The Guardian - Cryptocurrency News Sites

McAfee indicted in federal court over schemes that promoted cryptocurrency offerings on social mediaJohn McAfee, the antivirus software pioneer whose former company still bears his name, has been indicted on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges stemming from two cryptocurrency schemes, the US Department of Justice said on Friday.Authorities accused McAfee and his bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr, of exploiting McAfee’s large Twitter following to artificially inflate prices of “altcoins” through a pump-and-dump scheme, and concealing payments McAfee received from startup businesses to promote initial coin offerings. Continue reading... […]

When is a meme worth $600,000? When technology has created a ‘unique’ version that can’t be owned by anyone elsePat, I keep hearing references to cryptoart which are all very … cryptic. What is this thing?Hey Lucy! So you might have heard of it in context of the $US600,000 Nyan Cat gif or the more recent Kings of Leon NFT Album, both of which are examples of cryptoart. Cryptoart is a way of making digital art unique, and therefore – according to some people – valuable. Normally, digital art is very easy to replicate due to the very nature of digital information. So cryptoart is a way of making digital files one-of-a-kind. Related: What is GameStop, where do the memes come in, and who is winning or losing? Related: Grimes sells digital art collection for $6m Continue reading... […]

Band will sell a $50 limited-edition deluxe version of When You See Yourself, as well as six special NFTsKings of Leon are releasing their new album as a non-fungible token, or NFT, jumping on the craze for the digital assets akin to bitcoin, in cooperation with the tech startup Yellowheart.The US rock group will sell two different types of NFT: one, which will be made available for a limited time, acts as a sort of deluxe version of the band’s new album When You See Yourself; the other, of which just six will be sold at auction, is effectively a lifetime ticket to the band’s shows. Continue reading... […]

Millions in precarious jobs are betting scant savings on worthless stocks and cryptocurrencies via share-dealing appsThe US economy’s K-shaped recovery is under way. Those with stable full-time jobs, benefits, and a financial cushion are faring well as stock markets climb to new highs. Those who are unemployed or partially employed in low-value-added blue-collar and service jobs – the new “precariat” – are saddled with debt, have little financial wealth, and face diminishing economic prospects.These trends indicate a growing disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. The new stock market highs mean nothing to most people. The bottom 50% of the wealth distribution holds just 0.7% of total equity market assets, whereas the top 10% commands 87.2%, and the top 1% holds 51.8%. The 50 richest people have as much wealth as the 165 million people at the bottom. Related: Wall Street versus the Redditors: the GameStop goldrush – podcast Related: Why the GameStop affair is a perfect example of 'platform populism' | Evgeny Morozov Related: The GameStop affair is like tulip mania on steroids | Dan Davies Continue reading... […]

‘Non-fungible tokens’ craze sees musician sell video pieces for $7,500 each at short-notice auctionThe musician and artist Grimes has sold a collection of digital artworks for almost $6m in a high-profile endorsement of the craze for “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) – images, film clips, animations and even poems which are being bought and sold online for increasingly large sums.Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, announced the auction on Twitter a day before the collection went on sale.Dropping NFTs tomorrow at 2pm EST. enter the void pic.twitter.com/l9fNFUCheX Continue reading... […]

Bitcoin mining – the process in which a bitcoin is awarded to a computer that solves a complex series of algorithm – is a deeply energy intensive processIt’s not just the value of bitcoin that has soared in the last year – so has the huge amount of energy it consumes.The cryptocurrency’s value has dipped recently after passing a high of $50,000 but the energy used to create it has continued to soar during its epic rise, climbing to the equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of Argentina, according to Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, a tool from researchers at Cambridge University that measures the currency’s energy use. Continue reading... […]

‘Non-fungible tokens’ are unique images, clips or poems traded online for increasingly large sumsPudding Daintytot is a pink cat, with hearts sprinkled over its chest, a rainbow cresting behind it, draconic horns, wings and a tail.“Born” in January 2019, Pudding is a “cryptokitty”: an example of what is known as a “non-fungible token”, the latest cryptocurrency craze – unique images, film clips, animations and even poems, which are bought and sold online for increasingly large sums. Continue reading... […]

In a year, bitcoin uses around the same about of electricity as the entire country of Norway. The digital currency is one that allows people to bypass banks and traditional payment methods. It is the most prominent among thousands of so-called cryptocurrencies and has been repeatedly reaching new records - but is it sustainable? The Guardian's UK technology editor Alex Hern examines how exactly bitcoin uses electricity and if the environmental cost is too highWhat is bitcoin and why are so many people looking to buy it?Cryptocurrencies rise in popularity in world's conflict zonesContinue reading... […]

Electric carmaker’s CEO falls behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after tweet saying bitcoin price ‘seems high’Elon Musk, the maverick boss of Tesla, is no longer the world’s richest person after shares in the electric car company dropped 8.6% on Monday, wiping $15.2bn (£10.8bn) off his fortune.Musk, who last month leapfrogged Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to take the title of the world’s wealthiest person, dropped back into second place with a $183bn estimated fortune behind Bezos’ $186.3bn. Related: Tesla should stick to what it's good at – and that isn't bitcoin | Nils Pratley Continue reading... […]