Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The Beijing-based ASIC mining rig manufacturer Canaan announced the sale of 10,000 bitcoin mining machines to the firm Genesis Digital Assets Limited. Canaan plans to deliver the 10,000 A1246 and A1166 Pro Avalonminers by the end of the month. Canaan to Deliver 10,000 Bitcoin Miners to Genesis Digital Assets The company Canaan (Nasdaq: CAN) has been making lots of business moves in 2021, as the ASIC mining rig manufacturer believes it will see around $250 million in revenue at the end of the second quarter. The larger share of expected revenue is due to a number of mining rig orders placed in 2021 from a variety of companies purchasing thousands of Avalonminers. On Wednesday, the firm announced that Genesis Digital Assets had settled a purchase order for 10,000 A1246 and A1166 Pro Avalonminers. According to Canaan, the mining rig shipment to Genesis Digital Assets will be delivered in full by June 30, 2021. Both companies have an existing relationship as Canaan sold $93 million ...

Crypto trading platforms in South Korea are delisting certain digital currencies as they move to comply with stricter rules for the industry. The trading of some high-risk coins has been either halted or completely suspended on several Korean exchanges this week. South Korean Exchanges Wipe Trading Lists of Risky Digital Assets Trying to meet Seoul’s tougher new rules for the cryptocurrency sector, Korean exchanges are now purging their trading lists of high-risk assets. According to a report by Arirang, a number of crypto trading platforms have temporarily halted or ended the exchange of some digital coins, while warning customers to be cautious of other currencies. Out of 20 exchanges that have already obtained Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification , 11 have made such changes, the publication reveled. Among them are some of Korea’s leading crypto exchange providers, with observes reading the move as an attempt to meet new requirements for government approva...

The latest Bank of America’s Global Fund Manager Survey shows that “long bitcoin” is now the second most crowded trade. Moreover, most fund managers believe bitcoin is in a bubble and agree with the Fed that inflation is transitory. Bank of America’s June Fund Manager Survey Bank of America (BofA) released its June Global Fund Manager Survey this week. The survey, conducted between June 4-10, covers 224 fund managers with $667 billion under management. The fund managers were asked about many issues of concern to investors, ranging from where the economy and markets are heading to how much cash portfolio managers are holding and which trades they see as most overdone. “Long commodities” is now the most crowded trade, overtaking “ long bitcoin ” which is now the second most crowded trade. The third most crowded trade is “long tech stock,” followed by “long ESG,” “short U.S. Treasuries,” and “long euro.” Despite the BTC price pullback, 81% of the fund managers surveyed stil...

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), which has 15 member countries, will help El Salvador implement bitcoin as legal tender. The CABEI president has expressed his support. “We’re very optimistic,” he said. Central American Bank for Economic Integration Supports El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law The head of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) expressed his support for El Salvador’s bitcoin law Monday. CABEI Executive President Dante Mossi said that the bank will give El Salvador technical assistance to implement bitcoin as legal tender. Last week, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass a law making the cryptocurrency legal tender. The CABEI has 15 member countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Belize, Mexico, Republic of China (Taiwan), Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Cuba, and Korea. The bank’s objective is to “promote the economic integration and the balanced economic and ...

The CEO of General Motors (GM), America’s largest automaker, says that nothing precludes her company from accepting bitcoin if there is consumer demand for it. “Certainly, we want to make the whole buying and ownership experience as easy as possible,” said the GM chief executive. GM Will Accept Bitcoin if There’s Demand, CEO Indicates Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors (NYSE: GM), talked about the prospect of the largest automaker in the U.S. accepting bitcoin in an interview with CNBC Wednesday. Referencing Tesla CEO Elon Musk stating last week that his electric car company may start accepting BTC again, Barra was asked whether GM will be accepting the cryptocurrency for payments. She replied: There’s nothing that precludes us from doing that. We will be driven by our customers. Certainly, we want to make the whole buying and ownership experience as easy as possible. We will follow their lead. When Tesla announced in February that it would accept bitcoin for paymen...

