mining

Bitcoin miner Cipher buys 37K Bitmain Antminers for $99.5M

The new crypto mining equipment to be bought by Cipher is expected to deliver 7.1 EH/s of self-mining capacity by the first half of 2025.

Publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Cipher Mining is scaling operations with a new mega purchase of cryptocurrency mining devices.

Cipher will buy 37,396 units of Antminer T21 miners from the Chinese crypto mining giant Bitmain under a new agreement, the firm announced on Dec. 18. The new mining equipment to be bought is expected to deliver 7.1 exahashes per second (EH/s) of self-mining capacity by the first half of 2025, the announcement notes.

According to Cipher CEO Tyler Page, the purchase will allow Cipher to build its first 135 megawatts (MW) at its newly acquired Black Pearl site. Cipher has also secured the option to acquire an additional 45,706 miners, representing 8.7 EH/s, in 2024.

Hut 8 agrees to develop mining site to build equity with Celsius creditors

Hut 8’s new mining site in Cedarvale, Texas, will house almost 66,000 miners and be powered by more than 215 MW of energy.

The Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Hut 8 has signed an interim agreement to launch a new mining site in Cedarvale, Texas, in connection with the Celsius Network bankruptcy proceedings.

Announcing the news on Dec. 18, Hut 8 said that the mining site will house almost 66,000 miners and be powered by more than 215 megawatts (MW) of energy.

Hut 8 president Asher Genoot said that the agreement targets a “twofold” goal, which is to build equity with creditors of Celsius while also growing the strength of the managed services business. “We anticipate having more than 895 MW of infrastructure under our umbrella once the site is up and running,” the executive noted.

Bitcoin fees hit 20-month high as miner revenues match $69K BTC price

Bitcoin miners are the main beneficiaries of current sky-high transaction fees, data shows, but many longtime market participants have little time for complaints.

Bitcoin (BTC) on-chain transaction fees are dividing opinion as the cost of sending BTC skyrockets.

Data from the statistics resource BitInfoCharts puts the average transaction fee at nearly $40 as of Dec. 17.

The latest wave of Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions has resulted in elevated transaction fees for all network users — but some believe that they are here to stay.

Blockstream targets continued Bitcoin miner surplus with Series 2 BASIC Note

Blockstream CEO Adam Back says 2023 presented a unique investment opportunity with Bitcoin’s price doubling amid low ASIC miner prices on secondary markets.

Blockstream will look to raise more capital to buy Bitcoin (BTC) mining hardware through a second series of its Blockstream ASIC (BASIC) Note offering, which aims to accumulate and sell ASICs based on the predicted demand for miners over the next two years.

Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph, Blockstream CEO Adam Back highlighted a surplus of Bitcoin mining hardware on the secondary market as a critical driver for a second series of its investment offering.

Blockstream wound up an initial $5-million raise, which saw the firm purchase unused, boxed Antminer S19k Pro ASIC miners for $4.87 million. The company managed to secure the hardware, one of the Chinese manufacturer’s most popular miners, through SunnySide Digital.

Nym co-founder and Chelsea Manning discuss decentralization and privacy

Nym co-founder Harry Halpin and security and hardware consultant Chelsea Manning chat with The Agenda about privacy and the benefits of a decentralized VPN.

Users’ data privacy and the growing need for it to be protected is a topic that people worldwide are reminded of on a near daily basis. For example, just two days ago, on Dec. 11, Toyota warned customers about a potential data breach, stating that “sensitive personal and financial data was exposed in the attack.”

Hacks, breaches and exploits happen so often that one could jokingly say that user data breaches rival the rugs and protocol exploits that crypto is infamous for. To name a notable few, there was the Kid Security parental control app hack, which resulted in 300 million data records being compromised.

Consumer genetics and research company 23andMe had a breach in October that put 20 million records at risk. Even MGM was hacked in September, and estimates suggest that the hack cost the production studio at least $100 million.

ECB assesses environmental footprint of cash, sees room for improvement

In Europe, the environmental footprint of banknotes is minuscule compared to crypto’s, but crypto has its own advantages.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has taken a look at the environmental impact of using banknotes and discovered 16 environmental impact categories. As with cryptocurrency, energy efficiency was a major issue.

