investments
Valkyrie’s latest ETF offering has exposure to Bitcoin
Crypto asset manager Valkyrie has launched an exchange-traded fund with exposure to Bitcoin on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In a Wednesday SEC filing, Valkyrie said its Balance Sheet Opportunities ETF will not invest directly in Bitcoin (BTC) but 80% of its net assets would offer exposure to the crypto asset through securities of U.S. companies with BTC on their balance sheets. These companies may include custodians, crypto exchanges, and traders. The filing specifies that Valkyrie’s ETF may invest up to 10% of its net assets in securities of Bitcoin mining firms, as well as up to 5% in the securities of pooled investment vehicles in the U.S. that hold BTC. At the time of publication, shares of the fund under the ticker VBB are trading for $24.48, having fallen more than 1.5% since launch...
Nexo partners with Three Arrows Capital to launch NFT lending & art financing service
Nexo, the crypto borrowing and exchange platform, has launched an NFT Lending Desk in partnership with NFT hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The new lending desk caters to over-the-counter, or OTC, clients to offer crypto credit backed by NFTs. Nexo is one of the first crypto lenders to allow customers to borrow stablecoins, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies using certain NFTs as collateral. The company stated that in its initial iteration, the service will accept Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks NFTs, with more collections on the way. Clients can also use issued lines of credit as a means of art financing by executing further NFT purchases with t borrowed funds. In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Nexo Cofounder and Managing Partner Antoni Trenchev said: “Our partnership with...
KKR leads $350M raise for crypto custody bank Anchorage Digital
Major cryptocurrency custody bank Anchorage Digital has closed a fresh funding round, bringing its valuation to over $3 billion. Anchorage Digital announced on Wednesday that it had raised $350 million in a Series D funding round led by equity investment giant KKR. According to the announcement, this is the first time for KKR to directly invest in equity in a company in the crypto industry. The company invested through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II, which is dedicated to developing equity investment in the technology space. “As a pioneer in enabling institutional investors to access digital assets, Anchorage has built a best in class, institutional-grade digital asset platform that combines the best practices of both modern security and usability,” KKR senior leader of tech...
$33.5 billion worth of ETH ‘trapped’ in largest Ethereum contract
The single largest Ethereum contract containing 8,641,954 Ether (ETH) worth $33.5 billion is sitting idle because it cannot be spent or sent. A Twitter user highlighted the Beacon chain contract claiming it to be the largest Ethereum contract with billions of dollars worth of ETH “trapped” inside it. BREAKING: 8,641,954 ETH ($32 billion) trapped in single largest Ethereum contract and unable to be sent or spent. Will require hard fork that hasn’t been written or specified yet. Timing and terms of hard fork still unknown.https://t.co/xcXPwbS93v — Tomer Strolight | Not interested in your trades. (@TomerStrolight) December 14, 2021 The contract in question is an Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain staking contract launched in November 2020, and it cannot be spent without a hardfork. Beacon ...
Bank of Russia to ban mutual funds from investing in Bitcoin
The Russian central bank continues its strict policies regarding the cryptocurrency industry, now officially banning mutual funds from investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). On Dec. 13, the Bank of Russia published an official statement on regulating investment opportunities by mutual investment funds. Despite expanding the number of assets available for investment by mutual funds, the document prohibits fund managers from buying cryptocurrencies as well as “financial instruments whose value depends on prices of digital assets.” The statement emphasizes that mutual funds are not allowed to provide crypto exposure both to either qualified or unqualified investors. The Bank of Russia previously recommended asset managers to exclude cryptocurrencies from exposure in mutual funds in...
Point of no return? Crypto investment products could be key to mass adoption
The first Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) was launched in the United States back on October 19, 2021. Since then, a number of other cryptocurrency investment products have been launched in various markets. That first ETF, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, quicklybecame one of the top ETFs of all time by trading volume on its debut, and soon after, several other Bitcoin futures ETFs were launched in the United States, providing investors with different investment options. To Martha Reyes, head of research at cryptocurrency trading platform Bequant, these options are important. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Reyes pointed out that in traditional finance, ETFs have “proved to be incredibly popular in recent years, with ETF assets expected to reach $14 trillion by 2024.” Reyes s...
