Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

This week a great number of bitcoin supporters and skeptics have been arguing over whether or not bitcoin mining is harmful to the global environment. However, crypto supporters have been saying that concerns over the Bitcoin network’s energy supply are absurd, in contrast to the carbon used and the military violence that backs a number of fiat currencies including the U.S. dollar. One could even go as far as to say that the American dollar alone has left boot prints on large groups of humans over the years and desecrated entire countries. Musk and Dorsey Still Use US Dollars When They Know the Currency Leverages Massive Amounts of Carbon and Military Force Elon Musk and his electric car company Tesla ignited a ferocious debate over bitcoin mining and how it affects the global environment. Similarly, the founder of Square and Twitter, Jack Dorsey, added fuel to the argument when his company’s CFO said the payment firm has no current plans to buy more bitcoin ( BTC ). Dorsey then ...

Grayscale, one of the largest cryptocurrency fund managers, has declared it is trying to morph the bitcoin trust GBTC into an exchange-traded fund (ETF) to solve its price woes. The exchange rate is now at a 20% price discount compared to its bitcoin holdings, a fact that has many worried about the overall sustainability of their business model. Grayscale Hints at Becoming an ETF Grayscale, the biggest cryptocurrency fund manager in the world, has declared its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is in the process to become an ETF to get rid of some of the problems it is facing. Grayscale’s CEO, Michael Sonnenshein, declared that morphing GBTC into an ETF would solve many of the inefficiencies that investors are experiencing now when it comes to pricing, a process he said they were 100% committed to doing. Shares of GBTC, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, have underperformed its digital counterpart significantly this year, and have reached lower lows during selloffs. This imbalance could ne...

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio has warned that cryptocurrency’s biggest risk is its own success. He explained that it could attract regulators to come down tough on the crypto industry because “as a storehold of wealth no government wants to have an alternative currency.” Crypto’s Success May Attract Tough Regulation Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, warned about the success of cryptocurrencies at the Wall Street Journal “Future of Everything Festival” this week. Dalio is the co-founder and chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates, whose clients include endowments, governments, foundations, pensions, and sovereign wealth funds. The Bridgewater chief said: Its own biggest risk is its success, because as a storehold of wealth no government wants to have an alternative currency. Dalio has long voiced concerns about regulators coming after bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies if they feel their monetary sovereignty i...

The CEO of Square Inc. says that “bitcoin changes everything for the better.” His comment followed one from Square’s CFO reaffirming the company’s corporate bitcoin strategy. The CEO also made a commitment to “forever work to make bitcoin better.” Meanwhile, Square and Ark Invest have published a report arguing “for bitcoin as a key driver of renewable energy’s future.” ‘Bitcoin Changes Everything for the Better’ Following a comment from Square’s chief financial officer, Amrita Ahuja, stating that the company has not changed its bitcoin strategy, CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted Friday: “Bitcoin changes ‘everything’ … for the better. And we will forever work to make bitcoin better.” Dorsey’s statement followed CFO Ahuja’s tweet that says: “Our bitcoin strategy hasn’t changed. We’re deeply committed to this community, including working towards a greener future through our Bitcoin Clean Energy initiative.” She emphasized that “as shared in February, Square continues to access its bitcoin inve...

Police in China’s Jiangxi province have reportedly recovered bitcoins stolen from a victim and returned them to the owner. The case involves the theft of 8.236 bitcoins, worth approximately 3 million yuan. Police Return Bitcoin to Theft Victim Police in China’s Jiangxi province have reportedly solved a case involving the theft of bitcoins worth almost 3 million yuan ($466,000), local media reported this week. A man, referred to only by his last name Shan, filed a police report stating that he was unable to access his email account linked to his cryptocurrency wallet after someone changed his password. His account contained 8.236 BTC , worth approximately 2.96 million yuan. At the time of writing, this amount of bitcoin is worth $406,949. Preliminary investigations showed that the email account was linked to more than 20 telephone numbers that had been illegally obtained by the suspect to avoid police detection, the authorities say. However, the police eventually located the suspe...

Crypto markets have been very volatile in recent times and a great number of digital assets have dropped more than 30% in value during the last three days. Although, not all the coins in the crypto economy are doing badly, as coins that do not leverage proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithms have actually done well after the recent Tesla controversy. Distributed ledgers that use delegated validation nodes and proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains have made double-digit gains in recent days. Green Energy Gains: Cardano, Polkadot, and Polygon Shine As soon as Elon Musk and Tesla sparked the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm controversy, a few blockchains that use less energy and alternative consensus algorithms have seen massive gains. For instance, cardano (ADA) tapped an all-time high at $2.37 per unit on Saturday. ADA is up a whopping 4,362% against the U.S. dollar during the last 12 months. Seven-day stats show ADA has gained 40% and more than 18% during the last 24 hours. T...

A city in the U.S. state of North Dakota has begun accepting cryptocurrencies for utility bill payments. The city’s finance director says, “We are the first municipality in the state of North Dakota, and the third in the nation, to offer this service.” City Government Accepts Crypto Payments The city of Williston in the U.S. state of North Dakota announced Thursday that “it now accepts digital cryptocurrency payments for utility bills.” The city’s finance director, Hercules Cummings, explained that Williston has partnered with Bitpay to accept cryptocurrencies, elaborating: We are the first municipality in the state of North Dakota, and the third in the nation, to offer this service. The announcement clarifies: “Currently, utility bill payments are the only bills eligible to be paid with cryptocurrency. Quality assessments will be conducted, and volumes evaluated, before migrating other bills such as landfill, permits, and licenses.” Bitpay currently supports payments made in ...

