At CoinDesk's Consensus conference earlier today, Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor defended the newly formed Bitcoin Mining Council against criticisms that it runs counter to the “decentralized” spirit of BitcoinBitcoin.
Saylor announced the council yesterday afternoon, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted about having met with “North American Bitcoin miners” about sustainability; Saylor described it as an “organization to standardize energy reporting, pursue industry ESG goals, & educate+grow the marketplace.”
“ESG” is an investing strategy centered around “environmental, social, and governance” concerns—it’s a shorthand for sustainability in the corporate sphere.
Crypto critics were quick to cry hypocrisy: Saylor and his acolytes like to say that Bitcoin is all about “decentralization”—that is, no central governing body, no oligarchic control over the system. How would consolidating power over the future of the Bitcoin ecosystem square with that mission?
And forming a cartel of US-based miners that does the bidding of @elonmusk and Michael Saylor is the next stage of decentralization? https://t.co/tNA5LHjxeN
— (((Frances 'Cassandra' Coppola))) 🌷🌷🌷 (@Frances_Coppola) May 25, 2021
Musk himself has criticized Bitcoin for being too centralized, citing an incident where a single accident in a Chinese coal mine temporarily took out around 30% of the total computing power behind the global Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin is actually highly centralized, with supermajority controlled by handful of big mining (aka hashing) companies.
A single coal mine in Xinjiang flooded, almost killing miners, and Bitcoin hash rate dropped 35%. Sound “decentralized” to you?https://t.co/Oom8yzGRNQ
Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency made a comeback at the end of last year as retail investors flooded back into the market to snap up Dogecoin. The coin was launched as a joke in 2013, but has persisted over the years and remained prominent.
But just how serious is the business of mining the O.G. meme coin? People are actively buying the machines to do so, according to vendors at this year’s Mining Disrupt conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Though the conference was heavily focused on th...
Banks can engage in cryptocurrency and other legally permitted activities without seeking prior regulatory approval, so long as they manage risks appropriately, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced Friday.
The policy change rescinds a 2022 requirement that mandated FDIC-supervised institutions notify the agency before engaging in crypto-related activities. Under the new guidance, banks can offer services involving digital assets without the agency's advance permission.
"With today...
The NASDAQ exchange has applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list shares of an Avalanche exchange-traded fund issued by crypto asset manager Grayscale.
The 19b-4 form for Grayscale's AVAX ETF follows its registration as a Delaware Trust entity more than two weeks ago.
If approved, the AVAX ETF would use Coinbase Custody as its custodian, the 19b-4 shows.
The issuer must still file an S-1 registration statement describing the product, however.
AVAX, the utility token of L...
