Hey everyone, back again with 8 interesting Bitcoin-related headlines from last week. I've summarized the articles but also provided sources below in case you're interested in reading the full article.
Bitrefill Expands its Scope of Services in Salvadore: Bitrefill, a company that sells Bitcoin-funded prepaid cards for various services globally, has introduced a new bill payment service that enables Salvadorans to use Bitcoin to pay for a variety of essential requirements. Bitcoin has been legal tender in El Salvador since September 7. Still, many establishments are yet to use it as a payment mechanism. Hence, Salvadorians can use Bitcoin to pay for 150 various services, including internet, water, insurance, loans, taxes, mortgage, social security, and university expenditures. Bitrefill’s mission is to provide companies with a solution to effortlessly transition to Bitcoin and alleviate their present concerns.
Fidelity Will Launch Canada’s First Bitcoin Custodian: On Wednesday, Canada’s Investment Industry Regulatory Organization granted Fidelity Clearing Canada a license to start a Bitcoin trading and custody platform. It is targeted at institutional investors, including pension funds, portfolio managers, and mutual funds. It would be the country’s first of its sort. Additionally, the business intends to appeal to regular investors via its recently published regulatory registration for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund and mutual fund. Fidelity has about $4.2 trillion in assets under management globally as of September. Additionally, exchange-traded cryptocurrency products are gaining popularity, with over 40 pending approval in the United States alone.
PrimeBlock Plans $1.5B SPAC Merger to Become Public: Prime Blockchain, also known as PrimeBlock Bitcoin mining enterprise, is considering combining with special purpose acquisition company 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II to go public in the United States. The SPAC wants to raise more than $150 million via a so-called private investment in public equity, or PIPE, to finance the acquisition, bringing PrimeBlock public and valuing the amalgamated corporation at roughly $1.5 billion. Following the news, shares of 10X Capital venture surged 11 percent in early pre-market trading in New York on Thursday, November 18.
Bitcoin Went Through a Major Upgrade Since Last Four Years: Bitcoin has completed the most significant network update in the last four years. The improvement, dubbed Taproot, is intended to simplify transaction processing and make it more effective in speed and cost. Taproot upgrades several signatures and transactions at the same time. On the Bitcoin network, digital signatures are needed to validate transactions. They are produced and verified against public keys using private keys. Before the installation of Taproot, transaction verification on the Bitcoin network was sluggish because each digital signature was confirmed against a public key. This strategy increased the time necessary to complete complicated multi-signature transactions requiring several inputs and signatures.
Bitcoin Miner Marathon Digital Plans Fundraising for Bitcoin Acquisition: Marathon Digital Holdings, a publicly listed bitcoin miner with a market capitalization of $5.5 billion, is launching a $650 million senior convertible note issuance due in 2026. Due to high demand, the offering was rapidly raised from $500 million to $1 billion. Marathon plans to utilize the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate objectives, which may include the purchase of bitcoin or bitcoin mining equipment, the business said. The notes bear an annual interest rate of 1% and provide an opportunity to raise an additional $97 million from authorized investors. Due to their bitcoin holdings, this offering may be more akin to a collateralized loan from the stock market, which would explain the demand for it and the comparatively low interest rate since the market seems to believe it is a pretty safe investment.
Bitcoin Mining Raises Power Concerns in the US: Texas, already home to the US’s most fragile power infrastructure, is set to see a spike in electrical demand twice the size of Austin. Following China’s May ban on Bitcoin mining, the US became the world’s largest Bitcoin mining center, particularly in places like Texas. However, what was first seen as a tremendous opportunity for the city seems to be devolving into a problem. Texas is highly popular among cryptocurrency miners due to its business-friendly policies and low power costs. The bulk of large crypto mining cooperatives are expanding their current capacity with additional mining rigs. This has raised serious concerns about the electric grid’s ability to sustain the tremendous strain.
US City Gets a Bitcoin ATM at Airport: Williston, North Dakota, announced a partnership with cryptocurrency ATM provider Coin Cloud on Wednesday to deploy cryptocurrency ATMs at its international airport. Moreover, Williston also accepts cryptocurrency for utility bill payments. The city underlined that it does not operate as the fund’s custodian or oversee any cryptocurrency transactions, underlining that Coin Cloud handles all purchases and withdrawals. The official stated that the City of Williston’s next move would be to install a crypto ATM in City Hall in response to increased demand at the airport. “As part of our strategy, we want to ultimately extend these payment pathways to licenses, permits, and other local payments,” he said.
China Warns State-Owned Companies to Cease Bitcoin Operations: China’s state-owned firms have been warned to halt cryptocurrency mining. Additionally, China warned that it would hike power bills for businesses that continued to disregard the rule. China’s government declared all cryptocurrency trading illegal some months ago. Following that, cryptocurrency miners and exchanges such as Huobi and Binance started relocating to nations with crypto-friendly policies. Additionally, Beijing officials have begun monitoring residents’ IP addresses to detect crypto mining activity. Additionally, officials in Zhejiang province are investigating government personnel suspected of unlawful Bitcoin mining.
Sources:
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bitrefill-now-allows-salvadorans-to-pay-all-their-bills-in-bitcoin
https://btcmanager.com/fidelity-approved-canada-institutional-bitcoin-custodian/
https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-taproot-upgrade-boosts-network-efficiency/
https://www.trustnodes.com/2021/11/16/mara-raising-650-million-to-buy-bitcoin-and-asics
https://coingape.com/rise-of-bitcoin-btc-mining-in-texas-raises-power-grid-concerns/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-city-sets-up-bitcoin-atm-in-airport-after-crypto-payment-adoption
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/qyx6xy/summarized_bitcoin_news_from_last_week/
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