’s going on for us in the Asia Pacific.”
2- British cryptocurrency mining company Argo Blockchain’s CEO Peter Wall becomes the first C-level of a publicly-traded firm to earn their salary paid in Bitcoin.
3- According to a Bloomberg report, BitMEX’s new CEO Alexander Höptner has said the company is planning to add spot trading, brokerage, and custody services, also adding that they are aiming to restore relationships with the regulators. He refused to answer questions regarding the charges against the BitMEX co-founders including Arthur Hayes.
4- 45-year-old Swedish man Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson pleads guilty for defrauding 3,575 victims of more than $16M between November 2012 and June 2019.
5- Sanders Morris Harris chairman George Ball believes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are “attractive as a part, a small part, of almost any portfolio” against inflation and currency debasement over the long term.
6- Blockchain infrastructure company Bison Trails now supports the Cosmos Network ecosystem offering to streamline the processes like staking and running full nodes.
7- Former Bitfinex and OKEx executive Vincent Lau joins Huobi Global as the new managing director tasked to oversee the business expansion, development, local ops, and DeFi strategies.
8- US-based crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association’s executive director Kristin Smith has reported that they are already scheduling meetings with high-ranking officials including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other representatives from the US Treasury Department, also emphasizing that their “number one priority is helping Yellen understand crypto goes beyond the financing of criminal enterprises.”
9- According to local news outlet Siam Rath, the largest movie theater operator in Thailand, Major Cineplex Group has started to accept Bitcoin with a pilot customer group.
10- The city of Reno, Nevada’s Mayor Hillary Schieve announced that they have partnered with Tezos to digitize Burning Man artwork as NFTs, starting with the Space Whale sculpture.
11- After FCA’s ban on all cryptocurrency derivatives trading, Bybit will stop serving customers with UK-based IP addresses effective March 31, 2021.
12- Thailand’s oldest banking institution, Siam Commercial Bank’s venture arm SCB 10X has invested in institutional crypto custody platform Anchorage, in an $80 million Series C fundraising round led by the Singapore-based wealth fund GIC.
13- Blockchain development company The Bitfury Group’s subsidiary Cipher Mining Technologies Inc. has come to terms with a $2B merger with the Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company Good Works Acquisition Corp.
14- MicroStrategy’s CEO Michael Saylor has announced that the company has acquired 205 $BTC at an average price of $48,888.
15- Major ethereum Improvement Proposal-1559, aka the “London” hard fork is scheduled for July 2021.
16- The United States Department of Justice accuses internet security mogul John McAfee of “conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities and touting fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and substantive wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy offenses stemming from two schemes relating to the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies qualifying under federal law as commodities or securities.”
17- The Miami-based cryptocurrency company Centra Tech’s co-founder Sohrab Sharma, aka “Sam Sharma” who previously has pled guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud is now sentenced to eight years for conducting an illegal ICO defrauding investors over $25M.
18- Bloomberg has announced that they are now providing information for six more cryptocurrencies including Orchid, OMG Network, EOS, ChainLink, Tezos, and Stellar.
19- Nyan Dogecoin GIF NFT has been sold for 45 $ETH.
20- DeFi platform PAID NETWORK has been exploited in an “infinite mint” attack. The hacker has swapped $3.1M worth of $PAID to $WETH, leaving $24.3M worth of $PAID in their wallet.
21- Bitcoin is up 1.3% at $49,045.
22- HOLO (HOT) is the highest gainer in the top 100 list with a 20.3% daily profit.
23- Enjin (ENJ) is the highest loser in the top 100 list with an 11.3% daily loss.
24- $BTC = $BTC | 1 Satoshi is 1 Satoshi.