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24% of top 200 cryptocurrencies hit yearly lows amid market correction According to Real Vision analyst Jamie Coutts, 24% of the top 200 cryptocurrencies dropped to their lowest levels in over a year following the Feb. 7 market downturn, the highest rate since Aug. 5, 2024…

Software intelligence firm Microstrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), now rebranded as Strategy, announced on Feb. 18 that it intends to offer $2 billion in convertible senior notes due 2030 in a private offering. The offering, subject to market conditions, will be made to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A of the Securities Act. The company explained: Strategy intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin and for working capital. These 0% interest-bearing notes will be senior, unsecured obligations of Strategy and will mature on March 1, 2030, unless repurchased, redeemed, or converted earlier. Investors will have the option to convert the notes into cash, shares of Strategy’s class A common stock, or a combination of both, at Strategy’s discretion. Additionally, the company has granted an option to initial purchasers to buy up to an additional $300 million in notes. Strategy reserves the right to redeem the notes for cash, in whole or in part, on or after March 5, 2027, but only if its stock price exceeds 130% of the conversion price for a specified period. Furthermore, noteholders may require Strategy to repurchase the notes in the event of a fundamental corporate change or on March 1, 2028. Microstrategy’s move aligns with its long-term vision as the world’s largest bitcoin treasury company, continuing its strategy of using equity and debt financing to accumulate bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset. While maintaining its leadership in AI-powered enterprise analytics, the company believes this approach offers investors diversified exposure to bitcoin through various financial instruments. As of Feb. 17, the company hodls 478,740 BTC acquired for $31.1 billion at $65,033 per bitcoin. Co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor remains a vocal advocate for bitcoin, projecting that its price could reach $13 million by 2045. His estimates range from a bullish case of $49 million to a bearish scenario of $3 million, reinforcing his view of bitcoin as the ultimate digital asset for long-term value creation. 免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。

The U.S. Bitcoin mining industry has generated over 31,000 jobs and contributed more than $4.1 billion in gross product annually. According to a report by The Perryman Group, most of the industry is concentrated in twelve states, with Texas being the largest contributor. Economic and Social Benefits The study shows that Bitcoin mining in Texas generates approximately $1.7 billion in gross product and creates more than 12,200 jobs, including those linked to utility-related activities. Other major states include Georgia which gives $316.8 million in annual gross product and 2,300 jobs, and New York with $225.9 million and 1,600 respectively. Bitcoin miners also play a role in local communities. Mining companies often make charitable contributions and sponsor local events. They also invest in community infrastructure which helps to improve the living standards. Additionally, these entities provide specialized training programs and prioritize hiring a diverse workforce. Due to their flexible power consumption, Bitcoin miners can adjust their energy usage during times of grid stress hence helping to stabilize demand. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), their predictable demand for power aids in energy planning and supports investments in power generation and transmission. Despite the economic benefits, the industry faces regulatory challenges at both the state and federal levels. Critics have raised concerns about the environmental impact of its high energy consumption, leading some states like New York to introduce restrictions on mining. At the federal level, lawmakers have debated potential taxation policies on mining operations and environmental reporting requirements. However, many firms have adopted strategies to reduce emissions and use renewable energy. Some are repurposing excess energy, such as using methane from oil fields or heat from mining operations for other uses like greenhouse farming. The United States’ Appeal and Trump’s Vision The U.S. is an attractive location for Bitcoin mining due to low-cost energy, particularly in states like Texas, Washington, and Wyoming, which offer some of the cheapest electricity rates in the country. U.S. President Donald Trump has also expressed strong support for the Bitcoin mining industry. During his 2024 presidential campaign, he stated his goal to make the nation the “crypto capital of the planet” and highlighted mining’s importance for national security. Trump has advocated for building power plants specifically for mining operations using fossil fuels and nuclear energy to support the sector. His vision includes ensuring all the remaining Bitcoin is mined in the U.S., with a focus on strengthening the nation’s role in crypto and AI. The post Bitcoin Mining Industry Generates 31,000+ Jobs in the US: Report appeared first on CryptoPotato.

