Knoema.com - Cryptocurrency http://ar.knoema.com 2021-08-04T11:21:08Z /favicon.png يمثل موقع Knoema مسار معرفتك الشخصية What About the Carbon Footprint of Fiat Money, Elon Musk? //ar.knoema.com/hatanue/what-about-the-carbon-footprint-of-fiat-money-elon-musk 2021-08-04T11:21:08Z Misha Gusev ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1000560
What About the Carbon Footprint of Fiat Money, Elon Musk?

(24 May 2021) On May 12, 2021, Elon Musk announced that Tesla had suspended accepting payments in bitcoin for its cars because of environmental concerns related to bitcoin mining.  Since the first block of bitcoin was mined back in 2009, the consumption of electricity energy need to mine bitcoins has increased to estimated 150 TWh per year — which exceeds the electricity consumption of such countries as the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Kazakstan. An extrapolation from bitcoin mining trends even suggests that bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming above 2°C.  But even if this projection proves accurate, it is not expected to happen until sometime between 2040 and 2050. Another study comparing the sustainability of different currencies systems shows that today, bitcoin is much more environmentally friendly than paper money, represented by notes and digital banking deposits.The maintenance of modern fiat money system, including banking deposits and paper money, produces almost 400 million metric tons of CO2 each year, which exceeds the amount of CO2 produced by bitcoin mining by more than four times. Given Elon Musk's environmental concerns, should Tesla consider giving its cars for free? Since fiat money produces even more emissions than bitcoin, a truly sustainable option may be hard to find.

Misha Gusev ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1000560
Bitcoin Energy Requirements Climbing //ar.knoema.com/suxqfz/bitcoin-energy-requirements-climbing 2021-05-13T08:11:43Z Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Bitcoin Energy Requirements Climbing

(29 April 2021) The volume of electricity consumed by bitcoin mining continues to grow globally, approaching the levels of energy consumption of some of the world's larger economies and bringing the environmental sustainability of the cryptocurrency into question. Tesla, which bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January, causing the price to surge to more than $55,000, became a target of bitcoin critics who say the step undermines the car company's environmental image.According to Digiconomist, a platform dedicated to exposing unintended consequences of digital trends, one bitcoin transaction required 427 kWh of electricity in 2019, which could power an average home for more than two months or run 200 average cycles of a washing machine. By 2021, consumption had increased 2.5 times, reaching 1066 kWh per transaction. Digiconomist estimates that the whole bitcoin network currently consumes around 102 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year — roughly the equivalent of the annual electricity generation of Kazakhstan in 2019 (the latest year for which data is available).Cambridge University's Centre for Alternative Finance gives an even higher estimate, calculating that the bitcoin network is currently consuming energy at levels that could equate to up to 144 TWh of electricity annually. This level of consumption exceeds the 2019 power needs of countries like the Netherlands (111 TWh), Norway (124 TWh), and Sweden (132 TWh). By this estimate, if bitcoin were a country, it would be on the list of the world's 30 most energy-consuming nations.Cambridge also finds most bitcoin mining takes place in China, where 67% of energy generation is based on fossil fuels — primarily coal.The large power requirement for digital currency mining is deliberate, designed to increase the cost of fraudulent transactions and deter misuse of the currency. But what is mining, why is it done, and why are the power requirements escalating?Unlike fiat currencies issued by governments, bitcoin “currency” is issued based on “miners” using specialized computers and software to solve mathematical problems and earn bitcoins in exchange. In addition, its supply — like mined minerals, such as gold — is finite: 21 million is the maximum bitcoins that will ever exist, according to the anonymous bitcoin founder known as Satoshi Nakamoto.Bitcoins are mined by generating “blocks,” or transactions, and verifying the transactions using energy-intensive algorithms. Miners need to find the correct hash every time they want to add a new block into the blockchain. The miner who finds the solution first earns the new bitcoin. The probability of solving a problem is designed to be the same for each participant and is directly proportional to the power of the miner's computer. The resulting competition among miners leads to continually increasing productivity requirements for their computing systems, driving up per-transaction power requirements. 

Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Bitcoin Price from 2009 to 2021 //ar.knoema.com/nmyfsf/bitcoin-price-from-2009-to-2021 2021-03-29T05:53:14Z Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Bitcoin Price from 2009 to 2021

