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IMF Tells El Salvador: Costs of Making Bitcoin Legal Tender Exceed Potential Benefits
30.1.2022
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told El Salvador that the costs of implementing the country’s Bitcoin law, which makes the cryptocurrency legal tender, exceed the potential benefits. The IMF has also urged El Salvador to dissolve the “Fidebitcoin” trust fund and start...
Spain Reduces ATM Numbers to 2002 Levels as Country Moves to Digital Payments
4.1.2022
The number of ATMs in Spain has been progressively shrinking to levels the country saw in the year 2002. Reports from local media suggest these actions have been taken to reduce costs and to push payment and operation digitalization in the sector. The highest number of ATMs was registered in 2008...
Russian Government Allows Regions to Raise Electricity Rates for Crypto Miners
25.12.2021
The federal government in Moscow has permitted regions to determine local electricity tariffs for the population, a measure that will affect crypto mining at homes. Subsidized household electricity in Russia is often used to mint digital currencies in basements and garages. Regions in Russia...
Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Publishes ‘Plausible Roadmap’ Addressing Scalability
11.12.2021
In recent times the Ethereum network has received a lot of criticism about the protocol’s data transfer fees and scalability. In a blog post called “Endgame,” published on December 6, the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin discussed plans to improve scaling, the upcoming...
Salvadoran Ecologist Claims Nayib Bukele’s Volcano-Powered Bitcoin Mine Will ‘End in Environmental Disaster’
6.12.2021
El Salvador’s leading ecologist Ricardo Navarro believes that mining bitcoin with a volcano, or geothermal energy, will “end in environmental disaster.” Navarro believes geothermal energy costs more than oil, and thinks El Salvador’s millennial president Nayib...
US Treasury Secretary Yellen Says She’s Undecided Whether the Fed Should Issue Digital Currency
3.12.2021
The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that she has not made up her mind about whether the Fed should issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC). “There are some benefits” to a digital dollar, Yellen said, but noted that “there are also meaningful costs.” Janet...
Ethereum Devs Assess Reducing Data Transfer Cost 5x, EIP-4488 Becomes Possible Solution
28.11.2021
The second leading crypto asset ethereum has been dealing with high fees since the end of June and today the average ethereum transaction fee is between $5 and $34 per transfer. While there’s been a lot of complaints about ether gas costs this year, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin...
Vitalik Buterin proposes calldata limit per block to lower ETH gas costs
27.11.2021
Buterin issued a decrease-cost-and-cap proposal, which aims to achieve most of the benefits of the decrease
Nigerian Remittances Rebound as Country Tops Sub Sahara Africa — Sending Costs Still High
21.11.2021
Nigeria is once again Sub Sahara Africa’s biggest recipient of remittances into the region where the money transfers went up by 6.2 percent to $45 billion, a new World Bank report has shown. The Impact of Nigerian Policies on Remittances According to the November 17, 2021 press release, this...
Slow Start for Third Bitcoin ETF, Lower Costs Could Attract More Capital
17.11.2021
The latest bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be launched in the US – the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) – has had a slow start compared to its two earlier competitors, ProShares’ BITO and Valkyrie’s BTF. But lower costs and a stronger brand should attract more capital over...
Digital Euro Should Be Attractive But Not ‘Too Successful,’ ECB’s Panetta Says
7.11.2021
The digital euro should be an attractive means of payment but its design should prevent it from becoming so successful as a store of value that it threatens banks and private money, according to Fabio Panetta, a high-ranking executive at the European Central Bank. Panetta stressed that both this...
Katrina Joins Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Costs 100,000 Bells
4.11.2021
Brewster isn’t the only fan-favorite making their triumphant return in Animal Crossing: New Horizons this week. In addition to the sea shanty-singing Kapp’n and others, fortune teller Katrina is also back as of the 2.0 update, ready to grant you all sorts of bonuses, for a price.Read more
New Larger Xbox Storage Expansion Costs More Than An Xbox Series S
21.10.2021
Microsoft has just announced two new SSD storage expansion cards, made by its official storage partner, Seagate, to boost space on your Xbox Series S or X. Joining the already released 1TB card will be a 512GB card for $139.99, and a hefty 2TB for $399.99, released in November and December...
Bitcoin & Crypto Mining Costs Might Increase in Russia As Regions Complain
14.10.2021
Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto mining is causing power shortages in parts of Russia – and political leaders are wading in with interventions that could seek to limit miners’ output or crank up their energy costs....
Read More: Bitcoin & Crypto Mining Costs Might Increase in Russia As Regions Complain
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Seeks Public Opinion on Central Bank Digital Currency
1.10.2021
The central bank of New Zealand has lined up among monetary authorities exploring the question of issuing their own digital currencies. The financial regulator is now seeking feedback from the public about the need for a digital form of the national fiat while also promising to preserve cash....
Creepy Final Fantasy XIV Doll Costs $1,000 But The Nightmares Are Free
29.9.2021
Final Fantasy XIV is a wonderful game, with a compelling storyline and gameplay mechanics that transcend the MMO genre. But for the last few weeks, the excitement of logging into my account and working on quests has been coupled with the dread of again coming face-to-face with a banner advertising...
CBDCs could cut cross border remittance costs by half: BIS report
28.9.2021
The BIS report based on a multi-CBDC pilot also showed significant improvements in international remittance speed
Multiple CBDC Platform May Cut Int Payment Costs By Up To Half - BIS
28.9.2021
Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Digital Currency Institute of the People's Bank of China, and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.“The prototype is part of our efforts to design
Fantom Launches NFT Marketplace Artion – Platform Aims to ‘Unburden Creators of High Fees’
26.9.2021
On September 24, 2021, the Fantom Foundation announced the launch of a new non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that aims to compete with the myriad of NFT markets out there today. The market dubbed Artion is an NFT marketplace built on the Fantom network and claims to bolster “0%...
Remittances to Africa Set to Drop by 5.4 % to $41 Billion — Covid-19 Pandemic and High Sending Costs Blamed
21.9.2021
According to findings from the Continental Migration Report 2021, remittances to African countries are projected to decrease from the $44 billion recorded in 2020 to $41 billion. The Covid Effect As expected, the Covid-19 pandemic is identified as one of the main causes of the decline. However...