Cryptocurrencies depreciate rapidly

The crypto-asset market has plunged amid a wider global sell-off of growth and technology assets. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at its lowest level since July 2020 and is down around 50%. compared to the all-time high (ATH) of $ 69 in November 000. The world's largest cryptocurrency started the week above $ 2021, but began to plunge sharply on Thursday as bond yields in major economies rose. Currently, its price is just below the level of $ 42.

Ether is now trading at similar levels to July 2020 and has lost around 50%. its value since November ATH. This cryptocurrency started the week above $ 3, but has now dropped to just under $ 200.

Fed introduces CBDC review

The United States Federal Reserve (Fed) has started a review of the Central Bank's Potential Digital Currency (CBDC). Fed released dokumentwhich presents the advantages and disadvantages of a potential CBDC in the USA. Currently, this institution is asking respondents to comment on how CBDC can improve US domestic payment systems.

Fed chairman Jerome Powell said:

"We look forward to engaging the public, elected representatives and a broad range of stakeholders as we explore the positives and negatives of the central bank's digital currency in the United States."

The Fed wants to look at key issues such as preserving monetary and financial stability in the digital system, how to complement existing payment systems and citizens' privacy, while retaining the ability to oversee illegal financial activities.

This announcement is an important step as the United States is the largest economy in the world that would have the potential to transform global finance with the adoption of CBDC. However, it lags behind other nations in digital currencies research, planning and implementation.

Twitter launches profile pictures in NFT format

Twitter launched profile pictures NFT for its users. Anyone who has a profile picture in NFT format will be immediately visible as the photo frame will be hexagonal instead of the typical circular profile picture. The NFT Twitter launch will support crypto wallets including Argent, Coinbase Wallet, Ledger Live, MetaMask, Rainbow, and Trust Wallet.

To take advantage of this feature, users will need to be on an iOS phone and sign up for a $ 2,99 Twitter Blue subscription. Twitter Blue offers premium features to customers, including NFT and more, such as unpublishing tweets. The premium subscription is still rolling out and is currently only available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Intel is betting on mining BTC

Intel intends to present a bitcoin mining chip. The so-called 'Bonanza Mine' chip will be unveiled at the International Semiconductor Circuits Conference (ISSCC) starting February 20. However, the announcement does not mean that Intel will start mining BTC itself - instead it intends to produce technology that facilitates mining.

Currently, the company's biggest rival in this market is Bitmain. There is a need for bitcoin mining chips as regular graphics processing units (GPUs) are not designed to solve complex hashes and as such they mine BTC very inefficiently, both in terms of time and energy used.