Jack Dorsey's first ever tweet sells for $2.9m. Bitcoin surges past $60,000 for first time. What are NFTs and why are some worth millions? NFT blockchain drives surge in digital art auctions. How Bitcoin's vast energy use could burst its bubble. Bill Gates: Bitcoin not for me, says ex-Microsoft chief. Elon Musk wants clean power. But Tesla's carrying bitcoin's dirty baggage. Bitcoin: Elon Musk loses world's richest title as Tesla falters. Bitcoin keeps hitting new highs after Tesla backing. Tech Tent - Bitcoin’s energy cost - BBC Sounds. How Many Bitcoins Are There? How Many Left to Mine? (2021) All data/stats on this page are real-time.
How Many Bitcoins Are There Now in Circulation? There are currently 18,625,137.5 bitcoins in existence. This number changes about every 10 minutes when new blocks are mined. Right now, each new block adds 6.25 bitcoins into circulation. BTC issuance, percent annualized How Many Bitcoins Will Ever be Created? The maximum and total amount of bitcoins that can ever exist is 21 million. How Many Bitcoins Are Left to Be Mined? There are 2,374,862.5 bitcoins left to be mined. Bitcoin consumes 'more electricity than Argentina'
Elon Musk's Tesla buys $1.5bn of Bitcoin causing currency to spike. Man has two guesses to unlock bitcoin worth $240m. Bitcoin tops $34,000 as record rally continues. Crypto-currency firm Ripple charged by US watchdog. Bitcoin hits all-time high rising above $20,000. Bitcoin peaks at record high close to $20,000. Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin hits three-year high as investors jump in. Bitcoin: $1bn seized from Silk Road account by US government. Bitcoin: $1bn address with Silk Road links 'being transferred' PayPal allows Bitcoin and crypto spending. Bitcoin 'halving': What does the much-hyped event mean? Image copyright Getty Images Bitcoin has just gone through a much-hyped adjustment that reduced the rate at which new coins are created.
The world's biggest cryptocurrency's so-called "halving" happens roughly every four years. The digital currency relies on what are known as "miners", who run software that races to solve complex maths puzzles in return for Bitcoins. Monday's halving event means that the reward for unlocking a "block" has been cut from 12.5 new coins to 6.25. Halving was written into the cryptocurrency's code by its creator, who is known as Satoshi Nakamoto, to control inflation. Facebook 'rethinks' plans for Libra cryptocurrency. Image copyright Getty Images Facebook is reportedly rethinking its plans for its own digital currency after resistance from regulators.
It is now considering a system with digital versions of established currencies, including the dollar and the Euro, according to Bloomberg and tech site The Information. The Libra Association, which Facebook founded to create the currency, will continue its work, the reports said. The plan will include Libra, the company said in response. The social network's digital wallet is now expected to launch this autumn, several months later than initially planned, according to the reports. Blockchain: The revolution that hasn't quite happened. Image copyright Getty Images Imagine you are out shopping and get to the till but your card doesn't work.
It turns out that your bank has had a computer meltdown and none of its customers, including you, can pay for anything. But what if the till had access to a record, or ledger, of the balance on your credit and debit cards that was updated anytime you bought something? Even with the bank's systems down your card would still work at the supermarket, because the till itself would know your balance. That is just one possibility offered by a distributed ledger, also referred to as a blockchain. Bitcoin: Should cryptocurrency owners make a will? "I'm not thinking of dying at this age, but I think just making that as easy as possible for everyone is crucial.
" Jack Davies, 23, from Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, wants to make sure the cryptocurrency he and his family own is accessible in the event any of them pass away. And with good reason. Research estimates up to 3.8 million Bitcoin, worth up to $30bn (£22.8bn) today, has been lost, with much having gone to the grave with holders who failed to tell anyone how to retrieve it.
Hunting the missing millions from collapsed cryptocurrency. Image copyright Tatiana Ospennikova A Russian computer programmer involved in the collapse of a big cryptocurrency exchange says he was tricked into handing over its entire assets to fraudsters posing as FSB agents, according to documents obtained by BBC Russian.
