GPU Production to Mine Ethereum in Danger Due to a COVID Outbreak in China

Omicron contagion outbreaks forced the authorities to shut down the city. The chips manage the voltage of the circuits found in the graphics cards.

COVID-19 has vanished from the world and continues its wave of damage in the cryptocurrency industry. Another shutting down in the Chinese region of Suzhou due to a new wave of contagion of the omicron variant would have impacted the supply of PMIC chips, a required item for the production of digital mining hardware.

According to information revealed by the Reuters agency, the proliferation and contagion have led the Chinese entities to shut down companies in industrial regions like Suzhou temporarily.

In that city, whose industrial park is famous worldwide for giving 100,000 transnational companies to execute their activities, one of those companies fabricates components to build computer parts, such as integrated power management circuits.

These chips can control the voltage of all electronic circuits. They have their place inside motherboards and graphics cards; the latter serves for mining Ethereum and other digital assets.

After a new rise in cases of omicron, a new variant of COVID-19, one of the most contagious ones, the authorities decided to shut down the industrial entities in Suzhou, consequently lowering the supply of the PMIC chip.

An Incredible Impact on the Products

The products harmed by this measure are about to get released on the market, as the RTX 3090 Ti graphics card from NVIDIA. These GPUs are the most famous because they make mining activities with Ethereum easier.

On the other hand, a problem at the distribution level adhered to the shortage of material. Transportation is now facing limitations caused by congestion and hikes on costs and prices to impede the scarcity.

The situation could expand its tentacles until next year. Therefore, various entities from other nations choose to fabricate their own devices. However, it may take several months to find a way to solve this situation due to its complexity.

China and its Stance about the Current Conflict between Ukraine and Russia

The Chinese government approached all sides to de-escalate tensions in Ukraine. But now that Russia got ready to keep moving forward, it is uncertain where is China’s official position as clashes keep escalating.

The Chinese government believes they should not support warfares in Europe but also wants to unify military and strategic bonds with Moscow. On the other hand, Ukraine’s number one associate is China, and Beijing would ideally like to sustain these good relationships with Kyiv. Still, this bonding could be challenging to maintain because both countries in conflict have potential relationships with the Asian giant.

There is also the possibility of a consequence on China if Western Europe observes the Asian nation backing Russia’s aggression. Moreover, a constant stance of China’s leaders is that the country should not get in the way when it comes to the internal affairs of other nations and that other nations should not obstruct China’s way regarding its internal conflicts.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Everyone Wonders Whether It Is the Best Time to Invest in Dogecoin

If the price of DOGE broke through the resistance at USD 0.16, there could be buying opportunities in the short/medium run. A significant bullish volume exceeding resistance at USD 0.13 would indicate that the ground would be clear for USD 0.16.

The price of Dogecoin (DOGE) is undergoing a correction of over 80% from its all-time high. That has led investors to wonder whether the current point will be the best to buy the memecoin.

Dogecoin is trading at around USD 0.126 and has accumulated a loss of 10.3% in the last week. Its daily trading volume is above USD 606.08 million, and its market capitalization is about USD 16.83 billion. It occupies 13th place in the cryptocurrency ranking, according to CoinGecko.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is just below DOGE, with a capitalization of about USD 13.38 million. The second-largest memecoin is trading at around USD 0.000024 and has accumulated a loss of 11.6% in the last week.

Now Could Be the Best Time to Buy DOGE

Analysts have said that the fundamental base of memecoins is not enough to ensure their large market capitalization. However, nobody can expect them to disappear overnight, as they might obtain further gains if a new broad bullish rally starts.

The large communities behind meme-based cryptocurrencies have created a cushion that prevents prices from going to zero.

While Dogecoin has a Twitter account with more than 3 million followers, Shiba Inu has one with 2.8 million.

Although the price of DOGE has fallen by more than 80%, the sales volume is increasingly low. That shows that the space for drops is becoming increasingly small.

Many other projects are more solid, but the current drop in price is an opportunity to buy Dogecoin. Even so, there might be a further drop before the leading memecoin resumes the dominant trend.

