Three months ago, there were 441,546 wrapped or synthetic bitcoins on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain worth $17.45 billion using exchange rates on April 24, 2022. Since then, that number has dropped by 53,582 synthetic bitcoins and today the number of wrapped or bonded bitcoins is approximately 387,964 worth $8.81 billion in value.

In the last few years the use of wrapped, bonded or synthetic bitcoins has increased a great deal and earlier this year there were close to half a million synthetic bitcoins held on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains.

A great majority of these types of tokens stem from the Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) project as the ERC20s market cap is the 18th largest among 13,373 crypto assets. At press time, WBTC has a circulating supply of around 236,882 wrapped bitcoins with a valuation of around $5.38 billion today.

However, WBTCs circulating supply has decreased a great deal over the last three months as there was 280,505 WBTC in existence on April 23, 2022, according to Dune Analytics statistics. At the time, BTC was trading for $39K per unit and the WBTC market cap was valued at $10.93 billion.

WBTC is issued on Ethereum and at the time, the BSC BEP2 token otherwise known as BTCB had a circulating supply of around 105,172, and today the supply hasnt changed much as theres 105,175 BTCB in circulation. Three months ago the stash of BTCB was worth $4.10 billion and today its worth $2.39 billion.

While 53,582 synthetic bitcoins have been erased from aggregate of Ethereum-based tokens and most of the reduction stemmed from WBTC. Although, Dune Analytics metrics indicate that HBTC, and RENBTC saw declines during the last 90 days.

HBTC saw a high of 39,870 on May 15, 2022, and today, the number of HBTC in circulation is 38,970. Currently, the aggregate number of synthetic or wrapped bitcoins on both BSC and ETH represents around 1.847% of BTCs 21 million supply cap. The number of synthetic or wrapped bitcoins on Ethereum alone equates to 1.344%, which means the current supply of BTCB in existence represents 0.503% of BTCs capped supply.

What do you think about the number of wrapped or synthetic bitcoins declining during the last three months? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Coinmarketcap.com, Dune Analytics,

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.

More here:
Stats Show Over 53000 Wrapped Bitcoins Were Removed From Circulation in the Last 3 Months Market Updates Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

James Howells' life changed when he threw out a hard drive about the size of an iPhone 6.

Howells, from the city of Newport in southern Wales, had two identical laptop hard drives squirreled away in a drawer in 2013. One was blank; he says the other contained 8,000 bitcoins now worth about $181 million, even after the recent crypto crash.

He'd meant to throw out the blank one, but instead the drive containing the cryptocurrency ended up going to the local dump in a garbage bag.

Nine years later, he's determined to get back his stash, which he mined in 2009.

Howells, 36, is hoping local authorities will let him stage a high-tech treasure hunt for the buried bitcoins. His problem is that he can't get into the dump.

For almost a decade, Newport's city council has denied his requests to dig for his hard drive, saying it would be expensive and environmentally damaging, but Howells is not deterred.

He gave Insider a first look at his new $11 million proposal backed by venture-capital funding to search up to 110,000 tons of garbage. He hopes presenting it to the council in the coming weeks will persuade it to let him finally try to recover the hard drive.

Looking for a hard drive among thousands of tons of garbage might seem like a Herculean task.

But Howells, a former IT worker, says he believes it's achievable through a combination of human sorters, robot dogs, and an artificial-intelligence-powered machine trained to look for hard drives on a conveyor belt.

His plan has two versions, based on how much of the landfill the council would allow him to search.

By his estimates, the most extensive option would take three years and involve scouring 100,000 metric tons or about 110,000 tons of garbage at a cost of $11 million. A scaled-down version would cost $6 million and take 18 months.

He has assembled a team of eight experts specializing in areas including AI-powered sorting, landfill excavation, waste management, and data extraction including one advisor who worked for a company that recovered data from the black box of the crashed Columbia space shuttle.

The experts and their companies would be contracted to execute the excavation and would receive a bonus should the bitcoin hoard be successfully retrieved.

"We're trying to achieve this project to a full commercial standard," Howells said.

Howells said machines would dig up the garbage, which would then be sorted at a pop-up facility near the landfill.

Human pickers would sift through it, along with a machine from a company in Oregon called Max-AI. The machine would look like a scanner set over a conveyor belt.

Remi Le Grand of Max-AI told Insider the company would train AI algorithms to spot hard drives that look similar to Howells'. A mechanical arm would then pick out any objects that could be contenders.

Howells has built security costs into his plan, fearing people may try to dig up the hard drive themselves.

He's budgeted for 24-hour CCTV cameras as well as two robotic "Spot" dogs from Boston Dynamics that would function as mobile CCTV patrols at night and sweep the area for anything that looks like his hard drive by day.

Howells told Insider his team had its first meeting in May at the Celtic Manor Resort outside Newport for what he called a dress rehearsal of his pitch to the council.

