CleanSpark, a Bitcoin miner, is expanding its mining capacity in the United States by purchasing 20,000 additional Antminer S19j Pro+ machines for a total cost of $43.6 million. It is anticipated that the acquisition would increase the processing capacity of the firm by 37%. Additionally, the transaction will bring the total number of miners acquired during the bear market up to 46,500 units.
After applying coupons for a discount of 25%, CleanSpark will pay $32.3 million for the machines. This comes out to a total price per terahash (TH) of around $13.25, as stated in a statement released on February 16th. It is anticipated that the Pro+ rigs would be delivered in batches between the months of March and May, and they are 22% more productive than their prior versions.
The firm is increasing its mining capacity by taking advantage of the market’s decreasing rig pricing in order to do so while the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is on the rise. According to information provided by Hashrate Index, the price per TH of ASICs with the same Bitcoin mining effectiveness is presently at $15.09, which is a significant drop from the price of $90.72 that was witnessed one year ago. In comparison to other computers of the same ASIC generation, the Antminer S19j Pro+ model, according to CleanSpark, provides a higher return on investment.
According to the business, “Once they are fully operational, it is projected that they will add 2.44 EH/s to CleanSpark’s current 6.6 EH/s of bitcoin mining processing capacity (for a total of 9 EH/s),” which would represent an increase of 37%.
CleanSpark asserts that the acquired models continue to be more appealing to its operations in the present market circumstances and that this trend will likely continue in the foreseeable future. “The S19j Pro+ delivers 122 terahashes per machine and saves an average of 2 joules of energy per terahash when compared to the S19j Pro model of the same generation,” the company said, adding that a total of 15,000 of the new machines will be shipped to the company’s locations in the city of Washington, Georgia. It was announced in January by CleanSpark that the site will be receiving an extension costing $16 million. This expansion is expected to result in an increase in the hash rate of 2.2 exahashes per second (EH/s), bringing the overall hash rate to as high as 8.7 EH/s. Before moving into the premises that was previously occupied by Mawson Infrastructure Group in Sandersville, the firm bought the building in August of the previous year.
According to a research conducted by Hashrate Index, publicly traded mining businesses had an increase in their mining output as well as their hash rates in January, after a challenging year in 2022 that was marked by falling Bitcoin prices and rising power costs. The amount of Bitcoin that was mined by CleanSpark throughout the month increased by a whopping 50 percent, hitting a new monthly production high of 697 BTC. Since December, when it was 6.2 EH/s, its hash rate has increased to 6.6 EH/s.
Other public mining companies, such as Core Scientific, Riot, Marathon, and Cipher, have seen significant increases in Bitcoin production over the course of the past month. This was made possible by consistent increases in the cost of electricity in the United States as well as improved weather conditions.
According to the records submitted with the court, on January 25 the defunct Bitcoin (BTC) mining business Core Scientific filed an emergency application in which they asked authorization to sell Bitmain vouchers with a value of $6.6 million. The vouchers were purchased from Core Scientific.
According to the petition, the coupons have been encumbered by a variety of limitations, which make them pointless for the purposes of Core Scientific’s activities. To be more exact, the coupons may be used to pay for “just” 30% of any new order of S19 Miners placed with Bitmain; nevertheless, they cannot be redeemed for cash through Bitmain.
The coupons can only be used for Bitmain S19 models, which have a lower hash rate output in comparison to Bitmain’s more recent models. “Even with the availability of the Bitmain Coupons, the Debtors do not believe that utilising their liquidity to purchase new S19 Miners is the best use of the Debtors’ cash,” the company claimed. “This is because the Debtors do not believe that using their liquidity to purchase new S19 Miners is the best use of the Debtors’ cash.” “The Debtors do not feel that using their liquidity to acquire additional S19 Miners is the best use of the Debtors’ funds,” which is short for “liquidity.”
