President Bukele’s appearance at the closing event of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Week 2021 brought about not one, but two surprises. Following his announcement of Bitcoin City, the President invited Samson Mow on stage to introduce the El Salvador Bitcoin Bond aka “EBB1” or “Volcano Bond.” Bitcoin Bond Specifications El Salvador will seek to raise $1 billion via the issuance of EBB1 with more bonds planned in the future. The proceeds will be used to buy $500 million worth of bitcoin with the other

In June 2018 the House Ethics Committee passed new rules requiring members to disclose their ownership of crypto asset holdings worth more than $1,000 in annual reports, giving them the same treatment as any other asset. While the financial filings for Representatives, Senators, and Executive Branch Officials are all available online, actually combing through the assets reported takes a fair amount of manual labor. I haven’t the time to search through the disclosures of all 535 Congressional me

An official from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced that the institution plans to develop a prototype of a digital ruble and test it by the end of 2022. Russian news outlet Prime reported on March 10 that Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Alexei Zabotkin announced at a meeting organized by local economics university Rossiyskaya Ekonomicheskaya Shkola that the Bank of Russia is working on its central bank digital currency (CBDC). He said: By the end of the year, hopefully, w

It’s not hard to come to the conclusion that Bitcoin and gaming are a match made in heaven: digital money meets digital reality, with the native currency of the internet potentially enabling open virtual economies that transcend single game universes and link to the gigantic monetary cosmos that is the Bitcoin network. And the idea offers a welcome break from the usual narrative surrounding Bitcoin’s disruption of legacy financial markets, which–while very much its core value proposition—might

It's closing time for ROOM77; the self-avowed "restaurant at the end of capitalism." The Berlin-based cypherpunk watering hole is among the first-ever bars to embrace Bitcoin - not just as a means of payments, but as a concept too. The news was broken by Bitcoin activist, economist, and ROOM77 owner Joerg Platzer over the weekend. "ROOM77 is closing for good. We think our mission is accomplished, and it is time to go back to our home planet. Thanks for all the fish and the generous tips!" Plat

On June 30th, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released the outcomes of the June FATF Plenary, a report that concluded a 12-month review of cryptocurrency businesses as they prepare for the Travel Rule and its extended information sharing requirements. The result back then: the FATF would extend the preparation period by another 12 months, allowing the industry more time to become compliant with the Travel Rule and avoid penalties. The year-long extension did not come as a surprise: “I e

Throughout the history of Bitcoin, games have played a recurring role in the leading cryptocurrency’s adoption. Online dice-based betting game Satoshi Dice was one of the earliest and most popular game applications that gained traction in the Bitcoin space. Just three weeks after its official launch on bitcointalk.org in April 2012, Satoshi Dice all but singlehandedly facilitated an all-time high in Bitcoin transactions. Satoshi’s Place played a similar role for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network in 2

Long gone are the days that Bitcoin was an asset almost solely used by niche tech-savvy communities. Now, after more than a decade of parabolic growth, Bitcoin has gone mainstream, regularly gracing the front pages of mainstream media outlets like Bloomberg and CNBC. With Bitcoin reaching mainstream recognition, it's no surprise celebrities are getting involved. Here are seven celebrities — in sports, technology, and Hollywood —that you may not have known are strongly interested in Bitcoin. T