 Goldman Sachs (GS) will offer Bitcoin-backed loans, allowing borrowers to use Bitcoin as collateral for a cash loan. This move marks an important milestone for the crypto industry in terms of liquidity, legitimacy, and optionality and is a major step forward for Wall Street's crypto adoption. More: - The bank recently funded its first loan using Bitcoin as collateral, which a spokeswoman said interested the bank because of its structure and 24-hour risk management.
- If the price of Bitcoin drops, borrowers may be asked to increase their collateral.
- Investors believe that Bitcoin price appreciation will continue in the future, enabling users to acquire more Bitcoin with credit.
- If a user is approved for a Bitcoin-backed loan, they may pay for goods and services with cash and not worry about tax implications associated with the BTC transaction.
- There are other financial institutions getting involved in the crypto sector, including Cowen and BlackRock, which participated in Circle's $400M financing round for USDC stablecoin.
CNET 
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 Our Happy Company, co-founded by John Legend, raised $7.5M in a seed round led by Animoca Brands and Infinity Ventures. The fresh seed funding will be used to develop features for the NFT music platform called OurSong. More: - The platform is branded as a social e-commerce platform that will enable creators to mint their NFTs called "Vibes." Users can create their NFTs without paying cryptocurrency. The transaction can be completed using fiat currency.
- Bidders can bid on the platform using USD and later convert it into Ether.
- OurSong, the company's first product, launched earlier this year and supports tokens on the Ethereum, BNB chain, and Thundercore.
- The mobile app, available for Android and iOS users, allows them to create their own static image, video, or music NFTs.
- The company aims to offer an easier path to minting "Vibes" (NFTs), and there is an app-based wallet that will store digital assets.
Decrypt
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Edward Snowden, former NSA consultant and whistleblower, confirmed that he is one of the six creators of the cryptocurrency called Zcash. More: - Zcash is a "privacy coin" that uses zero-knowledge proofs that hide details data related to the transactions.
- Snowden went under the pseudonym "John Dobbertin" for the crypto project, and a leaked video from Zcash media shows that Dobbertin is, in fact, Snowden.
- “I saw [Zcash] being worked on by a number of trusted academic cryptographers, and I thought it was a very interesting project,” Snowden said.
- He agreed to make his presence in the project known to the public “As long as it is clear that I was never paid and had no stake," he wrote in a statement.
- Snowden is scheduled to speak at the Consensus 2022 conference this year.
Forbes
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 OneFootball, a German-based soccer media company, raised $300M in a Series D round led by Liberty and City Ventures. The fresh funding will be used for marketing efforts and to increase the company's presence in the blockchain space. More: - Animoca Brands and OneFootball also partnered to create a joint venture known as OneFootball Labs.
- This fan-centric sports platform will allow clubs, players, leagues, and fans to come together to exchange digital assets on Web3.
- Lucas von Cranach, CEO of OneFootball, said: “We believe the future of football away from the stands and off the pitch will be decentralized and built on Web3, giving back the ownership of data and digital assets to the fans."
- The $300M round also included participation from well-known blockchain platforms such as Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, DAH Beteiligungs GmbH, Quiet Capital, RIT Capital Partners, Senator Investment Group, and Alsara Investment Group.
Cointelegraph
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 The Cuban central bank will start issuing licenses for cryptocurrency service providers. The VASP licensing requirements will officially start in May, and organizations that do not operate under a licensing term will face penalties. More: - The central bank will approve license requests based on opportunity, socioeconomic interest, and the characteristics of the project. Licenses will be valid for a one-year period.
- If a virtual asset provider is to cease its services, it will also require authorization from the central bank.
- Last September, the Cuban bank confirmed that it will issue Bitcoin as a legal payment method.
- Legalizing virtual assets means that Cubans are permitted to send and receive funds worldwide, which may foster the development of the local tech industry and create jobs in the future.
- Cuba follows the footsteps of El Salvador, the Central African Republic, and others.
Reuters
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Argent raised a $40M series B round led by Fabric Ventures and Metaplanet. The platform is launching a non-custodial wallet that eliminates the need to remember a 12- or 24-word seed phrase to gain access to digital asset accounts. More: - The company's Ethereum mobile crypto wallet app allows users to hold and transfer their digital assets without needing to remember difficult phrases or worry about losing their phrase password.
- Right now, users have to remember their phrases in order to access their wallets, and If they "lose their secret, they lose their money," says CEO Itamar Lesuisse.
- The Ardent Wallet attempts to solve this problem using a third-party service that consists of real people that can verify account holders and recovery processes.
- The verification system is called the "guardians," and the benefit of using it includes reduced costs compared to the standard gas fees. The app also integrates the native security of the mobile operating system and also allows users to stake 5% in ETH and 15% for USDC and DAI.
- The company is able to keep transaction costs low due to zkSync, which is a layer 2 system, and the zero-knowledge (zk) rollup.
Coindesk
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 |  | Gia Mattu is based in Calgary, Alberta. She is an entrepreneur with experience in climate technology, drones, AI, machine learning, and blockchain technology. When she's not working, she loves to hike the Canadian Rockies, try new cuisine, and travel. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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