Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi has been granted court approval to sell off its crypto mining equipment as part of ongoing efforts to repay its creditors. A court document filed on Jan. 30 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey stated that the approval for BlockFi to sell its assets was on the grounds that it was “fair, reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances.” The court acknowledged the sale of the assets is “designed” to maximize the recovery and “realizable value” of the company. With the court giving BlockFi the green light, more bids are now …

Despite a challenging year for crypto, 82% of millionaire clients had looked into investing in digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) in 2022, according to a recent poll conducted by financial advisory firm deVere Group. The poll results, released on Jan. 30, found that eight out of 10 of the firm's high net worth (HNW) clients surveyed with between $1.2 million and $6.1 million of investable assets sought advice on crypto from financial advisers in the last 12 months. 82% of millionaires seek advice on crypto as Bitcoin soars#PressRelease https://t.co/nv6HSZBxEs — deVere Group (@deveregroup) January 30, 2023 Nigel Green, the …

Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the first national park in the world to run a Bitcoin (BTC) mine in an effort to protect its forests and wildlife. Cointelegraph spoke with Sébastien Gouspillou, CEO of Big Block Green Services, and the man who introduced Bitcoin mining to the park. Speaking via video call, Gouspillou said with a smile: “Bitcoin mining saved the park from bankruptcy.” Virunga is Africa's oldest protected park and a symbol of the continent's biodiversity. A report by journalist Adam Popescu, published in MIT Technology Review, explained that the region was …

Traders tend to lighten up positions before important events because they hate uncertainty. The United States Federal Reserve’s policy decision is on Feb. 1, where the central bank is expected to hike rates by 25 basis points. Market observers will keenly watch for any hints about how high the rates could go. That could be one of the reasons for the profit-booking in Bitcoin (BTC) and select altcoins on Jan. 30. Bitcoin’s sharp recovery in January could also be signaling the start of a new bull market, according to certain on-chain metrics. The Profit and Loss Index from on-chain analytics …

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $22,500 on Jan. 20 and has since been able to defend that level — accumulating 40.5% gains in the month of January. The move accompanied improvements in the stock market, which also rallied after China dropped COVID-19 restrictions after three years of strict pandemic controls. E-commerce and entertainment companies lead as the year-to-date market performers. Warner Bros (WBD) added 54%, Shopify (SHOP) 42%, MercadoLibre (MELI) 41%, Carnival Corp (CCL) 35% and Paramount Global (PARA) managed a gain 35% so far. Corporate earnings continue to attract investors' inflow and attention after oil-producer Chevron posted the second-largest …

Bitcoin mining stocks usually follow BTC’s price because it directly influences the company's earnings. These stocks were beaten down heavily in the last quarter of 2022, especially in the month of December. The downturn after FTX's collapse worsened with the bankruptcy filings of the largest U.S.-based Bitcoin mining company, Core Scientific. During this time, other mining stocks, like Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) in the chart below, exhibited a weak correlation with Bitcoin’s price, suggesting that December’s downturn was probably overblown. The negative trend reversed at the start of 2023 as most mining stocks posted impressive gains. The Hashrate Index mining …

Bitcoin (BTC) struggled to maintain bullish momentum on Jan. 30 as the countdown to the monthly close kept the market nervous. BTC price sees flash dip below $23,000 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD coming off its latest highs at just below $24,000 on the day. These, while Bitcoin’s best performance for nearly six months, encountered problems with staying power as the week began, with pre-Wall Street trading seeing a brief trip below $23,000. At the time of writing, Bitcoin traded at around $23,250 as United States equities limped into the final few days of January. Among …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been silently shutting down multiple accounts on the platform in relation to the Bitzlato investigation, according to several users. On Jan. 18, a group of Russian-speaking Binance clients complained about blocked accounts and not being able to withdraw their funds from the exchange. The affected users created a Telegram group chat to report about the issues, stating that the accounts were blocked without a warning. The members of the group — now counting more than 1,000 members — promptly drew parallels between the blockages and enforcement action against the crypto firm Bitzlato by the United States …

Bitcoin (BTC) use in Guatemala is on the up. The Latin American country that borders El Salvador boasts Guatemalan-grown Bitcoin companies such as Ibex and Osmo, several Bitcoin Beach-inspired projects including Bitcoin Lake, and now, free BTC tattoos. A Bitcoin merchant adoption competition hosted by Osmo Wallet in 2022, a Guatemala-based Bitcoin company, led to the free ink promotion. Cointelegraph spoke to Piero Coen, the co-founder of Osmo Wallet, and Steven Marroquin, the owner of Soul’s Anchor, a tattoo parlor in Guatemala City. Coen explained how it that the mission is to get more people to use Bitcoin: “So we …

As Bitcoin (BTC) shows a minor bull run, the connected sub-ecosystems’ year-long struggle for survival has started to pay off. For starters, the Bitcoin mining community experienced a 50% increase in revenue — through mining rewards and transaction fees — in the first month of 2023. On Dec. 28, 2022, Bitcoin mining revenue dipped to $13.6 million for the first time since October 2020. This, coupled with rising energy prices amid geopolitical tensions, imposed tremendous financial pressure on the companies running mining operations – forcing a few to shut shop. As Bitcoin remains well-positioned for a steady recovery, the mining …

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a key week with a familiar cocktail of price spikes mixed with fear that the bear market will return. After sealing its highest weekly close in almost six months, BTC/USD remains over 40% up year-to-date with the monthly close just 48 hours away — can the gains hold? Against all odds, Bitcoin has rallied beyond expectations this month, making January 2023 so far its best in a decade. Throughout, concerns have called for an imminent comedown and even new macro BTC price lows as a state of disbelief swept the market. That grim turnaround has yet to …

The recent launch of a nonfungible token (NFT) protocol on the Bitcoin mainnet has the crypto community divided over whether it’ll be good for the Bitcoin ecosystem. The protocol, referred to as “Ordinals,” was created by software engineer Casey Rodarmor, who officially launched the program on the Bitcoin mainnet following a Jan. 21 blog post. The protocol essentially allows for the Bitcoin version of NFTs — described as “digital artifacts” on the Bitcoin network. These “digital artificats” can comprise of JPEG-like images, PDFs, video and audio formats. The introduction of the protocol has the Bitcoin community divided however, with some …