The World’s combined Bitcoin mining operations consume more power than most African countries.
Mining is the lifeblood of Bitcoin but like any industry, it consumes power to unlock the precious virtual currency.
There are massive mining operations around the world and they are bound to be more popping up in the next few years as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue their path into mainstream acceptance.
As it stands, Bitcoin mining is a lucrative operation. With the price over $11,000, there is a lot of money to be made. Like any factory, mining rigs use electricity. A lot of electricity.
According to UK based company Power Compare, the surge in Bitcoin price has directly influenced the demand on power supply.
Citing Digiconomist, the combination of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash’s estimated annual electricity consumption has climbed to 31 terawatt-hours. They also estimate that Bitcoin mining generates $9.7 bln a year.
They have developed their own Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, which has provided the most recent data driving these insights.
Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash mining is using a total of 0.13 percent of the global energy consumption - which ranks the combined mining operation as the 61st highest power consumer in the World.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the power consumption of Bitcoin mining in November increased by nearly 30 percent - no doubt linked to the massive bull run.
If the demand for electricity caused by mining continues keeps at its current rate - mining will consume all of the world’s electricity supply by 2020.
As it stands, Bitcoin mining uses more power than most African countries - as shown in Power Compare’s illustration below.
Secret symbol № 24: q What is this?
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After completing Germany’s fastest IPO in the last 15 years, NAGA, a German fintech company, decided to tap into the crypto market.
A firm usually takes the IPO route to raise funds so that they can build their business. But when ambitions become even bigger and you want to step into the crypto space, they tap into the ICO world. The ICO market is hot and it is imperative for firms to have a concrete plan in order to have a successful ICO. It has become a lot easier for firms to bluff investors who are facing the threat of missing the opportunity, especially when you see the ballistic moves in Bitcoin. One way to assure investors is that they understand the business model. By having a better understanding of the business, you can take the fear away and attract investors.
Firms holding an ICO will have a soft cap and breaking those caps within a short time frame shows they have strong investor base. NAGA, a fintech group, which holds a brokerage arm and social trading app, SwipeStox, raised capital earlier this year by doing an IPO. Their Token Sale is LIVE and it seems they are having a huge success: 20,000 backers that have invested more than $17 mln already.
However, these days the market values when you have one exchange, one token and access to a number of products. They realized that a brokerage firm alone isn’t going to satisfy investors and users. The business model is simple; create an exchange through which traders can get access to investment products, exchange virtual goods, get access to education, and issue NAGA tokens. The firm will produce a wallet in which users can hold both NAGA coin and fiat currency, and users will also be rewarded for their loyalty in using the coin. The great thing about them is that their Telegram community is now more than 7,000 active members which is a positive sign for every project.
The NAGA group figured out that they can use an ICO fund to build its exchange, trading academy, and a platform for virtual goods where one can buy and sell them. Through its brokerage arm, it can provide access to a vast amount of investments, such as ETFs, stocks, commodities and forex markets. ETFs are a great tool for investors who do not want to invest in highly volatile stocks.
The social trading app, SwipeStox, provides a compounded effect as it attracts new users who want to copy the trades of the platform’s best traders. NAGA has also used some elements of artificial intelligence, which are geared to better performance. It picks up traders with the best performance based on algorithms. However, the artificial intelligence part is underdeveloped but the ICO funding could help to upgrade the system.
The strength of the ICO is in its ecosystem and tapping into the trading academy provides that. Bringing partners on board which work in the same business can resolve the problem. In the case of NAGA group, they partnered with a leading Cypriot educational institution and the products offered on this platform will fall within EU regulation. Finally, when a firm is working on an alpha platform for the buying and selling of virtual goods, bringing the same product to its exchange would help them. NAGA is going to use their Switex product which would serve in this market.
Thus, by aligning similar business and bringing them on the same exchange and issuing your own token, a firm which raised capital previously can easily walk into the ICO world. Having a successful IPO does give you reputation, but at the same time, it also increases the challenge for a firm to justify how they used their funds from the IPO. Investors need assurance and a valid business model to invest in the ICO and become part of their ecosystem. Money raised during NAGA’s IPO will be used to build their primary part of the business and the ICO model will help them to vastly expand their ecosystem.
Naeem Aslam
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UK Treasury will regulate cryptocurrencies to stop money laundering, tax evasion.
