PostFinance, Swiss national postal service’s bank division, will give customers access to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum

PostFinance, the Swiss post office bank, will partner with Sygnum Bank, a Swiss digital asset bank, to open up cryptocurrency transactions to more than 2.5 million customers. The cryptobank said in an announcement that PostFinance customers will be able to buy, store and sell cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum.

PostFinance is one of Switzerland’s largest retail banks. It is wholly owned by the Swiss Post, which in turn is owned by the state. According to the bank’s website, more than 2.5 million people use its services.

Bank Sygnum is licensed as a provider of cryptocurrency services in Switzerland. And it serves a range of institutions, including cantonal and private banks. PostFinance is integrating Sygnum’s b2b platform into its infrastructure.

According to the report, PostFinance has analyzed the investment needs of its customers. And it identified a high demand for digital investment services.

“Digital assets have become an integral part of the financial world. And our clients want access to this marketplace at PostFinance,” said PostFinance Chief Investment Officer Philip Merkt.

PostFinance’s decision to switch to cryptocurrency was driven in part by an outflow of funds from Swiss retail banks into the digital asset class.

PostFinance has noted a multi-million dollar outflow of funds to cryptocurrency exchanges in recent years. So not only did the bank see an opportunity to generate new revenue in its work with digital assets. But it also realized that it made a big difference in retaining existing customers.

Our experts note that in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum, PostFinance will later add other cryptocurrencies.

Our experts have analyzed the situation on crypto market and told how it can change in the short term and what will happen to Bitcoin price

The final week of March on the crypto market began with a decrease in the pair BTC/USDt. Bitcoin fell by 5.81% to $28,484. The fall was caused by negative news in the crypto industry. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against the head of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, and the heads of three other organizations that run the Binance platform. The regulator claims that the exchange failed to register as a platform that trades cryptocurrency derivatives. And therefore had no right to provide services to U.S. clients. However, it actively worked with U.S. investors, ignoring legal regulations.

In zone $26.5-26.6 thousand buyers regrouped and fought back on the positive news from the banking sector and the rise of American indices. The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced that deposits and loans from bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) are going to U.S. First-Citizens Bank.

On March 29, bitcoin recouped earlier losses, returning to the $29,184 level. Risk appetite returned for market participants as concerns about the banking sector eased following congressional hearings on the SVB bankruptcy.

Rising movement did not continue. The buyers, having met sellers’ volumes, started to fix profits from long positions. It was a purely technical factor, because this day external background was on the side of buyers. Also the dollar index was declining and S&P 500 futures were rising.

In the evening the buyers’ activity might have been low because of the speeches of the U.S. Federal Reserve representatives, who supported the further tightening of the monetary policy, despite the collapse of the three American banks.

On Friday (March 31), the price corrected to $27,511 and then went back to $28,656. Buyers have so far ignored the U.S. crackdown on Binance, Coinbase and TRON founder Justin Sun. This comes amid a rally in stock indexes and weakness in the U.S. dollar.

The S&P 500 index rose 3.23% to 4,109 points for the week and 6.88% for the quarter. Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2023 rose 72.08% against the dollar to $28,465.

Waiting for a level test of $30,000 for Bitcoin

In this week of April 3-9, the focus of market participants will be on U.S. statistics. These statistics will include: business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors, industrial production data, the labor market report for March. In Europe, it is a shortened week. Europeans will celebrate Good Friday on Friday (April 7) and Easter on Monday (April 10). Liquidity will affect the dollar, and through the currency market, the crypto market.

According to our experts’ estimates, the quarterly timeframe indicates a price recovery to $34,000. At the same time, the monthly – to $43,000 by August (with a very positive external situation). If the market gets stormy because of the actions of U.S. regulators or new bankruptcies, then by mid-September. Here we need to look at what wave structure of upward movement will be formed when the level of $34,000 is reached. Therefore, we are waiting for the test of $30,000 for Bitcoin this week.

Hive Blockchain reported financial results for the last three months of 2022. It said it received 51.6% less profit from cryptocurrency mining in that period than it did a year earlier

The Ethereum blockchain’s transition to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm was one of the reasons for a $90 million loss at major miner Hive Blockchain for the fourth quarter of 2022. The company released its financial results for the last three months of last year. In doing so, it noted that in addition to September’s Ethereum update, the losses were also contributed to the decline in the price of digital assets. As well as on mining equipment at the end of last year.