In addition, the Bitmain coupons will no longer be valid between March and April of 2023, which is around the time when the company anticipates that it will have emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation. In addition, Core Scientific has said that the company has no plans to acquire any additional S19 miners either during or after the duration of Chapter 11.
In addition to the motion, the company has been in conversation with Bitmain and two potential third parties interested in acquiring the vouchers at a significant price reduction. The individual sales of Bitmain coupons totalling $1.9 million for $285,000 and the sale of coupons totaling $4.8 million for roughly $713,000 each indicate about 15% of the face value of the coupons that were sold.
CleanSpark, an American Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency mining company, has announced the purchase of new 10,000 Antminer S19j Pro units for $28 million.
The purchase agreement was made with Cryptech Solutions which will deliver the new miners to CleanSpark’s facilities by late October or early November of this year.
According to CleanSpark, the current downturn in the digital currency ecosystem, and its unique economic and business strides were instrumental in helping it land the new miners at a very discounted price. According to the firm, Bitmain, the tech giant that manufactures the Antiminers placed the items on sale at $119 per TH/s earlier this year. However, with the market downturn, CleanSpark said it landed the units at $28 per TH/s.
“During the tail end of the bull market last year, we strategically focused on building infrastructure instead of following the then industry trend of pre-ordering equipment months in advance,” said Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark. “This strategy positioned us to make purchases of landed rigs at significantly lower prices, thus reducing the time between deploying capital and hashing, accelerating our return on investment.”
With this coming off as the second acquisition in two months, the company’s Executive Chairman, Matt Schultz said the company landed the extremely discounted deal because it prepared for the tough times well ahead. “We’ve strategically avoided lengthy delays in receiving machines and energizing circuits, quickly adding long-term value to our stakeholders,” he said.
At the moment, CleanSpark said it has as much as 40,000 crypto mining equipment in its fold and boasts of a hashrate of 3.8 EH/s. The company churns out 14.9 bitcoins per day from its operations and revealed it strives to maintain its spot as one of the top mining outfits in the cryptocurrency industry.
Other Bitcoin mining firms have not had it as good as CleanSpark as many have had to sell some of their mined Bitcoin assets in other to offset debts and handle the cost of operations.
This could be huge. Intel plans to enter the Bitcoin mining space with a cleverly marketed “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient” ASIC chip. Considering that the chip shortage severely delayed the next generation of ASIC miners, this is tremendous. And, more importantly, it opens up the door for Bitcoin miners manufacturing in the USA. And in the rest of the Western world, even.
Related Reading | Why Did China Ban Bitcoin Mining? Here Are The Seven Leading Theories
In December, Raja Koduri hinted at Intel’s intention to get into the Bitcoin mining space. Even though he’s the chief architect and senior vice president of Intel’s architecture, graphics and software division, no one expected Intel to deliver so soon. Details are scarce. There’s nothing on Intel’s official site. A quick search reveals that “Access to additional search results for “bonanza” is restricted.”
5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!
Intel jumping into the #Bitcoin mining ASIC manufacturing is a huge. We need way more chip fab in the USA. It will result in:
– Improved National Security
– Supply Chain robustness
And it will also result in less reliance on Taiwan, who is being threatened by China aggression.
— Dennis Porter (@Dennis_Porter_) January 18, 2022
However, we have the 411 on the project that goes by the code name “Bonanza Mine.”
What Do We Know About Intel ’s “Bonanza Mine”?
The product will be an “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC.” According toTom’s Hardware, the page thatbroke the news, Intel will reveal their new chip at:
Get 110 USDT Futures Bonus for FREE!
“TheISSCC conferenceis a yearly gathering of the best and brightest minds in the chip industry. This year, Intel has a presentation scheduled in the ‘Highlighted Chip Releases’ category to outline a new “Bonanza Mine” processor, a new chip described as an “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC.”
