RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Wednesday, rising by 0.32 percent to $40,204.12 as of 9:00 a.m. Riyadh time.

Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $3,067.40, up by 1.79 percent, according to data from Coindesk.

Content creators invest in crypto firm MoonPay

Crypto startup MoonPay, which provides payment infrastructure for crypto and NFT transactions, expects content creators to increasingly use NFTs to engage with their fans and market their work.

On Wednesday, it announced that more than 60 high-profile investors have pledged $87 million to create digital content and engage with fans, according to Reuters. These high-profile investors include Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Maria Sharapova and Bruce Willis.

The investments come from the firm’s Series A round of investments, disclosed in November last year, for which the company was valued at $3.4 billion.

Other investors in the crypto firm include rapper Aubrey Drake Graham and Adel Future Nur’s company Dreamcrew, Gwyneth Paltrow-led Kinship Ventures, Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary-backed Sound Ventures, singer Abel Tesfaye and his manager Amir Esmailian.

Crypto lender Nexo launches world’s first crypto-backed payment card

Crypto lender, Nexo, has teamed up with global payments company, Mastercard, to launch the world’s first crypto-backed payment card. 

The card will allow users to spend without having to sell their digital assets such as bitcoin, which are used as collateral to back the credit granted, Nexo said. 

The card is linked to a Nexo-provided, crypto-backed credit line, and can be used at 92 million merchants worldwide where Mastercard is accepted, allowing investors to spend up to 90 percent of the fiat value of their crypto assets, according to Nexo. 

“The card requires no minimum repayments, monthly, or inactivity fees. There are no FX fees for up to 20,000 euros per month,” Nexo said.

There are no restrictions on the amount a customer can spend or withdraw from the open credit limit, and interest is paid only on the amount of credit actually used, Reuters reported. 

US crypto expert jailed for advising North Korea

A US crypto expert was sentenced to 63 months in prison on Tuesday, for advising North Korea on how to set up crypto and blockchain technology services to circumvent US sanctions over its nuclear program, court officials in New York said.

“There is no question North Korea poses a national security threat to our nation, and the regime has shown time and again it will stop at nothing to ignore our laws for its own benefit,” prosecutor Damian Williams said. 

He added that “Griffith had admitted in court he took actions to evade sanctions, which are in place to prevent North Korea from building a nuclear weapon.”

In April 2019, Griffith gave a presentation in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, and was arrested at Los Angeles airport in November of the same year.

At the conference, Griffith provided information on how North Korea could use the technology to launder money and evade sanctions, including through “smart contracts,” according to the court.

Binance plans to make Paris its European base

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is pursuing plans to make Paris its European base, as Binance President, Changpeng Zhao, praised France for its pro-crypto regulations on Wednesday.

Zhao is trying to get Binance registered with French markets regulator AMF as a digital asset service provider, known as DASP. 

Binance has said that it welcomes regulation and that it works closely with authorities across the world. 

The government of French President Emmanuel Macron had a welcoming attitude toward the largely unregulated cryptocurrency sector, Zhao said.  

“France has some very pro-business, pro-crypto regulations and also just (the) government’s attitude towards this industry … has been phenomenal,” he told a packed conference hosted in the Paris stock exchange’s historic building.

In a slide presented during Zhao’s speech, Binance said that its platform is indeed the largest cryptocurrency exchange in France.