Author: Cristian Lipciuc

Cristian Lipciuc is a blockchain journalist working with startup companies across multiple domains such as freelancing, app development & cryptocurrency. Cristian specializes in applied blockchain technologies, cryptocurrency integration, the adoption of new technologies by governments, and cybersecurity.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin Blockchain

Iris Energy Doubles Their Fund-Raising Target

An Australian company that splits its activities between bitcoin mining and operating a data center, Iris Energy has passed it’s pre-IPO funding target of AUD 20 million with flying colours. Following an unexpected financial commitment from Platinum Asset Management, they’ve decided to increase their target to AUD 40 million.

Double The Planned Revenue, Double The Planned Power

Platinum Asset Management has committed to offering AUD 13 million worth of capital ahead of the planned IPO.

At least a part of these funds will go towards building a 50 megawatt data centre in the Canadian region of British Columbia – which will supplement their currently funded data centre which will be capable of providing up to 30 megawatts – a move that will greatly increase their future capacity.

For now, their mining operation depends on only 9 megawatts of power – that is, until the capabilities of the current site are upgraded.

It is unclear whether the new data center will be used for mining Bitcoin as well – although the temperature of British Columbia would definitely seem suitable for anyone who’s dealt with racks of GPUs and servers.

In a separate statement, Iris Energy also informed investors of a planned change in management, hiring the former CEO and the former CFO of the energy and infrastructure business DUET Group, which is listen on the ASX and was worth approximately $13 billion in 2017, when the business was sold to CKI.

The two of them will most likely be occupying the position of independent chair and chief executive.

The company also has a marked interest in remaining as environmentally-friendly as possible – a trait that stands to further their success in a world ever more aware of the necessity of keeping the planet an inhabitable place for all.

Categories
Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Payments

PayPal Allegedly In Talks Regarding Curv Acquisitions

PayPal’s interest in cryptocurrency may be considered one of the catalysts for the bull run cryptocurrencies have been on for the past few months.

In contrast to other companies that have gotten into cryptocurrencies, PayPal have mostly stayed out of the limelight regarding their moves in the crypto world – an approach quite different to Square’s positive statements regarding crypto as a whole, or Elon Musk taking a marked interest in Shiba Inus and tweeting saucy emojis in response to Peter Schiff’s disparaging comments.

Price Of Acquisition Rumoured To Be In The Hundreds Of Millions

Around 4 months ago, PayPal was rumoured to be in talks with BitGo, looking to buy them out for around $750 million. However, it seems the talks led nowhere – and PayPal appear to have done their shopping elsewhere.

Looking for a company that deals with cryptocurrencies in large quantities, PayPal are now apparently in talks with Curv, according to several unofficial sources.

While Calcalist – an Israeli news outlet – claims the discussed price is in the $200-300 million range, another anonymous source has stated the figure is actually closer to $500 million.

“PayPal is buying Curv for $500 million. From where I’m hearing it, I’m pretty sure it’s true.”

Another source stated that the move is logical, going by PayPal’s previous well-planned acquisitions, such as that of Venmo. However, any good business has a wealth of options – and the move into crypto is just another way of diversifying the companies’ business.

Neither Curv nor PayPal have released any statement regarding the potential business deal.

For the moment, PayPal is still offering purchases of cryptocurrency in the USA – and is planning to do the same in the UK, albeit through the third-party firm Paxos.

Categories
Blockchain Cardano Cryptocurrencies

Cardano Becomes A Multi-Asset Blockchain

Following today’s hard form – codenamed Mary – Cardano will allow other blockchain-based firms to make and run their own tokens on the Cardano blockchain.

Expanding A Booming Cryptocurrency

Cardano (ADA) has enjoyed a spectacular growth in recent weeks – as well as some open endorsements, such as the one by rockstar and investor Gene Simmons, who recently bought $300,000 worth of ADA and motivated his decision as an investment into a “cryptocurrency for everyone”.

“ Why did I buy Cardano (ADA)? Well, for one thing, it’s affordable to almost everyone. It’s pennies compared to my other holdings like Bitcoin, which is over $50,000 a single coin. I believe everyone should be able to afford cryptocurrency. And here is one I believe in.”