Our experts note that this report shows that the miner generated $14.1 million in cryptocurrency mining revenue during that period, down 51.6 percent from a year earlier. And the gross profit earned by Hive from mining in the fourth quarter of last year was $3.6 million, down 77% from $15.9 million in the previous quarter.

According to Miner, the average mining cost per Bitcoin in the last three months of 2022 was $13,600. While the average Bitcoin price during that time was $18k. This increased BTC production costs by 37% over the previous quarter. The company revalued its mining equipment, which also led to a $38.8 million loss on Hive’s balance sheet.

Additional reasons for losses

In addition to the “Merger” and the strong decline in cryptocurrency prices from the end of 2021. Hive’s revenue was also driven by a significant increase in global Bitcoin hashrate and an annual increase in mining complexity of 60%, to nearly 40T.

At the same time, the company noted that it mined 787 BTC during this period. And this is 13% more than in the same period of 2021, when 697 Bitcoins were mined. According to the Hive team, this reflects continued growth in its operating hashrate.

Hive also reported that the fleet of GPUs formerly used to mine Ethereum is not currently idle. And it’s generating an average annual revenue of more than $1 million by being busy with computational workloads unrelated to mining digital assets.

Our experts explained how a private miner managed to get a reward for the found block. With hardly noticeable computing power he was able to get 6 BTC

A lucky private miner, with barely a fraction of the processing power in the Bitcoin network. He received a reward of 6.35 BTC for finding a block numbered 772,793.

The chances of adding a block as a single miner are determined by the number of hashes. Which the miner device calculates per second. Relative to the total number of hashes that all the machines on the network compute each second.

Typically, blocks are mined by large pools combining the power of thousands of devices participating in a pool of users. The largest of them are Foundry, AntPool and Exchange of Binance’s own pool.

At the time the block was added to blockchain, the total bitcoin hashrate was just over 269 EH/s. That is, a single miner’s hash rate of 10 TH/s was only 0.000000037% of the total computing power of that network.

Chance of getting such a reward is like a big win in a lottery

Our experts say that this is an extremely atypical case. One miner privately can work for 30 years and not pick up the right hash during this time. At the same time he will consume electricity and produce a resource of equipment. The risks of finding nothing and making a loss are much greater.

It’s like buying a lottery ticket. You can buy one ticket every day and not get a win. Or you can buy one single time and win, but the chances are slim. If you approach mining as a business, it is more pragmatic to get a more modest but guaranteed income every day.

Now hashrate of network is 283 million TH/s against 10,6 TH/s capacity of unknown miner. In theory, with such parameters of the equipment it should mine one block out of almost 27 thousand mined blocks. Considering that about 900 BTC are mined per day, that’s about one block in 81 years.

Solo mining can be used when mining new coins, where the network capacity is quite low. And one person’s equipment takes a noticeable share of the entire processing power of the network. With pools, the probability of receiving remuneration increases many times over. But the user receives only a share of the reward, proportionally calculated from the entire computing power of the pool.

Bitcointalk forum users, discussing the lucky miner. came to the conclusion that his setup consisted of four rudimentary USB miners, each of which produced no more than 3 TH/s and cost about $200.

Our experts congratulate this guy, but remind us that it was a lucky lottery ticket.

Growth in securities of mining companies in January reached the highest monthly level in at least a year. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The MVIS Global Digital Assets Mining Index, which includes data on the 20 largest miners. Such as Riot Blockchain, Galaxy Digital, Bitfarms and Iris Energy, is up 64 percent since the beginning of January 2023. This month, the indicator posted its biggest increase since its inception in December 2021. In doing so, Bitfarms securities rose more than 140%. And shares of Marathon Digital Holdings were up more than 120%. And Hive Blockchain Technologies more than doubled.

The growth of miners’ shares was caused by the recovery of Bitcoin. The first cryptocurrency since the beginning of January rose in price by 26.5% – from $ 16.6 thousand to $ 21 thousand. And on January 16 Bitcoin rate updated its maximum for 4 months, exceeding the mark of $ 21.4 thousand.

Profits of miners also increased against the growth of the crypto market. Despite the fact that the complexity of Bitcoin mining has grown to record levels. And more and more miners are plugging in, increasing hash rates. Luxor Hashprice Index – showing how much income a Bitcoin miner can expect. With a certain amount of hashrate – up 21% this year.

