Bitmain opened sales for its new Antminer S17e and T17e Bitcoin mining ASICs this week. The first batch was quickly sold out. The units are said to achieve high efficiency with max hash rate of 64 Terahash per second but cost up to $2700.

Crypto payment service BitPay was heavily criticized for blockading donations made to the Hong Kong Free Press, the region’s 1st crowdfunded media outlet. The agency’s editor Tweeted that no crypto donations had been received since the protests began in Hong Kong.

Perhaps in response to BitPay’s blockade of the Hong Kong Free Press, Square Crypto made a $100,000 donation to further the development of alternative, open-source, and decentralized crypto payment portal, BTCPay.

France’s Economic and Financial Minister said that France “cannot authorize the development of Libra on European soil.” Minister Le Maire said that Libra threatens the monetary sovereignty of states. This highlights the political risk inherent in centralized virtual currencies.

It was reported that Bitcoin transactions are a reality in Cuba. Crypto is becoming popular as a way for Cubans to avoid U.S. banking and payment sanctions to make online purchases. A local expert estimates about 10,000 Cubans are using crypto.

A vulnerability in the Lightning code was confirmed to have been exploited by hackers. Anyone running an LND, c-lightning node or Éclair node is urged to upgrade to avoid any issues.
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