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Top Bank In Texas Introduces New Way for Employees to Invest in Bitcoin Along With BTC Salary Option

Albert Brown
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Top Bank In Texas Introduces New Way for Employees to Invest in Bitcoin Along With BTC Salary Option

Texas Bank Introduces New Way for Employees to Invest in Bitcoin.


A top bank in Texas, Vantage Laredo has invented a new way for its employees to benefit from Bitcoin investment. The bank is offering Bitcoin options for payment of salaries. This Bitcoin can then be made into digital currency savings rather than the traditional fiat currency.

 

This option which is available to all employees gives them a simple and secure way to invest in Bitcoin without the hassles of managing wallets. NYDIG will be responsible for holding Bitcoins on their highly secure institutional-grade custody platform. 

“The idea for the Bitcoin Savings Plan was something presented to us by one of our partners. It is a program they launched and asked if we would be interested in participating.” Vantage Bank Chief Human Resources Officer Eric Thompson, EVP said.

The first implementation of digital currency savings in Texas

Texas has a history as a friendly state towards crypto. However, Vantage Laredo is likely the first bank in the state to implement this digital currency savings plan for employees. This opens the door of possibilities for other banks as well as other sectors to implement such plans.

Thompson said:

“The Bitcoin Savings Plan is just one of the many savings programs we provide our employees, All employees have the opportunity to participate in a 401K plan where the bank matches a portion of their contribution as well as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.”

Already, there are other companies in the country offering this option to employees who are now considered to be employers with top benefits. Therefore, Vantage is likely to attract better employees and keep the ones they already have with this implementation as everyone now wants a bite of the crypto cake.

The bank has also indicated readiness to educate its staff on the new cryptocurrency and blockchain technology even though it does not allow them to buy, sell, or trade digital assets directly.

Thompson said:

“We are excited to be part of a number of organizations across the country offering this program,” During this ‘Great Resignation,’ attracting and retaining top talent has been especially challenging. Focusing on our employees and the benefits we offer help make Vantage Bank Texas an employer of choice for current and potential employees.”

Crypto going mainstream

Before now, cryptocurrencies were considered to be tools for criminals to steal from investors. However, with a better understanding, it is gradually finding its way into mainstream investing, including banks which were the major rival. 

With this kind of development, it won’t be long before a large population of the world gets more comfortable with digital assets as investment options.

New: SEC Ordered to Submit Proposed Redactions For In-Camera Review By April 8, 2022, Following Ripple’s Request 

Mark Brennan
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New: SEC Ordered to Submit Proposed Redactions For In-Camera Review By April 8, 2022, Following Ripple’s Request 

The court wants to analyze whether the proposed redactions are protected by the DPP before taking a decision. 



Judge Sarah Netburn has mandated the securities regulators to submit the proposed redactions of the sets of handwritten notes for in-camera review no later than April 8, 2022. 

“The court has reviewed the SEC’s letter requesting leave to redact portions of four sets of handwritten notes by SEC staff. The SEC is ORDERED to submit its proposed redactions for in-camera review by April 8, 2022,” the court order read. 

 

The court’s order came after Ripple and Individual Defendants Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen noted in their response that they are relying on the court’s review to determine whether the proposed redaction is protected by the Deliberative Protective Privilege (DPP). 

Recall that the SEC, in a motion last month, proposed its intention to redact some handwritten notes from meeting minutes between the agency and other third parties. 

Ripple Responds to the SEC’s Request

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the proposed redaction of some of the portions of the meeting minutes reflects the personal opinion of its staff during meetings with third parties. 

The move, which did not sit well with Ripple at the time, prompted the famous blockchain company to analyze the situation before filing a response yesterday. 

While Ripple enthusiasts expected the company to reject the redaction proposal, the company noted that it will not currently challenge the SEC’s motion because it does not have access to the proposed redactions. 

