Eco, which has built out a digital global cryptocurrency platform, announced Friday that it has raised $26 million in a funding round led by a16z Crypto.

Founded in 2018, the SF-based startups platform is designed to be used as a payment tool around the world for daily-use transactions. The company emphasizes that its not a bank, checking account, or credit card.

Were building something better than all of those combined, it said in a blog post. The companys mission has also been described as an effort to use cryptocurrency as a way to marry savings and spending, according to this CoinList article.

Eco users can earn up to 5% annually on their deposits and get 5% cash back when transacting with merchants such as Amazon, Uber and others. Next up: The company says it will give its users the ability to pay bills, pay friends and more all from the same, single wallet. That same wallet, it says, rewards people every time they spend or save.

After a successful alpha test with millions of dollars deposited, the companys Eco App is now available to the public.

A slew of other VC firms participated in Ecos latest financing, including Founders Fund, Activant Capital, Slow Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Tribe Capital, Valor Capital Group and more than one hundred other funds and angels. Expa and Pantera Capital co-led the companys $8.5 million funding round.

CoinList co-founder Andy Bromberg stepped down from his role last fall to head up Eco. The startup was originally called Beam before rebranding to Eco thanks to involvement by founding advisor, Garrett Camp, who held the Eco brand, according to Coindesk. Camp is an Uber co-founder and Expa is his venture fund.

For a16z Crypto, leading the round is in line with its mission.

In a blog post co-written by Katie Haun and Arianna Simpson, the firm outlined why its pumped about Eco and its plans.

One of the challenges in any new industry crypto being no exception is building things that are not just cool for the sake of cool, but that manage to reach and delight a broad set of users, they wrote. Technology is at its best when its improving the lives of people in tangible, concrete waysAt a16z Crypto, we are constantly on the lookout for paths to get cryptocurrency into the hands of the next billion people. How do we think that will happen? By helping them achieve what they already want to do: spend, save, and make money and by focusing users on tangible benefits, not on the underlying technology.

Eco is not the only crypto platform offering rewards to users. Lolli gives users free bitcoin or cash when they shop at over 1,000 top stores.

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Eco raises $26M in a16z-led round to scale its digital cryptocurrency platform - TechCrunch

A visual representation of digital currencies.

Yuriko Nakao | Getty Images

New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a blistering warning to investors and industry members about the dangers of cryptocurrencies on Monday.

"We're sending a clear message to the entire industry that you either play by the rules or we will shut you down," she said in a press release.

The warning from James, which addressed individual investors and crypto industry members, comes amid a major start to 2021 for digital assets such as bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency surged to a new all-time high above $58,000 earlier this month, after garnering attention from Wall Street banks, companies such as Tesla and even the U.S. government.

Bitcoin, which was created in 2009, has evolved from a protest against the banking system to something of a "digital gold" that is beginning to catch on with mainstream investors.

Investment banks such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have shown interest in the asset class. Plus, companies such asMastercardhave made significant moves to support cryptocurrencies. Tesla invested $1.5 billion into bitcoin in February.

The price of bitcoin rose more than 10% over the last 24 hours to hit $48,528, as of approximately 1:51 p.m. ET, according to CoinDesk. Other popular digital currencies include ethereum and litecoin.

James told members of the crypto industry in New York they must be registered with the Office of the Attorney General's Investor Protection Bureau.

Parties who are obligated to register but fail to do so are subject to civil and criminal enforcement, the office said in a statement.

Monday's alert comes two weeks after the attorney general filed a lawsuit against Coinseed, a trading platform for digital currency.

James alleged that Coinseed was operating a virtual currency trading business in New York, functioning as an unregistered broker-dealer for more than three years while collecting over $1 million in investors' assets.

Last week, the attorney general's office reached a settlement with crypto firms Tether and Bitfinex over allegations that they covered up $850 million of losses. Both firms agreed to pay an $18.5 million penalty but denied any wrongdoing.

"We will not hesitate to take action against anyone who violates the law," she said.

"Too often, greedy industry players take unnecessary risks with investors' money, but, today, we're leveling the playing field and issuing alerts to both investors and industry members across the nation," James added.

She also told investors to be cautious about investing in cryptocurrencies.

"All investors should proceed with extreme caution when investing in virtual currencies. Cryptocurrencies are high-risk, unstable investments that could result in devastating losses just as quickly as they can provide gains," James said.