The Treasury of the UK has announced plans to strongly regulate the transfer of cryptocurrencies with a view to cracking down on money laundering and tax evasion. The regulations have not been stipulated with specificity, but will certainly include anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) details.
The regulation is intended to take force before the end of 2017, or just at the beginning of 2018. The increased regulations, in line with the directives in the EU, are intended to limit the amount of anonymity possible for cryptocurrency traders. According to John Mann, one of the Treasury committee:
"These new forms of exchange are expanding rapidly and we've got to make sure we don't get left behind - that's particularly important in terms of money-laundering, terrorism or pure theft. I'm not convinced that the regulatory authorities are keeping up to speed. I would be surprised if the committee doesn't have an inquiry next year. It would be timely to have a proper look at what this means. It may be that we want to speed up our use of these kinds of thing in this country, but that makes it all the more important that we don't have a regulatory lag.”
Other regulations have been threatened around the world, as Bitcoin price soars. With adoption exploding, and massive influx of institutional capital via futures and other contracts, Bitcoin is becoming far more of a financial reality that it has ever been before. China, Russia, and other countries have made it clear that the digital currency will be off-limits, while other countries like Switzerland and Malta are seemingly far more open.
Santa is issuing his own cryptocurrency in Russia…Putin to the naughty list??
Putin may be in a touch of trouble this Christmas, with the announcement that Ded Moroz (the Russian version of Santa Claus) is considering issuing his own cryptocurrency. The Russian government's position on cryptocurrencies is famously dubious, and if the Russian Santa is on board, there may be a collision coming.
On his tour around Russian cities visiting the underprivileged and children’s hospitals, the character (who resides at a theme park in Velikiy Ustyug), Ded Moroz made it clear that he likes to keep up with the times. In an interview he said:
"I live for a very long time and do not remember how old I am, but I want to keep up with the times. Now the world is ruled by electronics, and friends advise me to release my own cryptocurrency.”
With Santa pushing a crypto agenda, those who are against the digital currencies may find themselves out in the cold this Christmas. This may well include Vladimir Putin.
Setting up a cryptocurrency mining operation might help with house heating back in his cold hometown, Ded Moroz added.
NY Assemblyman Clyde Vanel has filed four proposed laws that aim to promote Blockchain tech applications by the state.
New York Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D-33) has filed four proposed laws that aim to promote research on the concrete possible applications of Blockchain technology by the state government.
The bills will create a legal language for the technology under state law and advance studies around its possible uses for local and state elections, including the verification of voter tallies.
The first bill filed by Vanel will amend the state’s technology law to include sections that will provide definitions of the terms “Blockchain technology” and “smart contract,” as well as to provide a legal understanding for digital signatures that are stored on a Blockchain.
The second bill will mandate the state’s board of elections to conduct a study and evaluation of the use of the technology to safeguard voter records and the results of elections. The study, which will be conducted in 12 months, will assess whether a Blockchain platform is effective in limiting or preventing voter fraud, improving cybersecurity around digital voting platforms, maintaining better voter records, and efficiently sharing election results.
The third bill will call for the study and the establishment of a task force to assess whether a Blockchain platform can be utilized to store government records and to share information efficiently and fast. The bill will also require the task force to conduct at least one public hearing during its study and submit a final report on or before Jan. 1, 2019.
The fourth bill will mandate the creation of a virtual currency task force that will analyze the possible effect(s) of the digital currencies in the state’s financial markets.
Based on public records, three of the bills were already referred to a legislative committee that is related to government options.
Texas-based Bitcoin ATM network Coinsource has installed 20 new Bitcoin ATM machines in the US state of Georgia.
Texas-based Bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM) network Coinsource has installed 20 new Bitcoin ATM machines in the US state of Georgia as of early December 2017. Of the new ATMs, 18 machines were launched in the city of Atlanta, while two were installed in the neighboring college town of Athens.
According to Coinsource Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sheffield Clark, their objective in the project is to provide every citizen in the state to access the leading virtual currency Bitcoin and participate in the skyrocketing new economy.
“This is a major opportunity not only for Coinsource but for the cities of Atlanta and Athens as well. Atlanta is one of the most mature Bitcoin ATM markets in the country, so it’s exciting to provide our services to people already showing accelerated adoption of the technology. Our goal is to give everyone the equal ability to access Bitcoin, particularly in times of record demand, and participate in this soaring new economy. Part of making this marketplace accessible is making sure our fees are less than half that of any other operator, and customers will be given fee-free transactions for first-time use of any new machine.”
