Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has rejected a request by the asset management firm, Sygnia, to list a new bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). In justifying its rejection of the latest proposal by Sygnia, the JSE cites the “lack of a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies as the reason.” Unexpected Rejection Meanwhile, a report suggests that while Sygnia was not expecting “an immediate acceptance of the bitcoin ETF”, company executives still did not anticipate such “a quick rejection.” Instead, in her reaction to the JSE’s decision, Sygnia founder and executive chairman Magda Wierzycka said: We expected the JSE to put in it ‘file 13’ and if and when they were ready that Sygnia would be the first in the queue. In addition, Wierzycka says the bitcoin ETF “would have attracted attention, and in turn money, to the JSE.” In the meantime, the same report reveals that this is the second time the JSE has rejected a similar application by Sygnia. In 2017, Sygnia unsu...

The Lebanese pound dropped to a new low on Sunday against the greenback trading in the low 1,500s range to the U.S. dollar. Lebanon’s currency has been in a downward spiral since 2019, as the pound has lost 90% of its value since then. Reports note that Lebanese citizens are facing shortfalls on basic goods like food and medicine, as attestations say “shortages have been worsening across the board.” Lebanese Pound Sinks to a New Low Against the Greenback, Country’s Monetary System Is Collapsing On Sunday, June 13, 2021, the Lebanese pound (LPB) dropped to 1,501 against the U.S. dollar or 0.00066 LBP per USD. The country’s economic crisis which started in 2019 has continued to wreak havoc on the Lebanese economy. Essentially, the Lebanese government overspent reserves , leveraged foreign aid, and “balanced its books with tourism receipts” after the civil war. The country’s leaders borrowed to build skyscrapers, eateries and designer boutiques, luxury shopping malls, and more. Repor...

PRESS RELEASE. Pakistan: RNS Solutions Pte Ltd. , the leading blockchain software development company from Pakistan, Korea, and Singapore this week announced a formidable partnership with the ICD-Islamic Development Bank Group , a multilateral development bank that promotes social and economic development in member countries, and Trustedchain software development & consultancy firm in Saudi Arabia. As part of the partnership, the consortium (RNS Solutions & Trustedchain) will be developing a blockchain and AI-based financial literacy (FinLit) platform, which will feature a crowdfunding lab based on blockchain technology. The platform will also include an interactive financial learning management system and financial AI chatbot support systems. In an effort to provide financial education and information to younger generations that are often ill-prepared for the financial demands of the modern world, FinLit will break down complex financial and investment terms, services, ...

Authorities in Yunnan are launching an investigation to identify and shut down miners that are illegally using electrical power to mint bitcoin, Chinese media reports. Inspections will also focus on potential safety hazards and will be carried out by various government departments. The mining industry cleanup is expected to continue till the end of June. Media: Yunnan Energy Bureau to Pull the Plug on Bitcoin Farms The province of Yunnan is reportedly joining the crackdown on cryptocurrency mining that’s already underway in other Chinese regions. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), local authorities have ordered an investigation into the alleged illegal use of electrical power in bitcoin mining. On Sunday, the publication quoted a June 12 report by the China Securities Journal which is published by the Xinhua news agency. The newspaper revealed that the Yunnan Energy Bureau plans to cut the power supply to individuals and companies illegally using electricity in crypt...

The director of the Netherlands’ Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, a part of the country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, has predicted “The ultimate collapse of the crypto bubble.” He urges the government to ban bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies immediately. However, the country’s finance minister disagrees that banning cryptocurrency is right for the country. CPB Director Wants Cryptocurrencies Banned Pieter Hasekamp, director of CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), published an article on the official CPB website Friday titled “The Netherlands must ban bitcoin.” The article was originally written for publication in the daily newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad. The CPB is a part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. Its director is appointed by the minister, in consultation with other members of the government. However, the CPB is fully independent as far as the contents of its work are concerned, the bureau’s website s...