Banknotes continue to be the most common form of payment at points of sale in the eurozone. The use of cash requires an elaborate physical infrastructure for production, distribution, and eventual retirement.

Energy use by ATMs was the biggest contributor to banknotes’ environmental footprint at 37%, followed by transportation (35%). The remainder was processing, paper manufacturing, authentication and many other steps. The ECB began efforts to reduce the environmental impact of banknotes in 2004. According to the ECB report:

$300M crypto long liquidations — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

BTC price action obliterates latecomers betting on continued upside as Bitcoin analysts and miners breathe a sigh of relief.

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a key week for macro markets with a bump as the weekly close gives way to a sharp 7% BTC price correction.

The largest cryptocurrency broke down toward $40,000 in a fresh bout of volatility, reaching its lowest level in a week.

Arguably long overdue, Bitcoin’s return to test support nonetheless caught bullish latecomers by surprise, liquidating almost $100 million in longs.

Phoenix seals $380M deal with WhatsMiner for green Bitcoin mining

Phoenix Group is acquiring hydro cooling mining equipment from WhatsMiner worth over $136 million, with the option of an additional $246-million purchase.

United Arab Emirates firm Phoenix Group has disclosed a new purchase of hardware equipment from WhatsMiner, aimed at expanding its portfolio of hydro cooling rigs. According to an announcement on Dec. 7, the $380-million deal represents WhatsMiner’s largest order in two years.

Under the agreement, Phoenix received mining equipment valued at $136 million, with an additional option worth $246 million available. WhatsMiner’s line of hydro cooling equipment was released in 2022, with current prices ranging from $1,008 to $2,484, according to the company’s website.

WhatsMiner’s hydro cooling hardware uses a closed-loop water system, preserving the volume and quality of water inside pipes. According to the company, the system offers more efficient heat transfer since water is a more effective heat conductor than air or oil. The benefits of this system include a reduction in operational costs and a minimized environmental impact, the company claims.

Core Scientific explains its latest bankruptcy plan ahead of court date

If approved, the third version of the plan will go into effect on Jan. 5, 2024, and see the company add 372 MW in capacity by 2027.

Bitcoin (BTC) miner Core Scientific has released a presentation outlining its plans to emerge from bankruptcy in early January 2024. The presentation is based on the third amended joint Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan filed in a United States bankruptcy court on Nov.

Common shareholders and holders of two series of convertible notes are being planned for separately.

*Planned Core Scientific indicators through 2027. Source: Core Scientific*

Noteholders will receive $1.628 on every $1 of face value for notes due in April and $1.201 per $1 face value for notes with an August due date.

If it reaches agreements with key shareholders, Core Scientific will emerge from bankruptcy with $709 million in net debt and $791 million in equity value on Jan.

Core Scientific operates seven facilities in five U.S.

Today’s $CORZ daily self-mined #Bitcoin for the last reported 24-hour period (02-Dec-2023): 30.1 pic.twitter.com/KuKyORAkka

— Core Scientific (@Core_Scientific) December 3, 2023

Core Scientific filed for bankruptcy in late December 2022.

Hut8 Mining operates as US-domiciled entity following USBTC merger

Amid the delisting and relisting process, Hut8 shareholders received 0.2 of a share of New Hut common stock for every one Hut 8 share held, an official announcement confirmed.

Crypto mining companies Hut 8 Mining Corp.

Canada-based Hut 8 announced the completion of the merger on Nov.

After much anticipation… we’re thrilled to announce the completion of our merger of equals with USBTC! We are now officially operating as a U.S.-domiciled entity, Hut 8 Corp. with 825 MW of energy under management across 11 sites with self-mining, hosting, managed services, and… pic.twitter.com/yJ3uou326o

— Hut 8 (@Hut8Mining) November 30, 2023

The merger will result in the delisting of Hut 8 common stocks from the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq by or before Dec.

Asher Genoot, president of New Hut, revealed the company’s plan to ready itself for the upcoming Bitcoin (BTC) halving.

Hut8 received final clearance from the Supreme Court of British Columbia to merge with USBTC in September. However, the planning process began in February.

At the time, the merger was subject to court and regulatory approval by U.S. The dispute was settled on April 7.

X (formerly Twitter) and Block co-founder Jack Dorsey recently took steps to promote the decentralization of Bitcoin mining operations.