Coindesk

Pakistan has committed 2,000 megawatts of electricity to bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence data centers, the country’s finance ministry said.The committed energy is being directed from coal-fired power plants that are currently running at 15% capacity, Bloomberg reports, in an initiative spearheaded by the Pakistan Crypto Council.By tapping surplus energy, the government hopes to turn a liability into an asset. Officials say the plan will create tech-related jobs and help attract overseas capital as the country works to stabilize its fragile economy, which came close to default in 2023.Pakistan is also laying the groundwork for a regulatory framework to support its estimated 15 to 20 million cryptocurrency users.Source link

A U.S. cryptocurrency investor is facing criminal charges after allegedly kidnapping and torturing a man in Manhattan for weeks in an attempt to steal his bitcoin BTC.John Woeltz, 37, was arraigned on Saturday on multiple charges, including kidnapping, assault, and illegal gun possession, after he held a 28-year-old Italian man captive in a luxury townhouse, authorities say.The Italian man traveled to New York earlier this month and was lured to a five-story rental in the NoLiTa neighborhood, where prosecutors say Woeltz and an unidentified accomplice began abusing him to get his crypto wallet credentials.The townhouse, rented for at least $30,000 a month, became the site of a weeks-long ordeal. Prosecutors say the victim was beaten, shocked with electric wires, and...

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero XMR has overtaken litecoin LTC and toncoin TON to rank among the top 25 digital assets by market value.The so-called flippening is characterized by XMR's market capitalization topping $7.5 billion, racing ahead of TON's $7.48 billion and LTC's $7.35 billion, according to data source Coingecko.Monero (XMR) is a decentralized, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency with privacy-enhancing technologies to obscure transaction details. That makes traditional financial tracking and intercepting methods largely obsolete, which explains why criminals love cryptocurrency. Earlier this year, a media outlet linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) Pakistan Province reportedly published a poster calling for contributions of "jihad with wealth" and sought donations in monero.Still, prices for the controversial coin have risen over 100% to above $400 this...

The original meme coin continues its bullish momentum as global economic uncertainties push investors toward alternative assets. DOGE's technical structure shows a series of higher lows and higher highs, with support firmly established at $0.225 and resistance at $0.230 recently breached. Market analysts point to the formation of a "bull flag" pattern suggesting continuation of the prior uptrend, with some projecting targets as high as $0.65 if current momentum sustains.Technical Analysis HighlightsDOGE-USD demonstrated remarkable strength over 24 hours, rallying from $0.218 to $0.230, representing a 6.43% gain.Price action formed a clear uptrend with higher lows and higher highs, breaking through key resistance at $0.220 with above-average volume.Support has established at $0.225, confirmed by strong buying volume exceeding 300M in consecutive...

One of the most closely watched crypto wallets in recent weeks is now betting on pepe (PEPE), days after drumming up a record billion-dollar notional position on bitcoin BTC on the onchain trading platform Hyperliquid.The wallet has gone long on PEPE with $1 million at 10x leverage, flipping from billion-dollar bitcoin trades to high-stakes memecoin bets. The position is already up $500,000 as of European morning hours, with pepe up nearly 6% in the past few hours.Pseudonymous trader “James Wynn” — known as “moonpig” on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid — closed their $1.2 billion BTC long position with a $17.5 million loss on Monday.Wynn then opened a $1 billion short using 40x leverage, effectively wagering their entire $50 million wallet on...