Bybit Suspends UK Services Due to New Marketing Regulations

Bitmain to Launch Filecoin Token Mining MachinesBitmain, the well-known Chinese manufacturer of Bitcoin mining machines, has made a significant announcement that marks its entry into the Filecoin ecosystem.FIL token miningAccording to that announcement made by the company on social media on Friday, the company is set to launch FIL token mining machines, which are expected to have a hash rate of up to 4,300T each and will be available for purchase at $38,888 per unit.Filecoin, created by Protocol Labs, was originally designed as a blockchain-based collaborative digital storage and data redemption solution. As an open-source, public cryptocurrency and digital remittance system, Filecoin has garnered significant attention in the market.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashDelegated stakingAlong with the mining machine development, Bitmain has introduced a delegated staking service with a low monthly fee of 0.5%. This service offers traders an opportunity to earn more through staking with minimal computational energy. Delegated staking allows users to delegate their staking rights to validators or staking pools, enabling them to partake in the rewards generated by these validators.According to a recent report by crypto market intelligence firm Messari, Filecoin’s data storage market continued to grow in Q2, 2023. Active data storage deals grew 64% when compared with the previous quarter. That deal flow resulted in increased revenue from fees, which was up 91%. Further development of the Filecoin protocol resulted in the recent introduction of the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM). That runtime environment for smart contracts has enabled new use cases, including liquid staking, decentralized computing, and perpetual storage.Bitmain’s venture into the Filecoin ecosystem not only supports the development of FIL token mining machines but also offers hope for FIL token holders who experienced losses. The FIL unit price peaked at $190 during the 2021 crypto bull market. The company’s involvement has positively influenced Filecoin’s price.Meanwhile Bitmain continues to be a major player in the crypto mining equipment space. 2021 has not been without its blemishes for the company though, as in April the Beijing-based company was fined $3.7 million by the Chinese authorities for a violation of Chinese tax regulations.Bitmain hashrate dominanceEarlier this month, US bitcoin miner TeraWulf purchased 18,500 mining machines from Bitmain, with a view to deploying them at its 43 MW Lake Mariner mining facility in New York State in the US. The deal had a value of $75 million.A recently published report by crypto intelligence firm Coinmetrics outlined that the majority of the Bitcoin hashrate is being processed by Bitmain’s S19 miner model. Three Bitmain miner models are responsible for 76% of the entire Bitcoin network’s hashrate, the report states.

Creditcoin listed on UpbitCreditcoin (CTC) — an ERC20 token issued on the Creditcoin Network — was listed on South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit on Tuesday evening (KST), according to an official announcement on the Upbit website.Photo by Maxim Hopman on UnsplashThe token was initially listed on Upbit’s BTC trading market, then on the Korean won-denominated market (CTC/KRW) trading market shortly after. In the announcement, the exchange clarified that it can only be deposited through the Ethereum network and not others like BNB Smart Chain (BSC).Major growthUpbit is the third Korean exchange that CTC has been listed on after Bithumb and Gopax. “Through this listing on Upbit, we expect that CTC’s liquidity will be boosted significantly since it will be traded in a broader market,” said Gluwa, the developer of the Creditcoin Network. Notably, the token’s price jumped 171.14% in just a day following the listing. It is currently $0.64 as of this writing, according to CoinMarketCap.Revolutionizing RWA investmentsCTC tokens power the Creditcoin Network’s global real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem, which functions as a platform for connecting investors and fundraisers. Fundraisers initiate offers on the network, which are pegged with CTC, and investors can choose which offers to invest in based on assessing the risk by examining the fundraisers’ decentralized and public credit history. In this process, blockchain technology plays an important role by facilitating direct contact between fundraisers and investors, building a sustainable cryptocurrency ecosystem and allowing users to share credit history without disclosing personal information to centralized institutions or intermediaries.Since its major Creditcoin 2.0+ mainnet update that transitioned the protocol from a proof of work (PoW) to a fully nominated proof of stake (NPoS) consensus model, Creditcoin has experienced an increase in the number of network participants and the amount of staked CTC.

Shanghai Court Recognizes Unique Traits of BitcoinThe Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court has added a layer of legitimacy to Bitcoin despite China’s prevailing anti-crypto stance.In a recently published report, the court recognized digital currencies such as Bitcoin as being unique and non-replicable. It went further still in singling out Bitcoin as being distinct from the thousands of other cryptocurrencies that are currently in existence.Photo by Zhou Xian on UnsplashSun chimes inThe significance of this development has caught the attention of Justin Sun, the Founder of the TRON blockchain network, who took to the X social media platform (formerly Twitter) to share insights from the report. Sun wrote:”The Second Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai believes that with the development of internet technology, digital currencies represented by Bitcoin possess uniqueness and non-replicability.”Legal attributesDelving deeper into the report’s content, it becomes evident that the court was engaging in a discussion about the legal attributes of Bitcoin and how judicial decisions should be approached in cases involving cryptocurrencies.One striking aspect of the report is how it acknowledges the usage of cryptocurrencies in illegal financial activities, such as illicit fundraising. In this instance, the court has indirectly acknowledged the financial nature of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, despite the fact that a ban has been in place on trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies since 2021.That said, the report also notes that due to the regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies, the legal attributes of digital currencies remain ambiguous, creating challenges in their judicial handling. Despite some courts attempting to disregard the “monetary” and “property” attributes of digital currencies, these efforts have proved unsuccessful.Inherent characteristicsRegarding the monetary attribute, the courts still identify the sale price of digital currencies in their judgments. When it comes to property attributes, these courts struggle to ignore the inherent property value presented by digital currencies during legal proceedings.While acknowledging Bitcoin’s decentralized nature and lack of centralized control, the article still underscores its “major functions of currency,” such as scalability, circulation, storage, and means of payment, making it a global currency.Future implicationsThe legal opinion expressed by the Shanghai court provides a notable boost to the legitimacy of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. It asserts that these tokens undeniably possess value, even if the People’s Bank of China chooses not to formally recognize them.Moreover, the court’s inclination toward classifying cryptocurrencies as personal property aligns with another report from the Chinese courts as well as rulings in other jurisdictions, such as Singapore. Similarly the Shanghai court acknowledges that Bitcoin can be acquired through various means, including mining, inheritance, and buying and selling.The court’s recognition of the enduring value of cryptocurrencies echoes the sentiment that value is a collective human judgment. In this respect, the Shanghai court’s perspective aligns with the reality that many Chinese citizens continue to use digital currencies as a medium of exchange despite the existing ban.The Shanghai court’s unintentional validation of Bitcoin’s unique attributes and value may have broader implications for the legal status and recognition of cryptocurrencies in China and beyond. This latest development could contribute to a more nuanced approach to cryptocurrency regulation and legal interpretation in the future.