Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has donated 36 Bitcoin (BTC) and $600,000 worth of Tether (USDT) to small businesses in El Salvador as part of a broader pledge to support economic development in neighborhoods that have struggled with gang-related violence. The funds are being distributed in the socially-deprived communities of Ilopango, Soyapango and Apopa, where gang violence and extortion of small business owners are the most common, Bitfinex announced Thursday. The donations, which will be funded through recipients’ Bitcoin wallets, including the state-sponsored Chivo wallet, will support environmentally-friendly business initiatives that employ local workers. In addition to funding the donations, Bitfinex’s parent …

Much to the chagrin of cryptocurrency investors across the ecosystem, the bear market has officially set in and brought with it devastating price collapses that have left relatively few unscathed. As the popular topic of conversation now centers on bearish predictions of how low Bitcoin (BTC) will go and how long this iteration of the crypto winter will last, those with more experience on the matter know that it’s virtually impossible to predict the bottom and it would be wise to apply those energies elsewhere. Instead of focusing on the when of the end, perhaps it’s more constructive to explore …

Since the closure of his bank in Puerto Rico, Peter Schiff has been at the receiving end of Bitcoin (BTC) proponents, reminding him this wouldn’t have happened if he was using BTC. The latest to taunt the gold proponent is none other than El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has had a fair share of interactions with Schiff ever since El Salvador adopted BTC as a legal tender last year. Bukele responded to one of the tweets made by Schiff in January this year criticizing BTC and predicting that the likes of MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor and Bukele himself would …

The leadership of the crypto-friendly charter city of Próspera in Honduras has hit back at reports it is facing a backlash from residents of the neighboring community of Crawfish Rock over its expansion plans. A Tuesday article from The Guardian reported the special economic zone, touted as an island paradise with low taxes/fiscal responsibility, luxury homes and crypto-friendly regulation, has seen pushback from some residents of the Crawfish Rock community. Some residents are reportedly concerned about being displaced from their homes due to Próspera’s potential expansion plans, with the article describing the project’s headquarters as sitting “amid a landscape scarred …

Salvadorans living abroad hsent over $50 million in remittances from January to May this year, according to the El Salvador Central Reserve Bank. Douglas Rodríguez, president of the El Salvador central bank, unpacked the general economic outlook for the country on the local television news program Frente a Frente on Wednesday. A major takeaway was the $52 million of remittances processed by national digital wallet service Chivo through the first five months of the year. This marks a 3.9%, $118 million increase in value when compared to the same period in 2021. Chivo was launched in September 2021 as the …

Nayib Bukele, the president who helped Bitcoin (BTC) gain legal tender status in El Salvador, addressed the rising concerns of investors as BTC began trading for under $20,000 for the first time in 18 months. El Salvador introduced Bitcoin as legal tender on September 7, 2021, when its market price was around $50,000. Ever since, Bukele’s government made significant returns on their initial BTC investments as Bitcoin rallied to its all-time high of $69,000, which was redirected to the country’s various infrastructure development initiatives. However, as tensions rise amid falling BTC prices, Bukele decided to share advice for fellow Bitcoin …

Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo has partially vetoed Bill No. 697, dubbed the “crypto bill,” saying it requires more work to better fit Panama’s financial regulations. President Cortizo previously warned in May he wouldn’t sign the bill unless it included additional Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules after Panama’s National Assembly passed the crypto bill in late April 2022. Local media outlet La Prenda obtained a copy of the 32-page veto, reporting the president wrote it’s “imperative” the cryptocurrency laws conform to new regulations recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) outlining “fiscal transparency and prevention of money laundering.” President Cortizo has …

Despite the cryptocurrency market's prolonged bearish trend, some of its most ardent supporters have not been discouraged. This includes the president of the Central African Republic (CAR), who remains bullish on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto. Understanding #Bitcoin is crucial to acknowledge its disruptive power to bring long term prosperity. Mathematics don't account for human emotions.Future generations will look behind at these very moments to our strength & unity in choosing the right path during hard times #BTC — Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) June 14, 2022 In a tweet shared on Tuesda, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra reaffirmed his country's decision to make Bitcoin …

Alejandro Zelaya, the Minister of inance of El Salvador, reacted to the recent media attacks on the nation’s strategy of investing in Bitcoin (BTC) by calling the allegations of fiscal risks “extremely superficial.” During a press conference held on Monday, Zelaya responded to a journalist's question about the government's reaction to Bitcoin's sharp dip in an emotional manner: “There is a clear criticism of Bitcoin as such, not of El Salvador's strategy. El Salvador is what interests them the least, they [the media outlet] are not interested in what happens to our economy, they are not interested in what happens …

The blockchain industry’s impact on the energy sector has been a major source of controversy over the past five years. Governments and environmental protection advocates have routinely expressed concerns about the amount of energy required to keep the Bitcoin network secure. Data shows the network’s energy consumption now rivals the yearly energy consumed by some small countries. While much of the debate has centered around the negative environmental impacts of Bitcoin (BTC) mining, the drive to maximize earnings from mining and integrate blockchain technology with the energy grid has also introduced new developments that have the potential to be beneficial …

There’s cause for celebration from the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The Lightning Network hit the 4,000 Bitcoin (BTC) public capacity milestone, meaning $120 million in value is ready for peer-to-peer payments. The Lightning Network first broke the 1,000 BTC barrier in August 2020 and the 2,000 BTC barrier in July 2021. The capacity has doubled in the space of 18 months. CoinCorner CEO Daniel Scott told Cointelegraph that “we had slow and steady growth with Lightning capacity to begin, but since Jan[uary] 2021, the uptick has been strong.” Danny Brewster, CEO of United Kingdom-based Bitcoin exchange Fast Bitcoins told Cointelegraph that …

El Salvador’s Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya has said the country will further delay launching its anticipated billion-dollar Bitcoin (BTC) bond, citing price volatility and uncertain market conditions resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukrainian war. The news comes at the same time that Amnesty International accused the Salvadoran authorities of “flagrant violations of human rights and criminalizing people living in poverty.” In a Wednesday interview on the local “Frente a Frente” (Face-to-Face) news program, Zelaya was asked if the situation with the $1 billion Bitcoin bond issuance from a “few months ago” had changed. “No, not yet, the [Bitcoin] price continues to …