Back in 2017, Ethereum sparked the so-called “altcoin revolution” by allowing other companies to mint their own tokens on the Ethereum blockchain – and they have since become and maintained their position as the 2nd largest cryptocurrency.

With a bit of luck, Cardano – a cryptocurrency already favourable to new developments and use cases – will see a similar growth.

The company behind Cardano – named IOHK – have been testing the update for around a month and have reportedly received positive feedback from exchanges and other blockchain-based companies regarding the fork.

“We’ve been testing it for almost a month, and the test looks good, exchanges are happy.”

Charles Hoskinson – the founder of IOHK – presented the hard fork of Cardano as a “historic moment”.

Before founding IOHK and Cardano, Hoskinson was a co-founder of Ethereum and BitShares – and it seems the prior experience has been put to good use, with ADA recently becoming the 3rd largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Industries

APS Blockchain Conference To Promote Blockchain Adoption In Government

The first APS Blockchain event to take place in 2021 will be hosted on Friday, the 12th of March.

Presented by the APS Blockchain Network – in collaboration with MIT – the conference will aim to drive adoption of blockchain technology across all levels of the public sector.

Discussing New Ways To Implement Blockchain

Alongside the South Australian Government, MIT will be there to discuss their digital currency pilot – named Project Ubin. Project Ubin launched in Singapore in 2016 and is an international endeavour that seeks to improve the way clearances work, in the world of regular payments – and it aims to bring improvements in the financial area that deals with securities as well.

At the conference – which public servants from all over Australia are encouraged to attend – the presenters will be laying out the key takeaways from their research, and discussing ways that blockchain can be implemented in the public sector.

This conference comes not long after Blockchain Australia called for more government support for blockchain.

According to Steve Vallas – the CEO of Blockchain Australia – investors need more confidence that the government will support blockchain technology before committing to the same degree they do in the USA.

“Australia hasn’t had a Greyscale equivalent and that’s really prevented a lot of investors coming into the marketplace because they want to go through the process they usually go through. Having a familiar vehicle makes a lot more sense and that’s what we’re trying to bring to the market. I think there’s probably a well-understood investment cycle where Australia is 2-3 years behind US markets and that appears to be playing out in the crypto investment market as well.”

The meeting will be held online on the Webex platform in nearly 2 weeks’ time.

Categories
Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Gold

Satoshi’s Twitter May Have Been Found — As Well As A Clue For A Bitcoin Treasure Hunt

A researcher who goes by the name of Varun has published his findings on Substack, in which he claims the Twitter account ‘Goldlover’ (@fafcffacfff) may belong to the creator of Bitcoin himself. 

A Hankering For Gold Both Physical and Digital

According to the research, this Twitter account was at the peak of its activity around the time Bitcoin was released — and ceased nearly all activity at a time that concurs with the moment Satoshi slipped back into total silence, leaving the budding crypto community to its own devices.

Created in May of 2008, the account mentioned gold quite often and sharply criticized the current fiat value system. The account also allegedly mentioned “Bit Gold” several times — a possible reference to a proposal dating back to 2005 made by Nick Szabo, who laid out an idea for a financial system based on cryptography. The mining would, of course, be decentralised. 

In September of 2008, the Twitter account yet again began mentioning “Digital Gold Currency”, in between a great number of eccentric tweets about gold and jewellery. 

Although a great number of people were criticizing the financial system around 2008 for obvious reasons, this criticism coupled with the fact that this account is the only one to mention Bitcoin as far back as 2009 aside from Hal Finney’s account makes it a serious candidate for being Satoshi’s account.

“(These are) all hallmarks of talking points used by Satoshi in his emails and forum posts which are well known, post-Bitcoin announcement.”

This may not be, however, the most important tweet of his. There is a theory that alleges that Satoshi left clues that would point eager seekers to his fortune in Bitcoin, made back when mining BTC was quite easy. 