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has shared her view on El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender. She confirmed that the central bank’s policy on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has not changed. ECB’s Lagarde Comments on El Salvador Making Bitcoin Legal Tender ECB President Christine Lagarde has shared her view last week on El Salvador’s move to make bitcoin legal tender. The country passed a bill last week making bitcoin legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. Lagarde first admitted that since she left the International Monetary Fund (IMF), she is “no longer familiar with the situation in El Salvador.” The ECB chief noted, “I know that it is a country that is under the IMF program.” While pointing out that “the issue of having dual tender in a particular economy is a difficult one,” Lagarde confirmed: That certainly does not change our approach to crypto assets and to regulations, supervision, and proper classification that they should be ...

Investment bank JPMorgan Chase has warned of a further bitcoin price decline, expecting an incoming bear market. The bank’s analysts look at the trend in bitcoin futures and see “an unusual development and a reflection of how weak bitcoin demand is at the moment from institutional investors.” However, a number of people disagree with this analysis. JPMorgan Warns of Incoming Bear Market JPMorgan Chase analysts, led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, warned of an incoming bitcoin bear market in a note to investors last week. The analysts looked at bitcoin futures which have been trading at a discount to the spot price, known as backwardation. “We believe that the return to backwardation in recent weeks has been a negative signal pointing to a bear market,” they wrote, adding: This is an unusual development and a reflection of how weak bitcoin demand is at the moment from institutional investors that tend to use regulated CME futures contracts to gain exposure to bitcoin. JPMorgan’s ana...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that when there is “confirmation of reasonable (about 50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend,” his electric car company will start accepting bitcoin for payments again. Elon Musk Reveals When Tesla Will Resume Accepting Bitcoin Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked about when Tesla will resume accepting bitcoin for payments Sunday. He wrote : When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions. Tesla began accepting bitcoin for car payments in March. Musk confirmed at the time that any BTC received will not be converted into fiat currencies. This followed the company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declaring that it had purchased bitcoin worth $1.5 billion. In April, its bitcoin stash was worth $2.5 billion . However, Tesla suspended accepting bitcoin as a payment option in May, citing environmental i...

At the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, attendees listened to the first phone interview with the Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht from the depths of the maximum-security prison in Tucson, Arizona. During the interview, Ulbricht spoke about bitcoin and how the decentralized crypto asset is “transforming the global economy.” Following the phone call, Ulbricht was placed in the hole according to the official Free Ross Twitter account. Ross Ulbricht Speaks About Bitcoin in His First Interview from Prison Ross Ulbricht’s voice was heard by the attendees who went to the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami this year. The recent interview was recorded by Bitcoin Magazine and is the first recorded phone conversation with Ulbricht after his arrest. Ulbricht touched upon the loss of his freedom and noted that from his confinement he’s “spent the last eight years watching Bitcoin grow up from in here.” During the phone call, Ulbricht noted that he was around during the Bitcoin network’s nascent days a...

The Republic of Cuba is suspending the use of U.S. dollars due to embargo restrictions with U.S. and foreign banks. The central bank of Cuba’s restrictions stems from the “obstacles that the U.S. embargo creates for the national bank system.” Cuba Bans USD Deposits, BCC Tells Tourists to ‘Arrive With a Currency Other Than the Dollar’ Cuba, the island country located where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean meet, said this week U.S. dollars will be suspended in the country. The mandate comes from the country’s central bank and foreign tourists have been told to leave U.S. dollars at home when visiting. The announcement was invoked at a roundtable discussion that was aired on state-sponsored Cuban television. “In view of the obstacles that the U.S. embargo creates for the national bank system to deposit abroad the U.S. dollars that are collected in the country, a decision was made to temporarily suspend deposits in U.S. banknotes in Cuba’s bank and financial s...

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey has urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to “make significant revisions” to the proposed crypto regulation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the planned adoption of the guidance issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Senator Asks Janet Yellen to Revise Proposed US Crypto Regulation U.S. Senator Pat Toomey wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Thursday regarding the U.S. approach to cryptocurrency regulation. “I write to raise concerns with two proposals involving the Department of the Treasury related to the regulation and oversight of cryptocurrencies,” he began. The first concern relates to FinCEN’s proposed rule for cryptocurrency transactions and the second relates to the FATF guidance on cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The senator described: While I recognize that FinCEN and FATF’s proposals are seeking to address the misuse of cryptocurrencies for illicit activity, if adopt...

