Brazilian City of Porto Alegre Formally Makes Room for Bitcoin Pizza Day

A Bill has formerly been passed to recognize May 22 as Bitcoin Pizza Day in the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil. Sebastiao Melo, the mayor of the city, is credited with having approved the law around the end of August.

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A tweeter user @Akva556 announced the news following a press statement on Wednesday. 

 

Councilors Jesse Sangalli and Alexandre Bobadra were responsible for drafting the bill after attending the Bitcoin Pizza Day event organized by the local community in 2022. They were both inspired by the lectures they received that explained Bitcoin in detail.

 

Sangalli stated that the purpose of making Bitcoin Pizza Day official is to increase awareness of the decentralized finance innovations in the city of Porto Alegre with a current population record of 1.5 million people.

 

Bitcoin pizza day originated when a user from the BitcoinTalk forum by the name of Laszlo Hanyecz offered 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas on May 22. 

 

That day is seen as a turning point for crypto enthusiasts because it was the first time that Bitcoin was really used as a medium of payment. One Bitcoin was worth $0.0025 at the time, the value supplied in Bitcoins cost 41 dollars in total.

 

The Advancement of the Blockchain Industry in Brazil

 

Major Brazilian businesses are gradually making it possible for clients to begin using cryptocurrencies quickly and easily in order to diversify their assets, protect against inflation, and reduce transaction costs as crypto is fast gaining popularity in Brazil.

 

In August, Brazilian Bank BTG Pactual launched its own platform called ‘Mynt’ for crypto trading which became available to the public.

 

Amber Group, a crypto-financial startup firm also announced its intention to expand its retail trading activities into Brazil through a retail platform named WhaleFin.


The largest retail electronic payments network in the world, Visa Inc., has begun working on integrating Bitcoin services with traditional banking systems in Brazil. By so doing, Visa hopes to close the gap between crypto and the current traditional financial system.

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Dogecoin Becomes The 8th Largest Cryptocurrency, Overtaking Cardano

According to CoinMarketCap, Dogecoin has replaced Cardano as the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. On Saturday evening, Dogecoin quickly jumped ahead of Cardono to claim the eighth spot.

The price of Doge has risen by 131.23% in the past 7 days. At the time of writing, the Dogecoin price stood at $0.1344, 50.34% up in the last 24 hours, with a 24-hour trading volume of $15,024,853,397 USD.

Doge is currently ranked #8, with a live market cap of $17,968,371,819 USD – ahead of now ninth-placed Cardano and tenth-placed Solana with $14.4 billion and $11.9 billion respectively.

The meme token rallied on Monday when rumors emerged that Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, was about to buy Twitter’s social media platform. Doge’s bullishness remained throughout the week anchored by two crucial factors.

Dogecoin price surged by 14.52% on Wednesday, bringing the 24-hour rise to 21.22%, with the coin trading at $0.072. The crypto market cap rising and crossing above the $1 trillion mark has been a factor that contributed to DOGE’s rise this week.

Besides that, Doge’s uptick was immensely contributed by Elon Musk’s advancement to seal the Twitter acquisition deal. The billionaire made a presence at the Twitter HQ on Wednesday and eventually closed the deal on Friday, October 28, bringing the six-month-long ordeal to an end. Blockchain.News reported the matter.

Dogecoin is doing pretty well in the market because of the impact that it might integrate on the Twitter platform. In the past, Musk suggested using DOGE to limit spam and bots on Twitter and charge users for their tweets.

Billionaire Elon Musk has been a huge advocate of Dogecoin. In January, Tesla began accepting the Dogecoin cryptocurrency for its merchandise such as the “Giga Texas” belt buckle and mini models of electric vehicles.

Being that Elon Musk is now at the helm of Twitter, social media is likely to make a similar move that is set to see Dogecoins’ prices explode due to its mass adoption.

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DEC Pulls $9M in Seed Funding to Create Decentralized Uber

The Decentralized Engineering Corporation (DEC) has raised a seed investment of $9 million to create a decentralized Uber rival on Solana.

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According to a news report, DEC said that it has raised $9 million in initial money to develop The Rideshare Protocol, or TRIP, which is intended to fuel ridesharing apps from a variety of potential businesses and Teleport will be used as the first application to test this setup.

