Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, has made another marketing attempt to connect the social media network with the cryptocurrency community by changing its logo image to the Shiba Inu dog – Dogecoin’s $0.08 digital symbol. However, the move appears to be more than just an engagement technique. It comes only two days after Musk requested that a judge dismiss a $258 billion lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to promote Dogecoin.
Whether intentional or not, the new emblem caused another spike in DOGE prices this week.
A less positive reality awaits crypto enterprises in the United Kingdom as financial institutions restrict access to banking services for crypto-related businesses. The action runs against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s aspirations to promote financial technology disruption and make the United Kingdom a worldwide crypto powerhouse. This week’s Crypto Biz looks at Canada’s new crypto conglomerate, the tragic early death of the Cash App developer in San Francisco, DOGE news, and crypto problems in the United Kingdom.
Dogecoin supporters greeted the new Twitter emblem with the famous joke token. On April 3, the social networking platform modified its avatar, two days after its CEO, Elon Musk, urged a US judge to dismiss a $258 billion lawsuit filed by investors claiming the operation of a pyramid scheme to promote Dogecoin. Several market analyses have found that Musk tweeting about DOGE drives its price up. On the other hand, Musk’s attorneys contended that “funny pictures” and “tweeting words of support” do not constitute a fraud allegation. At least in this week’s example, the marketing move had a favorable influence on the altcoin’s price, with the token jumping by more than 22% one hour following the symbol change.
In Canada, WonderFi Technologies, Coinsquare, and CoinSmart Financial have announced their merger to become the country’s largest regulated crypto trading platform, with over 1.65 million registered customers. The newly amalgamated firm claims to provide a diverse range of products and services to Canadians, including retail and institutional crypto trading, staking products, business-to-business crypto payment processing, sports betting, and gaming. Since 2017, the firms have “transacted over $17 billion and have over $600 million in assets under custody.” The new corporation is expected to have $50 million in cash and investments with no outstanding debt.
In the United Kingdom, crypto firms are having difficulty acquiring banking services. The few banks still cooperating with cryptocurrency companies are asking for additional paperwork and information about how they monitor their clients’ activities. The difficulties include having applications refused, accounts blocked, and abundant paperwork. Cryptocurrency firms are turning to payment service providers such as BCB Payments and Stripe to sustain company operations in the United Kingdom. HSBC Holdings and Nationwide Building Society prohibited cryptocurrency transactions using credit cards for retail consumers in the nation just a few weeks ago, joining many institutions in the United Kingdom tightening limits on digital assets.
