News updates December 11, 2021

1. WHY INCREASING U.S. DOLLAR STRENGTH IS A RISK FOR BITCOIN PRICE

Historical correlation between the U.S. dollar and bitcoin price indicates that current strengthening of the former could threaten the latter.

For probably about two years now, it has been generally accepted in the cryptocurrency community that “BTC is an independent asset class,” which demonstrates that the first cryptocurrency performs well as an investment tool that hardly correlates with the economic cycle and is not even associated with other asset classes. On August 18, 2020, CoinShares even released a whole report on this, which mainly talked about the lack of correlation between bitcoin and commodities and traditional stocks.

2. European Central Bank exec worries digital euro may hurt foreign currencies

Crypto investors know well by now that institutions like the European Central Bank [ECB] are suspicious of stablecoins and often warn of their risks.

On 10 December, Fabio Panetta, an executive board member of the ECB delivered a speech that rehashed these familiar talking points. However, Panetta also revealed some new and intriguing insights about what the digital euro might do to non-EU economies.

3. Russia prioritizes CBDC ruble as overall crypto outlook seems positive

What is the future of cryptocurrencies in Russia, and can a digital ruble really be introduced in the coming years?

After the Chinese authorities introduced a complete ban on cryptocurrency transactions in September by equating them to illegal financial activity, local cryptocurrency miners either dropped off the radar or moved to other countries in order to continue with their business.

4. The United States subsequently became the leader in terms of Bitcoin (BTC) mining volumes with a share of 35.4%. Modest Kazakhstan is currently in second place (18.1%), and the bronze spot was secured by Russia (11.23%).

It’s not surprising because Russia has several advantages, meaning that conducting crypto business in the country is extremely lucrative for almost any miner. There is cheap electricity and, at least for now, friendly legislative regulation. According to analysts in spring 2021, the price of electricity in Russia was $0.06 per kilowatt-hour for household use and $0.08 for business. To compare, in France, a kWh of electricity costs $0.2 for householders and $0.14 for business, which is four times more expensive than in Russia. Other estimates suggest that the difference in the cost of electricity when mining Bitcoin in Russia and Europe is actually closer to 7.5 times.

5. Binance reportedly in talks to launch crypto exchange in Indonesia

Binance is reportedly in talks with the richest family in Indonesia regarding a new crypto venture.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is reportedly in talks with Indonesia’s richest family, the Hartonos, to open a crypto exchange.

6. Florida governor's budget proposal wants to let businesses pay fees in crypto

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially proposed the state government to allow businesses to pay state fees with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).

The Republican governor announced the idea as part of his 2022–2023 budget proposal, released on Thursday.Florida encourages cryptocurrency as a means of commerce and furthering Florida’s attractiveness to businesses and economic growth,”