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Bitcoin has tanked hard. There is no point in denying this. The world’s number one digital currency by market cap was already in a sorry position having spent the last few weeks trading in the mid to high $30,000 range, though now at the time of writing, things have taken a turn for the worse and the digital currency is trapped in the high $20,000 range. Despite all this, there are still many individuals – such as Mark Cuban and Mike Novogratz – that stick by the asset.

Mike Novogratz and Mark Cuban Are There to Defend BTC

Cuban has long been a crypto investor. He recently came out to say how much he admired both bitcoin and Ethereum and admitted that they make up a large portion of his crypto portfolio. In a recent interview, he said that despite the nasty slip bitcoin has endured, it is still a much stronger asset than gold. He said:

No worries about storing it. Easy to transfer. Easy to trade. Easy to convert. Does not require an intermediary. Can be fractionalized.

Mike Novogratz – a billionaire investor and former hedge fund manager – was also quick to jump to the asset’s defense, claiming in a statement not too long ago that bitcoin is presently a victim of China, which has been cracking down on crypto mining operations like mad. He explained:

We had China really be much more forceful in their idea to ban cryptocurrency. That has created a retail deleveraging. A lot of crypto happens in Asia. A lot of it is Chinese focused, so we are seeing big liquidations, so it is hard to call a bottom.

Referring to the asset’s present $29,000 price, he stated:

We will see if it holds in the day. We might plunge below it for a while and close above it. If it is really breached, $25,000 is the next big level of support. Listen, I am less happy than I was at $60,000, but I am not nervous.

Many analysts are wondering if a crypto crash similar with what occurred in 2018 will happen today. During that time, bitcoin had reached its first all-time high of approximately $20,000 per unit in December of 2017, though just 11 months later, the asset had fallen to about $3,500.

Another 2018 Incident Will Not Happen Again

Novogratz does not think anything like that will happen again, citing the crypto market’s growing maturity and the number of institutional investors that have gotten involved as positive signs. He said:

The ecosystem is so much more mature. The number of players that are moving in are so much more mature. Every single bank is working on their own crypto project, how they can get bitcoin to their wealthy clients. I think a lot of clients that did not buy it the first time will see this as an opportunity to buy it and get involved.

The post Mike Novogratz Defends BTC Despite Latest Crash appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

Source: Live Bitcoin News

The American University of Paraguay will accept bitcoin tuition payments, ahead of forthcoming bitcoin legislation in the country.

The American University of Paraguay shared on Twitter that it will accept tuition payments in bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, beginning on August 1, 2021.

“From August 1, you will be able to pay all your tuition and fees with cryptocurrency,” a translated version of the tweet read. “We take an important step towards innovation.”

The university is one of Paraguay’s most prestigious educational centers and has been in operation for over 30 years. But it is still unclear how the university plans to accept or hold the BTC it receives as tuition payment on a technical level, but it has not indicated any plans to liquidate the bitcoin upon receipt.

Bitcoin Adoption, Legislation In Paraguay

The new move, which is part of the university’s program of innovation and modernization, adds a new facet to a bitcoin legislation bill to be outlined in the country in July.

According to Paraguayan deputy Carlos Rejala, the country plans to legislate bitcoin as a medium of exchange in its commercial sector next month. Rejala also said that whether the bill it plans to present will seek to make bitcoin a full legal tender in the country or not is still uncertain and yet to be defined.

Paraguay’s most prominent entertainment group, Grupo Cinco, has also demonstrated interest in accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The company will allow its 50,000 monthly customers to pay with bitcoin at its 24 outlets, including restaurants, nightclubs and pubs. In addition, as more companies and organizations begin accepting bitcoin, the more likely it becomes that the bitcoin bill will pass in the country’s congress.

“We are talking about leading Paraguayan entrepreneurs who have a lot of influence over the youth,” Rejala said. “This is extremely important because it will be much easier for my fellow deputies to support the bill if there is social support at a local level.”

Paraguay is following El Salvador’s steps and seems on its own path to officially become a bitcoin supportive country in less than a month. If the proposed bill passes, it will set the stage for Paraguay to welcome bitcoin businesses, entrepreneurs and even miners.

Source: Bitcoin magazine

After what has arguably been one of the strongest runs in years, bitcoin – the world’s number one digital currency by market cap – has taken a serious turn for the worse and fallen below the $30,000 mark. At the time of writing, the currency is trading for approximately $29,500.

Bitcoin Falls Below $30K

Between April of 2020 and April of 2021, the digital currency marked a new point in trading. Bitcoin started out trading in the $6,000 range after briefly falling below $4,000 per unit when the coronavirus pandemic first hit. However, within a month, things were looking much better for the currency and by the time April of last year rang around, bitcoin was in the $8,000 range. From there, things began looking up and about 12 months later, the currency had grown by eight times this price and was trading at a new all-time high of approximately $64,000 per unit.

