Indonesia banned Muslims from using cryptocurrencies due to uncertainty and gambling. The head of religious decrees said that they could trade a cryptocurrency if it complies with Shariah.

The Indonesian council of religious leaders said it banned Muslims from using cryptocurrencies due to elements of uncertainty and gambling. The authority on Shariah compliance, the Ulema National Council (MUI), made that announcement after a hearing.

The head of religious decrees, Asrorun Niam Soleh, explained that Muslims could trade cryptocurrencies if they complied with Shariah law. For the MUI to approve the sale of these assets, they must prove that they offer a clear benefit.

The Muslim population in Indonesia is around 237 million, approximately 12.7% of the total in the world.

The MUI’s latest decision does not mean it will stop all cryptocurrency trading in Indonesia, reported Bloomberg. However, the council would seek to dissuade Muslims from investing in crypto assets and suggest that local institutions reconsider issuing them.

Miami Mayor Will Share MiamiCoin Profits With Citizens

Miami Mayor Francis Suárez announced that he would give residents part of the profits made by the MiamiCoin cryptocurrency. The official said Miami would be the first American city to share returns on Bitcoin directly with its citizens.

Suárez explained that his city would make the payments through a digital wallet and work with different cryptocurrency exchanges. The mayor explained that this would allow Miami residents to have a wallet, register, and verify themselves.

The introduction of the MiamiCoin cryptocurrency happened earlier this year, Suárez recalled. Likewise, he noted that the crypto asset had generated more than USD 21 million for Miami in the last three months.

Elon Musk Sells USD 1.1 Billion Worth of Tesla Shares

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold more than 934,000 Tesla shares worth about USD 1.1 billion. Filings filed on November 11^th with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirm that information.

Musk sold the shares at around USD 1,170, which represented a gain of almost 180% in the last year. That is the third time the businessman has sold Tesla shares since the company went public on Nasdaq in 2010.

The files indicated that Musk planned to sell the shares as part of his tax liability in September. In recent days, he conducted a survey on Twitter, in which he asked if he should sell 10% of his shares in Tesla.

There Will Be an Update Process on the Bitcoin Network

Throughout its history, Bitcoin has undergone slight changes in its fundamental structure to improve. On this occasion, the cryptocurrency will go through an update process that seeks to optimize the BTC scripting language and signatures.

This process will consider aspects such as privacy and the improvement of the interpretation of smart contracts. In addition, the new Bitcoin update will allow users to make more secure transactions.

That update, called Taproot, will bring corrections to the structure of the current version of Bitcoin, which includes scalability. The soft fork will have to cope with complex transactions easy to track and limited scalability in small blocks.

By Alexander Salazar

Avalanche and Solana are among the tokens that have broken their all-time highs in recent days. It is striking that the new ATHs have occurred outside of the altcoin season.

Bitcoin (BTC) is not the only crypto asset that has recently exceeded its all-time high (ATH). Other cryptocurrencies have broken their ATHs or have come close to it. That has happened even though the market is not currently in the altcoin season.

According to the latest report from Coin Metrics, cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH), Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL) and Axie Infinity’s AXS have exceeded their ATHs. Those altcoins have hit those new record prices in no time, just from September to date.

The firm refers to the highs that ETH reached last week, exceeding USD 4,782 on November 8^th. Before that, it had gone above USD 4,400 on October 28^th, beating the ATH of October 21^st when it was worth more than USD 4,300.

They also cite AVAX, which set a record on November 8^th when its value rose to USD 96. The cryptocurrency had already reached two ATHs in September.

The price of SOL, Solana’s native token, peaked at more than USD 214 in September. The figure rose on November 6^th when the price was above USD 256. That placed SOL in the fifth position in the ranking by market capitalization.

AXS, the governance token of the Axie Infinity game, exceeded its ATH on November 6^th when its price reached more than USD 164.

The Number of Cryptocurrencies Exceeding their ATH Increases

The report from Coin Metrics indicates that the number of altcoins breaking their all-time highs is constantly growing. To do this, it takes into account that the list of those close to their ATH is increasing.

