The crypto sector is seeing a boost in the value of mergers and acquisitions, doubling to almost $1.1 billion last year, according to Coindesk. The report says the average deal size went from $19.2 million in 2019 to around $52.7 million in 2020, according to data from PwC.
The report noted there had been a great concentration of activity in Europe and Asia.
In addition, 2021 is also projected to surpass those numbers “from every single metric,” according to Henri Arslanian, PwC’s global crypto leader, Coindesk reports.
Miami Mining
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has his sights set on his city becoming a hub for clean energy bitcoin mining, Coindesk writes. Suarez, speaking with an interviewer, said part of the issue people have with crypto is its “dirty” reputation, as “90 percent” of it is done in “countries that have dirty energy.”
He said his idea was for the city of Miami to become a bitcoin mining hub utilizing the city’s nuclear power capabilities, which he called “a clean energy supply that’s essentially unlimited.” He also said the future could hold solar and hydrogen power as resources.
Bitcoin Scam
A U.K. man, Manchester’s Benjamin Reynolds, will now owe $571 million in the wake of a bitcoin scam, according to a report from The Cryptonomist.
The investigation began in 2019 after a complaint by the U.S. CFTC against U.K.-based Control Finance Limited. That company, led by Reynolds, is alleged to have invited customers to transfer bitcoin with the promise of it reinvesting with experienced traders.
The report says Reynolds collected over 22 million bitcoin this way, and allegedly did not reinvest any of it.
Energy Warning
With bitcoin gaining popularity, financial economist Alex de Vries says it could be perilous for energy consumption, a report from Sci Tech Daily says.
He said the rising bitcoin prices could also make the global shortage of chips and make international safety worse.
“Mining” bitcoin involves receiving cryptocurrency via solving complicated sophisticated mathematical equations. It could lead to new energy costs along with consumption of up to 184 TWh every year, de Vries said, which is close to the amount of energy consumed by all data centers globally.
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