Category: Bitcoin

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says that Satoshi Nakamoto’s innovation is real. “It has been and could continue to be a catalyst for change in the fields of finance and money,” he said.

by Kevin Helms

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Innovation Is Real.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation last week at the Aspen Security Forum where he outlined his plans to regulate the crypto space. He began by referencing the Bitcoin whitepaper and its creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.

“His innovation spurred the development of crypto assets and the underlying blockchain technology,” Gensler said about Satoshi, adding that “the crypto asset class has ballooned” and is now worth about $1.83 trillion.

Continue reading… “SEC Chairman Says Satoshi Nakamoto’s Innovation Is Real, Crypto Rules Are Clear”

The sweeping shutdown delivered a huge prize to the rest of the world’s miners. 

BY SHAWN TULLY

Would you believe that Bitcoin mining generates just as much revenue as the age-old pursuit of unearthing gold and silver ore? Right now, minting this most unorthodox asset may also rank as the most profitable major industry on the planet. The entrepreneurs running their towering racks of rigs 24/7 were garnering stupendous margins when prices surged to over $60,000 in mid-April. Now they’re pocketing even fatter returns at prices that are one-third lower. And we’re talking numbers that for now surpass such famously lucrative enclaves as Big Pharma, luxury goods, and software. 

Continue reading… “Bitcoin mining is suddenly one of the most profitable businesses on the planet”

The new MiamiCoin, a cryptocurrency offered through the CityCoins initiative, is available for mining starting Tuesday.

By Tiffany Razzano, 

The new MiamiCoin, a cryptocurrency offered through the CityCoins initiative, is available for mining starting Tuesday. 

MIAMI, FL — Miami has become the first city with its own cryptocurrency, a digital currency.

The new Miami Coin became available for mining Tuesday through the CityCoins initiative, which generates funds for municipalities through city-specific cryptocurrencies. 

“MiamiCoin ($MIA) is a way for people to support the Magic City and grow its crypto treasury while earning BTC and STX yield for themselves,” according to the CityCoins website. “MiamiCoin can be mined or bought by individuals who want to support the Magic City and earn crypto yield from the Stacks protocol.”

Continue reading… “Miami Launches Its Own Cryptocurrency To Fund City Services”

The agency tracked down the payment through the Bitcoin public ledger.

By I. Bonifacic

The US Justice Department has recovered part of the ransom Colonial Pipeline paid last month to regain access to its computer systems after it was locked out of them by “apolitical” ransomware gang Darkside. The agency says it seized 63.7 Bitcoins, worth nearly $2.3 million when it carried out the action, by tracing the cryptocurrency through the public Bitcoin ledger. The amount represents more than half of the approximately 75 Bitcoins Colonial Pipeline paid out to the group (the value of the cryptocurrency has fallen since May).

The Justice Department says it obtained the private key to the wallet the hackers used to store the currency. To recover the money, the federal government took legal action against an exchange or custodial wallet that has servers in Northern California.    

Continue reading… “DOJ recovers 63.7 Bitcoins paid out in Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack”

In the past two months, the number of crypto projects with a $1 billion market cap doubled as increased adoption pushes token valuations higher.

In the last two months, the number of cryptocurrencies with a $1 billion market caphas doubled since the last time Cointelegraph reported on the milestone. As things currently stand, there are 100 projects that have reached a $1 billion market capitalization.

Unicorns are typically privately held startup companies valued at more than $1 billion, but traditional finance is increasingly applying the term to high-value cryptocurrencies that institutions are only now gaining exposure to. 

The entrance of institutional investors into the cryptocurrency sector over the course of 2021 has been one of the driving forces of growth for the ecosystem as a whole as multi-billion dollar companies like Tesla, Square and MicroStrategy have converted a portion of their cash reserves into Bitcoin (BTC) and other top altcoins. 

Continue reading… “New milestone reached as 100 cryptocurrencies reach a $1B market cap”

KEY POINTS

• Visa said on Monday it will allow the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network.
• It was the latest sign of growing acceptance of digital currencies by the mainstream financial industry.

Visa said on Monday it will allow the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network, the latest sign of growing acceptance of digital currencies by the mainstream financial industry.

Continue reading… “Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency”

Ross Andersen

TORONTO — As the price of bitcoin skyrocketed over the last year, so has the amount of energy used to mine the cryptocurrency, prompting concerns about its environmental impact.

Despite the currency’s value having seen a recent decline, the energy used to harvest it has soared to a point where its annual carbon footprint is equivalent to or more than several countries including Argentina and Norway, according to an analysis published by Cambridge University.

Mining the cryptocurrency requires a deep energy-intensive process that uses extensive electrical infrastructure and complicated math algorithms in order to verify transactions. Upon solving any given calculation the miner is subsequently rewarded with a bitcoin.

“Rising bitcoin prices make mining more attractive, as the potential reward increases in value. As a result, new mining hardware will get added to the network and lead to increasing electricity consumption overall,” according to the report.

Although it’s unclear how much energy bitcoin actually uses, the study says that it consumes about 129.09 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year. The more bitcoin that is mined, the more energy that is consumed.

Continue reading… “Bitcoin uses more electricity than Argentina, Norway, study finds”