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New York, New York – June 1, 2021 – Sweet, the first NFT solutions provider to develop a platform that can mint and distribute NFTs at scale while maintaining a strong eco-friendly and consumer first approach, has just announced it has completed integration of the Polygon blockchain (previously- the Matic Network) into its NFT solution. Sweet is pioneering a new way for brands to distribute NFTs through engaging consumer experiences via a multi chain, or chain agnostic, approach. With the addition of Polygon, Sweet is now leveraging the Polygon / Matic Ethereum sidechain, avoiding the high gas fees and slow transaction processing that would otherwise prevent brands from creating and distributing NFTs at scale. Tom Mizzone, CEO and founder of Sweet shared his thoughts on the addition of Polygon, “Sweet’s blockchain agnostic approach provides optionality to our brand partners and gives us the ability to match the right blockchain NFT solution to a brand’s specific consumer application. The addition of Polygon further enhances our position as a market leader in NFT solutions and further provides flexibility to meet our client’s needs in a secure, cost-effective and scalable manner.” Sweet’s CTO, Ken Ellis commented, “We’ve evaluated a lot of blockchains, and Polygon is a good fit with their speed, cost, and ability to handle large volumes of tokens. Their adoption by organizations like OpenSea also factored into our decision, since interoperability with other wallets and platforms is an important factor for consumers.” About Sweet: Sweet is the highly scalable, eco-friendly, Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform used by top entertainment and consumer brands. Sweet offers the flexibility of broad-scale distribution of NFTs and provides leading entertainment properties with the opportunity to drive new revenue and consumer engagement. Sweet has built one of the most energy efficient NTF platforms in the world and can quickly spin up broad distribution campaigns for clients leveraging the blockchain. Contact Information For Sweet: Peter Keiser, EVP of Marketing, Sweet New York, NY (201) 775-9000 press@sweet.io This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

The creator of the popular bitcoin price model called stock-to-flow (S2F or S2FX) has added a new dot to his notorious chart. Plan B said on Tuesday that “we knew bitcoin would not go up in a straight line” and added that the market action is “starting to look like 2013.” S2FX ‘Intact’ Says Plan B “Plan B,” is a pseudonym leveraged by the Twitter account @100trillionusd and since March 22, 2019, he’s been documenting his popular stock-to-flow (S2F) price model. Similar to the tools and technical analysis models Bitcoin.com News has written about in recent days like the Golden Ratio Multiplier and Logarithmic Growth Curves, Plan B’s model is extremely popular and he recently updated it to the stock-to-flow cross-asset (S2FX) model. Basically, the model quantifies BTC’s scarcity in a similar fashion to scarce assets like gold. It then leverages the bitcoin in circulation and quantifies it by yearly issuance with reward halvings as well. At the time of publication, the Bitcoin network’s inflation rate per annum is approximately 1.77% and a circulating supply of 18,723,781 BTC. Despite bitcoin losing 53% from it’s all-time high of over $64k to a low of $30k in 30 days, Plan B still confirms the S2FX model is “intact.” Moreover, current charts look awfully familiar as Plan B expressed that things are looking like 2013 right now. “New dot: May close $37,341.. -35% .. we knew bitcoin would not go up in a straight line and several -35% drops are possible (and indeed likely) in a bull market,” Plan B tweeted. “Starting to look like 2013. S2F(X) model intact,” the popular Twitter account told his 523,000 followers. Plan B further added: 2nd bounce off the lower band of S2F model. Will S2F break? Or will this turn out to be an excellent buy signal? I know multiple hedge funds that actually trade this BTC-S2F ‘cointegration’ (despite that we can’t formally use cointegration tests because S2F ratio isn’t random). Plan B Asks Will S2F Break or Is This a Buy Signal? Moreover, Plan B also started a poll on Twitter that asked his followers if they thought the S2F model would break or will it turn out to be an excellent buy signal. Out of over 15,000 votes so far, 54.7% think it’s a “buy signal,” while 17.4% think “S2F will break.” One individual responded and said BTC would go “back to $20k and bounce.” Others who believe its an excellent “buy signal,” said the question was a “no brainer.” Plan B was also asked “How do you define break? 2stdev or 1stdev band?” The S2F creator responded and noted: “Let’s say break out of the 1stdev band and stay below $100k this year. i.e. 1 outlier will not break it, but structurally below model breaks it. Formulas and stats are in the s2f paper, so you could define it better.” Bitcoin prices tried to surpass $38k this past weekend but bulls have failed to push the value past that range. Plan B is not the only market observer that has said the current market cycle looks like “2013.” On May 23, Bitcoin.com News reported on a number of traders and crypto proponents who believe the current cycle is very similar to 2013’s double top bull run. What do you think about Plan B’s updated S2F chart with the new dot? Do you think S2F break? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Coinbase Card can now be used with Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing cardholders to pay for goods and services using cryptocurrencies. Customers can also earn up to 4% in crypto rewards back when using their Coinbase Card with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Coinbase Enables Debit Card Use With Google Pay and Apple Pay Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced Tuesday that Coinbase Card users “can now use your Coinbase Card with Apple Pay and Google Pay to make it even easier to spend crypto.” Coinbase further said that “Starting this week, we’ll invite select customers off the waitlist to begin earning up to 4% back in crypto rewards,” elaborating: Millions of people around the world use Apple Pay or Google Pay for everyday purchases, from grocery deliveries to pet supplies to home office goods. Now, you can earn up to 4% back in crypto rewards on this shopping when you use your Coinbase Card with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Coinbase explained that it “will automatically convert all cryptocurrency to US Dollars and transfer the funds to your Coinbase Card (less conversion fees) for use in purchases and ATM withdrawals.” Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card and there are no application fees. Customers can start using the card immediately after being approved. According to the Coinbase website, the waitlist is currently available in all U.S. states except Hawaii. “If you’re a Google Pay user, you can add your Coinbase Card from the Google Pay app. If you’re an Apple Pay user, you can add your card from the Apple Wallet app or from within the Coinbase app,” Coinbase explained. What do you think about using Coinbase Card with Apple Pay or Google Pay? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee that’s overseeing the Mt Gox civil rehabilitation proceedings, has published a proposal so Mt Gox claimants can vote in order to get reimbursed. The voting process will end on October 8 and more than 50% of the votes will be needed to solidify the settlement plan. Mt Gox Civil Rehabilitation Voting Process Begins Victims of the infamous Mt Gox breach may get a chance to get some funds after all of these years. That’s if the Tokyo-based bankruptcy official Nobuaki Kobayashi’s proposal passes by majority vote. Those who don’t vote will be submitted as a “nay” vote. “If you do not vote, you will be deemed to have voted against the Draft Rehabilitation Plan for the requirement of the amount of the voting rights,” the letter published on May 31 notes. Kobayashi’s letter further notes: We are pleased to inform you that the online voting function has been released on the online rehabilitation claim filing system— In addition to voting online for or against the Draft Rehabilitation Plan, it is anticipated that the System will be used by creditors for procedure for receiving repayments in the future. Mt Gox Bitcoin Claims Worth Much More Than They Were 7 Years Ago If the voting passes with a majority vote, the rehabilitation plan will become final and binding with the Tokyo District Court. “The Rehabilitation Plan will become effective, and repayments will be made in accordance with the Rehabilitation Plan,” the letter emphasizes. Upon approval of the Draft Rehabilitation Plan and the Tokyo District Court’s confirmation order becoming final and binding, the Rehabilitation Plan will become effective, and repayments will be made in accordance with the plan. Moreover, voting forms and other documentation will be mailed out to creditors, Kobayashi details. It’s been seven years and three months since the collapse of the famous Japanese crypto exchange. A total of 850,000 BTC ($29.5 billion) was stolen and 200,000 BTC ($7.3 billion) was recovered after the company filed bankruptcy. The creditors’ accounts are worth much more than they were in 2014, and many of them hope to be reimbursed in BTC, while some Mt Gox victims have already sold their claims. What do you think about the Mt Gox voting process for reimbursement? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Two Chinese online brokerages have set out to enter the global crypto trading market. The platforms, Tiger Brokers and Futu, are planning to offer their services only outside the People’s Republic as Beijing is once again cracking down on bitcoin trading in the country. Major Chinese Online Brokers Dive Into Crypto Trading Beijing-based Tiger Brokers and Shenzhen-headquartered Futu, China’s leading online brokerages, have unveiled plans to start offering crypto trading services, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday. The Nasdaq-listed companies want to compete with established platforms such as Robinhood and Etoro for a share of the expanding global market. The two companies will not accept clients from mainland China, however, as authorities in their home country have recently reiterated a ban on cryptocurrency trading. The Chinese government has been going after crypto exchanges and payment service providers while vowing to continue closely monitoring China’s huge crypto mining industry. The brokers have announced their intentions to expand into digital currency trading during Q1 earnings calls, SCMP detailed. Young and mobile traders residing outside the People’s Republic of China will be their main target, according to the publication. This global market has been growing with rising cryptocurrency prices over the past few months. Tiger Brokers CEO Wu Tianhua has been quoted as saying during last week’s call: We notice cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have become more acceptable by mainstream investors since last year and are emerging as an asset class. Tiger’s mission is to make investing more efficient and enjoyable for investors. Tiger Brokers and Futu to Target Offshore Crypto Traders Tiger Brokers is “not going to offer such a service to Chinese nationals,” the company’s chief executive emphasized. The brokerage is currently applying for relevant crypto trading licenses, added Wu Tianhua, without revealing which regulators are expected to provide authorization for Tiger’s new business endeavor. The brokerage, which is backed by the Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi, has reported a net profit of $21.1 million from the first quarter of this year. The platform, which facilitates trading of shares listed on stock exchanges in the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore, has received deposits from more than 375,000 customers. Futu, which is supported by the Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent, is planning its expansion into cryptocurrency trading for the second half of the year. During the company’s earnings conference call on May 19, Senior Vice-President Robin Li Xu said Futu is applying for digital currency-related licenses in Singapore, Hong Kong and the U.S. The broker has 790,000 customers and has registered a six-fold increase in net profit when comparing Q1 2021 to Q1 2020, bringing in $149.5 million. Do you think Tiger Brokers and Futu will be able to offer crypto trading services in China in the future? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Rumors of a fourth and possible fifth round of direct stimulus checks have become a hot conversation topic this week, as lawmakers are urging the President to act. Over 80 U.S. legislators have sent letters to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris asking the administration to push forward direct economic stimulus payments and extend unemployment benefits. 80 Legislators Urge Biden Administration to Push for More Stimulus Discussions concerning more Covid-19 relief stimulus have been increasing in recent days after the Biden administration proposed a $6 trillion budget last week. Following the “Build Back Better” proposal, a number of reports have been discussing rumors of a fourth and even fifth round of stimulus checks for American citizens. Of course, despite the headlines implying more direct payments are on the way and a large group of Democrats relentlessly asking the executive office to act, nothing has been approved yet. What the reports do say is that a fourth and fifth round of stimulus has been proposed by 80 politicians from the Democratic party led by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Ilhan Omar. This group sent letters to the President and Vice President asking the administration to bolster recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions. In addition to the 80 legislators, seven members of the Ways and Means Committee have also joined the campaign for more stimulus. “We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your ‘Build Back Better’ long-term economic plan,” the original letter from the Democratic senators reads. “This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.” Author Who Wrote Petition With 2.25 Million Signatures Says ‘Recovery Hasn’t Reached Many Americans’ The seven members of the Ways and Means Committee told President Biden that the stimulus would lift Americans out of poverty. The members explained that rounds of new checks could lower poverty levels from 44 million people to only 16 million. “A fourth and fifth stimulus check could keep an additional 12 million out of poverty,” the Ways and Means Committee members insist. An online petition has also been signed by 2.25 million people, which calls for stimulus checks for $2k for adults and $1k for child dependents. Further, the payments would be recurring until the end of the pandemic. The creator of the petition recently wrote an update that said: Our country is still deeply struggling. The recovery hasn’t reached many Americans – the true unemployment rate for low-wage workers is estimated at over 20% and many people face large debts from last year for things like utilities, rent, and child care. On social media, stimulus discussions are trending in the U.S. as thousands of threads are touching on the subject. The IRS has reported that roughly 10 million qualifying U.S. residents are still waiting on stimulus checks from the last rounds. “I’m on SSI and have a direct express card and got the first and second stimulus check,” one individual on Twitter wrote. “But I still haven’t received my third stimulus payment yet. What is going on? I know it wouldn’t be garnished. So why haven’t I still received my third stimulus check yet.” What do you think about talk of a fourth and fifth round of stimulus checks? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

One of India’s leading private banks with 5,608 branches and 16,087 ATMs, HDFC Bank, has published a report stating that “it is just a matter of time before Indian investors have legal access to crypto plays.” This statement came as the bank scrutinizes crypto transactions in customer accounts. HDFC Bank Predicts Legal Acess to Crypto in India HDFC Bank, a leading private bank in India, published a Treasury Research report last week detailing its view on cryptocurrency. HDFC Bank currently has 5,608 branches and 16,087 ATMs across India. The bank was among the first to receive approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a private sector bank in 1994. “Like most conventional investors, we are yet to reconcile the often-conflicting properties of cryptocurrencies,” reads the bank’s report, entitled “Cryptocurrencies: Fad or Forever?” While acknowledging that cryptocurrency “helped to hedge against sharp movements in other asset classes,” the bank’s economists argued that “its own volatility … is a bit of a dampener.” Nonetheless, the report notes that “with central banks stepping into the crypto game, essential properties like limited supply of legacy crypto, this is a space that needs to be watched closely.” The bank stated: We think it is just a matter of time before Indian investors have legal access to crypto plays. The report further points out that “cryptocurrencies are one of the best-performing assets,” with BTC returning 10,869% since 2015. The meme crypto dogecoin is also analyzed in the report. The bank explained that the “Price of dogecoin depends on narrative” and “There are no fundamentals behind it that can stain prices.” The bank did not elaborate on what kind of legal access it is referring to. Cryptocurrency is not banned in India and investors can go to a number of local crypto exchanges to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies with INR. Both the central bank and the government have independently confirmed that there is no ban on cryptocurrency, crypto exchanges, businesses, or traders in India. The Indian government, however, has a draft cryptocurrency bill that contains recommendations to ban cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin. However, the government is reportedly setting up a panel of experts to re-evaluate the recommendations for crypto regulation. This HDFC Bank report was published at the time when some of the bank’s customers said that they received a letter stating that cryptocurrency transactions are not permitted. The bank cited the RBI circular of April 2018 which prohibited financial institutions from dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, the Indian supreme court quashed this circular back in March of last year, allowing banks to resume providing services to crypto businesses, including cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite the supreme court’s ruling, several banks still cite this circular when scrutinizing crypto-related transactions in customer accounts. In its recent letter to customers, HDFC Bank wrote: “To comply with the regulatory guidelines … the banks are advised to exercise due diligence by closely examining the transactions carried out in the account on an ongoing basis.” The bank’s letter concludes: Request you to visit the nearest HDFC Bank branch within 30 days of the date of this communication to clarify the nature of these transactions. In case we do not hear from you, the bank will be compelled to restrict transactions in your account without further notice. However, on Monday, India’s central bank issued a notice to banks clarifying that the circular in question is “no longer valid” and should not be cited or quoted when dealing with cryptocurrency. Do you think cryptocurrency will soon be legalized in India? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, has launched its first security token offering (STO) on its cryptocurrency exchange. The DBS Digital Bond is priced at 15 million Singapore dollars. “We expect asset tokenization to increasingly become more mainstream,” said a DBS executive. DBS’ First Security Token Offering DBS announced Monday its first security token offering (STO) on the DBS Digital Exchange (Ddex). The DBS Digital Bond, priced at 15 million Singapore dollars (US$11.37 million), comes with a six-month tenor and coupon rate of 0.60% per annum. It is offered as a private placement and DBS is the sole bookrunner for the transaction. The bank detailed: This paves the way for other issuers and clients to tap on Ddex’s capabilities to efficiently access capital markets for their funding needs and sets the stage for more STO issuances and listings on Ddex as asset tokenisation turns mainstream. Clifford Lee, Global Head of Fixed Income at DBS, said that “this marks the first of many steps in the journey to evolve the traditional bond issuance into a broader digital ecosystem where more inclusive issuer and investor participation can be rapidly developed.” Lee continued: “While most bond tokenization exercises announced in Asia to date tend to be repackaged forms of a conventional bond issue, the current transaction directly combines existing legal and tax infrastructure requirements with a direct issuance on the digital exchange in smaller lot sizes.” The executive added: This bond token structure was only made possible because of the progressive development of Singapore’s legal and tax infrastructure, which can facilitate more STO issuances to broaden and deepen our capital markets. Eng-Kwok Seat Moey, Group Head of Capital Markets at DBS, commented: “Our maiden STO listing on the DBS Digital Exchange is a significant milestone … This cements our ability to provide integrated solutions across the digital asset value chain, from deal origination to tokenization, listing, trading, and custody, which in turn opens the door for more STOs on Ddex.” He emphasized: We expect asset tokenisation to increasingly become more mainstream as more of our clients start to embrace security token issuance as part of their capital fund raising exercise which we believe will boost Singapore’s ambitions to be a digital asset hub in Asia. The DBS Digital Exchange was launched in December last year. It offers “exchange services between four fiat currencies (SGD, USD, HKD, JPY)” and four “cryptocurrencies, namely bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, and XRP,” its website explains. The bank disclosed in its first-quarter earnings call that its crypto exchange “enjoyed strong market traction since its launch.” Specifically, its “Daily trading volumes have increased 10-fold from the initial week of launch, and the exchange currently serves over 120 participants. DBS also holds over SGD 80 million in digital assets in its custodial service,” the bank revealed. In May, the bank launched a trust service for cryptocurrencies. What do you think about DBS issuing security token offerings? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Spain has not been a stranger to the popularity of cryptocurrencies, and with this popularity, also comes the attention of people and organizations wanting to capitalize on the subject. Spanish tribunals have been flooded lately with lawsuits involving cryptocurrency scams related to bitcoin and ethereum based platforms, and the people using these to scam other users for millions of euros. Cryptocurrency-Related Scams Flood Tribunals in Spain Tribunals from Spain are now being flooded with cryptocurrency scam-related cases, that are affecting thousands of citizens, according to local reports. With the recent price increase of cryptocurrencies, scammers are always looking to do a quick buck, and they have been successful in Spain. One of the biggest scams reported is the one associated with a company named Algorithms Group, which scammed more than 280 million euros from 300+ investors. The brain behind this scam is a man called Javier Biosca, who acted as a broker buying and selling cryptocurrencies and offering weekly interests of 25% per investment. However, the business went sour quickly and Biosca disappeared with the money of investors. Emilia Zaballos, the lawyer that is representing private investors, states the scam could have affected 4,000 people. She stressed: Among those affected are people of all kinds. From notaries, lawyers, national police, businessmen, to tax inspectors and even judges. But also domestic workers, retirees, and the unemployed. And great fortunes. Nimbus, another investment-based Ponzi scheme, is estimated to have defrauded 136 million euros from more than 4,000 investors in the country. The company, which also operated internationally, offered returns to investors for their deposits in cryptocurrencies. Other important companies that are facing similar trials are Kuailian and Arbistar 2.0, Ponzi schemes that also face money laundering charges. More Organization Is Needed Emilia Zaballos, the lawyer that is in the Algorithms Group case, states that more organization is needed for facing this kind of scam schemes affecting more citizens each day. She is now pushing for the establishment of new courts just for attending this kind of crypto-related crimes, and for more guidance from the established institutions when dealing with these structures. Till now, national regulators limit their actions to alert investors about the possible dangers of using these investment tools, but they haven’t exerted any direct actions against them. But she is not just waiting for action. Zaballos is the president of an organization called “Asociación de Afectados por Inversiones por Criptomonedas,” that groups the users affected by these organizations and helps them execute legal actions against them. What do you think about the rise of cryptocurrency scams in Spain? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

U.S. banking corporation BNY Mellon is gearing up to offer crypto custody services out of Dublin where it has just established a digital hub. The news coincided with a stark warning issued by a top central bank official in Ireland who said people should only buy bitcoin if they’re prepared to lose money. BNY Mellon to Provide Custody for Digital Assets Through Dublin-based Unit Following a decision to enter the cryptocurrency space announced in February, the Bank of New York Mellon has now created a “Digital Innovation Hub” in Dublin. The unit will act as a custodian for crypto assets, the Business Post reported, noting that with the move, “the banking giant, is betting on the future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.” The hub will allow clients to hold, transfer and issue digital assets, the Irish publication detailed. Custodial services will be provided for a variety of assets including the cryptocurrency with the largest market cap, bitcoin (BTC), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). BNY Mellon is America’s oldest banking institution through its predecessor, Bank of New York, which merged with the Mellon Financial Corporation in 2007. It’s also the world’s largest custodian bank and asset servicing company. As of March 31, the bank has $41.7 trillion assets under custody or administration and $2.2 trillion assets under management. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation currently operates in 35 different countries, according to its website. It maintains presence in the Republic of Ireland since 1994, and its new crypto asset unit in Dublin will be regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). Cryptocurrencies a ‘Great Concern,’ Bank of Ireland Director Says Soon after the news about BNY Mellon’s involvement with digital assets came out, a high-ranking official of the Central Bank of Ireland was quoted warning that the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin is “of great concern.” In an interview with Bloomberg, CBI’s Director-General for Financial Conduct, Derville Rowland, stated that “crypto assets are quite a speculative, unregulated investment.” Rowland, who is associated with the bank’s recent enforcement investigations, also stressed that people who want to invest in cryptocurrencies should be “really aware they could lose the whole of that investment.” Her department is known for imposing hefty fines on some of Ireland’s biggest financial companies. The CBI has already fined or is still investigating most Irish retail banks for mortgage overcharging. Earlier this year, the central bank fined Ireland’s biggest securities firm, Davy. The company has since been put up for sale following the resignations of its top managers. Speaking about the case, Rowland said that Davy needs to “look in the mirror” and ask itself “how things went so catastrophically wrong.” With her latest comments regarding cryptocurrencies, Derville Rowland joins a group of other central bank officials who have warned against crypto investments. Among them is Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey who recently reaffirmed his skepticism about crypto-assets and insisted they are “dangerous” to the public. Rowland is now preparing to take over as Chair of the Investment Management Standing Committee at ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority, in July. What’s your opinion on Derville Rowland’s comments about cryptocurrencies and do you think other banks like BNY Mellon will establish crypto units in Ireland? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Statistics now show the Eth2 deposit contract has more than 5.2 million staked ether worth over $13 billion locked into the smart contract. The contract launched on November 4, 2020, and three weeks later, the contract met the required threshold to initiate the Beacon Chain. It’s not cheap to become a validator these days, as today’s exchange rates show the 32 ether to get started will run a user more than $84k. More Than $13 Billion Worth of Ether Locked Into the Eth2 Deposit Contract Ethereum users have added quite a bit of ether to the “Eth2 deposit contract,” as it’s called on Etherscan as 5,210,370 ETH has been deposited to-date. That’s $13.6 billion worth of ether locked into the Beacon Chain contract, which was invoked six months and three weeks ago. At the time of writing, there’s more than a dozen 32 ETH-sized transactions waiting to be confirmed. In order for an individual to become a staking validator, 32 ether worth over $84k today is required. Dune Analytics statistics show the contract is 993.66% above the 524k threshold. Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin got the contract party started on November 5, 2020, when he deposited 3,200 ETH into the contract according to Etherscan. At the time of deposit, Buterin’s initial spend cost around $1.3 million and today it’s worth over $8.3 million. In fact, many of the validators that deposited at that time, saw significant gains during the six months after the Beacon Chain launch. Data from Dune Analytics further shows that out of the 108,461 transactions sent to the Eth2 deposit contract, there’s 27,100 unique depositors. Beaconcha.in/charts data shows as of May 30, approximately 152,261 validators are recorded. Over a Million Ether Added to the Eth2 Contract Last Month From November 19 to the 27th, the ETH deposits started to skyrocket northbound. Around March 13, 2021, Eth2 deposits slowed down and started picking up steam again on May 1st. On that first day of May, there was 4.1 million ether locked into the contract, which means it’s increased by 26.8% since then. The biggest spike in validators was on November 25, 2020, and the last big deposit spike was on May 26, 2021. In addition to noncustodial options, ethereum enthusiasts can also leverage custodial exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken to stake their ether. Beaconcha.in/charts statistics further shows validator distribution by Eth1 deposit addresses with validators such as Kraken, Binance, Whales, Huobi, Bitcoin Suisse, Staked.us, Lido, and Stakefish. What do you think about the 5.2 million staked ether locked into the Eth2 Deposit Contract? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Monday, the publicly-listed enterprise mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings announced the company has adopted the latest codebase offered by Bitcoin Core developers that features Taproot. Marathon is now signaling for Taproot according to the announcement. The North American bitcoin miner further noted that the firm’s mining operation Marapool will “cease filtering transactions.” Marathon Adopts Bitcoin Core Version 0.21.1 With Taproot Privacy Features The firm Marathon Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: MARA), has been making a number of business moves in the bitcoin mining sector in 2021. In December 2020, the firm announced the purchase of 70,000 Antminer S19 bitcoin miners from Bitmain for $170 million. Last week, Marathon revealed that Compute North’s mining farm in Texas will host 73,000 of Marathon’s mining rigs. Furthermore, in more recent times, Marathon made headlines for censoring specific bitcoin transactions in a mined BTC block. At that time, Marathon revealed to the public that Marapool dedicated 10.37 exahash toward mining KYC/OFAC compliant transactions only. Although, on May 31, Marathon explained in its Taproot signaling announcement that the bitcoin mining pool will “cease filtering transactions.” The company said that the North American mining pool Marapool “has adopted and implemented Bitcoin Core version 0.21.1.” The new 0.21.1 codebase hosts the Taproot feature, an addition that developers say will add privacy enhancements, scaling improvements, and other technical advancements. “Marathon is committed to the core tenets of the Bitcoin community, including decentralization, inclusion, and no censorship,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s CEO. The company’s mining pool will “no longer filter transactions” and “begin validating transactions in a manner consistent with all other miners who use the standard node,” the announcement emphasizes. “Over the coming week, we will be updating all our miners to the full standard Bitcoin core 0.21.1 node, including support for Taproot,” Thiel said during the announcement. “By adopting the full standard Bitcoin core node, we will be validating transactions on the blockchain in the exact same way as all other miners who use the standard node,” the Marathon CEO added. Taproot Awaits Activation Taproot is in the midst of “Speedy Trial,” an activation mechanism that was initiated on May 1. Basically miners are dealing with six sub-phases between each difficulty change. During the last difficulty change, more than 95% of miners were signaling for Taproot activation. Taproot’s actual ruleset will be followed in November and enforced via soft fork at block height 709,632. “We look forward to continue being a collaborative and supportive member of the Bitcoin community,” Thiel further remarked. “And to realizing the vision of Bitcoin as the first decentralized, peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users rather than a central authority or middlemen,” he added. What do you think about Marathon signaling Taproot and detailing that Marapool will cease filtering transactions? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

In May 2020, back when the crypto economy was still tumultuous from the coronavirus outbreak fears and gloomy global financial outlook, in general, the private venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) revealed the 500 million-dollar “Crypto Fund II.” A report published on May 27 by the tech writer Eric Newcomer indicates that Andreessen Horowitz is contemplating $2 billion in financing for the next crypto fund. Former Bloomberg Reporter Says ‘a16z in the Process of Tripling Down on Crypto’ The well known venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz back in 2009 has been a driving force in the crypto industry in regard to financing projects and startups. Marc Andreessen has been a firm believer in bitcoin for quite some time now and a16z has funneled millions of dollars into the industry during the last eight years. In recent times, Andreessen Horowitz launched two funds dedicated to the development of “crypto networks and businesses.” Bitcoin.com News reported on the last venture revealed by the a16z executives Katie Haun and Chris Dixon when the two revealed the Crypto Fund II. That specific fund invested $515 million into networks, startups, and businesses dedicated to the blockchain and crypto asset industry. Now the former tech writer for Bloomberg, Eric Newcomer, details that a16z third crypto fund is “in talks to raise $2 billion.” “Andreessen Horowitz is in the process of tripling down on crypto, raising its third crypto fund since 2018,” Newcomer said. “Sources tell me that Andreessen Horowitz is targeting $2 billion for its third crypto fund. That’s double the size of what many people are expecting,” he added. Someone Familiar With the Matter Told Newcomer a16z Sold ‘at Least Some of Its Ethereum Holdings’ Before the Market Downturn Newcomer’s source also disclosed that Andreessen Horowitz has “distributed at least some of the Coinbase shares soon after Coinbase went public.” Moreover, the firm had ethereum (ETH) holdings and a source familiar with a16z’s operations said “the firm sold at least some of its Ethereum holdings at around $3,800 before the price crashed.” The report further added that there seems to be an “arms race” in cryptocurrency investments as Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang’s Paradigm have been making waves. “The Andreessen fund and Paradigm have frenemy status. I hear that some Andreessen Horowitz partners are limited partners in Paradigm,” the author’s report details. On the same day, a16z revealed an investment into the crypto firm Talos, Newcomer also said he hears “a lot of buzz about investment Uniswap.” Of course, similar to Bloomberg’s reporting, Newcomer’s source is someone familiar with the matter. “It will be just as interesting to see who dives into crypto as it will be to see who decides to sit this goldrush out. But Andreessen Horowitz looks like it will be well positioned to fund the next Coinbase,” Newcomer concluded. What do you think about Andreessen Horowitz tripling its crypto fund to $2 billion? