The European Union presents a package of measures for sustainable finance. ETC Group is not the only institution to react to Musk’s tweets.

ETC Group announced that it would finance the projects to make its Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) the first ETP to offset its carbon footprint, without affecting the asset and its price. The release will take place on July 7.

The company’s co-founder and CEO, Bradley Duke, explained that, although they were already working on the project, Elon Musk’s tweets accelerated it. In the wake of these messages, the demand for carbon-free BTC has been increasing.

With his tweets, Musk let users know that, more than a month ago, the electric car company Tesla stopped accepting bitcoin as payment until the miners’ emissions apply the proper reduction of 50%, which is a positive trend towards the future.

Also, there is the fact that the European Union has become more demanding regarding the environment, since as of March 2021, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) entered into the game in the European Union, imposing strict environmental, social, and governance disclosure requirements to institutional investors.

For its part, ETC Group reported in the statement that it would buy manually selected high-quality carbon credits to cover CO2 emissions that come from mining and transactions of its product. According to the report, the credits will help many projects from the world’s most respected conservation and climate groups.

Duke said that Companies that benefit from cryptocurrencies like bitcoin should consider and take meaningful steps to address climate concerns. Bitcoin miners are now getting more and more renewable electricity, which is good for the environment.

ETC Group is the cryptocurrency investment company that handles the highest volume physically-backed bitcoin ETP (BTCE) in Europe. Its product has been listed on the German stock exchange Deutsche Börse XETRA since June 2020, right after being authorized by BaFin, the regulator in that nation.

 Elon Musk and his tweets Created a Wave of Response

Other companies reacted with direct action after the tweets. Gemini of the Winklevoss brothers launched Gemini Green to purchase carbon permits and offset the dirty emissions of Bitcoin.

In recent months, the possible environmental impact that the mining of bitcoin could generate has attracted attention on social networks and other media, creating criticism and conflicting opinions. Although this topic has been under discussion for years, it has recently taken on new dimensions.

These tweets may be inciting mining entrepreneurs to come out and defend the bitcoin position on this issue in the framework of the Bitcoin Conference 2021 in Miami, United States of America.

Trading in OTC markets has been, perhaps, one of the most suitable alternatives for Chinese investors. Although the crackdown on miners happened, this route facilitated the exchange between the renminbi (RMB), with tether (USDT). The stable coin could face its deposit on exchanges and serve for cryptocurrency trading.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Galaxy Digital believes that China’s attack has nothing to do with the removal of the carbon footprint. A set of measures against cryptocurrencies would affect both the Chinese OTC market and stable coins.

According to analysts at financial services firm Galaxy Digital, the crackdown that miners and Bitcoin trading in China are currently experiencing relates more to a desire for restrictions in the market than concerns about carbon emissions.

The company assures that the decisions made by the Financial Stability and Development Committee (FSDC) focuses on political rather than economic considerations, as they feel unable to get rid of the network.

In a report that appeared in the media just a few days ago, the US firm studied in detail the effects that the closure of bitcoin mining farms in several Chinese provinces has for the development of cryptocurrency, along with the consequent migration of miners and the drop in the hash rate.

The document describes the actions of the government entity as a meticulous strategy to end bitcoin mining and trading in the Asian nation.

Galaxy Digital talked about the recent ban that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) applied. Since last June has prevented banks from giving services related to transactions with crypto assets.

The new regulations came with a series of anti-mining measures that began to be announced on May 21, arguing that these activities might be a threat to China’s ecological plans. In this regard, the report explains the negative consequences of the PBoC regulations on OTC (over the counter) trade.

Average Chinese citizens cannot access the cryptocurrency trading ecosystem, but the new crackdown threatens to close the remaining side doors, the writer notes, concerning the OTC market.

Trading in OTC markets is one of the highlighted options for Chinese investors. This method facilitated the exchange of China’s local currency with Tether (USDT). The stable coin could be deposited on exchanges and be useful for cryptocurrency trading.

The report states that this solution would bring positive changes, but it meets some obstruction from the new threat to close the OTC trade route.

The China effect and the Tether case

Galaxy Digital clarifies that the current crackdown in China is leaving significant traces on the Bitcoin blockchain. Particular repercussions are the slowness in the aggregation of blocks on the blockchain, which has suffered a long and unprecedented delay. Added to this is the dramatic decline in the hash rate.

About the hash rate and its decay, before the first announcements of the closure of farms, the hash rate had reached 160 Eh / s, then starting a declining behavior that hit 64 Eh / s in recent days, according to BitinfoCharts.

The analysis also explains how the Chinese crackdown could impact the security of stable coins. They cite the case of Tether, being the most popular way to access the cryptocurrency market in the Asian country.

By: Jenson Nuñez

He suggested Venezuelans believe that cryptocurrency would improve their lives. The executive revealed the strategy that MicroStrategy applies to avoid the risks of volatility.

Michael Saylor believes that people would improve their lives if they trust bitcoin as a financial option. He specifically pointed at Venezuela, even though the country has remained drowned in nightmarish hyperinflation since November 2017.

These thoughts appeared this Friday, July 2 through the video podcast Let’s Talk About Bitcoin, produced by the Satoshi organization in Venezuela.

Saylor expressed that people must assert the ability to store their economic energy, which they can do with bitcoin under their control. Users should not wait for a banker, a politician, or an executive to do something that would end up making them lose their savings.

The CEO of the software company, which intends to sell up to $ 1 billion in shares to keep purchasing bitcoin, believes that the next few decades will focus on the digital transformation of the property, precisely what the world already has with bitcoin.

Saylor maintains that people should stop thinking of gold as the main asset. These citizens should also stop believing that land, collectibles, or storing their money in the bank are the only available options to invest and increase finances.

