roadrunner

On Friday, cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX launched a hashrate futures tool that allows Bitcoin (BTC) miners to hedge against mining difficulty risk. Hashrate, the amount of processing power dedicated to a Bitcoin network at a given time, determines the strength and security of the network. FTX leverages mining difficulty, that is, the complexity of solving equations that validate bitcoin transactions. According to the exchange, such a method is necessary because it is impossible to determine exact hashrate, beyond approximating it from block times and difficulty. The futures product that went live on May 15, 2020, determines the hashrate by calculating the average difficulty of a Bitcoin network every day throughout the quarter. Since “difficulty adjustments attempt to maintain 10m block times, over long periods of time the average hashrate will be proportional to the average difficulty. So that means that, roughly speaking, difficulty futures should behave similarly to hashrate futures,” FTX said in a blog post announcing the product. At the moment there are three BTC hashrate futures contracts available – the first is for the third quarter of 2020, then Q4 2020 and first quarter 2021, FTX said. The contract due to expire in Q1 2021 was up 21% at the time of writing. FTX chief executive officer Bankman-Fried stated that the company introduced the tool in response to significant interest from miners and related companies, according to online media reports. The platform first revealed plans to develop hashrate futures nine months ago. The futures market is expanding, with the latest product coming a week after Bitfinex launched a contract related to Bitcoin’s performance against other coins. A BTC hashrate contract has, however, been previously developed by crypto brokerage firm Bit Ooda, while Interhash has also been exploring derivative products to offer miners. In January, software developer Jeremy Rubin announced the launch of Powswap, a platform that allows people to speculate on hashrate to offer “mining derivatives with no trust required.” FTX announced that hashrate futures will not be available to U.S miners, as it the case with its other products. What do you think about the FTX hashrate futures? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Crypto Derivatives Exchange FTX Launches Bitcoin Hashrate Futures appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Today, at precisely 9 a.m. ET on May 15, 2020, the Bitcoin Cash network completed another upgrade adding a few new features to the blockchain. The latest upgrade comes with new opcode support, a chain limit extension, and the improved counting of signature operations using the new “Sigchecks” implementation. A Number of Blocks Have Been Mined Under New Consensus Rules Every six months, the Bitcoin Cash network upgrades, and they usually take place on May 15, and November 15 every year. BCH supporters all around the world have been monitoring the upgrade, as they do every year, in order to see if everything went smoothly. The upgrade initiated after block 635,258 and the consensus rules went into effect after the next block was mined. The first addition allows for faster re-spending of unconfirmed transactions as developers have increased the chained transaction limit from 25 to 50. If one was to look at the history of mempool chain limiting, they would find that when Satoshi first released Bitcoin, he did not include a limit. Bitcoin Unlimited’s chief scientist Peter Rizun discusses the exploration of chain limits in a detailed editorial on the blog read.cash. Another addition is the opcode, OP_Reversebytes, which reverses the bytes of the top stackitem. In January 2020, Bitcoin Cash developers hosted a video conference about the Bitcoin Cash Script Roadmap and the opcode OP_Reversebytes. One idea that could leverage OP_Reversebytes is the concept “Mitra,” or the project formerly known as Nimbus that was developed by Tobias Ruck. According to the Ruck, the transaction version could unleash sophisticated smart contract potential on the BCH network. The final feature that improves sigops counting called “Sigchecks” was discussed in the BCH developers meeting #18. The Sigchecks specifications explain the motivation behind the new implementation if one was to visit the Github repository. “Since early days, Bitcoin has had a Sigops counting rule for limiting the amount of CPU usage possible in a given transaction or block, based on the principle that signature verifications are by far the most CPU-intense operations,” the specifications detail. “The essential idea of Sigchecks is to perform counting solely in the spending transaction, and count actual executed signature check operations.” Discussions Toward Future Development Overall the BCH community is pleased with the upgrade change and many supporters are discussing future improvements like Avalanche, UTXO commitments, Re-activating the following opcodes; OP_Mul, OP_Lshift, OP_Rshift, and OP_Invert, and concepts like Bobtail. Moreover, the community has been celebrating and discussing the upgrade on May 15 and future development as well. For instance, Collin Enstad is hosting a live stream with a number of Bitcoin Cash supporters prior to the upgrade and following the event as well. What do you think about the BCH chain completing the upgrade? Let us know what you think in the comments below. The post Bitcoin Cash Upgrade Complete: 3 New Features Added to Consensus Rules appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Visa International has filed for a cryptocurrency system patent that is meant to replace physical currency. The system, which utilizes both central banks and commercial banks, leverages a private blockchain to improve the payment ecosystem. Visa’s Cryptocurrency Patent Filing The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published on Thursday a patent application entitled “digital fiat currency,” filed by Visa International Service Association on Nov. 8, 2019. The USPTO published Visa’s patent application for “digital fiat currency” on May 14; it was filed on Nov. 8, 2019. Source: Visa’s crypto patent filing with the USPTO. The filing is for a fiat-linked cryptocurrency system using “a private permissioned distributed ledger platform.” It describes a central computer, its responsibilities, and key roles of the system: central entities, validating entities, redeeming entities, and users. “A central entity may be a central bank, which regulates a monetary supply,” the document details. Validating entities “are blockchain nodes, which may be peers such as banks.” Redeeming entities “may accept physical currency for exchange for digital fiat currency,” such as an ATM or a bank branch location. The central entity computer generates the digital currency that is recorded on a blockchain and “may determine that a particular digital currency unit should be added to or removed from the blockchain.” According to the filing’s abstract: The central entity computer causes removal of the physical currency from circulation in a fiat currency system. The filing further explains that the payment ecosystem may become 100% digital and “cash may be removed from the markets in a frictionless manner” to improve the payment ecosystem. “Users may hold digital currency with the same denomination as the local physical currency.” It also notes that once the digital fiat currency is issued, “A user or bank may transfer the digital currency from wallet to wallet or store the digital currency on a smart card and transfer the smart card to another entity.” An illustration of the cryptocurrency system Visa is trying to patent. Source: Visa’s crypto patent filing with the USPTO. A consensus mechanism has not been chosen for the system’s blockchain. “The consensus mechanism may vary depending on the protocol implemented. Some example consensus mechanisms … are proof of stake, Byzantine fault-tolerant algorithms, and crash-fault tolerant algorithms,” the filing details. Other mechanisms explored include a copy of Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, and zero-knowledge proofs. The full filing can be found here. A Visa spokesperson was quoted by Forbes on Thursday as saying: “Each year we seek patents for hundreds of new ideas … While not all patents will result in new products or features, Visa respects intellectual property and we are actively working to protect our ecosystem, our innovations and the Visa brand.” Commenting on Visa’s cryptocurrency patent filing, lawyer Jake Chervinsky tweeted: You can’t patent something you didn’t invent or that isn’t new, so Visa’s patent application has to be so narrow that even if it issues, it won’t be much use even if it was enforceable. Finance incumbents won’t be able to use patent law to stop the crypto industry. Other companies have tried to patent various cryptocurrency systems. For example, Microsoft was recently granted an international patent by the World Intellectual Property Organization for a cryptocurrency system using body activity data. What do you think about Visa’s crypto patent filing? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Visa Files Patent for Cryptocurrency System to Replace Cash appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Neobanking service provider Bitwala on Thursday introduced a new account that offers its 80,000 European customers passive bitcoin (BTC) income. The Bitwala Interest Account allows users to earn up to 4.3% interest per annum for BTC held at the bank. According to the Berlin-based company, account holders can buy bitcoin at Bitwala from as little as 30 euros ($32), hold it free of charge, and earn interest, which is paid out every Monday. There are no lock-up periods, meaning that BTC holdings can be liquidated and withdrawn any time, it said. The new account has been launched in cooperation with cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, which lends out BTC held by Bitwala users to “trusted institutional partners.” Celsius Network has been paying an average of 3.4% p.a. in bitcoin since November 2019, said the German bank. Bitwala’s 4.3% rate is, however, about half of what some decentralized finance platforms with similar interest-earning accounts offer. Ben Jones, chief executive officer of Bitwala, described bitcoin as “the gold standard for the internet of value,” emphasizing that BTC’s recent third halving is a reminder that “state money (fiat) cannot be inflated eternally.” He stated: At this time, more and more people trust in bitcoin. Bitwala is the everyday bridge to it. We are now partnering with Celsius Network, the world’s leading provider of crypto loans, so that our customers can leverage bitcoin holdings wherever they are. Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky commented: “We think combining a bitcoin account with a bank account is a winning proposition and the path to mass adoption.” Founded in 2018, Bitwala has customers from across 32 countries in Europe. Its accounts are hosted by Berlin-based Solarisbank, which is supervised by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. Numerous neobanks, including Babb in the U.K. and Crypterium in Estonia, are planning to or are in the process of applying for licenses amid regulatory disinterest that has kept them at bay for years. What do you think about the Bitwala Interest Account? