Category Archives: Bitcoin

What organizers call the worlds largest bitcoin convention took place in Miami Beach this month.

For $999 in traditional U.S. currency you could spend a couple of days with 12,000 fellow bitcoin enthusiasts doing all manner of bitcoin things: perusing the bitcoin art gallery, testing the latest and greatest bitcoin mining rigs and attending panels with topics ranging from Decentralizing Yourself to Fighting the Anti-Crypto Army.

That 12,000 figure is less than half of last years attendance, which probably has something to do with bitcoins value dropping about 60% from its all-time high in 2021.

Bitcoin 2023 was mostly a normal business convention. Picture companies in a giant expo hall hawking their wares, small battalions of attractive young salespeople in brightly logoed T-shirts trying to lure passersby with the siren song of conference swag.

But there were eccentricities like bitcoin-themed bathroom products.

Im asking everyone at the conference here if their butts clean, because were selling butt wipes, Peter Baraniecki said while manning a table at the conventions Bitcoin Bazaar, a mini-flea market for bitcoin merchandise.

Next to his bitcoin-themed wipes was a toilet with stickers of non-bitcoin cryptocurrencies like dogecoin adorning the inside of the bowl. Bitcoiners refer to pretty much all other cryptocurrencies as s-coins. You can tell from the not-so-subtle toilet context what the s stands for.

So-called bitcoin maximalists, or bitcoin maxis for short, believe bitcoin is the only digital currency that can and will replace traditional money.

Although judging by Baranieckis sales, that might take a while.

We had about 20 sales so far since this morning, Baraniecki said. I would say maybe three or four used bitcoin. The rest were either cash or credit.

Baraniecki himself said he doesnt own bitcoin, which was the case for a surprising number of people I talked to at the event. Tali Lindberg has a name for them.

Precoiners, Lindberg said. People who maybe have heard of bitcoin, but theyre on the fence.They dont know what it is exactly. They dont trust it yet, they dont understand it.

Lindberg used to be a precoiner herself. Shes a stay-at-home mom who home-schooled four kids in Kentucky.

Her bitcoin-loving husband developed a board game so she could better understand it. They sold a deluxe edition at the Bitcoin Bazaar for $84.

Its called HODL Up, Lindberg said. The goal is for each player to HODL as many bitcoin tokens as possible.

HODL is a bitcoiner credo, basically shorthand for hold on for dear life. More practically, it means never sell which is what Lindberg did as bitcoins price fell from its approximately $68,000 peak to its current $27,000.

All I can say is every dollar we have to spare we put it into bitcoin, Lindberg said. Some people are like, You shouldnt put all your eggs into one basket. This is the only basket I believe in.

Many bitcoin maxis actually cheered the downfall of FTX and its boss, Sam Bankman Fried. They detest the idea of a centralized exchange or centralized anything.

And theyre used to riding the wild swings of the bitcoin market.

Ben Bryla climbed on to a mechanical bull in the center of the expo hall. He rode it for a minute and half before finally falling off. That tied his time from last year, which was almost enough to win the competition.

Last year, first place was an entire bitcoin, which at the time was 40 grand. This year theyve changed it up, and its a whale pass for next year, Bryla said.

A whale pass is basically a VIP ticket for bitcoin high rollers.

Bryla said he takes home 10% of his salary from a global human resources company in bitcoin. Given the news about the traditional financial system lately, hes not selling.

Each one of these bank collapses, while the Federal Reserve sits there and tells you that the banking system is fine and theres nothing to worry about, its an advertisement for an egalitarian system like bitcoin, Bryla said.

At times, Bitcoin 2023 felt a bit like a libertarian comic-con.

Theres a reverse Plinko-style game in which you try to navigate a coin away from banks and the Fed. One of the biggest applause lines from keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a knock against COVID lockdowns.

And while the bitcoiners were, for the most part, very friendly and welcoming, tens of thousands of them invading your city can be a little annoying to some locals.

On Friday night at a bar in South Beach, a group of crypto conventioneers joined a karaoke chorus belting out Neil Diamond. Iliana Cordero can spot them pretty easily.

White socks and sneakers, Cordero said. Some kind of dumb hat. They dont have a Miami vibe, like Look at this. They look like theyre on a Carnival Cruise line.

Cordero is a chef and a Miami local. She said her restaurant did business with the bitcoin convention last year.

And although she said she never takes payment in bitcoin, she does own some.

It just kind of sits there and itll do what it does, Cordero said. I dont need that money. So its there to grow or to dissipate. Well find out.

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At bitcoins annual convention, few feel the chill of crypto winter - Marketplace

The Bitcoin Association for BSV sheds light on how it is empowering builders to bring the original protocol to market

LONDON, May 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Bitcoin Association for BSV announced that it has been granted stewardship of the Bitcoin protocol. On the first day of the inaugural London Blockchain Conference, taking place 31 May through 1 June, the Bitcoin Association's Connor Murray, Stewardship Director, and Martin Coxall, Marketing Director unveiled how the organisation is currently working on the implementation of the technical and operational processes to actively steward the system.

