Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says that the regulator should have approved a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S. a long time ago. She emphasized that it is not the SEC’s job to approve or reject applications based on the merits of the underlying investment itself. “People should make their own decisions” whether to buy bitcoin, said the commissioner. SEC Commissioner Wants Bitcoin ETF Approved A commissioner with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Hester Peirce, talked about the prospects of the SEC approving a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. Peirce is also known in the crypto circle as “crypto mom.” The SEC has yet to approve a bitcoin ETF. However, the industry is hopeful that things will change this year since the SEC has a new chairman , Gary Gensler, who taught crypto and blockchain courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Commissioner Peirce described: I thought that if we had applied o

The Angolan central bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) recently hiked the country’s benchmark interest rate from 15.5% to a record of 20%. The largely unexpected hike, which is one of the National Bank of Angola (NBA)’s attempts to curb inflation, marks the first time the benchmark rate has been increased since November 2017. Rising Inflation a Threat to Angola’s Growth According to a Bloomberg report , the MPC was compelled to bring forward the meeting that ultimately sanctioned the rate hike due to an “evolution of the main indicators.” These indicators, according to the NBA governor, Jose de Lima Massano posed a threat to Angola’s growth trajectory. He explained: The spread between inflation and the interest rate has been growing wider since the beginning of the year. Current data indicates additional inflationary pressures, which may put at risk the central bank’s inflation target of 19.5% for the end of the year. As the data from Angola’s Instituto Nacional de Estatisti

During the last three months, there’s been a significant focus on the effects bitcoin mining has on the global environment. While many have claimed bitcoin mining is bad for the environment and many others have stressed that it affects the environment in a positive way, either way, most are relying on unreliable and old data from a few years ago. On July 1, 2021, the recently formed Bitcoin Mining Council published a report that claims 56% of the hashrate uses sustainable energy resources. Will Elon Musk Bend? Report Claims Bitcoin Miner Energy Consumption Mix 56% Sustainable Bitcoiners are hoping Elon Musk has noticed a new report published by the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) that shows more than half of the hashrate leverages sustainable energy to mine bitcoin. BMC published the report on July 1, 2021, and as soon as it was online posts about Elon Musk changing his mind started to appear. “Tesla said they wouldn’t again accept BTC until energy consumption reached 50% from renew

Analysts are predicting a rise in Bitcoin mining profitability of about 35% during the short term. This would be the effect of the bitcoin mining crackdown in China. Since the crackdown happened, a significant portion of hashrate stemming from the Bitcoin network disappeared. Ousted miners are struggling to relocate, and some might not even make it due to the complicated logistics of these operations. All of these reasons combined can create a great time for new companies to enter the mining space. Bitcoin Mining Profitability Will Rise In The Short Term Bitcoin’s mining profitability is expected to rise in the short term due to the complex situation miners are facing in mainland China. According to Whit Gibbs, CEO, and founder of Compass, this will continue in the short to medium term. Gibbs told CNBC: We are expecting a period of much higher mining profitability for Compass Mining clients. We expect miners to be approximately 35% more profitable. Compass is a bitcoin mining c

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has named “cybercrime, including relevant cybersecurity and virtual currency considerations” a national priority. In particular, the Treasury is concerned about the “misuse of virtual assets that exploits and undermines their innovative potential, including through laundering of illicit proceeds.” FinCEN, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, published its “Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism National Priorities” last week. One of the priorities listed is “cybercrime, including relevant cybersecurity and virtual currency considerations.” The document details: Treasury is particularly concerned about cyber-enabled financial crime, ransomware attacks, and the misuse of virtual assets that exploits and undermines their innovative potential, including through laundering of illicit proceeds. The document adds that “Countering ransomware has been identified as a top priority for the United States

According to Jerome Powell’s conference calendar, the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, met with the Federal Reserve chairman and former House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan to speak about the implications of digital currencies. The meeting’s details are unclear but most of the discussions seemingly revolved around the construction of an American central bank digital currency (CBDC) and countries that are already ahead of the game. Coinbase CEO: ‘China’s Digital Yuan represents a Threat to US Reserve Currency Status’ The Federal Reserve wants to build a digital dollar and moves to make it a reality have been happening more frequently. Almost every member of the Fed has something to say about an American CBDC and in May the Fed chairman held a number of meetings with members of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Participants who discussed the CBDC idea with Powell include individuals like the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, members of the Bank for International S