Apparently, Intel has been developing the product since at least 2018, when they registered “apatent for a specialized processing systemthat uses an optimized SHA-256 datapath.”According to Tom’s Hardware, “Intel has a wealth of experience in hardware-assisted SHA-256 algorithms due to the use of these instructions in its CPU products.”
This is huge news!
More competition in the hardware mining sector is welcome 🔥 pic.twitter.com/C7I1FQJxH6
— Dan Held (@danheld) January 18, 2022
A more recent indication of the company’s intentions came when the already mentioned Intel executive Raja Koduri “appeared on popular streamer Dr. Lupo’s show.” He told him point-blank”
“Being able to do much more efficient blockchain validation at a much lower cost, much lower power, is a pretty solvable problem. And you know, we are working on that, and at some point in time, hopefully not too far into the future, we will kinda share some interesting hardware for that.”
BTC price chart for 01/18/2022 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Why Is This Development Important?
Until now, ASIC Bitcoin miners manufacturing is controlled by Bitmain and Microbt, with Canaan, Strongu, and Ebang handling a minority of the market. All of those companies are Chinese. The chips are all made in Taiwan and South Corea. This poses a centralization problem for the Bitcoin network that seemed unsolvable until Intel’s soft announcement.
Now, the open-source Bitcoin miner that Jack Dorsey’s Block is working on makes a lot more sense. Theoretically, the silicon chip is the only part of an ASIC machine that can’t be bought in a hardware store. With that problem solved, by no less than an industry leader with immense manufacturing power, the sky’s the limit. If this whole thing materializes, expect a huge leap forward in the further decentralization of Bitcoin mining.
Intel, a $220 billion industry leader, is preparing to launch ASIC hardware for bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin is a computer network. Every technology company will eventually plug themselves into it. https://t.co/pbTFiRqx0B
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) January 18, 2022
Also, Intel’s announcement certainly legitimizes Bitcoin mining as a business to watch for the next 100 years. As podcaster Anthony Pompliano said, “Bitcoin is a computer network. Every technology company will eventually plug themselves into it.” With this announcement, Bitcoin not only gets Intel’s seal of approval. The giant company has now skin in the game.
Related Reading | Intel, Microsoft Took 10+ Years to See Gains, Crypto Investors in Good Position
To close this off, let’s quote Tom’s Hardware one more time:
“For now, it isn’t clear if Intel will release the Bonanza Mine chip as a product for the public or if it remains confined to a research project. However, given that the chip is in the “highlighted Chip Releases: Digital/ML” track and Koduri’s comments, it’s logical to expect that these chips will be offered to customers in the near future.”
So, everything we said is not a done deal just yet. It smells good, though.
Featured Image by Badar ul islam Majid on Unsplash | Charts by TradingView
In theirDecember report, Marathon Digital Holdings announced their total BTC holdings. And assured their investors that they were not selling any of it any time soon. This is particularly interesting considering the company bought “a record number” of S19s in December. Reportedly, they got a giant loan using Bitcoin as collateral. An operation we’ll see a lot more in the near future throughout the industry.
The report quotes Fred Thiel, Marathon’s CEO, in a celebratory mode. “2021 was a transformative year for Marathon as we increased our hash rate 1,790% and increased our bitcoin production 846% year-over-year to 3,197 self-mined BTC.” Staggering numbers that show the size of the Bitcoin mining business.
5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!
As for their plans, the report says:
“The Company last sold bitcoin on October 21, 2020, and since then, has been accumulating or “hodling” all bitcoin generated. As a result, Marathon currently holds approximately 8,133 BTC, including the 4,813 BTC the Company purchased in January 2021 for an average price of $31,168 per BTC.”
Of course, they’re not alone. NewsBTC documented the trend throughout the whole year.
Most Miners Are Holding Strong
One of the first persons to spot the trend was Lex Moskovski. In February, the analyst reported on “the first day since Dec, 27 when Miners Position change turned positive.”
