TronWeekly

Crypto World News

You are here: Home / Search for "bitcoin"

Search Results for: bitcoin

Bitcoin knowledge, the biggest flex

by

According to a new international research study conducted by Cash App parent company Block, Inc., the biggest reason consumers do not purchase Bitcoin (BTC) is a lack of information about it.

The poll, which took place in January and February and covered 14 countries, found that 51% of respondents stated the major reason they don’t buy bitcoin is that they “don’t know enough about it.” Other main causes include security and theft concerns (32%), as well as excessive price fluctuation (30 percent ).

The top reasons for not buying BTC, according to those who had at least a good level of understanding of cryptocurrencies, were price volatility (30 percent) and an uncertain regulatory environment (29 percent ).

image 4

The survey was conducted before important market developments such as the recent dip in BTC’s price and the loss of TerraUSD’s peg. However, according to Block Economist Felipe Chacon, the biggest reason for people’s lack of interest in cryptocurrencies is still a lack of information. However, responses from individuals who are conversant with the technology may have changed.

The survey also discovered that a person’s degree of cryptocurrency knowledge — or at least how much they believe they know about cryptocurrencies — is the biggest predictor of whether they will buy BTC in the coming year. Fourteen percent of those with “fair to expert” crypto expertise said they were likely to buy bitcoin in the coming year, compared to 7.9% of those who don’t know anything about it or have very limited knowledge.

Study includes Bitcoin perceptions

Other topics included in the survey included bitcoin impressions based on income level, bitcoin optimism by country, and the gender difference in the crypto business. For example, although higher-income respondents stated investment-related reasons for purchasing BTC, lower-income respondents listed reasons such as using the cryptocurrency as a payment method and sending remittances more frequently.

Women across Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific claimed expert levels of understanding at higher rates than men when it came to crypto, according to the study.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Says That He Still Takes Salary in Bitcoin

by

Even though Bitcoin has dropped over 40% in the last two months, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez stated he still takes his city salary in the largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin.

The Republican mayor, who has been working to market Miami as a cryptocurrency and tech hub, said he’s more concerned with the coin’s utility and that the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin hasn’t impacted his plans for the city’s crypto business.

Last year, he revealed his intention to receive his salary in Bitcoin and warned that, in addition to the potential for big returns, digital assets carry a significant level of risk and volatility.

“I will note, for the record, that it’s not my only salary.””It’s a different decision than if a person was deciding to take their salary in Bitcoin if it was the only source of income for them.”

Suazrez told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Francis Suarez always represented bitcoin

On Friday, June 4, 2021, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez spoke at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, United States. The world’s largest Bitcoin conference attracted 12,000 attendees and thousands more to Miami for a two-day conference.

Francis Suarez, a 44-year-old attorney, emphasized the distinction between protecting individuals against fraud and protecting them from losses. He also mentioned the “extreme volatility” that exists in IT stocks.

“Government has a history of trying to shield people from losses, but you can’t protect people from losses,” he said. “The American system is like that. That is what distinguishes investing. That is also part of the risk of winning.”

While fellow Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate and has raised his profile by taking on “cultural war” issues that appeal to his base, Suarez has recently bridged the partisan divide on a number of hot-button issues, saying he believes in nurturing the LGBTQ community in Miami and calling for increased efforts to combat global climate change.

Suarez also recently unveiled a Bitcoin bull at the BTC conference in 2022, which had turned a lot of heads and harnessed attention to Miami and Suarez.

Gafisa, Brazil’s Real Estate Giant Embraces Bitcoin

by

Brazil’s real estate stalwart Gafisa has added Bitcoin [BTC] for transactions through a partnership with cryptocurrency gateway provider Foxbit according to a press release. The latest addition is set to cut third-party entities out of the real estate transaction process, thereby reducing costs.

Partner firm Foxbit stated that Bitcoin would reduce the costs of transactions with quick and final settlements while eliminating the risk of fraud and also being a part of the “disruptive technology would open up whole new opportunities for future growth.

As known, Brazil has always been one of the leading countries for the adoption of bitcoin.

In 2022, Chainalysis reported that Brazil was the largest cryptocurrency market in Latin America based on transaction volume, receiving nearly $91 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in the year-long period between July 2020 and June 2021.

Not only does Brazil rank number six in on-chain value transacted in a report by Chainalysis, but Gafisa houses 1 out of every 130 Brazilians, according to its internal data, thus enabling millions of its citizens to have access to the world’s dominant coin.

ronaldo santos Npl87Jk3UO0 unsplash
Gafisa, Brazil's Real Estate Giant Embraces Bitcoin 3

Guilherme Benevides, CEO of Gafisa stated,

“Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency in market value and, technologically, the most ballast currency in history. It is a currency that is growing in popularity every day, also expanding the possibilities of its use.”

