Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Digital currency markets have slipped in value this week as bitcoin has shed more than 8% of its value over the last seven days. The entire market capitalization of all 10,000+ crypto assets has also dropped 3.4% in value to $1.25 trillion on Monday. Crypto markets are following the trend of large drops seen across stock markets on Monday morning, as equities have significantly decreased in value. Crypto Markets Follow Monday’s Stock Market Rout, Entire Crypto Market Cap Sheds Over 3% Bitcoin dropped to a low of $30,400 on July 19, losing approximately 8.64% during the last week as the leading crypto asset slid 3.3% in 24 hours. Bitcoin’s market valuation is $575 billion at the time of writing and there’s $19 billion worth of BTC trade volume on Monday. The top five trading pairs with BTC include USDT , USD, BUSD, JPY, and EUR. The stablecoin tether ( USDT ) commands over 56% of today’s BTC trades. Out of the $1.25 trillion, BTC captures 46.4% of the overall valuation, while

An aspirant to the post of commissioner with the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has urged the elections body to consider adopting blockchain technology. According to Justus Abonyo, a former official with the Social Democratic Party of Kenya, doing this will help Kenya reduce the cost of “running an election by up to 300 per cent.” Enhanced Transparency As the breakdown of the costs shared by Abonyo suggests, using an electoral management system based on a blockchain will see the cost of the ballot going down to as low as $0.50. The candidate explained: The cost of a ballot in Kenya ranges between US$7 US$25 (Sh700-Sh2,500). If we use blockchain technology, this cost will go down to US$0.5 (Sh50). This is an area I would explore as a commissioner. In addition to significantly reducing the running costs, one local media outlet, the Star, also quotes Abonyo detailing other benefits that could be realized and these include “greater security and transp

As cameras flashed at tonight’s 27th amFAR gala at the Cannes film festival in the south of France, one-star continued to shine, the world’s second highest-selling living artist, Sacha Jafri. The lavish gala celebrated its 27th edition with host Sharon Stone as Alicia Keys gave a dazzling performance in a continued effort to raise money for AIDS returned. One of the most anticipated nights of the festival, the 27th edition was a smaller, more intimate affair than previous years, with the exclusive guest-list slimmed down from 900 to 400 people with COVID-19 protocols in place. After the performance, came Sacha’s live painting and a presale of his open edition NFT. As some buyers left to head back to their penthouse suite, the auction kicked off what would be the grand finale of the event. Even though some had already left, with less than 5 minutes to go Sacha alongside Billionaire philanthropist Javed Fiyaz, co-founder of Infinity8.io, sold just over 1,500 units for a total of 750,0

On Saturday, former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson, asked his 5.6 million followers on Twitter which crypto asset they prefer: bitcoin or ethereum. Tyson is no stranger to the world of crypto and just recently stepped into the realm of non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles. Iron Mike Asks His Fans: ‘Which do you prefer, Bitcoin or Ethereum?’ The former professional boxer, otherwise known as “Kid Dynamite” and “Iron Mike,” tweeted about bitcoin and ethereum on Saturday and asked his followers which crypto asset they preferred. Tyson is quite familiar with bitcoin and on July 25, 2015, he tweeted about a bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM) that featured his image. He also shared a website called miketysonbitcoin.com which is now offline. At the time, Tyson connected with a firm called Bitcoin Direct LLC but the venture was quickly forgotten after some drama . In more recent times, Tyson has teamed up with the full-service creative agency, NFT studio 1ofone . According t

An industry association representing the Russian crypto sector has launched a project to entice bitcoin miners. Despite its abundant sources of cheap energy, Russia is now lagging behind Kazakhstan, another Eurasian Economic Union member, in terms of cryptocurrency production. Russian Project Aims to Expand Country’s Crypto Mining Capacity The Russian Association of Crypto Industry and Blockchain (Racib) has unveiled a project to bring a larger portion of the global computing potential engaged in cryptocurrency mining to Russia. The Russian Federation, Racib noted in an announcement , ranks among the top five nations by total electricity production. What’s more, the country’s energy system features unique characteristics that can benefit enterprises involved in the minting of digital coins. Racib has listed a number of them, including the large surplus of power-generating capacity which reaches 50% in certain regions. The colder Russian climate is another advantage as it allows th

