Category Archives: Bitcoin

Marathon Digital Holdings generated 265.6 bitcoins during June, a 17% increase over the previous month, the company said in a press release Friday. That total brought the publicly traded bitcoin mining companys Q2 haul to 654.3 bitcoins, more than three times the nearly 191.7 bitcoins it produced over the first three months of 2021.

Las Vegas-based Marathon said that it now holds approximately 5,784 bitcoins at a value of $201.6 million based on a July 1 price of $34,855 per bitcoin, including 4,182 bitcoins that it bought in January as part of its effort to become what former CEO Merrick Okamoto called a pure-play bitcoin investment option. Marathon is scheduled to report earnings on Aug. 13.

The company said that it had installed 1,740 miners in June bringing its fleet to 19,395 miners. Earlier this year, the company promised to reach a goal of installing more than 100,000 miners by the end of Q1 2022 that will boost its hash rate power to 10.37 exahashes per second (EH/s). The companys current miners generate 2.09 EH/s).

Related: Ransomware Group REvil Strikes Again, Demands $70M in Bitcoin from 200 US Firms

Marathon also said that it had received 18,702 S-19 Pro ASIC miners from Bitmain this year with an additional 1,056 Pro ASIC miners in transit, and that it had completed construction of containers for mining rigs at its Hardin, Montana, facility.

The company will install 12,000 miners at the Hardin location by the end of September and then begin placing 73,000 miners at a 300-megawatt facility in Texas hosted by Compute North.

Marathons current CEO Fred Thiel said in the press release that Marathon had performed maintenance and upgrades on systems before deliveries of miners accelerated, and in anticipation of a decline in global hashrate. We are now better prepared to receive the large upcoming shipments and take advantage of expected favorable mining conditions, Thiel said.

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Marathon Digital Reports 17% Increase in Bitcoin Production for June - Yahoo Finance

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As the Securities and Exchange Commission punts decisions on approving bitcoin exchange-traded funds, companies have created other options to meet the growing demand for cryptocurrency.

One alternative, bitcoin trusts, holds the digital currency, making it easier for investors to add cryptocurrency to their portfolios.

"You're more or less buying a basket that has bitcoin inside of it," said financial planner Zechariah Schaefer, founder of Ascent Personal Finance in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Bitcoin trusts allow investors to buy exposure to the digital currency through brokerage or retirement accounts without the wallet, key or storage concerns of cryptocurrency exchanges.

More in Personal Finance:As SEC delays bitcoin ETFs, other choices emerge for investors There's a push to bring bitcoin to 401(k) plansHere's why cryptocurrency crashes on weekends

"The trusts are just an easy way for investors to get access to the underlying bitcoin without buying it directly," said Tyrone Ross, CEO of Onramp Invest, a company providing "cryptoasset" management technology to financial planners.

While bitcoin trusts may offer a simpler way to invest in cryptocurrency, there are downsides to consider, financial advisors say.

A bitcoin trust operates differently than a mutual fund or ETF. These trusts periodically sell a limited number of private shares to so-called accredited investors, who meet strict income, net worth and experience requirements.

Later, those accredited investors may sell their shares through public markets. But the prices may not match the underlying asset, known as trading at a discount or premium.

For example, if someone buys $1 of a bitcoin trust, their share may have 70 cents of bitcoin or $1.10 of bitcoin, depending on the asset's demand.

"There's another layer of supply and demand volatility surrounding it," said Schaefer.

Currently, the most popular choice is the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, with $21.7 billion assets under management. Osprey Bitcoin Trust released a competing option in February, managing nearly $91.2 million.

By comparison, Vanguard's 500 Index Fund, tracking 500 of the country's largest companies, has $231.84 billion in assets.

Another downside of investing in bitcoin trusts is the fees, which are typically more than the average mutual fund or ETF.

For example, the average expense ratio for ETFs dropped to 0.45% in 2019, according to Morningstar. Grayscale charges an annual fee of 2%, whereas Osprey's is 0.49%.

