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Why This Launch Has Left Kraken Users Excited

By
Adam Barry
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0

The new frontier of crypto?

Kraken’s Parachain Auction Platform is here. It is, without doubt, the first of its kind in the crypto space. Moreover, its ability to allow clients to take part in a live exchange will be a game-changer. 

In a blog post revelation on Tuesday, the new platform will enable eligible users to participate in the Parachain auctions in the coming days while also allowing them to back Kusama projects that will potentially transform lives. 

What are Parachains?

Parachains are custom blockchains integrated into the Kusama network. They provide a flexible, secure environment for decentralized applications. There will be 100 Parachain slots available for a start, but Kraken may scale the number in the future through governance votes.

During an auction process, KSM users will vote for their favorite projects by locking their KSM. The projects with a majority sealed KSMs gain the rights of using the slot for 48 weeks. Contributors who support a winning bid receive rewards that include referral bonuses, airdrops, and early participation bonuses. However, if a user loses the auction, their KSM is reclaimed when the specific campaign period ends.

It is Karura vs Shiden

The initial Parachain auction will see two projects, Karura and Shiden, compete for clients’ votes. While Karura’s decentralized system offers a crypto-collateralized stablecoin, Shiden allows developers to build new decentralized applications. Both projects support Ethereum.

According to a report by Cointelegraph Polkadot’s creator, Gavin wood, the first proposed Kusama Parachain auction is scheduled for June 15. He recommends a performance evaluation break before restarting the second batch of auctions.

Polkadot’s announcement of Kusama’s readiness to host Parachains comes a month after Acala network won the first Parachain slot auction on Polkadot’s Rococo network in late March. The auction took the platform closer to its goal of providing cross-chain interoperability.

Kusama’s trading volume surges

Kusama’s KSM token’s value has seen a surge of 28% in the last fortnight. It is currently trading at $410 with a 12% increase over the past 24 hours; the impending auction launch appears to have brought an immediate impact.

Square Inc. investing $5M in Blockstream Bitcoin

By
Adam Barry
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0

Investment to change perceptions

Jack Dorsey’s support for blockchain infrastructure continues with the Square CEO revealing that Square plans to invest $5million in a solar-powered bitcoin mine. This boost comes when Bitcoin activities have received negative media coverage worldwide for their effect on the environment. 

Whether Bitcoin mining can become sustainable or not is still debatable. Several billionaires, including Elon Musk, have rescinded decisions to support Bitcoin due to grave environmental concerns, but Jack’s investment aims to achieve considerable sustainability.

The Bitcoin technology company Blockstream will undertake the project’s infrastructure and expertise. Square Inc, in a tweet, announced that the planned partnership with Blockstream would establish a solar-powered mine at one of Blockstream’s US locations. 

Bitcoin for clean energy

The project, which users and bitcoin enthusiasts have lauded, looks to prove that BTC mining can help push the clean energy transition. As the need for environmentally sustainable cryptocurrencies continues to gain traction, Square’s decision to back the project ticks the right boxes. Reports by Cointelegraph reveal that Dorsey is considering setting up a Bitcoin hardware wallet to enhance financial inclusion.

Blockstream’s chief information officer, Chris Cook, in an announcement, said that the developers would adopt an open and transparent model with developmental procedures, code, and economic data available online. 

Despite the current efforts, the negativity surrounding Bitcoin mining may take some time to wish away. The companies planning to construct solar mines are dwarfed by those still depending on coal and other traditional energy sources. 

The crypto mining sector has witnessed a difficult period this year because the decentralized nature of Bitcoin lacks well-coordinated transaction verification. Consequently, global bitcoin miners have to source top-of-the-range energy-consuming devices which use fossil fuels like coal.

Research by Cambridge shows that Bitcoin consumes around 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) a year – with no signs of a decrease unless there is a slump in the value. This massive consumption is more than what countries like Argentina, Sweden, and Malaysia consume. Early last month, Bitcoin took a plunge of 30% to about $30,000, a dip that observers attribute to its mining activity and the Tesla effect.

Mexico In Line To Make Bitcoin Legal Tender

By
Adam Barry
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0

After El Salvador made history by being the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender, other countries in Latin America are in hot pursuit with Mexico the latest, to show interest.

A senator of Mexico’s federal government, Eduardo Morat Hinojosa, revealed that he intends to submit a proposal in parliament to enable Mexico to shift to crypto.

In an open show of support for crypto, Hinojosa’s profile picture appeared to speak into a laser eyes microphone. He later wrote that he would promote and propose a legal framework for crypto coins in Mexico’s lower house.