Connor Murray said, "With BitcoinSV, we want to provide a solution to enterprises and governments that make the world more transparent and honest. Bitcoin was always designed to fit within existing legal structures, and as we continue to document and restore the original protocol, we want to ensure that we are working with, not against governments and policymakers worldwide."

As stewards and network authority, the Bitcoin Association for BSV will set out to build and maintain the core infrastructure as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto. This mandate also includes empowering those that are actively building upon this protocol which is characterized by its four inherent pillars: stability, scalability, security & safe instant transactions.

On empowering the builders of the BSV blockchain, Martin Coxall added, "It only makes sense to protect the original Bitcoin protocol if the blockchain is actually utilized. By offering resources to builders, such as educational, technical and networking opportunities, we are accelerating the adoption of BitcoinSV to the enterprise and beyond."

The session also spotlighted Digital Asset Recovery, a tool through which individuals can freeze and recover lost or stolen coins on the blockchain through a legal court order. And finally, Coxall discussed the recent record setting day on the BSV blockchain, in which approximately 85 million transactions were processed in just 24 hours. Vaionex, an API services company, led the majority of transactions by deploying TIMESEAL, a new application that will have a profound impact on how governments and enterprises approach blockchain adoption. TIMESEAL will be fully unveiled at this week's conference.

If you would like toattend or listen to any of the session this week, please register hereusing PROMO CODE: LBCMEDIA23.

If you would like to interview any of the speaker/keynotes from the conference, please email: [emailprotected].

About Bitcoin Association for BSV

Bitcoin Association for BSV is a non-profit association (Verein) in Switzerland and the global industry organisation which advances Bitcoin SV (BSV). It brings together enterprises, start-up ventures, developers, merchants, exchanges, service providers, blockchain transaction processors (miners), and others in the Bitcoin SV ecosystem. The Association supports Bitcoin SV as the original Bitcoin, with a stable protocol and massive scaling roadmap to becoming the world's new money and global blockchain for enterprise. The organisation seeks to build a regulation-friendly ecosystem that fosters lawful conduct while encouraging digital currency and blockchain innovation.

About the London Blockchain Conference:

NETWORK. LEARN. ENGAGE.

At the London Blockchain Conference, we show how the BSV Blockchain will change the world and help people see another way to manage data, build scalable on-chain solutions and achieve great things. We do this by creating valuable, insightful, and engaging events that educate and inform, allowing you to connect and network to build strong business relationships. Our conference is the best avenue to see blockchain innovations, big ecosystem announcements, new product launches, technology updates, keynote speeches, panels, and fireside chats from blockchain leaders. Join us and experience it for yourself.

Lightning Sharks, on behalf of the London Blockchain Conference

Key contact:Haris Khan-[emailprotected]-+44 (0) 7503 581 563

SOURCE Bitcoin Association for BSV

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Bitcoin Association for BSV to Serve as Steward of Bitcoin Protocol - PR Newswire

WASHINGTON Firoz Patel, 48, of Canada, was ordered detained today following indictment on charges of laundering 450 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $24,020,699.83 at the time of the transaction, shortly before he reported to prison in another case in 2021. The two-count indictment, unsealed on May 17, 2023, charges Patel with money laundering and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered Patel be detained pending trial.

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.

Previously, Patel, his brother, Ferhan, and their company, MH Pillars, Inc., d/b/a Payza, were prosecuted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for operating an Internet-based unlicensed money service business that processed more than $250 million in transactions. Through Payza.com, the defendants ran a money transmitting business that operated without the necessary state licenses and knowingly transmitted funds that were derived from illegal activity. The brothers each pled guilty to conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States by operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and by laundering monetary instruments. As part of his plea agreement, Firoz Patel was required to disclose all known assets to the U.S. government. On November 10, 2020, Patel was sentenced to 36 months in prison and was given a reporting date. The court also entered a forfeiture judgment for any property, real or personal, involved in the offense to which Firoz Patel had pled guilty.

According to court documents, between his sentencing and reporting dates, Patel transferred 450 BTC, traceable to Payza.com, to an account at a virtual currency exchange in the United Kingdom. The 450 Bitcoin would have been subject to forfeiture in Patels previous criminal case. The virtual currency exchange account was opened using the name and date of birth of Patels father, but with an email address and phone number controlled by Firoz Patel. When the virtual currency exchange requested additional information about the account and the large deposit, it received a response in the name of an employee of a company in India affiliated with Payza. The account containing the 450 Bitcoin was ultimately frozen.

This matter is being investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arvind K. Lal and Christopher B. Brown.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Originally posted here:
Former Operator of Payza.com Charged with Laundering 450 Bitcoin - Department of Justice

Each year at the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP), individual countries are pressured to ramp up their emissions reductions promises and showcase evidence they are taking steps to meet them.