For most people, it may be cheaper to buy bitcoin through a cryptocurrency exchange, like Coinbase, Schaefer said.

However, someone may be willing to pay more to avoid cryptocurrency exchanges or to add bitcoin exposure in their regular individual retirement account.

"Right now, if you really want to have your crypto in a tax-advantaged retirement account, then you just have to bite the bullet and pay those high costs," Schaefer added.

Investors have been clamoring for bitcoin ETFs for years, hoping for cheaper and easier ways to add cryptocurrency to their portfolios. Experts say these funds may also offer more transparent pricing.

"You won't have these large discounts or premiums, which is huge," Ross said.

While several companies have filed to release the first U.S. bitcoin ETF, the SEC has continually put off decisions. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler expressed the need for more cryptocurrency regulation in May, seeking greater investor protections.

Both Grayscale and Osprey have committed to converting their bitcoin trusts to ETFs when regulators are ready.

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What to know about investing in bitcoin trusts - CNBC

Bill Gates is best known for co-founding Microsoft, but the billionaire entrepreneur has been involved in many other ventures as well -- including running a huge charitable foundation.

He clearly knows a lot about technology and about finances. As a result of his knowledge, it can pay to listen to his advice about Bitcoin if you're thinking about investing in the popular cryptocurrency.

So what does Gates have to say about it?

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Gates addressed the issue of investing in Bitcoin in a conversation about Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Bitcoin holdings. Musk has famously been bullish on Bitcoin, and Tesla (the company, not Musk) made a $1.5 billion bet on the cryptocurrency.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Gates commented that "Elon has tons of money and hes very sophisticated, so I dont worry that his Bitcoin will sort of randomly go up or down." However, while the Microsoft founder made clear that he wasn't concerned that Musk's fortunes would rise or fall with the cryptocurrency, he did warn others who might be considering a large investment in the virtual coin.

"I do think people get bought into these manias who may not have as much money to spare," Gates said. "My general thought would be that if you have less money than Elon, you should probably watch out."

Gates, in other words, appears to believe that cryptocurrencies -- including Bitcoin -- may not necessarily be sound investments. Like many financial experts who are wary of crypto, Gates's comments suggest he may think people are buying Bitcoin based on hype rather than because the coin has a lot of underlying potential.

Because Gates described Bitcoin's ups and downs as "random," his words also suggest he may not believe the price of the coin necessarily tracks its intrinsic value. His warning also addresses the issue of volatility as the price of Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) can fluctuate widely -- sometimes in a matter of hours or days.

Since most people do have less money than Musk, everyday investors may want to take Gates's advice and be wary of sinking a lot of money into crypto investments. In other words, if you'd face real financial consequences if your Bitcoin investment performs poorly, you may want to avoid taking a big risk with your money.

A Bitcoin investment could potentially pay off if the timing is just right or if there's a major shift and Bitcoin becomes a viable real-world currency as more companies start accepting it. But there is also a huge risk associated with any crypto investments since the market is so unregulated and because there's a lot of uncertainty about the future of virtual currencies.

That said, you don't have to listen to the advice of Bill Gates or any expert commentary about Bitcoin. If you do your research and decide you're confident your investment is a sound one, then you may decide to go forward with a crypto investment. Just be aware of the outsized risk and don't invest so much that you put your financial security on the line.

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Here's What Bill Gates Has to Say About Bitcoin - The Motley Fool

Global investment bank JPMorgan has predicted that the bitcoin price slump will likely be over when the cryptocurrencys dominance rises back above 50%. I think thats another indicator to watch here in terms of whether this bear phase is over or not, the firms analyst explained.

JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou has shared his view of when he expects the current bitcoin bear market to be over. In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, the analyst explained that the bitcoin price slump will likely end when the cryptocurrencys market share of all cryptocurrencies climbs back above 50%. He explained:

A healthy number there, in terms of the share of bitcoin as a percentage of the total cryptocurrency market cap, is 50% or above. I think thats another indicator to watch here in terms of whether this bear phase is over or not.

