Mediaboss Marketing

March 14 (Reuters) - Imagine digitally inscribing 3D images of objects such as multi-colored spheres onto a tiny fragment of bitcoin. Then imagine selling them for $16.5 million.

Just when you thought crypto couldn't get any stranger, bitcoin accidentally births a new breed of NFTs.

The new entrants have materialized in 2023 following bitcoin network upgrades that enabled each satoshi - the smallest denomination of bitcoin, or one hundred millionth - to store a few megabytes of data, from text and images to audio and video.

The data storage was an unintended consequence of the upgrades. Now crypto enthusiasts have embedded a total of 385,000 "inscriptions" known as Ordinals on bitcoin since January, including more than 200,000 image files and over 150,000 text ones, according to Glassnode Market Intelligence.

"I think this is really the start of a fundamental shift in what you can do with bitcoin," said Alex Miller, CEO at bitcoin developer network Hiro.

The colored balls form part of TwelveFold, a collection of 300 images of 3D objects rendered in a square grid, from NFT developers Yuga Labs, best known for its Bored Ape Yacht Club. It calls the set "a visual allegory" for data on blockchain.

They became a lucrative allegory this month when the company auctioned 288 of them off for $16.5 million, according to data from research firm Delphi Digital.

Other top-selling Ordinals - named after the software protocol that facilitates inscription - include JPEGs of rocks and shadowy crowned figures which have sold for $213,845 and $273,010 respectively, according to Galaxy Digital Research.

Although the market for bitcoin NFTs has only been going since January, Galaxy estimates it could be worth $4.5 billion by 2025, basing its bullish forecast on factors such as the growth of the more established Ethereum NFT market and the fact that bitcoin is by far the most popular cryptocurrency.

Caveat emptor, though: Little can be accurately foreseen in the highly unpredictable market for non-fungible tokens, it would appear.

Overall sales of NFTs - excluding Ordinals - stood at about $1 billion last month, according to CryptoSlam data, a recovery from the $324 million in November but still a fraction of the roughly $5 billion seen last January and $2.7 billion in May.

Nonetheless, bitcoin NFTs have built up a head of steam in a short space of time. Satoshis inscribed with NFTs are involved in about 7% of the total number of bitcoin blockchain transactions, according to Glassnode data.

One of the biggest challenges for this new class of NFTs is the dearth of a user-friendly marketplaces, with early transactions taking place over-the-counter on shared online spreadsheets, according to market players.

This lack of infrastructure is a definite barrier to entry, Delphi Digital said.

Not everyone is happy about this surge of activity, especially some bitcoin purists who believe the cryptocurrency should solely be used for payments.

The average fee to make a bitcoin transaction, measured over a 7-day period, has spiked to $1.981, its highest since November, as Ordinals trading surged compared with under $1 at the start of February, according to data from Blockchain.com.

"We want transactions to remain as inexpensive as possible so people around the world can run businesses and send money," said Cory Klippsten, CEO of bitcoin-focused financial services firm Swan Bitcoin, who sees problems in "having it priced out through this non-monetary use case that's kind of frivolous".

Some critics say Ordinals are also clogging up the network; the 7-day average of time to confirm bitcoin transactions spiked to over 186 minutes in late February, its highest since November's bitcoin selloff, according to Blockchain.com.

That's since dropped to over 124 minutes, though that's still significantly longer than the range of 12.8 to 35 minutes transaction time in January and February.

"Ordinals have brought some more eyes to the network," said Brendon Sedo, a developer at the Core DAO blockchain. "But NFTs on bitcoin are a distraction from the network's core purpose, which is to serve as a permissionless network that is globally available, 24/7, and uncensorable."

Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pravin Char

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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Cryptoverse: New bitcoin NFTs on a multi-million roll - Reuters

The previous six months should have been extremely beneficial to Ethers (ETH) price, especially following the projects most significant upgrade ever in September 2022. However, the reality was the opposite: Between Sept. 15, 2022 and March 15, 2023, Ether underperformed by 10% against Bitcoin (BTC).

