Bitcoins

Russia considers accepting Bitcoin for oil and gas

Pavel Zavalny says "friendly" countries could be allowed to pay in the crypto-currency or in their local currencies.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he wanted "unfriendly" countries to buy its gas with roubles.

The move is understood to be aimed at boosting the Russian currency, which has lost over 20% in value this year.

Sanctions imposed by the UK, US and the European Union, following the invasion of Ukraine, have put a strain on Russia's rouble and raised its cost of living.

Bitcoin falls below $5,000

The fall brought the total value of all Bitcoin in existence to below $87bn.

On Thursday, 15 November, Bitcoin Cash - an offshoot of Bitcoin - split into two different crypto-currencies, which are now in competition with each other.

And some observers have blamed this for creating turmoil in the crypto-currency markets, with many of the digital assets experiencing falls.

Bitcoin exchange Kraken said in a blog post that it regarded one of the two new Bitcoin Cash crypto-currencies - Bitcoin SV - as "an extremely risky investment".

Vanuatu citizenship office rejects use of bitcoins for citizenship

A short statement from the Government said the Citizenship office has no legal confirmation on the use of bitcoins to secure citizenship.

“The Office of citizenship is giving assurance to all the citizenship designated agents that all payments of fees concerning citizenship is in US dollars. Any other arrangement by any sub-agent will not be considered by the Citizenship Office.

Last week, the Vanuatu Information Office announced that it was the first country to accept bitcoins for citizenship.

Unknown bidder buys 2,700 Bitcoins (worth $1.6 million) at US Government auction

The US government announced at the beginning of this month its plans to auction 2,719 Bitcoins that were seized during several criminal, civil and administrative cases like Silk Road.

The US Marshals confirmed to CoinDesk that four bids were received in the auction that took place between 13:00 and 19:00 UTC on August 22.

The majority of the Bitcoins in the auction were stemmed from investigations of the Silk Road online black marketplace.

Included 2,719 Bitcoins in the auction were:

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Australia to sell £8m of seized bitcoins

The 24,518 bitcoins will be sold mostly in blocks of 2,000 - each with a market value of about £680,000.

Ernst & Young, the firm organising the auction, said the bitcoins had been "confiscated as proceeds of crime" but did not elaborate on the case.

One expert said the authorities had chosen a "safe" time to sell.

Australian newspapers have previously reported that 24,500 bitcoins were seized by police in the state of Victoria in 2013, after a man was arrested for dealing illegal drugs online.