The Bitcoin slump continues with a price below $ 43,000 per coin.
That’s more than 30% less than the November all-time high of $ 69,000.
Bitcoin has fallen four out of the last five days. The decline accelerated this week after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting were released, showing officials are looking for a faster schedule for the rate hike this year.
The uprising in Kazakhstan is affecting the cryptocurrency market.
The global computing power of the Bitcoin network fell sharply when that nation’s internet shut down, which, according to Reuters, affected the country’s fast-growing cryptocurrency mining industry.
According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, Kazakhstan became the second largest bitcoin mining center in the world after the United States last year.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are created or “mined” by high-performance computers, usually in data centers in different parts of the world.
GAMESTOP SHARE RISES ON PLANS TO ENTER NFT AND CRYPTO CURRENCY MARKETS
In other crypto news, GameStop Corp. is establishing a division entering the cryptocurrency market.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a division is being set up to develop a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and establish cryptocurrency partnerships.
| ticker | safety | Last | change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GME | GAMESTOP CORP. | 140.62 | +9.59 | + 7.32% |
GameStop declined to comment.
The video game retailer is in flux, with executives from companies including Amazon on board to move GameStop from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce.
The company will ask select game developers and publishers to list NFTs on its marketplace when it launches later this year, the WSJ report said.
AMC CEO CLARIFIES CRYPTO PAYMENT PLAN
| ticker | safety | Last | change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMC | AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS INC | 22.99 | +0.53 | + 2.36% |
Additionally, AMC CEO Adam Aaron said the theater chain is well on its way to accepting cryptocurrencies in the first quarter, possibly March.
CLICK HERE FOR REAL-TIME CRYPTO-CURRENCY PRICE DATA FROM FOX BUSINESS
In other news, cryptocurrency crime hit an all-time high of $ 14 billion last year, blockchain researcher Chainalysis said Thursday.
Crypto received from digital wallet addresses related to illegal activities such as fraud, darknet markets and ransomware increased 80% year over year, according to Chainalysis data from Reuters.
Financial regulators and policy makers are concerned about the use of crypto for money laundering, and some are calling on lawmakers to give them greater powers over the industry.
“The criminal misuse of cryptocurrencies is making it difficult for further adoption, increasing the likelihood that governments will impose restrictions and, worst of all, harassing innocent people around the world,” Chainalysis said.