A group of Paraguayan lawmakers presented a ‘Bitcoin bill’ in the National Congress last week, but it turned out to be a very different proposal than what crypto followers expected. The bill seeks to control and regulate cryptocurrency transactions and establish taxes. There is no mention of declaring bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies as legal tender anywhere in the proposal. “Bitcoin Bill” Presented in Paraguay The long-hyped ‘Bitcoin bill’ was at last presented in Paraguay to the National Congress by two lawmakers last week, but it was not what some had anticipated. The project presented by deputy Carlos Rejala and the liberal senator Fernando Silva Facetti doesn’t aim to declare bitcoin as legal tender, as El Salvador did last month. In fact, it states the opposite. An early draft states: “Digital assets are not legal tender currencies used by the Paraguayan State, and for this reason they are not backed by the Central Bank of Paraguay” Instead, the proposed law seeks

Just before the antivirus tycoon John McAfee was found dead in Spain, he told the public from prison that U.S. federal authorities seized all of his assets and he had “nothing.” Now a biographer who is writing a McAfee-based biography has corroborated McAfee’s story. The author Mark Eglinton says that McAfee was also unable to pay for the requested biography. McAfee Wasn’t Able to Pay for Requested Biography Expenses In 1987, John McAfee wrote the first commercial-grade antivirus software and by 1994 he sold his stake in the company and resigned. By 2007, reports show that McAfee’s net wealth peaked at $100 million but allegedly his funds quickly evaporated in the 2008 financial crisis. A picture of John McAfee when he lived in Belize for a number of years. McAfee’s antivirus firm called McAfee was bought out by Intel in 2010 for $7.6 billion. After Intel changed the name of the company to “Intel Security,” McAfee made a statement that he was freed “from this terrible association

PRESS RELEASE. Toronto, July 19, 2021 – FOHO is building a transparent fractional ownership marketplace that uses the wisdom of crowds to uncover deals, hold sellers and property managers accountable and manage usage and income disbursal for real estate assets. Their modus operandi revolves around a trust-incentivized system. The platform is backed by Tangentia – one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Canada and Tripvillas – a leader in the development and management of Vacation homes. FOHO Coin – a utility token for use on the FOHO Ecosystem today announced that it has concluded agreements for its Initial Exchange Offering or IEO on the Ascent by Bitnbs Launchpad. The IEO will open on the 27th of July 2021. FOHO was founded in 2019 in Goa and raised capital from Tangentia Ventures. It rapidly gained initial traction with deals in Goa and Sri Lanka. In 2021, it received further backing from Tripvillas – a leading manager of Vacation home communities with over 5000 homes

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, took to Twitter to tell his thoughts about the statements that Jackson Palmer, co-founder of Dogecoin, expressed last week. While Palmer now has a negative vision of the cryptocurrency industry, Armstrong is in the opposite field. To Armstrong, the cryptocurrency industry has its problems, but it still provides an alternative for people who want more economic freedom. Coinbase CEO Faces Dogecoin Founder for His Views on Cryptocurrency Capitalistic, right-wing, centralized… these were some of the traits that the Dogecoin co-founder Jackson Palmer attributed to the cryptocurrency market as a whole earlier this week. Palmer’s thoughts about the current state of the cryptocurrency industry caused harsh reactions across social media. But one of the few that articulated a structured answer to Palmer’s tweetstorm was none other than Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase. Armstrong stated that while the cryptocurrency system as conceived now has its problems,

A panel of crypto experts has predicted that the price of bitcoin will rise to $318,417 by December 2025. The most bullish expert believes that the price of the cryptocurrency will reach $160,000 by the end of the year. Meanwhile, 54% of them think that hyperbitcoinization will happen by 2050. Crypto Experts Share Bitcoin Price Prediction Finder, a major product comparison website, has conducted a study to find out the future outlook of bitcoin as its popularity grows. “As awareness of cryptocurrencies continues to spread, all eyes are on bitcoin’s price. So we asked our panel of 42 cryptocurrency experts what’s in store for the coin,” the company detailed last week. The panelists include crypto asset managers, executives of crypto exchanges and other service providers, crypto analysts, professors, and lecturers at universities. Among various topics discussed was what the price of bitcoin will be at the end of the year and a few years from now. Finder detailed: While there may b