Polkadot (DOT) and the Terra project (LUNA) are also among the altcoins about to exceed their ATHs. However, both made new highs shortly after Coin Metrics released its report. DOT traded above USD 47, and LUNA was worth USD 54 on November 8^th.

Binance (BNB) is among the cryptocurrencies that are approaching their highs. Besides, the recent renaming of Facebook to Meta has influenced tokens related to the metaverse.

Regarding the crypto assets linked to the metaverse, Coin Metrics highlights the movements of Decentraland (MANA) and Sandbox (SAND), also close to all-time highs. They note that decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens like Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), and Compound (COMP) have fallen behind.

They Break Their ATHs outside of the Altcoin Season

Curiously, these records are happening outside of the altcoin season (altseason). This index has the objective of comparing the performance of the top 50 cryptocurrencies with that of Bitcoin.

According to the index, the performance of BTC over the past 90 days has been above that of altcoins. Only 51% of cryptocurrencies usually outperform Bitcoin, while that percentage is above 75% in altseasons.

Bitcoin has lost much of its dominance this year, which will allow understanding what happens with altcoins. Data from CoinMarketCap reveals that the pioneering cryptocurrency went from 69% in January 2021 to 42.8% on November 7^th.

That has happened after the growth of Ether and many altcoins on the market, which are exceeding their ATHs. That indicates that the price of Bitcoin influences that of the other cryptocurrencies, as its latest all-time highs have.

By Alexander Salazar

The seller of the car clarifies that he also accepts payments in other cryptocurrencies. The price of those vehicles is much higher in Cuba than in other Latin American countries.

A Cuban citizen put his car up for sale for USD 60,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) through an Internet site. That is the only vehicle on the platform that expressly accepts that payment method in the title of the publication.

The seller clarified in the description that he accepts other cryptocurrencies as payment, as long as it is an equivalent amount in BTC.

Cuban media reported that the seller wanted to receive 1 Bitcoin for the car. He even recommended that his potential buyers should buy the vehicle when the price of BTC dropped. That comment does not appear on the website at the moment, as he could have deleted it, or it was a response that he gave to a media outlet.

The price of the car seems exaggerated, especially since it is a used vehicle over ten years old. In contrast, in Venezuela and Colombia, its value can be around USD 12,000 under similar conditions. However, the prices of other vehicles on the same website indicate that it is consistent.

The Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) legalized Bitcoin as a form of payment on September 15^th. The regulator stated that financial institutions and legal entities would require authorization to operate with crypto assets.

In the case of natural persons, they could conduct transactions with cryptocurrencies freely. However, the BCC warned that using these currencies poses risks of which its users should be aware.

Resolution 215/2021 of the BCC recognizes the payments of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the island. In addition, it establishes the granting of a license to crypto asset service providers that operate in the territory.

People Can Also Buy Cars With Bitcoins outside of Cuba

The use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment has also grown in Argentina. Several dealerships in the South American country are accepting Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies for their vehicles.

An Argentine car dealership made its first sale of a brand-new car in cryptocurrencies. The buyer took advantage of the plan offered by the firm to reserve the vehicle with crypto assets. In addition, he decided to pay the first installment of the financing with this method.

Natural persons are also interested in receiving cryptocurrencies in exchange for the items they offer for sale on Internet sites. On those pages, there are ads from users who want to sell clothing, books, tools, and cars, among others, in crypto assets.

Electronic commerce has grown so much in the last decade that it is no wonder that someone has bought something online. However, the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies proves the increasingly evident potential of this area. Now it is possible to purchase any product or pay for any insurance with crypto assets.

The legalization of payments with Bitcoin in Cuba is just one example of the influence of the pioneering cryptocurrency in the economy. Its adoption as legal tender in El Salvador is proof of the potential that governments see in this crypto asset.

By Alexander Salazar

Along with Castor, there are now four mayors interested in receiving their salary in Bitcoin. More political officials would intend to join this initiative in the coming days.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor also stated her intention to become part of the political officials who will acquire their salaries in Bitcoin.

This statement came from the representative during the Bitcoin & Blockchain Summit event, which took place last week in Florida and got sponsored by Celsius. There, the official highlighted her intention to receive her salary in digital currency; she will have the support of Celsius’s CTO, Nuke Goldstein, who will personally assist her in her road to achieving this goal.

