Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Bank of Thailand’s officials say that using cryptocurrency as a means of payment is not illegal. However, they added that users “must be able to accept the risks,” including price fluctuation. Using Crypto to Pay for Goods and Services Is Not Illegal in Thailand Sakkapop Panyanukul, senior director at the Bank of Thailand (BOT)’s Monetary Policy Department, clarified the central bank’s cryptocurrency stance this week. He explained that the Bank of Thailand is currently discussing how to regulate cryptocurrency with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), related agencies, and stakeholders. The bank aims to limit consumer risks associated with using cryptocurrency for payments. Noting that some people are already using crypto to pay for goods and services in Thailand, the director emphasized: It’s not illegal … but [users] must be able to accept the risks. The Thai central bank previously said that cryptocurrency is not legal tender in the country and using it as a m...

According to reports, the e-commerce giant Amazon has recently invested in a fractional sports trading card marketplace called Dibbs. The platform, built on top of the Wax blockchain, allows users to purchase and sell fractions of collectible trading cards. Reports further add that the financial terms of Amazon’s backing of Dibbs have not been disclosed. Reports Disclose Amazon Has Entered the Digital Collectibles Space Non-fungible token (NFT) assets and digital collectibles have been gathering a lot of steam in 2021 and it seems that everyone wants a piece of the billion-dollar industry. Just recently reports disclosed that the online marketplace Amazon has invested in the trading-card platform Dibbs . “We’re thrilled to announce that Amazon entered the collectibles space by investing in [Dibbs.io],” the official Wax blockchain Twitter account tweeted on December 8. “[Dibbs] is a real-time fractional card market using Wax vIRL NFT technology.” Dibbs was founded in 2020, and the...

During the first week of November, the reelected Miami mayor Francis Suarez explained that he would receive part of his salary in bitcoin via the payment processor Strike. A month later, speaking at Real Vision’s Takeover event in Las Vegas, Suarez revealed he plans to take part of his 401k in bitcoin as well. Pro-Bitcoin Miami Mayor Plans to Convert a Portion of His 401k Into Crypto Miami mayor Francis Suarez is a big fan of bitcoin ( BTC ) and he has spoken about his fascination with cryptocurrency on various occasions. In mid-October, Suarez told the press that he was building Miami into America’s crypto capital and the mayor stressed that cryptocurrency is a “major priority” for him. Suarez also told Chinese miners to relocate to Miami and leverage Florida’s abundant nuclear energy after China banned bitcoin mining. Last month, Suarez revealed he was utilizing the third-party payment processor Strike to get a portion of his paycheck converted into bitcoin. Additionally, a g...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has outlined some recommendations of how cryptocurrency should be regulated, noting that there is an urgent need for cross-border collaboration and cooperation on cryptocurrency regulation. IMF Provides Recommendations on Crypto Regulation The International Monetary Fund published a blog post on cryptocurrency regulation Thursday. The post titled “Global Crypto Regulation Should be Comprehensive, Consistent, and Coordinated” is authored by Tobias Adrian, Dong He, and Aditya Narain from the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department. Noting that “Crypto assets and associated products and services have grown rapidly in recent years” and their “interlinkages with the regulated financial system are rising,” the authors acknowledged: Crypto assets are potentially changing the international monetary and financial system in profound ways. “Policymakers struggle to monitor risks from this evolving sector, in which many activities are unregulated...

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about cryptocurrency at a recent Summit for Democracy hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. He called for global collaboration on cryptocurrencies “so that they are used to empower democracy, not to undermine it.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi Talks About Crypto at President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy President Joe Biden hosted a two-day virtual “Summit for Democracy” on Dec. 9-10. The conference “brought together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector in our shared effort to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action,” the U.S. Department of State described. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the summit Friday that emerging technologies, such as cryptocurrencies, should be used to empower democracy. He stressed: We must … jointly shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and crypto...

The consumer price index (CPI) data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show prices in the United States climbed 6.8% in November compared to 12 months ago. It’s the largest rise in close to forty years, and U.S. policymakers are backing away fast from saying inflation is transitory. Inflation Accelerates in the United States Inflation continues to rear its ugly head in America as the cost of goods and services continues to rise with 2021 nearing the year’s end. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a unit of the United States Department of Labor, published the agency’s consumer price index (CPI) report for November and statistics look awful. Basically, the CPI is a measurement of a basket of goods urban households consume regularly. The metric rose the highest its ever been in close to forty years, jumping 6.8% over the same period in 2020. Of course, economists and analysts all over the world had something to say about America’s rising inflation. The journ...

Cleanspark, a sustainability-focused bitcoin mining company, has announced it will kick-start a 20 MW initiative in its Norcross bitcoin mining facility where miners will be cooled via immersion. The company will host more than 5,900 miners in this facility, which will be submerged into tanks of a biodegradable liquid. Cleanspark states this will help them save energy and increase the hashrate obtained from the miners. Cleanspark to Use Immersion Cooling for New Facility Cleanspark, a sustainability-focused bitcoin mining company, announced it will start shifting to the use of alternative, more efficient methods of cooling its miners. The company revealed the establishment of a 20 MW immersion cooling initiative in its already established Norcross bitcoin mining facility, being one of the first mining companies to implement such technology on a large scale. The company will organize almost 6,000 miners that will be submerged in 180 tanks of liquid distributed across the whole mini...