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Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez has indicated he is open to adopting Bitcoin as legal tender and a central bank digital currency, according to a media report yesterday, just two days after the head of the country’s central bank, Miguel Pesce, described cryptocurrencies as a threat to economic stability. Fast facts During an interview with media outlet Caja […]

After hovering aroud the US$35,000 mark through most of June and July, Bitcoin’s price has started rising again this past month. In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin’s price broke US$45,000 for the first time since mid-May amid the market-wide crash from the historic highs in April, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Fast facts Conversely, gold […]

Unocoin offers bitcoin vouchers as Alonzo upgrade onboards users

Several cryptocurrency payment methods exist around the world, but new service is the first major one of its kind in India.

Bitcoin SV has suffered another 51% attack beginning around 11:45 am EDT on Tuesday resulting in up to three versions of the chain being mined simultaneously, as initially reported by analytics firm CoinMetrics.io. It is the fifth such attack on the network since late June. Fast facts Further reporting by the firm reported all of […]

The global Bitcoin hashrate is now on an uptrend as miners pushed out by China resettle on friendlier shores and resume investing big money in mining equipment.

Despite China’s crackdowns on Bitcoin mining and growing consternation about crypto mining’s carbon footprint, some miners are betting big on a rosy future.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is Amazon taking up BTC? Robinhood’s share sale deserves scrutiny. Did Huobi jump or was it pushed?

Jasmine Telecom Systems, a publicly-listed unit of Thai telecoms operator Jasmine International, is set to ride the Bitcoin mining wave, with plans to install tens of thousands of mining machines over the next few years. Fast facts JTS is kicking off plans to deploy 500 mining machines in a data center in the third quarter […]

Electric carmaker Tesla on Monday reported that it held US$1.3 billion of Bitcoin, according to the company’s Q2 2021 financial results update. Fast facts There was no change to Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings from the previous quarter, but the company took a Bitcoin-related impairment hit of US$23 million due to the fall in Bitcoin prices, according […]

Amazon is quickly putting to rest rumors the online retail giant plans to offer crypto payment services for its customers, as reported by British newspaper CityAM, which claimed to have spoken to a company insider. Fast facts To shoot down the rumors and conjecture, an Amazon spokesperson told Coindesk.com on Monday: “Notwithstanding our interest in […]

For the third consecutive week, digital asset investment products last week saw outflows — this time, to the tune of US$28 million, according to CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital assets fund manager. Bitcoin saw the majority of outflows, but multi-asset investment products remained positive with inflows of US$3.1 million. Fast facts Bitcoin investment products saw US$24 […]

Led by traders in Asia, Bitcoin saw its biggest one-day gain in over a month amid speculation that Amazon is getting into crypto.

Valkyrie is among a growing number of asset managers at the SEC’s door, seeking approval to offer a Bitcoin ETF. Will a Bitcoin ETF ever get the green light in the United States?

Despite Ethereum being the blockchain of choice for smart-contract capabilities, there has been a recent push to bring decentralized finance to the Bitcoin network. Fast facts One such project looking to do so is layer-one protocol Stacks (STX), whose introduction of its programming language Clarity has allowed the development of smart contracts on the Bitcoin […]

Demonstrators have gathered outside El Salvador’s National Assembly to protest President Nayib Bukele’s controversial bill to establish Bitcoin as official legal tender in the Central American nation, Decrypt reports. Fast facts Activists gathered despite a three-month ban on protests in the country, which was ostensibly put in place as a Covid-19 preventative measure. Despite the […]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said while Bitcoin mining is steadily becoming more environmentally friendly through the use of renewable energy, he is not yet sure that it’s enough for Tesla to resume accepting the cryptocurrency as payment for purchases. Fast facts Speaking at the virtual Bitcoin event “The ₿ Word” with fellow panelists Twitter CEO […]

As Bitcoin’s carbon footprint continues to make ESG investors uneasy, a new clean-energy crypto mining ETF aims to allay their environmental concerns.

The cryptocurrency market remains quiet, with net inflows of just US$2.9 million last week, according to digital asset investment firm CoinShares’ weekly digital asset fund flows report. Fast facts “The summer doldrums are here, but in line with seasonal expectations,” wrote James Butterfill, a CoinShares’ investment strategist. Bitcoin investment products saw net outflows of US$10.4 […]

In a special Q&A, Yale-NUS College professor Andrew Bailey says the world’s oldest cryptocurrency has untapped potential to promote liberty, equality and justice around the world.