With Bitcoin mining blamed for using as much power as an entire country, and politicians searching for easy targets to strike, the industry appears to be on a collision course with these global commitments to achieve net-zero emissions.

While its not possible to ban Bitcoin completely, lawmakers and regulators can tank the price and make life very difficult in the years ahead for the number one cryptocurrency.

There are signs its already happening.

A report from the European Commission at the end of 2022 stated that EU countries must be ready to block crypto mining, and the trading blocks new MiCA rules were at one stage set to include a ban on Bitcoin mining. The recently adopted legislation still leaves this door ajar, however, aiming to reduce the high carbon footprint of crypto-currencies by making service providers disclose their energy consumption.

Across the pond, the Biden administration has proposed a 30% excise tax on the power consumption of U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations. The tax would be imposed regardless of whether the power is renewable, with the administration arguing Bitcoin minings power consumption of renewable energy will slow down the transition to Net Zero. Thats in contrast to a New York moratorium on Bitcoin mining in 2022 that exempted firms powered by renewable energy.

The U.S. government appears to be taking to heart the White House Office of Science and Technology Policys September 2022 report that claimed the environmental impact of producing cryptocurrencies could impede U.S. efforts to combat climate change.

Former member of the Bitcoin Mining Council and independent researcher Hass McCook doesnt mince his words about threats to ban mining.

Governments should focus on greening their grids, which miners rely upon, as opposed to trying to ban an unbannable technology.

The Swedish government was behind last years push to outlaw crypto mining in the EU and, last month, took steps to price Bitcoin miners out of the market by abolishing various tax incentives. Starting in July, Sweden will increase the electricity tax by 6,000% from 0.006 Swedish kronas ($0.0006) to an extraordinary 0.36 kronas ($0.035) per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Governments around the world are actively looking at Bitcoin minings energy consumption, explains Brad van Voorhees, co-founder and CEO of Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol, which incentivizes the use of renewables for mining.

Sweden has already imposed a 6,000% tax on energy for BTC mining, and the Biden administration has proposed a 30% tax, which would undoubtedly mean miners move offshore, he adds.

The tax will likely never pass in the U.S., but nonetheless, the sector should focus on clean energy use and data transparency to mitigate this risk.

Others agree with van Voorhees that Net Zero is an opportunity to set Bitcoin mining on a new and more sustainable path. Morten Rngaard is a member of the Nordic Blockchain Association and CEO of Reality+, a Web3 and blockchain company.

The collision between Bitcoin and Net-Zero commitments is a call to action. Its an opportunity to harness the power of innovation and renewable energy, steering both towards a greener and more inclusive landscape, he says.

The focus on Bitcoin mining power usage was given additional impetus after Ethereum moved to proof-of-stake last year and saved 99.95% of its energy consumption as a result. While Bitcoiners believe PoS stands for piece of shit, the success of the blockchains energy transformation has made Bitcoin look like it is stuck in a corner using anachronistic tech.

There are now groups demanding changes to Bitcoins underlying protocol as well.

Greenpeaces Change the Code Not the Climate (Clean Up Bitcoin) lobby group is pushing to change Bitcoins consensus mechanism from proof-of-work, to proof-of-stake.

We know a basic software code change would reduce Bitcoins energy use by 99.9%. If only 30 people the key miners, exchanges, and core developers who build and contribute to Bitcoins code agreed to reinvent proof-of-work mining or move to a low-energy protocol, Bitcoin would stop polluting the planet. So why isnt Bitcoin changing its code?

This is misinformation, however, given the Bitcoin community needs to agree on a change, rather than a small group of just 30 people. The Bitcoin community split over the much smaller change of increasing the block size in 2017, leading to the Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV forks, so the chances of an agreement to change the fundamental nature of the technology are hard to envisage at this point.

The industrys big hope to date has been that progressively moving away from fossil fuels to rely more on sustainable and renewable power, such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power, will placate governments.

But as the Swedish and U.S. governments have said, that may not be enough. For governments and regulators trying to comply with their international climate change commitments, there will be a bunch of hard decisions to be made. Even a mining industry 100% powered by renewable energy could be a target, as that emissions-free energy could be freed up at the stroke of a pen to help a more politically valuable industry, like manufacturing, meet emissions targets.

The Cambridge Bitcoin electricity consumption site estimates Bitcoin network power demand and is updated every 24 hours and works with all major actors to cut down on carbon emissions. It conducts experiments to evaluate Bitcoins environmental footprint assuming the worst-case scenario.

By using the latest annual power consumption estimates of 143.63 TWh and, assuming that all this energy comes exclusively from coal, and is generated in an inefficient coal-fired power plant, the Bitcoin footprint would be 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Thats around 0.35% of the worlds total annual emissions.

