Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

According to Bitmain, the well known crypto ASIC mining rig manufacturer, the company has shipped its first batch of KS3 Antminer machines. Despite each rig costing $49,800, Bitmain sold out of the first batch and announced another batch of KS3 Antminers would be available soon. As Kaspa’s Hashrate Climbs, Bitmain Ships KS3 Antminer Series Bitmain disclosed on Monday that it had shipped its initial batch of KS3 Antminer machines. These rigs mine the crypto asset kaspa (KAS) , a digital currency that ranks 45th in market capitalization. Current data suggest the KS3 miner is the most profitable mining ASIC available. The website asicminervalue.com reports that the machine can earn an estimated $440 daily by mining KAS. However, Bitmain’s machine quickly sold out, making it the company’s priciest unit ever sold. Priced at $49,800, each rig boasts a processing speed of 8.3 terahash per second (TH/s). However, Bitmain’s post on Monday suggests the miner can clock 9 TH/s. While this ri...

A top Indian official has downplayed the creation of a shared BRICS currency. Emphasizing that “common currency discussions have several prerequisites before you can even talk about a common currency framework,” the official stressed that the BRICS nations have focused on boosting settlements in national currencies. Indian Foreign Secretary on BRICS Currency India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra explained in a media briefing on Monday that the BRICS economic bloc is not focusing on the proposed common currency for member states, Indian news outlet Mint reported. The BRICS nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. “The substantive part of trade and economic exchanges and discussions that have been a part of BRICS discussions have so far, in a major way, focused on how to increase trade in respective national currencies which … is considerably different from a common currency concept,” the official detailed, elaborating: You would know that common currency ...

South Africa, the host of the BRICS summit this year, has confirmed that more than 40 heads of state will participate in the summit that will take place on Aug. 22-24. South Africa has also claimed that 23 countries have formally applied for BRICS membership. 40+ Heads of State to Participate in BRICS Summit Nelson Kgwete, the South African foreign ministry’s media liaison officer, told Russian news outlet Tass that more than 40 heads of state have confirmed that they will participate in the BRICS summit that will take place on Aug. 22-24 in Johannesburg. South Africa is the host of the BRICS summit this year. He was quoted as saying: Yes, confirmed, the summit will be attended by over 40 heads of state. All leaders of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are expected to attend the summit. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend in person . South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor recently s...

Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior commodity strategist, Mike McGlone, has explained that bitcoin appears similar to the stock market in 1930. At that time, elevated equity prices led to the stock market losing almost 90%. The crash of 1929, also called the Great Crash, contributed to the Great Depression which lasted approximately 10 years. Bitcoin v Stock Market in 1930s Mike McGlone, a senior commodity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence (BI), the research arm of Bloomberg, has pointed out the similarity between bitcoin and the stock market in 1930. He tweeted on Monday: One of the best-performing assets in history and a leading indicator — bitcoin — appears similar to the stock market in 1930. “Statistician and entrepreneur Roger Babson began warning about elevated equity prices well before economist Irving Fisher proclaimed a ‘permanently high plateau’ in 1929,” the commodity strategist added, emphasizing: “The Fed tilts our bias toward a stance similar to Babson’s.” Babso...

Despite significant variations in electricity rates and regulations, the Asian region as a whole has the lowest average cost of bitcoin mining for solo miners, new research shows. At the same time, the surge of energy prices due to Covid, heatwaves, and the war in Ukraine render bitcoin mining largely unprofitable throughout Europe. Mining 1 Bitcoin Would Cost $266 in Lebanon, an Italian Miner Would Pay Over $208,000 A solo miner would need an average of 266,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity to mint a single bitcoin and the process would take approximately seven years to complete, requiring a monthly electricity consumption of about 143 kWh, researchers have estimated. While admitting that the days are gone when bitcoin ( BTC ) could be mined with minimal power and on a desktop computer, they have analyzed household electricity costs across the globe to present prospects for solo miners operating within a decentralized network. According to the study produced by the crypto ...

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: Javier Milei’s victory in Argentina causes a devaluation maelstrom, and Bitso launches a cross-border institutional payments service. Javier Milei’s Victory in Argentina Sparks Devaluation and Inflation Maelstrom The victory of Javier Milei in the Argentine preliminary elections, qualified as a far-right outsider by mainstream media, has sparked a series of consequences in the country’s economy that has caused citizens to take refuge in cryptocurrency and stablecoins. Milei’s win, which polls did not foresee, has intensified the discussion of a possible dollarization of the country, which has been mentioned as key in his government plans. Milei’s dollarization plan, which would contemplate the total conversion of deposits of public and private institutions to U.S. dollars, would also include the closure of the Central Bank of Argentina. These ide...

In a statement released August 17, 2023, Farmington State Bank, with an investment from Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research, consented to a cease and desist order from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Alameda invested $11.5 million into the bank’s coffers in January 2022. Government seizure documents from January 2023 indicate Bankman-Fried reportedly had $50 million stashed in the bank. Fed Puts Brakes on Alameda-Funded Farmington: Another Bank Bites the Dust Farmington State Bank (Moonstone Bank) is complying with the U.S. central bank’s cease and desist order signed July 18, 2023. The Federal Reserve Board and Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (WDFI) issued the order against Farmington State Bank of Farmington, Washington, and its holding company, FBH Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland. The regulators determined Farmington violated commitments to regulators by engaging in digital asset activities, such as stablecoin issuance, without necessary approvals. Farmingto...