Last week, we found out that Mt. Gox’s repayment of claims to creditors is around the corner, while NFT showcasing has now been expanded in the social media space (from only Instagram to add Facebook). Read more in this week’s ProBit Bits.
Iran Took Step to Curb Illegal Crypto Mining
Last week, the Iranian government reportedly approved of and started issuing permits for cryptocurrency miners operating in the country. Local reports say miners now need two licenses before they can operate. The first is for an entity to be recognized as a legal cryptocurrency miner in the Islamic Republic while the other enables it to mine. The past year has seen the crypto mining business face some challenges in Iran particularly as it relates to electricity use. The country banned the mining of cryptocurrencies twice in 2021 to ease pressure on its energy infrastructure. By last winter, the state electricity company attributed about 10% of electricity outages to be experienced during the season to illegal cryptocurrency mining.
Other than that, Iran has been cozying up to cryptocurrencies of late. Its latest move was earlier this month when the country announced that Bitcoin would be accepted as a means to pay for the importation of items like vehicles instead of fiat currencies like the US dollar or euro.
Liz Truss’ Election as British PM Brings Past Hint at Crypto
A tweet that Ms. Liz Truss made about cryptocurrencies in 2018 resurfaced as she was elected as the new British Prime Minister last week. She was the Chief Secretary to the Treasury at the time. In the tweet, she stated that cryptocurrencies should be welcomed in the UK “in a way that doesn’t constrain their potential”. She was supposedly advocating for the liberation of enterprise areas by removing regulations restricting prosperity. Since she assumed office as the PM, no crypto-related statement has been linked to her to determine if she still holds those views as she did about crypto four years ago.
Russians’ Crypto Assets Could be Frozen in the UK as Country Updates Sanctions List
Last week, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office updated the UK Sanctions List of Russians designated under regulations of an Act. Produced by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), general guidance highlights several measures to be taken against any of the listed individuals/entities, especially in the case of trying to evade financial sanctions against Russia. Such measures include an asset freeze and crypto assets are among those considered to be covered by definitions and are therefore caught by the financial sanctions restrictions.
Crypto exchange providers are among the relevant firms that are subject to specific reporting obligations as set out in the Sanctions Act. They are expected to, among other things, freeze the funds or economic resources of a designated person if they know or have ‘reasonable cause to suspect’ they have such in their possession or control or are dealing with them.
China Launches Special Action to Tackle Online Infringement Including NFTs
The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has launched its 18th consecutive special action to combat online infringement and piracy including those related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Put together by the NCAC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office, the special action called the “Sword Network 2022” wants to rectify four aspects of the industry.
According to the NCAC’s public statement, this includes the unauthorized use of other people’s works of art, music, animation, games, film, and television to create NFTs. There is also the literature area where the use and dissemination of literary works online such as short videos or other audiovisual articles without authorization are considered infringements.
Other infringements to be rectified are those related to product sales online, especially those that abuse the “safe haven” rule. The action will see the government agencies strengthen copyright supervision of online platforms investigate and deal with how they carry out their main responsibilities.
Unspent Bitcoin Reached ATH
According to GlassNode, the past week saw the volume of Bitcoin supply that has remained unspent for at least a year reach a new all-time high.
The blockchain data firm notes that the supply touched 12.589 BTC. This is equivalent to 65.77% of the circulating supply, states, adding that such an increasing dormant supply is a characteristic of Bitcoin bear markets.
The week saw a 24-hour drop of 6% and 8% in the prices of Bitcoin and ETH respectively at some point. This resulted in a liquidation amount of about $340 million, according to a top mining pool, F2Pool which shows that Bitcoin mining machines such as T17 M21 have fallen below past lowest.
Uniswap Supports The Merge, No Forks
Regarding the upcoming Merge upgrade on the Ethereum network, F2Pool estimates that ETH mining would terminate between Sep 10 and 20 but its pool will run as usual until the termination. For Uniswap Labs, the decentralized finance startup says it supports The Merge upgrade and has no plans to allow any forks in its web app.
Ethereum’s Vitalik in a Surprise Visit to Ukraine
With a surprise appearance at the Kyiv Tech Summit, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says Ukraine is likely to be the next Web3 hub.
He said at the 3-day hackathon that a country could become a Web3 hub if its people are actively interested in the technology as he reportedly made a 750 ETH contribution to the hub’s development.
“So yes, absolutely. Ukraine has both the capabilities and the determination for this,” Buterin told the audience. He told attendees: “Let Ukraine know that lots of people in the Blockchain, Ethereum, crypto world really care about you guys and lots of people support you.”
. . .
Are there any crypto trends and issues that seem unclear to you?
A suggestion or comment?
Or do you just need an ELI5 (explain like I am 5) on a particular crypto term or topic?
Feel free to drop us a line below and we’ll do our best to shed more light. We are always here to answer your questions.
Follow us on Twitter and Telegram for more info including notes on new crypto gems that are seeking to break out onto the big stage.
Don’t miss out!
