Pablo Pardo (Washington) | The United States, like practically all countries in the world, is in a situation of uncertainty. Jobs are being created, but less than expected in a recovery that will lead this year and next to the highest GDP growth in three and a half decades. And jobs are being created despite the fact that companies say they are unable to find workers. Because, despite the withdrawal…
Fernando Alberca | Santander does not want to miss out on the bitcoin boom and other cryptographic projects either. The Spanish bank is finally betting on the Blockchain revolution through funds referenced to bitcoin and, perhaps, to other major cryptocurrencies. These ETFs will most likely be futures ETFs, which does not involve buying bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, to back the fund, in the style of the two ETFs (ProShares and Valkyrie)…
On 7 September, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, which means that companies and businesses in the country are obliged to accept it as a form of payment in day-to-day transactions. However, in this country there are only four Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency ATMs (machines where users can buy or sell cryptocurrencies). The US is the country with the most cryptocurrency…
Fernando Alberca | Tesla backs down on bitcoin. The electric vehicle manufacturer has suspended the use of bitcoin as a means of payment to buy its products. The reason for this decision was given on Twitter by the CEO of the company himself, Elon Musk, on Thursday May 13 shortly after midnight. “Tesla has suspended the purchase of vehicles with bitcoin. We are concerned about the rapid increase in the…
Fernando Alberca | Retail customers of hundreds of US banks will soon be able to buy, hold and sell bitcoins directly through their existing accounts at those banks, according to business news outlet CNBC. This will be made possible by a deal between cryptocurrency custody firm New Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) and financial technology giant Fidelity National Information Services (FIS). It will allow US banks to offer cryptocurrency trading and…
Energy-intensive crypto mining is no different than coal or oil a century ago. According to Cambridge University analysis, Bitcoin uses around 120 TWh of energy per year, on par with countries like Norway and Argentina, and is estimated to reach as much at 184 TWh, nearly the same consumption as that of London. That comes out to more than 90 million metric annual tons of CO2. Should progressives be thinking twice about greenhouse gas emissions from Bitcoin?
Fernando Alberca | The US Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed yesterday that Tesla had reported a $1.5 Bn bitcoin purchase. The firm has also enabled customers to buy its vehicles with this cryptocurrency. In the last weeks, Musk had been asking in Twitter whether bitcoin had sufficient liquidity to handle large volumes, but, as he had also encouraged on ironies of cryptocurrencies in the past, bitcoiners considered Musk’s words to be just another manifestation of his peculiar sense of humor.
Andrew Urquhart via The Conversation | Bitcoin achieved a remarkable rise in 2020 in spite of many things that would normally make investors wary. From a year-low on the daily charts of US$4,748 (£3,490) in the middle of March as pandemic fears took hold, bitcoin rose to just below US$30,000 by the end of the year. There are plenty of very bullish forecasts for the bitcoin price in 2021. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of leading crypto exchange Gemini, believe bitcoin will eventually hit US$500,000 per coin, while a Citigroup analyst suggests a price of US$318,000 by December 2021.
Litecoin, Dash, and Binance Coin have also made double-digit gains in the dizzying rally, which comes amidst a string of positive headlines. PornHub made cryptocurrency the default payment option on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve committed to additional stimulus on Wednesday, and Elon Musk whipped up a social media frenzy on Sunday by asking MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor how to buy large amounts of Bitcoin.
Adam Vettese (eToro) | Cryptoasset backers and analysts are increasingly divided over the outlook for Bitcoin amid the ongoing surge in its price. Bitcoin jumped above $16,000 this week amid news of another vaccine against coronavirus, this time from Moderna.