Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Police in Malaysia’s Jahor state have busted a seven-men gang that stole 8.6 million Malaysian ringgits ($2.15 million) worth of electricity to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. ● Police said they seized 1,746 bitcoin ( BTC ) mining machines across 21 premises in raids carried out between Feb.15 and Feb.16, the Malay Mail reported . The miners are claimed to be worth a combined 2.6 million ringgits ($650,000). ● Seven local suspects aged between 24 and 64 were nabbed in the operation, which involved domestic power company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). ● “The syndicate, which has been active since the beginning of last year, carried out its activities on the top floor of a shophouse to avoid detection by the authorities,” said Johor’s police chief, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay. ● Ayob Khan added that police are still investigating the operation, whose alleged mastermind and other gang members are still at large. ● “Investigators are not ruling out the possibility th...

A recent study unveiled that top-tier cryptocurrency exchanges increased their market share since October 2020, in the context of lower-risk exchanges. The bitcoin bull market fueled that both retail and professional traders utilized such risk, data shows. Stricter Regulations Boosted Transparency Levels in Crypto Exchanges Per information from crypto market data provider cryptocompare.com, top-tier crypto exchange gained 13% market share from October 2020 to January 2021. In fact, it increased from 61% ($347 billion) to 74% ($1.41 trillion). But the study — which covered over 160 exchanges — clarified the following about the market share’s proportion: Based on the most recent ranking update, the proportion of Top-Tier exchange volume in Jan 2021 would be 88% to reflect the increase in the number of Top Tier exchanges meeting the minimum threshold – 68 in July 2020 vs 76 in current update. Cryptocompare highlighted that exchange’s standards “improved” as regulatory requirement...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative for Nigeria, Ari Aisen recently discussed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive that targets crypto entities. In remarks made during a special virtual press briefing, Aisen repeats some of the CBN’s claims that cryptocurrencies were being used “for illegal transactions such as money laundering and drug trafficking.” CBN Acting in the Interests of Financial Sector Stability According to a report , Aisen, who says that other central banks have taken similar action, believes that “some care should be taken” concerning the use of cryptocurrencies. In an apparent justification of the directive, Aisen suggests that the CBN only wants a solution that will be “in the interest of the payment system and the sustainability of the financial sector.” However, during the same briefing, Aisen also calls on Nigerian monetary authorities to consider the “unification of foreign exchange rates.” While the CBN maintains the naira’s e...

PRESS RELEASE. While Ethereum has given way to a brave new world of decentralized financial applications that are completely permissionless, accessible and groundbreaking in many ways. However, it has done so on an experimental basis and with great costs. Ethereum provides a foundation on which these decentralized applications can be built upon but it is not ready for worldwide spread adoption. Simple transactions on the Ethereum network can cost upwards of $10 and interacting with smart contracts can even be several times more expensive. While Ethereum’s undeniable success has allowed it to garner a powerful DeFi community, and massive volumes both in decentralized trading and total value locked (which currently sits close to $40B in total) its infrastructure is simply not ready for widespread use. When the network is highly used, congestion leads to block space competition which drives up standard gas fees. This is where NEXT.chain comes in. Building on the shoulders of giants l...

At the end of December, the Carolina Panthers offensive lineman, Russell Okung told the public he would be getting half of his 13 million-dollar salary paid in bitcoin. Moreover, Okung made the decision at the right time, as the National Football League (NFL) just capped the league’s salaries at $180 million. Looking at it from a different perspective, some people think that Okung is now the highest salaried NFL player today because of his decision to stack satoshis. Okung’s Bitcoin Salary Matches His Entire Annual Wage Thanks to Crypto Gains The professional football player, Russell Okung, is well known for his stance toward bitcoin and well before he was paid in BTC , he relentlessly asked to receive his salary in crypto. At the end of December 2020, Okung shocked the world when he announced he would be getting half of his $13 million salary paid in BTC . As bitcoin has continued to climb higher in value week after week since then, a number of people have noted that Okung has ma...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has reaffirmed that it is important to ensure that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not used for illicit financing. In addition, she stresses the importance of regulating institutions that deal with bitcoin. Janet Yellen Claims It’s Important to Make Sure Bitcoin Is Not Used for Illicit Financing U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen answered some questions regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation in an interview with CNBC Thursday. Yellen said she considers bitcoin a “highly speculative asset,” emphasizing its high levels of volatility in recent years. Responding to a question about whether bitcoin and cryptocurrencies need to be regulated, the treasury secretary said: I think it’s important to make sure that it is not used as a vehicle for illicit transactions and that there’s investor protection. And so regulating institutions that deal in bitcoin, making sure that they adhere to their regulatory responsibilities, I think is cer...