U.S. lawmaker and bitcoin advocate Cynthia Lummis has indicated that cryptocurrency miners are welcome in Wyoming. In a recent interview, the senator defended bitcoin’s carbon footprint and later invited miners to her home state on social media. Crypto Mining Adapted to Non-Carbon Emitting Energy With the ongoing crackdown on cryptocurrency mining in China, companies in the business of coin minting have been actively looking for friendlier jurisdictions to relocate their operations. Some perspective destinations have emerged in the U.S., with Texas and Florida now being among the prominent examples. Both states can offer crypto miners access to affordable energy. Wyoming, which has maintained a positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies for some time, can easily become the next bitcoin mining hotspot. Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a well-known supporter of Bitcoin, recently took to Twitter to welcome crypto miners to the state urging them to reach out. PS – If you are in the #Bi

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX (formerly BitMax), a global cryptocurrency financial platform with a comprehensive product suite, is thrilled to announce the listing of the Radix tokens (EXRD and XRD) under the pairs USDT/XRD and USDT /EXRD on June 29 at 1 p.m. UTC. Radix intends to remove the technology barriers limiting the expansion of DeFi by building a layer-1 protocol that directly addresses the technology needs of DeFi, both for today’s applications and the future of general financial services worldwide. The platform leverages a full-stack approach, re-engineering consensus, distributed virtual machines, executable on-ledger code, DeFi component building, DeFi application building, and developer incentives. Radix is the first layer 1 protocol specifically built to serve the DeFi ecosystem. Radix aims to significantly improve the developer experience by reducing DeFi hacks, bugs, and exploits by restricting output states using an FSM runtime environment instead of Turing complete.

The national stock exchange of the Philippines, the PSE, says cryptocurrency is “an asset class that we cannot ignore anymore.” The stock exchange further says cryptocurrency trading “should be done at the PSE,” given its infrastructure and investor protection safeguards. The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the national stock exchange of the Philippines, is reportedly eyeing cryptocurrency trading. President and CEO Ramon Monzon said Friday that the PSE should be the exchange platform for crypto assets, CNN Philippines reported Friday. Noting that the matter was discussed during a top management meeting two weeks ago, Monzon said, “It’s an asset class that we cannot ignore anymore.” He was quoted as saying: If there should be any exchange for cryptos, it should be done at the PSE. Why? Number one, it’s because we have the trading infrastructure. But more important, we’ll be able to have investor protection safeguards especially with a product like crypto. He explained that m

The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg is considering issuing NFTs for works of art from its rich collection and is holding talks with Binance on the matter. The museum’s management expects the tokens to bring extra funding, provided Russian authorities exempt NFTs from current digital assets regulations. Hermitage Museum in Talks With Binance for Artwork NFTs The world-renowned State Hermitage Museum in Russia is negotiating with leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, on the issuance and sale of non-fungible tokens ( NFTs ) of artwork. On June 24, Binance launched its NFT marketplace which features various forms of digital artwork and collectibles. The coin trading platform also announced its “100 Creators” program presenting NFT content from local talent around the world. For the Hermitage to issue its tokens, Russia’s legislation governing the sector may require some clarification. Marina Tsyguleva, head of the museum’s legal department, said that this type of token may

On Friday, the bitcoin mining operation Greenidge Generation Holdings announced the company is expanding to South Carolina in order to develop the firm’s next bitcoin mining facility. Greenidge details that the carbon-neutral Spartanburg facility will be ready in 2021 or early 2022. Bitcoin Miner Greenidge Generation Plans to Expand to South Carolina Spartanburg, South Carolina, the 12th most populous city in the state will be home to bitcoin miners by Q4 2021 or Q1 2022, according to Greenidge Generation Holdings . The Dresden, N.Y.-based firm signed a letter of intent with LSC Communications that says Greenidge aims to expand its bitcoin mining operations to a property owned by the Atlas Holdings’ portfolio company LSC. The terms of the deal will begin with a ten-year lease of a retired printing plant. Greenidge details that the printing plant at one time drew approximately 80 megawatts (MW) of energy but it believes the Spartanburg facility has “potential beyond that capacity.”