Bitcoiners point out that the network uses less power than the banking system (200 TWh) and a majority of the power used by the industry is renewable. They also claim mining can incentivize renewable electricity generation and make marginal green power projects viable.

But even taking these factors into account, mining still uses a ton of power, to which Bitcoiners argue that its energy well-spent securing the hardest and best money known to humanity.

But non-Bitcoiners tend to look at the power use of the alternatives. The site estimates that Ethereum is using around 6.76 GWh per year. In other words, Bitcoin is using 21,000 times more power per year.

According to the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute, before its transition to proof-of-stake, a single Ethereum transaction used 200.05 kWh of electricity, on par with how much the average U.S. household uses in 6.7 days.

According to Digiconomist, that consumption is now as low as 0.03 kWh, and the carbon footprint stands at 0.01 kgCO2, which is equivalent to the energy used when watching two hours of YouTube.

(Please dont email us to point out that the network uses the same amount of power regardless of the number of transactions we know, its just illustrative).

Digiconomists Ethereum Energy Consumption Index highlights just how radically different PoW power consumption is to PoS.

U.K.-based Block Dojo describes itself as the largest Bitcoin blockchain incubator in the world, but in fact, its based on the Bitcoin fork Bitcoin SV. It claims to be responsible for 24% of all blockchain investments in the United Kingdom. Chairman James Marchant says the energy use of Bitcoin is an opportunity for other blockchains like Bitcoin SV.

The total energy use versus the number of transactions BTC can process per day is catastrophic. BTC does not implement the protocol as per the Satoshi white paper. We are seeing developers and entrepreneurs turning to a scalable blockchain solution away from BTC, and Net-Zero objectives is one of several key reasons for this, he says.

The people driving the crypto industry forward are likely to be the younger demographic, Generation Z, which is increasingly sensitive to climate change concerns.

But the industry is not hiding its head in the sand, with bodies like the Bitcoin Mining Council attempting to address such concerns.

Welcoming Bitcoin miners of all shapes and sizes it accounts for about half the worlds miners now the Council is a voluntary forum that shares best practices and educates the public on mining.

Its most famous, and first, member is MicroStrategy boss Michael Saylor, who arranged the first meeting of the Council and is a strong adherent for managing miners energy use and employing sustainable alternatives.

Its latest quarterly report (based on self-reports from a survey and then estimated across the remainder of the industry) suggests miners are currently using a 58.9% sustainable energy mix.

Renewable energy can potentially mitigate Bitcoins environmental impact. There are many examples of mining facilities now powered by solar, wind or hydroelectric energy or using stranded energy or mining using flared gas that would otherwise be wasted. If the renewable energy lobbys claim that green power is the cheapest form of electricity, then miners will inevitably use more of it, explains McCook.Bitcoin mining is a perfectly competitive industry. This means players will do anything to maximize profit. Anything. This means they chase the cheapest possible electricity available. This is increasingly becoming renewable, he says.

Darren Franceschini, co-founder of Fideum Group a London-based crypto funding company agrees the industry is embracing wind and solar as much for economic reasons as anything else.

With fossil fuel prices soaring, miners are economically driven to achieve Net-Zero emissions, he says. Carbon pricing mechanisms and green energy subsidies could further promote the adoption of renewable energy sources within the mining sector.

Bitcoin advocates like Nic Carter argue that mining can play a role in growing the sustainable energy sector by using excess electricity capacity for energy efficiency or helping to finance renewable projects.

The need for electricity in the creation of Bitcoin is obviously a concern. At the same time, it is one of the best-use cases for excess electricity capacity vital in the renewables sector, says Toby Lewis, co-founder of Ordinals Bot. With the right incentives, Bitcoin can become a financing mechanism for the renewable grid.

The question is not whether or not this argument is correct and its a source of contention even in the crypto community its whether governments and regulators can be convinced it is.

It will be a hard sell to convince lawmakers, but Josef Ttek, a Bitcoin analyst at hardware wallet provider Trezor, argues that Bitcoin mining is a net positive for climate change.

Contrary to some claims, Bitcoin mining is beneficial for the environment and bootstraps renewable energy generation, he says, noting mining pops up wherever theres cheap renewable power.

For example, just recently, we have learned that the kingdom of Bhutan has been mining Bitcoin with its hydroelectric stations for years.

It will be interesting to see whether the result of a clampdown on mining by bigger countries will see mining nomads shift operations to crypto-friendly countries that provide sustainable power like Bhutan.

The small hermit kingdom in the Himalayas is watered by glaciers in the mountains. It has huge stores of hydroelectricity, providing 30% of the countrys GDP and literally fuelling the homes of nearly all of its 800,000 residents. According to Forbes, the country is following the example of El Salvador by becoming one of two countries to run a state-owned mining operation.

Nick Jones, CEO of Zumo a crypto-as-a-service platform believes that crypto is well-placed to quickly reduce emissions.

