The Russian Ministry of Energy is looking to introduce special electricity tariffs for cryptocurrency miners following a migration of the industry into the country from nearby China. Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov announced Wednesday that the authority is working on a new framework to differentiate tariffs between general usage and cryptocurrency mining, local news agency RBC reported on Wednesday. Shulginov said that cryptocurrency miners in Russia should not consume electricity at residential tariffs, stating: “We can’t let miners capitalize on the situation at the expense of low residential electricity tariffs [...] In order to maintain the reliability and quality of …

Following sweeping crackdowns by China against Bitcoin mining activity, the United States has now emerged as the leading nation in terms of hash rate. According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), Bitcoin (BTC) miners in the U.S. account for 35.4% of the total global BTC mining hash rate distribution. The CBECI data also shows Kazakhstan (18%) and Russia (11%) as the next major Bitcoin mining centers outside the United States. These three nations have gained significant market share in the wake of China’s crypto mining ban. Back in June, Cointelegraph reported that BTC.com, one of the largest Chinese …

Binance crypto exchange officially announced on Wednesday that the company will delist the Chinese yuan (CNY) from its peer-to-peer trading platform on Dec. 31. Alongside terminating yuan trading pairs, Binance will continue further restricting access to its platform for users from mainland China, introducing new measures for accounts found to be linked to the region. Binance will specifically limit such accounts to “withdrawal only” mode, limiting transactions to withdrawals, redeeming and closing positions. Binance emphasized that the company “withdrew from the Chinese mainland market in 2017” and has not been engaged in exchange business in the region since. The exchange …

Last month China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), published a memo criminalizing practically all cryptocurrency activity. When the memo started circulating online, Bitcoin’s (BTC) price dropped over 6.5%. Soon after, however, industry experts suggested that the news may have been the ultimate dip-buying opportunity. China’s crackdown on crypto started years ago, to the point that Bitcoin suffered its biggest mining difficulty drop of nearly 28% in July of this year as miners started migrating out of China after the government tightened its grip on bitcoin mining and trading. The crackdown saw the computing power securing the Bitcoin …

The Chinese government-backed blockchain project, the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), continues expanding its global presence by setting up two new portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan. Red Date Technology, the architect behind the BSN project, has signed an agreement with a Turkish consultancy firm, Turkish Chinese Business Matching Center (TUCEM), to launch two international BSN portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan in late December 2021. Established in 2006, TUSEM became a major economic cooperation hub between Turkey and China. The company will be the exclusive operator of the two new BSN portals offering blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) in Turkey and Uzbekistan. The new portals …

Fast-food giant McDonald's China released a set of 188 nonfungible tokens (NFT) on Oct. 8 to celebrate its 31st anniversary in the Chinese market. Branded as "Big Mac Rubik's Cube," the NFTs will be distributed among employees and consumers as a part of the giveaway. The Big Mac Rubik's Cube NFTs are designed based on the three-dimensional structure of McDonald's China’s new office headquarters, which was inaugurated along with the launch of the NFTs. The NFTs are built on the Conflux public blockchain and are created in partnership with Cocafe, a digital asset creation agency, ensuring that “each work is …

Bitmain, a Chinese manufacturer of cryptocurrency mining equipment, has been forced to stop its business in China from Oct. 11 following the crypto ban imposed by local authorities. In addition to China’s blanket ban on crypto operations, the company has attributed the move to stop shipping Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency mining rigs as a response to China’s carbon-neutral policies. According to Bitmain’s announcement: “From October 11, 2021, Antminer will stop shipping to mainland China. For customers in mainland China who have purchased long-term products, our staff will contact them to provide alternative solutions.” While the company has yet to reveal …

Over the past few months, there have been some major developments coming out of China that have rocked the cryptocurrency market and the global financial markets. China’s Evergrande debt repayment crisis sent shockwaves throughout global equities markets, as well as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) consistent signaling of upcoming regulation for stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) continued to weigh on sentiment within the market. While the Evergrande situation somewhat resolved itself, for the time being, the government crackdown on unregulated DeFi platforms and stablecoin transactions continues. This has resulted in cross-chain equipped layer-one protocols and layer-two solutions …

A subsidiary of the blockchain software provider Powerbridge Technologies, Powercrypto Holdings, has announced the launch of a sustainable cryptocurrency mining initiative for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in Hong Kong. The company plans to deploy a total of 2,600 first-grade mining rigs, comprising of 600 BTC mining machines operating at a hash rate of 60 PH/s, as well as a further 2,000 ETH mining machines, which harness a hash rate power of 1,000 GH/s. According to the announcement, Powercrypto’s ultimate ambition with the inauguration of this venture is to increase the BTC and ETH hash rate level across the North …

What’s next for the green movement of the industry? Considering the environmental consequences of blockchain technology has led to recent innovation in the crypto space. It has encouraged networks like XDC to empower sustainable alternative technological solutions for digital currencies and enterprises wishing to operate with digital assets such as Ledgermail, StorX, GoPlugin, Blockdegree, TradeFinex, stable coins and many more in the future. As more and more developers begin to use cryptocurrencies to integrate with blockchain technology, XinFin is helping to reduce the environmental impact. Learn more about Xinfin Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this …

Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin issuer by market capitalization, has refuted the details of a Bloomberg story on its reserves holdings. In a Thursday report, Bloomberg journalist Zeke Faux made numerous claims against Tether, including that its chief financial officer Giancarlo Devasini has used the company’s reserves to make investments, that seem to contradict Tether’s public position that the holdings were fully backed at all times. In addition, Faux alleges that Tether has invested in Chinese firms and issued crypto-backed loans “worth billions of dollars.” According to the report, he was only able to confirm one bank in the Bahamas …

Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and former United States President Donald Trump have both slammed digital currencies as a threat to the U.S. dollar. Griffin, the founder of the $38-billion hedge fund Citadel LLC, told the Economic Club of Chicago on Monday that crypto is “a jihadist call that we don’t believe in the dollar.” He expressed his dismay over the younger generation working on dollar alternatives in the crypto sector: “What a crazy concept this is, that we as a country embrace so many bright, young, talented people to come up with a replacement for our reserve currency.” “I …