Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Ever since government officials in China started talking about cracking down on bitcoin mining and reiterating crypto guidelines from 2017, digital currency proponents and the media have been focused on this region. Just recently, a Chinese state-backed online publication revealed that the Sichuan Energy Regulatory Office plans to hold a meeting on June 2, 2021, to discuss the implications of bitcoin mining. Sichuan Energy Regulatory Office to Meet on June 2 to Discuss Crypto Mining In recent times, the Chinese government has been discussing the crypto economy to a greater degree and much of the conversation has been directed at bitcoin mining. China’s officials hope to get the country carbon neutral by the year 2060 and capture a good percentage of carbon neutrality by 2030. Following a few meetings from the country’s Financial Stability Board and other Chinese politicians, a number of crypto firms stopped offering services to mainland citizens. Companies that started severing ...

Police from the UK executed a raid in an industrial unit in the West Midlands county expecting to find a cannabis farm, but instead found a big bitcoin mining facility, that was coincidentally bypassing the controls from the local power utility company to siphon energy from the main grid, stealing thousands of pounds in the process. UK Police Raid Alleged Cannabis Farm, Stumbles Upon Bitcoin Mining Facility The West Midlands Police Department got a real surprise last week when they raided an alleged cannabis farm in an industrial premise, just to find the facility was used to operate a Bitcoin mine. According to reports from intelligence, all of the signs suggested the site was used as a cannabis-growing farm. The West Midlands police department stated in its report that: We heard how lots of people were visiting the unit at different times of day, lots of wiring and ventilation ducts were visible, and a police drone picked up a considerable heat source from above. They are all c...

A Chinese economist and assistant director at the International Monetary Institute of Renmin University, Qu Qiang, has predicted that “We’re all going to die” if bitcoin becomes widely adopted as a currency. He foresees our society falling into “a death spiral of deflation,” noting that “the whole society is going to shrink and self-explode.” We’re All Going to Die if Bitcoin Is Widely Adopted, Predicts Chinese Economist An assistant director at the International Monetary Institute of Renmin University, Qu Qiang, was interviewed on CGTN about bitcoin. CGTN is owned by the Chinese state media China Central Television (CCTV). The video of his interview was shared on Twitter Thursday by Hailey Lennon, who said she walked into her hotel room and it was playing on TV. Qu was asked: “Can you give me the worst scenario, what kind of a systemic shock it will give to the current financial system if bitcoin is widely used in China or the rest of the world?” He replied: I can tell you exac...

Financial guru Dave Ramsey has given advice on whether one should invest in cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin. Ramsey sees cryptocurrency as a get-rich-quick scheme, preferring to make his money in a “methodical” and “boring” way. Dave Ramsey’s Advice on Investing in Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Dave Ramsey has given advice on cryptocurrency investing. Michael from Dayton, Ohio, called into The Ramsey Show saying that he had been looking into cryptocurrency and asked whether he should be investing in it. The episode, entitled “Should I Invest in Cryptocurrency?” was aired on May 20. Michael is 24 years old and has saved up $3,800 from working his job. He told Ramsey: “I just want to know what are the best investments to really look at and where to go about it.” The self-proclaimed personal money management expert, Ramsey calls himself “America’s trusted voice on money.” He is the author of seven best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, Ent...

Major British bank Natwest has launched an alert to urgently warn its customers of cryptocurrency scams, which have been on the rise. The bank has provided several tips for customers “thinking of investing in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies” on how to spot scams involving cryptocurrencies. “If you ignore the above advice, you could lose all of your money,” the bank cautioned. Natwest’s Advice on How to Spot Crypto Scams National Westminster Bank (Natwest), a major retail and commercial bank in the U.K., has launched an urgent cryptocurrency scam alert on its mobile app. The alert urges customers to beware of scams involving cryptocurrencies following a record number of reports in the first quarter. Natwest explained that a common scam people fall victim to involves fake celebrity endorsement, such as The Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson . Natwest’s head of fraud prevention, Jason Costain, was quoted by the media as saying: We have prevented millions of pounds from being...