El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, met with Bitcoin investor Michael Saylor at the presidential residence on Thursday, February 13th. Although their conversation was private, Saylor hinted at what they discussed by posting on X, mentioning that their meeting centered around speeding up the global adoption of Bitcoin. Bukele, a strong supporter of Bitcoin, has sought ways to connect his country with the global digital economy. At the time of this meeting, El Salvador added one Bitcoin to its cryptocurrency holdings. El Salvador now has over 6,000 BTC, totaling around $600 million. This forms part of El Salvador’s dollar cost-averaging strategy and adoption of cryptocurrency. Saylor has also amassed an extensive Bitcoin portfolio. His company Strategy recently added over 7,000 BTC to its portfolio, bringing its Bitcoin holdings to over 470,000 BTC, totaling around $46 billion. Despite Bukele’s concentrated efforts to adopt Bitcoin technologies, only around 8% of people in El Salvador use the Chivo digital wallet. Many surveys report mixed reactions to Bitcoin adoption, with many people still skeptical about the long-term benefits. However, these attitudes may change if the crypto sector continues to succeed. The country’s National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) revealed the meeting on its official X account. Saylor and Bukele both shared images of the event, including a picture of them shaking hands in the presidential house and sitting together at a large dining table, enjoying dinner with many well-dressed guests. El Salvador started its Bitcoin journey in 2021 when the cryptocurrency was announced as a legal tender. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has set many conditions that restrict Bitcoin adoption as a requirement for a $1.4 billion loan agreement. Some of these restrictions include limiting the government’s ability to manage Bitcoin holdings and ruling out crypto as a method for paying taxes. Bukele, on the other hand, insists on adopting Bitcoin as a method to create more economic opportunities and realize his vision of a crypto-powered economy. Despite pressure from outside sources, such as the IMF, El Salvador is at the forefront of national Bitcoin adoption. The world, in fact, is looking carefully at El Salvador to see if Bitcoin can be safely adopted without any serious downsides. Both governments and businesses have been interested in Bitcoin to boost the economy and create more cash flow. Whether they are developing their chains or amassing an extensive crypto portfolio, they are progressing towards a stage when Bitcoin is globally recognized. President Donald Trump, for example, has created a pro-crypto administration. He has promised to limit crypto regulation and promote American-made crypto projects. His association with Elon Musk, a known promoter of crypto projects like Dogecoin, only emphasizes that government involvement in Bitcoin adoption is an ongoing trend. Then, there is the pardoning of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht early in Trump’s presidency, which is a clear sign of a pro-Bitcoin administration. In Argentina, President Javier Milei endorsed Bitcoin officially only ten days after entering office. Ever since December 2023, Bitcoin could be recognized legally in binding contracts. Therefore, Argentina joins El Salvador and North America in recognizing Bitcoin as a legal tender globally. Milei further introduced measures to decentralize tax collection, allowing provinces to set their tax policies. This may enable cryptocurrency to compete with traditional fiat forms of tender, further empowering Bitcoin adoption on the American continent. Further, Melei put an end to imposing income tax on Bitcoin trade, allowing Bitcoin to be used like the dollar. The meeting between El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Bitcoin investor Michael Saylor marks a trend of crypto adoption on the American continent.

