El Salvador Delays Bitcoin Bonds Until September

El Salvador has delayed an unprecedented bitcoin-backed bond issue scheduled last week. As they explained, the government decided to wait for favorable financial market conditions.

The Central American government was due to issue $1 billion in bonds between March 15 and 20. However, the war between Russia and Ukraine and cryptocurrency volatility prompted authorities to change the date.

El Salvador has probably delayed the launch until September as bitcoin has languished since its all-time high above $67,500 in early November. It has lost nearly half of its market value as of January 22. Bitcoin has been trading at $42,609 on Tuesday, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Now is not the right time to issue bonds. Zelaya said that the first half of the year is ideal for entering the market.

El Salvador last year became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Criticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fears that the move could damage the country’s finances.

Robinhood Launches Debit Card That Allows Consumers To Invest With Change

Robinhood launched a cash card and capitalized on spending trends to unlock its next growth opportunity.

When purchasing Robinhood Cash Card, customers can choose to round their change to the nearest dollar. Then, they can select an asset to channel their remaining change for each transaction.

Spending will likely rise amid decades of high inflation as the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in cardholder spending will provide Robinhood with more trading volume. Consumers use the change they get from purchases to invest in stocks or cryptocurrencies.

Robinhood targets existing leaders in the micro-investing category like Acorns and Stash. These are two private unicorns with a value of more than $1 billion. They prioritize affordable market access and small investments.

Cash cards also tend to introduce cryptocurrencies. Traders can make market orders on Robinhood for five cents. This allows them to put change into digital coins, a relatively passive entry point, compared to saving to buy bitcoin or ethereum.

In 2021, crypto-assets under Robinhood custody will grow 528% to $22.1 billion.

Cryptocurrency trading gains seem to be dropping one by one during volatile periods.

The company plans to roll out the cash card product on a waitlist, with a data review period to gauge interest and determine whether cardholders prefer a digital wallet or a physical card.

Robinhood shares rose 2 percent to $13.32 on Tuesday morning.

Thailand Bans Cryptocurrency as A Means of Payment

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand said on Wednesday that it would ban the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment from April 1.

Regulators cited money laundering concerns and the central bank’s inability to intervene and provide aid as reasons for the ban.

Thailand’s SEC emphasized that this is not a ban on cryptocurrency exchanges and digital assets that have become increasingly popular among locals over the past two years. However, according to the statement, they will only ban cryptocurrencies for payments.

In January, Thai authorities announced a plan to regulate payments in digital assets.

However, in a recent announcement, Thailand’s SEC stated that digital assets do not improve the efficiency of the payments market as they think cryptos’ volatility and high transaction fees are risky.

Over the past year, many domestic real estate developers have been looking to crypto to rekindle interest in the country’s apartment market, mainly foreign-centric.

Thai authorities announced in early March that cryptocurrency transactions on government-approved exchanges would be exempt from a 7 percent value-added tax by 2023.

Web3’s Pocket Network Continues To Grow At An Unprecedented Rate

Pocket Network is an infrastructure middleware protocol that facilitates decentralized multi-chain blockchain access to developer applications on Web3, including Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, Solana, Fuse, OEC, and Harmony. Industry demand has been reported in the past Relays running through the network in 7 days soared to a record 3 billion.

The achievement saw that number jump from 5 million seasons per day less than a year ago to more than 600 million seasons per day, a 120-fold increase.

This latest surge was evident throughout the week as records were set multiple times for single-day relays.

Hundreds and thousands of independent node operators on six continents are maintaining Relays. Over 38,000 nodes serve applications simultaneously, rotate hourly, and coordinate through a rent-free protocol.

This demand is independent of market conditions and will continue to be the backbone of a bear or bull market.

Pocket Network has achieved its goal of breaking 1B relays per day by the end of 2022 ahead of schedule. New blockchain and application integrations continue to transition to Pocket Network as the preferred decentralized global infrastructure provider. Resilient, faster, cheaper, and better is the winning formula for Pocket’s scale and dominance.

Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Coincheck Plans To List On Nasdaq For $1.25 Billion

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck announced Tuesday that it would merge with blank-check firm Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV for $1.25 billion in a U.S. listing.

Assuming no redemptions, the deal will generate $237 million for the combined company from cash from a unique purpose acquisition company (SPAC) trust.

Tokyo-based Coincheck operates a marketplace for buying and selling cryptocurrencies and an exchange for digital assets such as non-fungible tokens. It has about 1.5 million customers.

The company was at the center of a $530 million digital cash heist in 2018, which led to greater regulatory scrutiny and calls for cryptocurrency exchanges to improve their risk management infrastructure.

It was acquired for around $34 million later that year by Japanese online broker Monex Group, which announced that it would launch a Coincheck IPO.

After the merger, Monex will own approximately 82% of the pro forma interest in the combined company. This number does not include warrants and earnings. Under the agreement, existing Coincheck investors can receive up to 50 million shares based on future share price performance.

The combined company’s name will be Coincheck Group NV.

They will list it on the Nasdaq under the symbol “CNCK.”

The transaction is likely to close in the second half of this year.

SPACs are publicly traded shell companies that conduct an IPO to raise capital and acquire a private company.