Bitcoin, Ether up; crypto miners turn to solar power; EU targets Russian virtual wallets — Crypto Moves

Bitcoin, Ether up; crypto miners turn to solar power; EU targets Russian virtual wallets — Crypto Moves

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Sunday, up 0.64 percent to $42,782 as of 08:30 a.m. Riyadh time. Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $3,254, up 1.21 percent, according to data from Coindesk. Electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc., payments firm Block Inc. and blockchain company Blockstream Corp. will collaborate to mine bitcoin using solar power in Texas, Blockstream CEO Adam Back said on Friday. Tesla is building the solar power infrastructure and providing its Megapack batteries, Back added. Blockstream and Block, which was previously known as Square, had said in June that they were collaborating to build an open-source and solar-powered bitcoin mining facility in the United States. The European Union on Friday targeted crypto wallets, banks, currencies and trusts in its fifth package of sanctions on Russia to close potential loopholes which could allow Russians to move money abroad. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, EU-based crypto exchanges were already required to apply sanctions that bar transactions from targeted individuals, but there were concerns that loopholes remained. The EU on Friday said it was extending the prohibition to deposits to crypto wallets. “This will contribute to closing potential loopholes,” the EU’s executive European