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Bitwala Launches Bitcoin Interest Account With up to 4.3% Annual Rate appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Following the third bitcoin halving on May 11, 2020, there’s been a big shift in mining pool distribution, as far as hashrate is concerned. At the time of publication, there’s around 100-115 exahash per second (EH/s) in search of bitcoin blocks and spectators have seen two relatively unknown mining pools join the top mining pool contenders. Both of these new mining pools capture around 14 EH/s today, and the top operations F2pool and BTC.com have around 34 EH/s between both pools. The last BTC halving saw a small amount of different network activity and every single mining operation lost 50% of revenue after the halving. A minuscule fraction of hashrate has left since the revenue cut, and BTC transaction (txn) fees have been on the rise. In the last 48 hours, a single BTC txn can cost a user between $2-4 depending on network congestion. Another noticeable sight is the occurrence of extremely less stealth hash (unknown miners) than weeks ago and two relatively new mining operations. The two mining pools called 1Thash and Lubian.com have gained a lot of hashrate since the halving and both operations have captured around 14 EH/s since then. Bitcoin hashrate distribution according to Btc.com’s pool stats on May 14, 2020. The picture at the very bottom of this article is the top 15 mining pools hashing away at the Bitcoin (BTC) network. 1Thash was known for some time now, but the pool had way less hashpower than it does today, as it captures 7.6% of the overall hashrate on May 14, 2020. Hashrate distribution statistics show that the pool Lubian.com mined its first coins at block height 627,441. Similarly to 1Thash, the operation also has 7.6% of today’s SHA256 hashrate on the BTC chain, and both of them control the fifth and sixth largest hashrate distribution positions. According to the regional reporter Lylian Teng from 8btc, Lubian’s name means “roadside” and the website claims to be the “safest high yielding mining pool.” Teng also said that the local Chinese news outlet Blockbeats were the first to spot Lubian hashing away at the BTC chain, and they gave information to Btc.com for distribution statistics. BTC hashrate distribution on February 3, 2020, according to Blockchain.com’s data. At the time there was more than 23% of stealth hash processing blocks on the BTC chain. BTC.com was the third largest and today it is the largest pool, and there were also far fewer pools during the first week of February 2020 as well. Blockchain.com’s pool stat data still says “unknown” for Lubian’s position, but Btc.com statistics has both Lubian and 1Thash recorded. If Btc.com’s pool stats are correct, that would mean there is very little unknown hash stealth mining the BTC chain today. The data indicates that there are 15 known mining pools since the halving still hashing away. Pools include Btc.com, F2pool, Antpool, Poolin, 1Thash, Lubian, Viabtc, Huobi, Okex, Slush, Nova, Binance, Bitcoin.com, Spider, and Ukrpool. Did you know you can earn BTC and BCH through Bitcoin Mining? If you already own hardware, connect it to our powerful Bitcoin mining pool. If not, you can easily get started through one of our flexible Bitcoin cloud mining contracts. F2pool has also recently commanded the second-largest mining pool position by order of SHA256 hashpower in the race. The Chinese mining operation was also lucky enough to obtain the last 12.5 BTC block reward before the halving. Etched into the Coinbase message F2pool wrote: NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue. Since then, news.Bitcoin.com reported on how the total value of block rewards and fees dropped from $17.16 million on May 12 to $8.95 million the very next day. So far, on Thursday three days after the halving, BTC’s price has spiked to the $9,900 region. However, at that point, the value corrected some and the price has been hovering between the $9,500 to $9,750 zone since then. What do you think about the change in hashrate distribution since the reward halving? Let us know in the comments below. The post Bitcoin Network Sees a Massive Mining Pool Shift Following the Halving appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On May 14, Bitcoin.com Executive Chairman Roger Ver sat down with Digifinex cofounder, Kiana Shek, for an ask-me-anything (AMA) session about the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Ver explained what he thinks about the central banks printing unlimited money, the government-induced lockdowns, and his opinions about certain cryptocurrencies like BTC, BCH, XRP, ETH, and more. Bitcoin.com Executive Chairman Roger Ver Discusses the Crypto Ecosystem on Digifinex Live On Thursday, Digifinex cofounder Kiana Shek during an AMA at 8 a.m. ET, asked Ver about the economic crisis and massive amounts if stimulus central banks have created during the last two months. Bitcoin.com Executive Chairman Roger Ver: The pandemic is a real disease and a real problem. But the reaction to it so far, seems to be much much worse than the disease itself. You see governments all over the world doing these economic stimulus packages. If printing money and just giving everybody some of it will make it so people never have to work again, why didn’t we do that for the last 100 years? The fact of the matter is we need production, printing money, and giving people a bunch of checks doesn’t do anything. That’s not real economic progress. You actually have to have people building the businesses and building the goods and supplying the goods that people actually need in their lives. It’s not going to take long to realize that if you pay everyone to stay home and not work we are going to start running out of the things people need. So if anything, the exact opposite needs to be done. We need to have people go back to work and start producing the things the world needs. Bitcoin.com Executive Chairman Roger Ver (left) and Digifinex cofounder, Kiana Shek. The Digifinex cofounder then asked Ver about his stance toward supporting Bitcoin Cash and why his position had changed. Roger Ver: To be clear, I didn’t change anything and I’ve been promoting the exact same thing for almost ten years now and that’s peer-to-peer electronic cash for the entire world. And sadly what everyone is calling bitcoin (BTC) today, that project got hijacked. It’s goal is no longer to be peer-to-peer cash for the world, which is the very title of the white paper. In fact, it got hijacked so badly that the people who run Bitcoin.org were talking about how to get rid of the white paper altogether because it was confusing people. Individuals who read the Bitcoin white paper and it’s clearly not talking about what everyone is calling Bitcoin. The Bitcoin white paper is talking about something much closer to Bitcoin Cash. I am a fan of anything that works and puts people in charge of their own money. So they can send and receive money with anyone, anywhere, anytime without needing permission from anyone. Are you interested in reading the Bitcoin white paper? Check it out here. I think the cryptocurrency that has the best chance of doing that, for the most people is bitcoin cash. So from my point of view, I didn’t change anything at all, the original bitcoin project now just happens to be called Bitcoin Cash. The thing that everyone is calling bitcoin today in the media, it doesn’t have a white paper, it doesn’t have the same roadmap. They managed to hijack the bitcoin brand name, recognition, and network effect and all of the infrastructure built in the early days by people like myself. If you look at it before that split happened, pretty much every single business that was supporting people actually using bitcoin as money, supported bitcoin being able to scale so it could be money for the whole world. We had businesses like Coinbase, Blockchain.com, Bitpay, and on and on. The problem became so big that even Bitcoin.com could no longer support the thing called bitcoin. The short answer is I didn’t change anything and what people are calling bitcoin today changed. Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash for the Entire World Kiana Shek then asked Ver about his thoughts on a price target for BCH in the future. Roger Ver: If you look at it, Bitcoin Cash is trying to be money for the whole world. To have people using it all across the globe and even if it is a little bit successful in that, the price of bitcoin cash could easily go up 1000X where it is today. $230 dollars per coin could easily go up to $230,000 dollars. BTC is never going up a 1,000X more than it is today. It’s $10,000 already it’s not going to go up 1,000X, it’s just not going to happen. Because it’s not trying to be money for the world, and if it continued on the path of trying to be money for the world then it could have done that. BTC transaction fees for May 14, 2020, are between $3.37 to $3.61. In order for someone to use something it has to be useful and bitcoin with its slow transaction times, high network fees, and unreliable payments is not something that is useful. The reason it is still going up right now is because it has the bitcoin brand name and recognition. And everyone sees that the price is almost $10K and if they try and use it for anything other than speculation, they’re gonna have a bad user experience. There’s a whole bunch of other cryptocurrencies that have a much better user experience. Kiana Shek also asked about some of the infrastructure Ver was excited about. Roger Ver: There’s actually more physical shops accepting bitcoin cash than those accepting bitcoin at this point. We have this fantastic tool called the Bitcoin Cash Register app that anyone can download for an iPhone or Android device and anyone can accept BCH at their business in like 30 seconds. You don’t have to give your name, you don’t have to give an email address, you don’t have to give a tax ID number, it just works and works in every country in the world. That’s something that used to be possible with bitcoin but its not with the high fees and network congestion. So if you haven’t seen the Bitcoin Cash Register app yet, check that out. Check out the Bitcoin Cash Register app here. Start accepting BCH today in as little as thirty seconds. We are seeing a lot of activity in China with our peer-to-peer marketplace Local.Bitcoin.com where people can buy or sell bitcoin cash using any payment method from any country. We’re seeing a significant amount of Chinese buying and selling bitcoin cash using the platform with a noncustodial escrow system. Another thing that is not possible using bitcoin (BTC) today, so its really great to see all the innovation happening within the BCH ecosystem. And tokens too and in fact, if we have time for it we can even make a Kiana Shek token this morning. It would take about 30 seconds. You can put your face as the image of the token and you can send and receive those tokens with anyone all over the world. Check out Local.Bitcoin.com today. The Digifinex cofounder told Ver he would be welcomed to visit Asia soon to discuss his opinions again. Roger Ver: I would love to get back to Asia soon but I am currently in St Kitts in the Caribbean and because of the coronavirus here there not allowing any flights in or out of the country. So I’ll be here for the foreseeable future. Kiana Shek also asked Ver to name a few projects he was most proud of. Roger Ver: There’s quite a few like a lot of people who don’t realize it but I was actually the second person ever involved in Ripple (XRP). XRP is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the world. I put in some seed money to start that and obviously it was incredibly successful. Also Blockchain.com, I was the second person ever involved in that project and I contacted the founder and offered to help. There’s been a bunch of different things like that where I was basically one of the very first people to get involved. Those are probably two of the most well known; Blockchain.com and Ripple. And of course, Bitcoin.com has been a huge success too. We’ve seen over 11 million wallets created on that platform now and users can spread peer-to-peer cash all over the world. Kiana Shek asked what types of future projects Ver is looking forward to seeing developed as well. Roger Ver: I think that you have to look at projects that are useful and if it’s not useful no one is going to want to use it. Something that I like is going to be different than something that some else likes so we have