Latest Bitcoin News and Insights | Yellow.com

Bitcoin's reign as crypto king faces a challenger. XRP is gaining ground fast. Some reckon Ripple's token is the real deal Satoshi dreamed of. Bitcoin kicked off the crypto revolution in 2009. It promised a decentralized financial future. No banks, no governments – just peer-to-peer transactions. But Bitcoin's got issues. It's slow. It's pricey. It doesn't scale well. Nobody actually believes it is convinient to use BTC to pay for something in everyday life. That doesn't imply Bitcoin is a disaster of any kind, it is just becoming clear that the perfect role for BTC is wealth storage. And while that is immensely important, there is still a question: how is crypto going to conquer the world without being able to handle daily payments. Enter XRP. It's quick. It's cheap. It handles loads of transactions. it looks like the kind of crypto your children will be using on daily basis someday. Edoardo Farina, CEO of Alpha Lions Academy, is bullish on XRP. He's not mincing words. "XRP is everything Bitcoin dreamed of being," he says. Farina's not alone. Many in the crypto world are getting fed up with Bitcoin. They reckon it's lost its way. Bitcoin's become a plaything for Wall Street, they say. It's all about speculation now, not real-world use. XRP's different. It's designed for actual financial transactions. It's caught the eye of banks and even some governments. Unlike Bitcoin, XRP doesn't need tons of computing power. It's greener. It's faster. It's cheaper to use. That makes it perfect for stuff like cross-border payments. Traditional systems are slow and expensive for that kind of thing. Farina thinks XRP's sticking closer to crypto's original ideals. It's actually trying to solve real problems in finance. So, is XRP the future? Only time will tell. But it's definitely giving Bitcoin a run for its money.

Bitcoin took a nosedive this week. Japan's stock market crash was to blame. It showed how the crypto asset can go haywire during economic turmoil. Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy's co-founder and Executive Chairman, has stepped up. He's addressing worries about Bitcoin's wild price swings. Saylor shared his thoughts on Bloomberg Open Interest. He aimed to reassure investors about Bitcoin's role as a hedge and store of value. The crypto evangelist doubled down on his faith in Bitcoin's long-term potential. He's not fazed by the current volatility. "Bitcoin's volatility is a feature, not a bug," Saylor said. It's a bold claim, but he's sticking to it. Short-term, Bitcoin's ups and downs can trigger global credit squeezes and liquidations. But Saylor sees it differently in the long run. He reckons Bitcoin outperforms in the long haul. It's more durable too, he claims. Why so volatile? Saylor says it's because Bitcoin works. Its "physics and politics" have disrupted other markets. Saylor thinks Bitcoin beats physical or financial capital as a store of value. It offers freedom from counterparties, he argues. "Bitcoin is a capital investment you can hold for decades," Saylor stated. "No corporation, competitor, counterparty, or country can take it away from you." He sees Bitcoin as generational wealth. This applies to both retail and institutional levels, he claims. Saylor believes Bitcoin trumps other long-term capital management options. Its decentralized nature is key, despite the volatility. When's the right time to buy Bitcoin? Saylor's answer: anytime. He likens it to investing in Manhattan real estate. MicroStrategy buys Bitcoin when they can. They pounce when they've raised enough capital. Saylor stresses the importance of understanding market trends. It helps navigate Bitcoin's price swings. His views offer a fresh perspective on Bitcoin's long-term value. Investors grappling with volatility might find some comfort in his words. But let's be real. Bitcoin's still a wild ride. Saylor's optimism doesn't change that fact.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is pushing El Salvador for more transparency in its Bitcoin policy. The risks haven't hit the fan yet, but the IMF's not letting up. Bitcoin as official currency was supposed to save the country from poverty, and IMF is not happy with that not actually happening, at least yet. In a statement Tuesday, the IMF said El Salvador needs to step up its game. They want the country to be more open about its crypto moves. The IMF's been side-eyeing El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment since 2021. Back then, they warned about potential issues of letting BTC to be a legitimate currency on par with USD, which seemed revolutionary at the time and still seems now, as no other country has followed the same path yet. But President Nayib Bukele - one of the most prominent Bitcoin maximalists - is not backing down. He's been buying more Bitcoin like it's going out of style. El Salvador's now sitting on $327 million worth of the crypto, according to their public wallet. That might seem not too much comparing to some of the famous crypto whales. But El Salvador is a poor country. And that is an understatement, by the way. So buying so much BTC is a heavy burden for its economy. The IMF's latest statement doesn't pull any punches. "On Bitcoin, while many of the risks have not yet materialized, there is joint recognition that further efforts are needed to enhance transparency and mitigate potential fiscal and financial stability risks from the Bitcoin project," it reads. So, IMF is not openly saying buying BTC is a bad idea. It is saying that in a delicate, indirect way. The government's been tight-lipped about the exact size of their investment. They've got a new government wallet, but it only holds a "big chunk" of their Bitcoin, according to Bukele. But there is something else, that might hint to a looming danger. El Salvador's Bitcoin Law requires businesses to accept the crypto. But in reality, many businesses are dragging their feet, not feeling completely contented with BTC instead of US Dollar on their accounts. The country's hoping to attract investment and new citizens with its tech-friendly approach. But the IMF's not impressed. They've been critical of Bukele's Bitcoin bet from the get-go. Bukele's not taking the criticism lying down. He's been slamming "global elites" and even tweeting memes mocking the IMF. Talk about a millennial leader, right? Despite the back-and-forth, Bukele's told the IMF that Bitcoin adoption won't mess with the country's macroeconomics. They've been in talks for years about a loan to boost El Salvador's finances. So you see, the first ever Bitcoin President has enough money to turn his country into a crypto whale, but not enough money to fight the actual problems in its economy. This seems weird to IMF, some other experts. And maybe, even some part of the population. But that yet to be determined. El Salvador's government didn't immediately respond to questions. Looks like they're keeping mum for now. The IMF's keeping the pressure on. They want El Salvador to play ball and be more open about their crypto moves. It's a high-stakes game, and the world's watching.