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Belt Finance, a Binance Smart Chain-based decentralized lending protocol, lost $6.3 million in a flash loan attack last week. The attackers took advantage of a series of inefficiencies in the smart contract to manipulate the price of the set and obtain profit from a series of transactions. This is just the last of a series of attacks that seem to be pointing to Binance Chain protocols due to their vulnerabilities. Belt Finance Loses $6.3 Million in Flash Loan Attack Belt Finance, a borrowing and loaning protocol that operates in the Binance Smart Chain suffered a flash attack last week that caused losses of over six million dollars. The attack, that used Pancakeswap as a tool for executing its strategy, used a series of operations to manipulate its belt/BUSD pool, a stable token in the protocol, and profit due to this inefficiency. The Belt Finance team declared in a post mortem report that the attackers managed to exploit this bug eight times before being detected. The team of Belt Finance immediately suspended withdrawals and deposits to the affected pools and claimed the attack vector that was used for the attack has been patched after the attack. In addition to this, they are studying how to reimburse the users affected by this event. The team declared: We are currently working to create a fair and comprehensive compensation plan for those affected with a snapshot of the accounts that were affected by this attack. We will release a compensation plan within the next 48 hours, a time frame necessary for us to get and go through all the logs to see exactly which users need to get compensated. The team also denied allegations and rumors surrounding the sale of tokens by part of the members of Belt Finance. While some point in the direction of a possible rug pull, the similarity with other attackers can lead to believe this is yet another flash loan attack directed to poorly secured Binance Smart Chain (BSC) protocols. Not the First Time The BSC network has become a magnet for flash loan attacks in recent days. Just this month, PancakeBunny, another liquidity protocol in the chain, also suffered an attack that made them lost three million dollars, and Bogged Finance, a similar project, lost almost the same amount in a flash loan attack too. Alongside this, the defi protocol Burgerswap was siphoned for $7.2 million in a flash loan attack. This has led developers to believe there is an organized group targeting BSC protocols. This is what the official account of the Binance Smart Chain declared on Twitter, advising these protocols to stay on guard for this kind of attack and to work with audit companies to double-check their code for vulnerabilities. What do you think about the recent attack on Belt Finance? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

There’s a number of tools, charts, and models traders use to help them forecast bitcoin price cycles and our last article discussed leveraging the Golden Ratio Multiplier. The following editorial discusses another method of bitcoin price prediction analysis by utilizing Logarithmic Growth Curves. In September 2019, a comprehensive paper published by Harold Christopher Burger describes how crypto proponents can visualize bitcoin price cycles using the Power-Law Corridor model. Bitcoin’s Logarithmic Growth Curve In order to give our readers some deeper perspective, Bitcoin.com News has been covering a few useful price models that technical analysts and crypto traders leverage to forecast bitcoin’s future prices. The previous report discussed the Golden Ratio Multiplier and how bitcoiners can use the well known golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence to predict future values. The next subject takes a look at how crypto enthusiasts can use Logarithmic Growth Curves to get some perspective on bitcoin (BTC) price cycles. Essentially, logarithmic growth is the inverse of exponential swelling and it is much slower than rapid and aggressive growth. Logarithmic growth is leveraged in biology and various sciences but exponential and logarithmic functions can be used in finance as well. Bitcoin’s price timeline can be seen from a logarithmic perspective. In fact, a log price chart is one of the most popular in the world of crypto and traditional finance technical analysis. In simple terms, a crypto asset’s log chart leverages conventional percentage rates and all spacing is equivalent to scale. Even the most basic of logarithmic BTC charts, the individual can get an entirely different look than the typical crypto price charts using candlesticks and different time frames. Additionally, bitcoin traders can look at the crypto asset’s Logarithmic Growth Curves model which gives even more perspective. This particular Logarithmic Growth Curve (LGC) price model hosted on lookintobitcoin.com (chart shown above) was created by Cole Garner and @quantadelic. Further, the price model was also “inspired by the work of Harold Christopher Burger,” the website notes. Harold Christopher Burger published a comprehensive study on LGC in his paper called “Bitcoin’s natural long-term power-law corridor of growth.” When Burger wrote the paper in 2019, he mentioned a number of individuals like John McAfee ($1M), and Nouriel Roubini ($0) forecasting outlandish price predictions. In his editorial, Burger looks at bitcoin’s (BTC) full price history from a logarithmic point of view. Essentially, Burger describes BTC’s possible future price patterns with the power-law or Power Law Corridor (PLC) model. Burger said at the time, he is “quite confident in the long-term, the price will indeed evolve approximately as stated” in his article. His study notes that bitcoin follows a price corridor that can be divided into two bands. “One which lies at the lower-end of the price predictions and is rather thin, the other one being much larger and lying at the higher-end predictions,” the analyst’s paper details. “Bitcoin’s price spends about equal amounts of time in both bands. This implies that large bubbles and busts are likely to continue to exist.” The researcher that blogs for Quantodian Publications explains that the price model helps people determine the market’s entry and exit points. “This model allows us to make broad predictions concerning the long-term future price of bitcoin,” the blog post emphasizes referring to two forecasts. “The price will reach $100 000 per bitcoin no earlier than 2021 and no later than 2028. After 2028, the price will never drop below $100 000.” “The price will reach $1 000 000 per bitcoin no earlier than 2028 and no later than 2037. After 2037, the price will never drop below $1 000 00.” Constant Movement: Normal and Bull Mode After doing some math, equations, and linear regression, Burger found that a basic level of support for BTC’s price followed a power-law. He performed the linear regression with bitcoin’s price peaks in 2011, 2013, and 2017. “The market tops also seem to follow a power-law,” Burger said. “If the next market top also follows this power-law, the market top will lie on this line. The slope of this power-law is 5.02927337, whereas the fit on all data gave us a somewhat larger slope of 5.84509376. This indicates a relative taming of bitcoin bull markets compared to the overall trend-line,” the author added. When Burger quantified these measurements defined by the three bitcoin market price highs and coefficient of determination, the researcher came up with two power-laws. He also leveraged random sample consensus, or RANSAC to get more data points. The researcher then found two modes, one normal and one bull, and was further able to formulate different power-law models for BTC’s price. Burger shows a chart that includes “power-law fit,” “power-law fit minus bias,” “power-law fit on only three tops,” and “robust fit.” “We now have various models to predict the future price of bitcoin. All we have to do is extend the graph,” Burger blog post notes. The researcher adds: We can further divide this corridor into two bands, one corresponding to the “normal” mode and one corresponding to the ‘bull’ mode. The price has so far spent half the time in the lower ‘normal mode’ band, and the rest of the time in the higher ‘bull mode’ band. ‘Black Thursday’ and the Current State of Affairs The power-law corridor of growth blog post written by Burger has followed bitcoin’s price movements pretty well since it was published. The Quantodian Publications author does note, however, when he was modeling a support line for bitcoin’s price to follow a power-law that there was one instance in 2010, where the price of BTC breached below the line. Since the blog post was published on September 4, 2019, there is a second instance where bitcoin’s price breached the “robust fit” line. This specific time was during the financial meltdown on March 12, 2020, otherwise known as ‘Black Thursday,’ when BTC and nearly every asset in the world saw values sink. March 12 was considered a freak instance and possibly an outlier because of the fear and shock Covid-19 brought to financial markets. Lastly, the current chart shows bitcoin went through a bullish cycle in recent times, but hasn’t peaked like the rest of the bull cycles. In fact, the chart shows the northbound price climax plateaued much lower than the other peaks and the price has started to head southbound. What do you think about log charts, power-law, and utilizing Logarithmic Growth Curves to predict bitcoin price cycles? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty dropped this week at block height 685,440 and saw the largest negative drop of the year losing close to 16%. Overall the global hashrate has dropped around 2% since the price fell below the $40k handle. Currently, the mining difficulty is around 21 trillion, and it could drop another 16% in less than two weeks. Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Slides Close to 16% Down Following 2021’s Largest Epoch Difficulty Rise The price of bitcoin (BTC) has seen better days and following the drop in price, the hashrate has also slowed down to a certain degree. On May 29, 2021, at block height 685,440 the Bitcoin network’s mining difficulty slid by 15.97%, which is the largest epoch drop of 2021. It also follows the largest difficulty rise in 2021, which occurred at block height 683,424. At that time, the mining difficulty jumped over 21.5% and the global hashrate was around 179.2 EH/s on May 13. Right now, the mining difficulty is expected to drop even more in 12 days around 15.69% according to data. That percentage drop would equal a difficulty drop from the current 21.05 trillion difficulty to 17.75 trillion. A 16% difficulty drop is a sizable swing, seeing how the largest drop in 2021 was around 12.6%. At the time of publication, Bitcoin’s hashrate is around the 135 to 150 EH/s range. In 3 Years, Bitcoin Difficulty Has Risen 72% of the Time Overall hashrate has slid roughly 2% since dropping below $40,000 per BTC but since May 9, it’s dropped roughly 35% from 214 EH/s to 135 EH/s. With the difficulty lowered, there’s a great number of pools dedicating hashrate to the BTC chain. Currently, 20 mining pools are processing BTC blocks and F2pool commands the top position with 23.25 EH/s or over 15% of the hashrate. F2pool is followed by Viabtc, Btc.com, Antpool, Poolin, Binance Pool, Foundry USA, and 1thash. Since January 2018, the Bitcoin network has seen 91 consecutive difficulty changes and only 25 of them were downward drops. This means during the last three years, more than 72% of the time, the difficulty increased every two weeks. What do you think about bitcoin’s mining difficulty dropping close to 16%? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has officially advised banks that its banking ban circular is no longer valid as it was set aside by the country’s supreme court more than one year ago. Despite the supreme court’s ruling, banks have been citing the RBI circular when dealing with cryptocurrency. RBI Tells Banks to Stop Quoting Its ‘No Longer Valid’ Circular on Cryptocurrency India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), issued a notice on Monday clarifying its position regarding cryptocurrencies. The notice, entitled “Customer Due Diligence for transactions in Virtual Currencies (VC),” aims at “all commercial and co-operative banks, payments banks, small finance banks, NBFCs, and payment system providers.” The RBI wrote: It has come to our attention through media reports that certain banks/ regulated entities have cautioned their customers against dealing in virtual currencies by making a reference to the RBI circular … dated April 06, 2018. The April circular advised banks that they were prohibited in dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, the Indian supreme court quashed this circular back in March of last year, allowing banks to resume providing services to crypto businesses, including cryptocurrency exchanges. In its notice Monday, the RBI clarified: “Such references to the above circular by banks/ regulated entities are not in order as this circular was set aside by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on March 04, 2020 in the matter of Writ Petition (Civil) No.528 of 2018 (Internet and Mobile Association of India v. Reserve Bank of India),” elaborating: As such, in view of the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the circular is no longer valid from the date of the Supreme Court judgement, and therefore cannot be cited or quoted from. The central bank added: “Banks, as well as other entities addressed above, may, however, continue to carry out customer due diligence processes in line with regulations governing standards for Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and obligations of regulated entities under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA), 2002 in addition to ensuring compliance with relevant provisions under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for overseas remittances.” While the banking restriction was lifted back in March last year, some banks in India are reportedly still restricting crypto transactions. Some customers reportedly received warning emails from their banks stating that they are not allowed to use bank accounts or credit cards for crypto transactions. Some media outlets even reported that the RBI unofficially asked banks to cut ties with crypto businesses and traders. The National Payments Corporation of India, however, said it will not ban cryptocurrency transactions through UPI. Meanwhile, the Indian government is still working on cryptocurrency regulation. A crypto bill was supposed to be introduced in Parliament in the Budget session but it was not. Last month, the media reported that the government planned to set up a panel of experts to work on cryptocurrency regulation. What do you think about the RBI’s clarification to banks regarding cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Japanese government’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has issued a warning to the crypto derivatives exchange Bybit claiming that the trading platform is allowing residents of Japan access to the exchange. The news follows the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda criticizing digital currencies for speculation. Japan’s FSA Warns Bybit Fintech Limited Japan’s top regulator that handles banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors within the economy has recently issued a warning to Bybit Fintech Limited. Bybit is a crypto derivatives exchange that offers digital currency futures, perpetual swaps, and other types of contracts to crypto asset traders. The FSA’s warning claims that Bybit’s operators are allowing Japanese citizens to leverage the platform and notes that the exchange has not registered with the regulator. The news has been spreading like wildfire on social media and people discussed how Binance was warned about the same thing three years ago. In 2018, Japan’s FSA sent Binance a warning for not meeting the regulator’s registration requirements. The issues with Bybit come at a time where regulators all around the world are cracking down on crypto services. Japanese regulators are stepping up regulations like South Korea in order to meet Financial Action Task Force (FATF) virtual asset mandates. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda also slammed the leading digital currency bitcoin (BTC) last week for speculation. “Most of the trading is speculative and volatility is extraordinarily high,” Kuroda told the press last Thursday. “It’s barely used as a means of settlement,” the central bank Governor criticized. The BoJ lead may be pressing the FSA to crack down on speculative trading and crypto derivatives exchanges. Bybit Abandoned the UK Two Months Ago A report published in August 2020, shows that Bybit expanded into Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam at that time. The report written by Mohammad Musharraf says Bybit’s platform “added support for the Japanese yen and South Korean won.” Bybit is one of the top five derivatives exchanges worldwide in terms of future volumes. Bybit was also warned by the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Agency last February. “We believe this firm may be providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorisation,” the UK financial watchdog said at the time. In a blog post published on March 5, the crypto derivatives exchange Bybit revealed it ceased operations in the UK region. What do you think about Bybit getting a warning from Japan’s top financial watchdog? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Bitcoin.com team is excited to announce integration of Ethereum into the Bitcoin.com Wallet. That means anyone can now buy, receive, store, trade, and send ether (ETH) with the convenience and security of the industry’s most user-friendly, non-custodial wallet. How It Works When you open the Bitcoin.com Wallet, you’ll now see the Ethereum section in your home screen. Tapping the “BUY” button will prompt you to enter a purchase amount. If you’ve already set up your payment method, your purchase will go through instantly. It’s that easy! If you have other cryptocurrencies in your Wallet, you can now swap any amount for ETH – or vice versa. You can also send and receive ETH using the Bitcoin.com Wallet, just like you do with any other asset. You also have the option to import an existing Ethereum wallet. Just tap the “ADD/IMPORT” button on the home screen and scan the QR code or enter the 12-word secret phrase from your existing wallet. Your Digital Assets, in Your Control Remember, the entire Bitcoin.com Wallet (including your Ethereum wallet) is ‘non-custodial,’ meaning you’re in full control of your digital assets. No need to ask permission from a centralized exchange to instantly send your assets wherever you want, whenever you want. You’ll never be ‘deplatformed,’ and there’s no exposure to the risk of a third party getting hacked or going bankrupt. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility, so don’t forget to back up the ‘keys’ to your wallet. Unstoppable Domains & ENS Integration The Bitcoin.com Wallet also now supports both Unstoppable Domains and Ethereum Naming System (ENS). That means you can easily send cryptocurrencies – including BTC, BCH, ETH, and more – to an alias like “jessica.crypto” or “vitalik.eth.” Get your own Unstoppable Domain in the Wallet via the Discover tab. For more information on Ethereum and guides on how to use it in your Wallet, please see here. What do you think about the latest Bitcoin.com Wallet features? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

