- Marathon Digital Bitcoin Production Weaker Than Hoped in May
Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital (MARA) in May experienced energization delays in Texas and ongoing maintenance issues at its Hardin, Montana, facility, leading to the production of about 47% fewer bitcoins than initially expected based on the company’s hashrate last month.
Marathon was originally informed by host Compute North that energization of its miners at its West Texas facility would begin in April. That was then delayed to May, and as of June 8, energization has yet to take place. At issue, Marathon said, is a tax matter for Compute North’s energy supplier. Marathon expects the situation to be resolved in June.
CEO Fred Thiel said – in addition to its active fleet – new miner installation continues, with more than 19,00 rigs installed and awaiting energization.
- Deloitte Survey: 85% of Merchants Say Enabling Crypto Payments Is High Priority
Financial services firm Deloitte published a report titled “Merchants getting ready for crypto” on Wednesday in collaboration with payments giant Paypal.
The report includes the results of a survey conducted between Dec. 3 and Dec. 16, 2021. The survey polled a sample of 2,000 senior executives at retail organizations with annual revenues ranging from less than $10 million to over $500 million across the U.S.
“Respondents reported at least a general knowledge of cryptocurrency and stablecoins,” the report notes, adding that most of them are “a primary decision-maker when deciding whether their organization would accept cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as a form of payment.”
The report details, “Merchants are considering the adoption of two different types of digital currencies: cryptocurrencies and stablecoins,” elaborating:
More than 85% of the organizations are giving high or very high priority to enabling cryptocurrency payments, while roughly 83% are doing the same for stablecoins.
- Deloitte: 85% of Merchants Expect ‘Ubiquitous’ Digital Currency Payments in Five Years
A survey conducted by “Big Four” accounting firm Deloitte indicates that nearly 85% of executives from various U.S retail organizations expect digital currency payments to become “ubiquitous” in their respective industries in the next five years.
The multinational professional services firm, in collaboration with PayPal, conducted a poll among 2,000 senior executives at U.S. retail organizations in sectors including cosmetics, digital goods, electronics, fashion, food & beverage, home/garden, hospitality, leisure, and transportation.
While digital currency is a broad term covering both cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the survey found that cryptocurrencies specifically are a high priority for organizations. More than 85% of respondents are giving high or very high priority to enabling cryptocurrency payments, while around 83% are doing the same for stablecoins. Nearly three quarters (75%) of respondents revealed that they have plans to accept either crypto or stablecoin payments in the next two years.
- Deloitte Survey: Majority Of American Merchants Prioritize Crypto As Payment Method
Deloitte in collaboration with PayPal has carried out a survey called “Merchant Attitude to Digital Currency” involving 2000 senior executives at retail organizations across the United States. The result shows that about 85% of the surveyed merchants expect that cryptocurrency will be everywhere in five years’ time.
Digital currency as a form of payment to be everywhere soon
In recent times, we have clearly seen more people adapt to the use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, Deloitte’s survey shows that the number of users might skyrocket in just about five years’ time as merchants in the US have been found to be optimistic about digital currency.
The survey which focused on US consumer businesses, with annual revenues ranging from below $10 million to $500 million and above, recorded that 64% of consumers currently have interest in digital currency and 85% of organizations are of the view that digital currency payments will be widespread by 2027.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/top/7128419
- Global Bitcoin adoption to hit 10% by 2030: Blockware report
The adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) could occur more rapidly than the adoption of past disruptive technologies such as automobiles and electric power, with global take-up likely to hit 10% by 2030 according to a new report.
In its Wednesday report, Blockware Intelligence said it arrived at this forecast by examining historical adoption curves for nine past disruptive technologies including automobiles, electric power, smartphones, the internet and social media, along with the growth rate of Bitcoin adoption since 2009:
“All disruptive technologies follow a similar exponential S-curve pattern, but […] newer network-based technologies continue to be adopted much faster than the market expects.”
Using the average and weighted average of historical technology adoption curves, as well as the growth rate of Bitcoin adoption, the report was then able to arrive at its prediction.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/global-bitcoin-adoption-to-hit-10-by-2030-blockware-report
- Terra’s Luna, Luna Classic Tokens See Volatile Trading Amid New Developments
Tokens related to the Terra ecosystem saw volatile trading in the past 24 hours amid legal developments against issuing company Terraform Labs, data shows.
