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ACTOR Matt Damon is being resoundingly mocked on Twitter for being featured in a Crypto.com commercial.<\/p>\n
In the ad, \u201cFortune Favors the Brave,” Damon<\/a> talks about risk-takers \u201cwho embrace the moment and commit,” but people on social media were not impressed.<\/p>\n “Y\u2019all think Matt Damon got paid in Real American Dollars for that crypto<\/a> ad or,” one person joked<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plus, Bitcoin<\/a>, Ethereum<\/a>, and Shibu Inu<\/a> coin were all down on Coinbase<\/a> on Monday, with Bitcoin seeing a more than 10percent drop in the past seven days.<\/p>\n And the first LGBT+ cryptocurrency launched Friday, and its creators are hoping to start trading early this year. <\/p>\n The founders of Maricoin said they want the coin to be a means of payment<\/a> at LGBT-friendly businesses and events, as have an aim of “changing the world.” <\/p>\n Read our cryptocurrency live blog for the latest news and updates…<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n What are Altcoins, continued<\/p>\n Simon Peters, crypto-asset analyst at eToro, said: \u201cThey build on the success of bitcoin by slightly changing the rules, economics or use cases to appeal to different users.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAltcoins vary greatly in their use cases and practical application. They typically have a form of technology they underpin or provide a liquidity solution to a product or service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n What are Altcoins?<\/p>\n Altcoin stands for alternative coin, a type of virtual currency that uses the so-called blockchain to allow secure transactions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Altcoin is a category of cryptocurrency<\/a>\u00a0rather than a currency itself, and there are more than 900 different altcoins available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Risks of investing in cryptos, part five<\/p>\n Finally, the truth in\u00a0marketing materials<\/strong>\u00a0is a risk in investing in cryptos.<\/p>\n Firms may overstate the returns of products or understate the risks involved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Risks of investing in cryptos, part four<\/p>\n Another risk of investing are the\u00a0charges and fees<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Consumers should consider the impact of fees and charges on their investment which may be more than those for regulated investment products.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Risks of investing in cryptos, part three<\/p>\n A third risk of investing in cryptocurrencies is\u00a0product complexity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The complexity of some products and services relating to cryptoassets can make it hard for consumers to understand the risks.<\/p>\n There is no guarantee that cryptoassets can be converted back into cash.<\/p>\n Converting a cryptoasset back to cash depends on demand and supply existing in the market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Risks of investing in cryptos, part two<\/p>\n Another risk of investing is\u00a0price volatility<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Significant price volatility in cryptoassets, combined with the inherent difficulties of valuing cryptoassets reliably, places consumers at a high risk of losses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Risks of investing in cryptocurrencies<\/p>\n Investing in cryptocurrencies means taking on a number of different risks.<\/p>\n The first is\u00a0Consumer protection<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Some investments advertising high returns based on cryptoassets may not be subject to regulation beyond anti-money laundering requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Major meme coins, part two<\/p>\n Another dog meme that has picked up traction this year has been\u00a0Saitama inu<\/a>, whose logo appears to feature a wolf surrounding a human face.<\/p>\n \u201cTokens like Shiba Inu, Dogecoin and newest gainer Saitama are all a part of the evolution of digital finance in their own unique way,\u201d Chris Kline, chief operating officer and co-founder of Bitcoin IRA, recently told The Sun.<\/p>\n Separately,\u00a0Tiger King<\/a>\u00a0is a meme coin that has picked up strong momentum recently. It is based on the popular Netflix series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n The major meme coins<\/p>\n The surge of the meme coins this year all started with\u00a0Dogecoin<\/a>.<\/p>\n That was then followed by\u00a0Shiba Inu<\/a>, which both feature the same dog breed in their logos.<\/p>\n The image became a popular internet meme called doge, and it features the dog surrounded by text in the comic sans font with words like \u201cmuch wow.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Shiba and Dogecoin have been popular dog meme coins in the past year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n What are meme coins?<\/p>\n A\u00a0meme coin<\/a>\u00a0typically gains off a social media or an internet-based joke.<\/p>\n It all started with GameStop and AMC earlier this year, when a\u00a0Reddit mob trolled short-sellers by driving up the prices of those stocks<\/a>.<\/p>\n The memes then spread over to\u00a0cryptocurrencies<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and there are now a few major ones today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n No guaranteed returns<\/p>\n There are no guarantees when it comes to cryptocurrencies, so when someone mentions \u201cguaranteed returns,\u201d they are often scammers.<\/p>\n There is no way to eliminate the element of risk from cryptocurrencies, although scammers may try to convince you otherwise.<\/p>\n Check out these\u00a0other ways to spot scammers<\/a>\u00a0in the crypto space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n What is Hbar crypto?<\/p>\n Hashgraph is similar to a blockchain and was created in 2017 by American computer scientist Leemon Baird.<\/p>\n The Hedera Hashgraph system is a distributed ledger built on Hashgraph and was created by Baird along with Mance Harmon.<\/p>\n HBAR is the cryptocurrency of the\u00a0Hedera Hashgraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n The company itself explains: \u201cHBAR is the native, energy-efficient cryptocurrency of the Hedera public network.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Microstrategy spends $414 million on Bitcoin<\/p>\n The business intelligence company led by Michael Saylor revealed in a November 29 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it bought 7,002 bitcoins between October 1 and November 29.<\/p>\n MicroStrategy reportedly spent $414million on the coins.