Mining

Study: Amid Mining Bans, China Still Commands World’s Second-Largest Share of Bitcoin Hashrate

17/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

New data stemming from the latest Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on bitcoin mining indicates that China still holds the second position in terms of global hashrate. While China commands close to 22% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, the United States currently dominates with 37.69%, according to CCAF researchers.

China Is Still the World’s Second-Largest Concentration of Bitcoin Miners

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance updated the organization’s bitcoin mining data and map in order to highlight 2022 hashrate statistics. In July 2021, Bitcoin.com News reported on the CCAF’s data that showed China’s hashrate dropping by 46%.

At the time, China’s government enforced a ban on bitcoin mining and a great deal of the country’s miners re-located. However, the latest CCAF stats show China’s hashrate is still very prominent as the country is the second-largest leader in terms of global hashpower dedicated to the Bitcoin (BTC) network.

The study’s authors believe the miners located in China are likely leveraging virtual private networks (VPNs) to conceal their locations. The report indicates that China’s share of the overall Bitcoin network hashrate was 21.11%.

CCAF’s data derives from the organization’s partner mining pools Foundry, Poolin, Viabtc, and Btc.com. Moreover, some of the hashrate stemming from China did not leverage VPNs and CCAF’s researchers believe those miners are comfortable with their locations unhidden.

Unites States Dominates Bitcoin’s Global Hashrate by More Than 37%

CCAF’s report notes that a “non-trivial” quantity of Chinese miners may have thought the ban wasn’t a big deal. “It is probable that a non-trivial share of Chinese miners quickly adapted to the new circumstances and continued operating covertly while hiding their tracks using foreign proxy services to deflect attention and scrutiny.”

Following CCAF’s updated data in July and October 2021, a CNBC report noted that unnamed sources told the reporter MacKenzie Sigalos that bitcoin miners were still located in China. China’s hashrate is sizable compared to a great number of other countries, however, the U.S. still dominates Bitcoin’s global hashrate by 37.69%.

CCAF’s data from last July showed the U.S. captured 16.8% of the global hashrate last year. If CCAF’s data is correct, that would mean the U.S. hashrate has climbed 124.34% since July 2021. Pool distribution metrics match with CCAF’s data as the mining pool Foundry USA has captured 19.5% of the global hashrate during the last three months. 13,182 blocks were mined during the three-month period and Foundry USA found 2,566 of them.

What do you think about the latest CCAF data that shows close to 22% of the world’s Bitcoin hashrate still resides in China? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Ethereum Hashrate Taps an All-Time High Amid This Week’s Crypto Market Meltdown

15/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Amid the crazy week in the world of cryptocurrencies and the Bitcoin network’s mining difficulty reaching a lifetime high at 31.25 trillion, Ethereum’s hashrate tapped an all-time high on May 13, at block height 14,770,231. Cryptocurrency miners continue to dedicate large quantities of processing power toward the second-largest crypto network in terms of market capitalization.

Ethereum’s Hashrate Continues to Climb Higher

Proof-of-work (PoW) ethereum miners are working harder than ever before to mine ethereum before the upcoming Merge. While most of the attention was directed at the Terra blockchain meltdown this past week, Ethereum’s hashrate tapped an all-time high (ATH) on May 13, 2022, at block height 14,770,231.

The network reached 127 petahash per second (PH/s) that day and the processing power is currently operating at 1.18 PH/s at the time of writing. Miners have been hashing away at the Ethereum network and plan to do so up until the network’s proof-of-stake (PoS) transition.

Since June 28, 2021, Ethereum’s hashrate skyrocketed 124.33% from 0.526 PH/s to today’s 1.18 PH/s. Furthermore, since March 25, 2019, Ethereum’s hashrate has jumped 725.17%. Ethereum miners are still profiting a great deal since the crypto market downturn, as Innosilicon’s A11 Pro with 1,500 megahash per second (MH/s) can profit by $36.66 per day using today’s ether exchange rates.

A 750 MH/s miner can get $17.82 per day in ether profits and 500 MH/s can get around $11.71 per day. Presently, Ethermine.org is the largest ethereum mining pool today with 303.12 TH/s of computational power.

The second-largest ether mining pool is F2pool with 155.35 TH/s and Poolin commands the third-largest share of Ethash with 121.69 TH/s. Other notable ethereum mining operations include hiveon.net (118.59 TH/s), 2miners.com (67.36 TH/s), and flexpool.io (59.77 TH/s).

Ethereum has more than 80 mining pools or operations dedicating hashrate to the blockchain using the proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm Ethash. It’s likely ethereum miners will continue to dedicate hashrate to the blockchain up until The Merge takes place.

However, the miners mining ether will not be able to hash away at the Ethereum network after The Merge completes the transition as the chain will be fully PoS. Ethereum developer Tim Beiko, has said The Merge is likely to be pushed to the third quarter of 2022. Beiko further detailed that he “strongly suggests not investing more in mining equipment at this point.”

What do you think about Ethereum’s hashrate reaching an all-time high on May 13, 2022? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Authorities Seize Over 1,500 Crypto Mining Rigs in Dagestan Crackdown

15/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Law enforcement and other authorities in Dagestan have closed down two illegal crypto farms, confiscating more than 1,500 mining machines. Government agencies in the republic, considered one of Russia’s capitals of underground coin minting, carry out regular raids against such facilities.

Cryptocurrency Miners in Dagestan Accused of ‘Illegal Entrepreneurship’

Officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan and the Federal Security Service have uncovered a large crypto mining farm in the Russian republic’s capital city, Makhachkala, Tass news agency reported, quoting the ministry. The law enforcement agents have seized 1,476 devices producing digital currencies, a press release detailed.

