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Bitcoin (BTC) Up For a Good Medium-Term Outlook: Bitfury CEO

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In a recent interview with the ‘closing bells’ of CNBC, the former CEO of Binance.US discussed Bitcoin (BTC) and how ‘some things are going on short-term’ that are negative for the token.

Brian Brooks, the CEO of Bitfury, said that the asset’s short-term price decline was due to the Fed’s recent meeting minutes, where it was evident that the bank was set to remove stimulus from the economy to fight the hike in prices. He added,

“The Fed is introducing some mild inflation strategy for 2022. Due to bitcoin’s potential as a hedge against inflation, there are going to be some modestly negative effects on price.”

Bitcoin to achieve equal status with gold?

Brooks was bullish on BTC in the medium-term because of certain knowledge found in a recent report of Goldman Sachs. According to the report, Bitcoin is 20% of the global store of value asset when compared to gold. He believes that the BTC token could hit $100K and achieve equal status with gold as a store of value asset.

The report showed that the world’s largest crypto asset returned 60% in 2021. This was followed by crude oil which was at 55% and 29% for the S&P 500. Seconding Brook’s optimism about Bitcoin, Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital opined,

“I’m not nervous in the medium-term, but we’re going to have a lot of volatility in the next few weeks.”

When asked about Bitfury’s viability in light of the recent price action, Brooks said that the profitability of BTC mining is only partly related to the token’s price and that it’s about the hash rate and the ones that can grab the most market.

In light of recent events, Bitfury has engaged partnerships with renewable energy providers. The CEO, Brooks, opined that the company will have Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the USA.

Over the past few weeks, cryptocurrency prices were seen taking a plunge, but thankfully, they seem to have risen for the better in the last few days. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was priced at $43,954.23 and had risen by 2.42% in the last 24 hours.

Here’s how Costa Rica’s crypto mining business is receiving a major boost

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In Costa Rica, a 30-year-old hydropower plant that was on the verge of closure received a shot in the arm after the owner decided to utilize the energy generated to feed hundreds of computers hooked up to the cryptocurrency mining business. The plant according to Eduardo Kooper was forced to revamp itself after three decades as the government stopped purchasing electricity during the pandemic due to surplus power supply, where the state has a monopoly on energy distribution.

Kooper, president of the family business that owns the 60-hectare farm Data Center CR and the plant said,

We had to pause activity for nine months, and exactly one year ago I heard about Bitcoin, blockchain, and digital mining. I was very skeptical at first, but we saw that this business consumes a lot of energy and we have a surplus.

The mining center which has roughly 650 machines operate non-stop from eight containers powered by the plant next to the Poas River, 35 kilometers from the capital San Jose. Interestingly Costa Rica generates all of its energy from green sources. The hydroelectric company, with its three plants, are valued at $13.5 million and a three Megawatt capacity, invested $500,000 to venture into hosting digital mining computers.

Last year, Costa Rica hosted a new circular bitcoin economy after being inspired by the Bitcoin Beach project in El Salvador. On December 10th of 2021, a project called Bitcoin Jungle launched its own version of the Bitcoin Beach smartphone app at the local farmers’ market in Dominical where vendors accepted the first payment for products in Bitcoin. Apart from that, Costa Rica has not seen any major developments in the crypto scene compared to El Salvador.

Costa Rica ‘s government indecisive stance

Kooper said global crypto miners are looking for clean, cheap energy and a stable internet connection, which he claims Costa Rica has plenty of. However, he said the government should be more aggressive in its efforts to attract more crypto mining businesses. Unlike El Salvador, Costa Rica lacks regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies. Its Central bank said it was providing space for technological innovation to allow a Fintech industry to take shape and was constantly monitoring developments.

Iran takes a bold stand by allowing use of Crypto for international payments

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With many countries going big on cryptocurrencies, Iran seems to be taking a similar stance. According to local media reports, on 11 January 2022, the country’s businesses will be permitted to use cryptocurrency as a mode of payment in international settlements.

Alireza Peyman-Pak, the head of the Trade Promotion Organisation (TPO) of the country said that, in accordance with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Ministry of Industries, Mining, and Trade, hereon, the CBI crypto platform will be linked to the Comprehensive Trade System. This hook-up allows businesses to make use of tokens to settle payments to foreign partners. He added,

“We are finalizing a mechanism for operations of the system. This should provide new opportunities for importers and exporters to use cryptos in their international deals.”