There could be a few days left before legislation is moved in Mexico’s parliament because Hinojosa was not alone in leaning towards crypto adoption. Nuevo Leon senator Indira Kempis Martinez also swapped his profile to display laser eyes, an act that prompted Hinojasa to label her as a friend to the cause.

The Twitter activity comes in the wake of concerted efforts by Latin American countries efforts to deliver a vote to their national assemblies to adopt Bitcoin.

Who will go next?

It started with El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele who stated that he would send a bill to the country’s parliament to switch to Bitcoin as legal tender.

Paraguay, known to be in the shadow of its neighbors, has hinted at joining the exclusive club, and Bitcoin seems to be a likely ticket. Congressman Carlos Rejala said that his country needs to advance hand in hand with the new generation. He further added that the time has come to start with an important project to innovate Paraguay in front of the world. Mr. Carlos envisions Paraguay as a hub for global crypto investors in the next few years.

In Panama, politicians responded to El Salvador’s news with enthusiasm and optimism. However, Congressman Gabriel Silva demanded his country to follow suit, saying that for Panama not to be left behind and become a proper technology and entrepreneurship hub, it needs to support cryptocurrencies.

Other countries in the continent to watch as the cryptocurrency revolution beckons include Brazil, Nicaragua, Argentina, and Venezuela.

El Salvador’s President to Push For Volcano-powered Crypto Miners

By
Adam Barry
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0

Geothermal companies to avail facilities

Bitcoin uses more than 116.7 terawatt-hours.

There has been good news for bitcoin miners in the Latin American country after President Nayib Bukele called for a state-owned electrical company La Geo to avail several facilities.

Mr. Bukele, in a tweet sent on Wednesday, said La Geo should aim to provide very cheap and clean emissions energy that is 100% renewable from the country’s volcanoes.

There are only two geothermal power plants in El Salvador located in the Ahuachapan and Berlin regions. However, there are plans for the construction of new facilities in San Vicente and Chinameca.

The country gets over50% of its energy from renewable energy.

El Salvador boasts 23 active volcanoes that emit over 200 megawatts. However, there are suggestions that it has a power potential slightly higher than 600MW, which means that La Geo uses approximately 31% of the energy available.

Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index indicates that Bitcoin consumes about 117 terawatt-hours of electricity per year which is about 0.6% of the global energy consumption. In the smallest South American country, massive consumption of energy could be detrimental to livelihoods.

This move by President Bukele is the latest in many pro-crypto actions he has undertaken in the past few days. In a recorded message to attendees at the Bitcoin 2021 Conference held in Miami last weekend, Mr. Bukele revealed that he would introduce a bill in the nation’s Legislative Assembly to make Bitcoin Legal Tender in the country. A proposal that a majority voted in favor of making it the first sovereign nation in the world alongside the U.S dollar to achieve that feat.

This legislation provides relief to the 70% of people in El Salvador who neither own a bank account nor a credit card. Most recipients of remittances from abroad rely on expensive incumbent services that sometimes take several days. 

Most governments have shied away from adopting Bitcoin as legal tender simply because no asset backs it, and it only derives its value due to its digital scarcity.

This pronouncement will only serve to increase Bukele’s popularity.

No More Bitcoin Mining in Another Chinese Province

By
Adam Barry
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0

The government will punish Illegal mining farms.

Miners to suspend all services.

Bitcoin mining in the Xinjiang province is just about over. The latest region to ban the operation is Qinghai, where miners have been ordered to stop new projects.
The government will suspend all existing bitcoin mining operations by the end of the year. Officials are going after illegal mining farms that are currently hiding under the guise of big data centers.
BTC PEERS reported that Bitcoin miners in the Zhundong Economic-Technological Development Park of Xinjiang province were ordered to suspend all mining operations. This move triggered a significant drop in Bitcoin’s hash rate.

Why is the government suspending all bitcoin mining operations?

Cryptocurrency mining uses enormous amounts of computing power, energy consumption a significant overhead cost. Thus, when rain is plentiful in summer, miners rush to hydropower stations, which have enough supply and are located in far-off locations, making it hard for them to plug into the national grid. Local governments will often offer power cheaply—or free—to attract workers and get a boost to their gross domestic product figures. “The water would just flow away, so rather than waste it, we contribute to China,” says Tang.

Cryptocurrency mining in the summer uses sustainable and environmentally friendly power sources because of the heavy rain. China has dry winters, meaning the miners have to seek alternative and cheap electricity supplies; solar and wind farms don’t produce steady enough cache-run mining operations. Miners, therefore, turn to the only other alternative: coal. Mining rigs are driven thousands of miles across China to Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. As the seasons change, what some consider the world’s greenest industry—monetizing surplus renewable energy—quickly becomes probably its dirtiest: burning coal to create currency.