Alexei Bilyuchenko was a key player in Wex, which stopped trading in 2018, leaving customers unable to access investments totalling nearly half a billion US dollars. BBC Russian has spent months investigating the murky world of Russian cryptocurrency trading, trying to find out what happened to the money. It's a story worthy of the BBC TV drama McMafia, involving an unlikely cast of characters from computer geeks and FBI agents, to a billionaire oligarch with ties to the war in Ukraine. Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished. Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen.
She told people she had invented a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. Then, two years ago, she disappeared. Jamie Bartlett spent months investigating how she did it for the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, and trying to figure out where she's hiding. In early June 2016 a 36-year-old businesswoman called Dr Ruja Ignatova walked on stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of adoring fans. She was dressed, as usual, in an expensive ballgown, wearing long diamond earrings and bright red lipstick.
OneCoin lawyer found guilty in 'crypto-scam' Image copyright YouTube A US lawyer has been found guilty for his role in the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, which raised billions of pounds from investors convinced they were buying into a new digital currency.
A New York jury found that Mark Scott helped to perpetrate the scheme, routing approximately $400m (£310m) out of the US while working to conceal the true ownership and source of the funds. Prosecutors said he made about $50m. Mr Scott's lawyers had said he did not know that OneCoin was worthless. They said he was simply doing the job asked by Dr Ruja Ignatova, a co-founder of the Bulgaria-based OneCoin. China central bank official says commercial banks should step up blockchain application. Facebook's Zuckerberg grilled over Libra currency plan. Image copyright Getty Images US lawmakers have sharply criticised Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg about the firm's policy not to fact check political ads.
In a hearing in Washington, the social network chief was accused of letting political disinformation spread ahead of the 2020 US presidential election. He also was unable to confirm if hate speech from candidates running for office would be taken off the platform. But he did say it was not his job to police what politicians said. The tech boss was appearing before the House Financial Services Committee to defend plans for his embattled digital currency Libra. But he found himself under attack over host of other issues, including failing to stop child exploitation on the social network and the Cambridge Analytic data scandal. Facebook's digital currency dealt another blow. Image copyright Getty Images Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency must not go ahead until the firm proves it is safe and secure, according to a report by the G7 group seen by the BBC.
In a blow to the social media giant, the world's biggest economies warned cryptocurrencies such as Libra pose a risk to the global financial system. The draft report outlines nine major risks posed by such digital currencies. Payments giants abandon Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency. Image copyright Getty Images Mastercard, Visa, eBay and payments firm Stripe have pulled out of Facebook’s embattled cryptocurrency project, Libra. Their move, first reported in the Financial Times, follows the withdrawal of PayPal, announced last week. It represents a huge blow to the social network’s plans to launch what it envisions as a global currency. The project has drawn heavy scrutiny from regulators and politicians, particularly in the US. Senators Warn Visa About 'Risks' of Facebook Cryptocurrency. PayPal drops out of Facebook's Libra digital currency project. Mystery of the disappearing 'Cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova.
Image copyright YouTube If ever an industry needed a PR makeover, it's the world of cryptocurrencies. It seems every week brings evidence of scams and fraud, from the hacking of exchanges to Initial Coin Offerings where the founder disappears with the money. Just on Monday, America's Securities and Exchange Commission charged the founder of an online adult entertainment marketplace with running a fraudulent ICO (Initial Coin Offering). But that case involved tens of thousands of dollars - a mere bagatelle compared to the monster cryptocurrency scam whose story is being told in an enthralling BBC podcast.
In The Missing Cryptoqueen, Jamie Bartlett investigates the woman behind OneCoin, a scheme which managed to persuade investors around the world to part with as much as £4bn ($4.9bn) They had bought into the compelling vision of a new kind of money sold by Dr Ruja Ignatova, in a series of events in countries around the world. Facebook's Libra should be blocked in Europe, France says. Image copyright Getty Images. China’s digital currency will most likely be a two-tiered system. A new research report from crypto exchange Binance says China’s digital currency will most likely be a two-tiered system replacing notes and coins in circulation. The report, issued yesterday, claims the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) central bank digital currency (CBDC) will be backed 1:1 by renminbi fiat as well as follow a two-tiered structured system with the bank, commercial banks, and retail market participants.
