While the physical supply and mining difficulty limit gold, the source code of Bitcoin limits its mining to 21 million units. A South Korean professor of urban and environmental engineering developed a biogas-producing system, which he uses to mine cryptocurrencies.

During a visit to Mexico, Wozniak said that Bitcoin was a technological miracle and a unique mathematical formula. He has been a vocal advocate for Bitcoin, which he once referred to as the only digital gold.

According to the Mexican newspaper El Sol de México, the Apple co-founder stated that Bitcoin is a better asset than gold. He suggested that it is easier to mine Bitcoin blocks than it is to find and mine gold. Although he does not invest in Bitcoin, he considers that it is the greatest mathematical miracle and is here to stay.

Many analysts agree that Bitcoin is digital gold since both the precious metal and the cryptocurrency have a limited supply. The physical supply and mining difficulty limit gold, whereas the source code of Bitcoin limits its mining to 21 million coins. That means there will be no new Bitcoin once the last 2140 coin is in circulation.

An American Bitcoin Mining Company Buys 7,200 Mining Rigs

Gryphon Digital Mining has signed an agreement to purchase 7,200 Antminer S19J Pro mining rigs.

According to a statement, they disbursed a total of around USD 48 million for the mining inventory. In August, they will start receiving 600 mining devices each month as part of the deal.

The 7,200 machines would theoretically allow the company to experience an increase in its hash rate of 720 petahashes per second (PH/s). That could be a further achievement for them, as they are already looking to achieve 100% renewable energy-based operations.

ECLAC Warns Against the Adoption of BTC in El Salvador

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is a regional commission of the United Nations to promote economic cooperation. This agency is the latest to have expressed concern about the acceptance of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador.

According to the executive secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, the decision of El Salvador to accept Bitcoin poses systemic risks. She also considers that there are risks of money laundering, according to the local newspaper Diario El Mundo.

Bárcena highlighted that no study has yet investigated the possible risks or benefits of that decision to venture into Bitcoin. She said El Salvador could face risks, in addition to scrutiny from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

South Korean Professor Uses Biological Waste to Mine Cryptocurrencies

Cho Jae-Weon is a professor of urban and environmental engineering at the National Institute of Science and Technology in Ulsan, South Korea. He developed an eco-friendly toilet system that produces fertilizers and energy from human excrement.

The professor said that the system uses a vacuum pump that redirects human waste to an underground tank to produce biogas (methane).

His creation uses biogas to provide energy to a university building, gas stoves and water heaters, among others.

Additionally, the experiment of Jae-Weon has a native token called Ggool to incentivize the adoption of the eco-friendly toilet system. When using the bathroom, the students earn 10 Ggool, which they use to buy various things on the campus.

By Alexander Salazar

Everyone rather than just millionaires should receive information about Bitcoin technology and its uses, said Sebastián Contreras. There is more information about Bitcoin and more people using it in big cities than in small populations and communities.

Argentine Bitcoin advocate Sebastián Contreras recently spoke about adopting and using Bitcoin and decentralized technologies in Latin America.

Although Bitcoin is accessible to anyone, Contreras stressed that everyone should receive information about this technology and its uses. Of course, that would depend on the specific context of each community.

Contreras recalled the different aspects of Bitcoin and classified it as free or open-source software. In that sense, he noted that it is a protocol, a decentralized network, and a unit of value exchange. Taking these characteristics into account allows examining the functions that Bitcoin would fulfill in the Latin American context, Contreras noted.

Some of the problems that affect Latin America are corruption, the lack of transparency of governments, and inflation, said the bitcoiner. He also said there are certain economic restrictions as the difficulty of payments between countries in the region, Contreras stated. In this regard, he believes that Bitcoin could offer solutions to these problems and limitations.

The Argentine highlighted the case of Europe, where it is easy to make cross-border bank transfers. However, he noted that there are many difficulties for interbank payments in Latin America. In that sense, he recommended paying with Bitcoin as that would help solve that restriction quickly. He explained that these transactions are not only decentralized but also have no time limitations.