Castor’s declaration of intent comes at a good time for Tampa Bay, as Forbes magazine called the city the fastest growing emerging financial technology in the US. Surveys also place the town above Miami in terms of technology adoption, which is why it seems to be an attractive environment for companies and startups from other sectors.

Four Political Officials Would Receive their Salaries in Bitcoin

With Castor’s announcement, there are already four political officials who decided to support the call of the Bitcoin investor and speaker, Anthony Pompliano.

Pompliano publicly asked through his Twitter account who would become the first political official to receive the entire salary in digital currency.

The first to respond to his request was the mayor of Miami, Francis Suárez, who assured that his next paycheck would come entirely in Bitcoin.

Before Castor joined this group, Jackson Mayor Scott Conger also highlighted his intention to follow these steps. In this case, he would choose to convert his salary to Bitcoin, so he could not receive it directly from the public administration.

Meanwhile, Pompliano’s initiative reached the next level. Now, the investor and speaker invited his followers to investigate whether the mayors and political officials of their places would be willing to take this step. More personalities will eventually join this call, but it remains unclear which will be the next name to appear in this list.

Eric Adams Agrees to Receive his Salary in Cryptocurrencies

Later, the recently elected mayor of New York, Eric Adams, said that he would go big by getting paid his first three salaries in digital assets.

Adams confirmed these intentions in the same message thread that Anthony Pompliano launched through Twitter. Pompliano asked his followers who would be the first American politician to accept his salary in digital currency, and Adams made his response.

The new mayor of New York published his response after his counterpart for Miami, Francis Suárez, pledged to receive the entirety of his next paycheck in Bitcoin, thus running to be the first American politician to give such a step.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The company clarified that the ETF would not invest in digital assets directly or indirectly. The ETF would apply “replication”, with which they intend to achieve the investment goal.

US digital asset manager Grayscale filed along with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) an application for a new exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The plan is to track the actions of companies linked to bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in an alternative for investors to expose themselves to the current market. According to the preliminary prospectus, Grayscale Investments LLC applied last Friday, November 5, to stay at the frontline in the cryptocurrency industry.

The current product, named the Grayscale Future of Finance ETF (GFOF), will get entrusted with tracking the intersection of finances, technology, and digital assets. In detail, Grayscale’s new product intends to follow the actions of companies closely related to cryptocurrencies.

Indexing to Track Returns

According to the company, the new ETF would apply a passive management approach to track performance, fees, and expenses, focused on an index called the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index. They highlight that this index will get built to follow the performance of companies classified as providers of exposure to Future of Finance.

The future of Finance would also include asset managers, exchanges, brokerages and wealth managers, and those companies that provide technological solutions, such as companies that bring technology through data processing and transactions.

And finally, there are those digital asset infrastructures, such as companies directly working with energy and mining activities. All companies included in the index, according to Grayscale, must have a market capitalization of $ 100 million to get considered by the ETF.

However, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy, which means it could invest in a sample of Index securities whose risk, return, and other features are similar.

A Never-Ending Pressure

The arrival of this new request from Grayscale is a sign that the pressure on the US regulator to approve financial products related to cryptocurrencies does not stop.  Grayscale currently counts on  a Bitcoin Trust fund that houses the amount of BTC (654,600, according to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide),

This new documentation now includes many other companies still awaiting a response from the SEC, which has only approved three bitcoin futures ETFs, rejecting leveraged and spot. There is a new request made within the SEC. Cryptocurrency financial services platform BlockFi had advanced documentation requesting approval of an exchange-traded bitcoin spot fund (ETF).

There is a lot of pressure on the president of the SEC, Gary Gensler. US Congressmen have advocated in favor of bitcoin ETFs without implying an acceptance from the official.

Grayscale currently counts on $ 59.2 billion in assets under management, leading the Bitcoin Trust to control the majority, accounting for 71% of the total amount. The remainder, about $ 14.7 billion, or 25%, is under the control of the Ethereum Trust.

By: Jenson Nuñez