After a tumultuous 2020 that continued into Bitcoin (BTC) setting new all-time highs in 2021, Bitcoin miners are facing a bittersweet scenario — profits have skyrocketed, but multiple issues prevent them from buying more devices and boosting Bitcoin’s hash rate. According to the founder of major mining pool BTC.Top, Jiang Zhuoer, global electronics supply chain issues are having their effect on the mining industry as well. Speaking with Cointelegraph, he said: “There is definitely a shortage of equipment right now because, since the coronavirus epidemic, the global supply chain has been interrupted and is now in the process of gradually …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining rig manufacturer Bitmain has issued a notice to customers stating that business operations will resume as normal in light of former chairman and CEO Jihan Wu’s departure from the company. Orders of Bitmain’s ASIC mining rigs were previously halted temporarily in 2020 during an internal power struggle at the Beijing-based hardware company. In a dramatic saga that saw Bitmain’s two co-founders, Micree Zhan and Wu, attempt to oust one another from the leadership of the company, Zhan temporarily stopped a Shenzen subsidiary from shipping products to customers, as reported by local outlet The Block Beats at the …

The regime of Nicolás Maduro continues to lean on crypto to keep economically solvent. Via Instagram, an engineering brigade of the Venezuelan army inaugurated the new "Digital Assets Production Center of the Bolivarian Army of Venezuela." As the video shows, the center houses various ASIC mining equipment used to crack proof-of-work algorithms. General Lenin Herrera presented the new mining operation. The stated goal of the mining operation is "strengthening and self-sustainability of our units of the Bolivarian Army," adding later that these mining centers would be generating "unblockable sources of income" and an alternative to the "trust system blocked and …

For the past several months, miners around the world have been extremely active, which can be seen through spikes in hash rates that coincided with a significant increase in the prices of cryptocurrencies. At the beginning of 2020, Ether (ETH) could be bought for $130, and now, ETH has reached $500. The king of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC), added almost a cool $10,000 to its price. So, how can users engage with the industry? What has been obvious for some time now is that solo mining is not the way to go. For Bitcoin, Ether and every major altcoin, the blockchain …

Asic Jungle has launched a beta version of what it calls “the first-ever mining hardware marketplace” for cryptocurrency mining hardware. The company's CEO Artem Bespaloff told Cointelegraph that he has created a trusted platform for second-hand mining equipment that operates without any middlemen: "[It's] the first and only online marketplace where buyers can interact directly with sellers through the platform and not have to use any brokerage services or Telegram channels (I call them 'sketchy' Telegram channels) because all sorts of things go on there. And we decided to create this ecosystem where buyers and sellers deal together between themselves." …

Bitcoin mining rig manufacturer Canaan on Aug. 31 released its unaudited financial results for the second quarter of 2020. While gross profit was up both year on year and quarter on quarter, the company still posted a net loss, albeit one which has narrowed significantly in the last twelve months. The amount of computing power sold in its application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) hardware was 2.6 million THash/s. This represents an increase of almost 200% on Q1 figures of 0.9 million THash/s, but is an 18.2% drop on figures from the previous year. Revenues were also up 160% on last …

Grin (GRIN), a major privacy-focused cryptocurrency, is apparently no longer resistant to mining with Application-Specific Integrated Circuits — or ASICs — according to a former core developer. Gary Yu, a former core Grin developer, used a Grin ASIC mining device to test out the miner’s performance, according to an Aug. 10 post on Grin’s official forum. Yu purportedly managed to mine three blocks in less than 24 hours, with a block reward totaling at 180 GRIN, or $118 as of press time. ASIC-powered mining occurred at block heights 819660, 820461, and 820801, Yu added. In the post, the former core …

Over the course of the past few years, the cryptocurrency mining sector has started to gain a lot of mainstream financial traction. For example, market research firm Technavio recently released startling data claiming that the global mining hardware market is all set to grow by a whopping $2.8 billion between 2020 and 2024. This incredible surge was attributed to the rising popularity of mining pools, most of which are currently concentrated in China. Not only that, over the course of the past few months, companies like Btc.top have been seeking to redefine the concept of Bitcoin (BTC) acquisition, for example, …

The wholesale embrace of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) mining for Bitcoin (BTC) could increase the cost of a 51% attack by a factor of up to 2,000. Rod Garratt University of California Santa Barbara presented the research he co-authored with Maarten van Oordt from the Bank of Canada at the Unitize conference on July 10. It examined the varying costs of a 51% attack on the Bitcoin network based on the type of equipment used to secure the network. The research suggests by simply switching the network 100% ASIC miners ongoing security can be enhanced greatly. The main reason is …

United States-based crypto mining host Core Scientific has announced that the $5.3 billion asset manager and hedge fund Horizon Kinetics has upgraded its investment to access Bitmain’s news Antminer S19 and S19 Pro models. The July 2 announcement comes less than two weeks after Core Scientific announced a record purchase of 17,595 units of latest mining machines — comprising the largest sum of Antminer S19s purchased by a single mining hosting company.so far. US mining firm buys 17,595 Antminers Since first partnering last more than one year ago, Core Scientific reports that Horizon Kinetics has tripled the number of miners …

The Bitcoin (BTC) mining ASIC manufacturing industry is expected to further consolidate due to tightened competition, geopolitical pressures and slower returns on investment after Bitcoin’s recent halving. In a new report from crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, published June 15, researchers wrote they “think it is likely that only 2 to 3 players will survive into the longer term.” The report analyzes the history and present state of the ASIC manufacturing industry, with a focus on the major players currently involved —- Bitmain, MicroBT, Canaan and Ebang. ASIC refers to mining hardware that uses Application-Specific Integrated Circuit chips, which are tailored …

United States firm, Marathon Patent Group, announced that it installed 700 units of Bitcoin (BTC) mining application-specific integrated circuit, or ASIC, units. According to a June 3 announcement, Marathon Patent Group installed 700 Whatsminer M30S+ ASICs produced by MicroBT. The company is also reportedly waiting for a delivery of 1,160 AntminerS19 Pro units produced by leading mining ASIC producer, BitMain. In late March, Bitmain announced that it sold the first batch of Antminer S19s and S19 Pros within 24 hours after starting to accept orders. On June 1, the firm also announced the launch of its newest Antminer T19 features …