<\/p>\n The company now has a reported stockpile of 121,044 bitcoin tokens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n The most valuable cryptocurrencies<\/p>\n Cryptocurrency\u00a0<\/a>prices hit record highs earlier this year amid interest from high profile individuals such as Elon Musk and more institutional investment in the sector.<\/p>\n The most valuable coins are\u00a0Bitcoin<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ethereum<\/a>\u00a0but there are lots of alternatives or altcoins aiming to benefit from crypto interest.<\/p>\n Values can be volatile though and regulators have warned that investors could lose all their money.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Man loses $1.6million, part three<\/p>\n The app demanded $1.5million from the victim and threatened to freeze his account if he didn\u2019t pay.<\/p>\n \u201cI go look on the FBI site and lo and behold, there\u2019s this public alert about this type of scam,\u201d he told the news outlet. \u201cI\u2019m 52, my entire life savings, gone in a matter of a month.\u201d<\/p>\n The common scam, which involves meeting someone on a dating app, depositing money into a fake investment app (which is constantly changed, renamed or deleted) then losing it all, is called the \u201cPig Butchering Scam,\u201d\u00a0KMGH-TV<\/a>\u00a0detailed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Man loses $1.6million, part two<\/p>\n The man said he successfully deposited funds into the account, including money from his retirement accounts.<\/p>\n He was reportedly able to withdraw cryptocurrency too, until he attempted to take out more.<\/p>\n A \u201ccustomer service agent\u201d with the app told him \u201cyou need to repay the loan before you can withdraw cash from your account,\u201d\u00a0KMGH-TV<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Man loses $1.6million in scam<\/p>\n A man says he lost his life savings in a scheme dubbed the \u201cPig Butchering Scam.\u201d<\/p>\n The 52-year-old told Denver ABC affiliate\u00a0KMGH-TV<\/a>\u00a0that he met a woman on a dating app who appeared to have similar interests to him.<\/p>\n The conversation turned to\u00a0cryptocurrency<\/a>, something he\u2019d made about $70,000 on in a few years.<\/p>\n The man told the news outlet that the woman he fell for online convinced him to invest on a mobile and web app that seemed legitimate to the software engineer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Robinhood prepares to launch cryptocurrency wallet<\/p>\n Robinhood announced a new partnership with a blockchain data analytics platform ahead of its planned\u00a0cryptocurrency\u00a0<\/a>wallet launch.<\/p>\n Robinhood will use Chainalysis\u2019 data, analytics, and software to meet compliance requirements and provide secure crypto transactions,\u00a0Motley Fool<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n The partnership comes ahead of the planned 2022 launch of Robinhood\u2019s crypto wallet.<\/p>\n More than 1.6million people are on a waitlist for the new feature, according to Motley Fool.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Banks embrace crypto, continued<\/p>\n Executives at large banks are beginning to hop on the\u00a0cryptocurrency<\/a>\u00a0train as some invest their time in learning about the new payment method.<\/p>\n Bank of America spokesman Mark Pipitone told the New York Times, \u201cThe bank sees potential in blockchain, and we\u2019re currently a leading patent holder in the space with more than 160 patents. But we still haven\u2019t found a use at scale to make the financial lives of customers and clients better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Banks embrace crypto<\/p>\n Banks are paying for slowly catching on to the future of\u00a0cryptocurrency<\/a>\u00a0as they struggle to benefit and profit.<\/p>\n As cryptocurrency start-ups explode, they are starting to offer credit cards and loans while banks are left in the dust.<\/p>\n According to the New York Times, \u201cBank of America\u2019s chief executive, Brian Moynihan, barred the giant company\u2019s wealth managers from putting any client money into cryptocurrency-related investments.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Dogecoin spikes after Tesla news<\/p>\n Dogecoin<\/a>\u00a0saw a more than 20 percent jump after\u00a0Elon Musk<\/a>\u00a0announced Tesla would start accepting it as payment.<\/p>\n He said in a Tweet that\u00a0Tesla<\/a>\u00a0would allow purchases of some merchandise with Dogecoin and \u201csee how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Dogecoin went from a fraction of a penny in worth at the start of 2021 to a record-high price above 74 cents in May,\u00a0CNBC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Elon Musk says Dogecoin is best for transactions<\/p>\n The CEO of\u00a0Tesla\u00a0<\/a>and SpaceX says Dogecoin is the best cryptocurrency for transactions.<\/p>\n Elon Musk\u00a0told Time Magazine<\/a>\u00a0that the meme coin is better suited to transact with over Bitcoin for two reasons.<\/p>\n He said the transaction volume of\u00a0Bitcoin<\/a>\u00a0is low and the cost per transaction is high.<\/p>\n Musk said he believes Bitcoin is more suitable as a store of value while Dogecoin \u201cencourages people to spend, rather than sort of hoard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Record crypto investments, part two<\/p>\n The crypto industry blew up in 2021 with crypto exchanges, start-ups dealing with NFTs, and play-to-earn gaming all highlighted as factors by\u00a0Fortune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Increasing interest in the\u00a0Metaverse<\/a>\u00a0also led to multi-million dollar investments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Crypto investments top $30billion<\/p>\n Investors contributed a record $30billion to the cryptocurrency industry in 2021, according to\u00a0Fortune<\/a>.<\/p>\n The news outlet cited data from\u00a0Bloomberg News<\/a>\u00a0that reportedly showed $7.2billion came from investors based in the United States.<\/p>\n The $30billion is almost four times the $8billion that investors spent with companies in the crypto industry in 2018, Fortune reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Crypto investor death mystery, continued<\/p>\n Cotton\u00a0took with him to the grave<\/a>\u00a0the keys that allowed access to a digital vault containing cash investors ploughed into Quadriga CX.<\/p>\n Jilted investors have\u00a0demanded his corpse be exhumed<\/a>\u00a0and tests run to confirm it is his body.<\/p>\n Criminal probes continue by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI as leading digital investing publication\u00a0Coindesk<\/a>\u00a0branded his death as \u201ccrypto\u2019s biggest mystery\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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