All sectors need to rapidly decarbonize, and crypto has an opportunity to do this more quickly than most. Bitcoins carbon footprint is due almost entirely to electricity consumption, and we have the technology to rapidly decarbonize.Significant progress has been made, but there is still much to do, he says.

The unexpected recent addition of NFTs and tokens to Bitcoin via Ordinals has created a huge wave of additional demand for the blockchain. Last month, the daily record for inscriptions using Bitcoin Ordinals was broken four times as users flooded the network with images, games and other content.

Daniel Santos, co-founder of Gamepay, argues that Ordinals is the first successful protocol built on Bitcoin and will result in more adoption, which in turn will mean more mining and more power to be generated.

Governments will step in and regulate mining for sure, especially as Ordinals take hold. There will also be a drive for green energy, even if a lot of Bitcoin mining is done with green energy, he says.

I suspect governments will require miners to have licenses to mine.

Ordinals could be the proverbial straw that breaks the camels back for Bitcoin and its energy consumption. Moreover, as the crypto winner begins to thaw, the demand for the currency is also expected to surge as the currencys price climbs.

This is an issue that will run for years to come. Prepare for demonstrations against Bitcoin and more proposals to ban either the protocol or mining.

While Bitcoin is unbannable, there is a need to address emissions and to be on the front foot in the public debate. Whether change comes from within the industry or via external intervention is a question the crypto community needs to urgently address.

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Monty Munford writes regularly for the BBC, The Economist and City AM and has been a tech columnist for Forbes and The Telegraph. He also runs a growth and visibility consultancy and has appeared at more than 200 events and conferences, interviewing figures such as Tim Draper, the late John McAfee, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Steve Wozniak, Kim Kardashian, Guns N Roses and many others.

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Bitcoin is on a collision course with 'Net Zero' promises - Cointelegraph

In the first technical panel of theLondon Blockchain Conference,Connor MurrayandMarcin Zarakowskihosted a fireside chat withDr. Craig Wright. They covered how Bitcoin is a unilateral contract, what that means, and the specific obligations of certain parties within the ecosystem under the terms of that contract.

Blockchain is not enough by itself

Dr. Wright begins by pointing out something that should be obvious but seems to be lost on many in theblockchain and digital currencyindustry; trade doesnt just happen by itself, and blockchain isnt the only thing required to make it work.

In the real world, deadlines have to be met, goods have to be transported, etc., and this requires contracts and the law. Blockchain can make things more efficient, providing time-stamped records and real-time audit capability, but it has to work within existing frameworks that govern global trade today.

Before releasing Bitcoin, Dr. Wright did advanced degrees in computer science and law to understand how Bitcoin should work legally. He says that all digital cash systems before Bitcoin failed because they tried to beanonymousand didnt consider the law.Traceabilityis what makes Bitcoin different from these previous attempts.

Bitcoin is a unilateral contract

Moving into the main topic of the fireside chat, Dr. Wright explains thatBitcoin is a unilateral contract, which means its an offer made to the world. Therefore, the protocol must be stable to allow people to build applications that still work decades from now, and the terms outlined in the Bitcoin white paper, as well as some of the comments made by Dr. Wright as Satoshi Nakamoto, are legally binding.

Even small protocol tweaks can mess things up in unintended ways. Dr. Wright explains how, when working with his teams at Hotwire and DeMorgan to try to scale Bitcoin, the constant tweaks made by BTC Core developers constantly set things back and made them go back to the drawing board. This underscores why its so important for the protocol to beset in stone, as Satoshi said. He points out that the internet survived for this reason; the protocol was set in such a way that apps designed in the 90s would still work today.

As well as the unilateral contract, Dr. Wright explains there are many other contracts and parties involved in Bitcoin. Users, developers, and other actors in the ecosystem are bound to behave honestly according to the terms set out in the white paper.

What are the Bitcoin Associations specific obligations? To ensure that Bitcoin scales and is stable. In short, it has to ensure that someones Bitcoin application still works 10 years from now and that they will never lose the investment they put into building it because of protocol changes.

On Bitcoin nodes

Speaking aboutBitcoin nodes, Dr. Wright explains that they are clearly defined in section five of the Bitcoin white paper. They create and distribute blocks. He reminds us that Bitcoin is a small world network, and all nodes are connected. Theyre paid to validate, order, and broadcast transactions and are bound legally to behave honestly.

Tying in nodes with his grander vision for Bitcoin, Dr. Wright highlights how pointless the raspberry pi so-called nodes on networks like BTC are. It is his vision that Bitcoin scales toas many as a trillion transactions per blockwith terabytes of data in each. This isnt easy, and simply increasing the block size is not enough. After years of work bynChain, theBitcoin Association, and others, we are finally approaching the point where Bitcoin will finally scale to these levels.

On decentralization

There is perhaps no term in Bitcoin and the blockchain industry that is more widely misunderstood thandecentralization. In the final section of this fireside chat, Dr. Wright explains that it has nothing to do with running a node at home. In fact, Satoshi Nakamoto explicitly expressed that this wont be the way things are at scale.