It was like 60% back in the beginning of April, the JPMorgan analyst recalled, adding that bitcoins relatively low market share was a negative signal that suggests interest in BTC remains relatively subdued. However, Panigirtzoglou pointed out that bitcoins market share had risen in recent weeks.

Bitcoins dominance is currently about 46% and BTCs price stands at $34,609 at the time of writing, based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets.

While the JPMorgan analyst sees little sign of big investors buying the dip in bitcoin, he noted:

The flow into ethereum funds has slowed over the past two to three weeks, at the same time as the flow into bitcoin funds has improved. That means there is perhaps a relative value opportunity that some institutional investors are seeing to buy bitcoin and sell other cryptocurrencies.

Last week, another JPMorgan analyst said that the crypto market is healing even though it is not yet healthy. Furthermore, the near-term outlook for the crypto market is challenging, the analyst added, warning of more sell-offs.

Panigirtzoglou said earlier this month that there was an unusual development in the bitcoin futures trend. We believe that the return to backwardation in recent weeks has been a negative signal pointing to a bear market, he wrote.

Meanwhile, JPMorgans CEO, Jamie Dimon, said last month during his congressional testimony before the House of Financial Services Committee regarding cryptocurrency that his personal advice to people is to stay away from bitcoin. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that JPMorgans clients want exposure to the cryptocurrency.

What do you think about JPMorgans bitcoin prediction? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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JPMorgan Predicts When Bitcoin Bear Market Will Be Over Markets and Prices Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Football star Tom Brady, who recently came out as a bitcoin bull, acknowledged that prices have dropped since he revealed his support for the cryptocurrency publicly.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion in early May changed hisTwitterprofile photo to include "laser eyes," which is what many bitcoin enthusiasts do to show their "laser focus" to push prices higher. Bitcoin's price has fallen nearly 40% to $34,665 on Monday from $56,245 on the day Brady changed his avatar, according to Coin Metrics.

"Alright the laser eyes didn't work. Anyone have any ideas?" Brady said in a twitter post on Monday.

Bitcoin has experienced wild volatility amid heightened regulatory scrutiny after a solid start to the year that drove its price to an all-time high of nearly $65,000 in April. The digital coin has almost wiped out all of its triple-digit gains and turned flat on the year.

Tom Brady

Charles Krupa | AP

At the end of May, Brady said he was a "big believer" in cryptocurrencies, confirming that he had bought digital coins.

"I don't think it's going anywhere," Brady said at theCoinDesk Consensus 2021 forum. "I'm still learning so much. It's definitely something I'm going to be in for a long time."

China hasstepped up efforts to stamp out crypto speculation, ordering digital currency miners to cease operations in a number of regions and urging banks and payment firms not to offer crypto-related services.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been banned from operating in the U.K. by the country's markets regulator.

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Tom Brady admits his 'laser eyes' didn't work on the bitcoin trade - CNBC

Billionaire bitcoin owner Mircea Popescu has reportedly died, leaving behind a cache of virtual currency and a controversial crypto legacy.

The bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.07% pioneer, who was believed to own over $1 billion in the worlds No. 1 crypto, making him, at the time, one of the assets larger single-holders, died off the coast of Costa Rica, according to a Spanish-language publication, Teletica.com, which reported last week that a foreigner had drowned at Playa Hermosa de Garabito, Puntarenas, in Costa Rica, describing the victim as a 41-year-old of Polish origin. However, Popescu is a well-knowned name in Romania and he has been described on some sites as a Romanian entrepreneur and blogger.

Popescu was viewed as a pioneer in digital assets and one of the earliest adopters. An article in Bitcoin Magazine written by Pete Rizzo said that Popescu was known for starting MPEx, a bitcoin securities exchange, around the same time as Coinbase Global COIN, +9.86% launched.

At its mid-April peak this year, Popescus bitcoin holdings would have been worth nearly $2 billion.