The first tier will connect the PBOC with commercial banks for currency issuance and redemption. The second layer will connect those commercial banks with the greater retail market. Facebook's Libra reportedly losing support from early investors. 'How I lost £25,000 when my cryptocurrency was stolen' Image copyright Dan Taylor Photography It's bad enough realising that somebody's nicked £25,000 of your hard-earned cash. It's even worse when you realise there's little chance of getting it back. This is the story of how I got my fingers burned in the murky of world of cryptocurrency investment. Be warned. After a decade as a tech journalist, I liked to describe myself as a "lunchtime-adopter", somebody who acted faster than many, but would never be as smart as the early adopters. So it was with cryptocurrencies. As for investing or speculating, I had absolutely no intention of doing so.
But as the Bitcoin price made its merry way to a peak of nearly $20,000 (£16,500) at the end of 2017 - a rise of more than 100,000% in seven years - my curiosity got the better of me. Amazon Web Services BrandVoice: Investing In A Blockchain Future At Singapore Exchange. 10 million investors scammed of $3 billion. Amid a downturn in the cryptocurrency markets, the apparent swathe of Bitcoin sell-offs from a $3 billion Chinese Ponzi scheme could be to blame. On Aug. 14, Dovey Wan — founding partner of blockchain-based investment company Primitive Ventures — called attention to the ongoing mass sell-offs from the fraudulent Chinese investment scheme, dubbed PlusToken. 10 million investors scammed of $3 billion As Wan outlines, PlusToken was created in mid-2018 and promised high yield investment returns at different rebate percentages to its four tiers of member — a classic Ponzi scheme structure.
By early 2019, the project claimed to have over 10 million members. Libra: Could Facebook’s new currency be stopped in its tracks? Walmart crypto coin patent could be a back door to banking. Facebook won't rule out digital currency launch without US approval. Image copyright Getty Images Facebook is facing immense pressure from US regulators over its plans to launch a digital currency, Libra, in association with more than 20 partners including Visa, MasterCard and Uber. As well as co-creating the Libra currency, Facebook plans, on its own, to offer its own digital wallet, called Calibra. Like a physical wallet with cash, Calibra will store a users’ Libra, and make it possible to engage in transactions with other wallets.
Libra has the potential, lawmakers say, to dramatically disrupt the global banking industry - a digital currency that can cross borders, without the wild price fluctuations and illegal connotations of Bitcoin and its ilk. Facebook Libra's Biggest Challenge May Be FB Reputation. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg. Crypto for care homes - one bad idea. Image copyright Getty Images Back in April, I wrote about an unusual scheme that saw a care home organisation create its own crypto-currency. Carlauren Care wanted residents and investors to use the currency to buy rooms in its upscale homes and what it called care "resorts. " The owner, Sean Murray, told me there was a unique feature to his Carlauren Coins, priced at £70 apiece - the company would buy them back any time at £63, meaning there were none of the risks associated with wildly volatile crypto-currencies. Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency attacked at Senate hearing.
Bitcoin's energy consumption 'equals that of Switzerland' Image copyright University of Cambridge Bitcoin uses as much energy as the whole of Switzerland, a new online tool from the University of Cambridge shows. 'Dr Doom' economist Nouriel Roubini in Bitcoin battle. Image copyright EPA Outspoken economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed Dr Doom for his gloomy warnings, has caused a stir with his latest attack on Bitcoin and its fellow cryptocurrencies. Prof Roubini, who foresaw the financial crisis, says Bitcoin is "overhyped". At a summit in Taiwan on Tuesday, he likened it to a "cesspool". But his sparring partner at the event, who runs a cryptocurrency exchange, has angered the professor by blocking the release of video of the event.
Iran seizes 1,000 Bitcoin mining machines after power spike. Libra 101: All You Need to Know about the Cryptocurrency - Market Realist. Moore Madness: Trump Fed Pick Creates Insane Bitcoin Central Bank. How to make money off Facebook’s Libra. Binance exchange hackers steal bitcoins worth $41m. Bitcoin mining ban considered by China's economic planner. Crypto for care homes - really? Blockchain Technology Series: Enterprise Guideline for Blockchain Adoption - Understanding the technology landscape and Design Choice Framework (DCF) Mystery as Quadriga crypto-cash goes missing. JP Morgan creates first US bank-backed crypto-currency.
Quadriga: Cryptocurrency exchange founder's death locks $140m. Bitcoin prices continue their epic plunge.