The Federal Reserve’s ongoing research into central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, has broadened to include stablecoins and whether they can be effectively regulated. In their paper, which was published in SSRN’s eLibrary on July 17, Gorton and Zhang argue that “privately produced monies” such as stablecoins are “not an effective medium of exchange because they are not always accepted at par and are subject to runs.” The authors then go on to propose solutions to address what they consider to be “systemic risks created by stablecoins.” After taking a deep dive into the history of private money, beginning with …
Even before China finally wielded the ban hammer on crypto mining, Bitcoin (BTC) miners in North America had been building up their capacity amid efforts to gain a larger share of the global hash rate distribution. From building bigger data centers to acquiring hardware inventories, these establishments have been making concert efforts to balance the hash-power dichotomy between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. North American Bitcoin miners often have to contend with energy usage concerns as well and some have been keen to partner with oil and gas firms, becoming buyers of last resort for flared gas. Indeed, American oil …
It has now been three months since Bitcoin’s price peaked at an all-time high just shy of $65,000. For most of the last two months, Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading in the $30,000–$40,000 range, as much as 54% lower than its peak The downturn came at a time when many analysts were predicting exactly the opposite — a bull cycle set to run to new record highs within months — with some even speculating that a six-figure BTC price would materialize this year. So, what’s going on? Is the current market downturn just a blip on an otherwise upward trajectory, …
A major cryptocurrency and blockchain association in Russia is launching a project to bring global crypto mining operations to the country amid a Chinese crypto mining crackdown. The Russian Association of Cryptoeconomics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, or RACIB, announced an initiative aimed at transferring global computing resources for crypto mining to the Russian Federation. More information on the project is expected to be released at a later date, a spokesperson for RACIB told Cointelegraph. In order to promote and implement the project, RACIB is closely cooperating with Russian government authorities and state corporations, forming a range of joint working groups …
Much attention has been paid to the global, geopolitical implications of China’s rapid and pioneering development of its digital yuan, also provisionally known as e-CNY. Yet in a new white paper published by the Working Group on E-CNY Research and Development of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the institution gave a more domestic-focused and technologically-driven vision of the new currency’s background and key objectives. Recapping the currency’s research and development timeline, the paper notes that the PBoC first set up a task force to study digital fiat currency back in 2014. By 2016, it had established a Digital Currency …
This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations. It has now been two months since the crypto crackdown and subsequent enforcement began. Most new stories are now just the trickling down of earlier national policies being enforced at a provincial level. The latest example was from the Anhui provincial government, as it announced a set of measures to reduce energy consumption, with cryptocurrency mining listed among the culprits. Anhui is a small province east of Shanghai, …
Since the start of the summer, a series of measures from Chinese authorities to curb cryptocurrency trading and mining have dominated the crypto news cycle. From urging financial service providers to throttle cryptocurrency-related transactions to ordering a crypto trading software provider shut down, the initiatives coming out of Beijing and their repercussions are widely believed to have contributed considerably to the recent market downturn. What motivates this new round of hostile actions, and how will they affect the cryptocurrency space of the nation that had once accounted for some two-thirds of the global digital asset supply? Furthermore, it seems that …
China’s crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) mining due to energy consumption concerns is widely regarded as the trigger for the miners’ exodus from Asia to Western countries. But new research by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance suggests that the shift in mining power started before China’s renewed scrutiny. Reuters reported that China’s total computing power connected to the Bitcoin network, or hash rate, fell from 75.5% in September 2019 to 46% in April 2021, before the Asian country even officially announced the mining crackdown. During the same 18-month period, the United States quadrupled its share of the global Bitcoin hash …
Two weeks after a 15% increase in electricity prices in Turkey, a new store selling professional mining equipment has opened its doors in Istanbul — the business hub of the country — on Tuesday. Opening a mining equipment shop in a country with costly electricity seems counterintuitive. But Phoenix Store, Bitmain’s sales partner in the Middle East, did the math before opening its second store within the region. Phoenix Store CEO Phil Harvey explained that the company’s primary goal with the Istanbul store is to educate Turkey’s crypto-friendly population about crypto mining. Then, customers can purchase mining equipment and hosting …
The Chinese government continues cracking down on the cryptocurrency mining industry by suspending crypto mining operations in another province. Authorities at Anhui, a small province in eastern China, have announced a set of measures to tackle growing electricity demand and an associated power supply shortage in the next three years, local news agency Hefei Online reported on Wednesday. As part of Anhui’s efforts to curb energy consumption, the province plans to shut down crypto mining projects and scrutinize new initiatives that require large amounts of energy consumption. Local authorities also plan to adopt new practices for building data centers as …
Shenzhen-based crypto mining firm, Bit Mining, is raising $50 million to fund an expansion out of the Chinese market. Announced on July 12, the firm has entered into an agreement with select institutional and accredited investors to raise $50 million through a private placement. Bit Mining is raising the funds in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on crypto mining in May, noting plans to “acquire additional mining machines, build new data centers,” and expand its infrastructure overseas. US$50 Million Private Placement! Ready for greater expansion! — BIT Mining Limited (@BITMining_BTCM) July 13, 2021 Bit Mining is owned by …
The9, a Chinese internet company listed on the Nasdaq, is moving forward with its cryptocurrency mining plans by signing a contract with a major Russian data center operator. The company announced Monday that it has signed a crypto-mining hosting agreement with Russian crypto mining services provider BitRiver through its fully-owned subsidiary, NBTC. As part of the agreement, BitRiver will reserve 15 megawatts (MW) of its electric capacity for The9's Bitcoin (BTC) mining machine deployment for an initial term of two years. After the contract expires, both parties have the right to automatically extend their cooperation for one more year, the …