The meeting was filmed and attended by the former "Top Gear" host Richard Hammond, who has releaseda short YouTube documentaryabout Howells.

"They're clearly a bunch of very committed people who have faith in him and the plan," Hammond told Insider of Howells's team.

"It's a story that goes from the incredibly mundane to the colossal," Hammond said. "If I were in his position, I don't think I'd have the strength to answer the door."

After excavation, the garbage would be cleaned and as much as possible would be recycled, Howells said. The rest would be reburied.

"We do not want to damage the environment in any way," he said. "If anything, we want to leave everything in a better condition."

His plans also include building either a solar or wind-energy farm on top of the landfill site once the project is completed. Yet the chance of the council agreeing to his vision anytime soon looks slim.

"There is nothing that Mr. Howells could present to us" that would make the council agree, a council representative told Insider. "His proposals pose significant ecological risk, which we cannot accept and indeed are prevented from considering by the terms of our permit."

Whether the hard drive will work depends on a component called the "platter" a disc made of either glass or metal that holds the data. Howells says that so long as the platter isn't cracked, there's an 80% to 90% chance the data will be retrievable.

Phil Bridge, a data-recovery professional who has advised Howells on the project, told Insider these figures were accurate.

But if the platter is damaged, Bridge says, there is only a small chance the data could be retrieved.

Bridge says he got involved with the project because he found it intriguing. "It's just one of those cases that piques anyone's interest," he said. "It would be just a fantastic success story to help him get it back and prove everyone wrong really."

Hanspeter Jaberg and Karl Wendeborn, two venture capitalists who are based, respectively, in Switzerland and Germany, told Insider they had promised to provide $11 million to fund the project if Howells won council approval.

"It's obviously a needle in the haystack, and it's a very, very high-risk investment," Jaberg said.

Howells said he didn't have a contract with the prospective backers but had discussed the plan in Zoom meetings. "Until I've got something in writing from Newport City Council," he said, "there is nothing to sign up to."

Howells said if he managed to retrieve the data, he would keep roughly 30% of what's on there worth just over $54 million at current value.

He said about a third would go to the recovery team, 30% to the investors, and the rest for local causes including giving 50, or about $61 at current value, in bitcoin to each of Newport's 150,000 residents.

The amount has fallen from the $240 each he told CNN in January 2021; Howells said he decided to put more money into securing "professional companies" for the excavation to help convince the council.

If Howells fails to get the council's backing, he says, his last resort will be taking the local authority to court with the claim that its actions constitute an "illegal embargo" on the hard drive. "I've been reluctant to go down that route in the past because I've not wanted to cause problems," he said. "I wanted to work with Newport City Council."

Howells said he'd never been granted a face-to-face meeting with the council. He said he was given a 20-minute Zoom meeting in May 2021 but hoped his new business plan would help him break through.

He said he met with his local member of Parliament, Jessica Morden, on June 24. Morden's office confirmed the meeting took place.

Once he's made the council aware of his new plan, all he can do is wait. "This is the best situation I've been in so far," he said. "This is the most professional operation we've put together, and we've got all the best people involved."

The "crypto proponent" says he makes his living by buying bitcoin every month and selling it when he needs cash.

Howells says he tries not to think too much about what his share of the money would allow him to do, if the hard drive is ever found in working order. "Otherwise," he said, "you just drive yourself crazy."

See the rest here:
James Howells lost $181M bitcoin in dump: the $11M plan to get it back - Business Insider

Former Blackrock Executive and investment adviser Edward Dowd has stressed that despite the recent crypto market turmoil, Bitcoin is here to stay and has the qualities to make it into everyones portfolio.

While appearing on Layah Heilperns podcast, Dowd reiterated that once Bitcoin matures, it will likely beat gold due to unique features such as the ability to be transacted digitally.

According to Dowd, although gold remains a viable investment, Bitcoin stands a better chance as a store of wealth. He stated that Bitcoins growth journey, characterised by rises and falls, is helping the flagship cryptocurrencys ability to stay longer.

Bitcoin is here to stay. It is going to be a part of everyones portfolio. At least with Bitcoin, you can exchange it digitally, and gold is a much tougher sale for me. Im not against gold, and having some gold is not a bad idea, he said.

The investment adviser added that with the maturity of the cryptocurrency sector, Bitcoin is likely to stand out from the rest of the market. He believes that the cryptocurrency market can be compared to the dot com era when most companies collapsed while the stronger ones survived. According to Dowd:

I can liken crypto to the dot com era where 90% of those companies went to zero. 10% of them became Amazon. Its the job of the crypto folks to figure out what is the crypto Amazon. I think Bitcoin is obviously in the running. For some of these other coins, good luck!