This effect on the environment might be one of the reasons why the government might be suspending mining.

Despite China’s Financial Stability and Development Committee calling for a crackdown on Bitcoin mining and trading, very few provinces implemented the ban.

To observers, this comes as a shock, given that China has been one of the biggest markets for Bitcoin.

COTI Enters a New Partnership with SuperFarm to unveil NFT Game With Rewards

By
Adam Barry
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0

COTI wants to do more in line with its protocol for blockchain decentralized payment. It reveals its new plan to work together with SuperFarm to unveil a non-fungible token (NFT) game. The new partnership hopes to undertake the exercise on June 10, 2021. 

COTI’s team perspective

The COTI team says that the people who will get involved in the game will have quite a lot to gain, considering the possibility of winning a prize of about 2 000,000 $COTI. The team hopes that the players will take advantage of the great opportunity to get immersed in gaming and win the outstanding non-fungible tokens(NFTs).

Every game has its set requirements and operating principles. It is the same case with the upcoming NFT game. The COTI team outlines the players with more than 1 000$COTI in their VIPER wallets will have an added advantage. Such players have a greater likelihood of winning. Anyone with any amount will be free to participate, but the ones with more might have the upper hand when it comes to the likelihood of winning. It is a major challenge to the players, and the two parties continue with their final touches in making preparations for the launch. 

The game’s design

COTI seems quite strategic and organized, considering the segmentation of the game into about four seasons, namely Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. It currently works on several things to enable it to move successfully through the unveiling of the grand-final raffle, which is set to be a seasonal undertaking. 

The COTI NFT game borrows heavily from the popular Chinese Da Shuhua Festival, looking at it from several perspectives. The game’s artistry is the perfect reflection of the Yamabuki Ogon Butterfly Koi fish.

It is also possible to look at the game from the symbolic dimension. In such a case, the game happens to represent prosperity, fortune, and ambition. 

A large section of people seems quite impressed, considering their reactions concerning the project. A different group of people referred to COTI as a party that never ceases to surprise it with new and exciting innovations. 

Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio Foresees Great Times Ahead For The Digital Yuan

By
Adam Barry
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0

The recent statement from Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio, could be intriguing to most investors. The official heads the organization, which happens to be one of the topmost investment firms. He has spoken about the high chances of the Digital Yuan staging a strong competition to Bitcoin. 

Yuan indicates stability

Dalio, however, expresses fears over China’s Digital Yuan, outlining that nothing ever takes over anything for good. He speculates the competition that might arise in the new future between Bitcoin and the Yuan. 

The official has been checking out the various dynamics linked to the world’s reserve currency, admitting that the dollar upheld its position over a pretty long time. He believes that the Yuan is the next one everyone should be looking at when thinking about the upcoming or the emergent reserve currency. 

Dalio speaks out on the market forces and their impact. He dives into a deep reflection on Bitcoin’s success and the impacts of its perceived success. He talks about how the regulators continue watching Bitcoin’s performance closely. The leader projects that a remarkable performance could trigger the regulators to start regulating Bitcoin. He cites that the same could happen to the Yuan in case it witnesses tremendous success. 

China is doing well

There have been a lot of speculations regarding how China and the United States have been moving about the whole cryptocurrency issue. China seems outstanding of the two, considering that it is about to complete its activities in developing its digital currency. China points out the possibility of unveiling its central bank digital coin (CBDC) soon if all goes as planned. 

It looks forward to taking advantage of the upcoming Winter Olympics of 2022 to make a move. In other words, the country approaches the finish line of its digital Yuan project, a journey that started way back in 2014. China hopes to succeed on this project, which will make it stand out as the first major economy to issue its digital currency. 

Ray Dalio admits that China is many steps ahead of the United States regarding digital currency programs.

Great Times Ahead For Crypto Wallets And Exchanges After Google Eases Ad Restrictions

By
Adam Barry
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0

It will be a new dawn for all the advertisers that offer Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Wallets if they conform to Google’s set requirements. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) pronounces a new ads policy to govern cryptocurrency adverts. 

Advertisers must observe the set requirements

The company’s move is a great relief for the cryptocurrency advertisers who will enjoy the company’s new and less complex policies. The new policy swings into effect this summer.

The interested parties must meet the set requirements and obtain Google’s certification to benefit from the latest move. 

