Blockchain company Bitfury announced the launch of a new crypto-mining data center in Ontario, Canada. The new crypto mining center adds to the list of existing Canadian sites currently operating in Drumheller, Alberta and Medicine Hat. Bitfury partnered with Hut 8 Mining, a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Bitcoin (BTC) mining company, to set up mining operations across North America. The new crypto mining facility in Ontario is expected to operate at 16 megawatts (MW) by the end of this month. According to the announcement, Bitfury has plans to add 12MW capacity in the coming months, which will bring up the total …

Hopium is back on the menu for solo Bitcoin (BTC) miners. A circa $240,000 reward, or 6.25 BTC, was generated by yet another solo miner this morning. This time, the odds were less than 20%, according to Con Kolivas, a Bitcoin software engineer and administrator for ckpool, whose name takes his initials. It’s the fourth “blockfind” for the ckpool since Jan. 11. Kolivas tweeted his congratulations to the miner who joins the ranks of the few and fortunate successful solo BTC miners. Congratulations to a miner with 1.14PH who solved the 264th solo Bitcoin block at https://t.co/UWgBvLkDqc ! https://t.co/5BsWlYkYJt There …

Retail cryptocurrency mining in Thailand has apparently received a boost due to the capitulation of Chinese miners triggered by the country’s new crypto mega ban enforced in September. Thai entrepreneurs and cryptocurrency businesses have been increasingly capitalizing on Chinese miners getting rid of their crypto mining machines, Al Jazeera reported Wednesday. “The moment China banned crypto, we were ecstatic,” one Thai-based Bitcoin (BTC) enthusiast and turned miner said. The miner, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed to have set up a small solar-powered crypto mining unit for about $30,000. “I made it all back in three months,” he said. Another …

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has revealed the details of how it took down crypto “pump and dump” Telegram groups back in October. A pump and dump scheme typically involves using social media to coordinate users to buy large amounts of a thinly traded token to artificially inflate its price. They then cash out with massive gains after other investors, who aren’t in on the scheme, FOMO in on a momentum trade. The new documents reveal that ASIC has been taking counsel from finance academic and crypto researcher, Talis Putnins since early Oct. A 38-slide presentation by Putnins …

Matt Comyn, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), said that the bank is more concerned about the risks of missing out on crypto than those associated with its adoption. The CBA is set to become the first of the “big four” banks in Australia to offer crypto-based services, after the company announced on Nov. 3 that it will support the trading of 10 digital assets directly via its banking app. Speaking with Bloomberg TV on Friday, Nov. 19, Comyn was questioned on the CBA’s take on the crypto sector, with the CEO noting that: “We see risks …

Australian baseball club Perth Heat has announced a partnership with Bitcoin payment processor OpenNode to accept and make payments in Bitcoin (BTC). The partnership allows Perth Heat to pay professional players and staff in Bitcoin. According to the announcement, the professional sports club will send and receive payments in Bitcoin over the Lightning Network. In addition, the partnership with OpenNode allows the Perth Heat organization to accept Bitcoin payments for sponsorships, merchandise and other revenue streams. Taking things a step further, Perth Heat has also rebranded itself to be called “the Bitcoin baseball team.” The club has also listed Bitcoin-branded …

The proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model is the mechanism that kicked off the revolution that launched Bitcoin (BTC) in 2009 and it was the model of choice behind many of the popular projects in the early fledgling years of the crypto ecosystem. As time progressed, other consensus models like proof-of-stake (PoS) rose in popularity, especially as the cost of running mining rigs, the constant need to update equipment and environmental concerns led to the PoW model falling out of favor with many. As a result, projects looking to employ a proof-of-work model have had to adapt to stay aligned with the …

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is going after pump-and-dump groups on Telegram. On Monday, an account under the name “ASIC” posted a message in the “ASX Pump Organization” on Telegram to warn around 300 members of the group that “we’re monitoring this platform and we may be investigating you.” “Coordinated pumping of shares for profits can be illegal. We can see all trades and have access to trader identities. [...] You run the risk of a criminal record, including fines of more than $1 million and prison time.” Many of the group’s members assumed the account to be …

Blockchain and high performance computing firm Northern Data has announced it will acquire Bitcoin miner Bitfield. According to a Monday press release, all major shareholders signed a binding purchase agreement for the entire Bitfield enterprise to be sold at a value of roughly $460 million. Northern Data will acquire an equity interest of between 86% and 100% in Bitfield as per the agreement. Northern Data claims it has become “a leading global Bitcoin mining company” through the acquisition, with the firm gaining immediate access to 6,600 operational ASIC miners. A further 26,000 brand-new miners are expected to be deployed primarily …

As crypto breaches mainstream finance, authorities have started issuing warnings to citizens against unregistered crypto businesses. Joining this list is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as it Australian investors to be wary of unlicensed entities that offer financial products. In a statement released by the ASIC, the regulator advised Australian citizens to make crypto asset related investments via financial institutions that hold an Australian Financial Services license or an Anti-Money Laundering mechanism. The ASIC said it had received reports from investors across Australia of citizens experiencing significant losses after trading crypto financial products such as options, futures, leveraged …

Chinese mining giant Bitmain is reportedly scrambling to respond to market conditions amid a major crackdown on crypto mining activity by local authorities. According to a Wednesday report by Chinese news agency Sina Finance, Bitmain has halted global spot sales for its new Bitcoin (BTC) mining devices in order to avoid losses by customers amid massive selling on the secondary market. By postponing the sales, Bitmain intends to help miners exiting the industry get better prices for mining equipment and protect the firm from further price declines over the longer term, Bloomberg reported. A Bitmain spokesperson said that the company …

Ebang, a publicly listed company providing mining hardware for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), has officially announced the launch of its own crypto exchange. According to an announcement on Monday, qualified investors will be soon able to register and trade on Ebang’s cryptocurrency exchange dubbed Ebonex. Ebang CEO and chairman Dong Hu said: “In recent years, we have made a considerable investment in R&D talent recruiting, as well as product innovation and iteration. The launch of our cryptocurrency exchange business will not only expand the revenue sources from our cryptocurrency business but also optimize the development of our blockchain industry chain.” …