to look at what everyone wants to use. An example of that is the app Tik Tok. I don’t have any interest in Tik Tok whatsoever, but other people love Tik Tok. So Tik Tok is very successful because of that even though I personally don’t have any interest in Tik Tok. Interested in minting your own Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) tokens, check out Mint.Bitcoin.com here. The same thing is true for cryptocurrency apps, like Crypto Kitties. I had zero interest in Crypto Kitties myself but other people seemed to love that sort of thing. I think people are going to love making their own token, with their own picture and they’ll be able to swap the tokens. And that’s so easy to do at Mint.Bitcoin.com. People interested in watching the remainder of the interview can join the Digifinex AMA chat room on Telegram and a full version of the video will soon be published, according to Digifinex. During the rest of the conversation, Ver discusses being a smart investor, his thoughts on USDT and stablecoins, and SLP-based tokenization as well. What do you think about the AMA with Bitcoin.com’s Executive Chairman Roger Ver? Let us know in the comments below. The post Digifinex Live AMA Hosts Bitcoin.com Chairman – Roger Ver Talks Stimulus, Useful Cryptocurrencies, Coronavirus appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Revenue for Bitcoin (BTC) miners plunged 48% a day following the third halving, as the full impact of the periodic supply cut event began to take effect. According to data from crypto company Blockchain, the total value of block subsidies and transaction fees paid to miners crashed to $8.95 million on May 12 from $17.16 million the previous day. The third Bitcoin halving of May 11 reduced the rate at which new coins are created, cutting the bonus paid to miners for solving complex mathematical puzzles that underpin the network by 50% to 6.25BTC per block. Revenue peaked at $20.61 million on May 6, but has trended downwards ever since. Per the Blockchain data, miners revenue oscillated between $7.89 million and $28.60 million over the past 52 weeks, with the lowest point reached in March when the price of BTC tanked as much as 27% in a day. Of the post-halving miners’ income, roughly 13% is made up of transaction fees, the figures show. Fees are paid each time a Bitcoin transaction is processed and confirmed by a miner, who pockets the fees, in addition to the block reward, as revenue. As mining revenues decline and companies shut down, Bitcoin transaction fees are now being considered a realistic option to help miners stay afloat. In future, higher fees could also be used to accommodate rising demand for processing transactions while keeping the network secure, say experts. After the latest halving, transaction costs rocketed more than 400%. What do you think about the falling Bitcoin mining revenues? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. The post Bitcoin Miners Revenue Plunge 48% as Halving Impact Kicks In appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In mid-April, news.Bitcoin.com reported on a great number of BTC withdrawn from cryptocurrency trading platforms and after the third BTC halving, the trend has picked up once again. Data from Glassnode’s Bitcoin Exchange Net-Flow statistics show that close to 24,000 BTC has been withdrawn since May 11. Additionally, statistics from Bituniverse’s exchange reserve data indicate the same, but withdrawals are only affecting certain exchanges. Crypto Exchange Bitcoin Withdrawals Grew Before the Halving, While Tether Rises Just recently, the BTC blockchain experienced its reward halving and a number of observers are monitoring the network’s health. The price has slowly risen higher, and the overall hashrate lost a touch of hashpower, but nothing drastic like some skeptics predicted. It should also be noted that the tether (USDT) market briefly eclipsed XRP’s on May 12, and the overall supply of stablecoins has crossed a $10 billion valuation. USDT markets show that the market valuation of the stablecoin tether is $5.74 billion, or more than half the valuation of all the stablecoins in existence. After the bitcoin (BTC) halving on May 11, a number of users moved close to 24,000 BTC ($222 million) from centralized trading platforms, according to Glassnode’s Bitcoin Exchange Net-Flow statistics. Exchange reserves according to Bituniverse (left) and Chain.info (right) on April 12, 2020. Chain.info stats are slightly different than Bituniverse’s stats. In mid-April news.Bitcoin.com leveraged Glassnode’s data, statistics from Chain.info, and Bituniverse BTC reserve counts as well. That data shows that most of the movement came from specific exchanges and not the top dog. For instance, Coinbase still has the most reserves in BTC, and reserves have remained roughly the same. Huobi saw about 20K BTC leave since April 12. Bitfinex and Bitmex have seen some decent amounts of bitcoin withdrawn since then as well. Bitfinex had around 205K BTC in reserves in mid-April and today there’s only 134K today. Bitmex had around 228K BTC and on March 13, 2020 reserve data now shows 214K BTC. Bitstamp had 66K BTC on April 12, 2020, but today it has a touch more, holding 71K BTC according to Bituniverse data. Exchange reserves according to Bituniverse on May 13, 2020. Of course, this has caused a number of larger exchanges, by order of reserve count, to move positions. Bitmex and Bitfinex have dropped down a number of notches since January 1, 2020. The top five cryptocurrency trading platforms today, after the third BTC halving, include Coinbase, Huobi, Binance, Okex, and Bitfinex. Glassnode’s statistics show $200 million leaving some of the top cryptocurrency exchanges after May 11, but a lot more BTC has been withdrawn since mid-April. On Wednesday, Glassnode also tweeted that the Bitcoin Exchange Net-Flow subsided a hair, prior to the halving and following the event as well. Glassnode wrote: In the hours before and after Bitcoin’s halving, exchange net flow decreased significantly. So far, the event has had no impact on 2020’s trend of investors withdrawing BTC from exchanges. Glassnode’s Bitcoin Exchange Net-Flow statistics shared by the official Twitter account on May 13, 2020. The millions moved off of exchanges since mid-April have been far larger than the Proof-of-Keys day initiated by Trace Mayer, which really didn’t amount to much of anything. Additionally, just like within the mining industry, exchanges are seeing a massive power shift, and those who were once mega-exchanges are being replaced by newcomers. Coinbase, however, has maintained its #1 spot for a long time and still holds 1 million BTC in reserves, according to Bituniverse and Chain.info data. What do you think about all the BTC withdrawn from exchanges? Let us know in the comments below. The post More Than $220M in Bitcoin Withdrawn from Crypto Exchanges Since the Halving appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Americans could be getting their second stimulus checks as a new coronavirus relief bill has been introduced. It includes more direct payments of up to $6,000 per household. The new bill is expected to cost more than $3 trillion, making it the biggest emergency relief package in U.S. history. $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled Democrats’ latest coronavirus relief bill called the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act on Tuesday. The 1815-page relief package was introduced by Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey, chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, a House of Representatives committee responsible for passing appropriation bills. Party leaders are expected to vote Friday on this package, which provides another set of direct cash payments to Americans. Democrats are calling this bill “a bold response to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic collapse.” According to the bill’s summary, one of the proposals reads: More direct payments: Cushions the economic blow of the coronavirus crisis with a second round of more substantial economic impact payments of $1,200 per family member, up to $6,000 per household. The Heroes Act, unveiled on Tuesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, includes more direct cash payments to Americans of $1,200 per person and up to $6,000 per household. According to reports, the income thresholds are the same as in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in March. The amount would start to reduce from $1,200 above thresholds of $75,000 and $150,000, respectively. The bill does not include monthly payments as called for by a number of House progressives, including Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley. It also does not include the Paycheck Guarantee Act, another progressive priority aimed at covering 100% of workers’ wages up to $90,000 per year. In addition to the second round of $1,200 stimulus checks for qualified individuals, the bill also provides nearly $1 trillion to state, local, territorial and tribal governments, $200 billion for hazard pay for essential workers, $75 billion for coronavirus testing and contact tracing, an extension of the $600 per week federal unemployment insurance benefit, and $175 billion in rent, mortgage and utility assistance. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced the Heroes Act on Tuesday. This new coronavirus relief bill is expected to cost about $3 trillion, which would be the biggest emergency stimulus package in U.S. history. ‘No Chance’ of Passing Some lawmakers strongly believe that this covid-19 relief package will not pass. Sen. John Barrasso, a member of Republican leadership in the chamber, said that the new coronavirus relief bill is dead on arrival, stating: “That will not pass. It’s not going to be supported.” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted that the bill is a “liberal wishlist that was crafted behind closed doors and includes bailouts for blue states and giveaways for billionaires.” He added, “This spectacle has no chance of becoming law … What a waste of taxpayer time.” CNBC detailed: The new bill is set to cost more than $3 trillion, which easily tops the $2 trillion cost of the late March stimulus package — the biggest emergency spending measure in U.S. history. One controversial proposal in the bill concerns illegal aliens. Congressman Lance Gooden tweeted, “Nancy Pelosi wants to bail out 14 million illegal aliens in the next round of stimulus spending and give them retroactive payments of $1,200. This so-called Heroes Act is a slap in the face to hard-working Americans who are barely getting by.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday: “I’m in discussion, we all are with the administration. If we reach a decision along with the administration to move to another phase, that’ll be the time to interact with the Democrats.” Since the covid-19 crisis began, several bills have been enacted in the U.S. The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act was enacted on March 6, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act on March 18, the CARES Act on March 27, and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act on April 24. What do you think about this bill and more stimulus checks? Let us know in the comments section below. The post New $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill: Second Stimulus Checks Could Be Coming to Americans appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

