Major cryptocurrency mining pool BTC.com has suffered a cyberattack resulting in a significant loss of funds by the company and its customers. BTC.com experienced a cyberattack on Dec. 3, with attackers stealing around $700,000 in client assets and $2.3 million in the company’s assets, the mining pool’s parent firm BIT Mining Limited officially announced on Dec. 26. BIT Mining and BTC.com reported the cyberattack to law enforcement authorities in Shenzhen, China. The local authorities subsequently launched an investigation into the incident, starting collecting evidence and requesting assistance from relevant agencies in China. The local coordination has already helped BTC.com recover …
Bitcoin’s network hashrate has returned to regular levels again, days after freezing temperatures across the United States put a strain on the nation's electricity grid — leading to a temporary drop in hashrate. In the days leading up to Christmas, bone-chilling temperatures swept across the United States, leading to millions without power and claiming at least 28 lives. According to reports, Bitcoin miners in Texas, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's hashrate, voluntarily curtailed operations to give power back to the grid — so that residents can keep their homes heated. The disruptions appear to have put …
London-based Faes & Company filed a complaint against crypto mining firm Blockware Solutions LLC on Dec. 17, claiming it misrepresented the performance capability of its miners and lacked adequate power access to keep the machines running. Plaintiffs allege losses of $250,000 and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. According to the complaint, the parties entered into contracts in October 2021 for Faes to buy $525,000 worth of Bitcoin miners and related hosting services. As part of the agreement, Blockware would host Faes' miners at one of its server facilities, which it allegedly owns and operates for a monthly hosting fee …
The recent bankruptcy filing of Bitcoin (BTC) miner Core Scientific despite a $72M relief offer from creditors raised questions about the overall health of the bitcoin mining community amid a prolonged bear market. Turns out, the public bitcoin miners owe more than $4 billion in liabilities and require an immediate restructuring to get out of the unsustainably high debt levels. The Bitcoin mining community took up massive loans during the 2021 bull market, negatively impacting their bottom lines during a subsequent bear market. Bitcoin mining data analytics by Hashrate Index show that just the top 10 Bitcoin mining debtors cumulatively …
A key set of crypto tax reporting rules is being delayed until further notice under a decision made by the United States Treasury Department. The rules were supposed to be effective in the 2023 tax filing year, in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November, 2021. The new law requires that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) develop a standard definition of what a “cryptocurrency broker” is, and any business that falls under this definition is required to issue a Form 1099-B to every customer detailing their profits and losses from trades. It also requires these firms …
A state-owned electric utility provider in the Canadian province of British Columbia is set to halt all new electricity-connection requests from cryptocurrency miners for a period of 18 months. The British Columbia government made the announcement in a statement on Dec. 21 stating that the pause will allow the government and BC Hydro to develop a permanent framework that can better balance the needs of crypto miners and both its residents and businesses in the region. Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation said that the move was made to preserve the clean energy it provides for …
Bitcoin (BTC) price lost 11.3% between Dec. 14 and Dec. 18 after briefly testing the $18,300 resistance. The move followed a 7-day correction of 8% in the S&P500 futures after the U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell issued hawkish statements after raising the interest rate on Dec. 14. Bitcoin price retreats to channel support Macroeconomic trends have been the main driver of recent movements. For instance, the latest bounce from the 5-week-long ascending channel support at $16,400 has been attributed to the Central Bank of Japan's efforts to contain inflation. The Bank of Japan increased the limit on government bond …
According to a new letter to shareholders posted on Dec. 21, Aroosh Thillainathan, CEO of German Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Northern Data, said that the firm expects to generate upwards of €190M to €194M in revenue from crypto mining operations this year. At the midpoint range, this represents a growth of 1.11% from Northern Data's total sales of €190M for the 2021 fiscal year, when the firm grew its revenue ten-fold from 2020. Thillainathan added: "Northern Data is not carrying financial debt and therefore has access to the unique opportunity to consolidate and expand our current position in BTC mining …
Just days after creditors offered to help Core Scientific — a Bitcoin (BTC) mining company — avoid possible bankruptcy, reports emerged confirming the business’ inevitable fate. Core Scientific reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas owing to falling revenue and BTC prices. On Dec. 14, Financial services platform B. Riley offered to finance Core Scientific with $72 million — $42 million with zero contingencies and $32 million with conditions — to retain the value for stakeholders. The decision was made after Core’s valuation fell from $4.3 billion in July 2021 to $78 million at the time of reporting. …
United States prosecutors have laid charges in two separate cases against nine people who founded or promoted a pair of cryptocurrency companies alleged to be Ponzi schemes that netted $8.4 million from investors. On Dec. 14 the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed the indictment, alleging the purported crypto mining and trading companies IcomTech and Forcount promised investors “guaranteed daily returns” that could double their investment in six months. In reality, prosecutors say both firms were using the money from later investors to pay earlier investors, while other funds were spent on promoting the companies …
On this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Drew Vosk, founder of VoskCoin, a cryptocurrency YouTube channel with over 607,000 subscribers. This week, we take a deep dive into all things crypto from the unique perspective of a Bitcoin (BTC) miner. We get Vosk’s take on the things that are impacting his bottom line as a Bitcoin miner and what challenges he is currently facing by mining Bitcoin at home as opposed to with an industrial miner. Is it worth investing in a solar mining farm with electricity costs soaring at the moment? What is the ROI, and is …
Cloud computing giant Microsoft is taking measures to increase stability of its cloud services by forcing new restrictions for activities like cryptocurrency mining. Microsoft has quietly banned crypto mining from its online services in order to better protect its customers and clouds, British technology news agency The Register reported on Dec. 15. The company introduced the new restrictions as part of its universal license terms of Microsoft Online Services. Microsoft updated its acceptable use policy on Dec. 1 to clarify that “mining cryptocurrency is prohibited without prior Microsoft approval.” In the “Acceptable Use Policy” section, Microsoft said that it now …