Factors that Facilitate the Expansion of Bitcoin in Latin America

When Contreras spoke of bringing Bitcoin adoption to every corner of Latin America, he referred to small- and medium-sized communities. The Bitcoin advocate explained that big cities have more information, more Bitcoin users, and even Bitcoin ATMs. He noted that small towns and communities typically have less infrastructure.

The Argentine bitcoiner said that the four factors that facilitate the expansion of Bitcoin and its uses are adoption, education, liquidity, and on- and off-ramps. Regarding the first two, he considers that they are interdependent and feed each other back. For example, there must be someone who uses Bitcoin, such as a business that accepts payments with it. Likewise, knowing more about Bitcoin also facilitates its use.

When people use Bitcoin as a store of value or a means of payment, there must be liquidity in that market, Contreras stated. For example, if a business accepts Bitcoin, liquidity allows users to obtain BTC to make the payment. Besides, the establishment requires liquidity in either Bitcoin or fiat money to pay its suppliers.

The vehicles for that liquidity are the on- and off-ramps of Bitcoin, which go from individuals trading the cryptocurrency, online exchanges, and other means that facilitate its trading.

In 2019, Sebastián Contreras said that he had traveled more than 40,000 kilometers in six countries Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. He believes that many Latin Americans still need to learn more about the pioneering cryptocurrency for its adoption to grow at all levels.

By Alexander Salazar

The growth in the number of new users keeps the bullish picture, says Woo. Although long-term investors continue to accumulate BTC, the market is not aware of this situation.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has been experiencing sideways movements, but the data on the blockchain shows bullish characteristics, Willy Woo noted. Long-term investors continue to accumulate BTC, but the market is not aware of it, thus generating a supply shock, the analyst said.

According to Woo, this divergence should cause the Bitcoin market to rise as he considers this an excellent opportunity. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the network went through a similar experience as the market witnessed a significant decrease in supply.

Setback in the Price of Bitcoin Tests New Holders

Woo defines this scenario as a shakeout of weak hands since the price pulled back to test new holders. When the price starts to drop, new buyers sell out of fear while experienced investors buy cheaply. Since the latter often have access to sources of capital, their purchases cause a rapid rebound in price.

When sales are strong, a quick V-shaped recovery is impossible, Woo argued. Therefore, it is necessary to invest time to re-accumulate the coins poured into the market. The analyst said that this results in a prolonged sideband called the accumulation floor.

At the end of bearish markets, the so-called peak pain typically forces late investors to look for intelligent buyers. Woo noted that the latter would intervene to buy at realization prices.

Bitcoin Exchanges Are Between Strong Hands and Weak Hands

Willy Woo stated that long-term holders are absorbing speculative currencies very quickly. The data consistently indicates that an accumulation floor is forming.

Regarding a possible further collapse in the price to USD 20,000, Woo emphasizes that fundamentals point to a bullish outlook.

A supply shock is quietly building, but the market is not aware of it, Woo said. In other words, long-term holders are absorbing the currencies that went from whales (strong hands) to speculators (weak hands).

The Growth in the Number of Users Reaches a Maximum

Data from Glassnode suggests that 32,000 users are currently entering the network daily, representing a new high.

The growth in the number of new entities results from subtracting the users leaving the network (empty their wallets) from the number of users, Woo explained.

In 2017, new users stopped arriving, which made a rise in the price of Bitcoin possible. Currently, new users are taking advantage of this opportunity to buy, reaching the highest rate of 2021.

Pressure from the Chinese authorities has caused the hash rate of the network to decline, Woo argued. However, the recent historical decrease in difficulty could allow the price to recover and establish a floor in the price of Bitcoin.

The decrease in the supply seems to be leading the price of the pioneering cryptocurrency to resume its bullish trend. Long-time investors who accumulate Bitcoin would benefit from this opportunity as they could sell at a higher price.

By Alexander Salazar

The Binance Smart Chain has not yet fully recovered, but many transactions suggest significant growth. If the price of BNB broke the resistance at USD 320, it would confirm the recovery of the trend in the short term.

In recent days, Binance Coin (BNB) has generated good profits, which allowed it to reach increasingly high lows. That situation means that the price of the cryptocurrency is regaining its bullish trend.

