In a bold and groundbreaking move, Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy revolutionized corporate finance by embracing Bitcoin (BTC) as its primary treasury reserve asset in 2020.
This visionary decision, announced exactly three years ago, sent shockwaves through the business world, solidifying MicroStrategy’s position as a trailblazer in the realm of digital assets.
The move was made as part of MicroStrategy’s first-ever investment in Bitcoin, with the business intelligence firm acquiring 21,454 BTC for roughly $250 million, or $11,653 per coin.
MicroStrategy’s bet on Bitcoin can be characterized as a resounding success, demonstrated by substantial returns on investment and a notable positive influence on the company’s stock price.
Since August 10, 2020 – the day MicroStrategy unveiled its Bitcoin-focused strategy – MicroStrategy’s (NASDAQ: MSTR) shares surged 206%, from around $123 per share to today’s price of over $375 per share.
Source: Finfold
After years of rampant speculation and frantic tea-leaf reading by cryptocurrency fans—and Dogecoin fans in particular—tech billionaire Elon Musk coldly put to rest any prospects of Twitter (or X) launching its own crypto token, Decrypt reports.
The news came not in a formal announcement, or even a Twitter post, but in a reply to another user.
"Elon Musk and
Earlier this week the U.K.’s Information Commission Office (ICO) was asked about Worldcoin launching in the U.K. and said publicly it would be “making enquiries”, before issuing some boilerplate warning that: “Organisations must conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before starting any processing that is likely to result in high risk, such as processing special category biometric data. Where they identify high risks that they cannot mitigate, they must consult the ICO.”
Fast forward a few days and France’s data protection authority, the CNIL, has followed the ICO’s remarks with even more specific expressions of concern, as first reported by Reuters — out-and-out questioning the legality of what Worldcoin is doing. The French authority also revealed it’s already been actively investigating Worldcoin.
“The legality of [Worldcoin’s data] collection seems questionable, as do the conditions for storing biometric data,” a CNIL spokesperson confirmed by email, adding: “Worldcoin collected data in France, and the CNIL initiated investigations.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a bill providing the legal basis for the implementation of Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Tass news agency and other Russian media reported. The new federal law introduces a third, digital form of the national currency, the ruble, after cash and non-cash (bank) money.
Putin’s signature opens the door for using the CBDC named “digital ruble” as a means of payment and for other transfers in the Russian Federation. These will be free of charge for citizens while businesses will pay a 0.3% commission on the amount transferred.
Transactions with the digital currency will be processed through a dedicated information system — the digital ruble platform. Under the law, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is the sole issuer of the CBDC and will be the only operator of its payment system.
Kuwait’s supervisory authorities, including the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Capital Markets Authority, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Insurance Regulatory Unit, have jointly issued circulars to address the use and recognition of virtual assets within the country, Arabian Business reports.
The circulars are in accordance with the recommendations set forth by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Recommendation No. 15 to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The circulars explicitly bans the use of virtual assets as a tool or means of payment and prohibit any transactions involving cryptocurrency for payment purposes.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled a plan to exempt bitcoin (BTC) from capital gains tax when it is converted into U.S. dollars and to begin to back the greenback with "real finite assets" such as gold, silver, platinum and bitcoin, Coindesk reports.
"Backing dollars and U.S. debt obligations with hard assets could help restore strength back to the dollar, rein in inflation and usher in a new era of American financial stability, peace and prosperity," said Kennedy. He would start the process, he said, "very, very small, perhaps 1% of issued T-bills" would be backed by hard currencies like gold, silver platinum or bitcoin.