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New York attorney general warns cryptocurrency industry: 'Play by the rules or we will shut you down' - CNBC

In what can be a huge relief to cryptocurrency stakeholders in the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hinted the Centre may not go for a blanket ban on digital currencies and that it's still formulating its opinion on the matter. She said the Centre was open to experimentation with new technologies and is not closing its minds for them.

As per the finance minister, the call on cryptocurrencies will be taken after deliberations with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and cabinet members are over. "A lot of negotiations and discussions are happening around the cryptocurrency with the Reserve Bank of India. RBI will be taking a call on what kind of unofficial cryptocurrency will have to be planned and how it has to be regulated. However we want to make sure that there is a window available for all kinds of experiments which will have to take place in the crypto world," she said at CNBC-TV18's IBLA townhall.

The finance minister has said the Centre's position on cryptocurrencies will be a "calibrated one". The FM clearly said the Centre is not averse to new technology, which is changing rapidly. "There will be a very calibrated position taken. A lot of mixed messages are coming from across the world. The world is moving fast with technology, we cannot pretend that we don't want it," she said.

The FM's remarks on cryptocurrency are in contrast with that of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, who had recently said the RBI had reservations regarding digital currencies. He said the apex bank was working on its digital currency. The RBI does not want to be left behind in the technological revolution, and the benefits of blockchain technology need to be capitalised on, he said, adding "we've certain concerns regarding cryptocurrencies."

This stance is in lines with the central government, which has revealed it'll bring a new bill on cryptocurrencies (The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021). Notably, an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on cryptocurrency has suggested a ban on private cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, in India. The same committee also pitched for the introduction of an RBI-regulated digital currency.

The RBI had virtually banned cryptocurrency trading in 2018. But the Supreme Court in 2019 asked the government to come up with cryptocurrency policies. In 2020, the SC down the RBI curbs on the cryptocurrency trade.

Also read: Centre, states must cut taxes on fuel, says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

Also read: What is Cryptocurrency Bill 2021; how it will impact bitcoin investors

Also read: Cryptocurrencies are neither currency nor commodity; will bring bill soon: Anurag Thakur

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Govt response to cryptocurrency will be 'calibrated'; open to experiment: Sitharaman - Business Today

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Nvidia misled investors over $1 billion in sales to cryptocurrency miners.

The lawsuit claimed that roughly 60-70% of Nvidias sales in China, its largest market, were to miners in 2017 and 2018. That alone might not have been an issue, but the company was accused of keeping the extent of the mining industrys influence on its success a secret from investors by attributing those sales to its Gaming division.

Nvidia didnt share information specifically related to cryptocurrency mining until the first quarter of 2018, and that was to warn investors that it expected those sales to decline by 66% the following quarter, largely because of the crypto market bust. The disclosure caused a 7.85% drop in the companys share price despite record profits.

Its not hard to see why some Nvidia shareholders were upset about the news. But it wasnt exactly a secret that GeForce-branded graphics cards were popular with miners, either, despite the fact that they were originally developed for PC gaming. That appears to be why Gilliam sided with Nvidia by dismissing the lawsuit.

Gilliam essentially said in the filing that the plaintiffs failed to provide adequate evidence that Nvidia misled investors throughout 2017 and 2018. The company acknowledged that some of the sales of GeForce products were to miners, even if it didnt provide exact figures, and that appears to have satisfied Gilliam.

Mining remains a lucrative business for Nvidia the company estimated that between $100 and $300 million of its Q4 2020 revenues were from sales to miners. That variance shows two things. The first is that Nvidia still cant determine exactly how much of its sales can be attributed to people mining cryptocurrency.

The second is that mining remains a relatively small aspect of Nvidias business. The company reported $5 billion in revenues, $2.5 billion of which came from the Gaming division, last quarter. Even if the $300 million attributed to miners is a conservative estimate, the vast majority of Nvidias revenues came from elsewhere.

That probably wont be particularly comforting to enthusiasts competing with cryptocurrency miners over the short supply of available graphics cards (and gaming notebooks) for their builds. It should help Nvidia shareholders understand the mining industrys effect on the company, though, so its still a win of sorts.

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Nvidia Wins Lawsuit Over $1 Billion in Cryptocurrency Mining-Related Sales - Tom's Hardware