Switzerland

Switzerland-based crypto mining firm expands operations to Texas

The company reported its operations in the United States will have an initial capacity of 3 megawatts, aiming for the firm’s total hashrate to be more than 1.6 EH/s.

White Rock Management, a cryptocurrency mining company based in Switzerland, said it will be expanding its operations to the United States, starting with Texas.

In a Tuesday announcement, White Rock said it will be partnering with Natural Gas Onsite Neutralization, or NGON, a company that captures natural gas that would otherwise be burned and converts it to energy for use in the firm’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations. White Rock said it will be operating out of NGON’s facility in the Brazos Valley region, mining BTC using “environmentally responsible” methods.

According to White Rock CEO Andy Long, the move into Texas was just the first in the firm’s plans to expand its BTC mining operations to areas capable of providing energy from natural gas outside the scope of the state’s power grid. The company began mining crypto at data centers in Sweden in November 2021 and reported its operations in the United States will have an initial capacity of 3 megawatts, aiming for the firm’s total hashrate to be more than 1.6 EH/s.

*Crypto mining firm White Rock Management’s operations in Texas. Source: White Rock*

The recent market downturn — the price of Bitcoin has fallen more than 28% in the last 30 days — may be impacting crypto miners’ profits. Cointelegraph reported on June 10 that the “raw” costs for miners in North America were roughly $22,000 per Bitcoin, with additional costs potentially bringing the total to more than $30,000. Many mining firms in the region including Bitfarms have reported selling some of their BTC holdings amid the bear market.

So What if the Revenue From Bitcoin Mining is Low?

“Bitcoin miners are experiencing record-low Revenue. Miners earn Revenue from two sources..”
by @CryptoAlliance_

Read Morehttps://t.co/jiIQVzrnpB

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) June 27, 2022

It’s unclear how the recent volatility may affect White Rock’s operations in the Lone Star State. Long told Cointelegraph the firm was “able to mine profitably in bear and bull markets” due in part to having the latest generation of rigs.

“Our U.S. facility perfectly compliments our Swedish 100% hydroelectric powered sites and we see a great deal of opportunity in the current turbulent market conditions,” said Long. “In particular we expect there to be attractive opportunities for [mergers and acquisitions] and consolidation between public and privately held miners.”

Prior to the market downturn, Argo Blockchain said it was planning to launch operations in Texas’ Dickens County almost a year after first breaking ground — the 200-megawatt data center started mining in May. In April, the City of Fort Worth also launched a pilot program to mine BTC using three rigs in its city hall building.

Bitcoin at the WEF: What did the world’s elite think of crypto?

In a Cointelegraph video, the world’s elite and some crypto believers rub shoulders to share their views on crypto.

Cointelegraph introduces “Crypto Street,” a series of spontaneous conversations with strangers on the street to educate, entertain and take a temperature check on the world’s relationship with crypto.

The first episode comes from the gates of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall attempted to speak with the world’s elite where he was rejected, ridiculed, and ignored before stumbling across crypto believers among the WEF attendees.

Sporting a Cointelegraph sweatshirt with the loudest Bitcoin (BTC) logo, Hall asked passersby to guess what was print represented. Some WEF-goers refused to talk on camera while others claimed ignorance.

“That’s not Bentley, it’s Bugatti!” One passerby at the World Economic Forum joked. That, or they genuinely believed that the Bitcoin logo is a luxury car brand.

The shoot then moves to the blockchain streets of Davos, where cryptocurrency companies outweigh the tradfi presence. Irina Heaver, a crypto lawyer and Bitcoin believer told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin is “freedom.” She explained that for her family:

“When the Soviet Union Collapsed, they were left absolute penniless — so did millions of other people […] If they could have some of that (Bitcoin) can you imagine how their families would be better off?”

Heaver also explained that more and more Russians transact with Bitcoin and crypto, reflecting the growing popularity of cryptocurrency in the country. WEF attendees from India, where crypto education is weak at best, explained that the “younger generation is a lot more curious about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.”

“Some rethinking and action need to happen to make it [crypto] more sustainable.”

The International Monetary Fund is close friends with the WEF, and it consistently pushes for central bank digital currencies as well as moving cryptocurrencies away from proof-of-work blockchains to less energy-intensive proof-of-stake blockchains.

