Miners

5 Chinese Banks Say Legal Crypto Traders’ Accounts Will Not Be Frozen as Police Widen Crackdown

15/06/2020 by Idelto Editor

Following reports that Chinese authorities are freezing bank accounts of cryptocurrency traders, five banks have reportedly clarified their policies. They confirmed that accounts with legal crypto transactions will not be frozen. However, some people claim that their accounts have been frozen without involvement in illegal activities.

Crypto Traders’ Bank Accounts Frozen

Chinese police have been freezing the bank accounts and bank cards of over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency traders as they crack down on illicit activities involving cryptocurrencies. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported that about 4,000 bank accounts had been frozen in China’s Guangdong province. A few days later, local media reported that the police in Sichuan similarly froze the bank accounts of crypto traders and miners.

A China Times reporter asked five banks regarding their policies in freezing the bank accounts of customers with crypto transactions. China Merchants Bank, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China responded the same way. The news outlet conveyed on Saturday:

As long as the operation is legal, the channel is legal, the virtual currency source is legal, the page supports bank card service, bank card users’ funds will not be intentionally frozen unless it involves illegally related cases, such as money laundering and fraud.

Nonetheless, there are reports of people saying that they are not involved in any illegal activities but their bank accounts have been frozen. A woman told China Times that she used her bank card to purchase cryptocurrency on a large crypto exchange and her account was frozen a week later. “I was a little shocked at the time,” she said, insisting that she “did not participate in any illegal activities.” As she tried to get her account restored, her bank said, “the card was frozen by the police, so wait for the notification.” A bitcoin miner whose bank account was also recently frozen shared his story with the publication, stating: “I have been notified that I can unfreeze with my ID card and related information.”

China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), has been increasing its anti-money-laundering efforts. According to local media, Chinese police have cracked down several large-scale money laundering cases involving cryptocurrency. While Chinese regulators closed down local crypto exchanges in September 2017, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remain legal in the country, as ruled by several Chinese courts.

Although banks claim that accounts showing legal transactions and operations will not be frozen, industry insiders recommend using a separate account to buy cryptocurrencies. “It is best not to use bank cards with important purposes to purchase cryptocurrencies, such as debit cards linked to mortgage loans [and] wages.”

What do you think about Chinese authorities freezing the bank accounts of crypto traders? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Bitmain’s Cofounder Accused of Hindering Next-Gen Bitcoin Mining Rig Shipments

14/06/2020 by Idelto Editor

On June 11, 2020, regional reports disclosed that the cofounder of Bitmain, Micree Zhan, is still battling with Jihan Wu in an ongoing feud. The quarrel is allegedly causing shipment problems for customers, as reports note that Zhan is prohibiting deliveries stemming from the company’s Shenzhen factory.

Bitmain Cofounder Micree Zhan Accused of Causing Mining Rig Shipment Delays Stemming from the Firm’s Shenzhen Factory

An account from the financial columnist, Vincent He, explains that the two cofounders of Bitmain continue to feud over the company’s operations. The report from China highlights that Bitmain’s internal issues may be delaying mining rig shipments for a number of customers. The report explains that Bitmain offers a coupon when delays happen, but “some buyers are disappointed.”

During the last week of May, news.Bitcoin.com reported on how regional sources disclosed that Micree Zhan was allegedly ousted. It was said that the cofounder was threatened with litigation if he interfered with company operations and was warned two times not to intervene with employees.

Following this move, new evidence suggests that Zhan took control over the official media account on June 10. The report also says that a new “HR” representative was “appointed by Micree Zhan.”

“Since Micree Zhan issued an open letter, at present, one-third of the employees have gone back to answer Micree’s call, mainly the employees of the [artifical intelligence] AI business,” Vincent He writes. “Through hindering the delivery of new miners, it is also [a] counterattack [by] Micree Zhan against the miner sales departments led by Jihan Wu. Up to now, the bargaining chips in Micree’s hands are Beijing Bitmian’s business license, official seal, and official media account.”

SHA256 Hashrates Remain High, While Four Out of Five of the World’s Top Mining Rigs Are Bitmain Manufactured Antminers

The recent issues follow Bitmain’s release of the Antminer T19 that processes at speeds of around 84 terahash per second (TH/s). At $0.04 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the T19 is the fourth most powerful miner in the world out of the top five contenders.

In fact, Antminers represent four out of the five top mining rigs leaving only Microbt’s Whatsminer M3OS (86TH/s). The M3OS makes over $5 per day in BTC, while the Antminer T19 also makes around $5 per day at $0.04 per kWh at today’s BTC exchange rates.

