Bitcoin had a real roller-coaster week. The price dropped like a stone on Thursday, falling to five-month lows of just over $7,000, only to bounce back to over $10,000 on Saturday. This 40% price surge represents the biggest daily gain since 2011.
In China, President Xi Jinping declared blockchain technology to be an important innovation. He said the country must increase investment and accelerate development in the crypto space. Following his remarks, the National People’s Congress passed new crypto laws which come into effect next year. While centralized crypto exchange companies won’t be legalized, they do encourage crypto research and education, while promoting adoption and providing regulatory clarity.
Bitmain, the major ASIC manufacturer and miner, is converting a disused aluminum smelting plant in Texas, into a Bitcoin mining farm. The plant will initially provide 25 megawatts of mining energy but soon could scale up to 300 megawatts.
Bakkt, the Bitcoin futures exchange backed by the owners of the New York Stock Exchange, hit a new all-time high in trading volume. 1,131 futures contracts have been traded representing approximately $9.7 million in trading capital.
Andreas Antonopolous tweeted regarding an issue on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain that an unknown miner has majority hashrate control. This miner found 21 blocks over an hour, where 6 would be the norm. It appears the miner is exploiting BCH’s difficulty adjustment algorithm.
99Bitcoins
Monday, October 28, 2019
Monday, October 21, 2019
It was not a good week for Facebook’s Libra project – again. Hotel reservation company, Booking.com, joined PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard to become the 7th major company to exit the project. Furthermore, a US Congressman said Facebook should drop Libra and instead implement Bitcoin. Warren Davidson criticized Facebook’s speech filters and feared similar filters on transactions.
The tax haven island of Bermuda is set to accept US Dollar-pegged Stablecoin, USDC, for tax payments. USDC is issued by the major US exchanges, Coinbase and Circle. Bermuda is known for its lenient approach to crypto taxation and legislation and now becomes the first nation to accept a stablecoin for tax payments.
Binance, the largest crypto-to-crypto exchange brought in approximately $186 million in profits in Q3; up 56% from Q2. Every quarter Binance burns BNB worth 20% of its quarterly profits. During the 9th burn, Binance sent 2 million BNB valued at 36 million USD to an inaccessible address. Cumulatively, the exchange has made more than $1 billion in a little over two years of existence.
The supply of Bitcoin reached 18 million BTC out of the maximum of 21 million. This means that over 85% of Bitcoin’s total supply has been issued. It’s expected to take another 120 years before all coins are mined.
Oxford University Press has added the term “satoshi” to their famous dictionary. The word “Bitcoin” was added in 2014.
99Bitcoins
The tax haven island of Bermuda is set to accept US Dollar-pegged Stablecoin, USDC, for tax payments. USDC is issued by the major US exchanges, Coinbase and Circle. Bermuda is known for its lenient approach to crypto taxation and legislation and now becomes the first nation to accept a stablecoin for tax payments.
Binance, the largest crypto-to-crypto exchange brought in approximately $186 million in profits in Q3; up 56% from Q2. Every quarter Binance burns BNB worth 20% of its quarterly profits. During the 9th burn, Binance sent 2 million BNB valued at 36 million USD to an inaccessible address. Cumulatively, the exchange has made more than $1 billion in a little over two years of existence.
The supply of Bitcoin reached 18 million BTC out of the maximum of 21 million. This means that over 85% of Bitcoin’s total supply has been issued. It’s expected to take another 120 years before all coins are mined.
Oxford University Press has added the term “satoshi” to their famous dictionary. The word “Bitcoin” was added in 2014.
99Bitcoins
Monday, October 14, 2019
Some of the biggest corporate backers of Facebook’s Libra currency have withdrawn from the project, dealing a major blow to Facebook’s plans for a global cryptocurrency. Visa, MasterCard, eBay, and Stripe have all followed PayPal’s lead in bowing out of the Libra Association, just prior to its upcoming inaugural board meeting. These additional exits leave Libra with no major US payment processor.
