Category: Bitcoin

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Bitcoin Crypto News Market Analysis

Top Analyst Explains the Reasons Behind The Crypto Market Crash

The crypto market tanked over the weekend, losing over 300 billion USD in market capitalization, dropping to $1.9 trillion USD.

Bitcoin dropped below $70k AUD, and most altcoins also dropped in value. ETH was down -11%, falling to $2,900 AUD. Ripple’s XRP, which made significant gains over the last week, fell by -12%, while Binance’s BNB coin dropped by -10%.

China Mining Blackouts

At first, the reason behind the crash was attributed to massive blackouts in Northwest China, specifically, in the Xinjiang region, which affected the hash rate of several BTC mining pools. The hashrate dropped nearly 50%.

Some others blamed the circulating rumours about the US Treasury charging financial institutions with money laundering, but there is no evidence to back this claim.

High Leveraged Liquidations

According to analyst Adam Cochran, the reason behind the crash can be attributed to a set of conditions that include ignorance of market-making combined with massive leveraged trading across exchanges like Binance.

The rumours, the power outage, combined with margin accounts trading with 100 – 150x leverage on several exchanges could have made the perfect receipt for disaster.

Binance Futures markets tanked the hardest. Exchanges with high leverages remained at lower prices, while Coinbase and other exchanges remained at average levels during the crash.

Margin accounts on Binance were building big positions using leverage up to 150x, but as price dips below certain points, some of these accounts were below maintenance limits, which liquidates them.

When traders are liquidated, crypto is exchanged for Tether, which makes the crypto drop in price. Currently, the volume/market cap for Tether is 4.62, and Tether went up 1.05 USD after the crash.

This triggers other accounts to sell their positions, creating a toxic cycle that ends in the liquidation of most retailers. Over 1 million positions were liquidated, while the largest liquidation was $68 million on Binance.

Despite the sudden crash, the market is slowly recovering. Several cryptos rebounded quickly. Ethereum is now trading at $2,150 while Bitcoin managed to recover above $56k, after falling nearly $10k in price.

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Australia Bitcoin Crypto News

Australian Companies Are Starting to Accept Bitcoin as Payment

Australian Companies Are Starting to Accept Bitcoin as Payment

The adoption of Bitcoin payment options in Australia is growing, as more companies now accepting BTC as a payment option for their services.

Cryptocurrencies have seen significant price increases over the past year or so, and while lots of Aussies are seeing their holdings soar in value, companies might see this as opportunity to get more business if they accept cryptos as payment for their services.

Aussie Companies Now Accepting Crypto Payments

Australian companies from lots of different industries are getting in on the crypto payments, you can now order a custom PC built, buy your dog food, design a custom home, pay for your NBN, get a solar powered system, and pay for everything using Bitcoin!

Here are some of the recent companies now accepting crypto payments:

It’s not just BTC you can pay with, other popular digital currencies are being accepted – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, and Ripple being the most used.

We see bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as being here to stay. by providing the ability for people to use cryptocurrency as a form of payment, it shows we are prepared for the future and at the forefront of technology change

Louis Gonzalez, the director at Broadwater Builds. 

Cryptos Are Going Mainstream in Australia

Crypto adoption in Australia has been surging in recent months, as seen with the local crypto exchanges, including Binance Australia, who saw record growth in Q1 2021. And Swyftx, a local Australian based exchange also seeing massive growth as Australians flock to buy cryptocurrencies.

Digital currencies have seen massive attention since the coronavirus outbreak, which led more companies to accept cryptocurrencies for payment. If you’re a business looking to accept cryptocurrencies you can take a look at our guide How to Accept Bitcoin Payments for a Business in Australia for more information.

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Australia Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies

Pay for your NBN Internet with Bitcoin Through Aussie RSP Launtel

Australian NBN Service Provider Launtel has enabled payments in Bitcoin on their website, allowing you to pay for your internet using BTC.

On the website, you can select Bitcoin as a payment method, then you’ll be redirected to a page showing a QR code you can use to pay (at the current going rate for BTC).

