Paraguayan Bitcoin Mining Companies Hurt by Power Rate Hikes of Over 50%

Paraguayan mining companies are taking a hit to their profitability due to the steep power fee hikes the government has established for cryptocurrency mining activities. According to reports from Braiins Mining business developer Nano Grijalba, after the veto of the crypto law, the change in power fees makes mining hosting an unprofitable business in Paraguay.

Bitcoin Mining Power Fee Hike Hurts Paraguayan Companies

Once seen as a haven for bitcoin and crypto miners, Paraguay has changed. Paraguayan miners now complain due to the price hikes the government has applied specifically for the industry of cryptocurrency mining. According to reports from Nano Grijalba, business developer of Braiins Mining, this price hike of over 50% is discriminating against bitcoin miners directly using the excuse of the low number of jobs the industry creates.

Grijalba criticized the environmental logic of these measures. On this issue, he stated:

Paraguay’s decision to increase fees for bitcoin mining, a clean industry, while attracting high-emissions industries with low fees, is questionable. We must prioritize support for clean industries for a sustainable future.

Hosting Activity Affected

Grijalba raised concerns about the future of the hosting activity in the country, which consists in offering mined logging maintenance services for third parties. He explained that costs and the margins of the international market made offering this service impossible.

The Paraguayan Congress passed a legal framework to regulate cryptocurrency mining and exchange activities in the country, establishing limits to the power fees for mining in July, last year. However, this law was vetoed in August by the current president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez, who stated the industry was characterized by its “high consumption of electrical energy, with intensive use of capital and little use of labor.”

Abdo Benitez also explained that the growth of the crypto-mining activity might push the country to import energy in the future. Congress attempted to pass the cryptocurrency law project without having presidential support but lacked the necessary votes, and finally shelved it in December.

Grijalba revealed that miners are currently working hand in hand with authorities to reintroduce laws that would lessen the burden that miners are currently facing. About this, Grijalba declared:

A new decree is currently being worked on to make it attractive again, we hope it will address the issue of import taxes, another weak point.

However, no more details were offered on this new decree. Finally, Grijalba called for the normalization of these activities in the country for the benefit of the national economy.

What do you think about the state of bitcoin mining in Paraguay? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Fortune Unicorn Club (FUC), the First DIY-Mint Method NFT Project, Has Won 2 Million in Funding in the ForChain Labs’ Seed Round

PRESS RELEASE. ForChain Labs was founded in April 2022 as a web 3 startup company. Meanwhile, the NFT project, Fortune Unicorn Club, was being developed. ForChain Labs has raised 2 million funds in its seed round and will use the funds to develop and operate Fortune Unicorn Club (FUC), the first NFT project to utilize DIY-minting.

As reported, ForChain Labs currently manages investments in four major segments: industrial, technology, finance, and web 2, with 198 portfolio companies and $9.3 billion in assets. As a result, the venture capital sector is actively exploring opportunities in the Web 3 market, and ForChain Labs has become one of the VC’s first companies to be backed by a Web 3 company. Due to confidentiality agreements, we cannot disclose more information about the venture capital firm at this time.

Fortune Unicorn Club (FUC) allows people to select traits during their mint. It offers 500+ high-quality 3D traits for people to assemble their FUC avatar, so the minter is the one to decide what the metadata is and the one to decide what each unique FUC avatar looks like. Thus, the NFT collection is generated by pure human aesthetics rather than generated by a cold random program or AI. ForChain Labs hopes people can put their personalities and stories into each FUC avatar using the DIY-mint method. In addition, it lets each FUC avatar carry an additional sentiment value, making the FUC collection more meaningful.

Furthermore, FUC has built its Create-to-Earn system. Minter (who decides what the unique FUC avatar looks like) will become Avatar Creator and receive 3% royalties on the avatar they created for life. Minters can claim their royalties anytime in FUC Holder Portal. The team aims to lower the threshold of co-creation and encourage people to co-create an NFT collection through this approach.

Metaverse and AR are also parts of FUC’s roadmap. However, the team claims it will never build its metaverse but will keep adapting for more popular metaverses. The team believes there are more proper ways to bring holders value than creating a metaverse. Instead, they will bring holders eternal value by building its compatibility and adapting FUC avatars into increasingly popular metaverses. Soon, holders can get into metaverses with the FUC avatar they created.

