Prolly nothing... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...back-in-bitcoin-mining-despite-government-ban China Makes a Comeback in Bitcoin Mining Despite Government Ban ‘Covert mining operations’ behind rise, Cambridge Center says Hashrate on the network climbed to new highs after 2021 fall Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg By Tanzeel Akhtar and Sidhartha Shukla May 17, 2022, 4:45 AM PDT While the US extended its leading position as the dominant location for Bitcoin mining, China has reemerged as the second-largest locale despite a government ban on the activity last year. The US accounted for 37.84% of global hashrate, a measure of computing power used to extract the digital currency, between September 2021 to January, according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, in a report released on Tuesday. The hashrate, also responsible for securing the Bitcoin network, has made a strong comeback to new highs after falling last year. Proof of Work Miners take Bitcoin hashrate to new all-time highs Source: CoinMetrics Following the mining ban in China last year, the country has seen a sudden surge in activity through “covert mining operations” and has “re-emerged as a major mining hub” grabbing 21.11% of global hashrate, according to the CCAF. “This strongly suggests that significant underground mining activity has formed in the country, which empirically confirms what industry insiders have long been assuming,” CCAF wrote in the report. In May (2021), Beijing intensified its efforts to curb the cryptocurrency market. It seems covert mining is still happening in China through routed through virtual private networks that make it appear the computers are operating in another country. While covert mining operations may be a cause of this resurgence, CCAF’s methodology, which is based on aggregating geolocation data given by partner mining pools, is prone to errors as many miners miners might hide their identity using proxy services like VPNs. Kazakhstan was third at 13.22%, followed by Canada taking 6.48% of global hashrate. Russia accounted for 4.66%, and has seen cryptocurrency mining operations relegated elsewhere, said the report.
"followed by Canada taking 6.48% of global hashrate" - Canada is a perfect place for it. Since most of the electricity consumed by bitcoin mining is converted directly to heat, why buy a heater when you can have a mining rig. The only problem is noise - which can be mitigated by having the miner in an outside-the-home structure.
So many different Bitcoin threads, johnarb. You're beginning to come across as a bit desperate. In any event, since you're such a True Believer in BTC's long-term viability and prospects and are in it for the long run, shouldn't you be downplaying its value so that you can buy the dips and keep adding to your stash?
Lots of important news, Frederick. I'm glad to see you're enjoying them I'll keep posting important Bitcoin and crypto threads for your reading pleasure This China Bitcoin mining is very important It makes sure that the Bitcoin network is not controlled by the ESG bullshit of the west MARA already tried the OFAC block mining that failed....
Yeah, they're a real delight. But couldn't you keep all these news flashes in a single thread or two so that I can better contain my enthusiasm?
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/seven-companies-mining-bitcoin SEVEN COMPANIES YOU WOULDN’T EXPECT TO BE MINING BITCOIN What do health and wellness brands, logistics companies and your local Bitcoiner have in common? They’re all hash rate fiends! ZACK VOELL MAY 13, 2022 As the Bitcoin network’s hashrate continues growing, the dynamics of the mining industry and the types of participants are more diverse than ever. Of course, most bitcoin investors are familiar with self-mining, billion-dollar-market-value giants like Riot Blockchain, and rumors of historic partnerships between energy titans like ExxonMobil and off-grid bitcoin miners. But beyond these somewhat typical and expected corporate actors, the mining industry has seen considerable growth in somewhat anomalous entities exploring mining and launching pilot projects of various sizes to gain exposure to mining. From global shipping companies to health and wellness brands to cryptocurrency lending firms, mining is creeping into the business strategies of a growing number of unexpected entities. This article reviews some of the lesser-known, unexpected companies that are exploring bitcoin mining. HEALTH AND WELLNESS BRANDS Considering the popularity of carnivorism and seed oil-free diets in some bitcoin investor circles, news that a health and wellness brand announced a mining venture might not be the biggest surprise. In June 2021, Florida-based Graystone Company, a self-described wellness, longevity and anti-aging company, announced their plans for growing a bitcoin mining venture that launched one month earlier. In late September 2021 the company posted an update announcing that their operations had successfully mined nearly 0.1 BTC since launch, with over 2,000 TH/s of hashrate currently in operation and plans for a few thousand more to come online over the coming months. In January, Graystone said they were running a total of 50 Antminer S19j Pro machines — not bad for a wellness company. CRYPTOCURRENCY LENDERS When someone thinks about corporate bitcoin miners, lending firms probably aren’t the first business that comes to mind. But two of the general cryptocurrency industry’s largest lenders are both actively mining with plans for expansion. In May, 2021, BlockFi announced its new mining efforts in the