BTC Mining

Foundry Launches Bitcoin Mining Machine Marketplace, US Pool Becomes the World’s Largest Miner

08/12/2021 by Idelto Editor

The firm Foundry Digital announced on Wednesday that the business has launched a bitcoin mining rig marketplace called Foundryx. According to Foundry, the company has access to more than 40,000 mining machines that are ready for resale. In addition to the marketplace launch, the company’s mining operation, Foundry USA, has become the world’s largest bitcoin miner in terms of hashrate.

Mining Pool Foundry USA Becomes Top Bitcoin Miner, Firm Reveals New Mining Machine Marketplace With Access to 40,000 ASICs

At the end of August 2020, Digital Currency Group (DCG) revealed that it pledged $100 million to a cryptocurrency mining firm called Foundry. The company was quietly founded in 2019 and ever since the firm’s inception, it has made significant headway in the bitcoin mining industry.

As a subsidiary of DCG, Foundry provides machines, capital, consulting, and intelligence to digital assets miners. The company also operates a mining pool called Foundry USA, which is the largest bitcoin mining pool on December 8, 2021, with 16.5% of the global hashrate or 29.83 exahash per second (EH/s) of hashpower.

During the last couple of month’s Foundry USA has been a top pool, consistently commanding a position in the top five mining pools globally. On the same day it commands the largest fraction of SHA256 hashpower worldwide, Foundry announced the launch of a bitcoin mining rig market called Foundryx.

The marketplace matches buyers and sellers of bitcoin mining machines and customers gain access to the company’s inventory and pricing. The company details that it has secured more than 40,000 machines from Microbt and Bitmain that can be delivered in 2022.

Foundry also says that Foundryx customers can also leverage the company’s enterprise-grade products including services like financing, shipping, logistics, and pooled mining via the company’s mining pool Foundry USA.

Foundry Aims to Provide a Reliable U.S.-Based Secondary Market for Mining Machines

As things like the semiconductor chip shortages and supply chain problems plague the industry, Foundry details that the company aims to make the process of acquiring miners easier. Furthermore, some resellers require hefty deposits in order to purchase quality machines.

“Foundry solves these problems by providing buyers and sellers with a trusted and reliable U.S.-based secondary market for mining machines,” the company’s announcement explains.

“With the industry’s leading clients and partners, from machine manufacturers to mining companies, we have the market knowledge and data to match the right buyers and sellers, at the right price,” Jeff Burkey, VP of Foundry’s business development department said during the announcement.

Foundry’s marketplace follows the company launching a range of services for 20 crypto staking networks. The company has also partnered with a slew of bitcoin mining operations this year including firms like Greenidge Generation Holdings, Bitfams, Hut8, Cleanspark, Core Scientific, Compute North, Bit Digital, Bitdeer, and Hive.

What do you think about Foundry launching a bitcoin mining rig marketplace called Foundryx? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Elizabeth Warren Queries Bitcoin Mining Operation, US Senator Says Crypto Miners Raise Environmental Concerns

03/12/2021 by Idelto Editor

Senator Elizabeth Warren has written a letter to the CEO of the New York bitcoin mining firm Greenidge Generation, Jeff Kirt, asking for details on the company’s emissions. Warren’s letter insists “Greenidge and other [bitcoin mining] plants raise concerns about their impacts on the global environment.”

Elizabeth Warren Takes Aim at Bitcoin Mining Operations

The former law professor and the United States Democratic Party senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, has taken aim at cryptocurrency mining operations after she criticized digital currency markets in recent times. In mid-September, Warren pressed the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate increasing digital currency oversight. Warren has also denounced cryptocurrency mining in the past and she has cited bitcoin mining’s environmental impact on many occasions.

On December 2, Warren shared a letter she sent to the CEO of the New York bitcoin mining firm Greenidge Generation Holdings, Jeff Kirt, with the news publication Bloomberg. “Given the extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with bitcoin mining, mining operations at Greenidge and other plants raise concerns about their impacts on the global environment, on local ecosystems, and on consumer electricity costs,” Warren’s letter explains. The U.S. senator also tweeted the Bloomberg article via her official Twitter account and further said:

Crypto mining has huge environmental costs & is raising energy prices for consumers. Bitcoin alone consumes as much energy as Washington state. I’m calling on Bitcoin company [Greenidge Generation] to provide information on its operations & environmental impact.

Warren: ‘We Need to Better Understand How Much Energy Facilities Like Greenidge Are Using’

According to Bloomberg’s contributing author, Josh Saul, this “is the first time Warren has queried a specific miner.” The Massachusetts senator further told Bloomberg that lawmakers need to understand these mining facilities more. “We need to better understand how much energy facilities like Greenidge are using, how much they’re emitting into the environment, and what impact they’re having on electricity prices for American consumers,” Warren stressed.

