In the history of financial markets, there are only a few tradable assets that have conquered this frontier. Currently, Bitcoin has the eighth-highest market cap among all tradable assets in the world, including equities and commodities. Among the top 10 exchange-tradable assets, it sits right above Tencent, which Bitcoin flipped on its eventual surge past the $1 trillion mark, below which stands Facebook, which was flipped earlier this month. Bitcoin is only one step away from surpassing Google and two steps away from silver. Considering the history of commodities like silver and gold, which have been traded for centuries now, …

Bitcoin (BTC) hit back to reclaim $50,000 on Feb. 24 amid fresh bullish comments from major investors. BTC price exits $40,000 range Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView tracked a 14% rise from Tuesday's lows over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin posting local highs of $51,278 on Bitstamp. At the time of writing, $50,000 was forming a price focus with bulls still to take charge to dictate new support levels. After its 20% decline from all-time highs this week, Bitcoin's almost instant renaissance accompanied votes of confidence from various investment sources. Among them was Ark Investment Management founder, CEO and …

Financial services outfit Square just announced it has picked up more Bitcoin (BTC). Square “has purchased approximately 3,318 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $170 million,” the company said in a public statement on Tuesday, adding: “Combined with Square’s previous purchase of $50 million in bitcoin, this represents approximately five percent of Square’s total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2020.” Bitcoin has fallen significantly this week so far, dropping below the $50,000 mark after tapping a record high past $58,000, based on TradingView.com data. Based on the $170 million sum Square swapped for about …

A new non-profit aiming to fund Bitcoin development education and research has been approved for special tax status, conferring benefits on donors. Brink, which launched in the fall, has been approved as a 503(c)(3) organization according to a Feb. 10 blog post. The status both exempts Brink from federal taxes and provides some interesting benefits to donors, especially considering their use of Bitcoin. Donations to 503(c)(3) organizations in the U.S. have always been an important tax write-off, but considering the long-term confusion over the IRS seemingly asking for Bitcoin users to pay capital gains taxes on any use of Bitcoin …

It seems to be the season of giving, and Bitcoin is doing just that, at least for its institutional backers, such as MicroStrategy, Galaxy Digital, Square and Marathon Patent Group, which got in somewhat early on the BTC gravy train. In this regard, PayPal revealed on Feb. 4 that its fourth-quarter profits for the year 2020 had increased by 200% as compared to the previous fiscal cycle, citing its two new offerings — i.e., a cryptocurrency tool and a “buy now pay later” feature — as being the primary drivers for its monumental growth. And even though PayPal did not …

Cash App, the Bitcoin-friendly payments application from U.S.-based financial services company Square, has teamed up with Grammy-nominated rapper Megan Thee Stallion on a $1 million Bitcoin (BTC) giveaway. Megan announced the promotional campaign via Twitter on Dec. 17. The post has received more than 60,000 likes and 8,800 retweets at the time of writing. The rapper encouraged her followers to post “#BITCOINMEG” in order to be a part of the giveaway. The post does not make it clear how much BTC each person will receive, saying: “I’m giving $1 MILLION in Bitcoin to as many hotties as I can.” Numerous …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent volatile price corrections might conjure up images of the 2017 crash in your mind, or maybe even the crash caused by COVID-19 back in March of this year. But the fact that Bitcoin has reached $20,000 for the first time in history is not a reason to sound the alarm. Despite the fact that the price of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency is up more than 225% this year, the current bull run we’re living through is unlike the Bitcoin mania we saw back in 2017. Far from it. There are four key reasons for this: Institutional …

On Tuesday, payments giant Square announced a major push to go carbon neutral by 2030. As part of the initiative, Square will be dedicating $10 million to its Bitcoin Clean Energy Investment Initiative, which aims to “support companies that help drive adoption and efficiency of renewables within the Bitcoin ecosystem.” Square is the firm behind CashApp — a major force in bringing crypto to regular users. In today’s announcement, Square identified Bitcoin as “a unique part of Square’s footprint.” Jack Dorsey, CEO of both Square and Twitter, said: “We believe that cryptocurrency will eventually be powered completely by clean power, …

The Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance, or COPA, headed up by finance company Square, recently picked up Coinbase as a cornerstone participant. Square unveiled the group in September as a method of warding off patent overreach — an issue that has been known to limit technological advancement. Coinbase senior counsel and COPA board member Brittany Cuthbert said in a public statement from the alliance on Friday: “As the crypto economy continues to grow, we believe it is important to help empower all projects building towards an open financial system. [...] We look forward to working alongside the members of COPA to …

Analysts are pointing to demand from financial institutions and publicly listed companies as the primary forces behind Bitcoin’s (BTC) sudden retest of its all-time highs. “The primary reason for the steady grind up in Bitcon has been the increased interest and aggressive buying activity from institutions,” said Nick Cote of gamified trading platform Hxro Labs. “A lot of investors are going through Grayscale.” Rising institutional demand can be seen in heavy accumulation by Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, with the fund’s BTC holdings exceeding 500,000 earlier this month. Cote also said that top American companies like Square and Microstrategy are “putting BTC …

Per an announcement and series of filings on Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice is calling shenanigans on Intuit's ambitions, at least in part. Intuit owns a stable of user-facing finance software, including budgeting app Mint, digital do-it-yourself tax software TurboTax and QuickBooks, for business accounting. The firm initially announced its acquisition of Credit Karma back in February. By its own account, Intuit was paying $7.1 billion. In its antitrust case released today, the DoJ does not object to the bulk of the new acquisition but has mandated that Intuit divest from Credit Karma's tax business, which it says …

PayPal’s entry into the cryptocurrency market could be having a dramatic impact on the Bitcoin (BTC) price. In a newly published report, crypto investment firm Pantera Capital says a Bitcoin shortage is at the heart of the recent price surge and that the majority of newly minted BTC is being scooped up by PayPal. PayPal’s new crypto service is “already having a huge impact,” Pantera claims, adding that the payment merchant is snatching up roughly 70% of all the new BTC in circulation. Citing itBit data, Pantera claims: “When PayPal went live, volume started exploding. The increase in itBit volume …