However, these last two months have been very harsh for the world’s biggest digital currency. It has faced strong opposition from figures like Elon Musk, who have voiced concerns over the mining process that comes with it, while also experiencing newfound negative attention from countries like China, who seem to just want it over and done with.

The country is saying that it will not be permitting any more mining operations within its borders, and this has caused many price drops in the past few weeks. All the China-based bitcoin mining companies that once called the nation home now have just a few short months to pack up and find somewhere else to station themselves.

Arguably, the most damage caused to bitcoin came by way of Elon Musk, the South African entrepreneur behind large companies such as SpaceX and Tesla. The latter was initially going to allow bitcoin payments for goods and services, though this decision was quickly rescinded after Elon Musk felt that the mining process gave way to irreversible damage to the planet’s environment. He has since backed off a bit and says that if miners are able to utilize at least 50 percent clean energy for their operations, he will allow BTC payments once again.

It May Take a While for the Coin to Recover

Still, it may be a while before miners are able to adhere to these “rules,” and with so many leaving China – which presently houses anywhere between 65 and 75 percent of the world’s operations – we are all in for a heavy series of displacements in the coming weeks.

All this has finally taken a huge toll on bitcoin, which for the longest time was trading in the mid to high $30,000 range, but now the currency has finally cracked under pressure, and we are experiencing dips like what was witnessed in 2018, suggesting that bitcoin’s history has not changed much and that it can only experience heavy bullish behavior for so long.

The post Bitcoin Crashes: Falls to About $29,000 Per Unit appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

Source: Live Bitcoin News

In the latest legal development around victim attempts to recover funds from bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, a judge denied class certification.

In the latest legal development around the 2014 hack of Mt. Gox, perhaps the most notorious bitcoin exchange event in history, a federal judge in the U.S. has rejected a bid for class certification from victims.

“An Illinois federal judge … rejected a bid for class certification from customers of defunct Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, saying it’s not reasonable to conclude that 30,000 putative class members shared the lead plaintiff’s interpretations of Mt. Gox’s terms of use or even read them,” Law360 reported.

In order to move forward with claims against Mt. Gox through a class action lawsuit, a judge first has to certify the class, determining that all individual members are similar enough to litigate against the defendant as part of a single case.

The lead plaintiff in a $400 million case, Gregory Greene, has argued that Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles misconstrued the exchange’s terms of use through the drafting and dissemination of them. But in this recent ruling, judge Gary Feinerman determined that the many victims of the hack could not have equally read or learned from these terms, and therefore should not be able to sue as a single class.

Feinerman instead handed a win to “Karpeles, who has argued that a compensation plan in Japan would better serve the proposed class members than litigation in the United States,” per Law360.

The Mt. Gox hack remains the largest compromised bitcoin exchange event in history by a wide margin, with some 850,000 bitcoin stolen. Victims have been attempting to recover funds through litigation for years, including via the State of California in 2019 and Tokyo District Court in 2020

Source: Bitcoin magazine

New York City mayoral election frontrunner Eric Adams said he will make the city a center for Bitcoin if elected.

Eric Adams, the New York City Democratic mayoral front runner, said today, after voting closed for the primaries, that he would turn the city into a bitcoin hub within one year.

“I promise you, in one year … you’re going to see a different city,” Adams said in his election night party speech. “We’re going to become the center of life science, the center of cyber security, the center of self-driving cars, drones, the center of bitcoin, we’re going to be the center of all the technology.”

According to The New York Times, Adams is currently leading New York City’s mayoral race with around 32% of votes. But the primary election results will likely not be known until mid-July, when they are expected to be announced.

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a longtime bitcoin fan who has made similar promises, was running second in line before he decided to drop out of the race earlier this week. Now, The New York Times data shows that Adams’ closest rival is Maya Wiley, who is more than 75,000 votes behind.

Adams didn’t elaborate on how he plans to achieve his ambitious goal of turning New York City into a Bitcoin hub, but he did send a message to his primary competitor in this regard — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

“Miami, you had your run. We’re bringing our businesses back,” said Adams.

But the mayoral candidate might be facing fierce competition, as Miami has already started taking tangible measures to bring bitcoin to city-level adoption.

Suarez has set a personal goal to turn his tropical city into a bitcoin-savvy economy before 2022. The Miami mayor, who bought bitcoin himself after U.S. President Joe Biden announced a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, has already seen the city commission explore paying city employees in bitcoin, allowing residents to pay taxes and fees in bitcoin and using city funds to invest in bitcoin. Furthermore, Suarez has recently sought to attract bitcoin miners to his city.