The following cryptic tweet may have just reinforced that theory:

So if you have a penchant for both symbolism and cryptography, start looking.

Categories
Binance Crypto Exchange Cryptocurrencies

1Inch Expands To Binance Smart Chain, Citing High ETH GAS Fees

One of the top Decentralized Exchange  (DEX) Aggregators, 1inch has expanded to Binance Smart Chain in an effort to expand their services. Anton Bukov – the CTO of 1inch – has stated that the reason for this is that “Ethereum miners killed the Ethereum network by not raising the block gas limit.”

A Bridge Between Two Networks

1Inch launched in 2019 and has facilitated countless trading orders, looking for better exchange rates across multiple exchanges. However, due to the recent increase in ETH fees, the company has decided to give users a new way to trade – and BSC’s protocol allows for 10 times more gas per minute.

The company also stated that Binance Smart Chain will be used as a bridge between the two blockchain favored by DeFi hotshots worldwide.

“The 1INCH token on Binance Smart Chain will be used for a bridge between the Binance and Ethereum networks. 1inch users will get access to PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap, StreetSwap, Venus, StableSwap, JulSwap, BakerySwap and other Binance-based DEXes and lending protocols.”

Anton Bukov stated that although the integration was paid out of pocket, Binance did participate in 1inch’s seed round that took place in August.

1Inch aren’t the only blockchain-based firms looking for alternative solutions – it turns out the current issues surrounding GAS prices and the like have convinced a few firms to at least look for alternatives, whether on Binance Smart Chain, Compound Chain and others.

It’s worth noting that the increase in GAS fees isn’t something new – but the problem has been exacerbated in recent months. With a bit of luck, 1inch’s expansion into BSC will be some sort of catalyst for a process that results in further diversification of DeFi and crypto options – instead of following the current one-size-fits-all approach.

Categories
Cryptocurrencies Ethereum Investing

Canada Attempts To Found The First Ethereum ETF

After founding the first two Bitcoin ETFs in North America last week, Canadian authorities have now set their sights on an even loftier goal – being the first country in the world to found an ETF for Ethereum.

First Of Its Kind

If the filing is approved, the ETF will be traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as ETHX.

CI Global Asset Management released a statement outlining their action plan, stating that cryptocurrencies are not only here to stay – they are changing the way the financial world operates. As a result, they intend to stay well ahead of the curve by founding an ETF for the 2nd largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

According to Kurt McAlpine – the CEO of CI Financial, which is CI GAM’s parent company – the ETH ETF will reduce the number of hoops traditional investors have to jump through before investing in what they see as the future of currency.

 “CI is quickly establishing a leadership position in this space, having launched CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund and recently filing a preliminary prospectus for CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, in partnership with blockchain and cryptocurrency experts Galaxy Digital. With these funds, we are reducing the friction points that investors have traditionally faced in buying and holding cryptocurrencies. CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF is an important addition to that lineup as this emerging asset class gains increasing interest and validation.”

Furthermore, Mike Novogratz – the  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Digital Holdings – stated that Ethereum’s decentralized nature that lends itself to building applications on it’s blockchain stands to become a pillar of the so-called “Web 3.0”.

If approved, ETHX will invest directly in Ethereum using its holdings – which will be priced using the Bloomberg Galaxy Ethereum Index, which is owned by Bloomberg Index Services.

Categories
Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies Investing

Pizza and Bitcoin Meet Again: A $2850 Tip

During the unfortunate situation the world has found itself in for over a year now, I daresay we all may have ordered one too many pizzas – however, we probably haven’t been tipping in BTC.

$5 or BTC?

The story of the guy who bought 2 pizzas for 10k Bitcoins back in 2010 is well-known – however, it seems this isn’t the only pizza-related story of Bitcoin payments that have seen the HODLer come out on top.

Although not as dramatic and high-value as that story or as the windfall received by the kid who accidentally HODLed for several years while originally planning to buy in-game currency with BTC, a recent story has surfaced on Reddit of a 0.05 BTC tip for a pizza back in 2013 that is now worth $2850.

