Difficulty
Bitcoin mining difficulty set for 8-month record gains despite BTC price dip
Bitcoin (BTC) may have hit six-week lows of under $20,000 but its network fundamentals are anything but bearish. The latest on-chain data shows that, far from capitulating, hash rate and difficulty are making snap gains. Data supports “doozy” difficulty jump Despite being down around 7% in a week, BTC/USD is not putting off miners, who have recently exited their own multi-month capitulation phase. Now, with hardware and competition returning to the network, fundamental indicators are firmly in “up only” mode as August draws to a close. This is neatly captured by difficulty — an expression of, among other things, the scale of competition among miners for block subsidies — which is due to increase by an estimated 6.8% next week. According to data from on-chain monitor...
Will the Fed prevent BTC price from reaching $28K? — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Bitcoin (BTC) enters a new week with a question mark over the fate of the market ahead of another key United States monetary policy decision. After sealing a successful weekly close — its highest since mid-June — BTC/USD is much more cautious as the Federal Reserve prepares to hike benchmark interest rates to fight inflation. While many hoped that the pair could exit its recent trading range and continue higher, the weight of the Fed is clearly visible as the week gets underway, adding pressure to an already fragile risk asset scene. That fragility is also showing in Bitcoin’s network fundamentals as miner strain becomes real and the true cost of mining through the bear market shows. At the same time, there are encouraging signs from some on-chain metrics, with long-term investors still re...
BTC stocks correlation ‘not what we want’ — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Bitcoin (BTC) starts the second week of April with a whimper as bulls struggle to retain support above $40,000. After a refreshingly low-volatility weekend, the latest weekly close saw market nerves return, and in classic style, BTC/USD fell in the final hours of April 10. There is a feeling of being caught between two stools for the average hodler currently — macro forces promise major trend shifts but are being slow to play out. At the same time, “serious” buyer demand is also absent from crypto assets more broadly. However, those on the inside show no hint of doubt about the future, as evidenced by all-time high Bitcoin network fundamentals and more. The combination of these opposing factors is price action that simply does not seem to know where to go next. Can something change in the ...
Bitcoin difficulty reaches all-time high, hash rate up 45% in 6 months
The Bitcoin network has hit yet another all-time high in mining difficulty after a steady climb since last July’s lows. On-chain analysis tool CoinWarz indicated on Feb. 18 that mining difficulty reached a new high of 27.97 trillion hashes (T). This is now the second time in three weeks that Bitcoin (BTC) has hit a new ATH in terms of difficulty. On Jan. 23, difficulty reached 26.7 T when hash rates were at 190.71 EH/s (exahashes per second). Higher difficulty means there is more competition among miners to confirm a block and extract a block reward. As a result, miners have recently begun selling off coins or their company’s stock in order to keep their cash reserves intact. Most notably, Marathon Digital Holdings filed on Feb. 12 to sell $750 million in shares of its company. Hash ...
Nigerians urged to reject PIB for failing to address key issues
Socially relevant and need-meeting organisations in partnership with civil society movements have called on Nigerians to massively reject the long-expected PIB as it has failed to address fundamental issues. Rather the organisations said that the outcome of PIB was mischievous and would compound the problems of the communities, just as it would create another avenue to make the rich even richer while the suffering communities continue to languish in difficulty and poverty. The coalition group said the PIB “failed to properly address the lingering issues of the oil and gas host communities” submitting that the recent position on critical issues is a far cry from the yearnings of oil and gas host communities. “The current version of the Petroleum Industry Bill failed to address community, ec...
2021 UTME results: Candidates, parents decry low scores
File Photo Reactions have continued to follow the recently released results of the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Some candidates and parents who spoke in separate interviews with newsmen on Monday in Bwari, Abuja, expressed their displeasure. NAN recalls that the board on Friday, June 25, released the first batch of results of candidates who sat for the examination between Saturday, June 19, and Tuesday, June 22. While some candidates expressed satisfaction with their scores, others expressed disappointment on the results. Oluwakemi Moses, a candidate, who said that she wanted to study medicine, said she scored 167, a score she explained, was not only too low but also below her first attempt of t...
President Buhari seeks international support for peaceful transition in Chad
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday called on the international community to support a peaceful transition from military to democratic government in Chad. He made this known at a summit put together to discuss recent developments in Chad after the death of President Idris Deby last April. At the summit, Mr Buhari called on: “development partners and countries particularly France, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Russia; the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union, as well as other friendly and partner nations to support the transition framework put in place by Chad’s Transition Military Council led by General Mahamat Idris Deby.” ‘‘The need to support the Chadian government to effectively carry out its planned 18-month transition is sacrosanc...
Court declares SEC sanctions against Oando management null, void
Wikipedia Oando shareholders in the persons of Alhaji Yakubu Gumel; Alhaji Kabiru Tambari, suing for himself and on behalf of the Sokoto Zone Shareholders Association; Tunde Badmus, suing for himself and for the benefits of Pacesetters Shareholders Association, bagged yet another win at the Federal High Court (FHC) Kano, in a suit filed against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for overreaching its powers. Justice A. Lewis Allagoa presiding over the ruling dismissed the regulators preliminary objection and granted all the reliefs sought by the Oando Shareholders. The FHC Kano dismissed SEC’s objection on the basis that the shareholders’ claims fall under their rights as shareholders according to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and is therefore not a capital markets i...
Nigerian senate wants travel passport documents renewable abroad via post
The Senate is making moves to make it easier for Nigerians in diaspora to renew their passport documents. It specifically wants to make it possible for Nigerians to be able to renew the documents abroad via post. The lawmakers also want more centres where passports can be renewed abroad as well as the removal of ‘middlemen’ in the process. These are some of the resolutions the lawmakers took on Wednesday after they deliberated a motion on the “urgent need to remove the difficulty faced by Nigerians outside of the shores of Nigeria in renewing their Passport” sponsored by Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South). The move by the Senate comes at a time when Nigerians both within and outside Nigeria have decried difficulty in the process of obtaining a new travel passport as well as renewing one. A...
NNPC seeks $1 billion funding to revive PHC refinery
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is currently shopping for $1 billion to revamp Nigeria’s biggest refinery located in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. To realise its plans, the nation’s oil company is already in high-level discussion to raise the money via a prepayment deal with trading firms. If the financing is successful, the long overdue rehabilitation of the refinery should reduce Nigeria’s hefty fuel import bill. It would also mark Nigeria’s second oil-backed financing since the COVID-19 pandemic that has added to the difficulty of finding investors as fuel demand is sapped by lockdowns and renewable energy is gaining ground over fossil fuels. The money would be repaid over seven years through deliveries of Nigerian crude and products from the refinery once the refurbis...
NIMC insists on deadline for linking of NIN to mobile numbers
File Photo Despite criticisms from many Nigerians of the two-week ultimatum for the registration and linking of National Identity Number (NIN) to mobile numbers, the federal government has insisted on the deadline. The director-general of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), Aliyu Abubakar, in an interview with newsmen on Friday said there was no extension for the announced deadline. “Right now, the way it is, there is no extension. We should not be complaining, rather we should see how it can be done,” he said. “It is until after 10 to 12 days then we will see how far it has gone before we beg the government for anything.” When the agency issued a two-week ultimatum for the enrolment, Nigerians took to social media platforms to kick against such a deadline. “In the whole o...
