Bitcoin (BTC) has been a hot topic of discussion lately even for those outside the core crypto community, but unfortunately, it’s not for the best of reasons. In particular, the amount of energy required to mine Bitcoin has created concerns for investors who were considering BTC as an option to diversify. According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, Bitcoin currently consumes around 110 terawatt-hours per year. A Harvard Business Review article further noted that this equates to 0.55% of global electricity production, which is roughly equivalent to that of a small county. Although this is the case, it’s important …

Nvidia, a leading manufacturer of graphics processing units, or GPUs, has announced record earnings for Q1 2021. However, the firm has downplayed the role of the crypto bull market in driving its impressive performance, primarily attributing demand for its products to gamers. The firm reported an 84% increase in sales overall, with the impressive performance owing to a period of sustained growth despite global shortages of semiconductors. Nvidia’s sales and earnings both surpassed the expectations with Wall Street, reporting revenue of $5.66 billion and earnings of $3.66 per share after pundits had predicted earnings of $3.28 per share and revenue …

China has ramped up efforts to quash cryptocurrency mining in its Inner Mongolia region by introducing new penalties for those caught engaging in the illegal activity. Officials unveiled new draft rules that would see harsher punishments applied to those caught mining Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, per a report by the South China Morning Post. These would include placing offenders on a social credit blacklist, which would stop them from getting loans or even using the transportation system. The new rules make particular mention of data centers, industrial parks, telecoms companies, internet firms and even cybercafes, noting that any such …

The recent crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto mining in Iran has reached a new dimension, with the government banning the activity over the summer. According to a report by Bloomberg, President Hassan Rouhani announced the blanket ban on Bitcoin mining in the country in an address on state television on Wednesday. The nationwide prohibition will reportedly last until September, with the government keen on ensuring access to electricity for domestic consumption during the hot summer months, which are historically peak periods for power demand. As part of his address, President Rouhani alleged that the majority of the crypto mining …

Marathon Digital Holdings, a United States enterprise Bitcoin (BTC) mining company, has unveiled plans to achieve 70% carbon neutrality for its cryptocurrency mining operations. The company aims to reduce its carbon footprint by constructing a new data center that will host approximately 73,000 previously purchased Bitcoin miners as part of a new 300-megawatt operation located in Texas. To achieve this goal, Marathon plans to begin construction in October 2021 alongside Compute North, a long-standing industry partner. Under the terms of the agreement, Marathon will provide Compute North an 18-month bridge loan worth up to $67 million. “Compute North is a …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) general downtrend continued on Monday morning despite the coin showing a strong 17% rebound overnight. As the coin continues to nurse wounds from its recent 43% price drop from an all-time high, more turbulence could yet be in store for Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market. Several large Bitcoin miners opted to cease operations in China this past weekend following the news that Chinese authorities were planning a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining. By Monday morning, three Bitcoin mining pools had announced plans to halt activities in China. BTC.TOP, which accounted for as much as 2.5% of the overall …

The stream of negative regulatory news concerning Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies has been nonstop over the past couple of weeks. Today's FUD — fear, uncertainty and doubt — news that failed to cite any actions and merely refreshes old information from China. A statement from the Chinese government revealed plans to "crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading behavior." While retail traders are easily scared by this type of news, whales and market makers know how to spot a buying opportunity, which was the case for today's drop to $36,200. China banned Bitcoin trading… in 2017 The Chinese Financial Stability …

The Iranian government is using intelligence officers to find and stop large-scale farms that have been set up to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Bloomberg reported on Friday. The Iranian Students’ News Agency reported the testimony of a distribution coordinator at a state-run grid operator, who said the Ministry of Intelligence had begun setting up committees across the country to find and seize crypto mining farms. Iran recently increased its efforts to curb the illicit mining of cryptocurrencies after the nation’s electricity grids began to falter under heavy consumption. The state-run energy grid operator, Tavanir, was forced to restrict power …

The CEO of Ark Investment Management, Cathie Wood, believes the controversial Tesla CEO and Dogecoin proponent, Elon Musk, will again embrace Bitcoin once greater adoption of renewable energy has occurred within the mining sector. Despite relations between Musk and the Bitcoin community souring, Wood predicted: “Elon will come back and be part of [the Bitcoin] ecosystem.” Wood’s comments come on the same day that Ark’s Sam Korus published an update the firm’s “open-source Solar+Battery+Bitcoin mining model” to allow historic testing of the system’s efficacy. Korus concluded: “The takeaway is that regardless of a Bitcoin bull of bear market, Bitcoin mining …

Graphics card giant Nvidia said that the hash rate limiter on its RTX 3060 graphics cards would also be introduced in other RTX 30 series GPUs in an attempt to disincentivize crypto miners. In an announcement from Nvidia on Tuesday, the company said it would be applying a reduced Ethereum hash rate to its newly manufactured GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards. The models will be identified by a “Lite Hash Rate,” or LHR, label, aimed at getting its graphics processing units, or GPUs, to its target customers rather than cryptocurrency miners. “This reduced hash …

The Iranian government continues to closely monitor the cryptocurrency mining industry by initiating new measures against home crypto miners, according to a new report. Mostafa Rajabi, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Energy, said that crypto mining with household electricity is not legal and, thus, home miners will have to pay heavy fines if discovered, local news agency The Tehran Times reported Sunday. Crypto miners using household energy will be also required to provide compensation for potential damages caused to the electricity network, the official stated. Rajabi said that the government has undertaken these measures in order to get a …

Disclaimer: This article has been updated to reflect that BTC.Top has begun signaling for Taproot activation. The top-10 Bitcoin (BTC) mining pools by hash rate distribution are now signaling for Taproot activation with BTC.Top being the latest among them as of the time of writing. Indeed, 90% of Bitcoin’s hash rate briefly signaled for the protocol upgrade with the figure now standing at about 73%. Tweeting on Monday, crypto exchange giant Binance announced that Binance Pool had begun signaling for Taproot. According to the Taproot Signal Twitter bot, Binance Pool’s maiden Taproot signal occurred at block height 683,878. Based on …