This announcement was made just a few days after Alizera Peyman-Pak’s statement on expert commodities barriers. On 30 December 2021, it was reported that Peyman-Pak’S organization was seriously pursuing the removal of barriers in the way of maritime transportation of export commodities. To sum it up, this method of payment, through digital assets, could be used to reduce the chances of suppliers being punished by the U.S because of the penalties imposed on Iran.

Iran bullish on crypto?

The Gulf nation had to force shutdown crypto mining in the country, in May 2021, due to the extreme rise in temperature during summer which took a toll on the nation’s power grid. With the hottest months of the year behind them, the Iranian government had officially legalized mining for cryptocurrency for licensed operators in October 2021.

During the four-month ban, authorities had conducted many raids to track down crypto miners all over the country. The permission granted for the crypto miners to get back online is only restricted to those operating legally. The use of household electricity to mine for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) and others is still not legal. Those miners that have not abided by the law have been found to face heavy fines.

Digital assets have had the pleasure of growing popularity in the Islamic Republic, with up to 12 million Iranians holding one or the other token. Iran seems to be upping its crypto game with its current move.

New York businesses request the governor to decline crypto mining permits

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New York businesses have been actively opposing crypto mining activities as the businesses have concerns regarding the environmental impact of crypto mining. The Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul has been receiving requests from local businesses to deny permits for the conversion of very old fossil-fuel power plants in New York into crypto mining centers.

Various local businesses have put forth the request to the Governor of New York in a letter. Multiple local businesses and labor groups want the officials to have deeper research into the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining of tokens based on Proof-of-Work.

New York businesses oppose the reopening of power plants

According to the letter, the reopening of the Greenidge Generating Station and the Fortistar North Tonawanda will destroy the government’s goal of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.

Digital currencies require authentication to prevent fraudulent transactions. PoW is the method that has the most significant energy demands. In PoW authentication, complex mathematical wequations are assigned to each transaction, and miners compete to solve them.

The letter said

These businesses have asked the administration to halt the requests of Title V Air Permits and initiate a full assessment of the environmental damage caused by crypto mining.

Crypto mining scene in the U.S.

After China’s recent crackdown on cryptocurrency mining, the United States of America has become the biggest mining center for cryptocurrencies.

Britain’s Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance revealed in their report that over 35.4% of hash power comes from the U.S. Meanwhile, the SEC has yet to reveal any guidelines regarding cryptocurrencies. There are some who have been actively opposing the explosion of the crypto space.

On the other hand, New York and cryptocurrencies have a long history. Popular exchanges like Ledger, Gemini, and Paxos call the state their home. Ledger was actually the first crypto derivative exchange that got its approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Exchanges like Paxos have also moved to the state of New York due to regulation flexibility.

Norton crypto to let users mine Ethereum on PC within its antivirus programme

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The antivirus and security software company, Norton announced the launch of ‘Norton Crypto’, a feature that is designed to allow users to securely and easily mine Ethereum [ETH] through its Norton™ 360 platform.

According to the official press release, select Norton 360 consumers in the company’s early adopter program will be invited to mine the cryptocurrency starting from the 3rd of June. This feature is not yet available for personal PC and consumers. The cybersecurity company, however, expects this to roll out for all users in the coming months.

Following the development, Vincent Pilette, CEO of the US-based software firm, commented,

“As the crypto economy continues to become a more important part of our customers’ lives, we want to empower them to mine cryptocurrency with Norton, a brand they trust. Norton Crypto is yet another innovative example of how we are expanding our Cyber Safety platform to protect our customers’ ever-evolving digital lives”

Norton Crypto: In Brief

Cryptocurrency mining is a risky proposition in itself. But doing it on PCs and computing devices can bring about additional woes. Mining operations can make the systems vulnerable to ransomware, malware as well as virus injections.

Along the same line, the company acknowledged the risks associated with the crypto mining sector especially the security compromises in order to run mining and letting unwanted code on their device that could be skimming from their earnings or riddled with ransomware.

The main objective of the platform is to deliver a safe, secure way for users to mine the cryptocurrency while eliminating the risks associated with opening themselves and their devices up to the aforementioned drawbacks. The latest product also comes with its own wallet system. In this, the consumers can track and transfer their earnings. which are then saved in the cloud so it cannot be lost at the time of potential hard drive failure.

Malaysian Authorities Bust Crypto Miners For Stealing $600K Worth Electricity

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The cryptocurrency ecosystem has gained tremendous popularity and value over the last decade. The cryptocurrency mining industry, specifically, miner rewards has caught the attention of many. The rewards that miners earn after mining every block seems to have opened doors for many crypto miners as they have been flooding the ecosystem regardless of the resources. In more recent updates, two crypto platforms were raided by Malaysian officials for stealing electricity to facilitate crypto mining operations.

