In a town north of Kosovo, 272 Bitcoin miners got seized. The Estate justifies the action due to problems with electricity.

The Kosovo police forces initiated the plan of that country to stop the mining of Bitcoin (BTC), just as China did. The initiative got justified by the government because of issues with the electricity supply in the country.

In that sense, the authorities reported that 272 Bitcoin mining equipment operating in the town of Trebice, in the north of that country, were seized. The confiscated machines belong to the Bitmain brand, specifically the Antminer S9 and Antminer S9i models, according to the police in a statement on January 8.

On the same date, two more police procedures got carried out. One of these operations took place in Druar de Vushtrri, where at least 42 graphics cards for the production of cryptocurrencies got confiscated.

The Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, supported the action of the police. The official highlighted that tens of thousands of euros of taxpayers saved per month equals energy for hundreds of Kosovar families during the crisis.

Kosovo Government Warned Bitcoin Miners

A few days ago, on January 5, alleging an electricity crisis, Kosovo banned mining. The intention is to curb electricity consumption while they face the worst breakdown in recent years, according to Rizvanolli. Kosovo is a nation where energy prices are considerably cheap, many people have decided to get involved in mining cryptocurrencies.

The Kosovo government’s stance against Bitcoin miners turned similar to that of the Chinese entities, one of the leading cryptocurrency ban cases that became popular in 2021. In September of last year, the Central Bank of that nation highlighted that all activities connected to cryptocurrencies are prohibited and vetoed according to the law.

Other regions that banned bitcoin are Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Nepal, Qatar, and Oman. When energy issues occur in countries, bitcoin becomes the scapegoat. A recent phenomenon appeared in Latin America, specifically Argentina.

In that country, a government sector believes that electricity demand, the key to the Bitcoin and Ethereum mining industry, has caused power outages in various parts of the country. In this sense, they are currently analyzing rates and establishing investment requirements to maintain the system’s infrastructure.

Bitcoin: The Perfect Scapegoat

The rapid evolution of this industry and the popularity that Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) gained in the last year give the Argentine government a perfect excuse to find the culprits of the lack of power supply, these culprits are miners.

This questionable premise gets encouraged by other factors. First of all, the supposed impact of Bitcoin mining on the environment has become very widespread in popular opinion.

When it comes to enemies for electricity consumption, Bitcoin stands out as the number one globally. And even though it is a recurring topic of debate, the reality is that there are studies that show that the negative consequences of mining are not so serious since a good part of the miners claims to use renewable energy for their activity.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The renowned investor defended Dogecoin but ruled out Bitcoin as a haven for fiat inflation. He said it is not and never will be a haven for fat inflation.

Billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, Mark Cuban, does not believe that Bitcoin could be a hedge asset for inflation.

In a reply on Twitter this week, the American businessman, known for his appearance on the Shark Tank series, shared his take on the flagship cryptocurrency. Cuban praised the doggy meme coin Dogecoin and dismissed Bitcoin as a haven for inflation from fiat currencies like the dollar.

Cuban said that Doge was good to spend and better than a lottery ticket. He wondered if people still think that BTC is a hedge of inflation and assured that it would not ever be.

The comment came in the middle of a Twitter discussion with YouTube personality Preston Pysh. The YouTuber asked him if he was the one pumping Dogecoin in early May and revealed it has now dropped by at least -80% since then.

The YouTuber tweeted these questions in response to a Cuban post in which the investor expressed his disgust at the lack of control of crypto spam on the social network.

Cuban Rules out Bitcoin as a Hedge

This statement is not the first time Cuban has highlighted that Bitcoin cannot be a haven for inflation. Although the businessman has defended cryptocurrency as a store of value asset and has even classified it as superior to gold, he does not consider that Bitcoin capacity is related to inflation protection.

At that time, Cuban had pointed out that proponents were using inflation hedging as a selling point for Bitcoin, just as they do with other narratives such as price-earnings ratios and buy and hold.

Shortly after, during his participation in the UpOnly podcast, he echoed these ideas. Cuban clarified that gold and Bitcoin shared the same narrative, and this narrative was affecting the digital currency. He said that gold got sold out of the situation just like Bitcoin.