The infamous Joseph Maldonado, aka “Joe Exotic,” from the docuseries “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” has launched his own Ethereum-based token. According to the website tiger-king.org, the project will also feature non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the proceeds from NFT sales will go toward helping Joe Exotic’s legal defense team and tiger rescue funding. ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic Launches an ERC20 Token The costar of the docuseries “Tiger King” has announced the launch of a new crypto asset called “TKING,” according to the reality series star’s official Twitter account. Bitcoin.com News reported on the popular docuseries last year when it was discovered that Joe Exotic’s costar Carole Baskin accepted bitcoin donations for Big Cat Rescue . Now Exotic “is back,” according to the website tiger-king.org and whoever developed an ERC20 token for him has minted a trillion TKING tokens. “The legend of Joe Exotic has launched on the Ethereum blockchain! The man the world learned to...

While a number of media pundits and politicians have been talking about Bitcoin’s energy consumption, there’s been a myriad of firms working toward green solutions well before all the controversy. Unfortunately, critics don’t highlight the amount of renewables miners use or the cogeneration applications. One project called EZ Blockchain has partnered with the Texas-based oil and gas service provider, Silver Energy to monetize wasted natural gas with bitcoin, while reducing emissions. Monetizing Stranded Gas and Reducing Emissions With Bitcoin A firm called EZ Blockchain recently detailed that the company has partnered with Silver Energy, an oil and gas provider based in Texas. According to the firm, the team installed Silver Energy’s first mining site at the company’s Alberta, Canada location in February 2021. After the installation of Microbt Whatsminers, EZ Blockchain said that the project reached around 1 megawatt of power consumption. All of the power is “processed from 250 MC...

U.S. Senator Rick Scott has urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to take action on cryptocurrency scams, which he said have risen 1,000% in the past year and cost consumers at least $80 million. “This is an unregulated industry, and the alarming amount of criminal activity surrounding cryptocurrency demands action,” he told Yellen. Senator Scott Alerts Janet Yellen to Cryptocurrency Scams Senator Rick Scott wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Jenet Yellen on Thursday raising concerns regarding the rising number of scams involving cryptocurrencies. The senator wrote: I write today with concern about the risks taken by ordinary investors and the significant potential for scams related to cryptocurrency. He explained that “Cryptocurrency values have fallen drastically over the last few weeks, while reports of scams and fraud have skyrocketed.” Senator Scott cited research by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stating that cryptocurrency scams have risen 1,000% in the past year a...

Taxpayers in Brazil have only a couple of days left to file their annual tax returns. Investors who had more than 5,000 reals worth of cryptocurrency in 2020, a little less than $1,000, are obliged to report the funds on their income tax declarations this year. Brazilians who fail to do that on time face hefty fines. Deadline for Tax Filing in Brazil Expires Midnight May 31 Brazilian citizens are required to file their 2021 income tax returns before June 1. This year, the deadline was extended by a month due to the coronavirus pandemic which took a heavy toll on South America’s largest economy. Failure to report revenues and tax obligations will result in fines starting at around $30 and going up to 20% on the tax due, Portal do Bitcoin warned readers recently. Taxpayers who kept over 5,000 reals worth of coins in their wallets, or $960 at the current exchange rate, must report the crypto holdings to Receita Federal , the country’s internal revenue service. This year, the tax age...

Digital currency market prices have been dropping during the last few days as the crypto economy now rests at $1.53 trillion in value. Crypto trade volumes have increased a hair on Sunday, and a few crypto assets have seen decent percentage gains over the course of the last seven days. Crypto Market Prices Consolidate While Traders Wait to See if Bears or the Bulls Grab the Reigns Last week, crypto proponents witnessed billions of dollars shaved off the entire crypto-economy and many are curious as to where things are headed next. Bitcoin ( BTC ) jumped back above the $40k handle a few days ago, but then plummeted below the $34k zone on Saturday. At the time of publication, BTC is exchanging hands for $36,098 per unit and is up over 3% this week against the U.S. dollar. Despite the 4% gain last week, 30-day percentages show bitcoin prices are still down 35%. The top five trading pairs with bitcoin ( BTC ) on Sunday, May 30, 2021, includes tether ( USDT ) with 57% of all trade...

