Autor Cointelegraph By Arnold Kirimi

Marshall Mathers III, better known as Eminem, joined the “Bored Ape Yacht Club” (BAYC) by purchasing one of the nonfungible token (NFT) Bored Apes for $462,000 on OpenSea’s NFT marketplace. Eminem’s Bored Ape depicts a gold chain necklace and khaki army cap that he wears in real life and has been officially added to his portfolio by OpenSea.The NFT nicknamed the “EminApe” was created by GeeGazza in collaboration with Bored Ape. The transaction was completed by digital agency Six, which has previously worked with other celebrities in the NFT sector, including Wu-Tang Clan, Tycho and Galantis.Congrats! This aged well https://t.co/s82B6sZOAf— 0xFastly.eth (@0xFastly) December 31, 2021This is not the first time that Eminem has invested in NFTs. The Missouri-born rapper currently owns several OpenSea NFTs with the handle “Shady Holdings.” Eminem’s portfolio also comprises a number of “Lil Baby Doodles X” NFTs, with “Ditaggdogg#1,” the rapper’s stencil artwork, and “Superlative Apes #3880” being one of them.Related: NFT music platforms to disrupt Spotify in 2022, Saxo Bank predictsThe “Bored Ape Yacht Club” NFTs rose to popularity in 2021, generating more than $1 billion in trade volume worldwide, according to Defi Llama.The NFT market gains ground every day, and several people, including athletes, are joining in. A number of celebrities have expressed interest in NFTs and revealed their own projects already. A$AP Rocky, Snoop Dogg, Kings of Leon and The White Stripes are among the musicians who have embraced the NFT movement.

Beginning in February, Estonia is set to introduce sweeping changes to its definition of Virtual Asset Service Providers, or VASPs, to include several cryptocurrency-related services — a move that could impact Bitcoin (BTC) ownership in the country — according to European compliance specialist Sumsub.On Sept. 21, the Estonian Ministry of Finance published a draft bill to update the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (the AML Act) as part of the government’s effort to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.As Sumsub reported, the legislation is now in the interagency review process, with implementation set for February 2022. Regulated crypto companies have until March 18, 2022 to bring their operations and paperwork into compliance. According to New DeFi CEO Mikko Ohtamaa, the updated law effectively bans non-custodial software wallets, as well as decentralized finance products, in the country. That’s because the bill’s provisions target VASPs, which include crypto exchanges and wallets, in Estonia. When the bill is ready, VASP will be extended to cover decentralized platforms, initial coin offerings and other services. Violation of the provisions may result in a penalty of up to $452,000, or 400,000 euros. According to Ohtamaa’s interpretation, the new law has the following effect: “You are only allowed to hold your Bitcoin in a custodial Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP). VASP can freeze your account. So it is not effectively your Bitcoin anymore.”Estonia did not only ban #defi, but they also banned #bitcoin.You are not allowed to download wallet and hold #bitcoin anymore in Estonia.— Mikko Ohtamaa (@moo9000) December 31, 2021Related: Estonia’s crypto honeymoon at an end as stricter regulations loomEstonia was one of the first countries in the European Union to license cryptocurrency businesses, but it has had to crack down after hundreds of billions of dollars worth of dirty money was discovered in Danske Bank, positioning Estonia at the heart of Europe’s biggest money-laundering catastrophe.As reported by Cointelegraph, Matis Mäeker, the head of the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), urged the government in October to “turn the rules to zero and start licensing all over again.” He stated that the general public is unaware of the inherent risks of cryptocurrency, especially around its alleged role in money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as the vulnerability of the industry to cybercriminals.