Magnus Carlsen, the reigning world chess champion and the highest-rated player of all time, has won the first-ever non-fungible token (NFT) chess trophy after finishing first in the $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (MCCT). An exact replica of the NFT trophy was auctioned off for 6.88 ETH worth approximately $24,700 at current market rates.
Bakkt’s partnership with Google will allow its users to spend their Bitcoin and other digital assets wherever Google Pay is accepted. Google payment platform’s support for Bakkt credit cards will greatly increase the usability of Bakkt and introduce millions of customers to crypto assets.
Bitcoin continues its stellar performance that started at the beginning of October and has managed to break into the $55,000 price territory for the first time since May. Yesterday’s peak value of $55,556 marks a cycle high and the highest Bitcoin value in the last 21 weeks.
One of the biggest financial institutions in the United States, U.S. Bank has started offering cryptocurrency custody services for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. U.S. Bank joins the likes of JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, which have recently expanded their repertoire of products and services to include crypto offerings.
Brazil is the latest on the growing list of countries that are hastily drafting new legislation that would regulate the cryptocurrency industry and allow its citizens to reap the benefits of blockchain-based currencies.
Over the course of the last seven days, the cryptocurrency market has been experiencing strong bullish momentum, with most coins posting double-digit gains. The cumulative value of assets in the market has grown by over $300 billion in the 7D period. A large share of the growth can be attributed to the stellar performance of Bitcoin, which has gained almost 20%.
For years, Bitcoin has been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as the trends go by the crypto industry, attracting multiple new users and developers to the sector of the blockchain that offers various services of development platforms. For many Bitcoin fans, this likely looked like one missed opportunity after another, as the way Bitcoin is — its very design and architecture — are preventing it from functioning as a development platform and offering the same features.
It is no news that the cryptocurrency industry has gained a lot of attention over the years, slowly taking transactions from the physical to a digital environment. People now even gamble with Bitcoin rather than real cash. Indeed, cryptocurrency has come a long way from its beginnings.
Bullish trading action that has taken place over the last couple of hours has led to the cryptocurrency market gaining almost $200 billion. Virtually all coins are exchanging hands in the green zone with most of them showing mid- to high-single-digit gains.