As the world grapples with crypto mining’s carbon footprint, Nischal Shetty of WazirX examines the technical and regulatory solutions.

The difficulty of mining Bitcoin has dropped a further 4.81% in its latest fortnightly adjustment, according to data from BTC.com, bringing it to the lowest point since January last year. Fast facts The decline marks the fourth consecutive drop in the difficulty rate for the world’s leading cryptocurrency — the longest slide in its history. […]

In viral video, Borneo police use a giant steamroller to destroy 1,069 crypto mining rigs that had been caught running on stolen electricity.

Bitcoin interest declines while Rolling Stone gets into NFTs.

The price of gold is rising with inflation. Then why is ‘digital gold’ Bitcoin’s price stagnant — and public interest in BTC falling to a new low?

CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his mobile payments company Square has created a new division dedicated to decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. For now, Dorsey is referring to the new Square Bitcoin DeFi platform as TBD, having not yet decided on an official name.  Fast facts The DeFi space, which has grown exponentially over last […]

Singapore-based crypto derivatives exchange Bybit today announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency spot trading platform. Fast facts The spot trading platform offered BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT and EOS/USDT trading pairs at its launch, and more will be introduced. Traders will be able to buy and sell crypto coins at current market prices once orders are […]

The European Central Bank has launched a two-year project to prepare for the potential issuance of a digital euro. The central bank digital currency would be supported by an underlying architecture with a negligible environmental impact compared to Bitcoin’s hugely energy-intensive blockchain. Fast facts The ECB has begun the investigation phase of a digital euro […]

Australians will soon be able to use Visa cards to spend their Bitcoin holdings for the first time as the global payment giant is partnering with local fintech app CryptoSpend, the Australian Financial Review reports. Fast facts CryptoSpend allows payments to be made in several cryptocurrencies to any account in the Australian banking system, crediting […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: Crypto markets await Bitcoin fund release. USDC issuer opts for the back door. In China, NFT copyrights and wrongs.

Soaring BTC and altcoin prices earlier this year drew in new investors, who now worry about the current slump. Will crypto prices rise again, or are modest valuations here to stay?

Cryptocurrency investment products saw a total outflow of US$4 million last week in the “quietest trading week since October 2020,” according to digital asset investment firm CoinShares’ weekly digital asset fund flows report. Fast facts Cryptocurrency markets remained soft, with Bitcoin seeing US$6.9 million of outflows. Trading volumes in investment products totaled just US$1.58bn for […]

Cardano leapfrogged Bitcoin as the most held cryptocurrency on social trading platform eToro in the second quarter of 2021, the platform reported this week. Fast facts Bitcoin, which led the cryptocurrency bull run at the start of the year, saw a 42% increase in demand, but slipped from first to second place behind Cardano. Cardano […]

El Salvador’s government may face challenges in making Bitcoin legal tender, as more than three-quarters of the country remains skeptical of the plan, according to a report by Reuters. Fast facts A survey of 1,233 people across El Salvador earlier this month found that 54% of people said Bitcoin adoption was “not at all correct.” […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: Ethereum upgrade, torque of the town. SEC in snafu over Bitcoin ETFs. Crypto miners flourish amid China fallout.

Higher value of Ether investments softens blow to value of Bitcoin holdings.

A ransomware attack on U.S. software company Kaseya has likely affected between 800 and 1,500 businesses around the world, the company said in a statement on Monday, as the group claiming responsibility for the attacks demands US$70 million in Bitcoin to release user’s data. Fast facts Cybercrime group REvil, which is linked to Russia, claimed […]

The supply of BTC held on exchanges has hit its lowest point since January, suggesting the worst of the coin’s selloff is over, according to data from crypto analytics firm Santiment. Fast facts Santiment tweeted yesterday: “The 6-month low is a promising sign, as it generally will indicate there is a decreased risk of more […]

Institutional sentiment appears to be shifting back to being positive toward crypto as crypto investment products saw inflows of US$63 million for the first time in five weeks, according to a report by CoinShares, Europe’s largest digital asset investment firm. Previously, there were four straight weeks of crypto fund outflows. Fast facts: “For the first […]

Marathon Digital Holdings mined 265.6 Bitcoins last month, a 17% increase over the previous month, according to a company press release. Fast facts That mining increased the company’s holdings to 5,784 bitcoins with an estimated market value of US$206.1 million. The total includes a bulk purchase of 4,182 bitcoins the company bought in January for […]

El Salvador recently became the first country to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, and it seems unlikely to be the last. Samson Mow, chief strategy officer of Bitcoin technology company Blockstream, looks forward to a future in which Bitcoin edges out fiat currency.