The T19 is one of the newer models that may be affected by delayed shipments. Vincent He discussed the situation with Shi Pu, a bitcoin miner and Bitmain buyer, who said he was currently “angry and aggrieved.” According to statistics, the BTC network (SHA256) hashrate is holding strong at 107 exahash per second, and delayed shipments don’t seem to be affecting the current performance.

The Bitcoin Cash (BCH – SHA256) hashrate has increased since May 8, 2020, from 1.4EH/s to today’s 2.6EH/s. Similarly, Bitcoin SV (BSV – SHA256) hashrate has increased since April 15, 2020, from 1.4EH/s to 2.23EH/s today.

In terms of the overall SHA256 hashrate, mining operations are not experiencing any hashrate decline if there are any shipment delays. The Antminer S17 released in December and Antminer S19 released in May, seemingly shipped to destinations despite the Covid-19 delays that affected all the Chinese mining rig manufacturers and customers.

What do you think about the stories and quarrels involving Micree Zhan and Bitmain? Let us know in the comments below.

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Bitcoin Hashrate Spikes to 120 Exahash: Difficulty Drops Allowing Miners to Rejoin the Competition

07/06/2020 by Idelto Editor

The Bitcoin hashrate is up this weekend after the network experienced it’s fourth negative difficulty adjustment this year.

The Bitcoin (BTC) protocol’s difficulty adjustment dropped over 9% on June 4, giving miners who shut off their machines a chance to join the competition once again. Moreover, Glassnode statistics show that blocks are being produced at a faster rate and at the highest levels since July 2019.

According to the Bitcoin (BTC) research and analysis firm, Glassnode, blocks are being produced at a higher level than before and at a level not seen in 11 months. That month in July 2019, the price of BTC was doing extraordinarily well and almost touched $13K per unit on global exchanges.

“Bitcoin blocks are currently being produced at a rate of almost 8 blocks per hour,” Glassnode tweeted on June 6, 2020. “This is the highest level we’ve seen since July 2019, and likely an effect of the recent difficulty adjustment.”

Statistics show that the BTC network experienced a decent-sized difficulty drop on June 4, 2020. It was the seventh-largest difficulty drop during the protocol’s entire existence and the fourth negative drop in 2020. The drop was approximately -9.29% and almost immediately afterward, BTC’s hashrate started climbing northbound.

Difficulty drops and increases are part of the system Satoshi Nakamoto designed and the Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm (DAA) adjusts every 2016 blocks. With blocks set at roughly every 10 minutes, typically DAA drops or increases take place every two weeks on average.

Data from Blockchain.com indicates that the hashrate dropped to a low of 90 exahash per second (EH/s) on May 26, 2020. News.Bitcoin.com also reported on the fact that hashpower was steadily increasing but the DAA drop on June 4, making it much easier for certain miners. Our newsdesk also reported that there were 17 mining pools hashing away at the Bitcoin network before the halving and now there are 32 pools.

Blockchain.com stats show that on June 5, the SHA256 hashpower ramped up to 109EH/s. Looking at data from today, June 7, 2020, shows that the hashrate has spiked even more to 120EH/s according to Fork.lol’s 12-hour averages.

At press time, BTC prices have been down 1.8% during the last 24 hours and the price per unit on Sunday, June 7, 2020, is between $9,425 to $9,550. The overall market capitalization of all 5,000+ coins in existence has also dropped to $269 billion at the time of publication.

What do you think about the difficulty drop on June 4 and the increased hashpower? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The post Bitcoin Hashrate Spikes to 120 Exahash: Difficulty Drops Allowing Miners to Rejoin the Competition appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Iranian President Calls for Launching a Cryptocurrency Mining Strategy

23/05/2020 by Idelto Editor

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for a mining strategy throughout the oil-rich nation. The latest statements from the Iranian President follows Iran’s moves to restrict specific crypto trading platforms over “currency smuggling” mandates.

On May 20, 2020, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told the press that the country needs to spur a cryptocurrency mining strategy, in order for the country to prosper economically amid U.S. sanctions. Reports stemming from the regional news outlet Arzdigital which claims Rouhani has told his administration to start drafting a crypto mining strategy for Iran as soon as possible.

Rouhani said that the energy department, the country’s central bank, and the finance minister need to devise a new scheme that welcomes bitcoin miners. This includes Iranian regulatory policy toward mining farms located in the country and taxes.

Iran recently recognized cryptocurrency mining operations as an official industry last year. Iranian officials have already been issuing licenses to farms that are willing to cooperate with the Iranian governments.