There’s also a cameo from Nas Daily, the Youtuber and Bitcoin HODLer who lost $200,000 on Bitcoin to date. He appears on camera and exclaims, “I lost so much money.”

Finally, there’s also a Golden Retriever who holds his tongue regarding Dogecoin (DOGE) price predictions for 2022, and an acapella rendition of Nina Simone by up-and-coming vocalist, Evan Klassen. Incidentally, Klassen is signing at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar this year; will he croon a crypto tune?

Tether is ‘instrument of freedom’ and ‘Bitcoin onramp,’ says Bitfinex CTO

Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Bitfinex and Tether, made the case that Tether is a tool for human rights during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On a sun-splashed day in the Swiss Alps, the chief technology officer of Bitfinex and Tether, Paolo Ardoino, shed light on the Plan B Lugano strategy, Tether as an onramp into Bitcoin (BTC) and —crucially — his favorite pizza toppings.

Fresh off the plane from Norway, where Ardoino attended an increasingly Bitcoiner-friendly event, the Oslo Freedom Forum, the Italian explained that, in contrast to the WEF,there was no “shilling” in Norway.

Tether was invited to speak at the Oslo Freedom Forum as the stablecoin is increasingly considered an “instrument of freedom.” Tether has been adopted by the Myanmar government while the Ukrainian government has accepted crypto donations, including Tether, since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Tether is one of the tools to be used by distressed countries where the national currency is devaluating—where people want an edge against insane inflation.”

Ardoino cites Turkey and Argentina as examples. The Turkish lira has lost 50% of its purchasing power and crypto, often seen as a hedge against uncertain currencies, is experiencing a second wave of interest. Ardoino also conceded that:

“Bitcoin is great but they want the price stability, the long-term price stability. […] “Bitcoin is great for many things but it’s not yet understood by many.”

Regarding the Plan B strategy in Lugano, where Bitcoin and Tether are de facto legal tender in the Swiss city, Ardoino shared that educational models in Switzerland are being shared across to El Salvador.

“Bitcoin is for everyone. You have people in a poor country that need Bitcoin as the basic financial infrastructure. On the other side, you have a country with the most banks in the world, and they still need Bitcoin.”

Ardoino also critiqued Satoshi Nakamoto’s choice of pizza toppings. Bitcoin Pizza Day occurred the day before the WEF, a day where Bitcoiners around the world eat and attempt to pay for pizza with Bitcoin. The creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, famously enjoyed pineapple and jalapeños on pizza, to which Ardoino commented, “nobody is perfect.”

Tether is an ‘instrument of freedom’ and ‘Bitcoin onramp,’ says Tether CTO

Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Bitfinex and Tether, made the case that Tether is a tool for human rights during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Tether is one of the tools to be used by distressed countries where the national currency is devaluating—where people want an edge against insane inflation.”

“Bitcoin is great but they want the price stability, the long-term price stability. […] “Bitcoin is great for many things but it’s not yet understood by many.”

“Bitcoin is for everyone. You have people in a poor country that need Bitcoin as the basic financial infrastructure. On the other side, you have a country with the most banks in the world, and they still need Bitcoin.”

Crypto knocking on the WEF’s door: The view from Davos

A look back on the week that was the World Economic Forum and how crypto might have stolen the show.

The spectacle that is the World Economic Forum (WEF) came to a close in Davos, Switzerland on Friday, May 27. Nearly 3,000 people from over 110 countries took planes, trains and helicopters to the highest town in Europe to lobby leaders and push and query the WEF agenda.

And, while the war in Ukraine took center stage during the WEF, climate change played the hero and economic recovery was the damsel in distress. Meanwhile, blockchain and cryptocurrency featured as — at the very least — a supporting role.

As Soramitsu CEO Makoto Takemiya described during a Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) panel taking place on the WEF promenade, the industry bigwigs and “financial elites” amassed in Davos. The WEF 2022 had “barbarians” at the gate in the form of crypto and blockchain enthusiasts.

This was the first in-person WEF since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the presence of blockchain companies many participants was large. All down the Davos boulevard, shops and cafes temporarily transformed into showrooms for corporations and big business while the crypto companies stuck out.

