Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

On Bitcoin’s 12th anniversary, a mystery miner from the early days spent 1,000 decade-old bitcoins that were mined in 2010. The strange miner was not the only entity that spent 2010 BTC block rewards during the last nine months, but this miner returned on a few occasions to spend strings of ten-year-old block rewards. As the end of 2021 nears, 152 blocks with 7,600 bitcoin worth $319 million today and minted in 2010 have been spent this year after sitting idle for over a decade. Old School Whale Transfers From 2010 Outpace 2011 and 2012 Spends, $977 Million Worth of Sleeping Bitcoins Moved This Year During the last 12 years bitcoins have been lost by a great number of people under different circumstances, and it’s likely these coins will never return to circulation. Then there’s another group of bitcoins the community calls ‘sleeping bitcoins’ or ‘zombie bitcoins’ because they have been sitting idle since the day they were created. At some point, if the owner decides to spend the

The investigation into the Russia-based crypto pyramid Finiko is growing with law enforcement officials in Samara region announcing they have launched eight criminal cases against Finiko associates. Authorities are also working to identify more victims of the Ponzi scheme, Russia’s largest in recent years. Finiko Members Under Investigation in Samara, Russia The Russian Ministry of Interior’s Main Department in Samara Oblast, a region bordering Tatarstan, is investigating eight cases of fraud against Finiko associates. The members of the Ponzi scheme are accused of misappropriating 6 million rubles from investors who were promised high returns on their money between July 2020 and July 2021, the department announced. The crypto scam’s victims in these cases are all residents of Samara, law enforcement officials detailed in a press release quoted by Forklog. They were convinced by the Finiko representatives to deposit their funds worth almost $83,000, according to current exchange

PRESS RELEASE. Triall launches its main utility token TRL on Uniswap following a successful token pre-sale that raised more than 2 million USD. AMSTERDAM, Sept 28, 2021 – Blockchain startup Triall launched its main utility token TRL in an initial DEX offering (IDO) on Uniswap at 13:00 UTC today, after raising more than 2 million USD in its token pre-sale campaign. The company introduces a tokenized ecosystem that helps secure and streamline the development of new vaccines and medicines during clinical trials. As part of its launch, Triall also introduces a staking program powered by DeFi company Ferrum Network, enabling APRs of up to 250% to reward early adopters of TRL. Modern-day clinical trials are increasingly complex, lengthy, and resource-inefficient. As a result, it typically takes 10 years of clinical trials before a new medicine can enter the market. Last year’s exceptionally fast COVID-19 vaccine trials demonstrated that, when stakeholders and efforts align, there are c

The year 2020 may well go down as the year when blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, in particular, gained mainstream recognition. The restrictions on movement, as well as the widespread fear of catching a virus, forced many to look for alternative ways of making payments or sending remittances. This search for an alternative inevitably led many to crypto. Although the use of such alternatives to fiat cash continues to grow, many of the intended beneficiaries in places like Africa are still unable to use such digital currencies. Kenya’s Kotani Pay Addresses Lack of Crypto Access The lack of smartphones, misinformation about cryptocurrencies, and poor net connectivity are some of the main reasons why the number of digital currency users is not growing as some crypto proponents would have wanted. As a consequence, some players in this space are now working hard to find solutions to help those that presently cannot use digital currencies. One such player is Kotani Pay, a Kenya

Anthony Scaramucci, CEO of Skybridge Capital, a multi-asset class investment firm, says he thinks the institutional investment boom in cryptocurrencies has been greatly exaggerated. In an interview given to Bloomberg last week, Scaramucci stated that most institutions are still not interested in cryptocurrency as an investment and that only 10% are actively investing in crypto. Anthony Scaramucci Thinks Institutions Are Still Not Big on Crypto Anthony Scaramucci, CEO of Skybridge Capital, thinks there is still a long way until bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are embraced by institutional investors. In an interview offered to Bloomberg, Scaramucci stated that, according to his experience, only 10% of the institutional world is actively investing in cryptocurrency. While this may be a minority, according to Scaramucci, it’s a minority that has some impact. The Skybridge Capital founder says the situation feels like a “feeding frenzy.” The investor stated: The institutions are not the

