Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Arthur Hayes, former CEO of Bitmex and cryptocurrency market analyst, pondered about the success of an upcoming spot bitcoin ETF and its effect on the future of bitcoin. Hayes states that the popularity of these ETF derivatives might concentrate the custody of all the bitcoin in a few hands that won’t move it, forcing miners to capitulate due to a lack of activity in the blockchain. Arthur Hayes Believes ETFs Might Cause the Demise of Bitcoin Former Bitmex CEO Arthur Hayes believes that the success of an upcoming spot bitcoin ETF might endanger the existence of the Bitcoin network. In his most recent blog post, “Expression,” Hayes presents a hypothetical situation in which bitcoin is all in the hands of a few financial firms, like Blackrock. If this happens, Hayes anticipates this will destroy bitcoin as a store of value, given that it is different from all of the assets traded in financial markets until now. Hayes argued : Bitcoin is the first monetary asset in human history t...

The Epic Games Store, the digital distribution storefront owned by Epic Games, has made changes that will allow some blockchain games to be listed on its platform again. Epic Games has announced that it will now admit games rated as “Adults Only” due to having non-fungible tokens (NFT) and blockchain elements. Epic Games Stores Change Guidelines to Readmit Blockchain Games The Epic Games Store has decided to open its doors for blockchain and Web3 games again. The digital storefront owned by the makers of Fortnite has decided to change its policies to readmit this kind of game into its platform. According to the ESRB, some blockchain games are receiving the “Adults Only”(AO) rating due to the possibility of presenting the opportunity of exchanging the digital currency won for “real money.” The store excluded all games rated as AO by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) from its platform, having a blanket ban on this kind of product. However, it recently announced a chang...

While no formal announcement has been made, murmurs of a potential Bitcoin fork are emerging amidst discussions on block space, Ordinal inscriptions, and escalating fees. Such speculation has led some to believe that a significant Bitcoin fork might occur in 2024. Talks of a Bitcoin Fork Appear as Tensions Rise Discussions about a potential Bitcoin fork are surfacing on social media platform X, sparked by ongoing debates about the trend of Ordinal inscriptions, the block space these inscriptions occupy, and the increasing transaction fees of BTC . As of Dec. 23, 2023, a backlog of 291,660 unconfirmed bitcoin transactions exists. The current cost for transferring bitcoin stands at 81 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB) or $4.97 per transaction. Comparatively, fees were much higher on Dec. 16, 2023, when the rate was 674 sat/vB, equating to $40 per transfer . Moreover, certain Bitcoin enthusiasts scorn Ordinal inscriptions, labeling them as “spam,” an “attack,” a “scam,” and fundam...