El Salvador is building a Bitcoin City, Coinbase acquires a self-custody wallet and now you can hunt for Bitcoins like Pokemon Go. These stories and more this week in crypto.
El Salvador is planning to issue $1 billion worth of bitcoin-backed bonds to build the first Bitcoin City. Half of the funds raised would go to the building of the new city and the other half directly invested into bitcoin. No taxes will be levied on the city’s citizens apart from a Value Added Tax in the hope that this will attract foreign businesses.
Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, has acquired crypto wallet firm BRD for an undisclosed amount. The price of BRD’s utility token rocketed about 500% following the announcement of the deal. Launched in 2014, with a focus on customer-controlled funds, BRD offers self-custody crypto wallets for its 10 million customers worldwide.
Cardano and TRON prices sank following a decision by trading platform eToro to delist the coins from its platform for its US users by the end of the year. After December 31, US users will no longer be able to open new positions in ADA or TRX. In a terse statement, the exchange said that its decision was based on unspecified regulatory reasons.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency asset manager, Grayscale, thinks that the entire Metaverse field might be worth well over $1 trillion in the next few years. According to the latest research report, at the current pace, it has the potential to compete with Web 2.0 organizations, which are worth around $15 trillion today.
The global bank, Citi is hiring a team of 100 people to focus on assessing the needs of their clients in the digital asset space. The crypto division will study the digital asset markets, as well as the evolving regulatory landscape and associated risks in order to offer clients crypto investment services in the future.
The IRS has revealed that $3.5 billion dollars in value was seized during fiscal year 2021, representing 93% of all funds seized by its criminal investigation unit. The IRS’s Cyber and Forensic Services division explained that cryptocurrency seizures have become the new normal for criminal investigations and they expect to seize an even larger amount next year.
JRR Token, a memecoin named after the author of The Lord of the Rings has been shut down following legal action from the Tolkien estate about infringing trademark rights. The coin was launched on Binance Smart Chain in August and now has been ordered to be delisted. The cryptocurrency’s social media accounts and website have been deleted since the announcement.
Niantic, the developer behind the popular augmented reality game Pokemon Go, has partnered with payments company Fold to launch an augmented reality game where players can earn Bitcoin. Instead of finding rare creatures like in Pokemon Go, Fold users will be able to discover and collect Bitcoin and other prizes by exploring the world around them.
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That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.