The 27-year-old Ethereum co-creator told CNN Business in an exclusive interview Tuesday morning that he believes cryptocurrencies are a bubble that could burst at any moment. “It could have ended already,” Buterin said. "It could be over in a few months."

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/20/investing/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-billionaire/index.html

The American division of the environmental organization Greenpeace will refuse payments in bitcoin. Representatives of the organization stated this in an interview with The Financial Times. "The [bitcoin payments] policy ceased to be viable when the amount of energy required to operate it became clear," the organization said.

This rats smell the end.

Iran follows China

The Iranian authorities have banned the mining of cryptocurrencies in the country until September 22. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced this on Iranian television.

According to the head of state, about 85% of miners operate in Iran without a license. The ban on the mining of digital assets was passed due to the peak seasons of the load on the electrical grids. Several major cities have experienced power outages amid rising electricity consumption and drought.

Another bad week for Bitcoin could be a precursor of more pain to come.

Further weakness in its price may bring the $20,000 zone into view as a downside target, according to Oanda Corp., Evercore ISI and Tallbacken Capital Advisors LLC. Bitcoin has dropped about 7% this week and was trading at about $34,200 as of 10:16 a.m. in London.

The largest cryptocurrency is “dangerously approaching the $30,000 level” amid growing regulatory fears in the U.S., and “a break of $30,000 could see a tremendous amount of momentum selling,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst with Oanda Corp.

It is struggle of two parties now, one want to keep Bitcoin around $35-45 and another want to make full scale crash with price as low as 4-5 thousands.

On Friday, regulators in China's Sichuan province, which was the last to defend against the central government's policy of curtailing cryptocurrency mining in the country, issued an order to “clean up and shut down” mining companies. Against this background, the cost of bitcoin sank by 5% Thus, there will soon be no legal miners in China, and a place for this business will be freed up in other countries.

As far as I hear US now do everything to keep Bitcoin afloat, including direct payments to big miners pools to keep them working.

UK news

Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, was banned on Sunday from any regulated activities in the UK when Britain's financial watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority imposed stringent requirements against Binance, a sprawling digital asset firm with subsidiaries around the world. The exchange has until Wednesday evening to confirm it has complied with the watchdog’s demands, including removing all advertising and financial promotions, according to the FCA’s register.

Binance must also make clear on its website, social media channels and all other communications that it is no longer permitted to operate in the U.K.

In May, China completely banned financial institutions and payment services from providing any services related to cryptocurrencies. In June, there were mass arrests of people suspected of using cryptocurrencies for criminal purposes. In the same month, local regulators increased pressure on banks and payment systems by banning any services related to cryptocurrencies, and Weibo blocked accounts in one way or another related to cryptoassets. As of July, half of the world's bitcoin mining companies have simply disappeared.

The People's Bank of China announced the closure of a company that develops software services for virtual currency transactions. Additionally, the PRC Central Bank warned other businesses against any assistance to such organizations, including the provision of premises or marketing services.

Seems to be working good.

Anhui, a small province in eastern China, was the last region in the country to announce a complete ban on cryptocurrency mining. The provincial authorities explained their decision by an acute shortage of electricity.

The province will close all crypto mining projects as part of measures aimed at reducing electricity consumption, as the province is facing a "serious" shortage.

In 2024, the demand for electricity in Anhui will grow to 73.14 million kWh, but at the moment the province can provide only 48.4 million kWh, which promises a "relatively large gap" and major problems with the supply of electricity in the future. In addition to eliminating cryptocurrency mining, Anhui also plans to reform electricity pricing to make it more economical.

Energy issues in China will be severe.

According to researchers, from September 2019 to April 2021, China's share in global bitcoin mining fell from 75.5% to 46%. At the same time, the changes were recorded before the country's authorities began to increase pressure on the cryptocurrency industry, so by today, China should account for an even smaller share.

At the same time, mining costs have increased in a number of other countries. The share of the United States increased 4 times (from 4.1% to 16.8%), and Kazakhstan's - six times (from 1.4% to 8.2%). The fourth and fifth places in the world ranking of countries for the extraction of bitcoins were taken by Russia and Iran, respectively.

Countries must follow China and match their measures.

Amazon has denied a report that claimed it plans to start accepting Bitcoin as payment before the end of the year.

“Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true. We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon.”

The denial came after London-based financial paper City AM reported on a specific series of plans sourced from a company insider.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-cryptocurrency/amazon-denies-report-of-accepting-bitcoin-as-payment-idUSKBN2EW2HT

11 bloggers interviewed by CNBC said they are posting educational videos about cryptocurrency on TikTok, but the service removes them without explanation. Some of the users interviewed reported that their accounts were periodically suspended. Most state that they are not paid to promote any cryptocurrency content on the platform. In addition, the number of their followers has dropped since July.

It is informational war now also.

Since May it become 100% clear that US and UK are standing behind new crypto scam.

China expanded its escalating crackdown on cryptocurrencies on Friday when its central bank declared that all activities related to digital coins are “illegal” and must be banned.

In a statement the People’s Bank of China said the latest notice was to further prevent the risks surrounding crypto trading and to maintain national security and social stability.

http://www.pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/113456/113469/4348521/index.html