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Fidelity Digital Assets President Tom Jessop has shared his view on the future of bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation under the Biden administration. He confirms that Fidelity is seeing strong demand for bitcoin from institutional buyers. Fidelity Digital Assets’ Head Optimistic About the Future of Bitcoin Jessop explained what he expects in terms of cryptocurrency regulation from the Biden administration in an interview with CNBC last week. Jessop is head of Corporate Business Development for Fidelity Investments and president of Fidelity Digital Assets. He began by talking about Joe Biden’s pick as the new chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler. Given the MIT blockchain professor’s experience in the space, Jessop said, “I think it paints a more generally constructive attitude, or a picture, in terms of what we might expect going forward.” The Fidelity Digital Assets head also believes that positive crypto regulations implemented during the Trump administration will continue. “I would note that we saw some fairly interesting and good regulatory developments last year,” he opined. “You look at the OCC and some of the guidance they’ve given banks around access to the asset class or even participating in some of these networks.” The Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), under Brian Brooks, introduced a number of positive regulations for cryptocurrency. However, Brooks recently resigned. Jessop said that during the previous administration: We’ve started to see more constructive engagement with the regulators … We think that will persist into the new year just given what we’re seeing in terms of institutional as well as retail demand. Commenting on Janet Yellen’s recent remarks that cryptocurrencies are mainly used for illicit financing, Jessop admitted that it does worry him. However, he contradicted the new Treasury Secretary by quoting a recent report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis which found that crypto crime fell sharply to only 0.34% of all crypto transactions in 2020. Without dismissing Yellen’s concern, Jessop said, “but I think that there are perhaps other places to look … where this activity [illicit financing] is occurring with greater frequency and in greater size. So, I would not diminish the risk but I think the risk is potentially smaller than people might suggest it to be.” Furthermore, he believes that “it’s diminishing or declining on a year-on-year basis, which again is positive in terms of further development of this ecosystem.” As for the bitcoin market which has seen significant price movements over the past weeks, the Fidelity Digital Assets president shared: Our clients, institutions that work with us, have been steady net buyers throughout the entire period and we continue to see strong demand among institutions for access to the asset class. That’s really our perspective on what’s happened recently. “I think we are in a very different market now than the one we experienced in 2017,” the Fidelity executive said without ruling out the possibility of any future bitcoin price decline. “I think the composition of investor interest has changed dramatically,” he described, emphasizing that we have moved from 2017 which saw “a very retail-driven frenzy” and “now we’re seeing a much broader base of institutional adoption.” Jessop proceeded by rapidly listing more evidence: “You’re seeing this certainly from service providers like us in our business. You’re seeing this through open interest on futures exchanges. You’re seeing this with Blackrock announcing that a few of their funds will have access to bitcoin futures.” He concluded: I also think the market is maturing. There’s more liquidity. Volatility is down about 50% from where it was in 2017. So I do believe, we believe, that the composition of this investor base, what’s driving the market higher today, is fundamentally different than what we saw three years ago. Do you agree with Fidelity’s Jessop about the future of bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Pirate Bay has been the world’s most popular torrent web portal for the last eighteen years. Despite a few hiccups during that time, the site remains accessible via mirrors and proxy websites. In addition to remaining online, Pirate Bay has been accepting bitcoin for donations since 2013 acquiring more than $4.5 million worth since then. The Pirate Bay’s Bitcoin Stash Since 2003, when it was founded by the Swedish think tank Piratbyrån, the Pirate Bay has been the most popular, and perhaps the most beloved torrent website in the world. The web portal is basically an index of digital content hosted online so users can download, own, and seed the content via Bittorrent technology. Of course, in 2009, the Pirate Bay founders Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde, and Fredrik Neij got into some trouble over copyright laws. While the founders dealt with prison sentences during that time, the Pirate Bay continued to operate and in 2013, the web portal announced it was accepting bitcoin donations. In fact, the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin wrote about it during the week the Pirate Bay announced bitcoin support. Buterin discussed the acceptance when he was contributing articles to Bitcoin Magazine in April 2013. The ETH cofounder noted at the time that the Pirate Bay raised over 10 BTC, worth $1,300 that month in 2013, during the first day of donations. “Other major torrent sites have quickly started to do the same thing,” Buterin said. “EZTV, Openbittorrent, Publicbittorrent, and istole.it have all added bitcoin donation addresses onto their front pages,” he added. Are Pirate Bay Founders Bitcoin Rich? Of course, since then the Pirate Bay has changed its bitcoin (BTC) donation address since then and at the end of 2019, speculation was abound concerning how much the site has accumulated over time. Pirate Bay cofounder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg. The first BTC address the Pirate Bay used was mentioned by Buterin in his article and that empty address once held 22.57 BTC. In another publicly known donation address the Pirate Bay leveraged, the operation accumulated 13.37 BTC. But the Pirate Bay also had another BTC address which gathered 76.80 BTC in donations. In the Torrentfreak speculation article, the report adds up the daily income it made between accepting LTC and BTC. Torrentfreak’s Ernesto Van der Sar added up all the funds received since 2013 and up until 2016, he reported that the Pirate Bay made a donation average of $9.34 per day. Fast forward to 2019 and the researchers disclosed that it had risen to $13.16 per day in BTC and $0.40 per day in litecoin (LTC). All of the aforementioned BTC addresses have been emptied and onchain analysis shows the coins were consolidated and then mixed using a form of the Coinjoin protocol. The Pirate Bay still gets donations today but they have tapered off a great deal since 2015. What do you think about the Pirate Bay’s accumulated hoard of bitcoins since 2013? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A cryptocurrency fund manager has been charged in a U.S. federal court. He allegedly took over $5 million from investors interested in investing in his crypto funds, promising them high returns. In reality, he was running a Ponzi scheme and is now facing up to 30 years in prison. Crypto Fund Manager Arrested for Running a Ponzi Scheme The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that Jeremy Spence has been arrested and charged in Manhattan federal court in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. The 24-year-old from Bristol, Rhode Island, is also known as “Coin Signals.” Spence is “a cryptocurrency trader who solicited funds for various cryptocurrency funds that he operated, with commodities fraud and wire fraud offenses,” the DOJ described, adding: Spence took cryptocurrency worth over $5 million from more than 170 individual investors after making false representations in connection with these cryptocurrency funds. U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss explained that the defendant “allegedly lured investors to his cryptocurrency investment scam by touting returns of up to 148%.” However, his investment pools consistently lost money. FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney further detailed that Spence allegedly “used money from new investors to pay off others in order to keep his plan moving — a typical marker of a Ponzi scheme.” According to the Justice Department, from November 2017 through April 2019, Spence solicited investors for several cryptocurrency investment funds that he had created and managed. Investors “would transfer cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ethereum,” to him to invest in the funds for them. The DOJ elaborated: The largest and most active of which were the Coin Signals Bitmex Fund, a/k/a the ‘CS Mex Fund,’ the Coin Signals Alternative Fund, a/k/a the ‘CS Alt Fund,’ and the Coin Signals Long Term Fund. Spence is charged with one count of commodities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also filed a federal civil enforcement action against Spence, charging him with fraud for operating the Ponzi scheme. What do you think about this case? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A U.S. federal judge has rejected a motion filed by a former Ethereum Foundation developer over allegations of assisting North Korea to bypass sanctions. Prosecutors claim, Virgil Griffith, aided the regime by providing critical information on cryptocurrencies. Prosecutors Say Griffith’s Speech Was About the Use of Cryptos to Circumvent Sanctions Per Law360, a jury is now set to determine if Griffith violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by giving a speech at the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference in 2019. Kevin Castel, a U.S. District Judge, denied Griffith’s motion because the “short and vague” four-page indictment lacked specific details of his alleged criminal actions. He further commented on the matter: Examining the indictment in light of the parties’ arguments, the court concludes that it provides adequate notice of the charges against Griffith sufficient to enable him to prepare for trial and, if it becomes necessary, plead double jeopardy as a defense. Further, upon review of the law governing the offense conduct, the indictment states a federal crime and violates no constitutional prohibition. Prosecutors accused the former Ethereum Foundation developer of giving a speech in Pyongyang about the use of cryptocurrencies to get around U.S. economic sanctions. Griffith was arrested on Thanksgiving Day in 2019. However, on December 30, 2019, he was granted bail by U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick. Many crypto supporters stood up for Griffith’s cause when he was arrested, and influencers like John McAfee called the U.S. government “corrupt at the core.” Griffith didn’t receive permission from the U.S. Department of Justice to travel to South Korea for the conference. However, per court documents, he got the approval of the North Korean United Nations (UN) Mission in Manhattan and was granted a visa. Griffith Claims His Speech Was Based on Publicly-Available Information About Blockchain The Ethereum proponent alleges he gave very basic information about blockchain to about 100 North Koreans who attended his speech. Also, he adds that everything said in his participation is publicly available on the internet. However, prosecutors believe North Korea could use his speech’s content to launder money and bypass sanctions potentially. Also, the court revealed a message sent by Griffith to colleagues in 2018 before his speech, which reads as follow: We’d love to make an Ethereum trip to the DPRK and set up an Ethereum node … It’ll help them circumvent the current sanctions on them. But the former blockchain developer claimed in his rejected motion that such speech was protected by the First Amendment freedom of speech. As of press time, the court date for Griffith’s case is still set for September 2021. What do you think about this federal judge’s decision? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The Indian government has finally moved forward with a cryptocurrency bill. Entitled “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021,” the bill has been listed for consideration in the current parliamentary session of Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. It seeks to create a framework for India’s official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) but prohibit all cryptocurrencies. Indian Government Set to Introduce Cryptocurrency Bill in Current Parliamentary Session After almost two years of waiting, the Indian government has finally moved forward with a cryptocurrency bill. According to Lok Sabha’s bulletin dated Jan. 29, the bill entitled “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021” is listed for consideration in the current parliamentary session. The budget session of Parliament commenced on Friday and will conclude on April 8, with a recess between Feb. 15 and March 8. The union budget will be presented on Feb. 1. The bulletin lists the bills the Indian government has sent to be taken up during the budget session. Among them is the cryptocurrency bill, whose description reads: To create a facilitative framework for [the] creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses. The section of Lok Sabha’s bulletin showing the cryptocurrency bill listed for “introduction, consideration, and passing” in the budget session. Source: Lok Sabha’s bulletin. The Mint publication explained: “In the legislative order of business for the budget session of 17th Lok Sabha that commenced today, the government has listed a bill providing for the banning of all private cryptocurrencies in India such as bitcoin, ether, ripple, and others.” This bill to ban cryptocurrencies resembles the crypto bill drafted by an interministerial committee (IMC) headed by former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg. That bill, dated February 2019, was unveiled by the finance ministry in July 2019. It proposes to ban all private cryptocurrencies and provides for the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee. Garg has since resigned from his government work and the finance ministry had been silent on the bill until now. On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published a booklet on India’s payment systems acknowledging the popularity of cryptocurrencies. The central bank also confirmed that it is “exploring the possibility as to whether there is a need for a digital version of fiat currency and in case there is, then how to operationalise it.” In December, the finance ministry was reported to be considering imposing an 18% goods and services tax (GST) on bitcoin transactions. First Introduction of Crypto Bill in Parliament, Crypto Community’s Reaction Although there have been reports of the Indian government planning to prohibit cryptocurrencies before, this is the first time that a bill to ban crypto has been listed for consideration in Lok Sabha. The Indian crypto community disapproves of the government’s decision. “That’s insane,” one Twitter user wrote. Another warned that the RBI better not ban bitcoin, stating that the “Crypto bill should not be a FUD at this point or India will miss out on the momentum and innovation in the decentralization space.” The CEO of the Indian crypto exchange Wazirx, Nischal Shetty, commented: “A country as large as India should at least work on understanding the underlying terminologies before presenting technology-related bills in parliament. Seems like a hurried move. If done wrong, this can potentially destroy a lot of value held by the general public.” He added, “Let’s hope this is a precursor to positive crypto regulations,” emphasizing: Just because a bill is presented doesn’t mean it’ll be cleared … Wrong or hasty regulations will set us back by a decade. Right regulations will catapult India to the forefront of this technology. “We have leaders who are technologically capable and they’ll definitely raise issues around this,” the CEO believes. Neeraj Khandelwal, co-founder and chief technology officer at Coindcx, another Indian cryptocurrency exchange, pointed out that it is estimated that there are more than five million Indians holding “a combined wealth of $10 billion in bitcoin which is 2% of India’s forex reserves, taxation on crypto can fetch a few billion dollars in taxes to the Indian govt.” He reiterated that “Previous attempts to ban bitcoin in India have been unsuccessful. The industry has survived 2 years during the RBI imposed banking ban.” The Indian crypto ban news came after a price spike in bitcoin following Tesla CEO Elon Musk changing his Twitter profile to “#bitcoin” and tweeted, “In retrospect, it was inevitable.” Do you think India will ban crypto? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Ukraine’s government-owned nuclear power plant picked a firm to build a massive data center in Rivne for cryptocurrency mining operations. After a bidding process, Energoatom chose Kyiv Energy Construction Company to handle the nuclear plant crypto mining project. Nuclear Power Plant Operator Expects to Launch the Data Center in 2022 According to official documents, the data center will be based in the Rivne nuclear power plant, after the construction firm got 8.92 million Hryvnia ($317,620) in funding. The only competitor in the bidding was Ukrenergobudproek. However, they allegedly made an expensive offer, said the regional news outlet Forklog. The Kyiv Energy Construction Company expects to finish the data center building by August 31, 2022. Per the announcement, the contractor is required to send the documentation that details the whole process. It includes “host state registers, electronic archives, and computing facilities.” In terms of technical details, the nuclear power plant has a capacity of 2,657 megawatts, and it was built in the late 1970s. Also, the operations of the state-owned nuclear facilities started at the beginning of 1980. In October 2020, Energoatom also signed a memorandum with a subsidiary of crypto mining giant Bitfury. With the new data center, local media outlets believe Bitfury miners could move their operations into the power plant’s facilities. Ukraine’s Interest Towards Building Crypto Mining Data Centers in Nuclear Plants The deal between Energoatom and Kyiv Energy Construction Company is not a surprising move. In fact, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine asked Energoatom in May 2020 to conduct research to assess crypto mining’s feasibility at their nuclear plants. As an anecdotal fact in terms of crypto mining in Ukrainian nuclear plants, the nation’s Security Service found illegal crypto mining equipment in a nuclear power plant in 2019. The installation’s illegal mining rigs were found in the Southern region of Ukraine. Moreover, the investigations determined that such illegal equipment breached a “state secret.” What do you think about this announcement of building crypto mining data centers in nuclear power plants? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently announced the company plans to do a direct listing, as opposed to following the initial public offering (IPO) route. The decision means that Coinbase can float its shares on an exchange without hiring a financial institution to underwrite the settlements. Coinbase to Skip IPO Process, Shoots for a Direct Listing Just recently people familiar with the matter received a tip that the exchange giant Coinbase had plans to sell shares privately ahead of the IPO. In mid-December, Coinbase revealed the confidential filing of an S-1 initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, on January 28, 2021, Coinbase announced a proposed direct listing as opposed to the IPO that was initially planned. For instance, a few weeks prior rumors spread that Goldman Sachs would be the exchange’s underwriter. On Thursday Coinbase wrote: Coinbase Global, Inc. today announced its intent to become a publicly-traded company pursuant to a proposed direct listing of its Class A common stock. Such proposed listing is expected to be pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Crypto Proponents See ‘Strong Market Demand’ for Coinbase Shares Of course, the crypto community started speculating on why Coinbase decided to opt for a direct listing instead of an IPO. James Todaro, MD, partner at Greymatter Capital explained a few reasons why he thinks Coinbase chose this path. “Possible key reasons,” Todaro tweeted. “Strong market demand/no help needed generating liquidity, [and] no lock-up for early investors (can sell shares immediately). I think early investors see imminent market euphoria,” Todaro added. Moreover, a direct listing seems to be the popular route these days to some companies rather than IPO. The popular video game company Roblox opted to choose a direct listing and several others are choosing to debut on public equity markets. Coinbase will be able to jump over the components of an IPO by floating shares without any intermediaries. The San Francisco-based crypto company can sell shares directly to the public without dealing with marketing new equity and the need for investment banks to underwrite transactions. What do you think about Coinbase choosing to go with a direct listing rather than IPO? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin mining rig manufacturers are dealing with a semiconductor supply crunch according to regional reports stemming from China. There’s been a global semiconductor supply shortage and it’s affecting nearly every type of business in the supply chain that manufactures cars, PCs, laptops, smartphones, and cryptocurrency mining devices. Moreover, the recent shortage has invoked the demand for second-hand and older generation mining rigs. Semiconductor Shortage Complicates Mining Rig Manufacturing Currently, the world is dealing with a semiconductor supply crunch which has been spurred by the aftermath of Covid-19 and the lockdowns. Automobile makers, PC manufacturers, smartphone production, and almost every electronics manufacturer under the sun is dealing with this issue. For instance, reports detail that auto giants like Toyota Motors, Nissan, Ford, Volkswagen, and more have been chomping at the bit to obtain microchips from suppliers like TSMC. On January 27, 2021, the financial reporter from China, Iyke Aru, reported on how the microchip supply shortage is “taking a toll on Chinese bitcoin miners.” “The unique case of mining is complicated as a result of the coincidence with the increasing demand for Bitcoins and the associated expansion of the mining industry.” Aru details. Moreover, Aru also noted that because of the shortage “Chinese cryptocurrency miners are already scrambling for second-hand machines just to keep up with industry requirements.” Second-Hand Machines, Older Generation Rigs, and ‘Too Many People Going for the Same Foundries’ Meanwhile, manufacturers and industry executives are hoping for other solutions to appear. During the second week of January, Nvidia revealed some cheaper types of semiconductors for computers that could possibly help the supply crunch, according to reports. Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy told Marketwatch in an interview that the shortage has impeded businesses working with semiconductor foundries. “There is not enough capacity at TSMC and at Samsung,” Moorhead explained. “There are too many people going for the same foundries.” The scramble for second hand and older generation mining rigs has not just affected China but second markets in Europe and the U.S. have seen increased prices. For example on Ebay, there are hundreds of results for pre-owned S9s and even people selling bulk packages as well. Mining rig prices can be 2x to even 10x higher than what they were before the crypto economy’s bull run. The quantity of second-hand mining machines is far larger when it comes to older generation mining rigs, as new releases are much harder to obtain. There are far fewer listings on secondary markets and direct from the manufacturer deliveries are sold out until spring 2021. What do you think about the semiconductor shortage taking a toll on the bitcoin mining industry? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