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of one of the biggest financial institutions of the world, JPMorgan, has once again let the world know about his stance on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Dimon stated that whoever borrowed money to purchase bitcoin was, in his opinion, a “fool.” However, his personal opinion has not clashed with the fact that JPMorgan is now offering access to six cryptocurrency funds for its customers and even created its own digital ledger token for payments, called JPM Coin. Jamie Dimon Blasts Cryptocurrencies JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon blasted crypto and bitcoin yet again. The JPMorgan executive argued about the real value of cryptocurrencies and his take on the cryptocurrency world in an interview with the Times of India last week. Dimon stated that the latest bull market in cryptocurrencies was created by a lot of liquidity in the system, which then leads to speculation. Dimon declared: I am not a buyer of bitcoin. I think if you borrow money to buy bitcoin, you’re a foo

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX , a global digital asset trading platform, is thrilled to announce the listing of the Refinable token (FINE) under the pair USDT/FINE on Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. UTC. Refinable is an interactive, multi-chain capable NFT marketplace with a one-stop solution to create, discover, trade, and leverage NFTs for brands and creators. Refinable is the first NFT marketplace built on the Binance Smart Chain enabling users and established brands to interact with each other by leveraging NFTs. Beyond standard marketplace features, Refinable’s strategy is quite different from other NFT marketplaces. They are actively talking to non-crypto companies to develop unique NFT engagements. Its community’s strength will differentiate the NFT marketplace on Refinable, and they believe the most engaged, long-lasting communities are those of existing and beloved brands. Refinable believes in the idea that each brand would bring with it a whole community of users. The main goal and long

The beauty behind cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin is the fact that anyone can participate in the field of crypto mining. In fact, two siblings explained in a recent interview that they rake in more than $30K per month mining digital assets. Kid Duo Captures $30K a Month Mining Digital Currencies A 14- and 9-year-old brother and sister pair have made headlines in recent times for explaining how they make over $30,000 a month mining crypto assets. The 9-year-old Aanya Thakur and her brother 14-year-old Ishaan mined three types of digital currencies this summer because they “wanted to learn something new about technology – and also make some money along the way.” The two appeared in a CNBC report published by the reporter Taylor Locke and the CNBC broadcast “Make It.” According to the Thakur siblings, the duo mines bitcoin ( BTC ), ethereum ( ETH ) and ravencoin (RVN). Youtube videos taught Ishaan how to convert his Alienware computer into a mining rig and at first, the siblings

The deadline for crypto exchanges and service providers in South Korea to meet requirements to stay open under the new regulation has passed. Twenty-nine cryptocurrency exchanges met the deadline to continue operations but only four of them can offer trading in Korean won. New South Korean Crypto Regulation in Effect The Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information requires crypto exchanges to obtain Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification and submit a report to the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) by midnight on Sept. 24. Exchanges that want to offer trading in Korea won must also form a partnership with a local bank to offer real-name accounts to users. The Financial Services Commission (FSC), South Korea’s top financial regulator, said Saturday that 29 crypto exchanges are ISMS-certified and submitted a report to the FIU before the deadline. Their submissions will be processed within three months. Only four out of 29 exch

On Monday, the high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure provider and bitcoin mining firm Northern Data AG announced the acquisition of the bitcoin mining operation Bitfield N.V. in a stock-for-stock deal. Northern Data says the company will obtain 33,000 of the latest generation ASIC bitcoin miners from the arrangement. Northern Data AG Acquires Bitfield N.V. — Firm gains Immediate Access to Deployable ASIC Mining Rigs The Bitcoin network hashrate is hovering just above the 140 exahash per second (EH/s) handle at the time of writing. Bitcoin mining has become incredibly competitive and operations are attempting to be more energy efficient. In 2021, there’s been a number of orders and acquisitions of thousands of ASIC bitcoin miners. On September 27, the HPC infrastructure provider and bitcoin mining company Northern Data AG announced the acquisition of the operation Bitfield . The acquisition will allow Northern Data to obtain 33,000 ASIC bitcoin miners via the deal. “No

