Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego offers bitcoin investment advice, Bitso’s report finds Latam is a bitcoin region, and Honduras bans financial institutions from dealing with crypto. Mexican Billionaire Ricardo Salinas Gives Bitcoin Investment […]

Economist and gold advocate Peter Schiff has sounded the alarm about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) potentially changing the definition of a “security.” He cautioned: “Now that the U.S. Appeals Court has upheld the SEC’s authority to unilaterally change the definition of a ‘dealer,’ I expect lots of private investors to be retroactively […]

The volume of daily transactions on the Bitcoin network has seen a significant decline since Jan. 28, 2024, with numbers falling from peaks above 600,000 to below 300,000 transactions per day. This downturn is in sync with a decrease in the daily creation of Ordinal inscriptions, overall easing congestion and reducing onchain fees. Network Activity […]

In the past seven years, the crypto world has witnessed various individuals claiming to be the true Satoshi Nakamoto, the mastermind behind the Bitcoin white paper and the initiator of the first blockchain. Yet, despite their efforts, none have managed to convince the community of their authenticity as the creators of Bitcoin. It appears there […]

The chief executive of Sound Planning Group has predicted a major bitcoin price surge, stating that the crypto is priced for “a serious rally.” He identified the upcoming Bitcoin halving and the adoption of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as key factors driving his bullish prediction for the cryptocurrency’s price. The financial advisor believes that […]

Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki has predicted that bitcoin and silver will take off while gold will crash below $1,200. He urges investors to prepare for the “biggest crash in history” which he forecasted in his book years ago. Emphasizing that the Federal Reserve is “destroying” the U.S. economy, he advised: “Rather than […]

Barstool Sports kingpin Dave Portnoy is experiencing a serious case of crypto regret, wishing that he hadn’t sold his bitcoin. He also wishes that his company, Barstool, had invested $10 million in the crypto. “I’m so mad at myself about bitcoin. I should be up like 75% in bitcoin,” he stressed. However, Portnoy revealed to […]

Veteran trader Peter Brandt has warned that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler should not be trusted. He stressed that Gensler “has a long history of not looking out for the interests of investors.” Brandt further emphasized that the SEC chairman “was instrumental in the bankruptcy” of a major company and was […]

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistics agency of the U.S. Energy Department, has sent letters to cryptocurrency miners requiring data related to energy consumption and configuration of their mining sites. According to one of the letters posted on social media, miners have until February 23 to report the info regarding the activities carried […]

Citi, in alliance with Wellington Management, Wisdomtree, and ABN AMRO, completed a proof of concept for the tokenization of a private fund on top of the Avalanche blockchain. The test used Spruce, an Avalanche subnet, to tokenize the fund and transact the tokenized assets, which were programmed to “automate operations, settle faster, and enable new […]

Tron is embarking on an ambitious journey to transform the Bitcoin ecosystem, as announced by its founder, Justin Sun. Through the integration of Bitcoin Layer two solutions, Tron seeks to decentralize and interconnect a variety of token types, including major stablecoins, with the Bitcoin network. Justin Sun’s Outlines Vision to Merge Tron and Bitcoin Networks […]

On Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, bitcoin’s value hovered between $51,850 to $52,350, with onchain insights from Arkham Intelligence revealing that the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange giant, Coinbase, now possesses over 1 million bitcoin. Based on the current market prices, the stash secured by the San Francisco-headquartered firm is valued at just above $52 billion. Coinbase Outshines […]

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas has outlined four key reasons why investors should buy bitcoin, including long-term growth potential, diversification, and protection against inflation and currency devaluation. Moreover, he advised: “You have to know how to invest and be patient, not get scared when it goes down and buy, and not get excited when it goes […]

U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Under Secretary Brian E. Nelson has confirmed that terrorists’ use of crypto remains a small fraction of more established mechanisms to move money. He also admitted that “digital assets were not even a popular tool for Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad” and “Hamas is using crypto in relatively small […]

Blackrock has amassed nearly 110,000 bitcoins for its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), since its launch about a month ago. The world’s largest asset manager’s bitcoin ETF has a total net inflow of nearly $5 billion, leading the pack among all spot bitcoin ETFs. Blackrock CEO Larry Fink has stated that […]