BNB is currently trading at around USD 334 and has accumulated a gain of about 5% in the last 24 hours. That brought its market capitalization to USD 48.35 billion, according to CoinGecko.

There has been little activity in the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) as BNB has not fully recovered its positivity rate.

However, the more than 3.6 million transactions in the BSC suggest an exponential growth for this relatively young network.

Binance Coin has gained much ground just by being the native token of the largest exchange in the world. That gives the crypto asset a good foundation base.

Besides, there is no reason to think that BNB will remain behind if the firm behind the exchange continues to expand. The newly-born NTF market will attract more attention towards the token as the vehicle for moving within the ecosystem.

Technical Analysis of the Price of Binance Coin

Despite the losses in the last few months, the weekly price chart of Binance Coin indicates the medium-term bullish trend is still intact.

Due to the recent rejection of the support zone near USD 260.72, the exhaustion of the bears is evident. That seems to be pointing to the end of the pullback and the beginning of bullish momentum.

Nobody can still see any relevant bullish strength to confirm that this will be the case. However, touching the resistance at USD 428 will be more likely as long as the support holds at USD 260. Even breaking it will be probable, which confirms the resumption of the medium/long-term trend.

If the price loses that support, the runway will remain clear to at least USD 211. However, it could also mean the beginning of a deeper correction.

The Short-Term Trend Attempts to Become Bullish

The daily chart indicates that BNB has been reaching increasingly high lows and highs following the strong rejection of low prices.

The price of the currency is currently challenging the immediate resistance at USD 320. If it managed to break it, which is the most likely scenario, it would confirm the recovery of the trend in the short term.

That would lead the price of Binance Coin to at least USD 333, just below the next resistance at USD 375. However, the confirmation of the resumption of the higher trend will only occur when it breaks the resistance at USD 428.

Sales will only be possible if the price loses the USD 287 support, which could cause a drop back to USD 260. The low of USD 211 is below that level, which it is unlikely to reach.

By Alexander Salazar

Kaseya, the firm victim of the attack, is still working hard on the investigation of the incident. The REvil hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack on Sunday and let the media know the exact amount of the demand.

The president of the United States of America, Joe Biden, ordered a federal investigation to find those responsible for a ransomware attack that the technology company Kaseya suffered on July 2. On Sunday, July 4, the REvil group claimed to be responsible for the attack and asked for $ 70 million in bitcoin (BTC) as a ransom to release the disrupted information.

According to a report by the company on its website, an exceptionally sophisticated hack affected Kaseya, a company based in Miami that brings IT services to more than 200 companies based in the United States of America and other nations around the globe.

The security company Huntress reported in a statement on its website that it is tracking at least eight providers of this service that were infected. The crime would have come from REvil, an organization that claimed responsibility for the attack on the dark web and asked for a millionaire amount. They are currently demanding a $ 70 million ransom, which equates to roughly 2,082.34 BTC, according to data from CoinGecko.

The attack took place on the VSA tool, used mainly by firms that connect with many branches to handle their data. Criminals encrypted customer information and are requesting a huge amount of money to decrypt it now.

Kaseya’s statement explained in detail that Kaseya’s VSA product had been the victim of a sophisticated cyber-attack. Due to the quick response of Kaseya’s team, this attack met a limit and affected just a small number of customers. The firm also assured that its experts would keep working hard on the subject during the weekend, and a report with updates on the matter might be arriving on July 5.

Ransomware Attacks and the US Government

According to The Block, the order to use federal forces by the US president came to light in a public appearance on the same day the criminals revealed the attack through an announcement.

This level of alert happened because the US government is now giving ransomware attacks a priority similar to terrorism to have more resources when combating possible threats to entities in the government.

Regarding the alleged perpetrators of the attack, Biden said at the time  (right before REvil claimed the attack on Sunday) that the initial theory is that it was not the government of Russia, but it is yet an uncertain factor. This statement by Biden has to do with the fact that the REvil group might have ties to Russia.

This new rating for ransomware hacks followed another attack on a US pipeline, which has left much of the southeast coast without fuel for several days. Finally, that episode ended up with at least 75 BTC reward payment to recover the hacked information.

By: Jenson Nuñez