The world’s largest asset manager with almost $9 trillion in assets under management, Blackrock, has started investing in bitcoin. Sharing his view on what’s driving up the price of the cryptocurrency, the firm’s chief investment officer says the technology and the regulation have evolved to where people find bitcoin should be part of their portfolios. In addition, people are looking for investments that could appreciate as inflation and debts move higher. Blackrock Has Entered the Bitcoin Space Blackrock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, Rick Rieder, talked about bitcoin in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. The New York-based asset management firm had $8.68 trillion of assets under management at the end of the fourth quarter. Rieder confirmed that Blackrock has “started to dabble” in bitcoin. When asked about what portfolio allocation should be in the cryptocurrency, he replied: “I wouldn’t put a number on the percentage allocation one should have, [since it] ...

Bitcoin’s market capitalization has crossed the $1 trillion zone after the price per coin surpassed $53,650 per unit. The valuation comes 145 months after the launch of the Bitcoin network on January 3, 2009. ‘The First Trillion Is the Hardest’ The price of bitcoin (BTC) has surpassed the territory needed to have a $1 trillion market capitalization. The valuation is a milestone to many crypto supporters who have rallied for the leading currency for the last decade. For the last two weeks, digital currency advocates discussed BTC ’s slow and steady approach toward the 1 trillion dollar zone. For instance, on February 16, The Block’s director of research Larry Cermak said : If Bitcoin hits ~$53,650, it’s gonna be a trillion-dollar asset. Fully diluted it’s already at $1.04T. At 10:42 a.m. (EST) the price of BTC touched an all-time high at $53,743. The conversation about reaching the 1 trillion dollar milestone was a topical conversation all week, as bitcoiners said it was a l...

The North American Purpose Bitcoin ETF launch on Thursday saw massive demand, as more than $165 million in trade volume was recorded. In fact, the exchange-traded fund listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) saw it’s first $80 million swapped during the first hour of trading sessions. Purpose Bitcoin ETF Captures $165 Million in Volume Just recently, the exchange-traded fund called the “Purpose Bitcoin ETF” was approved to be listed in Canada and proponents deemed it to be the “first” bitcoin-based ETF in North America. Bloomberg’s Claire Ballentine revealed that the ETF saw more demand than most ETFs listed on TSX on Thursday. The fund is curated by the firm Canada-based Purpose Investments, and the Ontario Securities Commission granted the fund permission to begin trading. Ballentine noted that during the first hour of trading, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (ticker symbol BTCC) saw a whopping $80 million in trade volume. Ballentine also highlighted that the Purpose Bitcoin ETF roa...

Throughout its history, PIVX has marked many firsts on the crypto market. These include being the first PoS project to use zk-SNARKs, masternodes, blockchain governance, deflationary mechanisms, and private staking. With a solid value proposition and numerous achievements under its belt, PIVX makes use of innovative technology to create a privacy-oriented paradigm within the cryptocurrency space. Blockchain Intelligence and Data Mining Famously referred to as de-anonymization through correlation, blockchain intelligence serves the purpose of tracking transactions and connecting them to their owners. By making use of smart algorithms that crawl through blockchain transactions, chainalysis companies can easily keep tabs on cryptocurrency addresses of interest. Arguments in favor of crypto tracking include deterring cyber-attacks, dealing with money launderers, and stopping illegal activity. However, most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are aware that chainalysis companies have the tenden...

The Binance token has toppled the stablecoin Tether to become the third-largest crypto asset by market capitalization. After starting the month of February a little under $50, the token had raced past the $250 mark on February 19. At the time of writing the token is fluctuating around its all-time high (ATH) and stood at $262. At this price, BNB ’s market capitalization currently stands at over $38 billion. This is nearly $4 billion more than that of Tether. Meanwhile, before the February price breakout, the token had experienced a gradual rise alongside other exchange assets. However, since the beginning of February, the token has seen two significant price breakouts. In its first significant rally, the token raced from a little under $50 on February 1 to $147 by February 10, representing a jump of nearly 200%. After a seven day lull, the token recommenced the rally on February 16 and at the time of writing, the token had doubled in value in just 72 hours. In the meantime, ...