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released an analysis that reports an alleged increase in the use of cryptocurrency in human trafficking cases. According to FinCEN, reports of cryptocurrency linked to these purposes grew from 336 in 2020 to 1,975 in 2021, an increase of almost 500%. FinCEN Alerts of Crypto Usage Linked to […]

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has provided an update to Congress members regarding the Fed’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) work. “If we’re going to have a CBDC, Congress needs to authorize it,” he stressed. Moreover, the Fed chair reportedly said that a framework for stablecoins is needed. Fed Chair Powell on US CBDC and […]

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has outlined a “very real economic difference” between crypto like bitcoin and fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. “You have a whole central bank, and support for one currency, generally per economic region,” the SEC chief noted, adding that we don’t have the same in bitcoin. […]

At the time of writing, the value of the crypto economy has reached $1.93 trillion, with bitcoin alone accounting for $1 trillion of this total. Bitcoin and ethereum have experienced increases of 4.2% and 5.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, a few crypto assets have posted even more significant gains against the U.S. dollar. DYM surged by 16.8%, […]

Genesis Global Capital has received authorization to offload its stake in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), valued at approximately $1.3 billion. Genesis Global Permitted to Liquidate $1.3 Billion in Bitcoin Trust Shares According to Bloomberg, Genesis Global Holdco LLC secured Judge Sean Lane’s approval to liquidate its GBTC investments, currently estimated at $1.3 billion. The request […]

Microstrategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, has explained why bitcoin has become “the world’s most popular investment asset.” He noted that following the rebalancing after the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the crypto has “found its footing and now people are beginning to realize that there’s 10 times as much demand for bitcoin coming […]

Skybridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci has explained that it is not too late to buy bitcoin. With bitcoin’s price surging past $50,000, he anticipates that many are wondering if they’ve missed the opportunity to buy the crypto. Scaramucci stressed that his answer is a hard “no.” Anthony Scaramucci: Bitcoin Is Still a Good Buy Skybridge […]

Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff has warned that the current bitcoin price surge looks like “another classic pump-and-dump.” Noting the significant excitement around the new spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), he expressed his skepticism, stating: “I wonder when the massacre will begin.” Peter Schiff on Bitcoin ‘Pump and Dump’ The price of bitcoin soared […]

On Tuesday, the crypto platform Umoja unveiled its beta version of hedging-as-a-service, designed to shield users from crypto losses. Umoja’s mission is to enhance the safety and accessibility of crypto investments, opening up hedging opportunities in a market valued at $500 trillion. Umoja Debuts Beta Hedging Platform The crypto platform Umoja has announced the beta […]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted rules to require firms that act like dealers to register with the Commission. A lawyer explained that the securities regulator took a shot at decentralized finance (Defi) with the rules, which explicitly target decentralized exchanges’ (DEX) liquidity providers (LPs) with at least $50 million in assets. […]

The crypto industry has responded to criticism from Hillary Clinton, who said that cryptocurrency can undermine the role of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz argued that the only thing that can undermine the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency is reckless spending by both U.S. political parties. […]

Personal finance expert and best-selling author Dave Ramsey’s firm Ramsey Solutions has maintained that crypto is not a good investment. “We’re not saying cryptocurrency is going to go away. And we’re not saying it’s horrible … But as things stand today, just say no,” advised the Ramsey Solutions team. Ramsey Solutions Advises ‘Just Say No’ […]

On Monday, the Web3 blockchain interoperability platform Analog announced the team has raised $16 million in a funding round from a wide array of venture capitalists and firms including Balaji Srinivasan, Tribe Capital, and Wintermute. Furthermore, Analog has launched its Launch Partners Program to bolster the presence and market dominance of cross-chain initiatives. $16 Million […]

Disney, one of the biggest entertainment companies, has decided to acquire a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, makers of the known persistent metaverse platform Fortnite. The companies will collaborate to develop a metaverse featuring Disney-owned intellectual properties (IPs) which will benefit from interaction and coexistence with Fortnite. The Disney Metaverse Is Coming Disney is […]

Ethereum has shed a significant part of its supply since the London upgrade, applied in August 2021. According to ultrasound.money, a portal that records several statistics associated with the ETH burn, over 4 million ether (3.2%) have been removed from the network since the adoption of EIP-1559, which changed how fees are calculated. EIP-1559 Burns […]