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Bear market or not, MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor remains committed to his company's Bitcoin treasury philosophy - announcing the purchase of another 5445 Bitcoin since August the 1st.
MicroStrategy Incorporated has disclosed its acquisition of approximately 5,445 bitcoins between August 1, 2023, and September 24, 2023. The acquisition, involving MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries, amounted to approximately $147.3 million in cash, with an average price of approximately $27,053 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.

The regulator alleged that Bit Trade — which is the provider for Kraken in Australia — did not make a target market determination before offering its margin trading product to Australian customers.

Copy trading exchange Bitget has launched a global education program. Dubbed Blockchain4Youth, the program is designed to empower and inspire young people for a blockchain-based future. The platform believes that the crypto users among Generation Z and Generation Alpha – those born since 2010 – will play a vital role in promoting crypto adoption. For that reason, Bitget aims to encourage and inspire them.

Representatives from MPB cited by cointelegraph.com have confirmed this collaborative effort with the Ministry of Education, supported by Bitcoin Beach. The educational content for the Bitcoin component will primarily rely on the Mi Primer Bitcoin program, which issues students a completion diploma.

 

Representatives from MPB cited by cointelegraph.com have confirmed this collaborative effort with the Ministry of Education, supported by Bitcoin Beach. The educational content for the Bitcoin component will primarily rely on the Mi Primer Bitcoin program, which issues students a completion diploma.

 

Since the emergence of Bitcoin (BTC), its proponents have often regarded the cryptocurrency as a potential rival to the traditional store of value, gold. It’s worth noting that these two products belong to distinct asset classes, and as Bitcoin matures, proponents believe it may eventually surpass gold. This topic has sparked debates within financial circles.

 

Distributed technologies can reshape supply chains, and help consumers and businesses to make more responsible decisions.

 

Binance contacted some projects asking for details about their market makers and whether they would consider contribution some of their tokens to Binance savings pools.

According to the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, crypto asset firms operating in the country will be required to comply with the Financial Action Task Force’s travel rule starting on Sept. 1, 2023. Crypto asset businesses will be required to take “all reasonable steps” to ensure compliance with the travel rule. When the rule becomes effective, compliance with the rule is still expected even when a crypto asset business uses a third-party supplier.

According to Brandon Brown, the co-founder and CEO of Fairside Network, self-custody crypto wallets generally lack inbuilt insurance coverage to protect against theft or loss. Brown attributes this to the challenges encountered when assessing digital asset risks as well as “the absence of historical loss data, and evolving threats.”

El Salvador’s dollar bonds have seen a 70% return, making them the best-performing in emerging markets and drawing the attention of JPMorgan, Eaton, and PGIM. Despite initial disquiet over the country’s financial strength after adopting Bitcoin, notable investors have either accepted or considered investing in El Salvador’s debt, showing confidence in its upward trajectory. President Nayib Bukele has taken a big bet on Bitcoin, orchestrated two debt buybacks, and recruited an ex-IMF veteran as an advisor to alleviate apprehension in the bond market.

Consumer bitcoin provider Azteco recently announced a $6 million seed funding round at an $84M valuation led by Jack Dorsey as the company introduces bitcoin gift cards to enhance the cryptocurrency’s spending power near the level of the U.S. dollar.

PYUSD is a stablecoin backed by the US dollar ayPal has launched PayPal USD, a form of cryptocurrency it says can “seamlessly connect fiat and digital currencies”. This form of cryptocurrency is a little different to often-discussed digital currencies like Bitcoin, though. PayPal USD is a stablecoin. This means its value is linked to the US dollar. One PayPal USD equals one dollar.

A report published by Vantage market research in 2023 found the global market size for blockchain in healthcare is expected to reach around $1189.8 million by 2028. This represents a CAGR (compound Annual Growth Rate) of 61.3% during this period.
According to the report, the rising issues with healthcare data breaches during the pandemic, the threat of counterfeit trugs and the rapid demand for transparency in the healthcare environment are all fuelling growth.

 

 

 

 

A Deloitte study into the marketplace adoption of blockchain in 2021 found around 96% of Financial Services pioneers believe blockchain is a broadly scalable solution, which has already achieved mainstream adoption.
93% of the pioneers also said they believe there’s a compelling business case for the use of blockchain, cryptocurrencies and digital assets in their organizations. The same number also claimed business partners, suppliers, and customers are discussing working on blockchain and digital assets as of 2021.
97% of pioneers believe their organization will lose opportunities for competitive advantage by failing to adopt blockchain, while 93% believe the technology will open the door to new revenue streams.

 

 

 

 

According to Statista reports, there are a multitude of markets which can benefit from access to blockchain technology. However, the financial market currently accounts for more than 30% of the complete market value of the technology, as of 2020.
The value of the ecosystem has also begun to spread to other technologies, such as manufacturing (17.6%), distribution and services, (14.6%) and the public sector (4.2%).

 

 

 

 

Markets and Markets believes North America will have the highest market share in the blockchain landscape in the years between 2022 and 2026. The region has achieved significant increases in platforms and services dedicated to blockchain in recent months.
According to Markets and Markets, the rising demand for blockchain in North America is linked to the early adoption of cryptocurrency in the region, and an increasing investment by businesses in new security and vulnerability management tools.

 

 

 

 

The PwC “Time for Trust” report on blockchain and the evolving market found the technology could improve global GDP by an average of $1.76 trillion by 2030. According to PwC economists, this is a total of 1.4% of the global GDP today.
The report defines blockchain as particularly valuable today, as 61% of companies are now placing digital transformation initiatives at the top of their list of priorities for growth. Blockchain also helps companies to address the rising demand for better security and transparency in the business world.

 

 

 

According to a study by TripleA and Grandview research, more than 300 million people worldwide owned or used a cryptocurrency in 2021, meaning they also interacted with an element of the blockchain. The report from Grandview Research also believes the market for blockchain is much larger than many analysts think.
The rapid digitization across the BPFSI sector, and the use of contactless blockchain ticketing at various events has the potential to drive the market. Grandview sees the industry growing at a rate of around 85.9% between the years of 2023 and 2030, to a value of $1,431.54 billion.

 

 

 

This statistic is a testament to the growing importance of blockchain technology. It shows that companies are investing heavily in the development of blockchain-based solutions, indicating that the technology is becoming increasingly popular and widely adopted. This is an important indicator of the potential of blockchain technology and its potential to revolutionize the way we do business.

 

 

 

This statistic is a powerful testament to the potential of Blockchain technology to revolutionize the banking industry. By reducing infrastructure costs by up to 30%, Blockchain could drastically reduce the overhead costs associated with traditional banking, allowing banks to pass on the savings to their customers. This could lead to a more efficient and cost-effective banking system, making it easier for people to access financial services.

 

 

 

This statistic is a clear indication that blockchain technology is becoming increasingly important to businesses. It shows that companies are recognizing the potential of blockchain technology and are actively investing in it. This statistic is a testament to the growing importance of blockchain technology and its potential to revolutionize the way businesses operate.

 

 

 

This statistic is a testament to the potential of blockchain technology in the healthcare industry. By 2025, the majority of healthcare apps will be leveraging the power of blockchain, indicating that the technology is becoming increasingly popular and accepted in the healthcare sector. This is a significant milestone for blockchain technology, and it is likely to have a major impact on the industry in the years to come.

 

 

The question of whether blockchain can disrupt our traditional financial system is no longer the one you should be asking. Now it’s a matter of when it will take full control.


According to blockchain industry statistics, it is being integrated into the global financial sector at a rapid pace, especially in banking. Banks in countries like Japan, the US, Belarus, Switzerland, and a few others are already accepting cryptocurrency transactions as a part of their system, and more will follow suit shortly.

 

 

The IoT is already a billion-dollar industry, and there are also billions of IoT devices scattered all over the world. These IoT devices were built to enhance the human experience and improve the efficiency of specific tools and automation processes.


Statistics for blockchain show that bringing blockchain into the fold will significantly enhance the security of data exchange between connected devices and IoT platforms. Plus, there’s the added advantage of automated backup files in case of a successful breach. This is ensured by the millions of individual nodes in the blockchain that help store system data.

 

 

Ethereum, Avalanche, Cardano, and Polkadot are some of the important and interesting blockchain projects that people should consider in 2023 and beyond.

 

 

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, BNB, and USD coin are five of the biggest blockchain networks by market cap as of June 2023.

 

 

The usage of cryptocurrency has grown by an incredible amount over the past couple of years. Between 2018 and 2020, the number of cryptocurrency users grew by 190% globally. The industry’s growth rate has continued to expand in the past year alone.

 

 

Compared to the over $23,000 price of Bitcoin, Ethereum costs closer to $1,600 as of 2023. However, Ethereum has still experienced massive growth in the past couple of years.In March of 2020, the price of Ethereum was only $133.76, which means its price increased by more than elevenfold over the past three years.

 

The top 20 cryptocurrencies have the most influence in the market, and the rest are relatively insignificant.

 

 

An analysis of the Blockchain marketplace in 2021 by Markets and Markets found the industry should grow from a value of $4.9 billion (as of 2021), to $67.4 billion by 2026. According to the analysis team, this represents a Compound Annual Growth rate of 68.4% during the forecast period.

 

 

This is a lot younger than an average stock investor, who is 47 years old. They are not only younger than stock investors but are also more diverse. More precisely, 44% of crypto investors are people of color, while only 35% of stock investors belong to this group. However, as the research was done on only 1,004 US adults, the results likely vary worldwide.

 

 

Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of MicroStrategy, commissioned a Twitter poll on May 27 to gauge whether voters believe a presidential candidate must support their right to Bitcoin to secure their vote. As of May 28, almost 30,000 Twitter users had shared their opinion, with a resounding 84% responding ‘Yes’ to the question, “Will you demand that any presidential candidate supports your right to Bitcoin before earning your vote?” Only 16% of respondents voted in the negative.

 

 

The same study found that over half of these individuals did not consider crypto investing a hobby, but alternatively, as a means of income.
Additionally, the study found that the top three reasons users invest in crypto are to create a long-term investment strategy (55%), a distrust of the current financial system (38%), and short-term trading (31%).

 

 

Digital asset investment products, including cryptocurrencies, saw a surge in trading volumes in November 2022. Trading volumes rose to $139 million, breaking the downward trend since the middle of the year. The FTX collapse is believed to have contributed significantly to this surge.