New Bitcoin Payment Method

The ability to pay for your internet in Bitcoin is not advertised – as of today – on Launtel’s website. However, the announcement was made on the company’s Twitter account and is visible on the User Account payment page.

Launtel has now joined the ranks of companies like Tesla who allow their goods and services to be paid for in Bitcoin. In fact, Tesla has gone even further, allowing tokenized (TESLA) stocks for sale on Binance.

Australian Companies Accepting Bitcoin Is Growing

The list of Australian companies accepting cryptos as payment is growing, these are some we have seen recently:

Companies might be deciding to accept Bitcoin because of the increasing price over the past year or so. Cryptocurrencies still do, however, remain a new market and companies should be aware of this and factor in the risks vs rewards into their decisions.

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Bitcoin Bitcoin Casino Gambling Gaming How-to

How to Deposit Bitcoin into Your Bitcoin.com Games Account

Bitcoin.com
Bitcoin.com

In this article, we’ll explain how to deposit Bitcoin in the popular online Casino provided by Bitcoin.com Games.

You can deposit either Bitcoin (BTC) or Bitcoin Cash (BCH) which can both be used to play all the games. If you don’t have any Bitcoin to deposit you can also buy it on their website using the instructions below.

  1. How to Deposit BTC
  2. How to Buy BTC through the Website

How to Deposit BTC

Follow these instructions to deposit Bitcoin into Bitcoin.com Games from an external wallet to your account.

  • Login to your account
  • Click Deposit button (top right)
  • To deposit BTC, first copy the deposit BTC address, then send your BTC to this address
  • Or to deposit BCH, click Convert Coins and then send your BCH to automatically get BTC into your account
  • After 10-15 minutes (depending on the Bitcoin blockchain waiting time) you should see the deposit incoming on your account page’s Deposit History tab.
  • You can refresh the transaction by clicking the Refresh button.
  • When the transaction is completed the funds should show in your account as credited.

That’s it! You can now use your funds to play the Games such as Pokies or Roulette.

How to Buy BTC Directly

You can also buy BTC directly through Bitcoin.com Games.

Some notes:

  • They use a 3rd party provider called MoonPay.
  • Minimum deposit of $30 AUD.
  • There is quite a big spread on the Bitcoin price. See MoonPay fees for more details.
  • The process takes about 10-15 minutes to completed funds received in the account.
  • Login to your account
  • Click Deposit button (top right)
  • Click Use Credit Card
  • Enter the dollar amount you wish to deposit
  • Follow the steps to create a Moonpay account (if you don’t already have one).
  • Once your order is placed you should get an email with the transaction details.
  • It should take around 10-15 minutes for the funds to be available in your account.

That’s it! You can now use your funds to play the Games.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

MicroStrategy to Pay its Board of Directors in Bitcoin

Michael Saylor
Michael Saylor https://twitter.com/michael_saylor/status/1376173512226959363

The NASDAQ-listed business intelligence company, MicroStrategy, has revealed in a recent filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that some of its Board of Directors will receive their compensations in Bitcoin (BTC).

MicroStrategy to Pay in BTC for Board Services

In the Form 8-K document filed with the SEC, the company disclosed that its non-employee directors would receive Bitcoin as a form of compensation for Board service. Henceforth, all the payable Board fees for the non-employee directors will be converted from US dollar to the cryptocurrency and transferred to their designed wallet address, according to the modified compensation arrangements.

The development comes amid the Board’s commitment to Bitcoin. This is not surprising because MicroStrategy has shown a keen interest and support for Bitcoin over the past months.

The business intelligence company suddenly turned Bitcoin into its main reserve assets following the outbreak of coronavirus. At the time, the company’s CEO Michael Saylor noted that the cryptocurrency was a better inflation hedge and a store of value. This seems been the main reason behind the massive BTC amount purchased by the company so far.

MicroStrategy: the Largest Corporate Bitcoin Investor?

About a month ago, MicroStrategy reportedly bought 262 Bitcoins at nearly $58,000 USD. In total, MicroStrategy held about 91,579 BTC in its balance sheet as of 5 April 2021. Following the market value of BTC, these coins are worth over $5.7 billion USD, making the company on of the largest Bitcoin corporate investors.

