With Valentine’s Day preparations dominating proceedings in the past week, the world of crypto has churned along nicely with some fascinating developments that are sure to raise a few eyebrows amongst crypto circles. Intel launches first-ever crypto mining chipset; Drake wins over $1 million in Bitcoin on Super Bowl bets; UBER to start accepting crypto payments for rides; Coinbase website crashes during Bitcoin giveaway promo.
Intel launches first-ever crypto mining chipset
With an increasing number of global companies jumping on the crypto bandwagon, multinational technology giant – Intel – has become the latest to dip its digital toes in the world of crypto. The chipset manufacturer has recently introduced a brand new chipset – the Blockchain Accelerator – that is specifically designed for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Intel sees a lot of potential in blockchain technology and intends to contribute to this with the Blockchain Accelerator chipsets paving the way for a bright new dawn. With much thought going into the incredible computing power and energy required for crypto mining, Intel claims that the Blockchain Accelerator is scalable, sustainable, and the most energy-efficient solution for the needs of crypto miners.
Intel has years of experience in hashing techniques, cryptography, and ultra-low voltage circuits – positioning it as a leader in circuit innovations – and something they plan to reveal more about at the International Solid-State Circuit Conference later this month. Senior Vice President of Intel – Raja Koduri – was excited to announce, “We expect that our circuit innovations will deliver a blockchain accelerator that has over 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 based mining.”
Argo Blockchain and GRID Infrastructure have already placed pre-orders for the Blockchain Accelerator chipset, with Intel anticipating minimal impact on its supply of current products. These are exciting times indeed for crypto miners worldwide, and Wisly will keep you updated on the latest with this.
Drake wins over $1 million in Bitcoin on Super Bowl bets
Globally acclaimed Canadian rapper, Drake, has been gripped with Super Bowl fever and made a series of bets to the tune of over $1 million worth of BTC ahead of the weekend’s NFL action – raking in more than $1 million BTC profit after the game!
The “Tootsie Slide” hitmaker shared a series of screenshots on his Instagram account taken from Stake – an online betting app that accepts popular crypto coins like DOGE and BTC. According to his posts, Drake bet approximately $1.25 million on the Los Angeles Rams and star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
He bet $471k that the Rams would beat the Bengals and also bet $395k each that Beckham would top 62.5 receiving yards and complete at least one touchdown. Of the three bets taken, Drake struck lucky with two of them – filling his pockets with more than $1 million in BTC.
Beckham’s game ended early due to a knee injury, only completing 52 receiving yards and costing Drake his third bet. The news, however, bodes well for those crypto enthusiasts who want to use their crypto for sports betting – making for a more exciting online betting landscape. Wisly will keep you in the loop with the very latest.
UBER to start accepting crypto payments for rides
One of the world’s most recognisable ride-hailing companies – UBER – has set the wheels in motion for users to pay for their rides with cryptocurrencies. UBER has maintained a long-standing interest in cryptocurrencies over the years, and this latest move is evidence of its growing confidence with digital assets.
CEO of UBER – Dara Khosrowshahi – revealed on Friday that the company would start to accept crypto for rides in the future. However, there was no particular rush with this decision citing some environmental concerns with the use of digital assets. Nevertheless, Khosrowshahi said that UBER will start accepting crypto “at some point” and that the company was having “conversations all the time”.
Khosrowshahi’s comments came during an interview with Bloomberg when he stated that the company is looking at cryptocurrencies and/or Bitcoin. As always, Wisly will keep you informed on the very latest developments with this story.
Coinbase website crashes during Bitcoin giveaway promo
Coinbase’s website crashed spectacularly during their Free Bitcoin Super Bowl Ad that launched during the highly-anticipated game. The much-publicised ad consisted of a QR code that floated around the screen for 60 seconds and quickly flashed a Coinbase URL at the end.
Those who visited the URL were greeted with a message offering $15 in free Bitcoin for new customers who signed up in the following 48 hours. Unfortunately, while the promotion was well-received on social media, its popularity caused its demise as millions scurried to the website only to find that they couldn’t access it.
However, the outage didn’t last very long as the Coinbase site was up and running only a few minutes later – much to the delight of crypto lovers watching the game. Those who scanned the QR code were taken directly to Coinbase’s website and stood a chance to win $3 million in prizes.
It is estimated that Coinbase bought the advert slot for $14 million and got their money’s worth with over 20 million website hits in one minute – historic and unprecedented – while engagement on the platform was six times higher than their previous benchmarks. So who says advertising doesn’t pay? Wisly will keep you updated with the latest news on this.