 

The global blockchain gaming market will grow significantly during the next seven years and is expected to reach a market cap of $301.53 billion by 2030, according to a report issued by markets and intelligence firm Grand View Research. The “Blockchain In Gaming Market Size”

 

 

Hacker stole around $400 million from crypto projects during 40 attacks in the first three months of 2023, blockchain intel firm TRM Labs said in a new report. This is a 70% decline from the Q1 of 2022. The average hack size also got smaller, according to TRM, from $30 million in 2022 to $10.5 million for the same period in 2023. The sanctions against Tornado Cash, as well as last year's arrest of the Mango Markets infiltrator, motivate hackers to return their loot, researchers believe.

 

 

Before taking the stage at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami, U.S. presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasized the democratic nature of bitcoin, calling it an “exercise in democracy.” Additionally, during his Florida appearance, Kennedy revealed that his campaign would accept bitcoin for political contributions.

 

On May 22, 2010 Laszlo Hanyecz paid Jeremy Sturdivant 10,000 bitcoins (BTC) for two Papa John’s pizzas which were delivered to Hanyecz’s home. This exchange is widely celebrated because it is viewed as the first use of bitcoin in a commercial transaction with bitcoin as the medium of exchange.

 

A recent Gallup Poll reveals a significant decline in the percentage of Americans favoring real estate as their preferred long-term investment, despite its continued popularity. Conversely, the Gallup survey indicates that the perception of long-term investments in gold has experienced an almost twofold increase compared to the previous year’s poll on the same topic.

 

In four days, the market capitalization of all the BRC20 tokens built on top of the Bitcoin network was a modest $95 million. However, over the past four days, the BRC20 market valuation has seen tremendous growth, increasing by 192% and reaching $279 million.

 

The Nigerian Federal government said on May 3 it had passed what it called the “national blockchain policy.” The Nigerian minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Pantami, said the new policy is a product of consultations with 56 institutions and personalities. Lucky Uwakwe, the founder of the technology service delivery company Sabi Group, said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is unlikely to reverse its stance on privately issued digital currency.

On 30 April, 2023,, as the U.S. government worked behind the scenes with two major banks to engineer the latest financial rescue plan, the Bitcoin network hit a new all-time high for the number of daily transactions processed. There were more confirmed transactions than it ever had in its 14-year history, beating the previous record set during the 2017 bull run. Today, JPMorgan Chase has acquired First Republic after the distressed bank’s assets were seized by regulators, becoming the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.

In the midst of the banking upheaval in the United States, Google Trends has revealed a notable surge in searches related to the acquisition of gold, with the search query reaching a perfect score of 100 during the first week of April 2023. Similarly, the search term “how to buy bitcoin” reached the same score two weeks earlier, on March 20, 2023.

Based on present data, within the last four months, a mere three block rewards from the year 2010 have been transferred after 13 years of dormancy. This is due to the fact that dormant wallets from that era are becoming a rarity to behold. The latest expenditure of a 2010 block took place on April 22, 2023, at 11:14 p.m. (UTC), when a miner spent 50 bitcoin that was valued at approximately $1.3 million. A historic moment occurred today, as a transfer of 400 bitcoin from 2011 took place, marking the first time in over a decade that these digital assets had been moved.

Following the transfer of $60 million worth of bitcoins on April 19, after more than nine years of dormancy, another whale has made its move. The whale, who acquired 1,129 bitcoins in 2012 and 2013, has transferred 464 bitcoins worth $13 million for the first time in nine years.

April 18 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) said on Tuesday it has discontinued production of its bitcoin mining chip series, just a year after its introduction. A rout in the cryptocurrency market hurt some chip companies including Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), whose high-end graphics chips became popular for crypto mining. Intel expects to stop taking orders for the series, called Blockscale, by October 20 this year and end shipping by April 20 next year, according to a document on the company's website.

On April 6, 2023, Bitcoin’s difficulty rose 2.23% higher at block height 784,224, touching another all-time high. It’s the fourth consecutive difficulty increase on the Bitcoin network since Feb. 24, and the protocol’s current difficulty is 47.89 trillion, which is only 2.11 trillion away from reaching the 50 trillion range.

 

According to data from the cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM) aggregation website Coin ATM Radar, over 3,600 crypto ATMs went offline in March. Since the end of 2022, the number of crypto ATMs has declined by 13.91% in the last three months.

 

KazTransOil, the national oil transporter of Kazakhstan, plans to ship 125,000 tons of oil from Kazakhstan through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in April, Trend reports, citing KazTransOil.This constitutes a significant increase compared to the 20,000 tons estimated to be shipped in March.

 

Bitcoin's past six months of price action closely resemble its 2014 Mt. Gox bear market. This pattern suggests Bitcoin has entered the next bull phase of its global monetary adoption process.

 

Nigerians have increasingly turned to a once-spurned digital currency to transact, after a chaotic demonetisation policy gave rise to a shortage of banknotes and bolstered demand for alternative payment methods.

 

In the ongoing banking crisis in the United States, the US Dollar (USD) appears to correlate directly with Bitcoin.Bitcoin Positively Correlates With USD According to Kaiko, a digital assets market provider, Bitcoin, the most valuable cryptocurrency, appears to be moving synchronously with the USD as the market adopts a wait-and-see approach amid fear of further turbulence in the United States financial markets.

 

The Galaxy Digital CEO predicts tough times ahead for the United States economy but continues to be bullish on crypto.The United States is headed for a credit crunch and now is the right time to buy gold, silver and Bitcoin ,BTC tickers down $24,709, says Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz.

 

XSpring Digital (XD), a Bangkok-based initial coin offering (ICO) portal service provider, is upbeat about its business outlook this year after the cabinet recently decided to waive value-added tax (VAT)... The company aims to become a leader in the ICO portal business by more than doubling the number of customers using the service this year, said acting chief executive Tanasak Krishnasreni.

 

Thailand is offering companies raising funds through initial coin offerings exemptions from income and value-added tax.

The country has shown promise, with a recent report pegging the country as the nation with the highest global level of crypto adoption. However, it needs to compete with a recent Web 3 accelerator program launched by the Hong Kong.



El Salvador’s Mi Primer Bitcoin learning initiative recently released a new student workbook that covers Bitcoin-related topics suitable for learners of different ages. Commenting on the recent changes to the curriculum, Dalia Platt, the Chair of Mi Primer Bitcoin

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's administration announced that the Central American nation will begin offering bonds backed by Bitcoin, making El Salvador the first nation to do so. 

Previously in 2021, El Salvador shocked the world when the Bukele administration announced they would recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender, despite the cryptocurrency's volatility.

Bitcoin allows you to be your own bank, giving you complete control over your finances and assets, without relying on traditional financial institutions.

Bitcoin transactions are highly secure, with blockchain technology ensuring protection against hacking and other malicious activities.

Owning Bitcoin can offer a path toward financial autonomy and security, providing an alternative to traditional banking systems often prone to failures and collapses.

It's a paradise for globe-trotting libertarians
Driving along El Salvador’s Pacific coast, I’m greeted by a sign: “Bitcoin Beach. The future is here.” As I turn onto a dirt road, another appears: “Pay in Bitcoin, $10 Pupusas and Beer”. Finally, I arrive at the beach — with its volcanic black sand, thunderous waves, and vendors selling refreshments for both cash and cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin logo of two lines through a “B” is plastered all over the resort, even spray-painted on plastic dustbins.

A new link between the Central American nation and Texas has been borne out of Bitcoin.After opening its first Bitcoin Embassy in Lugano, Switzerland, El Salvador is opening a second one in Texas.

According to DappRadar, the total worth of the NFT ecosystem went from $9.3B to $3.7B in 2022 —a 59.6% drop. On February 9th, DappRadar published a report showing that the Ethereum NFT market cap value fell by 59.60% from $9.3 billion in 2022 to around $3.7 billion in early 2023.

The Chinese authorities distributed over $26 million worth of e-CNY to the residents of Shenzhen, Jinan, Lianyungang, and Hangzhou. Major Chinese cities, including Shenzhen, Jinan, and Lianyungang, have reportedly launched approximately 200 activities involving the digital yuan during the Spring Festival.

Bitcoin hit the highest since August as investors interpreted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments about progress on inflation as a sign that a less harsh monetary policy backdrop lies ahead. 



According to a new study, out of the estimated 55.3 million cryptocurrency holders that are spread among 33 African countries, three countries — Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya — account for approximately 36.14 million or nearly two-thirds of this total. In contrast, the study found that Seychelles, which is home to several cryptocurrency exchanges, has approximately 1,000 cryptocurrency holders.

As the new year approaches, more than a dozen bitcoin mining pools still dedicate a total of 238 exahash per second (EH/s) toward the Bitcoin blockchain in order to secure the network and reap mining rewards. Statistics indicate that the mining pool Foundry USA discovered the most block rewards this year, as the operation found 11,779 bitcoin blocks out of the 53,240 rewards mined during the last 365 days.

China is launching its first state-backed non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, the latest sign of embrace for a technology that’s occupied a legal gray area within the country’s notoriously strict regulations on cryptocurrency.The platform will be run by a trio of state-owned and private entities: China Technology Exchange and Art Exhibitions China, both of which are government-backed, and Huban Digital, a private company, according to a report by Chinese state media outlet China Daily.

Despite the market conditions that prevailed in much of 2022, decentralized finance (defi) still demonstrated its greater scaling potential than that of the traditional financial industry, a new report has said. Even though the total value locked dropped from the peak of $180 billion in Dec. 2021, to just over $50 billion by end of Oct. 2022, certain sectors of the defi market still “show a very optimistic trend.”

In Nov. 2021, bitcoin’s market valuation managed to make it into the top ten list of assets ranked by market capitalization, as it was the eighth largest market cap last year on Nov. 9. Since then, bitcoin is 75% lower in value against the U.S. dollar and the leading crypto asset’s market capitalization has dropped down to the 26th largest position among the most valuable assets and companies worldwide.

A new study has ranked Nigeria as the country most curious about cryptocurrency post the April crypto market crash. The same study findings show Kenya as the second-highest ranked African country. According to Bobby Ong, co-founder of Coingecko, the countries topping the list seem more interested in buying the dip and this highlights “their long-term outlook for cryptocurrencies.”