What Saylor suggests is to put their property in a currency like bitcoin. He believes that Bitcoin is the best alternative today because it is a currency managed from just a mobile device.

Saylor Suggests to Stop Trusting Fiat currencies, Bitcoin is the Best Ally

Bitcoin is already transforming the lives of many people worldwide. For nations with economic crises such as Venezuela, Colombia, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and others, crypto-asset adoption seems to be their best option. For this reason, Bastardo asked Saylor if he believes that affected populations by the devaluation of their national currencies are a requirement for them to accept bitcoin.

Saylor revolved around the urgency of a new economic system, which would be impossible to appreciate without bitcoin. From his perspective, turning to the dollar to preserve value can be a solution for one and up to three years. But it will not be a good decision in the long term, like for a decade.

Saylor said: “You will not be able to preserve value with the dollar, you will need to turn it around with a more solid asset, and this asset is bitcoin. I see that Bitcoin is a stored value, while the US dollar is just a medium of exchange.”

Saylor continued his speech in response to a question made by Bastardo regarding the volatility risks.The chairman revealed the strategy that MicroStrategy implements to avoid any harm due to the intense fluctuations in the cryptocurrency price. His company is the publicly traded company with the most solid BTC holding worldwide, with more than 92,000 bitcoins in its assets.

By: Jenson Nuñez

At least 200 companies in the US received damage, including a supermarket chain in Sweden. The US government is investigating the crimes.

A group of cybercriminals is demanding $ 70 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to return the stolen data to hundreds of companies worldwide.

The ransomware group REvil is responsible for an attack that caused the collapse of various companies. As reported by the media, attackers used Kaseya, a software platform designed to help handle IT services remotely, to infect 1 million computer systems.

Kaseya is malicious software that helps cyber-criminals to weaken the networks to sue victims for data ransom money.

A Massive Ransomware Attack

On Saturday, Australia’s ABC News portal reported that the networks of at least 200 US companies received damages from the attack. On that day, Kayesa’s external experts stated that customers who experienced ransomware and received communication from attackers should not click on any links, as the criminals may be trying alternative ways to achieve their goal.

The experts had also posted a statement on their website urging customers to shut down their VSA servers. Sophos CEO and ethical hacker Mark Loman had reported the attack on Twitter, saying that the criminal group was demanding a $ 50,000 ransom. However, the latest reports suggest that the situation is worse than previously estimated.

According to Bloomberg, the attack had damaged more than 1,000 companies in a domino effect. Among these affected companies, a supermarket chain in Sweden told the media it could not open 800 of its stores on Saturday because the attack caused its cash registers to malfunction.

In addition to the United States of America and Sweden, the news portal Hackread estimates that one million systems have affected companies in various nations worldwide, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and many more.

The media also cited an alleged statement published by the REvil group where it demands USD 70 million in exchange for a tool to decrypt the data of the compromised companies.

According to this medium, it is the highest amount required in a cyber-attack of its kind. It is also curious that the REvil ransomware group appears to be the same one that attacked the US pipeline company Colonial Pipeline at the beginning of June, and more recently to the food processor JBS USA Holdings.

US Government is Investigating the Crimes

Former Microsoft worker, Cybersecurity expert Kevin Beaumont, shared details about how the attack happened in a blog post. Criminals took advantage of a Kaseya update, using the platform’s administrative privileges to get the systems disrupted.

Once managed service providers get violated, their systems can attack customers for whom they provide remote IT services (network administration, system updates, and backups, among other things). For its part, Kaseya itself has released a compromise detection tool that can help customers identify if they too have been compromised.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The Blockchain and Crypto Assets Observatory intend to improve the digital economy. The initiative arises from the Chair of Financial Markets Law.

The University of San Pablo, in the Spanish capital (Madrid), will have its Blockchain and Cryptoactive Observatory, with the sole intention of stimulating development and knowledge regarding the digital economy.

Through a publication, issued this Friday, July 2, the house of studies reported on the creation of this observatory. The Blockchain and Cryptoactive Observatory of the University of São Paulo were born from the Chair of Financial Markets Law.

The press release states that the focus of this observatory aims at the main challenges and impediments that arise against a fruitful ecosystem. It also mentions the search for solutions to place Spain at the top of digital evolution.

The dean of the Faculty of Law and director of the chair, Alfonso Martínez-Echeverría, described this observatory as a point for a debate that paves the way to identify problems, and at the same time, proposed the development of solutions that allow a country and its citizens, to advance as a society in these difficult times.

During the next cycle of courses, the observatory will create a set of seminars and other academic, research, and dissemination activities to delve into the scope of the use of blockchains.

The main goal of   this cycle will be to study some issues that would arise from the application of blockchain technology to various sectors, such as finance, energy, or company law.

Spain keeps looking for Use cases for Blockchains

Spain is one of the countries with the most active exploration of use cases for blockchains, beyond the creation of cryptocurrencies. This interest includes other colleges, companies, and both national and regional governments.

Last November, more than 150 companies in this industry got registered in the European country, according to data from the European Union Blockchain Observatory and Forum.

Various observatories in the country make efforts in searching use cases for blockchains, while some initiatives have already started to use some blockchain for plenty of areas.

Among these initiatives, there are project management, stock market operations, and even the fishing sector has already invested in improving these technologies.

The Department of Digital Policies and Public Administration of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia released a Blockchain Observatory to promote and evaluate the use and development of this technology in that region of Spain.

Among the initial actions of this entity is the mapping of the agents that make up the ecosystem of blockchain technologies in Catalonia. The activity started at the end of last July and has made it possible to identify three cases of use of this technology that qualify as successful.

By: Jenson Nuñez