The department added that the owners of the illegal facility have been also providing services to other miners including installing mining rigs, connecting them to the power grid and providing security. Experts are now working to establish the market value of the confiscated mining equipment as well as the amount of consumed electricity.

The law enforcement officials who raided the crypto farm further noted they are collecting evidence to charge the operators under Part 2 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, “Illegal entrepreneurship,” and part 2 of Art. 165, “Causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust.”

In the past few years, Dagestan has become a hotspot for illegal and home crypto mining, along with Russian regions such as Krasnoyarsk Krai and Irkutsk Oblast that have maintained low electricity rates. As a result, they have suffered blackouts due to breakdowns, especially in residential areas where the electrical networks are not designed to handle the excessive loads.

In another case, the local power grid operator and distributor, Rosseti Severniy Kavkaz, recently found 95 rigs minting cryptocurrency at a facility of the republic’s water supply utility, Мahachkala Vodokanal. The hardware was installed in a metal container at the Vuzovskoe Ozero pumping station.

The crypto farm had a power capacity of 260 kW and its illegal electricity consumption exceeded 4.5 million kWh, worth more than 26 million rubles (over $400,000). According to an announcement by Rosseti, the farm was set up by a resident of the Dagestan capital who worked in collusion with employees of the water utility.

Authorities in Moscow have been taking steps to regulate crypto mining as a business activity for which Russia has certain advantages like its cheap energy sources and favorable climatic conditions. Lawmakers at the State Duma are currently reviewing a new bill tailored to achieve that. Meanwhile, in an effort to curb mining with household electricity, the Russian anti-monopoly agency has suggested introducing higher electricity rates for those mining at their homes.

Do you expect authorities in Russia’s Dagestan to continue to crack down on cryptocurrency miners? Tell us in the comments section below.

Number of Busted Illegal Crypto Mining Farms in Iran Nears 7,000

14/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Authorities in Iran have shut down close to 7,000 unauthorized facilities for cryptocurrency mining in the past two years, local media revealed. According to a report, most of the illegal bitcoin farms were concentrated in five provinces of the Islamic Republic, including Tehran.

Iran Continues Crackdown on Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Mining

Iranian officials have unplugged and disbanded a total of 6,914 crypto farms operating without a mining license. This since authorities started clamping down on the illegal extraction of cryptocurrencies in 2020, the English-language Iranian daily Financial Tribune unveiled this week.

The newspaper quotes a report by Iribnews.ir, which details that these facilities have burned some 645 megawatts of electrical power while minting digital currencies without permission. It has been estimated this equals the annual consumption of three major regions — North Khorasan, South Khorasan, and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari.

Cryptocurrency mining has been a legal industrial activity in Iran for almost three years now, after the government approved regulations for the sector in July 2019. A licensing regime was introduced and companies that want to get involved in the business need to obtain authorization from the Ministry of Industries.

However, as registered crypto miners are required to buy the electrical energy they need at higher, export rates, many Iranian miners have opted to remain under the radar. They usually connect illegally to the grid and use subsidized electricity to power their mining hardware.

Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) has been going after underground crypto farms, closing them down and confiscating hundreds of thousands of mining machines. If identified, their operators can be fined for damages inflicted on the distribution network and a report revealed last month that the government is preparing to increase the penalties.

The country’s electricity shortages last summer were partially blamed on increased electricity usage for coin minting and even licensed miners were asked to shut down their equipment. They were allowed to resume operations in September but then again ordered to suspend activities in the face of a growing power deficit in the cold winter months.

Do you expect Iran to continue to crack down on unlicensed crypto mining? Tell us in the comments section below.

Proposed Crypto Mining Ban in Norway Fails to Gain Support in Parliament

13/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

A push to prohibit the energy-intensive proof-of-work mining of cryptocurrencies in Norway has been rejected by the majority of lawmakers. The ban had been suggested by the far-left Red Party which also didn’t win backing to raise an electricity tax for crypto miners.

Norway Will Not Ban Bitcoin Mining

The parliament of Norway has considered and voted against a draft law banning the minting of digital currencies based on the proof-of-work concept. The legislation, which was proposed by the communist Red Party in March, was supported only by two other leftist parties, SV (the Socialist Left Party) and MdG (the Green Party).

“We are obviously disappointed with the majority here,” Red lawmaker Sofie Marhaug told the E24 news portal. She added that the Norwegian society must determine its priorities regarding power usage. Her party says bitcoin mining is extremely energy-intensive and insists on putting an emphasis on the needs of other industries and climate change goals.

However, as Marhaug pointed out, the majority in the Storting, Norway’s legislature, wants to prioritize the market, and “give the bill to Norwegian electricity consumers.”

The Red also failed to win support for a proposal to revise the electricity surcharge for mining data centers, accusing the Labor Party (Ap) and Centre Party (Sp) of breaching a pre-election promise. The two parties had announced they would seek a full electricity fee for mining farms.

While households, many businesses, and the public sector currently pay 0.15 kroner (approx. $0.02) per kilowatt-hour of spent electricity, the industry, including data centers, enjoys a reduced levy of just 0.0055 kroner per kWh.

In February, the Norwegian government said it will try to avoid imposing a crypto ban, but made it clear it was considering various measures regarding the electricity consumption in the sector. In November, Norway admitted it’s mulling over ways to limit the environmental impact of bitcoin minting and may support a Swedish proposal for a European ban on proof-of-work mining.

“In a time of energy scarcity and challenges with cutting emissions, it is particularly harmful that power is wasted only to enrich individuals rather than being used for socially beneficial purposes,” the three leftist parties said. However, the parliamentary majority has objected to the politically motivated discrimination against mining data centers.

What do you think about the debate in Norway on the future of the crypto mining industry? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.