At the time, the redditor who goes by the alias btcbible offered the pizza delivery guy a choice between a 5$ tip – or the going equivalent in Bitcoin at the time, written down on a paper wallet. According to the redditor, the pizza delivery man had heard of Bitcoin, but didn’t know much about it. Nevertheless, he certainly made the correct choice.

The pizza delivery driver has since contacted the redditor for assistance on getting his BTC into a hot wallet so he can cash out – and assistance was offered.

“I let the pizza guy choose between $5 in fiat or BTC. Needless to say, he chose wisely. I’ve responded with instructions on how to import the private key via Electrum.”

Btcbible has clarified that he is no longer rich in crypto, having liquidated most of his holdings in order to buy a house.

However, he’s definitely made another person at least a little bit richer on his way to home ownership.

Categories
Australia Scams Sydney

Sydney Man Arrested For Laundering Cash Into Crypto

A man who – according to police sources – is the head of a profitable multi-million dollar crime syndicate focusing on money laundering has been arrested in Sydney’s inner west area.

His car allegedly contained $1 million in cash when he was stopped by police.

Under Supervision For Months

Police sources have stated they were on the man’s trail since October 2020.

The man arrested – a 30-year-old by the name of Yi Zhong – was stopped by police at around 5:30 AM on Monday and taken to Auburn police station.

The police reportedly found and seized 2 bags containing $1 million in cash – and then proceeded to search a home, presumably his, in Wentworth Point. Over a kilo of methylamphetamine, cocaine, a laptop, several hard drives, and USB sticks, as well as mobile phones, were seized to help in the investigation.

In a press statement, the police stated that they will be pressing charges against the man, accusing him of multiple crimes – chief among them being the direction of a criminal syndicate that laundered a total of $5,479,300 into bitcoin following his orders.

“Police will allege in court the man directed a criminal syndicate to launder money by converting cash into bitcoin on his behalf, totalling $5,479,300.”

In total, Mr. Zhong will be charged with 24 offences – out of which 19 are for “knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, knowingly directing activities of a criminal group and drug-related offences.” He is due to appear in court on the 19th of April and has already been denied bail.

Detective Superintendent Matt Craft stated that the gang seemed to have operated as money-launderers-for-hire – and that a series of consequent arrests are probably on the horizon.

Categories
Cardano Cryptocurrencies Investing

Gene Simmons Buys $300k Worth Of Cardano

Gene Simmons — a man who used to be known exclusively for rocking out on stage and an unforgettable coat of face paint — has also become known for his positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies. 

The KISS frontman has sizable holdings in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin,  and other cryptocurrencies. He’s also — in typical rockstar fashion — declared himself the God of Dogecoin. Elon Musk may be surprised to hear that. 

An Affordable Cryptocurrency 

Explaining his recent purchase of Cardano (ADA) worth $300k, Gene Simmons stated that he believes everyone should be able to afford cryptocurrency, and Cardano is affordable for everyone. 

“ Why did I buy Cardano (ADA)? Well, for one thing, it’s affordable to almost everyone. It’s pennies compared to my other holdings like Bitcoin, which is over $50,000 a single coin. I believe everyone should be able to afford cryptocurrency. And here is one I believe in.”

The value of Cardano has grown from around 6 cents last February to $1.09 at the time this article was written. Cardano is currently one of the top cryptocurrencies by market cap, in a constant battle with XRP, LINK, XLM, and USDT. The cryptocurrency seeks to create a platform that will allow the mainstream financial system to interact with crypto networks, as well as fix the Bitcoin scalability issue. 

Gene Simmons has also been accused by detractors of taking payments in exchange for endorsements of cryptocurrencies —  to which he responded, saying people should do their own research before buying cryptocurrency — but also saying that sometimes people should ease up on the cynicism. 

Celebrities and crypto are now heavily in the limelight, we recently saw accusations that Tron paid celebrities to endorse TRX coin.

Cardano, Chainlink, and Ripple have all been working on inventing ways to connect the mainstream financial system to the blockchain ecosystem — and if market caps are any indicators of success, things will only get better for them from here on out.