Over 1,000 bitcoin mining machines have been totally destroyed in Malaysia after they were seized for illegally mining the cryptocurrency using stolen electricity. The mining machines, worth about $1.26 million, were steamrolled in the Malaysian city of Miri and eight people have been arrested so far. Over a Thousand Bitcoin Mining Machines Demolished in Malaysia Malaysian authorities have completely destroyed 1,069 bitcoin mining machines confiscated between February and April with a steamroller, local media reported Friday. The mining machines were seized in a joint operation carried out by police and Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) in Miri, a Malaysian city on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo. They are estimated to be worth 5.3 million Malaysian ringgits ($1.26 million). All seizures that had been settled in court were disposed of at the Miri district police headquarters Friday. Miri police chief ACP Hakemal Hawari said eight individuals were also arrested for being invo

Leading Korean crypto exchange Bithumb is terminating its trademark agreements with two coin trading platforms operating abroad under its brand name. The move comes as digital asset exchanges in South Korea prepare to comply with the country’s stricter regulations for the industry that will be enforced in September. Bithumb Global and Bithumb Singapore to Change Their Brand Names as Bithumb Ends Trademark Agreements Two cryptocurrency exchanges, Bithumb Global and Bithumb Singapore , will not be able to use the Bithumb brand name and trademark starting from the last day of this month. Bithumb Korea Co., Ltd., operator of the leading South Korean digital currency platform, announced its decision to terminate the Trademark License Agreements with the two entities. According to the preliminary notice published this week, the termination date for the contracts has been set to Friday, July 30, 2021. The non-exclusive trademark license agreements apply to the usage of the Bithumb logo

Jackson, Tennessee’s mayor is a fan of bitcoin and he wants the city to become a bitcoin hub in order to entice technology companies and innovation. Jackson’s mayor Scott Conger is in the midst of discussing creating legislation that allows Jackson residents to pay property taxes with bitcoin. Jackson, Tennessee’s Mayor Is a Fan of Bitcoin, He Wonders Why We Accept Inflation Miami mayor Francis Suarez is not the only bitcoiner trying to get bitcoin companies and technological innovation to reside in his city. Jackson, Tennessee’s mayor is also a bitcoin fan and Scott Conger is the third member of his family to be Jackson’s mayor. Conger has noticed inflation creeping higher after the federal government and central bank created massive quantities of stimulus during the last year and a half. In Conger’s opinion bitcoin is the only solution to this problem. Three days ago Conger tweeted : Why do we accept inflation? Why don’t we demand more from our federal government 6.3% in 2 year

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) have conducted an extensive study of using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for cross-border payments. Their report to the G20 states that enhanced cross-border payments “can be achieved … as long as countries work together.” The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the BIS Innovation Hub, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank published a joint report to the G20 on July 9 titled “Central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments.” The report explains that “Cross-border payments are commonly criticized for their high cost, low speed, limited access, and insufficient transparency.” To address these challenges, the G20 countries endorsed a roadmap in October last year. It was developed by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and other relevant standard-setting bodies. Various aspects of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) were analyzed in

The analytics provider Ecoinometrics has published a tweetstorm that shows the current downward spiral from bitcoin’s all-time high is one of “the longest drawdowns bitcoin has had to deal with during a post-halving bull market.” Furthermore, the same day, analyst and economist, Julio Moreno, highlighted in a recent blog post that “in bitcoin, volatility is your friend.” Analyst Discusses Bitcoin’s Second Longest Drawdown Before the Next Price Move Most people in the industry understand that bitcoin (BTC) prices have seen better days and many spectators are wondering when the crypto asset will rebound. The fact of the matter is, we really don’t know, but people do leverage previous chart patterns from prior bull markets and have measured a number of timespans. In recent times, Bitcoin.com News has published at least two market reports that show speculators believe this bull run resembles the action that took place in 2013. According to the analytics provider Ecoinometrics , the