A Bitcoin miner from the cryptocurrency's early days has suddenly sprung to life. They moved 250 Bitcoin worth nearly $14 million on Wednesday. This whale had been quiet for over a decade. The wallet started stacking sats back in 2010. That's when mining was way easier than now. On-chain data shows this. Bitcoin mining was different back then. A few geeks could earn coins with basic computers. It was a piece of cake compared to today's setup. The scene changed big time between 2010 and 2015. At first, you could mine with just a regular PC. The network wasn't that tough to crack. Early birds dominated the game when Bitcoin was still under the radar. As Bitcoin blew up, mining got harder. Fancy hardware called ASICs came into play. Big mining pools formed too. These pools let miners team up to boost their chances of validating blocks. The whale's long nap is pretty intriguing. Why sit on those coins for so long? Maybe they really believed in Bitcoin's future. Or perhaps it was just too tricky to move the coins safely back then. Looking at the blockchain, we can see the miner's initial 250 BTC was worth $28,080 in May 2013. Now it's ballooned to a whopping $14,022,065. That's a profit of over $13.9 million, which is nothing to sneeze at. This transfer lines up with what CryptoQuant's boss Ki Young Ju says is a buying spree for Bitcoin after Monday's price dip. Young Ju dropped some stats on Twitter. He said 404,448 BTC have moved to long-term hodler addresses in the past month. That's a boatload of coins going into cold storage, hinting that big players are betting on Bitcoin as a store of value. "It's clearly accumulation," Young Ju wrote. He reckons we'll know if this bet pays off within a year. This early miner's move might be part of a bigger trend. With over 400,000 BTC moving to long-term addresses, it looks like some heavy hitters are feeling bullish about Bitcoin's future. Time will tell if these whales are onto something or if they're just making waves in the crypto ocean.

Marathon Digital, a Bitcoin mining outfit, has kicked off a pilot project in Utah. It's using methane gas from landfill waste to power its mining operations. The company announced this on Thursday. They've teamed up with Nodal Power, a renewable energy firm. The project's capacity is a whopping 280 kilowatts, many miners around the globe would be happy to have access to such a capacity for their mining needs. It's all about testing Marathon's ability to capture methane from landfills. The goal is simple. Convert the gas to electricity. Use that juice to power Bitcoin miners. It's a win-win, really. Fred Thiel, Marathon's top dog, is pretty stoked about the whole thing. He said, "At Marathon, we're always looking for cool ways to mix things up." Thiel's not done. He added, "We want to cut our energy costs and do right by the environment." The pilot project could tick all these boxes. If it works out, Marathon's keen to expand. They want to help landfill operators meet their green targets too. Here's the kicker: methane is nasty stuff. The UN says it's 80 times worse than carbon dioxide. Its effects hang around for over two decades. The Environmental Protection Agency's got some eye-opening stats. In 2021, solid waste emissions made up nearly 15% of all methane emissions in the US. That's a lot of harmful gas. Thiel's got more to say. "Methane from landfills and biowaste is often just sitting there, doing nothing. Bitcoin miners like us can turn this harmful gas into clean, renewable energy. It's a no-brainer." Now, here's the thing: electricity is a massive cost for miners. So, they've been poking around for alternative power sources for a while. They're trying to tackle those pesky greenhouse emissions at the same time. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. Using a eco-friendly source of energy, that is powerful enough to provide effective mining might be the answer. Take Crusoe Energy, for instance. Last April, they raised a whopping $350 million. The plan? Set up remote facilities to use wasted natural gas for mining. Then there's Vespene Energy. In August, they bagged $4.3 million to turn landfill methane into Bitcoin. It's a whole new ballgame. Marathon's not stopping there. They've just announced plans to raise up to $750 million through a hybrid equity offering. This bombshell came via a FORM S-3 sent to the SEC. What's the cash for? New mining gear and expanding their operations. These guys are going all in.