On the other hand, New York’s own legislation might pose difficulties for Adams to outpace Miami and turn his city into the center of Bitcoin. The notorious BitLicense, a business license for bitcoin activities issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, entails considerable costs to those wishing to operate in the state. Apart from the $5,000 application fee, a report calculates that gathering and constructing all of the information for the application process can amount to over $100,000. In addition, BitLicense’s extensive requirements pose a privacy concern for many in the bitcoin industry, who see it as intrusive and unjustly targeting bitcoin startups. For instance, prominent Lightning network startup Strike — which is helping El Salvador establish bitcoin as legal tender — does not work in New York.

Source: Bitcoin magazine

Bitcoin exchange Gemini Trust purchased $4 million in carbon credits to offset its BTC holdings and broaden appeal to investors.

Bitcoin exchange Gemini Trust, run by the Winklevoss brothers Cameron and Tyler, has purchased around $4 million in carbon credits to help offset the alleged carbon emissions footprint of its bitcoin held in custody, reported Bloomberg.

“We want to build a better world” with Bitcoin, Tyler Winklevoss told Bloomberg. “It’s also important to be sustainable as we navigate into that vision.”

Gemini purchased the carbon credits indirectly through a donation to Climate Vault. This Delaware-based, nonprofit, nonstock corporation seeks to facilitate organizations to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by leveraging existing offset markets.

The nonprofit, which directly purchased the permits, said the Winklevoss donation would prevent over 341,000 metric tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere. Gemini claimed that these offsets cover all of the bitcoin held by the trust, which amounts to an average daily balance of 250,843 BTC so far this year — around $8.3 billion at the time of writing.

According to Bloomberg, Gemini currently serves as the custodian for nine exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and two closed-ended, publicly-traded funds in North America. But with this recent purchase, part of the Gemini Green initiative, the company seeks to appeal the bitcoin investment case to more institutional investors. Corporations worldwide, especially investment funds, have lately received intense environmental, social and governance (ESG) pressure from the public.

“We are just playing our part to address the ESG conversation and component of Bitcoin that a lot of people have heard about, and they can come to Gemini and use Gemini Green custody, and they can fulfill their ESG mandates,” Winklevoss told Bloomberg.

ESG disclosure by investment funds and related entities has become increasingly demanded. As a result, investors now seek to add more ESG-compliant businesses into their portfolios and better appeal to subsequent retail investors who are increasingly concerned about the environment. But the ESG narrative hasn’t escaped criticism. The broad array of fields encompassed by its acronym gets dizzyingly translated into investment ideas, showing that it lacks clarity.

Nonetheless, the Winklevoss purchase of carbon credits might not only spur additional interest by institutional investors, which is one of the important drivers of adoption, but could also bring a tangible contribution to the planet, as tons of carbon are stopped from entering the atmosphere.

Source: Bitcoin magazine

Users of South African exchange Africrypt are missing $2.3 billion in bitcoin after the founders have disappeared.

The founders of South African cryptocurrency exchange Africrypt, two brothers named Ameer and Raees Cajee, have reportedly vanished, as has more than $2.3 billion in bitcoin belonging to clients.

“A Cape Town law firm hired by investors say they can’t locate the brothers and has reported the matter to the Hawks, an elite unit of the national police force,” Bloomberg reported. “Following a surge in bitcoin’s value in the past year, the disappearance of about 69,000 coins — worth more than $4 billion at their April peak — would represent the biggest-ever dollar loss in a cryptocurrency scam.”

With BTC sitting at about $34,000 at the time of this writing, the total bitcoin missing is worth about $2.34 billion.

In April, Ameer Cajee reportedly informed users of Africrypt that it had been hacked and requested that they not inform lawyers or authorities as this would slow the recovery process. However, some asked a local law firm to get involved and another group started liquidation proceedings. The law firm indicated that employees of Africrypt had lost access to back-end platforms a week before the alleged hack.

“The firm’s investigation found Africrypt’s pooled funds were transferred from its South African accounts and client wallets, and the coins went through tumblers and mixers — or to other large pools of bitcoin — to make them essentially untraceable,” according to Bloomberg.

In addition to potential action from the elite police force, South African’s Finance Sector Conduct Authority is allegedly investigating the apparent exit scam, but will not launch a formal investigation because bitcoin is not viewed legally as a financial product there.

For now, it appears that all Africrypt users who have lost their BTC can do is wait and hope authorities learn more about the whereabouts of the Cajee brothers. 

Source: Bitcoin magazine