Two Bitcoin mining giants are duking it out for cheap electricity in the tiny town in Texas. Both Bitdeer, a mining firm that spun out from Chinese giant Bitmain, and Riot Blockchain, one of leading publicly traded Bitcoin mining firms in the United States, are operating data centers hosted at a former aluminium smelting facility in the Texan town of Rockdale. The town’s aluminium smelting plant was previously the world’s largest, until the company that ran it, Alcoa, began winding up operations in 2008. According to Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, the facility’s energy capacity was wasted …

Crypto trading platform Voyager Digital has inked a deal with the Dallas Mavericks basketball team aiming to make crypto more accessible through fan engagement and other educational programs. In an Oct. 27 announcement, Voyager Digital said it would become the Mavs first cryptocurrency brokerage and international partner in a five-year deal. The trading platform will also have naming rights over the franchise’s Mavs Gaming Hub in Dallas, a venue for the Mavs NBA 2K League team. "This partnership gives us the opportunity to educate people all over the world on ways to use crypto in their everyday lives,” said Voyager …

The Texas Ethics Commission proposed a new rule that permits government officials and politicians to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency contributions. The proposal was filed with the Texas Secretary of State, which sought to address and clarify the reporting requirements of political contributions made with cryptocurrencies. According to the filing: “The new rule permits candidates, officeholders, and political committees to accept cryptocurrency. It does not distinguish between any types of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin.” If approved, cryptocurrency donations and contributions will need to be reported as in-kind contributions or as investments, not currency. According to the Commission, this move “mirrors the …

The pension fund for firefighters in Houston has allocated part of its $4 billion portfolio towards crypto. According to a Thursday Bloomberg report, the Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund used the New York Digital Investment Group, or NYDIG, to execute the purchase of $25 million in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Public records through the Texas comptroller’s office show the pension fund held more than $4.1 billion in total net assets as of June 2020, meaning the group has allocated roughly 0.6% of its portfolio towards digital assets. “We have been studying this as an asset class to add …

Front Row, a marketplace geared toward progressive organizations, has said it will be partnering with the Texas Democratic Party to pilot a program aimed at raising money for candidates and causes using nonfungible tokens (NFT). In a Monday announcement, Front Row said it had already minted digital images of key moments related to the progressive movement and listed the NFTs for sale. Some of the featured NFTs include “wanted” posters depicting conservative Texan lawmakers fleeing the state. Front Row said that the funds raised through its NFTs will go “directly towards political groups and individuals” but did not specify how …

United States Senator Ted Cruz believes that his country should be using natural gas to mine Bitcoin (BTC) instead of flaring it. Speaking during Friday’s Texas Blockchain Summit, Senator Cruz asserted that Bitcoin mining can be used to monetize energy created through oil and gas extraction rather than burning it, arguing that there is “enormous opportunity for Bitcoin [...] to capture that gas instead of wasting it.” According to a transcription of the talk shared to social media by Coin Metrics founder Nic Carter, Cruz noted that half of the natural gas flared in the country is currently being burned …

Rob Kaplan, the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas will step down from his position after more than six years. In a Monday announcement, the Dallas Fed said that Kaplan, its thirteenth president and CEO, would be retiring beginning Oct. 8. The 64-year-old cited recent attention to his “financial disclosure risks” in his decision to step down, likely referring to news outlet reports that he had traded stocks in companies including Apple, Alibaba, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Tesla in 2020 while casting his vote on United States monetary policy. The Dallas Fed president has …

A new poll from Newsweek suggests that as many as 10.8 million Texans may support legislation that makes cryptocurrency legal in the next election. According to a Sept. 20 report, a Newsweek poll that surveyed more than 9,700 eligible voters across ten U.S. states suggested that 37% of Texas residents would vote in favor of a ballot measure to make crypto legal, while 42% said they would support crypto-friendly legislation similar to that in Wyoming. With a population of roughly 29 million people as of 2021, Texas could have more than 10 million residents supporting the adoption of cryptocurrencies. The …

The Texas State Securities Board has filed for a hearing with the potential to impose a cease and desist order against crypto lending firm Celsius Network for not offering securities licensed at the state or federal level, while the New Jersey Bureau of Securities has ordered the platform to stop offering and selling interest-earning cryptocurrency products. According to a Sept. 17 filing, the Texas regulator will be holding a hearing related to allegations that Celsius Network is offering and selling securities in Texas that are not registered or permitted in addition to not registering as a dealer under the state’s …

Everything is bigger in Texas, which is why it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Lone Star state is making moves to become America’s next Bitcoin (BTC) hotspot. Most recently, Texas implemented two laws to ensure that cryptocurrencies are recognized under state commercial law. Texas House Bills 4474 and 1576 both took effect on Sept. 1, after being signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott this past June. While H.B. 1576 established a blockchain working group in Texas, H.B. 4474 provides a complete framework to demonstrate that virtual currency has a place under Texas law. Specifically speaking, H.B. 4474 …

Two bills aimed at furthering the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain are now law in the state of Texas. Texas House Bills 1576 and 4474, passed by both chambers in the state legislature in May and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June, officially took effect on Sept. 1. H.B. 1576 establishes a blockchain working group in the state, while H.B. 4474 amends the state's Uniform Commercial Code to recognize cryptocurrencies under commercial law. Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, told Cointelegraph that H.B. 4474 better defines the security interests for Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies …

Texas, the second-largest state in the U.S. known for its southern hospitality, is embracing the droves of Bitcoin (BTC) miners that have recently flocked to the region. Following China’s crackdown on crypto mining that occurred in May, a number of Bitcoin mining companies have relocated to The Lone Star State to conduct business. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, though. Texas could very well be the ideal location for Bitcoin mining, due to obvious reasons such as its deregulated power grid, increasing renewable energy and political leaders that are publicly pro-crypto. Texas Governor Greg Abbot recently tweeted his excitement about …