The ETH/BTC price ratio of 0.068 had been holding since October 2022, a support that was broken on March 15. Whatever the reason for the underperformance, traders currently have little confidence in placing leverage bets, according to ETH futures and options data.

But first, one should consider why Ethers price was expected to rise in the previous six months. On Sept.15, 2022, the Merge a hard fork that switched the network to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanismoccurred. It enabled a much lower, even negative, coin issuing rate. But more importantly, the change paved the way for parallel processing that aimed to bring scalability and lower transaction costs to the Ethereum network.

The Shapella hard fork, expected totake effect on the mainnet in April, is the next step in the Ethereum network upgrade. The change will allow validators who previously deposited 32 ETH to enter the staking mechanism to withdraw in part or in full. While this development is generally positive because it gives validators more flexibility, the potential 1.76 million ETH unlock is a negative consequence.

However, there is a cap on the number of validators that can exit; therefore, the maximum daily unstake is 70,000 ETH. Moreover, after exiting the validation process, one may choose between Lido, Rocket Pool or a decentralized finance (DeFi) application for yield mechanisms. These coins will not necessarily be sold on the market.

Lets look at Ether derivatives data to understand if the recent drop below the 0.068 ETH/BTC ratio has affected investors sentiment.

In healthy markets, the annualized three-month futures premium should trade between 5% and 10% to cover associated costs and risks. However, when the contract trades at a discount (backwardation) relative to traditional spot markets, it indicates traders lack of confidence and is regarded as a bearish indicator.

Derivatives traders became uncomfortable holding leverage long (bull) positions as the Ether futures premium moved below zero on March 11, down from 3.5% just two days prior. More importantly, the current 2.5% premium remains modest and distant from the 5% neutral-to-bullish threshold.

Nonetheless, declining demand for leverage longs (bulls) does not necessarily imply an expectation of negative price action. As a result, traders should examine Ethers options markets to understand how whales and market makers price the likelihood of future price movements.

Related: Lark Davis on fighting social media storms, and why hes an ETH bull Hall of Flame

The 25% delta skew is a telling sign showing when market makers and arbitrage desks are overcharging for upside or downside protection. In bear markets, options investors give higher odds for a price dump, causing the skew indicator to rise above 8%. On the other hand, bullish markets tend to drive the skew metric below -8%, meaning the bearish put options are in less demand.

On March 3, the delta skew crossed the bearish 8% threshold, indicating stress among professional traders. The fear levels peaked on March 10, when the price of Ether plummeted to $1,370, its lowest level in 56 days, although the price of ETH rebounded above $1,480 on March 12.

Surprisingly, on March 12, the 25% delta skew metric continued to rise, reaching its highest level of skepticism since November 2022. It happened just hours before Ethers price rose 20% in 48 hours, which explains why ETH traders shorting futures contracts faced $507 million in liquidations.

The 3% delta skew metric currently signals a balanced demand for ETH call and put options. When combined with the neutral stance on the ETH futures premium, the derivatives market indicates that professional traders are hesitant to place either bullish or bearish bets. Unfortunately, ETH derivatives metrics do not favor traders expecting Ether to reclaim the 0.068 level against Bitcoin in the near term.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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Ethereum price reaches lowest level relative to Bitcoin in 5 months - Cointelegraph

Amid several widely publicized closures of banks and even more businesses at risk, a truck displaying an advertisement for Bitcoin (BTC) was seen outside the headquarters of the now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in California, attracting the attention of the cryptocurrency community and media around the world.

With the help of several friends, a Bitcoin enthusiast and street artist known as Cryptograffiti has placed an ad for the flagship decentralized finance (DeFi) asset on a truck and parked it outside the entrance to the HQ of the now-collapsed banking giant, posting the video of the process on Twitter on March 15.