More Info:

https://fortuneunicorn.club/

https://twitter.com/FortuneUnicornC

https://discord.gg/joinfuc

 

 

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This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

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‘Prohibitive’ Capital Rules for Banks Holding Crypto Win Support in EU Parliament

Lawmakers in the European Union have backed legislation imposing new capital requirements for financial institutions, including strict rules meant to cover crypto-related risks. The latter concern banks keeping digital assets and are expected to enter into force in January, 2025.

EU Legislators Approve Draft Law Implementing the Basel III Capital Regulations for Banks

Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) supported a bill on Tuesday designed to enforce the latest global bank capital rules. Reuters noted in a report that the lawmakers have also incorporated specific requirements addressing risks that stem from crypto assets.

The general rules are part of the Basel III reforms, a set of internationally agreed measures developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Their main purpose is to strengthen the supervision and risk management of banks.

Other jurisdictions, including the U.S. and U.K., are also moving in a similar direction. However, ECON is introducing additional regulations with the European draft law, obliging banking institutions to hold enough capital to fully cover crypto asset holdings.

“Banks will be required to hold a euro of their own capital for every euro they hold in crypto,” explained Markus Ferber, a center-right member of the committee from Germany. He elaborated:

Such prohibitive capital requirements will help prevent instability in the crypto world from spilling over into the financial system.

ECON Takes Harder Line Than EU Member States

The changes, which are in line with the recommendations of global banking regulators, represent an interim measure pending further legislation. An earlier version of the bill was already approved by the member states and the European Parliament will have to negotiate the final draft with them.

The EU states have adopted a more accommodative approach to when foreign banks providing services to European customers should open a branch or transform one into a more capitalized subsidiary. The ECON members took a harder line, the report remarks.

Fine-tuning is to be expected. For example, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) pointed out that the draft lacks a definition of crypto assets. The industry organization believes it could be applied to tokenized securities eventually.

The AFME also says that the EU should avoid a potential adverse impact of tightening access to international markets and cross-border services while it seeks to consolidate its autonomy in capital markets in the face of competition from the U.K., following Brexit.

Last summer, EU institutions and member states reached agreement on Europe’s new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation. The package is expected to enter into force in 2023 but businesses will have another 12 to 18 months to comply with it.

Do you think the European Parliament will adopt the stricter capital requirements for banks holding crypto assets? Share your expectations in the comments section below.

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Central African Republic Sets Up Committee Tasked With Drafting Crypto Bill

The Central African Republic (CAR) president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, recently said his government has established a 15-member committee tasked with creating a comprehensive legal framework that governs the use of cryptocurrencies. According to an official document issued by the CAR cabinet, the committee has already started its work and will regularly update the government.

CAR’s Ambitions

The Central African Republic (CAR) leader, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, recently revealed that his country has set up a committee that is expected to draft a bill on the use of cryptocurrencies. The committee, which is comprised of 15 experts drawn from various government ministries, is expected to create a legal framework that helps the CAR achieve its goal of becoming a globally recognized blockchain technology-embracing country.

15 experts #centrafricains issus de plusieurs ministères de mon gouvernement composent le comité chargé d'élaborer un nouveau projet de loi plus complet sur l'utilisation des crypto-monnaies et d'offrir à la RCA cette opportunité unique de développement économique & technologique pic.twitter.com/bZTS8HQxH3

— Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) January 20, 2023

In an update issued via Twitter, President Touadéra, whose country became the first African state to adopt bitcoin, also shared a communique outlining his country’s vision as well as the various government ministries that have seconded experts to the committee.

“15 experts from several ministries of my government make up the committee responsible for drafting a new, more comprehensive bill on the use of cryptocurrencies and offering CAR this unique opportunity for economic & technological development,” President Touadéra said in a recent tweet.

The CAR leader’s latest remarks come just a few weeks after a team promoting his country’s crypto token known as the sango coin announced the postponement of the scheduled listing of the coin. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, the postponement was prompted by what the team called “current market conditions.”

Before being forced to delay the listing of the coin, the Touadéra government’s coin offering suffered a major setback after a constitutional court ruled that the proposal to grant citizenship to sango coin holders was illegal.