Bitcoin is a resilient, decentralized network because multiple nodes make it more secure. He points out that single servers can not scale to the levels Bitcoin can, and theyre nowhere near as secure as multiple nodes would be, either. In his view, Bitcoin will be able to run 1,000 Twitter simultaneously, thanks to its distributed nature.

As of right now, no blockchain is truly decentralized, he says. Theres always a small group that is in control, such as BTC Core or the Ethereum Foundation.

Watch: Create the future with blockchain

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeeksBitcoin for Beginnerssection, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoinas originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamotoand blockchain.

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Using Bitcoin to build a business - The Unilateral Contract - CoinGeek

ChatGPT has become one of the go-to tools for crypto investors looking to analyze new and established coins.

The models objective insights are invaluable to these investors, given that crypto trading is often emotionally charged.

This article delves into ChatGPTs Bitcoin price forecast for the rest of 2023 while shedding light onWall Street Memes, a crypto presale sensation that has swiftly amassed over $1.7 million in just five days.

Bitcoin ($BTC) holders have been on a wild ride recently, as the sustained bullish momentum from January to April has been replaced with tremendous volatility.

Since Sunday evening, the Bitcoin price has dropped by nearly 5%, hovering just above the critical $27,000 level.

Yet, even after taking this drop into account, Bitcoin is still up by 63% YTD highlighting the remarkable investor optimism.

The recent positivity around Bitcoin has been driven by macroeconomic factors rather than anything specifically related to the coin itself.

A key contributor has been the slowdown in US inflation levels, with the latestCPI datashowing that inflation has been gradually dropping for nearly a year.

Now that inflation is cooling, theres a much higher likelihood that the Fed will pause interest rate hikes or even begin to lower them.

TheCME FedWatchtool, widely used as a way to estimate the Feds next move, now estimates that theres a 34.7% chance that interest rates will remain at their current level at the next FOMC meeting.

This is good news for Bitcoiners since high interest rates often lead investors to seek perceived safer assets such as bonds.

Consequently, when rates look like they might be about to fall, investors are more inclined to add cryptocurrencies to their portfolio increasing demand for BTC and boosting price.

This is where ChatGPT comes in, as OpenAIs language model believes this (among other factors) could spark some bullish momentum in the latter half of the year.

Per ChatGPT, Bitcoin could be trading around the $35,000 level by the end of the year 29% higher than the current price.

ChatGPT states that interest rate decisions and other factors, like regulation and technological developments, would drive any potential price increases.

Ultimately, ChatGPTs thoughts are clear Bitcoins future remains bright, which will make for positive reading for long-term holders.

However, its not just Bitcoin garnering attention lately.

The burgeoning meme coin projectWall Street Memes ($WSM)has also caught ChatGPTs interest, thanks to the remarkable response to its presale phase.

Wall Street Memes presale kicked off on May 26, yet has already raised over $1.7 million in funding, as excited investors clamor to buy $WSM tokens at a low price point.

Its unique structure has driven much of the interest in this presale. The presale is split into 30 stages, each with a gradually increasing price point meaning the earlier that investors get involved, the lower their entry price.

Moreover, Wall Street Memes already boasts a robust following of over 1.1 million people, thanks to the prior success of theWall St Bulls NFT collection, which was launched in 2021 and sold out in 32 minutes.

The Wall Street Memes team now aims to tokenize this colossal community by creating the$WSM token, which is indirectly linked to the Reddit subculture that spawned following the GameStop/WallStreetBets saga.

Not only that, but $WSM has also caught the eye of some big names in the market with the Chain Review Twitter accounttweetingthat $WSM is now disrupting the crypto space.

All of these factors play into ChatGPTs bullish price forecast for $WSM. Per ChatGPT, $WSM could reach $0.12 by the end of the year.

If this scenario played out, it would be a 363% increase from the current presale price.

With its promising community backing and the bullish prediction from ChatGPT, the Wall Street Memes project looks set to become a significant player in the rapidly-evolving meme coin niche.

Visit Wall Street Memes Presale

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ChatGPTs Bitcoin Price Prediction is $35,000, Also Backing Wall ... - Finbold - Finance in Bold

Best Bitcoin Casinos

Are you on the hunt for the top Bitcoin casinos to try out in 2023? If thats the case, youve landed in the right spot! The Bitcoin gambling scene has seen a surge in popularity over the past few years, and with the myriad of choices out there, it can be a bit overwhelming to identify a reliable and trustworthy platform.

I have prepared an all-encompassing list of some of the most commendable Bitcoin casinos, leveraging data analytics from Sts-Canada.Ca to inform my selection.

Each of these casinos has been thoroughly examined and evaluated to confirm their quality, and were pleased to affirm that every one of them is worth your consideration.

