Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Companies extracting cryptocurrencies in Kazakhstan will be allowed to purchase only excess electricity on a government-controlled market. The decision comes with new legislation approved by lawmakers which regulates the activities of the industry and the taxation of its profits. Law to Regulate Crypto Mining in Kazakhstan, Change Licensing Rules The lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, the Mazhilis, has adopted the bill “On Digital Assets of the Republic of Kazakhstan” and four related draft laws which aim to regulate mining, among other crypto activities, local media reported. In accordance with the legislation, miners operating in the country will be able to buy power from the national energy system only if it has a surplus to offer, and exclusively through the KOREM exchange, the country’s centralized electricity market. Commenting on the new regime, Mazhilis member Ekaterina Smyshlyaeva pointed out that price restrictions have been lifted for that excess amount of electric

The crypto mining industry may see a two-fold increase in its share of Russia’s power consumption in 2022, according to a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Energy. The department supports a bill designed to regulate the sector which is likely to be adopted this year. Russian Energy Ministry Forecasts Rise in Crypto Mining’s Electricity Consumption The share of cryptocurrency miners may reach 1.5 – 2% of Russia’s total consumption of electrical power by the end of 2022, according to the Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Snikkars. During a crypto conference organized by the business news portal RBC, the government official recalled that last year’s figure was around 1%. The availability of electricity for mining across the vast country would depend on the number of users that want to connect to the grid in a particular location, Snikkars added. In certain Russian regions — the deputy minister mentioned Murmansk as an example — unused power generating capacities are curren

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says crypto tokens are like pet rocks. The executive also believes crypto regulation should be strengthened, stating: “The regulators who beat up on banks should maybe focus a little more on crypto.” JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon Compares Crypto to Pet Rocks The chairman and CEO of global investment bank JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, talked about crypto and its regulation following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in an interview with CNBC Tuesday. He was asked whether the FTX meltdown is contained and does not matter or whether he believes it is a symbol of something larger that is happening in the economy. The JPMorgan boss said: Crypto is a complete sideshow, okay, and you guys spend too much time on it. I’ve made my views perfectly clear about crypto tokens are like pet rocks, and people are hyping this stuff up. Pet rocks are just rocks in custom cardboard boxes, marketed as live rocks in 1975. Over 1 million pet rocks were sold for $4 each

Bitcoin.com , a digital ecosystem and secure self-custody platform where users can safely and easily interact with cryptocurrencies and digital assets, announced completion of the pre-sale of its rewards and utility token VERSE, where 16% of the total supply was purchased for $50 million. Bitcoin.com also announced the launch of VERSE trading on its decentralized exchange, the Verse DEX , starting at 00:30 UTC on Dec 8. The initial listing price will be $0.0015 per VERSE. “The success of the Verse token sale despite severe bear market conditions is a testament to the quality of Bitcoin.com ’s ecosystem token,” said Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis. “I have no doubt that Verse will supercharge Bitcoin.com ’s mission to create economic freedom by helping to onboard millions more people to Bitcoin and decentralized finance where they can take advantage of the benefits enabled by self-custody, transparency, and censorship resistance.” The VERSE token will provide utility in Bitcoin.

The host of Mad Money, Jim Cramer, has advised investors to sell their crypto, emphasizing that “it’s never too late to sell an awful position.” Regarding FTX, Cramer predicted that the collapsed trading platform “won’t be the last of these crypto exchanges to go down.” Jim Cramer’s Latest Crypto Advice The host of CNBC’s Mad Money show, Jim Cramer, has advised investors to sell their cryptocurrencies following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Cramer is a former hedge fund manager who co-founded Thestreet.com, a financial news and literacy website. He said Monday: You can’t just beat yourself up and say, ‘hey, it’s too late to sell.’ The truth is, it’s never too late to sell an awful position, and that’s what you have if you own these so-called digital assets. The Mad Money host used to invest in bitcoin, ether, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) but sold all his crypto holdings last year. “I told you I sold my bitcoin and ethereum a long time ago … and used the proceeds to bu

Bitcoin was consolidating on Wednesday, as the U.S. dollar continued to strengthen versus several G7 currencies. A strong dollar means demand for cryptocurrencies typically plummets, with the global market cap trading in the red as of writing. Ethereum was also lower today, falling as it remained below $1,300. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) continued to consolidate in today’s session, as prices hovered around the $17,000 mark on hump-day. Following a low of $16,939.92 on Tuesday, BTC /USD raced to an intraday peak of $17,109.38 earlier in today’s session. The move saw bitcoin continue to trade under its recent resistance level of $17,180, which has mostly been in place for the last month. Looking at the chart, the consolidation comes as the relative strength index (RSI) also remained below its own ceiling of 50.00. As of writing, the index is currently tracking at the 47.80 level, and seems to be heading to a floor at the 45.80 mark. Should we see this decline occur, BTC will likely