However, Ripple said it would be relying on the SEC’s representation and the court ruling to determine whether the “proposed redact portions reflect the author’s own thinking deliberations or communications among SEC staff during the meeting.” 

Upcoming Court Ruling

If after the court’s review and it believes portions of the documents reflect the personal opinion of the staff, then the court will permit the SEC to carry on with the redaction, else the agency’s request will be declined. 

While the world still awaits the SEC’s decision to tender the proposed redactions for an in-camera review, the decision for the motion of reconsideration and the motion to compel the submission of the Estabrook’s notes are still pending. 

Shiba Inu Burn Portal Coming With Rewards, SHIBASWAP 2.0 Launching With New Ways To Earn, And More

Zabi
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Shiba Inu Burn Portal Coming With Rewards, SHIBASWAP 2.0 Launching With New Ways To Earn, And More

Is Burn Portal Ready to Launch? ShibaSwap Developer “KaalDhairya” Comes Up With Important Information about Upcoming Projects.



Shiba Inu Community wants crazy burns and Shiba Inu developers are really working hard in the backend to bring in new solutions for it.

On Tuesday, Kaaldhairya, one of the official developers of the Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem comes up with a lot of information about the upcoming projects on which the developers are working behind the scenes. The project includes SHIBARIUM, SHI, SHIBASWAP 2.0, Metaverse land sale event, Burn portal, and many others.

The Burning of Shiba Inu token seems to increase manifold following the completion of all the above-stated projects – especially following the release of “Burn Portal”.

When Burn Portal?

As per the details revealed during the SHIB Binance AMA, the SHIB Burn Portal is under development and is almost entering into final stages. While the release date is not made official yet, it does confirm that the SHIB team is working with dedication behind the scenes to implement additional burns, following a push from the SHIB community.

On Tuesday, KaalDhairya, a ShibaSwap developer also confirmed via tweet that he is working on “Burn Portal – Earn Rewards”. This indicates that the team is building Burn Portal strategically so that one should be rewarded in exchange for Burning SHIB.  This mechanism will generate more SHIB Burns as a result.

Burn Portal was first teased in February during Shiba AMA and was reported that it will be a part of ShibaSwap 2.0. More details about Burn Portal such as how it will work? And how it will help in increasing the burn rate are yet to be revealed.

Shib Official growth Breed member Milkshake said:

“The SHIB Burn portal is entering its final stages, as well as it will have rewards earning abilities. Burn = Earn Rewards.”

Details about SHIBARIUM, SHI, SHIBASWAP 2.0, Metaverse Land Sale Event:

Besides Burn Portal, KaalDhairya via his recent tweet also revealed that Shibarium is at the moment in the Alpha Phase, and will be moving into the Beta Phase soon, while SHI is confirmed to be in development. As per Ryoshi, a pseudonymous creator of the SHIB token, SHI is an algo-stable coin that will always peg to 1c ($0.01).

Alongside, he confirmed that ShibaSwap V2 is being constructed with new opportunities to earn, and a new UX and UI design. Whereas, the Metaverse land sale event is opening soon.

Launched in July 2021, the ShibaSwap exchange provides many of the same functions you would find on Uniswap and other decentralized exchanges, such as token swapping and liquidity pools, with the addition of other features such as staking, governance, and a “Shiboshis” non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

Besides the above-mentioned projects, he noted that he is working on many more mysterious projects that he can’t disclose for now. This indicates that the Shiba Inu ecosystem has much more yet to come except the projects already announced.

Three Biggest ETH Whales Accumulates 245,413 FTX Token, Worth Over $12.25 Million

Zabi
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Three Biggest ETH Whales Accumulates 245,413 FTX Token, Worth Over $12.25 Million

Whales are accumulating FTX coins.



The top 500 biggest Ethereum investors in the world have an appetite for FTX Token (FTT), the utility coin of crypto derivatives exchange FTX, according to data from WhaleStats.

