⛽️ Cryptocurrency Ethereum has slashed its energy use by 99.99 per cent
The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, has successfully slashed its emissions by 99.99 per cent after an unprecedented experiment to ditch power-hungry mining in favour of a new approach, according to researchers. But experts say there is little appetite for such a change among users of bitcoin, the largest digital currency, which has no central body to steer development. Like bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum used to rely on “proof of work” to secure its network, meaning that computers performed huge numbers of calculations to “mine” new currency and verify transactions. This process uses vast amounts of electricity. But in September 2022, Ethereum switched to a new technique called “proof of stake” during a period of change known as the Merge. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has published comprehensive data on bitcoin’s energy use over the past four years and has now released similar data for Ethereum. Alexander Neumüller at the University of Cambridge, who worked on the project, says the experimental update has been a technological success, achieving a “staggering” reduction in electricity consumption. 🔗 Read more

🛑 Belgium's only cryptocurrency platform suspends activities
The first and only Belgian cryptocurrency lending platform, Bit4You, said it was suspending its activities after CoinLoan, one of its main service providers, was declared insolvent by an Estonian court. CoinLoan, a crypto lending company based in the Baltic state, also no longer has the required registration as a custodian of virtual currencies, Bit4You said in a statement on its website. "To date, we have no indication that the virtual currencies held on behalf of our customers with CoinLoan cannot be recovered," Bit4You added. 🔗 Read more

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🇿🇼 Zimbabwe's cetral bank plans to issue gold-backed cryptocurrency soon
Zimbabwe’s central bank plans to sell a gold-backed digital currency to the public from May 8 in another attempt to stabilise its tumbling currency and offer an alternative to the US dollar. The tokens, to be sold through banks in local and foreign currency at a 20% margin above the interbank mid-rate, will be introduced in two phases, central bank governor John Mangudya, said in an emailed statement on Friday. The currency will initially be used for investment and then for transactions. “The issuance of the gold backed digital tokens is meant to expand the value-preserving instruments available in the economy and enhance the divisibility of the investment instruments and widen their access and usage by the public,” Mangudya said. 🔗 Read more

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🤬 Police issue warning after B.C. senior loses $7.5 million in cryptocurrency scam
A senior from Burnaby, B.C., was scammed out of more than $7.5 million dollars in a cryptocurrency ruse, prompting the latest warning from police about cryptocurrency-based fraud schemes. Police say the elaborate con lasted several months and included the victim being scammed out of money both in the original fraud and then by someone claiming they could help get her money back. An RCMP statement says the victim told police she received a Mandarin language text message in the Spring of 2022 from someone looking for information related to her personal business history. 🔗 Read more

📰 This Week In Crypto (CW 17)

1. Circle launches cross-chain USDC transfer protocol

2. Revolut taps Koinly for automated cryptocurrency tax reports

3. Hong Kong to Release Cryptocurrency Exchange Licensing Guidelines

4. PayPal subsidiary Venmo to introduce cryptocurrency transfers

5. Kraken asks San Francisco court to intervene against IRS demands

CW16 (last week)

⛏ Bhutan is silently mining Bitcoin for years since BTC was $5,000
Bhutan’s largest and only government-owned holding company Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), has confirmed that it has been mining Bitcoin (BTC) for several years as part of its diversified portfolio. According to the company, its interest in Bitcoin mining began when the maiden cryptocurrency was valued at around $5,000, but it also has a slight interest in Ethereum (ETH), the local media outlet The Bhutanese reported on April 28. DHI officials assured that the risks associated with cryptocurrencies are mitigated, considering that the company is not involved in direct selling and buying digital assets. At the same time, DHI noted that the investment pays for itself by selling Bitcoin to cater for the mining operational costs. 🔗 Read more

👨‍💻 Darknet hackers are selling crypto accounts for as low as $30 a pop
Cybercriminals from the darkest parts of the internet are reportedly selling hacked, verified crypto accounts on the darknet for as low as just $30 apiece. According to an April 24 research paper by online data security provider Privacy Affairs — titled The Dark Web Price Index, cybercriminals have been selling all manner of fraudulently obtained financial account information on the dark web. These figures mark a significant increase in the prices paid for the same account details in 2022, according to data from last year’s edition of the Dark Web Price Index. In 2022, hackers were paying just $260 and $250 for verified Kraken and Binance accounts respectively. 🔗 Read more

⛏ Biden proposes 30% climate change tax on cryptocurrency mining
The White House is trying to persuade Congress to pass a 30% tax on the electricity used in cryptocurrency mining in the next federal budget in order to minimize the nascent industry’s impact on climate change. “Cryptominers’ high-energy consumption has negative spillovers on the environment, quality of life, and electricity grids where these firms locate across the country,” the president’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) argues in a blog post that will appear on the White House website on Tuesday, to which Yahoo News gained advance access. The post will lay out the case for the Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) excise tax, which the CEA writes is an “example of the Administration’s efforts to fight climate change and reduce energy prices.” 🔗 Read more

⚖️ Montana governor signs pro-cryptocurrency mining bill into law
Greg Gianforte, the Governor of Montana, has signed into law a bill largely preventing local governments in the state from passing laws prohibiting cryptocurrency mining. According to records with the Montana legislature, Gianforte signed SB178 into law on May 2 after the bill had passed both the state House and Senate. The legislation effectively enshrines crypto miners’ rights in the U.S. state by revising existing laws, prohibiting discriminatory electrical rates for mining firms, and not allowing taxation for crypto used as a method of payment. The latest version of the bill suggested that the legislation was introduced partly as a preventive measure in response to certain proposals in other states — i.e. “digital asset mining has often faced difficulty with regulations at the state and local level." For example, in April, lawmakers in the Texas state Senate introduced a bill aimed at limiting incentives for crypto miners through participation in a program intended to compensate them for load reductions on the state’s power grid. 🔗 Read more