Malaysia’s Big Crypto Mining Arrest

As reported by The Star, a total of 2.5 million Malaysian Ringgit [600,000 USD] worth of electricity was stolen over a period of three years in Iskandar Puteri. The raid was carried out by Malaysia’s Energy Commission along with Tenaga Nasional Berhad [TNB], a multinational electricity company along with Iskandar Puteri City Council.

TNB reportedly incurred a loss of 80,000 Malaysian Ringgit every month which was about 20,000 USD. Nazlin Alim Sadikhi, the Regional Director of the Energy Commission revealed that illegal wiring was installed to make sure that the electricity went through directly and not through the TNB meter. The Director further said,

“The first premises is believed to have been operating for three years while the second premises for two years. We found 100 mining machines in the first premises and another 48 in the second premises.”

Post the raid, the authorities concluded that the electricity bills for both the first and the second premises accounted for 30 Malaysian Ringgit and 60 Malaysian Ringgit a month, respectively, as opposed to the 80,000 Malaysian Ringgit.

It is not news that crypto mining consumes a lot of electricity. Reports even suggest that crypto mining accounts for 0.21% of the world’s electricity supply. If the accused are found guilty, they would be obligated to face a total of ten years in prison or a hefty penalty of $1.2 million, under Section 37 of the Electricity Supply Act of 1990.

After China, Malaysia seems to be a hotbed for electricity thefts, particularly for crypto mining. In 2020 alone, Malaysian authorities reportedly took down about 90 such operations. A total of 288 mining busts have taken place in Johor since 2018. TNB’s Team Engineer, Mohd Satari Mohamad added,

“In most cases, the owners of the premises were in cahoots with the cryptocurrency mining operators. They have similar operation methods where they have illegal wiring installed to the mining machines to illegally draw electricity supply.”

Dogecoin Clinches Top Position Among Most Profitable Altcoins to Mine

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An altcoin that only started as a meme/joke coin in 2013, is gaining traction as one of today’s most speculated coins. Apart from its price rallying upwards by extreme percentages, Dogecoin sets itself apart as a profitable altcoin for miners. The original design of Dogecoin was inflationary, and this is the main factor in the mining benefits of the coin.

Dogecoin Value has Grown , Posting High Percentage Spikes Over the Past Few Weeks

Unlike Bitcoin, whose mineable limit is within a total supply of 21 million Bitcoins and only 6.25 Bitcoins per block reward (currently); Dogecoin’s mineable coins are unlimited and its blockchain pumps at least 10,000 Dogecoins into circulation every 10 seconds.

The value of the digital coin has grown and last week saw a 50% spike. Dogecoin has recorded the highest single day  gain since 2017 and according to google trends keyword search metric, “How to Buy a Dogecoin? “It rose from a score of 25 to 100. Therefore recording the highest possible popularity for a google search over the last one year. As a result, the performance has warmed up the cryptocurrency community including miners and traders. 

Factors to Consider Before Mining a Digital Coin

While the surging price of a coin is not the motivating factor surrounding a spike in the interest of the miner. Dogecoin has emerged as the favorite altcoin for crypto miners, given its high mining rewards that beat some of the leading coins, such as Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Cash. Some of the factors miners consider before choosing a coin to mine are block reward, cryptocurrency price, equipment efficiency, halving and block generation duration. All these factors seem to be aligned in favor of Dogecoin. For instance, the altcoin has a block generation time of 60 seconds, and a block reward of 10,000 coins.

Conclusion

The coin’s scrypt protocol sets Dogecoin’s mining equipment apart, compared to other coins; because its equipment is affordable and efficient. 

Crypto Mining Scam Creator Imprisoned after Pleading Guilty in U.S. Court

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A Romanian developer pleaded guilty to his role in the Bitclub Network, a crypto mining scam that hoodwinked investors off $722 million. The developer was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

According to a press release from the U.S. The Department of Justice, Silviu Balaci was arrested at his residence in Germany. In addition, the release notes that the Romanian pleaded guilty to a dual-object conspiracy to commit wired fraud through video conferencing.

Balaci was the mastermind behind crypto mining scam

Indeed, one of the key figures behind the Bitclub Network was the Romanian programmer, who duped investors off $722 million. Notably, the crypto mining scam has attracted U.S. investors to invest in alleged shares in a cryptocurrency block reward mining project. The crypto mining scam ran between April 2014 and December 2019.

