Mining
Just 2 million Bitcoin left to mine: Bitcoin hits the 19 million milestone
The 19th millionth Bitcoin (BTC) was mined on Friday, a landmark occasion for the number one cryptocurrency. Nineteen million Bitcoin are now in circulation, with just 2 million Bitcoin yet to be minted (or mined) until roughly the year 2140. In block 730002, mined by SBI Crypto, the 19 millionth Bitcoin entered circulation. SBI Crypto earned 6.32 BTC, roughly $293,000 for the trouble in transaction fees and block reward. A momentous occasion, the Bitcoin community was quick to celebrate the milestone event. The 19,000,000th bitcoin was just mined. Only 2 million more bitcoin to go. — Pomp (@APompliano) April 1, 2022 The CEO of possibly one of the world’s most ESGfriendly Bitcoin miners, Kjetil Hove Pettersen of Kryptovault, told Cointelegraph “we have only two...
Bitcoin network difficulty reaches all-time high as miners pursue 2M BTC
Just when the Bitcoin (BTC) miners helped release the 19th millionth BTC in circulation on Friday, the BTC network’s mining difficulty reciprocated by reaching an all-time high of 28.587 trillion. Bitcoin’s network difficulty correlates to the computational power required to mine BTC blocks, which currently demands an estimated hash rate of 201.84 exahash per second (EH/s), according to data from Blockchain.com. Bitcoin network difficulty. Source: Blockchain.com Supporting the spike in the network difficulty, Bitcoin’s hash rate maintained a stronghold throughout the year while breaking into an all-time high of 248.11 EH/s on Feb. 13. Bitcoin hash rate over the past three years. Source: Blockchain.com A higher hash rate ensures resilience against double-spending attacks, which is the...
The Bitcoin shitcoin machine: Mining BTC with biogas
Next time someone tries to poo-poo the renewable credentials of Bitcoin (BTC) mining, remember AmityAge Mining Farm. Founded by Gabriel Kozak and Dušan Matuska, the Bitcoin mining facility uses human and animal waste to generate electricity for mining. Matuska, the man “who met Satoshi Nakomoto”, told Cointelegraph that “methane from biodegradation processes runs our machines.” As human and animal waste isn’t running out any time soon, their BTC mining process is both environmentally friendly and renewable. Matuska and his colleague rigging up the Bitcoin miners in the plant. Source: Dušan Matuska According to Matuska, using renewable energies such as biogas “shows that we can really accelerate the adoption of these renewables and make their return on investment higher in the end...
Russia seeks to eliminate the ‘legal vacuum’ around crypto mining
Russia’s deputy minister for energy, Evgeny Grabchak. proposes the regulation of crypto mining He also advocates for regional authorities to manage mining activities – energy quotas and allocation of sites The discourse around Russia and cryptocurrencies is slowly turning into a never-ending affair. Various matters have come up, from the proposition to ban crypto before the Ukraine invasion to the role of crypto in evading sanctions and, most recently, the introduction of Bitcoin as an option for countries to pay for Russian oil exports. Now, according to a report published by a local news agency Tass, the deputy minister of energy Evgeny Grabchak is proposing introducing a regulatory framework around cryptocurrencies. Regional authorities should determine the location of sites for m...
Exxon Mobil is using excess natural gas to power crypto mining: Report
United States-based energy producer Exxon Mobil has reportedly been running a pilot program aimed at using the energy from excess gas to power crypto mining rigs — and it may be expanding its operations to four other countries. In a Thursday report, Bloomberg said Exxon Mobil had inked a deal with Crusoe Energy to use excess gas from oil wells in North Dakota to run Bitcoin (BTC) miners. The project reportedly uses 18 million cubic feet of natural gas per month — roughly 0.4% of the oil giant’s reported operations in the state, producing 158 million cubic feet of natural gas each day. The company launched the pilot program in January 2021 and is now reportedly considering expanding to Nigeria, Argentina, Guyana, and Germany in addition to launching a similar project in Alaska. Cointelegrap...
New York remains undecided on the crypto mining debate
A bill is to be voted on in New York to decide on the future of proof of work mining in the state Meanwhile, Texas congressman Pete Sessions has mooted crypto to rebuild energy independence in the US There is a bill – A7389C – waiting to be voted on in the New York State Assembly, after which, if approved, will go for confirmation in the Senate. The bill is crucial as it could define New York’s future as cryptocurrencies are concerned. In particular, the bill opposes the enactment of a moratorium to halt all proof of working mining-related activities temporarily. This bill was proposed in line with the enforcement of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which targets to cut down greenhouse emissions in New York by 85% by 2050. The Act also requires that the state gets...
