Day: August 27, 2018

Noise Complaints May Cause Norwegian Bitcoin Mining Center to Shut Down

boss

Norwegian bitcoin miner Kryptovault is facing a shutdown of its operations due to extensive noise complaints from locals and a lack of proper paperwork. The company, which is headquartered in a former paper mill in Norway’s capital of Oslo, uses more than 40MW of power to drive an arsenal of nearly 10,000 computers. The staff could mine several million Norwegian kroners’ worth of bitcoin per week, but financial promise isn’t enough to keep residents interested. “The sound of the factory comes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” explains…

China Blocks Access to Over 120 Offshore Digital Currency Exchanges

boss

China is continuing its crackdown on bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related ventures. The country is now blocking access to more than 120 offshore cryptocurrency exchanges utilized for trading purposes by mainland customers. In addition, officials are also looking to shut down websites pertaining to both cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs), and to prevent businesses from accepting payments in digital assets. ICOs were initially banned last September and were described as “unauthorized” and “illegal” fundraising activities. That same month, Chinese regulators ordered all cryptocurrency exchanges within the country to cease trading practices.…

New Research Claims Satoshi Mined Far Fewer Coins Than Previously Thought

boss

Based on five-year-old research, Bitcoin enthusiasts and critics alike have often held that Satoshi Nakamoto originally mined some 1,000,000 bitcoin in the early days of the network. New numbers from BitMEX Research, however, demonstrates this number could be off by 300,000-400,000 total bitcoin. Breaking Down Lerner’s Research The oft-cited 1,000,000 coins estimation comes from research conducted by Bitcoin developer and RSK founder Sergio Demian Lerner and presented on Bitcointalk in 2013. Lerner came to this conclusion by examining the Total Network Strength of Bitcoin’s blockchain in 2009. At 7 MH/s,…

Not a Done Deal: U.S. SEC “Will Review” Most Recent ETF Decisions

boss

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission will reevaluate its recent round of bitcoin ETF rejections. This Wednesday, August 22, 2018, the SEC denied 9 ETF proposals from ProShares, GraniteShares and Direxion in three separate orders. But consistent with a rule that allows the SEC’s Chairman and Commissioners to review decisions delegated to its staff, these disapproval orders are up for reviewal. A letter written by SEC secretary Brent J. Fields to Eugene Schlanger of the New York Stock Exchange details the technicalities of this process: “On August 22, 20…

Civil: Reimagining the News With a Blockchain-Based Architecture

boss

Civil, a blockchain-based journalism startup, promises a comprehensive solution to create a “decentralized marketplace for sustainable journalism” by directly supporting content creators, fighting “fake news,” and removing advertising from the news experience. While Civil’s goal –– to flip the current journalism model on its head –– is ambitious, the team has already recruited a network of newsrooms and has secured $5 million from ConsenSys to build their product. The State of Online News in 2018 It’s hard to verify the trustworthiness of online news in 2018. From fake news spread…

World Bank and Australia’s Largest Bank Issue First Global Blockchain Bond

boss

The World Bank and Australia’s largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, have issued a public bond exclusively through the blockchain. The $100 million AUD ($73.16 million USD) deal is made up of two-year bonds. It expected to settle by August 28, 2018 and yield a 2.25 percent return. The prototype bond, dubbed “Bond-i” (Blockchain Operated New Debt Instrument) is seen by participants as a milestone and a step forward toward automation of bond sales. It is part of a broader strategic focus of the World Bank to “harness the…

Bitcoin Price Analysis: High Shorts Count Could Signal Price Hike

boss

Once again, bitcoin finds itself precariously perched on the bottom of its macro trading range (TR). After a strong round of selling over the course of two weeks plunged the price back to the $6,000s, bitcoin began consolidating for several weeks at the bottom of the TR: Figure 1: BTC-USD, 1-Day Candles, Macro TR As shown in the figure above, the market has interacted several times at the current price range and it has been a source of three major bullish rallies. Currently, there is a lot of bearish pressure…

Bitcoin Magazine’s Week in Review: Rejections and Reflections

boss

This week in the industry, we saw the gears of government and regulation grinding, we check in on some mining news and we take a moment to reflect on the state of the market and industry innovation. Here are some of Bitcoin Magazine’s top bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency news stories for the week. Stay on top of the best stories in the bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Subscribe to our newsletter here. The Latest in Regulation Not a Done Deal: U.S. SEC “Will Review” Most Recent ETF Decisions China Blocks…

Soluna Bets Big on Offsetting Bitcoin Energy Consumption

boss

As Bitcoin mining operations ramp up worldwide the electrical cost of mining is drawing the ire of municipalities and environmental groups alike. However, Soluna is looking to offset the carbon footprint of mining Bitcoin through its wind power plant in the Sahara Desert. Wind-Powered Mining Current estimates put bitcoin mining power consumption at around 2.55 gigawatts, which means that the network uses almost as much energy as the country of Ireland. With the exponential increase in mining operations and thousands of Bitcoins still to mint, the problem is only growing. A…

ICON Records 23% Gain Again While Crypto Market Sees Gloomy Forecast

boss

ICON (ICX) and WanChain (WAN) have recorded massive 23 percent gains again in the past 24 hours, becoming the two best performing assets in the global crypto market for two days straight. The valuation of the crypto market increased from $213 billion to $214 billion on August 27 as some major cryptocurrencies like EOS and IOTA saw fairly large gains in the range of 4 to 15 percent. Volume is the Issue Throughout the past week, despite the strong performance of the crypto market, analysts expressed their concerns regarding the…