UAE agriculture authority prohibits crypto mining on farms: Report
Those caught mining crypto on farms face fines of up to 10,000 dirhams, or about $2,722.
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Those caught mining crypto on farms face fines of up to 10,000 dirhams, or about $2,722.
This move follows a recent crackdown involving the confiscation of 2,000 cryptocurrency mining devices as part of an anti-corruption initiative.
British Columbia suspends new miners from accessing electricity in a bid to conserve 'clean' energy for electric vehicles.
In a tweet, lawyer Jake Chervinsky expressed his hopes that the governor will veto the bill “for the sake of New York.”
The bill will now be carried with support to the Senate for passing before a final sign-off into law by Governor Hochul.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (Ether) mining could be banned on Monday, April 25 if the New York State Assembly passes Bill A7389C.
Continue reading New York to Vote on Bill to Ban Bitcoin Mining at DailyCoin.com.
The New York Times’ campaign against bitcoin rages on. Even though this time they had the perfect opportunity to write a balanced article, they didn’t. The author reports one positive bitcoin mining story after another, while keeping a snooty attitude and suggesting it’s all a PR move. The title summarizes the New York Times’ stance, “Bitcoin Miners Want to Recast Themselves as Eco-Friendly.” Related Reading | Valkyrie Bitcoin Mining ETF “WGMI” Approved For Nasdaq Listing Before we get into it, a quick story. The foremost expert in bitcoin’s energy consumption, Nic Carter, published an exhaustive report on mining. Among other things, it contained hard data that showed to what extent China was mining using hydropower energy. Mainstream media largely ignored it. The party line was that we couldn’t trust China’s statistics. And, that China was probably burning cole. Fast forward to last month. China banned bitcoin mining a while ago and bitcoin’s hashrate relocated, recovered, while the network functioned perfectly throughout. Most of China’s mining industry relocated to green energy-abundant countries. What did the New York Times post? An article called “China Banished Cryptocurrencies. Now, ‘Mining’ Is Even Dirtier,” that claims that Chinese miners were using hydropower energy and thus used cleaner energy. That’s the level of propaganda we’re dealing with. What Did The New York Times Say About Bitcoin Mining This Time? The article starts by featuring Argo Blockchain, the company is building a new facility that “would be fueled mostly by wind and solar energy.” They even quote Peter Wall, Argo CEO, saying. “This is Bitcoin mining nirvana. You look off into the distance and you’ve got your renewable power.” What could be wrong with that? Two paragraphs later, the New York Times starts pushing lies and embarrassing numbers: “A single Bitcoin transaction now requires more than 2,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or enough energy to power the average American household for 73 days, researchers estimate.” Of course, those ridiculous claims come from Digiconomist, a widely debunked researcher who happens to be an employee of the Dutch Central Bank. And then, they blatantly quote the malicious study mentioned in the intro. “The Bitcoin network’s use of green energy sources also dropped to an average of 25 percent in August 2021 from 42 percent in 2020. (The industry has argued that its average renewable use is closer to 60 percent.) That’s partly a result of China’s crackdown, which cut off a source of cheap hydropower.” And quote Alex de Vries, one of the study’s authors, being completely off the mark. “What a miner is going to do if they want to maximize the profit is put their machine wherever it can run the entire day.” WHAT? To maximize profit, a miner is going to find the cheapest source of energy possible. Energy is their biggest cost. The cheapest source possible is energy that’s currently being wasted. That’s the situation. BTC price chart for 03/26/2022 on Forex.com | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com More Feel-Good Stories Framed As Bad News The New York Times even quotes Paul Prager, TeraWulf CEO, saying “Everyone I talk to now is talking about carbon neutrality. The language has absolutely changed.” And then, the newspaper spreads the good news. “TeraWulf, has pledged to run cryptocurrency mines using more than 90 percent zero-carbon energy. It has two projects in the works — a retired coal plant in upstate New York fueled by hydropower, and a nuclear-powered facility in Pennsylvania.” None of these stories are celebrated. Remember the article’s title, they are cynically presented as PR stunts. Then, it´s time for Sangha Systems, who “repurposed an old steel mill in the town of Hennepin. Sangha is run by a former lawyer, Spencer Marr, who says he founded the company to promote clean energy. But about half the Hennepin operation’s power comes from fossil fuels.” The New York Times Closes The Loop That’s the worst example that the New York Times could find. A person who “founded the company to promote clean energy” but had to make a compromise to start his business. To close the article, the author brings us back to Argo Blockchain and tries to pull something similar. Apparently, the CEO “can’t guarantee that Argo’s new center will have no carbon footprint. That would require bypassing the grid and buying energy directly from a renewable power company.” Related Reading | Biden Loves Intel’s Plan To Produce Semiconductors. What About Bitcoin Mining? And then, they quote him again. “A lot of those renewable energy producers are still a little bit skeptical of cryptocurrency. The crypto miners don’t have the credit profiles to sign 10- or 15-year deals.” So, Argo is really trying but it’s not possible at the moment for understandable reasons. And the whole industry is moving to a greener path because the incentives are aligned that way. Got it, New York Times. Got it. Featured Image by tacskooo on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView
European Parliament has confirmed that language that would have banned crypto mining in Europe has been REMOVED from the proposal.
