roadrunner

China Construction Bank, one of the “big four” banks in China, is selling $3 billion in bonds that can be paid for with bitcoin. The bonds will be listed on a regulated Malaysian digital asset exchange. Beijing-based China Construction Bank (CCB) is selling $3 billion in bonds for bitcoin and U.S. dollars through its unit in Malaysia, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday. This is the first digital security issued by a Chinese bank on a blockchain, the publication added, noting: The deal also allows investors to trade these China Construction Bank’s digital certificates using bitcoin on Fusang Exchange, a digital exchange licensed by the financial regulator in Labuan, Malaysia. “The security would roll over every three months and pay annualized interest of Libor plus 50 basis points, or approximately 0.75%,” the publication conveyed, adding that trading will begin Friday. What do you think about China Construction Bank selling bonds for bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Major Chinese Bank Selling Bonds Worth $3 Billion for Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Dr. Richard Satur, CEO of VIC Rewards, and Gyanendra Khadka, CEO of XcelTrip, are partnering to raise stakes initially from ASEAN, Indian and Korean Wellness and Vitality digital space; before they take on the global Medical-Tourism marketplace. XcelTrip with over 2.4 million hotels and 450+ flights worldwide, is already an impressive online travel OTA platform. VIC Rewards, on the other hand, is also building its huge presence in the ASEAN region. Through their VIC Marketplace, the company predicts to onboard 500+ Merchants by 2021 specifically in the Wellness, Well-being, Anti-Ageing, and Vitality product and service segment. Addressing the Wellness and Medical Tourism opportunity in the ASEAN, Korean, and Indian regions, XcelTrip and VIC Marketplace will be integrating. Their partnership is going to allow consumers to book flights and accommodation, as well as to access enhanced Vitality packages with additional tailored wellness products and services. “The overall population of India, Korea, and the ASEAN region is more than 2 billion. That’s ¼ of the world’s population! Zion Market Research projects that the global medical tourism market could generate revenue of around US$28 billion by the end of 2024. Of estimated 11 million global medical consumers, nearly one-third of them are currently traveling to Southeast Asia alone. South Korea is also one of the most popular medical tourism destinations in the world. As of 2018, the cumulative number of patients who visited Korea exceeded two million, with medical services growing in popularity. According to India’s Ministry of Tourism figures, India’s medical tourism industry could grow by 200% by 2020 hitting $9 billion. This is an enormous market opportunity for XcelTrip and VIC Marketplace. With common visions to leverage blockchain and AI, to provide greater transparency, opportunity, and rewards for consumers, XcelTrip and VIC Marketplace is in a great position to attract a large number of consumers to its combined digital medical-tourism offering”, says Dr. Richard Satur. “We have an extensive marketplace solution. XcelTrip is offering 50+ categories and 20,000+ products. Now with VIC Marketplace, we are in a position to offer greater consumer value. The Vitality packages consist of flights, accommodation as well as wellness products and services. Imagine being able to tailor a package that specifically meets your schedule, budget, requirements, healthcare objectives, and goals. That is a powerful message for all people, regardless of where they live in the world. Through us, consumers and travelers should be able to put together a Vitality package focusing on their needs rather than accepting just another generic travel offering. Furthermore, imagine that after your travel, the combined platform will be able to suggest other better opportunities for you to improve your health. Using blockchain technology, VIC Loyalty Rewards offers such advances to the people all over the world”, says Gyanendra Khadka. VIC Rewards and XcelTrip combined have a community that is currently well over 750,000 and steadily growing. VIC Rewards community is eager to obtain their loyalty through their healthcare and XcelTrip and VIC Marketplace will soon allow them to spend their hard-earned healthcare loyalty rewards on their tailored Vitality packages. The combined blockchain solutions will allow consumers to use their healthcare status to be part of a growing community-driven DeFi protocol. This means consumers could also use their healthcare to help with other DeFi related products and services such as insurance, medical device purchases and leases, and even loans, and why not! VIC Rewards strongly believes that consumer’s healthcare is a valuable asset. In a DeFi environment, their healthcare status should be used to drive better options, costs, and benefits for them and their families. Healthcare should be viewed by consumers as valuable as their bank accounts. Consumers can, and should, leverage their healthcare as an asset from the day they are born and for all time. This asset is theirs and increases over time merely by their existence and of course by adhering to healthy behavior. Consumer’s very lives will create value for them. The companies have now started the platform integration to put their vision of Vitality package offerings online through XcelTrip and VIC Marketplace by the end of 2020. These packages will help bring Vitality opportunities to all consumers as the world continues to tackle COVID globally. Now, more so than ever, people need to value and enhance their Vitality. Consumers need to be provided with platforms and tools that allow them to tailor solutions that meet their specific needs. VIC Marketplace and XcelTrip, along with their combined blockchain platforms, products, and services will meet consumers’ needs and allow them to use several payment options to meet their specific budgets. For more details please contact; Suvrangsu Das Marketing Manager suvrangsu@xceltrip.com Jenny Willis Managing Director jenny.willis@vicrewards.io Supporting Link https://www.xceltrip.com 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. The post VIC Rewards and XcelTrip Are Set To Redefine Global Wellness and Vitality Marketspace appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Seven days ago Bitcoin’s network difficulty saw the largest drop in nine years as it slid over 16% last week. Similar to the crypto asset’s price, the hashrate has been extremely volatile according to statistics. After dropping to 111 exahash per second (EH/s), the network hashrate spiked a whopping 45% on Tuesday morning to 161 EH/s before sliding back to 120 EH/s. Bitcoin’s hashrate, much like the price of bitcoin (BTC), has been jumping around during the last few days. The crypto asset’s hashrate is the measurement of processing power pointed at the network. In 2020, the hashrate had spiked to an all-time high of around 170 EH/s on October 8. At the end of October, BTC’s hashrate slid 40% and a number of speculators claimed it was because of Chinese miners migrating to different locations. Bitcoin’s hashrate dropped to 90 EH/s on the hourly chart (24h MA) on October 27, 2020. This helped the mining difficulty drop that took place a week ago. When the difficulty drop happened on November 3, the network hashrate was around 97 EH/s. On Tuesday, November 3, it was also estimated that the network difficulty would drop again and lose another 16%. At the time of publication, that figure has changed, as it’s estimated to see a 10.4% drop (15t) in five days. Then after hovering above the 100 EH/s mark between 110-125 EH/s, on November 8 a lot of hashpower came online. During the next 48 hours that followed the hashrate increased by 45% until Tuesday morning (Nov. 10) reaching 161 EH/s. The hashrate on Tuesday, November 10 has already dropped again to 120 EH/s losing 25.46% since the high. Today there are 16 mining pools dedicating hash to the Bitcoin (BTC) network with F2pool capturing 18% or 22.9 EH/s. At current BTC prices mining is much more profitable than just a few weeks ago and at an electricity cost of around $0.12 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), 24 ASIC mining rigs are profiting. Since the last big hashrate drop coupled with the difficulty drop, block times were slower and transaction fees increased. Today, data shows the next block fee for BTC is currently $9.25 and the current median fee is roughly $2.87 per transaction. The mempool (transaction queue) however is lighter than it was at the end of October dropping from 121k unconfirmed transactions to only 21k today. What do you think of the erratic Bitcoin hashrate these days? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Erratic Processing Power: Bitcoin’s Hashrate Gains 45% in a Day, Then Loses 41 Exahash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