About 17,000 people have filed claims for refunds from the collapsed Canadian digital asset exchange Quadrigacx. Altogether, the claims, denominated in both cryptocurrency and fiat, amount to nearly $307 million. According to a document released Tuesday by Ernst & Young, the court-appointed monitor, the bulk of the claims submitted stem from bitcoin (BTC) deposits that users of the exchange held on the platform. More than 24,436 BTC claims worth about $219.8 million at current market prices have been filed, it said. Users are also requesting compensation in the form of bitcoin cash, bitcoin gold, bitcoin SV, ethereum, and litecoin, along with Canadian dollars and US dollars. Quadrigacx went bankrupt in January 2019 following the alleged death of founder and chief executive officer Gerald Cotten, until now believed to have been buried together with a combined $190 million of customers’ funds. More than 115,000 customers were left in the cold after Cotten’s death. Ernst & Young assumed control of the exchange early February of the same year, once Quadrigacx filed for bankruptcy. The accountants have so far only recovered around $30 million, say reports, mainly because Cotten kept no record of transactions and appeared to use customer funds to finance a luxurious lifestyle. As per the latest document, all refunds will be paid in the Canadian dollar equivalent, but only after the country’s tax collector, Canada Revenue Agency, first claims its share in unpaid taxes. However, the Agency has yet to file a claim and there’s no timeline on when claimants can expect to receive their reimbursements. Ernst & Young, which asked affected users to file claims by August 31, 2019, said it had not finished verifying the papers it received, as some contained technical errors or stated values that are not consistent with those found on the Quadrigacx database. “The trustee notes that there are a number of proofs of claim that contain certain technical deficiencies (i.e. proofs of claim are unsigned),” it said, adding:”…in a number of cases, the claimant has asserted a preferred claim … without any support for the preferred claim status.” The accountants stated that “all affected user claims are unsecured claims without any preferred status.” Claims against failed cryptocurrency exchanges have tended to take some time before they are refunded. Compensation claims against Mt.Gox are still to be paid six years down the line. What do you think about the Quadrigacx claims? Let us know in the comments section below. The post 17,000 Quadrigacx Users Seek $307M from the Failed Canadian Crypto Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On May 11, 2020, the Bitcoin network completed it’s third block reward halving and the network seems to be chugging along just fine. However, it may take a while longer to see the halving’s effect on the mining industry and right now bitcoin transaction fees have risen exponentially. Despite the rising fees, the research firm Glassnode explains that the Bitcoin blockchain’s health “remains strong” after the reward reduction. Despite the Rise in Bitcoin Transaction Fees, Glassnode Report Says Overall Network Health remains strong The Bitcoin (BTC) network has halved its block reward and so far, everything is still working as intended, at least for now. One issue people are complaining about today is the fact that transaction fees have risen significantly since the halving. For instance, if one was to do a rough average of the 50 blocks mined before the halving, they would see that miners were getting around 0.205 BTC in transaction fees per block. After the halving, however, and a little beforehand, the transaction (txn) fees started rising much higher. At the time of publication, the fee required to get into the next block can range between $2-4 per txn. 241 blocks have been mined so far after the halving, and miners are getting around 1 BTC in fees per block or a touch more or touch less per block. Meaning, most miners are getting around 7.5 to 8 BTC per block, which is not too bad of a loss especially with the price rising slowly. BTC price on May 13, 2020, rises above the $9K region. A recent report from the research and analysis firm Glassnode called “The Week Onchain: Week 19, 2020,” explains that the Bitcoin network is still in peak health performance-wise. Bitcoin fundamentals remained strong leading up to and following the halving,” Glassnode reported. “Hashrate follows its trajectory as miners keep mining,” the report added. As far as BTC’s market health is concerned “onchain fundamentals dropped slightly in Week 19,” Glassnode said. “GNI registered a 2 point decrease over the week, pushing its overall assessment of the Bitcoin ecosystem to 74 points, the 10th highest weekly value since 2017. This downturn was mainly driven by the Sentiment subindex, which decreased by 13 points,” the company wrote. Glassnode further continued: Network Health improved through solid gains in both Network Growth and Network Activity, the former reaching the highest possible value for the first time since 2017. Liquidity has seen marginal improvement over the last few weeks after registering increases in Transaction Liquidity and slight decreases in Trading Liquidity. After staying close to the 50 point mark for 5 weeks, it has now worked its way up by 9 points. In the lead up to Bitcoin’s third halving, Sentiment, on the other hand, has begun to drop sharply. Despite this, however, overall network health remains strong. Coinshares CEO: ‘Bitcoin Is the Perfect Hedge for Any Investor’ Additionally, many BTC investors and cryptocurrency company executives are still very optimistic about bitcoin’s next rise. Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO of Coinshares, detailed in a note to investors that with “the courage of [his] conviction, [he is] bullish for bitcoin.” “Meanwhile, the Fed is trying to keep the market sentiment positive and has extended its balance sheet by about 2.6 trillion dollars since the end of February,” Mognetti wrote. “This is the biggest monetary inflation ever witnessed and the market is expecting more fiscal stimulus and bond-buying programs to be issued. This is somehow already priced in with Fed fund futures for mid-2021 and end of 2021 price implying negative Fed rates. This is a first for the US, but we are in a time of “firsts”. Oil was also not supposed to be able to trade in negative territory,” the Coinshares CEO added. Mognetti concluded by stating: The rest of the world needs to either keep printing money or see their own currency eroding drastically in front of the unbeatable dollars. Turkey, Brazil, or Argentina are the perfect examples of this. Consequently, in a world where investors continue to seek protection for their portfolios against the world’s Central Bank’s behavior, bitcoin, a digital currency whose supply is programmatically defined to reduce until it reaches its maximum supply, would seem to be the perfect hedge for any institutional investor’s portfolio. Despite Glassnode’s report, fork.lol, a site which measures hashrate every three hours shows that the hashrate has dipped at least 15-20 exahash since the halving. At the time of publication, BTC has crossed the $9K price region once again after going below $9K just before the halving. The cryptocurrency has a market capitalization of around $166 billion today and the network hashrate was unaffected by the halving. Although data from the web portal Fork.lol shows that BTC may have lost around 15-20 exahash in the last 24 hours. If the price per BTC, continues to rise however, then those miners could easily return in the near future. If the price goes southbound, BTC network observers may see a much larger capitulation of miners leaving. So far, with more than 24 hours behind the halving and 241 blocks mined that doesn’t seem to be the case. What do you think about the day and a half after the Bitcoin Halving? Let us know in the comments below. The post 2 Days After the Bitcoin Halving: Network ‘Remains Strong,’ Higher Fees, Bullish Sentiment appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Popular messaging app Telegram has shut down its TON cryptocurrency project. Telegram founder Pavel Durov explains that a US court has stopped his TON project and prevented the gram cryptocurrency from being distributed to investors, not just in the US but globally. Telegram Discontinues TON Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Project Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov announced on Tuesday his decision regarding the Telegram Open Network (TON) and cryptocurrency project after a long battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “Today is a sad day for us here at Telegram. We are announcing the discontinuation of our blockchain project … I am writing this post to officially announce that Telegram’s active involvement with TON is over,” the messaging app’s founder wrote, adding: Unfortunately, a US court stopped TON from happening … the US court declared that grams [cryptocurrency] couldn’t be distributed not only in the United States, but globally. Telegram has discontinued its involvement in the TON cryptocurrency and blockchain project, CEO Pavel Durov announced after working on the project for two and a half years. According to the judge, “a US citizen might find some way of accessing the TON platform after it launched. So, to prevent this, grams shouldn’t be allowed to be distributed anywhere in the world – even if every other country on the planet seemed to be perfectly fine with TON,” Durov conveyed. Because of the U.S. court’s finding, “we have made the difficult decision not to proceed with TON,” Durov confirmed but noted that this decision could change in the future. “Sadly, the US judge is right about one thing … we are still dependent on the United States when it comes to finance and technology.” TON Crypto Project and Durov’s Warnings Durov explained that over the past two and a half years, his team has been working on “a next-generation blockchain platform called TON and a cryptocurrency we were going to name gram,” elaborating: TON was designed to share the principles of decentralization pioneered by Bitcoin and Ethereum, but to be vastly superior to them in speed and scalability. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been battling with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since last year when his TON cryptocurrency and blockchain project raised over a billion dollars. The TON crypto project raised about $1.7 billion from investors in 2018 in an initial coin offering (ICO). However, the SEC halted the sale in October 2019 claiming that the gram tokens were unregistered securities. In March, a U.S. judge affirmed the SEC decision and ruled that the gram cryptocurrency could not be distributed both in the U.S. and globally. Telegram then offered to pay investors back in two ways but U.S. investors only have the option of taking 72% refunds. The TON developers claim that their blockchain would be faster and more efficient than the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. According to Durov, “existing networks such as the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains do not have the capability to replace high-volume transaction mechanisms like credit cards and fiat currency,” a court document reads. Durov warned that some sites may be using his name, the Telegram brand, the name TON or gram cryptocurrency to promote their own projects. “Don’t trust them with your money or data,” he emphasized, adding that no one from his team is involved in any of them. “While networks based on the technology we built for TON may appear, we won’t have any affiliation with them and are unlikely to ever support them in any way. So be careful, and don’t let anyone mislead you,” he cautioned. In conclusion, Durov wrote: “I want to conclude this post by wishing luck to all those striving for decentralization, balance and equality in the world … This battle may well be the most important battle of our generation. We hope that you succeed where we have failed.” What do you think about the TON crypto project shutting down due to the U.S. legal system? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Telegram Drops TON Cryptocurrency Project After US Prohibits Global Distribution appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrency hedge funds’ assets under management have been increasing significantly, rising to more than $2 billion at the end of last year, according to a recent survey. The crypto hedge fund industry is expected to “grow significantly” along with the price of bitcoin. Hedge Funds’ AUMs Doubled in 2019 Cryptocurrency hedge funds’ assets under management more than doubled in 2019, according to a new survey by PWC and Elwood Asset Management Services Ltd. Entitled “2020 Crypto Hedge Fund Report,” the document was published on May 11, the day of the third Bitcoin halving. The data comes from “the largest global crypto hedge funds by assets under management (AUM),” the report details, adding that it includes crypto index funds and crypto venture capital funds. “Our Q1 2020 research shows that there are around 150 active crypto hedge funds. Almost two thirds of these (63%) were launched in 2018 or 2019,” the report’s authors wrote, elaborating: We estimate that the total AUM of crypto hedge funds globally increased in 2019 to over US$2 billion from US$1 billion the previous year … The average AUM increased from US$21.9 million to US$44 million. Most cryptocurrency hedge funds surveyed (97%) traded BTC, followed by ETH at 67%, XRP at 38%, LTC at 38%, BCH at 31%, and EOS at 25%. The substantial increase in AUM could also be attributed to the increase in the prices of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s price, for example, rose from $3,872 on Jan. 1 last year to $7,174 on Dec. 31. The top cryptocurrencies traded by crypto hedge funds surveyed by PWC and Elwood Asset Management. Source: Report by PWC and Elwood. The median AUM at fund launch is $2 million in 2019, “indicating that funds have generally seen a 4X increase in AUM,” the report emphasizes. During the year, the percentage of crypto hedge funds using an independent custodian increased from 52% to 81% and 86% used an independent fund administrator. About 90% of hedge fund investors were either family offices (48%) or high-net-worth individuals (42%). A small percentage of respondents were foundations, endowments, venture-capital funds or funds-of-funds but none cited pension funds. Furthermore, cryptocurrency hedge funds tend to be domiciled in the same jurisdictions as traditional hedge funds, most of which are in the Cayman Islands (42%), followed by the U.S. (38%) and the British Virgin Islands (8%). The report also points out that the survey results were based on answers by fund managers and were not verified by an independent party. ‘Significant’ Growth Expected The report additionally finds that “the launch of actively managed crypto funds is highly correlated with the price of bitcoin (BTC)” and “The Bitcoin price spike in 2018 appears to have been a catalyst for further crypto funds to launch.” The number of new cryptocurrency hedge funds launched from 2012 to Q1 2020. Source: Report by PWC and Elwood. After the third Bitcoin halving, many people expect the price of bitcoin to rise by the end of the year. Among them is Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz who believes that the price of bitcoin would hit $20,000 by December. Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya has been saying that bitcoin’s price could go to $1 million or more while Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead said it could peak at $115,000 by August next year. Another bullish move for the crypto industry comes from the hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones who revealed on Monday that he has almost 2% of his assets in bitcoin. He explained that he is buying bitcoin as a hedge against the inflation and central banks’ money printing, as bitcoin reminds him of the role gold played in the 1970s. PWC partner and global crypto leader Henri Arslanian was quoted by Bloomberg on Friday as saying: “The volatility of crypto markets offers many opportunities for quant traders … The performance of crypto quant funds tends to be more linked with market volatility rather than market performance.” He elaborated: I expect the crypto hedge fund industry to grow significantly over the coming years as investing in a crypto fund may be the easiest and most familiar entry point for many institutional investors looking at entering this space. Several analysts have predicted that interest in cryptocurrencies from institutional investors will increase post the covid-19 pandemic. Last month, a Japanese analyst outlined three key reasons why institutional demand for cryptocurrencies would rise after the coronavirus crisis. Grayscale Investments recently released its Q1 2020 earnings report showing record capital inflows, 88% of which were from institutional investors. Furthermore, a pro-crypto commissioner with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Hester Peirce, said she sees institutional demand rising. What do you think about hedge funds increasingly investing in cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below. The post $2 Billion Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Industry Set to ‘Grow Significantly’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On Monday, Hut 8 Mining reported that first-quarter revenue rose 5% to $9 million from $8.59 million a year ago after the amount of bitcoin (BTC) extracted plunged sharply. Quarter-on-quarter, revenue fell 14%. For the three months to March 31, 2020, the Canadian bitcoin firm said it mined 1,116 BTC, down 54% from the 2,405 BTC realized a year earlier. It blamed the decline on “increasing network difficulty (that) impacted the company’s production negatively”. At the end of the quarter, Hut 8 held around 3,000 BTC worth about $26.8 million at current market prices. Adjusted earnings (loss) before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization narrowed to $0.43 million compared to Q1 2019 loss of $0.92 million. Much of the loss came from the closing two weeks of March when the price of BTC collapsed, it said. The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company stated that net loss worsened to $5.96 million from $4.30 million last year, as site operating costs increased. Included in the earnings release is a revaluation loss on digital assets of $0.91 million compared to the prior year gain of $0.71 million. The loss results from a 10% decline in the BTC price during the review period. In the quarter, Hut 8 completed the refinancing of an unsecured loan from Bitfury with a $4.97 million loan extension from Genesis Global Capital at a 2% interest rate. As a result of the refinancing, the amount of BTC locked in collateralized loans increased to 94% or 2,823 BTC of the company’s bitcoin portfolio. That compares with 58% or 1,700 bitcoin during the first quarter of 2019. Hut 8 has stressed that the recent third Bitcoin halving will present significant challenges for miners. Acting chief executive officer Jimmy Vaiopoulos told analysts in an earnings call that the company may be forced to shut down parts of its operation because of the halving, which cut mining rewards in half to 6.25 BTC. “Certainly, without a corresponding increase in the price of bitcoin, Hut 8’s revenue will be impacted negatively. If the price of bitcoin and the network hashrate remains flat, Hut 8’s corresponding revenue would be cut in half subsequent to the halving,” said the company in the earnings release. “Management is actively seeking ways to mitigate these industry-specific factors,” it added, amid reports the miner was looking to upgrade its mining machines to more efficient ones. Shares of Hut 8 dropped 2.3% to $0.90 in Toronto trading today. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded in the range of $0.36 to $2.09. Hut 8 operates two bitcoin mining sites in Alberta, Canada, utilizing 94 Block Box AC data centers with a current maximum operating capacity of 952 PH/s. What do you think about Hut 8’s earnings? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Canadian Firm Hut 8 Reports Bitcoin Mined in Q1 Declined 54% Due to Price Volatility appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Bitcoin (BTC) may not have pumped at the scale expected by many halving optimists, but Wall Street billionaire Michael Novogratz insists that the price will hit $20,000 by year-end. The Galaxy Digital founder and chief executive officer on Monday told CNBC that bitcoin’s surge was inevitable in light of the record money printing by world central banks. “The (Bitcoin) halving was quantitative tightening,” Novogratz explained, noting the new coronavirus inspired stimulus packages, which have pumped trillions of dollars into world economies overnight. “It’s like an exclamation point on the macro story of why scarce assets like bitcoin should go higher. We will take out $10,000 and we will go to $20,000 by the end of the year. I feel real confident about it,” he asserted. BTC fell as much as 1.4% to $8,620 in the wake of its third halving last night. Pre-halving expectations favored a significant price increase. The cryptocurrency rose past $10,000 in the run-up to the event, which cut miner rewards by 50%, as investor sentiment reached fever-pitch. However, the price dropped at least 15% over the weekend, briefly touching $8,250, in a sell-off some analysts have described as market manipulation by the so-called bitcoin whales. At the time of writing, each BTC was trading at $8,800, up 6% over the last 24 hours, according to data from markets.bitcoin.com. Novogratz said he did not participate in the sell-off, but reckons that Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire hedge fund investor, entering the space signifies growing interest in cryptocurrency from institutional investors. “We had a little bit of retail frenzy that got sold off. I would expect the market to hold at $8,000, $8,500 and to start trading right back up,” he predicted, adding: We are seeing at our shop huge increase in interest in bitcoin from high net worth individuals, from funds. The Tudor (Jones) bitcoin news is very big news. It somehow takes the career risk of looking dump out of buying bitcoin. Despite the post-halving slid, the outlook for bitcoin markets generally remains upbeat as the supply of new coins slows down. Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead recently forecast that BTC had a 50% chance to spike to $115,000 by August next year, as fiat depreciates from stimulus packages. What do you think about Mike Novogratz’s prediction? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Halving Sell-Off Temporary, BTC to Hit $20,000 by Year End, Says Billionaire Investor Novogratz appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. Federal Reserve has continued its schemes of monetary easing and funding a number of private banks during the Covid-19 outbreak. On Monday evening, the Fed revealed it would be buying corporate bonds and exchange-traded funds using the entity’s Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF). Additionally, financial analysts from Wall Street on Parade have continued to expose the Fed’s tactics. The investigative journalists note that the American populace needs to know: “[The Fed must be] stripped of its ability to bail out the trading firms on Wall Street.” The Fed and Blackrock Have No Oversight and Just Do Whatever They Want The Federal Reserve is more powerful than ever before. For the past two months, the U.S. central bank and many other foreign central banks have used Covid-19 as an excuse. The Fed has created trillions for Wall Street and corporate executives, while at the same time putting U.S. citizens in debt forever. There is vast amounts of historical evidence that shows modern central bankers have been colluding since the early 1900s and devastated the American economy in the ‘20s, ‘30s, mid-’80s, and 2007 through 2010. Alongside most recent economic disaster as well. Despite this history, the American populace is still not aware of how criminal the Fed has become. Wall Street on Parade columnists Pam Martens and Russ Martens detailed that Americans must do something to fix the situation soon. The financial researchers explained: It should be clear to all engaged Americans at this point that the Fed must be stripped of its supervisory role over the Wall Street megabanks; that it must be stripped of its ability to bail out the trading firms on Wall Street. Even though a lot of reports, including a myriad of editorials and investigations from news.Bitcoin.com, show that the Fed is not acting in the best interest of the people, the average citizen doesn’t know what to do about it. The chart on the right shows “growth in Federal Reserve’s Foreign Central Bank USD Liquidity Swaps Versus Dow Jones Industrial Average” Photo Credit: FRED & Wall Street on Parade. While adding more insult to injury, after creating $6.6 trillion before the first U.S. Covid-19 death, $2 trillion for the CARES Act, and the Treasury borrowing $3 trillion, the Fed now plans to purchase corporate bonds and exchange-traded funds from it’s Wall Street pals. On Monday evening on May 11, the New York Fed wrote: As specified in the term sheet, the SMCCF may purchase U.S.