Bitcoin’s (BTC) volatility has been shrinking in the past few days. The standard deviation of daily Bitcoin returns for the last 30 and 60 days as calculated by the Bitcoin Volatility Index is at 2.63%, the least volatile it has been since November 2020. Generally, tight ranges are followed by strong price expansions. In 2020, the low volatility period in November was followed by a sharp rally in mid-December, which resulted in a supercycle that carried the price all the way to $64,854 on April 14, 2021. However, there is no certainty that the volatility expansion will happen only to the upside. The price could break out in either direction. Commentator Vince Prince warned that the high leverage ratio of Bitcoin could trigger a big chunk of stop-losses if the $40,000 support breaks down. Could Bitcoin start a new up-move or will bears pull the price below the support levels, triggering a sell-off in altcoins? Let’s study the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out. BTC/USDT Bitcoin has been trading near the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) ($44,181) for the past few days. Although bulls have not been able to push the price above this resistance, a minor positive is that they have not given up much ground. If the price turns up from the current level or $41,725.95, the bulls will make one more attempt to clear the overhead resistance at the 20-day EMA and the horizontal resistance at $45,456. If they do that, the pair could rise to the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) ($47,680) where the bulls may again encounter stiff resistance from the bears. A break and close above this resistance could push the pair to $52,088. Conversely, if the price breaks below $41,725.95, the BTC/USDT pair could drop to the strong support at $39,600. This is an important level for the bulls to defend because if it breaks down, the selling could intensify and the pair may plummet toward $30,000. ETH/USDT Ether’s (ETH) recovery off the support line of the descending channel fizzled out near the 20-day EMA ($3,439), which suggests that the sentiment remains negative and traders are selling on rallies. The bears will now try to pull the price below $3,188. If they manage to do that, the ETH/USDT pair could drop to $2,928.83. This is an important support to watch out for because if it collapses, the decline could extend to $2,652. Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns up from the current level and breaks above the 20-day EMA, the bulls will try to push the pair above the resistance line of the channel. If that happens, the pair could rise to $4,200. BNB/USDT Binance Coin (BNB) failed to break above the resistance line of the descending channel pattern on Jan. 16. This may have sparked selling by short-term traders, pulling the price below the 20-day EMA ($488). If bears pull the price below $466.50, the BNB/USDT pair could decline toward the support line of the channel. The flat moving averages and the RSI just below the midpoint, indicate equilibrium between the bulls and bears. If the price rebounds off $466.50, the bulls will again try to thrust the price above the channel and the 50-day SMA ($530). If they succeed, it will signal a possible change in trend. The pair could then rally to $572. ADA/USDT Cardano (ADA) broke and closed above the 50-day SMA ($1.34) on Jan. 16, indicating that bulls are attempting a comeback. The price could now reach the resistance line of the descending channel. The moving averages are on the verge of a bullish crossover and the RSI has jumped into the positive zone, indicating that bulls have the upper hand in the short term. If buyers propel and sustain the price above the channel, it will signal a change in trend. The ADA/USDT pair could first rally to $1.87 and if this level is crossed, the next move could be to $2.47. On the other hand, if the price turns down from the resistance line, the pair could again drop to the moving averages. SOL/USDT Solana (SOL) continues to trade inside the descending channel pattern. The bulls attempted to push the price above the 20-day EMA ($154) on Jan. 13 but failed. This suggests that bears are selling on every minor rally. The bears will now attempt to pull the price below the support at $130. If they succeed, the SOL/USDT pair could drop to the strong support at $116. This is an important level for the bulls to defend because a break below it could sink the pair to the support line of the channel. Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns up from the current level and breaks above the 20-day EMA, the pair could rise to the resistance line of the channel. A break and close above the channel will signal a possible change in trend. XRP/USDT Ripple (XRP) has been trading between the 20-day EMA ($0.79) and the support at $0.75. This squeeze is soon likely to end in a range expansion. If the price breaks below $0.75, the XRP/USDT pair could resume its downtrend and drop to $0.69 followed by a decline to $0.60. The downsloping moving averages and the RSI in the negative territory indicate advantage to bears. Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns up from $0.75 and breaks above the moving averages, it will suggest accumulation at lower levels. The pair could then start its northward march toward the stiff overhead resistance at $1. LUNA/USDT Terra’s LUNA token could not rise and sustain above the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $87.88 on Jan. 15 and 16. This may have triggered profit-booking by short-term bulls. The price has turned down to the 20-day EMA ($80.17), which could act as a support. If the price turns up from the current level, the bulls will again try to propel and sustain the LUNA/USDT pair above $87.88. If they succeed, the pair could rally