 

A court in the Chinese city of Hangzhou has determined that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, represent virtual property protected by the laws in the People’s Republic. The ruling comes from a case over a dispute between a customer and a platform hired to sell a collection of tokens.

 

Binance has committed $1 billion to a crypto industry recovery initiative to restore confidence following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Several other crypto companies have joined Binance’s efforts and committed capital for the recovery fund.

 

New data has shown that as many as 6,100 crypto and bitcoin automated teller machines were installed in the first eleven months of 2022. The latest figure is approximately three times less than the ATMs that were installed in 2021. The data shows that the United States, which has over 34,000 crypto ATMs, accounts for nearly 90% of all the installed machines.

 

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has issued a business suspension order to FTX Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of FTX.com. The financial watchdog has also ordered the crypto exchange to submit a business improvement plan by Nov. 16.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is forming an industry recovery fund to “reduce further cascading negative effects of FTX,” said CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ). “As an industry, we need to increase transparency,” the executive stressed. “We need to work very closely with regulators all around the world to make this industry more robust.”

 

According to a study jointly published by KPMG China and Aspen Digital, about 58% of Singapore and Hong Kong’s family offices and high-net-worth individuals have invested in digital assets. Reports suggest the info shows the crypto market downturn has not diminished the super-rich’s interest in digital assets, and is unlikely to dissuade them from increasing their holdings of these assets.

About 14% of Saudi residents are either current crypto investors or have traded crypto in the past six months, the latest Kucoin study has found. The study has also found that 76% of investors have less than one year of experience and thus may be in need of relevant crypto education.

America’s oldest bank, the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, has announced the financial institution can now custody cryptocurrencies. A report published by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, says BNY Mellon was approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), and the bank said it was the first of eight financial heavyweights to start crypto asset custody services.

Of the $566 billion in cryptocurrency transaction volume for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region between July 2021 and June 2022, nearly 40% went to Turkey, which kept its place as the region’s biggest cryptocurrency market, according to the latest Chainalysis data. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s takeover has seen the value of cryptocurrencies sent to the country drop from a peak of $68 million to less than $80,000 per month.

13 years ago today(12th Feb), the creator of the Bitcoin network, Satoshi Nakamoto published the inventor’s first forum post on the P2P Foundation website. The forum post called “Bitcoin open source implementation of P2P currency” introduced the e-cash system to the members of the advocacy and research forum focused on peer-to-peer dynamics in society.

Major financial services firm PWC has conducted a study and found that the majority of crypto fund managers surveyed believe that the price of bitcoin would be between $75K and $100K by the end of this year.

The Chinese metaverse industry has reportedly raised about $780 million in funding and there are expectations this will grow to be a $5.8 trillion industry by 2030. So far there are 160,000 virtual human enterprises in China while 20 provinces or cities in the country are reportedly supporting the metaverse.

​​On September 2, the crypto market aggregation web portal Coingecko.com published a study that identifies the top ten states in America that are most interested in the two leading digital currencies, bitcoin and ethereum. The team leveraged Coingecko’s page traffic data and found that California captures 43% of the traffic visiting the site’s bitcoin and ethereum web pages.

One in every 10 households in six eurozone countries has acquired cryptocurrencies, the European Central Bank (ECB) has found with a new survey. While the richest are most likely to own crypto assets, poor families are not far behind, the poll indicates.

Power needs of cryptocurrency miners in Russia have grown significantly since 2017, with consumption of electrical energy seeing a 20-fold increase over the five-year period. In 2021, the minting of the coin with the largest market cap, bitcoin, required 1.25 gigawatts in the country. Experts say, however, that Russia has the spare capacities to satisfy much larger demand.

The number of ether locked in the Ethereum 2.0 contract has exceeded 9 million ethereum or more than $28 billion using today’s exchange rates. The amount of ethereum locked into the contract has increased 22.29% since the first week of September 2021, when the contract held 7.4 million ether.

A new report issued by Mastercard, the payment processing giant, has found that most consumers in Latam have knowledge of what cryptocurrency is. The report states that more than half of the consumers in Latam have at least made a transaction involving cryptocurrency. Also, a third of the surveyed declared having used a stablecoin to make a payment.

The Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real, will be more of a wholesale asset instead of a public retail-focused token, according to statements from the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto. Campos Neto indicated that private banks in the country will be able to issue their own stablecoins that will be collateralized with digital real deposits.

El Salvador’s tourism has grown more than 30% after adopting bitcoin as legal tender, according to the country’s ministry of tourism. “Cryptocurrency multiplies the opportunities to do business with more partners anywhere in the world,” the Salvadoran government explained.

Chainalysis has found that illicit crypto volumes are down this year, with total scam revenue sitting at $1.6 billion, 65% lower than where it was through the end of July last year. “Those numbers suggest that fewer people than ever are falling for cryptocurrency scams,” the blockchain data analytics firm wrote.

One of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s leading airlines, Emirates Airline, said it has plans to add “bitcoin as a payment service.” The airline is planning to recruit personnel to create applications that monitor client needs.

Russia could be a large player in the crypto mining space, experts in the field have established in research naming the most attractive regions for coin minting operations in the country. The capital Moscow is among the popular mining destinations alongside the places offering the cheapest power.

Ripple, the cryptocurrency and payments company, has issued an article examining the opportunities that Latam brings for crypto companies as its regulated payments rails come to crypto. While the region faces some obstacles due to its economic traits and the dominance of centralized banks, the organization believes there is a lucrative opening for companies partnering with these banks to bring crypto to the masses.

A survey conducted by Deloitte in collaboration with PayPal found that over 85% of merchants “are giving high or very high priority to enabling cryptocurrency payments.” In addition, “nearly three-quarters of those surveyed reported plans to accept either cryptocurrency or stablecoin payments within the next 24 months.”.

A recent report states that freelancing is experiencing a boom in Argentina, and also comments on how Argentinians are among workers in the region that most actively use cryptocurrencies to receive part of their paycheck. The report further states that workers accepting their paychecks in crypto favor traditional cryptocurrencies such as ether and bitcoin, which together amount to almost 90% of the payments made in crypto.

In recent times, the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment has been a topical discussion as climate change activists believe proof-of-work (PoW) mining is too energy-intensive. However, a recent report written by the ESG analyst Daniel Batten explains that bitcoin mining could eliminate the world’s carbon emissions by 5.32%. Batten’s study notes that if bitcoin mining entities “aggressively” targeted leaked methane, bitcoin mining has the potential to avoid 0.15% of warming by 2045.

According to findings stemming from a report published by Arcane Research, Bitcoin’s hashrate is steadily going public as an increasing share is deployed by publicly listed companies. Current data shows that the publicly listed miners’ share of Bitcoin’s hashrate is roughly 19% today, up 3% since January 2021.

A majority of the financial pyramids identified in 2022 used cryptocurrencies in one way or another, Russia’s central bank announced in a new report. Amid Western sanctions, Russian scams have stepped up their activities, often claiming to be licensed by foreign authorities to offer access to crypto assets.

An executive at Wisdomtree, an asset management firm with $78 billion under management, says that “Cryptocurrencies have firmly established themselves as a new asset class and it truly is something that people can’t ignore.” He added: “We are past the point where there is speculation around whether or not this is a trend that’s here to stay.”

According to a recent study analyzing Google Trends data, the cryptocurrency dogecoin’s search volume in the United States was highest in the most states as compared to other cryptos. The research also details that the leading crypto asset in terms of market capitalization, bitcoin, was the second most popular crypto asset, with ten different states.

A new Bank of America survey shows that 91% of more than 1,000 current and prospective U.S. crypto investors plan to buy more digital assets in the next six months. Moreover, nearly 40% of respondents revealed that they use cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

Following the confusion that surrounded initial reports, a senior staffer in the Central African Republic (CAR)’s presidency has now confirmed that bitcoin will become the country’s reference currency.

The processing power backing the Bitcoin network has continued its upward momentum tapping another all-time high (ATH) on February 15, 2022, at 249 exahash per second (EH/s). Following the latest ATH, the network’s mining difficulty increased on Thursday morning (EST), up 4.78% and reaching a value of 27.97 trillion. The mining difficulty has increased six times in a row since November 28, 2021, which makes it 23.34% harder for bitcoin miners to find bitcoin block rewards since then.

15 months ago the price of one ounce of fine gold was $1,790 per ounce and since then, it has increased in value 3.51% to today’s $1,853 per ounce exchange rate. While gold has risen in value, the top two tokenized gold coins have grown significantly since then. Pax gold (PAXG), for instance, has seen its market capitalization grow 407% since February 26, 2021, and Tether’s XAUT market valuation swelled by 248% since that day. Presently, PAXG’s and XAUT’s market capitalizations combined equate to just over $1 billion in value.

The U.K. government has unveiled a detailed plan to make the country a global crypto hub and “a hospitable place for crypto.” The plan includes establishing a dynamic regulatory framework for crypto, regulating stablecoins, and working with the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token (NFT) to be issued by the Summer.

The U.S. Secret Service has launched a cryptocurrency awareness hub. The new platform “will feature the latest in the agency’s work combating illicit use of digital assets as well as provide public awareness information on digital asset security and how to ensure it remains secure.”

New data stemming from the latest Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on bitcoin mining indicates that China still holds the second position in terms of global hashrate. While China commands close to 22% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, the United States currently dominates with 37.69%, according to CCAF researchers.New data stemming from the latest Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on bitcoin mining indicates that China still holds the second position in terms of global hashrate. While China commands close to 22% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, the United States currently dominates with 37.69%, according to CCAF researchers.

While bitcoin has risen in value in recent times, jumping 8% during the last seven days, statistics show that the number of addresses holding bitcoin has surpassed 40 million addresses. Metrics from the analytics web portal intotheblock.com show addresses that hold any fraction of bitcoin tapped a 30-day high on March 24, reaching 40.25 million addresses.

A recent report states that freelancing is experiencing a boom in Argentina, and also comments on how Argentinians are among workers in the region that most actively use cryptocurrencies to receive part of their paycheck. The report further states that workers accepting their paychecks in crypto favor traditional cryptocurrencies such as ether and bitcoin, which together amount to almost 90% of the payments made in crypto.