The bitcoin miner Greenidge Generation has claimed on many occasions that the company leverages green solutions to mine bitcoin (BTC). The Greenidge Generation power plant in Dresden, NY uses “natural gas to generate electricity.” Furthermore, “Greenidge Generation runs at new levels of thermodynamic efficiency, achieving historic lows in the cost of producing power,” the company details.

Greenidge is operated by Atlas Holdings, and the firm’s website explains that the firm purchases carbon offset credits. A number of other bitcoin mining operations also leverage carbon credit solutions and renewable energy solutions.

What do you think about the senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, criticizing the bitcoin mining industry and sending a letter to the Greenidge CEO? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

While BTC’s Hashrate Climbs Higher, Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Nears All-Time High

20/11/2021 by Idelto Editor

During the last 90 days, Bitcoin’s hashrate has been climbing higher and has been slowly nearing the all-time high (ATH) the network captured six months ago in May. The accelerated hashrate has caused the network difficulty to rise, as Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has adjusted upward nine times in a row to date and it’s closing in on the network difficulty ATH recorded six months ago.

Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Approaches Lifetime High

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty is approaching the all-time high recorded on May 13, 2021. The network’s difficulty is basically a mechanism Satoshi Nakamoto added to maintain a steady rate of close to ten-minute blocks. Furthermore, the difficulty also makes the entire system stronger security-wise, as a 51% attack becomes a lot more expensive and far more difficult to achieve.

When the hashrate changes, every two weeks, the network takes the change into account, and when the hashrate increases the difficulty to mine bitcoin (BTC) also rises. When the hashrate experiences a sudden dive, like it did at the end of June and during the month of July over the bitcoin mining crackdown in China, the difficulty will also lower. When BTC’s hashrate plummeted this year, the network’s mining difficulty slid by 39.8% in different intervals.

Difficulty Needs to Increase More Than 10% in Order to Capture New Record High

The difficulty’s ATH on May 13, 2021, was roughly 25.05 trillion, and two weeks later it adjusted down to 21.05 trillion. Following July 3, BTC’s mining difficulty slid to a low of 13.6 trillion after it experienced the largest downward difficulty adjustment in the network’s lifetime. That massive downward drop was approximately 27.94% at block height 689,472. Today, BTC’s mining difficulty is 22.67 trillion and getting awfully close to nearing its 25.05 trillion ATH.

The bottom line is bitcoin (BTC) will be more difficult to mine than it was six months ago in a short period of time. The mining difficulty will need to increase by 10.27% from the current position to surpass the May 13 record high. At current SHA256 profitability rates, the odds of BTC’s mining difficulty increasing enough to surpass the difficulty ATH recorded six months ago is far greater. ASIC bitcoin mining rigs such as the Microbt Whatsminer M30S++, Ipollo’s B2, and the Bitmain Antminer S19 Pro still make over $25 per day paying $0.12 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in electricity costs.

What do you think about Bitcoin’s network difficulty nearing the all-time high it recorded in May? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Bitcoin Hashrate Nears All-Time High Captured in May — BTC Mining Rigs Produced in 2016 Still Profitable

15/11/2021 by Idelto Editor

While bitcoin’s value has remained well above the $60K range, the network’s hashrate has surged to over 184 exahash per second (EH/s) as mining devices are far more profitable at these prices. The price has made it so that older generation mining devices manufactured over four years ago, with processing power of more than 8 terahash per second (TH/s), can make a daily profit mining the leading crypto asset.

Bitcoin Hashrate Follows Ethereum’s Hashrate Toward All-Time Highs

On November 15, 2021, Bitcoin’s hashrate climbed to 184 EH/s gathering 17.19% more hashpower than the network saw a mere two days ago on November 13. Bitcoin’s (BTC) hashrate is getting close to nearing its all-time high (ATH), which was recorded on May 9, 2021, at 191 EH/s. Today’s Bitcoin hashrate metrics show that the hashpower is only 3.8% away from surpassing its ATH, according to coinwarz.com data.

In addition to BTC’s hashrate nearing ATH, the second-largest crypto asset in terms of market valuation, ethereum’s (ETH) higher prices have also propelled its network hashrate. At 932 TH/s, Ethereum’s hashrate is awfully close to a single petahash per second or 0.001 EH/s. Ethereum’s hashrate has already reached an ATH and has continued to soar higher, capturing new records.

It’s worth it for miners to mine ether in comparison to BTC, as ETH is the third most profitable network to mine. At press time, the most profitable ether mining rig the Innosilicon A11 Pro that produces 1,500 megahash per second (MH/s) or 0.0015 TH/s can rake in $109.29 per day. The profit estimate stems from asicminervalue.com using today’s ether exchange rates and $0.12 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in electric consumption.

