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Belarus Looks Into The Prospects Of Crypto Mining

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The rise in the value of cryptocurrencies has also surged the industry’s popularity. While countries like Belarus have been evaluating the pros and the cons of the industry, a few others like India seem to be stringent about letting their citizens use crypto.

Crypto mining is considered to be exceptionally profitable, despite the amount of electricity the process takes. Examining the same, the Belarus government revealed that it was looking into the mining of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin [BTC].

Belarus To Jump Onto The Crypto Bandwagon?

In a recent announcement, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Belarus proclaimed that it had started an investigation pertaining to the advantages and the disadvantages of crypto mining. Belarus has time and proved to be a crypto-friendly country. The European nation legalized crypto mining, trading, buying, and selling of digital assets back in 2017. This move was made by President Alexander Lukashenko with regard to the country’s steer towards digitalization.

The President had previously revealed that he intended to use the excess energy attained from the country’s nuclear power plant and direct it towards the mining of crypto.

Minister Viktor Karankevich, in the latest announcement, revealed that the Belarus government intends to be a part of the crypto mining industry that has witnessed drastic growth. With countries like Russia, China, the United States as well as Canada veering into the crypto mining industry, Belarus is the latest to join the party.

The announcement further read,

“This is a new direction for us now. It is interesting but in order to get started with it, we have to conduct a detailed study of this issue, including an assessment of possible risks associated with this kind of activity. We’re on this.”

While the country is still assessing the risks that surround the crypto mining industry, the government could soon find its way into it, the announcement suggested. With the value of the industry skyrocketing, Belarus’ move could be beneficial for the country’s development.

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.”

Bitcoin Hash Rate Begins a Steady Climb as Investors Keep Tabs on Yunnan BTC Mine Fire

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The bitcoin halving that occurred in May was the town’s talk with a number of proponents and experts predicting a price surge. Although the world’s largest cryptocurrency has not seen a significant increase in its value, Bitcoin has remained steady between the $9,000 and $10,000 margins over the past few weeks.

After halving, Bitcoin also witnessed a dip in its mining hash rate. This was a direct consequence of the shutdown of several mining machines, which caused an increase in demand while the supply rate fell. June, however, brought some good news as the hash rate seemed to have gained some new ground.

On June 14, Coinmetrics noted that the Bitcoin rate had gone back to its earlier levels, ie. The levels achieved before the halving commenced on May 4. Coinmetrics claimed that the next difficulty adjustment would take place in approximately two days. This event is expected to be the largest adjustment scenario since January 2018, with an estimated 15 percent increase.

Analysis has shown that this is going to be the first difficulty increase since bitcoin was halved. The Bitcoin ecosystem has seen a resurgence of late due to a steady price hold. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has also instilled some confidence in the holders as a virtual asset in the wake of a global pandemic.

During the halving, the Bitcoin CMBI hash rate index dropped from 130 million terahashes per second to below 90 million terahashes per second. This also triggered large market sales. Although the hash rate has risen, the price has surprisingly dropped below expectations at the start of the new week. At the time of the press, Bitcoin traded $9061 with a total market cap of $166.7 billion. The 4 percent drop in the 24-hour spectrum caused the BTC market volume to drop to $21.42 billion.

Bitcoin enthusiasts are still looking for reprieves that will initiate price recovery, but they seem to have to wait a little longer. According to recent reports, a large mining farm in China in Bitcoin was the victim of a fiery inferno last week. The mine reportedly housed thousands of Yunan police machines still investigating the root cause of the fire. The effect of this destruction on the Bitcoin ecosystem has not yet been felt, but many predict that the fallout will soon be observed.

China has slowly increased its foothold in the cryptocurrency industry, and its dominance is growing with each passing day. Bitcoin fans may do well to observe movements within the Red Dragon, as the latest Yunan mine fire may have a greater impact than previously expected.

Monero Mining Malware has Infected 1000 Corporate Computers 

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Since December 2019, more than 1,000 corporate computer systems have been infected with Blue Mockingbird malware by cyber criminals. The global spread of Monero mining malware was reported by Red Canary Cloud Security Company on May 26.

According to the report, monero mining malware attacks servers running ASP.NET applications and is most vulnerable to installing a web shell on the attack system. This inturn gives the administrator level of malware access to change the server settings.

Furthermore, the attackers are installing the XMRRig application to exploit the resources of the hacked system. According to Red Canary, the majority of the computer systems used are owned by big corporations, but the cloud security firm did not reveal names.

Remote Desktop Protocol’s weaknesses exploited by Monero mining malware

The cybercriminals utilized the weaknesses in the Remote Desktop Protocol in Windows operating system to access the computer systems. The report notes that although the attacks happened within a short period of time, it is hard to evaluate the total number of attacks. Indeed, this approach has been used before in the recent Trojan ransomware attacks.