The number of global crypto owners is expected to exceed one billion by the end of the year, according to a report by Crypto.com. “Nations can no longer afford to ignore the growing push to crypto by the public. We may in many cases expect a friendlier stance towards the crypto industry,” the company said.

A survey by FTI Consulting, Inc. reached out to 150 America-based decision makers in finance companies that are in this very position, to better understand their outlook. The data was illuminating, to say the least.

 

At the end of December 2021, the stablecoin economy’s market valuation was around $168.3 billion and since then, it has increased 9.92% to $185 billion in value. A number of stablecoins have issued more assets during the last seven days, as some of the top dollar-pegged coins have swelled by more than 20% since February 22, 2022.

The Shanghai High People’s Court has declared bitcoin to be a virtual asset protected by Chinese law despite the ban cryptocurrency trading in China.

The metaverse will become the most popular place to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency, according to a recent survey. In addition, 70% of respondents agreed that “cryptocurrency and blockchain technology advancements will be critical to shaping the future of the metaverse.”

An Islamic scholar, Irshad Ahmad Ijaz, has asserted that digital currency is not fake currency and that it should be legitimized once certain conditions are met. Ijaz’s viewpoint is echoed by other scholars that attended a seminar examining the status of digital currencies from the perspective of Islamic law.

While April 20 or 420 is synonymous with cannabis culture, the day is also considered “Doge Day,” by a great number of dogecoin supporters. The day prior on Twitter, the Doge network’s co-founder Billy Markus asked what people should expect on Doge Day and for dogecoin’s price action. 12 months ago dogecoin was swapping hands for $0.44 per unit on Doge Day and today the meme-based crypto asset is down 65.3% from that value.

A study — published by askgamblers.com — has covered similar data, but concentrated on the U.K.’s and Europe’s Google searches.

According to the report, while bitcoin is the most popular crypto asset in Europe, the study of the trends shows that the meme token shiba inu is the most popular in the United Kingdom.

According to a recent study published by the online investing news and education platform Invezz, Switzerland currently has the most profitable bitcoin traders worldwide. That’s according to data stemming from Chainalysis, Worldometers, and Triple A, which helped Invezz assign each country a score in terms of the most profitable bitcoin trading by country.

A survey by crypto trading platform Bitstamp shows that 80% of institutional investors believe crypto will overtake traditional investment vehicles. Furthermore, 70% of institutional investors said crypto was a trustworthy investment, with 68% actively recommending this asset class in investment strategies.

Cryptocurrency donations have poured into a nonprofit organization that provides support to Ukrainian soldiers after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine. More than $5 million in bitcoin has already been raised.

According to a document produced by a Pakistani policy advisory board, the country is likely to earn billions of dollars from crypto-asset holders. Yet for this to happen, the country first needs to create the appropriate regulatory framework for crypto assets.

 

According to eToro’s data, Bitcoin trumped other crypto investments to take out the top spot as the most open position, both globally and in Australia. Moreover, opened Bitcoin positions increased 223% year on year as the cryptocurrency climbed in price from A$41,790 to A$65,670.
On the global stage, Bitcoin’s position was unchanged at number one. Whereas, in Australia, Bitcoin lifted from the third spot to number one

On April 1, 2022, records show that 19 million bitcoin have been mined into circulation. With the max supply set at 21 million, there’s only two million bitcoins left to be found by mining participants.

A U.S. consumer survey shows that 25% of respondents who currently do not own cryptocurrency plan to start investing in crypto. “2021 was a good year for crypto. Of the respondents that own crypto, more than half reported that they had just started investing in the space within the last year.”

To this day, Satoshi Nakamoto is one of Bitcoin’s biggest mysteries as people have searched far and wide to uncover the creator’s identity. 11 years ago, on December 12, 2010, the pseudonymous blockchain programmer (or programmers) left a final message to the crypto community stressing that “there’s more work to do on [denial-of-service] DoS.”

Interest in cryptocurrencies has been growing in Russia, not least among non-qualified investors. According to recently quoted estimates, Russians have already put more than $67 billion into the crypto market, the capitalization of which has increased significantly this year.

Russia’s monetary authority will allow users not residing within its jurisdiction to open and use digital ruble wallets and will facilitate the CBDC’s conversion to foreign currencies by non-residents.

While the cryptocurrency economy has seen significant losses across the board — losing billions during the last two weeks — a recent CNBC millionaire survey indicates that millennial millionaires have a lot of crypto. Furthermore, millennial millionaires plan to add more digital assets to their portfolios in 2022.

The number of cryptocurrency ATMs around the world has grown exponentially in 2021, with over 20,000 new installations made since last December. That’s more than the total of all crypto teller machines put into operation in the previous seven years.

A new report issued by LAVCA, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America, the region registered investments of more than $15 billion, more than three times the amount registered in 2020. However, crypto and blockchain investments grew almost tenfold.

On Nov. 20, President Bukele said that the country is going to build an entire city based on bitcoin, during a presentation at Bitcoin Week in El Salvador.

As 2021 nears its end, the firm Harpercollins, the publisher behind the printed and online Collins English Dictionary, has revealed “The Collins Word of the Year.” According to collinsdictionary.com, the word of the year is the abbreviation for non-fungible token, otherwise known as “NFT.”

Most people assume that there will be a maximum circulating supply of 21 million Bitcoins. However, the maximum circulating supply of Bitcoins is not really 21 million. In reality, this number is a little lower at 20,999,987.4769 BTC.

 

In Sep. 2017, 35-year-old coder turned Bitcoin millionaire Peter Saddington cashed in 45 bitcoins to drive away with a $200,000 2015 Lamborghini Huracan. Thanks to an early interest in cryptocurrencies, buying those 45 bitcoins cost him less than $115.

A few years ago, the FBI shut down the Silk Road which was a big black market website where Bitcoin was frequently used. The FBI controls more than 144,000 bitcoins that reside at a bitcoin address that consolidates much of the seized Silk Road bitcoins. Those bitcoins are worth close to $158 million at today’s exchange rates.

The question of whether blockchain can disrupt our traditional financial system is no longer the one you should be asking. Now it’s a matter of when it will take full control.


According to blockchain industry statistics, it is being integrated into the global financial sector at a rapid pace, especially in banking. Banks in countries like Japan, the US, Belarus, Switzerland, and a few others are already accepting cryptocurrency transactions as a part of their system, and more will follow suit shortly.

 

 

The IoT is already a billion-dollar industry, and there are also billions of IoT devices scattered all over the world. These IoT devices were built to enhance the human experience and improve the efficiency of specific tools and automation processes.


Statistics for blockchain show that bringing blockchain into the fold will significantly enhance the security of data exchange between connected devices and IoT platforms. Plus, there’s the added advantage of automated backup files in case of a successful breach. This is ensured by the millions of individual nodes in the blockchain that help store system data.

 

 

Ethereum, Avalanche, Cardano, and Polkadot are some of the important and interesting blockchain projects that people should consider in 2023 and beyond.

 

 

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, BNB, and USD coin are five of the biggest blockchain networks by market cap as of June 2023.

 

 

The usage of cryptocurrency has grown by an incredible amount over the past couple of years. Between 2018 and 2020, the number of cryptocurrency users grew by 190% globally. The industry’s growth rate has continued to expand in the past year alone.

 

 

Compared to the over $23,000 price of Bitcoin, Ethereum costs closer to $1,600 as of 2023. However, Ethereum has still experienced massive growth in the past couple of years.In March of 2020, the price of Ethereum was only $133.76, which means its price increased by more than elevenfold over the past three years.

 

The top 20 cryptocurrencies have the most influence in the market, and the rest are relatively insignificant.

 

 

An analysis of the Blockchain marketplace in 2021 by Markets and Markets found the industry should grow from a value of $4.9 billion (as of 2021), to $67.4 billion by 2026. According to the analysis team, this represents a Compound Annual Growth rate of 68.4% during the forecast period.

 

 

This is a lot younger than an average stock investor, who is 47 years old. They are not only younger than stock investors but are also more diverse. More precisely, 44% of crypto investors are people of color, while only 35% of stock investors belong to this group. However, as the research was done on only 1,004 US adults, the results likely vary worldwide.

 

 

Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of MicroStrategy, commissioned a Twitter poll on May 27 to gauge whether voters believe a presidential candidate must support their right to Bitcoin to secure their vote. As of May 28, almost 30,000 Twitter users had shared their opinion, with a resounding 84% responding ‘Yes’ to the question, “Will you demand that any presidential candidate supports your right to Bitcoin before earning your vote?” Only 16% of respondents voted in the negative.

 

 

The same study found that over half of these individuals did not consider crypto investing a hobby, but alternatively, as a means of income.
Additionally, the study found that the top three reasons users invest in crypto are to create a long-term investment strategy (55%), a distrust of the current financial system (38%), and short-term trading (31%).

 

 

Digital asset investment products, including cryptocurrencies, saw a surge in trading volumes in November 2022. Trading volumes rose to $139 million, breaking the downward trend since the middle of the year. The FTX collapse is believed to have contributed significantly to this surge.

 

The global blockchain gaming market will grow significantly during the next seven years and is expected to reach a market cap of $301.53 billion by 2030, according to a report issued by markets and intelligence firm Grand View Research. The “Blockchain In Gaming Market Size”

 

 

Hacker stole around $400 million from crypto projects during 40 attacks in the first three months of 2023, blockchain intel firm TRM Labs said in a new report. This is a 70% decline from the Q1 of 2022. The average hack size also got smaller, according to TRM, from $30 million in 2022 to $10.5 million for the same period in 2023. The sanctions against Tornado Cash, as well as last year's arrest of the Mango Markets infiltrator, motivate hackers to return their loot, researchers believe.

 

 

Before taking the stage at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami, U.S. presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasized the democratic nature of bitcoin, calling it an “exercise in democracy.” Additionally, during his Florida appearance, Kennedy revealed that his campaign would accept bitcoin for political contributions.

 

On May 22, 2010 Laszlo Hanyecz paid Jeremy Sturdivant 10,000 bitcoins (BTC) for two Papa John’s pizzas which were delivered to Hanyecz’s home. This exchange is widely celebrated because it is viewed as the first use of bitcoin in a commercial transaction with bitcoin as the medium of exchange.

 

A recent Gallup Poll reveals a significant decline in the percentage of Americans favoring real estate as their preferred long-term investment, despite its continued popularity. Conversely, the Gallup survey indicates that the perception of long-term investments in gold has experienced an almost twofold increase compared to the previous year’s poll on the same topic.

