VivoPower Announces $121M Private Capital Raise to Fund XRP Strategy
VivoPower International PLC said Wednesday it has secured agreements with private investors to raise $121 million through a capital offering priced at $6.05 per share. The offering was led by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Abdulaziz Al Saud and includes contributions from several digital asset-focused institutions. The transaction, involving the sale of 20 million ordinary shares, was priced slightly above the company’s last closing price of $6.04 on Nasdaq. The capital raise remains subject to shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions, including the finalization of securities purchase agreements. Shift Toward XRP-Centric Treasury Strategy Proceeds from the offering will fund VivoPower’s transition into a digital asset treasury operation focused on XRP, a cryptocurrency developed by Ripple Labs. The company aims to invest in the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem and position itself as the first publicly traded firm to adopt an XRP-centric treasury model. VivoPower Executive Chairman Kevin Chin described the move as a step toward expanding real-world use cases for XRP, particularly in cross-border payments. He noted the company sees potential blockchain applications across its subsidiaries, including Tembo, which develops electric utility vehicles, and Caret Digital, a crypto mining venture. Both entities are expected to be spun off before the end of the third quarter. Adam Traidman, a former Ripple board member and co-founder of several blockchain firms, will join VivoPower’s Board of Advisors as chairman. Traidman is also participating in the funding round. He said the initiative reflects institutional interest in scalable blockchain infrastructure. Conditions and Regulatory Compliance The offering was made to non-U.S. investors under Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933. As such, the securities involved have not been registered under U.S. securities laws and cannot be sold to U.S. persons unless they meet exemption criteria. Shareholders are expected to vote on the proposal at a meeting tentatively scheduled for June 18. VivoPower stated that closing is contingent on conditions, including the absence of material adverse changes and continued listing of its stock.
10 Biggest Bitcoin Myths That Just Won’t Die
Bitcoin was initially an underground affair used by cypherpunks, computer scientists, and libertarians. Its fame grew during the global financial uncertainty of the early 2009s-2010s as more people understood its potential. Years later, on January 19, 2025, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $109,026.02. It has since gained broader legitimacy, with countries like El Salvador recognizing it as legal tender, and even seasoned Wall Street traders treating it as a serious asset. If you’ve ever believed that Bitcoin is only used by criminals or has no real backing, this article is for you. 10 Biggest Bitcoin Myths Busted You’ve likely heard that drug dealers mainly use Bitcoin, or that it’s “bad for the environment” or that it is a bubble that’s about to pop. In this section, you’ll get exposed to the truth behind 10 popular myths about Bitcoin. Myth 1: Bitcoin Is Completely Anonymous Courtesy: Pixabay One commonly held assumption about Bitcoin is its anonymity, and this has contributed to its circulation in both legal and illegitimate markets. However, research shows that Bitcoin’s privacy model is pseudonymous rather than anonymous. According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “Travel Rule,” more than 40 countries obtain and transmit information on Bitcoin transactions exceeding $3000. Hence, both small- and large-scale anonymous Bitcoin transactions are practically impossible. How Transactions Are Traceable on the Blockchain The blockchain on which Bitcoin operates is public and unalterable, meaning every transaction is publicly visible and open to audit. When a user completes a transaction on Bitcoin, they will do so with a cryptographic address (i.e., `bc1qxy2kgdygjrsqtzq2n0yrf2493p83kkfjhx0wlh`), which serves only as a pseudonym. Bitcoin addresses do not have personally identifiable information (PII), and they are anonymous in reality. In addition, IP and metadata leaks, transaction graph analysis, and the exchange KYC compliance requirements all contribute to de-anonymizing Bitcoin. A real-life example is the 2020 Twitter hack, where high-profile accounts were allegedly breached to facilitate a Bitcoin scam. The scam was quickly tackled by investigators through timing analysis of deceptive transactions. Myth 2: Bitcoin Has No Real Value Another recurring critique of Bitcoin is that it has no intrinsic value and is essentially a speculative asset. When it comes to determining value, monetary assets are different from commodities. Commodities have value because of their use and consumption; monetary assets have value because they are durable, portable, and scarce. Bitcoin is the first digital-native asset that possesses these basic monetary properties. Unlike prior evolving forms of money, the value proposition of Bitcoin does not