Gafisa CEO says “Bitcoin follows a path of progression”

Benevides continued to explain that BTC follows a path of progression and with the explosion of the digital revolution globally, Gafisa feels digital payments will continue to garner an increasingly high level of presence in emerging economies.

There is a natural tendency to digitize payments,” Benevides explained. “If we stop to think that the Central Bank will launch the digital real in 2022, we can conclude that, in fact, digital is increasingly present in the world.”

Less than a month ago, the Brazilian Senate plenary approved a bill regulating crypto transactions, and then two weeks later the nation’s only stock exchange, B3, laid out plans to launch Bitcoin futures “in the next three to six months,” Chief Financial Officer André Milanez then said in an interview.

Bitcoin Pizza Day! Two Pizzas Bought For 10K BTC On May 22, 2010

by

It’s Pizza Time! Today marks the world’s first Bitcoin trade- 2 Large Papa John’s pizzas bought for 10,000 BTC, exactly 12 years ago. On May 22, 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz from Florida, US never knew that his craving for pizza would go down in history.

What’s even more interesting is that he paid 10,000 BTC, which today is worth more than $80 million, for the two pizzas.

The road, however, wasn’t easy.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Hanyecz had to wait for a while for his order. In fact, Hanyecz first posted on the Bitcoin.org forums on May 18, saying,

“I’ll pay 10,000 BTC for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some leftover for the next day. I like having leftover pizza to nibble on later … If you’re interested please let me know and we can work out a deal.”

A British man Jeremy Sturdivant a.k.a Jercos took up Hanyecz’s offer and bought the two pizzas for him in exchange for the 10,000 Bitcoins.

In 2018, Hanyecz again became the first person to buy a pizza over the Lightning Network, though he paid a mere 0.00649 BTC at the time.

Jercos ultimately sold his Bitcoins

As the Bitcoin Pizza Day holiday grew, Jeremy “Jercos” Sturdivant again grabbed the limelight. He’d give his only interview to a website called “Bitcoin Who’s Who” in 2015, five years after the historic trade.

At that time, Sturdivant had said, “a currency is meant to be spent,” noting that the 10,000 BTC he had received “made it back into the economy quickly” by the time they were worth about $400 in total.

“Naturally there will always be people hoarding coins, trying to get rich, and quite a few people did get quite rich, but they wouldn’t have got that way without economic growth allowing it,” he said, before adding that Bitcoin was meant to be more similar to a PayPal or Stripe.

Sturdivant also spewed some other notable details and said that the transaction was finalized over IRC chats. Jercos was 19 at the time of the transaction.

US: Fidelity Investment’s Bitcoin Retirement Plan Stirs Political Storm

by

In the US, Cryptocurrency has become the latest political flashpoint. Last month Fidelity Investments’ announcement of offering bitcoin as an investment option in its 401(k) plans by the middle of the year, ruffled a few feathers.

One of them is the long-time crypto critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren who expressed concern that the investment firm might be exposing clients to a “risky and speculative gamble.” 

Republicans defended Fidelity by accusing Democrats of “governmental overreach and infringing on Americans’ free-market rights.”

On 20th May, Republicans floated a new bill dubbed “The Financial Freedom Act” which aimed at preventing the Labor Department from restricting investment options available to employees in self-directed retirement accounts.

The proposed bill if passed might enable Americans to add cryptocurrency to their 401[k] plans if they choose to do so. 

Interestingly, the decision by Fidelity followed after the Labor Department warned that firms investing their employees’ contribution plans in digital assets including Bitcoin, would invite legal action.

In a notice dated March 10, the DOL Employee Benefits Security Administration said fiduciaries “must exercise extreme care” before including direct investment options in crypto. 

Fidelity objected to that guidance, and shot out a letter saying that the DOL failed to provide information on how fiduciaries can “fulfill their fiduciary duties in assessing cryptocurrencies.”

US’s DOL vs Fidelity

Remaining defiant, the investment firm has announced that it will allow customers to put 20% of their savings into bitcoin; other cryptocurrencies will likely be added later. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala who also oversaw similar crypto-friendly legislation stated,

“The government has no business standing in the way of retirement savers who want to make their own investment choices,” Tuberville said. “When you’ve earned your paycheck, how you invest your money should be your decision. Our legislation makes sure that is the case.”

While Republicans and Democrats might exploit crypto for political mileage, one thing is certain, crypto has broadened the scope of investment among individuals of all ages.

Not just biggies but even lesser-known firms have been instrumental in making virtual currencies more mainstream.

A Nebraska-based crypto wallet firm Exodus pays its staff in bitcoin. One of its employees, Denver native Alyssa Howell managed to finance a house and save for retirement with her cryptocurrency earnings.