Sveriges Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, will carry out the next stage of its e-krona project with the help of two organizations from the financial sector. The move signals a transition from the initial in-house testing with simulated participants to cooperation with real, external partners. Riksbank to Work With Handelsbanken and Tietoevry to Test E-krona The main task during the new phase of the pilot will be to trial “the technical solution for the e-krona” with the participation of real market entities. To accomplish this, Riksbank has invited Handelsbanken, one of the country’s major banking institutions, and Tietoevry, a digital services and software company. In an announcement published Friday, the regulator noted: Involving external actors as participants in the test environment will make it possible for the Riksbank to evaluate the integration between the participants’ existing systems and the technical platform for the e-krona pilot. One of the elements that wil...

During an interview this week, Metalla Royalty & Streaming CEO, Brett Heath, explained that he believes cryptocurrencies will lead to the next financial crisis. The precious metals boss said history shows that “mass adoption of a new financial product” typically leads to a financial crisis . Precious Metals Exec Says the Public Embracing Crypto May Lead to a Financial Disaster Brett Heath is the CEO of Metalla Royalty & Streaming (NYSE: MTA) (TSXV: MTA), a company designed to generate leveraged precious metal (PM) exposure via royalties and streams for shareholders. On May 27, Heath spoke with the precious metals news desk from kitco.com and explained that he believes the mass adoption of digital currencies like bitcoin will lead to catastrophe. Economic calamities begin when society adopts a new financial product Heath asserted. “When you look back to the last few decades and all of the financial crises that happened, they all have a couple of things in common. And one of...

Renowned investor Stanley Druckenmiller has shared his views on dogecoin and ethereum. He said he wouldn’t long or short dogecoin and laughs when the meme cryptocurrency rises in value. As for ether, he is skeptical whether it can hold its position. Stan Druckenmiller on Dogecoin and Ether In an interview with The Hustle last week, famed investor Stanley Druckenmiller shared his thoughts on bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin, the meme cryptocurrency that has recently taken the market by storm. Druckenmiller founded Duquesne Capital in 1981. He managed money for George Soros as the lead portfolio manager for the Quantum Fund until 2000. He and Soros made massive profits betting against the British pound in 1992. The billionaire investor said that dogecoin “is just like NFTs [non-fungible tokens]. It’s a manifestation of the craziest monetary policy in history.” He added: “I think since there’s no limit on supply, I don’t really see the utility of it right now. It’s just this wave of mone...

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has given personal advice to investors regarding investing in cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin. He said that his own personal advice to people is to “stay away” from cryptocurrencies. However, his bank, JPMorgan, will not stay away as clients want exposure to this asset class. Jamie Dimon’s Personal Advice to Investors About Bitcoin, Other Cryptocurrencies Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., gave his congressional testimony before the House of Financial Services Committee regarding cryptocurrency on Thursday. While admitting that JPMorgan’s clients are interested in investing in bitcoin, Dimon said: My own personal advice to people is stay away from it. That does not mean the clients don’t want it. This goes back to how you have to run a business. I don’t smoke marijuana but if you make it nationally legal, I’m not going to stop our people from banking it. “We are debating should we make it available in some way, in ...

Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have shared their policies regarding cryptocurrency before the U.S. Senate banking committee. The three banks are in different stages of offering crypto services to their clients. They also lag behind some of their peers, such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, in offering access to investments with exposure to bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Bank of America Evaluating Crypto Opportunities The CEOs of Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo gave their testimonies on cryptocurrency before the Senate banking committee last week. The committee, headed by Senator Sherrod Brown, summoned the investment bankers for its annual oversight hearing on Wall Street firms. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that BofA was keeping distance from bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as the bank continued “to evaluate the opportunities, risks and client demand for products and services related to cryptocurrency.” Noting that his bank holds more ...

The Boston-based cryptocurrency finance firm Circle has announced the company has raised $440 million in financing in order to “drive market expansion and growth.” The investment was led by prominent finance firms like Digital Currency Group, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and FTX. Circle Reveals $440 Million in Financing Circle Internet Financial, Inc. has revealed the company has obtained $440 million in financing from a number of strategic investors. Leading investors in Circle include Atlas Merchant Capital, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Breyer Capital, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Marshall Wace, Willett Advisors, Intersection Fintech Ventures, alongside Michael J. Price and Friends. Circle has attributed a lot of growth to the “rapid rise” of the stablecoin usd coin (USDC). The company considers USDC the “fastest growing dollar digital currency, which now stands at $22 billion in circulation. USDC has grown by 436% in 2021 alone, and over 28,000% over...