The CEO of DEC and Founder of Teleport, Paul Bohm highlighted that while Uber is built on a centralized platform that connects drivers to passengers, TRIP is intended to be a decentralized protocol that multiple app developers can use as a marketplace to connect drivers and passengers.

Bohm believes this will foster collaboration and competition, luring consumers away from the titanic business models of Uber and Lyft while driving companies to develop to create the best software imaginable around a shared marketplace. 

Foundation Capital and Road Capital jointly led the seed round, which also included Thursday Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, 305 Ventures, and Common Metal.

DEC will use the seed cash to fuel its deployment in the coming months with Teleport and TRIP performing demonstrations at Solana’s Breakpoint conference in Lisbon in November and Art Basel Miami in December.

Bohm estimated that the project will be fully ready for implementation within 6 to 9 months as DEC seeks to test the model.

Partnership with Solana Network

Solana was established in 2017 as a fully open-source public blockchain with the goal of offering scalable decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.

In 2021, the Solana Foundation collaborated with ROK Capital, a significant South Korean blockchain accelerator, to jointly launch a $20 million fund to develop the Solana blockchain ecosystem in South Korea.

Phantom, Solana’s bitcoin wallet, also received a $109 million Series B investment early in 2022. The seed fund was led by Paradigm, a cryptocurrency firm.

In recent news, over 81% of the Helium Foundation has approved the migration of its decentralized network to the Solana blockchain after a successful community vote.

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FTX CEO Quits Crypto Policy Debate, Allows Crypto Twitter to Carryon

The CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried has hinted that he is no longer interested in any debate that concerns crypto policies. He made his intention known in a Twitter thread shared over the weekend. 

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“Take the wheel, Crypto Twitter,” says Bankman-Fried after a heated argument in the comment section of the Twitter thread.

 

While cryptocurrency users wait for federal regulatory frameworks, Bankman-Fried published a set of guidelines in the digital industry for implementation in a press bulletin that should be followed to protect and clarify their rights but his publication was received with a lot of backlash by some key industry players.

 

Bankman-Fried has pushed Congress to approve a market regulation bill introduced by Senators Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and John Boozman of Arkansas. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would have expanded regulatory authority over crypto exchanges under the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act.

 

The bill seems to be an action that is allegedly harmful to DeFi, primarily a sector of blockchain-based solutions that seek to enhance finance by swapping out central middlemen for computer code.

 

In the Twitter thread, Bankman-Fried urged the ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees to fight for what is right and make his voice heard. He also encouraged everyone to fight for their right to be free, the functioning of the economy, and the enormously scalable power of  Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

 

Oppositions in the Blockchain Industry

 

Bankman-Fried is not the first individual or body to be receiving backlash after proposing a crypto policy. 

 

For example, the Financial authorities in South Korea have stated their opposition to Busan City’s proposal to offer special regulatory support to overseas crypto businesses establishing digital asset exchanges.


The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a US government organization tasked with preserving the financial system in the event of bank failures, sent five crypto-related businesses including FTX US cease-and-desist letters requesting that they stop making false and deceptive claims regarding the availability of deposit insurance for their customers, another model through which opposition to policies can be showcased.

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Bank of America Opens Job Position for Crypto Public Policy Analysts

The Bank of America (BoA), an American multinational bank in Washington DC is seeking 27 applicants for the position of Policy Analysis and Insights Manager with a primary focus on fintech, cyber, AI, cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and blockchain.

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The new staff will identify new challenges and assess the possible impact to the enterprise.

The bank posted the job application via its official LinkedIn page. According to the bank, the candidate for this position will be in charge of researching and analyzing proposed policy changes and creating and implementing advocacy plans that support company objectives. 

In addition, the professional will be tasked with forming industry coalitions, drafting proposed legislation, amendments, and comments on regulations, creating analyses, position papers, executive summaries, and reports, and drafting external communications, including testimony for governmental and regulatory bodies.

The ideal candidate is expected to have 2-4 years of expertise in cryptocurrency markets and trading, as well as a demonstrated interest in and comprehension of fintech, cyber, AI, crypto, stablecoins, blockchain, associated industries, and related laws.

The Bank of America Getting Involved in Crypto

The job opening by the bank shows that it is highly interested in the blockchain industry and therefore seeks to improve its blockchain technological arm.

Following the trend of crypto in 2021, the BoA released an announcement to research crypto and digital assets. The Bank of America created a digital currency research team for the first time, under the direction of Alkesh Shah, as the hot ecosystem continues to gain traction among all classes of investors.