Balaci, along with his colleagues Matthew Goettsche and Russ Albert Medlin, was reportedly in charge of the company’s technical areas. According to DoJ’s press release, Balaci referred to potential investors as “dumb” and said they were “building this whole model on the backs of fools.”

Bitclub Network co-founder indicted

In addition, Balaci’s sentence comes three weeks after the arrest of the other founder of Bitclub, Russ Albert Medlin. In addition, Medlin has been apprehended by the Indonesian law enforcement authorities and is facing charges against sexually assaulting minors.

The Indonesian police arrested him after he had been informed by his neighbours in Jakarta, who had seen some minors leaving his residence. In conclusion, if Medlin is sentenced in Indonesia, he may face up to 15 years behind bars for violating the law of land on the protection of minors. However, he is likely to be extradited to the United States for his role in the crypto-mining scam.

Illegal Crypto Mining in Russia Costed Taxpayers $6.6M in Over 3 Years

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Illegal crypto mining operations in the Russian Federation have stolen electricity worth nearly $6.6 million in the last three years. According to state-owned power distributor,  Rossetti, illegal mining farms, compromised power meters and underground mining farms helped illicit cryptocurrency miners to illegally consume 450 million Russian rubles ($6.6 million) worth of electric power from the domestic power providers.

The electricity firm disclosed the figure on its official Telegram channel. The firm has been hunting ‘black mining sites’ that do not have any sort of deal with power companies, but still use the national electricity grid to mine digital currencies without paying. 

According to the firm, black mining sites are usually based in the office of already established businesses including factories where the owners want to earn extra funds. Additional black mining sites include actual food farms, garages, strategic sites in the woods and leased offices.

According to Rossetti, the illegal miners would pull an electric cable to the closest electricity line and develop their own power transformation stations. For instance, in one of the discovered black mining sites; the power transforming station was found underground buried under a public forest; as per the power distributor.

The state-owned power company has discovered 35 illegal mining operations from 20 different regions in Russia since 2017. According to Rossetti, each of those cases have been reported to law enforcement. 

“We closely analyze the consumption patterns looking for anomalies, inspect the power lines and measure the workload of the stations. Sometimes it’s easy to notice a mining farm by visual signs, like when a building has powerful air conditioning devices and fans installed,” said Rossetti. 

Illegal crypto mining has been rampant in Russia

Over the past one year, people have been minting digital currencies illegally in Russia at a nuclear research institute and utilizing the website of a domestic utilities solution provider. On the other hand, Rossetti has been researching on how to utilize the same technology; to discover new ways of using distributed ledgers to effectively amass power consumption data. 

Nasdaq Listed Riot Blockchain Sees Slight Growth in Q1 2020

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 Riot Blockchain, which is a public digital currency mining firm, saw a slight increase in earnings per share (EPS) during the first quarter of 2020. The Bitcoin mining outfit shared its financial results and highlights for the quarter ended on March 31, 2020.

Nasdaq listed Riot Blockchain is making significant progress in the market. In its announcement, the mining company revealed the conclusion of the SEC investigation, and the complete revamp of mining rigs in its Oklahoma mining farm. The firm wrote:

 “As compared to the same period last year, during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, Riot announced increased revenues and decreased SG&A expenses excluding stock-based compensation. As compared to December 31, 2019, the Company has substantially improved its liquidity position and increased total stockholder’s equity.”

Nasdaq listed Riot Blockchain installs next generation Bitmain S19 Antiminers

In its announcement, Riot emphasized the successful stationing of the 4,000 Bitmain S17 Pro Antminers purchased late last year; and the addition of the 2,040 Bitmain S19 Antminer revamped in April 2020.

Following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BTC mining outfit shifted a substantial amount of its S17 Antiminers; to a mining facility in New York which is run by Coinmint. Riot contemplates the new mining equipment will raise the firm’s current average hash rate by a massive 84%. Riot plans to station the new rigs by Q3 this year. 

Q1 2020 Riot Blockchain financial results 

According to the report, Riot Blockchain launched 281 freshly minted BTC coins during Q1 of 2020. The firm grew its Bitcoin directory by 60%, to 821 BTC between December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020.

In addition, Riot Blockchain saw boosted business assets on March 31 this year, rising from $9.3 million on December 31, 2019, to $17 million on March 31, 2020. Moreover, the firm reduced its total liabilities by $300,000, to $3.8 million within the same period.

In conclusion, the mining firm reported that total mining income grew by 68% to $2.4 million, in contrast to the $1.4 million made during Q1 of 2019.