Altcoin Roundup: 3 metrics that traders can use to effectively analyze DeFi tokens
Much to the chagrin of cryptocurrency proponents who call for the immediate mass adoption of blockchain technology, there are many “digital landmines” that exist in the crypto ecosystem such as rug pulls and protocol hacks that can give new users the experience of being lost at sea. There’s more to investing than just technical analysis and gut feelings. Over the past year, a handful of blockchain analysis platforms launched dashboards with metrics that help provide greater insight into the fundamentals supporting — or the lack thereof — a cryptocurrency project. Here are three key factors to take into consideration when evaluating whether an altcoin or decentralized finance (DeFi) project is a sound investment. Check the project’s community and developer activity One of the basic wa...
Nigerians urged to reject PIB for failing to address key issues
Socially relevant and need-meeting organisations in partnership with civil society movements have called on Nigerians to massively reject the long-expected PIB as it has failed to address fundamental issues. Rather the organisations said that the outcome of PIB was mischievous and would compound the problems of the communities, just as it would create another avenue to make the rich even richer while the suffering communities continue to languish in difficulty and poverty. The coalition group said the PIB “failed to properly address the lingering issues of the oil and gas host communities” submitting that the recent position on critical issues is a far cry from the yearnings of oil and gas host communities. “The current version of the Petroleum Industry Bill failed to address community, ec...
Yobe governor: No plan to retrench workers
Gov. Mai Mala-Buni of Yobe on Tuesday said his administration has no plan to retrench civil servants in spite of the state’s meagre resources. Mala-Buni gave the assurance in Damaturu on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed permanent secretaries and board members. He said he would continue to attract investments to Yobe from both state and non-state actors in order to meet the financial obligations of the state. “People accuse me of frequenting Abuja; the truth is, if I remain in Damaturu, we cannot pay even our salary bills. “And that means we will have to join the league of states that are retrenching workers; we don’t have such plan. “You are aware of the projects we started, including the four modern markets we are building, the ongoing 3,600 houses, the over 87...
Kwara to establish multi-billion naira cancer treatment centre
Kwara State Government has announced plans to establish a multi-billion naira Cancer treatment Centre to be situated at the Ilorin General Hospital. This is contained in a statement signed by Alhaji Bashir Adigun, the Special Adviser, Political Communication to Kwara Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. According to him, the N2.5 billion recently donated to the state by the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative (ASR Africa) will form a huge chunk of funding for the modern facility. The governor said the centre along with the 12-bed intensive care unit, the modern dental and eye care facilities recently added to the general hospital was part of the huge investments. He said that these facilities would convert the General Hospital to a research facility (teaching hospital) for the take-off of the medica...
Agritech SupPlant Raises $10-Million to Accelerate South African Agriculture Growth
Sourced from Getty Images. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_476.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_476.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Today SupPlant, a leading precision agriculture hardware-software solution, has announced its recent funding round, raising $10-million partially dedicated to accelerating its penetration into the South African Market. The round is co-led by Boresight Capital, Menomadin Foundation, Smart-Agro Fund and Mivtah Shamir. The raise brings SupPlants’s total funding to more than $19-million. New Challenges Faced by Farmers The round comes amidst global warming impacting South African farmers who are dealing daily with the unpredicted climate that is changing rapidly causing tropical storms, cold spells, heat waves and constant lack of irrigation water. /* custo...
Anambra election: PDP aspirant urges delegates to shun monetary inducement
Dr Godwin Maduka, a major contender for the gubernatorial ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Nov. 6 election in Anambra has urged party delegates to shun financial inducement. Maduka, America-based medical practitioner-cum politician, made the call while addressing journalists on Sunday in Awka on the need for party delegates to cast their votes without fear or coercion. He advised delegates to shun monetary inducement and develop boldness to vote for a candidate who has the capacity to develop the state.a He said though he has enough money to buy delegates at any cost but saw an act as undemocratic and should be discouraged for the people to get a sound polity. “Our delegates should be political active and not be passive any more in affairs that concerns their generation ...