Based on a survey by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), seven percent or nine mln of the total households in the US are unbanked and another 19.9 percent or 24.5 mln of households are underbanked.
The city of Atlanta is among those included in the top 10 most unbanked cities in the country. More than one in 10 households in the city were not involved with conventional banks, while about 30 percent of residents are underbanked.
According to Clark, these unbanked and underbanked residents have to depend on other kinds of services such as pawn shops, check-cashing, and payday loan providers to secure cash and credit.
“Around 30 percent of residents are underbanked, meaning they might have to check accounts, but have to rely on other kinds of services like pawn shops, check-cashing, and payday loan companies to get cash and credit.”
Bitcoin has ‘died’ 200 times according to 99Bitcoins as prices paradoxically hit all-time highs.
Bitcoin is paradoxically becoming more valuable the more it dies, with over 200 ‘obituaries’ now public.
The bizarre status quo comes from information portal 99Bitcoins, which also tracks press articles declaring Bitcoin will shortly disappear.
On Dec. 1, as Bitcoin prices hovered at just over $10,000, the site’s ‘Bitcoin obituary stats’ formally recorded the 200th Bitcoin death.
The omen came courtesy of Business Insider, which produced an article claiming a “fatal flaw” meant no cryptocurrency could ever become “real” currency.
“A currency has to be a widely used medium of exchange. Cryptocurrencies are never going to achieve that. Period,” UBS Bank’s Wealth Management Global Chief Economist Paul Donovan told the publication.
"...The fatal issue for cryptocurrencies is that the supply of them can only ever go up. There is unlimited upside to the supply of cryptocurrencies."
The number of warnings appearing in mainstream media publications especially about Bitcoin’s impending doom is considerably higher than 200, yet those calling the death nail for Bitcoin and its ilk are more selective.
Talk of a bubble, in which Bitcoin would lose the majority of its value suddenly once prices reach a certain level, is all-pervasive this month as $11,000 comes and goes several times.
On that subject, NEO’s Founder Da Hongfei told CNBC this week that even if a bubble did ‘pop,’ this would ultimately be “OK,” as the industry would then rebound stronger in future.
Secret symbol № 23: Q What is this?
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has authorized the operation of four new virtual currency exchanges in the country as of early December 2017.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has authorized the operation of four new virtual currency exchanges in the country as of early December 2017. The approved exchanges are already the second batch of companies authorized by the FSA. In late September, the agency has okayed the applications of the first batch of applicants consisting of 11 exchanges.
In its statement posted on its website, the FSA claimed that only the authorized 15 exchanges should be allowed to trade digital currencies as only the cryptocurrencies that they will handle are confirmed to “meet the definition under the fund settlement law.” The four companies that were approved are Tokyo Bitcoin Exchange Co. Ltd., FTT Corp., Bit Arg Exchange Tokyo Co. Ltd., and Xtheta Corp.
Of the four companies, only Xtheta Corp. was authorized to trade multiple cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), NEM (XEM), and Monacoin (MONA), as well as counterparty tokens (XCP). The rest of the exchanges are only allowed to trade Bitcoin (BTC).
According to the FSA, other applications are still undergoing evaluation. There were also 12 companies whose applications were rejected because they did not meet the agency’s registration requirements. The disapproved exchanges have already shut down their operations.
Among the applications under review is from Coincheck, which is the second biggest Bitcoin exchange in Japan. In its statement that was released on Dec. 1, the exchange claimed that its application to become a “virtual currency exchange trader” was filed in mid-September and is still under scrutiny until now.
Meanwhile, the FSA released a document detailing its administrative policies that include those covering virtual currencies and initial coin offerings (ICO) in November. The guideline clarifies how the agency will be monitoring the digital currency exchanges.
AMD CEO Lisa Su has claimed that the company is very interested in participating in Blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency mining market.
Major semiconductor firm AMD Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lisa Su has claimed that the company is very interested in participating in Blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency mining market. She further stated that they are merely waiting how the business community and the industries will adopt Blockchain and the digital currencies before making their move.
Her recent statement is a complete turnaround from her earlier statement about the company’s plans and efforts involving Blockchain.
