Cryptocurrency News Now!: 02/04/21

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Ruffer doubles its money / Elon pumps Dogecoin / South African audit / SBI steadfast XRP support

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February 04, 2021

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Bitcoin	$37,461	7 day: +23.1%
Ethereum	$1,634	7 day: +30.3%
All crypto	$1.16T	7 day: +26.6%
Bitcoin dominance	60.1%	7 day: -2.2%

Prices as of 4:50 p.m. EST

London-based Ruffer Investment Company (RICA.L) sold approximately 40% of the bitcoin it purchased in November 2020 for a $650M profit.

Director Duncan MacInnes disclosed the sale in an interview with The Block Crypto,
Ruffer did not divest its entire stake; it still owns approximately $700M worth of bitcoin.
The company holds bitcoin within its Multi Strategies Fund. It also owns equity in MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Galaxy Digital (GLXY.TO), both of which own bitcoin themselves.
Ruffer allocated $744M to bitcoin in November. Bitcoin subsequently doubled in price.

The Block Crypto

The South African Tax Agency is auditing taxpayers who traded cryptocurrencies and reminding others to disclose their trading activities.

The news comes from a South African tax consulting agency after its clients received audit requests from the South African Revenue Service.
The audit requests two specific pieces of information, such as the purpose for which a taxpayer purchased crypto and a letter of confirmation of the purchase. This comes amid the agency's continuing crackdown on non-compliant crypto users within the country.
Authorities have threatened to convict those who gain undisclosed income from bitcoin or other cryptos for an offense, a fine, or up to two years of prison time.
According to South African law, it is a crime to willfully oppose submitting the requested information or give false information to the agency.

Coindesk

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SBI Branch

Japan-based SBI VC Trade, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings (8473.T), added Ripple (XRP) to its lending service. The giant Japanese financial conglomerate has investments in various Ripple-related businesses and is a staunch supporter of XRP. Ripple has paid SBI millions over the years to incentivize its use of Ripple's MoneyTap. A subsidiary of SBI said today that it will allow customers to lend out XRP in return for interest.

More:

SBI VC Trade published the announcement on its website today, allowing its clients to earn a small "annual usage fee" by lending XRP (XRP) for particular time periods.
According to the announcement, the maximum lending quantity is 100,000 XRP ($42,600); the minimum is 1,000 XRP ($426).
SBI VC Trade, launched in 2018, also supports XRP trading in Japan as part of its business relationship with Ripple, according to Coindesk.
Even though many U.S.-based crypto exchanges like Coinbase delisted XRP (XRP) after the SEC charged Ripple and two co-founders with conducting an illegal securities offering, Japan's SBI continues to consider XRP (XRP) as a non-security "cryptocurrency asset."

Coindesk

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) is investing in a new business unit focused on crypto and digital currencies. PayPal's new "commerce experience" unit will go live by the end of the year and allow merchants to accept PayPal's supported cryptocurrencies as payment (processed by PayPal to settle in fiat).

More:

PayPal used its Q4 conference call to provide investors with an update on its digital currency initiatives, explaining that it will continue to "help shape the role of digital currencies in consumer payments" by supporting cryptocurrencies as a funding source to pay its 29M merchants worldwide.
CEO Dan Shulman also said the company plans to "launch the ability to buy, hold and sell crypto via the Venmo app" during the coming months.
Note: Visa (NYSE:V), one of PayPal's largest partners, announced its release of a suite of crypto APIs yesterday, enabling "neobank" customers to purchase, custody, and trade digital assets held by Anchorage, a federally chartered digital asset bank.
PayPal launched its crypto offering alongside Paxos in October. PayPal rolled out the ability to buy cryptocurrencies to most eligible U.S.-based users by Nov. 12.

The Block Crypto

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Peer-to-peer crypto payments platform Metal Pay (MTL) applied for a U.S. bank charter yesterday.
Elon Musk continues to promote Dogecoin (DOGE), writing today, "No highs, no lows, only Doge," and "Dogecoin is the people's crypto." Dogecoin has rallied over 4X since Elon began focusing on it two months ago ⏤ and over 15X since he promoted it on July 17, 2020.
Bit Digital (NASDAQ:BTBT) announced sweeping management changes. The Chairwoman, Chief Strategy Officer, and the CEO are departing in the wake of a whistleblower's report and subsequent lawsuits.
Crypto-friendly Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) will join the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, giving the digital currency industry a voice within this influential committee.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez continues to promote bitcoin, with plans to reveal new rules and an operational framework as early as next week. He will allow municipal employees to receive a percentage of their salary in bitcoin, and will allow Miami residents to use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payments, fees, and taxes.
SWIFT, the world's largest interbank wire and settlements company, has partnered with the People's Bank of China to form a financial gateway company. Neither group has commented on the purpose of the new entity.
Calgary-based investment company Accelerate Financial Technologies, which launched one of Canada's first bitcoin funds in 2017, has filed and obtained a receipt for a preliminary prospectus to launch a bitcoin ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Crypto derivatives platform ErisX formally asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to approve sports gambling-like contracts, which would allow football fans to bet on futures tied to the outcome of NFL games.
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Curated by Associated Press fanboy, eye-strained news terminal watcher, and bitcoin follower since $1, Aaron Wise. Temporarily listening to news squawk boxes in Florida while awaiting the construction of cryptopia.

Editor

Charlotte Hayes-Clemens is an editor and writer based in Vancouver. She has dabbled in both the fiction and non-fiction world, having worked at HarperCollins Publishers and more recently as a writing coach for new and self-published authors. Proper semi-colon usage is her hill to die on.

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