Honda Accepts Bitcoin!

Plus: halving less than 200 days away, LN reaches record capacity

Author

Colin Aulds
October 05, 2023

Today we’re covering:

  • Honda now accepting Bitcoin for its cars,

  • Bitcoin halving less than 200 days away,

  • Lightning network reaches record capacity,

  • And everything else you need to know.

—Colin

First time reading? I’m Jordan, and this is the Bitcoin Minimalist. Every day, our team scours dozens of sources to bring you need-to-know Bitcoin news and insights—all in 5 minutes. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up here.
MERCHANT ADOPTION

Honda Motors to Accept Bitcoin Payments via Partnership with FCF Pay

The Scoop: Honda has teamed up with cryptocurrency payments platform FCF Pay to allow customers to buy its beloved automobiles using using Bitcoin.

Charting the Path: By partnering with FCF Pay, Honda is not only enhancing its customer purchase experience but also solidifying its position as a leader in embracing modern financial solutions.

In Its National Character: Japan has always been a forward thinking, tech-obsessed culture, so its not that surprising to see a large auto manufacturer begin to accept Bitcoin. Japan was, after all, the first country to headquarter an online Bitcoin exchange and was an early adopter of Bitcoin ATMs.

Following the Leader: Honda isn't the Japanese automaker to accept bitcoin for its cars. SBI Motor had earlier paved the way by accepting Bitcoin. Additionally, global electric vehicle giant Tesla made quite a splash when it announced it would accept Bitcoin for its products.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SBF being escorted out of his home in the Bahamas

👨‍⚖️ The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried began yesterday. SBF faces up to 115 years in prison for committing what prosecutors say is one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history.

📉 Ethereum futures ETFs launched on Tuesday with a truly embarrassing trading volume of just $1.96M, further illustrating a lack of demand for ETH exposure.

⚡ The Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity just shot above 5,000 for the first time. At the time of writing, that is worth nearly $100,000,000. This is not the highest U.S. dollar denominated value ever though - that was $200M in December of 2021.

📉 Bitcoin's first downward difficulty adjustment in months occurred yesterday and dropped 0.353%. The next adjustment is expected October 17.

BITCOIN HALVING

Next Bitcoin Halving Less Than 200 Days Away

The Scoop: The next Bitcoin halving is less than 200 days away - currently slated for April 17, 2024.

More Work, Less Reward: The term "halving" refers to the number of coins awarded to a Bitcoin miner who “finds a block” being cut in half. This happens approximately every 4 years, or every 210,000 blocks.

Implications of Diminishing Returns: Bitcoin's halving mechanism will persist until ~2140, the year when the capped limit of 21 million bitcoins is projected to be attained, thus stopping the influx of new bitcoins into the market.

Feature or Bug: Once all the Bitcoins are mined, miners can only make money from fees. Some worry that the fees won’t be enough to cover costs for the miners. That’s why some think Bitcoin will need to remove the hard supply cap, but this is very controversial.

POLL

Do you think we will see another Bitcoin price run after the next halving?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Last Tuesday’s Poll Results

Will more crypto exchanges move into stock trading in the coming years?

Yes - 100%

No - 0%

👍 Yes: “They already have the infrastructure and customer base in place. There is really no reason not to expand the product offerings, especially as more traditional stock trading platforms move in on their territory.” - Pete

👍 Yes: “It is the way of the future, with or without you.” - Ryan

IN THE LOOP

⚖️ A U.S. Judge has blocked the SEC's appeal attempt regarding Ripple's XRP sales, maintaining her stance that they adhered to federal securities laws.

🏛️ The U.S. SEC has urged a federal judge to reject Coinbase's request to dismiss the regulator's lawsuit against them for selling unregistered securities. We’ll update you with what happens, but as you can see, the SEC has had very bad luck in court lately.

🔒 A trial date of Sept. 17, 2024 has been set for criminal proceedings against former Celsius CEO, Alex Mashinsky following fraud accusations and asset freezes. He also faces charges from the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

🌋 Volcano Energy partners with Luxor Technology to launch "Lava Pool", El Salvador's first Bitcoin mining pool powered by geothermal energy. This initiative emphasizes sustainable growth, with profits earmarked for enhancing the country's energy infrastructure.

Today’s newsletter was written by Colin and edited by Jordan.