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday told the public that it has forwarded the time frame for raising interest rates. “Progress on vaccinations will likely continue to reduce the effects of the public health crisis on the economy, but risks to the economic outlook remain,” the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a statement. The Meeting Before the ‘Meeting’ – Fed Expects Two Rate Hikes in 2023 After a number of market players waited for the Federal Reserve to reveal some signals, they got some on June 16, when 13 of the FOMC’s 18 committee members projected a rate hike by the end of 2023. “You can think of this meeting that we had as the ‘talking about talking about’ meeting,” the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell noted on Wednesday. The ‘meeting’ Powell refers to is the one where the FOMC raises interest rates after keeping rates suppressed at zero. The so-called plot of individual member interest rate expectations, shows a possibility of two interest rate hik...

Ever since El Salvador passed a bill that was approved by a supermajority in the Salvadoran Congress legalizing bitcoin as legal tender in the nation, the country has remained in the spotlight. Furthermore, there’s an area in El Salvador called “Bitcoin Beach” with a small group of beach villagers that are attempting to leverage bitcoin on a daily basis. El Zonte Beach Town and Surfer Village Attempts to Create a Bitcoin Circular Economy in El Salvador In a region located about 50 miles from the Litoral highway, there’s a small village and a lively surfer community situated in Playa El Zonte beach. After El Salvador legalized bitcoin as a form of tender in the country, this beach village area started gaining lots of attention. Not only will you find a number of hotels, hostels, and local eateries for surfers and backpackers, Playa El Zonte also has a bustling bitcoin community. The community or village calls itself “ Bitcoin Beach ” and people can follow the residents on Twitter. ...

The Swiss company TRES Group GmbH is launching an exciting and innovative program aiming at adding a solution to the Climate Change challenge. For several months, the FOSTER project has been under development, which aims to mass plant trees around the world for the benefit of increasing carbon dioxide absorption using blockchain technology. Climate the Change is an existential threat requiring participation by all to find and implement solutions to stay below 1.5 degree centigrade global warming. Nature Based Solutions are one form of alleviating CO2 emissions. Forestation and reforestation are a very effective way of creating an offset of CO2 emissions generated by fossil fuels utilization. Trees absorb CO2 and hence reducing the CO2 emissions, essentially the main reason for global warming, in the atmosphere. The world is going through “Energy Transition” gradually moving away from coal and fossil fuels to renewable energies. However, that this transition is a long journey and...

Fresh off the heels of announcing a non-fungible token (NFT) organization called Blockchain Creative Labs and a blockchain-based animated series, Fox Broadcasting Company has revealed it’s invoked a $100 million fund with Bento Box Entertainment (BBE) that aims to bolster NFT content creators. Fox and Bento Box to Fuel NFT Ecosystem With a $100 Million Fund On June 15, the New York-based television network and entertainment firm Fox revealed a $100 million fund that aims to help further NFT creators and the industry. Fox and its subsidiary Bento Box Entertainment (best-known for producing the show “Bob’s Burgers”) have explained that the companies are working with Blockchain Creative Labs to further the venture. The $100 million fund news follows the introduction of Blockchain Creative Labs revealed in mid-May. BBE was founded by Scott Greenberg, Joel Kuwahara, and Mark McJimsey and was acquired by Fox in 2019. The two firms believe the new venture will help innovate and mold the...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released its regulatory agenda which does not mention bitcoin or cryptocurrency regulation. Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies Not on SEC’s Latest Regulatory Agenda The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the Biden administration’s Spring 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions last week. It details “the actions administrative agencies plan to issue in the near and long term,” which provides “important public notice and transparency about proposed regulatory and deregulatory actions within the Executive Branch,” the accompanying announcement explains. Included in the agenda is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s “annual regulatory agenda,” the agency independently announced, clarifying: The report, which includes contributions related to the Securities and Exchange Commission, lists short- and long-term regulatory actions that administrative agencies plan to take. Some of the item...

American venture capital investor Tim Draper still believes in a bitcoin price prediction he made in mid-April 2018, at the Draper University blockchain party. At the time, Draper said that he thinks bitcoin could reach $250K by 2022, and during an interview with CNBC’s Jade Scipioni this week, Draper reiterated his six-digit bitcoin price forecast. Tim Draper Envisions Six-Digit Bitcoin Prices by Next Year Tim Draper, the venture capitalist who has his hands in a myriad of blockchain and crypto companies, discussed his bitcoin ( BTC ) price prediction with CNBC this week. Draper is well known in the crypto community as he has founded a number of firms that work within the industry. He has also founded organizations like Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Draper University, Draper Venture Network, Draper Associates, and Draper Goren Holm. Draper is famous for purchasing thousands of bitcoin ( BTC ) in July 2014 from the U.S. Marshals Service auction that sold BTC stemming from the Si...

