Crypto

Court upholds ban that is shaking cryptocurrency world: 'Unduly discriminatory and unreasonable'

Published

1 year ago

January 6, 2025

Court upholds ban that is shaking cryptocurrency world: 'Unduly discriminatory and unreasonable'

The Canadian province of British Columbia has held firm in its stance against cryptocurrency, extending its restrictions against bitcoin mining into December.

According to CoinDesk, the BC Supreme Court upheld a ban early last year that the provincial government initiated in December 2022 after Conifex Timber — a forestry company that intended to begin mining operations in the province with the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation — challenged the moratorium.

“The total amount of megawatt-hours that would have been required to service all the interconnection requests from cryptocurrency operations in 2023 grossly exceeded the projections of BC Hydro,” the judge wrote.

A press release from the BC government following the initial ban stated that it paused 21 projects that requested 1,403 megawatts — equivalent to the energy needed to power approximately 570,000 homes in the region or charge 2.1 million electric vehicles.

Cryptocurrency advocates have pointed to the rising number of mining operations using renewable energy off the grid and to how the lucrative benefits of mining crypto flexibly can help to drive innovation, investment, and expansion of renewable energy and avoid wasting electricity. But for a region or country dealing with active threats to its energy grid, it may be harder to lean into that optimism until it is properly prepared to take advantage.

“The temporary suspension will preserve BC’s electricity supply, while giving government and BC Hydro sufficient time to engage with industry and First Nations, and develop a permanent framework for any future cryptocurrency mining operations,” the statement reads.

BC originally imposed an 18-month restriction to preserve its supply of sustainable and affordable energy provided by its largest electricity utility, BC Hydro, which produces over 90% of its power from hydroelectric sources, per CoinDesk.

The provincial government also passed an update to the Energy Statutes Amendment Act in 2024 to allow the Cabinet to bypass the BC Utilities Commission, giving it direct authority over the energy allocation to the crypto industry.

While the government argued that “these amendments will enable the eventual implementation of a permanent policy,” Conifex Timber contended in court that the ruling was “unduly discriminatory and unreasonable.”

The ruling comes amid bitcoin’s surging value and Vancouver, BC’s most populous city, pushing to become a bitcoin-friendly city.

Bitcoin has been an extremely divisive issue, with detractors noting its immense energy demands and resulting environmental impact. Its profitability and popularity have overburdened grids and even allegedly come at the cost of human health.

Meanwhile, proponents have championed its creative potential in sustainability; for example, companies are utilizing the high temperatures its data centers produce to heat commercial and residential buildings.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.

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Crypto

Financially Settled Cryptocurrency Futures Vendor Symbols | Cboe

Published

55 minutes ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Financially Settled Cryptocurrency Futures Vendor Symbols | Cboe

Financially Settled Ether (“FET”) Futures

Vendor	Front Month	M25 Contract
Activ Financial / Options Technology	FET/*.CF	FET/25M.CF
BarChart	Y9*0	Y9M5
Bloomberg	FET = FTEA Curncy	FET = FTEA Curncy
CQG	FET?	FETM25
DevExperts	/FETM25:XCBF	/FETM25:XCBF
DTN IQ	@FET	@FETM25
DTN ProphetX	@FET	@FETM25
Factset	FET.1-USA	FETM25-USA, FETM25-CBF
Interactive Data / ICE	F2:FET1C	F2:FETM25
LiveVol	N/A	FETM25
Morningstar	FET0Y	FETM25
PICO	FET/M5 June 2025	FET/M5 June 2025
Silexx	N/A	FET/M25
Six-Group	FET	FET5M or FETM5
TradeStation	FETM25	FETM25
Trading Technologies	FET Jun25	FET Jun25

Financially Settled Bitcoin (“FBT”) Futures

Vendor	Front Month	M25 Contract
Activ Financial / Options Technology	FBT/*.CF	FBT/25M.CF
BarChart	Y7*0	Y7M5
Bloomberg	FBT = FXBA Curncy	FBT = FXBA Curncy
CQG	FBT?	FBTM25
DevExperts	/FBTM25:XCBF	/FBTM25:XCBF
DTN IQ	@FBT	@FBTM25
DTN ProphetX	@FBT	@FBTM25
Factset	FBTC.1-USA	FBTCM25-USA, FBTCM25-CBF
Interactive Data / ICE	F2:FBT1C	F2:FBTM25
LiveVol	N/A	FBTM25
Morningstar	FBT0Y	FBTM25
PICO	FBT/M5 June 2025	FBT/M5 June 2025
Silexx	N/A	FBT/M25
Six-Group	FBT	FBT5M or FBT5M
TradeStation	FBTM25	FBTM25
Trading Technologies	FBT Jun25	FBT Jun25

Crypto

XRP Stalls Despite Bullish Developments and Ripple’s Institutional Momentum

Published

13 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

XRP Stalls Despite Bullish Developments and Ripple’s Institutional Momentum

XRP is consolidating near a key level as Ripple expands its regulated global finance footprint, signaling patience in price action while adoption, institutional integration, and regulatory clarity quietly strengthen the crypto asset’s long-term foundation.