Data provided by WhaleStats shows that three top ETH whales have accumulated a total of 245,413 FTX Tokens for $12,252,923 ($12.25M) within the last 48 hours.

Recently, the whale-tracking service spotted the 37th biggest ETH whale in existence, named “BlueWhale0069,” scoop up over 39,999 FTX Tokens for ,981,950 (.98M) in one large transaction.

Looking deep into the 37th most giant ETH whale, “BlueWhale0069” wallet, we found that FTX Token is her 12th biggest held position by dollar value with 490,829 tokens in hand, worth over $23,683,068 ($23.68M). She purchased one FTX token at an average price of $48, as per data provided by WhaleStats.

In addition, the 11th most enormous ETH whale in existence, named “BlueWhale0079,” is seen gobbling up 24,999 FTX tokens, worth more than .25 million through one transaction.

The 484th biggest ETH whale named “BlueWhale0056” is also seen accumulating FTX Token. She bought 180,415 FTX Tokens worth ,018,974 (.01M) in one transaction.

The recent data from WhaleStats indicates that FTX Token is currently the favorite choice of top ETH Whales. The top 5000 ETH whales are presently holding $1,885,315,239 ($1.88B) of FTX Tokens, and the coin is the biggest position by dollar value held by top wallets.

Despite the massive buying of whales, FTX Token (FTT) is suffering from losses. FTX Token is currently trading at $48.31, showing a decrease of -5.17% over the last day. However, the 24-hour trading volume for FTX Token increases 4.83% to $141,413,668.15 ($141.41M), compared to the previous day trading volume of $139,832,196.17 ($139.83M).

Billionaire Investor Mark Cuban Says He Is Excited About the Upcoming Ethereum 2.0 ‘Merge’

Lele Jima
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Billionaire Investor Mark Cuban Says He Is Excited About the Upcoming Ethereum 2.0 ‘Merge’

The Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, popularly referred to as the “the Merge,” will see the network transition from the current Proof-of-Work (PoW) model to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm. 



Popular crypto proponent and billionaire investor Mike Cuban has disclosed that he is enthusiastic about the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. 

Why the Excitement 

Speaking to Fortune, Cuban noted the importance of the world’s most used blockchain adopting the PoS algorithm model over the PoW consensus. 

According to Cuban, the current PoW has several downsides, especially the heavy reliance of Ethereum miners to solve complex mathematical puzzles before new ETH will be produced. 

The PoW model has been under scrutiny in recent times due to the massive amount of energy the activity uses, resulting in a massive clampdown by governments in different countries, including Sweden, Norway, and China. 

Environmental activities have also called out cryptocurrency miners for the negative impact of their operations on the global climate. 

However, with the upcoming upgrade to the PoS chain, Cuban said these issues will be laid to rest as investors will be required to validate transactions based on the number of ETH they stake or contribute. 

The number of staked ETH each user has may likely determine the likelihood of being selected to validate transactions. 

Less ETH Issuance

This method of validating transactions, according to Cuban, will result in less Ethereum issuance once the upgrade is complete. 

Cuban also stated that Ethereum circulating supply will reduce drastically, as only a few ETH will be issued, which will be based strictly on the number of coins staked. 

“Following the merge, the amount of ETH issued is projected to drop by 90%, leading to similar fees to reduce Ether’s supply by as much as 5% a year,” blockchain analytics company IntoTheBlock stated in its newsletter. 

Notably, Cuban is not invested in the Ethereum PoS chain, however, he holds a significant amount of ETH and has his money on some of the projects currently built on the Ethereum blockchain. 

Cuban confirmed to Fortune that:

“he doesn’t have any money invested in the Beacon Chain, although he does own Ether, along with Ethereum-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs). He has also invested in many companies building on, looking to scale or interact with Ethereum.”

ETH 2.0 Launch Edges Closer 

Users’ expectations for the Ethereum upgrade are high, with many eager to shift to the PoS consensus algorithm, which would see them pay fewer fees for transactions. 