 

In four days, the market capitalization of all the BRC20 tokens built on top of the Bitcoin network was a modest $95 million. However, over the past four days, the BRC20 market valuation has seen tremendous growth, increasing by 192% and reaching $279 million.

 

The Nigerian Federal government said on May 3 it had passed what it called the “national blockchain policy.” The Nigerian minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Pantami, said the new policy is a product of consultations with 56 institutions and personalities. Lucky Uwakwe, the founder of the technology service delivery company Sabi Group, said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is unlikely to reverse its stance on privately issued digital currency.

On 30 April, 2023,, as the U.S. government worked behind the scenes with two major banks to engineer the latest financial rescue plan, the Bitcoin network hit a new all-time high for the number of daily transactions processed. There were more confirmed transactions than it ever had in its 14-year history, beating the previous record set during the 2017 bull run. Today, JPMorgan Chase has acquired First Republic after the distressed bank’s assets were seized by regulators, becoming the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.

In the midst of the banking upheaval in the United States, Google Trends has revealed a notable surge in searches related to the acquisition of gold, with the search query reaching a perfect score of 100 during the first week of April 2023. Similarly, the search term “how to buy bitcoin” reached the same score two weeks earlier, on March 20, 2023.

Based on present data, within the last four months, a mere three block rewards from the year 2010 have been transferred after 13 years of dormancy. This is due to the fact that dormant wallets from that era are becoming a rarity to behold. The latest expenditure of a 2010 block took place on April 22, 2023, at 11:14 p.m. (UTC), when a miner spent 50 bitcoin that was valued at approximately $1.3 million. A historic moment occurred today, as a transfer of 400 bitcoin from 2011 took place, marking the first time in over a decade that these digital assets had been moved.

Following the transfer of $60 million worth of bitcoins on April 19, after more than nine years of dormancy, another whale has made its move. The whale, who acquired 1,129 bitcoins in 2012 and 2013, has transferred 464 bitcoins worth $13 million for the first time in nine years.

April 18 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) said on Tuesday it has discontinued production of its bitcoin mining chip series, just a year after its introduction. A rout in the cryptocurrency market hurt some chip companies including Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), whose high-end graphics chips became popular for crypto mining. Intel expects to stop taking orders for the series, called Blockscale, by October 20 this year and end shipping by April 20 next year, according to a document on the company's website.

On April 6, 2023, Bitcoin’s difficulty rose 2.23% higher at block height 784,224, touching another all-time high. It’s the fourth consecutive difficulty increase on the Bitcoin network since Feb. 24, and the protocol’s current difficulty is 47.89 trillion, which is only 2.11 trillion away from reaching the 50 trillion range.

 

According to data from the cryptocurrency automated teller machine (ATM) aggregation website Coin ATM Radar, over 3,600 crypto ATMs went offline in March. Since the end of 2022, the number of crypto ATMs has declined by 13.91% in the last three months.

 

KazTransOil, the national oil transporter of Kazakhstan, plans to ship 125,000 tons of oil from Kazakhstan through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in April, Trend reports, citing KazTransOil.This constitutes a significant increase compared to the 20,000 tons estimated to be shipped in March.

 

Bitcoin's past six months of price action closely resemble its 2014 Mt. Gox bear market. This pattern suggests Bitcoin has entered the next bull phase of its global monetary adoption process.

 

Nigerians have increasingly turned to a once-spurned digital currency to transact, after a chaotic demonetisation policy gave rise to a shortage of banknotes and bolstered demand for alternative payment methods.

 

In the ongoing banking crisis in the United States, the US Dollar (USD) appears to correlate directly with Bitcoin.Bitcoin Positively Correlates With USD According to Kaiko, a digital assets market provider, Bitcoin, the most valuable cryptocurrency, appears to be moving synchronously with the USD as the market adopts a wait-and-see approach amid fear of further turbulence in the United States financial markets.

 

The Galaxy Digital CEO predicts tough times ahead for the United States economy but continues to be bullish on crypto.The United States is headed for a credit crunch and now is the right time to buy gold, silver and Bitcoin ,BTC tickers down $24,709, says Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz.

 

XSpring Digital (XD), a Bangkok-based initial coin offering (ICO) portal service provider, is upbeat about its business outlook this year after the cabinet recently decided to waive value-added tax (VAT)... The company aims to become a leader in the ICO portal business by more than doubling the number of customers using the service this year, said acting chief executive Tanasak Krishnasreni.

 

Thailand is offering companies raising funds through initial coin offerings exemptions from income and value-added tax.

The country has shown promise, with a recent report pegging the country as the nation with the highest global level of crypto adoption. However, it needs to compete with a recent Web 3 accelerator program launched by the Hong Kong.



El Salvador’s Mi Primer Bitcoin learning initiative recently released a new student workbook that covers Bitcoin-related topics suitable for learners of different ages. Commenting on the recent changes to the curriculum, Dalia Platt, the Chair of Mi Primer Bitcoin

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's administration announced that the Central American nation will begin offering bonds backed by Bitcoin, making El Salvador the first nation to do so. 

Previously in 2021, El Salvador shocked the world when the Bukele administration announced they would recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender, despite the cryptocurrency's volatility.

Bitcoin allows you to be your own bank, giving you complete control over your finances and assets, without relying on traditional financial institutions.

Bitcoin transactions are highly secure, with blockchain technology ensuring protection against hacking and other malicious activities.

Owning Bitcoin can offer a path toward financial autonomy and security, providing an alternative to traditional banking systems often prone to failures and collapses.

It's a paradise for globe-trotting libertarians
Driving along El Salvador’s Pacific coast, I’m greeted by a sign: “Bitcoin Beach. The future is here.” As I turn onto a dirt road, another appears: “Pay in Bitcoin, $10 Pupusas and Beer”. Finally, I arrive at the beach — with its volcanic black sand, thunderous waves, and vendors selling refreshments for both cash and cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin logo of two lines through a “B” is plastered all over the resort, even spray-painted on plastic dustbins.

A new link between the Central American nation and Texas has been borne out of Bitcoin.After opening its first Bitcoin Embassy in Lugano, Switzerland, El Salvador is opening a second one in Texas.

According to DappRadar, the total worth of the NFT ecosystem went from $9.3B to $3.7B in 2022 —a 59.6% drop. On February 9th, DappRadar published a report showing that the Ethereum NFT market cap value fell by 59.60% from $9.3 billion in 2022 to around $3.7 billion in early 2023.

The Chinese authorities distributed over $26 million worth of e-CNY to the residents of Shenzhen, Jinan, Lianyungang, and Hangzhou. Major Chinese cities, including Shenzhen, Jinan, and Lianyungang, have reportedly launched approximately 200 activities involving the digital yuan during the Spring Festival.

Bitcoin hit the highest since August as investors interpreted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments about progress on inflation as a sign that a less harsh monetary policy backdrop lies ahead. 



According to a new study, out of the estimated 55.3 million cryptocurrency holders that are spread among 33 African countries, three countries — Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya — account for approximately 36.14 million or nearly two-thirds of this total. In contrast, the study found that Seychelles, which is home to several cryptocurrency exchanges, has approximately 1,000 cryptocurrency holders.

As the new year approaches, more than a dozen bitcoin mining pools still dedicate a total of 238 exahash per second (EH/s) toward the Bitcoin blockchain in order to secure the network and reap mining rewards. Statistics indicate that the mining pool Foundry USA discovered the most block rewards this year, as the operation found 11,779 bitcoin blocks out of the 53,240 rewards mined during the last 365 days.

China is launching its first state-backed non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, the latest sign of embrace for a technology that’s occupied a legal gray area within the country’s notoriously strict regulations on cryptocurrency.The platform will be run by a trio of state-owned and private entities: China Technology Exchange and Art Exhibitions China, both of which are government-backed, and Huban Digital, a private company, according to a report by Chinese state media outlet China Daily.

Despite the market conditions that prevailed in much of 2022, decentralized finance (defi) still demonstrated its greater scaling potential than that of the traditional financial industry, a new report has said. Even though the total value locked dropped from the peak of $180 billion in Dec. 2021, to just over $50 billion by end of Oct. 2022, certain sectors of the defi market still “show a very optimistic trend.”

In Nov. 2021, bitcoin’s market valuation managed to make it into the top ten list of assets ranked by market capitalization, as it was the eighth largest market cap last year on Nov. 9. Since then, bitcoin is 75% lower in value against the U.S. dollar and the leading crypto asset’s market capitalization has dropped down to the 26th largest position among the most valuable assets and companies worldwide.

A new study has ranked Nigeria as the country most curious about cryptocurrency post the April crypto market crash. The same study findings show Kenya as the second-highest ranked African country. According to Bobby Ong, co-founder of Coingecko, the countries topping the list seem more interested in buying the dip and this highlights “their long-term outlook for cryptocurrencies.”

 

A court in the Chinese city of Hangzhou has determined that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, represent virtual property protected by the laws in the People’s Republic. The ruling comes from a case over a dispute between a customer and a platform hired to sell a collection of tokens.

 

Binance has committed $1 billion to a crypto industry recovery initiative to restore confidence following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Several other crypto companies have joined Binance’s efforts and committed capital for the recovery fund.

 

New data has shown that as many as 6,100 crypto and bitcoin automated teller machines were installed in the first eleven months of 2022. The latest figure is approximately three times less than the ATMs that were installed in 2021. The data shows that the United States, which has over 34,000 crypto ATMs, accounts for nearly 90% of all the installed machines.

 

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has issued a business suspension order to FTX Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of FTX.com. The financial watchdog has also ordered the crypto exchange to submit a business improvement plan by Nov. 16.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is forming an industry recovery fund to “reduce further cascading negative effects of FTX,” said CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ). “As an industry, we need to increase transparency,” the executive stressed. “We need to work very closely with regulators all around the world to make this industry more robust.”

 

According to a study jointly published by KPMG China and Aspen Digital, about 58% of Singapore and Hong Kong’s family offices and high-net-worth individuals have invested in digital assets. Reports suggest the info shows the crypto market downturn has not diminished the super-rich’s interest in digital assets, and is unlikely to dissuade them from increasing their holdings of these assets.

