Dear readers! Sadly there is an error (I already reported) in Substack that the numbering of the news below is always the same and maybe you received this newsletter twice. Sorry for the inconvenience, I hope this in the future won’t happen again!
Bitcoin News
TL;DR
Oklahoma is the recent pro Bitcoin mining state
Intel’s new energy efficient mining chip
Kraken has already processed 1,000+ Lightning Network transactions
Bitcoin mining in Norway is 100% renewable
MacroStrategy has purchased an additional 4,167 bitcoins
The Lightning Network on a new ATH (again)
More and more publicly traded companies start to mine Bitcoin
Tennessee Titans become the first NFL team to accept Bitcoin as payment
New Whatsminer M50 series Bitcoin miner announced
Strike integrates Lightning Payments into Shopify, NCR, and Blackhawk Network
Bitcoin is now legal tender in jurisdictions including Roatán, Honduras and Madeira, Portugal
Blockstream announced a partnership with Tesla and Block Inc.
Vantage Bank is paying employees in Bitcoin
Oklahoma is the recent pro Bitcoin mining state
The Commercial Digital Asset Mining Act of 2022, sponsored by state senator John Montgomery and state representative Ryan Martinez, aims to reduce the expenditures related to hardware and electricity used by commercial mining operations.
"The original intent of the Legislature that the Oklahoma Tax Code recognize[s] the continuing development of new and advanced manufacturing and industrial processing technologies has led to new industrial processes," the bill states. "Blockchain technology used in the commercial mining of digital assets is an industrial process that should be taxed in a manner similar to historical forms of manufacturing or industrial processing in order to encourage the location and expansion of such operations in this state rather than in competing states."
Oklahoma is among a growing crop of US states eyeing the expanding bitcoin mining sector. States like Illinois and Georgia are weighing similar measures, and Kentucky's government approved such tax incentives last year.
Intel’s new energy efficient mining chip
Intel just announced a new energy efficient mining chip. The new Blockscale ASIC miner will include a max. of 256 Blockscale ASIC chips each with 580 GH/s hash rate. Intel claims that the Blockscale ASIC chip consumes between 4.8 to 22.7 watts of power with an energy efficiency of 26 joules per terahash (J/TH). If the maximum amount of 256 chips will be used in a miner it will produce 148.5 TH/s with a 1,228 to 5.811W of consumption. In comparison, Bitmain's Antminer S19 XP has a hash rate of 140 TH/s while consuming 3,010 watts of power and 21.5 J/TH of power efficiency. I think these new miners will be noisy as hell, so the average home user won’t be mining at home with these. It’s time to announce not even Intel will make miners for home users.
“The Intel Blockscale ASIC is going to play a major role in helping bitcoin mining companies achieve both sustainability and hash rate scaling objectives in the years ahead.” - Intel on Bitcoin
Kraken has already processed 1,000+ Lightning Network transactions
Kraken Exchange in just 5 days they already processed 1,000+ deposits and withdrawals using the blazing fast Lightning Network. This means there is a huge demand for that instant final settlement solution even in these really low fee on-chain environments. Hope soon other Exchanges implement it too!
Bitcoin mining in Norway is 100% renewable
Hydropower is Norway's renewable energy source of choice which packs a mighty punch for a small European country as they contribute almost 1% of the global Bitcoin hash rate. By way of comparison, Norway’s population is 5 million which is only 0.07% of the global population.
But the country is still expanding its mining capabilities, according to Jaran Mellerud who stated, “There will be huge growth for mining in Northern Norway because hydropower is abundant and will give miners access to cheap renewable electricity.”
MacroStrategy has purchased an additional 4,167 bitcoins
“MacroStrategy has purchased an additional 4,167 bitcoins for ~$190.5 million at an average price of ~$45,714 per bitcoin. As of 4/4/22 MicroStrategy hodls ~129,218 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.97 billion at an average price of ~$30,700 per bitcoin.'' by Michael Saylor CEO of MacroStrategy
Last week I wrote about the MacroStrategy - Silvergate Bank super cheap $205 million bitcoin-collateralized loan, which as we see above was already spent to buy Bitcoin. Great move!
