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The worlds second-most prominent crypto on Friday touched a fresh record above $2,100.

Ether ETHUSD, -3.78%, running atop the ethereum blockchain, were recently up 6% at around $2,087 after touching an all-time high at $2,105.68 Friday, according to CoinDesk. That is handily above its Feb. 20 record at $2,036.55 put.

Gains for the crypto, which is known for its ability to allow smart contracts to be coded into the ethereum protocol, comes as Visa Inc. V, +2.42% has become the first major payment platform to use USD Coin, a stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar, to settle crypto transactions over the ethereum blockchain.

Visa users will be able to exchange USD Coin over the credit cards payment network to clear transactions made in fiat currency, a move that is viewed as bridging the gap between traditional currencies and crypto.

The move by the payment processor highlights growing use of decentralized finance applications, largely operating within the ethereum network, to create new, blockchain-related applications that take advantage of smart contracts.

Decentralized finance networks, or DeFi, enable users to conduct transactions without an intermediary and have widely been considered one of the most significant appeals of cryptographic assets.

Over the last year, more than $45 billion worth of user funds have been locked into Ethereum-based applications that fall under this new DeFi category, which seeks to recreate traditional financial products in decentralized ways, wrote Sergey Nazarov, the co-Founder of Chainlink, a gateway network that allows smart contracts to access real-time data outside their network.

The promise for the utility of smart contracts and DeFi have supported the view held by some that ethereum could one day rival bitcoin prices.

Basically, theres a decentralized Wall Street blooming on top of ethereum thats currently growing faster than any other sector in the entire cryptocurrency industry, and it all requires ETH to function, likely explaining a good portion of the increased attention on the asset, Nazarov said.

Meanwhile, bitcoin prices BTCUSD, -2.68% were seeing muted trade, changing hands at around $58,000, beneath its all-time high at $61,556.59, according to CoinDesk.

Optimism around bitcoin and the broader crypto sector has been centered on increased institutional adoption of digital assets as alternatives to gold and other commodities.

On top of that, a report late this week points to an initial public offering of Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, +3.70%, which plans to go public on April 14 under the ticker symbol Coin via a direct listing on the Nasdaq Inc. NDAQ, +2.30%

Coinbase founded in 2012 provides crypto trading services for institutional and retail clients and is considered the largest digital exchange platform in the U.S.

Ether has gained 180% so far in 2021, far outstripping bitcoin, up 105%, over the same period. By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.52% is up over 8%, the S&P 500 index SPX, +1.18% has climbed 7% so far this year, while gold futures GC00, +0.86% are down nearly 9% in the year to date.

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Ether, the No. 2 crypto, hit a record above $2,100 as bitcoin trades near $60,000 on Good Friday - MarketWatch

Bitcoin mining now demands more computational power than ever before, with mining difficulty on the network reaching an all-time high after the most recent recalibration.

Mining difficulty, which ebbs and flows in line with shifts in the total hashrate, has now increased to 23.1 trillion, a sizable jump of circa 6%.

This is the second largest increase in difficulty since the turn of the year, and the fifth time mining difficulty has increased in the last six recalibration periods.

To the uninitiated, increasing the difficulty of mining Bitcoin might sound counterproductive, but the mechanism plays an important role in regulating the network, ensuring that blocks are processed at a stable rate and making the network more resilient to attack.

Mining difficulty is automatically recalibrated after every 2016 blocks processed, which occurs roughly every two weeks. The consistency with which mining difficulty has increased this year is a reflection of the current ferocity of competition among miners.

With the surge in the price of Bitcoin in recent months has also come a new enthusiasm for mining, which is now more lucrative than ever. In March, Bitcoin miners took in a record $1.5 billion in revenue, a 373% increase on September last year, before the start of the rally.

As mining operations scale up, in an effort to capitalize on the increase in the value of Bitcoin, the mining difficulty rises in tandem.