About 14% of Saudi residents are either current crypto investors or have traded crypto in the past six months, the latest Kucoin study has found. The study has also found that 76% of investors have less than one year of experience and thus may be in need of relevant crypto education.

America’s oldest bank, the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, has announced the financial institution can now custody cryptocurrencies. A report published by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, says BNY Mellon was approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), and the bank said it was the first of eight financial heavyweights to start crypto asset custody services.

Of the $566 billion in cryptocurrency transaction volume for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region between July 2021 and June 2022, nearly 40% went to Turkey, which kept its place as the region’s biggest cryptocurrency market, according to the latest Chainalysis data. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s takeover has seen the value of cryptocurrencies sent to the country drop from a peak of $68 million to less than $80,000 per month.

13 years ago today(12th Feb), the creator of the Bitcoin network, Satoshi Nakamoto published the inventor’s first forum post on the P2P Foundation website. The forum post called “Bitcoin open source implementation of P2P currency” introduced the e-cash system to the members of the advocacy and research forum focused on peer-to-peer dynamics in society.

Major financial services firm PWC has conducted a study and found that the majority of crypto fund managers surveyed believe that the price of bitcoin would be between $75K and $100K by the end of this year.

The Chinese metaverse industry has reportedly raised about $780 million in funding and there are expectations this will grow to be a $5.8 trillion industry by 2030. So far there are 160,000 virtual human enterprises in China while 20 provinces or cities in the country are reportedly supporting the metaverse.

​​On September 2, the crypto market aggregation web portal Coingecko.com published a study that identifies the top ten states in America that are most interested in the two leading digital currencies, bitcoin and ethereum. The team leveraged Coingecko’s page traffic data and found that California captures 43% of the traffic visiting the site’s bitcoin and ethereum web pages.

One in every 10 households in six eurozone countries has acquired cryptocurrencies, the European Central Bank (ECB) has found with a new survey. While the richest are most likely to own crypto assets, poor families are not far behind, the poll indicates.

Power needs of cryptocurrency miners in Russia have grown significantly since 2017, with consumption of electrical energy seeing a 20-fold increase over the five-year period. In 2021, the minting of the coin with the largest market cap, bitcoin, required 1.25 gigawatts in the country. Experts say, however, that Russia has the spare capacities to satisfy much larger demand.

The number of ether locked in the Ethereum 2.0 contract has exceeded 9 million ethereum or more than $28 billion using today’s exchange rates. The amount of ethereum locked into the contract has increased 22.29% since the first week of September 2021, when the contract held 7.4 million ether.

A new report issued by Mastercard, the payment processing giant, has found that most consumers in Latam have knowledge of what cryptocurrency is. The report states that more than half of the consumers in Latam have at least made a transaction involving cryptocurrency. Also, a third of the surveyed declared having used a stablecoin to make a payment.

The Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real, will be more of a wholesale asset instead of a public retail-focused token, according to statements from the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto. Campos Neto indicated that private banks in the country will be able to issue their own stablecoins that will be collateralized with digital real deposits.

El Salvador’s tourism has grown more than 30% after adopting bitcoin as legal tender, according to the country’s ministry of tourism. “Cryptocurrency multiplies the opportunities to do business with more partners anywhere in the world,” the Salvadoran government explained.

Chainalysis has found that illicit crypto volumes are down this year, with total scam revenue sitting at $1.6 billion, 65% lower than where it was through the end of July last year. “Those numbers suggest that fewer people than ever are falling for cryptocurrency scams,” the blockchain data analytics firm wrote.

One of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s leading airlines, Emirates Airline, said it has plans to add “bitcoin as a payment service.” The airline is planning to recruit personnel to create applications that monitor client needs.

Russia could be a large player in the crypto mining space, experts in the field have established in research naming the most attractive regions for coin minting operations in the country. The capital Moscow is among the popular mining destinations alongside the places offering the cheapest power.

Ripple, the cryptocurrency and payments company, has issued an article examining the opportunities that Latam brings for crypto companies as its regulated payments rails come to crypto. While the region faces some obstacles due to its economic traits and the dominance of centralized banks, the organization believes there is a lucrative opening for companies partnering with these banks to bring crypto to the masses.

A survey conducted by Deloitte in collaboration with PayPal found that over 85% of merchants “are giving high or very high priority to enabling cryptocurrency payments.” In addition, “nearly three-quarters of those surveyed reported plans to accept either cryptocurrency or stablecoin payments within the next 24 months.”.

A recent report states that freelancing is experiencing a boom in Argentina, and also comments on how Argentinians are among workers in the region that most actively use cryptocurrencies to receive part of their paycheck. The report further states that workers accepting their paychecks in crypto favor traditional cryptocurrencies such as ether and bitcoin, which together amount to almost 90% of the payments made in crypto.

In recent times, the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment has been a topical discussion as climate change activists believe proof-of-work (PoW) mining is too energy-intensive. However, a recent report written by the ESG analyst Daniel Batten explains that bitcoin mining could eliminate the world’s carbon emissions by 5.32%. Batten’s study notes that if bitcoin mining entities “aggressively” targeted leaked methane, bitcoin mining has the potential to avoid 0.15% of warming by 2045.

According to findings stemming from a report published by Arcane Research, Bitcoin’s hashrate is steadily going public as an increasing share is deployed by publicly listed companies. Current data shows that the publicly listed miners’ share of Bitcoin’s hashrate is roughly 19% today, up 3% since January 2021.

A majority of the financial pyramids identified in 2022 used cryptocurrencies in one way or another, Russia’s central bank announced in a new report. Amid Western sanctions, Russian scams have stepped up their activities, often claiming to be licensed by foreign authorities to offer access to crypto assets.

An executive at Wisdomtree, an asset management firm with $78 billion under management, says that “Cryptocurrencies have firmly established themselves as a new asset class and it truly is something that people can’t ignore.” He added: “We are past the point where there is speculation around whether or not this is a trend that’s here to stay.”

According to a recent study analyzing Google Trends data, the cryptocurrency dogecoin’s search volume in the United States was highest in the most states as compared to other cryptos. The research also details that the leading crypto asset in terms of market capitalization, bitcoin, was the second most popular crypto asset, with ten different states.

A new Bank of America survey shows that 91% of more than 1,000 current and prospective U.S. crypto investors plan to buy more digital assets in the next six months. Moreover, nearly 40% of respondents revealed that they use cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

Following the confusion that surrounded initial reports, a senior staffer in the Central African Republic (CAR)’s presidency has now confirmed that bitcoin will become the country’s reference currency.

The processing power backing the Bitcoin network has continued its upward momentum tapping another all-time high (ATH) on February 15, 2022, at 249 exahash per second (EH/s). Following the latest ATH, the network’s mining difficulty increased on Thursday morning (EST), up 4.78% and reaching a value of 27.97 trillion. The mining difficulty has increased six times in a row since November 28, 2021, which makes it 23.34% harder for bitcoin miners to find bitcoin block rewards since then.

15 months ago the price of one ounce of fine gold was $1,790 per ounce and since then, it has increased in value 3.51% to today’s $1,853 per ounce exchange rate. While gold has risen in value, the top two tokenized gold coins have grown significantly since then. Pax gold (PAXG), for instance, has seen its market capitalization grow 407% since February 26, 2021, and Tether’s XAUT market valuation swelled by 248% since that day. Presently, PAXG’s and XAUT’s market capitalizations combined equate to just over $1 billion in value.

The U.K. government has unveiled a detailed plan to make the country a global crypto hub and “a hospitable place for crypto.” The plan includes establishing a dynamic regulatory framework for crypto, regulating stablecoins, and working with the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token (NFT) to be issued by the Summer.

The U.S. Secret Service has launched a cryptocurrency awareness hub. The new platform “will feature the latest in the agency’s work combating illicit use of digital assets as well as provide public awareness information on digital asset security and how to ensure it remains secure.”

New data stemming from the latest Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on bitcoin mining indicates that China still holds the second position in terms of global hashrate. While China commands close to 22% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, the United States currently dominates with 37.69%, according to CCAF researchers.New data stemming from the latest Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on bitcoin mining indicates that China still holds the second position in terms of global hashrate. While China commands close to 22% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, the United States currently dominates with 37.69%, according to CCAF researchers.

While bitcoin has risen in value in recent times, jumping 8% during the last seven days, statistics show that the number of addresses holding bitcoin has surpassed 40 million addresses. Metrics from the analytics web portal intotheblock.com show addresses that hold any fraction of bitcoin tapped a 30-day high on March 24, reaching 40.25 million addresses.

A recent report states that freelancing is experiencing a boom in Argentina, and also comments on how Argentinians are among workers in the region that most actively use cryptocurrencies to receive part of their paycheck. The report further states that workers accepting their paychecks in crypto favor traditional cryptocurrencies such as ether and bitcoin, which together amount to almost 90% of the payments made in crypto.

The number of global crypto owners is expected to exceed one billion by the end of the year, according to a report by Crypto.com. “Nations can no longer afford to ignore the growing push to crypto by the public. We may in many cases expect a friendlier stance towards the crypto industry,” the company said.

A survey by FTI Consulting, Inc. reached out to 150 America-based decision makers in finance companies that are in this very position, to better understand their outlook. The data was illuminating, to say the least.

 

At the end of December 2021, the stablecoin economy’s market valuation was around $168.3 billion and since then, it has increased 9.92% to $185 billion in value. A number of stablecoins have issued more assets during the last seven days, as some of the top dollar-pegged coins have swelled by more than 20% since February 22, 2022.

The Shanghai High People’s Court has declared bitcoin to be a virtual asset protected by Chinese law despite the ban cryptocurrency trading in China.

The metaverse will become the most popular place to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency, according to a recent survey. In addition, 70% of respondents agreed that “cryptocurrency and blockchain technology advancements will be critical to shaping the future of the metaverse.”

An Islamic scholar, Irshad Ahmad Ijaz, has asserted that digital currency is not fake currency and that it should be legitimized once certain conditions are met. Ijaz’s viewpoint is echoed by other scholars that attended a seminar examining the status of digital currencies from the perspective of Islamic law.

While April 20 or 420 is synonymous with cannabis culture, the day is also considered “Doge Day,” by a great number of dogecoin supporters. The day prior on Twitter, the Doge network’s co-founder Billy Markus asked what people should expect on Doge Day and for dogecoin’s price action. 12 months ago dogecoin was swapping hands for $0.44 per unit on Doge Day and today the meme-based crypto asset is down 65.3% from that value.