While Americans wait for the official outcome of the electoral college, a blockchain-backed non-fungible token (NFT) called “Crossroad” will change to one of two animations featuring the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump. The animated election-based “Crossroad” NFT recently sold for a whopping $66,666 to a user named “Pablo.” Non-fungible tokens have been very popular in 2020 and a great number of blockchain-backed digital art pieces have been sold to collectors. Just recently, blockchain artwork was auctioned at the popular public auction house at Christie’s New York. The NFT art called “Block 21” sold for $131,250 to a collector. Ten days ago, an NFT designed by the artist called “Beeple” sold for $66,666, and this particular piece of digital art is quite unique. The artwork is called “Crossroad” and it features depictions of Joe Biden and President Donald Trump not wearing any clothes. The two look like they might go at it in a fistfight and they are both seemingly floating in space. Now the NFT is unique because depending on the official outcome of the election, the artwork will transition into something different. For instance, if the electoral college or the Supreme Court confirms that Biden is the winner, the picture will show Trump lying on the ground naked and covered in graffiti. If Trump happens to defy all the odds against him and he wins on December 14, 2020, then the NFT will change to a muscular Trump wearing a crown and jogging through the flames of hell. Now many readers may be wondering why the NFT will change later, when mainstream media outlets like the Associated Press and other news outlets have called Biden the projected winner. However, the media doesn’t really call the winner officially and never has in the past. For instance, during the U.S. election in 2000, mainstream media messed up horribly by predicting that Al Gore won the race. “We don’t just have egg on our face,” NBC’s Tom Brokaw said at the time. “We have an omelet,” he added after nearly every news outlet got it wrong. On December 14, during the meeting of the Electoral College, a decision could be made where Trump wins the U.S. presidency. On December 12, 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that George W. Bush won the race in 2000 and Al Gore did not. In this particular presidential race, Trump is accusing the other side of election fraud and has not conceded to Biden’s ostensible win. Trump’s campaign invoked a lawsuit in a Pennsylvania federal court on Tuesday seeking to block officials from certifying the race results. “Watch for massive ballot-counting abuse,” Donald Trump tweeted on November 10. “Just like the early vaccine, remember I told you so,” Trump added. Additionally, Attorney General William Barr has started an investigation into “substantial allegations” that point to voter fraud. So the owner of the “Crossroad” NFT created by Beeple, might see an entirely different animation in mid-December. At the time of publication, the blockchain artwork is being auctioned again by its current owner dubbed “Pablo.” What do you think about the “Crossroad” blockchain art based on Biden and Trump’s race for the presidency? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Blockchain-Backed Election Art Sells for $66K, Animation Changes After Electoral College Decision appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller has revealed that he owns bitcoin, calling it an asset class that has a lot of attraction as a store of value and could be a better investment than gold. Stan Druckenmiller Owns Bitcoin Stanley Druckenmiller revealed on Monday that he owns bitcoin and explained why it could be a better investment than gold. The famed investor founded Duquesne Capital in 1981 and closed the fund in August 2010. He managed money for George Soros as the lead portfolio manager for the Quantum Fund until 2000. He and Soros made massive profits betting against the British pound in 1992. According to Forbes, Druckenmiller’s current net worth is $4.4 billion. In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Druckenmiller said: I’m a bit of a dinosaur, but I have warmed up to the fact that bitcoin could be an asset class that has a lot of attraction as a store of value. He elaborated that Bitcoin has “been around for 13 years and with each passing day it picks up more of its stabilization.” Bitcoin’s creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper on Halloween 2008. Besides bitcoin, Druckenmiller’s portfolio features a lot of gold. “I own many, many more times gold than I do bitcoin,” the billionaire investor said, emphasizing: Frankly, if the gold bet works, the bitcoin bet will probably work better because it’s thinner, more illiquid and has a lot more beta to it. Druckenmiller’s bitcoin reveal has attracted much attention in the crypto space. “Is this not the greatest bitcoin endorsement of all time considering the calibre of Stan Druckenmiller?” Nugget’s News CEO Alex Saunders tweeted. Former Goldman Sachs hedge fund manager Raoul Pal tweeted in response to Druckenmiller’s bitcoin comment: The significance of the world’s greatest and most respected money manager – Stan Druckenmiller saying just now that he is long bitcoin can not be overstated. That has removed every obstacle for any hedge fund or endowment to invest. Pal himself has more than 50% of his assets in BTC and has predicted that the price of bitcoin will reach $1 million within five years. Besides Druckenmiller, other famed hedge fund managers who have invested in bitcoin include Paul Tudor Jones, who put about 2% of his assets in BTC, and Bill Miller, who recently said that all major banks will eventually have exposure to bitcoin. What do you think about Stan Druckenmiller’s bitcoin view? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Stanley Druckenmiller Owns Bitcoin, Calls It Attractive Store of Value appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Are you looking for a platform with advanced crypto trading capabilities, top-notch security and high liquidity? WhiteBIT exchange offers a margin trading terminal, smart staking and many other features and advantages. As part of its user-centric approach, WhiteBIT also supports withdrawing up to 2 bitcoin per day without KYC. Leverage Your Crypto on the WhiteBIT Exchange WhiteBIT is an Estonian-registered virtual currency exchange which was launched back in 2018. While the platform mainly focuses on European and CIS countries, it has a global user base of more than 300,000 traders in over 190 countries around the world. Enabling the company to support this large user base and develop new innovative tools, the WhiteBIT team has over 100 employees including about 65 experienced blockchain developers. One of the most impressive innovative tools developed by the WhiteBIT team is the exchange’s margin trading terminal. Very popular for years among currency and stock traders, margin trading empowers traders to potentially earn much more than they can by just buying an asset that rises in value. In the crypto exchange market, however, few platforms can offer users the ability to leverage their assets with margin trading and just a handful of exchanges can actually offer an advanced margin terminal like WhiteBIT. The WhiteBIT margin terminal was launched with 5X leverage, meaning traders can earn up to five times more what they can with the same investment on a non margin trading platform, and it will enable up to 25X leverage. It supports advanced order types such as limit order, stop limit, stop market, and conditional orders. Smart Staking, Referrals and Other Advantages WhiteBIT offers a variety of other advantages to users beyond its advanced trading capabilities. One of the most powerful features of the platform is smart staking, which allows you to earn interest on the assets you hold in exchange to providing the liquidity needed for margin trading. For example, with a WhiteBIT 360-day SMART Staking plan for USDT you can make a whopping 30% APR (annual percentage rate). This is an amazing offer of 30% yearly interest rate on tether, but the platform offers many more plans for other time scales, starting at just 10 days, and other assets such as BTC and DASH. For users looking for additional ways to earn crypto beyond trading, WhiteBIT also offers a referral program that allows you to receive 40% of the trading fees paid by the people you have referred to the exchange. Other advantages of the platform include very low fees, instant withdrawals, 24/7 customer support, an API for programmers and a variety of fiat gateways such as Advcash, Perfect Money, Qiwi, Yandex, Visa & Mastercard. Another notable advantage of WhiteBIT is that it offers users access to the crypto market without KYC – you can trade, make limitless deposits, and withdraw up to 2 bitcoin a day without the need to submit any personal documents and wait for approval as you would on other platforms. At the same time the exchange puts a focus on developing top-notch security capabilities, such as safeguarding the majority of funds in cold storage, using anti-phishing software and enabling two-factor authentication for all users. To learn more about all of the advantages of trading with WhiteBIT go to the exchange’s website and sign up right now. This is a sponsored post. Learn more on how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. The post WhiteBIT Exchange Offers Margin Trading and Up to 30% APR on Smart Staking appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A U.S. court in Seattle has sentenced a former Microsoft engineer to 9 years in prison after finding him guilty of 18 federal felonies relating to his elaborate scheme to defraud the tech giant $10 million. In passing the judgment, the court blasts Volodymyr Kvashuk, a software engineer and citizen of Ukraine, for attempting to mask digital evidence through the use of bitcoin mixers and the illegal use of accounts and passwords of fellow employees to aid this scheme. Sophisticated case According to court records, Kvashuk, a citizen of Ukraine, had been convicted in February 2020 on several counts of wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft as well the filing of false tax returns. In his reaction to the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Brian T Moran pays homage to “law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office” for prevailing in the case that “required sophisticated, technological skills to investigate and prosecute.” Commenting on the severity of the punishment, the U.S. Attorney says: “Stealing from your employer is bad enough, but stealing and making it appear that your colleagues are to blame widens the damage beyond dollars and cents.” According to documents filed with the court, Kvashuk, who was involved in the testing of Microsoft’s online retail sales platform, is accused of “using that testing access to steal ‘currency stored value’ (CSV) such as digital gift cards.” Lavish lifestyle Using proceeds from the gift card sales, Kvashuk “purchased a $1.6 million dollar lakefront home and a $160,000 Tesla vehicle.” As the thefts escalated, Kvashuk started “using test email accounts associated with other employees” to cover his tracks. The document adds: He used a bitcoin ‘mixing’ service in an attempt to hide the source of the funds ultimately passing into his bank account. In all, over the seven months of Kvashuk’s illegal activity, approximately $2.8 million in bitcoin were transferred to his bank and investment accounts. Kvashuk then filed fake tax return forms, claiming the bitcoin had been a gift from a relative. Meanwhile, in their sentencing memo, the prosecutors pan Kvashuk for the brazen acts which “cast other Microsoft employees under the glare of suspicion.” They also accuse Kvashuk of failing to take responsibility after he told the court a “series of outrageous lies” while failing to show “any remorse or regret for his crimes.” As part of his punishment, Kvashuk “was ordered to pay $8,344,586 in restitution” while he faces the possibility of being “deported following his prison term.” What are your thoughts on Kvashuk’s conviction and sentencing? Share your views in the comments section below. The post Former Microsoft Engineer to Serve 9 Years in Prison in a Case That Involves Use of Bitcoin Mixers appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Developers of the Sharktron defi project have exit scammed with reports suggesting that TRX tokens worth up to $10 million are missing. The Tron Foundation has confirmed the theft, but is quick to inform Sharktron token holders that a portion of the missing funds has been frozen. The exit scam comes a few weeks after the Sharktron devs issued a press release inviting investors to buy the token. Binance Freezes Part of Stolen Funds However, Justin Sun’s Tron Foundation, seemingly eager to get past this event, has issued a response on Twitter. The statement, which does not state the value of funds stolen, says: Regarding the shark incident, we have contacted Binance and worked together on chasing down the funds and people behind this. A portion of the funds has been frozen on Binance. If you were a victim in this case, please file a police report and work with law enforcement to seek recovery. We will be also working with all exchanges to track the rest of the funds and protect the interest of the Tron communities. Sharktron, which issued a press release about the decentralized finance (defi) project in October, claims the project’s “main task is to create a complete platform autonomy with a gradual transition to self-management by community members.” However, shortly after the press statement, users on Twitter began querying the Defi project’s claims of high returns in a very short space of time. Some began making the scam allegations after token holders reported problems accessing the Sharktron website. Red Flags Ignored According to one report, Twitter users repeatedly warned Sun about the fraudulent nature of the Sharktron project. However, the report says Sun “ignored the red flags.” The Sharktron protocol is listed on another Sun creation, the Justswap decentralized exchange (DEXs). In addition, the report states that despite the mounting concerns and complaints, the Justswap platform still gave its seal of approval to the Sharktron project by whitelisting it. Meanwhile, some Twitter users reacted to the Tron Foundation’s tweet by asking for a fair reimbursement process. A Twitter user named Brindan SC writes: I lose 357500 TRX …Please allocate frozen funds to all investors as a percentage of their investment.. In October, the Tron Foundation announced it will be reimbursing TRX holders that cannot access their tokens on the Okex crypto exchange. It remains to be seen if the foundation is going to repeat the same compensation plan following the Sharktron exit scam. In the meantime, other Twitter users believe that Sun and his Tron Foundation may be complicit in this scam just as he has been accused of with other scams. What should be the formula when reimbursing recovered stolen funds? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. The post Sharktron Defi Project Devs Exit Scam: Tron Foundation Says Part of Missing Funds Now Frozen appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Cloudbet, the pioneering crypto casino and sportsbook, has officially launched an Argentina-focused service in response to the country’s surging interest in bitcoin and crypto gaming. The platform has unveiled a country-specific site and blog to help Argentinians learn more about the benefits of betting with cryptocurrency, as well as the features that make Cloudbet a trusted leader in the world of crypto gaming: the best sports odds, the highest betting limits, a state-of-the-art bitcoin casino and a welcome bonus worth up to 5 BTC. Adding to that are Cloudbet’s world-class 24/7 live chat customer support services – in Spanish – to better manage Argentine players’ inquiries. The operator chose Argentina as the first South American locale in which to launch a local language service based on its analysis of search interest in crypto gaming and bitcoin purchases in five countries on the continent. Curiosity in crypto gaming has increased along with surging cryptocurrency ownership, as Argentinians seek a hedge against the devaluation of the peso amid stringent government capital controls. “Given the intense interest, we think that now is the perfect time to dedicate more resources to help Argentinians realise the benefits of betting with crypto,” a Cloudbet spokesperson said. “We intend to give Argentinian players more support and more bonuses to utilise on upcoming events within our casino. Crypto enables us to offer features that traditional operators can’t.” Founded in 2013, Cloudbet is one of the world’s longest established bitcoin betting operators, with a trusted legacy in safely storing player deposits and processing withdrawals seamlessly on an intuitive user interface. The site also accepts ethereum, bitcoin cash, and added three stable coins – USD Tether, USD Coin and Pax Gold – in recent months. “We’ve noted that stablecoins are increasingly relevant in Argentina, where individuals are looking to protect the value of their assets from the peso’s devaluation,” Cloudbet’s spokesperson said. “We intend to add more coins that are specifically appropriate for this market.” The operator relaunched its site in April to attract a more diverse audience and has introduced a swathe of bold new features including esports, politics betting, virtual sports and easy credit-card coin purchases. Cloudbet grabbed the attention of industry observers in June with an ambitious English Premier League campaign, under which its sportsbook charged no margin on pre-match bets for all games left in the season. That allowed customers to access the fairest prices — and therefore the highest returns — in the market. The “zero margin” campaign was an extension of Cloudbet’s long-standing “best odds” campaigns on sports including soccer, basketball and tennis. “Argentine sports fans can be assured that best prices will be offered on the competitions that they care about,” the spokesperson said. “We’re talking about the best odds on match-ups in the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, and in next year’s Copa America.” The Cloudbet Story Cloudbet is a proud pioneer of crypto betting. Born in 2013 with a trailblazing spirit, Cloudbet embraced blockchain technology to give players privacy and financial freedom like never before. Since then, we have taken over 10 million bets, earning a reputation as the most trusted and secure name in the crypto-gaming space. We wrote our own rules and audaciously created an industry we are highly respected in. But that’s just the beginning. As always, it’s what comes next that really excites us. We keep innovating, delivering world firsts time and time again. Opportunities are boundless, and with the same passion and ambition that has taken us to the top, Cloudbet will keep enhancing the entertainment experience for players around the world. We’re here to raise the game. Press Contact Email Address media@cloudbet.com Supporting Link https://www.cloudbet.com 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. The post Crypto Gaming Pioneer Cloudbet Officially Launches in Argentina appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

According to a new report, the depreciation of some currencies against the U.S. dollar is contributing to the declining international remittances. After touching an all-time high of $548 billion in 2019, the World Bank report now projects remittances to drop 7.2% in 2020 to $508 billion and a further decline of 7.5% to $470 billion in 2021. Volatile Currencies In its Migration and Development Brief 33, the World Bank details how the Covid-19 induced currency depreciation has affected the flow of global remittances. In the brief, the authors point to the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the source currencies for remittances. Detailing how this has affected the flow of remittances from Russia, the report says: The weakening of the ruble against the U.S. dollar, by over 26% since the beginning of 2020, has reduced remittances from Russia in U.S. dollar terms. Remittances to Central Asia have therefore declined significantly. The World Bank data indeed projects that remittances sent from Europe and Central Asia will register the sharpest decline (globally) of 16% in 2020. On the other hand, remittance flows to Latin America, and the Caribbean are expected to decline by just 0.2% in 2020. Still, the report identifies the other “foremost factors” driving this decline as the “weak economic growth and uncertainties around jobs” particularly in the case of the United States and European countries. For oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia however, it is the weak prices for the commodity that are driving down the flow of remittances. Impact of Digital Remittances Meanwhile, after detailing the impact of Covid-19 and the associated mobility restrictions, the World Bank report goes on to assert that formal recognition of “digital remittances” will help to keep funds flowing even in tough times. The report continues: “Governments must support remittance infrastructure, including by recognizing remittance services as essential, reducing the burden of remittance fees on migrants, incentivizing digital money transfers, and mitigating factors that prevent customers or service providers of digital remittances from accessing banking services.” Although the World Bank report fails to specifically identify cryptocurrencies as one of the digital remittances it is touting, studies and reports already show the increasing use of crypto assets when remitting by some migrant groups. For instance, a news.Bitcoin.com report suggests that there is a growing use of cryptocurrencies as rails for remitting funds across borders. A different report also shows a marked growth in peer-to-peer trade volumes after countries imposed lockdown restrictions. Covid-19 restrictions may have inadvertently increased the appeal of cryptocurrencies. The second wave of growing infections and the resultant restrictions will only reinforce their place in this new normal. As the World Bank has advised, countries can reduce the impact of such restrictions by embracing digital remittances. Do you agree that digital remittances can halt the declining flow of funds? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. The post Currency Depreciation to Blame for 7.2% Drop in Global Remittances: World Bank Supports Digital Remittances appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Not too long ago, the author of the controversial bitcoin stock-to-flow (S2FX) price model said that the model was “perfectly on track.” On Sunday, November 8, the S2FX creator known as “Plan B” reiterated his belief in the model and told his Twitter followers that he has “no doubt whatsoever” that the S2FX trend is correct. This weekend the stock-to-flow (S2FX) author dubbed “Plan B” tweeted about his model and how he still believes in the S2FX trend. Plan B’s popular editorial called “Modeling Bitcoin’s Value with Scarcity” has caught the attention of the community for quite some time. The current trend suggests that if BTC’s price follows the S2FX model it could be around $100k by December 2021. Plan B’s stock-to-flow model otherwise known as S2F or S2FX. Stock-to-flow, also known as S2F or S2FX for the most recent model, is a cryptocurrency technical analysis (TA) that leverages BTC’s “stock” and “flow.” “The ‘Stock-to-flow’ is a number that shows how many years, at the current production rate, are required to achieve the current stock. The higher the number, the higher the price,” explains the live chart tracking website with the stock-to-flow model applied to BTC’s current price. During the first week of August, Plan B told his 148,000 Twitter followers that his model was “perfectly on track.” This past Sunday, Plan B doubled down on his words and told the crypto community that he has zero doubts about his model and he wholeheartedly believes in S2FX. “People ask if I still believe in my model,” Plan B tweeted. “To be clear: I have no doubt whatsoever that bitcoin S2FX is correct and bitcoin will tap $100K-288K before [December] 2021. In fact, I have new data that confirms the supply shortage is real. IMO 2021 will be spectacular,” the analyst added. Current data from digitalik.net on the S2FX model on November 9, 2020. Following Plan B’s statements, a person replied to his tweet and said: “What is your skin in the game? You’re anonymous. If your model fails you can just delete Twitter and disappear.” The anonymous analyst responded and said that his anonymity makes S2FX more appealing. “You don’t seem to understand,” the S2FX author replied. “One of the reasons for me to be anonymous is that I do not want you to trust me (based on my credentials), I want you to verify everything I say, and make your own conclusion. Also, I might go dark when my model succeeds, not fails. Few understand.” A few other Twitter users said that they loved Plan B’s confidence and thanked him for his contributions. Despite the fact that there’s a number of cryptocurrency proponents and analysts who don’t believe in the S2FX model, a great number of enthusiasts think it will come to fruition. “If the history of Bitcoin repeats itself,” one fan tweeted. “Bitcoin [will] overshoot and top at around $335k. – in this perfect parallel channel. Hello FOMO. [Four] year period between tops. “Take profit at $335k/2 = $165k which is the target according to ‘stock to flow model,’” the individual added. What do you think about Plan B’s confidence in the S2FX model? Do you think it could align? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post $100K Bitcoin: S2F Author Confident With His Model, Suggests Six-Figure BTC Price by 2021 appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The privacy-centric cryptocurrency network Grin (GRIN) has been the victim of a 51% attack according to a number of reports. Allegedly an unknown entity gained control of over 57% of the network hashrate on Saturday. According to the Grin website, the team is recommending people wait for “extra confirmations on transactions for payment finality.” On November 7, 2020, a mining pool dedicated to the Grin (GRIN) network informed the cryptocurrency community that the blockchain was under attack. “Grin network is under [a] 51% attack,” the mining pool called “2miners” tweeted. “Payouts are stopped. Please mine at your own risk only because the new blocks could be rejected,” the pool operator added. According to the official website at grin.mw, the development team has a warning at the bottom of the site that is still up on Monday, November 9. “Important notice,” the web portal’s warning reads. “The Grin network hashrate has increased considerably over a short period of time. Notably, this coincides with the Nicehash rate doubling in this time with well over 50% of the network hashrate currently outside of known pools. Considering these circumstances it is wise to wait for extra confirmations on transactions for payment finality.” Grin Network Is Under the 51% Attack! Payouts are stopped. Please mine at your own risk only because the new blocks could be rejected.@grincouncil @grin_hub @Hotbit_news @Poloniex @kucoincom @gateio_info @CoinBene pic.twitter.com/6seDSRe8Qw — 2Miners (@pool2miners) November 8, 2020 At the time of publication, an unknown miner controls 58.1% of the Grin network’s hashrate. Statistics also show that at approximately 6:17 p.m. (EST) the unknown entity reorganized a single block at height 0000ada4. The mining pool 2miners who tweeted about the incident have around 24.5% of the global Grin hashrate today. This is followed by Sparkpool, F2pool, Grinmint, and other small miners pointing hash at the network. If a mining entity controls more than 51% of a cryptocurrency network, the attacker can potentially reorganize blocks and invalidate transactions. Ethereum Classic (ETC) has been notorious for getting 51% attacked on various occasions, alongside this the blockchain Bitcoin Gold (BTG) has also been 51% a few times. Much of the blame on all of these attacks have been cast at the Nicehash firm, a cloud mining operation that allows users to rent hashrate. Currently, the price of grin is trading for $0.233 per coin, and there’s $3.4 million in global trade volume. The price of grin (GRIN) has lost 2.9% during the last 24 hours of trading. Most of the slide is due to the entire market downturn, as the 51% attack threat hasn’t really affected the price much at all this past weekend. What do you think about the Grin network getting 51% attacked and the unknown miner that controls 58% of the network today? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. The post Grin Network Victim of 51% Attack, Unknown Miner Commands 58% of the Hashrate appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Economist Nouriel Roubini, also known as “Dr. Doom,” has admitted that bitcoin may be a store of value. Roubini sees a “big revolution” coming in the next three years due to central banks launching their own digital currencies. Nouriel Roubini Sees Store of Value in Bitcoin After years of publicly mocking and ridiculing bitcoin, Nouriel Roubini has admitted that bitcoin may be a partial store of value. Roubini teaches at New York University’s Stern School of Business and has his own economic consulting firm called Roubini Macro Associates. Famed for predicting the housing bubble crash of 2007-2008, his gloomy predictions have earned him the nickname “Dr. Doom” in the media. Dr. Doom has been a long-standing critic of bitcoin. In a Senate hearing in October 2018, he called cryptocurrencies “the mother of all scams and bubbles.” He also said that the cryptocurrency world is a “stinking cesspool” and is fundamentally worth nothing. However, Roubini may have changed his view about bitcoin, at least to a certain extent. During an interview with Yahoo Finance on Friday, he was asked what he thought of bitcoin now that it just had a bull run. After reiterating his stance that it is not a currency, Roubini said: It may be a partial store of value because, unlike thousands of other what I call shitcoins, it cannot be so easily debased because there is at least an algorithm that decides how much the supply of bitcoin raises over time. As for other cryptocurrencies, Dr. Doom said: “most of those other ones literally is done ad hoc, and they’re being debased faster than what the Fed is doing.” Roubini also explained why he thinks that “cryptocurrency is a misnomer.” For something to be considered a currency, he described that it needs to be a unit of account, a single numeraire, a scalable means of payment, and a stable store of value that is not very volatile. He claimed that bitcoin is not a unit of account because “Nothing is priced in bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.” In addition, he said that it is not a numerator because there are many tokens, and it is not a scalable means of payment because you can only make five transactions per second, unlike with the Visa network where you can make 25,000 transactions per second. As for the future of cryptocurrency as an asset class, he emphasized that in his view, “it’s not scalable, it’s not secure, it’s not decentralized, [and] it’s not a currency.” Furthermore, he explained that many central banks are working on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). When they are launched, every individual can have an account with a central bank where they can do payments from. When that happens, he said: “Not only you don’t need crypto, you don’t even need Venmo. You don’t even need a bank account. You don’t even need a check.” Dr. Doom elaborated: The big revolution we’re going to see in the next three years is going to be central bank digital currencies. They’re going to be crowding out digital payment systems. What do you think about Nouriel Roubini’s view? Let us know in the comments section below. The post ‘Dr Doom’ Nouriel Roubini Admits Bitcoin May Be a Store of Value, Sees Big Revolution in Central Bank Digital Currencies appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