  The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has confirmed that the country is making investments to secure a geothermal power source for the construction and operation of the upcoming Bitcoin City, which will be financed with the earnings of the so-called “volcano bonds.” Bukele stated there are high chances of finding a well in the area of the Conchagua volcano that will be able to power the whole city by itself. El Salvador Investing in New Geothermal Energy Sources The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has confirmed that the country is making investments to increase its geothermal energy production. Bukele explained that the power coming from the volcanoes, managed and maintained by a state company called Lageo, produces more than 1,000 gigawatts for the nation yearly. The company is now adding more wells to increase its power production. According to statements from Bukele, the company is preparing the inclusion of four new wells to the system, that would contribute to production. One of the more advanced wells will supposedly be able to provide more than 95 MW (megawatts) of energy to the national grid. Regarding the nature of the energy provided, Bukele stated: [It will be] clean, cheap and renewable energy, from a source that will last at least a couple of million years. Power for Bitcoin City On the topic of powering Bitcoin City with geothermal energy, Bukele stated that they are also drilling new wells for this purpose. According to an article published by the presidency of the country, Bukele stated: We have a 90% probability of finding a well (with capacity) to (contribute) at least 42 MW. Enough to provide energy to the entire Bitcoin City. He further explained that if the city has more power demand than was anticipated, other wells that are in preparation can be used to supplement it. Bitcoin City, announced September 2021, is to be powered with energy from the volcanoes that is renewable and green. However, the project has been criticized by some that believe the volcanoes around the city are unable to produce this energy. This is the case of economist Steve Hanke, who said that the volcano which will supposedly power the city (the Conchagua) was inactive. However, Bukele rebuffed this position by stating that most geothermal wells were constructed around inactive volcanoes. Others have also criticized the usage of geothermal energy for mining bitcoin in the country, stating that it could end in an environmental disaster.

  Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Block and ex-CEO of Twitter, has proposed creating a nonprofit organization to protect the rights and interests of open-source Bitcoin developers, who are often subject to “litigation” and “threats.” Dorsey explained in an email sent to the bitcoin-dev mailing list on January 12 that the nonprofit’s intention is to defend Bitcoin developers from these threats in an attempt to prevent contributors and maintainers from capitulating, often a reality as many lack legal support. “The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund is a nonprofit entity that aims to minimize legal headaches that discourage software developers from actively developing Bitcoin and related projects such as the Lightning Network, Bitcoin privacy protocols, and the like,” the email read. In October 2021, Bitcoin Core maintainer Jonas Schnelli stepped down from the project citing increased “legal risks for Bitcoin developers” and suggesting that new contributors “join anonymously.” In December, two other developers also left the project. Samuel Dobson said early that month he would no longer maintain Bitcoin Core after three years of dedication to focus on his Ph.D., followed a few days later by John Newbery, who stepped away from working on Bitcoin development saying that he was “moving on to other things.” Dorsey’s initiative aims to prevent such losses from happening by “finding and retaining defense counsel, developing litigation strategy, and paying legal bills,” per the email co-signed by the Fund’s board, composed by himself, Chaincode Labs co-founder Alex Morcos, and academic Martin White. “This is a free and voluntary option for developers to take advantage of if they so wish,” the email said. “The Fund will start with a corps of volunteer and part-time lawyers. The board of the Fund will be responsible for determining which lawsuits and defendants it will help defend.” According to the email, the Fund’s first activity will be to take over and coordinate the defense of the Tulip Trading lawsuit, in which Craig Wright claims he is a victim of theft of the private keys connected to billions of dollars worth of bitcoin that were drained in the Mt. Gox hack. Many defendants are prolific Bitcoin developers and Bitcoin Core maintainers, including Schnelli, Wladimir Van Der Laan, Marco Falke, Pieter Wuille, Peter Todd, and Matthew Corallo, among others. The email also said that the initiative isn’t seeking additional funding at the moment, but may do so if needed in the future at the board’s discretion.