A study — published by askgamblers.com — has covered similar data, but concentrated on the U.K.’s and Europe’s Google searches.

According to the report, while bitcoin is the most popular crypto asset in Europe, the study of the trends shows that the meme token shiba inu is the most popular in the United Kingdom.

According to a recent study published by the online investing news and education platform Invezz, Switzerland currently has the most profitable bitcoin traders worldwide. That’s according to data stemming from Chainalysis, Worldometers, and Triple A, which helped Invezz assign each country a score in terms of the most profitable bitcoin trading by country.

A survey by crypto trading platform Bitstamp shows that 80% of institutional investors believe crypto will overtake traditional investment vehicles. Furthermore, 70% of institutional investors said crypto was a trustworthy investment, with 68% actively recommending this asset class in investment strategies.

Cryptocurrency donations have poured into a nonprofit organization that provides support to Ukrainian soldiers after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine. More than $5 million in bitcoin has already been raised.

According to a document produced by a Pakistani policy advisory board, the country is likely to earn billions of dollars from crypto-asset holders. Yet for this to happen, the country first needs to create the appropriate regulatory framework for crypto assets.

 

According to eToro’s data, Bitcoin trumped other crypto investments to take out the top spot as the most open position, both globally and in Australia. Moreover, opened Bitcoin positions increased 223% year on year as the cryptocurrency climbed in price from A$41,790 to A$65,670.
On the global stage, Bitcoin’s position was unchanged at number one. Whereas, in Australia, Bitcoin lifted from the third spot to number one

On April 1, 2022, records show that 19 million bitcoin have been mined into circulation. With the max supply set at 21 million, there’s only two million bitcoins left to be found by mining participants.

A U.S. consumer survey shows that 25% of respondents who currently do not own cryptocurrency plan to start investing in crypto. “2021 was a good year for crypto. Of the respondents that own crypto, more than half reported that they had just started investing in the space within the last year.”

To this day, Satoshi Nakamoto is one of Bitcoin’s biggest mysteries as people have searched far and wide to uncover the creator’s identity. 11 years ago, on December 12, 2010, the pseudonymous blockchain programmer (or programmers) left a final message to the crypto community stressing that “there’s more work to do on [denial-of-service] DoS.”

Interest in cryptocurrencies has been growing in Russia, not least among non-qualified investors. According to recently quoted estimates, Russians have already put more than $67 billion into the crypto market, the capitalization of which has increased significantly this year.

Russia’s monetary authority will allow users not residing within its jurisdiction to open and use digital ruble wallets and will facilitate the CBDC’s conversion to foreign currencies by non-residents.

While the cryptocurrency economy has seen significant losses across the board — losing billions during the last two weeks — a recent CNBC millionaire survey indicates that millennial millionaires have a lot of crypto. Furthermore, millennial millionaires plan to add more digital assets to their portfolios in 2022.

The number of cryptocurrency ATMs around the world has grown exponentially in 2021, with over 20,000 new installations made since last December. That’s more than the total of all crypto teller machines put into operation in the previous seven years.

A new report issued by LAVCA, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America, the region registered investments of more than $15 billion, more than three times the amount registered in 2020. However, crypto and blockchain investments grew almost tenfold.

On Nov. 20, President Bukele said that the country is going to build an entire city based on bitcoin, during a presentation at Bitcoin Week in El Salvador.

As 2021 nears its end, the firm Harpercollins, the publisher behind the printed and online Collins English Dictionary, has revealed “The Collins Word of the Year.” According to collinsdictionary.com, the word of the year is the abbreviation for non-fungible token, otherwise known as “NFT.”

Most people assume that there will be a maximum circulating supply of 21 million Bitcoins. However, the maximum circulating supply of Bitcoins is not really 21 million. In reality, this number is a little lower at 20,999,987.4769 BTC.

 

In Sep. 2017, 35-year-old coder turned Bitcoin millionaire Peter Saddington cashed in 45 bitcoins to drive away with a $200,000 2015 Lamborghini Huracan. Thanks to an early interest in cryptocurrencies, buying those 45 bitcoins cost him less than $115.

A few years ago, the FBI shut down the Silk Road which was a big black market website where Bitcoin was frequently used. The FBI controls more than 144,000 bitcoins that reside at a bitcoin address that consolidates much of the seized Silk Road bitcoins. Those bitcoins are worth close to $158 million at today’s exchange rates.

Bitcoin hit the highest since August as investors interpreted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments about progress on inflation as a sign that a less harsh monetary policy backdrop lies ahead.

According to a new study, out of the estimated 55.3 million cryptocurrency holders that are spread among 33 African countries, three countries — Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya — account for approximately 36.14 million or nearly two-thirds of this total. In contrast, the study found that Seychelles, which is home to several cryptocurrency exchanges, has approximately 1,000 cryptocurrency holders.

As the new year approaches, more than a dozen bitcoin mining pools still dedicate a total of 238 exahash per second (EH/s) toward the Bitcoin blockchain in order to secure the network and reap mining rewards. Statistics indicate that the mining pool Foundry USA discovered the most block rewards this year, as the operation found 11,779 bitcoin blocks out of the 53,240 rewards mined during the last 365 days.

China is launching its first state-backed non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, the latest sign of embrace for a technology that’s occupied a legal gray area within the country’s notoriously strict regulations on cryptocurrency.The platform will be run by a trio of state-owned and private entities: China Technology Exchange and Art Exhibitions China, both of which are government-backed, and Huban Digital, a private company, according to a report by Chinese state media outlet China Daily.

Despite the market conditions that prevailed in much of 2022, decentralized finance (defi) still demonstrated its greater scaling potential than that of the traditional financial industry, a new report has said. Even though the total value locked dropped from the peak of $180 billion in Dec. 2021, to just over $50 billion by end of Oct. 2022, certain sectors of the defi market still “show a very optimistic trend.”

In Nov. 2021, bitcoin’s market valuation managed to make it into the top ten list of assets ranked by market capitalization, as it was the eighth largest market cap last year on Nov. 9. Since then, bitcoin is 75% lower in value against the U.S. dollar and the leading crypto asset’s market capitalization has dropped down to the 26th largest position among the most valuable assets and companies worldwide.

A new study has ranked Nigeria as the country most curious about cryptocurrency post the April crypto market crash. The same study findings show Kenya as the second-highest ranked African country. According to Bobby Ong, co-founder of Coingecko, the countries topping the list seem more interested in buying the dip and this highlights “their long-term outlook for cryptocurrencies.”

 

A court in the Chinese city of Hangzhou has determined that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, represent virtual property protected by the laws in the People’s Republic. The ruling comes from a case over a dispute between a customer and a platform hired to sell a collection of tokens.

 

Binance has committed $1 billion to a crypto industry recovery initiative to restore confidence following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Several other crypto companies have joined Binance’s efforts and committed capital for the recovery fund.

 

New data has shown that as many as 6,100 crypto and bitcoin automated teller machines were installed in the first eleven months of 2022. The latest figure is approximately three times less than the ATMs that were installed in 2021. The data shows that the United States, which has over 34,000 crypto ATMs, accounts for nearly 90% of all the installed machines.

 

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has issued a business suspension order to FTX Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of FTX.com. The financial watchdog has also ordered the crypto exchange to submit a business improvement plan by Nov. 16.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is forming an industry recovery fund to “reduce further cascading negative effects of FTX,” said CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ). “As an industry, we need to increase transparency,” the executive stressed. “We need to work very closely with regulators all around the world to make this industry more robust.”

 

According to a study jointly published by KPMG China and Aspen Digital, about 58% of Singapore and Hong Kong’s family offices and high-net-worth individuals have invested in digital assets. Reports suggest the info shows the crypto market downturn has not diminished the super-rich’s interest in digital assets, and is unlikely to dissuade them from increasing their holdings of these assets.

About 14% of Saudi residents are either current crypto investors or have traded crypto in the past six months, the latest Kucoin study has found. The study has also found that 76% of investors have less than one year of experience and thus may be in need of relevant crypto education.

America’s oldest bank, the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, has announced the financial institution can now custody cryptocurrencies. A report published by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, says BNY Mellon was approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), and the bank said it was the first of eight financial heavyweights to start crypto asset custody services.

Of the $566 billion in cryptocurrency transaction volume for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region between July 2021 and June 2022, nearly 40% went to Turkey, which kept its place as the region’s biggest cryptocurrency market, according to the latest Chainalysis data. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s takeover has seen the value of cryptocurrencies sent to the country drop from a peak of $68 million to less than $80,000 per month.

13 years ago today(12th Feb), the creator of the Bitcoin network, Satoshi Nakamoto published the inventor’s first forum post on the P2P Foundation website. The forum post called “Bitcoin open source implementation of P2P currency” introduced the e-cash system to the members of the advocacy and research forum focused on peer-to-peer dynamics in society.

Major financial services firm PWC has conducted a study and found that the majority of crypto fund managers surveyed believe that the price of bitcoin would be between $75K and $100K by the end of this year.

The Chinese metaverse industry has reportedly raised about $780 million in funding and there are expectations this will grow to be a $5.8 trillion industry by 2030. So far there are 160,000 virtual human enterprises in China while 20 provinces or cities in the country are reportedly supporting the metaverse.

​​On September 2, the crypto market aggregation web portal Coingecko.com published a study that identifies the top ten states in America that are most interested in the two leading digital currencies, bitcoin and ethereum. The team leveraged Coingecko’s page traffic data and found that California captures 43% of the traffic visiting the site’s bitcoin and ethereum web pages.

One in every 10 households in six eurozone countries has acquired cryptocurrencies, the European Central Bank (ECB) has found with a new survey. While the richest are most likely to own crypto assets, poor families are not far behind, the poll indicates.

Power needs of cryptocurrency miners in Russia have grown significantly since 2017, with consumption of electrical energy seeing a 20-fold increase over the five-year period. In 2021, the minting of the coin with the largest market cap, bitcoin, required 1.25 gigawatts in the country. Experts say, however, that Russia has the spare capacities to satisfy much larger demand.

