Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The CEO of Microstrategy expects the price of bitcoin to reach $6 million, noting that it is “unstoppable” and will replace gold. The executive personally owns 17,732 bitcoins while his company is hodling 122,478 bitcoins. Microstrategy’s CEO Expects Bitcoin to Hit $6 Million Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor talked about his bitcoin strategy and BTC price prediction in a recent interview with the Information, published this week. Saylor revealed that he personally owns at least 17,732 bitcoins, which is the same amount he disclosed back in October last year. At the current BTC price, his bitcoin stash is worth almost $858 million. The Microstrategy executive never sold any of his bitcoins and does not believe they should ever be sold. Furthermore, the Information reported: Saylor foresees bitcoin hitting $600,000 a coin, and eventually $6 million. Meanwhile, Microstrategy has amassed 122,478 BTC , worth almost $6 billion at the current price. The coins were acquired at an...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in collaboration with Citibank, Sony, and Japanese law enforcement, has taken action to “return more than $154 million in funds that were allegedly stolen from a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation.” The U.S. Department of Justice detailed: “As a result of this coordinated effort, investigators obtained the ‘private key’ … needed to access the bitcoin address.” Citibank and Sony Help FBI Seize Bitcoin Worth $180 Million The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced this week that the U.S. has “filed a civil forfeiture complaint” to “return more than $154 million in funds that were allegedly stolen from a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation.” The FBI and various Japanese law enforcement agencies investigated the case “with significant assistance from Sony and Citibank,” the announcement details, adding: As a result of this coordinated effort, investigators obtained the ‘private key’ … needed to access the bitcoi...

The hashpower behind the Bitcoin network has continued to stay above the 180 exahash per second (EH/s) zone after recently reaching a lifetime high. Five months ago the hashrate tapped a low at 69 EH/s and since then, the hashpower has increased by 163% during the last 178 days, or five months ago. Bitcoin Hashrate Continues to Run Hot at End of Year Following China’s Crackdown on Bitcoin Mining This Past Summer Miners dedicating SHA256 hashpower to the Bitcoin blockchain have been keeping the processing power above 180 EH/s. At the time of writing on December 23, BTC ’s hashrate is hovering just above the 186 EH/s zone. The recent hashrate highs follow BTC ’s lifetime hashrate high tapping 194.95 EH/s on December 8, 2021. Since then, metrics indicate that the hashrate has been hovering below that region and 30-day stats show a few times when the it quickly came close to the December 8 high. BTC ’s hashrate is currently doing a whole lot better than records show on June 28, 2021, ...

In the absence of regulations, people in Pakistan have invested a serious amount of money in digital assets. New research claims Pakistanis keep some $20 billion in cryptocurrency, allegedly more than what their central bank has in foreign reserves. Government Urged for Regulations as Study Shows Pakistanis Hold $20 Billion in Cryptocurrency The Pakistani nation owns more cryptocurrency than foreign reserves, according to the Pakistan Frontier and other media outlets quoting a new report by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). The study, produced by the association’s Policy Advisory Board (PAB), has estimated that Pakistanis have held cryptocurrency worth $20 billion in the 2020-21 period. The authors point out that the popularity of digital currencies like bitcoin has rapidly increased in the last couple of years. With a 711% market growth in 12 months, Pakistan climbed to third place in this year’s Global Crypto Adoption Index calculated by block...

Ethair Market has listed ETHR token on Uniswap as a result of its first governance vote by the holders. Utilities of the token are directly tied to a user’s interaction with the marketplace. On top of the proprietary token, Ethair Market currently supports fiat and cryptocurrencies such as: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Stellar and USDC, and more . The marketplace is currently in beta, allowing sellers to their items before the full release. Ethair Market operates in the traditional B2C/C2C modes with two types of listings: Market which are new fixed price items, and “Buy Offer Bid” (referred to as BOB on the platform) which includes new and used auction items that customers can buy outright, make an offer on, or bid on like in traditional auctions. Ethair is aggressively marketing through Google, YouTube, Yahoo, and Twitter ads. Running Uber ads in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York with soon to have nationwide major highway billboards. You may check ETHR’s token contract here . ...

According to a new report, illegal transactions, scams and gambling together make up less than 3% of the volume on the Bitcoin blockchain while exchanges and trading desks account for around 80% of volume. Exchanges Dominate Bitcoin Volumes A new study called “B lockchain Analysis of the Bitcoin Market” has found that illegal transactions, scams, and gambling combined account for just 3% of all onchain bitcoin trade volume. On the other hand, the study asserts that exchange and trading desk-related volume — which is mostly speculative — constitutes about 80% of the total volume. In their analysis, the authors of a report released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) appear to debunk the assertion that illegal transactions dominate bitcoin ( BTC ) trade volumes. In particular, the authors, Igor Makarov from the London School of Economics and Antoinette Schoar of the MIT Sloan School of Management, explain how earlier studies were likely to be overstating the economic...

The Dubai World Trade Centre will become a comprehensive ecosystem for cryptocurrencies and providers of related services. The move is part of efforts to support new industries and the emirate intends to source help from crypto companies like Binance. Dubai World Trade Centre to Host and Regulate Crypto Space Authorities in the United Arab Emirates plan to establish a special zone at the Dubai World Trade Centre ( DWTC ) from which businesses dealing with digital assets will be able to offer their products and services. The government of Dubai announced that the DWTC will also play the role of a regulator for the sector, enforcing “rigorous standards for investor protection, anti-money laundering (AML), combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) compliance and cross border deal flow tracing.” According to an official announcement, the goal is to further develop Dubai’s virtual assets space and market by introducing a regulatory framework for innovative financial products that incl...