German media first reported that a "de facto ban" on Bitcoin in the European Union has been put on hold for the time being. According to the source, they have access to a fresh draft of the law in which the contentious paragraph has been eliminated entirely.
Environmentalists and social democratic factions would have pushed for the inclusion of the articles, which would have outlawed any Proof of Work mining, which includes cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
"In particular, they [cryptocurrency service providers] may not enable the acquisition or trading of such crypto assets, and they may not offer custody services for said crypto assets," according to the legislation. The rule also called Bitcoin's proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm a "environmentally unsustainable consensus mechanism."
Those Who Supported It Faced Public Pressure...
Patrick Hansen, the Berlin-based strategy leader of the DeFi project Unstoppable Finance, launched a campaign a week ago to urge the bitcoin community to exert pressure on their European Parliament MPs. Hansen urged his fans to contact MEPs and express their opinions on the law text. This campaign generated a lot of buzz on social media.
However, one Dutch parliament member warns that this is not the same as a decision in favor of mining either, and that another move to ban crypto mining could be on the horizon.
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk
Breaking Crypto News
The China bitcoin mining ban that took place mid-last year was no doubt a heavy blow to the space. It saw the hash rate from the region which was once termed the mining capital of the world crumble to almost zero as miners had to shut down their operations. The reason for this from the Chinese government boiled down to concerns about electricity consumption and environmental impact. As the miners exited China, they had to set up business elsewhere and procure electricity for their mining farms, which can be quite energy-intensive. According to a new report, these new energy sources have been mainly from non-renewable sources compared to what the miners used in China. This means that the energy impact of bitcoin mining has gone up in recent months. Bitcoin Mining Carbon Footprint Now Worse It has been less than a year since China placed a ban on bitcoin mining and the effects are already being felt energy-wise. The general school of thought following the ban had been that miners would focus on more renewable energy sources so as to avoid a repeat of the issues in the region. However, a new study has shown that this is not so. Rather, the environmental impact of bitcoin mining has only gotten worse. Related Reading | TA: Why Bitcoin Must Close Above $40K For Trend Reversal China is a country known for its wide use of hydropower, a renewable energy source, and the miners in the country had used a significant amount of renewable energy for their operations. Even then, the carbon footprint of mining activities was still enough to cause a stink. The Joule journal has revealed that miners have not necessarily increased their renewable energy consumption. BTC trading above $38,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com The study shows that the amount of renewable energy used by bitcoin miners has fallen since the ban. At its peak, this number had reached as high as 42% in August. But since then, barely seven months after, renewable energy use in mining has fallen to as low as 25%. Related Reading | Bitcoin Staggers After Putin’s Nuclear Deterrence Alert Warning Bitcoin mining continues to produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide yearly. With over 65 megatons of carbon dioxide produced annually, bitcoin mining is less green than ever. For comparison, the entire country of Greece reportedly produced less than 57 megatons of carbon dioxide in 2019. This means that miners are producing more CO2 than entire countries. A lot of the miners that left China have now moved to countries where energy sources are largely produced by burins “hard coal” which produces more pollution. This new study shows that mining is less favorable to the environment now. Its carbon intensity has already grown by 17%. Featured image from Bloomberg, chart from TradingView.com
Crypto have been a source of controversy among individuals and nations ever since the entrance of Bitcoin into the financial market. One reason for this is anonymity, one of the bedrock behind the creation of the assets. The major reason is that illicit actors hide under this guise to carry out their malicious activities. These activities include scamming and hacking, which is centered around stealing funds from clients and traders.
Although exchanges are working overtime to secure their platforms and ward off malicious actors, most countries feel they are not doing enough. This is why several countries have a regulation guiding the crypto sector in their respective countries. For some, it is a rule for crypto exchanges and traders to abide by. For others, it is the total abolishment of the practice across such nations. In this article, we will be looking at crypto trading and five countries where crypto trading is illegal.
