News updates March, 2, 2022
Intel's BMZ2 Bitcoin Miners to Improve Gross Profits by 130% Compared to Rival Antminer S19 Pro - GRIID
A US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) filing by GRIID - an American infrastructure company that owns and operates a number of Bitcoin (BTC) mining facilities and one of Intel's first recipients of its upcoming "Bonanza Mine" chips - has claimed that the upcoming Bitcoin miners offer considerable efficiency, rivaling the current market leaders.
Intel's second-generation Bonanza Mine (BMZ2) Bitcoin miners are slated to reach 135 terahash/second (TH/s) with an efficiency of 26 joules/terahash (J/TH). In comparison, the Antminer S19 Pro mining rig, a rival miner, brings 110 TH/s at an efficiency of 30 J/TH.
Given that Intel's miner will come 50% cheaper than rival S19 Pro rig while being 15% more efficient, it would improve gross profits by 130%, GRIID claimed in the investor presentation.
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JP Morgan forays into blockchain tech with this new ‘strategic investment’
After becoming the first bank to dive into the metaverse, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has announced a “strategic investment” in blockchain startup TRM Labs.
On the current investment, Esteban Castaño, Co-Founder and CEO of TRM noted,
“This investment clearly highlights the significance of the growing crypto economy and the importance of building trust and safety in this ecosystem to sustain its growth.”
TRM’s Transaction Monitoring solution aims to allow financial institutions and cryptocurrency businesses to meet Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulatory requirements along with operational risk.
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Uniswap builds interface to swap altcoins into ETH donations for Ukraine
On Tuesday, decentralized exchange Uniswap launched an interface that directly converts ERC-20 tokens — such as Aave, Chainlink’s LINK and Decentraland’s MANA — to Ether (ETH). The coins are then sent to the official crypto wallet addresses of the Ukrainian government, all in a single transaction.
In explaining the rollout, Uniswap claimed that the address shared by Ukraine is located on a centralized exchange and only accepts Ether and Tether (USDT).
But in a tweet cited by the Uniswap team, some members of the crypto community express concern that “The keys to these wallets are held by a centralized Ukrainian exchange” and are asking for a more “secure custody approach.”
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CME Group plans to launch micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether options
Major derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group will launch options trading for its micro Bitcoin and Ether futures products.
In a Tuesday announcement, the CME Group said that subject to regulatory review, it plans to launch options contracts for its existing micro Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) futures that will be 10% the size of the respective tokens. The futures options, expected to start trading on March 28, will come more than two years after the firm launched a BTC options trading product in January 2020 and more than four years since the group launched the first Bitcoin futures contract in December 2017.
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‪BitConnet’s CEO Flees India After Crackdown Of $2.4 Billion Crypto Ponzi Scheme
The long-standing crypto fraud case against BitConnect, its founder, and promoters is yet to be resolved. The SEC has revealed that Satish Kumbhani, the founder of the crypto exchange, is nowhere to be found.
In a recent court filing, SEC attorney Richard Primoff stated that Kumbhani has disappeared from his native country, India. He added that all attempts to know his whereabouts have failed.
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The U.S. Moves To Block Russia’s Crypto Access As Sanctions Intensify
Recent reports reveal the US government is currently in talks with some of the biggest US-based crypto companies on ways to restrict Russia’s access to crypto services. The move comes as the latest in a series of significant steps taken by the White House and aimed at deterring Russia’s aggression.
Crypto.com, Binance, Kraken, and Bittrex are some of the biggest crypto exchange service providers in the country with strong regulatory ties to the US market. These exchanges, and other crypto service providers, will be the focus of the US government to limit undue profit exploitation from frantic Russian users.
Last week, foreign policy experts had warned that the Russian government had expected a flurry of Biden’s sanctions and will look to circumvent them using the power of crypto.
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South Korean Court Rejects Challenge to Strict Crypto, NFT Gaming Law
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has upheld a law that blocks gamers from buying and selling crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – and seeks to punish those trading video game-related coins and items.
Two unnamed individuals had sought to appeal to the court following prosecution, claiming that the Game Industry Act, which stipulates that the act of exchanging virtual currency acquired in games is punishable by law, was a violation of the nation’s constitution. Had the duo been successful, the case would likely have opened the floodgates for play-to-earn (P2E) games, which are currently barred by the national gaming regulator.
The media outlet News1, however, reported that the Constitutional Court had decided to dismiss the complaint, the court’s judges “unanimously” ruling against the appeal.
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Bitcoin Demand Booms in Ukraine and Russia
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven demand for cryptocurrencies in both countries, helping boost the price of bitcoin.
Bitcoin has been trading at a premium against the Ukrainian hryvnia on a number of exchanges, both globally and locally, a sign of high demand. On Binance, the largest exchange in the world, bitcoin was trading for the equivalent of $46,646 in hryvnia terms. On Kuna, the largest exchange in Ukraine, it was at $46,614, and had traded as high as $51,240.
In U.S. markets, bitcoin was recently trading at $44,178, up about 16% since Monday morning, according to data from CoinDesk.
On Binance, there has been a surge in trading volume of bitcoin in exchange for rubles since just before Russia’s invasion began. Between Feb. 20 and 28, about 1,792 bitcoins exchanged hands in the ruble/bitcoin trading pair, compared with only 522 in the nine days before that, according to data on Binance.
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Market Wrap: Bitcoin Decouples From Stocks Ahead of Seasonally Weak March
Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies ended February with a sharp rebound, which extended into March, albeit at a slower pace.
It appears that bearish sentiment is starting to fade despite ongoing geopolitical risk. For example, the bitcoin Fear & Greed Index, which measures the mood among crypto traders, rose from "extreme fear" territory and is back around neutral levels.
Meanwhile, bitcoin's average trading volume across spot exchanges reached the highest level since December on Tuesday, which could be an early sign of capitulation among sellers. The ratio of buy volume relative to sell volume also ticked higher over the past week, suggesting renewed bullish activity.
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