The UK government has unveiled plans to become a “global cryptoasset hub” and proposed new regulations for stablecoins, a Royal Mint non-fungible token (NFT), and other measures to support digital asset companies.

Intel has launched a second-generation Bitcoin mining chip that features a 580 GH/s (gigahashes per second) hashrate while consuming 26 J/TH (joules per terahash), making it more efficient than its predecessor.

Canadian Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) holdings have risen to a new all-time high after seeing inflows of 6,954 Bitcoin since January. They now stand at 69,052 BTC, with the Purpose Bitcoin ETF seeing the largest increase.

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Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• UK Unveils Plan to Become ‘Global Cryptoasset Hub’
• Intel Launches Sustainability-focused Bitcoin Mining Chips
• Canadian Bitcoin ETF Inflows Hit New High
• What is an NFT?
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UK Unveils Plan to Become ‘Global Cryptoasset Hub’

The UK government has unveiled plans to become a “global cryptoasset hub” and proposed new regulations for stablecoins, a Royal Mint non-fungible token (NFT), and other measures to support digital asset companies.

In a speech, city minister John Glen said that the government was determined to show that “the UK is open for business and open for crypto businesses,” making the government’s support for cryptoasset businesses setting up in Britain. Glen said:

“We see enormous potential in crypto. We aren’t going to lower our standards, but we are going to sustain our technological neutral approach.”

The minister detailed that the government is looking into issuing debt using blockchain technology. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has also commissioned the Royal Mint to issue an NFT by the summer as an “emblem of the forward looking approach we are determined to take.”

The UK Treasury has also released long-awaited plans to regulate issuers of stablecoins. Its proposals include adapting existing laws that govern electronic money to cover stablecoins and bring them under the purview of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The UK’s crypto push includes legislating for a “financial market infrastructure sandbox,” the establishment of a Cryptoasset Engagement Group to work closely with the industry, and more. It comes as firms operating in financial hubs are pressuring government, regulators and lawmakers for clearer rules on digital assets.

Intel Launches Sustainability-focused Bitcoin Mining Chips

Intel has launched a second-generation Bitcoin mining chip that features a 580 GH/s (gigahashes per second) hashrate while consuming 26 J/TH (joules per terahash), making it more efficient than its predecessor.

The new mining chip, the “Intel Blockscale ASIC,” was built with a focus on energy sustainability in the context of environmental, social, and governance concerns. Intel is set to provide customers with only the ASIC chip itself, instead of delivering a complete mining system.

A mining system containing 256 Intel Blockscale ASIC chips would supposedly output roughly 148 TH/s and consume around 3,860 watts of power. The flagship air-cooled mining system of the current mining leader, Bitmain, outputs 140 TH/s with an energy consumption of 3010 watts, for comparison.

Intel will also include a reference hardware design and software stack in its shipments to support customers’ system development. Argo Blockchain, Block, Hive Blockchain, and GRIID Infrastructure will be among the first mining companies to get Intel’s upcoming chip.

Canadian Bitcoin ETF Inflows Hit New High

Canadian Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) holdings have risen to a new all-time high after seeing inflows of 6,954 Bitcoin since January. They now stand at 69,052 BTC, with the Purpose Bitcoin ETF seeing the largest increase.

The ETF is now holding around $1.68 billion in assets, while no spot Bitcoin ETF is currently available in the U.S. An ETF, it’s worth noting, is a type of pooled investment security that tracks the value of a specific asset or index and is traded on an exchange.

Blockchain analytics data firm Glassnode pointed out that the Canadian Bitcoin ETF inflows come at a time in which cryptocurrency exchange outflows reached a 96,200 BTC high for this year.

What is an NFT?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the crypto industry and world by storm this year. In 2021 alone, NFT marketplace, OpenSea, facilitated 12bn worth of NFT transactions — with many other platforms and marketplaces also seeing significant growth in their volumes.

NFTs allow you to buy, sell, trade and verify ownership of a digital item on the blockchain. The phrase “NFT” beat “cheugy” to be Collins Dictionary’s word of the year, and as per Collins, it is defined as: “a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible.”

An NFT can come in many shapes and sizes, varying from digital art, to songs, real-life artworks, collectibles in a video game and much more. Many outsiders that are new to the world of NFTs criticize them saying: “I just right-clicked saved this for free” or “This is just a JPEG”, but NFTs are far more than this, for they have created a way for artists to monetize digital versions of their content via the creation of ownership.

Usually, NFTs come in the form of an ERC-721 or ERC-1155 token on the Ethereum blockchain (other blockchains have different standards), for this is the chain that popularised the NFT trend.

Other blockchains, such as Solana, Avalanche and Tezos, have also seen a boom in NFT activity.

Read more about NFTs on CryptoCompare’s blog.

 

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