UK police are lobbying the government to change the laws to allow them to freeze cryptocurrencies. Scotland Yard detectives say currently account-freezing orders do not apply to cryptocurrency wallets, making it difficult for the police to stop criminals from transferring funds. UK Police Want New Laws to Let Them Freeze Cryptocurrencies Scotland Yard detectives are lobbying the government for new laws to let them freeze crypto assets of criminals, The Times reported last week. Mick Gallagher, a retired detective chief superintendent at the Metropolitan Police, explained that the laws on freezing assets are outdated, therefore cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, could not always be frozen or seized by the police. Gallagher, who spent 37 years in the Metropolitan Police, retired at the end of last month. “The conversations that we’re having is about how we align cryptocurrency to the same kind of approach that we have about cash-based criminality,” he told the publication, noting ...

With bitcoin’s popularity rising, a growing number of businesses in Scotland have been introducing cryptocurrency payments. A roofing company from Glasgow now says more and more of its customers, including pensioners, are willing to pay with crypto. ASAP Roofing Accepts Cryptocurrency for Its Services Kaeleb Mckay, who runs a roofing company with his father, Cameron, has recently told the British press his business is seeing soaring numbers of customers paying in cryptocurrency. The 20-year-old Scot also said he’s been surprised by the people who use cryptocurrency, with his firm’s crypto customer base including even pensioners. ASAP Roofing and Building Ltd started accepting cryptocurrency last year, the Daily record reported, and is now taking several major coins including bitcoin ( BTC ), bitcoin cash ( BCH ), ethereum ( ETH ), dogecoin (DOGE), litecoin ( LTC ), and XRP , according to its website . The young entrepreneur from Wishaw in Lanarkshire commented: We have been acce...

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, hinted at the possibility of integrating Lightning Network into Twitter yesterday. Dorsey answered a Tweet of a follower saying it was “just a matter of time” for this to be a fact. Dorsey is a big Bitcoin proponent and has extended Bitcoin functionality to another of his companies, Square. Jack Dorsey Hints at Twitter/Lightning Network Integration Jack Dorsey hinted yesterday at the possibility of integrating Lightning Network into Twitter. Dorsey stated it was “only a matter of time” for this to happen, answering a follower’s tweet. Interestingly, the conversation started around an app called Sphinx . The app uses Lightning Network as a way of relaying messages between a set of users and for payments. Lightning Network is a second layer protocol for payment facilitation in Bitcoin. It was designed in 2016 as a way of achieving scalability for micropayments. However, developing the network concept in the real world took some time. Now there are Lightn...

The Bitcoin Mining Council has gone live, launching its own website detailing its members and the mission statement of the organization. The council originated as a closed organization, but they are now allowing any miner to join. While Michael Saylor gets a founding member status, the site states Elon Musk has “no role” in the council. Bitcoin Mining Council Officially Launches The Bitcoin Mining Council, an organization born out of worries regarding Bitcoin’s energy consumption, launched officially yesterday. On the website, the council presents its mission statement. It also explains the plan to tackle the task of addressing bitcoin energy worries. The site states: The mandate of the Bitcoin Mining Council is to promote transparency, share best practices, and educate the public on the benefits of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining. To achieve this, individual members need to provide accurate energy numbers. Miners and mining companies are traditionally reluctant to share these stati...

South Africa’s Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) has a released new position paper that calls for the regulation of the country’s cryptocurrency ecosystem. In the document, the IFWG, which is a creation of the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB), recommends “a staged approach to bring crypto-assets within the regulatory remit through the regulation of crypto asset service providers (CASPs).” Crypto Service Providers to Adhere to AML/CFT Requirements The 49-page document also “sets out 25 recommendations for a revised South African policy, legal and regulatory position on crypto assets and related activities.” According to the IFWG, some of these recommendations “are already underway and in the process of being implemented while some will take much longer to implement.” Meanwhile, in the position paper, the IFWG’s recommendations are grouped into three overarching categories. Concerning the first one, the working group recommends CASP adherence to the legislative requirem...