Institutional demand for cryptocurrency appears to be slowing, according to a report by analytics company Glassnode.

Mexico’s finance minister reiterated his country’s ban on cryptocurrencies on Monday, saying they are not legal tender and are not to be treated as currencies within the country

Bitcoin’s hashrate fell to 58.7971 exa hashes per second on Sunday — the lowest point since August 2019.

As China shuts down crypto mining over environmental concerns, miners are moving next door to Kazakhstan, one of the most coal-rich countries in the world.

Lawmaker Carlos Rejala tamped down speculation that Paraguay might follow El Savador’s footsteps in making Bitcoin legal tender.

Bitcoin was recovered by the FBI from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware cyber criminals DarkSide, sparking privacy concerns around cryptocurrencies.

QR Capital’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund — the first Bitcoin ETF in Latin America — has been listed on Brazil’s stock exchange.

Top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Bitcoin’s still winning. Titan’s troubles as a teachable moment. Beijing creates a crypto mining diaspora.

In a new report, Bank for International Settlements extols central bank digital currency (CBDC) as the future of money. Will CBDCs replace Bitcoin someday?

Canaan, one of the world’s biggest crypto mining rig makers, has launched its own crypto mining business in Kazakhstan.

After a spate of bad news, Bitcoin’s price tumbled to its lowest level this year before climbing back up to $34,000. Where are BTC prices likely to go next?

Bitcoin is in its sixth consecutive week of institutional outflows, with US$89 million exiting the coin, according to a weekly fund flows report.

Sotheby’s has announced it will be accepting cryptocurrency as payment in an upcoming auction for a 101.38-carat diamond with flawless clarity.

Against a backdrop of El Salvador’s BTC boosts, famed investor Michael Burry warns about a crypto price bubble and China intensifies its crypto clampdown.

The Bitcoin hashrate plunged over the weekend following a clampdown on cryptocurrency mining by the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.

Following El Salvador’s move to become the first country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, a Paraguayan congressman has announced plans to do the same in the South American nation next month.

Bitcoin sheds 4% but BTC’s share of the total crypto market grows after US Fed projects higher inflation and plans interest hikes earlier than expected.

The El Salvadorean Department of Labor and Social Welfare has had to clarify it is not within its purview to determine whether salaries can be paid in Bitcoin.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Bitcoin finds fresh favor in Global South. Why would hackers demand a Bitcoin ransom? Chinese miners eye Yunnan probe.

On June 14, the difficulty of Bitcoin mining fell 5.3%, the first time this year that there have been two consecutive downward adjustments.

Africa has emerged as the region with the highest growth in P2P Bitcoin trading volume over the past six months.

Four people have been arrested and more than 400 Bitcoin mining machines seized by police in the Malaysian city of George Town.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to finalize discussions around a pandemic relief loan to support the Central American nation. In a Thursday press briefing, IMF spokesman Garry Rice also implied that El Salvador’s decision to make Bitcoin a national currency will be a focus of the meeting for the IMF team.

El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin has the world buzzing. Can Singapore be next? China mining crackdown continues.

A bill restricting the granting of crypto mining permits on environmental ground has passed the New York State Senate.

Top blockchain and crypto news: El Salvador bets on Bitcoin as national currency. ETH gains ground on BTC. Beijing dishes out digital yuan in latest trials.

Now that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin-as-legal-tender bill is almost reality, what will it mean for BTC investors around the world?

Bitcoin investors in China saw greater returns in 2020 than almost any other nation — second only to the US.

Millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin paid to ransomware hackers who shut down the main fuel pipeline on the U.S. East Coast last month has been recovered.

As 50,000 Bitcoiners and crypto superstars whoop it up at Miami’s Bitcoin 2021 fest, a smaller group of BTC fans hold their own at the Fringe in Hong Kong.

Canaan, one of the largest crypto mining rig makers in the world, is opening its first-ever service center outside China—in Kazakhstan.