Russians liquidate billions in crypto to save their fortunes

Russians are flooding cryptocurrency firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with requests to liquidate billions of dollars in a desperate attempt to save their fortunes, company executives and financial sources told Reuters.

Some of them want to buy real estate in the UAE, while others want to convert it into fiat and hide it elsewhere, insiders reported.

Russians are concerned Switzerland will freeze their assets

One crypto firm received quite a number of requests from Swiss brokers, asking to liquidate billions in Bitcoin because their clients are concerned Switzerland might freeze the funds. According to a representative of the firm, all of the requests were for $2 billion or more. They added:

We’ve had like five or six in the past two weeks. None of them have come off yet – they’ve sort of fallen over at the last minute, which is not rare – but we’ve never had this much interest. We have one guy – I don’t know who he is, but he came through a broker – and they’re like, ‚we want to sell 125,000 bitcoin‘. And I’m like, ‚what? That’s $6 billion guys‘. And they’re like, ‚yeah, we’re going to send it to a company in Australia‚.

UAE is seen as a safe haven

The UAE has refused to side with either the West or Russia, leading Russians to believe their money is safe there. According to real estate brokers, a lot of Russians and some Belarusians have been coming to Dubai and bringing their funds with them, including in crypto.

Sources in the UAE confirmed that Russians are purchasing real estate in Dubai. They are using crypto to get their resources into the UAE and out of other regions.

Crypto exchanges blocking Russian accounts

Albeit details being few and far between, cryptocurrency exchanges have said they are blocking the accounts of sanctioned Russians. Binance and Coinbase are taking measures to ensure crypto is not used to circumvent sanctions and are cooperating with law enforcement on this issue.

However, crypto still offers a high degree of anonymity. Germany, Estonia, and other European countries have asked for stricter oversight to eliminate any loopholes that could allow Russians to evade sanctions.

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SEC rejects NYDIG, Global X spot Bitcoin ETF proposals

SEC’s latest move adds to a string of others seen over the years, with the US market’s wait for a spot Bitcoin ETF set to go on.

The US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again rejected applications seeking to list spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US market.

In its latest move, the securities watchdog has denied the NYDIG Spot Bitcoin ETF and the Global X Bitcoin Trust applications.

The two funds sought to list and trade physically settled Bitcoin ETFs. However, filings dated 10th March 2022 now put all that into an expanding basket of rejected applications.

And with it, another shot at having the regulator allow a spot BTC product has ended- at least for now (other proposals are pending the SEC’s decision).

SEC’s argument is…

NYDIG filed an application to list the spot Bitcoin ETF on NYSE Arca, Inc. on 30th June 2021, while Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. filed Global X’s proposal on 30 August 2021.

The SEC’s orders disapproving the applications cite issues around fraud and manipulative acts, noting that the rejections are merited in the interest of protecting consumers and “public interest.”

In 2021, the regulator approved the first of two Bitcoin futures ETFs. The move saw the crypto industry’s excitement towards a spot ETF rise. But in the period since the ProShares and Valkyrie ETFs, the SEC has disapproved applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs by Van Eck, Fidelity, Wisdom Tree, and First Trust.

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF proposal is pending the regulator’s decision.

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Highlights March 11: Stacks, Kadena, Zcash surge, UK100 tumbles

The crypto market was relatively less volatile over the past 24 hours.

The UK100 fell 1.03% yesterday as investors reacted poorly to renewed sanctions on Russian oligarchs by the British Government. Evraz could be delisted from the UK100 next week thanks to its collapsed share price.

US markets fell yesterday as fresh inflation figures renewed fears over monetary policy tightening. The latest US CPI inflation showed prices rising by 7.9% per year.

Top cryptos

Most of the top 10 cryptos showed price movements of around 1% or less. Avalanche gained over 2% and Polkadot added 5% to its value, a first in quite a while.

Top movers

The top mover of the day is Stacks, which is soaring after crypto exchange Okcoin announced a partnership with the L1 blockchain to form the Bitcoin Odyssey.

Okcoin is pledging $165 million towards founders and projects developing decentralized applications on Bitcoin and Stacks. Stacks added more than 30% to its value today.

Kadena gained 25% on news of an upcoming listing on Binance. THORChain added 16% to its value.

Elrond has undergone several successful developments recently, which reflect on its price. It’s up around 10% in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday, it emerged the network had acquired Capital Finance Services, a member of the globally known and active Twispay brand, an e-money institution.