Cuban said that the younger generations would trust Bitcoin because gold has no use in itself; it is useless.

Dogecoin is better as a Payment Method

The reputed investor has displayed a somewhat controversial view on Bitcoin in the past. In 2020 he assured that he preferred to buy bananas before investing in Bitcoin, although Cuban has been softening his position.

Last year, the businessman defended Bitcoin on various occasions and stated that the cryptocurrency is an asset superior to gold. However, he says that both are “financial religions.” He has also reiterated that the first digital currency does not serve as a payment method. Instead, he considers Dogecoin to be superior to Bitcoin in that regard.

“The Doge community is the strongest when it comes to using it as a medium of exchange,” Cuban stated in an August interview with CNBC. At the time, Tesla billionaire and CEO Elon Musk, an outspoken advocate for DOGE, agreed. Cuban had already revealed in early 2021 that he had bought Dogecoin for his son.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Since May 2021, China has started a hunt against bitcoin mining. Some studies have revealed that banking pollutes more than bitcoin.

China continues to move forward in its banning policy, exterminating more and more bitcoin in its country. On this occasion, it has revealed and made it official the “obsolete” label on cryptocurrency mining.

The National Development and Reform Commission, this January 11, carried out the application of the label, making the amendment on the status published in 2019 that established policies in favor of environmental improvements and the use of clean energies.

The application of the “obsolete” label implies legal repercussions within the country since the purpose is to continue advancing through the dismantling process of the entire industry within the Asian country.

In this sense, China makes official the exit of everything that could embrace the mining of cryptocurrencies within its territory. The time in which the output should get executed is not yet defined.

The Persecution of Miners in China

In May 2021, the beginning of a persecution circle for bitcoin mining in cryptocurrencies started in Inner Mongolia and then spread to 8 of the 25 provinces that make up the Asian country.

The arguments for such moves got based on the environmental policies that China has been promoting. However, it seems that the background plan is to get out of the way to the means of payment that could compete against the CBDC of the Chinese Central Bank, the Digital Yuan.

Bitcoin: A Cause of Global pollution

Under the allegation of clean energies use, many entities have branded bitcoin as a polluting activity due to its mining procedures. Elon Musk recently highlighted that he would not agree to sell his Tesla cars for bitcoin due to the carbon footprint they carry.

However, some studies have shown that Bitcoin does not affect the environment. One of these, interestingly enough, highlights that banks and gold production consume twice as much energy as the Bitcoin infrastructure does.

Research related to current energy consumption levels showed that the returns generated by bitcoin mining do not make it a threat to the environment. After the expulsion of the miners from China, carbon emissions only experienced a reduction in CO2 of at least 10%.

The study, called “Bitcoin Net Zero”, appeared this September 20 by the financial services company in the field of Bitcoin, NYDIG, with the participation of the venture capital firm Castle Island Ventures through Nic Carter, its general partner.

The research closely studies the different factors that involve Bitcoin in the issue related to the carbon footprint and global electricity consumption of cryptocurrency mining.

One of the aspects that the report considered was the growth of world electricity consumption and the role that bitcoin plays in this process. In this case, they noted that, since the launch of the Bitcoin network in 2009, no peak in electricity consumption got reflected.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The crypto mining company bought 1,000 BTC at a discount price and raised its treasury to more than $ 150 million in bitcoins.

Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining company Bitfarms has taken advantage of the recent price drop in the cryptocurrency market to acquire Bitcoin.

Bitfarms, based in Toronto, Canada, announced on Monday the acquisition of 1,000 bitcoins for a total price of $ 43.2 million. The most recent purchase occurred during the first week of January 2022 and increased the company’s holdings by 30%, as stated in a press release.

The well-known crypto mining company took advantage of the price correction seen in the market to accumulate bitcoins at the lowest cost and in the least amount of time, said its CEO, Emiliano Grodzki.

The leader highlighted that the company continues to optimize its bitcoin acquisition strategy due to the drop in BTC and mining hardware prices remaining high. The team took the opportunity to move cash to BTC. The group still desires to execute its operational growth strategy and to its 8 exahash / second by the end of 2022.