JPMorgan has highlighted evidence of institutional demand for bitcoin and investors moving from gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to the cryptocurrency. The firm points out that bitcoin demand is driven not only by younger retail investors but also by institutional investors, such as family offices and asset managers. Gold ETF Investors Moving to Bitcoin JPMorgan’s Global Markets Strategy team released a report Friday that discusses bitcoin. It also compares the flow trajectories for Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The report reads: Corporate endorsements of bitcoin and in particular the endorsement by Paypal a couple of weeks ago appear to have propagated further demand for bitcoin. Paypal announced the launch of its cryptocurrency service, including bitcoin, on Oct. 21. The payments giant is currently rolling out the service to all U.S. users, with a plan to follow up with an international rollout and a similar product on its Venmo platform. “In our opinion, the ascend of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust suggests that bitcoin demand is not only driven by the younger cohorts of retail investors, i.e. millennials, but also institutional investors such as family offices and asset managers,” JPMorgan’s analysts explained in the report. They added that the demand for bitcoin “is particularly evident in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust which saw a steepening of its cumulative flow trajectory in recent weeks.” The JPMorgan analysts proceeded to compare the October flow trajectory for Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and the equivalent flow trajectory for gold ETFs. They concluded: This contrast lends support to the idea that some investors that previously invested in gold ETFs, such as family offices, may be looking at bitcoin as an alternative to gold. JPMorgan explained last month that “the potential long-term upside for bitcoin is considerable if it competes more intensely with gold as an ‘alternative’ currency given that the market cap of bitcoin would have to rise 10 times from here to match the total private sector investment in gold via ETFs or bars and coins.” Grayscale currently has $9.1 billion in net assets under management across its 10 crypto investment products, $7.648 billion of which are in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The company added over $1 billion to its crypto products in Q3 2020, with the majority of the investment (81%) being from institutional investors, dominated by hedge funds. Besides Paypal, other corporations that have endorsed bitcoin include NYSE-listed Square Inc. and Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy. The former recently allocated 1% of its total assets into bitcoin, while the latter invested $425 million in the cryptocurrency and made it the company’s primary Treasury reserve asset. Square also revealed that Cash App’s bitcoin revenue soared 1,000% to $1.63 billion in the third quarter, accounting for about 80% of the mobile payment platform’s total revenue. What do you think about investors dumping gold ETFs for bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post JPMorgan’s Analysis Shows Institutional Investors Moving From Gold ETFs to Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform Bitcoin Global has launched its mobile app for iOS and Android devices. In addition to a fast and anonymous way to buy and sell digital assets for fiat, the mobile app features a secure wallet, access to a referral program and more. P2P Crypto Trading at Your Fingertips Bitcoin Global, a marketplace for users to buy and sell blockchain assets directly from each other with no middlemen in between, is now available right on your phone or tablet. The developers have released a mobile app in both Apple App Store and Google Play. The new mobile app serves as a simple, fast and secure peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform in its own right. It features a secure wallet, a personal dashboard for managing your Bitcoin Global account, notifications on any incoming trades and a home page where you can search through offers from around the world. A referral program lets you invite your friends to the service and receive bonuses when they trade. Using Bitcoin Global for trading does not require you to verify your identity to the company as there is no mandatory Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedure like on other platforms. This no-KYC service can be offered as the platform never takes control of your assets, only connecting buyers and sellers. To sign up and instantly start trading, all you need is an email address. Trade Securely With Bitcoin Global in More Than 160 Countries Available in English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and additional languages, Bitcoin Global is active in more than 160 countries. The platform supports both bitcoin (BTC) and tether (USDT), over 100 national fiat currencies and more than 50 payment methods such as cash, credit cards, bank transfers, Alipay, Skrill, Neteller, Paypal, QIWI and Venmo. Bitcoin Global is an official platform of the popular WhiteBIT exchange and therefore it also offers instant transfer via WhiteBIT codes. To make an actual trade you can post an offer with the exact terms you want, or search for an existing offer to reply to. Offers can be filtered by cryptocurrency (BTC or USDT), location, desired payment method, and fiat currency. During a trade the cryptocurrency gets locked into a secure escrow system until the payment is confirmed. The buyer pays the seller directly, without any other third parties involved. Once the payment is confirmed, the cryptocurrency is released from escrow to the buyer. After the deal is done both traders leave feedback on how the trade went. If there are any problems in the process, the Bitcoin Global support team can assist as needed. Throughout this procedure there is no one who can access the secured funds, not even the platform’s team. To learn more about Bitcoin Global visit the platform’s website and download the app for iOS or Android to start trading. This is a sponsored post. Learn more on how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. The post Bitcoin Global Launches P2P Crypto Trading App for Mobile Devices appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Changpeng Zhao (CZ) sent shockwaves across the crypto industry in September by announcing a $100 million investment fund devoted to projects building on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Now, Jointer.io, the world’s first commercial real estate-backed DeFi auction, is matching CZ’s offer dollar-for-dollar in an effort to bring mass adoption to Binance Smart Chain. Beginning on Monday, Jointer.io will be offering a $100 million early adopter fund to encourage Ethereum users to try out the BEP20 standard on BSC. To participate in the fund, users must visit the ‘Welcome to BSC’ page and simply send from the Ethereum network $1 worth of ETH to receive $100 worth of JNTR BEP20 tokens on the Binance Smart Chain. In order to receive the BEP20 tokens, users must become new adopters by adding the BSC network to their MetaMask wallet. The early adopter fund will be open to the first one million new accounts to join BSC. In exchange, $100 worth of JNTR will be deposited into each wallet. Since Sept. 27, JNTR BEP20 tokens have been available for purchase via a DeFi public auction through the Binance Smart Chain. The daily auction’s soft launch has already seen the JNTR token appreciate from $0.01 to $0.45. That means a $100 investment on day one has turned into $4,500 in roughly one month. “CZ is clearly positioning Binance Smart Chain as the future hub for DeFi and non-custodial trading,” says Yoda (Jude) Regev, Jointer.io founder and CEO. “At Jointer, we selected BSC as the exclusive payment method to facilitate the trade of Jointer stocks. Just as CZ is inviting ecosystem developers to the Binance Smart Chain, Jointer is welcoming users to try out the speed and low gas cost of BSC and to see the benefits of JNTR. And we will give away $100 million to demonstrate its utility.” Jointer has already created a slippage-free, cross-chain operation with its JNTR bridge tokens between the Ethereum ERC20 standard and the Binance Smart Chain BEP20 standard. Through Jointer SpartSwap, users can swap an ERC20 token from Ethereum to BSC through JNTR/e or JNTR/b. This one-to-one swap can be done instantly with one click and zero fees on top of gas. Binance Smart Chain launched Sept. 1 as a layer two scalability solution in an effort to bridge centralized exchanges with DeFi. Building on Binance Smart Chain will allow ecosystem developers to benefit from Binance’s massive user base and launch smart contracts at a fraction of Ethereum’s cost. CZ’s $100 million investment fund is primarily geared towards early-stage startups, with additional funding possibly earmarked for existing investment channels. A portion of the funds will also be used to boost liquidity for early-stage projects that meet Binance’s compliance framework. Jointer.io is also aiming to boost the adoption of Binance Smart Chain but at the individual user level while also encouraging long-term holding. By welcoming new adaptors to BSC, users will be able to benefit from Jointer’s syndication economy through the ever-appreciating JNTR token. Access the $100M fund and learn the rules for your $100 at Jointer.io and follow us on social media. 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. The post Jointer.io Matches Binance & CZ’s $100 Million Challenge With Early Adopter Fund appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On November 3, 2020, the cryptocurrency community noticed that one of the largest addresses holding 69,369 bitcoins from the Silk Road were transferred. Following the onchain movement, the U.S. government revealed it had seized the coins from a person they dubbed “Individual X.” The following is an in-depth look at what we know about the Silk Road bitcoin address that was seized by U.S. law enforcement. This week on election day in the U.S., American law enforcement officials seized 69,369 bitcoins worth over $1 billion today. The bitcoin address is a well known address and news.Bitcoin.com reported on the address on September 11, 2020. The reason why our newsdesk looked into the address is because hackers have been trying to sell an alleged encrypted wallet dat file during the last two years. The bitcoin address called “1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx” or “1HQ3” for short, stemmed from the Silk Road according to blockchain analysis. According to onchain data, 1HQ3 got 69,471 BTC sent to the address on April 9, 2013. The funds came from the Silk Road (SR) marketplace and many of the funds stemmed from the SR bitcoin address “1BBq.” Individual X managed to hack nearly $1 billion from the old Silk Road Bitcoin accounts. Then the govt found Individual X and took the Bitcoin back, the DOJ announced today. Who is Individual X? pic.twitter.com/N0Rra8EqOR — Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) November 5, 2020 Between April 2013 and up until the day the address was seized, only one large transfer was sent. 101 BTC (over $1.5M) was sent to the now-defunct Btc-e exchange and after that, the wallet only contained 69,369 BTC. Reports show that federal law enforcement seized the funds on November 3 and are seeking forfeiture with the courts. They describe obtaining the BTC from a “hacker” and prosecutors call the person “Individual X.” The person the government calls Individual X is still a mystery to this day and people are uncertain about this person’s true identity. This is the day Individual X first sent the 69k BTC and the only time coins were spent from the address was in 2015. However, the court filing explains that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was involved with the procedure. Law enforcement officials also hired third party blockchain analysis investigators to analyze bitcoin transactions executed by Silk Road. “From this review, they observed 54 transactions that were sent from bitcoin addresses controlled by Silk Road, two bitcoin addresses totaling 70,411.46 BTC (valued at approximately $354,000 at the time of transfer),” the court filing details. This is the American government’s current BTC address that holds the 69,370 bitcoins. “According to an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, Individual X was the individual who moved the cryptocurrency from Silk Road,” the attorney for United States David L. Anderson wrote. Anderson further added: On November 3, 2020, Individual X signed a Consent and Agreement to Forfeiture with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California. In that agreement, Individual X, consented to the forfeiture of the Defendant Property to the United States government. On November 3, 2020, the United States took custody of the Defendant Property from 1HQ3. The filing also notes that after the 101 BTC was sent to BTC-e in 2015, two years later the alleged Russian operator, Alexander Vinnik, was indicted for running an unlicensed money transmitting business and for money laundering. I was just thinking 🤔 $975million in bitcoin that was unauthorized and illegally hacked and stolen by "individual x" who then signed an agreement of forfeiture to the @USAttorneys and turned those funds over to the @usgov …. ??? #stimuluspackage ??? @TFoegelle @AustinSchuck — Rene'e & Shadow 🤘❤️✌️ (@shadownrenee) November 6, 2020 A number of bitcoiners assume this is how the prior owner of address 1HQ3 was caught, but there’s also the last two years of hackers attempting to crack the wallet. After the wallet saw the first transfer in 2013 with 69,471 BTC sent, a great number of cryptic messages have been sent to the address as well. The address shown here is one of the Silk Road marketplace’s wallets and a great number of the 1HQ3 bitcoins originally stemmed from this address. For instance, crypto advocates can leverage tools like note4ever.com, which encodes any message into a list of bitcoin addresses, so someone can broadcast it to an address of their preference. If someone was to inspect the transactions involved with address 1HQ3, then they would see a number of colorful messages. A number of blockchain surveillance firms have identified the 1HQ3 address movements. This diagram was published by Elliptic. Even after the federal agents seized the 69,369 bitcoin, messages with addresses like “1BitcoinForPresident42o7777DKkJij” and 1FreeRossF*ckCops77777777777W87XM can be seen on any blockchain explorer. A great number of messages were sent to 1HQ3 over the years and some people have definitely tried to communicate with the owner. This leads to the massive amount of advertisements over the last two years that have claimed to sell an encrypted dat file belonging to the 1HQ3 bitcoin address. For example, Alon Gal, the Chief Technology Officer of cybercrime firm Hudson Rock tweeted about the address recently. Google also has approximately 16,700 links tethered to the address as well making it very popular. Prior to the feds seizing the coins from the so-called Individual X, the wallet dat file was seen on marketplace websites like Satoshidisk.com, and All Private Keys. When news.Bitcoin.com reported on the attempted sales, one site was selling the file for 0.08929505 BTC or $1,050, which was the exchange rate at that time. The 1HQ3 address may be a mystery today, but more clues are currently unraveling and may be published in the future. So far, this case has revealed where $1 billion worth of the old Silk Road bitcoins went, but 444,000 BTC is considered still missing from the marketplace’s coffers. Using today’s exchange rate, the missing 444k SR BTC is worth more than $6.8 billion today. It will also be quite interesting to see whether or not the U.S. government decides to auction the 69k bitcoin stash, as they have done many times in the past. What do you think about the bitcoin stash controlled by Individual X? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post A Look at ‘Individual X’ and the Seized Stash of Silk Road Bitcoins Worth $1 Billion appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The outcome of the U.S. presidential election is affecting how fast Americans will receive their second stimulus checks. With Joe Biden named the president-elect, Americans are eager to know how soon they will receive the second round of direct payments. The Senate goes back into session on Monday when the stimulus discussion will be prioritized. When Second Stimulus Checks Are Coming Many Americans were hoping that a new stimulus package with the second round of stimulus checks would pass before the presidential election. Now that the election is mostly over and former vice president Joe Biden has been called the president-elect and Kamala Harris the vice president-elect, the question has become when Americans will get their second stimulus checks. Recalling the status of the second stimulus check discussion, President Donald Trump had promised “a tremendous stimulus package immediately after the election.” However, he is now busy suing various states and asking several counties for a recount, emphasizing that the election is not over. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is key to the stimulus negotiations, won the House race in her district in California and is already seeking another two-year term as the Speaker of the House. She sent a letter to her colleagues on Friday asking for their support. She and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had been discussing stimulus terms almost daily prior to the election but could never come to an agreement. Pelosi pushed for the $2.2 trillion revised HEROES Act while the White House made a $1.8 trillion counteroffer. Both stimulus packages include the second round of stimulus checks to Americans. Stating that she wants to resume coronavirus relief aid negotiations with Republicans, Pelosi said Friday: While we prepare for the new Biden administration, we must also move swiftly for a new coronavirus relief bill. We want the Republicans to come back to the table. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been seen as key to blocking the passage of several proposed stimulus packages, including those providing direct payments to Americans. He recently attempted to advance a much smaller stimulus bill than Pelosi’s revised HEROES Act on the Senate floor. His bill, which was blocked by the Democrats, omitted the second round of $1,200 stimulus checks to individuals. McConnell has also been re-elected to a seventh term in the Senate. He said Wednesday following his re-election that an economic stimulus bill should be completed before the end of the year and will be the Senate’s focus, adding: We need another rescue package. The Senate goes back into session next Monday. Hopefully the partisan passions that prevented us from doing another rescue package will subside with the election. And I think we need to do it and I think we need to do it before the end of the year. Meanwhile, former vice president Joe Biden has also outlined his stimulus aid relief plan. He said on Saturday after the media called his presidential win that he will make fighting the spread of coronavirus top priority, including a Covid-19 relief aid stimulus package. Biden is expected to move into the White House on Jan. 20. As part of his presidential campaign, Biden published his Emergency Action Plan to Save the Economy, which provides insight into the direction of his stimulus relief aid when he is elected president. His plan “features some elements from the CARES Act, such as stimulus payments for eligible Americans and more unemployment benefits,” Cnet described. Biden has promised that as president he will “Provide for additional checks to families should conditions require.” He further promised to “Provide emergency paid sick leave to everyone who needs it, with no one left out. This should include workers in all industries and all sectors, regardless of company size, and including gig workers, domestic workers, contractors, and the self-employed.” While Biden’s plan includes a second round of direct stimulus payments, it does not specify how many or for how much, or whether any of the qualifications would change from the CARES Act. When do you think Americans will receive their second stimulus checks? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Second Stimulus Checks: When Direct Payments to Americans Will Come Under Joe Biden appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Veteran investor Bill Miller says that all major banks, investment banks, and high net worth firms will eventually have some exposure to bitcoin or something like it. He said that bitcoin’s staying power is getting better every day. Bill Miller’s Bullish Statements About Bitcoin A growing number of major corporations have been gaining exposure to bitcoin, prompting speculation of when the rest of them will follow. Following Microstrategy’s $425 million investment, Square invested in bitcoin and Paypal launched a cryptocurrency service. Now, famous investor Bill Miller reportedly told CNBC on Friday: I think every major bank, every major investment bank, every major high net worth firm is going to eventually have some exposure to bitcoin or what’s like it. He named “gold or some kind of commodities” as alternative investments like bitcoin. Bill Miller founded Miller Value Partners and currently serves as its chairman and chief investment officer. He manages the Opportunity Equity and Income Strategy portfolios. Miller previously co-founded Legg Mason Capital Management and co-managed the Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust from its inception in 1982. He took over as sole manager in December 1990 and served in this role for the next 20 years. Prior to joining Legg Mason, he served as treasurer of the JE Baker Company, a major manufacturer of products for the steel and cement industries. He famously beat the S&P 500 every year from 1991 to 2005. While noting that the price of bitcoin has been “very volatile,” the famed investor believes that the cryptocurrency’s “staying power gets better every day” and the risks of it “going to zero are much much lower than they’ve ever been before.” Miller further said bitcoin has been the “single best performing asset class” in the last year, five-year, and 10-year periods. He elaborated: The bitcoin story is very easy, it’s supply and demand. Bitcoin’s supply is growing at around 2.5% a year, and the demand is growing faster than that and there’s going to be a fixed number of them. This is not the first time the former portfolio manager of Legg Mason Value Trust praised BTC. Back in December 2017, he revealed that his MVP 1 fund had invested about 50% in bitcoin. Bill Miller is not the only hedge fund manager who understands the value of investing in bitcoin. Paul Tudor Jones also recently revealed that he also sees a massive upside in bitcoin, having invested about 2% of his portfolio in the cryptocurrency. Jones and Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor compared investing in bitcoin to investing in early tech stocks, such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon. Do you think all banks will eventually own bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Every Major Bank Will Have Exposure to Bitcoin, Says Renowned Fund Manager Bill Miller appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Canada’s tax authority is reportedly asking a federal court to force cryptocurrency exchange Coinsquare to hand over information and certain documents on all of its users since the beginning of 2013. The Canadian crypto exchange has over 200,000 users. Canada Revenue Agency Wants Data on All Coinsquare Users The Canadian tax authority has asked a federal judge to force Coinsquare “to hand over information and certain documents about all its clients” since the beginning of 2013, the National Post reported on Friday, elaborating: The Canada Revenue Agency wants to know the identity of every client of a major Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform as part of its effort to fight tax fraud and the underground economy. The tax agency claimed in a September filing that all the requested information is needed to ensure that customers of the crypto exchange complied with Canadian tax laws. “Given the pseudo-anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies, the scope of non-compliance with Canadian tax obligations is difficult to measure,” explained Charles Drouin, a spokesperson for Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). “However the CRA presumes the opportunity for non-compliance to be high.” The Canadian tax agency established a dedicated crypto unit in 2018 to conduct crypto-related audits. The regulator told Journal de Montréal last year that cryptocurrencies were increasingly being used to facilitate offshore tax evasion in the 54 criminal investigations it was conducting at the time. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) took a similar approach, asking a court to force Coinbase to hand over customers’ data. Toronto-based cryptocurrency trading platform Coinsquare launched in late 2014. It had approximately 235,000 client accounts as of Dec. 14, 2019, according to the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The regulator accused the exchange of market manipulation with 840,000 wash trades worth approximately 590,000 bitcoins, representing about 90% of the exchange’s reported trading volume, the OSC detailed in a report released in July. The Commission subsequently settled with the exchange, imposing a fine of $2.2 million. Coinsquare CEO Stacy Hoisak said in a statement to the National Post that her company was reviewing the CRA’s request and had not yet decided if it would fight it in court. Do you think Coinsquare should fight the Canadian tax authority in court or hand over customer data? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Canada’s Tax Authority Asks Court to Force Crypto Exchange to Hand Over Data on All Users appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Following the 21 coinbase rewards from 2010 spent on November 7, another long string of so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ mined a decade ago were transferred on Sunday morning. According to onchain data, the 20 block rewards from 2010 with 1,000 BTC were transferred at 4:02 a.m. EST. A ton of ‘zombie coins’ moved in 2020, after sitting idle for over ten years. Zombie coins or so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ are a great number of old addresses with block rewards that have never been spent. Estimates believe there’s around 1.5 to 2 million sleeping bitcoins sitting in addresses and the coins have never moved. A large portion of the sleeping bitcoin stash is assumed to be Satoshi Nakamoto’s, as it is believed he/she or they mined around 700k to 1.1 million BTC. It is very unusual when coinbase rewards from 2010 are spent, but in 2020 there’s been a great number of sightings. On Sunday morning around 4:02 a.m. (EST), after news.Bitcoin.com reported on the 21 blocks from 2010 spent on Saturday morning, another 20 rewards were moved. The 20 coinbase rewards were all transferred at block height 655,943 and again all the action was caught by the researchers from Btcparser.com. Similarly to the pattern spend on Saturday, November 7, the coins spent on Sunday saw the corresponding bitcoin cash (BCH) spent as well. Blockchain explorer data also shows that the corresponding bitcoinsv (BSV) coinbase rewards were not spent. The move on Sunday morning at 4 a.m., was another $15.5 million worth of bitcoin block rewards from ten years ago. Back in 2010, the block reward for miners finding a block was approximately 50 BTC per reward. All of the funds from the 2010 block rewards were sent to one address on Sunday morning, and news.Bitcoin.com readers can see the address here. **Update – Following the publication of this editorial, on November 8, 2020, at approximately 1:03 PM (EST) the owner split the 1,000 bitcoin (BTC) stash into multiple outputs.** The chart stemming from theholyroger.com shows the two strings spent on Saturday and Sunday morning. The blockchain explorer Blockchair shows that unlike the previous strings of 2010 spends on Saturday, October 11, and March 11, Sunday’s spend had zero privacy. Yesterday’s spend on Blockchair’s Privacy-o-Meter had a 100% privacy score, while Sunday’s 2010 spends had a score of zero. Blockchair data today shows that the funds were all consolidated into a single address, and there was co-spending and sweeping involved. The 20 block rewards from 2010 spent on November 8, 2020, were all consolidated into a single address. Another similarity with Sunday’s 2010 spends in comparison with the string from yesterday, is that all the coinbase rewards stemmed from the months of August, September, and October 2010. Speaking with a researcher from Btcparser.com, the analyst noted that “whales are sort of training retail.” The Btcparser.com analyst said that the coins could have been sent to an exchange, but are also still sitting idle and waiting. “Thus everyone may not see a clear link between awakening and price correction,” he said. The analyst further added: People may begin to speculate that 1,000 of the elder bitcoins may provoke a price dump… But what might 10,000 bitcoins do? In addition to the parsed data stemming from Btcparser.com and a variety of blockchain explorers, theholyroger.com’s the “(Not) ‘Satoshi’s Bags’ Tracker” also shows a visual perspective of the elder coins spent on this weekend on Saturday and Sunday morning. People also often ask how many miners, besides Satoshi, were mining bitcoins during this time frame. Old social media posts and forums show that at this period in time in 2010 there were a lot of miners, possibly hundreds and maybe even upwards of a thousand + miners. During the summer months of 2010, specifically in July, it was a transition period between CPU and GPU bitcoin miners. For instance, the pseudonym Artforz appeared on Bitcointalk.org in July of 2010, and at certain time frames, he claimed to have control of over a quarter of the overall hashrate. He was a regularly-seen developer for a while in the early days of Bitcoin. Also, Laszlo Hanyecz, the man who traded 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, actually GPU mined bitcoin two months prior to Artforz. However, Artforz is known for the first GPU farm known as the ‘Artfarm.’ Artforz’s farm consisted of 24 Radeon 5970s in the summer of 2010. He also claimed to have mined 1,700 BTC in six days. Additionally, in October it was also claimed that Artforz had roughly 20-30% of the Bitcoin network’s computing power. What do you think about the 20 blocks from 2010 being transferred on Sunday morning on November 8 after yesterday’s transfer? Let us know what you think about this story in the comments section below. The post 20 More Block Rewards from 2010 Spent Today— Why Are Decade-Old Bitcoins Waking Up? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic says starting in January 2021, financial institutions will be able to increase the fees or commission they levy for services rendered. In its November 5 update, which effectively ends the February 19 freeze on any fee hikes, the central bank says such increases should not exceed 9% each month. Furthermore, the country’s regulations require financial institutions to communicate any intention to increase such commissions 60 days in advance. In the update, the central bank provides a list of the types of financial services where the authorization of the increases will be applicable and these include: “(The) issuance of additional debit cards, replacement of debit cards due to theft or loss; use of ATMs (outside of the entity’s operating houses, another entity and / or network) and services for the extraction of funds through terminals at points of sale and cash withdrawals from the account by the owner or a third party.” The update also adds that “financial entities may also order increases in commissions for other financial products and services, such as those related to the safe deposit box service, with the operation with securities and with the bank checking account.” In February, the central bank announced the freezing of such commission increases part of the crisis-prone country’s response to the effects of Covid-19. However, some citizens of the country are voicing their displeasure at the lifting of the freeze. On Twitter, users are criticizing the central bank’s approval of the commission hikes while others are seizing on this highlight to alternatives like bitcoin that are available to Argentinian citizens. Also seizing on this is Athena Bitcoin, a company that now has 14 bitcoin ATMs installed around the country. In a Facebook update, the company reminds its followers that it already has an additional ATM at one supermarket in Palermo. Athena, which deployed its first bitcoin ATM in 2018, now has similar installations in Buenos Aires, Avellaneda, La Plata, San Fernando, Córdoba, and Mendoza, according to a report. What do you think of the pending banking commission increases? Share your view in the comments section below. The post Argentinian Central Bank to Lift Freeze on Bank Fee Increases: Sets the Ceiling for Future Hikes at 9% appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

