Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo has issued an executive veto on a recently approved cryptocurrency bill. Abdo’s veto decree states cryptocurrency mining is an “energy-intensive” and a low-value-added activity. The bill will now be returned to Congress to be approved again or to be rejected entirely. President of Paraguay Considers Cryptocurrency Mining an Energy Intensive Activity The President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo, has exerted an executive veto on the recently approved cryptocurrency bill, after more than a year of discussions in the Paraguayan Congress. The project, which was introduced in July 2021, aims to clarify the rules by which cryptocurrency mining operators and other virtual asset service providers must abide on Paraguayan soil. The proposed bill established that cryptocurrency miners should pay a power fee 15% higher than what is paid by other similar industries. However, Adbo’s veto order establishes that this activity is “characterized by its high consumpti...

The attorney general of the District of Columbia has sued Microstrategy’s co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor, for tax fraud. The lawsuit also names Microstrategy as a defendant “alleging that it conspired to help him evade taxes he legally owes.” Both Saylor and Microstrategy denied the allegations. The attorney general is seeking more than $100 million in unpaid taxes and penalties. District of Columbia Sues Billionaire Michael Saylor and Microstrategy The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of the District of Columbia announced Wednesday that Attorney General Karl A. Racine has filed “a tax fraud lawsuit” against Microstrategy’s co-founder and executive chairman, Michael J. Saylor. The lawsuit also names the Nasdaq-listed software company as a defendant “alleging that it conspired to help him evade taxes he legally owes.” The announcement claims that Saylor has resided in the District of Columbia for more than a decade but has never paid any D.C. income taxes desp...

The launch of El Salvador’s bitcoin bonds, issued to finance part of the construction of the Bitcoin City in the country, will be delayed again. In a recent interview Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex, the exchange in which these bonds will be offered, stated that the law framework needed for the issuance of these digital securities is still not ready. El Salvador to Delay Bitcoin Bonds Launch The launch of the iconic bitcoin bonds of El Salvador, which will serve to fund the construction of the Bitcoin City announced last year, will be further delayed, according to reports coming from Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex. In a recent interview offered to Fortune, Ardoino stated that the law framework that would support this issuance was still not ready. However, Ardoino made a prediction on the launch date of the bonds. He declared: If the law passes by September, I would expect it to reasonably take two to three months to have everything else rolled out. The bond token was reported t...

The government of Georgia has approved amendments to the legal framework for the Caucasian nation’s financial sector, including additional regulations for crypto and fintech activities. The move aims to align Georgian law with relevant EU provisions. Parliament of Georgia to Vote on Crypto Legislation in Coming Months A legislative package expanding the regulatory framework for companies dealing with crypto assets has been submitted to the parliament by the government in Tbilisi. Its adoption is planned for the fall session of the legislature, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili announced. Quoted by the Business Media news outlet, he elaborated: We expect that in the fall, Georgia will have updated legislation that will significantly develop the financial sector. According to Levan Davitashvili’s statement, the draft legislation prepared by the Georgian government has been tailored to achieve convergence with three important directives of the Europ...

Bitcoin once again slipped below $20,000, as market uncertainty rose ahead of Friday’s Non-farm payrolls report. Tomorrow’s payrolls are expected to come in at 300,000 jobs, which is lower than July’s 528,000 figure. Ethereum also declined, as the price moved away from the $1,600 region. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) briefly fell below $20,000 on Thursday, as crypto traders began to anticipate tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls report. Following an additional 528,000 jobs in the U.S. economy in July, last month’s figure is expected to show an increase of 300,000. Ahead of the report BTC /USD slipped to an intraday low of $19,862.02, which is over $500 lower than yesterday’s peak at $20,390.28. Looking at the chart, the drop comes as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) fell below its resistance point of 37.90, and is now tracking at 37.00. The momentum of the 10-day (red) moving average also continues to be bearish, with the trend line maintaining its downward trajectory. Should tomorr...

Ukrainian investigators have exposed a scheme targeting residents of the country and the European Union with various financial scams, including some related to cryptocurrencies. The criminal organization members contacted their victims through call centers to collect personal financial information. Fake Ukrainian Call Centers Promise Foreigners Excess Profits From Crypto Trading Officers from the Main Investigative Department of Ukraine’s National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine ( SBU ) have dismantled a criminal group running schemes designed to misappropriate funds from citizens of the country and a number of EU nations. Its members offered investors to participate in exchange trading of crypto assets, securities, and commodities. Investigators found that the scammers established a network of call centers and presented themselves as officials from state banking institutions in order to obtain credit card data. They used high-tech equipment and software which allowed th...

The layer two (L2) scaling solution Arbitrum revealed on Wednesday that the team has implemented the project’s Nitro rollup stack migration. Earlier this month, Arbitrum developers noted that the Nitro migration would reduce network fees and improve throughput. Arbitrum Developers Implement Nitro Update The Offchain Labs -managed L2 Ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum , told fellow Arbinauts (the project’s users) on Wednesday that the development team has implemented the Nitro upgrade. “All Arbinauts, please prepare for liftoff,” the team explained. Moreover, the official Arbitrum Twitter account wrote that the “migration has officially begun, [and] the network will remain down during the upgrade process for the next 2-4 hours.” The team invited fellow Arbinauts to hold tight during the change in the project’s Discord server discussion room. Bitcoin.com News reported on Arbitrum’s August 31 Nitro upgrade on August 7. The upgrade aims to improve the Arbitrum experience a great d...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) profiled the Onecoin cryptocurrency scam and its co-founder Ruja Ignatova, aka “Crypto Queen,” in a new podcast. Onecoin was one of the world’s biggest crypto scams and Ignatova was recently added to the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list. FBI on Onecoin Crypto Scam and Ruja Ignatova The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published an “Inside the FBI” podcast episode last week titled “Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Ruja Ignatova.” Also known to some as “Crypto Queen,” Ignatova co-founded Onecoin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency scams. Inside the FBI podcast highlights news, cases, and people from around the bureau in audio form. The show’s host, Monica Grover from the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs, explained: On this episode of Inside the FBI, we’ll learn how Ignatova, through a company once marketed as the ‘Bitcoin killer,’ didn’t change the world … but instead robbed investors of billions of dollars. Ignatova was added to th...