Crypto Currency

Hive Digital made a sizeable ASIC miner purchase in December 2022. Just one year later, thanks to a Bitcoin boom, the crypto miner says the rigs have paid for themselves. Bitcoin ( BTC ) miner Hive Digital Technologies says the move to acquire a fleet of Bitmain mining rigs last year has already paid for itself, due in large part to a significant increase in the price of Bitcoin.  In a Dec. 8 statement , Hive Digital wrote that it had been acquiring mining rigs since the collapse of FTX, a decision it believes will put it in a favorable position for the upcoming Bitcoin halving , currently slated for April 2024. Overall, since the collapse of FTX,  Hive Digital has purchased 29,000 ASICs, with two separate acquisitions of 9,800 Bitmain S19k Pro mining rigs announced on Nov. 14 and Dec. 4 this year. Read more source https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miner-hive-digital-asic-mining-rigs-break-even

Former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao has been ordered to remain in the U.S. while awaiting his sentencing in February. Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao must stay in the United States until his February sentencing as he’s unlikely to return to the country if allowed to travel to the United Arab Emirates, a federal judge has ruled. On Dec. 7, Seattle District Court Judge Richard Jones ordered Zhao to stay in the U.S. until his Feb. 23, 2024 sentencing date. He faces up to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering on Nov. 21. “The defendant has enormous wealth and property abroad, and no ties to the United States,” Judge Jones wrote, and agreed with earlier arguments from federal prosecutors who said they “would not be able to secure his return” if Zhao decided not to come back to the U.S. Read more source https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-founder-cz-remain-united-states

Hong Kong game firm to add $100M of BTC and ETH to treasury, UAE and China strike CBDC deal, Victory Securities starts new HK Bitcoin fund. Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments. Boyaa Interactive International, a publicly-traded Hong Kong holding company specializing in online card and board games, wants to secure the approval of its shareholders to invest $100 million in crypto. According to this week’s announcement , Boyaa Interactive directors want to allocate $45 million of corporate funds to Bitcoin (BTC), $45 million to Ethereum (ETH), and $10 million to stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). As for rationales for the investment, directors wrote: Read more source https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/hong-kong-game-company-90m-btc-eth-china-uae-cbdc-deal-asia-express/

The institute said it adopted a lightweight and efficient blockchain not intended to be computationally wasteful, where trading can be facilitated at little to no cost. An Abu Dhabi government-affiliated research center has announced the launch of a new blockchain-powered carbon tracking and trading platform, amid efforts from the United Arab Emirates government to lower emissions toward net zero. The new blockchain was unveiled at the latest the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) on Dec. 5, which will enable the international trade of carbon tokens linked to investments in green projects, such as forestation and carbon capture. The platform was built by Technology Innovation Institute’s (TII) Cryptographic Research Center, according to a Dec. 5 statement by the TII. The blockchain can track carbon emissions by registering the emissions from any worldwide public or private organization, the TII noted. Read more source https://cointelegraph.com/news/uae-research...

From Thailand to the Eastern Caribbean, the CBDC experience has been one of government waste. So why do financial authorities keep pushing them? Despite the risks and the failures associated with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) , global policymakers are pushing forward to make them a reality.  In November alone, officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bretton Woods Committee, and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued rallying calls for governments to push forward on CBDCs with courage and determination. But rather than double down on a bad idea and waste further resources in this pursuit, policymakers should let this idea go and focus on more fundamental reforms that would create a freer financial system. The November CBDC campaign began when IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva told policymakers, “If anything… we need to pick up speed [with CBDC development].” Bretton Woods Committee chair Bill Dudley likewise called not only for the ...

This court “hereby accepts the guilty plea of the defendant to the charge [...] and the defendant is adjudged guilty of such offense,” wrote Judge Richard Jones. A federal judge accepted Binance founder Changpang "CZ" Zhao's guilty plea to money laundering, but hasn't decided if he can leave the United States before his February sentencing date. In a Dec. 6 filing to a Seattle District Court, Judge Richard Jones said he accepted Zhao’s guilty plea to one count of Bank Secrecy Act violations , which the Binance founder submitted over two weeks ago on Nov. 21 alongside his exchange’s $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Part of the settlement deal saw Zhao step down as CEO of Binance and pay $150 million to regulators. Read more source https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-founder-cz-changpeng-zhao-guilty-plea-accepted