Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Members of the State Duma are now working on amendments that will permit the use of cryptocurrency as a contractual means of payment. Digital financial assets are regarded as property under Russian law and the changes will legalize crypto payments between parties to a contract. State Duma to Amend Civil Code to Legalize Contractual Crypto Payments The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the Duma, is gearing up to remove barriers to using cryptocurrencies in contract payments. The proposals are subject to an ongoing review but according to the chairman of the Committee on Legislation, Pavel Krasheninnikov, there is consensus on the matter. Speaking at the St. Petersburg Legal Forum, the lawmaker stated: We believe that it is necessary to make amendments to the Civil Code. Now we are in the appropriate approval procedure but there is an understanding that digital monetary units, as they have been called, can be a contractual means of payment. Krasheninnikov noted that while crypto...

On Friday, the cryptocurrency community discussed a report stemming from China’s 51st meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission that reiterated warnings about bitcoin mining. The following Sunday, reports disclosed the cryptocurrency operation Huobi has suspended its cloud-mining operations and other crypto services to customers in mainland China. Rumors of China and Bitcoin’s Uneasy Relationship Continue It was said on many occasions in 2017 that bitcoin ( BTC ) was resilient to negative news from China, after the tumultuous year of bad news from China back in 2013. 2021 has been a whole lot different, and it seems the policy of the Chinese government toward cryptocurrency, in general, and the mining industry is still meaningful to a lot of people. After the news on Friday , two days later, reports tied to the cryptocurrency companies Huobi and Okex has crypto proponents discussing China once again. Images shared by the local Chinese journalist Wu Blockcha...

The player with the best goal at Europe’s international soccer championship this summer will be awarded a special prize. European football’s governing body, UEFA, and the tournament’s sponsor, Russia’s Gazprom, are behind the initiative to present the winner with an NFT trophy. UEFA, Gazprom to Award Best Goal Prize at Euro 2020 The unique prize will be awarded as part of a sponsorship agreement with the Russian energy giant, which UEFA and Gazprom recently extended for another three years. The deal covers two European national football team finals as well as the Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious professional soccer club tournament. The non-fungible token ( NFT ) will represent an original artwork by a famous Russian artist that will be created at the fan zone in Saint Petersburg. Russia’s second-largest city will host seven of a total 51 matches at UEFA Euro 2020 to be played in a dozen different cities across Europe. The tournament was postponed last year due to the Co...

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman says he has given up predicting the imminent demise of bitcoin. The economist now suggests thinking of the cryptocurrency “as a cult that can survive indefinitely.” Nonetheless, Krugman still believes that bitcoin has no fundamentals. Paul Krugman Likens Bitcoin to a Cult That Can Survive Indefinitely Nobel laureate Paul Krugman said on Twitter last week that he has given up on predicting bitcoin’s demise. Krugman won The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2008 “for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity,” The Nobel Prize’s website shows. The economist tweed last week: I’ve given up predicting imminent demise. There always seem to be a new crop of believers. Maybe just think of it as a cult that can survive indefinitely. Krugman is still not a fan of bitcoin, however, insisting that the cryptocurrency does not have any fundamentals to discuss. “ BTC isn’t a new innovatio...

After the price of bitcoin touched a high of $64,895 per unit, speculators and skeptics think it might have been the top of the bull run and a 2018-like bear run is next. On Sunday, May 23, bitcoin prices have dropped to a low of $31,107 and bears have managed to take the reigns for a period. However, not everyone is convinced the current crypto bull run is similar to 2017, as a number of crypto proponents think the 2013 bull run is more aligned with present trends. ‘Two Major Peaks 8 Months Apart’ BTC has seen better days and a month ago, the price reached $64k per coin but four days ago, BTC prices dropped to the lowest price point of 2021 at $30,066 per unit. That’s a massive loss of 53.66% in a month’s time, but bitcoin prices have managed to rise a hair higher than the bottom. However, on Sunday, bitcoin ( BTC ) prices tapped a low of $31,107 and prices have neared the bottom low once again. Since this market carnage has happened, the capitulation has once again invoked BTC ...

While bitcoin prices have slid in value and the high network difficulty, the leading crypto asset is still quite profitable to mine according to current data. Despite the profitability, these days there are only a few manufacturers producing application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machines. Microbt, Bitmain Sell the Most Profitable Bitcoin Miners on the Market, But Product Is Sold Out Across the Board Bitcoin (BTC) prices have seen some significant losses during the past two weeks but network participants, particularly bitcoin miners, continue to support the cryptocurrency network. Bitcoin miners have to leverage lots of capital and a great deal of ASICs to compete with the industrial speed and innovation this sector has captured. In the early days, a great number of ASIC manufacturers existed but these days, there’s only a small pack of mining rig manufacturers producing these devices. Bitcoin ASIC mining statistics for this post were recorded on Sunday, May 23, 2021, usi...