So, get your favorite beverage, make yourself comfortable, and delve into our exhaustive list of the top Bitcoin casinos:

Jackpot City casino is a top-rated online casino that holds a license from the Malta Gaming Authority. Jackpot City accepts Bitcoin payments, making it a popular option for players who prefer to use cryptocurrency.

One of the standout features of Jackpot City is its eye-catching design. The website features a bold, bright colour scheme and graphics designed to provide an immersive gaming experience. Navigation is intuitive and straightforward, and games are organised into clear, easy-to-use categories.

Jackpot City offers a mobile version of their casino for players who like to gamble on the go. The mobile site is well-designed, with the same striking graphics and intuitive navigation as the desktop version.

The mobile site is optimised for use on smartphones and tablets, and it offers a wide selection of games that can be played from anywhere at any time.

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Website

jackpotcitycasino.com

Languages

English, French, Greek, Swedish, Latvian, Serbian, Czech, Croatian, Turkish, Lithuanian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Norwegian, Armenian, Finnish, Estonian, Icelandic, Korean, Indonesian, Ukrainian, Italian, Azerbaijani

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1998

Founder

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Licenses

Malta Gaming Authority

Payment Methods

Citadel Instant Banking, Skrill, Direct Bank Transfer, Trustly, Instant Bank Transfer, Interac, ClickandBuy, EcoPayz, Maestro, MasterCard, Neteller, Paysafe Card, instaDebit, Visa, Entropay, Lobanet, eChecks, iDebit, Euteller, Siirto, Rapid Transfer, MuchBetter

Withdrawal Times

EWallets: 2448 hours

Bank Transfers: 37 days

Bank Card Payments: 26 days

Cryptocurrency: up to 24 hours

Min Deposit

C$10

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Bonus Name

Description

Welcome Bonus

400% up to C$1,600

22bet casino is a licensed online gambling platform that caters to players all over the world who are looking for a thrilling gaming experience. One of the most attractive features of this casino is that it accepts bitcoin, which is a popular cryptocurrency.

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Description

Website

22bet.com

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Established

2018

Founder

TechSolutions (CY) Group Limited

Licenses

Kahnawake license

Curaao

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First Deposit Bonus

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Justbit casino is a top-rated online casino that has a lot to offer to its players. Not only is it licensed, but it also accepts Bitcoin, making it a preferred choice for players who enjoy cryptocurrency gaming.

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Website

justbit.io

Languages

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Established

2021

Founder

Casbit Group N.V.

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Curaao

Payment Methods

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best-bitcoin-casinos-for-2023-top-rated-btc-casino-sites - Analytics Insight

Lucrative opportunities await in far-flung corners of the crypto market, as the price of wrapped Bitcoin on Richard Hearts new PulseChain reached an all-time high of $70,000 last Wednesday.

The founder tweeted the new all-time high for Bitcoin (BTC) or wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) after the asset spiked from $27,000 to $70,000.

The graph below shows wBTCs parabolic rise from $27,000 to $70,000 in roughly 20 minutes.

The price stayed at $70,000 for 10 minutes before falling spectacularly to reclaim earlier levels.

The wrapped Bitcoins volatility revealed PulseChains weaknesses rather than its strengths after volume spiked for no reason when the price rose.

Activity on the platform was previously almost nonexistent, with one crypto user saying it took a sub-$40,000 capital injection to increase the wrapped-Bitcoins price, betraying the platforms low popularity and use.

wBTCs pronounced volatility in long and short trades is also characteristic of a classic pump-and-dump scheme. The low capital required to move markets suggests even non-whales could manipulate Bitcoins price on the network.

Lower Bitcoin liquidity after the collapse of Alameda Research allowed whales to move markets with lower trading volumes.

Since its launch, PulseChain has failed to meet its founders expectations. The projects native HEX token has fallen by over 50% and gained minimal buy-in from DeFi participants.

Accordingly, users may also wonder why Heart would flaunt the spike in wBTCs price.

PulseChains HEX website launched a dedicated scam section following complaints from the crypto community. Heart has also been publicly accused several times.

Skeptics highlight the promise of tangible rewards for holding crypto as a major red flag. HEX users can stake crypto to earn 40% in annual rewards.

Other factors lending doubt to the projects credibility include:

CoinFabrik and ChainSecurity code audits confirmed that HEX smart contracts contain no bugs.

For BeInCryptos latestBitcoin(BTC) analysis,click here.

In adherence to the Trust Project guidelines, BeInCrypto is committed to unbiased, transparent reporting. This news article aims to provide accurate, timely information. However, readers are advised to verify facts independently and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.

See more here:
Bitcoin Reaches $70,000 on Controversial PulseChain - BeInCrypto

The Bitcoin network is secure. Like, really secure. For now, anyway.

The amount of computing power crunching numbers to keep the network operational makes it nearly impossible for any central entity to overrun it.

The most prominent of all decentralized networks achieves this degree of security by rewarding competing miners all over the world with bitcoin block rewards for guarding it from attacks.