According to Whit Gibbs, CEO at mining firm Compass, the significant rise in mining difficulty can be attributed to the large number of new ASIC machines coming online as supply chain issues are resolved.

Todays moderately large difficulty increase is not surprising, and I expect its only a taste of what will come later in this year and into 2022, as deployed machine shipments start arriving and being deployed, he said.

The pending flood of hashrate about to enter the market will only continue pushing Bitcoins mining difficulty higher, which should track with Bitcoins price.

While the prospect of yet further growth in the price of Bitcoin will have many people licking their lips, an increase in mining difficulty will do nothing to alleviate concerns about the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining. With more computational power required to compete for cryptocurrency rewards, yet more energy will need to be funnelled into the network, which already uses up more power than the country of Sweden.

Via CoinDesk

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Bitcoin mining to become even more difficult as powerful new hardware joins the party - TechRadar

The leading digital asset bitcoin was mentioned on the action drama television show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The reference to bitcoin was caught by a Redditor while he was watching the most recent episode. Its not the first time bitcoin has been mentioned on television and surely wont be the last.

On Friday, a member of the Reddit forum r/bitcoin posted a screenshot of a message inside the TV show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The show stems from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is streamed on the Disney+ platform. The picture the Redditor shared was for a BTC bounty and it said: Selby dead. 1K BOUNTY for her killers.

Bitcoin.com readers can check out the reference in episode three dubbed the Power Broker. At the time of publication, a 1,000 BTC bounty would be close to $60 million U.S. dollars.

The Redditor said he thought it was cool, but it was a lot cooler when BTC was mentioned on TV years ago. He said:

Was watching the most recent episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. Noticed this text message inside the TV show. Thought it was cool, figured Id share. Mind you this was a lot cooler like [five] years ago, back when I got into the bitcoin space, but still nice to see were making headway into cultural touchstones.

Of course, many bitcoiners know that BTC has been mentioned on TV many times in the past. Just recently, the television show Shameless referenced bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). BTCs first TV mention was on the episode of The Good Wife back in 2012 and Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons mentioned BTC the following year. On December 12, 2013, the now-deceased Alex Trebek used the digital asset in Jeopardy season 30.

Trebek stated:

A digital currency in which transactions can be performed without the need for a central bank.

Of course, the question was What is bitcoin, and the digital asset has continued to be named on popular television shows. BTC has appeared on shows like Morgan Spurlock Inside Man, Navy CIS LA, Almost Human, House of Cards, Mr. Robot, and more. Just Paypal me some bitcoins, they said on the well-known broadcast Parks and Recreation back in 2014.

What do you think about bitcoin being referenced on the Marvel Cinematic Universe show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Reddit user u/Okitraz1986

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Bitcoin Bounty Referenced on an Episode of Marvel's 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' Featured Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