The company’s official announcement dismisses all the initial certifications. Google will scrap off all the previously existing cryptocurrency certifications and start on a clean slate. It mentioned August 3 as the deadline for the expiry of those certifications. Google won’t honor any of the old certifications anymore after the time in question elapses.

Google calls upon the advertisers in question to move with speed in the application of new certification. The company confirms that it has the paperwork ready and that the advertisers will access it on Thursday, July 8, 2021.

The parent company of Google Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has relied on the advertising business a great deal over the years. It earns up to 80% of its total revenue from the segment, which translated to about $147 billion in the previous year.

Focusing on the requirements

Google has already laid down the foundation for all the advertisers that need to register. Firstly, they must conform to the legal requirements in place at both the federal and the state levels. Secondly, there is the need for the advertisers to develop ads and landing pages that obey all the company’s Ads policies. Thirdly, one must be registered fully.

It is indeed true that Google has eased its regulations, but there are also a few areas where the company still maintains its hard stance. For example, Google still rejects all the adverts centered on the initial coin offerings. 

However, some parties will benefit a huge deal from the company’s move. Those parties happen to be coin exchanges such as Kraken, Coinbase, KuCoin. The Crypto wallets that deal in the off-chain cold storage and the autonomous organizations are also part of those to benefit from the recent development.

UK FAC Extends The Temporary Registration Regime By Nine More Months

By
Adam Barry
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0

The establishment of the Temporary Registrations Regime in the previous year inspired hope in most crypto businesses. The purpose was to pave the way for the crypto businesses to continue trading while the United Kingdom’s Financial Authority (FAC) conducted its background checks on registrations. 

Crypto firms favored by the move

FAC makes a move that analysts deem favorable to the various crypto businesses. It happens to be the extension of the temporary registration end date, which buys the crypto businesses more trading time—the new date shifts from the initial July 2021 to March 2022.

 The new move touches those companies that submitted their applications before December 16, 2020. The companies in question find the recent announcement to be rather favorable to their business endeavors, considering the temporary registration that extends until March 31, 2022.

The FCA continues to play a lot of significant roles as time progresses. Initially, the body embarked on the supervision of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing measures for crypto companies. The body dealt appealed to all the businesses to move fast in complying with the AML regulations in the UK.

Covid-19 as a trigger

There was a great need to move the time from the initial January date following the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus. Most businesses complained about struggles with site visits at the time, among other concerns. The applications received also happened to be rather complex, and thus the need for the extension. 

The FCA had been prompt in its reaction, pronouncing the issuance of the temporary registrations to every party that had to send in its application before December 16. The limited nature of the temporary registration works selectively. In other words, a qualifying business happens to be the one that had been active before January 10, 2020. As usual, there happen to be more companies that wish to move into business, but this time around, there will be a change in plans. Such businesses must follow the full registration procedure.

The FCA confirms that it will continue focusing on its assessment endeavors as the crypto firms in question enjoy the added trading time window.

Beijing Tests Set To Allocate $6.3 Million Digital Yuan To Citizens

By
admin
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0

The Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration has reached an agreement with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to run tests on Digital Yuan. The new undertaking is set to start soon, with the parties involved calling for early registrations. The interested citizens have been asked to register before June 7, 2021.

The distribution exercise

Beijing confirms that it is ready to distribute about $6.3 million worth of CBDC and emphasizes the essence of timely registrations. It considers the move to serve the residents with the $6.3 million digital to be a rather crucial move in its testing endeavors. 

Beijing appears rather strategic in its distribution move, considering the plan to allocate the digital assets through some digital red envelopes. It reveals that each of the envelopes will contain about 200 digital yuan.

Interested persons stare at a great opportunity ahead, with Beijing advising them to enter a lottery system to get the red envelopes. These citizens will need to enter the lottery system through the Bank of China. 

The strategic move

The other way out for the interested citizens would be to turn to some mobile applications linked to the Commercial Bank of China.

There is quite a lot to gain for persons that will receive the red envelopes. For example, they will use the digital Yuan to purchase goods and services. However, they need to make their purchases from merchants that accept CBDC considering that only a select segment of merchants remain open to the deal.

A lot happens to be going on in line with carrying out supportive tests, and the big names are involved. Some of the major companies Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA).

It is good to watch the top-notch companies run tests, but Shenzhen citizens continue prioritizing their privacy. 

The Shenzhen residents know about surveillance concerns, and reports show a significant number of them indicating greater interest in CBDC. 

According to analysts, Beijing’s strategic distribution move is commendable, but the citizens also have a role to play. The citizens must register in good time and locate the merchants that accept Yuan as payment.

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