Bitcoin to shine bright like a diamond

by

With the recent turmoil in the crypto-world, many believed that doomsday was near. However, many scholars feel otherwise about Bitcoin (BTC). Robert Kiyosaki, an investor, entrepreneur, and author of a number of blockbuster books on financial markets and financial literacy, including “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” has responded to the current state of the crypto market on Twitter.

Kiyosaki stated on Twitter that he believes Bitcoin has a bright future. He is, however, expecting BTC to test a new low. According to Kiyosaki’s earlier tweets, he is prepared for the top cryptocurrency to drop as low as $20,000, $14,000, or even $9,000.

The ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ author, has been very fond of investing in Bitcoin, gold, and silver. He seems to strongly believe that BTC will shine bright like a diamond in the near future, in the long run as he believes the Federal Reserve and US Treasury to be extremely corrupt organizations.

Screenshot 26
Source: Twitter

Many people, including Kiyosaki, condemned the US government for unprecedented quantitative easing in 2020 when the Fed issued more than $6 trillion to assist the US economy to survive the pandemic.

He then sent out many tweets warning of an impending USD collapse and urging everyone to buy Bitcoin, silver, and gold.

On January 24, the author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” tweeted that if BTC fell below the $20,000 support level, he would buy more. He also claimed that he bought BTC at $9,000 and $6,000 when it was on sale.

Bitcoin doing well amidst crypto turmoil, a surprise to many

Peter Schiff, a prominent BTC critic, said yesterday that he was shocked to see BTC “holding up this well,” referring to the $30,000 level.

Screenshot 27
Source: Twitter

Schiff, on the other hand, believes that this is nothing more than a bull trap designed to attract more investors. This is why he cautioned Bitcoiners against being too confident about BTC’s current price near $30,000.

The primary digital currency has recovered slightly above $30,000 so far. Schiff, on the other hand, feels that if it breaks considerably below this level, the bear wave would push it below $10,000.

Schiff tweets about the world’s largest cryptocurrency more than some popular BTC investors themselves, despite being one of the toughest Bitcoin skeptics. He was recognized as a Bitcoin influencer in late 2020 and made the top ten list. Unlike Schiff, who feels gold is vastly superior to BTC, his son Spencer is a BTC enthusiast. At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $30,424.73 with a hike of 3.22% over the last 24 hours.

China Regains the Title of the 2nd Top Bitcoin Mining Hub

by

According to recent research, China failed to implement its cryptocurrency prohibition last year, and the country has since resurfaced as one of the world’s main Bitcoin (BTC) mining hubs.

China became the second-largest Bitcoin hash rate supplier in January 2022, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), months after local officials banned all crypto operations in the country.

According to data, Chinese bitcoin miners generated 21.1 percent of the entire global BTC mining hash rate distribution in early 2022, behind only the United States, which generated 37.8% of the total hash rate in January.

China once hailed the bitcoin mining industry

In 2019, China was the world’s largest Bitcoin mining country, accounting for more than 75% of worldwide BTC hash rate power. In July and August 2021, the hash rate decreased to 0% after a string of crypto mining farm closures around the country.

Despite the crypto ban in September 2021, the hash rate share climbed to 22.3 percent in that month and never went below 18 percent during the research period.

The new data, according to CBECI project leader Alexander Neumueller, is sufficient to prove that Bitcoin mining is still active in China.

Kazakhstan, the world’s third-largest BTC mining center, sees a modest reduction in hash rate share, according to the latest CBECI data. Kazakhstan’s contribution to the BTC hash rate fell from 18 percent in August to 13.2% in January.

Miners are currently mining up to 9% of the global BTC hash rate in unspecified places, according to CBECI statistics. With 6.5 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, Canada and Russia are the next two largest mining centers.

Russia has dropped out of the top three nations in terms of BTC hash rate power, as well.

The most recent CBECI update provides more granular statistics on hashrate distribution in the state’s main Bitcoin mining market.

According to the figures, Georgia, Texas, and Kentucky have the greatest hash rate, accounting for 32 percent, 11.2 percent, and 10.9 percent, respectively. These three states collectively account for more than half of the overall hash rate in the US.

States like New York, California, North Carolina, and Washington, according to data, have major mining activity.

UAE’s Emirates Airline Plans to Accept Bitcoin as a Payment Option

by

According to the company’s chief operating officer (COO), Adel Ahmed Al-Redha, the UAE’s top airline, Emirates Airline, would soon accept “bitcoin as a payment option.” In addition, the airline’s website will feature non-fungible token (NFT) collections.

The airline’s intention to accept bitcoin comes only weeks after it announced its NFT and metaverse aspirations. The purpose of the metaverse launch might be to guarantee that the airline is “aligned with the UAE’s vision for the digital economy.”

Fly Emirates with Bitcoin soon

As part of its ambition to engage with consumers in a faster and more flexible manner, Emirates wants to adopt innovative digital technologies such as blockchain, metaverse, and cryptocurrency.