  The year 2021 was unprecedented for crypto, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) gaining 60.58% and 408.5% throughout the year, respectively. For the latter, the explosion of decentralized finance (DeFi), nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized applications (DApps) and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) built on its blockchain created a whole new digital currency cyberspace encompassing all corners of the world. But, the year was also an auspicious one for altcoins, whose performance far outweighed that of BTC and ETH during the same time period. So, without further ado, let’s look at five cryptocurrencies that went from zero to hero in 2021. 1. Shiba Inu  Of course, at the top place is the iconic meme token Shiba Inu (SHIB). Originally created as a joke and as a spin-off from Dogecoin (DOGE) in August 2020, SHIB holders recognized a mouth-watering gain of 29,513,624.1% from start to finish in 2021. But the network has evolved far outside of meme status. There is now a ShibaSwap DEX with close to $324.5 million in total value locked (TVL) at the time of publication, with two other native tokens and support for NFT drops. Then again, the memes have also been flying high this entire time. Last October, CEO of AMC Entertainment Adam Aron organized a Twitter poll asking if the well-known movie theatre chain should accept SHIB tokens as payment for movie tickets. The poll garnered 153,100 votes, with 81.4% of users in favor. And, loyal to the cause, soldiers of the “Shiba Army” have proven themselves to be ardent defenders of the token when faced against enemies of their blockchain. The past December, Canadian medical Q&A platform Ask the Doctor, a former SHIB influencer, went AWOL and decided to file a lawsuit against Shytoshi Kusama, the volunteer project lead for SHIB, alleging libel. Not only did Kusama fire back (with Tweets), but the Shiba Army launched an all-out attack on the entire (cyber) front. Within hours, Ask the Doctor had lost close to 10,000 out of 58,000 followers on Twitter while its TrustPilot page was flooded with hundreds, if not thousands, of one-star reviews before the platform‘s curators began removing them. 2. Solana Coming in with a gain of 11,120% in 2021, Solana (SOL) managed to live up to its endearing nickname of “Ethereum Killer,” processing 1,847 transactions per second and with an average cost per transaction of less than one penny at the time of publication. Meanwhile, the Ethereum network can only process 15 transactions per second, with gas prices of $133.17 per smart contract execution. Due to its high efficiency, the blockchain has attracted the attention of many developers from FTX-backed game studios and the most successful NFT project originated from Asia to privacy-enhanced browser Brave which has over 42 million users. In December, Twitch co-founder Justin Kan launched a new blockchain gaming-focused NFT marketplace, Fractal, on the Solana network and has amassed over 110,000 members. 3. Dogecoin  It‘s not often that sequels — being SHIB — out perform the original release, but DOGE is nevertheless still a solid meme token story. Finishing the year off with a gain of 2,910%, DOGE attracted the attention of celebrities, influencers, investors and blockchain enthusiasts alike. But, let‘s face it, most were probably in it for the money (and jokes) rather than the technology. One of the greatest evangelists of DOGE is, of course, Elon Musk. Colloquially known as the “Dogefather,” Musk has repeatedly shilled the meme coin to his 68.9 million followers and has even confirmed that Tesla will accept DOGE for merchandise payments. In a Time Magazine interview, Musk said, “Bitcoin is not a good substitute for transactional currency. Even though it was created as a silly joke, Dogecoin is better suited for transactions. The total transaction flow that you do with Dogecoin, like transactions per day, has much higher potential than Bitcoin.” What’s more, Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has started a cashback rewards program to incentivize merchandise and ticket payments via DOGE. According to CryptWerk, 1,983 merchants worldwide now accept DOGE as payments, up from 1,206 at the beginning of 2021. 