A global chip shortage is affecting various sectors of industry from gaming to automotive and cryptocurrency mining. Amid Bitcoin's (BTC) ongoing bull run, the crypto mining industry became massively profitable. Many miners started aggressively stacking mining hardware —by sometimes unconventional methods— which led to shortages in other sectors. The COVID-19 fueled surge in gaming consoles, computers and TVs has even had knock-on effects for car manufacturers, who are major consumers of silicon semiconductors. Chip shortages have even led General Motors to shut down three plants and slow production at others. Amid this shortage, Chinese internet giant Baidu is reportedly raising …

Russia has reportedly imported thousands of cryptocurrency mining devices amid a massive surge in the crypto market. A senior executive at BitRiver, the largest crypto mining colocation services provider in Russia, claimed that a local client received over 20,000 crypto mining devices, Russian news agency Kommersant reports Feb. 10. BitRiver founder and CEO Igor Runets said that the total mining power of the imported hardware amounts to 70 MWh, which is reportedly estimated to make up the largest single batch of crypto mining hardware in Russia. Runets said that the hardware was delivered in December 2020 and was immediately set …

The exponential rise in Bitcoin’s price and hash rate is driving critics to once again question the largest blockchain’s energy efficiency — with calls for “green hackers” to band together to mount an attack on the network. A self styled “developer and ecologist” who goes by the name of Franck Leroy created Twitter and Medium accounts this month to advocate the destruction of the Bitcoin network through “ethical hacking.” In a post titled “Green hackers around the world, let’s destroy Bitcoin” Leroy states that Bitcoin is an “irrational and destructive financial bubble” that is hugely damaging to the climate due …

Chinese cryptocurrency miners are reportedly buying Nvidia's new laptops to mine Ether (ETH) amid the altcoin hitting new all-time highs. Nvidia’s latest GeForce RTX 30 laptops have become increasingly popular in China as a tool for mining cryptocurrency, according to several sources. On Feb. 6, a Weibo user known as BTCer posted a bunch of images showing off GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops making up a solid crypto mining farm. “A laptop mine is up ,” BTCer noted in the post depicting dozens of laptops stacked up on shelves. Several tech media outlets including VideoCardz and Wccftech subsequently suggested …

For years, institutional investors have been watching Bitcoin from afar with bewilderment and amusement, but with little to no participation. Although they were attracted by the high returns, they were scared away by Bitcoin’s infancy, lack of rules and the myriad headlines warning of hacks, bankruptcies and scams. In its early years, Bitcoin (BTC) lacked the on- and off-ramps required for most institutional investors, making it virtually impossible to get approved by any corporate investing mechanism. Related: Why institutions suddenly give a damn about Bitcoin Pre-2017 Bitcoin investing But a strange thing happened in the rally of 2017. As institutions …

The recent surge of Bitcoin (BTC) price has driven notable growth in the amount of electricity consumed by Bitcoin miners, spurring another wave of argument in the community over the ecology of the seminal cryptocurrency. According to the latest data from Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, Bitcoin energy consumption has been at its highest historical levels since late 2020, with the estimated annual consumption level staying above 75 TWh for a record period of time. Bitcoin is now estimated to consume around 77.8 TWh per year, which is as much power as consumed by Chile. Bitcoin’s carbon footprint — the …

Institutional crypto fund manager Grayscale Investments believes the introduction of the proposed EIP-1559 fee and burn mechanism could create “a positive feedback loop for Ether’s price” should network activity continue to increase on Ethereum. That’s because the proposal could result in Ether being burned at a rate exceeding the creation of new supply, significantly shifting the supply-demand dynamic underpinning the ETH markets. In Grayscale’s Feb. 4 report, Valuing Ethereum, the firm discussed the role Ether plays as a “consumable commodity” within the Ethereum ecosystem and considers the impact EIP-1559 could have on the network’s economics. EIP-1559 was proposed by Ethereum …

Michael Green, chief strategist and partner at investment advisory firm Logica Capital, sounded the alarm about China’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining dominance during a debate with crypto proponent Anthony Pompliano. The discussion between the Bitcoin skeptic and the Bitcoin bull has just been published by digital asset media outlet Real Vision. Green emphasized the dominant share of hash rate located within China’s borders, describing the network as “incredibly vulnerable” from the perspective of the United States. “The vast majority of the mining activity is occurring in regions like China, Russia and Iran, and if we incorporate the participation of mining pools, …

The upcoming Chinese New Year holidays on Feb. 12 could have an indirect impact on Bitcoin's (BTC) price and drive sell-offs on the market, according to a recent analysis. Per a Thursday report by cryptocurrency investment firm Stack Funds, the ongoing selling pressure on Bitcoin's price is likely to continue in the short term due to Asian miners increasingly offloading their funds amid the upcoming week-long holiday. With more than 60% of global Bitcoin mining pools located in China, Stack Funds head of research Lennard Neo suggested that a lot of selling pressure is coming from Chinese miners. The researcher …

Helium is a decentralized blockchain-powered network designed to allow low-powered wireless devices to communicate with each other and send data across its network of nodes. Since July 2020, Helium’s native token, HNT, has increased 550% in value from $0.35 to a 2021 high of $2.25 on Jan. 25 as fundamentals for the network continue to improve. Three reasons why HNT is poised for continued growth are the increasing size and coverage of its node network, the ease of running a node for passive income, and the growing number of partnerships Helium has brokered. A growing network of nodes Helium was …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining rig manufacturer Bitmain has issued a notice to customers stating that business operations will resume as normal in light of former chairman and CEO Jihan Wu’s departure from the company. Orders of Bitmain’s ASIC mining rigs were previously halted temporarily in 2020 during an internal power struggle at the Beijing-based hardware company. In a dramatic saga that saw Bitmain’s two co-founders, Micree Zhan and Wu, attempt to oust one another from the leadership of the company, Zhan temporarily stopped a Shenzen subsidiary from shipping products to customers, as reported by local outlet The Block Beats at the …

The power struggle between Bitmain co-founders Micree Zhan and Jihan Wu appears to be at an end. In a tweet on January 26, Wu announced his decision to step down from the company. The now former CEO and Chairman of Bitmain sent out an encrypted farewell message to his followers, announcing that the long-standing disagreement between ousted co-founder Zhan and himself had been settled in an “amicable” and “constructive” manner. “I have resigned from the CEO and Chairman of Bitmain as of today,” said Wu, after working at the firm for almost eight years. As part of the agreement, Zhan …