Emirates Chief Operating Officer Adel Ahmed Al-Redha told a media gathering at the Arabian Travel Market that the airline will recruit additional workers for metaverse and non-fungible tokens, commonly known as NFTs, in order to build apps to monitor consumer demands.

He said that NFT and metaverse are two different approaches. He also added that the airline would utilize blockchain technology to trace aircraft records.

“With the metaverse, you will be able to transform your whole processes whether it is in operation, training, sales on the website, or complete experience into a metaverse type application, but more importantly making it interactive.”

Emirates Chief Operating Officer Adel Ahmed Al-Redha

Emirates aims to use Bitcoin as a payment method and to sell NFT collectibles on the company’s websites, according to the official.

Al-Redha stated the airline sector had recovered well, as seen by the increased number of passengers. However, he noted that the greatest problem is the availability of resources across the network, but that they “are in a better position than other nations because of the accessibility.”

UAE with its recent developments aims to stand at the forefront of crypto adoption. The country has been very welcoming to digital assets and their underlying technology.

Bitcoin Is Now Identified as a Legal Virtual Asset Property by the Shanghai High Court

by

A recent judgment from China’s Shanghai High People’s Court has given the country’s experiment with cryptocurrency a fresh twist. While China’s expulsion of crypto miners and other judgments had effectively restricted crypto trading and associated operations within its borders, the Shanghai ruling may provide some relief to the community.

The judgment in question found Bitcoin to be a virtual asset with economic value that is protected by Chinese law. “The People’s Court has established a unanimous view on the legal position of bitcoin in actual trial practice and designated it as a virtual property,” it wrote on its official WeChat channel.

In China, the highest municipal court is the high people’s court, which is preceded by the people’s courts and intermediate people’s courts.

They are directly controlled by the central government and have a structure that is identical to that of the Supreme People’s Court, which sits above them. In China, the Supreme People’s Court is the highest court.

120680469 069119230 1
Bitcoin Is Now Identified as a Legal Virtual Asset Property by the Shanghai High Court 7

China and Bitcoin

The High People’s Court was considering a lawsuit brought by Cheng Mou, another Shi Moumou, who was seeking the restoration of his (one) bitcoin. On October 10, 2020, Cheng Mou filed the complaint at Shanghai’s Baoshan District People’s Court, and Moumou was ordered to refund the bitcoin.

The defendant, however, declined to do so, and the case was sent to the Shanghai High People’s Court. While the case is still pending in China’s lower courts, the decision might be significant since it establishes a precedent for how virtual assets are viewed under Chinese law.

To date, the government has discouraged cryptocurrency trading and shunned miners in an effort to minimize energy use and discourage the entire business.

“Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities,” the People’s Bank of China said in September last year. It also warned Chinese citizens that crypto trading could “seriously endanger the safety of people’s assets.”

According to Liu Yang, a lawyer from Beijing’s Deheng Law Firm, the high court’s declaration would serve as a reference judgment for civil issues concerning bitcoin in the Shanghai area.

New York’s Townsquare Media Adds Bitcoin to Its Investment Portfolio

by

With the addition of $5 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet, Townsquare Media, a New York-based digital marketing and radio station firm, has become the latest enterprise to support the first cryptocurrency.

Townsquare’s acquisition of BTC was originally revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was discovered by Macroscope, a Twitter account that focuses on institutional trading.

The corporation “spent an aggregate of $5 million into Bitcoin” during the first quarter of 2021, according to the filing, and offered an explanation for why it picked crypto:

“The Company believes in the long-term potential of digital assets as an investment. The Company may increase or decrease its holdings of digital assets at any time based on our view of market conditions.”

The firm bitcoin adoption increase

While the price of BTC at the time of acquisition was not disclosed, Townsquare reported a $400,000 impairment loss due to “changes in the fair value” of its digital asset holdings throughout the quarter.

The alleged loss appears to be the result of the peculiar reporting requirements for crypto ownership. Townsquare further alleged that it could have sold its BTC for a total of $6.2 million on March 31, when the price of BTC was about $45,500. Because it is so easy to convert BTC to cash through a crypto exchange, the corporation considers its BTC investment to be liquid.

While the acquisition pales in contrast to MicroStrategy’s roughly $3 billion Bitcoin stockpile, Townsquare Media is towards the middle of the list in terms of publicly-traded corporations’ Bitcoin holdings.

According to Bitcoin Treasures, a website that tracks BTC holdings by corporations, Townsquare would be halfway between Cleanspark Inc., which has roughly $4.3 million in BTC, and Cathedra Bitcoin Inc., which has just over $5 million.

Other corporations with large investments in the world’s first cryptocurrency have acknowledged losses owing to having the asset on their balance sheet as the price of Bitcoin has fallen this year and recently touched 10-month lows.