arise from a physical use; rather, it arises from its digital convenience, secure decentralized security model, and increased global interest and acceptance. While gold’s market value of $15 trillion is still substantially larger than Bitcoin’s value, Bitcoin is predicted to take market share away from gold, according to Zach Pandl, a Goldman Sachs analyst. As gold annual production will grow by about 2.5% a year, Bitcoin’s inflation rate fell to 1.8% after the 2024 halving and will fall to 0.85% after the 2028 BTC halving. Large corporations are also predicted to hold about $330 billion worth of Bitcoin assets by 2029. Myth 3: Bitcoin Is Only Used for Illegal Activities While Bitcoin’s pseudonymous functionality facilitated some initial illicit use in its early years, its ecosystem has developed into a regulated financial infrastructure where legitimate transactions predominate. Chainalysis’ 2022 Crypto Crime Report notes that illegal activity now was about 0.15% of Bitcoin’s annual transaction volume in 2021. The 0.15% illicit usage rate not only refutes critics’ claims, it also excels when compared with the contrasting value in traditional financial systems. For instance, the UN estimates between 2% and 5% of global GDP, or about $800 billion to $2 trillion, each year is illicit fiat transactions. To prevent legitimate transactions, many countries ensure all cryptocurrency exchanges use KYC & AML-compliant systems as imposed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). These compliance frameworks function as systemic barriers to illicit financial flows. Myth 4: Bitcoin Is Bad for the Environment The environmental implications of Bitcoin mining are yet another misconstrued part of cryptocurrency, with many often pointing out energy consumption figures. While Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism requires a substantial amount of electricity, the idea that Bitcoin is “bad for the environment” does not take into account recent developments. Many Bitcoin miners have transitioned to renewable energy on massive scales, further increasing their mining hardware efficiencies. When compared to older financial and commodity systems, Bitcoin has a much less significant environmental impact. The table below compares Bitcoin mining’s environmental impact to that of various similar commodities: Sector Metric Value Gold Mining Annual Energy Consumption 475 TWh Gold Mining Toxic Mercury Waste 4,500+ tons Gold Mining Land Usage 180,000 acres Traditional Banking Annual Energy Consumption 650 TWh Traditional Banking CO2 Emissions from Currency Production 8 million tons CO2 Global Data Infrastructure Annual Energy Consumption (Video Streaming) 350 TWh Global Data Infrastructure Projected AI Energy Use by 2026 800 TWh Bitcoin mining has become one of the most sustainable industries in the energy sector. According to the Bitcoin Mining Council’s 2022 report, 59.5% of Bitcoin’s global hash rate now runs on renewable energy. This shift was driven by miners’ economic incentives to seek the cheapest power sources, which increasingly come from excess renewable energy. Myth 5: Bitcoin Is Just a Bubble Courtesy: Pixabay Classifying Bitcoin as a speculative bubble negates its ability to withstand volatility. The most relevant argument against Bitcoin as a bubble is that real bubbles in finance tend to share three things in common that are not found in Bitcoin: Real bubbles like Beanie Babies or Pets.com stock do not have utility, but Bitcoin does because it is a censorship-resistant settlement network and an institutional-grade collateral. Bubbles, no matter how long the life cycle, do not recover to the previous valuation, e.g., the Nasdaq took 15 years to recover from its 2000 high. Bitcoin has survived 5 market collapses and systematically increased to an all-time high after each cycle. Bubbles only generate retail speculation, but institutional Bitcoin adoption
Beyond Trading: How to Earn Crypto Rewards and Secure Your Earnings
Did you get into crypto hoping to make it big, maybe even fast? It’s a common dream when first venturing into this space. But what happens instead? Lost sleep? Heart-wrenching losses? Scam attempts? Enough things to make you want to jump out of the ecosystem without making any money. But what if there was a way to fix all that? Well, there is. Aside from trading crypto, crypto investors can also make money by earning crypto rewards. This guide will focus specifically on how to earn crypto rewards. We’ll explore about 15 methods to help you earn these tokens and also discuss how you can safeguard them. Let’s get right into it. What are Crypto Rewards? Image by Pikisuperstar Essentially, crypto rewards are incentives. You contribute something valuable and the project or network rewards you for your effort or participation. These rewards are strategic tools designed to build and grow their ecosystems. Why Projects Give Crypto Rewards? Some of the top reasons why crypto rewards are given are outlined below; 1. Providing Network Security Many crypto rewards, especially from staking, incentivize users to lock up their crypto. This helps secure the network, making it more robust and attack-resistant. 