An Ethereum user mistakenly paid $9,500 in transaction fees to send just $120. The user, identified by their Reddit moniker ‘Proudbitcoiner’, says the transaction “destroyed my life” and is now desperately asking miners to return the money. According to a Nov. 4 post on Reddit, Proudbitcoiner said they accidentally typed in the wrong transaction fee, leading to a transfer of amounts nearly 80 times the size intended. In total, the user, who was swapping tokens on Uniswap via the ethereum wallet Metamask, paid 23.5 ether (ETH), worth roughly $10,300 at the time of writing. ETH fees averaged $1.07 when Proudbitcoiner made the transaction. The funds were immediately pocketed by mining pool Ethermine, a unit of the crypto miner Bitfly, which by some coincidence created the block containing a transaction with a fee of $2.6 million in June. “Metamask didn’t populate the ‘gas limit’ field with the correct amount in my previous transaction and that transaction failed, so I decided to change it manually in the next transaction (this one), but instead of typing 200000 in ‘gas limit’ input field, I wrote it on the “Gas Price” input field, so I paid 200000 Gwei for this transaction and destroyed my life,” Proudbitcoiner explained. Transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain are paid in “gas” and measured in “gwei,” a system that can be confusing to a lot of people. The gas makes it possible to perform a transaction on the network, as long as miners agree to the price threshold. Users can set limits on the maximum amount of gas they are willing to spend per transaction. Combined with the “gas price”, indicated in small amounts of ether called “gwei”, the two set the fee per transaction on the Ethereum network. And because miners prioritize transactions with the highest fees, Proudbitcoiner’s transfer was processed within seconds. Now, they plead the miner gives the money back. The user lamented: I contacted Ethermine on Twitter, I contacted their CEO Peter Pratscher on Twitter, I made this post here … I am out of ideas. Ethermine, because they mined the block my transaction was part of and it’s their goodwill if they want to return this or not. Ethermine is not obliged to reimburse the money. When it encountered a similar issue on a $2.6 million transaction fee in June, the miner held the funds for four days, intending to pay the owner back, but later distributed the block reward to miners within its pool. Bitfly, Ethermine’s parent firm, said at the time that it will not investigate or refund any such errors in the future. What do you think about Proudbitcoiner’s error? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Ethereum User Spends $9,500 in Fees Sending Just $120 in an Error to Forget appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A number of third party infrastructure providers have announced contingency plans for the upcoming Bitcoin Cash upgrade on November 15, 2020. Hitbtc has revealed the exchange’s plans to halt bitcoin cash transactions on that day, and it plans to credit all users with an additional token if a blockchain split happens. Additionally, Kraken has announced plans for the fork as well with airdrop support requirements. The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network will upgrade on November 15, 2020, and the latest feature that will be added to the network is the ASERT Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm (DAA). Bitcoin Cash may bifurcate due to the introduction of the infrastructure funding proposal (IFP) added to the Bitcoin ABC codebase. Six other BCH full node clients will not adopt the IFP feature added to the software. Meanwhile, in a surprise twist, Bitcoin ABC announced it will also launch a software client that is IFP-free and compatible with BCHN and the rest of the full node clients. “Businesses have the freedom to choose between the two chains,” Bitcoin ABC’s blog post notes. A great number of Bitcoin Cash proponents on Reddit and Twitter believe ABC’s latest announcement is a ploy to stay relevant. “This seems like a last-ditch effort for relevance. As always, ABC can do whatever they want with their code. I just hope no one is duped into giving them the time of day after their recent behavior,” the Reddit user ‘AD1AD’ responded on Friday. The trading platform Hitbtc has revealed fork contingency plans and says that it will support both blockhains if there is a split on the 15th. “The new token will be issued to all users by a 1:1 ratio based on a full snapshot of BCH balances on Hitbtc at 12:00 PM (UTC) on November 15th,” Hitbtc’s announcement states. “A decision on which chain will carry BCH ticker on Hitbtc will be taken after the completion of the fork,” the company added. Kraken revealed its plans for next Sunday as well and the exchange says that it “will support [the] Bitcoin Cash Node regardless of the outcome of the fork.” “Bitcoin Cash Node tokens will be called ‘Bitcoin Cash’ on our platform and represented by the ticker symbol ‘BCH,’” Kraken added. “We will support Bitcoin Cash ABC only if the hashpower on the ABC network is at least 10% of the hashpower on the Bitcoin Cash Node network,” Kraken stressed. “If we support Bitcoin Cash ABC, it will be called ‘Bitcoin Cash ABC’ on our platform and represented by the ticker symbol ‘BAB.’” The two-pronged Bitcoin ABC announcement can be read here, the Hitbtc statement can be read here, and Kraken’s contingency plan for the BCH fork on November 15, 2020, can be read here. The r/btc community responses to ABC’s latest announcement can be read here. If you missed out on any of the prior news.Bitcoin.com-based BCH upgrade announcements, check out the articles below. Hash Watch: Bitcoin Cash Services Reveal Contingency Plans for Upcoming Fork Hash Watch: 73% of Bitcoin Cash Blocks Mined With BCHN, Poloniex Launches Fork Futures Prepping for an Airdrop: Prominent BCH Community Members Bid Bitcoin ABC Devs Farewell What do you think about the latest Bitcoin Cash fork updates? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Hash Watch: Kraken Announces BCH Fork Plans, Bitcoin ABC Reveals Two-Pronged Effort appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Thirty-nine companies have applied for registration with the Dutch central bank to provide cryptocurrency services, the regulator told news.Bitcoin.com. They include crypto exchanges and custodial wallet providers. Dutch Central Bank Begins Registering Crypto Service Providers De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB), the Dutch central bank, has started actively registering companies to provide cryptocurrency services. As a result of the implementation of the fifth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), providers of exchange services between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies and providers of custodial wallets must apply for registration with the central bank. They must demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act and the Sanctions Act of 1977. The 5AMLD implementation went into effect on May 21 in the Netherlands. Since then, cryptocurrency service providers can only carry out their activities if they are included in the public register of the central bank. A spokesperson for the Dutch central bank told news.Bitcoin.com: So far we received 39 applications. According to the public register on the central bank’s website, four companies have been granted registration to offer crypto services. They are Rotterdam-based 2525 Ventures, Amsterdam-based Amdax, Nijmegen-based Blox, and Veghel-based Phoenix Payments. 2525 Ventures also operates under the trade names Litepay, Lightpaid, Lightbit, Litewallet, Litedeal, and Litebit. Phoenix Payments also operates as Anycoin Direct. “It was with great pride that we received the good news that we were one of the first parties to successfully complete the registration process,” Anycoin Direct CFO Bram Ceelen commented, elaborating: It was a tough challenge to go through this process. We made significant adjustments to our order process in order to meet the registration requirements. Companies that were already providing cryptocurrency services before May 21 and have applied for registration before that date can continue to perform crypto activities during the registration process. The central bank “only supervises compliance with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act and the Sanctions Act 1977,” it explained. “The registered companies are not subject to the prudential supervision of DNB or the conduct supervision of the AFM [Authority for the Financial Markets]. This means that financial business risks are not monitored and there is no specific financial consumer protection.” What do you think about the Dutch central bank registering crypto service providers? Let us know in the comments section below. The post 39 Firms Have Applied to Offer Crypto Services Under New Regulation, Says Dutch Central Bank appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article