Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Faces New Bribery Charges for Alleged Crypto Payment to Chinese Officials

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of FTX, now faces a 13-count indictment as U.S. officials have added new charges. One of the new charges alleges that SBF leveraged $40 million to influence “one or more Chinese government officials.” Details of the Bribery Charges Against Sam Bankman-Fried Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the co-founder and former CEO … Read more

US Government Remains a Top Bitcoin Holder With Seized Stash Valued at $5.6 Billion

As of March 25, 2023, the U.S. government held 205,515 bitcoins worth $5.6 billion, which is approximately 1.06% of the circulating supply, according to current statistics. The cache of bitcoins is a result of three forfeitures that began in 2020. Glassnode’s on-chain data reveals that on March 9, about 9,860 bitcoins worth roughly $269 million … Read more

US Central Bank’s Fednow Payment Service to Launch in July, Economist Calls Timing ‘Suspicious’

According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, the central bank’s Fednow payment service will start operating in July, and participants will be certified in April to leverage the Fednow Pilot Program. Ken Montgomery, the Fednow program executive, is urging American financial institutions to make preparations to join the central bank’s new payment service. Economist Richard Werner, … Read more

Bitcoin Network Preps for Another Difficulty Spike as Hashrate Remains Strong and Miners Profit Amid Price Surge

Following the last two difficulty increases on the Bitcoin network, another rise in difficulty is expected to take place on March 24, 2023. Statistics show that Bitcoin’s hashrate has remained high despite the last two adjustments, and block times have been faster than the ten-minute average. Bitcoin Difficulty Expected to Rise Following the Past Two … Read more

Russian Parliament Votes on Bill Opening Door for Digital Ruble

Russian lawmakers have approved a draft law facilitating the implementation of the digital version of the national currency, the ruble. The legislation amends various other acts to introduce definitions and establish procedures related to the launch of the central bank digital currency. Russian State Duma Passes Digital Ruble Draft Law on First Reading The lower … Read more

British Bank Natwest Implements New Limits on Cryptocurrency Payments to Combat UK Crypto Scams

On March 14, 2023, the U.K.-based bank Natwest Group announced new limits on cryptocurrency payments, citing crypto scams that cost U.K. consumers £329 million annually. The limit imposed on crypto exchanges is £1,000 daily ($1,215), with a 30-day limit of £5,000 ($6,077). Natwest’s Cautious Approach Towards Crypto Assets Prompts Another Transfer Limit Amid the banking … Read more

Openai’s GPT-4 Launch Sparks Surge in AI-Centric Crypto Assets

Following Openai’s release of GPT-4, a deep learning and artificial intelligence product, crypto assets focused on AI have spiked in value. The AGIX token of the Singularitynet project has risen 25.63% in the last 24 hours. Over the last seven days, four out of the top five AI-centric digital currencies have seen double-digit gains against … Read more

Iran’s Crypto Rial Project Enters Trial Phase

The pre-trial stage of the project to introduce a digital Iranian rial has been completed successfully, the country’s central bank announced. The authorities in Tehran plan to expand the use of the state-backed currency and integrate it into Iran’s payment system. Iranian Government Prepares to Trial Its Digital Currency The project to issue a digital … Read more

ESG Analyst Daniel Batten Reveals Dynamic Charts Showing Bitcoin’s 52.6% Sustainable Energy Use

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analyst Daniel Batten said Tuesday that the computational backbone of the Bitcoin network now uses 52.6% sustainable energy. Batten and onchain analyst Willy Woo created Dynamic Bitcoin ESG Charts to showcase the protocol’s progress. Contrary to Cambridge University Data, Analyst Says Bitcoin Mining Uses 52.6% Sustainable Energy These days, there … Read more