The planned upgrade is expected to be launched in the summer, with users excited about the development. 

As reported, the amount of ETH staked in the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract has skyrocketed above 11 million ETH. 

Binance CZ, Coinbase Brian Armstrong & FTX’s SBF Make Forbes Top 3 Cryptocurrency Billionaire Rankings

Lele Jima
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Binance CZ, Coinbase Brian Armstrong & FTX’s SBF Make Forbes Top 3 Cryptocurrency Billionaire Rankings

The cryptocurrency industry has produced lots of billionaires following their tremendous contributions to the nascent space. 

Over the last 12 months, there has been surging interest in cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and web 3.0 technologies, among others. 

The massive interest in cryptocurrencies has contributed to the net worth of some of the notable players in the nascent industry. Last year, a total of 12 industry players were listed in the Forbes crypto billionaire rankings. 

However, this year, the number has skyrocketed to 19, with Chanpeng Zhao, Binance CEO and founder at the top of the list with a net worth of $65 billion. 

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of popular cryptocurrency exchange FTX sits at the second position with a valuation of $24 billion. 

The founder and CEO of U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, was also not left out of the top three positions in the latest rankings. 

Armstrong, who spearheaded Coinbase’s move to go public last year, ranked as the third biggest cryptocurrency billionaire after amassing a whopping $6.6 billion. 

Meanwhile, the trio are not the most popular cryptocurrency players to have made the latest Forbes crypto billionaire rankings. 

Other notable figures who made the list include Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen, Gary Wang of FTX, Gemini twin (Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss), Ripple’s Jed McCaleb, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and a host of others.

Will Ripple’s RippleNet Become Irrelevant If U.S. Fed Develops Its Own Payment Solution?

Mark Brennan
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Will Ripple’s RippleNet Become Irrelevant If U.S. Fed Develops Its Own Payment Solution?

Ripple could lose the majority of its clients if the United States government also opts to develop a blockchain-based payment solution. 


 

Fintech company Ripple is gradually becoming one of the most popular names in the global payment industry. 

The company’s payment solution, RippleNet, has been widely adopted by top banks and top payment providers due to its prowess in cross-border settlements, which features fast, efficient, and low-cost transactions across borders. 

According to Ripple, over 200 financial institutions globally, including banks, have tapped their payment solutions for cross-border settlements. 

With Ripple gradually regarded as the go-to for payment companies looking to speed up their transaction processes at a relatively low-cost, many have tipped that more financial institutions will adopt RippleNet in the near future. 

Ripple Could Become Irrelevant

However, things may not go as expected for the popular blockchain company that uses XRP as a bridge between two fiat currencies. 

Ripple could see its dominance in the payments sector plummet if big players like the United States Federal Reserve decide to create a similar payment solution like Ripple’s initiative. 

In the past, all U.S.-related initiatives have been widely adopted by countries seeking to remain in the good books of the United States. 

It is possible that the Fed could decide to develop its blockchain-based payment solution that settles transactions in a matter of seconds. 

Like the use of XRP as a bridge between fiat currencies of countries involved in the transaction, the United States could develop a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for the U.S. dollar which will be used to bridge the currencies of involved nations. 

It is worth noting that most central banks and payment companies across the world would trust a payment solution owned and controlled by the United States government rather than relying on a network developed by a private company, which is currently facing a lawsuit for conducting unregistered securities offerings. 

Although there is a tendency that the U.S. government can also develop a solution for cross-border settlements, not too many financial institutions would want to use a payment initiative that is backed by the United States. 

The United States Dollar has depreciated in value in recent times following the unending printing of new banknotes, especially during the era of the coronavirus pandemic, when the government introduced multiple relief funds to citizens. 

Fingers Crossed

At the moment, nothing can be ruled out, as the United States earlier this year published a study into Central Bank Digital Currency for the first time.  

Although the Federal Reserve did not indicate whether it will be launching its own CBDC, the move could trigger other developments in the near future. 