This block subsidy diminishes through halvings that take place every 210,000 blocks, or approximately four years. Eventually, miners wont receive a subsidy at all, but will instead rely strictly on transaction fees for their revenues.

But what if the fees arent financially rewarding enough to attract miners? If they decide its not worth securing the network, couldnt the whole system fall apart?

Founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, Lyn Alden, and CIO of Selini Capital, Jordi Alexander, spoke to Blockworks about the conundrum on the Empire podcast.

The long-term expectation from the beginning, even in Satoshis own words, was that fees eventually would be the primary and eventually only source of revenue for Bitcoin miners, which is important for the long-term immutability and censorship-resistance of the network, Alden says.

The concern, according to Alden, is that Bitcoin block space might not be attractive enough long-term for people to pay a significant amount on a per-transaction basis in order to settle value there or to do other things, in which case the network becomes open to lower-cost attacks.

Alexander argues that, other than the recent blip in traffic, fee income is aggressively trending down. You have to pay security guards to protect you when you have something valuable, and if you start paying them less and less, a lot of them dont show up for work.

And if they dont show up to protect the network, he says, you can have state actors or other actors coordinate, buy a bunch of ASICs or whatever is going to be the technology at the time to start spamming the network or blocking or censoring the network.

Alden suggests the fee model already works as designed and that the network continues to see a gradual increase in adoption, albeit in a cyclical manner. Since early 2023, transaction fees have, in fact, increased. The longer that Bitcoin keeps working and keeps doing what it does, and it keeps being functional and keeps being understood by more and more people, I expect that adoption to increase.

Alexander suggests theres a free rider problem on the network. Somebody just buys a lot and then they just sit on it. They dont do anything. They dont even create fees.

He argues that because many people have settled on the concept of bitcoin as digital gold primarily, a store of value the number of transactions could eventually trend to unsustainably low levels.

Alden counters, saying the network could thrive even with the relatively low number of transactions from people using the network strictly for settlement and savings. If you just assume that five percent of the world in 20 years is going to want to occasionally directly interact with the Bitcoin base-layer, then theres going to be at least some degree of sustained fee market.

With only five percent of the worlds population using Bitcoin occasionally and a base-layer transaction costing the equivalent of $30 in the future, Alden says, Youre talking billions and billions of dollars of annual fees for miners.

The actual ASIC value that you need to buy to even attempt an attack is in the billions or tens of billions at that point.

Get the days top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.Subscribe to Blockworks free newsletternow.

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Will Fees Alone Keep the Bitcoin Network Secure in the Long Term? - Blockworks

U.S. investment managers have grown bullish about Bitcoins prospects despite recent events that have roiled digital-currency markets, research released Wednesday indicates.

Feeding the renewed optimism are prospects for improved regulation and expectations of a recovery in valuations for Bitcoin, according to the research, in which 30 major investment managers were queried in January by Nickel Digital Asset Management, a London-based hedge-fund manager. The 30 firms collectively manage more than $450 billion in assets.

Some 53% of the surveyed managers indicated they plan to boost investment in digital assets over the next six months, while fully 93% feel Bitcoins valuation will return to the $69,000 levelits all-time highwithin five years. At the same time, none of the investors doubted Bitcoins prospects as a leading cryptocurrency. It is significant that our research shows no investors are questioning Bitcoins future, says Anatoly Crachilov, chief executive and founding partner at Nickel Digital, in a statement.

Bitcoin, along with other cryptocurrencies, tumbled last fall following the collapse in November of the major crypto exchange FTX and the ensuing financial scandal surrounding its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Charged with a dozen federal charges related to fraud, Bankman-Fried is awaiting trial in the United States following a not-guilty plea.

Bitcoins value plummeted to $15,000 in the wake of the FTX failure and stood at $26,439 as of early Wednesday, according to coinmarketcap.com. Only in April did the digital currency return to the better-than-$28,000 valuation it had last posted in June last year. It still ranks as by far the largest of the worlds cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a more than $500 billion total value for coins in circulation.

But the failure of FTX wasnt the sole cause of Bitcoins headwinds. The collapse earlier this year of three major banks with ties to cryptocurrencySilicon Valley Bank, Silvergate Capital Corp., and Signature Bankalso roiled the market for Bitcoin and other digital assets.

Still, investor sentiment regarding Bitcoin, at least, appears to be rapidly improving. Some 74% of the U.S. investors surveyed by Nickel Digital say investment opportunities in digital currencies are either attractive or quite attractive. The rising sentiment is founded on prospects for increased regulation and recovering valuations, according to the survey, though investors indicated they would like more clarity regarding which regulators have the authority to police the market, according to Nickel Digitals report. Some also feel regulatory agencies in other countries are waiting for the United States to take the lead.

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U.S. Investors Are Optimistic About Bitcoin in the Face of the Coin's ... - Digital Transactions