To increase the scope of its bitcoin mining services, Blockstream obtained $125 million through convertible notes and secured loans. The firm, which in August secured $210 million at a valuation of $3.2 billion, claims it will use the funds from the fresh funding to address the high demand for extensive hosting services. Gregory Maxwell, a developer on the Bitcoin Core, and eight other people, including CEO Adam Back, formed Blockstream. However, Bloomberg reported on December 7 that the company is looking to raise money at a valuation of under $1 billion, which is 70% lower than in its previous round. CEO Adam Back and nine other people, including Bitcoin Core engineer Gregory Maxwell, co-founded the company. Adam Back is the creator of Hashcash, a technique for preventing spam emails that had an influence on Satoshi Nakamoto’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism design for Bitcoin. For its mining services, the company is now developing a power capacity of more than 500 megawatts.
The Saudi Central Bank’s (SAMA) study of central bank digital currency (CBDCs) is expanding. Local banks and payment providers would play a significant role in the development and implementation of the CBDC initiative, according to SAMA Governor H.E. Fahad Almubarak. The Saudi CBDC’s technology was not disclosed in full, but according to CBDC Tracker, it is built on the Hyperledger Fabric. SAMA is investigating the economic impact, market viability, and potential uses of a CBDC-based payment method for a state-issued digital currency.