-listed ETFs whose investment objective is to provide broad exposure to the market for U.S. corporate bonds. The preponderance of ETF holdings will be of ETFs whose primary investment objective is exposure to U.S. investment-grade corporate bonds, and the remainder will be in ETFs whose primary investment objective is exposure to U.S. high-yield corporate bonds. ‘The Bailout Boy’s Club’ Buying Corporate Bonds and ETFs The two Wall Street on Parade columnists explain that the U.S. central bank is letting financial incumbents run amok, even if they commit fraudulent acts. “Just last year, multiple traders at JPMorgan Chase were criminally charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with turning the precious metals desk at the bank into a racketeering enterprise,” the Martens detailed. “They were charged under the RICO statute, one that is typically reserved for charging members of organized crime. Bloomberg News has since reported that the bank itself is under a criminal investigation in that matter. Despite this outrageous history, the Fed has allowed Dimon to remain at the helm of the bank and it has also allowed the bank to open more bank branches and balloon its assets” the columnists’ added. Making matters worse, the new program that allows the SMCCF to buy corporate bonds and ETFs, is being managed by Blackrock. Already corporate entities are lining up for money like junkies as Paypal, the food firm Mondelez, and the tobacco company Altria have all been issuing bonds. The nationalization and cronyism between the Fed, American banks, corporate America, and politicians are making private investors worried. “We are all government-sponsored enterprises now,” Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Investments said on Tuesday. “At the margin, some questionable credits will not only have a lower risk of default, but they will also have a lower risk of downgrade and pay lower rates of interest,” Minerd added. Economists Think the Fed Will Bring Below Zero Benchmark Interest Rates Soon Many sound money advocates and bitcoin supporters believe the Fed should be abolished, and a slew of people believe cryptocurrencies can disrupt modern central banking. Unfortunately, the American citizenry and even global citizens believe that central banks play an important role. The very first central bank started in Spain back in 1401. Years later, after the creation of Sweden’s Riksbank and the 1844 with the Bank Charter Act, central banks have ravaged the global economy by producing wreckless “busts and booms.” The Fed’s job is supposed to keep prices stable and attempt to keep unemployment low at all costs, but the entity has failed miserably. They are also supposed to make sure the country’s banking system is sound but instead, they have bailed out ‘too big to fail’ every time. Lastly, the Fed is also supposed to stabilize the economy if there is a crisis and so far, even with all the financial bazookas, they are failing on that end too. In contrast, the mathematical and probable system Satoshi Nakamoto created dropped it’s per annum inflation rate from 3.6% to 1.8%, after the third halving. Even though the Fed has created trillions of dollars for its buddies, many believe the Fed will push benchmark interest rates below zero soon. Meanwhile, as Jamie Dimon and the rest of the Wall Street execs are happy as pigs in a slop-house, the American populace is facing one of the worst economic situations since the Great Depression. What do you think about the Fed buying corporate bonds and ETFs? Let us know in the comments below. The post Buying Corporate Bonds and ETFs: US Federal Reserve Continues to Bailout ‘Too Big to Fail’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On May 15, the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain will be upgraded and there will be at least three new features added to the longest chain. The upgrade in three days is being discussed fervently by the community, because it follows the recent and controversial Infrastructure Funding Proposal (IFP). Bitcoin Cash to Upgrade In Three Days – Bitcoin ABC’s Amaury Séchet Discusses IFP During Recent Podcast In three days’ time, the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain will upgrade again, adding a few new features to the network. If things go smoothly, as they have in the past, the protocol will have an increased transaction chain limit from 25 to 50. The chain limit extension was requested by various members of the industry for quite some time now. The opcode ‘OP_Reversebytes’ will also be supported in script after the upgrade as well. BCH developers have also improved the counting of signature operations using the new “Sigchecks” method. There is also the IFP code, which remains in the Bitcoin ABC codebase but won’t be used with the Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) project. Developers who worked on the BCHN chain have noted that regardless of whether the Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP) is voted in, the implementation was built to follow the longest chain. The new upgrade for the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain will take place on May 15, 2020. The BCHN full node will be adding the other features that go along with the May 15, 2020 upgrade. Just recently, Bitcoin ABC developer Amaury Séchet spoke with Coinspice reporter, C. Edward Kelso, and explained his thoughts about the upcoming upgrade. The podcast called “The IFP and Why it Remains in the Code,” gives a glimpse into how Séchet is feeling about the next upgrade. The discussion with Kelso gives a comprehensive look at the reason why the IFP was left in the ABC codebase and Séchet’s opinion concerning alternate full node implementations. For those who want to read more about the upgrade’s new additions and the IFP plan, check out the links below published by Bitcoin ABC team members. Draft May 2020 Protocol Upgrade Specification. Draft Specification for OP_REVERSEBYTES. Draft Specification for Sigchecks. Miner Infrastructure Funding Plan. Upgrading Nodes Across the Board About a week ago, the developers behind the BCHN project published its technical bulletin written by Calin Culianu. Prior to publishing the bulletin the BCHN project reached 100% of its Flipstarter funding goal 12 days before the cutoff date. On May 11, the development team from Bitcoin Unlimited tweeted to the public reminding people they need to upgrade their nodes. “Upgrade your Bitcoin Cash node before May 15th,” the development team wrote. Users can download the latest Bitcoin Unlimited implementation here and the team is offering advice on how to upgrade your node via the BU Telegram channel. Bitcoin ABC node runners can download the latest ABC release here and BCHN users can get a copy of the Bitcoin Cash Node implementation here. Full node operators can also download the latest BCHD software, Flowee the Hub, Knuth, and Bitcoin Verde. At the time of publication, there are 1,414 public nodes running on the Bitcoin Cash network. 632 of them are using Bitcoin ABC according to Coin Dance statistics, 689 nodes are running BU. BCHN has 62 nodes today, and there are 31 other nodes running BCHD, Flowee, Verde, and Knuth. Coin Dance also reveals that the Bitcoin Cash IFP did not reach the required threshold and “is not expected to activate before the May 15th deadline.” Right now there’s around 1.8 exahash of proof-of-work hashing power securing the Bitcoin Cash chain. With only three days left and about a month after the BCH halving, BCH supporters will be watching the next upgrade very closely. What do you think about the next BCH upgrade scheduled for May 15? Let us know in the comments below. The post Bitcoin Cash Upgrade 3 Days Away – New Opcode Support, Chain Limit Extension, Sigchecks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

JPMorgan Chase has reportedly started providing banking services to bitcoin businesses, with the first two clients being Coinbase and Gemini exchanges. JPMorgan also recently recommended having cryptocurrency in investment portfolios as its CEO, Jamie Dimon, changed his mind about bitcoin. JPMorgan Chase’s Bitcoin Clients JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reportedly started to accept clients from the cryptocurrency industry. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that two prominent bitcoin exchanges, Coinbase Inc. and Gemini Trust Co., have become banking customers of JPMorgan Chase, citing people familiar with the matter. The two bitcoin exchanges’ accounts were approved in April and transactions are just starting to be processed, the publication added. JP Morgan Chase is mainly providing cash-management services to the exchanges. It is handling dollar-based transactions for their U.S.-based customers, including processing deposits and withdrawals, through the Automated Clearing House network, and wire transfers. Many customers of Coinbase and Gemini link their bank accounts to their cryptocurrency accounts so a payments processor is required for handling cash transfers to and from those bank accounts. The services JP Morgan Chase offers do not include handling bitcoin or crypto transactions for the exchanges. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon used to call bitcoin “a fraud” but later regretted it. Now, his bank has reportedly accepted two bitcoin exchanges, Coinbase and Gemini, as clients. JPMorgan Warming up to Bitcoin Large financial institutions are often reluctant to provide banking services to cryptocurrency businesses. Coinbase and Gemini had to go through a long vetting process to get JPMorgan Chase’s approval, which likely took into account the fact that both are regulated bitcoin exchanges in the U.S. Gemini holds a trust charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) while Coinbase is registered as a money services business with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and also holds a Bitlicense from the DFS. Both are licensed as money transmitters in multiple U.S. states. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon used to call bitcoin “a fraud,” predicting in September 2017 that the cryptocurrency would eventually blow up. “It’s worse than tulip bulbs. It won’t end well. Someone is going to get killed,” Dimon was quoted by CNBC as saying. However, less than five months later, he told the news outlet: “I regret making” those bitcoin remarks. Furthermore, JPMorgan has launched its own digital currency called the JPM Coin, which is “a digital coin designed to make instantaneous payments using blockchain technology,” its website details. The JPMorgan research team also recently advised in a report that cryptocurrency should be in a portfolio. What do you think about JPMorgan accepting bitcoin businesses as clients? Let us know in the comments section below. The post JPMorgan Chase Starts Accepting Bitcoin Businesses for Banking Services appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

