Bitcoin price – live: Crypto market is ‘a ticking time bomb’ as rumours hint at Apple investment

Police in the UK have seized £294 million ($408m) worth of cryptocurrency as part of an investigation into money laundering.

The haul, which the Met Police claims is record-breaking in its size, was of an unspecified crypto. Details of how it was seized are yet to be released.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty said: “While cash still remains king in the criminal world, as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organised criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money.”

We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

Rumours are currently spreading online that Apple has made a massive investment in bitcoin.

Forums and social media are abuzz with claims that the tech giant will announce a $2 billion cryptocurrency purchase today, though at this point these are only rumours.

It would make sense for Apple to put it’s vast cash reserves into bitcoin, in the same way that Tesla did, but it would still be a risky move. With nearly $200bn in cash at the last quarterly report, $2bn would be just 1 per cent of the iPhone maker’s holdings. If true, you would imagine that bitcoin’s price would receive a similar bump to when Elon Musk announced Tesla’s crypto investment.

We have reached out to Apple for comment.

All of the most valuable cryptocurrencies by market cap are currently on the slide.

Over the last 24 hours not a single one has seen any price gains, with Ethereum (ether) seeing the biggest losses, according to CoinMarketCap’s index.

On a week-on-week basis only Binance Coin has seen its price rise, while dogecoin experienced the largest dip of more than 10 per cent.

Despite the market downturn, bitcoin’s losses remain relatively insignificant compared to the volatility it experienced in the first half of 2021, and it continues to trade within the narrow band it has been in since late June.

A member of Argentina’s congress has submitted a bill that would allow workers to receive their salary in bitcoin.

José Luis Ramón said: The idea is that they can strengthen their autonomy and conserve the purchasing power of their remuneration.”

Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, noted Argentina’s exchange rate against the dollar has “weakened from 15 to 174 in five years”.

He added: “That means $100 saved in ARS would be worth $8.62 today. If saved in BTC, it would now be worth $5,270. Bitcoin is hope for Argentina.”

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has launched his own cryptocurrency and described bitcoin as being better than gold.

Launching his new WOZX token at the Talent Land Jalisco 2021 tech conference, Wozniak said: “Gold is limited and you have to look for it; Bitcoin is the most amazing mathematical miracle. I do not invest in bitcoin, but I believe in it for the future.”

You can read the full story here.

US Senator Pat Toomey has disclosed tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency investments.

Public Records filings reveal the Pennsylvania Republican invested as much as $30,000 in Grayscale Ethereum Trust and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

Last month Senator Toomey wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asking for less burdensome regulations for cryptocurrencies.

He warned recent proposals “would have a detrimental impact on financial technology, the fundamental privacy of Americans, and efforts to combat illicit activity.”

Another market indicator is also suggesting a major price move is coming for bitcoin.

Bollinger Bands – which measure moving averages – are used by traders and investors to understand if an asset is overbought or undersold, therefore allowing them to figure out which direction it might be heading.

A sustained period of stability means bitcoin is expected to enter a period of high volatility. Crypto investor Lark Davis describes bitcoin as a “ticking time bomb”.

This is the narrowest it has been in 2021.

A 124-year-old power plant has begun mining cryptocurrency as it’s more profitable than selling electricity.

The Mechanicville facility in New York state is the latest to benefit for the China mining exodus and the subsequent drop in hashrate.

“We think this is the oldest renewable energy facility in the world that’s still running,” Albany Engineering CEO Jim Besha told the Albany Times Union, adding that the plant “can actually make more money with bitcoin than selling the electricity to National Grid.”

A crypto market indicator suggests bitcoin’s price could finally break out of the narrow $32k-$36k band that it has been stuck within for the last fortnight.

The 90-day exponential moving average of the ratio of buyers to sellers is about to hit the “launch zone”, according to analyst Cole Garner at CryptoQuant.

“Since 2019, a touch of the green box historically signals a big bullish move is right around the corner,” he writes.

“The last touch was in October 2020, just above $10k. We’re almost there.”

To The Independent’s bitcoin live blog. We’ll be bringing you all the latest crypto news, market analysis and expert price predictions throughout the day