Using Today’s Exchange Rates, Top 3 Bitcoin Miners Make $36 per Day — Bitcoin Miners Manufactured Over 4 Years Ago Still Profit

The profits for the ether mining rigs are larger than BTC’s mining profits stemming from the most profitable application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining devices. Three SHA256 compatible miners on the market today, however, can command $36 per day in profits using $0.12 per kWh in electric consumption and today’s BTC prices.

The Microbt Whatsminer M30S++, the Ipollo B2, and the Bitmain Antminer S19 Pro are today’s most profitable BTC miners on the market, according to stats from asicminervalue.com. All three models boast hash speeds at over 100 TH/s. The Canaan Avalonminer 1246 which boasts 90 TH/s produces an estimated $27.55 per day using today’s exchange rates. Furthermore, besides the top mining devices pulling in the highest profits, old school miners from 2016 are now profiting.

For instance, using $0.12 per kWh in electricity per day and today’s BTC prices, a Bitmain Antminer R4 (8.7 TH/s) can get at least $1.18 per day. The R4 mining rig was produced in 2017 and the popular Bitmain Antminer S9 (11.5 TH/s), manufactured over four years ago can get up to $1.53 per day with electrical rates at $0.12 per kWh.

What do you think about the recent mining action and Bitcoin’s hashrate climbing to 184 exahash per second? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Bitcoin’s Hashrate Soars 42% Higher Over the Last 3 Months Following Crypto Asset’s 36% Price Increase

13/11/2021 by Idelto Editor

While bitcoin has been hovering above the $60K handle for a great majority of the last 28 days, the network’s hashrate has jumped considerably during that time as well. Since August 13, Bitcoin’s hashrate has climbed 42% from 110 exahash per second (EH/s) to today’s 157 EH/s. Moreover, after nine consecutive difficulty changes, going forward, it will be 50% more difficult to mine bitcoin than it was three months ago for the next two weeks.

Bitcoin’s Hashrate Follows the Price Rise

At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s hashrate is coasting along at 157 EH/s and approximately 14 known mining pools are dedicating hashpower to the network. 16.39 exahash or 10.24% of the network is being mined by stealth miners and the hashrate is classified as “unknown.”

The unknown hashrate represents the fifth-largest mining ‘pool’ dedicating hash toward the network. Meanwhile, during the last three months, Bitcoin’s hashrate has followed the price moving northbound. The overall hashrate is 42% higher than it was three months ago and that was roughly a month after China’s crackdown on bitcoin miners.

Bitcoin Is 50% More Difficult to Mine Than It Was 3 Months Ago

In the last three months, hashrate averages show that at some points during the last three months, Bitcoin’s hashrate ran as high as 180 EH/s. Bitcoin’s hashrate has climbed above the 180 EH/s region three times since October 25.

Bitcoin’s price has hovered above the $60K price range since October 15 and dipped under $60K on one occasion during that time. Because the hashrate has been gradually rising, Bitcoin’s network difficulty as of this weekend, will have adjusted upward nine times in a row. The nine adjustments equates to being over 50% more difficult to mine bitcoin (BTC) since July 17, 2021.

4 Pools Command 58% of Network’s Processing Power

Today, the top four mining pools command 58.6% of the network’s hashrate during the last three days. F2pool is the largest mining pool with 28.51% EH/s and Antpool commands 26%. Foundry USA captures 12.69% of the global hashrate as the third-largest mining pool today. Foundry’s pool commands roughly 20.32 EH/s at the time of writing.

Viabtc is the fifth largest mining pool with 11.8% of the global hashrate translating to 18.89 EH/s. The fifth-largest hashrate today belongs to stealth miners known as “unknown” with 16.39 EH/s. Below this portion of the hashrate pie is another ten mining pools dedicating hashrate to the BTC chain.

Market’s Most Profitable Miners Are Raking in $34 to $45 per Day

The most profitable miners on the market are making decent profits between $34 to close to $45 per day with today’s exchange rates, the current mining difficulty, and $0.07 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in electricity costs. The Microbt Whatsminer M30S++ (112 TH/s) will bring in 44.77 per day at current BTC exchange rates and the Bitmain Antminer S19 Pro (110 TH/s) pulls in $44.24 per day.

Canaan’s top model, the Avalonminer 1246 (90 TH/s) can get around $34.92 every 24 hours using current exchange rates. If the new Bitmain Antminer S19 XP was in the wild today, it could pull in around $58.20 a day with its 140 TH/s hashpower. However, the unit is not expected to be sold until July 2022.

What do you think about the recent mining action and Bitcoin’s hashrate climbing 42% higher in three months? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.