Deputy for the Spanish Ciudadanos political party María Muñoz has proposed a bill to make Spain a Bitcoin mining hotspot following the internet shutdown that caused a mining outage in Kazakhstan. The lawyer and economist Muñoz was steadfast in her support of Spain as a Bitcoin (BTC) destination, in a tweet on Friday: “The protests in Kazakhstan have repercussions all around the world but also for Bitcoin. We propose that Spain positions itself as a safe destination for investments in cryptocurrencies to develop a flexible, efficient and safe sector.” A two-page open letter accompanied the tweet directed at the Spanish …

The police in Kosovo have ramped up their efforts to crack down on crypto miners in the country, confiscating more than 300 mining machines on Jan. 8 alone. An announcement issued by the Kosovo police on Jan. 8 revealed that it had seized 272 “Antminer” Bitcoin mining machines in the municipality of Leposavic, and another 39 mining machines near Prishtina. Meanwhile, the police also stopped a driver carrying 6 crypto mining machines with 42 graphics cards (GPUs) near Druar, in Vushtrri. The driver has since been interviewed and released. The Minister for Economy Artane Rizvanolli tweeted her support for the …

Despite major internet blackouts amid anti-government protests in Kazakhstan, some Bitcoin (BTC) miners operating in the country are not planning to leave the country just yet. BIT Mining, one of the largest BTC mining companies that relocated operations from China to Kazakhstan last year, is still evaluating the impact of political unrest in Kazakhstan, Chinese industry news agency 8btc reported Friday. “It is unlikely that our mining machines will be evacuated to North America,” a spokesperson for BIT Mining reportedly said, adding that the firm will be closely monitoring the situation. The representative also noted that Kazakhstan is not BIT …

The Mozilla Foundation has put cryptocurrency donations on hold following a community backlash sparked by trenchant criticism from co-founder Jamie Zawinski. Last week the development company behind the Firefox browser tweeted an appeal for donations in cryptocurrency. But earlier today, Mozilla announced it had paused crypto donations due to the online discussion around crypto’s environmental impact. Last week, we tweeted a reminder that Mozilla accepts cryptocurrency donations. This led to an important discussion about cryptocurrency’s environmental impact. We’re listening, and taking action. 1/4 — Mozilla (@mozilla) January 6, 2022 Mozilla said it will continue to explore decentralized web technology, but …

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) cratered below $43,000 on Thursday in a selloff that was stoked by the Federal Reserve’s renewed pledge to start unwinding its pandemic stimulus support. For the so-called diamond hand investors among us, the decline presents an attractive entry point to continue accumulating BTC at discount rates. 2021 was the year that institutions and corporations became major movers and shakers in the Bitcoin market. By the end of the year, corporations and investment funds held roughly 1.48 million BTC, which represents 7% of the current circulating supply. Do you think these large, strategic investors are going …

Kazakhstan, which boasts the second-largest (BTC) mining hash rate in the world, is experiencing major internet disruptions amid local anti-government protests. Network data provider NetBlocks reported Wednesday that Kazakhstan was “in the midst of a nation-scale internet blackout after a day of mobile internet disruptions and partial restrictions.” According to the data, the normalized network connectivity in Kazakhstan fell to 2% on Jan. 5. “The incident is likely to severely limit coverage of escalating anti-government protests,” NetBlocks noted. Kazakhtelecom, the largest telecom company in Kazakhstan, has shut down the internet across the nation, according to some reports. Cellular networks have …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining hardware manufacturer Canaan Inc is expanding its footprint in Kazakhstan after signing new strategic partnerships with multiple crypto mining firms in the country. The Nasdaq-listed company announced Tuesday that it had deployed 10,300 AvalonMiner units in Kazakhstan as of Dec. 31, 2021, finalizing phase one of its deployment in the central Asian country. Canaan is partnering with local firms as part of its business expansion plans outside of China. However, the company declined to list any of its local partners. Although Canaan is based in Hangzhou, China, the company is eyeing expansion outside of its home country …

The government of Kosovo has ceased crypto mining in the country owing to power constraints during the winter season. Kosovo's minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, has decided to stop crypto mining following a recommendation from the Technical Committee on "Emergency Measures for Energy Supply," according to a report by local outlet Gazeta Express. The report notes that the government made the decision after Kosovo's power supply fell below the stipulated level, and it began to impose electricity cuts during peak usage periods. According to Rizvanolli, the government decided to establish a technical committee to evaluate emergency energy supply strategies in …

Today marks the 13th year since Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block or block 0 of the Bitcoin network, and for the first time mined a reward of 50 BTC back on Mon, 2009. Fast-forward to 2022, the BTC network shows no signs of slowing down by reaching a new all-time high hash rate of 207.53 million tera hashes per second (TH/s). The Bitcoin hash rate, which correlates to the strength of the network based on the number of active miners, saw a temporary downfall after China banned citizens and businesses from pursuing crypto mining and trading …

Shark Tank celebrity Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, says he would be ready to increase his crypto allocations up to 20% as soon as there are clearer regulations around stablecoins. O’Leary, a former Bitcoin (BTC) skeptic, is now a vocal advocate of cryptocurrency, which currently makes up over 10% of his investment portfolio. Mr. Wonderful is particularly focused on U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, which he sees as an effective hedge against rising levels of inflation. By staking stablecoins, he pointed out, he can make up to 6% returns. He explained to Cointelegraph: ”When inflation is 6%, you're buying power …

Bitcoin influencer and podcaster Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano said that there is no need to “apologize” for Bitcoin’s energy use, because “crucial things in the world use energy.” He made the comments in a Dec 27 interview on CNBC’s morning news and talk program, “Squawk Box” with Joe Kernen. During the interview, he claimed that many people are missing “key points” in the “climate argument” against the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem, especially in terms of comparisons with fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar: “There is a linear relationship between energy consumption and the dollar system, to support more users and more transactions, …

Amid Iran’s energy consumption increasing during the winter, local energy authorities have decided to halt operations of authorized cryptocurrency mining centers. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, chairman of the board and managing director of Iran Grid Management Company (Tavanir), announced that Iran is shutting down crypto mining centers again to reduce liquid fuel consumption in power plants amid decreasing temperatures. Mashhadi said that Iranian authorities took this action to reduce energy consumption last month, The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported on Dec. 25. “The Energy Ministry has been implementing measures since last month to reduce the use of liquid fuels …