What is Crypto Trading?Crypto trading is an act where traders use either a centralized exchange or a decentralized exchange to predict the price of an asset. Traders purchase these assets with cash and, most of the time, leave them on the exchange where their prices either appreciate or depreciate. Trading crypto is in the same category as trading stocks or other financial products in the market. However, the biggest difference is the volatility in the crypto sector. To carry out crypto trading, a trader needs to set up an account, sign up for a wallet, and fund the wallet. After funding it, he can then proceed to buy any coin of his choice to trade on the exchange.
Top 5 countries where crypto trading is bannedTrading crypto is profitable to individuals as they can earn a massive amount of profit over a short time. However, some governments are still opposed to crypto and what they stand for due to so many ills in the sector. Below are five of the countries that are opposed to crypto:
#1 ChinaOver the last few years, China has been increasingly putting pressure on the crypto sector in the country with an imminent ban. Before then, the country used to house the highest amount of Bitcoin miners. The country was the go-to site for Bitcoin miners during that period, contributing a remarkable amount to the global Bitcoin hashrate. However, of late, the country has touched every reason why it banned digital assets.
According to a statement from China, crypto was banned in the country because of the spike in energy prices. Another reason for the ban was the massive amount of energy that is always consumed with every crypto transaction. Presently, China has continued to clamp down on crypto traders with its regulation forcing crypto exchanges to leave the country and look for an area of operation outside it.
To eliminate the need for cryptocurrencies, China announced the pilot test of its digital currency. Although the CBDC does not have a confirmed launch date, there have been efforts to succeed through the various tests it is currently undergoing.
#2 RussiaRussia is another country having an issue with digital assets and what they stand for in the financial market. Traders in the country cannot trade digital assets because of an existing ban against trading and investing in the assets. Russia went a step further by blocking all accessible markets where its citizens can trade digital assets. Also, holders of digital assets are outrightly banned from using them as a means of payment for goods and services. Although the country might now be following a regulation path, the assets are still banned.
#3 IndiaIndia has always held its position that trading and investing in digital assets are not allowed across the country. Before now, there was no regulation in place to enforce the crypto ban, so a few exchanges were springing up and offering services. However, as far back as 2018, the Reserve Bank of India announced a ban on crypto-related activities.
To this effect, financial institutions across the country were prohibited from helping crypto exchanges in the country facilitate payments. The RBI also ordered banks to close up accounts that belonged to entities trading crypto. Although there has been an overturn on the rule, trading crypto is still not something traders can do openly in the country.
On November 23, there was another update where the government submitted a proposal to the parliament. The proposal contained a bill that would see the creation of a Cental bank-backed digital asset, an act that could signal the end for most digital assets. At the beginning of the year, there were moves to criminalize crypto. The report stated that anybody found holding or trading crypto could end up in jail.
#4 TurkeyBefore the start of this year, trading crypto in Turkey was an act that went on without the disturbance of the government. But as the country's legal tender, Lira started to decline in value, most of its citizens turned to digital assets. The main reason was to cushion the effect and navigate out of the inflation that the decline brought. With this, Turkey became one of the top countries tradings and using crypto.
In April, the central bank of Turkey issued a release where it banned all digital assets. The main reason for the action was the many uncontrollable risks that traders are open to while trading the assets. With that, citizens can no longer hold, trade, or invest in any digital assets. In the same week, the president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, announced that crypto exchanges must abide by its terrorism financing and anti-money laundering rules.
#5 NigeriaNigeria used to be one of the most active countries globally when it comes to crypto trading since 2017. In February, the central bank of Nigeria announced that financial institutions would no longer provide banking services to crypto exchanges. This signaled the ban on trading crypto across the country. Before now, Nigeria had cemented its place on top of the pile in terms of crypto activities across Africa. With the ban in place, several banks have been moving to close down accounts belonging to crypto exchanges and traders in the country. A recent report mentioned how FCMB, a commercial bank in the country, closed down accounts of two customers for taking payments from selling crypto.
ConclusionDigital assets as a means of investment are one of the best tools to make profits. Not only do they satisfy the investment aspect, but traders can also use them for other services. Whether countries like it or not, crypto is to stay, and the earlier they choose to accept, adopt and regulate it, the better for them. Although most concerns about the assets are valid, there is nothing regulation cannot fix, as seen in the case of other prominent countries embracing crypto.
© Cryptoticker
The post Top 5 Countries Where Crypto Trading Is Illegal appeared first on CryptoTicker.