The Weekly Technical Analysis of the Price of Dogecoin

The weekly DOGE/USDT chart shows that the fall in the price has been steadily losing strength. The great bullish rally of 2021 is entirely overshadowing the direction in which the market is moving.

That behavior indicates that the price is making a necessary correction, and the bulls could give a surprise at any moment.

Since Dogecoin is bearish in the short/medium run, there could be more selling. There will likely be selling down to the support zone around USD 0.05.

Before buying, there should first be increasingly high lows on the weekly chart. If the price broke through the resistance at USD 0.16, that would be a good early sign that this will happen.

Short-Term Significant Levels in the price of DOGE

The daily DOGE chart shows a somewhat encouraging scenario for those wanting to buy, as a relevant rally could happen next.

The weakness of sellers to reach effective lows indicates that they have been losing strength. That created a falling wedge, a chart pattern that indicates a possible reversal.

Unless a significant bullish volume breaks through resistance, sellers will keep control. Exceeding the nearest resistance at USD 0.13 would allow opening the way for buying up to USD 0.16.

A further drop in the next few hours/days, hitting a new lower low, would indicate a possible search for support around USD 0.05.

By Alexander Salazar

No State or War Can Affect the Security and Privacy Alternatives Provided by Bitcoin

The attack by Russia against Ukraine leads people worldwide to question the state’s power. Bitcoin allows for many security and privacy alternatives to confront the abuse of power.

The seeming lack of control in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine forces everyone to question how humanity lives. People change their minds or rekindle their convictions when there is a war on the horizon. That includes the idea that Bitcoin plays a determining role in the distribution of power and the evasion of state control.

Bitcoin inspires those trying to escape from established forms of control in conflicts, like the war between Russia and Ukraine. For example, banks, the state’s centralized power, and the military institution could affect citizens.

The Central Bank of Russia recently announced control in the foreign exchange market. Before that, the Russian stock market fell by 33%, and the European Union blocked the purchase of sovereign debt through 27 banks. That affected traders who import products, small entrepreneurs, and people with little purchasing power.

The financial institution also blocked the funds of Russian billionaires in Great Britain, and Germany disapproved of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Besides, more than 351 legislators of the Duma, three banks, and 27 citizens and entities that finance the separatists could receive sanctions.

However, the worst part seems to be on the side of Ukrainians, who have fled their homes fearing the bombing. In addition, international organizations remain still after the central bank of the country banned transactions with electronic money. Therefore, people who want to leave the nation could not take their savings if they have nothing left to carry.

Reflecting and Inventing Strategies Are Forms to Combat Control

Paradoxically, the best ideas arise in moments of crisis like the one between Russia and Ukraine. That should be a reason to reflect, question, and create strategies to face the control of governments or state institutions like banks.

Bitcoin is an alternative in those situations since no power or state can seize it. The latter cannot force a growing international community to change the rules supporting that decentralized electronic cash payment network.

Regardless of particular miners, the sum of computers validating and updating the status of transactions represents the power of collaborative work. That force does not have to give in to pressure from the military, the police, and the government. The connection to the network will allow people to transfer money without depending on banks or submitting to selfish legislation.

The decentralization concept promotes awareness of the risks of not confronting those wanting to take over everything. In other words, reflecting and inventing alternative strategies are forms to combat control.

Nobody Is the Owner of the Bitcoin Network

It is impossible to change the operation of Bitcoin for it to adopt the practices of already institutionalized payment systems. Not even a Bitcoin programmer could claim authority over the network, as with most projects developed in open source.

If a user collected enough computers to censor transactions or become a superpower, the others would only have to copy the code of Bitcoin. Given that it is free to use, they could create a new chain or pick it up at the point of the attack.

Bitcoin can isolate an entity attempting to use its power to harm someone, obtain a short-term benefit through a hack, or take control by force.

The attack by Russia against Ukraine could not affect the alternatives offered by Bitcoin regarding security and privacy.

Although many do not consider Bitcoin a store-of-value asset in this conflict, it allows moving money across dangerous borders.