🏦 Regional bank stocks continue to slide on Thursday with PacWest leading the way down 50%
The rout in regional banks picked up steam again on Thursday morning, with several stocks suffering sizeable losses. PacWest sank 50.6% and was halted for volatility multiple times. The slide began on Wednesday evening following news that the Los Angeles-based bank was exploring strategic options, including a potential sale. The bank said in a statement that it “will continue to evaluate all options to maximize shareholder value.” PacWest’s strategic review was first reported by Bloomberg News and later confirmed by CNBC. 🔗 Read more

📊 Pepecoin Short Sellers Lose Millions as PEPE Nears $1B Valuation
The nascent meme coin pepecoin (PEPE) is the token that keeps on giving, at least so far, surging to an almost $1 billion market capitalization just weeks after its birth. The tokens have run from strength to strength in the past week even as skeptics warned of an impending collapse, gaining some 500% in the past two weeks as per CoinGecko data. These warnings centered around the apparent number of whales – or entities who hold large amounts of any token – who purchased PEPE in the hours after it was first issued in mid-April. 🔗 Read more

💰 Vitalik Buterin and ETH Foundation Sell $30 Million in Ethereum As ETH About to Break $2,000
According to data shared by "lookonchain", an analytics platform that tracks large crypto transactions and transfers of "Smart Money" wallets, Vitalik Buterin sent nearly half a million worth of Ethereum to a major exchange. After he did that, the Ethereum Foundation did the same but transferred a lot more Ethereum to the same platform — nearly $30 million worth of it. In the meantime, the second largest cryptocurrency, ETH, is trading at the $1,960 level. Santiment on-chain data company believes that ETH is on the cusp of breaking above $2,000. Lookonchain shared that the vitalik.eth wallet was the first to move 200 Ethereum (worth about $400,000) to the U.S.-based Kraken exchange. Following Buterin's transaction, the Ethereum Foundation did the same but on a much bigger scale — they shifted 15,000 ETH to Kraken as well. 🔗 Read more

📰 This Week In Crypto (CW 18)

1. Memecoin hype drives Bitcoin transaction fees to multi-year highs

2. Coinbase Launches Offshore Crypto-Derivatives Exchange

3. You Can Mint a Free Ethereum NFT for King Charles’ Coronation

4. PEPE Meme Coin Hysteria Pushes Ethereum Gas Fees to 1-Year High

5. Bitcoin Adoption Soars as Non-Zero Addresses Tops 46M

CW17 (last week)

💶 Microsoft, Goldman, Cboe Team Up For Blockchain For Institutional Crypto Assets
Goldman Sachs (GS), Deloitte, Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), Microsoft (MSFT) and fintech firm Digital Asset have teamed up to create a blockchain network that will help execute financial product smart contracts for institutional crypto assets while maintaining security and regulatory requirements. Canton Network will allow different applications built on Daml, a smart contract language developed by Digital Asset, to interact and allow asset exchange. Unlike permissionless public blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, Canton Network will operate more similarly to a permissioned blockchain, as individual users will need to gain access via a participating financial intermediary. 🔗 Read more

📈 Ethereum validators earn a record $46M as staking rewards rate surges
Validators earned $46 million in the first week of May due to an increase in the staking rewards rate, which is a metric for validators’ annualized yield. According to data, validators earned 24,997 Ether in the week, representing a 40% increase over the previous week’s income of $33 million, when 18,339 ETH were distributed as rewards. The recent trading craze of a new memecoin called Pepe (PEPE) is the reason behind the increased rewards for validators. In the past week, the average fees on the Ethereum network have exceeded 100 gwei, marking the highest level since May 2022. As gas fees increase, end users pay over $30 per swap, resulting in higher fee income for validators from processing transactions and the regular validator rewards. 🔗 Read more

👁 Watchdog sues SEC over FOIA access to docs on potential crypto conflict of interest
Watchdog group Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR) has filed suit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to force the agency to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for access to communications between former SEC officials and their former and future employers. EMPOWR claimed in its suit that the former SEC officials had a potential conflict of interest regarding cryptocurrency. The suit specifically mentioned former SEC Chair Jay Clayton, former Enforcement Division Director Marc Berger and former Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman. According to the suit: “The requested records will shine light on whether former SEC officials had conflicts of interest when declaring whether certain cryptocurrencies constitute securities, and thus are subject to SEC regulation.” 🔗 Read more

🏦 More Than 700 US Banks Facing ‘Significant Safety and Soundness Risk’ Due to Massive Unrealized Losses: Federal Reserve
Newly released data from the Federal Reserve shows more than 700 American banks are facing “significant safety and soundness risk” due to massive unrealized losses on their balance sheets. According to the Fed, more than 700 banks have self-reported unrealized losses that exceed 50% of their capital. The report, which was recently released on the Federal Reserve’s website and includes self-reported data compiled in February, says banks have been taking steps to try and avoid further losses for months. 🔗 Read more

🇨🇦 Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, is leaving Canada
The exchange announced the move on Twitter Friday afternoon. “Unfortunately, today we are announcing that Binance will be joining other prominent crypto businesses in proactively withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace,” the tweet read. Binance pointed to “new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto exchanges” as making the market “untenable.” Canada has tightened regulations for crypto asset trading platforms in recent months, with the introduction of a pre-registration process. The companies that do not adhere to the rules will face potential enforcement action, according to the website of the Ontario Securities Commission. 🔗 Read more