Bitcoin

Mike McGlone – Senior Commodity Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence – recently suggested that Bitcoin is on its way to becoming “global collateral.” He called the primary cryptocurrency a possible “leading indicator” for risk assets, which may be at risk given the crypto market’s latest decline.  Signs of Maturity? As McGlone tweeted on Wednesday, most risk assets are struggling in the second half of 2022. Their headwinds primarily stem from the Federal Reserve's “sledgehammer” of rising interest rates, which “may form…

KPMG Canada’s Director of Digital Assets believes the recent crypto decline is necessary if the sector will mature properly.   Kunal Bhasin of KPMG Canada has offered some insight into the recent slump in the crypto sector. In a statement at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto, the Director opined that the current crypto winter could just be what the market needs. Bhasin added that this year’s market struggle is just the market correcting itself. According to Bhasin, before the…

The Houston Texans – a professional American football team – have entered into an exclusive partnership with the Houston-based cryptocurrency company, BitWallet. The partnership will allow the team to begin accepting crypto as payment for single-game NFL suites.  Effective immediately, BitWallet will act as an intermediary for crypto payments to the Texans. This allows digital assets to immediately be converted into U.S. dollars.  The first to purchase a suite using digital currency was EWR Digital, a digital marketing agency.  "We…

According to a recent report, Kryptovault AS, a large-scale, Norway-based crypto mining company is set to relocate North of the Arctic circle. The company’s plans to switch base stem from surging electricity prices in Norway, a phenomenon that seems confined to the region. Norway a Mining Hub Over the past couple of years, Norway has evolved into one of Europe’s biggest mining hubs. In a recent study, analysis firm Arcane Research noted that Norway is responsible for about 1% of…

The Bitcoin payments company Strike has partnered with Visa to integrate a ‘Visa card’ into its wallet app. This will allow Strike users to pay for goods and services in Bitcoin with any Visa-accepting merchant.  In a tweet on Thursday, Strike revealed its new Visa card, which it called the “Strike Card.” “You can now take Strike anywhere and earn rewards on everyday spending,” explained the company. The card rewards users with incentives for every purchase and charges no added…

BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager – has launched a Bitcoin private trust offering clients direct Bitcoin exposure. This will give U.S. institutional customers exposure to Bitcoin’s price, less the trust’s expenses and liabilities.  BlackRock's Clients Want Bitcoin On Thursday, BlackRock stated that its clients have shown “substantial interest” in gaining cost-effective crypto exposure through its platform. Bitcoin, it said, is a particular eye-catcher: “Bitcoin is the oldest, largest, and most liquid crypto asset, and is currently the primary…

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk reaffirmed his support for the Doge ecosystem in a Friday interview on the Full Send Podcast. Musk who has always been vocal about his preference for the meme token rehashed his reasons for this.  According to the billionaire, Dogecoin has a far greater transactional capacity than king crypto Bitcoin.  DOGE Is a Better Choice in the Long Run Musk highlighted the transaction times of either blockchain to support his argument. Bitcoin processes transactions in…

On Wednesday, the Bitcoin banking platform Galoy announced a Bitcoin-based solution for sending, receiving, and storing USD.  Unlike traditional solutions, the “Stablesats” feature does directly integrate fiat currency, nor does it involve issuing a new token, or “stablecoin.”  Rather, Galoy’s service lets users of the Bitcoin Beach wallet effectively “freeze” the value of their Bitcoin to a specific dollar amount. How can this be? How Stablesats Work According to the firm’s explainer video, Galoy stabilizes users’ Bitcoin using financial derivatives…

Billionaire Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor has relinquished his role as CEO of MicroStrategy, according to a company announcement on Tuesday. He spoke with CNBC the following day about the rationale behind the executive transition and his company’s financials. No Changes to the Bitcoin Plan In conversation with CNBC’s Squawk On The Street, Saylor reviewed MicroStrategy’s stock performance over the past two years. Despite tremendous volatility, it is ultimately up 123% since it first invested in Bitcoin in August 2020. That’s…