The artists move, which seems to depict the perceived strength of cryptocurrencies over traditional finance, with the message to Be Your Own Bank, has grabbed the attention of media in other countries, including a local television station in Barcelona, Spain, which aired the story, as shared by Twitter user eVelocity on March 16.

Indeed, after three major banks were closed within days from each other, the contagion is threatening to spread to more institutions, including Credit Suisse, which has recently announced plans to borrow nearly $54 billion from the Swiss central bank in a bid to strengthen its liquidity and avoid possible downfall.

Such uncertainty in the banking sector has resulted in many fearful investors fleeing to the crypto market, withdrawing massive amounts of Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) from crypto exchanges to hodl despite heightened regulatory hostility.

Notably, Bitcoin enthusiasts have long argued that the largest crypto by market capitalization had the capacity to act as a safe haven asset and a hedge against inflation, including the author of the personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki, who praised Bitcoin as a store of wealth in a possible economic crash.

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Bitcoin ad truck in front of Silicon Valley Bank HQ grabs worldwide ... - Finbold - Finance in Bold

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2023) - Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY) ("Sphere 3D" or the "Company"), dedicated to becoming the leading carbon-neutral Bitcoin mining company operating at an industrial scale, provides results of its Bitcoin mining operation for the month ended February 28, 2023.

CEO Comments

"February was a game changing month for Sphere 3D. We successfully found homes for, and began deploying, the majority of the 11,000+ miners we received in January. We forged new partnerships with hosting providers in record time to fill the gap left by the December 2022 Core Scientific ('Core') bankruptcy. With the miners currently being deployed in March and April, our fleet is expected to be fully homed, and upon energization, we expect to be at approximately 1.5 EH/s."

Compute North Update

We continue to work with Compute North and their bankruptcy lawyers for the return of our deposit through the Chapter 11 process. On February 24, 2023, we filed our financial claim with the US Bankruptcy Court which included our deposit plus additional claims from January 13, 2023, the contract rejection date, while we continue to work within the Chapter 11 process to recover our funds.

Miner Delivery Update

We have begun deployment to several hosting partners for March and April energization. We deployed 2,400 miners to Lancium Mining at their Texas Facility. Lancium has the latest state of the art technology in immersion mining. We are in discussions with an another hosting provider to place 5000+ miners which we expect to be hashing in the next 30-45 days, as well as in definitive agreements to place another 2000+ miners. With the deployments above, we will have successfully placed the majority of our current fleet.

Core Scientific Update

As previously disclosed by the Company, Sphere 3D filed an arbitration request against Core Scientific ("Core") on its claim for the non-refunded portion of the Company's advanced deposits. Core subsequently filed for restructuring under Chapter 11 on December 21, 2022, citing burdensome debt obligations as a result of rising energy prices and the decline in the price of bitcoin. Sphere 3D has engaged counsel and is vigorously pursuing every available option to recover its funds. Sphere 3D is participating on the Creditors Committee for the US Bankruptcy counsel.

Story continues

Bitcoin Production and Holdings Update

In February 2023, Sphere 3D produced 35.06 Bitcoin, or 1.25 per day. Sphere 3D's mining fleet operated at 90.6 BTC/EH efficiency. Daily production volume remained flat compared to January 2023. The reduction in uptime was due to some operational issues including a leak in a transformer, a router crash, and maintenance needed on some machines.

During February 2023, the Company employed a Hybrid strategy of liquidating during bitcoin price upswings and HODL for the remainder of its holdings. The Company liquidated 41.45 Bitcoin during the month to fund working capital and hosting deposits for our S19J Pros.

Bitcoin held by the Company represents a fair market value of approximately $0.3 million based on the Bitcoin price of $23,716 on February 28, 2023. As of February 28, 2023, the Company was operating approximately 4,330 S19j Pros miners delivering a production capacity of approximately 433 PH/s.