Tesla’s Elon Musk Joins Twitter Board, What’s in it for Dogecoin?

Mark Brennan
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Tesla’s Elon Musk Joins Twitter Board, What’s in it for Dogecoin?

Dogecoin lover and well-wisher Elon musk is now a board member of Twitter.



The news about Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk buying a nearly 10% stake in Twitter has been making the rounds. Shortly after that, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk would be joining the Twitter board of directors for two years. 

 

This makes Musk the biggest shareholder in the company and now one of those responsible for decision-making concerning Twitter. However, the crypto community is only interested in how this appointment will impact Dogecoin and the entire crypto space.

For starters, Elon has been a significant figure on Crypto Twitter. He has also been an investor, buying $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. He is also fondly referred to as the father of Dogecoin. Musk’s influence is responsible for Dogecoin’s price adventures to a large extent. He recently announced that Dogecoin could be used to buy some of Tesla’s merchandise, another breakthrough for the top meme coin.

Twitter added Bitcoin and Ethereum tipping features in September 2021 and February 2022.

Musk will likely add Dogecoin to Twitter’s tipping service just like Bitcoin. If this happens, the coin may see more good days as it will have a broader user base.

 

More Twitter shareholders in crypto

Before now, immediate past Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was the only major Twitter shareholder interested in crypto. In fact, he resigned his position as CEO of Twitter to focus on his Bitcoin project, The Block.

With Musk becoming the highest shareholder and board member, there are now two major shareholders of the company in crypto. Whether he will bring Dogecoin into Twitter the same way, he got it into Tesla. 

Dogecoin has been up 8% in the last 24 hours.

Dogecoin has gone up over 8% in the last 24 hours following the new developments. This brings the price to $0.1611. The meme coin rose to an all-time high of over $0.68 in May 2021. Since then, the price has plummeted to reach the current level with so much uncertainty for the future. Will Musk use his position to influence its growth once again?

Shiba Inu Holders Not Happy After Developers Deny Them the Opportunity to Buy Land Plots With SHIB in Metaverse

Lele Jima
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Shiba Inu Holders Not Happy After Developers Deny Them the Opportunity to Buy Land Plots With SHIB in Metaverse

SHIB holders appear to be leaving the network after being denied the opportunity to participate in important developments in the crypto project’s ecosystem. 



Several Shiba Inu investors seem to be abandoning the popular dog-themed cryptocurrency as the founders behind the project have continued to hinder them from participating in meaningful projects. 

According to CoinMarketCap, more than 43,000 wallets have dumped their Shiba Inu tokens in March, with the biggest drop of 32,000 holders on March 18th March.

The Shiba Inu team, which has been developing significant upgrades in recent times, has continued to favor other native crypto-assets like LEASH, DOG, and Shiboshi, over SHIB. 

For most of the newly launched projects in the Shiba Inu ecosystem, LEASH and Shiboshi holders have been granted early access to them, which does not sit well with SHIB holders. 

While SHIB investors are still trying to live with the fact that there are more cryptocurrencies in the ecosystem, developers have denied holders of SHIB access to new projects. 

Dogecoin Founder Criticizing Shib Metaverse

Meanwhile, Dogecoin pseudonymous founder Shibetoshi Nakamoto slammed the Shiba Inu developers’ virtual reality land offering.

He noted that the initiative is just a means to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from the Shiba Inu community without giving them much value.

“I mean whatever if people want to give the developers even more money, they should go ahead, but I would be annoyed if I was a SHIB holder,” the Dogecoin founder tweeted.

SHIB Holders Denied from Gaining Early Access to the Metaverse

Recall that the team announced that LEASH and Shiboshi holders were given early access to purchase plots of land in SHIB: The Metaverse, the virtual reality project of Shiba Inu.   

LEASH and Shiboshi holders are required to lock their assets in order to be able to bid for the 100,595 plots of land in the metaverse. 