About a third of Bitcoin (BTC) mining firms may already be switching off their machines as the business becomes unprofitable due to a reduction in mining rewards. The third Bitcoin halving – consummated earlier today – reduced supply of the pioneering cryptocurrency, cutting the bonus paid to miners for solving mathematical puzzles that underpin the network by 50% to 6.25BTC per block. According to Alejandro De La Torre, VP at mining pool Poolin, miners who make up between 15% to 30% of the entire BTC network hashrate are already in the process of shutting down as profit margins come under pressure. Those companies operating inefficient “old generation” mining rigs, such as Bitmain’s S9 miner, on higher electricity costs, will be most affected, he opined. “The … final difficulty adjustment with the 12.5 BTC block subsidy will occur one week before the halving (1008 blocks), and the difficulty is projected to increase,” De La Torre wrote in a recent analysis, adding: We expect that the first 1008 blocks after the halving will be mined slowly as huge numbers of unprofitable miners drop off the network. We estimate around 30% of the entire Bitcoin network will be squeezed considering that the first 1008 blocks will have the pre-halving difficulty, but half the reward. Miners are facing pressure from the periodic halving, as the event will affect revenues for mining companies a great deal. Some experts argue that the revenue decline might be compensated by a spike in the price of BTC – a feat generally associated with previous halving events. However, if the price drops, less efficient miners will be squeezed out faster. De La Torre said “mining is a long game about survival” and firms that fail to move to more efficient mining machines or to find cheaper electricity will “capitulate”. “While we expect most of these miners will shut down after the halving, it is likely that some of them have cheap enough electricity to survive in the near future,” he stated. The Bitcoin mining reward has dropped from 50 in 2009 to 25 in 2012; 12.5 in 2016 and then to 6.25 this year (all in BTC), in a pre-determined, inalterable supply cut every fourth year, meant to keep inflation in check. What do you think about Bitcoin mining in relation to the halving? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Up to 30% of Bitcoin Miners Close Shop as Business Turns Unprofitable After Halving appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Bitcoin blockchain has experienced its third block reward halving on May 11, 2020, at approximately 3:21 p.m EST, even though quite a few countdown clocks estimated that the halving would occur on May 12. Bitcoin miners now get 6.25 BTC per block rather than the 12.5 BTC they acquired before the halving. On Sunday, news.Bitcoin.com reported on the bitcoin halving that was expected to happen on May 12, 2020, but due to the speed of the network, it happened to take place on May 11 instead. At the time of publication, BTC’s hashrate is around 120 exahash per second (EH/s) and the price has been hovering in the mid-$8K range (between $8,300-8,700) per coin all day long. The halvings happen every four years (210,000 blocks) on the BTC chain, and the last two were in 2012 and 2016. Before the first halving, miners got 50 coins and after that event, the block reward was cut down to 25 coins per block. The second halving saw the reward cut in July 2016, as it was shaved down to 12.5 BTC per block. The halving means no matter how miners feel about it, the reward (revenue) they get per block will be chopped in half. In our previous article, it was mentioned that there were three key data points to watch leading up to the halving which include; countdown clocks, the overall hashrate, and the price per BTC. Now that the halving is over and block 630,000 has been mined, the last two key data points will still be watched with great interest. One could also add that BTC’s network difficulty will be another statistic to watch during the days and weeks after the reward cut. The BTC network hashrate has been around 120 exahash per second on May 11, 2020, just before and during the block reward halving. Observers can watch BTC’s price using markets.Bitcoin.com, as well as observe BTC’s network hashrate via charts.Bitcoin.com. Both of these resources are updated every day in real-time and people can observe the network difficulty as well. The data and analysis web portal Coin Dance, which covers all three Bitcoin-based branches (BTC, BCH, and BSV), is also a great resource to use if you are watching the network’s activities after the halving. Satoshi’s halving code also changes BTC issuance and inflation rate and people can also monitor the inflation rate per annum using charts.Bitcoin.com’s data. As far as halving price speculation and discussions, well you can find that kind of stuff all over social media and crypto-related forums. The truth of the matter is no one knows what will happen after the halving and the weeks and months that follow. Watching the price, difficulty, and overall hashrate will give spectators a better glimpse of the halvings effects. No matter what happens, cryptocurrency advocates know there is never a dull day in bitcoin-land and the reward halving just adds more fuel to the excitement and speculators’ wild theories too. What do you think about the third BTC block reward halving? Let us know in the comments below. The post Bitcoin’s Third Halving Complete: Reward Cut Surprisingly Faster Than Previous Time Estimates appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The average transaction cost for Bitcoin (BTC) soared 414% in the days before the halving, peaking at $3.19 on May 8, from as low as $0.62 on April 26. This is the highest price bitcoiners have paid for a transaction on the network in ten months, according to data from Bitinfocharts. Fees are paid each time a Bitcoin transaction is processed and confirmed by a miner, who pockets the fees, in addition to the block reward, as revenue. High fees typically indicate that demand for processing transactions is significantly higher than the supply of miners – suggesting more people are using the network and willing to pay more for speedy settlements. Transaction costs hovered around $1.80 in early May before spiking to $3.19 three days ago. For the greater part of April, fees averaged well below $1, but rose sharply as the month drew to a close, reaching $2.86 on April 30. Overall, fees grew seven-fold in the month. At the time of writing, the cost of a transaction on the Bitcoin network had dropped slightly below $2, as per the Bitinfocharts data. In July 2019, fees soared to $6.18, but remained significantly below the $55 reported in December 2017, when the price of BTC hit a record high $20,000. Halving events have historically been associated with sharp increases in transaction fees. The upcoming halving – only a few hours away – will reduce the supply of bitcoin, cutting the rewards paid to miners 50% to 6.25BTC. While traders are excited about the prospect of rising BTC prices, there is some concern that the halving will result in a sharp revenue decline for miners. Analysts say miners might seek to compensate revenue losses through higher transaction fees. What do you think about the rising Bitcoin transaction costs? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. The post Bitcoin Transaction Costs Soar 400% Amid Halving Hyperbole appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Everybody’s sick of commissions. Lumi Wallet is renouncing them, introducing 0% Fees on all in-wallet operations. All you need to get rid of hidden fees is the Lumi Wallet app and the promocode – BTCNEWS. Why is Lumi doing this? Decentralized finance has undeniable advantages over fiat currencies: convertibility, diversification, speed, and security of transfer. But the junction of two worlds – crypto and fiat – is where we face the necessary evil – transaction fees. Lumi is a private wallet. It does not collect or ask for any data from you, and it does not have control over your funds. However, when you are using exchange services in any wallet, avoiding the danger of holding your money directly on an exchange, there are always some inside commissions you pay for the extra layer of security. Lumi always had some of the lowest fees on the market, but now, celebrating years of hard work, it has decided to give its users a unique offer in the crypto space – 0% fees on crypto to crypto transactions. Whenever you exchange BTC, ETH, EOS or any other currencies present in Lumi wallet, you just have to enter the promo code BTCNEWS and the commission fee will be reduced to 0. Openness and convenience These have always been a priority for Lumi, so what better way to celebrate the latest major update, which includes a bunch of new language localizations, design tweaks and the long-awaited open-source, than seamless, fee-less transactions for wallet users? How to Exchange Crypto with Zero Fees? The process is simple: 1. Open your Lumi Wallet app (https://lumiwallet.onelink.me/cCHr?pid=Media&c=PR&af_ad=zerofee&af_sub1=btcnews&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Flumiwallet.com) 2. Go to the ‘Settings’ menu (the three horizontal lines at the top right) 3. Tap on the ‘Promo Codes’ menu 4. Type in the code BTCNEWS and save it And that’s it! Now you can trade your crypto with zero fees. Just tap on the ‘Exchange menu’ and start your trade! 0% Fees are here to stay So don’t forget to tell your friends about this offer and share it on social media and to stay updated on all news and offers, follow Lumi Wallet’s lively blog. If you have any questions about Lumi, don’t hesitate to write to hello@lumiwallet.com. Contact Email Address pr@lumiwallet.com Supporting Link https://lumiwallet.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 Exchange Crypto with 0% Fees in Lumi Wallet appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Bank of England has predicted the worst economic crash since the Great Frost of 1709. Economists are less optimistic than the central bank about the rate of recovery for the UK economy. “Current conditions are unprecedented in our lifetime and all forecasters are struggling to make out where the economy stands now,” one economist described. Worst Recession in Over 300 Years The Bank of England (BOE) has forecasted a devastatingly bleak outlook for the U.K. economy in its most recent monetary policy report published on Thursday ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiling the new guidelines for coronavirus lockdown. The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has “constructed a plausible illustrative economic scenario” to help illustrate the potential impact of the covid‑19 crisis on the British economy. The BOE noted, however, that an unprecedented crisis means the economic outlook is “unusually uncertain,” as it critically depends “on the evolution of the pandemic and how governments, households, businesses and financial markets respond,” the report details. Based on the bank’s own best estimate and historical data, the coronavirus crisis could push the British economy into the fastest and deepest recession in 300 years, since the huge economic slump of 1706 and the Great Frost of 1709. The U.K. economy could shrink by 14% in 2020, the biggest annual contraction since a decline of 15% in 1706 and 13% in 1709. The overall output is expected to plunge almost 30% in the first half of 2020 — due to a fall of 3% in the first quarter and another 25% drop in the second quarter. England could suffer the worst economic recession since the economic slump of 1706 and the Great Frost of 1709, predicted the Bank of England. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey explained that “a failure to lend would create a vicious circle of more bankruptcies and higher losses on loans that would come back to hit the banks themselves,” the Financial Times conveyed. “The better path for banks is to keep lending,” he told journalists. ”If the system [ensures a good supply of loans], we’ll get a better outcome.” Nonetheless, the bank warned that even with adequate lending, the British economy was bound to take a hit, pointing out that household spending has already dropped about 30% since early March. Commerzbank economist Peter Dixon commented: Current conditions are unprecedented in our lifetime and all forecasters are struggling to make out where the economy stands now, never mind what happens in future. But it is clear that the next few months are going to produce some of the biggest output falls on record. The central bank has also forecasted that the unemployment rate in the U.K. is likely to rise to 9% in 2021, a higher joblessness rate than after the 2008-09 financial crisis. The BOE added that the British economy could be on course to shrink by 25% in the three months to June. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is hopeful that the economic rebound in the U.K. will be much more rapid than the global financial crisis. However, some economists do not share his optimism. Economic Recovery Predictions The Bank of England governor explained that the economic rebound was likely to happen “much more rapidly than the pullback from the global financial crisis,” the media quoted him as saying. A rough estimate by the central bank assumed long-term damage to the economy would only be 1.5% of gross domestic product and would come from missed business investment in 2020. Otherwise, the bank predicted the economy could bounce back in a V-shaped recovery, unlike the U.S. or world economy. The Bank of England also said that it stands ready to inject more money into the economy if needed. In March, it pledged £200 billion ($248 billion) to support economic activity by buying government bonds. “It’s a very aggressive purchasing program . . . we have made a very clear commitment to do what it takes to support the economy consistent with the inflation target,” the BOE governor was quoted as saying. Two of the Monetary Policy Committee members, Jonathan Haskel and Michael Saunders, voted to increase quantitative easing (QE) by another £100 billion immediately. Many economists expect the Bank of England to increase its asset purchase program in June before the extra £200 billion it gave itself in March is exhausted. They believe more QE is coming. Capital Economics’ chief U.K. economist, Paul Dales, believes the central bank was signaling: More QE is coming, if not in June, then in August. Some strategists and economists doubt that Britain’s economy will bounce back as quickly as the central bank assumes. Morgan Stanley chief U.K. economist Jacob Nell said: “We see this forecast as credible for 2020, but are less convinced by the 2021 recovery, where we take a more cautious view, implying weaker growth, lower inflation, wider deficits and more MPC action.” What do you think about the Bank of England’s forecast? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Bank of England Predicts Worst Economic Crash in 300 Years for UK appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In a touch more than 24-hours time, the third bitcoin halving will take place on May 12, 2020, on or around 9:50 p.m. ET. Miners will see their revenues slashed in half from 12.5 coins to 6.25 BTC after the halving and speculators wonder what will happen after the event. Currently, according to Google Trends the term “bitcoin halving” is one of the most searched topics within the crypto ecosystem today. Prior Bitcoin Halvings On Saturday evening give or take a few hours and minutes, the BTC network will experience the third block reward halving in its history. The first two halvings correlated with gigantic price surges and speculators are assuming the next “quantitative hardening,” will produce the same effect. The first block halving occurred in November 2012 and the price per BTC jumped from $11 per coin, to around $1,150 toward the end of 2013. Similarly, the second halving, which took place in July 2016 also saw a massive spike in bitcoin’s value. The price immediately after the 2016 halving was around $650 per BTC and the price surged to $19,600 on December 17, 2017. There has always been a great number of people who theorize that the third halving will produce the same outcome, but there are many skeptics who disagree. What is a Bitcoin Halving? A halving is when the blockchain protocol changes the reward for miners every 210,000 blocks mined, which is roughly around 4 years per interval. Before the 2012 halving, miners got 50 BTC and after the event, the reward was reduced to 25 BTC per block. After the last halving event, miners saw the 25 BTC reward slashed to 12.5 coins per block. This process, sometimes referred to as “quantitative hardening,” is of stark contrast to quantitative easing (QE) practices central banks partake in. The system will continue to produce block rewards and halve every four years, until on or around the year 2140. Essentially, Nakamoto’s system is a synthetic form of inflation protection, that is meant to keep BTC scarce over the course of its history. Estimates show that right now BTC’s per annum inflation rate is around 3.6% and after May 12 it will drop to 1.8%. BTC’s inflation rate will meander around 1.8% until the next halving and will likely be around 1.1% following the fourth block reward reduction. Estimates also show that through the year 2025 and the halving in 2026, BTC’s inflation rate will be as low as 0.4%. The next 1.8% inflation rate will be lower than the world’s central banks’ benchmark reference rate. Soon after that, the issuance will even outshine the precious metal gold. Basically, what that means is it will be slower to produce than all the gold mined on earth being added to circulation, and gold mining rewards don’t cut in half every four years either. Why Does the Halving Matter? The halving is not only a big deal as far as scarcity is concerned, but it will also have economic implications on miners. Every halving miners get their revenues cut in half and in order for them to profit, the price must balance the amount of capital they are putting into operations. Miners want to profit and if transaction fees and the overall price of BTC is lower than what they are spending, they will be forced to shut down. Following the third halving, miners will not be the biggest sellers of BTC, and cryptocurrency exchanges will be taking that position away from them. The price of BTC on May 10, 2020, with just 36 hours left on the countdown clock. The two things cryptocurrency supporters will be watching closely during the BTC halving on and after May 12, will be the cryptocurrency’s hashrate and price. Some skeptics believe that if the price of BTC doesn’t outweigh the costs to mine, then there will be a lot of miner capitulation. This means the hashrate or overall security of the proof-of-work chain would reduce in miners left in mass exodus. If the price jumps above the cost to mine blocks and higher, then the hashrate should increase and the security will also be bolstered even more so. The firm Tradeblock assumes the price per BTC needs to be at least $12,500 per coin to avoid miner capitulation. Where Can I Observe the Halving Countdown, Price, and Hashrate? Spectators interested in watching the halving can check out one of these five countdown clocks such as Bitcoinblockhalf.com, Bitcoin Halving – Brave New Coin, Binance Academy – Bitcoin Halving Countdown, Bitcoinclock.com, and Blockchair – Bitcoin 2020 Halving Tools. People can observe BTC’s overall hashrate by leveraging charts.Bitcoin.com. Cryptocurrency supporters can also follow BTC’s overall hashrate by leveraging Bitcoin.com’s charts and educational resources. BTC’s market price can be followed on markets.Bitcoin.com and charts.Bitcoin.com will show visitors the BTC network’s hashpower. The countdown clocks, bitcoin’s price, and the hashrate will be the three most-watched data points during the next 24 hours and during the next few weeks following the halving event. What do you think about the third Bitcoin Halving? Let us know what you think in the comments below. The post Quantitative Hardening: Dissecting the Third Bitcoin Halving, 3 Key Data Points to Watch appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The Chinese ASIC mining rig manufacturer Bitmain reportedly pulled in $300 million in revenue during Q1 2020. Meanwhile, as Bitmain claims to be regaining market share, the firm Ebang recently applied with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for initial public offering (IPO) status. However, the prospectus sent to SEC shows that while Ebang made $109 million last year, the company also had a $41 million deficit in 2019. Ebang’s IPO Prospectus Shows a $41 Million Deficit and Plans for an Exchange Bitcoin mining is feverishly hot these days, especially just before the great Bitcoin reward halving that will take place on or around May 12, 2020. During the last six months, there’s only a handful of ASIC mining rig manufacturers and all of them stem from China. This includes companies like Bitmain, Ebang, Strongu, Innosilicon, Microbt, and Canaan. There are a few other manufacturers, but the firms are not nearly as sizable as these six businesses. Just recently, the company Ebang filed for a $100 million initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S. and the company will await a decision from the SEC. Although, the firm’s prospectus shows that Ebang suffered from some losses in 2019, and it may reflect the IPO’s initial raise. Ebang’s prospectus shows the firm made over $109 million in 2019, but it also had a deficit of around $41 million. The prospectus shows that the company’s roadmap also includes more than just ASIC manufacturing, as Ebang looks to launch a digital currency trading platform internationally as well. Last year, the ASIC manufacturer Canaan bid it’s IPO with SEC for $400 million on the Nasdaq Global Market. But when the Chinese mining rig manufacturer Canaan Inc. launched its initial public offering (IPO) sale on November 21, it only raised $90 million worth of shares. In March 2020 Canaan was sued and accused of misleading IPO investors in a class-action lawsuit. Ebang also has a number of lawsuits as well and was allegedly investigated by the Beijing Police Bureau in December 2019. Bitmain Allegedly Brings In $300 Million in Q1 2020 While Ebang filed for an IPO in the U.S., it was rumored last October that Bitmain filed confidentially for a U.S.-based IPO. At the end of February, Bitmain launched two next-generation bitcoin miners with max speeds up to 110TH/s Per unit. According to a regional report discovered by 8btc on April 29 via Wemedia, Bitmain allegedly made $300 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2020. The report also disclosed that Bitmain told it’s employees this information and the company has increased it’s hashpower a great deal as well. Financial columnist lylian Teng explained that it is uncertain whether or not Bitmain is still profiting after the market downturn in March. “In Q1 of 2019, Bitmain’s total revenue reportedly stood at $1.082 billion but registered a $310 million loss,” Teng wrote. While Ebang files for an IPO in the U.S. and Bitmain tries to obtain more market share, other firms are racing toward becoming ASIC manufacturing giants as well. Both Microbt and Innosilicon have ramped up sales quite a bit and have seen a lot more presence on secondary markets and ASIC mining rig review sites. Meanwhile, as the bitcoin mining competition grows extremely fierce, the Bitcoin Halving will take place in a little more than two days, which will chop every bitcoin miner’s revenue by 50%. What do you think about Ebang’s prospectus and the alleged $300 million Bitmain made in 2020? Let us know in the comments below. The post Bitcoin Mining Markets Heat Up: Ebang’s $41M Deficit, Bitmain’s Alleged 2020 Revenue appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article