Read: Feds Quarles says digital dollar could pose considerable risks to financial system

At last check, bitcoin prices were changing hands at around $34,295, up 3.2% on the day, and Ether ETHUSD, -0.59% on Ethereums blockchain was trading at $2,079, up over 13%, even amid reports that the worlds largest crypto trading platform Binance was facing a regulatory crackdown in the U.K., and a separate report noting that the platform has been compelled to pull out of doing business in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Word of Popescus reported death was circulating in crypto circles, with some wondering where his holdings would go.

The latest news also comes as crypto continues to wrestle with Chinas ban on bitcoin mining and crypto trading in the worlds second-largest economy and the biggest crypto miner.

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One of the largest owners of bitcoin, who reportedly held as much as $1 billion, is dead at 41: reports - MarketWatch

Bitcoin climbed more than 15% over the weekend as its price bounced from four-day lows after a sharp sell-off last week.

Prices Monday were slightly higher, with one bitcoin fetching about $35,000 at press time, CoinDesk 20 data show. One expert said more is needed to continue driving gains in the current climate of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD).

On Friday, the worlds first cryptocurrency fell more than 8% despite rallying 5% during the Asian trading session, bolstered by news of El Salvadors confirmed date of its bitcoin law and a $30 bitcoin airdrop to every Salvadoran adult who downloads bitcoins app.

An unprecedented stream of FUD has resulted in bitcoin struggling to keep above water, Jehan Chu, managing partner at Hong Kong-based crypto investment firm Kenetic Capital, told CoinDesk via WhatsApp on Monday.

Chu also said the short-term outlook remains choppy and uncertain, despite the recent bounce back above $34,000. With retail investors on the sidelines licking their wounds, volumes will struggle until the next price catalyst.

Indeed, daily trading volume for bitcoin has remained low, particularly during the weekend. Thats been the trend for most of the month.

The weak trading volume points to a lack of institutional and retail interest, Chu said, citing undisclosed trading teams he has had conversations with.

Meanwhile, other notable cryptos are coasting in bitcoins slipstream, with ether and internet computer both advancing over a 24-hour period.

In traditional markets, Asian equities were mostly up, with the exception of Japans Nikkei 225 Index, Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index and the Australian All Ordinaries Index, which were all down by less than half a percent.

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Bitcoin Investors Sit on Sidelines 'Licking Their Wounds' Despite 15% Bounce Over the Weekend - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

1. South African crypto founders vanish along with billions of dollars worth of bitcoin

Ameer and Raees Cajee, the founders of Africrypt, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Africa, have vanished, along with billions of dollars worth of bitcoin, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

In April, when bitcoin was trading at a peak of around $60,000 per coin, Africrypt warned clients of a hack with about 69,000 bitcoins missing, according to Bloomberg. At the time, the value totaled about $3.6 billion, but Africrypt asked clients not to alert law enforcement.

If it is unable to be recovered, it would be the biggest loss in a cryptocurrency scam to date.

Andreessen Horowitz, aSilicon Valley venture capital firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, announced its new $2.2 billion cryptocurrency-focused fund on Thursday.

"The size of this fund speaks to the size of the opportunity before us: Crypto is not only the future of finance but, as with the internet in the early days, is poised to transform all aspects of our lives," the firm said in a blog post.

On Thursday, Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, announced the country's recently passed law to make bitcoin legal tender will take effect on Sept. 7, Reuters reported.

"This law is made to generate employment, to generate investments," Bukele said.

As part of his effort to push bitcoin adoption, Bukele also offered each adult citizen $30 worth of bitcoin for free. To receive the free bitcoin, citizens will need to sign up for the country's sponsored cryptocurrency wallet app, Chivo.

On Thursday, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey promoted an event called "The B Word," which will aim to encourage companies and institutional investors to adopt bitcoin, according to its website. The event is scheduled to take place on July 21, with speakers including Dorsey and ARK Invest's Cathie Wood.