Elon Musk was inside the White House complex when his phone started buzzing. Sam Altman was about to take the stage with Donald Trump. Confused, Musk turned on the TV. What he saw sent him into a rage. Altman stood beside Trump, smiling, as they announced a $500 billion AI initiative called Stargate. Musk had been practically glued to Trump in the months leading up to the second term. He had campaigned for him, spent hundreds of millions backing him, and positioned himself as Trump’s tech confidant. But somehow, his biggest enemy had beaten him to the punch. While Musk was focused on his political influence, Altman had been meeting Trump’s top advisors, locking in deals with SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son and Oracle’s Larry Ellison, and crafting a pitch that Trump couldn’t refuse. Musk’s reaction was immediate. He lashed out to aides, fuming that the Stargate investors didn’t actually have the money they promised. Then he went nuclear. Within days, Musk launched a hostile $97.4 billion bid to seize control of OpenAI. From co-founders to enemies In 2015, Musk and Altman were allies. They had dinner every Wednesday, obsessed over the dangers of AI, and feared a world where artificial intelligence would spiral out of human control. That paranoia led them to co-found OpenAI, a nonprofit designed to counter Google’s dominance in artificial intelligence. Musk pledged the bulk of a $1 billion investment and became the company’s most powerful force. But things changed in 2017. OpenAI realized that staying nonprofit wasn’t sustainable. They needed more money—a lot more. Musk had a solution: take full control and make himself CEO. Altman and OpenAI’s leadership resisted. Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever sided with Altman. They told Musk that giving him total control would create the exact kind of AI dictatorship they had sworn to prevent. Musk was furious. “This is the final straw,” he wrote in an email. Within months, he quit OpenAI. ChatGPT changes everything For years, OpenAI quietly pushed forward without Musk. Then, in November 2022, everything changed. OpenAI released ChatGPT, and AI went mainstream overnight. Millions of users swarmed the platform. Silicon Valley called it the most transformative consumer-tech product since the iPhone. Musk, watching from the outside, was livid. He had walked away, and now Altman was the face of AI. He attacked OpenAI, accusing them of moving too fast and ignoring safety. In early 2023, he signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on AI development. Then he launched xAI, his own AI company. The goal was simple: beat OpenAI at its own game. But while Altman’s AI empire kept expanding, Musk’s xAI struggled to keep up. By 2024, Musk was done watching from the sidelines. He went on the attack, suing OpenAI for allegedly betraying its original nonprofit mission. The lawsuit dragged on for months. Then Trump won re-election, and Altman saw an opening. Altman outplays Musk in Washington Altman had always been a Democrat, but he wasn’t about to let Musk be the only tech billionaire in Trump’s ear. So he started working his way in. Altman’s strategy was simple but brutal. He met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s transition team leader, and pitched an AI plan so massive that Trump couldn’t ignore it. That plan was Stargate: a $500 billion investment into U.S. AI infrastructure. Altman lined up SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son and Oracle’s Larry Ellison as key backers. Four days before the inauguration, Ellison brokered a private call between Altman and Trump. Altman sold him on the vision—billions in U.S. data centers, thousands of jobs, a technological leap forward. Trump loved it. When Altman arrived for the inauguration, he made sure to avoid Musk. Instead of sitting with tech CEOs, he met privately with Trump’s allies, making sure Stargate was set. Then, the day after the inauguration, he stepped onto the White House stage with Trump and announced it to the world. Musk found out the same way the rest of the world did—by watching it on TV. Musk declares war Musk erupted. He called Stargate “fake” on X, telling his allies that the investors didn’t actually have the money. But he didn’t stop there. Within days, he launched a $97.4 billion hostile takeover bid for OpenAI. His message to investors? “Let’s go to war with Sam Altman.” Altman, who was in Paris for an AI summit, found out from The Wall Street Journal. He scrambled to respond. On Slack, he reportedly told OpenAI employees that Musk was just trying to derail the company. Then he hit Musk where it hurt. “No thank you,” Altman posted on X, “but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” It was a brutal response. Musk had overpaid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022—only to see its value collapse. Altman’s counteroffer was a direct slap in the face. Musk wasn’t done. He told investors he would withdraw his bid if OpenAI returned to being a nonprofit. OpenAI’s board didn’t even blink. On Friday, they officially rejected Musk’s offer. “OpenAI is not for sale,” board chairman Bret Taylor wrote in a letter. “Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition has failed.” Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, fired back: “No surprise. They’re scared.” Musk framed his takeover as a mission to save OpenAI from itself. “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” he said. Altman? He wasn’t buying it. “Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity,” Altman said in an interview. “I feel for the guy. I don’t think he’s a happy person.” The war between Musk and Altman isn’t over. It’s just beginning.