However, despite these setbacks, the CAR leader’s government has vowed to proceed with its work. Meanwhile, in the communique, the CAR government said the committee is already at work and will regularly issue progress updates.

Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox:

What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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Elon Musk Praises Reports on Latam Common Digital Currency: ‘Probably a Good Idea’

Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla, has given his opinion about the latest reports on the creation of a common currency in Latam, to be initially worked on by Argentina and Brazil. Musk stated that this move would be “probably a good idea,” commenting on the topic on social media.

Elon Musk Gives His Take on Latam Common Currency

The latest reports that Brazil and Argentina will start to study the issuance of a common currency for Latam have already caused reactions all over the world. Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter and Tesla, has recently given his appreciation when it comes to the issuance of such a currency, that would come to create a common economic area for the countries of Latam.

Answering a tweet that stated other nations in Latam would be invited to join the plan to create the second-largest currency union behind the European Union, Musk stated:

Probably a good idea.

Minister of economy of Argentina, Sergio Massa, warned that this discussion would be just one of the first steps in the construction of the currency that is being preliminarily called “sur,” and that it might take some time for this initiative to be completed. The purpose of this currency would be to undermine the strength of the U.S. dollar in the region.

Distrust in the Dollar

There have been several personalities that have been predicting the fall of the U.S. dollar as a personal and world reserve currency, calling individuals to abandon fiat money and invest in more sound alternatives. Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, has been alerting his followers about this since some time ago, stating that the U.S. dollar was “toast,” as Saudi Arabia manifested its intention of joining BRICS in October. Also, Kiyosaki recommended buying bitcoin to avoid the crash of the dollar, that according to his opinion, would occur by January 2023.

In March, Musk made recommendations on social media for his followers on inflation rates and how he believes in dumping dollars to acquire physical assets.

Musk explained:

As a general principle, for those looking for advice from this thread, it is generally better to own physical things like a home or stock in companies you think make good products, than dollars when inflation is high.

Furthermore, Musk clarified that he would not sell his bitcoin or dogecoin at that moment.

What do you think about Elon Musk’s take on the reports about the issuance of a Latam common currency? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Microsoft Layoffs Reportedly Hit Key VR and Metaverse Teams

The latest round of layoffs at Microsoft, which announced it will cut 10,000 jobs this year, has hit key teams for its VR (virtual reality) and metaverse efforts, according to reports. The company will close two projects in these areas, Altspacevr and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit, potentially affecting the progress of Microsoft in these areas.

Microsoft VR and Metaverse Teams Hit by Layoffs

The latest round of layoffs announced by Microsoft on Jan. 18, has reportedly hit metaverse and VR (virtual reality) initiatives of the company, potentially affecting progress in these areas. Among the 10,000 jobs to be cut this year, representing 5% of Microsoft’s global workforce, teams behind initiatives like Altspacevr and the Mixed Reality Tool Kit are being axed as part of this reorganization process.

Altspacevr, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2017, has already announced it will sunset its platform on March 10. The platform, which was aimed at providing services to facilitate the creation of virtual environments for events with the participation of artists, creators, brands, and businesses, will migrate to Mesh, a more work-focused platform that has integration with Microsoft Teams.

The Mixed Reality Tool Kit, an open-source set of tools to build user interfaces for the metaverse will also ostensibly be abandoned, as there are no announcements of new teams dedicated to its development at the time of writing.

Metaverse and VR Slowdown

While the company justified these layoffs as a measure to align its cost structure with revenue and customer demand, some believe that these localized layoffs in the metaverse and VR sector signal the slowdown of the advancements of the company in this area.

The reported layoffs at Microsoft affect initiatives focused on the consumer metaverse primarily, following the course that Meta has taken by laying off 13% of its workforce, shedding 11,000 jobs.

However, the higher-ups at Microsoft are believers in the metaverse and other disruptive technologies, and the progress these will bring in the future. Recently, Satya Nadella, CEO of the company, stated that the sense of presence that metaverse tech can bring is game-changing.

Microsoft is also involved in the creation of the Global Collaboration Village — the metaverse world of the World Economic Forum (WEF) — and has shown interest in investing in AI (artificial intelligence) projects such as Openai, creators of AI bot Chatgpt.