The Lightning Network on a new ATH (again)
Just last week I wrote that the Lightning Network surpassed the 3,600 BTC capacity and this week it is already over 3,700 BTC. I think as more and more services offer LN payments, adoption will gain speed. I think it’s time for everyone to start an LN node and open some channels while the fees are low.
More and more publicly traded companies start to mine Bitcoin
The Bitcoin hash rate controlled by publicly traded companies has increased from 3% to 19%. I’m not surprised by this jump because a lot of companies are near to cheap electricity and with clever planning it’s quite easy to set up a mining rig. I really like to see how great the Bitcoin incentives work.
Tennessee Titans become the first NFL team to accept Bitcoin as payment
The Tennessee Titans announced they are now the first NFL team accepting bitcoin for key investments through a third-party conversion service.
“We’re proud to partner with the Tennessee Titans as they start their Bitcoin journey and offer fans a new way to pay,” said David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc and partner at UTXO Management. “2022 is a special year as we continue to work with professional sports teams to help educate and further mass adoption of Bitcoin. The Titans are a top NFL franchise and a natural fit for this partnership.”
New Whatsminer M50 series Bitcoin miner announced
On the first day of the Bitcoin Conference 2022, MicroBT announced their new Bitcoin mining machine series, the M50.
The air-cooled M50 is expected to deliver 114 terahash per second at an efficiency of 26 joules per terahash, while the hydro-cooled M53 delivers 240 terahash per second of computing power at 29 joules per terahash.
Strike integrates Lightning Payments into Shopify, NCR, and Blackhawk Network
Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, announced at the Bitcoin 2022 Conference in Miami that his company has partnered with Shopify, NCR, and Blackhawk Network. These payment providers work with the majority of major U.S. companies like McDonald’s, Walmart, Walgreens, Home Depot, Best Buy, Chipotle, Starbucks, Whole Foods, and more.
With this announcement, Strike now offers a method for people in the U.S. to transact with their Bitcoin that does not require making Bitcoin legal tender. These partnerships allow users to pay for products and services with their Bitcoin over Lightning while the merchant accepts the payment in U.S. dollars. This makes filing taxes much more manageable for both the consumer and merchant. This payment demo is just brilliant.
Bitcoin is now legal tender in jurisdictions including Roatán, Honduras and Madeira, Portugal
"Bitcoin within Prospera operates as a legal tender. That means no capital gains tax on BTC, you can transact freely using BTC, and you can pay taxes and fees to the jurisdiction in BTC." announced by Samson Mow, former chief strategy officer of Blockstream.
The next jurisdiction to make Bitcoin legal tender is that of Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal. Miguel Albuquerque, president of the regional government of Madeira, said that "Individuals in Madeira are not subject to capital gains taxes when buying and selling Bitcoin," while also touting the region's 5% corporate tax rate in its free trade zone as one of the lowest in Europe.
Blockstream announced a partnership with Tesla and Block Inc.
Blockstream announced a partnership with Tesla and Block Inc. to launch a Bitcoin mining facility that only uses 3.8 MW Tesla Solar PV array solar power and a 12 MWh Megapack battery. The construction has already begun and they plan to finish it by the end of 2022.
The energy produced by solar will be enough to generate 30 Petahashes (this is the equivalent of running up to 300 Bitmain Antminer S19 Pros).
This is how institutions are hedging against inflation with either buying or mining Bitcoin. It’s still not too late to educate yourself about Bitcoin, but unless you have cheap reliable electricity don’t even think about mining.
Vantage Bank is paying employees in Bitcoin
A small bank in Laredo, Texas began to offer the options for its employees to be paid in Bitcoin.
“The idea for the Bitcoin Savings Plan was something presented to us by one of our partners,” said Vantage Bank Chief Human Resources Officer Eric Thompson, EVP. “It is a program they launched and asked if we would be interested in participating.”