With rising unemployment rates and rampant economic uncertainty, in the wake of the Covid crisis, a growing number of Brazilians are finding an alternative income source in cryptocurrency mining. GPU rigs have been spotted even in favelas as a relatively small investment can return more than the average salary in Brazil. Pandemic and Uncertainty Turn More Brazilians to Cryptocurrency Mining The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Brazil and the country ranks among the hardest hit, with over 450,000 deaths due to Covid-19. South America’s largest economy shrank by more than 4% in 2020 resulting in a record high unemployment for almost a decade – 14.3 million citizens are jobless, the national statistical office announced earlier this year. Low or no salaries, along with bleak economic perspectives, have pushed Brazilians to find new ways to make ends meet. According to a recent report by Portal do Bitcoin, a growing number of people in the country have been turning to crypto mining as an alternative source of income. Government data showing a surge in hardware imports and electricity consumption has confirmed the trend. Profitability varies depending on the scale, but a 34-year-old student from Piumhi has helped the crypto news outlet to get an idea of the economics of home mining. Expedito Felipe started minting ether (ETH) in January, “to increase, diversify” his income, investing 47,000 reals (around $9,000) in equipment. He earns between 3,000 and 5,000 reals a month (approx. $600 – $900), spending only around $100 on electricity. In the absence of exact figures, it’s hard to accurately estimate the true dimensions of the home mining activity in Brazil, but circumstantial indicators show that it is thriving. Several Facebook groups with large memberships are spreading information about the technical aspects, while Youtube videos on the topic have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views. According to some social media reports, rigs are now mining even in favelas, Brazil’s poorest neighborhoods. Brazil Imports Video Cards for $20 Million in Q1 This Year Socio-economic issues like unemployment, the lack of opportunities, and the devaluation of the Brazilian real can partially explain the crypto mining boom, but according to José Guilherme Silva Vieira, professor of economics at the Federal University of Paraná, the positive difference between expected returns and costs is what really drives popular interest. Speaking to Portal do Bitcoin, he elaborated: Costs are defined by the equipment used and the expenses. Mining consumes a lot of electricity. In the past 12 months, however, the returns from the activity have been catapulted by the excessive valuation of cryptocurrencies. Graphics cards are an essential hardware element of home manning rigs and Brazil has registered a spike of imports this year. According to data compiled by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, Brazilian companies have imported GPUs for 106 million reals (over $20 million) only in the first quarter, a four-fold increase over the same period of 2020. Electricity consumption in certain areas has also surged. There has been no official statement from the government yet, linking the increased power usage to cryptocurrency mining. However, one of Brazil’s largest power distributers, Enel Distribuição São Paulo, has discovered 69,000 cases of theft from the grid in 2020 alone, in the 24 municipalities served by the utility company. That’s close to 20% more than the previous year. Is home cryptocurrency mining profitable in your country? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

While a number of media pundits and politicians have been talking about Bitcoin’s energy consumption, there’s been a myriad of firms working toward green solutions well before all the controversy. Unfortunately, critics don’t highlight the amount of renewables miners use or the cogeneration applications. One project called EZ Blockchain has partnered with the Texas-based oil and gas service provider, Silver Energy to monetize wasted natural gas with bitcoin, while reducing emissions. Monetizing Stranded Gas and Reducing Emissions With Bitcoin A firm called EZ Blockchain recently detailed that the company has partnered with Silver Energy, an oil and gas provider based in Texas. According to the firm, the team installed Silver Energy’s first mining site at the company’s Alberta, Canada location in February 2021. After the installation of Microbt Whatsminers, EZ Blockchain said that the project reached around 1 megawatt of power consumption. All of the power is “processed from 250 MCFd of stranded natural gas using a gas-electric generator,” the company’s blog post notes. EZ Blockchain’s setup at Silver Energy’s site. “Today oil and gas producers are implementing Bitcoin mining in the oil field as a part of their ESG policy more often,” the cofounder and CEO of EZ Blockchain, Sergii Gerasymovych said in the report. Gerasymovych added: Bitcoin mining’s enormous power consumption can solve environmental problems caused by gas flaring and leaking wells. Since Silver Energy is an oil and gas service company, it was a natural symbiosis for EZ Blockchain to work with them. Natural gas is a byproduct of oil extraction and oil providers either have to flare the gas or use it in some other way. The World Bank estimates 5.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is flared annually into the atmosphere. EZ Blockchain’s manufacturing production line designs and manufactures mobile data centers that act as a flare mitigation system. The company says that the Silver Energy project took three days to construct and it was fully operational by March 2021. “We’ve had the privilege of working with EZ Blockchain over the last year. Their support in getting our mine up and running was invaluable, saving us countless hours and maximizing uptime,” Joel Gordon, Silver Energy president and CEO explained. According to EZ Blockchain’s website, the company has expanded quite a bit since it started in 2017 and now has headquarters in Chicago, LA, and Estonia. To date, EZ Blockchain has 35 MW produced and installed and 20 MW more in production. The firm is not the only company producing mobile bitcoin mining data centers, as the Canadian business Upstream Data also offers stranded gas solutions. Moreover, Crusoe Energy Systems a U.S.-based business offers similar crypto mining solutions for oil and gas producers as well. What do you think about EZ Blockchain partnering with Silver Energy to mine bitcoin with excess gas? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

U.S. Senator Rick Scott has urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to take action on cryptocurrency scams, which he said have risen 1,000% in the past year and cost consumers at least $80 million. “This is an unregulated industry, and the alarming amount of criminal activity surrounding cryptocurrency demands action,” he told Yellen. Senator Scott Alerts Janet Yellen to Cryptocurrency Scams Senator Rick Scott wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Jenet Yellen on Thursday raising concerns regarding the rising number of scams involving cryptocurrencies. The senator wrote: I write today with concern about the risks taken by ordinary investors and the significant potential for scams related to cryptocurrency. He explained that “Cryptocurrency values have fallen drastically over the last few weeks, while reports of scams and fraud have skyrocketed.” Senator Scott cited research by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stating that cryptocurrency scams have risen 1,000% in the past year and cost consumers more than $80 million, with the median amount consumers lost in the scams of $1,900. He continued: This is an unregulated industry, and the alarming amount of criminal activity surrounding cryptocurrency demands action. In his letter, the senator asked how the administration plans to “protect consumers and legitimate investors from widespread cryptocurrency scams” and how the Treasury Department will “identify, stop and prevent fraud and scams in initial coin offerings and the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency on U.S. financial markets.” He also asked about “the administration’s plan to plan to address any legal or regulatory uncertainties that may be causing the unnecessarily turbulent environment for the development and sale of cryptocurrency” and what “additional steps” Congress should take. Senator Scott also questioned what the administration is “doing to protect cryptocurrency markets from foreign interference by our adversaries, including Communist China and Russia.” In addition, the senator wants to know of “any tools available to the administration that may offer more concrete protection and guidance to investors and innovators on these topics.” Yellen has herself voiced concerns on several occasions over the use of cryptocurrencies in illicit transactions. She previously said that cryptocurrency was mainly used for illicit financing and promised to work with other federal regulators to come up with an effective regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. In February, the treasury secretary named the misuse of cryptocurrencies as a growing problem and stressed the importance of crypto regulation to ensure that bitcoin is not used in illicit transactions. She said the current regulatory framework is not up to the task of regulating cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is reportedly working on increased cryptocurrency oversight. What do you think about Senator Scott asking Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to take action to protect investors against cryptocurrency scams? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Taxpayers in Brazil have only a couple of days left to file their annual tax returns. Investors who had more than 5,000 reals worth of cryptocurrency in 2020, a little less than $1,000, are obliged to report the funds on their income tax declarations this year. Brazilians who fail to do that on time face hefty fines. Deadline for Tax Filing in Brazil Expires Midnight May 31 Brazilian citizens are required to file their 2021 income tax returns before June 1. This year, the deadline was extended by a month due to the coronavirus pandemic which took a heavy toll on South America’s largest economy. Failure to report revenues and tax obligations will result in fines starting at around $30 and going up to 20% on the tax due, Portal do Bitcoin warned readers recently. Taxpayers who kept over 5,000 reals worth of coins in their wallets, or $960 at the current exchange rate, must report the crypto holdings to Receita Federal, the country’s internal revenue service. This year, the tax agency adopted dedicated codes on the assets and rights form for bitcoin (BTC) – 81, other cryptos such as ETH, BCH, XRP, and LTC – 82, and digital tokens – 89. Although Brazilians are obliged to report the cryptos, not all of them will have to pay tax as it’s levied at capital gains exceeding the monthly exemption limit of 35,000 reals (approximately $6,700). Crypto profits above the threshold will be charged with capital gains tax according to a progressive scale, the news outlet elaborated. Brazilians Who File Their Tax Declarations on Time Will Avoid Penalties Submitting a declaration that’s not completely correct is the lesser evil than missing the deadline. Brazilians who have reported their assets on time are allowed to make corrections later, but those who fail to lodge their tax returns before June 1 will be facing penalties. And citizens that deliberately evade taxation can be fined up to 150% on the tax amount. Ana Paula Rabello, who specializes in crypto accounting, has been quoted saying: A taxpayer who has not filed their declaration yet needs to remain calm and do nothing hastily to avoid the risk of paying more or less tax. What needs to be done now is to immediately start preparing the information. The timely filing of the tax return is essential, Rabello stressed, or taxpayers will have issues with banks and the revenue service if they attempt to use unreported cryptocurrency. “Crypto investors must always remember that undeclared bitcoin cannot be used,” warned the accountant who has provided other tax tips in a free e-book published by Portal do Bitcoin, in which Rabello advises Brazilians how to report their crypto holdings on the 2021 income tax return. What rules regulate cryptocurrency reporting and taxation in your country? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Digital currency market prices have been dropping during the last few days as the crypto economy now rests at $1.53 trillion in value. Crypto trade volumes have increased a hair on Sunday, and a few crypto assets have seen decent percentage gains over the course of the last seven days. Crypto Market Prices Consolidate While Traders Wait to See if Bears or the Bulls Grab the Reigns Last week, crypto proponents witnessed billions of dollars shaved off the entire crypto-economy and many are curious as to where things are headed next. Bitcoin (BTC) jumped back above the $40k handle a few days ago, but then plummeted below the $34k zone on Saturday. At the time of publication, BTC is exchanging hands for $36,098 per unit and is up over 3% this week against the U.S. dollar. Despite the 4% gain last week, 30-day percentages show bitcoin prices are still down 35%. The top five trading pairs with bitcoin (BTC) on Sunday, May 30, 2021, includes tether (USDT) with 57% of all trades, USD with 14%, BUSD 5.7%, JPY 4.85%, and the EUR at 4.82%. The second-largest market, ethereum (ETH), is swapping for $2,439 per unit on Sunday. ETH is still down 10% during the last 30 days, but weekly stats show ETH has gained 16%. Out of the top ten crypto assets in terms of market capitalization, cardano (ADA) has seen the biggest 24 hour gain today. ADA is swapping for $1.68 per unit and is up over 13% on Sunday morning (ET). Akash Girimath, an Fxstreet analyst, says that the price of bitcoin (BTC) currently “hangs between whale accumulation and miners’ woes. Girimath’s outlook is quite grim and bearish, but BTC still has a chance to overcome the losses Girimath says. “As grim as it may sound,” Girimath said. “Bitcoin’s price still has room to head higher, at least until $42,000. The bearish thesis put forth by the head-and-shoulders technical pattern will face invalidation if BTC generates a decisive daily candlestick close above the resistance level at $42,000.” Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC) has regained some market dominance this week despite the losses. At the time of publication, BTC dominance stands at 43.1% while ETH holds around 18% on Sunday. Sunday’s biggest gainer is kicktoken (KICK) up 132% today, and stakenet (XSN) which is up 91% during the last 24 hours. The biggest losers this weekend include cube (AUTO) token which is down 60% today, and agrello (DLT) down 60% this morning as well. What do you think about crypto market prices this weekend? Do you envision a bullish rise or a continued bearish downturn? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Sveriges Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, will carry out the next stage of its e-krona project with the help of two organizations from the financial sector. The move signals a transition from the initial in-house testing with simulated participants to cooperation with real, external partners. Riksbank to Work With Handelsbanken and Tietoevry to Test E-krona The main task during the new phase of the pilot will be to trial “the technical solution for the e-krona” with the participation of real market entities. To accomplish this, Riksbank has invited Handelsbanken, one of the country’s major banking institutions, and Tietoevry, a digital services and software company. In an announcement published Friday, the regulator noted: Involving external actors as participants in the test environment will make it possible for the Riksbank to evaluate the integration between the participants’ existing systems and the technical platform for the e-krona pilot. One of the elements that will be tested is the integration of the payment flows developed during the first year of the pilot with the internal systems of the new participants, Riksbank explained. The partners will simulate how banks might interact with the e-krona infrastructure, Tietoevry detailed in a separate press release, elaborating: Tietoevry will develop and test the process of interchangeability between commercial money and e-kronor and analyse how this can be carried out securely and efficiently. The Finland-headquartered company also noted its “unique position in the Nordic financial ecosystem” thanks to a large customer base consisting of banks and payment providers. Over 70% of all Nordic bank transfers go through its payment systems and the fintech enables the leading mobile payment providers in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Central Bank of Sweden to Integrate E-krona With Existing Banking Infrastructure “Our role in the Swedish payment infrastructure is well established, and Tietoevry is a natural partner when exploring how to integrate a digital currency with existing banking infrastructure,” said Christian Segersven, head of financial services solutions and software development. “We are looking forward to supporting this journey towards an inclusive digital currency that will open up for innovative and secure services,” he added. Svenska Handelsbanken, the other partner to get involved in the second stage of the e-krona pilot, is one of Sweden’s largest banks, with more than 400 branches across the country. Founded in 1871, it’s also the oldest company listed on the Swedish stock exchange. In the past couple of decades, Handelsbanken has been expanding its operations in other countries in the region as well as Netherlands and the U.K., where it has over 200 branches. Sweden’s plan to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) dates back to a few years ago. Towards the end of 2020, the government in Stockholm began exploring the feasibility of digitalizing the national fiat, the Swedish krona. Arguably, the Scandinavian country has already built the world’s most cashless society. The review should be conducted within two years of its launch. Last month, Riksbank announced the completion of the first phase of the study and released a report which highlighted the continuing decline of cash usage in the country. The central bank of Sweden emphasized the need to proceed with the project and facilitate the involvement of market actors expected to take part in the testing now and join the e-krona network in the future. What do you think about Riksbank’s plan to digitalize the Swedish krona? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article