In September the Bank of America talked about the decision of the Binance exchange platform to convert all its customers’ existing balances and future deposits of three stablecoins into its own native Binance USD ( BUSD). In its research paper, the bank noted that while Binance’s decision may only have a little short-term financial impact on the exchange, it may have more significant long-term effects.

BoA strategists recently hinted that the recent shift in Bitcoin is an indication that it is becoming a safe haven in relation to other digital assets.

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Financially Distressed Core Scientific Owes $1 Billion To Creditors

Core Scientific, a major publicly traded crypto mining company in the U.S., on Friday raised the possibility of bankruptcy in a statement filed with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). Blockchain.News reported the matter.

The Bitcoin miner sent a warning of its inability to pay down its creditors after saying it may have to apply for bankruptcy protection if it fails to improve its financial condition.

Core Scientific said it anticipates existing cash finances will be depleted by the end of the year or possibly sooner. The firm further revealed that it will not make its debt payments coming due in late October and early November.

Core Scientific admitted that it might be sued as a result of missed payments. The company stated in the filing that its creditors are therefore free to sue the firm for nonpayment, take action with respect to collateral and opt to accelerate the principal amount of such debts.

The latest report shows that Core Scientific owes about $1 billion to a series of companies including crypto lender BlockFi, investment banking firm B. Riley, crypto financial services firm NYDIG, Anchor Labs, the parent company of digital asset bank Anchorage Digital, and Barings LLC, an international investment management firm owned by MassMutual.

The largest loans and promissory notes taken out by the Bitcoin miner from B. Riley, MassMutual Barings, and BlockFi, were $75 million, $65.6 million, and $60.7 million, respectively, as of June 30.

Core Scientific took a huge amount of loans to finance its hardware and infrastructure improvements, beginning in the second half of 2021, when Bitcoin prices were on the rise (reaching a peak of nearly $70,000 in November) and when miners were racing to grow their operations amid the recent market downturn that started early this year.

Core Scientific said its operating performance and liquidity have been severely affected by the prolonged decrease in Bitcoin price, the increase in electricity costs, as well as the increase in the global Bitcoin network hash rate as more miners are competing for the reward.

In the filing, Core Scientific also blamed default payments by Celsius Networks LLC for its financial struggles. Despite selling most of its Bitcoin in June, the firm is down to $26.6 million in cash.

Core Scientific is not the only struggling firm in the mining sector. In September, Compute North, one of the largest operators of crypto-mining data centers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said its CEO stepped down as the fall in crypto prices continues raging the industry. Early this month, Marathon Digital Holdings, disclosed an $80 million exposure to the bankrupt mining firm.

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Elon Musk Could Bring More Crypto Use Cases into Twitter: Bloomberg

Elon Musk became Twitter’s owner late Thursday after his $44 billion deal to take over the firm officially closed, marking a new era for one of the most influential social media platforms in the world.

Bloomberg media on Saturday suggested several ways that Musk, who is one of the most significant crypto influencers globally, might bring more cryptocurrency into Twitter.

According to Bloomberg, if Musk decided to play a bigger crypto role on Twitter, there are some ways he could do it.

Bots and spam on Twitter have been a huge concern for Musk and helped trigger a contentious legal battle that put his acquisition of the firm at risk. The issue is particularly important in cryptocurrency, where spam accounts impersonate famous personalities like Musk in order to promote scams involving fake crypto giveaways.

According to Bloomberg, some crypto enthusiasts believe that Musk may advocate for the use of blockchain to help reduce bots on Twitter and authenticate all real humans on social media.

Freedom of speech is a priority for Musk, and he intends to lift the company’s lifelong bans on users. Those values align with those of most crypto believers dedicated to the ethos of the decentralization promoted by blockchain.

As per Bloomberg, Musk could potentially implement a token-based voting system that allows users to have more say over what occurs on Twitter. He also could add more crypto elements on Twitter to expand decentralization aspects and mainstream usage of digital assets.

Musk has already expressed ambitions of turning Twitter into a “super app.” In the past, he expressed admiration for China’s WeChat platform, which can handle things like messaging, games, payments, and video streaming.