form of a partnership with Blockstream’s mining unit. How much hashrate BlockFi is managing through Blockstream wasn’t disclosed, but the lending company said they viewed mining as a complement to their financial service offerings. Celsius is also investing heavily in bitcoin mining, with $500 million spent on its mining efforts as of November 2021. In an interview, Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky said his company operates 22,000 mining machines, most of which are Antminer S19 models. Like BlockFi, Mashinsky described his company’s mining efforts as a strategic complement to its lending business. SHIPPING LOGISTICS COMPANIES Shipping companies don’t usually mine bitcoin, but in February 2021, a self-described global shipping and freight-logistics integrated solutions provider jumped into the bitcoin mining arena. New York-based Sino-Global Shipping announced a new executive leadership team just over one year ago to lead their expansion efforts into bitcoin mining while still focusing on their core business. (So, a sort of corporate strategy like MicroStrategy’s iconic bitcoin-buying campaign, but for mining…) The announcement caused the price for shares of Sino-Global to jump 130%. Since the original announcement, the company has purchased a few thousand mining machines, entered a joint venture to manufacture new mining hardware and even accepted bitcoin as payment for their core services. ASSET MANAGEMENT FIRMS Some of the world’s largest investment banking firms are the biggest shareholders for the public market’s leading bitcoin mining companies. But how many investment banks and wealth management firms mine bitcoin themselves? At least one: Horizon Kinetics. The New York-based investment management firm started their first bitcoin mining unit in 2017, launching a second mining initiative in 2018. The company reportedly manages roughly $7 billion in assets, and they cited the reason for exploring mining as a way to better understand Bitcoin itself. Horizon’s mining growth strategy has largely involved purchasing several thousand mining machines and negotiating hosting contracts for their hardware. ELECTRIC UTILITIES COMPANIES The fact that a multi-billion dollar, electric utility company has a subsidiary running a bitcoin mining pilot program may not be the most surprising development for the mining industry, given the essential place that mining has in the energy markets of the near future. But considering that bitcoin mining as an industry is barely one decade old, E.ON’s Hungarian subsidiary is a pioneer in its own industry. The Hungary subsidiary of E.ON has partnered with another Hungary-based company, Enerhash, to install a small mining operation at one of their plants to test its ability to improve the economics and performance of the plant in various ways. What makes this partnership even more curious is how few media outlets have discussed it. Perhaps the lack of attention to E.ON Hungary’s mining activity was partially due to some of their press releases around the operation being written in Hungarian while most of the past year’s mining news has focused on North and Latin America. SMALL TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES It’s important to mention that not every company who announces new mining ventures or pilot projects are legitimate. By joining the excitement and hype around bitcoin mining, many of these companies — typically publicly traded technology firms with small market capitalizations — are relying on desperate gimmicks to boost their share prices. Publishing a press release about bitcoin mining is easy. Building a sustainable mining operation is much harder. So, in the case of many smaller companies that make similar announcements, determining which are legitimate explorations of the mining sector and which are not can be difficult. But at the risk of that context too heavily overshadowing the company named in this paragraph, one example of a smaller technology company that appears to really be mining is Jasmine Technology. The publicly traded, Thailand-based telecom company publicly disclosed its plans to start mining bitcoin in December 2021, triggering a mind-boggling 6,700% surge in its share price. At the time of the announcement, Jasmine Technology reportedly operated 325 mining machines and had mined 8 BTC. SHOULD EVERYONE MINE BITCOIN? Having some direct or indirect exposure to mining probably makes a lot of financial and strategic sense to a multitude of investors and businesses. And seeing so many different types of participants enter the mining market is, in this author’s view, fantastic. Even though many companies are working to make products and services available so everyone can feasibly mine bitcoin, that doesn’t mean everyone should immediately start mining. Every new miner needs a good strategy and a slow, measured start to their operations. The growth of Bitcoin’s hashrate is lined with hundreds of failed miners who planned poorly. A successful mining operation always starts slowly and carefully. Reckless and haphazard beginnings never last. CONCLUSION Even though energy titans and multi-billion-dollar self-mining companies dominate today’s corporate mining landscape, a growing number of atypical businesses are incorporating bitcoin mining. Broader interest from these entities has few downsides, even though bitcoin mining is a relatively nascent and risky industry. How many of these operations will last more than one Bitcoin market cycle is an open question. But instead of just buying bitcoin, corporations who want to mine it too are a special class of bulls in a league of their own.