Additionally, Red Canary has cautioned the firms that have not yet been infected to be at a higher risk of their system being breached by the Monero mining malware. According to the threat analyst at Emsisoft malware lab:

“Cybercriminals specifically seek out weaknesses in the internet-facing systems and, when found, exploit them. Companies can significantly reduce their risk factor by following well-established best practices such as timely patching, using MFA, disabling PowerShell when not needed, etc.”

Rise in ransomware attacks

The use of  XMRRig app for illegal mining of cryptocurrencies has been a common practice by various groups of hackers. Back in 2019, cybersecurity companies Symantec and BlackBerry Cylance cautioned on the penetration of the XMRRig app through music files.

Furthermore, in November of the same year, malware attacked weak Docker occasions to install the crypto-jacking software.

First Blockchain Iron Ore Transaction Initiated by BHP Group

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Chinese steel mills aim to gain a greater say in the iron ore business by preferring Yuan-based settlements. On 13 May, the major mining company, BHP Group announced that it had completed its first vending of iron ore to Chinese Iron and Steel company, Baosteel, using Chinese currency. As per the announcement, the first blockchain iron ore transaction is set to between BHP and Baosteel will be completed soon.

Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel) is a part of China Baowu Steel Group. Following the company’s successful Yuan purchase deals with Brazil-based Vale and Australia’s BHP Group earlier, the Chinese firm settled a 100 million yuan with mining company Rio Tinto Plc using blockchain technology. 

First blockchain iron ore transaction worth $14.1 million (100 million yuan)

Early in January, Baosteel successfully closed a deal worth 330 million yuan of iron ore, with Brazil mining outfit Vale in the denomination of yuan.  The first blockchain iron ore transaction between BHP and Baosteel reached back in April, is worth 100 million yuan.

In fact, China is the world’s largest consumer of iron ore. Back in 2019, the country purchased 1 billion tonnes of steel-making raw materials as it seeks to procure more influence in the pricing of iron ores. The operational director of Dididsteel, Zhang Tieshan, anticipates that more deals to be inked using the Chinese yuan; as China accounts for a large percentage of iron consumption.

“China Baowu is not only China’s largest steel-maker, but also a pioneer in state-of-the-art technology application. Exploring the possibilities of yuan-denominated settlement via blockchain is a new proof,”  Zhang stated.

Baosteel advocating for yuan settlements in iron ore trade

Baosteel has been advocating for yuan-denominated settlements in the iron ore trade since 2019. The Chinese company announced back in February that it had completed deals amounting to 240 million yuan in iron ore with foreign dealers in South Africa and Ukraine.

Chinese iron ore imports surged by over 11% back in April as compared to a month earlier; as Chinese steel mills rushed to rejuvenate the production rate following the damages and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mining Sector Takes Desperate Measures to Save Face as Bitcoin Mining Continues its Climb

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Mining companies across the world have had difficulties in maintaining profits because of low demands as well as regulations.

These organizations have also been affected by sentiment changes in the overall working structure as well as a mission to go green.

New reports showed that investors were now shifting from heavy industries to clean energy sectors, creating massive losses in the aforementioned areas.

The monetary shift has resulted in mining companies losing billions in the financing, increasing the cost of capital and derailing several intended projects. Africa has been a hotbed for mining operations and several of the companies involved in the space are planning to pivot into the clean energy sector.

The switch to clean energy is supposed to be a pivotal point of discussion in the upcoming Investing in African Mining Indaba Conference in Cape Town. The conference is expected to help companies hunt for new sources of capital including privy equity, debt, offtake finance, and royalty finance.

Caroline Donally, the managing director at private equity firm Denham Capital stated:

“Even for companies that have good projects, it’s very difficult for them to raise any money in these markets. Previous investors who would provide equity appear to have withdrawn. A number of specialist funds have shut up shop, and generalists aren’t investing in commodities anymore.”

On the ground, research has shown that cryptocurrencies and cannabis stocks are responsible for luring investors away from the mining sector. Compared to earlier fundraises, the mining industry has seen a massive dip in terms of investments. The sector could only raise $0.3 billion in 2019, a far cry from $1.5 billion raised in 2009.

While mainstream mining faces massive obstacles, Bitcoin mining hit an all-time high last month. Bitcoin’s hash rate rose from approximately 93 exahashes per second on December 30 to more than 106 exahashes per second. The best overall gain was on New Year’s day when the hash power crossed the 119 exahashes per second mark.

After the bear dip in 2018, many miners had shut shop. The fortunes were reversed last year when there was a greater influx into the industry. Research showed that more than half a million new application-specific integrated circuit rigs came online in Q3 2019.