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Drake bets over $1M in Bitcoin on Super Bowl LVIII

Drake, true to form, is making a spectacular sports bet on the heels of tonight’s (February 11) Super Bowl.

The Canadian music superstar is placing $1,150,000 on the Kansas City Chiefs, in Bitcoin no less, arguing that he simply can’t “bet against the Swifties”.

Drake is of course referring to his musical counterpart Taylor Swift, who has been dating Chiefs star Travis Kelce for some time.

Drake is therefore picking Taylor and the Chiefs to win Super Bowl LVIII, a bet that would pay just over 2.3 million, again in Bitcoin, should he win.

So, are you Team Chiefs/Drake/Taylor, or would you like to see the San Francisco 49ers crush all those fine hopes?

After all, Drake is known for his Drake curse in the sports world… but more on that later!

Happy Super Bowl!

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Bitcoin price plummet saw drop in power consumption

Source: Shutterstock

The recent price drop for Bitcoin has significantly cut the massive amount of electricity used by crypto mining operations.

According to estimated annualized electricity use from digital currency economist Alex de Vries (via The Verge), Bitcoin’s annualized energy consumption fell from about 204 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year on June 11th to around 132 TWh on June 23rd. Although it looks like a massive drop, it’s worth noting that 132 TWh is still extremely high — it’s about equivalent to the amount of electricity used by Argentina in a single year.

Bitcoin’s mining process for getting new tokens is one of the main drivers behind its high energy consumption. Bitcoin miners earn new tokens by validating transactions — the process, dubbed ‘proof of work,’ relies on solving complex puzzles with computers. Those computers need a lot of power, leading to massive energy consumption.

The Verge details that Bitcoin’s energy use is tied to its value. When the crypto is worth more, there’s incentive for miners to ramp up operations. The flip side is that when Bitcoin is too low, there’s a break-over point where mining will lose money in electricity costs. That cost appears to be $25,200 USD (about $32,557 CAD).

According to de Vries’ research, Bitcoin at $25,200 USD can sustain mining operations that use about 180 TWh annually. However, Bitcoin’s value has sat around $24,000 USD (about $31,007 CAD) since June 13th. de Vries told The Verge that that price level makes it more challenging for miners, noting that it will go beyond limiting growth options to actually “impacting their day-to-day operations.”

Of course, Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency using proof of work. Ethereum, one of the other popular coins, uses that process as well (although there are plans to change it to a less energy-intensive process). Still, while major currencies remain energy-intensive, concerns about electricity use and climate impacts will continue.

Header image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Verge, (2), Digiconomist

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Amazon is ‘not close to adding crypto as a payment method’

Nov 22, 2019 Palo Alto / CA / USA – Close up of Amazon logo and Smile symbol at one of their corporate offices located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco bay area

After rumours circulated suggesting Amazon might add cryptocurrency as a payment option to its e-commerce platform, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has quickly shut the rumours down.

In an interview with CNBC, Jassy said the e-commerce giant is not close to adding cryptocurrency as a payment option, though he believes in the asset class’ future, and that cryptocurrencies will “become bigger in the longer term.” In addition to digital currencies, Jassy also commented on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), saying that it might be possible to sell NFTs on Amazon one day, and that the digital asset class that is currently plagued by scammers will “continue to grow significantly.”

Regardless, people can still shop off Amazon and pay with crypto — though not directly. Third-party websites like purse.io allow you to shop off Amazon’s extensive catalogue and pay with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Zcash.

A lot of big companies have either started accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method, while others have integrated the digital assets in some capacity.

For example, eBay allowed listings of NFTs on its platform as ‘Digital Collectibles,’ with the possibility that it will start accepting crypto as a payment method in the future. Twitter, on the other hand, allows its users to tip their favourite creators with Bitcoin, whereas Meta CEO Zuckerberg said last month that NFTs will arrive on Instagram ‘in the near term.’

Source: CNBC 

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Drake uses Bitcoin for his million dollar Super Bowl bets

In a fun twist, Canadian superstar Drake has made a million-dollar Super Bowl bet with Bitcoin.

A report from the Toronto Star mentions that Drake placed a series of bets totalling $1.6 million CAD, with the largest backing the L.A. Rams to win the big game.

This is part of a wider push amongst top athletes and celebrities lately for digital currencies. Even L.A. Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr asked the NFL to pay out his salary in Bitcoin last November.

Beckham Jr even commented on an Instagram post from Drake showing off his crypto-based bets, saying, “It’s time.”

While more celebrities are stepping into the new world of cryptocurrency, I would be hesitant to take this as a form of legitimization for digital money.

One of the reasons people like Bitcoin is that, unlike a normal currency, it can spike and grow relatively quickly over time. However, this also means it can deflate just as quickly. It’s kind of like investing in stocks rather than exchanging money from one currency to another.

Additionally, some users like being able to remove their wealth from a major currency that’s tied to a government. Others like its growth as a possible hedge against rising inflation. However, there are even arguments against that. There are pros and cons all over the crypto conversation. You can read a little more about them here.

Overall, this means it’s easy for multi-millionaire Drake to take that risk with a million-dollar crypto bet, but it might not be as savvy for everyone.

Source: Toronto Star, Mint, TechCrunch

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Hamilton teen charged in $46 million crypto theft

An arrest has been made in a $46 million crypto theft that occurred back in March of 2020. The accused? A teenager from Hamilton, Ontario.

The investigation, which involved the FBI, the United States Secret Service and Hamilton Police, found that the victim was targeted by a SIM swap attack, where the accused manipulated cellular network providers to intercept two-factor authorization requests.

According to Hamilton Police, “This is currently the biggest cryptocurrency theft reported from one person.” Further, investigators stated that the accused was apprehended after part of the digital currency was used to acquire a rare username in a gaming community. ‘Gamer42069?’ We don’t know. The feds didn’t release the username information.

The accused is charged with theft over $5,000 and possession of property (the rare username) obtained fraudulently.

Via: CTV News

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You can now ‘Tip’ using Bitcoin on Twitter, NFT ‘blue check’ in the works

Image source: Twitter press kit

Great news, crypto-enthusiasts: Twitter is expanding its “Tips” payment options to include Bitcoin, and is working on a new authentication system so users can show off their NFTs.

In a press release, the social media platform announced that as part of the global roll-out of its tipping feature, it was also expanding the list of third-party payment services users could tip through.

Notably, this list now includes Strike, a free application that lets people send and receive Bitcoin.

Twitter also teased an in-development NFT authentication system, which would let users connect crypto-wallets to Twitter accounts to track and display their NFTs.

Authenticated users would receive a visual symbol on their profile, which the company says could potentially be a badge — similar to Twitter’s iconic blue checkmark — or even a different avatar shape.

Twitter’s turn toward cryptocurrency is both unsurprising — given CEO Jack Dorsey’s personal investments and very public fascination with the stuff — and a stark reversal of its previous stance, such as its 2017 decision to ban cryptocurrency ads on the platform.

First announced in May 2021, the ‘Tips’ feature was previously only made available to English-language Twitter users.

However, despite today’s global roll-out, tipping is still only available on iOS, with Android compatibility reportedly coming soon.

‘Tips’ is one of several strategies from Twitter that aims to, in its own words, “turn followers into fans, and fans into funds.”

The funds are meant to support the platform’s “creators,” who Twitter defines as “people who are driving conversations and want to make a living on social media.”

Other recently announced monetization features include ‘Super Follows‘ and ‘Ticketed Spaces‘.

Image credit: Twitter

Source: Twitter