2. Ensuring Liquidity Decentralized exchanges need pools of crypto so people can trade easily. Rewards for Liquidity Providers (LPs) encourage users to deposit their assets, ensuring there is enough digital cash sloshing around for smooth swaps. 3. Growth & Marketing Airdrops, learn-to-earn campaigns, and referral bonuses are classic growth hacks for new projects. They attract new users, create buzz, and encourage people to try out a platform or token. 4. Community Participation Some projects reward users for voting on proposals (governance) or testing new features. This keeps the community involved and invested in the project’s direction and success. What You Can Earn as a Crypto Reward Image by drobotbean Crypto rewards come in different forms. Here are the most common; Native Tokens This is the most straightforward type. You earn the main token of the blockchain or protocol you’re involved with. Staking Ethereum earns you more ETH, staking Solana earns SOL, etc. The value is directly tied to that specific project’s performance. Governance Tokens These tokens often grant you voting rights on the project’s future direction. They can be earned through participation, providing liquidity, or even using a platform early on (like Uniswap’s UNI airdrop). Stablecoins Sometimes, rewards are paid out in stablecoins (like USDC, USDT, DAI). These are designed to hold a steady value, offering a more predictable income stream compared to volatile native tokens. Other Project Tokens Occasionally, you might earn tokens from a partner project, a special promotional token, or a secondary token related to the platform. For example, when the X Token launched, people earned some tokens by playing Hrum or participating in the MAJOR Community. How to Earn Crypto Rewards Image by freepik While these methods are not guaranteed to be get-rich-quick schemes, and each comes with its own set of risks and requirements, there is a big chance to earn crypto rewards if you do any of the following; 1. Staking Staking generally involves locking up your cryptocurrency to help validate transactions and secure a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain network. Staking is straightforward. You commit your tokens to the network either by running your validator node (complex), delegating your stake to a trusted validator (most common), using liquid stacking platforms (which give you a token representing your staked assets), or directly through different crypto staking platforms. The crypto rewards are typically paid in the network’s native token (e.g., stake ADA, earn ADA). Sometimes, you can also get auxiliary rewards like a share of transaction fees or bonus tokens from specific promotions. 2. Lending Your Crypto Holding some assets in a crypto wallet somewhere? How you earn crypto rewards in this case is to lend some of that crypto to others and earn interest. This happens on both Centralized Finance (CeFi) platforms and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols. With CeFi Lending, you deposit your crypto onto a centralized platform (e.g, Nexo). The platform manages the loans and pays you interest. For DeFi Lending, You deposit crypto into lending pools on protocols like Aave or Compound. Borrowers take loans directly from these pools, and you earn interest algorithmically. You retain more control but interact directly with smart contracts. Again, the crypto rewards are usually paid in the same crypto you lent (lend USDC, earn USDC interest) or sometimes in the platform’s native token. 3. Providing Liquidity (LP) Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap or Sushiswap need liquidity pools so users can swap tokens. With these providers, you can earn crypto rewards by becoming a Liquidity Provider (LP) and depositing your asset into one of these pools. You get LP tokens equivalent to the value of the tokens you deposited into a trading pool. If someone swaps tokens using that pool, you will also earn a percentage of the trading fees in proportion to your share of the entire pool. 4. Participating in Crypto Events & Promotions If you’re still wondering how to earn crypto rewards, another way is by participating in the special crypto events held by exchanges or projects to boost engagement or celebrate milestones. These events range from trading competitions to token launch participation, community challenges (e.g., social media tasks), or limited-time promotions offering enhanced rewards for specific actions. Crypto rewards for participating in events can vary between bonus tokens, NFTs, discounts on trading fees, exclusive access, or direct airdrops. 5. Catching Seasonal Rewards Similar to regular events, some platforms give special rewards during specific times of the year or anniversaries. A platform might temporarily increase staking yields, offer deposit bonuses, or run special trading campaigns during holidays, their anniversary month, or other seasonal periods. These rewards can take the form of temporary increases in existing reward rates (e.g., higher APY on staking) or bonus tokens. 6. Learn to Earn Image by jcomp Yes, you read that right. Many crypto platforms pay you small amounts of crypto just