The regulatory scrutiny of blockchains and cryptocurrencies is increasing. From the cryptocurrency mining ban in China to President Joe Biden’s Working Group on Financial Markets, convened by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the economic activities that support and are enabled by blockchains have become a significant concern for policymakers. Most recently, a provision in the proposed 2021 infrastructure bill amends the definition of a broker to expressly include “any person who [...] is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.” The stated goal of this “miner-as-broker” policy change is to improve the …
Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency mining firm Riot Blockchain has demonstrated a remarkable monthly growth of average daily run rate of Bitcoins (BTC) mined, in February. The United States-based firm has seen a 147% increase in the average daily run rate of BTC mined, against the average daily production run rate for December 2019, Riot revealed on March 5. Riot attributed the boost to its mining equipment upgrade. At the beginning of the month, it had 2,940 Bitmain S17s and 1,751 S9s machines, while by the end of the month, it was running 4,000 S17s. Riot’s mining facilities upgrade Riot Blockchain started deploying …
New York-based research firm, CB Insights, has released a report showing that Chinese startups are starting to substantially increase their blockchain-related investments. The research document, titled The Blockchain Report 2020, was published on March 11. It highlights that in 2015, deals from US-based companies accounted for 51% of Blockchain tech growth. Comparatively China-based companies represented only 2%. However, the balance has now tipped in China’s favor. Data indicates that in 2019, the percentage of deals enacted by U.S. startups fell to 31%. During the same year, China’s market share grew to 22%, thus consolidating itself within the blockchain sphere. Reasons …
Local officials of United States’ Douglas County located in central Washington want to build a blockchain innovation campus, local daily newspaper The Seattle Times reports on Jan. 11. According to the aforementioned article, the county is already used to hosting a substantial crypto mining industry. Crypto miners have been attracted to various central Washington counties due to their access to cheap hydroelectricity-generated power; however, the mining boom has reportedly busted in 2018, after the market downturn. The Seattle Times writes that local officials hope that blockchain can power a less volatile industry. The article cites Lisa Parks, executive director of …
Bitcoin (BTC) seems to be on everyone’s mind lately as the world recently witnessed the price of BTC take a rather unexpected bearish turn this month. On January 21, 2022, Bitcoin reached six-month lows, sinking below $40,000 for the first time in months. While some panicked, other industry experts pointed out that the Bitcoin network has become verifiably stronger than ever before. The growth of the Bitcoin network has become apparent, as hash rate figures for BTC continue to set new highs this month. For example, on Jan. 22, the BTC network recorded an all-time high of 26.643 trillion with …