By Alexander Salazar

BitMEX Co-Founders Plead Guilty to Violating US Law

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The announcement puts an end to a situation that started in 2020 when the US issued charges against the founders of BitMEX and the platform for carrying out activities without complying with federal registration protocols.

Co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, have pleaded guilty to transgressing the US Bank Secrecy Act.

After a robust legal conflict, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Hayes and Delo “did not set up, implement, or sustain an anti-money laundering protocol on their crypto-asset network. Both pleaded guilty in federal court and had to pay at least USD$10 million as a fine.

According to the DOJ, the co-founders could deal with at least five years in prison, although their sentences are still unclear. The fine the accused had to pay is the profit obtained from the illegal activity.

BitMEX Founders Put an End to this Legal Episode

The news ended a story that began in 2020 when the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued various federal charges against BitMEX. At the time, authorities claimed that Hayes, Delo, and the company’s other owner, Samuel Reed, joined efforts to avoid US AML regulation policies by carrying out their activities abroad but allowing US customers to perform transactions on the network.

CFTC charges got added, claiming that BitMEX allowed US customers to carry out transactions with cryptocurrency derivatives without the proper license. Last year, the company solved these issues by giving regulatory entities a $100 million fine.

BitMEX is a cryptocurrency trading platform located in Seychelles; this entity brings derivatives and a margin trade up to 100x. The exchange offered their assistance without any know-your-customer (KYC) confirmation or AML measures valid the US.

In February, the DOJ said that such failure in regulatory compliance essentially converted BitMEX into a platform ideal for money laundering procedures. He also expressed that the company also counts on a list of clients located in Iran, a sanctioned region.

Two Other Executives are Still Fighting

Hayes, who resigned as CEO of the company once the accusations started to land upon him, told news outlets that he dealt with the entire responsibility for his actions desires to reach the time when he could put this matter behind and start a new life.

On the other hand, a spokesperson explained on behalf of Delo that the founder managed to solve the Bank Secrecy Act accusations with the US Department of Justice through an agreement. He seemed regretful about BitMEX, the cryptocurrency derivatives platform he co-founded, lacking a functional client identification protocol.

It is unclear whether Reed and Gregory Dwyer, the first BitMEX representative who also got accused in 2020, intend to plead guilty to the charges imposed on him. In September of last year, Dwyer’s lawyers reached an agreement regarding his extradition to the US to carry out those legal actions in that nation.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Institutional Investment in Cryptocurrencies Grows in a Global Scenario of Uncertainty

While Bitcoin is trading around $39,000, institutional investment in cryptocurrencies increased by $109 million in the last week, according to the latest CoinShares report.

The Coinshares report highlights that this is the fifth week of incoming capital flows to cryptocurrencies, after three weeks in which BTC sales by investors predominated.

Despite the global macroeconomic climate given by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the crypto economy shows a turning point, since institutional investors and large corporations have decided to adopt them, in a sustained manner, since 2020, and they do not stop doing so now.

In 2021, there was plenty of news about crypto investment by major players like PayPal, Mastercard, Tesla, MicroStrategy, Square, and some of the world’s most prestigious banks. That is considering only twenty-three companies, according to data provided by Trustnodes, an investment of a figure close to one million Bitcoins was made in that year.

Impact of This Corporate Adoption on Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies give corporations very important support and generate greater confidence in the public, including, of course, SMEs. The adoption of cryptos encourages companies with inefficient financial systems, where exposure to inflation is a problem, to use cryptocurrencies on a day-to-day basis and to convert part of their currency funds to cryptocurrencies.

Gone are the days when risky individual investors were the only ones owning cryptocurrencies. Today, many companies around the world use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies so that their capital does not lose value and even becomes profitable, in addition to having a diversified investment portfolio. This logic finds reason in the monetary emissions of past years throughout the world.

On February 1, 2022, MicroStrategy announced the purchase of 660 BTC. Thus, it already accumulates more than 125,000 Bitcoins. According to Michael J. Saylor, CEO of the company, there are exactly 125,051 BTC, purchased at an average price of $30,200 per unit; about 3,776 million dollars invested in total. Thus, with the price of the cryptocurrency over 39,000 USD, the amount accumulated by MicroStrategy exceeds the market value of more than 4,700 million dollars. This equates to a 25% increase in the valuation of the portfolio in question on average.