Approximately four months ago,NewsBTC used data to find a possible explanation:
“Data shows that miner profitability has dropped in comparison to the last time that bitcoin was at this price. The profitability for bitcoin back in April at $50K had been 40% higher than it is right now when bitcoin hit $50K again. This means that miner profitability is hitting the lows at all-time highs.
This drop in profitability has seen miners refusing to sell the BTC they are rewarded with for mining blocks. Instead choosing to hold these coins in wait for much higher prices.”
Miner profitability might be decreasing, but, the business is still a long way from turning red. Especially for a giant operation like Marathon. Ina recent interview that NewsBTCreported on, Fred Thiel said.
“Thiel expressed that, factoring operational mining costs (energy plus hosting), Bitcoin’s breakeven rate is roughly $6,500, meaning that the digital coin would need to drop at least 80% for Marathon to face challenging difficulties.”
Less than three months ago,NewsBTC reported on another set of datathat showed the same phenomenon:
“As pointed out by a CryptoQuant post, BTC miner reserves continue to trend sideways amid the coin’s strong move up. The “miner reserve” is a indicator that shows the total amount of Bitcoin that miners are currently holding in their wallets. An increase in the metric’s value suggests miners think the coin’s value will go up in the near future, hence they are stocking up on it.”
BTC price chart for 01/05/2021 on FX | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
The Marathon Mining Company’s Future
The company’s recent billion-dollar investment is a play for the future. Especially considering just when those machines will arrive.
“On December 23, 2021, Marathon announced that it had entered into a contract with BITMAIN to purchase a record number of ANTMINER S19 XP (140 TH/s) bitcoin miners, all of which are currently expected to ship from BITMAIN between July 2022 and December 2022.”
The chip shortage is real, people. If an order this size can only be fulfilled in six to twelve months, something’s up. Also, by the looks of it, the ASIC manufacturing business might be even more profitable than Bitcoin mining.
Featured Image by Mārtiņš Zemlickis on Unsplash - Charts by TradingView
As the popular proverb saying goes, one man’s food is another man’s poison, the same can be said of crypto mining which is largely on the rise in Thailand amidst the persistent ban on related activities in China.
According to an exclusive report by Al Jazeera, small entrepreneurs in Thailand, and neighbouring countries are taking advantage of the crash in the price of mining machines to fuel the interests of local miners in the region.
Citing a local Thai entrepreneur, Pongsakorn Tongtaveenan, the Chinese ban caused the price of mining machine, Bitmain’s Antminer SJ19 Pro, to plunge by almost 30 percent. This slump not only just created a business opportunity for Pongsakorn, but it also notably afforded many local operators to get their hands on the machines at a relative discount.
Getting a hold of Bitmain’s Antimers, the most popular mining gear for Proof-of-Work (PoW) is typically very tough, going by the competition that breeds demand that far outstripped supply. Big multinationals are more likely to get their hands on the miners going by the large quantities of orders they place, and despite this, delivery also literally takes a lot of time.
The ban on mining activities created an equal footing for Thai miners who according to the Al Jazeera report now numbers more than a hundred thousand. The profitability of the PoW mining venture is very evident as each running miner, according to Pongsakorn returns as much as $30-$40 on a daily basis.
One Thailand-based miner who set up a solar-powered mining rig worth $30,000 told Al Jazeera that he broke even within three months of operating the rig. Just as crypto mining surged in Thailand, large-scale mining corporations operating from the United States are also shoring up their influence in the mining game, a scenario that is shifting the global mining hash rate to the US in place of China.
One of 2021’s biggest stories was the China ban on Bitcoin mining. On one hand, the news affected Bitcoin’s price and gave ammunition to the nay-sayers that think that governments will outlaw Bitcoin. On the other, the network kept working without a hiccup,recovered its hashratein record time, and gained in decentralization. However, a question remained. Why did China exclude itself from this very lucrative activity in which they were dominating?