Alex Fazel, chief partnership officer at Swissborg told Cointelegraph that “back at WEF 2018, there was only one major pro-crypto event and numerous other talks were stressing the dark sides of crypto.”

In 2022, world leaders and monetary disruptors rubbed shoulders at the Crypto House, the Blockchain Hub, Polkadot Hub, LAN Space, the NFT Shop, GBBC Central and the Filecoin Foundation — which had converted a former Catholic church into a crypto conference hall. Conspicuous at best, crypto was hard to miss.

*Map of the Davos blockchain locations for the WEF.*

Even the WEF itself now features a dedicated website for blockchain technology. Plus, bankers openly discussed digital currencies during a panel on the WEF main stage. In a video interview with Cointelegraph in Davos, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, explained that while crypto used to be a dirty word, the trendline is now “positive.” Garlinghouse told Cointelegraph that the “presence of crypto is dramatically different.

Swissborg’s Fazel summed up the bubbling crypto sentiment as newbies and nocoiners (those yet to invest in crypto), took their first steps into the space. “There was more attendance at the Web3 pavillions than Web2 like Meta:”

“During WEF 2022, on top of dozens of crypto conferences, events and parties, the crypto space occupied between 10–20% of the entire promenade across the private sector, excluding the governmental pavillions.”

Ultimately, when the CEO of MasterCard features on a blockchain panel perched next to Bank for International Settlements researchers and crypto enthusiasts to openly debate the demise of SWIFT, as well as the dawn of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), it’s clear that digital currencies have made the mainstream.

For Thierry Aryz Ruiz, CEO of AgAu, blockchain as a focal point of the WEF goes without saying: The issue revolves around how the world’s elite manages the innovation. Ruiz told Cointelegraph, “with CBDCs and increasing regulation, we may see darker applications of Blockchain as a tool of control.”

Daniela Barbosa, general manager at Hyperledger and a WEF veteran, agrees with Ruiz. The WEF is certainly smitten with blockchain technology. However, she also posits that we shouldn’t be “scared” of CBDCs. Barbosa decodes the sentiment in an upcoming Cointelegraph Youtube interview. Subscribe here.

*Daniela Barbosa, general manager of Hyperledger, speaking to Cointelegraph.*

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) are hatched out of a desire to separate money from the state — not embolden fiat money. Yet, the WEF, blockchain and crypto are increasingly entangled. Ruiz expanded on the point: “Great minds bump into each other, genuinely with good intentions” at the WEF. In view of looming regulatory concerns, however, he shares “they can also pave the road to hell if left unchallenged.” Ruiz signals a note of caution:

“The pandemic has evidenced that too often, people sacrifice their freedom in exchange for a false sense of security. We shall never forget that such a trade likely results in the loss of both.”

On regulation, during a decentralized finance (DeFi) panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph, Sam Yim, 1inch network adviser and former banker, explained that regulation is a speeding train. “Either you climb onboard or you step out of the way.” For good or bad, regulation of the crypto space is coming.

On the upside, regulation may reassure the curious and the coy about the rigidity and longevity of the space. Indeed, for some WEF attendees, it was the first time they interacted with crypto. At the Cointelegraph farewell party held in partnership with Polygon, Davos coin stole the show. Partygoers could spend Davos coins at the bar, enjoying a “seamless checkout experience,” thanks to a pilot project pioneered by Ammer technologies.

Whether regulation impedes or stimulates growth, the theme that Bitcoin and crypto is for everyone permeated through. In an all-women panel hosted by Cointelegraph editor-in-cheift Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, questions such as “Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, who remains pseudonymous, could very well be a woman” were raised.

For some WEF attendees, proximity to power and to the regulators attending the WEF could gain the upper hand. Nas Daily, Youtuber, social media influencer and a recent crypto convert, told Cointelegraph that he wanted to be at the WEF to be close to regulators.

“The true influencers are here. They’re not on your Instagram newsfeed,” he told Cointelegraph. He shared his Bitcoin investment strategy with Cointelegraph which began in March — taking his Youtube channel along for the ride.

In all, whether crypto is the “barbarians” at the gate, a future tool for the WEF’s disposal or a means for economic empowerment for all, the view from Davos is that crypto is here to stay. When the WEF returns to its usual wintry service in January 2023, regulation will likely be the burning issue. The question is, what face will it wear?