In response to Dorsey's tweet of the event, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded and seemingly agreed to chat with Dorsey about bitcoin at the event.

Musk has continued his support of altcoins like dogecoin, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency that began as a joke. On Monday, Musk tweeted in support of a dogecoin fee proposal by the digital coin's lead developers, which reportedly boosted dogecoin's price.

On Saturday, the U.K. markets regulator announced it's banning Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes. This comes after Binance did not meet the anti-money laundering requirements of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, CNBC reported.

The FCAsaid Saturdaythat Binance Markets Limited, the U.K. division of Binance, "is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the U.K."

Despite this, Binance could still offer crypto trading through its website in the U.K., as nonregistered firms can still interact with consumers in the country.

"Providing access to cryptocurrencies itself is not a regulated activity, but offering derivatives is, which is presumably the activity the FCA is clamping down on," Laith Khalaf, financial analyst at AJ Bell, recently told CNBC.

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Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk will discuss bitcoin at an upcoming event, and 5 other key crypto moments from the past week - CNBC

El Salvador is becoming a proving ground for Bitcoins biggest ideas.

I really see El Salvador as being the Switzerland of Latin America, if this experiment goes successfully, Ray Youssef, CEO of peer-to-peer crypto exchange Paxful, said over Zoom.

On Sept. 7, El Salvador will become the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. That could open a new age for the struggling Latin American economy, President Nayib Bukele, the prime mover behind the so-called bitcoin law, said. It also opens a new frontier for bitcoiners looking to test their economic and social theories.

Bitcoin will not just be a companion currency to the U.S. dollar, but a cornerstone of the nations efforts to modernize and digitize its economy. Bukele wants El Salvador to become a bitcoin mining hub potentially tapping into its rich geothermal resources as well as a center for blockchain software development and a paradise for the crypto rich.

Why create this law? Because bitcoin has a $600 billion market capitalization globally, and if we do this, investors and tourists who own bitcoin will come to the country and benefit Salvadorans and the economy, Bukele said at a national address on Thursday.

Hes making an attractive offer for outsiders and citizens alike by eliminating a capital gains tax on the cryptocurrency and building a state-backed wallet, which will come pre-loaded with $30 worth of BTC for adult citizens. The plan is a leap forward for humanity, not just Bitcoin, he told Peter McCormack when the podcaster traveled to El Salvador recently.

Although the nations plans are still being drafted, a series of interviews with Bitcoin startups and founders suggest that bitcoiners are ready to invest their time and money to help El Salvador (population 6.5 million) establish the first bitcoin standard.

Youssef, an evangelist for bitcoin in the developing world, is one of a growing number of crypto entrepreneurs who have made their way to the country looking for opportunities to expand their businesses and assist the government in setting up a parallel monetary system.

Blockstream, a Bitcoin infrastructure company, is one of the most ambitious in this pursuit. On June 5, it pledged provisions to connect El Salvador with its Blockstream Satellite program, a way to synchronize with the Bitcoin network during times of internet outages or shutdowns, and it announced plans to open bitcoin mining facilities.

Samson Mow, chief strategy officer at Blockstream, told CoinDesk the company has shipped two satellite kits to the country and said early-stage but high-level conversations are happening around volcano mining (or mining powered geothermal power).

It doesnt end there. Mow said Blockstream Financial, a new corporate division, is working to structure a few potential bond offerings on the Liquid network, a bitcoin scaling system backed by Blockstream.

That project is also in its infancy, and details of what may be the first state-backed, blockchain-based securities offerings are scant. One particular: The bonds might be floated to finance the states mining operations, which would tap into currently stranded geothermal energy, Mow said. Volcano mining is capital intensive.

The bond offerings were proposing will be a critical component of the bitcoin development of El Salvador, Mow said. It seems like they can get this done quickly.

This is a key theme in the story so far: El Salvador is ripe with potential. It has a motivated government (which passed the bitcoin bill with a supermajority) and the support of the global bitcoin community, though some of these ideas appear founded on shaky ground.

