Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Financial authorities in Singapore are taking steps toward increased oversight in the crypto space with the city-state’s central bank reportedly asking companies to provide additional information about their activities and assets. Ahead of a possible broadening of the applicable rules, the authority is trying to get a clearer idea of their financial state, knowledgeable sources say. Singapore Regulators Send Crypto Firms Questionnaire, Expect Prompt Response The Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) has sought to acquire detailed information from cryptocurrency firms operating under its license and also some of the applicants, Bloomberg revealed , quoting people familiar with the matter who chose to remain anonymous. The central bank sent a “granular questionnaire” last month, awaiting quick answers. According to the report, the regulator has asked the companies to provide data regarding the crypto assets they hold, their main lending and borrowing counterparties, the amount loan...

A new report shows that India has roughly 115 million crypto investors, and the country’s crypto economy is growing despite the recent market downturn, with more than half of the crypto investors surveyed planning to increase their crypto investments in the coming six months. Indian Crypto Ecosystem Is Growing, Report Shows Cryptocurrency exchange Kucoin published a report on India’s cryptocurrency ecosystem Tuesday. It features the results of a survey, conducted from October 2021 to June 2022, which the company described as “an in-depth look into the development of the blockchain industry and crypto space” in India. The survey respondents were 2,042 Indian adults aged 18 to 60, the company explained, adding that 1,541 of them were self-identifying crypto investors and 501 were crypto-curious consumers, who were interested in investing in crypto in the coming six months. Citing the survey results, the report details that as of June: There are roughly 115 million crypto investor...

The Denver-based gas-to-bitcoin infrastructure company Crusoe Energy is suing the rival firm Alkane Midstream LLC over alleged patent infringement and poaching customers in Colorado. Crusoe’s lawsuit claims since November 2019, “Alkane was actively monitoring Crusoe and its business.” Crypto Flare Mitigation Company Crusoe Files a Lawsuit Against the Texas-Based Alkane Midstream Gas-to-bitcoin flare mitigation company Crusoe Energy filed a lawsuit against the company Alkane Midstream on August 22, 2022. The gas-to-bitcoin infrastructure firm is asking the Denver division of Colorado’s federal court to order Alkane to stop infringing on two patents. The lawsuit obtained by Bitcoin.com News also claims Alkane caused Crusoe to lose work after two gas and oil refiners backed away from agreements made with the company in November 2021. The two gas and oil producers are called the “Colorado Producers,” and are not officially named in the lawsuit filed against Alkane. “Alkane has infri...

Law enforcement in Afghanistan has shut down over a dozen crypto exchanges in Herat, detaining the people who were running them. The offensive comes after the introduction of a ban on online foreign exchange that the Taliban seem to have applied to coin trading as well. Taliban Government Goes After Crypto Trading in Afghanistan Citing Scamming as Motive Afghan security forces have closed down a number of crypto exchanges in the western Herat province in the past week, the English-language Ariana News portal reported on Tuesday. At least 16 platforms trading digital currencies have been shut down, the outlet unveiled. The report quotes the head of the counter-crime unit of the Herat police Sayed Shah Sa’adat who reminded that Da Afghanistan Bank ( DAB ), the country’s monetary authority, said in a notice that crypto trading had caused lots of problems, including scamming people. He also stated: We acted and arrested all the exchangers involved in the business and closed their sho...

The overwhelming majority of Russians in big cities are well aware of the term cryptocurrency but those with a good understanding of the topic are quite a small proportion, a new poll has indicated. Experts say that currency restrictions imposed earlier this year are helping growth in interest and adoption. A Third of Russians Ready to Buy Crypto Assets Within Months Just 6% of Russian internet users understand cryptocurrencies relatively well, although 80% have heard about them. The findings come from a survey conducted by hardware wallet developer Tangem among 2,100 residents of Russian cities with a population exceeding 100,000. Some 45% of the respondents have a positive attitude towards the digital coins and almost an equal number (46%) are neutral, while 9% view them negatively, the company established. Being able to earn capital gains is the main motive for those willing to buy, while the assets’ lack of backing is the key factor for rejection. Close to a third (31%) of th...

With a cryptocurrency ownership rate of 10%, or four million people, South Africa “ranks 18th out of 26 countries for crypto adoption,” the latest Finder’s report has said. The report also noted that South Africa’s proportion of crypto owners holding bitcoin, 52%, is the third highest out of 26 countries. Just Over Half Own BTC According to Finder’s crypto adoption trends report for August 2022, about four million people, or 10% of South Africans, are cryptocurrency holders. With this crypto ownership rate, South Africa is ranked eighteenth out of twenty-six countries for crypto adoption, the Finder’s report said. Also, according to the report, South Africa’s crypto ownership rate of 10% is five percentage points lower than the global average of 15%. Regarding the cryptocurrencies held or owned by South Africans, the report said half of the respondents own bitcoin while the remaining half is split between three altcoins. “As it stands, roughly 5% of those surveyed in South Afric...