The mysterious creator of bitcoin has always been a topical conversation and over the years, a great number of self-proclaimed blockchain inventors have said that they once played the role of Satoshi Nakamoto. Of course, none of these so-called Satoshis have ever proven this to the greater cryptocurrency community, but it hasn’t stopped lots of people from trying. Many Satoshis With Little Proof Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of the Bitcoin blockchain , has always been one of the crypto community’s most popular subjects because the story is a thought-provoking mystery. Nakamoto could be an individual or a group, and there have been many theories that have caused people to suspect a number of known candidates. Then there have been individuals that have outright proclaimed that they created the Bitcoin protocol, and they also produce wild stories that are used with the intent to sway people’s minds. There are also a few people who haven’t really said they once filled Satoshi Nakamot...

DBS Group, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, has launched a trust service for cryptocurrencies for its private banking clients. The service allows clients to invest, store, and manage their cryptocurrencies in a safe, secure, and structured manner, the bank explained. DBS’ New Cryptocurrency Trust Service DBS Group said Friday that its private banking arm, DBS Private Bank, has started offering a trust service for cryptocurrencies. The service allows private banking clients to invest, store, and manage their cryptocurrencies in a safe, secure, and structured manner, DBS Group explained. The offering applies only to cryptocurrencies supported by the bank’s crypto exchange launched in December last year for institutional clients and accredited investors. They are bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, and XRP . Lee Woon Shiu, regional head of family office, wealth planning and insurance solutions at DBS Private Bank, commented: International regulations and protocols are still nascent in the...

The Brooker Group has reportedly become the first publicly listed company in Thailand to hold bitcoin on its balance sheet. The company has disclosed that it has bought 122.3158 bitcoins worth $6.6 million or 200 million baht. Thai Public Company Invests in Bitcoin The number of public companies investing in bitcoin is growing worldwide. In Thailand, The Brooker Group (BROOK) has become the first listed company in the country to announce its cryptocurrency holdings, the Bangkok Post reported Thursday. The Brooker Group provides independent advisory services to private and public sector clients in Thailand and overseas. Before The Brooker Group’s disclosure, a small number of Thai publicly traded companies accepted cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, such as Ananda Development and Major Cineplex Group. None had declared that they were holding any bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies on their balance sheets. SEC Secretary-General Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol explained: Listed companie...

A group of Chinese investors has filed a lawsuit against an alleged crypto fraudster based in New York, United States, who ran a Wechat group where he handled the scheme. The scammer reportedly promoted the bogus investment opportunity by promising earnings of “$200,000 in one day.” Scam Allegedly Ran From 2016 to 2020 According to the Epoch Times , the six plaintiffs – residents of China, Canada, California, Washington State, and Georgia – accused the individual, named in the documents just as “Sun,” of running a stock trading academy where he sold courses and provided investment tips. The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York, where the victims demanded Sun to return their initial investments, which they didn’t disclose publicly, plus the profits promised by him. Sun claimed to operate a blockchain and digital asset-related investment group that ran from 2016 to March 2020. The alleged fraudster falsified bitcoin ( BTC ) trading statements ...

Galaxy owners will be able to connect hardware wallets to their smartphones and transfer coins to the built-in wallet that comes with most devices in the popular lineup. Samsung says that makes it easier for users to access their cryptocurrency and make transactions. Update Allows Galaxy Users to Link Their Crypto Wallets to Cold Storage Devices Samsung has released an update that will increase the utility of its cryptocurrency wallet, first introduced with the Galaxy S10 series two years ago. The app can now link to select hardware wallets such as Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X. The new functionality facilitates the transfer of crypto funds from cold storage to the mobile app. In a press release, Samsung emphasized: The update makes it easier for blockchain users to access and process transactions by importing virtual assets stored on select cold hardware wallets to the Samsung Blockchain Wallet. Galaxy devices running Android OS 9.0 or above will support the new feature, alth...

As Coti ramps up efforts to bring a decentralized fear index to crypto, it has enlisted the help of Professor Dan Galai, one of the pioneering brains behind the Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX), to help the organization develop a crypto-oriented version. VIX Co-Creator to Join Coti-Backed Volatility Project Since exchanges for cryptocurrencies first arose, the market and accompanying price action have proven to be among the most volatile around. Intraday swings of double-digit percentage rates are regular occurrences. While it might seem like outsized volatility given the market’s dramatic movements and momentum, volatility in and of itself is not unique to crypto. Volatility has also been a key metric for understanding certain markets, especially the options market. One of the foremost barometers for volatility in stock markets is the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) Market Volatility Index, or VIX as it’s more commonly known. The VIX tracks 30-day implied volatility in ...

The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has warned against a local crypto startup’s plan to proceed with the introduction of a digital financial product without adhering to the required regulation. According to the CBL, this act will not only be illegal but this will likely “undermine the country’s financial system.” The CBL’s warning follows an announcement by an organization known as The Abundance Community Coin (TACC) that plans to launch a crypto asset on May 14. According to a report, TACC claims that its token “has been created to help enrich people through the use of task coins.” However, in its press statement , the CBL dismisses suggestions that TACC’s crypto offering has its blessings. The central bank states: The CBL clarified that at no time has the Bank approved any license for the above-mentioned company to transact any financial business in Liberia, in accordance with Section 3 (1) of the New Financial Institutions Act of Liberia. The central bank adds that if TACC actu...