The bitcoin bill is an experiment that could go terribly wrong, economists and media pundits have warned. In a report, Fitch Ratings said the countrys plans would increase regulatory risks for financial institutions. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have also voiced disapproval.

Volcano mining, crypto in space and the widespread use of the Bitcoin Lightning network sound like science fiction. But those efforts are real and hyperbitcoinization is a real goal. The El Salvador experiment, Mow said, will serve as a blueprint for the world.

El Salvador is a key point in that battle. If they can succeed, it paves the way for much broader bitcoin adoption in the world, he said. And for making things like the IMF and the World Bank obsolete.

Payments

Youssef went to El Salvador as part of an official delegation of Bitcoin ambassadors, organized by Brock Pierce, a former child movie star and a co-founder of Block.oone, a blockchain software company. Youssef spent only a few hours with that delegation, shaking hands and speaking with government officials, but said Bukeles cabinet is of a younger, progressive breed, hyper-focused on the goal of bitcoinization.

Youssef spent the majority of his two-day stay in El Salvador at Bitcoin Beach, a small coastal community that has experimented with bitcoin payments. (Bukele pointed to the privately funded project as a microcosm for what bitcoin adoption across the nation could look like.)

It was there that Youssef made his first Lightning transaction in the country. While bitcoin has largely functioned as a speculative store of value in wealthier nations, he thinks the path to mass adoption is paved through peer-to-peer payments. Its also where his business opportunity lies, albeit indirectly.

The first challenge is getting bitcoin into the country and thats something that we did in Africa, he said, referring to Paxfuls footprint in countries like Nigeria and Kenya. Consumers typically pay more per satoshi using a P2P exchange, because they are often buying from a small pool of sellers, but fees are often lower and its a quicker way to take direct possession of your coins. (On the day I spoke with Youssef, for instance, there was a $10,000 premium on BTC in El Salvador.)

Paxful already has an active market in El Salvador, but Youssef says hes looking at the country as a potential base for further expansions in the region. His company has hired an associate of growth for South America and is searching real estate for an office. Paxful has about 450 employees globally, Youssef said.

All I want to do is build the kind of street team that can go around beyond Bitcoin Beach to the capitol city, to the malls, to universities, and just educate people face-to-face about what Bitcoinis, Youssef said. In particular, he is interested in teaching people about using BTC as an actual currency. Thats the narrative we find truly drives adoption, he said.

Swan Bitcoin, a bitcoin exchange, has a similar plan. The company is looking to rent or buy a Swan House in El Zonte to serve as a base for its marketing efforts in the region. CEO Cory Klippsten sees that as a place for bitcoiner friends to stay and work when traveling to El Salvador and a chance to create great content and educate the world about bitcoin by being on the ground.

There isnt a direct way to monetize the effort. Swan makes its money from selling bitcoin to people with a lot of fiat, Klippsten said, but its a price worth paying to spread the word of Bitcoin. It looks like altruistic education, and it is, but thats our marketing, he said

Like Youssef, Klippsten envisions a world where bitcoin will make the transition from being primarily a store of value into a widely used, global currency. Education paves the way to that reality, which eventually means more people buying bitcoin on Paxful and Swan.

Home grown?

Before Bukele came on the scene, El Salvador was not the first place people would associate with Bitcoin. Remittances, which make up more than a quarter of the nations economy, were rarely sent in the cryptocurrency. And while Bitcoin Beach was proving to be a successful experiment, the crypto economy in the country was still small.

Matias Goldenhorn, director for Latin America at U.S.-based Athena Bitcoin, a crypto ATM company that operated some of El Salvadors only crypto ATMs, told CoinDesk the company decided to pursue countries south of the border to take bitcoin to the people who need it the most.

The company recently received a $1 million investment to expand its fleet of ATMs from two to 1,500 in the country. That would make El Salvador one of the most saturated markets for crypto ATMs.