No privacy. No property. No prosperity. If you follow the news, you’ve seen the trend — putting legal limits on cash transactions, the emergence of surveillance-oriented, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and more recently, crypto mixing platform Tornado Cash being sanctioned by the United States Treasury. There is a new wave of propaganda increasingly demonizing individual financial privacy and “private” cryptocurrencies and protocols. You’ve likely experienced the dystopian push in your own life, as banks and financial institutions demand more and more sensitive, personal information, and freeze your hard-earned money while telling you to prove you are not a criminal or terrorist before you may access it. World Economic Frustration What is a “canary in a coal mine”? The Free Dictionary defines it as “Something or someone who … acts as an indicator and early warning of possible adverse conditions or danger.” The saying hearkens back to the “practice of taking caged canaries...

Authorities in two Chinese cities are promoting the digital yuan as a payment method in the public transportation system. Commuters on the subway of Ningbo and those taking the bus in Guangzhou will be able to purchase their tickets using the state-issued digital currency. Residents and Visitors of Another 2 Chinese Cities to Pay Transit Fares With Digital Yuan Ningbo Rail Transit, the operator of the subway system in the city of Ningbo in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, has launched payments in digital yuan , the central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) issued by the People’s Bank of China. The company announced that 125 stations will accept the coin. The city’s 9.5 million citizens and visitors can now pay their subway fares through the Ningbo Rail Transit app. To do that, they will have to link an e-CNY wallet — opened with any of the six large Chinese banks participating in efforts to popularize the digital incarnation of the national fiat — to the application. Commute...

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has warned that the crypto market may crash and small investors will lose money. He added that the central bank believes that its warnings have deterred many people from investing in cryptocurrencies. RBI Governor’s Crypto Warnings The governor of the Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das, warned about investing in cryptocurrency in an interview with ET Now earlier this week. Noting that the RBI has cautioned investors on several occasions about the risks of investing in crypto, Das said: “I’m happy that we sounded those warning signals and I would like to believe that a large number of people would have taken a note of the warning signals and the concerns expressed by the Reserve Bank.” He added: I would like to believe … that many people did not invest in crypto or sort of pulled out of crypto thanks to the cautions and concerns that emanated out of the Reserve Bank. “Crypto, you know, we have said it earlier, it ca...

The central bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines discussed crypto regulation in a Senate hearing with the participation of several executives from the crypto industry, including from crypto exchange Binance. Philippine Regulators Discuss Crypto Policies Philippine regulators recently discussed cryptocurrency regulation with some executives from the crypto industry in a Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions, and Currencies hearing, chaired by Senator Mark Villar, the Inquirer reported Wednesday. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) were present. The executives from the crypto industry include Binance APAC Director Leon Foong and the exchange’s general manager for the Philippines, Kenneth Stern. Fintech Alliance’s chairperson, Lito Villanueva, also participated in the discussion. The regulators and industry participants discussed sever...

A new report by the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI) showcases the environmental sustainability of the TRON network . According to the “Energy Efficiency and Carbon Footprint of the TRON Blockchain” report, the highly popular TRON network only consumes as much electricity as just fifteen average U.S. households. The Environmental Sustainability of the TRON Network The electricity consumption and related carbon footprint of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been subject to extensive discussion in public, academia, and industry. Various estimations exist, comparing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ electricity consumption to various mid-sized countries. The problem has been known for several years, and other systems and technologies have emerged to try and solve the issue. The consensus mechanism of Proof of Stake (PoS) is deemed superior regarding the electricity requirements compared to the traditional Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanisms. While it is consens...

Moody’s, the asset quality rating agency, has warned the high rate of inflation that some countries are facing in Latam will affect the economic recovery in the region. Brazil, Chile, and Mexico are said to be the countries more affected by this phenomenon, and their recovery will depend on other factors to attenuate the effects of inflation. Moody’s States Latam Spending Recovery Might Be Hampered by Inflation Inflation is becoming a problem in several countries of Latam and the world, putting a dent in the recovery predictions of many countries after the Covid-19 pandemic. A recent note issued by asset quality rating agency Moody’s stresses that inflation will be a decisive factor in the future of the economic recovery of the area. The note mentions Brazil, Chile, and Mexico as three of the countries whose private spending growth will be significantly attenuated by the high inflation rates they are experiencing. However, other factors will also be relevant when it comes to this ...

