Blockchain mining networks are often victims of their success. The two contemporary realities that demarcate the mining landscape and cause blockchains to fall short of what they promise are 1) the ongoing technological arms race driven by inherent competitive greed; and 2) the rising energy costs associated with proof-of-work (PoW) mining. Blockchains built on the PoW consensus have become highly unequal and increasingly centralized in terms of their hash rate. This concentration of mining power in fewer and fewer hands is an attack on the fundamental requirement for distribution and decentralization that blockchains possess. In addition, the motivation to ramp …

The crypto market has been surging recently and there’s one cryptocurrency — Bitcoin (BTC) — leading the way. After having suffered through volatility for the better part of the last 60-some days, the flagship crypto has showcased a high level of recovery, even breaking past its 200-day moving average earlier this month, suggesting that a move to the $50,000 psychological barrier may be in the cards soon. To really put things into perspective, over the last month alone, BTC has registered gains of more than 55%, helping to take the total market capitalization of this relatively nascent space back beyond …

Bitcoin (BTC) may be the last thing one might consider when thinking about ways to ensure a clean-energy future. This has especially become the case following a tweet sent by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk back in May, in which he stated that Tesla would stop accepting BTC payments due to the increasing usage of fossil fuels for mining. Yet raising awareness around the high energy costs typically associated with Bitcoin mining didn’t negatively impact the crypto ecosystem — in fact, it did just the opposite. Following Musk’s tweet, a number of cryptocurrency mining companies came out of the woodwork to …

Filings submitted by the $9 trillion multinational investment manager BlackRock reveal that the firm has made significant investments in two leading publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) mining firms. A June 30 filing submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, unearthed by Forbes, shows that BlackRock owns a 6.71% stake in Marathon Digital Holdings and 6.61% of Riot Blockchain. In total, the investments are valued at nearly $384 million, with BlackRock having purchased nearly $207 million worth of Marathon stock and $176 million worth of Riot stock. According to ETF.com, BlackRock’s iShares Russell 2000 ETF holds more shares in Marathon …

Nvidia beat the expectations by generating over $6.5 billion in revenue, but the chip manufacturer missed the target for its crypto-mining GPU line. The California-based tech giant announced its financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended Aug. 1, 2021. Key highlights include $6.51 billion in revenue, 15% up from the first quarter, and $1.04 billion earnings, both largely bolstered by gaming, data center and professional visualization equipment sales. With the addition of GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti, the gaming segment led the record growth with $3.06 billion in revenue and an 85% growth from last year. …

A Bitcoin (BTC) mining indicator that has preceded several major BTC price rallies is flashing again. Blockchain analytics platform Glassnode spotted a golden cross between the 30-day and 60-day moving averages of Bitcoin's hash ribbon. In theory, such a crossover indicates that the price momentum is switching from negative to positive. Hash ribbons are based on Bitcoin’s network hash rate behavior and are designed to tell investors when the price is due to experience upside. In simple terms, they show when Bitcoin becomes more expensive to mine relative to the base cost of mining. Miners earn less in U.S. dollar …

The last-minute cryptocurrency provisions added to the United States infrastructure bill sought to “capture DeFi,” argues Compound general counsel Jake Chervinsky. Appearing on the Bankless State of the Nation podcast on Tuesday, Chervinsky — who is also DeFi chair of the Blockchain Association — said the industry had been “blindsided” by the infrastructure bill’s crypto tax provisions that were announced just nine days prior to when it was expected to pass through the Senate. While Chervinsky seemed willing to give most elected officials the benefit of the doubt, noting that previous discussions surrounding the infrastructure bill had “nothing to do …

The team behind mining software NBMiner claims to have partially cracked Nvidia’s anti-mining limitations. Back in June Nvidia implemented an algorithm called Lite Hash Rate, or LHR, on all graphics cards from its RTX 30 series in an attempt to curb crypto mining. The limiter works on both the BIOS and driver level detecting mining algorithms to drastically reduce its mining power by up to 50% of its original capability. At the time, the company claimed that miners were disrupting its supply chain, consequently increasing the price of its graphics cards due to low supply. Nvidia prioritized its gaming user …

Cryptocurrency mining company Argo Blockchain announced Tuesday that it has reached an important milestone in its climate strategy, sending a strong signal that environmental sustainability remains one of its primary focuses. The company claimed that its crypto operations have become “climate positive” for Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions. According to Carbon Trust, a global advocacy group for environmental sustainability, Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from a company’s owned or controlled sources; Scope 2 covers indirect emissions through the purchase of electricity; and Scope 3 includes all other indirect forms of emission that occur in a company’s …

The double-digit rallies seen from many altcoins show that traders are becoming increasingly bullish with the passing of each day, but maintaining this momentum will to some extent depend on Bitcoin’s (BTC) short-term price action. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after touching the $48,000 price level during the early morning trading hours on Monday, the price of BTC dipped below $45,800 as bulls scrambled to put a halt to the price slide. Here’s what analysts are saying could be the next steps for Bitcoin’s price. Bitcoin needed to retest support after a 50% rally Bitcoin’s surge …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) rapid recovery above $46,000 has renewed calls for a $100,000 BTC price by the end of 2021, while the effects of China’s crackdown on the mining industry are slowly beginning to fade as the Bitcoin network hash rate shows signs of recovery. One of the side benefits of China’s crackdown is that it has lowered the barriers of entry into the Bitcoin mining space, which has been shown to provide profits in both bull and bear markets. Bitcoin mining is one of the few ways that investors can acquire BTC without directly purchasing it from the market, and …

As the United States continues to weigh out the best ways to include crypto businesses through an infrastructure bill, the state of Wyoming has taken proactive measures to attract Bitcoin (BTC) miners and other crypto businesses to its local jurisdiction. Wyoming’s crypto-friendly notion comes into light as the state has passed more than 24 bills related to blockchain technology. A recent CNBC report shows that the state has now approved a bill that will allow for “quick approval for new crypto banks.” Wall Street veteran Caitlin Long, CEO of digital asset bank Avanti, stated that Wyoming’s latest bill creates a …