Prices of Luna (LUNA) gained as much as 30% – from $2.65 on Thursday to $3.44 on Friday morning – then fell steeply even as the broader crypto market remained flat. Luna Classic (LUNC) gained as much as 34% before sliding this morning, data from CoinGecko shows.
Such volatility arose amid reports of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigating whether Terraform Labs violated U.S. laws regarding how it marketed its ecosystem tokens.
Futures tracking the two tokens saw nearly $18 million in liquidations while losses on futures of other major cryptos, apart from bitcoin and ether, remained under the $3 million mark.
The LUNA was issued to holders in late May following the depeg of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST) in early May – a move that saw the value of old Luna (now rebranded as LUNC) to fall as much as 99.7%. Value locked on decentralized finance (DeFi) apps in the Terra ecosystem fell by $28 billion in addition, as reported.
- US SEC Investigating Do Kwon’s Terraform Labs and UST Collapse: Report
The U.S. SEC is investigating Terraform Labs and its algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST), Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
UST lost its peg to the U.S. dollar in early May. The stablecoin quickly lost its value and collapsed alongside cryptocurrency terra (LUNA). Both coins were created by Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon, who has since launched LUNA 2.0.
The SEC is investigating whether the marketing of UST before it crashed violated federal investor protection regulations, the publication conveyed. Specifically, SEC enforcement attorneys are investigating whether Terraform Labs broke securities and investment product rules.
The implosion of the two cryptocurrencies prompted lawmakers in various countries to look into regulating stablecoins. In the U.S., Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the regulation of stablecoins is urgent. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler subsequently said that a lot of crypto tokens will fail.
https://news.bitcoin.com/us-sec-investigating-do-kwons-terraform-labs-and-ust-collapse/
- Facebook Stock Falls 6% After META Ticker Change
Today the company formerly known as Facebook doubled down on its metaverse-first identity, changing its Nasdaq ticker symbol from FB to META.
The rebrand did not bring about any immediate change in fortune for the social media giant’s beleaguered stock.
At market close on Thursday, the stock formerly known as FB fell 6.43% for the day. META is currently trading at $184.00, a number approaching the stock’s all-time-low of $174.95 reached late April.
Twitter users joked that whatever the cause of today’s price drop, the ticker change will be unlikely to remedy the myriad issues currently facing the company:
In late October, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s name change to Meta, a rebranding that underscored the company’s commitment to the still-nascent metaverse as the future core of its business.
https://decrypt.co/102484/facebook-stock-falls-stock-symbol-change-meta
- Felix Capital Raises $600M to Support Crypto and Web3 Projects
According to a recent announcement, the London-based VC is targeting “long-term” investments in commerce and fintech firms. The latest fundraising is the firm’s fourth and biggest yet, bringing the total amount raised to $1.2 billion. With the new funding, the firm is looking to double down on existing investments, as well as support emerging startups. It also plans on adding in new hires as partners, investors, and advisers. Regarding environmental conservation, Felix is one of the firms looking to promote sustainability.
Felix Capital now hopes to increase its portfolio count to between 20-25 companies based in Europe or North America. The Frederic Court-led firm is moving in leaps and bounds, considering it launched with $120 million in 2015. Even more, its initial capital target was just $500 million.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/top/7128662
- Bitcoin’s real energy use questioned as Ethereum founder criticizes BTC
The ever-raging debate around Bitcoin’s energy consumption has been re-ignited, with founding member of Ethereum Anthony Donofrio claiming that Bitcoin is using “way too much” energy.
According to figures from Digiconomist, Bitcoin (BTC) currently uses 0.82% of the world’s power while Ethereum (ETH) uses 0.34%. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake posted the figures to his 56,000 followers that Donofrio retweeted, stating:
Ethereum proponents are attempting to take shots at Bitcoin while simultaneously promoting Ethereum’s upcoming transition to proof-of-stake, Drake added another tweet moments later that read: “Ethereum post-merge: 0.000% of world.”
However the validity of the figures are in doubt.
Even Drake was forced to acknowledge alternative sources of data in a later tweet which estimated energy consumption figures at nearly 60% lower.
Data sourced from Digiconomist, which markets itself as a platform that “exposes the unintended consequences of digital trends,” has drawn criticism from blockchain industry professionals in the past. The most notable of which is fellow Ethereum developer Josh Stark who called out the publication for frequently presenting the worst-case scenario when it comes to blockchain technology.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-s-real-energy-use-questioned-as-ethereum-founder-criticizes-btc