4. Binance Coin  Finishing off 2021 with a gain of 1,271% is Binance Coin (BNB). Previously only used as a discount for trading fees on Binance, the largest centralized crypto exchange in the world, BNB has evolved to become a leader in the DeFi ecosystem and is ERC-20 compatible. Since its launch in 2020, Binance Smart Chain (BEP-20) has surpassed 1.5 billion in lifetime transactions with a TVL of $16.61 billion. 32.98% of the TVL comes from DEX and gaming/NFT platform PancakeSwap, where 3,759 coins are available for trading for a total transaction volume of $760.2 million in the past 24 hours. BNB is used to pay for gas fees on both the Binance Chain along BEP-20 and is interchangeable. Binance devotes a portion of its profits to buying back BNB for permanent removal every quarter. During the 17th quarterly burn that took place in October, $639.5 million worth of BNB was burned. 5. Cardano According to a recent report by CryptoRanks and Santiment, Cardano (ADA) was the most developed blockchain in 2021. Over 140,000 GitHub events involving Cardano were reported throughout the year, besting Kusama and Polkadot‘s close second and third place. Last September, Cardano underwent its signature Alonzo Fork, enabling smart-contract functionality on its proof-of-stake (PoS) network. Shortly afterward, the number of ADA wallets surpassed the 2 million mark. At the same time, its founder, Charles Hoskinson, updated enthusiasts on the status of the Hydra upgrade that could theoretically enable the network to process hundreds of transactions per second. In early January, Hoskinson announced plans to transition Cardano into a permanent open-source project gradually. ADA finished the year with a gain of 673.8%.

  Hut 8 mined 276 BTC in December, up from 265 in the previous month. The miner deposited all bitcoin mined into custody, as per its “hodl” strategy. Hut 8 now holds 5,518 BTC in reserve, a 97% increase from December 2020. Hut 8, a publicly-listed bitcoin mining company, mined 8.9 BTC per day on average in December, totaling 276 bitcoin produced in the month, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Following on its “hodl” strategy, Hut 8 said it deposited all bitcoin produced in the period into custody, and its bitcoin holdings now amount to 5,518 BTC, a 97% increase from the previous year-end. “2021 has been a year of transformation for Hut 8, with a focus on not only rebuilding and upgrading, but future-proofing our operations,” Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton said in a statement. Hut 8 said it also secured a $30 million equipment financing loan with Trinity Capital Inc. on December 30 through its wholly-owned subsidiary Hut 8 Holdings Inc. to access non-dilutive growth capital. The deal’s structure limits collateral support to a set of MicroBT machines being deployed to the miner’s Medicine Hat, Alberta, farm, Hut 8 said. “This debt financing allows us to expand our capital structure and overall liquidity, while achieving an attractive cost of capital with limited security, in a traditional equipment financing arrangement,” Hut 8 CFO Shane Downey said in a statement. The public miner’s December production outpaced its previous month’s performance by about 4%. Hut 8 mined 265 BTC in November as it leveraged Luxor Technologies’ pool services to increase its daily bitcoin revenue by switching computing power between blockchains while always receiving payouts in bitcoin. Hut 8 said it currently has two exahashes per second (EH/s) of hash rate capacity installed, an increase of 125% from the end of 2020. In November, the company said it had a hash rate capacity of 1.7 EH/s.