Bitfarms buys Bitcoin at a discount price Bitfarms’ latest cryptocurrency acquisition comes amid a pronounced bear market.

A Fall in the prices

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency has been progressively falling since its November all-time high of close to $ 70,000. At press time, BTC is seeing difficulty staying above $ 40,000, a resistance level not registered since July of last year. The widespread crash has also seen other major cryptos subtract significant gains.

On the other hand, the Bitfarms purchase also emerges amid a growth trend for the hash rate of the Bitcoin network, the hash rate of the first Blockchain network reached new all-time highs above 200 exahashes per second (EH / s) earlier this year.  This rise represents a vital recovery in the network after the collapse of more than 50% last year that China caused.

Bitfarms, which appeared on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2019, has been acquiring Bitcoin as part of its treasury strategy. The company added about 2,000 BTC between the third and fourth quarters of 2021.

According to the statement, currently, following the latest purchase, Bitfarms keeps more than 4,300 bitcoins circulating on its balance sheet.

An Increase a the End of the Year

The miner last week reported production of 3,452 bitcoins during 2021. Total Bitfarms holdings surprisingly increased more than 3,300 bitcoins at the end of last year, worth $ 135.8 million at current prices.

It is not the only company that has taken advantage of the drop in prices to acquire cryptocurrency. MicroStrategy, the business intelligence software company and most prominent institutional whale, also raised its balance sheet of the flagship cryptocurrency to nearly $ 95 million in late December.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The net worth of Zhao exceeds that of Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest Asian billionaire, even without including his holdings of cryptocurrencies. The CEO of Binance recommends trading cryptocurrencies for the long term to generate a profit and reduce stress.

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the Binance exchange, is the wealthiest cryptocurrency billionaire in the world. According to Bloomberg, the executive leads the ranking with a net worth of USD 96 billion.

As a teenager, the 44-year-old Chinese-Canadian software developer worked at various service jobs, including one at McDonald’s. However, the cryptocurrency pioneer seemed to become one of the wealthiest people worldwide virtually overnight.

The net worth of Changpeng Zhao exceeded that of Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest billionaire in Asia. That happened even though Bloomberg excluded his holdings of cryptocurrencies and the internal tokens of the Binance exchange.

Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin currently occupy 5th, 6th and 7th places of the ranking of billionaires, respectively. Meanwhile, the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, leads the list with an estimated USD 263,000 million.

Pakistan Will Investigate Binance for an Alleged USD 100 Million Scam

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan reportedly issued a formal notice to cryptocurrency exchange Binance in recent days. They are struggling to identify links with a multi-billion dollar scam involving crypto assets in the region.

The counter-intelligence and security agency wants to talk to Binance as part of an investigation. They believe the exchange has something to do with an alleged scam costing several thousand investors more than USD 100 million.

The cybercrime unit of the FIA sent a notice to Binance Holdings on the Cayman Islands and Binance.US. They also issued an assistance order to Humza Khan, the general manager and growth analyst of Binance Pakistan. They want him to explain his position on the link of fraudulent mobile online investing apps with Binance.

Zhao Recommends Keeping Cryptocurrency Holdings for the Long Term

Although volatility seems to be one of the worst characteristics of cryptocurrencies, many investors consider it can provide opportunities. They have taken advantage of the sudden changes in the price to earn high profits.

However, thousands of users worldwide are pessimistic about the volatility of crypto assets and view it as a nightmare. It causes stress and anxiety among new members fearing that sudden changes in the Bitcoin price are definitive.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao believes that people not feeling comfortable should trade cryptocurrencies for the long term. In that way, they would both make a profit and cope with stress and anxiety.

The executive thinks that non-volatile traders should buy and hold for five years or more rather than actively trade. For that reason, he recommends only using the funds that will not be necessary for the years to come. He says that investors may not need more money after that.

Zhao, the richest cryptocurrency billionaire worldwide, gives that advice to the many people abandoning their Bitcoin positions out of fear. He suggests investing in cryptocurrencies in the long term, allowing time to wait for the price to rise.

By Alexander Salazar