While interested investors who do not own the assets will have to wait for the third phase to bid for the remaining plots of land left after Shiboshi and LEASH holders have had their fill. 

This announcement angered several SHIB holders, who are eager for this type of opportunity to push the token’s price to a massive height, especially when the token’s value is down 68.8% from its all-time high (ATH) of $0.00008616. 

With SHIB investors denied joining the early stages of land purchase, many traders have exited their positions in the cryptocurrency as they feel entirely neglected. 

“SHIB holders are declining after the release of the SHIB: [The Metaverse] news. I guess not using the SHIB to buy land is not attractive to the holders. @JmelendrezJr tweeted earlier today. 

Meanwhile, the Shiba Inu team understands traders’ frustrations and noted in the announcement that there will be several use cases for SHIB in the upcoming metaverse project. 

SHIB Investors Responsible for the Project’s Popularity  

It is no longer news that Shiba Inu has one of the most vibrant communities in the cryptocurrency industry, as enthusiasts of the dog-themed token have been the main reason for its massive explosion in the past few months. 

Shiba Inu, which initially started as a meme coin in August 2020, has seen its price surge tremendously from its all-time low of $0.00000056. 

However, following solid community support, Shiba Inu saw its value skyrocket to an all-time high of $0.00008616. At the time of writing, the token is trading around $0.00002683. 

Retail Accumulating Bitcoin, BTC Exchanges Balance At Lowest In Year 3 years, BTC Google Searches Dropping

Mark Brennan
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Retail Accumulating Bitcoin, BTC Exchanges Balance At Lowest In Year 3 years, BTC Google Searches Dropping

Addresses with Less than 1 BTC have Increased over 5% Since January as Retail Accumulate BTC.


 

Bitcoin has dropped significantly since January 2022, going as low as $34,000 before the current relief rally. Data from crypto analytics platform IntoTheBlock shows that retail investors have been accumulating BTC during this time.

Specifically, the number of addresses holding less than 1 BTC has increased by 5.5% since the January lows. This is an indication that along with institutions that are the major holders of the asset, retail investors are acquiring more as the sentiment remains bullish.

Also in the last 30 days, addresses holding between 0.1 and 1 BTC have increased their balances by 1.47%. 

 

BTC exchange balance at its lowest in over 3 years

There has been a massive outflow of BTC from exchanges to personal wallets. This has brought the BTC balances on exchanges to the lowest in a long time. The last time such levels were recorded was over 3.5 years ago, meaning there is a strong positivity around the asset.

 

This may have contributed to the recent rally that Bitcoin experienced which took the price to as high as $47,000. This is in spite of the fact that Google searches for Bitcoin are dropping to bear market lows. The price has so far held above $45,000 which was a major resistance and may go further if it breaks above $50,000 and stays above it.

What this means for Bitcoin

It is usually a good thing for retail or institutional investors to accumulate Bitcoin, which eventually leads to price gains. This is the likely outcome as investor confidence continues to build up,  and the drop in the asset’s price since January may soon be over if this bullish trend is sustained. The Mid-halving event is coming in a few days and it will be interesting to see how things playout for the largest cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Mid-halving Event

Bitcoin Due for Mid-halving Event Next Week. What should you Expect?

BTC Google Searches:

Google searches for Bitcoin dropping to bear-market lows, yet the price is cruising at $46K and heading higher, which is a good sign.

btc google searches

MicroStrategy Bitcoin Buring:

MicroStrategy purchased 4,167 BTC for $190.5m at an average price of $45,714. MicroStrategy holds 129,218 BTC acquired for $3.97b at an average price of $30,700. Previously, MicroStrategy, a subsidiary of MicroStrategy, announced a $205m bitcoin-backed loan with Silvergate Bank.

At the price of $46,686 Bitcoin Greed and fear indicator is still neutral but Microstrategy Bitcoin buying may boost investor trust to buy more BTC at current prices.

 

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