  As 2022 gets underway, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector of the cryptocurrency ecosystem appears to be gaining momentum in what could be an echo of the bullish market seen in seen in early 2021.  Data from crypto market intelligence firm Messari shows that over the past 30 days, five out of the top 10 DeFi protocols have seen their tokens post double-digit gains. This is in spite of the struggles that Bitcoin has faced, a dynamic that usually places bearish pressure on the wider crypto market. A deeper dive into the data shows that Aave (AAVE), Curve (CRV) and Spell Token (SPELL) have outperformed a majority of the field but what’s behind these bullish outbreaks? In the case of AAVE, the Dec. 28 introduction of real-world assets (RAW) to the protocol represented the next advance in DeFi capabilities. Users will now be able to borrow against tokenized forms of traditional assets such as real estate, cargo, freight invoices and payment advances. Curve and Abracadabra Money’s integration of stablecoins across the DeFi ecosystem have elevated their status as integral components of the DeFi and this is reflected in the price growth of their native tokens. Rising metrics highlight DeFi’s building strength Further evidence of the building momentum in the DeFi space can be found by looking at various metrics within the ecosystem. These metrics include active users and total value locked. According to data from Dune Analytics, the number of uniques users in DeFi has continued to climb higher over time and is currently at a record high of 4,304,478 unique wallets. The activity shown on decentralized exchanges (DEX) has also been on the rise over the past few months. Data from Dune Analytics shows that May 2021 was the only month with a higher DEX trading volume than was seen in November and December 2021. As a way to see how far the DeFi ecosystem as a whole has grown in the last two years, the volume traded on decentralized exchanges in the first four days of January has already surpassed the volume seen during the entire month of July 2020, when the “Summer of DeFi” was starting to gain momentum. TVL approaches its previous all-time high Overall, one of the best metrics to get a gauge on the growth and trajectory of decentralized finance is the total value locked across all protocols. According to data from Defi Llama, the current TVL for all of DeFi sits at $255.87 billion, just $4 billion lower than its all-time high of $259.41 billion, which was set on Dec. 2, 2021. The leading protocols in terms of TVL are Curve with $24.42 billion, Convex Finance with $21.23 billion, MakerDAO at $18.28 billion and AAVE with $14.62 billion. The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.234 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 39.4%. The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

  Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States — reportedly made a multi-million-dollar real estate purchase at the end of 2021. Armstrong bought a $133-million Los Angeles property from Japanese entrepreneur Hideki Tomita in December, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing anonymous people familiar with the matter. According to The Wall Street Journal, Tomita originally purchased the real estate for $85 million in 2018. The new deal allegedly marks the biggest home purchase ever completed in the L.A. area. Prior to being sold to Tomita, the Bel-Air estate was formerly owned by Ellen Bronfman Hauptman, the daughter of billionaire Seagram’s heir Charles Bronfman. The property includes a 19,000-square-foot mansion featuring a theater, a gym and a double-height dining room. The property also reportedly had a 6,600-square-foot guest house designed by Paul Williams. Armstrong co-founded Coinbase with American business executive and investor Fred Ehrsam back in 2012. The exchange has been growing massively in recent years, becoming the largest crypto trading platform in the U.S. in terms of trading volumes and going public on Nasdaq in April 2021. With a reportedly 19% stake in Coinbase, Armstrong had an estimated net worth of $14.7 billion as of November 2021, being one of the world’s richest crypto investors alongside FTX exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Armstrong was also referred to as the world’s biggest crypto billionaire by China’s Hurun Research Institute in March 2021. Coinbase did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. This article will be updated pending any new information. Crypto executives have been increasingly buying real estate recently. Jonathan Yantis, co-founder of the nonfungible token platform Worldwide Asset eXchange, reportedly purchased a 70-acre estate outside Denver for $12.5 million in mid-December. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, reportedly bought his first home in Dubai in October 2021. He previously said that he did not own any real estate as of April 2021, claiming that he sold his apartment in Shanghai back in 2006 to buy Bitcoin (BTC).

