With many interesting digital asset developments taking place recently, it certainly has been a thought-provoking week in the world of crypto. Dogecoin hits an all-time high after registering with eToro; Bitfarms expands its operations into South America; Ghana labels crypto transactions illegal, and eBay considers crypto for payments.
Dogecoin hits an all-time high after registering with eToro
Dogecoin continues to make waves in the world of crypto as its market cap rose above the $60 billion mark. Incredibly, it has surpassed the market value of Twitter — which made Dogecoin famous. Twitter is currently valued at $43.5 billion. Dogecoin rose from $0.27 to $0.44 in the last week as DOGE became available on one of the most popular trading platforms, eToro.
The Dogecoin Army, a faithful community of this meme-inspired crypto, expressed their delight with this recent surge, and there is quiet hope that Dogecoin will breach the $1 threshold in the coming months. While altcoins usually dovetail with the dynamics of Bitcoin, this trend appeared to deviate recently when Bitcoin declined dramatically while Ether reached record highs of almost $3,300.
While DOGE has its high-profile followers, including tech mogul Elon Musk, many naysayers believe that Dogecoin is excessively hyped and would be nowhere without Musk’s intervention. CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, Mike Novogratz, remained sceptical of Dogecoin’s gains, mentioning that the digital asset didn’t have a purpose and he would be worried if his friends invested in DOGE at these prices.
Bitfarms expands its operations in Argentina
Canadian blocks reward miner, Bitfarms Ltd, has announced its intentions to expand its operations in South America. It signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding in 2020 to secure electricity at a favourable rate of $0.02 per kWh with the hope of developing a 60MW digital currency mining operation in Argentina. The due diligence period to assess the project’s viability has since passed, and Bitfarms Ltd now appears ready to proceed.
Bitfarms Ltd struck an agreement with a private Argentinian power supplier that gives it access to 210MW of electricity at its discretion. The contract is expected to last eight years, and Bitfarms Ltd is now in discussions with a construction company to design and build the electrical infrastructure required for mining. It hopes that the facility will be ready by early 2022 to start with block reward mining operations.
Since the mining farm will be located close to the utility, the electricity contract does not entail any interconnection with the local power grid. Due to the favourable Argentinian climate, no costly liquid immersion cooling is required to cool the hardware in order for it to function optimally.
Ghana declares all crypto transactions illegal
Ghana has told its citizens to avoid cryptocurrency transactions in all forms. In a statement released by Ghana’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulator warned citizens that cryptocurrencies are illegal in the country and are not regulated by the commission.
Director-General of the SEC, Paul Ababio, underscored the risks associated with crypto transactions and highlighted how many people have lost money to such transactions. He mentioned, “There are clear risks to the nature of it. People have lost their keys, and they can no longer access their funds, so it is something we are studying.”
However, there appears to be some hope as Ababio hinted that the SEC may decide to amend this and regulate cryptos in the future. He said, “The Bank of Ghana does not treat it as a form of payment, it is not legal tender, but we will be engaging further to come out with frameworks.” Until such time, however, Ghanaians are prohibited from transacting with crypto.
eBay considers crypto for payments
Popular online marketing platform, eBay, is considering making cryptocurrencies a payment option while also looking into the non-fungible tokens (NFT) industry. eBay’s CEO, Jamie Iannone, was reluctant to reveal precisely when this payment option would be implemented or which cryptocurrencies would be accepted. In a recent statement, he revealed, “We are always looking at the most relevant forms of payment and will continue to assess that going forward. We have no immediate plans, but it is something we are keeping an eye on.”
Following in the footsteps of other major industry players such as Tesla, Paypal and TIME, eBay appears to be warming up to the idea in the wake of a weak second-quarter profit forecast. By exploring new ways to reinvigorate business, Iannone admits that cryptocurrencies may certainly be the way forward.
On the conversation surrounding eBay’s interest in becoming a trading platform for NFTs, Iannone said, “ We’re exploring opportunities on how we can enable NFTs on eBay in an easy way. Everything that’s collectable has been on eBay for decades and will continue to be for the next few decades.”
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