Just like other aspiring super app creators, such as the Revolut fintech firm, expanding into crypto, Musk’s vision would like to include digital assets on Twitter, allowing more cryptocurrencies for tipping, and with Dogecoin much likely to be included, as Musk has been a major supporter of DOGE.

Lastly, other mainstream social media platforms like Instagram are jumping into the NFT craze. Musk could introduce more NFT features on Twitter to ensure Twitter doesn’t fall behind other social media giants in terms of cryptocurrency adoption.

On Thursday, Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter Inc with renewed commitment and brutal efficiency.  Though, the executive has not provided detailed clarity over how he intends to achieve the ambitions he outlined for the influential Twitter social media platform and who will run the firm.

Just to mention a few, the Tesla CEO and self-described free-speech absolutist said he wants to prevent Twitter from becoming a platform for hate and division. Other goals include wanting to defeat spam bots on social media and making the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available.

Since his presence and support for the crypto space are widely evident, users are now curious to know how Twitter will embrace cryptocurrency on its platform.

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Cosmos Hub Postpones Vote Date On New Security Model Proposal

After two respective postponements, the Cosmos’ vote date to approve proposed changes to the network’s Hub has now been fixed to October 31.

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The proposed changes by the Cosmos developers are said to mark Cosmos Hub’s transition to the next phase as an infrastructure service platform and a renewed role for ATOM as preferred collateral within the Cosmos Network.

According to the proposal document, the Cosmos Councils, formed by domain-specialized entities, would be in charge of the proposed plan and also be responsible for the execution of development and operations.

The proposal on-chain voting was initially scheduled for October 3, prior to the project’s updated version of its white paper, which the initial version was introduced in September. 

The whitepaper proposed the project’s plan to rebuild its Hub to be more interoperable and secured with a mechanism called interchain security. This mechanism allows application-specific chains in the Cosmos ecosystem to secure themselves using the Cosmos Hub.

The whitepaper also included critical changes to the Cosmos token (ATOM), with a new issuance model focused on striking an improved balance between growth and interchain adoption of the ecosystem while still maintaining the security provided by the original regime – according to the whitepaper.

Another sector the whitepaper centers on are two functionalities, namely Interchain Scheduler and Interchain Allocator, including a new optimized issuance regime for liquid staking.

Cosmos is an interoperability ecosystem of several blockchains that can scale and interact with one another using the Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol via the Cosmos Hub. 

The Cosmos Hub is the first blockchain built in the Cosmos ecosystem; it initially acted as an intermediary between other interconnected blockchains.

Coupled with Cosmos’ updated version of its white paper, the ecosystem has so far proved to be a developing one. It has a total of 14 chains inhabiting the ecosystem, with Cronos chain being the most dominant with a total value locked of roughly $810.71 million, according to data from DeFiLama.

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Visa Files Trademark Applications for Crypto Products, Including NFTs

Payment giant Visa has filed two trademark applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) concerning cryptocurrency wallets, non-fungible tokens (NFT), and the Metaverse.

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This was initially revealed when Mike Kondoudis, a USPTO-licensed trademark attorney, tweeted about it on Thursday.

Filed on October 22, 2022, the application applies for trademarks related to managing digital, virtual, and cryptocurrency transactions, including digital currency and cryptocurrency wallets.

The application also applied to providing temporary use of non-downloadable software for users to view, access, store, monitor, manage, trade, send, receive, transmit, and exchange digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, and NFTs.

Other sections of the applications relate to non-downloadable virtual goods as well as a collectible series of non-fungible tokens and also providing virtual environments where users can interact with each other for recreational, relaxation, or entertainment purposes available and accessible in the virtual world.

As a result of the rapid growth of the web3 industry as a whole, filing trademark crypto product applications is now a thing most companies have been actively doing these past years. As reported by Blockchain.News last month, the Web3.0 and Metaverse trademark-related applications for this year have already surpassed the total recorded in 2021.

According to data uploaded by Mike Kondoudis, roughly 4,200 US trademark applications were filed for metaverse, virtual, and web3 goods and services within the first 8 months of this year. In addition, the NFT-specific trademarks have outpaced that of last year, with crypto-hinged trademarks also hitting massive figures.

Furthermore, Juniper Research has reported that NFT transactions are expected to rise from 24 million in 2022 to $40 million by 2027 as the metaverse trend continues to gain steam. The report stated, this projection is based on its medium scenario for adoption, with brands leveraging the metaverse to boost digital growth.

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