Crypto News Updates

Authorities in Manitoba are temporarily suspending the connection of new crypto mining facilities to the power grid. The Canadian province, which relies heavily on hydroelectric generation and attracts miners with low electricity rates, fears it may face overwhelming energy demand. Manitoba Suspends New Crypto Mining Operations Citing Possible Increase in Electricity Usage The government of Manitoba is halting new connections of crypto mining centers to the province’s hydroelectric grid, the Canadian press reported. Officials explain the move with the potential for increasing energy demand that the region may not be able to meet. The suspension, imposed for a period of 18 months, will not affect the 37 currently active mining operations, according to an article by the Toronto Star. The measure is aimed at halting a growing number of requests to power new facilities with combined capacity amounting to a sizable portion of the province’s electricity supply. Providing the reasoning f

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has acquired a regulated Japanese cryptocurrency exchange and is now preparing to enter the Japanese crypto market as a regulated entity. “The Japanese market will play a key role in the future of cryptocurrency adoption,” said the general manager of Binance Japan. Binance Entering Japan Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Wednesday that it has acquired 100% of Sakura Exchange Bitcoin (SEBC), a Japanese crypto exchange service provider that is regulated by Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency. The announcement explains: Through this acquisition, Binance enters the Japanese market as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity. “By offering Japanese-regulated services through SEBC, Binance aims to support a responsible global environment for cryptocurrencies,” the announcement adds. The Tokyo-based crypto exchange SEBC offers brokerage and consultation services to its customers. The trading platform cu

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that the collapse of crypto exchange FTX shows that the crypto industry “really needs to have adequate regulation.” She added: “It’s a Lehman moment within crypto, and crypto is big enough that we’ve had substantial harm with investors.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on FTX Implosion and the Need for Adequate Crypto Regulation U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked about the need for adequate crypto regulation following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX at an event hosted by the New York Times Dealbook Wednesday. She said: I have been skeptical, and I remain quite skeptical. While emphasizing the importance of ensuring that crypto assets have adequate customer protections, the treasury secretary noted that it is also important to remain open to financial innovations, particularly those that could lower cross-border transaction costs and help improve financial inclusion. Yellen proceeded to comment about the meltdown of FTX, whi

Tesla CEO and Twitter boss Elon Musk has warned of a severe recession in the U.S. The billionaire stressed that the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates “immediately,” emphasizing that the Fed is “massively amplifying the probability of a severe recession.” Elon Musk Warns About Severe Recession Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk warned about a severe recession in the U.S. on Wednesday. Replying to Vincent Yu who tweeted that he is “expecting a real economic recession in 2023,” Musk said the trend is concerning, emphasizing that the Federal Reserve “needs to cut interest rates immediately.” The billionaire stressed that the Fed is “massively amplifying the probability of a severe recession.” Sven Henrich, founder and the lead market strategist for Northmantrader, joined the discussion. He replied to Musk and Yu: “Ironically the Fed continues to project positive GDP growth for next year despite all the obvious signs. But they did the same thing in 2008. As always they wi

Equities, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies shined on Wednesday following Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington. The crypto economy increased 3.11% to $860 billion, while the top four stock indexes jumped between 2% to 5% higher on Nov. 30. Stocks, Crypto, and Precious Metal Markets Jump Higher Against the Greenback Following Powell’s Speech at Brookings Institution On the last day of November, the U.S. central bank’s chief Jerome Powell offered a “progress report on the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) efforts.” The Fed chair’s speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington hinted at the possibility of smaller rate hikes starting in December. “It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down,” Powell said. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.” After Powell’s speech

During the last few weeks bitcoin’s cost of production has been higher than the leading crypto asset’s spot market value and in turn, this has put massive pressure on bitcoin miners. On Nov. 30, 2022, statistics show if miners paying for electricity pay roughly $0.12 per kilowatt hour (kWh), only three application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rigs are profitable. At a rate of $0.07 per kWh, profits begin to increase and data shows 16 different ASIC bitcoin mining devices are profitable with electrical costs at that rate. At $0.12 per Kilowatt Hour, Only 3 ASIC Miners Gather Profit Using Today’s Bitcoin Exchange Rate Bitcoin miners are feeling the pain of an extremely high difficulty rating and much lower bitcoin prices than a year ago today. Data from macromicro.me indicates that the cost of bitcoin production ($19,356 per unit) is a lot higher than the spot market value ($16,877 per unit). This means bitcoin miners need to obtain the cheapest electricity they can find

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is launching its first retail digital rupee pilot on Dec. 1 with the participation of eight banks. The pilot will start in four cities and then expand to cover nine more cities across India. RBI Picks 8 Banks, 13 Cities to Test Retail Digital Currency The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced Tuesday that “the first pilot for retail digital rupee (e₹-R)” will launch on Dec. 1. This announcement followed the RBI’s wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot which began on Nov. 1. Eight banks will participate in the retail digital currency pilot in two phases. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank in four cities across India will participate in the first phase. Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank will participate in the second phase. The Indian central bank detailed: The pilot would initially cover four cities, viz., Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhuban

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed some initiatives involving crypto assets in its Strategic Plan for the fiscal years 2022-2026. The initiatives are intended to address the SEC’s top priorities over the next four years. SEC’s Strategic Plan for FY 2022-26 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its “Strategic Plan” for the fiscal years 2022-2026 last week. The regulator stated that “the initiatives outlined in this Strategic Plan are intended to address its top priorities over the next four years.” One of the goals of the Strategic Plan is to “develop and implement a robust regulatory framework that keeps pace with evolving markets, business models, and technologies.” The securities regulator explained that an initiative aimed at achieving this goal is to “examine strategies to address systemic and infrastructure risks faced by our capital markets and our market participants.” Noting that “the rapid growth in crypto assets” also rep

Tech giant Apple has threatened to withhold Twitter from its app store, according to Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk. The billionaire added: “This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.” Apple’s Threat to Musk and Twitter The battle for free speech has escalated for Elon Musk and his newly acquired social media company as Apple has threatened to withhold Twitter from its app store, Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk revealed Monday, noting that Apple will not say why. In a follow-up tweet, Musk confirmed that Apple is “making moderation demands.” According to reports, Apple was one of Twitter’s top advertisers, spending more than $100 million per year advertising on the social media platform. However, Musk tweeted Monday: Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America? Replying to Musk asking who else has been withheld by Apple, blockchain firm LBRY shar

Veteran investor Mark Mobius, the founder of Mobius Capital, expects the price of bitcoin to fall to $10,000. Nonetheless, he said: “Crypto is here to stay as there are several investors who still have faith in it.” Mark Mobius’ Bitcoin Price Prediction The founder of Mobius Capital Partners, Mark Mobius, shared his latest bitcoin price prediction in an interview with Bloomberg Monday. Prior to starting his own company, Mobius spent more than three decades at Franklin Templeton Investments. He previously served as the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group where he managed more than $50 billion in emerging markets portfolios. The veteran investor said that his next target for bitcoin is $10,000, noting that cryptocurrencies are “too dangerous” for him to invest his own cash or his clients’ money in. Despite the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and subsequent market sell-offs, Mobius emphasized: Crypto is here to stay as there are several investors who still have

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfront has announced its intention to cease operations in the coming months, citing challenges facing the industry. The U.S. trading platform, backed by Japan’s social media giant Line, indicated the decision is unrelated to the collapse of FTX. Line-Supported Digital Asset Exchange Bitfront Suspends New Sign-ups Bitfront, a crypto exchange operating in the United States, has suspended new sign-ups and credit card payments while planning to cease operations in a few months’ time. The move comes despite efforts to overcome the current challenges in the “rapidly evolving” crypto industry, the company announced, quoted by Reuters and Bloomberg. In the statement published on its website, the exchange explained it has “regretfully determined that we need to shut down Bitfront in order to continue growing the Line blockchain ecosystem and Link token economy.” The U.S.-based platform, which launched in 2020, is backed by the Japanese social media firm Line Corp.

On Tuesday, the world’s largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace in terms of overall NFT sales volume, Opensea, announced that BNB blockchain-based NFTs will be supported on the marketplace platform. With BNB blockchain support, Opensea users will be able to purchase and list BNB NFT assets. Opensea Integrates BNB Chain — Marketplace Users Can Now Buy and List BNB-Based NFT Assets This week, Opensea surpassed $33 billion in all-time sales according to statistics recorded by dappradar.com. On Nov. 29, 2022, Opensea revealed that the BNB blockchain will now be supported by the marketplace allowing users to buy and list BNB-based non-fungible token (NFT) assets. Opensea already supports Ethereum, Solana, Klaytn, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, and Polygon networks. According to Tuesday’s announcement sent to Bitcoin.com News, the “ BNB Chain will be launched on Opensea’s Seaport Protocol in Q4 2022, allowing multiple creator payouts, real-time payouts, collection management

The collapse of Do Kwon’s Terra empire in May, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX in early November 2022, will be remembered as two incidents that put the crypto industry on the back foot. It is now widely expected that regulators around the world will use the two incidents to justify the establishment of regulatory regimes that are likely to stifle further innovation. That notwithstanding, one Singapore-based blockchain payments company, Wadzpay, has partnered with Saudi Arabian fintech Geidea to provide financial solutions for pilgrims on their way to Mecca. Providing a Cutting Edge Payment Experience to Visitors Faced with the inevitable, some players in the crypto industry assert that tougher regulations are not going to stop cryptos and their underlying technology — the blockchain. They point to how digital currencies have been instrumental in lowering the cost of remitting funds inside and beyond national borders. According to this view, the ease and speed of moving funds across bord