On Tuesday, the hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger announced the launch of a new device called Ledger Stax. The machine was designed by iPod creator, Tony Fadell, and the France-based firm Ledger says the new device was built with “uncompromisingly secure architecture.” iPod Creator Tony Fadell Partners With Ledger to Launch a New Crypto Hardware Wallet Called Stax Ledger has revealed a new hardware wallet that’s roughly the same size as a credit card. Ledger Stax also features an e-ink touch screen that’s customizable and offers capacitive touch. The France-based crypto hardware wallet manufacturer is well known for creating hardware wallets such as the Nano. Similarly, Stax allows users to secure their cryptocurrency assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a EAL 5+ certified secure element-equipped setting. The new machine was designed by Tony Fadell, an American engineer and former senior vice president of the iPod division at Apple. Reports explain that in 2001, Apple sup

The CEO of crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has countered several “wrong narratives” about the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The Binance boss calls SBF “a master manipulator” and “one of the greatest fraudsters in history.” Binance’s CEO on ‘Wrong Narratives’ About FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried The CEO of crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), took to Twitter Tuesday to address what he called “wrong narratives” that he has seen recently about the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The first narrative he addressed was “CZ wants to be the savior of crypto,” the Binance boss described. He explained: Crypto doesn’t need saving. Crypto is fine. It’s the beauty of decentralization. We are just part of it. We want to help other good projects that may be in a cash crunch because of recent events. It’s in our collective best interest. The second narrative is “FTX was killed by xyz (ie, a 3

On Dec. 6, 2022, the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) reportedly retained the attorney Mark Cohen, the lawyer that represented Ghislaine Maxwell during her recent sex trafficking case. SBF’s spokesperson further explained that the FTX co-founder is being consulted by a professor at Stanford Law School, David Mills. Sam Bankman-Fried Hires Attorney Who Represented Ghislaine Maxwell The disgraced former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is reportedly being represented by Mark Cohen from the litigation firm Cohen & Gresser. Cohen is the well-known attorney that represented Ghislaine Maxwell during her sex trafficking case. Maxwell, a close friend of the now-deceased and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted on five out of six counts which included the sex trafficking of a minor. She was sentenced to 20 years in June and still faces other charges . Cohen is a lawyer licensed in New York and Florida and the now convicted Maxwell was also represented by Chri

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, has politely asked former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) to attend a congressional hearing on the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange. Bankman-Fried says he will testify when he has finished “learning and reviewing what happened.” Bankman-Fried Responds to Rep. Waters’ Invitation The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services will hold a congressional hearing on the collapse of crypto exchange FTX on Dec. 13. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the committee’s chair, has been trying to get former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) to attend the hearing. However, instead of issuing a subpoena for him to testify, Waters politely asked him on Twitter Friday. “We appreciate that you’ve been candid in your discussions about what happened at FTX. Your willingness to talk to the public will help the company’s customers, investors, and others. To that end, we would welcome your participation in our hearing o

The chief executive of the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, has slammed former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) for claiming that FTX is missing $8 billion due to an “accounting error.” He stressed: “It’s stolen customer money used in his hedge fund, plain and simple.” Brian Armstrong on SBF’s ‘Accounting Error’ Claim The CEO of the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN), Brian Armstrong, has slammed FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) for blaming his collapsed exchange’s $8 billion hole on an “accounting error.” Bankman-Fried was asked in an interview with Bloomberg, published Friday, how he “misplaced $8 billion.” The former FTX boss replied: “Misaccounted.” He further explained that FTX customers sometimes wired money to his trading firm, Alameda Research, instead of sending it directly to FTX. The crypto exchange’s internal accounting system then double-counted the money, crediting it to both the exchange and the customer

PRESS RELEASE. On November 30th, the MMORPG game “GensoKishi Online-Meta World” was officially released. It is the web 3 version of the iconic Japanese 3DMMO “Elemental Knights Online,” which won the “Game of the Year Gold Award 2012” in Taiwan and accumulated more than eight million downloads worldwide. The new web3 release will introduce the trading of avatars and in-game items as NFTs – the Genso metaverse will consist of a 3DMMORPG and a Polygon-based economy. This fantasy world will be built around Genso’s governance token $MV, a token that has already achieved numerous milestones; a record-breaking 69,000 people participated in Bybit’s launchpool event, the fastest sell-out on Trustpad, and the Kickstarter hall of fame on MEXC. Known as a 3DMMORPG, it already has an active user base and a fully functioning 3D metaverse that allows users from around the globe to connect with one another. With this game, players go to dungeons, defeat monsters together with friends, and inter

What if a Metamask wallet has crashed or become corrupted, and a user is afraid of losing all of their digital assets? To ensure that a lost crypto wallet is recovered successfully, users should read the advice of wallet recovery experts from KeychainX, the trusted service provider that specializes in this type of recovery. Recover Metamask Even If a User Loses the 12 Words Many DeFi users have turned to Metamask as their preferred to-go wallet. Unfortunately, the rise of Metamask’s popularity has also resulted in mega buggy code. As panicked users attempt to upgrade their wallets or run out of disk space, they are greeted with screens stating that the wallet has been corrupted (?) as a result of disk space limitations or, even more worryingly, that their wallet address seems empty or disappear after upgrading to popular browsers such as Chrome or Firefox. Users of Metamask should take a close look at these simple steps on what to do and what not to do when the inevitable occurs, n