Privacy coin Zcash is up 11% after yesterday’s dip. On the losing end, Arweave is down 9%. Waves has lost 5.89% after an extended rally, but it stil has 35% weekly gains.

Trending

FWC is the token of a project called Qatar 2022 Token, whose popularity is skyrocketing as the World Cup approaches. 1 FWC might be worth just $2.88e-10, but it’s up 532% in the last 24 hours.

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Top places to buy Stacks, which gained 32% in 24 hours

Stacks is soaring after crypto exchange Okcoin announced a partnership with the L1 blockchain to form the Bitcoin Odyssey. Okcoin is pledging $165 million towards founders and projects developing decentralized applications on Bitcoin and Stacks.

This guide has all the information you need about Stacks, whether it would be a worthwhile investment, and the top places to buy Stacks now.  

Top places to buy Stacks now

As STX is such a new asset, it’s yet to be listed on major exchanges. You can still purchase STX using a DEX (decentralised exchange) though, which just means there are a few extra steps. To buy STX right now, follow these steps:

1. Buy ETH on a regulated exchange or broker, like eToro ›

We suggest eToro because it’s one of the world’s leading multi-asset trading platforms, an exchange and wallet all-in-one with some of the lowest fees in the industry. It’s also beginner-friendly, and has more payment methods available to users than any other available service.

2. Send your ETH to a compatible wallet like Trust Wallet or MetaMask

You’ll need to create your wallet, grab your address, and send your coins there.

3. Connect your wallet to the Uniswap DEX

Head to Uniswap, and ‚connect‘ your wallet to it.

4. You can now swap your ETH for STX

Now that you’re connected, you’ll be able to swap for 100s of coins including STX.

What is Stacks?

Stacks is designed to bring smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps) to Bitcoin. These smart contracts are brought to Bitcoin without changing any of the features that make it so powerful, including its security and stability.

The DApps are open and modular, meaning developers can build on top of each other’s apps to produce features that are simply not possible in a regular app.

Since Stacks uses Bitcoin as a base layer, everything that happens on the network is settled on the Bitcoin blockchain, arguably the most secure blockchain in operation.

The platform is powered by the Stacks token (STX), which is used for fueling the execution of smart contracts, processing transactions and registering new digital assets on the Stacks 2.0 blockchain.  

Should I buy Stacks today?

Stacks can definitely be worth investing in if your timing is right. Unfortunately, this is often impossible to know in advance. Any investment decision should take your risk tolerance into account. Don’t take any price predictions at face value.

Stacks price prediction

Wallet Investor finds Stacks a very good investment and expects a long-term increase in the price. They predict it will be worth $5.12 in March 2027. A 5-year investment of $100 will generate revenue of around +263% and go up to $363.

Stacks on social media

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You can now buy Elrond, which added a tenth to its value: here’s where

The Elrond Network has undergone several successful developments recently, which reflect on its price. Yesterday, it emerged the network had acquired Capital Finance Services, a member of the globally known and active Twispay brand, an e-money institution.  

Look no further than this short article to find out what Elrond is, if it’s worth buying, and the best places to buy Elrond today.  

Top places to buy Elrond now

Bitpanda

BitPanda is a Bitcoin broker based in Austria. It offers a wide range of payment methods and has good prices.

Buy EGLD with Bitpanda today

OKEX

OKEx is a world-leading cryptocurrency exchange, providing advanced financial services to traders globally by using blockchain technology.

Buy EGLD with OKEX today

What is Elrond?

Elrond is a blockchain protocol that seeks to offer extremely fast transaction speeds by using sharding. The project describes itself as a technology ecosystem for the new internet, which includes fintech, decentralized finance and the Internet of Things.

Its smart contracts execution platform is reportedly capable of 15,000 transactions per second, six-second latency and a $0.001 transaction cost.

The blockchain has a native token known as eGold, or EGLD, that is used for paying network fees, staking and rewarding validators.

Elrond describes itself as a blockchain platform for the new internet economy, decentralized applications and enterprise use.

Its main selling point is its high scalability, stating that it is the first blockchain network in which state, network and transaction sharding have all been implemented.

Should I buy Elrond today?

Nothing can substitute doing your own research. Any investment decision you make should be based on your market expertise, your attitude to risk, and the features and spread of your portfolio. Also consider how you would feel about losing money.

Elrond price prediction

At the time of publication, 1 EGLD was trading for around $150.00. Trading Beasts is bullish on the coin, predicting it can soar past $190 by the end of the year. GOV Capital is even more optimistic. They forecast a price of $634 by the end of this year.

Elrond on social media

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