Since people are once again talking about self-custody as one of crypto’s unique strengths, I would like to remind everyone about an equally important fundamental value proposition of crypto that, in the early days, was touted as the killer feature. I’m talking about censorship resistance. The following opinion editorial was written by Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis. The Three Pillars of Censorship Resistance In the financial context, censorship resistance is the ability to carry out financial actions despite the wishes of any third party. In crypto, the three pillars of censorship resistance are: The freedom to transact. This means third parties cannot prevent you from sending or receiving assets. The freedom from confiscation. Third parties cannot take away or freeze your assets. The immutability of transactions. It is impossible for third parties to change or revert transactions after the fact. Troubling actions increasingly taken by centralized entities in the public a

The billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks and a Stark Tank star, Mark Cuban, says that if he were the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, he would be afraid of going to jail for a long time. “I talked to the guy and thought he was smart … I had no idea he was going to take other people’s money and put it to his personal use,” Cuban said. Mark Cuban on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX’s Collapse Mark Cuban, a Shark Tank star and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, talked about the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in an interview with TMZ Sports, published Saturday. Despite the FTX meltdown, Cuban still sees value in cryptocurrency. He opined: There’s been a lot of people making a lot of mistakes, but it doesn’t change the underlying value. FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11 and Bankman-Fried stepped down as the CEO. The crypto exchange is currently being probed in several jurisdictions. In the U.S., several authori

JPMorgan has outlined key changes it expects in the crypto industry and its regulation following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. The global investment bank envisages several new regulatory initiatives, including those focusing on custody, customer asset protection, and transparency. JPMorgan Expects Major Changes in Crypto Industry Post FTX Meltdown Global investment bank JPMorgan published a report Thursday outlining major changes it expects to happen in the crypto industry following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Global strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou explained that “Not only has the collapse of FTX and its sister company Alameda Research created a cascade of crypto entity collapse and suspension of withdrawals,” but it is also “likely to increase investor and regulatory pressure on crypto entities to disclose more information about their balance sheets.” Panigirtzoglou proceeded to list the main changes JPMorgan expects after the FTX meltdown. Firstly, he

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has shared how he and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) almost raised $8 billion from institutional investors to save crypto exchange FTX before it collapsed. However, when reports emerged of FTX being investigated by several authorities, including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), all interested investors vanished. Kevin O’Leary Tried to Raise Funds to Save FTX Kevin O’Leary shared how he tried to save cryptocurrency exchange FTX before it collapsed in an interview with the Insider, published Sunday. O’Leary is a paid spokesperson for FTX and has investments in the company. Prior to FTX’s bankruptcy filing on Nov. 11, Mr. Wonderful was talking to a number of prospective investors interested in owning a stake in the crypto exchange. Sovereign wealth funds were interested in investing $8 billion to rescue FTX, he told the publication. Noting that Bankman-Fried called him to discuss the i

Reports on Monday detail that the zero-Covid policy protests in China have lowered market sentiment as U.S. equity markets show the top four Wall Street indexes are struggling. The global crypto market cap is down 3.5% and getting awfully close to dropping below the $800 billion mark. Precious metal prices, on the other hand, like gold and silver have remained steady and since Nov. 3, an ounce of gold has jumped 7.06% higher in value against the U.S. dollar. Gold and Silver Hold Steady Amid Turbulent Global Economy, Precious Metals Outpace Stocks and Crypto Assets Financial markets on Monday have been shaky as far as stocks and cryptocurrencies are concerned. Precious metals like gold and silver, however, are holding steady amid the craziness in the world. Some reports are citing Monday’s market shake-up to the civil unrest in China over the country’s zero-Covid policies. Indexes like the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, S&P 500, and NYSE have all opened the day in the red. Additionally,

On Nov. 28, 2022, the crypto lender Blockfi informed the public via a press release that the company has voluntarily petitioned for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Blockfi is now one of many digital currency businesses dealing with significant financial hardships and bankruptcy proceedings in 2022. Blockfi Voluntarily Petitions for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection Blockfi has officially filed for bankruptcy protection according to a press release distributed on Monday morning at 10:17 a.m. (ET). The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings encompass the crypto lender Blockfi and eight of its affiliates. The crypto firm insists the plan is to “stabilize its business and provide the company with the opportunity to consummate a comprehensive restructuring transaction that maximizes value for all clients and other stakeholders.” Blockfi has cited the FTX collapse as a period when the company took steps to protect Blockfi customers. On Nov. 10, 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported that Blockfi had

Mayor of New York City Eric Adams took a supportive, if somewhat veiled, stance on the partial crypto mining ban imposed in the state. A law signed by fellow Democrat and New York Governor Kathy Hochul temporarily limits the minting of digital currencies using fossil fuels. New York Mayor and Bitcoin Supporter Eric Adams to Seek Balance With Environmental Goals Cryptocurrency proponent and New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spoken in a supportive tone about the state’s two-year moratorium on certain crypto mining operations relying on carbon-based energy resources. The partial ban, which will prevent companies involved in proof-of-work (PoW) mining from expanding, renewing, or obtaining new permits, will be enforced with a law signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday. Quoted by the New York Daily News, Adams insisted he is still focused on establishing New York as a hub for crypto. At the same time, he emphasized that a balance can be found between this goal and the efforts to r