As Bitcoin entrepreneur John Carvalho not-so-eloquently put it, “I refuse to believe that China is stupid.” There has to be a reason, even if it’s a simple one. To help our audience solve the puzzle, NewsBTC decided to gather all of our theories in a single post.
China Ban Theory #1: The Digital Yuan CBDC
This one is as straightforward as it gets. WhenChina started cracking down on miners, NewsBTC reported: “As for the possible reasons, Bitcoin Magazine’s Lucas Nuzzi cites the upcoming Digital Yuan CBDC.” And Nuzzi said, “They’re literally rolling out their own coin (a CBDC) that will enable the mass surveillance and unbanking of dissidents.”
5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!
1/ The CCP officially banning #Bitcoin should come as no surprise.
They’re literally rolling out their own coin (a CBDC) that will enable the mass surveillance and unbanking of dissidents.#Bitcoin is at complete odds with that. Dictatorships don’t like freedom money.
— Lucas Nuzzi (@LucasNuzzi) June 21, 2021
So, did China kill a potential billion-dollar industry just to squash their CBDC’s competition? Is that it?
China Ban Theory #2: Blackouts
Is China having energy issues? Inthat same article, we posed another theory:
Get 110 USDT Futures Bonus for FREE!
“In retrospect, we should’ve seen it coming. Only two months ago, following a suspicious blackout,NewsBTC reported:
According to the Beijing Economic and Information Bureau, there were concerns about the energy consumption related to these activities. PengPai quotes Yu Jianing, rotating Chairman of the Blockchain Special Committee of China, to claim that thecountry’s environmental requirements could lead to crypto mining being more “strictly regulated”. Jianing said this will be “inevitable.”
However, would they be decommissioning small hydropower stations if this was the case?
China Ban Theory #3: Cleaner Energy Sources
Our report on small hydropower stations’ source was government-regulated media, so take it with a grain of salt. It starts with a claim that clashes heavily with theory #2:
“According to the article, the heyday of private power plants in China was the beginning of the century. Investors built thousands of hydropower stations because they saw them as a constant cash cow. For their part, the regions nearby saw them as a sign of progress and a solution to their energy problems.
However, with the gradual surplus of electricity in China in recent years, the electricity generated by hydropower stations is often destined to being abandoned (commonly known as “abandonment of electricity”)”
However, the main reason for the decommissioning seemed to be repairing the original flow of the rivers. “Hydropower stations have always been one of the important factors restricting the ecology of Sichuan’s rivers,” said Wang Hua, deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Water Resources Department. We went a step further:
“It’s possible that the government is trying to get rid of those plants. That would explain the article’s tone, it seems like it was trying to get investors to stay away from those hydropower stations. In light of this, China’s ban on Bitcoin mining could just be part of an even bigger play. They’re serious and methodically shaking things up over there.
What could be their end-game? Is China just trying to go carbon neutral and repair the original flow of the rivers? Or is there something else at play here?”
However, something doesn’t add up. Inanother article about the ban, we highlighted that hydropower energy is clean energy.
“Did China make the mistake of a lifetime by banning Bitcoin mining or do they have a secret plan?
The fact that the electricity for crypto mining in Sichuan came from clean hydropower meant that many thought the province would be a safe haven for Bitcoin miners.”
China Ban Theory #4: The New China Model
Weexplored Bloomberg’s theoryabout a “less founder-driven and more China-centric” model that China was supposedly exploring.
“If China is abandoning the Silicon Valley model, what will it replace it with? Insiders suggest it will be less founder-driven and more China-centric.
Why is China dwarfing its biggest industries and players? Is the “China Model” just concerned with scale? Or is control their focus? Are they cracking down on people and companies with too much power that work on a global scale?”
And even though it wasn’t quite believable, it introduced the concept that China was also cracking down on their biggest tech executives. Maybe this isn’t only about Bitcoin?