As bitcoin struggles to kickstart yet another record-breaking rally, Scott Minerd, the CIO at Guggenheim Investments says this could be down to the inadequate institutional support. According to Minerd’s assessment, this lack of sufficient institutional investor support means it will be hard for bitcoin to trade above $30,000. The CIO, however, thinks the viability of the crypto as “an asset class is still very likely.” In a short video, Minerd chronicles bitcoin’s rise and how the crypto initially did not have a large enough market capitalization to attract institutions. However, after the crypto rose to $10,000, perceptions changed. The CIO explains: When we had bitcoin at $10,000, it was pretty easy to see that there was a clear path to $20,000.Once it went past $20,000 you could definitely see based on technical work how you could get to $35,000 or even higher. Minerd, who has previously predicted a maximum price of $400,000 for the BTC, says the current investor base is not big enough to support a valuation above $30,000. Not Everyone Agrees However, not everyone agrees that bitcoin, which grew by more than 300% in 2020, will remain stuck at current prices. Michael Geiger, the CEO at a financial brokerage firm Libertex, disagrees with Minerd’s view. Geiger explains to News.bitcoin.com that “an overextension does not mean that bitcoin would permanently stay below the figure.” The CEO adds: Eventually, bitcoin would move above the figure even in the lower part of the logarithmic regression band, provided that the asset still holds any meaningful value. Meanwhile, despite Minerd’s comments, bitcoin has dropped below $30,000 only twice since January 1, 2020. At the time of writing, the crypto appears to have resumed its rally after it went past $37k handle for the first time since January 20. Do you agree with Minerd’s prediction that BTC will struggle to stay above $30,000? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The infamous meme token dogecoin has been skyrocketing in value rising more than 325.21% during the last 24 hours. After remaining below a U.S. cent for years, the humorous crypto asset is now exchanging hands for $0.05 per unit. The reason behind the big dogecoin price spike is similar to the recent Gamestop/Wallstreetbets story as a Reddit group called Satoshistreetbets has been behind the recent pump. In April 2019, the Tesla founder Elon Musk said dogecoin (DOGE) was his “fav cryptocurrency.” In June 2020, day traders from Tiktok decided to encourage people to buy dogecoin in order to get the price per unit up to a dollar. The dollar price per DOGE never came to fruition, but the crypto asset saw some significant gains from the pump. Then during the first week of January 2021, news.Bitcoin.com reported on dogecoin gathering well over 500% gains during the year. Now the K-9 crypto asset is making headlines again as the price has been surging during the last 24 hours. DOGE is currently swapping for 5 U.S. cents after trading below a penny for quite some time. The digital asset has a whopping $4.83 billion in global trade volume today and the asset is well above the all-time high (ATH) it captured in 2017. Weekly stats show dogecoin is up over 585% and during the last 30 days DOGE is up over 1,150%. Against bitcoin (BTC), dogecoin has gained a colossal 871% against the leading crypto asset. Moreover, during the last 12 months, dogecoin has jumped in value by over 2,270%. Okay I caved and bought the dog stocks lmaoooooo — Mia K. (@miakhalifa) January 29, 2021 Rumor has it the dogecoin (DOGE) pump was started by the Redditors from r/satoshistreetbets who have been following the recent action spurred by the Gamestop/Wallstreetbets fiasco. One particular thread talks about holding dogecoin in order to get the price per unit to $10. The Reddit post which is on the front page has over 11,000 upvotes has a lot of participants and people have been discussing the best exchanges to utilize. Then on Thursday, the popular Elon Musk decided to tweet a meme of a magazine called “Dogue,” which is a play on the “Vogue” magazine title. Moreover, the Onlyfans star, Mia Khalifa, tweeted about the dogecoin madness on Twitter to her 3.4 million followers. pic.twitter.com/a6kmk0PEgM — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2021 The tweet from Musk got the dogecoin crowd excited and one individual tweeted a meme that featured Musk, a bunch of cartoon Doges, and said: “DOGE is the answer.” Dogecoin is also one of the only older coins, besides BTC and ETH, that has managed to surpass its ATH from 2017, while many other older crypto assets have yet to do so. Dogecoin is over seven years old and was developed by Jackson Palmer and the programmer Billy Markus. The digital currency’s existence has always been to exist for fun, promote laughter, and reach a broader demographic. It has managed to do so and stay in the limelight, as the asset is now holding the 11th position among the top crypto market caps. The cryptocurrency featuring the likeness of the Shiba Inu dog has 127.7 billion DOGE in circulation. Since the recent price spike, crypto supporters have been hunting for their old dogecoin wallets as the asset is far more valuable today. What do you think about dogecoin’s meteoric rise during the last year and the gains seen over the last week? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. PARSIQ, a blockchain monitoring and workflow automation platform connecting on-chain and off-chain applications in real-time, announced that its PRQ token is now listed on OKEx with USDT base pair. Please take note of the following go-live schedule: PRQ Deposit : 07:00am January 28, 2021 (UTC) PRQ Spot Trading : PRQ /USDT: 10:00am January 28, 2021 (UTC) PRQ Withdrawal : 10:00 January 29, 2021 (UTC) PARSIQ is a blockchain monitoring and workflow automation platform that serves as a multi-level bridge between blockchains and off-chain applications. PARSIQ’s features automate the blockchain analytics and monitoring process, providing customizable workflows with real-time intelligence. Developers and individual users can transform the blockchain data to their favorite off-chain application or web service. Among the obvious use cases is monitoring the wallets of traders and ordinary users. Among the non-obvious are complex system integrations for financial institutions and DeFi projects that use the PARSIQ infrastructure to improve security, conduct audits, comply with regulatory requirements, AML, and expand their workflows in other ways. The infrastructure underneath PARSIQ’s user interface is built with their proprietary programming language ParsiQL, and its users’ benefits are multiplying with each supported integration. PRQ Token PARSIQ Token (PRQ) is an essential piece of the PARSIQ platform that co-exists with FIAT payments for using its services. Payments within the platform that are made in PRQ tokens guarantee a discounted rate. During the first Epoch when PRQ tokens are used as payment for running Smart-Triggers users receive higher execution limits, unlock transport methods, and are able to propose features that can be added to the platform. In October 2020, the PARSIQ team released plans for Epoch 2.0. #1. Public Projects With Public Projects users can subscribe to existing PARSIQ Projects that were pre-made by other users. By paying in PRQ, users that have subscribed to the Public Project will incentivize the creators to create interesting, complex, and more important – problem-solving projects. #2. User Data and PRQ Every single monitoring target (primitive of type address, a struct with the field of address type, table row) would require 1 PRQ to hold after the implementation. It means that if there are 1000 addresses (960 in the table as rows, 30 as primitives, 10 in the structs) then the User would need 1000 PRQ on the connected Ethereum Account balance. #3. IQ Protocol IQ Protocol will allow risk-free PRQ lending and collateral-less borrowing. Risk-free PRQ lending means that PRQ is not transferred from the lender’s address to the borrower’s address. Details on the algorithm are available in the dedicated explainer on PARSIQ’s blog. #4. PRQBoost PRQ Boost is a liquidity boost program to incentivize PRQ/ETH liquidity providers on Uniswap, which goes with the PRQBOOST utility tokens to increase rewards for liquidity providers. PARSIQ is actively working to partner with major layer 1 blockchain protocols to expand the range of blockchain integrations and give projects that build on those protocols the ability to monitor and automate workflows between blockchain and off-chain. Visit the PARSIQ website to discover some possible use-cases and find more details on the project and token: https://parsiq.net Media contact: anastasia@parsiq.net This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Another class-action lawsuit has been filed against Ripple Labs and CEO Brad Garlinghouse. This lawsuit follows the one filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging that the defendants sold XRP, which it considers unregistered security, for over $1.38 billion. The lawsuit, filed Monday in a Florida district court alleges that the “sale of XRP cryptocurrency tokens to Florida residents” violates Florida securities laws. The suit names Ripple Lab Inc., XRP II LLC, and Garlinghouse as the defendants. They have allegedly sold “millions of dollars (or more)” in XRP tokens since 2013 without registering either with federal or Florida authorities. Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Garlinghouse, and co-founder Christian Larsen alleging that they sold over 14.6 billion units of XRP for at least $1.38 billion. After the SEC’s lawsuit, several major cryptocurrency exchanges delisted XRP, including Coinbase, Binance, Okcoin, and Blockchain.com. Ripple has insisted that XRP is not a security and plans to fight the SEC charges. The plaintiff, Tyler Toomey, said he purchased 135 XRP on or around Nov. 24, 2020, for $97.80 and then sold the coins at a loss. The lawsuit states that the “plaintiff sustained a loss of $48.56, or just over 50% of his initial investment.)” Although the plaintiff’s own loss is small, he “seeks to represent a class defined as all persons or entities in the State of Florida who purchased XRP.” Toomey is seeking monetary compensation including “reasonable” attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs of the suit, on his own behalf and on behalf of other class members. What do you think about this new lawsuit against Ripple over XRP? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Canadian investment management firm Ninepoint has completed an initial public offering (IPO) of its bitcoin fund on the Toronto stock exchange. The company says the offering is the largest IPO of a bitcoin investment fund in Canada to date. Ninepoint Partners announced Wednesday that its Bitcoin Trust has completed an initial public offering (IPO) of CAD$230 million ($180 million). “It is the largest initial public offering of a bitcoin investment fund in Canada to date,” said John Wilson, Ninepoint’s co-CEO and managing partner. The fund’s Class A units are now trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in both U.S. dollars and Canadian dollars under the symbols BITC.U and BITC.UN respectively. The fund seeks to provide investors with exposure to bitcoin “through an institutional-quality platform that is cost-efficient” to them and “to provide a secure, simpler and exchange-traded investment alternative for buying and holding bitcoin.” The fund invests in BTC directly. The fund’s bitcoin will be valued based on the MVIS Cryptocompare Institutional Bitcoin Index, which is maintained by MV Index Solutions GmbH (MVIS) or a successor or alternative institutional-quality index. Ninepoint will act as the fund’s trustee and manager MVIS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates Corp., which recently filed applications to list and trade bitcoin exchange-traded funds with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Do you think more bitcoin funds should trade on stock exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

With Argentineans facing rising inflation to near 40%, solutions appear to contain the impact on national farmers. A business blockchain platform is partnering with a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace to launch a program to tokenize Argentina’s agriculture. More Than 40% of the World’s Soybean Oil and Soy-Meal Production Comes From Argentina According to an announcement shared with news.Bitcoin.com, Coreledger will work with Abakus to set up a “digital barter economy” in Argentina. The project consists of enabling farmers to tokenize their agricultural assets to seek a hedge against rising inflation. It can be possible by accessing liquidity via certified titles through national and international investors, said Coreledger. Argentinean farmers could redeem and trade their tokenized titles with any other asset through the Akabus P2P platform. Coreledger puts soybeans as an example, as it can work like an asset-backed currency, tradeable for other commodities or even the fiat peso. Johannes Schweifer, CEO of CoreLedger, commented on the farmers’ struggling with a plummeting fiat peso amidst pandemic uncertainties: More than 40% of the world’s soybean oil and soy-meal production comes from Argentina, meaning it is of great national interest that smallholder farmers can liquify these assets. In an inflation-stricken country, access to physically-backed assets can be the difference between surviving and thriving for these farmers. Also, Martin Furst, CEO of Abakus, believes the tokenization of agricultural assets brings “greater agency to farmers who can now sell the physical-backed assets according to their own needs.” Coreledger clarified that tokens become “true stable coins, backed by real assets, not unstable fiat currencies.” Bitcoin Keeps Going Through the Roof as Economic Troubles Worsens in Argentina The plan is to oversee how the project works within the Argentinean economic conditions’ environment. After assessing the results, Coreledger expects to expand the tokenized agriculture concept into other developing countries. With a currency that faces economic troubles, inflationary turmoil, oversized emissions, and hopeless forecasts from experts, bitcoin (BTC) has been having enough room to surge in Argentina. Over the last year, BTC prices crossed the 1,594,000 threshold against the Argentinean peso. What do you think about the idea of tokenizing agricultural assets in Argentina? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A report from China says as many as 872 lawsuits relating to cryptocurrencies were filed in the past year, a figure which is approximately 20% more than that of 2019. Using data obtained from the China Judgment Document Network (CJDN), the report shows that the province of Guangdong had the highest number with 106. Completing the top three provinces with the highest number of lawsuits is Zhejiang with 103 and Sichuan with 54. The Case of a Bitcoin Bull Market and Rising Lawsuits In terms of the nature of the lawsuits, the CJDN data shows that 409 cases were criminal, while the civil cases amounted to 457. According to the report, some of the well-known lawsuits recorded during the year “include the case of Biyin and Bitmain on the restriction of competition agreement.” The “arrest of Renrenbit founder Zhao Dong and the case of Jiangsu Yancheng Plustoken Mega MLM” are some of the notable lawsuits of 2020. Meanwhile, in an interview with a local media outlet, Liu Yang, a lawyer with Beijing Deheng Law Firm, offers his perspective on what could be causing the surge in cases. In his assessment, Yang narrows down the cause of the surge in cases to three main issues. Firstly, he points to bitcoin’s long-running bull run and how this led to an increased awareness of the digital asset. Yang says: Bitcoin is getting more and more attention from the general public. From the beginning of 2019 to the end of 2020, the virtual digital currency market has gradually realized the transition from bear to bull, and the price of bitcoin has risen. The lawyer explains that as a consequence of this bull market, “more and more ordinary people are looking forward to learning about bitcoin and starting to invest in bitcoin.” Based on this theory, Yang concludes that as “more people invest in bitcoin, and there are more conflicts and disputes.” Secondly, Yang also gives his perspective on why China’s Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces have the highest number of lawsuits. According to Yang, this could be down to the fact that the two regions have “the fastest development speed and the most advanced development concepts in the country.” Consequently, the residents of these two regions have a “relatively high degree of acceptance of the virtual digital currency.” The Rising Awareness Thirdly, according to the lawyer, another important factor that explains the rise in the number of lawsuits has to be the way the judiciary is now handling such cases. Yang asserts that the judicial department, which “paid more attention to currency-related cases” in the past year, now has “a deeper understanding of virtual digital currencies.” This increased understanding makes it “easier to accept and file currency-related cases, and the number of cases naturally increases up.” Still, there are some challenges when filing crypto lawsuits. Yang believes, however, that as more of these challenges are overcome, the number of filed lawsuits will rise. Do you agree that the number of crypto-related lawsuits in China will increase with rising awareness? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The New York-based Skybridge Capital cofounder, Anthony Scaramucci, recently explained that this week’s Gamestop fiasco is positive for the global cryptocurrency bitcoin. Scaramucci’s statements follow the global investment manager’s recent dive into the crypto economy by gathering exposure to over $300 million worth of the cryptocurrency. Skybridge Capital Cofounder Says Gamestop Stock Activity Bolsters the Concept of Bitcoin The recent Gamestop stock saga has shown the world the power of social media and financial technology combined. Meme lords, Redditors, Discord users, Twitter heads, 4chan trolls, and a number of other internet lurkers have caused a major disruption in the traditional finance world. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the Gamestop (GME) shares skyrocketing, and the madness has also leaked over to other stocks like AMC and Nokia. Moreover, a number of popular entrepreneurs like the American-Canadian venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya and Tesla’s Elon Musk have also added to the conversation. This week, Skybridge Capital cofounder Anthony Scaramucci also discussed the Gamestop situation during an interview. Scaramucci said that retail traders have shown the power of decentralized finance and the impact solidifies the leading crypto asset bitcoin (BTC). Scaramucci also served as President Donald Trump’s communications director for 11 days. .@tferriss and @Scaramucci are saying it. $GME is just the tip of the iceberg — the finance revolution is coming courtesy of crypto and telegram. It is done with @telegram groups and users are able rage against the algorithms — Antonio Altamirano (@antonio) January 28, 2021 ‘The Age of the Micro Investor’ Scaramucci believes the recent stock market action affirms that the Bitcoin experiment will be successful. Just recently, Scaramucci’s Skybridge Bitcoin Fund debuted when it “initiated a position, valued at approximately $310 million,” at the time of the announcement. In his recent interview, Scaramucci explained the Skybridge Bitcoin Fund has roughly $60 million while the company has exposure to about $385 million. “It’s the age of the micro investor and you better take it seriously – otherwise you’ll get taken to the cleaners,” Scaramucci said about this week’s GME stock fiasco. “The activity in Gamestop is more proof of concept that Bitcoin is going to work,” he further said. “How are you going to beat that decentralized crowd? That to me is more affirmation about decentralized finance.” Meanwhile, as cryptocurrency fans have been cheering on the degenerates at r/wallstreetbets, a number of the subscribers have been discussing the possibility of producing a massive short squeeze with Silver. One thread on r/wallstreetbets suggests the power of the masses could squeeze the price of silver from $25 to $1,000. “Inflation-adjusted silver should be at $1,000$ instead of $25,” the creator of the post u/jjalaj30 wrote. “Why not squeeze $SLV to real physical price. Think about the gains. If you don’t care about the gains, think about the banks like JP Morgan you’d be destroying along the way,” he added. What do you think about the Gamestop stock fiasco and Skybridge Capital cofounder Anthony Scaramucci’s statements? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The total amount of capital inflows into bitcoin during the 30 days to Jan. 25 are as high as the entire bitcoin market capitalization in September 2017 and early 2019, according to new data from Glassnode. Glassnode co-founder and CTO Rafael Schultze-Kraft tweeted that cash inflows into bitcoin (BTC), as estimated by the realized cap, reached $70 billion during the calendar month in review, equalling the whole BTC market cap value for September four years ago and early 2019. In 2017, bitcoin prices rose sharply within a space of just three months, peaking at nearly $20,000 by December – an all-time-high then – in a rally largely led by small-time investors fearful of missing out on BTC’s unprecedented price surge. Now, Glassnode data reflects the spike in institutional interest in bitcoin. In the last few months, institutions have pumped in billions of dollars into the top cryptocurrency, either as a reserve asset or hedge against monetary inflation. The asset’s bullish run in late 2020, when it reached a record of about $42,000, has been largely sustained by corporate and institutional involvement – something that is considered by analysts as giving BTC staying power. At this point, cryptocurrency’s total market value had crossed the psychological $1 trillion mark. But amidst the euphoria, the price of bitcoin tailspinned to under $30,000 from over $40,000 within just 24 hours, leading to some random shouts of the bubble bursting. Since then, BTC has struggled to reclaim the $40,000 handle, with trades oscillating between the $31,000 and $37,000 range in the last fortnight. Meanwhile, Etoro senior analyst Simon Peters says that the crash in bitcoin prices over the past week is not the bubble bursting. He says demand from large corporate investors will prevent bitcoin from falling further. Peters predicts that BTC will hit $70,000 by year-end because “the fundamental backdrop for bitcoin remains positive.” “Despite the drop, the demand from large institutional investors remains impressive,” Peters said in comments shared with news.Bitcoin.com. “The demand isn’t slowing and I believe that many investors will view any significant dip not as a bubble burst but as an opportunity arisen. Investors of all sizes will be looking at a price in the region of $28,000 as an excellent chance to top up their positions,” he opined. What do you think about the capital inflows coming into bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A Taiwanese hardware company has warned its clients about a targeted crypto mining attack against their storage devices. The malware infects NAS devices connected to the internet by installing a crypto-miner named Dovecat. Threat Actors Install Malware That Illicitly Mines Bitcoin According to the advisory revealed by Bleeping Computer, the malware mines bitcoin (BTC) on NAS devices without alerting its operators. The company elaborates on the findings: QNAP NAS can become infected when they are connected to the Internet with weak user passwords. The malware campaign launched by unknown threat actors has been surfacing over the last three months. Some customers report that the bitcoin miner uses all the CPU and memory resources of the device, rendering it almost unusable. Per a knowledge base article, Qnap says that unless the Dovecat process encounters a recent firmware (4.4.x), the system could have been compromised by the miner. The company recommends updating all NAS devices to the latest software, installing the company’s malware detection applications, and using stronger passwords. Several users have been testing the solutions provided by Qnap, claiming success when applying them. Qnap is a well-known company in the file storage industry. Their devices are apparently built with technology that can handle come crypto mining operations, making them a target for hackers. In fact, in September 2020, the Taiwanese firm warned its customers about the Agelocker ransomware campaign against their publicly exposed NAS devices. Latest Figures on Cryptojacking Incidents The latest statistics revealed by Symantec unveiled a growing trend in cryptojacking incidents. According to the study, the second quarter of 2020 saw a resurgence of attacks, increasing 163% compared to the previous quarter’s activity. The cybersecurity lab also confirms what most malware researchers conclude about cryptojacking: bitcoin and monero (XMR) are the two currencies most often mined during these attacks. What are your thoughts on this cryptojacking incident? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

A U.S. cryptocurrency miner installed a mining rig in a particular place with the motivation to “annoy gamers.” Simon Byrne installed the full infrastructure in the back of his BMW i8 hybrid car. Miner Is Trying to Create a ‘Crypto Utopia’ According to PC Gamer, Byrne fit six Nvidia RTX 3080s graphic cards into the trunk of his car. The hybrid car’s internal battery provides the hardware power. However, the car’s boot should remain open, or the whole mining rig setup will overheat, said the cryptocurrency miner. Hardware Times first spotted the BMW’s mining rig, who estimated that the car is worth $147,500 at the time it was acquired. The electric vehicle is capable of accelerating to 100 kilometers per hour in just 4.4 seconds. Per Hardware Times’ report, the mining system is powered by an ASUS B250 Mining Expert board and an EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 power supply. Byrne claimed that he didn’t build the mining rig just for practical purposes. He just wanted to “annoy gamers.” The miner says he is attempting to build a crypto “utopia” with the mining rig into his BMW i8. However, he didn’t elaborate on further details, said PC Gamer. Byrne told Hardware Times that he owns another mining farm composed of 78 Geforce RTX 3080 graphics cards. The setup