Recommended Watch: Bitcoin On A Tear (youtube.com)
Welcome to The Daily Forkast, October 20th, 2021, presented by Angie Lau. For the latest in blockchain & crypto news. On today's show:

00:00 Coming Up
00:38 Bitcoin inches towards all-time-high following Proshares spectacular opening.
02:31 Australian bitcoin trader continues crusade against debanking.
04:29 Bitcoin mining difficulty rises for seventh consecutive time.
06:47 Bitcoin and Beyond Virtual Online Conference

Sign up for Bitcoin and Beyond at: https://bitcoinandbeyond.io/
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Blue Ribbon Day today, possibly bitcoin futures are exciting our newsroom today. While the first Bitcoin futures ETF in the U.S. had a spectacular opening on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, with around US$280 million worth of shares in ProShares, Bitcoin Strategy ETF traded within 20 minutes. We're going to take a look at what's next on the ETF agenda and a whole lot more coming up.

First up, ProShares ETF knock out opening continued in that same fashion, with trading volume approaching US$1 billion by the end of the day. And eager to get on the bandwagon, Grayscale Investments filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a Bitcoin Spot ETF amid a turbo boost to the industry from these ETF developments. As of the time of this recording, Bitcoin inches ever closer to an all time high. ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF went live on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BITO, but one expert told Forkast.News, that as the ETF will only trade for the seven hours per day that the New York Stock Exchange operates; it has limitations. All of this has said Bitcoin's price on a tear hovering within 2% of its all time high. The price was at just under US$64,000 Wednesday midday Asia time.

Meanwhile, an Australian Bitcoin trader dumped by his banks is continuing to raise a ruckus.
Allan Flynn is forging forward with his crusade against being debanked because of his occupation as a trader of Bitcoins. Having been debanked around 20 times, Flynn decided to do something about it. And using anti-discrimination laws that only apply in Australia's capital territory.
He has already settled a case with ANZ Bank. Westpac is next on his list. Allan Flynn started Canberra Bitcoin, offering managed transactions on an escrow platform in July 2017, but he ceased operations in December 2019 as his bank accounts kept being shut down despite his business being lawful. Prior to the hassle and customers losing trust in him, he set out to find a solution that appeared in the form of the ACT's 1991 Discrimination Act, which considers a profession to be a protected attribute unless discrimination is reasonable under the circumstances. Flynn settled his case with ANZ before it went to tribunal, and his hearing with Westpac is set to begin on Thursday. Debanking's also on the agenda for the Australian Senate Select Committees inquiry into fintech regulation. But Flynn told Forkast.News that while he was heartened by Senator Andrew Bragg saying policy will be implemented, his cynical over what it will achieve. Well, this settlement, an upcoming tribunal, mark a milestone in Australia's debanking story. Industry watchers remain skeptical any true change to banking practices will emerge as a result.

And finally, we started the show talking Bitcoin approaching another high. Well, as we end this report, Bitcoin is in another respect, also hitting a high in mining difficulty. In fact, Bitcoin mining difficulty has hit its highest level since the May 30th adjustment. According to data from BTC.com Tuesday's adjustment saw the bitcoin mining difficulty increase by 0.95%, close to 1% there. The difficulty level saw four consecutive decline immediately after China intensified its clampdown on the sector in May, remember that. But this is the seventh increase in a row since then. These adjustments are highly correlated to changes we're seeing in the mining hash rate, which, as you may know, refers to the level of computing power required to mine. The more difficult mining is less profitable it becomes, and when the hash rate increases, mining difficulty typically follows. Now, according to data from Blockchain.com, the hash rate began a nosedive mid-May, plunging from an all time high of just over 180 million tera hashes per second to a low of almost 85 million tera hashes per second at the beginning of July. Now, on Tuesday, that reading was back up to 144.4 million tera hashes per second. Now, China may be slowing down, but the U.S. is picking up the slack. It's recently emerged as a mining hotspot, with data from the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance showing that the U.S. accounted for 35.4% of the global hash rate chair at the end of August. That is a huge leap, up from the 16.8% it commanded in April.

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