BTC price chart on Bitbay | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
China Ban Theory #5: Making Bitcoin Hard To Use
This one doesn’t explain the overarching theme of the China ban. It does add color to whatever theory you prefer. In an event, Yin Youping, Deputy Director of the Financial Consumer Rights Protection Bureau of the People’s Bank of China, said, “We remind the people once again that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are not legal tender and have no actual value support.” And proceeded to list everything the PBOC was doing to combat cryptocurrency trading.
In theNewsBTC report about it, we said:
“Maybe their plan is simpler than we thought. It’s possible that The People’s Bank of China is just going to make it really really hard for the common citizen to access Bitcoin. And, China’ll use propaganda and repetition to keep people in check and scared of the unknown. One of Bitcoin’s prototipical adversarial scenarios. A battle that Bitcoin expected sooner or later.”
China Ban Theory #6: Preparing For Evergrande’s Default
Was the Chinese government just closing the exits? They knew thatthe Evergrande situation was inevitableand didn’t want people to have the Bitcoin lifeboat available. In our report, we said:
“To recap: the government saw this coming from a distance. They knew the crisis was going to repeatedly hit the country and banned Bitcoin mining to scare the population into not buying the hardest asset ever created. Bitcoin, the true hedge against the collapse of every economy.”
China Ban Theory #7: FUD To Get More Bitcoin
According toJohn Carvalho’s wild and full of assumptions theory, China bans something related to Bitcoin every cycle to manipulate the price and get more BTC. The country has no incentive to ban the industry. They make too much money mining, plus they control the ASICs manufacturers, plus mining machines inflate the value of chips, and they control that business too. So, Carvalho’s theory is:
“The main ASIC manufacturer, the Chinese company Bitmain, had a new generation of miners ready. So, the CCP “decided to create a demand for the aftermaket and combine it with the FUD.” As they usually do, they sold their Bitcoin and made their shorts. Then, China banned Bitcoin mining and the whole country turned off the ASICs. The world perceived the ban as real, just “look at the hashrate.” This is the first time this happens. Then, China sold a small portion of its ASICs to the USA.”
According to him, Bitcoin mining in China didn’t stop, they’re just not signing the blocks. Of course, he doesn’t have any proof, and neither do we. This is just a theory, like all the others.
What’s really going on in China? What’s the reason behind the great China ban of 2021? We wouldn’t know for sure, but we have many suspicions. Let’s hope 2022 gives us solid evidence, new insights, or, at least, a plausible explanation.
Featured Image by PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView
Bitcoin entrepreneur and podcaster John Carvalho might be on to something. Ina recent episode of the Tales from the Cryptpodcast, he posed his theory on why did China shot itself in the foot by banning Bitcoin mining early in the year. We at NewsBTC have been racking our brains trying to come up with possible reasons for the bizarre decision.
Are theymaking way for their CBDC? Is the CPCcutting the wings of Chinese Billionairesin all areas? Were they alreadylosing the hashpower battle? Is China having energy problems? Is thisan ESG issue? Were theyclosing the exit ramps before the Evergrandecollapse? IsBitcoin just too dangerous? Why would theyretire from a Billion Dollar Businessthat they controlled? Why? WHY?
It has been a long time since I last joined TFTC to chat.
I had a great time discussing misc Bitcoin and “good morning tweet” topics.
Check it out! https://t.co/TVbOEjHWFD
— John Carvalho (@BitcoinErrorLog) November 2, 2021
5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!
The interviewee summarizes our position with one phrase, “I refuse to believe that China is stupid.” According to Carvalho, they’ve made too much money in the mining business alone, and they also control the ASICs manufacturers. Not only that, mining machines inflate the value of chips. And they control that business too, alongside Taiwan and South Korea. Why would they shoot the goose that laid the golden eggs? It just doesn’t make sense… unless…
Carvalho’s Mind Blowin Theory
Warning: the following text is full of speculation and assumptions. “I can easily be wrong,” was one of the first things Carvalho said. He doesn’t have any proof that this is what happens and neither does NewsBTC. Let’s take it as a thought exercise. This is how Carvalho would “play the game,” though. And if he could come up with that plan, so did the CCP leaders.