is capable of generating over $128,088 per year in profits. Photos show that the BMW i8 car has a Nevada license plate with “HODLER” highlighted on it. Other Interesting Cases of Crypto Mining Setups But this is not the first curious case of a crypto mining-related setup in the world. For instance, the concept of “cryptomatoes” born in March 2018. Kamil Brejcha, co-founder of the exchange Nakamoto X, published photos of tomatoes grown using excess heat from cryptocurrency miners. The method aimed to channel the excess heat from the crypto mining for tomatoes’ sustenance, among other solutions. Brejcha wanted to point out that entrepreneurs could compile environmental-friendly methods into an “agriculture blockchain startup.” Other rare uses for bitcoin (BTC) mining are found in the United States – specifically in Florida. During an interview with news.Bitcoin.com, electrical and computer engineering graduate of Cornell, Avi Aisenberg, said he acquired three Antminers and placed them in a distillery he owns. The small mining setup goal was to take advantage of the 4000 W of exhaust heat to cycle his rum barrels’ temperature to accelerate the aging process. Of course, these types of cogeneration mining concepts are probably more useful to some observers than a BMW i8 hybrid car with a crypto miner built to simply “annoy gamers.” What do you think about this curious crypto mining rig setup? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The blockchain gaming platform, Enjin and Metaverseme, an augmented reality (AR) platform are set to introduce tradeable AR fashion assets to the Ethereum blockchain. The Enjin-powered non-fungible token (NFT), which can be worn by users’ avatars in the Metaverseme app, will launch on February 23. Revolutionary Apps and Games According to a statement, the Metaverseme app will allow users to quickly snap selfies in the real world and generate hyper-realistic avatars. The AR mode maps users’ real-world environment, where their digital avatars can be brought to life as they wear and interact with their NFT fashion. Users can then record their avatar wearing fashion NFTs in AR and share the videos via social media. In his remarks following this announcement, Martyn Hughes, a founder at Metaverseme, talks up the importance and potential of blockchain technology. He says: It won’t be long before blockchain is recognized as the internet of value for all immersive experiences. Being able to take your assets and use them across all of your favourite games and apps will revolutionize the digital economy. New Possibilities Meanwhile, in their statement, the two entities explain that “the first NFTs that Metaverseme will adopt is a collection called Pluriform, a limited run of digital-only fashion items created through an ongoing partnership between Enjin, Atari, Metaverseme, and the Fabricant. The Pluriform NFTs will be available till February 28, and “all [the] unsold supply will be burned at the end of the sale.” For his part, Enjin CEO Maxim Blagov praises the possibilities that arise from the combination of the blockchain and AR. He says: Soon, your likeness will be able to ascend across the entire internet, and we’re excited to work with the Metaverseme team to make this happen. Since joining Enjin, Atari and other game developers have locked over 10 million Enjin tokens inside high-functioning NFTs including those that can be used in Metaverseme. What are your thoughts on this collaboration between Enjin and Metaverseme? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

One of the most popular privacy-centric messaging applications Signal has seen explosive growth during the last two months over things like the Whatsapp acquisition and the recent Big Tech censorship. According to a number of reports, the company has been experimenting with monetization and more recently Signal has been reportedly testing the crypto network Stellar. The mobile company called App Annie detailed at the end of 2020, Signal had around 20 million active users a month. Following the announcement that Facebook was acquiring Whatsapp and changing its privacy terms, there’s been a mass exodus toward privacy-centric messaging apps like Telegram and Signal. News.Bitcoin.com reported on Telegram’s colossal growth recently surpassing 500 million active users. Data from Sensor Tower details that alongside Telegram’s swelling, Signal saw the privacy messaging app downloaded 7.5 million times in four days between January 6 and January 10. A few reports this week have disclosed that Signal is experimenting with cryptocurrencies and may even introduce its own coin. The tech newsletter called Platformer said that Signal was toying with a Stellar derivative called Mobilecoin, which is a token built using the Stellar blockchain. Moxie Marlinspike the CEO of Signal, was once an advisor for the Mobilecoin project. However, according to the recent Platform report, Signal employees are leery of adding a cryptocurrency and have said that it could cause unwanted regulatory scrutiny. For instance, Telegram had regulatory issues with the U.S. SEC after creating its own cryptocurrency and Facebook’s digital asset was also scrutinized heavily. Other messaging apps like China’s Wechat already leverages crypto asset payments. Still, a few employees and former Signal staff members are not impressed by the move. “The world needs products like Signal but they also need Signal to be thoughtful,” Gregg Bernstein, a former Signal researcher explained to the Platformer. At press time, stellar (XLM) is the 12th largest blockchain in terms of market cap, and is swapping for $0.24 per unit on Wednesday. Data from Coingecko shows that mobilecoin (MOB) token is exchanging hands for $3.55 per unit, and is up 12% today while most coins are down. There’s currently $1.3 million in 24-hour MOB global trade volume today with FTX Exchange’s MOB/USDT and MOB/USD markets dominating. What do you think about Signal possibly adding a cryptocurrency and experimenting with the Stellar blockchain? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The American Cancer Society has set up a fund for crypto donations so the nonprofit can raise at least $1 million by early 2021. Together with The Giving Block, the U.S.-based voluntary health organization expects to collect funds via several cryptocurrencies. Donations to Fund Cancer-Related Research Plummeted 50% in 2020 According to the announcement, the cancer crypto fund seeks to provide funding to ongoing research initiatives. The move happens within the context of a strong decrease in donations over 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Cancer Society says the donations’ flow plunged 50% in the last year — the lowest number in this century. They commented on the motivations behind setting up a crypto fund: The crypto community’s contributions will help re-establish crucial research funding for new discoveries and better treatments to save the lives of family and friends. Per the official crypto fund website, donations can be made in bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), zcash (ZEC), gemini dollar (GUSD), basic attention token (BAT) and chainlink (LINK). The nonprofit health organization said that the first donor who contributes $250,000 or more would have the chance to name the fund. On the other side, donors with over $10,000 contributions will appear on the crypto fund’s wall of honor. Cryptos Playing a ‘Pivotal Role’ in the Fight Against Cancer Jeff Klass, the interim chief digital officer at the American Cancer Society, commented on the announcement: We want as many people to join us in our mission as possible. To do that, we need to ensure people can give to the fight against cancer when, where, and how they choose. We appreciate The Giving Block’s work to help make this possible. Moreover, the American Cancer Society recognizes “the emergency of cryptocurrency,” specifically the impact cancer has across the crypto community. Pat Duffy, a co-founder of The Giving Block, said the following about cryptocurrencies’ relevance in this kind of initiatives: I believe cryptocurrency will play a pivotal role in curing cancer. (…) With bitcoin hitting a new all-time high, the creation of this new fund opens the door for the booming crypto market to save lives. What do you think about this crypto cancer fund? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