China’s crypto mining drops to zero with nothing. The U.S is now the top crypto miner in the world. China
The post has appeared first on thenewscrypto.com
Bitcoin is a perpetual motion machine. The Bitcoin hashrate is slowly climbing to pre-China-ban levels, and the service continued uninterrupted without a hiccup. Such is the power of well-placed incentives. Pantera Capital’s CEO Dan Morehead adds one more factor to the equation. “The bitcoin network has recovered 68% of the drop in hashrate that our difficulty model attributed to China’s ban—likely in places with cleaner energy.” The recovery is happening exactly as forecast. The #bitcoin network has recovered 68% of the drop in hashrate that our difficulty model attributed to China's ban—likely in places with cleaner energy. The transition to renewables is underway. Sep Letter: https://t.co/xLyaLpPQQN pic.twitter.com/UsK9ML3BU8 — Dan Morehead (@dan_pantera) September 9, 2021 In the company’s newsletter, Pantera fleshes out the argument: “Although difficult to know with certainty, it seems very likely that much of the reboot in mining power is occurring in places with cleaner energy than those utilized by Chinese miners. The transition to renewables is well underway.” Regarding The Bitcoin Hashrate, Are ESG Concerns Even Important? Here at NewsBTC we’ve determined that China’s Bitcoin mining tended to go to provinces with abundant green energy. Bitcoin incentivizes that. The Bitcoin hashrate tends to go where the energy is cheap. We’ve also determined that the environment doesn’t seem to be the reason for China’s Bitcoin mining ban. “The fact that the electricity for crypto mining in Sichuan came from clean hydropower meant that many thought the province would be a safe haven for Bitcoin miners. As pressure on local governments to cut carbon emissions mounts, projects were successfully shuttered in some other provincial-level regions — such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia — where the mining was chiefly fueled by coal.” The only thing we can know for sure about the Chinese government’s plan is this: the environment is not on their radar. They’re closing these mining operations for other reasons altogether. It’s also important to remember that China’s Bitcoin hashrate dominance was already on decline before the mining ban. “According to Arcane Research, CBECI numbers say that: China’s share of total Bitcoin mining power has declined from 75.5% in September 2019 to 46% in April 2021?—?before the restrictions on Chinese miners were even imposed. That figure is much lower than the older estimate of 65%. That’s a sharp decline. Why did China’s miners lose so much ground before the ban?” None of this invalidates Pantera Capital’s original thesis, though. “The transition to renewables is well underway,” that certainly seems to be the case. And the Bitcoin hashrate keeps climbing. BTC price chart for 09/09/2021 on Timex | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com Do Bitcoin Halvins Imply Cuts In Energy Consumption? Another interesting idea present in the mentioned newsletter is this one: “Bitcoin has a built-in mechanism to reduce energy consumption over time. The number of bitcoin issued in the every-ten-minutes block reward is cut in half every four years. Ceteris paribus, the amount of electricity Bitcoin consumes will be cut by 50% every four years. For comparison, the Paris Accord only requires 7% cuts every four years.” Of course, when related to fiat currencies, Bitcoin’s price fluctuates. So, the value of every Bitcoin stays the same, but the price might – and usually does – increase more than twofold. Even though the miner’s rewards are cut in half, their earnings might increase. That extra money could bring even more competition and a Bitcoin hashrate increase with it. Taking that into account, Pantera poses: “Perhaps a more realistic scenario is if the price of bitcoin were to double every four years in parallel with the halvings – putting bitcoin at $320,000 /BTC in 2032 – electricity consumption would be no greater than it is today.” Enough About The Bitcoin Hashrate, What About The Price? Another point that the newsletter makes is this one.“This is China’s third ban of Bitcoin. The reverse hex is still working – the price is up 57%.” Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course Is this a bullish signal? Bitcoin’s price has “only” increased by 57% since the Chinese mining ban sent the Bitcoin hashrate in death spiral for a few seconds. Bitcoin paid the price and resisted sabotage like a hero. We’re not sure if a “reverse hex” could be considered reliable information, but… maybe this IS a bullish signal? Featured Image by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash - Charts by TradingView and Pantera Capital
Beijing is prepared to apply a new policy to strengthen the actions to foster energy conservation in several aspects of the city’s operations, promoting carbon and pollution reduction. The plan proposes to increase the oversight level on Bitcoin mining activities, thwarting its remnants. Beijing to Thwart Cryptocurrency Mining Activities in Energy Conservation Plan The city [...]
The post Beijing Targets Cryptocurrency Mining Operations in New Energy Conservation Plan appeared first on Crypto Breaking News.
Russia has introduced a regional ban on Bitcoin mining, set to begin on Jan. 1, 2025, and remain in effect until March 15, 2031, local Russian media outlet Tass reported on Dec. 24. According to the report, The decision affects ten regions, including Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Chechnya, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s […]
The post Russia to limit mining in energy-strapped regions until 2031 appeared first on CryptoSlate.
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