The government of Argentina has signed a data sharing agreement with the U.S. to enhance the cooperation of the countries in the tax arena. The agreement, which was signed by Sergio Massa, minister of economy of Argentina, and U.S. ambassador Marc Stanley, will allow the Argentine national tax authority to receive information from accounts and trust beneficiaries of Argentines in the U.S. Argentina to Tighten Tax Controls With Data Sharing Agreement The government of Argentina has signed an automatic tax data sharing agreement with the U.S. that will allow the national tax authority to receive data from accounts and societies managed by Argentine nationals offshore. The agreement, signed on Dec. 5 by the minister of economy, Sergio Massa, and the United States ambassador to Argentina, Marc Stanley, implies a substantial increase in the volume of data that will be shared between the Argentine tax authority (AFIP) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). While the two countries had a

Following FTX’s collapse, many industry executives, influencers, luminaries, and politicians have shared their opinions about the carnage the event has caused to crypto markets and a great deal of innocent bystanders. On Dec. 2, the CEO and founder of Morgan Creek Capital, Mark Yusko, explained in an interview that it’s quite possible that the FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was merely a “pawn” or “useful idiot” leveraged to “punish the industry.” Morgan Creek’s Mark Yusko: ‘This Debacle Is a Fraud Perpetrated by, I Believe, Someone Above the Useful Idiots’ Since the Terra LUNA fallout and the great number of business failures that followed the event, there’s been a myriad of theories surrounding these subjects. The most recent FTX collapse seems to eclipse all the blunders that took place after the Terra crash, and there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the event. A variety of individuals have shared their two cents about the FTX fiasco, including the host of

On Dec. 5, 2022, at block height 766,080, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty adjustment dropped 7.32% lower, making it the largest difficulty reduction in 2022. The current difficulty is approximately 34.24 trillion and it will remain at this point for the next two weeks or 2,016 blocks. Bitcoin Miners Catch a Break as the Network’s Difficulty Drops 7.32% Lower Bitcoin’s difficulty retarget has dropped, which makes it a bit easier for bitcoin miners to find a block than it was during the two weeks prior. The difficulty change occurred around 8:50:29 p.m. (ET), at block height 766,080 and it was the largest reduction this year. The difficulty reduction was larger than the prior record that was recorded at block height 745,920. At that time on July 21, 2022, the network’s difficulty dropped by 5.01% and the difficulty was around 27.69 trillion. Prior to the 7.32% reduction down to 34.24 trillion, the network’s difficulty rating was at a lifetime high of 36.95 trillion. Satoshi created the

An Indian central bank official claims that if there is anything cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether can do, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should be able to create a product that will do the same job without the associated risks. “This is essentially what we are doing in the CBDC experiments,” he stressed. RBI Official on Cryptocurrency vs Digital Rupee Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar talked about cryptocurrency and central bank digital currency (CBDC) Friday at an event organized by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). “We saw an environment where private currencies were evolving. We realized that this poses a threat to investors, systems, and the economy. We also realized that private currencies have shown that digitalizing currency can possibly benefit,” the RBI official said. “The way to deal with it was to provide a digital currency.” Referring to non-government-issued cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether, as “private” cryptocurrencie

Standard Chartered Bank says the price of bitcoin could drop to $5,000 next year. The bank’s analyst explained that cryptocurrencies could fall further and more crypto firms could “succumb to liquidity squeezes and investor withdrawals.” Standard Chartered Bank’s $5K Bitcoin Scenario Standard Chartered Bank published a note titled “The financial-market surprises of 2023” Sunday. The note outlines a number of possible scenarios that “we feel are under-priced by the markets,” wrote Eric Robertsen, Standard Chartered’s global head of research. One of the scenarios is bitcoin’s price dropping to $5,000 next year, which would be about a 70% drop from BTC ’s current price of around $17,000. Robertsen detailed: Yields plunge along with technology shares, and while the bitcoin sell-off decelerates, the damage has been done. More and more crypto firms and exchanges find themselves with insufficient liquidity, leading to further bankruptcies and a collapse in investor confidence in digita

Laliga, the premier Spanish soccer league, has announced the implementation of a new system that will use blockchain for tracking soccer balls that were used to score a goal. The system, which will be provided by Gol-Ball, a third-party company, will certify these balls to allow users to purchase them through official markets or raffles. Spanish Laliga to Use Blockchain System for Soccer Ball Certification Laliga, the leading soccer league in Spain, has announced it will be one of the first organizations to certify balls used to score goals using blockchain tech. The institution has already partnered with Gol-Ball, a third-party company, to implement the system. The system, which is slated to be used after the Qatar world cup, will be used to track each ball used in each match and to separate and identify which ones were used to score each one of the goals — something that was not done before as each football was rotated and mixed with the others. Samuel Eto’o, Laliga’s ambassador