There are growing doubts about the regional economic bloc known as the East African Community’s ability to successfully launch a single currency by 2024, a report has said. One of the reasons for this is member states’ delays in meeting targets as set out in the roadmap. Attainment of Single Regional Currency a Top Priority for the EAC Central banks from an African economic union, the East African Community (EAC) are reportedly unsure if plans to introduce a single currency for the region by the year 2024 will be realized. The central banks cite some member states’ failure to meet targets as set out in the roadmap as one of the reasons why the single currency is unlikely to take off as planned. As per a report in the East African, members of the six-nation East African Community hope that the envisaged common currency will help reduce the costs associated with converting currencies. There are also hopes the single currency, whose attainment is one of the EAC’s priorities for the p...

Nigeria’s peer-to-peer bitcoin traded volumes of over $1.1 billion between January 2021 and June 2022 mean the West African nation is now Paxful’s largest market. Kenya, which saw traded volumes of over $325 million during the same period, now ranks as the crypto exchange’s second-largest African market, and fifth overall. Financial Exclusion Driving P2P Bitcoin Traded Volumes According to the latest data from the peer-to-peer crypto exchange platform Paxful, Nigeria’s bitcoin traded volumes in the first half of 2022 nearly topped $400 million. When combined with the $760 million in trade volumes which were seen in 2021, it means the West African nation is now the crypto exchange’s biggest market globally. Nigeria’s growing volume of bitcoin traded via the peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange comes at a time when regulators are clamping down on financial institutions that are violating the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s February 5, 2021 directive . The directive bars banks and other regula...

Authorities in the energy-rich Russian region of Irkutsk have imposed hefty fines on crypto miners this year for illegal use of electricity to produce digital currencies. Power utilities have also filed hundreds of lawsuits, a report reveals, quoting prosecutors. Irkutsk Crypto Miners Pay 100 Million Rubles in Fines in 2022 Cryptocurrency mining has become a profitable business for many companies in Russia’s energy-rich regions, and an alternative income source for ordinary Russians. Despite the generally low rates of electricity for commercial purposes, many have been tempted to mint digital coins on cheaper household power or even stolen energy. Authorities in Irkutsk, a Siberian oblast with abundant energy resources where rates start as low as $0.01 per kWh in rural districts, have been going after illegal mining operations. The latter have caused a spike in consumption in both residential and industrial areas, allegedly leading to frequent breakdowns and outages across the re...

Iranian authorities have seized nearly 10,000 illegal cryptocurrency mining devices since March. According to reports, many of the seized crypto mining rigs were operating in public locations that receive free or heavily-subsidized electricity, such as schools and mosques. Iran Confiscates Nearly 10K Crypto Mining Devices Kambiz Nazerian, head of Tehran Electricity Distribution Company, said Monday that Iranian authorities have discovered and seized 9,404 illegal cryptocurrency mining devices in Tehran since the beginning of the Persian calendar year which started on March 21, local media reported. He explained that the mining equipment was discovered by inspectors in different districts of the Iranian capital. Iranian authorities have regularly announced the discovery of illegal cryptocurrency mining machines in different parts of the country over recent years. Many of these unauthorized cryptocurrency mining operations were based in public locations, such as schools and mosques,...

DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, says that it has benefited from the recent crypto market sell-off. The trading volume of its crypto exchange nearly doubled in July, compared to April. The quantity of bitcoin bought on its exchange grew nearly four times during that time period. DBS Crypto Customers Bought the Dip DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia by assets, announced Monday that DBS Digital Exchange (Ddex) has benefited as crypto investors sought safety amid market volatility. DBS, headquartered and listed in Singapore, has a presence in 18 markets. “With the digital asset industry experiencing unprecedented volatility … DBS’ digital asset ecosystem has been a beneficiary of this flight to safety,” the bank detailed, elaborating: Investors who believe in the long-term prospects of digital assets are gravitating towards trusted and regulated platforms to access the digital asset market. As investors bought the dip, the total number of trades executed on Ddex in Ju...

Following the federal judge’s decision to give the accused Bitfinex money launderer Heather Morgan permission to “engage in legitimate employment,” Morgan has broken her silence on social media. Morgan’s Twitter account dubbed “Heather ‘Razzlekhan’ Morgan” is verified on Twitter and her latest tweet insists that she does not endorse any crypto or NFT project bearing her name. Heather Morgan Insists: ‘I Am Not Involved in Any Crypto Project’ On Tuesday, one of the accused Bitfinex bitcoin launderers, Heather Morgan, the wife of Ilya Lichtenstein, tweeted a message to her 24,900 Twitter followers on social media. Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested last February after U.S. law enforcement announced that it had confiscated 94,636 bitcoin from the duo. At the time of Morgan’s and her husband’s arrest, the bitcoin was worth roughly $4.5 billion and today, the cache of 94,636 BTC is worth $2.03 billion. Using her Twitter account, Morgan’s tweet is short and sweet and aims to give the...