  For NFL fans, 2021 was a great year. Stadiums returned to capacity crowds after the 2020 season was shortened with limited attendance. Stadium parking lots were again filled with the enthusiastic anticipation of tailgaters and their barbequed camaraderie.  It was also a great year for Bitcoin (BTC) investors as the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization reached all-time high prices multiple times throughout 2021, eventually topping out at $69,000 in early November. This led to a dramatic increase in media coverage of Bitcoin. Seven NFL players in 2021 decided to call the audible and begin either being paid in crypto or having their cash salary partially converted to crypto. These players have capitalized on the return of the regular season and the increased profitability of Bitcoin. Aaron Rodgers The reigning 2020 NFL MVP announced via a Nov. 1 video post on Twitter that he was partnering with Cash App payment service to accept a portion of his salary in Bitcoin. Rodgers will earn roughly $22.3 million this year. The video depicted Rodgers dressed as John Wick for a Halloween party. If that wasn’t strange enough, likely by design, Rodgers also told viewers that he would donate $1 million in BTC. In Rodgers’ case, he will have a portion of his salary sent to his Cash App account, which he will then use to buy BTC.  The Twitter profile for the star quarterback for the Green Bay Packers features a picture of himself on the field during a game with the iconic laser eyes, further signaling his support for BTC. Tom Brady Tom Brady is another very high-profile NFL star quarterback who dabbled heavily in cryptocurrency in 2021. Brady has not yet said that he is being paid in BTC by the NFL, but he will be paid in crypto by FTX exchange after he took an equity stake in Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange, and will serve as a brand ambassador. Brady has not reserved himself to crypto assets alone, however. The iconic football star launched his own NFT platform, called Autograph, in April to attract the top talent in sports, entertainment, fashion and pop culture. It doesn’t end there for Brady and crypto, though. Late in October, Brady threw the 600th passing touchdown of his career, marking an all-time high for the NFL, and helping to secure Brady’s position as the all-time leading touchdown passer in the league’s history. Brady paid 1 BTC to the fan who was initially given the ball by the receiver who completed the touchdown. That BTC was worth about $62,000 at the time of the game, but the ball itself may be worth over $500,000 according to Goldin Auctions sports memorabilia auction company. Odell Beckham Jr. Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ) followed in Aaron Rodgers’ footsteps by announcing late in November that he had partnered with Cash App to receive his salary from the NFL in BTC. His contract stipulates that he should receive about $4.25 million from the NFL this season. The Los Angeles Rams’ wide receiver told fans that he would give back $1 million in BTC as part of his new partnership with Cash App. Beckham appears to be no stranger to the crypto and NFT scene as his Twitter profile dons a Crypto Punk NFT. In case you haven’t noticed, Jack Dorsey’s Cash App is involved with both OBJ’s and Aaron Rodgers’ BTC salary deal. The payment service app has had a great 2021 through the first three quarters of the year by raking in nearly $10 billion in revenue from 36 million active users and 100 million downloads. Trevor Lawrence The Carolina Panthers’ new star quarterback joined the ranks of NFL superstars who are publicly accepting crypto payments. Lawrence’s deal, however, is not with the NFL directly. The 2021 NFL top draft pick’s crypto salary comes from an endorsement deal with the crypto portfolio app FTX (formerly Blockfolio). The value of his deal has not been made public, but if Lawrence has been hodling his crypto earnings, there is a good chance he has enjoyed an appreciation in value, especially from the Solana (SOL) coins. The total crypto market cap has increased by about $500 billion since late April when the deal was announced. Saquon Barkley Saquon Barkley, the superstar running back from the New York Giants, revealed in July that he was converting all of his endorsement pay into BTC. As with most others on this list, Barkley is not being paid directly with crypto. Instead, he is swapping some of his cash earnings for crypto. Barkley is using the Strike payment app to acquire his BTC. He is not the first NFL player to use Strike to buy BTC with his salary, however. Last year, former NFL offensive lineman Russel Okung became the first player to publicly share that he was using Strike to convert his NFL salary to BTC. Barkley’s reasoning for trying to amass wealth with BTC revolved around the lack of longevity among NFL athletes. He told The Best Business Show host Anthony Pompliano on July 15: “When you see the KD’s, the Lebrons and Bradys of the world and you want to create generational wealth, you can’t do that with the sport that I play and the position that I play and coming off of injuries. When you sit out of football for a whole year, you realize that this game could be taken away from you.” Sean Culkin Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Sean Culkin went public with his plans to convert his entire salary from the NFL into BTC. While others on this list committed to converting only a portion of their salary into Bitcoin or being paid for endorsements with cryptos, Culkin is swapping 100% of his salary. Like with Saquon Barkley, Culkin’s reasoning for turning to crypto has to do with the short half-life common among players in the league. The average time most athletes spend in the NFL is 3.3 years, according to Statista. Culkin said in a statement: “Considering