In her appearance on CNBC’s Power Lunch Exclusive interview portion, Su has talked about various issues like Blockchain, the tax reform bill in the US, sexual harassment in the workplace and the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
She also shared her views on digital currency mining and its impact on their sales of graphics cards. She claimed that the virtual currency miners represent just a very small percentage of their sales.
“Cryptocurrency miners were a ‘very small percentage’ of sales and specifically that they represented a mid-single digit percentage of buyers (~four to six percent).
This number is hard to believe for me as I expected it to be significantly higher with the prices of graphics cards continuing to climb well above MSRP. (It wasn’t too bad when writing our gift guide and shortly after but just as I was about to commit I looked and prices had shot back up again coinciding with a resurgence in mining popularity with the price of cryptocurrencies rising and improving ROI).”
During the interview, Su also talked about the operational developments at their company. She claims that gaming continues to be an enormous growth market for the firm.
She also announced the launching of 10 new product families, as well as the firm’s sharp increases in sales on Amazon and Newegg in 2017 as compared to sales in 2016. She claimed that their processor sales have tripled, while their sales of graphics cards have increased by a double-digital percentage.
A bubble across Bitcoin and Blockchain is “OK,” NEO’s Da Hongfei has said.
Chinese platform NEO’s founder Da Hongfei has said a Bitcoin bubble is “OK” and will come back stronger if it bursts.
Speaking in a televised interview on CNBC, Hongfei explained that the overlapping wave of enthusiasm in both Bitcoin and Blockchain was not necessarily a problem.
“I would say that there is a bubble in this industry, but would say it’s OK,” he explained on the network’s Capital Connection segment.
“Every technology that is so disruptive - there’ll definitely be bubbles, like the train or the automobile.”
The topic of Bitcoin’s rapid price rise this year producing a bubble is a favorite of cryptocurrency naysayers such as prominent banking figures and mainstream media outlets.
Speculation about prices collapsing continues this week as Bitcoin passes $11,000 amid considerable volatility.
Continuing about the prognosis, however, Hongfei speculated that Blockchain had already mostly completed its bubble-like phase.
“With Blockchain, probably I believe we are in the later stage of a bubble, but even if it bursts, I think next times when it comes up it will be bigger again,” he said.
Perhaps the most pessimistic mainstream view of Bitcoin to come from the traditional banking sphere, JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon predicted the virtual currency would rise to around $20,000 before losing most of its value.
Claims of some Bitcoin wallet susceptible to hacking due to private keys generated by malicious software.
An anonymous Pastebin user claimed to have discovered evidence that some Bitcoin wallet software can generate private keys that can be easily identified and hacked.
The reveal comes after another person has made a Reddit post describing how they lost nine BTC due to a transaction error on the Blockchain.info wallet service.
The Pastebin user, however, didn't reveal the specific wallet software that can be possibly affected and whether the software vulnerability is intentional or just a simple coding error.
According to the anonymous user, several users of Blockchain.info platform are already aware of the vulnerability and have ‘played’ with the chain by sending small amounts of Bitcoins to the addresses corresponding to the private keys generated by the malicious software.
“If you peer into the Blockchain, you will find that people have ‘played’ with the chain by sending small amounts of Bitcoins to addresses corresponding to private keys generated using Sha256… It’s quite obvious these were _meant_ to be found. It turns out there are a lot of these addresses. (Keep looking and you will easily find some.) This is nothing new and has been known to the Bitcoin community for a while.”
According to the Pastebin user, he used several pieces of publicly available data on the Blockchain to determine if they could have been used to create wallets. He utilized block hashes for every block since the Genesis Block, Merkle roots from every block, common words and phrases that have been hashed a number of times, and eventually started testing all the Bitcoin addresses.
He also downloaded a complete index of all Bitcoin addresses that were listed publicly on Blockchain and began to discover keys that could have a few bits associated with them. In his experiments, he discovered more than 40 Bitcoin addresses that were used at certain points over the past seven years as of November 2017 to send Bitcoin.
The Pastebin user has also suspected that some third-party wallet custodial service like gambling site, mining pool or a straight-up web wallet could have malicious code in their backend that can generate private keys based on public addresses.
As of press time, the Blockchain.info user has confirmed that the funds have been returned:
“The nine BTC have been returned, the person found my Reddit post & reached out to me this morning. He wants to remain anonymous however he has found an issue with Blockchain.info and is currently working with them to resolve the issue.”