S&P Global says cryptocurrencies have become mainstream and appear to be here to stay, as more companies are offering crypto services and adoption is growing worldwide. Meanwhile, an S&P analyst believes that bitcoin’s rise is reminiscent of the U.S. gold rush. S&P Global Says Bitcoin Has Become Mainstream Financial information and analytics firm S&P Global released a special report on the current condition of cryptocurrencies last week. It states: Once considered an alternative trend, cryptocurrencies have become mainstream and appear here to stay. The report references a number of factors, such as legacy banks taking “a closer look at the asset class that could be integrated into the products and services offering” and companies like Paypal beginning to offer cryptocurrency services. Crypto adoption is also growing in countries where people “seek to protect their income against inflation and currency controls” or for faster and cheaper remittances. In addition, Jim Wiederhold, S&P Global’s associate director for commodities and real assets, authored an opinion piece about bitcoin last week. He wrote: The recent enthusiasm for bitcoin is reminiscent of the Gold Rush in the western U.S. from 1848-1860 … U.S. enthusiasm for gold exploded over this time period. The analyst explained that “Recently, the parallels between the two assets have grown.” He noted that both are scarce, “have the potential to be held outside of conventional financial markets,” and are good inflation hedges. In addition, they are “uncorrelated to other popular asset classes in portfolios.” However, he pointed out that bitcoin’s volatility over the past five years is multiple times higher than other asset classes. Pointing out the differences between gold and bitcoin, including the supply limit, he continued, “Concerns of bitcoin theft were rampant a few years ago; though as bitcoin becomes more mainstream, these worries are fading. Although lingering technology and exchange counterparty risks remain.” The analyst concluded that while gold is a more established asset, bitcoin “is in its infancy, but it is slowly becoming more easily accessible to mainstream investors.” According to the S&P Global special report: Cryptocurrency may appear to be a niche or experimental segment for these companies, but industry experts say they are treating it with increasing seriousness. Do you think bitcoin has become mainstream? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

For months now our newsdesk has followed the tracks of a mysterious whale from 2010, a miner who not only mined thousands of bitcoin back in the day, but has also spent over 8,000 bitcoin during the past ten months. This week, the Russian blockchain researcher, Issak Shvarts published a report about the decade-old block rewards, and he claims to have shown “full proof” that the bitcoins are now owned by Coinbase and also distributed after the transfers. The Case of the Mysterious 2010 Block Reward Spends For a while now our newsdesk at news.Bitcoin.com has been monitoring a strange bitcoin (BTC) whale that has been spending coins mined in 2010. The bitcoins were mined a decade ago and they had never been moved since the day the block rewards were discovered. However, throughout 2020 and into 2021, news.Bitcoin.com has tracked a total of 7,000 BTC that mysteriously moved after ten years. Our team has worked with researchers at Btcparser.com and we’ve also discussed the topic with the Russian blockchain researcher and the author of the Telegram channel “gfoundinshit,” Issak Shvarts. Shvarts has also leveraged the parser Btcparser.com and the blockchain explorer oxt.me. The researcher believes he has provided 100% proof that the old school bitcoins are now owned by Coinbase, and even dispersed to the San Francisco exchange’s customers. Shvarts has also tracked an aggregate total of 8,000 BTC, which is worth over $250 million using today’s exchange rates. “I have previously suggested that these bitcoins belong to Coinbase,” Shvarts details in his latest report. “Now, I am sure of that,” he added. His research study suggests that there’s a consolidation of 20 wallets, 50 BTC each for one address. Then the 1,000 BTC wallet is scattered in batches of 10 BTC per address, Shvarts refers to them as “‘pockets’ for withdrawal.” Some of the BTC sent to the pockets were withdrawn in “large amounts” Shvarts insists “apparently for some VIP users,” he added. Shvarts compared the addresses from a withdrawal made from Coinbase to one of the 10 BTC addresses that derived from the original 1,000 BTC address. The clusterization mechanism clearly shows “these wallets belong to the Coinbase exchange,” Shvarts notes. The researcher adds: As you can see, the oxt.me resource, the clustering methods indicate that it belongs to Coinbase. Well, by analogy: ‘If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck,’ I can now confidently say that all these bitcoins from 2010 belong to the Coinbase exchange. Whitening the Gray Ecosystem After explaining that there could be many possible theories involved with this entity, Shvarts asks the question: “How many more [whale miners from the early days] are waiting in the wings?” Shvarts also details that these coins are ‘virgin bitcoins’ which are “crystal clear in terms of AML.” “Oddly enough, Coinbase simply ‘injects’ them into the market, using them for retail withdrawals,” Shvarts’s study emphasizes. “By doing this, it ‘whitens’ the whole gray Bitcoin ecosystem a little. Whether this is some kind of cunning plan or is it just so that the exchange is not reproached for using “gray” coins – I do not know,” Shvarts adds. The only proven fact Shvarts said is that these coins have been discovered, and started moving during 2020 and into early 2021 to addresses owned by Coinbase. Then the 1,000 bitcoin batches are simply sent to the “exchange withdrawal system.” The onchain researcher believes that “another whale from 2010” is also moving coins, but is slightly smaller than the 8,000 coin mega-whale. “For some reason, [the smaller whale] moves his coins with a slight time delay from the movement of the coins described in this report,” Shvarts concludes. What do you think about the report that claims 8,000 bitcoin from 2010 was sent to Coinbase and later sold on the open market? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A former U.K. cybersecurity chief has raised concerns that ransomware incidents are close to “getting out of control.” Ciaran Martin has also called for laws to prevent people from paying bitcoin to cybercriminals. Former Official Claims Most of the Cybercriminals Are Based in Russia During an interview with The Guardian, Martin, who was the head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), pointed out that insurance firms are indirectly funding organized crimes in ransomware incidents. Martin believes that companies’ insurance claims from ransomware attacks help perpetuate the criminal circle. Moreover, the former cybersecurity official states that the national health systems could be hit during the pandemic by such attacks: I see this as so avoidable. At the moment, companies have incentives to pay ransoms to make sure this all goes away … You have to look seriously about changing the law on insurance and banning these payments, or at the very least, having a major consultation with the industry. The former NCSC official says the problem lies in the lack of legal barriers that stop companies from paying ransoms. The Guardian quotes him as saying that most of the threat actors come from Russia and some other former Soviet states. “People are paying bitcoin to criminals and claiming back cash,” Martin added. Ransom Payments to Cyber Gangs Are Not Banned Under British Laws Although British laws strictly prohibit payments of ransoms to terrorists, the rule doesn’t cover cybercriminals. The report gives the following explanation: Britain’s extortion laws prohibit the payment of ransoms to terrorists, and were drawn up largely in response to the threat of kidnapping. But cyber-attacks are not carried out by terror groups, and so there is no bar to paying ransom demands – and it is possible to make an insurance claim if no personal data was involved. Per a report shared with news.Bitcoin.com, malware lab Emsisoft said that 2020 was another “banner year for cybercriminals” during ransomware incidents in the United States. Also, a study by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis found that cryptocurrency-related crime has fallen significantly. The criminal share of all crypto activity fell to just 0.34% in 2020. What do you think about the former intelligence official’s concerns? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article