What do you think about the layoffs affecting metaverse and VR-focused teams at Microsoft? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Bank of Spain Greenlights Euro-Backed Stablecoin Token Pilot Program

The Bank of Spain has given approval for the launch of a pilot program involving the issuance and usage of euro-pegged stablecoins. The program, which MONEI, a fintech institution, is launching, will allow users to issue digital euros with fiat deposits in order to experiment with these in payment applications, increasing their transparency.

Bank of Spain Authorizes Digital Euro Token Tests

Europe is becoming a hotspot for stablecoins and CBDC (central bank digital currency) experimentation. On Jan. 19, the Bank of Spain greenlighted a pilot program that involves the issuance of euro-pegged digital tokens. The project, which is being spearheaded by MONEI, a regulated fintech payments company, will allow users to issue their own euro stablecoins for different purposes.

Using Ethereum and Polygon blockchain technology, the eurm token will be issued with deposits coming from users, with each token being backed by real euros. The test, inscribed as part of the actions in the financial Sandbox of the bank of Sain, only allows the issuance of ten eurm maximum by each user registered in MONEI’s platform.

The test encompasses the issuance of up to 570 million eurm because Spain has 57 million phone lines subscribed. These funds will be held in two accounts in two financial institutions, BBVA and Caixabank, managed by MONEI.

Digital Euro Use Cases

MONEI is profiling its digital euro stablecoin as part of its modernization take on the payments in the Eurozone, increasing the speed of payments while cutting operational costs linked to them. On this, MONEI CEO and founder Alex Saiz Verdaguer stated:

The future of payments is digital. This is our chance to show the rest of Europe and the world that we are at the forefront. Eurm is the ultimate pan-European solution that will allow citizens and businesses on the continent to send and receive money instantly.

MONEI aims for this stablecoin project to be approved by regulators after this test, to tackle automatic and periodic payments that would benefit from programmable fiat equivalent money. As an example, a company could program payments to providers based on the sales executed on any given day, or allow workers to program their allowance payments on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis automatically.

This project is a private-led initiative and has no relationship with the digital euro initiative led by the European Central Bank, which is currently still in its investigative phases to decide if it will be issued.

What do you think about the euro-pegged token project approved by the Bank of Spain? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Darknet Market Solaris Hacked by Competitor, Elliptic Reveals

A leading marketplace on the dark web, Solaris, has been hit by a rival, according to crypto analytics company Elliptic. The Russia-linked platform, which tried to occupy space vacated by the busted Hydra, is believed to have conquered up to a fifth of the illicit market before the hack.

Solaris Allegedly Taken Over by Darknet Marketplace Called Kraken

Solaris, a major marketplace for drugs and other illicit products, has been targeted in a hacking attack carried out by a similar enterprise, Kraken, not to be confused with the well-known cryptocurrency exchange with the same name.

After in April last year law enforcement authorities shut down Hydra, the former leader in this business, seizing its servers in Germany and arresting an alleged operator in Russia, Solaris managed to gain between 20% and 25% market share, according to estimates quoted by Elliptic.

This week, the blockchain forensics company reported that since Friday, Jan. 13, those who visited the onionsite were being transferred to Kraken. The latter claimed to have taken control over the infrastructure, Gitlab repository and source code of Solaris and blocked its bitcoin wallets.

Kraken is another player in the dark web space and, like Solaris and Hydra, is targeting the Russian-language segment of the underground market. The illegal trading platforms are suspected of having other ties to Russia as well.

For example, Solaris is believed of have used the services of one of the Russian “patriotic” hacker groups. The pro-Kremlin Killnet is known for launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS ) attacks on Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in late February, 2022.

This isn’t the first attempt to breach Solaris. Ukrainian-born cyber intelligence expert Alex Holden claimed to have hacked into the marketplace, according to a report in December, and getting hold of some of the bitcoin sent to dealers using the site and to its owners.

Helped by his cybersecurity company, Holden said he specifically targeted a wallet used for crypto exchange transactions and was able to divert 1.6 BTC. The cryptocurrency was later donated to a Kyiv-based charity.

What do you make of the darknet market Kraken’s hacking attack on rival Solaris? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

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