Furthermore, Dowd maintained that Bitcoins growth would be guided by the assets key attributes that make it better than central banks. In this case, he cited elements like transparency, freedom and technology.

His sentiments come as the general cryptocurrencies continue to sustain recent short-term gains led by Bitcoin. The number one ranked cryptocurrency has maintained gains above $20,000, with the market regaining the $1 trillion capitalisation, at the time of publication.

Watch the full interview below:

Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.

Read more:
Bitcoin 'will be part of everyone's portfolio', says former Blackrock executive - Finbold - Finance in Bold

This is an opinion editorial by Knut Svanholm, author of Bitcoin: Sovereignty Through Mathematics.

Bitcoin skeptics often claim that bitcoin doesnt scale. They say that bitcoins on-chain transaction capacity of about seven transactions per second is too low, especially compared to the most common credit and debit card networks. These networks are centralized databases capable of more than a hundred thousand transactions per second. The standard Bitcoiner reply is that these critics havent heard about Layer 2 solutions to the scaling problem, such as the Lightning Network. While its true that Layer 2 will probably solve the problem eventually, it is not a rapid enough solution in the event of a quick hyperbitcoinization. After all, if all base layer transactions are new Lightning nodes, only seven new nodes can be fired up per second, right? In truth, the critics and most Bitcoiners do not see the bigger picture here. Both groups are missing the forest for all the trees. Let us think this through.

We live in a world where fiat money dominates the world economy. Every country on Earth has a national currency or uses one minted (printed) in another country, such as the euro or the U.S. dollar. These currencies have in common that they're all inflationary, meaning that there are central authorities that have the right to issue new units of them. As those who have studied bitcoin or economics know, prices denominated in these currencies continually rise over time. Bitcoin is often compared to gold, as the cost of mining gold is relatively unaffected by changes in the price of gold. But this analogy is wrong. Bitcoin is not gold. The cost of mining bitcoin does correlate with the price of bitcoin, but the issuance rate of new bitcoin does not. This fixed issuance rate is an entirely new phenomenon and only exists in bitcoin. No other commodity behaves this way. Prices rise over time on a fiat money standard, but transactions are fast. Prices were relatively stable during the gold standard, but gold was very costly to transport. Bitcoin is cheap to transport and absolutely finite, meaning that prices denominated in bitcoin will continue to decrease over time.

As technology advances faster and faster, prices ought to decline. The only reason they dont is money printing or monetary policy, as those with access to the printers call it. Nothing about bitcoin allows for this to happen. The long-term implications of absolute scarcity in money are very hard to understand for people who have only ever known fiat economies. We simply cant wrap our heads around ever-declining prices. No one can imagine what such a society will look like. But one thing is sure transactions per second is a metric important to the old system, not the new.

The Zeitgeist movies from about a decade ago were attempts at describing what a future without money might look like. They explained how flawed our old institutions are, from religious institutions to political and juridical institutions and, perhaps most importantly, the fractional reserve banking system. Then they somewhat naively proposed that if the world stopped using money, wed usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. These movies lacked an explanation of how to get there, however. They missed that there is no difference between voluntary interactions and monetary transactions, given that the money is honest. A sound money, free market society is a voluntary society. The path to the utopian Venus Project cities described in these movies is bitcoin.

The brilliant Canadian serial entrepreneur Jeff Booth has often described bitcoin as a bridge to the other side. Almost all Bitcoiners agree that our current system is flawed, and we need a way out. Bitcoin is that way out. But whats on the other side of the bridge? That is the more profound question here. When you think long and hard about it, you realize that the world on the other side of the bridge is the real scaling solution. With truthfulness in the base layer of society, the need for monetary transactions will go down, not up.

Every good is a service. Every human interaction is a transaction. We dont crave money; we want what we think it will buy us. We dont want the sofa; we want the ability to sit on a couch whenever we feel like doing so. To put it another way, we want access to the abundance technological progress enables. Inflationary money is a force in the opposite direction. It necessitates higher prices and thus less access to the riches that technology unlocks. It creates an elite class that gets richer over time at the expense of everyone else. Deflationary money will do the opposite. It will give everyone a reason to save rather than overconsume, giving more people access to whatever they want over time because of the falling prices. If you postpone your spending, your bitcoin will buy you more in the future. In other words, fewer transactions. Quality before quantity. The necessity for transactions per second will diminish.

Now think about how you interact with your family and friends. You rarely use money, right? Remember, every voluntary interaction is a transaction. You exchange information and share experiences with your loved ones all the time, all without ever exchanging a single satoshi. The Bitcoin community is like this too. Everyone is very generous with their time and effort. You notice this when you spend time with so-called toxic Bitcoin maximalists. We dont care about making money. We care about making the world a better place. Ive received boundless help from other Bitcoiners in the forms of proofreading, translations, art, website building and many different things, all for free. All I had to do was provide something of value back. Like in my family and with my friends, there was mutual trust; thus, no money was needed.