Malta, 27 Sep 2021 – Master Ventures have announced that they have added Polker into their highly regarded investment portfolio. The decision from Master Ventures to invest in the Polker comes as the platform prepares to launch its beta play-to-earn game to the public after a hugely successful September. Master Ventures’ portfolio includes the likes of Coinbase, Ripple, and Kraken – and now Polker (PKR). Master Venture’s have added Polker to their portfolio as the team behind the project hit milestone after milestone throughout September. Polker launched onto a centralized exchange, received a grant and partnered with Polygon; they also recently announced they are integrating Chainlink’s on-chain price oracles into their systems. On top of this, Polker recently launched a massive $100,000 staking pool, have announced they are in the final stages of pen testing with Quinel, and also received a shout out from R&B superstar Akon. Basically, they have gone all out for September – an

A web portal that displays a list of alleged owners of all the bitcoin in the world has been shared a great deal since China cracked down on crypto trading last week. The web portal claims that the Chinese government owns 194,775 bitcoin that reportedly stem from the Plustoken crypto scam. The problem with the list’s sources is that the ownership verification is highly inconclusive and doesn’t offer much of anything aside from speculation. Does China or Bulgaria Really Hold Billions in Bitcoin? Ever since China made a few statements concerning citizens dealing with cryptocurrency via offshore exchanges and explaining that the process is illegal, a web page with a list called “ Who Holds All The Bitcoin? ” has been shared all over social media and cryptocurrency forums. The reason people share it is because they speculate that China is banning bitcoin, while at the same time hoarding 194,775 bitcoins from the Plustoken crypto scam. The list of who owns all the bitcoin also provides

Major cryptocurrency exchanges are cutting ties with users in China following the latest crypto crackdown announcement by the Chinese government. Huobi has stopped letting new users in China sign up for its services while Binance has blocked account registrations using Chinese mobile phone numbers. Major Crypto Exchanges Stop Signing Up Chinese Users Following China’s latest crackdown announcement, several cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers said they have begun cutting ties with users in China. Crypto exchange Huobi announced Sunday that it will “gradually retire existing mainland China users.” The exchange wrote: To comply with local laws and regulations, Huobi Global has ceased account registration for new users in mainland China, effective September 24, 2021 (UTC+8). Huobi Global will gradually retire existing mainland China user accounts by 24:00 (UTC+8) on Dec 31, 2021. Huobi Group co-founder Du Jun told Reuters, “On the very day we saw the notice, we started

On September 27, 2021, at the Southern District of New York courthouse, the trial against former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith started at 9:30 a.m. (EST). Griffith was facing 20 years behind bars for discussing blockchain technology in North Korea. Around 10:30 a.m., Griffith pleaded guilty and accepted a plea deal with up to six and a half years in prison. Former Ethereum Dev Pleads Guilty Virgil Griffith appeared in court today and about an hour into the trial, the defendant pleaded guilty in an apparent plea bargain. The former Ethereum developer was indicted when he spoke at a blockchain conference held in North Korea. The U.S. government accused Griffith of providing “highly technical information to North Korea,” and information that could help North Korea “launder money and evade sanctions.” While Griffith waited for his trial he was on house arrest and lived with his parents. On Virgil Griffith, here are this morning's docket entries: guilty plea to Count 1 with

Binance is terminating some services in Singapore, including fiat deposit services and spot trading of cryptocurrencies, to comply with the country’s regulations. The exchange has already ceased trading in Singapore dollars. Binance Scaling Down Services in Singapore Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Monday some changes to its offerings in Singapore. The company wrote: 　With effect from 2021-10-26 04:00 AM UTC (12:00 PM UTC+8), users in Singapore will not be able to access certain functions on Binance.com including fiat deposit services, spot trading of cryptocurrencies, the purchase of cryptocurrencies through fiat channels and liquid swap (‘Regulated Payments Services’). The announcement adds that “Users in Singapore are advised to cease all related trades, withdraw fiat assets and redeem tokens” by the deadline “to avoid potential trading disputes.” Binance Singapore has been undergoing changes since the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central ba

