One Big Idea
If you ignore the USD / BTC price, the infrastructure continues to chug along enabling new rails and adoption quietly under the scene.
1. Crypto.com and Stripe Enable Bitcoin Payments for Millions of Merchants
Crypto exchange Crypto.com announced a partnership with payments giant Stripe to let users spend cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin) directly at millions of online merchants.
2. El Salvador Diversifies Reserves with $50 M Gold Purchase, Keeps Stacking Bitcoin
El Salvador’s central bank bought $50 million worth of gold, increasing its gold holdings to over $360 million, while President Nayib Bukele’s government continues to accumulate Bitcoin.
3. Turkmenistan Legalizes Crypto Mining and Exchanges to Spur Economy
Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most isolated economies, enacted a new law officially legalizing cryptocurrency mining and the operation of crypto exchanges.
4. UBS to Offer Bitcoin Trading to Wealthy Clients in Pilot Program
UBS, the largest Swiss bank, is reportedly planning to allow a select group of private banking clients to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether directly.
5. International Grocery Store Chain, Carrefour, offers discounts on Bitcoin purchases
A Carrefour Express store in Rouen, France, has introduced a 20% discount for customers who pay using Bitcoin via the Lightning Network. This move has drawn attention across the crypto and retail spaces, though it is not part of a company-wide policy by Carrefour Group.
6. The Czech Republic offers 0% Capital Gains Tax on Bitcoin held for over 3 years.
Under the new rule, investors won’t pay a capital gains tax for the cryptos that they have had for more than three years.
7. Coinbase accepts Hashrate as Collateral
The underlying energy and computational infrastructure used to power the Bitcoin network is being used as leverage for access to liquidity. Unlike lenders in the previous cycle that focused on individual machine financing, Coinbase Asset Management evaluates hashrate as a finished product that includes ASICs, land, transformers, and electrical infrastructure.
8. U.S. Winter Storm Triggers Major Bitcoin Hashrate Plunge
A severe winter storm (dubbed “Fern”) swept across the U.S., forcing many Bitcoin miners to shut down and briefly knocking 40% of the network’s hashrate offline.
9. North Dakota revives bill to allow public markets to hold up to 10% of eligible public funds
Republican Representative Logan Manhart introduced House Bill 1155 on Tuesday, seeking to amend South Dakota’s public investment statutes to permit the State Investment Council to allocate up to 10% of eligible state funds to Bitcoin.
10. Trump officially nominates pro-Bitcoin FED chair to replace Powell.
When Powell’s term ends in May, Kevin Warsh is selected to replace him. Kevin Warsh is known for his pro-Bitcoin and anti-government statements in the past.
That’s all for this month folks.
If you have any questions about Bitcoin, the impending conversion of Bitcoin as the world reserve currency, or simply want to chat, let me!
Thanks,
Lucas Bazemore