See the Latest Data Insights on Bitcoin:Cryptocurrency: "The Digital Tulip"?Bitcoin Takes Gold Market as Prices Set New Historical Records   Bitcoin is one of the world's most popular digital currencies, meaning that it is exclusively created and held electronically. But, what do we actually know about digital currencies and the potential of these currencies to replace conventional money? Like conventional money, the major function of a digital currency is to serve as a means of payment, whether that is in exchange for goods or real currency, such as dollars and euros. In addition, similar to how a normal currency's exchange rate is set, the price for bitcoins - per the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBP) - is based on market dynamics and expressed as the midpoint of the bid/ask spread. Bitcoin’s current value against the US dollar is $8,165. The highest price for bitcoin since it was launched in 2009 was $19,497 in December 2017. After that spike, the price trended down to $6,603 in April 2018. Bitcoin's price is gradually rebounding, buoyed by increased demand for the digital currency in China caused by the weakening yuan: digital currency, like gold, is a refuge for investors in periods of uncertainty. While the flow of a traditional currency is tracked by banks and controlled by governments, the circulation of digital currencies is decentralized, a key factor that drives expectations for the spread of bitcoin to new markets and transaction types. Even though traditional currencies now exist primarily on digital ledgers of banks like bitcoins, the ledger for bitcoins has no separate owner or regulator. Instead, bitcoin is maintained and updated by bitcoin users on the basis of the bitcoin protocol. Since the bitcoin network is not controlled by a single institution, it has several advantages over government-controlled currencies. These advantages include:Limited circulation. The amount of bitcoins in circulation is limited by bitcoin protocol to 21 million bitcoins. In contrast, central banks have the authority to issue additional currency, which, if not accompanied by GDP growth, may lead to a surge in inflation and related economic problems. As of May 27, 2016, there are 15.6 million bitcoins in circulation with a total value of $7.4 billion.Low-cost, open access. Due to the absence of traditional currency regulations, a bitcoin address - analogous to a traditional private bank account - can be set up in seconds, is free of charge, and cannot be disabled by a third party.Quick, simple account management. Many banks and financial companies have announced new investments in virtual currency technology based on expectations that bitcoin transaction management and digital records will reduce administrative burdens and allow for more rapid transaction processing than existing systems. The simplicity of bitcoin has also proven attractive to the Swiss city of Zag, which plans to initiate a 6-month pilot program in July under which local citizens may pay for public services in bitcoin.  The anonymous nature of bitcoin, a byproduct of its decentralization, makes it a perfect tool for illegal activity. Examples include:Illegal drug trade. One of the most well-known examples of the use of bitcoins in the illegal drug trade stems from bitcoin-based transactions on the online drug bazaar Silk Road, which was launched in February 2011 and shut down by the US Federal Government in October 2013. Terrorism. Cyber terrorists may similarly use bitcoins as the currency of choice to receive ransom payments. According to a Cyber Threat Alliance report, ransom payments made via the bitcoin network to hackers through the CryptoWall virus are estimated at $325 million total.  The taint of bitcoin and other virtual currencies by criminals' use of the currencies in illicit transactions coupled with the anonymity inherent to virtual currency fuels skepticism that virtual currency will achieve the level of acceptance of traditional currency much less replace it. Without meeting the essential prerequisite of trust in a currency, the widespread expansion remains doubtful.   

Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Cryptocurrency: "The Digital Tulip"? //ar.knoema.com/vwqbwsd/cryptocurrency-the-digital-tulip 2021-02-25T10:30:05Z Misha Gusev ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1000560
Cryptocurrency: "The Digital Tulip"?

(22 February 2021) During the last five months, the price of Bitcoin increased more than five times - from $10,000 to over $50,000 while the global cryptocurrency market capitalization topped $1.7 trillion. When it comes to traditional assets, such a rapid rise in the value of an asset typically indicates the emergence of a financial bubble. But, what about cryptocurrencies?Against the tsunami of cryptocurrencies' market capitalization increase, financial bubbles of the past look like small and mid-size waves, historically adding 40 to 440 percent to the asset value. The value of global cryptocurrency markets increased almost 900% from March 2020 to today.When do bubbles usually reach their peaks? In looking at past bubbles,  the longest time period is four years with an elongated period experienced by the real assets markets. If the cryptocurrency bubble is compared with digital asset bubbles, like the Dotcom and Biotech bubbles, it may peak 13-21 months after the bubble started to blow or between March and December 2021. Is this time different? Well, we don't know the answer. Since the famous "tulip mania" bubble in 1636-37 economists have not yet found reliable tools for forecasting bubbles. Super-easy monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policies in the US and around the world coupled with the accessibility of financial instruments and stock exchanges for a wide range of non-professional investors may make this "digital tulip" bubble different than bubbles of the past. These factors make it more difficult to predict how much the peak value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can exceed their fundamental price levels defined by the cost of coin mining and infrastructure maintenance.

Misha Gusev ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1000560
Bitcoin Takes Gold Market as Prices Set New Historical Records //ar.knoema.com/xkgnrfg/bitcoin-takes-gold-market-as-prices-set-new-historical-records 2021-02-25T10:22:23Z Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Bitcoin Takes Gold Market as Prices Set New Historical Records

(20 February 2021) The price of Bitcoin surged to more than $55,000 this week for the first time in history as large firms such as Tesla, PayPal, Mastercard, and BNY Mellon as well as major investment banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley showed support for cryptocurrencies. With increased demand from institutional investors and corporates instead of retail investors, Bitcoin's perception may be shifting to that of a more stable asset than it was a couple of years ago. On the other hand, some investors still consider bitcoin a speculative asset and think it may be one of the biggest market bubbles in history. Moreover, there is a perception that Bitcoin is an uncorrelated safe haven asset similar to gold. It may seem that the bitcoin-gold competition has started as the largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Trust, lost 20% in market capitalization since August 6, 2020, as gold prices decline while the Bitcoin market capitalization increased by 288% during the same period, increasing to $1 trillion. However, bitcoin's extreme volatility is far from the volatility experienced by a safe-haven asset. Bitcoin's 10-year volatility is 10 times higher than that of gold which has historically provided low volatility relative to many other real and financial assets.

Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Bitcoin Currency Statistics, 2009-2019 //ar.knoema.com/rilqhnd/bitcoin-currency-statistics-2009-2019 2019-11-11T12:20:32Z Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Bitcoin Currency Statistics, 2009-2019

Bitcoins in circulation - total number of bitcoins that have already been mined; in other words, the current supply of bitcoins on the network. Market Capitalization - total USD value of bitcoin supply in circulation, as calculated by the daily average market price across major exchanges. USD Exchange Trade Volume - total USD value of trading volume on major bitcoin exchanges. See also: Bitcoin Price Index, 2009 to 2018

Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Belarus Is the Land of Opportunity for Blockchain Development //ar.knoema.com/udxfhvc/belarus-is-the-land-of-opportunity-for-blockchain-development 2018-06-20T07:06:36Z Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Belarus Is the Land of Opportunity for Blockchain Development

On December 22, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree "On the development of the digital economy" on the crypto-currencies. The key idea of decree is legalization and support of crypto-currencies operations, as well as mining and block-building technology at the state level. President Lukashenko appreciates that Belarus has become actually the first country in the world, which opens wide opportunities for blockchain technologies development with possibilities of having every chance to become a regional competence center in this field. The decree does not imply any restrictions on operations for the creation, placement, storage, alienation, exchange of tokens, as well as the activities of crypto-exchanges and crypto platforms.The main goal of the decree is to create favorable conditions for it-companies around the world in order to build up friendly environment for opening their branches and representative offices within the country. Such development centers by the aid of creating wide popular product are able to raise foreign investments which will be good for country economy, because Belarus was not sought-after for foreign investors for the last years with negative net foreign investments of 1 124 million dollars.The another goal of the decree is investing in the Belarus' future - head hunting for IT-personnel and developing it-education. The introducing of the latest financial instruments and technologies which the leading economies of the world trying to avoid by the several reasons will improve Belarus' Research and Development sector and increase Global Innovation Index: Belarus occupying 60th place with low 9.4 score among others in R&D rating and ranks 89th in GLoban Innovation ranking with 30 scores out of 100 possible.Alexandr Lukashenko encourages initiative about tax privileges which are offered to stimulate the activity among IT companies. In particular, foreign companies that provide local residents with marketing, advertising, consulting and some other services will be exempt from VAT. Moreover, tax income rates will be finagled for the foreign IT-organizations using blockchain transactions, mining and so on. Belarus ranks 74th of 127 in the "Ease of Paying Taxes" rating with 70.4 scores out of 100 max which means awkward situation in country.

Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Legal Status of Cryptocurrencies //ar.knoema.com/zstozl/legal-status-of-cryptocurrencies 2017-11-02T15:44:18Z Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910
Legal Status of Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoins, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, commonly known as "digital gold", are gaining exposure globally through various media outlets even though very few countries officially recognize cryptocurrency as legal currency. Official national-level regulatory positions relative to cryptocurrency may be separated into three main groups: totally against, legalized, and uncertain. The most interesting situation is uncertain because of the market basis at stake if governments turn away from digital gold.The majority of "uncertain" countries where no regulation is implemented do not recognize cryptocurrencies as a legal means of payment and have expressed concern about the risks the currencies present, even if they have not prohibited the use for a personal medium of exchange. Such countries include Indonesia, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Philippines, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, and Thailand. The governments of Lithuania and Malaysia do, however, characterize cryptocurrencies as perspective technology worthy of future investment.In contrast, some others, such as Denmark, Ireland, and Colombia, have asserted that bitcoins are not a currency and the governments will not regulate a digital currency market. Brazil, Hong Kong, and Pakistan view the cryptocurrency market as too nascent to regulate, regardless of the official positions on these types of currency.Still others prefer to take no official position on cryptocurrencies, including Chile, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Nicaragua, Portugal, and Turkey.  For those countries with some official recognition of cryptocurrencies, several approaches for regulating the market are being tested with varying levels of favorability toward fostering the growth of digital currency*. No consensus approach has yet emerged from amongst early regulators, including India, New Zealand, Poland, and Switzerland, among others.Some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Italy, are following a model under which business operations based on cryptocurrencies are taxed as such. *Regulations evolve rapidly, so the analysis can differ from recent developments.

Alex Kulikov ar.knoema.com://ar.knoema.com/user/1847910