However, our experts note that it is unknown how long the growth of mining companies’ quotes will last. Cryptocurrency mining companies faced financial difficulties in 2022 and were forced to sell the mined cryptocurrency. As well as to return the equipment, reduce costs and personnel.

Satoshi Nakamoto mined a Bitcoin genesis block on January 3, 2009

Bitcoin turned 14 years old. January 3, 2009 can be considered the real birthday of Bitcoin. That’s when the genesis block was mined with the date and a short excerpt from The Times article: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”.

On October 31, 2008, the creator of Bitcoin, known as Satoshi Nakamoto, published a white paper. Titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. However, the BTC network did not actually work until three months later, when Satoshi mined the first block.

The genesis block was mined on a small server in Helsinki. The reward for mining it was 50 BTC. The first transaction on the BTC network took place a few days later. On January 12, 2009, 10 BTC from Satoshi Nakamoto were sent to developer Hal Finney in Block 170.

Nine months later, on October 5, Bitcoin appeared on the New Liberty Standart exchange. Our experts note that for $ 1 you could buy 1,309 BTC (now their price is $21 million).

On February 9, 2011, BTC for the first time equaled in value to the U.S. dollar. And on April 16 of the same year a major publication – Time magazine published an article about Bitcoin, for the first time about the new asset. The currency reached a total capitalization of $10 million.

Since then, Bitcoin has experienced several ups and downs. It reached its peak in November 2021, rising to $69,000. In 2022, global economic problems and several major bankruptcies in the industry led to a significant decline in cryptocurrency rates and a prolonged crypto winter.

The asset currently has a market capitalization of $322 billion and a daily trading volume of $13 billion. Bitcoin’s stake in a crypto market is 38.2%.

Two exchange traded ETF funds raised a total of $73.6 million on the eve of their debut on Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Two exchange-traded funds (ETF) will begin trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on December 16. They are based on cryptocurrency futures. These are the first funds of their kind in Hong Kong. CSOP Asset Management’s ETF invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum futures. Which are listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) in the United States. They are the only cryptocurrency assets allowed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

Two funds raised a total of $73.6 million before their debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The larger one, CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF (3066.HK), raised $53.9 million, according to the management company. That’s more than the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the first U.S. Bitcoin futures ETF. Which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in October 2021 with an initial capital of $20 million.

Crypto-futures ETF demonstrate that Hong Kong remains open-minded about the development of virtual assets. This is despite recent problems in crypto-industry, said Yi Wang, head of quantitative investment at CSOP. He noted that since ETF do not invest directly in Bitcoin and are traded on regulated exchanges in the U.S. and Hong Kong. Investors will have more regulatory protections than tokens traded on unregulated platforms.

The first futures-based Bitcoin-ETF were approved in the U.S. back in 2021. However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has so far rejected all applications to launch a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). SEC head Gary Gensler attributed this to the fact that applications for such funds do not meet the Securities Act’s standards for cracking down on fraudulent or manipulative practices.

Former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried is sent to the only prison in the Bahamas. There, due to a shortage of space, some inmates just awaiting trial end up in high-security wings. Review of Crypto-Upvotes experts

Former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried is headed to the notoriously poor conditions of the Bahamas’ Fox Hill prison. After a court ordered him into custody and denied him bail, Business Insider reports.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, was detained in the Bahamas on Dec. 12 upon official request from the U.S., where criminal charges were filed against him. Bankman-Fried is charged with several counts. These include scam, money laundering and campaign finance violations.

While awaiting extradition to the U.S., Sam Bankman-Fried will spend time in the Bahamas’ only prison. Fox Hill Prison, notoriously overcrowded and unsanitary. A judge has ordered that he be sent to that prison. Where he will first be held in the medical ward.

The Bahamas has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Thus, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2020 Human Rights Report, there were 409 prisoners per 100,000 people. The University of Lausanne calculates that the average for the Council of Europe’s 48 prison administrations as of January 2020 was just over 103 inmates per 100,000.

Conditions of confinement at Fox Hill prison

Due to the large number of prisoners in the Bahamas, Fox Hill is overcrowded. As a result, conditions are declining. Lack of space and overcrowding have led to some inmates simply awaiting trial being placed in a maximum-security unit. Local attorney Romona Farquharson told The Wall Street Journal.

