Marathon Bought 78,000 Bitcoin Miners For $879 Million

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Spikes 13.55%, Reaches New ATH of 35.6 Trillion Hashes

by Blockchain NewsOctober 11, 2022

According to the latest data collected from BTC.com, Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased by 13.55% since the last adjustment around two weeks ago.

The current difficulty adjustment now takes 35.6 trillion hashes to generate one Bitcoin (BTC), a massive increase of 13.55% from the previous estimates. As per the data, the hike is the highest increase in Bitcoin mining difficulty since May 2021.

Source: BTC.com

The network rate now stands at 257 million TH/s (terra hashes per second), a massive increase over the 140 million TH/s it had at this time last year, BTC.com data indicated.

Despite pressure from declining prices being witnessed this year, the difficulty adjustment continues its steady rise while the competition among its miners has been growing. High difficulty means it takes more computing power to mine the same number of blocks and makes the network secure. An increase in mining difficulty also means that miners must put in more computing power in order to mine a block. And miners compete against each other for limited block rewards. With more participants and more computing power, the so-called “hashpower” of the entire network increases significantly, which is good for Bitcoin’s price in the long run.

Mining difficulty in the Bitcoin network is adjusted automatically every two weeks after 2,016 blocks have been mined in the network. The next difficulty adjustment will take place on October 24.

Increasing difficulty suggests more challenges ahead for Bitcoin miners who are already feeling the heat from the weak Bitcoin prices and higher energy costs. The bear market has been rough for the miners, who have seen profit margins shrink as Bitcoin prices crashed more than 50% this year while capital dried up and power prices surged.

Last month, one of the largest Bitcoin mining data centres, Compute North, filed for bankruptcy, citing the severe bear market, trouble with its largest lender, and supply issues. On Friday last week, Bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain raised $27 million after agreeing to issue 87 million shares to a sole investor in bids to ease liquidity pressures.

Image source: Shutterstock

Source

Crypto Miners in Texas Halted Due to Extreme Heat

by Blockchain NewsJuly 12, 2022

Many crypto miners have shut down operations due to a heatwave in Texas.

With temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit already in most areas, the Electric Reliability Commission of Texas (ERCOT) on Sunday urged Texas residents and businesses to save electricity.

Crypto miners have stopped mining operations, fearing that the state’s electrical energy may not be able to meet electricity needs, such as turning on air conditioners for long periods of time.

Crypto miner Core Scientific tweeted a notice that to help people in Texas, all Core Scientific ASIC servers located in the state have been shut down and will remain closed until further notice.

ERCOT (Electrical Reliability Commission of Texas) is the organization responsible for operating the state’s electrical grid.

Many crypto miners in Texas have voluntarily cooperated to manage their power consumption as needed to ensure that the ERCOT grid is not under extreme stress. ERCOT requires a perfect balance between demand and supply to ensure the smooth operation of the grid.

Demands could hit a record 79,615 megawatts (MW), the group said. And ERCOT reported on Sunday that wind energy is “producing significantly less electricity than it has historically produced during the period” — less than 8% of capacity is expected to peak at demand.

Miners registered with ERCOT’s ancillary services are ready to shut down power at ERCOT’s direction due to the unusually high temperatures and the drop in wind power generation from the ERCOT system, available to all Texas consumers during periods of peak demand.

Many famous mining companies settle down in Texas so far. The London-listed Bitcoin mining company Argo Blockchain is one of the mining firms that officially launched its flagship mining facility Helios in Texas in May. In June, Riot Blockchain said it planned to ship the “remaining fleet of S19 miners” from New York to Texas,

Image source: Shutterstock

Source

Tagged : Bitcoin / Blockchain / Miners / Mining / Texas

Georgia State Becomes next Mining Hub, Bitcoin Miners Enjoys its Green Energy

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 8, 2022

The exodus of crypto mining operations out of China massively has become a blessing in disguise to the United States, given that it now takes the lion’s share.