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Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) has been one of the single biggest winners of the past year. Incredibly, over the past 12 months, MARA stock is up more than 12,000%. Some of that is due to how low shares plunged during March of 2020, of course. But the run has been incredible regardless. As recently as November, MARA stock sold for $2. Now its in the high $40s. Source: Shutterstock The reason for the recovery is pretty clear: Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) is back. Last year, cryptos star had dimmed a bit. But now, with aggressive central bank actions to bolster the economy, traders fear inflation and are buying assets such as Bitcoin as hedges. Marathon Digital, a Bitcoin mining company, has naturally benefitted from the abrupt change in sentiment. However, speculators have gotten ahead of themselves in MARA stock. Marathon Is Still a Tiny Operation Judging from the stock price and market capitalization, youd be forgiven for thinking that Marathon Digital is a major force in the crypto world. However, its not.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips In Q4 of 2020, Marathon generated just 157 Bitcoins. Thats not nothing, to be clear, but its also not much in the grand scheme of things. Even at a $50,000 price, thats less than $8 million in revenue if Marathon had sold all the coins into the open market. During that same quarter, in addition to normal operating costs and overhead, Marathon suffered a $1.2 million loss from server depreciation, a $871,000 impairment on mining equipment and a nearly $1 million expense for server maintenance. 7 Cheap Stocks with Growing Tailwinds That gives a sense of how much of the proceeds from mining are consumed just in keeping the computer gear working. All told, Marathon ran up a large operating loss for the quarter. The company is seeking to solve this issue by buying way more mining units and finally achieving real operating scale. Well see if that works in due time, but so far, the business model hasnt proven itself. Dont Forget About Mining Difficulty Bulls can wave away that previous concern. Sure, Marathon isnt generating enough revenues yet. But wont that change once the company gets all its new mining gear set up later this year? Actually, no, not necessarily. One of the issues with Marathon (and other Bitcoin mining stocks) is the matter of mining difficulty. Miners devote computing power to solving cryptographic puzzles. When a mining group succeeds, it gets the prize. As you may know, a certain amount of Bitcoin is generated every day. This figure doesnt change, regardless of how much computing power is devoted to the task. Rather, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to make mining more or less difficult. In Marathons projections, there is a great story. Devote this much more computing power to the situation, and it will earn this much more crypto. However, in the real world, Marathon is not the only economic actor. With the price of Bitcoin up significantly over the past few months, many mining consortiums are devoting more resources to their operations. As everyone scales up their mining capabilities, it will lead to diminishing returns. After all, the speed at which new Bitcoins are minted isnt going to change. If Marathon were the only producer increasing its mining power, itd have a golden opportunity to make a windfall right now. But, instead, it is likely to see its investments offset as other mining groups engage in similar behavior. Trading, Not Mining, Will Drive the Stock Price In Q4, youll recall, Mara generated 157 Bitcoins from mining operations. Thats not enough to move the needle. So, management cleverly came up with a way around that issue. It instead bought a ton of Bitcoins off the open market. Mara issued a bunch of its stock to the public. It then, in turn, used that freshly raised capital to go out and buy 4,813 Bitcoins at an average price of $31,000 each. So far, this is looking like a great move on managements part. Judging from the subsequent Bitcoin price action, the company has a large unrealized gain on that transaction. If Bitcoin keeps rising, MARA stock should go with it. While mining 150 or so Bitcoins a quarter isnt going to do much for shareholders, owning nearly 5,000 Bitcoins in a roaring crypto bull market is another matter entirely. That said, if the vast majority of Marathons value comes from it simply buying Bitcoin on the open market and hoping the price goes up, you have to wonder if its better to own this as opposed to a dedicated Bitcoin fund such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCMKTS:GBTC). GBTC stock gives you exposure to a rise in the price of Bitcoin without having to worry about mining, operating costs, management capital allocation and the rest. MARA Stock Verdict This is a bit of a weird one. Marathons stated business model mining Bitcoins and selling them for a profit so far has failed to work out. However, by buying a ton of Bitcoin and holding it on its balance sheet, it has effectively turned into a speculation on the crypto market more broadly. As long as Bitcoin keeps going up, MARA stock will probably go with it. I personally would rather express that bet with something like GBTC or Bitcoin futures, however. Im skeptical that the mining business will ever make significant money. As such, if you want to bet on a higher Bitcoin price, there are less complicated ways to do that. On the date of publication, Ian Bezek did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Ian Bezek has written more than 1,000 articles for InvestorPlace.com and Seeking Alpha. He also worked as a Junior Analyst for Kerrisdale Capital, a $300 million New York City-based hedge fund. You can reach him on Twitter at @irbezek. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG It doesnt matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next Potential 500% Winner Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2 Says Buy THIS Now The post Marathon Digitals Bitcoin Story Faces Some Serious Questions appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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Bitcoin Decoupled From Stocks in Q1 as Institutional Demand Strengthened: CoinDesk Research - Yahoo Finance

Are people actually able to govern themselves? Well, the likely answer to that question from most people you ask would be a resounding no. After all, most would agree that humans are too blinded by their own self interests to be able to create a peaceful and just society without some form of regulation. As a result of this being the widely-held belief, throughout human history we have organized into institutions that transfer power away from individuals to a central institution in the hopes that it can regulate the problems that arise from self-interested human nature.