Crypto

This Popular Cryptocurrency Could Soar by 177% in 2026, According to Wall Street Analyst Tom Lee

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

This Popular Cryptocurrency Could Soar by 177% in 2026, According to Wall Street Analyst Tom Lee

Key Points

Ethereum is the leading platform for developers who want to build decentralized software applications, which are popular in areas like gaming and finance.
Ether, which is Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, set a new record high during 2025, but it ended the year in the red.
Wall Street analyst Tom Lee thinks Ether could soar in the early stages of 2026, and he chairs a company that owns over $13 billion worth of coins.

Cryptocurrencies had a tough year in 2025, with most popular coins and tokens suffering losses. Not even the industry leaders like Bitcoin and Ethereum(CRYPTO: ETH) were spared, ending the year down 5% and 11%, respectively.

But 2026 is here, and Wall Street analyst Tom Lee recently came out with a set of very bullish forecasts. He thinks Ether, which is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, could soar to $9,000 per coin early in the year, implying a potential upside of 177% from where it’s trading as I write this.

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Lee founded Fundstrat Global Advisors, but he’s also the chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies(NYSEMKT: BMNR), which owns approximately $13.4 billion worth of Ethereum, so he certainly has some skin in the game. How realistic is his latest forecast?

Image source: Getty Images.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a platform where people develop decentralized software applications, which are increasingly popular in industries like gaming and financial services. These apps are governed by smart contracts, which are pieces of computer code that live on the Ethereum blockchain. They typically can’t be changed, so no person or company can manipulate the app’s core set of rules, ensuring it stays decentralized.

The Ethereum network itself is also completely decentralized. Instead of using one large data center, it’s hosted on thousands of nodes (computers) all over the world that store an updated copy of its blockchain. Therefore, the network won’t be compromised even if some nodes go down, and that’s how Ethereum has boasted 100% uptime over the last decade.

Ether is like the fuel that makes the Ethereum network function. Every time a person activates a smart contract by using an app, or even transfers a crypto token built on Ethereum, they incur a fee that is payable in Ether. Therefore, the larger the network grows, the more demand there is for Ether, and the more valuable the coin becomes (in theory).

Thousands of decentralized apps have been built on Ethereum so far. Uniswap, for instance, is a popular exchange where people can trade their cryptocurrencies for other cryptocurrencies. Pricing and execution is handled entirely by smart contracts with no intermediaries, creating a lightning-fast and cost-effective experience. Users don’t even need to create an account, because they can connect their crypto wallets directly to Uniswap and immediately start transacting.

How realistic is Lee’s target?

Tom Lee thinks decentralized apps will take over the financial industry, and as the largest platform of its kind, he’s betting Ethereum will lead the transition. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, is already exploring plans to tokenize some of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by moving them onto the blockchain, where they can trade more efficiently compared to using traditional stock exchanges.

That is just one example suggesting Lee could eventually be right. But the growing adoption of stablecoins — many of which are built on Ethereum — is another sign. These cryptocurrencies are designed to maintain a stable value (hence their name), and they can be sent anywhere in the world practically instantly. Therefore, they are far more efficient than traditional payment rails that often take several days to move money across borders.

According to Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management, over $15 trillion in payment volume was processed using stablecoins in 2024, which was more volume than both Visa and Mastercard processed.

But could all of this send Ether soaring by 177% to $9,000 per coin in the early stages of 2026? I’m not so sure. Ether climbed to a record price of $4,946 per coin in 2025, which was a win for investors, but it was the first new high in four years. Plus, the coin has already lost 32% of its peak value, so I’m not sure if it can muster enough momentum to almost triple in value in the next few months like Lee predicts.

With that said, $9,000 per coin would give Ether a market capitalization of around $1.08 trillion, so it would still be much smaller than Bitcoin, which has a market cap of $1.85 trillion. Therefore, I wouldn’t rule out Lee’s target, especially if the decentralized revolution continues to gather momentum, but I would certainly be cautious about the timing. Plus, it’s important to remember Lee chairs the BitMine Immersion Technologies company, which owns 4.1 million Ether coins, so he has a vested interest in putting forward highly bullish targets.

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Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends BlackRock. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.