The number of ether locked in the Ethereum 2.0 contract has exceeded 9 million ethereum or more than $28 billion using today’s exchange rates. The amount of ethereum locked into the contract has increased 22.29% since the first week of September 2021, when the contract held 7.4 million ether.

A new report issued by Mastercard, the payment processing giant, has found that most consumers in Latam have knowledge of what cryptocurrency is. The report states that more than half of the consumers in Latam have at least made a transaction involving cryptocurrency. Also, a third of the surveyed declared having used a stablecoin to make a payment.

The Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real, will be more of a wholesale asset instead of a public retail-focused token, according to statements from the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto. Campos Neto indicated that private banks in the country will be able to issue their own stablecoins that will be collateralized with digital real deposits.

El Salvador’s tourism has grown more than 30% after adopting bitcoin as legal tender, according to the country’s ministry of tourism. “Cryptocurrency multiplies the opportunities to do business with more partners anywhere in the world,” the Salvadoran government explained.

Chainalysis has found that illicit crypto volumes are down this year, with total scam revenue sitting at $1.6 billion, 65% lower than where it was through the end of July last year. “Those numbers suggest that fewer people than ever are falling for cryptocurrency scams,” the blockchain data analytics firm wrote.

One of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s leading airlines, Emirates Airline, said it has plans to add “bitcoin as a payment service.” The airline is planning to recruit personnel to create applications that monitor client needs.

Russia could be a large player in the crypto mining space, experts in the field have established in research naming the most attractive regions for coin minting operations in the country. The capital Moscow is among the popular mining destinations alongside the places offering the cheapest power.

Ripple, the cryptocurrency and payments company, has issued an article examining the opportunities that Latam brings for crypto companies as its regulated payments rails come to crypto. While the region faces some obstacles due to its economic traits and the dominance of centralized banks, the organization believes there is a lucrative opening for companies partnering with these banks to bring crypto to the masses.

A survey conducted by Deloitte in collaboration with PayPal found that over 85% of merchants “are giving high or very high priority to enabling cryptocurrency payments.” In addition, “nearly three-quarters of those surveyed reported plans to accept either cryptocurrency or stablecoin payments within the next 24 months.”.

A recent report states that freelancing is experiencing a boom in Argentina, and also comments on how Argentinians are among workers in the region that most actively use cryptocurrencies to receive part of their paycheck. The report further states that workers accepting their paychecks in crypto favor traditional cryptocurrencies such as ether and bitcoin, which together amount to almost 90% of the payments made in crypto.

In recent times, the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment has been a topical discussion as climate change activists believe proof-of-work (PoW) mining is too energy-intensive. However, a recent report written by the ESG analyst Daniel Batten explains that bitcoin mining could eliminate the world’s carbon emissions by 5.32%. Batten’s study notes that if bitcoin mining entities “aggressively” targeted leaked methane, bitcoin mining has the potential to avoid 0.15% of warming by 2045.

According to findings stemming from a report published by Arcane Research, Bitcoin’s hashrate is steadily going public as an increasing share is deployed by publicly listed companies. Current data shows that the publicly listed miners’ share of Bitcoin’s hashrate is roughly 19% today, up 3% since January 2021.

A majority of the financial pyramids identified in 2022 used cryptocurrencies in one way or another, Russia’s central bank announced in a new report. Amid Western sanctions, Russian scams have stepped up their activities, often claiming to be licensed by foreign authorities to offer access to crypto assets.

An executive at Wisdomtree, an asset management firm with $78 billion under management, says that “Cryptocurrencies have firmly established themselves as a new asset class and it truly is something that people can’t ignore.” He added: “We are past the point where there is speculation around whether or not this is a trend that’s here to stay.”

According to a recent study analyzing Google Trends data, the cryptocurrency dogecoin’s search volume in the United States was highest in the most states as compared to other cryptos. The research also details that the leading crypto asset in terms of market capitalization, bitcoin, was the second most popular crypto asset, with ten different states.

A new Bank of America survey shows that 91% of more than 1,000 current and prospective U.S. crypto investors plan to buy more digital assets in the next six months. Moreover, nearly 40% of respondents revealed that they use cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

Following the confusion that surrounded initial reports, a senior staffer in the Central African Republic (CAR)’s presidency has now confirmed that bitcoin will become the country’s reference currency.

The processing power backing the Bitcoin network has continued its upward momentum tapping another all-time high (ATH) on February 15, 2022, at 249 exahash per second (EH/s). Following the latest ATH, the network’s mining difficulty increased on Thursday morning (EST), up 4.78% and reaching a value of 27.97 trillion. The mining difficulty has increased six times in a row since November 28, 2021, which makes it 23.34% harder for bitcoin miners to find bitcoin block rewards since then.

15 months ago the price of one ounce of fine gold was $1,790 per ounce and since then, it has increased in value 3.51% to today’s $1,853 per ounce exchange rate. While gold has risen in value, the top two tokenized gold coins have grown significantly since then. Pax gold (PAXG), for instance, has seen its market capitalization grow 407% since February 26, 2021, and Tether’s XAUT market valuation swelled by 248% since that day. Presently, PAXG’s and XAUT’s market capitalizations combined equate to just over $1 billion in value.

The U.K. government has unveiled a detailed plan to make the country a global crypto hub and “a hospitable place for crypto.” The plan includes establishing a dynamic regulatory framework for crypto, regulating stablecoins, and working with the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token (NFT) to be issued by the Summer.

The U.S. Secret Service has launched a cryptocurrency awareness hub. The new platform “will feature the latest in the agency’s work combating illicit use of digital assets as well as provide public awareness information on digital asset security and how to ensure it remains secure.”

New data stemming from the latest Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on bitcoin mining indicates that China still holds the second position in terms of global hashrate. While China commands close to 22% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, the United States currently dominates with 37.69%, according to CCAF researchers.New data stemming from the latest Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on bitcoin mining indicates that China still holds the second position in terms of global hashrate. While China commands close to 22% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, the United States currently dominates with 37.69%, according to CCAF researchers.

While bitcoin has risen in value in recent times, jumping 8% during the last seven days, statistics show that the number of addresses holding bitcoin has surpassed 40 million addresses. Metrics from the analytics web portal intotheblock.com show addresses that hold any fraction of bitcoin tapped a 30-day high on March 24, reaching 40.25 million addresses.

A recent report states that freelancing is experiencing a boom in Argentina, and also comments on how Argentinians are among workers in the region that most actively use cryptocurrencies to receive part of their paycheck. The report further states that workers accepting their paychecks in crypto favor traditional cryptocurrencies such as ether and bitcoin, which together amount to almost 90% of the payments made in crypto.

The number of global crypto owners is expected to exceed one billion by the end of the year, according to a report by Crypto.com. “Nations can no longer afford to ignore the growing push to crypto by the public. We may in many cases expect a friendlier stance towards the crypto industry,” the company said.

A survey by FTI Consulting, Inc. reached out to 150 America-based decision makers in finance companies that are in this very position, to better understand their outlook. The data was illuminating, to say the least.

 

At the end of December 2021, the stablecoin economy’s market valuation was around $168.3 billion and since then, it has increased 9.92% to $185 billion in value. A number of stablecoins have issued more assets during the last seven days, as some of the top dollar-pegged coins have swelled by more than 20% since February 22, 2022.

The Shanghai High People’s Court has declared bitcoin to be a virtual asset protected by Chinese law despite the ban cryptocurrency trading in China.

The metaverse will become the most popular place to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency, according to a recent survey. In addition, 70% of respondents agreed that “cryptocurrency and blockchain technology advancements will be critical to shaping the future of the metaverse.”

An Islamic scholar, Irshad Ahmad Ijaz, has asserted that digital currency is not fake currency and that it should be legitimized once certain conditions are met. Ijaz’s viewpoint is echoed by other scholars that attended a seminar examining the status of digital currencies from the perspective of Islamic law.

While April 20 or 420 is synonymous with cannabis culture, the day is also considered “Doge Day,” by a great number of dogecoin supporters. The day prior on Twitter, the Doge network’s co-founder Billy Markus asked what people should expect on Doge Day and for dogecoin’s price action. 12 months ago dogecoin was swapping hands for $0.44 per unit on Doge Day and today the meme-based crypto asset is down 65.3% from that value.

A study — published by askgamblers.com — has covered similar data, but concentrated on the U.K.’s and Europe’s Google searches.

According to the report, while bitcoin is the most popular crypto asset in Europe, the study of the trends shows that the meme token shiba inu is the most popular in the United Kingdom.

According to a recent study published by the online investing news and education platform Invezz, Switzerland currently has the most profitable bitcoin traders worldwide. That’s according to data stemming from Chainalysis, Worldometers, and Triple A, which helped Invezz assign each country a score in terms of the most profitable bitcoin trading by country.

A survey by crypto trading platform Bitstamp shows that 80% of institutional investors believe crypto will overtake traditional investment vehicles. Furthermore, 70% of institutional investors said crypto was a trustworthy investment, with 68% actively recommending this asset class in investment strategies.

Cryptocurrency donations have poured into a nonprofit organization that provides support to Ukrainian soldiers after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine. More than $5 million in bitcoin has already been raised.

According to a document produced by a Pakistani policy advisory board, the country is likely to earn billions of dollars from crypto-asset holders. Yet for this to happen, the country first needs to create the appropriate regulatory framework for crypto assets.

 

According to eToro’s data, Bitcoin trumped other crypto investments to take out the top spot as the most open position, both globally and in Australia. Moreover, opened Bitcoin positions increased 223% year on year as the cryptocurrency climbed in price from A$41,790 to A$65,670.
On the global stage, Bitcoin’s position was unchanged at number one. Whereas, in Australia, Bitcoin lifted from the third spot to number one

On April 1, 2022, records show that 19 million bitcoin have been mined into circulation. With the max supply set at 21 million, there’s only two million bitcoins left to be found by mining participants.

A U.S. consumer survey shows that 25% of respondents who currently do not own cryptocurrency plan to start investing in crypto. “2021 was a good year for crypto. Of the respondents that own crypto, more than half reported that they had just started investing in the space within the last year.”

To this day, Satoshi Nakamoto is one of Bitcoin’s biggest mysteries as people have searched far and wide to uncover the creator’s identity. 11 years ago, on December 12, 2010, the pseudonymous blockchain programmer (or programmers) left a final message to the crypto community stressing that “there’s more work to do on [denial-of-service] DoS.”