After all, the only reason societies need cash in the first place is to enable transactions between people that dont know or trust each other. Sadly, everyone seems to have forgotten this in fiat land. All Bitcoiners benefit from the success and ever-increasing purchasing power of bitcoin. Therefore, every Bitcoiner is incentivized to help one another. When hyperbitcoinization is upon us, everyone will be a Bitcoiner. Everyone will have this incentive. Ironically, "Don't trust, verify," somehow unlocked an ability to trust each other on a scale never before known to man. The kicker is that we had this ability all along. Bitcoin is a private key to our hearts, so we can wear them on our sleeves in public. The real scaling solution is honesty. When we have that, the division of labor happens automatically.

By running the mathematical experiment called Bitcoin in the back of our heads at all times, we unlock the true power of human cooperation. The need for smaller transactions disappears as everyones time preference is lowered and our ability to love our neighbor increases. You wont pay for your coffee in the future. Youll get it for free. Only significant, essential investments that provide enough value to humanity will be worth making since simply holding on to your bitcoin will be a better strategy in most cases. The ability to make micropayments fast and cheap to anyone worldwide will still be there because of Layer 2 scaling solutions, but people wont need to use it very often. Bitcoin culture is the opposite of fiat culture. We have a bright orange future; the faster we embrace it, the better off well be.

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

Original post:
The Real Scaling Solution For Bitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

On October 31, 2008, an anonymous user or group of users going by the name Satoshi Nakamoto released a white paper detailing a new form of currency called bitcoin. The paper proposed a decentralized system allowing users to execute the transaction without requiring a central authority. So, if you are planning to trade Bitcoin, you may also consider knowing Can Bitcoin Become A Global Exchange Medium?

Nakamoto followed up the release of the white paper with the development of a bitcoin software program and the creation of the first-ever bitcoin block, the genesis block. After that, Nakamoto disappeared from the internet, leaving only a few cryptic messages behind.

Since then, bitcoin has grown into a global phenomenon, with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of value built around it. However, Nakamotos disappearance remains shrouded in mystery.

Some believe that they wanted to create something and then move on. Others believe Nakamoto may have died or been forced to step away for personal reasons. Whatever the case, Satoshi Nakamotos departure from the scene leaves bitcoin without a transparent creator or figurehead.

But Over time till now, we are not sure what exactly happened to Satoshi Nakamoto, unfortunately.

Why did the creator disappear, and what does that mean for Bitcoins future?

Bitcoin was invented in 2009, and its anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto made sure to disappear from the internet entirely. Some speculate that Nakamoto did this because Bitcoins success would mean certain ruin for fiat currencies, and governments would not hesitate to shut down or regulate Bitcoin out of existence.

Others believe that Nakamoto wanted to create a global currency that would be free from government interference. Whatever the reason, Nakamotos disappearance has left a vacuum at the top of the Bitcoin community that has yet to be filled. It has led to often-fractious debate over how best to scale Bitcoin and whether or not to modify its code to accommodate more transactions.

However, Nakamotos original vision for Bitcoin as a borderless, decentralized currency remains intact, and his legacy continues to shape the future of the worlds most famous cryptocurrency.

How has this news impacted cryptocurrency, and what does it mean for investors and users?

The news of the disappearance of the creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency community. Nakamoto was the anonymous figurehead of the bitcoin project for years, and his absence has left a void yet to be filled.

This event has cast doubt on the future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and many investors have sold their holdings. However, it is essential to remember that cryptocurrency is still in its early stages, and this setback does not invalidate its long-term potential. This event could catalyze positive change in the space, leading to greater regulation and transparency.

For now, investors and users should remain cautious but optimistic about the future of cryptocurrency.

What could happen to Bitcoin now that its founder has seemingly disappeared without a trace?

Bitcoin is a digital currency that can be quickly sent without the involvement of a third party from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network.

Though we know that bitcoin was created in 2008, it was initiated in 2009 when it was made official to the public. Nakamoto has never been found or identified. It is unclear what will happen to Bitcoin now that Nakamoto has disappeared.

Some believe that the currency will survive and prosper without him, while others believe that his absence could cause the system to collapse. Only time will tell what will happen to Bitcoin and other digital currencies in the wake of Nakamotos disappearance.

Conclusion

Its been nearly ten years since the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, disappeared from the internet. Since then, there has been much speculation about their true identity. But despite numerous efforts to unmask Nakamoto, we still dont know who they are.

While we may never know the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, we can be sure that they were brilliant minds who had a profound impact on the world of cryptocurrency. Satoshi changed how we think about money and opened up a new world of possibilities for financial transactions.

Their legacy will continue to live on through Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Read the original:
What happened when the Bitcoin creator disappeared? - Cryptopolitan