  Retail cryptocurrency mining in Thailand has apparently received a boost due to the capitulation of Chinese miners triggered by the country’s new crypto mega ban enforced in September. Thai entrepreneurs and cryptocurrency businesses have been increasingly capitalizing on Chinese miners getting rid of their crypto mining machines, Al Jazeera reported Wednesday. “The moment China banned crypto, we were ecstatic,” one Thai-based Bitcoin (BTC) enthusiast turned miner said. The miner, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed to have set up a small solar-powered crypto mining unit for about $30,000. “I made it all back in three months,” he said. Another industry entrepreneur, Pongsakorn Tongtaveenan, started a reseller business for crypto mining devices in Thailand, reportedly selling hundreds of Chinese application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners to small local investors. According to Pongsakorn, the price of ASICs, like the Bitmain Antminer SJ19 Pro, collapsed 30% due to the exit of Chinese miners before returning to normal amid the growing local demand. Pongsakorn believes that the increasing popularity of retail crypto mining in Thailand is triggered by people looking for a stable income during the pandemic as well as investors getting more optimistic about the future of digital assets. “Bitcoin is the gold of the digital world. But a mining rig is like gold mining stocks — you’re paid dividends according to the gold price,” he said. Thailand is not the only country whose crypto mining development has benefited from China’s crypto miners’ exit. Countries like the United States, Kazakhstan and Russia have seen a massive influx of new crypto mining operations due to the Chinese crypto crackdown. The growing popularity of crypto mining in Thailand comes in line with the booming local cryptocurrency adoption, with the turnover at several local crypto exchanges surging to $6.6 million in November 2021 from just $538 million last year. The institutional demand for crypto in Thailand has been notably growing as well. In early November, Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank, paid $537 million to buy a 51% stake in BitKub, Thailand’s biggest crypto exchange.

  A Cornell University economics professor says that the promise of decentralized finance (defi) using blockchain technology is real but bitcoin may not last that much longer. Nonetheless, he admitted bitcoin “has really set off a revolution that ultimately might benefit all of us either directly or indirectly.” Economics Professor Doubts Future of Bitcoin, Praises Defi Eswar Prasad, professor of economics at Cornell University, talked about bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, decentralized finance (defi), and central bank digital currencies in a recent interview with CNBC, published Friday. Prasad, the author of “The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance,” is the Nandlal P. Tolani senior professor of trade policy and professor of economics at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. He previously served as chief of the financial studies division in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s research department and head of the IMF’s China division. Noting that blockchain technology will be “fundamentally transformative” in finance and in the way we conduct our day-to-day transactions, he opined: The promise of decentralized finance using blockchain technology is a real one but bitcoin itself may not last that much longer. The professor of economics explained: “Bitcoin’s use of the blockchain technology is not very efficient. It uses a validation mechanism for transactions that is environmentally destructive that doesn’t scale up very well.” He asserted that there are newer cryptocurrencies that use blockchain technology far more efficiently than bitcoin does. “With any assets, the question is where is the fundamental value proposition,” he continued, adding: Given that bitcoin is not serving well as a medium of exchange, I don’t think it’s going to have any fundamental value other than whatever investor’s faith leads it to have. He proceeded to discuss currency competition and stablecoins. “There is an interesting element of currency competition that it has set off. There are stablecoins now that could, in principle, create more effective ways of transacting in basic ways,” he described. The professor added that cryptocurrencies have “lit a fire under central banks to start thinking about issuing digital versions of their own currencies.” Professor Prasad explained that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) “could be good in many ways in terms of providing an additional payment option, a low cost payment option that everybody has access to, increasing financial inclusion, and potentially also increasing financial stability.” He concluded: Much as you might not like bitcoin, it has really set off a revolution that ultimately might benefit all of us either directly or indirectly.