Bitcoin rally hopes diminish as pro traders flip bearish, retail interest at 12-month lows
Bitcoin (BTC) has been trapped in a symmetrical triangle for 56 days and the trend change could last until early May, according to price technicals. Currently, the support level stands at $38,000, while the triangle resistance for daily close stands at $43,600. Bitcoin mining up, retail interest down Bitcoin/USD price at FTX. Source: TradingView The week started with a positive achievement for the Bitcoin network as the Lightning Network capacity reached a record-high 3,500 BTC. This solution allows extremely cheap and instant transactions on a secondary layer, known as off-chain processing. After cryptocurrency mining activities were banned in China in 2021, publicly-listed companies in the United States and Canada attracted most of this processing power. As a result, Bitcoin’s hash...
Stranded no more? Bitcoin miners could help solve Big Oil’s gas problem
The energy usage and environmental impact of Bitcoin (BTC) mining have been frowned upon and been under the scanner by various international financial institutions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mentions how Bitcoin mining consumes “vast amounts of computing power and electricity.” Bitcoin mining is an energy-consuming process, as it is a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain network that involves providing cryptographic proof to the network that a quantified amount of a specific computational effort has been used. The information used to verify this is stored in a block to be accepted into the network by other participants. Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world and the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, in February 2021 announced that the car manufacturing company will accept Bi...
Miners that hodl the most Bitcoin are ‘relentlessly expanding’
Bitcoin (BTC) miners are holding more and more Bitcoin while “relentlessly expanding” their operations in 2022. A report by Arcane Research indicates that publicly listed Bitcoin miners are “constantly looking for expansion opportunities,” as they “plan to increase hashrate faster than the whole network in 2022.” Publicly listed Bitcoin miners projected hashrates. Source: Arcane Research 44.95% of the global hash rate derives from North American miners, according to the latest figures from the Cambridge Bitcoin electricity consumption index. With the massive projected increases in target hash rate among the publicly traded Bitcoin miners, it‘s “likely to increase.” Jaran Mellerud, an analyst for Arcane Research, told Cointelegraph that “most publicly listed miners pursue a hodl strat...
Crypto miner Hut 8 posts record revenue as BTC holdings surge 100%
Canadian cryptocurrency miner Hut 8 posted mixed financial results on Thursday, as revenue and mining profitability soared while overall net income declined — underscoring a volatile end to the year for Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader digital asset market. The Toronto-based company, which trades publicly on the Nasdaq and TSX, saw its revenues surge to $45.69 million ($57.901 million CAD) in the fourth quarter of 2021, up from $10.25 million ($12.986 million CAD) the year before. Full-year revenues were $137.1 million, up 326% compared with 2020. Despite generating a large profit from mining activities, the company posted an overall loss of $0.53 ($0.67 CAD) per share in the fourth quarter. Losses amounted to $0.43 ($0.54 CAD) per share in all of 2021. Shares of Hut 8, which trade unde...
Bitcoin’s got 3 strikes, but investors remain calm despite price drop
After Bitcoin (BTC) faced its third consecutive rejection, investors became more confident in adding altcoin positions. For the leading cryptocurrency, the path to $50,000 appears more challenging than previously expected. According to Euronews Next, on March 14, the European Union rejected a proposed rule that could have banned the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining algorithm used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Several EU parliamentarians have been pushing to ban PoW mining over energy concerns. BTC/USD price at FTX. Source: TradingView In terms of performance, the aggregate market capitalization of all cryptos was relatively flat over the past seven days, registering a modest 0.4% gain to $1.77 trillion. However, the apparent lack of performance in the overall market doe...
EU Parliament votes against the proposal limiting Proof-of-Work cryptocurrencies
EU lawmakers rejected the proposed ban of cryptocurrencies that use the Proof-of-Work mechanism The proposal, which has been a hot debate in recent days, would have led to the outlawing of Bitcoin and other PoW cryptocurrency projects Today, the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary affairs voted on the proposed draft suggesting the ban of cryptocurrencies leveraging the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism. The proposal, which could have compelled PoW cryptocurrencies to shift to sustainable mechanisms, failed to get enough backing during the vote and was consequently rejected. The majority of EU parliamentarians voted against including the provision out of a draft of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA)framework. Patrick Hansen was among the first to share news on Twitter. &...