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Global Economic News
TL;DR
The Lebanese Government announces total Bankruptcy
The U.S. market signals another recession
ECB balance sheet hit another ATH
German manufacturing fell by 2.2% in Feb MoM
Global sovereign debt is going right through the roof
Commodities could surge by a record 40%
Italy's 10y risk spread over Germany keeps rising
The Lebanese Government announces total Bankruptcy
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Lebanese Government, His Excellency Al-Shami, announced “the bankruptcy of the state and the Central Bank of Lebanon,” and said that the losses would be distributed to the state, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors.
He said, “The losses will be distributed to the state, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors, and there is no specific percentage. Unfortunately, the state is bankrupt, as is the Bank of Lebanon, and we want to come out with a result, and the loss occurred due to policies for decades, and if we did nothing, the loss would be much greater.”
I think no one is surprised about this except the poor Lebanese people who will fund the wastefully working FIAT system. Don’t you dare to think that you will be an exception. Soon other countries will follow, so it’s time to educate yourself and prepare for the worst!
The U.S. market signals another recession
“In case you missed another recession warning from the mkts: The 2y US yield has briefly exceeded the 30y for the first time since 2007.” by Holger Zschaepitz
ECB balance sheet hit another ATH
“ECB balance sheet hit another ATH at €8,754bn. Total assets rose by another €43.4bn mainly driven by the quarterly revaluation of #Gold reserves. ECB balance sheet now equal to 83% of Eurozone GDP vs Fed's 37% and BoJ's 136%.” by Holger Zschaepitz
German manufacturing fell by 2.2% in Feb MoM
While the ECB printing press is rumbling hard the orders received by German manufacturing fell by 2.2% in Feb MoM.
“Excluding sharp rise in highly volatile orders in „other vehicle" sector, decline was even as much as 5.6%. Situation is threatening to worsen again due to Ukraine war & renewed lockdowns in China. (via CBK)” by Holger Zschaepitz
Global sovereign debt is going right through the roof
Global sovereign debt is expected to climb by 9.5% to a record $71.6tn in 2022 with debt servicing costs set to spike 14.5% to $1.16tn as rates rise. If you want to read some lies, about how and why the global sovereign debt is rising, click here.
Commodities could surge by a record 40%
According to the Bloomberg article, commodities could surge by as much as 40%, far into record territory, if investors boost their allocation to raw materials at a time of rising inflation, JPMorgan says. Raw materials hit record last month following the Ukraine invasion.
“In the current juncture, where the need for inflation hedges is more elevated, it is conceivable to see longer-term commodity allocations eventually rising above 1% of total financial assets globally, surpassing the previous highs,” the JPMorgan strategists wrote in an April 6 note. All else being equal, that “would imply another 30% to 40% upside for commodities from here,” they said.
Italy's 10y risk spread over Germany keeps rising
According to Bloomberg, “The ECB is working on a crisis tool to deploy in the event of a blowout in the bond yields of weaker euro-zone economies as Italy's 10y risk spread over Germany keeps rising.” by Holger Zschaepitz
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These are just speculations, no investment advice!
“Bitcoin Weekly MACD Bull Cross confirmed” by @MatthewHyland_
“Bitcoin 's illiquid supply has been increasing for the past 214 days. Surpassing the 2020 accumulation. BTC selling pressure is fading.” by @Negentropic_
“For the 4th time in Bitcoin's history we have entered the green zone. The last 3 times this occurred the #BTC bottom was already in and a massive bullish uptrend followed.” by @TheRealPlanC
“Bitcoin price can go down, but realized cap not so much, thanks to hodlers. In fact realized cap (average cost price of all 19M BTC / 80M utxo) is near ATH at $466B. I have no doubt that realized cap will lead BTC to next price ATH. I expect $100K BTC at ~$750B realized cap.” by PlanB
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Bitcoin Shorts
Funny Bitcoin short stories
“The Percent of the #Bitcoin Supply held on Exchanges just dropped below 13%, the lowest level in 1,523 days (or 4 years & 2 months).” by @OnChainCollege
“Happy 47th birthday to Satoshi Nakamoto! The world will never be the same.” by RIZZO
“Update: The Bitcoin supply that has not moved in at least 1 year, just set a NEW All-Time High at 63.46%! Once breaking previous all-time highs on this metric a significant price uptrend has always followed over the next few months.” by @TheRealPlanC