A growing number of regulators worldwide have come after Binance. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a criminal complaint against the crypto exchange after the authorities in the Cayman Islands, the U.K., and Japan issued similar warnings on Binance and related companies. Thailand’s Regulator Files Criminal Complaint The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that it “has filed a criminal complaint against Binance … with the Economic Crime Suppression Division of the Royal Thai Police (ECD).” According to the SEC: Binance has solicited the Thai public and investors to use its services, either via its website or Facebook page: Binance Thai Community. The securities regulator stated that it issued a warning letter to Binance on April 5 but the company failed to submit a response within the specified time. The SEC said that Binance is operating a crypto exchange business without a license. The company is therefore “liable to criminal sancti

Global investment bank JPMorgan has predicted that the bitcoin price slump will likely be over when the cryptocurrency’s dominance rises back above 50%. “I think that’s another indicator to watch here in terms of whether this bear phase is over or not,” the firm’s analyst explained. JPMorgan’s Bitcoin Market Prediction JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou has shared his view of when he expects the current bitcoin bear market to be over. In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, the analyst explained that the bitcoin price slump will likely end when the cryptocurrency’s market share of all cryptocurrencies climbs back above 50%. He explained: A healthy number there, in terms of the share of bitcoin as a percentage of the total cryptocurrency market cap, is 50% or above. I think that’s another indicator to watch here in terms of whether this bear phase is over or not. “It was like 60% back in the beginning of April,” the JPMorgan analyst recalled, adding that bitcoin’s relatively

Cardano has been added to Grayscale Investments’ large-cap cryptocurrency fund. It is now the third-largest component of the fund after bitcoin and ether. Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, announced Friday the addition of cardano to its Digital Large Cap Fund (OTCQX: GDLC). Grayscale described this fund as “a passive, rules-based strategy that seeks to provide exposure to 70% of the digital asset market.” The announcement followed a quarterly review and rebalancing of the fund. The company explained: In accordance with the fund’s construction criteria, Grayscale has adjusted the fund’s portfolio by selling certain amounts of the existing fund components in proportion to their respective weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase cardano ( ADA ). At the end of the day on July 1, the Digital Large Cap Fund’s components comprised 67.47% bitcoin ( BTC ), 25.39% ethereum ( ETH ), 4.26% cardano ( ADA ), 1.03% bitcoin cash ( BCH ), 0.

In 2021, there’s been a plethora of cryptocurrency-related announcements about professional sports teams, leagues, and famous athletes. On July 1, the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Portland Trail Blazers announced the professional basketball team has partnered with the cashback blockchain firm Stormx. Portland Trail Blazers Uniforms to Feature Crypto Cashback Firm’s Logo The NBA’s Trail Blazers revealed this week that the basketball team has entered a deal with the blockchain company Stormx . Founded in 2015, the Stormx project is basically a crypto cashback provider that also features a native token called STMX. The Trail Blazers and the NBA’s own publication, hosted on nba.com, claim the deal between Stormx and the team is a “never-before-seen partnership.” The Stormx logo will be featured on the team’s uniform. Photo via nba.com. Essentially, Stormx will be the Portland team’s first International Rights Partner that is meant to “engage fans around the globe.” Storm

Urged by the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, Iranian lawmakers have prepared new legislation to introduce comprehensive rules for the expanding industry. While the bill effectively bans crypto payments in the country, it aims to support cryptocurrency mining and regulate the exchange market. Draft Law Prohibits Crypto Payments in Islamic Republic Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Iranian parliament, now have a plan to put the crypto space in order. The new bill, drafted under the supervision of the parliamentary Economic Commission, allocates responsibilities among regulators and answers some outstanding questions to determine the future of cryptocurrencies in Iran. If adopted in its current version, the draft law would ban the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in the Islamic Republic, Tasnim News Agency reported. Besides crypto payments, other domestic transactions with cryptocurrency would also be prohibited. Iranian lawmakers have provided fo

A South African judge, Justice Alma de Wet, has ruled in favor of granting a final liquidation order against Mirror Trading International (MTI), the country’s biggest bitcoin scam in the past year. Nevertheless, the judge postponed a ruling on an application by MTI liquidators to have the company declared an unlawful business to September 8, 2021. According to a report , interested parties that are opposed to the liquidators’ intervening application now “have until July 30 to file their answering affidavits.” On the other hand, liquidators “have until August 13 to file responding affidavits and must file their heads of argument before 24 August.” Meanwhile, the latest court ruling, which came almost six months after the provisional liquidation order was granted, represents a victory for liquidators who have faced opposition from MTI shareholders led by Clynton Marks. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Marks, a 50% shareholder in MTI, argued against liquidation claiming thi