In January 2020 it was reported that the Iranian lawmakers licensed over 1,000 mining operations in the country. In the summer months of 2019, Iran represented 2% of the Bitcoin network’s entire global hashrate. Since then however, recent migration has made it so Iran now has 4% of the total hashrate according to statistics.

Rouhani’s statements are a bit confusing after the Iranian government made it harder for international crypto exchanges to operate in collaboration with the country. This week the Iranian parliament released a proposal that aims to curb “currency smuggling” by heightening regulations for international crypto exchanges. Essentially, the Iranian parliament wants the exchanges that are based in Iran licensed and they are required to follow currency smuggling mandates.

Speculators assume that Iran is trying to keep funds from being spent abroad and wants to squash capital outflow by putting pressure on Iranian crypto exchanges for working with international operations. Iran, despite the fact that it is heavily sanctioned by the U.S. is prospering because of cryptocurrency innovation and encouraging the mining industry to migrate to the region.

Data shows that mining farms in Iran are paying as little as $0.01 to 0.05 for hourly kilowatt rates. However, during certain times of the year, the Iranian government has said that electrical rates could shift for mining operations when electricity demand is high.

What do you think about President Hassan Rouhani’s statements about encouraging an Iranian mining strategy? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Iranian President Calls for Launching a Cryptocurrency Mining Strategy appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin Network Sees a Massive Mining Pool Shift Following the Halving

14/05/2020 by Idelto Editor

Following the third bitcoin halving on May 11, 2020, there’s been a big shift in mining pool distribution, as far as hashrate is concerned. At the time of publication, there’s around 100-115 exahash per second (EH/s) in search of bitcoin blocks and spectators have seen two relatively unknown mining pools join the top mining pool contenders. Both of these new mining pools capture around 14 EH/s today, and the top operations F2pool and BTC.com have around 34 EH/s between both pools.

The last BTC halving saw a small amount of different network activity and every single mining operation lost 50% of revenue after the halving. A minuscule fraction of hashrate has left since the revenue cut, and BTC transaction (txn) fees have been on the rise. In the last 48 hours, a single BTC txn can cost a user between $2-4 depending on network congestion.

Another noticeable sight is the occurrence of extremely less stealth hash (unknown miners) than weeks ago and two relatively new mining operations. The two mining pools called 1Thash and Lubian.com have gained a lot of hashrate since the halving and both operations have captured around 14 EH/s since then.

Bitcoin hashrate distribution according to Btc.com’s pool stats on May 14, 2020. The picture at the very bottom of this article is the top 15 mining pools hashing away at the Bitcoin (BTC) network.

1Thash was known for some time now, but the pool had way less hashpower than it does today, as it captures 7.6% of the overall hashrate on May 14, 2020. Hashrate distribution statistics show that the pool Lubian.com mined its first coins at block height 627,441. Similarly to 1Thash, the operation also has 7.6% of today’s SHA256 hashrate on the BTC chain, and both of them control the fifth and sixth largest hashrate distribution positions.

According to the regional reporter Lylian Teng from 8btc, Lubian’s name means “roadside” and the website claims to be the “safest high yielding mining pool.” Teng also said that the local Chinese news outlet Blockbeats were the first to spot Lubian hashing away at the BTC chain, and they gave information to Btc.com for distribution statistics.

BTC hashrate distribution on February 3, 2020, according to Blockchain.com’s data. At the time there was more than 23% of stealth hash processing blocks on the BTC chain. BTC.com was the third largest and today it is the largest pool, and there were also far fewer pools during the first week of February 2020 as well.

Blockchain.com’s pool stat data still says “unknown” for Lubian’s position, but Btc.com statistics has both Lubian and 1Thash recorded. If Btc.com’s pool stats are correct, that would mean there is very little unknown hash stealth mining the BTC chain today. The data indicates that there are 15 known mining pools since the halving still hashing away. Pools include Btc.com, F2pool, Antpool, Poolin, 1Thash, Lubian, Viabtc, Huobi, Okex, Slush, Nova, Binance, Bitcoin.com, Spider, and Ukrpool.

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F2pool has also recently commanded the second-largest mining pool position by order of SHA256 hashpower in the race. The Chinese mining operation was also lucky enough to obtain the last 12.5 BTC block reward before the halving. Etched into the Coinbase message F2pool wrote:

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Since then, news.Bitcoin.com reported on how the total value of block rewards and fees dropped from $17.16 million on May 12 to $8.95 million the very next day. So far, on Thursday three days after the halving, BTC’s price has spiked to the $9,900 region. However, at that point, the value corrected some and the price has been hovering between the $9,500 to $9,750 zone since then.

What do you think about the change in hashrate distribution since the reward halving? Let us know in the comments below.

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