It is worth noting that when the company had a $5 billion investment in Bitcoin as of May 2020, it communicated the following: “This investment reflects our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely adopted cryptocurrency, it is a reliable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash.”

In a way, what Microstrategy said then is that it did not see why, in an inflationary environment, it should continue betting on dollars if the rates paid in that currency are zero.

Derived from the above, it is reasonable to conclude that investment in cryptocurrencies by financial institutions, large companies, and SMEs is an irreversible habit in a robust crypto ecosystem, which offers solutions to specific problems. Experience indicates that including assets such as DAI in the financial strategy of SMEs helps to gain agility in environments where exposure to inflation is corrosive and costs for international transfers are very high.

By Audy Castaneda

The Ukrainian Government and Crypto Donations

Ukraine has become the first nation-state in history to formally accept Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies to finance the costs of a war.

The official Twitter account of Ukraine published a message with their virtual wallet addresses to receive donations in cryptocurrencies.

According to a publication on the official Ukrainian Twitter account, this country accepts BTC, ether (ETH), and the stablecoin or stable currency Tether (USDT, in its version of the Ethereum network), so that the world can support this country in the context of the war against Russia.

In addition, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, and Minister of Digital Transformation, announced that besides Bitcoin and ether, they also accepted crypto tether as donations on the Tron network version.

In light of this announcement, Tron founder Justin Sun announced that he had donated close to $200,000 (USD) to the direction arranged by the minister.

On Saturday, the country’s official account published its wallets: Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, claimed to have confirmed with the Ukrainian authorities the veracity of the addresses shown to receive donations. Nevertheless, he was cautious, as he called for caution when donating since bad actors could pose as the legitimate owners of these bags.

Along the same lines, some users reported that Bitcoins have been sent from the Ukrainian government address to an address labeled as fraudulent.

Others claim that this address in question belongs to a Kuna name exchange house and that in the past was part of some cryptocurrency fraud that has nothing to do with Ukraine.

Ukraine was already Receiving Crypto Donations

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s camp, much more limited in number and capacity than Vladimir Putin’s, has received more than $4 million in crypto through Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO.

As reported by the organization, during the first 12 hours of Thursday alone, donors sent nearly $675,000 in Bitcoins. However, a donation of 3 million dollars in crypto assets from an anonymous supporter triggered the NGO’s collection on Friday.

“Cryptocurrency is particularly well-suited for international fundraising as it does not respect national borders and is able to resist blockages – there is no central authority that can block transactions, for example in response to sanctions,” said Tom Robinson, chief scientist at Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

Cryptocurrency Tycoon and a Punk Band Make Crypto Donations

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, a Bahamas-based crypto asset-trading platform, has also joined the cause. In this case, the crypto tycoon announced that he would donate $25 to all Ukrainian users of his app. “Do what you have to do,” Bankman added in his announcement on Twitter.

On the other hand, a Russian punk band, known for its opposition to the Putin government, has also given its support through its UkraineDAO platform. Pussy Riot recently launched this app in order to raise funds for civil organizations, such as Kiev Come Back Alive and Proliska, which works to help civilians in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Likewise, crowdfunding campaigns are proliferating all over the world, starting with the traditional Facebook fundraisers and ending with organizations that have become very popular in recent times, the DAOs.

Decentralized autonomous organizations, hence their name, for its acronym in English. The Blockchain control these non-profit entities, and their intention is to collect donations in the form of cryptocurrencies, indicated El Economista.

Does the War Force a Change of Position against Bitcoin?

The decision announced by the Ukrainian government could mean a change of position towards cryptocurrencies.

On the portal where the Ukrainian military invited donations a few days ago, they stated that they could not accept cryptocurrencies or money from other payment methods other than bank transfers. Due to the recent events that started last February 24, this has changed.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, the Ministry of Defense had to handle requests from the cryptocurrency community to make provisions for accepting cryptocurrency donations – which was previously unavailable.

By Audy Castaneda