According to Carvalho, every cycle China manipulates the Bitcoin price to get more BTC. They sell, use the collateral to short Bitcoin, and reaccumulate when the bear market arrives. This time, though, China was facing a more mature and sophisticated market. Their FUD techniques were not working. People weren’t falling for their tricks. So, they had to turn it up a few notches.
Get 110 USDT Futures Bonus for FREE!
The main ASIC manufacturer, the Chinese company Bitmain, had a new generation of miners ready. So, the CCP “decided to create a demand for the aftermaket and combine it with the FUD.” As they usually do, they sold their Bitcoin and made their shorts. Then, China banned Bitcoin mining and the whole country turned off the ASICs. The world perceived the ban as real, just “look at the hashrate.” This is the first time this happens. Then, China sold a small portion of its ASICs to the USA.
According to the latest stats, the USA now provides the biggest percentage of Bitcoin’s hashrate… or does it? “Everybody has this narrative where China has stupidly left mining and giving it to the US,” Carvalho said unconvinced. A few months after the China ban, American mining companies are suddenly on everyone’s radars. But, is this really what’s going on?
If The Theory Holds Up, China Will Come Back To The Mining Game
This is price manipulation on another level. China figured out a way to get more Bitcoin both against traders and against buyers of ASICs in outside countries. They got rid of the old equipment, and Bitmain will provide new machines soon enough. Then, China’ll buy back their Bitcoin, and turn their next-gen ASICs on. According to Carvalho, maybe they already did, and they’re just not signing blocks or signing their blocks differently. If this is true, they’ll unban Bitcoin mining soon enough, and spin a “the resurrection of Asian mining” narrative.
The Tales From The Crypt host, Marty Bent, is not convinced. He argues that we have to separate CCP from the individual Chinese miners. It’s worth noting that Bitcoin mining is Bent’s field of expertise. He is himself a miner and is involved with some mayor Bitcoin mining companies.
According to Ben, there definitely have been mining farms that operated in mainland China and moved to the US. And sizable operations, at that. He thinks that maybe the Chinese didn’t move all the hashrate to the U.S., but they definitely moved “a material ammount.” He also believes that, even after the ban, there’s definitely hashrate still in China.
According to Carvalho, there’s anecdotal evidence that contradicts the theory, but it’s only anecdotal. “We don’t have enough information about China,” he says. Bent agrees and adds that, due to the permissionless nature of the Bitcoin network, we can never truly know what’s happening. However, “foreign buyers are getting access to new gen miners.” At least to the preorders. Take that for what it’s worth.
BTC price chart for 11/08/2021 on Bittrex | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Conclusion And Other China Theories
According to Carvalho, using web traffic measuring tools, you could check that traffic to the Chinese mining pools is roughly the same as before the ban. The signing of blocks is manipulatable. “The only reason we know who mines what is because they say they mined it,” he says. What does this mean? Are the Chinese already mining with? Is there an increase in unsigned blocks? Or are they just signing them as non-Chinese entities? They could’ve been planning this for a long time, setting the pieces in place.
The TFTC host poses an alternative theory. This one’s based onhis conversation with Edwar Evenson from Braiins, who lived in China. According to Evenson, this year marked the 100th anniversary of the CCP, and the theme of the celebration is “harmony.” And, sadly, they consider Bitcoin mining as unharmonious. That’s the reason they banned it. Once the anniversary passes, they’ll quietly allow it back.
Maybe, but according to Carvalho, the Chinese quietly returning to mining is exactly what would happen if any of the two theories are true. He admits that, to confirm his theory, serious research that he can’t perform needs to be done. So, he leaves it open to the public to step up and do it. NewsBTC did its part by publishing this article. It’s your turn now.
Featured Image by panayota from Pixabay - Charts by TradingView