With billion-dollar mining machines plugged across the U.S., crypto mining is spawning as an entirely new industry on American soil that generates tax revenue to state governments.

As a result, new destinations like Georgia State are emerging among top-of-mind for Bitcoin miners, thanks to minimal power costs and sufficient solar and nuclear power, according to Foundry’s digital currency group.

Per the announcement:

“Miners in the state were responsible for more than 34% of the computing power in the pool as of Jan. 31, almost double its share since last year’s third quarter.”

Bitcoin miners are also eyeing Georgia because it enables them to revamp their public image as emissions-free or sustainable based on environmentally friendly energy like solar power.

Furthermore, favourable approaches utilized by state authorities are making crypto companies, like Bitmain Technologies Ltd, set up camp in Georgia. ‘

The report noted:

“Regulators in the state have also built a reputation for being friendly to miners, guiding miners toward a solar program that allows companies to offset their emissions with renewable energy credits, and giving them access to day-ahead power prices, so miners have enough time to throttle back their operations when rates are set to spike.”

Foundry is among the world’s biggest mining pools, with operations in other states like North Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, New York, and Kentucky.

Meanwhile, a new wave of green energy programs influences the crypto mining sector on American soil. For instance, EV Battery Technologies, a blockchain and battery tech company, launched a commercial emission-free crypto mining solution dubbed Daymak Solar Tree. Furthermore, it collaborated with the Renewable Obligation Base energy economy for environmentally friendly initiatives in cryptocurrency mining.

Image source: Shutterstock

Source

Tagged : #BTC / Bitcoin / Crypto / Georgia / Miners / Mining / Regulation / United States

Georgia Becomes next Mining Hub for Bitcoin Miners with Green Energy

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 8, 2022

The exodus of crypto mining operations out of China massively has become a blessing in disguise to the United States, given that it now takes the lion’s share. (Read More)

Source

Tagged : #BTC / Bitcoin / Crypto / Georgia / Miners / Mining / Regulation / United States

Bitcoin Hits a Five-month Low of $39,650, Leading to $323M Liquidation for Crypto Traders

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 11, 2022

Bitcoin prices hit a five-month low of $39,650 on Monday, briefly dipping 40K before bouncing back to the $42K level.

Over 103,839 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours due to the slump in mainstream currency bitcoin. Liquidation value was as high as $329.63 Million, of which $118.04 Million was related to Bitcoin trading positions.

The largest single liquidation order happened on Bitmex – XBTUSD value $5.95 Million.

According to Coinglass data, for bitcoin, the liquidation amount in the bitcoin cryptocurrency market in the past 12 hours was about $90.40 million, and the liquidation amount in four hours was $2.20 million.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced that there is a high probability that it will raise interest in March amid greater discomfort with high inflation this year, as reported by Blockchain. News on January 5.

A famous crypto analyst with 555.1K followers Michaël van de Poppe tweeted that:

“If $40.6K holds, continuation upwards to $42.6K and potentially $46K is on the tables.”

But the recent situation for cryptocurrency miners was not optimistic. For instance, Kazakhstan-based crypto miners have been witnessed an unprecedented situation as they find themselves surrounded by uncertainty due to political forces.

The country’s fast-growing cryptocurrency mining industry has been affected by a nationwide internet shutdown as protests erupted in western Kazakhstan against rising fuel prices.

Ethereum also saw a dip as it dropped below $3,000 on Monday morning, touching 2928.63 after trading above $4,000 for much of December 2021.

Ether (ETH)-related trading positions liquidated $89 million.

According to CoinmarketCap, Bitcoin was down 9.01% in 7 days and was trading at $41,946.45 during the intraday.

Ethereum’s 7-day slump was even more severe, nearly doubling BTC’s overall drop. In 7 days, Ethereum plummeted 16.78%. At press time, ETH has rebounded to the 3K price level and is trading at $3,104.09

Image source: Shutterstock

Source

Tagged : #ETH / Bitcoin / BITCOIN PRICES / Blockchain / Liquidation / Market Update / Miners