These institutions have taken the forms of tribes, monarchies, empires and now nation states, and have been the exclusive holders of sovereignty, or in other words, supreme or ultimate power. Often, in order to gain their sovereignty, the use of force or threat of force is necessary. This is not to say that individuals cannot enjoy individual rights and freedoms under institutions, rather, individual sovereignty transcends such rights as personal property. When an individual has property rights, they have the right to own their property, but when an individual has sovereignty, they have the power and responsibility to fully control their property.

Adopting the Bitcoin standard represents an individuals first step toward achieving personal sovereignty. By making the difficult decision to take their finances into their own hands, they are making the choice of freedom over safety. This is no easy decision to make, since the favorite phrase among Bitcoiners that it allows you to be your own bank turns out to be pretty literal. You are the only one responsible for keeping your bitcoin safe. You are the one for whom, if you are off by a single letter/number when sending bitcoin to an address, those coins are lost forever. You are the one who, if you lose your seed phrase, know that there is no bitcoin customer service agent to help you retrieve it.

Celearly, this is not the easy choice. It is, however, the price associated with freedom. The bitcoin holder now has full control over his or her monetary energy (all money is simply the energy of a unit of value) and the ability to transact with whoever they wish, without permission from any bank or government. Imagine then, that an individual can more than just transact value without permission from outside forces, but also conduct all parts of their daily lives without such pressure. When a person is able to do that, they will become a sovereign individual, and Bitcoin is the first step in making this possible.

Going back to the initial question I asked about whether individuals are capable of governing themselves, Bitcoin may provide a roadmap for changing the answer from a no to a yes. The Bitcoin network is made up of individuals incentivized to be self-interested, and yet even without a central entity in place, the network does not break down. It is a blueprint for how decentralized protocols of the future can build an infrastructure where self-interested individuals can interact with one another, without requiring an outside centralized party to ensure that everything moves smoothly.

Sovereignty, similar to freedom, is not meant to be easy. For that reason, it may be challenging to get the general population on board, since most people still choose the simple over the hard. That being said, with changes in the geopolitical landscape like a shift against civil liberties and the creation of central bank digital currencies that will only serve to cede more control from the individual to the state, the layman's hands may be forced.

Fintech firms like Square and PayPal can provide the bridge between using accounts with legacy financial institutions and becoming a hardcore Bitcoiner running your own node, by introducing hundreds of millions of users to the world of Bitcoin. Sending bitcoin to your friend by simply typing their name into a user-friendly interface rather than a clunky address on a Bitcoin wallet (a feature that Cash App recently introduced) is an easier proposal for newcomers to accept. Needless to say, once these new users go even somewhat down the Bitcoin rabbit hole, they will become just as demanding of liberty as the rest of us Bitcoiners.

Bitcoin unlocks financial sovereignty, but its ideals and technology pave the road for the possibility of a fully-sovereign individual. When the idea of the sovereign individual is realized, gone will be the constraints placed upon citizens by modern nations. Instead, individuals are liberated from the mandate to organize based on arbitrary lines drawn onto a piece of paper and will be free to form communities out of their own volition. This is similar to how people already interact in the digital world. The communities people form on sites like Twitter and Reddit disregard traditional borders and form organically from people searching for like-minded others. Interaction over the internet seeks to be borderless and soon, so too will our interaction in the physical world.

The idea of the sovereign individual is certainly utopian, but so was the Bitcoin future and that now feels all but inevitable. Many Bitcoiners are preparing for a Bitcoin future in which there is little need for nation states, and in this future, they must also be prepared to become sovereign individuals capable of governing themselves.

This is a guest post by Jack Kriesel. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

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Bitcoin Unleashes The Sovereign Individual - Bitcoin Magazine