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey says there will be an element of “tough love” in regulating cryptocurrency. “What we cannot have is a world where innovation gets a free pass to ignore the public interest. The odds of such an approach not ending well are too high,” the governor said. Bank of England’s Bailey Wants to Regulate Crypto With ‘Tough Love’ Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey talked about cryptocurrency regulation Monday at the annual conference of financial trade body The City UK. He was quoted as saying: “We must, both domestically and working with international partners, ensure that we understand and respond to the public interest issues that arise here.” He said it will allow the Bank of England to protect financial stability while allowing innovation to happen “in a world where the public interest is well defined and protected.” Emphasizing, “What we cannot have is a world where innovation gets a free pass to ignore the public interest. The odds of such an ...

Fighting to stop the value of the naira from dropping further, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) faces yet another problem: abuse of naira banknotes. According to the CBN’s Aladeen Badajo, the central bank is concerned with the rate at which Nigerians “mutilate, deface, squeeze and even spray and sell the naira notes.” He adds that as a result of this abuse, Nigeria is now spending more money on reprinting banknotes than it should. According to a report that quotes Badajo, an assistant director at the CBN’s Currency Operations Department, offenders now face possible jail time. Badajo elaborated: Abuse of the currency attracts a penalty of not less than six months or a fine of not less than $120 (N50,000) or both. The assistant director adds that instead of damaging the banknotes, “people [should] consider Nigeria’s currency as a symbol of national identity.” Meanwhile, Bitcoin.com News reached out to Nathanial Luz, a Nigerian “cryptocurrency thought leader” to understand...

Authorities in Abkhazia, the partially recognized South Caucasus republic, have discovered and closed down eight crypto mining farms in just two weeks. Since the beginning of June, law enforcement agents have disconnected more than 300 mining devices from the grid and fined an operator. Over 300 Mining Rigs Cut Off From Electricity Supply in Abkhazia Between June 1 and June 14, police in Abkhazia have found eight facilities for cryptocurrency mining that have been operating in breach of the country’s ban on digital coin minting. Law enforcement agents have disconnected almost 350 units of mining hardware from the electricity grid. The raids have been conducted by the Ministry of Interior and local police officials in several regions of the South Caucasian republic. Three of the illegal mining farms have been located in the capital city, Sukhumi, where law enforcement agents have shut down 17 mining rigs and imposed administrative penalties on their owners. Another three facilities...

After reports that Tanzanian President Samia Hassan had asked her finance chief to look into cryptocurrencies, Tunisia has become the latest African country to signal a willingness to embrace digital assets. According to remarks attributed to Ali Kooli, Tunisia’s economy minister, the North African state will soon move to decriminalize the buying of bitcoin. This comes after the recently reported arrest of a 17-year-old crypto user. According to reports , Minister Kooli says he wants to decriminalize the purchase of bitcoin in order to avoid having another Tunisian youth jailed. This by way of running afoul of the country’s unclear cryptocurrency regulation. He said in a recent TV interview : I will change the law, we cannot put a Tunisian young man in prison for buying bitcoin. The government official’s remarks follow recent Tunisian reports of the arrest of a 17-year-old crypto user by law enforcement. After the teenager’s reported arrest on suspicion of money laundering, in l...

The decentralized exchange (dex) Dydx announced the organization has raised $65 million in a Series C funding round led by Paradigm. The Dydx announcement notes that the additional capital will be leveraged to “significantly improve liquidity” on the dex platform “through the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets.” Defi Exchange Dydx Raises $65 million from Strategic Investors On Tuesday, the Ethereum-based decentralized finance (defi) exchange Dydx revealed the project has raised $65 million in a Series C funding round. The round was led by Paradigm but funding also stemmed from a16z, Three Arrows Capital, Polychain Capital, and Wintermute. Liquidity providers and crypto VCs like Hashkey, Electric Capital, Delphi Digital, Sixtant, Menai Financial Group, MGNR, and Kronos Research also participated. In the announcement , Dydx also discussed the dex partner Starkware and how the two launched a Layer 2 protocol back in February for cross-margined perpetuals. This was due to a comb...