Bitcoin Production and Holdings

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1705/158628_6fe891cff4c3a828_0001full.jpg

CEO Closing Remarks

"February was an exciting month as we found homes for the rest of our fleet. When fully energized we expect to increase our production to almost 1.5 EH/s. This month was pivotal for Sphere 3D, and our focus is on the execution and energization of a large portion of our miners during the next 30-45 days."

About Sphere 3D

Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY) is a net carbon-neutral cryptocurrency miner with decades of proven enterprise data-services expertise. The Company is growing its industrial-scale mining operation through the capital-efficient procurement of next-generation mining equipment and partnering with best-in-class data center operators. Sphere 3D is dedicated to growing shareholder value while honoring its commitment to strict environmental, social, and governance standards. For more information about the Company, please visit Sphere3D.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements generally related to future events including the timing of the proposed transaction and other information related proposed transaction. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "experts," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "target," "project," "contemplates," "believes," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue" or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. Expectations and beliefs regarding matters discussed herein may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this communication are also subject other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in filings with the SEC, including Sphere 3D's reports filed on Form 20-F and Form 6-K and in other filings made by Sphere 3D with the Sec from time to time and available at http://www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, which are subject to change.

Sphere 3D Contacts

Kurt Kalbfleisch CFO, Sphere 3DInvestor.relations@sphere3d.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/158628

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Sphere 3D Corp. Provides Bitcoin Production and Mining Updates for February 2023 - Yahoo Finance

Yuri Molchan

Prominent Bitcoin advocate and investor Kiyosaki believes BTC is becoming even more important in currently unfolding crisis

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Investor, nonfiction writerand entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki, particularly famous for his book on financial literacy "Rich DadPoor Dad," has taken to Twitter to make another prediction of an upcoming economicand financial collapse.

He mentioned Bitcoin in his tweet, reminding the audience that he believes the flagship cryptocurrency, along with a few other assets, to be vitally important now.

Kiyosaki has again drawn the attention of his large Twitter audience to the current crisis in the banking sphere and the recent collapse of three major banks Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bankand Signature Bank. All three of these were also crypto-friendly, dealing with crypto exchanges, collaborating with stablecoin issuers, and storing part of the cash balance of some crypto companies.

The chief executive of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, recently admitted in a statement that Ripple did hold part of its cash balance at Signature Bank. However, it was a really small portion,and the bank's collapse has not impacted the daily operations of Ripple.

The U.S. government also promised to maintain the access of SVB and Signature Bank's customers to their balances and allow withdrawals without spending taxpayers'money. Kiyosaki then tweeted a sarcastic comment tothat.

In today's tweet, he stated that "crash and crisis"are just beginning, and that pensions, U.S. corporate pension program 401k andIRAs (individual retirement accounts) went woke and are going broke now, as arethe banks.

Kiyosaki concluded his tweet with a traditional call to buy Bitcoin, physical goldand silver for users to hedge their risks in the current difficult period for the economy.

Earlier this year, Kiyosakitweeted that he expects BTC to surge to the astonishing level of $500,000, gold to hit $5,000 per ounce and silver to surge to $500 by 2025. The main driver for this, he believes, is going to be the cumulative effect of the U.S. government printing "billions in fake dollars."

The printing started back in 2020, when the pandemic broke out, lockdowns were implemented and the U.S. government began supporting average citizens with "survival checks"worth $1,200 per adult. Banks and large businesses were supported with bailouts.

Now, Kiyosaki reckons that Bitcoin is the "answer to the sick economy." BTC, goldand silver are the best inflation hedges, according to him.

Bitcoin is currently changing hands at $24,553, after briefly peaking at the $26,000 level on multiple factors, including a positive February CPI report, which made economists think that the Federal Reserve is likely to begin decreasing rate hikes at the March FOMC meeting.

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'Rich Dad Poor Dad' Author Says Buying Bitcoin Is Vital as 'Crash and Crisis' Just Starting - U.Today