Like MicroStrategy, many other publicly-traded companies have invested in cryptocurrencies, including Tesla, Square and others. Many industry players believe there is still more room for Bitcoin to grow, as several public companies are yet to include BTC in their balance sheet.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

Bitcoin Before and After Headlines by Major Companies

Bitcoin Before and After Headlines by Major Companies

The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), faced several criticisms and condemning statements, especially from major financial companies, during its early stage. Fast forward to the present: the story has changed.

Many companies now support Bitcoin, to the extent that some have announced their intentions to debut Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investment services for their clients. This follows the massive rise in price, demand, and popularity in digital currencies over recent years.

A collection of old headlines about Bitcoin [multiple sources]

More Financial Companies Now Believe in BTC

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Visa, PayPal and others, all had an opposing view about the leading cryptocurrency.

Back in December 2017, James Faucette, an analyst from Morgan Stanley (a leading US investment bank), said in a document that “the value of Bitcoin could actually be…zero” because it’s not a real currency, besides other reasons. However, the bank is currently counted as one of the companies pushing crypto adoption. Recently, Morgan Stanley introduced Bitcoin funds to its wealthy clients.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO at JPMorgan Chase, argued in September 2017 that the leading cryptocurrency “is a fraud” and “eventually it will be closed”. Recently, JPMorgan looked closer at cryptos, considering different USD prices Bitcoin might reach.

Goldman Sachs had outlined five reasons why Bitcoin was neither an asset nor suitable for investment in May 2020. Almost a year later, the company informed it has plans for crypto offering, following the boom in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

The former CEO of PayPal also argued in 2018 that BTC will fall because “there’s just no value there”. He added that the cryptocurrency was useless as a payment mechanism and ridiculous as a store of value. Last year however, the company launched crypto services that allow its customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. 

Visa CEO Alfred Kelly said in 2018 that they wouldn’t process BTC transactions because it isn’t a payment system. Visa now accepts USDC as a settlement currency. Recently, they also announced plans to enable Bitcoin purchases.

Bitcoin Isn’t Dead

It’s interesting to see the opposing perspective of these companies changed about Bitcoin. It indicates that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are going mainstream and gradually becoming a widely accepted payment and asset class. The value of Bitcoin has more than doubled since those comments were made. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $63,097 USD on CoinMarketCap.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Institutions

Grayscale Total AUM increases to $49.2 Billion in just four days

Grayscale
Grayscale

Grayscale has increased its total AUM (Assets Under Management) to $49.2 billion USD, getting closer to the $50 billion USD mark as Bitcoin spiked above $62,000 USD today.

Its most popular investment product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) now holds $40,534 million USD, while the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) holds over $7 million USD.

AUM Growing Every Day

Grayscale total AUM has been growing at a fast rate as Bitcoin and altcoins surged in the past weeks.

The addition of five new tokens also boosted Grayscale’s total AUM. As reported, the firm added five cryptocurrencies to its suite of investment trusts, including Chainlink (LINK) Filecoin, Livepeer, Basic Attention Token (BAT) and MANA (Decentraland).

On April 9, Grayscale’s total AUM grew by $1 billion USD worth of Bitcoin in almost 24 hours, according to the report. Some weeks before the total AUM grew over $3 billion USD in just four days.

On Saturday, Bitcoin broke above $80,000 AUD after several weeks of strong consolidation, a new all-time high for the father-of-all cryptos.

Grayscale’s Intention for a BTC ETF

Grayscale also plans to turn its GBTC into a proper Bitcoin Exchange-traded fund, after hinting at various ETF-related job positions on its career page.

Unlike other elite institutions like Goldman Sachs and VanEck, Grayscale will not file an S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said that it will develop its BTC ETF as the regulatory weather on the United States becomes clearer.