The Carlyle Group’s co-founder, David Rubenstein, says that the idea of the government stopping cryptocurrency from being something that investors want is unrealistic. He believes that cryptocurrency is here to stay. It’s not going away as “It’s clearly something that the market wants,” he said. David Rubenstein Bullish About Crypto David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chairman of Carlyle’s Board of Directors, talked about bitcoin and the future of cryptocurrency in an interview with CNBC last week. He previously served as co-chief executive officer of The Carlyle Group, a private equity, asset management, and financial services corporation. In 2015, Carlyle was the world’s largest private equity firm by capital raised over the previous five years, according to the PEI 300 index. Rubenstein said: “Crypto has come from nowhere to be a force in the market. It’s in effect a gold substitute for some. … It’s here to stay. Cryptocurrency is not going away, just like gold is not going away...

Former U.S. treasury secretary and chief economist at the World Bank, Larry Summers, says cryptocurrency is here to stay as a kind of digital gold. He believes that people want an alternative to gold that is “separate and apart from the day-to-day workings of governments.” Former World Bank Economist Larry Summers Sees Bitcoin as Digital Gold Lawrence Summers, who served as the Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration and as director of the White House National Economic Council in the Obama administration, talked about the future of cryptocurrencies during an interview with Bloomberg Friday. He was also president of Harvard University and chief economist of the World Bank. Currently, he is Harvard University’s President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor. Summers began by answering the question: “Is there a desire, is there a long-standing human desire to hold an asset that feels separate and apart from the day-to-day workings of governments? I think ...

Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” says now that bitcoin is “crashing,” it is a buying opportunity, especially for those who said that they could not afford it before. Alternatively, he said they can “Buy coins that outperform bitcoin for pennies,” reiterating that the Fed, Treasury, and Biden are the problems, not bitcoin or Elon Musk. Robert Kiyosaki’s Bitcoin Advice Famous author and investor Robert Kiyosaki has once again pushed for investors to buy bitcoin now that the price of the cryptocurrency has fallen sharply from its record highs. He sees the price “crash” as a buying opportunity. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. Over 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. Kiyosaki tweeted last week: I hear ‘I can’t afford bitcoin.’ Bitcoin is crashing, good news. Now is your chance....

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, has, at last, reaffirmed his cryptocurrency allegiance, after a series of contradictory signals that collaborated with the market plunge this past week. Musk affirmed he ultimately favors cryptocurrency against fiat-issued money on Twitter, something that was seen as a clear rebuff from his earlier statements where he criticized the Bitcoin network due to energy inefficiency claims. Elon Musk Reaffirms His Crypto Allegiance Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Spacex seems to be on the crypto bandwagon again, at least if we take his latest statements seriously. The entrepreneur now turned cryptocurrency influencer reaffirmed his allegiance with cryptocurrency and his preference for crypto assets via Twitter. While answering a tweet that asked what he thought about the people criticizing him for his recent take on the subject, Musk stated: The true battle is between fiat & crypto. On balance, I support the latter. This was taken as a clear endo...

Digital currency markets have shed billions once again, as the entire crypto-economy has been cut down from well over $2 trillion to today’s $1.44 trillion market valuation. Bitcoin was coasting along just above the $38k handle before 9 p.m. (EST) yesterday evening but after that point, sellers started capitulating and the price dropped under $34k. Crypto Economy Shaves Billions Crypto prices are down on Sunday after a number of markets tried to regain strength on Friday and Saturday. Bitcoin ( BTC ) and a number of other digital assets have lost significant value, as last week’s crypto market losses were some of the biggest in history. On Sunday, bitcoin ( BTC ) is trading for $35,385 per unit and is down 7% today and down 23% during the last seven days. BTC /USD on Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (May 23, 2021). BTC dominance has increased since dropping to a low of 40%. Sunday’s stats show BTC dominance is 45.9%, while ethereum ( ETH ) captures 17.3%. ...

Iran is using Bitcoin mining to circumvent and lessen the effect of the economic sanctions that the U.S. and other countries have applied to the country since 2006, according to a new study by Elliptic, a blockchain analytics and financial crime compliance firm. The country is indirectly using bitcoin mining to export part of its energy reserves, whose exports are being hampered by the said sanctions. Report: Iran Is Using Bitcoin Mining to Circumvent Sanctions Iran is leveraging bitcoin ( BTC ) as a tool to circumvent and lessen the impact of the harsh sanctions that the country is facing, according to a new study from Elliptic, a blockchain crime analysis firm. The investigation, which estimates Iran houses 4.5% of all the bitcoin hashrate in the world, states that the country is using bitcoin indirectly to export its energy reserves. Iran is one of the few countries with abundant oil reserves in the world. However, its capacity to export and use these has been severely limited...

Greenpeace, the ecological NGO, has stopped accepting bitcoin donations due to the big impact the cryptocurrency network has on the environment. The organization, which was one of the first NGOs to add bitcoin to its donations arsenal, has now backpedaled due to the growing energy consumption of the underlying network powering the asset. Greenpeace Stops Accepting Bitcoin Donations Greenpeace has stopped accepting bitcoin donations due to the big environmental impact that the energy consumption that the Bitcoin network is having. The NGO declared in an article earlier this week that they would be scraping this payment functionality, though they didn’t receive many donations in the form of cryptocurrency. Greenpeace stressed: “As the amount of energy needed to run bitcoin became clearer, this policy became no longer tenable,” Greenpeace was one of the first environmentally-focused NGOs of its kind to adopt and embrace bitcoin as a way of getting more support behind its green fla...