The government of Kosovo has ceased crypto mining in the country owing to power constraints during the winter season. Kosovo's minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, has decided to stop crypto mining following a recommendation from the Technical Committee on "Emergency Measures for Energy Supply," according to a report by local outlet Gazeta Express. The report notes that the government made the decision after Kosovo's power supply fell below the stipulated level, and it began to impose electricity cuts during peak usage periods. According to Rizvanolli, the government decided to establish a technical committee to evaluate emergency energy supply strategies in …

Today marks the 13th year since Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block or block 0 of the Bitcoin network, and for the first time mined a reward of 50 BTC back on Mon, 2009. Fast-forward to 2022, the BTC network shows no signs of slowing down by reaching a new all-time high hash rate of 207.53 million tera hashes per second (TH/s). The Bitcoin hash rate, which correlates to the strength of the network based on the number of active miners, saw a temporary downfall after China banned citizens and businesses from pursuing crypto mining and trading …

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 …

Amid Iran’s energy consumption increasing during the winter, local energy authorities have decided to halt operations of authorized cryptocurrency mining centers. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, chairman of the board and managing director of Iran Grid Management Company (Tavanir), announced that Iran is shutting down crypto mining centers again to reduce liquid fuel consumption in power plants amid decreasing temperatures. Mashhadi said that Iranian authorities took this action to reduce energy consumption last month, The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported on Dec. 25. “The Energy Ministry has been implementing measures since last month to reduce the use of liquid fuels …

Financial services company Fidelity Investments’ U.K. arm reported that over the last 12 months customers were most interested in trading shares of crypto mining firm Argo Blockchain. In a Thursday report, Fidelity said Argo Blockchain ranked third among the top five stocks most actively traded by its customers in 2021 — the others were Rolls-Royce, British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines, oil giant BP, and Lloyds Banking Group. Argo, which Fidelity described as a “trending” stock, also ranked third among stocks traded by Self-Invested Personal Pension, or SIPP, investors. However, the financial services company hinted that Argo may not make …

On Dec. 17, 2021, the Senate of Paraguay approved a cryptocurrency bill introduced in July. The provisions, which define several key terms including virtual assets and call for licenses to mine cryptocurrencies, will now be sent to the Deputy Chamber for further deliberation. Senator Fernando Silva Facetti, the bill's sponsor, revealed that it's passed in the Paraguayan Senate after a contentious debate. According to the senator, the law also aims to foster the growth of crypto mining activities by using the surplus electricity generated in the country. (1/3) Today, after an intense debate, the Senate @SenadoresPy approved todaya New Law …

Publicly traded crypto mining firm Hive Blockchain is expecting to produce 6,900 Ether (ETH) and 670 Bitcoin (BTC) for the fiscal quarter ending on Dec. 31, marking a respective drop and increase over that of the previous quarter. In a Wednesday notice to shareholders, Hive said it had mined 6,280 Ether from Oct. 1 to Dec. 21, and was on track to mine more than 65 ETH daily for the remainder of 2021. This projected total — 6,900 ETH — would represent a decrease of more than 20% from the 8,688 ETH the company mined from July 1 to Sept. …

Bitcoin (BTC) may have fluctuated in price this year, but BTC remains a better play than the biggest crypto stocks. New data currently circulating shows that for all the growth in the industry surrounding Bitcoin, it still pays simply to buy and hold. Stocks fail to compete with BTC, ETH Looking at the stock performance of firms with the largest BTC allocations on their balance sheets, it becomes immediately apparent that it was more profitable to hold BTC than those equities — at least this year. “Buying crypto stocks to outperform coins is hard,” Three Arrows Capital CEO Zhu Su …

Billion-dollar companies across the globe are betting big on Bitcoin (BTC). Recent analysis from European investment manager Nickel Digital Asset Management found that 20 publically listed companies with a market capitalization of over $1 trillion have about $9.6 billion invested in BTC. Individual investors are also taking an increasing interest in the asset. The “Third Annual Bitcoin Investor Study” from Grayscale Research found that demand for Bitcoin has risen tremendously. According to the study, 55% of current Bitcoin investors began buying the asset over just the last 12 months. Grayscale’s report also notes that the market for those interested in …

Bitcoin (BTC) is often used to criticize all blockchain-based projects. This is understandable since Bitcoin was the first project to use a blockchain, is arguably the most recognizable and is the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. In the first half of this article, I will use Bitcoin as a proxy for all blockchain-based projects because most people associate blockchain with Bitcoin. Anything environmentally positive that can be said about Bitcoin will be doubly true for the vast majority of newer blockchain-based projects since Bitcoin uses the oldest version of blockchain technology. Blockchain energy consumption Bitcoin has been attacked for high …

The year-long mantra that the crypto market would see a blow-off top in December has proven to be a dud thus far and for the last week, most cryptocurrencies have been under sell pressure and Bitcoin (BTC) is encountering difficulty in trading above $47,000. That said, it's not all bad news for cryptocurrency holders on Friday because several altcoins have managed to post double-digit gains due to new exchange listings and protocol upgrades. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Flux (FLUX), SafePal (SFP) and Badger DAO (BADGER). FLUX benefits …

A new proposal in the Brazilian Congress calls for a tax exemption on both the importation of crypto mining rigs and on any mining conducted using renewable energy sources. A Dec. 4 report from Brazilian media outlet Seudinheiro explains that a series of new proposals from Brazilian lawmakers could reduce the criticism crypto gets in South America’s largest country. Congress also heard a proposal to have cryptocurrency be regarded as a currency as opposed to a commodity. If this proposal passes, crypto exchanges will be able to provide financial services and issue loans to Brazilian residents. Senator Irajá Silvestre Filho …