Mexico-based Bitso, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latin America, is also apparently looking to expand its operations. The company declined an interview, but offered this statement:

We have made a commitment to work with the people of El Salvador on supporting and building the vision of Bitcoin for the country and are looking forward to being part of this evolution. We believe Bitcoin can in El Salvador and Latin America have a positive impact on the lives of millions, and recognize that there are many more beneficial Bitcoin developments to come.

I dont want to pretend to be too altruistic, Justin Newton, CEO of software security firm Netki, said. What we do is we provide KYC and AML tools, right? We help customers with know-your-customer, anti-money laundering. If theyre successful down there, it creates a great market for us.

Newton, another one of Brock Pierces delegates, was in and out of the country for a single day of meetings. His firm, which was founded in 2014, provides compliance tools for companies. About 70% of its clients are in crypto, and almost of those are private companies. He didnt go to El Salvador with a plan to court the government or any one business in particular.

If I go down there and I can help them be successful, it creates the environment that allows my company to be successful, he said.

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El Salvador Wants to Attract Bitcoin Talent. Its Strategy Is Working - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

The reflection of bitcoins in a computer hard drive.

Thomas Trutschel | Photothek via Getty Images

Bitcoin continued to rebound from its lows for the year on Wednesday.

The cryptocurrency sank below the key $30,000 threshold Tuesday, at one point briefly erasing all its 2021 gains. It later recovered to turn positive for the day.

On Wednesday, bitcoin surged 18%, climbing back above the $34,000 mark in early morning trading, according to Coin Metrics data. It last changed hands at $33,641.27, up 3% on the day.

Smaller rivals also surged, with ether rising 6% to $2,014 and XRP up 9% at a price of 64 cents. The reason for the moves higher wasn't clear, but cryptocurrencies are known for their volatility.

Bitcoin had a solid start to the year, rallying to an all-time high of almost $65,000 ahead of crypto exchange Coinbase's blockbuster debut and as institutional investors appeared to be warming to it.

But the world's biggest digital coin has been on a roller-coaster ride since, almost halving in value amid a slew of negative news.

In China, authorities have been clamping down on bitcoin mining, the power-intensive process for validating transactions and generating new bitcoins. Over the weekend, Beijing's crackdown on crypto mining extended to the hydropower-rich Sichuan province.

Then, the People's Bank of China on Monday said it had urged financial institutions including Alipay and major banks not to provide services related to cryptocurrency activities.

Investors have also become more concerned about bitcoin's environmental impact, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to stop accepting bitcoin as a method of payment for his company's vehicles.

At the time, Musk said he was worried about bitcoin's huge energy consumption and the "rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels" in mining the digital asset. However, he later said Tesla would accept bitcoin when at least half of bitcoin mining is confirmed to be powered by clean energy.

Critics of the cryptocurrency have long been wary of its impact on the environment. That could threaten the adoption of bitcoin by institutional investors, which are under growing pressure to invest in cleaner, more ethical assets.

Meanwhile, there have also been concerns about tether, a so-called stablecoin whose price is meant to be pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Tether is now the world's third-largest digital currency with a market value of more than $60 billion. But some investors are worried tether's issuer doesn't have enough dollar reserves to justify its peg to the greenback.

Last month, the company behind tether broke down the reserves for its stablecoin, revealing that around 76% was backed by cash and cash equivalents but just under 4% of that was actual cash, while about 65% was commercial paper, a form of short-term debt.

It comes after the New York attorney general's office reached a settlement with Tether and Bitfinex, an affiliated digital currency exchange. The state's top law enforcement official had accused the firms of moving hundreds of millions of dollars to cover up the loss of $850 million in commingled client and corporate funds. Tether and Bitfinex agreed to pay $18.5 million in the settlement and were barred from operating in New York state, however the companies didn't admit to any wrongdoing.

CNBC's Tanaya Macheel contributed reporting.

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Bitcoin surged as much as 18% after a wild day that saw the cryptocurrency briefly drop below $30,000 - CNBC