The American financial regulator has taken legal action against the Telegram company for what it claims was an unregistered securities offering. Telegram raised $1.7 billion Dollars for its TON cryptocurrency. The SEC is seeking a restraining order to prevent the release within the US of the new TON tokens.
The Internal Revenue Service in the US has updated its rules for the taxation of cryptocurrency. The newly-published guidance clarifies how tax applies to new and formerly ignored situations, such as profits from the sale of crypto, income tax on crypto, and how crypto forks and airdrops are taxed. One downside is that people now may be taxed in excess of their gain from airdrops.
The United Nations Children’s agency announced a new fund for receiving cryptocurrency donations. UNICEF is the first UN agency to accept crypto donations, which they will use to fund open source technology of assistance to young people. UNICEF will hold and disburse donations directly in crypto form – not in fiat.
99Bitcoins
The American financial regulator has taken legal action against the Telegram company for what it claims was an unregistered securities offering. Telegram raised $1.7 billion Dollars for its TON cryptocurrency. The SEC is seeking a restraining order to prevent the release within the US of the new TON tokens.
The Internal Revenue Service in the US has updated its rules for the taxation of cryptocurrency. The newly-published guidance clarifies how tax applies to new and formerly ignored situations, such as profits from the sale of crypto, income tax on crypto, and how crypto forks and airdrops are taxed. One downside is that people now may be taxed in excess of their gain from airdrops.
The United Nations Children’s agency announced a new fund for receiving cryptocurrency donations. UNICEF is the first UN agency to accept crypto donations, which they will use to fund open source technology of assistance to young people. UNICEF will hold and disburse donations directly in crypto form – not in fiat.
99Bitcoins
Monday, October 7, 2019
Coinbase’s specialized exchange for advanced traders, Coinbase Pro, unexpectedly hiked its fees significantly. Beginning Monday, Coinbase Pro introduces a new tiered system whereby anyone trading under $10,000 per month will pay half a percent fee on every trade. Small traders are understandably unhappy with the new fee structure.
Crypto custodian BitGo has added staking to its services, beginning with cryptocurrencies Dash and Algorand. Through BitGo Staking, coin holders can earn between 7 and 13 percent annual returns. The coins will earn staking rewards while remaining in cold storage.
We recently covered the refusal by French and German officials to allow Libra to operate in their respective nations. Corporations are now joining the pushback, with Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, characterizing Libra as a “power grab by a private company”. Even more damaging, PayPal withdrew from the Libra Association. Facebook’s growing difficulties show the advantage of a decentralized cryptocurrency with no identifiable controlling entity.
Various banks around the world experienced significant issues this week, highlighting the need for cryptocurrency as an alternative. Turkey’s government has frozen up to 3.9 million bank accounts and one of India’s major banks, PMC, has engaged in fraud.
Despite its recent price struggles, Bitcoin is the best performing asset in 2019, outpacing gold, tech stocks, and bonds. Bitcoin has more than doubled this year, whereas the best performing US stock sector is only up 31 percent.
99Bitcoins
Crypto custodian BitGo has added staking to its services, beginning with cryptocurrencies Dash and Algorand. Through BitGo Staking, coin holders can earn between 7 and 13 percent annual returns. The coins will earn staking rewards while remaining in cold storage.
We recently covered the refusal by French and German officials to allow Libra to operate in their respective nations. Corporations are now joining the pushback, with Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, characterizing Libra as a “power grab by a private company”. Even more damaging, PayPal withdrew from the Libra Association. Facebook’s growing difficulties show the advantage of a decentralized cryptocurrency with no identifiable controlling entity.
Various banks around the world experienced significant issues this week, highlighting the need for cryptocurrency as an alternative. Turkey’s government has frozen up to 3.9 million bank accounts and one of India’s major banks, PMC, has engaged in fraud.
Despite its recent price struggles, Bitcoin is the best performing asset in 2019, outpacing gold, tech stocks, and bonds. Bitcoin has more than doubled this year, whereas the best performing US stock sector is only up 31 percent.
99Bitcoins
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