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Bitcoin Bitcoin Mining Crypto News Cryptocurrencies

Hardware Hacker Modifies Old School Game Boy To Mine Bitcoin

Stacksmashing – a YouTube content creator who focuses on reverse engineering gadgets and old-school games just for kicks – recently made waves with his video in which he sets up a Game Boy to mine Bitcoin, with a little help from a Raspberry Pi Pico and a connection to a computer running a Bitcoin node.

Battery-Powered Bitcoin

In an era where gamers and crypto miners are engaging in asymmetrical warfare over high-end GPUs and exploring the tactical advantages of eBay botting versus grey market rigs from Newegg, one entertainer set out to see if he can use other gaming equipment for the task as well.

The experiment was a success, with Stacksmashing successfully setting up a Bitcoin mining rig running on four AA batteries, childhood memories and sheer ingenuity.

Of course, certain technical hurdles had to be overcome first – for starters, Game Boys cannot connect to the Internet. The memory available on a Game Boy is also too small to contain the entire blockchain – so the Game Boy was jimmy-rigged with a Raspberry Pi Pico for some processing power, which was then linked to a PC with internet access running a Bitcoin mining node.

However, before you go rummaging through that one box in your garage to duplicate the experiment, note that the mining rate of the entire setup only amounts to 0.8 hashes per second. For comparison, a dedicated mining rig has an average speed of about 125 billion times that, meaning that if things were left to run their course – assuming the mining difficulty of Bitcoin left unchanged – Stacksmashing’s Game Boy would earn 1 BTC within a few quadrillion years.

In order to test his setup, Stacksmashing had to set up a new Bitcoin blockchain that contained no prior records. However, it’s quite exciting to see that the thing actually works – and beeps along to some cutesy animations while at it.

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Binance Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s Best Yearly Start in Eight Years – 2021 Q1 Sees Over 100% Returns

Bitcoin has outperformed all major asset classes for 2121 Q1 as shown on a chart posted by Binance. This is the best start to the year BTC has has in the past 8 years.

Starting the year around $38,000 AUD and currently $78,000 (at time of writing) has seen the BTC price gaining just over $100% in the first 3 months of 2021. Compared to previous years this by far the best start to a year for BTC with most other starts actually showing negative gains for Q1 and then Q2 onwards showing very bullish returns.

Bitcoin Quarterly Returns – Source

Other asset classes such as precious metals and the stock market haven’t produced anywhere near the returns so far this year.

Ethereum (ETH) is also up over 100% for the first quarter, along with many other cryptos.

Could we see the trend continue into 2021 Q2?

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Bitcoin Bitcoin Casino Bitcoin.com Games Gaming

Wildly Popular Live Casino Game Shows from Evolution Gaming Now Available on Bitcoin Games

The Most Authoritative Crypto Casino Adds Live Casino Games from the Masters of Live Experiences.

Bitcoin Games is a one-stop gaming portal for players to enjoy a variety of casino games playable with cryptocurrency. There is something for everyone – from slot lovers to jackpot chasers, the online casino offers all kinds of exciting video games that members can play and win cryptocurrencies on.

The premium crypto gaming portal is now expanding it’s arsenal with the addition of live casino games and shows from the leaders of video-streamed live experiences – Evolution Gaming. The newly added live casino games include a variety of classics such as Baccarat, Blackjack and Roulette, along with many other exciting games that promise players an unmatched gaming experience.

Play live game shows like ‘Crazy Time’ and ‘Deal or No Deal’ to win Bitcoin with up to 20,000x multiplier!

Building upon the existing library of games, Bitcoin Games is also bringing a new way of experiencing online casinos. An entirely novel idea that combines traditional money wheel games with wildly popular game shows for an immersive gaming experience. Players can now participate in highly-engaging real world game shows such as Crazy Time, Deal or no Deal, and Dream Catcher right from the comfort of their devices – with Bitcoin!

Bitcoin Games has established itself as one of the top crypto casinos where players can expect a smooth gaming experience while having access to world-class customer support and excellent account managers. With a perfect payout rate, the  gaming portal regularly dishes out millions in Bitcoin to lucky players every month.

Check out these newly added games or try out the exciting range of casino classics available only on Bitcoin Games.