On September 22, 2021, a U.S. district judge from San Antonio, Texas, granted a summary judgment on the civil forfeiture of 147 bitcoin worth $6.3 million held on a Trezor hardware wallet. According to the court filing, the crypto assets stemmed from a Target gift card fraud incident that started in 2016. Gift Card Fraud Money Turned Into Bitcoin The Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division Court has been dealing with a case that involved gift card fraud and bitcoins. According to the court filing , an American named Jaymes Allen Clark worked at the retail chain Target as an Executive Team Leader of Assets Protection in San Antonio, Texas. Allegedly, Clark utilized his Target credentials to access Target’s gift card database and he reportedly obtained recently activated gift cards. After Clark detected newly activated cards, he took screenshots of the gift card account information. The filing then claims Clark shared the gift card info with co-conspirators who then leverage

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have been around for some time now, with what is recognized as the first-ever NFT “ Quantum ” created back in 2014. Since then, the industry has evolved and grown into what you see today; a flourishing and wholly absorbing market built on the Ethereum blockchain, offering a mixture of scarcity and provability, which equates to real value through digital ownership. Mainstream media coverage of NFTs focuses on CryptoArt, which is a unique look at art media, based on a decentralized blockchain. The relationship between the NFT world and the art world is one that has formed quickly and naturally, adding credence to the concept of CryptoArt and another reason why this industry should receive the recognition it deserves. It has frequently been labelled as a bubble because the advent of the industry is portrayed to have occurred at the start of 2021. However, a quick glance at the timeline of NFTs and it’s clear that the community has been around for a while. Thou

Chipper Cash, an African fintech start-up, has extended its peer-to-peer instant money service to South Africa. In addition to being able to use the remittance service, South African users will be able to buy, sell, and transfer cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum, and the USDC stablecoin. South Africa Ripe for Disruption and Innovation According to a report that quotes the start-up’s VP for strategy and partnerships in Africa, Pardon Mujakachi, Chipper Cash has made the foray into South Africa because it believes the country “is ripe for disruption and innovation in the financial services market.” The report also quotes the VP revealing the fact that it takes “three days for a person in the U.S. to send money to South Africa” while on the other hand, it takes up to 48 hours to move funds from one bank to another. It is such inefficiencies that often drive users to informal channels, argued Mujakachi. The VP also shared figures of the estimated number of users that are forced

Netflix, the world’s largest video streaming company, has announced it is working on a documentary that deals with the aftermath of the Quadrigacx saga. According to brief descriptions, the documentary titled; “Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King,” deals with how the users affected by the death of Quadrigacx’s CEO Gerry Cotten try to uncover the mystery behind his strange death and the private keys that supposedly only he held at his death. Netflix To Release Quadrigacx Documentary Next Year Netflix, one of the leading video streaming sites, announced the production of a documentary that would explain the saga of Quadrigacx, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in Canada, which was affected by the death of its CEO in strange circumstances. According to its synopsis in IMDB , the documentary would tell the story of Quadrigacx’s users that were not able to recover the funds lost when Gerry Cotten died. These users have now turned into sleuths to try and find out the true story

A hamster that trades cryptocurrencies has been outperforming Bitcoin and the S&P 500 since June. The rodent, called Mr. Goxx, uses a device called the “goxx box,” to give signals and make purchases in front of the live streaming audience that follows him. Mr. Goxx has achieved an impressive current score of +24% and even got to +50% before the latest crypto selloff. Crypto-Trading Hamster Performs Better Than S&P 500, Bitcoin A cryptocurrency-trading hamster that streams trading signals through Twitch has been on a roll since June, outperforming fellow human traders and Bitcoin, with impressive gains of 24% over its starting portfolio. The rodent, called Mr. Goxx, uses a simple system built on top of an infrastructure called the goxx box, that allows him to pick a cryptocurrency and send a signal to the traders. The system (devised by Mr. Goxx’s human caretaker) uses a hamster wheel to pick a cryptocurrency, and two tubes which the cute trader crawls through then indicate