Inmates are supposed to go outside for an hour a day, the lawyer said, but because of staff shortages, there are periods when inmates see only 30 minutes of sunlight a week.

The U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Report on the Bahamas. Which was published in 2021, reports that, according to Fox Hill inmates. They had to scavenge with buckets and were forced to lie on the hard ground for long periods of time.

The report says there is an infestation of rats, maggots and insects in the small cells of the high-security unit. They have no mattresses, no toilets, and can hold up to six inmates at a time. Detainees complained of poor food and denial of prompt medical care.

Sam Bankman-Fried applied for bail Dec. 13. But a justice of the peace in the Bahamas denied the request. The trading platform founder was deemed a flight risk and detained until at least Feb. 8, 2023, when his case will resume.

Bybit announced about obligatory KYC procedure for customers to buy cryptocurrencies for fiat money and transactions with NFT. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Crypto-exchange Bybit will limit the number of services that can be available to users who have not passed the verification procedure. Platform announced changes in KYC policy, as well as the introduction of new withdrawal limits.

KYC is currently required to access Bybit Launchpad and Earn products. Also for credit card payments, trading on P2P service of the exchange and transactions in certain currencies.

Starting December 15, verification will be required on the platform to purchase cryptocurrencies for fiat money and through One-Click Buy and P2P services. The KYC procedure will become mandatory for all NFT purchases and for NFT resales over $10,000. Mandatory user verification for input, withdrawal and purchase of NFT on primary market will be required from December 30.

Bybit may further expand KYC requirements in near future, the exchange said in a statement.

In addition to the new verification rules, from December 15 the platform will change the withdrawal limits. For example, without KYC-checking the daily limit for withdrawal of assets will be 20 thousand USDT, the monthly limit – 100 thousand USDT. Until December 15, only daily limit of 2 BTC is set.

Crypto-Upvotes experts analyzed the situation with Bitcoin on crypto market and told how it can change in the short term

From December 5 to 11, the pair BTC/USDT traded in the price range of $16.7 ths – $17.4 ths. In the first half of the week Bitcoin was under pressure, in the second it got out in a small plus. Because Bitcoin got back in touch with the stock and currency markets. It was influenced by the dynamics of stock indices and the dollar index.

On Monday, December 5, investors were spooked by better-than-expected data from the U.S. service sector. The statistics changed market sentiment of the market participants. Because they are still afraid of the Fed’s continued tight policy to curb inflation. As a result, the S&P500 index was unable to break through the trend line on the daily and weekly section. The downward correction intensified amid closing long positions in technology sector stocks. The dollar index recovered to 105.79 points. BTC/USDT pair returned to the level of $16.8 ths.

On Tuesday, December 6, Bitcoin rate consolidated at $17 ths. On December 7, the pair BTC/USDT fell to the trend line of $16.7 ths on the background of risk aversion. Since Thursday, December 8, the situation in the markets has changed. Bitcoin gained 2.30% against the dollar to $17.2 thousand. The dollar index reversed downward and the S&P500 index recovered to 3,974 points. That was the end of the index’s rise, as well as Bitcoin’s strengthening.

On Friday, December 9, the S&P500 index fell 0.73% to 3934.39 points. The sell-off in risky assets resumed after the release of disappointing U.S. producer price data for November. Prices rose more than forecasted. The PPI index in November rose by 7.4% on an annualized basis and by 0.3% versus October. The average forecast was for a 7.2% growth for the former index and a 0.2% growth for the latter.

Investors fear again

Fears of tighter monetary policy from the Fed and a possible recession came to the fore. U.S. stock futures changed from rising to falling, while Treasury yields jumped.

The statistics are rocking the markets ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s December 14 meeting. High volatility is needed for option sellers. To sell them at a high premium. Investors are expecting Wednesday’s rate hike of 50 basis points, to 4.5% per year. According to the latest CME FedWatch Tool, there is a 78.2% chance of a 50bp rate hike.

There is still uncertainty in the crypto market. The decline in the BTC/USDT pair on Friday was subdued. The level of $17.35K has not been passed, and the buyers can still pass it till Wednesday. The price pattern at 4H (time range on the chart) is favorable for an upward move.

Support is at the level of $16.9 ths, key – at $16.5 ths. We expect the denouement after the speech of the head of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell at the press conference, which will be held after the announcement of the rates decision.